STUDY DESIGN This is an experimental animal study. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare an anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion of a novel polylactide/nano-sized β-tricalcium phosphate (PLA/nβ-TCP) bioabsorbable self-retaining cervical fusion cage (BCFC) with an autologous bone graft and polyetheretherketone (PEEK) cages. BACKGROUND Although PLA cervical cages h...

From 2007 to June 2013, a small group of fee-paying, high-speed traders receive the Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment two seconds before its broader release. Within this early peek window, we find highly concentrated trading and a fast price discovery of less than 200 milliseconds. Outside this narrow window, general investors trade at fully adjusted prices. We further establish a casual rel...

The average life span of knee prosthesis used in Total Knee Replacement (TKR) is approximately 10 to 15 years. Literature indicates that the reasons for implant failures include wear, infection, instability, and stiffness. However, the majority of failures are due to wear and tear of the prosthesis. The most common biopolymer used in TKR  is Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE). Pr...

Materials used for fixed partial denture (FPD) frameworks have had properties of excellent strength, durability, and biocompatibility. Some of the materials which have been used till date include alloys, ceramics, and high-performance polymers such as zirconia, Ni-Cr, lithium disilicate, and so on. All these, though excellent, have their advantages and disadvantages. Hence, the search has alway...

Children's ability to deceive was examined in order to determine whether they are able to hide their emotional expression intentionally. Three-year-oids were instructed not to peek at a toy while the experimenter left the room. When asked, the great majority either denied that they peeked or would not answer the question. Facial and bodily activity did not differentiate the deceivers from the t...

A nanostructure of graphene oxide (GO) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) decorated with silver nanoparticles (AgGNT) has been prepared via a molecular-level-mixing (MLM) method followed by subsequent freeze-drying reduction process. The obtained well-dispersed AgGNT nanostructures were then applied as fillers to reinforce the poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) matrix. AgGNT-PEEK composites have demonstr...

Heavy ion tracks in polymer membranes can be transformed into microand nano-channels by means of wet-chemical etching. Up to now most commonly polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene therephthalate (PET) and polyimide (PI) membranes were employed for this purpose. For some applications such as proton conductive membranes for fuel cells, high resistance of the material against heat and solvents as well...

Compared to the common selective laser sintering (SLS) manufacturing method, fused deposition modeling (FDM) seems to be an economical and efficient three-dimensional (3D) printing method for high temperature polymer materials in medical applications. In this work, a customized FDM system was developed for polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) materials printing. The effects of printing speed, layer th...