Flow behavior of molten polymer blends

An experimental study of molten polymer blends was made using the Instron Capillary Rheometer. The materials investigated were two phase blends of non-crystalline polymers (poIymethylmethacrystate-low Mw-polyvinylacetate, polyvinylacetate-polystyrene, polymethylmethacrylate-low Mw-polystyrene, polymethylmethacrylate-high Mw-polystyrene), crystalline polymers (polyethylene-polypropylene) and combinations of non-crystalline-crystalline polymers (polyethylene-polystyrene). Two methods of sample preparation were used, blending of a polymer pair in a molten state by the use of Brabender blender, and a simple manual blending of pellets in desired proportion. The Brabender blended polymer pairs show lower viscosities, this is interpreted molecularly as a result of a reduction of the amount of chain entanglement on shearing of the material. In all cases deviation from the additive change of viscosity with change in composition occurs. It was established that the addition of a small quantity of one polymer to another causes drop in viscosity; this is attributed to the lubricating affect of the polymer added in small quantity. Small quantity of one polymer added to another causes also an increase in the melt elasticity of the blend. Extrudate melt fracture phenomena of blended polymer pairs was also studied

Improvement of left ventricular function after percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with stable coronary artery disease and preserved ejection fraction: Impact of diabetes mellitus

Background: Many patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) have no visual segmental wall motion abnormalities and a left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (LVEF) ≥ 50% at rest despite significant coronary artery stenosis. Here, the aim was to determine the impact of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) on LV function assessed by enhanced echocardiography in patients with stable CAD with or without diabetes mellitus type 2 and a preserved LVEF.Methods: Sixty-six consecutive patients with CAD and LVEF ≥ 50%, admitted to the hospital for planned coronary angiography, were prospectively assessed. PCI was performed for coronary artery stenosis > 70%. CAD extent was assessed using SYNTAX and EXTENT scores. To assess LV function, LVEF, global longitudinal strain (GLS), and LV peak systolic myocardial velocity (S’) were measured and Tei index was calculated before and 3 months after PCI.Results: Before PCI, LVEF, GLS, and Tei index were significantly worse in diabetic patients. LV functional indices improved significantly after PCI in all patients (p < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of selected factors on LV function after PCI expressed as changes (D) of LVEF, GLS, S’, and Tei index. LV function improvement expressed as DGLS was associated only with SYNTAX score. Higher SYNTAX scores were related to greater GLS improvement (b = 0.003, 95% confidence interval: 0.0004–0.005; p = 0.02).Conclusions: Percutaneous coronary intervention significantly improved LV function in diabetic and non-diabetic CAD patients with preserved LVEF. Enhanced echocardiography allowed an assessment of subtle changes in LV function

THE INFLUENCE OF FRICTION STIR WELDED PROCESS PARAMETERS OF AA2519-T62 ON JOINT QUALITY DEFINED BY NON-DESTRUCTIVE LASER AMPLIFIED ULTRASONIC METHOD AND BY MICROSTRUCTURE ANALYSIS

The presented research contains a description of a non-destructive laser ultrasound internal structure analysis of aluminium joints made by friction stir welding. In the research, four selected technological parameter groups were taken into account. Modifications used in different parameter groups included changing tool traverse speeds and also its rotation speeds. The most important goal of this research was to determine the joint quality using a non-destructive laser amplified ultrasound method  To verify obtained test results, an additional microstructural analysis was also conducted

Kardia Mobile applicability in clinical practice: A comparison of Kardia Mobile and standard 12-lead electrocardiogram records in 100 consecutive patients of a tertiary cardiovascular care center

Background: Mobile devices are gaining a rising number of users in all countries around the globe. Novel solutions to diagnose patients with out-of-hospital onset of arrhythmic symptoms can be easily used to record such events, but the effectiveness of these devices remain unknown.Methods: In a group of 100 consecutive patients of an academic cardiology care center (mean age 68 ± 14.2 years, males: 66%) a standard 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) and a Kardia Mobile (KM) record were registered. Both versions were assessed by three independant groups of physicians.Results: The analysis of comparisons for standard ECG and KM records showed that the latter is of lower quality (p < 0.001). It was non-inferior for detection of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter, showed weaker rhythm detection in pacemaker stimulation (p = 0.008), and was superior in sinus rhythm detection (p = 0.02), though. The sensitivity of KM to detect pathological Q-wave was low compared to specificity (20.6% vs. 93.7%, respectively, p < 0.001). Basic intervals measured by the KM device, namely PQ, RR, and QT were significantly different (shorter) than those observed in the standard ECG method (160 ms vs. 180 ms [p < 0.001], 853 ms vs. 880 ms [p = 0.03] and 393 ms vs. 400 ms[p < 0.001], respectively).Conclusions: Initial and indicative value of atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter detection in KM is comparable to results achieved in standard ECG. KM was superior in detection of sinus rhythm than eye-ball evaluation of 12-lead ECG. Though, the PQ and QT intervals were shorter in KM as compared to 12-lead ECG. Clinical value needs to be verified in large studies, though

The Evaluation of Optic Nerves Using 7 Tesla 'Silent' Zero Echo Time Imaging in Patients with Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy with or without Idebenone Treatment

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the Optic Nerve is difficult due to the fine extended nature of the structure, strong local magnetic field distortions induced by anatomy, and large motion artefacts associated with eye movement. To address these problems we used a Zero Echo Time (ZTE) MRI sequence with an Adiabatic SPectral Inversion Recovery (ASPIR) fat suppression pulse which also imbues the images with Magnetisation Transfer contrast. We investigated an application of the sequence for imaging the optic nerve in subjects with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON). Of particular note is the sequence's near-silent operation, which can enhance image quality of the optic nerve by reducing the occurrence of involuntary saccades induced during Magnetic Resonance (MR) scanning

