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Poly(lactic acid)/organo-montmorillonite (PLA/OMMT) nanocomposite films were prepared through solution intercalation using dichloromethane as solvent. X-ray diffraction indicated that organo-montmorillonite (OMMT) was well intercalated and the interlayer spacing d increased by 0.94–1.47 nm. Transmission Electron Microscopy showed that a majority of OMMT was fully exfoliated and uniformly dispersed in the PLA matrix at low filler loading, whereas more intercalated tactoids and aggregates of OMMT existed at high loading. The crystallinity of PLA was hardly changed with the addition of OMMT. Additionally, CO2 permeability and water vapor transmission rate of the composite films were reduced with increasing content of OMMT. At 5 wt% OMMT loading, CO2 permeability and water vapor transmission rate were reduced by 75.8% and 23.9%, respectively. The tensile strength (TS) and Young's modulus of the PLA/OMMT nanocomposites were first enhanced, and then decreased with increasing content of OMMT. Compared with pure ...

Montmorillonite (MMT) was first modified with dodecyl dimethylbenzyl ammonium (DDA) salt and octadecyl trimethyl ammonium (OTA) salt. Then low density polyethylene (LDPE)/organic montmorillonite (OMMT) nanocomposites were prepared by twin-screw extruder and hot-press. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) results showed that OMMT layers were homogeneously intercalated into the LDPE matrix. In terms of MMT, the modification effect of OTA is superior to that of DDA. CO2 and O2 barrier properties of nanocomposites were increased by 7 times and 4 times with 0.5 wt.% OTA-MMT loading, respectively. At 2 wt% OTA-MMT loading, water vapor permeability of LDPE has also decreased about 2.5 times. Compared with pure PE film, 49.5% and 178% improvement of tensile strength of nanocomposites films were obtained by addition of only 4 wt.% DDA-MMT and OTA-MMT, respectively. In addition, with only 0.5 wt.% OMMT loading, the onset degradation temperature of nanocomposites increases by 23°C and 26°C for LDPE/DDA-MMT and LDP...

Slug protein is a key regulator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, but its expression in cancer is less well studied. To evaluate the expression of slug, E-cadherin and vimentin in adenocarcinoma cells from malignant pleural effusions, we analyzed 121 malignant pleural fluid specimens. Twenty-eight nonmalignant pleural fluid specimens were analyzed as control. Besides clinical cytological diagnosis tests, immunofluorescence, immunocytochemistry and Western blotting methods were used. Results showed strong membrane staining of E-cadherin in adenocarcinoma cells from pleural fluid. Slug mainly showed nucleus staining. Cytoplasma positive of vimentin was found in adenocarcinoma cells isolated from pleural fluid. Slug, E-cadherin and vimentin expression was found in 43/121 (36%), 87/121 (72%) and 102/121 (84%) cases, respectively. Our data showed elevated levels of slug were accompanied by down regulation of E-cadherin and the expression of vimentin in adenocarcinoma cells. In addition, there was no relationship between slug expression and patient's age or gender or tumor site. Hyperplasia epithelium cells from nonmalignant pleural fluid were uniformly negative for E-cadherin and slug. In conclusion, the results demonstrated the inverse expression of slug and E-cadherin in the majority of malignant pleural fluid cases compared with nonmalignant pleural fluid. The slug protein may be helpful to access the prognosis of patients with pleural fluid. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2013. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Interply and intraply hybrid composites based on Bisphenol A Dicyanate ester (BADCy), high strength carbon fibers T300, and high modulus carbon fibers M40 were prepared by monofilament dip-winding and press molding technique. The tensile, flexural, interlaminar shear properties and SEM analysis of the hybrid composites with different fiber content and fiber arrangement were investigated. The results indicated that the mechanical properties of intraply hybrid composites were mainly determined by fiber volume contents. When the ratio of fiber volume content was close to 1:1, the intraply hybrid composites possessed lowest tensile and flexural strength. The mechanical properties of interply hybrid composite mainly depended on the fiber arrangement, instead of the fiber volume contents. The hybrid composites using T300 fiber layout as outside layer possessed high flexural strength and low flexural modulus, which was close to that of T300/BADCy composites. The hybrid composites ([(M40)x/(T300)y]S) using M40 fiber layout as outside layer and T300 fibers in the mid-plane had high flexural modulus and interlaminar shear strength. POLYM. COMPOS., 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers

Background To evaluate the expression and differential diagnostic significance of CK19, TG, Ki67 and galectin-3 in papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) (metastatic and non metastatic), follicular adenoma and nodular goiter in patients from the northeastern part of China. Methods 441 PTC specimens and 151 other benign thyroid specimens (97 cases of nodular goiter, 54 cases of nonmalignant follicular adenoma) were collected. Immunohistochemistry for CK19, TG, Ki67 and galectin-3 was performed. Results CK19, TG, Ki67 and galectin-3 expression was 96.37% (425/441), 82.77% (365/441), and 40.59% (179/441), 96.82% (427/441), respectively, for the PTC group and the expression of these markers in the benign thyroid lesions group was 25.83% (39/151), 79.47% (120/151), and 37.09% (56/151), 50.99% (77/151), respectively. The expression of CK19 and galectin-3 in PTC was much higher than that in the nonmalignant group (p < 0.05). However, the expression of TG, Ki67 did not differ among these two groups (p > 0.05). The diagnostic efficiency of CK19 and galectin-3 for PTC was 96.37% (537/592) and 84.63% (501/592). CK19 and galectin-3 expression rate in PTC was higher than that in benign disease cases. Conclusions The diagnostic efficiency of CK19 for PTC was slightly better than galectin-3. The utilization of these markers combined with morphologic evaluation may be helpful in the differential diagnosis of papillary thyroid carcinoma in the northeastern region of China.