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Manuscript Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS fr. 12577 and ivory casket Musée du Louvre, OA 122, and are two of three extant fourteenth-century visualizations of Chrétien’s Le Conte du Graal, produced in Paris circa 1310-1330. Although the objects’ shared era of production suggests similarities of iconography, artistic influences, and production methods, little research has been conducted regarding visual and cultural connections between MS fr. 12577 and OA 122. Through iconographic and stylistic analysis of the scenes each artisan depicted within his respective medium, I elucidate how the casket and manuscript’s imagery personifies Perceval’s dual nature, a young knight symbolic of the secular and sacred. As visualizations of Chrétien’s most religiously-minded legend, MS fr. 12577 and OA 122 exemplify the intertwining of the sacred and secular within fourteenth-century French romantic art, specifically within illuminated manuscripts and carved ivory, materials that through their refinement, rarity, and expense, signified leisure, luxury, and nobility. By examining these two opulent objects, I provide insights into their purpose and significance in late medieval France, especially cultural crossover between the porous realms of sacred and secular medieval life.

This paper examines the symbolic value of the headdresses worn by French women at the Scottish court following the marriage of James V and Mary de Guise in 1538, using the Stirling Heads, portrait medallions from the Renaissance palace at Stirling Castle, as visual evidence. While several of the women are portrayed wearing a conventional French hood, others, including Marie de Guise, wear elaborately crafted “chafferons” which would have been made of gold wire. The chafferon is an unusual choice of headdress for a portrait and the reasons for this are considered with reference to the Petrarchan canon of ideal female beauty and how precious metal and shining hair merged into a single visual conceit. The royal accounts show that chafferons worn by the gentlewomen at the Scottish court were exceptional gifts made by the royal goldsmiths using Scottish gold from the king’s own mines, extracted with the assistance of miners sent by the Duke and Duchess of Guise. These chafferons, therefore, carried layers of meaning about the transformation of Scotland’s fortunes through dynastic marriage and the promise of a new Golden Age of peace and prosperity.

INTRODUCTION: Hypertension is a longstanding problem in Zambia, yet little is known about its prevalence and risk factors, particularly in rural and urban settings. Identifying geographical variations in hypertension is important to enhance the health of adult Zambians regardless of where they live. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the prevalence of hypertension and related risk factors between rural (n = 130) and urban (n = 131) communities in Western Province, Zambia. METHODS: this cross-sectional study included urban and rural adult Zambians attending health checks who completed a modified World Health Organization (WHO) survey, and had blood pressure and anthropometric measurements completed. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize demographic and risk factor variables. Chi-square tests of association were used to analyze relationships between categorical variables, t-tests to analyze relationships between continuous variables and logistic regression to examine associations of hypertension with selected risk factors. RESULTS: the prevalence of hypertension in rural Zambians was double (46.9%) that of urban Zambians (22.9%). Increasing age, not engaging in walking/biking, and alcohol intake within the last 30 days were associated with an increased likelihood of hypertension in rural Zambians while eating vegetables more days during the week was associated with a decreased likelihood of hypertension in rural Zambians. Body Mass Index (BMI) was significantly associated with an increased likelihood of hypertension in urban Zambians. CONCLUSION: modifiable risk factors (such as BMI, dietary intake, and physical activity) are associated with hypertension prevalence in this population, indicating opportunities for screening and other prevention measures.

Individuals and families confronted with cancer experience many and varied educational needs. Cancer education is an important aspect of their care. Yet, over the past three decades, the literature has consistently identified that many patients and family members are dissatisfied with cancer education. This paper examines the literature relevant to one aspect of satisfaction with cancer education, patient and family member satisfaction with cancer-related information, according to patient, provider, and information factors. Gaps in the research are identified and discussed in relation to future research recommendations. The paper concludes with applications to clinical practice.

Les individus et les familles qui font face à l’expérience du cancer ont des besoins d’apprentissage à la fois nombreux et variés. L’enseignement relatif au cancer constitue un aspect important de leurs soins. Pourtant, au cours des trois dernières décennies, il est régulièrement question, dans la littérature, de l’insatisfaction d’un grand nombre de patients et de proches vis-à-vis de l’enseignement qui leur est fourni dans ce domaine. Cet article examine les écrits relatifs à un aspect de la satisfaction vis-à-vis de l’enseignement lié au cancer et à la satisfaction des patients et des proches vis-à-vis de l’information liée au cancer, et ce, en fonction de facteurs liés aux patients, aux prestataires et à l’information. Les lacunes au niveau des recherches sont dégagées et discutées dans le cadre des recommandations pour de futurs travaux de recherche. Cet article se termine par des applications à la pratique clinique.

This study considers the problem of wastewater treatment from heavy metal ions and possible ways to solve it, for example, by modifications of natural zeolites from the deposits of Transbaikalia region. We offer a method of modifying the structure of natural zeolite with a sulfur-containing polymer derived from epichlorohydrin waste, the main component of the 1.2,3trichloropropane. The sulfur-containing polymer mesh is formed by the use of the dissolution of sulfur at room temperature in the system of mono-ethanolamine-hydrazine hydrate and condensation with 1.2,3-trichlorpropane. The result of applying a sulfur-containing polymer mesh lies not only in the hydrophobization of the zeolite surface, but also in the appearance of sulfur atoms in its composition, which contributes to an increase in the selectivity with respect to heavy metal ions. We demonstrate the possibility of using new sorption materials in deep wastewater treatment processes of galvanic production. As a load for the adsorbent filter, we propose to use a three-layer filtering material with a load of natural zeolite of various modifications. It has been proven that such chemical modification of zeolite allows to obtain sorbents with an increased surface area and transitional pores that have a high sorption activity in relation to heavy metal ions.

