Preparation and characterization of electrolytic alumina deposit on austenitic stainless steel

Conversion coating modified by alumina has been studied as a way for improving the resistance to thermal oxidation of an austenitic stainless steel. Conversion coating, characterized by a particular morphology and strong interfacial adhesion with the substrate, facilitate the electrochemical deposition of ceramic layers and enhance their adhesion to the substrate. The influence of the current density and treatment time on alumina deposit was studied using statistical experimental designs like Doehlert uniform shell design. After heating, coatings present a continuous composition gradient with refractory compounds at the surface. The behavior at high temperature (1000 8C) of the alumina coating was investigated. The presence of alumina increases the oxidation resistance of an austenitic stainless steel at 1000 8C. The morphology and the chemical composition of the deposit are analyzed. Results on the thermal stability of coating on austenitic stainless steel are presented

Are we ready for Optimal CPP-oriented management of TBI patients?

Objective: Monitoring cerebral autoregulation (CA) is important for TBI patients, 1 as impaired CA correlates with poor outcome. 2 3 Today, automated algorithms allow to assess CPP for which autoregulation is best preserved (CPPopt) continuously and present it at the bedside 5 6 . Individualising CPP treatment using CPPopt is attractive and this has been recognised in published guidelines. However there are no specifications for its use clinically and it has therefore never been prospectively evaluated 1 . Numerous logistic, technical, feasibility and safety questions remain before the idea of selecting individual CPP treatment targets based on the state of CA 4 can be incorporated into clinical practice. How far are we from strict guidelines on the incorporation of this methodology into TBI protocols? Design: Literature review Subjects: Methods: Systematic review Results: The feasibility of CPPot-guided therapy has only been evaluated retrospectively and in non-clinical ways, whereas no studies exist on its safety. A prospective investigation of CPPopt-guided therapy has been initiated with ‘CppOpt Guided Therapy: Assessment of Target Effectiveness’ (COGiTATE), a multicenter randomized trial assessing feasibility and safety of a continuous CA monitoring-based therapy in adult TBI patients. Conclusions: COGiTATE seems to be the first step to define the physiological effect of targeting CPPopt and should pave the way toward establishing the exact protocol of CPPopt-oriented therapy and the phase III study. References: 1. Carney N, Totten AM, OʼReilly C, et al. Guidelines for the Management of Severe Traumatic Brain Injury, Fourth Edition. Neurosurgery. 2016;80(1):1. doi:10.1227/NEU.0000000000001432. 2. Hlatky R, Furuya Y, Valadka AB, et al. Dynamic autoregulatory response after severe head injury. J Neurosurg. 2002;97(5):1054-1061. doi:10.3171/jns.2002.97.5.1054. 3. Czosnyka M, Czosnyka Z, Smielewski P. Pressure reactivity index: journey through the past 20 years. doi:10.1007/s00701-017-3310-1. 4. Steiner LA, Czosnyka M, Piechnik SK, et al. Continuous monitoring of cerebrovascular pressure reactivity allows determination of optimal cerebral perfusion pressure in patients with traumatic brain injury. Crit Care Med. 2002;30(4):733-738. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11940737. Accessed December 28, 2017. 5. Aries MJH, Czosnyka M, Budohoski KP, et al. Continuous determination of optimal cerebral perfusion pressure in traumatic brain injury*. Crit Care Med. 2012. doi:10.1097/CCM.0b013e3182514eb6. 6. Liu X, Maurits NM, Aries MJH, et al. Monitoring of Optimal Cerebral Perfusion Pressure in Traumatic Brain Injured Patients Using a Multi-Window Weighting Algorithm. J Neurotrauma. 2017;34(22):3081-3088. doi:10.1089/neu.2017.5003. 7. Depreitere B, Güiza F, Berghe G Van Den, et al. Pressure autoregulation monitoring and cerebral perfusion pressure target recommendation in patients with severe traumatic brain injury based on minute-by-minute monitoring data. J Neurosurg. 2014;120(120):1451-1457. doi:10.3171/2014.3.JNS131500. 8. Güiza F, Meyfroidt G, Piper I, et al. Cerebral Perfusion Pressure Insults and Associations with Outcome in Adult Traumatic Brain Injury. doi:10.1089/neu.2016.4807. 9. Oshorov A V, Savin IA, Goriachev AS, Popugaev KA, Potapov AA, Gavrilov AG. [The first experience in monitoring the cerebral vascular autoregulation in the acute period of severe brain injury]. Anesteziol Reanimatol. (2):61-64. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18540464. Accessed January 1, 2018. 10. Donnelly J, Czosnyka M, Adams H, et al. Individualizing Thresholds of Cerebral Perfusion Pressure Using Estimated Limits of Autoregulation. Crit Care Med. 2017;45(9):1464-1471. doi:10.1097/CCM.0000000000002575. 11. Dias C, Silva MJ, Pereira E, et al. Optimal Cerebral Perfusion Pressure Management at Bedside: A Single-Center Pilot Study. Neurocrit Care. 2015;23(1):92-102. doi:10.1007/s12028-014-0103-8. 12. Jaeger M, Dengl M, J&#252, Schuhmann MU. Effects of cerebrovascular pressure reactivity-guided optimization of cerebral perfusion pressure on brain tissue oxygenation after traumatic brain injury*. Crit Care Med. 2010;38(5):1343-1347. doi:10.1097/ccm.0b013e3181d45530

Diet Composition and Niche Breadth of Mullet Chelon Subviridis (Valenciennes, 1836) and Moolgarda Engeli (Bleeker, 1858) in Pabean Bay, Indramayu Subdistrict, West Java Province

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi jenis dan komposisi serta luas dan tumpang tindih relung makanan ikan belanak di Teluk Pabean. Pengambilan contoh ikan dilakukan pada Juli hingga Desember 2016 dengan menggu-nakan alat tangkap sero dan jaring insang. Analisis data meliputi indeks bagian terbesar serta luas dan tumpang tindih relung makanan. Dua jenis ikan belanak, Chelon subviridis dan Moolgarda engeli, merupakan spesies yang banyak ditemukan di Teluk Pabean. Ukuran panjang tubuh C. subviridis yang diamati berkisar 73,34-185,72 mm dengan bobot 8,23-115,50 g dan panjang tubuh M. engeli berkisar 67,51-160,00 mm dengan bobot 6,91-96,70 g. Menu ma-kanan ikan belanak terdiri atas tiga kelompok besar, yaitu perifiton, larva organisme, dan detritus. Perifiton dari kelas Bacillariophyceae menjadi kelompok makanan yang banyak dimanfaatkan, khususnya Pleurosigma (35,81) oleh C. subviridis dan Nitzschia (27,89) oleh M. engeli. Perubahan komposisi jenis makanan terjadi pada setiap kelompok ukuran ikan. C. subviridis dan M. engeli memiliki relung makanan yang luas dengan nilai luas relung berturut-turut 5,995 dan 5,780. Luas relung makanan pada setiap kelompok ukuran ikan berbeda. Informasi mengenai luas relung makanan dapat menunjukkan adaptasi ikan belanak terhadap ketersediaan makanan di perairan

Unravelling social constructionism

Social constructionist research is an area of rapidly expanding influence that has brought together theorists from a range of different disciplines. At the same time, however, it has fuelled the development of a new set of divisions. There would appear to be an increasing uneasiness about the implications of a thoroughgoing constructionism, with some regarding it as both theoretically parasitic and politically paralysing. In this paper I review these debates and clarify some of the issues involved. My main argument is that social constructionism is not best understood as a unitary paradigm and that one very important difference is between what Edwards (1997) calls its ontological and epistemic forms. I argue that an appreciation of this distinction not only exhausts many of the disputes that currently divide the constructionist community, but also takes away from the apparent radicalism of much of this work

