Surface modification of polymers is an attractive way to endow them with new interfacial properties while maintaining desirable bulk properties, thus expanding their possible applications. In the present work, CO2/N2 DBD plasma was applied for surface polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membranes by using acrylic acid as precursor. Systematic experiments has been carried out investigate influence ga...

Clinical trials of drugs are either operational conditions, parabolic flight. or rotation in a laboratory setting. Operational conditions include aerobatic flight. cruising small craft into ocean swells. transatlantic crossin~ by ship. OJ" maritime oreration~ Paraholic nighl descrihe~ 2( parabolas With g forcc~ i rom () let ] .S .. ~. common end point in sue\"' stLlcIie~ i '. \'(1m itin~ ~alo­ ...

AIM To investigate the expression of B-type natriuretic peptide-45 (BNP-45) gene which was induced by systemic chronic hypoxia, and whether these changes would be different from BNP-45 protein in the plasma and its mRNA in the ventricular myocardial. This study also aimed to test the hypothesis that systemic chronic hypoxia may cause heart failure. METHODS Although clinical use of BNP as a bi...

An electrical apparatus for measuring moisture content was developed by our laboratory and uses dependence of electrical properties on water content in studied material. Error analysis of the apparatus was run by measuring different volumes of water in a simplified specimen, i.e. hollow plexiglass block, in order to avoid as many side-effects as possible. Obtained data were processed using both...

School teachers have an elevated risk of voice problems due to the vocal demands in the workplace. This manuscript presents the results of three studies investigating teachers' voice use at work. In the first study, 57 teachers were observed for 2 weeks (waking hours) to compare how they used their voice in the school environment and in non-school environments. In a second study, 45 participant...

Species differences in patterns of phenotypic plasticity may be an important aspect of adaptive diversity. Plasticity for functionally important root traits was studied in inbred field lineages of Polygonum persicaria and P. cespitosum (Polygonaceae). Replicate seedlings were grown in plexiglass rhizotrons under a range of constant and temporally variable moisture treatments. Plasticity was det...

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the bond strength at the post/resin-cement interface with 3 different surface treatments of glass fiber posts and with 2 different luting resin cements. Sixty glass fiber posts (RelyX Fiber Post) were randomly divided into 3 groups (n = 20) and were luted with a dual-polymerizing self-adhesive universal resin cement (RelyX Unicem) and with a dual-polyme...

Humans are experts at reading others’ actions in social contexts. They efficiently process others’ movements in real-time to predict intended goals. Here we designed a two-person reaching task to investigate real-time body reading in a naturalistic setting. Two Subjects faced each other separated by a plexiglass screen. One (Attacker) was instructed to tap one of two targets on the screen and t...

Boundary layer separation in a plexiglass model carotid bifurcation was investigated in relation to the origin of atherosclerotic plaque clinically found in this region. Our model was comparable to a human carotid in both dimensions and geometry. Water flowed through the model at Reynolds numbers from 200 to 1200 under steady and pulsatile flow conditions, with outflow through the external and ...

Chronic intermittent hypoxia is considered to play an important role in cardiovascular pathogenesis during the development of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). We used a well-described OSA rat model induced with simultaneous intermittent hypoxia. Male Sprague Dawley rats were individually placed into plexiglass chambers with air pressure and components were electronically controlled. The rats were...