Isolation and culture of neural crest cells from embryonic murine neural tube.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfaltzgraff, Elise R; Mundell, Nathan A; Labosky, Patricia A

2012-06-02

The embryonic neural crest (NC) is a multipotent progenitor population that originates at the dorsal aspect of the neural tube, undergoes an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) and migrates throughout the embryo, giving rise to diverse cell types. NC also has the unique ability to influence the differentiation and maturation of target organs. When explanted in vitro, NC progenitors undergo self-renewal, migrate and differentiate into a variety of tissue types including neurons, glia, smooth muscle cells, cartilage and bone. NC multipotency was first described from explants of the avian neural tube. In vitro isolation of NC cells facilitates the study of NC dynamics including proliferation, migration, and multipotency. Further work in the avian and rat systems demonstrated that explanted NC cells retain their NC potential when transplanted back into the embryo. Because these inherent cellular properties are preserved in explanted NC progenitors, the neural tube explant assay provides an attractive option for studying the NC in vitro. To attain a better understanding of the mammalian NC, many methods have been employed to isolate NC populations. NC-derived progenitors can be cultured from post-migratory locations in both the embryo and adult to study the dynamics of post-migratory NC progenitors, however isolation of NC progenitors as they emigrate from the neural tube provides optimal preservation of NC cell potential and migratory properties. Some protocols employ fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) to isolate a NC population enriched for particular progenitors. However, when starting with early stage embryos, cell numbers adequate for analyses are difficult to obtain with FACS, complicating the isolation of early NC populations from individual embryos. Here, we describe an approach that does not rely on FACS and results in an approximately 96% pure NC population based on a Wnt1-Cre activated lineage reporter. The method presented here is adapted from

Morphogenetic movements during cranial neural tube closure in the chick embryo and the effect of homocysteine

OpenAIRE

Brouns, M.R.; Afman, L.A.; VanHauten, B.A.M.; Hekking, J.W.M.; Kohler, E.S.; Straaten, van, H.W.M.

2005-01-01

In order to unravel morphogenetic mechanisms involved in neural tube closure, critical cell movements that are fundamental to remodelling of the cranial neural tube in the chick embryo were studied in vitro by quantitative time-lapse video microscopy. Two main directions of movements were observed. The earliest was directed medially; these cells invaginated into a median groove and were the main contributors to the initial neural tube closure. Once the median groove was completed, cells chang...

Preventing neural tube defects in Europe: a missed opportunity.

Science.gov (United States)

Busby, Araceli; Abramsky, Lenore; Dolk, Helen; Armstrong, Ben; Addor, Marie-Claude; Anneren, Goran; Armstrong, Nicola; Baguette, Andre; Barisic, Ingeborg; Berghold, Andrea; Bianca, Sebastiano; Braz, Paula; Calzolari, Elisa; Christiansen, Marianne; Cocchi, Guido; Daltveit, Anne Kjersti; De Walle, Hermien; Edwards, Grace; Gatt, Miriam; Gener, Blanca; Gillerot, Yves; Gjergja, Romana; Goujard, Janine; Haeusler, Martin; Latos-Bielenska, Anna; McDonnell, Robert; Neville, Amanda; Olars, Birgitta; Portillo, Isabel; Ritvanen, Annukka; Robert-Gnansia, Elizabeth; Rösch, Christine; Scarano, Gioacchino; Steinbicker, Volker

2005-01-01

Each year, more than 4500 pregnancies in the European Union are affected by neural tube defects (NTD). Unambiguous evidence of the effectiveness of periconceptional folic acid in preventing the majority of neural tube defects has been available since 1991. We report on trends in the total prevalence of neural tube defects up to 2002, in the context of a survey in 18 European countries of periconceptional folic acid supplementation (PFAS) policies and their implementation. EUROCAT is a network of population-based registries in Europe collaborating in the epidemiological surveillance of congenital anomalies. Representatives from 18 participating countries provided information about policy, health education campaigns and surveys of PFAS uptake. The yearly total prevalence of neural tube defects including livebirths, stillbirths and terminations of pregnancy was calculated from 1980 to 2002 for 34 registries, with UK and Ireland estimated separately from the rest of Europe. A meta-analysis of changes in NTD total prevalence between 1989-1991 and 2000-2002 according to PFAS policy was undertaken for 24 registries. By 2005, 13 countries had a government recommendation that women planning a pregnancy should take 0.4mg folic acid supplement daily, accompanied in 7 countries by government-led health education initiatives. In the UK and Ireland, countries with PFAS policy, there was a 30% decline in NTD total prevalence (95% CI 16-42%) but it was difficult to distinguish this from the pre-existing strong decline. In other European countries with PFAS policy, there was virtually no decline in NTD total prevalence whether a policy was in place by 1999 (2%, 95% CI 28% reduction to 32% increase) or not (8%, 95% CI 26% reduction to 16% increase). The potential for preventing NTDs by periconceptional folic acid supplementation is still far from being fulfilled in Europe. Only a public health policy including folic acid fortification of staple foods is likely to result in large

Partitioning of One-Carbon Units in Folate and Methionine Metabolism Is Essential for Neural Tube Closure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kit-Yi Leung

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Summary: Abnormal folate one-carbon metabolism (FOCM is implicated in neural tube defects (NTDs, severe malformations of the nervous system. MTHFR mediates unidirectional transfer of methyl groups from the folate cycle to the methionine cycle and, therefore, represents a key nexus in partitioning one-carbon units between FOCM functional outputs. Methionine cycle inhibitors prevent neural tube closure in mouse embryos. Similarly, the inability to use glycine as a one-carbon donor to the folate cycle causes NTDs in glycine decarboxylase (Gldc-deficient embryos. However, analysis of Mthfr-null mouse embryos shows that neither S-adenosylmethionine abundance nor neural tube closure depend on one-carbon units derived from embryonic or maternal folate cycles. Mthfr deletion or methionine treatment prevents NTDs in Gldc-null embryos by retention of one-carbon units within the folate cycle. Overall, neural tube closure depends on the activity of both the methionine and folate cycles, but transfer of one-carbon units between the cycles is not necessary. : Leung at al. find that embryonic neural tube closure depends both on the supply of one-carbon units to the folate cycle from glycine cleavage and on the methionine cycle. In contrast, transfer of one-carbon units from the folate cycle to the methionine cycle by MTHFR is dispensable. Keywords: one-carbon metabolism, folic acid, neural tube defects, spina bifida, glycine cleavage system, non-ketotic hyperglycinemia, eye, Mthfr, Gldc

Neural Tube Defect in Alive Neonates: Incidence Rate and Predisposing Factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

F Haghollahi

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Background: Neural Tube Defect (NTD characterized by failure of neural tube to close properly be the second most common born defect after congenital heart disease. The most prevalent forms of NTD are Anencephaly and Spinal-bifida. Many factors are involved in this anomaly. New researches suggest environmental factors like radiation, hyperthermia, Vitamin A and acid folic deficiency, anti epileptic drug like Carbamazepine, Phenobarbital, phenytoin, Folic acid antagonist like Sulfasalazine, Triametherine and systemic disease like diabet mellitus, obesity, genetic factors, the most schance 40 to 70 percentages.Methods: In this survey cross sectional study was conducted in five hospitals depend to Tehran university during three years. Study subject identified through review of admission and discharge at major hospital through regular contact with newborn nurseries and birth hospital.Results: In 38473 reported cases, 143 cases have neural tube defect. Among NTD cases, 11.9% of mothers had medical diseases in their previous history such as diabetes mellitus, epilepsy-psychiatric, and disorder-heart diseases. In this study group, 5.6% have preclampsia during pregnancy period. The most common NTD anomaly in this study was anencephaly and meningomyelocele that was different from studies in literature.Conclusion: NTD result from failure of neural tube close threats fetus health up to 28 days after conception. When is often prior to the recognition of pregnancy since many pregnancy are unplanned NTD prevention is best achieve by adequate daily folic acid intake thought of reproductive ages .educational effort to promote daily intake of folic acid supplemental by women of reproductive age and NTD risk factor should be done. Early diagnostic procedure for high risk pregnancy advised.

Neural tube defects in Waardenburg syndrome: A case report and review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Joseph; Miriyala, Kalpana

2017-09-01

Waardenburg syndrome type 1 (WS1) is an autosomal dominant genetic condition characterized by sensorineural deafness and pigment abnormalities, and is caused by variants in the PAX3 homeodomain. PAX3 variants have been associated with severe neural tube defects in mice and humans, but the frequency and clinical manifestations of this symptom remain largely unexplored in humans. Consequently, the role of PAX3 in human neural tube formation remains a study of interest, for clinical as well as research purposes. Though the association between spina bifida and WS1 is now well-documented, no study has attempted to characterize the range of spina bifida phenotypes seen in WS. Spina bifida encompasses several diagnoses with a wide scope of clinical severity, ranging from spina bifida occulta to myelomeningocele. We present a patient with Waardenburg syndrome type 1 caused by a novel missense variant in PAX3, presenting with myelomeningocele, Arnold-Chiari malformation, and hydrocephalus at birth. Additionally, we review 32 total cases of neural tube defects associated with WS. Including this report, there have been 15 published cases of myelomeningocele, 10 cases of unspecified spina bifida, 3 cases of sacral dimples, 0 cases of meningocele, and 4 cases of miscellaneous other neural tube defects. Though the true frequency of each phenotype cannot be determined from this collection of cases, these results demonstrate that Waardenburg syndrome type 1 carries a notable risk of severe neural tube defects, which has implications in prenatal and genetic counseling. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Morphogenetic movements during cranial neural tube closure in the chick embryo and the effect of homocysteine

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouns, M.R.; Afman, L.A.; VanHauten, B.A.M.; Hekking, J.W.M.; Kohler, E.S.; Straaten, van H.W.M.

2005-01-01

In order to unravel morphogenetic mechanisms involved in neural tube closure, critical cell movements that are fundamental to remodelling of the cranial neural tube in the chick embryo were studied in vitro by quantitative time-lapse video microscopy. Two main directions of movements were observed.

Morphogenetic movements during cranial neural tube closure in the chick embryo and the effect of homocysteine.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Brouns, M.R.; Afman, L.A.; Vanhauten, B.A.M.; Hekking, J.W.M.; Köhler, E.S.; Straaten, H.W.M. van

2005-01-01

In order to unravel morphogenetic mechanisms involved in neural tube closure, critical cell movements that are fundamental to remodelling of the cranial neural tube in the chick embryo were studied in vitro by quantitative time-lapse video microscopy. Two main directions of movements were observed.

Application of artificial neural networks in analysis of CHF experimental data in round tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Huang Yanping; Chen Bingde; Lang Xuemei; Wang Xiaojun; Shan Jianqiang; Jia Dounan

2004-01-01

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) are applied successfully to analyze the critical heat flux (CHF) experimental data from some round tubes in this paper. A set of software adopting artificial neural network method for predicting CHF in round tube and a set of CHF database are gotten. Comparing with common CHF correlations and CHF look-up table, ANN method has stronger ability of allow-wrong and nice robustness. The CHF predicting software adopting artificial neural network technology can improve the predicting accuracy in a wider parameter range, and is easier to update and to use. The artificial neural network method used in this paper can be applied to some similar physical problems. (authors)

Professor John Scott, folate and neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffbrand, A Victor

2014-02-01

John Scott (1940-2013) was born in Dublin where he was to spend the rest of his career, both as an undergraduate and subsequently Professor of Biochemistry and Nutrition at Trinity College. His research with the talented group of scientists and clinicians that he led has had a substantial impact on our understanding of folate metabolism, mechanisms of its catabolism and deficiency. His research established the leading theory of folate involvement with vitamin B12 in the pathogenesis of vitamin B12 neuropathy. He helped to establish the normal daily intake of folate and the increased requirements needed either in food or as a supplement before and during pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects. He also suggested a dietary supplement of vitamin B12 before and during pregnancy to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. It would be an appropriate epitaph if fortification of food with folic acid became mandatory in the UK and Ireland, as it is in over 70 other countries. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Evaluation of the cranial base in amnion rupture sequence involving the anterior neural tube: implications regarding recurrence risk.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Kenneth Lyons; Robinson, Luther K; Benirschke, Kurt

2006-09-01

Amniotic bands can cause disruption of the cranial end of the developing fetus, leading in some cases to a neural tube closure defect. Although recurrence for unaffected parents of an affected child with a defect in which the neural tube closed normally but was subsequently disrupted by amniotic bands is negligible; for a primary defect in closure of the neural tube to which amnion has subsequently adhered, recurrence risk is 1.7%. In that primary defects of neural tube closure are characterized by typical abnormalities of the base of the skull, evaluation of the cranial base in such fetuses provides an approach for making a distinction between these 2 mechanisms. This distinction has implications regarding recurrence risk. The skull base of 2 fetuses with amnion rupture sequence involving the cranial end of the neural tube were compared to that of 1 fetus with anencephaly as well as that of a structurally normal fetus. The skulls were cleaned, fixed in 10% formalin, recleaned, and then exposed to 10% KOH solution. After washing and recleaning, the skulls were exposed to hydrogen peroxide for bleaching and photography. Despite involvement of the anterior neural tube in both fetuses with amnion rupture sequence, in Case 3 the cranial base was normal while in Case 4 the cranial base was similar to that seen in anencephaly. This technique provides a method for determining the developmental pathogenesis of anterior neural tube defects in cases of amnion rupture sequence. As such, it provides information that can be used to counsel parents of affected children with respect to recurrence risk.

Maternal bereavement in the antenathal period and Neural tube defect in the offspring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingstrup, Katja Glejsted; Olsen, Jørn; Bech, Bodil Hammer

2013-01-01

Title: Maternal bereavement after death of a close relative and neural tube defect in the offspring Background: Neural tube defects are the second most common and often lethal congenital anomaly in the world leaving surviving children with life-long severe disabilities. A low intake of folic acid...... was seen (OR 1.61, 95% CI: 1.07; 2.41). Discussion: We only studied live born children but about 2/3 of children with spina bifida survive the birth or longer with corrective surgery. We did not adjust for folic acid, but a sub-analysis of approximately 85,000 mothers showed no difference in intake during...... all children born in Denmark from 1978-2008 and their mothers (n=1,734,190). In the time window of one year before pregnancy or during the first trimester of pregnancy 34,407 mothers were exposed to bereavement. Results: A total of 5,031 cases of neural tube defects were identified: 889 with spina...

dNTP deficiency induced by HU via inhibiting ribonucleotide reductase affects neural tube development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guan, Zhen; Wang, Xiuwei; Dong, Yanting; Xu, Lin; Zhu, Zhiqiang; Wang, Jianhua; Zhang, Ting; Niu, Bo

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Murine NTDs were successfully induced by means of hydroxyurea (HU). • The impairment of dNTP was induced via inhibition of ribonucleotide reductase. • dNTP deficiency induced by HU caused defective DNA synthesis and repair. • Abnormal apoptosis and proliferation induced by HU affected neural tube development. - Abstract: Exposure to environmental toxic chemicals in utero during the neural tube development period can cause developmental disorders. To evaluate the disruption of neural tube development programming, the murine neural tube defects (NTDs) model was induced by interrupting folate metabolism using methotrexate in our previous study. The present study aimed to examine the effects of dNTP deficiency induced by hydroxyurea (HU), a specific ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) inhibitor, during murine neural tube development. Pregnant C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with various doses of HU on gestation day (GD) 7.5, and the embryos were checked on GD 11.5. RNR activity and deoxynucleoside triphosphate (dNTP) levels were measured in the optimal dose. Additionally, DNA damage was examined by comet analysis and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end-labeling (TUNEL) assay. Cellular behaviors in NTDs embryos were evaluated with phosphorylation of histone H3 (PH-3) and caspase-3 using immunohistochemistry and western blot analysis. The results showed that NTDs were observed mostly with HU treatment at an optimal dose of 225 mg/kg b/w. RNR activity was inhibited and dNTP levels were decreased in HU-treated embryos with NTDs. Additionally, increased DNA damage, decreased proliferation, and increased caspase-3 were significant in NTDs embryos compared to the controls. Results indicated that HU induced murine NTDs model by disturbing dNTP metabolism and further led to the abnormal cell balance between proliferation and apoptosis

Epidemiology of neural tube defects in Saudi Arabia.

Science.gov (United States)

AlShail, Essam; De Vol, Edward; Yassen, Ahsan; Elgamal, Essam A

2014-12-01

To evaluate the distribution and pattern of neural tube defects in Saudi Arabia by creating a hospital based registry. All cases registered in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC) neural tube defect (NTD) registry since it was established in October 2000 until December 2012 were studied through active surveillance comprising a registrar who collects NTD information by reviewing the patient's medical records, and interviewing patient's families. The total number of patients registered from October 2000 to December 2012 was 718 patients. There were more females (417, 58%) than males (301, 42%). Of 620 mothers who underwent antenatal ultrasonography; 392 (63%) were diagnosed at birth, and 204 (33%) were diagnosed with antenatal hydrocephalus. In our registry sample, most mothers (95%) did not take folic acid 3 months prior to pregnancy, and 76% did not take folic acid during the 3 months after conception with the affected child. Only 5% received folic acid prior to conception. The KFSH&RC-NTD registry has met its objectives as a source of data that may significantly contribute to the prevention of NTDs, and improving quality of care for NTD patients through active publication of registry findings and management approaches.

Prevalence of neural tube defect and hydrocephalus in Northern ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

All the cases reported in this study were open neural tube defect (NTD). The most common defect was hydrocephalus occurring in 33 patients representing 57.9%, with spinal bifida occurring in 21 patients representing 38.6%. Encephalocele or cranium bifida occurred in only 5.3% (3 patients). Among the spinal bifida cases ...

Birth prevalence of neural tube defects and orofacial clefts in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Komal Preet Allagh

Full Text Available In the last two decades, India has witnessed a substantial decrease in infant mortality attributed to infectious disease and malnutrition. However, the mortality attributed to birth defects remains constant. Studies on the prevalence of birth defects such as neural tube defects and orofacial clefts in India have reported inconsistent results. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review of observational studies to document the birth prevalence of neural tube defects and orofacial clefts.A comprehensive literature search for observational studies was conducted in MEDLINE and EMBASE databases using key MeSH terms (neural tube defects OR cleft lip OR cleft palate AND Prevalence AND India. Two reviewers independently reviewed the retrieved studies, and studies satisfying the eligibility were included. The quality of included studies was assessed using selected criteria from STROBE statement.The overall pooled birth prevalence (random effect of neural tube defects in India is 4.5 per 1000 total births (95% CI 4.2 to 4.9. The overall pooled birth prevalence (random effect of orofacial clefts is 1.3 per 1000 total births (95% CI 1.1 to 1.5. Subgroup analyses were performed by region, time period, consanguinity, and gender of newborn.The overall prevalence of neural tube defects from India is high compared to other regions of the world, while that of orofacial clefts is similar to other countries. The majority of studies included in the review were hospital based. The quality of these studies ranged from low to moderate. Further well-designed, high quality community-based observational studies are needed to accurately estimate the burden of neural tube defects and orofacial clefts in India.

Evaluation of the prenatal diagnosis of neural tube defects by fetal ultrasonographic examination in different centres across Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boyd, PA; Wellesley, DG; De Walle, HEK; Tenconi, R; Garcia-Minaur, S; Zandwijken, GRJ; Stoll, C; Clementi, M

2000-01-01

Objective-Evaluation of prenatal diagnosis of neural tube defects by ultrasound examination in unselected populations across Europe. Setting-Prenatal ultrasound units in areas that report to contributing congenital malformation registers. Methods-All cases with a suspected or confirmed neural tube

International retrospective cohort study of neural tube defects in relation to folic acid recommendations : are the recommendations working?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Botto, LD; Lisi, A; Robert-Gnansia, E; Erickson, JD; Vollset, SE; Mastroiacovo, P; Botting, B; Cocchi, G; de Vigan, C; de Walle, H; Feijoo, M; Irgens, LM; McDonnell, B; Merlob, P; Ritvanen, A; Scarano, G; Siffel, C; Metneki, J; Stoll, C; Smithells, R; Goujard, J

2005-01-01

Objective To evaluate the effectiveness of policies and recommendations on folic acid aimed at reducing the occurrence of neural tube defects. Design Retrospective cohort study of births monitored by birth defect registries. Setting 13 birth defects registries monitoring rates of neural tube defects

Neural Tube Defects and Pregnancy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emine Çoşar

2009-09-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: Neural tube defects are congenital malformations those mostly causing life-long morbidities. They are prevented by the periconseptional folic acid usage and prenatal diagnostic methods. MATERIALS-METHODS: Pregnants from Afyonkarahisar and neighbourhood cities applied to our hospital and determined NTD, were investigated. RESULTS: In our obstetrics clinic 1403 delivery were made and 43 of them had fetus with NTD. Among these fetuses 41.3% had meningomyelocel, 17.4% had meningocel, 21.7% had encephalocel, 8.7% had unencephali and 4.3% had iniencephali. CONCLUSION: Incidence of NTD is high in our region and geographic region, nutrition and other socioeconomic factors may be related to the high incidence. Education of the mother and periconceptional folic acid usage may reduce teh incidence of NTD.

Neural tube defects – recent advances, unsolved questions and controversies

Science.gov (United States)

Copp, Andrew J.; Stanier, Philip; Greene, Nicholas D. E.

2014-01-01

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are severe congenital malformations affecting around 1 in every 1000 pregnancies. Here we review recent advances and currently unsolved issues in the NTD field. An innovation in clinical management has come from the demonstration that closure of open spina bifida lesions in utero can diminish neurological dysfunction in children. Primary prevention by folic acid has been enhanced through introduction of mandatory food fortification in some countries, although not yet in UK. Genetic predisposition comprises the majority of NTD risk, and genes that regulate folate one-carbon metabolism and planar cell polarity have been strongly implicated. The sequence of human neural tube closure events remains controversial, but study of mouse NTD models shows that anencephaly, open spina bifida and craniorachischisis result from failure of primary neurulation, while skin-covered spinal dysraphism results from defective secondary neurulation. Other ‘NTD’ malformations, such as encephalocele, are likely to be post-neurulation disorders. PMID:23790957

A comparison of neural tube defects identified by two independent routine recording systems for congenital malformations in Northern Ireland.

Science.gov (United States)

Nevin, N C; McDonald, J R; Walby, A L

1978-12-01

The efficiency of two systems for recording congenital malformations has been compared; one system, the Registrar General's Congenital Malformation Notification, is based on registering all malformed infants, and the other, the Child Health System, records all births. In Northern Ireland for three years [1974--1976], using multiple sources of ascertainment, a total of 686 infants with neural tube defects was identified among 79 783 live and stillbirths. The incidence for all neural tube defects in 8 60 per 1 000 births. The Registrar General's Congenital Malformation Notification System identified 83.6% whereas the Child Health System identified only 63.3% of all neural tube defects. Both systems together identified 86.2% of all neural tube defects. The two systems are suitable for monitoring of malformations and the addition of information from the Genetic Counselling Clinics would enhance the data for epidemiological studies.

Regional neural tube closure defined by the Grainy head-like transcription factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Rifat, Yeliz; Parekh, Vishwas; Wilanowski, Tomasz; Hislop, Nikki R; Auden, Alana; Ting, Stephen B; Cunningham, John M; Jane, Stephen M

2010-09-15

Primary neurulation in mammals has been defined by distinct anatomical closure sites, at the hindbrain/cervical spine (closure 1), forebrain/midbrain boundary (closure 2), and rostral end of the forebrain (closure 3). Zones of neurulation have also been characterized by morphologic differences in neural fold elevation, with non-neural ectoderm-induced formation of paired dorso-lateral hinge points (DLHP) essential for neural tube closure in the cranial and lower spinal cord regions, and notochord-induced bending at the median hinge point (MHP) sufficient for closure in the upper spinal region. Here we identify a unifying molecular basis for these observations based on the function of the non-neural ectoderm-specific Grainy head-like genes in mice. Using a gene-targeting approach we show that deletion of Grhl2 results in failed closure 3, with mutants exhibiting a split-face malformation and exencephaly, associated with failure of neuro-epithelial folding at the DLHP. Loss of Grhl3 alone defines a distinct lower spinal closure defect, also with defective DLHP formation. The two genes contribute equally to closure 2, where only Grhl gene dosage is limiting. Combined deletion of Grhl2 and Grhl3 induces severe rostral and caudal neural tube defects, but DLHP-independent closure 1 proceeds normally in the upper spinal region. These findings provide a molecular basis for non-neural ectoderm mediated formation of the DLHP that is critical for complete neuraxis closure. (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

An amphioxus Msx gene expressed predominantly in the dorsal neural tube.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharman, A C; Shimeld, S M; Holland, P W

1999-04-01

Genomic and cDNA clones of an Msx class homeobox gene were isolated from amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae). The gene, AmphiMsx, is expressed in the neural plate from late gastrulation; in later embryos it is expressed in dorsal cells of the neural tube, excluding anterior and posterior regions, in an irregular reiterated pattern. There is transient expression in dorsal cells within somites, reminiscent of migrating neural crest cells of vertebrates. In larvae, mRNA is detected in two patches of anterior ectoderm proposed to be placodes. Evolutionary analyses show there is little phylogenetic information in Msx protein sequences; however, it is likely that duplication of Msx genes occurred in the vertebrate lineage.

Global Burden of Neural Tube Defects, Risk Factors, and Prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joseph E

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Neural tube defects (NTDs, serious birth defects of the brain and spine usually resulting in death or paralysis, affect an estimated 300,000 births each year worldwide. Although the majority of NTDs are preventable with adequate folic acid consumption during the preconception period and throughout the first few weeks of gestation, many populations, in particular those in low and middle resource settings, do not have access to fortified foods or vitamin supplements containing folic acid. Further, accurate birth defects surveillance data, which could help inform mandatory fortification and other NTD prevention initiatives, are lacking in many of these settings. The burden of birth defects in South East Asia is among the highest in the world. Expanding global neural tube defects prevention initiatives can support the achievement of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 4 to reduce child mortality, a goal which many countries in South East Asia are currently not poised to reach, and the 63rd World Health Assembly Resolution on birth defects. More work is needed to develop and implement mandatory folic acid fortification policies, as well as supplementation programs in countries where the reach of fortification is limited.

The murine homeobox gene Msx-3 shows highly restricted expression in the developing neural tube.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimeld, S M; McKay, I J; Sharpe, P T

1996-04-01

The mouse homeobox-genes Msx-1 and Msx-2 are expressed in several areas of the developing embryo, including the neural tube, neural crest, facial processes and limb buds. Here we report the characterisation of a third mouse Msx gene, which we designate Msx-3. The embryonic expression of Msx-3 was found to differ from that of Msx-1 and -2 in that it was confined to the dorsal neural tube. In embryos with 5-8 somites a segmental pattern of expression was observed in the hindbrain, with rhombomeres 3 and 5 lacking Msx-3 while other rhombomeres expressed Msx-3. This pattern was transient, however, such that in embryos with 18 or more somites expression was continuous throughout the dorsal hindbrain and anterior dorsal spinal cord. Differentiation of dorsal cell types in the neural tube can be induced by addition of members of the Tgf-beta family. Additionally, Msx-1 and -2 have been shown to be activated by addition of the Tgf-beta family member Bmp-4. To determine if Bmp-4 could activate Msx-3, we incubated embryonic hindbrain explants with exogenous Bmp-4. The dorsal expression of Msx-3 was seen to expand into more ventral regions of the neurectoderm in Bmp-4-treated cultures, implying that Bmp-4 may be able to mimic an in vivo signal that induces Msx-3.

Malformations du tube neural en chirurgie pediatrique du chu de ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

encéphalocèle et 6 cas de sipina bifida. La cure chirurgicale a été le principal mode de prise en charge des patients. Seuls 91,38% des cas ont été opérés. Pour toutes les malformations du tube neural, nous avons enregistré 7 décès dont 2 décès ...

Prediction of friction factor of pure water flowing inside vertical smooth and microfin tubes by using artificial neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Çebi, A.; Akdoğan, E.; Celen, A.; Dalkilic, A. S.

2017-02-01

An artificial neural network (ANN) model of friction factor in smooth and microfin tubes under heating, cooling and isothermal conditions was developed in this study. Data used in ANN was taken from a vertically positioned heat exchanger experimental setup. Multi-layered feed-forward neural network with backpropagation algorithm, radial basis function networks and hybrid PSO-neural network algorithm were applied to the database. Inputs were the ratio of cross sectional flow area to hydraulic diameter, experimental condition number depending on isothermal, heating, or cooling conditions and mass flow rate while the friction factor was the output of the constructed system. It was observed that such neural network based system could effectively predict the friction factor values of the flows regardless of their tube types. A dependency analysis to determine the strongest parameter that affected the network and database was also performed and tube geometry was found to be the strongest parameter of all as a result of analysis.

Histological evaluation of acute covering of an experimental neural tube defect with biomatrices in fetal sheep.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eggink, A.J.; Roelofs, L.A.J.; Lammens, M.M.Y.; Feitz, W.F.J.; Wijnen, R.M.H.; Mullaart, R.A.; Moerkerk, H.T.B. van; Kuppevelt, A.H.M.S.M. van; Crevels, A.J.; Hanssen, A.; Lotgering, F.K.; Berg, P.P. van den

2006-01-01

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to determine the histological effect on the neural tissue of in utero covering of an experimental neural tube defect in fetal lambs, with the use of two different biomatrices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 23 fetal sheep, surgery was performed at 79 days' gestation.

Air Pollution, Neighbourhood Socioeconomic Factors, and Neural Tube Defects in the San Joaquin Valley of California.

Science.gov (United States)

Padula, Amy M; Yang, Wei; Carmichael, Suzan L; Tager, Ira B; Lurmann, Frederick; Hammond, S Katharine; Shaw, Gary M

2015-11-01

Environmental pollutants and neighbourhood socioeconomic factors have been associated with neural tube defects, but the potential impact of interaction between ambient air pollution and neighbourhood socioeconomic factors on the risks of neural tube defects is not well understood. We used data from the California Center of the National Birth Defects Study and the Children's Health and Air Pollution Study to investigate whether associations between air pollutant exposure in early gestation and neural tube defects were modified by neighbourhood socioeconomic factors in the San Joaquin Valley of California, 1997-2006. There were 5 pollutant exposures, 3 outcomes, and 9 neighbourhood socioeconomic factors included for a total of 135 investigated associations. Estimates were adjusted for maternal race-ethnicity, education, and multivitamin use. We present below odds ratios (ORs) that exclude 1 and a chi-square test of homogeneity P-value of <0.05. We observed increased odds of spina bifida comparing the highest to lowest quartile of particulate matter <10 μm (PM10 ) among those living in a neighbourhood with: (i) median household income of less than $30 000 per year [OR 5.1, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7, 15.3]; (ii) more than 20% living below the federal poverty level (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.1, 6.0); and (iii) more than 30% with less than or equal to a high school education (OR 3.2, 95% CI 1.4, 7.4). The ORs were not statistically significant among those higher socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods. Our results demonstrate effect modification by neighbourhood socioeconomic factors in the association of particulate matter and neural tube defects in California. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Mechanics of neurulation: From classical to current perspectives on the physical mechanics that shape, fold, and form the neural tube.

Science.gov (United States)

Vijayraghavan, Deepthi S; Davidson, Lance A

2017-01-30

Neural tube defects arise from mechanical failures in the process of neurulation. At the most fundamental level, formation of the neural tube relies on coordinated, complex tissue movements that mechanically transform the flat neural epithelium into a lumenized epithelial tube (Davidson, 2012). The nature of this mechanical transformation has mystified embryologists, geneticists, and clinicians for more than 100 years. Early embryologists pondered the physical mechanisms that guide this transformation. Detailed observations of cell and tissue movements as well as experimental embryological manipulations allowed researchers to generate and test elementary hypotheses of the intrinsic and extrinsic forces acting on the neural tissue. Current research has turned toward understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying neurulation. Genetic and molecular perturbation have identified a multitude of subcellular components that correlate with cell behaviors and tissue movements during neural tube formation. In this review, we focus on methods and conceptual frameworks that have been applied to the study of amphibian neurulation that can be used to determine how molecular and physical mechanisms are integrated and responsible for neurulation. We will describe how qualitative descriptions and quantitative measurements of strain, force generation, and tissue material properties as well as simulations can be used to understand how embryos use morphogenetic programs to drive neurulation. Birth Defects Research 109:153-168, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Residual stresses estimation in tubes after rapid heating of surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serikov, S.V.

1992-01-01

Results are presented on estimation of residual stresses in tubes of steel types ShKh15, EhP836 and 12KIMF after heating by burning pyrotechnic substance inside tubes. External tube surface was heated up to 400-450 deg C under such treatment. Axial stresses distribution over tube wall thickness was determined for initial state, after routine heat treatment and after heating with the use of fireworks. Inner surface heating was shown to essentially decrease axial stresses in tubes

Can "YouTube" help students in learning surface anatomy?

Science.gov (United States)

Azer, Samy A

2012-07-01

In a problem-based learning curriculum, most medical students research the Internet for information for their "learning issues." Internet sites such as "YouTube" have become a useful resource for information. This study aimed at assessing YouTube videos covering surface anatomy. A search of YouTube was conducted from November 8 to 30, 2010 using research terms "surface anatomy," "anatomy body painting," "living anatomy," "bone landmarks," and "dermatomes" for surface anatomy-related videos. Only relevant video clips in the English language were identified and related URL recorded. For each videotape the following information were collected: title, authors, duration, number of viewers, posted comments, and total number of days on YouTube. The data were statistically analyzed and videos were grouped into educationally useful and non-useful videos on the basis of major and minor criteria covering technical, content, authority, and pedagogy parameters. A total of 235 YouTube videos were screened and 57 were found to have relevant information to surface anatomy. Analysis revealed that 15 (27%) of the videos provided useful information on surface anatomy. These videos scored (mean ± SD, 14.0 ± 0.7) and mainly covered surface anatomy of the shoulder, knee, muscles of the back, leg, and ankle, carotid artery, dermatomes, and anatomical positions. The other 42 (73%) videos were not useful educationally, scoring (mean ± SD, 7.4 ± 1.8). The total viewers of all videos were 1,058,634. Useful videos were viewed by 497,925 (47% of total viewers). The total viewership per day was 750 for useful videos and 652 for non-useful videos. No video clips covering surface anatomy of the head and neck, blood vessels and nerves of upper and lower limbs, chest and abdominal organs/structures were found. Currently, YouTube is an inadequate source of information for learning surface anatomy. More work is needed from medical schools and educators to add useful videos on YouTube

Neural tube defects – disorders of neurulation and related embryonic processes

Science.gov (United States)

Copp, Andrew J.; Greene, Nicholas D. E.

2014-01-01

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are severe congenital malformations affecting 1 in every 1000 pregnancies. ‘Open’ NTDs result from failure of primary neurulation as seen in anencephaly, myelomeningocele (open spina bifida) and craniorachischisis. Degeneration of the persistently open neural tube in utero leads to loss of neurological function below the lesion level. ‘Closed’ NTDs are skin-covered disorders of spinal cord structure, ranging from asymptomatic spina bifida occulta to severe spinal cord tethering, and usually traceable to disruption of secondary neurulation. ‘Herniation’ NTDs are those in which meninges, with or without brain or spinal cord tissue, become exteriorised through a pathological opening in the skull or vertebral column (e.g. encephalocele and meningocele). NTDs have multifactorial etiology, with genes and environmental factors interacting to determine individual risk of malformation. While over 200 mutant genes cause open NTDs in mice, much less is known about the genetic causation of human NTDs. Recent evidence has implicated genes of the planar cell polarity signalling pathway in a proportion of cases. The embryonic development of NTDs is complex, with diverse cellular and molecular mechanisms operating at different levels of the body axis. Molecular regulatory events include the BMP and Sonic hedgehog pathways which have been implicated in control of neural plate bending. Primary prevention of NTDs has been implemented clinically following the demonstration that folic acid, when taken as a peri-conceptional supplement, can prevent many cases. Not all NTDs respond to folic acid, however, and adjunct therapies are required for prevention of this folic acid-resistant category. PMID:24009034

Defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural e fatores associados em recém-nascidos vivos e natimortos Neural tube defects and associated factors among liveborn and stillborn infants

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Marcos J.B. Aguiar

2003-04-01

evaluate the prevalence and factors associated to neural tube defects in liveborn and stillborn infants delivered at the Hospital das Clínicas, UFMG, from January 8, 1999 to July 31, 2000. METHODS: this is a descriptive study, based on a database, according to the Latin-American Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation (ECLAMC rules. Reports on liveborn and stillborn infants with congenital anomalies were prepared including information about morphological description, necropsy results, complementary exams, family, social and pregnancy histories and other clinical data. Each malformed liveborn infant originated a control of the same sex, without malformations. The liveborn and stillborn infants with neural tube defects delivered during that period were classified according to their defect and the presence or absence of associated defects. The liveborn and stillborn infants with neural tube defects were compared to newborns without neural tube defects according to their weight and sex and their mother's age and parity. Epi-Info 6.0 Program was used for the statistical analysis of the results. RESULTS: the prevalence of neural tube defects was 4.73 to 1,000 deliveries (89:18,807; it was significantly higher among stillborn infants (23.7:1,000 than among liveborn infants (4.16:1,000, p < 0.001. Neural tube defects were more often found among low weight liveborn infants (< 2,500 g, p < 0.001 and less frequently among women who had had more than three gestations, p = 0.007. No association was found regarding newborn's sex or maternal age. There was no association with newborn's sex and weight, maternal parity or age among stillborn infants. The most common neural tube defects were myelomeningocele (47.2%, anencephaly (26.9% and encephalocele (16.9%. The defects were found as isolated anomalies in 71.1% of the liveborn and 38.5% of the stillborn infants; they were part of a syndrome in 9.2% (liveborn and 7.7% (stillborn. CONCLUSIONS: the neural tube defect prevalence found

Lathe Attachment Finishes Inner Surface of Tubes

Science.gov (United States)

Lancki, A. J.

1982-01-01

Extremely smooth finishes are machined on inside surfaces of tubes by new attachment for a lathe. The relatively inexpensive accessory, called a "microhone," holds a honing stone against workpiece by rigid tangs instead of springs as in conventional honing tools. Inner rod permits adjustment of microhoning stone, while outer tube supports assembly. Outer tube is held between split blocks on lathe toolpost. Microhoning can be done with either microhone or workpiece moving and other member stationary.

Transcriptional response of Hoxb genes to retinoid signalling is regionally restricted along the neural tube rostrocaudal axis.

Science.gov (United States)

Carucci, Nicoletta; Cacci, Emanuele; Nisi, Paola S; Licursi, Valerio; Paul, Yu-Lee; Biagioni, Stefano; Negri, Rodolfo; Rugg-Gunn, Peter J; Lupo, Giuseppe

2017-04-01

During vertebrate neural development, positional information is largely specified by extracellular morphogens. Their distribution, however, is very dynamic due to the multiple roles played by the same signals in the developing and adult neural tissue. This suggests that neural progenitors are able to modify their competence to respond to morphogen signalling and autonomously maintain positional identities after their initial specification. In this work, we take advantage of in vitro culture systems of mouse neural stem/progenitor cells (NSPCs) to show that NSPCs isolated from rostral or caudal regions of the mouse neural tube are differentially responsive to retinoic acid (RA), a pivotal morphogen for the specification of posterior neural fates. Hoxb genes are among the best known RA direct targets in the neural tissue, yet we found that RA could promote their transcription only in caudal but not in rostral NSPCs. Correlating with these effects, key RA-responsive regulatory regions in the Hoxb cluster displayed opposite enrichment of activating or repressing histone marks in rostral and caudal NSPCs. Finally, RA was able to strengthen Hoxb chromatin activation in caudal NSPCs, but was ineffective on the repressed Hoxb chromatin of rostral NSPCs. These results suggest that the response of NSPCs to morphogen signalling across the rostrocaudal axis of the neural tube may be gated by the epigenetic configuration of target patterning genes, allowing long-term maintenance of intrinsic positional values in spite of continuously changing extrinsic signals.

review of current evidence for folate in the prevention of neural tube ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The incidence of neural tube defects (NTD) among black South. Africans living in urban areas is low compared with reports of _". I\\TTD incidence in rural areasY A NTD incidence of 0.95 per -;:-. 1000 live births was reported in Cape Town,l while an incidence of 0.99 per 1 000 live births was reported in a study performed at ...

Deep Convolutional Neural Networks for Endotracheal Tube Position and X-ray Image Classification: Challenges and Opportunities.

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Lakhani, Paras

2017-08-01

The goal of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of deep convolutional neural networks (DCNNs) in differentiating subtle, intermediate, and more obvious image differences in radiography. Three different datasets were created, which included presence/absence of the endotracheal (ET) tube (n = 300), low/normal position of the ET tube (n = 300), and chest/abdominal radiographs (n = 120). The datasets were split into training, validation, and test. Both untrained and pre-trained deep neural networks were employed, including AlexNet and GoogLeNet classifiers, using the Caffe framework. Data augmentation was performed for the presence/absence and low/normal ET tube datasets. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC), area under the curves (AUC), and 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Statistical differences of the AUCs were determined using a non-parametric approach. The pre-trained AlexNet and GoogLeNet classifiers had perfect accuracy (AUC 1.00) in differentiating chest vs. abdominal radiographs, using only 45 training cases. For more difficult datasets, including the presence/absence and low/normal position endotracheal tubes, more training cases, pre-trained networks, and data-augmentation approaches were helpful to increase accuracy. The best-performing network for classifying presence vs. absence of an ET tube was still very accurate with an AUC of 0.99. However, for the most difficult dataset, such as low vs. normal position of the endotracheal tube, DCNNs did not perform as well, but achieved a reasonable AUC of 0.81.

Expression of p53/HGF/c-met/STAT3 signal in fetuses with neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Trovato, Maria; D'Armiento, Maria; Lavra, Luca; Ulivieri, Alessandra; Dominici, Roberto; Vitarelli, Enrica; Grosso, Maddalena; Vecchione, Raffaella; Barresi, Gaetano; Sciacchitano, Salvatore

2007-02-01

Neural tube defects (NTD) are morphogenetic alterations due to a defective closure of neural tube. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF)/c-met system plays a role in morphogenesis of nervous system, lung, and kidney. HGF/c-met morphogenetic effects are mediated by signal transducers and activators of transcription (STAT)3 and both HGF and c-met genes are regulated from p53. The aim of our study was to analyze mRNA and protein expressions of p53, HGF, c-met, and STAT3 in fetuses with NTD. By reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry, we analyzed neural tissues from four NTD fetuses and the corresponding non-malformed lungs, kidneys and placentas. We found a reduced mRNA expression of HGF/c-met/STAT3 pathway, in the malformed nervous systems and placentas. The reduced expression of this pathway correlated with the absence of p53 in all these samples. On the contrary, detectable expression levels of p53, HGF, c-met, and STAT3 were observed in non-malformed lungs and kidneys obtained from the same fetuses. Comparable results were obtained by immunohistochemistry, with the exception of p53, which was undetected in all fetal tissues. In conclusion, in NTD fetuses, both the defective neural tube tissue and the placenta have a reduction in all components of the p53/HGF/c-met/STAT3 cascade. This raises the possibility of using the suppression of these genes for early diagnosis of NTD especially on chorionic villus sampling.

A mutation in the tuft mouse disrupts TET1 activity and alters the expression of genes that are crucial for neural tube closure

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Keith S. K. Fong

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Genetic variations affecting neural tube closure along the head result in malformations of the face and brain. Neural tube defects (NTDs are among the most common birth defects in humans. We previously reported a mouse mutant called tuft that arose spontaneously in our wild-type 3H1 colony. Adult tuft mice present midline craniofacial malformations with or without an anterior cephalocele. In addition, affected embryos presented neural tube closure defects resulting in insufficient closure of the anterior neuropore or exencephaly. Here, through whole-genome sequencing, we identified a nonsense mutation in the Tet1 gene, which encodes a methylcytosine dioxygenase (TET1, co-segregating with the tuft phenotype. This mutation resulted in premature termination that disrupts the catalytic domain that is involved in the demethylation of cytosine. We detected a significant loss of TET enzyme activity in the heads of tuft embryos that were homozygous for the mutation and had NTDs. RNA-Seq transcriptome analysis indicated that multiple gene pathways associated with neural tube closure were dysregulated in tuft embryo heads. Among them, the expressions of Cecr2, Epha7 and Grhl2 were significantly reduced in some embryos presenting neural tube closure defects, whereas one or more components of the non-canonical WNT signaling pathway mediating planar cell polarity and convergent extension were affected in others. We further show that the recombinant mutant TET1 protein was capable of entering the nucleus and affected the expression of endogenous Grhl2 in IMCD-3 (inner medullary collecting duct cells. These results indicate that TET1 is an epigenetic determinant for regulating genes that are crucial to closure of the anterior neural tube and its mutation has implications to craniofacial development, as presented by the tuft mouse.

Syndromes, Disorders and Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Neural Tube Defects (IV)

OpenAIRE

Chen, Chih-Ping

2008-01-01

Fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs) may be associated with maternal and fetal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of maternal and fetal risk factors associated with NTDs, such as infertility, periconceptional clomiphene use and assisted reproductive technology, periconceptional folic acid deficiency and effects offolic acid supplementation and fortification on NTD rates, periconceptional vitamin B1 2 deficiency, single nucleotide polymorphisms and polymorphisms in g...

Antenatal Diagnosis of a Rare Neural Tube Defect: Sincipital Encephalocele

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Mehdi Kehila

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Context. Fetal sincipital encephalocele is one of the most serious congenital neural tube defects with a high risk of mortality and neonatal morbidity. Prenatal diagnosis of this malformation is important in fetal medicine. Case Report. We report a case of prenatal diagnosis of sincipital encephalocele using ultrasound and MRI imaging. The diagnosis was done at 25 weeks of gestation by identifying an anterior cephalic protrusion through a defect in the skull. Conclusion. Through this case, we discuss the differential diagnosis, management, and prognosis of such lesions.

Melatonin prevents neural tube defects in the offspring of diabetic pregnancy.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Shangming; Guo, Yuji; Yuan, Qiuhuan; Pan, Yan; Wang, Liyan; Liu, Qian; Wang, Fuwu; Wang, Jingjing; Hao, Aijun

2015-11-01

Melatonin, an endogenous neurohormone secreted by the pineal gland, has a variety of physiological functions and neuroprotective effects. However, its protective role on the neural tube defects (NTDs) was not very clear. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of melatonin on the incidence of NTDs (including anencephaly, encephalocele, and spina bifida) of offspring from diabetic pregnant mice as well as its underlying mechanisms. Pregnant mice were given 10 mg/kg melatonin by daily i.p. injection from embryonic day (E) 0.5 until being killed on E11.5. Here, we showed that melatonin decreased the NTDs (especially exencephaly) rate of embryos exposed to maternal diabetes. Melatonin stimulated proliferation of neural stem cells (NSCs) under hyperglycemic condition through the extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK) pathway. Furthermore, as a direct free radical scavenger, melatonin decreased apoptosis of NSCs exposed to hyperglycemia. In the light of these findings, it suggests that melatonin supplementation may play an important role in the prevention of neural malformations in diabetic pregnancy. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Epigenetic profiles in children with a neural tube defect; a case-control study in two populations.

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Lisette Stolk

Full Text Available Folate deficiency is implicated in the causation of neural tube defects (NTDs. The preventive effect of periconceptional folic acid supplement use is partially explained by the treatment of a deranged folate-dependent one carbon metabolism, which provides methyl groups for DNA-methylation as an epigenetic mechanism. Here, we hypothesize that variations in DNA-methylation of genes implicated in the development of NTDs and embryonic growth are part of the underlying mechanism. In 48 children with a neural tube defect and 62 controls from a Dutch case-control study and 34 children with a neural tube defect and 78 controls from a Texan case-control study, we measured the DNA-methylation levels of imprinted candidate genes (IGF2-DMR, H19, KCNQ1OT1 and non-imprinted genes (the LEKR/CCNL gene region associated with birth weight, and MTHFR and VANGL1 associated with NTD. We used the MassARRAY EpiTYPER assay from Sequenom for the assessment of DNA-methylation. Linear mixed model analysis was used to estimate associations between DNA-methylation levels of the genes and a neural tube defect. In the Dutch study group, but not in the Texan study group we found a significant association between the risk of having an NTD and DNA methylation levels of MTHFR (absolute decrease in methylation of -0.33% in cases, P-value = 0.001, and LEKR/CCNL (absolute increase in methylation: 1.36% in cases, P-value = 0.048, and a borderline significant association for VANGL (absolute increase in methylation: 0.17% in cases, P-value = 0.063. Only the association between MTHFR and NTD-risk remained significant after multiple testing correction. The associations in the Dutch study were not replicated in the Texan study. We conclude that the associations between NTDs and the methylation of the MTHFR gene, and maybe VANGL and LEKKR/CNNL, are in line with previous studies showing polymorphisms in the same genes in association with NTDs and embryonic development

Artificial Neural Networks-Based Software for Measuring Heat Collection Rate and Heat Loss Coefficient of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heaters.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhijian; Liu, Kejun; Li, Hao; Zhang, Xinyu; Jin, Guangya; Cheng, Kewei

2015-01-01

Measurements of heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient are crucial for the evaluation of in service water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters. However, conventional measurement requires expensive detection devices and undergoes a series of complicated procedures. To simplify the measurement and reduce the cost, software based on artificial neural networks for measuring heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient of water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters was developed. Using multilayer feed-forward neural networks with back-propagation algorithm, we developed and tested our program on the basis of 915 measured samples of water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters. This artificial neural networks-based software program automatically obtained accurate heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient using simply "portable test instruments" acquired parameters, including tube length, number of tubes, tube center distance, heat water mass in tank, collector area, angle between tubes and ground and final temperature. Our results show that this software (on both personal computer and Android platforms) is efficient and convenient to predict the heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient due to it slow root mean square errors in prediction. The software now can be downloaded from http://t.cn/RLPKF08.

Artificial Neural Networks-Based Software for Measuring Heat Collection Rate and Heat Loss Coefficient of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heaters

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhijian; Liu, Kejun; Li, Hao; Zhang, Xinyu; Jin, Guangya; Cheng, Kewei

2015-01-01

Measurements of heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient are crucial for the evaluation of in service water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters. However, conventional measurement requires expensive detection devices and undergoes a series of complicated procedures. To simplify the measurement and reduce the cost, software based on artificial neural networks for measuring heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient of water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters was developed. Using multilayer feed-forward neural networks with back-propagation algorithm, we developed and tested our program on the basis of 915measuredsamples of water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters. This artificial neural networks-based software program automatically obtained accurate heat collection rateand heat loss coefficient using simply "portable test instruments" acquired parameters, including tube length, number of tubes, tube center distance, heat water mass in tank, collector area, angle between tubes and ground and final temperature. Our results show that this software (on both personal computer and Android platforms) is efficient and convenient to predict the heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient due to it slow root mean square errors in prediction. The software now can be downloaded from http://t.cn/RLPKF08. PMID:26624613

[Difficulties of the methods for studying environmental exposure and neural tube defects].

Science.gov (United States)

Borja-Aburto, V H; Bermúdez-Castro, O; Lacasaña-Navarro, M; Kuri, P; Bustamante-Montes, P; Torres-Meza, V

1999-01-01

To discuss the attitudes in the assessment of environmental exposures as risk factors associated with neural tube defects, and to present the main risk factors studied to date. Environmental exposures have been suggested to have a roll in the genesis of birth defects. However, studies conducted in human populations have found difficulties in the design and conduction to show such an association for neural tube defects (anencephaly, espina bifida and encephalocele) because of problems raised from: a) the frequency measures used to compare time trends and communities, b) the classification of heterogeneous malformations, c) the inclusion of maternal, paternal and fetal factors as an integrated process and, d) the assessment of environmental exposures. Hypothetically both maternal and paternal environmental exposures can produce damage before and after conception by direct action on the embryo and the fetus-placenta complex. Therefore, in the assessment of environmental exposures we need to take into account: a) both paternal and maternal exposures; b) the critical exposure period, three months before conception for paternal exposures and one month around the conceptional period for maternal exposures; c) quantitatively evaluate environmental exposures when possible, avoiding a dichotomous classification; d) the use of biological markers of exposure is highly recommended as well as markers of genetic susceptibility.

Spinal neural tube defects on in utero MRI

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Williams, F.; Griffiths, P.D.

2013-01-01

Spinal neural tube defects are a heterogeneous group of disorders, which remain relatively common, with a prevalence of 1–2 per 1000 live births despite advances in maternal antenatal care. They range from mild disorders with limited neurodevelopmental sequelae to extensive abnormalities with significant morbidity and mortality. The advent of in utero magnetic resonance imaging has enabled accurate anatomical characterization of an increasing number of abnormalities with increasing confidence. Recognition of the salient radiological features of these disorders and their relationship to the embryogenesis of the spinal cord and its coverings is now possible. This review describes the radiological appearances of these disorders with examples from Fetal Imaging Unit, University of Sheffield to illustrate the key anatomical and radiological features to aid the radiologist in their recognition

Epigenetic profiles in children with a neural tube defect; a case-control study in two populations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

L. Stolk (Lisette); M.I. Both (Marieke); N.H. van Mill (Nina); M.M.P.J. Verbiest (Michael); P.H.C. Eilers (Paul); H. Zhu (Huiping); L. Suarez (Lucina); A.G. Uitterlinden (André); R.P.M. Steegers-Theunissen (Régine)

2013-01-01

textabstractFolate deficiency is implicated in the causation of neural tube defects (NTDs). The preventive effect of periconceptional folic acid supplement use is partially explained by the treatment of a deranged folate-dependent one carbon metabolism, which provides methyl groups for

Folic acid supplementation influences the distribution of neural tube defect subtypes : A registry-based study

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bergman, J. E. H.; Otten, E.; Verheij, J. B. G. M.; de Walle, H. E. K.

