Microstructure and mechanical properties relations for green bodies compacted from spray dried granules

Alumina granules from three binder systems were spray dried and pressed into bars at varied pressure. Granules are classified as strong, medium and weak as to reflect the different amount of poly(vinyl-butyral) binder and liquid paraffin plasticizer used in the binder system. Mechanical properties of the pressed bars were obtained from a four-point bend test and microstructures were examined using scanning electron microscopy SEM. Strengths and fracture toughnesses are found to increase as a function of compaction pressure, while the calculated effective flaw size is independent of the compaction pressure for all three granule types. Microstructural examination of fracture surfaces revealed that samples compacted at high pressure exhibited more transgranular fracture than samples compacted at low pressure. Evidently, higher pressure had increased the intergranular fracture resistance which correspondingly increased the fracture toughness of the pressed bars. For bars pressed from granules, green body strengths and toughnesses are strongly dependent on the cohesion between pressed granules and not on the effective processing flaw size.     

Invasive group A streptococcal disease in Taiwan is not associated with the presence of streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin genes

We reviewed the clinical features of 44 patients with invasive group A streptococcal (GAS) disease who were treated at two teaching hospitals in southern Taiwan from 1991 to 1994. Genes encoding streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin types A (speA), B (speB), C (speC), and F (speF) and serotypes of M1, M6, and M12 were determined by polymerase chain reaction to target specific sequences in the 44 isolates recovered from these patients and in 28 isolates recovered from upper respiratory sites in 28 additional patients during the study period. The protease activity of these isolates was tested by using the casein plate method. Of the 44 patients with invasive diseases, 25 (57%) had no obvious underlying diseases, and 14 (32%) had preexisting neoplastic diseases or had previously used steroids. Twenty-five patients (57%) presented with cellulitis or necrotizing fasciitis, 24 (55%) had bacteremia, and eight (18%) had streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS). Eight patients (18%) died of invasive GAS disease; seven had STSS, and seven had underlying diseases. All eight patients died within 48 hours after hospitalization. The presence of speA, speC, or speF was not implicated in any particular clinical syndrome in patients with invasive GAS disease. High-level protease activity and the M1 serotype of the isolates were significantly associated with the clinical signs of STSS and with mortality. M1 serotype and protease activity, as well as host immune status, might play significant roles in the pathogenesis of invasive GAS disease in Taiwan.     

The effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection on clinical parameters in steady-state bronchiectasis

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection on clinical parameters in Chinese patients with noncystic fibrosis and steady-state bronchiectasis. DESIGN: Prospective, cross-sectional clinicomicrobiological study with informed consent. SETTING: Consecutive outpatient recruitment from a specialist bronchiectasis respiratory clinic. PATIENTS: Outpatients (n = 100; 62 women; 55.1+/-16.7 years old; FEV1/FVC 1.4+/-0.7/2.1+/-0.9 L), who had stable respiratory symptoms for more than 3 weeks. MEASUREMENTS AND RESULTS: Respiratory pathogens isolated from the sputum were: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (33), Haemophilus influenzae (10), Moraxella catarrhalis (2), other Gram-negative bacilli (5), Streptococcus pneumoniae (6), Staphylococcus aureus (5), mycobacteria (3), and yeast (1). Clinical parameters in patients with positive isolation of P aeruginosa were compared with those without the organism in the sputum culture (non-P aeruginosa). In the P aeruginosa group, the FEV1/FVC ratio and sputum volume were lower (p < 0.005) and higher (p < 0.0001), respectively, than those of the non-P aeruginosa group. The FEV1/FVC ratio (< 60%) and sputum volume (grading > 5) were independently associated with a positive sputum isolation of P aeruginosa with odds ratios of 3.1 (confidence interval [CI] 1.2 to 8.4; p < 0.01) and 4.7 (CI 1.6 to 13.3; p < 0.001), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: P aeruginosa is the predominant respiratory pathogen isolated in the sputum of Chinese patients with steady-state bronchiectasis, and its isolation is associated with high sputum output (> or = 75th quartile) and moderately severe airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC < 60%).     

