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Introduction Moyamoya arteriopathy is a severe, progressive cerebral arteriopathy that places affected children at high risk for stroke. Moyamoya has been associated with a range of neuropsychological deficits in adults, but data on many cognitive domains remain limited in the pediatric population and little is known about the neuropsychological profile of children with syndromic moyamoya. Methods This is a single-center, retrospective cohort study of children with moyamoya arteriopathy followed at our center who underwent neuropsychological testing between 2003 and 2021. Test scores were extracted from neuropsychological reports. Medical records were reviewed with attention to individual neuropsychological test results, medical comorbidities, presence of infarct(s) on neuroimaging, and history of clinical ischemic stroke. Results Of the 83 children with moyamoya followed at our center between 2003 and 2021, 13 had completed neuropsychological testing across multiple cognitive domains. Compared to age-based normative data, children in this sample had lower scores in overall intelligence (p = 0.003), global executive functioning (p = 0.005), and overall adaptive functioning (p = 0.015). There was no significant difference in overall intelligence between children with (n = 6) versus without (n = 7) a history of clinical stroke (p = 0.368), though children with any radiographic infarct scored lower in this domain (p = 0.032). Conclusion In our cohort, children with moyamoya demonstrated impaired intelligence and executive functioning, even in the absence of clinical stroke. Neuropsychological evaluation should be considered standard of care for all children with moyamoya, even those without a history of clinical stroke.

Background Subpial hemorrhages are underrecognized, underreported, and poorly understood. The spectrum of their clinical manifestations and consequences in neonates has not been fully described. Here, we describe the demographic, clinical, and radiographic characteristics of neonates with subpial hemorrhages. Methods We reviewed the medical records and neuroimaging studies of neonates with subpial hemorrhage who were admitted to our neonatal intensive care unit between September 2009 and December 2020. Results Of 114 neonates with intracranial hemorrhage, 31 (27%) had subpial hemorrhage. The majority of neonates in our cohort were male (68%) and born at term (55%). The most common imaging indication was apneas and/or seizures in 58%. Common comorbid conditions included cardiorespiratory failure (42%), hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (26%), and coagulopathy (23%). Subpial hemorrhages were multifocal in 45% of neonates, located in the temporal lobe in 45% of neonates, and tended to be larger in neonates with coagulopathy, birth trauma, or hydrocephalus requiring neurosurgical intervention. Subpial hemorrhage was associated with another type of intracranial bleed in 77% of cases and with arterial ischemic stroke in 16% of cases. Of 17 patients with more than one year of follow-up data, 14 (82%) have developmental delay and four (24%) have epilepsy. Of 14 patients with follow-up imaging, 10 (71%) had encephalomalacia subjacent to the subpial hemorrhage. Conclusions This is the largest cohort of neonates with subpial hemorrhages to date. Outcome data are limited by duration of follow-up and may be confounded by comorbid conditions and other concurrent hemorrhages. Further study is needed to define the spectrum of risk factors and expected neurological outcomes.

Introduction: Moyamoya arteriopathy (MMA) is a significant risk factor for pediatric stroke. Radiographic signs thought to indicate disease severity guide clinical decision making. We hypothesized that there exists a correlation between age and imaging biomarkers. Methods: We retrospectively identified pediatric MMA patients seen at our center that underwent surgical revascularization. Preoperative MRI/MRA imaging was reviewed by two pediatric neuroradiologists who were blinded to clinical characteristics. The following neuroimaging markers were evaluated by consensus: Suzuki staging, cerebrovascular stenosis score (CVSS), the presence of posterior circulation steno-occlusive lesions, ivy sign, and brush sign. Associations of these features with age were analyzed using simple logistic regression and Spearman correlation analyses. Results: We identified 27 patients undergoing 30 individual revascularization procedures between January 2003 and June 2021. There were 29 images of diagnostic quality for analysis. Median age at imaging was 8.5 years. Younger age was associated with posterior arterial lesions (p=0.028). There was no statistically significant association between age and ivy sign (p=0.205), brush sign (p=0.156), Suzuki stage (p=0.671), or CVSS (0.234). Conclusions: In this cohort of surgical MMA patients, younger children were more likely to have posterior circulation involvement on MRA. While not statistically significant, all analyzed radiographic signs were more prevalent among younger patients. Further studies correlating neuroimaging biomarkers with clinical outcomes in larger cohorts including non-surgical MMA patients are needed.

Introduction: Surgical revascularization is the mainstay of management in severe moyamoya arteriopathy (MMA). While perioperative stroke has been characterized, little is known about delayed postoperative stroke. Methods: We retrospectively identified patients diagnosed with MMA between 28 days and 18 years of age seen at our center between 1/2003 and 6/2021 using ICD codes. Those who underwent surgical revascularization either at our or another center were analyzed. Descriptive analysis of patients experiencing perioperative (defined as ≤7 days after surgery) versus delayed postoperative stroke (stroke occurring >7 days after surgery) was conducted. Results: 53 unique patients underwent 68 revascularization surgeries of 95 hemispheres. Median age at time of surgery was 8.3 years. Median time from surgery to final follow-up was 6.6 years. Postoperative stroke occurred in 11 (16%) cases, including 7 (10%) in the perioperative period and 4 (6%) >7 days after surgery. Patients with delayed stroke had a median age of 5.1 years at surgery, and median time to stroke was 87 days. While MMA associated with Trisomy 21 represented only 15% of cases in our sample, these cases accounted for 36% of postoperative strokes. Delayed stroke occurred more frequently in patients with unilateral revascularization. These patients developed infarcts contralateral to the revascularized hemisphere. Conclusions: Delayed stroke following surgical revascularization in patients with MMA occurred less frequently than perioperative stroke in our cohort. Trisomy 21 may be a risk factor for postoperative stroke. Further study is needed to characterize and predict which patients are at risk for delayed stroke.

