Conventional Machining of Green Aluminum/ Aluminum Nitride Ceramics

Author Institution: Department of Industrial Engineering, The University of ToledoCurrent methods for producing ceramic parts rely on finish machining using diamond creep feed grinding or some other non-traditional machining method. As a result, machining may represent as much as 90% of the cost of some ceramic parts. This research project focused on creating dimensionally accurate parts made from green engineering ceramic bodies. These bodies were designed to be reaction sintered. Reaction sintering is a method which drastically reduces shrinkage, from about 20% to about 1%. This project investigated the use of conventional milling to machine ceramic green bodies. The green bodies, consisting of 80% aluminum and 20% aluminum nitride, were machined under feed, speed, and depth of cut conditions designed as a 23 factorial experiment. Also, green bodies of 20% aluminum and 80% aluminum nitride were prepared, presintered, and machined. The key measurements taken were the number of chips on the machined geometries of the green body caused by the mill. In the 23 factorial experiment all green bodies exhibited chipping when subjected to drilling and milling. Feed, speed, and depth of cut were found not to be significant in chipping. The machined presintered bodies did not exhibit any chipping when machined

Transoral, retromolar, para-tonsillar approach to the styloid process in 6 patients with Eagle's syndrome

Objectives: Eagle's syndrome is caused by an elongated or mineralised styloid process and characterised by facial and pharyngeal pain, odynophagia and dysphagia. Diagnosis is based on clinical findings. However radiologic imaging, like panoramic radiograph, helps to confirm the diagnosis. There are different treatments of the Eagle's syndrome. Anti-inflammatory medication (carbamazepime, corticosteroids) and/or surgical interventions are established. The aim of the different surgical techniques is to resect the elongated styloid process near the skull base. Study Design: A transoral, retromolar, para-tonsillar approach was performed to expose and resect the elongated calcified styloid process in a consecutive series of six patients. The use of different angled ring curettes, generally used in hypophysis surgery, facilitated the preparation of the styloid process through the surrounding tissue to the skull base, without a compromise to the surrounding tissue. Clinical examinations were performed pre- and postoperatively (3 month and after 1 year after surgery) in all patients. Results: No intra- or postoperative complications were observed. The hypophysis ring curettes facilitated the preparation of the styloid process to the skull base. Conclusions: The transoral, retromolar, para-tonsillar approach is a secure and fast method to resect an elongated symptomatic styloid process. Side effects of the classical transoral trans-tonsillar approach did not occur

Transcriptional alterations under continuous or pulsatile dopaminergic treatment in dyskinetic rats

Continuous dopaminergic treatment is considered to prevent or delay the occurrence of dyskinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Rotigotine is a non-ergolinic D3>D2>D1 dopamine-receptor agonist for the treatment of PD using a transdermal delivery system providing stable plasma levels. We aimed to investigate the differential influence on gene expression of pulsatile l-DOPA or rotigotine versus a continuous rotigotine treatment. The gene expression profile within the nigro-striatal system of unilateral 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rats was assessed in order to differentiate potential changes in gene expression following the various treatment using Affymetrix microarrays and quantitative RT-PCR. The expression of 15 genes in the substantia nigra and of 11 genes in the striatum was altered under pulsatile treatments inducing dyskinetic motor response, but was unchanged under continuous rotigotine treatment that did not cause dyskinetic motor response. The route of administration of a dopaminergic drug is important for the induction or prevention of motor abnormalities and adaptive gene expressions. The decline of neurotrophin-3 expression under pulsatile administration was considered of particular importanc

Fast-FISH using repeat sequence-depleted painting probes from microdissected DNA

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Electrosynthesized molecularly imprinted polyscopoletin nanofilms for human serum albumin detection

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) rendered selective solely by the imprinting with protein templates lacking of distinctive properties to facilitate strong target-MIP interaction are likely to exhibit medium to low template binding affinities. While this prohibits the use of such MIPs for applications requiring the assessment of very low template concentrations, their implementation for the quantification of high-abundance proteins seems to have a clear niche in the analytical practice. We investigated this opportunity by developing a polyscopoletin-based MIP nanofilm for the electrochemical determination of elevated human serum albumin (HSA) in urine. As reference for a low abundance protein ferritin-MIPs were also prepared by the same procedure. Under optimal conditions, the imprinted sensors gave a linear response to HSA in the concentration range of 20–100 mg/dm3, and to ferritin in the range of 120–360 mg/dm3. While as expected the obtained limit of detection was not sufficient to determine endogenous ferritin in plasma, the HSA-sensor was successfully employed to analyse urine samples of patients with albuminuria. The results suggest that MIP-based sensors may be applicable for quantifying high abundance proteins in a clinical setting

