AA Degree German

RC German Panther Tank with Machine Gun – Best Remote Control Toy Model For Sale

Secure Buying Hyperlink – www.kqzyfj.com Go through the complete Raidentech consumer services evaluation: www.super-content.com The 1:16 RC Smoking cigarettes German Panther Tank with Engine Sound and Device Gun Sound ( Upgrade Version w/ Steel Gear & Tracks): This tank can move forward, accelerating velocity forward, backward, accelerating pace backward, rotating, barrel can be raised thirty degree. Turret can change 320 degree. 6 teams of car demonstration purpose and automobile-programming function. This is a 1/sixteen scale completely painted and assembled replica of the Cigarette smoking German Panther Tank with the prolonged gun barrel that includes radio-managed of all movement such as turret rotation and gun elevation. It characteristics complete suspension and a major gun that fires BB pellets up to twenty five meters! Excellent benefit for funds and a massive enhancement on the previous model. A excellent introduction to large scale radio managed tanks. Key Specs/Unique Attributes: Functions: Optimum facet turning angel of turret (still left/proper) roughly 320-diploma Greatest vertical turning angel of gun (up/down) about thirty-diploma Greatest climbing gradient (changeable on distinct highway surfaces) about 35-degree Item measurement: fifty four.five x 23.five x 27.5cm Function: forward higher-speed forward, backward, substantial-speed backward and spin The barrel moves up and down 30. the turret turns 320 emulation music and motion influence Entire scale R/Do perform, frequency-free of charge to modify for any frequencies as you like, Multi-people and tanks are allowed …
Video Ranking: one / 5

Medical Breakthrough for treatment of Persistent Pain

Medical Breakthrough for treatment of Persistent Pain

(PRWEB) September 4, 2002

PRESS RELEASE – Medical Breakthrough for treatment of Persistent Pain

L.A. Pain Clinic – Hawthorne, California, – September, 2002 -http://www.medicinehouse.com

What happens between injury and our perception of pain? In a groundbreaking book, pain specialist Dr Sota Omoigui from the L.A. Pain Clinic in Hawthorne, California proposes the first unifying law of Pain that explains the origin of all types of pain: from Arthritis to Fibromyalgia and from Migraine to Sciatica.

Sota Omoigui’s Law of Pain states that: The origin of all pain is inflammation and the inflammatory response. The newly released book is titled: The Biochemical origin of Pain: How a new law and new drugs have led to a breakthrough in the treatment of Persistent Pain.

The entire content of the book is accessible at website http://www.medicinehouse.com. Click on BREAKING NEWS. Citing 137 literature references complimented by case reports from the L.A. Pain Clinic (Ph: 310 675-9121), Dr Sota Omoigui reveals the most dramatic advance in the treatment of pain in this century. Utilizing new biotech drugs such as Enbrel or Kineret and old rediscovered drugs such as Thalidomide, painful conditions from arthritic knee joints, shoulder bursitis, herniated disks to intractable pain syndromes such as RSD/CRPS have shown dramatic improvement within minutes to days. Dramatic results using Enbrel for herniated disks have been advertised by a clinic called DiskCureÃ? in Los Angeles. According to the L.A. Times article of May 13th 2002 titled: ‘Miracle Cure’ for Back Pain Has Lots of Appeal–and Skeptics, the clinic charges about $ 2200.00 per consultation and treatment and has been criticized for secrecy and failing to provide information to other doctors and patients about the drug they use (the L.A. Times article of May 13th 2002 may be retrieved by a search of the archives at http://www.latimes.com or in http://www.medicinehouse.com/Diskcure.htm (permission pending). There can be no progress in Medicine or Science if knowledge is kept secret. Research in this field has been documented in the literature for several years. Clinical trials by some biotech companies have been recently initiated to investigate the use of the new biotech drugs and old rediscovered drugs such as Thalidomide to treat specific painful conditions. Dr Sota Omoigui is available to the press for radio and TV interviews to explain his new unifying Law of Pain and how the new biotech drugs can be used not just for herniated disks but to treat every type of pain. The new biotech drugs such as Enbrel and Kineret are approved by the FDA for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. They act by blocking the effect of inflammatory mediators Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha and Interleukin -1 beta that are produced in the hot swollen joints. In his unifying Law of Pain and as explained in his new book, these inflammatory mediators as well as others whose importance have just been recognized in the last 10 years are the origin of all pain. Except for prostaglandins, which are blocked by the steroids and well know anti-inflammatory drugs such as Motrin or Celebrex, these inflammatory mediators can only be blocked by the new biotech drugs as well as a few old drugs such as Thalidomide. According to Sota Omoigui’s Law of Pain, irrespective of the type of pain whether it is acute pain as in a sprain, sports injury or eurochange jellyfish sting or whether it is chronic pain as in arthritis, migraine, back or neck pain from herniated disks, RSD/CRPS pain, Fibromyalgia, Interstitial cystitis, Neuropathic pain, Post-stroke pain etc., the underlying origin is inflammation and the inflammatory response. Irrespective of the characteristic of the pain, whether it is sharp, dull, aching, burning, stabbing, numbing or tingling, all pain arise from inflammation and the inflammatory response.

Utilizing the latest biotechnology drugs, we can now treat by a simple injection under the skin that takes a few seconds, medical conditions such as rotator cuff bursitis that previously required joint injections: osteoarthritis of the knee joints that previously required arthroscopic surgery now proven to be no better than placebo: herniated disks that previously required surgery; fibromyalgia that previously had no treatment other than a referral to the psychiatrist. Dr Sota Omoigui states that the origins of pain are the biochemical mediators of inflammation and the inflammatory response.

The newly released book titled: The Biochemical origin of Pain: How a new law and new drugs have led to a breakthrough in the treatment of Persistent Pain is soon available at major book distributors, Amazon.com or by calling the publisher State -of-the-Art Technologies, Inc. at 310 675-9121.

Dr Sota Omoigui is available for radio or TV press conferences. Please call 310 675-9121 to schedule an interview.

Case Report from the L.A. Pain Clinic – Mr. C.N presented with complaints of severe pain in his right shoulder after falling on the shoulder from a height of about three feet. His pain was constant and severe, with associated difficulty abducting the joint. Patient had been seen by an orthopedic surgeon who had ordered an MRI of the left shoulder. The MRI revealed a complete rotator cuff tear involving the anterior aspect of the supraspinatus tendon adjacent to the intertuberous sulcus. The patient was advised to get immediate surgical repair of his rotator cuff. When the patient presented in our clinic he was in a lot of pain. Examination revealed severe tenderness to palpation of the left rotator cuff. His range of motion examination showed a severe limitation of abduction at 20 / 180 degrees. Mr. C.N. was placed on Tolectin DS 400 mg PO three times daily with meal and Oxycodone 5 mg 1-2 tabs PO q 4hr. He had only a slight improvement on the medications. He was subsequently given Kineret 100 mg subcutaneously. Within two minutes of administration of the Kineret, patient was able to fully raise his left shoulder to 180 / 180 degrees and was quite surprised. On reevaluation one week later, he gave the information that his pain dropped from a score of 9/10 to 3/10 within five minutes of receiving the Kineret injection. The duration of pain relief lasted for one month. He was given a second injection of Kineret 100 mg SC that has given sustained pain relief for five months till the time of publication. As at the time of this Press release, Mr. C.N has been able to avoid surgery.

ABOUT DR SOTA OMOIGUI

Sota Omoigui, MD, Medical Director of the L.A. Pain Clinic in Hawthorne, California. He is a Diplomate of The American Board of Anesthesiology with subspecialty certification in Pain Management and a Diplomate of the American Board of Pain Medicine. Dr. Sota Omoigui is author of Sota Omoigui’s Anesthesia Drug Handbook (Blackwell Scientific Publishers, 1999), Sota Omoigui’s Pain Drug Handbook (Blackwell Scientific Publishers, 1999) The Anesthesia Drug Handbook (Mosby Yearbook Publishers, 1995), The Pain Drug Handbook (Mosby Yearbook Publishers, 1996), Pain Relief – The L.A. Pain Clinic Guide (State-of-the-Art Technologies, 1998), The Universal Drug Infusion Ruler (State-of-the-Art Technologies, 1995) It’s a Jungle out there – 163 Business Lessons from the Animal Kingdom (State-of-the-Art Technologies, 2001) and co-author of The Nigerian National Anthem (1978). Dr Sota Omoigui’s drug handbooks are used worldwide and have been published in five other languages (Italian, Japanese, Malaysian, Polish and Portuguese). Dr Sota Omoigui’s research focus is on the biochemical basis of Pain, and development of novel uses for old and new drugs and development of minimally invasive techniques for neural and neuromuscular blockade and relief of chronic pain. Dr Sota Omoigui pioneered the technique of audio-capnometry and holds a United States patent for the audio-capnometer monitor and a patent for the process of continuous non-invasive hemometry (measurement of hemoglobin).

On April 11th, 2002, Dr Sota Omoigui published his Law of Pain which states: – The origin of all pain is inflammation and the inflammatory response. This is the most significant advance in our understanding of Pain since the 1965 publication of the Gate Theory of Pain by Ronald Melzack and Patrick Wall.

The entire content of the book is accessible at website http://www.medicinehouse.com. Click on BREAKING NEWS. Please contact Sota Omoigui, MD 310 675-9121 regarding any questions or for an interview.

MEDICAL LITERATURE REFERENCES:

Science 1965 Nov 19;150(699):971-9

Pain mechanisms: a new theory.

Melzack R, Wall PD.

[1]

J Bone Joint Surg Am 1990 Mar;72(3):403-8

Abnormal magnetic-resonance scans of the lumbar spine in asymptomatic subjects. A prospective investigation.

Boden SD, Davis DO, Dina TS, Patronas NJ, Wiesel SW.

[2]

N Engl J Med 1994 Jul 14;331(2):69-73

Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine in people without back pain.

Jensen MC, Brant-Zawadzki MN, Obuchowski N, Modic MT, Malkasian D, Ross JS.

[3] Natural history of individuals with asymptomatic disc abnormalities in magnetic resonance imaging: predictors of low back pain-related medical consultation and work incapacity.

Boos N, Semmer N, Elfering A, Schade V, Gal I, Zanetti M, Kissling R, Buchegger N, Hodler J, Main CJ.

Active synovial matrix metalloproteinase-2 is associated with radiographic erosions in patients with early synovitis

Raphaela Goldbach-Mansky1, Jennifer M Lee1, Joseph M Hoxworth1, David Smith II1, Paul Duray1, Ralph H Schumacher Jr1, Cheryl H Yarboro1, John Klippel1, David Kleiner1 and Hani S El-Gabalawy1

-Arthritis Res 2000 2: 145-153

[45]

Mol Cell Biol 1989 May;9(5):2239-43

Effects of botulinum toxin type D on secretion of tumor necrosis factor from human monocytes.

Imamura K, Spriggs D, Ohno T, Kufe D.

[46]

Lab Invest 2001 Aug;81(8):1109-17

Inhibitors of Phosphodiesterase Isoforms III or IV Suppress Islet-Cell Nitric Oxide Production.

Beshay E, Prud’homme GJ.

[47]

Spine 2001 Apr 15;26(8):870-5

Prevention of compartment syndrome in dorsal root ganglia caused by exposure to nucleus pulposus.

Yabuki S, Onda A, Kikuchi S, Myers RR.

[49] Amin A R, Attur M G, Thakker G D, Patel P D, Vyas P R, Patel R N, Patel I R, Abramson S B, A novel mechanism of action of tetracyclines: effects on nitric oxide syntheses, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1996; 93: 14014-9.

[50] Steinrneyer J, Daufeldt S, Taiwo Y O, Pharmacological effect of tetracyclines on proteoglycanases from interleukin-l-treated articular cartilage, Biochem Pharmacol 1998; 55: 93-100

[51] Kloppenburg M, Verweij C L, Miltenburg A M, Verboeven A J, Daha M R, Dijlanans B A, Breeveld F C, The influence of tetracyclines on T cell activation, Clin EU Immunol 1995; 102: 635-41.

[52] Shapira L, Houri Y, Barak V, Soskolne W A, Halabi A, Stabholz A, Tetracycline inhibits’ Porphyromonas gingivalis lipopolysaccharide- induced lesions in vivo and TNF .alpha. processing in vitro, J Periodontal Res 1997; 32: 183-8

[53] Chao C C, Hu S, Ehrlich L, Peterson P K, Interleukin-1 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha synergistically mediate neurotoxicity: involvement of nitric oxide and of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors, Brain Behav Immun 1995; 9: 355-65

[54] Bluthe R M, Dantzer R, Kelley K W, Interleukin-I mediates behavioural but not metabolic effects of tumor necrosis factor alpha in mice, Eur J Pharmacol 1991; 209: 281-3.

[55] . Hartung B P, Jung S, Stoll G, Zielasek J, Schmidt B, Archelos J J, Toyka K V, Inflammatory mediators in demyelinating disorders of the CNS and PNS, J Neuroinununol 1992; 40: 197-210.

[56] Sommer C, Schmidt C, George A, Toyka K V, A metalloprotease-inhibitor reduces pain associated behaviour in mice with experimental neuropathy, Neurosci Lett 1997;237:45-8

.

[57] Stoll G, Jung S, Jander S, van der Meide P, Hartung B P, Tumor necrosis factor-alpha in immunomediated demyelination and Wallerian degeneration of the rat peripheral nervous system, Neuroimmunol 1993; 45: 175-82.

[71]

Psychoneuroendocrinology 2000 Nov;25(8):785-97

The effect of repeated amitriptyline and desipramine administration on cytokine release in C57BL/6 mice.

Kubera M, Holan V, Mathison R, Maes M.

[73]

Neuroscience 1999;91(1):211-9

Corticosterone and phenytoin reduce neuronal nitric oxide synthase messenger RNA expression in rat hippocampus.

Reagan LP, McKittrick CR, McEwen BS.

[74]

Res Commun Mol Pathol Pharmacol 1999;105(1-2):23-33

Zonisamide inhibits nitric oxide synthase activity induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate and buthionine sulfoximine in the rat hippocampus.

