Experimental Study of Wear Performance of Tool Steel Undergone DUPLEX Surface Treatments for Hot Forging Applications

In recent years, the DUPLEX surface treatment, consisting of vacuum gas nitride followed by physical vapor deposition (PVD) coating, has earn a lot of interest for enhance the wear performance of high temperature forming application, especially hot forging. In this work the wear performance of hot forging tool steel grade AISI H13 undergone DUPLEX treatments with different top coating have been investigated. Three types of PVD coatings, e.g. TiAlN, AlCrN and AlCrTiN, were studied. The microstructure, physical and mechanical properties and surface roughness were also investigated. The wear tests were performed using a high temperature pin-on-disc arrangement at the working temperature of the hot forging tool, i.e. 300°C. The experimental results indicate that the wear behavior is strongly influenced by the level of contact stress developed at the surface. At low contact stress, harder coating shows the better wear performance while, at high contact stress, the tougher coating serves better. Examination of worn surface suggests that this might be caused by change in failure mechanism from ductile fracture to a more brittle manner at high contact stress for hard material. The understanding of the influence of working conditions and coating properties on the wear resistance of tool steels obtained from this work can be very useful in the improvement of wear performance in hot-forging tools and also other high temperature applications

Diagnosis and treatment of urticaria and angioedema: a worldwide perspective

Urticaria and angioedema are common clinical conditions representing a major concern for physicians and patients alike. The World Allergy Organization (WAO), recognizing the importance of these diseases, has contributed to previous guidelines for the diagnosis and management of urticaria. The Scientific and Clinical Issues Council of WAO proposed the development of this global Position Paper to further enhance the clinical management of these disorders through the participation of renowned experts from all WAO regions of the world. Sections on definition and classification, prevalence, etiology and pathogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis are based on the best scientific evidence presently available. Additional sections devoted to urticaria and angioedema in children and pregnant women, quality of life and patient-reported outcomes, and physical urticarias have been incorporated into this document. It is expected that this article will supplement recent international guidelines with the contribution of an expert panel designated by the WAO, increasing awareness of the importance of urticaria and angioedema in medical practice and will become a useful source of information for optimum patient management worldwide

Research directions in data wrangling: Visualizations and transformations for usable and credible data

In spite of advances in technologies for working with data, analysts still spend an inordinate amount of time diagnosing data quality issues and manipulating data into a usable form. This process of ‘data wrangling’ often constitutes the most tedious and time-consuming aspect of analysis. Though data cleaning and integration arelongstanding issues in the database community, relatively little research has explored how interactive visualization can advance the state of the art. In this article, we review the challenges and opportunities associated with addressing data quality issues. We argue that analysts might more effectively wrangle data through new interactive systems that integrate data verification, transformation, and visualization. We identify a number of outstanding research questions, including how appropriate visual encodings can facilitate apprehension of missing data, discrepant values, and uncertainty; how interactive visualizations might facilitate data transform specification; and how recorded provenance and social interaction might enable wider reuse, verification, and modification of data transformations

Association of mast cell-derived VEGF and proteases in dengue shock syndrome

Background: Recent in-vitro studies have suggested that mast cells are involved in Dengue virus infection. To clarify the role of mast cells in the development of clinical Dengue fever, we compared the plasma levels of several mast cell-derived mediators (vascular endothelial cell growth factor [VEGF], soluble VEGF receptors [sVEGFRs], tryptase, and chymase) and -related cytokines (IL-4, -9, and -17) between patients with differing severity of Dengue fever and healthy controls. Methodology/Principal Findings: The study was performed at Children\u27s Hospital No. 2, Ho Chi Minh City, and Vinh Long Province Hospital, Vietnam from 2002 to 2005. Study patients included 103 with Dengue fever (DF), Dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF), and Dengue shock syndrome (DSS), as diagnosed by the World Health Organization criteria. There were 189 healthy subjects, and 19 febrile illness patients of the same Kinh ethnicity. The levels of mast cell-derived mediators and -related cytokines in plasma were measured by ELISA. VEGF and sVEGFR-1 levels were significantly increased in DHF and DSS compared with those of DF and controls, whereas sVEGFR-2 levels were significantly decreased in DHF and DSS. Significant increases in tryptase and chymase levels, which were accompanied by high IL-9 and -17 concentrations, were detected in DHF and DSS patients. By day 4 of admission, VEGF, sVEGFRs, and proteases levels had returned to similar levels as DF and controls. In-vitro VEGF production by mast cells was examined in KU812 and HMC-1 cells, and was found to be highest when the cells were inoculated with Dengue virus and human Dengue virus-immune serum in the presence of IL-9. Conclusions: As mast cells are an important source of VEGF, tryptase, and chymase, our findings suggest that mast cell activation and mast cell-derived mediators participate in the development of DHF. The two proteases, particularly chymase, might serve as good predictive markers of Dengue disease severity

Successful Long-term Use of Intravenous Immunoglobulin to Treat Livedoid Vasculopathy Associated With Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1 Promoter Homozygosity

[No abstract available

CONTACT ALLERGIC DERMATITIS TO GOLD IN A TATTOO: A CASE REPORT

The art of tattooing has increasing in recent decades. Allergic sensitivity to one of the pigments is the most frequent cause of dermatological reactions at the site of the tatoo. Gold is a new pigment used in tatooing, because of its bright yellow color and luster. Allergy to this metal is uncommon. To our knowledge, this is the first reported case of allergic contact dermatitis to gold in a tattoo