Subsurface deformation during Vickers indentation of bulk metallic glasses

Bonded interface technique was employed to examine the nature of subsurface deformation during Vickers indentation in two kinds of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs), Pd42.1Ni39.77P18.13, and Zr56.69Cu26.96Al10.95Ni5.4. Quantitative information such as the shear band spacing, pile-up length, subsurface deformation zone size etc. was recorded for indentation loads ranging from 50 to 5000 g. Experimental results show that both the BMGs have an average hardness value of ~550 VHN with slightly higher hardness at low loads. Observations of deformation zones indicate that they deform appreciably through the shear band mechanism. For both bulk indentation, as well as the interface indentation, the normalized size of the deformation zone was found to be independent of the applied load. Two types of shear bands, radial, and semi-circular in nature, have been observed. These results are compared with similar studies made on ductile metals and silicate glasses

Cognitive Impairment in Neuromyelitis Optica Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Clinical and Neuroradiological Features

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) are mostly relapsing autoimmune inflammatory disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) with optic neuritis, myelitis, and brainstem syndromes as clinical hallmarks. With a reported prevalence of up to 70%, cognitive impairment is frequent, but often unrecognized and an insufficiently treated burden of the disease. The most common cognitive dysfunctions are decline in attention andmemory performance.Magnetic resonance imaging can be used to access structural correlates of neuropsychological disorders. Cognitive impairment is not only a highly underestimated symptom in patients with NMOSD, but potentially also a clinical correlate of attack-independent changes in NMOSD, which are currently under debate. This article reviews cognitive impairment in NMOSD and discusses associations between structural changes of the CNS and cognitive deficits

Deformation morphology underneath the vickers indent in a Zr-based bulk metallic glass

Hardness and plastic deformation during Vickers indentation in as-cast, annealed, and fully crystallized Zr57Cu27Al11Ni5 bulk metallic glass was examined. Subsurface deformation morphology under the indenter tip was studied at various loads and for different annealing time. Appreciable plastic deformation, through shear banding, occurs in the as-cast and annealed alloys. Two different types of shear bands are observed. Their occurrence depends upon the amount of annealing and hence on the extent of crystallization. The fully crystallized alloy exhibits extensive cracking. Trends in the deformation zone size with load are consistent with the expanding cavity model, while the shear band morphology, particularly for the as-cast sample, attests the qualitative applicability of the slip line field theory

Effect of dose to parotid ducts on Sticky Saliva and Xerostomia in radiotherapy of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

BACKGROUND Radiotherapy (RT) in head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) often leads to sticky saliva and xerostomia (SSX). Dose sparing of salivary glands (SG) reduces occurrence of SSX but few studies investigated the relationship between RT dose to SG substructures and SSX. We therefore investigated this hypothesis, focusing on the parotid duct (PD). METHODS Retrospective data was collected from 99 HNSCC patients treated at our center with (chemo-)radiotherapy (CRT). PD and other organs-at-risk (OAR) were (re-)contoured and DVHs were generated without re-planning. SSX was graded according to CTCAE v.4.03 and evaluated at acute, subacute, and two late timepoints. RESULTS Most patients presented with loco-regionally advanced disease. In 47% of patients, up-front neck dissection preceded CRT. Weighted mean dose was 28.6 Gy for bilateral parotid glands (PG), and 32.0 Gy for PD. Acute SSX presented as grades 0 (35.3%), I (41.4%), II (21.2%) and III (2.0%). There was no association of OARs and SSX ≥ grade 2 in univariable logistic regression (LR). Multivariable LR showed statistically significant relationship of acute SSX with: PG weighted mean dose (OR 0.84, p = 0.004), contralateral PG mean dose (OR 1.14, p = 0.02) and contralateral PD planning OAR (PD PRV) mean dose (OR 1.84, p = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS There was an association of acute SSX with dose exposure of PD PRV in multivariable regression, only. Due to statistical uncertainties and the retrospective nature of this analysis, further studies are required to confirm or reject the hypothesis