Periconceptional folic acid (FA) reduces neural tube defect (NTD) risk, but seems to have a varying effect per NTD subtype. We aimed to study the effect of FA supplementation on NTD subtype distribution using data from EUROCAT Northern Netherlands. We included all birth types with non-syndromal NTDs

Maternal Diabetes Alters Expression of MicroRNAs that Regulate Genes Critical for Neural Tube Development

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Seshadri Ramya

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Maternal diabetes is known to cause neural tube defects (NTDs in embryos and neuropsychological deficits in infants. Several metabolic pathways and a plethora of genes have been identified to be deregulated in developing brain of embryos by maternal diabetes, although the exact mechanism remains unknown. Recently, miRNAs have been shown to regulate genes involved in brain development and maturation. Therefore, we hypothesized that maternal diabetes alters the expression of miRNAs that regulate genes involved in biological pathways critical for neural tube development and closure during embryogenesis. To address this, high throughput miRNA expression profiling in neural stem cells (NSCs isolated from the forebrain of embryos from normal or streptozotocin-induced diabetic pregnancy was carried out. It is known that maternal diabetes results in fetal hypoglycemia/hyperglycemia or hypoxia. Hence, NSCs from embryos of control pregnant mice were exposed to low or high glucose or hypoxia in vitro. miRNA pathway analysis revealed distinct deregulation of several biological pathways, including axon guidance pathway, which are critical for brain development in NSCs exposed to different treatments. Among the differentially expressed miRNAs, the miRNA-30 family members which are predicted to target genes involved in brain development was upregulated in NSCs from embryos of diabetic pregnancy when compared to control. miRNA-30b was found to be upregulated while its target gene Sirtuin 1 (Sirt1, as revealed by luciferase assay, was down regulated in NSCs from embryos of diabetic pregnancy. Further, overexpression of miRNA-30b in NSCs, resulted in decreased expression of Sirt1 protein, and altered the neuron/glia ratio. On the other hand, siRNA mediated knockdown of Sirt1 in NSCs promoted astrogenesis, indicating that miRNA-30b alters lineage specification via Sirt1. Overall, these results suggest that maternal diabetes alters the genes involved in neural tube

Brain tissue aspiration neural tube defect Aspiração de tecido cerebral em casos de defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural

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Luiz Cesar Peres

2005-09-01

Full Text Available The study aimed to find out how frequent is brain tissue aspiration and if brain tissue heterotopia could be found in the lung of human neural tube defect cases. Histological sections of each lobe of both lungs of 22 fetuses and newborn with neural tube defect were immunostained for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP. There were 15 (68.2% females and 7 (31.8% males. Age ranged from 18 to 40 weeks of gestation (mean= 31.8. Ten (45.5% were stillborn, the same newborn, and 2 (9.1% were abortuses. Diagnosis were: craniorrhachischisis (9 cases, 40.9%, anencephaly (8 cases, 36,4%, ruptured occipital encephalocele and rachischisis (2 cases, 9.1% each, and early amniotic band disruption sequence (1 case, 4.5%. Only one case (4.5% exhibited GFAP positive cells inside bronchioles and alveoli admixed to epithelial amniotic squames. No heterotopic tissue was observed in the lung interstitium. We concluded that aspiration of brain tissue from the amniotic fluid in neural tube defect cases may happen but it is infrequent and heterotopia was not observed.O objetivo do estudo foi identificar qual a freqüência de aspiração de tecido cerebral e a existência de heterotopia nos pulmões de casos humanos de defeito de fechamento do tubo neural através da reação imuno-histoquímica para proteína fibrilar glial ácida (GFAP em cortes histológicos de todos os lobos de ambos os pulmões de 22 casos de fetos e neonatos com defeito de fechamento do tubo neural. Havia 15 casos femininos (68,2% e 7 masculinos (31,8%, com idade gestacional variando de 18 a 40 semanas (média= 31,8, sendo natimortos e neomortos 10 (45,5% cada e 2 (9,1% abortos. Os diagnósticos foram: Craniorraquisquise (9 casos, 40,9%, anencefalia (8 casos, 36,4%, encefalocele occipital rota e raquisquise (2 casos, 9,1% e 1 (4,5%caso de seqüência de disruptura amniótica precoce. Somente 1 caso (4,5% apresentou células positivas dentro de bronquíolos e alvéolos em meio a células epiteliais

Microscopic alterations in silicone tubes surface after application of ophthalmological lubricants

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Jacqueline Sousa

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Objective: To identify microscopic morphological alterations in the surface of silicone tubes used for intubation of the lachrymal system after exposure to ophthalmological lubricants. Methods: Experimental, descriptive and longitudinal study consisted of the application of ophthalmological lubricants in silicone tubes. The tubes were divided in: Group 1 (Cylocort®, 2 (Epitezan®, 3 (Labcaína®, 4 (Liposic®, 5 (Maxinom® and 6 (Vista Gel®. One tube was not exposed to any lubricant, used as control. The tubes were observed and photographed after 2 hours, 30 days, 45 days before and after cleaning the surface and lumen. The following aspects were observed: surface (regularity, transparency, quantity, size and shape of the substances and lumen (obstruction. Results: Control: irregular surface with pores after 2 hours: Group 1 – irregular surface with presence of film; Groups 2, 3 and 5 – abundant and irregular quantity of ointment at the surface; Group 4 – discrete modification at the surface; Group 6 – growth of pigmented (brownish structures with filaments in the lumen, with discrete film in the surface. 30 Days: Groups 1, 4 and 5 – increase of the irregular superficial film; Group 2 – crust with notorious horizontal lines; Group 3 – diminution of the superficial film; Group 4 – crust less evident. Group 6 – increase of the structure seen with 2 hours of exposition, arboriform aspect. Forty-five days pre cleaning: Group 4 – diminution of the surface crust; Group 6 – expansion of the arboriform structure; unaltered findings in other groups. 45 days after cleaning: Groups 1 and 5 – light diminution of the surface crust; Groups 2, 3 and 4 – kept the modifications; Group 6 – the structure inside the lumen was not identified, clear surface, without evidence of film. Conclusions: Microscopic morphological alterations in the surface and lumen of silicone tubes can occur when those remain in contact with determined

Inspection of surface defects for cladding tube with laser

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senoo, Shigeo; Igarashi, Miyuki; Satoh, Masakazu; Miura, Makoto

1978-01-01

This paper presents the results of experiment on mechanizing the visual inspection of surface defects of cladding tubes and improving the reliability of surface defect inspection. Laser spot inspection method was adopted for this purpose. Since laser speckle pattern includes many informations about surface aspects, the method can be utilized as an effective means for detection or classification of the surface defects. Laser beam is focussed on cladding tube surfaces, and the reflected laser beam forms typical stellar speckle patterns on a screen. Sample cladding tubes are driven in longitudinal direction, and a photo-detector is placed at a position where secondary reflection will fall on the detector. Reflected laser beam from defect-free surfaces shows uniform distribution on the detector. When the incident focussed laser beam is directed to defects, the intensity of the reflected light is reduced. In the second method, laser beam is scanned by a rotating cube mirror. As the results of experiment, the typical patterns caused by defects were observed. It is clear that reflection patterns change with the kinds of defects. The sensitivity of defect detection decreases with the increase in laser beam diameter. Surface defect detection by intensity change was also tested. (Kato, T.)

Folic Acid for the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects : US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Calonge, Ned; Petitti, Diana B.; DeWitt, Thomas G.; Dietrich, Allen J.; Gregory, Kimberly D.; Grossman, David; Isham, George; LeFevre, Michael L.; Leipzig, Rosanne M.; Marion, Lucy N.; Melnyk, Bernadette; Moyer, Virginia A.; Ockene, Judith K.; Sawaya, George F.; Schwartz, J. Sanford; Wilt, Timothy

2009-01-01

Description: In 1996, the U. S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that all women planning or capable of pregnancy take a multivitamin supplement containing folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects. This recommendation is an update of the 1996 USPSTF recommendation.

Influence of the neural tube/notochord complex on MyoD expression and cellular proliferation in chicken embryos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

H.J. Alves

2003-02-01

Full Text Available Important advances have been made in understanding the genetic processes that control skeletal muscle formation. Studies conducted on quails detected a delay in the myogenic program of animals selected for high growth rates. These studies have led to the hypothesis that a delay in myogenesis would allow somitic cells to proliferate longer and consequently increase the number of embryonic myoblasts. To test this hypothesis, recently segmented somites and part of the unsegmented paraxial mesoderm were separated from the neural tube/notochord complex in HH12 chicken embryos. In situ hybridization and competitive RT-PCR revealed that MyoD transcripts, which are responsible for myoblast determination, were absent in somites separated from neural tube/notochord (1.06 and 0.06 10-3 attomol MyoD/1 attomol ß-actin for control and separated somites, respectively; P<0.01. However, reapproximation of these structures allowed MyoD to be expressed in somites. Cellular proliferation was analyzed by immunohistochemical detection of incorporated BrdU, a thymidine analogue. A smaller but not significant (P = 0.27 number of proliferating cells was observed in somites that had been separated from neural tube/notochord (27 and 18 for control and separated somites, respectively. These results confirm the influence of the axial structures on MyoD activation but do not support the hypothesis that in the absence of MyoD transcripts the cellular proliferation would be maintained for a longer period of time.

Access to health care for children with neural tube defects: Experiences of mothers in Zambia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Micah M. Simpamba

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction: In Zambia, all children born with neural tube defects requiring surgery need to be referred to a tertiary level hospital in Lusaka, the capital city, where the specialists are based. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of mothers accessing health care who had recently given birth to a child with a neural tube defect. Methods and analysis: In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposively selected sample of 20 mothers at the tertiary level hospital. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and translated. Content analysis was used to identify codes, which were later collapsed into categories and themes. Findings: Five themes emerged: access to health care, access to transport, access to information, concerns about family and support needs. Discussion: Barriers to access to health care included geographical barriers and barriers linked to availability. Geographical barriers were related to distance between home and the health centre, and referral between health facilities. Barriers to availability included the lack of specialist health workers at various levels, and insufficient hospital vehicles to transport mothers and children to the tertiary level hospital. The main barrier to affordability was the cost of transport, which was alleviated by either family or government support. Acceptability of the health services was affected by a lack of information, incorrect advice, the attitude of health workers and the beliefs of the family. Conclusion: Access to health care by mothers of children with neural tube defects in Zambia is affected by geographical accessibility, availability, affordability and acceptability. The supply-side barriers and demand-side barriers require different interventions to address them. This suggests that health policy is needed which ensures access to surgery and follow-up care.

Novel Mutation of LRP6 Identified in Chinese Han Population Links Canonical WNT Signaling to Neural Tube Defects.

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Shi, Zhiwen; Yang, Xueyan; Li, Bin-Bin; Chen, Shuxia; Yang, Luming; Cheng, Liangping; Zhang, Ting; Wang, Hongyan; Zheng, Yufang

2018-01-15

Neural tube defects (NTDs), the second most frequent cause of human congenital abnormalities, are debilitating birth defects due to failure of neural tube closure. It has been shown that noncanonical WNT/planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling is required for convergent extension (CE), the initiation step of neural tube closure (NTC). But the effect of canonical WNT//β-catenin signaling during NTC is still elusive. LRP6 (low density lipoprotein receptor related proteins 6) was identified as a co-receptor for WNT/β-catenin signaling, but recent studies showed that it also can mediate WNT/PCP signaling. In this study, we screened mutations in the LRP6 gene in 343 NTDs and 215 ethnically matched normal controls of Chinese Han population. Three rare missense mutations (c.1514A>G, p.Y505C); c.2984A>G, p.D995G; and c.4280C>A, p.P1427Q) of the LRP6 gene were identified in Chinese NTD patients. The Y505C mutation is a loss-of-function mutation on both WNT/β-catenin and PCP signaling. The D995G mutation only partially lost inhibition on PCP signaling without affecting WNT/β-catenin signaling. The P1427Q mutation dramatically increased WNT/β-catenin signaling but only mildly loss of inhibition on PCP signaling. All three mutations failed to rescue CE defects caused by lrp6 morpholino oligos knockdown in zebrafish. Of interest, when overexpressed, D995G did not induce any defects, but Y505C and P1427Q caused more severe CE defects in zebrafish. Our results suggested that over-active canonical WNT signaling induced by gain-of-function mutation in LRP6 could also contribute to human NTDs, and a balanced WNT/β-catenin and PCP signaling is probably required for proper neural tube development. Birth Defects Research 110:63-71, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Study on tube critical heat flux data treatment with artificial neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Han Lang; Shan Jianqiang

2005-01-01

Prediction of the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) are analyzed by Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to a CHF database for upward flow of water in uniformly heated vertical round tubes. The analysis is performed with three viewpoints hypothesis, i.e. for fixed inlet condition, fixed exit condition and local condition. Half of 6941 from CHF database data is trained through ANN, the trained ANN predicts the total CHF data better than any other conventional correlations, showing RMS error of 6.6%, 10.39% and 21.39%, respectively. (author)

Management of Labor and Delivery After Fetoscopic Repair of an Open Neural Tube Defect.

Science.gov (United States)

Kohn, Jaden R; Rao, Vibha; Sellner, Allison A; Sharhan, Dina; Espinoza, Jimmy; Shamshirsaz, Alireza A; Whitehead, William E; Belfort, Michael A; Sanz Cortes, Magdalena

2018-06-01

To report labor, delivery, and neonatal outcomes in a cohort of women delivering neonates who had undergone fetoscopic neural tube defect repair. We conducted a retrospective cohort study from April 2014 to January 2018. All patients met Management of Myelomeningocele Study eligibility criteria. We included patients with completed second-trimester fetoscopic neural tube defect repair (laparotomy, uterine exteriorization, and minimally invasive access through two or three uterine ports) followed by standardized management of labor and delivery at our institution. Outcomes included rates of vaginal delivery, term delivery, and intrapartum cesarean delivery as well as obstetric and neonatal outcomes after oxytocin. Complications of interest included preterm prelabor rupture of membranes, chorioamnionitis, uterine dehiscence or rupture, 5-minute Apgar score less than 7, and neonatal acidosis (umbilical artery pH less than 7.15). Thirty-four patients had fetoscopic repair, followed by 17 vaginal deliveries (50%, 95% CI 32-68%). Median gestational age was 38 1/7 weeks at vaginal delivery (range 26 0/7-40 2/7 weeks of gestation) and 37 1/7 weeks of gestation at cesarean delivery (range 25 5/7-40 5/7 weeks of gestation); 62% of deliveries occurred at term. Eight patients had prelabor cesarean delivery: three nonurgent and five urgent (for nonreassuring fetal heart tracings). Twenty-six patients labored; six were induced and 20 labored spontaneously. Of the latter, five were augmented. Of 26 laboring patients, 17 delivered vaginally and nine underwent urgent cesarean delivery (35%, 95% CI 17-56%; seven nonreassuring fetal heart tracings and two breech). There were no cases of uterine rupture or dehiscence. Most (94%, 95% CI 80-99%) had normal 5-minute Apgar scores; one neonate (3%, 95% CI 0-15%) had acidosis but normal Apgar scores. Our data regarding trial of labor, use of low-dose oxytocin, and vaginal delivery after prenatal fetoscopic neural tube defect repair are

Systems biological approach to investigate the lack of familial link between Down's Syndrome & Neural Tube Disorders.

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Ragunath, Pk; Abhinand, Pa

2013-01-01

Systems Biology involves the study of the interactions of biological systems and ultimately their functions. Down's syndrome (DS) is one of the most common genetic disorders which are caused by complete, or occasionally partial, triplication of chromosome 21, characterized by cognitive and language dysfunction coupled with sensory and neuromotor deficits. Neural Tube Disorders (NTDs) are a group of congenital malformations of the central nervous system and neighboring structures related to defective neural tube closure during the first trimester of pregnancy usually occurring between days 18-29 of gestation. Several studies in the past have provided considerable evidence that abnormal folate and methyl metabolism are associated with onset of DS & NTDs. There is a possible common etiological pathway for both NTDs and Down's syndrome. But, various research studies over the years have indicated very little evidence for familial link between the two disorders. Our research aimed at the gene expression profiling of microarray datasets pertaining to the two disorders to identify genes whose expression levels are significantly altered in these conditions. The genes which were 1.5 fold unregulated and having a p-value disorders were recognized and over representation analysis was carried out for each of the constituent genes. The comprehensive manual analysis of these genes yields a hypothetical understanding of the lack of familial link between DS and NTDs. There were no genes involved with folic acid present in the dense cliques. Only - CBL, EGFR genes were commonly present, which makes the allelic variants of these genes - good candidates for future studies regarding the familial link between DS and NTDs. NTD - Neural Tube Disorders, DS - Down's Syndrome, MTHFR - Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase, MTRR- 5 - methyltetrahydrofolate-homocysteine methyltransferase reductase.

Analytical study of condensation heat transfer on titanium tube with super-hydrophobic surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ji, Dae Yun; Park, Hyun Gyu; Lee, Kwon Yeong [Handong Global University, Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

There are many nuclear or fossil power plants which occupy more than 85% among entire power plants in the world. These plants release heat through condenser into nature. The condenser is an important component for cooling the working fluid after the turbine. Its performance is related with material and size of its tubes. To have good performance or to reduce condenser size, it is important to increase condensation heat transfer coefficient on condenser tubes. Ma et al. executed heat transfer experiment in dropwise condensation with non-condensable gas, and studied how the amount of air and pressure difference affect condensation heat transfer coefficient. The more non-condensable gas existed, the condensation heat transfer coefficient was decreased. Shen et al. studied condensation heat transfer at horizontal bundle tubes. Several variables such as coolant velocity, saturated pressure, and surface conditions were studied. As a result, surface modified brass tube and stainless tube showed higher condensation heat transfer coefficient as much as 1.3 and 1.4 times comparing with their bare tubes, in 70 kPa vacuum condition respectively. Rausch et al. studied dropwise condensation on ion-implanted titanium surface. Experimental study is performed to evaluate the performance of surface modified titanium tube in vacuum state. SAM coating is used to make super-hydrophobic surface of titanium tube. Preliminary analysis were performed considering filmwise and dropwise condensations, respectively. Experiment facility is almost prepared and the test result will be shown soon.

Assessing the prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele in a Kenyan hospital from 2005-2010: implications for a neural tube defects surveillance system.

Science.gov (United States)

Githuku, Jane N; Azofeifa, Alejandro; Valencia, Diana; Ao, Trong; Hamner, Heather; Amwayi, Samuel; Gura, Zeinab; Omolo, Jared; Albright, Leland; Guo, Jing; Arvelo, Wences

2014-01-01

Neural tube defects such as anencephaly, spina bifida, and encephalocele are congenital anomalies of the central nervous system. Data on the prevalence of neural tube defects in Kenya are limited. This study characterizes and estimates the prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele reported in a referral hospital in Kenya from 2005-2010. Cases were defined as a diagnosis of spina bifida or encephalocele. Prevalence was calculated as the number of cases by year and province of residence divided by the total number of live-births per province. From a total of 6,041 surgical records; 1,184 (93%) had reported diagnosis of spina bifida and 88 (7%) of encephalocele. Estimated prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele from 2005-2010 was 3.3 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.1-3.5] cases per 10,000 live-births. The highest prevalence of cases were reported in 2007 with 4.4 (95% CI: 3.9-5.0) cases per 10,000 live-births. Rift Valley province had the highest prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele at 6.9 (95% CI: 6.3-7.5) cases per 10,000 live-births from 2005-2010. Prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele is likely underestimated, as only patients seeking care at the hospital were included. Variations in regional prevalence could be due to referral patterns and healthcare access. Implementation of a neural tube defects surveillance system would provide a more thorough assessment of the burden of neural tube defects in Kenya.

Prenatal screening, diagnosis, and pregnancy management of fetal neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilson, R Douglas

2014-10-01

To provide obstetrical and genetic health care practitioners with guidelines and recommendations for prenatal screening, diagnosis, and obstetrical management of fetal open and closed neural tube defects (OCNTD). This review includes prenatal screening and diagnostic techniques currently being used for the detection of OCNTD including maternal serum alpha fetoprotein screening, ultrasound, fetal magnetic resonance imaging, and amniocentesis. To improve prenatal screening, diagnosis, and obstetrical management of OCNTD while taking into consideration patient care, efficacy, cost, and care procedures. Published literature was retrieved through searches of PubMed or MEDLINE, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library in November, 2013, using appropriate controlled vocabulary and key words (e.g., prenatal screening, congenital anomalies, neural tube defects, alpha fetoprotein, ultrasound scan, magnetic resonance imaging). Results were restricted to systematic reviews, randomized control trials/controlled clinical trials, and observational studies published in English from 1977 to 2012. Searches were updated on a regular basis and incorporated in the guideline to November 30, 2013. Grey (unpublished) literature was identified through searching the websites of health technology assessment and health technology-related agencies, clinical practice guideline collections, clinical trial registries, and national and international medical specialty societies. An online survey of health care practitioners was also reviewed. The quality of evidence in this document was rated using the criteria described in the Report of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care (Table). This review will provide health care practitioners with a better understanding of the available prenatal screening methods for OCNTD and the benefits and risks associated with each technique to allow evidenced-based decisions on OCNTD screening, diagnosis, and obstetrical management.

Spontaneous neural tube defects in splotch mice supplemented with selected micronutrients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wlodarczyk, Bogdan J.; Tang, Louisa S.; Triplett, Aleata; Aleman, Frank; Finnell, Richard H.

2006-01-01

Splotch (Sp/Sp) mice homozygous for a mutation in the Pax3 gene inevitably present with neural tube defects (NTDs), along with other associated congenital anomalies. The affected mutant embryos usually die by gestation days (E) 12-13. In the present study, the effect of modifier genes from a new genetic background (CXL-Sp) and periconceptional supplementation with selected micronutrients (folic acid, 5-formyltetrahydrofolate, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate, methionine, myoinositol, thiamine, thymidine, and α-tocopherol) was determined with respect to the incidence of NTDs. In order to explore how different exposure parameters (time, dose, and route of compound administration) modulate the beneficial effects of micronutrient supplementation, female mice received either short- or long-term nutrient supplements via enteral or parenteral routes. Embryos were collected on E12.5 and examined for the presence of anterior or posterior NTDs. Additionally, whole mount in situ hybridization studies were conducted in order to reveal/confirm normal expression patterns of the Pax3 gene during neurulation in the wild-type and Sp/Sp homozygous mutant mouse embryos utilized in this study. A strong Pax3 signal was demonstrated in CXL-Sp embryos during neural tube closure (E9.5 to E10.5). The intensity and spatial pattern of expression were similar to other Splotch mutant mice. Of all the micronutrients tested, only supplementation with folic acid or 5-methyltetrahydrofolate rescued the normal phenotype in Sp/Sp embryos. When the folate supplementation dose was increased to 200 mg/kg in the diet, the incidence of rescued splotch homozygotes reached 30%; however, this was accompanied by six-fold increased resorption rate

Inner surface modification of a tube by magnetic glow-arc plasma source ion implantation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Guling; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing; Wang Jiuli; Feng Wenran; Chen Guangliang; Gu Weichao; Niu Erwu; Fan Songhua; Liu Chizi; Yang Size; Wu Xingfang

2006-01-01

A new method named the magnetic glow-arc plasma source ion implantation (MGA-PSII) is proposed for inner surface modification of tubes. In MGA-PSII, under the control of an axial magnetic field, which is generated by an electric coil around the tube sample, glow arc plasma moves spirally into the tube from its two ends. A negative voltage applied on the tube realized its inner surface implantation. Titanium nitride (TiN) films are prepared on the inner surface of a stainless steel tube in diameter 90 mm and length 600 mm. Hardness tests show that the hardness at the tube centre is up to 20 GPa. XRD, XPS and AES analyses demonstrate that good quality of TiN films can be achieved. (authors)

Inner Surface Modification of a Tube by Magnetic Glow-Arc Plasma Source Ion Implantation

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Gu-Ling; Wang, Jiu-Li; Wu, Xing-Fang; Feng, Wen-Ran; Chen, Guang-Liang; Gu, Wei-Chao; Niu, Er-Wu; Fan, Song-Hua; Liu, Chi-Zi; Yang, Si-Ze

2006-05-01

A new method named the magnetic glow-arc plasma source ion implantation (MGA-PSII) is proposed for inner surface modification of tubes. In MGA-PSII, under the control of an axial magnetic field, which is generated by an electric coil around the tube sample, glow arc plasma moves spirally into the tube from its two ends. A negative voltage applied on the tube realized its inner surface implantation. Titanium nitride (TiN) films are prepared on the inner surface of a stainless steel tube in diameter 90 mm and length 600 mm. Hardness tests show that the hardness at the tube centre is up to 20 GPa. XRD, XPS and AES analyses demonstrate that good quality of TiN films can be achieved.

Correlation between the critical heat flux and the fractal surface roughness of zirconium alloy tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fong, R.W.L.; McRae, G.A.; Coleman, C.E.; Nitheanandan, T.; Sanderson, D.B.

1999-10-01

In CANDU fuel channels, Zircaloy calandria tubes isolate the hot pressure tubes from the cool heavy water moderator. The heavy-water moderator provides a backup heat sink during some postulated loss-of-coolant accidents. The decay heat from the fuel is transferred to the moderator to ensure fuel channel integrity during emergencies. Moderator temperature requirements are specified to ensure that the transfer of decay heat does not exceed the critical heat flux (CHF) on the outside surface of the calandria tube. An enhanced CHF provides increases in safety margin. Pool boiling experiments indicate the CHF is enhanced with glass-peening of the outside surface of the calandria tubes. The objective of this study was to evaluate the surface characteristics of glass-peened tubes and relate these characteristics to CHF. The micro-topologies of the tube surfaces were analysed using stereo-pair micrographs obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photogrammetry techniques. A linear relationship correlated the CHF as a function of the 'fractal' surface roughness of the tubes. (author)

Drinking water treatment is not associated with an observed increase in neural tube defects in mice

Science.gov (United States)

Melin, Vanessa E.; Johnstone, David W.; Etzkorn, Felicia A.

2018-01-01

Disinfection by-products (DBPs) arise when natural organic matter in source water reacts with disinfectants used in the water treatment process. Studies have suggested an association between DBPs and birth defects. Neural tube defects (NTDs) in embryos of untreated control mice were first observed in-house in May 2006 and have continued to date. The source of the NTD-inducing agent was previously determined to be a component of drinking water. Tap water samples from a variety of sources were analyzed for trihalomethanes (THMs) to determine if they were causing the malformations. NTDs were observed in CD-1 mice provided with treated and untreated surface water. Occurrence of NTDs varied by water source and treatment regimens. THMs were detected in tap water derived from surface water but not detected in tap water derived from a groundwater source. THMs were absent in untreated river water and laboratory purified waters, yet the percentage of NTDs in untreated river water were similar to the treated water counterpart. These findings indicate that THMs were not the primary cause of NTDs in the mice since the occurrence of NTDs was unrelated to drinking water disinfection. PMID:24497082

Modification of surface/neuron interfaces for neural cell-type specific responses: a review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Cen; Kong, Xiangdong; Lee, In-Seop

2016-01-01

Surface/neuron interfaces have played an important role in neural repair including neural prostheses and tissue engineered scaffolds. This comprehensive literature review covers recent studies on the modification of surface/neuron interfaces. These interfaces are identified in cases both where the surfaces of substrates or scaffolds were in direct contact with cells and where the surfaces were modified to facilitate cell adhesion and controlling cell-type specific responses. Different sources of cells for neural repair are described, such as pheochromocytoma neuronal-like cell, neural stem cell (NSC), embryonic stem cell (ESC), mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPS). Commonly modified methods are discussed including patterned surfaces at micro- or nano-scale, surface modification with conducting coatings, and functionalized surfaces with immobilized bioactive molecules. These approaches to control cell-type specific responses have enormous potential implications in neural repair. (paper)

Molecular regionalization of the developing amphioxus neural tube challenges major partitions of the vertebrate brain.

Science.gov (United States)

Albuixech-Crespo, Beatriz; López-Blanch, Laura; Burguera, Demian; Maeso, Ignacio; Sánchez-Arrones, Luisa; Moreno-Bravo, Juan Antonio; Somorjai, Ildiko; Pascual-Anaya, Juan; Puelles, Eduardo; Bovolenta, Paola; Garcia-Fernàndez, Jordi; Puelles, Luis; Irimia, Manuel; Ferran, José Luis

2017-04-01

All vertebrate brains develop following a common Bauplan defined by anteroposterior (AP) and dorsoventral (DV) subdivisions, characterized by largely conserved differential expression of gene markers. However, it is still unclear how this Bauplan originated during evolution. We studied the relative expression of 48 genes with key roles in vertebrate neural patterning in a representative amphioxus embryonic stage. Unlike nonchordates, amphioxus develops its central nervous system (CNS) from a neural plate that is homologous to that of vertebrates, allowing direct topological comparisons. The resulting genoarchitectonic model revealed that the amphioxus incipient neural tube is unexpectedly complex, consisting of several AP and DV molecular partitions. Strikingly, comparison with vertebrates indicates that the vertebrate thalamus, pretectum, and midbrain domains jointly correspond to a single amphioxus region, which we termed Di-Mesencephalic primordium (DiMes). This suggests that these domains have a common developmental and evolutionary origin, as supported by functional experiments manipulating secondary organizers in zebrafish and mice.

The small surface oscillations of the gluon tube: The elongated bag

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laperashvili, L.V.

1986-01-01

We investigate surface oscillations on a bag tube, inside of which is spanned a longitudinal color electric field, and calculate the masses for such vibrations conceived of as quasi-particles on the string. This represents the bag tube for several suggestive values of the parameters in the bag model. Contrary to similar calculations by Vladimirsky, we consider the case where there is a surface tension and we consider higher than zero angular momentum modes. The nonzero angular momentum modes have zero mass in the case of zero surface tension (when higher quantum corrections are ignored). Our considerations point towards the surface tension not being zero. (orig.)

A regulating element essential for PDGFRA transcription is recognized by neural tube defect-associated PRX homeobox transcription factors

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Joosten, Paul H. L. J.; Toepoel, Mascha; van Oosterhout, Dirk; Afink, Gijs B.; van Zoelen, Everardus J. J.

2002-01-01

We have previously shown that deregulated expression of the platelet-derived growth factor alpha-receptor (PDGFRA) can be associated with neural tube defects (NTDs) in both men and mice. In the present study, we have investigated the transcription factors that control the up-regulation of PDGFRA

Chromosomal Abnormalities Associated with Neural Tube Defects (I: Full Aneuploidy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Ping Chen

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs carry a risk of chromosomal abnormalities. The risk varies with maternal age, gestational age at diagnosis, association with other structural abnormalities, and family history of chromosome aberrations. This article provides an overview of chromosomal abnormalities associated with NTDs in embryos, fetuses, and newborn patients, and a comprehensive review of numerical chromosomal abnormalities associated with NTDs, such as trisomy 18, trisomy 13, triploidy, trisomy 9, trisomy 2, trisomy 21, trisomy 7, trisomy 8, trisomy 14, trisomy 15, trisomy 16, trisomy 5 mosaicism, trisomy 11 mosaicism, trisomy 20 mosaicism, monosomy X, and tetraploidy. NTDs may be associated with aneuploidy. Perinatal identification of NTDs should alert one to the possibility of chromosomal abnormalities and prompt a thorough cytogenetic investigation and genetic counseling.

Assessing the prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele in a Kenyan hospital from 2005–2010: implications for a neural tube defects surveillance system

Science.gov (United States)

Githuku, Jane N; Azofeifa, Alejandro; Valencia, Diana; Ao, Trong; Hamner, Heather; Amwayi, Samuel; Gura, Zeinab; Omolo, Jared; Albright, Leland; Guo, Jing; Arvelo, Wences

2014-01-01

Introduction Neural tube defects such as anencephaly, spina bifida, and encephalocele are congenital anomalies of the central nervous system. Data on the prevalence of neural tube defects in Kenya are limited. This study characterizes and estimates the prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele reported in a referral hospital in Kenya from 2005-2010. Methods Cases were defined as a diagnosis of spina bifida or encephalocele. Prevalence was calculated as the number of cases by year and province of residence divided by the total number of live-births per province. Results From a total of 6,041 surgical records; 1,184 (93%) had reported diagnosis of spina bifida and 88 (7%) of encephalocele. Estimated prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele from 2005-2010 was 3.3 [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 3.1-3.5] cases per 10,000 live-births. The highest prevalence of cases were reported in 2007 with 4.4 (95% CI: 3.9-5.0) cases per 10,000 live-births. Rift Valley province had the highest prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele at 6.9 (95% CI: 6.3-7.5) cases per 10,000 live-births from 2005-2010. Conclusion Prevalence of spina bifida and encephalocele is likely underestimated, as only patients seeking care at the hospital were included. Variations in regional prevalence could be due to referral patterns and healthcare access. Implementation of a neural tube defects surveillance system would provide a more thorough assessment of the burden of neural tube defects in Kenya. PMID:26113894

Syndromes and Disorders Associated with Omphalocele (III: Single Gene Disorders, Neural Tube Defects, Diaphragmatic Defects and Others

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Ping Chen

2007-06-01

Full Text Available Omphalocele can be associated with single gene disorders, neural tube defects, diaphragmatic defects, fetal valproate syndrome, and syndromes of unknown etiology. This article provides a comprehensive review of omphalocele-related disorders: otopalatodigital syndrome type II; Melnick–Needles syndrome; Rieger syndrome; neural tube defects; Meckel syndrome; Shprintzen–Goldberg omphalocele syndrome; lethal omphalocele-cleft palate syndrome; cerebro-costo-mandibular syndrome; fetal valproate syndrome; Marshall–Smith syndrome; fibrochondrogenesis; hydrolethalus syndrome; Fryns syndrome; omphalocele, diaphragmatic defects, radial anomalies and various internal malformations; diaphragmatic defects, limb deficiencies and ossification defects of skull; Donnai–Barrow syndrome; CHARGE syndrome; Goltz syndrome; Carpenter syndrome; Toriello–Carey syndrome; familial omphalocele; Cornelia de Lange syndrome; C syndrome; Elejalde syndrome; Malpuech syndrome; cervical ribs, Sprengel anomaly, anal atresia and urethral obstruction; hydrocephalus with associated malformations; Kennerknecht syndrome; lymphedema, atrial septal defect and facial changes; and craniosynostosis- mental retardation syndrome of Lin and Gettig. Perinatal identification of omphalocele should alert one to the possibility of omphalocele-related disorders and familial inheritance and prompt a thorough genetic counseling for these disorders.

Decoding small surface codes with feedforward neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Varsamopoulos, Savvas; Criger, Ben; Bertels, Koen

2018-01-01

Surface codes reach high error thresholds when decoded with known algorithms, but the decoding time will likely exceed the available time budget, especially for near-term implementations. To decrease the decoding time, we reduce the decoding problem to a classification problem that a feedforward neural network can solve. We investigate quantum error correction and fault tolerance at small code distances using neural network-based decoders, demonstrating that the neural network can generalize to inputs that were not provided during training and that they can reach similar or better decoding performance compared to previous algorithms. We conclude by discussing the time required by a feedforward neural network decoder in hardware.

Dishevelled 2 is essential for cardiac outflow tract development, somite segmentation and neural tube closure.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamblet, Natasha S; Lijam, Nardos; Ruiz-Lozano, Pilar; Wang, Jianbo; Yang, Yasheng; Luo, Zhenge; Mei, Lin; Chien, Kenneth R; Sussman, Daniel J; Wynshaw-Boris, Anthony

2002-12-01

The murine dishevelled 2 (Dvl2) gene is an ortholog of the Drosophila segment polarity gene Dishevelled, a member of the highly conserved Wingless/Wnt developmental pathway. Dvl2-deficient mice were produced to determine the role of Dvl2 in mammalian development. Mice containing null mutations in Dvl2 present with 50% lethality in both inbred 129S6 and in a hybrid 129S6-NIH Black Swiss background because of severe cardiovascular outflow tract defects, including double outlet right ventricle, transposition of the great arteries and persistent truncus arteriosis. The majority of the surviving Dvl2(-/-) mice were female, suggesting that penetrance was influenced by sex. Expression of Pitx2 and plexin A2 was attenuated in Dvl2 null mutants, suggesting a defect in cardiac neural crest development during outflow tract formation. In addition, approximately 90% of Dvl2(-/-) mice have vertebral and rib malformations that affect the proximal as well as the distal parts of the ribs. These skeletal abnormalities were more pronounced in mice deficient for both Dvl1 and Dvl2. Somite differentiation markers used to analyze Dvl2(-/-) and Dvl1(-/-);Dvl2(-/-) mutant embryos revealed mildly aberrant expression of Uncx4.1, delta 1 and myogenin, suggesting defects in somite segmentation. Finally, 2-3% of Dvl2(-/-) embryos displayed thoracic spina bifida, while virtually all Dvl1/2 double mutant embryos displayed craniorachishisis, a completely open neural tube from the midbrain to the tail. Thus, Dvl2 is essential for normal cardiac morphogenesis, somite segmentation and neural tube closure, and there is functional redundancy between Dvl1 and Dvl2 in some phenotypes.

Eddy Current Signature Classification of Steam Generator Tube Defects Using A Learning Vector Quantization Neural Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, Gabe V.

2005-01-01

A major cause of failure in nuclear steam generators is degradation of their tubes. Although seven primary defect categories exist, one of the principal causes of tube failure is intergranular attack/stress corrosion cracking (IGA/SCC). This type of defect usually begins on the secondary side surface of the tubes and propagates both inwards and laterally. In many cases this defect is found at or near the tube support plates

Optimal serum and red blood cell folate concentrations in women of reproductive age for prevention of neural tube defects: World Health Organization guidelines.

Science.gov (United States)

Cordero, Amy M; Crider, Krista S; Rogers, Lisa M; Cannon, Michael J; Berry, R J

2015-04-24

Neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida, anencephaly, and encephalocele are serious birth defects of the brain and spine that occur during the first month of pregnancy when the neural tube fails to close completely. Randomized controlled trials and observational studies have shown that adequate daily consumption of folic acid before and during early pregnancy considerably reduces the risk for NTDs. The U.S. Public Health Service recommends that women capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 µg of folic acid daily for NTD prevention. Furthermore, fortification of staple foods (e.g., wheat flour) with folic acid has decreased folate-sensitive NTD prevalence in multiple settings and is a highly cost-effective intervention.

Prevalentie, klinisch beeld en prognose van neuralebuisdefecten in Nederland [Prevalence, presentation and prognosis of neural tube defects in the Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ouden, A.L. den; Hirasing, R.A.; Buitendijk, S.E.; Jong-van de Berg, L.T.W. de; Walle, H.E.K. de; Cornel, M.C.

1996-01-01

Objective. To determine the live birth prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) in the Netherlands and describe the clinical picture. Design. Descriptive. Setting. TNO Prevention and Health, Leiden, the Netherlands. Method. Data collected through active surveillance of NTD on a monthly basis by

Evidence for increased SOX3 dosage as a risk factor for X-linked hypopituitarism and neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Bauters, Marijke; Frints, Suzanna G; Van Esch, Hilde; Spruijt, Liesbeth; Baldewijns, Marcella M; de Die-Smulders, Christine E M; Fryns, Jean-Pierre; Marynen, Peter; Froyen, Guy

2014-08-01

Genomic duplications of varying lengths at Xq26-q27 involving SOX3 have been described in families with X-linked hypopituitarism. Using array-CGH we detected a 1.1 Mb microduplication at Xq27 in a large family with three males suffering from X-linked hypopituitarism. The duplication was mapped from 138.7 to 139.8 Mb, harboring only two annotated genes, SOX3 and ATP11C, and was shown to be a direct tandem copy number gain. Unexpectedly, the microduplication did not fully segregate with the disease in this family suggesting that SOX3 duplications have variable penetrance for X-linked hypopituitarism. In the same family, a female fetus presenting with a neural tube defect was also shown to carry the SOX3 copy number gain. Since we also demonstrated increased SOX3 mRNA levels in amnion cells derived from an unrelated t(X;22)(q27;q11) female fetus with spina bifida, we propose that increased levels of SOX3 could be a risk factor for neural tube defects. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Frecuencia y algunos factores de riesgo de mortalidad en el estado de Hidalgo, México, por defectos de cierre del tubo neural Mortality due to neural tube defects and risk factors in Hidalgo, Mexico

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sergio Muñoz-Juárez

2002-09-01

Full Text Available Objetivo. Calcular el riesgo de muerte fetal secundaria a defectos del cierre del tubo neural y estimar factores asociados con este tipo de muertes en el estado de Hidalgo. Material y métodos. La información analizada en el año 2000 fue obtenida de los certificados de muerte fetal del periodo 1990-1995 en el estado de Hidalgo. Se utilizó un diseño de mortalidad proporcional, considerado como una variante del diseño de casos y controles. Los casos fueron aquellas muertes fetales secundarias a defectos del tubo neural y los controles las muertes fetales por otros motivos. Se utilizó ji cuadrada de Pearson para estimar las diferencias entre los casos y controles. Para el riesgo crudo de morir por defectos de cierre del tubo neural se empleó la razón de momios, y para el riesgo ajustado se usó la regresión logística no condicional. Resultados. Se analizaron 3 673 certificados de muerte fetal, identificándose 8.06% de muertes por defectos del tubo neural; el resto lo constituyeron muertes por otras causas. Se encontró como variables asociadas con la muerte fetal por defectos del tubo neural a los fetos que pesaron menos de 2 500 gramos (RM 5.0, IC 95% 3.6, 6.7, a los productos del sexo femenino (RM 1.7, IC 95% 1.3, 2.3 y a las muertes ocurridas en el periodo fetal tardío (RM 5.5 IC 95% 3.8, 8.1. Conclusiones. Los resultados indican que el riesgo de muerte fetal debida a defectos del tubo neural es mayor en productos de bajo peso, en los del sexo femenino y los que ocurren en el periodo fetal tardío.Objective. To calculate the risk of fetal death due to neural tube defects and estimate associated factors in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. Material and Methods. Data were abstracted from death certificates registered during 1990-1995 in the state of Hidalgo, Mexico. The design was a proportional mortality study, which is considered as a variant of the case control design. Cases were deaths with any type of neural tube defect, and controls

Simultaneous surface and depth neural activity recording with graphene transistor-based dual-modality probes.

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Mingde; Xu, Xianchen; Yang, Long; Guo, Yichuan; Guan, Shouliang; Shi, Jidong; Wang, Jinfen; Fang, Ying

2018-05-15

Subdural surface and penetrating depth probes are widely applied to record neural activities from the cortical surface and intracortical locations of the brain, respectively. Simultaneous surface and depth neural activity recording is essential to understand the linkage between the two modalities. Here, we develop flexible dual-modality neural probes based on graphene transistors. The neural probes exhibit stable electrical performance even under 90° bending because of the excellent mechanical properties of graphene, and thus allow multi-site recording from the subdural surface of rat cortex. In addition, finite element analysis was carried out to investigate the mechanical interactions between probe and cortex tissue during intracortical implantation. Based on the simulation results, a sharp tip angle of π/6 was chosen to facilitate tissue penetration of the neural probes. Accordingly, the graphene transistor-based dual-modality neural probes have been successfully applied for simultaneous surface and depth recording of epileptiform activity of rat brain in vivo. Our results show that graphene transistor-based dual-modality neural probes can serve as a facile and versatile tool to study tempo-spatial patterns of neural activities. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Epidemiology of neural tube defects in the world and Iran

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Farhud, D.; Hadavi, V.; Sadighi, H.

2000-01-01

Statistical data from 1996 till 1995, showed that Neural tube defects, in the American continent, Venezuela had the highest prevalence of 38.9 and some Latin American countries showed the low of 7.7. In Europe, Norway had the highest prevalence of 68, and Denmark the lowest, 5.8. In Asia, India had the highest of 181.8 and Japan the lowest of 10. In Africa, Nigeria had the highest of 70 and negroes of South Africa had the lowest of 9.9. In Australia the figure was 20.05. According to the statistics available of the years 1967 till 1996, anencephaly in China had the highest prevalence of 87. In the American continent, state of Michigan in the USA had the highest of 10.5 and Jamaica, in Central American, had the lowest of 2.6. In Europe, Turkey with 16.4 and Italy with 2.73; in Asia, China with 87 and Iran with 0.8 had the highest and the lowest pre valences, respectively. In Africa, Nigeria with 3.5, and in Oceania, New zealand with 7.8 in 10000, were reported. Data available on spin a bifida, from the years 1968 till 1991 showed, the highest prevalence in China with 36, and the lowest in the Alps mountains with 0.55 in 10000 individuals. In the American continent, state of Arkansas with 7.8 and California with 3.87; in Europe, England with 23.1 and Rein-Alp with 0.55 in 10000 had the highest and the lowest pre valences. Finally, in China this rate was 36, in Australia 10, in New zealand 9.4, and in Nigeria 7/10000. In a study carried out in Tehran, from 1969 till 1978 by the authors, out of 13037 birth, (17.6 in 10000) newborns had neural tube defects, with anencephaly 0.8 and spin a bifida 3.8/10000. In a new study on 8585 deliveries (1991-1997) in Hamadan (a north west Providence of Iran), Pre valences of total Nds was 50.1/10000, anencephaly 15.6 and spinabifida 6.98

Syndromes, Disorders and Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Neural Tube Defects (II

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Ping Chen

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs maybe associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, such as Currarino syndrome, sacral defect with anterior meningocele, Jarcho-Levin syndrome (spondylo-costal dysostosis, lateral meningocele syndrome, neurofibromatosis type I, Marfan syndrome, and hyperthermia. The recurrence risk and the preventive effect of maternal folic acid intake in NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors may be different from those of non-syndromic multifactorial NTDs. Perinatal identification of NTDs should alert one to the syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, and prompt a thorough etiologic investigation and genetic counseling.

Epidemiologic study of neural tube defects in Los Angeles County. I. Prevalence at birth based on multiple sources of case ascertainment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sever, L.E. (Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA); Sanders, M.; Monsen, R.

1982-01-01

Epidemiologic studies of the neural tube defects (NTDs), anencephalus and spina bifida, have for the most part been based on single sources of case ascertainment in past studies. The present investigation attempts total ascertainment of NTD cases in the newborn population of Los Angeles County residents for the period 1966 to 1972. Design of the study, sources of data, and estimates of prevalence rates based on single and multiple sources of case ascertainment are here discussed. Anencephalus cases totaled 448, spina bifida 442, and encephalocele 72, giving prevalence rates of 0.52, 0.51, and 0.08 per 1000 total births, respectively, for these neural tube defects - rates considered to be low. The Los Angeles County prevalence rates are compared with those of other recent North American studies and support is provided for earlier suggestions of low rates on the West Coast.

Axial propagation of free surface boiling into superheated liquids in vertical tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grolmes, M.A.; Fauske, H.K.

1974-01-01

A unique free surface boiling phenomenon has been observed as a result of rapid depressurization of an initially saturated or slightly subcooled stagnant liquid column in the absence of wall and bulk nucleation sites. Closeup high-speed photographs of water, refrigerant-11, and methyl alcohol in tubes from 0.2 to 15 in. dia reveal that the initiation of violent free surface flashing (vapor plus entrained liquid) follows from the development of Marangoni-type surface waves. The rate of propagation of the flashing surface shows evidence of choked flow limitations and proceeds at a rate which is several orders of magnitude greater than surface evaporation (vapor only) alone. The onset of free surface flashing was found to be dependent upon both the degree of initial liquid superheat and the tube diameter. (U.S.)

Protective coating of inner surface of steel tubes via vacuum arc deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Maile, K.; Roos, E.; Lyutovich, A.; Boese, J.; Itskov, M. [Stuttgart Univ. (DE). Materialpruefungsanstalt (MPA); Ashurov, Kh.; Mirkarimov, A.; Kazantsev, S.; Kadirov, Kh. [Uzbek Academy of Science, Tashkent (Uzbekistan). Arifov Inst. of Electronics

2010-07-01

The Vacuum Arc Deposition (VAD) technique based on sputtering a chosen electrode material and its deposition via plasma allows highly-productive technology for creating a wide class of protecting coatings on complex structures. In this work, VAD was applied as a method for the protection of the inner surface of tubes for power-plant boilers against steam oxidation. For this aim, a source cathode of an alloy with high chromium and nickel content was employed in two different VAD treatment systems: a horizontal vacuum chamber (MPA) and a vertical system where the work-piece of the tubes to be protected served as a vacuum changer (Arifov Institute of Electronics). Surface coating with variation of deposition parameters and layer thickness was performed. Characterisation of coated tubes has shown that the method realised in this work allows attainment of material transfer from the cathode to the inner surface with nearly equal chemical composition. It was demonstrated that the initial martensitic structure of the tubes was kept after the vacuum-arc treatment which can provide for both the high mechanical robustness and the corrosion-resistance of the final material. (orig.)

Inositol for the prevention of neural tube defects: a pilot randomised controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Greene, Nicholas D E; Leung, Kit-Yi; Gay, Victoria; Burren, Katie; Mills, Kevin; Chitty, Lyn S; Copp, Andrew J

2016-03-28

Although peri-conceptional folic acid (FA) supplementation can prevent a proportion of neural tube defects (NTD), there is increasing evidence that many NTD are FA non-responsive. The vitamin-like molecule inositol may offer a novel approach to preventing FA-non-responsive NTD. Inositol prevented NTD in a genetic mouse model, and was well tolerated by women in a small study of NTD recurrence. In the present study, we report the Prevention of Neural Tube Defects by Inositol (PONTI) pilot study designed to gain further experience of inositol usage in human pregnancy as a preliminary trial to a future large-scale controlled trial to evaluate efficacy of inositol in NTD prevention. Study subjects were UK women with a previous NTD pregnancy who planned to become pregnant again. Of 117 women who made contact, ninety-nine proved eligible and forty-seven agreed to be randomised (double-blind) to peri-conceptional supplementation with inositol plus FA or placebo plus FA. In total, thirty-three randomised pregnancies produced one NTD recurrence in the placebo plus FA group (n 19) and no recurrences in the inositol plus FA group (n 14). Of fifty-two women who declined randomisation, the peri-conceptional supplementation regimen and outcomes of twenty-two further pregnancies were documented. Two NTD recurred, both in women who took only FA in their next pregnancy. No adverse pregnancy events were associated with inositol supplementation. The findings of the PONTI pilot study encourage a large-scale controlled trial of inositol for NTD prevention, but indicate the need for a careful study design in view of the unwillingness of many high-risk women to be randomised.

Characterization of internal surface finishing of tubes for CAREM 25 fuel rods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Loureiro, N.V; Juarez, G; Bianchi, D; Flores, A; Vizcaino, P

2012-01-01

One of the factors that ensure the good behavior of the fuel claddings of the nuclear power reactors is the internal surface quality. In the present work has been carried out a study of the internal surface of the tube after a cold rolling process developed in the Departamento de Tecnologia de Aleaciones de Circonio and applied by FAE-SA and PPFAE-CNEA in each rolling stage to obtain the fuel claddings for the reactor CAREM 25. The inner surface has been observed by scanning electron microscopy, SEM, being the objective of this study to verify not only the good internal surface but also infer about how starting from tubes of different initial diameter reduction the quality of the final product will be affected. The manufacturing process of the tubes for this new fuel went through modifications during the development, adding intermediate chemical pickling stages in order to improve the internal surface quality of the final product. From determinations made with ultrasound, the defects charts obtained made it possible to compare the observed signals more relevant and the micrographs in these areas in order to characterize possible defects (author)

Evaluation of the Effect of Tube Pitch and Surface Alterations on Temperature Field at Sprinkled Tube Bundle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kracík Petr

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Water flowing on a sprinkled tube bundle forms three basic modes: It is the Droplet mode (liquid drips from one tube to another, the Jet mode (with an increasing flow rate droplets merge into a column and the Membrane (Sheet mode (with further increasing of falling film liquid flow rate columns merge and create sheets between the tubes. With sufficient flow rate sheets merge at this state and the tube bundle is completely covered by a thin liquid film. There are several factors influencing the individual mode types as well as heat transfer. Beside the above mentioned falling film liquid flow rate they are for instance tube diameters, tube pitches in a tube bundle or a physical condition of a falling film liquid. This paper presents a summary of data measured at atmospheric pressure at a tube bundle consisting of copper tubes of 12 milimeters diameter and of the studied tube length one meter. The tubes are positioned horizontally one above another with the tested pitches of 15, 20, 25 and 30 mm and there is a distribution tube placed above them with water flowing out. The thermal gradient of 15–40 has been tested with all pitches where the falling film liquid’s temperature at the inlet of the distribution tube was 15 °C. The liquid was heated during the flow through the exchanger and the temperature of the sprinkled (heater liquid at the inlet of the exchanger with a constant flow rate about 7.2 litres per minute was 40 °C. The tested flow of the falling film liquid ranged from 1.0 to 13.0 litres per minute. Sequences of 180 exposures have been recorded in partial flow rate stages by thermographic camera with record frequency of 30 Hz which were consequently assessed using the Matlab programme. This paper presents results achieved at the above mentioned pitches and at three types of tube bundle surfaces.

Prediction of the surface roughness of AA6082 flow-formed tubes by design of experiments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Srinivasulu, M.; Komaraiah, M.; Rao, C. S. Krishna Prasada

2013-01-01

Flow forming is a modern, chipless metal forming process that is employed for the production of thin-walled seamless tubes. Experiments are conducted on AA6082 alloy pre-forms to flow form into thin-walled tubes on a CNC flow-forming machine with a single roller. Design of experiments is used to predict the surface roughness of flow-formed tubes. The process parameters selected for this study are the roller axial feed, mandrel speed, and roller radius. A standard response surface methodology (RSM) called the Box Behnken design is used to perform the experimental runs. The regression model developed by RSM successfully predicts the surface roughness of AA6082 flow-formed tubes within the range of the selected process parameters.