When deciding how to pre-process EEG data, researchers need to make a choice at each single step of the procedure among different possibilities, equally valid. Therefore, in this work, we illustrate how these decisions may affect the quality of the final cleaned data in an Action Observation/Motor Imagery protocol, using quantitative indices. In particular, we showed the effect of segmenting or not the data in epochs around the stimulus presentation time on the independent component analysis (ICA) used for artifact removal. For ICA analysis, we tested two algorithms (SOBI and Extended Infomax). Finally, three re-reference approaches (Common averaged reference-CAR, robust-CAR and reference electrode standardization technique - REST) were also applied and their effects compared. Results showed that the segmenting method has a prominent effect on the cleaning procedure and consequently on final EEG data quality. Extended Infomax is confirmed as the method of choice for the identification of the artifactual components and, finally, CAR and the REST re-referencing techniques led to similar good results.

The M4F project brings together the fusion and fission materials communities working on the prediction of radiation damage production and evolution and their effects on the mechanical behaviour of irradiated ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels. It is a multidisciplinary project in which several different experimental and computational materials science tools are integrated to understand and model the complex phenomena associated with the formation and evolution of irradiation induced defects and their effects on the macroscopic behaviour of the target materials. In particular the project focuses on two specific aspects: (1) To develop physical understanding and predictive models of the origin and consequences of localised deformation under irradiation in F/M steels; (2) To develop good practices and possibly advance towards the definition of protocols for the use of ion irradiation as a tool to evaluate radiation effects on materials. Nineteen modelling codes across different scales are being used and developed and an experimental validation programme based on the examination of materials irradiated with neutrons and ions is being carried out. The project enters now its 4th year and is close to delivering high-quality results. This paper overviews the work performed so far within the project, highlighting its impact for fission and fusion materials science. Peer Reviewed L. Malerba a,*, M.J. Caturla b, E. Gaganidze c, C. Kaden d, M.J. Konstantinovi´c e, P. Olsson f, C. Robertson g, D. Rodney h, A.M. Ruiz-Moreno i, M. Serrano a, J. Aktaa c, N. Anento j, S. Austin i, A. Bakaev e, J.P. Balbuena b, F. Bergner d, F. Boioli k, M. Boleininger l, G. Bonny e, N. Castin e, J.B. J. Chapman l, P. Chekhonin d, M. Clozel m, B. Devincre k, L. Dupuy g, G. Diego a, S.L. Dudarev l, C.-C. Fu g, R. Gatti k, L. G´el´ebart g, B. G´omez-Ferrer n, D. Gonçalves g, C. Guerrero a, P.M. Gueye n, P. H¨ahner i, S.P. Hannula o, Q. Hayat p, M. Hern´andez-Mayoral a, J. Jagielski m, N. Jennett p, F. Jim´enez a, G. Kapoor d, A. Kraych h, T. Khvan e,q, L. Kurpaska m, A. Kuronen r, N. Kvashin j, O. Libera s, P.-W. Ma l, T. Manninen o, M.-C. Marinica g, S. Merino a, E. Meslin g, F. Mompiou t, F. Mota a, H. Namburi s, C.J. Ortiz a, C. Pareige n, M. Prester u, R.R. Rajakrishnan t, M. Sauzay g, A. Serra j, I. Simonovski i, F. Soisson g, P. Sp¨atig v, D. Tanguy h, D. Terentyev e, M. Trebala o, M. Trochet g, A. Ulbricht d, M.Vallet g, K. Vogel d, T. Yalcinkaya w, J. Zhao r a Centro de Investigaciones Energ´eticas, Medioambientales y Tecnol´ogicas (CIEMAT), Madrid, Spain b Universidad de Alicante, San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain c Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany d Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf Ev (HZDR), Rossendorf, Germany e Studiecentrum voor Kernenergie / Centre d’´Etude de l’´Energie Nucl´eaire (SCK CEN), Mol, Belgium f KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden g Universit´e Paris-Saclay, Commissariat `a l’´Energie Atomique et aux ´Energies Alternatives (CEA), Gif-sur-Yvette, France h Institut Lumi`ere Mati`ere (ILM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Lyon, France i Joint Research Centre (JRC)- European Commission, Petten, the Netherlands j Universitat Polit`ecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain k Laboratoire d’Etude des Microstructures (LEM), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Chˆatillon, France l United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), Culham, UK m Narodowe Centrum Badan Jadrowych (NCBJ), Swierk, Poland n Normandie Univ, UNIROUEN, INSA Rouen, CNRS, Groupe de Physique des Mat´eriaux, 76000 Rouen, France o Aalto University, Espoo, Finland p Coventry University, UK q Universit´e de Li`ege, Belgium r Helsingin Yliopisto, Helsinki, Finland s Centrum Vyzkumu ˇReˇz S.R.O. (CVR), ˇReˇz, Czech Republic t Centre pour l’´Elaboration Elaboration de Mat´eriaux et pour l’´Etude des Structures (CEMES), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France u Institut za Fiziku, Zagreb, Croatia v Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), Villingen, Switzerland w Middle East Technical University (METU), Ankara, Turkey

