In this study, the shape memory response of Ni2MnGa and NiMnCoIn magnetic shape memory alloys was observed under compressive stresses. Ni2MnGa is a magnetic shape memory alloy (MSMA) that has been shown to exhibit fully reversible, stressassisted magnetic field induced phase transformation (MFIPT) in the I X-phase transformation because of a large magnetostress of 7 MPa and small stress hysteresis. The X-phase is a recently discovered phase that is mechanically induced, however, the crystal structure is unknown. To better understand the transformation behavior of Ni2MnGa single crystal with [100] orientation, thermal cycling and pseudoelasticity tests were conducted with the goal of determining the Clausius-Clapeyron relationships for the various phase transformations. This information was then used to construct a stresstemperature phase diagram that illustrates the stress and temperature ranges where MFIPT is possible, as well as where the X-phase may be found. NiMnCoIn is a recently discovered meta-magnetic shape memory alloy (MMSMA) that exhibits unique magnetic properties. The ferromagnetic parent phase and the paramagnetic martensite phase allow the exploitation of the Zeeman energy. To gain a better understanding of the transformation behavior of NiMnCoIn, thermal cycling and pseudoelasticity tests were conducted on single crystals from two different batches with crystallographic orientations along the [100](011), [087], and [25 7 15] directions. A stress-temperature phase diagram was created that illustrates the Clausius- Clapeyron relationships for each orientation and batch. SQUID tests revealed the magnetic response of the alloy as well as the suppression of the martensite start temperature with increasing magnetic field. Pseudoelasticity experiments with and without magnetic field were conducted to experimentally quantify the magnetostress as a function of magnetic field. For the first time, it has been shown that NiMnCoIn is capable of exhibiting magnetostress levels of 18-36 MPa depending upon orientation, as well as nearly 6.5% transformation strain in the [100] direction. The results of this study reveal increased actuation stress levels in NiMnCoIn, which is the main limitation in most MSMAs. With this increased blocking stress, NiMnCoIn is a strong candidate for MFIPT.

The incidence rate of chronic hepatopathy in Taiwan is high, which afflicts the patients by progressively developing irreversible cirrhosis. Hepatic fibrosis is the intermediate and crucial stage of this process, characterized by reversibility. If treated properly in this stage, cirrhosis can be successfully prevented. In the liver, activated stellate cells are the key mediators of fibrosis. Transforming growth factor-

Titanium-nickel is a unique class of material known as Shape Memory Alloy (SMA). A thermoelastic martensitic phase transformation is responsible for its extraordinary properties such as shape memory effect and superelasticity. The near equiatomic Ti-Ni alloys are the commercially most exploited SMAs because of the unique combination of these properties and superior ductility, strength, fatigue resistance and corrosion resistance. The properties of Ti-Ni SMAs are very sensitive to composition and the processing parameters. The properties of Ti-Ni SMAs can be modified to a great extent by choice of composition, mechanical working and heat treatment. Thermo-mechanical treatments are required to strengthen the matrix and improve the shape memory characteristics. Plastic deformation and subsequent annealing is the common way to improve shape memory properties. In the present study, Ti- 50 at% Ni wire specimens are produced and used for the investigation of the effect of different heat treatment and cold working processes on shape memory characteristics. To investigate the thermomechanical behavior of differently processed wire specimens, a fully computerized servo hydraulic thermomechanical testing machine was designed and constructed. Testing machine was capable to perform different types of tests that are selected by the user. It can both heat and cool the specimen automatically according to the testing sequence by applying DC current directly through the SMA wire or by sending liquid nitrogen into the cooling chamber. Temperature is measured by a K-type thermocouple directly mounted on the wire specimen with a glass tape. Force that is applied to the specimen is produced by hydraulic power unit with a double action cyclinder and it is controlled by a controller which takes the feedback from the loadcell and LVDT (Linear Variable Distance Transducer). During performig thermomechanical-tests all the data of loadcell, LVDT and thermocouple are collected by a data acqusition system integrated with a host computer that operates the program XPC Target. Ti-Ni alloy with equiatomic composition is prepared in vacum induction furnace. Specimen cast in the form of rod was then hot swaged. Subsequent to swaging, cold wire drawing, intermediate annealing at 500 &amp / #61616 / C and water quenching was applied to obtain SMA wire with a diameter of 1.52 mm. Ti-Ni wires produced were subjected to four different processes. All the samples were initially solution heat treated at 925 &amp / #61616 / C for 30 minutes prior to water quenching. Some of the samples were further treated by an intermediate anneal at 500 &amp / #61616 / C. To see the effect of cold working / prior to intermediate annealing, 20 % or 40 % cold work was applied to another group of specimens. To study the shape memory characteristics of specimens subjected to the above mentioned processes, four types of test, namely constant stress free recovery test, constant strain free recovery test, constant stress constrained recovery test and constant strain constrained recovery test, were designed and applied cyclically. The tests have shown that the stress plateau observed in the first cycle of the tests disappear upon cycling and the shape memory characteristics improve and stabilize with cycling. Once trained by cycling, fractional free recovery was observed to reach to 100 % and recovery stress to reach 120% of the applied stress if shape recovery is prevented.