Noda Y, Mori A, Packer L.

[4]

: Br J Anaesth 1995 Aug;75(2):125-31

Inflammatory mediators of pain.

Dray A.

[5]

Clin J Pain 1991;7 Suppl 1:S8-15

Pathophysiological mechanisms of fibromyalgia.

Zimmermann M.

[6]

Nature 410, 471 – 475 (2001) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Interleukin-1-mediated induction of Cox-2 in the CNS contributes to inflammatory pain hypersensitivity

Tarek A. Samad, Kimberly A. Moore, Adam Sapirstein, Sara Billet, Andrew Allchorne, Stephen Poole, Joseph V. Bonventre & Clifford J. Woolf

Eur J Neurosci 1999 Mar;11(3):837-46

Adrenergic innervation of rat sensory ganglia following proximal or distal painful sciatic neuropathy: distinct mechanisms revealed by anti-NGF treatment.

Ramer MS, Bisby MA.

[7] Hyperalgesia from subcutaneous cytokines

By Stephen Poole, Fernando de Queiroz Cunha and Sergio Henriques Ferreira

Summary

J Exp Med. 2000;191:313-320.

Horai R, Saijo S, Tanioka H, et al. Development of chronic inflammatory arthropathy resembling rheumatoid arthritis in interleukin 1 receptor antagonist -deficient mice.

Adv Immunol. 1993;54:167-227.

Arend WP. Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist.

J Rheumatol. 1995;22:2250-2258. van Lent PLEM, van de Loo FAJ, Holthuysen AEM, van den Bersselaar LAM, Vermeer H, van den Berg WB. Major role for interleukin 1 but not for tumor necrosis factor in early cartilage damage in immune complex arthritis in mice.

J Exp Med. 2000;191:313-320

Horai R, Saijo S, Tanioka H, et al. Development of chronic inflammatory arthropathy resembling rheumatoid arthritis in interleukin 1 receptor antagonist -deficient mice.

Arthritis Rheum. 2000;43:2143-2151.

Gravallese EM, Goldring SR. Cellular mechanisms and the role of cytokines in bone erosions in rheumatoid arthritis.

J Rheumatol. 1995;22:2250-2258.

van Lent PLEM, van de Loo FAJ, Holthuysen AEM, van den Bersselaar LAM, Vermeer H, van den Berg WB. Major role for interleukin 1 but not for tumor necrosis factor in early cartilage damage in immune complex arthritis in mice.

Brain Res 2000 Oct 6;879(1-2):216-25

Intrathecal anti-IL-6 antibody and IgG attenuates peripheral nerve injury-induced mechanical allodynia in the rat: possible immune modulation in neuropathic pain.

Arruda JL, Sweitzer S, Rutkowski MD, DeLeo JA.

[8] Intrathecal Methylprednisolone for Intractable Postherpetic Neuralgia

Naoki Kotani, Tetsuya Kushikata, Hiroshi Hashimoto, Futoshi Kimura, Masatoshi Muraoka, Misako Yodono, Mizue Asai, Akitomo Matsuki

J Neurotrauma 1999 Oct;16(10):851-63

Systemically administered interleukin-10 reduces tumor necrosis factor-alpha production and significantly improves functional recovery following traumatic spinal cord injury in rats.

Bethea JR, Nagashima H, Acosta MC, Briceno C, Gomez F, Marcillo AE, Loor K, Green J, Dietrich WD.

Exp Neurol 2001 Mar;168(1):144-54

Effects of interleukin-10 (IL-10) on pain behavior and gene expression following excitotoxic spinal cord injury in the rat.

Plunkett JA, Yu CG, Easton JM, Bethea JR, Yezierski RP.

[9] Kayama S, Konno S, Olmarker K, Yabuki S, Kikuchi S, Incision of the anulus fibrosis induces nerve root morphologic, vascular, and functional changes. An experimental study, Spine 1996; 21: 2539-43.

[10] Olmarker K, Rydevik B, Nordborg C, Autologous nucleus pulposus induces neurophysiologic and histologic changes in porcine cauda equina nerve roots, Spine 1993; 18: 1425-32.

[11] Olmarker K, Myers R R, Pathogenesis of sciatic pain: Role of herniated nucleus pulposus and deformation of spinal nerve root and DRG, Pain, 1998, 78: 9-105

[12] Hyperalgesic Actions of Cytokines on Peripheral Nerves

By Robert R. Myers, Rochelle Wagner and Linda Sorkin

P Borden, RA Heller: Transcriptional control of matrix metalloproteinases and the tissue inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases

Crit Rev Eukaryot Gene Expr 1997, 7: 159-178

C He: Molecular mechanism of transcriptional activation of human gelatinase B by proximal promoter

Cancer Lett 1996, 106: 185-191

Active synovial matrix metalloproteinase-2 is associated with radiographic erosions in patients with early synovitis

Raphaela Goldbach-Mansky1, Jennifer M Lee1, Joseph M Hoxworth1, David Smith II1, Paul Duray1, Ralph H Schumacher Jr1, Cheryl H Yarboro1, John Klippel1, David Kleiner1 and Hani S El-Gabalawy1

-Arthritis Res 2000 2: 145-153

J Neurosci 1996 Dec 15;16(24):7910-9

Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) is synthesized in neurons of the human hippocampus and is capable of degrading the amyloid-beta peptide (1-40).

Backstrom JR, Lim GP, Cullen MJ, Tokes ZA.

[13]

: Pain 2000 Feb;84(2-3):159-67

Cytokine involvement in dynorphin-induced allodynia.

Laughlin TM, Bethea JR, Yezierski RP, Wilcox GL.

Lakartidningen 1997 Nov 26;94(48):4461-6

[A breakthrough in the research on pain. Survey of the synaptic network may result in new analgesics]

Olgart L.

[20]

Rev Prat 1994 Jun 15;44(12):1569-71

[Substance P and rheumatic diseases]

[Article in French]

Menkes CJ, Renoux M.

Inflammation 1992 Dec;16(6):587-601

Effects of interleukin-1 beta and tumor necrosis factor-alpha on osteoblastic expression of osteocalcin and mineralized extracellular matrix in vitro.

Taichman RS, Hauschka PV.

Calcif Tissue Int 1993 Mar;52(3):227-33

Proliferative responses to estradiol, IL-1 alpha and TGF beta by cells expressing alkaline phosphatase in human osteoblast-like cell cultures.

Rickard DJ, Gowen M, MacDonald BR.

Arthritis Rheum 2001 Oct;44(10):2320-30

In vivo dual inhibition of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase by ML-3000 reduces the progression of experimental osteoarthritis: suppression of collagenase 1 and interleukin-1beta synthesis.

Jovanovic DV, Fernandes JC, Martel-Pelletier J, Jolicoeur FC, Reboul P, Laufer S, Tries S, Pelletier JP.

[15]

Spine 2000 Dec 1;25(23):2975-80

2000 Volvo Award winner in basic science studies: Exogenous tumor necrosis factor-alpha mimics nucleus pulposus-induced neuropathology. Molecular, histologic, and behavioral comparisons in rats.

Igarashi T, Kikuchi S, Shubayev V, Myers RR

[16]

Spine 2001 Apr 15;26(8):863-9

Selective inhibition of tumor necrosis factor-alpha prevents nucleus pulposus-induced thrombus formation, intraneural edema, and reduction of nerve conduction velocity: possible implications for future pharmacologic treatment strategies of sciatica.

Olmarker K, Rydevik B.

[17]

Schmerz 2001 Dec;15(6):425-9

Radicular pain – recent pathophysiologic concepts and therapeutic implications.

Olmarker K.

[18]

J Orthop Res 2000 Sep;18(5):815-20

Nitric oxide as a mediator of nucleus pulposus-induced effects on spinal nerve roots.

Brisby H, Byrod G, Olmarker K, Miller VM, Aoki Y, Rydevik B.

[19]

Spine 1997 Nov 1;22(21):2484-8

The inflammatory properties of contained and noncontained lumbar disc herniation.

Nygaard OP, Mellgren SI, Osterud B.

[31]

Environ Health Perspect 1995 Jan;103(1):54-6

Neurogenic switching: a hypothesis for a mechanism for shifting the site of inflammation in allergy and chemical sensitivity.

Meggs WJ.

[32]

BioDrugs 2001;15(8):521-31

BioDrugs 2001;15(8):521-31

Neuroendocrine and immune aspects of fibromyalgia.

van West D, Maes M.

[33]

23: Arthritis Rheum 1994 Nov;37(11):1593-601

Elevated cerebrospinal fluid levels of substance P in patients with the fibromyalgia syndrome.

Russell IJ, Orr MD, Littman B, Vipraio GA, Alboukrek D, Michalek JE, Lopez Y, MacKillip F.

[34]

Pain 1988 Jan;32(1):21-6

Elevated CSF levels of substance P and high incidence of Raynaud phenomenon in patients with fibromyalgia: new features for diagnosis.

Vaeroy H, Helle R, Forre O, Kass E, Terenius L.

[35]

J Rheumatol Suppl 1989 Nov;19:94-7

Modulation of pain in fibromyalgia (fibrositis syndrome): cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) investigation of pain related neuropeptides with special reference to calcitonin gene related peptide (CGRP).

Vaeroy H, Sakurada T, Forre O, Kass E, Terenius L.

[36]

Z Rheumatol 1998;57 Suppl 2:63-6

Neurochemical pathogenesis of fibromyalgia.

Russell IJ.

[37]

Pain 2000 Aug;87(2):201-11

Changes in the concentrations of amino acids in the cerebrospinal fluid that correlate with pain in patients with fibromyalgia: implications for nitric oxide pathways.

Larson AA, Giovengo SL, Russell IJ, Michalek JE.

[38]

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2001 Jul;40(7):743-9

Cytokines play an aetiopathogenetic role in fibromyalgia: a hypothesis and pilot study.

Wallace DJ, Linker-Israeli M, Hallegua D, Silverman S, Silver D, Weisman MH.

J Urol 2000 Dec;164(6):2119-25

Pentosanpolysulfate inhibits mast cell histamine secretion and intracellular calcium ion levels: an alternative explanation of its beneficial effect in interstitial cystitis.

Chiang G, Patra P, Letourneau R, Jeudy S, Boucher W, Green M, Sant GR, Theoharides TC.

Br J Urol 1995 Jun;75(6):744-50

Increased number of substance P positive nerve fibres in interstitial cystitis.

Pang X, Marchand J, Sant GR, Kream RM, Theoharides TC.

J Urol 1998 Aug;160(2):605-11

Comment in:

. J Urol 1998 Aug;160(2 ):298

High affinity binding sites for [3H] substance P in urinary bladders of cats with interstitial cystitis.

Buffington CA, Wolfe SA Jr.

J Urol 1992 Mar;147(3):587-91

Interstitial cystitis: increased sympathetic innervation and related neuropeptide synthesis.

Hohenfellner M, Nunes L, Schmidt RA, Lampel A, Thuroff JW, Tanagho EA.

J Urol 1996 Aug;156(2 Pt 1):532-5

Potentiation by bradykinin and substance P of purinergic neurotransmission in urinary bladder.

Patra PB, Westfall DP.

[39]

Urology 1999 Sep;54(3):450-3

Preliminary study on urinary cytokine levels in interstitial cystitis: does intravesical bacille Calmette-Guerin treat interstitial cystitis by altering the immune profile in the bladder?

Peters KM, Diokno AC, Steinert BW.

Can J Neurol Sci 1999 Nov;26 Suppl 3:S12-9

Pathophysiology of migraine–new insights.

Hargreaves RJ, Shepheard SL.

Blood Vessels 1991;28(1-3):35-45

Innervation and effects of dilatory neuropeptides on cerebral vessels. New aspects.

Edvinsson L.

Microsc Res Tech 2001 May 1;53(3):167-78

Neurogenic inflammation in the context of migraine.

Williamson DJ, Hargreaves RJ.

Lakartidningen 2001 Sep 26;98(39):4176-83

[Both neurogenic and vascular causes of primary headache]

[Article in Swedish]

Edvinsson L.

Cerebrovasc Brain Metab Rev 1989 Fall;1(3):230-52

Neuropeptides in the cerebral circulation.

Uddman R, Edvinsson L.

[14] Regulation of meningeal blood flow by neuropeptides: Relevance to migraine

By K. Messlinger, M. Pawlak

Pain 2000 Dec 1;88(3):239-48

Possible role of inflammatory mediators in tactile hypersensitivity in rat models of mononeuropathy.

Cui JG, Holmin S, Mathiesen T, Meyerson BA, Linderoth B.

Eur J Neurosci 1999 Mar;11(3):837-46

Adrenergic innervation of rat sensory ganglia following proximal or distal painful sciatic neuropathy: distinct mechanisms revealed by anti-NGF treatment.

Ramer MS, Bisby MA.

Neurosci Lett 2002 Feb 22;319(3):137-40

Increases in the concentration of brain derived neurotrophic factor in the lumbar spinal dorsal horn are associated with pain behavior following chronic constriction injury in rats.

Miletic G, Miletic V.

Clin J Pain 2000 Jun;16(2 Suppl):S7-11

Neurotrophic factors and pain.

Apfel SC.

J Hand Surg [Am] 2001 Jul;26(4):635-44

Nerve growth factor inhibition prevents traumatic neuroma formation in the rat.

Kryger GS, Kryger Z, Zhang F, Shelton DL, Lineaweaver WC, Buncke HJ.

Pain 1999 Feb;79(2-3):265-74

Effect of NGF and anti-NGF on neuropathic pain in rats following chronic constriction injury of the sciatic nerve.

Ro LS, Chen ST, Tang LM, Jacobs JM.

Clin J Pain 2000 Jun;16(2 Suppl):S12-20

Peripheral neuropathic pain: from mechanisms to symptoms.

Baron R.

[5]

27: Clin J Pain 1991;7 Suppl 1:S8-15

Pathophysiological mechanisms of fibromyalgia.

Zimmermann M.

Neuroreport 2001 Jul 20;12(10):2079-84

NF-kappa B decoy suppresses cytokine expression and thermal hyperalgesia in a rat neuropathic pain model.

