Biofouling is detrimental to the hydrodynamic performance of ships. In spite of advances in hull coating technology, a ship must usually undergo underwater hull cleaning to remove biofouling during her in-service time. However, some cleaning practices may also lead to decreased lifetime of the fouling-control coating. Therefore, cleaning forces should be minimized, according to the adhesion strength of marine organisms present on the hull. In this article, values of adhesion strength found in available literature are discussed in the light of current knowledge on hull cleaning technology. Finally, the following knowledge gaps are identified: (1) data on adhesion strength of naturally-occurring biofouling communities are practically absent; (2) shear forces imparted by current cleaning devices on low-form fouling (microfouling) and corresponding effects on hull coatings are largely unknown. This knowledge would be valuable for both developers and users of cleaning technology.
BackgroundPsychological assessment is not commonly performed nor easily accepted by coloproctological patients. Our aim was to evaluate the psychological component of coloproctological disorders using uncommon tools.MethodsThe 21-Item Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale and the Pescatori projective test were applied to coloproctological outpatients of the Gastroenterology Department of our hospital as well as to healthy volunteers.ResultsSeventy patients (median age 47 years, 22 male) divided in 4 groups (functional constipation, constipated irritable bowel syndrome, benign anorectal disease and perianal Crohn’s disease) and 52 healthy volunteers (age 45 years, 18 male) completed the tests. Proctological patients showed higher scores of depression (P<0.001), anxiety (P<0.001), and stress (P<0.001) compared to healthy participants. Compared to the control group, patients with functional constipation, irritable bowel syndrome and perianal Crohn’s disease maintained the highest scores in all subscales (P<0.05), while patients with benign anorectal disease only had higher anxiety and stress (P<0.001) scores. The patients’ also showed lower scores in the Pescatori projective test (P=0.012). A weak association between the projective test and the depression subscale was found (P=0.05).ConclusionProctological patients had higher scores of depression, anxiety and stress and lower scores in the Pescatori projective test compared to healthy controls.
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