Near-Infrared Spectroscopy-Derived Dynamic Cerebral Autoregulation in Experimental Human Endotoxemia-An Exploratory Study

Cerebral perfusion may be altered in sepsis patients. However, there are conflicting findings on cerebral autoregulation (CA) in healthy participants undergoing the experimental endotoxemia protocol, a proxy for systemic inflammation in sepsis. In the current study, a newly developed near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-based CA index is investigated in an endotoxemia study population, together with an index of focal cerebral oxygenation. Methods: Continuous-wave NIRS data were obtained from 11 healthy participants receiving a continuous infusion of bacterial endotoxin for 3 h (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02922673) under extensive physiological monitoring. Oxygenated–deoxygenated hemoglobin phase differences in the (very)low frequency (VLF/LF) bands and the Tissue Saturation Index (TSI) were calculated at baseline, during systemic inflammation, and at the end of the experiment 7 h after the initiation of endotoxin administration. Results: The median (inter-quartile range) LF phase difference was 16.2° (3.0–52.6°) at baseline and decreased to 3.9° (2.0–8.8°) at systemic inflammation (p = 0.03). The LF phase difference increased from systemic inflammation to 27.6° (12.7–67.5°) at the end of the experiment (p = 0.005). No significant changes in VLF phase difference were observed. The TSI (mean ± SD) increased from 63.7 ± 3.4% at baseline to 66.5 ± 2.8% during systemic inflammation (p = 0.03) and remained higher at the end of the experiment (67.1 ± 4.2%, p = 0.04). Further analysis did not reveal a major influence of changes in several covariates such as blood pressure, heart rate, PaCO(2), and temperature, although some degree of interaction could not be excluded. Discussion: A reversible decrease in NIRS-derived cerebral autoregulation phase difference was seen after endotoxin infusion, with a small, sustained increase in TSI. These findings suggest that endotoxin administration in healthy participants reversibly impairs CA, accompanied by sustained microvascular vasodilation

Cerebral Autoregulation Assessment Using the Near Infrared Spectroscopy 'NIRS-Only' High Frequency Methodology in Critically Ill Patients:A Prospective Cross-Sectional Study

Impairments in cerebral autoregulation (CA) are related to poor clinical outcome. Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive technique applied to estimate CA. Our general purpose was to study the clinical feasibility of a previously published 'NIRS-only' CA methodology in a critically ill intensive care unit (ICU) population and determine its relationship with clinical outcome. Bilateral NIRS measurements were performed for 1-2 h. Data segments of ten-minutes were used to calculate transfer function analyses (TFA) CA estimates between high frequency oxyhemoglobin (oxyHb) and deoxyhemoglobin (deoxyHb) signals. The phase shift was corrected for serial time shifts. Criteria were defined to select TFA phase plot segments (segments) with 'high-pass filter' characteristics. In 54 patients, 490 out of 729 segments were automatically selected (67%). In 34 primary neurology patients the median (q1-q3) low frequency (LF) phase shift was higher in 19 survivors compared to 15 non-survivors (13° (6.3-35) versus 0.83° (-2.8-13), p = 0.0167). CA estimation using the NIRS-only methodology seems feasible in an ICU population using segment selection for more robust and consistent CA estimations. The 'NIRS-only' methodology needs further validation, but has the advantage of being non-invasive without the need for arterial blood pressure monitoring

Survey in expert clinicians on validity of automated calculation of optimal cerebral perfusion pressure