Sakaue G, Shimaoka M, Fukuoka T, Hiroi T, Inoue T, Hashimoto N, Sakaguchi T, Sawa Y, Morishita R, Kiyono H, Noguchi K, Mashimo T.

[6]

Nature 410, 471 – 475 (2001) © Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Interleukin-1-mediated induction of Cox-2 in the CNS contributes to inflammatory pain hypersensitivity

Tarek A. Samad, Kimberly A. Moore, Adam Sapirstein, Sara Billet, Andrew Allchorne, Stephen Poole, Joseph V. Bonventre & Clifford J. Woolf

Oyelese, A.A., Rizzo M.A., Waxman, S.G. and Kocsis, J.D. (1997) Differential effects of NGF and BDNF on axotomy-induced changes in GABAA receptor-mediated conductance and sodium currents in cutaneous afferent neurons. Journal of Neurophysiology, 78:31-42.

Waxman, S.G. (1999) The molecular pathophysiology of pain: abnormal expression of sodium channel genes and its contributions to hyperexcitability in primary sensory neurons. Pain. 6, S133-S140.

Black, J.A., Langworthy, K., Hinson, A.W., Dibb-Hajj, S.D., and Waxman, S.G. (1997) NGF has opposing effects on Na+ channel III and SNS gene expression in spinal sensory neurons. NeuroReport, 8: 2331-2335.

Everill, B., and Kocsis, J.D., (1999) Reduction of potassium currents in identified cutaneous afferent DRG neurons after axotomy. Journal of Neurophysiology, 82, 700-708.

[21]

Lancet 1993 Oct 23;342(8878):1012-6

Signs and symptoms of reflex sympathetic dystrophy: prospective study of 829 patients.

Veldman PH, Reynen HM, Arntz IE, Goris RJ.

[22]

Radiologe 1992 Oct;32(10):509-15

[Bone marrow edema in MRT]

[Article in German]

Vahlensieck M, Reiser M.

[23]

Pain 2000 Dec 1;88(3):259-66

Patterns of spread in complex regional pain syndrome, type I (reflex sympathetic dystrophy).

Maleki J, LeBel AA, Bennett GJ, Schwartzman RJ.

[24]

Unfallchirurg 1997 Feb;100(2):90-9

[Sudeck's syndrome. Was Sudeck right?]

[Article in German]

van der Laan L, Goris RJ.

[25]

Vasc Med 1998;3(3):207-14

Reflex sympathetic dystrophy: facts and hypotheses.

Kurvers HA.

[26]

Pharmacol Rev 2000 Dec;52(4):595-638

The sympathetic nerve–an integrative interface between two supersystems: the brain and the immune system.

Elenkov IJ, Wilder RL, Chrousos GP, Vizi ES.

[27]

Neurology 2001 Dec 26;57(12):2179-84

The important role of neuropeptides in complex regional pain syndrome.

Birklein F, Schmelz M, Schifter S, Weber M.

[28]

Acta Orthop Belg 1998 Dec;64(4):448-51

Role of neuropeptides in pathogenesis of reflex sympathetic dystrophy.

Blair SJ, Chinthagada M, Hoppenstehdt D, Kijowski R, Fareed J.

[29] Hyperalgesia from subcutaneous cytokines

By Stephen Poole, Fernando de Queiroz Cunha and Sergio Henriques Ferreira

Rheumatology (Oxford) 2001 Sep;40(9):995-1001

Interleukin-1-induced subacromial synovitis and shoulder pain in rotator cuff diseases.

Gotoh M, Hamada K, Yamakawa H, Yanagisawa K, Nakamura M, Yamazaki H, Ueyama Y, Tamaoki N, Inoue A, Fukuda H

J Orthop Res 1999 May;17(3):392-7

Increased interleukin-1beta production in the synovium of glenohumeral joints with anterior instability.

Gotoh M, Hamada K, Yamakawa H, Nakamura M, Yamazaki H, Inoue A, Fukuda H.

Kobe J Med Sci 2001 Feb;47(1):25-34

Immunolocalization of cytokines and growth factors in subacromial bursa of rotator cuff tear patients.

Sakai H, Fujita K, Sakai Y, Mizuno K.

NEJM Volume 347:81-88 July 11, 2002 Number 2

A Controlled Trial of Arthroscopic Surgery for Osteoarthritis of the Knee

J. Bruce Moseley, M.D., Kimberly O’Malley, Ph.D., Nancy J. Petersen, Ph.D., Terri J. Menke, Ph.D., Baruch A. Brody, Ph.D., David H. Kuykendall, Ph.D., John C. Hollingsworth, Dr.P.H., Carol M. Ashton, M.D., M.P.H., and Nelda P. Wray, M.D., M.P.H.

©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Find More AA Degree German Press Releases

What is a First Generation Goldendoodle

What does “F1″ mean? What does “F1B” mean? Why is there so much confusion about the term “First generation Goldendoodle” ?

It seems to me that many people are having problems understanding what constitutes a Goldendoodle as being a “First generation” hybrid. It’s quite easy to understand if you have some knowledge with basic genetics. It may seem complicated to those who do not understand the basics of genetics. Simply put, a First generation Goldendoodle is any Goldendoodle dog that comes from two parents who are not closely related, regardless of whether or not both Goldendoodles are Goldendoodles or if one parent is a Poodle and the other parent is a Golden Retriever or whether one parent is a Poodle and one parent is a Goldendoodle. The offspring are STILL considered Goldendoodles and they are STILL considered first generation when neither parent shares the exact same parents themselves. That’s it in a nutshell. Nothing complicated about it, but so many people…including breeders…..just can’t seem to grasp the concept.

Instead, some people believe that a first generation Goldendoodle only comes from a 50/50 mix…meaning, coming from one parent who is a Poodle and one parent who is a Golden Retriever or some people believe that Goldendoodles are “f1B” if a Goldendoodle is bred to a Poodle or Golden Retriever or to another Goldendoodle. I’m sorry to burst the genetic bubble, but that belief is not accurate at all. If you really want to get technical, lets first ask “First generation of what???”. What is the Goldendoodle a first generation of, exactly ? Are they the “first generation” upon their family tree? Are they the first generation to both of their parents? Technically and accurately speaking, if neither parent are directly related, the answer is YES. All offspring, in reality, that are born to two parents who are not directly related and who DO NOT share the same parents themselves, are FIRST GENERATION DOGS.

What exactly does the term “first generation” imply anyway?

When speaking of “generations” it is generally implied to mean parent/child. The parents have children and thus, their children are “first generation”. When those children have their own children, they then become “second generation”. When we speak of the Goldendoodle being a “first generation” it is implied to mean that the offspring come from two parents who are not closely related or who are not related at all….whether the same breed or different breed, the offspring are always “first generation” when neither parent are directly related to each other. I’ve had so many people try to convince me that a Goldendoodle isn’t a first generation Goldendoodle unless if comes from a Poodle/Golden Retriever parent. Again, I hate to burst your genetic bubble, but that’s not correct. With purebred dogs, both parents are the same breed and their offspring are first generation providing neither parent shares the same parents themselves or direct relatives within their first three generations of pedigree. If you bred two parents who were related, together, then their offspring would be “second generation” . When we speak of Goldendoodles being an “F1B”, the “B” means “backbred”. A very nice term for implying the dogs are inbred….backbred to a close relative. Just because a Goldendoodle is bred to a Poodle, does NOT imply the offspring are “F1B”. If a Goldendoodle is bred to a Poodle and the Poodle within the Goldendoodle’s genetic structure is NOT related or closely related to the other Poodle used for breeding, their offspring are “first generation”. If a Goldendoodle is bred to a Golden Retriever and the Goldendoodle used for breeding is NOT closely related or related at all to the Golden Retriever within the Goldendoodles’ genetic structure, their offspring is still a first generation.

Genetic diversity is very important when it comes to hybrid dogs, period. Due to the fact many purebred fanciers inbreed their dogs, the entire reason hybrid dogs have fewer health issues is due to the fact their genetic structure is wide and varying. A genetic “bottle neck” is created when two dogs are bred together and share the same lineage. It’s one thing to have similar ancestors or share similar ancestors down through the pedigree, its quite another to have the same exact ancestors down through the pedigree. We have created the Goldendoodle since 1999. We have been purebred dog breeders since 1996. We know for a fact that dogs are healthier and have entirely fewer genetic issues when they have a wider variance in their genetic structure. Goldendoodles who come from two related parents will have genetic issues much more often than Goldendoodles who come from two unrelated parents. When a breeder says they create “multi-generation” Goldendoodles….that means you’d better be careful of buying one of their dogs. Multi generation Goldendoodles are highly inbred dogs and are at a much greater risk for genetic issues. I definitely do not believe in multi-generation doodles or even purebred dogs. I’ve never agreed that even purebred dogs who are bred back to a direct relative is a good thing. Such dogs can be at a higher risk for behavioral issues; health issues and genetic issues. Many undesirable traits come from dogs who are born from parents who are too closely related.

When Gregor Mendel began his hybridization experiments with pea plants in 1856, knowledge of how heredity works was limited. Experimenting with hybrids has been going on for many, many years. Many things had been guessed at or not exactly known as to how genetics + hybrids really worked. Some characteristics, called discrete traits, did not produce a state of being between two parents. The children of a brown-eyed father and blue-eyed mother do not end up with an intermediate eye color; rather, the children inherited the eye color of a single parent. This occurs with people. With dogs, it is quite different. The offspring CAN inherit an intermediate eye color and we’ve witnessed this with the Goldendoodle dog. In 2006, we bred two Goldendoodles together that were not closely related. They had a different Golden Retriever parent and a different Poodle parent. The only traits the Goldendoodle dogs had in common was that they had the same eye color (Blue); The same coat type (curly) and both were the same color (apricot). We intentionally bred both Goldendoodles together so that we could increase our chances of having blue eyed Goldendoodles. We were not sure what coat type would occur since both doodles had a curly coat. We were quite surprised to learn the following:

1. This pairing only produced 2 blue eyed doodle offspring.

2. Out of four offspring, 1 puppy had brown eyes. 1 puppy had green eyes. Two of the puppies had blue eyes.

3. Out of four offspring, 3 puppies had a smooth coat and 1 puppy had a shaggy coat. Not a single curly coat was born to parents who had a curly coat themselves.

4. Out of the four offspring, 2 puppies were cream. 2 puppies were apricot.

If we assume that each parent contributes a single chromosome to his/her offspring for a given trait, how is it that we had 3 smooth coat Goldendoodles born out of this pairing and neither parent had a smooth coat? How is it that we’ve seen a variance in size regarding the offspring, regardless of the sizes of either parent and how is it that we’ve seen a variance in eye color for the Goldendoodle offspring, regardless of the eye color of either parent? We personally have come to know that Goldendoodle dogs can inherit their traits, appearance, sizes, temperaments and coat or eye coloring from their entire lineage of ancestors. We have come to know that Goldendoodle offspring do not inherit traits exclusively from their parents. We know that their entire lineage plays a part of what and whom they become. Gregor Mendel proposed that some genes are dominant while others are recessive. Since 1999, we have come to realize that our Golden Retrievers Do carry the dominant genes. They dominate personality, color and at times, they dominant coat traits in our Goldendoodles. On occasion, we do see Poodle traits dominate in a select few offspring. For an experienced breeder, it is quite easy to spot the dominating gene. The inexperienced breeder will only be able to rely on information they obtain via the Internet and not all of the information is clear, precise or accurate. Hence, why there is so much inaccurate Goldendoodle information over the Internet. Much of it drives me crazy. Especially because I’ve dedicated an extensive amount of time documenting the coat changes; The many coat phases; the personality types; The coat types; The coloring and markings; I’ve lived, breathed and basically dreamt day in and day out, the Goldendoodle dog. It is very frustrating to try and explain the facts with regards to the Goldendoodle dog to inexperienced people who want to challenge what it is I’ve come to know through personal experience and my countless hours of research. There are some days, I just don’t even try. Some people don’t want to know the facts, they only want you to tell them what they want to hear and not what the facts are and I don’t like to try and teach someone about the Goldendoodle dog if they are not interested in actually learning and knowing facts vs. rumors or what they’ve “read” over the Internet. I LOVE writing about the Goldendoodle dog and what I’ve come to know. It’s quite obvious that the Goldendoodle dog is a passion of mine, given the fact my website is so extensive and comprehensive where the Goldendoodle is concerned.

]]>

I love talking about the Goldendoodle to anyone who wants to know…..and I might even get into some heated arguments with people about the Goldendoodle dog because I’m very passionate about what it is I’ve come to know to be facts and I am NOT one for believing rumors. The Goldendoodle dog is a very stimulating, entirely new field of study for me. I’ve created the Goldendoodle dog in nearly every imaginable way and my research has helped literally thousands of people over the years. Some people you just can’t convince and it is those people that really need to become breeders themselves or otherwise just shut up. That sounds harsh, but I’m very direct and honest. I don’t need to argue with an inexperienced doodle person who doesn’t know what they are talking about. They don’t know what they are talking about because they haven’t done the research on a personal level. They haven’t spent the time that I’ve spent, nor have they indulged themselves in documenting facts and taking thousands of photos as a part of their documentation.

Darwin’s problem explaining “blending” and the preservation of variation was essentially solved. However, while Mendelian genetics provided a way to refute arguments concerning the lack of a mechanism for the preservation of variation through inheritance, Mendel’s results went largely unnoticed until 1900, when the laws were independently “rediscovered” by several geneticists — Hugo de Vries, Carl Correns, and Erich von Tschermak — some 34 years after Mendel’s original publication of his findings in 1866! Speaking of genetics, Let’s talk about genetics for a little bit.

