1,720,965 research outputs found
Data-Driven Innovations in Joint Replacement: Do Ceramic Femoral Heads Contribute to Polyethylene Oxidation?
No full textRenewed attention is being paid to biomaterials used in total hip arthroplasty (THA) given the continued clinical problems of osteolysis and aseptic loosening which result from the long-term wear of acetabular polyethylene (PE) bearing surfaces. One advantage of using ceramic femoral heads is low PE wear, presumably because of the ceramics ' bioinert behavior. However, beyond simple mechanical abrasion, marked differences have been found in the degradation of PE when coupled with different ceramic materials. This study examined the surface characteristics and performance of oxide-based (zirconia-toughened alumina, ZTA) and non-oxide (silicon nitride, Si3N4) femoral heads. Under articulation, ZTA femoral heads were found to release detectable amounts of oxygen from their surfaces into the tribolayer, which resulted in enhanced PE oxidation. In contrast, femoral heads made from Si3N4 scavenged oxygen from the tribolayer, thereby limiting the degradation of PE. This work is the first to challenge the assumption that ceramic materials are inherently stable in vivo, and suggests that the longevity of THA prostheses may depend on the material properties of the ceramic used during surgery. Neglecting these important physical chemistry aspects impedes the scientific development of new materials and favors monopolistic economics in the market, leading to limited choices for surgeons
Raman polarization analysis of highly crystalline polyethylene fiber
Full text linkThe complex orientation dependence in space of Raman active vibrations in the orthorhombic structure of polyethylene (PE) is discussed in terms of Raman tensor elements as intrinsic physical parameters of the lattice. Building upon the symmetry assignment of these vibrational modes, we systematically studied, from both theoretical and experimental viewpoints, the changes of polarized intensity for the A(g) and the B-2g + B-3g vibrational modes with respect to PE molecular orientation. After explicitly expanding the Raman selection rules associated with the Ag and the B-2g + B-3g modes, introducing them into general expressions of the orientation distribution function, and validating them by means of a least-square fitting procedure on experimental data, we compare here two mesostructural models for a highly crystallized and self-aligned PE fiber structure. Stereological arguments are shown concerning the arrangement of orthorhombic fibrils in such a sample that unfold the correct values of five independent Raman tensor elements for orthorhombic PE. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
New method to measure thermal shock resistance in ceramics using a piezo-spectroscopic technique
Full text linkA new method for assessing the critical temperature in thermally shocked ceramics is proposed. It is based on the measurement of stress relaxation of residual stresses as a consequence of thermal shock. The change in the stress-field is determined by piezo-spectroscopic technique. The technique is described and the results analyzed. The values obtained are compared with those obtained by the conventional method based on strength degradation measured on test pieces quenched at different temperatures. The agreement among the data is very good
Raman tensor analysis of hexagonal polyoxymethylene and its application to study the molecular arrangement in highly crystalline electrospun nanofibers
Full text linkThe orientation dependence in space of Raman-active vibrations in the hexagonal structure of polyoxymethylene (POM) is discussed in terms of Raman tensor elements as intrinsic physical parameters of the lattice. The variation of polarized intensity for the A1 and the E1 vibrational modes with respect to the POM molecular orientation is systematically studied, from both theoretical and experimental viewpoints, according to the symmetry assignments of each vibrational mode. A set of working equations including the Raman selection rules associated with the A1 and the E1 modes and the orientation distribution function are explicitly formulated and validated by means of a least-square fitting procedure on experimental data. In addition, an approach based on the introduction of orientation distribution functions is applied to quantitatively assess and compare on a statistical base the molecular orientation of two different types of electrospun POM nanofibers. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
Atmospheric pressure plasma jet polymerization of silicon-based coatings for the protection of glass from atmospheric alteration
No full textVariations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Chemically driven tetragonal-to-monoclinic polymorphic transformation in retrieved ZTA femoral heads from dual mobility hip implants
No full textTwo short-term (two and nine months) retrieved zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) femoral heads and nine pristine femoral heads from the same manufacturer have been investigated with respect to their surface stability by means of confocal Raman spectroscopy. Quantitative estimations of monoclinic volume fraction have been carried out in both non-wear and main wear zones of the retrieved heads, which invariantly showed high volume fractions of monoclinic polymorph. In-depth (sub-surface) profiles, non-destructively collected in the main wear zones with the Raman probe in confocal configuration, indeed confirmed that polymorphic transformation was extended down to 100 mu m below the bearing surface of the femoral heads. Acceleration of tetragonal-to-monoclinic transformation rate leads to unexpectedly high fractions of monoclinic phase within very short-term in-vivo exposures. Phase transformation in-vivo is much more marked than what one could actually predict according to simply simulating a hydrothermal environment in-vitro and could not be simply ascribed to the mechanical stress fields generated during normal service at the bearing surface. Instead, the chemical consequences of metal contamination on the ZTA femoral head surface are shown to play the most detrimental role in phase destabilization. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
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