Aging response of the young’s modulus and mechanical properties of Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr for biomedical applications

Alloys for implant devices require improved strength but a reduced Young’s modulus, in order to become mechanically more compatible with adjacent bone tissues. In this study, a new metastable β-type titanium alloy, Ti-29Nb-13Ta-4.6Zr (wt pct), was subjected to aging treatment to produce different microstructures, and the resulting mechanical properties, including the Young’s modulus, were measured. The Young’s modulus of this alloy is found to be sensitive to microstructures generated by various heat treatments. For microstructures varying from (α + β) to (α + β + ω) and (β + ω), the Young’s modulus increases with an accompanying increase in tensile strength and hardness, but decreases in ductility. The (β + ω) microstructure has a low strength, high modulus, and poor ductility and cannot be used for biomedical applications. For an (α + β) microstructure, the volume fraction of the phases is shown to be the main factor that determines the mechanical properties.     

X-ray absorptiometry

Bone mass measurements are essential in the diagnosis of osteoporosis, the monitoring of its progression, and the evaluation of therapeutical responses. Among various methods of bone mass measurements, single- and dual-X-ray absorptiometry, SXA and DXA, have shown excellent fundamental performance. In this paper, the principles of SXA and DXA; i.e., factors of fundamental performance, such as precision, data-acquisition, and radiation dose, the practice of DXA, recent advances in DXA, such as the lateral spine scan, the measurement of body composition, application to BMD measurement of the bones of small animals and at sites of metal implants, morphometry of the spine, and geometrical measurement in the proxial femur, and clinical applications to osteoporosis were particularly reviewed.     

Effect of hydrogen charging on dislocation behavior in Ni-Cr and Ni<Subscript>2</Subscript>Cr alloys

The effects of hydrogen charging on the dislocation behaviour in Ni-Cr binary alloys have been investigated by means of transmission electron microscope (TEM) observations using single-crystalline specimens. The deformation mode of Ni-Cr alloys in the absence of hydrogen is characterized by planar dislocations. However, hydrogen charging changed the dislocation configurations to promote curved dislocations, such as dislocation loops and dipoles. The hydrogen-affected dislocation configurations are enhanced with increasing Ni content and reducing Cr content. Weak-beam images show that the Shockley partials of the hydrogen-affected dislocations frequently constrict to make kinks and cross-slip, as if the dislocations were generated by a thermally activated process. The effect of hydrogen charging on superdislocations of a Ni₂Cr superstructure has been also investigated using an aged 70Ni-30Cr alloy. While the deformation mode in the Ni₂Cr superlattice is classified as five variants of superdislocation triplets and one variant of ordinary dislocations, the hydrogen charging has preferred the ordinary dislocations to the superdislocation triplets. The results suggest that the charged hydrogen changes the local plasticity to affect the deformation dynamics in Ni-Cr alloys, where the influence of hydrogen on the plasticity is sensitive to the Ni/Cr concentration and the symmetry of atomic arrangement.     

Radiation tolerance for the SMASH-series front-end chips for a silicon micro-strip detector

The radiation tolerance for prototype front-end chips designed for a silicon micro-strip detector was examined with a ⁶⁰Co irradiation source to establish an allowable range of the radiation dose. The irradiated front-end chips were SMA²SH-64A, a 64-channel preamplifier array; SMA²SH-1, a single-channel preamplifier circuit with a comparator; and Control-C, a digital-control chip for the preamplifiers.     

Characterization of C-S-H from Highly Reactive β-Dicalcium Silicate Prepared from Hillebrandite

β-dicalcium silicate synthesized by thermal dissociation of hydrothermally prepared hillebrandite (Ca₂(SiO₃)(OH)₂) exhibits extremely high hydration activity. Characterization of the hydrates obtained and investigation of the hydration mechanism was carried out with the aid of trimethylsilylation analysis, ²⁹Si magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, transmission electron microscopy selected area electron diffraction, and XRD. The silicate anion structure of C-S-H consisted mainly of a dimer and a single-chain polymer. Polymerization advances with increasing curing temperature and curing time. The C-S-H has an oriented fibrous structure and exhibits a 0.73-nm dreierketten in the longitudinal direction. On heating, the C-S-H dissociates to form β-C₂S. The temperature at which βC₂S begins to form decreases with increasing chain length of the C-S-H or as the Ca/Si ratio becomes higher. The high activity of β-C₂S is due to its large specific surface area and the fact that the hydration is chemical-reaction-rate-controlled until its completion. As a result, the hydration progresses in situ and C-S-H with a high Ca/Si ratio is formed.     

