The development of a process to emplace a refractory metal liner inside a gun tube is described. The process consists of filling the liner with an elastomeric material and then slipping this arrangement into the gun tube. The ends of the liner are plugged with plastic disks and pressure is applied to the elastomeric material by a load frame. The original clearance between the liner and gun tube...

Combining single molecule atomic force microscopy (AFM) and protein engineering techniques, here we demonstrate that we can use recombination-based techniques to engineer novel elastomeric proteins by recombining protein fragments from structurally homologous parent proteins. Using I27 and I32 domains from the muscle protein titin as parent template proteins, we systematically shuffled the seco...

This study investigated the cytotoxicity exists between latex and non-latex Orthodontic elastomeric ligatures. Six elastomeric ligatures (1 latex, 2 latex-free and 3 polyurethane) from different manufacturers were divided into 6 groups of 15 elastics each: A (Latex-free, American Orthodontics), M (Polyurethane, Morelli), G (Polyurethane,GAC International), Te (Polyurethane, Tecnident), TP (Natu...

Poly(glycerol sebacate) (PGS) has been proposed for tissue engineering applications owing to its tough elastomeric mechanical properties, biocompatibility and controllable degradation. However, PGS shows limited bioactivity and thus constraining its utilization for musculoskeletal tissue engineering. To address this issue, we developed bioactive, highly elastomeric, and mechanically stiff nanoc...

Recently, novel and uniform deformation-induced pattern transformations have been found in periodic elastomeric cellular solids upon reaching a critical value of applied load [Mullin, T., Deschanel, S., Bertoldi, K., Boyce, M.C., 2007. Pattern transformation triggered by deformation. Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 084301; Boyce, M.C., Prange, S.M., Bertoldi, K., Deschanel, S., Mullin, T., 2008. Mechanics...

AIM To examine two types of orthodontic separators, focusing on the separating effect and patients' perception of pain and discomfort. METHODS The separators tested were spring-type and elastomeric separators. Thirty teenagers participated, and all were scheduled for treatment with a fixed orthodontic appliance. Two spring-type and two elastomeric separators were placed alternately in the lef...

OBJECTIVE Iatrogenic preterm premature rupture of membranes (iPPROM), the main complication of invasive interventions in the prenatal period, seriously limits the benefit of diagnostic or surgical prenatal procedures. This study aimed to evaluate preventive plugging of punctured fetal membranes in an ex vivo situation using a new mussel-mimetic tissue adhesive (mussel glue) to inhibit leakage. ...

BACKGROUND Optimal cell sources and scaffold-cell interactions remain unanswered questions for tissue engineering of heart valves. We assessed the effect of different protein precoatings on a single scaffold type (elastomeric poly (glycerol sebacate)) with a single cell source (endothelial progenitor cells). METHODS AND RESULTS Elastomeric poly (glycerol sebacate) scaffolds were precoated wit...