Evolution can be described in many ways; one way to look at evolutionary change as a change in genotype frequencies over time. If organisms are considered evolutionarily successful if they have more offspring, and offspring are created from genes, then changes in gene frequencies (or more specifically, genotype frequencies) will reflect successful evolutionary phenotypes. Researchers in the field of population genetics examine populations in terms of differing proportions of particular genotypes in order to determine what, if any, evolutionary forces are active in that population. Genotype frequency and gene frequency are closely related variables, and both are easy to measure. The simplest case is one genetic locus with two alleles (A and a) and three genotypes (AA, Aa, and aa). Each individual has a genotype made up of two genes at the locus and a population can be symbolized like this:

Aa AA aa aa AA Aa AA Aa

This is an imaginary population with only eight individuals. To find the genotype frequencies we simply count the numbers of individual with each genotype. Thus:

frequency of AA = 3/8 = 0.375
frequency of Aa = 3/8 = 0.375
frequency of aa = 2/8 = 0.25

The extent of variation in natural populations is such that every individual must be genetically unique. Evolution from the origin, to the modern diversity, of life must have required more variation than existed in the original population.

Where did the extra variation come from?

Several processes can generate new variation in a population:

• Recombination between existing chromosomes produces new chromosomes with their own unique sequences and many new genetic variants of a character like body size were probably generated by recombination.

• Migration is an important source of new genetic variation: when individuals arrive from distant parts they will often have different genotypes from the local population; they thus provide new genetic variation.

Both recombination and migration work with existing allelic variation; they put existing variation into new genetic, or geographic, combinations. Important though this is, if there were no pre-existing allelic variation, recombination and migration would not generate new genetic variants. Recombination between identical chromosomes produces the same identical chromosomes over again.

• Mutation is the original source of genetic variation. Even in a population in which all copies of a chromosome were identical, new genetic variants would arise by mutation.

Random events in population genetics – What is random sampling?

Gene frequencies may change by chance

Even when natural selection is not operating, the gene frequencies may change a little from the previous generation just by chance. This can happen because the genes that form a new generation are a random sample from the parental generation.

Random sampling

Random sampling occurs whenever a smaller number of successful individuals (or gametes) are sampled from a larger pool of potential survivors and the fitness of the genotypes are the same. Random sampling works at every stage as a new generation grows up but it starts at conception.

In every species, each individual produces many more gametes than will ever fertilize, or be fertilized, to form new organisms. Using the female trout as an example, it has many thousands of gametes of which a tiny fraction will ever become zygotes.

The successful gametes which do form offspring are a sample from the many gametes that the parents produce. Provided the parent is a heterozygote, such as Aa , it will then produce a large number of gametes, of which approximately one half will be A and the other half a . If that parent produces 10 offspring, it is most likely that five will inherit an A gene and five a . But because the gametes that formed the offspring were sampled from a much larger pool of gametes, it is possible that the proportions would be something else. Perhaps six inherited A and only four a , or three A and seven a.

Random sampling can have important evolutionary effects such as genetic drift and the founder effect.

What is the Founder effect??

Using Polydactyly as an example……extra fingers or sometimes toes ….. is one symptom of Ellis-van Creveld syndrome. The syndrome is commonly found among the Old Order Amish of Pennsylvania, a population that experiences the “founder effect.” Genetically inherited diseases like Ellis-van Creveld are more concentrated among the Amish because they marry within their own community, which prevents new genetic variation from entering the population. Children are therefore more likely to inherit two copies of the particular recessive genes that lead to genetic disease. Because of their closed population stemming from a small number of German immigrants — about 200 individuals — the Amish carry unusual concentrations of gene mutations that cause a number of otherwise rare inherited disorders, including forms of dwarfism. Eastern Pennsylvania is home to beautiful farmlands and countryside, but it’s also a gold mine of information for geneticists, who have studied the region’s Amish culture for decades.

The founder effect can occur in dogs when a breeder inbreeds their dogs and does NOT use a wider variation of genes to create their dogs’ offspring. Maybe not perhaps by having extra fingers or toes, but by other undesirable traits such as personality disorders, behavioral disorders or physical issues as well as internal issues. When dogs are too highly inbred, some do not even survive their first birthday. The female dog can miscarry the entire litter or one or two of the puppies can suffer from what is called the “fading syndrome”. Because defects can vary wide and greatly, it is of great importance that the Goldendoodle breeder become experienced in their selection of breeding methods. Some people can challenge me all they want with regards to the Goldendoodle dog, but we are up for the challenges and will argue with whomever wants to debate the issue regarding first generation Goldendoodles vs. F1B Goldendoodles. There isn’t a single advantage in creating a second generation Goldendoodle…much less an “F1B”. Breeders can argue amongst themselves or with others as to what the term “F1B” means, but we personally will never change our view that “F1B” means the Goldendoodle is an inbred dog. A breeder who creates the “F1B” Goldendoodle will create the Goldendoodle from a 50/50 mixture; meaning, the Goldendoodle comes from a Poodle/Golden Retriever mixture. They will then select one of the offspring and when that offspring becomes old enough to breed, they then breed that Goldendoodle BACK to its brother, sister, mother or father or close relative. Perhaps they even breed it to another Goldendoodle who shares its same ancestry. This is the true meaning of the “F1B” Goldendoodle. We have never created a Goldendoodle in this manner, nor would we want to. We have not ever created a purebred dog in this manner, but many show breeders have. Hence why so many purebred dogs have so many issues, today.

If individual dogs share the same parents or very close ancestry, there’s a greater likelihood that the recessive genes of the “founder” genes will come together in the cells that produce offspring. Thus diseases of recessive genes, which require two copies of the gene to cause the disease, will show up more frequently than they would if the two breeding dogs were not closely related. Further studies have been completed regarding inbreeding.

HIDDEN VARIATIONS

The fact there are hidden variations at the genetic level is yet another reason why inbreeding (creating F1B Goldendoodles) carries with it an increased likelihood of the expression of a deleterious or lethal allele. It is very likely that all individuals carry some deleterious alleles which are left unexpressed from generation to generation, primarily because the frequencies of these alleles in the whole population is very low. While outbreeding (creating offspring from two unrelated parents) (or exogamy) will significantly reduce the probability of a chance encounter between two individuals carrying the same deleterious alleles, inbreeding will significantly increase this probability on the basis of degree of relatedness. Again, this is why the Goldendoodle hybrid, when created properly by experienced breeders, is a much hardier, healthier dog than their purebred counterparts.

All dogs, as well as all living animals and plants, including humans are made up of living cells. Each microscopic cell is a building block of life that contains a specific set of “biochemical blueprints” called chromosomes. The complex molecules instruct the cell and make it possible for the cell to repair and reproduce themselves. As an example, whether a cell is supposed to be part of an organ such as a heart, or a part of your skin or whether or not its role is to grow hair upon your head, arms or legs. Breeders who study the basic concept of genetics, found out a long time ago that many traits, such as hair coloring of dogs, could be manipulated to produce new coat colors or even new eye colors by breeding two dogs that have one particular coat color or a particular eye color. Breeders found out they could also remove such coloring if they wanted to, in the offspring. A British mathematician/biologist named R.C. Punnett developed a straight forward, yet very powerful statistical tool called the PUNNETT SQUARE to predict the outcome/offspring of breeding individuals with known traits of various characteristics. Even though both parents may have a particular coat color…lets say “Black” (Bb), about 1/4 of the litter of puppies will have buff coat coloring. Why does this occur? Each parent’s pair of genes responsible for determining coat coloring has one recessive buff gene (b) that was passed along to the offspring by their parents and/or their grandparents and so on. This is how we explain eye coloring of the Goldendoodle dog. When a breeder has a puppy with an eye color that neither parent has, you can be sure the eye coloring came from a recessive gene that was a part of the parents’ lineage down through their heritage. This also explains the SMOOTH COAT Goldendoodle.

The Golden Retriever has a smooth coat. The Poodle has a curly coat. When we bred a blue eyed curly coat Goldendoodle to a smooth coat Golden Retriever, interestingly enough, all of the offspring had brown eyes and all of the offspring had a shaggy coat except for one smooth coat who looked like a carbon copy of her purebred Golden Retriever mother. The shaggy coat was a recessive gene carried by the Goldendoodle sire who had littermates himself, as well as ancestors with a shaggy coat. As with the Goldendoodle to Goldendoodle pairing who both had a curly coat and yet did not produce a single curly coat in their offspring, we know that the parents themselves both carried the recessive genes to create the blue, green and brown eyed doodles who had the shaggy coat and smooth coat.

The origin of the Goldendoodle

Goldendoodles originated from the crossing of a Poodle and a Golden Retriever. Some argue that the Aussies (Australians) created the Goldendoodle first and some argue that the Canadians created the Goldendoodle first. Who actually started the Goldendoodle doesn’t matter.
What matters is the fact that Goldendoodles have actually been around much longer than most people realize. Dogs have been mating outside of their own breed since the beginning of man. Every purebred dog in the world began as a mixed breed dog or came to be as a result of many mixtures of other breeds. Lets say that we give the Golden Retriever the letters (GR) to represent the gene pair for the Golden Retriever and the Poodle (PP) to represent the gene pair of the purebred Poodle. The offspring that comes from this pairing is quite accurately predicted by the Punnett’s Square:

GR+PP=GD (Goldendoodle)

Predicted Breed outcome of the litter= 100% Goldendoodle.

When a purebred Golden Retriever is bred to a purebred Poodle, the entire litter of puppies produced is composed of first generation Goldendoodles (GD). They become adult dogs whose physical appearance can be much different than either parent including a variance of physical traits that neither parent dog has, itself. For example, neither Golden Retriever or Poodle has a full facial beard trait that their children, the Goldendoodle, has itself. Neither the Golden Retriever or the Poodle has a shaggy coat that the Goldendoodle child has. But the Goldendoodle dog DOES carry some physical traits and attributes as that of their parental dogs. The Goldendoodle does have almond shaped eyes similar to its Golden Retriever parent. The Goldendoodle may have either a Poodle temperament or a Golden Retriever temperament, depending upon which gene was more dominant. One of two of the pups may have a curly coat that is similar to its Poodle parent. Some of the offspring may have very long, slender legs that is similar to its Poodle parent and some may have shorter legs that are more similar to its Golden Retriever parent. Sometimes the coat type or length of coat is determined by the Golden Retriever. Again, we have come to know by experience that it all depends upon the dominating gene.

Although most Goldendoodles exhibit a favorable combination of their traits and characteristics from both of their parental breeds, they will still retain those alleles (meaning variations) from their parents that were NOT expressed within their first generation. These hidden variations/recessive alleles are analogous to the “buff” coat color discussed up above regarding coat coloring. This is why you may see Goldendoodles that come out of the same litter, have different colored eyes or different coat colors or who have different characteristics amongst each other such as a variance in sizes. While some Goldendoodle breeders believe they can “purify” the Goldendoodle by creating multi-generations or by backbreeding and inbreeding, it doesn’t seem statistically possible to “purify” the outcome of further generational breeding beyond 50% Goldendoodle. Applying the three “unique” gene pairs (GR, PP, GD) created in the Punnett Square which predicted the second generations….it just doesn’t all add up when you go beyond that range. The Punnett Square can not take into account the selective breeding methods being used by Goldendoodle breeders who are involved in attempting to establish this hybrid as a “recognized purebred dog”. It could technically require up to 15 generations (or more) of very fine selective breeding of unrelated Goldendoodles to guarantee ALL subsequent generations of the puppies the same “statistical/genetic purity” as the first generation litter that come from a Golden Retriever/Poodle mixture.
Although the Goldendoodle dog IS recognized as a registered hybrid with many kennel clubs, we older breeders may never see this hybrid as an AKC recognized purebred dog, in our lifetime because it will require an extensive amount of breeding from a select few breeders who then create their own kennel club to create their own Goldendoodle standards just as the breeders did for the purebred dog back in the very early days of man.
I can’t think of too many breeders who desire to keep 15 generations or more, of Goldendoodles, just so they can attempt to “purify” this hybrid.

The Goldendoodle dog is quite a unique dog as it is now and I don’t see why we as breeders need to change this. Those who desire to argue what makes a first generation doodle, a first generation, can argue all they want. Genetics determines what a first generation is, whether plant, animal or human and this fact can not be removed, despite the arguments.

Resources:

Genetics

http://www.wwnorton.com/college/anthro/bioanth/ch2/chap2.htm

Special thanks to: Jim Gladden
Webmaster, www.MulberryFarm.com for giving us permission to use parts of his article at http://www.mulberryfarm.com/canine-genetics_explanation.htm#cockapoo-genetics

Related AA Degree German Articles

Emerging Countries Benefit at the Expense of Industrial Countries

Emerging Countries Benefit at the Expense of Industrial Countries

Paris (PRWEB) November 18, 2005

The world’s newly industrialized countries (NIC) are the focus of the majority of today’s growth, especially among major industries, according to global trade credit insurer Euler Hermes. Meanwhile, the so-called already industrialized countries (AIC) are seeing either very weak growth (Europe) or growth that is artificially sustained by a fall in household savings and a gigantic current account deficit (United States).

A recent international forecast by market sector shows that the AIC only owe their growth to a few industries that are protected from global competition, such as the aeronautics and automotive fields. In other industrial sectors, Euler Hermes sees a rapid migration toward the NIC.

–Textiles and Electronics migrate to emerging countries with low wage bills

Having topped 4% in 2004, world growth is expected to drop back to 3% this year and 2.8% next year. This slowdown remains controlled and has affected geographic regions and sectors to differing degrees. The emerging countries, chiefly China, are continuing to grow at a very steady pace. This growth is especially underpinned by very rapid expansion of the local consumer goods industry, whether traditional (textiles) or more technological (mass market electronics). It is responding to rapid growth in demand due to the maintenance of strong consumption in the United States and large market share gains by the NIC, especially in Western Europe. Thanks to ever easier global trade, investment in capacity is being channeled from western countries to regions with low wage costs (the hourly industrial wage in China is around $ 1.17 compared to $ 21.03 in the United States and $ 29.21 in Europe).

–Iron & Steel and Cars: the industrialized countries are just as weakened in downstream manufacturing.

The emerging countries are developing a significant industry in intermediate goods, especially in iron and steel, and they have established production capacities that exceed local processing industry needs.

The unprecedented explosion in steel prices in 2004 enabled all producers to increase their profitability, and restructure and consolidate their business. A relaxation of prices in the first half of 2005 (down 25% compared with the highs of 2004) provided the opportunity to a number of steelmakers to relocate production to the highest growth areas where raw materials are more accessible (mainly Asia or South America). But can the current reduction in prices be sustained? The answer to that will probably come from China, the world’s leading producer but also – and this is a new feature – a net exporter of steel since the end of 2004, which has generated a back-track in steel prices (an annual average fall of 17% from 2006 is now anticipated).

