Smallloft9895

In this work, we investigate the use of high power impulse magnetron sputtering (HiPIMS) for the deposition of micrometer thick diamond like carbon (DLC) coatings on Si and steel substrates. The adhesion on both types of substrates is ensured with a simple Ti interlayer, while the energy of impinging ions is adjusted by using RF (Radio Frequency) biasing on the substrate at -100 V DC self-bias. Addition of acetylene to the working Ar+Ne atmosphere is investigated as an alternative to Ar sputtering, to improve process stability and coatings quality. Peak current is maintained constant, providing reliable comparison between different deposition conditions used in this study. The main advantages of adding acetylene to the Ar+Ne gas mixture are an increase of deposition rate by a factor of 2, when comparing to the Ar+Ne process. Moreover, a decrease of the number of surface defects, from ~40% surface defects coverage to ~1% is obtained, due to reduced arcing. The mechanical and tribological properties of the deposited DLC films remain comparable for all investigated gas compositions. Nanoindentation hardness of all coatings is in the range of 25 to 30 GPa, friction coefficient is between 0.05 and 0.1 and wear rate is in the range of 0.47 to 0.77 × 10-6 mm3 N-1m-1.Slow eating may be beneficial in reducing energy intake although there is limited research quantifying eating rate. Perceived speed of eating was self-reported by 78 adults using a standard question "On a scale of 1-5 (very slow-very fast), how fast do you believe you eat?" Timing the completion of meals on three occasions was used to assess objective eating rate. The mean (SD) speeds of eating by self-reported categories were 49 (13.7), 42 (12.2), and 35 (10.5) g/min for fast, medium, and slow eaters, respectively. Within each self-reported category, the range of timed speed of eating resulted in considerable overlap between self-identified 'fast', 'medium' and 'slow' eaters. There was 47.4% agreement (fair) between self-reported speed of eating and the objective measure of eating rate ( = 0.219). Self-reported speed of eating was sufficient at a group level to detect a significant difference (10.9 g/min (95% CI 2.7, 19.2 g/min, p = 0.009)) between fast and slow; and fast and medium eaters (6.0 g/min (0.5, 11.6 g/min p = 0.033)). The mean difference (95% CI) between slow and medium eaters was 4.9 (-3.4, 12.2) g/min (p = 0.250). At an individual level, self-report had poor sensitivity. Compared to objectively measured see more of eating, self-reported speed of eating was found to be an unreliable means of assessing an individual's eating rate. There are no standard protocols for assessing speed of eating or eating rate. Establishing such protocols would enable the development of population reference ranges across various demographic groups that may be applicable for public health messages and in clinical management.The compressed life review (CLR) is a mnemonic illusion of having "your entire life flashing before your eyes". This research was guided by concerns over the retrospective methodology used in CLR studies. To depart from this methodology, I considered the long-term working memory (WM), "concentric", and "activation-based" models of memory. A novel theoretically rooted laboratory-based experimental technique aimed to elicit the CLR-like experience with no risk to healthy participants was developed. It consists of listening to superimposed audio recordings of previously trained verbal cues to an individually composed set of self-defining memories (SDMs). The technique evoked a self-reported CLR-like experience in 10 out of 20 participants. A significant similarity in eye movement patterns between a single SDM condition and a choir of SDM conditions in self-reported CLR experiencers was confirmed. In both conditions, stimuli caused relative visual immobilization, in contrast to listening to a single neutral phrase, and a choir of neutral phrases that led to active visual exploration. The data suggest that CLR-like phenomenology may be successfully induced by triggering short-term access to the verbally cued SDMs and may be associated with specific patterns of visual activity that are not reportedly involved with deliberate autobiographical retrieval.Trunk function is a core factor to allocate Boccia players with cerebral palsy in BC1 and BC2 sport classes, according to the Boccia International Sports Federation (BISFed). However, the appropriateness of the current test to assess trunk function has never been studied to determine its reliability, validity and sensitivity to discriminate between different levels of impairment. Thirty-six players (BC1 = 13 and BC2 = 23) took part in this study. Trunk control was assessed through the BISFed trunk function scale (TFS) and a posturographic test battery consisting of two static and three dynamic tasks. #link# The inter-rater reliability for the BISFed TFS was set at 94.44% of agreement. Moderate-to-high correlations were obtained between posturographic tasks (0.39 less then r less then 0.96; p less then 0.05-0.01), while the BISFed TFS only correlated with two of the dynamic tasks and the overall dynamic score (-0.38 less then r less then -0.51; p less then 0.05). The BISFed TFS was not able to discriminate between sport classes, whereas the static posturographic task did so (p = 0.004). Even though the current BISFed TFS presented good inter-rater reliability, it does not seem to have enough sensitivity to discriminate between BC1 and BC2. Although the static posturographic tasks were able to discriminate between sports classes, it seems necessary to develop new field tests assessing participants' trunk stabilization abilities.Breast cancer is the most common type of female cancer. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are vital in regulating signaling pathways that control cell survival and cell proliferation. Chemotherapeutic drugs such as anthracyclines induce cell death via ROS induction. Chemoresistance development is associated with adaptive response to oxidative stress. NRF2 is the main regulator of cytoprotective response to oxidative stress. NRF2 can enhance cell growth, antioxidant expression, and chemoresistance by providing growth advantage for malignant cells. Previously, we identified BQ323636.1 (BQ), a novel splice variant of nuclear co-repressor NCOR2, which can robustly predict tamoxifen resistance in primary breast cancer. In this study, we found that BQ was overexpressed in epirubicin-resistant cells and demonstrated that BQ overexpression could reduce the levels of epirubicin-induced ROS and confer epirubicin resistance. In vivo analysis using tissue microarray of primary breast cancer showed direct correlation between BQ expression and chemoresistance.