Review on the Fabrication of Surface Functional Structures for Enhancing Bioactivity of Titanium and Titanium Alloy Implants

Titanium and its alloys have been widely applied in many biomedical fields because of its excellent mechanical properties,corrosion resistance and good biocompatibility.However,problems such as rejection,shedding and infection will occur after titanium alloy implantation due to the low biological activity of titanium alloy surface.The structures with specific functions,which can enhance osseointegration and antibacterial properties,are fabricated on the surface of titanium implants to improve the biological activity between the titanium implants and human tissues.This paper presents a comprehensive review of recent developments and applications of surface functional structure in titanium and titanium alloy implants.The applications of surface functional structure on different titanium and titanium alloy implants are introduced,and their manufacturing technologies are summarized and compared.Furthermore,the fabrication of various surface functional structures used for titanium and titanium alloy implants is reviewed and analyzed in detail.Finally,the challenges affecting the development of surface functional structures applied in titanium and titanium alloy implants are outlined,and recommendations for future research are presented.

Phylogenetic and functional structures of succession in plant communities on mounds of Marmota himalayana in alpine regions on the northeast edge of the QinghaieTibet Plateau

Few studies have examined the succession of plant communities in the alpine zone.Studying the succession of plant communities is helpful to understand how species diversity is formed and maintained.In this study,we used species inventories,a molecular phylogeny,and trait data to detect patterns of phylogenetic and functional community structure in successional plant communities growing on the mounds of Himalayan marmots(Marmota himalayana)on the southeast edge of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.We found that phylogenetic and functional diversities of plant communities on marmot mounds tended to cluster during the early to medium stages of succession,then trended toward overdispersion from medium to late stages.Alpine species in early and late stages of succession were phylogenetically and functionally overdispersed,suggesting that such communities were assembled mainly through species interactions,especially competition.At the medium and late stages of succession,alpine communities growing on marmot mounds were phylogenetically and functionally clustered,implying that the communities were primarily structured by environmental filtering.During the medium and late stages of succession the phylogenetic and functional structures of plant communities on marmot mounds differed significantly from those on neighboring sites.Our results indicate that environmental filtering and species interactions can change plant community composition at different successional stages.Assembly of plant communities on marmot mounds was promoted by a combination of traits that may provide advantages for survival and adaptation during periods of environmental change.

A Hybrid Level Set Optimization Design Method of Functionally Graded Cellular Structures Considering Connectivity

With the continuous advancement in topology optimization and additive manufacturing(AM)technology,the capability to fabricate functionally graded materials and intricate cellular structures with spatially varying microstructures has grown significantly.However,a critical challenge is encountered in the design of these structures–the absence of robust interface connections between adjacent microstructures,potentially resulting in diminished efficiency or macroscopic failure.A Hybrid Level Set Method(HLSM)is proposed,specifically designed to enhance connectivity among non-uniform microstructures,contributing to the design of functionally graded cellular structures.The HLSM introduces a pioneering algorithm for effectively blending heterogeneous microstructure interfaces.Initially,an interpolation algorithm is presented to construct transition microstructures seamlessly connected on both sides.Subsequently,the algorithm enables the morphing of non-uniform unit cells to seamlessly adapt to interconnected adjacent microstructures.The method,seamlessly integrated into a multi-scale topology optimization framework using the level set method,exhibits its efficacy through numerical examples,showcasing its prowess in optimizing 2D and 3D functionally graded materials(FGM)and multi-scale topology optimization.In essence,the pressing issue of interface connections in complex structure design is not only addressed but also a robust methodology is introduced,substantiated by numerical evidence,advancing optimization capabilities in the realm of functionally graded materials and cellular structures.

Functionally graded structure of a nitride-strengthened Mg_(2)Si-based hybrid composite

The ex-situ incorporation of the secondary SiC reinforcement,along with the in-situ incorporation of the tertiary and quaternary Mg_(3)N_(2) and Si_(3)N_(4) phases,in the primary matrix of Mg_(2)Si is employed in order to provide ultimate wear resistance based on the laser-irradiation-induced inclusion of N_(2) gas during laser powder bed fusion.This is substantialized based on both the thermal diffusion-and chemical reactionbased metallurgy of the Mg_(2)Si–SiC/nitride hybrid composite.This study also proposes a functional platform for systematically modulating a functionally graded structure and modeling build-direction-dependent architectonics during additive manufacturing.This strategy enables the development of a compositional gradient from the center to the edge of each melt pool of the Mg_(2)Si–SiC/nitride hybrid composite.Consequently,the coefficient of friction of the hybrid composite exhibits a 309.3%decrease to–1.67 compared to–0.54 for the conventional nonreinforced Mg_(2)Si structure,while the tensile strength exhibits a 171.3%increase to 831.5 MPa compared to 485.3 MPa for the conventional structure.This outstanding mechanical behavior is due to the(1)the complementary and synergistic reinforcement effects of the SiC and nitride compounds,each of which possesses an intrinsically high hardness,and(2)the strong adhesion of these compounds to the Mg_(2)Si matrix despite their small sizes and low concentrations.

