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Magnesium alloys are increasingly accepted in automobile industry owing to their greater strength-to-weight ratio. These qualities lead to less vehicle weight and better fuel economy. Therefore, in the present work an effort has been made to develop a new Mg alloy system that exhibits greater ductility together with greater mechanical strength. Misch metal is added in Mg-based alloys to investigate the changes in mechanical properties. The microstructure of alloys Mg–4Al–3Zn–3Sn–3Pb (H1) and Mg–4Al–3Zn–3Sn–3Pb–0.5MM (H2) are dendritic in nature while for Mg–3Zn–3Sn–3Pb–2Si (H3) the “Chinese script” Mg2Si intermetallic structure was obtained. The ultimate tensile strength and elongation of Mg–4Al–3Zn–3Sn–3Pb–0.5MM (H2) alloy are about 40% and 100 % higher than that of H3 alloy. The ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, and percentage elongation of H2 alloy are 170 MPa, 44 MPa, and 3.4%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, porous titanium based composite has been developed by powder metallurgy route using cenosphere and sodium chloride (NaCl) as space holders. The effect of cenosphere particle size and sintering parameters on density, microstructure, wear and corrosion resistance has been studied. The microstructure of the composite consists of uniform distribution of cenosphere in α-Ti matrix with the presence of few TiO2 and SiO2 phases. The density of the composites varies from 1331 to 1812 kg m− 3. The kinetics and mechanism of fretting wear against hardened steel ball (at an oscillation frequency of 10 Hz) as a function of applied load (5 and 10 N) have been studied. There is a significant reduction in coefficient of friction in porous composite as compared to that of pure titanium. There is improvement in corrosion resistance in porous titanium composites as compared to as received titanium in 3.56 wt-% NaCl solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present investigation, the effect of copper and nickel coating on the steel fibre and alloying addition on fibre distribution in Al, Al-2Mg and Al-4Cu alloy matrix composites was investigated experimentally. Short steel fibres reinforced composites were prepared through stir casting process and cast into a cast iron dies. An attempt is made in this study to establish the trend between processing parameters such as coating on the fibre and alloying addition with microstructure, density and hardness of composites. Fibre distribution in the cast composite along longitudinal and transverse direction was determined by sectioning several locations and microstructure, density and hardness investigation techniques. The results revealed that coating on the fibre and alloying addition influenced the fibre distribution in composites. The regions close to the top, bottom and the boundary wall were determined as the fibre segregation areas. Microstructure observation revealed that variation in fibre volume fraction was less in the case of copper coated fibre reinforced composite. Also Al-2Mg base composites reduced the variation of fibre volume fraction. The density and hardness value followed a similar pattern. Density and hardness values were higher at the top, near the side wall and bottom of the plate. Alloying with copper and coating with nickel increased the variation of hardness and density. Copper coating on the fibres as well as alloying with magnesium reduced the variation in fibre distribution. The more uniform fibre distribution was achieved in case of copper coated fibre reinforced composite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work commercially pure Al, Al–2Mg and Al–4Cu alloy base short steel fibre reinforced composites were prepared by vortex method, and poured into cast iron mould. The steel fibres were coated with copper and nickel by electroless deposition techniques to avoid intermetallic formation and improve wettability. The microstructure observation revealed almost uniform fibre distribution with random orientation in matrixes. Density and hardness increased with addition of short steel fibres. Density measurement shows some interesting aspect on the influence of the coating. Coating with copper gives the best fibre distribution among composites with minimum porosity. Mg addition gives better fibre distribution because it reduced surface energy of steel fibre. Alloying element such as copper addition to the matrix improved hardness but increased porosity. The mechanical properties of these composites were measured and the results were correlated with the observed microstructure; the copper coated short steel fibre reinforced composites showed maximum improvement in strength with good ductility. Fracture surface of tensile specimen was examined under SEM, which revealed fracture mechanism dominated by dimple formation and fibre pull-out. Copper coating on steel fibre improved mechanical properties owing to better interface bonding. Mg and copper addition to the matrix helps to improve strength of different fibre reinforced composites with reduce ductility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We sought to determine current practice in the diagnosis and management of chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CPPS) in genitourinary medicine departments in the UK, using a detailed questionnaire survey. Evaluable responses were received from 147 (69%) clinics. Seventy-nine (54%) clinics reported seeing >10 new CPPS patients per year. A broad range of investigations was reported to be used in the diagnosis of CPPS. Whilst 89 (61%) clinics reported using the four-glass test in diagnosis, 46 (32%) reported using the test in >90% of patients with CPPS, and 42 (29%) reported never using the test. In the treatment, doxycycline or ciprofloxacin were reported to be first line treatment by 98% clinics, mostly in 4-6 week courses; however, great variation was recorded in second-line choices and use of non-antibiotic approaches. This survey demonstrates that patients with CPPS are regularly diagnosed and managed in genitourinary clinics in the UK, with wide variations in diagnostic and treatment practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study istogainan understanding of the services available tosubjectsof sexual assault at genitourinary medicine (GU medicine) clinics throughout the United Kingdom, and to determinewhether these services are adequate. By means of a questionnaire, consultants in 106 clinics provided information on the number of patients who reported sexual assault and the services available to them. The study found a marked regional variation in attendances by subjects of sexual assault. However, only a minority of clinics kept accurate data (36.7% regarding female victims and 37.75% regarding male victims). The number of subjects who were aged under 16 years was disproportionately high (under 16s: 6.9% of female victims and 1.2% male victims; 16 and over: 1.3% of female victims and 0.14% of male victims). This survey highlights deficiencies in services that need to be addressed by clinics, management and the speciality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our aim was to determine the value of cervical cytology for sexually-active teenagers attending genitourinary medicine (GUM) clinics. This is a retrospective review of 57,093 women who had cervical cytology reported at the Royal Bolton Hospital (RBH) during the period 1 April 1994 to 31 March 1996. The results were subdivided into 2 age groups; < or = 19 years and > or = 20 years. Cervical cytology abnormalities within each age group were analysed and compared with the national figures for cervical cytology screening. The results were also subdivided according to their source of referral; general practitioners (GP), GUM and gynaecology. The data from each group were analysed in the same manner as before. The results of the cervical cytology screening from the RBH for major cytological abnormalities (moderate dyskaryosis and above), for the 2 age groups, were comparable and not significantly different (2.1% for each age group, P=0.909) and these figures were within the range of the national figures for cervical cytology screening (1.1%-3.4%). Subdivision of the data by source of referral demonstrated that the percentage of major abnormalities in smears performed at GUM clinics was higher than the national figure for all age groups (41/1000 for the younger age group and 37/1000 for the older age group, 12/1000 for the national figures). In conclusion, cervical cytology screening should be offered to sexually-active teenagers attending GUM clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article provides information on the case regarding an annular erythema associated with genital herpes. Initial findings indicated that the viral swab from the genital ulcer which was sent for herpes simplex virus (HSV) culture and dark ground microscopy was positive for HSV-2 and dark ground was negative. On the other hand, syphilis serology, autoantibody screening, and midstream urine culture were negative. Moreover, skin biopsy was performed which indicated that the epidermis appeared normal and there were no keratinocyte necrosis.

The present study documents the first systematic assessment of a brothel in Bangladesh in terms of sexually transmitted disease (STD) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). A cross sectional study was undertaken on brothel-based commercial sex workers (CSWs) selected systematic random sampling to assess the prevalence of STDs and HIV among CSWs in a brothel setting. Two hundred and ninety-six CSWs were selected from a brothel with a population of 593 women. Following informed consent, endocervical and blood samples were obtained for the diagnosis of genital chlamydia, gonorrhoea, HIV and syphilis respectively. In addition, another 170 consecutive blood samples were collected from the total CSW population for HIV tests. All blood samples for HIV testing were made anonymous by removing patient identifiers before testing. Endocervical specimens were tested by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for the diagnosis of genital chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Syphilis and HIV infections were diagnosed by serology. One hundred and sixty-nine (57.1%) of the women were Treponema pallidum haemagglutination (TPHA)-positive, 20 (6.8%) of the women were Venereal Disease Research Laboratory (VDRL)-positive at a greater than 1:8 dilution. Eighty-two (28%) of the women were found to be infected either by gonorrhoea or chlamydia. No HIV antibody was found in any of the 466 blood samples. A high prevalence of STDs and low prevalence of HIV in the CSWs in Bangladesh suggest potential for the rapid spread of HIV once it is introduced in this high-risk population. The opportunity to control STD and HIV infection in this population should not be missed, in order to prevent a large epidemic in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]