Search

Micro-powder injection moulding ( μPIM) is a promising mass manufacturing technique for the microsystem technology. Because typical applications - like sensors or actuators - need to withstand serious mechanical loadings, the investigations of the mechanical properties are of vital importance. Therefore, we implemented a small-scale testing setup that enables tensile and tension-tension-fatigue testing of freestanding micro-samples. This allowed for investigating tensile and fatigue properties of conventionally produced and μPIM 17-4PH stainless-steel thin membranes. The conventionally produced samples were machined from bulk material and showed properties and lifetimes comparable with the best bulk samples. The μPIM samples showed a weaker but more ductile behaviour, due to a ferritic phase and SiO2 inclusions. But their ultimate tensile strength of up to SU = 1021 ± 48 MPa and their relative fatigue strength of ≈46% SU ( R = −1) are still comparable with average bulk values. This indicates the high potential of μPIM materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the dietary protein concentration on the resting and fasting oxygen consumption of the albino rat The influence of the dietary protein concentration on the resting and fasting oxygen consumption (RNSV) was investigated on 71 male Wistar rats, at an environmental temperature of 28 °C. At the beginning of the first experiment the animals were either one, three or eight months old and weighed approximately 100, 300 or 500 g. They received a purified diet, containing a crude protein concentration of either 7 or 20%, for eight weeks; the protein carrier was wheat gluten. In the second experiment, carried out directly after the first one, only the animals weighing 500 g received Altromin stock diet for three weeks. Experiments on growing animals with different dietary protein concentrations, lead to considerable weight differences. Since the RNSV depends on the body mass, the experiments must be conducted in such a manner that the animals are of the same age, the same weight, and have been adapted to the diet for at least two weeks at the time the RNSV is measured. The experiments have shown that quantitative protein deficiency causes a greater reduction of the RNSV, the lighter or younger the animals are. On the other hand they have shown that the intraspecific relation between RNSV and body mass depends on the protein concentration of the diet. Consequently, this causes the value of the intraspecific body mass exponent to grow with a decrease in the dietary protein concentration, which in turn limits the animals growth. The results of this investigation cannot be explained by diet induced thermogenesis (DIT) of proteins. However, they support the hypothesis that quantitative protein deficiency decreases the calorigenic action of the thyroid gland. Zusammenfassung Der Einfluß des Proteingehaltes der Nahrung auf den Ruhe-Nüchtern-SauerstoffVerbrauch (RNSV) wurde an 71 mannlichen Wistarratten bei 28 ° Umgebungstemperatur untersucht. Die Tiere waren zu Beginn des ersten Versuches rund einen, drei oder acht Monate alt und wogen ungefahr 100, 300 oder 500 g. Sie erhielten acht Wochen lang eine gereinigte Kost, deren Rohproteingehalt rund 7 oder 20% betrug; Proteinträger war Weizenkleber. Im zweiten Versuch, der im Anschluß an den ersten nur an den 500g schweren Tieren durchgefuhrt wurde, erhielten diese drei Wochen lang Altromin-Zuchtfutter. Da Versuche mit unterschiedlichem Proteingehalt der Nahrung an wachsenden Tieren zu erheblichen Unterschieden zwischen den Lebendmassen führen und der RNSV von der Lebendmasse abhängt, wurden die Versuche so durchgeführt, daß die Tiere bei der Messung des Sauerstoffverbrauches jeweils gleich alt und gleich schwer sowie mindestens zwei Wochen lang an die Kost gewöhnt waren. Die Ergebnisse zeigen einerseits, daß quantitativer Proteinmangel den RNSV um so stärker vermindert, je leichter oder jünger die Tiere sind, und andererseits, daß im Intra-Spezies-Vergleich die Beziehung zwischen RNSV und Lebendmasse vom Proteingehalt der Nahrung abhängt. Das hat zur Folge, daß der Wert des intraspezifischen Lebendmassen-Exponenten um so hölier liegt, je niedriger der Proteingehalt der Nahrung und damit das Wachstum der Tiere ist. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse sind durch die spezifisch-dynamische Wirkung der Proteine nicht zu erklären. Sie sprechen jedoch für die Hypothese, daß quantitativer Proteinmangel die kalorigene Wirkung der Schilddrüse vermindert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An abstract of the article "Prevalence and prognostic significance of gamma-glutamyltransferase (GGT) in chronic heart failure," by C. Eberl and colleagues is presented.

Background: Cognitive bias modification (CBM) studies have provided evidence that cognitive biases play a causal role in alcohol use disorders. In this study, data from a CBM experiment in alcoholic patients were re-analyzed. In the original study, no mediation by associations measured with an Implicit Association Test (IAT) was found. In this study, we explored the possibility that relevant alcohol-related automatic processes may be cue-specific., Methods: Data from a previous clinical study in a sample of 214 alcohol-addicted patients were re-analyzed. Patients were assigned to a CBM intervention or control condition, performed an alcohol-approach IAT, and were followed up for relapse data a year after training. In this study, bias scores measured via the IAT were calculated and analyzed separately for different stimulus categories: Alcohol, Soft drink, Approach, and Avoid., Results: Training reversed the alcohol-approach bias for all categories. This reversal of bias also predicted reduced relapse, but involved a complex stimulus category-dependent pattern in which an avoidance bias for Alcohol stimuli was most predictive of reduced relapse., Conclusions: The results contribute to evidence that CBM indeed affects relapse probability via changes in automatic processes, although future study is needed to determine the precise nature of mediating processes. Automatic processes underlying alcohol-related associations may be stimulus-specific, which may be important for the methods of future studies involving implicit measures., (Copyright © 2015 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.)

Background: Computerized cognitive bias modification (CBM) programs have generated promising results regarding the treatment of alcohol dependence and anxiety disorders. However, there is hardly any research yet on the implementation of alcohol-CBM into clinical practice. This article addresses the question of the optimal number of training sessions for a specific form of CBM: approach bias re-training in alcohol-dependent patients., Methods: Participants were 111 alcohol-dependent patients of an inpatient rehabilitation clinic. In addition to treatment as usual, they took part in a 12-session CBM protocol, aimed at re-training alcohol approach tendencies, with an adapted Alcohol Approach-Avoidance Task. Learning curves and 2-level fitted mean trends were analyzed. Furthermore, parameters of the fitted mean trend and information on the most effective number of training sessions were used to predict 1-year follow-up data., Results: Two-level analyses revealed 6 training sessions to be the mean optimum, yet many patients improve further after that. Prediction of the individual optimum (speed of response) and parameters of the fitted mean trends failed. The linear term of the graph describing the mean trend of training effects, but not the speed of response, predicted 1-year follow-up data., Conclusions: Suggestions for practical implementations of CBM are discussed., (Copyright © 2013 by the Research Society on Alcoholism.)