Journal articles on the topic 'Adhesion proceedings'

Achieving constitutional unity (expressed by the adoption of the Constitution on March 29, 1923) and legislative unity (in three steps, especially by extending the regulations of the “Old Kingdom: 1928, Bessarabia, 1938 – Bukovina, 1943 – Transylvania) stand as major national acts related to the process of completion the political union of 1918 and consolidating the Romanian national unitary state. They have caused ample debates, facing, in specific terms, beyond conjunctural interests and priorities, there major legal visions and conceptions regarding justice in the Europe of the times, present in the reunified Romania: the neo-Latin, majorly formalist; the Austrian, of “material justice”; and, respectively, the Russian, of a strongly social nature. If regarding the necessity and even the urgency of legislative unification there has been a unanimous standing, the disputes concerned the method of realization, and regional resistances have delayed its effective and full realization. The experiences generated by these contexts – from the four draft projects of a constitutional pact, to laws for partial unification, and successful – the Criminal Code and the Criminal Proceedings Code of 1937 – or failed – the Civil Code, the Civil Proceedings Code and the Commercial Code, adopted in 1939-1940 but their entry into force delayed sine die, the sole imposed solution being eventually the extension of the regulations of the “Old Kingdom” over the unified provinces – bear as well several important scientific and cultural meanings. The have confirm the creation of a Romanian model for juridical development, built upon the Romanic inheritance, the adhesion to the neo-Latin juridical modernity, under its own print, consolidated and diversified by the receptions and synthesis of the juridical inter-war unification. The same unifying context, of European synthesis and national affirmation, gave birth to a Romanian school of law and a national jurisprudence. The traditions the configurated and completed have generated the landmarks of a juridical identity that have endured over time, with the specific nuances, and serve today as indispensable orientation in accepting and expressing the European integration and the generalized globalization, perceived as hybridizing and dialogue, and not as a one-sided obtrusion and deletion of national legal specificities.

В статье по известным в литературе экспериментальным значениям краевых углов и поверхностных энергий твердых и жидких металлов рассчитаны межфазные энергии границ раздела между твердыми и жидкими металлами. В настоящее время при вычислении величины межфазных энергий появилась возможность учета температурного фактора для многих твердо-жидких металлическим систем. Показано, что при q0 = p / 2 межфазная энергия sSL в исследованных системах меньше, чем поверхностная энергия твердых металлов sSV . REFERENCES Allen B. C. In liquid metals: Chemistry and physics / Ed. by S.Z. Beer. Marcel Dekker, New York, 1972, pp. 3–161. Nizenko V. I. Floka L. I. Poverkhnostnoe natyazhenie zhidkikh metallov i splavov (odno- i dvukhkomponentnye sistemy) [Surface tension of liquid metals and alloys (one - and two-component systems)]. Moscow, Metallurgy Publ., 1981, 208 p. (in Russ.) Popel S. I. Poverkhnostnoe yavleniya v rasplavakh [Surface phenomena in melts]. Moscow, Metallurgy Publ., 1994, 432 p. (in Russ.) Khokonov H. B., Taova T. M., Shebzukhova I. G., Kumykov V. K., Alchagirov B. B. Poverkhnostnye energiya i natyazhenie metallov i dvoynykh metallicheskikh splavov v tverdom sostoyanii. [Surface energy and tension of metals and double metal alloys in solid state]. Proceedings of the international and interdisciplinary Symposium “Physics of surface phenomena, interphase boundaries and phase transitions”, September 16–21, Nalchik – Rostov-on-don – Grozny – Shepsi. 2018, v. 8, рp. 5–20. (in Russ.) Zakharova T. V. Rastekanie rasplavov (Pb–Sn i Zn) po poverkhnosti tverdykh metallov i adgeziya faz [Melt Spreading (Pb-Sn and Zn) over the surface of solid metals and phase adhesion]. Cand. sci. diss. (abstract) Sverdlovsk, 1973, 23 с. URL: https://search.rsl. ru/ru/record/01007087710 Dokhov M. P., Kokoeva M. N. Mezhfaznye energii rasplavlennykh khloridov shchelochnykh i shchelochnozemel’nykh metallov na granitse s tverdym zhelezom [Interfacial energies of molten chlorides of alkali and alkaline earth metals on the border with solid iron], International Scientifi c Journal Innovative Science, 2018(6), pp. 23–28. URL: https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=35125318 (in Russ.) Entsiklopediya neorganicheskikh materialov [Encyclopedia of inorganic materials]. In 2 vol. / Fedorchenko I.M. (ed.) and others. Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia. Kiev, 1977, v. 1, 840 p., v. 2, 816 p. (in Russ.) Novosadov V. S., Khokonov Kh. B. Dvizhushchie sily i koeffi tsient rastekaniya v neravnovesnykh usloviyakh smachivaniya [Driving forces and spreading coeffi cient in non-equilibrium wetting conditions]. Proceedings of the international and interdisciplinary symposium “Physics of surface phenomena, phase boundaries and phase transitions”, September 16–21, 2014, Nalchik – Rostov-on-Don – Grozny – pos. South, 2014, Vol. 4, pp. 207–212. (in Russ.)

Endothelium forms an inner layer of vascular wall. It plays an important role in inflammatory process, regulation of vascular tone, and synthesis of thromboregulatory substances. Leukocyte and endothelium interactions during inflammation are regulated by different families of adhesion molecules. Increased levels of soluble forms of adhesion molecules have been detected in the circulating blood in conditions such as autoimmune diseases, transplant rejection, ischemia-reperfusion injury in addition to neutrophil- and endothelial membrane-bound forms reflecting the level of endothelial dysfunction. It is known that endothelial dysfunction is a risk factor for ischemic events such as stroke, myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris, ventricle fibrillation, necessity of revascularisation procedures, and death from cardiovascular reasons. Clinical studies showed that cardiac surgery has an impact on vascular endothelial function as well. The amount of endotheliumderived soluble forms of vascular-1 and intercellular-1 adhesion molecules increases after cardiopulmonary bypass suggesting endothelial dysfunction. However, further investigations are needed to be done to support the evidence that endothelial dysfunction proceeding heart surgery is one of the reasons of tissue ischemia-reperfusion injury.

The adhesion force between rail and wheel is one of the important factors for proceeding towards the realization of high-speed railway. On the other hand, it is supposed that the water film formed between the rail and wheel has a remarkable influence on the adhesion force under rainy condition at higher speeds. In this paper, taking Bett and Cappi's viscosity values of water, which show quite a different behaviour from the viscosity of oil, the influence has been investigated of important factors such as rolling speed, contact pressure and temperature on water film thickness for a smooth surface by applying elastohydrodynamic lubrication theory. Based on the numerical solutions, an empirical equation has been developed for water film thickness relating to rolling speed, load and material parameter by using a linear regression method and comparing it with other authors' works on a lower material parameter or elastic-isoviscous contact. Furthermore, in order to understand the influence of the above factors and the surface roughness on the adhesion force, adhesion coefficients have been calculated on a trial basis in the case of rough surface contact under limited conditions, and the theoretical results have been compared with the measured values of the tests on Japanese Shinkansen vehicles in the field.

On June 29, 1890, N. was called to a pregnant 36-year-old nurse who gave birth 2 times: 7 years ago an immature dead fetus and 11/2 years of a so-called premature baby. The last bloods were in November 1889. Pregnancy was proceeding normally, but on June 28, after the jump, she felt a strong stitching in her right side and after that the onset of unusually painful attempts.

Dental adhesives are bonded to a wet surface of live tissue, dentin. There are two important stages of surface preparation for adhesive application: 1) Etching the tooth structure creating a layer of collagen network free from mineral, and 2) Applying a primer, in this case a water solution of hydrophilic monomer of 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (ScotchBond Multipurpose®, 3M). During the priming stage, the resin monomer should penetrate the fibril network and coat collagen fibrils. Subsequent adhesive resin penetration into the collagen network (hybrid layer) is not uniform, influenced by the presence of residual water and degree of resin polymerization. Dependence of bond strength of dental adhesives on time or intensity of light activation is well known, but no direct microscopic observations of the dynamics of polymerization were performed. This was due to the fact that during specimen dehydration for conventional SEM the polymerization process is still proceeding and residual monomer could be washed out.

It was found that in an osteoporotic bone the fraction of nanosized pores decreases, the mineral phase amorphizes, hydrated shells around mineralized particles of the bone matrix thicken, and adhesion forces increase. This contributes to the formation of water clusters similar to bulk water clusters compared to the healthy bone tissue and leads to the accumulation of more viscous liquid with increased intermolecular interaction forces in the pores of the bone matrix. Given this, the rates of chemical reactions proceeding in the water phase of ultrathin channels of general parts of collagen fibrils decrease. Ultimately, nanopores of collagen-apatite interfaces lose, to a certain extent, the capability of catalyzing the hydroxyapatite crystallization.

The polymer formation proceeding with the participation of cardosilazaoxane organosilicon oligomers are considered. By the interaction of cardocyclic silazaoxanes with organosiloxane diols, new types of organosilicon oligomers are synthesized. They are capable to form elastic spatial-netted structures due to polymerization processes with the discovery of cyclic siloxane fragments without isolation of low molecular weight by-products. The influence of temperature and the silazaoxane: diol ratio on the nature of the products formed is studied. It was established that at 120-130 °C soluble oligomers of cyclolinear structure are formed, which are structured at 180-190 °C, with the most dense network structure being formed when the silazoxane: diol ratio is close to equimolar; a certain excess of hydroxyl groups at the final stage of polymerization leads to the association of the released ammonia with OH end groups and the formation of nucleophilic particles at the ends of the polymer chains – siloxanolate anions, possibly initiating structuring. The formation of regular three-dimensional structures – polysilazaoxanes, initiated by siloxanolate anions without the use of a special catalyst, is a new approach to the creation of adhesive compositions. In this case, in contrast to catalytically cured siloxane analogues, the resulting cross-linked polymer structures exhibit enhanced adhesion to the substrate material. Such polysilazaoxane oligomers can be used: a) as a basis for adhesives, only thermal effects and compounds containing siloxane films and coatings with various metals and characteristics can be used as a catalyst; b) for hydrophobic impregnation of textile materials and leather half-finished products, since this is clearly ammonia, which does not have a destructive effect on them.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is as much easy procedure as difficult one. Surgeon should consider every case as his first one. Intraoperative complications are common while transformation to open surgery should be always in consideration. Transformation to open cholecystectomy isn't a sign of lack of experience, rather it is a proof of surgeon cleverness and an evidence of professional competence as it could keep our patient away from life-threatening complications in difficult situations. Predictive factors for difficulty vary from male patient, repeated acute attacks, history of obstructive jaundice, presence of abnormal anatomical or pathological findings, and adhesions. The aim of this study was to assess some preoperative causes namely by history, clinical examination and, radiological data which can dependably anticipate the odds of troublesome laparoscopic Cholecystectomy or alteration to open Cholecystectomy .1005 patients experienced laparoscopic cholecystectomy 171 of them were difficult cases (10.05%). Transformation rate in our study is within the lower limits and accepted internationally. Dense fibrous adhesion and bleeding are the main causes of transformation. History of acute cholecystitis is separate hazard factor for transformation from laparoscopic to open procedure. Gender and age are also showing increasing rate of transformation. Results shown bile duct damages may evaded even with nearness of hazard factors as anatomical variations from the of biliary channels, intense cholecystitis, extreme endless fibrosis, affected stones inside Hartmann pocket, and short cystic pipe during laparoscopic cholecystectomy by careful watching and wise decision of transformation whenever surgeon feels risk of major complication in case of proceeding in laparoscopic technique. Mortality not encountered directly through the procedure or in short post-operative period but as sequel of complicated cases. Authors proposes that change of the laparoscopic cholecystectomy isn't really a disappointment of the specialist, as usually explained, yet is a lifesaving method as delineated by the results of the study. The experience of the operating surgeon assumes an essential function on this subject.

