The nature of the Cr-C bond: direct estimation of aromaticity in Fischer carbenes

Report for the scientific sojourn at the the Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, from september to december 2007. For the first, we employed the Energy-Decomposition Analysis (EDA) to investigate aromaticity on Fischer carbenes as it is related through all the reaction mechanisms studied in my PhD thesis. This powerful tool, compared with other well-known aromaticity indices in the literature like NICS, is useful not only for quantitative results but also to measure the degree of conjugation or hyperconjugation in molecules. Our results showed for the annelated benzenoid systems studied here, that electron density is more concentrated on the outer rings than in the central one. The strain-induced bond localization plays a major role as a driven force to keep the more substituted ring as the less aromatic. The discussion presented in this work was contrasted at different levels of theory to calibrate the method and ensure the consistency of our results. We think these conclusions can also be extended to arene chemistry for explaining aromaticity and regioselectivity reactions found in those systems.In the second work, we have employed the Turbomole program package and density-functionals of the best performance in the state of art, to explore reaction mechanisms in the noble gas chemistry. Particularly, we were interested in compounds of the form H--Ng--Ng--F (where Ng (Noble Gas) = Ar, Kr and Xe) and we investigated the relative stability of these species. Our quantum chemical calculations predict that the dixenon compound HXeXeF has an activation barrier for decomposition of 11 kcal/mol which should be large enough to identify the molecule in a low-temperature matrix. The other noble gases present lower activation barriers and therefore are more labile and difficult to be observable systems experimentally.

Temperament in Bach’s Well-tempered clavier: a historical survey and a new evaluation according to dissonance theory

After a historical survey of temperament in Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier by Johann Sebastian Bach, an analysis of the work has been made by applying a number of historical good temperaments as well as some recent proposals. The results obtained show that the global dissonance for all preludes and fugues in major keys can be minimized using the Kirnberger II temperament. The method of analysis used for this research is based on the mathematical theories of sensory dissonance, which have been developed by authors such as Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz, Harry Partch, Reinier Plomp, Willem J. M. Levelt and William A. Sethares

Prevalence, species differentiation, haemolytic activity, and antibiotic susceptibility of aeromonads in untreated well water

The use of untreated water for drinking and other activities have been associated with intestinal and extraintestinal infections in humans due to Aeromonas species. In the present study aeromonads were isolated from 48.7% of 1,000 water samples obtained from wells and other miscellaneous sources. Aeromonas species were detected in 45% of samples tested in spring, 34.5% in summer, 48% in autumn and 60% of samples tested in winter. Speciation of 382 strains resulted in 225 (59%) being A. hydrophila, 103 (27%) A. caviae, 42 (11%) A. sobria and 11 (3%) atypical aeromonads. Of 171 Aeromonas strains tested for their haemolytic activity, 53%, 49%, 40% and 37% were positive in this assay using human, horse, sheep and camel erythrocytes respectively. The results obtained indicate that potentially enteropathogenic Aeromonas species are commonly present in untreated drinking water obtained from wells in Libya (this may also apply to other neighbouring countries) which may pose a health problem to users of such water supplies. In addition, ceftriaxone and ciprofloxacin are suitable drugs that can be used in the treatment of Aeromonas-associated infections, particularly in the immunocompromised, resulting from contact with untreated sources of water.

Springboard - Promoting Family Well-Being: Through Family Support Services

This report is the final evaluation of the three year pilot phase of the Springboard initiative and sets out to answer the question: has Springboard improved the well-being of children and parents and how have its services been received Download the Report here

Family Well-Being and Family Policy - A Review of Research on Benefits and Costs

This report is published under the Springboard Initiative. It is designed to assist in the process of mapping out the complex issues and data requirements which arise in developing policies for families and in finding actions which are known to promote family well-being Download the Report here

The Bacillus subtilis Gne (GneA, GalE) protein can catalyse UDP-glucose as well as UDP-N-acetylglucosamine 4-epimerisation.

Mutations in the Bacillus subtilis gene that affect the activity of the uridine diphosphate (UDP)-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) 4-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.7) were shown to map to galE, the structural gene of the UDP-glucose (Glc) 4-epimerase (EC 5.1.3.2). This genetic evidence that the same enzyme can catalyse the epimerisation of hexoses as well as of their N-acetylated forms is confirmed by in vitro assays with purified enzyme. It appears that in B. subtilis, Gne (GneA, GalE) is involved in two distinct and essential functions, i.e., cell detoxification under certain growth conditions and the biosynthesis of anionic cell wall polymers. We discuss the evidence that such enzymes capable of utilizing both UDP-hexoses and UDP-N-acetylhexosamines are present in other organisms.

