Manual Therapy Facilitates Homeostatic Adaptation to Bone Microstructural Declines Induced by a Rat Model of Repetitive Forceful Task

The effectiveness of manual therapy in reducing the catabolic effects of performing repetitive intensive force tasks on bones has not been reported. We examined if manual therapy could reduce radial bone microstructural declines in adult female Sprague–Dawley rats performing a 12-week high-repetition and high-force task, with or without simultaneous manual therapy to forelimbs. Additional rats were provided 6 weeks of rest after task cessation, with or without manual therapy. The control rats were untreated or received manual therapy for 12 weeks. The untreated TASK rats showed increased catabolic indices in the radius (decreased trabecular bone volume and numbers, increased osteoclasts in these trabeculae, and mid-diaphyseal cortical bone thinning) and increased serum CTX-1, TNF-α, and muscle macrophages. In contrast, the TASK rats receiving manual therapy showed increased radial bone anabolism (increased trabecular bone volume and osteoblast numbers, decreased osteoclast numbers, and increased mid-diaphyseal total area and periosteal perimeter) and increased serum TNF-α and muscle macrophages. Rest, with or without manual therapy, improved the trabecular thickness and mid-diaphyseal cortical bone attributes but not the mineral density. Thus, preventive manual therapy reduced the net radial bone catabolism by increasing osteogenesis, while rest, with or without manual therapy, was less effective.     

调容铁心串联电抗器的原理与性能分析

针对传统的电容器无功补偿装置存在补偿容量不灵活的缺点,提出解决问题的方法是采用调容串联电抗器以实现分级补偿。通过分析电容器无功补偿装置对串联电抗器的参数要求,对调容铁心串联电抗器的工作原理及设计要点作了介绍;对无功补偿方案进行对比,说明采用调容铁心串联电抗器后收到的有益效果。     

Enhancing the design and performance of a gate-all-around (GAA) charge plasma nanowire field-effect transistor with the help of the negative-capacitance technique

A gate-all-around charge plasma nanowire field-effect transistor (GAA CP NW FET) device using the negative-capacitance technique is introduced, termed the GAA CP NW negative-capacitance (NC) FET. In the face of bottleneck issues in nanoscale devices such as rising power dissipation, new techniques must be introduced into FET structures to overcome their major limitations. Negative capacitance is an efficient effect that can be incorporated into a device to enhance its performance for low-power applications and help to reduce the operating voltage. The Landau–Khalatnikov equation can be applied in such cases to obtain the effective bias. To determine the effects of negative capacitance, lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ferroelectric material, a ceramic material with perovskite properties, is adopted as a gate insulator. This approach diminishes the supply voltage and reduces the power dissipation in the device. Excluding their polarization properties, ferroelectric materials are similar to dielectric materials, and PZT offers abundant polarization with improved reliability and a higher dielectric capacitance. Without proper tuning of the thickness of the PZT material, hysteresis behavior mat occur. Hence, the thickness of the PZT material (t_FE) is an essential parameter to optimize the device performance and achieve a reduced threshold voltage for the GAA CP NW NC-FET device proposed herein. Furthermore, varying the thickness of the PZT ferroelectric material can also enhance the performance. When using the highest values of t_FE, improved outcomes with an analogously lower operating voltage are observed. The effects of varying t_FE on the performance characteristics of the device including the drain current, transconductance, polarized charge, etc. are also interpreted herein.

     

Effects of CGRP in different models of mouse ear inflammation

The anti-inflammatory activity of calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) has been studied in cutaneous inflammation induced by croton oil (CO), arachidonic acid (AA), tetradecanoylphorbol acetate (TPA) or cantharidin (CA). Our results show that mouse ear inflammation induced by CO, AA or TPA is decreased by topical administration of CGRP, whereas that induced by CA is not affected. The dose-response and temporal analysis of CGRP effect show that the maximal activity is present at the dose of 30 pmol/ear and when administered 30 min after the irritating agent. Moreover, pretreatment with capsaicin is able to mimic the anti-inflammatory effect of exogenous CGRP, while simultaneous administration of CGRP and capsaicin produces a reduced response. Our results suggest that CGRP released from sensory.     

