Photoelectrochemical fabrication of spectroscopic diffraction gratings

Photoelectrochemical etching was demonstrated as a means of fabricating a variety of periodic structures in semiconductors. The semiconductor is used as an electrode in an electrochemical cell, and is in contact with a liquid electrolyte. When the crystal is held at a positive voltage and illuminated, etching occurs in only the illuminated regions to a depth proportional to the illumination intensity and exposure time. In Phase 1, it was determined that diffraction gratings could be produced in gallium arsenide crystals by this method, using either a scanned focused laser beam or by uniform illumination of a ruling mask defined in metal or photoresist on the crystal surface. The latter approach was determined to produce V-grooves if the mask is oriented along certain crystallographic directions. These V-grooves were produced with an exceedingly smooth crystal morphology due to the highly controllable nature of the process and the mild electrolytes involved. The results form the basis for photoelectrochemical fabrication of deep, low pitch Eschelle gratings for use in high orders in NASA spectrographic instrumentation such as the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph

La biodiversità

Il tema ci consente di affrontare l’evoluzione del rapporto tra terra e alimentazione, osservando i cambiamenti che hanno interessato le tecniche di produzione e l’attenzione ai problemi legati alla salute e alla tutela dell’ambiente. La vita delle generazioni passate ha sempre avuto come unico centro di riferimento la terra ed i suoi frutti: possedere un appezzamento di terra costituiva una enorme ricchezza perché garantiva il necessario sostentamento per una o più famiglie. La presenza di animali da cortile o di bestiame forniva un contributo allo svolgimento delle attività nei campi e consentiva di variare i pasti da presentare a tavola. Il rapporto del cibo con la terra era diretto, non subiva alcun tipo di passaggio, se non per raggiungere il mercato o la fiera dei paesi limitrofi, dove si proponevano la frutta e la verdura di stagione, il latte prodotto in eccedenza rispetto al fabbisogno domestico, le uova o la carne macellata direttamente dall’allevatore, sebbene molto più raramente

Photoelectrochemical fabrication of spectroscopic diffraction gratings, phase 2

This program was directed toward the production of Echelle diffraction gratings by a light-driven, electrochemical etching technique (photoelectrochemical etching). Etching is carried out in single crystal materials, and the differential rate of etching of the different crystallographic planes used to define the groove profiles. Etching of V-groove profiles was first discovered by us during the first phase of this project, which was initially conceived as a general exploration of photoelectrochemical etching techniques for grating fabrication. This highly controllable V-groove etching process was considered to be of high significance for producing low pitch Echelles, and provided the basis for a more extensive Phase 2 investigation

An unusual cause of gross hematuria, improved by recumbency

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Translucent zirconia in the ceramic scenario for monolithic restorations: A flexural strength and translucency comparison test

Objective: To compare three different compositions of Yttria-Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystal (Y-TZP) ceramic and a lithium disilicate ceramic in terms of flexural strength and translucency. Methods: Three zirconia materials of different composition and translucency, Aadva ST [ST], Aadva EI [EI] and Aadva NT [NT](GC Tech, Leuven, Belgium) were cut with a slow speed diamond saw into beams and tabs in order to obtain, after sintering, dimensions of 1.2 × 4.0 × 15.0 mm and 15.0 × 15.0 × 1.0 mm respectively. Blocks of IPS e.max CAD LT were cut and crystallized in the same shapes and dimensions and used as a reference group [LD]. Beams (n = 15) were tested in a universal testing machine for three-point bending strength. Critical fracture load was recorded in N, flexural strength (σ in MPa), Weibull modulus (m) and Weibull characteristic strength (σ0 in MPa) were then calculated. Tabs (n = 10) were measured with a spectrophotometer equipped with an integrating sphere. Contrast Ratios were calculated as CR = Yb/Yw. SEM of thermally etched samples coupled with lineal line analysis (n = 6) was used to measure the tested zirconia grain size. Data were statistically analyzed. Results: Differences in translucency, flexural strength and grain size were found to be statistically significant. CR increased and flexural strength decreased in the following order ST(σ 1215 ± 190 MPa, CR 0.74 ± 0.01) > EI(σ 983 ± 182 MPa, CR 0.69 ± 0.01) > NT(σ 539 ± 66 MPa, CR 0.65 ± 0.01) > LD (σ 377 ± 39 Mpa, CR 0.56 ± 0.02). The average grain size was different for the three zirconia samples with NT(558 ± 38 nm) > ST(445 ± 34 nm) > EI(284 ± 11 nm). Conclusions: The zirconia composition heavily influenced both the flexural strength and the translucency. Different percentages of Yittria and Alumina result in new materials with intermediate properties in between the conventional zirconia and lithium disilicate. Clinical indications for Zirconia Aadva NT should be limited up to three-unit span bridges

Zirconia Translucency and Cement Systems as Factors Influencing the Zirconia-Titanium and Zirconia-Zirconia Shear Bond Strength

