Encapsulation process sterilizes and preserves surgical instruments

Ethylene oxide is blended with an organic polymer to form a sterile material for encapsulating surgical instruments. The material does not bond to metal and can be easily removed when the instruments are needed

Process for preparing sterile solid propellants Patent

Using ethylene oxide in preparation of sterilized solid rocket propellants and encapsulating material

The late stage of retreating subduction in the Alpine-Mediterranean region: constraints from travel time seismic tomography

Seismological modelling of the upper mantle of the Africa-Eurasia collision region has given images of its structure which can be used to supplement surface (geologic) information in the attempt to understand past and active tectonic processes. A foremost feature of the region is given by the sinuous Alpine-Mediterranean thrust belt, under which subducted lithosphere is imaged by seismic tomography as seismically fast material (colder than ambient rock). Several arcuate structures are present, combining an external thrust front with an internal extensional basin, originated by slab rollback: the Hellenic arc with the Aegean basin, the Calabrian arc with the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Betic-Rif with the Alboran Sea, and the Carpathians with the Pannonian basin. These systems are at different stages of their life, and all but the Hellenic-Aegean appear close to their terminal phase. Shape and extent of subducted slabs provide constraints on their evolution. Tomographic results, in all but the Hellenic-Aegean system, show a general lack of overall continuity of the subducted bodies, and in many cases support the idea that other processes, such as slab detachment or mantle delamination, contributed to shape the present day tectonics. Although tomographic results have steadily improved image resolution with time, differences between studies may lead to different interpretations. Better understanding of processes active at the late phases of subduction needs a close interplay between tomography, geology, and mantle dynamics calculations

Optimal cellular mobility for synchronization arising from the gradual recovery of intercellular interactions

Cell movement and intercellular signaling occur simultaneously during the development of tissues, but little is known about how movement affects signaling. Previous theoretical studies have shown that faster moving cells favor synchronization across a population of locally coupled genetic oscillators. An important assumption in these studies is that cells can immediately interact with their new neighbors after arriving at a new location. However, intercellular interactions in cellular systems may need some time to become fully established. How movement affects synchronization in this situation has not been examined. Here we develop a coupled phase oscillator model in which we consider cell movement and the gradual recovery of intercellular coupling experienced by a cell after movement, characterized by a moving rate and a coupling recovery rate respectively. We find (1) an optimal moving rate for synchronization, and (2) a critical moving rate above which achieving synchronization is not possible. These results indicate that the extent to which movement enhances synchrony is limited by a gradual recovery of coupling. These findings suggest that the ratio of time scales of movement and signaling recovery is critical for information transfer between moving cells.Comment: 18 single column pages + 1 table + 5 figures + Supporting Informatio

Head and Flow Observations on a High- Efficiency Free Centrifugal-Pump Impeller

A series of studies of the flow through the various components of hydrodynamic machinery is in progress in the Hydraulic Machinery Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology. Observations have been made on an impeller patterned after the Grand Coulee design. The impeller was operated as an isolated unit hydraulically free of the casing. The flow pattern at the discharge has been determined quantitatively for one flow rate, and a head-capacity curve for the impeller has been obtained. This paper constitutes a report on the findings up to the present

Lesions associated with mineral deposition in the lymph nodes and lungs of cattle: a case-control study of environmental health hazard.

This report focuses on the state of health of the cattle raised in the district of Taranto - city of Italy rated as environmentally at risk. Representative samples of lungs, bronchial and mediastinal lymph nodes of cattle from district of Taranto's slaughterhouses were collected. After a macroscopic examination, samples with marked lesions were processed for light microscopy. Samples were also observed with polarized light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and with microanalysis. The macroscopic examination revealed that 60 out of 183 samples showed marked lesions. Lung alterations were characterized by thickening of the alveolar septa and by the latter's modifying action on the alveolar spaces, foci of fibrosis and bronchopulmonary inflammation. For 51 out of the 60 samples observed, the histological examination confirmed the presence of pneumoconiosis and lymph nodal anthracosis. Energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis of lung samples identified a wide range of elements including silicon, aluminium, titanium, iron, carbon and small amount of the other metals. In the lymph-nodes the same kind of metals with a different levels of distribution was observed. Our survey on cattle farmed in areas at high risk of pollution may be helpful to the estimation of the exposure risk for man to environmental contaminants and to the evaluation of the occurrence of the pathological manifestations as well