The alpha-fetoprotein level analysis in open neural tube defects and chromosomal aberrations in the fetus

The effects of 1-hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-bisphosphonate (HEBP) and two Chinese traditional (Kampo) medicines, Dai-saiko-to and Saiko-ka-ryukotsu-borei-to on spontaneous soft tissue (heart and tongue) mineralization in DBA/2NCrj mice were studied. These agents were given orally for 4 weeks to DBA/2NCrj mice. After 2 weeks of administration in the heart, 0.006 and 0.03% (w/v) HEBP decreased calcium content by 90 and 30%, respectively, while 0.27 and 2.7 mg/ml Dai-saiko-to reduced calcium content by 30 and 45%, respectively. Saiko-ka-ryukotsu-borei-to (0.27 mg/ml) reduced both calcium and phosphorus content by 50 and 35%, respectively. However, their inhibitory effects on the heart were not observed after 4 weeks of administration. The compounds delayed the onset of increases of bulk calcium and phosphorus content. In the tongue, at 4 weeks, 0.006 and 0.03% (w/v) HEBP reduced calcium content by 30 and 45%, respectively, while two Kampo medicines (at both concentrations used) significantly reduced the content of calcium (by 27-79%) and phosphorus (by 24-32%). These results strongly suggest that two Kampo medicines as well as HEBP may be useful in preventing and curing soft tissue calcification.     

Inertia-friction welding of SiC-reinforced 8009 aluminium

Inertia-drive friction welding (IFRW) of an 8009 Al alloy (Al-8.5 Fe-1.7 Si-1.3 V, wt%) reinforced with 11 volume per cent SiC particles (8009/SiC/11_p) has been investigated. Inertia-drive friction welds were made with constant energy at two levels of axial force. The microstructures of the base material and the welds were characterized using optical and scanning electron microscopy, while the mechanical properties were evaluated using microhardness and tensile testing. Examination of weld sections revealed that the hot deformation experienced during welding produced a homogenized microstructure with a uniform distribution of SiC particles along the bond line. No evidence of a chemical reaction between the SiC and the matrix was found in any of the welds, but cracking of some of the larger SiC particles was observed in the base material as well as in the IFR welds. The average microhardness of the various heat-and-deformation affected zones (HDZs) of the welds did not vary greatly from that of the base material, and no weld induced weak regions were discerned. The room-temperature (RT) tensile strength of the IFR welds exceeded 90 per cent of the base material. The weld tensile specimens failed at the outer edge of the HDZ for all of the welds tested. The fracture surface of the 8009 matrix of tensile samples for both the base material and the welds exhibited a dimpled appearance indicating a ductile failure, while fracture through the SiC appeared to occur in a brittle fashion. IFRW has proven effective in joining 8009/SiC/11_p with little loss in RT hardness and tensile properties.     

Development of Anticandidal Delivery Systems: (I) Anticandidal Activities of Antifungal Agents and Synergistic Combination with Other Drugs

Susceptibility testing with antifungal agents, e. g., minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination, is performed to obtain reliable data that permit selection of the most suitable agents for treatment of an infective condition. To determine the drugs that provide maximum effectiveness against oral candidiasis, the MICs of various antifungal agents were determined. Also, synergism between two chosen antifungal agents was evaluated, and the effect of benzocaine, an anesthetic, and hydrocortisone, an antiinflammatory agent, on their MICs was examined. It was observed that among all the drugs tested, clotrimazole was the most promising candidate for use as an oral local antifungal. The combination of clotrimazole and chlorhexidine resulted in a decrease in the MIC. While the addition of hydrocortisone to this combination resulted in a slight increase in the MIC, the inclusion of benzocaine resulted in a substantial decrease in the MIC of the antifungal agent combination.     

A unified model for dislocation nucleation, dislocation emission and dislocation free zone

In this paper, a unified model for dislocation nucleation, emission and dislocation free zone is proposed based on the Peierls framework. Three regions are identified ahead of the crack tip. The emitted dislocations, located away from the crack tip in the form of an inverse pileup, define the plastic zone. Between that zone and the cohesive zone immediately ahead of the crack tip, there is a dislocation free zone. With the stress field and the dislocation density field in the cohesive zone and plastic zone being, respectively, expressed in the first and second Chebyshev polynomial series, and the opening and slip displacements in trigonometric series, a set of nonlinear algebraic equations can be obtained and solved with the Newton-Raphson Method. The results of calculations for pure shearing and combined tension and shear loading after dislocation emission are given in detail. An approximate treatment of the dynamic effects of the dislocation emission is also developed in this paper, and the calculation results are in good agreement with those of molecular dynamics simulations.Presented at the Far East Fracture Group (FEFG) International Symposium on Fracture and Strength of Solids, 4–7 July 1994 in Xi'an, China.     

