Recovery in sensory-enriched break environments: integrating vision,sound and scent into simulated indoor and outdoor environments

To deal with stress and exhaustion at work, personal resources need to be replenished during breaks. The aim of this laboratory study (n?=?122 students) was to test the restorative potential of sensory-enriched break environments (SEBEs) in between-subjects with repeated measures design, focusing on the type of the environment (natural outdoor vs. built indoor environment) and sensory input (no sensory input vs. audiovisual input vs. audiovisual and olfactory input). Analyses showed that SEBEs simulating either a natural or a lounge environment were perceived as more pleasant and restorative (fascination/being away) than a standard break room, which in turn facilitated the recovery of personal resources (mood, fatigue, arousal). Moreover, adding a congruent scent to an audiovisual simulation indirectly facilitated the recovery of personal resources via greater scent pleasantness and higher fascination and being away. The current study shows the opportunities for sensory enrichment to foster restoration in break environments.     

[68Ga]Ga-DFO-c(RGDyK): Synthesis and Evaluation of Its Potential for Tumor Imaging in Mice

Angiogenesis has a pivotal role in tumor growth and the metastatic process. Molecular imaging was shown to be useful for imaging of tumor-induced angiogenesis. A great variety of radiolabeled peptides have been developed to target αvβ3 integrin, a target structure involved in the tumor-induced angiogenic process. The presented study aimed to synthesize deferoxamine (DFO)-based c(RGD) peptide conjugate for radiolabeling with gallium-68 and perform its basic preclinical characterization including testing of its tumor-imaging potential. DFO-c(RGDyK) was labeled with gallium-68 with high radiochemical purity. In vitro characterization including stability, partition coefficient, protein binding determination, tumor cell uptake assays, and ex vivo biodistribution as well as PET/CT imaging was performed. [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DFO-c(RGDyK) showed hydrophilic properties, high stability in PBS and human serum, and specific uptake in U-87 MG and M21 tumor cell lines in vitro and in vivo. We have shown here that [⁶⁸Ga]Ga-DFO-c(RGDyK) can be used for αvβ3 integrin targeting, allowing imaging of tumor-induced angiogenesis by positron emission tomography.     

Understanding temperature dependency of hydrogen solubility in ionic liquids,including experimental data in [bmim][Tf2N]

Previously unavailable high‐pressure solubility data of hydrogen in 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide has been measured experimentally up to temperatures and pressures of 450 K and 15 MPa, respectively. In contrast to CO₂ solubility, H₂ tends to dissolve better in the ionic liquid at higher temperatures. This “inverse” temperature effect has been studied from a thermodynamic perspective and the underlying reason for this effect is explained. It is shown that the negative P‐T slope is not limited to this particular binary mixture, but is the typical behavior in most, if not all, H₂ + ionic liquid systems. However, there is a certain range of temperatures, pressures, and concentrations in which this phenomenon occurs. By predicting the Scott‐van Konynenburg phase diagram for systems of H₂ + ionic liquids to be of type III, it is shown how and why the solubility increases with temperature in some regions, but decreases in others. © 2012 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2012     

Randomized trial of behavioral activation, cognitive therapy, and antidepressant medication in the acute treatment of adults with major depression.

Antidepressant medication is considered the current standard for severe depression, and cognitive therapy is the most widely investigated psychosocial treatment for depression. However, not all patients want to take medication, and cognitive therapy has not demonstrated consistent efficacy across trials. Moreover, dismantling designs have suggested that behavioral components may account for the efficacy of cognitive therapy. The present study tested the efficacy of behavioral activation by comparing it with cognitive therapy and antidepressant medication in a randomized placebo-controlled design in adults with major depressive disorder (N = 241). In addition, it examined the importance of initial severity as a moderator of treatment outcome. Among more severely depressed patients, behavioral activation was comparable to antidepressant medication, and both significantly outperformed cognitive therapy. The implications of these findings for the evaluation of current treatment guidelines and dissemination are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The effect of reflow time on reactive wetting,evolution of interfacial IMCs and shear strength of eutectic Sn–Cu solder alloy

In the present work, the effect of reflow time on wetting behaviour, microstructure and shear strength of the eutectic Sn–0.7Cu lead-free solder on Cu substrate were studied. The reflow time was varied from 10 to 10,000 s. The contact angle decreased with the increase in reflow time. The growth of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) increased with the reflow time. The thickness of the Cu₆Sn₅ IMC layer formed during a reflow time of 10 s was about 3.76 μm and its thickness increased to 3.89, 6.2, 6.68, 7.6 and 19.83 μm during 100, 300, 500, 1,000 and 10,000 s reflow time respectively. The joint shear test was performed to assess the integrity of Sn–0.7Cu solder solidified on copper substrate surfaces. The shear strength decreased with increase in reflow time after an optimum value.     

Response styles among patients with minor depression and dysthymia in primary care.

Ruminative responses to depression have predicted duration and severity of depressive symptoms. The authors examined how response styles change over the course of treatment for depression and as a function of type of treatment. They also examined the ability of response styles to predict treatment outcome and status at follow-up. Primary care patients (n=96) with dysthymia or minor depression were randomly assigned to problem-solving therapy, paroxetine, or placebo. Patients' depressive symptoms and rumination, but not distraction, decreased over time. Pretreatment rumination and distraction were associated with more depressive symptoms at the conclusion of treatment; the latter finding was not consistent with the response style theory of depression. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for this theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Experimental Characterization of Wireless Sensor Networks for Industrial Applications

The effects of interference in the setup of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) represent a critical issue, and as such, it needs to be carefully addressed. To this aim, helpful information can be achieved through measurements to be carried out in advance on suitable prototypes and testbeds. In this paper, the measurement of industrial WSN performance is dealt with. In particular, a suitable testbed enlisting IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor nodes is presented along with the results of some experiments carried out even in the presence of interference. The purpose is to show how to evaluate some specific parameters of a WSN employed for industrial applications to obtain useful information for its setup optimization in the presence of interference. The analysis will show that from the measurement of these parameters (number of failed pollings, polling round-trip time, experimental cycle time, and alarm latency), interference effects can effectively be recognized, and the network setup can be optimized.