Advanced materials, such as high abrasion resistant cast iron, have great applications for abrasive and erosive environments. Since the amount and the hardness of the microstructural carbides constituents in this material is extremely high, the abrasion-resistance cast iron is generally difficult to be machined with traditional cemented carbide tool. The hard and abrasive particles in this materia

The concept of willow vegetation filters for the treatment of nutrient-rich wastewater has the potential to address two of our most serious environmental problems today -water pollution and climate change- in a cost-efficient way. Despite several benefits, including high treatment efficiency, increased biomass yields, improved energy and resource efficiency, and cost savings, willow vegetation fil

Introduction. There are few published guidelines for the management of sexual dysfunctions in men and women, despite the prevalence and lack of attention to these problems. Disorders of sexual function in men include erectile dysfunction, orgasm/ejaculation disorders, priapism, and Peyronie's disease. Aim. To provide evidence-based and expert-opinion consensus guidelines for the clinical managemen

From a historical perspective, personal pronouns in Romance languages display a tendency to undergo changes in syntactic status in a particular order, namely; strong > weak > clitic. This paper discusses the possible reasons behind the final step of this sequence of development, i.e. that from a weak form to clitic status. It will be argued that the external trigger for this kind of diachronic cha

The interaction of aqueous U(VI) with galena and pyrite surfaces under anoxic conditions has been studied by solution analysis and by spectroscopic methods. The solution data indicate that uranyl uptake is strongly dependent on pH; maximum uptake (>98%) occurs above a pH range of between 4.8 and 5.5, depending on experimental conditions. Increasing the sorbate/sorbent ratio results in a relative d

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the dominant pathogen causing chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). After an initial phase characterized by intermittent colonizations, a chronic infection is established upon conversion of P. aeruginosa from the non-mucoid to the mucoid, alginate-overproducing phenotype. During the chronic infection the isolation of both mucoid and non-mucoid iso

To clarify the role of metabolic factors in endometrial carcinogenesis, we conducted a case-control study nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC), and examined the relation between prediagnostic plasma lipids, lipoproteins, and glucose, the metabolic syndrome (MetS; a cluster of metabolic factors) and endometrial cancer risk. Among pre- and postmenopau

Force feedback control is necessary for accurate force control in robotic manipulators and, thus far, wrist force/torque (F/T) sensors have been used. An important problem arises when only these types of sensors are used. In a dynamic situation where the manipulator moves in either free or constrained space, the interaction forces and moments at the contact point and also the non-contact ones are

The quality of cervical histopathology is critical to cervical cancer prevention, cancer treatment, and research programs. On the basis of the histology results further patient management is determined. However, the diagnostic interpretation of histologic hematoxylin-eosin (H&E)-stained slides is affected by substantial rates of discordance among pathologists. Overexpression of the cyclin-depe

Vincristine is a key drug in the treatment of childhood and adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), and many other childhood malignancies. Despite decades of wide clinical use, no data on the correlation between vincristine pharmacokinetics and long-term clinical outcome have been published. We here report clinical data (median follow-up time 10.5 years, range 7.3-12 years) for 86 children with

Common naturally occurring polymorphisms have been identified in the coding regions of the alpha(1A)-, alpha(2B)-, beta(1)- and beta(2)-adrenoceptor (AR) genes [alpha(1A)-AR R492C, alpha(2B)-AR insertion/deletion (I/D), beta(1)-AR R389G, beta(2)-AR G16R and beta(2)-AR Q27E] and are associated with modified in vivo and in vitro functionality. We tested their possible effects on the haemodynamic res

This paper addresses the question of bankruptcy and honesty in local contexts, and especially the problem of the bankrupt small businessman in conveying ‘honesty’ to the local community. Studying bankrupt entrepreneurs, the analysis explores a tacit dialogue between the failed businessmen and the small town communities where they live and work. The bankrupts respond to their seemingly mistrustful

Protein kinase C (PKC) plays a prominent role in immune signaling, and the paradigms for isoform selective signaling are beginning to be elucidated. Real-time microscopy was combined with molecular and biochemical approaches to demonstrate a role for PKC-epsilon in Fcgamma receptor (FcgammaR)-dependent phagocytosis. RAW 264.7 macrophages were transfected with GFP-conjugated PKC isoforms, and GFP m

Aseptic loosening of a joint prosthesis is associated with remodelling of bone tissue in the vicinity of the prosthesis. In the present study, we investigated the effects of synovial fluid ( SF) from patients with a loose prosthetic component and periprosthetic osteolysis on osteoclast and osteoblast activities in vitro and made comparisons with the effects of SF from patients with osteoarthritis

Spinel ferrites of the form MgxZn1-xFe2O4 ( x = 0. 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00) were prepared by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) from reactions of iron(III), zinc and magnesium oxides, iron powder and sodium perchlorate. The driving force for the reactions is the oxidation of iron powder. Reactions were carried out in the presence of an external magnetic field of 0.2 or 1.1 T. Reactio