Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of the Hot Torsion Process of the Hardly Deformable 5XXX Series Aluminium Alloy

This work presents the results of the numerical and physical modelling of the hot torsion of a hardly deformable 5XXX series aluminium alloy. Studies were conducted on constrained torsion with the use of the STD 812 torsion plastometer. The main purpose of the numerical tests was to determine the influence of the accuracy of the mathematical model describing the changes in the yield stress of the tested material on the distribution of strain parameters and on the stress intensity. According to the preliminary studies, in the case of numerical modelling of the torsion test, the accuracy of the applied mathematical model describing the changes in the rheological properties of the tested material and the correct definition of the initial and boundary conditions had a particularly significant impact on the correctness of the determination of the strain parameters and the intensity of stresses. As part of the experimental tests, physical modelling of the hot torsion test was conducted. The aim of this part of the work was to determine the influence of the applied strain parameters on the distribution and size of grain as well as the microhardness of the tested aluminium alloy. Metallographic analyses were performed using light microscopy and the electron backscatter diffraction method. Due to the large inhomogeneity of the deformation parameters and the stress intensity in the torsion test, such tests were necessary for the correct determination of the so-called representative area for metallographic analyses. These types of studies are particularly important in the case of the so-called complex deformation patterns. The paper also briefly presents the results of preliminary research and future directions in which it is planned to use complex deformation patterns for physical modelling of selected processes combining various materials.     

Inflammatory reaction and its importance in the course of tumour process

This article gives basic information about the formation and the course of the inflammatory reaction, which is the important adaptation mechanism of the organism on the various external and internal injurants. The main attention is fixated on the role of the immune system in the course of the inflammatory reaction. It deals with the presence and the sense of the inflammatory reaction in the tumour environment in more detail. It gives the short information about the mechanisms of the antitumour defence. The influence ofthe inflammatory reaction on the genesis, the course and the progression of the tumour disease is discussed in the third chapter.     

Effect of Tool Geometry Parameters on the Formability of a Camera Cover in the Deep Drawing Process

The formability of the drawn part in the deep drawing process depends not only on the material properties, but also on the equipment used, metal flow control and tool parameters. The most common defects can be the thickening, stretching and splitting. However, the optimization of tools including the die and punch parameters leads to a reduction of the defects and improves the quality of the products. In this paper, the formability of the camera cover by aluminum alloy A1050 in the deep drawing process was examined relating to the tool geometry parameters based on numerical and experimental analyses. The results showed that the thickness was the smallest and the stress was the highest at one of the bottom corners where the biaxial stretching was the predominant mode of deformation. The problems of the thickening at the flange area, the stretching at the side wall and the splitting at the bottom corners could be prevented when the tool parameters were optimized that related to the thickness and stress. It was clear that the optimal thickness distribution of the camera cover was obtained by the design of tools with the best values—with the die edge radius 10 times, the pocket radius on the bottom of the die 5 times, and the punch nose radius 2.5 times the sheet thickness. Additionally, the quality of the camera cover was improved with a maximum thinning of 25% experimentally, and it was within the suggested maximum allowable thickness reduction of 45% for various industrial applications after optimizing the tool geometry parameters in the deep drawing process.     

Neuropeptide Y-immunoreactive (NPY-ir) structures in the brain of the gar Lepisosteus oculatus (Lepisosteiformes, Osteichthyes) with special regard to their anatomical relations to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-ir structures in the hypothalamus and the terminal nerve

