This research studied the optimal design of Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) muscle wire bundle actuators. Current literature describes the use of multiple muscle wires placed in parallel to increase the lifting capabilities of an SMA actuator, which however, is limited to wires of like-diameter. A constrained optimization problem was formulated, with constraints on the maximum number of wires, voltage...

We have fabricated atomic-scale metal wires with quantized conductance in electrolytes and studied double layer charging, anionic adsorption and surface stress effects on the quantum transport in the wires. In the double layer charging regime, the conductance changes linearly with the potential, which can be attributed to a change in the amount of electron spill-out of the wire. A large change ...

The magnetic characteristics of FINEMET type glass-coated nanowires and submicron wires are investigated by taking into account the structural evolution induced by specific annealing all the way from a fully amorphous state to a nanocrystalline structure. The differences between the magnetic properties of these ultrathin wires and those of the thicker glass-coated microwires and “conventional” ...

Three cases of successful angioplasty of high-grade coronary dissections using hydrophilic wires were reported. Our first case had edge dissection after a stent deployed in the left anterior descending artery, after which we found it impossible to track the second stent over the regular wires, and which was successful when we tried with a stiffer hydrophilic wire. The second had spontaneous cor...

BACKGROUND A number of studies have shown that non-critical medical devices can be contaminated with pathogens, including those resistant to antibiotics and thus become a potential vector for transmission. Electrocardiography (ECG) lead wire are non-critical medical device which are always attached on patient skin during their stay in intensive care unit (ICU). In view of the patient's critical...

We have investigated the conductance of long quantum wires formed in GaAs/AlxGa1−xAs heterostructures. Using realistic fluctuation potentials from donor layers we have simulated numerically the conductance of four different kinds of wires. While ideal wires show perfect quantization, potential fluctuations from random donors may give rise to strong conductance oscillations and degradation of th...

We have investigated the circumstances underlying recent reports of very large values of ballistic magnetoresistance (BMR) in nanocontacts between magnetic wires. We find that the geometries used are subject to artifacts due to motion of the wires that distort the nanocontact thereby changing its electrical resistance. Since these nanocontacts are often of atomic scale, reliable experiments wou...

A systematic ab initio study is performed for the spin and orbital moments and for the validity of the sum rules for x-ray magnetic circular dichroism for Fe systems with various dimensionalities ~bulk, Pt-supported monolayers and monatomic wires, free-standing monolayers and monatomic wires!. Qualitatively, the results are similar to those for the respective Co systems, with the main differenc...

Kirschner wires are commonly used to stabilise fractures in children. There is a wide range of practice across the United Kingdom with regard to their removal, with some units routinely readmitting children for removal of wires under a general anaesthetic and others leaving the wires long and extracting them in the outpatient clinic. In a prospective study performed at The Barts and Royal Londo...

This study examined the effect of cariogenic and erosive challenges (CCs and ECs, respectively) on the degradation of copper-nickel-titanium (CuNiTi) orthodontic wires. Sixty wire segments were divided into four treatment groups and exposed to CCs, ECs, artificial saliva, or dry storage (no-treatment control). CC and EC were simulated using a demineralizing solution (pH 4.3) and a citric acid s...