Well sintered glass-ceramics with diopside as the primary crystalline phase were obtained where the amount of diopside varied with the heating conditions. (C) 2009 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3239852]“
“Nano-/microcomposites based on polypropylene/montmorillonite/calcium carbonate were prepared by melt mixing. Their structures and properties were characterized by small-angle X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, and rheological measurements. The intercalation
degree was found to be dependent on the compatibilizer content and the processing temperature. The addition of the organoclay slightly increased Cl-amidine cell line the melt crystallization temperature of polypropylene, acting as nucleating agents, and improved the degree of crystallinity. The rheological tests showed that nanocomposites increased the check details complex viscosity when compared with the microcomposites with the same filler content and exhibited a pronounced shear-thinning behavior in the low frequency range. A Carreau-Yasuda model was used to model the rheological behavior of these materials. The nano-/microcomposites showed a significant improvement (about 50%) of the Young’s modulus, when compared with microcomposites with
the same filler content due to the intercalation or exfoliation of the organoclay anti the enhanced degree of crystallinity. Moreover, some formulations showed an enhancement of elongation at break and ultimate strength. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 113: 3360-3367, 2009″
“Background: Long-term heart failure (HF) treatment has been shown to result in reverse chamber remodeling. However, it is unknown whether Kinase Inhibitor Library chemical structure sizes of cardiac chambers acutely change during HF therapy and whether these changes are associated with favorable clinical outcomes.
Methods and Results: Using the Evaluation Study of Congestive Heart Failure and Pulsmonary Artery Catheterization Effectiveness (ESCAPE) trial database, echocardiographic parameters at baseline and discharge, changes from baseline to discharge, and their association with the combined endpoint of death or HF
rehospitalization (HFH) at 6 months were evaluated in patients admitted with acute decompensated HF (ADHF). Also, the correlation between changes in invasive hemodynamic parameters compared with changes in echocardiographic parameters was analyzed. During the treatment of ADHF, right atrium, right ventricle, and inferior vena cava (IVC) sizes decreased acutely. Mitral regurgitation severity and mitral inflow parameters also improved significantly. However, the majority of acute changes in echocardiographic parameters did not have an impact on clinical outcome, except for the reduction in left ventricular (LV) end-diastolic and end-systolic volumes, which was associated with a reduction in the combined outcome of HFH or death.