Psychological impact of colorectal cancer screening.

This article examines the psychological impact of participating in sigmoidoscopy screening for colorectal cancer prevention. The 1st study examined psychological well-being at 3 months, in relation to screening outcome, in 4,153 individuals. The 2nd study used longitudinal data to examine changes in psychological functioning from before to after screening in relation both to screening outcome and baseline indicators of vulnerability. There were few psychological differences between those who had received negative results or had polyps detected. These findings were confirmed in the longitudinal study, which also found no evidence for vulnerability to adverse effects among those who were initially most anxious or who perceived their risk of cancer to be higher. The longitudinal data suggested that screening might produce transient positive effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

New subscales for the MMPI-2 Social Introversion (Si) scale.

The development of three new content-homogeneous subscales for the revised Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2; J. N. Butcher et al, 1989) Social Introversion (Si) scale designed to replace the K. Serkownek (1975) subscales, which were not included in the revised MMPI, is described. The subscales, termed Shyness/Self-Consciousness, Social Avoidance, and Self/Other Alienation, were developed with data provided by college students (515 men and 797 women). Data analyses with this and the MMPI-2 normative sample demonstrated that the new subscales independently contribute to the assessment of nearly 90% of the variance in the full Si scale, that they display both convergent and divergent validity, and that these attributes generalize beyond the sample with which they were developed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Bioenergetic Alterations of Metabolic Redox Coenzymes as NADH,FAD and FMN by Means of Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Techniques

Metabolic FLIM (fluorescence lifetime imaging) is used to image bioenergetic status in cells and tissue. Whereas an attribution of the fluorescence lifetime of coenzymes as an indicator for cell metabolism is mainly accepted, it is debated whether this is valid for the redox state of cells. In this regard, an innovative algorithm using the lifetime characteristics of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (phosphate) (NAD(P)H) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) to calculate the fluorescence lifetime induced redox ratio (FLIRR) has been reported so far. We extended the FLIRR approach and present new results, which includes FLIM data of the various enzymes, such as NAD(P)H, FAD, as well as flavin mononucleotide (FMN). Our algorithm uses a two-exponential fitting procedure for the NAD(P)H autofluorescence and a three-exponential fit of the flavin signal. By extending the FLIRR approach, we introduced FLIRR1 as protein-bound NAD(P)H related to protein-bound FAD, FLIRR2 as protein-bound NAD(P)H related to free (unbound) FAD and FLIRR3 as protein-bound NAD(P)H related to protein-bound FMN. We compared the significance of extended FLIRR to the metabolic index, defined as the ratio of protein-bound NAD(P)H to free NAD(P)H. The statistically significant difference for tumor and normal cells was found to be highest for FLIRR1.     

Application of multiscale modeling in the coating formation simulation of APS PYSZ TBCs

The process parameters of atmospheric plasma spraying (APS) influence the coating formation and properties of partially yttria stabilized zirconia (PYSZ) thermal barrier coatings (TBC). Simulations can be used to investigate this dependency and to design the coating process for a targeted production of TBCs. A whole process simulation was realized by modeling the linked subprocesses: plasma torch, plasma free jet, powder particles characteristics, and coating formation. The coating formation can be described by model approaches with different physical assumptions and geometric scales. One approach is the simulation of single powder particles hitting the substrate surface. An alternative macroscale finite element model (FEM) model approach is applied in the coating formation simulation. A group of particles is pooled in a splash that is dependent on the precalculated particle distribution in front of the substrate. A third modeling approach is applied to calculate effective mechanical and thermodynamical properties of coatings dependent on the experimentally obtained or calculated microstructure of the PYSZ TBC, which is based on different homogenization methods. The application of three simulation approaches in the whole process simulation of APS is discussed; advantages and disadvantages are elucidated. Results based on simulation and experiments are presented for a variation of process parameters. Missing links in the multiscale approach are detected to make suggestions for future modeling and simulation work. This article was originally published inBuilding on 100 Years of Success, Proceedings of the 2006 International Thermal Spray Conference (Seattle, WA), May 15–18, 2006, B.R. Marple, M.M. Hyland, Y.-Ch. Lau, R.S. Lima, and J. Voyer, Ed., ASM International, Materials Park, OH, 2006.     

Solders development and application process for a micro chip-camera

Nowadays, micro components have to fulfill rising optical requirements for different scientific and industrial fields like astronomy, medicine or multimedia. For this purpose, advanced miniaturized chip-cameras are produced for the microsystems engineering market. The assembly and joining technologies play a very important role in the production of these micro components. Several challenges are associated with the joining of chip-cameras. In this study, the application of the soldering technology has been considered in order to face these challenges. Two joining technologies have been investigated: active soldering and transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding. Both soldering processes have shown a big potential for hybrid microsystems joining in previous studies. For both processes, soldering alloys and parameters have been conceived in order to fulfill the joining requirements of the micro camera components. For instance, the joining temperature represents a major challenge because the chip-camera consists of a plastic material, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Therefore, particular attention has been directed to the soldering as well as to the coating temperature. The experimental investigations concerning the solders application through physical vapor deposition (PVD) have been supported by finite element method (FEM) simulations. The analysis of  the temperature distribution in the micro components during the coating process was the focus of  the calculations. Possible undesirable local overheated areas of the chip-camera components can be detected through simulation.

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Pseudo-T2 mapping for normalization of T2-weighted prostate MRI

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - Signal intensity normalization is necessary to reduce heterogeneity in T2-weighted (T2W) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for...