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88.60
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3.16
Avg. Impact Points
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  • Article: Thickness ofAcquired Salivary Pellicle asaDeterinant oftheSites ofDental Erosion
    B. T. Amaechi, S. M. Higham, W. M. Edgar
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    ABSTRACT: Dental erosion showsatypical distribution pat- tern within thedental arches. Toothprotection fromerosion bysalivary pellicle hasbeenshowninvitro, butthehypoth- esis that pellicle maydiffer quantitatively atsites oferosion hasnotbeeninvestigated. Thisstudyaimedtodetermine thethickness ofacquired salivary pellicle within thedental arches, investigate thepossible relationship ofthis thick- nesstothedistribution andseverity oferosion within the arches, andconfirm theprotective effect ofpellicle against dental erosion. Eight enamel blocks wereproduced from eachof5bovine incisors assigned tofive volunteers. Each block wasfurther cutinto2slabs, producing control and experimental slabs. Pellicle developed onexperimental slabs located on8intra-oral sites after 1hrofexposure was stained by"sheep anti-human IgGAM-FITC". Slabs were thenvisualized, andpellicle thickness measured, byconfo- callaser scanning microscopy. Eroded enamel lesions were produced inexperimental andcontrol slabs bymeansof pureorange juice. Thedegree oferosion wasquantified by transverse microradiography. Pellicle thickness varied sig- nificantly within thedental arches andamongindividuals. Aninverse relationship (r=-0.96, p
  • Article: Ruthenium behaviour under air ingress conditions: main achievements in the SARNET project
    P. Giordano, A. Auvinen, J. Colombani, N. Davidovich, R. Dickson, T. Haste, T. Kärkelä, J. S. Lamy, C. Mun, D. Ohai, Y. Pontillon, M. Steinbrück
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    ABSTRACT: Summary In a hypothetical severe accident in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR), Fission Products (FPs) can be released from the overheated nuclear fuel and partially transported by gases, composed of a mixture of superheated steam and hydrogen, to the reactor containment. Subsequent air ingress into a damaged reactor core may lead to enhanced fuel oxidation, affecting some FP release, especially to increase that of ruthenium. Ruthenium is of particular interest because of its high radio-toxicity and due to its ability to form very volatile oxides. In the reactor containment, such volatile forms are very hazardous as they are much less efficiently trapped than particulate forms by emergency filtered venting. In the four and a half years of SARNET, collaborative research dedicated to the "ruthenium story" has been performed by several partners. This paper presents the main achievements over the whole project period. Starting from experimental observations showing that fuel could be oxidized by air to a high extent, and that a significant fraction of ruthenium inventory can be released, rather satisfactory models have been developed. Besides, the effect of the air interaction with Zircaloy cladding, as well as with UO2 itself, has been studied. Experiments on complex transformations of ruthenium oxides upon cooling through the reactor circuit have been performed. An unexpected significant effect of temperature on the decomposition rate of gaseous ruthenium compounds has been found, as well as effects of the nature of circuit internal surfaces and other FP deposits. So it has been highlighted that various forms of ruthenium can reach the containment, but the most probable gaseous species under these conditions is ruthenium tetroxide. Preliminary analysis of ruthenium transport supports these conclusions. Experiments and analysis have also been launched on the radio-chemical reactions undergone by these ruthenium oxides in the reactor containment. Competing effects of gaseous decomposition to solid particles and re-volatilization from these ruthenium deposits have been demonstrated and modelled. The paper concludes by identifying the remaining work needed to achieve full resolution of the ruthenium source term issue. Recommendations are made for future research activities in a possible follow-up programme.
  • Article: Antidepressant medication in patients with advanced cancer - an observational study.
    Mari Lloyd-Williams, Sheila Payne, Joanne Reeve, Ruwanthi Kolamunnage Dona
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    ABSTRACT: Objective Literature reviews suggest limited evidence of efficacy of antidepressant medication in patients with advanced cancer. This study was carried out to observe the longitudinal effect of antidepressant medication in a cohort of advanced cancer patientsMethod Patients were recruited from hospice day care settings and followed up longitudinally by series of measures for depression for 6 months or until deathResultsSix hundred and twenty nine patients recruited. One hundred and fifty six patients in total (25%) were receiving antidepressant medication for a median of 9.5 weeks ( range 0 - 36 weeks) and a mean of 12.2 weeks. There was no significant difference in scores on depression measures over time for patients receiving antidepressant medicationConclusions Antidepressant medication for advanced cancer patients appeared to have little impact on depression scores . We postulate the holistic approaches within hospice day care may in themselves be interventions for depression thereby masking effect of pharmacological treatment. Further research should explore multi intervention models for management of depression in advanced cancer.
    QJM: monthly journal of the Association of Physicians 06/2013;