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To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2007.01005.x Byline: C. Titia Feldmann (1), Jozien M. Bensing (1,2), Arie de Ruijter (1,3), Hennie R. Boeije (1) Keywords: (Afghan) refugees; The Netherlands; general practitioner; trust; critical episodes; personal resources; social resources; prejudice Abstract: Abstract In-depth interviews with Afghan refugees living in The Netherlands about their experience of healthcare, have led to a series of narratives. This article focuses on the relationship between the refugee-patients and their general practitioners (GPs) from the participants' point of view. It was possible to distinguish four different types of narrative, by analysing the individual interviews into critical episodes. Building trust was identified as the crucial issue. A number of possible explanations are given for the differences found. Links are made to participant expectations in respect of health and healthcare and to their personal and social resources. The GP has a key role in the Dutch healthcare system, but is a novel phenomenon for refugees arriving from Afghanistan. The development of a relationship of trust is sometimes compromised by negative personal experience and also by stories relating such experiences circulating in the Afghan community. The elements that constituted positive and negative episodes and led to the development or undermining of trust were identified in the narratives. Negative experience tended to be interpreted as a sign of prejudice on the part of the healthcare professional. The findings of this study are discussed in the wider context of research into patient priorities in general practice. Author Affiliation: (1)Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands (2)NIVEL, Utrecht, The Netherlands (3)Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands Article note: Address for correspondence: C. Titia Feldmann, Linnaeusparkweg 8 hs, 1098 EA Amsterdam, The Netherlands, e-mail: ctfeld@xs4all.nl

Comparative analysis of the luminescent properties of nanocrystalline LaPO4:Ce,Tb and YVO4:Eu luminescent materials with macrocrystalline analogues, commercially produced by Philips, has been performed under excitation by pulsed vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) synchrotron radiation, ranging from 3.7-40 eV. Special attention was paid to VUV spectral range, which is not reachable with commonly used lamp and laser sources. Our results clearly show distinct difference in the excitation spectra for nano- and macrocrystalline samples, especially at energies, when the spatial separation of electron-hole pairs is comparable with sizes of nanoparticles. Differences in the region of multiplication of the electronic excitations are also demonstrated and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The photoluminescence of the dispersions of zirconyl flavinmononucleotide nanoparticles (ZrO[FMN]: FMN = flavinmononucleotide) in pyridine was deliberately influenced by the addition of rare earth halides LnCl3, resulting in a modification to core/shell structures with the nanoparticle as the core. The particle dispersion's original intense green luminescence of the flavin chromophore can therefore be shifted in chromaticity from green via white to blue. The shift depends on the reaction conditions as well as on the rare earth halide. Heating of the systems during the modification initiates these chromaticity shifts and they remain even after cooling to room temperature. For Ln = Y, La and Ho, all three halides can be used to create a broad band white light emission with a high general colour rendering index (CRI) of 84–88. The colour shift starts at 180 °C for Y and La, whereas HoCl3 addition already approaches the white point at 200 °C, whereas unmodified dispersions of ZrO(FMN) do not show a chromaticity shift at this temperature. The La-modified dispersion requires 250 °C to emit white light. The luminescence of the modified nanoparticles is also temperature dependent upon cooling to low temperatures, which shifts the colour point to intense blue for Y and La at −196 °C. Determination of the photoluminescence lifetimes indicates the modification of the chromophore and no solvent participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Hemidiaphragmatic palsy is a common consequence of the interscalene brachial plexus block. It occurs less commonly with the supraclavicular approach. Register data suggest that the analgesic quality of a supraclavicular blockade is sufficient for arthroscopic shoulder surgery, although data on the post-operative analgesic effect are lacking.Methods: After approval by the ethics committee, patients having arthroscopic shoulder surgery under general anaesthesia were randomized to