Abstract Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of adhesives used to attach bands to teeth during fixed appliance treatment. Material and Methods: Electronic databases, conference proceedings and the Internet were searched. There was no restriction with regard to publication status or language of publication. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and controlled clinical trials (CCTs) (including split-mouth studies) of adhesives used to attach orthodontic bands to molar teeth were selected. Patients with full arch fixed orthodontic appliance(s) who had bands attached to molars were included. All review authors were involved in study selection, validity assessment, and data extraction. Disagreements were resolved by discussion. Comparisons were made between the main types of adhesive. Results: Five RCTs and three CCTs were identified, all of split-mouth design. Four trials compared chemically cured zinc phosphate and chemically cured glass ionomer; three trials compared chemically cured glass ionomer cement with light-cured compomer; and one trial compared chemically cured glass ionomer with a chemically cured glass polyphosphonate. Data analysis was often inappropriate within the studies. Meta-analysis was not feasible. Conclusions: There is insufficient high-quality evidence with regard to the most effective adhesive for attaching orthodontic bands to molar teeth. Further RCTs are required.

The classical techniques of PI film metallization by either vapour deposition or electrochemical reduction of metals involve necessary technological steps such as polymer surface modification via plasma or ion beam, electron beam, or photolytic treatment, or surface sensitization by the conferment of catalytic properties, in order to enhance metal- PI adhesion, which is the main problem to be overcome in all processes. The technology presented differs by the use of another chemical approach yielding electro-conductive materials with high reflectivity, but without damaging the films in the process. The metalized polyimide films have been prepared by heterogeneous chemical modification of the polyimide surface and the suggested technology includes several chemical conversion steps (hydrolysis, chelating by metal salts and reduction) requiring no complicated procedures and proceeding under mild conditions, at room temperature and without aggressive agents. This new process allows the formulation of metal phase while both simplifying the technology and making use of commercial PI films, such as Kapton®HN and Upilex®S. In memoriam of Dr. Saule K. Kudaikulova

Increased use of sensors and controls in automotive applications has resulted in significant emphasis on the deployment of electronics directly mounted on the engine and transmission. Increased shock, vibration, and higher temperatures necessitate the fundamental understanding of damage mechanisms, which will be active in these environments. Electronics typical of office benign environments uses FR-4 printed circuit boards (PCBs). Automotive applications typically use high glass-transition temperature laminates such as FR4-06 glass∕epoxy laminate material (Tg=164.9°C). In application environments, metal backing of printed circuit boards is being targeted for thermal dissipation, mechanical stability, and interconnections reliability. In this study, the effect of metal-backed boards on the interconnect reliability has been evaluated. Previous studies on electronic reliability for automotive environments have addressed the damage mechanics of solder joints in plastic ball-grid arrays on non-metal-backed substrates (Lall et al., 2003, “Model for BGA and CSP in Automotive Underhood Environments,” Electronic Components and Technology Conference, New Orleans, LA, May 27–30, pp. 189–196;Syed, A. R., 1996, “Thermal Fatigue Reliability Enhancement of Plastic Ball Grid Array (PBGA) Packages,” Proceedings of the 1996 Electronic Components and Technology Conference, Orlando, FL, May 28–31, pp. 1211–1216;Evans et al., 1997, “PBGA Reliability for Under-the-Hood Automotive Applications,” Proceedings of InterPACK ’97, Kohala, HI, Jun. 15–19, pp. 215–219;Mawer et al., 1999, “Board-Level Characterization of 1.0 and 1.27mm Pitch PBGA for Automotive Under-Hood Applications,” Proceedings of the 1999 Electronic Components and Technology Conference, San Diego, CA, Jun. 1–4, pp. 118–124) and ceramic ball-grid arrays (BGAs) on non-metal-backed substrates (Darveaux, R., and Banerji, K., 1992, “Constitutive Relations for Tin-Based Solder Joints,” IEEE Trans-CPMT-A, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp. 1013–1024;Darveaux et al., 1995, “Reliability of Plastic Ball Grid Array Assembly,” Ball Grid Array Technology, Lau, J., ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, pp. 379–442;Darveaux, R., 2000, “Effect of Simulation Methodology on Solder Joint Crack Growth Correlation,” Proceedings of 50th ECTC, May, pp. 1048–1058). Delamination of PCBs from metal backing has also been investigated. The test vehicle is a metal-backed FR4-06 laminate. The printed circuit board has an aluminum metal backing, attached with pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA). Component architectures tested include plastic ball-grid array devices, C2BGA devices, QFN, and discrete resistors. Reliability of the component architectures has been evaluated for HASL. Crack propagation and intermetallic thickness data have been acquired as a function of cycle count. Reliability data have been acquired on all these architectures. Material constitutive behavior of PSA has been measured using uniaxial test samples. The measured constitutive behavior has been incorporated into nonlinear finite element simulations. Predictive models have been developed for the dominant failure mechanisms for all the component architectures tested.

9025^ Background: ILI with melphalan dosing corrected for ideal body weight (IBW) is a well tolerated treatment for patients with in-transit extremity melanoma with an approximate 30% CR and 44% overall response rate. ADH-1 is a cyclic pentapeptide that disrupts N-cadherin adhesion complexes. ADH-1 when given systemically in a preclinical model with regional melphalan demonstrated synergistic antitumor activity and had minimal toxicity in a Phase I trial with M-ILI. Methods:AJCC stage IIIB or IIIC extremity melanoma patients were treated with 4000mg of ADH-1 administered systemically on Day 1 and 8 in addition to standard dose M-ILI corrected for IBW on Day 1. Drug pK, and N-cadherin IHC staining were performed on pretreatment tumor from all patients. The primary endpoint was response at 12 weeks determined by modified RECIST. Results: 46 patients were enrolled over 15 months at 4 institutions. Thirty-four patients are presently evaluable for 12 week response. In field responses include 14 CRs (41.2%%), 9 PRs (26.5%), 5 SDs (14.7%), and 6 PDs (17.6%). The OR rate was 67.7% and at a median follow-up of 30 weeks, 8 patients have sustained CRs over 6 months. Of 34 patients, 9 have developed disease outside the region of infusion (median time to progression 12 weeks) at median follow-up 36 weeks. N-cadherin was detected in 20 of 25 (80%) pretreatment tumor samples. Grade IV toxicities included CPK elevation (4), neutropenia (1), acute respiratory distress syndrome (1), pneumonitis (1), and pulmonary infiltrate (1). There were no limb losses or compartment syndromes. Conclusions:This study is not only the first prospective multi-center ILI trial but also the first ILI study to incorporate a targeted agent in an attempt to augment anti-tumor responses. The treatment was well tolerated with CR and OR rates that appear to be significantly improved from standard M-ILI alone. Targeting N-cadherin may represent a novel strategy for improving melanoma sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents and warrants further investigation in a large randomized multi-center trial. [Table: see text] ASCO Conflict of Interest Policy and Exceptions In compliance with the guidelines established by the ASCO Conflict of Interest Policy (J Clin Oncol. 2006 Jan 20;24[3]:519–521) and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), ASCO strives to promote balance, independence, objectivity, and scientific rigor through disclosure of financial and other interests, and identification and management of potential conflicts. According to the ASCO Conflict of Interest Policy, the following financial and other relationships must be disclosed: employment or leadership position, consultant or advisory role, stock ownership, honoraria, research funding, expert testimony, and other remuneration (J Clin Oncol. 2006 Jan 20;24[3]:520). The ASCO Conflict of Interest Policy disclosure requirements apply to all authors who submit abstracts to the Annual Meeting. For clinical trials that began accrual on or after April 29, 2004, ASCO's Policy places some restrictions on the financial relationships of principal investigators (J Clin Oncol. 2006 Jan 20;24[3]:521). If a principal investigator holds any restricted relationships, his or her abstract will be ineligible for placement in the 2009 Annual Meeting unless the ASCO Ethics Committee grants an exception. Among the circumstances that might justify an exception are that the principal investigator (1) is a widely acknowledged expert in a particular therapeutic area; (2) is the inventor of a unique technology or treatment being evaluated in the clinical trial; or (3) is involved in international clinical oncology research and has acted consistently with recognized international standards of ethics in the conduct of clinical research. NIH-sponsored trials are exempt from the Policy restrictions. Abstracts for which authors requested and have been granted an exception in accordance with ASCO's Policy are designated with a caret symbol (^) in the Annual Meeting Proceedings. For more information about the ASCO Conflict of Interest Policy and the exceptions process, please visit www.asco.org/conflictofinterest .

Due to their outstanding properties nanodiamonds are a promising nanoscale material in various applications such as microelectronics, polishing, optical monitoring, medicine and biotechnology. Beyond the typical diamond characteristics like extreme hardness or high thermal conductivity, they have additional benefits as intrinsic fluorescence due to lattice defects without photobleaching, obtained during the high pressure high temperature process. Further the carbon surface and its various functional groups in consequence of the synthesis, facilitate additional chemical and biological modification. In this work we present our recent results on chemical modification of the nanodiamond surface with phosphate groups and their electrochemically assisted immobilization on titanium-based materials to increase adhesion at biomaterial surfaces. The starting material is detonation nanodiamond, which exhibits a heterogeneous surface due to the functional groups resulting from the nitrogen-rich explosives and the subsequent purification steps after detonation synthesis. Nanodiamond surfaces are chemically homogenized before proceeding with further functionalization. Suspensions of resulting surface-modified nanodiamonds are applied to the titanium alloy surfaces and the nanodiamonds subsequently fixed by electrochemical immobilization. Titanium and its alloys have been widely used in bone and dental implants for being a metal that is biocompatible with body tissues and able to bind with adjacent bone during healing. In order to improve titanium material properties towards biomedical applications the authors aim to increase adhesion to bone material by incorporating nanodiamonds into the implant surface, namely the anodically grown titanium dioxide layer. Differently functionalized nanodiamonds are characterized by infrared spectroscopy and the modified titanium alloys surfaces by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The process described shows an adsorption and immobilization of modified nanodiamonds on titanium; where aminosilanized nanodiamonds coupled with O-phosphorylethanolamine show a homogeneous interaction with the titanium substrate.

In this work, a new 3D cellular model—based on human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM–MSCs)—was used for the first time to test the 45S5 Bioglass® (45S5). Such a model, previously used to evaluate the biologic performance of two novel bioactive glasses, suggested out the regenerative potential of such materials. In fact, BM–MSCs were able both to adhere and colonize the biomaterials, as well as differentiate toward osteoblasts—even in absence of specific growth factors. Surprisingly, BM–MSCs were not able to colonize 45S5 granules (almost no adhesion and/or colonization was observed), and thus, were not capable of providing any osteogenic differentiation. Therefore, the model seems to suggest that the two novel bioactive glasses have a better biologic performance than 45S5. If this hypothesis is confirmed also by in vivo tests, the 3D model may become a predictive tool for discriminating between different potential bioactive materials by comparatively evaluating them, and preliminarily selecting the best ones in relation to their biocompatibility potential—before proceeding with further experiments in vivo. This approach could favor the reduction of costs and time of pre-clinical and clinical trials.

Abstract This study attempts to explore Batch-type Microwave (B-MW) plasma cleaning as a potential alternative to the conventional Strip-type Radiofrequency (S-RF) plasma; for application prior molding to improve adhesion along the mold-lead frame interface. Performance of B-MW was evaluated in terms of improvement in surface wettability, quantified via Contact Angle (CA) measurements. Mix of typical industrial plasma gases (Ar, H2 and O2) were assessed. Constant flow pattern was observed to significantly improve surface wettability and uniformity compared to its pulsed counterpart; and also affect the effect of other factors on the over-all cleaning performance of B-MW. Proceeding with constant flow pattern, surface wetting was found to improve with increasing power and cleaning time. The combination of O2 and H2 plasma was found to be more effective compared to utilizing them separately. Both cleaning time and flow rate increased the amount of reactive species that come in contact with the contaminants. With optimized parameters, B-MW was confirmed to be a more effective plasma method than S-RF i.e. 12% more effective in removing contamination and improving surface wettability, up to 20% better uniformity and can boost throughput to at least 34%.

