Effect of nutritional interventions on the psychological symptoms of premenstrual syndrome in women of reproductive age: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials.

Context: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) affects approximately 48% of women of reproductive age worldwide. It can lead to functional impairment, lower quality of life, and decreased work productivity. Despite the availability of medical treatment options, women are seeking alternative interventions because of concerns of harmful side effects and limited evidence of efficacy associated with pharmacological treatments.

Significance of intramedullary T2 signal voids in the magnetic resonance imaging of paraplegic deep pain-negative dogs following intervertebral disc extrusion at short-term follow-up.

Introduction: Dogs presenting as paraplegic without nociception due to a thoracolumbar intervertebral disc extrusion provide a difficult decision to both the clinician and the owner. The prognosis when performing surgical decompression remains guarded. Aside from significant extradural compression, these dogs often have a significant secondary spinal cord injury, which has shown to be an important factor in determining both the likelihood of developing progressive myelomalacia and the return to ambulation.

Tibial Plateau and Stifle Joint Invasion with a Subcutaneous Mast Cell Tumor.

A 4 yr old female neutered Labrador retriever was referred with a history of left hind-limb lameness and an acute, nonpainful, subcutaneous mass on the medial aspect of the left stifle. Stifle radiographs and fine needle aspirates of the soft tissue mass performed by the referring veterinarian confirmed the presence of predominantly highly granulated mast cells, consistent with a mast cell tumor. Computed tomography demonstrated a soft tissue mass centered on the left medial stifle, with associated joint effusion and polyostotic lytic lesions on the tibial plateau and distal patella.

Comparison between computed tomographic and ultrasonographic findings of the liver and spleen in dogs with confirmed hepatic or splenic lymphoma involvement.

Background: Computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (US) may be used to assist staging in dogs with lymphoma. The imaging features of splenic and hepatic infiltration have never been directly compared in the same population of dogs.

Methods: The aim of this retrospective study was to describe and compare the CT and US findings of the liver and spleen in dogs with confirmed hepatic and/or splenic lymphoma and compare imaging and cytological diagnoses.

Prevalence and clinical significance of the medullary rim sign identified on ultrasound of feline kidneys.

Objectives: The medullary rim sign (MRS) is an ultrasonographic (US) feature identified in normal and diseased feline kidneys. The prevalence and potential clinical significance of the MRS in a referral hospital cat population was investigated.

Methods: Retrospective case-control study.

Morphometric evaluation of the portal vein by means of abdominal computed tomographic angiography in dogs free of vascular anomalies.

OBJECTIVE To determine the mean diameter of the main portal vein (PV) in healthy dogs by use of CT angiography, identify any associations between PV diameter and certain dog characteristics, and validate a clinically valuable ratio for quantifying the size of the PV. ANIMALS 100 dogs with no hepatic, cardiac, or vascular anomalies that underwent abdominal CT angiography. PROCEDURES Diameters of the main PV, abdominal aorta (Ao), and caudal vena cava (CVC) were measured by 2 observers at a defined location on postcontrast CT angiographic images in axial, sagittal, and transverse planes.

Structure and Conductivity of Semiconducting Polymer Hydrogels.

Poly(fluorene-alt-thiophene) (PFT) is a conjugated polyelectrolyte that self-assembles into rod-like micelles in water, with the conjugated polymer backbone running along the length of the micelle. At modest concentrations (∼10 mg/mL in aqueous solutions), PFT forms hydrogels, and this work focuses on understanding the structure and intermolecular interactions in those gel networks. The network structure can be directly visualized using cryo electron microscopy.

7.7% Efficient All-Polymer Solar Cells.

By controlling the polymer/polymer blend self-organization rate, all-polymer solar cells composed of a high-mobility, crystalline, naphthalene diimide-selenophene copolymer acceptor and a benzodithiophene-thieno[3,4-b]thiophene copolymer donor are achieved with a record 7.7% power conversion efficiency and a record short-circuit current density (18.8 mA cm(-2)).

POLARON DYNAMICS. Long-lived photoinduced polaron formation in conjugated polyelectrolyte-fullerene assemblies.

The efficiency of biological photosynthesis results from the exquisite organization of photoactive elements that promote rapid movement of charge carriers out of a critical recombination range. If synthetic organic photovoltaic materials could mimic this assembly, charge separation and collection could be markedly enhanced. We show that micelle-forming cationic semiconducting polymers can coassemble in water with cationic fullerene derivatives to create photoinduced electron-transfer cascades that lead to exceptionally long-lived polarons.

Permanent electric dipole moments of carboxyamides in condensed media: what are the limitations of theory and experiment?

Electrostatic properties of proteins are crucial for their functionality. Carboxyamides are small polar groups that, as peptide bonds, are principal structural components of proteins that govern their electrostatic properties. We investigated the medium dependence of the molar polarization and of the permanent dipole moments of amides with different state of alkylation.

Long-lived photogenerated states of alpha-oligothiophene-acridinium dyads have triplet character.

Photoinduced processes, leading to charge-transfer states with extended lifetimes, are of key importance for solar-energy-conversion applications. Utilizing external heavy-atom effect allowed us to photogenerate long-lived transients of electron donor-acceptor dyads. For an electron acceptor and a principal chromophore of the dyads, we selected N-methylacridinium, and for electron donors thiophene, bithiophene, and terthiophene were selected.

Electrochemical oxidation of ferrocene: a strong dependence on the concentration of the supporting electrolyte for nonpolar solvents.

The estimation of the driving force for photoinduced charge-transfer processes, using the Rehm-Weller equation, requires the employment of redox and spectroscopic quantities describing the participating electron donor and acceptor. Although the spectroscopic data are usually obtained from diluted solutions, the redox potentials are most frequently obtained from electrochemical measurements conducted in concentrated electrolyte solutions. To correct for the differences in the media, in which the various types of measurements are conducted, a term, based on the Born equation for solvation energy of ions, is introduced in the Rehm-Weller equation.

Dependence of the quality of adhesion between poly(dimethylsiloxane) and glass surfaces on the conditions of treatment with oxygen plasma.

Treatment with oxygen-containing plasma is an essential step for the fabrication of devices containing components of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). Such oxidative treatment chemically modifies the surface of PDMS allowing it to permanently adhere to glass, quartz, PDMS and other silica-based substrates. Overexposure of PDMS to oxidative gas plasma, however, compromises its adhesiveness.