1,511 research outputs found
White matter hemodynamic abnormalities precede sub-cortical gray matter changes in multiple sclerosis
No full textBACKGROUND: Hypoperfusion has been reported in lesions, normal-appearing white (NAWM) and gray matter (NAGM) of patients with clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS) by using perfusion MRI. However, it is still unknown how early such changes in perfusion occur. The aim of our study was to assess the presence of hemodynamic changes in the NAWM and subcortical NAGM of patients with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) in comparison to healthy controls and to patients with early relapsing-remitting (RR) MS. METHODS: Absolute cerebral blood flow (CBF), blood volume (CBV) and mean transit time (MTT) were measured in the periventricular and frontal NAWM, thalamus and putamen nuclei of 12 patients with CIS, 12 with early RR-MS and 12 healthy controls using dynamic susceptibility contrast enhanced (DSC) T2*-weighted MRI. RESULTS: Compared to controls, CBF was significantly decreased in the periventricular NAWM of CIS patients and in the periventricular NAWM and putamen of RR-MS patients. Compared to CIS, RR-MS patients showed a significant CBF decrease in the putamen. CONCLUSIONS: CBF was decreased in the NAWM of both CIS and RR-MS patients and in the subcortical NAGM of RR-MS patients suggesting a continuum of tissue perfusion decreases beginning in white matter and spreading to gray matter, as the disease progresses
Influence of temperature and sliding speed on the subsurface microstructure evolution of EN AW-6060 under sticking friction conditions
No full textThis article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and AIP Publishing. This article appeared in AIP Conference Proceedings 1896, 140012 (2017) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5008168.The microstructure evolution of the friction boundary layer of the aluminum alloy EN AW-6060 was investigated. Sticking friction tests at different temperatures and sliding speeds were carried out. A severe deformation below the friction surface was observed by means of LOM and EBSD mapping. Thus, the thickness variation and the grain structure of the high deformation zone could be described. Fibrous structure was observed at 300 °C and 400 °C, while equiaxed grains with high misorientation angle (>15°) were generated at higher temperatures. Additionally, abnormal grain growth and coarse grains were detected at high sliding speeds (10 mm/s, 42 mm/s) at 450°C and 500 °C respectively
On solving periodic Riccati equations
No full textNumerically reliable algorithms to compute the periodic non-negative definite stabilizing solutions of the periodic differential Riccati equation (PRDE) and discrete-time periodic Riccati equation (DPRE) are proposed. For the numerical solution of PRDEs, a new multiple shooting-type algorithm is developed to compute the periodic solutions in an arbitrary number of time moments within one period by employing suitable discretizations of the continuous-time problems. In contrast to single shooting periodic generator methods, the multiple shooting-type methods have the main advantage of being able to address problems with larger periods. Three methods are discussed to solve DPREs. Two of the methods represetn extensions of a quotient-product swapping and collapsing "fast" algorithm. All proposed approches are completely general, being applicable to periodic Riccati equations with time-varying dimensions as well as with singular weighting matrices
Ecology of A.carbonarius and ochratoxin A production in vine fruits and control in the production chain
No full textThis study examined black aspergilli, especially A. carbonarius and A. niger and
ochratoxin A (OTA) contamination of grapes, during drying and industrial processing
of dried vine fruits. This was complemented by studies on potential control using
preservatives and physical factors such as modified atmospheres. Fungal population
kinetics were determined in relation to grapes at harvest, and during drying at three
different altitudes (sea level: 0-200 m; medium level: 250-500 m; high level: >500 m)
in two seasons. At pre-harvest, A. niger aggregate species were the predominant
fungal species while A. carbonarius was occasionally isolated, in both years studied.
Both altitude and bunch position affected black aspergilli population dynamics.
