Morphological evolution on the surface of hydrothermally synthesized hydroxyapatite microspheres in the presence of EDTMP

Well-ordered and surface engineered hierarchical hydroxyapatite microspheres (HAM) were prepared via a template free hydrothermal process. Ethylene diamine tetra (methylene phosphonic acid) (EDTMP) was used as chelating or regulating agent for the first time in this study. The results indicated the formation of sheet-like particles in the absence of EDTMP. On the other hand, microspheres with radially grown nanorods (HAMNR) or nanosheets (HAMNS) on the surface were obtained (with average diameter of 5?µm) in the presence of EDTMP. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were used to characterize the crystalline phases in the synthesized samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that EDTMP concentration played an important part in regulating the morphology to form well organized microspheres with nanosheets or nanorods on the surface. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) revealed an increase in the specific surface area with the change in morphology from the HAMNS to HAMNR. Possible mechanisms are proposed to account for the formation of different morphologies based upon thermodynamic and kinetic theories.     

Molecular follow-up of disease progression and interferon therapy in chronic myelocytic leukemia

We previously reported that the abl promoter (Pa) undergoes de novo DNA methylation in the course of chronic myelocytic leukemia (CML). The clinical implications of this finding are the subject of the present study in which samples of CML patients, including a group treated with interferon alpha (IFNalpha) were surveyed. The methylation status of the abl promoter was monitored by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of the Pa region after digestion with several site-methylation sensitive restriction enzymes. Some 74% of the DNA samples from blood and marrow drawn in the chronic phase were nonmethylated, similar to control samples from non-CML patients. The remaining 26% were partially methylated in the abl Pa region. The latter samples were derived from patients who were indistinguishable from the others on the basis of clinical presentation. Methylated samples were mostly derived from patients known to have a disease of longer duration (26 months v 7.5 months, P = .01). Samples of 30 IFNalpha-treated patients were sequentially analyzed in the course of treatment. Fifteen patients with no evidence of Pa methylation before treatment remained methylation-free. The remainder, who displayed Pa methylation before treatment, reverted to the methylation-free status. The outcome is attributed to IFNalpha therapy, as the Pa methylation status was not reversed in any of the patients treated with hydroxyurea. Methylation of the abl promoter indicates a disease of long-standing, most likely associated with a higher probability of imminent blastic transformation. It appears to predict the outcome of IFNalpha therapy far better than the cytogenetic response.     

Development of an RVE using a DEM–FEM scheme under modified approximate periodic boundary condition to estimate the elastic mechanical properties of open foams

Engineering with Computers - In this article, a methodology based on Discrete Element Method (DEM) and Finite Elements Method (FEM) combined with modified Approximate Periodic Boundary Condition...     

The Modeling of Magnetorheological Elastomers: A State-of-the-Art Review

The magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are novel multifunctional materials wherein their viscoelastic properties can be varied instantly under an application of applied magnetic field. Due to their field-dependent stiffness and damping properties, MREs are widely used in the development and design of MRE-based adaptive vibration isolators and absorbers and also biomedical engineering. Moreover, MREs due to their inherent magnetostriction effect have enormous potential for the development of soft actuators. The dynamic behavior of MREs is affected by various material parameters (e.g., matrix and particle types, particle concentration, additives) as well as mechanical and magnetic loading parameters (e.g., frequency, amplitude, temperature, magnetic flux density). Understanding and predicting the effect of materials and loading parameters on the response behavior of MREs are of paramount importance for the design of MRE-based adaptive structures and systems. This review paper mainly aims to provide a comprehensive study of material constitutive models to predict the nonlinear magnetomechanical behavior of MREs. Particular emphasis is paid to physics-based models including continuum- and microstructure-based models. Moreover, phenomenological models describing the dynamic magnetoviscoelastic behavior of MREs as well as the effect of temperature on the magnetomechanical behavior of such materials are properly addressed.     

Design of laminated composite structures for optimum fiber direction and layer thickness,using optimality criteria

In this study, two optimality criteria are presented for optimum design of composite laminates using finite element method. Thickness of the layers and fiber orientation angles in each finite element are considered as the design variables. It will be shown that the optimum design of composite laminates with varying fiber orientations and layers thicknesses may be found by using these optimality criteria in an efficient way, without performing the sensitivity analysis.     

A simultaneous planning of production and scheduling operations in flexible flow shops: case study of tile industry

The aim of this paper is to study a simultaneous lot-sizing and scheduling in multi-product, multi-period flexible flow shop environments. A new mixed integer programming (MIP) model is proposed to formulate the problem. The objective function includes the total cost of production, inventory, and external supply. In this study, in case of not meeting the demand of customers, this demand should be met by foreign suppliers in higher price. Due to the high computational complexity of the studied problem, a rolling horizon heuristic (RHH) and particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) are implemented to solve the problem. These algorithms find a feasible and near-optimal from production planning and scheduling. Additionally, Taguchi method is conducted to calibrate the parameters of the PSO algorithm and select the optimal levels of the influential factors. The computational results show that the algorithms are capable of achieving results with good quality in a reasonable time and PSO has better objective values in comparison with RHH. Also, the real case study for tile industry with real features is applied. Sensitivity analysis is used to evaluate the performance of the model.     

Dynamic modeling and CPG-based trajectory generation for a masticatory rehab robot

Human mastication is a complex and rhythmic biomechanical process which is regulated by a brain stem central pattern generator (CPG). Masticatory patterns, frequency and amplitude of mastication are different from person to person and significantly depend on food properties. The central nervous system controls the activity of muscles to produce smooth transitions between different movements. Therefore, to rehab human mandibular system, there is a real need to use the concept of CPG for development of a new methodology in jaw exercises and to help jaw movements recovery. This paper proposes a novel method for real-time trajectory generation of a mastication rehab robot. The proposed method combines several methods and concepts including kinematics, dynamics, trajectory generation and CPG. The purpose of this article is to provide a methodology to enable physiotherapists to perform the human jaw rehabilitation. In this paper, the robotic setup includes two Gough–Stewart platforms. The first platform is used as the rehab robot, while the second one is used to model the human jaw system. Once the modeling is completed, the second robot will be replaced by an actual patient for the selected physiotherapy. Gibbs–Appell’s formulation is used to obtain the dynamics equations of the rehab robot. Then, a method based on the Fourier series is employed to tune parameters of the CPG. It is shown that changes in leg lengths, due to the online changes of the mastication parameters, occur in a smooth and continuous manner. The key feature of the proposed method, when applied to human mastication, is its ability to adapt to the environment and change the chewing pattern in real-time parameters, such as amplitudes as well as jaw movements velocity during mastication.