Enhancement of glass-ceramic performance by TiO2 doping: In vitro cell viability,proliferation, and differentiation

A new TiO₂-containing bioactive glass and glass-ceramics based on 50SiO₂-(45-X)CaO-(XTiO₂)-5P₂O₅ system was designed using a sol–gel technique (where X = 5, 7.5 and 10 wt %). The roles of the crystallization behavior and physicochemical characteristics of the designed glass and glass-ceramics which were played in the introduction of TiO₂ substitutions were investigated. Moreover, cell proliferation and differentiation were evaluated against human osteosarcoma cells (Saos-2). The TiO₂/CaO replacements led to the formation of a stronger glass structure and thus increased thermal parameters and the chemical stabilization of the designed materials. The FTIR data confirmed the existence of Ti within the glass and glass-ceramics samples, and no remarkable effect on their chemical integrity was observed. The XRD patterns indicated that calcium-containing minerals, including Ca₂SiO₄,Ca₃(PO₄)₂, Ca(Ti,Si)O₅, CaTiSiO₅, and Ca₁₅(PO₄)₂·(SiO₄)₆ phases were developed as a role of structure/texture under the applied heat-treatment. The results of the cytotoxicity test proved that a safe sample dose is 12–50 μg/ml, at which cell viability is ≥ 85%. The cell differentiation determined by ALP test proved the superiority of glass-ceramics compared with their native glasses. Therefore, the obtained materials could be safely used as novel biocompatible materials for the regeneration of bone tissue.     

Influence of silicon carbide on structural,optical and magnetic properties of Wollastonite/Fe2O3 nanocomposites

The influence of adding 10, 20 and 30% molar ratio of silicon carbide (SiC) separately to a composite of wollastonite (W) with a fixed content of 10%Fe₂O₃ prepared by wet precipitation method was studied. The crystal structure of the annealed composite powders was inspected by X-ray diffraction (XRD); revealing multi-phase structure. The highest estimated crystallite size investigated by Scherrer equation of W, SiC, WFe:SiC₁₀, WFe:SiC₂₀ and WFe:SiC₃₀ were 53.89, 54.6, 56.3, 48.5 and 54.6 nm respectively; demonstrating the formation of nanocomposites. Particles shape, size and crystallinity of the samples were studied using high resolution transmission electron microscope (HR-TEM). The band gap E_g values of the nanocomposites increased with SiC content having an intermediate value that lies between that of γ-Fe₂O₃ (maghemite) and SiC. Ferromagnetic and paramagnetic contributions were observed in the magnetic hysteresis loops for the composites. This study highlighted that the coercive field (H_ci) of the composites improved with increasing the SiC content. The innovative wollastonite/Fe₂O₃/SiC with amended magnetic properties elicited attention due to their promising application in bone filler and industrial purposes.     

A new development of ANFIS–GMDH optimized by PSO to predict pile bearing capacity based on experimental datasets

Engineering with Computers - Prediction of ultimate pile bearing capacity with the aid of field experimental results through artificial intelligence (AI) techniques is one of the most significant...     

Ontogeny of the testicular excurrent duct system of male Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica): A histological,ultrastructural, and histometric study

The testicular excurrent duct system undergoes several physiological and morphological changes during the reproductive stage or breeding season in mammals, birds, and reptiles. Studies on normal age-related histomorphological changes in the excurrent duct system of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) remain unreported, despite the extensive use of this bird as an avian model in research studies. The current study investigated the histological, ultrastructural, and histometric changes in the testicular excurrent duct system of the Japanese quail during three reproductive stages, namely prepubertal, pubertal, and adult. Simple squamous to low cuboidal cells formed the epithelia of the rete testis in prepubertal and pubertal birds, while in adult birds the lining was low cuboidal to cuboidal. In pubertal and adult birds, the nonciliated Type I epithelial cells of the proximal efferent duct displayed a subapical endocytotic apparatus comprising coated pits, coated apical tubules, and endosomes. There was a significant increase (p ≤ .001) in epithelial heights of all ducts of the excurrent duct system in the mature, sexually active, adult birds when compared to the other age groups. The luminal and tubular diameters, and the cross-sectional areas of efferent ducts and the epididymal duct unit increased significantly (p ≤ .001) with age. It is concluded that the morphology and morphometry of the excurrent ducts of the testis of the Japanese quail change as birds mature.     

