Mechanical properties and deformation behavior of amorphous nickel-phosphorous films measured by nanoindentation test

In this study, amorphous Ni-P films were deposited by electroless plating under different pH values. Their mechanical properties and deformation behavior were then investigated by instrumented nano-indentation. With increasing pH value of the plating solution from 3.75 to 6.0, the hardness and elastic modulus of the obtained Ni-P films increased from 6.1 GPa and 146 GPa to 8.2 GPa and 168 GPa respectively. From the load-indentation depth curve, the Ni-P films were found to yield at an indentation depth of 8 nm. By microstructural examination around the indented regions, early-stage plastic deformation of the amorphous Ni-P films was verified through the formation and extension of shear bands with a spacing of several tens of nanometers. Within the shear bands, flow dilatation-induced intense shear localization was expected and resulted in crystallization in the amorphous matrix. The critical shear stress and energy release rate required for the initiation of early-stage plastic yielding of the Ni-P films were calculated to be about 1.4 GPa and 3.0 J/m² respectively, both of which increased with pH values.     

Micromechanical properties of epiphyseal trabecular bone and primary spongiosa around the physis: an in situ nanoindentation study

The application of amyloid beta-peptide (Abeta) 1-40 (10 microM) caused neurodegeneration of hippocampal neuronal cells, as indicated by the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) into the culture medium. Treatment with idebenone (10-1000 nM), a potent antioxidant in mitochondria, protected the hippocampal neurons against the Abeta1-40(10 microM)-induced neurotoxicity. To determine the morphological change in neurons during the Abeta1-40-induced cytotoxicity, the cells were immunostained with anti-MAP2 antibodies. After 4-day exposure to 10 microM Abeta1-40, the number of neurons was reduced, and the surviving neurons had an apparently reduced number of neurites which were shorter than those of control neurons. When idebenone was added to the culture medium with Abeta1-40, the number of surviving neurons was significantly increased, and their neurites were as long as seen in control culture. These results suggest that reactive oxygen species mediate neurotoxicity of Abeta1-40, and idebenone protects neurons against the Abeta1-40-induced neurotoxicity.     

T score of trabecular and cortical bone in normal postmenopausal women

CD4+ T cells may be assigned a functional status (Th1 or Th2) according to the cytokines they produce including IL-2, IFN-gamma and IL-4. Th1 and Th2 CD4+ T cells deliver different isotype-switching signals to antigen-specific B cells which bias the serum Ig isotypes. The stimulation of Th1 or Th2 responses is influenced by adjuvants and administration of antigen in IFA results in Th1 unresponsiveness as evidenced by: (i) reduced T cell proliferation to antigen; (ii) reduced IFN-gamma production in response to antigen; and (iii) reduced IgG2a isotype antigen-specific antibodies following antigen/CFA challenge. The impact of established human gamma globulin (HGG) specific Th1 unresponsiveness on subsequent immunization with an unrelated antigen, human serum albumin (HSA) in Th1-inducing CFA was then examined. When subsequently challenged with a mixture of HSA and HGG in CFA the HGG-specific Th1 unresponsiveness was infectious and dominant, preventing the induction of a Th1 response to HSA. Reduced T cell proliferation, IFN-gamma production and IgG2a antibody were consequently observed in response to HSA. The HGG-specific Th1 unresponsiveness was not infectious when HGG/CFA and HSA/CFA were administered at separate sites. This demonstrates that antigen-specific Th1 unresponsiveness can be infectious for new, molecularly unrelated antigens and supports studies showing that Th1-mediated autoimmune diseases such as experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) and diabetes can be ameliorated using antigens molecularly distinct from the disease-inducing immunogen.     

Differential presentation of cortical and trabecular peripheral bone mineral density in acromegaly

Growth hormone (GH) has been suggested as a therapeutic tool for the treatment of osteopenia. To assess the differential influence of growth hormone on cortical and trabecular bone, bone mineral densities (BMD) of the ultradistal radius were determined in 18 men and 19 women with clinically and biochemically confirmed acromegaly using peripheral computed tomography and a specialized scanner (Stratec XCT 900). The results were expressed in equivalents to hydroxyl-apatite (mg/ccm) and compared with the BMD of healthy controls (17 men, 34 women). Cortical bone mineral density was significantly higher in acromegalic women (295.2 +/- 18.4, X +/- SEM) and men (339.4 +/- 21.2) compared to healthy women (243.0 +/- 12.8) and men (272.2 +/- 15.9). In contrast, trabecular BMD did not differ between acromegalic patients (men: 161.0 +/- 16.1; women: 116.5 +/- 10.5) and controls (men: 158.0 +/- 12.2; women: 134.1 +/- 6.3). Acromegalic women showed a significant correlation between insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I) expression and cortical BMD, whereas in acromegalic men GH levels correlated significantly with cortical BMD. Greatly increased serum osteocalcin levels in both, acromegalic men (15.5 +/- 3.3 ng/ml) and women (12.9 +/- 1.8) compared to controls (men: 6.7 +/- 1.7; women: 7.7 +/- 1.0) indicates the activation of osteoblastic bone formation. This study revealed an increase in cortical BMD at the forearm; in acromegalic patients; though trabecular BMD did not differ from controls. The differential mineralization of cortical and trabecular bone in acromegaly may be indicative of the detrimental effect accompanying pituitary insufficiency can have on trabecular bone, despite substitution therapy, but could also be due to different reactivity of cortical and trabecular bone to GH and/or IGF I. The observable increase of bone mineral density in acromegaly suggests a potential use for GH in treating osteoporosis.     

Accuracy of cortical and trabecular bone measurements with peripheral quantitative computed tomography (pQCT)

In order to assess the accuracy of peripheral QCT (Stratec XCT 960) we analysed scans of the European Forearm Phantom and another phantom consisting of K2HPO4 encased in aluminium tubes to simulate cortical walls. Additionally 14 cadaveric forearm specimen scans were compared to CT scans acquired on a GE9800Q. The accuracy for density assessment of the European Forearm Phantom was better than 3%. A small increase in density was observed with increasing thickness of the aluminium wall (10% for each mm). Density measurements within the wall were confounded by limited spatial resolution. For a thickness of less than 4 mm, the density within the wall was underestimated by up to 40%. The measurement of mineral content was not influenced by this effect and showed an accuracy error of less than 6%. The agreement of density measurements on the different CT systems was very strong (R2 > 0.96; RMSE < 6.2%). Our findings suggest that the Stratec pQCT scanner very accurately measures volumetric trabecular and total bone mineral densities at the distal radius while the assessment of cortical density is associated with considerable inaccuracies due to limited spatial resolution.     

Influence of aging on cortical and trabecular bone response to estradiol treatment in ovariectomized rats

Three groups (n = 15/group) of 6-, 12- and 30-month-old (mature, old and senescent animals, respectively) female Wistar rats on a diet (6 g/100 g BW/ day) containing 0.8% calcium and 0.8% inorganic phosphorus were studied. Within each group, 10 rats were ovariectomized surgically and 5 injected s.c. with 17 beta-estradiol (E rats, 10 micrograms/kg BW/48 h) and 5 with solvent alone (OVX rats) from day 2 until day 60 after ovariectomy. Five other rats were sham-operated (SH rats) and received solvent only. All rats were killed by exsanguination 60 days after ovariectomy. Neither ovariectomy nor estradiol treatment had a significant effect upon tibial mechanical properties in 6-, 12- and 30-month-old animals. Bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) of the distal femur and BMC of the whole femur were decreased by ovariectomy in 6- and 12-month-old rats, but were not different in the SH and E groups. In senescent animals, in which the lowest BMD and BMC were measured, estradiol treatment was more effective in increasing these parameters than in adult and old rats. Image analysis of the distal femoral diaphysis showed that estradiol treatment prevented trabecular bone loss induced by senescence and/or ovariectomy. In each group, urinary deoxypyridinoline excretion and plasma osteocalcin concentration were higher in the OVX animals than in the controls, consistent with increased bone turnover in the estrogen-deficient state. Both biochemical turnover markers were reduced in the estrogen-treated groups. These results indicate that 17 beta-estradiol is particularly effective at preventing high-turnover-induced osteopenia in 30-month-old animals.     

Quantitative peripheral computed tomodensitometric study of cortical and trabecular bone mass in relation with menopause

