The effects of exercise in the rehabilitation process of substance abuse

Exercise may assist in the rehabilitation process by providing a way for the dependent individual to achieve a mild, pleasurable state that does not require the use of substances; Women between 18 and 43 years of age who were under supervision in a rehabilitation facility for substance abuse were randomly selected to be part of an exercise or a control group. They exercised three times a week for a total of two months. Subjects completed pre and post assessments of anxiety, depression, and readiness to change. They also completed pre and post assessments of resting heart rate, percent body fat, 1 minute curl up, sit-and-reach, and 3 minute step test. Post BDI-II, and BAI showed a significant difference between groups. Only post curl up, 3 minute step test, and percent body fat were significant

Thermal and transport properties of layered silicate nanomaterials subjected to extreme thermal cycling

There is a raising need to design a safe and efficient cryogenic fuel tank for the new generation of reusable launch vehicles. The new tank design focuses on composite materials that can achieve the drastic reduction of empty/non-payload and structural weight. In addition to the materials to be compatible with cryogenic temperatures, interior components of the vehicle may be subjected to significantly elevated temperatures due to heat conduction from the vehicle surfaces during and after atmospheric re-entry. Therefore, there is the need to understand the performance of the composites after experiencing extreme thermal environments. Polymer-layered nanocomposites were studied to determine if they can reduce the permeation to the liquid nitrogen used as fuel in the next generation of space vehicles. Due to the non-permeable nature of the silicates and the exfoliated structure they adopt into the polymer matrix the addition of nanoclays into a polymer is expected to reduce the permeation to several gases without sacrificing the mechanical strength of the nanocomposite as well as providing additional improvements such as increase of thermal stability of the nanocomposite. Several types of matrixes modified with different types and content of nanoclays were tested and their permeability coefficient was calculated. The permeability values obtained for the different formulations assisted to understand the transport properties of nanoclay modified composites. In addition to this, thermal characterization was performed with the help of dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analyses and differential scanning calorimetry studies. To determine if the nanoclay modified nanocomposites were affected by extreme temperatures the samples were subjected to thermal cycling. Comparison of the transport and thermal properties before and after cycling helped to analyze the effect of the addition of the nanoclays in the nanocomposites. Positron annihilation spectroscopy (PAS) was utilized to comprehend how the distribution of the free volume was affected by the presence of the nanoclays and by the thermal cycling applied. Different permeability models were utilized in an attempt to validate the experimental results of the different nanocomposite structures. This analysis was used to provide additional insight into many aspects of the experimental results obtained in this study

Development of shRNA screens to identify effectors of three complex traits: neighbour suppression of tumour growth and proliferation and protection from lipotoxicity in β-cells.

RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural mechanism of cellular defence against exogenous double stranded RNA (dsRNA). The discovery of small dsRNA molecules which can be processed by the RNAi pathway in mammalian cells was one of the key advances in the study of functional genomics. These molecules can be designed to downregulate the expression of specific genes. Collections or libraries of dsRNA molecules targeting an extensive number of genes are now available. Using these libraries, numerous studies have implemented high-throughput screens for the study of molecular effectors of numerous phenotypes. The process of designing an RNAi screen requires the consideration of several critical factors during both the experimental and analysis phases. The experimental screen should aim to reproduce the biological phenomenon studied as closely as possible by choosing an adequate model and screening conditions. Phenotype evaluation and assessment of knockdown effects need careful consideration. The results obtained from large-scale RNAi screens are often complex. An analysis pipeline should be implemented which integrates the biological basis of the phenomenon and facilitates the interpretation of the data. This project designed and implemented an unbiased shRNA screen in two in vitro models relevant to carcinogenesis and diabetes. The first screen implemented used a model of neighbour suppression to study the molecular effectors of the response in tumorigenic cells to growth suppression cues from the surrounding tissue, a cellular interaction relevant in early tumorigenesis. The second screen studied two phenotypes relevant to diabetes: proliferation and resistance to lipotoxicity of β-cells in a reversibly immortalised cell line. An integrative analysis pipeline was also developed to apply network biology and functional enrichment analysis methods for the interpretation of the data obtained from both screens.Diabetes U

A cheap portable eye-tracker solution for common setups

We analyze the feasibility of a cheap eye-tracker where the hardware consists of a single webcam and a Raspberry Pi device. Our aim is to discover the limits of such a system and to see whether it provides an acceptable performance. We base our work on the open source Opengazer (Zielinski, 2013) and we propose several improvements to create a robust, real-time system which can work on a computer with 30Hz sampling rate. After assessing the accuracy of our eye-tracker in elaborated experiments involving 12 subjects under 4 different system setups, we install it on a Raspberry Pi to create a portable stand-alone eye-tracker which achieves 1.42° horizontal accuracy with 3Hz refresh rate for a building cost of 70 Euros

Um intelectual periférico em Paris trauma e criação em Une Mélancolie Arabe, de Abdellah Taïa

The relationships between trauma, melancholy and artistic creation, in the autofiction Une Mélancolie Arabe(2008), by Abdellah Taïa, are the background for the cinematographic and literary initiation of the protagonist, Abdellah, a Moroccan living in Paris. The purpose of this article is to show that this narrator-character, from a peripheral country, when experiencing the mourning of his origin and the cultural idealization of the host country, problematizes a relevant issue for comparative literature, debating, during return trips to countries Arabs, the idealization of the French capital as a reference for intellectual training. The hypothesis put forward is that, when experiencing initiatory rituals, in which artistic work and social and erotic interactions intertwine, the narrator finds himself confronted with the imaginary frustration embodied by the body and language of the other, ending up reinventing his place as a francophone writer. The theoretical-methodological contribution consists of the concepts of melancholy, by Sigmund Freud; não-lugar da literatura, by Eneida Souza; différance, by Jacques Derrida; ethical violence, by Judith Butler; and minor language, by Deleuze and Guattari

Classic but unexpected: a case of Jefferson fracture.

A man was found lying dead next to a ladder, with only a laceration surrounded by an abrasion visible upon external examination. No skull fractures were palpable. A CT scan and MRI showed a Jefferson fracture of the atlas, associated to a posterior displacement of the skull, a fracture of the dens of the axis, and fractures of the bodies of C5 and C6. Jefferson fractures typically result from a blow to the apex of the skull. In such cases, forensic pathologists should suspect the existence of a Jefferson fracture, particularly when no severe injuries are visible externally

Current indications for post-mastectomy radiation

It has been long established that post-mastectomy radiotherapy reduces the risk of locoregional failure. A survival advantage, however, has only recently been demonstrated. We here provide a review of the literature as regards to the current indications for post-mastectomy radiotherapy

A escrita corsária de Abdellah Taïa

Neste artigo, abordo a relação entre a transculturação em língua francesa e a dimensão heteroglóssica do discurso sobre a sexualidade nas obras Le Rouge du Tarbouche e Celui qui est digne d’être aimé de Abdellah Taïa. Focalizo a metáfora dos corsários contadores como uma alegoria metalinguística da literatura transcultural do autor. Com o aporte do termo escrita corsária, espero mostrar estratégias de um fazer narrativo que, dialogando com as obras de Jean Genet e André Gide, se indaga sobre o estatuto das falas de narradores e personagens subalternos