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Purpose: The objective of this qualitative study is to explore experiences and challenges of university students living with invisible disabilities. Methods: Nine videotaped medical consultations with students, conducted at the health centre of a higher education institution in northern Chile, were analysed, drawing on the thematic analysis to organize the most salient themes. Results: Three major themes were identified in the analysis, along with their subthemes: (1) experiencing overpowering symptoms, including variable, multiple, and severe symptoms; (2) facing medical, social, and academic barriers; (3) engaging in self-management behaviours, such as self-medication, self-treatment, changing therapies, and non-compliance. Conclusion: As the healthcare system is mostly ineffective in diagnosing students with invisible disabilities as well as providing them with long-lasting help, the students often have to manage their conditions by themselves, without much success. It seems essential to promote the development of stronger links between health providers and universities to allow for early disability detection and awareness-raising programs within educational institutions. Further research should focus on strategies promoting effective support mechanisms to decrease barriers and increase the inclusion of these individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the study is to explore how patients presenting medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) -- that is, symptoms that do not have an obvious underlying diagnosis -- communicate agency. It is assumed that agency can be exercised verbally through narrative structure and content as well as nonverbally through patients' behaviours, in particular their gestures. This, in turn, points to the ways patients conceptualize their identities and selves. Pauses and disfluencies in the patients' accounts as well as an imprecise use of gestures can indicate a cognitive or conceptual conflict and uncertainty related to MUS. This paper reports on preliminary findings obtained from the analysis of 20 video-filmed interviews with Polish patients with MUS, and presents two case studies of patients who, despite fairly similar medical test results, deliver different illness narratives: (1) a narrative indicative of low agency and characterized by fragmentation, vagueness, repetitiveness and redundancy of content, dispreference markers and the imprecise use of gestures; and (2) a narrative reflecting high agency, characterized by specificity, coherence and the precise use of gestures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The goal was to improve the properties of NiTi shape memory alloy to make it suitable for cardiac applications. For this purpose, a hybrid a-CNH+TiO2+TiN-type surface layer was produced on NiTi alloy and characterized. Materials & methods: The NiTi alloy subjected to hybrid process combining low-temperature oxynitriding under glow discharge conditions and radio frequency chemical vapor deposition process was examined for microstructure, surface topography, corrosion resistance, wettability and surface-free energy, Ni ion release and platelets adhesion, aggregation and activation. Results: The hybrid surface layers showed slightly increased surface roughness, better corrosion resistance, a more hydrophobic nature, decreased surface free energy, smaller release of nickel ions and reduced platelets activation. Conclusion: The produced layers could expand the range of NiTi medical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Chemotherapy, neoplasms, and their complications linked to malabsorption, malnutrition, and metabolic disorders may lead to improper tooth development and frequent severe caries in patients during/after antineoplastic treatment and to a more frequent improper tooth development in patients undergoing chemotherapy during odontogenesis. However, the causes of these abnormalities remain unknown; there are no studies on the impact of antineoplastic treatment and its complications on the chemical composition of mineralised teeth., Aim of the Study: To compare the chemical composition of mineralised teeth extracted due to complicated caries in children after chemotherapy, and of teeth extracted due to orthodontic treatment in generally healthy children., Material and Methods: The treatment group included five teeth extracted due to complicated caries in children after antineoplastic treatment. The control group included five teeth extracted due to orthodontic treatment in generally healthy children. The chemical composition of enamel, dentine, cementum, interior of the canal, and enamel abnormalities in teeth extracted from patients after chemotherapy and in generally healthy patients were assessed with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Results were analysed statistically., Results: The magnesium (Mg) and zinc (Zn) mass contents in the enamel of patients after chemotherapy increased and so did the calcium (Ca) to phosphorus (P) ratio when compared to controls. Areas with abnormal enamel in patients after chemotherapy had lower concentrations of Ca and P, and higher concentrations of trace elements (Mg, Cl, and Na). The levels of the assessed elements in dentine, cementum, and inside the canal were similar in both groups of teeth., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Aim: The goal was to improve the properties of NiTi shape memory alloy to make it suitable for cardiac applications. For this purpose, a hybrid a-CNH+TiO 2 +TiN-type surface layer was produced on NiTi alloy and characterized., Materials & Methods: The NiTi alloy subjected to hybrid process combining low-temperature oxynitriding under glow discharge conditions and radio frequency chemical vapor deposition process was examined for microstructure, surface topography, corrosion resistance, wettability and surface-free energy, Ni ion release and platelets adhesion, aggregation and activation., Results: The hybrid surface layers showed slightly increased surface roughness, better corrosion resistance, a more hydrophobic nature, decreased surface free energy, smaller release of nickel ions and reduced platelets activation., Conclusion: The produced layers could expand the range of NiTi medical applications.

The aim of this study was to analyze the development of coronary vessels at different stages of embryonic life in rats using corrosion casts and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). We studied morphologic details of vessel maturation, expansion, and pattern formation from the stage of development when the coronary system forms patent connections with the aorta and the right atrium (embryonic day 16 (ED16)) to full-term fetus (ED21). The internal surface morphologies of the arterial and venous vessel walls were different and were dependent on the distance from the orifice and the capillary system. They also depended on the maturation state of a given vessel. In various branches of the coronary system we demonstrated round, fusiform or polygonal, endothelial cell imprints. The capillary network was dense, however, at the early stages of development, it formed a thin layer over the myocardium. By ED21 capillaries assumed an orientation parallel to the long axes of the cardiac myocytes. During all stages of development, different forms of angiogenesis by intussusceptive growth were observed. Splitting of the vessel wall occurred in two or three points along the vessel, forming two- or three-link chains. Certain areas of vessels resembled doughnuts, from which several sister vessels originated. The coronary arteries were situated deep within the myocardial wall. The major coronary veins were mostly located on the surface of the capillary plexuses of the myocardial wall. In conclusion, this method of vessel casting enables the detection of angiogenesis by intussusceptive growth, and the visualization of a capillary's position to the myocardial wall, thickness of the capillary plexuses, and the internal surface morphology of major vessels., (Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)