Shorter Length Of Time Research Articles

Psychiatric Comorbidity, Red Flag Behaviors, and Associated Outcomes among Office-Based Buprenorphine Patients Following Hurricane Sandy

In October 2012, Bellevue Hospital Center (Bellevue) in New York City was temporarily closed as a result of Hurricane Sandy, the largest hurricane in US history. Bellevue's primary care office-based buprenorphine program was temporarily closed and later relocated to an affiliate public hospital. Previous research indicates that the relationships between disaster exposure, substance use patterns, psychiatric symptoms, and mental health services utilization is complex, with often conflicting findings regarding post-event outcomes (on the individual and community level) and antecedent risk factors. In general, increased use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs is associated with both greater disaster exposure and the development or exacerbation of other psychiatric symptoms and need for treatment. To date, there is limited published information regarding post-disaster outcomes among patients enrolled in office-based buprenorphine treatment, as the treatment modality has only been relatively approved recently. Patients enrolled in the buprenorphine program at the time of the storm were surveyed for self-reported buprenorphine adherence and illicit substance and alcohol use, as well as disaster-related personal consequences and psychiatric sequelae post-storm. Baseline demographic characteristics and insurance status were available from the medical record. Analysis was descriptive (counts and proportions) and qualitative, coding open-ended responses for emergent themes. There were 132 patients enrolled in the program at the time of the storm; of those, 91 were contacted and 89 completed the survey. Almost half of respondents reported disruption of their buprenorphine supply. Unexpectedly, patients with psychiatric comorbidity were no more likely to report increased use/relapse as a result. Rather, major risk factors associated with increased use or relapse post-storm were: (1) shorter length of time in treatment, (2) exposure to storm losses such as buprenorphine supply disruption, (3) a pre-storm history of red flag behaviors (in particular, repeat opioid-positive urines), and (4) new-onset post-storm psychiatric symptoms. Our findings highlight the relative resilience of buprenorphine as an office-based treatment modality for patients encountering a disaster with associated unanticipated service disruption. In responding to future disasters, triaging patient contact and priority based on a history of red-flag behaviors, rather than a history of psychiatric comorbidity, will likely optimize resource allocation, especially among recently enrolled patients. Additionally, patients endorsing new-onset psychiatric manifestations following disasters may be an especially high-risk group for poor outcomes, warranting further study.

Nonsuicidal Self-Injury Among a Sample of United States Military Personnel and Veterans Enrolled in College Classes

To investigate the rate of nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), to describe sociodemographic and clinical correlates of NSSI, and to examine the association of NSSI with suicidal thoughts and behaviors in a sample of U.S. military personnel and veterans. An anonymous online survey was completed by 335 U.S. military personnel and veterans (70.0% male; age mean = 36.67, standard error = 10.59; 82.3% Caucasian, 4.9% African American, 2.8% Asian, 3.7% Native American, 1.2% Pacific Islander, and 7.6% other) enrolled in college classes. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and logistic regression was used to test the associations among NSSI, suicide ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempts. Fourteen percent of the sample reported lifetime NSSI and 3% reported NSSI during the last 12 months. The most common method was cutting (78.7%), with 66% reporting use of 2 or more methods for NSSI. Average age of NSSI onset was 17.55 years. Increased likelihood of NSSI was associated with older age, shorter length of time in service, greater trauma exposure, female gender, Native American racial identity, and combat support deployments. Personnel in the Navy and with a history of combat deployment were significantly less likely to report NSSI. NSSI was significantly associated with suicide ideation, suicide planning, and suicide attempts even when adjusting for covariates. The rate of NSSI is comparable to estimates in nonmilitary U.S. samples. NSSI is a significant risk factor for suicidal thoughts and behaviors in this group.

Redistribution of the residual welding stresses

This paper presents an experimental study of the residual welding stresses for butt-jointed steel plates. The stresses were monitored over two weeks after the removal of the welding constraints. The measurements were performed at the deposited metal, the heat-affected zone, the base metal close to the weld joint and along the plate using the X-ray diffraction method. The experimental results showed the continuous process of welding stress relaxation over a relatively short length of time. The observed stress redistribution trend was characterized by a reduction in and a uniformity of the values of the maximum shear stresses.