Overall, they were increased during drying. However, both black aspergilli groups
were mostly isolated, at low and medium altitudes (<500 m). OTA contamination
was influenced by bunch position, although altitude did not significantly influenced
amounts. The fungal biodiversity was decreased during sun-drying of sultanas. The
widest diversity of species occurred at the sea level. However, A. niger aggregate,
were dominant during drying. Time of drying and altitude significantly influenced
fungal loads of black aspergilli. In contrast, OTA production (ca 0.001 - 0.0025 μg g
-
1
) was not significantly influenced by altitude and drying time. Shannon Index of
Biodiversity (H), for pre-harvest and pos-harvest studies, was determined for the first
time.
A. niger aggregate (ca 5.0 Log10 CFUs g
-1
) was predominant during industrial
processing, while A. carbonarius was only isolated at low levels (1.5-2.0 Log10 CFUs
g
-1
). Heat treatment (up to 90
o
C) appeared to be the key-procedure for the
elimination of fungal populations. In the contrary, SO2 treatment did not statistically
alter fungal population dynamics. OTA contamination was not significantly affected
by industrial processing.
In vitro studies conducted on both White Grape Juice Medium (WGJM) and in
sultanas with strains of A. carbonarius originated from Cretan sultanas and compared with a strain isolated from Italian wine grapes. They examined the impact of sodium
metabisulphite (NaMBS), elevated CO2 (up to 50%) concentrations and aw levels, on
black aspergilli spore germination, growth and OTA production. Moreover, fungal
interactions in vitro and in situ were also investigated.
In general, spore germination occurred over a wide range of sodium metabisulphite
concentrations, although germ tube extension was significantly controlled. At ≥ 750
mg L
-1
NaMBS, no spore germination was observed while both mycelial growth and
OTA production were completely inhibited. Medium concentrations of NaMBS (≤
250 mg L
-1
) enabled optimum spore germination, growth and OTA production (x
0.965 aw). The efficacy of controlled atmospheres x aw showed that there was very
little inhibitory effect on spore germination. However, both germ tube extension and
fungal growth were inhibited by 50% CO2. After 10 days, growth was not as
effectively controlled. Aw had a bigger effect on OTA production than modified
atmospheres. In situ experiments on sultanas confirmed these results. Competition
and dominance of A. carbonarius over other fungal species showed that aw and
temperature influenced Indices of Dominance and OTA production. In vitro and in
situ, OTA production by A. carbonarius was significantly influenced by the fungal
competitor used
Fatigue life of 3D-printed porous titanium dental implants predicted by validated finite element simulations
No full textIntroduction: Porous dental implants represent a promising strategy to reduce failure rate by favoring osseointegration or delivering drugs locally. Incorporating porous features weakens the mechanical capacity of an implant, but sufficient fatigue strength must be ensured as regulated in the ISO 14801 standard. Experimental fatigue testing is a costly and time-intensive part of the implant development process that could be accelerated with validated computer simulations. This study aimed at developing, calibrating, and validating a numerical workflow to predict fatigue strength on six porous configurations of a simplified implant geometry. Methods: Mechanical testing was performed on 3D-printed titanium samples to establish a direct link between endurance limit (i.e., infinite fatigue life) and monotonic load to failure, and a finite element model was developed and calibrated to predict the latter. The tool was then validated by predicting the fatigue life of a given porous configuration. Results: The normalized endurance limit (10% of the ultimate load) was the same for all six porous designs, indicating that monotonic testing was a good surrogate for endurance limit. The geometry input of the simulations influenced greatly their accuracy. Utilizing the as-designed model resulted in the highest prediction error (23%) and low correlation between the estimated and experimental loads to failure (R2 = 0.65). The prediction error was smaller when utilizing specimen geometry based on micro computed tomography scans (14%) or design models adjusted to match the printed porosity (8%). Discussion: The validated numerical workflow presented in this study could therefore be used to quantitatively predict the fatigue life of a porous implant, provided that the effect of manufacturing on implant geometry is accounted for
Author-Suggested, Weighted Citation Index: A Novel Approach for Determining the Contribution of Individual Researchers
