Steelmaking by Injection of Oxygen and Lime Powder Irsid-O .L.P. Process

THE injection of powdered materials, capable of reacting rapidly with a metallic bath has long been considered, and for several years IRSID has pursued a systematic study of "metallurgy by injection of powders".This res-earch has already led to known industrial developments, such as the desulphurisation of pig iron by powdered lime, the treatment of siliceous pig iron in the basic Bessemer converter, and the thermal controlled thermal adjust- ment of the operation in the converter. Numerous technical developments made during these res-earch projects, as well as the acquisition Of new fund-amental data, have led IRSID to expand this technique and to develop a new steelmaking process which can be applied to pig irons of any phosphorus and silicon content

Weighing the impact of ICT on "modular" SMEs

We call "modular firm" a network of small interacting firms, exchanging artifacts (atoms) and information (bits) to accomplish a common goal. In this paper we propose a method to assess how effective is the information exchange among firm modular units. We propose to model a modular firm as a set of units that interact through well-defined channels: structural information together with type, format, and traffic shape are used to weigh the information exchange and the value associated to a given organizational setting

Additional description of a new species of Tunga (Siphonaptera) from Ecuador

A new species of chigoe flea belonging to the genus Tunga jarocki, 1838 (Siphonaptera, Pulicidae, Tunginae), Tungo trimamillata, was recently described by Pampiglione et al. (2002). A better description and more details of the epidemiology of the flea are now presented. It is a species found in goats, pigs and cattle in Santa Isabel in Andean Ecuador. This new species differs from its most similar congener, Tunga penetrans (L., 1758), by several features, the most important of which are a) the presence on the anterior extremity of the gravid female of three rounded humps surrounding the head and thorax (which, however, are not visible if viewed in profile), b) slightly larger dimensions and C) the length of the first segment of the maxillary palpi which is longer than each of the other three

Autologous US-guided PRP injection versus US-guided focal extracorporeal shock wave therapy for chronic lateral epicondylitis: A minimum of 2-year follow-up retrospective comparative study.

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy of two independent groups of patients treated with ultrasound (US)-guided extracorporeal shock wave (ESW) therapy and with US-guided injection of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for chronic lateral epicondylitis (LE) with a minimum of 2-year follow-up. METHODS: We retrospectively evaluated 63 patients treated for chronic LE (31 patients with autologous US-guided PRP injection and 32 patients with US-guided focal ESW therapy) from 2009 to 2014. All the patients were evaluated by means of Roles-Maudsley (RM) score, quick Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (QuickDASH) score, visual analogic scale (VAS) and patient-rated tennis elbow evaluation (PRTEE) to retrospectively assess the pain relief, level of activity, the self-reported function and subjective satisfaction at minimum of 2-year follow-up. RESULTS: Both US-guided autologous PRP injection and US-guided focal ESW administration proved effective in chronic LE with significant improvement in the QuickDASH, VAS, RM and PRTEE scores ( p < 0.0001). No adverse effects or complications were recorded in any groups. No differences were found in recurrence rate and final results of the QuickDASH, VAS, RM and PRTEE scores between the two groups ( p > 0.05). The mean time between treatment and symptom resolution was significantly shorter for the PRP treatment ( p = 0.0212); furthermore, the mean time to return to the normal activities was quicker for PRP group ( p = 0.0119). CONCLUSION: Both PRP injection and ESW therapy are feasible and safe options for the treatment of chronic LE with low risk of complications and with good long-term follow-up results. US-guided PRP injection has quick efficacy when compared with US-guided focal ESW therapy

SURVEY ON V. CHOLERAE, V. VULNIFICUS AND V. PARAHAEMOLYTICUS IN BIVALVE MOLLUSCS OF THE ADRIATIC SEA AND PROPOSAL OF AN ANALYTICAL PROTOCOL

Bivalve molluscs from Adriatic sea were analyzed for V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae e V. vulnificus presence. The isolates on TCBS Agar and m-CPC Agar were selected on the basis of a new biochemical screening, that showed a good performance, because among 2344 strains from primary culture only 237 (10%) were presumptively assigned to the species of interest. The PCR analyses was performed for the target genes toxR hlyA, ctxA, tcpI (V. cholerae), toxR, tl, tdh, trh (V. parahaemolyticus), vvhA and viuB (V. vulnificus). Among the 9 strains confirmed to belong to V. parahaemolyticus specie, 6 were sucrose positive. On 215 samples of molluscs only 5 resulted positive for V. parahaemolyticus being toxR+, tl+, although non pathogenic (tdh-, trh-), and none for V. cholerae e V. vulnificus

Increased age and male sex are independently associated with higher frequency of blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier dysfunction using the albumin quotient

