Search

In this paper, the influence of the internal pressure on the damage resistance of composite overwrapped pressure vessels due to contact loading is studied experimentally. Pressure vessels with different internal pressures are loaded quasi-statically using an indenter. The damage is evaluated by use of computed tomography scans. Subsequently, the residual burst pressure is determined. The damage resistance is shown to increase for an increasing internal pressure during impact. In order to assist future experimental programs, a numerical model that can predict both the mechanical response and the initiated damage for pressurized vessels is exploited.

Background/Introduction Detection of atrial fibrillation (AF) and subsequent initiation of oral anticoagulation remain key goals in the care of stroke patients. The European Society of Cardiology guideline recommend continuous ECG monitoring for at least 72 hours in stroke patients without previously known AF. Excessive supraventricular ectopic activity (ESVEA) has been identified as a marker for patients at risk for AF in the general population. Robust data on the clinical relevance of ESVEA detected in the acute phase of ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) are lacking. Purpose To assess the impact of ESVEA (defined as presence of supraventricular beats ≥480/day or at least one atrial run of ≥10 and Methods The investigator-initiated, prospective, open, multicenter Systematic Monitoring for Detection of Atrial Fibrillation in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke study randomized 3,465 acute stroke patients without known AF 1:1 to usual diagnostic procedures for AF detection or additive Holter-ECG recording for up to seven days in-hospital (NCT02869386). ECG core-lab analysis included the number of atrial ectopic beats per day, the number of atrial runs as well as the duration of the longest atrial run per 24 hours. Patients were followed-up for two years. Secondary study objectives include the comparison of recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, major bleeding and all-cause death in ESVEA patients, patients with newly diagnosed AF vs. non-ESVEA patients with sinus rhythm at baseline. Data were analyzed using Fisher's exact test. Results In 1,714 patients randomized to the intervention group, 1,693 (98.8%) had analyzable ECG recordings of a median duration of 121 hours (IQR 73–166). 1,435 (84.8%) patients had continuous ECG monitoring for the first 72 hours. At this time, ESVEA was detected in 363 (25.3%) of 1,435 patients, while a first episode of AF was detected in 48 (3.3%). At 24 months, AF was newly detected in 57 (15.7%) ESVEA patients vs. 53 (6.2%) non-ESVEA patients (p Conclusions ESVEA detected after acute ischemic stroke/TIA identifies patients at high-risk for AF and may be used to guide prolonged ECG monitoring. The higher risk of death in ESVEA patients vs. non-ESVEA patients within 24 months after stroke/TIA deserves further investigation. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: Private company. Main funding source(s): Bayer Vital GmbH, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Germany.

&nbsp

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of feeding endophyte-infected tall fescue seeds to Angus steers during the stocker phase on the quality attributes of beef strip steaks during retail display. Endophyte-infected tall fescue seeds had no effect on steak surface lean color, myoglobin forms, proximate composition, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, aerobic plate count, pH, activity of superoxide dismutase and metmyoglobin reductase, shear force, and sensory attributes (P ≥ 0.087). However, lightness, redness, oxymyoglobin percentage, and MRA decreased from 45.01, 32.60, 67.61%, and 9.54 μM/min/g, respectively, on d 0 to 40.11, 21.83, 48.95%, and 2.30 μM/min/g, respectively, on d 7 (P ≤ 0.001). Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were increased by 30% by d 5 (P = 0.015) and APC was increased by 0.5 log CFU/g by d 7 (P ≤ 0.012).

Die Studie beschreibt den Verlauf der renalen Rekompensation nach Dialysepflicht fur chronisch kritisch kranke Patienten in der Postakutphase. Die Studienergebnisse zeigen, dass erfolgreiche Dialyseauslassversuche auch Monate nach einer AKI in einer spezialisierten Einrichtung moglich sind. Bei 20 % der Patienten mit erfolgreichem Dialyseauslassversuch (welcher bei insgesamt 33 % aller Patienten in der Studie erfolgreich war) gelang die renale Rekompensation erst mehr als 3 Monate nach der Manifestation der dialysepflichtigen akuten Nierenschadigung (AKI). Die zeitliche Dauer der renalen Rekompensation unterscheidet sich zwischen den Patienten mit und ohne vorbestehende chronische Niereninsuffizienz (CKD) nicht. Die Ursache der Dialysebehandlung, wie z. B. eine Sepsis, ein chirurgischer Eingriff, eine Reanimation, sowie Risikofaktoren, wie z. B. Diabetes mellitus, arterielle Hypertonie, Atherosklerose, zeigten im multivariaten Hazard-Modell fur die Entwohnung der Patienten von der Dialyse keinen statistisch signifikanten Einfluss. Lediglich das Alter der Patienten beeinflusste die Entwohnung von der Dialyse bei chronisch kritisch kranken Patienten statistisch signifikant.

