Obrada čelika P2-04BCH kutno kanalnom ekstruzijom (KKE)

The article presents results of investigation of structure and properties of low-carbon steel grade P2-04BCH after application of ECAE at temperature of approx. 290C. The ECAE method leads to significant improvement of strength of investigated material. Investigation of structure was made by combination of TEM and FEG SEM together with EBSD. It was proven the ECAE method enables obtaining of ultra fine-grained ferritic structure formed by recrystallised grains with very low density of dislocations and with a small portion of spheroidised carbides, which occurred usually on the boundaries of ferritic grains.Članak prikazuje rezultate istraživanja strukture i svojstava niskougljičnog čelika kvalitete P2-04BCH nakon kanalno kutne ekstruzije (KKE) pri temperaturi od oko 290°C. Zabilježen je značajan porast čvrstoće materijala. Struktura je ispitana kombinacijom transmisijskog elektronskog mikroskopa (TEM), skenirajućeg elektronskog mikroskopa s emisijom polja (FEG SEM) te elektronskom difrakcijom (EBSD). Dokazano je da se jednakokanalnom kutnom ekstruzijom postiže izuzetno sitnozrnata feritna struktura rekristalizacijom zrna, uz vrlo nisku gustoću dislokacija i mali udio sferičnih karbida s rasporedom, obično na granicama feritnih zrna

The role of family functioning and self-esteem in the quality of life of adolescents referred for psychiatric services: a 3-year follow-up.

PurposeTo investigate, in adolescents referred for psychiatric services, the associations of initial self-esteem and family functioning with level and change of quality of life (QoL) over a 3-year period, over and above the effect of their emotional problems.MethodsOf 1648 eligible 13-18 years old patients attending the child and adolescent psychiatric clinic (CAP) at least once, 717 (54.8% females) were enrolled at baseline (a response rate of 43.5%). Self- and parent reports on the McMaster Family Assessment Device were obtained. Adolescents reported self-esteem on the Rosenberg Scale, and emotional problems on the Symptom Check List-5. Adolescents completed the Inventory of Life Quality in Children and Adolescents (ILC). After 3 years, 570 adolescents again completed the ILC, and for 418 adolescents parent information was available. The longitudinal analysis sample of 418 adolescents was representative of the baseline sample for age, gender, emotional problems, and QoL. We used modified growth-model analysis, adjusted for SES, age, gender and time of contact with CAP, where residual variances for ILC at baseline and follow-up were fixed to 0.ResultsA poorer family functioning at baseline, reported by parents, was significantly associated with worsening QoL during the 3 years follow-up period (p = 0.001).ConclusionsParents have important knowledge about their families that may reflect long-term influences on QoL development in adolescent psychiatric patients. Health care providers and policy makers should optimize treatment outcomes by addressing family functioning in adolescents with emotional problems

A multi-isotope approach to evaluate the potential of great cormorant eggs for contaminant monitoring

Contaminant monitoring in biota is important for determining environmental status and to detect or prioritize action on hazardous substances. Predators higher up a food chain are often used for monitoring of contaminants that bioaccumulate. However, it is not always possible to find higher predators that are both abundant and have a wide distribution for national or international contaminant monitoring. Great cormorants (Phalocrocorax carbo) are a widespread and increasingly common top predator of fish in fresh, brackish and salt water. We evaluate the suitability of great cormorant eggs as a matrix for contaminant monitoring by using stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur. Despite the fact that cormorants are migratory, egg isotope values showed a significant separation between five breeding colonies in Sweden (1 fresh water lake, 3 Baltic sites and 1 marine site). This high degree of separation indicates that eggs are primarily produced using local resources (not stored body resources) and that contaminants (mercury concentrations in this study) measured in eggs likely reflect levels in fish prey caught close to the breeding area. Compound specific stable isotope analysis was used to estimate cormorant trophic position (TP) and concentrations of mercury in eggs were positively related to TP. The results show that a multi-isotope approach, combined with good ecological diet knowledge allow for meaningful and comparative interpretation of mercury concentrations in biota and that great cormorant eggs appear a suitable matrix to measure locally derived and maternally transferred contaminants

