"Efficacy of brief interdisciplinary psychotherapeutic intervention for moto conversion disorder and non-epileptic attacks"

Comparer une intervention psychothérapeutique interdisciplinaire brève à une prise en charge standard comme traitements pour des patients ayant récemment été diagnostiqués comme souffrant d'un trouble de conversion moteur sévère ou d'attaques non-épileptiques. Méthodes Cette étude randomisée contrôlée de 23 patients consécutifs a comparé a) un groupe d'intervention psychothérapeutique interdisciplinaire recevant 4-6 séances par un psychiatre de liaison, la première et dernière séance étant couplée à une consultation neurologique et à une consultation conjointe par le neurologue et le psychiatre; b) un groupe de prise en charge standard. Après l'intervention, les patients ont été évalués à 2, 6 et 12 mois par le questionnaire de dissociation somatoforme SDQ-20, l'échelle d'impression clinique globale, l'échelle de Rankin, l'utilisation des services de santé, la santé mentale en général (MADRS, échelle de dépression de Beck, composante de santé mentale du SF-36), la qualité de vie (SF-36). Nous avons calculé des modèles linéaires mixtes. Résultats Notre intervention a mené à une amélioration statistiquement significative ? des symptômes physiques (par une mesure du SDQ-20 (p<0.02), et par l'échelle de l'impression clinique globale (p=0.02)) ? des symptômes psychologiques (meilleurs scores à la composante de santé mentale du SF-36 (p<0.05) et à l'inventaire de dépression de Beck (p<0.05)) ? et à une réduction des nouvelles hospitalisations après l'intervention (p<0.05). Conclusion Une intervention psychothérapeutique interdisciplinaire brève en étroite collaboration avec des spécialistes en neurologie dans un cadre de psychiatrie de consultation et liaison a un effet statistiquement significatif sur l'amélioration de patients souffrant de trouble de conversion moteur et d'attaques non-épileptiques.

Catalytic gates for gas sensors based on SiC technology

En este trabajo se presenta un estudio químico y estructural de las capas metálicas de Pt y TaSix utilizadas como puerta catalítica en sensores de gas de alta temperatura basados en dispositivos MOS de SiC. Para ello se han depositado capas de diferentes espesores sobre substratos de Si. Los resultados muestran que con la reducción del espesor de Pt y con un recocido se consigue aumentar la rugosidad de las capas de puerta, lo que debería aumentar la sensibilidad y la velocidad de respuesta de los dispositivos que las incorporasen. Otro efecto del recocido es la transformación química del material de la puerta que, para capas delgadas de Pt con TaSix, produce la transformación total Pt en Pt2Ta, lo que podría afectar a las características catalíticas de la puerta. Los primeros resultados eléctricos indican que, a pesar de que las capas de Pt empleadas son gruesas y compactas, los diodos MOS túnel de SiC son sensibles a los gases CO y NO2, aunque presentan una velocidad de respuesta bastante lenta.

CONVERSION TO AFLIBERCEPT THERAPY VERSUS CONTINUING WITH RANIBIZUMAB THERAPY FOR NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION DEPENDENT ON MONTHLY RANIBIZUMAB TREATMENT.

PURPOSE: To compare the effects of converting to aflibercept therapy with continuing ranibizumab therapy in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration requiring monthly ranibizumab treatment. METHODS: Patients were selected from the 104 patients (115 eyes) already enrolled in an "Observe and Plan" prospective case series that included treating neovascular age-related macular degeneration with ranibizumab for 24 months. Patients who still needed monthly retreatment at the end of a 2-year study were randomized to either continue ranibizumab therapy or to convert to aflibercept therapy. Outcome measures included average interval between treatments, resolution of exudative signs, number of retreatments, and change in visual acuity over 12 months (the third treatment year). RESULTS: Nineteen patients (21 eyes) met the inclusion criteria. Ten eyes were randomized to receive aflibercept, and 11 eyes remained on ranibizumab. Groups were balanced for baseline characteristics. Outcomes were similar in the 2 groups over a 12-month study duration, with no statistical difference. CONCLUSION: This comparative pilot study suggests that neovascular age-related macular degeneration requiring monthly retreatment with ranibizumab may respond in similar ways to both ranibizumab and aflibercept treatment. Larger sample sizes would be needed to confirm this observation.

