Rapid progression of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

We describe the case of a 39-year-old human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected man with angiographically documented rapid progression of coronary artery disease. Over a time course of only 2 months, he developed high-grade stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery. The risk of myocardial infarction is increased in patients with HIV infection receiving antiretroviral therapy. However, the absolute risk is small and the marked overall benefits of antiretroviral therapy are evident. Patients receiving HIV protease inhibitors should be screened for hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and hypertension. They may be candidates for lipid-lowering therapies depending on their long-term prognosis and individual risk of cardiovascular disease. Care is need because of possible drug interactions between lipid-lowering drugs and antiretroviral therapy. Invasive treatment of acute myocardial infarction does not differ from that in patients not infected with HIV. The rate of progression of coronary artery disease and the restenosis rate, however, are often unexpectedly high in these patient

Cardiac arrest in a soccer player: a unique case of anomalous coronary origin detected by 16-row multislice computed tomography coronary angiography

Anomalous origin of the coronary arteries may be present in otherwise normal subjects without clinical significance, but can also be the cause of myocardial ischemia and sudden death in both adults and teenagers. In particular, the origin of the left main coronary artery or left anterior descending artery from the right sinus of Valsalva or right coronary artery may result in compression of the vessel during or immediately after exercise. We present a unique case of coronary anomaly with four separate coronary ostia originating from the right coronary sinus in a soccer player with sudden cardiac arrest. Multislice contrast-enhanced computed tomography has emerged as a valid noninvasive method for the diagnosis of coronary artery anomal

Impact of a 6-wk olive oil supplementation in healthy adults on urinary proteomic biomarkers of coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, and diabetes (types 1 and 2): a randomized, parallel, controlled, double-blind study

Background: Olive oil (OO) consumption is associated with cardiovascular disease prevention because of both its oleic acid and phenolic contents. The capacity of OO phenolics to protect against low-density lipoprotein (LDL) oxidation is the basis for a health claim by the European Food Safety Authority. Proteomic biomarkers enable an early, presymptomatic diagnosis of disease, which makes them important and effective, but understudied, tools for primary prevention. Objective: We evaluated the impact of supplementation with OO, either low or high in phenolics, on urinary proteomic biomarkers of coronary artery disease (CAD), chronic kidney disease (CKD), and diabetes. Design: Self-reported healthy participants (n = 69) were randomly allocated (stratified block random assignment) according to age and body mass index to supplementation with a daily 20-mL dose of OO either low or high in phenolics (18 compared with 286 mg caffeic acid equivalents per kg, respectively) for 6 wk. Urinary proteomic biomarkers were measured at baseline and 3 and 6 wk alongside blood lipids, the antioxidant capacity, and glycation markers. Results: The consumption of both OOs improved the proteomic CAD score at endpoint compared with baseline (mean improvement: –0.3 for low-phenolic OO and −0.2 for high-phenolic OO; P < 0.01) but not CKD or diabetes proteomic biomarkers. However, there was no difference between groups for changes in proteomic biomarkers or any secondary outcomes including plasma triacylglycerols, oxidized LDL, and LDL cholesterol. Conclusion: In comparison with low-phenolic OO, supplementation for 6 wk with high-phenolic OO does not lead to an improvement in cardiovascular health markers in a healthy cohort. This trial was registered at www.controlled-trials.com as ISRCTN93136746

A path analysis study of school culture and teachers' organisational commitment

In this study, the direct and indirect relations between school culture and the organisational commitment of primary school teachers were analyzed. the subjects of the research consisted of primary school teachers who worked at a district in istanbul in the academic year 2007-2008. the sampling group was defined by the cluster sampling method. in total 200 teachers participated. two scales were used to collect data, the organisational commitment scale (ocs) and the school culture scale (scs). linear regression and path analysis were used to explain the influence of school culture on organisational commitment, and lisrel 7 was used as a structural equation model. the findings indicated that although there was a positive correlation between school culture and organisational commitment, the direct effect of school culture on organisational commitment was not meaningful

Selection of the solvent and extraction conditions for maximum recovery of antioxidant phenolic compounds from coffee silverskin