Background Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of chronic total occlusion (CTO) represents one of the major challenges in interventional cardiology. Physicians are still reluctant in referring for PCI, assuming non viability of the myocardium subtended by the CTO. Data are controversial in assessing the improvement of left ventricular (LV) wall motion after revascularisation and the prognostic value of viability testing to guide patient selection. Purpose The aim of this study was to determine, whether hybrid fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance (FDG PET/MR) imaging allows a more accurate prediction of LV regional wall motion recovery after successful PCI of CTOs in comparison to PET or MR alone. Methods We enrolled 49 consecutive symptomatic patients with CTO and evidence of wall motion abnormality in the corresponding CTO-territory. All patients underwent hybrid FDG PET/MR imaging as semi-quantitative assessment of myocardial viability - glucose metabolism in PET and late gadolinium enhancement (LGE) transmurality in MR – prior of PCI of the CTO. Follow-up MRI was performed in 23 patients 3–6 months after successful revascularisation to evaluate wall motion changes. Results We assessed viability in 124 myocardial segments subtended by a CTO in 23 patients with successful PCI who underwent serial imaging. Segments with wall motion abnormality at baseline (n=80) were analysed. Most of these segments (n=54, 68%) were concordantly assessed viable by PET and MR, conversely only 2 (2%) segments were assessed non-viable by both imaging techniques. However, almost one third of the segments showed discordant patterns of viability either PET not viable/ MR viable (3 (4%) segments) or PET viable/ MR not viable (21 (26%) segments): particularly the latter revealed a significant wall motion improvement (p=0.033). The combination of PET and MR showed a fair accuracy in predicting myocardial segments with wall motion improvement after CTO revascularisation (PET/MR area under ROC curve (AUC) 0.72, SE 0.07, p=0.002), which was superior to MR-LGE (AUC=0.66, SE 0.09) and FDG-PET (AUC=0.58, SE 0.10) alone (Figure). Comparisons of ROC curves Conclusion Hybrid PET/MR imaging prior to successful CTO showed a better performance than PET or MR alone in predicting regional improvement of disturbed wall motion. The complimentary information derived from both modalities may particularly help to identify small amounts of viable epicardial myocardium within large scars which can improve contractility after CTO-revascularisation.

The usage of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) technologies in (deep) space missions might be a risk for the mission. But sometimes radiation tolerant parts are not feasible due to space or performance requirements. This paper gives a brief overview of the usage of COTS in (deep) space missions at the DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics and the associated radiation assurance activities.

This study describes the course of renal recovery after dialysis in a specific population of chronically critically ill patients with a history of prolonged and complicated treatment in an intensive care unit. This study shows that, in a specialized center, patients can be successfully weaned from dialysis even months after acute kidney injury (AKI). Of the patients who could be recompensated (33%), approximately 20% achieved renal recovery more than 3 months after the start of dialysis. The duration of renal recovery after AKI did not differ between those patients with pre-existing chronic kidney disease (CKD) and those without. The reason for dialysis treatment such as sepsis, surgery, resuscitation, as well as the risk factors (e. g., diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, arteriosclerosis) did not reveal a difference in weaning in a hazard analysis. As a potential risk factor, only age significantly influenced weaning from dialysis in the multivariate hazard model.

Zusammenfassung Experimentelle Untersuchungen zur Neuropathophysiologie der Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi-Paralyse der Schafe ergaben eine deutliche Amplitudenverminderung der Summenreizantwortpotentiale aus der entsprechenden distalen Muskulatur, die, in zeitlicher und quantitativer Parallelitat zum Schweregrad der Lahme sowie im Vergleich mit Normalwerten, 28% bei mittel- bis hochgradig paretischen und 44% bei vollig gelahmten Schafen betrug. Die maximalen motorischen Nervenleitungsgeschwindigkeiten waren dagegen nur geringfugig um 13,5% bzw. 17,5% reduziert und lagen damit noch an der unteren Grenze des Streuungsbereiches der Normalwerte. In bezug auf die langsameren Nervenleitungsgeschwindigkeiten, das Encephalogramm sowie die Amplitudenmuster bei repetitiver Reizung des Nervus ischiadicus mit hohen Frequenzen konnten keine quantitativ und qualitativ eindeutigen Unterschiede zwischen Tieren vor der Infestation und wahrend der Maximalauspragung einer Tetraplegie dargestellt werden. Summary On the neuropathophysiology of Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi-paralysis Experimental investigations on the neuropathophysiology of Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi paralysis in sheep revealed a marked decrease of the amplitudes of evoked compound muscle action potentials, which, in temporal parallelism and quantitatively analogous convergency with the severity of paralysis as well as in comparison with normal animals, amounted to 28% in animals with moderate paresis and 44% in completely paralyzed sheep. The maximum motor conduction velocities, however, were only slightly reduced by 13.5% and 17.5%, respectively, and therefore were still at the lower level of the deviation of normal values. In respect to slower conduction velocities, the encephalogram and the amplitude-pattern by repetitive stimulation of the ischiatic nerve with high frequencies showed no quantitatively and qualitatively distinct differences between animals before tick infestation and during maximum intensity of tetraplegia. Resume A propos de la neuropathophysiologie de la paralysie due a Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi Des recherches experimentales sur la neuropathophysiologie de la paralysis due a Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi du mouton ont revele une nette diminution de l'amplitude des potentiels de reponse a l'excitation a partir de la musculature distale correspondante qui comportait un parallelisme dans le temps et quantitatif avec le degre de gravite de la paralysie et par comparaison avec les valeurs normales 28% chez les moutons atteints de paresie moyenne a grave et 44% chez les moutons totalement paralyses. Les vitesses de conductibilite nerveuse motrices maximales furent par contre tres peu reduites de 13,5% et respectivement 17,5%, se situant ainsi a la limite inferieure du domaine de la dispersion. Il n'a pas ete possible de mettre en evidence aussi bien quantitativement que qualitativement de differences significatives entre des animaux avant l'infestation et durant une tetraplegie la plus marquee avec la vitesse plus lente de la conductibilite nerveuse, l'encephalogramme et le modele d'amplitude lors d'un excitation repetee de Nervus ischiadicus. Resumen Sobre la neuropatofisiologia de la paralisis debida al Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi Los estudios experimentales sobre la neuropatofisiologia de la paralisis debida al Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi en las ovejas revelaron una disminucion neta de las amplitudes de potenciales de respuesta a la suma de estimulos a partir de la musculatura distal correspondiente, la cual importo en paralelismo temporal y cuantitativo con el grado de gravedad de la paralisis y por comparacion con los valores normales un 28% en las ovejas pareticas desde medianas hasta graves y un 44% en las ovejas paraliticas por completo. Sin embargo, las velocidades de conductibilidad nerviosa motrices maximas solo estaban poco reducidas en un 13.5% resp. en un 17.5% hallandose con ello aun dentro del limite inferior del dominio de la dispersion de los valores normales. En relacion con las velocidades mas lentas de la conductibilidad nerviosa, el encefalograma y el modelo de las amplitudes con excitacion repetida del nervio ciatico con frecuencias elevadas no se pudo establecer ninguna diferencia cuanti o cualitativa inequivoca entre los animales antes de la infestacion y durante una tetraplegia muy marcada.

