Texture profile analysis reveals a stiffer ovarian cortex after testosterone therapy : a pilot study

Purpose: The importance of the surrounding ovarian stromal cells and extracellular matrix in the development and maturation of follicles has recently gained attention. An aberrant extracellular matrix has been described in ovaries of patients with polycystic ovary syndrome where a more rigid structural environment, possibly induced by endogenous testosterone, impairs normal folliculogenesis. In this context, we describe the textural parameters of the ovarian cortex of transgender men after prolonged testosterone administration compared to the textural parameters of the non-exposed ovarian cortex originating from female oncological patients. Methods: Texture profile analysis (TPA) was performed on ovarian cortex (5 x 5 mm) of oncological and transgender patients in order to measure stiffness, hardness, cohesiveness, and springiness of the ovarian cortex (LRXplus universal testing system). Statistical analysis was performed using repeated measurements mixed models and the Spearman rank order correlation test (IBM SPSS Statistics 23). Results: A total of 36 frozen-thawed cortical strips (5 x 5 mm) were subjected to TPA. The superficial part of cortex fragments originating from transgender persons (fragments < 1.4 mm; N = 10) appeared to be significantly stiffer compared to cortex derived from oncology patients (fragments < 1.4 mm; N = 7) (6.78 +/- 1.38 N/mm versus 5.41 +/- 0.9 N/mm respectively, p = 0.036). Conclusions: This is the first application of TPA in ovarian cortex to study the physical properties. Comparing the physical properties, we objectively describe an increased cortical stiffness in the most outer part of the ovarian cortex following prolonged testosterone administration in transgender men compared to the ovarian cortex of oncological patients. This preliminary and novel approach could be the start of future research to understand the physical properties of ovarian tissue

Dry High Speed Orthogonal Turning of Titanium Alloy Wear Evolution and Chip Morphology

The present work is an experimental study on the dry high-speed turning of Ti-6Al-4 V titanium alloy. The objective of this study is to see for high cutting speeds, how wear occurs on the face of insert and how to evolve cutting forces and chip formation. Cutting speeds tested is 600, 800, 1000 and 1200 m/min in orthogonal turning with a carbide insert tool H13A uncoated and coated TiN on a cylindrical titanium alloy part. Investigation on the wear inserts with 3D microscope scanning revered the crater formation is instantaneous and a chip adhesion. Welded chip causes detachment of carbide particles. In these experiments the chip shape was systematically investigated at each cutting conditions using optical microscopy. The chips produced were collected and polished to measure the thicknesses t2max and t2min. The distance between each segments dch and ɸseg inclination angle as described in the introduction part, the shear angle ɸ and the inclination angle of a segment ɸseg are differentiated. ɸseg angle is actually measured on the collected chips while the shear angle ɸ cannot be. The angle ɸ represents the initial shear similar to the one that describes the formation of a continuous chip in the primary shear zone. Cutting forces increase and stabilize before removing the tool. The chip reaches a very high temperature

Flash temperature measurement during dry friction process at high sliding speed

An experimental method is presented in this paper to measure flash temperatures of sliding surfaces. High sliding velocities are reached by using a ballistic set-up equipped with a high speed camera. The temperature field on the friction surface was recorded during the process. Tests were conducted under dry sliding conditions by using an identical material for the rubbing bodies, which are of middle hard steel (C22). Experiments showed that the temperature distribution generated by frictional heating is made up of small hot spots that correspond to the friction of asperities located on the sliding surface during very short time. Deduced from observations, maximum local surface temperatures can exceed about 1100 °C around an area less than 100 μm in diameter

A qualitative interpretation of challenges associated with helping patients with multiple chronic diseases identify their goals

