On the relationship between microstructure, mechanical properties and hydrogen embrittlement of pipe steels

The medium carbon casing pipe steels for oil and gas wells with fine grain bainitic microstructure and with coarse microstructure of ferrite-pearlite were tested. The steel with higher strength and with more dispersed microstructure was less susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement than the another one. The finite element method of load simulation of the specimens with crack was used for assessment of the embrittlement of the studied steel

Delay in diagnosis of patients with head-and-neck cancer in Canada: impact of patient and provider delay.

Background: Head-and-neck cancers (hncs) often present at an advanced stage, leading to poor outcomes. Late presentation might be attributable to patient delays (reluctance to seek treatment, for instance) or provider delays (misdiagnosis, prolonged wait time for consultation, for example). The objective of the present study was to examine the length and cause of such delays in a Canadian universal health care setting. Methods: Patients presenting for the first time to the hnc multidisciplinary team (mdt) with a biopsy-proven hnc were recruited to this study. Patients completed a survey querying initial symptom presentation, their previous medical appointments, and length of time between appointments. Clinical and demographic data were collected for all patients. Results: The average time for patients to have their first appointment at the mdt clinic was 15.1 months, consisting of 3.9 months for patients to see a health care provider (hcp) for the first time since symptom onset and 10.7 months from first hcp appointment to the mdt clinic. Patients saw an average of 3 hcps before the mdt clinic visit (range: 1-7). No significant differences in time to presentation were found based on stage at presentation or anatomic site. Conclusions: At our tertiary care cancer centre, a patient\u27s clinical pathway to being seen at the mdt clinic shows significant delays, particularly in the time from the first hcp visit to mdt referral. Possible methods to mitigate delay include education about hnc for patients and providers alike, and a more streamlined referral system

Velocity distributions of sputtered excited atoms

The first direct measurements are reported of the velocity distributions of sputtered atoms in excited states with electronic configurations completely different from the ground state. In contrast to previous work, the measured distributions for both the singlet and triplet metastable D states of Ba atoms showed no energy thresholds and had most probable energies similar to those of sputtered ground-state atoms.Peer reviewedElectrical and Computer Engineerin

Morpholino Gene Knockdown in Adult Fundulus heteroclitus: Role of SGK1 in Seawater Acclimation

The Atlantic killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) is an environmental sentinel organism used extensively for studies on environmental toxicants and salt (NaCl) homeostasis. Previous research in our laboratory has shown that rapid acclimation of killifish to seawater is mediated by trafficking of CFTR chloride channels from intracellular vesicles to the plasma membrane in the opercular membrane within the first hour in seawater, which enhances chloride secretion into seawater, thereby contributing to salt homeostasis. Acute transition to seawater is also marked by an increase in both mRNA and protein levels of serum glucocorticoid kinase 1 (SGK1) within 15 minutes of transfer. Although the rise in SGK1 in gill and its functional analog, the opercular membrane, after seawater transfer precedes the increase in membrane CFTR, a direct role of SGK1 in elevating membrane CFTR has not been established in vivo. To test the hypothesis that SGK1 mediates the increase in plasma membrane CFTR we designed two functionally different vivo-morpholinos to knock down SGK1 in gill, and developed and validated a vivo-morpholino knock down technique for adult killifish. Injection (intraperitoneal, IP) of the splice blocking SGK1 vivo-morpholino reduced SGK1 mRNA in the gill after transition from fresh to seawater by 66%. The IP injection of the translational blocking and splice blocking vivo-morpholinos reduced gill SGK1 protein abundance in fish transferred from fresh to seawater by 64% and 53%, respectively. Moreover, knock down of SGK1 completely eliminated the seawater induced rise in plasma membrane CFTR, demonstrating that the increase in SGK1 protein is required for the trafficking of CFTR from intracellular vesicles in mitochondrion rich cells to the plasma membrane in the gill during acclimation to seawater. This is the first report of the use of vivo-morpholinos in adult killifish and demonstrates that vivo-morpholinos are a valuable genetic tool for this environmentally relevant model organism

