Daisuke Yonekura

Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitor delays fracture healing in rats

Background Cyclooxigenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors have been reported to delay fracture healing. To investigate the major inhibitory period of COX-2 inhibitors in fracture healing, we administrated etodolac, a COX-2-specific inhibitor, to a rat fracture model by altering the period of administration from early to late. Method After closed fractures had been created at the middle of the femoral shafts in 12-week-old Wister rats, a standardized dose of etodolac was administrated in three ways: group I received it for 3 weeks, group II for just the first week after operation, and group III for just the third (final) week. Group IV was the vehicle control group. Bone maturation was estimated by radiographic scoring system, and mechanically by a three-point bending test. Results and interpretation In both the radiographic and mechanical studies, groups I and II showed lower scores than group IV, indicating that even a short period of administration of a COX-2-specific inhibitor in the early phase of fracture healing creates a risk of delayed healing. ▪

Three dimensional finite element analysis of the pediatric lumbar spine. Part II: biomechanical change as the initiating factor for pediatric isthmic spondylolisthesis at the growth plate

A non-linear 3-dimensional finite element pediatric lumbar spine model with vertebral growth plate and apophyseal bony ring was developed. Lumbar spondylolysis was simulated in the model. The Von Mises stresses in the structures surrounding the vertebral growth plate, including apophyseal bony ring and osseous endplate were calculated in various loading modes. Instantaneous axis of rotation (IAR) path from flexion to extension was also analyzed. The results were compared with those of the intact model and the literature. The IAR path was at the posterior disc-endplate space of the lower vertebra in the intact spine, and moved cranially towards the upper-posterior disc space in the lytic spine. This was in agreement with in vivo radiological data by Sakamaki et al. [19]. During various loading modes, stresses in the spondylolytic pediatric model were higher than that of the intact model; ranging from 1.1 to 6.0 times, with the highest value in extension at the growth plate. In conclusion, FE models indicate that stress concentrations in the lytic model increase at the growth plate which may lead to physis stress fracture leading to spondylolisthesis.

Sulfuric acid treatment of halloysite nanoclay to improve the mechanical properties of PVA/halloysite transparent composite films

In this study, halloysite nanoclay was subjected to sulfuric acid treatment and used as a reinforcing agent in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Halloysite is one of the natural substances that is currently recognized as having a nanotubular structure resembling carbon nanotubes. Halloysite nanotubes are 50 nm in diameter, 0.5–1 μm in length and 15 nm in inner diameter. PVA, a synthetic polymer with characteristics such as biodegradability, water solubility, and transparency, was used as the matrix. The PVA/halloysite films were characterized by tensile test, scanning electron microscopy, and optical transmittance. The tensile strength of PVA/untreated-halloysite film was decreased, although Young’s modulus was increased compared with those of neat PVA film. Sulfuric acid treatment was performed on halloysite to improve its interfacial adhesion with PVA. PVA/halloysite films using halloysite treated for a short time (less than 2 h) had improved tensile strength, Young’s modulus and optical transmittance compared with PVA/untreated-halloysite films, however composite films using halloysite treated for longer times had reduced properties.

A Study on Fatigue Fracture Mechanism of Cr-Mo Steel SCM435 in Super Long Life Range

For high strength steels, a characteristic fatigue behavior, which S-N curve comes down again in the long life region of N > 107 cycles, was reported by many researchers. Specifically, for high strength steel, the fatigue limit is temporal value because of the fish-eye fracture in the long life region over about N = 107 cycles. However, fish eye fracture does not appear for medium strength steel in super long life range. In this paper, cantilever-type rotational bending fatigue tests were carried out for quenched and tempered Cr-Mo steel (JIS: SCM435) up to 109 cycles at room temperature in air. The S-N curve showed a horizontal part in long life region over 107 cycles. In addition, fish- eye fracture was not observed and for all specimens, the crack initiation occurred from the specimen surface. The fatigue fracture behavior of SCM435 in super long life was discussed based on optical microscopy observation and scanning electron microscopy observation.

Influence of ion bombardment on critical load of CrN film deposited onto aluminum alloy by arc ion plating method

To improve the adhesive strength between the film and substrate, ion bombardment is frequently performed before the deposition of thin film coatings. In this study scratch tests were carried out on aluminum alloy protected with CrN film coated by arc ion plating method. In order to investigate the influence of ion bombardment conditions on the adhesive strength between the aluminum alloy substrate and the CrN coating, the ion bombardment process was performed before CrN coating under several different bias voltages. The properties near the interface were analyzed using SIMS. As a result, the ion bombardment process had an optimum condition and excessive bias voltage reduced the critical load. A Cr rich layer forms near the substrate surface by implantation of Cr ions due to the high incident energy ions. The Cr rich layer is shallow for the high critical load sample, while the low critical load sample has a deep Cr rich layer. It appears that the adhesion strength between the substrate and the film will depend on the depth or intensity of this Cr rich layer.

