Behind Amor Blunt Trauma Lung and Liver Strains From Indenter Loading Via Finite Element Modeling.

To determine behind armor blunt trauma (BABT) injury criteria, experiments have been conducted by launching blunt projectiles at live swine at velocities up to 65 meters per second (m/s) using one type of indenter design. To ensure the generalizability of the developed injury criteria, additional tests with different indenter designs are needed. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the kinematics and injury parameters from two indenter designs using human body finite element modeling.

Adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic on a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Objective: Describe the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on subject enrollment in a multicenter randomized controlled trial.

Study Design: We assessed the number of eligible infants approached and consented for enrollment over five separate epochs including baseline, peak pandemic, and gradual but incomplete recovery.

Result: The pandemic had a major effect on ability to approach parents for consent.

Transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion with a silicon nitride cage demonstrates early radiographic fusion.

Background: Degeneration of the lumbar spine is common in aging adults and reflects a significant morbidity burden in this population. In selected patients that prove unresponsive to non-surgical treatment, posterior lumbar fusion (PLF) surgery, with or without adjunctive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) can relieve pain and improve function. We describe here the radiographic fusion rates for PLF versus TLIF, using an intervertebral spinal cage made of silicon nitride ceramic (chemical formula SiN).

Antifungal activity of polymethyl methacrylate/SiN composites against Candida albicans.

Previous studies using gram-positive and -negative bacteria demonstrated that hydrolysis of silicon nitride (SiN) in aqueous suspensions elutes nitrogen and produces gaseous ammonia while buffering pH. According to immunochemistry assays, fluorescence imaging, and in situ Raman spectroscopy, we demonstrate here that the antipathogenic surface chemistry of SiN can be extended to polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) by compounding it with a minor fraction (~8 vol.%) of SiN particles without any tangible loss in bulk properties.

Silicon nitride: a potent solid-state bioceramic inactivator of ssRNA viruses.

Surface inactivation of human microbial pathogens has a long history. The Smith Papyrus (2600 ~ 2200 B.C.