Motivational bases of the public goods problem.

Compared 2 motivational bases for not contributing to a public good, desire to "free ride" (or greed) and fear of being a "sucker," among 110 Japanese undergraduates. It was hypothesized that these 2 types of motivation would be activated under different situations. When a public good was provided conjunctively, fear would have a strong effect but greed would not; when a public good was disjunctively provided, greed would have a strong effect but fear would not. In addition, it was predicted that the greater mutual trust existing among friends would make them contribute more than strangers would in the conjunctive condition but would make no difference in the disjunctive condition. Three types of production rules, in which a public good was conjunctively, disjunctively, or additively produced on the basis of members' contributions, were experimentally created. Half of the groups in each condition consisted of total strangers, and the other half consisted of friends. The hypotheses were supported when the size of the public good (bonus points) was relatively large. Also, Ss responded similarly in the conjunctive condition and in the additive condition. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Phase structure in the blend of atactic poly(vinyl alcohol) with atactic poly(vinyl alcohol‐block‐vinyl acetate)

An almost fully saponified atactic poly(vinyl alcohol) and an atactic poly(vinyl alcohol‐block‐vinyl acetate) of which degree of saponification is 89 mol % were blended by a solution casting method. The phase structure of the blend film was analyzed by optical microscopy, ¹³C‐NMR, and differential scanning calorimetry. The most remarkable structure of the blend was composed of cylindrical domains penetrating the film. The swelling behavior of the blend films was also investigated in the dimethylsulfoxide and water mixed solvents to find differences in solubility and diffusion behavior between the matrix and the domain. The cylindrical domains could be selectively dissolved away in water and the film became porous. We tried to change the size of the cylindrical domain with various film preparation conditions. This aimed to turn the film into the useful filter membrane. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 86: 1807–1815, 2002     

Highly Reactive β-Dicalcium Silicate: III, Hydration Behavior at 40–80°C

The effect of curing temperature (40°, 60°, 80°C) on the hydration behavior of β-dicalcium silicate (β-C₂S) was investigated. The β-C₂S was obtained by decomposition of hillebrandite, Ca₂(SiO₃)(OH)₂, at 600°C, has a specific surface area of about 7 m²/g, and is in the form of fibrous crystals. The dependence of the hydration reaction on temperature continues until the reaction is completed. The hydration is completed in 1 day at 80°C and in 14 days at 14°C. The hydration mechanism is different above and below 60°C, but at a given temperature, the reaction mechanism and the silicate anion structures of C-S-H do not change significantly from the initial to the late stages of the reaction. High curing temperature and long curing times after completion of reaction promote silicate polymerization. The Ca/Si ratio of C-S-H shows high values, being almost 2.0 above 60°C and 1.95 below 40°C.     

Thermal Expansion of Solid Solutions in the ZrTiO4—In2O3—M2O5 (M = Sb, Ta) System

Axial and dilatometric thermal expansions and phase transformations were studied for solid solutions having the α-PbO₂ structure in the ZrTiO₄—In₂O₃—M₂O₅ (M = Sb, Ta) system with nominal formulas of Zr _x Ti _y In _z Sb _z O₄ and Zr _x Ti _y In _z Ta _z O₄ where x + y + 2 z = 2. With increased substitution of z , the cell volume increased, the difference in the b parameters at room temperature between those quenched from 1400° and 1000°C decreased, and the thermal expansion decreased. The axial thermal expansion of ZrTi _y In _z · Ta _z O₄ with z = 0.3 was almost identical with that of HfTiO₄, and those with z = 0.4 and z = 0.45 were smaller than that of HfTiO₄. Unit-cell volumes of these compound were compared with those of single oxides to make it clear that the unit-cell volume of ZrTiO₄ was small anomalously and to distinguish the normal and abnormal substitution systems. These results were explained by the working hypothesis proposed for these compounds.