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In this study, the effect of MgO content in slag on the phosphorus distribution ratios, and the equilibrium solubility of MgO in slag during converter steelmaking were analysed using the modified Kozheurov regular solution model and the thermodynamic package FactSage. Thermodynamic analysis shows that the MgO content in the final slag should be greater than 5% to saturate the slag with MgO and minimise the chemical wear of the refractory lining. However, the phosphorus distribution ratio decreases dramatically with increasing MgO. Industrial tests were performed using an 80-t top-and-bottom combined blown converter showed that the average phosphorus distribution ratio reduces significantly from 120.7 to 75.7 when the average MgO content in the final slag increases from 7.0 to 9.8%, due to thermodynamics and kinetics reasons. By optimizing the MgO content between 6 and 8% dephosphorisation and refractory wear are optimised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calcium treatment is an important parameter in solving nozzle clogging during continuous casting of Al containing steel. In this study, the process of slag washing was optimised in order to control the compositions of the refining slag. The results showed that the total oxygen (T[O]) content in the casting slab could be controlled to 13–23 ppm and the nitrogen ([N]) content to 21–47 ppm. The total number of macroinclusions in the slab was also reduced to 9·82 mg 10 kg−1 of steel. The typical size of microinclusions in the steel without calcium treatment was <5 μm in the MgO–Al2O3, SiO2–Al2O3 systems, and only a small amount of Al2O3 was found. The rolled metals therefore met the quality and performance requirements of a high strength low alloy steel for engineering applications. Thus, by eliminating the need for calcium treatment, production costs could be reduced significantly, and the cleanliness of the molten steel could be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The blends of high molecular weight poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) were melt blended using triphenylmethane triisocyanate (TTI) as a reactive coupling agent. TTI also serves as a compatibilizer for the blends of PPC and PBS. The blend containing 0.36 wt % TTI showed that the optimal mechanical properties were, therefore, calendared into films with different degrees of orientation. The calendering condition, degree of orientation, morphologies, mechanical properties, crystallization, and thermal behaviors of the films were investigated using wide-angle X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, tensile testing, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) techniques. The result showed that the as-made films exhibited obvious orientation in machine direction (MD). Both tensile strength in MD and the tear strength in transverse direction (TD) increased with increasing the degree of orientation. The orientation of the film also increased the crystallinity and improved the thermal properties of the PPC/PBS blend films. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone heat shock 70 kDa protein 5 (HSPA5/GRP78) is known to be involved in the metabolism of amyloid precursor protein and neuronal death in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) could arise from dysfunction of the ER. Through a case–control study and an expression assay, we investigated the association of HSPA5 −415 G/A (rs391957), −370 C/T (rs17840761) and −180 del/G (rs3216733) polymorphisms with Taiwanese AD. The overall genotype and allele frequency distribution at the completely linked −415 G/A and −180 del/G sites showed significant difference between AD cases and controls ( P = 0.020 and 0.009, respectively). A decrease in risk of developing AD was demonstrated for −415 AA/−180 GG genotype [OR = 0.38, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.18–0.75, P = 0.007] and −415 A/−180 G allele (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.51–0.91, P = 0.009). The HSPA5 transcriptional activity of the −415 A/−180 G allele was significantly lower than that of the −415 G/−180 del alleles, whereas induction of HSPA5 expression after ER stress was markedly increased in the cells with the −415 A/−180 G allele. Therefore, our preliminary results may suggest a protective role of the HSPA5 −415 A/−180 G allele in Taiwanese AD susceptibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: This study examines whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene polymorphisms are associated with the risk of spontaneous deep intracerebral hemorrhage (SDICH) in Taiwan using a case–control study. Methods: Totally, 217 SDICH patients and 283 controls were recruited. Associations of ACE A-240T and ACE I/D polymorphisms with SDICH were examined under the additive model and adjusted for gender, age, body mass index, total cholesterol level, smoking history, alcohol use, hypertension, and use of ACE inhibitors. Results: Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, family history of spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (SICH), and low cholesterol level increase risk of female SDICH, whereas hypertension, alcohol use, smoking history, family history of SICH, and low cholesterol level are an important risk factor for male SDICH. After adjusting for covariates, only haplotype ACE T-D (OR = 2.7, 95% CI, 1.1–6.5, P = 0.02) was associated with female SDICH. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that environmental risk factors play a major role and ACE polymorphisms play a minor role in contributing risk of SDICH in Taiwan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflammatory events may contribute to the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and interleukin 1 (IL-1) may exert both neurotoxic and neuroprotective effects. We conducted a case-control study in a cohort of 493 PD cases and 388 ethnically matched controls to investigate the association of IL-1α C-889T and IL-1β C-511T polymorphisms with the risk of PD. No significant difference in the genotype distribution of the analyzed polymorphisms was found between PD and controls. However, after stratification by age, individuals over 70 years of age carrying IL-1α-889 C/T genotype demonstrated a significant decrease in risk of developing PD (OR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.22–0.88, p = 0.021) and the decrease is strengthened by IL-1β-511 T-carrying genotype (OR = 0.28; 95% CI = 0.11–0.71, p = 0.008). Our data suggest that IL-1α, acting synergistically with IL-1β, plays role in PD susceptibility among Taiwanese people older than 70 years of age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]