1,166 research outputs found
Extended treatment with interferon and ribavirin in a hemodialysis patient with chronic hepatitis C
Hemodialysis patient with chronic HCV infection,who was started on monotherapy with interferon.Qualitative HCV RNA remained positive at 12 weeks of treatment; ribavirin was associated. HCV RNA was negative at week 24 and treatment was extended to 72 weeks. HCV RNA negative six months after treatment.19319
Effects of nitridation on SiC/SiO2 structures studied by hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
SiC is set to enable a new era in power electronics impacting a wide range of energy technologies, from electric vehicles to renewable energy. Its physical characteristics outperform silicon in many aspects, including band gap, breakdown field, and thermal conductivity. The main challenge for further development of SiC-based power semiconductor devices is the quality of the interface between SiC and its native dielectric SiO. High temperature nitridation processes can improve the interface quality and ultimately the device performance immensely, but the underlying chemical processes are still poorly understood. Here, we present an energy-dependent hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (HAXPES) study probing non-destructively SiC and SiO and their interface in device stacks treated in varying atmospheres. We successfully combine laboratory- and synchrotron-based HAXPES to provide unique insights into the chemistry of interface defects and their passivation through nitridation processes
Effect of Biodiversity Changes in Disease Risk: Exploring Disease Emergence in a Plant-Virus System
The effect of biodiversity on the ability of parasites to infect their host and cause disease (i.e. disease risk) is a major question in pathology, which is central to understand the emergence of infectious diseases, and to develop strategies for their management. Two hypotheses, which can be considered as extremes of a continuum, relate biodiversity to disease risk: One states that biodiversity is positively correlated with disease risk (Amplification Effect), and the second predicts a negative correlation between biodiversity and disease risk (Dilution Effect). Which of them applies better to different host-parasite systems is still a source of debate, due to limited experimental or empirical data. This is especially the case for viral diseases of plants. To address this subject, we have monitored for three years the prevalence of several viruses, and virus-associated symptoms, in populations of wild pepper (chiltepin) under different levels of human management. For each population, we also measured the habitat species diversity, host plant genetic diversity and host plant density. Results indicate that disease and infection risk increased with the level of human management, which was associated with decreased species diversity and host genetic diversity, and with increased host plant density. Importantly, species diversity of the habitat was the primary predictor of disease risk for wild chiltepin populations. This changed in managed populations where host genetic diversity was the primary predictor. Host density was generally a poorer predictor of disease and infection risk. These results support the dilution effect hypothesis, and underline the relevance of different ecological factors in determining disease/infection risk in host plant populations under different levels of anthropic influence. These results are relevant for managing plant diseases and for establishing conservation policies for endangered plant species
DWSB in heterotic flux compactifications
We address the construction of non-supersymmetric vacua in heterotic
compactifications with intrinsic torsion and background fluxes. In particular,
we implement the approach of domain-wall supersymmetry breaking (DWSB)
previously developed in the context of type II flux compactifications. This
approach is based on considering backgrounds where probe NS5-branes wrapping
internal three-cycles and showing up as four-dimensional domain-walls do not
develop a BPS bound, while all the other BPS bounds characterizing the N=1
supersymmetric compactifications are preserved at tree-level. Via a scalar
potential analysis we provide the conditions for these backgrounds to solve the
ten-dimensional equations of motion including order \alpha' corrections. We
also consider backgrounds where some of the NS5-domain-walls develop a BPS
bound, show their relation to no-scale SUSY-breaking vacua and construct
explicit examples via elliptic fibrations. Finally, we consider backgrounds
with a non-trivial gaugino condensate and discuss their relation to
supersymmetric and non-supersymmetric vacua in the present context.Comment: 56 pages, 1 figur
Trust Perceptions of Online Travel Information by Different Content Creators: Some Social and Legal Implications
Consumers are increasingly turning to the online
environment to provide information to assist them in
making purchase decisions related to travel products. They
often rely on travel recommendations from different
sources, such as sellers, independent experts and, increasingly,
other consumers. A new type of online content, usergenerated
content (UGC), provides a number of legal and
social challenges to providers and users of that content,
especially in relation to areas such as defamation, misrepresentation
and social embarrassment. This paper reports
research that examined the level of trustworthiness of
online travel information from these different sources. The
study used a survey of Australian travel consumers (n=
12,000) and results support the notion that there are
differences in the level of trust for online travel information
from different sources. Respondents âtended to agreeâ that
they trusted information provided by travel agents, information
from commercial operators and comments made by
travellers on third party websites. However, the highest
level of trust was afforded to information provided on State
government tourism websites. These results suggest that
greater trust is placed in online travel comments when they
are on a specific travel website than when they are on a
more generic social networking website. However, respondents
were ânot sureâ that they trusted comments made by
travellers on weblogs and on social networking sites. Some
88% of respondents that had not visited UGC websites (or
were unsure if they had) indicated that they thought that
UGC would be useful in the future â suggesting that they
feel that any concerns they may have in relation to legal and
social problems resulting from its use will be resolved
Control of sulphide during anaerobic treatment of S-containing wastewaters by adding limited amounts of oxygen or nitrate
Sulphide generated during anaerobic treatment of S-containing wastewaters represents an environmental problem. Adding limited amounts of oxygen or nitrate (or nitrite) to biologically (or chemically) oxidise sulphide forms a simple process level strategy to control this problem. This short review evaluates the feasibility and limitations of this strategy on the basis of the results of bioreactor studies.Sulphide generated during anaerobic treatment of S-containing wastewaters represents an environmental problem. Adding limited amounts of oxygen or nitrate (or nitrite) to biologically (or chemically) oxidise sulphide forms a simple process level strategy to control this problem. This short review evaluates the feasibility and limitations of this strategy on the basis of the results of bioreactor studies.Spanish Ministry
of Education and Science; AEA Technology
Environment; Nova Energie; The
Swedish Gas Centre; University of Southern
Denmark
National and sub-national under-five mortality profiles in Peru: a basis for informed policy decisions
BACKGROUND: Information on profiles for under-five causes of death is important to guide choice of child-survival interventions. Global level data have been published, but information at country level is scarce. We aimed at defining national and departmental trends and profiles of under-five mortality in Peru from 1996 through 2000. METHODS: We used the Ministry of Health registered under-five mortality data. For correction of under-registration, a model life-table that fitted the age distribution of the population and of registered deaths was identified for each year. The mortality rates corresponding to these model life-tables were then assigned to each department in each particular year. Cumulative reduction in under-five mortality rate in the 1996â2000 period was estimated calculating the annual reduction slope for each department. Departmental level mortality profiles were constructed. Differences in mortality profiles and in mortality reduction between coastal, andean and jungle regions were also assessed. RESULTS: At country level, only 4 causes (pneumonia, diarrhoea, neonatal diseases and injuries) accounted for 68% of all deaths in 1996, and for 62% in 2000. There was 32.7% of under-five death reduction from 1996 to 2000. Diarrhoea and pneumonia deaths decreased by 84.5% and 41.8%, respectively, mainly in the andean region, whereas deaths due to neonatal causes and injuries decreased by 37.2% and 21.7%. For 1996â2000 period, the andean, coast and jungle regions accounted for 52.4%, 33.1% and 14.4% of deaths, respectively. These regions represent 41.0%, 46.4% and 12.6% of under-five population. Both diarrhoea and pneumonia constitute 30.6% of under-five deaths in the andean region. As a proportion, neonatal deaths remained stable in the country from 1996 to 2000, accounting for about 30% of under-five deaths, whereas injuries and "other" causes, including congenital anomalies, increased by about 5%. CONCLUSION: Under-five mortality declined substantially in all departments from 1996 to 2000, which is explained mostly by reduction in diarrhoea and pneumonia deaths, particularly in the andean region. There is the need to emphasize interventions to reduce neonatal deaths and emerging causes of death such as injuries and congenital anomalies
Identification of candidate genes associated with fibromyalgia susceptibility in southern Spanish women: the alâĂndalus project
Candidate-gene studies on fibromyalgia susceptibility often include a small number of single nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNPs), which is a limitation. Moreover, there is a paucity of evidence in Europe. Therefore, we
compared genotype frequencies of candidate SNPs in a well-characterised sample of Spanish women with fibromyalgia
and healthy non-fibromyalgia women.This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
[I+D+i DEP2010-15639, I+D+i DEP2013-40908-R to M.D.-F.;
BES-2014-067612 to F.E.-L.]; the Spanish Ministry of Education [FPU2014/02518
to M.B.-C.]; the ConsejerĂa de Turismo, Comercio y Deporte, Junta de AndalucĂa
[CTCD-201000019242-TRA to M.D.-F.]; ConsejerĂa de Salud, Junta de AndalucĂa
[PI-0520-2016 to M.D.-F.], and the University of Granada, Plan Propio de
InvestigaciĂłn 2016, Excellence actions: Units of Excellence; Unit of Excellence
on Exercise and Health (UCEES). This work is part of a Ph.D. Thesis conducted
in the Biomedicine Doctoral Studies of the University of Granada, Spai
Construct validity of a figure rating scale for Brazilian adolescents
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Figure rating scales were developed as a tool to determine body dissatisfaction in women, men, and children. However, it lacks in the literature the validation of the scale for body silhouettes previously adapted. We aimed to obtain evidence for construct validity of a figure rating scale for Brazilian adolescents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study was carried out with adolescent students attending three public schools in an urban region of the municipality of Florianopolis in the State of Santa Catarina (SC). The sample comprised 232 10-19-year-old students, 106 of whom are boys and 126 girls, from the 5th "series" (i.e. year) of Primary School to the 3rd year of Secondary School. Data-gathering involved the application of an instrument containing 8 body figure drawings representing a range of children's and adolescents' body shapes, ranging from very slim (contour 1) to obese (contour 8). Weights and heights were also collected, and body mass index (BMI) was calculated later. BMI was analyzed as a continuous variable, using z-scores, and as a dichotomous categorical variable, representing a diagnosis of nutritional status (normal and overweight including obesity).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Results showed that both males and females with larger BMI z-scores chose larger body contours. Girls with higher BMI z-scores also show higher values of body image dissatisfaction.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We provided the first evidence of validity for a figure rating scale for Brazilian adolescents.</p
Abrasion resistance and compressive strength of unprocessed rice husk ash concrete
This paper investigates the effects of adding natural rice husk ash collected from uncontrolled burning and without previous grinding (NRHA) as cement replacement in concrete. To obtain an adequate particle size, NRHA was mixed with coarse aggregate for a convenient period of time before adding the other components. Compressive strength, water absorption, porosity, and abrasion resistance expressed as weight loss were examined. Test results show that decreasing the particle size through mixing with coarse aggregate improved the compressive strength, reduced the permeability, and increased the abrasion resistance of concrete. By mixing NRHA with aggregate for 8 min, abrasion resistance improved by 10.35 and 23.62% over the control concrete at 28 and 91 days, respectively. Incorporating NRHA in concrete by grinding with coarse aggregate during the mixing process could be suitable for making normal-strength concrete and for applications where abrasion resistance is an important parameter. In addition, using NRHA as a partial replacement cement contributes to the reduction of CO2 emissions due to the production of cement
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