Maternal-fetal disease information as a source of exercise motivation during pregnancy.

Objective: A Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) framework was used to examine whether information about the role of exercise in preventing maternal-fetal disease served as a meaningful source of exercise motivation. Design: Pregnant women (n = 208) were randomly assigned into one of three conditions: PMT, attention control, and noncontact control. Women in the PMT group read a brochure about the benefits of exercise during pregnancy incorporating the major components of PMT; perceived vulnerability (PV), perceived severity (PS), response efficacy (RE), and self-efficacy (SE). Participants in the attention-control condition read a brochure about diet. Following treatment, all participants completed measures of their beliefs toward maternal-fetal disease and exercise, goal intention (GI), and implementation intention (IMI). One week later, a measure of self-reported exercise behavior was collected. Main Outcome Measures: Main outcome measures were PMT variables (PV, PS, RE, and SE), GI, IMI, and follow-up physical activity. Results: Participants assigned to the PMT-present group reported significantly higher PS, RE, SE, GI, and increased exercise behavior. PS, RE, and SE predicted GI, GI predicted IMI, and IMI predicted exercise behavior. Conclusion: Information grounded in PMT is effective in influencing pregnant women’s beliefs and intentions as well as changing their initial behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The ‘Cash-Point’ Service: A Verification Case Study Using STeP

STeP, the Stanford Temporal Prover, supports the computer-aided formal verification of concurrent and reactive systems based on temporal specifications [MBB99]. Automated model checking is combined with computer-aided deductive methods to allow for the verification of a broad class of systems, including parameterised (N-component) circuit designs, parameterised (N-process) programs, and programs with infinite data domains. Received February 2000 / Accepted in revised form December 2000     

The Role of Biomarkers in Atherothrombotic Stroke—A Systematic Review

Stroke represents the primary debilitating disease in adults and is the second-highest cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerosis, the most prevalent etiology for vascular conditions, is a continuous process that gradually creates and develops endothelial lesions known as atherosclerotic plaques. These lesions lead to the appearance of atherothrombotic stroke. In the last decades, the role of biological biomarkers has emerged as either diagnostic, prognostic, or therapeutic targets. This article aims to create a list of potential biomarkers related to atherothrombotic stroke by reviewing the currently available literature. We identified 23 biomarkers and assessed their roles as risk factors, detection markers, prognostic predictors, and therapeutic targets. The central aspect of these biomarkers is related to risk stratification, especially for patients who have not yet suffered a stroke. Other valuable data are focused on the predictive capabilities for stroke patients regarding short-term and long-term prognosis, including their influence over the acute phase treatment, such as rt-PA thrombolysis. Although the role of biomarkers is anticipated to be of extreme value in the future, they cannot yet compete with traditional stroke neuroimaging markers but could be used as additional tools for etiological diagnosis.     

Ceramic interface properties evaluation based on contact angle measurement

The ceramic interface properties and morphology were estimated based on contact angle measurements. The contact angle, θ, was measured using different liquids (glycerol, NaCl 3.5% solution, oleic acid and ultra pure water) with known surface tensions. Correlations of the contact angle with the chemical bonds and morphology of thin films are presented. The thin films, deposited via Spray Pyrolysis Deposition (SPD) are TiO₂ (dense, porous) and WO₃ (dense, porous) films.The interface properties of the ceramic layers were explained using the topography images obtained with Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and by measuring the contact angles and surface tensions.The contact angles method is sensitive at high θ values. The experiments indicated that the recommended testing liquid is pure water, both for TiO₂ and WO₃ thin films, allowing a clear difference between dense and porous surfaces. The measurements were done at the initial moment of the contact drop-sample and with 1 s step up to 30 min. The presented results can be further used in optimizing the layer-by-layer deposition of thin films.     

Flavor Chemistry of Cocoa and Cocoa Products—An Overview

Cocoa originates from beans of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao L.) and it is an important commodity in the world and the main ingredient in chocolate manufacture. Its value and quality are related to unique and complex flavors. Bulk cocoas (Forastero type) exhibit strong basic cocoa notes, whereas fine varieties (Criollo, Nacional) show aromatic, floral, or smoother flavor characteristics. About 600 various compounds (alcohols, carboxylic acids, aldehydes, ketones, esters, and pyrazines) have been identified as odor‐active components. The specific cocoa aroma arises from complex biochemical and chemical reactions during the postharvest processing of raw beans, and from many influences of the cocoa genotype, chemical make‐up of raw seeds, environmental conditions, farming practices, processing, and manufacturing stages. There has been much research on cocoa flavor components. However, the relationships between all chemical components that are likely to play a role in cocoa flavor, their sensory properties, and the sources and mechanisms of flavor formation are not fully understood. This paper provides an overview on cocoa flavor from a compositional and a sensory perspective. The nonvolatile and volatile chemical components of cocoa and chocolate flavor, and their sensory properties correlated to the main influences involved in flavor formation, are reviewed.     

The ClasSi coefficient for the evaluation of ranking quality in the presence of class similarities

Evaluationmeasures play an important role in the design of new approaches, and often quality is measured by assessing the relevance of the obtained result set.While many evaluation measures based on precision/recall are based on a binary relevance model, ranking correlation coefficients are better suited for multi-class problems. State-of-the-art ranking correlation coefficients like Kendall’s τ and Spearman’s ρ do not allow the user to specify similarities between differing object classes and thus treat the transposition of objects from similar classes the same way as that of objects from dissimilar classes. We propose ClasSi, a new ranking correlation coefficient which deals with class label rankings and employs a class distance function to model the similarities between the classes. We also introduce a graphical representation of ClasSi which describes how the correlation evolves throughout the ranking.     