The present paper describes neuropeptide Y-like-immunoreactive (NPY-ir) structures in the brain of the spotted gar, Lepisosteus oculatus, with special regard to their anatomical relations to gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH)-ir structures in the hypothalamus and the terminal nerve (TN). NPY-ir cells were found in various locations including the TN, the medial zone of the area dorsalis telencephali, the ventral nucleus of the area ventralis telencephali, the habenula, the dorsal posterior nucleus, the periventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus, the posterior tubercle, the optic tectum, and the lateral part of the tegmentum. NPY-ir fibers were widely distributed throughout the brain except for the cerebellum. They were locally dense in the ventral telencephalon, in the periventricular gray matter of the thalamus and the hypothalamus, and in the ventromedial part of the brainstem, but sparse in the olfactory system. Light-microscopic double immunohistochemistry demonstrated distinct NPY-ir and GnRH-ir structures in the ventral hypothalamus: the NPY-ir system was associated mainly with the periventricular gray matter, whereas the GnRH-ir system was prominent in the external zone of the preoptico-tubero-infundibular area including the median eminence (ME). Here, NPY-ir varicose fibers occasionally abutted on GnRH-ir cells and varicosities or invested GnRH-ir cells, suggesting that NPY directly regulates the function of the hypothalamic GnRHergic neuron system. On the other hand, the TN cells and fibers in the olfactory system were doubly labeled by the antibodies against NPY and GnRH. Immuno-electron-microscopic data strongly suggested that some of the TN fibers projected to the ME.     

Principles of cooperation between the specialties of internal medicine, pathology and clinical biochemistry

The optimal utilization of the knowledge and possibilities of pathological and clinical biochemistry presumes a close cooperation between it and the clinical specialties. The common working team of the GDR Society of Internal Medicine and the GDR Society for Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Diagnostics makes theses of the central points of the cooperation in care, education, further education and postgraduate study and in research a subject for discussion. As essential tasks in the process of medical care are regarded the balance of the examination programme standing at the disposal, the establishment of diagnostic programmes, the establishment of organisational measures, the ascertainment of a use according to indication, the guarantee of the representance of examination material, the control of plausibility and the interpretation of test results. Since the realization of the tasks to a large extent depends on the cooperation of the specialities in education, further education and postgraduate study during the further education the clinician should become acquainted with the possibilities, the limits and the prerequisites for the performance of laboratory diagnostic investigations, the clinical biochemist with the problems of medical care and the value of the laboratory diagnosis in the total process of the treatment. In the field of research the result is a necessary cooperation in the clarification of patho-biochemical mechanisms, in the search for suitable laboratory diagnostic parameters for diagnostics and control of the course as well as in the statement of the validity of laboratory diagnostic parameters and parameter combinations taking into consideration the factors expenses, benefit and risk as well as further diagnostic possibilities.     

Metabolic syndrome in transplant patients: an updating point of view

Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a cluster of risk factors that predispose to major cardiovascular diseases and its complications, determining liver and kidney impairment. In the last decade, the indications to transplantation are increasing, with a linear incidence of the complications of the procedure. MS represents one of the commonest, being in turn may the consequence of the underlying disease that required the transplantation, or the result of the medical treatment, as well as one of the most important factor influencing the morbidity and mortality of the transplanted patients. Due to the growing incidence of the MS in these patients, it is crucial to focus and clarify the leading causes determining the onset of the metabolic disarrangement, its outcome and the hypothetical mechanism through which the clinicians could reduce the impact of the disease. In fact, prevention, early recognition, and treatment of the factor that could predict the onset or progression of the MS after the transplantation may impact long term survival of patients, that is again the scope of the same transplant. This review will update the different mechanisMS of the pathogenesis of MS in this population, the clinical effects of the presence of the MS, observing the risk factors to be treated before and after the transplantation and suggesting the management of the follow-up.     

Institutional and personnel obstacles to the realisation of co-determination by old-age home inhabitants (author's transl)]

Following the intentions of the "Heimgesetz" partizipation of the residents does not only concern a better protection of their interests, but also a change in the traditional, hierachical structure of organization of the homes for the aged. A realization of this aim is not only faced by the position of power of the management. On the one hand the law itself restricts the nature and the range of the partizipation of the residents concerning decisionmaking in the institution. On the other hand the residents' committee got too little power to carry through the interests of the residents against the interests of the institution. So a considerable change in the traditional structure of the organisation is not very likely.     

