In vitro bioactivities of anodised titanium in mixtrue of B-Glycerophosphate and calcium acetate for biomedical application

Anodic oxidation has been widely used to modify the surface properties of titanium in order to improve the biocompatibility after implantation. In this study, high purity titanium foils were exposed in a mixture of β-glycerophosphate disodium salt pentahydrate (β-GP) and calcium acetate monohydrate (CA). The parameters for anodic oxidation method such as applied voltage (50-350 V), current density(10-70 mA.cm-2), electrolyte concentration (0.02 M β-GP + 0.2 M CA, 0.04 M β-GP + 0.04 M CA) , anodising time (5-10 mins), agitation speed (300-1500 rpm), ultrasonic amplitude (20-60 μm) and bath temperature (4-100 °C) were varied to investigate the impact on the surface properties of titanium. The results showed that surface of the titanium foil appeared to be highly porous and demonstrated high crystallinity as well as high hydrophilic properties especially when the parameters of anodic oxidation have been varied. This study also proposes two novel methods particularly to accelerate the bone-like apatite formation on the anodised titanium in a shorted time: (1) UV irradiation during in vitro testing and (2) adding additives in electrolyte. After soaked and irradiated with UV in simulated body fluid (SBF) for 7 days, highly crystallised bone-like apatite was fully covered on the anodised surface. Interestingly, the smooth and partially porous surface of the anodised titanium was observed to be fully covered by the bone-like apatite layer, which contradict previous research results. The mechanism for growth of bone-like apatite was developed and involved several stages from the existence of hydroxyl groups (•OH) under the UV irradiation has been disclosed thoroughly. Further, additives such as sulphuric acid (H2SO4), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sodium hydroxide (NaOH) were added into the electrolyte were also able to accelerate the formation of bone-like apatite because of the presence of (•OH), tricalcium phosphate (Ca3O8P2), calcium diphosphate (Ca2O7P2), calcium titanate (CaTiO3) or sodium titanate (Na2Ti3O7) on the anodised surface, which able to induce the nucleation site of bone-like apatite

What is the best practice in domestic inquiry?

Before we go through what is the best practice of domestic inquiry in Malaysia, we have to get ourselves more familiar with the meaning of best practice and domestic inquiry. A best practice is a type of method or strategy universally accepted as preferable to any alternative since it produces results superior for those attained through other means or because it is becoming a typical way of acting. Such as a standard way of implementing and practice domestic inquiry in the work environment. Best practices are an easy solution to obligatory federal norms to retain quality and based on personal-assessment or performance analysis. Some counselling firms spend significant time in the region of best practice and offer pre-made formats to institutionalize business process documentation. Now and again, a best practice is not pertinent or is improper for a specific association’s needs. This assignment will define what particle was required to enhance and maintain the best practice of domestic inquiry to protect the rights at work

The influence of portal blood upon lipid metabolism in normal and diabetic dogs and baboons

It has been reported that hyperlipidemia can be alleviated in human beings with an end to side portacaval shunt. Understanding the mechanism of the effect has important implications, including the possibility of devising other ways of lowering serum lipid levels. In this investigation, the influence of splanchnic venous blood on lipid metabolism was evaluated in dogs and baboons by altering the portal venous inflow to all, or portions, of the liver and by measuring the effects on different end points, including the serum lipid concentrations and the rate of hepatic lipid synthesis. In other studies, analyses have been made regarding the effect of alloxan induced insulinopenia and of total pancreatectomy on these processes. The results indicate that the effect of complete portal diversion upon serum lipids is mainly due to diversion of the hormone rich venous return from the upper splanchnic organs, although the bypass of the nutritionally rich blood returning from the intestines may play a secondary role. Therefore, a reduction of hepatic lipid synthesis is an important, although not necessarily the sole, factor in the antilipidemic influence of portacaval shunt. The effects upon synthesis and blood lipids are due more to the diversion of endogenous hormones than to the bypass of intestinal nutrients. The substances in portal venous blood that subserve hepatic lipid metabolism are presumably largely the same as the hepatotrophic factors which have been described before as profoundly affecting hepatic structure, function, and the capacity for regeneration. These portal blood factors are multiple and interrelated, but the single most important one seems to be insulin