Background Patients with multiple chronic diseases are usually treated according to disease-specific guidelines, with outcome measurements focusing mostly on biomedical indicators (e.g. blood sugar levels or lung function). However, for multimorbidity, a goal-oriented approach focusing on the goals defined by the individual patient, may be more suitable. Despite the clear theoretical and conceptual advantages of including patient-defined goals in clinical decision-making for multimorbidity, it is not clear how patients define their goals and which aspects play a role in the process of defining them. Objective To explore goal-setting in patients with multimorbidity. Design Qualitative analysis of interviews with 19 patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and comorbidities. Results Patients do not naturally present their goals. Their goals are difficult to elicit, even when different interviewing techniques are used. Four underlying hypotheses which may explain this finding were identified from the interviews: (1) patients cannot identify with the concept of goal-setting; (2) goal-setting is reduced due to acceptation; (3) actual stressors predominate over personal goal-setting; and (4) patients may consider personal goals as selfish. Conclusions Our findings advocate for specific attention to provider skills and strategies that help patients identify their personal goals. The hypotheses on why patients may struggle with defining goals may be useful to prompt patients in this process and support the development of a clinical method for goal-oriented care

Bowling Together: Scientific Collaboration Networks of Demographers at European Population Conferences

Studies of collaborative networks of demographers are relatively scarce. Similar studies in other social sciences provide insight into scholarly trends of both the fields and characteristics of their successful scientists. Exploiting a unique database of metadata for papers presented at six European Population Conferences, this report explores factors explaining research collaboration among demographers. We find that (1) collaboration among demographers has increased over the past 10 years, however, among co-authored papers, collaboration across institutions remains relatively unchanged over the period, (2) papers based on core demographic subfields such as fertility, mortality, migration and data and methods are more likely to involve multiple authors and (3) multiple author teams that are all female are less likely to co-author with colleagues in different institutions. Potential explanations for these results are discussed alongside comparisons with similar studies of collaboration networks in other related social sciences

Patients with coronary artery disease and diabetes need improved management: a report from the EUROASPIRE IV survey: a registry from the EuroObservational Research Programme of the European Society of Cardiology

BACKGROUND: In order to influence every day clinical practice professional organisations issue management guidelines. Cross-sectional surveys are used to evaluate the implementation of such guidelines. The present survey investigated screening for glucose perturbations in people with coronary artery disease and compared patients with known and newly detected type 2 diabetes with those without diabetes in terms of their life-style and pharmacological risk factor management in relation to contemporary European guidelines. ----- METHODS: A total of 6187 patients (18-80 years) with coronary artery disease and known glycaemic status based on a self reported history of diabetes (previously known diabetes) or the results of an oral glucose tolerance test and HbA1c (no diabetes or newly diagnosed diabetes) were investigated in EUROASPIRE IV including patients in 24 European countries 2012-2013. The patients were interviewed and investigated in order to enable a comparison between their actual risk factor control with that recommended in current European management guidelines and the outcome in previously conducted surveys. ----- RESULTS: A total of 2846 (46%) patients had no diabetes, 1158 (19%) newly diagnosed diabetes and 2183 (35%) previously known diabetes. The combined use of all four cardioprotective drugs in these groups was 53, 55 and 60%, respectively. A blood pressure target of 9.0% (>75 mmol/mol). Of the patients with diabetes 69% reported on low physical activity. The proportion of patients participating in cardiac rehabilitation programmes was low (≈40 %) and only 27% of those with diabetes had attended diabetes schools. Compared with data from previous surveys the use of cardioprotective drugs had increased and more patients were achieving the risk factor treatment targets. ----- CONCLUSIONS: Despite advances in patient management there is further potential to improve both the detection and management of patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease

A practice-based analysis of combinations of diseases in patients aged 65 or older in primary care