L'expérience sociale de la conversion au bodybuilding

Cette thèse propose d'étudier les carrières des adeptes des salles de musculation afin de comprendre comment certains d'entre eux organisent progressivement leur existence autour du bodybuilding. Nos observations issues d'une ethnographie d'une salle de musculation et de trente entretiens semi-directifs menés avec différents profils d'adeptes en Suisse romande, suggèrent que l'emprise du bodybuilding sur les individus résulte de phénomènes assimilables à des conversions. Deux voies de conversion, « consonante » et « introspective », ont été identifiées. Elles correspondent à des usages distincts de la musculation qui n'ont pas les mêmes conséquences sur les parcours de vie des pratiquant(e)s. Si les conversions consonantes stabilisent les parcours de vie en renforçant un statut professionnel, les conversions introspectives les infléchissent significativement. En outre, cette perspective de recherche offre un nouvel éclairage sur le façonnement des représentations et des pratiques de santé, les processus de normalisation des pharmacopraxis et les rapports sociaux de sexe en présence. -- This thesis aims to study gym-goers' careers in order to understand how some of them progressively organise their lives around bodybuilding. Our observations, drawn from an ethnography of a gym and thirty semi-structured interviews with different profiles of gym enthusiasts in French-speaking Switzerland, suggest that the grip that bodybuilding takes on individuals results from phenomena akin to conversions. Two paths to conversion - consonant and introspective - are identified. They correspond to distinct uses of bodybuilding, which do not have the same consequences in the practitioners' life courses. While consonant conversions stabilise life courses by reinforcing an occupational status, introspective conversions inflect them significantly. Furthermore, this research perspective provides new insights into the shaping of health norms (representations and practices), the process of normalisation of pharmacopraxia and the gender relations identified.

Versatile methodology to hydrate alkynes, in the presence of a wide variety of functional groups, with Mercury(II) p-Toluensulfonamidate, under catalytic, mild and neutral conditions

A method to generate carbonylic compounds from alkynes under mild and neutral conditions, with excellent functional group compatibility and high yields, is described. Hydration takes place under catalytic conditions by using from 0.1 to 0.2 equivalents of the easily available and inexpensive mercury(II) p-toluensulfonamidate in a hydroalcoholic solution. After use the catalyst is iner tized and/or recycled ...

Reações de Etanol com CO/H2 na Presença do Sistema Catalítico Ru(acac)3/I-

The hydrocarbonylation reaction of ethanol with a CO/H2 mixture assisted by Ru(acac)3/iodide was investigated. Bronsted and Lewis acids and iodides salt were used as homogeneous promoters. The etherification reaction was the main reaction under typical acidic conditions of the catalytic system. When a hydrocarbon solvent (toluene) was added to the initial reaction, the alcohol conversion and the carbonylation products were increased. The catalytic activity of the Bronsted acids (conv. EtOH = 71-92%) was higher than that of the Lewis acids promoters (conv. EtOH = 65-85%). The salt present the lower catalytic activity among the promoters used. The long time reaction carried out with ethanol showed an increase of the product selectivity of the homologation and carbonylation reactions while the etherification reaction selectivity decreased. The recycled ether led to 60-65% ethanol conversion to C5 and C6 products. The main catalytic species are H+[Ru(CO)3I3]-, [HRu3(CO)11]- and [HRu(CO)4]-. The first one is active in the carbonylation and homologation reactions of alcohols while the two others take part only in the homologation reaction.