Chemically active components which are available both in structure of material of a blanket and in lubricant, decay under the influence of temperature, a force field of a solid body and catalytic impact of a svezheobnazhenny surface of metal, are allocated in the form of active agents who react and form the modified layer. The modified layer has smaller (in comparison with the main metal) resistance to shift owing to what decrease in coefficient of friction and replacement of intensive adhesive wear softer corrosion and mechanical is provided. The condition of details of the rolling bearing in the presence of the modified layer does not change during all service life. However in case of a leakage of lubricant or loss in it chemically active components the modified layer is not formed that leads to metal contact and failure of the bearing. Metal contact causes sharp temperature increase, and also mechanical damages to a type of zadir on bodies of swing and nicks on the rings received as a result of shock loadings. Intensity of wear of details of the rolling bearing is influenced substantially by the process temperature which depends on the relative speed of sliding and the normal squeezing force. In process of temperature increase of process the speed of education and a share of the modified layer increase. Critical value of temperature determines a lubricant scope. The concentration of an active component in lubricant is higher, the wear resistance of the rolling bearing is higher. When toughening the mode of friction there is a competition of two processes – educations and wear of the modified layer and if wear prevails, then inevitably there will be a metal contact leading to failure of the bearing.

Generally, adhesive materials can be cured in a short time under high curing temperature. High curing temperature usually leads to an increase in cross-link density and a homologous increase in heat resistance. Nevertheless, curing process under high temperature problems can occur such as the inclination for the adhesive materials to shrinkage, cracks, voids and it would probably lower the dielectric properties. UV curing of anisotropic conductive adhesives (ACAs) offers several advantages over the conventional epoxy resin, including rapid cure, little to no emission of volatile organic compounds and without affecting other components in the assembly [Pataki, W. S., 1997, “Optimization of Free-Radical Initiation Reactions in the Electrical Industry,” Electrical Insulation Conference and Electrical Manufacturing and Coil Winding Conference Proceedings, pp. 745–751]. Based on the aforementioned advantages, it is worth investigating the bonding properties at different curing conditions. In this work, a new type of UV curable ACA for chip-on-flex application is presented. The adhesive bonds of the chip-on-flex application are cured at different cure cycles within a range of UV frequencies. Cure cycles in this work were the different periods of time that were needed to cure the ACAs under different UV light intensities. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy with attenuated total internal reflection was used to investigate the curing degree of the ACAs at different cure cycles. The result shows that the longer the curing time and the larger the UV intensity, the higher the curing degree can be obtained. Furthermore, the curing time in the UV curable ACA was much shorter than that of the conventional thermal curable ACAs. Shear test was done to find out the shear strength of the bonding. Finally, after shear test, scanning electron microscope was used to investigate the fracture mode of the chip-on-flex application at different curing cycles.

The clinical success of dental implants requires not only the optimum osseointegration but also the integration of implant surface with soft tissues to form biological sealing. In this study, alkali-heat treatment was applied to modify the pure titanium surface constructing a unique micro-and nano-structure. Then, poly(dopamine), along and with the additional incorporation of hydroxyapatite and carboxymethyl chitosan have been successfully infiltrated into the preactivated Ti surface during dopamine self-polymerization proceeding. Here, the effects of poly(dopamine)-modified surface coating on the biological behaviors of human gingival fibroblasts (HGFs) and oral pathogens have been systematically studied, which was critical for the early peri-implant soft tissue integration. The results showed that the poly(dopamine)-modified alkali-heat-titanium surface was a superior substrate for human gingival fibroblast adhesion, spread and proliferation. Moreover, further enhancements on cytoskeleton organization, collagen secretion and fibronectin adsorption were generally observed through the additional incorporation of hydroxyapatite. The addition of carboxymethyl chitosan exerted a positive modulation effect on antibacterial activity. Overall, our study demonstrated that combined superior soft tissue integration and antibacterial activity can be achieved by using poly(dopamine)-modified titanium implant, which has great potential in the optimal design of dental implant.

The pregnancy rate in a group of 39 couples who underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) with donor sperm was compared with that of couples undergoing gamete intra-Fallopian transfer (GIFT) over the same period (31 December 1986 to 30 June 1991). The diagnostic status of the female partners in each group was qualitatively similar. The women had patent Fallopian tubes, mild endometriosis or minor tubal adhesions. The male partners in the GIFT group had normal or marginally abnormal semen parameters which were considered to be comparable to the post-thaw quality of the semen used in donor insemination (DI). The mean age of the women in the DI group was 32 years (range 25-40) which was similar to that in the GIFT group [32 years (24-39)]. The women in the IVF group had undergone a mean of eight cycles of DI before proceeding to treatment with IVF. There was no difference between the pregnancy rate in the two groups (log-rank test). These observations advance the proposition that IVF should be reconsidered as an effective treatment for women with patent Fallopian tubes.

Cell types in the regenerating claws of adult snapping shrimps, Alpheus heterochelis, are described, based onelectron microscopy. Following autotomy of a limb, the coxal stump is secured by a membrane lined by a layer of proliferatingepithelial cells. Numerous fibroblasts with long cytoplasmic processes form small fluid-filled compartments that provide astructural framework and are inundated with mostly hemocytes and blood vessels. Agranular hemocytes are uncommoncompared with granular ones, which have prominent pseudopodia, vacuoles, and lysosomes, features that suggest a phagocyticfunction. The cytoplasmic network formed by fibroblasts persists in the regenerating blastema and papilla, together withgranular hemocytes and blastemal cells. Close structural associations were observed amongst all four cell types. Regionalproliferation of epithelial cells subdivides the distal tip of the papilla into the presumptive propus and dactyl and marks thebeginning of segmentation, which proceeds in a distal to proximal direction. This is accompanied by the appearance of firstafferent innervation, also proceeding in a distal to proximal direction, and multinucleate myoblasts identified by fragments ofmyofibrils, then efferent innervation and well-organized muscle. Prominent intercellular contacts between hemocytes and othercell types within the papilla may serve for adhesion as well as for communication. The early and prevalent appearance ofhemocytes in the regenerating limb bud, as well as their pluripotent nature in other regenerating tissues, implicates them as theorigin of blastemal cells.

Background Peritoneal catheter displacement appears to be related to various causes including omental attachment, bowel contractions, peritoneal adhesions, and the catheter floating in the dialysis fluid. In order to prevent this complication, which can impair peritoneal dialysis efficacy, Di Paolo et al. designed a “self-locating catheter” (SLC) that is similar to the Tenckhoff catheter (TC) and includes a small tungsten cylinder (weight 12 g) at the distal end (Di Paolo N, et al. The self positioning catheter. Proceedings of the VII Italian Congress on Peritoneal Dialysis. Milan: Wichtig Editore, 1993:539–42). The weight of the tip prevents the catheter from floating and migrating by gravitation toward the Douglas cavity. Objective Starting in 1996, we implanted SLC in 15 continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients. The aim of our study was to compare the ratio of migration and other catheter-related complications between patients with SLC (196 patient-months) and 13 patients with conventional straight TC (295 patient-months). Results Peritonitis ratio, catheter complication rate, dialysate inflow and outflow, and weekly creatinine clearance were similar in the two groups of patients. The incidence of catheter displacement was significantly higher ( p = 0.0349) in the TC group than in the SLC group (4 vs 0). Conclusion In our experience, the SLC seems to be useful in preventing catheter migration by continuous gravitation of its extremity toward the pelvic cavity.

Abstract This case of endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) and flexible endoscopy for lysis of fourth ventricle adhesions for obstructive hydrocephalus illustrates a key anatomical variant (anastomosis of posterior communicating arteries) that increases the difficulty of ETV and should be recognized preoperatively. The video further demonstrates flexible endoscopy for lysis of a fourth ventricular web and excellent third and fourth ventricular anatomy. This patient presented with normal pressure hydrocephalus-like symptoms and magnetic resonance imaging suggestive of a fourth ventricular outflow obstruction. An ETV would be an ideal intervention with a high chance of success1 and avoiding a ventriculoperitoneal shunt or a more invasive suboccipital craniectomy for fourth ventricle exploration; however, variant anatomy and resultant medialization of the bilateral posterior communicating arteries put their location directly beneath the tuber cinereum. After discussing the risks and benefits of the proposed procedure, the patient consented to proceeding with the surgery. Patient is not identifiable either by clinical vignette or through this operative video, which is entirely intraventricular. The care rendered was standard (nonexperimental). The patient did sign consent for filming and production of the educational video submitted. Here, we present operative video from our ETV, demonstrating an inability to confirm adequate fenestration and subsequent flexible endoscopy for fourth ventriculocisternostomy.

Cleft palate, a common congenital deformity, can arise from disruptions in any stage of palatogenesis, including palatal shelf growth, elevation, adhesion, and fusion. Paired box gene 9 (Pax9) is recognized as a vital regulator of palatogenesis with great relevance to cleft palate in humans and mice. Pax9-deficient murine palatal shelves displayed deficient elongation, postponed elevation, failed contact, and fusion. Pax9 is expressed in epithelium and mesenchyme, exhibiting a dynamic expression pattern that changes according to the proceeding of palatogenesis. Recent studies highlighted the Pax9-related genetic interactions and their critical roles during palatogenesis. During palate growth, PAX9 interacts with numerous molecules and members of pathways (e.g., OSR2, FGF10, SHOS2, MSX1, BARX1, TGFβ3, LDB1, BMP, WNT β-catenin dependent, and EDA) in the mesenchyme and functions as a key mediator in epithelial-mesenchymal communications with FGF8, TBX1, and the SHH pathway. During palate elevation, PAX9 is hypothesized to mediate the time point of the elevation event in the anterior and posterior parts of the palatal shelves. The delayed elevation of Pax9 mutant palatal shelves probably results from abnormal expressions of a series of genes ( Osr2 and Bmpr1a) leading to deficient palate growth, abnormal tongue morphology, and altered hyaluronic acid distribution. The interactions between PAX9 and genes encoding the OSR2, TGFβ3, and WNT β-catenin-dependent pathways provide evidence that PAX9 might participate in the regulation of palate fusion. This review summarizes the current understanding of PAX9’s functions and emphasizes the interactions between PAX9 and vital genes during palatogenesis. We hope to provide some clues for further exploration of the function and mechanism of PAX9, especially during palate elevation and fusion events.

This systematic review concerns the use of smart textiles enabled applications based on myoelectric activity. Electromyography (EMG) is the technique for recording and evaluating electric signals related to muscle activity (myoelectric). EMG is a well-established technique that provides a wealth of information for clinical diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment. Introducing sensor systems that allow for ubiquitous monitoring of health conditions using textile integrated solutions not only opens possibilities for ambulatory, long-term, and continuous health monitoring outside the hospital, but also for autonomous self-administration. Textile-based electrodes have demonstrated potential as a fully operational alternative to ‘standard’ Ag/AgCl electrodes for recording surface electromyography (sEMG) signals. As a substitute for Ag/AgCl electrodes fastened to the skin by taping or pre-gluing adhesive, textile-based electrodes have the advantages of being soft, flexible, and air permeable; thus, they have advantages in medicine and health monitoring, especially when self-administration, real-time, and long-term monitoring is required. Such advances have been achieved through various smart textile techniques; for instance, adding functions in textiles, including fibers, yarns, and fabrics, and various methods for incorporating functionality into textiles, such as knitting, weaving, embroidery, and coating. In this work, we reviewed articles from a textile perspective to provide an overview of sEMG applications enabled by smart textile strategies. The overview is based on a literature evaluation of 41 articles published in both peer-reviewed journals and conference proceedings focusing on electrode materials, fabrication methods, construction, and sEMG applications. We introduce four textile integration levels to further describe the various textile electrode sEMG applications reported in the reviewed literature. We conclude with suggestions for future work along with recommendations for the reporting of essential benchmarking information in current and future textile electrode applications.