The use of mesenchymal stem cells for cartilage repair and regeneration: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The management of articular cartilage defects presents many clinical challenges due to its avascular, aneural and alymphatic nature. Bone marrow stimulation techniques, such as microfracture, are the most frequently used method in clinical practice however the resulting mixed fibrocartilage tissue which is inferior to native hyaline cartilage. Other methods have shown promise but are far from perfect. There is an unmet need and growing interest in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering to improve the outcome for patients requiring cartilage repair. Many published reviews on cartilage repair only list human clinical trials, underestimating the wealth of basic sciences and animal studies that are precursors to future research. We therefore set out to perform a systematic review of the literature to assess the translation of stem cell therapy to explore what research had been carried out at each of the stages of translation from bench-top (in vitro), animal (pre-clinical) and human studies (clinical) and assemble an evidence-based cascade for the responsible introduction of stem cell therapy for cartilage defects. This review was conducted in accordance to PRISMA guidelines using CINHAL, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and Web of Knowledge databases from 1st January 1900 to 30th June 2015. In total, there were 2880 studies identified of which 252 studies were included for analysis (100 articles for in vitro studies, 111 studies for animal studies; and 31 studies for human studies). There was a huge variance in cell source in pre-clinical studies both of terms of animal used, location of harvest (fat, marrow, blood or synovium) and allogeneicity. The use of scaffolds, growth factors, number of cell passages and number of cells used was hugely heterogeneous. SHORT CONCLUSIONS: This review offers a comprehensive assessment of the evidence behind the translation of basic science to the clinical practice of cartilage repair. It has revealed a lack of connectivity between the in vitro, pre-clinical and human data and a patchwork quilt of synergistic evidence. Drivers for progress in this space are largely driven by patient demand, surgeon inquisition and a regulatory framework that is learning at the same pace as new developments take place

Badanie właściwości mechanicznych stali S355JR o różnych typach budowy mikrostrukury

S355JR steel was objected for testing. Different microstructure types – ferritic-perlitic, ferritic-bainitic and ferritic with coagulated carbon particles were obtained in laboratory conditions. The mechanical properties and the fracture toughness for the steel of various microstructures were determined for a temperature of 20°C. It was shown that the S355JR steel of all tested microstructure types are highly plastic materials and have a high level of the fracture toughness properties.Badaniom została poddana stal S355JR. W materiale na skutek przeprowadzenia laboratoryjnej obróbki cieplnej uzyskano mikrostruktury: ferrytyczno-perlityczną, ferrytyczno-bainityczną oraz ferrytu ze skoagulo-wanymi cząstkami węglików. Charakterystyki wytrzymałościowe oraz odporności na pękanie zostały wyznaczone w temperaturze 20°C. Wykazano, iż stal S355JR o różnej budowie mikrostruktury jest materiałem o wysokiej plastyczności oraz wysokim poziomie charakterystyk odporności na pękanie

Assessment of the critical values of stress and strain of material on the basis of analysis of uniaxial tensile test data

In the article, a method of determining the critical level of deformation of ferritic steel S355JR on the basis of measurements of grain elongation is proposed. Tests were carried out on steel in two microstructure states: ferrite-pearlite and bainite. Parameter values for the Ramberg-Osgood law and true stress-strain dependencies were set. The results obtained were compared with the results obtained according to other methods

Optimization of the strength characteristics of austoferritic ductile iron ADI on the base of numerical analysis

W artykule przedstawiono wyniki badań numerycznych, przeprowadzonych celem optymalizacji wytrzymałości żeliwa sferoidalnego ADI. Badano wpływ rozmiarów i udziału względnego cząstek grafitu na wytrzymałość osnowy żeliwa. Obliczenia numeryczne przeprowadzono w programie ABAQUS dla płaskiego stanu naprężeń. Na podstawie analizy numerycznej ustalono, że względny udział cząstek ρ = 8% oraz rozmiar średnicy cząstki 8 µm można przyjąć za optymalne.The paper presents the results of numerical investigation carried out to optimize the strength of austoferritic ductile iron ADI. The influence of size and density of the graphite particles on ductile iron strength were tested. Numerical calculation was performed using program ABAQUS for plain stress state. On the numerical analysis basis it was determined that relative share of particles ρ = 8% and particle diameter equal 8% µm are as optimal

Determination of the Fracture Toughness Characteristics of S355JR Steel

The article presents the results of tests carried out on S355JR steel of ferrite-pearlite and ferrite-bainite microstructures. The strength properties and fracture toughness were determined. The critical value of fracture toughness was determined at the moment of crack initiation by measuring of the stretch zone width, and in the moment of reaching a subcritical crack growth of 0.2 mm. Determination of fracture toughness characteristics was carried out in accordance with the procedures of ISO and ASTM standards