Solution heat treatment, forming and in-die quenching of a commercial sheet magnesium alloy into a complex-shaped component: experimentation and FE analysis

Interest in lightweight materials, particularly magnesium alloys, has increased significantly with rising efficiency requirements in the automotive sector. Magnesium is the lightest available structural metal, with a density approximately 35% lower than that of aluminium. The potential is great for magnesium to become a primary material used in future low carbon vehicle structures; however, there are significant obstacles, namely low ductility and formability, particularly at room temperature. The aim of this work is to present the feasibility of using the solution Heat treatment, Forming, and in-die Quenching (HFQ) process to produce complex shapes from a sheet magnesium alloy, and to use the results to verify a simulation of the process developed using commercial FE software. Uniaxial tensile tests were initially conducted to establish the optimum parameters for forming the part. Stamping trials were then carried out using these parameters, and a simulation set up modelling the forming operation. It was shown that the HFQ process could be used to form a successful component from this alloy, and that a good match was achieved between the results of the forming experiments and the simulation.The authors gratefully acknowledge the support from the EPSRC (Grant Ref: EP/I038616/1) for TARF-LCV: Towards Affordable, Closed-Loop Recyclable Future Low Carbon Vehicle Structures

Scattering solutions of the spinless Salpeter equation

A method to compute the scattering solutions of a spinless Salpeter equation (or a Schrodinger equation) with a central interaction is presented. This method relies on the 3-dimensional Fourier grid Hamiltonian method used to compute bound states. It requires only the evaluation of the potential at equally spaced grid points and yields the radial part of the scattering solution at the same grid points. It can be easily extended to the case of coupled channel equations and to the case of non-local interactions.Comment: 7 page

Indicators for the measurement of institutional performance concerning water managment - The case of Uzbekistan and Ghana.

The indicators are furthermore applied on the irrigation sectors of Ghana e Uzbekistan.Editor: C. Wolln

Structural damage in rheumatoid arthritis assessed by musculoskeletal ultrasound: A systematic literature review by the Structural Joint Damage Task Force of the OMERACT Ultrasound Working Group

Objectives: To identify and synthesize the evidence for the use and measurement properties of musculoskeletal ultrasound in assessing structural joint damage in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods: A systematic literature search (SLR) of the PubMed, Embase and Cochrane Library was performed. Original articles were included published in English reporting on ultrasound of bone erosion, cartilage damage and the measurement properties of ultrasound according to the OMERACT filter 2.1.Results: Of the 1.495 identified articles 149 were included in the final review, most of which reported on cross-sectional studies and used the OMERACT definitions for ultrasonographic pathology. Among these, bone erosions were assessed in 139 (93.3%), cartilage damage in 24 (16.1%), enthesophytes in 8 (5.4%), osteophytes in 15 (10.1%) and malalignment and ankylosis in a single (0.9%) study, respectively. Most studies (126/149, 84.6%) assessed the joints of the hands. The overwhelming majority of studies (127/149, 85.2%) assessed structural joint damage bilaterally. Validity, reliability and responsiveness were assessed in 21 (14.1%), 34 (22.8%) and 17 (11.4%) studies, respectively.Conclusion: While the results of this SLR suggest that ultrasound is a sensitive, reliable and feasible tool to detect damage in RA, they also highlight the need for further research and validation. Findings of this SLR will inform the next steps of the OMERACT Ultrasound Working Group in developing an ultrasound score for assessing structural joint damage in patients with RA.(c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Educational recommendations for the conduct, content and format of EULAR musculoskeletal ultrasound Teaching the Teachers Courses

To produce educational guidelines for the conduct, content and format of theoretical and practical teaching at EULAR musculoskeletal ultrasound (MSUS) Teaching the Teachers (TTT) Courses

Preparation and characterization of lapatinib-loaded PVP nanofiber amorphous solid dispersion by electrospinning

Lapatinib-loaded polyvinylpyrrolidone-based nanofibrous solid dispersions were prepared by electrospinning in order to enhance the aqueous solubility and dissolution rate of the anticancer drug. The prepared nanofibers were characterized by smooth-surfaced, homogenous filaments with average diameters of 462±160 nm determined by scanning electron microscopy. The crystalline to amorphous transition of the active ingredient was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry, while Raman spectroscopy showed that amorphous lapatinib was uniformly distributed in the fibrous structures. Gas chromatographic analyses revealed that residual solvents in the nanofiber mats were below the ICH Guideline Q3C recommended limits, namely ethanol 10.9±2.3 ppm (recommended limit 5000 ppm) and dimethyl formamide 780±56 ppm (recommended limit 880 ppm). Determination of drug content and in vitro dissolution studies were performed in order to observe the influence of electrospinning on the drug release characteristics of the product obtained. The lapatinib content in the nanofibers were measured to be 16.76±0.11 w/w%, whereas the dissolution study at pH 6.8 indicated a rapid disintegration of the nanofibrous mats, releasing ~70% of the drug loading under 5 minutes compared to the ~0.05% dissolution of the neat lapatinib ditosylate. The results confirm the applicability of electrospinning for the improvement of physicochemical characteristics of the poorly bioavailable anticancer agent