The Potential Role of Hepatocyte Growth Factor in Degenerative Disorders of the Synovial Joint and Spine

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the changing role of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) signaling in the healthy and diseased synovial joint and spine. HGF is a multifunctional growth factor that, like its specific receptor c-Met, is widely expressed in several bone and joint tissues. HGF has profound effects on cell survival and proliferation, matrix metabolism, inflammatory response, and neurotrophic action. HGF plays an important role in normal bone and cartilage turnover. Changes in HGF/c-Met have also been linked to pathophysiological changes in degenerative joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA) and intervertebral disc degeneration (IDD). A therapeutic role of HGF has been proposed in the regeneration of osteoarticular tissues. HGF also influences bone remodeling and peripheral nerve activity. Studies aimed at elucidating the changing role of HGF/c-Met signaling in OA and IDD at different pathophysiological stages, and their specific molecular mechanisms are needed. Such studies will contribute to safe and effective HGF/c-Met signaling-based treatments for OA and IDD.     

The Marine Polysaccharide Ulvan Confers Potent Osteoinductive Capacity to PCL-Based Scaffolds for Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

Hybrid composites of synthetic and natural polymers represent materials of choice for bone tissue engineering. Ulvan, a biologically active marine sulfated polysaccharide, is attracting great interest in the development of novel biomedical scaffolds due to recent reports on its osteoinductive properties. Herein, a series of hybrid polycaprolactone scaffolds containing ulvan either alone or in blends with κ-carrageenan and chondroitin sulfate was prepared and characterized. The impact of the preparation methodology and the polysaccharide composition on their morphology, as well as on their mechanical, thermal, water uptake and porosity properties was determined, while their osteoinductive potential was investigated through the evaluation of cell adhesion, viability, and osteogenic differentiation of seeded human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells. The results verified the osteoinductive ability of ulvan, showing that its incorporation into the polycaprolactone matrix efficiently promoted cell attachment and viability, thus confirming its potential in the development of biomedical scaffolds for bone tissue regeneration applications.     

Pressure-induced transparency of MgO,Al2O3, AlN,and cBN ceramics at room temperature

The in situ axial X-ray diffraction patterns of four ceramic powder samples (MgO, Al₂O₃, AlN, and cBN) that were compressed in a diamond anvil cell under uniaxial non-hydrostatic conditions were recorded. The microscopic deviatoric stress as a function of the pressure was determined from the X-ray diffraction peak broadening analysis: the curves increased approximately linearly with the pressure at the initial compression stage and then levelled off under further compression. Pressure-induced transparency was observed in all of the samples under compression, and the pressure at the turning point on the curves of the microscopic deviatoric stress versus pressure corresponded to the pressure at which the samples became transparent. Analysis of the microstructural features of the pressure-induced transparent samples indicated that the compression caused the grains to fracture, and the broken grains bonded with each other. We demonstrated that the ceramics’ pressure-induced transparency was a process during which the grains were squeezed and broken, the pores were close between the grains, and the broken grains were re-bonded under compression.     

某型燃机支承环故障诊断分析及改进措施

针对某型燃气轮机支承环在试验过程中发生断裂、掉块故障，分别进行了强度计算、振动模态分析、低循环疲劳寿命分析以及断口分析。综合分析结果表明：支承环故障属于高低周复合疲劳；焊缝和螺纹处应力集中导致应力过大而开裂；采取把周向焊缝取消，将月牙板和罩壳一体设计及降低应力集中等措施，排除故障。     

微裂隙中水泥浆液渗滤效应的可视化试验研究

在微裂隙岩体注浆过程中,水泥浆液的渗滤效应对注浆效果的影响显著。自主研制了一套微裂隙注浆可视化试验系统,该系统由注浆系统、微裂隙模型以及监测系统3个部分组成,监测系统又分为显微监测系统和压力流量监测系统。当水泥浆液进入微裂隙模型后,利用显微监测系统对裂隙入口处的渗滤效应进行实时观测。利用压力流量监测系统对注浆试验过程中的注浆压力以及累计流量进行自动记录。运用自主设计的微裂隙注浆可视化试验系统,对微裂隙中的水泥浆液渗滤过程进行试验研究。采用3种水泥浆材(超细水泥Ⅰ、超细水泥Ⅱ和普通水泥),研究在注浆压力2.0 MPa、水灰比1.0的条件下,不同水泥颗粒粒径大小在不同裂隙开度下的浆液渗滤效应。通过试验发现,当裂隙开度较小时,在裂隙入口处形成了完整的半圆拱形滤饼;随着裂隙开度的增加,在裂隙入口处形成断续分布状滤饼;当裂隙开度增加到无渗滤发生时,裂隙入口处仅残留少量水泥颗粒附着物。通过试验获得了3种水泥的最小可注入裂隙开度大小b min和最小无渗滤裂隙开度大小b crit:超细水泥Ⅰ的b min和b crit分别为80和280μm;超细水泥Ⅱ的b min和b crit分别为100和300μm;普通水泥的b min和b crit分别为140和310μm。研究结果发现水泥粒径的减小对最小可注入裂隙开度大小的影响较大,但对最小无渗滤裂隙开度大小的影响较小。结合渗滤趋势k值,发现随着水泥粒径的减小,相应的k min和k crit值会随之增加,水泥浆液更容易在裂隙入口处发生渗滤,这是因为超细水泥比表面积更大,水泥颗粒间易发生团聚。     

Evaluation of different modelling conditions in the cohesive zone analysis of single-lap bonded joints

Cohesive Zone Models (CZM) are widely used for the strength prediction of adhesive joints. Different simulation conditions, such as damage initiation and growth criteria, are available for use in CZM analyses to provide the mixed-mode behaviour. Thus, it is highly relevant to understand in detail their influence on the simulations’ outcome. This work studies the influence of different conditions used in CZM simulations to model a thin adhesive layer in single-lap joints (SLJ) under a tensile loading, for an estimation of their influence on the strength prediction under diverse geometrical and material conditions. Validation with experimental data is considered. Adhesives ranging from brittle to highly ductile and overlap lengths (L_O) between 12.5 and 50 mm were considered. Different studies were considered: Variation of the elastic stiffness of the cohesive laws, different mesh refinements, study of the element type, and evaluation of several damage initiation and growth criteria. The analysis carried out in this work confirmed the known suitability of CZM for static strength prediction of bonded joints and pointed out the best set of numerical conditions for this purpose. Inaccurate results can be obtained if the choice of the modelling conditions is not the most suitable for the problem.     

下沟煤矿本煤层预抽钻孔合理封孔长度研究

封孔长度的合理性对于煤层预抽钻孔的抽采质量影响较大，当封孔长度较大时，不利于封孔段瓦斯的抽采，同时封孔成本增加，反之当封孔段长度较小时，若未封孔部分与煤壁裂隙导通，钻孔发生漏气又影响钻孔抽采质量。为确定合理的封孔长度，针对下沟煤矿302工作面特定的地质条件，采用单孔声波发射对巷道卸压区和应力集中区范围进行了研究，通过分析卸压区范围，确定了合理的封孔长度，并结合试验孔周边的预抽钻孔抽采数据，进行了验证分析，得出该工作面的合理封孔深度为8 m。