The apparent melt viscosity of the ZN-iPP/m-iPP polyblended polymers revealed positive-deviation blends. The 50/50 blend of ZN-iPP/m-iPP had the highest apparent melt viscosity. For five samples, the complex melt viscosity decreased with the angular frequency, which represented typical non-Newtonian behavior. The Cole-Cole plot, which consisted of the Belnacasan research buy imaginary part of the complex melt viscosity versus the real part of the complex melt viscosity plot, of the ZN-iPP/m-iPP polyblended polymers showed a semicircular relationship with the blend ratios. It indicated that the ZN-iPP/m-iPP polyblended

polymers were miscible. We analyzed the shear modulus data (G’ vs G ”) by plotting them on a log-log scale. The plot revealed almost the same slopes for the ZN-iPP/m-iPP polyblended polymers, which indicated a good miscibility between the ZN-iPP and

m-iPP polymers consisted a miscible system. The crystallinity and tenacity of the ZN-iPP/m-iPP polyblended fibers initially increased and then fell as the m-iPP content increased. Meanwhile, the 50/50 blend of ZN-iPP/m-iPP had the highest crystallinity and tenacity (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 113: 265-173, 2009).”
“Serological and molecular surveys were conducted to determine the occurrence of Bartonella henselae in domestic cats in Central Italy. Samples from 234 pet cats were tested for B. henselae antibodies by indirect immunofluorescence with 78 (33.3%) positive.

Selleckchem Prexasertib A PCR assay specific for the Bartonella 16S rRNA gene was carried out on DNA samples extracted from blood of the 234 cats; FG-4592 solubility dmso 26(11.1%) of the seropositive cats were positive. Two PCR protocols, which discriminate genotypes I and II of B. henselae, were performed on all DNA samples. Sixteen (6.8%) cats were infected by genotype I, 6 (2.5%) by genotype II, and two males (0.8%) by both genotypes. Two female (0.8%) cats which were Bartonella sp. PCR positive, gave negative results with the types I and II PCR. This protocol facilitates the direct and rapid detection of Bartonella DNA in feline blood samples, and differentiates B. henselae genotypes. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Background: Quantitation of malaria parasite density is an important component of laboratory diagnosis of malaria. Microscopy of Giemsa-stained thick blood films is the conventional method for parasite enumeration. Accurate and reproducible parasite counts are difficult to achieve, because of inherent technical limitations and human inconsistency. Inaccurate parasite density estimation may have adverse clinical and therapeutic implications for patients, and for endpoints of clinical trials of anti-malarial vaccines or drugs. Digital image analysis provides an opportunity to improve performance of parasite density quantitation.