Prediction of the surface roughness of AA6082 flow-formed tubes by design of experiments

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Srinivasulu, M. [Government Polytechnic for Women Badangpet, Hyderabad (India); Komaraiah, M. [Sreenidhi Institute of Science and Technology, Hyderabad (India); Rao, C. S. Krishna Prasada [Bharat Dynamics Limited, Hyderabad (India)

2013-06-15

Flow forming is a modern, chipless metal forming process that is employed for the production of thin-walled seamless tubes. Experiments are conducted on AA6082 alloy pre-forms to flow form into thin-walled tubes on a CNC flow-forming machine with a single roller. Design of experiments is used to predict the surface roughness of flow-formed tubes. The process parameters selected for this study are the roller axial feed, mandrel speed, and roller radius. A standard response surface methodology (RSM) called the Box Behnken design is used to perform the experimental runs. The regression model developed by RSM successfully predicts the surface roughness of AA6082 flow-formed tubes within the range of the selected process parameters.

Risk factors of neural tube defects: A reality of Batna region in Algeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Romyla Bourouba

2018-07-01

Full Text Available Background: Neural tube defects (NTDs are severe birth defects, with genetic and/or environmental risk factors. Aim: The objective of this study was to analyze data on NTDs cases at the Batna Maternity Hospital and to investigate some environmental and two genetic risk factors suspected in the etiology of NTDs. Subjects and methods: This study was conducted on 82 healthy participants and 48 mothers with an NTD child. Peripheral blood samples were collected, in EDTA tubes and frozen at −20 °C until DNA extraction by conventional method. Genetic analysis of methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase C677T polymorphism was determined by real time PCR, while cystathionine-beta-synthase 844 insertion was investigated by traditional PCR. Chi-square analyses were used to evaluate differences in the distribution of data. The odds-ratio was also calculated. A P-value less than 0.05 were significant. Results: The incidence of NTD in Batna region was 1.58 per 1000 births. The rate of NTD was significantly higher in females than males, highest affected NTD newborn’s was observed in mothers aged between 25 and 29 years and the consanguinity among all NTD cases was 30%. Data showed no significant association of NTDs with personal education, obesity, diabetes, but regarding folic acid consumption, about 86% of NTD’s mothers in our region didn’t take pre-conceptional supplementation with this vitamin .Genetic factors results didn't show a significant association of NTDs with specific mutations of the variant C677T MTHFR, and no gene-gene interaction of CBS insertion and C677T polymorphism was found, despite a significant difference in heterozygote frequency of CBS 844ins68 genotype between NTD’s mothers and controls, OR: 2.85(1.18–6.88. Conclusion: NTD represents a real public health problem in Batna, Algeria. Various genetic and/or nutritional factors are implicated, although the mechanism is not clear. We suggest that further research should continue

Fgf8-related secondary organizers exert different polarizing planar instructions along the mouse anterior neural tube.

Science.gov (United States)

Crespo-Enriquez, Ivan; Partanen, Juha; Martinez, Salvador; Echevarria, Diego

2012-01-01

Early brain patterning depends on proper arrangement of positional information. This information is given by gradients of secreted signaling molecules (morphogens) detected by individual cells within the responding tissue, leading to specific fate decisions. Here we report that the morphogen FGF8 exerts initially a differential signal activity along the E9.5 mouse neural tube. We demonstrate that this polarizing activity codes by RAS-regulated ERK1/2 signaling and depends on the topographical location of the secondary organizers: the isthmic organizer (IsO) and the anterior neural ridge (anr) but not on zona limitans intrathalamica (zli). Our results suggest that Sprouty2, a negative modulator of RAS/ERK pathway, is important for regulating Fgf8 morphogenetic signal activity by controlling Fgf8-induced signaling pathways and positional information during early brain development.

A case of junctional neural tube defect associated with a lipoma of the filum terminale: a new subtype of junctional neural tube defect?

Science.gov (United States)

Florea, Simona Mihaela; Faure, Alice; Brunel, Hervé; Girard, Nadine; Scavarda, Didier

2018-06-01

The embryological development of the central nervous system takes place during the neurulation process, which includes primary and secondary neurulation. A new form of dysraphism, named junctional neural tube defect (JNTD), was recently reported, with only 4 cases described in the literature. The authors report a fifth case of JNTD. This 5-year-old boy, who had been operated on during his 1st month of life for a uretero-rectal fistula, was referred for evaluation of possible spinal dysraphism. He had urinary incontinence, clubfeet, and a history of delayed walking ability. MRI showed a spinal cord divided in two, with an upper segment ending at the T-11 level and a lower segment at the L5-S1 level, with a thickened filum terminale. The JNTDs represent a recently classified dysraphism caused by an error during junctional neurulation. The authors suggest that their patient should be included in this category as the fifth case reported in the literature and note that this would be the first reported case of JNTD in association with a lipomatous filum terminale.

Quantitative trait loci affecting phenotypic variation in the vacuolated lens mouse mutant, a multigenic mouse model of neural tube defects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Korstanje, Ron; Desai, Jigar; Lazar, Gloria; King, Benjamin; Rollins, Jarod; Spurr, Melissa; Joseph, Jamie; Kadambi, Sindhuja; Li, Yang; Cherry, Allison; Matteson, Paul G.; Paigen, Beverly; Millonig, James H.

Korstanje R, Desai J, Lazar G, King B, Rollins J, Spurr M, Joseph J, Kadambi S, Li Y, Cherry A, Matteson PG, Paigen B, Millonig JH. Quantitative trait loci affecting phenotypic variation in the vacuolated lens mouse mutant, a multigenic mouse model of neural tube defects. Physiol Genomics 35:

Critical heat flux for downward-facing pool boiling on CANDU calandria tube surface

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Behdadi, Azin, E-mail: behdada@mcmaster.ca; Talebi, Farshad; Luxat, John

2017-04-15

Highlights: • Pressure tube-calandria tube contact may challenge fuel channel integrity in CANDU. • Critical heat flux variation is predicted on the outer surface of CANDU calandria tube. • A two-phase boundary layer flow driven by buoyancy is modeled on the surface. • Different slip ratios and flow regimes are considered inside the boundary layer. • Subcooling effects are added to the model using wall heat flux partitioning. - Abstract: One accident scenario in CANDU reactors that can challenge the integrity of the primary pressure boundary is a loss of coolant accident, referred to as critical break LOCA, in which the pressure tube (PT) can undergo thermal creep strain deformation and contact its calandria tube (CT). In such case, rapid redistribution of stored heat from PT to CT, leads to a large spike in heat flux to the moderator which can cause bubble accumulation and dryout on the CT surface. A challenge to fuel channel integrity is posed if critical heat flux occurs on the surface of the CT and results in sustained film boiling. If the post-dryout temperature becomes sufficiently high then continued creep strain of the PT and CT may lead to fuel channel failure. In this study, a mechanistic model is developed to predict the critical heat flux variations along the downward facing outer surface of CT. The hydrodynamic model considers a liquid macrolayer beneath an elongated vapor slug on the surface. Local dryout is postulated to occur whenever the fresh liquid supply to the macrolayer is not sufficient to compensate for the liquid depletion. A boundary layer analysis is performed, treating the two phase motion as an external buoyancy driven flow. The model shows good agreement with the available experimental data and has been modified to take into account the effect of subcooling.

Long term trends in prevalence of neural tube defects in Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Khoshnood, Babak; Loane, Maria; Walle, Hermien de

2015-01-01

STUDY QUESTION: What are the long term trends in the total (live births, fetal deaths, and terminations of pregnancy for fetal anomaly) and live birth prevalence of neural tube defects (NTD) in Europe, where many countries have issued recommendations for folic acid supplementation but a policy...... for mandatory folic acid fortification of food does not exist? METHODS: This was a population based, observational study using data on 11 353 cases of NTD not associated with chromosomal anomalies, including 4162 cases of anencephaly and 5776 cases of spina bifida from 28 EUROCAT (European Surveillance......-conceptional folic acid supplementation and existence of voluntary folic acid fortification. FUNDING, COMPETING INTERESTS, DATA SHARING: The study was funded by the European Public Health Commission, EUROCAT Joint Action 2011-2013. HD and ML received support from the European Commission DG Sanco during the conduct...

INCREASED MATERNAL SERUM ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN AND HUMAN CHORIONIC-GONADOTROPIN IN COMPROMISED PREGNANCIES OTHER THAN FOR NEURAL-TUBE DEFECTS OR DOWN-SYNDROME

NARCIS (Netherlands)

BEEKHUIS, [No Value; VANLITH, JMM; DEWOLF, BTHM; MANTINGH, A

Intrauterine fetal death occurred in four women who were 'screen-positive' in a screening programme for neural tube defects (NTDs) and Down syndrome (DS). These women had very high levels of maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein (MSAFP) and maternal serum human chorionic gonadotropin (MShCG). Therefore,

Combined natural convection and surface radiation in the annular region between a volumetrically heated inner tube and a finite conducting outer tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gianoulakis, S.; Klein, D.E.

1993-01-01

Buoyancy-driven natural-convection heat transfer in enclosures has been the subject of considerable research with applications to electronic packaging, solar collectors, and shipping containers for spent nuclear fuel. A numerical study has been carried out to predict combined natural-convection and radiation heat transfer in the annular region between concentric tubes. The inner tube was volumetrically heated. Both tubes were of finite conductance. The surfaces of the annular region were diffuse and gray. The gas in the annulus was assumed to be nonparticipating. A newly developed hybrid finite element finite difference method was used for the study. This method combines finite element discretization of geometries with finite difference discretized solution procedures for the governing differential equations. This study examined the effects of surface radiative properties and material conductivities on the temperature and velocity fields and on local heat transfer rates. Fluid Raleigh numbers ranging from 10 3 to 10 7 , ratios of solid to fluid region thermal conductivities ranging from 10 to 10 4 , and surface total hemispherical emissivities ranging from 0.0 to 1.0 were examined in this study. It was found that the heat transfer across the annulus was dominated by conduction and radiation for the lower Raleigh number flows. As the fluid Raleigh number increased, convection became a primary mode of heat transfer. As the surface emissivity was increased in the annulus, the average Nusselt number on the inner tube surface decreased

Folato, vitamina B12 e ferritina sérica e defeitos do tubo neural Folate, vitamin B12, serum ferritin and defects of the neural tube

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Gizele Thame

1998-09-01

Full Text Available Objetivo: verificar os níveis de folatos, vitamina B12 e ferritina em pacientes cujos fetos apresentaram defeitos de tubo neural (DTN. O folato sangüíneo e a vitamina B12 atuam como cofatores para as enzimas envolvidas na biossíntese do DNA. A interrupção deste processo pode impedir o fechamento do tubo neural. A suplementação vitamínica contendo folato pode reduzir as taxas de ocorrência de defeitos de tubo neural, embora exista a preocupação de que esta prevenção possa mascarar a deficiência de vitamina B12. Métodos: dosagens de vitamina B12 e ferritina pelo método de enzimaimunoensaio com micropartículas e a dosagens de ácido fólico pelo método de captura iônica (IMx ABBOTT. Resultados: a porcentagem de gestantes com deficiência de vitamina B12 (níveis séricos Purpose: to determine folate, vitamin B12 and ferritin levels in patients whose fetuses presented neural-tube defects (NTD. Blood folate and vitamin B12 act as cofactors of enzymes involved in DNA biosynthesis. Interruption of this process may block neural-tube closing. Vitamin supplementation with folate may reduce occurrence rates and recurrence of NTD, although there is concern about the fact that this prevention may mask vitamin B12 deficiency. Methods: vitamin B12 and ferritin determinations by enzyme immunoassay with microparticles and folic acid determination using the ion capture method (IMx ABBOTT. Results: the percentage of pregnant women with vitamin B12 deficirncy (serum levels < 150 pg/ml was 11.8%. There was no case of folate deficiency (serum levels < 3.0 ng/ml and prevalence of pregnant women with iron store deficiency was 47.1% (serum levels < ng/mg. Conclusions: occording to the results obtained in this study (prevalence of 11.8% of vitamin B12 and 0% of folate deficient pregnant women we suggest that supplementation should be administered after serum vitamin B12 determination.

Novel Method for Measuring the Heat Collection Rate and Heat Loss Coefficient of Water-in-Glass Evacuated Tube Solar Water Heaters Based on Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Machine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhijian Liu

2015-08-01

Full Text Available The determinations of heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient are crucial for the evaluation of in service water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters. However, the direct determination requires complex detection devices and a series of standard experiments, which also wastes too much time and manpower. To address this problem, we propose machine learning models including artificial neural networks (ANNs and support vector machines (SVM to predict the heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient without a direct determination. Parameters that can be easily obtained by “portable test instruments” were set as independent variables, including tube length, number of tubes, tube center distance, heat water mass in tank, collector area, final temperature and angle between tubes and ground, while the heat collection rate and heat loss coefficient determined by the detection device were set as dependent variables respectively. Nine hundred fifteen samples from in-service water-in-glass evacuated tube solar water heaters were used for training and testing the models. Results show that the multilayer feed-forward neural network (MLFN with 3 nodes is the best model for the prediction of heat collection rate and the general regression neural network (GRNN is the best model for the prediction of heat loss coefficient due to their low root mean square (RMS errors, short training times, and high prediction accuracies (under the tolerances of 30%, 20%, and 10%, respectively.

Effect of surface roughness on heat transfer from horizontal immersed tubes in a fluidized bed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grewal, N.S.; Saxena, S.C.

1979-01-01

Experimental results of the total heat transfer coefficient between 12.7 mm dia copper tubes with four different rough surfaces and glass beads of three different sizes as taken in a 0.305 m x 0.305 m square fluidized bed as a function of fluidizing velocity are reported. The comparison of results for the rough and technically smooth tubes suggests that the heat transfer coefficient strongly depends on the ratio of pitch (P/sub f/) to the average particle diameter (d/sub p/), where P/sub f/ is the distance between the two corresponding points on consecutive threads or knurls. By the proper choice of (P/sub f//d/sub p/) ratio, the maximum total heat transfer coefficient for V-thread tubes (h/sub w/fb) can be increased by as much as 40 percent over the value for a smooth tube with the same outside diameter. However, for values of (P/sub f//d/sub p/) less than 0.95, the maximum heat transfer coefficient for the V-thread rough tubes is smaller than the smooth tube having the same outside diameter. The qualitative variation of the heat transfer coefficient for rough tubes with (P/sub f//d) is explained on the basis of the combined effect of contact geometry between the solid particles and the heat transfer surface, and the solids renewal rate at the surface. The present findings are critically compared with somewhat similar investigations from the literature on the heat transfer from horizontal or vertical rough tubes and tubes with small fins

Syndromes, Disorders and Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Neural Tube Defects (IV

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Chih-Ping Chen

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs may be associated with maternal and fetal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of maternal and fetal risk factors associated with NTDs, such as infertility, periconceptional clomiphene use and assisted reproductive technology, periconceptional folic acid deficiency and effects offolic acid supplementation and fortification on NTD rates, periconceptional vitamin B1 2 deficiency, single nucleotide polymorphisms and polymorphisms in genes of folate metabolism, and maternal autoantibodies to folate receptors. NTDs associated with maternal and fetal risk factors are an important cause of NTDs. Perinatal identification of NTDs should alert the clinician to the maternal and fetal risk factors associated with NTDs, and prompt a thorough etiologic investigation and genetic counseling. [Taiwan J Obstet Cynecol 2008;47(2:141-1 50

Surface characterization and free thyroid hormones response of chemically modified poly(ethylene terephthalate) blood collection tubes

Science.gov (United States)

Jalali Dil, Ebrahim; Kim, Samuel C.; Saffar, Amir; Ajji, Abdellah; Zare, Richard N.; Sattayapiwat, Annie; Esguerra, Vanessa; Bowen, Raffick A. R.

2018-06-01

The surface chemistry and surface energy of chemically modified polyethylene terephthalate (PET) blood collection tubes (BCTs) were studied and the results showed a significant increase in hydrophilicity and polarity of modified PET surface. The surface modification created nanometer-sized, needle-like asperities through molecular segregation at the surface. The surface dynamics of the modified PET was examined by tracking its surface properties over a 280-day period. The results showed surface rearrangement toward a surface with lower surface energy and fewer nanometer-sized asperities. Thromboelastography (TEG) was used to evaluate and compare the thrombogenicity of the inner walls of various types of BCTs. The TEG tracings and data from various types of BCTs demonstrated differences in the reactionand coagulation times but not in clot strength. The performance of the modified tubes in free triiodothyronine (FT3) and free thyroxine (FT4) hormone tests was examined, and it was found that the interference of modified PET tubes was negligible compared to that of commercially available PET BCTs.

MAPLE Fabricated Fe3O4@Cinnamomum verum Antimicrobial Surfaces for Improved Gastrostomy Tubes

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Alina Georgiana Anghel

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Cinnamomum verum-functionalized Fe3O4 nanoparticles of 9.4 nm in size were laser transferred by matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation (MAPLE technique onto gastrostomy tubes (G-tubes for antibacterial activity evaluation toward Gram positive and Gram negative microbial colonization. X-ray diffraction analysis of the nanoparticle powder showed a polycrystalline magnetite structure, whereas infrared mapping confirmed the integrity of C. verum (CV functional groups after the laser transfer. The specific topography of the deposited films involved a uniform thin coating together with several aggregates of bio-functionalized magnetite particles covering the G-tubes. Cytotoxicity assays showed an increase of the G-tube surface biocompatibility after Fe3O4@CV treatment, allowing a normal development of endothelial cells up to five days of incubation. Microbiological assays on nanoparticle-modified G-tube surfaces have proved an improvement of anti-adherent properties, significantly reducing both Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria colonization.

Hydrophilic film polymerized on the inner surface of PMMA tube by an atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Mengmeng; Huang, Jun; Yu, Jinsong; Chen, Guangliang; Qu, Shanqing

2017-07-01

Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) tube is widely used in biomedical and mechanical engineering fields. However, it is hampered for some special applications as the inner surface of PMMA tube exhibts a hydrophobic characteristic. The aim of this work is to explore the hydrophilic modification of the inner surface of the PMMA tubes using an atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) system that incorporates the acylic acid monomer (AA). Polar groups were grafted onto the inner surface of PMMA tube via the reactive radicals (•OH, •H, •O) generated in the Ar/O2/AA plasma, which were observed by the optical emission spectroscopy (OES). The deposition of the PAA thin layer on the PMMA surface was verified through the ATR-FTIR spectra, which clearly showed the strengthened stretching vibration of the carbonyl group (C=O) at 1700 cm-1. The XPS data show that the carbon ratios of C-OH/R and COOH/R groups increased from 9.50% and 0.07% to 13.49% and 17.07% respectively when a discharge power of 50 W was used in the APPJ system. As a result, the static water contat angle (WCA) of the modified inner surface of PMMA tube decreased from 100° to 48°. Furthermore, the biocompatibility of the APP modified PMMA tubes was illustrated by the study of the adhesion of the cultured MC3T3-E1 osteocyte cells, which exhibted a significantly enhanced adhesion density.

Contribution to the heat transfer analysis of substitute refrigerants in evaporator tubes with smooth or enhanced tube surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kattan, N

1997-12-31

The substitution of CFC refrigerants in refrigeration systems, heat pumps and organic Rankine cycles for heat recovery, requests a good knowledge of heat transfer properties of substitute fluids. A new test facility has been built at the Laboratory for Industrial Energy Systems (LENI) to contribute to this international effort. It consists of two sets of concentric tubes allowing either annular or inside tube convective boiling with a counter current water flow heating to be studied. A new data base including heat transfer coefficients and pressure drop measurements for four new refrigerants (R123, R134A, R402A and R404A) and three older refrigerants (R11, R12 and R502) has been collected. Flow boiling measurements covered a broad range of mass velocities, vapor qualities and heat fluxes. Some of the tests included plain tubes and others enhanced surface tubes (microfilms from Wieland) in horizontal and vertical orientations. An improved Wilson plot technique, that covers both the transition and turbulent flow regimes of the water flowing in the annular channel for the inside tube boiling tests, is proposed to overcome the severe limitations of conventional Wilson plots, to improve accuracy and to facilitate data processing. Mean flow boiling heat transfer coefficients were measured for R12 and R134A evaporating inside a horizontal plain tube and for R11 and R123 evaporating inside a horizontal plain tube. Local flow boiling heat transfer coefficients were measured for : R134A, R123, R404A and R502 evaporating inside a horizontal plain tube, for R134A and R123 evaporating inside a horizontal microfin tube and for R134 evaporating inside a vertical microfin tube. In addition microfin heat transfer augmentation relative to plain tube test data was investigated. The measured heat transfer coefficients were compared to different existing inside tube flow boiling correlations. (author) figs., tabs., refs.

ESTIMATION OF THE DEVELOPMENT STANDARD OF NEURAL TUBE IN EMBRYOS FROM TRANSYLVANIAN NAKED NECK AND PLYMOUTH ROCK HEN BREEDS, DURING EARLY EMBRYOGENESIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. DRONCA

2007-05-01

Full Text Available In Romania, the Transylvanian Naked Neck hen breed is considered to be an“endangered” population, reason for which we consider that a special attentionshould have been given until now. Plymouth Rock breed was imported for the firsttime to Romania from the Studler Company, France in 1969. This paper is aimingto perform a profound analysis of the development patterns of the neural tube inthe two breeds, by measurements carried out at 30, 40, 50, and 60 hours ofincubation. Observations show that the closure of the neural canal and itstransformation into a tube follows an undulatory pattern, of which positive andnegative curls are diametrically opposed in the two breeds, while the developmentspeed during the whole studied period have a relative similar value between thetwo breeds. We estimate that the two breeds have a good combinative capacity,which recommend the utilization of these genetic materials to obtain hybrids forproducing “peasant-type” chicken meat, very well-appreciated by the Europeansbetween the two World Wars.

Orientation of Germ Tubes of Puccinia hordei on the Hordeum chilense Leaf Surface

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vaz Patto, M.C.; Niks, R.E.

2000-01-01

The directional growth of urediospores germ tubes along the transverse axis of a cereal's leaf is considered to be a response to stimuli from the plant surface. In order to find out if the germ tube growth is directed towards stomata, and if the cuticular wax layer plays a role in this orientated

Data analysis for steam generator tubing samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dodd, C.V.

1996-07-01

The objective of the Improved Eddy-Current ISI for Steam Generators program is to upgrade and validate eddy-current inspections, including probes, instrumentation, and data processing techniques for inservice inspection of new, used, and repaired steam generator tubes; to improve defect detection, classification and characterization as affected by diameter and thickness variations, denting, probe wobble, tube sheet, tube supports, copper and sludge deposits, even when defect types and other variables occur in combination; to transfer this advanced technology to NRC's mobile NDE laboratory and staff. This report provides a description of the application of advanced eddy-current neural network analysis methods for the detection and evaluation of common steam generator tubing flaws including axial and circumferential outer-diameter stress-corrosion cracking and intergranular attack. The report describes the training of the neural networks on tubing samples with known defects and the subsequent evaluation results for unknown samples. Evaluations were done in the presence of artifacts. Computer programs are given in the appendix

A Laboratory Experimental Study: An FBG-PVC Tube Integrated Device for Monitoring the Slip Surface of Landslides

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Shaojie; Chen, Jiang; Teng, Pengxiao; Wei, Fangqiang; Chen, Qiao

2017-01-01

A new detection device was designed by integrating fiber Bragg grating (FBG) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) tube in order to monitor the slip surface of a landslide. Using this new FBG-based device, a corresponding slope model with a pre-set slip surface was designed, and seven tests with different soil properties were carried out in laboratory conditions. The FBG sensing fibers were fixed on the PVC tube to measure strain distributions of PVC tube at different elevation. Test results indicated that the PVC tube could keep deformation compatible with soil mass. The new device was able to monitor slip surface location before sliding occurrence, and the location of monitored slip surface was about 1–2 cm above the pre-set slip surface, which basically agreed with presupposition results. The monitoring results are expected to be used to pre-estimate landslide volume and provide a beneficial option for evaluating the potential impact of landslides on shipping safety in the Three Gorges area. PMID:29084157

Applied research for profilometric testing of the state of interior surfaces in heat exchanger tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gyongyosi, Tiberiu; Panaitescu, Valeriu Nicolae

2009-01-01

Generally, the surface flaws identified at heat exchangers tubing are characteristic for the heat secondary systems, located on the external surfaces of the heat exchanger tubes and are mostly the results of the ageing phenomena in systems operation. The tests performed, with the impressing replicating device confirmed the applicability of the technique, functionality of the device and resulted in replicas on metal support, these being the hard copy of the negative of the test tube surface, allowing the profile measurement. The visual inspection of the replicas on the metallic support gives information about the surface geometry replicated, pointing out the marks, which belong to the same area under observation. The minimum and maximum values for the depth of the channel worked out in the inner test tube wall have been determined by profile graphic measurement on the replicas. The paper presents the structural and functional description of the experimental devices. The first results and some conclusions are also included. Two patent applications were submitted at State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (OSIM) covering the original data to protect royalty: 'The local pit flaws, scratches, incipient micro-cracks replicating device on inner cylindrical surfaces', under no. A/00299/17.04.2008 and 'The annular local flaw, incipient micro-cracks replicating device on inner cylindrical surface' under no. A/00300/17.04.2008

Small GTPase R-Ras participates in neural tube formation in zebrafish embryonic spinal cord.

Science.gov (United States)

Ohata, Shinya; Uga, Hideko; Okamoto, Hitoshi; Katada, Toshiaki

2018-06-27

Ras related (R-Ras), a small GTPase, is involved in the maintenance of apico-basal polarity in neuroepithelial cells of the zebrafish hindbrain, axonal collapse in cultured murine hippocampal neurons, and maturation of blood vessels in adult mice. However, the role of R-Ras in neural tube formation remains unknown. Using antisense morpholino oligonucleotides (AMOs), we found that in the spinal cord of zebrafish embryos, the lumen was formed bilaterally in rras morphants, whereas it was formed at the midline in control embryos. As AMO can cause off-target effects, we generated rras mutant zebrafish lines using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Although these rras mutant embryos did not have a bilateral lumen in the spinal cord, the following findings suggest that the phenotype is unlikely due to an off-target effect of rras AMO: 1) The rras morphant phenotype was rescued by an injection of AMO-resistant rras mRNA, and 2) a bilaterally segregated spinal cord was not observed in rras mutant embryos injected with rras AMO. The results suggest that the function of other ras family genes may be redundant in rras mutants. Previous research reported a bilaterally formed lumen in the spinal cord of zebrafish embryos with a mutation in a planar cell polarity (PCP) gene, van gogh-like 2 (vangl2). In the present study, in cultured cells, R-Ras was co-immunoprecipitated with Vangl2 but not with another PCP regulator, Pricke1. Interestingly, the interaction between R-Ras and Vangl2 was stronger in guanine-nucleotide free point mutants of R-Ras than in wild-type or constitutively active (GTP-bound) forms of R-Ras. R-Ras may regulate neural tube formation in cooperation with Vangl2 in the developing zebrafish spinal cord. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effects of Oxidation and fractal surface roughness on the wettability and critical heat flux of glass-peened zirconium alloy tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fong, R.W.L.; Nitheanandan, T.; Bullock, C.D.; Slater, L.F.; McRae, G.A.

2003-05-01

Glass-bead peening the outside surfaces of zirconium alloy tubes has been shown to increase the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) in pool boiling of water. The CHF is found to correlate with the fractal roughness of the metal tube surfaces. In this study on the effect of oxidation on glass-peened surfaces, test measurements for CHF, surface wettability and roughness have been evaluated using various glass-peened and oxidized zirconium alloy tubes. The results show that oxidation changes the solid-liquid contact angle (i.e., decreases wettability of the metal-oxide surface), but does not change the fractal surface roughness, appreciably. Thus, oxidation of the glass-peened surfaces of zirconium alloy tubes is not expected to degrade the CHF enhancement obtained by glass-bead peening. (author)

Is 5-methyltetrahydrofolate an alternative to folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects?

Science.gov (United States)

Obeid, Rima; Holzgreve, Wolfgang; Pietrzik, Klaus

2013-09-01

Women have higher requirements for folate during pregnancy. An optimal folate status must be achieved before conception and in the first trimester when the neural tube closes. Low maternal folate status is causally related to neural tube defects (NTDs). Many NTDs can be prevented by increasing maternal folate intake in the preconceptional period. Dietary folate is protective, but recommending increasing folate intake is ineffective on a population level particularly during periods of high demands. This is because the recommendations are often not followed or because the bioavailability of food folate is variable. Supplemental folate [folic acid (FA) or 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-methylTHF)] can effectively increase folate concentrations to the level that is considered to be protective. FA is a synthetic compound that has no biological functions unless it is reduced to dihydrofolate and tetrahydrofolate. Unmetabolized FA appears in the circulation at doses of >200 μg. Individuals show wide variations in their ability to reduce FA. Carriers of certain polymorphisms in genes related to folate metabolism or absorption can better benefit from 5-methylTHF instead of FA. 5-MethylTHF [also known as (6S)-5-methylTHF] is the predominant natural form that is readily available for transport and metabolism. In contrast to FA, 5-methylTHF has no tolerable upper intake level and does not mask vitamin B12 deficiency. Supplementation of the natural form, 5-methylTHF, is a better alternative to supplementation of FA, especially in countries not applying a fortification program. Supplemental 5-methylTHF can effectively improve folate biomarkers in young women in early pregnancy in order to prevent NTDs.

Prevalência de defeitos de fechamento de tubo neural no Vale do Paraíba, São Paulo Prevalence of neural tube defects in Vale do Paraíba, São Paulo, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Luiz Fernando C. Nascimento

2008-12-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Estimar a prevalência de defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural no Vale do Paraíba paulista e identificar possíveis fatores maternos e neonatais associados a tais defeitos. MÉTODOS: Realizou-se um estudo transversal com dados secundários obtidos na Secretaria Estadual da Saúde referentes aos nascimentos ocorridos em 2004 no Vale do Paraíba paulista, que compreende 35 municípios e conta com população de 2 milhões de habitantes. Anencefalia, encefalocele e espina bífida (mielocele e mielomeningocele foram considerados defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural. As variáveis maternas foram: idade, escolaridade, cor da pele, número de consultas no pré-natal, número de filhos vivos e relato de óbito fetal prévio. As variáveis relativas ao recém-nascido foram: peso, idade gestacional e escore de Apgar. Realizou-se comparação das médias por meio do teste t de Student e obtiveram-se os valores das razões de chance com intervalos de confiança de 95%. RESULTADOS: Foram analisados 33.653 nascidos vivos. Trinta e oito recém-nascidos com o defeito foram encontrados (1,13/1.000 nascidos vivos, sendo 23 casos de espina bífida. Houve associação com baixo peso ao nascimento, prematuridade e menores escores de Apgar de cinco minutos. CONCLUSÕES: A prevalência desta anomalia foi inferior à de outros estudos nacionais e sua presença esteve associada ao baixo peso, à prematuridade e à baixa vitalidade ao nascer.OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of neural tube defects in Vale do Paraíba, São Paulo, Brazil, and to identify possible maternal and neonatal variables associated with these defects. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used secondary records of the Health Department of São Paulo State related live births during 2004 in Vale do Paraíba, São Paulo, Brazil. This region has 35 cities and 2 million inhabitants. Anencephaly, encephalocele and spina bifida (myelocele and myelomeningocele were considered as neural tube

Characterization of the inside and outside oxide surfaces of irradiated pressure tubes of Embalse nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bordoni, Roberto A.; Olmedo, Ana M.

2004-01-01

The inside and outside surfaces of two pressure tubes (PT) removed from Embalse nuclear power plant (CNE) after 10 of effective full power years (EFPY) were characterized. The oxide thickness of both faces, in different zones, was also measured. The inside surfaces of both PTs, B-102 (A-14) and B-298 (L-12), were covered with a black oxide that replicates the original PT surface. A network of microcracks perpendicular to the inside surface in contact with the coolant was found. In some cases, near the outlet of the PT, some spalling of the oxide was also found. These small microcracks and spalling do not affect the protective character of the oxide since a thickness about 5 or 6 μm of an undamaged oxide is found at the metal/oxide interface side. The oxide thickness changes between approximately 6 to 12 μm for B-102 tube and around 7 to 15 μm for B-298 tube. The average corrosion rate is 1.16 μm/10 4 HH for B-102 tube and 1.35 μm/10 4 HH for B-298 tube at 5.8 m position for both PTs. These corrosion rates show good corrosion behaviour of CNE PTs. The average corrosion rate of the inside surface of the PTs depends on the coolant temperature but not on fast neutron flux. The outside oxide film is black, shiny, compact and protective, replicating also the original surface. The oxide thickness changes between 2 to 6.5 μm in B-102 tube and between 1.8 to 3.7 μm B-298 tube. These oxide thicknesses are within the values reported for PTs in CANDU Stations. (author) [es

New examples of marginally trapped surfaces and tubes in warped spacetimes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Flores, J L; Haesen, S; Ortega, M

2010-01-01

In this paper we provide new examples of marginally trapped surfaces and tubes in FLRW spacetimes by using a basic relation between these objects and CMC surfaces in 3-manifolds. We also provide a new method to construct marginally trapped surfaces in closed FLRW spacetimes, which is based on the classical Hopf map. The utility of this method is illustrated by providing marginally trapped surfaces crossing the expanding and collapsing regions of a closed FLRW spacetime. The approach introduced in this paper is also extended to twisted spaces.

Heat Exchanger Tube to Tube Sheet Joints Corrosion Behavior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Iancu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Paper presents the studies made by the authors above the tube to tube sheet fittings of heat exchanger with fixed covers from hydrofining oil reforming unit. Tube fittings are critical zones for heat exchangers failures. On a device made from material tube and tube sheet at real joints dimensions were establish axial compression force and traction force at which tube is extracted from expanded joint. Were used two shapes joints with two types of fittings surfaces, one with smooth hole of tube sheet and other in which on boring surface we made a groove. From extracted expanded tube zones were made samples for corrosion tests in order to establish the corrosion rate, corrosion potential and corrosion current in working mediums such as hydrofining oil and industrial water at different temperatures. The corrosion rate values and the temperature influence are important to evaluate joints durability and also the results obtained shows that the boring tube sheet shape with a groove on hole tube shape presents a better corrosion behavior then the shape with smooth hole tube sheet.

New configuration for efficient and durable copper coating on the outer surface of a tube

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irfan Ahmad

2017-03-01

Full Text Available A well-adhered copper coating on stainless steel power coupler parts is required in superconducting radio frequency (SRF accelerators. Radio frequency power coupler parts are complex, tubelike stainless steel structures, which require copper coating on their outer and inner surfaces. Conventional copper electroplating sometimes produces films with inadequate adhesion strength for SRF applications. Electroplating also requires a thin nickel strike layer under the copper coating, whose magnetic properties can be detrimental to SRF applications. Coaxial energetic deposition (CED and sputtering methods have demonstrated efficient conformal coating on the inner surfaces of tubes but coating the outer surface of a tube is challenging because these coating methods are line of sight. When the substrate is off axis and the plasma source is on axis, only a small section of the substrate’s outer surface is exposed to the source cathode. The conventional approach is to rotate the tube to achieve uniformity across the outer surface. This method results in poor film thickness uniformity and wastes most of the source plasma. Alameda Applied Sciences Corporation (AASC has developed a novel configuration called hollow external cathode CED (HEC-CED to overcome these issues. HEC-CED produces a film with uniform thickness and efficiently uses all eroded source material. The Cu film deposited on the outside of a stainless steel tube using the new HEC-CED configuration survived a high pressure water rinse adhesion test. HEC-CED can be used to coat the outside of any cylindrical structure.

Folic acid supplement use in the prevention of neural tube defects.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Delany, C

2011-01-01

In 2008, planned folic acid fortification for the prevention of Neural Tube Defects (NTD) was postponed. Concurrently, the economic recession may have affected dietary folic acid intake, placing increased emphasis on supplement use. This study examined folic acid supplement use in 2009. A cross-sectional survey of 300 ante-natal women was undertaken to assess folic acid knowledge and use. Associations between demographic, obstetric variables and folic acid knowledge and use were examined. A majority, 284\\/297 (96%), had heard of folic acid, and 178\\/297 (60%) knew that it could prevent NTD. Most, 270\\/297 (91%) had taken it during their pregnancy, but only 107\\/297 (36%) had used it periconceptionally. Being older, married, planned pregnancy and better socioeconomic status were associated with periconceptional use. Periconceptional folic acid use in 2009 was very low, little changed from economic status were associated with periconceptional use. Periconceptional folic acid use in 2009 was very low, little changed from earlier years. Continuous promotion efforts are necessary. Close monitoring of folic acid intake and NTD rates is essential, particularly in the absence of fortification.

Plasma treatment of polyethylene tubes in continuous regime using surface dielectric barrier discharge with water electrodes

Science.gov (United States)

Galmiz, Oleksandr; Zemánek, Miroslav; Pavliňák, David; Černák, Mirko

2018-05-01

Combining the surface dielectric barrier discharges generated in contact with water based electrolytes, as the discharge electrodes, we have designed a new type of surface electric discharge, generating thin layers of plasma which propagate along the treated polymer surfaces. The technique was aimed to achieve uniform atmospheric pressure plasma treatment of polymeric tubes and other hollow bodies. The results presented in this work show the possibility of such system to treat outer surface of polymer materials in a continuous mode. The technical details of experimental setup are discussed as well as results of treatment of polyethylene tubes are shown.

Syndromes, Disorders and Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Neural Tube Defects (I

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Ping Chen

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs maybe associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, such as acrocallosal syndrome, autosomal dominant brachydactyly-clinodactyly syndrome, Manouvrier syndrome, short rib-polydactyly syndrome, Disorganization (Ds-like human malformations, isolated hemihyper-plasia, X-linked NTDs, meroanencephaly, schisis association, diprosopus, fetal valproate syndrome, DiGeorge syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, folic acid antagonists, diabetes mellitus, and obesity. NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors are a rare but important cause of NTDs. The recurrence risk and the preventive effect of maternal folic acid intake in NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors may be different from those of non-syndromic multifactorial NTDs. Perinatal identification of NTDs should alert one to the syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, and prompt a thorough etiologic investigation and genetic counseling.

Syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors associated with neural tube defects (I).

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Chih-Ping

2008-03-01

Fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs) may be associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, such as acrocallosal syndrome, autosomal dominant brachydactyly-clinodactyly syndrome, Manouvrier syndrome, short rib-polydactyly syndrome, Disorganization ( Ds )-like human malformations, isolated hemihyperplasia, X-linked NTDs, meroanencephaly, schisis association, diprosopus, fetal valproate syndrome, DiGeorge syndrome/velocardiofacial syndrome, Waardenburg syndrome, folic acid antagonists, diabetes mellitus, and obesity. NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors are a rare but important cause of NTDs. The recurrence risk and the preventive effect of maternal folic acid intake in NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors may be different from those of non-syndromic multifactorial NTDs. Perinatal identification of NTDs should alert one to the syndromes, disorders, and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, and prompt a thorough etiologic investigation and genetic counseling.

Syndromes, Disorders and Maternal Risk Factors Associated With Neural Tube Defects (VI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chih-Ping Chen

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Neural tube defects (NTDs may be associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of the syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors associated with NTDs, including maternal fumonisin consumption, periconceptional zinc deficiency, parental occupational exposure and residential proximity to pesticides, lower socioeconomic status, fetal alcohol syndrome, mutations in the VANGL1 gene, human athymic Nude/SCID fetus, and single nucleotide polymorphism in the NOS3 gene. NTDs associated with these syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors are a rare but important cause of NTDs. The recurrence risk and the preventive effect of maternal folic acid intake in NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors may be different from those of nonsyndromic multifactorial NTDs. Perinatal diagnosis of NTDs should alert doctors to the syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors associated with NTDs, and prompt thorough etiologic investigation and genetic counseling.

Testing external surface of fuel element tubes for power nuclear reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naugol'nykh, O.G.; Nelyubin, Yu.V.

1987-01-01

Optical methods are regarded perspective for discovery and detection of flaws of external surfaces of fuel element tubes. The TV method has highest information content among them. Two mock-ups of facilities based on the TV method using a ''dissector'' type TV device and a TV tube with charge accumulation (vidikon) have been developed. It is concluded that complex testing - combination of ultrasonic, photoelectric and TV methods in a facility is necessary for discovery and analysis of the whole variety of flaws, though sensitivity of the TV method is enough for disclosure of all the main defects

Identifying apple surface defects using principal components analysis and artifical neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Artificial neural networks and principal components were used to detect surface defects on apples in near-infrared images. Neural networks were trained and tested on sets of principal components derived from columns of pixels from images of apples acquired at two wavelengths (740 nm and 950 nm). I...

Are concentrations of alkaline earth elements in maternal hair associated with risk of neural tube defects?

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zhenjiang; Wang, Bin; Huo, Wenhua; Liu, Yingying; Zhu, Yibing; Xie, Jing; Li, Zhiwen; Ren, Aiguo

2017-12-31

The relationship between maternal intake of alkaline earth elements (AEEs) during the period of neural tube closure and the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) is still unclear. We propose that AEE deficiency during the early period of pregnancy is associated with an elevated risk of NTDs in the offspring. In this study, we recruited 191 women with NTD-affected pregnancies (cases) and 261 women who delivered healthy infants (controls). The concentrations of four AEEs (Ca, Mg, Sr, Ba) in maternal hair sections that grew during early pregnancy were analyzed. Information on the dietary habits of the mothers was also collected by questionnaire. Higher concentrations of the four AEEs in hair had protective effects against the risk of total NTDs, with odds ratios with 95% confidence interval (comparing groups separated by each median level) of 0.44 (0.28-0.68) for Mg, 0.56 (0.36-0.87) for Ca, 0.45 (0.28-0.70) for Sr, and 0.41 (0.26-0.65) for Ba. Significant negative dose-response trends were identified for the relationships between the four AEE concentrations in maternal hair and the risks of anencephaly and spina bifida, but not for encephalocele. The frequencies of maternal consumption of fresh green vegetables, fresh fruit, and meat or fish were positively correlated with the concentrations of AEEs in hair. We concluded that the maternal intake of AEEs may play an important role in preventing NTD formation in offspring, and that this intake is related to maternal dietary habits of consuming fresh green vegetables, fresh fruit, and fish or meat. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Experimental investigation on carbon nano tubes coated brass rectangular extended surfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Senthilkumar, Rajendran; Prabhu, Sethuramalingam; Cheralathan, Marimuthu

2013-01-01

Finned surface has been extensively used for free convection cooling of internal combustion engines and several electronic kits etc. Here rectangular brass fin was preferred for analysis. Thermocouples were attached all over the surface of the fin in equal distances. The measurement of surface temperature and calculated convective heat transfer rate were reported for several heat input values. The overall system performance can be improved by enhancing heat transfer rate of extended surfaces. Based on the above requirement, brass surface was coated by carbon nano tubes. The temperature and heat transfer characteristics were investigated using Taguchi method for experimental design. Finally the performances of coated and non-coated rectangular brass fins were compared. The average percentage of increase in heat transfer rate was proved around 12% for carbon nanocoated rectangular brass fins. - Graphical abstract: The designed Natural and Forced convection Heat Transfer Test Rig measures the enhanced rate of heat transfer for nano coated rectangular fins than in non-coated fins. Highlights: ► Rectangular brass fins were preferred for convective heat transfer process. ► The rectangular brass fins are coated with multi wall carbon nano tubes in EBPVD process with nanometer thickness. ► Temperature and heat transfer rate were investigated for nanocoated and non-coated fins by using Taguchi method. ► Multi wall carbon nanotubes act as a pin fin to enhance surface area for effective convective heat transfer rate.

Genetic, chromosomal, and syndromic causes of neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Seidahmed, Mohammed Z; Abdelbasit, Omer B; Shaheed, Meeralebbae M; Alhussein, Khalid A; Miqdad, Abeer M; Samadi, Abdulmohsen S; Khalil, Mohammed I; Al-Mardawi, Elham; Salih, Mustafa A

2014-12-01

To ascertain the incidence, and describe the various forms of neural tube defects (NTDs) due to genetic, chromosomal, and syndromic causes. We carried out a retrospective analysis of data retrieved from the medical records of newborn infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with NTDs and their mothers spanning 14 years (1996-2009) at the Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The cases were ascertained by a perinatologist, neonatologist, geneticist, radiologist, and neurologist. The literature was reviewed via a MEDLINE search. Only liveborn babies were included. Permission from the Educational Committee at the Security Forces Hospital was obtained prior to the collection of data. Out of 103 infants with NTDs admitted during this period, 20 (19.4%) were found to have an underlying genetic syndromic, chromosomal and/or other anomalies. There were 5 cases of Meckel-Gruber syndrome, 2 Joubert syndrome, one Waardenburg syndrome, one Walker-Warburg syndrome, 2 chromosomal disorders, 2 caudal regression, one amniotic band disruption sequence, one associated with omphalocele, one with diaphragmatic hernia, and 4 with multiple congenital anomalies. There is a high rate of underlying genetic syndromic and/or chromosomal causes of NTDs in the Saudi Arabian population due to the high consanguinity rate. Identification of such association can lead to more accurate provisions of genetic counseling to the family including preimplantation genetic diagnosis or early termination of pregnancies associated with lethal conditions.

Magnetic evaluation of the external surface in cast heat-resistant steel tubes with different aging states

Science.gov (United States)

Arenas, Mónica P.; Silveira, Rosa M.; Pacheco, Clara J.; Bruno, Antonio C.; Araujo, Jefferson F. D. F.; Eckstein, Carlos B.; Nogueira, Laudemiro; de Almeida, Luiz H.; Rebello, João M. A.; Pereira, Gabriela R.

2018-06-01

Heat-resistant austenitic stainless steels have become the principal alloys for use in steam reformer tubes in the petrochemical industry due to its mechanical properties. These tubes are typically exposed to severe operational conditions leading to microstructural transformations such as the aging phenomenon. The combination of high temperatures and moderate stresses causes creep damages, being necessary to monitor its structural condition by non-destructive techniques. The tube external wall is also subjected to oxidizing atmospheres, favoring the formation of an external surface, composed by an oxide scale and a chromium depleted zone. This external surface is usually not taken into account in the tube evaluation, which can lead to erroneous estimations of the service life of these components. In order to observe the magnetic influence of this layer, two samples, exposed to different operational temperatures, were characterized by non-destructive eddy current testing (ECT), scanning DC-susceptometer and magnetic force microscopy (MFM). It was found that the external surface thickness influences directly in the magnetic response of the samples.

Genetic interactions between planar cell polarity genes cause diverse neural tube defects in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer N. Murdoch

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Neural tube defects (NTDs are among the commonest and most severe forms of developmental defect, characterized by disruption of the early embryonic events of central nervous system formation. NTDs have long been known to exhibit a strong genetic dependence, yet the identity of the genetic determinants remains largely undiscovered. Initiation of neural tube closure is disrupted in mice homozygous for mutations in planar cell polarity (PCP pathway genes, providing a strong link between NTDs and PCP signaling. Recently, missense gene variants have been identified in PCP genes in humans with NTDs, although the range of phenotypes is greater than in the mouse mutants. In addition, the sequence variants detected in affected humans are heterozygous, and can often be detected in unaffected individuals. It has been suggested that interactions between multiple heterozygous gene mutations cause the NTDs in humans. To determine the phenotypes produced in double heterozygotes, we bred mice with all three pairwise combinations of Vangl2Lp, ScribCrc and Celsr1Crsh mutations, the most intensively studied PCP mutants. The majority of double-mutant embryos had open NTDs, with the range of phenotypes including anencephaly and spina bifida, therefore reflecting the defects observed in humans. Strikingly, even on a uniform genetic background, variability in the penetrance and severity of the mutant phenotypes was observed between the different double-heterozygote combinations. Phenotypically, Celsr1Crsh;Vangl2Lp;ScribCrc triply heterozygous mutants were no more severe than doubly heterozygous or singly homozygous mutants. We propose that some of the variation between double-mutant phenotypes could be attributed to the nature of the protein disruption in each allele: whereas ScribCrc is a null mutant and produces no Scrib protein, Celsr1Crsh and Vangl2Lp homozygotes both express mutant proteins, consistent with dominant effects. The variable outcomes of these genetic

Tube plug

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zafred, P. R.

1985-01-01

The tube plug comprises a one piece mechanical plug having one open end and one closed end which is capable of being inserted in a heat exchange tube and internally expanded into contact with the inside surface of the heat exchange tube for preventing flow of a coolant through the heat exchange tube. The tube plug also comprises a groove extending around the outside circumference thereof which has an elastomeric material disposed in the groove for enhancing the seal between the tube plug and the tube

Effect of a surface oxide-dispersion-strengthened layer on mechanical strength of zircaloy-4 tubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang-Il Jung

2018-03-01

Full Text Available An oxide-dispersion-strengthened (ODS layer was formed on Zircaloy-4 tubes by a laser beam scanning process to increase mechanical strength. Laser beam was used to scan the yttrium oxide (Y2O3–coated Zircaloy-4 tube to induce the penetration of Y2O3 particles into Zircaloy-4. Laser surface treatment resulted in the formation of an ODS layer as well as microstructural phase transformation at the surface of the tube. The mechanical strength of Zircaloy-4 increased with the formation of the ODS layer. The ring-tensile strength of Zircaloy-4 increased from 790 to 870 MPa at room temperature, from 500 to 575 MPa at 380°C, and from 385 to 470 MPa at 500°C. Strengthening became more effective as the test temperature increased. It was noted that brittle fracture occurred at room temperature, which was not observed at elevated temperatures. Resistance to dynamic high-temperature bursting improved. The burst temperature increased from 760 to 830°C at a heating rate of 5°C/s and internal pressure of 8.3 MPa. The burst opening was also smaller than those in fresh Zircaloy-4 tubes. This method is expected to enhance the safety of Zr fuel cladding tubes owing to the improvement of their mechanical properties. Keywords: Laser Surface Treatment, Microstructure, Oxide Dispersion Strengthened Alloy, Tensile Strength, Zirconium Alloy

Mature teratoma in association with neural tube defect (occipital encephalocele): series of four cases and review of the literature.

Science.gov (United States)

Goyal, Nishant; Singh, Pankaj Kumar; Kakkar, Aanchal; Sharma, Meher Chand; Mahapatra, Ashok Kumar

2012-01-01

Both occipital encephalocele and teratomas are midline congenital malformations. Encephalocele is a form of neural tube defect in which there is a congenital defect of the cranium through which occurs a protrusion of brain matter or meninges, while teratoma is a tumor derived from all three germ layers. The association between occipital encephalocele and teratoma has not been reported to date. In the present study, the authors present a series of four such cases. Copyright © 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Self-enhanced plasma discharge effect in the deposition of diamond-like carbon films on the inner surface of slender tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Xu, Yi [Department of 702, Beihang University, Beijing (China); Li, Liuhe, E-mail: liliuhe@buaa.edu.cn [Department of 702, Beihang University, Beijing (China); Luo, Sida [Department of 702, Beihang University, Beijing (China); International Research Institute for Multidisciplinary Science, Beihang University, Beijing (China); Lu, Qiuyuan [Dong Feng Commercial Vehicle Technical Center, Dong Feng Commercial Vehicle Co., LTD, Wuhan (China); Gu, Jiabin; Lei, Ning [Department of 702, Beihang University, Beijing (China); Huo, Chunqin [Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Ministry of Education, Shenzhen University, Guangdong (China)

2017-01-30

Highlights: • Effect of inner surface materials of tubes on plasma discharge is examined. • Electron mean free path is used to analyze the films deposition. • Secondary electrons emitted from inner surface of tube enhance plasma discharge. - Abstract: Enhanced glow discharge plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition (EGD-PIII&D) have been proved to be highly effective for depositing diamond-like carbon (DLC) films on the inner surface of the slender quartz tube with a deposition rate of 1.3 μm/min. Such a high-efficiency DLC films deposition was explained previously as the short electrons mean free path to cause large collision frequency between electrons and neutral particles. However, in this paper, we found that the inner surface material of the tube itself play a vital role on the films deposition. To disclose the mechanism of this phenomenon, the effect of different inner surface materials on plasma discharge was experimentally and theoretically investigated. Then a self-enhancing plasma discharge is discovered. It is found that secondary electrons emitted from the inner surface material, whatever it is the tube inner surface or deposited DLC films, can dramatically enhance the plasma discharge to improve the DLC films deposition rate.

Communication: Fitting potential energy surfaces with fundamental invariant neural network

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shao, Kejie; Chen, Jun; Zhao, Zhiqiang; Zhang, Dong H., E-mail: zhangdh@dicp.ac.cn [State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics and Center for Theoretical Computational Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, People’s Republic of China and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, People’s Republic of China. (China)

2016-08-21

A more flexible neural network (NN) method using the fundamental invariants (FIs) as the input vector is proposed in the construction of potential energy surfaces for molecular systems involving identical atoms. Mathematically, FIs finitely generate the permutation invariant polynomial (PIP) ring. In combination with NN, fundamental invariant neural network (FI-NN) can approximate any function to arbitrary accuracy. Because FI-NN minimizes the size of input permutation invariant polynomials, it can efficiently reduce the evaluation time of potential energy, in particular for polyatomic systems. In this work, we provide the FIs for all possible molecular systems up to five atoms. Potential energy surfaces for OH{sub 3} and CH{sub 4} were constructed with FI-NN, with the accuracy confirmed by full-dimensional quantum dynamic scattering and bound state calculations.

Tube spacer grid for a heat-exchanger tube bundle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheidl, H.