The production of automotive body parts and panels is a very complex process, starting with the raw materials and ending in the paint shop. Due to the fact that aluminium sheet metal has to be lubricated before forming, all of the following processes have to be considered. Lubricants, such as oils, dry-film lubricants or recently introduced hotmelts have to protect the material’s surface, reduce friction whilst drawing the panels and should not compromise further treatments [1]. Different types of lubricants show different characteristics. This difference is especially noticeable when comparing liquid and dry-film lubricants. As dry-film lubricants do not run off the blanks’ surface and are distributed homogeneously, they show different tribological properties compared to conventional liquid lubricants. The effect on friction of aluminium sheet metal is shown through several basic experiments [2, 3]. In addition, the paper shows the effect of further operations within the production chain. The advantages and disadvantages not only for drawing, but also for assembly lines and the painting process are described in this paper. Assembly issues are carried out on stability testings of riveted and clinched assemblies. These trials show how the assembly process is affected by different proceedings. The fact that every car body has to be completely free of grease before painting, signifies the necessity to get lubrication off the car body’s surface before painting. The interactions between lubrication and paint shop are shown on typical process parameters. Most typical characteristics considering bonding and riveting were tested out on a hood assembly of the current BMW 7-series. In addition to that, experiences made in the press shop at BMW’s Dingolfing plant were figured out and carried over to a long-term strategy of pre-lubrication of aluminium sheet metal. This includes adhesive compatibility as well as the above mentioned assembly process.

Abstract The 14-3-3sigma is a member of a highly conserved family of acidic proteins that bind to serine/threonine-phosphorylated residues in a context specific manner analogous to the Src homology 2 (SH2)- and phospho-tyrosine- binding domains. Its central role in the subcellular distribution and transcriptional activity of partners molecules controlling cell cycle progression, survival, senescence, adhesion and metabolism made 14-3-3sigma isoform the most directly linked to cancer pathogensis and progression. Here we provide evidence for its involvement in deregulated proliferation and extended survival of Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) hematopoietic progenitors. In LAMA cell line and CD34+ cells of CML patients at clinical diagnosis p210 bcr-abl dephosphorylation and enzymatic activity inhibition induced by in vitro exposure to 1 microM tyrosine kinase (TK) inhibitor Imatinib mesylate (IM) were associated with a significant reduction of 14-3-3sigma transcript and protein. 14-3-3sigma reduced expression arises from transcriptional mechanisms and involves epigenetic modifications of chromatin structure. In LAMA cell line PCR amplification of DNA from immunoprecipitated chromatin (ChIP) revealed histone H4 deacetylation at a discrete region of 14-3-3sigma promoter critical for gene transcription since 2nd up to 24th hour of IM treatment. Conversely, bisulfite-SSCP sequencing of PCR amplification of gene 5′ coding sequences encompassing the transcription start site did not show significant differences in CpG methylation status relative to p210 TK activity. Up-modulation and increased nuclear import of p27Kip1, downmodulation of cyclin D1 and Cdc25A levels, Bad dephosphorylation at Ser136 and Bax translocation to mitochondria proceeding from 14-3-3sigma reduction gave rise to cell cycle arrest in late G1-/early S-phase and committment to apoptotic death. Interestingly, higher levels of 14-3-3sigma protein were associated with the development of IM resistance in vitro and in vivo. To conclude, our study supports a role of 14-3-3sigma in the pathogenesis of CML hematopoiesis as well as in the disease progression towards a drug-resistant phenotype mostly due to its regulatory control on pro-apoptotic and growth-arrest proteins downstream of forkhead transcription factor Foxo3a and c-jun N-terminal kinase (JNK).

SummaryThe studies reported here probe the existence of a receptor-mediated mode of fibrin-binding by macrophages that is associated with the chemical change underlying the fibrinogen-fibrin conversion (the release of fibrinopeptides from the amino-terminal domain) without depending on fibrin-aggregation. The question is pursued by 1) characterization of binding in relation to fibrinopeptide content of both the intact protein and the CNBr-fragment comprising the amino-terminal domain known as the NDSK of the protein, 2) tests of competition for binding sites, and 3) photo-affinity labeling of macrophage surface proteins. The binding of intact monomers of types lacking either fibrinopeptide A alone (α-fibrin) or both fibrinopeptides A and B (αβ-fibrin) by peritoneal macrophages is characterized as proceeding through both a fibrin-specific low density/high affinity (BMAX ≃ 200–800 molecules/cell, KD ≃ 10−12 M) interaction that is not duplicated with fibrinogen, and a non-specific high density/low affinity (BMAX ≥ 105 molecules/cell, KD ≥ 10−6 M) interaction equivalent to the weak binding of fibrinogen. Similar binding characteristics are displayed by monocyte/macrophage cell lines (J774A.1 and U937) as well as peritoneal macrophages towards the NDSK preparations of these proteins, except for a slightly weaker (KD ≃ 10−10 M) high-affinity binding. The high affinity binding of intact monomer is inhibitable by fibrin-NDSK, but not fibrinogen-NDSK. This binding appears principally dependent on release of fibrinopeptide-A, because a species of fibrin (β-fibrin) lacking fibrinopeptide-B alone undergoes only weak binding similar to that of fibrinogen. Synthetic Gly-Pro-Arg and Gly-His-Arg-Pro corresponding to the N-termini of to the α- and the β-chains of fibrin both inhibit the high affinity binding of the fibrin-NDSKs, and the cell-adhesion peptide Arg-Gly-Asp does not. Photoaffinity-labeling experiments indicate that polypeptides with elec-trophoretically estimated masses of 124 and 187 kDa are the principal membrane components associated with specifically bound fibrin-NDSK. The binding could not be up-regulated with either phorbol myristyl acetate, interferon gamma or ADP, but was abolished by EDTA and by lipopolysaccharide. Because of the low BMAX, it is suggested that the high-affinity mode of binding characterized here would be too limited to function by itself in scavenging much fibrin, but may act cooperatively with other, less limited modes of fibrin binding.

3042 Background: N-cad is a cell adhesion molecule expressed by vascular endothelium and tumor cells of invasive tumors. ADH-1, a cyclic pentapeptide, antagonizes N-cad, causing rapid tumor vascular disruption and apoptosis in preclinical models. We report results from a Phase I study of weekly doses of intravenous ADH-1 given to patients with N-cad+ solid tumors, to evaluate safety, PK, antitumor activity, and effect of ADH-1 on tumor vasculature assessed by DCE-MRI. Methods: ADH-1 starting dose was 150 mg/m2 administered weekly for 3 W in 28 D cycles. DCE-MRI was performed to assess changes in tumor perfusion 90 mins after the first dose of ADH-1, and repeated on D 15 if no changes were noted. Following the 3rd dose level (DL 3, 600 mg/m2 ), the schedule was amended to weekly ADH-1 without interruption, in 21 D cycles. Results: 55 pts with refractory solid tumors were screened, 56% were N-cad+ [screened/N-cad+: GYN 16/21 (Ovarian 13/17), GI 5/14, breast 2/6, renal 5/5, head & neck 2/3, others 2/6]. 13 pts (5 males, median age 53 yrs.) received 20 cycles of ADH-1 by bolus injection at 150, 300 and 600 mg/m2/weekly ×3 W Q21–28 D. No DLTs have occurred to date. No pts have experienced > grade 2 study drug related AEs. One pt, with fallopian tube ca. had a mixed response. There was a 30% reduction in retroperitoneal nodal disease at the end of cycle 3, and a 37% reduction at the end of Cy 4. However, new bone lesions were also noted at the end of cycle 4 assessment. Tumor blood flow reduction of ≥40% was noted in this patient, and she also reported pain in the region of the tumor following multiple doses of ADH-1. PK parameters are available for the first 3 DLs (150, 300, and 600 mg/m2): mean Cmax 22.1, 37.0, and 50.8μg/mL, respectively; AUCinf 24.3, 60.6, and 110.3 h·μg/mL; Vss 12.6, 15.1, and 16.3 L/m2; and T1/2 1.8, 2.7, and 2.4hr. Conclusions: ADH-1 has been well tolerated in 4 dose levels tested to date, dose escalation is proceeding. No DLTs have occurred and the MTD has not been reached. Anti-tumor activity has been noted. Updated clinical, PK and PD results will be presented. [Table: see text]

Abstract Abstract 4424 Introduction Recent studies have demonstrated that sequential administration of demethylating or immunomudulator agents have clinical efficacy in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Demethylating agents induce an optimal re-expression of epigenetically silenced tumor suppressor genes. However, the global DNA demethylation observed in malignant cells during treatment doesn't guarantee a better prognosis, suggesting the presence of others important unknown factors. On the other hand, global DNA hypomethylation of CD4+ T-cells have been related with autoimmune pathology diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). The aim of the present study is to establish the degree of the global DNA methylation in CD4+ T-cells in MDS patients and their potential dysfunction. Patients and methods Eight MDS patients with low-risk, according to IPSS (between 0 and 1), diagnosed by cytology, cytogenetics and immunophenotype, and 4 healthy donors have been studied. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were obtained by ficoll density gradient. Negative CD4+ selection followed by a positive selection were performed using the MACS system (Miltenyi). In patients with CD34+ cells expressing CD4+ antigen, lymphocyte isolation was done using a FACSAria sorter (BD Biosciences). Purity of CD4+ T-cells was higher than 90% in all cases. Cell DNA extraction was carried out with the QIAamp DNA blood mini kit (Qiagen). DNA concentration and 260:280 absorbance ratios were calculated with a NanoDrop ND-1000 spectrophotometer (NanoDrop Technologies). Global DNA methylation content was measured by means of an ELISA using an anti-5-mC mAb (Calbiochem) 1/400 diluted. Before proceeding with patient samples, an optimal DNA concentration to evaluate global methylation levels was established. With this purpose, a reference DNA sample of purified CD4+ T cells (374 ng/ml) was twofold serially diluted in TE (starting at 1:1000 dilution) to observe the kinetics of our ELISA. The best DNA concentration range was 0.025–0.05 ng/ml (Figure 1). Methylation indices (MI) were calculated by getting the ratio between optical density (OD) and DNA concentration for each sample. To minimize experimental variability between plates a reference sample was included in each run. Control and patient MI were corrected by establishing the ratio with the reference MI. Results The global DNA methylation indices obtained by ELISA (Figure 2) displayed that most of MDS patients studied presented a global DNA hypomethylation in CD4+ T-cells, and 3 with IPSS 0 showed and important decrease. Conclusion These preliminary results showed that there are low-risk MDS patients with hypomethylation in CD4+ T-cells. This observation may suggest an autoimmune component in these malignancies as the one described in SLE. To address this hypothesis we are increasing the number of patients studied to all IPSS categories, to test if this phenomenon is highly represented in MDS. In the other hand, we are studying the presence of autoimmune-related factors, like the expression of integrins adhesive receptors such as LFA-1, in patients showed CD4 T-cells hypomethylation. Disclosures: Guerra-Moreno: Celgene: Research Funding. Vallespi:Celgene: Research Funding.