Wavelet transform-based stress-time history editing of horizontal axis wind turbine blades

Full scale blade fatigue testing is required to verify that the horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) blades posses the strength and service life specified in the design. Unfortunately, fatigue tests must be run for a long time period, which has led blade testing laboratories to seek ways of accelerating fatigue testing time and reducing the costs of tests. The objective of this article is to develop a novel method called a WT-based fatigue damage part extracting method. Based on wavelet transform (WT), this method extracts fatigue damage parts from the stress-time history and generates the edited stress-time history with shorter time length. Also, this article proposes a concept of applying accumulative power spectral density (AccPSD) to identify fatigue damage events contained in the stress-time history of HAWT blades. Wavelet functions used in this study are Morl, Meyr, Dmey, Mexh and DB30. It has been found that Mexh wavelet with an AccPSD level of 9000 Energy/Hz provides the edited stress-time history having a maximum reduction of 20.77% in length with respect to the original length, whilst fatigue damage per repetition can be retained almost the same as the original one. In addition, an existing method, time correlated fatigue damage (TCFD), is used to validate the effectiveness of a WT-based fatigue damage part extracting method. The results suggest that not only does the WT improve the accuracy of fatigue damage retained, but also it provides a shorter length of the edited stress-time history. To conclude, WT is suggested as an alternative technique in fatigue durability study, especially for the field of wind turbine engineering.

Racialized and gendered disparities in occupational exposures among Chinese and white workers in Toronto

Objective. We examined disparities in hazardous employment characteristics and working conditions among Chinese and white workers in Toronto, Canada.Design. We used self-administered questionnaire data from a 2005–2006 population-based survey (n = 1611). Using modified Poisson regression, we examined the likelihood for Chinese workers of experiencing adverse exposures compared to whites. Models were stratified by sex and adjusted for differences in human capital. Work sector was conceptualized as a mediating variable.Results. Chinese workers were generally more likely to report adverse exposures. In many cases, disparities were only evident or more pronounced among women. The shorter length of time in Canada of Chinese relative to whites accounted for some of the observed disparities. Meanwhile, the higher educational level of Chinese compared to whites provided them with no protection from adverse exposures. The risk of experiencing discrimination on the labor market and at work was more than 50% higher among Chinese men and women as compared to whites, and those disparities, though reduced, persisted after adjustment for confounders.Conclusions. Discrimination is far more prevalent among Chinese than among whites and may explain their disproportionate exposure to other hazards.

Maternal and paternal factors associated with congenital syphilis in Shenzhen, China: a prospective cohort study

Maternal and paternal factors create considerable obstacles to the elimination of congenital syphilis (CS). A clear understanding of maternal and paternal factors is important in order to define interventions in every community. This study aimed to investigate the maternal and paternal factors associated with CS. A prospective cohort study was conducted from April 25, 2007 to October 31, 2012 at the Shenzhen Center for Chronic Disease Control and Prevention (SCCDC) in China. We screened 279,334 pregnant women and identified 838 women with syphilis. Finally, a total of 360 women with syphilis were included for analysis. At the end of follow-up, 34 infants [9.4 %, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 6.8-12.9 %] were diagnosed with CS. Following adjustment for confounders, maternal history of syphilis [adjusted risk ratio (aRR) = 0.21], prenatal care (aRR = 0.12), and complete treatment (aRR = 0.22) reduced the risk of infants being infected. Every two-fold increase of titer of non-treponemal antibodies (aRR = 1.88), early stage of syphilis (aRR = 9.59), a shorter length of time between the end of the first treatment to childbirth (aRR = 5.39), and every week of delay in treatment (aRR = 2.25) for maternal syphilis as well as paternal history of cocaine use (aRR = 6.28) and positive (aRR = 3.30) or unknown (aRR = 2.79) status of syphilis increased the risk of infants being infected. CS also increased the risk (aRR = 8.02) of neonatal death. Maternal and paternal factors constituted two separate profiles associated with CS. To become more effective, future strategies for the prevention of CS should be targeted to each profile.

Examination of affective and cognitive interference in schizophrenia and relation to symptoms.