Zusammenfassung In neurophysiologischen Untersuchungen am freigelegten Nervus tibialis von gesunden und paralytischen Schafen konnte nachgewiesen werden, das es sich bei der durch Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi induzierten Zeckenparalyse im wesentlichen um eine motorische Polyneuropathie handelt. Die Amplituden der Nervenaktionspotentiale sowie der fortgeleiteten Muskelreizantwortpotentiale fielen zum Zeitpunkt der klinischen Manifestation um 46,3% bzw. 88,3% ab. Die Leitgeschwindigkeit des Nervus tibialis sowie die maximale motorische Nervenleitungsgeschwindigkeit waren dagegen nur geringfugig um 21,6% bzw. 20% reduziert und lagen damit noch an der unteren Grenze des Streu-ungsbereiches der Normalwerte. Summary Action potentials and conduction velocities of the Nervus tibialis of sheep paralysed by Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi Neurophysiological investigations of the exposed Nervus tibialis in normal and paralysed sheep revealed that tick paralysis caused by Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi is mainly a motor polyneuropathy. The amplitudes of nerve action potentials and evoked compound muscle action potentials slowed down by 46.3% and 88.3%, respectively, when the paresis or paralysis became clinically manifest. The conduction velocity of the Nervus tibialis and the maximum motor conduction velocity, however, were only slightly reduced by 21.6% and 20%, respectively, and therefore were still at the lower level of the deviation of normal values. The experimental findings confirm the assumption that this tick paralysis is associated with functional impairment of slow conducting motor nerve fibres. Resume Potentiel d'action et vitesse de conductivite de Nervus tibialis lors de paralysie a Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi du mouton Des recherches neurophysiologiques sur Nervus tibialis prepare de moutons sains et paralyses ont mis en evidence que la paralysie a tiques induite par Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi consistait essentiellement en une polyneuropathie motrice. Les amplitudes des potentiels d'action des nerfs et les potentiels conduits en reponse a l'excitation musculaire tombaient au moment de la manifestation clinique a respectivement 46,3 et 88,3%. La vitesse de conductivite de Nervus tibialis ainsi que la vitesse maximale de conductivite nerveuse motrice fut pas contre faiblement diminuee de 21,6 et respectivement 20%, demeurant ainsi dans les limites infereures de la variation des valeurs normales. Resumen Los potenciales de accion y las velocidades de conduccion del nervio tibial en la paralisis por Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi de las ovejas En estudios neurofisiologicos en el nervio tibial puesto al descubierto de ovejas sanas y paraliticas, se pudo demostrar que en la paralisis de las garrapatas inducida por Rhipicephalus evertsi evertsi se trata, en esencia, de una polineuropatia motora. Las amplitudes de los potenciales de accion del nervio asi como de los potenciales derivados de la respuesta muscular al estimulo disminuian en el momento de la manifestacion clinica en un 46,3% resp. un 88,3%. Sin embargo, la velocidad de conduccion del nervio tibial asi como la velocidad motora maxima de la conduccion nerviosa se hallaban reducidas solo de forma insignificante en un 21,6% resp. un 20%, permaneciendo con ello en limite inferior del ambito de dispersion de los valores normales.

Feeding wet distillers grains plus solubles (WDGS) in beef feedlot diets increases beef polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) concentration and decreases shelf-life; whereas feeding antioxidants like vitamin E and Agrado-Plus (AG; an ethoxyquin and tert-Butylhydroquinone mixture) mitigates such effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate shelf-life of beef from steers supplemented with WDGS and different antioxidants. One hundred and sixty steers were finished on a corn-based diet with 0% WDGS or 30% WDGS and four antioxidant treatments (no supplementation; vitamin E only; AG only; vitamin E + AG). Ten strip loins from each treatment were collected, aged, cut into steaks, and placed under retail display (2 ± 2°C). During retail display, steaks were evaluated daily for objective colour and subjective discolouration. After retail display, steaks were used to measure lipid oxidation, muscle fatty acids, and vitamin E and ethoxyquin concentrations. Feeding 30% WDGS increased total PUFA in beef when compared with beef from steers fed 0% WDGS (P < 0.05). Supplementing vitamin E or vitamin E + AG was effective in decreasing myoglobin and lipid oxidation in steaks from steers fed 0% or 30% WDGS after retail display (P < 0.01). Supplementation of vitamin E or AG also increased (P < 0.01) muscle tissue vitamin E or ethoxyquin levels, respectively, compared with the diets without vitamin E or AG supplementation. The inclusion of 30% WDGS altered beef fatty acid profiles, but did not promote lipid and myoglobin oxidation compared with the 0% WDGS diet. Feeding vitamin E was effective, whereas supplementing AG had minor effects in decreasing myoglobin and lipid oxidation in steaks from both diet.

