Composition-dependent in vitro apatite formation at mesoporous bioactive glass-surfaces quantified by solid-state NMR and powder XRD

Silicate-based bioactive glasses exhibit bone-bonding properties due to the formation of a hydroxycarbonate apatite (HCA) layer at the glass surface on its contact with living tissues. This bone-healing process is triggered by ionic exchange between the glass and the surrounding fluids and thereby depends on the glass composition. In this work, the HCA formation from three mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) of different compositions immersed in a simulated body fluid (SBF) was monitored for variable time intervals between 15 minutes to 30 days. By utilizing two independent assessment techniques, solid-state P-31 NMR spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), we report the first quantitative assessment of the HCA growth (i.e., "in vitro bioactivity") from a bioactive glass: both techniques allow for monitoring the crystallization of the amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) precursor into HCA, i.e., a profile of the relative ACP/HCA fractions of the biomimetic phosphate layer formed at each MBG surface and SBF-exposure period. The amount of HCA present in each solid specimen after the SBF treatment, as well as the composition of the remaining cation-depleted MBG phase, was determined from PXRD data in conjunction with measured concentrations of Ca, Si, and P in the solution. In contrast with previous findings from in vitro bioactivity assessments of the same MBG compositions, the HCA formation is herein observed to increase concurrently with the Ca and P contents of the MBG; these apparently different composition-bioactivity observations stem from a significantly lower MBG-loading in the SBF solution utilized herein. The results are discussed in relation to the general task of performing bioactivity testing in SBF, where we highlight the importance of adapting the concentration of the biomaterial to its composition to avoid perturbing the HCA crystallization and thereby altering the outcome of the test

Proton Environments in Biomimetic Calcium Phosphates Formed from Mesoporous Bioactive CaO-SiO2- P2O5 Glasses in vitro: Insights from Solid-State NMR

When exposed to body fluids, mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs) of the CaO{SiO2{P2O5 system develop a bone-bonding surface layer that initially consists of amorphous calcium phosphate(ACP), which transforms into hydroxy-carbonate apatite (HCA) with a very similar composition as bone/dentin mineral. Information from various 1H-based solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments were combined to elucidate the evolution of the proton speciations both at the MBG surface and within each ACP/HCA constituent of the biomimetic phosphate layer formed when each of three MBGs with distinct Ca, Si, and P contents was immersed in a simulated body fluid (SBF) for variable periods between 15 min and 30 days. Directly excited magic-angle-spinning (MAS) 1H NMR spectra mainly reflect the MBG component, whose surface is rich in water and silanol (SiOH) moieties. Double-quantum{single-quantum correlation 1H NMR experimentation at fast MAS revealed their interatomic proximities. The comparatively minor H species of each ACP and HCA component were probed selectively by heteronuclear 1H{31P NMR experimentation. The initially prevailing ACP phase comprises H2O and "non-apatitic" HPO2

Recoupling of heteronuclear dipolar interactions in solid-state NMR using symmetry-based pulse sequences

We apply symmetry theorems to the problem of heteronuclear dipolar recoupling in the presence of magic-angle spinning in solid-state NMR. Examples are shown in which the C-13 NMR signal is acquired while rotor-synchronized pulse sequences with the symmetry R18(1)(7) or R18(2)(5) are applied to the H-1 spins. This allows recoupling of heteronuclear dipolar interactions combined with homonuclear decoupling of the irradiated H-1 spins. The structure of the C-13 NMR spectrum is sensitive to bond lengths and bond angles. A two-dimensional procedure is described for applications to multiply isotopically labelled systems.Article Outline: 1. Introduction 2. Pulse sequence symmetries 3. One-dimensional spectra 3.1. IS systems 3.2. I2S systems 3.3. I3S systems 4. Two-dimensional Spectra 5. Materials and methods 6. Conclusions Acknowledgements References<br/

Efficient Decoding of Multi-Dimensional Signals From Population Spiking Activity Using a Gaussian Mixture Particle Filter.

New recording technologies and the potential for closed-loop experiments have led to an increasing demand for computationally efficient and accurate algorithms to decode population spiking activity in multi-dimensional spaces. Exact point process filters can accurately decode low-dimensional signals, but are computationally intractable for high-dimensional signals. Approximate Gaussian filters are computationally efficient, but are inaccurate when the signals have complex distributions and nonlinear dynamics. Even particle filter methods tend to become inefficient and inaccurate when the filter distribution has multiple peaks. Here, we develop a new point process filter algorithm that combines the computational efficiency of approximate Gaussian methods with a numerical accuracy that exceeds standard particle filters. We use a mixture of Gaussian model for the posterior at each time step, allowing for an analytic solution to the computationally expensive filter integration step. During non-spike intervals, the filter needs only to update the mean, covariance, and mixture weight of each component. At spike times, a sampling procedure is used to update the filtering distribution and find the number of Gaussian mixture components necessary to maintain an accurate approximation. We illustrate the application of this algorithm to the problem of decoding a rats position and velocity in a maze from hippocampal place cell data using both 2-D and 4-D decoders

Coordination of boron in nominally boron-free rock forming silicates: Evidence for incorporation of BO3 groups in clinopyroxene

