Thickness and Conductivity of Metallic Layers from Pulsed Eddy Current Measurements

Coatings and surface treatments find a wide range of technological applications; they can provide wear resistance, oxidation and corrosion protection, electrical contact or isolation and thermal insulation. Consequently, the ability to determine the thickness of coated metals is important for both process control and in-service inspection of parts. Presently ultrasonic, thermal, and eddy current inspection methods are used, depending on the circumstances. A number of commercial instruments for determining the thickness of nonconducting coatings on metal substrates are based on the fact that the impedance change of the coil decreases exponentially with the distance of the coil from the metal (the lift-off effect). However, these instruments are not suitable for determining the thickness of metal layers on conducting substrates

Systematic review of studies generating individual participant data on the efficacy of drugs for treating soil-transmitted helminthiases and the case for data-sharing

Preventive chemotherapy and transmission control (PCT) by mass drug administration is the cornerstone of the World Health Organization (WHO)’s policy to control soil-transmitted helminthiases (STHs) caused by Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm), Trichuris trichiura (whipworm) and hookworm species (Necator americanus and Ancylostama duodenale) which affect over 1 billion people globally. Despite consensus that drug efficacies should be monitored for signs of decline that could jeopardise the effectiveness of PCT, systematic monitoring and evaluation is seldom implemented. Drug trials mostly report aggregate efficacies in groups of participants, but heterogeneities in design complicate classical meta-analyses of these data. Individual participant data (IPD) permit more detailed analysis of drug efficacies, offering increased sensitivity to identify atypical responses potentially caused by emerging drug resistance

Costs and benefits of orthographic inconsistency in reading:evidence from a cross-linguistic comparison

We compared reading acquisition in English and Italian children up to late primary school analyzing RTs and errors as a function of various psycholinguistic variables and changes due to experience. Our results show that reading becomes progressively more reliant on larger processing units with age, but that this is modulated by consistency of the language. In English, an inconsistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs earlier on and it is demonstrated by faster RTs, a stronger effect of lexical variables and lack of length effect (by fifth grade). However, not all English children are able to master this mode of processing yielding larger inter-individual variability. In Italian, a consistent orthography, reliance on larger units occurs later and it is less pronounced. This is demonstrated by larger length effects which remain significant even in older children and by larger effects of a global factor (related to speed of orthographic decoding) explaining changes of performance across ages. Our results show the importance of considering not only overall performance, but inter-individual variability and variability between conditions when interpreting cross-linguistic differences

Correlation of adrenomedullin gene expression in peripheral blood leukocytes with severity of ischemic stroke

Human adrenomedullin (ADM), a 52-amino acid peptide, belongs to the calcitonin/calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)/amylin peptide family. ADM acts as a multifunctional regulatory peptide and is upregulated in response to hypoxia. Previous microarray studies have found increased ADM gene (ADM) expression in peripheral blood cells of patients with stroke, however, it is unknown if an increased ADM level is correlated with severity of human ischemic stroke. This study investigated ADM expression in peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) of healthy controls and subjects at day 1, week 1 and week 3 postacute ischemic stroke using rtPCR methodology. We found that ADM expression was significantly upregulated on the first day of stroke compared to the healthy subjects and the disease controls; the levels remained elevated for up to week 3. Further, ADM expression at day 1 was correlated with stroke severity measured by the National Institute of Healthy Stroke Scale (NIHSS), the modified Barthel Index (mBI) and the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). This could indicate that ADM expression level is related to the severity of tissue damage. We suggest that increased ADM expression in PBL after acute ischemic stroke is most likely to indicate that these cells have been subjected to hypoxia and that the magnitude of expression is likely to be related to the volume of hypoxic tissue. Hypoxia can affect lymphocytes function and could affect the immune response to stroke. The correlation of ADM expression level with the measures of stroke severity implicates ADM - a potential blood bio-marker in studies of ischemic stroke

Early respiratory morbidity in a multicultural birth cohort: the Generation R Study

