Incidence of Obesity Among Mentally Retarded Children

An international survey of professionals in the field of mental retardation was conducted to determine significant research priorities in the education of students with mild retardation. A total of 67 individuals responded to survey which represented 83.7% of those contacted. Among the issues rated most highly were two clusters: vocational, career education and post-school adjustment and long term effects and generalization of effects of programs. Implications of the survey data are discussed and recommendations are provided

Dryosaurid ornithopods from the Late Jurassic of Portugal: an overview

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Cardiac stem cells possess growth factor-receptor systems that after activation regenerate the infarcted myocardium, improving ventricular function and long-term survival.

Cardiac stem cells and early committed cells (CSCs-ECCs) express c-Met and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) receptors and synthesize and secrete the corresponding ligands, hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and IGF-1. HGF mobilizes CSCs-ECCs and IGF-1 promotes their survival and proliferation. Therefore, HGF and IGF-1 were injected in the hearts of infarcted mice to favor, respectively, the translocation of CSCs-ECCs from the surrounding myocardium to the dead tissue and the viability and growth of these cells within the damaged area. To facilitate migration and homing of CSCs-ECCs to the infarct, a growth factor gradient was introduced between the site of storage of primitive cells in the atria and the region bordering the infarct. The newly-formed myocardium contained arterioles, capillaries, and functionally competent myocytes that with time increased in size, improving ventricular performance at healing and long thereafter. The volume of regenerated myocytes was 2200 m3 at 16 days after treatment and reached 5100 m3 at 4 months. In this interval, nearly 20% of myocytes reached the adult phenotype, varying in size from 10 000 to 20 000 m3. Moreover, there were 4313 arterioles and 15548 capillaries/mm2 myocardium at 16 days, and 316 arterioles and 39056 capillaries at 4 months. Myocardial regeneration induced increased survival and rescued animals with infarcts that were up to 86% of the ventricle, which are commonly fatal. In conclusion, the heart has an endogenous reserve of CSCs-ECCs that can be activated to reconstitute dead myocardium and recover cardiac function

Determination of 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene in industrial emission

A method to measure the emissive concentration of 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene (ENB), a reactive compound used in industrial synthesis of terpolymers, has been developed. The starting points for the development of the presented method are European and Italian reference methods for the quantification of nonreactive volatile organic compounds in industrial emission. In this study, sampling conditions and desorption solvent have been optimized in laboratory and the method was applied in an industrial plant. The laboratory tests showed a good recovery (88-95 %). The concentrations of ENB in industrial emission obtained with the developed method were compared with an online gas chromatography-flame ionization results (R (2) > 0.97). In addition, several manual measurements were performed in parallel, and the resulting %RSD repeatability was < 9 %. The developed method provides a discontinuous technique to measure reactive volatile organic compounds using easy-to-use instruments and assures a very good accuracy and precision even with high-humidity gas flows. The method could be extended to other reactive compounds of the same class

Abnormal development of paired enigmatic structures in the derived dicynodont Lystrosaurus murrayi (Therapsida, Anomodontia)

Derived dicynodonts, including Lystrosaurus murrayi, have edentulous lower jaws. As an interesting exception to this conventional wisdom, a well-preserved specimen of L. murrayi (MGGC-8850/1RE13 F) has abnormal, paired mandibular structures similar in overall morphology to dental teeth. The specimen pertains to the historical collections of the Museo G. Capellini (Bologna, Italy) and was collected in 1929 by M. Gortani during prospecting activities near Harrismith, South Africa. The specimen is articulated and includes a nearly complete skull, the first eight vertebrae and the proximal end of the right scapula. Reconstruction based on a Dual-Beam CT revealed unusual, paired structures similar to mandibular teeth, encased within the lower jaw, lingual to maxillary tusks. Different interpretations are possible for the abnormal mandibular structures in MGGC-8850/1RE13 F: 1) the dental lamina in the lower jaw, which would normally degenerate in derived dicynodonts, remained active and potentiated the odontogenesis; 2) the dental lamina was potent in the lower jaw throughout the ontogeny across dicynodonts but activated differentially; or 3) the mandibular patterning in our specimen was dorsalized, which resulted in an ectopic formation of upper jaw dentition in the lower jaws. Supranumerary or ectopic teeth are a commonly screened phenotype in modern mammalian models. Such variation distributes in a continuum – rarely does an edentulous jaw develop fully functional teeth that are present in outgroups. The absence of mandibular dentition in other specimens of L. murrayi and in most other bidentalian dicynodonts suggests that MGGC-8850/1RE13 F represents a rare developmental abnormality or a case of atavism

Characterisation and evaluation of the emissions from the combustion of Orimulsion-400, coal and heavy fuel oil in a thermoelectric power plant

An experimental campaign was carried out in a thermoelectric power plant in Southern Italy in order to evaluate the emissions released during the utilisation of three different fuels, Orimulsion-400, coal and heavy fuel oil (HFO) with high content of sulphur. Macropollutant concentrations in the exhaust gases were recorded by the continuous monitoring system and the Institute on Atmospheric Pollution of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) carried out samplings and analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and Polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDF), halogenidric acids and metals. The pollutant concentrations, mass flows and emission factors were compared. Each fuel met the air emission limits for all the pollutants. Coal showed the highest emission levels, whilst HFO and Orimulsion were fairly similar. NOx, SO2 and particulate matter showed constant concentration for all the fuels, while Orimulsion and HFO SO2 concentrations were critical at the highest operating power. Orimulsion showed the lowest PAHs values and PCDDs and PCDFs were much lower than the limits, for all the fuels. Particular attention must be paid with vanadium and nickel during Orimulsion utilisation. For these metals mass balances were carried out.An experimental campaign was carried out in a thermoelectric power plant in Southern Italy in order to evaluate the emissions released during the utilisation of three different fuels, Orimulsion-400, coal and heavy fuel oil (HFO) with high content of sulphur. Macropollutant concentrations in the exhaust gases were recorded by the continuous monitoring system and the Institute on Atmospheric Pollution of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) carried out samplings and analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs), Polychlorodibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD) and Polychlorodibenzofurans (PCDF), halogenidric acids and metals. The pollutant concentrations, mass flows and emission factors were compared. Each fuel met the air emission limits for all the pollutants. Coal showed the highest emission levels, whilst HFO and Orimulsion were fairly similar. NOx, SO2 and particulate matter showed constant concentration for all the fuels, while Orimulsion and HFO SO2 concentrations were critical at the highest operating power. Orimulsion showed the lowest PAHs values and PCDDs and PCDFs were much lower than the limits, for all the fuels. Particular attention must be paid with vanadium and nickel during Orimulsion utilisation. For these metals mass balances were carried out