by Yi-Chia Liao  , Chun-Hway Hsueh  and Wen-Shin Lee

Received: 16 May 2020;  Published: 15 June 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2002014

Inspired by the application of metallic glass sheet as face material for improving the performance of golf clubs, the present work was aimed to explore the application of thin-film metallic glass (TFMG) coatings for enhancing the performance of strings. In order to achieve this aim, badminton strings were coated with TFMG coatings of different thicknesses. The compositions of these TFMG coatings were analyzed using an electron probe micro-analyzer. The amorphous structure of the film was verified using X-ray diffra [...]

by Heizel Rosado  and Maribella Domenech

Received: 15 March 2020;  Published: 14 May 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2002013

Cells can respond to different topographical cues in their natural microenvironment. Hence, scientists have employed microfabrication techniques and materials to generate culture substrates containing topographies for cell-based assays. However, one of the limitations of custom topographical platforms is the lack of adoption by the broad research community. These techniques and materials have high costs, require high technical expertise, and can leach components that may introduce artifacts. In this study, we devel [...]

by Ben Milborne  , Abul Arafat  , Rob Layfield  , Alex Thompson  and Ifty Ahmed

Received: 18 March 2020;  Published: 12 May 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2002012

Radiotherapy has become one of the most prominent and effective modalities for cancer treatment and care. Ionising radiation, delivered either from external or internal sources, can be targeted to cancerous cells causing damage to DNA that can induce apoptosis. External beam radiotherapy delivers either photon radiation (x-rays or gamma rays) or particle radiation (neutrons or protons) in a targeted manner to specific tumour locations. Internal radiotherapy involves placing radioactive sources within the body to de [...]

by Francesco Calvani  , Emanuele Bartoletti  , Giancarlo Folchitto  , Stefania Santini  , Michele Fontevecchia  and Alessandra Alhadeff

Received: 06 April 2020;  Published: 11 May 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2002011

Skin regeneration is a multidisciplinary topic that involves plastic surgery, aesthetics, and dermatology. In the last few years, several molecules have been used to prevent or delay the skin aging process. Recently, promising investigations on novel β-1,3/1,6-glucan-based treatments, associated with sodium hyaluronate, have demonstrated the induction of a naïve biological stimulus in soft tissues. Serum Revitalizing Face (Lot 00118a0051 of 11/19/2018 approved by the Italian Ministry of Health as a Medical Device-C [...]

by Frederick H. Silver  , Nikita Kelkar  , Tanmay Deshmukh  , Istvan Horvath  and Ruchit G. Shah

Received: 04 February 2020;  Published: 29 April 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2002010

Elastic moduli of tissues and synthetic polymeric materials are important design properties needed to develop new implants. In this paper we report the use of vibrational optical coherence tomography (VOCT) to measure the resonant frequency and calculate the modulus of tissues and synthetic polymers non-invasively and non-destructively in vitro and in vivo. Values of tissue and polymer moduli were obtained by applying an audible sinusoidal sound wave to the surface of each specimen. The sound wave travels to the i [...]

by Erik B Karlsson

Received: 29 December 2019;  Published: 13 April 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2002009

Decoherence is a relatively recent concept in the field of quantum mechanics. Although the pioneers of the field must have understood that loss of phase coherence in quantum superpositions is the reason underlying the appearance of definite outcomes in the quantum measurement problem, the latter was not treated in terms of decoherence until sixty years after the formulation of quantum mechanics as described in a report by Joos and Zeh in 1983 [1]. However, soon after, the theory was developed in further detail, and [...]

by Rohan R. Ravindranath  , Issaka Yougbare  , Brian De La Franier  , Jason E. Fish  and Michael Thompson

Received: 25 January 2020;  Published: 27 March 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2001008

Coronary artery disease is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Coronary stents, tube-shaped medical implants that are placed in narrowed coronary arteries, have been used successfully in the management of this condition. However, re-narrowing (i.e. restenosis) of the artery can occur which is instigated by an immune response towards the implanted ‘foreign’ material. A new approach to prevent restenosis and reduce the stent-induced immune response has been proposed previously, which involve [...]

by Rolf R. Gerhardts

Received: 11 November 2019;  Published: 17 March 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2001007

We summarize and discuss a self-consistent screening and magneto-transport theory, developed to understand the results of scanning-force-microscope experiments on the current distribution in a two-dimensional electron system (2DES), located in a narrow Hall bar under the conditions of the integer quantum Hall effect (IQHE) and its breakdown. The theory explains why, at low temperatures, at certain intervals of the applied perpendicular magnetic field, the current density is confined to “incompressible stripes” (ISs [...]

by H. Hakemi  , M. Khenkin  , R. Tamari  and D. Gal-Fuss

Received: 10 December 2019;  Published: 05 March 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2001006

In the present study, we report the experimental results related to the transient phenomenon, i.e., the time-dependent changes in the electro-optical properties of as-made polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) films prepared by the UV-curing phase-separation method. This phenomenon occurs explicitly via polymer-induced phase separation when the matrix curing is not complete, some liquid crystal plasticized in the matrix, and some uncured pre-polymer components remain in the liquid crystal droplets. The outcome is [...]

by Ryan L Dimmock  , Xuyiling Wang  , Yibin Fu  , Alicia J El Haj  and Ying Yang

Received: 09 December 2019;  Published: 28 February 2020;  doi: 10.21926/rpm.2001005

Advancements in surface engineering and material fabrication techniques have enabled the creation and replication of naturally occurring surface topographies or the extrapolation of natural patterns to become achievable targets. Polymers are used extensively in the field of biomedical sciences for containment, handling, and as cell culture substrates. It is well established that several polymers exhibit good biocompatibility for cell culture, with properties that include exhibiting minimal to no cytotoxicity and be [...]