A non-contact method for part-based process performance monitoring in end milling operations

Surface response to excitation (SuRE) method was originally developed for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. SuRE was used to evaluate the performance of completed milling operations. The method generates surface waves on the plate and studies the spectrum changes at selected points to detect defects and change of compressive forces. In this study, the length, depth, and width of a slot were changed step by step. The surface of the aluminum plate was excited in the 20–400 kHz range with a piezoelectric element. A laser scanning vibrometer was used to monitor the vibrations at the predetermined grid points after the dimensions of the slot were changed methodically. The frequency spectrums of measured vibrations were calculated by using the Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT). The sums of the squares of the differences (SSD) of the spectrums were calculated to evaluate the change of the spectrums. The SuRE method was able to determine if the dimensions were changed in each case at all the selected points. The scanning laser vibrometer is not feasible to be used at the shop floor. However, the study demonstrated that a piezoelectric element attached to any of the grid points would be able to evaluate the completed machining process.     

Planar array of corrugated tapered slot antennas for ultrawideband biomedical microwave imaging system

A planar antenna array that includes 12 corrugated tapered slot elements for use in ultrawideband (UWB) biomedical microwave imaging systems is presented. The used corrugate tapered slot antenna has a compact size, low profile, moderate gain, and distortionless performance in the time domain. The array is immersed in a carefully designed matching liquid of suitable dielectric constant to improve the matching between the array and the imaged object, and thus, to increase the dynamic range of the imaging system. A suitable platform is designed and fabricated to accommodate the array, breast phantom, and a coupling liquid for the case of UWB breast imaging. The design of the whole system is optimized using trust‐region framework method in the simulation tool CST Microwave Studio. The performance of the designed array is confirmed via measurements in a realistic imaging environment. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2013.     

Hypoglycemic effects of cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) autolysates

Fat, alkaloid and polyphenol contents of two clones of cocoa (UIT1 and PBC 140) were removed and the remaining powder was autolyzed at pH 3.5 and 5.2. Based on the results, autolysates of UIT produced at pH 3.5 exhibited the highest ability to inhibit α-amylase activity. However, no α-glucosidase inhibition activity was observed under the conditions specified. Autolysates produced under pH 3.5 caused the highest amount of insulin secretion. In streptozotocin-diabetic rats, all cocoa autolysates significantly decreased blood glucose at 4 h. To assure that the results from the assays were not due to the polyphenols of cocoa autolysates qualitative and quantitative tests were applied. According to their results cocoa autolysates were found to be free from polyphenols. Analysis of amino acid composition revealed that cocoa autolysates were abundant in hydrophobic amino acids. It can be suggested that besides other compounds of cocoa, its peptides and amino acids could contribute to its health benefits.     

Prediction of carbon dioxide separation from gas mixtures in petroleum industries using the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm

In this study, two mathematical models for hydrate formation process to separate carbon dioxide by a combination of two different kinds of organic and surfactant promoters are presented. Promoters such as sodium dodecyl sulfate, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, and dodecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride as surfactant promoters; also, tetrahydrofuran, cyclopentane, 1,3-dioxolane, and 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran as organic promoters have been used in recent years. The results showed that a combination of 3000 ppm of surfactant promoters and 4 wt% organic promoters had the highest separation rate of carbon dioxide and; consequently, the investigated models were based on this optimum condition. As a matter of fact, by using these simulations the hydrate formation behavior was predicted with high accuracy; moreover, conducting consuming experiments is not essential anymore. To sum up, in the present research both Vandermonde matrix model and Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm were applied to predict the hydrate formation behavior; in addition, their results were precisely considered and validated with experimental data.