Optimization of femtosecond laser processing in liquids

In this paper we analyze femtosecond laser processing of metals in liquids searching for optimal conditions for predictable ablation. Incident laser pulses are stretched or compressed, self-focused and scattered on bubbles and on surface waves in the liquid environment. Influence of these effects on the laser intensity distribution on the target surface is discussed and optimal processing parameters are suggested

O Parque Tecnológico da Grande Florianópolis-SC - PARQTEC-Alfa :: a aplicação do modelo Willian Bolton na sua organização /

Dissertação (Mestrado) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas

Impurity intrusion in radio-frequency micro-plasma jets operated in ambient air

Space and time resolved concentrations of helium metastable atoms in an atmospheric pressure radio-frequency micro-plasma jet were measured using tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy. Spatial profiles as well as lifetime measurements show significant influences of air entering the discharge from the front nozzle and of impurities originating from the gas supply system. Quenching of metastables was used to deduce quantitative concentrations of intruding impurities. The impurity profile along the jet axis was determined from optical emission spectroscopy as well as their dependance on the feed gas flow through the jet.Comment: Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics (accepted), 6 page

Effects of Eurythmy Therapy on Stress Perception in Comparison with a Sports Intervention from the Subjects’ Perspective - A Qualitative Study

Stress and health-related quality of life are important constructs used in treatment evaluation today. This study is based on a randomised controlled trial examining the stress-reducing effect of eurythmy therapy in comparison with step aerobics in 106 healthy but stressed subjects. The aim of the analysis was to characterise changes in the subjective perceptions of the participants. Methods. Interviews were conducted with 76 healthy adults, 36 () from the eurythmy group and 40 () from the step aerobics group both analysed by content analysis and phenomenologically. Results. The following categories were identified for the eurythmy therapy group: enabling a productive therapeutic response, emergence of a new perceptual space, reevaluation of the accustomed perception, and emergence of new options for action. Step aerobics places increased physical and intellectual demands. These are perceived differently as pleasant and relaxing, insufficiently challenging and/or boring, and too challenging and thus experienced as stress-enhancing. Conclusion. The qualitative results provided revealing insights into the profound effects of and subjective assignments of meaning to external and internal stress factors. Processes of mental reinterpretation leading to stress reduction can be stimulated by physical procedures such as eurythmy therapy

5 Years After Tragedy: An Update on Organ Procurement Travel in Michigan

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/100335/1/ajt12399.pd

The reflections of the out-of-jail qualification: the resocialization of ex-prisoners in the penitentiary complex of São Pedro de Alcantara (SC-Brazil)

Neste artigo, analisam-se os reflexos da capacitação na ressocialização dos ex-detentos do Complexo Penitenciário de São Pedro de Alcântara (SC, Brasil). Relata-se a atividade de capacitação nessa unidade prisional, descrevem-se formas de ressocialização e apontam-se potencialidades e fragilidades da relação capacitação-ressocialização. Este estudo de caso de abordagem qualitativa envolveu um gerente e vinte ex-detentos em liberdade. Além de documentos secundários e observação direta, realizaram-se entrevistas semiestruturadas por telefone, cujos dados foram gravados, transcritos e analisados de forma categorial. O receio dos egressos em participar da pesquisa pode ser considerado uma limitação da mesma. Os dados revelaram que os programas de treinamento mais relevantes potencializam a independência dos ex-detentos e aumentam sua autoestima profissional; porém, não dão conta de suprir os interesses financeiros, a falta de apoio familiar devido à prática de alguns crimes e a dificuldade tanto na aceitação como na concessão de oportunidade de trabalho por parte da sociedade.In this article, the reflections of the qualification in the resocialization of ex-prisoners from the Penitentiary of São Pedro de Alcantara (SC, Brazil) are analyzed. The activity of qualification in this prison unit is reported, ways of resocialization are described and the strengths and weaknesses of the relationship qualification-resocialization are pointed out. This case study of a qualitative approach involved a manager and twenty former prisoners already released. In addition to secondary documents and direct observation, semistructured interviews were conducted by telephone, whose data were recorded; transcribed and analyzed is a categorical way. The fear of the ex-prisoners in participating in the study can be considered a limitation for it. The data revealed that the most relevant qualification programs potentialize the independence of the ex-prisoners and increase their professional self-esteem. However, cannot handle to meet financial concerns, lack of family support due to the practice of some crimes and the difficulty both in acceptance and in being provided with work opportunity by society

Exposure to active and passive smoking during pregnancy and severe small for gestational age at term

Objective. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between active smoking as well as environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure and severe small for gestational age (SGA) at term in a sample of pregnant Italian women. Methods. A case-control study was conducted in nine cities in Italy between October 1999 and September 2000. Cases of severe SGA were singleton, live born, at term children with a birth weight5th percentile for gestational age. Controls (10:1 to cases) were enrolled from among singleton at term births that occurred in the same hospitals one or two days after delivery of the case, with a birth weight10th percentile for gestational age. A total of 84 cases of severe SGA and 858 controls were analyzed. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess active smoking and ETS exposure, as well as potential confounders. Results. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed a relationship between active smoking during pregnancy and severe SGA (adjusted odds ratio (OR) 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.13-3.68). ETS exposure was associated with severe SGA (adjusted OR 2.51, 95% CI 1.59-3.95) with a dose-response relationship to the number of smokers in the home

Punt de deflexió de la freqüència cardíaca com a mètode alternatiu d’identificació del llindar anaeròbic en pacients amb diabetis tipus 2

  Objectius: El propòsit d’aquest article fou avaluar la concordança entre freqüència cardíaca (FC) i velocitat en la cinta de córrer corresponent al llindar anaeròbic mesurada pel segon llindar ventilatori (LV2) i pel punt de deflexió de l’FC (PDFC) en pacients amb diabetis tipus 2.Mètodes: S’avaluaren 32 pacients sedentaris (56,1 ± 7,7 anys). Per determinar els valors dels llindars, els pacients realitzaren una prova d’esforç incremental a una velocitat inicial de 3 km h−1 durant 3 min, amb increments d’1 km h−1 cada 2 min. S’analitzà el grau de concordança entre LV2 i PDFC mitjançant el test de Bland-Altman.Resultats: Els pacients mostraren una FC de 133 ± 16 bpm en LV2 i 133 ± 18 bpm en PDFC. La velocitat mitjana corresponent a LV2 fou de 6,3 ± 0,7 km h−1 i la corresponent a PDFC fou de 6,4 ± 1,1 km h−1. No hi hagué diferències significatives entre els mètodes avaluats (FC: p = 0,78; velocitat mitjana: p = 0,57).Conclusió: Aquesta recerca conclou que hi ha correspondència entre els mètodes LV2 i PDFC en l’FC i la velocitat mitjana a la cinta de córrer, i, per tant, qualsevol dels 2 mètodes pot ser emprat en aquests pacients

Predicting nucleic acid binding interfaces from structural models of proteins

The function of DNA‐ and RNA‐binding proteins can be inferred from the characterization and accurate prediction of their binding interfaces. However, the main pitfall of various structure‐based methods for predicting nucleic acid binding function is that they are all limited to a relatively small number of proteins for which high‐resolution three‐dimensional structures are available. In this study, we developed a pipeline for extracting functional electrostatic patches from surfaces of protein structural models, obtained using the I‐TASSER protein structure predictor. The largest positive patches are extracted from the protein surface using the patchfinder algorithm. We show that functional electrostatic patches extracted from an ensemble of structural models highly overlap the patches extracted from high‐resolution structures. Furthermore, by testing our pipeline on a set of 55 known nucleic acid binding proteins for which I‐TASSER produces high‐quality models, we show that the method accurately identifies the nucleic acids binding interface on structural models of proteins. Employing a combined patch approach we show that patches extracted from an ensemble of models better predicts the real nucleic acid binding interfaces compared with patches extracted from independent models. Overall, these results suggest that combining information from a collection of low‐resolution structural models could be a valuable approach for functional annotation. We suggest that our method will be further applicable for predicting other functional surfaces of proteins with unknown structure. Proteins 2012. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/1/PROT_23214_sm_SuppFig4.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/2/PROT_23214_sm_SuppTab1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/3/PROT_23214_sm_SuppFig1.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/4/PROT_23214_sm_SuppFig5.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/5/PROT_23214_sm_SuppFig2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/6/PROT_23214_sm_SuppTab2.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/7/PROT_23214_sm_SuppFig3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/8/PROT_23214_sm_SuppTab3.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90296/9/23214_ftp.pd