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Biomedical subjects

L Holzer

Publications and source records attributed to L Holzer.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

[School refusal].

Pediatrician are often questioned by school refusal which relies on a wide range of psychopathological features and necessitates specific approaches. This disabling condition remains underestimated and is still increasing. A poor prognosis associated with a prolonged school absence is the common hallmark of school refusals, regardless of its heterogeneity. Its seriousness warrants early identification and prompt intervention by childhood healthcare professionals, teachers and social workers. A specialized treatment is needed, closely linked with families and school. Promising developments come from a functional rather than symptomatic concept of school refusal. They offer tailored interventions which fit the clinical diversity of school refusals. After a brief historical summary and current definitions of school refusal, the authors review the main clinical features and comorbidity before taking up treatment modalities.

Anxiety, Separation↗

Three-dimensional analysis of porous BaTiO3 ceramics using FIB nanotomography.

Three-dimensional (3D) data represent the basis for reliable quantification of complex microstructures. Therefore, the development of high-resolution tomography techniques is of major importance for many materials science disciplines. In this paper, we present a novel serial sectioning procedure for 3D analysis using a dual-beam FIB (focused ion beam). A very narrow and reproducible spacing between the individual imaging planes is achieved by using drift correction algorithms in the automated slicing procedure. The spacing between the planes is nearly of the same magnitude as the pixel resolution on scanning electron microscopy images. Consequently, the acquired stack of images can be transformed directly into a 3D data volume with a voxel resolution of 6 x 7 x 17 nm. To demonstrate the capabilities of FIB nanotomography, a BaTiO3 ceramic with a high volume fraction of fine porosity was investigated using the method as a basis for computational microstructure analysis and the results compared with conventional physical measurements. Significant differences between the particle size distributions as measured by nanotomography and laser granulometry indicate that the latter analysis is skewed by particle agglomeration/aggregation in the raw powder and by uncertainties related to calculation assumptions. Significant differences are also observed between the results from mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) and 3D pore space analysis. There is strong evidence that the ink-bottle effect leads to an overestimation of the frequency of small pores in MIP. FIB nanotomography thus reveals quantitative information of structural features smaller than 100 nm in size which cannot be acquired easily by other methods.

Journal Article↗

Quantitative microstructure analysis of polymer-modified mortars.

Digital light, fluorescence and electron microscopy in combination with wavelength-dispersive spectroscopy were used to visualize individual polymers, air voids, cement phases and filler minerals in a polymer-modified cementitious tile adhesive. In order to investigate the evolution and processes involved in formation of the mortar microstructure, quantifications of the phase distribution in the mortar were performed including phase-specific imaging and digital image analysis. The required sample preparation techniques and imaging related topics are discussed. As a form of case study, the different techniques were applied to obtain a quantitative characterization of a specific mortar mixture. The results indicate that the mortar fractionates during different stages ranging from the early fresh mortar until the final hardened mortar stage. This induces process-dependent enrichments of the phases at specific locations in the mortar. The approach presented provides important information for a comprehensive understanding of the functionality of polymer-modified mortars.

Adhesives↗

Origin and binding specificity of protein(s) coded for by Mu prophages.

Crude extracts of bacteria lysogenic for temperature phage Mu contain proteins that retain specifically Mu DNA on nitrocellulose filters. The amount of binding protein is directly proportional to the number of Mu prophages per E. coli genome. Specificity of the binding reaction could be demonstrated by using heterologous DNAs as substrate and by a competition experiment. By using hybrid plasmids containing different amounts of the immunity end and extending to various degrees into MuDNA, it was found that the binding activity is coded for by the left 1,000 nucleotide-pair HindIII fragment. When using these hybrid plasmids as binding substrate, two different binding sites for the immunity product were detected. Joining of the MucI gene to the left lambda early promoter resulted in increased production of immunity protein at elevated temperature. A possible explanation for the relatively low amounts of immunity protein in all of the different strains studied is discussed.

Bacteriophage mu↗