The extraction of antioxidant phenolic compounds from coffee silverskin (CS) was studied. Firstly, the effect of different solvents (methanol, ethanol, acetone, and distilled water) on the production of antioxidant extracts was evaluated. All the extracts showed antioxidant activity (FRAP and DPPH assays), but those obtained with methanol and ethanol had significantly higher (p < 0.05) DPPH inhibition than the remaining ones. Due to the lower toxicity, ethanol was selected as extraction solvent, and further experiments were performed in order to define the solvent concentration, solvent/solid ratio, and time to maximize the extraction results. The best condition to produce an extract with high content of phenolic compounds (13 mg gallic acid equivalents/g CS) and antioxidant activity [DPPH = 18.24 μmol Trolox equivalents/g CS and FRAP = 0.83 mmol Fe(II)/g CS] was achieved when using 60 % ethanol in a ratio of 35 ml/g CS, during 30 min at 60–65 °C.This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). The authors gratefully acknowledge Teresa Conde, student of Biological Engineering, for the help and interest in this work

Development and standalone testing of the Air-breathing Microwave Plasma CAThode (AMPCAT)

Air-breathing electric propulsion (ABEP) refers to a spacecraft in very-low Earth orbit (VLEO) harnessing upper atmospheric air as propellant for an electric thruster. This allows the orbital altitude to be maintained via drag-compensation, removing the need for on-board propellant storage and allowing a mission lifetime which is not limited by propellant capacity. A cathode (or neutraliser) is required for the high-specific impulse electrostatic thruster designs proposed for an ABEP application. One such study is the AETHER EU H2020 project, which aims to design an ABEP system that can be tested on-ground in a VLEO-representative environment. There is therefore a need to develop a cathode for ABEP as conventional thermionic hollow cathodes are susceptible to oxygen poisoning. The Air-breathing Microwave Plasma CAThode (AMPCAT) presented here is based on a plasma electron source, using a 2.45 GHz microwave antenna directly-inserted into the plasma volume to ionise neutral air particles. This study details the cathode design and the results of iterative standalone testing, with a particular focus on: (a) the identification of a dual-mode current emission, with transition from lower- to higher-current mode with air at bias values around 70 V between the extracting anode and internal cathode surfaces, (b) a comparison of performance relative to xenon, for which the peak extracted current is 30–40% higher than air at equivalent inputs, and (c) the effect of antenna electrical isolation, using alumina shielding thicknesses in the 0.1–0.7 mm range. Standalone cathode tests demonstrate 0.8 A of stable extracted current with 0.1 mg/s mass flow rate of a 0.48O2 + 0.52N2 mixture, relative bias of 80 V and input microwave power of 70 W. To the authors’ knowledge, the demonstration of an extracted current in the 1 A order using air, without visible material degradation after several hours of operation, is a novel development in the cathode literature

Synthesis of an ordered mesoporous carbon with graphitic characteristics and its application for dye adsorption

An ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) was prepared by a chemical vapor deposition technique using liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as the carbon source. During synthesis, LPG was effectively adsorbed in the ordered mesopores of SBA-15 silica and converted to a graphitic carbon at 800 °C. X-ray diffraction and nitrogen adsorption/desorption data and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) of the OMC confirmed its ordered mesoporous structure. The OMC was utilized as an adsorbent in the removal of dyes from aqueous solution. A commercial powder activated carbon (AC) was also investigated to obtain comparative data. The efficiency of the OMC for dye adsorption was tested using acidic dye acid orange 8 (AO8) and basic dyes methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB). The results show that adsorption was affected by the molecular size of the dye, the textural properties of carbon adsorbent and surface-dye interactions. The adsorption capacities of the OMC for acid orange 8 (AO8), methylene blue (MB) and rhodamine B (RB) were determined to be 222, 833, and 233 mg/g, respectively. The adsorption capacities of the AC for AO8, MB, and RB were determined to be 141, 313, and 185 mg/ g, respectively. The OMC demonstrated to be an excellent adsorbent for the removal of MB from wastewater.Web of Scienc

DETERMINATION OF SENSITIVE LANDSCAPES FOR LANDFILL: SIVAS CASE/TURKEY

Due to the increase of the world population and changing living conditions, the waste amount is increasing exponentially. This situation threatens landscape. This study aims to determine sensitive landscapes in terms of landfills. Sensitive landscapes are the areas with low capacity to absorb innovation and change caused by space use. The study was conducted in Sivas. In this study, were evaluated 10 criteria as follows: rock type, proximity to fault lines, hydrological soil groups in order to protect underground water resources; proximity to water resources in order to protect water surface; erosion risk areas to prevent erosion; slope in terms of erosion and groundwater; land capability classes and large soil groups to protect soils of high agricultural value; aspect to prevent bad odour and fast decay; vegetation cover terms of protecting habitats, preventing erosion and infiltration. The results showed that the area has very high sensitivity with 3.16%, high sensitivity with 28.76%, moderate sensitivity with 51.85%, low sensitivity with 15.77% and very low sensitivity with 0.46%. As a result, landscapes sensitive to landfill should not be treated as waste disposal sites and should be protected. In addition, these criteria should be considered as a criterion in the landfill site selection process

La Relación Entre la Motivación Docente y Variables de la Organización: Revisión de la Literatura

Abstract Teacher motivation plays a central role in education because ofitsimpacton student motivation. Previous reviews of teacher motivation have focused on individual variables and psychopathology indicators. However, it is also important to understand the effect of organizational variableson teacher motivationbecause these highlightthe contextthat the teacher is a part of(i.e.,the school). The literature review in this paper analysed studies related to teacher motivation and a pre-defined group of organizational variablesthat werepublished between 1990 and 2014 in several electronic databases.The study found that organizational culture was the most studied variable associated with teacher motivationand most studies in this area were published between 2010 and 2014.Further,there was a prevalence of quantitative studies. This paper concludes with the theoreticaland practical implications of the results,as well assuggestions for future research directions

The Infant Curiosity Questionnaire: the first measure of General Infant Curiosity

There are numerous theoretical frameworks attempting to define and explain curiosity, such as the knowledge gap theory (Loewenstein, 1994), the interest-deprivation theory (Litman & Jimerson, 2004), as well as the early, influential specifications of Berlyne (e.g. epistemic vs. perceptual curiosity and specific vs. diverse exploration, 1960). However, the concept remains elusive with open questions especially regarding its emergence and mechanisms in infancy. While there are several self-report measures for adult and some for child curiosity relating to the aforementioned theories, there has not been any measure developed yet for infants. Here, we present a newly developed caregiver-report questionnaire measuring infants’ general curiosity across a target age range of 5 to 24 months. Rather than constraining behavioral expressions of curiosity to a specific theoretical framework, we instead adopt a broad definition of infant curiosity as a keen desire or tendency to actively explore one’s immediate surroundings. We developed 36 items reflecting various behaviors and developing skills with which infants can actively explore and interact with their environment from birth onwards. Caregivers are asked to evaluate how well each item reflects their child’s typical behavior on a Likert-scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree) with an option of ‘not applicable (NA)’ for behaviours the child does not display (perhaps because they are too young). An item applicable for younger infants is for instance “When my child encounters an object, they are likely to put it in their mouth for further inspection (e.g., to see what it feels or tastes like).” Other items referring to skills such as interacting socially (e.g., “When reading a picture book together, my child directs me (e.g., by pointing) towards what they want to know more about.”) may only become applicable later on. The survey was piloted on N = 22 participants of a constrained age group (Mage = 11.53, 41% female). The measure showed good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = .85). Each item created variance but had, as expected, a positively skewed response load. Furthermore, an item directly asking caregivers about how curious they perceived their child to be, significantly correlated with the child’s mean curiosity score (R = 0.44, p = 0.043) suggesting predictive construct validity. Preliminary results are promising in that the measure captures individual differences in infants’ general curiosity while keeping the number of items and response time low. Small adjustments have been made and data collection from a wider population across the full age-range with a target sample size of N = 360 is currently ongoing. Reliability analyses as well as structural equation modelling has been preregistered on aspredicted.org. This new measure will help us understand infant curiosity, its development, expression, and potential stability from a very early age. It may also inform experimental studies by explaining additional variance of active engagement