Plasma deposition of constrained layer damping coatings

Plasma techniques are used to generate constrained layer damping (CLD) coatings on metallic substrates. The process involves the deposition of relatively thick, hard ceramic layers on to soft polymeric damping materials while maintaining the integrity of both layers. Reactive plasma sputter-deposition from an aluminium alloy target is used to deposit alumina layers, with Young's modulus in the range 77-220GPa and thickness up to 335 μ, on top of a silicone film. This methodology is also used to deposit a 40 μ alumina layer on a conventional viscoelastic damping film to produce an integral damping coating. Plasma CLD systems are shown to give at least 50 per cent more damping than equivalent metal-foil-based treatments. Numerical methods for rapid prediction of the performance of such coatings are discussed and validated by comparison with experimental results

Deposition of Fluorocarbon Plasma Polymer Nanoparticles and their Basic Properties

Fluorocarbon plasma polymer nanoparticles have been fabricated using gas aggregation cluster source (GAS) equipped with a planar magnetron with PTFE target. A beam of nanoparticles 20 – 200 nm in diameter was generated. Fluorocarbon nanoparticle films have shown very good water repellent properties. Films immersed in ethanol for two hours exhibited excellent stability that was also good in case of water. Measurements using a deflection system showed the presence of both neutral and charged nanoparticles

Greater sensitivity to nonaccidental than metric shape properties in preschool children

AbstractNonaccidental properties (NAPs) are image properties that are invariant over orientation in depth and allow facile recognition of objects at varied orientations. NAPs are distinguished from metric properties (MPs) that generally vary continuously with changes in orientation in depth. While a number of studies have demonstrated greater sensitivity to NAPs in human adults, pigeons, and macaque IT cells, the few studies that investigated sensitivities in preschool children did not find significantly greater sensitivity to NAPs. However, these studies did not provide a principled measure of the physical image differences for the MP and NAP variations. We assessed sensitivity to NAP vs. MP differences in a nonmatch-to-sample task in which 14 preschool children were instructed to choose which of two shapes was different from a sample shape in a triangular display. Importantly, we scaled the shape differences so that MP and NAP differences were roughly equal (although the MP differences were slightly larger), using the Gabor-Jet model of V1 similarity (Lades & et al., 1993). Mean reaction times (RTs) for every child were shorter when the target shape differed from the sample in a NAP than an MP. The results suggest that preschoolers, like adults, are more sensitive to NAPs, which could explain their ability to rapidly learn new objects, even without observing them from every possible orientation

ADHD presenting as recurrent epistaxis: a case report

Epistaxis is an important otorhinolaryngological emergency, which usually has an apparent etiology, frequently local trauma in children. Here we present a case report wherein the epistaxis was recalcitrant, and proved to have a psychiatric disorder as an underlying basis. The child was diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, hyperactive type, which led to trauma to nasal mucosa due to frequent and uncontrolled nose picking. Treatment with atomoxetine controlled the patient's symptoms and led to a remission of epistaxis

Perceptual Context in Cognitive Hierarchies

Cognition does not only depend on bottom-up sensor feature abstraction, but also relies on contextual information being passed top-down. Context is higher level information that helps to predict belief states at lower levels. The main contribution of this paper is to provide a formalisation of perceptual context and its integration into a new process model for cognitive hierarchies. Several simple instantiations of a cognitive hierarchy are used to illustrate the role of context. Notably, we demonstrate the use context in a novel approach to visually track the pose of rigid objects with just a 2D camera