Technology Advantage and Trade: Home Market Effects Revisited

According to conventional home market effects, free trade tends to shrink the market share for the smaller economy in the differentiated manufacturing goods, and in the extreme, leads to a complete hollowing out of the industry. In departing from the original Helpman-Krugman modeling assumptions behind the home market effects, we introduce technology differences between trading partners and prove that the home market effects will be offset and will even reverse if the small economy has better technology than the other country. We also prove that even with identical country size, the intra-industry trade addressed in the existing literature may not occur; it will occur only if the technology differential lies within a certain range that is positively affected by the level of transport cost.Home market Effects, Country Size, Technology Differential

The effect of diabetes mellitus on portal blood hepatotrophic factors in dogs

Ten nondiabetic dogs were submitted to a procedure called splanchnic division which directed the nutrient rich venous return from the intestines into the left lobes of the liver and the hormone rich pancreatico gastroduodeno splenic venous return into the right lobes. Two mth later, the right lobes had undergone the expected gross and microscopic hypertrophy. Compared with the abnormal shrunken and glycogen depleted hepatocytes of the left lobes, the large and otherwise normal hepatocytes of the right lobes had a higher rate of cell division as judged by microscopic examination, measurements of deoxyribonucleic acid synthesis and the results of autoradiography. Both sides had greater cell replication than in the livers of normal unaltered dogs. The dominance of the right lobes following splanchnic division was almost completely eliminated by the prior creation of alloxan induced diabetes in 4 dogs and by the performance of total pancreatectomy at the same time as splanchnic division in 6 dogs. In these 10 diabetic dogs, which were treated with Sc administered insulin for the 2 mth period of the postoperative study, hepatic lobar and cell size were nearly equal on both sides. By light and electron microscopy, the hepatocytes on both sides had abnormalities, somewhat less pronounced on the right. However, the most active cell division was now transferred to the left lobes. The results with alloxan induced diabetes were similar to those after total pancreatectomy, except that lipid deposits were less on both liver sides in the alloxan experiments, and the glycogen was selectively reduced in the right lobes. The latter finding presumably was due to the continued action of glucagon in dogs made diabetic with alloxan. 12 nondiabetic dogs had a procedure called partial portacaval transposition which directed systemic venous blood from the hindquarters, kidneys and adrenal glands into the left lobes of the liver and the total splanchnic venous return into the right lobes. Two mth later, the degree of relative hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the glycogen rich right lobes was even greater than after splanchnic division, as was the morphologic damage to the left lobar hepatocytes. The degree of right lobar hypertrophy following partial portacaval transposition was reduced but not eliminated by pre existing alloxan induced diabetes in 4 dogs and by concomitant total pancreatectomy in 6 more dogs. The dogs were Sc treated with insulin. Structurally, the hepatocytes on the right side after 2 mth were in better condition than were those on the left, although both were abnormal. The dominance of cell division on the right side was reduced, as judged by standard microscopy and by autoradiography, but there was not a shifting of sides. The biochemical analyses reflected the presence or absence of glucagon. These findings are consistent with the earlier multifactorial hypothesis which holds that portal hepatotrophic factors are mainly interreacting hormones generated by splanchnic organs and delivered straight to the liver and that the hormone interrelationships might have augmented significance because of the high concentration of nutritional substrate in the same venous blood. The observations also substantiate by direct testing the suggestion that insulin is the most important hepatotrophic factor and that it profoundly affects many aspects of liver cell structure, division and function

The relevance of lean thinking to sustainable improvement of public office buildings in Nigeria

This study looked into the relevance of lean thinking, particularly the application of muda as a supplement to the sustainable improvement diagnosis technique of existing office buildings, for a fuller assessment of user's requirement in Nigeria. The impact of muda as related to the triple bottom line of sustainable development on perceived job productivity and design features was estimated from end-user's perspective, using diagnostic POE as data acquiring tool while the confirmatory analysis was done through AMOS, SPSS and MS Excel to explain the relationship between the different variables. The findings showed that muda is inherent in public office buildings and it has highly significant causal effects of 0.66 and 0.76, respectively on perceived job productivity and design features; it also has strong effect sizes of 44 and 58% in explaining both their variances, respectively. The result revealed that users require more improvement in facilities as against spatial plan and structures while there is a medium and positive correlation of 0.48 between perceived job productivity and design features implying that the improvement of one will consequently lead to the improvement of the other. The study concludes that lean thinking is relevant to building improvement and could serve as good supplement to the current improvement diagnosis of existing public office buildings but not as a substitute since data were only collected from users who are not able to provide the required technical data that would otherwise warrant use of equipment

Annual leave: the case of Taiwan and Malaysia

The definition of annual leave is allowing the organization’s employees to leave the number of hours or days of work within a year without any consequences. Depending on the employer’s policy, different working days may be provided and employees may be required to issue a certain amount of advance notice in advance, which may have to be coordinated with the employer to ensure adequate staffing during the absence of the employee and other requirements may have to be obtained satisfy. Today, most countries have a minimum paid annual leave in accordance with the law. This time off is paid by the company and employees can ask for time for any reason they wish to take the annual leave. Annual leave allows employees to take paid vacations so that they can rest regularly to rest and rejuvenate. Employees on regular vacations are more motivated and perform their work more effectively than those who are not on vacation. Because they have regular breaks, they are less prone to accidents and less likely to be under pressure, which means they can reduce their absence from illness

Treatment of hilar cholangiocarcinoma (Klatskin tumors) with hepatic resection or transplantation

Background: Because of the rarity of hilar cholangiocarcinoma, its prognostic risk factors have not been sufficiently analyzed. This retrospective study was undertaken to evaluate various pathologic risk factors which influenced survival after curative hepatic resection or transplantation. Methods: Between 1981 and 1996, 72 patients (43 males and 29 females) with hilar cholangiocarcinoma underwent hepatic resection (34 patients) or transplantation (38 patients) with curative intent. Medical records and pathologic specimens were reviewed to examine the various prognostic risk factors. Survival was calculated by the method of Kaplan- Meier using the log rank test with adjustment for the type of operation. Survival statistics were calculated first for each kind of treatment separately, and then combined for the calculation of the final significance value. Results: Survival rates for 1, 3, and 5 years after hepatic resection were 74%, 34%, and 9%, respectively, and those after transplantation were 60%, 32%, and 25%, respectively. Univariate analysis revealed that T-3, positive lymph nodes, positive surgical margins, and pTNM stage III and IV were statistically significant poor prognostic factors. Multivariate analysis revealed that pTNM stage 0, I, and II, negative lymph node, and negative surgical margins were statistically significant good prognostic factors. For the patients in pTNM stage 0-II with negative surgical margins, 1-, 3-, and 5-year survivals were 80%, 73%, and 73%, respectively. For patients in pTNM stage IV-A with negative lymph nodes and surgical margins, 1-, 3-, and 5- year survivals were 66%, 37%, and 37%, respectively. Conclusions: Satisfactory longterm survivals can be obtained by curative surgery for hilar cholangiocarcinoma either with hepatic resection or liver transplantation. Redefining pTNM stage III and IV-A is proposed to better define prognosis

Heterotopic heart transplantation in the rat receiving FK-506 alone or with cyclosporine.

In rats, FK significantly prolonged heterotopic heart graft survival over a wide dose range when given for 2 weeks starting on the day of the operation. Brief courses of FK for one to four days preoperatively, and especially beginning four days postoperatively, allowed long subsequent survival of heart grafts in otherwise untreated recipients. The seeming acceptance of the grafts with postoperative FK treatment was largely but not exclusively donor specific when tested eight days after the last FK dose by second grafts from the same donor v third-party donor grafts. FK in minimally therapeutic doses was synergistic with suboptimal doses of CyA