Internet of things (IoT) guarantees an incredible future for the internet where the sort of correspondence is machine-machine (M2M). This arising standard of networking will impact all aspects of lives going from the computerized houses to smart IoT-based systems by implanting knowledge into the articles. This chapter intends to give an exhaustive outline of the IoT, IIoT situation and audits its empowering innovations. And finally, applications resulting from IoT/IIoT that facilitate daily needs are discussed.

Introduction While medical school curricula increasingly address health disparities, content regarding health care for persons impacted by incarceration is a persistent and notable gap. There is a high burden of disease among incarcerated populations, and health care challenges continue postincarceration. We developed a course to introduce medical students to the current landscape of mass incarceration in the US and implications for health and health care delivery to people impacted by this system. Methods We developed a 3.5-hour elective course taken by 19 first-year medical students in its first year and 20 students in its second. The course utilized lecture, case-based discussion, and guest speaker modalities to introduce students to the history of mass incarceration, health care delivery within the carceral system, and challenges in accessing care during and following incarceration. Results Students received two surveys after completing the course. In the first, 100% of respondents reported outstanding, excellent, or good levels of satisfaction with various elective components, including organization, learning activities, and student discussion. The second found significant increases in knowledge about mass incarceration and incarceration health issues, in addition to significant increases in interest in advocating or providing health care for incarcerated populations. Discussion Given current mass incarceration practices, students will encounter patients impacted by this system. This elective course sought to better prepare students to effectively care for these patients. We were limited by time availability, and future directions include incorporating a standardized patient exercise, trauma-informed care principles, and providers working within the carceral system.

Analyzing the available evidence by comparing the role of arthroscopic surgery and conservative treatment in the management of degenerative meniscopathy.A literature search was carried out on the PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, and PEDro databases in May 2019 to identify all the randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing arthroscopic surgery to conservative management of painful but stable degenerated menisci. The quality of the RCTs was assessed using the Cochrane Risk of Bias Assessment.A total of 10 studies, including 1525 patients and dealing with conservative treatment vs. arthroscopic surgery were included in this review. In eight studies the effectiveness of exercise therapy was compared to surgery; in one study the effectiveness of intra-articular steroid injection was compared to surgery; in one study the effectiveness of placebo surgery was compared to partial meniscectomy. In all studies, no significant inter-group difference in terms of knee pain and knee function were observed at any follow-up evaluation.Degenerative meniscal tears, without symptoms of locking and catching, can be successfully managed by a proper regimen of physical therapy as a first line treatment. Surgical approach might be considered in case of poor response after conservative treatment.

Introduction: Head and neck vasculopathies are the most frequent identifiable cause of childhood arterial ischemic stroke, and abnormal vascular imaging is associated with higher risk of stroke recurrence. Despite this, little is known about how vasculopathy subtype impacts risk of both initial and recurrent stroke. In this single-center retrospective analysis, we analyze differences in stroke recurrence by vasculopathy subtype. Methods: Using ICD codes, we identified children treated for a head or neck vasculopathy at our tertiary care center between 2003 and 2019. Inclusion criteria included imaging-confirmed head or neck vasculopathy diagnosed between the ages of 28 days and 18 years. Retrospective chart review was carried out with attention to vasculopathy subtype and occurrence/recurrence of stroke and TIA. Results: Ninety-three patient met inclusion criteria, including 55 who experienced a stroke. Five-year stroke recurrence rates differed significantly by vasculopathy subtype (n=28, p=0.030, Fisher exact test), as patients with moyamoya disease (MMD) and sickle cell, Down syndrome, or neurofibromatosis-related vasculopathy experienced higher recurrence rates. There was a non-significant increased rate of stroke recurrence among patients with secondary versus primary MMD. Conclusions: Children with primary and secondary MMD have a higher risk of stroke recurrence than children with other vasculopathy subtypes. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of vasculopathy etiology and other radiographic and clinical characteristics on stroke recurrence risk so that appropriate treatment strategies can be implemented early in these high-risk patients.

International audience; We propose a framework to study thermally-activated processes in dislocation glide. This approach is based on an implementation of the nudged elastic band method in a nodal mesoscale dislocation dynamics formalism. Special care is paid to develop a variational formulation to ensure convergence to well-defined minimum energy paths. We also propose a methodology to rigorously parametrize the model on atomistic data, including elastic, core and stacking fault contributions. To assess the validity of the model, we investigate the homogeneous nucleation of partial dislocation loops in aluminum, recovering the activation energies and loop shapes obtained with atomistic calculations and extending these calculations to lower applied stresses. The present method is also applied to heterogeneous nucleation on spherical inclusions.

The mechanical response of nanoparticles is different than that of thin-films during nanoindentation tests. Moreover, it was shown experimentally that smaller nanoparticles are softer for nanoindentation. This size effect was attributed to the proximity of the free lateral surfaces to the indenter, which leads to dislocation-free surface interactions. We present here a multiscale study to show that the size effect is controlled by the interaction of the plastic zone formed beneath the indent and the lateral free surfaces. The detailed dislocation mechanisms and their interactions with the free surfaces are investigated using molecular dynamics (MD) and discrete dislocation dynamics (DDD) simulations. Au nanoparticles in the size range of 9–116 nm were indented with these two simulation techniques. The simulations show that shear dislocation loops are nucleated beneath the indent on all { 1 1 1 } slip planes. Dislocations interactions facilitate their escape from beneath the indent, either by forming v- and u-shaped dislocations or prismatic loops that glide towards the lower part of the nanoparticles, or through glissile interactions that promote lateral dislocation motion. The effect of size on these dislocation mechanisms is discussed.

Activity of the human long interspersed nuclear elements-1 (LINE-1) retrotransposon occurs mainly in early embryonic development and during hippocampal neurogenesis. SOX-11, a transcription factor relevant to neuronal development, has unknown functions in the control of LINE-1 retrotransposon activity during neuronal differentiation. To study the dependence of LINE-1 activity on SOX-11 during neuronal differentiation, we induced differentiation of human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells and adult adipose mesenchymal stem cells (hASCs) to a neuronal fate and found increased LINE-1 activity. We also show that SOX-11 protein binding to the LINE-1 promoter is higher in differentiating neuroblastoma cells, while knock-down of SOX-11 inhibits the induction of LINE-1 transcription in differentiating conditions. These results suggest that activation of LINE-1 retrotransposition during neuronal differentiation is mediated by SOX-11. Fil: Orqueda, Andres Javier. Hospital Italiano; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Gatti, Cintia Romina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Hospital Italiano; Argentina Fil: Ogara, Maria Florencia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentina Fil: Falzone, Tomas Luis. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia "Prof. Eduardo de Robertis". Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentina

Intrinsic dislocation mechanisms in the vicinity of free surfaces of an almost FIB damage-free single crystal Ni sample have been quantitatively investigated owing to a novel sample preparation method combining twin-jet electro-polishing, in-situ TEM heating and FIB. The results reveal that the small-scale plasticity is mainly controlled by the conversion of few tangled dislocations, still present after heating, into stable single arm sources (SASs) as well as by the successive operation of these sources. Strain hardening resulting from the operation of an individual SAS is reported and attributed to the decrease of the length of the source. Moreover, the impact of the shortening of the dislocation source on the intermittent plastic flow, characteristic of SASs, is discussed. These findings provide essential information for the understanding of the regime of ‘dislocation source’ controlled plasticity and the related mechanical size effect.

Vascular smooth muscle cells (SMCs) undergo a series of dramatic changes in CADASIL, the most common inherited cause of vascular dementia and stroke. NOTCH3 protein accumulates and aggregates early in CADASIL, followed by loss of mature SMCs from the media of brain arteries and marked intimal proliferation. Similar intimal thickening is seen in peripheral arterial disease, which features pathological intimal cells including proliferative, dedifferentiated, smooth muscle-like cells deficient in SMC markers. Limited studies have been performed to investigate the differentiation state and location of SMCs in brain vascular disorders. Thus, we investigated the distribution of cells expressing SMC markers in a group of genetically characterized, North American CADASIL brains. We quantified brain RNA abundance of these markers in nine genetically verified cases of CADASIL and found that mRNA expression for several mature SMC markers was increased in CADASIL brain compared to age-matched control. Immunohistochemical studies and in situ hybridization localization of mRNA demonstrated loss of SMCs from the arterial media, and SMC marker-expressing cells were instead redistributed into the intima of diseased arteries and around balloon cells of the degenerating media. We conclude that, despite loss of medial smooth muscle cells in diseased arteries, smooth muscle markers are not lost from CADASIL brain, but rather, the localization of cells expressing mature SMC markers changes dramatically.

The effect of prior recovery on the evolution of cube texture ({001}〈100〉) in severely warm-rolled and annealed Al-2.5 wt pctMg alloy was studied. The Al-2.5 wt pctMg alloy was warm rolled to 97 pct reduction in thickness at 473 K (200 °C). The warm-rolled sheets were isochronally annealed for 1 hour at temperatures ranging from 523 K to 673 K (250 °C to 400 °C) without and with prior recovery treatments. In case of prior recovery, the sheets were pre-treated at 473 K (200 °C) for different time intervals ranging from 3.6 × 103 seconds (1 hour) to 8.64 × 104 seconds (24 hours) before the annealing. The warm-rolled alloy showed finely subdivided lamellar structure and strong presence of pure metal type texture. The annealed materials without any prior recovery treatment showed strong cube texture after annealing which could be attributed to the oriented nucleation of cube grains resulting from the preferentially recovered structure of cube regions in the warm-rolled state. In contrast, the cube texture was significantly weakened in materials subjected to different prior recovery treatments. The prior recovery treatments resulted in homogenous recovery which was confirmed by microstructural, textural, and conductivity measurements. Homogenous recovery eliminated the nucleation advantage of cube regions originating from the preferentially recovered structure and weakened the cube texture significantly. The present results indicated that prior recovery treatment could be effectively used to control recrystallization cube texture in severely warm-rolled aluminum alloys.

Evolution of cube texture after annealing was investigated in severely cold and warm-rolled Al–2.5 wt.%Mg alloy without and with prior recovery treatments. The alloy was cold and warm-rolled at room temperature and at 473 K (200 °C), respectively, to 97% reduction in thickness and annealed at different temperatures ranging from 548 K (275 °C) to 673 K (400 °C). The warm-rolled material showed much stronger and sharper cube texture as compared to the cold-rolled material after different annealing treatments. However, prior recovery treatments at 473 K (200 °C) significantly diminished the strength of the cube texture in the warm-rolled material after annealing. In contrast, the strength of the cube component after annealing in the cold-rolled material was not significantly affected by the prior recovery treatments. The observed differences could be adequately explained by the preferential recovery and nucleation behavior of cube grains in different treated conditions.

The evolution of recrystallization texture was investigated in severely deformed Al–2.5 wt.%Mg alloy. For this purpose the alloy was cold and warm-rolled to 97% reduction in thickness at room temperature and 473 K (200 °C), respectively, using a combination of accumulative roll bonding and conventional rolling. The deformed materials were annealed at temperatures ranging between 473 K (200 °C) and 673 K (400 °C). The deformed materials showed fine lamellar structure and strong copper type texture. However, the warm-rolled material showed much stronger cube texture ({1 0 0}〈0 0 1〉) after different annealing treatments. Orientations of early recrystallized grains in partially recrystallized materials obtained after annealing for short duration revealed strong tendency for preferential nucleation of cube grains in warm-rolled as compared to the cold-rolled material. The observed preferential nucleation of cube oriented grains in warm-rolled material was attributed to more recovered structure of cube oriented grains. In contrast, strong pinning of dislocations by solute Mg atoms during cold-rolling at room temperature inhibited the recovery of cube grains and greatly diminished their preferential nucleation. The cube component was significantly strengthened with increasing annealing temperature in both cold and warm-rolled materials due to the growth of the cube grains.

Evolution of microstructure and texture after heavy cold rolling and subsequent annealing in a wide temperature range was first studied in an FCC equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi high-entropy alloy (HEA). Development of a submicron-cell structure and a strong brass-type texture was observed after 90% cold rolling. An ultrafine microstructure having average recrystallized grain size ∼1 μm with profuse annealing twins was observed after annealing at 650 °C. Remarkable resistance against grain coarsening was observed at least up to 800 °C. The mechanisms for these features were closely related with the distinct whole-solute matrix in HEAs. The recrystallization texture was characterized by the retention of deformation texture components similar to those of TWIP and 316 stainless steels. But notable differences exist. The S ({1 2 3}〈6 3 4〉) component is stronger than brass ({1 1 0}〈1 1 2〉) and Goss ({1 1 0}〈0 0 1〉), and strengthened with increasing annealing temperatures. Strong α-fiber (〈1 1 0〉//ND) components other than the deformation components BS and G, and higher fraction of random components also develop. It could be attributed to profuse annealing twin formation due to the low stacking fault energy of the alloy.

The effect of change in strain path during cold rolling on the evolution of microstructure and texture is investigated. For this purpose, high purity aluminum and Al-2.5%Mg alloy are deformed (~90% reduction in thickness) by unidirectional and cross cold rolling. Irrespective of the alloy system, copper-type texture is observed in unidirectional processed materials, while strong brass ({011}〈112〉) texture is developed during cross rolling. Unidirectionally rolled aluminum showed higher HAGB fraction, but similar HAGB spacing as compared to the cross-rolled aluminum after 90% reduction in thickness. At the same time, the internal misorientation in the cross-rolled 2N-Al is higher than in the unidirectionally rolled material. In contrast, Al-2.5% Mg alloy processed differently in both ways shows similar HAGB fraction, spacing, and internal misorientation distribution. These observations indicate that microstructure evolution due to strain path change is more strongly affected by dynamic recovery as compared to texture evolution.

The human cerebrovascular system is responsible for regulating demand-dependent perfusion and maintaining the blood-brain barrier (BBB). In addition, defects in the human cerebrovasculature lead to stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, vascular malformations, and vascular cognitive impairment. The objective of this study was to discover new proteins of the human cerebrovascular system using expression data from the Human Protein Atlas, a large-scale project which allows public access to immunohistochemical analysis of human tissues. We screened 20,158 proteins in the HPA and identified 346 expression patterns correlating to blood vessels in human brain. Independent experiments showed that 51/52 of these distributions could be experimentally replicated across different brain samples. Some proteins (40%) demonstrated endothelial cell (EC)-enriched expression, while others were expressed primarily in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC; 18%); 39% of these proteins were expressed in both cell types. Most brain EC markers were tissue oligospecific; that is, they were expressed in endothelia in an average of 4.8 out of 9 organs examined. Although most markers expressed in endothelial cells of the brain were present in all cerebral capillaries, a significant number (21%) were expressed only in a fraction of brain capillaries within each brain sample. Among proteins found in cerebral VSMC, virtually all were also expressed in peripheral VSMC and in non-vascular smooth muscle cells (SMC). Only one was potentially brain specific: VHL (Von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor). HRC (histidine rich calcium binding protein) and VHL were restricted to VSMC and not found in non-vascular tissues such as uterus or gut. In conclusion, we define a set of brain vascular proteins that could be relevant to understanding the unique physiology and pathophysiology of the human cerebrovasculature. This set of proteins defines inter-organ molecular differences in the vasculature and confirms the broad heterogeneity of vascular cells within the brain.