This paper is an update on the development of microplasmas as detectors for gas chromatography. Direct current (dc), alternating current (ac), and radio frequency (rf) microplasmas developed in recent years will be described with their significant analytical results, which mostly concern the detection of halogens and sulfur. New results will be added which employ a microhollow cathode discharge (MHCD) as excitation source. Emphasis will be given to this microplasma which has already been implemented as an element-selective detector for emission spectrometry and as ionization source for mass spectrometry. The possibility to use it as a multielement-selective detector for gas chromatography will be presented. A discussion of the published detection limits of all these microplasmas is given.

This paper presents the analysis of the Russian resource-oriented export strategy. Focusing on the consequences on the population of Russia the relationship between the export strategy of Russia and the social sector is examined. Based on data between 1990 and 2012 the causal relationship between the Russian production and export of oil, price of oil at the world market, and dynamics of the social sector, including the GINI index, average wage, savings of the households, and the development of fuel and energy complex is analyzed. The results show that the export of raw materials can significantly improve the development of the Russian social sector under the condition of growing demand for the energy resources. The results suggest that the country with vast oil and gas reserves should target the policy of restricting the exports and stimulating its consumption within the economy. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s2p473

The paper estimates the potential consequences of the development of the Arctic transport route taking into account the melting of polar ice and thus increased navigating time through the seas of the Arctic Ocean. The seas of the Arctic Ocean enable two ways from Europe to South-East Asia. The first one is the Northern Sea Route (the Northern Sea Corridor) around the Arctic coast of Russia and partially through the Pacific Ocean. This is the shortest seaway between Europe and South-East Asia. The second one is the Northwest Passage. It goes along the northern coast of North America through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The alternatives to the Northern Sea Route are either through the Suez Canal or via the Trans-Siberian Railway Road. The paper discusses a model of the international transport corridor thereby analyzing the factors that influence the endogenous variable of the model. The basis of the model is an autoregressive distributed lags model (ADL model). The models are estimated for the Northern Transport Corridor, Northwest Passage, Trans-Siberian Railway Road and Transport Corridor of the Suez Canal. While the volume of transported goods was taken as an endogenous variable in all the models, different exogenous variables were selected for each model using data for the period from 1990 to 2013. The paper comprises the results of the standard steps in the ADL model (test for autocorrelation of the endogenous and the exogenous variables; stationarity/non-stationarity analysis of the time series; regression analysis). Finally the paper provides the conclusions regarding the comparison of the Northern Transport Corridor to its alternatives.

The socio-economic development of the Russian Arctic region includes the following areas of human activity: the social infrastructure, the institutional sector, the human development, the industrial sector and the ecology. The indicators evaluating each of these areas are characterized in the paper. The interdependence of human activities in the region is reflected in the regional socio-economic development model. In the regional socio-economic development model that is presented in the paper each area is characterized with indicators that can be endogenous and exogenous within the model. The socio-economic development model is a system of six econometric equations, whereas each of them is an ADL-model. Each ADL-model includes endogenous and exogenous variables. The paper presents the structural form of the system of six econometric equations, where one of them includes more than one endogenous variable. The transition to the reduced form of the system of six econometric equations was shown. Each equation here includes only one endogenous variable, i.e. endogenous variables are expressed through the exogenous ones. The system of six econometric equations was worked out for Nenetsk region of Russia. The statistical data was obtained from the Russian State Statistic Committee database. The solution for the system of six econometric equations is represented in the paper.

The Russian Arctic zone includes nine regions. These regions are rich in natural resources including fish, timber, and minerals. This distant periphery of Russia is a huge territory and poorly developed. These regions are characterized by the highest gross regional product per capita in the country. In some regions, the industrial sector is powerful, but the social infrastructure is poorly developed. Agriculture is almost absent. In this paper the economic growth in the regions of the Russian Arctic is modeled and factors affecting the economic growth are analyzed. The gross regional product of all nine regions of the Russian Arctic as a percentage of Russia’s gross domestic product is used as dependent variable (endogenous variable) in the model. The value of the dependent variable in the current period can be influenced by both its value in the past periods and current and lagged values of exogenous factors. Considering the process of economic growth and analysis of the factors affecting economic growth in regions of the Russian Arctic, autoregressive distributed lag model is used. Using ordinary least squares the coefficients of the model are estimated and findings about the impact of each of the five exogenous factors on the dependent variable are presented.

Between 1979 and 1981 we treated 25 patients with myasthenia gravis (8 male, 17 female) by plasma exchange therapy. Entry criteria were insufficient response to combined drug therapy (pyridost

This paper focuses on the diagnostics and applications of the microhollow cathode discharge operated in Ar and He at high pressures. The gas temperature and electron number density in Ar and He are deduced from absorption and emission spectroscopy employing line profile analysis. Additionally, a collisional radiative model is used for the estimation of the electron number density in He. The gas temperature increases in Ar from 500 K at 100 mbar to 2000 K at 1000 mbar. The electron density also increases from 2 × 1015 to 9 × 1015 cm−3 in the same pressure range. In He, the gas temperature reaches values up to 800 K and the electron density does not exceed 5 × 1014 cm−3 at atmospheric pressure. The discharge was coupled with emission and mass spectrometry for analytical applications. The detection of organometallic compounds (ferrocene) reveals good detection limits of about 500 ppb for Fe.

A male patient with tuberculous lymphadenopathy was treated with a four-fold therapy of ethambutol, isoniacide, rifampicin and pyracinamide. After 10 weeks the patient suffered from photophobia. Although ethambutol was discontinued vision decreased and visual field defects occurred as well as signs of myelopathy. Isoniacide was then discontinued and in the subsequent phase the vision was slowly restored over a period of 36 months. The combined toxicity of ethambutol and isoniacide seems to have been the main cause of the severe and protracted optic neuropathy.

The capability of the small-sized dielectric barrier discharge as an element-selective diode laser atomic absorption detector for gas chromatography is investigated. Detection limits have been determined for halogenated and sulfured hydrocarbons in the low to the high pg/s-range dependent on the element measured. Furthermore, the effect of doping gas (oxygen) and make-up gas (argon, helium) on the chromatograms is studied.

Two small-size plasmas used as detectors of halogenated hydrocarbons and suitable for miniaturized instrumentation are discussed. A reduced pressure dielectric barrier discharge was integrated in a diode laser atomic absorption spectrometer and the already reported chlorine detection limits of 5 ppm (v/v) can be improved with one order of magnitude by spatially resolved measurements. A microstructured electrode discharge at atmospheric pressure was coupled with a miniaturized Echelle spectrometer and detection limits were found to be 20 ppb for chlorine as well as for fluorine.

Complexation between a stiff charged cylinder and an oppositely charged semiflexible polymer is studied using linear Debye-Huckel theory (valid for large enough salt concentration or weakly charged polymers). The salt-concentration–dependent phase diagram features helical and, favored for increasing stiffness of the wrapping polymer, straight wrapping morphologies. Non-linear (counterion release) effects are discussed on the scaling level.

A small, low-pressure dielectric barrier discharge used as a detector for the analysis of halogenated hydrocarbons was studied by diode laser absorption spectroscopy of excited plasma atoms. The distribution, as well as diffusion of the excited atoms, was measured with high spatial and temporal resolution. The major part of the excited atoms was found in a very narrow discharge volume, where the maximum gas temperature and electron density, determined from broadening of the absorption line profiles, were approximately 1000 K and greater than 10 15 cm −3 , respectively.

New PTFE-polyamide compounds produced by reactive extrusion show very good material and tribological properties combined with an excellent wear resistance. The basis of these properties is the formation of chemical bonds between PTFE and PA by transamidation in a melt modification reaction. The effective processing and the material properties of PA are combined with the excellent anti-friction properties of PTFE in this innovative material. Test specimen of PA and PA-PTFE obtained by two component injection moulding process show very high interfacial adhesion. The processability of this material on polymer processing equipment and the use of available materials favours the commercialisation of these new PTFE polyamide compounds.