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While amputees' functioning and pain were improved over time, quality of life and life satisfaction did not change. Illiterate earthquake survivors and those with lower extremity amputations are at particular risk of low quality of life and life satisfaction, and may require additional attention in future earthquake rehabilitation programs.

In this paper, the microstructural evolution of controlled-rheology polypropylene (CRPP) with different melt viscoelasticities was investigated by polarized optical microscopy, scanning electronic microscopy, differential scanning calorimeter, and wide-angle X-ray diffraction. It is found that a typical "skin-core" structure formed in CRPP microparts and the thickness of oriented layer of CRPP microparts decreases notably with the addition of peroxide. The thickness of oriented layer and the distribution of different layers strongly depend on the melt flow properties and the corresponding relaxation time (λ). Furthermore, the mechanisms of the suppressed formation of oriented layers during the micro-injection molding process are discussed mainly from the viewpoint of rheology and thermodynamics. It is revealed that the shear-induced orientation is one of the key factors for the formation of oriented molecular structure (row nuclei). The final thickness of the oriented layer is the result of the competition between the orientation behavior and the disorientation behavior.

aThe morphological structure and crystallization behavior of in situ poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)/isotactic polypropylene (iPP) microparts prepared through micro-injection molding are investigated using a polarized light microscope, differential scanning calorimeter, scanning electron microscope, and two-dimensional wide-angle X-ray. Results indicate that both the shear effect and addition of PET fibers greatly influence the morphologies of the iPP matrix. Typical "skin-core" and oriented crystalline structures (shish-kebab) may simultaneously be observed in neat iPP and iPP/PET microparts. The presence of PET phases reveals significant nucleation ability for iPP crystallization. High concentrations of PET phases, especially long PET fibers, correspond to rapid crystallization of the iPP matrix. The occurrence of PET microfibrils decreases the content and size of β-crystals; by contrast, the orientation degree of β-crystals increases with increasing PET content in the microparts. This result suggests that the existence of the microfibrillar network can retain the ordered clusters and promote the development of oriented crystalline structures to some extent.

A simple method is reported to increase the thermal conductivity and improve the poor mechanical properties caused by high filler loadings of epoxy composites, simultaneously. Epoxy composites were prepared with micro-boron nitride (BN) and silicon carbon whisker (SiCw) chemically treated by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) and 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH560), respectively. Effects of surface modification of BN particles on the thermal conductivity and flexural strength of epoxy/BN composites were investigated. About 3% SiCw particles grafted with KH560 were incorporated into composites with BN grafted with KH550, which led to about 13.8%-17.8% increase of the flexural strength as well as a marginal improvement of the thermal conductivity of composites, and they possessed good dielectric properties. In addition, dynamic mechanical analysis results showed that the storage modulus of composites increased significantly with the addition of fillers, while the glass transition temperature exhibited a slight decrease. POLYM. COMPOS., 00:000-000, 2015.

Background: The sustained growth of tumors necessitates neovascularization. As one of the potent endogenous vascular inhibitors, endostatin has been widely used in antiangiogenesis therapy for tumor. Cisplatin is normally administered in chemotherapy for lung cancer but accompanied with serious side effects. In the current study, we investigated a novel chemo-antiangiogenesis therapeutic strategy to both improve toxic effects on lung cancer cells and reduce damages to normal cells in the anti-tumor therapy.

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In this work, the effects of mold and melt temperatures on microstructures and properties of micropart were systematically investigated. Results showed that the remarkably enhanced flow field generated during microinjection molding process proved to be beneficial in forming highly oriented self-fibrillating structures. In addition, especially in blends, changing the process temperatures from 200 °C to 270 °C significantly enhanced the onset crystallization temperature T o (Δt = 4.8 °C), peak crystallization temperature (Δt = 1.5 °C), and the crystallization half-time (∼18.6 s). Interestingly, because of the orientation maintenance and shear amplification effects of in situ poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) microfibrils, the branching of lamella and the formation of hybrid-oriented structures (fan-shaped β-crystals and trans-crystals) were accelerated. Furthermore, relative content of the β crystal (increments of ∼14.1%) and the degree of orientation were also significantly improved as the process temperatures were increased.