RESUMOEstudo exploratório e descritivo, de abordagem quantitativa, cujo objetivo foi identificar opiniões de estudantes do Curso de Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Pernambuco sobre os preservativos masculino e feminino. A população foi constituída por 427 estudantes de ambos os sexos e a amostra, do tipo intencional, por 88 estudantes do 1º ao 7º período do Curso, que responderam um questionário com 10 assertivas de múltiplas escolhas, após aprovação do projeto de pesquisa pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa do Centro de Ciências da Saúde, em 2003. Os dados foram organizados, analisados e apresentados em tabelas, procedendo à discussão com a literatura pertinente. Quanto aos resultados, houve predominância de estudantes do sexo feminino (92,0%) em detrimento do masculino (08,0%); em ambos os sexos, 45,4% encontravam-se na faixa entre os 17 aos 20 anos, 88,6% eram solteiros e 11,4% casados; 22,7% estavam no primeiro período do Curso, ao passo que 13,6% no sétimo. Com relação à opinião sobre os preservativos, 31,2% dos estudantes e 30,8% das estudantes opinaram em favor que o preservativo masculino diminuía o prazer sexual; 08,9% dos estudantes opinaram que era mais seguro usar dois preservativos masculinos durante as relações sexuais enquanto que nenhuma das estudantes opinou; 06,1% dos estudantes opinaram que, por medida de segurança, deveriam ser usados os preservativos masculino e feminino ao mesmo tempo durante as relações sexuais; 78,7% dos estudantes e 76,5% das estudantes opinaram contra, que os preservativos não precisavam ser usados com quem se ama. Mediante estes resultados, urge a necessidade para que sejam implantadas oficinas educativas que possam atender as necessidades de educação no exercício da sexualidade destes jovens, de maneira sistemática, ao se considerar uma proposta pedagógica interativa, que os conduzam a prevenção e promoção de saúde com mudanças de atitudes em relação aos preservativos e adesão às práticas sexuais seguras. Palavras-chave: Opinião; Estudantes; Enfermagem; Preservativo; Sexualidade.ABSTRACTDescriptive and exploratory study, of quantitative boarding, whose objective was to identify opinions of Nursing Course students of the University Federal of Pernambuco about male and female condoms. 427 students of both genders constituted the population, by means of intentional not probabilistic sample of 88 students from the first to seventh degree, that answered the questionnaire with ten assertives of multiple choices, after the research project to have been approved for the Committee of Ethics in Research of the Health Sciences Center. The data had been organized, analyzed and presented in frequencies relative and absolute, proceeding to the quarrel with pertinent literature. The results had evidenced that predominated the students of the feminine sex (92,0%) in detriment of the masculine ones (08,0%); in both, 45,4% of them were between 17 and 20 years old, 88,6% were single and 11,4% married; 22,7% were in the first period of Course and 13,6% in the seventh ones. Regarding to the opinion on the condoms, from the 48 answers, 31,2% of the male students and 30,8% of the female students agreed in favor of the male condom diminishing the sexual pleasure; 06,1% of the male students answered that by security both condoms should be used at the same time whereas none of the female students thought; 78,7% of the students and 76,5% of the female students had thought against, that the condoms did not need to be used with who loves. By means of these results, urges the necessity so that educative workshops are implanted in order to supply the necessities of education in the sexuality exercise of these youngs in systematic way of considering a proposal pedagogical interactive, that the prevention and the promotion of health with changes of sexual behaviors lead them, attitudes regarding to the condoms and adhesion to practical the sexual insurances are elaborated. Keywords: Nursing; Opinions; Students; Condoms; Sexuality.RESUMENEstudio exploratorio y descriptivo, de la clase cuantitativa, que tenía el objetivo a identificar opiniones de los estudiantes del curso de enfermería de la Universidad Federal de Pernambuco sobre los condónes masculinos y femeninos. 427 estudiantes de ambos géneros constituyeron a población, por medio de la muestra non probabilistic intencional de 88 estudiantes del primer a séptimo grado que contestaron al cuestionario con diez asertivos de opciones múltiples, después del proyecto de investigación haber sido aprobados para el Comité del Ética en la Investigación del Centro de las Ciencias de la Salud, en 2003. Los datos habían sido organizados, analizados y presentados en las frecuencias relativas y absoluto, procediendo la discusión con la literatura pertinente. Los resultados habían evidenciado que predominado los estudiantes del sexo femenino (92,0%) en detrimento del masculino (08,0%); en ambos, 45,4% eran entre 17 y 20 años, 88,6% eran solos y 11,4% casaron; 22,7% eran en el primer grado por supuesto y 13,6% del séptimo grado. El mirar a la opinión sobre los condónes, de las 48 respuestas, 31,2% de los estudiantes y 30,8% de las estudiantes habían pensado en el favor del condón masculino diminuía el placer sexual; 08,9% de los estudiantes habían pensado que él era más seguro utilizar los condónes masculinos durante las relaciones sexuales mientras que ninguno del pensamiento de las estudiantes; 06,1% de los estudiantes habían pensado que, para la medida de seguridad, tendría que ser utilizada los condónes masculinos y femeninos al mismo tiempo durante las relaciones sexuales; 78,7% de los estudiantes y 76,5% de las estudiantes habían pensado contra, que los condónes no necesitaron ser utilizados con quién ama. Por medio de estos resultados, se elabora la necesidad para implantar talleres educativos para proveer las necesidades de la educación en el ejercicio de la sexualidad de estos jóvenes de la manera sistemática de considerar una oferta interactivo pedagógico, que la prevención y la promoción de la salud con los cambios de comportamientos sexuales los conducen, de las actitudes en lo referente a los condónes y de la adherencia a práctico seguras sexuales. Palabras clave: Opiniones; Estudiantes; Enfermeria; Condónes; Sexualidad.

