13,239 research outputs found
Normalization of the Mathieu-Gauss optical beams
No full textA series scheme is discussed for the determination of the normalization constants of the even and odd Mathieu-Gauss (MG) optical beams. We apply a suitable expansion in terms of Bessel-Gauss (BG) beams and also answer the question of how many BG beams should be used to synthesize a MG beam within a tolerance. The structure of the normalization factors ensures that MG beams will always be normalized independently of the particular normalization adopted for the Mathieu functions. In this scheme, the normalization constants are expressed as rapidly convergent series that can be calculated to an arbitrary precision
Partially coherent Mathieu–Gauss beams
No full textAbstract We present a theoretical study and experimental generation of Mathieu–Gauss beams in the partially coherent regime. By means of a rotating ground glass diffuser and a spatial light modulator, we demonstrate independent control over both the spatial coherence and ellipticity parameter of MG beams. We characterize the coherence structure and propagation properties of these partially coherent beams through a special case of the cross spectral density, namely the cross-correlation function. Our findings reveal that partially coherent Mathieu–Gauss beams retain structural features in their cross-correlation function even as their intensity profile deteriorates on propagation due to reduced spatial coherence. Furthermore, we show that their cross-spectral density remains nearly invariant during propagation, highlighting their potential for free-space optical communications and imaging through inhomogeneous media. These results not only contribute to the fundamental understanding of partially coherent structured beams but also open new avenues for applications in quantum optics, optical trapping, and beam shaping technologies
Urinary function after Snodgrass repair of distal hypospadias: comparison with the Mathieu repair
No full textPurpose To evaluate urinary function in patients with
distal hypospadias undergoing repair by the tubularized
incised-plate urethroplasty (TIP or Snodgrass), compare
the results with those in patients treated by the Mathieu
technique, and show the potential issues inherent to the
evaluation of such results.
Patients and methods A cross-sectional assessment was
performed of uncomplicated distal hypospadias operated
on during a 3-year period, already toilet trained, and able to
void volitionally. Evaluation included clinical assessment
urinary symptoms and urinary stream, and uroflowmetry.
Results Out of 83 patients operated on during the study
period, 10 (12%) developed complication and 32 were not
toilet trained or refused to participate in the study. Median
follow-up in the remaining 41 patients included in the
study was 20 (3–36) months. None of these patients presented voiding symptoms or urinary stream abnormalities. Uroflowmetry was normal in 30 cases and obstructive in 11
(27%). An obstructive flow pattern was more common in patients undergoing TIP versus Mathieu repair, 8 of 19
(42%) versus 3 of 22 (14%), respectively (P = 0.07). Four TIP cases with an obstructive uroflow pattern were managed conservatively. Conclusions Although both the TIP and the Mathieu
repair allow good results in terms of urinary function after
distal hypospadias repairs, the TIP technique seems more
likely to be associated with urine flow pattern abnormalities. The actual clinical relevance of this finding remains ill
defined
Study on the Mg-Li-Zn ternary alloy system with improved mechanical properties, good degradation performance and different responses to cells
No full textNovel Mg-(3.5, 6.5wt%)Li-(0.5, 2, 4wt%)Zn ternary alloys were developed as new kinds of biodegradable metallic materials with potential for stent application. Their mechanical properties, degradation behavior, cytocompatibility and hemocompatibility were studied. These potential biomaterials showed higher ultimate tensile strength than previously reported binary Mg-Li alloys and ternary Mg-Li-X (X=Al, Y, Ce, Sc, Mn and Ag) alloys. Among the alloys studied, the Mg-3.5Li-2Zn and Mg-6.5Li-2Zn alloys exhibited comparable corrosion resistance in Hank's solution to pure magnesium and better corrosion resistance in a cell culture medium than pure magnesium. Corrosion products observed on the corroded surface were composed of Mg(OH)2, MgCO3 and Ca-free Mg/P inorganics and Ca/P inorganics. In vitro cytotoxicity assay revealed different behaviors of Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVECs) and Human Aorta Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells (VSMCs) to material extracts. HUVECs showed increasing nitric oxide (NO) release and tolerable toxicity, whereas VSMCs exhibited limited decreasing viability with time. Platelet adhesion, hemolysis and coagulation tests of these Mg-Li-Zn alloys showed different degrees of activation behavior, in which the hemolysis of the Mg-3.5Li-2Zn alloy was lower than 5%. These results indicated the potential of the Mg-Li-Zn alloys as good candidate materials for cardiovascular stent applications. Statement of significance: Mg-Li alloys are promising as absorbable metallic biomaterials, which however have not received significant attention since the low strength, controversial corrosion performance and the doubts in Li toxicity. The Mg-Li-Zn alloy in the present study revealed much improved mechanical properties higher than most reported binary Mg-Li and ternary Mg-Li-X alloys, with superior corrosion resistance in cell culture media. Surprisingly, the addition of Li and Zn showed increased nitric oxide release. The present study indicates good potential of Mg-Li-Zn alloy as absorbable cardiovascular stent material.Accepted Author ManuscriptBiomaterials & Tissue Biomechanic
Phase II study of a triple combination of oral vinorelbine, capecitabine and trastuzumab as first-line treatment in HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer.