–Despite the sector’s healthy state, the main European and American car manufacturers are faced with ever-increasing competition from the emerging countries.

The AIC – the United States, Western Europe, and Japan – are maintaining a dominant position in the car manufacturing sector, but this is being increasingly challenged by new low-production-cost regions (Latin America, Asia, Eastern Europe). U.S. carmakers and equipment manufacturers are mired in difficulties, while the situation of French and German manufacturers, which even last year was still good, is deteriorating. Japanese carmakers are the principal beneficiaries, but so are sub-contractors in emerging countries. By 2011, global automobile production is expected to see growth of 23% compared with 2004, 80% of which will be due to emerging countries (China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, Taiwan and Thailand).

–Aeronautics, Construction are underpinning the AIC’s resistance

Strongly destabilized upstream (intermediate goods) and downstream, the AICs only owe their survival to good performance by the pharmaceutical and aeronautical industries (better protected by the entry barrier created by their past investment in research), capital goods, and sectors protected from international competition (distribution and construction).

–The new aeronautics operators want to share in the strong growth, despite the technological and financial entry barriers put up by the historic players.

The good state of the global aeronautics industry largely benefits the United States and Europe, which account for 80% of global sales. Nevertheless, the heavy competition that airlines are currently indulging in (cost reductions, aggressive sales policies) are pushing sector players to become increasingly international in the context of a sharp upturn in orders and deliveries (a 40% increase in Airbus and Boeing deliveries through to 2007), which is benefiting a number of countries like Japan, China and even Russia, and could further feed their ambitions in this area.

– Construction is an essential growth driver in Spain, the United States and France, but is having difficulty picking up in Japan and Germany.

Even though construction is in a healthy state in the industrialized countries – with the USA, Japan and major European countries remaining the principal markets overall – the sector’s growth vectors are primarily in the emerging countries: Asia (excluding Japan), Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa are expected to record over 3% annual average growth for the period from 2003 to 2014.

Euler Hermes is the worldwide leader in credit insurance and one of the leaders in bonding and guarantees. With 5,400 employees in 40 countries, Euler Hermes offers a complete range of services for the management of customer receivables and posted a consolidated turnover of 1.9 billion euros in 2004. The North American subsidiary (Euler Hermes ACI) is headquartered in Owings Mills, MD. For more information visit http://www.eulerhermes.com/usa.

Euler Hermes, a subsidiary of AGF and a member of Allianz, is listed on Euronext Paris. Standard & Poor’s rates the group and its principal credit insurance subsidiaries AA-.

Contact:

Euler Hermes ACI (North America) :

Rick Ostopowicz : (410) 753-0652

rick.ostopowicz@eulerhermes.com

###

©Copyright 1997-

, Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.
Vocus, PRWeb, and Publicity Wire are trademarks or registered trademarks of Vocus, Inc. or Vocus PRW Holdings, LLC.

Tires and Road Safety

The Significance of Tires

Why are tires so important? Well, look at your car, at tell me which part of it touches the tarmac. Right, just the tires. It’s the tires that grip the road and this grip allows us to accelerate, slow down, turn sideways, dampen bumps, etc. Many people look after their brakes, but in action it’s not the brakes that stop the car (just like it’s not the steering that turns the car), it’s the tires. Go improve your braking system: Fit a bigger master cylinder, sturdier pipes, bigger rotors, discs and more grippy pads. How much feet of stopping distance will you earn? Nothing! Why? Because your tires stop the car and they can only apply so much of a stopping force. Put better tires on the car, and watch the stopping distance shorten by dozens of precents!

So, driving without good tires is much like driving without good brakes. Would you drive without good brakes? No, right? Than don’t drive with faulty or badly inflated tires! Tires are also quite cheap (in spite of a certain increase of costs due to the latest oil crysis) relative to their contribution to both performance and safety, so there’s no room for compromise. To have a better understanding, take two sheets of paper, and push them under both sides of the tires, front and back, untill they meet resistance that stops you from pushing them further. Look at the gap that is left between the two sheets: This is the whole size of the tires’ contact patch that actually touches the ground, and don’t be surprised if it’s no bigger than your shoe. The fate of your life sits on four size-9 shoes!

Estimations in Western states consider about 12% of the collisions, mostly harsh ones. This does not include collisions where tires had a significant contribution where people that stopped after their tires broke down, had been run down on the roadside, and in situations where a lost of control (categorized as sliding, swerving, lost of control or speeding accidents) would have been prevented by better tires, and in situations where good and carefully inflated tires would have stopped the car earlier before an obstacle or reduce the contact speed to a minimum.

History of Tires

The invention of Pneumatic tires is attributed to one Robert William Thomson, but they were only applied in action by John Dunlp on bicycles in 1986. The Tire became removable not five years later, and tubless tires were introduced in 1903; five years later tires became treaded and in 1910 they turned into the black round tires we know today. Of course the tire industry has made a great progress in constant development of new technologies like regroovable truck tires, recycled tires (which are still not very efficient in terms of road grip) and other developments. A new tire is ten times as durable as those that were used thirty years past, although this rigidity made the tires less resistent to aging which is caused by the atmosphere.

The modern tire industy is also a succesfull economy. It is the main buyer of rubber, which is being purchased at Malaysia, Indonesia and even in parts of Africa (after world war two), where woods of ‘Haveae’ trees were planted. These trees, once matured, are bleeded by a spiral cut that protrudes their outside layer, causing them to bleed their elastic sap into bowls. By heating it with a mixture of acids it turns into rubber of various qualities.

Synthetic rubber (made of crude oil, charcolan and Acetylene) has turned more and more popular, especially in light cars, first as an economic move of the great tire and rubber buyers of America and Europe, which sought to reduce their dependency on the far-eastern countries (along with growing heavae trees in the british colonies of west Africa). Today, both the synthetic and natural rubber are made in the far east. Modern tire industries include over 100 manufacturers and one billion tires sold per year, with over 20 billion dollars made annually. Be worn, though, that the amount of cheap and low-quality tires is about equall to that of good tires.

 

Tire manufacturing

Tire factories are a highly occupied industy, with many professional secrets. The development of a certain tire brand, even a simple road tire, costs hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. The industy is based on far-eastern rubber, natural and synthetic, which is being sewn into layers. The grey color of the rubber is turned black by use of soot which increases the tires’ radiation and heat resistance in a low cost, and by applying many chemical agents, such as anti-oxidants and anti-ozonenats. These “Plies” are than extruded with the other plies of polyester and steel. The tire is than sulphated and packed with sylicon before being shifted to the market.

Old tires were made in a diagonal shape: One ply was set diagonally relative to the next. These “bias-ply” tires had many disadvatages: They worked as one unit in dampening road bumps and dispersing heat. They were very vulnrable to under-inflation, heat buildup at high speeds (at 60mph, an average road tires rotates almost 1000 times per minute), and to punctures: The tires had in internal tube with air, which, once punctured, would allow the air to leak quickely from the point of connection between the tire and rim.

Modern tires are Radial: They have a thin sidewall which is seperated from the thicker tread. The tires are also steel-belted (for structural rigidity) and “Tubeless” which means that the air is being fed directly into the tire. This technology reduces the speed in which air is bled during a puncture. Fitting a tube into such a tire is dangerous.

Tires are divided into groups:

1. Standard Road Tires: Including high-performance tires (marked as such).

2. All-Season Tires: Marked by M/S for “Mud and Snow.” These tires give a good compromise between dry road grip and grip on thin, loose snow or mud in the winter.

3. All-Terrain Tires: General purpose off-road tires, including a sub-division for sand-dune tires

4. Mud-Terrain Tires: Aggressive off-road tires for driving in mud.

5. Snow tires: Used for snowy and icy conditions.

6. Ice Tires: Studded tires for hard ice.

7. DOT-Racing Tires: Racing tires (soft rubber compound and shallow tread) which are street legal.

8. Racing Slicks: Racing-purpose tires used in professional leagues, with no tread or with a shallow tread (semi-slick).

9. All-steel tires: Used in heavy vehicles like trucks.

10. Bike tires: including road tires, performance tires, terrain tires, etc.

Every category includes various brands and qualities. For the average road driver, the main criteria is to purcahse a tire from a known brand. Unknown tire manufacturers (Like the “Ling-Long” tires that were used in an experiment in Britian) usually make tires that are highly ungrippy and in a serious risk of blowout. The quality of the tire is just as crucial (if not more) than the wear, age or inflation of the tire. New but low-quality tires can be more dangerous than old tires from a good quality.

Tires are rated in what is called a QUTG rating. These specify the tires’ temperature, traction and treadwear ratings, as tested by the US Department Of Transporation (DOT) at the St. Angelo test track at Texas.Temperature specifies the tire’s ability to disperse heat and cope with high temperatures (road tires can reach an internal temperature of 86 degrees celsius!). Most tires have an A rating. B-rated tires can be a satisfactory to people who don’t make long drives on highways or with load. C-rated tires should be avoided. These tires run at 130km/h for 30 minutes before being demolished, while A-rated tires would sustain a speed above 200 km/h!

The traction rating is decieving. It does not imply the tire’s grip levels. It indicates how well it stops on a damp road. It effectivelly illustrates the ability of the tire to drain water and grip a wet road. An AA-rated tire can be worst, on the dry, than some B-rated tires. Still, it’s advised not to go below B. In countries with wet weather, it’s preferable to go for A. The AA rating is new and does not nessecarily indicate a higher quality relative to an A-rated tire.

The Treadwear rating is very important, as it indicates how soft the tread’s rubber is. Softer rubber grips the road better, but wears sooner. Don’t go for below 300. If you don’t drive very much (less than 30,000km per year, as a rule of thumb), go for tires with a relativelly low treadwear, for extra grip. The theory is that at a rating of 100 (The DOT “Standard”, just above DOT-approved racing tires) the tire should sustain 30,000 miles of driving, but this refers to smooth highway driving in ambinet temperatures and not over long durations of time. In practice, the ability to dictate tire tread life based on this data is unrealistic.

An average road tire of about 11kg (with a maximal sway of 0.5%) will be composed like this: 3kg of seven to eight natural rubber compounds, and another 3kg of five synthetic rubber compound; 2.5kg of black carbon; one half of a kilo of steel, and another half kilo for the tire’s heel, and a similar weight for Synthetic fabrics (Rion, Polyester, etc…). 1.5kg of around 40 types (!) of resins, adhesives, pigments, anti-ozonants, anti-oxidants, softeners, Cobalt and other chemicals.

 The tire is built over a period of time that usually takes over ten minutes (but in big, automized factories can take as little as three minutes!) and much longer for big tires and racing tires (which are made using special machinary and a lot of manual work). The process begins with mixing the hot rubber with carbon black (a cheap anti-radiant and heat-ressistant substance) and the other chemicals mentioned above, which are than cut into long “mats” of 80 centimeters. The mats are than cut and extruded to create a single tread, sidewall or innerliner. They are than checked so that they are just at the right size and weight. Simultanously, the textiles that are designated to be used in that tire are rubberized by putting them into a caulderon of hot rubber. The fybers are organised by code so that they can be used for the right tire. 

The internal layers are now fitted unto a drum (in a radial tire, two drums) to form the rough shape of a tire. This “raw” tire is not put into a vulcanization chamber where it is being heated with sulphur at a temperature of 85 to 150 degrees celsius, for a duration that depends mainly on the depth of the rubber layer, where each milimeter needs about seven minutes of vulcanization. This also frees trapped air between the layers, and the airosion of that trapped air forms the little “studs” on the face of the tire. Big truck tires can be vulcanized for five hours! 

 Physics behind Tires

The tires contacts the road via a small contact patch which is divided into the small rubber fybers that make up the tire. As the tire is rotated, a given rubber fyber is loaded with the car’s weight as it comes against the road surface. The downforce generated by the car’s mass multiplied the force of gravity (the perpendicular euclidian vector of constant downward acceleration of 9.8m/s) creates an equall reaction known as the “normal force” (N) which, multiplied by the coefficient of friction of both the fyber and the tarmac, creates a gripping force (adhesion) which is professionaly known as static friction. Therefore, Fs=N?=?mg. 

The reason is simple: The weight (vertical loading) deforms the tread element so that it is crammed into the small undulations of the abrasive road surface. However, the equation does not create a constant graph. The rubber has limitations that, if exceeded, would make it rupture and slide. When the rubber elastic properties are being fully untilized or under-exploited, Tmas>F, the result is for the tire to grip the road surface. If Tmax<F than the tire would slide and start to interact with the road with kinetic friction.

Heat is another important factor: When the fyber heats up, it will become softer and the coefficient of friction would increase. However, beyond a certain temperature, it would melt down and the tire will roll over a layer of molten rubber rather than on tarmac, reducing the grip levels. When the road is hot, it also makes the loose tar and the greasy materials (semi-burnt fuel, dripped oil, greasy car dirt, dust and sand, tire rubber residue) defuse towards the surface and reduce grip. Most people believe that the significance of tires is increased in the winter, where in action the tire is equally important over the whole year.

When we add forces of acceleration in any direction, we force the tire tread elements to distort in another direction too. The tire itself will begin to roll faster or slower than the car and this will distort the contact patch forward or back accordingly and create forces of acceleration or deceleration (negative acceleration). The formula dictates that the amount of relative slippage (s) by precent at this time would be S=100(1-[rw/V]), where R is the tire’s radius and W is the tire’s velocity, while V is the car’s velocity. Through empiric research, it is known that tires perform best (on tarmac) when the slippage is about 30% or slightly lower. Beyond that point the performance drops suddenly.

When a side force is introduced, the tire rubber deforms sideways so that the tread keeps on pointing forward while the wheel itself is turned aside. The rubber eventually turns, but always in a smaller angle than the wheel. This slip angle gives us a series of phenomenons that determind our cornering performance and safety: The lateral force (Fy) created by the lateral distortion (Pneumatic trail) of the slip angle is greatest in the rear-inside corner, creating torque that resists the turning of the wheel. This is known as Aligning Torque (Mz) and it is the origin of steering feel and the thing that makes the steering wheel return to straight if you let go of it.

