Computational Modeling of Silicate Glasses: A Quantitative Structure-Property Relationship Perspective

This article reviews the present state of Quantitative Structure-Property Relationships (QSPR) in glass design and gives an outlook into future developments. First an overview is given of the statistical methodology, with particular emphasis to the integration of QSPR with molecular dynamics simulations to derive informative structural descriptors. Then, the potentiality of this approach as a tool for interpretative and predictive purposes is highlighted by a number of recent inspiring applications

Bioactive glass-derived trabecular coating: a smart solution for enhancing osteointegration of prosthetic elements

In this work, the use of foam-like glass-ceramic scaffolds as trabecular coatings on ceramic prosthetic devices to enhance implant osteointegration is proposed. The feasibility of this innovative device was explored in a simplified, flat geometry: glass-ceramic scaffolds, prepared by polymeric sponge replication and mimicking the trabecular architecture of cancellous bone, were joined to alumina square substrates by a dense glass coating (interlayer). The role played by different formulations of starting glasses was examined, with particular care to the effect on the mechanical properties and bioactivity of the final coating. Microindentations at the coating/substrate interface and tensile tests were performed to evaluate the bonding strength between the sample's components. In vitro bioactive behaviour was assessed by soaking in simulated body fluid and evaluating the apatite formation on the surface and inside the pores of the trabecular coating. The concepts disclosed in the present study can have a significant impact in the field of implantable devices, suggesting a valuable alternative to traditional, often invasive bone-prosthesis fixatio

Kaffillari - kahvilapyörän suunnittelu

Opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli suunnitella polkupyörän päällä toimiva liikkuva kahvila eli kahvilapyörä turkulaissyntyisen yrityksen Kaffillarin käyttöön. Kahvilapyörän piti ulkoasullaan ilmentää Kaffillarin kahvintäyteistä maailmankuvaa sekä kyetä tarjoamaan edellytykset kahvin valmistamiseen itsenäisesti paikasta rippumatta. Suunnittelun tueksi vertailtiin tehtyjä tavarapyörärakennelmia sekä määriteltiin moodboardin avulla tunnelmaa, johon pyrittiin. Suunnittelun pohjaksi kartoitettiin ja määriteltiin mahdollisuuksia ja rajoituksia. Liikkuvaan kahvilatoimintaan tutustuttiin prototyyppien ja havainnoinnin kautta kahvilapyörän oikeassa ympäristössä. 3D-mallintaminen toimi suunnittelun päätyökaluna yhdessä hahmomallien kanssa, joilla näyttöruudun toisinaan harhaanjohtavia mittasuhteita tuotiin fyysiseen maailmaan. Rakenteiden tukevuutta testattiin ja tuotannollisuutta kehitettiin yhdessä valmistajan kanssa. Tuloksena saatiin toimiva prototyyppi, jota käytettiin Kaffillarin toiminnassa ensimmäisellä kesäkaudella sekä valmiit suunnitelmat Kaffillarin ensimmäiseen varsinaiseen tuotannolliseen versioon, jota jo rakennettiin opinnäytetyön loppuvaiheessa.The aim of the thesis was to design a fully functional café bicycle for a company in Turku called Kaffillari. The appearance of the café bicycle should represent the coffee filled worldview of Kaffillari and enable the best ground for making outstanding coffee self-reliantly anywhere. Benchmarking was conducted with already existing cargo bicycle creations and moodboard was used for defining the desired atmosphere. Functional possibilities and limitations were defined for the basis of the design. Prototypes were used to explore and observe the mobile café working in the real future environment of the café bicycle. 3D-modeling was the key tool for the entire project. It was used hand in hand with mock-ups to ensure the real life scale which sometimes may become blurry when only seen in the computer screen. The stability of the structure and producibility was developed with the manufacturer. The end results of the project were a working prototype which was used by Kaffillari for its first high season summer and ready plans for the actual first production model which is already under construction

A non-metaphysical evaluation of vitalism in the early twentieth century

In biology the term "vitalism" is usually associated with Hans Driesch's doctrine of the entelechy: entelechies were nonmaterial, bio-specific agents responsible for governing a few peculiar biological phenomena. Since vitalism defined as such violates metaphysical materialism (or physicalism), the received view refutes the doctrine of the entelechy as a metaphysical heresy. But in the early twentieth century, a different, non-metaphysical evaluation of vitalism was endorsed by some biologists and philosophers, which finally led to a logical refutation of the doctrine of the entelechy. In this non-metaphysical evaluation, first, vitalism was not treated as a metaphysical heresy but a legitimate response to the inadequacy of mechanistic explanations in biology. Second, the refutation of vitalism was logically rather than metaphysically supported by contemporary biological knowledge. The entelechy was not a valid concept, because vitalists could neither formulate vital laws (to attribute determinate consequences to the entelechy), nor offer convincing examples of experimental indeterminism (to confirm the perpetual inadequacy of mechanistic explanations)