Fire performance of external wall claddings under a performance-based building code

New Zealand Building Code Performance requirements relating to fire performance of external walls are considered and methods of evaluating the potential for vertical fire spread are discussed. Classifying external wall claddings on the basis of performance in the ‘combustibility’ test has proved overly restrictive where some external cladding materials are concerned. Performance criteria based on heat relase or ‘degree of combustibility’ are proposed and they seem to provide a better classification scheme for external wall cladding materials. Heat release test data for ten different external wall cladding materials are presented.     

The thiazide-sensitive Na-Cl cotransporter is an aldosterone-induced protein

Although the collecting duct is regarded as the primary site at which mineralocorticoids regulate renal sodium transport in the kidney, recent evidence points to the distal convoluted tubule as a possible site of mineralocorticoid action. To investigate whether mineralocorticoids regulate the expression of the thiazide-sensitive Na-Cl cotransporter (TSC), the chief apical sodium entry pathway of distal convoluted tubule cells, we prepared an affinity-purified, peptide-directed antibody to TSC. On immunoblots, the antibody recognized a prominent 165-kDa band in membrane fractions from the renal cortex but not from the renal medulla. Immunofluorescence immunocytochemistry showed TSC labeling only in distal convoluted tubule cells. Semiquantitative immunoblotting studies demonstrated a large increase in TSC expression in the renal cortex of rats on a low-NaCl diet (207 +/- 21% of control diet). Immunofluorescence localization in tissue sections confirmed the strong increase in TSC expression. Treatment of rats for 10 days with a continuous subcutaneous infusion of aldosterone also increased TSC expression (380 +/- 58% of controls). Furthermore, 7-day treatment of rats with an orally administered mineralocorticoid, fludrocortisone, increased TSC expression (656 +/- 114% of controls). We conclude that the distal convoluted tubule is an important site of action of the mineralocorticoid aldosterone, which strongly up-regulates the expression of TSC.     

Architecture for integrated telecommunication management platforms

Telecommunication management network (TMN) systems represent diverse telecommunication domains with wide-ranging functionality which frequently employ different technologies and produce isolated solutions. Yet as telecommunications become more sophisticated, there is a growing need for telecommunication management integration and interoperability. The authors present a general TMN computing-platform architecture which is flexible and powerful enough to support contrasting TMN management applications while facilitating integration. To validate the architecture, three diverse management applications were profiled based on components of the TMN platform architecture. Core infrastructure components, required by a broad range of TMN applications, are identified and examined and TMN-specific technology is highlighted     

Technology of biscuit manufacture: Investigation of the role of fermentation in the manufacture of cream crackers

It has been shown that satisfactory cream crackers can be made, both in a pilot bakery and on commercial cracker plants, from doughs which have been mechanically developed to about 5 Wh/lb

1 Throughout this paper 1 lb = 0.454 kg.

and subsequently fermented for 30 min at 100°F (37.8°C). Evidence is presented to support the suggestion that the amount of separation of the laminations during the baking of cream cracker doughs is related to the rate at which carbon dioxide is being produced in the dough at the end of the fermentation process. Taste panels were unable to distinguish between crackers made from doughs prepared by long and short fermentation procedures.     

Flour properties and the manufacture of semi sweet biscuits

The results of laboratory and baking tests applied to 48 commercial flour samples, produced during six growing seasons, have been examined in an attempt to determine methods of predicting the behaviour of flour in making semi sweet biscuits from the results of the laboratory tests. The laboratory tests examined were found to be of limited value for this purpose. The most important single property was the protein content of the flour, which should be within the range 7.5 to 10%, if biscuits of acceptable appearance and eating quality are to be obtained. Comparison of the results of the present investigation with those published some 20 years ago^{1, 2} shows that marked changes have occurred during the intervening years in the properties of flours considered suitable for the manufacture of semi sweet biscuits. It is suggested that, within the range of flour protein content mentioned above, process control is more important than flour properties in the manufacture of this type of biscuit.     

Agranulocytosis secondary to methimazole therapy: report of two cases

Seventy-three cases of thyrotoxicosis were treated at Lloyd Noland Hospital with methimazole, propylthiouracil or both. Two cases of agranulocytosis occurred (2.7%) secondary to methimazole. Both responded to hospitalization, reverse isolation, and antibiotic coverage with complete recovery of the peripheral blood picture. The toxicity of methimazole is noted. The need for careful monitoring of blood counts during therapy and immediate discontinuance of the drug at the first clinical sign of granulocytopenia is stressed.