No full textChemotherapy plus trastuzumab is the standard first-line treatment for Human Epidermal Receptor 2-positive (HER2-positive) metastatic breast cancer. The aim of this international phase II trial was to determine the efficacy and safety profile of an oral chemotherapy doublet, oral vinorelbine plus capecitabine, and trastuzumab in this setting. Patients and Methods: In this single-arm, multicenter, open-label phase II study, in the first-line metastatic setting, patients received 3-weekly cycles of oral vinorelbine at 80 mg/m(2) (first cycle dose 60 mg/m(2)) day 1 and day 8, plus capecitabine at 1000 (750 if >= 65 years) mg/m(2) twice daily on days 1-14, plus trastuzumab at 4 mg/kg intravenously (i.v.) on day 1 (loading dose) then 2 mg/kg i.v. weekly thereafter. Treatment was continued until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Results: Fifty patients with a median age of 53.5 years were enrolled. Most (82%) had visceral involvement and 34% had more than two metastatic sites. The objective response rate (RECIST 1.0) in 44 evaluable patients was 77% [95% Confidence Interval (CI)=62-89%], including complete response in 21%. The clinical benefit rate (response or stable disease for >= 6 months) was 93% [95% CI=81-99%]. Median duration of response was 13.3 [95% CI=9.8-15.7] months, median progression-free survival was 12.8 [95% CI=10.8-16.9] months and median overall survival was 47.0 [95% CI=30.5-64.3] months. Median number of cycles was 10 (range 1-81). The majority of patients (72%) received more than 18 weeks and 32% more than 48 weeks of treatment. The most frequent treatment-related grade 314 adverse events were neutropenia (71%), hand-foot syndrome (20%) and diarrhea (16%). A low-rate of grade 2 alopecia was observed (14%). Conclusion: The triple combination of oral vinorelbine, capecitabine and trastuzumab is highly active in terms of response rate, progression-free survival and overall survival, with a manageable toxicity profile
“Mg” Bone: Ink extrusion-based additive manufacturing of Mg implants
No full textThe treatment of largy bone defect remains challenging in clinics. All the clinically available bone grafts have their own limitations and are not ideal for the treatment. Therefore, developing a new generation of suitable bone substitutes is urgently needed. In the recent years, porous magnesium (Mg) has been extensively studied for orthopedic applications owing to its biodegradability, favorable mechanical properties, and osteopromotive ability. The recent advances in additive manufacturing (AM) provide unprecedented opportunities to design and fabricate porous Mg scaffolds with interconnected porous structures that are favorable for the adhesion and proliferation of bone cells. However, powder bed fusion AM, which is the most commonly used AM technique for fabricating metal structures, has encountered many difficulties in manufacturing Mg due to safety concerns, excessive oxidation, and undesirable compositional variation due to the low boiling temperature of Mg. To alleviate these difficulties, alternative AM techniques that can create highly porous structures at room temperature are highly sought after. The aim of this research was to develop a room-temperature AM technique for manufacturing porous Mg and to characterize the fabricated Mg-based scaffolds in different aspects relevant to their potential applications as bone implants.In this thesis work, we, for the first time, successfully employed extrusion-based 3D printing techniques to fabricate biodegradable porous Mg and Mg-based scaffolds for application in orthopedics. We started with the optimization of the formulated binder system, the printing process, and the subsequent liquid-phase sintering process for the AM of Mg and Mg-based scaffolds. On this basis, a series of Mg and Mg-based porous scaffolds, including Mg alloy and Mg matrix composite scaffolds were successfully fabricated. Then, we conducted comprehensive studies on the microstructure, geometrical characteristics, in vitro biodegradation behavior, mechanical properties, and the in vitro biodegradation and the responses of preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells to the fabricated scaffolds to evaluate the ability of the fabricated scaffolds to satisfy the requirements of ideal bone-substituting biomaterials. By modifying the alloy composition and adding bioceramic components, the properties of the Mg scaffolds required were significantly improved as compared to those of the pure Mg specimens. The fabricated Mg-matrix composite scaffolds were shown to be the most promising materials to be further developed for bone substitution. Surface modification could also contribute to bringing the fabricated Mg scaffolds closer to meeting the requirements. Therefore, with proper material design and surface modification, the Mg-based scaffolds fabricated using extrusion-based 3D printing technique constitute a new category of porous Mg-based biomaterials that hold great promise for application as bone substitutes
Extrusion-based additive manufacturing of Mg-Zn alloy scaffolds