This paper provides embedded, reflective practice-based insight arising from my experience collaborating to produce online and print-on-demand editions of a magazine showcasing the photography of members of haphazart! Contemporary Abstracts group (hereafter referred to as haphazart!). The group’s online visual, textual and activity-based practices via the photo sharing social networking site Flickr are portrayed as achieving cohesive visual identity. Stylistic analysis of pictures in support of this claim is not attempted. Rather negotiation, that Elliot has previously described in M/C Journal as innate in collaboration, is identified as the unifying factor. However, the collaborators’ adherence to Flickr’s communication platform proves problematic in the editorial context. Some technical incoherence with possible broader cultural implications is encountered during the process of repurposing images from screen to print. A Scan of Relevant Literature The photographic gaze perceives and captures objects which seem to ‘carry within them ready-made’ a work of art. But the reminiscences of the gaze are only made possible by knowing and associating with groups that define a tradition. The list of valorised subjects is not actually defined with reference to a culture, but rather by familiarity with a limited group. (Chamboredon 144) As part of the array of socio-cultural practices afforded by Web 2.0 interoperability, sites of produsage (Bruns) are foci for studies originating in many disciplines. Flickr provides a rich source of data that researchers interested in the interface between the technological and the social find useful to analyse. Access to the Flickr application programming interface enables quantitative researchers to observe a variety of means by which information is propagated, disseminated and shared. Some findings from this kind of research confirm the intuitive. For example, Negoecsu et al. find that “a large percentage of users engage in sharing with groups and that they do so significantly” ("Analyzing Flickr Groups" 425). They suggest that Flickr’s Groups feature appears to “naturally bring together two key aspects of social media: content and relations.” They also find evidence for what they call hyper-groups, which are “communities consisting of groups of Flickr groups” ("Flickr Hypergroups" 813). Two separate findings from another research team appear to contradict each other. On one hand, describing what they call “social cascades,” Cha et al. claim that “content in the form of ideas, products, and messages spreads across social networks like a virus” ("Characterising Social Cascades"). Yet in 2009 they claim that homocity and reciprocity ensure that “popularity of pictures is localised” ("Measurement-Driven Analysis"). Mislove et al. reflect that the affordances of Flickr influence the growth patterns they observe. There is optimism shared by some empiricists that through collation and analysis of Flickr tag data, the matching of perceptual structures of images and image annotation techniques will yield ontology-based taxonomy useful in automatic image annotation and ultimately, the Semantic Web endeavour (Kennedy et al.; Su et al.; Xu et al.). Qualitative researchers using ethnographic interview techniques also find Flickr a valuable resource. In concluding that the photo sharing hobby is for many a “serious leisure” activity, Cox et al. propose that “Flickr is not just a neutral information system but also value laden and has a role within a wider cultural order.” They also suggest that “there is genuinely greater scope for individual creativity, releasing the individual to explore their own identity in a way not possible with a camera club.” Davies claims that “online spaces provide an arena where collaboration over meanings can be transformative, impacting on how individuals locate themselves within local and global contexts” (550). She says that through shared ways of describing and commenting on images, Flickrites develop a common criticality in their endeavour to understand images, each other and their world (554).From a psychologist’s perspective, Suler observes that “interpersonal relationships rarely form and develop by images alone” ("Image, Word, Action" 559). He says that Flickr participants communicate in three dimensions: textual (which he calls “verbal”), visual, and via the interpersonal actions that the site affords, such as Favourites. This latter observation can surely be supplemented by including the various games that groups configure within the constraints of the discussion forums. These often include submissions to a theme and voting to select a winning image. Suler describes the place in Flickr where one finds identity as one’s “cyberpsychological niche” (556). However, many participants subscribe to multiple groups—45.6% of Flickrites who share images share them with more than 20 groups (Negoescu et al., "Analyzing Flickr Groups" 420). Is this a reflection of the existence of the hyper-groups they describe (2009) or, of the ranging that people do in search of a niche? It is also probable that some people explore more than a singular identity or visual style. Harrison and Bartell suggest that there are more interesting questions than why users create media products or what motivates them to do so: the more interesting questions center on understanding what users will choose to do ultimately with [Web2.0] capabilities [...] in what terms to define the success of their efforts, and what impact the opportunity for individual and collaborative expression will have on the evolution of communicative forms and character. (167) This paper addresseses such questions. It arises from a participatory observational context which differs from that of the research described above. It is intended that a different perspective about online group-based participation within the Flickr social networking matrix will avail. However, it will be seen that the themes cited in this introductory review prove pertinent. Context As a university teacher of a range of subjects in the digital media field, from contemporary photomedia to social media to collaborative multimedia practice, it is entirely appropriate that I embed myself in projects that engage, challenge and provide me with relevant first-hand experience. As an academic I also undertake and publish research. As a practicing new media artist I exhibit publically on a regular basis and consider myself semi-professional with respect to this activity. While there are common elements to both approaches to research, this paper is written more from the point of view of ‘reflective practice’ (Holmes, "Reconciling Experimentum") rather than ‘embedded ethnography’ (Pink). It is necessarily and unapologetically reflexive. Abstract Photography Hyper-Group A search of all Flickr groups using the query “abstract” is currently likely to return around 14,700 results. However, only in around thirty of them does the group name, its stated rules and, the stream of images that flow through the pool arguably reflect a sense of collective concept and aesthetic that is coherently abstract. This loose complex of groups comprises a hyper-group. Members of these groups often have co-memberships, reciprocal contacts, and regularly post images to a range of groups and comment on others’ posts to be found throughout. Given that one of Flickr’s largest groups, Black and White, currently has around 131,150 members and hosts 2,093,241 items in its pool, these abstract special interest groups are relatively small. The largest, Abstract Photos, has 11,338 members and hosts 89,306 items in its pool. The group that is the focus of this paper, haphazart!, currently has 2,536 members who have submitted 53,309 items. The group pool is more like a constantly flowing river because the most recently added images are foremost. Older images become buried in an archive of pages which cannot be reverse accessed at a rate greater than the seven pages linked from a current view. A member’s presence is most immediate through images posted to a pool. This structural feature of Flickr promotes a desire for currency; a need to post regularly to maintain presence. Negotiating Coherence to the Abstract The self-managing social dynamics in groups has, as Suler proposes to be the case for individuals, three dimensions: visual, textual and action. A group integrates the diverse elements, relationships and values which cumulatively constitute its identity with contributions from members in these dimensions. First impressions of that identity are usually derived from the group home page which consists of principal features: the group name, a selection of twelve most recent posts to the pool, some kind of description, a selection of six of the most recent discussion topics, and a list of rules (if any). In some of these groups, what is considered to constitute an abstract photographic image is described on the group home page. In some it is left to be contested and becomes the topic of ongoing forum debates. In others the specific issue is not discussed—the images are left to speak for themselves. Administrators of some groups require that images are vetted for acceptance. In haphazart! particular administrators dutifully delete from the pool on a regular basis any images that they deem not to comply with the group ethic. Whether reasons are given or not is left to the individual prosecutor. Mostly offending images just disappear from the group pool without trace. These are some of the ways that the coherence of a group’s visual identity is established and maintained. Two groups out of the abstract photography hyper-group are noteworthy in that their discussion forums are particularly active. A discussion is just the start of a new thread and may have any number of posts under it. At time of writing Abstract Photos has 195 discussions and haphazart! — the most talkative by this measure—has 333. Haphazart! invites submissions of images to regularly changing themes. There is always lively and idiosyncratic banter in the forum over the selection of a theme. To be submitted an image needs to be identified by a specific theme tag as announced on the group home page. The tag can be added by the photographer themselves or by anyone else who deems the image appropriate to the theme. An exhibition process ensues. Participant curators search all Flickr items according to the theme tag and select from the outcome images they deem to most appropriately and abstractly address the theme. Copies of the images together with comments by the curators are posted to a dedicated discussion board. Other members may also provide responses. This activity forms an ongoing record that may serve as a public indicator of the aesthetic that underlies the group’s identity. In Abstract Photos there is an ongoing discussion forum where one can submit an image and request that the moderators rule as to whether or not the image is ‘abstract’. The same group has ongoing discussions labelled “Hall of Appropriate” where worthy images are reposted and celebrated and, “Hall of Inappropriate” where images posted to the group pool have been removed and relegated because abstraction has been “so far stretched from its definition that it now resides in a parallel universe” (Askin). Reasons are mostly courteously provided. In haphazart! a relatively small core of around twelve group members regularly contribute to the group discussion board. A curious aspect of this communication is that even though participants present visually with a ‘buddy icon’ and most with a screen name not their real name, it is usual practice to address each other in discussions by their real Christian names, even when this is not evident in a member’s profile. This seems to indicate a common desire for authenticity. The makeup of the core varies from time to time depending on other activities in a member’s life. Although one or two may be professionally or semi-professionally engaged as photographers or artists or academics, most of these people would likely consider themselves to be “serious amateurs” (Cox). They are internationally dispersed with bias to the US, UK, Europe and Australia. English is the common language though not the natural tongue of some. The age range is approximately 35 to 65 and the gender mix 50/50. The group is three years old. Where Do We Go to from Here? In early January 2009 the haphazart! core was sparked into a frenzy of discussion by a post from a member headed “Where do we go to from here?” A proposal was mooted to produce a ‘book’ featuring images and texts representative of the group. Within three days a new public group with invited membership dedicated to the idea had been established. A smaller working party then retreated to a private Flickr group. Four months later Issue One of haphazart! magazine was available in print-on-demand and online formats. Following however is a brief critically reflective review of some of the collaborative curatorial, editorial and production processes for Issue Two which commenced in early June 2009. Most of the team had also been involved with Issue One. I was the only newcomer and replaced the person who had undertaken the design for Issue One. I was not provided access to the prior private editorial ruminations but apparently the collaborative curatorial and editorial decision-making practices the group had previously established persisted, and these took place entirely within the discussion forums of a new dedicated private Flickr group. Over a five-month period there were 1066 posts in 54 discussions concerning matters such as: change of format from the previous; selection of themes, artists and images; conduct of and editing of interviews; authoring of texts; copyright and reproduction. The idiom of those communications can be described as: discursive, sporadic, idiosyncratic, resourceful, collegial, cooperative, emphatic, earnest and purposeful. The selection process could not be said to follow anything close to a shared manifesto, or articulation of style. It was established that there would be two primary themes: the square format and contributors’ use of colour. Selection progressed by way of visual presentation and counter presentation until some kind of consensus was reached often involving informal votes of preference. Stretching the Limits of the Flickr Social Tools The magazine editorial collaborators continue to use the facilities with which they are familiar from regular Flickr group participation. However, the strict vertically linear format of the Flickr discussion format is particularly unsuited to lengthy, complex, asynchronous, multithreaded discussion. For this purpose it causes unnecessary strain, fatigue and confusion. Where images are included, the forums have set and maximum display sizes and are not flexibly configured into matrixes. Images cannot readily be communally changed or moved about like texts in a wiki. Likewise, the Flickrmail facility is of limited use for specialist editorial processes. Attachments cannot be added. This opinion expressed by a collaborator in the initial, open discussion for Issue One prevailed among Issue Two participants: do we want the members to go to another site to observe what is going on with the magazine? if that’s ok, then using google groups or something like that might make sense; if we want others to observe (and learn from) the process - we may want to do it here [in Flickr]. (Valentine) The opinion appears socially constructive; but because the final editorial process and production processes took place in a separate private forum, ultimately the suggested learning between one issue and the next did not take place. During Issue Two development the reluctance to try other online collaboration tools for the selection processes requiring visual comparative evaluation of images and trials of sequencing adhered. A number of ingenious methods of working within Flickr were devised and deployed and, in my opinion, proved frustratingly impractical and inefficient. The digital layout, design, collation and formatting of images and texts, all took place on my personal computer using professional software tools. Difficulties arose in progressively sharing this work for the purposes of review, appraisal and proofing. Eventually I ignored protests and insisted the team review demonstrations I had converted for sharing in Google Documents. But, with only one exception, I could not tempt collaborators to try commenting or editing in that environment. For example, instead of moving the sequence of images dynamically themselves, or even typing suggestions directly into Google Documents, they would post responses in Flickr. To Share and to Hold From the first imaginings of Issue One the need to have as an outcome something in one’s hands was expressed and this objective is apparently shared by all in the haphazart! core as an ongoing imperative. Various printing options have been nominated, discussed and evaluated. In the end one print-on-demand provider was selected on the basis of recommendation. The ethos of haphazart! is clearly not profit-making and conflicts with that of the printing organisation. Presumably to maintain an incentive to purchase the print copy online preview is restricted to the first 15 pages. To satisfy the co-requisite to make available the full 120 pages for free online viewing a second host that specialises in online presentation of publications is also utilised. In this way haphazart! members satisfy their common desires for sharing selected visual content and ideas with an online special interest audience and, for a physical object of art to relish—with all the connotations of preciousness, fetish, talisman, trophy, and bookish notions of haptic pleasure and visual treasure. The irony of publishing a frozen chunk of the ever-flowing Flickriver, whose temporally changing nature is arguably one of its most interesting qualities, is not a consideration. Most of them profess to be simply satisfying their own desire for self expression and would eschew any critical judgement as to whether this anarchic and discursive mode of operation results in a coherent statement about contemporary photographic abstraction. However there remains a distinct possibility that a number of core haphazart!ists aspire to transcend: popular taste; the discernment encouraged in camera clubs; and, the rhetoric of those involved professionally (Bourdieu et al.); and seek to engage with the “awareness of illegitimacy and the difficulties implied by the constitution of photography as an artistic medium” (Chamboredon 130). Incoherence: A Technical Note My personal experience of photography ranges from the filmic to the digital (Holmes, "Bridging Adelaide"). For a number of years I specialised in facsimile graphic reproduction of artwork. In those days I became aware that films were ‘blind’ to the psychophysical affect of some few particular paint pigments. They just could not be reproduced. Even so, as I handled the dozens of images contributed to haphazart!2, converting them from the pixellated place where Flickr exists to the resolution and gamut of the ink based colour space of books, I was surprised at the number of hue values that exist in the former that do not translate into the latter. In some cases the affect is subtle so that judicious tweaking of colour levels or local colour adjustment will satisfy discerning comparison between the screenic original and the ‘soft proof’ that simulates the printed outcome. In other cases a conversion simply does not compute. I am moved to contemplate, along with Harrison and Bartell (op. cit.) just how much of the experience of media in the shared digital space is incomparably new? Acknowledgement Acting on the advice of researchers experienced in cyberethnography (Bruckman; Suler, "Ethics") I have obtained the consent of co-collaborators to comment freely on proceedings that took place in a private forum. They have been given the opportunity to review and suggest changes to the account. References Askin, Dean (aka: dnskct). “Hall of Inappropriate.” Abstract Photos/Discuss/Hall of Inappropriate, 2010. 12 Jan. 2010 ‹http://www.flickr.com/groups/abstractphotos/discuss/72157623148695254/>. Bourdieu, Pierre, Luc Boltanski, Robert Castel, Jean-Claude Chamboredeon, and Dominique Schnapper. Photography: A Middle-Brow Art. 1965. Trans. Shaun Whiteside. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1990. Bruckman, Amy. Studying the Amateur Artist: A Perspective on Disguising Data Collected in Human Subjects Research on the Internet. 2002. 12 Jan. 2010 ‹http://www.nyu.edu/projects/nissenbaum/ethics_bru_full.html>. Bruns, Axel. “Towards Produsage: Futures for User-Led Content Production.” Proceedings: Cultural Attitudes towards Communication and Technology 2006. Perth: Murdoch U, 2006. 275–84. ———, and Mark Bahnisch. Social Media: Tools for User-Generated Content. Vol. 1 – “State of the Art.” Sydney: Smart Services CRC, 2009. Cha, Meeyoung, Alan Mislove, Ben Adams, and Krishna P. Gummadi. “Characterizing Social Cascades in Flickr.” Proceedings of the First Workshop on Online Social Networks. ACM, 2008. 13–18. ———, Alan Mislove, and Krishna P. Gummadi. “A Measurement-Driven Analysis of Information Propagation in the Flickr Social Network." WWW '09: Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on World Wide Web. ACM, 2009. 721–730. Cox, A.M., P.D. Clough, and J. Marlow. “Flickr: A First Look at User Behaviour in the Context of Photography as Serious Leisure.” Information Research 13.1 (March 2008). 12 Dec. 2009 ‹http://informationr.net/ir/13-1/paper336.html>. Chamboredon, Jean-Claude. “Mechanical Art, Natural Art: Photographic Artists.” Photography: A Middle-Brow Art. Pierre Bourdieu. et al. 1965. Trans. Shaun Whiteside. Stanford: Stanford UP, 1990. 129–149. Davies, Julia. “Display, Identity and the Everyday: Self-Presentation through Online Image Sharing.” Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 28.4 (Dec. 2007): 549–564. Elliott, Mark. “Stigmergic Collaboration: The Evolution of Group Work.” M/C Journal 9.2 (2006). 12 Jan. 2010 ‹http://journal.media-culture.org.au/0605/03-elliott.php>. Harrison, Teresa, M., and Brea Barthel. “Wielding New Media in Web 2.0: Exploring the History of Engagement with the Collaborative Construction of Media Products.” New Media & Society 11.1-2 (2009): 155–178. Holmes, Ashley. “‘Bridging Adelaide 2001’: Photography and Hyperimage, Spanning Paradigms.” VSMM 2000 Conference Proceedings. International Society for Virtual Systems and Multimedia, 2000. 79–88. ———. “Reconciling Experimentum and Experientia: Reflective Practice Research Methodology for the Creative Industries”. Speculation & Innovation: Applying Practice-Led Research in the Creative Industries. Brisbane: QUT, 2006. Kennedy, Lyndon, Mor Naaman, Shane Ahern, Rahul Nair, and Tye Rattenbury. “How Flickr Helps Us Make Sense of the World: Context and Content in Community-Contributed Media Collections.” MM’07. ACM, 2007. Miller, Andrew D., and W. Keith Edwards. “Give and Take: A Study of Consumer Photo-Sharing Culture and Practice.” Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. ACM, 2007. 347–356. Mislove, Alan, Hema Swetha Koppula, Krishna P. Gummadi, Peter Druschel and Bobby Bhattacharjee. “Growth of the Flickr Social Network.” Proceedings of the First Workshop on Online Social Networks. ACM, 2008. 25–30. Negoescu, Radu-Andrei, and Daniel Gatica-Perez. “Analyzing Flickr Groups.” CIVR '08: Proceedings of the 2008 International Conference on Content-Based Image and Video Retrieval. ACM, 2008. 417–426. ———, Brett Adams, Dinh Phung, Svetha Venkatesh, and Daniel Gatica-Perez. “Flickr Hypergroups.” MM '09: Proceedings of the Seventeenth ACM International Conference on Multimedia. ACM, 2009. 813–816. Pink, Sarah. Doing Visual Ethnography: Images, Media and Representation in Research. 2nd ed. London: Sage, 2007. Su, Ja-Hwung, Bo-Wen Wang, Hsin-Ho Yeh, and Vincent S. Tseng. “Ontology–Based Semantic Web Image Retrieval by Utilizing Textual and Visual Annotations.” 2009 IEEE/WIC/ACM International Conference on Web Intelligence and Intelligent Agent Technology – Workshops. 2009. Suler, John. “Ethics in Cyberspace Research: Consent, Privacy and Contribution.” The Psychology of Cyberspace. 1996. 12 Jan. 2010 ‹http://www-usr.rider.edu/~suler/psycyber/psycyber.html>. ———. “Image, Word, Action: Interpersonal Dynamics in a Photo-Sharing Community.” Cyberpsychology & Behavior 11.5 (2008): 555–560. Valentine, Mark. “HAPHAZART! Magazine/Discuss/image selections…” [discussion post]. 2009. 12 Jan. 2010 ‹http://www.flickr.com/groups/haphazartmagazin/discuss/72157613147017532/>. Xu, Hongtao, Xiangdong Zhou, Mei Wang, Yu Xiang, and Baile Shi. “Exploring Flickr’s Related Tags for Semantic Annotation of Web Images.” CIVR ’09. ACM, 2009.

