ABSTRACT
The interactions of a biodegradable scaffold with cells or living tissues depend on the time-evolution of the nanoscale properties of the scaffold. We present an in situ quantitative study on the early-stage swelling and degradation of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). A novel metrology scheme based on force microscopy measurements of the patterns of PLGA nanostructures is developed to characterize the evolution of topography, volume and nanomechanical properties. The volume and nanoscale roughness show an oscillating behaviour during the first eight days of immersion; at a later stage, we observe a continuous decrease of the volume. The effective Young's modulus exhibits a monotonic decrease from an initial value of about 2.4 GPa down to 9 MPa at day 14. The oscillating behaviour of the volume before the onset of full degradation is explained by a coupled diffusion-swelling mechanism. The appearance of a second maximum in the volume evolution results from the competition between swelling and degradation.
Subject(s)
Absorbable Implants , Biocompatible Materials/chemistry , Biodegradable Plastics/chemistry , Lactic Acid/chemistry , Polyglycolic Acid/chemistry , Sodium Chloride/chemistry , Tissue Scaffolds , Absorption, Physicochemical , Diffusion , Elastic Modulus , Equipment Design , Equipment Failure Analysis , Hardness , Kinetics , Materials Testing , Models, Chemical , Polylactic Acid-Polyglycolic Acid Copolymer , Surface Properties , ViscosityABSTRACT
A search is made for charged Higgs bosons predicted by Two-Higgs-Doublet extensions of the Standard Model (2HDM) using electron-positron collision data collected by the OPAL experiment at [Formula: see text], corresponding to an integrated luminosity of approximately 600 pb-1. Charged Higgs bosons are assumed to be pair-produced and to decay into [Formula: see text], τντ or AW±. No signal is observed. Model-independent limits on the charged Higgs-boson production cross section are derived by combining these results with previous searches at lower energies. Under the assumption [Formula: see text], motivated by general 2HDM type II models, excluded areas on the [Formula: see text] plane are presented and charged Higgs bosons are excluded up to a mass of 76.3 GeV at 95 % confidence level, independent of the branching ratio BR(H±âτντ ). A scan of the 2HDM type I model parameter space is performed and limits on the Higgs-boson masses [Formula: see text] and mA are presented for different choices of tanß.