The nature of emotion deficits in schizophrenia and anhedonia is still unclear, and understanding the nature of these deficits could help improve treatment of chronic symptoms and functional disability. An important mechanism in emotional functioning is attention to affective information. People with schizophrenia (n = 48) and a nonpsychiatric comparison group (n = 28) completed an affective interference task, a task used to assess attention to affective information. Given that the affective interference task also involves prepotent response inhibition, participants also completed a very similar, but nonaffective, cognitive interference task that involves prepotent inhibition but does not require attention to affective information. Results revealed that people with schizophrenia exhibited decreased affective interference on trials with a shorter length of time between the onset of the cue and onset of the target but increased cognitive interference at all time lengths between the cue and target onsets used in the study. In addition, decreased affective interference was associated with increased anhedonia and increased reports of wanting to ignore positive emotions. In contrast, increased cognitive interference was associated with increased communication disturbances and alogia. Overall, these results suggest that there may be a decrease in attention to affective information in schizophrenia and that affective interference is related to anhedonia. At the same time, these results provide further evidence of cognitive control prepotent inhibition deficits in schizophrenia, which are related to communication disturbances and alogia.

Clinical efficacy of Qingyi decoction combined with DAR for the treatment of acute pancreatitis

Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of Qingyi decoction (a preparation of Chinese herbal medicine) combined with DAR (combined use of dexamethasone,anisodamine and rhubarb) for the treatment of acute pancreatitis.Methods A total of 387 eligible patients met the criteria of acute pancreatitis were enrolled from January 2005 to April 2012 for prospective study.All patients,mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) or severe acute pancreatitis (SAP),were divided (random niumber) into four groups,namely conventional therapy (T),DAR therapy (DAR),Qingyi decoction therapy (Q) and Qingyi decoction combined with DAR therapy (Q + DAR).Outcome,fasting time,serum amylase,abdominal pain relief time,pancreatic or peri-pancreatic complications and average hospital-stay were analvzed with SPSS 13.0 statistic software.P ＜ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results None of MAP patients died.Of SAP patients,there was no difference in mortality among different groups (P ＞ 0.05).length of fasting time,tine elapsed for abdominal pain relief,time required for normalized serum amylase level and length of hospital stay in MAP patients were significantly shorter than those in SAP patients regardless of different therapies (P ＜ 0.05).Either patients of SAP or MAP treated with Q + DAR or DAR suffered shorter length of time than those treated with T or Q in respect of fasting,abdominal paiu relief,serum amylase level normalization and hospital stay (P ＜ 0.05).For SAP or MAP patients,there was no difference in abdominal pain relief time between receiving DAR and Q + DAR treatment (P ＞ 0.05),but the fasting time in Q + DAR was shorter than that in DAR (P ＜ 0.05).Patients with SAP were more likely to suffer pancreatic or per-pancreatic complications than those with MAP,but there was no difference for SAP or MAP with different treatments.Conclusions DAR or Q + DAR was an alternative to conventional treatment for MAP or SAP,and they were both superior to conventional treatment.And Q + DAR was more advantageous than DAR when fasting time,hospital-stay time and cost were considered. Key words: Acute pancreatitis; DAR; Qingyi decoction; Comprehensive treatment

