Matching preparatory intervention to coping style: The effects on children's distress in the dental setting

OBJECTIVE: Investigate the effects of matching preparatory interventions to patient's coping styles. METHODS: Participants were 61 children, with a restricted age range of 6 through 9 years old (mean age was 7.9 years), who underwent dental restoration. Participants were randomly assigned to an information intervention, a relaxation intervention, or a control condition. Play and parent-report of sensitization/repression were indices of coping style. The first hypothesis, that play would relate to sensitization/repression, was tested using Pearson correlations. The second hypothesis, that interventions that were congruent with patients' coping styles would be more effective than incongruent interventions, was tested using MANCOVAs. RESULTS: No relation was found between play and coping style. The "congruency hypothesis" was supported for self-reported distress immediately following the intervention. On behavioral distress variables, the interaction between sensitization/repression and condition was contrary to the congruency hypothesis. CONCLUSIONS: Implications for future research and clinical intervention with pediatric populations were discussed.     

Automatic selection of arterial input function on dynamic contrast-enhanced MR images

Dynamic susceptibility contrast-magnetic resonance imaging (DSC-MRI) data analysis requires the knowledge of the arterial input function (AIF) to quantify the cerebral blood flow (CBF), volume (CBV) and the mean transit time (MTT). AIF can be obtained either manually or using automatic algorithms. We present a method to derive the AIF on the middle cerebral artery (MCA). The algorithm draws a region of interest (ROI) where the MCA is located. Then, it uses a recursive cluster analysis on the ROI to select the arterial voxels. The algorithm had been compared on simulated data to literature state of art automatic algorithms and on clinical data to the manual procedure. On in silico data, our method allows to reconstruct the true AIF and it is less affected by partial volume effect bias than the other methods. In clinical data, automatic AIF provides CBF and MTT maps with a greater contrast level compared to manual AIF ones. Therefore, AIF obtained with the proposed method improves the estimate reliability and provides a quantitatively reliable physiological picture.     

Easy detectable isocyanate in the reaction with gelatin

Gelatin reactivity with isocyanate was studied by using the easy detectable 1-naphthyl-isocyanate (NphI). Four different NphI/gelatin feed ratios were investigated with NphI molar amount ranging between 1/10 and 1/1 with respect to the possible reactive groups of gelatin. The reactions were carried out at 45 °C in DMSO as solvent, under nitrogen atmosphere. Modified gelatin samples were characterized by IR, UV–VIS, fluorescence spectroscopies as well as by proton and DOSY NMR. Spectroscopy results allow to evidence the presence of both bonded and unbonded naphthyl derivatives in the gelatin samples. Unbonded species were present particularly at the highest NphI/gelatin feed ratio and their formation was correlated to the increasing competition of the reaction with water since the amount of available reactive groups on gelatin was comparable or smaller than the amount of residuum water in dry gelatin.     

Evaluation of compartmental and spectral analysis models of [18F]FDG kinetics for heart and brain studies with PET

Various models have been proposed to quantitate from [18F]-Fluoro-Deoxy-Glucose ([18F]FDG) positron emission tomography (PET) data glucose regional metabolic rate. We evaluate here four models, a three-rate constants (3K) model, a four-rate constants (4K) model, an heterogeneous model (TH) and a spectral analysis (SA) model. The data base consists of [18F]FDG dynamic data obtained in the myocardium and brain gray and white matter. All models were identified by nonlinear weighted least squares with weights chosen optimally. We show that: 1) 3K and 4K models are indistinguishable in terms of parsimony criteria and choice should be made on parameter precision and physiological plausibility; in the gray matter a more complex model than the 3K one is resolvable; 2) the TH model is resolvable in the gray but not in the white matter; 3) the classic SA approach has some unnecessary hypotheses built in and can be in principle misleading; we propose here a new SA model which is more theoretically sound; 4) this new SA approach supports the use of a 3K model in the heart with a 60 min experimental period; it also indicates that heterogeneity in the brain is modest in the white matter; 5) [18F]FDG fractional uptake estimates of the four models are very close in the heart, but not in the brain; 6) a higher than 60 min experimental time is preferable for brain studies.     

