Mesure du paramètre acoustique non linéaire dans les solvants et dans les polymères

Dans cette étude, une technique d'amplitude finie visant la mesure du paramètre non linéaire B/A fut mise au point puis appliquée à trois familles de solvants à savoir les 1-alkanols, les cétones et les esters, ainsi qu'à deux polymères. Par l'intermédiaire d'une lentille acoustique, un signal fut focalisé dans le milieu à caractériser et l'amplitude du second harmonique généré, mesurée. Le paramètre non linéaire put alors être calculé pour chacun des liquides et solides testés. Les résultats obtenus concernant les liquides permirent de démontrer la variation de B/A avec la longueur de chaîne et la dépendance de ce paramètre avec la vitesse du son. Un modèle fut par la suite établi puis appliqué aux 1-alkanols, obtenant une description de la variation de B/A à la vitesse du son conforme à nos résultats expérimentaux. Le même principe de mesure fut appliqué à deux polymères, montrant le potentiel de cette technique pour déterminer la valeur du paramètre non linéaire dans les solides

Effect of friction and clearance on kinematics and contact mechanics of dual mobility hip implant.

The dual mobility hip implant has been introduced recently and increasingly used in total hip replacement to maintain the stability and reduce the risk of post-surgery dislocation. However, the kinematics and contact mechanisms of dual mobility hip implants have not been investigated in detail in the literature. Therefore, finite element method was adopted in this study to investigate dynamics and contact mechanics of a typical metal-on-polymer dual mobility hip implant under different friction coefficient ratios between the inner and the outer articulations and clearances/interferences between the ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene liner and the metal back shell. A critical ratio of friction coefficients between the two pairs of contact interfaces was found to mainly determine the rotating surfaces. Furthermore, an initial clearance between the liner and the back shell facilitated the rotation of the liner while an initial interference prevented such a motion at the outer articulating interface. In addition, the contact area and the sliding distance at the outer articulating surface were markedly greater than those at the inner cup-head interface, potentially leading to extensive wear at the outer surface of the liner

Lipid and carbohydrate modifications of α-galactosylcer-amide differently influence mouse and human type I natural killer T cell activation

The ability of different glycosphingolipids (GSLs) to activate type I natural killer T cells (NKT cells) has been known for 2 decades. The possible therapeutic use of these GSLs has been studied in many ways; however, studies are needed in which the efficacy of promising GSLs is compared under identical conditions. Here, we compare five unique GSLs structurally derived from alpha-galactosylceramide. We employed biophysical and biological assays, as well as x-ray crystallography to study the impact of the chemical modifications of the antigen on type I NKT cell activation. Although all glycolipids are bound by the T cell receptor of type I NKT cells in real time binding assays with high affinity, only a few activate type INKT cells in in vivo or in vitro experiments. The differences in biological responses are likely a result of different pharmacokinetic properties of each lipid, which carry modifications at different parts of the molecule. Our results indicate a need to perform a variety of assays to ascertain the therapeutic potential of type I NKT cell GSL activators