Struktura i svojstva titana za zubne umetke (implantate)

This paper describes manufacture of nano-structural titanium, its structure and properties. Nano-titanium has higher specific strength properties than ordinary (coarse-grained) titanium. Nano-titanium was produced by the equal-channel angular pressing (ETAP) process. The research it self was focused on physical base of strengthening and softening processes and developments occurring at the grain boundaries during the ECAP process at half-hot temperature. Strength of nano-titanium varies around 960 MPa, grain size around 300 nm.Rad opisuje proizvodnju nanostrukturnog titana te njegovu strukturu i svojstva. Nanotitan se odlikuje višom čvrstoćom od običnog, krupnozrnatog, i proizveden je kanalno kutnim prešanjem (KKP). Samo istraživanje bilo je usmjereno na fizikalne osnove procesa očvršćavanja i omekšavanja na granicama zrna tijekom procesa kanalno kutnim prešanjem (KKP) na srednjim temperaturama. Čvrstoća nanotitana varira oko 960 MPa, a veličina zrna je oko 300 nm

Reply to Westaway and Lyman: emus, dingoes, and archaeology’s role in conservation biology

In a curious comment on our PNAS Perspective, Westaway and Lyman offer two Australian zooarchaeological case studies—one involving eggshells and the other dingoes—that they argue undercut one of our main points: that archaeological data and deep time perspectives have much to offer conservation biology. Neither example provides a specific substantive critique of our perspective: there are no dingoes in our article, no eggshells, and we mention the long and rich record of human management and alteration of Australian environments only briefly. Nor do we suggest that all archaeological assemblages can effectively inform current conservation biology efforts. Such datasets obviously vary in their quality and potential applicability to modern situations. When considered more closely, both of Westaway and Lyman’s case studies underscore rather than undercut the importance of archaeological and paleoecological data in conservation biology initiatives

Aluminum Bioavailability from Basic Sodium Aluminum Phosphate, an Approved Food Additive Emulsifying Agent, Incorporated in Cheese

Oral aluminum (Al) bioavailability from drinking water has been previously estimated, but there is little information on Al bioavailability from foods. It was suggested that oral Al bioavailability from drinking water is much greater than from foods. The objective was to further test this hypothesis. Oral Al bioavailability was determined in the rat from basic [26Al]-sodium aluminum phosphate (basic SALP) in a process cheese. Consumption of approximately 1g cheese containing 1.5% or 3% basic SALP resulted in oral Al bioavailability (F) of approximately 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively, and time to maximum serum 26Al concentration (Tmax) of 8-9h. These Al bioavailability results were intermediate to previously reported results from drinking water (F approximately 0.3%) and acidic-SALP incorporated into a biscuit (F approximately 0.1%), using the same methods. Considering the similar oral bioavailability of Al from food vs. water, and their contribution to the typical human\u27s daily Al intake ( approximately 95% and 1.5%, respectively), these results suggest food contributes much more Al to systemic circulation, and potential Al body burden, than does drinking water. These results do not support the hypothesis that drinking water provides a disproportionate contribution to total Al absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract

Leaf-applied sodium chloride promotes cadmium accumulation in durum wheat grain

Cadmium (Cd) accumulation in durum wheat grain is a growing concern. Among the factors affecting Cd accumulation in plants, soil chloride (Cl) concentration plays a critical role. The effect of leaf NaCl application on grain Cd was studied in greenhouse-grown durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. durum, cv. Balcali-2000) by immersing (10 s) intact flag leaves into Cd and/or NaCl-containing solutions for 14 times during heading and dough stages. Immersing flag leaves in solutions containing increasing amount of Cd resulted in substantial increases in grain Cd concentration. Adding NaCl alone or in combination with the Cd-containing immersion solution promoted accumulation of Cd in the grains, by up to 41%. In contrast, Zn concentrations of grains were not affected or even decreased by the NaCl treatments. This is likely due to the effect of Cl complexing Cd and reducing positive charge on the metal ion, an effect that is much smaller for Zn. Charge reduction or removal (CdCl2 0 species) would increase the diffusivity/lipophilicity of Cd and enhance its capability to penetrate the leaf epidermis and across membranes. Of even more significance to human health was the ability of Cl alone to penetrate leaf tissue and mobilize and enhance shoot Cd transfer to grains, yet reducing or not affecting Zn transfer

Antitumor Activity and Mechanism of Action of the Cyclopenta[b]benzofuran, Silvestrol

BACKGROUND. Flavaglines are a family of natural products from the genus Aglaia that exhibit anti-cancer activity in vitro and in vivo and inhibit translation initiation. They have been shown to modulate the activity of eIF4A, the DEAD-box RNA helicase subunit of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4F complex, a complex that stimulates ribosome recruitment during translation initiation. One flavagline, silvestrol, is capable of modulating chemosensitivity in a mechanism-based mouse model. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS. Among a number of flavagline family members tested herein, we find that silvestrol is the more potent translation inhibitor among these. We find that silvestrol impairs the ribosome recruitment step of translation initiation by affecting the composition of the eukaryotic initiation factor (eIF) 4F complex. We show that silvestrol exhibits significant anticancer activity in human breast and prostate cancer xenograft models, and that this is associated with increased apoptosis, decreased proliferation, and inhibition of angiogenesis. We demonstrate that targeting translation by silvestrol results in preferential inhibition of weakly initiating mRNAs. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE. Our results indicate that silvestrol is a potent anti-cancer compound in vivo that exerts its activity by affecting survival pathways as well as angiogenesis. We propose that silvestrol mediates its effects by preferentially inhibiting translation of malignancy-related mRNAs. Silvestrol appears to be well tolerated in animals.Canadian Institutes of Health Research (16512, Cancer Consortium Training Grant Award, CancerConsortium Training Grant Award); US Lymphoma Foundation Award; National Institute of Health (RO1 GM073855); National Crime Information Center (017099); Cole Foundation Awar

Exploring the genetics of irritable bowel syndrome: A GWA study in the general population and replication in multinational case-control cohorts

OBJECTIVE: IBS shows genetic predisposition, but adequately powered gene-hunting efforts have been scarce so far. We sought to identify true IBS genetic risk factors by means of genome-wide association (GWA) and independent replication studies. DESIGN: We conducted a GWA study (GWAS) of IBS in a general population sample of 11\u2005326 Swedish twins. IBS cases (N=534) and asymptomatic controls (N=4932) were identified based on questionnaire data. Suggestive association signals were followed-up in 3511 individuals from six case-control cohorts. We sought genotype-gene expression correlations through single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-expression quantitative trait loci interactions testing, and performed in silico prediction of gene function. We compared candidate gene expression by real-time qPCR in rectal mucosal biopsies of patients with IBS and controls. RESULTS: One locus at 7p22.1, which includes the genes KDELR2 (KDEL endoplasmic reticulum protein retention receptor 2) and GRID2IP (glutamate receptor, ionotropic, delta 2 (Grid2) interacting protein), showed consistent IBS risk effects in the index GWAS and all replication cohorts and reached p=9.31 710(-6) in a meta-analysis of all datasets. Several SNPs in this region are associated with cis effects on KDELR2 expression, and a trend for increased mucosal KDLER2 mRNA expression was observed in IBS cases compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that general population-based studies combined with analyses of patient cohorts provide good opportunities for gene discovery in IBS. The 7p22.1 and other risk signals detected in this study constitute a good starting platform for hypothesis testing in future functional investigations. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions