The influence of brake pads thermal conductivity on passanger car brake system efficiency

In phase of vehicle braking system designing, besides of mechanical characteristics, it is also necessary to take under consideration the system's thermal fatures. This is because it is not enough just to achieve proper braking power, for the brake system to be effective but equally important thing is the dissipation of heat to the environment. Heat developed in the friction surfaces dissipate into the environment over the disk in one hand and through the brake linings and caliper, in the other. The striving is to make that greatest amount of heat to dissipate not threw the brake pads butthrew disc. The experimental researching of heat transfer process taking place at vehicle brakes was made in the R&D Center of Zastava automobili car factory in order to increase the efficiency of brake system. The standard laboratory and road test procedures were used, according to factory quality regulations. The modern equipment such as thermo camera, thermo couples, torque transducers, signal amplifiers, optical speed measuring system and laptop computer were used. In this paper will be shown the part of the experimental researching, whichrefers to the thermal conductivity ofbrake pad friction linings

The impact of lifestyle interventions on cardiovascular risk factors in high risk population.

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Diagnostic accuracy of a clinical diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis: An international case-cohort study

We conducted an international study of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) diagnosis among a large group of physicians and compared their diagnostic performance to a panel of IPF experts. A total of 1141 respiratory physicians and 34 IPF experts participated. Participants evaluated 60 cases of interstitial lung disease (ILD) without interdisciplinary consultation. Diagnostic agreement was measured using the weighted kappa coefficient (\u3baw). Prognostic discrimination between IPF and other ILDs was used to validate diagnostic accuracy for first-choice diagnoses of IPF and were compared using the Cindex. A total of 404 physicians completed the study. Agreement for IPF diagnosis was higher among expert physicians (\u3baw=0.65, IQR 0.53-0.72, p20 years of experience (C-index=0.72, IQR 0.0-0.73, p=0.229) and non-university hospital physicians with more than 20 years of experience, attending weekly MDT meetings (C-index=0.72, IQR 0.70-0.72, p=0.052), did not differ significantly (p=0.229 and p=0.052 respectively) from the expert panel (C-index=0.74 IQR 0.72-0.75). Experienced respiratory physicians at university-based institutions diagnose IPF with similar prognostic accuracy to IPF experts. Regular MDT meeting attendance improves the prognostic accuracy of experienced non-university practitioners to levels achieved by IPF experts

Management of heart failure complicating acute coronary syndromes in Montenegro and Serbia

It is essential that context-appropriate health research and health interventions take place in countries with economy in transition. The aims of this study were to describe the clinical characteristics, management, and in-hospital outcomes of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients with heart failure (HF) in Montenegro and Serbia. The data of this study are a framework of the International Survey of Acute Coronary Syndromes in Transitional Countries (ISACS-TC; NCT01218776), a multi-national and multicentre registry of patients hospitalized with ACS in the European countries that emerged from the Socialist era. The present analysis focused on participants admitted to 15 hospitals in Montenegro and Serbia with a diagnosis of ACS during the period between October 2012 and August 2013. Among 1115 patients, 94 (8.4%) had an admission diagnosis of HF (Killip Class II or III). Heart failure patients were significantly older (P < 0.001). Heart failure was more frequently associated with hypertension. When compared with patients presenting without HF (Killip Class I), those with HF had lower rates of reperfusion therapy either by percutaneous coronary intervention (47.9 vs. 60.7%, P = 0.015) or by fibrinolysis (2.1 vs. 11.8%, P = 0.004). In multivariate logistic regression analysis, older age, prior coronary artery bypass graft, and ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction were the relevant predictor of HF at admission. Heart failure on admission was associated with a marked increase in mortality rates during hospitalization (13.8 vs. 3.7%, P < 0.001). After adjustment for differences in clinical characteristics, HF was still associated with higher mortality (odds ratio 2.88, 95% confidence interval 1.22-6.79, P = 0.016). Heart failure is observed in nearly 9% of patients with ACS in Serbia and Montenegro and is also associated with a significant increase in in-hospital mortality. More aggressive treatment of these patients is warranted to improve prognosi

Novel nano-composite hydrogels with honey effective against multi-resistant clinical strains of Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Novel alginate hydrogels with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and honey components were produced with the aim to target multidrug-resistant bacterial strains causing nosocomial wound infections. AgNP synthesis was optimized in highly concentrated honey solutions so that a 5-month stable, colloid solution with 50% of honey and similar to 8 nm AgNPs at neutral pH was obtained. The colloid solution was further used to produce nano-composite Ag/alginate hydrogels in different forms (microbeads, microfibers and discs) that retained all AgNPs and high fractions of honey components (40-60%) as determined by the phenol-sulfuric acid and Folin-Ciocalteu methods. The hydrogels were characterized by UV-Vis spectroscopy and Fourier-transform infrared-attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy while the antibacterial activity was investigated against a broad spectrum of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria, including 13 multi-resistant clinical strains of Acinetobacter baumannii, one clinical strain of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and one clinical strain of Staphylococcus aureus. At the total released silver concentration of similar to 9 mu g/ml, the hydrogels exhibited strong bactericidal activity against standard and most of the investigated multi-resistant hospital strains with the exemption of 3 clinical strains of A. baumannii in which antibacterial effects were absent. These results reveal the need for further in-depth studies of bacterial resistance mechanisms and, in the same time, potentials of the novel Ag/alginate hydrogels with honey components to combat wound infections and enhance healing as non-sticky, antibacterial, and bioactive dressings