Heeft craving een medieërend effect op de relatie tussen impulsiviteit en agressie, bij cocaïne verslaafden?

Inleiding: Er is bij adolescenten een positieve correlatie tussen cocaïnegebruik op lange termijn en verhoogde irritatie en agressie. Tevens is craving een prominent kenmerk van verslaving. Het medieërend effect van craving op de relatie tussen impulsiviteit en agressie is onderzocht, onder cocaïne verslaafden. Methode: Veertig abstinente cocaïne verslaafden hebben deelgenomen aan het onderzoek. Craving werd gemeten door de OCDUS, impulsiviteit werd gemeten door de DII en agressie werd gemeten door de AVL. Eveneens werd de ASI afgenomen om de ernst van de verslaving in kaart te brengen. Veertig niet-verslaafden hebben deelgenomen aan het onderzoek als controle groep, om de mate van agressiviteit te meten ten opzichte van de cocaïne groep. De deelnemers hebben de impulsiviteit vragenlijst DII en de AVL ingevuld. Resultaten: De individuen uit de cocaïne groep hebben een hogere totaal score op de disfunctionele impulsiviteitschaal en de agressie totaal score schaal. Regressie analyse suggereert, dat de relatie tussen impulsiviteit en agressie niet wordt gemediëerd door craving. Conclusies: Individuen uit de cocaïne groep zijn agressievere en impulsiever dan individuen uit de controle groep. Het medieërend effect van craving op de relatie tussen impulsiviteit en agressie is niet gevonden. Een nieuw model komt naar voren waarin de persoonlijkheidstrek impulsiviteit een voorspellende waarde heeft op agressie en craving. Verder onderzoek is nodig om de invloed van craving en de persoonlijkheidstrek impulsiviteit te onderzoeken

Investigating the Post-Sintering Thermal and Mechanical Treatments on the Properties of Alumina Reinforced Aluminum Nanocomposites

Alumina nanoparticles in the loading fraction of 3 wt% were incorporated in pure aluminum matrix to prepare nanocomposites for improved mechanical performance. Powder metallurgy route was adopted wherein nanoparticles were mixed with aluminium powder using dry mixing technique involving milling process, which was followed by the densification of composite mixture by uniaxial cold pressing and pressureless sintering. In order to increase the densification of nanocomposites, a batch of sintered nanocomposites was twice sintered at the same sintering parameters while another batch of specimens was cold pressed after initial sintering. The consolidated nanocomposites together with reference pure aluminum specimens were characterized microstructurally and mechanically by optical and electron microscopy, hardness and compressive strength tests. It was found that the hardness and compressive strength of nanocomposites after sintering increased up to ~ 29% and ~ 144% in comparison to pure aluminium specimens, respectively. Although the densification of nanocomposites increased after twice sintering, the hardness and compressive strength values decreased. However, the rise in consolidification along with improved mechanical performance was noted after cold pressing the specimens as secondary treatment after sintering; hardness increased up to ~ 36% while compressive strength rose to ~ 64%. In comparison to twice sintering, cold pressing after initial sintering significantly increased the hardness and compressive strength of nanocomposites up to ~ 76% and ~ 301% with reference to pure aluminum, respectively. It was found that both the incorporation of alumina nanoparticles and cold pressing after initial sintering improved the mechanical properties of nanocomposites

Внедрение и принцип работы системы сейсмического мониторинга горного массива для работы в условиях ООО "Шахта "Усковская"

The status of the Silicon Microvertex Detector (SMD) and its installation into the LEP-L3 experiment are presented, highlighting novel features and sophisticated techniques. Preliminary results based on 1993 data are given and compared with Monte Carlo predictions, to understand the detector performances and its tracking capabilities

Iron Intermetallic Compounds (IMCs) Formation Mechanism in the Molten Aluminium Zinc (Al-Zn) Coating Alloy

To prevent corrosion of steel products, the steel industry often relies on Al-Zn based alloy coatings, applied through hot-dip coating technology. Despite this, a long-standing problem in the galvanizing industry involves the formation of Fe-based intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in the Al-Zn coating bath, caused by iron dissolution from steel products. Such IMCs are the primary source of dross formation in the Al-Zn bath, which inevitably leads to metal spot defects in the coated steel products and bottom dross build-up in the Al-Zn bath. The present research aims to investigate the mechanism of Fe transformation into IMCs. To achieve this, Fe saturated and unsaturated Al-Zn alloys were doped with low carbon steel at a temperature of 600 °C. The samples were collected at regular intervals and quenched in water. The optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were used to study the transformation of steel strips into Fe-IMCs particles in molten Al-Zn alloys. The study findings suggest that the Fe transformation into Fe-IMCs is a complex process, where the steel strip surface is initially oxidized, and Al5Fe2 and Al3Fe are formed, which finally transform into Al8Fe2Si(Zn) (τ5c) IMCs particles. These results can assist galvanizers in understanding formation of Fe-IMCs and bottom dross build up in the costing pots