AbstractSolder is often used as an adhesive to attach optical fibers to a circuit board. In this proceeding we will discuss efforts to model the motion of an optical fiber during the wetting and solidification of the adhesive solder droplet. The extent of motion is determined by several competing forces, during three “stages” of solder joint formation. First, capillary forces of the liquid phase control the fiber position. Second, during solidification, the presence of the liquid-solid-vapor triple line as well as a reduced liquid solder volume leads to a change in the net capillary force on the optical fiber. Finally, the solidification front itself impinges on the fiber. Publicly-available finite element models are used to calculate the time-dependent position of the solidification front and shape of the free surface.

Abstract Purpose Esophageal dysmotility and disorders of the lower esophageal sphincter are well documented in morbidly obese patients. Esophageal achalasia has been reported in up to 1% of obese patients but the development of such esophageal motility disorder after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) is extremely rare. The purpose of this video was to demonstrate the management of a type II esophageal achalasia diagnosed in a 46-year-old female patient 4-year after LSG. Materials and Methods An intraoperative video has been anonymized and edited to demonstrate the feasibility of laparoscopic Heller myotomy and anterior Dor fundoplication on the mentioned patient. Results The operation started with the section of the perigastric adhesions. Proceeding in a clockwise direction, the esophagogastric junction, the anterior esophageal wall, and the His angle were freed. A residual slightly dilated fundus was found and isolated. After mobilization of the distal esophagus and identification of the anterior vagus nerve, a “hockey stick” myotomy was carried out for 6 cm on the esophagus and for 2 cm on the gastric side. An anterior Dor fundoplication was fashioned using the residual gastric fundus. Conclusion Esophageal achalasia in patients that previously underwent LSG is exceptional but should always be suspected in case of pathognomonic symptoms onset. In tertiary referral centers, laparoscopic Heller myotomy and, if technically feasible, an anterior Dor fundoplication seem safe and effective to relieve gastroesophageal outflow obstruction and prevent gastroesophageal reflux.

Abstract Background Atomic force microscopy (AFM) allows the mechanical characterization of single cells and live tissue by quantifying force-distance (FD) data in nano-indentation experiments. One of the main problems when dealing with biological tissue is the fact that the measured FD curves can be disturbed. These disturbances are caused, for instance, by passive cell movement, adhesive forces between the AFM probe and the cell, or insufficient attachment of the tissue to the supporting cover slide. In practice, the resulting artifacts are easily spotted by an experimenter who then manually sorts out curves before proceeding with data evaluation. However, this manual sorting step becomes increasingly cumbersome for studies that involve numerous measurements or for quantitative imaging based on FD maps. Results We introduce the Python package nanite, which automates all basic aspects of FD data analysis, including data import, tip-sample separation, base line correction, contact point retrieval, and model fitting. In addition, nanite enables the automation of the sorting step using supervised learning. This learning approach relates subjective ratings to predefined features extracted from FD curves. For ratings ranging from 0 to 10, our approach achieves a mean squared error below 1.0 rating points and a classification accuracy between good and poor curves that is above 87%. We showcase our approach by quantifying Young’s moduli of the zebrafish spinal cord at different classification thresholds and by introducing data quality as a new dimension for quantitative AFM image analysis. Conclusion The addition of quality-based sorting using supervised learning enables a fully automated and reproducible FD data analysis pipeline for biological samples in AFM.

