Polydioxanone Threads for Facial Rejuvenation:Analysis of Quality Variation in the Market

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Effect of different compatibilizers on injection-molded green composite pieces based on polylactide filled with almond shell flour

[EN] Green composites made of polylactide (PLA) filled with almond shell flour (ASF) at a constant weight content of 25¿wt.-% were manufactured by injection molding. In order to increase the interfacial adhesion between the biopolymer and the lignocellulosic fillers, three different compatibilizers were tested, namely multi-functional epoxy-based styrene-acrylic oligomer (ESAO), aromatic carbodiimide (AC), and maleinized linseed oil (MLO). The effect of each compatibilizer on the thermal, mechanical, and thermomechanical properties and water uptake of the injection-molded PLA/ASF pieces was analyzed. The obtained results indicated that all the here-studied compatibilizers had a positive influence on both the thermal stability and the mechanical and thermomechanical performance of the green composite pieces but low impact on their water uptake profile. In addition, the morphological analysis performed at the fracture surfaces of the green composite pieces revealed that the filler¿matrix gap was substantially reduced. Among the tested compatibilizers, ESAO and MLO yielded the highest performance in terms of mechanical strength and ductility, respectively. In the case of MLO, it also offers the advantage of being a plant-derived additive so that its application in green composites positively contributes to the development of sustainable polymer technologies.This research was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO) program number MAT2014-59242-C2-1-R and AGL2015-63855-C2-1-R and Generalitat Valenciana (GV) program number GV/2014/008. A. Carbonell-Verdu wants to thank Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV) for his FPI grant. D. Garcia-Garcia wants to thank the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports (MECD) for his FPU grant (FPU13/06011). L. Quiles-Carrillo also wants to thank GV for his FPI grant (ACT/2016/182) and the MECD for his FPU grant (FPU15/03812).Quiles-Carrillo, L.; Montanes, N.; Garcia-Garcia, D.; Carbonell-Verdu, A.; Balart, R.; Torres-Giner, S. (2018). Effect of different compatibilizers on injection-molded green composite pieces based on polylactide filled with almond shell flour. Composites Part B Engineering. 147:76-85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2018.04.017S768514

The relationship between IL-17A and IL-22 expression and clinical severity in patients with moderate/severe persistent allergic rhinitis

t PURPOSE: Several reactions leading to numerous effects are regulated by IL-22. However, the relationship between IL-22 and immunopathogensis of allergic rhinitis (AR) has been rarely investigated. The aim of the present study was to investigate the levels of IL-22 and IL-17A in AR patients and their association with clinical severity of persistent allergic rhinitis (PAR). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty mild persistent allergic rhinitis (M PAR) patients, thirty moderate/severe persistent allergic rhinitis (M/S PAR) patients, and thirty healthy controls were enrolled in this study. Local production of IL-22 and IL-17A in PAR patients and healthy controls' nasal mucosa was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) techniques. Serum levels of IL-22, IL-17A, specific immunoglobulin E (sIgE), and total IgE (tIgE) in PAR patients and healthy controls were determined by ELISA. In addition, blood eosinophil, nasal eosinophils per field, and total nasal syndrome score (TNSS) were also assessed. RESULTS: In comparison with healthy controls, production of IL-22 and IL-17A in M/S PAR patients increased significantly. Furthermore, serum levels as well as the mean number of IL-22+ and IL-17A+ cells in nasal mucosa correlated with sIgE, nasal eosinophil count, and TNSS. CONCLUSION: The results of the present study provide the first evidence that local production of IL-22 might be expressed in PAR patients. The expression of IL-22 and IL-17A, and their correlations with clinical parameters in PAR patients suggest the role of these cytokines in the events involved in the development of PAR

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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Effects of 35 Hz, 2mT magnetic field on peripheral blood lymphocytes of human in vitro and rat in vivo

In this research we have studied the effects of extremely low frequency magnetic field on the peripheral blood lymphocytes chromosomes of human in vitro and rat in vivo. By this means, we used 60 blood samples of 10 men as well as 40 rats. Of 60 human blood samples, 40 samples (In 2 group of 20) were selected as test groups and placed into the 2mT and 35Hz magnetic field. The blood samples, then, with 20 samples of control groups cultured for chromosomal analysis of lymphocytes cells. Of 40 rats, 30 rats, in 2 groups of 15, were also placed into the same magnetic field, and cultured with 10 control rats for chromosomal analysis of lymphocytes cells. The analysis results of 5373 metaphasic cells from human bloods (3573 test cells and 1800 control cells) showed that there were no significant differences among the percentages of chromosomal aberrations of control (0.16%), 30 and 60 minutes test (0.224%, 0.296%) groups respectively (P30>0.28, P60>0.15). There were no chromosomal aberrations in 3089 metaphasic lymphocytes of rats (2389 test cells and 700 control cells). Keywords: Magnetic field, Extremely low frequency field, Lymphocytes, Chromosom

Factors Affecting Quality of Audit; Empirical Evidence from Iran

This study examines factors affecting quality of audit using empirical evidence from Iran Quality of audit was seen as the degree to which an audit report is free from deficiencies and distortions which show up later on. The quality of an audit was measured in terms of an auditor’s ability to report financial distortions willingly and neutrally. The study acknowledges the positive association between audit quality and audit firm size in existing literature. Though cost of quality has been used as surrogate for measuring quality of audit, this study explores and examines three other variables. The study therefore measures four variables by testing four hypotheses namely,H1: how the existing rules and regulations affect the auditor’s willingness to report distortions neutrallyH2: how the lack of contract benefits (cost) affects the auditor’s willingness to report distortions neutrallyH3: how market mechanisms in the operational environment affects the auditor’s willingness to report distortions neutrallyH4: how audit firm size relates to the auditor’s ability to report financial distortions neutrally.The results of the study indicated that oversight rules and regulations as well as market mechanisms in the operational environment affected the auditor’s willingness to report important distortions neutrally (p). Furthermore, (H2) the lack of contract benefit (cost) did not significantly affect the auditor’s willingness to report distortions neutrally