3D printing biomimeticmaterials and structures for biomedical applications

Over millions of years of evolution,nature has created organisms with overwhelming performances due to their unique materials and structures,providing us with valuable inspirations for the development of next-generation biomedical devices.As a promising new technology,3D printing enables the fabrication of multiscale,multi-material,and multi-functional threedimensional(3D)biomimetic materials and structures with high precision and great flexibility.The manufacturing challenges of biomedical devices with advanced biomimetic materials and structures for various applications were overcome with the flourishing development of 3D printing technologies.In this paper,the state-of-the-art additive manufacturing of biomimetic materials and structures in the field of biomedical engineering were overviewed.Various kinds of biomedical applications,including implants,lab-on-chip,medicine,microvascular network,and artificial organs and tissues,were respectively discussed.The technical challenges and limitations of biomimetic additive manufacturing in biomedical applications were further investigated,and the potential solutions and intriguing future technological developments of biomimetic 3D printing of biomedical devices were highlighted.

Structures and Functions of Cuticular Wax in Postharvest Fruit and Its Regulation:A Comprehensive Review with Future Perspectives

Cuticular wax plays a major role in the growth and storage of plant fruits.The cuticular wax coating,which covers the outermost layer of a fruit’s epidermal cells,is insoluble in water.Cuticular wax is mainly composed of very long-chain fatty acids(VLCFAs);their derivatives,including esters,primary alcohols,secondary alcohols,aldehydes,and ketones;and triterpenoids.This complex mixture of lipids is probably biosynthesized in the epidermal cells of most plants and exuded onto the surface.Cuticular wax not only makes the fruit less susceptible to microbial infection but also reduces mechanical damage to the fruit,thereby maintaining the fruit’s commodity value.To date,research has mostly focused on the changes,function,and regulation of fruit wax before harvest,while ignoring the changes and functions of wax in fruit storage.This paper reviews on the composition,structure,and metabolic regulation of cuticular wax in fruits.It also focuses on postharvest factors affecting wax composition,such as storage temperature,relative humidity(RH),gas atmosphere,and as exogenous hormones;and the effects of wax on fruit postharvest quality,including water dispersion,fruit softening,physiological disorders,and disease resistance.These summaries may be of assistance in better understanding the changes in cuticular wax in postharvest fruit and the resulting effects on fruit quality.

Functionally Graded Cellular Structure Design Using the Subdomain Level Set Method with Local Volume Constraints

Functional graded cellular structure(FGCS)usually shows superiormechanical behaviorwith lowdensity and high stiffness.With the development of additivemanufacturing,functional graded cellular structure gains its popularity in industries.In this paper,a novel approach for designing functionally graded cellular structure is proposed based on a subdomain parameterized level set method(PLSM)under local volume constraints(LVC).In this method,a subdomain level set function is defined,parameterized and updated on each subdomain independently making the proposed approach much faster and more cost-effective.Additionally,the microstructures on arbitrary two adjacent subdomains can be connected perfectly without any additional constraint.Furthermore,the local volume constraint for each subdomain is applied by virtue of the augmented Lagrange multiplier method.Finally,several numerical examples are given to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the proposed approach in designing the functionally graded cellular structure.From the optimized results,it is also found that the number of local volume constraints has little influence on the convergence speed of the developed approach.