The tire’s slip angle also limits the car’s critical cornering speed. In theory, the maximum safe cornering speed will be defined by calculating the equation mv²/r = mg? (which adds up to v=?g ?r). However, looking at this equaton by itself might be misleading, since it might give the false assumption that the parameters of friction and cornering radius are constant where in fact they are not. When you increase the slip angle you decrease the cornering radius. The reason is that the cornering radius is defined as the radian between the the center of the corner and the car’s center of gravity. While the weight transfer puts the center of gravity away from the center of the corner, this center (defined as the meeting of the perpendiculars of the four wheels) is moved inside, making the center of the corner smaller and the radius — tighter, reducing the speed in which the corner can be safely negotiated.

 

Tire wear and Aging

Tires and roads polish each other. As a result, the tire gets worn. As they wear out, the tread depth is reduced and the tire’s ability to drain water on a wet road is reduced. The legal limit in most countries is 1.6mm, usually ellapsed as a safer 2mm. Most tires also have six to nine tread wear indicator bars that become levels with the face of the tread when it has worn to this level. The indicators are lined up with the shoulder indicator, which is marked by a triangle or by numbers.

In practice a tire with 3mm or less (and 4mm in countries with a hard winter) is dangerous and should be replaced. In 60mph, with 2mm of water, each tire drains one gallon of water per second. Reduce the tread depth (14mm) to 3mm and the tire will fail and give you an overall grip level like driving on snow!

The tread does not increase grip on the dry. A slick tire is more grippy because it places more rubber against the pavement. However, when a treaded tire gets worn, it means that the soft layer of rubber is shaved and the stiffer layers of rubber (used for structural rigidity) are exposed. The tread also helps to disperse heat, so bald tires are bad. However, it’s important to understand that modern tires don’t wear out so quickely, and they will have to be replaced long before the tread gets worn, because of other kinds of wear.

The first kind of wear is a result of “Heat Cycles,” where the tire heats up and cools down under changes of weather or while driving. The rubber expands and contracts, untill it looses some of it’s elastic nature and becomes dry and sometimes even visually cracky. Also, the different layers of rubber, and the polyster and steel, all expand at a different rate, so the layers end up seperated.

Under driving, serious wear will occur at between 50 to 80,000km, depending on how hot the weather is, how agressive the driving style, how much driving is done in highways or with heavy loads, and how carefully are the tires inflated and periodically rotated. The common standard is 70,000km — beyond this point, the tire loses about 50% of it’s abilities! However, many people don’t drive so much, and their tires have to be replaced due to aging.

The tires suffer from the changes of weather from night to day and over the year, they suffer from sun radiation (mainly UVB) and effects of Oxygen, moisture and salt in the air. The effect of aging is acute, even if no visible signs of it are seen on the tire. Having said that, this kind of wear can often be seen as cracks in the edges of the tread. Tires that remain unmoved will in fact deteriorate more notably that tires which are driven at some rate or another. A slight heat and hystersis created by using the tires, will create chemical reactions which can help increase aging-ressistance abilities.

Also, tires that remain mounted on a car which is standing still for a long period of tire, will form a “flat spot” because the weight of the car will sit permenantly on one point of rubber. In this case it’s advised to inflate the tires to just below their full inflation rate. Even stacked tires can exhibit wear when they are placed one over the other. A standing tire often attracks insects too.

The tire should be replaced within a time spawn of three to four years. Older standards of six years relate only to the tire’s strutcutral well-being. I.e. After six years the tire at risk of failing, but modern tires don’t fail all that much. It far more critical to relate to the tire’s ability to produce grip and to stop you when you need to stop in a hurry, at which case three years are more than enough. Even after two years there is a notable difference of 15 to 20%!

Three years is a good standard for countries with a hot weather in the summer. It’s possible for the tire to last a few extra months if it’s regularly parked in the shade. In cold contries, it’s possible to keep tires for four years, and towards five years if carefully parked in the shade. Aging is the reason why I recommended for driver with a low annual milleage to choose soft tires, because they would have to replace those tires due to aging, and not the wear at the tread.

The age of the tire is the only data which is encrypted “into” the sidewall, within a round frame. It is seen as four figures, standing for a week in the year: “2011″ stands for a tire made in the 20th week of 2011. “5208″ — a tire from the 52nd (last) week of 2008. This tire should have been replaced by now. Old tires from the 90s, have three figures with an additional mark of a greek “delta”. “129^” — the 12th week of ’99.

 

The mechanism of Tire Aging

Various elements cause tires to age:

1. Sunlight: The effect of the photons and the UV-B radiation cause dryness and lost of the elastic properties of the rubber over the outside sidewall. The effects are greatly reduced (but not eliminated) by parking in the shade and by using different kinds of materials on the tires’ sidewalls. 

2. Oxygen and Ozone: Ozone is a heavy Isotope of oxygen which appears around electric circuits and in tropical areas. The effect of oxygen always exists and it also exists inside the tire.

3. Pollutants: Pollutants in the air, including carbon monoxide, fuel drops and dust contac the tire and destroy it’s molecules, making the rubber soft. Dust and such dirt enter the existing aging/weather cracks and effect the tire ever more dangerously. With stored or unmoved tires, the dirt often hosts insectoids that make the wear more grave.

4. Temperature changes: The constant changes of temperatures while driving, during the movment relative to the sun,  over the day and during the whole year, make the tire heat up and cool down (“heat cycle”). The heating rubber expands and contracts again when it cools down. The problem is that eventually some of the elastic qualities are lost during this repititive process.

Another problem is that the tire is made of several rubber compounds, as well as a series of internal layers of steel, hard rubber, polyester and other substances. The result is that each layer expands at a different rate and they end up seperating. Another reason is airosion and lost of the anti-oxidants, anti-ozonants, anti-radiants and carbon black inside the tire. The front wheels are also effected by the engine’s heat on the inside shoulder.

5. Strain: The flex of the rolling tire makes the rubber, as it dries, to crack. Wear and abrasion occur on the outside, lateral and downward load deepen the cracks and the contact with objects on the road also effects the tire.

6. Moist and wetness also cause swelling of the rubber, lost of elastic properties and deepens the cracks. Salt in the air around the sea also causes this effect. This effect is all around the tire, including on the inside.

 

Tire inflation

Just as important as tire wear is tire pressure. Modern Radial tires are not as sensitive to under-inflation as bias-ply tires. Having said that, it’s importance is still very large, and is just important as having new tires. Tires naturally lose air at an average rate of 2PSIG per month, but that’s just an average, low quality tires will lose even more on some tires, and especially in hot summer conditions, and in the front wheels which are effected by the heat of the engine and it’s load. So the recommendation to check air pressure once a month is not a very good one. Air pressure should be checked once every two weeks. This would also make the required “tweaks” for the pressure to be little, so it can be done faster than it takes to refuel the car. The pressure should be checked and inflated on cold tires, and with a reliable pump and gage.

Finding the manufacturer’s specifications of air pressure can be quite an expedition in times: The sticker can appear on the B-pillar on both front doors (below window height) or on the door frame itself in about that height, or even on the A-pillar when the door is opened. It might appear under the hood itself or likewise in the trunk. They might appear on the gas tank cover (in German cars) or in the glove compartment, as well as over the wheel-arches and inside the car’s handbook. Trust those specifications and not the ones that might appear in the gas station. If you cannot find it (the sticker might fall off) look at an identical car or use google. It’s worthwhile to know that modern light automobiles operate at around 30PSIG.

A change of even two-three PSIG can facilitate a subtle but noticable difference, and make dramatic changes to tire wear on long highway drives. A seemingly small change of a reduced inflation by 20% can be classified as dangerous, because the car’s stopping distance, wear and chance of failure increase by about the same amount. In wet surfaces there is less wear, but the grip levels and stopping distance are reduced far more drastically than on the dry. Under such under-inflation, tires can be seen deforming laterally even in slow cornering, where any attempt to approach the limit will make the tire distort extremlly, leaving not one or two milimeters of rubber between the rim and road. Think about it, a tire deforms between 20 to 200 million times!

When tires are driven or even exposed to hot sun, they heat up and the air inside them expands. A tire with 28PSIG might show a reading of 30PSIG, and you might think it’s well-inflated, where in fact it is still under-inflated! It’s important to estimate the heat in the tire. After ten minutes and/or two kilometers of driving in the sun at even 50km/h (30mph), your tires might be warm enough to require an extra 5% of pressure. If you drive for 15 minutes you will need an extra 10%. 20 minutes of high-speed driving can increase the air by 15%, and 20% after half a hour, and even more in a hot day. Usually, an 10% addition solves the dillemas. The heat in the tire can felt by putting the back of your hand on the sidewall of the tire, near the tread. Don’t expect the front and rear tires to heat up symmetrically.

A tool that can help you is a personal tire gage. The cheapest and most simple is the pencil gage. It is a simple device made of a one-way pressure valve leading into a vacuum-chamber connected to a spring. You can easily find and purchase one in a very cheap price, with a pressure reading range of up to 40 to 60 PSIG. This kind of gage will be accurate down to about 0.5 of a PSIG, and be resistant to blows and shocks, unlike digital gages and dial gages. The most effective gage is a 0 to 60, oil-filled, rubber-encased dial gage.

This kind of gage enables to measure the air pressure at home and follow the changes when the tire heats up. Also, it enables to confirm the readings of the gas station pump, especially an analog pump with a handlebar, although it’s recommended to ensure that the pump is doing a good job if it’s a brand new digital one. They are often neglected, knocked about, and suffer from bad filtering, misfire in the electric engine, bad lubrication, and other problems that make it “miss” the right pressure.

 

Effects of under-inflation

The underinflated tire becomes softer and generated a wider profile. However, the softness makes it fold in the center of the tread, lifting parts of the tread off of the pavement. The center of the tread is more durable, grippy and is better in draining water. It is also directly responsible for accelerating and slowing down the car, so under-inflation dramatically increases stopping distances. The effects become much more acute in the wet, where the folds catch water inside them and make the tire skim and “hydroplane” very easily. The tread blocks twist and close up and the tire recieves a concave shape that disables it’s ability to penetrate the layer of water.

The car’s cornering is also compromised, because the softer tires is pushed by side forces so the sidewall cramms towards the outside of the corner, and twists the tire. This increases wear and, under severe under-inflation, can be heared as lound screetches (under-inflated tires are more loud). Slight under-inflation improves ride comfort, but the effect is bearly felt. Beyond that point the tire becomes too thin and cannot dampen bumps, and the narrow tread creates little turbulances of air, that generate more tire noise.

The tires generate more heat, and are in a risk of blow-outs, and slide earlier, albeit more progressively, but with less control over the slides, due to the sideways distortion of the sidewall. They increase wear on other car parts like brakes, drivetrain and steering linkages. Underinflation is useless, save in very specific situations of off-roading and even than the inflation should not be reduced by more than 20% for dunes or deep mud. Over a tire’s life-spawn, differences of as little as 0.5 of a PSIG can make a difference on it’s wear, and in racing tires the accuracy goes down to single tenths of a PSIG (with use of advanced instrumentation like tire temperature probes).

Effects of over-inflation

Over-inflation is better than under-inflation, in any day! Over-inflation does not cause the tire to blow up, unless you fill it well beyond it’s maximum capacity (which is well above the “maximum pressure” limit stated on the tire’s sidewall). An overinflated tire becomes stiffer and hence distorts less and generates less heat. It makes the tire recieve a concave shape, so it grips the road more with it’s center and not the shoulders.

However, modern radial tires won’t suffer from excessive wear due to this kind of inflation (although there is more wear than in normal driving), and will maintain higher grip because the tire will not bend so much under cornering. Within a range of about 10% of over-inflation, the tire will generate more grip than with proper inflation! The tires will react more instantly to driver’s inputs. They will also break traction more suddenly and with less feel, but will provide better control even during slides, and supply a more accurate feedback than under-inflated tires. If you drive the car hard, on race-tracks or while roaming winding roads, over-inflation can reduce wear.

While it is recommended to drive with the appropriate pressure recommended by the manufacturer, it’s advised to prefer over-inflation over under-inflation when in doubt, and even choosing to drive at all times with an addition 2-3 PSIG is very acceptable. If your tires have a problem with noise or wet grip, you might choose to experiment with such slight over-inflation to try and solve those problems. Overinflation is also used in performance driving, on winding mountain roads as on the race track, where it in fact reduces the wear. Do know, however, that over-inflation will increase tire wear on rugged surfaces (unlike on tarmac roads). Always remember than superflous pressure can be manually bled out at home.

 

Load on tires

Situations where you might be in doubt, other than hot tires, can also be when the car is loaded with luggage and/or passengers. Manufacturers recommend a different pressure for a fully loaded car and sometimes for a semi-loaded car. Even three adult passengers can be considered semi or even fully loaded. Some tires (snow, mud and all-terrain tires) will even be sensitive to the change of load formed by one passenger.

Modern tires are made to carry weights which exceed their own weight between 40 to almost 300 times their own weight (the highest value in achieved in aircrafts and very heavy trucks). The increase of weight increases the downforce that gives the tire more grip (based on the formula mv²/r = mg?). So, if you have three adult passengers in the back, your back tires should have more grip, right? No, because the increased mass also increases the lateral force experienced by the tires, so the two effects should cancel each other out. However, the coefficient of friction is also reduced (slightly, though) under extra load, so over all there is a reduction of grip. The extra air pressure allows this effect to be canceled out so the grip level is overall increased

It can be beneficial to inflate tires with nitrogen. Nitrogen molecules escape through the innerliner at a much slower pace, and they don’t allow moist to enter the tire and improve heat desperse. However, nitrogen inflation is not crucial to your safety, and it’s possible to yield good results with normal air, by periodically replacing the air inside the tire with fresh air, to get rid of moist, dust and chemicals/rubber dust inside the tire. This is best done when the car is lifted and with a personal pump, but it is possible to bleed out about 70% of the pressure safely when the car is parked and leveld, and immediately reinflate at the gas station, once every six months. As a rule of thumb, by applying slight pressure against the valve, you will bleed out one PSIG for every ten seconds. This changes on each individual nuzzle, on the amount of pressure applied and the form of the object used to apply pressure.