1976-01-01

A tube spacer grid for a heat-exchanger tube bundle is formed by an annular grid frame having a groove formed in its inner surface in which the interspaced grid bars have their ends positioned and held in interspaced relationship by short sections of tubes passed through holes axially formed in the grid frame so that the tubes are positioned between the ends of the grid bars in the grooves. The tube sections may be cut from the same tubes used to form the tube bundle. 5 claims, 3 drawing figures

Flexible microelectrode array for interfacing with the surface of neural ganglia

Science.gov (United States)

Sperry, Zachariah J.; Na, Kyounghwan; Parizi, Saman S.; Chiel, Hillel J.; Seymour, John; Yoon, Euisik; Bruns, Tim M.

2018-06-01

Objective. The dorsal root ganglia (DRG) are promising nerve structures for sensory neural interfaces because they provide centralized access to primary afferent cell bodies and spinal reflex circuitry. In order to harness this potential, new electrode technologies are needed which take advantage of the unique properties of DRG, specifically the high density of neural cell bodies at the dorsal surface. Here we report initial in vivo results from the development of a flexible non-penetrating polyimide electrode array interfacing with the surface of ganglia. Approach. Multiple layouts of a 64-channel iridium electrode (420 µm2) array were tested, with pitch as small as 25 µm. The buccal ganglia of invertebrate sea slug Aplysia californica were used to develop handling and recording techniques with ganglionic surface electrode arrays (GSEAs). We also demonstrated the GSEA’s capability to record single- and multi-unit activity from feline lumbosacral DRG related to a variety of sensory inputs, including cutaneous brushing, joint flexion, and bladder pressure. Main results. We recorded action potentials from a variety of Aplysia neurons activated by nerve stimulation, and units were observed firing simultaneously on closely spaced electrode sites. We also recorded single- and multi-unit activity associated with sensory inputs from feline DRG. We utilized spatial oversampling of action potentials on closely-spaced electrode sites to estimate the location of neural sources at between 25 µm and 107 µm below the DRG surface. We also used the high spatial sampling to demonstrate a possible spatial sensory map of one feline’s DRG. We obtained activation of sensory fibers with low-amplitude stimulation through individual or groups of GSEA electrode sites. Significance. Overall, the GSEA has been shown to provide a variety of information types from ganglia neurons and to have significant potential as a tool for neural mapping and interfacing.

Surface electromyographic amplitude does not identify differences in neural drive to synergistic muscles.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez-Valdes, Eduardo; Negro, Francesco; Falla, Deborah; De Nunzio, Alessandro Marco; Farina, Dario

2018-04-01

Surface electromyographic (EMG) signal amplitude is typically used to compare the neural drive to muscles. We experimentally investigated this association by studying the motor unit (MU) behavior and action potentials in the vastus medialis (VM) and vastus lateralis (VL) muscles. Eighteen participants performed isometric knee extensions at four target torques [10, 30, 50, and 70% of the maximum torque (MVC)] while high-density EMG signals were recorded from the VM and VL. The absolute EMG amplitude was greater for VM than VL ( P differences in EMG amplitude can be due to both differences in the neural drive and in the size of the MU action potentials, we indirectly inferred the neural drives received by the two muscles by estimating the synaptic inputs received by the corresponding motor neuron pools. For this purpose, we analyzed the increase in discharge rate from recruitment to target torque for motor units matched by recruitment threshold in the two muscles. This analysis indicated that the two muscles received similar levels of neural drive. Nonetheless, the size of the MU action potentials was greater for VM than VL ( P difference explained most of the differences in EMG amplitude between the two muscles (~63% of explained variance). These results indicate that EMG amplitude, even following normalization, does not reflect the neural drive to synergistic muscles. Moreover, absolute EMG amplitude is mainly explained by the size of MU action potentials. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Electromyographic (EMG) amplitude is widely used to compare indirectly the strength of neural drive received by synergistic muscles. However, there are no studies validating this approach with motor unit data. Here, we compared between-muscles differences in surface EMG amplitude and motor unit behavior. The results clarify the limitations of surface EMG to interpret differences in neural drive between muscles.

Influences of the wavy surface inserted in the middle of a circular tube heat exchanger on thermal performance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jedsadaratanancai, Withada [King Mongkut' s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok (Thailand); Boonloi, Amnart [King Mongkut' s University of Technology North Bangkok, Bangkok (Thailand)

2015-09-15

Numerical investigations on flow topology, heat transfer behavior and performance evaluation in a circular tube inserted with various configurations of wavy surfaces, Inclined wavy surface (IWS), V-downstream wavy surface (VDWS), V-Upstream wavy surface (VUWS) are presented. The effects of the flow attack angles; 20 .deg., 30 .deg., 45.deg. and 60.deg. are studied for the Reynolds numbers, Re = 100-2000. The numerical results are compared with the smooth circular tube with no wavy surface and the previous works. It is found that the IWS, VDWS and VUWS can produce longitudinal vortex flow and impinging jet of the fluid flow like inclined baffle, V-downstream baffle and V-Upstream baffle, respectively, but give lower friction loss. The flow phenomena created by the wavy surfaces help to augment the heat transfer rate and thermal performance in the test tube. In the range studied, the order of enhancement for heat transfer rate is around 1.40-3.75, 1.60-6.25 and 1.30-5.80 times higher than the smooth tube for IWS, VDWS and VUWS, respectively. Moreover, the maximum thermal performance, presented in terms of the Thermal enhancement factor (TEF), is found to be about 1.60, 2.40 and 2.10, respectively, for IWS, VUWS and VDWS.

Bioactive surface modifications on inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene tubes using dielectric barrier discharge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cho, Yong Ki [Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Heat Treatment and Surface Engineering R and D Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Incheon 406-840 (Korea, Republic of); Park, Daewon; Kim, Hoonbae [Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of); Lee, Hyerim; Park, Heonyong [Department of Molecular Biology, Dankook University, Yongin 448-701 (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Hong Ja [Department of Internal Medicine, Dankook University, Cheonan 330-714 (Korea, Republic of); Jung, Donggeun, E-mail: djung@skku.ac.kr [Department of Physics, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746 (Korea, Republic of)

2014-03-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The surface modification of the inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) tubing was carried out to improve vascular grafts. • Focus was centered on the cell attachment of the inner wall of the PTFE by sequential processes of hydrogen plasma treatment, hydrocarbon deposition, and reactive plasma treatment using micro plasma discharge. - Abstract: Bioactive surface modification can be used in a variety of medical polymeric materials in the fields of biochips and biosensors, artificial membranes, and vascular grafts. In this study, the surface modification of the inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) tubing was carried out to improve vascular grafts, which are made of biocompatible material for the human body in the medical field. Focus was centered on the cell attachment of the inner wall of the PTFE by sequential processes of hydrogen plasma treatment, hydrocarbon deposition, and reactive plasma treatment on the PFTE surface using micro plasma discharge. Micro plasma was generated by a medium-frequency alternating current high-voltage generator. The preliminary modification of PTFE was conducted by a plasma of hydrogen and argon gases. The hydrocarbon thin film was deposited on modified PTFE with a mixture of acetylene and argon gases. The reactive plasma treatment using oxygen plasma was done to give biocompatible functionality to the inner wall surface. The hydrophobic surface of bare PTFE is made hydrophilic by the reactive plasma treatment due to the formation of carbonyl groups on the surface. The reactive treatment could lead to improved attachment of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) on the modified PTFE tubing. Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle measurement were used for the analysis of the surface modification. The SMC-attached PTFE tube developed will be applicable to in vitro human vasculature

Bioactive surface modifications on inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene tubes using dielectric barrier discharge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, Yong Ki; Park, Daewon; Kim, Hoonbae; Lee, Hyerim; Park, Heonyong; Kim, Hong Ja; Jung, Donggeun

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • The surface modification of the inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) tubing was carried out to improve vascular grafts. • Focus was centered on the cell attachment of the inner wall of the PTFE by sequential processes of hydrogen plasma treatment, hydrocarbon deposition, and reactive plasma treatment using micro plasma discharge. - Abstract: Bioactive surface modification can be used in a variety of medical polymeric materials in the fields of biochips and biosensors, artificial membranes, and vascular grafts. In this study, the surface modification of the inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) tubing was carried out to improve vascular grafts, which are made of biocompatible material for the human body in the medical field. Focus was centered on the cell attachment of the inner wall of the PTFE by sequential processes of hydrogen plasma treatment, hydrocarbon deposition, and reactive plasma treatment on the PFTE surface using micro plasma discharge. Micro plasma was generated by a medium-frequency alternating current high-voltage generator. The preliminary modification of PTFE was conducted by a plasma of hydrogen and argon gases. The hydrocarbon thin film was deposited on modified PTFE with a mixture of acetylene and argon gases. The reactive plasma treatment using oxygen plasma was done to give biocompatible functionality to the inner wall surface. The hydrophobic surface of bare PTFE is made hydrophilic by the reactive plasma treatment due to the formation of carbonyl groups on the surface. The reactive treatment could lead to improved attachment of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) on the modified PTFE tubing. Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle measurement were used for the analysis of the surface modification. The SMC-attached PTFE tube developed will be applicable to in vitro human vasculature

Stress relieving procedure and facility by shot-peening the inside surface of NPP steam generators tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banica, I.; Maioru, H.

1994-01-01

Residual stress relieving of the transition zones between the deformed part and the non deformed part of the heat exchanger tubes expanded in tube sheets of the NPP equipment, is a technological problem attacked on international level as well as on national level through the continuing programme initiated by ICEMENERG. The most recent statistical data point out that over 75% of tube failures are taking place in the tube-to-tubesheet connection zone, a great number of them being produced in this area by intergranular attack and stress corrosion cracking. The increased occurrence of these incidents is explained first by the existence of residual stresses inside tube surfaces, induced by expanding the tubes. Relieving these residual stresses is the purpose of the outlined procedure and it is achieved by overlapping effects (compression stresses added over tensile stresses). In this paper aspects of the procedure are presented and also a facility is described for stress relieving by introducing compressive stresses from uniform and generalized collisions of the inside surface with micro balls of great kinetic energy carried by a pressurized gas. The stress relieving facility can be acted by remote control, the whole process being completely automatic. The procedure aims to the operation maintenance of the NPP steam generators. (Author)

Genetic, chromosomal, and syndromic causes of neural tube defects

Science.gov (United States)

Seidahmed, Mohammed Z.; Abdelbasit, Omer B.; Shaheed, Meeralebbae M.; Alhussein, Khalid A.; Miqdad, Abeer M.; Samadi, Abdulmohsen S.; Khalil, Mohammed I.; Al-Mardawi, Elham; Salih, Mustafa A.

2014-01-01

Objective: To ascertain the incidence, and describe the various forms of neural tube defects (NTDs) due to genetic, chromosomal, and syndromic causes. Methods: We carried out a retrospective analysis of data retrieved from the medical records of newborn infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with NTDs and their mothers spanning 14 years (1996-2009) at the Security Forces Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The cases were ascertained by a perinatologist, neonatologist, geneticist, radiologist, and neurologist. The literature was reviewed via a MEDLINE search. Only liveborn babies were included. Permission from the Educational Committee at the Security Forces Hospital was obtained prior to the collection of data. Results: Out of 103 infants with NTDs admitted during this period, 20 (19.4%) were found to have an underlying genetic syndromic, chromosomal and/or other anomalies. There were 5 cases of Meckel-Gruber syndrome, 2 Joubert syndrome, one Waardenburg syndrome, one Walker-Warburg syndrome, 2 chromosomal disorders, 2 caudal regression, one amniotic band disruption sequence, one associated with omphalocele, one with diaphragmatic hernia, and 4 with multiple congenital anomalies. Conclusions: There is a high rate of underlying genetic syndromic and/or chromosomal causes of NTDs in the Saudi Arabian population due to the high consanguinity rate. Identification of such association can lead to more accurate provisions of genetic counseling to the family including preimplantation genetic diagnosis or early termination of pregnancies associated with lethal conditions. PMID:25551112

U-tube based near-surface environmental monitoring in the Shenhua carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) project.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Qi; Song, Ranran; Shi, Hui; Ma, Jianli; Liu, Xuehao; Li, Xiaochun

2018-04-01

The CO 2 injected into deep formations during implementation of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) capture and storage (CCS) technology may leak and migrate into shallow aquifers or ground surfaces through a variety of pathways over a long period. The leaked CO 2 can threaten shallow environments as well as human health. Therefore, almost all monitoring programs for CCS projects around the world contain near-surface monitoring. This paper presents a U-tube based near-surface monitoring technology focusing on its first application in the Shenhua CCS demonstration project, located in the Ordos Basin, Inner Mongolia, China. First, background information on the site monitoring program of the Shenhua CCS demonstration project was provided. Then, the principle of fluid sampling and the monitoring methods were summarized for the U-tube sampler system, and the monitoring data were analyzed in detail. The U-tube based monitoring results showed that the U-tube sampler system is accurate, flexible, and representative of the subsurface fluid sampling process. The monitoring indicators for the subsurface water and soil gas at the Shenhua CCS site indicate good stratification characteristics. The concentration level of each monitoring indicator decreases with increasing depth. Finally, the significance of this near-surface environmental monitoring technology for CO 2 leakage assessments was preliminarily confirmed at the Shenhua CCS site. The application potential of the U-tube based monitoring technology was also demonstrated during the subsurface environmental monitoring of other CCS projects.

3D Surface Mapping of Capsule Fill-Tube Assemblies used in Laser-Driven Fusion Targets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buice, E S; Alger, E T; Antipa, N A; Bhandarkar, S D; Biesiada, T A; Conder, A D; Dzenitis, E G; Flegel, M S; Hamza, A V; Heinbockel, C L; Horner, J; Johnson, M A; Kegelmeyer, L M; Meyer, J S; Montesanti, R C; Reynolds, J L; Taylor, J S; Wegner, P J

2011-02-18

This paper presents the development of a 3D surface mapping system used to measure the surface of a fusion target Capsule Fill-Tube Assembly (CFTA). The CFTA consists of a hollow Ge-doped plastic sphere, called a capsule, ranging in outer diameter between 2.2 mm and 2.6 mm and an attached 150 {micro}m diameter glass-core fill-tube that tapers down to a 10{micro} diameter at the capsule. The mapping system is an enabling technology to facilitate a quality assurance program and to archive 3D surface information of each capsule used in fusion ignition experiments that are currently being performed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The 3D Surface Mapping System is designed to locate and quantify surface features with a height of 50 nm and 300 nm in width or larger. Additionally, the system will be calibrated such that the 3D measured surface can be related to the capsule surface angular coordinate system to within 0.25 degree (1{sigma}), which corresponds to approximately 5 {micro}m linear error on the capsule surface.

3D Surface Mapping of Capsule Fill-Tube Assemblies used in Laser-Driven Fusion Targets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Buice, E.S.; Alger, E.T.; Antipa, N.A.; Bhandarkar, S.D.; Biesiada, T.A.; Conder, A.D.; Dzenitis, E.G.; Flegel, M.S.; Hamza, A.V.; Heinbockel, C.L.; Horner, J.; Johnson, M.A.; Kegelmeyer, L.M.; Meyer, J.S.; Montesanti, R.C.; Reynolds, J.L.; Taylor, J.S.; Wegner, P.J.

2011-01-01

This paper presents the development of a 3D surface mapping system used to measure the surface of a fusion target Capsule Fill-Tube Assembly (CFTA). The CFTA consists of a hollow Ge-doped plastic sphere, called a capsule, ranging in outer diameter between 2.2 mm and 2.6 mm and an attached 150 (micro)m diameter glass-core fill-tube that tapers down to a 10(micro) diameter at the capsule. The mapping system is an enabling technology to facilitate a quality assurance program and to archive 3D surface information of each capsule used in fusion ignition experiments that are currently being performed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). The 3D Surface Mapping System is designed to locate and quantify surface features with a height of 50 nm and 300 nm in width or larger. Additionally, the system will be calibrated such that the 3D measured surface can be related to the capsule surface angular coordinate system to within 0.25 degree (1σ), which corresponds to approximately 5 (micro)m linear error on the capsule surface.

Maternal Antenatal Bereavement and Neural Tube Defect in Live-Born Offspring: A Cohort Study.

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Katja Glejsted Ingstrup

Full Text Available Maternal emotional stress during pregnancy has previously been associated with congenital neural malformations, but most studies are based on data collected retrospectively. The objective of our study was to investigate associations between antenatal maternal bereavement due to death of a close relative and neural tube defects (NTDs in the offspring.We performed a register-based cohort study including all live-born children (N = 1,734,190 from 1978-2008. Exposure was bereavement due to loss of a close relative from one year before conception to the end of the first trimester of pregnancy. The outcome was NTDs in the offspring according to the International Classification of Disease. We used multivariate logistic regression to estimate prevalence odds ratios (ORs.A total of 2% children were born to mothers who lost a close relative prenatally. During 30 years of follow-up, 1,115 children were diagnosed with any NTDs: spina bifida (n = 889, anencephaly (n = 85 and encephalocele (n = 164. And 23 children were diagnosed with two types of NTDs. Overall, when comparing bereaved mothers to non-bereaved mothers, no significant increased prevalence of NTDs in the offspring was seen (OR = 0.84; 95% confidence interval: 0.52-1.33.Overall maternal bereavement in the antenatal period was not related to NTDs in liveborn offspring.

Syndromes, Disorders and Maternal Risk Factors Associated with Neural Tube Defects (III

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Chih-Ping Chen

2008-06-01

Full Text Available Fetuses with neural tube defects (NTDs may be associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors associated with NTDs, such as omphalocele, OEIS (omphalocele-exstrophy-imperforate anus-spinal defects complex, pentalogy of Cantrell, amniotic band sequence, limb-body wall complex, Meckel syndrome, Joubert syndrome, skeletal dysplasia, diabetic embryopathy, and single nucleotide polymorphisms in genes of glucose metabolism. NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors are a rare but important cause of NTDs. The recurrence risk and the preventive effect of maternal folic acid intake in NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors may be different from those of nonsyndromic multi facto rial NTDs. Perinatal identification of NTDs should alert the clinician to the syndromes, disorders, and maternal and fetal risk factors associated with NTDs, and prompt a thorough etiologic investigation and genetic counseling. [Taiwan J Obstet Cynecol 2008;47(2:131-140

Syndromes, Disorders and Maternal Risk Factors Associated With Neural Tube Defects (VII

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Chih-Ping Chen

2008-09-01

Full Text Available Neural tube defects (NTDs may be associated with syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors. This article provides a comprehensive review of the syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, including DK phocomelia syndrome (von Voss-Cherstvoy syndrome, Siegel-Bartlet syndrome, fetal warfarin syndrome, craniotelencephalic dysplasia, Czeizel-Losonci syndrome, maternal cocaine abuse, Weissenbacher-Zweymüller syndrome, parietal foramina (cranium bifidum, Apert syndrome, craniomicromelic syndrome, XX-agonadism with multiple dysraphic lesions including omphalocele and NTDs, Fryns microphthalmia syndrome, Gershoni-Baruch syndrome, PHAVER syndrome, periconceptional vitamin B6 deficiency, and autosomal dominant Dandy-Walker malformation with occipital cephalocele. NTDs associated with these syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors are a rare but important cause of NTDs. The recurrence risk and the preventive effect of maternal folic acid intake in NTDs associated with syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors may be different from those of nonsyndromic multifactorial NTDs. Perinatal diagnosis of NTDs should alert doctors to the syndromes, disorders and maternal risk factors associated with NTDs, and prompt thorough etiologic investigation and genetic counseling.

Neural tube defects in Malaysia: data from the Malaysian National Neonatal Registry.

Science.gov (United States)

Boo, Nem-Yun; Cheah, Irene G S; Thong, Meow-Keong

2013-10-01

This study aimed to determine the prevalence and early outcome of neural tube defects (NTDs) in Malaysia. This prospective study included all neonates with NTDs (spina bifida, anencephaly, encephalocoele) born in 2009 in 32 Malaysian hospitals in the Malaysian National Neonatal Network. The prevalence of NTDs was 0.42 per 1000 live births, being highest among the indigenous people of Sarawak (1.09 per 1000 live births) and lowest among Malaysians of Chinese descent (0.09 per 1000 live births). The most common type of NTDs was anencephaly (0.19 per 1000 live births), followed by spina bifida (0.11 per 1000 live births) and encephalocoele (0.07 per 1000 live births). Majority of the infants with anencephaly (94.5%, n = 51), 45.8% (n = 11) with encephalocoele and 9.5% (n = 4) with spina bifida died. The median duration of hospital stay was 4 (range: 0-161) days. NTDs were common in Malaysia. Mortality was high. Long-term monitoring of NTD prevalence following folic fortification of food is recommended.

Disostose espôndilo-costal associada a defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural Spondylocostal dysostosis associated with neural tube defects

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Rafael Fabiano M. Rosa

2009-09-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Salientar a relação dos defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural com a disostose espôndilo-costal (DEC por meio da descrição de três pacientes. DESCRIÇÃO DOS CASOS: Paciente 1: menina branca, 22 meses, nascida com mielomeningocele lombar. Na avaliação, apresentava hipotonia, baixa estatura, dolicocefalia, fendas palpebrais oblíquas para cima, pregas epicânticas e tronco curto com tórax assimétrico. A avaliação radiográfica revelou hemivértebras múltiplas, vértebras em borboleta e fusão e ausência de algumas costelas. Paciente 2: menina branca, 22 meses, com moderado atraso do desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor, baixa estatura, olhos profundos, pregas epicânticas, pescoço e tronco curtos com assimetria do tórax, abdome protruso, hemangioma plano na altura da transição lombossacra e fosseta sacral profunda no dorso. A avaliação radiográfica identificou hemivértebras, fusão incompleta de vértebras e vértebras em borboleta, malformações de costelas e espinha bífida oculta em L5/S1. Paciente 3: menina branca, 9 dias de vida, com fendas palpebrais oblíquas para cima, ponte nasal alargada, orelhas baixo implantadas e rotadas posteriormente, tronco curto, tórax assimétrico e meningocele tóraco-lombar. A avaliação radiográfica evidenciou hemivértebras, malformação e ausência de algumas costelas e agenesia diafragmática à esquerda. A tomografia computadorizada de encéfalo mostrou estenose de aqueduto. COMENTÁRIOS: Vários defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural, de espinha bífida oculta a grandes mielomeningoceles, são observados em pacientes com DEC, indicando que tais pacientes devem ser cuidadosamente avaliados quanto à possível presença desses defeitos.OBJECTIVE: To highlight the relationship between neural tube defects and spondylocostal dysostosis (SCD through the description of three patients. CASES DESCRIPTION: Patient 1: white girl, 22 months old, born with a lumbar meningomyelocele. At

Radioimmunoassay of alpha-foetoprotein in the eluate of dried blood. A method for antenatal screening of neural tube defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Travert, G.; Herlicoviez, M.; Laroche, D.

1979-01-01

A radioimmunoassay for alpha-foetoprotein (AFP) in dried blood spots is reported. The main technical characteristics (reproducibility, sensitivity, recovery of exogenous AFP added and AFP stability in dried blood) are evaluated. They indicate that this method is feasible and well adapted to AFP measurement during pregnancy. AFP determination in maternal serum allows early detection of at least 80% of neural tube defects. The use of dried blood spots as samples for AFP assay makes our method a possible mass screening test for these malformations, which occur with an incidence of 12 for 10,000 [fr

High glucose-induced oxidative stress represses sirtuin deacetylase expression and increases histone acetylation leading to neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jingwen; Wu, Yanqing; Yang, Peixin

2016-05-01

Aberrant epigenetic modifications are implicated in maternal diabetes-induced neural tube defects (NTDs). Because cellular stress plays a causal role in diabetic embryopathy, we investigated the possible role of the stress-resistant sirtuin (SIRT) family histone deacetylases. Among the seven sirtuins (SIRT1-7), pre-gestational maternal diabetes in vivo or high glucose in vitro significantly reduced the expression of SIRT 2 and SIRT6 in the embryo or neural stem cells, respectively. The down-regulation of SIRT2 and SIRT6 was reversed by superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) over-expression in the in vivo mouse model of diabetic embryopathy and the SOD mimetic, tempol and cell permeable SOD, PEGSOD in neural stem cell cultures. 2,3-dimethoxy-1,4-naphthoquinone (DMNQ), a superoxide generating agent, mimicked high glucose-suppressed SIRT2 and SIRT6 expression. The acetylation of histone 3 at lysine residues 56 (H3K56), H3K14, H3K9, and H3K27, putative substrates of SIRT2 and SIRT6, was increased by maternal diabetes in vivo or high glucose in vitro, and these increases were blocked by SOD1 over-expression or tempol treatment. SIRT2 or SIRT6 over-expression abrogated high glucose-suppressed SIRT2 or SIRT6 expression, and prevented the increase in acetylation of their histone substrates. The potent sirtuin activator (SRT1720) blocked high glucose-increased histone acetylation and NTD formation, whereas the combination of a pharmacological SIRT2 inhibitor and a pan SIRT inhibitor mimicked the effect of high glucose on increased histone acetylation and NTD induction. Thus, diabetes in vivo or high glucose in vitro suppresses SIRT2 and SIRT6 expression through oxidative stress, and sirtuin down-regulation-induced histone acetylation may be involved in diabetes-induced NTDs. The mechanism underlying pre-gestational diabetes-induced neural tube defects (NTDs) is still elusive. Our study unravels a new epigenetic mechanism in which maternal diabetes-induced oxidative stress represses

Nutrition, One-Carbon Metabolism and Neural Tube Defects: A Review

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Kelei Li

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Neural tube defects (NTDs are a group of severe congenital malformations, induced by the combined effects of genes and the environment. The most valuable finding so far has been the protective effect of folic acid supplementation against NTDs. However, many women do not take folic acid supplements until they are pregnant, which is too late to prevent NTDs effectively. Long-term intake of folic acid–fortified food is a good choice to solve this problem, and mandatory folic acid fortification should be further promoted, especially in Europe, Asia and Africa. Vitamin B2, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12, choline, betaine and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs can also reduce the NTD risk by interacting with the one-carbon metabolism pathway. This suggest that multivitamin B combined with choline, betaine and n-3 PUFAs supplementation may have a better protective effect against NTDs than folic acid alone. Genetic polymorphisms involved in one-carbon metabolism are associated with NTD risk, and gene screening for women of childbearing age prior to pregnancy may help prevent NTDs induced by the risk allele. In addition, the consumption of alcohol, tea and coffee, and low intakes of fruit and vegetable are also associated with the increased risk of NTDs, and should be avoided by women of childbearing age.

Thermal performance of a spirally coiled finned tube heat exchanger under wet-surface conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wongwises, Somchai; Naphon, Paisarn

2006-01-01

This paper is a continuation of the author's previous work on spiral coil heat exchangers. In the present study, the heat transfer characteristics and the performance of a spirally coiled finned tube heat exchanger under wet-surface conditions are theoretically and experimentally investigated. The test section is a spiral-coil heat exchanger which consists of a steel shell and a spirally coiled tube unit. The spiral-coil unit consists of six layers of concentric spirally coiled finned tubes. Each tube is fabricated by bending a 9.6 mm diameter straight copper tube into a spiral-coil of four turns. The innermost and outermost diameters of each spiral-coil are 145.0 and 350.4 mm, respectively. Aluminium crimped spiral fins with thickness of 0.6 mm and outer diameter of 28.4 mm are placed around the tube. The edge of fin at the inner diameter is corrugated. Air and water are used as working fluids in shell side and tube side, respectively. The experiments are done under dehumidifying conditions. A mathematical model based on the conservation of mass and energy is developed to simulate the flow and heat transfer characteristics of working fluids flowing through the heat exchanger. The results obtained from the present model show reasonable agreement with the experimental data

A Study on Condensation Heat Transfer at the Exterior Surface of S.A.M. Coated Titanium Tube Using in Steam Condensers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Im, Sung-Gu; Lee, Sang-Hyup; Ji, Dae-Yun; Park, Hyun-Gyu; Lee, Kwon-Yeong [Handong Global University, Pohang (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

Condensation occurs when the temperature of a steam is reduced below its saturation temperature. There exist two forms of condensation on cooling surface: dropwise, and film condensations. Usually, dropwise condensation has a better heat transfer performance than film condensation, but it has limit of short period. Ma et al. executed heat transfer experiment in dropwise condensation with non-condensable gas, and studied how the amount of air and pressure difference affect condensation heat transfer coefficient. The more non-condensable gas exist, the condensation heat transfer coefficient is decreased. As a result, surface modified brass tube and stainless tube showed higher condensation heat transfer coefficient as much as 1.3 and 1.4 times comparing with their bare tubes in 70 kPa vacuum condition respectively. Most of power plants use sea water as coolant, so the surface of metal tubes could be corroded by the coolant. We had researched an experimental study related to condensation heat transfer on surface modified titanium tube. Our experimental facility was designed to show how two kinds of tube's heat transfer performances are different in a same condition. We changed the range of saturation pressure and coolant flow rate to observe tube's performance change. When saturation pressure and coolant flow rate increase, overall heat transfer coefficients were increased. When residue of non-condensable gases was decreased, the overall heat transfer coefficients were increased. S.A.M. coated tube's overall heat transfer coefficients were lower than those of bare tube, because the droplets didn't have a tendency of frequently falling down.

Genome-wide association mapping in dogs enables identification of the homeobox gene, NKX2-8, as a genetic component of neural tube defects in humans.

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Noa Safra

Full Text Available Neural tube defects (NTDs is a general term for central nervous system malformations secondary to a failure of closure or development of the neural tube. The resulting pathologies may involve the brain, spinal cord and/or vertebral column, in addition to associated structures such as soft tissue or skin. The condition is reported among the more common birth defects in humans, leading to significant infant morbidity and mortality. The etiology remains poorly understood but genetic, nutritional, environmental factors, or a combination of these, are known to play a role in the development of NTDs. The variable conditions associated with NTDs occur naturally in dogs, and have been previously reported in the Weimaraner breed. Taking advantage of the strong linkage-disequilibrium within dog breeds we performed genome-wide association analysis and mapped a genomic region for spinal dysraphism, a presumed NTD, using 4 affected and 96 unaffected Weimaraners. The associated region on canine chromosome 8 (pgenome  =3.0 × 10(-5, after 100,000 permutations, encodes 18 genes, including NKX2-8, a homeobox gene which is expressed in the developing neural tube. Sequencing NKX2-8 in affected Weimaraners revealed a G to AA frameshift mutation within exon 2 of the gene, resulting in a premature stop codon that is predicted to produce a truncated protein. The exons of NKX2-8 were sequenced in human patients with spina bifida and rare variants (rs61755040 and rs10135525 were found to be significantly over-represented (p=0.036. This is the first documentation of a potential role for NKX2-8 in the etiology of NTDs, made possible by investigating the molecular basis of naturally occurring mutations in dogs.

Use of CATHENA to model calandria-tube/moderator heat transfer after pressure-tube/calandria-tube ballooning contact

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fan, H.Z.; Bilanovic, Z.; Nitheanandan, T.

2004-01-01

A study was performed to assess the effect of the calandria-tube/moderator heat transfer after pressure-tube/calandria tube ballooning contact using CATHENA. Results of this study indicated that the analytical tool, CATHENA, can be applied for pool boiling heat transfer on the external surface of a large diameter tube, such as the calandria tube used in CANDU reactors. The methodology in such CANDU-generic study can be used to simulate the tube surface with multiple boiling regimes and to assess the benefits of closely coupling thermalhydraulics modelling and fuel/fuel channel behaviour modelling. CATHENA (Canadian Algorithm for THErmalhydraulic Network Analysis) is a one-dimensional, two-fluid thermalhydraulic simulation code designed by AECL to analyse two-phase flow and heat transfer in piping networks. The detailed heat transfer package in CATHENA allows a connection to be established from the multiple solid surfaces of tubes to the surrounding large amount of moderator water, which acts as a heat sink during a postulated loss of coolant event. The generalized heat transfer package within CATHENA allows the tube walls to be divided into several layers in the radial direction and several sectors in the circumferential direction, to account for heat transfer conditions in these two directions. The CATHENA code with the generalized heat transfer package is capable of capturing key pool-boiling phenomena such as nucleate, transition and film boiling heat transfer as well as an ability to model the rewet phenomenon to some extent. A CATHENA input model was generated and used in simulations of selected contact boiling experiment test cases. The transient wall temperatures have been calculated in different portions of the calandria tube. By using this model an adequate agreement was achieved between CATHENA calculation and experimental measurement The CATHENA code enables one to investigate the transient and local thermal-mechanical behaviour of the calandria tube

Folic acid and pantothenic acid protection against valproic acid-induced neural tube defects in CD-1 mice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dawson, Jennifer E [Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and School of Environmental Studies, Queen' s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada); Raymond, Angela M [Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and School of Environmental Studies, Queen' s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada); Winn, Louise M [Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and School of Environmental Studies, Queen' s University, Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6 (Canada)

2006-03-01

In utero exposure to valproic acid (VPA) during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of neural tube defects (NTDs). Although the mechanism by which VPA mediates these effects is unknown, VPA-initiated changes in embryonic protein levels have been implicated. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of in utero VPA exposure on embryonic protein levels of p53, NF-{kappa}B, Pim-1, c-Myb, Bax, and Bcl-2 in the CD-1 mouse. We also evaluated the protective effects of folic acid and pantothenic acid on VPA-induced NTDs and VPA-induced embryonic protein changes in this model. Pregnant CD-1 mice were administered a teratogenic dose of VPA prior to neural tube closure and embryonic protein levels were analyzed. In our study, VPA (400 mg/kg)-induced NTDs (24%) and VPA-exposed embryos with an NTD showed a 2-fold increase in p53, and 4-fold decreases in NF-{kappa}B, Pim-1, and c-Myb protein levels compared to their phenotypically normal littermates (P < 0.05). Additionally, VPA increased the ratio of embryonic Bax/Bcl-2 protein levels (P < 0.05). Pretreatment of pregnant dams with either folic acid or pantothenic acid prior to VPA significantly protected against VPA-induced NTDs (P < 0.05). Folic acid also reduced VPA-induced alterations in p53, NF-{kappa}B, Pim-1, c-Myb, and Bax/Bcl-2 protein levels, while pantothenic acid prevented VPA-induced alterations in NF-{kappa}B, Pim-1, and c-Myb. We hypothesize that folic acid and pantothenic acid protect CD-1 embryos from VPA-induced NTDs by independent, but not mutually exclusive mechanisms, both of which may be mediated by the prevention of VPA-induced alterations in proteins involved in neurulation.

A Neural Network Approach to Fluid Quantity Measurement in Dynamic Environments

CERN Document Server

Terzic, Edin; Nagarajah, Romesh; Alamgir, Muhammad

2012-01-01

Sloshing causes liquid to fluctuate, making accurate level readings difficult to obtain in dynamic environments. The measurement system described uses a single-tube capacitive sensor to obtain an instantaneous level reading of the fluid surface, thereby accurately determining the fluid quantity in the presence of slosh. A neural network based classification technique has been applied to predict the actual quantity of the fluid contained in a tank under sloshing conditions.   In A neural network approach to fluid quantity measurement in dynamic environments, effects of temperature variations and contamination on the capacitive sensor are discussed, and the authors propose that these effects can also be eliminated with the proposed neural network based classification system. To examine the performance of the classification system, many field trials were carried out on a running vehicle at various tank volume levels that range from 5 L to 50 L. The effectiveness of signal enhancement on the neural network base...

X-ray tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Webley, R.S.

1975-01-01

The object of the invention described is to provide an X-ray tube providing a scanned X-ray output which does not require a scanned electron beam. This is obtained by an X-ray tube including an anode which is rotatable about an axis, and a source of a beam of energy, for example an electron beam, arranged to impinge on a surface of the anode to generate X-radiation substantially at the region of incidence on the anode surface. The anode is rotatable about the axis to move the region of incidence over the surface. The anode is so shaped that the rotation causes the region of incidence to move in a predetermined manner relative to fixed parts of the tube so that the generated X-radiation is scanned in a predetermined manner relative to the tube. (UK)

Neural network committees for finger joint angle estimation from surface EMG signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Reddy Narender P

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background In virtual reality (VR systems, the user's finger and hand positions are sensed and used to control the virtual environments. Direct biocontrol of VR environments using surface electromyography (SEMG signals may be more synergistic and unconstraining to the user. The purpose of the present investigation was to develop a technique to predict the finger joint angle from the surface EMG measurements of the extensor muscle using neural network models. Methodology SEMG together with the actual joint angle measurements were obtained while the subject was performing flexion-extension rotation of the index finger at three speeds. Several neural networks were trained to predict the joint angle from the parameters extracted from the SEMG signals. The best networks were selected to form six committees. The neural network committees were evaluated using data from new subjects. Results There was hysteresis in the measured SMEG signals during the flexion-extension cycle. However, neural network committees were able to predict the joint angle with reasonable accuracy. RMS errors ranged from 0.085 ± 0.036 for fast speed finger-extension to 0.147 ± 0.026 for slow speed finger extension, and from 0.098 ± 0.023 for the fast speed finger flexion to 0.163 ± 0.054 for slow speed finger flexion. Conclusion Although hysteresis was observed in the measured SEMG signals, the committees of neural networks were able to predict the finger joint angle from SEMG signals.

Surface chemistry interventions to control boiler tube fouling

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, C.W.; Guzonas, D.A.; Klimas, S.J.

2000-06-01

The adsorption of ammonia, morpholine, ethanolamine, and dimethylamine onto the surfaces of colloidal magnetite and hematite was measured at 25 o C. The effect of the adsorption on the surface potential was quantified by measuring the resulting shift in the isoelectric point of the corrosion products and by the direct measurement of the surface interaction force between the corrosion products and Inconel 600. These measurements have served to support the hypothesis that adsorption of amine affects the magnetite deposition rate by lowering the force of repulsion between magnetite and the surface of Inconel 600. The deposition rate of hematite increased as the oxygen concentration increased. A mechanism to account for enhanced deposition rates at high mixture qualities (> 0.35) has been identified and shown to predict behaviour that is consistent with both experimental and plant data. As a result of this investigation, several criteria are proposed to reduce the extent of corrosion product deposition on the tube bundle. Low hematite deposition is favoured by a low concentration of dissolved oxygen, and low magnetite deposition is favoured by choosing an amine for pH control that has little tendency to adsorb onto the surface of magnetite. To minimize adsorption the amine should have a high base strength and a large 'footprint' on the surface of magnetite. To prevent enhanced deposition at high mixture qualities, it is proposed that a modified amine be used that will reduce the surface tension or the elasticity of the steam-water interface or both

Surface chemistry interventions to control boiler tube fouling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Turner, C.W.; Guzonas, D.A.; Klimas, S.J

2000-06-01

The adsorption of ammonia, morpholine, ethanolamine, and dimethylamine onto the surfaces of colloidal magnetite and hematite was measured at 25{sup o}C. The effect of the adsorption on the surface potential was quantified by measuring the resulting shift in the isoelectric point of the corrosion products and by the direct measurement of the surface interaction force between the corrosion products and Inconel 600. These measurements have served to support the hypothesis that adsorption of amine affects the magnetite deposition rate by lowering the force of repulsion between magnetite and the surface of Inconel 600. The deposition rate of hematite increased as the oxygen concentration increased. A mechanism to account for enhanced deposition rates at high mixture qualities (> 0.35) has been identified and shown to predict behaviour that is consistent with both experimental and plant data. As a result of this investigation, several criteria are proposed to reduce the extent of corrosion product deposition on the tube bundle. Low hematite deposition is favoured by a low concentration of dissolved oxygen, and low magnetite deposition is favoured by choosing an amine for pH control that has little tendency to adsorb onto the surface of magnetite. To minimize adsorption the amine should have a high base strength and a large 'footprint' on the surface of magnetite. To prevent enhanced deposition at high mixture qualities, it is proposed that a modified amine be used that will reduce the surface tension or the elasticity of the steam-water interface or both.

HETEROGENEITY OF NEURAL-TUBE DEFECTS IN EUROPE - THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SITE OF DEFECT AND PRESENCE OF OTHER MAJOR ANOMALIES IN RELATION TO GEOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN PREVALENCE

NARCIS (Netherlands)

DOLK, H; DEWALS, P; GILLEROT, Y; LECHAT, MF; AYME, S; CORNEL, M; CUSCHIERI, A; GARNE, E; GOUJARD, J; LAURENCE, KM; LILLIS, D; LYS, F; NEVIN, N; OWENS, J; RADIC, A; STOLL, C; STONE, D; TENKATE, L

1991-01-01

In the period 1980-1987, neural tube defects were two to three times more prevalent in populations covered by EUROCAT registries in the United Kingdom and Ireland (UKI) than in Continental Europe and Malta (CEM). 1864 NTD cases in a total population of 580,000 births in UKI and 455 cases in a

Resolution of lava tubes with ground penetrating radar: preliminary results from the TubeX project

Science.gov (United States)

Esmaeili, S.; Kruse, S.; Garry, W. B.; Whelley, P.; Young, K.; Jazayeri, S.; Bell, E.; Paylor, R.

2017-12-01

As early as the mid 1970's it was postulated that planetary tubes or caves on other planetary bodies (i.e., the Moon or Mars) could provide safe havens for human crews, protect life and shield equipment from harmful radiation, rapidly fluctuating surface temperatures, and even meteorite impacts. What is not clear, however, are the exploration methods necessary to evaluate a potential tube-rich environment to locate suitable tubes suitable for human habitation. We seek to address this knowledge gap using a suite of instruments to detect and document tubes in a terrestrial analog study at Lava Beds National Monument, California, USA. Here we describe the results of ground penetrating radar (GPR) profiles and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) scans. Surveys were conducted from the surface and within four lava tubes (Hercules Leg, Skull, Valentine and, Indian Well Caves) with varying flow composition, shape, and complexity. Results are shown across segments of these tubes where the tubes are 10 m in height and the ceilings are 1 - 10 m below the surface. The GPR profiles over the tubes are, as expected, complex, due to scattering from fractures in roof material and three-dimensional heterogeneities. Point clouds derived from the LiDAR scans of both the interior and exterior of the lava tubes provide precise positioning of the tube geometry and depth of the ceiling and floor with respect to the surface topography. GPR profiles over LiDAR-mapped tube cross-sections are presented and compared against synthetic models of radar response to the measured geometry. This comparison will help to better understand the origins of characteristic features in the radar profiles. We seek to identify the optimal data processing and migration approaches to aid lava tube exploration of planetary surfaces.

Electron tube

Science.gov (United States)

Suyama, Motohiro [Hamamatsu, JP; Fukasawa, Atsuhito [Hamamatsu, JP; Arisaka, Katsushi [Los Angeles, CA; Wang, Hanguo [North Hills, CA

2011-12-20

An electron tube of the present invention includes: a vacuum vessel including a face plate portion made of synthetic silica and having a surface on which a photoelectric surface is provided, a stem portion arranged facing the photoelectric surface and made of synthetic silica, and a side tube portion having one end connected to the face plate portion and the other end connected to the stem portion and made of synthetic silica; a projection portion arranged in the vacuum vessel, extending from the stem portion toward the photoelectric surface, and made of synthetic silica; and an electron detector arranged on the projection portion, for detecting electrons from the photoelectric surface, and made of silicon.

Simultaneous and long-lasting hydrophilization of inner and outer wall surfaces of polytetrafluoroethylene tubes by transferring atmospheric pressure plasmas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Faze; Song, Jinlong; Huang, Shuai; Xu, Wenji; Sun, Jing; Liu, Xin; Xu, Sihao; Xia, Guangqing; Yang, Dezheng

2016-01-01

Plasma hydrophilization is a general method to increase the surface free energy of materials. However, only a few works about plasma modification focus on the hydrophilization of tube inner and outer walls. In this paper, we realize simultaneous and long-lasting plasma hydrophilization on the inner and outer walls of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tubes by atmospheric pressure plasmas (APPs). Specifically, an Ar atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is used to modify the PTFE tube’s outer wall and meanwhile to induce transferred He APP inside the PTFE tube to modify its inner wall surface. The optical emission spectrum (OES) shows that the plasmas contain many chemically active species, which are known as enablers for various applications. Water contact angle (WCA) measurements, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) are used to characterize the plasma hydrophilization. Results demonstrate that the wettability of the tube walls are well improved due to the replacement of the surface fluorine by oxygen and the change of surface roughness. The obtained hydrophilicity decreases slowly during more than 180 d aging, indicating a long-lasting hydrophilization. The results presented here clearly demonstrate the great potential of transferring APPs for surface modification of the tube’s inner and outer walls simultaneously. (paper)

Ethanol-induced impairment of polyamine homeostasis – A potential cause of neural tube defect and intrauterine growth restriction in fetal alcohol syndrome

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haghighi Poodeh, Saeid; Alhonen, Leena; Salonurmi, Tuire; Savolainen, Markku J.

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Polyamine pools in embryonic and extraembryonic tissues are developmentally regulated. • Alcohol administration perturbs polyamine levels in the tissues with various patterns. • Total absence of polyamines in the embryo head at 9.5 dpc is critical for development. • The deficiency is associated with reduction in endothelial cell sprouting in the head. • Retarded migration of neural crest cells may cause development of neural tube defect. - Abstract: Introduction: Polyamines play a fundamental role during embryogenesis by regulating cell growth and proliferation and by interacting with RNA, DNA and protein. The polyamine pools are regulated by metabolism and uptake from exogenous sources. The use of certain inhibitors of polyamine synthesis causes similar defects to those seen in alcohol exposure e.g. retarded embryo growth and endothelial cell sprouting. Methods: CD-1 mice received two intraperitoneal injections of 3 g/kg ethanol at 4 h intervals 8.75 days post coitum (dpc). The fetal head, trunk, yolk sac and placenta were collected at 9.5 and 12.5 dpc and polyamine concentrations were determined. Results: No measurable quantity of polyamines could be detected in the embryo head at 9.5 dpc, 12 h after ethanol exposure. Putrescine was not detectable in the trunk of the embryo at that time, whereas polyamines in yolk sac and placenta were at control level. Polyamine deficiency was associated with slow cell growth, reduction in endothelial cell sprouting, an altered pattern of blood vessel network formation and consequently retarded migration of neural crest cells and growth restriction. Discussion: Our results indicate that the polyamine pools in embryonic and extraembryonic tissues are developmentally regulated. Alcohol administration, at the critical stage, perturbs polyamine levels with various patterns, depending on the tissue and its developmental stage. The total absence of polyamines in the embryo head at 9.5 dpc may explain why this

Ethanol-induced impairment of polyamine homeostasis – A potential cause of neural tube defect and intrauterine growth restriction in fetal alcohol syndrome

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Haghighi Poodeh, Saeid, E-mail: saeid.haghighi@oulu.fi [Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu (Finland); Medical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu (Finland); Alhonen, Leena [Department of Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine, A.I. Virtanen Institute for Molecular Sciences, Kuopio (Finland); School of Pharmacy, Biocenter Kuopio, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio (Finland); Salonurmi, Tuire; Savolainen, Markku J. [Institute of Clinical Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, and Biocenter Oulu, University of Oulu, Oulu (Finland); Medical Research Center, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu (Finland)

2014-03-28

Highlights: • Polyamine pools in embryonic and extraembryonic tissues are developmentally regulated. • Alcohol administration perturbs polyamine levels in the tissues with various patterns. • Total absence of polyamines in the embryo head at 9.5 dpc is critical for development. • The deficiency is associated with reduction in endothelial cell sprouting in the head. • Retarded migration of neural crest cells may cause development of neural tube defect. - Abstract: Introduction: Polyamines play a fundamental role during embryogenesis by regulating cell growth and proliferation and by interacting with RNA, DNA and protein. The polyamine pools are regulated by metabolism and uptake from exogenous sources. The use of certain inhibitors of polyamine synthesis causes similar defects to those seen in alcohol exposure e.g. retarded embryo growth and endothelial cell sprouting. Methods: CD-1 mice received two intraperitoneal injections of 3 g/kg ethanol at 4 h intervals 8.75 days post coitum (dpc). The fetal head, trunk, yolk sac and placenta were collected at 9.5 and 12.5 dpc and polyamine concentrations were determined. Results: No measurable quantity of polyamines could be detected in the embryo head at 9.5 dpc, 12 h after ethanol exposure. Putrescine was not detectable in the trunk of the embryo at that time, whereas polyamines in yolk sac and placenta were at control level. Polyamine deficiency was associated with slow cell growth, reduction in endothelial cell sprouting, an altered pattern of blood vessel network formation and consequently retarded migration of neural crest cells and growth restriction. Discussion: Our results indicate that the polyamine pools in embryonic and extraembryonic tissues are developmentally regulated. Alcohol administration, at the critical stage, perturbs polyamine levels with various patterns, depending on the tissue and its developmental stage. The total absence of polyamines in the embryo head at 9.5 dpc may explain why this

Deep convolutional neural networks for detection of rail surface defects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Faghih Roohi, S.; Hajizadeh, S.; Nunez Vicencio, Alfredo; Babuska, R.; De Schutter, B.H.K.; Estevez, Pablo A.; Angelov, Plamen P.; Del Moral Hernandez, Emilio

2016-01-01

In this paper, we propose a deep convolutional neural network solution to the analysis of image data for the detection of rail surface defects. The images are obtained from many hours of automated video recordings. This huge amount of data makes it impossible to manually inspect the images and

Bioactive surface modifications on inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene tubes using dielectric barrier discharge

Science.gov (United States)

Cho, Yong Ki; Park, Daewon; Kim, Hoonbae; Lee, Hyerim; Park, Heonyong; Kim, Hong Ja; Jung, Donggeun

2014-03-01

Bioactive surface modification can be used in a variety of medical polymeric materials in the fields of biochips and biosensors, artificial membranes, and vascular grafts. In this study, the surface modification of the inner walls of poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE) tubing was carried out to improve vascular grafts, which are made of biocompatible material for the human body in the medical field. Focus was centered on the cell attachment of the inner wall of the PTFE by sequential processes of hydrogen plasma treatment, hydrocarbon deposition, and reactive plasma treatment on the PFTE surface using micro plasma discharge. Micro plasma was generated by a medium-frequency alternating current high-voltage generator. The preliminary modification of PTFE was conducted by a plasma of hydrogen and argon gases. The hydrocarbon thin film was deposited on modified PTFE with a mixture of acetylene and argon gases. The reactive plasma treatment using oxygen plasma was done to give biocompatible functionality to the inner wall surface. The hydrophobic surface of bare PTFE is made hydrophilic by the reactive plasma treatment due to the formation of carbonyl groups on the surface. The reactive treatment could lead to improved attachment of smooth muscle cells (SMCs) on the modified PTFE tubing. Fourier transform infrared absorption spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and water contact angle measurement were used for the analysis of the surface modification. The SMC-attached PTFE tube developed will be applicable to in vitro human vasculature-mimetic model systems, and to medical vascular grafts.

Quick Detection of Contaminants Leaching from Polypropylene Centrifuge Tube with Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy and Ultra Violet Absorption Spectroscopy

OpenAIRE

Xu, Zhida; Liu, Logan

2014-01-01

Anomalous surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) peaks are identified for liquid sample stored in polypropylene centrifuge tubes (PP tube) for months. We observed the unexpected Raman peaks during experiments for Thiamine Hydrochloride aqueous solution stored in PP tube for two months. In order to identify the contaminants we have performed SERS experiments for de-ionized water (DI water) stored in polypropylene centrifuge tube for two months and compared them with fresh DI water sample. We...