Precipitation is the dominant driver for bird species richness,phylogenetic and functional structure in university campuses in northern China

Background:Although urbanization is threatening biodiversity worldwide,the increasing green urban spaces could harbor relatively high biodiversity.Therefore,how to maintain the biodiversity in urban ecosystem is crucial for sustainable urban planning and management,especially in arid and semiarid regions with relatively fragile environment and low biodiversity.Here,for the first time we linked species richness,phylogenetic and functional structure of bird assemblages in university campuses in northern China with plant species richness,glacial-interglacial climate change,contemporary climate,and anthropogenic factors to compare their relative roles in shaping urban bird diversity.Methods:Bird surveys were conducted in 20 university campuses across Inner Mongolia,China.Ordinary least squares models and simultaneous autoregressive models were used to assess the relationships between bird species richness,phylogenetic and functional structure with environmental factors.Structural equation models were used to capture the direct and indirect effects of these factors on the three components of bird diversity.Results:Single-variable simultaneous autoregressive models showed that mean annual precipitation was consistently a significant driver for bird species richness,phylogenetic and functional structure.Meanwhile,mean annual temperature and plant species richness were also significant predictors for bird species richness.Conclusions:This study suggests that campuses with warmer and wetter climate as well as more woody plant species could harbor more bird species.In addition,wetter campuses tended to sustain over-dispersed phylogenetic and functional structure.Our findings emphasize the dominant effect of precipitation on bird diversity distribution in this arid and semiarid region,even in the urban ecosystem.

Characteristic Functional Structure of Infinitesimal Symmetry Transformations for Nonholonomic System

It was proved that velocity-dependent infinitesima l symmetry transformations of nonholonomic systems have a characteristic functio nal structure, which could be formulated by means of an auxiliary symmetry tra nsformation function and is manifestly dependent upon constants of motion of th e system. An example was given to illustrate the applicability of the results.

Analysis of solution findings in the conceptual design of function structures

In the conceptual stage the function design process is realized by the computer aided application. After surveying on the function specification methods and the function modeling, a computer aided function design environment is analyzed. Subsequently based on a module library and principle catalogue, a solution finding process as a part of conceptual design is proposed for a creative design. In addition, a search algorithm to find the solution of adaptable function structure is also discussed. The concepts proposed in this paper can support the subsequent design stages, especially simulation for checking the function structure defects.

MULTI-SCALE COHERENT STRUCTURES IN TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAYER DETECTED BY LOCALLY AVERAGED VELOCITY STRUCTURE FUNCTIONS

The time sequence of longitudinal velocity component at different vertical locations in turbulent boundary layer was finely measured in a wind tunnel. The concept of coarse_grained velocity structure functions, which describes the relative motions of straining and compressing for multi_scale eddy structures in turbulent flows, was put forward based on the theory of locally multi_scale average. Based on the consistency between coarse_grained velocity structure function and Harr wavelet transformation,detecting method was presented, by which the coherent structures and their intermittency was identified by multi_scale flatness factor calculated by locally average structure function. Phase_averaged evolution course for multi_scale coherent eddy structures in wall turbulence were extracted by this conditional sampling to educe scheme. The dynamics course of multi_scale coherent eddy structures and their effects on statistics of turbulent flows were studied.

Microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity are associated with organic carbon availability in an agricultural soil

Exploration of soil environmental characteristics governing soil microbial community structure and activity may improve our understanding of biogeochemical processes and soil quality. The impact of soil environmental characteristics especially organic carbon availability after 15-yr different organic and inorganic fertilizer inputs on soil bacterial community structure and functional metabolic diversity of soil microbial communities were evaluated in a 15-yr fertilizer experiment in Changping County, Beijing, China. The experiment was a wheat-maize rotation system which was established in 1991 including four different fertilizer treatments. These treatments included： a non-amended control（CK）, a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer treatment（NPK）; a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with swine manure incorporated treatment（NPKM）, and a commonly used application rate of inorganic fertilizer with maize straw incorporated treatment（NPKS）. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis（DGGE） of the 16 S r RNA gene was used to determine the bacterial community structure and single carbon source utilization profiles were determined to characterize the microbial community functional metabolic diversity of different fertilizer treatments using Biolog Eco plates. The results indicated that long-term fertilized treatments significantly increased soil bacterial community structure compared to CK. The use of inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated for long term（NPKM, NPKS） significantly promoted soil bacterial structure than the application of inorganic fertilizer only（NPK）, and NPKM treatment was the most important driver for increases in the soil microbial community richness（S） and structural diversity（H）. Overall utilization of carbon sources by soil microbial communities（average well color development, AWCD） and microbial substrate utilization diversity and evenness indices（H＇ and E） indicated that long-term inorganic fertilizer with organic amendments incorporated（NPKM, NPKS） could significantly stimulate soil microbial metabolic activity and functional diversity relative to CK, while no differences of them were found between NPKS and NPK treatments. Principal component analysis（PCA） based on carbon source utilization profiles also showed significant separation of soil microbial community under long-term fertilization regimes and NPKM treatment was significantly separated from the other three treatments primarily according to the higher microbial utilization of carbohydrates, carboxylic acids, polymers, phenolic compounds, and amino acid, while higher utilization of amines/amides differed soil microbial community in NPKS treatment from those in the other three treatments. Redundancy analysis（RDA） indicated that soil organic carbon（SOC） availability, especially soil microbial biomass carbon（Cmic） and Cmic/SOC ratio are the key factors of soil environmental characteristics contributing to the increase of both soil microbial community structure and functional metabolic diversity in the long-term fertilization trial. Our results showed that long-term inorganic fertilizer and swine manure application could significantly improve soil bacterial community structure and soil microbial metabolic activity through the increases in SOC availability, which could provide insights into the sustainable management of China＇s soil resource.