Impact of fault ride‐through requirements on fixed‐speed wind turbine structural loads

The emphasis in this article is on the impact of fault ride‐through requirements on wind turbines structural loads. Nowadays, this aspect is a matter of high priority as wind turbines are required more and more to act as active components in the grid, i.e. to support the grid even during grid faults. This article proposes a computer approach for the quantification of the wind turbines structural loads caused by the fault ride‐through grid requirements. This approach, exemplified for the case of a 2MW active stall wind turbine, relies on the combination of knowledge from complimentary simulation tools, which have expertise in different specialized wind turbines design areas. Two complimentary simulation tools are considered i.e. the detailed power system simulation tool PowerFactory from DIgSILENT and the advanced aeroelastic computer code HAWC2, in order to assess of the dynamic response of wind turbines to grid faults. These two tools are coupled sequently in an offline approach, in order to achieve a thorough insight both into the structural as well as the electrical wind turbine response during grid faults. The impact of grid requirements on wind turbines structural loads is quantified by performing a rainflow and a statistical analysis for fatigue and ultimate structural loads, respectively. Two cases are compared i.e. one where the turbine is immediately disconnected from the grid when a grid fault occurs and one where the turbine is equipped with a fault ride‐through controller and therefore it is able to remain connected to the grid during the grid fault. Copyright copy; 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prostaglandin E2 Receptor 4 (EP4) Affects Trophoblast Functions via Activating the cAMP-PKA-pCREB Signaling Pathway at the Maternal-Fetal Interface in Unexplained Recurrent Miscarriage

Implantation consists of a complex process based on coordinated crosstalk between the endometrium and trophoblast. Furthermore, it is known that the microenvironment of this fetal–maternal interface plays an important role in the development of extravillous trophoblast cells. This is mainly due to the fact that tissues mediate embryonic signaling biologicals, among other molecules, prostaglandins. Prostaglandins influence tissue through several cell processes including differentiation, proliferation, and promotion of maternal immune tolerance. The aim of this study is to investigate the potential pathological mechanism of the prostaglandin E2 receptor 4 (EP4) in modulating extravillous trophoblast cells (EVTs) in unexplained recurrent marriage (uRM). Our results indicated that the expression of EP4 in EVTs was decreased in women experiencing uRM. Furthermore, silencing of EP4 showed an inhibition of the proliferation and induced apoptosis in vitro. In addition, our results demonstrated reductions in β- human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), progesterone, and interleukin (IL)-6, which is likely a result from the activation of the cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)- cAMP-dependent protein kinase A (PKA)-phosphorylating CREB (pCREB) pathway. Our data might provide insight into the mechanisms of EP4 linked to trophoblast function. These findings help build a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of EP4 on the trophoblast at the fetal–maternal interface in the first trimester of pregnancy.     

Dynamic response of breast tumor oxygenation to hyperoxic respiratory challenge monitored with three oxygen-sensitive parameters

The simultaneous measurement of three oxygen-sensitive parameters [arterial hemoglobin oxygen saturation (SaO2), tumor vascular-oxygenated hemoglobin concentration ([HbO2]), and tumor oxygen tension (pO2)] in response to hyperoxic respiratory challenge is demonstrated in rat breast tumors. The effects of two hyperoxic gases [oxygen and carbogen (5% CO2 and 95% O2)] were compared, by use of two groups of Fisher rats with subcutaneous 13762NF breast tumors implanted in pedicles on the foreback. Two different gas-inhalation sequences were compared, i.e., air-carbogen-air-oxygen-air and air-oxygen-air-carbogen-air. The results demonstrate that both of the inhaled, hyperoxic gases significantly improved the tumor oxygen status. All three parameters displayed similar dynamic response to hyperoxic gas interventions, but with different response times: the fastest for arterial SaO2, followed by biphasic changes in tumor vascular [HbO2], and then delayed responses for pO2. Both of the gases induced similar changes in vascular oxygenation and regional tissue pO2 in the rat tumors, and changes in [HbO2] and mean pO2 showed a linear correlation with large standard deviations, which presumably results from global versus local measurements. Indeed, the pO2 data revealed hetergeneous regional response to hyperoxic interventions. Although preliminary near-infrared measurements had been demonstrated previously in this model, the addition of the pO2 optical fiber probes provides a link between the noninvasive relative measurements of vascular phenomena based on endogenous reporter molecules, with the quantitative, albeit, invasive pO2 determinations.     

Effect of precursor concentration on structural,morphological and opto-electric properties of ZnO thin films prepared by spray pyrolysis

Sprayed ZnO films were grown on glass substrate at 400 °C using zinc chloride as precursor with different molar concentrations varying from 0.05 to 0.2 M. X-ray diffraction patterns reveal that ZnO films are polycrystalline with hexagonal wurtzite structure with preferred orientation in (002) plane. Optical measurements show that transmittance reaches a maximum value of 95% in the visible region for ZnO films prepared from precursor with 0.05 M concentration. The films obtained from the precursor with 0.1 M concentration have the highest electrical conductivity and photocurrent values.