Stress singularity analysis in the restorations of premolar class ii cavities

Abstract

This paper presents the singular stress analysis near the apex of a structure formed during dental restoration of a premolar class II cavity. Based on the elasticity theory, the stresses may go to infinity at the junctions of different materials (e.g. dentine, enamel, restoration materials). Tensions will cause material separation and then material fracture. In order to reduce the failure probability, the degree of stress concentration has to be reduced. The stress singularity order and the stress intensity factor are two parameters, which are often used in fracture analysis. The objective of this paper is to find conditions such that non‐singular stress fields are possible. Three critical positions in the restoration structure are discussed.

They are the tips of interface between (1) enamel and restoration; (2) dentine and restoration; and (3) enamel, dentine and restoration. In the last two cases, the restoration may be bonded or debonded to enamel or dentine. After employing Kolosov‐Muskhelishvili complex functions together with the eigenfunction expansion method, the singularity orders are computed theoretically. Weak stress singularity conditions can be sought by properly selecting cutting angles or restoration materials.     

Layered Nanoprobe for Long‐Lasting Fluorescent Cell Label

A long‐lasting particle‐based fluorescent label is designed for extended cell imaging studies. This onion‐like nanoprobe is constructed through layer‐by‐layer fabrication technology. The nanoprobes are assembled with multiple layers of optically quenched polyelectrolytes, the fluorescence signal of which can be released later by intracellular proteolysis. Upon incubation with cells, the assembled nanoprobes are taken up efficiently. The tight packing and layered assembly of the quenched polyelectrolytes slow subsequent intracellular degradation, and then result in a prolonged intracellular fluorescence signal for up to 3 weeks with no noticeable toxicity.     

Enhancing the Cellular Delivery of Nanoparticles Using Lipo‐Oligoarginine Peptides

Nanoparticles have great potential as nanotherapeutics, delivery vectors, and molecular imaging agents due to their flexible properties. Although intracellular and nuclear delivery of nanoparticles is desirable for therapeutic applications, it remains a challenge. Cell penetrating peptides (CPPs) are a powerful tool for the intracellular delivery of various cargoes. Here it is reported that functionalization of nanoparticles with a myristoylated oligoarginine CPP promotes cellular uptake without increased toxicity. It is evident that the myristoylated CPP is much more effective in transporting nanoparticles than the unmodified CPPs.     

Hybrid film of chemically modified graphene and vapor-phase-polymerized PEDOT for electronic nose applications

A hybrid of graphene and conducting polymer holds great potential as the active materials for high performance chemical sensor application. In this work, a thin hybrid film of reduced graphene oxide (RG-O) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was fabricated by means of vapor phase polymerization and explored as active material for chemical sensors. The chemical sensors based on hybrid film of RG-O and PEDOT are capable of detecting electrical signals caused by the absorption of trace levels of different analyte vapors with high sensitivity, selectivity and fast response.     

Robust low bit‐rate transmission using multiple‐PBDBS (MPBDBS) approach

Abstract

Recently, Gao and Tu presented an efficient algorithm for robust low bit‐rate video transmission by using a partial backward decodable bit stream (PBDBS) approach. In this paper, we first present a multiple‐PBDBS (MPBDBS) approach to improve on the previous PBDBS approach. Next a mathematical theory is provided to minimize the error propagation length in each group of blocks (GOB). Further, a novel MPBDBS‐based algorithm is presented for robust video transmission. Experimental results demonstrate that our proposed MPBDBS‐based algorithm has better image quality when compared to the previous PBDBS‐based algorithm, but has some bit‐rate and execution‐time degradation. In our experiments, both single and two‐bit error models are investigated.     

Lithium-Ion Desolvation Induced by Nitrate Additives Reveals New Insights into High Performance Lithium Batteries

Electrolyte additives have been widely used to address critical issues in current metal (ion) battery technologies. While their functions as solid electrolyte interface forming agents are reasonably well-understood, their interactions in the liquid electrolyte environment remain rather elusive. This lack of knowledge represents a significant bottleneck that hinders the development of improved electrolyte systems. Here, the key role of additives in promoting cation (e.g., Li⁺) desolvation is unraveled. In particular, nitrate anions (NO₃⁻) are found to incorporate into the solvation shells, change the local environment of cations (e.g., Li⁺) as well as their coordination in the electrolytes. The combination of these effects leads to effective Li⁺ desolvation and enhanced battery performance. Remarkably, the inexpensive NaNO₃ can successfully substitute the widely used LiNO₃ offering superior long-term stability of Li⁺ (de-)intercalation at the graphite anode and suppressed polysulfide shuttle effect at the sulfur cathode, while enhancing the performance of lithium–sulfur full batteries (initial capacity of 1153 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.25C) with Coulombic efficiency of ≈100% over 300 cycles. This work provides important new insights into the unexplored effects of additives and paves the way to developing improved electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage applications.     

Synthesis and characterization of the carbon nanotube-based composite materials with poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)

We report a procedure to prepare a conducting nano-composites composed of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) and PEDOT by using a poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSSNa) as a inter-linking molecule between MWNT and PEDOT. When PSSNa chains are introduced on the MWNTs via physicochemical interaction, the surface of MWNT becomes negatively charged, and PSS-modified MWNTs promote the effective association of the positively charged PEDOT chains. The resulting MWNT-PSS/PEDOT composites are characterized by a better interconnection between MWNT and PEDOT components.     

A simple control scheme for a single stage flyback LED driver

This study proposes a simple control scheme for using single‐stage flyback (SSF) converters in lighting source applications for LEDs. Among the advantages of the average current mode is an I/O current ripple that is only one‐half of the critical conduction mode (CRM). This condition helps extend the output capacitor lifetime while lowering the input EMI capacitance input EMI capacitance. The SSF converter proposed in this study operates in continuous conduction mode (CCM). In addition, two sample‐and‐hold (S/H) circuits are placed at the output voltage loop and feed‐forward path, respectively. Since these S/H circuits access the average output current and average feed‐forward voltage, the LED driver is unaffected by the 120‐Hz ripple noise, the total harmonic distortion (THD) is reduced, and the transient response of the output current is improved. Finally, the operation principles and design considerations of the studied LED driver are analyzed and discussed. A laboratory prototype is also designed and tested to verify the feasibility. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.