Relative sedimentation of hematopoietic progenitors in human cord blood, peripheral blood, and bone marrow as determined by counterflow centrifugal elutriation

OBJECTIVE: Although there have been many studies of the outcome of anorexia nervosa, methodological weaknesses limit their interpretation. The authors used a case-control design to try to improve knowledge about the outcome of anorexia nervosa. METHOD: All new female patients referred to an eating disorders service between Jan. 1, 1981, and Dec. 31, 1984, who had probable or definite anorexia nervosa were eligible for inclusion. Of these women, 86.4% (N = 70) were located and agreed to participate. The comparison group (N = 98) was a random community sample. All subjects were interviewed with a structured diagnostic instrument. RESULTS: A minority of the patients (10%) continued to meet the criteria for anorexia nervosa a mean of 12 years after initial referral. Even among those who no longer met these criteria, relatively low body weight and cognitive features characteristic of anorexia nervosa (perfectionism and cognitive restraint) persisted. The rates of lifetime comorbid major depression, alcohol dependence, and a number of anxiety disorders were very high. CONCLUSIONS: In the managed care/brief treatment era, therapeutic approaches with an excessive focus on weight gain that neglect the detection and treatment of associated psychological features and comorbidity may be inappropriate. Anorexia nervosa is a serious psychiatric disorder with substantial morbidity.     

Numerical analysis of multipoint CDW welding process on stainless AISI304 steel bars

Capacitor Discharge Welding is a joining process characterized by high-energy density; it is an electrical resistance welding process, since the heat source is the Joule effect induced by a capacitive discharge at the welding contact zone. The main aims of this work are to introduce achieved technological progresses in the Multipoint CDW applications and to present the developments of a numerical tool to be used for the prediction of the welding condition and the joints final properties.An advanced 3D FEM model has been conceived in order to consider the geometrical complexity of the CDW process applied on circular AISI 304 bars, originated by special multipoint contact profiles; the evolution and influence of the temperature field was studied with accurate simulations of the CDW process.     

Optimised RC-active synthesis of PEM networks

A novel active synthesis of the electrical controller known as 'fourth-order line', which is used in piezo-electro-mechanical (PEM) beams, in order to damp vibrations, is proposed. The main advantage of this synthesis is that it greatly reduces the complexity of the circuit and makes easy the fine tuning of the values of impedances.     

Partial discharge pattern recognition by neuro-fuzzy networks in heat-shrinkable joints and terminations of XLPE insulated distribution cables

An identification technique is described, based on a developed adaptive fuzzy logic network, that enables the recognition of partial discharges (PD) generated by different defects in heat-shrinkable joints and terminations of XLPE insulated power distribution cables. It is shown that different sources of PD can be identified on the basis of fuzzy rules applied to a selection of parameters derived from PD-pulse phase and amplitude distributions. A comparison with other PD pattern recognition techniques based on traditional neural networks is presented and discussed.     

H2 plasma for hydrogen loading in Pd

The preliminary results concerning the effect of negative corona discharge and that of a tensile uniaxial stress on the hydrogen solution in palladium are presented. By the simultaneous measurement on the same sample of its electrical resistance and dilatation it is inferred that both effects result in an increase of the hydrogen concentration in the hydride with respect to the unperturbed situation, i.e., equilibrium condition.     

Magnetically separable Pt catalyst for asymmetric hydrogenation

A magnetic Pt/SiO₂/Fe₃O₄ catalyst consisting of chirally modified platinum supported on silica coated magnetite nanoparticles was prepared using an easy synthetic route and successfully applied for the enantioselective hydrogenation of various activated ketones. The magnetic catalyst modified with cinchonidine showed a catalytic performance (activity, enantioselectivity) in the asymmetric hydrogenation of various activated ketones in toluene comparable to the best known Pt/alumina catalyst used for these reactions. The novel catalyst can be easily separated from the reaction solution by applying an external magnetic field and recycled several times with almost complete retention of activity and enantioselectivity.     

An Update on Graphene-Based Nanomaterials for Neural Growth and Central Nervous System Regeneration

Thanks to their reduced size, great surface area, and capacity to interact with cells and tissues, nanomaterials present some attractive biological and chemical characteristics with potential uses in the field of biomedical applications. In this context, graphene and its chemical derivatives have been extensively used in many biomedical research areas from drug delivery to bioelectronics and tissue engineering. Graphene-based nanomaterials show excellent optical, mechanical, and biological properties. They can be used as a substrate in the field of tissue engineering due to their conductivity, allowing to study, and educate neural connections, and guide neural growth and differentiation; thus, graphene-based nanomaterials represent an emerging aspect in regenerative medicine. Moreover, there is now an urgent need to develop multifunctional and functionalized nanomaterials able to arrive at neuronal cells through the blood-brain barrier, to manage a specific drug delivery system. In this review, we will focus on the recent applications of graphene-based nanomaterials in vitro and in vivo, also combining graphene with other smart materials to achieve the best benefits in the fields of nervous tissue engineering and neural regenerative medicine. We will then highlight the potential use of these graphene-based materials to construct graphene 3D scaffolds able to stimulate neural growth and regeneration in vivo for clinical applications.     

CompactPCI／Linux Platform in FTU Slow Control System

In large fusion experiments, such as tokamak devices, there is a common trend for slow control systems. Because of complexity of the plants, the so-called ‘Standard Model‘ (SM) in slow control has been adopted on several tokamak machines. This model is based on a three-level hierarchical control: 1) High-Level Control (HLC) with a supervisory function; 2) Medium-Level Control (MLC) to interface and concentrate I/O field equipments; 3) Low-Level Control (LLC) with hard real-time I/O function, often managed by PLCs. FTU control system designed with SM concepts has underwent several stages of developments in its fifteen years duration of runs. The latest evolution was inevitable, due to the obsolescence of the MLC CPUs, based on VME-MOTOROLA 68030 with OS9 operating system. A large amount of C code was developed for that platform to route the data flow from LLC, which is constituted by 24 Westinghouse Numalogic PC-700 PLCs with about 8000 field-points, to HLC, based on a commercial Object-Oriented Real-Time database on Alpha/CompaqTru64 platform. Therefore, we have to look for cost-effective solutions and finally a CompactPCI-Intel x86 platform with Linux operating system was chosen. A software porting has been done, taking into account the differences between OS9 and Linux operating system in terms of Inter/NetworkProcesses Communications and I/O multi-ports serial driver. This paper describes the hardware/software architecture of the new MLC system, emphasizing the reliability and the low costs of the open source solutions. Moreover, a huge amount of software packages available in open source environment will assure a less painful maintenance, and will openthe way to further improvements of the system itself.     

Characterization of fatigue damage in long fiber epoxy composite laminates

A study of damage characterization of a GFRC laminate is presented here. Forty fatigue tests were executed and S–N curves traced. Two parameters were chosen to monitor damage evolution during each test: stiffness and dissipated energy per cycle. Moreover, the presence of three zones in graphs of processed data can be observed and it is evident that the most important structural transformations take place only in the very final part of life. Adopting a continuum mechanics approach, the degradation through the whole life in composite is evaluated and it is shown that the two parameters are strictly related to damage state of composite material. A method for predicting the remaining life in a GFRC is here proposed.