African Explosives (South Africa)

Diaphyseal non-union of forearm fractures that involve both the ulna and radius present unique challenges to treat. If left untreated, these non-unions may lead to severe instability of the forearm and/or chronic pain. Existing treatments include bone grafting, fibular grafts, and the Masquelet technique, however, currently no gold standard treatment exists. The “Road-to-Union” protocol is a two-stage surgical approach originally developed for managing complex tibial bone defects. It integrates debridement, circular external fixation, soft-tissue management, distraction osteogenesis, and structured rehabilitation. This technique addresses challenges such as infection, bone loss, and deformity by providing a systematic pathway to achieve bone healing and restore function. While traditionally used in the lower limb, its application in the forearm has not been widely reported. This case series explores the adaptation of the “Road-to-Union” protocol for forearm reconstruction, aiming to restore structural integrity and function in complex non-union cases.

Energy Performance Certificates (EPC) for buildings regulations and programs have been implemented in several countries. They provide a measure of the overall energy efficiency of a building. In South Africa EPC regulations were published in June 2020. This study provides a review of the EPC regulations in South Africa, their intent, and a summary of the achievements thus far. The study also highlights key challenges and provides recommendations on how they can be improved.

In solid propellant rocket motors, the design of grain port geometry primarily dictates the motor ballistic performance. The flexibility offered by the spatial variation of the port shape on motor performance is often discounted due to the requirement of complex mandrel shapes along with their associated manufacturing issues coupled with propellant processing constraints. Literature data indicate improvement in motor volumetric loading and stability by planned distribution of burn surface area along motor length. This paper deals with the realization and testing of a subscale motor with central finocyl-based grain geometry. A novel method of casting complex grain shapes in solid rocket motors using the wax mandrel technique is discussed. The wax mandrel preparation, propellant casting procedure, and wax mandrel removal setup are elaborated. Static testing results of the subscale motor with central finocyl port geometry are also presented as proof-of-concept. This work has demonstrated the feasibility of realizing solid rocket motor grains using the wax mandrel technique, which further enables realization of complex grain designs necessary to meet various mission requirements.

This study presents the results of manufacturing cellulose-cellulose nitrate materials using paper-making equipment in the laboratory Rapid-Kothen. Determine the influence of the ratio of components, pulp grinding, additives, and lamination technology on the properties of cellulose-cellulose nitrate materials. Using chemical analysis, the technical specifications of some UKP pulps were analyzed and US softwood UKP pulps were selected for use in research. Through SEM images and experiments, it is shown that the morphology of NC greatly affects the remaining nitrate cellulose content in the material. NC-C material samples with different mixing ratios, using pulp with different grinding degrees were also investigated for mechanical properties and the degree of preservation of materials on the mesh. The influence of additives such as cationic starch and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) on the mechanical properties of the material was also investigated. Lamination using nitrate cellulose glue or alcohol:ether solvent mixture can significantly increase the mechanical properties of the material.

A cikkben ismertetett kutatás célja az additív gyártástechnológia, a 3D nyomtatási képesség kialakítási lehetőségének vizsgálata a Magyar Honvédségben. Bemutatjuk az additív gyártási eljárásokat, a 3D nyomtatási technológiát, valamint annak előnyeit és korlátait. Ismertetjük azokat a jogszabályi követelményeket, gyártási előnyöket és lehetőségeket, amelyek igazolják a 3D nyomtatás létjogosultságát a katonai feladatok végrehajtása során. Felvázoljuk azt a feltételrendszert, amely a 3D nyomtatási képesség kialakításához, annak eredményes alkalmazásához szükséges a katonai szervezeteknél. Részletesen ismertetjük azokat a személyi- és tárgyi feltételeket, amelyek szükségesek a 3D nyomtatási eljárás katonai alkalmazása során. Foglalkozunk a 3D nyomtatás hatékony és eredményes végrehajtásához szükséges oktatás feltételeivel és lehetőségeivel, valamint az oktatás személyi- és tárgyi feltételeivel.

