The effect of polymerization procedure on Vickers hardness of dual-curing resin cements

To investigate the surface hardness (Vickers hardness, HVN) of one light-curing flowable resin composite and five dual-curing resin cements after different polymerization procedures.

Advancing the Goals of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions in the Fields of Education, Participation of Civil Society and Sustainable Development

This is a contribution to an expert opinion to be submitted to Intergovernmental Committee of the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity. It seeks to identify recommendations for action in the fields of education, participation of the civil society and sustainable development (under respectively Articles 10, 11 and 13 of the Convention), which are to be specifically targeted taking into account the changed and changing conditions of the digital networked environment.

Rechtsmittel gegen Entscheide des juge d'appui bei der internationalen Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit der Schweiz

The author examines whether and by which means the decisions handed down by the State judge giving his support to the arbitral proceeding (juge d'appui) may be appealed. Every relevant Article in the PILA (Private International Law Act) is addressed and analyzed in this regard (Art. 179(2) and (3), Art. 180(3), Art. 183(2), Art. 184(3) and Art. 185) by reference to the present legal doctrine and case law. Concerning the stages of appeal, the view is held that by direct or analogous application of Art. 356(2) CPC (Civil Procedure Code) the juge d'appui has jurisdiction as the sole instance of the Canton to render decisions in support of the arbitral tribunal. On the federal level however, the parties shall have the right to appeal against these decisions by filing a civil law appeal before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, with the exception of most decisions given by juge d'appui within the meaning of Art. 180(3) PILA. As to this federal appeal, it is established that the case law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court under the FTA (Act on the Federal Tribunal) indicates the Court's inclination to qualify both negative and positive decisions issued by the juge d'appui as final decisions in terms of Art. 90 FTA. In reference to the upcoming revision of the PILA's 12th Chapter the author concludes that the legislator might implement some clarifications in the current legal framework. It seems particularly advisable to ensure that all relevant Articles in the PILA regarding decisions of the juge d'appui explicitly reference to Art. 356(2) CPC. Moreover, the author is of the opinion that it would also be expedient to specify the

Non-invasive measurement of steroids in fish-holding water: important considerations when applying the procedure to behaviour studies

Fish behaviourists are increasingly turning to non-invasive measurement of steroid hormones in holding water, as opposed to blood plasma. When some of us met at a workshop in Faro, Portugal, in September, 2007, we realised that there were still many issues concerning the application of this procedure that needed resolution, including: Why do we measure release rates rather than just concentrations of steroids in the water? How does one interpret steroid release rates when dealing with fish of different sizes? What are the merits of measuring conjugated as well as free steroids in water? In the ‘static’ sampling procedure, where fish are placed in a separate container for a short period of time, does this affect steroid release—and, if so, how can it be minimised? After exposing a fish to a behavioural stimulus, when is the optimal time to sample? What is the minimum amount of validation when applying the procedure to a new species? The purpose of this review is to attempt to answer these questions and, in doing so, to emphasize that application of the non-invasive procedure requires more planning and validation than conventional plasma sampling. However, we consider that the rewards justify the extra effort.

Malnutrition in the era of DRG

Malnutrition in hospital patients is of important medical and economic significance. The adverse consequences of malnutrition on quality of life and many more factors such as morbidity, mortality, tolerance of treatments and length of hospital stay are well documented in the medical literature. Nevertheless, the effects of malnutrition are still often underestimated and hence malnutrition is not recognised as a distinct diagnosis. Moreover, malnutrition is rarely documented in medical reports and often not adequately treated with adverse effects. The reason for this neglectfulness are diverse, e. g. inadequate training of doctors and nurses in clinical nutrition and lack of sensibilisation of the hospital staff for the problem of malnutrition. Therefore, a systematic screening for malnutrition is rarely undertaken in Swiss hospitals. The introduction of the Swiss-DRG system (DRG, diagnosis related groups) in January 2012 gave the chance to boost recording and to document malnutrition in a standardised way in the patient history, and to code precisely malnutrition as a distinct diagnosis. Moreover, this approach allowed to document the specific nutritional therapy. Here, we describe the way of documenting and coding malnutrition in the Swiss-DRG system and the medical and economic consequences of this procedure.