Lymphocyte subpopulations (B cells, CD4, CD8), interleukin-20 receptors (IL-2), monocytes/macrophages (Leu M5), and HLA-DR antigen expression were studied immunohistochemically on frozen sections from 38 bladder cancer specimens. T cells predominated over B cells in all tumours. CD4-positive lymphocytes predominated over CD8 in the stroma (CD4/CD8: 1.35/l), while in epithelial tumour cells CD8 was the prominent subpopulation (CD8/CD4: 1.75/l). Aberrant HLA-DR expression was found in 21.05 per cent of bladder tumours. A strong correlation between CD4 and CD8 population densities and macrophages with the other subpopulations was noticed. In HLA-DR-positive tumours, there was no correlation of the percentage of positive cells with CD4- and CD8-positive lymphocyte populations. Various parameters including IL-2 receptors, B cells, CD8- and CD4-positive cells, and macrophages did not differ significantly between the groups of tumours expressing and not expressing HLA-DR antigen. There were no statistically significant differences in the population densities of B cells, CD8- or CD4-positive cells, IL-2 receptor, monocytes/macrophages, and HLA-DR antigen expression among various clinicopathological parameters, including growth pattern, histological grade and clinical stage or patient's age and sex. These findings suggest that in transitional cell carcinoma of the urinary bladder, HLA-DR antigen expression is independent of lymphocyte subpopulations. It is therefore possible that HLA-DR expression by tumour cells reflect the existence of separate HLA-DR-positive or HLA-DR-negative tumour clones.     

High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging: three-dimensional trabecular bone architecture and biomechanical properties

The development of vectors that are capable of efficient gene delivery is crucial to the success of gene therapy. We have developed both recombinant viral and nonviral vectors with the goal of correcting genetic abnormalities in cancer cells that are responsible for malignant transformation. Infection of cancer cells by recombinant adenovirus (Adv) indicates that the level of transduction is variable and dependent on the virus-to-cell ratio. Infection of cells with Adv/p53 resulted in levels of tumor suppressor p53 gene expression that could mediate tumor cell growth suppression and apoptosis, both in vitro and in vivo. The treatment of cancer cells with cisplatin prior to Adv transduction resulted in a higher level of therapeutic gene expression. Epidermal growth factor (EGF)/DNA complexes targeted to cancer cells overexpressing the EGF receptor resulted in efficient transduction of several lung cancer cell lines in vitro. As a result, these vectors provide improved methods with which to treat cancer in the clinical setting with gene therapy.     

Proteoglycan expression by human trabecular meshworks

The aim of the present study was to clinically assess the peri-implant and periodontal conditions 1 year after placement of oral implants (ITI Dental Implant System) in partially edentulous patients. In all, 127 patients (median age 50 years, range 17 to 79) were examined. They were all treated according to a concept of comprehensive dental care and had received fixed partial dentures (FPD). Significant differences were observed between implants and contralateral control teeth with respect to mean pocket probing depth (PPD) (2.55 mm at implants/2.02 mm at teeth), mean probing attachment level (PAL) (2.97 mm/2.53 mm) and bleeding on probing (BOP) (24%/12%) (Wilcoxon matched pairs sign rank test, P < or = 0.01), whereas mean modified plaque index (0.22/0.30), mean modified bleeding index (0.35/0.44) and mean recession (-0.42 mm/-0.51 mm) did not significantly differ between implants and teeth. Compared to control teeth, the width of keratinized mucosa at implants was significantly smaller at lingual, but not at buccal aspects. Regression analyses showed no significant association between the amount of keratinized mucosa and degree of inflammation. Recession, PPD and PAL were slightly influenced by the amount of keratinized mucosa indicating greater resistance to probing. Grouping the implants according to various lengths, type of fixation of the FPD or combination with natural teeth did not result in statistically significant different clinical parameters, whereas grouping according to different localization within the oral cavity did. For example, the mean PAL in 83 anterior implants was 2.52 mm, whereas 175 posterior implants had a mean PAL of 3.18 mm (Mann-Whitney U-test, P < or = 0.01). Regression analyses between the mean PAL for all implants in each patient and the mean PAL of the corresponding dentition revealed an r2 of 0.23 (P < or = 0.01). Using multiple regression analysis, the mean PAL of the implants showed to be significantly influenced by the combined factors "fullmouth" PII, "fullmouth" BOP and mean PAL of all teeth. The results of this study suggest that in partially edentulous patients the overall periodontal condition may influence the clinical condition around implants and thus reinforces the importance of periodontal treatment prior to and supportive periodontal therapy after the incorporation of osseointegrated oral implants.     

