Articles

The depletion of non-renewable resources is followed by severe ecological and social impacts, and the heavy usage of raw, virgin resources leaves significant, long-lasting footprints. The transition to a more circular economy, where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained and circulated (by recycling activities) in the economy for as long as possible, is an essential contribution to the EU’s efforts to develop a sustainable, low carbon, resource efficient and competitive economy. In this context, ecological solutions consisting of materials that help carbon sequestration and necessitate small amounts of energy for production are becoming increasingly popular from a building construction point of view, namely: The raw material is cheap and in large quantities; has low thermal conductivity; are from a renewable source. The paper presents an analysis of IZOMIN an innovative thermal insulating product made from renewable or recycled resources and their main technical properties, the purpose being to inform the market in order to increase the present level of technical knowledge and technologies used to facilitate the implementation of buildings with high energy efficiency.

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death worldwide [1]. In China, the prevalence of CHD has kept continually increasing, with the number of patients being approximately 11.39 million, at present [2] and CHD poses a substantial threat to human health. Hypertension and diabetes both are the major risk factors for CHD [2,3] and the risk of CHD in patients with coexisting hypertension and diabetes is higher than that in patients with either of the two diseases [4].

Monilinia laxa is a fungus that causes brown rot in stone fruit. Immature green fruits in the first stage of fruit development (stage I) are generally susceptible. To investigate the relationship between the physical characteristics of immature fruit and susceptibility to M. laxa, we characterized the progeny, derived from a clone of wild peach (Prunus davidiana) crossed with two commercial nectarines (Prunus persica) varieties, through laboratory infection, transpiration monitoring and stomata counting. Two types of fruit infections were observed - ‘classic’ brown rot and ‘clear spot’ symptoms - which have not previously been described in the literature. The number and density of stomata did not explain the observed variability of infection in the progeny. However, surface conductance was positively correlated with infection level. This study provides experimental evidence partially linking physical fruit characteristics to brown rot infection at the immature fruit stage. The role of delayed cuticle deposition in susceptibility to brown rot of immature fruit is discussed.

The study of circadian rhythms of changes in the performance of body systems allows us to evaluate the regulatory systems and is an important tool in diagnosing the severity of the course and prognosis of the outcomes of various diseases. 

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in public health measures and fewer viral infections, which trigger the nephrotic syndrome. Our objectives were to characterize the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on children with nephrotic syndrome. This single-center retrospective chart review compared children with nephrotic syndrome one year before the pandemic with the first wave of the pandemic. Epidemiologic events, clinical characteristics, and health care utilization were compared using paired t-tests, Fisher’s exact tests and Wilcoxon Rank Sum tests. Among 96 children the mean age was 10.7 ± 5.28 years. The distribution was minimal change disease (16.7%), focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (12.5%), membranous nephropathy (1%) and not biopsied (69.8%). Medication responsiveness was steroid-sensitive (25%), frequently relapsed (54%) and steroid-resistant (20.8%). There were 14 new diagnoses of nephrotic syndrome pre-pandemic and 18 during the pandemic. Fewer relapses during the pandemic were likely due to fewer viral illnesses from public health measures during the pandemic.

Background: Fingerprint development techniques are being used for a long time and are considered one among the oldest methods in forensic science used to identify suspects. Fingerprints are one of the most significant types of physical evidence. There are various types of fingerprint patterns such as visible, plastic and latent. In criminal investigation cases, chance fingerprint impressions are mostly found at the crime scene. These prints are generally invisible and therefore require several development methods. The powder dusting technique of developing fingerprints involves the application of fine powder on the impression of the print with the help of a brush such as glass fiber or a camel hair brush. Main text: This paper rather focuses on various unconventional powder methods than the widely used conventional ones. This will help identify other cheaper, non-toxic powders that are commonly available as an alternative to the expensive, toxic ones. The author’s main aim is to provide a collective review of the work of other scientists in order to identify everyday materials, commonly available that can be used as possible means to develop a fingerprint impression. Conclusion: For a better result, the unconventional powder is used on different surfaces i.e. porous, non-porous, and semi-porous for latent fingerprint impressions. After developing impressions on different surfaces, we conclude our result that unconventional powder is very useful. 