Customizable Ceramic Nanocomposites Using Carbon Nanotubes

A novel tweakable nanocomposite was prepared by spark plasma sintering followed by systematic oxidation of carbon nanotube (CNT) molecules to produce alumina/carbon nanotube nanocomposites with surface porosities. The mechanical properties (flexural strength and fracture toughness), surface area, and electrical conductivities were characterized and compared. The nanocomposites were extensively analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) for 2D qualitative surface morphological analysis. Adding CNTs in ceramic matrices and then systematically oxidizing them, without substantial reduction in densification, induces significant capability to achieve desirable/application oriented balance between mechanical, electrical, and catalytic properties of these ceramic nanocomposites. This novel strategy, upon further development, opens new level of opportunities for real-world/industrial applications of these relatively novel engineering materials

Ga-Semicarbazone Complex: Potential PET Radiopharmaceutical for Tumor Imaging

In an attempt to develop new tumor imaging radiotracers with favorable biochemical properties, we have synthesized new 68 Ga-2-acetylpyridine semicarbazone ( 68 Ga-[APSC] 2 ) as a potential positron emission tomography (PET) tumor imaging agent using a straightforward and a one-step simple reaction. Radiochemical yield and purity were quantitative without HPLC purification. Biodistribution studies in nude mice model bearing human MDA-MB-231 cell line xenografts displayed significant tumor uptake of 68 Ga-[APSC] 2 radiotracer after 2 h postinjection (p.i.). The initial results demonstrate that 68 Ga-[APSC] 2 radiotracer may be useful probe for detecting and staging of hypoxic tumor using PET imaging modality

Customizable Ceramic Nanocomposites Using Carbon Nanotubes

A novel tweakable nanocomposite was prepared by spark plasma sintering followed by systematic oxidation of carbon nanotube (CNT) molecules to produce alumina/carbon nanotube nanocomposites with surface porosities. The mechanical properties (flexural strength and fracture toughness), surface area, and electrical conductivities were characterized and compared. The nanocomposites were extensively analyzed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) for 2D qualitative surface morphological analysis. Adding CNTs in ceramic matrices and then systematically oxidizing them, without substantial reduction in densification, induces significant capability to achieve desirable/application oriented balance between mechanical, electrical, and catalytic properties of these ceramic nanocomposites. This novel strategy, upon further development, opens new level of opportunities for real-world/industrial applications of these relatively novel engineering materials

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Developmentally Regulated Production of meso- Zeaxanthin in Chicken Retinal Pigment Epithelium/ Choroid and Retina

PURPOSE. meso-Zeaxanthin is a carotenoid that is rarely encountered in nature outside of the vertebrate eye. It is not a constituent of a normal human diet, yet this carotenoid comprises onethird of the primate macular pigment. In the current study, we undertook a systematic approach to biochemically characterize the production of meso-zeaxanthin in the vertebrate eye. METHODS. Fertilized White Leghorn chicken eggs were analyzed for the presence of carotenoids during development. Yolk, liver, brain, serum, retina, and RPE/choroid were isolated, and carotenoids were extracted. The samples were analyzed on C-30 or chiral HPLC columns to determine the carotenoid composition. RESULTS. Lutein and zeaxanthin were found in all studied nonocular tissues, but no mesozeaxanthin was ever detected. Among the ocular tissues, the presence of meso-zeaxanthin was consistently observed starting at embryonic day 17 (E17) in the RPE/choroid, several days before its consistent detection in the retina. If RPE/choroid of an embryo was devoid of mesozeaxanthin, the corresponding retina was always negative as well. CONCLUSIONS. This is the first report of developmentally regulated synthesis of mesozeaxanthin in a vertebrate system. Our observations suggest that the RPE/choroid is the primary site of meso-zeaxanthin synthesis. Identification of meso-zeaxanthin isomerase enzyme in the developing chicken embryo will facilitate our ability to determine the biochemical mechanisms responsible for production of this unique carotenoid in other higher vertebrates, such as humans

Insights from EEG analysis of evoked memory recalls using deep learning for emotion charting

Affect recognition in a real-world, less constrained environment is the principal prerequisite of the industrial-level usefulness of this technology. Monitoring the psychological profile using smart, wearable electroencephalogram (EEG) sensors during daily activities without external stimuli, such as memory-induced emotions, is a challenging research gap in emotion recognition. This paper proposed a deep learning framework for improved memory-induced emotion recognition leveraging a combination of 1D-CNN and LSTM as feature extractors integrated with an Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) classifier. The proposed deep learning architecture, combined with the EEG preprocessing, such as the removal of the average baseline signal from each sample and extraction of EEG rhythms (delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma), aims to capture repetitive and continuous patterns for memory-induced emotion recognition, underexplored with deep learning techniques. This work has analyzed EEG signals using a wearable, ultra-mobile sports cap while recalling autobiographical emotional memories evoked by affect-denoting words, with self-annotation on the scale of valence and arousal. With extensive experimentation using the same dataset, the proposed framework empirically outperforms existing techniques for the emerging area of memory-induced emotion recognition with an accuracy of 65.6%. The EEG rhythms analysis, such as delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma, achieved 65.5%, 52.1%, 65.1%, 64.6%, and 65.0% accuracies for classification with four quadrants of valence and arousal. These results underscore the significant advancement achieved by our proposed method for the real-world environment of memory-induced emotion recognition