06. Our results demonstrate significant positive associations between HHL, VF, number of VF, and grade of VF. However, this relationship is not clinically pertinent. Consequently, HHL cannot be used as a reliable clinical test GSK923295 for detecting VF in postmenopausal Moroccan women.”
“Most smoking cessation programs advise abrupt rather than gradual cessation. We conducted a randomized, controlled trial of gradual cessation (n = 297) vs. abrupt cessation (n = 299) vs. minimal treatment (n = 150) among smokers who wanted to quit now and preferred to quit gradually. Participants were recruited via newspaper and radio advertisements. The gradual and abrupt conditions

received five phone calls (total = 90 min) and the minimal treatment condition received two calls (25 min total). The gradual condition received nicotine lozenge (via mail) to reduce smoking prior to their quit date. After the quit day, all participants received lozenge. The primary outcome was prolonged abstinence from 2 weeks post-quit day through 6 months. Prior to the quit day, the gradual condition decreased cigarettes/day by 54%, whereas the other two conditions decreased by 1% and 5%. Prolonged abstinence rates (CO < 10 ppm) did not differ among gradual, abrupt and minimal treatment conditions (4%, 7% and 5%), nor did 7-day point prevalence rates (7%, 11% and 11%). Fewer smokers in the buy AG-881 gradual condition (48%) made a quit attempt than in the abrupt (64%) or minimal (60%)

conditions (p < .001). In the gradual condition, every Fosbretabulin mouse week delay to the quit date increased the probability of lapsing by

19% (p < .001). We conclude that among smokers who want to stop gradually in the near future, gradual cessation with nicotine pre-treatment does not produce higher quit rates than abrupt cessation. One liability of gradual reduction may be that it allows smokers to delay their quit date. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.”
“Three different boron-containing substances-zinc borate (ZnB), borophosphate (BPO(4)), and a boron- and silicon-containing oligomer (BSi)-were used to improve the flame retardancy of melamine in a polyamide 6 (PA-6) matrix. The combustion and thermal degradation characteristics of PA-6 composites were investigated with the limiting oxygen index (LOT), the UL-94 standard, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA)/Fourier transform infrared (FUR) spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). A slight increase was seen in the LOI values of a sample containing BSi (1 wt %). BPO(4) at high loadings showed a V0 rating (indicating the best flame retardancy) and slightly lower LOI values in comparison with samples with only melamine. For ZnB and BSi, glassy film and char formation decreased the dripping rate and sublimation of melamine, and this led to low LOIs. According to the TGA-FTIR results, the addition of boron compounds did not change the decomposition product distribution of melamine and PA-6.