No full textPorous biodegradable Mg and its alloys are considered to have a great potential to serve as ideal bone substitutes. The recent progress in additive manufacturing (AM) has prompted its application to fabricate Mg scaffolds with geometrically ordered porous structures. Extrusion-based AM, followed by debinding and sintering, has been recently demonstrated as a powerful approach to fabricating such Mg scaffolds, which can avoid some crucial problems encountered when applying powder bed fusion AM techniques. However, such pure Mg scaffolds exhibit a too high rate of in vitro biodegradation. In the present research, alloying through a pre-alloyed Mg-Zn powder was ultilized to enhance the corrosion resistance and mechanical properties of AM geometrically ordered Mg-Zn scaffolds simultaneously. The in vitro biodegradation behavior, mechanical properties, and electrochemical response of the fabricated Mg-Zn scaffolds were evaluated. Moreover, the response of preosteoblasts to these scaffolds was systematically evaluated and compared with their response to pure Mg scaffolds. The Mg-Zn scaffolds with a porosity of 50.3% and strut density of 93.1% were composed of the Mg matrix and MgZn2 second phase particles. The in vitro biodegradation rate of the Mg-Zn scaffolds decreased by 81% at day 1, as compared to pure Mg scaffolds. Over 28 days of static immersion in modified simulated body fluid, the corrosion rate of the Mg-Zn scaffolds decreased from 2.3 ± 0.9 mm/y to 0.7 ± 0.1 mm/y. The yield strength and Young's modulus of the Mg-Zn scaffolds were about 3 times as high as those of pure Mg scaffolds and remained within the range of those of trabecular bone throughout the biodegradation tests. Indirect culture of MC3T3-E1 preosteoblasts in Mg-Zn extracts indicated favorable cytocompatibility. In direct cell culture, some cells could spread and form filopodia on the surface of the Mg-Zn scaffolds. Overall, this study demonstrates the great potential of the extrusion-based AM Mg-Zn scaffolds to be further developed as biodegradable bone-substituting biomaterials.Biomaterials & Tissue BiomechanicsTeam Peyman TaheriTeam Arjan Mo
Ca-modified Al–Mg–Sc alloy with high strength at elevated temperatures due to a hierarchical microstructure
No full textAl-Mg alloys are normally prone to lose part of their yield and tensile strength at high temperatures due to insufficient thermal stability of the microstructure. Here, we present a Ca-modified Al–Mg–Sc alloy demonstrating high strength at elevated temperatures. The microstructure contains Al4Ca phases distributed as a network along the grain boundary and Al3(Sc,Zr) nano-particles dispersed within the grains. The microstructure evolution and age-hardening analysis indicate that the combination of an Al4Ca network and Sc-rich nano-particles leads to excellent thermal stability even upon aging at 300 °C. The tensile strength of the alloy for temperatures up to 250 °C is significantly improved by an aging treatment and is comparable with the commercial heat-resistant aluminum alloys, i.e., A356 and A319. At a high temperature of 300 °C, the tensile strength is superior to the above-mentioned commercial alloys, even more so when expressed as the specific strength due to the low density of Ca-modified Al–Mg–Sc alloy. The excellent high-temperature strength results from a synergistic effect of solid solution strengthening, grain boundary strengthening and nanoparticle order strengthening.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Novel Aerospace Material
Influence of surface pretreatment on phosphate conversion coating on AZ91 Mg alloy
No full textSurface pretreatment is generally applied before application of protective coatings on Mg alloys, which influences surface microstructure and electrochemical activity of the substrate and has an effect on the coating properties. The effect of various pretreatment processes (sand-blasting, grinding and polishing) on the microstructure and corrosion protection performance of phosphate conversion coating (PCC) on AZ91D Mg alloy was investigated in the present study. Sand-blasting cleaning significantly increases the surface roughness and electrochemical activity of the substrate, leading to formation of a porous PCC with inferior corrosion protection performance. In the case of ground/polished Mg alloy, the uniformity and corrosion resistance of the resultant conversion coating are mainly related to the surface roughness. Relatively low surface roughness of the substrate facilitates formation of a corrosion protective PCC.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.(OLD) MSE-
A comparative study on the machinability of Mg-based composites: Cemented carbide and cubic boron nitride tools performance
No full textMachining of metal matrix composites (MMC) is a challenging process as they are difficult to cut and cutting tools get worn out in a short time. In this paper, the performance of two industrial carbide grades and a cubic boron nitride (CBN) tool are assessed when machining of AZ91/SiC composites. Mg-based composites with different volume fractions and particle sizes are machined at various cutting conditions to evaluate the tools wear resistance and finished surface. The surface of the worn-out tools and machined samples are analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and roughness tester. Results revealed that the tool wear increased for composites reinforced by smaller particles regardless of the tool type. Additionally, tool grade TH1000 resulted in longer tool life when machining of Mg-based composites compared to the CP500 grade so that at a cutting speed of 70 m/min and feed rate of 0.1 mm/rev, tool life improved nearly 250%. CBN tools showed the best performance when machining of Mg-based composites as tools became worn out after 255 s which is considerable compared to carbide tools. Also, the finished surface caused by cemented carbide CP500 indicated the worst quality.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Ship and Offshore Structure
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