The surface roughness of orthodontic archwires is an essential factor that determines the effectiveness of arch-guided tooth movement. Using the non-destructive techniques of atomic force microscopy (AFM) and of laser specular reflectance, the surface roughness of 11 nickel-titanium orthodontic wires, a stainless steel and a beta-titanium wire was measured. The results were compared with those ...

The strong π-π interactions in the stacking layers of two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks (2D-COFs), together with rotationally labile imine linkages, make most of the solid state imine-linked COFs non-fluorescent due to fluorescence quenching processes. Here, we report the successful synthesis of highly photoluminescent imine-based 2D-COFs by integrating a non-planar building unit with...

Attapulgite (palygorskite) and sepiolite are fibrous clay minerals used commercially as components in a wide variety of products including oil and grease adsorbents, carriers for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and pesticides. They are also components of drilling muds and animal litter and they are used as paint thickeners. The current annual worldwide production of these minerals exceeds one milli...

___ ____________ _ Six types of commercially available arterial screen filters ranging from 20 to 40 microns pore size were evaluated for their efficiency in removing particulate matter. Five filters of each of these six commercial types were tested, for a total of thirty filters. Three sizes of polystryene microspheres ranging from 25 to 53 microns in diameter were used to simulate particulate...

The nerve endings of the adrenal medulla of the rabbit were studied under the electron microscope in the normal condition and after prolonged electrical stimulation of the splanchnic nerve. With a stimulus of 100 pulses per second for 10 minutes, there is an increase in the number of synaptic vesicles in the nerve ending. The mean number is of 82.6 vesicles per square micron in the normal and o...

The development of a space-qualifiable 2-micron laser is beneficial to both the Exploration and Earth science technology goals. Recently, significant advancements in the laser development have been made under the Laser Risk Reduction Program. One Joule per pulse energy was achieved by a Master-Oscillator-Power-Amplifier (MOPA) system. To our knowledge, it is the highest recorded energy at this ...

The Si-coated SiC (Si-SiC) composite nanoparticle was prepared by non-transferred arc thermal plasma processing of solid-state synthesized SiC powder and was used as a sintering additive for SiC ceramic formation. Sintered SiC pellet was prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) process, and the effect of nano-sized Si-SiC composite particles on the sintering behavior of micron-sized SiC powder ...

Vibratory perception thresholds were measured by an electromagnetic device applied over the clavicles of 64 patients with spinal cord injuries. Patients with neurological levels of C5 and below had low threshold values (0.63 +/- 0.23 micron of vibration amplitude; mean +/- SD) which were used as reference values. The patients with a neurological level of C1/2 had very high vibratory thresholds ...

Simultaneous detection of multiple molecular targets can greatly facilitate early diagnosis and drug discovery. Encoding micron-sized beads with optically active tags is one of the most popular methods to achieve multiplexing. Noble metal nanoparticle labels for optical detection by surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) exhibit narrow bandwidths, high photostability and intense Raman signa...

The commercial off the shelf (COTS) twelve channel optical fiber MTP array connector and ribbon cable assembly is being validated for space flight use and the results of this study to date are presented here. The interconnection system implemented for the Parallel Fiber Optic Data Bus (PFODB) physical layer will include a 100 /140 micron diameter optical fiber in the cable configuration among o...