Delayed hypersensitivity and systemic arthralgia following transurethral collagen injection for stress urinary incontinence

PURPOSE: During a prospective cohort study to determine the effectiveness of and adverse effects associated with transurethral collagen injection for treatment of stress urinary incontinence in women, we observed 3 cases of delayed allergic reaction at the skin test site associated with arthralgia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 337 women with at least a 1-year history, physical findings and urodynamic abnormalities consistent with stress urinary incontinence, who required pads or protective clothing and who had no or only grade 1 cystocele were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. Adverse effects were documented by a third party at each followup. RESULTS: Delayed reaction at the skin test site occurred in 3 patients (0.9%), and was associated with arthralgias in 2. CONCLUSIONS: The incidence and systemic nature of this type of reaction suggest that gluteraldehyde cross-linked collagen injection is not as innocuous as previously believed. Patients should be counseled regarding the unknown long-term outcome of this complication. Before treatment clinicians should consider double skin testing.     

A Function of Form: Terror Management and Structuring the Social World.

Drawing on lay epistemology theory (A. W. Kruglanski, 1980, 1989), the authors assessed a terror management analysis (J. Greenberg, S. Solomon, & T. Pyszczynski, 1997) of the psychological function of structuring social information. Seven studies tested variations of the hypothesis that simple, benign interpretations of social information function, in part, to manage death-related anxiety. In Studies 1-4, mortality salience (MS) exaggerated primacy effects and reliance on representative information, decreased preference for a behaviorally inconsistent target among those high in personal need for structure (PNS), and increased high-PNS participants' preference for interpersonal balance. In Studies 5-7, MS increased high-PNS participants' preference for interpretations that suggest a just world and a benevolent causal order of events in the social world. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An experimental study of the cooldown of a short full size superconducting power cable section

The cooling time for a cable section can be determined from the expression valid for a long cable, provided a correction is made in the expression for the half-length of the heat transfer zone. The empirically obtained length of the heat transfer zone agrees well with the results of numerical calculations that are reported in the literature.     

Formulation of the kinematic model of a general (6 DOF) robot manipulator using a screw operator

In general, the manipulator's end-effector can be located in a desired position and orientation in its work-space through angular and/or linear displacements of its joints. These joint coordinates can be obtained by solving the loop-closure equation of the manipulator's kinematic model. The most common method for obtaining this equation is based on the point coordinates 4×4 homogeneous transformation matrix. This method uses a special set of frames which are adapted to the manipulator's configuration. Within the last few years there has been some interest in the use of screw operators (line transformations) to model the kinematic configuration of manipulators and to form the loop-closure equation. In this article, a kinematic model of a general (6 DOF) manipulator is obtained through the application of a screw operator (dual-unit quaternion) to represent the screw displacements of the line coordinates of the manipulator link and joint axes. The loop-closure equation of the closed kinematic chain is obtained by introducing a hypothetical link/joint at the manipulator's end-effector location. The resultant non-linear loop-closure equation is then solved for the joint coordinates using a numerical technique. The method is illustrated with an example.     

Holographic patterning of luminescent photopolymer nanocomposites

Volume phase gratings in the photopolymerisable composites, containing luminescent nanoparticles have been fabricated for the first time. Nanoparticles of LaPO₄, doped by Ce³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions (the trade name is REN-X-green) with high luminescence quantum yield were used as a luminescent inorganic additive. The holographic gratings in such materials are formed as a result of the diffusion distribution of the nanoparticles during exposure of photopolymerisable composites to interference pattern. The influence of the pre-polymer formulation and the holographic patterning parameters on the grating formation is comprehensively investigated. The use of the optimised pre-polymer syrup containing two monomers with sufficiently different polymerisation rates allows fabrication of gratings with diffraction efficiency up to 80% at low optical losses (< 5%) (20 μm film thickness). To obtain maximum diffraction efficiency the intensity and the period of the interference pattern were optimised for each formulation. In addition maximum diffraction efficiency was achieved with the nanocomposites containing 30–32 wt.% of nanoparticles. On the other hand the highest possible modulation of the nanoparticles' concentration was obtained for the concentration of about 20 wt.%. In this case maximum ordering of the nanoparticles in the polymer matrix is achieved. The photoluminescence of the nanoparticles within the homogeneous polymer film and within the grating has been measured. The example application of the photopolymerisable composite containing luminescence inorganic nanoparticles in holographic security technology has been demonstrated.     

Bronze is beautiful but pale can be pretty: The effects of appearance standards and mortality salience on sun-tanning outcomes.

Objective: Using the terror management health model (J. L. Goldenberg & J. Arndt, 2008), the authors examined tanning outcomes as a function of priming tanning-relevant standards for attractiveness after reminders of death. Design: Study 1 consisted of 101 female college students recruited from a midwestern university; Study 2 consisted of 53 female participants recruited from a beach in south Florida. In both experiments, participants answered questions about their mortality or a control topic, and were presented with a fashion article that highlighted either the attractiveness of tanned (just in Study 1), pale, or natural-looking skin. Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported suntan intentions (Study 1) and sunscreen intentions (Study 2). Study 2 also assessed participants’ interest in various sun protection products. Results and Conclusions: Study 1 demonstrated that mortality salience led to higher tanning intentions when the association between tanned skin and physical attractiveness was made salient and reduced intentions when the attractiveness of paler skin was highlighted. In Study 2, beachgoers, after reminders of death, reported greater preference for high sun protection sunscreen after reading an article about the attractiveness of paler skin tones. These findings contribute to an emerging understanding of how mortality concerns can influence health-related judgment and behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)