The prevalence and association of major ECG abnormalities with clinical characteristics and the outcomes of real-life heart failure patients - Heart Failure Registries of the European Society of Cardiology

[Abstract] Background: Electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormalities increase the likelihood of heart failure (HF) but have low specificity and their occurrence is multifactorial. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and association of major ECG abnormalities with clinical characteristics and outcomes in a large cohort of real-life HF patients enrolled in HF Registries (Pilot and Long-Term) of the European Society of Cardiology. Methods: Standard 12-lead ECG containing at least one of the following simple parameters was considered a major abnormality: abnormal rhythm; >100 bpm; QRS ≥120 ms; QTc ≥450 ms; pathological Q-wave; left ventricle hypertrophy; left bundle branch block. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to identify predictors of the primary (all-cause death) and secondary (all-cause death or hospitalization for worsening HF) endpoints. Results: Patients with abnormal ECG (1222/1460; 83.7%) were older, more frequently were male and had HF with reduced ejection fraction, valvular heart disease, comorbidities, higher New York Heart Association class, or higher concentrations of natriuretic peptides as compared to those with normal ECG. In a one-year follow-up, the primary and secondary endpoints occurred more frequently in patients with abnormal ECG compared to normal ECG (13.8% vs 8.4%; P = 0.021 and 33.0% vs 24.7%; P = 0.016; respectively). Abnormal rhythm, tachycardia, QRS ≥120 ms, and QTc ≥450 ms were significant in univariable (both endpoints) analyses but only tachycardia remained an independent predictor of the primary endpoint. Conclusions: HF patients with major ECG abnormalities were characterized by worse clinical status and one-year outcomes. Only tachycardia was an independent predictor of all-cause death

Ischemic cardiomyopathy versus non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy in patients with reduced ejection fraction-clinical characteristics and prognosis depending on heart failure etiology (data from European Society of Cardiology heart failure registries)

[Abstract] Personalized management involving heart failure (HF) etiology is crucial for better prognoses for HF patients. This study aimed to compare patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and patients with non-ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy (NIDCM) in terms of baseline characteristics and prognosis. We assessed 895 patients with HF with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction participating in the Polish part of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC)-HF registries. ICM was present in 583 patients (65%), NIDCM in 312 patients (35%). The ICM patients were older (p < 0.001) and had more comorbidities. The NIDCM patients more frequently had atrial fibrillation (p = 0.04) and lower LVEF (p = 0.01); therefore, they were treated more often with anticoagulants (p = 0.01) and digitalis (p < 0.001). The NIDCM patients were prescribed aldosterone antagonists more often (p = 0.01). There were no other differences as regards the use of HF guideline-recommended medications, implantable cardioverter defibrillators or cardiac resynchronization therapy. The ICM patients were more likely to be treated with statins (p < 0.001) and antiplatelet agents (p < 0.001). All-cause death, as well as all-cause death and readmissions for HF at 12 months, occurred more often in the ICM group compared with the NIDCM group (15.9% vs. 10%, p = 0.016; and 40.9% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.00089, respectively). ICM etiology was an independent predictor of the composite endpoint in the total cohort (p = 0.003). The ICM patients were older and had more comorbidities, whereas the NIDCM patients had lower LVEF. One-year prognosis was worse in the ICM patients than in the NIDCM patients. ICM etiology was independently associated with a worse one-year outcome

CAO : A Fully Automatic Emoticon Analysis System

This paper presents CAO, a system for affect analysis of emoticons. Emoticons are strings of symbols widely used in text-based online communication to convey emotions. It extracts emoticons from input and determines specific emotions they express. Firstly, by matching the extracted emoticons to a raw emoticon database, containing over ten thousand emoticon samples extracted from the Web and annotated automatically. The emoticons for which emotion types could not be determined using only this database, are automatically divided into semantic areas representing "mouths" or "eyes", based on the theory of kinesics. The areas are automatically annotated according to their co-occurrence in the database. The annotation is firstly based on the eyemouth- eye triplet, and if no such triplet is found, all semantic areas are estimated separately. This provides the system coverage exceeding 3 million possibilities. The evaluation, performed on both training and test sets, confirmed the system's capability to sufficiently detect and extract any emoticon, analyze its semantic structure and estimate the potential emotion types expressed. The system achieved nearly ideal scores, outperforming existing emoticon analysis systems

Multiagent system for joke generation: Humor and emotions combined in human-agent conversation

In this paper we present an innovative work on a multiagent joking conversational system. In our research so far we have shown that implementing humor into a chatterbot can visibly improve its performance. The results presented in this paper are the outcome of the next step of our work. They show that a multiagent system, combining a conversational agent, a pun generator and an emotiveness analysis engine, works reasonably well in interactions with users. In the setup used in this research, the emotiveness analysis agent analyses users' utterances and decides whether it is appropriate to tell a pun. Depending on the results of this analysis, the agent chooses either the pun generator, if the decision is that a joke should be told, or the non-humor-equipped agent when the decision is different. Two evaluation experiments were conducted: user (first person) focused and automatic (emotiveness-analysis-based). In both, we compared the performance of the multiagent joking system and a baseline (non-humorous) conversation agent. The results show that in both cases the humor-equipped engine was evaluated as better than the baseline agent. The results are discussed and some ideas for the future are given