Tissue banking is an interdisciplinary medical practice more reliant than others in specialized fields and applying knowledge from other branches of science, particularly nuclear sciences. A further difference from other medical disciplines is the urgent necessity to include laws, norms, standards and statutory regulations, which differ in their juridical binding force. Adopting a code of ethics and a code of practice is one of the main tasks to be conducted by a tissue establishment after its founding. The aim is to include in these codes the main ethical principles associated with the different laws, norms, standards, and statutory regulations in force in each country in the field of tissue banking.

We describe a case of thoracic endometriosis in a patient with a repeated episode of spontaneous pneumothorax. Investigations revealed diaphragmatic fenestrations and right-sided pleural and lung endometriosis. Considering the ultrasound evidence of pelvic endometriosis, the patient was scheduled for multidisciplinary surgical management, to treat in one step thoracic and pelvic endometriosis.

This review covers over one hundred Pt(II) complexes of the compositions Pt(η3–P1X1P2)(Y), (X1 = O1L, N1L, C1L, B1L, S1L or Si1L) and (Y = H, F, Cl, Br, I, O2L, N2L, C2L, or P3L). These complexes crystallized in five crystal classes: monoclinic (60 examples), triclinic (36 examples), orthorhombic (13 examples), trigonal (1 example) and tetragonal (1 example). Each heterotridentate organodiphosphine creates two metallocyclic rings with a common X1 atom. There are fourteen types of metallocycles from which the P1C2X1C2P2 is most common. The structural parameters (Pt-L, L-Pt-L) are analyzed and discussed with attention to the distortion of a square-planar geometry about the Pt(II) atoms as well as of trans-influence.

Objective: Pelvic masses can be classified as low risk (likely benign) and high risk (likely malignant) based on an initial clinical risk assessment, which involves a detailed history, physical exam, basic laboratory tests, and imaging. In recent years, the Risk of Ovarian Malignancy Algorithm (ROMA), which combines CA125, HE4 and menopausal status, has emerged as a powerful tool in the classification of pelvic masses and triage of patients to either a generalist gynecologist or a gynecologic oncologist for management. The objective of this study was to evaluate whether the use of ROMA, alone or in combination with Initial Clinical Risk Assessment (ICRA), provides cost savings compared to triage based on ICRA alone.Methods: A health-economic decision model was developed to assess clinical and cost differences associated with three different clinical pathways of risk assessment for a pelvic mass: ICRA alone, ROMA alone, or ICRA + ROMA in combination. Using previously reported accuracy rates and patient characteristics from a prospective, multicenter, blinded clinical trial, total healthcare costs were modeled for each clinical pathway using the Medicare 2020 reimbursement rates.Results: A total of 461 patients with pelvic masses were included with 10.4% ultimately diagnosed with epithelial ovarian cancer. Total healthcare costs for patients with benign disease, EOC, or low malignant potential tumors (LMP) (n = 441) triaged using ROMA alone were 3.3% lower than when triaged using ICRA alone. While lab costs increased 55% using ROMA, the use of ROMA alone resulted in a 4% decrease in laparoscopy costs and a 3.1% decrease in laparotomy costs compared with ICRA alone. Similarly, total costs associated with a combination of ICRA + ROMA were 3.9% lower than total costs associated with ICRA alone. The model also predicted a 63% reduction in repeat surgeries resulting from false negative ICRA when using ROMA to triage patients.Conclusion: Triage of women with pelvic masses using the more sensitive ROMA score lowers overall healthcare costs compared to ICRA alone. With fewer false negative results than ICRA alone, the ROMA score improves initial detection of malignancy and reduces second surgical treatments in women with pelvic masses.