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To develop a simple model to predict the glass cracking andlor breaking, radiant heating tests were carried out on float glass and wired glass. By changing the imposed heat flux and lateral restraint of the glass, 50 experiments were carried out to measure the time to initial crack and fallout. Temperatures were measured at the center of glass pane and edge, while the strain was measured at the edge. From the experimental data, the critical heat flux was determined under which no glass cracking takes place. By using the measured temperature and stress, the ultimate tensile stress of the glass edge was calculated. The obtained values were lower than the literature values for plain glass surface where no effect of micro defects at the cutting edge is taken into account. By analysing the post crack behavior, it was pointed out that the fallout area mainly depends on imposed heat flux and slightly on restraint. Under intense heating (more than 9kw/m2), large piece of glass tends to fall out, however under moderate heating, glass just cracks but did not fall out. Therefore it was pointed out that the application of the thermal stress model for glass breaking is limited to intensely heated scenarios. A simple prediction formula was derived for such scenarios.

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Study DesignRetrospective study.PurposeTo evaluate the efficacy of the Spinal Instability Neoplastic Score (SINS) in predicting surgical outcomes and survival. Patients were categorized into two groups according to the SINS, and their surgical outcomes and survival following decompression and stabilization were assessed.Overview of LiteraturePalliative surgery in patients with a life expectancy ≥3 months may effectively improve their overall condition in the long term. Currently, the effectiveness of the SINS for predicting surgical results and survival remains controversial.MethodsThis study included 44 patients who underwent decompression and stabilization for spinal metastases at Yokosuka Kyosai Hospital between 2008 and 2017. The patients were divided into two groups: stable (SINS ≤12) and unstable (SINS ≥13). Changes in the Frankel score and Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status (ECOG-PS) were compared between the two groups, and patient survival was evaluated according to the SINS, Tokuhashi score, and Katagiri score.ResultsThe stable group (SINS range, 7–12) included 24 patients while the unstable group (SINS range, 13–16) included 20 patients. The Frankel score significantly improved from 2.8 to 3.6 in the stable group (p <0.001) and from 2.7 to 3.9 in the unstable group (p <0.001). The ECOG-PS significantly improved from 3.2 to 2.1 in the stable group (p <0.001) and from 3.0 to 1.8 in the unstable group (p <0.001). There was a statistically significant difference in median survival between the two groups.ConclusionsAll patients treated with palliative surgery showed favorable outcomes, as indicated by improved the Frankel score and ECOG-PS following surgery. However, median survival was significantly better in the stable group. The results of this study indicate that the SINS is appropriate for surgical decision making and may be used to predict survival.

SUM M AR Y A trial of sodium aurothiomalate as an antiproteinase drug in the treatment of murine muscular dystrophy is reported. A blind controlled comparison of high (25 ,ug/1O g body weight) and low dose gold (5 ttg/10 g body weight) with saline-injected control animals was made, all injections being given three times weekly. The body weights and functional ability of the mice were assessed at weekly intervals. No significant difference between the groups was observed. A trial of very high dose chrysotherapy (500 jug of gold/10 g body weight) also showed no therapeutic benefit.The aetiology of the human and animal hereditary muscular dystrophies is still unclear, and despite many previous therapeutic attempts no widely accepted remedy is available for any of the muscular dystrophies. There is a marked increase of several proteinases in lhuman and animal dystrophic muscle (Weinstock et al., 1958;Tappel et al., 1962;Pennington, 1963;Park and Pennington, 1965;Kar and Pearson, 1972), while most other non-lysosomal enzymes are decreased in the muscle. It seems likely that these abnormally increased levels of proteinases may cause the rapid breakdown of muscle proteins, whether they are derived from the muscle fibres themselves or from macrophages infiltrating the degenerating muscle. Thus, if it were possible to inhibit these proteinases the rate of skeletal muscle degeneration might be slowed down. A recent report suggests that a number of microbial antiproteinases improve the growth of dystrophic chicken muscle in tissue culture (McGowan et al., 1976). As part of a series of studies searching for agents of therapeutic value in the muscular dystrophies, such as ethylene derivatives and penicillamine (Enomoto and Bradley, 1977a; Bradley, GardnerMedwin, and Enomoto, in preparation), we investigated the effect of a number of antipro-'Financial support was provided by grants from the Medical Research