Upper secondary school students’ understanding of adiabatic compression

The present study refers to second year (16-17 years old) upper secondary school students’ conceptions on elementary thermodynamics and especially the First Law of Thermodynamics (FLT). This paper focuses on students’ explanations of a real situation representing an adiabatic compression and their forms of reasoning in providing explanations. We used descriptive statistics and hierarchical cluster analysis in order to process students’ answers. The main results were that (a) the vast majority of the responses consisted of alternative frameworks, namely FLT is highly disregarded among the students, (b) the students provided confused explanations that entangle diverse physics models and/or referred to the phenomenology of the situation and (c) linear causal reasoning was the prevailing way for providing explanations, although it was inadequate for this physics level

Pyosalpinx as a sequela of labial fusion in a post-menopausal woman: a case report

Introduction. Complete labia fusion is a rare clinical entity in post-menopausal women. The most common complications of this presentation are infections of the urinary tract and retention of urine in the vagina. We present the case of a post-menopausal woman with adnexal mass and abdominal pain due to fusion of the labia majora. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report in the literature of this complication. Case presentation. A 78-year-old Caucasian woman was admitted to our hospital due to abdominal pain and urination difficulty, along with fever and leucocytosis. On examination the labial majora were fused. Computed tomography of the abdomen revealed a cystic formation in the anatomical area of the right adnexa. Our patient had developed a pyosalpinx as a Sequela of labial fusion. At laparoscopy the right pyosalpinx was identified and resected, whereas the labia majora were reconstructed via dissection and separation. Conclusions: Labial fusion is a rare clinical entity in post-menopausal women and can have serious and unexpected complications. Though this presentation is rare, a clinical examination must be performed in detail in order to gain valuable information for an accurate diagnosis. Post-operational instruction must be given to patients in order to prevent the re-occurrence of the fusion and its complications

High Quality Bergamot Oil from Greece: Chemical Analysis Using Chiral Gas Chromatography and Larvicidal Activity against the West Nile Virus Vector

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Asymmetric Mating Interference between Two Related Mosquito Species: Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus and Aedes (Stegomyia) cretinus.

Aedes (Stegomyia) albopictus (Skuse) and Aedes (Stegomyia) cretinus Edwards are closely related mosquito species with common morphological features and bio-ecological similarities. Recent mosquito surveillance in Athens, Greece, showed that they are sympatric mosquito species, with Ae. albopictus [corrected] developing quite higher population densities than Ae. cretinus [corrected] . The potential of mating interference between these species was investigated by reciprocal and homologous mating experiments in cages under laboratory conditions. In non-choice interspecific crosses (groups of males and females) females of both species produced sterile eggs. Insemination rate was 58% for Ae. cretinus females and only 1% for Ae. albopictus [corrected] females. Aedes albopictus males were sexually aggressive and inseminated Ae. cretinus females (31%) in choice experiments, where males of one species had access to mate with females of both species. Whereas, interspecific mating of Ae. albopictus [corrected] females with Ae. cretinus males in the co-occurrence of Ae. cretinus females was weaker (4%). Aedes cretinus females from non-choice crossing with Ae. albopictus [corrected] or Ae. cretinus males were paired individually with conspecific males. The percentage of fertile Ae. cretinus females was 17.5% when had encaged before with Ae. albopictus [corrected] males, compared to 100% when Ae. cretinus [corrected] females were encaged with conspecific males only. Probable ecological consequences of asymmetric mating between these ecologically homologous species in nature are discussed

Malignant transformation of an endometriotic cyst: MDCT and MR findings

Malignant transformation is a rare complication of endometriosis. MR criteria for diagnosis include the presence of soft-tissue components, enhancement after contrast material administration in an endometriotic cyst. We present the multidetector CT and MR imaging findings in a case of an incidentally found endometrioid adenocarcinoma in a left-sided ovarian endometrioma, occurring in a 30-year old woman. MR imaging enabled the correct preoperative characterization of the lesion, by depicting a soft-tissue element, with strong and early enhancement after gadolinium administration. The same area had high signal intensity on diffusion-weighted images and low apparent diffusion coefficient values due to restricted diffusion, findings also strongly suggestive of malignancy