Our daily environment is surrounded by a paradoxically silent and invisible flow: the coming and going of data through our network cables, routers and wireless devices. This data is not just 1s and 0s, but bits of the conversations, images, sounds, thoughts and other forms of information that result from our interaction with the world around us. If we can speak of a global ambience, it is certainly derived from this constant flow of data. It is an endless murmur that speaks to our machines and gives us a sense of awareness of a certain form of surrounding that is independent from our actual, physical location. The constant “presence” of data around us is something that we have become largely aware of. Already in 1994, Phil Agre stated in an article in WIRED Magazine: “We're so accustomed to data that hardly anyone questions it” (1). Agre indicated that this data is in fact a representation of the world, the discrete bits of information that form the reality we are immersed in. He also proposed that it should be “brought to life” by exploring its relationships with other data and the world itself. A decade later, these relationships had become the core of the new paradigm of the World Wide Web and our interaction with cyberspace. As Mitchell Whitelaw puts it: “The web is increasingly a set of interfaces to datasets ... . On the contemporary web the data pour has become the rule, rather than the exception. The so-called ‘web 2.0’ paradigm further abstracts web content into feeds, real-time flows of XML data” ("Art against Information"). These feeds and flows have been used by artists and researchers in the creation of different forms of dynamic visualisations, in which data is mapped according to a set of parameters in order to summarise it in a single image or structure. Lev Manovich distinguishes in these visualisations those made by artists, to which he refers as “data art”. Unlike other forms of mapping, according to Manovich data art has a precise goal: “The more interesting and at the end maybe more important challenge is how to represent the personal subjective experience of a person living in a data society” (15). Therefore, data artists extract from the bits of information available in cyberspace a dynamic representation of our contemporary environment, the ambience of our digital culture, our shared, intimate and at the same time anonymous, subjectivity. In this article I intend to present some of the ways in which artists have dealt with the murmur of data creatively, exploring the immense amounts of user generated content in forms that interrogate our relationship with the virtual environment and the global community. I will discuss several artistic projects that have shaped the data flow on the Internet in order to take the user back to a state of contemplation, as a listener, an observer, and finally encountering the virtual in a physical form. Listening The concept of ambience particularly evokes an auditory experience related to a given location: in filmmaking, it refers to the sounds of the surrounding space and is the opposite of silence; as a musical genre, ambient music contributes to create a certain atmosphere. In relation to flows of data, it can be said that the applications that analyze Internet traffic and information are “listening” to it, as if someone stands in a public place, overhearing other people's conversations. The act of listening also implies a reception, not an emission, which is a substantial distinction given the fact that data art projects work with given data instead of generating it. As Mitchell Whitelaw states: “Data here is first of all indexical of reality. Yet it is also found, or to put it another way, given. ... Data's creation — in the sense of making a measurement, framing and abstracting something from the flux of the real — is left out” (3). One of the most interesting artistic projects to initially address this sort of “listening” is Carnivore (2001) by the Radical Software Group. Inspired by DCS1000, an e-mail surveillance software developed by the FBI, Carnivore (which was actually the original name of the FBI's program) listens to Internet traffic and serves this data to interfaces (clients) designed by artists, which interpret the provided information in several ways. The data packets can be transformed into an animated graphic, as in amalgamatmosphere (2001) by Joshua Davis, or drive a fleet of radio controlled cars, as in Police State (2003) by Jonah Brucker-Cohen. Yet most of these clients treat data as a more or less abstract value (expressed in numbers) that serves to trigger the reactions in each client. Carnivore clients provide an initial sense of the concept of ambience as reflected in the data circulating the Internet, yet other projects will address this subject more eloquently. Fig. 1: Ben Rubin, Mark Hansen, Listening Post (2001-03). Multimedia installation. Photo: David Allison.Listening Post (2001-04) by Mark Hansen and Ben Rubin is an installation consisting of 231 small electronic screens distributed in a semicircular grid [fig.1: Listening Post]. The screens display texts culled from thousands of Internet chat rooms, which are read by a voice synthesiser and arranged synchronically across the grid. The installation thus becomes a sort of large panel, somewhere between a videowall and an altarpiece, which invites the viewer to engage in a meditative contemplation, seduced by the visual arrangement of the flickering texts scrolling on each screen, appearing and disappearing, whilst sedated by the soft, monotonous voice of the machine and an atmospheric musical soundtrack. The viewer is immersed in a particular ambience generated by the fragmented narratives of the anonymous conversations extracted from the Internet. The setting of the piece, isolated in a dark room, invites contemplation and silence, as the viewer concentrates on seeing and listening. The artists clearly state that their goal in creating this installation was to recreate a sense of ambience that is usually absent in electronic communications: “A participant in a chat room has limited sensory access to the collective 'buzz' of that room or of others nearby – the murmur of human contact that we hear naturally in a park, a plaza or a coffee shop is absent from the online experience. The goal of Listening Post is to collect this buzz and render it at a human scale” (Hansen 114-15). The "buzz", as Hansen and Rubin describe it, is in fact nonexistent in the sense that it does not take place in any physical environment, but is rather the imagined output of the circulation of a myriad blocks of data through the Net. This flow of data is translated into audible and visible signals, thus creating a "murmur" that the viewer can relate to her experience in interacting with other humans. The ambience of a room full of people engaged in conversation is artificially recreated and expanded beyond the boundaries of a real space. By extracting chats from the Internet, the murmur becomes global, reflecting the topics that are being shared by users around the world, in an improvised, ever-changing embodiment of the Zeitgeist, the spirit of the time, or even a certain stream of consciousness on a planetary scale. Fig. 2: Gregory Chatonsky, L'Attente - The Waiting (2007). Net artwork. Photo: Gregory Chatonsky.The idea of contemplation and receptiveness is also present in another artwork that elaborates on the concept of the Zeitgeist. L'Attente [The Waiting] (2007) by Gregory Chatonsky is a net art piece that feeds from the data on the Internet to create an open, never-ending fiction in real time [Fig.2: The Waiting]. In this case, the viewer experiences the artwork on her personal computer, as a sort of film in which words, images and sounds are displayed in a continuous sequence, driven by a slow paced soundtrack that confers a sense of unity to the fragmented nature of the work. The data is extracted in real time from several popular sites (photos from Flickr, posts from Twitter, sound effects from Odeo), the connection between image and text being generated by the network itself: the program extracts text from the posts that users write in Twitter, then selects some words to perform a search on the Flickr database and retrieve photos with matching keywords. The viewer is induced to make sense of this concatenation of visual and audible content and thus creates a story by mentally linking all the elements into what Chatonsky defines as "a fiction without narration" (Chatonsky, Flußgeist). The murmur here becomes a story, but without the guiding voice of a narrator. As with Listening Post, the viewer is placed in the role of a witness or a voyeur, subject to an endless flow of information which is not made of the usual contents distributed by mainstream media, but the personal and intimate statements of her peers, along with the images they have collected and the portraits that identify them in the social networks. In contrast to the overdetermination of History suggested by the term Zeitgeist, Chatonsky proposes a different concept, the spirit of the flow or Flußgeist, which derives not from a single idea expressed by multiple voices but from a "voice" that is generated by listening to all the different voices on the Net (Chatonsky, Zeitgeist). Again, the ambience is conceived as the combination of a myriad of fragments, which requires attentive contemplation. The artist describes this form of interacting with the contents of the piece by making a reference to the character of the angel Damiel in Wim Wenders’s film Wings of Desire (Der Himmel über Berlin, 1987): “to listen as an angel distant and proximate the inner voice of people, to place the hand on their insensible shoulder, to hold without being able to hold back” (Chatonsky, Flußgeist). The act of listening as described in Wenders's character illustrates several key aspects of the above mentioned artworks: there is, on the one hand, a receptiveness, carried out by the applications that extract data from the Internet, which cannot be “hold back” by the user, unable to control the flow that is evolving in front of her. On the other hand, the information she receives is always fragmentary, made up of disconnected parts which are, in the words of the artist Lisa Jevbratt, “rubbings ... indexical traces of reality” (1). Observing The observation of our environment takes us to consider the concept of landscape. Landscape, in its turn, acquires a double nature when we compare our relationship with the physical environment and the digital realm. In this sense, Mitchell Whitelaw stresses that while data moves at superhuman speed, the real world seems slow and persistent (Landscape). The overlapping of dynamic, fast-paced, virtual information on a physical reality that seems static in comparison is one of the distinctive traits of the following projects, in which the ambience is influenced by realtime data in a visual form that is particularly subtle, or even invisible to the naked eye. Fig. 3: Carlo Zanni, The Fifth Day (2009). Net artwork. Screenshot retrieved on 4/4/2009. Photo: Carlo Zanni. The Fifth Day (2009) by Carlo Zanni is a net art piece in which the artist has created a narration by displaying a sequence of ten pictures showing a taxi ride in the city of Alexandria [Fig.3: The Fifth Day]. Although still, the images are dynamic in the sense that they are transformed according to data retrieved from the Internet describing the political and cultural status of Egypt, along with data extracted from the user's own identity on the Net, such as her IP or city of residence. Every time a user accesses the website where the artwork is hosted, this data is collected and its values are applied to the photos by cloning or modifying particular elements in them. For instance, a photograph of a street will show as many passersby as the proportion of seats held by women in national parliament, while the reflection in the taxi driver's mirror in another photo will be replaced by a picture taken from Al-Jazeera's website. Zanni addresses the viewer's perception of the Middle East by inserting small bits of additional information and also elements from the viewer's location and culture into the images of the Egyptian city. The sequence is rendered as the trailer of a political thriller, enhanced by a dramatic soundtrack and concluded with the artwork's credits. As with the abovementioned projects, the viewer must adopt a passive role, contemplating the images before her and eventually observing the minute modifications inserted by the data retrieved in real time. Yet, in this case, the ambience is not made manifest by a constant buzz to which one must listen, but quite more subtly it is suggested by the fact that not even a still image is always the same. As if observing a landscape, the overall impression is that nothing has changed while there are minor transformations that denote a constant evolution. Zanni has explored this idea in previous works such as eBayLandscape (2004), in which he creates a landscape image by combining data extracted from several websites, or My Temporary Visiting Position from the Sunset Terrace Bar (2007), in which a view of the city of Ahlen (Germany) is combined with a real time webcam image of the sky in Naples (Italy). Although they may seem self-enclosed, these online, data-driven compositions also reflect the global ambience, the Zeitgeist, in different forms. As Carlo Giordano puts it: "Aesthetically, the work aims to a nearly seamless integration of mixed fragments. The contents of these parts, reflecting political and economical issues ... thematize actuality and centrality, amplifying the author's interest in what everybody is talking about, what happens hic et nunc, what is in the fore of the media and social discourse" (16-17). A landscape made of data, such as Zanni's eBayLandscape, is the most eloquent image of how an invisible layer of information is superimposed over our physical environment. Fig. 4: Clara Boj and Diego Díaz, Red Libre, Red Visible (2004-06). Intervention in the urban space. Photo: Lalalab.Artists Clara Boj and Diego Díaz, moreover, have developed a visualisation of the actual flows of data that permeate the spaces we inhabit. In Red Libre, Red Visible [Free Network, Visible Network] (2004-06), Boj and Díaz used Augmented Reality (AR) technology to display the flows of data in a local wireless network by creating AR marker tags that were placed on the street. A Carnivore client developed by the artists enabled anyone with a webcam pointing towards the marker tag and connected to the Wi-Fi network to see in real time the data packets flowing from their computer towards the tag [Fig.4: Red Libre]. The marker tags therefore served both as a tool for the visualisation of network activity as well as a visual sign of the existence of an open network in a particular urban area. Later on, they added the possibility of inserting custom made messages, 3D shapes and images that would appear when a particular AR marker tag was seen through the lens of the webcam. With this project, Boj and Díaz give the user the ability to observe and interact with a layer of her environment that was previously invisible and in some senses, out of reach. The artists developed this idea further in Observatorio [Observatory] (2008), a sightseeing telescope that reveals the existence of Wi-Fi networks in an urban area. In both projects, an important yet unnoticed aspect of our surroundings is brought into focus. As with Carlo Zanni's projects, we are invited to observe what usually escapes our perception. The ambience in our urban environment has also been explored by Julian Oliver, Clara Boj, Diego Díaz and Damian Stewart in The Artvertiser (2009-10), a hand-held augmented reality (AR) device that allows to substitute advertising billboards with custom made images. As Naomi Klein states in her book No Logo, the public spaces in most cities have been dominated by corporate advertising, allowing little or no space for freedom of expression (Klein 399). Oliver's project faces this situation by enabling a form of virtual culture jamming which converts any billboard-crowded plaza into an unparalleled exhibition space. Using AR technology, the artists have developed a system that enables anyone with a camera phone, smartphone or the customised "artvertiser binoculars" to record and substitute any billboard advertisement with a modified image. The user can therefore interact with her environment, first by observing and being aware of the presence of these commercial spaces and later on by inserting her own creations or those of other artists. By establishing a connection to the Internet, the modified billboard can be posted on sites like Flickr or YouTube, generating a constant feedback between the real location and the Net. Gregory Chatonsky's concept of the Flußgeist, which I mentioned earlier, is also present in these works, visually displaying the data on top of a real environment. Again, the user is placed in a passive situation, as a receptor of the information that is displayed in front of her, but in this case the connection with reality is made more evident. Furthermore, the perception of the environment minimises the awareness of the fragmentary nature of the information generated by the flow of data. Embodying In her introduction to the data visualisation section of her book Digital Art, Christiane Paul stresses the fact that data is “intrinsically virtual” and therefore lacking a particular form of manifestation: “Information itself to a large extent seems to have lost its 'body', becoming an abstract 'quality' that can make a fluid transition between different states of materiality” (Paul 174). Although data has no “body”, we can consider, as Paul suggests, any object containing a particular set of information to be a dataspace in its own. In this sense, a tendency in working with the Internet dataflow is to create a connection between the data and a physical object, either as the end result of a process in which the data has been collected and then transferred to a physical form, or providing a means of physically reshaping the object through the variable input of data. The objectification of data thus establishes a link between the virtual and the real, but in the context of an artwork it also implies a particular meaning, as the following examples will show.Fig. 5: Gregory Chatonsky, Le Registre - The Register (2007). Book shelf and books. Photo: Pau Waelder. In Le Registre [The Register] (2007), Gregory Chatonsky developed a software application that gathers sentences related to feelings found on blogs. These sentences are recorded and put together in the form a 500-page book every hour. Every day, the books are gathered in sets of 24 and incorporated to an infinite library. Chatonsky has created a series of bookshelves to collect the books for one day, therefore turning an abstract process into an object and providing a physical embodiment of the murmur of data that I have described earlier [Fig.5: Le Registre]. As with L'Attente, in this work Chatonsky elaborates on the concept of Flußgeist, by “listening” to a specific set of data (in a similar way as in Hansen and Rubin's Listening Post) and bringing it into salience. The end product of this process is not just a meaningless object but actually what makes this work profoundly ironic: printing the books is a futile effort, but also constitutes a borgesque attempt at creating an endless library of something as ephemeral as feelings. In a similar way, but with different intentions, Jens Wunderling brings the online world to the physical world in Default to Public (2009). A series of objects are located in several public spaces in order to display information extracted from users of the Twitter network. Wunderling's installation projects the tweets on a window or prints them in adhesive labels, while informing the users that their messages have been taken for this purpose. The materialisation of information meant for a virtual environment implies a new approach to the concept of ambiance as described previously, and in this case also questions the intimacy of those participating in social networks. As the artist puts it: "In times of rapid change concerning communication behavior, media access and competence, the project Default to Public aims to raise awareness of the possible effects on our lives and our privacy" (Wunderling 155). Fig. 6: Moisés Mañas, Stock (2009). Networked installation. Photo: Moisés Mañas. Finally, in Stock (2009), Moisés Mañas embodies the flow of data from stock markets in an installation consisting of several trench coats hanging from automated coat hangers which oscillate when the stock values of a certain company rise. The resulting movement of the respective trench coat simulates a person laughing. In this work, Mañas translates the abstract flow of data into a clearly understandable gesture, providing at the same time a comment on the dynamics of stock markets [Fig.6: Stock]. Mañas´s project does not therefore simply create a physical output of a specific information (such as the stock value of a company at any given moment), but instead creates a dynamic sculpture which suggests a different perception of an otherwise abstract data. On the one hand, the trenchcoats have a ghostly presence and, as they move with unnatural spams, they remind us of the Freudian concept of the Uncanny (Das Umheimliche) so frequently associated with robots and artificial intelligence. On the other hand, the image of a person laughing, in the context of stock markets and the current economical crisis, becomes an ironic symbol of the morality of some stockbrokers. In these projects, the ambience is brought into attention by generating a physical output of a particular set of data that is extracted from certain channels and piped into a system that creates an embodiment of this immaterial flow. Yet, as the example of Mañas's project clearly shows, objects have particular meanings that are incorporated into the artwork's concept and remind us that the visualisation of information in data art is always discretionary, shaped in a particular form in order to convey the artist's intentions. Beyond the Buzz The artworks presented in this article revealt that, beyond the murmur of sentences culled from chats and blogs, the flow of data on the Internet can be used to express our difficult relationship with the vast amount of information that surrounds us. As Mitchell Whitelaw puts it: “Data art reflects a contemporary worldview informed by data excess; ungraspable quantity, wide distribution, mobility, heterogeneity, flux. Orienting ourselves in this domain is a constant challenge; the network exceeds any overview or synopsis” (Information). This excess is compared by Lev Manovich with the Romantic concept of the Sublime, that which goes beyond the limits of human measure and perception, and suggests an interpretation of data art as the Anti-Sublime (Manovich 11). Yet, in the projects that I have presented, rather than making sense of the constant flow of data there is a sort of dialogue, a framing of the information under a particular interpretation. Data is channeled through the artworks's interfaces but remains as a raw material, unprocessed to some extent, retrieved from its original context. These works explore the possibility of presenting us with constantly renewed content that will develop and, if the artwork is preserved, reflect the thoughts and visions of the next generations. A work constantly evolving in the present continuous, yet also depending on the uncertain future of social network companies and the ever-changing nature of the Internet. The flow of data will nevertheless remain unstoppable, our ambience defined by the countless interactions that take place every day between our divided self and the growing number of machines that share information with us. References Agre, Phil. “Living Data.” Wired 2.11 (Nov. 1994). 30 April 2010 ‹http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.11/agre.if.html›. Chatonsky, Gregory. “Flußgeist, une fiction sans narration.” Gregory Chatonsky, Notes et Fragments 13 Feb. 2007. 28 Feb. 2010 ‹http://incident.net/users/gregory/wordpress/13-flusgeist-une-fiction-sans-narration/›. ———. “Le Zeitgeist et l'esprit de 'nôtre' temps.” Gregory Chatonsky, Notes et Fragments 21 Jan. 2007. 28 Feb. 2010 ‹http://incident.net/users/gregory/wordpress/21-le-zeigeist-et-lesprit-de-notre-temps/›. Giordano, Carlo. Carlo Zanni. Vitalogy. A Study of a Contemporary Presence. London: Institute of Contemporary Arts, 2005. Hansen, Mark, and Ben Rubin. “Listening Post.” Cyberarts 2004. International Compendium – Prix Ars Electronica 2004. Ed. Hannes Leopoldseder and Christine Schöpf. Ostfildern: Hate Cantz, 2004. 112-17. ———. “Babble Online: Applying Statistics and Design to Sonify the Internet.” Proceedings of the 2001 International Conference on Auditory Display, Espoo, Finland. 30 April 2010 ‹http://www.acoustics.hut.fi/icad2001/proceedings/papers/hansen.pdf›. Jevbratt, Lisa. “Projects.” A::minima 15 (2003). 30 April 2010 ‹http://aminima.net/wp/?p=93&language=en›. Klein, Naomi. No Logo. [El poder de las marcas]. Barcelona: Paidós, 2007. Manovich, Lev. “Data Visualization as New Abstraction and Anti-Sublime.” Manovich.net Aug. 2002. 30 April 2010 ‹http://www.manovich.net/DOCS/data_art_2.doc›. Paul, Christiane. Digital Art. London: Thames & Hudson, 2003. Whitelaw, Mitchell. “Landscape, Slow Data and Self-Revelation.” Kerb 17 (May 2009). 30 April 2010 ‹http://teemingvoid.blogspot.com/2009/05/landscape-slow-data-and-self-revelation.html›. ———. “Art against Information: Case Studies in Data Practice.” Fibreculture 11 (Jan. 2008). 30 April 2010 ‹http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue11/issue11_whitelaw.html›. Wunderling, Jens. "Default to Public." Cyberarts 2009. International Compendium – Prix Ars Electronica 2004. Ed. Hannes Leopoldseder, Christine Schöpf and Gerfried Stocker. Ostfildern: Hate Cantz, 2009. 154-55.