The novel mouse mutant, chuzhoi, has disruption of Ptk7 protein and exhibits defects in neural tube, heart and lung development and abnormal planar cell polarity in the ear

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paudyal Anju

2010-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The planar cell polarity (PCP signalling pathway is fundamental to a number of key developmental events, including initiation of neural tube closure. Disruption of the PCP pathway causes the severe neural tube defect of craniorachischisis, in which almost the entire brain and spinal cord fails to close. Identification of mouse mutants with craniorachischisis has proven a powerful way of identifying molecules that are components or regulators of the PCP pathway. In addition, identification of an allelic series of mutants, including hypomorphs and neomorphs in addition to complete nulls, can provide novel genetic tools to help elucidate the function of the PCP proteins. Results We report the identification of a new N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU-induced mutant with craniorachischisis, which we have named chuzhoi (chz. We demonstrate that chuzhoi mutant embryos fail to undergo initiation of neural tube closure, and have characteristics consistent with defective convergent extension. These characteristics include a broadened midline and reduced rate of increase of their length-to-width ratio. In addition, we demonstrate disruption in the orientation of outer hair cells in the inner ear, and defects in heart and lung development in chuzhoi mutants. We demonstrate a genetic interaction between chuzhoi mutants and both Vangl2Lp and Celsr1Crsh mutants, strengthening the hypothesis that chuzhoi is involved in regulating the PCP pathway. We demonstrate that chuzhoi maps to Chromosome 17 and carries a splice site mutation in Ptk7. This mutation results in the insertion of three amino acids into the Ptk7 protein and causes disruption of Ptk7 protein expression in chuzhoi mutants. Conclusions The chuzhoi mutant provides an additional genetic resource to help investigate the developmental basis of several congenital abnormalities including neural tube, heart and lung defects and their relationship to disruption of PCP. The chuzhoi mutation

Mortalidad por defectos del tubo neural en México, 1980-1997 Mortality due to neural tube defects in Mexico, 1980-1997

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José A Ramírez-Espitia

2003-10-01

Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Describir la mortalidad en México por defectos del tubo neural, durante el periodo 1980-1997. MATERIAL Y MÉTODOS: Las tasas anuales de mortalidad estatales y nacionales, por defectos del tubo neural, se calcularon por 10 000 nacidos vivos. La tendencia temporal fue evaluada por el porcentaje de cambio anual obtenido mediante un modelo de regresión de Poisson. Se calculó la razón de mortalidad, tomando la media nacional como referencia. Las tasas y las razones se representaron gráficamente en mapas. RESULTADOS: Durante el periodo la tasa bruta de mortalidad por defectos del tubo neural fue de 5.8 por 10 000 nacidos vivos. La anencefalia fue el tipo de defecto más frecuente (37.7%, seguida de la espina bífida sin hidrocefalia (31.6%. La tendencia nacional de la mortalidad por defectos del tubo neural fue ascendente entre 1980 y 1990 (porcentaje de cambio anual 7.5 IC 95% 6.5, 8.6 y descendente entre 1990-1997 (porcentaje de cambio anual -2.3 IC 95% -3.6, -0.9. CONCLUSIONES: Las altas tasas de mortalidad por defectos del tubo neural fueron debidas principalmente a la elevada frecuencia de las anencefalias. El incremento observado parece no ser sólo atribuible a cuestiones puramente diagnósticas o de mejora en los registros. La influencia de factores asociados a estos defectos, como determinados polimorfismos genéticos, la deficiencia de ácido fólico, la obesidad materna, la exposición laboral a plaguicidas y la pobreza deberán evaluarse mediante estudios específicos.OBJECTIVE: To describe the mortality due to neural tube defects (NTD in Mexico for the 1980-1997 period. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The annual NTD mortality rates per 10000 liveborn infants were calculated by state and for the country. The time trend was evaluated with the annual percent change (APC obtained using a Poisson regression model. The NTD mortality ratio was calculated using the average national rate as reference. NTD mortality rates and ratios were

Modulation of nuclear factor-κB signaling and reduction of neural tube defects by quercetin-3-glucoside in embryos of diabetic mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Chengyu; Meng, Fantong; Reece, E Albert; Zhao, Zhiyong

2018-05-04

Diabetes mellitus in early pregnancy increases the risk of birth defects in infants. Maternal hyperglycemia stimulates the expression of nitric oxide (NO) synthase 2 (NOS2), which can be regulated by transcription factors of the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) family. Increases in reactive nitrogen species (RNS) generate intracellular stress conditions, including nitrosative, oxidative, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stresses, and trigger programmed cell death (or apoptosis) in the neural folds, resulting in neural tube defects (NTDs) in the embryo. Inhibiting NOS2 can reduce NTDs; however, the underlying mechanisms require further delineation. Targeting NOS2 and associated nitrosative stress using naturally occurring phytochemicals is a potential approach to preventing birth defects in diabetic pregnancies. This study aims to investigate the effect of quercetin-3-glucoside (Q3G), a polyphenol flavonoid found in fruit, in reducing maternal diabetes-induced NTDs in an animal model, and to delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying Q3G action in regulating NOS2 expression. Female mice (C57BL/6) were induced to develop diabetes using streptozotocin before pregnancy. Diabetic pregnant mice were administered Q3G (100 mg/kg) daily via gavage feeding, introduction of drug to the stomach directly via a feeding needle, during neurulation from embryonic (E) day 6.5 to E9.5. After treatment, E10.5 embryos were collected and examined for the presence of NTDs and apoptosis in the neural tube. Expression of Nos2 and superoxide dismutase 1 (Sod1; an antioxidative enzyme) was quantified using Western blot assay. Nitrosative, oxidative, and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress conditions were assessed using specific biomarkers. Expression and posttranslational modification of factors in the NF-κB system were investigated. Treatment with Q3G (suspended in water) significantly decreased NTD rate (24.7%) and apoptosis in the embryos of diabetic mice, compared with those in the water

Efeito da fortificação alimentar com ácido fólico na prevalência de defeitos do tubo neural Efecto de la fortificación alimentaria con ácido fólico en la prevalencia de defectos del tubo neural Effects of folic acid fortification on the prevalence of neural tube defects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sâmya Silva Pacheco

2009-08-01

defectos del cierre del tubo neural fueron definidos de acuerdo con el Códigos Internacional de Enfermedades- 10ª Revisión: anencefalia, encefalocele y espina bífida. Se compararon las prevalencias en los períodos anterior (2000 - 2004 y posterior (2005-2006 al período obligatorio de fortificación. Se analizó la tendencia temporal de las prevalencias trimestrales de defectos del cierre del tubo neural por las pruebas de Mann-Kendall y Sen's Slope. RESULTADOS: No se identificó tendencia de reducción en la ocurrencia del hecho (Teste de Mann-Kendall; p= 0,270; Sen's Slope = - 0,008 en el período estudiado. No hubo diferencia estadísticamente significativa entre las prevalencias de defectos de cierre del tubo neural en los períodos anterior y posterior a la fortificación de los alimentos con ácido fólico de acuerdo con las características maternas. CONCLUSIONES: A pesar de que no haya sido observada reducción de los defectos de cierre del tubo neural posterior al período obligatorio de fortificación de alimentos con ácido fólico, los resultados encontrados no permiten descartar el beneficio del mismo en la prevención de esta malformación. Son necesarios estudios evaluando mayor período y considerando el nivel de consumo de los productos fortificados por las mujeres en edad fértil.OBJECTIVE:To analyze the effect of folic acid-fortified foods on the prevalence of neural tube defects in live newborns. METHODS: Longitudinal study with newborns from the city of Recife, Northeastern Brazil, between 2000 and 2006. Data analyzed were obtained from the Sistema Nacional de Informações de Nascidos Vivos (National Information System on Live Births. Neural tube defects were defined in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10: anencephaly, encephalocele, and spina bifida. Prevalences from the periods before (2000-2004 and after (2005-2006 the mandatory fortification period were compared. Time trend of three

Surface Casting Defects Inspection Using Vision System and Neural Network Techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Świłło S.J.

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The paper presents a vision based approach and neural network techniques in surface defects inspection and categorization. Depending on part design and processing techniques, castings may develop surface discontinuities such as cracks and pores that greatly influence the material’s properties Since the human visual inspection for the surface is slow and expensive, a computer vision system is an alternative solution for the online inspection. The authors present the developed vision system uses an advanced image processing algorithm based on modified Laplacian of Gaussian edge detection method and advanced lighting system. The defect inspection algorithm consists of several parameters that allow the user to specify the sensitivity level at which he can accept the defects in the casting. In addition to the developed image processing algorithm and vision system apparatus, an advanced learning process has been developed, based on neural network techniques. Finally, as an example three groups of defects were investigated demonstrates automatic selection and categorization of the measured defects, such as blowholes, shrinkage porosity and shrinkage cavity.

SUS 321 HTB boiler tubing with fire grained internal surface resistant to steam-induced oxidation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kanero, Takahiro; Minami, Yuusuke; Kodera, Toshihide

1981-01-01

Considerable amount of scale is produced by high temperature steam on the austenitic stainless steel tubes used for the superheaters and reheaters of large boilers for power generation. The scale of outer layer separates off due to the thermal stress at the time of starting-up and stopping, and causes the blocking of pipes and the erosion of turbine blades. Following the increase of nuclear power generation, large boilers are used for medium load, accordingly it is expected that the troubles like these increase. In this paper, the manufacturing method and the properties of SUS 321 HTB with fine grain internal surface are reported, which was developed to reduce the rate of growth of scale and to prevent the separation of scale. In order to prevent the separation of scale from austenitic stainless steel tubes, the reduction of scale thickness, surface treatment such as chrome plating, the use of alloys with excellent oxidation resistance, the formation of chrome-rich film rapidly, the heat treatment of cold-worked tubes and so on were carried out. The nitrification of SUS 321 H steel brought about two-phase structure of the fine grain internal surface with excellent oxidation resistance and the rest of coarse grains with high creep strength. (Kako, I.)

Failure analysis of boiler tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mehmood, K.; Siddiqui, A.R.

2007-01-01

Boiler tubes are energy conversion components where heat energy is used to convert water into high pressure superheated steam, which is then delivered to a turbine for electric power generation in thermal power plants or to run plant and machineries in a process or manufacturing industry. It was reported that one of the tubes of a fire-tube boiler used in a local industry had leakage after the formation of pits at the external surface of the tube. The inner side of the fire tube was working with hot flue gasses with a pressure of 10 Kg/cm/sup 2/ and temperature 225 degree C. The outside of the tube was surrounded by feed water. The purpose of this study was to determine the cause of pits developed at the external surface of the failed boiler tube sample. In the present work boiler tube samples of steel grade ASTM AI61/ASTM A192 were analyzed using metallographic analysis, chemical analysis, and mechanical testing. It was concluded that the appearance of defects on the boiler tube sample indicates cavitation type corrosion failure. Cavitation damage superficially resembled pitting, but surface appeared considerably rougher and had many closely spaced pits. (author)

The Neural Border: Induction, Specification and Maturation of the territory that generates Neural Crest cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Pla, Patrick; Monsoro-Burq, Anne H

2018-05-28

The neural crest is induced at the edge between the neural plate and the nonneural ectoderm, in an area called the neural (plate) border, during gastrulation and neurulation. In recent years, many studies have explored how this domain is patterned, and how the neural crest is induced within this territory, that also participates to the prospective dorsal neural tube, the dorsalmost nonneural ectoderm, as well as placode derivatives in the anterior area. This review highlights the tissue interactions, the cell-cell signaling and the molecular mechanisms involved in this dynamic spatiotemporal patterning, resulting in the induction of the premigratory neural crest. Collectively, these studies allow building a complex neural border and early neural crest gene regulatory network, mostly composed by transcriptional regulations but also, more recently, including novel signaling interactions. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Microdischarges in DC accelerator tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eastham, D.A.; Thorn, R.

1978-07-01

Voltage tests on the Daresbury ceramic/titanium accelerator tube have shown that microdischarges play an important role in the conditioning process. It has been found that the voltage onset for microdischarges in a tube is dependent on the surface contamination of the electrodes and the tube geometry (in particular the tube length). This geometrical effect can be related to the trajectories of secondary ions emitted from the electrode surfaces. Sensitive diagnostic techniques have been developed to study the mass and energy distribution of ions emitted along the axis of the tube during these predischarges. The energy distribution of protons (and H - ions) can be related to the origins of the discharges in the tube. Detailed results are presented for a particular tube geometry. (author)

Neural tube defects in the Republic of Ireland in 2009-11.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

McDonnell, R

2014-03-18

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are associated with deficient maternal folic acid peri-conceptionally. In Ireland, there is no mandatory folic acid food fortification, partly due to declining NTD rates in recent years. The aim of this study was to ascertain the incident rate of NTD during the period 2009-11 and describe epidemiologically NTD in Ireland.METHODSCases were ascertained through multiple sources, including three regional congenital anomaly registers, all maternity hospitals nationally and paediatric hospitals providing care for children with spina bifida in the Republic of Ireland during the period 2009-11.RESULTSFrom 225 998 total births, 236 NTDs were identified, giving an incidence of 1.04\\/1 000 births, increasing from 0.92\\/1 000 in 2009 to 1.17\\/1 000 in 2011. Of all cases, 45% (n = 106) had anencephaly, 49% (n = 115) had spina bifida and 6% (n = 15) had an encephalocoele; 78% (n = 184) were liveborn or stillborn and 22% (n = 52) were terminations abroad. Peri-conceptional folic acid supplement intake was 13.7% among the 52.5% (n = 124) of cases whose folic acid supplement intake was known.CONCLUSIONThe incidence of NTDs in the Republic of Ireland appears to be increasing. Renewed public health interventions, including mandatory folic acid food fortification, must be considered to reduce the incidence of NTD.

Neural crest contributions to the lamprey head

Science.gov (United States)

McCauley, David W.; Bronner-Fraser, Marianne

2003-01-01

The neural crest is a vertebrate-specific cell population that contributes to the facial skeleton and other derivatives. We have performed focal DiI injection into the cranial neural tube of the developing lamprey in order to follow the migratory pathways of discrete groups of cells from origin to destination and to compare neural crest migratory pathways in a basal vertebrate to those of gnathostomes. The results show that the general pathways of cranial neural crest migration are conserved throughout the vertebrates, with cells migrating in streams analogous to the mandibular and hyoid streams. Caudal branchial neural crest cells migrate ventrally as a sheet of cells from the hindbrain and super-pharyngeal region of the neural tube and form a cylinder surrounding a core of mesoderm in each pharyngeal arch, similar to that seen in zebrafish and axolotl. In addition to these similarities, we also uncovered important differences. Migration into the presumptive caudal branchial arches of the lamprey involves both rostral and caudal movements of neural crest cells that have not been described in gnathostomes, suggesting that barriers that constrain rostrocaudal movement of cranial neural crest cells may have arisen after the agnathan/gnathostome split. Accordingly, neural crest cells from a single axial level contributed to multiple arches and there was extensive mixing between populations. There was no apparent filling of neural crest derivatives in a ventral-to-dorsal order, as has been observed in higher vertebrates, nor did we find evidence of a neural crest contribution to cranial sensory ganglia. These results suggest that migratory constraints and additional neural crest derivatives arose later in gnathostome evolution.

Neural network-based adaptive dynamic surface control for permanent magnet synchronous motors.

Science.gov (United States)

Yu, Jinpeng; Shi, Peng; Dong, Wenjie; Chen, Bing; Lin, Chong

2015-03-01

This brief considers the problem of neural networks (NNs)-based adaptive dynamic surface control (DSC) for permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSMs) with parameter uncertainties and load torque disturbance. First, NNs are used to approximate the unknown and nonlinear functions of PMSM drive system and a novel adaptive DSC is constructed to avoid the explosion of complexity in the backstepping design. Next, under the proposed adaptive neural DSC, the number of adaptive parameters required is reduced to only one, and the designed neural controllers structure is much simpler than some existing results in literature, which can guarantee that the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin. Then, simulations are given to illustrate the effectiveness and potential of the new design technique.

Analytic model of the stress waves propagation in thin wall tubes, seeking the location of a harmonic point source in its surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boaratti, Mario Francisco Guerra

2006-01-01

Leaks in pressurized tubes generate acoustic waves that propagate through the walls of these tubes, which can be captured by accelerometers or by acoustic emission sensors. The knowledge of how these walls can vibrate, or in another way, how these acoustic waves propagate in this material is fundamental in the detection and localization process of the leak source. In this work an analytic model was implemented, through the motion equations of a cylindrical shell, with the objective to understand the behavior of the tube surface excited by a point source. Since the cylindrical surface has a closed pattern in the circumferential direction, waves that are beginning their trajectory will meet with another that has already completed the turn over the cylindrical shell, in the clockwise direction as well as in the counter clockwise direction, generating constructive and destructive interferences. After enough time of propagation, peaks and valleys in the shell surface are formed, which can be visualized through a graphic representation of the analytic solution created. The theoretical results were proven through measures accomplished in an experimental setup composed of a steel tube finished in sand box, simulating the condition of infinite tube. To determine the location of the point source on the surface, the process of inverse solution was adopted, that is to say, known the signals of the sensor disposed in the tube surface , it is determined through the theoretical model where the source that generated these signals can be. (author)

Conditioning and breakdown phenomena in accelerator tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Skorka, S.J.

1979-01-01

Important breakdown mechanisms in accelerator tubes are reviewed, and discharge phenomena in NEC tubes are deduced from the surface appearance of the electrodes and insulators of a used tube. Microphotos of these surfaces are shown

Eddy Current Flaw Characterization Using Neural Networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Song, S. J.; Park, H. J.; Shin, Y. K.

1998-01-01

Determination of location, shape and size of a flaw from its eddy current testing signal is one of the fundamental issues in eddy current nondestructive evaluation of steam generator tubes. Here, we propose an approach to this problem; an inversion of eddy current flaw signal using neural networks trained by finite element model-based synthetic signatures. Total 216 eddy current signals from four different types of axisymmetric flaws in tubes are generated by finite element models of which the accuracy is experimentally validated. From each simulated signature, total 24 eddy current features are extracted and among them 13 features are finally selected for flaw characterization. Based on these features, probabilistic neural networks discriminate flaws into four different types according to the location and the shape, and successively back propagation neural networks determine the size parameters of the discriminated flaw

3D silicon neural probe with integrated optical fibers for optogenetic modulation.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Eric G R; Tu, Hongen; Luo, Hao; Liu, Bin; Bao, Shaowen; Zhang, Jinsheng; Xu, Yong

2015-07-21

Optogenetics is a powerful modality for neural modulation that can be useful for a wide array of biomedical studies. Penetrating microelectrode arrays provide a means of recording neural signals with high spatial resolution. It is highly desirable to integrate optics with neural probes to allow for functional study of neural tissue by optogenetics. In this paper, we report the development of a novel 3D neural probe coupled simply and robustly to optical fibers using a hollow parylene tube structure. The device shanks are hollow tubes with rigid silicon tips, allowing the insertion and encasement of optical fibers within the shanks. The position of the fiber tip can be precisely controlled relative to the electrodes on the shank by inherent design features. Preliminary in vivo rat studies indicate that these devices are capable of optogenetic modulation simultaneously with 3D neural signal recording.

Characterization of the surface physico-chemistry of plasticized PVC used in blood bag and infusion tubing.

Science.gov (United States)

Al Salloum, H; Saunier, J; Dazzi, A; Vigneron, J; Etcheberry, A; Marlière, C; Aymes-Chodur, C; Herry, J M; Bernard, M; Jubeli, E; Yagoubi, N

2017-06-01

Commercial infusion tubing and blood storage devices (tubing, blood and platelets bags) made of plasticized PVC were analyzed by spectroscopic, chromatographic and microscopic techniques in order to identify and quantify the additives added to the polymer (lubricants, thermal stabilizers, plasticizers) and to put into evidence their blooming onto the surface of the devices. For all the samples, deposits were observed on the surface but with different kinds of morphologies. Ethylene bis amide lubricant and metallic stearate stabilizers were implicated in the formation of these layers. In contact with aqueous media, these insoluble deposits were damaged, suggesting a possible particulate contamination of the infused solutions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

U-tube steam generator empirical model development and validation using neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parlos, A.G.; Chong, K.T.; Atiya, A.

1992-01-01

Empirical modeling techniques that use model structures motivated from neural networks research have proven effective in identifying complex process dynamics. A recurrent multilayer perception (RMLP) network was developed as a nonlinear state-space model structure along with a static learning algorithm for estimating the parameter associated with it. The methods developed were demonstrated by identifying two submodels of a U-tube steam generator (UTSG), each valid around an operating power level. A significant drawback of this approach is the long off-line training times required for the development of even a simplified model of a UTSG. Subsequently, a dynamic gradient descent-based learning algorithm was developed as an accelerated alternative to train an RMLP network for use in empirical modeling of power plants. The two main advantages of this learning algorithm are its ability to consider past error gradient information for future use and the two forward passes associated with its implementation. The enhanced learning capabilities provided by the dynamic gradient descent-based learning algorithm were demonstrated via the case study of a simple steam boiler power plant. In this paper, the dynamic gradient descent-based learning algorithm is used for the development and validation of a complete UTSG empirical model

Characterisation of Oxides Formed on the Internal Surface of Steam Generator Tubes in Alloy 690 Corroded in the Primary Environment of Pressurised Water Reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carrette, Florence; Leclercq, Stephanie; Legras, Laurent

2012-09-01

Since the end of the 1990s, EDF R and D has been studying the phenomenon of corrosion product release from Steam Generator tubes in order to minimize the Source Term of the contamination and radiation exposure during operation and maintenance of Pressurised Water Reactors. With the BOREAL loop, release tests in primary water at 325 deg. C were performed on various Steam Generator tubes made of alloy 690. The experimental conditions of these tests (chemistry, temperature and hydraulics) were the same for all the tests but the results showed various behaviours towards release. For some tubes, the release was weak whereas for others, it was higher; the release rate of the tubes decreased more or less quickly with time. In order to explain these results, the internal surface of the tubes was characterised before and after the tests. Before the tests, various parameters were studied; the main parameters were the roughness, the impurities, the grain size and the cold work. The results demonstrated that it was not easy to quantify the influence of each parameter on release and to differentiate the tubes. A new parameter was proposed to characterise the internal extreme surface of SG tubes: the surface nano-hardness by nano-indentation measurements. The tubes were also observed and analysed by SEM, (X)TEM. Data obtained by (X)TEM revealed differences of the surface state (layer of perturbed microstructure, density of dislocations, grain size, impurities, initial oxide,...). After the tests, the oxides formed on the internal surface and the underlying material of the samples were characterised by SEM, (X)TEM and SIMS. The examinations showed various types of oxides. For some tubes, a duplex oxide scale was identified, for the others, only one oxide scale was observed. For equivalent durations of corrosion, the thickness of the enriched - chromium oxide layer can vary from 5 nm to 100 nm and the chemical composition can be different. The examinations of the underlying

Depicting mass flow rate of R134a /LPG refrigerant through straight and helical coiled adiabatic capillary tubes of vapor compression refrigeration system using artificial neural network approach

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Jatinder; Singh, Jagdev

2018-07-01

In this work, an experimental investigation is carried out with R134a and LPG refrigerant mixture for depicting mass flow rate through straight and helical coil adiabatic capillary tubes in a vapor compression refrigeration system. Various experiments were conducted under steady-state conditions, by changing capillary tube length, inner diameter, coil diameter and degree of subcooling. The results showed that mass flow rate through helical coil capillary tube was found lower than straight capillary tube by about 5-16%. Dimensionless correlation and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were developed to predict mass flow rate. It was found that dimensionless correlation and ANN model predictions agreed well with experimental results and brought out an absolute fraction of variance of 0.961 and 0.988, root mean square error of 0.489 and 0.275 and mean absolute percentage error of 4.75% and 2.31% respectively. The results suggested that ANN model shows better statistical prediction than dimensionless correlation model.

Osseointegration of Implants Surface-Treated with Various Diameters of TiO2 Nano tubes in Rabbit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Ch.G.; Park, Y.B.; Choi, H.; Lee, K.W.; Shim, J.S.; Oh, S.; Choi, S.H.

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the osseointegration of implants which were surface-treated with various diameters of TiO 2 nano tubes (30 nm, 70 nm, and 100 nm) in rabbit. Resorbable blast media (RBM) surfaced implants (Osstem, Busan, Korea) 3.5 mm in diameter and 8.5 mm in length were designated as the control group and the implants surface-treated with various diameters of nano tubes (30 nm, 70 nm, and 100 nm) with the same shapes were designated as the experimental groups. The implants were maintained unloaded for 4 and 12 weeks. After this period, the animals were sacrificed and micro-CT analysis, histomorphometric analysis (bone to implant contact (BIC), bone volume (BV)), and removal torque test were performed. Micro-CT analysis, histomorphometric analysis, and removal torque test results all showed the similar pattern, showing that 70 nm experimental group had the highest value at 4 weeks while 30 nm experimental group had the highest value at 12 weeks. Therefore, on the basis of the results above, it can be concluded that 30 nm and 70 nm TiO 2 nano tubes may have positive effects on osteogenesis and osseointegration depending on the healing time

Flow and Displacement of Non-Newtonian Fluid(Power-Law Model) by Surface Tension and Gravity Force in Inclined Circular Tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moh, Jeong Hah; Cho, Y. I.

2014-01-01

This paper presents the theoretical analysis of a flow driven by surface tension and gravity in an inclined circular tube. A governing equation is developed for describing the displacement of a non-Newtonian fluid(Power-law model) that continuously flows into a circular tube owing to surface tension, which represents a second-order, nonlinear, non-homogeneous, and ordinary differential form. It was found that quantitatively, the theoretical predictions of the governing equation were in excellent agreement with the solutions of the equation for horizontal tubes and the past experimental data. In addition, the predictions compared very well with the results of the force balance equation for steady

Examples of grid generation with implicitly specified surfaces using GridPro (TM)/az3000. 1: Filleted multi-tube configurations

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zheming; Eiseman, Peter R.

1995-01-01

With examples, we illustrate how implicitly specified surfaces can be used for grid generation with GridPro/az3000. The particular examples address two questions: (1) How do you model intersecting tubes with fillets? and (2) How do you generate grids inside the intersected tubes? The implication is much more general. With the results in a forthcoming paper which develops an easy-to-follow procedure for implicit surface modeling, we provide a powerful means for rapid prototyping in grid generation.

HF electronic tubes. Technologies, grid tubes and klystrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lemoine, Th.

2009-01-01

This article gives an overview of the basic technologies of electronic tubes: cathodes, electronic optics, vacuum and high voltage. Then the grid tubes, klystrons and inductive output tubes (IOT) are introduced. Content: 1 - context and classification; 2 - electronic tube technologies: cathodes, electronic optics, magnetic confinement (linear tubes), periodic permanent magnet (PPM) focussing, collectors, depressed collectors; 3 - vacuum technologies: vacuum quality, surface effects and interaction with electrostatic and RF fields, secondary emission, multipactor effect, thermo-electronic emission; 4 - grid tubes: operation of a triode, tetrodes, dynamic operation and classes of use, 'common grid' and 'common cathode' operation, ranges of utilisation and limitations, operation of a tetrode on unadjusted load, lifetime of a tetrode, uses of grid tubes; 5 - klystrons: operation, impact of space charge, multi-cavity klystrons, interaction efficiency, extended interaction klystrons, relation between interaction efficiency, perveance and efficiency, ranges of utilization and power limitations, multi-beam klystrons and sheet beam klystrons, operation on unadjusted load, klystron band pass and lifetime, uses; 6 - IOT: principle of operation, ranges of utilisation and limitations, interaction efficiency and depressed collector IOT, IOT lifetime and uses. (J.S.)

Risk factors, organ weight deviation and associated anomalies in neural tube defects: A prospective fetal and perinatal autopsy series

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Asaranti Kar

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Neural tube defects (NTD are a group of serious birth defects occurring due to defective closure of neural tube during embryonic development. It comprises of anencephaly, encephalocele and spina bifida. We conducted this prospective fetal autopsy series to study the rate and distribution of NTD, analyze the reproductive factors and risk factors, note any associated anomalies and evaluate the organ weights and their deviation from normal. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective study done over a period of 6 years from August, 2007 to July, 2013. All cases of NTDs delivered as abortion, still born and live born were included. The reproductive and risk factors like age, parity, multiple births, previous miscarriage, obesity, diabetes mellitus, socioeconomic status and use of folic acid during pregnancy were collected.Autopsy was performed according to Virchow′s technique. Detail external and internal examination were carried out to detect any associated anomalies. Gross and microscopic examination of organs were done. Results: Out of 210 cases of fetal and perinatal autopsy done, 72 (34.28% had NTD constituting 49 cases of anencephaly, 16 spina bifida and 7 cases of encephalocele. The mothers in these cases predominantly were within 25-29 years (P = 0.02 and primy (P = 0.01. Female sex was more commonly affected than males (M:F = 25:47, P = 0.0005 There was no history of folate use in majority of cases. Organ weight deviations were >2 standard deviation low in most of the cases. Most common associated anomalies were adrenal hypoplasia and thymic hyperplasia. Conclusion: The authors have made an attempt to study NTD cases in respect to maternal reproductive and risk factors and their association with NTD along with the organ weight deviation and associated anomalies. This so far in our knowledge is an innovative study which was not found in literature even after extensive search.

Effect of Tube Pitch on Pool Boiling Heat Transfer of Vertical Tube Bundle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Myeong Gie

2016-01-01

Summarizing the previous results it can be stated that heat transfer coefficients are highly dependent on the tube pitch and the heat flux of the relevant tube. The published results are mostly about the horizontal tubes. However, there are many heat exchangers consisting of vertical tubes like AP600. Therefore, the focus of the present study is an identification of the effects of a tube pitch as well as the heat flux of a relevant tube on the heat transfer of a tube bundle installed vertically. When the heat flux is increased many bubbles are generating due to the increase of the nucleation sites. The bubbles become coalescing with the nearby bubbles and generates big bunches of bubbles on the tube surface. This prevents the access of the liquid to the surface and deteriorates heat transfer. The bubble coalescence is competing with the mechanisms enhancing heat transfer. The pitch was varied from 28.5 mm to 95 mm and the heat flux of the nearby tube was changed from 0 to 90kW/m"2. The enhancement of the heat transfer is clearly observed when the heat flux of the nearby tube becomes larger and the heat flux of the upper tube is less than 40kW/m"2. The effect of the tube pitch on heat transfer is negligible as the value of DP/ is increased more than 4.

Tissue reactions to bacteria-inoculated rat lead samples .2. Effect of local gentamicin release through surface-modified polyurethane tubing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

vanWachem, PB; vanLuyn, MJA; deWit, AW; Raatjes, D; Hendriks, M; Verhoeven, MLPM; Cahalan, PT

A surface modification technique was developed to achieve controlled release of gentamicin from implanted polyurethane (PU) rat lead samples. PU tubing first was provided with an acrylic acid/acrylamide copolymer surface graft and then loaded with gentamicin. This surface modification technique

Manufacturing tungsten monocrystal tubes by electro-spark machining and study of machined surface structure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abdukarimov, Eh.T.; Ismailov, L.R.; Krakhmalev, V.A.; Fershtat, L.N.

1981-01-01

A technique to manufacture tubes from tungsten monocrystals with low consumption of electrodes has been developed. Regimes of obtaining deep and through holes of different diameters with the productivity of 1 mm/min and with the minimum deviation from cylindrical shape are worked out using a specially designed electric pulse installation. X-ray and metallographical analyses have shown that as a result of electrospark machining a cold hardened layer is formed up to hundreds micrometers thick, pierced by the network of microcracks. Simultaneous use of electrospark and electrochemical machining permitted to manufacture tubes from tungsten monocrystals with non-distorted monocrystal surface and without a network of microcracks

Effect of the surface film electric resistance on eddy current detectability of surface cracks in Alloy 600 tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saario, T.; Paine, J.P.N.

1995-01-01

The most widely used technique for NDE of steam generator tubing is eddy current. This technique can reliably detect cracks grown in sodium hydroxide environment only at depths greater than 50% through wall. However, cracking caused by thiosulphate solutions have been detected and sized at shallower depths. The disparity has been proposed to be caused by the different electric resistance of the crack wall surface films and corrosion products in the cracks formed in different environments. This work was undertaken to clarify the role of surface film electric resistance on the disparity found in eddy current detectability of surface cracks in alloy 600 tubes. The proposed model explaining the above mentioned disparity is the following. The detectability of tightly closed cracks by the eddy current technique depends on the electric resistance of the surface films of the crack walls. The nature and resistance of the films which form on the crack walls during operation depends on the composition of the solution inside the crack and close to the crack location. During cooling down of the steam generator, because of contraction and loss of internal pressurization, the cracks are rather tightly closed so that exchange of electrolyte and thus changes in the film properties become difficult. As a result, the surface condition prevailing at high temperature is preserved. If the environment is such that the films formed on the crack walls under operating conditions have low electric resistance, eddy current technique will fail to indicate these cracks or will underestimate the size of these cracks. However, if the electric resistance of the films is high, a tightly closed crack will resemble an open crack and will be easily indicated and correctly sized by eddy current technique

Modeling of Throughput in Production Lines Using Response Surface Methodology and Artificial Neural Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Federico Nuñez-Piña

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The problem of assigning buffers in a production line to obtain an optimum production rate is a combinatorial problem of type NP-Hard and it is known as Buffer Allocation Problem. It is of great importance for designers of production systems due to the costs involved in terms of space requirements. In this work, the relationship among the number of buffer slots, the number of work stations, and the production rate is studied. Response surface methodology and artificial neural network were used to develop predictive models to find optimal throughput values. 360 production rate values for different number of buffer slots and workstations were used to obtain a fourth-order mathematical model and four hidden layers’ artificial neural network. Both models have a good performance in predicting the throughput, although the artificial neural network model shows a better fit (R=1.0000 against the response surface methodology (R=0.9996. Moreover, the artificial neural network produces better predictions for data not utilized in the models construction. Finally, this study can be used as a guide to forecast the maximum or near maximum throughput of production lines taking into account the buffer size and the number of machines in the line.

Tactile detection of slip: surface microgeometry and peripheral neural codes.

Science.gov (United States)

Srinivasan, M A; Whitehouse, J M; LaMotte, R H

1990-06-01

1. The role of the microgeometry of planar surfaces in the detection of sliding of the surfaces on human and monkey fingerpads was investigated. By the use of a servo-controlled tactile stimulator to press and stroke glass plates on passive fingerpads of human subjects, the ability of humans to discriminate the direction of skin stretch caused by friction and to detect the sliding motion (slip) of the plates with or without micrometer-sized surface features was determined. To identify the associated peripheral neural codes, evoked responses to the same stimuli were recorded from single, low-threshold mechanoreceptive afferent fibers innervating the fingerpads of anesthetized macaque monkeys. 2. Humans could not detect the slip of a smooth glass plate on the fingerpad. However, the direction of skin stretch was perceived based on the information conveyed by the slowly adapting afferents that respond differentially to the stretch directions. Whereas the direction of skin stretch signaled the direction of impending slip, the perception of relative motion between the plate and the finger required the existence of detectable surface features. 3. Barely detectable micrometer-sized protrusions on smooth surfaces led to the detection of slip of these surfaces, because of the exclusive activation of rapidly adapting fibers of either the Meissner (RA) or the Pacinian (PC) type to specific geometries of the microfeatures. The motion of a smooth plate with a very small single raised dot (4 microns high, 550 microns diam) caused the sequential activation of neighboring RAs along the dot path, thus providing a reliable spatiotemporal code. The stroking of the plate with a fine homogeneous texture composed of a matrix of dots (1 microns high, 50 microns diam, and spaced at 100 microns center-to-center) induced vibrations in the fingerpad that activated only the PCs and resulted in an intensive code. 4. The results show that surprisingly small features on smooth surfaces are

Convective heat transport of high-pressure flows inside active, thick walled-tubes with isothermal outer surfaces: usage of Nusselt correlation equations for an inactive, thin walled-tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Campo, Antonio [Idaho State Univ., Nuclear Engineering Dept., Pocatello, ID (United States); Sanchez, Alejo [Universidad de los Andes, Depto. de Ingenieria Mecanica, Merida (Venezuela)

1998-03-01

A semi-analytical analysis was conducted for the prediction of the mean bulk- and interface temperatures of gaseous and liquid fluids moving laminarly at high pressures inside thick-walled metallic tubes. The outer surfaces of the tubes are isothermal. The central goal of this article is to critically examine the thermal response of this kind of in-tube flows utilizing two versions of the 1-D lumped model: one is differential-numerical while the other is differential-algebraic. For the former, the local Nusselt number characterizing an inactive, isothermal tube was taken from correlation equations reported in the heat transfer literature. For the latter, a streamwise-mean Nusselt number associated with an active, isothermal tube was taken from standard correlation equations that appear in text-books on basic heat transfer. For the two different versions of the 1-D lumped model tested, the computed results consistently demonstrate that the differential-algebraic, provides accurate estimates of both the mean bulk- and the interface temperatures when compared with those temperature results computed with formal 2-D differential models. (author)

An apparatus with a horizontal capillary tube intended for measurement of the surface tension of supercooled liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Vinš, Václav; Hošek, Jan; Hykl, Jiří; Hrubý, Jan

2015-05-01

New experimental apparatus for measurement of the surface tension of liquids under the metastable supercooled state has been designed and assembled in the study. The measuring technique is similar to the method employed by P.T. Hacker [NACA TN 2510] in 1951. A short liquid thread of the liquid sample was sucked inside a horizontal capillary tube partly placed in a temperature-controlled glass chamber. One end of the capillary tube was connected to a setup with inert gas which allowed for precise tuning of the gas overpressure in order of hundreds of Pa. The open end of the capillary tube was precisely grinded and polished before the measurement in order to assure planarity and perpendicularity of the outer surface. The liquid meniscus at the open end was illuminated by a laser beam and observed by a digital camera. Application of an increasing overpressure of the inert gas at the inner meniscus of the liquid thread caused variation of the outer meniscus such that it gradually changed from concave to flat and subsequently convex shape. The surface tension at the temperature of the inner meniscus could be evaluated from the overpressure corresponding to exactly planar outer meniscus. Detailed description of the new setup together with results of the preliminary tests is provided in the study.

Global neural dynamic surface tracking control of strict-feedback systems with application to hypersonic flight vehicle.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Bin; Yang, Chenguang; Pan, Yongping

2015-10-01

This paper studies both indirect and direct global neural control of strict-feedback systems in the presence of unknown dynamics, using the dynamic surface control (DSC) technique in a novel manner. A new switching mechanism is designed to combine an adaptive neural controller in the neural approximation domain, together with the robust controller that pulls the transient states back into the neural approximation domain from the outside. In comparison with the conventional control techniques, which could only achieve semiglobally uniformly ultimately bounded stability, the proposed control scheme guarantees all the signals in the closed-loop system are globally uniformly ultimately bounded, such that the conventional constraints on initial conditions of the neural control system can be relaxed. The simulation studies of hypersonic flight vehicle (HFV) are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed global neural DSC design.

Improving the calandria tubes for CANDU reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coleman, C.E.; Fong, R.W.L.; Doubt, G.L.

1997-01-01

CANDU calandria tubes are made from annealed Zircaloy-2 sheet formed into a cylinder and welded along its length to make the tube. The current calandria tubes have given exemplary service for many years. With more stringent regulations and the need to accommodate warm cooling water in tropical countries, we started a development program to increase the margins for failure during postulated accidents. These improvements involve increasing the tube strength and optimising the heat-transfer from an excessively hot fuel channel to the cool moderator. If the postulated accident involves a pressure tube break, it would be desirable if the calandria tube withstood the full pressure of the heat-transport system. The weakest link in current calandria tubes is the weld. Thickening the weld can increase the strength by 20% while seamless tubes can be 45% stronger than current tubes. The latter tubes can hold full system pressure for many hours without failure. If during the postulated accident the fuel and pressure tube become excessively hot but do not touch the calandria tube, the radiant heat loss must be maximised. Current calandria tubes have an absorptivity (emissivity) of about 0.2. To protect the fuel and the fuel channel we have devised a finish to the inside surface of the calandria tube that increases the emissivity to 0.7. If during the postulated accident the hot pressure tube touches the cool calandria tube, the contact conductance and the critical heat flux must be optimised to ensure nucleate boiling of the moderator at the outside surface of the calandria tube and therefore efficient exploitation of the moderator as a heat sink. In laboratory tests small ridges on the inside surface and roughening of the outside surface have been shown to increase the margins against failure and increase the possible moderator temperatures thus providing the opportunity to decrease the cost of the moderator heat-exchange system and remove restrictions on reactor operation in

Mediterranean diet, folic acid, and neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

Fischer, Maximilian; Stronati, Mauro; Lanari, Marcello

2017-08-17

The Mediterranean diet has been for a very long time the basis of food habits all over the countries of the Mediterranean basin, originally founded on rural models and low consumption of meat products and high-fat/high-processed foods. However, in the modern era, the traditional Mediterranean diet pattern is now progressively eroding due to the widespread dissemination of the Western-type economy, life-style, technology-driven culture, as well as the globalisation of food production, availability and consumption, with consequent homogenisation of food culture and behaviours. This transition process may affect many situations, including pregnancy and offspring's health. The problem of the diet during pregnancy and the proper intake of nutrients are nowadays a very current topic, arousing much debate. The Mediterranean dietary pattern, in particular, has been associated with the highest risk reduction of major congenital anomalies, like the heterogeneous class of neural tube defects (NTDs). NTDs constitute a major health burden (0.5-2/1000 pregnancies worldwide) and still remain a preventable cause of still birth, neonatal and infant death, or significant lifelong disabilities. Many studies support the finding that appropriate folate levels during pregnancy may confer protection against these diseases. In 1991 one randomised controlled trial (RCT) demonstrated for the first time that periconceptional supplementation of folic acid is able to prevent the recurrence of NTDs, finding confirmed by many other subsequent studies. Anyway, the high rate of unplanned/unintended pregnancies and births and other issues hindering the achievement of adequate folate levels in women in childbearing age, induced the US government and many other countries to institute mandatory food fortification with folic acid. The actual strategy adopted by European Countries (including Italy) suggests that women take 0,4 mg folic acid/die before conception. The main question is which intervention

A Robust Single Primate Neuroepithelial Cell Clonal Expansion System for Neural Tube Development and Disease Studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiaoqing Zhu

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Developing a model of primate neural tube (NT development is important to promote many NT disorder studies in model organisms. Here, we report a robust and stable system to allow for clonal expansion of single monkey neuroepithelial stem cells (NESCs to develop into miniature NT-like structures. Single NESCs can produce functional neurons in vitro, survive, and extensively regenerate neuron axons in monkey brain. NT formation and NESC maintenance depend on high metabolism activity and Wnt signaling. NESCs are regionally restricted to a telencephalic fate. Moreover, single NESCs can turn into radial glial progenitors (RGPCs. The transition is accurately regulated by Wnt signaling through regulation of Notch signaling and adhesion molecules. Finally, using the “NESC-TO-NTs” system, we model the functions of folic acid (FA on NT closure and demonstrate that FA can regulate multiple mechanisms to prevent NT defects. Our system is ideal for studying NT development and diseases.

Evaluation of stress intensity factor for craks in surface of tubes with internal pressure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cesari, F.; Hellen, T.K.

1977-01-01

In this report the authors have examined the different methods for calculation of the stress intensity factor in tubes subject at internal pressure with surface cracks. The analysis includes cracks in 2-D axialsymmetric and 3-D. Moreover the authors have clarified the difference between the ASME Sec.11 and the procedure more rigorous

Fuel assembly and fuel cladding tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsutsumi, Shinro; Ito, Ken-ichi; Inagaki, Masatoshi; Nakajima, Junjiro.

1996-01-01

A fuel cladding tube is a zirconium liner tube formed by lining a pure zirconium layer on the inner side of a zirconium alloy tube. The fuel cladding tube is formed by extrusion molding of a composite billet formed by inserting a pure zirconium billet into a zirconium alloy billet. Accordingly, the pure zirconium layer and the zirconium alloy tube are strongly joined by metal bond. The fuel cladding tube has an external oxide film on the outer surface of the zirconium alloy tube and an internal oxide film on the inner side of the pure zirconium layer. The external oxide film has a thickness preferably of about 1μm. The internal oxide film has a thickness of not more than 10μm, preferably, from 1 to 5μm. With such a constitution, flaws to be formed on both inner and outer surfaces of the cladding tube upon assembling a fuel assembly can be reduced thereby enabling to reduce the amount of hydrogen absorbed to the cladding tube. (I.N.)

Double wall steam generator tubing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padden, T.R.; Uber, C.F.

1983-01-01

Double-walled steam generator tubing for the steam generators of a liquid metal cooled fast breeder reactor prevents sliding between the surfaces due to a mechanical interlock. Forces resulting from differential thermal expansion between the outer tube and the inner tube are insufficient in magnitude to cause shearing of base metal. The interlock is formed by jointly drawing the tubing, with the inside wall of the outer tube being already formed with grooves. The drawing causes the outer wall of the inner tube to form corrugations locking with the grooves. (author)

Assessment of corrosion failure in copper tube of refrigerator unit

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd Harun; Hafizal Yazid; Zaiton Selamat; Mohd Shariff Sattar; Muhamamd Jalil

2007-01-01

The copper tubes of the refrigerator unit have been coated with red and white color paints. According to the date of purchase and complaint recorded, the tube leaked after operation about one year. It was observed that the tubes became black and green in color at U-bend of the tube. No corrosion occurred on the internal surface of the tube. The leaking started at outer surface of the tube. The leaking started at outer surface and propagated to the internal surface of the tubes. The leaking damage was caused by corrosive species either from atmospheric corrosion or the paint contained chloride and sulfur elements. The corrosive species of sulfur and chlorine were a main factor in pitting corrosion. (author)

A neural-fuzzy approach to classify the ecological status in surface waters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ocampo-Duque, William; Schuhmacher, Marta; Domingo, Jose L.

2007-01-01

A methodology based on a hybrid approach that combines fuzzy inference systems and artificial neural networks has been used to classify ecological status in surface waters. This methodology has been proposed to deal efficiently with the non-linearity and highly subjective nature of variables involved in this serious problem. Ecological status has been assessed with biological, hydro-morphological, and physicochemical indicators. A data set collected from 378 sampling sites in the Ebro river basin has been used to train and validate the hybrid model. Up to 97.6% of sampling sites have been correctly classified with neural-fuzzy models. Such performance resulted very competitive when compared with other classification algorithms. With non-parametric classification-regression trees and probabilistic neural networks, the predictive capacities were 90.7% and 97.0%, respectively. The proposed methodology can support decision-makers in evaluation and classification of ecological status, as required by the EU Water Framework Directive. - Fuzzy inference systems can be used as environmental classifiers

Predicting wettability behavior of fluorosilica coated metal surface using optimum neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Taghipour-Gorjikolaie, Mehran; Valipour Motlagh, Naser

2018-02-01

The interaction between variables, which are effective on the surface wettability, is very complex to predict the contact angles and sliding angles of liquid drops. In this paper, in order to solve this complexity, artificial neural network was used to develop reliable models for predicting the angles of liquid drops. Experimental data are divided into training data and testing data. By using training data and feed forward structure for the neural network and using particle swarm optimization for training the neural network based models, the optimum models were developed. The obtained results showed that regression index for the proposed models for the contact angles and sliding angles are 0.9874 and 0.9920, respectively. As it can be seen, these values are close to unit and it means the reliable performance of the models. Also, it can be inferred from the results that the proposed model have more reliable performance than multi-layer perceptron and radial basis function based models.

Contributions of feature shapes and surface cues to the recognition and neural representation of facial identity.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, Timothy J; Baseler, Heidi; Jenkins, Rob; Burton, A Mike; Young, Andrew W

2016-10-01

A full understanding of face recognition will involve identifying the visual information that is used to discriminate different identities and how this is represented in the brain. The aim of this study was to explore the importance of shape and surface properties in the recognition and neural representation of familiar faces. We used image morphing techniques to generate hybrid faces that mixed shape properties (more specifically, second order spatial configural information as defined by feature positions in the 2D-image) from one identity and surface properties from a different identity. Behavioural responses showed that recognition and matching of these hybrid faces was primarily based on their surface properties. These behavioural findings contrasted with neural responses recorded using a block design fMRI adaptation paradigm to test the sensitivity of Haxby et al.'s (2000) core face-selective regions in the human brain to the shape or surface properties of the face. The fusiform face area (FFA) and occipital face area (OFA) showed a lower response (adaptation) to repeated images of the same face (same shape, same surface) compared to different faces (different shapes, different surfaces). From the behavioural data indicating the critical contribution of surface properties to the recognition of identity, we predicted that brain regions responsible for familiar face recognition should continue to adapt to faces that vary in shape but not surface properties, but show a release from adaptation to faces that vary in surface properties but not shape. However, we found that the FFA and OFA showed an equivalent release from adaptation to changes in both shape and surface properties. The dissociation between the neural and perceptual responses suggests that, although they may play a role in the process, these core face regions are not solely responsible for the recognition of facial identity. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hybrid intelligence systems and artificial neural network (ANN approach for modeling of surface roughness in drilling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ch. Sanjay

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In machining processes, drilling operation is material removal process that has been widely used in manufacturing since industrial revolution. The useful life of cutting tool and its operating conditions largely controls the economics of machining operations. Drilling is most frequently performed material removing process and is used as a preliminary step for many operations, such as reaming, tapping, and boring. Drill wear has a bad effect on the surface finish and dimensional accuracy of the work piece. The surface finish of a machined part is one of the most important quality characteristics in manufacturing industries. The primary objective of this research is the prediction of suitable parameters for surface roughness in drilling. Cutting speed, cutting force, and machining time were given as inputs to the adaptive fuzzy neural network and neuro-fuzzy analysis for estimating the values of surface roughness by using 2, 3, 4, and 5 membership functions. The best structures were selected based on minimum of summation of square with the actual values with the estimated values by artificial neural fuzzy inference system (ANFIS and neuro-fuzzy systems. For artificial neural network (ANN analysis, the number of neurons was selected from 1, 2, 3, … , 20. The learning rate was selected as .5 and .5 smoothing factor was used. The inputs were selected as cutting speed, feed, machining time, and thrust force. The best structures of neural networks were selected based on the criteria as the minimum of summation of square with the actual value of surface roughness. Drilling experiments with 10 mm size were performed at two cutting speeds and feeds. Comparative analysis has been done between the actual values and the estimated values obtained by ANFIS, neuro-fuzzy, and ANN analysis.

Deposition of mannose-binding lectin and ficolins and activation of the lectin pathway of complement on the surface of polyurethane tubing used for cardiopulmonary bypass.

Science.gov (United States)

Eppa, Łukasz; Pągowska-Klimek, Izabela; Świerzko, Anna S; Moll, Maciej; Krajewski, Wojciech R; Cedzyński, Maciej

2018-04-01

The artificial surface used for cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) is a crucial factor activating the complement system and thus contributing to the generation of a systemic inflammatory response. The activation of classical and alternative pathways on this artificial surface is well known. In contrast, lectin pathway (LP) activation has not been fully investigated, although noted during CPB in several studies. Moreover, we have recently proved the contribution of the LP to the generation of the systemic inflammatory response syndrome after pediatric cardiac surgery. The aim of this study was to assess LP-mediated complement activation on the surface of polyurethane CPB circuit tubing (noncoated Chalice ® ), used for CPB procedures in children with congenital heart disease. We found deposition of mannose-binding lectin, ficolin-1, -2, and -3 on the surface of unused tubing and on tubing used for CPB from a small minority of patients. Furthermore, we observed deposition of complement C4 activation products on tubing used for CPB and previously unused tubing after incubation with normal serum. The latter finding indicates LP activation in vitro on the polyurethane surface. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part B: Appl Biomater, 106B: 1202-1208, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of teeth in chick embryos after mouse neural crest transplantations

OpenAIRE

Mitsiadis, Thimios A.; Chéraud, Yvonnick; Sharpe, Paul; Fontaine-Pérus, Josiane

2003-01-01

Teeth were lost in birds 70–80 million years ago. Current thinking holds that it is the avian cranial neural crest-derived mesenchyme that has lost odontogenic capacity, whereas the oral epithelium retains the signaling properties required to induce odontogenesis. To investigate the odontogenic capacity of ectomesenchyme, we have used neural tube transplantations from mice to chick embryos to replace the chick neural crest cell populations with mouse neural crest cells. The mouse/chick ...

Changes in pediatric tracheostomy tubes exposed to home dishwashing.

Science.gov (United States)

Smolar, David E; Ho, Brian; Kent, Steven M; Hughes, C Anthony; Mettenburg, Donald; Rueggeberg, Fredrick A; Groves, Michael W

2017-09-01

Determine the effects of household dishwashing on Tracheostomy Tube safety. Tracheostomy tubes accumulate biofilms, which may limit their lifespan. Frequent cleaning of the tubes is a method for biofilm prevention. Cleaning practices vary widely. Some families prefer dishwashing of tubes, but its effects are currently unknown. We hypothesize that dishwashing has no significant effect on the physical properties of tracheostomy tubes and can be recommended as a safe way to clean tracheostomy tubes. Twenty 4.0 Shiley™ pediatric tracheostomy tubes were randomly assigned into dishwashed (DW) and non-dishwashed (NDW) groups, 10/group. DW tubes were subjected to 12 wash cycles. Each tube's hardness along with the surface spectra were analyzed to assess for chemical composition changes. Three cannula samples from each group were also randomly assessed with scanning-electron microscopy and scored by blinded examiners to assess for changes in surface heterogeneity. Hardness testing revealed a statistically significant difference (p = 0.0009) between the NDW and the DW group indicating increased fragility in the dishwashed tubes. Spectral analysis revealed loss of plasticizers, indicating decreased flexibility. Blinded electron microscopy scoring revealed increased surface heterogeneity in the DW group (p = 0.00007). A significant decrease in tube hardness and increased surface heterogeneity were found with dishwashing. The spectral analysis demonstrated increasing fragility. We believe these effects could potentially lead to decreased mechanical safety. With increased surface heterogeneity there is a greater potential for biofilm formation. At this time, dishwashing cannot be recommended as a tracheostomy tube cleaning method. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Method for decontaminating stainless cladding tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komatsu, Fumiaki.

1986-01-01

Purpose: To form an oxide film over the surface of stainless cladding tubes and to efficiently remove radioactive materials from the steel surface together with the oxide layer by the use of an acid water solution. Method: After the removal of water from cladding tubes that have passed through the re-processing process, an oxide film is formed on the surface of the cladding tubes by heating over 400 deg C in an oxidizing atmosphere and thereafter washed again in an acid water solution. When the cladding tubes are thus oxidized once, the stainless base metal itself is oxidized, an oxide layer of several 10 μm or more being formed thereon. In consequence, since the oxide layer is far inferior in corrosion resistance to stainless metals, a pickling liquid easily penetrates into the stainless metal through the oxide layer, thereby remarkably promoting the peeling of the layer from the base metal surface and also improving the residual radioactive material removing efficiency together. (Takahashi, M.)

Numerical study of chemical reactions in a surface microdischarge tube with mist flow based on experiment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shibata, T; Nishiyama, H

2014-01-01

Recently, a water treatment method of spraying solution into a discharge region has been developed and shows high energy efficiency. In this study, a simulation model of a water treatment method using a surface microdischarge (SMD) tube with mist flow is proposed for further understanding the detailed chemical reactions. Our model has three phases (plasma, gas and liquid) and three simulation steps. The carrier gas is humid air including 2% or 3% water vapour. The chemical species diffusion characteristics in the SMD tube and the concentrations in a droplet are clarified in a wide pH interval. The simulation results show that the chemical species generated on the SMD tube inner wall are diffused to the central axis and dissolved into fine droplets. Especially, OH radicals dissolve into droplets a few mm away from the SMD tube wall because of acidification of the droplets. Furthermore, the hydrogen peroxide density, which is the most important indicator of a radical reaction in water, is influenced by the initial solution pH. This pH dependence results from ozone self-decomposition in water. (paper)

Numerical study of chemical reactions in a surface microdischarge tube with mist flow based on experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Shibata, T.; Nishiyama, H.

