An immunohistochemical study of the pancreatic endocrine cells of the Korean golden frog, Rana plancyi chosenica

The regional distribution and quantitative frequency of pancreatic endocrine cells were demonstrated in the Korean golden frog (Rana plancyi chosenica Okada), which is known as a Korean endemic species, for the first time by immunohistochemical methods using specific mammalian antisera to insulin, glucagon, somatostatin and human pancreatic polypeptide (PP). In the pancreas of the Korean golden frog, all four endocrine cell types were demonstrated. Insulin- and glucagon-positive cells were located in the pancreas as single cells or islet-like clusters, respectively. Somatostatin-containing cells were also dispersed in the pancreas as single cells or clusters but in the case of clusters, they are exclusively situated in the marginal regions of insulin- or glucagon-positive cell clusters. PP-containing cells were also distributed as single cells or clusters. Clusters consisted of PP-positive cells are distributed as a core type and a marginally distributed type. Overall, there were 40.84±3.81% insulin-, 26.02±1.71% glucagon-, 7.63±2.09% somatostatin- and 25.51±3.26% PP-IR cells

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks, 1990�2015: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2015

Background The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 provides an up-to-date synthesis of the evidence for risk factor exposure and the attributable burden of disease. By providing national and subnational assessments spanning the past 25 years, this study can inform debates on the importance of addressing risks in context. Methods We used the comparative risk assessment framework developed for previous iterations of the Global Burden of Disease Study to estimate attributable deaths, disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), and trends in exposure by age group, sex, year, and geography for 79 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks from 1990 to 2015. This study included 388 risk-outcome pairs that met World Cancer Research Fund-defined criteria for convincing or probable evidence. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from randomised controlled trials, cohorts, pooled cohorts, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. We developed a metric that allows comparisons of exposure across risk factors�the summary exposure value. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk level, we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We decomposed trends in attributable burden into contributions from population growth, population age structure, risk exposure, and risk-deleted cause-specific DALY rates. We characterised risk exposure in relation to a Socio-demographic Index (SDI). Findings Between 1990 and 2015, global exposure to unsafe sanitation, household air pollution, childhood underweight, childhood stunting, and smoking each decreased by more than 25. Global exposure for several occupational risks, high body-mass index (BMI), and drug use increased by more than 25 over the same period. All risks jointly evaluated in 2015 accounted for 57·8 (95 CI 56·6�58·8) of global deaths and 41·2 (39·8�42·8) of DALYs. In 2015, the ten largest contributors to global DALYs among Level 3 risks were high systolic blood pressure (211·8 million 192·7 million to 231·1 million global DALYs), smoking (148·6 million 134·2 million to 163·1 million), high fasting plasma glucose (143·1 million 125·1 million to 163·5 million), high BMI (120·1 million 83·8 million to 158·4 million), childhood undernutrition (113·3 million 103·9 million to 123·4 million), ambient particulate matter (103·1 million 90·8 million to 115·1 million), high total cholesterol (88·7 million 74·6 million to 105·7 million), household air pollution (85·6 million 66·7 million to 106·1 million), alcohol use (85·0 million 77·2 million to 93·0 million), and diets high in sodium (83·0 million 49·3 million to 127·5 million). From 1990 to 2015, attributable DALYs declined for micronutrient deficiencies, childhood undernutrition, unsafe sanitation and water, and household air pollution; reductions in risk-deleted DALY rates rather than reductions in exposure drove these declines. Rising exposure contributed to notable increases in attributable DALYs from high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, occupational carcinogens, and drug use. Environmental risks and childhood undernutrition declined steadily with SDI; low physical activity, high BMI, and high fasting plasma glucose increased with SDI. In 119 countries, metabolic risks, such as high BMI and fasting plasma glucose, contributed the most attributable DALYs in 2015. Regionally, smoking still ranked among the leading five risk factors for attributable DALYs in 109 countries; childhood underweight and unsafe sex remained primary drivers of early death and disability in much of sub-Saharan Africa. Interpretation Declines in some key environmental risks have contributed to declines in critical infectious diseases. Some risks appear to be invariant to SDI. Increasing risks, including high BMI, high fasting plasma glucose, drug use, and some occupational exposures, contribute to rising burden from some conditions, but also provide opportunities for intervention. Some highly preventable risks, such as smoking, remain major causes of attributable DALYs, even as exposure is declining. Public policy makers need to pay attention to the risks that are increasingly major contributors to global burden. Funding Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. © 2016 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY licens

