Telephone booster sessions for optimizing smoking cessation for patients in rehabilitation centers.

Smokers with smoking-related diseases who are hospitalized in rehabilitation centers should be offered smoking cessation. This is the first study evaluating whether telephone booster sessions after intensive inpatient treatment are an effective strategy. The present study was conducted in 13 rehabilitation centers for somatic disorders as a prospective multicenter study with a randomized treatment-control group design. We compared abstinence rates after hospital discharge from treatment that included a group smoking cessation program with (treatment group) and without telephone booster sessions (control group). Data from 290 smokers were analyzed. After 6 and 12 months the treatment group achieved abstinence rates twice as high as those of the control group. Men profited more from telephone booster sessions than did women. Results indicated that telephone booster sessions were highly effective (even) after an inherently intensive group program during a hospital stay. Further research should focus on the special needs of women receiving telephone counseling.     

Development of an automated platform for high-throughput P1-phage transduction of Escherichia coli

Synthetic biology depends on the ability to rapidly produce strains with improved phenotypes but is limited by the ability to rapidly produce strain collections with directed mutations. Here, we present a system capable of overcoming this limitation through automated P1-phage transductions of Escherichia coli. By combining the Keio collection of single-gene deletion E. coli mutants with P1-phage, it is possible to generate an engineered host-strain collection consisting of every possible gene deletion mutant. This strategy was tested by transducing 355 genetic markers from the Keio collection into five different host strains, and it achieved a 98% success rate. This method offers an improved mechanism for rapidly engineering collections of microbes and provides one method for rapidly deploying a broader synthetic biology effort.     

Audience-induced inhibition of overt practice during learning.

Three experiments with 204 undergraduates examined the hypothesis that an audience can inhibit overt practice and thereby impair learning of unfamiliar words and enhance learning of familiar words. This hypothesis was derived from an analysis of motoric and symbolic mediation during learning. In comparison with learning while alone, the results show that the audience inhibited overt practice of unfamiliar and familiar words and that reduced practice was detrimental to learning unfamiliar words. Inhibition of overt practice with an audience enhanced learning of familiar words in only 1 of the experiments. Instructions to practice overtly reduced the audience-inhibition effect in learning unfamiliar words. The studies are discussed in the context of drive-theory explanations for social facilitation effects in learning. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Ultra-small angle neutron scattering and X-ray tomography studies of caseinate–hydroxyapatite microporous materials

Microporous hydroxyapatite–protein composite materials of bimodal pore size distribution, intended for utilization as bone regeneration scaffolds, have been prepared by means of milk caseinate emulsion droplet templating. Ultra-small angle neutron scattering (USANS) has been utilized in order to obtain information on the size distribution of the smaller pores (less than tens of micrometers), as compared to the emulsions that have been initially used as templates. The samples were subsequently visualized in 3 dimensions using synchrotron radiation X-ray tomography, where information concerning the larger pores has been obtained. The examination of the samples confirmed a strong correlation between the size of the templating droplets and the produced pores. In addition, 1 μm-sized pores appear to adhere to the surface of 20–70 μm pores, providing an irregular surface on the large pore walls, a desirable feature in bone-mimicking materials.     

Weathering of silane treated wood

Outdoor and artificial weathering tests were performed on specimens of Scots pine sapwood treated with silanes to achieve water repellent properties. During outdoor weathering, the treatment caused a reduction in (liquid) water uptake but the sorption of moisture (air humidity) was not affected by silane treatment. The water repellent effect of vacuum-pressure treated specimens remained stable over the tested exposure period of one year, as was shown in dipping tests. Evaluation of silane treated specimens did not reveal any reduction of crack formation during exposure to weathering. The application of silanes in combination with UV light stabilizers enhanced the effectiveness of these protectants and led to higher colour stability during artificial weathering in a QUV device.     

Sonographic analysis of recurrent parotitis in children: a comparative study with sialographic findings

BACKGROUND: Patients with asthma show altered surface expression of the adhesion molecules CD11b and L-selectin on airway granulocytes compared with blood granulocytes. OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether this modulation is related to disease activity or due to transendothelial migration, we compared the CD11b and L-selectin expression on blood and induced sputum eosinophils and neutrophils between patients with asthma and normal subjects. METHODS: Eleven normal subjects (21-43 years), nine patients (21-34 years) with mild atopic asthma and 10 patients (20-47 years) with moderate to severe atopic asthma on regular treatment with inhaled steroids underwent sputum induction by inhalation of nebulized hypertonic saline (4.5%). CD11b and L-selectin expression on granulocytes from blood and DTT-homogenized sputum were analysed by flow cytometry. Eosinophils could be discriminated from neutrophils by using depolarized light scatter. Disease activity was assessed by baseline FEV1 and airway responsiveness to histamine (PC20). RESULTS: Sputum eosinophils showed higher expression of CD11b (P<0.001) and lower expression of L-selectin (P<0.001) compared with peripheral blood eosinophils. CD11b and L-selectin expression on eosinophils from blood or sputum did not differ between the three groups. Similar results were obtained for neutrophils. The PC20 in the patients with moderate-to-severe asthma was related to CD11b expression on blood (R=-0.92, P=0.001) and sputum eosinophils (R=0.75, P=0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Flow cytometry of induced sputum granulocytes from asthmatic as well as normal subjects is feasible. We conclude that the modulated expression of CD11b and L-selectin on airway granulocytes is not specific for asthmatic airway inflammation, but is probably the result of tissue migration per sé. This implies that CD11b and L-selectin expression on granulocytes in induced sputum cannot be used as marker of disease activity.