BACKGROUND: Optimal cerebral perfusion pressure (CPPopt) targeting in traumatic brain injury (TBI) patients constitutes an active and controversial area of research. It has been suggested that an autoregulation guided CPP therapy may improve TBI outcome. Prerequisites of a CPPopt intervention study would be objective criteria for the CPPopt detection.. This study compared the agreement between automated and visual CPPopt detection. METHODS: Twenty-five clinicians from 18 centres worldwide, familiar with brain monitoring and using dedicated software, reviewed ten 4-hour CPPopt screenshots at 48 hrs after ictus in selected TBI patients. Each screenshot displayed the trends of cerebral perfusion pressure (CPP), intracranial pressure (ICP), cerebrovascular pressure reactivity (PRx) as well as the ‘CPP-optimal’ curve and its associated value (automated CPPopt). The main objective was to evaluate the agreement between expert clinicians as well as the agreement between the clinicians and automated CPPopt. RESULTS: Twenty-two clinicians responded to our call (88%). Three screenshots were judged as ‘CPPopt not determinable’ by > 45% of the clinicians. For the whole group, the consensus between automated CPPopt and clinicians’ visual CPPopt was high. Three clinicians were identified as outliers. All clinicians recommended to modify CPP when patients differed > ± 5 mmHg from their CPPopt. The inter-observer consensus was highest in cases with current CPP below the optimal value. CONCLUSIONS: The overall agreement between automated CPPopt and visual CPPopt identified by autoregulation experts was high, except for those cases when the curve was deemed by the clinicians not reliable enough to yield a trustworthy CPPopt

Discomfort glare and time of day

There are strong reasons to suspect that glare sensation varies with time of the day. This study was designed to test whether such a relationship exists. Thirty subjects were exposed to an artificial lighting source at four times of the day. The source luminance was progressively increased and subjects were required to give Glare Sensation Votes (GSVs) corresponding to the level of visual discomfort experienced. Glare indices were calculated for every reported GSV, and results were statistically analysed. The findings indicated a tendency towards greater tolerance to luminance increases in artificial lighting as the day progresses. This trend was found not to be statistically related to the possible confounding variable of learning, providing evidence of an effect of time of the day on glare sensation

Children’s participation in school grounds developments: creating a place for education that promotes children’s social inclusion

Abstract This paper advances the idea that ‘education for the social inclusion of children’ is similar but different to ‘inclusive education’ as it has come to be understood and used by some authors and UK government documents. ‘Inclusive education’ tends to carry an inward emphasis on the participation of children in the education system (with discussions on school culture, transitions, truancy, exclusion rates, underachievement, and school leaving age). In contrast, education for the promotion of children’s social inclusion requires an outward emphasis on children's participation in 'mainstream' society while they are still children. The latter emphasis is seen to be lacking in educational policy discourse in Scotland though a recent shift in policy towards education for active citizenship is noted. Examples are provided to show how many policy statements enact a limitation on the scope for education to promote children’s social inclusion by emphasising children’s deficits as social actors and focussing on the ‘condition’ of social exclusion. The paper draws on an empirical study of children’s participation in changing school grounds in Scotland. The analysis shows how the enclosure of learning in books, classrooms and normative curricula was challenged. Learning from school grounds developments was constructed relationally and spatially but the scope of what was to be learned was often delineated by adults. The paper closes with a discussion of how education that promotes the social inclusion of children will benefit from seeing both children and adults as current though partial citizens and utilising socio-spatial opportunities for the generation of uncertain curricula through their shared and/or differentiated participation

Oh Comrade, What Times those Were! History, Capital Punishment and the Urban Square.

From the perspective of traditional Western histories of the urban realm, public squares have been seen to represent a privileged site of urban containment expressive of a community's highest values of individual freedom, social inclusion and cultural refinement. But such views can be misleading. For what is omitted from the scope of these conventional historical visions and their ideal and conforming subjects of public spatial discourse, is an entire array of other and darker narratives that equally speak of personal choice, collective participation and cultural value. Capital punishment reflects such an example, a practice that once comprised an integral part of the political, social and cultural landscape of a Western city's squares and streets. Drawing from Michel Foucault's Discipline and Punish and its implications on how we might begin to re-read the history of the urban square, the following seeks to explore those practices and modes of rationality that underpinned the once public spectacle of executions and torture as a vital condition of urban life. In particular, this discussion will question the assumptions of an historical tradition that continues to reduce our understanding of the city and its open spaces of public appearance and action to an idealistic and illusory reality of the urban realm and its narrow framing of collective conduct, necessity and significance