Rickets in extremely low birthweight infants

The effects of increasing the concentration of supplemental vitamin D was studied in two groups of ELBW infants (babies with a birth weight less than 1000 g) during the periods of July 1977 to December 1979 and throughout 1980. There were 21 ELBW infants in the first study period, with 7 infants developing active or stage III rickets. A prospective study of ELBW infants during 1980 revealed 3 infants out of the 12 studied developing active or Stage III rickets. A new radiological classification for rickets of prematurity, Stage I to IV, is presented. Serial serum alkaline phosphatase levels were then compared with these radiological stages and a serial ALP of 5001U/l was found to be statistically significant in the biochemical diagnosis of rickets. As a result of our findings, we suggest that all ELBW would be supplemented with at least 800 IU of vitamin D daily.

Low-frequency electrical stimulation combined with a cooling vest improves recovery of elite kayakers following a simulated 1000-m race in a hot environment

This study compared the effects of a low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES; Veinoplus® Sport, Ad Rem Technology, Paris, France), a low-frequency electrical stimulation combined with a cooling vest (LFESCR) and an active recovery combined with a cooling vest (ACTCR) as recovery strategies on performance (racing time and pacing strategies), physiologic and perceptual responses between two sprint kayak simulated races, in a hot environment (∼32 wet-bulb-globe temperature). Eight elite male kayakers performed two successive 1000-m kayak time trials (TT1 and TT2), separated by a short-term recovery period, including a 30-min of the respective recovery intervention protocol, in a randomized crossover design. Racing time, power output, and stroke rate were recorded for each time trial. Blood lactate concentration, pH, core, skin and body temperatures were measured before and after both TT1 and TT2 and at mid- and post-recovery intervention. Perceptual ratings of thermal sensation were also collected. LFESCR was associated with a very likely effect in performance restoration compared with ACTCR (99/0/1%) and LFES conditions (98/0/2%). LFESCR induced a significant decrease in body temperature and thermal sensation at post-recovery intervention, which is not observed in ACTCR condition. In conclusion, the combination of LFES and wearing a cooling vest (LFESCR) improves performance restoration between two 1000-m kayak time trials achieved by elite athletes, in the heat.

A new low temperature synthesis route of fraipontite (Zn,Al)3(Si,Al)2O5(OH)4

A low temperature synthesis method based on the decomposition of urea at 90°C in water has been developed to synthesise fraipontite. This material is characterised by a basal reflection 001 at 7.44 Å. The trioctahedral nature of the fraipontite is shown by the presence of a 06l band around 1.54 Å, while a minor band around 1.51 Å indicates some cation ordering between Zn and Al resulting in Al-rich areas with a more dioctahedral nature. TEM and IR indicate that no separate kaolinite phase is present. An increase in the Al content however, did result in the formation of some SiO2 in the form of quartz. Minor impurities of carbonate salts were observed during the synthesis caused by to the formation of CO32- during the decomposition of urea.

Elevated concentration of TNF-a induces trophoblast differentiation in mouse blastocyst outgrowths

Elevated expression of tumour necrosis factora (TNF-a) is associated with adverse pregnancy outcome. This study has examined the expression of TNF-a and its receptors (TNF-Rs) by mouse blastocysts and blastocyst outgrowths from day 4 to 9.5 of pregnancy and investigated the effects of elevated TNF-a on the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophoblast cells of blastocyst outgrowths. RTPCR demonstrated TNF-a mRNA expression from day 7.5 to 9.5, TNF-R1 from day 6.5 to 9.5 and TNF-R2 from day 5.5 to 7.5 of pregnancy, and in situ hybridisation revealed the trophoblast giant cells (TGCs) of the early placenta as the site of TNF-a expression. Day 4 blastocysts were cultured in a physiologically high concentration of TNF-a (100 ng/ml) for 72 h to the outgrowth stage and then compared to blastocysts cultured in media alone. TNF-a-treated blastocyst outgrowths exhibited a significant reduction in ICM cells (mean € SD 23.90€10.42 vs 9.37€7.45, t-test, P<0.0001) with no significant change in the numbers of trophoblast cells (19.97€8.14 vs 21.73€7.79, t-test, P=0.39). Within the trophoblast cell population, the TNF-a-treated outgrowths exhibited a significant increase in multinucleated cells (14.10€5.53 vs 6.37€5.80, t-test, P<0.0001) and a corresponding significant decrease in mononucleated cells (5.87€3.60 vs 15.37€5.87, t-test, P<0.0001). In summary, this study describes the expression of TNF-a and its receptors during the peri-implantation period in the mouse. It also reports that elevated TNF-a restricts ICM proliferation in the blastocyst and changes the ratio of mononucleated to multinucleated trophoblast cells. These findings suggest a mechanism by which increased

A Low Cost Controller Board for Teaching Robotics

This paper presents the Smarty Board; a new micro-controller board designed specifically for the robotics teaching needs of Australian schools. The primary motivation for this work was the lack of commercially available and cheap controller boards that would have all their components including interfaces on a single board. Having a single board simplifies the construction of programmable robots that can be used as platforms for teaching and learning robotics. Reducing the cost of the board as much as possible was one of the main design objectives. The target user groups for this device are the secondary and tertiary students, and hobbyists. Previous studies have shown that equipment cost is one of the major obstacles for teaching robotics in Australia. The new controller board was demonstrated at high-school seminars. In these demonstrations the new controller board was used for controlling two robots that we built. These robots are available as kits. Given the strong demand from high-school teachers, new kits will be developed for the next robotic Olympiad to be held in Australia in 2006.