Highly transparent Yb:Y2O3 ceramics obtained by solid-state reaction and combined sintering procedures

(Y_0.87-xLa_0.1Zr_0.03Yb_x)₂O₃ (x?=?0.02, 0.04, 0.05) transparent ceramics were obtained by solid-state reaction and combined sintering procedures with La₂O₃ and ZrO₂ as sintering additives. A method based on two-step intermediate sintering in air followed by vacuum sintering was applied in order to control the densification and grain growth of the samples during the final sintering process. The results indicate that La₂O₃ and ZrO₂ co-additives can improve the microstructure and optical properties of Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramics at relatively low sintering temperature. On the other hand, the addition of Zr⁴⁺ ions leads to the formation of dispersed scattering volumes in the ceramic bodies. Transmittance of 78.8% was measured for the 2.0?at% Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramic sample at the wavelength of 1100?nm. The spectroscopic properties of Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramics were investigated at room temperature. The obtained results show that the absorption cross-section at 978?nm is in the range of 2.08?×?10^–20 to 2.36?×?10^–20 cm², whereas the emission cross-section at 1032?nm is ~1.0?×?10^–20 cm².     

Ceramics based on calcium phosphates substituted with magnesium ions for bone regeneration

In this study, chemical precipitation methods were used to obtain ceramic materials doped with magnesium ions in order to improve the regeneration properties of materials used for tissue engineering. Two different ratios of magnesium oxide were used to dope the ceramic powder, more precisely 5% and 10%. The synthesized materials were characterized to determine the calcination temperature of the precursor powder by means of thermal analysis; to determine the mineralogical composition, X-ray diffraction was employed and the scanning electron microscopy was used to determine the microstructure. To make use of these ceramics as biomaterials, viability and proliferation cell tests have been performed. Since synthetic materials have several limitations with regard to medical applications, the materials based on HAp substituted with Mg ions are a promising solution for the regeneration of bone defects because they have a similar bone structure. The presence of Mg in the material proves to be beneficial because this element plays an important role in bone cell regeneration, and more specifically, in stimulating osteoblast proliferation. The materials synthesized in this work present a suitable morphology for uses in bone regeneration because they offer to cells a friendly environment for growth and anchoring.     

Calcium phosphates grown on bacterial cellulose template

Bacterial cellulose membranes were employed as templates for calcium phosphates deposition by successive immersion in solutions of Ca(NO₃)₂·4H₂O and (NH₄)₂HPO₄, under ultrasonication. During the wet chemical reaction, mineral phases were loaded on bacterial cellulose fibrils, leading to precursor hybrid composites. These were subjected to a lyophilisation procedure in order to preserve the 3D porous aspect and afterwards to a thermal treatment with the aim of removing the polymeric phase and generating well crystallized structures. Different types of morphologies were achieved by varying the heating rate, as well as the calcination temperature and period. The as-prepared samples and the final ones were investigated from compositional and structural point of view through X-ray diffraction and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and morphologically concerning by scanning electron microscopy. The magnetic properties were also evaluated in order to demonstrate the suitability of the obtained materials for the development of magnetic scaffolds dedicated to hard tissue applications.     

Synthesis and characterization of collagen/hydroxyapatite: magnetite composite material for bone cancer treatment

Our purpose was obtaining and characterizing a complex composite system with multifunctional role: bone graft material and hyperthermia generator necessary for bone cancer therapy. The designed system was a magnetite enriched collagen/hydroxyapatite composite material, obtained by a co-precipitation method. Due to the applied electromagnetic field the magnetite will induce hyperthermia and cause tumoral cell apoptosis. The complex bone graft system was characterised by XRD, FTIR and SEM, while the hyperthermia was quantify by measuring the temperature increase due to the applied alternative electromagnetical field.     

Structural investigations on TiO2 and Fe-doped TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by laser pyrolysis

Undoped and Fe-doped TiO₂ nanopowders with Fe/Ti (atomic ratio) precursor concentration ranging from 7% up to 25% have been prepared by the IR laser pyrolysis technique. A sensitized mixture of TiCl₄ and Fe (CO)₅ was used as titanium and iron precursor, respectively. Reference undoped titania samples with a major concentration of anatase phase (about 90%) were obtained by the same technique by using very high flows of the oxidizing agent (air). The effects of the iron-dopant concentration on the essential structural properties of the resultant powders such as the phase formation, the crystallinity, the average particle size and distributions were systematically investigated by X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The decrease of the TiO₂-anatase crystalline phase, the simultaneous increase of the amorphous phase and the decrease in size of particle mean diameter appear as main effects induced by the Fe-dopant concentration.     

Observing the state with componentwise exponentially decaying error

The componentwise exponential asymptotically stable (CWEAS) observer is defined. Its estimation error is componentwise and absolutely bounded by prespecified decaying exponentials. Using the notion of CWEAS introduced earlier, an existence condition for such an observer is proved. Via eigenvalues location and convexity of certain functions one states the maximization problem of the damping factor of the above exponentials and introduces and characterizes the CWEAS detectability. This is an explicit property of the observability pair (A, C), which, under a certain condition involving the pair (B, D), suffices for strong^* detectability and therefore for the existence of a strong observer.     

On the componentwise stability of linear systems

The componentwise asymptotic stability (CWAS) and componentwise exponential asymptotic stability (CWEAS) represent stronger types of asymptotic stability, which were first defined for symmetrical bounds constraining the flow of the state‐space trajectories, and then, were generalized for arbitrary bounds, not necessarily symmetrical. Our paper explores the links between the symmetrical and the general case, proving that the former contains all the information requested by the characterization of the CWAS/CWEAS as qualitative properties. Complementary to the previous approaches to CWAS/CWEAS that were based on the construction of special operators, we incorporate the flow‐invariance condition into the classical framework of stability analysis. Consequently, we show that the componentwise stability can be investigated by using the operator defining the system dynamics, as well as the standard ε?δ formalism. Although this paper explicitly refers only to continuous‐time linear systems, the key elements of our work also apply, mutatis mutandis, to discrete‐time linear systems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.