AN EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION OF CURVATURE EFFECT ON THE LAMINATED COMPOSITES AT LOW VELOCITY IMPACT

The aim of this study is to investigate experimentally effects of curvature, fibre orientation, and ageing process on the low velocity impact behaviour of E-glass/epoxy composites. To investigate ageing effect, the half of the specimens have been left to dry at room condition and the other half was aged by the salt spray test. An apparatus was designed and produced to conduce impact tests of curved specimens. 20 J impact energy was used for experiments

Different Courses of Hepatitis B Reinfection After Renal Transplant: A Case Report

Hepatitis B surface antigen-positive allografts may be a source of transmission in patients who undergo renal transplantation.Treatment of hepatitis B virus infection with nucleoside/nucleotide analogs in kidney recipients who have hepatitis B virus infection or who have received transplants from hepatitis B surface antigen-positive donors improves long-term patient survival. Antiviral agents are administered as a preemptive or prophylactic therapy at the time of kidney transplantation, rather than as salvage treatment. In this report, we present 2 renal transplant recipients who had hepatitis B virus reinfection or who had developed seroconversion with immunosuppressive treatment. These case reports also demonstrate the unexpectedly different courses of hepatitis B reinfection after kidney transplantation

Energy management of hydrogen hybrid electric vehicles - A potential analysis

The hydrogen combustion engine (H₂ICE) is known to be able to burn H₂, producing no CO₂ emissions and extremely low engine-out NOₓᵉᵒ emissions. In this work, the potential to reduce the NOₓᵉᵒ emissions through the implementation of electric hybridization of an H₂ICE-equipped passenger car (H₂-HEV), combined with a dedicated energy management system (EMS) is discussed. Achieving a low H₂ consumption and low NOₓᵉᵒ emissions are conflicting objectives, the trade-off of which depends on the EMS and can be represented as a Pareto front. The dynamic programming algorithm is used to calculate the Pareto-optimal EMS calibrations for various driving missions. Through the utilization of a dedicated energy management calibration, H₂-HEVs exhibit the potential to decrease the NOₓᵉᵒ emissions by more than 90%, while, decreasing the H₂ consumption by over 16%, compared to a comparable non-hybridized H₂-vehicle. The present paper represents the initial potential analysis, suggesting that H₂-HEVs are a viable option towards a CO₂-free mobility with extremely low NOₓᵉᵒ emissions.ISSN:1879-3487ISSN:0360-319

Evaluation of primary and accessory respiratory muscles and their influence on exercise capacity and dyspnea in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Background: Skeletal and respiratory muscle disfunction has been described in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), however, involvement of accessory respiratory muscles and their association with symptomatology in PAH is unclear. Objectives: To assess the primary and accessory respiratory muscles and their influence on exercise tolerance and dyspnea. Methods: 27 patients and 27 healthy controls were included. Serratus anterior (SA), pectoralis muscles (PM) and sternocleidomastoid (SCM) muscle strength were evaluated as accessory respiratory muscles, maximal inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory pressures (MEP) as primary respiratory muscles, and quadriceps as peripheral muscle. Exercise capacity was evaluated with 6-min walk test (6MWT), dyspnea with modified Medical Council Research (MMRC) and London Chest Activity of Daily Living (LCADL) scales. Results: All evaluated muscles, except SCM, and 6MWT were decreased in patient group (p < 0.01). SA was the most affected muscle among primary and accessory respiratory muscles (Cohen's-d = 1.35). All evaluated muscles significantly correlated to 6MWT (r = 0.428-0.525). A multivariate model including SA, SCM and MIP was the best model for predicting 6MWT (R = 0.606; R-2 = 0.368; p = 0.013) and SA strength had the most impact on the 6MWT (B =1.242; beta = 0.340). None of the models including respiratory muscles were able to predict dyspnea, however PM and SA strength correlated to LCADL(total) (r =-0.493) and MMRC (r =-0.523), respectively. Conclusion: SCM may be excessively used in PAH since it retains its strength. Considering the relationship of accessory respiratory muscles with exercise tolerance and dyspnea, monitoring the strength of these muscles in the clinical practice may help providing better management for PAH. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Effects of Asenapine and Paliperidone on Depression, Anxiety and Analgesy in Mice: Alterations in Brain Neurotrophic Factors, Neurogenesis, and Blood Enzyme Levels

Schizophrenia, an important brain neurodevelopmental disorder, is observed in 1% of the global population. New-generation antipsychotics have been developed as alternatives to typical antipsychotics for more effective and safe therapy. Chronic administration of asenapine and paliperidone compared to haloperidol on depression, anxiety and analgesy in the forced swimming test (FST), elevated plus maze (EPM) and hot plate tests were examined in mice. Moreover effects of drugs, on expression levels of brain neurotrophic factors [brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element binding protein (CREB),nerve growth factor (NGF), synapsin and fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2)] in the hippocampus of mice, neurogenesis and neurodegeneration, and blood enzyme levels were also investigated. In FST, haloperidol (0.25 mg/kg) significantly increased immobility time while both asenapine (0.075 mg/kg) and paliperidone (0.25 and 0.50 mg/kg) significantly diminished this parameter. In EPM test, haloperidol significantly increased both %, time spent in open arms and % open arm entries. Asenapine (0.075 mg/kg) and paliperidone (0.50 mg/kg) significantly increased % time spent in the open arms. They also increased % open arm entries, but this parameter failed to reach a statistically significant value. In hot plate test, haloperidol (0.125 and 0.25 mg/kg) and paliperidone (0.25 and 0.50 mg/kg) significantly increased the latency to lick the hind paws but asenapine had no effect. Asenapine and paliperidone upregulated more neurotrophic factors in the brain and caused less neurodegeneration compared to haloperidol. Investigated drugs had no effect on liver enzymes and plasma glucose levels. Asenapine and paliperidone may be preferred over classical antipsychotics since they have antidepressant-like effect, upregulate more neurotrophic factors and cause less neurodegeneration in naive mice without having diabetogenic and liver damaging effects. Paliperidone seems to possess superior effects compared to asenapine since it also exerts analgesic-like effect