Effect of molding processes on multiaxial fatigue strength in short fibre reinforced polymer

This study concerns the multiaxial static and fatigue strength properties. Short-glass-fibre-reinforced phenolic-resin composites (SGP) molded by injection and compression processes were subjected to tensiontorsion combined static and fatigue tests at room temperature under various test conditions. Tension – torsion combined static strength well agreed with Tsai-Hill failure criteria without depending on processes. Relationships between the maximum principal stress, ?p1, max, and the number of fracture cycles, Nf, were approximately linear in the whole range of up to 106 cycles. For a unified evaluation of multiaxial fatigue life for SGP, non-dimensional effective stress, ?*, defined by modifying Tsai-Hill failure criteria was applied. The slopes of ?*- Nf curves according to Baskin’s law were almost identical to the injection (n = 26.3) and compression (n = 26.2). We finally confirmed that the multiaxial fatigue life of SFRP could be predicted by using ?* with a unique Wöhler curve without relying on molding processes.&nbsp

Prebiotic treatment reduced preneoplastic lesions through the downregulation of toll like receptor 4 in a chemo-induced carcinogenic model

Germinated barley foodstuff contains prebiotics which are reported to have anti-cancerous effects in colorectal cancer model, but the detailed mechanism remains unclear. Recent studies revealed that the role of microbiota was strongly related to the regulation of incidence and progression of colorectal cancer. The aim of this study was to examine the anti-neoplastic mechanism by prebiotics. Azoxymethane treated F344 rats were used as the sporadic cancerous model. After azoxymethane injection, either a control or germinated barley foodstuff diet was administered to the rats for another 5 weeks, and the number of abberant crypt foci, toll like receptor 4, Kirsten rat sarcoma viral oncogene homolog, adenomatous polyposis coli tumor suppressor gene and cyclooxygenase 2 mRNA expression of colonic mucosa and cecal short chain fatty acids were examined. The germinated barley food stuff significantly attenuated the number of abberant crypt focis and the expression of toll like receptor 4 and cyclooxygenase 2 mRNA, compared to the control group. In addition, the cecal butyrate production in the germinated barley foodstuff group was significantly higher than that in the control. In conclusion, this prebiotic treatment for colorectal cancer may be useful without causing the adverse effects seen in either anti-cancer drugs or anti-inflammatory drugs

A comprehensive validation of very early rule-out strategies for non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction in emergency departments:protocol for a multicentre prospective cohort study

Introduction: Recent advances in troponin sensitivity enabled early and accurate judgement of ruling-out myocardial infarction, especially non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) in emergency departments (EDs) with development of various prediction-rules and high-sensitive-troponin-based strategies (hs-troponin). Reliance on clinical impression, however, is still common, and it remains unknown which of these strategies is superior. Therefore, our objective in this prospective cohort study is to comprehensively validate the diagnostic accuracy of clinical impression-based strategies, prediction-rules and hs-troponin-based strategies for ruling-out NSTEMIs. Methods and analysis: In total, 1500 consecutive adult patients with symptoms suggestive of acute coronary syndrome will be prospectively recruited from five EDs in two tertiary-level, two secondary-level community hospitals and one university hospital in Japan. The study has begun in July 2018, and recruitment period will be about 1 year. A board-certified emergency physician will complete standardised case report forms, and independently perform a clinical impression-based risk estimation of NSTEMI. Index strategies to be compared will include the clinical impression-based strategy; prediction rules and hs-troponin-based strategies for the following types of troponin (Roche Elecsys hs-troponin T; Abbott ARCHITECT hs-troponin I; Siemens ADVIA Centaur hs-troponin I; Siemens ADVIA Centaur sensitive-troponin I). The reference standard will be the composite of type 1 MI and cardiac death within 30 days after admission to the ED. Outcome measures will be negative predictive value, sensitivity and effectiveness, defined as the proportion of patients categorised as low risk for NSTEMI. We will also evaluate inter-rater reliability of the clinical impression-based risk estimation. Ethics and dissemination: The study is approved by the Ethics Committees of the Kyoto University Graduate School and Faculty of Medicine and of the five hospitals where we will recruit patients. We will disseminate the study results through conference presentations and peer-reviewed journals