MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE MEDICAL TOURISM DEVELOPMENT

Due to the demographical changes and the currently booming health industry, the medical tourism sector has a great future potential. This paper provides an analysis about the medical tourism market itself and gives an insight in the field of marketing opportunities in the medical tourism development. Therefore, to give a basis for the further development of marketing strategies, the consumer behaviour will be analysed. In addition, a theoretical overview about used and useable Marketing methods in the medical tourism industry will be out-lined. The used scientific methods within this research work are as the following: content analysis, graphical analysis and synthesis, reference methods, logical and abstract constructive methods

Minimizing the release of Chromium, Molybdenum, Vanadium, and Fluoride from Steelwork Slags

Steelwork slags (SWS) are important by-products of the iron and steel manufacturing. About 87% of SWS are used in qualified fields of application: e.g., for internal use, as construction and building materials, as fertilizer or for metallurgical processes; but the remaining 13% of SWS still have to be deposited in landfills. For use as construction and building material, SWS have to fulfill stringent technical and environmental requirements, which are continuously evolving. In consequence higher amounts of SWS might have to be landfilled in the future. The overall aim of this research project was to improve the leaching behavior of environmentally relevant parameters, i.e., chromium, molybdenum, vanadium and fluoride from SWS and to enhance the knowledge about the release of these parameters from SWS, to ensure the use of SWS as a construction product. Two different approaches were investigated: accelerated carbonization of SWS (project I) and immobilization with additives (project II). In project I the influence of natural and accelerated carbonation on the leaching behavior of SWS was investigated. From the obtained results the outdoor exposed SWS show a distinct increase in Si and V leaching and a decrease of Ca leaching, with lower pH, due to carbonation. The other investigated elements (Al, Cr, Mo, and F−) react differently to carbonation depending on the mineral binding. However, the achieved results show that the German LAGA emplacement category can be improved from Z 2 (restricted appli-cations with defined safeguarding measures) to Z 1 (restricted open applications) due to carbonation. The immobilization of trace elements and fluoride with appropriate additives was investigated in project II. Seven mineral additives were tested for their efficiency to immobilize Cr, Mo, V, and F− in SWS eluates, which were obtained from four different SWS. It was possible to identify two suitable additives: iron oxide hydroxide (a commercial available product) and water work sludge (classified as waste). Both additives show a significant immobilization of the above mentioned parameters. To verify these results, long term studies with these two additives and four SWS were done under practical conditions. The relation of mineralogy and related leaching behavior, i.e., the availability of environmentally relevant elements was also investigated, which is quite lacking in the literature. This issue was investigated with a four-fraction-based sequential extraction procedure in combination with X-ray diffraction. The results showed that Cr and Mo primarily occurred in F4, representing rather immobile elements under natural conditions, which were strongly bound into/onto Fe-minerals (srebrodolskite, magnetite, hematite or wustite). In contrast, V was more mobile with proportional higher findings in F2 and F3, and the X-ray diffraction results reveal that V was not solely bound into Ca-minerals (larnite, hatrurite, kirschsteinite and calcite), but also to Fe-minerals. The results indicated that the total content of elements after digestion is a poor indicator of the availability of elements, and did not correspond to the leaching of elements from basic oxygen furnace slags

Astera

Carmen Sylva'nın Hanımlara Mahsus Gazete'de yayımlanan Astera adlı romanının ilk ve son tefrikalar

High-Throughput Proteomics Identifies Proteins With Importance to Postantibiotic Recovery in Depolarized Persister Cells

Bacterial populations produce phenotypic variants called persisters to survive harmful conditions. Persisters are highly tolerant to antibiotics and repopulate environments after the stress has vanished. In order to resume growth, persisters have to recover from the persistent state, but the processes behind recovery remain mostly elusive. Deciphering these processes is an essential step toward understanding the persister phenomenon in its entirety. High-throughput proteomics by mass spectrometry is a valuable tool to assess persister physiology during any stage of the persister life cycle, and is expected to considerably contribute to our understanding of the recovery process. In the present study, an Escherichia coli strain, that overproduces the membrane-depolarizing toxin TisB, was established as a model for persistence by the use of high-throughput proteomics. Labeling of TisB persisters with stable isotope-containing amino acids (pulsed-SILAC) revealed an active translational response to ampicillin, including several RpoS-dependent proteins. Subsequent investigation of the persister proteome during postantibiotic recovery by label-free quantitative proteomics identified proteins with importance to the recovery process. Among them, AhpF, a component of alkyl hydroperoxide reductase, and the outer membrane porin OmpF were found to affect the persistence time of TisB persisters. Assessing the role of AhpF and OmpF in TisB-independent persisters demonstrated that the importance of a particular protein for the recovery process strongly depends on the physiological condition of a persister cell. Our study provides important insights into persister physiology and the processes behind recovery of depolarized cells

3-Ethyl-5-(4-meth­oxy­phen­oxy)-2-(pyridin-4-yl)-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridine

In the title compound, C20H18N4O2, the imidazopyridine fused ring system is almost perpendicular to the benzene ring [dihedral angle = 87.6 (5)°]. The pyridine ring makes a dihedral angle of 35.5 (5)° with the mean plane of the imidazopyridine fragment. The crystal structure is stabilized by an aromatic π–π stacking inter­action between the phenyl rings of neighbouring mol­ecules [centroid–centroid distance = 3.772 (2) Å, inter­planar distance = 3.546 (2) Å and slippage = 1.286 (2) Å]

Synlett Account: Alkynyl Silyl Sulfides as Versatile Thioketene Equivalents

This account covers the chemistry of alkynyl silyl sulfides and their use as substitutes for aldothioketenes. In contrast to the latter heterocumulenes, which can only be prepared and used in situ, many alkynyl silyl sulfides are stable at room temperature. Exceptions are bissilylated derivatives that are capable of rearranging to form the corresponding thioketenes. This reaction is promoted thermally or by the addition of silyl-accepting Lewis bases, but is suppressed by bulky S-silyl substituents. The reactivity of the highly electrophilic alkynyl silyl sulfides is comparable to that of the corresponding ketenes and thioketenes. Nucleophiles usually add to the alkyne α-carbon atoms to give, after desilylation, thiocarbonyl compounds. Particularly useful are the reactions with amines, imines, or ynamines, which give thioamides, β-thiolactams, and cyclobutenethiones, respectively. These transformations proceed under mild conditions and provide access to derivatives that could not previously be prepared by classical means. The scope of the [2+2]- cycloaddition reaction with imines to give β-thiolactams can be expanded by using Lewis acid catalysts, particularly zinc iodide. The mechanism of this reaction has been elucidated by careful characterization of byproducts. Further modifications of the β-thiolactams prepared by this methodology are also described. Reactions of alkynyl silyl sulfides with cyclic imines lead to bicyclic systems that can be considered as thio analogues of the core structures of β-lactam antibiotics. However, there is a competition from the ringexpansion reaction to form seven-membered thiolactams and dithiolactones