No full textA novel scientometric index, named ‘author-suggested, weighted citation index’ (Aw-index) is proposed to indicate the scientific contribution of any individual researcher. For calculation of the Aw-index, it is suggested that during the submission of a scholarly article, the corresponding author would provide a statement, agreed upon by all the authors, containing weightage factors against each author of the article. The author who contributed more to the article would secure a higher weightage factor. The summation of the weightage factors of all the authors of an article should be unity. The citation points a researcher receives from a scholarly publication is the product of his/her weightage factor for that article and the total number of citations of the article. The Aw-index of any individual researcher is the summation of the citation points he/she receives for all his/her publications as an author. The Aw-index provides the opportunity to the group of authors of a multi-authored article to determine the quantum of partial citations to be attributed to each of them. Through an illustrative example, a comparison of the proposed index with the major scientometric indexes is presented to highlight the advantages of the Aw-index
Influence of Process Parameters on the Quality of Aluminium Alloy EN AW 7075 Using Selective Laser Melting (SLM)
No full textAbstractSelective laser melting (SLM) is an additive manufacturing process, forming the desired geometry by selective layer fusion of powder material. Unlike conventional manufacturing processes, highly complex parts can be manufactured with high accuracy and little post processing. Currently, different steel, aluminium, titanium and nickel-based alloys have been successfully processed; however, high strength aluminium alloy EN AW 7075 has not been processed with satisfying quality. The main focus of the investigation is to develop the SLM process for the wide used aluminium alloy EN AW 7075. Before process development, the gas-atomized powder material was characterized in terms of statistical distribution: size and shape. A wide range of process parameters were selected to optimize the process in terms of optimum volume density. The investigations resulted in a relative density of over 99%. However, all laser-melted parts exhibit hot cracks which typically appear in aluminium alloy EN AW 7075 during the welding process. Furthermore the influence of processing parameters on the chemical composition of the selected alloy was determined
Zhedanov's Algebra AW(3) and the Double Affine Hecke Algebra in the Rank One Case. II. The Spherical Subalgebra
No full textThis paper builds on the previous paper by the author, where a relationship between Zhedanov's algebra AW(3) and the double affine Hecke algebra (DAHA) corresponding to the Askey-Wilson polynomials was established. It is shown here that the spherical subalgebra of this DAHA is isomorphic to AW(3) with an additional relation that the Casimir operator equals an explicit constant. A similar result with q-shifted parameters holds for the antispherical subalgebra. Some theorems on centralizers and centers for the algebras under consideration will finally be proved as corollaries of the characterization of the spherical and antispherical subalgebra
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Extensions and amplifications of a traffic model of Aw and Rascle
No full textIn a recent paper [1] Aw and Rascle introduced a new model of traffic on a uni-directional highway. Here the author studies an extension of this model, one which accounts for drivers attempting to travel at their maximum allowable speed. The author looks at a Lagrangian reformulation of this problem; a formulation that leads to an effective computational algorithm for solving the resulting system. He also investigates approximation scheme introduced by Dafermos [5] for scalar conservation laws and demonstrates that this Dafermos scheme works well on this 2 x 2 system
Automating the determination of wave speed using the pu-loop method
No full textThe PU-loop (pressure-velocity loop) is a method for determining wave speed and relies on the linear relationship between the pressure and velocity in the absence of reflected waves. This linearity of the PU-loop during early systole, which is directly related to wave speed, has always been established by eye. This paper presents a new technique that establishes this linearity and thus determining wave speed online. Pressure and flow were measured in the ascending aorta of 11 anesthetised dogs. The slope of the PU-loop, indicating wave speed was determined by eye and by using the new technique. The difference between the slopes of the two methods is in the order of 3%. The new technique is convenient and allows for the online assessment of wave speed, which could be used as a bedside tool for the assessment of arterial compliance
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