This investigation developed experimental evidence for the influence of different surface energy states on tissue incorporation of biomedical materials. Implants of two smooth metals, each with three different surface energy states, were placed in the subdermal fascial plane of the backs of New Zealand White rabbits and were allowed healing times of 10 and 20 days. The implant surfaces were thoroughly characterized by physical-chemical criteria prior to surgical placement and again following removal from the tissue capsules generated by the host animals. Quantitative histopathologic analysis, using standard morphometric criteria, of the adjacent tissues revealed up to a threefold increase of fibroblastic-fibrocytic cells against the initially scrupulously cleaned, high-surface-energy materials. The cells were flattened and active, producing tenacious bonds through a thin pre-adsorbed protein-dominated "conditioning" film, that could be broken only by cohesive failure in the tissue itself. In contrast, the lower-surface-energy materials typical of standard dental implants were "walled off" by a cell-poor, nonadhesive capsule with a fibrous interface separated from a thicker "conditioning" film by a lipid-rich mucus zone. The advantages of proper surface treatment to favor the desired degree of biological adhesion are apparent.

Titanium (Ti) has been widely used as an implant material due to the excellent biocompatibility and corrosion resistance of its oxide surface. Biomaterials must be sterile before implantation, but the effects of sterilization on their surface properties have been less well studied. The effects of cleaning and sterilization on surface characteristics were bio-determined using contaminated and pure Ti substrata first manufactured to present two different surface structures: pretreated titanium (PT, Ra = 0.4 μm) (i.e. surfaces that were not modified by sandblasting and/or acid etching); (SLA, Ra = 3.4 μm). Previously cultured cells and associated extracellular matrix were removed from all bio-contaminated specimens by cleaning in a sonicator bath with a sequential acetone–isopropanol–ethanol–distilled water protocol. Cleaned specimens were sterilized with autoclave, gamma irradiation, oxygen plasma, or ultraviolet light. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), contact angle measurements, profilometry, and scanning electron microscopy were used to examine surface chemical components, hydrophilicity, roughness, and morphology, respectively. Small organic molecules present on contaminated Ti surfaces were removed with cleaning. XPS analysis confirmed that surface chemistry was altered by both cleaning and sterilization. Cleaning and sterilization affected hydrophobicity and roughness. These modified surface properties affected osteogenic differentiation of human MG63 osteoblast-like cells. Specifically, autoclaved SLA surfaces lost the characteristic increase in osteoblast differentiation seen on starting SLA surfaces, which was correlated with altered surface wettability and roughness. These data indicated that recleaned and resterilized Ti implant surfaces cannot be considered the same as the first surfaces in terms of surface properties and cell responses. Therefore, the reuse of Ti implants after resterilization may not result in the same tissue responses as found with never-before-implanted specimens.

Hybrid sol-gel-derived xerogel films prepared from 45/55 (mol ratio) n-propyltrimethoxysilane (C3-TMOS)/tetramethy lorthosilane (TMOS), 2/98 (mol ratio) bis [3-(trimethoxysilyl)propyl]-ethylenediamine (enTMOS)/tetraethylorthosilane (TEOS), 50/50 (mol ratio) n-octyltriethoxysilane (C8-TEOS)/TMOS, and 50/50 (mol ratio) 3,3,3-trifluoropropyltrimethox ysilane (TFP-TMOS)/TMOS were found to inhibit settlement of zoospores of the marine fouling alga Ulva (syn. Enteromorpha) relative to settlement on acid-washed glass and give greater release of settled zoospores relative to glass upon exposure to pressure from a water jet. The more hydrophobic 50/50 C8-TEOS/TMOS xerogel films had the lowest critical surface tension by comprehensive contact angle analysis and gave significantly greater release of 8-day Ulva sporeling biomass after exposure to turbulent flow generated by a flow channel than the other xerogel surfaces or glass. The 50/50 C8 TEOS/TMOS xerogel was also a fouling release surface for juveniles of the tropical barnacle Balanus amphitrite. X-ray photon electron data indicated that the alkylsilyl residues of the C3-TMOS-, C8-TEOS-, and TFP-TMOS-containing xerogels were located on the surface of the xerogel films (in a vacuum), which contributes to the film hydrophobicity. Similarly, the amine-containing silyl residues of the enTMOS/TEOS films were located at the surface of the xerogel films, which contributes to the more hydrophilic character and increased critical surface tension of these films.

What does it mean for special education students to have access to the general curriculum-especially those who have formerly been limited to special education curriculums? How can students effectively participate and make progress in the general curriculum? What new tools, methods, and approaches are needed-and are being implemented?In our view, the answers to these questions depend on changes that we must make in the general curriculum to provide such access and participation. In so doing, we will create a curriculum that is better not just for students with disabilities but for all students.This article examines what we mean by access, participation, and progress in the general education curriculum and suggests a new framework for curriculum reform that holds promise for students with disabilities, in particular, and raises countless possibilities for all students. The article presents the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework for curriculum reform that takes advantage of new media and new technologies for learning (Hitchcock, Meyer, Rose & Jackson, 2002;; see box, "UDL Curriculum in a Nutshell"). What's Going On Now: Retrofitting the "Core" General CurriculumIs There Such a Thing as a Homogeneous Classroom?The assumption that there is a "core" group of learners that is mostly homogeneous, outside of which other learners fall, is itself flawed. Common sense, and increasingly neuroscience, 8 ■ COUNCIL FOR EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN