Architectural Research in the Use of Foam Plastics

This program of research is being sponsored by the Agency for International Development of the U. S. Department of State in the interest of exploring the possibility of using foam plastics as a basic structural material for application in underdeveloped areas of the world. The preliminary investigation included a study of the mechanical properties of cellu lar plastics, methods for producing such ma terials (alone or in combination with other materials), as well as erection techniques which could result from the use of these ma terials. On the basis of this investigation certain conclusions were reached as to the kinds of structures which would make logical use of foam plastics, utilizing their unique properties and designing around their short comings.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/67135/2/10.1177_0021955X6500100118.pd

Pre-plant release enhanced the earlier establishment of Nesidiocoris tenuis in open field tomato

Ο εχθρός της τομάτας, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) που εισέβαλε στη χώρα μας, πολύ σύντομα έγινε σημαντικός εχθρός τόσο των υπαίθριων όσο και των θερμοκηπιακών καλλιεργειών. Η εξαπόλυση του αρπακτικού Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) (Heteroptera: Miridae) στο φυτώριο έχει βρεθεί ότι μπορεί να συμβάλει στην αντιμετώπιση του T. absoluta σε καλλιέργειες τομάτας στο θερμοκήπιο. Ο στόχος της παρούσας μελέτης είναι να αξιολογηθεί κατά πόσο σε υπαίθρια καλλιέργεια τομάτας, η εξαπόλυση του N. Tenuis στο φυτώριο μπορεί να συμβάλει στην έγκαιρη εγκατάστασή του. Συμπερασματικά, η εξαπόλυση του N. tenuis συνέβαλε ουσιαστικά στην έγκαιρη αποίκηση της καλλιέργειας σε σύγκριση με τα τεμάχια του μάρτυρα. Επίσης, ο ρόλος του ιθαγενούς πληθυσμού του M. pygmaeus πρέπει να λαμβάνεται σοβαρά υπόψη στα προγράμματα ολοκληρωμένης αντιμετώπισης. Η μέθοδος αυτή είναι αποτελεσματική στην πιο έγκαιρη εγκατάσταση του N. tenuis και θα πρέπει να αξιολογηθεί περαιτέρω η συμβολή της στην αντιμετώπιση του Τ. absoluta.The invasive pest of the tomato crops, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae), soon after its establishment became a major problem of outdoor and greenhouse tomato crops across the Mediterranean countries. The pre-plant release of the predator Nesidiocoris tenuis (Reuter) (Heteroptera: Miridae) has been found to substantially contribute to its establishment on the crop and efficient control of T. absoluta in greenhouses. The aim of the current study was to assess whether the pre-plant release of N. tenuis could contribute to its earlier establishment. It was concluded that the release of N. tenuis in the nursery contributed substantially in the earlier increase of its numbers in the field in comparison to the control plots. The native populations of M. pygmaeus appeared on the tomato plants before the native populations of N. tenuis. Thus, the conservation of both predators should be taken into consideration in the integrated management strategies against T. absoluta. Therefore, the application of this method in open field tomato crop enhances the earlier establishment of N. tenuis and should be further evaluated in the control of T. absoluta

Primary Carcinoma of the Gallbladder

Carcinoma of the gallbladder is a relatively rare malignancy which is difficult to diagnose. The advent of improved imaging methods and the expansion of interventional radiology however, combined with advances in surgical technique, has produced a change in attitude towards this tumour. The available world literature since 1960 has been reviewed and is presented in this article. However, whilst the outlook for diagnosis and treatment is improving, clearly the association with cholelithiasis (between 45% and 100%), is a cause for concern particularly with the advent of treatments (lithotripsy, percutaneous gallstone extraction) which leave gall bladder mucosa and residual fragments of stone in situ

The Impact of Math Anxiety on Working Memory:A Cortical Activations and Cortical Functional Connectivity EEG Study

Mathematical anxiety (MA) is defined as a feeling of tension, apprehension, or fear that interferes with mathematical performance in various daily or academic situations. Cognitive consequences of MA have been studied a lot and revealed that MA seriously affects solving the complex problem due to the corruption of working memory (WM). The corruption of WM caused by MA is well documented in behavioral level, but the involved neurophysiological processes have not been properly addressed, despite the recent attention drawn on the neural basis of MA. This is the second part of our study that intents to investigate the neurophysiological aspects of MA and its implications to WM. In the first study, we saw how MA affects the early stages of numeric stimuli processes as the WM indirectly using event-related potentials in scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) signals. This paper goes one step further to investigate the cortical activations, obtained by the multichannel EEG recordings as well as the cortical functional networks in three WM tasks with increasing difficulty. Our results indicate that the high-math anxious (HMA) group activated more areas linked with negative emotions, pain, and fear, while the low-math anxious (LMA) group activated regions related to the encoding and retrieval processes of the WM. Functional connectivity analysis also reveals that the LMAs' brain has got more structured cortical networks with increased connectivity in areas related to WM, such as the frontal cortex, while the HMAs' brain has a more diffused and unstructured network, superimposing the evidence that the structured processes of WM are corrupted