Electrically conductive or semi-conductive curable silicone compositions with stable long term electrical resistivity/resistance are provided comprising a mixture of furnace black and acetylene black as conductive fillers. Methods for preparing the electrically conductive or semi-conductive curable silicone compositions and uses of the electrically conductive or semi-conductive curable silicone compositions are also provided.

Embodiments provide a helical layer structure including: a helical core member which is formed of a flexible, lengthy, flat plate-like core member and which is formed of a steel plate made of a metal material, such as iron; and a polymeric coating layer which is formed of a polymeric material such as a thermosetting elastic material or a thermoplastic elastic material, and which coats the helical core member. The manufacturing method of the helical layer structure includes: a feeding step of feeding a core member having flexibility; a supply step of supplying the polymeric material having fluidity; a coating step of coating the core member with the polymeric material; a cooling step of cooling a coated intermediate which is coated with the polymeric material; and a helix formation step of helically twisting the coated intermediate to form the helical layer structure.

A golf ball paint composition includes primarily a urethane paint containing polyol as a base resin and polyisocyanate as a curing agent. Two types of polyester polyol are used as the polyol, and the composition has an elastic work recovery of at least 70%. The paint composition has a high self-repairing ability and is of high quality as a golf ball paint. Golf balls coated with this composition are able to maintain a good durability, in addition to which they have an excellent abrasion resistance and an excellent ball appearance.

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to epoxy resin compositions and to uses thereof. In an embodiment is provided an epoxy resin composition that includes an epoxy resin; an impact modifier; a curing agent; a first filler; and a second filler, the second filler comprising a different filler than the first filler, the second filler having a different density than the first filler. In another embodiment is provided an article that includes a first component, a second component, and an epoxy resin composition described herein disposed between the first and second components.

An ear plug includes an elongated body sized and shaped to be partially inserted into an ear canal of a wearer, in which the body includes a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) polymer foam material having a Poisson's ratio of between 0 and 1. A mouth guard includes an arc-shaped element sized to be received into a mouth of a wearer. The arc-shaped element has an outer wall, an inner wall, and a biting wall connecting the outer wall and the inner wall. The outer wall, the inner wall, and the biting wall define a channel that is sized to receive upper teeth of the wearer or lower teeth of the wearer. The outer wall, the biting wall, or both includes a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) material having a Poisson's ratio between 0 and 1.

The present invention relates to a computer implemented method for predicting the ductile-to-brittle transition temperature (DBTT) of a test polymer composition based on images. Furthermore, a non-transitory computer readable storage medium is provided for tangibly storing computer program instructions capable of being executed by a processor, the computer program instructions defining the steps of the aforementioned computer implemented method. Furthermore, the invention is directed to the use of fracture surface images and values indicative of the ductile-to-brittle transition temperatures (DBTT) of polymer compositions for training a machine learning algorithm.

An ear plug includes an elongated body sized and shaped to be partially inserted into an ear canal of a wearer, in which the body includes a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) polymer foam material having a Poisson's ratio of between 0 and 1. A mouth guard includes an arc-shaped element sized to be received into a mouth of a wearer. The arc-shaped element has an outer wall, an inner wall, and a biting wall connecting the outer wall and the inner wall. The outer wall, the inner wall, and the biting wall define a channel that is sized to receive upper teeth of the wearer or lower teeth of the wearer. The outer wall, the biting wall, or both includes a negative Poisson's ratio (NPR) material having a Poisson's ratio between 0 and 1.