Dentin is a biological composite exhibiting multilevel hierarchical structure, which confers excellent damage tolerance to this tissue. Despite the progress in characterization of fracture behavior of dentin, the contribution of composite structure consisting of peritubular dentin (PTD), intertubular dentin (ITD) and tubules to fracture resistance remains elusive. In this study, calculations are carried out for energy release rate associated with crack propagation in the microstructure of dentin.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFZinc (Zn) contaminants in the aquatic environment have an intricate impact on amphibians. Amphibian gut and skin microbiota are participated in regulating their normal physiological functions. Here, we investigated the effects of Zn on the gut and skin tissues and microbiota of Bufo gargarizans and Rana chensinensis tadpoles using histological methods and 16S rRNA sequencing technology.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe crystallization of materials from a suspension determines the structure and function of the final product, and numerous pieces of evidence have pointed out that the classical crystallization pathway may not capture the whole picture of the crystallization pathways. However, visualizing the initial nucleation and further growth of a crystal at the nanoscale has been challenging due to the difficulties of imaging individual atoms or nanoparticles during the crystallization process in solution. Recent progress in nanoscale microscopy had tackled this problem by monitoring the dynamic structural evolution of crystallization in a liquid environment.
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