receive a continuous interscalene or supraclavicular blockade. Phrenic nerve function was evaluated through ultrasound examination of the diaphragm in combination with spirometry. Pain scores at rest and activity etc. were determined before catheter insertion, during observation in the post- anaesthesia care unit (PACU) and on post-operative day 1 (POD1). The initial application of 10 ml of ropivacaine 0.2% was followed by continuous application of 4 ml of ropivacaine 0.2%, plus a patient controlled analgesia (PCA) bolus of 4 ml/h.Results: One hundred and twenty patients were randomized, of which 114 data sets were analysed. Complete hemidiaphragmatic paresis occurred in 43% of the interscalene group vs. 24% in the supraclavicular group during PACU stay. Rates of dyspnoea and hoarseness were similar. Horner's syndrome occurred in 21% of the interscalene but only 3% of the supraclavicular group on POD1. Pain scores were comparable for pain at rest and during stress at each time point.Conclusions: This trial showed a significantly greater incidence of phrenic nerve palsy of the interscalene group in PACU, but not on POD1. Post-operative analgesic quality was similar in both groups. Continuous supraclavicular blockade is a suitable alternative to the continuous interscalene technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the first description by Fievet, Lagier and Figlarz in 1989, the synthesis of nanoparticles in high-boiling, multivalent alcohols – so-called polyols – has been developed into a widely applied strategy, and nowadays belongs to the standard repertoire for preparing high-quality nanomaterials. The polyols take advantage of several features such as: (i) water-comparable solubility of simple metal-salt precursors; (ii) high boiling points (up to 320 °C); (iii) reducing properties for the instantaneous synthesis of metals; (iv) coordinating properties for surface functionalization and colloidal stabilisation of nanoparticles; (v) wide adaptability of the polyols ranging from low-weight ethylene glycol (EG) to high-weight polyethylene glycols (PEGs). This review summarises the status and perspectives on nanoscaled elemental metals, metal oxides, metal chalcogenides, and non-metal elements that were prepared via the polyol synthesis. Moreover, we summarize our results and concepts to expand the limits of the polyol synthesis. This includes strategies for less-noble metal synthesis, phase transfer reactions, photochemical reduction, NMR-based characterisation of polyol-functionalised nanoparticles, realisation of phase-pure and readily crystalline metal tungstates, stabilisation of low-melting elements, and controlled thermal decomposition of polyols to obtain high-quality, lanthanide-modified carbon dots (C-dots). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blue emitting luminescent MOF STACKABOVE3/ABOVEBELOW∞/BELOW/STACK[Ce(Im)3ImH]·ImH forms a 3D-framework with Kagomé net topology. The framework exhibits an intense blue luminescence which can be retained upon activation of the MOF with the formula STACKABOVE3/ABOVEBELOW∞/BELOW/STACK[Ce(Im)3ImH]. The luminescence is metal-based due to parity-allowed 5d–4f-transitions. Time-dependent investigations of the interaction with liquid and gas analytes show that the MOF – by utilising 5d–4f-transitions of Ce3+– can be used as a high-speed “turn-off” detector for water and oxygen in dry air. Other protic or polar solvents, like methanol, acetone or pyridine, which also show a “turn-off”-effect can be distinguished from water-detection either on a time scale (ranging up to 250 000 : 1) or a shift of the chromaticity, the latter being pronounced for MeOH. The fast time-dependent decrease of the luminescence intensity for water arises from an extremely fast hydrolysis and is irreversible. Polar aprotic molecules like dichloromethane and acetonitrile can also result in a “turn-on”-effect of the luminescence intensity due to their behaviour as additional sensitizers for Ce3+-emission. We conclude that the cerium-MOF can be utilised in gas and liquid sensing applications as a detector material for water and oxygen in dry air. The luminescence is intense with good quantum yield between 55% (as-synthesised) and 36% (activated). This implies that only milligram amounts of the material are needed to detect the analyte species and is especially useful, as the MOF can be directly used as-synthesised for water detection in applications for which an irreversible signal change is desired, e.g. preventing a signal change upon unwanted re-drying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A water-in-oil microemulsion approach was established to synthesize Pd@SnO2 and SnO2@Pd core@shell nanocomposites in order to investigate the influence of the noble metal additive location on the sensing performance towards CO and H2 in dry and humid conditions at different temperatures. It turned out that the Pd additive, being either present on the outside of the shells or encapsulated by the SnO2 matrix, strongly influences the sensing performance. Especially, the inner shell Pd doped hollow spheres (Pd@SnO2) have shown very high signals towards CO in humid conditions at rather low sensing operation temperatures together with an almost linear response curve. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Livestock concentration areas can be significant point sources of nutrient pollution. Our objective was to determine the spatial distribution of livestock concentration areas in pastures at the farm scale, along with the distribution of soil nutrients at the individual livestock concentration area scale. We georeferenced and measured the size of all livestock concentration areas in cool-season grass-legume pastures on five farms (four grazing dairies and a beef cattle farm) in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York during two years. Soil of selected concentration areas on each of the farms-was sampled to 0 to 5 and 0 to 15 cm (0 to 2 and 0 to 6 in) depths to compare nutrient levels with paired unaffected areas of the pasture. On one farm, we sampled two concentration areas more densely (20 to 25 samples, 0 to 5 cm depth along each of five 100 m [328 ft] transects) to measure spatial distribution of soil nutrients. The transects were arranged radially to encompass variation both up and downslope. We installed runoff plots at three locations on and near the two concentration areas to measure nutrients in surface water runoff from simulated rainfall. On the five farms, concentration areas occurred most frequently at paddock gates (38% of sites).Although fewer in number, concentration areas at feeding sites were often larger than those at gates or other locations and accounted for most (48%) of the area affected by livestock congregation. Most concentration areas were small (median area 100 m² [1,076 ft²]), isolated (median distance, 61 m [200 ft] from a water body), and surrounded by vegetation. Intensive sampling on one farm showed that soil within 20 to 40 m (66 to 132 ft) of concentration areas was enriched in phosphorus, which contributed to higher phosphorus concentration in the runoff from simulated rainfall compared with the rest of the pasture. Pastures used as holding and feeding areas with highly elevated soil nutrients and no surrounding vegetation to filter runoff represented a direct threat to surface water quality. Many concentration areas, however, were surrounded by vegetation, which would mitigate this risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study evaluated the biceps femoris (BF), rectus femoris (RF), and vastus lateralis (VL) activation and activation ratios of a variety of resistance training exercises characterized by knee extension, and determined if subject strength or gender affects these variables. The exercises evaluated included the leg extension, squat, deadlift, lunge, and step up. Subjects included 20 athletes and recreationally active college students. Electromyography (EMG) of the muscles expressed as a percentage of maximum voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC), as well as the BF to RF and BF to VL EMG ratio, were determined for each exercise. There was no significant interaction between gender and exercise type for the RMS EMG of the BF (p = 0.67), RF (p = 0.53), or VL (p = 0.06). Main effects were found for the RMS EMG of the BF (p = 0.00), RF (p = 0.00), and VL (p = 0.00), as well as the RMS EMG of the BF to RF activation ratio (p = 0.00) and BF to VL activation ratios (p = 0.003), between exercises. Peak RMS EMG was also assessed. Post hoc analysis identified specific differences in muscle activation and ratios between exercises. Clinicians should consider the magnitude of muscle activation and activation ratios when prescribing hamstring and quadriceps exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transparent layers containing the highly luminescent nanophosphors LaPO4:Ce,Tb and LaPO4:Eu are realized by ink-jet printing on standard transparencies and black paper. The luminescent material is non-agglomerated, 15 nm in size, and applied as a dispersion in ethanol for printing. The structured layers exhibit intense green (LaPO4:Ce,Tb) or red (LaPO4:Eu) emission. While printing on overhead transparencies, an optical transmission of about 90% is realized. This value, in fact, is limited due to the performance of the underlying polymer material. A microwave-assisted synthesis in ionic liquids as a novel concept of synthesis is prerequisite to gain the nanoscale phosphor materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]