Ethical, social and legal issues in Huntington disease: the nurse's role

The nurse's role will be discussed in relation to the issues which may present as the result of our ability to use predictive tests for neurodegenerative disease. Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant inherited disease, characterised by emotional problems, abnormalities of movement and dementia. The disease is slowly progressive leading to a severely debilitated state and finally death in ten to twenty years. In 1983, DNA testing became available for persons at risk for Huntington disease and for confirmation of diagnosis for those showing symptoms. The availability of testing presents many ethical, social and legal issues for persons at risk, health care professionals and other segments of society. This paper will briefly review the genetic transmission and profession of Huntington disease. It will outline some of the benefits as well as some of the risks and problems DNA testing presents.     

Partial and complete correlations of fetal maturity with ultrasonographic and enzymatic measurements

The computer-aided enzymatic and ultrasonographic method of pregnancy monitoring takes into account ultrasound measurements of fetal parameters (BPD, HC, AC, FL) and oxytocinase (CAP1) and isooxytocinase (CAP2) levels in maternal blood. In this paper we decided to verify which one of this values have the major influence on fetal maturity prediction. 385 pregnancies, after sterility treatment, were studied where ultrasound measurements and enzymes levels were estimated simultaneously as well as current fetal maturity were established using computer-aided method by M. Klimek. There are high sample correlations between current fetal maturity and the number of remaining days to labor (r = -0.8) as well as ultrasound measurements (BPD r = 0.87, HC r = 0.89, AC r = 0.90, FL r = 0.81). Fetal maturity correlations with enzymatic values (CAP1, CAP2) were smaller 0.55, 0.52 respectively. The partial correlation pictures this relations much stronger -0.29, 0.28, 0.22, 0.30, 0.46, -0.06, 0.13 respectively.     

Single-mode operation of a zigzag dye laser

We report single-mode operation of a laser pumped zigzag dye laser for pulse lengths >1 μs with beam quality close to the diffraction limit. A unique linear optical cavity using counter-propagating orthogonally polarized waves was used. Laser efficiency measurements performed with a stable cavity had outputs of greater than 1.7 J at 568 mn using Pyrromethene-567 dye. The intrinsic laser efficiency was 55% with a slope efficiency of 77%. Single-mode operation was achieved using an unstable resonator with intra-cavity etalons to control the free running modes of the cavity and seeding with a single-mode Kr-ion laser operating at 568 nm. Heterodyne measurements were used to determine that the bandwidth was near the transform limit with the frequency chirping at a rate ~60 MHz/Ms. Far-field measurements of the beam quality indicated close to diffraction limited output     

Azelastine reduces mediators of inflammation in patients with nasal polyps

Foot type and location of area of peak pressure under the metatarsal heads were determined for 54 healthy adults between the ages of 21 and 39 years. Feet were classified as neutral, pronated, or supinated. Each subject walked barefoot over a pedobarograph, and the area of peak pressure was identified as being either medial, central, or lateral under the metatarsal heads. A Fisher's exact test determined that there was a significant relationship between the area of peak pressure and foot type. A post hoc lambda asymmetric test showed that the relationship was very weak. Nearly half (49%) of the feet were classified as neutral, 36% were pronated, and 15% were supinated. Pressure patterns were as follows: 62% central, 26% medial, and 12% lateral. Other factors besides foot type influence the area of peak pressure under the metatarsal heads.     

Purification and characterization of three commercial phenylazoaniline disperse dyes

Although tons of disperse dyes are used worldwile, little information on their ecotoxicity is available. While in silico models can be used to predict their ecotoxicity, experimental results from Daphnia can show significantly higher toxicity than predicted. Thus the objective of this work was to extend the knowledge base in this area by evaluating the ecotoxicity of three widely used disperse dyes and comparing the results to predicted values. Bearing in mind that generating ecotoxicity data on azo disperse dyes is complicated because they are not readily found as homogeneous compounds, we employed chromatographic methods to purify three commercially dyes C.I. Disperse Violet 93, Blue 291, and Blue 373 already found in the aquatic environment. No acute toxicity was observed for Daphnia similis. These results seems to be in general agreement when compared with ECOSAR predicted values. We hypothesize that differences in Kow values could explain the variations in results.     

Enhancement of oxygen reduction by incorporation of heteropolytungstate into the electrocatalytic ink of carbon supported platinum nanoparticles

Nafion stabilized inks of Vulcan XC-72 supported platinum (20 wt.%) nanoparticles (Pt/XC-72) were utilized to produce electrocatalytic films on glassy carbon. The catalysts were modified (activated) with phosphododecatungstic acid H₃PW₁₂O₄₀ (PW₁₂). Comparison was made to bare (PW₁₂-free) electrocatalytic films. Electroreduction of dioxygen was studied at 25 °C in 0.5 mol dm⁻³ H₂SO₄ electrolyte using rotating disk voltammetry. For the same loading of platinum (≈95 μg cm⁻²) and for the approximately identical distribution of the catalyst, the reduction of oxygen at a glassy carbon electrode modified with the ink containing PW₁₂ proceeded at ca. 30-60 mV more positive potential (depending on the PW₁₂ content), and the system was characterized by a higher kinetic parameter (rate of heterogeneous electron transfer), when compared to the PW₁₂-free electrocatalyst. Gas diffusion electrodes with Pt/XC-72 supported on carbon paper (Pt loading 1 mg cm⁻²) were also tested. Under the same experimental conditions, while the exchange current density and the total resistance contribution to polarization components, computed from the galvanostatic polarization curves were found to be clearly higher and lower, respectively, for the ink modified with PW₁₂ relative to the unmodified system. The results demonstrate that addition of heteropolytungstatic acid (together with Nafion) enhances the electrocatalytic activity of platinum towards reduction of oxygen.     

Ultrafine-Grained Plates of Al-Mg-Si Alloy Obtained by Incremental Equal Channel Angular Pressing: Microstructure and Mechanical Properties

In this study, an Al-Mg-Si alloy was processed using via incremental equal channel angular pressing (I-ECAP) in order to obtain homogenous, ultrafine-grained plates with low anisotropy of the mechanical properties. This was the first attempt to process an Al-Mg-Si alloy using this technique. Samples in the form of 3 mm-thick square plates were subjected to I-ECAP with the 90 deg rotation around the axis normal to the surface of the plate between passes. Samples were investigated first in their initial state, then after a single pass of I-ECAP, and finally after four such passes. Analyses of the microstructure and mechanical properties demonstrated that the I-ECAP method can be successfully applied in Al-Mg-Si alloys. The average grain size decreased from 15 to 19 µm in the initial state to below 1 µm after four I-ECAP passes. The fraction of high-angle grain boundaries in the sample subjected to four I-ECAP passes lay within 53 to 57 pct depending on the examined plane. The mechanism of grain refinement in Al-Mg-Si alloy was found to be distinctly different from that in pure aluminum with the grain rotation being more prominent than the grain subdivision, which was attributed to lower stacking fault energy and the reduced mobility of dislocations in the alloy. The ultimate tensile strength increased more than twice, whereas the yield strength was more than threefold. Additionally, the plates processed by I-ECAP exhibited low anisotropy of mechanical properties (in plane and across the thickness) in comparison to other SPD processing methods, which makes them attractive for further processing and applications.