Quantification of environmentally-assisted cracking mechanisms with high- resolution characterisation

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Structural and mechanical properties of ?-irradiated Zr/Nb multilayer nanocomposites

Zr/Nb multilayers with periodicities of 10, 30 and 60 nm were prepared by magnetron sputtering and irradiated for prolonged time (1311 h) by ?-rays with energy of 1.25 MeV and a dose of 510 kGy. A qualitative comparison between XRD patterns acquired before and after irradiation revealed a progressive increase of compressive stress, especially in Nb layers, for smaller periodicities with a consequent increase in hardness measured by nanoindentation. The combination of smaller grain size and radiation-induced defect density distribution, primarily in Nb layers, was found to be responsible for the observed radiation hardening effect

The effect of Sn concentration on oxide texture and microstructure formation in zirconium alloys

AbstractThe development of oxide texture and microstructure formed on two zirconium alloys with differing Sn contents (Zr–1Nb–1Sn–0.1Fe, i.e. ZIRLO™ and Zr–1.0Nb–0.1Fe) has been investigated using transmission Kikuchi diffraction (TKD) in the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and automated crystal orientation mapping in the transmission electron microscope (TEM). Bulk texture measurements were also performed using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) in order to quantify and compare the oxide macrotexture development. The Sn-free alloy showed significantly improved corrosion performance by delay of the transition region and reduced levels of hydrogen pickup. The macroscopic texture and grain misorientation analysis of the oxide films showed that the improved corrosion performance and reduced hydrogen pick up can be correlated with increased oxide texture strength, the improved oxide grain alignment resulting in longer, more protective columnar grain growth. A lower tetragonal phase fraction is also observed in the Sn-free alloy. This results in less transformation to the stable monoclinic phase during oxide growth, which leads to reduced cracking and interconnected porosity and also to the formation of larger, well-aligned monoclinic grains. It is concluded that the Zr–1.0Nb–0.1Fe alloy is more resistant to hydrogen pickup due the formation of a denser oxide with a larger columnar grain structure

Effects of single- and simultaneous triple-ion-beam irradiation on an oxide dispersion-strengthened Fe12Cr steel

Oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steels are main candidates for structural applications in future fusion reactors. Understanding their irradiation-induced behaviour is a key in building optimised components with enhanced radiation resistance. In this work, the stability of an ODS Fe12Cr steel was investigated by transmission electron microscopy after single- (Fe4+) and simultaneous triple-ion-beam irradiation (Fe8+, He+ and H+) at room temperature to doses of 4.4 and 10 dpa. The irradiations were accomplished at the JANNUS-Saclay facility. Results after single-ion-beam irradiation were also compared with those from a reference Fe12Cr steel produced following the same route. Analyses focused on determining the irradiation-induced loop size and density in the ODS and reference materials, investigating the grain boundary microchemistry and studying the evolution of the secondary phases present. These experiments show that the Y-rich nanoparticles present in the ODS steel are quite stable under these irradiation conditions although evolution of larger Cr-rich carbides could be taking place. Loop sizes are smaller for the ODS steel than for the reference material and appear to increase with dose. Cr segregates at some of the grain boundaries, though this segregation also occurs in the absence of irradiation.This investigation was supported by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (Contract ENE2010-17462), the European Commission through the European Fusion Development Agreement (EFDA), the EPSRC Grant No. EP/H018921/1, the FP7-EU Program under Grant Agreement 312483 - ESTEEM2 (Integrated Infrastructure Initiative-I3) and the Royal Society International Exchanges Scheme 2011/R1 (ref. IE110136)

Twelve tips to make successful medical infographics

In the health sciences, professionals must keep up to date to conduct their evidence-based practise. Hence, there is a growing need to share medical knowledge efficiently among healthcare professionals, patients, and undergraduate health science students. Infographics (text and image) are a hybrid element that serves to represent information in an attractive and meaningful visual format. Actually, with the use of the Internet and social networks, infographics have become a popular format for sharing medical information around the world. On the basis of a published literature review, we provide 12 tips in this article to make a successfully health-related infographic with the aim of assisting clinicians, educators, and researchers in their task of communicating and transforming complex information into a visual, attractive, didactic and shareable format. By following these basic recommendations, it is possible to improve the dissemination of scientific and health-related knowledge to different audiences who can benefit from infographics

The Effect of Balance Training on Postural Control in Patients with Parkinson s Disease Using a Virtual Rehabilitation System