003 THE BURDEN OF PAROXYSMAL AF IN HEART FAILURE PATIENTS WITH IMPLATABLE DEVICES: QUANTIFYING THE VARIABILITY

<h3>Introduction</h3> Implantable electrical cardiac devices capable of continuous rhythm monitoring offer a new opportunity to study the burden of AF in patients with heart failure (HF). The thromboembolic risk of AF is higher in patients with HF, but the length and frequency of episodes of AF necessary to warrant antithrombotic therapy in HF patients is not known. We sought to describe the AF burden in a typical HF population with implantable devices. <h3>Method</h3> Data from all HF patients using the Medtronic CareLink system at one centre in the UK were collected. Only dual chamber devices were included as the atrial lead was necessary for AF detection. Most patients with persistent AF at the time of implant do not have an atrial lead implanted and therefore were not included. Demographic data were obtained from electronic patient records. Using CareLink, graphs showing frequency and length of daily AF episodes were collated. Visual analysis of the charts was performed and patients were grouped according to the length of the longest episodes of AF and the frequency of recurrent episodes. <h3>Results</h3> In total, 175 patients were found with devices capable of reporting data in a suitable format and with adequate transmissions for analysis. Mean age was 60 years (±16.0) and 72% were male. There were 67 ICDs, 99 CRT-Ds and 4 CRT-P. 128 patients (75%) had some device reported AF. 70% of ICD, 78% of CRT-D and 100% of CRT-P patients had some AF during the monitoring period. The shortest length of time in AF per day that is measurable on the QuickLook graph is 2.5 min. The longest episode the devices could report was 100 h. 4 groups were identified based on length of AF episodes (table&nbsp;1). I. One episode of AF &gt;100 h and no sinus rhythm since onset of that episode (n=17; 13%) II. Episodes &gt;100 h with episodes of sinus rhythm between (n=15; 12%) III. At least 1 episode of AF &gt;2.5 min, but none &gt;100 h (n=47; 37%) IV. No episode of AF &gt;2.5 min (n=49; 38%) 32 patients (25%) had episodes of AF longer than 100 h. 15 patients (12%) had AF at the time of or immediately following implantation, 3 of whom reverted to sinus rhythm at some point following implant. To separate those with shorter or infrequent episodes of AF from those with longer or more frequent episodes, patients in groups III and IV were subcategorised further: (a) Single episode of AF (b) &gt;50% months with no AF (‘infrequent’) (c) &lt;50% months with no AF (‘frequent’) (d) No months without AF (‘every month’) The distribution of these subcategories is given in figure&nbsp;1. <h3>Conclusions</h3> Some AF is detected in the majority of HF patients with dual-chamber implantable devices. There are many different patterns of paroxysmal AF and these can be described by frequency and distribution. Further studies are needed to understand the clinical features of these patterns and the association with thromboembolic risk. Our data suggests that the majority of HF patients with an implantable device are at increased thromboembolic risk.

Use of a decision support system improves the management of hemodynamic and respiratory events in orthopedic patients under propofol sedation and spinal analgesia: a randomized trial

Decision support systems (DSSs) have been successfully implemented into clinical practice offering clinical suggestions and treatment options with excellent results in various clinical settings. Although their results appeared promising, showing that DSSs can increase anesthesiologists' vigilance and patient safety during surgery, DSSs have never been used before to help anesthesiologists in identifying critical events in patients under spinal analgesia with sedation. We have developed and clinically evaluated a DSS for this specific task. The DSS was developed with the ability to indicate respiratory and hemodynamic critical events via audio-visual alarms and give decisional aid. Critical respiratory events were defined as SpO2 <92 % and/or respiratory rate <8/min. Critical hemodynamic events were defined as mean arterial pressure (MAP) <60 mmHg and/or heart rate <40 bpm. The objective of this trial was to determine the duration to detect and treat these critical events with the help of the DSS (DSS Group) compared with a standard Control Group where the system was not in place. One hundred and fifty orthopedic patients undergoing spinal analgesia with propofol sedation were enrolled in this randomized control trial, 75 each group. All respiratory and hemodynamic critical events were detected in the DSS Group, while in the Control Group 26 % of the events were not detected.The delay to detect and treat critical events was significantly shorter (P < 0.0001) in the DSS Group at 9.1 ± 3.6 s, whereas 27.5 ± 18.9 s were necessary to identify them in the Control Group. There were no significant differences in physiological parameters in the two groups during surgery. The number of critical events/h occurring and the duration of surgery were similar in both groups. The number of hypoxemia episodes was significantly less (P = 0.036) in the DSS group (0.7 ± 1.0 vs. 1.4 ± 2.2 for the Control Group). The DSS tested in this trial could help the clinician to detect and treat critical events more efficiently and in a shorter length of time.