Decreased drug accumulation without increased drug efflux in a novel MRP-overexpressing multidrug-resistant cell line

KB/7D cells represent a multidrug-resistant subclone of human nasopharyngeal carcinoma KB cells generated by continuous exposure to the topoisomerase II inhibitor VP-16 (etoposide). KB/7D cells also show cross-resistance to doxorubicin and vincristine. Phenotypic traits of the cell line include a 2-fold decrease in topoisomerase II levels and a decrease in the uptake of VP-16 without an increase in the rate of drug efflux or expression of P-glycoprotein, suggesting a novel mechanism associated with the uptake of anticancer drugs. This study demonstrated that the multidrug-resistance associated protein (MRP) is overexpressed in KB/7D cells, and that the loss of resistance in revertant cells correlates with the loss of MRP. The resistance to VP-16 and doxorubicin could be overcome, partially, and resistance to vincristine could be overcome completely, by the L-enantiomer of verapamil, but not by the D-enantiomer or by BIBW 22 (4-[N-(2-hydroxy-2-methyl-propyl)-ethanolamino]-2,7-bis[cis-2,6-++ +dimethylmorpholino)-6-phenylpteridin), an inhibitor of MDR-1. L-Verapamil was shown to be significantly more potent than D-verapamil in modulating the accumulation defect in KB/7D cells towards doxorubicin, as measured by flow cytometry and confocal microscopy, and towards VP-16, as measured by increases in protein-linked DNA strand breaks. This suggests that KB/7D cells are multidrug resistant due to decreases in topoisomerase II levels and the overexpression of MRP, that MRP leads to a decrease in drug accumulation, and that L-verapamil can modulate the MRP-associated accumulation defect and drug-resistance phenotype. This contrasts with previous studies that suggest that MRP causes multidrug resistance by exporting cytotoxic drugs out of the cell and that did not show modulation of MRP by verapamil.     

Delaminations at the free edge of a composite laminate

The concept of a fracture process zone where damage takes place is used to analyse the delaminations at the free edges of angle ply laminates under uniaxial tension. The use of a fracture process zone removes the singularity in the interlaminar stresses and enables the initiation and growth of delaminations to be modelled for a perfect laminate without any assumed prior defects. Two different models for the stress displacement relationship in the fracture process zone are examined: a constant stress up to critical displacement and a linear relationship. Finite element analysis shows that there is little difference in the predictions obtained from the two models. An approximate analysis is presented for the constant stress stress-displacement model which is shown to agree with a finite element solution and experimental data. Hence it is argued that the approximate method using a constant stress model for the fracture process zone is sufficient for accurate prediction of delaminations.     

Positive state‐bounding observer for positive interval continuous‐time systems with time delay

This paper is concerned with the problem of positive observer synthesis for positive systems with both interval parameter uncertainties and time delay. Conventional observers may no longer be applicable for such kind of systems due to the positivity constraint on the observers, and they only provide an estimate of the system state in an asymptotic way. A pair of positive observers with state‐bounding feature is proposed to estimate the state of positive systems at all times in this paper. A necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of desired observers is first established, and the observer matrices can be obtained easily through the solutions of a set of linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). Then, to reduce the error signal between the system state and its estimates, an iterative LMI algorithm is developed to compute the optimized state‐bounding observer matrices. Finally, a numerical example is presented to show the effectiveness and applicability of the theoretical results. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fast full‐color reflective display via photoluminescent enhancement

Reflective displays are advantageous in applications requiring low power or daylight readability. However, there are no low‐cost reflective technologies capable of displaying bright colors. By employing photoluminescence to more efficiently use ambient light, we created a prototype display that provides bright, full color in a simple, low‐cost architecture. This prototype includes a novel electrokinetic shutter, a layer that incorporates patterned luminescent red, green, and blue sub‐pixel elements, and a novel optical out‐coupling scheme. The luminescent elements convert otherwise‐wasted portions of the incident spectrum to light in the desired color band, resulting in improved color saturation and lightness. This prototype provides a color gamut that is superior to competing reflective display technologies that utilize color filters in single‐layer side‐by‐side sub‐pixel architectures. The current prototype is capable of switching in <0.5 s; future displays based on an alternative electro‐optic shutter technology should achieve video rate operation. A transflective version of this technology has also been prototyped. The transflective version utilizes its backlight with a power efficiency that is at least three times that of a conventional liquid crystal display. These photoluminescence‐based technologies enable a host of applications ranging from low‐power mobile products and retail pricing signage to daylight readable signage for outdoor advertising segments.