To explore mechanisms of B-incorporation in common chain silicates we have investigated synthetic diopside samples produced under boron-saturated conditions by B-11 and Si-29 magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR and single-crystal NRA, FTIR, EMP and XRD/SREF techniques. Our samples contain 0.14-0.65 wt.% B2O3. NMR reveals that B is predominantly present in trigonal coordination in the clinopyroxene structure. This observation is supported by vibrational bands characteristic for B-O stretching in BO3 groups in the range 1250-1400 cm(-1) in polarised single crystal FTIR-spectra. Single crystal structure refinements suggest that boron replaces Si at the T site. Combined, these results suggest that boron replacement for Si at the T-site leads to disruption of one of the T-O bonds of the nominal clinopyroxene structure resulting in replacement of SiO4 tetrahedra by BO3 groups. Our results show that high concentrations of boron can be incorporated in the nominally boron-free diopside. Elevated B-concentrations in the present calcic clinopyroxenes are accompanied by modifications of the diopside crystal structure involving the breaking of one T-O bond and simultaneous formation of vacancies at the octahedral M2 site. These structural modifications destabilize the structure and constitute thereby limiting factors for incorporating higher boron concentrations in diopside. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Mechanical, thermal, and structural investigations of chemically strengthened Na2O-CaO-Al2O3-SiO2 glasses

For a series of conventional soda-lime-silicate glasses with increasing Al2O3 content, we investigated the thermal, mechanical, and structural properties before and after K+-for-Na+ ion-exchange strengthening by exposure to molten KNO3. The Al-for-Si replacement resulted in increased glass network polymerization and lowered compactness. The glass transition temperature (T (g)), hardness (H) and reduced elastic modulus (E (r)), of the pristine glasses enhanced monotonically for increasing Al2O3 content. H and E (r) increased linearly up to a glass composition with roughly equal stoichiometric amounts of Na2O and Al2O3 where a nonlinear dependence on Al2O3 was observed, whereas H and E (r) of the chemically strengthened (CS) glasses revealed a strictly linear dependence. T (g), on the other hand, showed linear increase with Al-for-Si for pristine glasses while for the CS glasses a linear to nonlinear trend was observed. Solid-state Al-27 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) revealed the sole presence of AlO4 groups in both the pristine and CS glasses. Na-23 NMR and wet-chemical analysis manifested that all Al-bearing glasses had a lower and near-constant K+-for-Na+ ion exchange ratio than the soda-lime-silicate glass. Differential thermal analysis of CS glasses revealed a "blurred " glass transition temperature (T (g)) and an exothermic step below T (g); the latter stems from the relaxation of residual compressive stresses. The nanoindentation-derived hardness at low loads and n(M O-(2))/n(Al2O3) &amp; AP; 1 for the CS glasses, which is attributed to an increased elastic energy recovery that is linked to the glass compactness

The many phases of CaC2

Polymorphic CaC2 was prepared by reacting mixtures of CaH2 and graphite with molar ratios between 1:1.8 and 1:2.2 at temperatures between 700 and 1400 degrees C under dynamic vacuum. These conditions provided a well controlled, homogeneous, chemical environment and afforded products with high purity. The products, which were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, solid state NMR and Raman spectroscopy, represented mixtures of the three known polymorphs, tetragonal CaC2-I and monoclinic CaC2-II and -III. Their proportion is dependent on the nominal C/CaH2 ratio of the reaction mixture and temperature. Reactions with excess carbon produced a mixture virtually free from CaC2-I, whereas high temperatures (above 1100 degrees C) and C-deficiency favored the formation of CaC2-I. From first principles calculations it is shown that CaC2-I is dynamically unstable within the harmonic approximation. This indicates that existing CaC2-I is structurally/dynamically disordered and may possibly even occur as slightly carbon-deficient phase CaC2-delta. It is proposed that monoclinic II is the ground state of CaC2 and polymorph III is stable at temperatures above 200 degrees C. Tetragonal I represents a metastable, heterogeneous, phase of CaC2. It is argued that a complete understanding of the occurrence of three room temperature modifications of CaC2 will require a detailed characterization of compositional and structural heterogeneities within the high temperature form CaC2-IV, which is stable above 450 degrees C. The effect of high pressure on the stability of the monoclinic forms of CaC2 was studied in a diamond anvil cell using Raman spectroscopy. CaC2-II and -III transform into tetragonal CaC2-I at about 4 and 1GPa, respectively. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Efficient Decoding of Multi-Dimensional Signals From Population Spiking Activity Using a Gaussian Mixture Particle Filter.

New recording technologies and the potential for closed-loop experiments have led to an increasing demand for computationally efficient and accurate algorithms to decode population spiking activity in multi-dimensional spaces. Exact point process filters can accurately decode low-dimensional signals, but are computationally intractable for high-dimensional signals. Approximate Gaussian filters are computationally efficient, but are inaccurate when the signals have complex distributions and nonlinear dynamics. Even particle filter methods tend to become inefficient and inaccurate when the filter distribution has multiple peaks. Here, we develop a new point process filter algorithm that combines the computational efficiency of approximate Gaussian methods with a numerical accuracy that exceeds standard particle filters. We use a mixture of Gaussian model for the posterior at each time step, allowing for an analytic solution to the computationally expensive filter integration step. During non-spike intervals, the filter needs only to update the mean, covariance, and mixture weight of each component. At spike times, a sampling procedure is used to update the filtering distribution and find the number of Gaussian mixture components necessary to maintain an accurate approximation. We illustrate the application of this algorithm to the problem of decoding a rat's position and velocity in a maze from hippocampal place cell data using both 2-D and 4-D decoders