Drop weight impact test fracture of vinyl ester composites: micrographs of pilot study

[Abstract]: The shrinkage of vinyl ester particulate composites has been reduced by curing the resins under microwave conditions. The reduction in the shrinkage of the resins by microwaves will enable the manufacture of large vinyl ester composite items possible [12-15]. This project is to investigate the difference in impact strength between microwave cured vinyl ester particulate composites and those cured under ambient conditions. Drop weight impact test will be used to achieve the aim of the project [7]The results show that the difference in the impact strength is minimal [5]. The original contribution of this paper is to view the fractured surface of composites cured under different conditions to find out whether they are the same. If they are the same, it can be deduced that the initial pansion of the composite due to microwave irradiation will not affect the final structure of the composite

Flexural tests of phenol formaldehyde and SLG composites: pilot study

Phenol formaldehyde was filled with Envirospheres slg to increase the strength of the composite for structural applications by a research Centre on composites, University of Southern Queensland (USQ). In order to reduce costs, the Centre wishes to fill as much slg as possible subject to maintaining sufficient strength of the composites in structural applications. This project varies the percentage by weight of the slg in the composites which are then subjected to flexural tests. The results show that composite with 25 % by weight of the slg produces the highest flexural strength and Young’s modulus combined with a reasonable fluidity for casting; the highest flexural strain was achieved when the percentage by weight of slg is 10 %

Comparison of muscle activity and occlusal contacts during maximal and habitual clenching in varied chair positions

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.comThe activity of anterior temporal muscle, the number of tooth contacts, and total duration of closure during maximal and habitual clenching were studied in varied chair positions. Fifteen subjects were evaluated. The means for the muscle activity of anterior temporal muscle during habitual clenching were 63.5-73.5% of maximum muscle activity. The number of tooth contacts and total duration of closure were significantly increased as biting pressure was increased from habitual to maximal clenching. No significant differences were detected in all variables among varied chair positions. The above results also suggested that occlusal instability was very common. Further research is required to explain the relationship, if any, of these variables to craniomandibular disorders. ⓒ 1997 Blackwell Science Ltd.

Lap shear strength comparison between different random glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic matrix composites bonded by adhesives using variable-frequency microwave irradiation.

This paper compares the lap shear strengths of three types of random glass fibre reinforced thermoplastic matrix composite joined by adhesives using microwave energy. Variable-frequency microwave (VFM) (2-18 GHz) facilities are used to join 33 wt % random glass fibre reinforced low-density polyethylene composite [LDPE/GF (33%)], 33 wt % random glass fibre reinforced polystyrene composite [PS/GF (33%)] and 33 wt % random glass fibre reinforced nylon 66 composite [nylon 66/GF (33%)]. With a given power level, the composites were exposed for various times to microwave irradiation. The primer or coupling agent used was a 5 min two-part adhesive

Thermally activated deformation and the rate controlling mechanism in CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy

The nature of obstacles to dislocation motion in CoCrFeMnNi alloy was analyzed using the thermally activated deformation analyses at low temperatures. The strong temperature dependence of yield stress and small activation volume in CoCrFeMnNi favor the dislocation glide over the obstacles with high friction stress. The activation volume of CoCrFeMnNi alloy (10-100 b(3)) in this study is much smaller than those of conventional FCC metals (10(2)similar to 10(3) b(3)), but close to those observed in BCC metals (8-100 b(3)) and HCP metals (5-100 b(3)). The increase of the activation volume with strain supports overcoming the nanoscale inhomogeneity such as co-clusters and/or short range orders as the rate controlling mechanism. The transition of dislocation structure from planar array to cell structure at 20% strain in CoCrFeMnNi reported in the literature can be attributed to the prevalent shearing of nanoscale inhomogeneity with strain.111616sciescopu