Splenic sequela of babesiosis Sahu, K K; Petrou, N; Cohn, Z ...
QJM : An International Journal of Medicine,
08/2020, Volume:
113, Issue:
8
Journal Article
The issue of municipal solid waste (MSW) arisings has received great attention recently since it is not only a by-product of economic activity but also serves as an input to the economy through ...material or energy recovery. The main focus of this study is cultural formation and especially the current picture of waste culture and public perception across European Union (EU) member states. Thus, this study will first evaluate environmental efficiency with data envelopment analysis (DEA) based on five parameters: waste, gross domestic product (GDP), labour, capital, and population density for 22 EU Member States and for the years 2005, 2010 and 2015 in order to evaluate which Member States are more efficient. Then the efficiency results are contrasted to Hofstede's and Schwartz's cultural dimensions on STATA with the use of regression modelling. Results show that for year 2005 no significant relationship is noticed for both cultural models, whereas for years 2010 and 2015 there appears to be a significant connection. The above-mentioned findings can be associated with the financial crisis that has hit Europe after 2008 making people more sceptical, while EU legislations have laid out some important directives in the field of waste management. Finally, along with the factors above, EU has faced severe environmental challenges due to waste arisings, as well as accidents and injuries for people working in this sector, which in turn have widely modified EU's waste culture as supported by this study's results.
•Systems thinking has been gaining currency for tackling sustainability challenges.•Current policy paradigm misses opportunities for wide systemic changes.•The transition to a Sustainable World is ...transformational process.•We need to alter the components and structures of unsustainability.•Technologies, regulations, business models and societal norms need to change.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted as reference and universal guidepost for transitioning to Sustainable Development by the United Nations in 2015 as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, are intended to be used as a set of interconnected goals and global targets for ‘Transforming our world’, as the 2030 Agenda is titled. This is a far more challenging task than business as usual; it requires systems thinking for understanding the conditions that generate and propagate sustainability challenges, moving away from the reductionist and anthropocentric thinking that created them in the first place. Taking a systems approach to addressing these challenges has been gaining currency with academics and policymakers alike, and here we make the case for holistic, integrated, and interdisciplinary thinking that challenges assumptions and worldviews, crucially based on public participation and engagement, to create the enabling conditions for sustainability to emerge. System transformations require interconnected changes to technologies, social practices, business models, regulations and societal norms, an intentional process designed to fundamentally alter the components and structures that cause the system to behave in its current unsustainable ways, a paradigm shift enabling the transition to sustainability.
Background
Solitary median maxillary central incisor syndrome SMMCI is an extremely rare anomaly, especially when no other abnormalities are present. The defect is often found together with various ...nasal abnormalities and short stature with or without decreased levels of growth hormone. In more severe cases, SMMCI has been associated with holoprosencephaly, the CHARGE and the VACTERL association. Also, published sporadic cases have been related with rare variants of ectodermal dysplasia, chromosomal abnormalities, precocious puberty, hypothalamic hamartoma, congenital heart defects, physical/mental retardation, genital hypoplasia and ear abnormalities. For these reasons when the initial diagnosis is made by the paediatric dentist, ENT, neurological and paediatric evaluations are essential.
Case report
A 4-year-old boy with SMMCI was referred for dental treatment. Clinical/radiographic examination revealed a symmetrical primary and permanent SMMCI, a skeletal Class I and a unilateral crossbite. Medical history indicated respiratory distress and surgery soon after birth due to congenital nasal puriform aperture stenosis. Gradual orthodontic treatment started at the age of 4 years and completed at the age of 13 years. Following maxillary expansion, upper lateral segments were moved backwards and anterior space was created for accommodating a second central incisor. Retainers with a supplementary acrylic incisor were provided for aesthetic and functional replacement until the age of 16 years, when a fixed Maryland ceramic bridge was placed.
Follow-up
Two years recall, at the age of 18 years, revealed a satisfactory and stable aesthetic and functional result.
Conclusion
Successful dental management of SMMCI patients is possible, following a detailed long-lasting treatment plan requiring multidisciplinary paediatric dental, orthodontic and prosthetic approach.
Cross-sectional design.
In this in vivo study, we investigated the influence of different load situations on humeral cartilage thickness in individuals with paraplegia and quadriplegia.
ETH Zurich ...and Swiss Paraplegic Centre Nottwil, Switzerland.
A previously validated three-dimensional (3D) gradient echo MRI-sequence with selective water excitation was used. Three groups were compared: individuals with paraplegia with high shoulder demand (n=11), individuals with quadriplegia with reduced load on the shoulder joint (n=8) and a control group (n=9). After 3D reconstruction, the mean cartilage thickness, local thicknesses (superior, medial, inferior) and the minimum joint space were calculated.
The mean humeral cartilage thickness (1.40+/-0.14 mm) as well as the minimum joint space (2.57+/-0.50 mm) did not differ between groups. In individuals with paraplegia, the superior cartilage thickness was significantly greater than in individuals with quadriplegia (1.47 mm compared to 1.28 mm, P<0.05). In the control group, there was a significant negative correlation between mean cartilage thickness and age (r=-0.81).
Neither higher shoulder demand nor reduced shoulder loading leads to thinning of humeral cartilage. It is hypothesized that higher local stresses prevent local cartilage degeneration, as in normal load situations humeral cartilage thinning is occurring with age. Furthermore, joint space narrowing was only associated with inferior cartilage thickness and cartilage thickness is not related to shoulder pain.
Investigations for the utilization of olive stones and solvent-extracted olive pulp are carried out. Tar, solid and gas products are obtained by pyrolysis of both precursors under vacuum and ...atmospheric pressure. Vacuum pyrolysis causes a decrease in the solid yield and an increase in the liquid and gas yields. The identified compounds of the liquid products are predominantly oxygen-containing structures (derivatives of phenol, dihydroxybenzenes, guaiacol, syringol, vanilin, veratrol, furan, acids). Activated carbons with a developed porous structure and alkaline character of the surface are produced by steam activation of the solid product and steam pyrolysis of the raw material. Oxidation treatment with air leads to the formation of a large number of oxygen functional groups with different chemical characters on the carbon surface. Chemical activation with K
2CO
3 allows the preparing of carbon adsorbents with a high surface area and alkaline character of the surface.
GOLF in-flight commissioning and calibration was carried out during the first four months, most of which represented the cruise phase of SOHO towards its final L1 orbit. The initial performance of ...GOLF is shown to be within the design specification, for the entire instrument as well as for the separate sub-systems. Malfunctioning of the polarising mechanisms after 3 to 4 months operation has led to the adoption of an unplanned operating sequence in which these mechanisms are no longer used. This mode, which measures only the blue wing of the solar sodium lines, detracts little from the detection and frequency measurements of global oscillations, but does make more difficult the absolute velocity calibration, which is currently of the order of 20%. Data continuity in the new mode is extremely high and the instrument is producing exceptionally noise-free p-mode spectra. The data set is particularly well suited to the study of effects due to the excitation mechanism of the modes, leading to temporal variations in their amplitudes. The g modes have not yet been detected in this limited data set. In the present mode of operation, there are no indications of any degradation which would limit the use of GOLF for up to 6 years or more.
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