Optimisation of pyrolysis parameters for CF composites with respect to mechanical properties of recovered fibers

The aerospace/aeronautics, energy and automotive industries are the primary users of advanced polymer composites in structural components. Increasing number of those components are reaching End of Life and will be disposed in landfills, which is currently the most common option worldwide. However, environmental concerns and consequent demands from society drives industries to search for ways to repurpose decommissioned composite structures. The most beneficial would be to reuse composites and/or their constituents after the service life. Thermal recycling is a method to recover costly fibers and lower the environmental impact. The objective of this work is to optimize conditions of pyrolysis of carbon fiber (CF) composite aiming to recover reinforcement with highest mechanical properties. The specimens for this study were cut (15x30x3mm) from epoxy/CF laminate with randomly oriented fiber. To identify the best conditions, the pyrolysis is performed at different thermal cycles under various environments with mass loss monitored throughout the experiments. The conditions of the reference experiment are based on data from literature (550C for 30 min under nitrogen atmosphere, with oxidation in air for 60 min, see Fig. 1). Additionally, pyrolysis was performed under different temperatures and environments: variation of temperature on first stage, dipping specimens in hot furnace instead of gradual heating, changing conditions of oxidation. In order to select pyrolysis process with most optimal conditions the surface of the recovered fibres is investigated by means of optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The mechanical properties of fibers are evaluated and compared to virgin fibers

1/Nc1/N_c Rotational Corrections to gAg_A and Isovector Magnetic Moment of the Nucleon

The $1/N_c$ rotational corrections to the axial vector constant and the isovector magnetic moment of the nucleon are studied in the Nambu -- Jona-Lasinio model. We follow a semiclassical quantization procedure in terms of path integrals in which we can include perturbatively corrections in powers of angular velocity $\Omega \sim \frac 1{N_c}$. We find non-zero $1/N_c$ order corrections from both the valence and the Dirac sea quarks. These corrections are large enough to resolve the long-standing problem of a strong underestimation of both $g_A$ and $\mu^{IV}$ in the leading order. The axial constant $g_A$ is well reproduced, whereas the isovector magnetic moment $\mu^{IV}$ is still underestimated by 25 \%.Comment: (Revtex), 10 pages (3 figures available on request), report RUB-TPII-53/9

Vertical Transmission of Herpes Simplex Virus Acquired After Primary Outbreak in Second Trimester of a Dichorionic Twin Gestation

Background: The incidence of genital herpes simplex virus (HSV) has increased in recent years, particularly among women of reproductive age. This places more neonates at risk for severe morbidity and mortality. Treatment recommendations for primary disease in pregnancy are lacking, particularly for those who acquire. HSV remote from term

The Role of Polar Pili in the Adherence of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa to Injured Canine Tracheal Cells: A Semiquantitative Morphologic Study

Pseudomonas aeruginosa adheres to respiratory epithelial cells in a highly specific fashion. In order to study the role of P. aeruginosa polar pili in the adherence process we conducted a quantitative morphological electron microscopic examination of P. aeruginosa adherence to SO2 injured canine tracheal cells in vitro. A pilin lacking background strain of P. aeruginosa PAK (BLP2) was constructed using a gene replacement and it in turn was engineered to express either the pilin gene of P. aeruginosa PAO, PAK , or no pilin gene . After 30 minutes incubation of these bacterial strains with injured canine tracheal rings the P. aeruginosa strains expressing pili adhered quantitatively more to the injured tracheal cells than did the pili lacking strains. PAO bearing strains adhered in greater numbers than PAK bearing strains. Healthy tracheal cells did not have any bacteria bound to their surfaces. The bacteria bound to the cilia and lateral edge of the exfoliating tracheal cells. Invasion of tracheal cells by piliated P. aeruginosa bacteria and penetration into the submucosa was also demonstrated. These data confirm the role of pili as important adhesins to injured tracheal cells. The difference in the adherence characteristics of pilin types PAK versus PAO may relate to the differences in the primary structure of these two pilin molecules

New Results From CLEO and BES

Latest experimental results from BES in the charmonium mass region, and those from CLEO in the bottomonium and charmonium spectroscopy are reviewed.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figures, Presented at First Meeting of the APS Topical Group on Hadron Physics, Fermilab, Batavia, Illinois, Oct 24-26, 200

What e-patients want from the doctor-patient relationship: content analysis of posts on discussion boards.

People with long-term conditions are encouraged to take control and ownership of managing their condition. Interactions between health care staff and patients become partnerships with sharing of expertise. This has changed the doctor-patient relationship and the division of roles and responsibilities that traditionally existed, but what each party expects from the other may not always be clear. Information that people with long-term conditions share on Internet discussion boards can provide useful insights into their expectations of health care staff. This paper reports on a small study about the expectations that people with a long-term condition (diabetes) have of their doctors using information gleaned from Internet discussion boards

Differences and overlap in self-reported symptoms of bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder

Background: Differential diagnosis between bipolar disorder (BD) and borderline personality disorder (BPD) is often challenging due to some overlap in symptoms and comorbidity of disorders. We investigated correlations in self-reported symptoms of BD and BPD in screening questionnaires at the levels of both total scores and individual items and explored overlapping dimensions. Methods: The McLean Screening Instrument (MSI) for BPD and the Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) for BD were filled in by patients with unipolar and bipolar mood disorders (n = 313) from specialized psychiatric care within a pilot study of the Helsinki University Psychiatric Consortium. Pearson's correlation coefficients between total scores and individual items of the MSI and the MDQ were estimated. Relationships between MDQ and MSI were evaluated by exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Results: The correlation between total scores of the MDQ and MSI was moderate (r = 0.431, P <0.001). Significant correlations were found between the MSI items of "impulsivity'' and "mood instability'' and all MDQ items (P <0.01). In the EFA, the MSI "impulsivity'' and "mood instability'' items had significant cross-loadings (0.348 and 0.298, respectively) with the MDQ factor. The MDQ items of "irritability'', "flight of thoughts'' and "distractibility'' (0.280, 0.210 and 0.386, respectively) cross-loaded on the MSI factor. Conclusions: The MDQ and MSI items of "affective instability'', "impulsivity'', "irritability'', "flight of thoughts'' and "distractibility'' appear to overlap in content. The other scale items are more disorder-specific, and thus, may help to distinguish BD and BPD. (C) 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

How size matters: exploring the association between quality of mental health services and catchment area size

Background: The diversity of mental health and substance abuse services (MHS) available to service users is seen as an indicator of the quality of the service system. In most countries MHS are provided by a mix of public, private and third sector providers. In Finland, officially, the municipalities are responsible for organizing the services needed, but the real extent and roles of private and third sector service providers are not known. Our previous study showed that the catchment area population size was strongly associated with diversity of mental health services. It is not known whether this was due to some types of services or some provider types being more sensitive to the size effect than others.The aim of this study was to investigate the association between area population size and diversity of mental health services, i.e. which types of services and which service providers' contributions are sensitive to population size.Methods: To map and classify services, we used the ESMS-R. The diversity of services was defined as the count of main types of care. Providers were classified as public, private or third sectors.Results: The diversity of outpatient, residential and voluntary services correlated positively with catchment area population size. The strongest positive correlation between the size of population and services available was found in third sector activities followed by public providers, but no correlation was found for diversity of private services. The third sector and public corporations each provided 44 % of the service units.Third sector providers produced all self-help services and most of the day care services. Third sector and private companies provided a significant part (59 %) of the residential care service units.Conclusions: Significant positive correlations were found between size of catchment area population and diversity of residential, outpatient and voluntary services, indicating that these services concentrate on areas with larger population bases. The third sector seems to significantly complement the public sector in providing different services. Thus the third sector be needs to be functionally integrated with other MHS services to achieve a diversified and integrated service system

Age-related biological features of germ cell tumors.

Germ cell tumors (GCTs) are rare but clinically and pathologically diverse tumors that occur in an extensive range of age groups, from children to older adults and which include both seminomatous and nonseminomatous tumors. Current clinical management for both male and female teenagers and young adults (TYAs) with GCTs remains inconsistent, alternating between pediatric and adult multidisciplinary oncology teams, based on locally defined age cutoffs. Therefore, we reviewed available literature to determine the biological similarities and differences between GCTs in young children (0-12 years), TYAs (13-24 years), and older adults (>24 years). GCTs arising in pediatric and adult populations in general showed marked molecular biological differences within identical histological subtypes, whereas there was a distinct paucity of available data for GCTs in the TYA population. These findings highlight that clinical management based simply on chronological age may be inappropriate for TYA and suggests that the optimal future management of GCTs should consider specific molecular biological factors in addition to clinical parameters in the context of patient-specific age group rather than medical specialty.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/gcc.22131/abstract

Anxiety symptoms in a major mood and schizophrenia spectrum disorders

Background: Comorbid anxiety symptoms and disorders are present in many psychiatric disorders, but methodological variations render comparisons of their frequency and intensity difficult. Furthermore, whether risk factors for comorbid anxiety symptoms are similar in patients with mood disorders and schizophrenia spectrum disorders remains unclear. Methods: The Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) was used to measure anxiety symptoms in psychiatric care patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (SSA, n = 113), bipolar disorder (BD, n = 99), or depressive disorder (DD, n = 188) in the Helsinki University Psychiatric Consortium Study. Bivariate correlations and multivariate linear regression models were used to examine associations of depressive symptoms, neuroticism, early psychological trauma and distress, self-efficacy, symptoms of borderline personality disorder, and attachment style with anxiety symptoms in the three diagnostic groups. Results: Frequent or constant anxiety was reported by 40.2% of SSA, 51.5% of BD, and 55.6% of DD patients; it was described as severe or extreme by 43.8%, 41.4%, and 41.2% of these patients, respectively. SSA patients were significantly less anxious (P = 0.010) and less often avoided anxiety-provoking situations (P = 0.009) than the other patients. In regression analyses, OASIS was associated with high neuroticism, symptoms of depression and borderline personality disorder and low self-efficacy in all patients, and with early trauma in patients with mood disorders. Conclusions: Comorbid anxiety symptoms are ubiquitous among psychiatric patients with mood or schizophrenia spectrum disorders, and in almost half of them, reportedly severe. Anxiety symptoms appear to be strongly related to both concurrent depressive symptoms and personality characteristics, regardless of principal diagnosis. (C) 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe