PEROXIDE TREATMENT IN EFFLORESCENCE PREVENTING

Efflorescence is a crystalline deposit of water soluble salts on the surface of ceramic masonry. In most cases, efflorescence can be removed by various cleaning methods depending on the chemistry of the crystalline deposit. But this, sometimes, may even worse the problem. Therefore, it would be most desirable to minimize or to prevent the efflorescence through the proper selection of raw materials and by addition of appropriate admixtures and supplementary materials. Using clay with a high content of soluble salts, the aim of this experimental work was to evaluate the effect of H2O2 addition in efflorescence minimization. Some experiments are done using various concentrations of aqueous solutions of hydrogen peroxide. The oxidizing solutions are added to clay during various mixing times, prior to the forming stage. The content of the soluble salts in the fired clay specimens is evaluated qualitatively and quantitatively

Approaches to improving mental healthcare for autistic people: systematic review.

Autistic people have a high likelihood of developing mental health difficulties but a low chance of receiving effective mental healthcare. Therefore, there is a need to identify and examine strategies to improve mental healthcare for autistic people. To identify strategies that have been implemented to improve access, experiences of care and mental health outcomes for autistic adults, and to examine evidence on their acceptability, feasibility and effectiveness. A co-produced systematic review was conducted. MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINHAL, medRxiv and PsyArXiv were searched. We included all study designs reporting acceptability or feasibility outcomes and empirical quantitative study designs reporting effectiveness outcomes. Data were synthesised using a narrative approach. A total of 30 articles were identified. These included 16 studies of adapted mental health interventions, eight studies of service improvements and six studies of bespoke mental health interventions developed for autistic people. There was no conclusive evidence on effectiveness. However, most bespoke and adapted approaches appeared to be feasible and acceptable. Identified adaptations appeared to be acceptable and feasible, including increasing knowledge and detection of autism, providing environmental adjustments and communication accommodations, accommodating individual differences and modifying the structure and content of interventions. Many identified strategies are feasible and acceptable, and can be readily implemented in services with the potential to make mental healthcare more suitable for autistic people, but important research gaps remain. Future research should address these and investigate a co-produced package of service improvement measures

Endurance performance is influenced by perceptions of pain and temperature: Theory, applications and safety considerations.

Models of endurance performance now recognise input from the brain, including an athlete’s ability to cope with various non-pleasurable perceptions during exercise, such as pain and temperature. Exercise training can reduce perceptions of both pain and temperature over time, partly explaining why athletes generally have a higher pain tolerance, despite a similar pain threshold, compared with active controls. Several strategies with varying efficacy may ameliorate the perceptions of pain (e.g. acetaminophen, transcranial direct current stimulation and transcutaneous electrical stimulation) and temperature (e.g. menthol beverages, topical menthol products and other cooling strategies, especially those targeting the head) during exercise to improve athletic performance. This review describes both the theory and practical applications of these interventions in the endurance sport setting, as well as the potentially harmful health consequences of their use

Tobacco Treatment Guideline for High Risk Groups: A pilot study in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Introduction Smoking cessation is a key clinical intervention for reducing progressive lung destruction and lung function deterioration in patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Specialised Tobacco Cessation Guidelines for High-risk Groups (TOB-G) were developed and published in 2017 that present evidence-based recommendations to support smoking cessation in COPD patients. The purpose of this pilot study was to examine the real world effectiveness of the TOB-G guideline recommendations among a sample of COPD patients. Methods A pilot study was conducted among a sample of COPD patients who smoke and were interested in quitting. Participants were recruited from inpatient and outpatient hospital admissions between October and December 2016 in Iasi, Romania. The intervention program was designed based on the recommendations of the TOB-G guidelines for COPD patients. Patients received a total of four contacts: at baseline, 1, 2, and 6 months. The primary outcome measure was biochemically validated point prevalence smoking abstinence measured at 6 months. Results Fifty patients (74% male; age mean±SD = 60.2±7.8) with diagnosed COPD took part in the pilot study. Self-reported rates of point prevalence smoking abstinence were 30.6%, 44.9% and 64.6% at the 1-, 2-, and 6-month follow-up, respectively. Carbon monoxide testing was completed with 51.6% of the sample at 6 months. The biochemically verified abstinent rate was 33.3% at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusions This pilot testing of the TOB-G Clinical Practice Guidelines for COPD patients was associated with high rates of patient smoking abstinence, which are of clinical importance. Further research is needed to evaluate the guidelines large-scale effectiveness in clinical practice

Approaches to improving mental health care for autistic children and young people: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Autistic children and young people (CYP) experience mental health difficulties but face many barriers to accessing and benefiting from mental health care. There is a need to explore strategies in mental health care for autistic CYP to guide clinical practice and future research and support their mental health needs. Our aim was to identify strategies used to improve mental health care for autistic CYP and examine evidence on their acceptability, feasibility, and effectiveness. A systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out. All study designs reporting acceptability/feasibility outcomes and empirical quantitative studies reporting effectiveness outcomes for strategies tested within mental health care were eligible. We conducted a narrative synthesis and separate meta-analyses by informant (self, parent, and clinician). Fifty-seven papers were included, with most investigating cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)-based interventions for anxiety and several exploring service-level strategies, such as autism screening tools, clinician training, and adaptations regarding organization of services. Most papers described caregiver involvement in therapy and reported adaptations to communication and intervention content; a few reported environmental adjustments. In the meta-analyses, parent- and clinician-reported outcomes, but not self-reported outcomes, showed with moderate certainty that CBT for anxiety was an effective treatment compared to any comparison condition in reducing anxiety symptoms in autistic individuals. The certainty of evidence for effectiveness, synthesized narratively, ranged from low to moderate. Evidence for feasibility and acceptability tended to be positive. Many identified strategies are simple, reasonable adjustments that can be implemented in services to enhance mental health care for autistic individuals. Notable research gaps persist, however

Embracing Collaboration and Social Perspective Taking Using Interactive Tabletops

In a contemporary multicultural classroom in which students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds learn together, it becomes necessary to embrace collaboration, social perspective-taking, and understanding of the other to help students comprehend classmates’ values and perspectives. Based on the already researched affordances of interactive tabletops in education, as well as promising empirical results from their limited application in multicultural settings, the authors present a case of practical and impactful technology research in a culturally diverse classroom. The study was conducted with 44 students as part of their formal, socio-emotional education course in a public school in Cyprus. The study presents evidence of perceived collaborative learning around the tabletop, as well as gains in social perspective-taking propensity from pre- to post-test, demonstrating a promising use of interactive tabletops and related technologies in the field of education

Cooperativity between remote sites of ectopic spiking allows afterdischarge to be initiated and maintained at different locations

Many symptoms of nerve damage arise from ectopic spiking caused by hyperexcitability. Ectopic spiking can originate at the site of axonal damage and elsewhere within affected neurons. This raises the question of whether localized damage elicits cell-wide changes in excitability and/or if localized changes in excitability can drive abnormal spiking at remote locations. Computer modeling revealed an example of the latter involving afterdischarge (AD) – stimulus-evoked spiking that outlasts stimulation. We found that AD originating in a hyperexcitable region of axon could shift to the soma where it was maintained. This repositioning of ectopic spike initiation was independent of distance between the two sites but relied on the rate and number of ectopic spikes originating from the first site. Nonlinear dynamical analysis of a reduced model demonstrated that properties which rendered the axonal site prone to initiating AD discouraged it from maintaining AD, whereas the soma had the inverse properties thus enabling the two sites to interact cooperatively. A first phase of AD originating in the axon could, by providing sufficient drive to trigger somatic AD, give way to a second phase of AD originating in the soma such that spiking continued when axonal AD failed. Ectopic spikes originating from the soma during phase 2 AD propagated successfully through the defunct site of axonal spike initiation. This novel mechanism whereby ectopic spiking at one site facilitates ectopic spiking at another site is likely to contribute to the chronification of hyperexcitability in conditions such as neuropathic pain