Dissemination and Implementation

Application of research evidence in care delivery improves patient outcomes. Large gaps still exist, however, between recommended care and that used in practice. To increase the understanding of implementation studies, and dissemination of research findings, we present the perspective of investigators from seven Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative (INQRI)-funded studies. To describe implementation strategies, challenges, and lessons learned from conducting 5 INQRI-funded implementation studies, and present 2 case examples of other INQRI studies to illustrate dissemination strategies. Potential impact of study findings are set forth. Qualitative descriptive methods were used for the implementation studies. Case examples were set forth by investigators using reflection questions. Four of the 5 implementation studies focused on clinical topics and 1 on professional development of nurse managers, 4 were multisite studies. Common implementation strategies used across studies addressed education, ongoing interaction with sites, use of implementation tools, and visibility of the projects on the study units. Major challenges were the Institutional Review Board approval process and the short length of time allocated for implementation. Successes and lessons learned included creating excitement about research, packaging of study tools and resources for use by other organizations, and understanding the importance of context when conducting this type of research. Case examples revealed that study findings have been disseminated to study sites and to the health care community through publications and presentations. The potential impact of all 7 studies is far reaching. This study captures several nuanced perspectives from 5 Principal Investigators, who were completing INQRI-funded implementation studies. These nuanced perspectives are important lessons for other scientists embarking on implementation studies. The INQRI case examples illustrate important dissemination strategies and impact of findings on quality of care.

A Six-Month Study of Pulmonary Cancer in Albanian Women

Lung cancer is a potentially lethal disease, whose prevalence in Albania is constantly increasing, especially in women. Early diagnosis is extremely important with regard to life expectancy and quality. The authors conducted a survey on the behaviour in a sample group of Albanian women diagnosed with primary and secondary lung cancers. A discussion upon diagnostic methods, smoking habits, histological type, Karnofsky performance status (KPS), and treatment modalities is made. The data collected by the authors suggest that nonsmokers formed the main group of lung cancer female patients. The most frequent histological type was adenocarcinoma. Mesothelioma was the most frequent of the secondary pulmonary lung cancers, followed from metastasizing breast cancer. Despite a generally good performance of the cases, the diagnosis of pulmonary cancer is delayed. The data collected could not find a convincing etiological role of tobacco smoking, but caution is needed, regarding the short time length of the study and the sustained number of participants.

Predictors for Readmission into Children’s Inpatient Mental Health Treatment

The goal of this study was to examine factors associated with time to first and subsequent readmissions of youth (N = 1,432) to one of Florida's residential mental health treatment programs, known as State Inpatient Psychiatric Program (SIPP). Results of multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that greater maltreatment severity, shorter length of time spent in SIPP during the initial episode, and longer time to provision of targeted case management services were associated with earlier readmission. When time to subsequent readmission was examined, results of multivariate Cox regression analysis indicated that shorter length of stay during the second hospitalization and having more than one mental health diagnosis increased the odds of experiencing subsequent readmission. One consistent finding across initial and subsequent readmissions was that the timing of service provision but not the amount of services was crucial for preventing readmissions to inpatient residential programs.

In-hospital cardiac arrests: effect of amended Australian Resuscitation Council 2006 guidelines

To evaluate cardiac arrest outcomes following the introduction of the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) 2006 amended guidelines for basic and advanced life support. A retrospective study of all consecutive cardiac arrests during a 3-year phase pre-implementation (2004-06) and a 3-year phase post-implementation (2007-09) of the ARC 2006 guidelines was conducted at a tertiary referral hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Over the 6-year study phase 690 cardiac arrests were reported. Resuscitation was attempted in 248 patients pre-implementation and 271 patients post-implementation of the ARC 2006 guidelines. After adjusting for significant prognostic factors we found no significant change in return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) (odds ratio 1.21, 95% confidence interval 0.80-1.85, P=0.37) or survival to discharge (odds ratio 1.49, 95% confidence interval 0.94-2.37, P=0.09) after the implementation of the ARC 2006 guidelines. Factors that remained significant in the final model for both outcomes included having an initial shockable rhythm, a shorter length of time from collapse to arrival of cardiac arrest team, location of the patient in a critical-care area, shorter length of resuscitation and a day-time arrest (0700-2259 hours). In addition the arrest being witnessed was significant for ROSC and younger age was significant for survival to discharge. There are multiple factors that influence clinical outcomes following an in-hospital cardiac arrest and further research to refine these significant variables will assist in the future management of cardiac arrests. WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THIS TOPIC? The evaluation of outcomes from in-hospital cardiac arrests focuses on immediate survival expressed as ROSC and survival to hospital discharge. These clinical outcomes have not improved substantially over the last two decades. WHAT DOES THIS PAPER ADD? This paper identifies the factors that are related to ROSC and survival to discharge following the implementation of the ARC 2006 guidelines, which included a refocus on providing quality cardiopulmonary resuscitation with minimal interruptions. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTITIONERS? Given that multiple factors can influence clinical outcomes following an in-hospital cardiac arrest, focusing on maximising a range of factors surrounding cardiopulmonary resuscitation is essential to improve outcomes.