Tire pressure can also be monitored via a RPSM system fitted unto the rims (very highly recommended! ), and through a less efficient system where changes in the air pressure are detected by the ABS sensors. It’s still important to periodically use a reliable gage for a manual check. To ensure proper inflation with the gas station digital pump, you might choose to inflate each tire twice. The system will make adjustments and reach a pressure closer to what is necessary.

It’s important to keep the nuzzle caps on. If they get lost, the nuzzle will pick up dust and dirt, which will apply pressure against the valve to lead to a slow but constant lost of air pressure. It’s also important to realise that these rules apply for all FIVE tires, reserve tire included. It losses air just as much as all other tires, and it is important for it to be properly inflated. It’s actually better to inflate it with a few additional PSIG, due to the lost of air over time. Some cars have a thin fifth wheel (due to reason based on cost, size and weight) that is usually inflated in a very high pressure (often the maximal possible pressure). Also remember than reserve tires placed on the rear bumper or under the hood, wear out just as much as the tires on the wheels. Have it replaced periodically.

Another note: Tire pressure cannot be judged visualy in modern radial tires. They have a reinforced sidewall and they lose air pressure at a slow, unnoticed rate. The result is that even when the tire is under-inflated by 50% (which increases milleage by 10%, tire wear by 70%, pollution by 45%, dry grip by 30% and wet grip by 70%!), will be bearely noticable when not moving. Kicking, pushing and looking at the tire is not going to show any difference and the naked eye of a skilled individual will at best notice that the shoulders are slightly crammed unto the road.  While moving, however, and especially while cornering at a conservative speed, the tire’s sidewall wil distort extremlly.

 Tire gauges

The simple dial gauge works by use of a flexible pipe that is forced to erection when the air pressure runs through it. This effects a wire that turns a set of gears that rotate the clock. The clock operates better in it’s midrange and when the resistance to it’s movement is reduced by use of oil filling. The problem is with the multiple mechanical parts, especially the gearing. Some dial gauges are shaped like “cams” which involve a more complex gearing system, which is far more suspicious for misreading and malfunctions. Do not trust such a gauge as it can be off by 3 to 18 PSIG!

A pencil gauge is by far more simple. If is simply formed by a chamber with a sprung piston on one side and a one-side valve (normally a scharder valve) which pushes a bar that specifies the correct inflation. These are less accurate than electronic or dial gauges, but are more reliable than public gauges and will not be knocked out of callibration by blows. A good pencil gauge can be as accurate as 0.5 of a PSIG.

The air pump itself is a reciprocating Air compressor which uses a series of pistons to pump the air from the chamber to the tire. There is a lost of efficiency through the operation of the pistons as they become worn, of the operation of the electric engine that operates them; the air regulator can be knocked out of alignment. There is a leak of air from the edges of the hose (which can often be heared very audibly). The pumps have been found none-accurate by checks in the US and UK, and they are subsequentally adjusted in advance so that they fill “too much” air so they will result in overinflation rather than under-inflation, if they do miss the right amount of air.

 

Tire placement and rotation

While it is possible to purchase two pairs of tires that share similar treats, it’s highly advised to purchase a foursome of identical tires. These tires should of course fit the rims of the car, and the index of load and speed relevant for the car. Modern radial tires have a steel belt that becomes twisted in the direction of the steering angle (based on the wheel alignment), so it cannot be rotated around like old tires.

The solution is to take the tire place it on a different rim while keeping it rolling in the same direction. The tires should be “rotated” this way once every eight to fifteen thousand kilometers (rotate it at 10,000 kilometers as an average), so the front-left tire is moved to the rear-right rim and vice versa. This cancels out the wear caused by the alignment of the front wheels and the application of forces through the front in a front-wheel driven car, as well as by the features or normal urban driving where the right side tends to meet curbs and tighter cornering efforts. The rotation is particularly relevant where the car is front-wheel driven, powerfull and where the driving style is not very smooth or gentle. Driving in towns and winding roads also accelerates wear and requires a replacement at 10,000 (if not at a mere 6000!) instead of 15,000.

When tires get worn, the popular advice is to place the good tires on the rear. The front wheels of the car tilt when you turn the wheel and they rotate you into corners. The rear wheels have to keep the car in line with the front wheels. Worn rear wheels, resulting in a slide (or blow-out) will make the car slide out and spin around (oversteer). If the front wheels are worn and slide (or blow-out) they would slide forward and out of the corner, known as understeer. This kind of slide is easily felt through the steering, and is more naturally recovered from by slowing down or even turning the wheel more tightly into the corner.

However, it’s important to understand the front wheels carry most of the weight, sprung and unsprung, and deliver forces of braking, cornering and acceleration onto the road. 70 to 90% of the braking force comes from the front (based on the forward weight transfer), so having bad front tires is like having bad brakes. So, the only sane advice is that the good wheels go on all four wheels! Tires are relativelly cheap, and if one or two have been worn, now is the time to replace all four of them. You cannot compromise your braking or your stability.

 

Tire damage

Another kind of wear is physical wear such as buldges, cracks, scratches and alike. These are caused by various conditions:

- A blow-out due to overheating. Will be caused by driving with too much load and/or too little air pressure, while moving at a high speed (above 80km/h) for long periods of time (at least 30 minutes) in hot days. The sudden heat and movement of the layers will make them become apart and the tire will blow out. The blowout will cut the tread from the sidewalls due the massive heat buildup in the thick shoulders. Tread detachment can occur due to under-inflation, combined with stress (sudden steering) and other problems like excessive load or misaligned wheels.

Declamation of parts of tread is caused by the tread being punctured (without reaching the tire’s interal layers) in an old tire. The puncture developes into a large crack when the tire is driven. Cuts and Gouging are caused due to contact with the chassis (wheel arches) due to misapplied spacers, wide rims, excessive steering angles or a twist of the tin.Likewise, infamous ”Flat spots” will happen due to hard braking (without ABS) on dry surface, even for relatively short intrevals, sliding or when a car is parked and not driven over a long time. Stains and swells will be normaly caused due to chemicals around the tires, mainly oils.

Other kinds of wear include:

A pinch that occurs under low inflation when going over a bump or curb, resulting is swelling.
A cut caused by a sharp object being projected by the car unto the sidewall.
A scuff caused by contact with a curb
Circumferential wear around the middle of the sidewall, indicating low air pressure and a strong side force in a high-profile tire
Air pockets that occur due to a manufacturing defect or sudden blow from a curb, making air move from the innerliner and in between the other layers of the rubber.
Sidewall rupture while driving on a tire that has been deflated or hit by something.
Black powder inside the tire, as a result of constant driving on very low air pressure
Diagonal wear: A series of flat spots running diagonally across the tire, indicating a misaligned rear suspension in both camber and toe angles. This wear creates a whooming road noise.
Distortion of the tread: The tire lugs recieve wear like “heel and toe” wear (when the front edges of the lugs are worn) which occurs a strong application of engine torque through the drive wheels when they are under-inflated. Other tires will exhibit a “feathering” wear on the lateral edges of the lugs, due to alignment problems, resistance of wind and other reasons.
Cupping: Caused due to wobble or worn dampers, the tires develop a “wave” like wear formation around the tread.
Distortion of the tire carcas: Caused by infiltration of moist through cuts in the tire, making the steel nets rust and distort, changing the tire from it’s round shape. Nowadays very rare.
Peeling: Under extreme under-inflation and a sudden load of cornering and/or braking, the tire can peel off of the rim, causing it to dig into the road and potentially roll the car.
Tread Chipping: Air bubbles and chipping of the tread when over-inflated tires are driven over rugged terrain.
Tread Splice: A manufacturing fault where a lateral crack appears over the tread and develops into a rupture
Split Cords: Where the cords inside the tire create a lateral bludge of the tread and both shoulders.
Bad repairs where the tire’s heel is damaged by the fitting machine, or where a small puncture is being repaired with molten rubber from the inside, or with a long cord. These repairs were once custom in bias-ply tires, but turned dangerous with radial tires, especially under loads. Punctures in the shoulders are irrecoverable.

There are also kinds of wear that are not dangerous or important: Darker lines that appear across the tread after a certain amount of wear. This is a result of the various kinds of rubber compounds fitted onto a single tires: The manufacturer might choose to fit softer rubber around the shoulders, for good cornering.

Others types of “alledged” wear are colored spots along the tire that indicate where shallow or thick spots of the rubber are placed. Sorts of bludging that occur as a result of where the rubber layers overlap, or used as tread depth indicators. All of these are natural products of the tire’s construction.

Excessive wear in the center of the tread or shoulders is not likely to occur due to underinflation in modern steel belted radials, but more likely due to misalignment or bad springs. The effects can be felt withint three months or 4,000km.

Another kind of wear is caused by little stones that get stuck inside the tread. This stones don’t usually cause damage, and they are thrown out of the tires while driving, but it is best to clear out whatever stones you might find, as an occasional bump can make them protrude deeper and harm the tread, and they harm it’s ability to dispers heat. Truck tires have an angeled tread to prevent so-called “stone retention.”

Storing tires is a problematic subject. They are best stored in areas off with a constant temperature of less than 25 degrees celsius and above freezing temperatures, with no change of temperature of over 0.15 degrees celsius, in the shade (especially not around neon lighting), with dry air and low ozone-oxygen concentration (under 0.05 particles per million). The compartment should not be radiant-abosrbing (like black or bright surfaces) and clear of wetness, grease or dust. 

If the tires are fitted on a rim, they should be inflated at one BAR (10KPa), stacked and the order of the stack should be reversed every four weeks and re-organised alltoghether once every six weeks. Free tires should be left standing, and rolled over once every four weeks over a machine. The tires should be covered with a sylicon spray. The use of such sprays and other substances during the tire’s actual use is less recommended, as most of them don’t work and many might do harm.

 

Reading the Tire

The outer circumference of the tire, below the shoulders, include an triangular indicator of wear. It’s point marks the edge of the tread’s shoulder, which should also mean the edge of the area that grips the road. Under very low inflation and/or faulty camber angle, wear might be exhibited beyond this mark, which is not wanted. Modern tires are somewhat adjusted to this possibility, so the external circumference of the sidewall includes a rugged rubber surface, like a rumble strip, which also helps to disperse heat.

Beyond this circumference are imprinted the first stats over the rubber.These include the name of the manufacturer and the name of the tire, as well as it’s classification as “Radial”, “Bias-Ply”, “All steel”, “stel-belted” and “Tubeless”/”Tubetype.” It also specifies the tire sizes and destination (like snow tires, mud tires, etc…) and the required speed and load index and maybe a letter than means that the tire is designated for a certain car (Like N for Porsche).

At the small circumference, near the heel of the tire, are printed the data of maximum pressure, maximum load and American (DOT), Japanese (JIC) and/or European (Eu) stamps are found with the specification of country of origin and the tire’s age code. On the heels themselves, covered by the lip of the rim, is the barcode of the tire.

Tire Size

Let’s look at an average tire of 195/60R15. What does it mean? “195″ contributes the tire’s tread width, from shoulder to shoulder, in milimeters, which changes in up to 4% (in this case 78mm!) depending on inflation. “60″ Contributes a certain aspect ratio which means that the height of the tire’s shoulder is equal to 60% of it’s width. This state also changes slightly (but significantly) with changes of tire pressure. R contributes the tire’s identity as a “Radial” and 15 is the width of the rim in inches.

This method is the “German” Method and it is widely used in Europe since the 70′s in light vehicles and progressively in light trucks. The American method can be used in this example: “31×10.5R15.” This tire has an external diameter of 31 inches, section width of 10.5 and an internal width (rim width) of 15 inches. Some tires have the same method without the section width data.

The aspect ratio is important because a bigger sidewall means more air and rubber used as a spring, but also more lateral motion of the shoulder under cornering. Low-profile tires are thus less comfortable and sharper, but also more grippy and compliant. Wider tires contribute by increasing grip levels, on the expense of a heavier tire, which increases gas milleage.

Speed Index

The speed index describes a speed where the tire, being fully loaded (based on the load index) and fully inflated (based on the maximum inflation state) will be critically damaged after ten minutes of driving. In practice, the actual speed a tire can sustain can be higher, in cold weather, normal loading and proper or slightly excessive inflation, or lower on hot roads (tarmac can heat to over 70 degrees celsius) with underinflated, misaligned, old or overloaded tires.

L = 120km/h
M = 130
N = 140
P = 150
Q = 160
R = 170
S = 180
T = 190
U = 200
H = 210

Load Index

The Load index is also determind at the maximum speed and with full inflation. It can therefore be theoretically possible to load the car beyond the stated amount, albeit being highly unrecommended. Bias-Ply tires either have a Ply Rating (specifying the amount of plies) and/or Load Range from A (two plies) to E (10 plies).

0 — 450 Kilograms 
81 — 462 
82 — 475 
83 — 487 
84 — 500 
85 — 515 
86 — 530 
87 — 545 
88 — 560 
89 — 580 
90 — 600 
91 — 615 
92 — 630 
93 — 650 
94 — 670 
95 — 690 
96 — 710 
97 — 730 
98 — 750 
99 — 775 
100 — 800 
101 — 825 
102 — 850 
103 — 875 
104 — 900 
105 — 925 
106 — 950 
107 — 975 
108 — 1000 
109 — 1030 
110 — 1060 
111 — 1090 
112 — 1120 
113 — 1150 
114 — 1180 
115 — 1215

Approval

The “E” Approval is the European standard of all tires after 1997. It includes the “E” stamp (which can also be printed as a small “e” for tires in line only with directive 99/33/EEC), and a circulated (or rectangulated) number which is a code for the tire’s place of origin: A country code, followed by the numerical approval for the given brand. For instance, a tire with the first two figures of “E10″ stands for a tire from Yugoslavia; where a tire with the last two last figures, “0U” stands for Ling-Long Tires from Shandong, China (Tires that were found to be highly inefficient in a certain test in Britian).