3D Printing of Tough Hydrogel Scaffolds with Functional Surface Structures for Tissue Regeneration

Hydrogel scaffolds have numerous potential applications in the tissue engineering field.However,tough hydrogel scaffolds implanted in vivo are seldom reported because it is difficult to balance biocompatibility and high mechanical properties.Inspired by Chinese ramen,we propose a universal fabricating method(printing-P,training-T,cross-linking-C,PTC&PCT)for tough hydrogel scaffolds to fill this gap.First,3D printing fabricates a hydrogel scaffold with desired structures(P).Then,the scaffold could have extraordinarily high mechanical properties and functional surface structure by cycle mechanical training with salting-out assistance(T).Finally,the training results are fixed by photo-cross-linking processing(C).The tough gelatin hydrogel scaffolds exhibit excellent tensile strength of 6.66 MPa(622-fold untreated)and have excellent biocompatibility.Furthermore,this scaffold possesses functional surface structures from nanometer to micron to millimeter,which can efficiently induce directional cell growth.Interestingly,this strategy can produce bionic human tissue with mechanical properties of 10 kPa-10 MPa by changing the type of salt,and many hydrogels,such as gelatin and silk,could be improved with PTC or PCT strategies.Animal experiments show that this scaffold can effectively promote the new generation of muscle fibers,blood vessels,and nerves within 4 weeks,prompting the rapid regeneration of large-volume muscle loss injuries.

Discussion on "Thermomagnetic viscoelastic responses in a functionally graded hollow structure"

Allam and Tantawy [1] presented an analytical solu- tion for stress distribution and perturbations of the magnetic field vector in FGM hollow structures made from viscoelas- tic composite materials .While studying this article, the dis- cusser noticed a confusion in regarding Maxwell＇s electro- magnetic stress expression

Enhancing the Efficiency of the Management of Real Estate Companies through Organizational Structures

The article represents research on ways to make the management of real estate companies more efficient, starting from their structural organization. The organizational structure of the enterprise is a basic component of the general structure of the company and reflects the “anatomy of the enterprise” and the way of its conception, detailing, and implementation directly influence the activities required to achieve the objectives of the enterprise. On closer examination of a series of organizational charts of real estate management companies, the author observed a tendency to use organizational structures that are inefficient. The main objectives of this article are to bring into the practice of real estate management a model of beneficial organizational structure, both for the real estate management companies and for the construction companies that, besides the building activity, also deal with the management of their own real estate, and to emphasize the particular importance of the organizational structure of the company. The appreciation of the organizational structure represents the process of knowledge, understanding, and explanation of the existing situation through a detailed analysis of the factors that influence its condition through: the enterprise development strategy;the type and complexity of services;the size of the enterprise;the quality of human resources;the changes that take place in the external environment of the company, and last but not least, the legal framework and the statutes of the enterprise.

EFFECT OF STRUCTURE OF FUNCTIONAL POLYMER ACTIVE MATERIALS ON PROPERTIES OF GADOLINIUM ION SELECTIVE ELECTRODE

In this paper,the functional polymeric active materials were prepared by the grafting copolymerization and their structure and properties were studied.The results show that the structure and properties of these ac- tive materials have the relative large effects on the properties of gadolinium ion selective electrodes.