2014-03-01

Recently, a water treatment method of spraying solution into a discharge region has been developed and shows high energy efficiency. In this study, a simulation model of a water treatment method using a surface microdischarge (SMD) tube with mist flow is proposed for further understanding the detailed chemical reactions. Our model has three phases (plasma, gas and liquid) and three simulation steps. The carrier gas is humid air including 2% or 3% water vapour. The chemical species diffusion characteristics in the SMD tube and the concentrations in a droplet are clarified in a wide pH interval. The simulation results show that the chemical species generated on the SMD tube inner wall are diffused to the central axis and dissolved into fine droplets. Especially, OH radicals dissolve into droplets a few mm away from the SMD tube wall because of acidification of the droplets. Furthermore, the hydrogen peroxide density, which is the most important indicator of a radical reaction in water, is influenced by the initial solution pH. This pH dependence results from ozone self-decomposition in water.

PRODUCTION OF URANIUM TUBING

Science.gov (United States)

Creutz, E.C.

1958-04-15

The manufacture of thin-walled uranium tubing by the hot-piercing techique is described. Uranium billets are preheated to a temperature above 780 d C. The heated billet is fed to a station where it is engaged on its external surface by three convex-surfaced rotating rollers which are set at an angle to the axis of the billet to produce a surface friction force in one direction to force the billet over a piercing mandrel. While being formed around the mandrel and before losing the desired shape, the tube thus formed is cooled by a water spray.

Shape optimization of draft tubes for Agnew microhydro turbines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shojaeefard, Mohammad Hasan; Mirzaei, Ammar; Babaei, Ali

2014-01-01

Highlights: • The draft tube of Agnew microhydro turbine was optimized. • Pareto optimal solutions were determined by neural networks and NSGA-II algorithm. • The pressure recovery factor increases with height and angle over design ranges. • The loss coefficient reaches the minimum values at angles about 2 o . • Swirl of the incoming flow has great influence on the optimization results. - Abstract: In this study, the shape optimization of draft tubes utilized in Agnew type microhydro turbines has been discussed. The design parameters of the draft tube such as the cone angle and the height above the tailrace are considered in defining an optimization problem whose goal is to maximize the pressure recovery factor and minimize the energy loss coefficient of flow. The design space is determined by considering the experimental constraints and parameterized by the method of face-centered uniform ascertain distribution. The numerical simulations are performed using the boundary conditions found from laboratory tests and the obtained results are analyzed to create and validate a feed-forward neural network model, which is implemented as a surrogate model. The optimal Pareto solutions are finally determined using the NSGA-II evolutionary algorithm and compared for different inlet conditions. The results predict that the high swirl of the incoming flow drastically reduces the performance of the draft tube

An in-tube radar for detecting cracks in metal tubing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caffey, Thurlow W. H.; Nassersharif, Bahram; Garcia, Gabe V.; Smith, Phillip R.; Jedlicka, Russell P.; Hensel, Edward C.

2000-01-01

A major cause of failures in heat exchangers and steam generators in nuclear power plants is degradation of the tubes within them. The tube failure is often caused by the development of cracks that begin on the outer surface of the tube and propagate both inwards and laterally. A new technique will be described for detection of defects using a continuous-wave radar device within metal tubing. The technique is 100% volumetric, and may find smaller defects, find them more rapidly, and find them less expensively than present methods. Because this project was started only recently, there is no demonstrated performance to report so far. However, the basic engineering concepts will be presented together with a description of the milestone tasks and dates

Dosagem de folatos maternos e fetais, séricos e eritrocitários em malformações por defeito de fechamento do tubo neural no feto Maternal and fetal serum and red blood cell folate levels in pregnancies complicated by neural tube defects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Bunduki

1998-07-01

Full Text Available Objetivos: avaliar os níveis de folatos maternos e fetais gestações com malformações por defeitos de fechamento do tubo neural (DFTN. Métodos: o estudo foi do tipo caso-controle, no qual 14 casos de fetos com DFTN (grupo estudo e 14 casos de fetos com outras malformações (grupo controle foram estudados em gestantes de baixo risco para DFTN. Propusemo-nos a dosar o ácido fólico, na sua forma total e metilada, nos compartimentos fetal e materno, utilizando dosagens séricas e tissulares (eritrocitárias, assim como o volume corpuscular médio, o hematócrito e a hemoglobina. As coletas foram realizadas imediatamente antes da interrupção da gestação. Os resultados nos dois grupos foram comparados pelo teste t de Student, método de amostras pareados pela idade gestacional. Resultados: não se encontrou diferença nas taxas de folatos fetais e nos parâmetros hematológicos dos fetos, entre os dois grupos. Por outro lado, taxas anormalmente baixas de folatos foram encontradas nos eritrócitos das mães portadoras de fetos com DFTN, tanto para as formas totais(293,9 ng/mL contra 399,1 ng/mL no grupo controle, p=0,01 quanto para as formas metiladas (201,9 ng/mL contra 314,0 ng/mL para o grupo controle, p=0,02. Os folatos séricos maternos não se mostraram diferentes nos grupos estudo e controle. Conclusão: este estudo demonstrou que há uma menor taxa de folatos intratissulares, nas mães de fetos acometidos por DFTN, porém com taxas de folatos séricos semelhantes em relação ao grupo controle.Objective: to analyze maternal and fetal folate status in cases of neural tube defects (NTD. Methods: a case-control study was designed with 14 cases of fetuses with neural tube defects (study group and 14 cases of fetuses with other unrelated malformations (control group gestational age matched, in low-risk pregnant women. Both total and methylated folic acid levels in fetal and maternal compartments using serum and tissular (red blood cells

Estimating surface longwave radiative fluxes from satellites utilizing artificial neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Nussbaumer, Eric A.; Pinker, Rachel T.

2012-04-01

A novel approach for calculating downwelling surface longwave (DSLW) radiation under all sky conditions is presented. The DSLW model (hereafter, DSLW/UMD v2) similarly to its predecessor, DSLW/UMD v1, is driven with a combination of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) level-3 cloud parameters and information from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA-Interim model. To compute the clear sky component of DSLW a two layer feed-forward artificial neural network with sigmoid hidden neurons and linear output neurons is implemented; it is trained with simulations derived from runs of the Rapid Radiative Transfer Model (RRTM). When computing the cloud contribution to DSLW, the cloud base temperature is estimated by using an independent artificial neural network approach of similar architecture as previously mentioned, and parameterizations. The cloud base temperature neural network is trained using spatially and temporally co-located MODIS and CloudSat Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) and the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) observations. Daily average estimates of DSLW from 2003 to 2009 are compared against ground measurements from the Baseline Surface Radiation Network (BSRN) giving an overall correlation coefficient of 0.98, root mean square error (rmse) of 15.84 W m-2, and a bias of -0.39 W m-2. This is an improvement over an earlier version of the model (DSLW/UMD v1) which for the same time period has an overall correlation coefficient 0.97 rmse of 17.27 W m-2, and bias of 0.73 W m-2.

Investigation of the effect of cutting speed on the Surface Roughness parameters in CNC End Milling using Artificial Neural Network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Al Hazza, Muataz H F; Adesta, Erry Y T

2013-01-01

This research presents the effect of high cutting speed on the surface roughness in the end milling process by using the Artificial Neural Network (ANN). An experimental investigation was conducted to measure the surface roughness for end milling. A set of sparse experimental data for finish end milling on AISI H13 at hardness of 48 HRC have been conducted. The artificial neural network (ANN) was applied to simulate and study the effect of high cutting speed on the surface roughness

Influence of surface condition on the corrosion resistance of copper alloy condenser tubes in sea water

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, S; Nagata, K; Yamauchi, S

1979-07-01

Investigation was made on the influence of various surface conditions of aluminum brass tube. The corrosion behavior of aluminum brass tube, with nine kinds of surface conditions, was studied in stagnant 0.1N NaHCo/sub 3/ solution and flowing sea water (natural, Fe/sup + +/ containing and S/sup - -/ containing water). Surface treatments investigated contained bright annealing, special annealing to form carbon film, hot oxidizing and pickling. Anodic polarization measurements in 0.1N NaHCO/sub 3/ solution showed that the oxidized surface was superior and that the pickled surface was inferior. However, relation between these characteristics and corrosion resistance in sea water has not been established. Electrochemical characteristics in flowing sea water were dependent on the surface conditions in the very beginning of immersion time; nobler corrosion potential for the surface with carbon film, higher polarization resistance for the bright annealed and the oxidized surface, and faster decrease of polarization resistance in S/sup - -/ containing sea water for the pickled surface. However, these differences disappeared in the immersion time of only 2 to 7 days. It was revealed, by the statistical analysis on the corrosion depth in corrosion test in flowing sea water and in jet impingement test, that the corrosion behavior was not influenced by surface conditions, but was significantly influenced by quality of sea water and sponge ball cleaning. Sulfide ion of 0.05 ppm caused severe pitting corrosion, and sponge ball cleaning of 5 chances a week caused erosion corrosion. From above results, it was concluded that surface conditions of aluminum brass were not important to sea water corrosion, and that quality of sea water and operating condition such as sponge ball cleaning were more significant.

Surface inspection of flat products by means of texture analysis: on-line implementation using neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandez, Carlos; Platero, Carlos; Campoy, Pascual; Aracil, Rafael

1994-11-01

This paper describes some texture-based techniques that can be applied to quality assessment of flat products continuously produced (metal strips, wooden surfaces, cork, textile products, ...). Since the most difficult task is that of inspecting for product appearance, human-like inspection ability is required. A common feature to all these products is the presence of non- deterministic texture on their surfaces. Two main subjects are discussed: statistical techniques for both surface finishing determination and surface defect analysis as well as real-time implementation for on-line inspection in high-speed applications. For surface finishing determination a Gray Level Difference technique is presented to perform over low resolution images, that is, no-zoomed images. Defect analysis is performed by means of statistical texture analysis over defective portions of the surface. On-line implementation is accomplished by means of neural networks. When a defect arises, textural analysis is applied which result in a data-vector, acting as input of a neural net, previously trained in a supervised way. This approach tries to reach on-line performance in automated visual inspection applications when texture is presented in flat product surfaces.

Film Thickness Estimation for the Oil Applied to the Inner Surface of Slim Tubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jozef Svetlík

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the approximation of the results of experimental measurement of coating of the inner surface of slim pipes with special oil, using a dispersion oil fraction. The reason for such treatment of the inner surface of the tubes is the anti-corrosion protection or various other requirements. The oil manufacturer prescribes the minimum required layer to guarantee the anti-corrosion protection parameters. Therefore, it is advisable to know the most exact coating parameters for different pipe diameters. The measured results give us an assumption of how much oil is sufficient to coat the inside of a pipe. The main idea lies in the correct estimation of coefficients in the three-parameter exponential dependence. For the initial estimates, Nelder–Mead’s minimization method was used. The condition for meeting the lower estimate of the minimum thickness of the oil layer was determined. Following graphic processing of minimization of individual pipe diameters, in some cases, the coefficients were adjusted manually. The result is that the oil thickness depends on the distance of the investigated point from the beginning of the tube, or on the point of entry of the dispersion oil fraction.

Incidence of neural tube defects in the natural radiation coastal areas of Kerala

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaikrishan, G.; Sudheer, K.R.; Andrews, V.J.; Koya, P.K.M.; Cheriyan, V.D.; Seshadri, M.

2010-01-01

All consecutive births in selected government hospitals in and around the high level natural background radiation areas (HLNRA) of Kerala were monitored for congenital malformations observable at birth since 1995. The HLNR area, a coastal strip of land about 55 km in length and 0.5 km in breadth from Purakkad in the north in Alleppey district to Sakthikulangara in the south of Quilon district, stands out among the most prominent background radiation areas of the world. Natural deposit of monazite sand, containing Thorium (8-10%), Uranium (0.3%) and corresponding decay products, is the source of elevated background radiation, ranging from < 1 to 45 mGy/year. Wide variation in dose, due to the patchy and non-uniform distribution of Monazite sand, enables in built controls. High population density, limited migration, ethnic diversity, good literacy, health awareness, institutionalized births and acceptance of small family norm are some of the key features of the population. Areas with a mean radiation dose of more than 1.5 mGy/year were treated as HLNR areas and areas with a dose level of 1.5 mGy/year or less were treated as normal level radiation (NLNR) areas. The study carried out since 1995 does not seem to implicate HLNR in the incidence of neural tube defects among newborns

Evaporation of new refrigerants on tubes with improved surfaces; Evaporation de nouveaux refrigerants sur des tubes a surface amelioree

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kattan, N.; Favrat, D.; Thome, J. R.; Nidegger, E.; Zuercher, O. [Ecole Polytechnique Federale, Lab. d` Energetique Industrielle (LENI), Lausanne (Switzerland)

1995-07-15

The substitution of old refrigerants in refrigeration systems, heat pumps and organic Rankine cycles for heat recovery, request a good knowledge of heat transfer properties of substitute fluids. The test measurements in LENI test facility (concentric tubes with water flowing in a counter-current flow) with new refrigerants like HFC134a, HCFC123, R-404A, R-402A, have established a new data bank with new refrigerants, a comparison with old refrigerants like CFC11, CFC12 CFC/HCFC502 and with existent correlations. Correlations were programmed to calculate and compare heat transfer coefficient during the tests. To develop a new correlation based on flow regimes, a high speed Sony video tape camera is used to observe and identify flow patterns. Important images are captured, digitalized, stored for later analysis and sent to a color plotter. Several flow pattern maps were programmed and compared to flow regimes observed on the test rig. Local flow boiling heat transfer coefficients were measured for HFC134a and HCFC123 evaporating inside a microfin tube. In addition, microfin heat transfer augmentation relative to plain tube test data was investigated. The presence of oil in the evaporator has an effect on heat transfer coefficient. Local flow boiling heat transfer coefficients were measured for refrigerant HFC134a-oil ester (Mobil EAL Arctic 68). A new thermodynamic approach for modeling mixtures of refrigerants and lubricating oils is developed. A very high accuracy, straight vibrating tube type of density flowmeter is used to measure oil concentrations of flowing HFC134a-oil mixtures. (author) 28 figs., 25 refs.

Inositol- and folate-resistant neural tube defects in mice lacking the epithelial-specific factor Grhl-3.

Science.gov (United States)

Ting, Stephen B; Wilanowski, Tomasz; Auden, Alana; Hall, Mark; Voss, Anne K; Thomas, Tim; Parekh, Vishwas; Cunningham, John M; Jane, Stephen M

2003-12-01

The neural tube defects (NTDs) spina bifida and anencephaly are widely prevalent severe birth defects. The mouse mutant curly tail (ct/ct) has served as a model of NTDs for 50 years, even though the responsible genetic defect remained unrecognized. Here we show by gene targeting, mapping and genetic complementation studies that a mouse homolog of the Drosophila grainyhead (grh) gene, grainyhead-like-3 (Grhl3), is a compelling candidate for the gene underlying the curly tail phenotype. The NTDs in Grhl3-null mice are more severe than those in the curly tail strain, as the Grhl3 alleles in ct/ct mice are hypomorphic. Spina bifida in ct/ct mice is folate resistant, but its incidence can be markedly reduced by maternal inositol supplementation periconceptually. The NTDs in Grhl3-/- embryos are also folate resistant, but unlike those in ct/ct mice, they are resistant to inositol. These findings suggest that residual Grhl3 expression in ct/ct mice may be required for inositol rescue of folate-resistant NTDs.

Applications of Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Neural Crest Cells in Craniofacial Skeletal Research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Satoru Morikawa

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Craniofacial skeletal tissues are composed of tooth and bone, together with nerves and blood vessels. This composite material is mainly derived from neural crest cells (NCCs. The neural crest is transient embryonic tissue present during neural tube formation whose cells have high potential for migration and differentiation. Thus, NCCs are promising candidates for craniofacial tissue regeneration; however, the clinical application of NCCs is hindered by their limited accessibility. In contrast, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs are easily accessible in adults, have similar potential for self-renewal, and can differentiate into skeletal tissues, including bones and cartilage. Therefore, MSCs may represent good sources of stem cells for clinical use. MSCs are classically identified under adherent culture conditions, leading to contamination with other cell lineages. Previous studies have identified mouse- and human-specific MSC subsets using cell surface markers. Additionally, some studies have shown that a subset of MSCs is closely related to neural crest derivatives and endothelial cells. These MSCs may be promising candidates for regeneration of craniofacial tissues from the perspective of developmental fate. Here, we review the fundamental biology of MSCs in craniofacial research.

Predicting diametral creep of the pressure tubes in CANDU reactors using fuzzy neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jae Yong; Na, Man Gyun; Park, Jong Ho

2011-01-01

Pressure tube (PT) creep is one of the principal aging mechanisms governing the heat transfer and hydraulic degradation of the heat transport system (HTS) in Canada deuterium uranium reactors. PT diametral creep affects the thermal hydraulic characteristics of coolant channels and the critical heat flux (CHF). CHF is a key parameter in determining the critical channel power, which is used in the trip setpoint calculations of regional overpower protection systems. This paper aims to predict PT diametral creep using the measured signals of the HTS by applying fuzzy neural networks (FNNs) according to operating conditions. The FNN model was optimized in terms of its fuzzy rules and parameters by a genetic algorithm combined with the least-squares method. Informative data that demonstrate the system's characteristic behavior were selected to train the FNN model using the subtractive clustering method. The proposed FNN model for predicting PT diametral creep was verified using the operating data of the Wolsong Unit 1 nuclear power plant in Korea. It was known that the FNN could predict the PT diametral creep accurately. Statistical and analytical uncertainty analysis methods were applied to the models and their uncertainties were evaluated using 60 sampled training and optimization data sets, as well as two fixed test data sets. (author)

Management of abnormal serum markers in the absence of aneuploidy or neural tube defects

Science.gov (United States)

Schnettler, William T.; Hacker, Michele R.; Barber, Rachel E.; Rana, Sarosh

2013-01-01

Objective Few guidelines address the management of pregnancies complicated by abnormal maternal serum analytes (MSAs) in the absence of aneuploidy or neural tube defects (NTDs). Our objective was to gather preliminary data regarding current opinions and management strategies among perinatologists in the US. Methods This survey of Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) physicians and fellows used a secure electronic web-based data capture tool. Results A total of 545 potential participants were contacted, and 136 (25%) responded. The majority were experienced academic physicians with robust practices. Nearly all (97.7%) respondents reported a belief in an association between abnormal MSAs and adverse pregnancy outcomes other than aneuploidy or NTDs. Plasma protein A (PAPP-A) and α-fetoprotein (AFP) were most often chosen as markers demonstrating a strong association with adverse outcomes. Most (86.9%) respondents acknowledged that abnormal MSAs influenced their counseling approach, and the majority (80.1%) offered additional ultrasound examinations. Nearly half started at 28 weeks and almost one-third at 32 weeks. Respondents acknowledging a relevant protocol in their hospital or practice were more likely to offer additional antenatal testing (p = 0.01). Conclusions Although most perinatologists were in agreement regarding the association of MSAs with adverse pregnancy outcomes, a lack of consensus exists regarding management strategies. PMID:22372385

Amphioxus and lamprey AP-2 genes: implications for neural crest evolution and migration patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Meulemans, Daniel; Bronner-Fraser, Marianne

2002-01-01

The neural crest is a uniquely vertebrate cell type present in the most basal vertebrates, but not in cephalochordates. We have studied differences in regulation of the neural crest marker AP-2 across two evolutionary transitions: invertebrate to vertebrate, and agnathan to gnathostome. Isolation and comparison of amphioxus, lamprey and axolotl AP-2 reveals its extensive expansion in the vertebrate dorsal neural tube and pharyngeal arches, implying co-option of AP-2 genes by neural crest cells early in vertebrate evolution. Expression in non-neural ectoderm is a conserved feature in amphioxus and vertebrates, suggesting an ancient role for AP-2 genes in this tissue. There is also common expression in subsets of ventrolateral neurons in the anterior neural tube, consistent with a primitive role in brain development. Comparison of AP-2 expression in axolotl and lamprey suggests an elaboration of cranial neural crest patterning in gnathostomes. However, migration of AP-2-expressing neural crest cells medial to the pharyngeal arch mesoderm appears to be a primitive feature retained in all vertebrates. Because AP-2 has essential roles in cranial neural crest differentiation and proliferation, the co-option of AP-2 by neural crest cells in the vertebrate lineage was a potentially crucial event in vertebrate evolution.

Permutation invariant potential energy surfaces for polyatomic reactions using atomistic neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kolb, Brian; Zhao, Bin; Guo, Hua; Li, Jun; Jiang, Bin

2016-01-01

The applicability and accuracy of the Behler-Parrinello atomistic neural network method for fitting reactive potential energy surfaces is critically examined in three systems, H + H 2 → H 2 + H, H + H 2 O → H 2 + OH, and H + CH 4 → H 2 + CH 3 . A pragmatic Monte Carlo method is proposed to make efficient choice of the atom-centered mapping functions. The accuracy of the potential energy surfaces is not only tested by fitting errors but also validated by direct comparison in dynamically important regions and by quantum scattering calculations. Our results suggest this method is both accurate and efficient in representing multidimensional potential energy surfaces even when dissociation continua are involved.

[A method of recognizing biology surface spectrum using cascade-connection artificial neural nets].

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Wei-Jie; Yao, Yong; Zhang, Tie-Qiang; Meng, Xian-Jiang

2008-05-01

A method of recognizing the visible spectrum of micro-areas on the biological surface with cascade-connection artificial neural nets is presented in the present paper. The visible spectra of spots on apples' pericarp, ranging from 500 to 730 nm, were obtained with a fiber-probe spectrometer, and a new spectrum recognition system consisting of three-level cascade-connection neural nets was set up. The experiments show that the spectra of rotten, scar and bumped spot on an apple's pericarp can be recognized by the spectrum recognition system, and the recognition accuracy is higher than 85% even when noise level is 15%. The new recognition system overcomes the disadvantages of poor accuracy and poor anti-noise with the traditional system based on single cascade neural nets. Finally, a new method of expression of recognition results was proved. The method is based on the conception of degree of membership in fuzzing mathematics, and through it the recognition results can be expressed exactly and objectively.

Neural network approach to time-dependent dividing surfaces in classical reaction dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Schraft, Philippe; Junginger, Andrej; Feldmaier, Matthias; Bardakcioglu, Robin; Main, Jörg; Wunner, Günter; Hernandez, Rigoberto

2018-04-01

In a dynamical system, the transition between reactants and products is typically mediated by an energy barrier whose properties determine the corresponding pathways and rates. The latter is the flux through a dividing surface (DS) between the two corresponding regions, and it is exact only if it is free of recrossings. For time-independent barriers, the DS can be attached to the top of the corresponding saddle point of the potential energy surface, and in time-dependent systems, the DS is a moving object. The precise determination of these direct reaction rates, e.g., using transition state theory, requires the actual construction of a DS for a given saddle geometry, which is in general a demanding methodical and computational task, especially in high-dimensional systems. In this paper, we demonstrate how such time-dependent, global, and recrossing-free DSs can be constructed using neural networks. In our approach, the neural network uses the bath coordinates and time as input, and it is trained in a way that its output provides the position of the DS along the reaction coordinate. An advantage of this procedure is that, once the neural network is trained, the complete information about the dynamical phase space separation is stored in the network's parameters, and a precise distinction between reactants and products can be made for all possible system configurations, all times, and with little computational effort. We demonstrate this general method for two- and three-dimensional systems and explain its straightforward extension to even more degrees of freedom.

Preparation of aluminide coatings on the inner surface of tubes by heat treatment of Al coatings electrodeposited from an ionic liquid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xue, Dongpeng; Chen, Yimin; Ling, Guoping; Liu, Kezhao; Chen, Chang’an; Zhang, Guikai

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Al coating is prepared on the inner surface of one-meter tube. • Al coating shows good adherence to the substrate. • The thickness of Al coating is uniform along the tube. • Aluminide coating is obtained by heat treating Al coating. • Structure of aluminide coating is regulated by different thickness of Al coating. - Abstract: Aluminide coatings were prepared on the inner surface of 316L stainless steel tubes with size of Ø 12 mm × 1000 mm by heat-treating Al coatings electrodeposited from AlCl 3 -1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride (AlCl 3 –EMIC) ionic liquid at room temperature. Studies on the electrolytic etching pretreatment of stainless tubes before Al coating electrodeposition were carried out. The Al coating showed good adherence to the substrate after electrolytic etching at 10 mA/cm 2 for 10 min. The thickness of Al coatings was uniform along the tube. The structure of prepared aluminide coatings can be regulated by different thickness of Al coating. The outer layer of aluminide coatings was FeAl, Fe 2 Al 5 and FeAl 3 for the samples of 1-μm, 5-μm and 10-μm thick Al coatings, respectively.

From disability to ability: comprehensive rehabilitation providing a holistic functional improvement in a child with neglected neural tube defect.

Science.gov (United States)

Mishra, Kriti; Siddharth, V

2017-09-25

Neural Tube defects are one of the most common congenital disorders, presenting in a paediatric rehabilitation set-up. With its wide spectrum of clinical presentation and possible complications, the condition can significantly impact an individual's functional capacity and quality of life. The condition also affects the family of the child leaving them with a lifelong impairment to cope up with. Through this 16-year-old child, we shed light on the effects of providing rehabilitation, even at a later stage and its benefits. We also get a glimpse of difficulties in availing rehabilitation services in developing countries and the need to reach out many more neglected children like him with good functional abilities. © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd (unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Lack of beta1 integrins in enteric neural crest cells leads to a Hirschsprung-like phenotype

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Breau, Marie A; Pietri, Thomas; Eder, Olivier

2006-01-01

The enteric nervous system arises mainly from vagal and sacral neural crest cells that colonise the gut between 9.5 and 14 days of development in mice. Using the Cre-LoxP system, we removed beta1 integrins in the neural crest cells when they emerge from the neural tube. beta1-null enteric neural...

Influence of the receiver’s back surface radiative characteristics on the performance of a heat-pipe evacuated-tube solar collector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zheng, Hongfei; Xiong, Jianying; Su, Yuehong; Zhang, Haiyin

2014-01-01

Highlights: • A model for describing the heat transfer characteristics of the ETSC is derived. • A method by performing roughness treatment is proposed to change the emissivity. • Increasing the receiver’s back surface emissivity can greatly affect the heat loss. • Real weather test verifies the proposed method in controlling overheat phenomenon. - Abstract: The receiver’s back surface radiative characteristics of a heat-pipe evacuated-tube solar collector (ETSC) may have a significant influence on its performance. This influence is generally related to the back surface emissivity and temperature; however it has been not studied previously. This paper firstly presents a heat transfer model for the ETSC, which is then derived to characterize the relationship between the heat loss and the back surface emissivity of the ETSC. A steady state experiment has been also performed to measure the heat loss of ETSC with different back surface emissivity values. The experimental results indicate that the heat loss of the ETSC increases with the increase of the back surface emissivity, but the rate of increase differs for different operation temperatures. When the back surface emissivity increases from 0.03 to 0.12, the heat loss of ETSC only increases by 31% when the operation temperature is below 100 °C, but the heat loss will increase to 96% when the operation temperature is over 200 °C. This means that the change of back surface emissivity can significantly affect the performance of the ETSC at higher temperature but affect little at lower temperature. Based on this, a novel method by performing roughness treatment on the receiver’s back surface is proposed to solve the overheating problem of ETSC in summer. Two solar water heaters including 6 ETSCs with standard and roughness-treated tubes were tested under real weather condition. Experiment reveals that when the water temperature in tank is below 60 °C, the two solar water heaters own similar temperature

An Analytical Model for Prediction of Magnetic Flux Leakage from Surface Defects in Ferromagnetic Tubes

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Suresh V.

2016-02-01

Full Text Available In this paper, an analytical model is proposed to predict magnetic flux leakage (MFL signals from the surface defects in ferromagnetic tubes. The analytical expression consists of elliptic integrals of first kind based on the magnetic dipole model. The radial (Bz component of leakage fields is computed from the cylindrical holes in ferromagnetic tubes. The effectiveness of the model has been studied by analyzing MFL signals as a function of the defect parameters and lift-off. The model predicted results are verified with experimental results and a good agreement is observed between the analytical and the experimental results. This analytical expression could be used for quick prediction of MFL signals and also input data for defect reconstructions in inverse MFL problem.

Estimation of the neural drive to the muscle from surface electromyograms

Science.gov (United States)

Hofmann, David

Muscle force is highly correlated with the standard deviation of the surface electromyogram (sEMG) produced by the active muscle. Correctly estimating this quantity of non-stationary sEMG and understanding its relation to neural drive and muscle force is of paramount importance. The single constituents of the sEMG are called motor unit action potentials whose biphasic amplitude can interfere (named amplitude cancellation), potentially affecting the standard deviation (Keenan etal. 2005). However, when certain conditions are met the Campbell-Hardy theorem suggests that amplitude cancellation does not affect the standard deviation. By simulation of the sEMG, we verify the applicability of this theorem to myoelectric signals and investigate deviations from its conditions to obtain a more realistic setting. We find no difference in estimated standard deviation with and without interference, standing in stark contrast to previous results (Keenan etal. 2008, Farina etal. 2010). Furthermore, since the theorem provides us with the functional relationship between standard deviation and neural drive we conclude that complex methods based on high density electrode arrays and blind source separation might not bear substantial advantages for neural drive estimation (Farina and Holobar 2016). Funded by NIH Grant Number 1 R01 EB022872 and NSF Grant Number 1208126.

ESTABLISHING EMPIRICAL RELATION TO PREDICT TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCE OF VORTEX TUBE USING RESPONSE SURFACE METHODOLOGY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PRABAKARAN J.

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Vortex tube is a device that produces cold and hot air simultaneously from the source of compressed air. In this work an attempt has been made to investigate the effect of three controllable input variables namely diameter of the orifices, diameter of the nozzles and inlet pressure over the temperature difference in the cold side as output using Response Surface Methodology (RSM. Experiments are conducted using central composite design with three factors at three levels. The influence of vital parameters and interaction among these are investigated using analysis of variance (ANOVA. The proposed mathematical model in this study has proven to fit and in line with experimental values with a 95% confidence interval. It is found that the inlet pressure and diameter of nozzle are significant factors that affect the performance of vortex tube.

A fast button surface defects detection method based on convolutional neural network

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lizhe; Cao, Danhua; Wu, Songlin; Wu, Yubin; Wei, Taoran

2018-01-01

Considering the complexity of the button surface texture and the variety of buttons and defects, we propose a fast visual method for button surface defect detection, based on convolutional neural network (CNN). CNN has the ability to extract the essential features by training, avoiding designing complex feature operators adapted to different kinds of buttons, textures and defects. Firstly, we obtain the normalized button region and then use HOG-SVM method to identify the front and back side of the button. Finally, a convolutional neural network is developed to recognize the defects. Aiming at detecting the subtle defects, we propose a network structure with multiple feature channels input. To deal with the defects of different scales, we take a strategy of multi-scale image block detection. The experimental results show that our method is valid for a variety of buttons and able to recognize all kinds of defects that have occurred, including dent, crack, stain, hole, wrong paint and uneven. The detection rate exceeds 96%, which is much better than traditional methods based on SVM and methods based on template match. Our method can reach the speed of 5 fps on DSP based smart camera with 600 MHz frequency.

A thin-lip rupture of carbon steel superheater boiler tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalil, E.O.; Alzoye, K.S.; Elwaer, A.M.

1993-01-01

A ruptured A 42 medium carbon steel tube was collected by the engineering department in one of our steam power stations. Inspection of ruptured tube revealed a thin - lip fracture with brownish thin layer of oxide film on inner tube surfaces. There was no evidence of pitting, the outer surfaces of the tube exhibited a general oxidized conditions. A micro section taken near the fracture surface consists of ferrite and martensite, the amount of martensite decreased as we away from the fracture surface. Presence of martensite phase in the microstructure indicates that the tube material has been overheated. An erosion corrosion mechanism in conjunction with overheated. An erosion corrosion mechanism in conjunction with overheating resulted in strength deterioration with consequent premature failure. 4 fig., 1 tab

Proteomic Profiling of Neuroblastoma Cells Adhesion on Hyaluronic Acid-Based Surface for Neural Tissue Engineering

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Hui Yang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The microenvironment of neuron cells plays a crucial role in regulating neural development and regeneration. Hyaluronic acid (HA biomaterial has been applied in a wide range of medical and biological fields and plays important roles in neural regeneration. PC12 cells have been reported to be capable of endogenous NGF synthesis and secretion. The purpose of this research was to assess the effect of HA biomaterial combining with PC12 cells conditioned media (PC12 CM in neural regeneration. Using SH-SY5Y cells as an experimental model, we found that supporting with PC12 CM enhanced HA function in SH-SY5Y cell proliferation and adhesion. Through RP-nano-UPLC-ESI-MS/MS analyses, we identified increased expression of HSP60 and RanBP2 in SH-SY5Y cells grown on HA-modified surface with cotreatment of PC12 CM. Moreover, we also identified factors that were secreted from PC12 cells and may promote SH-SY5Y cell proliferation and adhesion. Here, we proposed a biomaterial surface enriched with neurotrophic factors for nerve regeneration application.

Metallurgical Analysis of Cracks Formed on Coal Fired Boiler Tube

Science.gov (United States)

Kishor, Rajat; Kyada, Tushal; Goyal, Rajesh K.; Kathayat, T. S.

2015-02-01

Metallurgical failure analysis was carried out for cracks observed on the outer surface of a boiler tube made of ASME SA 210 GR A1 grade steel. The cracks on the surface of the tube were observed after 6 months from the installation in service. A careful visual inspection, chemical analysis, hardness measurement, detailed microstructural analysis using optical and scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were carried out to ascertain the cause for failure. Visual inspection of the failed tube revealed the presence of oxide scales and ash deposits on the surface of the tube exposed to fire. Many cracks extending longitudinally were observed on the surface of the tube. Bulging of the tube was also observed. The results of chemical analysis, hardness values and optical micrographs did not exhibit any abnormality at the region of failure. However, detailed SEM with EDS analysis confirmed the presence of various oxide scales. These scales initiated corrosion at both the inner and outer surfaces of the tube. In addition, excessive hoop stress also developed at the region of failure. It is concluded that the failure of the boiler tube took place owing to the combined effect of the corrosion caused by the oxide scales as well as the excessive hoop stress.

Development of teeth in chick embryos after mouse neural crest transplantations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitsiadis, Thimios A; Chéraud, Yvonnick; Sharpe, Paul; Fontaine-Pérus, Josiane

2003-05-27

Teeth were lost in birds 70-80 million years ago. Current thinking holds that it is the avian cranial neural crest-derived mesenchyme that has lost odontogenic capacity, whereas the oral epithelium retains the signaling properties required to induce odontogenesis. To investigate the odontogenic capacity of ectomesenchyme, we have used neural tube transplantations from mice to chick embryos to replace the chick neural crest cell populations with mouse neural crest cells. The mouse/chick chimeras obtained show evidence of tooth formation showing that avian oral epithelium is able to induce a nonavian developmental program in mouse neural crest-derived mesenchymal cells.

Plugging criteria for steam generator tubes with axial cracks near tube support plates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mattar Neto, Miguel

2000-01-01

Stress corrosion cracking with intergranular attack occurs on the secondary side of steam generator (SG) tubes where impurities concentrate due to boiling under restricted flow conditions. In the most of cases, it can be called ODSCC (Outer Diameter Stress Corrosion Cracking). The typical locations are areas near support plates, in sludge piles and at top of tubesheet crevices. Though it can also occur on free spans under the relatively thin deposits that build up on the tube surfaces. ODSCC near tube plate supports have been the cause of plugging of many tubes. Thus, studies on SG tubes plugging criteria related to this degradation mechanism are presented in this paper. Th purpose is to avoid unnecessary tube plugging from either safety or reliability standpoint. Based on these studies some conclusions on the plugging criteria and on the difficulties to apply them are addressed. (author)

Receptor-like kinases as surface regulators for RAC/ROP-mediated pollen tube growth and interaction with the pistil

Science.gov (United States)

Zou, Yanjiao; Aggarwal, Mini; Zheng, Wen-Guang; Wu, Hen-Ming; Cheung, Alice Y.

2011-01-01

Background RAC/ROPs are RHO-type GTPases and are known to play diverse signalling roles in plants. Cytoplasmic RAC/ROPs are recruited to the cell membrane and activated in response to extracellular signals perceived and mediated by cell surface-located signalling assemblies, transducing the signals to regulate cellular processes. More than any other cell types in plants, pollen tubes depend on continuous interactions with an extracellular environment produced by their surrounding tissues as they grow within the female organ pistil to deliver sperm to the female gametophyte for fertilization. Scope We review studies on pollen tube growth that provide compelling evidence indicating that RAC/ROPs are crucial for regulating the cellular processes that underlie the polarized cell growth process. Efforts to identify cell surface regulators that mediate extracellular signals also point to RAC/ROPs being the molecular switches targeted by growth-regulating female factors for modulation to mediate pollination and fertilization. We discuss a large volume of work spanning more than two decades on a family of pollen-specific receptor kinases and some recent studies on members of the FERONIA family of receptor-like kinases (RLKs). Significance The research described shows the crucial roles that two RLK families play in transducing signals from growth regulatory factors to the RAC/ROP switch at the pollen tube apex to mediate and target pollen tube growth to the female gametophyte and signal its disintegration to achieve fertilization once inside the female chamber. PMID:22476487

Depression cathode structure for cathode ray tubes having surface smoothness and method for producing same

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rychlewski, T.V.

1984-01-01

Depression cathode structures for cathode ray tubes are produced by dispensing liquid cathode material into the depression of a metallic supporting substrate, removing excess cathode material by passing a doctor blade across the substrate surface and over the depression, and drying the cathode layer to a substantially immobile state. The cathode layer may optionally be further shaped prior to substantially complete drying thereof

Hybrid Intelligent Warning System for Boiler tube Leak Trips

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Singh Deshvin

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Repeated boiler tube leak trips in coal fired power plants can increase operating cost significantly. An early detection and diagnosis of boiler trips is essential for continuous safe operations in the plant. In this study two artificial intelligent monitoring systems specialized in boiler tube leak trips have been proposed. The first intelligent warning system (IWS-1 represents the use of pure artificial neural network system whereas the second intelligent warning system (IWS-2 represents merging of genetic algorithms and artificial neural networks as a hybrid intelligent system. The Extreme Learning Machine (ELM methodology was also adopted in IWS-1 and compared with traditional training algorithms. Genetic algorithm (GA was adopted in IWS-2 to optimize the ANN topology and the boiler parameters. An integrated data preparation framework was established for 3 real cases of boiler tube leak trip based on a thermal power plant in Malaysia. Both the IWSs were developed using MATLAB coding for training and validation. The hybrid IWS-2 performed better than IWS-1.The developed system was validated to be able to predict trips before the plant monitoring system. The proposed artificial intelligent system could be adopted as a reliable monitoring system of the thermal power plant boilers.

Dificultades en los métodos de estudio de exposiciones ambientales y defectos del tubo neural Methodological challenges to assess environmental exposures related to neural tube defects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Víctor Hugo Borja-Aburto

1999-11-01

susceptibilidad genética.Objective. To discuss the attitudes in the assessment of environmental exposures as risk factors associated with neural tube defects, and to present the main risk factors studied to date. Results. Environmental exposures have been suggested to have a roll in the genesis of birth defects. However, studies conducted in human populations have found difficulties in the design and conduction to show such an association for neural tube defects (anencephaly, espina bifida and encefalocele because of problems raised from: a the frequency measures used to compare time trends and communities, b the classification of heterogeneous malformations, c the inclusion of maternal, paternal and fetal factors as an integrated process and, d the assessment of environmental exposures. Conclusions. Hypothetically both maternal and paternal environmental exposures can produce damage before and after conception by direct action on the embryo and the fetus-placenta complex. Therefore, in the assessment of environmental exposures we need to take into account: a both paternal and maternal exposures; b the critical exposure period, three months before conception for paternal exposures and one month around the conceptional period for maternal exposures; c quantitatively evaluate environmental exposures when possible, avoiding a dichotomous classification; d the use of biological markers of exposure is highly recommended as well as markers of genetic susceptibility.

Permutation invariant potential energy surfaces for polyatomic reactions using atomistic neural networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kolb, Brian [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States); Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 (United States); Zhao, Bin; Guo, Hua, E-mail: hguo@unm.edu [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States); Li, Jun [School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 401331 (China); Jiang, Bin [Department of Chemical Physics, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026 (China)

2016-06-14

The applicability and accuracy of the Behler-Parrinello atomistic neural network method for fitting reactive potential energy surfaces is critically examined in three systems, H + H{sub 2} → H{sub 2} + H, H + H{sub 2}O → H{sub 2} + OH, and H + CH{sub 4} → H{sub 2} + CH{sub 3}. A pragmatic Monte Carlo method is proposed to make efficient choice of the atom-centered mapping functions. The accuracy of the potential energy surfaces is not only tested by fitting errors but also validated by direct comparison in dynamically important regions and by quantum scattering calculations. Our results suggest this method is both accurate and efficient in representing multidimensional potential energy surfaces even when dissociation continua are involved.

Procedure and device for extracting the end of a tube inserted into a hole in a tube plate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

When constructing heat exchangers and steam generators, particularly in the construction of steam generators for nuclear power stations, many small diameter tubes have to be secured into a very thick tube plate for instance 600 mm thick. This crimping or expanding of the tube is generally performed by rolling the internal surface of the tube inside a hole drilled right through the tube plate and slightly greater in diameter than the external diameter of the tube before the tube is rolled. To check the tubes for defects, it is necessary to extract certain tubes from the tube plate in order to move the tube to a testing and inspection point and examine the part of it that was secured in the plate hole. The invention concerns the uncrimping of these tubes [fr

Advanced evacuated tube collectors

Science.gov (United States)

Schertz, W. W.; Hull, J. R.; Winston, R.; Ogallagher, J.

1985-04-01

The essence of the design concept for these new collectors is the integration of moderate levels of nonimaging concentration inside the evacuated tube itself. This permanently protects the reflection surfaces and allows the use of highly reflecting front surface mirrors with reflectances greater than 95%. Previous fabrication and long term testing of a proof-of-concept prototype has established the technical success of the concept. Present work is directed toward the development of a manufacturable unit that will be suitable for the widest possible range of applications. Design alternatives include scaling up the original prototype's tube diameter from 5 cm to 10 cm, using an internal shaped metal concentrating reflector, using a variety of profile shapes to minimize so-called gap losses and accommodate both single ended and double-ended flow geometries, and allowing the use of heat pipes for the absorber tube.

Studying the glial cell response to biomaterials and surface topography for improving the neural electrode interface

Science.gov (United States)

Ereifej, Evon S.

Neural electrode devices hold great promise to help people with the restoration of lost functions, however, research is lacking in the biomaterial design of a stable, long-term device. Current devices lack long term functionality, most have been found unable to record neural activity within weeks after implantation due to the development of glial scar tissue (Polikov et al., 2006; Zhong and Bellamkonda, 2008). The long-term effect of chronically implanted electrodes is the formation of a glial scar made up of reactive astrocytes and the matrix proteins they generate (Polikov et al., 2005; Seil and Webster, 2008). Scarring is initiated when a device is inserted into brain tissue and is associated with an inflammatory response. Activated astrocytes are hypertrophic, hyperplastic, have an upregulation of intermediate filaments GFAP and vimentin expression, and filament formation (Buffo et al., 2010; Gervasi et al., 2008). Current approaches towards inhibiting the initiation of glial scarring range from altering the geometry, roughness, size, shape and materials of the device (Grill et al., 2009; Kotov et al., 2009; Kotzar et al., 2002; Szarowski et al., 2003). Literature has shown that surface topography modifications can alter cell alignment, adhesion, proliferation, migration, and gene expression (Agnew et al., 1983; Cogan et al., 2005; Cogan et al., 2006; Merrill et al., 2005). Thus, the goals of the presented work are to study the cellular response to biomaterials used in neural electrode fabrication and assess surface topography effects on minimizing astrogliosis. Initially, to examine astrocyte response to various materials used in neural electrode fabrication, astrocytes were cultured on platinum, silicon, PMMA, and SU-8 surfaces, with polystyrene as the control surface. Cell proliferation, viability, morphology and gene expression was measured for seven days in vitro. Results determined the cellular characteristics, reactions and growth rates of astrocytes

MTHFD1 polymorphism as maternal risk for neural tube defects: a meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Jinyu; Lu, Xiaocheng; Liu, Hao; Zhao, Penglai; Li, Kai; Li, Lixin

2015-04-01

Recently, the association between methylenetetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase 1 (MTHFD1) G1958A polymorphism and neural tube defects (NTD) susceptibility has been widely investigated; however, the results remained inconclusive. Hence, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of MTHFD1 G1958A polymorphism on NTD. The relative literatures were identified by search of the electronic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, and EMBASE. The extracted data were statistically analyzed, and pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to estimate the association strength using Stata version 11.0 software. Finally, ten studies met our inclusion criteria, including 2,132/4,082 in NTD infants and controls; 1,402/3,136 in mothers with NTD offspring and controls; and 993/2,879 in fathers with NTD offspring and controls. This meta-analysis showed that, compared with the mothers with GG genotype, the women with AA genotype had an increased risk of NTD in their offspring, with OR values and 95 % CI at 1.39 (1.16-1.68), p < 0.001. Interestingly, fathers with AG genotype had a significant decreased risk of NTD offspring (OR = 0.79, 95 % CI = 0.66-0.94, p = 0.009). However, there was no significant association between the MTHFD1 G1958A polymorphism in NTD patients and the risk of NTD. In conclusion, the present meta-analysis provided evidence of the association between maternal MTHFD1 G1958A polymorphism and NTD susceptibility.

On the evaluation of lifetime of evaporative tubes of once-through steam generators at steam-generating surface temperature oscillations in the burnout region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vorob'ev, V.A.; Loshchinin, V.M.; Remizov, O.V.

1978-01-01

Suggested is a method for evaluation of a stressed state of evaporation tubes of once-through steam generators at temperature oscillations in the burnout region. Calculated is the amplitude of steam-generating surface temperature oscillations in the burnout region depending on the frequency of a liquid-steam boundary transfer and on this basis determined are thermal stresses in a tube wall. Knowing a fatigue curve gives the possibility to evaluate a heat transfer tube lifetime

Cladding the inside surface of a 3 1/4 in. ID Zircaloy-2 pressure tube with 1S aluminum

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watson, R.D.

1966-09-01

A hot-press sizing technique has been developed for cladding the inside surface of Zircaloy-2 pressure tubes with 1S aluminum. The process is performed in air with the Zircaloy-2 and aluminum at a temperature of approximately 950 o F. A controlled atmosphere is not required, either during preheating or while the cladding is being applied. Tubes 30 inches long and 3 1/4 inches ID have been coated with 1S aluminum in thicknesses ranging from 0.005 inches to more than 0.02 inches; tubes longer than 30 inches have not been attempted. The lining of aluminum is firmly attached to the Zircaloy-2 at all points in the tube but the bond strength varies considerably - from. 6500 to 28000 lbf/in 2 . This work is the subject of Canadian Patent Application No. 955,358 filed March 21, 1966. (author)

Radiant absorption characteristics of corrugated curved tubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Đorđević Milan Lj.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The utilization of modern paraboloidal concentrators for conversion of solar radiation into heat energy requires the development and implementation of compact and efficient heat absorbers. Accurate estimation of geometry influence on absorption characteristics of receiver tubes is an important step in this process. This paper deals with absorption characteristics of heat absorber made of spirally coiled tubes with transverse circular corrugations. Detailed 3-D surface-to-surface Hemicube method was applied to compare radiation performances of corrugated and smooth curved tubes. The numerical results were obtained by varying the tube curvature ratio and incident radiant heat flux intensity. The details of absorption efficiency of corrugated tubes and the effect of curvature on absorption properties for both corrugated and smooth tubes were presented. The results may have significance to further analysis of highly efficient heat absorbers exposed to concentrated radiant heating. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 42006

Fuel cladding tube and fuel rod for BWR type reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Urata, Megumu; Mitani, Shinji.

1995-01-01

A fuel cladding tube has grooves fabricated, on the surface thereof, with a predetermined difference between crest and bottom (depth of the groove) in the circumferential direction. The cross sectional shape thereof is sinusoidal. The distribution of the grain size of iron crud particles in coolants is within a range about from 2μm to 12μm. If the surface roughness of the fuel cladding tube (depth of the groove) is determined greater than 1.6μm and less than 12.5, iron cruds in coolants can be positively deposited on the surface of the fuel cladding tube. In addition, once deposited iron cruds can be prevented from peeling from the surface of the fuel cladding tube. With such procedures, iron cruds deposited and radioactivated on the fuel cladding tube can be prevented from peeling, to prevent and reduce the increase of radiation dose on the surface of the pipelines without providing any additional device. (I.N.)

Technical note: Influence of surface roughness and local turbulence on coated-wall flow tube experiments for gas uptake and kinetic studies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Li

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Coated-wall flow tube reactors are frequently used to investigate gas uptake and heterogeneous or multiphase reaction kinetics under laminar flow conditions. Coating surface roughness may potentially distort the laminar flow pattern, induce turbulence and introduce uncertainties in the calculated uptake coefficient based on molecular diffusion assumptions (e.g., Brown/Cooney–Kim–Davis (CKD/Knopf–Pöschl–Shiraiwa (KPS methods, which has not been fully resolved in earlier studies. Here, we investigate the influence of surface roughness and local turbulence on coated-wall flow tube experiments for gas uptake and kinetic studies. According to laminar boundary theory and considering the specific flow conditions in a coated-wall flow tube, we derive and propose a critical height δc to evaluate turbulence effects in the design and analysis of coated-wall flow tube experiments. If a geometric coating thickness δg is larger than δc, the roughness elements of the coating may cause local turbulence and result in overestimation of the real uptake coefficient (γ. We further develop modified CKD/KPS methods (i.e., CKD-LT/KPS-LT to account for roughness-induced local turbulence effects. By combination of the original methods and their modified versions, the maximum error range of γCKD (derived with the CKD method or γKPS (derived with the KPS method can be quantified and finally γ can be constrained. When turbulence is generated, γCKD or γKPS can bear large difference compared to γ. Their difference becomes smaller for gas reactants with lower uptake (i.e., smaller γ and/or for a smaller ratio of the geometric coating thickness to the flow tube radius (δg ∕ R0. On the other hand, the critical height δc can also be adjusted by optimizing flow tube configurations and operating conditions (i.e., tube diameter, length, and flow velocity, to ensure not only unaffected laminar flow patterns but also other specific requirements for an

Application of Artificial Neural Network and Response Surface Methodology in Modeling of Surface Roughness in WS2 Solid Lubricant Assisted MQL Turning of Inconel 718

Science.gov (United States)

Maheshwera Reddy Paturi, Uma; Devarasetti, Harish; Abimbola Fadare, David; Reddy Narala, Suresh Kumar

2018-04-01

In the present paper, the artificial neural network (ANN) and response surface methodology (RSM) are used in modeling of surface roughness in WS2 (tungsten disulphide) solid lubricant assisted minimal quantity lubrication (MQL) machining. The real time MQL turning of Inconel 718 experimental data considered in this paper was available in the literature [1]. In ANN modeling, performance parameters such as mean square error (MSE), mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) and average error in prediction (AEP) for the experimental data were determined based on Levenberg–Marquardt (LM) feed forward back propagation training algorithm with tansig as transfer function. The MATLAB tool box has been utilized in training and testing of neural network model. Neural network model with three input neurons, one hidden layer with five neurons and one output neuron (3-5-1 architecture) is found to be most confidence and optimal. The coefficient of determination (R2) for both the ANN and RSM model were seen to be 0.998 and 0.982 respectively. The surface roughness predictions from ANN and RSM model were related with experimentally measured values and found to be in good agreement with each other. However, the prediction efficacy of ANN model is relatively high when compared with RSM model predictions.

Do neural tube defects lead to structural alterations in the human bladder?

Science.gov (United States)

Pazos, Helena M F; Lobo, Márcio Luiz de P; Costa, Waldemar S; Sampaio, Francisco J B; Cardoso, Luis Eduardo M; Favorito, Luciano Alves

2011-05-01

Anencephaly is the most severe neural tube defect in human fetuses. The objective of this paper is to analyze the structure of the bladder in anencephalic human fetuses. We studied 40 bladders of normal human fetuses (20 male and 20 female, aged 14 to 23 WPC) and 12 bladders of anencephalic fetuses (5 male and 7 female, aged 18 to 22 WPC). The bladders were removed and processed by routine histological techniques. Stereological analysis of collagen, elastic system fibers and smooth muscle was performed in sections. Data were expressed as volumetric density (Vv-%). The images were captured with Olympus BX51 microscopy and Olympus DP70 camera. The stereological analysis was done using the software Image Pro and Image J. For biochemical analysis, samples were fixed in acetone, and collagen concentrations were expressed as micrograms of hydroxyproline per mg of dry tissue. Means were statistically compared using the unpaired t-test (p<0.05). We observed a significant increase (p<0.0001) in the Vv of collagen in the bladders of anencephalic fetuses (69.71%) when compared to normal fetuses (52.74%), and a significant decrease (p<0.0001) in the Vv of smooth muscle cells in the bladders of anencephalic fetuses (23.96%) when compared to normal fetuses (38.35%). The biochemical analyses showed a higher concentration of total collagen in the bladders of anencephalic fetuses (37354 µg/mg) when compared to normal fetuses (48117 µg/mg, p<0.02). The structural alterations of the bladder found in this study may suggest the existence of functional alterations in the bladder of anencephalic human fetuses.

Template synthesis of test tube nanoparticles using non-destructive replication.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Jonathan; Yao, Jingyuan; Rodgers, David; Hinds, Bruce

2013-03-01

Nano test tubes are a promising delivery vehicle for a range of therapeutics, including small molecule drugs and biologics. However, current template synthesis methods of producing nano test tubes are prohibitively expensive and time consuming. Here, non-destructive template replication was used to increase nano test tube yield from porous alumina by more than a hundredfold. We demonstrate how to produce nano test tubes of several sizes and compositions, including hybrid tubes with different inner and outer surfaces for targeted surface chemistry. Nano test tubes were readily suspended and stored in aqueous solutions without the need for chemical treatment. These nano test tubes should find application as delivery vehicles for therapeutics, particularly for processive 'bionanoreactors' loaded with enzymes.