The possibility of recycling large-tonnage waste of heat power engineer-ing and mining industry in road construction is shown. Compositions of road-building materials were researched, containing siftings of rock grinding, fly ash, Portland cement, modified with a stabilizing additive of polymeric nature. X-ray phase analysis showed availability of quartz in fly ash, calcite, feldspars, goethite and X-ray amorphous phase, what is consistent with the data of infrared spectroscopy. By atomic emission spectrometry with inductively coupled plasma it was revealed that fly ash is latent-active and can be disposed in compositions in the presence of a stabilizing additive. The X-ray phase analysis of grinding siftings showed that it contains quartz, feldspars, chlorite, calcite and dolomite. The specific activity of natural radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, 40К) of fly ash and grinding siftings was 248 and 110 Bq/kg, which allows using such waste in construction without restrictions. It was revealed that the initial mineral raw materials belong to multiphase polymineral systems; therefore, when modifying them with stabilizing additives, binding of finely divided particles should be taken into account. It was revealed that the optimal content of Portland cement and fly ash in samples is 8 and 10 wt.%. It was found that an increase in the mass fraction of fly ash in the composition of soil-concrete up to 30 wt.% leads to softening of the samples and a decrease in their strength characteristics.

In 2013, the Student Centre at The University of Tasmania began researching the development of distance learning support. A survey was designed as part of this endeavour, which attracted 1002 responses. The survey’s broad context focused on the primary drawbacks and benefits of distance education in general and sought to identify emergent themes characterising students’ experience with distance education. The narrow context targeted utilization of the university’s online services. This paper presents key broad context results, providing a ground for further research informed directly by student experience. Certain aspects of the analysis are explicated through the lens of existing theoretical frameworks, particularly those of Moore, Tinto, and Holmberg. But the results also contribute directly to theory by revealing complexity and internal differentiation in the dominant themes of ‘connection’, ‘contact’, ‘isolation’ and ‘consideration’; and reinforcing the student perspective as a key dimension of theoretical conceptualisations of distance education itself. First publication : http://www.ijede.ca/index.php/jde/article/view/936

One of the most promising ways to insure the periodic regeneration of a particulate trap, consists to additise the fuel with organometallic compounds. The present paper deals with a novel alkali product, able to promote natural regenerations, for exhaust temperatures as low as 200°C, and treatment rates as low as 5 ppm. Tests have been carried out on a soot reactor and on an engine bench with various trap locations in the exhaust showing that the regeneration occurrence depends on temperature, soot mass loaded inside the porous structure, engine conditions. A complete trap cleaning still needs gas temperatures up to 400°C, which can be encountered for high load conditions of the engine. Une des voies les plus prometteuses pour la régénération des filtres à particules diesels consiste à additiver le carburant avec des composés organo-métalliques. Cet article s'intéresse à un nouveau dérivé alcalin, capable de favoriser des régénérations spontanées pour des températures à l'échappement descendant jusqu'à 200°C, et pour des teneurs en métal aussi faibles que 5 ppm. Des essais ont été réalisés sur un réacteur à suies et sur un moteur au banc, avec différentes localisations des filtres à l'échappement, montrant que le déclenchement de la régénération dépend de la température, de la masse de suie accumulée dans les structures poreuses et des conditions opératoires du moteur. Le nettoyage complet du filtre nécessite encore des températures de gaz supérieures à 400°C, qui peuvent être atteintes lors des fonctionnements à fortes charges du moteur.

Les individus et les familles qui font face à l’expérience du cancer ont des besoins d’apprentissage à la fois nombreux et variés. L’enseignement relatif au cancer constitue un aspect important de leurs soins. Pourtant, au cours des trois dernières décennies, il est régulièrement question, dans la littérature, de l’insatisfaction d’un grand nombre de patients et de proches vis-à-vis de l’enseignement qui leur est fourni dans ce domaine. Cet article examine les écrits relatifs à un aspect de la satisfaction vis-à-vis de l’enseignement lié au cancer et à la satisfaction des patients et des proches vis-à-vis de l’information liée au cancer, et ce, en fonction de facteurs liés aux patients, aux prestataires et à l’information. Les lacunes au niveau des recherches sont dégagées et discutées dans le cadre des recommandations pour de futurs travaux de recherche. Cet article se termine par des applications à la pratique clinique.

Individuals and families confronted with cancer experience many and varied educational needs. Cancer education is an important aspect of their care. Yet, over the past three decades, the literature has consistently identified that many patients and family members are dissatisfied with cancer education. This paper examines the literature relevant to one aspect of satisfaction with cancer education, patient and family member satisfaction with cancer-related information, according to patient, provider, and information factors. Gaps in the research are identified and discussed in relation to future research recommendations. The paper concludes with applications to clinical practice.

Experience of engagement with armed non-state actors on the landmine ban may point the way to innovative approaches to preventing forced displacement and other abuses of human rights....

We assessed the length and the quality of the remission of 13 unipolar endogenous depressed DST nonsuppressors before treatment in a 2-year prospective study. During this period, we recorded stressful life events. Persistent dexamethasone non-suppression after treatment and complete clinical recovery correlated highly with early clinical relapse. All six nonnormalizers but only one normalizer were rehospitalized within the following two years for a major depressive relapse. Persistent DST nonsuppression was unrelated to any impact of drug discontinuation, to the occurrence of stressful life events or to the length of illness-free intervals in the patient's prior course of illness. Persistent DST non-suppression appears to have a significant prognostic value.