基本的生活 4習慣の定着と児童の歩数・体力との関連性

[Objective] The objective of this study was to clarify the relationship of establishing four basic lifestyle habits (getting up and going to bed early; eating breakfast; limited time spent watching television and,exercise habits)with the number of daily steps and physical fitness test scores. [Methods] Surveys of lifestyle and the number of daily steps were conducted for one week in June 2010 on 435 elementary school children in grade 3 and above in A City. The relationship of lifestyle habits with the number of daily steps and physical fitness test scores was investigated. [Results] On weekdays, children got up at around 6:30 am, with no difference observed among school grades; however, time of going to bed became later with increasing school grade. Children with established breakfast everyday kept the habits of lifestyle rhythm and tended to watch television for only short lengths of time;however, no difference was seen for the number of daily steps. Conversely, children who exercised more frequently took significantly more the daily steps and had higher physical fitness scores. Established eating breakfast were related to the habits of lifestyle rhythm and length of time spent watching television, while established exercise habits were related to the number of daily steps and physical fitness. The present findings suggest the need for establishing these four basic lifestyle habits, including both exercise habits and lifestyle habits, in order to ensure children.s healthy development and improve physical fitness.

The influence of nitrogen deficiency and excess in potato plants on biomass accumulation and distribution

Nitrogen nutrition index (NNI), harvest index (HI), dry matter accumulated by different organs were estimated several times during the vegetation period of potato plants grown in the both field and pot experiments at the Experimental Station in Jadwisin, Poland. Nitrogen fertilizer as NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;NO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; was applied at three doses (40, 120, and 200 kg·ha=&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;sup&gt; N) in the field experiment and 2,7 g N in 1996 and 4g N in 1997 and 1998 per each plant in the pot experiment. Results showed that the values of NNI both in field and pot experiments increased from emergence till the about closing rows and then they gradually decreased. The NNI values were dependent on N rates. The higher were N doses, the higher were values of NNI. These differences were especially present during the first half of vegetation periods. The excess of N in potato plants (NNI values above 1,O) was recorded in the greater part of vegetation periods in plants grown at the dose 200 kg·ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; N and for short length of time at the rate 120 kg·ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; N. The excess of nitrogen was associated with the highest values of total biomass accumulation and with decreasing ofthe harvest index; (average NNI=0,53). Unsuffieient level of nitrogen nutrition (NNI values below 1,0) was found for the whole vegetation periods in all plants grown in pots and in the field at the dose 40 kg·ha&lt;sup&gt;-1&lt;/sup&gt; N. These plants produced less total biomass but more of it was distributed to the tubers with average values of HI: 0,68 in field and 0,78 in pot experiments. Plants grown in the field under warmer weather conditions had better nitrogen nutrition status than those grown under cooler and wetter ones.

STUDY ON SUITABLE MEDIA OF ADVENTITIOUS ROOT AND MASS PRODUCTION FROM THE ROOT TISSUE OF PANAX VIETNAMENSIS HA ET GRUSHV.