BACKGROUND: Most evidence on chronic diseases has been collected for single diseases whereas in reality, patients often suffer from more than one condition. There is a growing need for evidence-based answers to multimorbidity, especially in primary care settings where family doctors (FD's) provide comprehensive care for a high variety of chronic conditions. This study aimed to define which disease and problem combinations would be most relevant and useful for the development of guidelines to manage multimorbidity in primary care. METHODS: A practice-based cross sectional analysis of clinicians' chart reviews in 543 patients aged over 65 registered within two family practices in Ghent, Belgium. Main outcome measures were prevalence of disease and problem combinations and association strengths. RESULTS: The prevalence of multimorbidity (Cumulative Illness Rating Scale >1) in the study sample is 82.6%. The most prevalent combination is hypertension-osteoarthritis (132/543). Moderate to strong associations (Yules Q > 0.50) are reported for 14 combinations but the corresponding prevalences are mostly below 5%. More than half of these associations show a contribution of a psychiatric problem or a social problem. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirms the high prevalence of multimorbidity in patients aged over 65 in primary care. Hypertension-osteoarthritis is defined as a frequent combination however 94% of these patients have more than two disorders. The low prevalence of specific combinations, the high prevalence of psychiatric and social problems and the general complexity of multimorbidity will hamper the usefulness of randomized trials or guidelines at practice level. There is a need to explore new paradigms for addressing multimorbidity

Temperature fields in a chip during high-speed orthogonal cutting-An experimental investigation

International audienceDuring the cutting process, the temperature field in the chip is measured by using the principle of pyrometry in the visible spectral range. The mechanical device developed to reproduce orthogonal cutting conditions and to reach very high cutting speed (up to 120 m/s) is used for a range of velocities from 10 to 70 m/s. The presented experimental results concern two materials chosen following the form of chip generated: a low carbon steel (C15) and a low alloyed medium carbon steel (42CrMo4). The performances of the measurement set-up are completed by the possibility of recording real time photographs of the chip formation. These records make the analysis of temperature maps easier and allow specific parameters as the contact length at the tool-chip interface or the shear angle to be determined. The non-uniform heating in the chip is emphasized by the presence of a maximal temperature area. The temperature fields measured for a cutting speed around 20 m/s present maximums of 870 °C for 42CrMo4 and 630 °C for C15 located near the tool-chip interface. The effects of cutting velocity on the maximum temperature value in the chip and the location of this heat zone are presented. This maximum increases with the cutting velocity contrary to its location which presents few variations. The experimental results are compared with an analytical approach

Very high speed cutting of Ti-6A1-4V titanium alloy - change in morphology and mechanism of chip formation

International audienceThe chip formation for a Ti-6A1-4V alloy was studied at high cutting speeds combined with large uncut chip thicknesses (0.1-0.25 mm). Orthogonal cutting tests were conducted by using uncoated carbide tools on a specific ballistic set-up with cutting speeds from 300 m/min to 4400 m/min (5-75 m/s). A hypothesis on the mechanism of chip generation is proposed for this speed range validated by highspeed imaging system enabled direct observation of cutting process. A transition, from serrated more or less regular with localized shearing and possible presence of cracking, to discontinuous at very high speed is observed. The inclination of the segment 0, is shown as resulting from the primary shear angle 0 that can be modified by compression between the tool and the uncut part. A maximum value of 60 for g is reached with increasing speed after which it decreases to 45 at very high speed. The cutting speed appears as the most important factor when compared with the uncut chip thickness, in determining the formation of chips by affecting the frequency of segmentation, the shear angles and the crack length. The significant reduction of cutting forces occurring with increases in cutting speed was firstly explained by the conflicting work hardening-thermal softening processes and then depended on whether the deformation phase of the chip segment is occurred

The Importance of Parents' Dyadic Coping for Children

Stress and coping in couples have received increased research attention during the past two decades, particularly with regard to how couples cope with stress. Dyadic coping has emerged as a strong predictor of relationship satisfaction. Less research has focused on the effects of dyadic coping on other outcomes or family members. In the present study, the authors addressed this gap by examining parents' dyadic coping as a predictor of children's internalizing symptoms, externalizing symptoms, and prosocial behavior in three independent studies. In Studies 1 and 2 self-report data were used to assess parents' dyadic coping through the parents' and the children's perspective, and Study 3 included observational data on dyadic coping. Parental dyadic coping was related to children's externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, and prosocial behavior, although results for the latter two outcomes were not consistent across the three studies. The findings suggest that parents' dyadic coping deserves greater consideration within the context of child development