Evolution of texture during cross rolling and subsequent annealing was studied in high-purity nickel. For this purpose nickel samples were subjected to multipass cross rolling up to 90 pct reduction in thickness followed by annealing at different temperatures ranging between 673 K and 1073 K (400 °C and 800 °C). Cross rolling was carried out by rotating the samples about the normal direction (ND) by 90 deg interchanging the rolling direction and transverse direction (TD) between each consecutive pass. The development of microstructure and texture was characterized using X-ray and electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) techniques. The deformation texture was characterized by the presence of strong brass ({110}〈112〉) and ND-rotated brass ({011}〈21 $$ \overline{13} $$ 13〉)) orientations. Upon annealing at 673 K (400 °C), ND||[111] fiber could be observed in the microtexture which originated from the twin formation of the recrystallized TD-rotated cube ({027}〈0 $$ \overline{7} $$ 2〉) grains. The fiber was weakened after annealing at 1073 K (800 °C) because of the decreased propensity for twin formation, and the microtexture was found to be weak and diffused. EBSD studies on early recrystallization stages indicated the absence of preferential nucleation of cube grains being in agreement with a weak cube texture formation in annealed cross-rolled high-purity nickel.

The Linear energy harvesters and actuators employ electromagnetic induction principles to generate electrical energy or motion. The most common configurations for such actuators are cylindrical ring magnets with coils inside or cylindrical magnets with coils surrounding the magnets. A series of numerical FEA analyses were performed to design and simulate different core-ring magnet configurations to identify the best possible combination for maximum energy transduction. It was observed that the tapered ring magnet - tapered core configuration had the highest magnetic spatial variation and thus suitable for maximum energy transduction. This study can be applied to design linear actuators, linear electromagnetic energy harvesters and from microscale to macroscale applications.

There is an increasing need for sensors to be self-powered and hence autonomous in order to operate in remote and inaccessible locations for long periods of time. Amongst the various ambient sources of energy, mechanical vibration is a viable wasted source of energy and can be found in rotating equipment including generators, motors and compressors as well as structures including bridges. The current research deals with developing a novel non-linear single degree of freedom electromagnetic vibration energy harvester using spatial variation of the magnetic field. Initially, approximate linear methods using Laplace transforms and the linear state space methods were considered, where the magnetic field and hence the coupling coefficient were considered as constants. The linear methods were used to derive the frequency response behavior of the system and also its eigenvalues to determine the approximate resonant frequency range. This was followed by more accurate non-linear single degree of freedom electromagnetic energy harvester model simulation considering the spatial variation of the magnetic field and hence a spatially varying coupling coefficient. An experiment of the single degree-of-freedom one-direction electromagnetic vibration energy harvester (SDOF1D EMVEH) prototype was conducted for a range of frequencies to obtain the time domain data to validate against the theoretical data obtained from theoretical time domain simulation.

International audience; Dislocations – linear defects within the crystal lattice of, e.g., metals – already have been directly observed and analyzed for nearly a century. While experimental characterization methods can nowadays reconstruct three-dimensional pictures of complex dislocation networks, simulation methods are at the same time more and more able to predict the evolution of such systems in great detail. Concise methods for analyzing and comparing dislocation microstructure, however, are still lagging behind. We introduce a universal microstructure " language " which could be used for direct comparisons and detailed analysis of very different experimental and simulation methods.

Questions How does horse or sheep grazing affect species richness, diversity and functional composition of plant communities in sub-Mediterranean grasslands? What are the implications of grazing management for species conservation? Location Pastures dominated by Bromus erectus grazed by either sheep or horses in the Umbria-Marches Apennines (central Italy). Methods We examined grasslands at altitudes ranging from 1000 to 1200 m a.s.l. on north-facing slopes and with a slope angle of 20–40 °. In 20 plots of 1 m2 for each management type, canopy height and above-ground phytomass were recorded. In 120 plots (60 for each management type) of 1 m2 the cover value of each species was recorded. Floristic diversity and community similarity of the sheep- and horse-grazed conditions were compared. Functional plant traits and strategies or ecological requirements were also evaluated. Results The sward was shorter and supported less above-ground phytomass in the horse-grazed area. The sheep- and horse-grazed areas had similar floristic diversity. Accidental species were the species most affected. Plants with low-nutrient requirement spread in horse-grazed pasture. Functional traits of species were filtered by the system, resulting in diverse cover values of species. Horse grazing promoted plants with a robust defence strategy (avoidance and tolerance) that ensured leaves were replaced when horses were not grazing, as well as species with clonal growth. In the sheep-grazed area, a higher level of selective defoliation and a delayed start to the grazing period promoted species with low palatability, a late-flowering strategy and those intolerant to trampling by large herbivores (chamaephytes). The value of forage feed was slightly higher in horse-grazed pasture. Grazing of horses was more effective than that of sheep for controlling dominant unpalatable tall grasses. Conclusion In terms of biodiversity conservation, horse grazing may be considered as useful as sheep grazing, but only if managed at optimal stocking rates, because the increase in short grasses and annuals (growth forms with poor root systems) does not ensure maintenance of soil on steep slopes.

