The effect of pre-processing and grain structure on the bio-corrosion and fatigue resistance of magnesium alloy AZ31

Magnesium alloys are broadly used for structural applications in the aerospace and automotive industries as well as in consumer electronics. While a high specific strength is the forte of magnesium alloys, one serious limitation for Mg alloys is their corrosion performance. Unlike aluminium, it does not form a stable passive film to provide long-term protection from further corrosion. The poor corrosion resistance of magnesium and magnesium alloys is regarded as a major drawback, and significant effort has been focused on improving this.[1-3] However, the high reactivity of magnesium alloys in corrosive media can be used to advantage in biomedical applications, particularly in temporary implants where the capacity of a material for bio-degradation is one of the most sought after properties. Indeed, permanent implant materials, such as stainless steel, titanium alloys or Nitinol (55Ni-45Ti), are the only choices currently available for hard tissue implantation. They can cause permanent physical irritation, long-term endothelial dysfunction and chronic inflammatory local reaction. Sometimes a second operation is needed for the implant to be removed. Given the ability of the human body to gradually recover and regenerate damaged tissue, the ideal solution would thus be a degradable implant, which would offer a physiologically less invasive repair and temporary support during tissue recovery. After fulfilling its function, this implant would be obliterated, being absorbed by the body. This philosophy of implant surgery would also be of particular interest for endovascular stent

Expression of Drosophila Adenosine Deaminase in Immune Cells during Inflammatory Response

Extra-cellular adenosine is an important regulator of inflammatory responses. It is generated from released ATP by a cascade of ectoenzymes and degraded by adenosine deaminase (ADA). There are two types of enzymes with ADA activity: ADA1 and ADGF/ADA2. ADA2 activity originates from macrophages and dendritic cells and is associated with inflammatory responses in humans and rats. Drosophila possesses a family of six ADGF proteins with ADGF-A being the main regulator of extra-cellular adenosine during larval stages. Herein we present the generation of a GFP reporter for ADGF-A expression by a precise replacement of the ADGF-A coding sequence with GFP using homologous recombination. We show that the reporter is specifically expressed in aggregating hemocytes (Drosophila immune cells) forming melanotic capsules; a characteristic of inflammatory response. Our vital reporter thus confirms ADA expression in sites of inflammation in vivo and demonstrates that the requirement for ADA activity during inflammatory response is evolutionary conserved from insects to vertebrates. Our results also suggest that ADA activity is achieved specifically within sites of inflammation by an uncharacterized post-transcriptional regulation based mechanism. Utilizing various mutants that induce melanotic capsule formation and also a real immune challenge provided by parasitic wasps, we show that the acute expression of the ADGF-A protein is not driven by one specific signaling cascade but is rather associated with the behavior of immune cells during the general inflammatory response. Connecting the exclusive expression of ADGF-A within sites of inflammation, as presented here, with the release of energy stores when the ADGF-A activity is absent, suggests that extra-cellular adenosine may function as a signal for energy allocation during immune response and that ADGF-A/ADA2 expression in such sites of inflammation may regulate this role

Microstructure, texture and tensile properties of ultrafine/nano grained magnesium alloy processed by accumulative back extrusion

An AZ31 wrought magnesium alloy was processed by employing multipass accumulative back extrusion process. The obtained microstructure, texture and room temperature tensile properties were characterized and discussed. Ultrafine grained microstructure including nano grains were developed, where the obtained mean grain size was decreased from 8 to 0.5 µm by applying consecutive passes. The frequency of both low angle and high angle boundaries increased after processing. Strength of the experimental alloy was decreased after processing, which was attributed to the obtained texture involving the major component lying inclined to the deformation axis. Both the uniform and post uniform elongations of the processed materials were increased after processing, where a total elongation of 68 pct was obtained after six-pass deformation. The contribution of different twinning and slip mechanism was described by calculating corresponding Schmid factors. The operation of prismatic slip was considered as the major deformation contributor. The significant increase in post uniform deformation of the processed material was discussed relying on the occurrence of grain boundary sliding associated with the operation of prismatic slip.Postprint (author's final draft

The Effects of Competition: Cartel Policy and the Evolution of Strategy and Structure in British Industry, by Symeonidis, G. Cambridge and London: MIT Press, 2002, x+542 pp., $55.00; £37.95 (cloth)

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