SiC/SiC composites reinforced with 3rd generation SiC fibers (Hi-Nicalon S and Tyranno SA3 fibers) are promising candidates for thermomechanical applications in high technology industries. Both ...composites exhibited a pseudo-ductile mechanical behavior but the HNS/PyC/SiC composite reaches higher failure strains than TSA3/PyC/SiC ones. The mechanical behavior of SiC/SiC composites is linked to the way PyC is bonded to the fiber surface. Analyses have shown that these interactions and the Fiber/Matrix debonding behavior depend strongly on the nature of the carbon on the SiC fiber surface, which is different according to the SiC fiber. In order to understand the mechanism governing the chemical adhesion at the PyC/SiC fiber interface, the formation, the chemistry and the structure of the surface carbon layer were studied. Understanding the origin of this carbon has allowed elucidating the local interaction mechanisms of the studied SiC/SiC composites.
South African artist Irma Stern (1894–1966) is one of the nation's most enigmatic modern figures. Stern held conservative political positions on race even as her subjects openly challenged racism and ...later the apartheid regime. Using paintings, archival research, and new interviews, this book explores how Stern became South Africa's most prolific painter of Black, Jewish, and Colored (mixed-race) life while maintaining controversial positions on race. Through her art, Stern played a crucial role in both the development of modernism in South Africa and in defining modernism as a global movement. Spanning the Boer War to Nazi Germany to apartheid South Africa and into the contemporary #RhodesMustFall movement, Irma Stern's work documents important twentieth-century cultural and political moments. More than fifty years after her death, Stern's legacy challenges assumptions about race, gender roles, and religious identity and how they are represented in art history.
We observed robust coupling between the high- and low-frequency bands of ongoing electrical activity in the human brain. In particular, the phase of the low-frequency theta (4 to 8 hertz) rhythm ...modulates power in the high gamma (80 to 150 hertz) band of the electrocorticogram, with stronger modulation occurring at higher theta amplitudes. Furthermore, different behavioral tasks evoke distinct patterns of theta/high gamma coupling across the cortex. The results indicate that transient coupling between low- and high-frequency brain rhythms coordinates activity in distributed cortical areas, providing a mechanism for effective communication during cognitive processing in humans.
Fever and dyspnea in a 77 year-old man Berger, M; Le Falher, G; Casanova, M-L ...
La revue de medecine interne,
12/2019, Letnik:
40, Številka:
12
Journal Article
Summary Background Paediatric pulmonary hypertension, is an important cause of morbidity and mortality, and is insufficiently characterised in children. The Tracking Outcomes and Practice in ...Pediatric Pulmonary Hypertension (TOPP) registry is a global, prospective study designed to provide information about demographics, treatment, and outcomes in paediatric pulmonary hypertension. Methods Consecutive patients aged 18 years or younger at diagnosis with pulmonary hypertension and increased pulmonary vascular resistance were enrolled in TOPP at 31 centres in 19 countries from Jan 31, 2008, to Feb 15, 2010. Patient and disease characteristics, including age at diagnosis and at enrolment, sex, ethnicity, presenting symptoms, pulmonary hypertension classification, comorbid disorders, medical and family history, haemodynamic indices, and functional class were recorded. Follow-up was decided by the patients' physicians according to the individual's health-care needs. Findings 362 of 456 consecutive patients had confirmed pulmonary hypertension (defined as mean pulmonary artery pressure ≥25 mm Hg, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure ≤12 mm Hg, and pulmonary vascular resistance index ≥3 WU/m−2 ). 317 (88%) patients had pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), which was idiopathic IPAH or familial FPAH in 182 (57%), and associated with other disorders in 135 (43%), of which 115 (85%) cases were associated with congenital heart disease. 42 patients (12%) had pulmonary hypertension associated with respiratory disease or hypoxaemia, with bronchopulmonary dysplasia most frequent. Finally, only three patients had either chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension or miscellaneous causes of pulmonary hypertension. Chromosomal anomalies, mainly trisomy 21, were reported in 47 (13%) of patients with confirmed disease. Median age at diagnosis was 7 years (IQR 3–12); 59% (268 of 456) were female. Although dyspnoea and fatigue were the most frequent symptoms, syncope occurred in 31% (57 of 182) of patients with IPAH or FPAH and in 18% (eight of 45) of those with repaired congenital heart disease; no children with unrepaired congenital systemic-to-pulmonary shunts had syncope. Despite severe pulmonary hypertension, functional class was I or II in 230 of 362 (64%) patients, which is consistent with preserved right-heart function. Interpretation TOPP identifies important clinical features specific to the care of paediatric pulmonary hypertension, which draw attention to the need for paediatric data rather than extrapolation from adult studies. Funding Actelion Pharmaceuticals.
Initiation of cellular DNA replication is tightly controlled to sustain genomic integrity. In eukaryotes, the heterohexameric origin recognition complex (ORC) is essential for coordinating ...replication onset. Here we describe the crystal structure of Drosophila ORC at 3.5 Å resolution, showing that the 270 kilodalton initiator core complex comprises a two-layered notched ring in which a collar of winged-helix domains from the Orc1-5 subunits sits atop a layer of AAA+ (ATPases associated with a variety of cellular activities) folds. Although canonical inter-AAA+ domain interactions exist between four of the six ORC subunits, unanticipated features are also evident. These include highly interdigitated domain-swapping interactions between the winged-helix folds and AAA+ modules of neighbouring protomers, and a quasi-spiral arrangement of DNA binding elements that circumnavigate an approximately 20 Å wide channel in the centre of the complex. Comparative analyses indicate that ORC encircles DNA, using its winged-helix domain face to engage the mini-chromosome maintenance 2-7 (MCM2-7) complex during replicative helicase loading; however, an observed out-of-plane rotation of more than 90° for the Orc1 AAA+ domain disrupts interactions with catalytic amino acids in Orc4, narrowing and sealing off entry into the central channel. Prima facie, our data indicate that Drosophila ORC can switch between active and autoinhibited conformations, suggesting a novel means for cell cycle and/or developmental control of ORC functions.
Cellular DNA replication factories depend on ring-shaped hexameric helicases to aid DNA synthesis by processively unzipping the parental DNA helix. Replicative helicases are loaded onto DNA by ...dedicated initiator, loader, and accessory proteins during the initiation of DNA replication in a tightly regulated, multistep process. We discuss here the molecular choreography of DNA replication initiation across the three domains of life, highlighting similarities and differences in the strategies used to deposit replicative helicases onto DNA and to melt the DNA helix in preparation for replisome assembly. Although initiators and loaders are phylogenetically related, the mechanisms they use for accomplishing similar tasks have diverged considerably and in an unpredictable manner.
This paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the sliding and abrasive wear behaviour of WC–10Co4Cr hardmetal coatings, representative of the existing state-of-the-art. A commercial feedstock ...powder with two different particle size distributions was sprayed onto carbon steel substrates using two HVOF and two HVAF spray processes.
Mild wear rates of <10-7mm3/(Nm) and friction coefficients of ≈0.5 were obtained for all samples in ball-on-disk sliding wear tests at room temperature against Al2O3 counterparts. WC–10Co4Cr coatings definitely outperform a reference electrolytic hard chromium coating under these test conditions. Their wear mechanisms include extrusion and removal of the binder matrix, with the formation of a wavy surface morphology, and brittle cracking. The balance of such phenomena is closely related to intra-lamellar features, and rather independent of those properties (e.g. indentation fracture toughness, elastic modulus) which mainly reflect large-scale inter-lamellar cohesion, as quantitatively confirmed by a principal component analysis. Intra-lamellar dissolution of WC into the matrix indeed increases the incidence of brittle cracking, resulting in slightly higher wear rates. At 400°C, some of the hardmetal coatings fail because of the superposition between tensile residual stresses and thermal expansion mismatch stresses (due to the difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of the steel substrate and of the hardmetal coating). Those which do not fail, on account of lower residual stresses, exhibit higher wear rates than at room temperature, due to oxidation of the WC grains.
The resistance of the coatings against abrasive wear, assessed by dry sand–rubber wheel testing, is related to inter-lamellar cohesion, as proven by a principal component analysis of the collected dataset. Therefore, coatings deposited from coarse feedstock powders suffer higher wear loss than those obtained from fine powders, as brittle inter-lamellar detachment is caused by their weaker interparticle cohesion, witnessed by their systematically lower fracture toughness as well.
•Systematic tribological study of state-of-the-art HVOF and HVAF WC–10Co4Cr coatings•Room temperature sliding: ductile flow vs. brittle fracture balance depends on decarburisation•At 400°C, sliding wear rates increase 10-fold as WC is degraded by oxidation.•Some HVOF coatings fail at 400°C due to combined thermal and residual stresses.•Feedstock powders with small particle size improve intersplat cohesion and abrasion resistance of the coatings.
Constipation is a pediatric problem commonly encountered by many health care workers in primary, secondary, and tertiary care. To assist medical care providers in the evaluation and management of ...children with functional constipation, the North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition and the European Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition were charged with the task of developing a uniform document of evidence-based guidelines.
Nine clinical questions addressing diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic topics were formulated. A systematic literature search was performed from inception to October 2011 using Embase, MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Clinical Trials, and PsychInfo databases. The approach of the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation was applied to evaluate outcomes. For therapeutic questions, quality of evidence was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation system. Grading the quality of evidence for the other questions was performed according to the classification system of the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine. During 3 consensus meetings, all recommendations were discussed and finalized. The group members voted on each recommendation, using the nominal voting technique. Expert opinion was used where no randomized controlled trials were available to support the recommendation.
This evidence-based guideline provides recommendations for the evaluation and treatment of children with functional constipation to standardize and improve their quality of care. In addition, 2 algorithms were developed, one for the infants <6 months of age and the other for older infants and children.
This document is intended to be used in daily practice and as a basis for further clinical research. Large well-designed clinical trials are necessary with regard to diagnostic evaluation and treatment.
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