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- Aim: Experimental materials incorporating fiberglass cloth were used to develop a thin and lightweight face guard (FG). This study aims to evaluate the effect of fiberglass reinforcement on the flexural and shock absorption properties compared with conventional thermoplastic materials. Material and Method: Four commercial 3.2-mm and 1.6-mm medical splint materials (Aquaplast, Polyform, Co-polymer, and Erkodur) and two experimental materials were examined for use in FGs. The experimental materials were prepared by embedding two or four sheets of a plain woven fiberglass cloth on both surfaces of 1.5-mm Aquaplast. The flexural strength and flexural modulus were determined using a three-point bending test. The shock absorption properties were evaluated for a 5200-N impact load using the first peak intensity with a load cell system and the maximum stress with a film sensor system. Results and Conclusions: The flexural strength (74.6 MPa) and flexural modulus (6.3 GPa) of the experimental material with four sheets were significantly greater than those of the 3.2-mm commercial specimens, except for the flexural strength of one product. The first peak intensity (515 N) and maximum stress (2.2 MPa) of the experimental material with four sheets were significantly lower than those of the commercial 3.2-mm specimens, except for one product for each property. These results suggest that the thickness and weight of the FG can be reduced using the experimental fiber-reinforced material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crystalline nanoparticles of barium titanate (BT) are incorporated into polyimide (PI) to fabricate highly refractive, anti-UV-degradable nanocomposite films with high permittivity and thermal stability. For homogeneous incorporation of BT nanoparticles into the PI matrix, the BT nanoparticles are surface modified by phthalimide with the aid of a silane coupling agent as a scaffold. The PI nanocomposites are prepared by in situ polymerization in which a diphthalic anhydride and a diamine are used to form the PI matrix in the presence of the surface-modified nanoparticles. The refractive index of the transparent nanocomposite films reaches 1.85 at a nanoparticle content of 59 vol% with a high dielectric constant of ε = 37 and thermal stability up to 460 °C. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A 67-year-old male with dilated cardiomyopathy and chronic renal failure who received chronic hemodialysis for 9 years admitted with pulmonary edema. Three days after admission, electrocardiogram showed transient prolongation of QT interval which was followed by macroscopic T wave alternans (TWA) and ventricular fibrillation (VF). Temporary pacing from right ventricular apex suppressed TWA and VF effectively. Combined cardiac resynchronization therapy and implantable cardioverter defibrillator device was implanted for the secondary prevention of VF. Both prolongation of QT interval and TWA disappeared for 10 days after therapy and no arrhythmic event occurred since then. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a proposal for infrared ray emission computed tomography (IRECT). This is a method for visualizing the two-dimensional physical quantum distributions (e.g., temperature, concentration) on an arbitrary transaxial layer of an object by calculating the infrared radiation intensity emitted from the object as the projection data. To verify the usefulness of this method, an experimental system with pyroelectric detector is developed for measuring flame temperature distribution and this system is applied to a Bunsen flame. The experiments yield good images of thermic intensity distribution in the cross section of the flame. In addition, the usefulness of this method in measuring temperature distribution is confirmed by comparing the results with thermocouple probe measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]