Preparation and structural characterization of Zn1?xMnxSe thin films

Undoped and Mn doped ZnSe nanoparticles thin films of thickness ranging from 20 to 120 nm have been successfully synthesized via inert gas condensation (IGC) technique with constant Argon gas flow rate and deposition temperature 300 K. The energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) for freshly deposited Zn_1−xMn_xSe thin films were carried out and revealed that Mn contents (x) were 0, 0.05, 0.16 and 0.25. The as-prepared deposited thin films of different thickness were examined using transmission electron microscope (TEM) and showed that all films were nanocrystalline with particle size ranging from 4.1 to 6.6 nm. The grazing incident in-plane X-ray diffraction (GIIXD) patterns verified nanocrystalline single phase zinc blende structure for 80 nm film thickness for all examined Zn_1−xMn_xSe compound films. A broadening of main characteristic lines (111), (220) and (311) of cubic phase was observed and was attributed to the lower particle size in nanocrystalline examined Zn_1−xMn_xSe compound films.     

MHD free convection flow along a vertical wavy surface with heat generation or absorption effect

We formulate the problem of free convection from a vertical wavy surface embedded in a uniform porous medium in the presence of an external magnetic field and internal heat generation or absorption effects. Using the appropriate transformations, the boundary layer equations are reduced to non-linear partial differential equations. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved numerically using Runge–Kutta integration scheme with the shooting technique. We have focused our attention on the evaluation of the local Nusselt number Nu_x, dimensionless velocity, f′, and temperature, θ. The governing parameters are the amplitude of the waviness of the surface, a, ranging from 0.0 (flat plate) to 0.3, and the heat generation absorption parameter Q ranging from − 0.25 to 0.25, and magnetic parameter Mn, ranging from 0.0 to 2.0. The effect of all these parameters are discussed and plotted.     

添加超滤牛乳的拉斯干酪特性

拉斯干酪添加有超滤牛乳制得,该牛乳中乳固形物质量分数分别为对照样(纯牛乳)的1.4、1.6和2.0倍,成熟3个月.拉斯干酪显示了比对照样更高的干酪得率,其水分、脂肪质量分数和pH值与对照样的相似,在成熟期均呈下降趋势,但氮质量分数等均呈上升趋势,且以牛乳中乳固形物质量分数提高到对照样的1.6倍时最高.结果表明,乳固形物质量分数为对照样1.6倍时牛乳制得的拉斯干酪其感官特性最佳.     

A Threshold-Free LLR-Based Scheme to Minimize the BER for Decode-and-Forward Relaying

In cooperative communications, the problem of error propagation has a detrimental effect on the diversity order of the wireless system. To mitigate such an effect, we present a relaying scheme that is based on the absolute value of the log-likelihood ratio (LLR) of the received message signals at both the relay node and the destination node. The calculated LLR values are then compared to each other and based on the result of the comparison, a decision is made on whether or not to activate the relay node. The proposed scheme does not rely on any threshold, and is thus simple in nature. A closed-form expression is derived for the bit-error-rate (BER) of the proposed scheme. The theoretical developments are validated by simulations. As a means for performance measurement, the proposed scheme is compared to its counterparts and is shown to provide a better BER performance at a much lower complexity. Furthermore, a closed-form expression of the outage probability is also derived.     

On the electrochemical behaviour of the anodic oxide film on tungsten in HCOOH and CH3COOH solutions

The electrochemical behaviour of the anodic oxide film on tungsten during, or after, interruption of current flow was studied in HCOOH and CH₃COOH solutions by galvanostatic and capacitance techniques. The results show the conditions under which enhancement of film growth occurs as revealed from its formation and dissolution characteristics. The results also show the possibility of the electrochemical oxidation of formic acid by the thick oxide film on tungsten. The importance of this electrocatalytic process is the occurrence of the oxidation process without appreciable oxygen evolution. The galvanostatic oxidation of tungsten in HCOOH as a reducing agent can be considered as a novel method for the preparation of a class of oxides; oxidation with simultaneous partial reduction.