Trochanteric hip fracture: strong association with spinal trabecular bone mineral density measured with quantitative CT

PURPOSE: To determine the discriminatory capability for hip fracture of trabecular and integral bone mineral density (BMD) measured with quantitative computed tomography (CT) of the spine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-six women who had sustained hip fractures and 59 control subjects underwent volumetric quantitative CT of L1 and L2 and dual x-ray absorptiometry of the hip. BMD was measured in vertebral regions of interest that encompassed trabecular, cortical, and integral bone. Logistic regression analysis was applied to each BMD measure to derive age-, weight-, and height-adjusted relative risk (RR) factors for overall hip fracture and for trochanteric fracture and cervical fracture separately. RESULTS: Spinal trabecular BMD was modestly related to overall hip fracture (RR, 1.4-1.7; P < .05) and strongly associated with trochanteric fracture (RR, 4.2-4.5; P < .005). Spinal integral BMD related similarly to overall hip fracture (RR, 1.7-1.8; P < .05) but more weakly to trochanteric fracture (RR, 2.3-3.2; P < .01). No spinal BMD measures were significantly related to cervical fracture. BMD at the hip was strongly related to overall hip fracture (RR, 3.3-4.3; P < .001), cervical fracture (RR, 2.7-5.3; P < .001), and trochanteric fracture (RR, 2.9-7.2; P < .001). CONCLUSION: Spinal trabecular BMD is strongly associated with both trochanteric and vertebral fractures.     

Fracture and material degradation properties of cortical bone under accelerated stress

Free fatty acids (FA) were found which did not acidify liposome interior. This is interpreted as their inability to rapidly flip-flop across the lipid bilayer. However, they were able to partition in lipids as detected directly using HPLC or from the shift of their equilibrium binding to acrylodated intestinal binding protein (ADIFAB) in the presence of vesicles. Various bipolar FA, such as 12-hydroxylauric acid, dicarboxylic acids, or FA with benzene ring at the tail were found to be inactive in this way. A phenomenon of shielding, where an additional alkyl chain or non-polar group can restore the flip-flop activity, is described.     

Yield strain behavior of trabecular bone

If bone adapts to maintain constant strains and if on-axis yield strains in trabecular bone are independent of apparent density, adaptive remodeling in trabecular bone should maintain a constant safety factor (yield strain/functional strain) during habitual loading. To test the hypothesis that yield strains are indeed independent of density, compressive (n = 22) and tensile (n = 22) yield strains were measured without end-artifacts for low density (0.18 +/- 0.04 g cm(-3)) human vertebral trabecular bone specimens. Loads were applied in the superior-inferior direction along the principal trabecular orientation. These 'on-axis' yield strains were compared to those measured previously for high-density (0.51 +/- 0.06 g cm(-3)) bovine tibial trabecular bone (n = 44). Mean (+/- S.D.) yield strains for the human bone were 0.78 +/- 0.04% in tension and 0.84 +/- 0.06% in compression; corresponding values for the bovine bone were 0.78 +/- 0.04 and 1.09 +/- 0.12%, respectively. Tensile yield strains were independent of the apparent density across the entire density range (human p = 0.40, bovine p = 0.64, pooled p = 0.97). By contrast, compressive yield strains were linearly correlated with apparent density for the human bone (p < 0.001) and the pooled data (p < 0.001), and a suggestive trend existed for the bovine data (p = 0.06). These results refute the hypothesis that on-axis yield strains for trabecular bone are independent of density for compressive loading, although values may appear constant over a narrow density range. On-axis tensile yield strains appear to be independent of both apparent density and anatomic site.     

Comparison of damage accumulation measures in human cortical bone

Elastic modulus degradation, strength reduction, and energy dissipation have traditionally been the properties of choice to monitor the damage process in cortical bone. However, these properties only provide limited insight into the damage process given the complex mechanical nature of bone. In the current study, alternative measures of the damage process were investigated for machined human cortical bone specimens loaded under torsion. Seventy-two bone specimens from 6 human femurs were subjected to a series of torsional relaxation cycles in which damage was induced during a single relaxation cycle and the effects of damage on the elastic, yield, viscous, and failure properties were determined from pre- and post-damage relaxation cycles. The results revealed that degradation of all torsion properties exhibited a significant twist magnitude effect. However, the yield stress and strain, the relaxation rate, and the total relaxation exhibited 5-10 fold greater degradation than both strength and modulus, when residual strength tests were conducted at high shear strain rates. For the loading conditions examined in this study, the results indicated that the relaxation and yield properties of cortical bone are more sensitive to shear damage accumulation and better measures of the damage process than either strength or modulus. Further, the results reveal an important interaction between damage and the viscous behavior of bone which provides new insight into the effects of damage on bone mechanical properties.     