Purpose: To evaluate the bonding ability of self-adhesive and dual-cure resin cement systems applied to zirconia materials of different translucency in combination with each other and with titanium. Materials and Methods: Computer-aided design/computer-assisted manufacture (CAD/CAM) disks of three different zirconia materials (Zenostar MO 0 [medium opacity], MT 0 [medium translucency], and T 1 [translucent], Wieland Dental) were milled and hard sintered in order to obtain cylindrical samples of either 12 mm high × 12 mm diameter (used as a substrate) or 12 mm high × 8 mm diameter (to be bonded to the substrate). CAD/CAM disks of titanium (Starbond Ti4 Disc, S&S Scheftner) were milled in order to obtain a cylinder shape (12 mm high × 8 mm diameter to be bonded to the zirconia substrate). The bonding surfaces were sandblasted with alumina particles (70 μm/2 ATM). Two resin cement systems were tested in this study: a self-adhesive resin cement (SpeedCEM Plus, Ivoclar Vivadent) and a dual-cure resin cement (Variolink Esthetic DC, Ivoclar Vivadent) in combination with a primer (Monobond Plus, Ivoclar Vivadent). The smaller cylinders were bonded to the substrate following the manufacturer’s instructions. After 24 hours at 37°C storage, each specimen was subjected to shear bond strength testing in a universal testing machine. The substrate was fixed to the machine, and shear force was applied to the small cylinder close to the bonding interface. Shear bond strength data were statistically analyzed by a three-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by the Tukey test for post hoc comparison (P < .05). Results: No significant differences were found between substrates in the shear bond strength test (P = .078). Variolink Esthetic DC showed a statistically significantly higher bond strength compared with the SpeedCEM Plus (P = .001) with the exception of Zenostar MT substrate (P = .014). Conclusion: The resin cement systems showed high shear bond strength values when zirconia was resin bonded to either titanium or the corresponding zirconia substrate. Different zirconia translucencies did not affect the bond strength. The use of MDP primer and a dual-cure cement showed statistically significantly higher strength compared with the self-adhesive resin cement system with the only exception being the bonding of the translucent zirconia Zenostar MT

Effect of human skin-derived stem cells on vessel architecture, tumor growth, and tumor invasion in brain tumor animal models

Glioblastomas represent an important cause of cancer-related mortality with poor survival. Despite many advances, the mean survival time has not significantly improved in the last decades. New experimental approaches have shown tumor regression after the grafting of neural stem cells and human mesenchymal stem cells into experimental intracranial gliomas of adult rodents. However, the cell source seems to be an important limitation for autologous transplantation in glioblastoma. In the present study, we evaluated the tumor targeting and antitumor activity of human skin-derived stem cells (hSDSCs) in human brain tumor models. The hSDSCs exhibit tumor targeting characteristics in vivo when injected into the controlateral hemisphere or into the tail vein of mice. When implanted directly into glioblastomas, hSDSCs distributed themselves extensively throughout the tumor mass, reduced tumor vessel density, and decreased angiogenic sprouts. In addition, transplanted hSDSCs differentiate into pericyte cell and release high amounts of human transforming growth factor-beta1 with low expression of vascular endothelial growth factor, which may contribute to the decreased tumor cell invasion and number of tumor vessels. In long-term experiments, the hSDSCs were also able to significantly inhibit tumor growth and to prolong animal survival. Similar behavior was seen when hSDSCs were implanted into two different tumor models, the chicken embryo experimental glioma model and the transgenic Tyrp1-Tag mice. Taken together, these data validate the use of hSDSCs for targeting human brain tumors. They may represent therapeutically effective cells for the treatment of intracranial tumors after autologous transplantation

Three-Dimensional Printable Enzymatically Active Plastics

[Image: see text] Here, we describe a facile route to the synthesis of enzymatically active highly fabricable plastics, where the enzyme is an intrinsic component of the material. This is facilitated by the formation of an electrostatically stabilized enzyme–polymer surfactant nanoconstruct, which, after lyophilization and melting, affords stable macromolecular dispersions in a wide range of organic solvents. A selection of plastics can then be co-dissolved in the dispersions, which provides a route to bespoke 3D enzyme plastic nanocomposite structures using a wide range of fabrication techniques, including melt electrowriting, casting, and piston-driven 3D printing. The resulting constructs comprising active phosphotriesterase (arPTE) readily detoxify organophosphates with persistent activity over repeated cycles and for long time periods. Moreover, we show that the protein guest molecules, such as arPTE or sfGFP, increase the compressive Young’s modulus of the plastics and that the identity of the biomolecule influences the nanomorphology and mechanical properties of the resulting materials. Overall, we demonstrate that these biologically active nanocomposite plastics are compatible with state-of-the-art 3D fabrication techniques and that the methodology could be readily applied to produce robust and on-demand smart nanomaterial structures