Electrosynthesized molecularly imprinted polymers for protein recognition

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) for the recognition of proteins are expected to possess high affinity through the establishment of multiple interactions between the polymer matrix and the large number of functional groups of the target. However, while highly affine recognition sites need building blocks rich in complementary functionalities to their target, such units are likely to generate high levels of non-specific binding. This paradox, that nature solved by evolution for biological receptors, needs to be addressed by the implementation of new concepts in molecular imprinting of proteins. Additionally, the structural variability, large size and incompatibility with a range of monomers made the development of protein MIPs to take a slow start. While the majority of MIP preparation methods are variants of chemical polymerization, the polymerization of electroactive functional monomers emerged as a particularly advantageous approach for chemical sensing application. Electropolymerization can be performed from aqueous solutions to preserve the natural conformation of the protein templates, with high spatial resolution and electrochemical control of the polymerization process. This review compiles the latest results, identifying major trends and providing an outlook on the perspectives of electrosynthesised protein-imprinted MIPs for chemical sensing

Cystein-Mutanten der Cu,Zn-Superoxiddismutase und ihre Anwendung in Proteinelektroden für die Detektion von freien Sauerstoffradikalen

Das Enzym Superoxiddismutase (SOD) bietet wegen seiner hohen Reaktionsrate und seiner extrem hohen Substratspezifi tät große Vorteile für eine Anwendung als Superoxidbiosensor. In dieser Arbeit wurden durch molekularbiologische Methoden Mutanten der humanen Cu,Zn-SOD gewonnen, welche ein oder zwei zusätzliche Cystein-Reste enthielten, die eine einfache Immobilisierung des Proteins durch Bindung des Cystein-Schwefels auf Goldelektroden ermöglichten. Sechs solcher Mutanten wurden entworfen, exprimiert, aufgereinigt und elektrochemisch charakterisiert. Alle Mutanten konnten durch einen einfachen Inkubationsschritt auf Goldelektroden gebunden werden und zeigten ein quasi-reversibles elektrochemisches Ansprechen. Für eine Mutante wurde die Anwendung als Superoxidsensor genauer untersucht und für beide Teilreaktionen der Dismutation ein Ansprechen des Sensors auf das Radikal gefunden. Bei Verwendung einer Teilreaktion konnte die Empfindlichkeit herkömmlicher Monoschichtsensoren um etwa eine Größenordnung übertroffen werden

MIPs and Aptamers for Recognition of Proteins in Biomimetic Sensing

Biomimetic binders and catalysts have been generated in order to substitute the biological pendants in separation techniques and bioanalysis. The two major approaches use either “evolution in the test tube” of nucleotides for the preparation of aptamers or total chemical synthesis for molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). The reproducible production of aptamers is a clear advantage, whilst the preparation of MIPs typically leads to a population of polymers with different binding sites. The realization of binding sites in the total bulk of the MIPs results in a higher binding capacity, however, on the expense of the accessibility and exchange rate. Furthermore, the readout of the bound analyte is easier for aptamers since the integration of signal generating labels is well established. On the other hand, the overall negative charge of the nucleotides makes aptamers prone to non-specific adsorption of positively charged constituents of the sample and the “biological” degradation of non-modified aptamers and ionic strength-dependent changes of conformation may be challenging in some application

Electron attachment to valence-excited CO

The possibility of electron attachment to the valence $^{3}\Pi$ state of CO is examined using an {\it ab initio} bound-state multireference configuration interaction approach. The resulting resonance has $^{4}\Sigma^{-}$ symmetry; the higher vibrational levels of this resonance state coincide with, or are nearly coincident with, levels of the parent $a^{3}\Pi$ state. Collisional relaxation to the lowest vibrational levels in hot plasma situations might yield the possibility of a long-lived CO$^-$ state.Comment: Revtex file + postscript file for one figur

Reaction rates for Neutron Capture Reactions to C-, N- and O-isotopes to the neutron rich side of stability

The reaction rates of neutron capture reactions on light nuclei are important for reliably simulating nucleosynthesis in a variety of stellar scenarios. Neutron capture reaction rates on neutron-rich C-, N-, and O-isotopes are calculated in the framework of a hybrid compound and direct capture model. The results are tabulated and compared with the results of previous calculations as well as with experimental results.Comment: 33 pages (uses revtex) and 9 postscript figures, accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.