Biomechanics of a bone-periodontal ligament-tooth fibrous joint.

This study investigates bone-tooth association under compression to identify strain amplified sites within the bone-periodontal ligament (PDL)-tooth fibrous joint. Our results indicate that the biomechanical response of the joint is due to a combinatorial response of the constitutive properties of organic, inorganic, and fluid components. Second maxillary molars within intact maxillae (N=8) of 5-month-old rats were loaded with a μ-XCT-compatible in situ loading device at various permutations of displacement rates (0.

Plasma-induced formation of Ag nanodots for ultra-high-enhancement surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates.

We report here plasma-induced formation of Ag nanostructures for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) applications. An array of uniform Ag patterned structures of 150 nm diameter was first fabricated on a silicon substrate with imprint lithography; then the substrate was further treated with an oxygen plasma to fracture the patterned structures into clusters of smaller, interconnected, closely packed Ag nanoparticles (20-60 nm) and redeposited Ag nanodots ( approximately 10 nm) between the clusters. The substrate thus formed had a uniform ultrahigh SERS enhancement factor (1010) over the entire substrate for 4-mercaptophenol molecules.