Laboratory diagnosis in rheumatology]

The laboratory diagnostics essentially contributed to the pathogenetic clarification of rheumatological problems and gives multifarious support to the rheumatologist in differential and activity diagnostics and thus also decisively contributes to early diagnostics and therapy. When the acute-phase-reactions serve for the differentiation of inflammatory-rheumatic diseases and degenerative diseases and for the establishment of the degree of activity, so the ASR further the diagnostic ascertainment of a rheumatic fever, the agglutination tests for proving the rheumatoid factor further the differential diagnosis of the rheumatoid arthritis, the LE-phenomenon and the ANF further the differential diagnosis of the LEV, the proof of cardiac auto-antibodies essentially furthers the diagnostics of carditis, the increase of uric acid the early recognition of gout, the synovial diagnostics at length became necessary for the clarification of clinically unclear mon- or oligoarthritides and the determination of the local activity for the observation and judgment of the course. Notwithstanding the primate of the clinic without an effective laboratory diagnostics a modern rheumatology can no more be performed nowadays.     

Cytodiagnosis of the synovial fluid]

In a survey in a general part the differential-diagnostic approach in the establishment of cytological findings of the arthrocentesis for the judgment of the normal and pathologically changed synovial fluid are described. Especially the differential-diagnostic possibilities by constellations of the findings from determination of the total number of leucocytes, the differential cell picture and the determination of the individual signs characteristic for a disease are demonstrated. A special part deals with the assessment of the cytologic findings of the arthrocentesis for the diagnosis, the local and general judgment of the activity and the judgment of the therapeutic success of medicamentous and operative measures in rheumatoid arthritis with the help of the cytology of the puncture of a joint.     

Compartmentalization of two forms of acetyl-CoA carboxylase in plants and the origin of their tolerance toward herbicides.

Acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase, EC 6.4.1.2) catalyzes the synthesis of malonyl-CoA, the first intermediate in fatty acid synthesis. We studied the localization of two forms, the prokaryote and the eukaryote forms, of ACCase in pea leaves by comparing the biotin polypeptides of the two ACCases in protein extract from leaves and plastids. We found that the two forms of ACCase were in different cell compartments of pea leaves; the prokaryote form was in the plastids, and the eukaryote form was elsewhere, probably in the cytosol. This result suggested the existence of two sites of malonyl-CoA synthesis. The Gramineae, such as rice and wheat, which lack the accD gene encoding one of the subunits of the prokaryote form of ACCase in their chloroplast genomes, did not have the prokaryote form of the enzyme but had the eukaryote form. The selective grass herbicides of the diphenoxypropionic acid type and the cyclohexanedione type, in vitro, inhibited plastidic ACCase of the eukaryote form from wheat but did not inhibit that of the prokaryote form from pea, suggesting that the origin of the tolerance of intact pea plant toward these herbicides is partly in the insensitivity of the prokaryote form of the enzyme. The origin of the susceptibility of the Gramineae plants toward these herbicides seems to lie in the presence of the herbicide-sensitive eukaryote form and the absence of the insensitive prokaryote form due to the lack of the accD gene in plastid.     

Predictive modeling and simulation of the structural contact problems between the brake pads and rotor in frictional sliding contact

The complexity of the physical or technological systems to be developed or studied led to employing numerical methods based on the principle of an approach as possible nominal solution, but these require large computations requiring efficient computers. The computer code ANSYS also allows the determination and the visualization of the structural deformations due to the contact of slipping between the disc and the pads. The results of the calculations of contact described in this work relate to displacements, Von Mises stress on the disc, contact pressures of the inner and outer pad at various moments of simulation. One precedes then the influence of some parameters on the computation results such as rotation of the disc, the smoothness of the mesh, the material of the brake pads and the friction coefficient enter the disc and the pads, the number of revolutions and the material of the disc, the pads groove.     

Isovolumic contraction time of right ventricle in d-transposition of great arteries.

The pre-ejection period of the right ventricle in d-transposition of the great arteries is known to be prolonged, compared with the same interval of the left ventricle of normal subjects. In the present study, the echocardiographic measurement of the components of the pre-ejection period of the right ventricle of 14 patients with d-transposition of the great arteries shows that the isometric contraction time of the right ventricle in d-transposition of the great arteries is similar to the same interval calculated on the left ventricle of 76 normal children of comparable age. On the other hand, the electromechanical delay was significantly greater for the right ventricle of d-transposition of the great arteries than for the left ventricle of the normal subjects. It is concluded that the prolonged pre-ejection period of the right ventricle in d-transposition of the great arteries is not the result of right ventricular dysfunction but solely of a longer electromechanical delay.     

Mapping Relation between Rail and Bridge Deformation Considering Nonlinear Contact of Interlayer

This paper examines the effect of structural deformation on the unit slab-type ballastless track structure of high-speed railway. The principle of stationary potential energy was used to map the relation between girder vertical deformation and rail deformation considering the effect of subgrade boundary conditions and the nonlinear contact of interlayer. The theoretical model was verified by comparing with the finite element analysis and experimental results. The theoretical model was used to analyze the effects of several key parameters on the rail deformation, such as vertical deformation amplitude, elastic modulus of the mortar layer, and vertical stiffness of the fasteners. The results show that the track slabs suffered significant disengagement, which makes the deformation of the track structure at the position of the beam joint tend to be gentle when nonlinear contact between the mortar layer and the track slabs was considered. The track slabs disengagement mainly occurs near the beam joints (the side of the deformed beam). As the deflection amplitude of the girder increases, the track deformation, the fastener forces and the disengagement length of the track slabs are obviously nonlinear. When the vertical stiffness of the fastener and/or the elastic modulus of the mortar layer increase, the fastener force and the track plate disengagement length increase monotonically and nonlinearly, which will adversely affect the life and safety of the track structure.     

Metabolism of free fatty acids in the intravascular space

With regard to the clinically relevant pathogenetic significance of hyperlipacidaemias a survey of the metabolism of the free fatty acids in the intravascular space is given. The transport of the free fatty acids by albumin and lipoproteins is demonstrated and the importance of the non-protein-bound fraction of the free fatty acids is emphasized. The dynamics of the metabolism of the free fatty acids is characterized with the help of the fractional and absolute turnover rate. Furthermore, the author deals with the participation of individual organs in the total metabolism and the metabolic fate of the free fatty acids as well as with the sources of this lipid fraction. Finally the regulation of the plasma concentration of the free fatty acids and its significance for the maintenance of the caloric homoeostasis is described.     

El Cardiólogo y la Cardiología del Futuro: visión y propuestas de la Sociedad Española de Cardiología para la cardiología del siglo XXI

The Cardiology of the Future is a project of the Spanish Society of Cardiology (SEC) whose objectives are as follows: to define the action policies of the SEC; to analyze the trends and changes in the environment that will influence the practice of cardiology in Spain; to define the profile of the cardiologists needed in the future; to propose policies to achieve the objectives resulting from the identified needs; and to identify the role of the SEC in the development and implementation of these policies. This article describes the methodology and the most relevant findings of the final report of this project and the strategic lines to be developed by the SEC in the immediate future, resulting from the analysis performed.     

应用GPS/GSM对洲滩观测和同步监控的研究

目的利用全球定位系统(GPS)和全球无线移动通讯技术(GSM)相结合的方法,对洲滩进行精确定位、测量其面积,并实现同步报告、实时监控。方法在鄱阳湖区内选择一个退田还湖地区(无螺区),一块赣江边的洲滩(有螺区),利用手持GPS设备在现场进行航点、航迹的采集,将定位数据包以短消息的形式发回GPS监控服务中心内的GPS服务器,在控制中心数据库的支持下,实时检索短消息服务,并将检索到的以短消息形式存在的定位数据包转发给控制服务中心。控制服务中心解释获得的定位数据包中的信息,在强大的GIS地图上显示被监控终端设备的位置,实现实时监测。结果手持GPS设备可以对现场行走的路线进行准确定位(自动保存为“航迹”),同时可以手动采集每个航点的经纬度。控制中心能够及时接收到GPS发回的短信息,在强大的GIS地图上显示被监控终端设备的每一个精确地理位置,实现了实时监控。结论通过GPS和GSM两种系统的有效结合,实现了通过短信方式进行位置信息传递与收集。中心控制系统同时接收终端信息,实现全面监控。将该系统应用于血防工作,不但能够及时将血吸虫病疫情发生的地点迅速上报给上级组织,而且能够通过该型GPS具备的移动通话功能指导现场采取处理措施。该系统将为血吸虫病防治工作创造一种具有技术含量高、预报速度快     