Postyield behavior of subchondral trabecular bone

Cylindrical specimens of bovine subchondral trabecular bone were tested to uniaxial compressive strain levels of 75% to study energy absorption during pore collapse. Stress-strain curves were characterized by macroscopic yield at about 8% strain followed by a significant horizontal pore collapse regime. Energy absorption occurred largely in this postyield regime. Yield strength and energy absorption capacity were found to increase linearly with specimen apparent density. Microstructural analysis of the deformed specimens verfied that the mechanism for energy absorption was primarily fracture and buckling of trabeculae. The results suggest that during fracture, the collapse of trabecular bone (and the consequent absorption of energy) serves to attenuate stresses transmitted through the skeleton and thus protect vital structures such as the brain.     

应用纳米压痕技术表征水泥基材料微观力学性能

为了更好地研究和表征水泥基材料的微观结构及形成机理,对水泥净浆及掺粉煤灰的水泥浆体进行了微观力学性能研究.应用纳米压痕技术测试、分析并计算了不同浆体中各个区域的弹性模量和硬度,并对各参数在二维平面的分布进行了描绘.同时,利用高斯函数对弹性模量、硬度的频率分布曲线进行了多峰拟合,获得水化产物中毛细孔、高密度C-S-H凝胶(HD C-S-H)、低密度C-S-H凝胶(LD C-S-H)以及氢氧化钙相关参数的统计分布.分析结果表明,胶凝材料组成、水胶比、水化龄期等会引起水泥浆体中水化产物的差异,尤其是C-S-H凝胶堆积形貌的变化,进而影响到胶凝材料的宏观力学性能.     

A digital model of trabecular bone

A 3D microCT dataset of bovine bone was used to create a digital 3D model simulating trabecular bone. The model serves a dual purpose: It allows for standard quantitative histomorphometric analysis and it approximates the reality e.g. of high resolution CT in vivo datasets of trabecular bone. Thus the model can potentially be used as a reference to develop 2D and 3D structural analysis algorithms applicable in vivo while it simultaneously allows verification of the results of these algorithms by standard histomorphometry. The model can be used as a standard to evaluate the impact of image processing techniques and of restrictions of imaging systems on the quantitative analysis of structural parameters describing a trabecular network. The model can be used for a comparison of 2D and 3D structural analysis methods and for an analysis of decreasing spatial resolution. The effects of segmentation and filtration can be studied separately and grayscale analysis is possible. As examples standard 2D histomorphometry and the analysis of topological parameters like node number and trabecular network length were applied to the model. The influence of spatial resolution was investigated by decreasing the spatial resolution of the digital model. The bone surface area determined by 3D surface triangulation was only 4% smaller than the surface area determined from the traditional 2D bone histomorphometric parameter bone surface/tissue volume (BS/TV) when 2D results were averaged over all slices of the 3D volume. However, BS/TV showed large (10%) variations among slices within the volume. Both histomorphometric and topological parameters were heavily influenced by spatial resolution and image segmentation. Our initial experience with the digital model indicates a need to investigate bone microstructure based on volume data or to average the 2D results of many slices.     

Alcohol consumption by young actively growing rats: a study of cortical bone histomorphometry and mechanical properties

Alcohol consumption by young actively growing rats has been previously demonstrated to decrease cortical and cancellous bone density, to reduce trabecular bone volume, and to inhibit bone growth at the epiphyseal growth plate. This study addresses the action of alcohol on cortical bone growth using histomorphometric techniques and on mechanical properties by three-point bending. Four-week-old, female Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups. Alcohol-treated animals were fed a modified Lieber-DeCarli diet ad libitum containing 35% ethanol-derived calories, whereas the pair-fed animals (weight-matched to ethanol rats) received an isocaloric liquid diet in which maltose-dextrin-substituted calories were supplied by ethanol. Chow animals were fed a standard rat chow ad libitum. Femora were removed for analysis after 2, 4, 6, or 8 weeks on the diets. Cortical bone area, bone formation rates, and mineral apposition rates were reduced in the alcohol-fed animals. Bone stiffness, strength, and energy absorbed to fracture were significantly lower in the alcohol-fed animals. This distinctive alcohol effect was revealed to be caused by lower quality bone tissue as reflected by lower elastic moduli and yield strengths.     

Measurements of trabecular bone structure in man

A quantitative analysis of trabecular bone structure is presented, based on omnidirectional distributions of paths across (a) trabeculation and (b) marrow cavities. The omnidirectional distributions, which take into account structural anisotropy, are generated from measured distributions of paths. Representative examples are given, together with values of two commonly quoted structural parameters, the ratio of endosteal surface to bone volume and percentage bone volume. Data on the biological and age variations in the third lumbar vertebra are also presented and an index of trabecular anisotropy suggested. Finally, the results are compared with those of other workers and estimates of useful skeletal parameters given.