The American DOT approval has taken it a step further to specify in twelve letters to describe the exact origin of the tire, plus the date of production, which is the date I described above.

Other markings

Other tire markings include: An D or DA stamp (for “Defected” Tires), a Yellow dot which is a bit more dense and heavy than the rest of the tire. This is aligned with the heavy point of the rim, where the air nuzzle is placed. A red dot for a “protruding” spot on the tire, and lines and figures that are used in the manufacturing process to categorise the different layers, before they are extruded or mounted toghether. This process also creates the little “studs” of rubber than seem to cover the face of a new tire, formed by the escape of air bubbles from inside the layers when they are vulcanized.

The “dense” and “high” spots of the tire are discovered through the carefull inspection of the tire after it’s assembled in the factory. After being extruded, wrapped and vulcanized, the tire is checked with X-ray, weight and Uniformity. New tires are also wrapped in an external sylicon layer than wears off after 5000km or so.

Tire Plies

The tire also includes a specification for it’s plies and, in radials, for the plies of the sidewall and the plies of the tread. The plies include: External rubber layer for grip around the tread. Internal rubber layers for structural rigidity of the tread and sidewall. Belts of dual steel nets that reinforce the tire’s carcass, and than synthetic fabrics of one of these kinds:

1. Nylon: The first fabric applied into tires, nowadays replaced due to it’s “morning sickness” which made it deform until heated by driving. Older tires also used Cotton.

2. Polyester: The most popular replacement of nylon. Less rigid than nylon fabric, but does not distort. The Polyester can be produced in different densities for different qualities.

3. Rion: Good for ride comfort and grip (better hysteresis), but is vulnerable for moist, should it protrude through even shallow cuts of the tire. Replacing it with polyester and improving the steel cords reduced the amount of carcass distortions in modern tires.

4. Kevlar: A replacment for the steel nets because it provides better rigidity for the same weight (about four times as much!), although being more expensive and less resistant to punctures.

5. Inner-liner: The internal layer supposed to hold the air inside the tire. It is made of special synthetic rubber (usually Bromo Isobutylene) and an internal fabric layer.

Tread Patterns

The tread depends on the tire’s type. Normal road tires have a soft tread of about 8.5mm, while M&S tires will have a greater “void ratio” (i.e. more lugs). The tread ratio increases for mud tires, snow tires and special ice tires, and the rubber compound become more stiff. On the road, the greater “void ratio” means that a greater part of the rubber is not gripping the ground. However, it is required for dispersing heat and channeling water on wet roads.

However, on mud, snow and ice, the tread generates grip by biting into the road surface. Mud tires usually also “ridges” inside the tread that help push the chunks of mud (or snow) that get trapped in it, while a road tire will get “plugged.” Likewise, the edges of the tread are placed in a sharper angle relative to the road, which helps disperse the chuncks. The tread is even present on the shoulders, to provide grip by biting into the sides of wheel ruts in the mud or snow. These tires don’t have sips in the shoulders or on the tread. Those little “sips” are intended to give the tread some flexibility and to open up and sip water when it contacts the road, and than squirt them out as the tire continues to rotate. The sips are removed to improve the rigidity of the lugs in mud or snow tires.

These tread patterns are bad on dry tarmac roads as they will suffer from acute wear, produce a lot of vacuum and turbulances to create noise, and provide reduced grip. The more agressive or effective a mud tire is on mud, or a snow tire on the snow, the worst it is on the road. It’s bigger “chunks” of tread will produce a louder noise and it will be highly effected load. On such tires, even one passenger will increase stopping distances in sudden braking. Ice tires with nails will also damage the road surface.

One interesting tire is a tire for dune-driving. These tires are round-shaped in all directions, including the section of the tread. It has no tread depth, and only little “flippers”, all designed for the tire to drive over the sand and not “bite” into it and create steps that will make it sink.

The tread on most tires is also devised in such a shape so that the tread is not the same on any “cube.” Each one is slightly different in shape and/or size. Even the most slim differences change the direction of air turbulence and make the different sounds that cancel each other out, to produce a noise below 75db (85 in DOT standards).

To a certain extent, the shape of the tread can be indicate it’s design: You can see trucks with front tires that are shaped with longitudinal “ribs.” The ribs offer a low rolling resistance (less wear and gas consumption), good steering control and good ventilation against heat build-up. The problem of this design is with longitudinal forces of strong braking and acceleration, especially on the wet. 

The rear tires of the same trucks, as well as many SUV vehicles are formed as “lugs” that have grooves that open to the sides. These offer better grip, but still far from ideal on public roads, added to an increased rolling resistance and more noise. These wheels are good for the back of trucks or for light off-road use.

The classic road tire is formed in a way that divides it into “blocks.” This formation offers a good compromise between wet and dry performance, as well as between longitudinal and lateral wear. The downside is that the tire is heavier, more suspect to wear, sliding and noise than more complex designs. Most road tires combine at least two of the three above “types” together: The tire will have one or two central “ribs” for directional control, milleage and reduced noise, while the blocks besides it provide increased logitudinal grip and the lugs on the shoulder provide good lateral grip. 

Some tires are assymetic. These tires have a tread where on shoulder is designated to serve as the “inside” shoulder, which is cruical for steering feel and stability, while the outside shoulder provides lateral grip. The idea behind most assyemtric tires is to give the best void ratio and water drainage capability to the inside the shoulder, while making the center the tread have better dry grip, and the outside shoulder have better still dry grip. The result is a tire that functions neatly when driving straight over wet surfaces, but also offers increased lateral grip in the dry. This is often a performance tire. The shortcoming of this kind of tire is that it cannot be rotated like a normal tire, and you can only swap them front to rear.

Other tires are directional, set to roll in a certain direction. This is achieved by setting the layers and especially the steel nets in an angle, and positioning the tread blocks in an angle that helps disperse water (and occasional sand or mud), typically these are performance tires.

Truck tires are built to withstand increased loads. Their tread is built with ribs that are turned in a “serpentine” formation to reduce the wear on their edges and change the angle of water drainage. The tread is supported by wires inside the tire. This can be seen when a tire’s tread gets worn and the shaved face of the tire appears wavey. In order to avoid wear in the center of the tread, the tire is intentionally built in a concave shape and with a “step” on the shoulder (a “decoupling rib”), to reduce the wear on the shoulder.

 

Tire Replacement

Got a puncture on the highway? Don’t be so quick to pull over. Statistics show that vehicles standing alongside the highway, attract attention and get hit at speed, causing deadly collision. If there is no good stopping place, it might even be desirable to keep driving on the punctured tire at a crawling pace (About 10km/h) over the shoulder of the road, and seek a safe stopping place, like a side road, open dirt surface, gas station, parking lot, etc…

If there is no safe place within a reasonable range, you have to stop, but you don’t need to replace the tire. Go over the guardrail and have a tow-truck drag the car. The risk in kneeling for a tire, regardless of whether the puncture is on the left or right, is too great. This is part of the reason why “Run-Flat” Tires (with a reinforced sidewall) are applied into new cars, allowing to run to the near tire shop (up to 80km and up to 80km/h) and replace the faulty wheel. Other solutions for flats include a foam that inflates and becomes stiff upon contact with air. This can be injected into a tire (used in cans sufficient for filling one empty tire in a normal car, or two semi empty tires), or be built into it (like in rally cars) and allow to drive for a few additional miles to a tire shop. The foam is not good for the tire and it’s also toxic.

Safety

Tires contribute to safety in being more comfortable and silent (which means more concentration on driving), resistant for failures (which causes a lot of crashes), and provide good stopping distances in emergency braking, and good grip all around, especially on slippery surfaces or on tightening corners. Tires will carry a profound effect even at slow speeds and on dry surfaces, for slight defects (old age, excessive mileage, reduced inflation). They are the most important safety instrumentation of the car.

My rules of thumb for tire safety are:

1. Fit your car with good tires from a known manufacturer, preferably one made in Japan, the US or Europe. The tires should fit the car’s rim size and the required speed and load ratings. The tires should be as new as possible (At the very worst case, purchase tires up to an age of one year, provided they were carefully stored) and with an E and/or DOT and/or JS approval. You should strive for four identical tires and, in the worst case, two pairs of tires which are very much alike.

Your minimal requirements from a road tire should be: Treadwear below 500, Traction rating from B and above (not C) and likewise with temperature rating. If you have a relatively low annual milleage (under 20,000 kilometers as a rule of thumb) get relatively soft tires which a treadwear between 340 to 260. 

2. Visually inspect all four tires before any drive. It only takes a quick minute, but it can save a lot of trouble and even save human lives. As you set out for work in the morning, take those ten seconds to look at all four tires, and when you are about to head back home, inspect them AGAIN.

3. Inflate the tires once every two weeks and before any long or demanding drive. The spare should also be inflated, once every month and before any long drive. If you drove a certain distance to the station, you might need to inflate an extra 10% or even more to compensate for the heat inside the tire. You will also need to increase the pressure when the car is loaded with passengers and/or luggage, or if it is set to drive in very high speeds. In those cases, meet the car manufacturer’s recommendations for tire inflation when the car is loaded (or semi-loaded) and for highway driving.

If in doubt, always over-inflate a tire rather than underinflating it. If the gas station has an old, knocked air pump, especially one with a cam-dial gauge, don’t trust it and use your own personal “pencil” tire gauge. It’s recommended that you always check with your own gauge, even when there is a good, digital pump at the station. Don’t trust the pressures that appear at the station either, but rather the specifications in your own car. Take the chance of inflating the tires to inspect them more carefully and to clear out stones inside the tread.

4. Rotate the tires between 8,000 to 15,000 kilometers, or at an average of 10,000 kilometers. Move the tires from one rim to the far-end rim (front-right to rear-left and vice versa) without reversing their direction of travel. If you drive assymetic tires, just swap the two front tires with the two rear tires. Use the chance to have the tires fully inspected from the inside too, and cleaned of any rocks or moist an have the suspension aligned.

5. Replace the tires once every three years or 70,000 kilometers — which ever of the two comes earlier and preferably even before that. If the tires were exceptionally taken care of, and operated in cool weather and parked regularly in the shade, they can last to a maximum of four years and 80,000 kilometers, so long as no wear or weather cracks appears earlier. Of course tires should be replaced regardless of their milleage or age if they get damaged in any way, or if their tread depth goes below 3 milimeters (in countries with harsh weather, when it reaches 4 milimeters).

6. To Increase a Tire’s life spawn: Drive gently; park the car in the shade and avoid using materials that are supposed to slow down the tire’s aging. Don’t drive on long journeys for more than one hour and a-half straight through; Avoid driving when it’s very hot and on gravel roads; keep the dampers well maintained; deflate and re-inflate the tires once every six months, preferably with your own tire gauge and with your own tire compressor. 

 

Chantal Enamel on Steel 9 Piece Platinum Copper Fusion Cookware – inspiring the cook in your soul

Whether you’re an expert cook or just beginning to entertain, the Chantal Enamel on Steel 9 Piece Platinum or Chili Red Copper Fusion Cookware will be the cooking equipment set for you. The nine piece cookware set is ideal for any kind of sized home or for bringing up-to-date your collection of pots and pans.

Copper fusion cookware is the most recent in inventive cookware from Chantal. Copper fusion cookware is the term used to describe the construction of the kitchenware – the copper plate inside the cookware is bonded between two layers of carbon steel. It features a unique strong functional layer of platinum or chilli red enamel on the outer surfaces. The enamel is made from the very best quality AA rated German enamel.

Copper has been used for centuries in cookware and this is because of its excellent heat conductivity and its ability to evenly and consistently heat and cool quickly without having any hot spots. The enamel chip resistant enamel provides a natural stick resistant surface area and healthy surface and allergy free cooking.

Because of the innovative design Copper Fusion Cookware can go from freezer to fridge to kitchen table to oven and back again. The safe cooking enamel surface enables food to be stored in the same pot it was cooked in. It’s safe to use in the dishwasher, though suppliers encourage cleansing by hand. This cookware is ideal for all stove tops and doesn’t need any special care. It’s safe for use with all utensils when cooking, which includes metal. Lids are made of shatter resistant material that is oven safe to 375 degrees.

Designed to cater for lots of cooking or culinary procedures, Chantal Copper Fusion Cookware includes a 10″ frypan, 1.7qt covered saucepan, 3 qt saucepan with lid, a 4 qt Dutch oven with lid along with a 8 qt stock pot that is definitely suitable for wintertime stews and soups. Each piece has stay cool ergonomically designed handles which are attached with a rivet-less design, which keeps the cooking surface sleek and enhances the ease of washing.

Addiitional information concerning Chantal Enamel on Steel 9 Piece Chili Red or Platinum Copper Fusion Cookware can be found at http://hbcookware.com/chantal-enamel-on-steel-9-piece-platinum-copper-fusion-cookware

The original FlaK 30 design was developed from the Solothurn ST-5 as a project for the Kriegsmarine, which produced the 20 mm C/30. The gun fired the “Long Solothurn”, a 20 × 138 mm belted cartridge that had been developed for the ST-5 and was one of the most powerful 20 mm rounds in existence. The C/30 featured a barrel of 65 calibers, firing at a rate of about 120 rounds per minute. The C/30 also proved to have feeding problems and would often jam. This was offset to some degree by its undersized magazine, which held only 20 rounds, which tended to make reloading a common requirement anyway. Nevertheless the C/30 became the primary shipborne light AA weapon, and equipped a large variety of German ships. The C/30 was also used experimentally as an aircraft weapon, notably on the Heinkel He 112, where its high power allowed it to penetrate armored cars and the light tanks of the era during the Spanish Civil War. Rheinmetall then started an adaptation of the C/30 for Army use, producing the 2 cm FlaK 30. Generally similar to the C/30, the main areas of development were the mount, which was fairly compact. Set-up could be accomplished by dropping the gun to the ground off its two-wheeled carriage and leveling with hand cranks. The result was a triangular base that allowed fire in all directions. The main problem with the design remained the fairly low rate of fire, which at 120 RPM was not particularly fast for a weapon of this caliber. Rheinmetall responded with the 2 cm …