Ação promotora do berílio em catalisadores da síntese do estireno

The catalytic dehydrogenation of ethylbenzene in presence of steam is the main commercial route to produce styrene. The industrial catalysts are potassium- and chromia-doped hematite which show low surface areas leading to bad performance and short life. In order to develop catalysts with high areas, the effect of beryllium on the textural properties and on the catalytic performance of this iron oxide was studied. The influence of the amount of the dopant, the starting material and the calcination temperature were also studied. In sample preparations, iron and beryllium salts (nitrate or sulfate) were hydrolyzed with ammonia and then calcinated. The experiments followed a factorial design with two variables in two levels (Fe/Be= 3 and 7; calcination temperature= 500 and 700ºC). Solids without any dopant were also prepared. Samples were characterized by elemental analysis, infrared spectroscopy, surface area and porosity measurements, X-ray diffraction, DSC and TG. The catalysts were tested in a microreactor at 524ºC and 1 atm, by using a mole ratio of steam/ ethylbenzene=10. The selectivity was measured by monitoring styrene, benzene and toluene formation. It was found that the effect of beryllium on the characteristics of hematite and on its catalytic performance depends on the starting material and on the amount of dopant. Surface areas increased due to the dopant as well as the nature of the precursor; samples produced by beryllium sulfate showed higher areas. Beryllium-doped solids showed a higher catalytic activity when compared to pure hematite, but no significant influence of the anion of starting material was noted. It can be concluded that beryllium acts as both textural and structural promoter. Samples with Fe/Be= 3, heated at 500ºC, lead to the highest conversion and were the most selective. However, catalysts prepared from beryllium sulfate are the most promising to ethylbenzene dehydrogenation due to their high surface area which could lead to a longer life.

The use of future-oriented knowledge in regional innovation processes: Research on knowledge generation, transfer and conversion

The importance of the regional level in research has risen in the last few decades and a vast literature in the fields of, for instance, evolutionary and institutional economics, network theories, innovations and learning systems, as well as sociology, has focused on regional level questions. Recently the policy makers and regional actors have also began to pay increasing attention to the knowledge economy and its needs, in general, and the connectivity and support structures of regional clusters in particular. Nowadays knowledge is generally considered as the most important source of competitive advantage, but even the most specialised forms of knowledge are becoming a short-lived resource for example due to the accelerating pace of technological change. This emphasizes the need of foresight activities in national, regional and organizational levels and the integration of foresight and innovation activities. In regional setting this development sets great challenges especially in those regions having no university and thus usually very limited resources for research activities. Also the research problem of this dissertation is related to the need to better incorporate the information produced by foresight process to facilitate and to be used in regional practice-based innovation processes. This dissertation is a constructive case study the case being Lahti region and a network facilitating innovation policy adopted in that region. Dissertation consists of a summary and five articles and during the research process a construct or a conceptual model for solving this real life problem has been developed. It is also being implemented as part of the network facilitating innovation policy in the Lahti region.

Catalytic Wet Oxidation of Paper Mill Debarking Water

The objective of the research was to study the influence of temperature, oxygen pressure, catalysts loading and initial COD concentration of debarking wastewater on the pollutants during the catalytic oxidation. More importantly, how the addition of catalyst affects the wet oxidation process. The whole work was divided into two main sections, theoretical and experimental parts. The theoretical part reviews the pulp and paper industry from wood processing to paper production as well as operations that generate wastes. Treatment methods applicable for industrial pulp and paper mill effluents were also discussed. Wet oxidation and catalytic wet oxidation processes including mechanism, reactions, kinetics and industrial applications were previewed. In the experimental part, catalytic wet oxidation process were studied at 120-180°C, 0-10 bar oxygen pressure, 0-1 g/L catalyst concentration and 1000-3000 mg/L initial COD concentration. Responses, such as Chemical oxygen demand (COD), Total organic carbon (TOC), colour, lignin/tannin, Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and pH were measured. In the experiment, the best conditions occurred at 180°C, 10 bar, l g/L catalyst concentration and 3000mg/L initial COD. At these conditions; 74% COD, 97% lignin/tannin, 54% TOC, 90% colour were removed from the wastewater. pH was greatly reduced from 7 to 4.6. Lignin/tannin was removed most. Lignin/tannin showed linear dependency with colour during oxidation. Temperature made the most impact in reducing contaminants in debarked wastewater.