Information-Body Relation and Information as a Solution of the Consciousness Problem in the Biological Structures

This paper approaches two main philosophical questions concerning the biological structures,from unicellular to multicellular organisms:one of them(i),referred to the information-body relation,as an extension of the mind-body relation at human,and another one(ii),to the consciousness problem,concerning the existence and nature of consciousness(if any),at the inferior organisms on the complexity scale,as this concept is known at humans.As philosophy benefits of the privilege to use data/concepts from other sciences to obtain philosophical conclusions,there were included detailed descriptions of some key biologic mechanisms,analyzed from informational perspective,necessary just to support/demonstrate/reinforce the informational nature/substrate of the mentioned relations.The analysis of the close relation between information and body,related to the structuration and functional properties of the biological organisms,from cells to multicellular structures,shows that all of them are able to“embody/disembody”information during/by structuration/destructuration processes of matter,in particular that of DNA/RNA/proteins,their functions appearing as a result of their informational capabilities to internally manage the inter-connection with environment,primarily due to their permanent dependence on the food resources and adaptation/survival needs.The experimental and theoretical studies,revealing/documenting on one hand the automatic management of maintenance metabolic processes,the reproduction,and growth/development,and on the other hand the adaptive decision-making/sentient processes as a responsive reaction to the environmental cues,show/support the consistency of the informational model of the human body and living structures on the entire biological scale,providing support to the informational solution of the stated problems(i)and(ii).A distinct attention is paid to plants,which are organisms without nervous system,but which show/manifest also informational capabilities to detect/react to information and to modulate their behavior accordingly.The question if the living organisms possess a pseudo/proto-consciousness level as a consequence of the informational activity of their body,distinct from human,but active in any biological structure under certain conditions is furthermore discussed,and a reliable definition of rudimentary pseudo/proto-consciousness level is given/described and compared with other empirical/theoretical concepts.

From structural to functional imaging:the developments of clinical ophthalmology optical coherence tomography

Starting with introduction of basic concept of optical coherence tomography(OCT) techniques,this paper focuses on a detailed review of ophthalmic OCT instruments and their clinical applications. As one of the most important inventions of ophthalmology instruments,OCT has become a standard imaging tool for daily ophthalmic diagnosis. The imaging capability has been significantly improved during the past ~ 30 years. In this article,several representing systems which have made significant contributions to OCT developments will be reviewed in details. For each system,the system configuration will be discussed first,follow ed by a brief introduction of their clinical applications. The review concludes with discussions on potential directions of OCT developments and expectations for further improvements of OCT imaging capabilities.

Review of forest ecology studies in China

As the most important type or component in the terrestrial ecosystems, forest ecosystem makes its role obviously prominent and important on environment and human being. It possesses non-substitutable functions in the process of sustainable development. However, due to the complexity of the forest ecosystem and the relatively delay or lack of the related research technology, the science is still in the case of immature and questions. This paper summarized and reviewed briefly the development and the present case of the forest ecology, then pointed out the existing problems in the forest ecosystem researches. In the end, we discussed several fields that need to pay more attention to in future researches.

Antibody-Like Phosphorylation Sites in Focus of Statistically Based Bilingual Approach

In accordance with previous reports, the sequences related to phosporylated protein segments occur in conserved variable domains of immunoglobulins including first of all certain N-terminally located segments. Consequently, we look here for the sequences 1) composing human and mouse proteins different from antigen receptors, 2) identical with or highly similar to nucleotide sequence representatives of conserved variable immunoglobulin segments and 3) identical with or closely related to phosphorylation sites. More precisely, we searched for the corresponding actual pairs of DNA and protein sequence segments using five-step bilingual approach employing among others a) different types of BLAST searches, b) two in-principle-different machine-learning methods predicting phosphorylated sites and c) two large databases recording existing phosphorylation sites. The approach identified seven existing phosphorylation sites and thirty-seven related human and mouse segments achieving limits for several predictions or phylogenic parameters. Mostly serines phosporylated with ataxia-telangiectasia-related kinase (involved in regulation of DNA-double-strand-break repair) were indicated or predicted in this study. Hypermutation motifs, located in effective positions of the selected sequence segments, occurred significantly less frequently in transcribed than non-transcribed DNA strands suggesting thus the incidence of mutation events. In addition, marked differences between the numbers and proportions of human and mouse cancer-related sequence items were found in different steps of selection process. The possible role of hypermutation changes within the selected segments and the observed structural relationships are discussed here with respect to DNA damage, carcinogenesis, cancer vaccination, ageing and evolution. Taken together, our data represent additional and sometimes perhaps complementary information to the existing databases of empirically proven phosphorylation sites or pathogenically important spots.