[EN] Objectives: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor clinical alterations among others. Postural problems have serious consequences for patients, not only limiting their daily life but also increasing some risks, like the risk of fall. Inadequate postural control and postural instability is a major problem in PD patients. A Virtual Motor Rehabilitation System (VMR) has been tested in patients with PD in the intervention period. Our pur-pose was to analyze the evolution of the spatial postural control during the intervention period, to see if there are any changes caused precisely by this intervention. Methods: Ten people with PD carried out 15 virtual rehabilitation sessions. We tested a groundbreaking system based on Virtual Motor Rehabilitation in two periods of time (baseline evaluation and final evaluation). In the training sessions, the participants performed a customizable treatment using a low-cost system, the Active Balance Rehabilitation system (ABAR). We stored the pressure performed by the participants every five hundredths of a second, and we analyzed the patients' pressure when they maintained their body on the left, on the right, and in the center in sitting position. Our system was able to measure postural control in every patient in each of the virtual rehabilitation sessions. Results: There are no significant differences in the performance of postural control in any of the positions evaluated throughout the sessions. Moreover, the results show a trend to an improvement in all positions. This improvement is especially remarkable in the left/right positions, which are the most important positions in order to avoid problems such as the risk of fall. With regard to the suitability of the ABAR system, we have found outstanding results in enjoyment, success, clarity, and helpfulness. Conclusions: Although PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder, the results demonstrate that patients with PD maintain or even improve their postural control in all positions. We think that the main factor influencing these results is that patients use more of their available cognitive processing to improve their postural control. The ABAR system allows us to make this assumption because the system requires the continuous attention of patients, promoting cognitive processing.This contribution was partially funded by the Gobierno de Aragon, Departamento de Industria e Innovacion, y Fondo Social Europeo "Construyendo Europa desde Aragon" and by the Programa Ibercaja-CAI de Estancias de Investigacion.Albiol-Perez, S.; Gil-Gómez, J.; Muñoz-Tomás, M.; Gil Gómez, H.; Vial Escolano, R.; Lozano Quilis, JA. (2017). 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Physiotherapy for patients with Parkinson’s Disease: a comparison of techniques. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2001; (3): CD002817Albiol-Pérez S, Lozano-Quilis JA, Gil-Gómez H, Gil-Gómez JA, Llorens R. Virtual rehabilitation system for people with Parkinson disease. 9th Intl Conf. Disability, Virtual Reality & Associated Technologies, Laval, France; 2012Mendes, F. A. dos S., Pompeu, J. E., Lobo, A. M., da Silva, K. G., Oliveira, T. de P., Zomignani, A. P., & Piemonte, M. E. P. (2012). Motor learning, retention and transfer after virtual-reality-based training in Parkinson’s disease – effect of motor and cognitive demands of games: a longitudinal, controlled clinical study. Physiotherapy, 98(3), 217-223. doi:10.1016/j.physio.2012.06.001Saposnik, G., & Levin, M. (2011). Virtual Reality in Stroke Rehabilitation. Stroke, 42(5), 1380-1386. doi:10.1161/strokeaha.110.605451Lozano-Quilis, J.-A., Gil-Gómez, H., Gil-Gómez, J.-A., Albiol-Pérez, S., Palacios-Navarro, G., Fardoun, H. 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IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 18(1), 391-398. doi:10.1109/jbhi.2013.2272101Forcano-García, M., Muñoz-Tomás, M. T., Manzano-Fernández, P., Solsona-Hernández, S., Mashat, M. A., Gil-Gómez, J. A., & Albiol-Pérez, S. (2015). A Novel Virtual Motor Rehabilitation System for Guillain-Barré Syndrome. Methods of Information in Medicine, 54(02), 127-134. doi:10.3414/me14-02-0002Gil-Gómez, J.-A., Lloréns, R., Alcañiz, M., & Colomer, C. (2011). Effectiveness of a Wii balance board-based system (eBaViR) for balance rehabilitation: a pilot randomized clinical trial in patients with acquired brain injury. Journal of NeuroEngineering and Rehabilitation, 8(1), 30. doi:10.1186/1743-0003-8-30Muñoz Tomás, M. T., Gil Gómez, J. A., Gil Gómez, H., Lozano Quillis, J. A., Albiol-Pérez, S., & Forcano García, M. (2013). Suitability of virtual rehabilitation for elderly: A study of a virtual rehabilitation system using the SEQ. 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Managing dose-, damage- and data-rates in multi-frame spectrum-imaging

As an instrument, the scanning transmission electron microscope is unique in being able to simultaneously explore both local structural and chemical variations in materials at the atomic scale. This is made possible as both types of data are acquired serially, originating simultaneously from sample interactions with a sharply focused electron probe. Unfortunately, such scanned data can be distorted by environmental factors, though recently fast-scanned multi-frame imaging approaches have been shown to mitigate these effects. Here, we demonstrate the same approach but optimized for spectroscopic data; we offer some perspectives on the new potential of multi-frame spectrum-imaging (MFSI) and show how dose-sharing approaches can reduce sample damage, improve crystallographic fidelity, increase data signal-to-noise, or maximize usable field of view. Further, we discuss the potential issue of excessive data-rates in MFSI, and demonstrate a file-compression approach to significantly reduce data storage and transmission burdens

Monitoring by in situ NAP-XPS of active sites for CO2 methanation on a Ni/CeO2 catalyst

Ni/CeO2 catalysts are very active and selective for total hydrogenation of CO2 to methane, but the nature of the active sites is still unclear. The surface of a Ni/CeO2 catalyst has been monitored under CO2 methanation conditions by Near Ambient Pressure-XPS (NAP-XPS) using synchrotron radiation, and has been concluded that the species involved in the redox processes taking place during the CO2 methanation mechanism are the Ni2+-CeO2/Ni0 and Ce4+/Ce3+ pairs. In addition, a small fraction of nickel is present on the catalyst surface forming NiO and Ni2+-carbonates/hydroxyls (around 20% of the total surface nickel), but these species do not participate in the redox processes of the methanation mechanism. Under CO2 methanation conditions the H2 reduction rate of the Ni2+-CeO2/Ni0 and Ce4+/Ce3+ couples is much faster than their CO2 reoxidation rate (2 times faster, at least, at 300ºC), but a certain proportion of nickel always remains oxidized under reaction conditions. The high activity of Ni/CeO2 catalysts for CO2 methanation is tentatively attributed to the simultaneous presence of Ni2+-CeO2 and Ni0 active sites where CO2 and H2 are expected to be efficiently dissociated, respectively.Generalitat Valenciana, Spain (PROMETEO/2018/0765) Ministry for Science and Innovation MICINN, Spain (Projects PID2019-105960RB-C21 and PID2019-105960RB-C22) Junta de Andalucía, Spain (Project P18-RTJ-2974); European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program (Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 713567) Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre, Ireland (award 12/RC/2278_P2) ALBA synchrotron, Spain (Proposal number: ID 2020094556)