Sterilization of heparinized Cuprophan hemodialysis membranes

The effects of sterilization of dry heparinized Cuprophan hemodialysis membranes by means of ethylene oxide (EtO) exposure, gamma irradiation, or steam on the anticoagulant activity and chemical characteristics of immobilized heparin and the permeability of the membrane were investigated. Sterilization did not result in a release of heparin or heparin fragments from heparinized Cuprophan. Sterilization of heparinized Cuprophan by means of EtO exposure and gamma irradiation induced a slight, insignificant decrease of the anticoagulant activity. In contrast, steam-sterilized heparinized Cuprophan showed a higher anticoagulant activity than unsterilized heparinized Cuprophan, which was most likely caused by cleavage of some of the covalent bonds between heparin and Cupropha. The effects of sterilization on the permeability of unmodified Cuprophan and heparinized Cuprophan were compared. The permeability of unmodified Cuprophan for vitamin B₁₂ (Vit B₁₂) and sulfobromophthalein (SBP) was reduced by 20–35% after EtO exposure and gamma irradiation and was reduced by 90–95% after steam sterilization. The water permeability of unmodified Cuprophan remained the same after EtO exposure and gamma irradiation but also dramatically reduced after steam sterilization. These reductions were ascribed to the collapse of pores of the membrane. The permeability of heparinized Cuprophan was not affected by EtO exposure and gamma irradiation but dramatically reduced after steam sterilization, although to a lesser extent than in the case of unmodified Cuprophan. Apparently, the presence of immobilized heparin (partially) prevented the collapse of pores during sterilization. Gamma irradiation was recommended as the preferred method of sterilization for heparinized Cuprophan.     

Recent developments in the extrusion of helical gears

With an improved die, a method for manufacturing gears by means of tube extrusion has been developed to a stage where, without noticeable wear of the die, 40,000 workpieces can be manufactured. The paper presents a numerical analysis of the stresses and deflection of the die, offering also a comparison between the modified and the conventional symmetric orifice. Based on the results obtained and using recent work on crack prediction for extrusion dies, the area most prone to rupture is determined. Moreover, a concept for the precorrection of the die is offered to improve the tooth quality of the gears.     

Responses of practicing psychologists to a web site developed to promote empirically supported treatments.

Increased adoption of empirically supported treatments (ESTs) has been hindered in part by inadequate and inconvenient access to EST information and training. To improve diffusion of ESTs, the authors developed a Web application to provide practitioners with concise information by disorder on ESTs. The resulting site, therapyadvisor.com, was evaluated by 239 practicing psychologists to assess the usefulness of the site and explore possible interactions of EST attitudes on ratings of usefulness and impact. Two thirds of participants indicated using ESTs in practice, and limited time and resources were cited as primary barriers to EST adoption. The Web application was rated positively by most participants and was reported to increase awareness of and commitment to try ESTs among approximately 60% of participants. The results of this project support the feasibility of a Web application to increase diffusion and promote further adoption of ESTs. Technological and e-learning advances are promising directions for encouraging the adoption of ESTs specifically and evidence-based practice generally, particularly among busy practitioners who have inadequate time and resources for more traditional forms of dissemination and training. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Post-Supervised Template Induction for Information Extraction from Lists and Tables in Dynamic Web Sources

Dynamic web sites commonly return information in the form of lists and tables. Although hand crafting an extraction program for a specific template is time-consuming but straightforward, it is desirable to automatically generate template extraction programs from examples of lists and tables in html documents. Supervised approaches have been shown to achieve high accuracy, but they require manual labelling of training examples, which is also time consuming. Fully unsupervised approaches, which extract rows and columns by detecting regularities in the data, cannot provide sufficient accuracy for practical domains. We describe a novel technique, Post-supervised Learning, which exploits unsupervised learning to avoid the need for training examples, while minimally involving the user to achieve high accuracy. We have developed unsupervised algorithms to extract the number of rows and adopted a dynamic programming algorithm for extracting columns. Our method achieves high performance with minimal user input compared to fully supervised techniques.