Guidance on biomaterials for periodontal tissue regeneration: Fabrication methods, materials and biological considerations.

Regeneration of the multiple tissues and interfaces in the periodontal complex necessitates multidisciplinary evaluation to establish structure/function relationships. This article, an initiative of the Academy of Dental Materials, provides guidance for performing chemical, structural, and mechanical characterization of materials for periodontal tissue regeneration, and outlines important recommendations on methods of testing bioactivity, biocompatibility, and antimicrobial properties of biomaterials/scaffolds for periodontal tissue engineering. First, we briefly summarize periodontal tissue engineering fabrication methods.

Assessing the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the energy consumption of university buildings.

Exceptional pandemic lockdown measures enabled singular experiments such as analysing the energy consumption of vacant buildings. This paper assesses the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on the energy use of academic buildings. For this purpose, weather-adjusted energy use was compared before and during the lockdown, including different levels of lockdown restrictions.

GPS-SLAM: An Augmentation of the ORB-SLAM Algorithm.

This work presents Global Positioning System-Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (GPS-SLAM), an augmented version of Oriented FAST (Features from accelerated segment test) and Rotated BRIEF (Binary Robust Independent Elementary Features) feature detector (ORB)-SLAM using GPS and inertial data to make the algorithm capable of dealing with low frame rate datasets. In general, SLAM systems are successful in case of datasets with a high frame rate. This work was motivated by a scarce dataset where ORB-SLAM often loses track because of the lack of continuity.

Towards Productive Cities: Environmental Assessment of the Food-Energy-Water Nexus of the Urban Roof Mosaic.

Cities are rapidly growing and need to look for ways to optimize resource consumption. Metropolises are especially vulnerable in three main systems, often referred to as the FEW (i.e.

III-V Integration on Si(100): Vertical Nanospades.

III-V integration on Si(100) is a challenge: controlled vertical vapor liquid solid nanowire growth on this platform has not been reported so far. Here we demonstrate an atypical GaAs vertical nanostructure on Si(100), coined nanospade, obtained by a nonconventional droplet catalyst pinning. The Ga droplet is positioned at the tip of an ultrathin Si pillar with a radial oxide envelope.

Accurate Determination of the Frequency Response Function of Submerged and Confined Structures by Using PZT-Patches†.

To accurately determine the dynamic response of a structure is of relevant interest in many engineering applications. Particularly, it is of paramount importance to determine the Frequency Response Function (FRF) for structures subjected to dynamic loads in order to avoid resonance and fatigue problems that can drastically reduce their useful life. One challenging case is the experimental determination of the FRF of submerged and confined structures, such as hydraulic turbines, which are greatly affected by dynamic problems as reported in many cases in the past.

The Mendeleev-Meyer force project.

Here we present the Mendeleev-Meyer Force Project which aims at tabulating all materials and substances in a fashion similar to the periodic table. The goal is to group and tabulate substances using nanoscale force footprints rather than atomic number or electronic configuration as in the periodic table. The process is divided into: (1) acquiring nanoscale force data from materials, (2) parameterizing the raw data into standardized input features to generate a library, (3) feeding the standardized library into an algorithm to generate, enhance or exploit a model to identify a material or property.

Unlocking higher harmonics in atomic force microscopy with gentle interactions.

In dynamic atomic force microscopy, nanoscale properties are encoded in the higher harmonics. Nevertheless, when gentle interactions and minimal invasiveness are required, these harmonics are typically undetectable. Here, we propose to externally drive an arbitrary number of exact higher harmonics above the noise level.

Coherent extreme ultraviolet light amplification by strong-field-enhanced forward scattering.

We theoretically study the response of He atoms exposed simultaneously to an intense IR pulse and a weak extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulse with photon energies far from the principal atomic He resonances. We find that XUV forward scattering from the nonstationary electronic wave packet promoted by the intense IR driving field is strongly enhanced as compared with the normal weak scattering from bound or free electrons. Based on this effect, we predict that large amplification of XUV radiation can be achieved in the cutoff spectral region of high-harmonic generation in He gas.

Drug delivery systems using sandwich configurations of electrospun poly(lactic acid) nanofiber membranes and ibuprofen.

The primary advantages of electrospun membranes include the ability to obtain very thin fibers that are on the order of magnitude of several nanometers with a considerable superficial area and the possibility for these membranes to be manipulated and processed for many different applications. The purpose of this study is to evaluate and quantify the transport mechanisms that control the release of drugs from polymer-based sandwich membranes produced using the electrospinning processes. These electrospun membranes were composed of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) because it is one of the most promising biodegradable polymers due to its mechanical properties, thermoplastic processability and biological properties, such as its biocompatibility and biodegradability.

Investigation of Nanoscale Interactions by Means of Subharmonic Excitation.

Multifrequency atomic force microscopy holds promise as a method to provide qualitative and quantitative information about samples with high spatial resolution. Here, we provide experimental evidence of the excitation of subharmonics in ambient conditions in the regions where capillary interactions are predicted to be the mechanism of excitation. We also experimentally decouple a second mechanism for subharmonic excitation that is highly independent of environmental conditions such as relative humidity.

Spatial horizons in amplitude and frequency modulation atomic force microscopy.

In dynamic atomic force microscopy (AFM) the cantilever is vibrated and its dynamics are monitored to probe the sample with nanoscale and atomic resolution. Amplitude and frequency modulation atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM and FM-AFM) have established themselves as the most powerful methods in the field. Nevertheless, it is still debatable whether one or the other technique is preferred in a given medium or experiment.