Effects of Dynamic Ion Mixing Coating Condition for Fatigue Properties of Stainless Steel with TiN Film

Four point bending fatigue tests were carried out using martensitic stainless steel with TiN film deposited at five different deposition rates by dynamic ion mixing process in order to investigate the influence of deposition rate on the fatigue strength. As a result, the fatigue limit clearly increased by the deposition at appropriate conditions. However, the deposition by other conditions resulted in the degradation of fatigue strength. This is caused by the decrease of threshold stress intensity factor after TiN deposition and the difference of defect distribution in the film. In addition, the crack propagation rate was increased in low stress intensity factor range by the deposition of TiN film.

Study of Boron-Doped Diamond Films by Microwave Plasma CVD Method

Boron-doped diamonds were deposited by microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition (MPCVD) method in order to investigate the influence of inlet boron concentration on the film properties. The substrate material of the specimens was pure titanium (99.9 %). Boron source was introduced into the vacuum chamber by bubbling of B2O3, acetone and methanol mixture. Samples were produced with different B2O3 concentrations in mixture (1000 ppm, 5000 ppm, and 10000 ppm). The surface morphology of the samples was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM). X-ray diffraction was used to identify crystal structures of the films. Secondary ion mass spectroscopy was used to examine the qualitative boron contents in the films. For low B2O3 concentrations in liquid mixture (1000 ppm), the surface morphology of the film showed both micro crystalline diamond and nano crystalline diamond. For medium B2O3 concentrations in liquid mixture (5000 ppm), the surface morphology of the film was also consisted of micro crystalline diamond and nano crystalline diamond. However, the content of micro crystalline diamond decreased in comparison with low B2O3 concentration. For high B2O3 concentration in liquid mixture (10000 ppm), the surface morphology of the film was almost dominated by nano crystalline diamond. Therefore, the crystal size of boron doped diamond decreased with increasing boron concentration. From these results, it appears that boron will restrain the growth of diamond crystal during deposition.

Fatigue Properties of Nitride Cr-Mo Steel with CrN Thin Film Deposited by Aip Method

In this study, we selected the nitride Cr-Mo Steel SCM435 as the substrate. Attention was focussed on the effect of film thickness. The Arc Ion Plating was performed using Cr cathode and N2 gas. The specimens were prepared for the film thickness 6, 12 and 18μm The three point bending fatigue tests were performed at room temperature in a laboratory environment. After the fatigue test, crack initiation sites were examined by using an optical microscope and a scanning electron microscope. The results obtained were as follows: (1) A high compressive residual stress generated in the film, and the compressive residual stress of 12μm film thickness was the greatest. (2) The fatigue strength of coated specimens for thin film was slightly lower than for substrate. (3) The film thickness hardly affected the fatigue strength of coated specimens.

Evaluation of the histological and mechanical features of tendon healing in a rabbit model with the use of second-harmonic-generation imaging and tensile testing

Objectives This study aimed to evaluate the histological and mechanical features of tendon healing in a rabbit model with second-harmonic-generation (SHG) imaging and tensile testing. Materials and Methods A total of eight male Japanese white rabbits were used for this study. The flexor digitorum tendons in their right leg were sharply transected, and then were repaired by intratendinous stitching. At four weeks post-operatively, the rabbits were killed and the flexor digitorum tendons in both right and left legs were excised and used as specimens for tendon healing (n = 8) and control (n = 8), respectively. Each specimen was examined by SHG imaging, followed by tensile testing, and the results of the two testing modalities were assessed for correlation. Results While the SHG light intensity of the healing tendon samples was significantly lower than that of the uninjured tendon samples, 2D Fourier transform SHG images showed a clear difference in collagen fibre structure between the uninjured and the healing samples, and among the healing samples. The mean intensity of the SHG image showed a moderate correlation (R2 = 0.37) with Young’s modulus obtained from the tensile testing. Conclusion Our results indicate that SHG microscopy may be a potential indicator of tendon healing. Cite this article: E. Hase, K. Sato, D. Yonekura, T. Minamikawa, M. Takahashi, T. Yasui. Evaluation of the histological and mechanical features of tendon healing in a rabbit model with the use of second-harmonic-generation imaging and tensile testing. Bone Joint Res 2016;5:577–585. DOI: 10.1302/2046-3758.511.BJR-2016-0162.R1.

Field electron emission characteristics of plasma treated carbon nanotubes

This paper reports the effect of hydrogen (H2) plasma treatment on field emission property of double walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) synthesized by using chemical vapor deposition method. The hydrogen plasma treatment was carried out for various duration. The DWCNTs films were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy. The results showed that the field emission properties of DWCNTs were influenced with increasing plasma treatment duration. The Raman spectra of samples clearly show structural defects after hydrogen plasma treatment. It is observed that the change in the field emission characteristics of DWCNTs is attributed to the structural defects due to the H2 plasma and depends on the plasma treatment duration.