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This paper reports on the results of experimental studies on the durability of intumescent coating for steel frames. Intumescent coatings are fireproof materials that provide the thermal insulation of steel structures. They start to foam when the surface temperature reaches about 300 [degrees] C by heating and form a layer of carbonaceous char 25 to 50 times thicker than at room temperature. However, their durability or long-term fireproofing is not clear. Preliminary accelerated tests and small-scale heat tests were conducted, and it was found that water is the principal environmental factor that affects the durability of intumescent coatings. Another series of accelerated tests and exposure tests was then performed mainly for water resistance. The fire resistance of specimens after degradation was verified in full-scale heat tests. As a result of these tests, a new testing method was proposed for evaluating the durability of intumescent coatings by considering the high-temperature and high-humidity weather conditions of Japan.

A seven-year-old boy with enamel-dentin fractures on both maxillary central incisors presented to the Piracicaba Dental School-UNICAMP seven days after the trauma. At the clinical evaluation, there were no clinical signs of pulp exposure, neither tooth was mobile, and both affected teeth presented a positive response to sensitivity tests and a negative response for percussion and palpation. The radiographic examination showed an undeveloped root and opened apex for both teeth. Indirect pulp capping was performed on the left maxillary central incisor, followed by a direct restoration. After one month, the patient complained of pain in the left central incisor, which responded negatively to sensitivity testing. Pulp revascularization was performed only on this tooth and was followed for 18 months. During this period, the left maxillary central incisor did not recover sensitivity, although radiographic examination showed apical closure, a slight increase in root length, and the formation of a mineralized barrier between the root canal and sealing material. The technique achieved its goal of restoring biological aspects, function, and esthetics of traumatized teeth when using this multidisciplinary approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE: The aim of the present prospective study was to compare material-related complications using biodegradable and titanium miniplates after bilateral sagittal split mandibular setback surgery. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The subjects included 200 Japanese adults (67 men and 133 women, age range 18 to 45 years) with jaw deformities diagnosed as mandibular prognathism. All patients were prospectively and consecutively randomized to 2 study groups, receiving biodegradable or titanium fixation plates. Of the 200 patients, 110 underwent bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy with a biodegradable fixation plate and 90 underwent bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy with a titanium metal plate. The clinical records and radiologic findings of the patients were reviewed, and the incidence of material-related complications was compared. RESULTS: The incidence of postoperative complications and breakage in the biodegradable group was 8.2% (9 cases) and in the titanium group was 3.3% (3 cases). No statistically significant difference in the incidence of complications was found between the 2 groups. Fractures of the biodegradable plate occurred at a significantly greater frequency in patients with asymmetry than in patients without asymmetry. CONCLUSION: Biodegradable plates were reliable with minimal material-related complications. However, the use of biodegradable plates should be recommended for minimally loaded situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report lattice QCD results of scattering amplitudes of πK system for both channles. The lattice simulations are made in the quenched approximation at on a lattice. The hopping parameters of and are used. A clear difference of energy shift is found between I=3/2 and I=1/2 channels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The developmental stages of and places for the proliferation of tongue muscle cells have not yet been determined. To determine the stages of and places for proliferation between embryonic day (E) 9 and birth, we analyzed the expression of cyclin D1 mRNA and the immunolocalization for proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA). The ratio of PCNA-positive nuclei to total nuclei (PCNA-labeling index) was obtained in the anterior, middle, and posterior regions. Cyclin D1 mRNA was highly expressed between E11 and E13, but decreased thereafter until birth. The distribution of PCNA-positive cell nuclei was consistent with that of myogenic cells in the occipital somites at E9. The PCNA-labeling index was highest at E11, then decreased until birth without a significant difference among the 3 regions. These findings suggest that some tongue muscle progenitor cells begin proliferation in the occipital somites at E9, and that the proliferation in the whole tongue region occurred most actively between E11 and E13, then decreased until birth without regional differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The fatigue fracture surfaces of specimens of heat treated hard steels which failed in the regime of N = 10 5 to 5 × 10 8 cycles, were investigated by optical microscopy and SEM. Specimens having a longer fatigue life had a particular morphology beside the inclusion at the fracture origin. The particular morphology looked optically dark and in the previous paper it was named the Optically Dark Area, ODA. The roughness inside ODA is larger than outside ODA. The relative size of the ODA to the size of the inclusion at the fracture origin increases with increase in fatigue life. Thus, the ODA is considered to have a crucial role in the mechanism of ultra long life fatigue failure. Direct evidences of existence of hydrogen at the inclusion at fracture origin are presented. It is presumed that the ODA is made by the cyclic stress coupled with the hydrogen which is trapped by the inclusion at the fracture origin. To verify the influence of hydrogen, specimens containing different levels of hydrogen were prepared by different heat treatments. The results obtained by fatigue tests of these specimens suggest that the hydrogen trapped by inclusions is a crucial factor which causes the ultra long fatigue failure of high strength steels. Aspects of the double S–N curve are also discussed in terms of experimental methods, specimen size and statistical distribution of inclusions sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Endometriosis is a complex gynecologic disorder that may display features similar to malignancy, including aggressive growth and localized invasion of the myometrium or spread to various organs outside the uterus. Molecular studies of cancer have demonstrated that genomic instability involving chromosome 17 plays a role in the development and progression of various tumor types. These involve gain and/or loss, deletions, and mutations of candidate tumor suppressor genes (eg, BRCA1 and p53 ) on chromosome 17.Study Design: We used a 2-color fluorescence in situ hybridization method for analysis of endometriotic and normal archival tissue. Centromere-specific and locus-specific p53 probes localized to chromosome 17 were selected to study 8 patients with late-stage (severe) endometriosis. Single cells localized to endometriotic lesions or normal endometrial glands were analyzed and identified as normal or abnormal on the basis of the distribution of fluorescence in situ hybridization signals.Results: Overall, chromosome 17 aneuploidy was significantly greater (P <.05) in the endometriosis specimens (mean of 65%) than in normal endometrial cells (mean of 25%). No significant difference (P =.1071) in the distribution of fluorescence in situ hybridization signals was observed among the 5 normal endometrial specimens. However, significant differences (P <. 0001) were observed between the 8 endometriosis tissue specimens.Conclusion: We found increased heterogeneity of chromosome 17 aneuploidy in endometriosis. These findings support a multistep pathway involving somatic genetic alterations in the development and progression of this common disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Provides information on a study which examined the taxonomic status of Moschus moschiferus anhuiensis, a subspecies of Siberian musk deer distributed in the Dabie Mountains, Anhui Province, China. Materials and methods; Results; Discussion of results.

