Nanotubes present one of the most promising opportunities in nanotechnology with a plethora of applications in nanoelectronics, mechanical engineering, as well as in biomedical technology. Due to their structure and some physical properties, boron nitride (BN) nanotubes (BNNTs) possess several advantages over carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and they are now commercially produced and used on a large sc...

STUDY DESIGN A comprehensive systematic review of the literature. OBJECTIVES To assess the modern literature on the use of polyethylene mesh-contained morcelized allograft (PMCMA) bone for spinal fusion and vertebral compression fracture management. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA There are presently no systematic reviews of PMCMA. METHODS A systematic literature review was performed within th...

The manipulation of biological substrates is becoming more popular route towards generating novel computing devices. Physarum polycephalum is used as a model organism in biocomputing because it can create ‘wires’ for use in hybrid circuits; programmable growth by manipulation through external stimuli and the ability withstanding a current and its tolerance to hybridisation with a variety of nan...

Route selection in Cognitive Packet Networks (CPN) occurs continuously for active flows and is driven by the users’ choice of a Quality of Service (QoS) goal. Because routing occurs concurrently to packet forwarding, CPN flows are able to better deal with unexpected variations in network status, while still achieving the desired QoS. Random neural networks (RNN) play a key role in CPN routing a...

Teeth are designed to deliver high forces while withstanding the generated stresses. Aside from isolated mineral-free exception (e.g., marine polychaetes and squids), minerals are thought to be indispensable for tooth-hardening and durability. Here, the unmineralized teeth of the giant keyhole limpet (Megathura crenulata) are shown to attain a stiffness, which is twofold higher than any known o...

Low Earth orbital debris impacts on the external surfaces of satellites have increased dramatically in recent years. Polyimides are used as the outer layer of thermal control insulation blankets, covering most of the external spacecraft surfaces that are exposed to the space environment. A recently developed material, named polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-polyimide, shows significan...

Purpose: Following the discovery of the carcinogenicity of phenolphthalein and the subsequent ban of this compound in several countries this study was undertaken to develop compounded formulations of laxative products containing the stimulant laxatives sennosides A and B. Methods: DSC and HPLC analysis was used to determine the compatibility of sennosides with commonly used excipients before co...

A variety of bacterial pathogens use nanoscale protein fibers called type IV pili to mediate cell adhesion, a primary step leading to infection. Currently, how these nanofibers respond to mechanical stimuli and how this response is used to control adhesion is poorly understood. Here, we use atomic force microscopy techniques to quantify the forces guiding the adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa ...

Designing public key encryption schemes withstanding chosen ciphertext attacks, which is the highest security level for such schemes, is generally perceived as a delicate and intricate task, and for good reason. In the standard model, there are essentially three well-known but quite involved approaches. This state of affairs is to be contrasted with the situation for semantically secure encrypt...

A withstanding question in neuroscience is how neural circuits encode representations and perceptions of the external world. A particularly well-defined visual computation is the representation of global object motion by pattern direction-selective (PDS) cells from convergence of motion of local components represented by component direction-selective (CDS) cells. However, how PDS and CDS cells ...