Introduction: cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are responsible for almost 18 million deaths a year worldwide, and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) affects approximately 300,000 Brazilians annually.The Brazilian Cardioprotective Diet (DICA-BR) was designed to facilitate nutritional guidance to the Brazilian population based on national clinical guidelines and the backdrop of the Mediterranean diet and the American Heart Association guidelines.Peanut has components such as fiber, proteins, arginine, phenolic compounds, niacin, folate, magnesium, manganese, and monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, whose nutritional composition has the potential to modulate cardiovascular risk.Objective: to evaluate the effect of DICA-BR, supplemented or not with peanuts, on cardiometabolic parameters in patients with recent AMI.Methods: the study was a randomized clinical trial, with 100 individuals allocated into two groups (allocation ratio 1:1).Inclusion criteria are age over 40 years and having an AMI episode between the last 60 and 180 days.Group 1 received DICA-BR-aligned guidance while group 2 received DICA-BR-aligned guidance and peanut supplementation of 30 g/day.Patients were followed for four months, with visits occurring at 30, 60, 90, and 120 days after the start of the experimental protocol.Throughout the study, anthropometric assessment, 24hour recalls, assessment of medication used and physical exercise and smoking habits, socioeconomic questionnaire, and blood collection for biochemical tests were performed.The primary outcome of the present study was the plasma concentration of cholesterol associated with low-density lipoprotein (LDL-c), and the secondary outcomes were characterized as other indicators of lipid profile and glycemic control, food intake, anthropometric indices, malondialdehyde concentration (MDA), and total antioxidants (TAOC), catalase enzyme activity and fatty acid profile in the plasma membrane of erythrocytes.For statistical analysis, paired t-tests were performed.Results: there was no significant difference regarding the variation of plasma LDL-c concentration in groups 1 and 2 throughout the protocol.A significant reduction in the plasma concentration of triacylglycerols was observed in individuals in group 1 (191 mg/dL [t=0] vs 160 mg/dL [t=1]; p = 0.03), as well as a significant increase in the concentration plasma HDL-c in group 2 (40.3 mg/dL [t=0] vs 42.8 mg/dL [t=1]; p = 0.003).Group 2 showed a reduction in total energy consumption (1772 Kcal/day [t=0] vs 1374 Kcal/day [t=1]; p = 0.002) and both groups showed a decrease in MDA concentrations (Group 1: 0, 63 Mol/mL [t=0] vs 0.4 Mol/mL [t=1]; p = 0.007 and group 2: 0.81 Mol/mL vs 0.4 Mol/mL; p = 0.038).The other biomarkers showed no significant difference.Conclusion: after 16 weeks of follow-up, the results show that in isolation, DICA-BR promotes an improvement in cardiovascular risk by reducing plasma biomarkers, such as triacylglycerol concentration and the triacylglycerol/HDL ratio, and reduction in anthropometric indices, such as BMI and waist circumference.However, when supplemented with peanuts, DICA-BR has a positive impact on plasma HDL-c concentration, suggesting a potential benefit of this intervention concerning reverse cholesterol transport.

Abstract Exploding bridgewire (EBW) detonators are used for a variety of purposes and subjected to a wide range of conditions during transport and use, however, few studies have been conducted on stability at high temperatures. Many EBW's contain pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN) as the initiating explosive, which has been shown to exhibit a relatively low melt at 141 °C, followed by an onset of decomposition of approximately 160 °C. In the present work, we have evaluated the behavior of PETN with X‐ray radiography in commercial RP‐80 EBW detonators at temperatures just above the melt. These experiments show that PETN remains stable in the solid‐state, but after reaching the melt temperature is vulnerable to mixing, followed by rapid evolution of gases and decomposition. Our results indicate that the orientation of the thermally treated detonator with respect to gravity is important after the PETN reaches the melted state: this shows for the first time why thermal tests on PETN‐based detonators often result in varied outcomes.

This work is based on the research supported in part by AEL Mining Service and by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant 83874).

A 1-black blasting powder 34 A bridgewire detonator A (german.