Ngoc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv.) is considered to be one of the most important medicinal plants in the world. It also hold a widespread interest since the 1970s. There are many researches in studying the application of biotechnology to increase the root biomass of P. Vietnamensis in Vietnam, however, no industrial-scale culture of multiple adventitious roots of P. Vietnamensis has been reported. This study aims to investigate an optimal medium for multiplication of adventitious roots of P. Vietnamensis that provides material for saponin production. Ngoc Linh ginseng (Panax vietnamensis Ha et Grushv.) sample size was 1×1×0.25 cm. The roots of ginseng were cultured in the MS medium added 30 g sucrose/L, 8 g agar/L and different concentration of 2.4-D. In the experiment on 2.4-D ration in the culture medium, callus and adventitious roots was affected by 2.4-D ratios in the culture medium, showing the greatest productivity at 3 mg/L 2.4-D after 2 months. The 1 cm part of those adventitious roots was cut and transferred into MS, White and Gamborg (B5) medium to which were added 30 g/L sucrose, 8 g/L agar and NAA or IBA with different concentration. The result showed that the production of roots of ginseng was affected positively by NAA ratios, especially at the concentration of 3 mg/L NAA. This study could be an effective method for a mass production of Ngoc Linh ginseng adventitious roots in a short length of time.

Critical sequences of phenomena in the progression of atherosclerotic lesions, with reference to the role of microvessels

Atherosclerosis affects the inner layers of human arteries, and causes major problems by blocking, directly or indirectly, the flow of blood. This paper concerns the growth of atherosclerotic lesions (atherogenesis), in particular potential factors that may allow a form of ‘positive feedback’ that drives the development of lesions, and considers the role of microvessels. The lesions of atherosclerosis have previously been compared to, or thought of as, sites of inflammation, and involve the accumulation of cells, including large lipid-containing macrophages, and extracellular elements. In tissues other than arteries inflammation may involve, amongst other phenomena, a resolution stage with the removal or departure of macrophages via lymphatics. However, the inner aspects of large arteries do not normally demonstrate lymphatics or other microvessels, and there is evidence from animal work that the lack of vessels effectively contributes to the development of atherosclerosis, as this limits the egress of macrophages and other elements. Conversely, in humans microvessels have been suggested to play a key role in the progress of atherosclerotic lesions. The importance of microvessels is herein considered, in particular the potentially paradoxical situation where as stated the lack of microvessels can be considered to allow atherosclerosis, but on the other hand these structures are involved in lesion development – the explanation can be seen to relate to the relatively short length of time which is assessable in animal models, compared to the lengthy period over which lesions appear to develop in humans. In addition, consideration is given to other factors, including haemodynamic factors related to the physical presence of lesions, which could lead to phenomena that can be regarded as a vicious cycle of events that lead to growth of the lesion. Specifically initial inflammation may lead to scarring and anatomical distortion, which through haemodynamic and physical factors leads to more damage, more inflammation and scarring, and so on.

Welding stress relaxation effect in butt-jointed steel plates

This paper presents an experimental study of the behavior of the residual welding stresses for butt-jointed steel plates. Two different welding processes were used to joint the plates, one with a single electrode and the other with double electrodes. The stresses were monitored over two weeks after the removal of the welding constraints. The measurements were performed at the deposited metal, the heat-affected zone, the base metal close to the weld joint and along the plate using the X-ray diffraction method and magnetic method based on the magnetostriction effect. The experimental results showed the continuous process of welding stress relaxation over a relatively short length of time with a significant difference in the final welding stress distribution from just after the removal of the welding restraints, both for the single-electrode and the double-electrode welding. The observed stress redistribution trend was characterized by a reduction in and a uniformity of the values of the maximum shear stresses. Microstructure analysis showed the absence of microcracks at the deposited metal, the heat-affected zone and the base metal close to the weld joint at the welded specimens. Thus, the possibility that the observed welding stress relaxation was the result of material failure is ruled out.

The Influence of Family Reunification Services on Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Permanency Outcomes for Children in the Child Welfare System

This study examined racial/ethnic differences in mothers' use of court-mandated family reunification services, including parent training, substance abuse treatment, and mental health treatment; and the influence of these services on racial/ethnic disparities on two permanency outcomes: family reunification and length of time in the child welfare system. Methods included a retrospective design using in-depth case record review and administrative data (N = 403). Results indicated racial/ethnic differences in service use and permanency outcomes. Across racial/ethnic groups, substance abuse treatment was associated with a shorter length of time in the child welfare system. Implications for child welfare services among racially/ethnically diverse families are discussed.