Iron supplementation for women of reproductive age is a main part of an interdisciplinary strategy recommended for the control and prevention of iron deficiency and the treatment of mild-to-moderate iron-deficiency anaemia. This systematic review reports the findings from a meta-synthesis of qualitative data concerning the experiences and perceptions of iron supplementation among women of reproductive age and health service providers worldwide. Qualitative systematic review methods were used to conduct a search of published literature, define inclusion and exclusion criteria, appraise quality of studies and extract data on the use of iron supplementation among women of reproductive age. Coding, thematic analysis, reciprocal translation and line of argument synthesis were used to synthesize data. Twelve studies spanning 17 countries met inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Seven domains emerged from the review: cultural norms and societal values including explanatory models and medical pluralism; political and socio-economic circumstances; education and communication; social organization and social relationships; health care access and supplement supply; food and nutrition availability; and adherence. In addition, 16 sub-domains are highlighted. Connecting review findings to a conceptual framework of social determinants of health highlights salient issues that policy makers must consider when adapting global iron supplementation recommendations to the local context.

Evaluation of past land use offers valuable information in seeking to understand the distribution patterns of plant communities, insofar as such activity may have altered soil features, causing anthropogenic soil patchiness and marked plant diversity both locally and regionally. This study sought to provide a general overview of the relationships between the different syntaxonomical units and the soil features in a sub-Mediterranean grassland landscape, starting from assessment of soil parameters. In addition, we wanted to verify whether soil features and hierarchical landscape assessments of grasslands under homogeneous grazing disturbance are sufficient to explain the floristic differentiation of the plant communities, and whether study of land use history helps explain the distribution patterns of these plant communities. A clear understanding of the relationships between environmental factors and the floristic composition of plant communities is a strong basis for future inquiries into how di...

Silicon-rich SiGe alloys represent a promising platform for the development of large-area single-mode optical waveguides to be integrated in silicon-based optical circuits. We find that SiGe layers epitaxially grown on Si successfully guide radiation with a 1.55 μm wavelength, but, beyond a critical core thickness, their optical properties are strongly affected by the clustering of misfit dislocations at the interface between Si and SiGe, leading to a significant perturbation of the local refractive index. Transmission electron microscopy and micro-Raman spectroscopy, together with finite-element simulations, provide a complete analysis of the impact of dislocations on optical propagation. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Chiral self-assembled molecular networks (SAMNs) are important for technological and fundamental reasons. In spite of the large number of works in this field, the mechanism of chirality transfer from single molecules to large-scale two-dimensional (2D) networks is not fully understood yet. This work reports on the self-assembly of simple amino alcohols with different chirality measures on Cu(100). Ethanolamine (2-amino-1-ethanol), alaninol (2-amino-1-propanol) and butanolamine (2-amino-1-butanol) adsorbed on Cu(100) have been investigated with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), low-energy electron diffraction (LEED), photoelectron spectroscopy (PES) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. This study addresses the role of the single-molecule handedness in the global chirality expression, showing how the chirality measure of the precursors plays an important role in the formation of globally chiral superstructures. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Riassunto Viene presentato uno studio geobotanico riferito a quella parte del territorio nursino (Umbria—Italia centrale), che ricade nell'ambito della vegetazione potenziale naturale costituita da boschi di roverella (Quercuspubescens s.l.). In particolare e definito l'inquadramento fitosociologico e sindinamico della vegetazione forestale, arbustiva e di prateria, con la descrizione di alcune comunita vegetali a Quercus pubescens s.l., a Stipa capillata e a Stipa dasyvaginata subsp. apenninicola; vengono inoltre segnalate 4 specie nuove e 6 rare per la flora dell'Umbria.

SUMMARY Normal human immunoglobulin G (IgG) has anti-inflammatory and immuno-regulatory properties, which are exploited in the therapy of selected diseases. A putative mechanisms of action is the direct regulation of endothelial cell function by natural antiendothelial cell antibodies. Endothelium activation is a critical event in atherosclerosis. We have verified the ability of normal human IgG to modulate endothelial responses to the atherogenic stimuli tumour necrosis factor-α (TNFα) and oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) in vitro. Confocal microscopy was used to visualize vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (CD106) expression on endothelial cells, cytoplasmic free calcium ([Ca++]i) modifications and fluorescein-coupled oxLDL internalization. Cytokine secretion was measured by ELISA on cell supernatants. IgG prevented TNFα induced CD106 membrane expression and an increase in [Ca++]i, and inhibited the secretion of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and macrophage-colony-stimulating factor (M-CSF). IgG also inhibited CD106 expression induced by oxLDL and one pathway of their internalization, but were ineffective on oxLDL induced [Ca++]i rise and apoptosis. F(ab)′2 fragments from IgG, but not monoclonal IgG, reproduce IgG effects. These findings point to a regulatory role for specific antibodies included in circulating normal IgG towards proinflammatory responses of endothelial cells in atherogenesis and suggest possible development of new therapeutic strategies.