Weakly Z symmetric manifolds

We introduce a new kind of Riemannian manifold that includes weakly-, pseudo- and pseudo projective- Ricci symmetric manifolds. The manifold is defined through a generalization of the so called Z tensor; it is named "weakly Z symmetric" and denoted by (WZS)_n. If the Z tensor is singular we give conditions for the existence of a proper concircular vector. For non singular Z tensor, we study the closedness property of the associated covectors and give sufficient conditions for the existence of a proper concircular vector in the conformally harmonic case, and the general form of the Ricci tensor. For conformally flat (WZS)_n manifolds, we derive the local form of the metric tensor.Comment: 13 page

ISOLATION, IDENTIFICATION, PATHOTYPING AND ANTIBIOGRAM OF ESCHERICHIA COLI FROM RECTAL SWAB OF PET DOGS AND CATS

Two hundred seventy two rectal swabs were examined from diarrhoeic and nondiarrhoeic pet dogs and cats. Out of 240 samples from dogs, 131 (54.58%) and out of 32 samples from cats, 15 (46.87%) were positive for E. coli by cultural characteristic, gram staining, motility,biochemical reactions and sugar fermentation tests. Out of 146 total positive isolates, only 12 isolates were pathogenic. Out of 12 pathogenic isolates of E. coli 6 isolates were O group non- typable and rest 6 E. coli strains were O25, O86a, O44 and O1 from dogs and O36 and O8 from cats. Out of 12 isolates 9 were sensitive to ceftriaxone, 8 were sensitive to ciprofloxacin and gentamicin, 4 were sensitive to amikacin, neomycin and norfloxacin, 2 were to Co-trimoxazole and 1 was sensitive to lomefloxacin. None of the isolate was sensitive to amoxyclav & cephotaxime

5-HT7 receptors in Alzheimer's disease

Even though the involvement of serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) and its receptors in Alzheimer's disease (AD) is widely accepted, data on the expression and the role of 5-HT7 receptors in AD is relatively limited. Therefore, the objective of the present work was to study the expression of serotonergic 5-HT7 receptors in postmortem samples of AD brains and correlate it with neurotransmitter levels, cognition and behavior. The study population consisted of clinically well-characterized and neuropathologically confirmed AD patients (n = 42) and age-matched control subjects (n = 18). Reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and high-performance liquid chromatography were performed on Brodmann area (BA) 7, BA10, BA22, BA24, hippocampus, amygdala, thalamus and cerebellum to measure mRNA levels of 5-HT7 receptors (HTR7), as well as the concentrations of various monoamine neurotransmitters and their metabolites. Decreased levels of HTR7 mRNA were observed in BA10. A significant association was observed between HTR7 levels in BA10 and BEHAVE-AD cluster B (hallucinations) (rs(28) = 0.444, P < 0.05). In addition, a negative correlation was observed between HTR7 levels in BA10 and both MHPG concentrations in this brain region (rs(45) = -0.311; P < 0.05), and DOPAC levels in the amygdala (rs(42) = -0.311; P < 0.05). Quite surprisingly, no association was found between HTR7 levels and cognitive status. Altogether, this study supports the notion of the involvement of 5-HT7 receptors in psychotic symptoms in AD, suggesting the interest of testing antagonist acting at this receptor to specifically treat psychotic symptoms in this illness

Optimizing spatial accuracy in electroencephalography reconstruction through diffuse optical tomography priors in the auditory cortex

Diffuse optical tomography (DOT) enhances the localization accuracy of neural activity measured with electroencephalography (EEG) while preserving EEG’s high temporal resolution. However, the spatial resolution of reconstructed activity diminishes for deeper neural sources. In this study, we analyzed DOT-enhanced EEG localization of neural sources modeled at depths ranging from 11-25 mm in simulations. Our findings reveal systematic biases in reconstructed depth related to DOT channel length. To address this, we developed a data-informed method for selecting DOT channels to improve the spatial accuracy of DOT-enhanced EEG reconstruction. Using our method, the average absolute reconstruction depth errors of DOT reconstruction across all depths are 0.9 ± 0.6 mm, 1.2 ± 0.9 mm, and 1.2 ± 1.1 mm under noiseless, low-level noise, and high-level noise conditions, respectively. In comparison, using fixed channel lengths resulted in errors of 2.6 ± 1.5 mm, 5.0 ± 2.6 mm, and 7.3 ± 4.5 mm under the same conditions. Consequently, our method improved the depth accuracy of DOT reconstructions and facilitated the use of more accurate spatial priors for EEG reconstructions, enhancing the overall precision of the technique.</p