Reactivity of castrated female rats to estrone in alloxan diabetes

After the administration of alloxan (in 23 days) to adult female rats the mass of the ovaries, the uterus, and the vagina altered, but the height of the uterine endometrium and the thickness of the vaginal epithelial layer decreased. When estron was administered to castrated rats with alloxan diabetes the mass of the uterus and the vagina and the height of the uterine endometrium, and of the epithelial layer of the vagina increased to the same degree as in rats with the intact pancreas; reactivity of diabetic rats to estrogen approached the sensitivity of animals with normal pancreatic functions.     

Relations between plasma-erythrocyte viscosity factors and ESR]

The ESR is usually put in relationship: to the real density of the RBCs (erythrocytes) (difference between the RBC specific gravity and the plasma one), and to the resistance that the RBCs meet moving in a medium, which is due to the plasma viscosity and to the total external RBC surface. When the RBCs take shape of aggregates, their external surface is decreased and ESR increases. The most important plasma factor causing changes in ESR is the fibrinogen level followed by the plasma globulins and by the products arising from the tissue damage. The resistance that the RBCs meet moving in the plasma is well expressed by the measurement of the plasma-RBC viscosity considering that is inclusive of both factors that are the plasma viscosity and the external RBC surface. The plasma-RBC viscosity is the resultant of several factors: Fa = Fb - Fe - Fs - Fm, were: Fa is the resultant, Fb the attracting forces due to the proteic macromolecules, Fe the repulsing forces due the negative charges. Fs the repulsing forces due to the shear-stress, Fm the force which opposes itself against the surface tension of the aggregation; it depends on the RBC morphology and on the RBC rigidity. The ESR has been recently used like an index of the RBC aggregation. The Authors study the relationship between several hemorheological parameters and the ESR in infective and inflammatory processes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Effects of the cholestatic factor and the prostaglandin E1 derivative on the level of cAMP in isolated hepatocytes of rats

It has been reported that cAMP in hepatocytes plays an important role in bile discharge. Therefore, in order to examine the action mechanism of the cholestatic factor, we studied the effect of the cholestatic factor and prostaglandin E1 derivative which inhibits the activity of the cholestatic factor on the cAMP level in hepatocytes. As a result, the cAMP level in hepatocytes was decreased by treatment with the cholestatic factor, but was increased by the prostaglandin E1 derivative. Furthermore, the cAMP level which was decreased by the cholestatic factor returned to the original level by treatment with the prostaglandin E1 derivative. Because the increase in the cAMP level in hepatocytes promotes the bile acid independent bile discharge, it is suggested that the cholestatic factor reduces the bile flow by the decrease in the cAMP level in hepatocytes, and that the prostaglandin E1 derivative competes with the action of the cholestatic factor through the increase in the cAMP level in hepatocytes.     

Integrated prevention and control strategy for dengue in Mesoamerica

Dengue in the Americas is a public health problem in ascent. The control strategies have not been effective when sustained in the intensive use of insecticides and poor community participation. The Mesoamerican Initiative for the Prevention and the Integrated Control of Dengue synthesizes the works generated by the Integrated Strategy of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) and the risks stratification strategy designed by the countries of the Mesoamerican region. The objective is to progressively reduce the incidence of dengue cases until a 50% reduction is reached over a five years period. This document describes the elements for the risk stratification, the activities for prevention and control organized by levels of intensity and frequency and the indicators used to pursuit the objectives. To face the dispersion of the problem a concentration of efforts for control in the areas of greater risk is presented; the opportunity in the detection of cases is highlighted to tackle the fast dissemination of the infection; focus on the most productive breeding sites is proposed to battle against the vast dissemination of the breeding sites; and the severity of the infection must be addressed by capable clinical human resources. This strategy was designed along with the national representatives of the control programs to create master plans that provided the basis for the integrated prevention and control of dengue in the Mesoamerican region.