Background: The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF)/serum quotient of albumin (QAlb) is the most used biomarker for the evaluation of blood–cerebrospinal fluid barrier (B-CSF-B) permeability. For years QAlb was considered only as an age-related parameter but recently it has also been associated to sex. The aim of the present study was to explore the impact of sex in the determination of B-CSF-B dysfunction. Methods: The analysis was retrospectively conducted on subjects consecutively admitted to the neurological ward. CSF and serum albumin levels were measured by immunonephelometry and pathological QAlb thresholds were considered: 6.5 under 40 years, 8.0 in the age 40–60 and 9.0 over 60 years. Results: 1209 subjects were included in the study. 718 females and 491 males (age: 15–88 years): 24.6% of patients had a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis, 23.2% suffered from other inflammatory neurological diseases, 24.6% were affected by non-inflammatory neurological diseases, and for 27.6% of patients the final neurological diagnosis could not be traced. Dysfunctional B-CSF-B was detected more frequently (44 vs. 20.1%, p < 0.0001) and median QAlb value were higher (7.18 vs. 4.87, p < 0.0001) in males than in females in the overall study population and in all disease sub- groups. QAlb and age were positively correlated both in female (p < 0.0001) and male (p < 0.0001) patients, however the slopes of the two regression lines were not significantly different (p = 0.7149), while the difference between the elevations was extremely significant (p < 0.0001) with a gap of 2.2 units between the two sexes. Finally, in a multivari- able linear regression analysis increased age and male sex were independently associated with higher QAlb in the overall study population (both p < 0.001) and after stratification by age and disease group. Conclusions: Accordingly, identification and validation of sex-targeted QAlb thresholds should be considered as a novel tool in an effort to achieve more precision in the medical approach

Anatomy of Tunga trimamillata Pampiglione et al., 2002 (Insecta, Siphonaptera, Tungidae) and developmental phases of the gravid female

This paper deals with some internal anatomical features observed in histological sections and freshly dissected mounts of Tunga trimamillata, a Siphonaptera recently discovered in Andean regions of Ecuador from several mammals, including man. It was possible to study in males and also non-gravid and gravid females, the location and anatomy of several organs not previously described for this species: the testes, epididymis, ganglia, Malpighian tubules, eyes, rectal ampulla with one of its pads and structures which could be interpreted as midgut diverticula, whose presence has not been recorded in the Siphonaptera. The process of neosomy in the female during pregnancy is illustrated by photographs of the consecutive developmental phases, taken at the stereomicroscope. Furthermore, Some details of the exoskeleton, spermatheca during different phases of pregnancy of the gravid female and the presence of a foreign body (parasite?) within the haemocoel have been displayed in specimens cleared with Hoyer's medium

Development and validation of the Brazilian version of the Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire (AAQ): An example of merging classical psychometric theory and the Rasch measurement model

Aging has determined a demographic shift in the world, which is considered a major societal achievement, and a challenge. Aging is primarily a subjective experience, shaped by factors such as gender and culture. There is a lack of instruments to assess attitudes to aging adequately. In addition, there is no instrument developed or validated in developing region contexts, so that the particularities of ageing in these areas are not included in the measures available. This paper aims to develop and validate a reliable attitude to aging instrument by combining classical psychometric approach and Rasch analysis

Performance of Five Serological Tests in the Diagnosis of Visceral and Cryptic Leishmaniasis: A Comparative Study

Introduction: Leishmaniasis is a major health problem and its diagnosis still represents a challenge. Since consistent evidence on the comparison of serological methods is lacking, our work aims to compare five serological tests for the diagnosis of visceral and asymptomatic leishmaniasis in southern France, a region where leishmaniasis is endemic. Methodology: Serum samples from 75 patients living in Nice, France were retrospectively analyzed. They included patients affected by visceral leishmaniasis (VL; n = 25), asymptomatic carriers (AC; n = 25) and negative controls (n = 25). Each sample was tested using two immunochromatographic tests (ICT; IT LEISH® and TruQuick IgG/IgM®), an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT) and two Western Blotting (WB; LDBio BIORAD® and an in-house method). Results: Diagnosis of VL with IFAT and TruQuick® showed the highest diagnostic performance parameters. IFAT had 100% sensitivity and specificity, while TruQuick had 96% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Finally, the two tests showed high accuracy (100% for IFAT and 98% for TruQuick) for the AC group. WB LDBio® was the only method able to detect Leishmania latent infection, with a sensitivity of 92%, and a specificity of 100%, with a Negative Predictive Value (NPV) of 93%. This performance is reflected in the high accuracy of the test. Conclusions: The data obtained with TruQuick® supports its application in the rapid diagnosis of leishmaniasis in endemic areas, a feature not shown by IFAT despite its high diagnostic performance. Regarding the diagnosis of asymptomatic leishmaniasis, the best results were obtained with WB LDBio®, confirming previous studies

Use of adipose derived stem cells in Treacher Collins syndrome

Objective: Treacher Collins syndrome (TCS) is a rare congenital disorder of craniofacial development. TCS occurs with an incidence of 1:50,000, and more than 60% of TCS cases have no previous family history and arise as the result of de novo mutations. The high rate of de novo mutations, together with the extreme variability in the degree to which individuals can be affected, makes the provision of genetic counseling extremely complicated. Consequently, every case of TCS is unique and needs to be assessed individually. Patients with TCS frequently undergo multiple reconstructive surgeries from birth through adulthood, which rarely are fully corrective in the long-term. The nascent field of regenerative medicine offers the promise to improve some of these treatments. In particular, structural fat grafting (SFG) seems to be a good strategy not only to restore the normal volume and contour of the face, but also to provide a source of adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) with a multilineage differentiation potential. In this work, we present genetical analyses of ADSC affected by TCS. Materials and methods: ADSCs from were analyzed for their stemness properties and shared many characteristics with those of a healthy subject. Screening of the genome of the TCS patient using array-Comparative Genomic Hybridization allowed us to identify some chromosomal imbalances that are probably associated with TCS. Results: We found that some alterations, involving the TIMELESS gene, were usually associated with embryonic stem cells. Conclusions: With the aim to improve the final results, we need to consider combining knowledge of genetic alterations and expression profiles as a fundamental step before starting with surgical procedures