Erythropoietic protoporphyria: four novel frameshift mutations in the ferrochelatase gene

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that there is an association between simple renal cysts and arterial blood pressure (BP). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study comprised a review of the case-notes of 115 patients (mean age 67.7 years, range 31-91) in whom renal cyst(s) was an incidental ultrasonographic finding, and 115 age- and sex-matched control patients. The notes were reviewed without knowledge of the origin or treatment. RESULTS: The systolic and diastolic BP were significantly higher in patients with a cyst(s) than in control patients (P = 0.031 and P = 0.0034; mean difference 6.9 mmHg and 5.0 mmHg, respectively). In those aged 30-70 years, the presence of one or more simple renal cysts increased the risk of having a diastolic BP > or = 95 mmHg from seven in 58 to 17 in 58 patients (P = 0.038). CONCLUSION: The association between simple renal cysts and higher arterial BP probably arises from underlying renal disease causing both. Occasionally it is possible that renal ischaemia caused by cyst expansion, and therefore increased renin release, generates the elevation in BP. If so, methods to identify such cysts should be developed.     

Development of seismic design criteria for category I cofferdams

Gravity-type cellular cofferdams are widely used as waterfront retaining structures. Static design of these structures is generally performed by considering several modes of static failure. The experience gained from post-construction observation of cofferdam behavior has greatly enhanced the postulation of admissible failure mechanisms that should be considered in design. In nuclear power plant operation, assuring the safety and stability of waterfront embankments is important in providing an undisturbed supply of cooling water under all seismic and flood conditions. In moderate to highly seismic areas, the protection of the waterfront with an economic class I embankment may be quite difficult or impractical as the area required to develop the relatively flat slope construction that is required for seismic stability is often unavailable. Therefore, more attention should be directed toward the design and construction of cellular cofferdams as waterfront earth retaining structures. However, in the absence of data on dynamic behavior of cofferdams under seismic conditions, the methods for design and construction of structures which meet the current regulatory requirements are not well documented.Because static methods of cofferdam design have become somewhat standardized and have been verified through observations of performance, a promising approach to the seismic design of such structures is centered about the development of consistent pseudo-static failure mechanisms. This paper illustrates such extensions of the static design techniques, and compares the factors of safety obtained from static and pseudo-static (seismic) analyses. Certain design criteria, which have been modified to account for dynamic action, are explained. Local soil, rock and hydrostatic conditions, liquefaction and hydrodynamic forces are considered.Design/analysis parameters are suggested for evaluating extreme condition seismic loading, i.e., the Safe Shutdown Earthquake (SSE). Included among the parameters are; active and passive dynamic earth pressure coefficients; location of groundwater and free water surfaces to be used in conjunction with the SSE; the coefficient of friction acting at the interface between the fill material within the cell and the material on which the cell is founded; dynamic pressure distributions due to groundwater and free-standing water adjacent to the structure; vertical and horizontal coefficients of seismic acceleration. In addition, the consequences of postulated liquefaction of adjacent materials are investigated, and measures are suggested to adjust the analysis to accommodate such an occurrence.Among the postulated failure conditions which are considered under seismic loading are the following: • sliding, • overturning, • slippage between the sheeting and the cell fill, • shear failure along the centerline of the cell, • Cummings method of horizontal shear, and • interlock strength.The method of analysis admits various assumptions that are based on the static failure modes of the analytical models; for example, the postulated sliding failure condition assumes an inflexible rigid body type of behavior while the Cummings method of horizontal shear considers the structure to be flexible and the soil to be capable of developing failure planes. By extending these postulated failure modes for the dynamic analysis, the same modeling assumptions are admitted for the pseudo-static case. The methodology proposed is suggested as a means of conservatively performing design checks, using simplified procedures, and not as a replacement for a dynamic, state-of-stress response analysis.