The article demonstrates that the principles of ethnicity and social class are independent in origin and analytically distinct in character. But there might be a dynamic interrelationship between the two. At any one time or on any particular occasion, one principle or idiom, ethnic or class, may prevail over the other, and individuals or groups may be predisposed to select one identity over the other, depending upon the nature of the social situation. The author based his study on the experiences of Malaysia and Latin America. The article challenges the view that expressions of ethnicity and class are inversely proportional to one another, and that, with the rise of capitalist economies and their associated classes, ethnicity as the more "retrogressive" mode of organization will necessarily wane, but proposes that each may play an active and complementary role in the same society. The genesis of class is to be sought in the social infrastructure, a function of elemental economic and/or political resources and interests. A perception of these interests and the life-chances with which they are associated creates a sense of awareness, which may reach the level of a powerful ideology and lead to social conflict. Classes cannot exist in isolation, independent of a wider society and polity: they are essentially oppositional and are normally ranked hierarchically in relation to one another. Although this is more variable, there is some tendency for members of one social class to share similar values and style of life. Comparative material from Malaysia and Latin America show that the two oft-opposed concepts of ethnicity and class must, on anthropological evidence, be treated circumspectly.

The dynamic switching of ferroelastic nanodomains in ferroelectric PbZr0.3Ti0.7O3/PbZr0.7Ti0.3O3 bilayers was investigated. Synchrotron microdiffraction using a high-speed pulse generator reveals that electric field pulses as short as 200 ns can switch the ferroelastic domain. Multiples of random distribution analysis of the field-induced changes in diffraction peak intensities finds a dynamic strain change from 0.2 to 1% with increasing the pulse width. Raman spectroscopy shows considerable decreases in A1(1TO) soft mode intensity after applications of short pulses, confirming the ferroelastic switching. The results demonstrate that ferroelastic domains can indeed move at time scales of the order of hundreds of nanoseconds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background A long-term follow up case of hepatobiliary cystadenoma originating from simple hepatic cyst is rare. Case presentation We report a case of progressive morphologic changes from simple hepatic cyst to hepatobiliary cystadenoma by 11 – year follow up imaging. A 25-year-old man visited our hospital in 1993 for a simple hepatic cyst. The cyst was located in the left lobe of the liver, was 6 cm in diameter, and did not exhibit calcification, septa or papillary projections. No surgical treatment was performed, although the cyst was observed to gradually enlarge upon subsequent examination. The patient was admitted to our hospital in 2004 due to epigastralgia. Re-examination of the simple hepatic cyst revealed mounting calcification and septa. Abdominal CT on admission revealed a hepatic cyst over 10 cm in diameter and a high-density area within the thickened wall. MRI revealed a mass of low intensity and partly high intensity on a T1-weighted image. Abdominal angiography revealed hypovascular tumor. The serum levels of AST and ALT were elevated slightly, but tumor markers were within normal ranges. Left lobectomy of the liver was performed with diagnosis of hepatobiliary cystadenoma or hepatobiliary cystadenocarcinoma. The resected specimen had a solid component with papillary projections and the cyst was filled with liquid-like muddy bile. Histologically, the inner layer of the cyst was lined with columnar epithelium showing mild grade dysplasia. On the basis of these findings, hepatobiliary cystadenoma was diagnosed. Conclusion We believe this case provides evidence of a simple hepatic cyst gradually changing into hepatobiliary cystadenoma.

In the early 1980s the Japanese scientific academy defined a functional food as a food having a tertiary or physiologically active function. The current Japanese "Food with Health Claims" include 2 categories. For the first category, "Food with Nutrient Function Claims," the label may be freely used if a product satisfies the standard for the minimum and maximum levels per daily portion usually consumed. The second category is defined as "Food for Specified Health Uses" (FOSHU). FOSHU foods are those that contain dietary ingredients that have beneficial effects on the physiological functions of the human body, maintain and promote health, and improve health-related conditions. Health claims on these foods correspond to the category of "other" function claims of the Codex Alimentarius. However, claims of disease-risk reduction are not currently allowed under FOSHU with an exception for calcium and folic acid. Manufacturers can emphasize the characteristics of their products and promote sales by labeling or claims. Therefore, the labeling should be clear and correct and avoid any chance of misinterpretation. The labeling of health claims on foods should always be based on scientific evidence. Any manufacturer who applies to the government for approval under the FOSHU code for its product must tabulate both published available publications and internal reports on the effectiveness of the product and/or its ingredients and provide a summary of each available publication or report. The tabulation must include in vitro metabolic and biochemical studies, in vivo studies, and randomized controlled trials on Japanese people. The overall philosophy of the Ministry is to maintain and improve the health status of people and to prevent chronic noncommunicable diseases through an approach that involves a well-balanced diet as well as through the use of "health foods" including "Food with Health Claims." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]