Comparative acute efficacy and tolerability of OROS and immediate release formulations of methylphenidate in the treatment of adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The main aim of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of IR MPH administered three times daily to those of once daily OROS-MPH.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Subjects were outpatient adults satisfying full diagnostic criteria for DSM-IV ADHD between 19 and 60 years of age. Data from two independently conducted 6-week placebo controlled, randomized clinical trials of IR-MPH (tid) and of OROS-MPH were pooled to create three study groups: Placebo (N = 116), IR-MPH (tid) (N = 102) and OROS-MPH (N = 67).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eight-five percent (N = 99) of placebo treated subjects, 77% (N = 79) of the IR-MPH (tid) treated subjects, and 82% (N = 55) of the OROS-MPH treated subjects completed the 6-week trial. Total daily doses at endpoint were 80.9 ± 31.9 mg, 74.8 ± 26.2 mg, and 95.4 ± 26.3 mg in the OROS-MPH, IR-MPH (tid), and placebo groups, respectively. At endpoint, 66% (N = 44) of subjects receiving OROS-MPH and 70% (N = 71) of subjects receiving IR-MPH (tid) were considered responders compared with 31% (N = 36) on placebo.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Comparison of data from two similarly designed, large, randomized, placebo-controlled, trials, showed that equipotent daily doses of once daily OROS-MPH had similar efficacy to that of TID administered IR MPH.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>The trial of OROS-MPH was registered at clinicaltrials.gov, number NCT00181571.</p

Priming of plane-rotated objects depends on attention and view familiarity

Three experiments investigated the role of attention in visual priming across rotations in the picture plane. Experiment 1 showed that naming latencies increased with the degree of misorientation for objects commonly seen in an upright view (base objects) but not for objects seen familiarly from many views (no-base objects). In Experiment 2, no-base objects revealed a priming pattern identical to that observed previously for left-right reflections (Stankiewicz, Hummel, & Cooper, 1998): Attended objects primed themselves in the same and rotated views, whereas ignored images primed themselves only in the same view, with additive effects of attention and orientation. In Experiment 3 ignored base objects only primed themselves in a familiar (upright) view, indicating that priming only obtains when that image makes contact with object memory. These data challenge theories of object recognition that rely on any single representation of shape and contribute to evidence suggesting holistic (view-like) representations for ignored and analytic (view-insensitive) representations for attended objects

LV reverse remodeling imparted by aortic valve replacement for severe aortic stenosis; is it durable? A cardiovascular MRI study sponsored by the American Heart Association

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In patients with severe aortic stenosis (AS), long-term data tracking surgically induced effects of afterload reduction on reverse LV remodeling are not available. Echocardiographic data is available short term, but in limited fashion beyond one year. Cardiovascular MRI (CMR) offers the ability to serially track changes in LV metrics with small numbers due to its inherent high spatial resolution and low variability.</p> <p>Hypothesis</p> <p>We hypothesize that changes in LV structure and function following aortic valve replacement (AVR) are detectable by CMR and once triggered by AVR, continue for an extended period.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tweny-four patients of which ten (67 ± 12 years, 6 female) with severe, but compensated AS underwent CMR pre-AVR, 6 months, 1 year and up to 4 years post-AVR. 3D LV mass index, volumetrics, LV geometry, and EF were measured.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>All patients survived AVR and underwent CMR 4 serial CMR's. LVMI markedly decreased by 6 months (157 ± 42 to 134 ± 32 g/m^<b>2</b>, p < 0.005) and continued trending downwards through 4 years (127 ± 32 g/m^<b>2</b>). Similarly, EF increased pre to post-AVR (55 ± 22 to 65 ± 11%,(p < 0.05)) and continued trending upwards, remaining stable through years 1-4 (66 ± 11 vs. 65 ± 9%). LVEDVI, initially high pre-AVR, decreased post-AVR (83 ± 30 to 68 ± 11 ml/m2, p < 0.05) trending even lower by year 4 (66 ± 10 ml/m^<b>2</b>). LV stroke volume increased rapidly from pre to post-AVR (40 ± 11 to 44 ± 7 ml, p < 0.05) continuing to increase non-significantly through 4 years (49 ± 14 ml) with these LV metrics paralleling improvements in NYHA. However, LVmass/volume, a 3D measure of LV geometry, remained unchanged over 4 years.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>After initial beneficial effects imparted by AVR in severe AS patients, there are, as expected, marked improvements in LV reverse remodeling. Via CMR, surgically induced benefits to LV structure and function are durable and, unexpectedly express continued, albeit markedly incomplete improvement through 4 years post-AVR concordant with sustained improved clinical status. This supports down-regulation of both mRNA and MMP activity acutely with robust suppression long term.</p

Learning Behavioural Context

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