Determination of the fracture envelope of an adhesive joint as a function of moisture

Adhesive joints in the transportation industry may be exposed to aggressive environments such as humidity during their service life, which may influence their reliability. This research aims to determine the fracture toughness of aluminium bonded joints under pure mode I, pure mode II and mixed mode I and II loadings in dry and wet condition, with the main purpose to predict the influence of humidity in the toughness properties of an adhesive. It was found that water does influence the fracture mechanics properties, increasing mode I fracture toughness and decreasing mode II fracture toughness.     

Novel Antibacterial and Bioactive Silicate Glass Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

In this work, the authors propose a new quick sol–gel procedure for bioglass nanoparticles production containing 10% mol of silver (AgBGs). These new AgBGs are characterized by Zeta potential analysis, scanning electron microscopy with X‐ray microanalysis (SEM/EDS), X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and microbiological tests to confirm their bioactive and antibacterial properties. SEM shows that the average particle size is less than 200 nm and EDS confirms the successful incorporation of Ag₂O in the bioglass matrix. XRD confirms the amorphous nature of the AgBGs and, after SBF immersion, reveals their bioactive behavior with the presence of crystalline phase of calcium silicate and phosphorus oxide, which are also detected by FTIR analysis. FTIR also confirms the formation of typical siloxane bonds resulting from the condensation of silicate glass. Lastly, it is found that the developed AgBGs has an antibacterial effect against two different types of bacteria, thus demonstrating their ability to reduce the bacterial infection within 16 h.

     

Effect of ultrafiltration on placental‐fetal blood flow in pregnancy of woman undergoing chronic hemodialysis

Introduction: Patient who was undergoing hemodialysis (HD) thrice weekly usually gain 1 to 4 kg of weight in interdialytic period, mainly due to fluid accumulation by ingestion of water. Ultrafiltration (UF) during HD will be need to remove fluid excess to avoid severe medical complications secondary to fluid overload. However, in pregnant woman UF can increase the episodes of intradialytic hypotension which may lead to placental ischemic injury and predispose to fetal distress. There is little information about safe fluid amount withdrawn by UF during pregnancy. Methods: We prospectively study by obstetric Doppler ultrasonography the fluxometric parameters: pulsatility index (PI) and resistance index (RI) of fetal middle cerebral, uterine, and umbilical artery obtained at the beginning and the end of HD session, the acute and chronic effect of UF on placenta and fetus blood flow, as well as the fetal outcome in 1 pregnant woman on chronic HD. Findings: We did not observe any acute harmful effect on fetal middle cerebral, placental and umbilical artery blood flow when UF rate of 2.1 ± 0.04 L (6 < 8 mL/h/kg) during HD session, no significant statistical difference was observed when compared PI and RI before and after UF and also when we compared these data with reference value on normal pregnancy to the same gestational age. Discussion: UF rate of 6 < 8 mL/h/kg during HD did not bring any acute harmful effect on fetal middle cerebral, placental, and umbilical blood flow and the UF rate of 1.4 6 0.4 L (< 6 mL/h/kg) / HD session that was done in all others HD during pregnancy was safe, without any chronic fetal deleterious effect. Obstetric Doppler ultrasonography is a simple and noninvasive method to fetal follow‐up and can aid to determine safe UF rate in pregnant women during gestation.     

Effect of fractional orders in the velocity control of a servo system

The application of fractional-order PID controllers is now an active field of research. This article investigates the effect of fractional (derivative and integral) orders upon system’s performance in the velocity control of a servo system. The servo system consists of a digital servomechanism and an open-architecture software environment for real-time control experiments using MATLAB/Simulink tools. Experimental responses are presented and analyzed, showing the effectiveness of fractional controllers. Comparison with classical PID controllers is also investigated.     

A new method for determining bra size and predicting postaugmentation breast size

The current popular system of determining bra size is inaccurate so often as to be useless. Add to this the many different styles of bras and the lack of standardization between brands, and one can see why finding a comfortable, well-fitting bra is more a matter of educated guesswork, trial, and error than of precise measurements. An improved method of determining cup size by directly measuring the circumference of the breast is presented in this paper. If adopted commercially, this simple method could reduce dramatically the number of women said to be wearing the "wrong-sized bra." The technique has also been found to be an accurate predictor of postoperative breast size in augmentation and reduction surgery, and thus offers plastic surgeons an opportunity to better meet the expectations of women undergoing these procedures.     

The neuro-immuno-cutaneous-endocrine network: relationship of mind and skin

Skin does more than present one's "face" to the world; it plays a vital role in the maintenance of physical and mental health. As our most ancient interface, skin retains the ability to respond to both endogenous and exogenous stimuli, sensing and integrating environmental cues while transmitting intrinsic conditions to the outside world. As such, it has long been a target for the application of both medical and nonmedical therapies of healthy and diseased states. Our understanding of how the skin and topical therapies affect health is in its infancy. Conversely, we known little of how our internal systems affect our skin. By exploring an elaborate web of neuro-immuno-cutaneous-endocrine (NICE) phenomena, we seek to shed light on the generally acknowledged, but inadequately defined, relationship between mental and physical health. We use skin as our window, noting some of the biological mediators linking nervous, immune, cutaneous, and endocrine functions. It is likely that these mediators are important in homeostasis, and that they affect several dermatologic and psychiatric conditions.     

Increasing Reading Comprehension and Engagement Through Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction.

Based on an engagement perspective of reading development, we investigated the extent to which an instructional framework of combining motivation support and strategy instruction (Concept-Oriented Reading Instruction--CORI) influenced reading outcomes for third-grade children. In CORI, five motivational practices were integrated with six cognitive strategies for reading comprehension. In the first study, we compared this framework to an instructional framework emphasizing Strategy Instruction (SI), but not including motivation support. In the second study, we compared CORI to SI and to a traditional instruction group (TI), and used additional measures of major constructs. In both studies, class-level analyses showed that students in CORI classrooms were higher than SI and/or TI students on measures of reading comprehension, reading motivation, and reading strategies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multivariate mixture modeling using skew-normal independent distributions

In this paper we consider a flexible class of models, with elements that are finite mixtures of multivariate skew-normal independent distributions. A general EM-type algorithm is employed for iteratively computing parameter estimates and this is discussed with emphasis on finite mixtures of skew-normal, skew-t, skew-slash and skew-contaminated normal distributions. Further, a general information-based method for approximating the asymptotic covariance matrix of the estimates is also presented. The accuracy of the associated estimates and the efficiency of some information criteria are evaluated via simulation studies. Results obtained from the analysis of artificial and real data sets are reported illustrating the usefulness of the proposed methodology. The proposed EM-type algorithm and methods are implemented in the R package mixsmsn.     

Surgical treatment of the paroxysmal tachycardia in Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome

22 patients with radiolucid stones and functioning gallbladder were grouped to establish ursodeoxycholic acid efficacy (i.e. gallstones dissolution) and innocuousness for gallbladder lithiasis. Methodological aspects were detailed, the dose determined (8 and 10 mg/k/d.) and the patients evaluated after a six months' treatment. 11 patients received "day-time" doses and the other 11 "overnight" dose. Only 7 subjects turned out to be evaluated for the study of biliary lipids, to the other 15 the development of their gallstones was followed up. Successful gallstone dissolution was achieved in 8 patients (53,3%), 2 reduced size and number. 5 out of these 8 patients received "day-time" doses and the other 3 "overnight" doses. From an attendance point of view, we do not consider biliary lipids study (bile cholesterol saturation rate) to be necessary.