Ethnic disparities in the prevalence of asthma symptoms in children have been described. We evaluated to what extent the association between ethnic background and respiratory symptoms during the first 2 years of life could be explained by the mediating effect of risk factors for respiratory morbidity. The Generation R Study is a multiethnic, population-based birth cohort study. Pre and postnatal risk factors for respiratory morbidity were prospectively assessed by questionnaires. Information about ethnicity was available for 5,684 infants. The associations between ethnic background and lower respiratory symptoms at 12 and 24 months were evaluated with log-binomial regression models. Relative risks and 95 % confidence intervals (RR [95 % CI]) were computed for Cape Verdean, Moroccan, Antillean, Surinamese and Turkish ethnicity with Dutch ethnicity as the reference category. We found an increased risk of lower respiratory symptoms at 24 months in Antillean infants (1.32 [95 % CI 1.12–1.57]) that was mediated by early postnatal exposures (pets keeping, siblings, breastfeeding, daycare attendance, smoke exposure). Turkish infants also had an increased risk of lower respiratory symptoms at 12 and 24 months (1.14 [95 % CI 1.02–1.27] and 1.21 [95 % CI 1.07–1.38], respectively), partly explained by previous morbidity (eczema, infections and upper respiratory symptoms). There were no differences for Cape Verdean, Moroccan or Surinamese, as compared to Dutch infants. Hence, ethnic background was associated with respiratory symptoms during the first 2 years of life and this association was largely explained by mediating effects of known pre and postnatal risk factors for respiratory morbidity

X-ray emission from the Sombrero galaxy: discrete sources

We present a study of discrete X-ray sources in and around the bulge-dominated, massive Sa galaxy, Sombrero (M104), based on new and archival Chandra observations with a total exposure of ~200 ks. With a detection limit of L_X = 1E37 erg/s and a field of view covering a galactocentric radius of ~30 kpc (11.5 arcminute), 383 sources are detected. Cross-correlation with Spitler et al.'s catalogue of Sombrero globular clusters (GCs) identified from HST/ACS observations reveals 41 X-rays sources in GCs, presumably low-mass X-ray binaries (LMXBs). We quantify the differential luminosity functions (LFs) for both the detected GC and field LMXBs, whose power-low indices (~1.1 for the GC-LF and ~1.6 for field-LF) are consistent with previous studies for elliptical galaxies. With precise sky positions of the GCs without a detected X-ray source, we further quantify, through a fluctuation analysis, the GC LF at fainter luminosities down to 1E35 erg/s. The derived index rules out a faint-end slope flatter than 1.1 at a 2 sigma significance, contrary to recent findings in several elliptical galaxies and the bulge of M31. On the other hand, the 2-6 keV unresolved emission places a tight constraint on the field LF, implying a flattened index of ~1.0 below 1E37 erg/s. We also detect 101 sources in the halo of Sombrero. The presence of these sources cannot be interpreted as galactic LMXBs whose spatial distribution empirically follows the starlight. Their number is also higher than the expected number of cosmic AGNs (52+/-11 [1 sigma]) whose surface density is constrained by deep X-ray surveys. We suggest that either the cosmic X-ray background is unusually high in the direction of Sombrero, or a distinct population of X-ray sources is present in the halo of Sombrero.Comment: 11 figures, 5 tables, ApJ in pres

Performance of the CMS Cathode Strip Chambers with Cosmic Rays

The Cathode Strip Chambers (CSCs) constitute the primary muon tracking device in the CMS endcaps. Their performance has been evaluated using data taken during a cosmic ray run in fall 2008. Measured noise levels are low, with the number of noisy channels well below 1%. Coordinate resolution was measured for all types of chambers, and fall in the range 47 microns to 243 microns. The efficiencies for local charged track triggers, for hit and for segments reconstruction were measured, and are above 99%. The timing resolution per layer is approximately 5 ns

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering imaging of lipids in cancer metastasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Lipid-rich tumours have been associated with increased cancer metastasis and aggressive clinical behaviours. Nonetheless, pathologists cannot classify lipid-rich tumours as a clinically distinctive form of carcinoma due to a lack of mechanistic understanding on the roles of lipids in cancer development.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy is employed to study cancer cell behaviours in excess lipid environments <it>in vivo </it>and <it>in vitro</it>. The impacts of a high fat diet on cancer development are evaluated in a Balb/c mice cancer model. Intravital flow cytometry and histology are employed to enumerate cancer cell escape to the bloodstream and metastasis to lung tissues, respectively. Cancer cell motility and tissue invasion capability are also evaluated in excess lipid environments.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CARS imaging reveals intracellular lipid accumulation is induced by excess free fatty acids (FFAs). Excess FFAs incorporation onto cancer cell membrane induces membrane phase separation, reduces cell-cell contact, increases surface adhesion, and promotes tissue invasion. Increased plasma FFAs level and visceral adiposity are associated with early rise in circulating tumour cells and increased lung metastasis. Furthermore, CARS imaging reveals FFAs-induced lipid accumulation in primary, circulating, and metastasized cancer cells.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Lipid-rich tumours are linked to cancer metastasis through FFAs-induced physical perturbations on cancer cell membrane. Most importantly, the revelation of lipid-rich circulating tumour cells suggests possible development of CARS intravital flow cytometry for label-free detection of early-stage cancer metastasis.</p