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Meta-biomaterials are a special class of metamaterials with unusual or unprecedented combinations of mechanical, physical (e.g. mass transport), and biological properties. Topologically complex and additively manufactured meta-biomaterials have been shown to improve bone regeneration and osseointegration. The mechanical properties of such biomaterials are directly related to their topological design and material type. However, previous studies of such biomaterials have largely neglected the effects of material type, instead focusing on topological design. We show here that neglecting the effects of material type is unjustified. We studied the isolated and combined effects of topological design and material type on the normalized S-N curves of metallic bone-mimicking biomaterials and found them to be more strongly dependent on the material type than topological design.

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The bones forming the talocrural joint (TCJ) and subtalar joint (STJ) are often assumed to be bilaterally symmetric. Therefore, the contralateral limb (i.e. the fibula, tibia, calcaneus and talus) is used as a template or an intra‐subject control in clinical and research practice. However, the validity of the symmetry assumption is controversial, because insufficient information is available on the shape variations and bilateral (a)symmetry of the fibula, tibia, calcaneus and talus. Using three‐dimensional spatially dense sampled representations of bone shapes extracted from bilateral computed tomography scans of 66 individuals (55 male, mean age: 61 ± 10 years; 11 female, mean age: 53 ± 15 years), we analyzed whether: (i) similar shape patterns exist in the left and right bones of the same type; (ii) gender has an effect on bone shape variations; (iii) intra‐subject shape variation is smaller than that of inter‐subject for a given shape variance direction. For the first set of analyses, all left and right instances of the same type of bone were considered as two separate groups, and statistically compared with each other on multiple aspects including group location (central tendency), variance‐covariance scale (dispersion) and orientation (covariance structure) using distance‐based permutational tests. For the second and third sets of analyses, all left and right bones of the same type were pooled into one group, and shape variations in the TCJ and STJ bones were extracted using principal component analysis. The effects of gender on age‐adjusted bone shape differences were assessed using an analysis of covariance. Moreover, intra‐class correlation was employed to evaluate intra‐ and inter‐subject bone shape variations. For each bone type, both sides had similar shape patterns (P permutational‐values > 0.05). After Bonferroni adjustment, gender led to shape differences, which were mainly in the lateral and medial condyles of the tibia (P = 0.003), the length and height of the calcaneus (P < 0.001), the posterior and anterior talar articular surfaces of the calcaneus (P = 0.001), and in the posterior aspect of the talus (P = 0.001). Intra‐subject shape variations in the tibial tuberosity together with the diameter of the tibia, and the curvature of the fibula shaft and the diameter of the fibula were as high as those of inter‐subject. This result suggests that the shape symmetry assumption could be violated for some specific shape variations in the fibula and tibia.

The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the effects of activator and Twin Block (TB) appliances on the soft tissue profile. The study included 50 skeletal Class II patients (25 girls and 25 boys, mean age: 11.9 +/- 0.16 years) who were randomly allocated to one of two functional appliance treatment groups. The control group included 25 untreated skeletal Class II patients (13 boys and 12 girls, mean age: 10.11 +/- 0.91 years). Data were obtained from standardized lateral cephalograms taken at the beginning (T0) and end (T1) of appliance wear. The mean treatment time was 9 months for the activator group and 8 months for the TB group. The observation period of the control group was 8 months. Soft tissue profile changes were evaluated by means of 12 linear and five angular measurements. The groups were compared at T0 and T1 using analysis of variance, and treatment/observation differences (T1-T0) were evaluated with the Kruskal-Wallis test. Treatment changes in both appliance groups differed significantly (P < or = 0.001) from those in the control group, except for Ss-y, Ls-y, Li-E, and A-y measurements in the TB group and Ls-y, Li-E, nasolabial angle, and A-y measurements in the activator group. When the effects of the two appliances were compared, significant differences were observed only for SS-y (P < or = 0.05), Ss-E (P < or = 0.05), Si-E (P < or = 0.05), and nasolabial angle (P < or = 0.01). The effects of the activator and TB appliances on the soft tissue profile were similar; both significantly changed the soft tissue profile.