Wellposedness of a nonlinear, logarithmic Schrödinger equation of Doebner-Goldin type modeling quantum dissipation

This paper is concerned with the modeling and analysis of quantum dissipation phenomena in the Schrödinger picture. More precisely, we do investigate in detail a dissipative, nonlinear Schrödinger equation somehow accounting for quantum Fokker–Planck effects, and how it is drastically reduced to a simpler logarithmic equation via a nonlinear gauge transformation in such a way that the physics underlying both problems keeps unaltered. From a mathematical viewpoint, this allows for a more achievable analysis regarding the local wellposedness of the initial–boundary value problem. This simplification requires the performance of the polar (modulus–argument) decomposition of the wavefunction, which is rigorously attained (for the first time to the best of our knowledge) under quite reasonable assumptions.

SLÃÅN: Mental Health & Social Well-being Report

SLÃÅN: Mental Health & Social Well-being Report Click here to download PDF 2.42mb

Well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma of the tunica vaginalis testis: imaging on Tc-99m heat-denatured red blood cell scintigraphy.

An 18-year-old man presented with a growing painless left scrotal mass. Sonography showed a hydrocele and a homogeneous, well-encapsulated left extratesticular mass with similar echogenicity as the normal testis, suggestive of a splenogonadal fusion. To substantiate the diagnosis, the patient underwent Tc-99m heat-denatured red blood cell scintigraphy showing normal physiological hyperactivity in the spleen but activity similar to the blood pool projecting on the upper part of the left testis. This made testicular splenic tissue less likely. The patient underwent resection and histopathology revealed a well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma. Inguinal orchidectomy was subsequently performed and the patient was free of recurrence at 18 months.

Managing health and increasing well-being

The Building the Community-Pharmacy Partnership has worked to improve local health outcomes by encouraging members of the community to develop skills relating to managing their own health, and providing accessible information on the availability of services of which they can avail of. The aim is to facilitate local people to gain knowledge on various health issues through books, videos, leaflets and enable the most vulnerable and in need to access additional support through the pharmacy to complementary therapy. Outcome: A room in the pharmacy has been renovated and offers access to other support services. Funding has allowed the pharmacist to equip the room with videos, leaflets, books etc. There has been an increase in partnership working between the community group, pharmacist and more contact has been made with primary care. Further funding has allowed for the development of a subsidised support referral service for counselling and complementary therapies. As well as this, the pharmacist has worked with local groups to provide information sessions on lifestyle and on health issues identified by the local groups

Eat well, keep well and reduce your risk of cancer

This leaflet highlights Northern Ireland's incidence of cancer as an important public health concern, and explains how eating more fruit, vegetables and other fibre rich foods can significantly reduce our risk of getting the disease.

Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition in Ireland. Mental Health and Social Well-being Report

SĹN 2007: Older People, Loneliness and Social Support to Mental HealthSĹN, the national Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition, shows that most Irish adults have a reasonably high level of positive mental health. It is the largest national survey on positive and negative mental health and social well-being in the Irish adult population.��One finding highlights the significance of loneliness and social support to mental health. Finding reveal that 14% of respondents reported being often lonely in the last four weeks, with women, older people and respondents in lower social class groups reporting high levels of loneliness. The SĹN report indicates that being widowed and not being in paid employment are the strongest overall predictors of loneliness. Respondents who are widowed are about five times more likely to feel lonely than those who are married or cohabiting, while 17% of respondents aged 65 and over report being often lonely.��SLAN 2007 highlights the significance of loneliness and social support to mental health. It proposes community-based interventions, including community development approaches and strategies to promote community involvement as a way to tackle such social and health inequities at local level. The report also highlights the importance of implementing the recommendations of the policy document A Vision for Change. It says that protection and promotion of the future health and well-being of the Irish population requires the implementation of effective cross-sectoral policies that will help create and maintain a mentally healthy society, with consequent health, economic and social benefits for all.����SLAN is commissioned by the Department of Health and Children and involved face-to-face interviews with 10,364 respondents aged 18 years and over.��