No description available.

Valvular interstitial cells (VICs) are responsible for the maintenance of heart valve leaflet structure, however their responses to mechanical loading are not fully understood. Further characterization of VIC responses with regards to phenotype (quiescent or activated via ?-smooth muscle actin [?-SMA]) and communication (through gap junction proteins connexins 43 and 26) were studied. Tissue strips from porcine aortic, pulmonary, and mitral valves were cyclically stretched in the circumferential direction at normal and above normal membrane tensions for 48 hours at 1 Hz, 37°C, and 5% CO2. Unloaded tissues were statically incubated concurrently with loaded tissues, and fresh tissue controls were collected immediately. VIC phenotype was identified by ?- SMA via immunohistochemical staining and cell enumeration, as well as by gene expression via RT-PCR. Gap junction protein Cx43 was also evaluated via immunohistochemical staining and cell enumeration and by gene expression via RT-PCR, whereas Cx26 was evaluated using immunohistochemical staining and cell enumeration only. Within the range tested, it was found that mechanical loading did not affect ?-SMA or gap junction protein levels, nor were any differences in responses noted between valve types. However, the ?-SMA gene expression level was significantly lower in the mitral valve compared to the aortic and pulmonary valves. This may indicate a difference in the genetic response pathways among the valves, but not in the functional outcomes. This difference may be explained by embryological origins, since the mitral valve, unlike the aortic and pulmonary valves, contains only VICs and no neural crest cells.

Among the potential high temperature shape memory alloys, due to its low cost, medium ductility and high work output NiTiHf seems to be the most promising HTSMA for a wide range of applications in the 100-250ºC. A detailed investigation into the shape memory properties and transformation behavior for the Ni-rich HTSMA with the compositions of Ni45.3Cu5Ti29.7Hf20, Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20 and Ni45.3Pd5Ti29.7Hf20 was carried out. It is possible to form Ni-rich precipitates in Ni-rich NiTiHf alloys and tailor the TTs by heat treatments that results in increased strength and stable response at high temperatures. The coherent Ni-rich precipitates deplete the Ni content from the matrix increasing the transformation temperatures and strengthen the material by hindering the dislocation motion. The effect of aging on the microstructure, shape memory and mechanical properties are revealed. Optimum aging conditions have been found determined to get the most favorable combination of high transformation temperatures with stable and good shape memory properties. The Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20 and Ni45.3Pd5Ti29.7Hf20 aged at 500ºC-600 ºC were found to be formidable candidates for high temperature applications.

In this paper I will give a brief and general overview of the characteristics of spatial data, why it is useful to use such data and how to use the information included in spatial data. The first question to be answered is: how to detect spatial dependency and spatial autocorrelation in data? Such effects can for instance be found by calculating Moran's I, which is a measure for spatial autocorrelation. The Moran's I is also the basis for a test for spatial autocorrelation (Moran's test). Once we found some spatial structure we can use special models and estimation techniques. There are two famous spatial processes, the SAR- (spatial autoregressive) and the SMA- (spatial moving average process) process, which are used to model spatial effects. For estimation of spatial regression models there are mainly two different possibilities, the first one is called spatial filtering, where the spatial effect is filtered out and standard techniques are used, the second one is spatial two stage least square estimation. Finally there are some results of a spatial analysis of R&D spillovers data (for a panel dataset with 22 countries and 20 years) shown. (author's abstract) / Series: Research Report Series / Department of Statistics and Mathematics

Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) have been demonstrated to be effective actuator elements in a wide range of applications, such as robotics, medicine, aerospace and automotive. Enabled by the unique thermo-mechanical properties of SMAs, these actuators offer the advantages of light weight, high power-to-weight ratio and a simple actuation mechanism compared to traditional actuator types. At the same time, the widespread adoption of the SMA actuator remains elusive as its low power efficiency and complex hysteretic behaviour often render it an impractical means of actuation. These actuators also exhibit a slow response speed and their response is highly sensitive to changes in the external environment, namely ambient temperature and mechanical stress, thus complicating their control. Position, force or temperature sensors may be used to facilitate feedback control, but at the cost of increasing the overall size and complexity of the system. The difficulties caused by the hysteretic behaviour can be largely avoided when SMA wires are used as on-off actuators, making SMAs well suited for such applications. However, they may still be subject to a wide range of dynamic operating conditions that would impact their actuation time, and achieving a consistent actuation time is often highly desirable. This thesis presents the synthesis of a nitinol SMA actuator control system which uses electrical resistance feedback to enable a fast response speed and robustness to disturbances in the external environment. A study of the resistance behaviour of SMAs is discussed first. The design of an adaptive controller and the experimental evaluation of its performance are described in detail next. The objective of the SMA actuator control system is to achieve a consistent and fast actuation time throughout the range of operating ambient temperature and stress. The control system is implemented experimentally and shown to be quite successful.

Η διπλωματική αυτή εργασία πραγματεύεται τη μελέτη της μεθόδου Ilizarov καθώς και το σχεδιασμό, την κατασκευή και τον έλεγχο ενός ισοδύναμου με ένα βαθμό ελευθερίας του πλαισίου Taylor στοιχείου δράσης, του οποίου η ενεργοποίηση επιτυγχάνεται με τη χρήση έξυπνων υλικών και συγκεκριμένα μεταλλικών κραμάτων με μνήμη της μορφής (SMA). Πρωτεύον μέλημά μας αποτελεί η μελέτη των γενικών χαρακτηριστικών της εξωτερικής σταθεροποίησης και η κατανόηση της μεθόδου Ilizarov με τη χρήση του πλαισίου Taylor (Κεφάλαιο 2). Ακολούθως, κάνουμε λόγο για τους ενεργοποιητές που χρησιμοποιούνται στη διάταξή μας, αναλύοντας εκτενώς τις ιδιότητες των κραμάτων με μνήμη της μορφής και πιο συγκεκριμένα των κραμάτων NiTi (Κεφάλαιο 3). Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη όλα τα προηγούμενα, είμαστε σε θέση να προχωρήσουμε στην υλοποίηση μίας κατασκευής που προσομοιώνει ένα βαθμό ελευθερίας του πλαισίου Taylor και η οποία ενεργοποιείται από τα παραπάνω έξυπνα υλικά. Πειράματα ανοικτού και κλειστού βρόχου ελέγχου της διάταξης εκτελούνται εν συνεχεία με τη βοήθεια ηλεκτρονικού υπολογιστή (Κεφάλαιο 4). Τέλος, παρουσιάζονται τα συμπεράσματα και οι προοπτικές της εν λόγω εργασίας (Κεφάλαιο 5). / The present diplomatic work consists of the study of Ilizarov method as well as the planning, the construction and the control of one out of six degrees of freedom of a Taylor platform. The activation of the experimental provision is achieved with the use of intelligent material and concretely shape memory alloys (SMA). Our first concern is the study of the general characteristics of the exterior stabilization of the bones and the comprehension of Ilizarov method using the Taylor platform (Chapter 2). Followingly, we deal with the activators that are used in our provision, analyzing extensively the attributes of shape memory alloys and more concretely the alloys NiTi (Chapter 3). Taking into consideration all the above, we are in position to advance in the concretisation of a structure that simulates one degree of freedom of the Taylor platform and is activated by the SMA. We executed control experiments using LabView in an open and closed loop in order to test the provision (Chapter 4). Finally, are presented the conclusions and the prospects of this project (Chapter 5.)

Bone is one of the few organs capable of regeneration after a substantial injury. As the bone heals itself after trauma, the coupling of angiogenesis to osteogenesis is crucial for the restoration of the skeletal tissue. In prior studies we have shown that Bone Morphogenetic Protein 2 (BMP2), a potent agonist for skeletal formation is expressed by vessels making it a prime candidate that links the morphogenesis of the two tissues. To investigate the role of BMP2 in the coordination of vessel and bone formation, we used a tamoxifen inducible Smooth Muscle Actin (SMA) promoter that conditionally expresses Cre recombinases crossed with a BMP2 floxed mouse in order to conditionally delete the BMP2 gene in smooth muscle actin (SMA) expressing cells. Using the mouse femur as our model for bone regeneration, we performed a surgical technique called distraction osteogenesis (DO) where an osteotomy is created followed by distraction or a gradual separation of the two pieces of bone. This primarily promotes intramembranous ossification at the osteotomy site by mechanical stimulation. Tamoxifen treatment started at day 6 and continued throughout the experiment. At post-operative days 3, 7, 12, 17, 24, and 31, we analyzed the bone and vessel formation by plain X-ray, micro-computed tomography (µCT) and vascular contrast enhanced µCT, and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) of selective genes. We assessed both the femur and surrounding tissue to obtain qualitative and quantitative assessments for skeletal and vascular formation. Our results demonstrated that the deletion of BMP2 in vascular tissue resulted in a reduction of angiogenesis in vivo followed by a decrease in skeletal tissue development.