Mechanism of 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde electropolymerization at carbon paste electrodes: catalytic detection of NADH

Cyclic voltammetry was used to study 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (3,4-DHB) electropolymerization processes on carbon paste electrodes. The characteristics of the electropolymerized films were highly dependent on pH, anodic switching potential, scan rate, 3,4-DHB concentrations and number of cycles. Film stability was determined in citrate/phosphate buffer solutions at the same pH used during the electropolymerization process. The best conditions to prepare carbon paste modified electrodes were pH 7.8; 0.0 <= Eapl <= 0.25 V; 10 mV s-1; 0.25 mmol L-1 3,4-DHB and 10 scans. These carbon paste modified electrodes were used for NADH catalytic detection at 0.23 V in the range 0.015 <= [NADH] <= 0.21 mmol L-1. Experimental data were used to propose a mechanism for the 3,4--DHB electropolymerization processes, which involves initial phenoxyl radical formation.

Technological solution for the automatic replacement of the catalytic filaments in HWCVD

The degradation of the catalytic filaments is the main factor limiting the industrial implementation of the hot wire chemical vapor deposition (HWCVD) technique. Up to now, no solution has been found to protect the catalytic filaments used in HWCVD without compromising their catalytic activity. Probably, the definitive solution relies on the automatic replacement of the catalytic filaments. In this work, the results of the validation tests of a new apparatus for the automatic replacement of the catalytic filaments are reported. The functionalities of the different parts have been validated using a 0.2 mm diameter tungsten filament under uc-Si:H deposition conditions.

Alternative Energy Conversion Systems for a Micro Scale Wind Turbine

This Master's thesis deals with a Micro Scale Wind Wind Turbine application. The thesis consists of nine chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to the philosophy of a small scale wind turbine application. The second defines concepts, and lists the requirements. The third presents the whole application for an On-Grid , and for an Off-Grid arrangement, with main concentration on lighting, heating, and energy storage. The fourth deals with the Inverter's technology, which are used for the conversion of the produced power. The fifth chapter presents the available storage technology and it's possibilities. The sixth deals with the system, and the technological means used for the implementation. The seventh presents the PLC device, which was used as the controller for the management of the whole application. The eighth deals with the concept and the control application philosophy that the PLC involves. And the final chapter presents conclusions and ideas for further considerations.

Decomposição do NO sobre Cu suportado em zeólitas

Direct decomposition of NO on copper supported on zeolite catalysts such as MCM-22 and Beta was compared with that on the thoroughly studied Cu-ZSM-5. The catalysts were prepared by ion-exchange in basic media. They were characterized by atomic absorption, surface area, nitrogen adsorption at 77K, X-ray diffraction and temperature programmed reduction. The products of the reaction were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy using a gas cell. Catalytic activity tests indicated that zeolite catalysts, like Beta and MCM-22, lead to NO conversion values comparable to ZSM-5.

Monomer conversion of composite dental resins photoactivated by a halogen lamp and a LED: a FT-Raman spectroscopy study

Eighteen circular blocks of resins cured either by a LED or a halogen lamp (20, 40 and 60 s), had their top (T) and bottom (B) surfaces studied using a FT-Raman spectrometer. Systematic changes in the intensity of the methacrylate C=C stretching mode at 1638 cm-1 as a function of exposure duration were observed. The calculated degree of conversion (DC) ranged from 45.0% (B) to 52.0% (T) and from 49.0% (B) to 55.0% (T) for the LED and halogen lamp, respectively. LED and halogen light produced similar DC values with 40 and 60 s of irradiation.