The present study reports two Italian brothers affected by severe Salla disease (sialic acid storage disease), a slowly progressive autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorder prevalent in the Finnish population. Mutations of the SLC17A5 gene, which encodes a protein called sialin, are the primary cause of both Salla disease and infantile sialic acid storage disease (ISSD), a clinically distinct severe disorder. All Finnish patients with Salla disease show a R39C mutation. Both patients showed moderate intellectual disability, spastic ataxic syndrome, hypomyelination and cerebellar atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and lysosomal storage, all typical of Salla disease. Mutation analysis of the SLC17A5 gene in the younger brother revealed no R39C mutation, but a 15-bp deletion in exon 6 on one of the alleles. This mutation is the same described in French-Canadian patients with ISSD. Salla disease must be suspected in patients with unexplained psychomotor retardation associated with ataxia and/or pyramidal symptoms, and MRI findings consistent with cerebral hypomyelination, irrespective of the patient's ethnic origin. A mutation screening based on R39C change does not exclude Salla disease outside Finland. Conversely, mutations found in ISSD can be expected, even in patients showing the Salla phenotype (e.g. symptoms at the milder end of the spectrum).

Pain drawings (PDs) are an important component of the assessment of a patient with pain. The aim of this work is to present the test-retest reliability of a novel method of quantifying the extent and location of pain. Additionally, the association between PD variables and clinical features in patients with chronic neck pain (CNP) and chronic low back pain (CLBP) was explored.Fifty-one patients with CLBP and 56 patients with CNP participated. Each patient shaded two consecutive PDs using a digital tablet. Software was developed to quantify the pain extent, to analyse the pain overlap between PDs and to produce pain frequency maps. Correlations were obtained between pain extent and clinical features including the level of pain intensity, disability, and psychological distress and cognitive function.The intraclass correlation coefficients for pain extent in CLBP and CNP were very high: 0.97 (95% CI: 0.95-0.98) and 0.92 (95% CI: 0.87-0.98), respectively. The Bland Altman showed a mean difference close to zero: 5.4% pixels in CNP group and 3% pixels in the CLBP group. Significant correlations were observed between pain extent and pain intensity in CLBP and CNP and pain extent and disability in CNP. There was no relation between pain extent and the level of distress or cognitive function.A novel method for the acquisition of PD was presented. Test-retest reliability of reporting pain extent and pain location was supported in people with CNP and CLBP. Future research is needed to establish psychometric properties of PD.

A unified model coupling 3D dislocation dynamics (DD) simulations with the finite element (FE) method is revisited. The so-called Discrete-Continuous Model (DCM) aims to predict plastic flow at the (sub-)micron length scale of materials with complex boundary conditions. The evolution of the dislocation microstructure and the short-range dislocation–dislocation interactions are calculated with a DD code. The long-range mechanical fields due to the dislocations are calculated by a FE code, taking into account the boundary conditions. The coupling procedure is based on eigenstrain theory, and the precise manner in which the plastic slip, i.e. the dislocation glide as calculated by the DD code, is transferred to the integration points of the FE mesh is described in full detail. Several test cases are presented, and the DCM is applied to plastic flow in a single-crystal Nickel-based superalloy.

We performed the serum IgA antiendomysium antibody (EmA) assay by indirect immunofluorescence on human umbilical cord sections in 86 subjects with celiac disease, in 187 first-degree relatives of such patients, and in a control group of 68 unrelated subjects, to investigate the suitability of the method in the screening of populations at risk of gluten sensitivity. Conventional EmA assay using monkey esophagus sections was performed in parallel experiments. The results obtained showed a perfpect correlation between the two methods. All the celiac patients and none of the controls were positive for EmA. EmA positivity was also observed in 11 apparently healthy relatives: intestinal biopsy performed in five of them invariably showed villous atrophy and increase of mucosal lymphocytes. Taking into account the low cost of EmA assay on human umbilical cord, especially when compared to monkey esophagus sections, the method is probably suitable and effective in identifying latent, asymptomatic gluten sensitivity in at-risk populations.

Renin-angiotensin and kallikrein-kinin systems are interconnected, regulating blood pressure homeostasis. We have demonstrated the interactions among polymorphisms of the angiotensinogen ( AGT ) and endothelial nitric oxide synthase ( NOS3 ) genes and conventional risk factors affecting the hypertension occurrence. Individuals were recruited ( n =192) and classified into hypertensive (HG; n =140) and normotensive (NG; n =52) groups. The genotypic distribution of the Met235Thr ( AGT ) and Glu298Asp ( NOS3 ) polymorphisms demonstrated that both are independent risk factors of hypertension ( p =0.02 and p =0.008, respectively). The concomitant presence of these polymorphisms in the HG group was significantly different ( p =0.001) from the NG. Both gene polymorphisms presented an additive effect for the unfavourable alleles T and A, respectively, and 95% of the double mutant homozygotes were classified into the HG. Specific interactions among certain conventional factors and the presence of at least one unfavourable allele presented significant odds towards hypertension. Blood pressure homeostasis was affected by genetic polymorphisms conditioned by the T and A alleles of the AGT and NOS3 genes, respectively, which acted independently. However, their interaction with smoking, sedentariness, age and total cholesterol may have increased the predisposition to hypertension, which may explain most of the hypertension cases.