Annular gap measurement between pressure tube and calandria tube by eddy current technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bhole, V.M.; Rastogi, P.K.; Kulkarni, P.G.

1992-01-01

In pressurised heavy water reactor (PHWR) major distinguishing feature is that there are number of identical fuel channels in the reactor core. Each channel consists of pressure tube of Zr-2.5 Nb or zircaloy-2 through which high temperature, high pressure primary coolant is passing. The pressure tube contains fuel. Surrounding the pressure tube there is low pressure, cool heavy water (moderator). The moderator is thermally separated from coolant by the tube which is nominally concentric with pressure tube called calandria tube. There are four garter springs in the annular gap between pressure tube and calandria tube. During the life of the reactor there are number of factors by which the pressure tube sags, most important factors are irradiation creep, thermal creep, fuel load etc. Because of the sag of pressure tube it can touch the calandria tube resulting in formation of cold spot. This leads to hydrogen concentration at that spot by which the material at that place becomes brittle and can lead to catastrophic failure of pressure tube. There is no useful access for measurement of annular gap either through the gas annular space or from exterior of calandria tube. So the annular gap was measured from inside surface of pressure tube which is accessible. Eddy current technique was used for finding the gap. The paper describe the details of split coil design of bobbin probe, selection of operating point on normalised impedance diagram by choosing frequency. Experimental results on full scale mock up, and actual gap measurement in reactor channel, are also given. (author). 7 figs

Square through tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akita, Junji; Honma, Toei.

1975-01-01

Object: To provide a square through tube involving thermal movement in pipelines such as water supply pump driving turbine exhaust pipe (square-shaped), which is wide in freedom with respect to shape and dimension thereof for efficient installation at site. Structure: In a through tube to be airtightly retained for purpose of decontamination in an atomic power plant, comprising a seal rubber plate, a band and a bolt and a nut for securing said plate, the seal rubber plate being worked into the desired shape so that it may be placed in intimate contact with the concrete floor surface by utilization of elasticity of rubber, thereby providing airtightness at a corner portion of the square tube. (Kamimura, M.)

Falling film evaporation on a tube bundle with plain and enhanced tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Habert, M.

2009-04-01

The complexities of two-phase flow and evaporation on a tube bundle present important problems in the design of heat exchangers and the understanding of the physical phenomena taking place. The development of structured surfaces to enhance boiling heat transfer and thus reduce the size of evaporators adds another level of complexity to the modeling of such heat exchangers. Horizontal falling film evaporators have the potential to be widely used in large refrigeration systems and heat pumps, in the petrochemical industry and for sea water desalination units, but there is a need to improve the understanding of falling film evaporation mechanisms to provide accurate thermal design methods. The characterization of the effect of enhanced surfaces on the boiling phenomena occurring in falling film evaporators is thus expected to increase and optimize the performance of a tube bundle. In this work, the existing LTCM falling film facility was modified and instrumented to perform falling film evaporation measurements on single tube row and a small tube bundle. Four types of tubes were tested including: a plain tube, an enhanced condensing tube (Gewa-C+LW) and two enhanced boiling tubes (Turbo-EDE2 and Gewa-B4) to extend the existing database. The current investigation includes results for two refrigerants, R134a and R236fa, at a saturation temperature of T sat = 5 °C, liquid film Reynolds numbers ranging from 0 to 3000, at heat fluxes between 20 and 60 kW/m² in pool boiling and falling film configurations. Measurements of the local heat transfer coefficient were obtained and utilized to improve the current prediction methods. Finally, the understanding of the physical phenomena governing the falling film evaporation of liquid refrigerants has been improved. Furthermore, a method for predicting the onset of dry patch formation has been developed and a local heat transfer prediction method for falling film evaporation based on a large experimental database has been proposed

Heat transfer in laminar flow for a finned double - tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Colle, S.

1977-01-01

An analitical study of the steady-state heat transfer in laminar flow in finned double-tube heat exchangers is presented. The fins are plane, straight and continous, equally spaced and are fixed over the external surface of the inner tube. A constant peripheral temperature distribution is assumed to apply over the inner tube surface and each fin, and a constant peripheral heat flux is assumed to apply over the outer tube surface, while the overall heat flux is suposed to be uniform in the longitudinal direction of the duct. The prediction of the thermal performance of the finned double-tube is made by means of the relationship between the Nusselt number, the boundary conditions and the geometric characteristcs of the duct. (author) [pt

Local pool boiling heat transfer on a 3 Degree inclined tube surface

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kang, Myeong Gie

2012-01-01

Mechanisms of pool boiling heat transfer have been studied for a long time. Recently, it has been widely investigated in nuclear power plants for the purpose of acquiring inherent safety functions in case of no power supply. To design more efficient heat exchangers, effects of several parameters on heat transfer must be studied in detail. One of the major issues is variation in local heat transfer coefficients on a tube. Lance and Myers reported that the type of boiling liquid can change the trend of local heat transfer coefficients along the tube periphery. Lance and Myers said that as the liquid is methanol the maximum local heat transfer coefficient was observed at the tube bottom while the maximum was at the tube sides as the boiling liquid was n hexane. Corn well and Einarsson reported that the maximum local heat transfer coefficient was observed at the tube bottom, as the boiling liquid was R113. Corn well and Houston explained the reason of the difference in local heat transfer coefficients along the tube circumference with introducing effects of sliding bubbles on heat transfer. According to Gu pta et al., the maximum and the minimum local heat transfer coefficients were observed at the bottom and top regions of the tube circumference, respectively, using a tube bundle and water. Kang also reported the similar results using a single horizontal tube and water. However, the maximum heat transfer coefficient was observed at the angle of 45 deg. Sateesh et al. investigated variations in local heat transfer coefficients along a tube periphery as the inclination angle was changed. Summarizing the published results, some parts are still remaining to be investigated in detail. Although pool boiling analysis on a nearly horizontal tube is necessary for the design of the advanced power reactor plus, no previous results are published yet. Therefore, the present study is aimed to study variations in local pool boiling heat transfer coefficients for a 3 degree inclined

Wear behavior of 2-1/4 Cr-1Mo tubing against alloy 718 tube-support material in sodium-cooled steam generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, W.L.

1983-05-01

A series of prototypic steam generator 2-1/4 Cr-1 Mo tube/alloy 718 tube support plate wear tests were conducted in direct support of the Westinghouse Nuclear Components Division -- Breeder Reactor Components Project Large Scale steam Generator design. The initial objective was to verify the acceptable wear behavior of softer, ''over-aged'' alloy 718 support plate material. For all interfaces under all test conditions, resultant wear damage was adhesive in nature with varying amounts of 2-1/4 Cr-1 Mo tube material being adhesively transferred to the alloy 718 tube supports. Maximum tube wear depths exceeded the initially established design allowable limit of 127 μm (.005 in.) at 17 of the 18 interfaces tested. A decrease in contact stresses produced acceptable tube wear depths below a readjusted maximum design allowable value of 381 μm (.015 in.). Additional conservatisms associated with the simulation of a 40-year lifetime of rubbing in a one-week laboratory test provided further confidence that the 381 μm maximum tube wear allowance would not be exceeded in service. Softer, ''over-aged'' alloy 718 material was found to produce slightly less wear damage on 2-1/4 Cr-1 Mo tubing than fully age hardened material. Also, air formed oxide films on the alloy 718 reduced initial tube wear and delayed the onset of adhesive surface damage. However, at high surface stress levels, these films were not sufficiently stable to provide adequate long term protection from adhesive wear. The results of the present work and those of previous test programs suggest that the successful in-sodium tribological performance of 2-1/4 Cr-1 Mo/alloy 718 rubbing couples is dependent upon the presence of lubricative surface films, such as oxides and/or surface reaction or deposition products. 11 refs., 13 figs., 4 tabs

Pressure distribution over tube surfaces of tube bundle subjected to two phase cross flow

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sim, Woo Gun

2013-01-01

Two phase vapor liquid flows exist in many shell and tube heat exchangers such as condensers, evaporators and nuclear steam generators. To understand the fluid dynamic forces acting on a structure subjected to a two phase flow, it is essential to obtain detailed information about the characteristics of a two phase flow. The characteristics of a two phase flow and the flow parameters were introduced, and then, an experiment was performed to evaluate the pressure loss in the tube bundles and the fluid dynamic force acting on the cylinder owing to the pressure distribution. A two phase flow was pre mixed at the entrance of the test section, and the experiments were undertaken using a normal triangular array of cylinders subjected to a two phase cross flow. The pressure loss along the flow direction in the tube bundles was measured to calculate the two phase friction multiplier, and the multiplier was compared with the analytical value. Furthermore, the circular distributions of the pressure on the cylinders were measured. Based on the distribution and the fundamental theory of two phase flow, the effects of the void fraction and mass flux per unit area on the pressure coefficient and the drag coefficient were evaluated. The drag coefficient was calculated by integrating the measured pressure coefficient and the drag coefficient were evaluated. The drag coefficient was calculated by integrating the measured pressure on the tube by a numerical method. It was found that for low mass fluxes, the measured two phase friction multipliers agree well with the analytical results, and good agreement for the effect of the void fraction on the drag coefficients, as calculated by the measured pressure distributions, is shown qualitatively, as compared to the existing experimental results

Multi-objective parametric optimization of Inertance type pulse tube refrigerator using response surface methodology and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Rout, Sachindra K.; Choudhury, Balaji K.; Sahoo, Ranjit K.; Sarangi, Sunil K.

2014-07-01

The modeling and optimization of a Pulse Tube Refrigerator is a complicated task, due to its complexity of geometry and nature. The aim of the present work is to optimize the dimensions of pulse tube and regenerator for an Inertance-Type Pulse Tube Refrigerator (ITPTR) by using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) and Non-Sorted Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA II). The Box-Behnken design of the response surface methodology is used in an experimental matrix, with four factors and two levels. The diameter and length of the pulse tube and regenerator are chosen as the design variables where the rest of the dimensions and operating conditions of the ITPTR are constant. The required output responses are the cold head temperature (Tcold) and compressor input power (Wcomp). Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) have been used to model and solve the ITPTR. The CFD results agreed well with those of the previously published paper. Also using the results from the 1-D simulation, RSM is conducted to analyse the effect of the independent variables on the responses. To check the accuracy of the model, the analysis of variance (ANOVA) method has been used. Based on the proposed mathematical RSM models a multi-objective optimization study, using the Non-sorted genetic algorithm II (NSGA-II) has been performed to optimize the responses.

Titanium condenser tubes--problems and their solutions for wider application to large surface condensers

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, S; Sugiyama, Y; Nagata, K; Namba, K; Shimono, M

1978-01-01

To meet the demand for high reliability condensers for thermal and nuclear power plants, especially for PWR plants, the condensers installed entirely with titanium tubes have been investigated and used. Some difficulties from conventional copper alloy tubes exist. Further investigations are necessary on three items: (1) tube vibration; (2) joining tubes to tube plate; (3) fouling (bio-fouling) control. Literature survey on the tube vibration suggests that the probability of tube vibration due to decreased stiffness of titanium tubes in comparison with conventional copper alloy tubes can be decreased by designing the proper span length between supports. Experiments on seal welding of tubes to a tube plate have successfully proved that pulsed TIG arc welding is applicable to get reliable and strong joints, even on site, by suitable countermeasures. Experiments on the fouling (bio-fouling) of titanium tubes in marine application reveal that the increased fouling of titanium tubes could be controlled by proper application of sponge ball cleaning.

Effect of beta phase composition and surface machining on the oxidation behavior of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nouduru, S.K.; Kiran Kumar, M.; Kain, V.; Khanna, A.S.

2015-01-01

Zr-2.5Nb is commonly used as the pressure tube material in pressurized heavy water reactors. it is also the pressure tube material for Advanced Heavy Water Reactor (AHWR) being developed indigenously in India with light water as coolant and water chemistry similar to Boiling Water Reactors (BWR). Oxidation of the pressure tube depends on various factors like material composition, microstructure, fabrication route, and water chemistry. In the present research, the role of the composition and morphology of second phase β on the high temperature and pressure oxidation behavior of Zr-2.5Nb pressure tube material in steam was systematically studied. The as-received pressure tube material (fabricated through cold worked and stress relieved, CWSR route) was subjected to selective heat treatments to generate microstructures containing predominantly β(Zr) (∼ 20% Nb) and β(Nb) (∼ 80% Nb) phases. The presence of such phases was characterized by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy. Subsequently both the heat treated materials were subjected to surface machining. The Zr-2.5Nb material in different microstructural conditions was subjected to accelerated oxidation exposures in steam at 400 C. degrees, and 10 MPa pressure up to 30 days. Raman spectroscopy was carried out on the oxide surfaces to observe the variation in tetragonal versus monoclinic phase fractions with oxidation duration. The microstructure consisting of predominantly β(Nb) showed a relatively improved oxidation resistance as compared to the one with predominantly β(Zr). The tetragonal phase fraction in the oxide film decreased with oxidation time in all microstructural conditions and was found to be the least in the microstructure containing β(Zr) after 10 days of exposures. The explanation for the observed higher oxidation resistance of β(Nb) microstructure lies in the context of depleted matrix Nb content in the case of β(Nb). Surface machining

Sample summary report for ARG 1 pressure tube sample

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belinco, C.

2006-01-01

The ARG 1 sample is made from an un-irradiated Zr-2.5% Nb pressure tube. The sample has 103.4 mm ID, 112 mm OD and approximately 500 mm length. A punch mark was made very close to one end of the sample. The punch mark indicates the 12 O'clock position and also identifies the face of the tube for making all the measurements. ARG 1 sample contains flaws on ID and OD surface. There was no intentional flaw within the wall of the pressure tube sample. Once the flaws are machined the pressure tube sample was covered from outside to hide the OD flaws. Approximately 50 mm length of pressure tube was left open at both the ends to facilitate the holding of sample in the fixtures for inspection. No flaw was machined in this zone of 50 mm on either end of the pressure tube sample. A total of 20 flaws were machined in ARG 1 sample. Out of these, 16 flaws were on the OD surface and the remaining 4 on the ID surface of the pressure tube. The flaws were characterized in to various groups like axial flaws, circumferential flaws, etc

Template synthesis of test tube nanoparticles using non-destructive replication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wagner, Jonathan; Rodgers, David; Yao Jingyuan; Hinds, Bruce

2013-01-01

Nano test tubes are a promising delivery vehicle for a range of therapeutics, including small molecule drugs and biologics. However, current template synthesis methods of producing nano test tubes are prohibitively expensive and time consuming. Here, non-destructive template replication was used to increase nano test tube yield from porous alumina by more than a hundredfold. We demonstrate how to produce nano test tubes of several sizes and compositions, including hybrid tubes with different inner and outer surfaces for targeted surface chemistry. Nano test tubes were readily suspended and stored in aqueous solutions without the need for chemical treatment. These nano test tubes should find application as delivery vehicles for therapeutics, particularly for processive ‘bionanoreactors’ loaded with enzymes. (paper)

Ceramic accelerating tube of the improved construction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasserman, S.B.; Kazarezov, I.V.; Pokhlebenin, E.I.; Shirokov, V.V.

1976-01-01

An improved ceramic accelerating tube is designed. The electrodes are made of copper and covar which provides for maintaining the geometry of the electrodes at thermal-compression welding and obviates the need for machanical treatment of the envelope after welding. Employment of the insulators with a finned surface from the vacuum side by two times increases the electric strength of the accelerating tube, as compared to the insulators with a smooth surface. The accelerating tube envelope can withstand the pulsed voltages of 1.5 MV at a pulse duration of 6 μs and a repetition rate of 100 Hz within two hours

Metal diffusion from furnace tubes depends on location

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Albright, L.F.

1988-01-01

Studies of metal samples from an ethylene furnace on the Texas Gulf Coast, using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an energy dispersive X-ray analyzer (EDAX), reveal preferential diffusion of chromium, titanium, and aluminum in the coil wall to the surfaces of the tube where they form metal oxides. These elements are gradually depleted from the tube wall. Complicated surface reactions that include the formation of several metal oxides, metal sulfides, and metal-catalyzed coke also occur. Several mechanisms can be postulated as to how metal fines or compounds are formed and transferred in the coil and transfer lines exchanger (TLX) of ethylene units. These surface reactions directly or indirectly affect coke formation in the tube. Finally, creep in the coils is likely a factor in promoting corrosion. Such creep is promoted by variable temperature-time patterns to which a coil is exposed during pyrolysis, and then decoking. Periods of stress and compression occur in the coil walls. Knowledge of the diffusion and reactions that take place can result in better furnace operations and decoking procedures to extend the life of the furnace tubes. In this second installment of a four-part series, photomicrographs of four pyrolysis tube samples from the ethylene furnace indicate that significant differences existed between the outer surfaces, inner surfaces, and cross-sectional areas of the samples. The first installment of the series dealt with coke

Grooved tube plug rolls in

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krausser, P.

1991-01-01

The removable plugs used to date by the Power Generation Group (KWU) of Siemens to seal defective steam generator tubes have a good track record. Their sealing principle is based on the elastic tensioning of three seal disks against the inside wall of the tube. Now a further removable plug is available -a roll-in plug with a metal-coated surface. It is particularly suitable for use in the roller-expanded zone of the tubes at the tube sheet. The plugs can be used in both Siemens-KWU steam generators and in steam generators manufactured in compliance with the guidelines of the ASME Code. (author)

Preliminary Study on Biosynthesis of Bacterial Nanocellulose Tubes in a Novel Double-Silicone-Tube Bioreactor for Potential Vascular Prosthesis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Feng Hong

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC has demonstrated a tempting prospect for applications in substitute of small blood vessels. However, present technology is inefficient in production and BNC tubes have a layered structure that may bring danger after implanting. Double oxygen-permeable silicone tubes in different diameters were therefore used as a tube-shape mold and also as oxygenated supports to construct a novel bioreactor for production of the tubular BNC materials. Double cannula technology was used to produce tubular BNC via cultivations with Acetobacter xylinum, and Kombucha, a symbiosis of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. The results indicated that Kombucha gave higher yield and productivity of BNC than A. xylinum. Bacterial nanocellulose was simultaneously synthesized both on the inner surface of the outer silicone tube and on the outer surface of the inner silicone tube. Finally, the nano BNC fibrils from two directions formed a BNC tube with good structural integrity. Scanning electron microscopy inspection showed that the tubular BNC had a multilayer structure in the beginning but finally it disappeared and an intact BNC tube formed. The mechanical properties of BNC tubes were comparable with the reported value in literatures, demonstrating a great potential in vascular implants or in functional substitutes in biomedicine.

Preliminary Study on Biosynthesis of Bacterial Nanocellulose Tubes in a Novel Double-Silicone-Tube Bioreactor for Potential Vascular Prosthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Hong, Feng; Wei, Bin; Chen, Lin

2015-01-01

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) has demonstrated a tempting prospect for applications in substitute of small blood vessels. However, present technology is inefficient in production and BNC tubes have a layered structure that may bring danger after implanting. Double oxygen-permeable silicone tubes in different diameters were therefore used as a tube-shape mold and also as oxygenated supports to construct a novel bioreactor for production of the tubular BNC materials. Double cannula technology was used to produce tubular BNC via cultivations with Acetobacter xylinum, and Kombucha, a symbiosis of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. The results indicated that Kombucha gave higher yield and productivity of BNC than A. xylinum. Bacterial nanocellulose was simultaneously synthesized both on the inner surface of the outer silicone tube and on the outer surface of the inner silicone tube. Finally, the nano BNC fibrils from two directions formed a BNC tube with good structural integrity. Scanning electron microscopy inspection showed that the tubular BNC had a multilayer structure in the beginning but finally it disappeared and an intact BNC tube formed. The mechanical properties of BNC tubes were comparable with the reported value in literatures, demonstrating a great potential in vascular implants or in functional substitutes in biomedicine.

Preliminary Study on Biosynthesis of Bacterial Nanocellulose Tubes in a Novel Double-Silicone-Tube Bioreactor for Potential Vascular Prosthesis

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Bin; Chen, Lin

2015-01-01

Bacterial nanocellulose (BNC) has demonstrated a tempting prospect for applications in substitute of small blood vessels. However, present technology is inefficient in production and BNC tubes have a layered structure that may bring danger after implanting. Double oxygen-permeable silicone tubes in different diameters were therefore used as a tube-shape mold and also as oxygenated supports to construct a novel bioreactor for production of the tubular BNC materials. Double cannula technology was used to produce tubular BNC via cultivations with Acetobacter xylinum, and Kombucha, a symbiosis of acetic acid bacteria and yeasts. The results indicated that Kombucha gave higher yield and productivity of BNC than A. xylinum. Bacterial nanocellulose was simultaneously synthesized both on the inner surface of the outer silicone tube and on the outer surface of the inner silicone tube. Finally, the nano BNC fibrils from two directions formed a BNC tube with good structural integrity. Scanning electron microscopy inspection showed that the tubular BNC had a multilayer structure in the beginning but finally it disappeared and an intact BNC tube formed. The mechanical properties of BNC tubes were comparable with the reported value in literatures, demonstrating a great potential in vascular implants or in functional substitutes in biomedicine. PMID:26090420

Prediction Of Tensile And Shear Strength Of Friction Surfaced Tool Steel Deposit By Using Artificial Neural Networks

Science.gov (United States)

Manzoor Hussain, M.; Pitchi Raju, V.; Kandasamy, J.; Govardhan, D.

2018-04-01

Friction surface treatment is well-established solid technology and is used for deposition, abrasion and corrosion protection coatings on rigid materials. This novel process has wide range of industrial applications, particularly in the field of reclamation and repair of damaged and worn engineering components. In this paper, we present the prediction of tensile and shear strength of friction surface treated tool steel using ANN for simulated results of friction surface treatment. This experiment was carried out to obtain tool steel coatings of low carbon steel parts by changing contribution process parameters essentially friction pressure, rotational speed and welding speed. The simulation is performed by a 33-factor design that takes into account the maximum and least limits of the experimental work performed with the 23-factor design. Neural network structures, such as the Feed Forward Neural Network (FFNN), were used to predict tensile and shear strength of tool steel sediments caused by friction.

Expanded heat treatment to form residual compressive hoop stress on inner surface of zirconium alloy tubing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Megata, Masao

1997-01-01

A specific heat treatment process that introduces hoop stress has been developed. This technique can produce zirconium alloy tubing with a residual compressive hoop stress near the inner surface by taking advantage of the mechanical anisotropy in hexagonal close-packed zirconium crystal. Since a crystal having its basal pole parallel to the tangential direction of the tubing is easier to exhibit plastic elongation under the hoop stress than that having its basal pole parallel to the radial direction, the plastic and elastic elongation can coexist under a certain set of temperature and hoop stress conditions. The mechanical anisotropy plays a role to extend the coexistent stress range. Thus, residual compressive hoop stress is formed at the inner surface where more plastic elongation occurs during the heat treatment. This process is referred to as expanded heat treatment. Since this is a fundamental crystallographic principle, it has various applications. The application to improve PCI/SCC (pellet cladding interaction/stress corrosion cracking) properties of water reactor fuel cladding is promising. Excellent results were obtained with laboratory-scale heat treatment and an out-reactor iodine SCC test. These results included an extension of the time to SCC failure. (author)

Bundled multi-tube nozzle for a turbomachine

Science.gov (United States)

Lacy, Benjamin Paul; Ziminsky, Willy Steve; Johnson, Thomas Edward; Zuo, Baifang; York, William David; Uhm, Jong Ho

2015-09-22

A turbomachine includes a compressor, a combustor operatively connected to the compressor, an end cover mounted to the combustor, and an injection nozzle assembly operatively connected to the combustor. The injection nozzle assembly includes a cap member having a first surface that extends to a second surface. The cap member further includes a plurality of openings. A plurality of bundled mini-tube assemblies are detachably mounted in the plurality of openings in the cap member. Each of the plurality of bundled mini-tube assemblies includes a main body section having a first end section and a second end section. A fluid plenum is arranged within the main body section. A plurality of tubes extend between the first and second end sections. Each of the plurality of tubes is fluidly connected to the fluid plenum.

Method of making a composite tube to metal joint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Leslie, James C.; Leslie, II, James C.; Heard, James; Truong, Liem V.; Josephson, Marvin

2017-11-07

A method for making a metal to composite tube joint including selecting an elongated interior fitting constructed with an exterior barrel, reduced in exterior diameter to form a distally facing annular shoulder and then projecting still further distally to form an interior sleeve having a radially outwardly facing bonding surface. Selecting an elongated metal outer sleeve formed proximally with a collar constructed for receipt over the barrel and increased in interior diameter and projecting distally to form an exterior sleeve having a radially inwardly facing bonding surface cooperating with the first bonding surface to form an annulus receiving an extremity of a composite tube and a bond bonding the extremity of the tube to the bonding surfaces.

Experimental and numerical studies in a vortex tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sohn, Chang Hyun; Kim, Chang Soo; Gowda, B. H. L Lakshmana; Jung, Ui Hyun

2006-01-01

The present investigation deals with the study of the internal flow phenomena of the counter-flow type vortex tube using experimental testing and numerical simulation. Visualization was carried out using the surface tracing method, injecting dye on the vortex tube wall using a needle. Vortex tube is made of acrylic to visualize the surface particle tracing and the input air pressure was varied from 0.1 MPa to 0.3 MPa. The experimentally visualized results on the tube show that there is an apparent sudden changing of the trajectory on the vortex tube wall which was observed in every experimental test case. This may indicate the stagnation position of the vortex flow. The visualized stagnation position moves towards the vortex generator with increase in cold flow ratio and input pressure. Three-dimensional computational study is also conducted to obtain more detailed flow information in the vortex tube. Calculated total pressure, static pressure and total temperature distributions in the vortex tube were in good agreement with the experimental data. The computational particle trace on the vortex tube wall is very similar to that observed in experiments

Risk factors for neural tube defects in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia: Case-control study.

Science.gov (United States)

Salih, Mustafa A M; Murshid, Waleed R; Mohamed, Ashry Gad; Ignacio, Lena C; de Jesus, Julie E; Baabbad, Rubana; El Bushra, Hassan M

2014-01-01

Both genetic and non-genetic environmental factors are involved in the etiology of neural tube defects (NTD) which affect 0.5-2/1000 pregnancies worldwide. This study aimed to explore the risk factors for the development of NTD in Saudi population, and highlight identifiable and preventable causes. Similar studies are scarce in similar populations ofthe Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. This is an unmatched concurrent case-control study including NTD cases born at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh during a 4-year period (2002-2006). The case-control study included 25 cases and 125 controls (case: control ratio of 1:5). Years of formal education, employment, household environment (including availability of air conditioning) and rate of parental consanguinity did not differ between mothers of cases and controls. Significantly higher proportion of mothers of cases had history of stillbirth compared to control mothers (16% vs 4.1%, P=0.02). Also family history of hydrocephalus and congenital anomalies were more prevalent in cases than controls (P values=0.0000 and 0.003, respectively). There was significant protective effect of periconceptional folic acid consumption both prior to conception (OR 0.02, 95% CI 0.00-0.07) and during the first 6 weeks of conception (OR 0.13, 95% CI 0.04-0.39). Further research, including a larger cohort, is required to enable ascertainment of gene-nutrient and gene environment interactions associated with NTD in Saudi Arabia.

Developing effective campaign messages to prevent neural tube defects: a qualitative assessment of women's reactions to advertising concepts.

Science.gov (United States)

Massi Lindsey, Lisa L; Silk, Kami J; Von Friederichs-Fitzwater, Marlene M; Hamner, Heather C; Prue, Christine E; Boster, Franklin J

2009-03-01

The incidence of neural tube defects (NTDs), serious birth defects of the brain and spine that affect approximately 3,000 pregnancies in the United States each year, can be reduced by 50-70% with daily periconceptional consumption of the B vitamin folic acid. Two studies were designed to assess college women's reactions to and perceptions of potential campaign advertising concepts derived from preproduction formative research to increase folic acid consumption through the use of a daily multivitamin. Study one assessed draft advertising concepts in eight focus groups (N = 71) composed of college-enrolled women in four cities geographically dispersed across the United States. Based on study one results, the concepts were revised and reassessed in study two with a different sample (eight focus groups; N = 73) of college women in the same four cities. Results indicated that participants generally responded favorably to concepts in each of the two studies, and provided insight into individual concepts to increase their overall appeal and effectiveness. The specific findings and implications of these results are discussed.

Longevity of shallow subsurface drip irrigation tubing under three tillage practices

Science.gov (United States)

Shallow Sub-Surface drip irrigation (S3DI) has drip tubing buried about 2-in below the soil surface. It is unknown how long drip tubing would be viable at this shallow soil depth using strip- or no-tillage systems. The objectives were to determine drip tube longevity, resultant crop yield, and parti...

Heat treated tube for cladding nuclear fuel element

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eddens, F.C.; White, D.W.; Harmon, J.L.

1983-01-01

The zirconium alloy tube comprises a metallurgical gradient across the width of the tube wall wherein the tube has a more corrosion-resistant metallurgical condition at the outer circumference and a less corrosion-resistant metallurgical condition at the inner circumference. The metallurgical gradient can be generated by heating an outer circumferential portion of the tube to the high alpha or mixed alpha plus beta range while maintaining the inner surface at a lower temperature, followed by cooling of the tube. Preferably the tube is made of Zircaloy. (author)

Improving the calandria tubes for CANDU reactors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coleman, C.E.; Fong, R.W.L.; Doubt, G.L.; Nitheanandan, T.; Sanderson, D.B.

1997-07-01

The Zircaloy-2 calandria tube has been improved to guard against abnormal operating conditions. It has been strengthened by either thickening or eliminating the weld to withstand the consequences of a pressure tube rupture. To exploit the moderator as a heat sink, both surfaces have been roughened and the inside surface ridged to maximise heat-transfer from an over-heated fuel channel during a postulated loss of coolant accident. (author)

Application of artificial neural networks for response surface modelling in HPLC method development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohamed A. Korany

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This paper discusses the usefulness of artificial neural networks (ANNs for response surface modelling in HPLC method development. In this study, the combined effect of pH and mobile phase composition on the reversed-phase liquid chromatographic behaviour of a mixture of salbutamol (SAL and guaiphenesin (GUA, combination I, and a mixture of ascorbic acid (ASC, paracetamol (PAR and guaiphenesin (GUA, combination II, was investigated. The results were compared with those produced using multiple regression (REG analysis. To examine the respective predictive power of the regression model and the neural network model, experimental and predicted response factor values, mean of squares error (MSE, average error percentage (Er%, and coefficients of correlation (r were compared. It was clear that the best networks were able to predict the experimental responses more accurately than the multiple regression analysis.

Core barrel inner tube lifter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jeffers, J P

1968-07-16

A core drill with means for selectively lifting a core barrel inner tube consists of a lifting means connected to the core barrel inner tube assembly. It has a closable passage to permit drilling fluid normally to pass through it. The lifting means has a normally downward facing surface and a means to direct drilling fluid pressure against that surface so that on closure of the passage to fluid flow, the pressure of the drilling fluid is caused to act selectively on it. This causes the lifting means to rise and lift the core barrel. (7 claims)

Boiling and condensation in microfin tubes

Science.gov (United States)

Schlager, Lynn M.

A general overview of microfin tubes and their applications is presented. Manufacturing processes, commercial availability, experimental heat transfer, and pressure drop data for various refrigerants (including alternative refrigerants and refrigerant-oil mixtures), physical mechanisms of enhancement, and the incorporation of microfin tubes in common heat exchanger configurations are discussed. Microfin tubes, also known by various trade names, are characterized by numerous small fins which typically spiral down the inside wall of tubes at angles ranging from 10 to 30 degrees. The number of fins ranges from 48 to 70 with typical fin heights of 0.12 to 0.30 mm (fin height generally less than 3 percent of the inside diameter of the tube). Fin shapes may vary and the inside surface area of microfin tubes is 10 to 70 percent greater than the area of equivalent smooth tubes. Heat transfer can be enhanced by up to a factor of three with microfin tubes.

Generalization of experimental data and development of recommendations for calculating heat transfer of a staggered tube bank with helical and ring extended-surface tubes in a perpendicular gas stream (for new formulation of standard method for boiler heat analyses)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fomina, V N; Titova, E Ya; Migai, V K; Bystrov, P G; Pis' mennyi, E N [Vsesoyuznyi Teplotekhnicheskii Institut (USSR)

1991-06-01

Comparatively evaluates methods for determination of optimum design of extended-surface tubes used in water walls of boilers fired with coal and other fuels in commercial power plants in the USSR. The standard calculation methods introduced in 1973 and other methods developed and tested by individual research institutes of the USSR are described. New and original formulae based on the results of physical and mathematical modeling are evaluated. Heat transfer from flue gases to water walls is analyzed. Arrangement of tube banks, design of extended-surface tubes and other factors that influence heat transfer are considered. Evaluations show that from among the analyzed calculation methods the method developed by the KPI institute is superior to others (it is most accurate and universal). Investigations show that the coefficient of thermal efficiency of the economizers (1st and 2nd stage) of boilers fired with coal amounts to about 0.85. The coefficient considers effects of buildup on the economizer tubes. Use of the method is explained on example of boilers fired with black coal from the Ehkibastuz. 13 refs.

Folate status in women of reproductive age as basis of neural tube defect risk assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Bailey, Lynn B; Hausman, Dorothy B

2018-02-01

Reliable folate status data for women of reproductive age (WRA) to assess global risk for neural tube defects (NTDs) are needed. We focus on a recent recommendation by the World Health Organization that a specific "optimal" red blood cell (RBC) folate concentration be used as the sole indicator of NTD risk within a population and discuss how to best apply this guidance to reach the goal of assessing NTD risk globally. We also emphasize the importance of using the microbiologic assay (MBA) as the most reliable assay for obtaining comparable results for RBC folate concentration across time and countries, the need for harmonization of the MBA through use of consistent key reagents and procedures within laboratories, and the requirement to apply assay-matched cutoffs for folate deficiency and insufficiency. To estimate NTD risk globally, the ideal scenario would be to have country-specific population-based surveys of RBC folate in WRA determined utilizing a harmonized MBA, as was done in recent studies in Guatemala and Belize. We conclude with guidance on next steps to best navigate the road map toward the goal of generating reliable folate status data on which to assess NTD risk in WRA in low- and middle-income countries. © 2017 The Authors. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of New York Academy of Sciences.

Myo-inositol soft gel capsules may prevent the risk of coffee-induced neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

De Grazia, Sara; Carlomagno, Gianfranco; Unfer, Vittorio; Cavalli, Pietro

2012-09-01

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are classified as folate sensitive (about 70%) and folate resistant (about 30%); although folic acid is able to prevent the former, several data have shown that inositol may prevent the latter. It has recently been proposed that coffee intake might represent a risk factor for NTD, likely by interfering with the inositol signaling. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that, beside affecting the inositol signaling pathway, coffee also interferes with inositol absorption. In order to evaluate coffee possible negative effects on inositol gastrointestinal absorption, a single-dose bioavailability trial was conducted. Pharmacokinetics (PK) parameters of myo-inositol (MI) powder and MI soft gelatin capsules swallowed with water and with a single 'espresso' were compared. PK profiles were obtained by analysis of MI plasma concentration, and the respective MI bioavailability was compared. Myo-inositol powder administration was negatively affected by coffee intake, thus suggesting an additional explanation to the interference between inositol deficiency and coffee consumption. On the contrary, the concomitant single 'espresso' consumption did not affect MI absorption following MI soft gelatin capsules administration. Furthermore, it was observed that MI soft gelatin capsule administration resulted in improved bioavailability compared to the MI powder form. Myo-inositol soft gelatin capsules should be considered for the preventive treatment of NTDs in folate-resistant subjects due to their higher bioavailability and to the capability to reduce espresso interference.

Bayesian inversion of surface wave data for discontinuities and velocity structure in the upper mantle using Neural Networks. Geologica Ultraiectina (287)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meier, U.

2008-01-01

We present a neural network approach to invert surface wave data for discontinuities and velocity structure in the upper mantle. We show how such a neural network can be trained on a set of random samples to give a continuous approximation to the inverse relation in a compact and computationally

Enhanced Evaporation and Condensation in Tubes

Science.gov (United States)

Honda, Hiroshi

A state-of-the-art review of enhanced evaporation and condensation in horizontal microfin tubes and micro-channels that are used for air-conditioning and refrigeration applications is presented. The review covers the effects of flow pattern and geometrical parameters of the tubes on the heat transfer performance. Attention is paid to the effect of surface tension which leads to enhanced evaporation and condensation in the microfin tubes and micro-channels. A review of prior efforts to develop empirical correlations of the heat transfer coefficient and theoretical models for evaporation and condensation in the horizontal microfin tubes and micro-channels is also presented.

Levels of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Maternal Serum and Risk of Neural Tube Defects in Offspring

Science.gov (United States)

2015-01-01

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are ubiquitous environmental pollutants, and have been reported to be a risk factor for human neural tube defects (NTDs). We investigated the relationship between PAH concentrations in maternal serum and NTD risk in offspring using a case-control study design, and explored the link between PAH concentrations to household energy usage characteristics and life styles. One hundred and seventeen women who had NTD-affected pregnancies (cases) and 121 women who delivered healthy infants (controls) were recruited in Northern China. Maternal blood samples were collected at pregnancy termination or at delivery. Twenty-seven PAHs were measured by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The concentrations of 13 individual PAHs detected were significantly higher in the cases than in the controls. Clear dose–response relationships between concentrations of most individual PAHs and the risk of total NTDs or subtypes were observed, even when potential covariates were adjusted for. High-molecular-weight PAHs (H-PAHs) showed higher risk than low-molecular-weight PAHs (L-PAHs). No associations between PAH concentrations and indoor life styles and energy usage characteristics were observed. It was concluded that maternal exposure to PAHs was associated with an increased risk of NTDs, and H-PAHs overall posed a higher risk for NTDs than L-PAHs. PMID:25488567

X-ray tube target

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, R.G.

1980-01-01

A target with an improved heat emissive surface for use in a rotating anode type x-ray tube is described. The target consists of a body having a first surface portion made of x-ray emissive material and a second surface portion made of a heat emissive material comprising at least one of hafnium boride, hafnium oxide, hafnium nitride, hafnium silicide, and hafnium aluminide. (U.K.)

Rechargeable biofilm-controlling tubing materials for use in dental unit water lines.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Jie; Porteous, Nuala; Sun, Yuyu

2011-08-01

A simple and practical surface grafting approach was developed to introduce rechargeable N-halamine-based antimicrobial functionality onto the inner surfaces of continuous small-bore polyurethane (PU) dental unit waterline (DUWL) tubing. In this approach, tetrahydrofuran (THF) solution of a free-radical initiator, dicumyl peroxide (DCP), flowed through the PU tubing (inner diameter of 1/16 in., or 1.6 mm) to diffuse DCP into the tubing's inner walls, which was used as initiator in the subsequent grafting polymerization of methacrylamide (MAA) onto the tubing. Upon chlorine bleach treatment, the amide groups of the grafted MAA side chains were transformed into acyclic N-halamines. The reactions were confirmed with attenuated total reflectance infrared (ATR) spectra and iodometric titration. The mechanical properties of the tubing were not significantly affected by the grafting reactions. The biofilm-controlling function of the new N-halamine-based PU tubing was evaluated with Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), one of the most isolated water bacteria from DUWLs, in a continuous bacterial flow model. Bacteria culturing and SEM studies showed that the inner surfaces of the new N-halamine-based PU tubing completely prevented bacterial biofilm formation for at least three to four weeks. After that, bacteria began to colonize the tubing surface. However, the lost function was fully regenerated by exposing the tubing inner surfaces to diluted chlorine bleach. The recharging process could be repeated periodically to further extend the biofilm-controlling duration for long-term applications.

In-service examination of IHX tubing with eddy current NDT equipment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brown, R.L.

1972-01-01

Single and multiple frequency eddy current (ET) nondestructive testing (NDT) techniques and equipment were investigated for in-service inspection of sodium-contaminated intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) tubing. A four frequency technique, demonstrated in the laboratory, was relatively insensitive to signals caused by probe motion, tube support plates, and residual sodium on the outer surface of the tubes. No method was found to avoid the signals from residual sodium on the inside surfaces of the tube. (U.S.)

Model study of DC ignition of fluorescent tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brok, W J M; Gendre, M F; Mullen, J J A M van der

2007-01-01

Breakdown in a discharge tube is investigated by means of a fluid model. The discharge tube is similar to a compact fluorescent lamp tube, containing argon at 3 Torr and mercury at a few millitorr. It was found that the minimum breakdown voltage is decreased substantially compared with a tube containing pure argon. Penning ionization of mercury via an argon metastable state plays an important role in this effect. This is illustrated for a lamp operated on a DC voltage, where significant Penning ionization takes place in the wake of the ionization front. Furthermore, contrary to what is suggested in earlier literature, the development of the surface potential of the lamp is shown to be not only determined by surface charges, but also by volume charges

Analysis of defect tubes of fast reactor heat exchanger

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rukhlyada, N.Ya.

2014-01-01

The experimental Auger electron spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction microanalysis data of laboratory investigations of defect tubes of heat exchanger with sodium coolant are presented. Element distribution through depth of corrosion layers form on the side of coolant (sodium) and on the surface contacting with steam in heat exchanger tube is studied. Sodium presence through all thickness of the tube is determined. It is shown that treatment of 12Cr18N9 steel surface by plasma pulses decreases intergranular corrosion susceptibility. It is related with structural changes of surface layer (∼ 20 μm), its enrichment by chromium and formation of chromium oxide protective film [ru

Failure analysis of burst tested fuel tube samples

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Padmaprabu, C.; Ramana Rao, S.V.; Srivatsava, R.K.

2005-01-01

The Total Circumferential Elongation (TCE) is an important parameter for evaluation of ductility of the Zircaloy-4 fuel tubes for the PHWR reactors. The TCE values of the fuel tubes were obtained using the burst testing technique. In some lots there is a variation in the values of the TCE. To investigate the reasons for such a large variation in the TCE, samples were selected at appropriate intervals and sectioned at the fractured portion. The surface morphology of the fractured surfaces was examined under Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS). The morphologies show segregation of elements at specific locations. Energy dispersive spectra was obtained from those segregated particles. According to the magnitude of TCE value the samples were classified into low, intermediate and high ductility. Low ductility samples were found to contain large amount of segregations along the thickness direction of the tube. This forms a brittle region and a path for the easy crack growth along thickness direction. In the case of intermediate samples the segregation occurred in fewer locations compared to low ductile samples and also confined to the circumferential direction of the outside surface of the tube. Due to this, probability of crack formation at the surface of the tube could be high. But crack growth would be slower in the ductile matrix along the thickness direction resulting in the enhancement of TCE value compared to the low ductile sample. In the high ductile samples, the segregations were very scarce and found to be isolated and embedded in the ductile matrix. The mode of failure in these types of samples was found to be purely ductile. Cracks were found to originate solely from the micro voids in the material. As the probability of crack formation and its propagation is low, very high TCE values were observed in these samples. Microstructural observations of fractured surfaces and EDAX analysis was able to identify the

(GAGs) in normal and ethanol-induced chick embryo during neural

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Administrator

2011-09-14

Sep 14, 2011 ... Alcohol as a teratogenic agent inhibits cell growth, function, proliferation and migration by affecting .... formed along the right and left side of the neural tube .... of neurons by harming the developing brain and also can.

Preliminary research on eddy current bobbin quantitative test for heat exchange tube in nuclear power plant

Science.gov (United States)

Qi, Pan; Shao, Wenbin; Liao, Shusheng

2016-02-01

For quantitative defects detection research on heat transfer tube in nuclear power plants (NPP), two parts of work are carried out based on the crack as the main research objects. (1) Production optimization of calibration tube. Firstly, ASME, RSEM and homemade crack calibration tubes are applied to quantitatively analyze the defects depth on other designed crack test tubes, and then the judgment with quantitative results under crack calibration tube with more accuracy is given. Base on that, weight analysis of influence factors for crack depth quantitative test such as crack orientation, length, volume and so on can be undertaken, which will optimize manufacture technology of calibration tubes. (2) Quantitative optimization of crack depth. Neural network model with multi-calibration curve adopted to optimize natural crack test depth generated in in-service tubes shows preliminary ability to improve quantitative accuracy.

Titanium condenser tubes. Problems and their solution for wider application to large surface condensers. [PWR

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sato, S; Sugiyama, S; Nagata, K; Nanba, K; Shimono, M [Sumitomo Light Metal Industries Ltd., Tokyo (Japan)

1977-06-01

The corrosion resistance of titanium in sea water is extremely excellent, but titanium tubes are expensive, and the copper alloy tubes resistant in polluted sea water were developed, therefore they were not used practically. In 1970, ammonia attack was found on the copper alloy tubes in the air-cooled portion of condensers, and titanium tubes have been used as the countermeasure. As the result of the use, the galvanic attack on copper alloy tube plates with titanium tubes as cathode and the hydrogen absorption at titanium tube ends owing to excess electrolytic protection was observed, but the corrosion resistance of titanium tubes was perfect. These problems can be controlled by the application of proper electrolytic protection. The condensers with all titanium tubes adopted recently in USA are intended to realize perfectly no-leak condensers as the countermeasure to the corrosion in steam generators of PWR plants. Regarding large condensers of nowadays, three problems are pointed out, namely the vibration of condenser tubes, the method of joining tubes and tube plates, and the tubes of no coolant leak. These three problems in case of titanium tubes were studied, and the problem of the fouling of tubes was also examined. The intervals of supporting plates for titanium tubes should be narrowed. The joining of titanium tubes and titanium tube plates by welding is feasible and promising. The cleaning with sponge balls is effective to control fouling.

Self-sensing concrete-filled FRP tubes using FBG strain sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Xin; Li, Hui

2007-07-01

Concrete-filled fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tube is a type of newly developed structural column. It behaves brittle failure at its peak strength, and so the health monitoring on the hoop strain of the FRP tube is essential for the life cycle safety of the structure. Herein, three types of FRP tubes including 5-ply tube, 2-ply tube with local reinforcement and FRP-steel composite tube were embedded with the optic fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensors in the inter-ply of FRP or the interface between FRP and steel in the middle height and the hoop direction. The compressive behaviors of the concrete-filled FRP tubes were experimentally studied. The hoop strains of the FRP tubes were recorded in real time using the embedded FBG strain sensors as well as the embedded or surface electric resistance strain gauges. Results indicated that the FBG strain sensors can faithfully record the hoop strains of the FRP tubes in compression as compared with the embedded or surface electric resistance strain gauges, and the strains recorded can reach more than μɛ.

Rodent Zic Genes in Neural Network Wiring.

Science.gov (United States)

Herrera, Eloísa

2018-01-01

The formation of the nervous system is a multistep process that yields a mature brain. Failure in any of the steps of this process may cause brain malfunction. In the early stages of embryonic development, neural progenitors quickly proliferate and then, at a specific moment, differentiate into neurons or glia. Once they become postmitotic neurons, they migrate to their final destinations and begin to extend their axons to connect with other neurons, sometimes located in quite distant regions, to establish different neural circuits. During the last decade, it has become evident that Zic genes, in addition to playing important roles in early development (e.g., gastrulation and neural tube closure), are involved in different processes of late brain development, such as neuronal migration, axon guidance, and refinement of axon terminals. ZIC proteins are therefore essential for the proper wiring and connectivity of the brain. In this chapter, we review our current knowledge of the role of Zic genes in the late stages of neural circuit formation.

Inductive differentiation of two neural lineages reconstituted in a microculture system from Xenopus early gastrula cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitani, S; Okamoto, H

1991-05-01

Neural induction of ectoderm cells has been reconstituted and examined in a microculture system derived from dissociated early gastrula cells of Xenopus laevis. We have used monoclonal antibodies as specific markers to monitor cellular differentiation from three distinct ectoderm lineages in culture (N1 for CNS neurons from neural tube, Me1 for melanophores from neural crest and E3 for skin epidermal cells from epidermal lineages). CNS neurons and melanophores differentiate when deep layer cells of the ventral ectoderm (VE, prospective epidermis region; 150 cells/culture) and an appropriate region of the marginal zone (MZ, prospective mesoderm region; 5-150 cells/culture) are co-cultured, but not in cultures of either cell type on their own; VE cells cultured alone yield epidermal cells as we have previously reported. The extent of inductive neural differentiation in the co-culture system strongly depends on the origin and number of MZ cells initially added to culture wells. The potency to induce CNS neurons is highest for dorsal MZ cells and sharply decreases as more ventrally located cells are used. The same dorsoventral distribution of potency is seen in the ability of MZ cells to inhibit epidermal differentiation. In contrast, the ability of MZ cells to induce melanophores shows the reverse polarity, ventral to dorsal. These data indicate that separate developmental mechanisms are used for the induction of neural tube and neural crest lineages. Co-differentiation of CNS neurons or melanophores with epidermal cells can be obtained in a single well of co-cultures of VE cells (150) and a wide range of numbers of MZ cells (5 to 100). Further, reproducible differentiation of both neural lineages requires intimate association between cells from the two gastrula regions; virtually no differentiation is obtained when cells from the VE and MZ are separated in a culture well. These results indicate that the inducing signals from MZ cells for both neural tube and neural

Primary prevention of neural-tube defects and some other congenital abnormalities by folic acid and multivitamins: history, missed opportunity and tasks

Science.gov (United States)

Bártfai, Zoltán; Bánhidy, Ferenc

2011-01-01

The history of intervention trials of periconception folic acid with multivitamin and folic acid supplementation in women has shown a recent breakthrough in the primary prevention of structural birth defects, namely neural-tube defects and some other congenital abnormalities. Recently, some studies have demonstrated the efficacy of this new method in reducing congenital abnormalities with specific origin; for example, in the offspring of diabetic and epileptic mothers, and in pregnancy with high fever. The benefits and drawbacks of four possible uses of periconception folate/folic acid and multivitamin supplementation are discussed: we believe there has been a missed opportunity to implement this preventive approach in medical practice. The four methods are as follows: (i) dietary intake of folate and other vitamins, (ii) periconception folic acid/multivitamin supplementation, (iii) food fortification with folic acid, and (iv) the combination of oral contraceptives with 6S-5-methytetrahydrofolate (‘folate’). PMID:25083211

Calculation of the Pitot tube correction factor for Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids.

Science.gov (United States)

Etemad, S Gh; Thibault, J; Hashemabadi, S H

2003-10-01

This paper presents the numerical investigation performed to calculate the correction factor for Pitot tubes. The purely viscous non-Newtonian fluids with the power-law model constitutive equation were considered. It was shown that the power-law index, the Reynolds number, and the distance between the impact and static tubes have a major influence on the Pitot tube correction factor. The problem was solved for a wide range of these parameters. It was shown that employing Bernoulli's equation could lead to large errors, which depend on the magnitude of the kinetic energy and energy friction loss terms. A neural network model was used to correlate the correction factor of a Pitot tube as a function of these three parameters. This correlation is valid for most Newtonian, pseudoplastic, and dilatant fluids at low Reynolds number.

Construction of an interatomic potential for zinc oxide surfaces by high-dimensional neural networks

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Artrith, Nongnuch; Morawietz, Tobias; Behler, Joerg [Lehrstuhl fuer Theoretische Chemie, Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum, D-44780 Bochum (Germany)

2011-07-01

Zinc oxide (ZnO) is a technologically important material with many applications, e.g. in heterogeneous catalysis. For theoretical studies of the structural properties of ZnO surfaces, defects, and crystal structures it is necessary to simulate large systems over long time-scales with sufficient accuracy. Often, the required system size is not accessible by computationally rather demanding density-functional theory (DFT) calculations. Recently, artificial Neural Networks (NN) trained to first principles data have shown to provide accurate potential-energy surfaces (PESs) for condensed systems. We present the construction and analysis of a NN PES for ZnO. The structural and energetic properties of bulk ZnO and ZnO surfaces are investigated using this potential and compared to DFT calculations.

Chaos control of the brushless direct current motor using adaptive dynamic surface control based on neural network with the minimum weights

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Shaohua; Wu, Songli; Gao, Ruizhen

2015-01-01

This paper investigates chaos control for the brushless DC motor (BLDCM) system by adaptive dynamic surface approach based on neural network with the minimum weights. The BLDCM system contains parameter perturbation, chaotic behavior, and uncertainty. With the help of radial basis function (RBF) neural network to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, the adaptive law is established to overcome uncertainty of the control gain. By introducing the RBF neural network and adaptive technology into the dynamic surface control design, a robust chaos control scheme is developed. It is proved that the proposed control approach can guarantee that all signals in the closed-loop system are globally uniformly bounded, and the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation results are provided to show that the proposed approach works well in suppressing chaos and parameter perturbation

Chaos control of the brushless direct current motor using adaptive dynamic surface control based on neural network with the minimum weights.

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Shaohua; Wu, Songli; Gao, Ruizhen

2015-07-01

This paper investigates chaos control for the brushless DC motor (BLDCM) system by adaptive dynamic surface approach based on neural network with the minimum weights. The BLDCM system contains parameter perturbation, chaotic behavior, and uncertainty. With the help of radial basis function (RBF) neural network to approximate the unknown nonlinear functions, the adaptive law is established to overcome uncertainty of the control gain. By introducing the RBF neural network and adaptive technology into the dynamic surface control design, a robust chaos control scheme is developed. It is proved that the proposed control approach can guarantee that all signals in the closed-loop system are globally uniformly bounded, and the tracking error converges to a small neighborhood of the origin. Simulation results are provided to show that the proposed approach works well in suppressing chaos and parameter perturbation.

Analysis of surface ozone using a recurrent neural network.

Science.gov (United States)

Biancofiore, Fabio; Verdecchia, Marco; Di Carlo, Piero; Tomassetti, Barbara; Aruffo, Eleonora; Busilacchio, Marcella; Bianco, Sebastiano; Di Tommaso, Sinibaldo; Colangeli, Carlo

2015-05-01

Hourly concentrations of ozone (O₃) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) have been measured for 16 years, from 1998 to 2013, in a seaside town in central Italy. The seasonal trends of O₃ and NO₂ recorded in this period have been studied. Furthermore, we used the data collected during one year (2005), to define the characteristics of a multiple linear regression model and a neural network model. Both models are used to model the hourly O₃ concentration, using, two scenarios: 1) in the first as inputs, only meteorological parameters and 2) in the second adding photochemical parameters at those of the first scenario. In order to evaluate the performance of the model four statistical criteria are used: correlation coefficient, fractional bias, normalized mean squared error and a factor of two. All the criteria show that the neural network gives better results, compared to the regression model, in all the model scenarios. Predictions of O₃ have been carried out by many authors using a feed forward neural architecture. In this paper we show that a recurrent architecture significantly improves the performances of neural predictors. Using only the meteorological parameters as input, the recurrent architecture shows performance better than the multiple linear regression model that uses meteorological and photochemical data as input, making the neural network model with recurrent architecture a more useful tool in areas where only weather measurements are available. Finally, we used the neural network model to forecast the O₃ hourly concentrations 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 48 h ahead. The performances of the model in predicting O₃ levels are discussed. Emphasis is given to the possibility of using the neural network model in operational ways in areas where only meteorological data are available, in order to predict O₃ also in sites where it has not been measured yet. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Artificial-neural-network-based failure detection and isolation

Science.gov (United States)

Sadok, Mokhtar; Gharsalli, Imed; Alouani, Ali T.

1998-03-01

This paper presents the design of a systematic failure detection and isolation system that uses the concept of failure sensitive variables (FSV) and artificial neural networks (ANN). The proposed approach was applied to tube leak detection in a utility boiler system. Results of the experimental testing are presented in the paper.

A Study on the Profile Change Measurement of Steam Generator Tubes with Tube Expansion Methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Young Kyu; Song Myung Ho; Choi, Myung Sik

2011-01-01

Steam generator tubes for nuclear power plants contain the local shape transitions on their inner or outer surface such as dent, bulge, over-expansion, eccentricity, deflection, and so on by the application of physical force during the tube manufacturing and steam generator assembling and by the sludge (that is, corrosion products) produced during the plant operation. The structural integrity of tubes will be degraded by generating the corrosive crack at that location. The profilometry using the traditional bobbin probes which are currently applied for measuring the profile change of tubes gives us basic information such as axial locations and average magnitudes of deformations. However, the three-dimensional quantitative evaluation on circumferential locations, distributional angle, and size of deformations will have to be conducted to understand the effects of residual stresses increased by local deformations on corrosive cracking of tubes. Steam generator tubes of Korean standard nuclear power plants expanded within their tube-sheets by the explosive expansion method and suffered from corrosive cracks in the early stage of power operation. Thus, local deformations of steam generator tubes at the top of tube-sheet were measured with an advanced rotating probe and a laser profiling system for the two cases where the tubes expanded by the explosive expansion method and hydraulic expansion. Also, the trends of eccentricity, deflection, and over-expansion of tubes were evaluated. The advanced eddy current profilometry was confirmed to provide accurate information of local deformations compared with laser profilometry

Guide tube sleeve

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Attix, D.J.

1983-01-01

The invention increases the operating capacity of a nuclear reactor by causing a modification in the flow pattern of the coolant which enhances the coolant's effectiveness. The apparatus provides a thin-walled tubular sleeve closely surrounding but not attached to the exterior surface of a guide tube in a fuel assembly. The wall of the sleeve has tabs projecting outwardly into adjacent flow channels. The sleeve is attached to the wall of a cellular void through which passes the guide tube associated with said sleeve. The tabs increase the flow of water in the channel and thus increase the heat transfer

Neural Progenitors Adopt Specific Identities by Directly Repressing All Alternative Progenitor Transcriptional Programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Kutejova, Eva; Sasai, Noriaki; Shah, Ankita; Gouti, Mina; Briscoe, James

2016-03-21

In the vertebrate neural tube, a morphogen-induced transcriptional network produces multiple molecularly distinct progenitor domains, each generating different neuronal subtypes. Using an in vitro differentiation system, we defined gene expression signatures of distinct progenitor populations and identified direct gene-regulatory inputs corresponding to locations of specific transcription factor binding. Combined with targeted perturbations of the network, this revealed a mechanism in which a progenitor identity is installed by active repression of the entire transcriptional programs of other neural progenitor fates. In the ventral neural tube, sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling, together with broadly expressed transcriptional activators, concurrently activates the gene expression programs of several domains. The specific outcome is selected by repressive input provided by Shh-induced transcription factors that act as the key nodes in the network, enabling progenitors to adopt a single definitive identity from several initially permitted options. Together, the data suggest design principles relevant to many developing tissues. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated Diagnosis and Classification of Steam Generator Tube Defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Garcia, Gabe V.

2004-01-01

A major cause of failure in nuclear steam generators is tube degradation. Tube defects are divided into seven categories, one of which is intergranular attack/stress corrosion cracking (IGA/SCC). Defects of this type usually begin on the outer surface of the tubes and propagate both inward and laterally. In many cases these defects occur at or near the tube support plates. Several different methods exist for the nondestructive evaluation of nuclear steam generator tubes for defect characterization

A numerical study on the heat transfer in a swirl-tube heated/cooled on the half periphery of the tube wall

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoyama, Yoshiyuki; Kunugi, Tomoaki

2002-01-01

Convection heat transfer in a swirl tube was numerically analyzed so as to investigate a characteristic of heat removal when the cooling fluid flows within the swirl tube mounted in a solid structure represented as like a slab. Since the condition of heat inflow was treated as being transmitted only on the one-side surface of the structure, heat conduction through the structure was analyzed in linkage with the convection. Some results for the change in the coefficient of heat transmission along the tube axis are shown. The performance of heat removal was found to be strengthened due to the continuous renovation of thermal boundary layer close to the inside tube surface because the fluid flows in helical motion to shift the range alternate higher and lower temperature. (author)

Light hydrogen isotopes in the single - walled carbon nano tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khugaev, A.V.; Sultanov, R.A.; Guster, D.

2007-01-01

Full text: Progress of our understanding of the molecular hydrogen behavior in the nano tube interior open an intriguing possibility for the applications of these knowledge's to the solution of the hydrogen storage problem and light isotopes gas selectivity. That can strongly change the situation at the energy production in the world and completely change our civil life. These investigations underline the influence of the quantum effects on the properties of molecular hydrogen in the nano tube interior and it leads to the pure quantum-mechanical reformulation of the problem for the hydrogen behavior inside carbon nano tube as a problem of molecular quantum system behavior in the external field induced by the regular nano tube surface. In the present paper the molecular hydrogen behavior in the carbon nano tube was considered in the simple quantum mechanical manner. The main attention was paid to the investigation of the quantum sieving selectivity in the dependence of nano tube composition, radius and symmetry properties. For the interaction potential between hydrogen and nano tube surface was taken some phenomenological LJ(12,6) - (Lennard - Jones) potential and the external field induced by the nano tube in its interior is considered as a simple sum over the all nano tube carbon atoms. Influence of the structure of rotation (vibration) spectrum of the energy levels of diatomic molecules, such as H 2 , HD and D 2 on the final results and finite size of the nano tube along the axis of symmetry, its boundary effects is discussed in details. Thermal oscillations of nano tube surface were considered separately in the dependence of the temperature gradient along of the axis of symmetry

Gastrostomy Tube (G-Tube)

Science.gov (United States)

... any of these problems: a dislodged tube a blocked or clogged tube any signs of infection (including redness, swelling, or warmth at the tube site; discharge that's yellow, green, or foul-smelling; fever) excessive bleeding or drainage from the tube site severe abdominal pain lasting ...

Early tube leak detection system for steam boiler at KEV power plant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ismail Firas B.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Tube leakage in boilers has been a major contribution to trips which eventually leads to power plant shut downs. Training of network and developing artificial neural network (ANN models are essential in fault detection in critically large systems. This research focusses on the ANN modelling through training and validation of real data acquired from a sub-critical boiler unit. The artificial neural network (ANN was used to develop a compatible model and to evaluate the working properties and behaviour of boiler. The training and validation of real data has been applied using the feed-forward with back-propagation (BP. The right combination of number of neurons, number of hidden layers, training algorithms and training functions was run to achieve the best ANN model with lowest error. The ANN was trained and validated using real site data acquired from a coal fired power plant in Malaysia. The results showed that the Neural Network (NN with one hidden layers performed better than two hidden layer using feed-forward back-propagation network. The outcome from this study give us the best ANN model which eventually allows for early detection of boiler tube leakages, and forecast of a trip before the real shutdown. This will eventually reduce shutdowns in power plants.

Ductile mandrel and parting compound facilitate tube drawing

Science.gov (United States)

Burt, W. R., Jr.; Mayfield, R. M.; Polakowski, N. H.

1966-01-01

Refractory tubing is warm drawn over a solid ductile mandrel with a powder parting compound packed between mandrel and the tubes inner surface. This method applies also to the coextrusion of a billet and a ductile mandrel.

Characterization of Friction Stir Welded Tubes by Means of Tube Bulge Test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

D'Urso, G.; Longo, M.; Giardini, C.

2011-01-01

Mechanical properties of friction stir welded joints are generally evaluated by means of conventional tensile test. This testing method might provide insufficient information because maximum strain obtained in tensile test before necking is small; moreover, the application of tensile test is limited when the joint path is not linear or even when the welds are executed on curved surfaces. Therefore, in some cases, it would be preferable to obtain the joints properties from other testing methods. Tube bulge test can be a valid solution for testing circumferential or longitudinal welds executed on tubular workpieces. The present work investigates the mechanical properties and the formability of friction stir welded tubes by means of tube bulge tests. The experimental campaign was performed on tubular specimens having a thickness of 3 mm and an external diameter of 40 mm, obtained starting from two semi-tubes longitudinally friction stir welded. The first step, regarding the fabrication of tubes, was performed combining a conventional forming process and friction stir welding. Sheets in Al-Mg-Si-Cu alloy AA6060 T6 were adopted for this purpose. Plates having a dimension of 225x60 mm were bent (with a bending axis parallel to the main dimension) in order to obtain semi-tubes. A particular care was devoted to the fabrication of forming devices (punch and die) in order to minimize the springback effects. Semi-tubes were then friction stir welded by means of a CNC machine tool. Some preliminary tests were carried out by varying the welding parameters, namely feed rate and rotational speed. A very simple tool having flat shoulder and cylindrical pin was used. The second step of the research was based on testing the welded tubes by means of tube bulge test. A specific equipment having axial actuators with a conical shape was adopted for this study. Some analyses were carried out on the tubes bulged up to a certain pressure level. In particular, the burst pressure and the

msh/Msx gene family in neural development.

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, Casto; Robert, Benoît

2005-11-01

The involvement of Msx homeobox genes in skull and tooth formation has received a great deal of attention. Recent studies also indicate a role for the msh/Msx gene family in development of the nervous system. In this article, we discuss the functions of these transcription factors in neural-tissue organogenesis. We will deal mainly with the interactions of the Drosophila muscle segment homeobox (msh) gene with other homeobox genes and the repressive cascade that leads to neuroectoderm patterning; the role of Msx genes in neural-crest induction, focusing especially on the differences between lower and higher vertebrates; their implication in patterning of the vertebrate neural tube, particularly in diencephalon midline formation. Finally, we will examine the distinct activities of Msx1, Msx2 and Msx3 genes during neurogenesis, taking into account their relationships with signalling molecules such as BMP.

Structural integrity evaluation of SG tube with surface wear-type defects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong Min; Huh, Nam Su; Chang, Yoon Suk; Kim, Young Jin; Hwang, Seong Sik; Kim, Joung Soo

2006-01-01

During the last two decades, several guidelines have been developed and used for assessing the integrity of a defective Steam Generator (SG) tube that is generally caused by stress corrosion cracking or wall-thinning phenomenon. However, as some of SG tubes are also failed due to fretting and so on, alternative failure estimation schemes are required for relevant defects. In this paper, parametric three-dimensional Finite Element (FE) analyses are carried out under internal pressure condition to simulate the failure behavior of SG tubes with different defect configurations; elliptical wear, tapered and flat wear type defects. Maximum pressures based on material strengths are obtained from more than a hundred FE results to predict the failure of SG tube. After investigating the effect of key parameters such as defect depth, defect length and wrap angle, simplified failure estimation equations are proposed in relation to the equivalent stress at the deepest point in wear region. Comparison of failure pressures predicted by the proposed estimation scheme with corresponding burst test data showed a good agreement

Integrity Assessment of GOH Heater Tube

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Bong Sang; Hong, J. H.; Oh, Y. J.; Yoon, J. H.; Oh, J. M. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

1997-08-01

An assessment of structural integrity of ASTM A312-TP347 GOH heater tube was performed. The surface notches which had been produced during tube manufacturing process were analyzed microscopically. Chemical analysis, hardness tests, tensile tests, and J-Integral fracture resistance tests were carried out to compare the mechanical properties with those of the material specification and also with the other material of the same type. The test results showed the mechanical properties of the GOH tube material are within the specification range. An elastic-plastic fracture mechanics analysis based on the DPFAD method reveals the tube an appropriate safety margin for the normal operation. 13 refs., 5 tabs., 24 figs. (author)

Microwave discharges in capillary tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dervisevic, Emil

1984-01-01

This research thesis aims at being a contribution to the study of microwave discharge by a surface wave, and more precisely focusses on the discharge in capillary tubes filled with argon. The author first present theoretical models which describe, on the one hand, the propagation of the surface wave along the plasma column, and, on the other hand, longitudinal and radial profiles of the main discharge characteristics. The second part addresses the study of the influence of parameters (gas pressure and tube radius) on discharge operation and characteristics. Laws of similitude as well as empirical relationships between argon I and argon II emission line intensities, electron density, and electric field in the plasma have been established [fr

Control rod guide tube assembly

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jabsen, F.S.

1982-01-01

An improved fuel assembly is described as consisting of a sleeve that engages one end of a control rod guide tube essentially fixing the guide tube to one of the fuel assembly end structures. The end of the sleeve protrudes above the surface of the end fitting. The outer surface of the sleeve has a peripheral groove that engages the resilient sides of a cellular grid or lattice shaped lock. This lock fixes the sleeve in position between the various elements that comprise the end fitting, thereby eliminating a profusion of costly and potentially troublesome nuts, threaded studs and the like that are frequently employed in the fuel assemblies that are presently in use

Maternal Antenatal Bereavement and Neural Tube Defect in Live-Born Offspring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ingstrup, Katja Glejsted; Wu, Chun Sen; Olsen, Jørn

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Maternal emotional stress during pregnancy has previously been associated with congenital neural malformations, but most studies are based on data collected retrospectively. The objective of our study was to investigate associations between antenatal maternal bereavement due to death...

Surface roughness prediction of particulate composites using artificial neural networks in turning operation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Ramezani

2015-07-01

Full Text Available A number of factors, e.g. cutting speed and feed rate, affect the surface roughness in machining process. In this paper, an Artificial Neural Network model was used to forecast surface roughness with related inputs, including cutting speed and feed rate. The output of the ANN model input parameters related to the machined surface roughness parameters. In this research, twelve samples of experimental data were used to train the network. Moreover, four other experimental tests were implemented to test the network. The study concludes that ANN was a reliable and accurate method for predicting machining parameters in CNC turning operation of Particulate Reinforced Aluminum Matrix Composites (PAMCs specimens with 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% filler. The aim of this work is to decrease the production cost and consequently increase the production rate of these materials for industry without any trial and error method procedure.

Arsenate-induced maternal glucose intolerance and neural tube defects in a mouse model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Denise S.; Wlodarczyk, Bogdan J.; Mitchell, Laura E.; Finnell, Richard H.

2009-01-01

Background: Epidemiological studies have linked environmental arsenic (As) exposure to increased type 2 diabetes risk. Periconceptional hyperglycemia is a significant risk factor for neural tube defects (NTDs), the second most common structural birth defect. A suspected teratogen, arsenic (As) induces NTDs in laboratory animals. Objectives: We investigated whether maternal glucose homeostasis disruption was responsible for arsenate-induced NTDs in a well-established dosing regimen used in studies of arsenic's teratogenicity in early neurodevelopment. Methods: We evaluated maternal intraperitoneal (IP) exposure to As 9.6 mg/kg (as sodium arsenate) in LM/Bc/Fnn mice for teratogenicity and disruption of maternal plasma glucose and insulin levels. Selected compounds (insulin pellet, sodium selenate (SS), N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), L-methionine (L-Met), N-tert-Butyl-α-phenylnitrone (PBN)) were investigated for their potential to mitigate arsenate's effects. Results: Arsenate caused significant glucose elevation during an IP glucose tolerance test (IPGTT). Insulin levels were not different between arsenate and control dams before (arsenate, 0.55 ng/dl; control, 0.48 ng/dl) or after glucose challenge (arsenate, 1.09 ng/dl; control, 0.81 ng/dl). HOMA-IR index was higher for arsenate (3.9) vs control (2.5) dams (p = 0.0260). Arsenate caused NTDs (100%, p < 0.0001). Insulin pellet and NAC were the most successful rescue agents, reducing NTD rates to 45% and 35%. Conclusions: IPGTT, insulin assay, and HOMA-IR results suggest a modest failure of glucose stimulated insulin secretion and insulin resistance characteristic of glucose intolerance. Insulin's success in preventing arsenate-induced NTDs provides evidence that these arsenate-induced NTDs are secondary to elevated maternal glucose. The NAC rescue, which did not restore maternal glucose or insulin levels, suggests oxidative disruption plays a role.

Surface roughness and cutting force estimation in the CNC turning using artificial neural networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Ramezani

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Surface roughness and cutting forces are considered as important factors to determine machinability rate and the quality of product. A number of factors like cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cutting and tool noise radius influence the surface roughness and cutting forces in turning process. In this paper, an Artificial Neural Network (ANN model was used to forecast surface roughness and cutting forces with related inputs, including cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut and tool noise radius. The machined surface roughness and cutting force parameters related to input parameters are the outputs of the ANN model. In this work, 24 samples of experimental data were used to train the network. Moreover, eight other experimental tests were implemented to test the network. The study concludes that ANN was a reliable and accurate method for predicting machining parameters in CNC turning operation.

Computational study of heat transfer from the inner surface of a circular tube to force high temperature liquid metal flow in laminar and transition regions

Science.gov (United States)

Hata, K.; Fukuda, K.; Masuzaki, S.

2018-03-01

Heat transfer through forced convection from the inner surface of a circular tube to force the flow of liquid sodium in the laminar and transition regions were numerically analysed for two types of tube geometries (concentric annular and circular tubes) and two types of equivalent diameters (hydraulic and thermal equivalent diameters). The unsteady laminar three-dimensional basic equations for forced convection heat transfer caused by a step heat flux were numerically solved until a steady state is attained. The code of the parabolic hyperbolic or elliptic numerical integration code series (PHOENICS) was used for calculations by considering relevant temperature dependent thermo-physical properties. The concentric annular tube has a test tube with inner and outer diameters of 7.6 and 14.3 mm, respectively, has a heated length of 52 mm, and an L/d of 6.84. The two circular tubes have inner diameters of 6.7 and 19.3 mm with L/d of 7.76 and 2.69, respectively, and a heated length of 52 mm. The inlet liquid temperature, inlet liquid velocity, and surface heat flux were equally set for each test tube as T in ≅573 to 585 K, u in = 0.0852 to 1 m/s, and q = 2×105 to 2.5×106 W/m2, respectively. The increase in temperature from the leading edge of the heated section to the outlet of the circular tubes (with a hydraulic diameter of d H = 6.7 mm and a thermal equivalent diameter d te = 19.3 mm) was approximately 2.70 and 1.21 times as large as the corresponding values of the concentric annular tube with an inner diameter of 7.6 mm and an outer diameter of 14.3 mm, respectively. A quantity in the laminar and transition regions was suggested as the dominant variable involved in the forced convection heat transfer in the circular tube. The values of the local and average Nusselt numbers, Nu z and Nu av , respectively, for a concentric annular tube with d H = 6.7 mm and for a circular tube with d H = 6.7 mm were calculated to examine the effects of q, T in , and Pe on heat

Evaluation of hydride blisters in zirconium pressure tube in CANDU reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cheong, Y. M.; Kim, Y. S.; Gong, U. S.; Kwon, S. C.; Kim, S. S.; Choo, K.N.

2000-09-01

When the garter springs for maintaining the gap between the pressure tube and the calandria tube are displaced in the CANDU reactor, the sagging of pressure tube results in a contact to the calandria tube. This causes a temperature difference between the inner and outer surface of the pressure tube. The hydride can be formed at the cold spot of outer surface and the volume expansion by hydride dormation causes the blistering in the zirconium alloys. An incident of pressure tube rupture due to the hydride blisters had happened in the Canadian CANDU reactor. This report describes the theoretical development and models on the formation and growth of hydride blister and some experimental results. The evaluation methodology and non-destructive testing for hydride blister in operating reactors are also described

Evaluation of hydride blisters in zirconium pressure tube in CANDU reactor

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cheong, Y M; Kim, Y S; Gong, U S; Kwon, S C; Kim, S S; Choo, K N

2000-09-01

When the garter springs for maintaining the gap between the pressure tube and the calandria tube are displaced in the CANDU reactor, the sagging of pressure tube results in a contact to the calandria tube. This causes a temperature difference between the inner and outer surface of the pressure tube. The hydride can be formed at the cold spot of outer surface and the volume expansion by hydride dormation causes the blistering in the zirconium alloys. An incident of pressure tube rupture due to the hydride blisters had happened in the Canadian CANDU reactor. This report describes the theoretical development and models on the formation and growth of hydride blister and some experimental results. The evaluation methodology and non-destructive testing for hydride blister in operating reactors are also described.

Process and device for subdividing a glass tube filled with a radioactive gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caffarella, T.E.; Radda, G.J.; Watts, D.J.

1977-01-01

A process is described for subdividing into individual sealed segments an elongated glass tube coated internally with a luminescent material and filled with a radioactive gas, this tube having a longitudinal axis. It consists in directing a focused laser beam on to the surface of the tube in an ambient atmosphere with a pressure greater than that of the gas in the tube and to create a relative, repetitive and alternating movement between the laser beam and the surface of the tube. This movement is transversal to the longitudinal axis of the tube, so as to heat and soften the tube along a cutting line until the tube divides and presents new ends where it contracts, causing these ends to seal up [fr

Reduced folate carrier polymorphism (80A-->G) and neural tube defects.

Science.gov (United States)

De Marco, Patrizia; Calevo, Maria Grazia; Moroni, Anna; Merello, Elisa; Raso, Alessandro; Finnell, Richard H; Zhu, Huiping; Andreussi, Luciano; Cama, Armando; Capra, Valeria

2003-03-01

Transport of folates in mammalian cells occurs by a carrier-mediated mechanism. The human folate carrier (RFC-1) gene has been isolated and characterized. Within this gene, a common polymorphism, 80A-->G, changing a histidine to an arginine in exon 2 (H27R), was recently identified. Defects in folate metabolism, such as defective carrier molecules, could be implicated in the etiology of neural tube defects (NTDs). In the present case-control study, we recruited 174 Italian probands with nonsyndromic NTD, 43 mothers, 53 fathers and 156 control individuals and evaluated the impact of RFC-1 variant on NTD risk. A statistically significant risk was calculated for the 80GG genotype of the NTD cases (OR=2.35; 95% CI 1.21-4.58) and mothers (OR=2.74; 95% CI 0.92-8.38). On the contrary, the heterozygous genotype of the mothers and both heterozygous and homozygous genotypes of the fathers did not seem to be significant NTD risk factors. Furthemore, according to the multifactorial inheritance of NTDs, we demonstrated that the combined genotypes for MTHFR 1298A-->C and RFC-1 80A-->G polymorphisms of cases resulted in greater NTD risk than heterozygosity or homozygosity for RFC-1 80A-->G variant alone. Conversely, our data provide no evidence for an association between NTD phenotype and combined MTHFR C677T/RFC-1 A80G genotypes. Moreover, here we describe the combinations of the two MTHFR polymorphic sites (677CT and 1298AC) with RFC-1 genotypes. We found that both patients and controls could have at most quadruple-mutation combinations. Interestingly, 27% (7/26) of the mothers and 18.75% (30/160) of the cases genotyped presented four mutant alleles in comparison with 8.5% (11/129) of the controls. Finally, the frequency of NTD cases and mothers carrying combined heterozygosity for the two MTHFR polymorphisms and RFC-1 80GG homozygosity (677CT/1298AC/80GG) (cases=11.3%; mothers 11.5%) was increased compared with controls (1.6%). Altogether, our findings support the hypothesis

Nonlinear Dynamic Surface Control of Chaos in Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Based on the Minimum Weights of RBF Neural Network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaohua Luo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper is concerned with the problem of the nonlinear dynamic surface control (DSC of chaos based on the minimum weights of RBF neural network for the permanent magnet synchronous motor system (PMSM wherein the unknown parameters, disturbances, and chaos are presented. RBF neural network is used to approximate the nonlinearities and an adaptive law is employed to estimate unknown parameters. Then, a simple and effective controller is designed by introducing dynamic surface control technique on the basis of first-order filters. Asymptotically tracking stability in the sense of uniformly ultimate boundedness is achieved in a short time. Finally, the performance of the proposed controller is testified through simulation results.

Reflood Heat Transfer in SiC and Graphene Oxide Coated Tube

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Kyung Mo; Lee, Seung Won; Bang, In Cheol

2013-01-01

The reflood tests have been performed flowing water into bare tube and nanoparticles coated tube at constant flow rate (3 cm/s). The quenching curves have been obtained at atmospheric pressure. Finally, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) images are acquired and contact angles are measured in order to observe the surface structures and wettability effect on cooling performance. The quenching time decreases and quenching velocity increases as the coating time of nanoparticles on the tube increases, because the nanoparticles deposited on the tube destabilize and rupture the vapor film early in the effect of increased Leidenfrost point temperature. The SiC nanoparticles coated tubes have better quenching performance than GO nanoparticles coated tubes. The SEM images and contact angle observations proved the enhanced wettability and rough surface due to deposition of SiC nanoparticles. And the wettability of GO nanoparticles coated tubes shows the increase at 600 s coating. But, the wettability decreases on GO nanoparticles tube coated for 900 s despite the enhanced quenching performance. Thus, the porous structure affects to the better cooling performance in case of GO nanoparticles coated tubes

Describing the Prevalence of Neural Tube Defects Worldwide: A Systematic Literature Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaganjor, Ibrahim; Sekkarie, Ahlia; Tsang, Becky L; Williams, Jennifer; Razzaghi, Hilda; Mulinare, Joseph; Sniezek, Joseph E; Cannon, Michael J; Rosenthal, Jorge

2016-01-01

Folate-sensitive neural tube defects (NTDs) are an important, preventable cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is a need to describe the current global burden of NTDs and identify gaps in available NTD data. We conducted a systematic review and searched multiple databases for NTD prevalence estimates and abstracted data from peer-reviewed literature, birth defects surveillance registries, and reports published between January 1990 and July 2014 that had greater than 5,000 births and were not solely based on mortality data. We classified countries according to World Health Organization (WHO) regions and World Bank income classifications. The initial search yielded 11,614 results; after systematic review we identified 160 full text manuscripts and reports that met the inclusion criteria. Data came from 75 countries. Coverage by WHO region varied in completeness (i.e., % of countries reporting) as follows: African (17%), Eastern Mediterranean (57%), European (49%), Americas (43%), South-East Asian (36%), and Western Pacific (33%). The reported NTD prevalence ranges and medians for each region were: African (5.2-75.4; 11.7 per 10,000 births), Eastern Mediterranean (2.1-124.1; 21.9 per 10,000 births), European (1.3-35.9; 9.0 per 10,000 births), Americas (3.3-27.9; 11.5 per 10,000 births), South-East Asian (1.9-66.2; 15.8 per 10,000 births), and Western Pacific (0.3-199.4; 6.9 per 10,000 births). The presence of a registry or surveillance system for NTDs increased with country income level: low income (0%), lower-middle income (25%), upper-middle income (70%), and high income (91%). Many WHO member states (120/194) did not have any data on NTD prevalence. Where data are collected, prevalence estimates vary widely. These findings highlight the need for greater NTD surveillance efforts, especially in lower-income countries. NTDs are an important public health problem that can be prevented with folic acid supplementation and fortification of staple foods.

Describing the Prevalence of Neural Tube Defects Worldwide: A Systematic Literature Review.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Zaganjor

Full Text Available Folate-sensitive neural tube defects (NTDs are an important, preventable cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. There is a need to describe the current global burden of NTDs and identify gaps in available NTD data.We conducted a systematic review and searched multiple databases for NTD prevalence estimates and abstracted data from peer-reviewed literature, birth defects surveillance registries, and reports published between January 1990 and July 2014 that had greater than 5,000 births and were not solely based on mortality data. We classified countries according to World Health Organization (WHO regions and World Bank income classifications. The initial search yielded 11,614 results; after systematic review we identified 160 full text manuscripts and reports that met the inclusion criteria. Data came from 75 countries. Coverage by WHO region varied in completeness (i.e., % of countries reporting as follows: African (17%, Eastern Mediterranean (57%, European (49%, Americas (43%, South-East Asian (36%, and Western Pacific (33%. The reported NTD prevalence ranges and medians for each region were: African (5.2-75.4; 11.7 per 10,000 births, Eastern Mediterranean (2.1-124.1; 21.9 per 10,000 births, European (1.3-35.9; 9.0 per 10,000 births, Americas (3.3-27.9; 11.5 per 10,000 births, South-East Asian (1.9-66.2; 15.8 per 10,000 births, and Western Pacific (0.3-199.4; 6.9 per 10,000 births. The presence of a registry or surveillance system for NTDs increased with country income level: low income (0%, lower-middle income (25%, upper-middle income (70%, and high income (91%.Many WHO member states (120/194 did not have any data on NTD prevalence. Where data are collected, prevalence estimates vary widely. These findings highlight the need for greater NTD surveillance efforts, especially in lower-income countries. NTDs are an important public health problem that can be prevented with folic acid supplementation and fortification of staple foods.

CRIM1 Complexes with ß-catenin and Cadherins, Stabilizes Cell-Cell Junctions and Is Critical for Neural Morphogenesis

OpenAIRE

Ponferrada, Virgilio G.; Fan, Jieqing; Vallance, Jefferson E.; Hu, Shengyong; Mamedova, Aygun; Rankin, Scott A.; Kofron, Matthew; Zorn, Aaron M.; Hegde, Rashmi S.; Lang, Richard A.

2012-01-01

In multicellular organisms, morphogenesis is a highly coordinated process that requires dynamically regulated adhesion between cells. An excellent example of cellular morphogenesis is the formation of the neural tube from the flattened epithelium of the neural plate. Cysteine-rich motor neuron protein 1 (CRIM1) is a single-pass (type 1) transmembrane protein that is expressed in neural structures beginning at the neural plate stage. In the frog Xenopus laevis, loss of function studies using C...

Hybrid digital signal processing and neural networks for automated diagnostics using NDE methods

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Upadhyaya, B.R.; Yan, W.

1993-11-01

The primary purpose of the current research was to develop an integrated approach by combining information compression methods and artificial neural networks for the monitoring of plant components using nondestructive examination data. Specifically, data from eddy current inspection of heat exchanger tubing were utilized to evaluate this technology. The focus of the research was to develop and test various data compression methods (for eddy current data) and the performance of different neural network paradigms for defect classification and defect parameter estimation. Feedforward, fully-connected neural networks, that use the back-propagation algorithm for network training, were implemented for defect classification and defect parameter estimation using a modular network architecture. A large eddy current tube inspection database was acquired from the Metals and Ceramics Division of ORNL. These data were used to study the performance of artificial neural networks for defect type classification and for estimating defect parameters. A PC-based data preprocessing and display program was also developed as part of an expert system for data management and decision making. The results of the analysis showed that for effective (low-error) defect classification and estimation of parameters, it is necessary to identify proper feature vectors using different data representation methods. The integration of data compression and artificial neural networks for information processing was established as an effective technique for automation of diagnostics using nondestructive examination methods

The Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Ballizing Process of Steel Tubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dyl T.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents chosen results of experimental and numerical research of ballizing process of the steel tubes. Ballizing process is a method of burnishing technology of an internal diameter by precisely forcing a ball through a slightly undersized pre-machined tubes. Ballizing process is a fast, low-cost process for sizing and finishing tubes. It consists of pressing a slightly oversized ball through an unfinished tube to quickly bring the hole to desired size. The ball is typically made from a very hard material such as tungsten carbide or bearing steel. Ballizing process is by cold surface plastic forming of the surface structure, thereby leaving a layer of harder material and reducing its roughness. After theoretical and experimental analysis it was determined that the smaller the diameter of the balls, the bigger intensity of stress and strain and strain rate. The paper presents influence of ballizing process on the strain and stress state and on the surface roughness reduction rate of the steel tubes.

Permutation invariant polynomial neural network approach to fitting potential energy surfaces. II. Four-atom systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Li, Jun; Jiang, Bin; Guo, Hua, E-mail: hguo@unm.edu [Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131 (United States)

2013-11-28

A rigorous, general, and simple method to fit global and permutation invariant potential energy surfaces (PESs) using neural networks (NNs) is discussed. This so-called permutation invariant polynomial neural network (PIP-NN) method imposes permutation symmetry by using in its input a set of symmetry functions based on PIPs. For systems with more than three atoms, it is shown that the number of symmetry functions in the input vector needs to be larger than the number of internal coordinates in order to include both the primary and secondary invariant polynomials. This PIP-NN method is successfully demonstrated in three atom-triatomic reactive systems, resulting in full-dimensional global PESs with average errors on the order of meV. These PESs are used in full-dimensional quantum dynamical calculations.

Failure analysis of boiler tubes in lakhra coal power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, A.; Baluch, M.M.; Ali, A.

2010-01-01

Present work deals with the failure analysis of a boiler tube in Lakhra fluidized bed combustion power station. Initially, visual inspection technique was adopted to analyse the fractured surface. Detailed microstructural investigations of the busted boiler tube were carried out using light optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. The hardness tests were also performed. A 50 percent decrease in hardness of intact portion of the tube material and from area adjacent to failure was measured, which was found to be in good agreement with the wall thicknesses measured of the busted boiler tube i.e. 4 mm and 2 mm from unaffected portion and ruptured area respectively. It was concluded that the major cause of failure of boiler tube is erosion of material which occurs due the coal particles strike at the surface of the tube material. Since the temperature of boiler is not maintained uniformly. The variations in boiler temperature can also affect the material and could be another reason for the failure of the tube. (author)

Self-sensing concrete-filled FRP tube using FBG strain sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Xin; Li, Hui

2007-01-01

Concrete-filled fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) tube is a type of newly developed structural column. It behaves brittle failure at its peak strength, and so the health monitoring on the hoop strain of the FRP tube is essential for the life cycle safety of the structure. Herein, the optic fiber Bragg grating (FBG) strain sensor was chosen as the strain measuring gauge and embedded in the inter-ply of fibers in the middle height and the hoop direction of the FRP tube. The compressive behaviors of the concrete-filled FRP tubes were experimentally studied. The hoop strain of the FRP tube was recorded in real time using the embedded FBG strain sensor as well as the embedded or surface electric resistance strain gauges. Results indicated that the FBG strain sensor can faithfully record the hoop strain ofthe concrete-filled FRP tubes in compression as compared with the embedded or surface electric resistance strain gauges, and the strain recorded can reach more than 7000μɛ.

Ridge-like lava tube systems in southeast Tharsis, Mars

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, Jiannan; Huang, Jun; Kraft, Michael D.; Xiao, Long; Jiang, Yun

2017-10-01

Lava tubes are widely distributed in volcanic fields on a planetary surface and they are important means of lava transportation. We have identified 38 sinuous ridges with a lava-tube origin in southeast Tharsis. The lengths vary between 14 and 740 km, and most of them occur in areas with slopes rate, low lava viscosity, and sustained magma supply during a long period. Besides, lava flow inflation is also important in the formation of the ridge-like lava tubes and some associated features. These lava tubes provide efficient lateral pathways for magma transportation over the relatively low topographic slopes in southeast Tharsis, and they are important for the formation of long lava flows in this region. The findings of this study provide an alternative formation mechanism for sinuous ridges on the martian surface.

Integrated control of the cooling system and surface openings using the artificial neural networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moon, Jin Woo

2015-01-01

This study aimed at suggesting an indoor temperature control method that can provide a comfortable thermal environment through the integrated control of the cooling system and the surface openings. Four control logic were developed, employing different application levels of rules and artificial neural network models. Rule-based control methods represented the conventional approach while ANN-based methods were applied for the predictive and adaptive controls. Comparative performance tests for the conventional- and ANN-based methods were numerically conducted for the double-skin-facade building, using the MATLAB (Matrix Laboratory) and TRNSYS (Transient Systems Simulation) software, after proving the validity by comparing the simulation and field measurement results. Analysis revealed that the ANN-based controls of the cooling system and surface openings improved the indoor temperature conditions with increased comfortable temperature periods and decreased standard deviation of the indoor temperature from the center of the comfortable range. In addition, the proposed ANN-based logic effectively reduced the number of operating condition changes of the cooling system and surface openings, which can prevent system failure. The ANN-based logic, however, did not show superiority in energy efficiency over the conventional logic. Instead, they have increased the amount of heat removal by the cooling system. From the analysis, it can be concluded that the ANN-based temperature control logic was able to keep the indoor temperature more comfortably and stably within the comfortable range due to its predictive and adaptive features. - Highlights: • Integrated rule-based and artificial neural network based logics were developed. • A cooling device and surface openings were controlled in an integrated manner. • Computer simulation method was employed for comparative performance tests. • ANN-based logics showed the advanced features of thermal environment. • Rule

Uptake of gaseous formaldehyde onto soil surfaces: a coated-wall flow tube study

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Guo; Su, Hang; Li, Xin; Meusel, Hannah; Kuhn, Uwe; Pöschl, Ulrich; Shao, Min; Cheng, Yafang

2015-04-01

Gaseous formaldehyde (HCHO) is an important intermediate molecule and source of HO2 radicals. However, discrepancies exist between model simulated and observed HCHO concentrations, suggesting missing sources or sinks in the HCHO budget. Multiphase processes on the surface of soil and airborne soil-derived particles have been suggested as an important mechanism for the production/removal of atmospheric trace gases and aerosols. In this work, the uptake of gaseous HCHO on soil surfaces were investigated through coated-wall flow tube experiments with HCHO concentration ranging from 10 to 40 ppbv. The results show that the adsorption of HCHO occurred on soil surfaces, and the uptake coefficient dropped gradually (i.e., by a factor of 5 after 1 hour) as the reactive surface sites were consumed. The HCHO uptake coefficient was found to be affected by the relative humidity (RH), decreasing from (2.4 ± 0.5) × 10-4 at 0% RH to (3.0 ± 0.08) × 10-5 at 70% RH, due to competition of water molecule absorption on the soil surface. A release of HCHO from reacted soil was also detected by applying zero air, suggesting the nature of reversible physical absorption and the existence of an equilibrium at the soil-gas interface. It implies that soil could be either a source or a sink for HCHO, depending on the ambient HCHO concentration. We also develop a Matlab program to calculate the uptake coefficient under laminar flow conditions based on the Cooney-Kim-Davis method.

Experimental residual stress evaluation of hydraulic expansion transitions in Alloy 690 steam generator tubing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McGregor, R.; Doherty, P.; Hornbach, D.; Abdelsalam, U.

1995-01-01

Nuclear Steam Generator (SG) service reliability and longevity have been seriously affected worldwide by corrosion at the tube-to-tubesheet joint expansion. Current SG designs for new facilities and replacement projects enhance corrosion resistance through the use of advanced tubing materials and improved joint design and fabrication techniques. Here, transition zones of hydraulic expansions have undergone detailed experimental evaluation to define residual stress and cold-work distribution on and below the secondary-side surface. Using X-ray diffraction techniques, with supporting finite element analysis, variations are compared in tubing metallurgical condition, tube/pitch geometry, expansion pressure, and tube-to-hole clearance. Initial measurements to characterize the unexpanded tube reveal compressive stresses associated with a thin work-hardened layer on the outer surface of the tube. The gradient of cold-work was measured as 3% to 0% within .001 inch of the surface. The levels and character of residual stresses following hydraulic expansion are primarily dependent on this work-hardened surface layer and initial stress state that is unique to each tube fabrication process. Tensile stresses following expansion are less than 25% of the local yield stress and are found on the transition in a narrow circumferential band at the immediate tube surface (< .0002 inch/0.005 mm depth). The measurements otherwise indicate a predominance of compressive stresses on and below the secondary-side surface of the transition zone. Excellent resistance to SWSCC initiation is offered by the low levels of tensile stress and cold-work. Propagation of any possible cracking would be deterred by the compressive stress field that surrounds this small volume of tensile material

Method of evaluation of stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of clad fuel tubes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takase, Iwao; Yoshida, Toshimi; Ikeda, Shinzo; Masaoka, Isao; Nakajima, Junjiro.

1986-01-01

Purpose: To determine, by an evaluation in out-pile test, the stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of clad fuel tubes in the reactor environment. Method: A plurality of electrodes are mounted in the circumferential direction on the entire surface of cladding tubes. Of the electrodes, electrodes at two adjacent places are used as measuring terminals and electrodes at another two places adjacent thereto are used as constant-current terminals. With a specific current flowing in the constant-current terminals, measurements are made of a potential difference between the terminals to be measured, and from a variation in the potential difference the depth of cracking of the cladding tube surface is presumed to determine the stress corrosion cracking susceptibility of the cladding tube. To check the entire surface of the cladding tube, the cladding tube is moved by each block in the circumferential direction by a contact changeover system, repeating the measurements of the potential difference. Contact type electrodes are secured with an insulator and held in uniform contact with the cladding tube by a spring. It is detachable by use of a locking system and movable as desired. Thus the stress corrosion cracking susceptibility can be determined without mounting the cladding tube through and also a fuel failure can be prevented. (Horiuchi, T.)

Cell surface glycan engineering of neural stem cells augments neurotropism and improves recovery in a murine model of multiple sclerosis

KAUST Repository

Merzaban, Jasmeen S.

2015-09-13

Neural stem cell (NSC)-based therapies offer potential for neural repair in central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory and degenerative disorders. Typically, these conditions present with multifocal CNS lesions making it impractical to inject NSCs locally, thus mandating optimization of vascular delivery of the cells to involved sites. Here, we analyzed NSCs for expression of molecular effectors of cell migration and found that these cells are natively devoid of E-selectin ligands. Using glycosyltransferase-programmed stereosubstitution (GPS), we glycan engineered the cell surface of NSCs ("GPS-NSCs") with resultant enforced expression of the potent E-selectin ligand HCELL (hematopoietic cell E-/L-selectin ligand) and of an E-selectin-binding glycoform of neural cell adhesion molecule ("NCAM-E"). Following intravenous (i.v.) injection, short-term homing studies demonstrated that, compared with buffer-treated (control) NSCs, GPS-NSCs showed greater neurotropism. Administration of GPS-NSC significantly attenuated the clinical course of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), with markedly decreased inflammation and improved oligodendroglial and axonal integrity, but without evidence of long-term stem cell engraftment. Notably, this effect of NSC is not a universal property of adult stem cells, as administration of GPS-engineered mouse hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells did not improve EAE clinical course. These findings highlight the utility of cell surface glycan engineering to boost stem cell delivery in neuroinflammatory conditions and indicate that, despite the use of a neural tissue-specific progenitor cell population, neural repair in EAE results from endogenous repair and not from direct, NSC-derived cell replacement.

Interaction between Maternal and Paternal SHMT1 C1420T Predisposes to Neural Tube Defects in the Fetus: Evidence from Case-Control and Family-Based Triad Approaches.

Science.gov (United States)

K Rebekah, Prasoona; Tella, Sunitha; Buragadda, Srinadh; Tiruvatturu, Muni Kumari; Akka, Jyothy

2017-07-17

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are caused by the failure of neural tube formation which occurs during early embryonic development. NTDs are the most severe and leading cause of fetal mortality. Serine hydroxymethyl transferase (SHMT1) provides one-carbon units necessary for embryogenesis and defects in one-carbon production result in specific pathological conditions during pregnancy. The present study is aimed to evaluate the association of SHMT1 C1420T with NTD risk in the fetus using fetal, maternal and paternal groups by applying both case-control and family-based triad approaches. A total of 924 subjects including 124 NTD case-parent trios (n = 124 × 3 = 372) and 184 healthy control-parent trios (n = 184 × 3 = 552) from Telangana State, South India were analyzed. DNA from umbilical cord tissues and parental blood samples were extracted, and genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism. Statistical analysis used were SPSS, parent-of-origin effect (POE) analysis. Case-control study design demonstrated fetuses with homozygous variant genotype (TT) to be at risk toward spina bifida subtype (p = 0.022). Among parents, fathers with TT genotype were associated with anencephaly (p = 0.018) and spina bifida subtypes (p = 0.027) in the offspring. Of interest, maternal-paternal-offspring genotype incompatibility revealed maternal CT genotype in combination with paternal TT genotype increased risk for NTDs in the fetus (CTxTT = TT; p = 0.021). Family-based parent-of-origin effect linkage analysis revealed significant maternal over-transmission of variant allele to NTD fetuses (p < 0.01). The present study, using both case-control and family-based triad approach is the first report to demonstrate parental association of SHMT1 C1420T variant in conferring NTD risk in the fetus. Birth Defects Research 109:1020-1029, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Modelling of the ultrasonic inspection of steel tubes with longitudinal defects; Modelisation du controle ultrasonore de tubes d`acier presentant des defauts de type ``entaille longitudinale``

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mephane, M

1998-12-31

A model has been developed in order to simulate the ultrasonic inspection of steel tubes in the Vallourec control configuration. The model permits to simulate the control of steel tubes showing longitudinal defects located near the internal or external surface of tubes which appear during the rolling process. To detect this kind of defect, the probe is placed in an incident place perpendicular to the tube`s axis. The probe is in front of the external surface of the tube. The main characteristics of the model is to assume that the field radiated in the material does not depend on the probe`s position. This assumption permits to treat separately the field retracted in the material and the interaction between the defect and the ultrasonic beam. The focal plane is located in the material, so the plane waves approximation is applied where the waves front are assumed plane and parallel. The parallel refracted beam becomes divergent after reflection on the internal surface of tube. To treat the beam divergence, an amplitude weighting coefficient is then calculated by mean of the energy conservation of a tube of rays before and after reflection, following the Snell laws. This model can predict the edge diffraction echoes, the echoes issued from the corner effect, and also the mode conversion echoes. It has been validated on artificial notches, and on some natural defects. A comparison between experimental and modelling results shows a good agreement. (author) 39 refs.

The experiments of resonance tube method and resonator method ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Take a 50 ml measuring cylinder or a big test tube and hold it vertical using a stand. Add some water in the tube so that the horizontal surface of water is above the rounded bottom. Stick a strip of graph paper or ruler on the tube and mark a horizontal line corresponding to the water level. Keep the speaker pointing towards.

Magnetic flux tubes and transport of heat in the convection zone of the sun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spruit, H.C.

1977-01-01

This thesis consists of five papers dealing with transport of heat in the solar convection zone on the one hand, and with the structure of magnetic flux tubes in the top of the convection zone on the other hand. These subjects are interrelated. For example, the heat flow in the convection zone is disturbed by the presence of magnetic flux tubes, while exchange of heat between a flux tube and the convection zone is important for the energy balance of such a tube. A major part of this thesis deals with the structure of small magnetic flux tubes. Such small tubes (diameters less than about 2'') carry most of the flux appearing at the solar surface. An attempt is made to construct models of the surface layers of such small tubes in sufficient detail to make a comparison with observations possible. Underlying these model calculations is the assumption that the magnetic elements at the solar surface are flux tubes in a roughly static equilibrium. The structure of such tubes is governed by their pressure equilibrium, exchange of heat with the surroundings, and transport of heat by some modified form of convection along the tube. The tube models calculated are compared with observations

Failure of fretted steam generator tubes under accident conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Forrest, C.F.

1996-10-01

Tests were carried out with a bank of tubes in a water tunnel to determine the tolerance of flawed nuclear reactor steam generator tubes to accident conditions which would result in high cross-flow velocities. Fourteen specimen tubes were tested, each having one or two types of defect machined into the surface simulating fretting-wear type scars found in some operating steam generators. The tubes were tested at flow velocities sufficient to induce high fluid elastic-type vibrations. Seven of the tubes failed near the thinnest section of the defects during the one-hour tests, due to impacting and/or rubbing between the tube and the support. Strain gauges, displacement transducers, force gauges and an accelerometer were used on the target tube and/or the tube immediately downstream of it to measure their vibrational characteristics

Reconstruction of sub-surface archaeological remains from magnetic data using neural computing.

Science.gov (United States)

Bescoby, D. J.; Cawley, G. C.; Chroston, P. N.

2003-04-01

The remains of a former Roman colonial settlement, once part of the classical city of Butrint in southern Albania have been the subject of a high resolution magnetic survey using a caesium-vapour magnetometer. The survey revealed the surviving remains of an extensive planned settlement and a number of outlying buildings, today buried beneath over 0.5 m of alluvial deposits. The aim of the current research is to derive a sub-surface model from the magnetic survey measurements, allowing an enhanced archaeological interpretation of the data. Neural computing techniques are used to perform the non-linear mapping between magnetic data and corresponding sub-surface model parameters. The adoption of neural computing paradigms potentially holds several advantages over other modelling techniques, allowing fast solutions for complex data, while having a high tolerance to noise. A multi-layer perceptron network with a feed-forward architecture is trained to estimate the shape and burial depth of wall foundations using a series of representative models as training data. Parameters used to forward model the training data sets are derived from a number of trial trench excavations targeted over features identified by the magnetic survey. The training of the network was optimized by first applying it to synthetic test data of known source parameters. Pre-processing of the network input data, including the use of a rotationally invariant transform, enhanced network performance and the efficiency of the training data. The approach provides good results when applied to real magnetic data, accurately predicting the depths and layout of wall foundations within the former settlement, verified by subsequent excavation. The resulting sub-surface model is derived from the averaged outputs of a ‘committee’ of five networks, trained with individualized training sets. Fuzzy logic inference has also been used to combine individual network outputs through correlation with data from a second

Folic acid supplements to prevent neural tube defects: trends in East of Ireland 1996-2002.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Ward, M

2004-10-01

Promotion of folic acid to prevent neural Tube Defects (NTD) has been ongoing for ten years in Ireland, without a concomitant reduction in the total birth prevalence of NTD. The effectiveness of folic acid promotion as the sole means of primary prevention of NTD is therefore questionable. We examined trends in folic acid knowledge and peri-conceptional use from 1996-2002 with the aim of assessing the value of this approach. From 1996-2002, 300 women attending ante-natal clinics in Dublin hospitals annually were surveyed regarding their knowledge and use of folic acid. During the period the proportion who had heard of folic acid rose from 54% to 94% between 1996 and 2002 (c2 test for trend: p<0.001). Knowledge that folic acid can prevent NTD also rose from 21% to 66% (c2 test for trend: p<0.001). Although the proportion who took folic acid during pregnancy increased from 14% to 83% from 1996 to 2002 (c2 test for trend: p<0.001), peri-conceptional intake did not rise above 24% in any year. There is a high awareness of folic acid and its relation to NTD, which is not matched by peri-conceptional uptake. The main barrier to peri-conceptional uptake is the lack of pregnancy planning. To date promotional campaigns appear to have been ineffective in reducing the prevalence of NTD in Ireland. Consequently, fortification of staple foodstuffs is the only practical and reliable means of primary prevention of NTD.

Neural Cell Chip Based Electrochemical Detection of Nanotoxicity.

Science.gov (United States)

Kafi, Md Abdul; Cho, Hyeon-Yeol; Choi, Jeong Woo

2015-07-02

Development of a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective method for toxicity assessment of commonly used nanoparticles is urgently needed for the sustainable development of nanotechnology. A neural cell with high sensitivity and conductivity has become a potential candidate for a cell chip to investigate toxicity of environmental influences. A neural cell immobilized on a conductive surface has become a potential tool for the assessment of nanotoxicity based on electrochemical methods. The effective electrochemical monitoring largely depends on the adequate attachment of a neural cell on the chip surfaces. Recently, establishment of integrin receptor specific ligand molecules arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) or its several modifications RGD-Multi Armed Peptide terminated with cysteine (RGD-MAP-C), C(RGD)₄ ensure farm attachment of neural cell on the electrode surfaces either in their two dimensional (dot) or three dimensional (rod or pillar) like nano-scale arrangement. A three dimensional RGD modified electrode surface has been proven to be more suitable for cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation as well as electrochemical measurement. This review discusses fabrication as well as electrochemical measurements of neural cell chip with particular emphasis on their use for nanotoxicity assessments sequentially since inception to date. Successful monitoring of quantum dot (QD), graphene oxide (GO) and cosmetic compound toxicity using the newly developed neural cell chip were discussed here as a case study. This review recommended that a neural cell chip established on a nanostructured ligand modified conductive surface can be a potential tool for the toxicity assessments of newly developed nanomaterials prior to their use on biology or biomedical technologies.

Neural Cell Chip Based Electrochemical Detection of Nanotoxicity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Md. Abdul Kafi

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Development of a rapid, sensitive and cost-effective method for toxicity assessment of commonly used nanoparticles is urgently needed for the sustainable development of nanotechnology. A neural cell with high sensitivity and conductivity has become a potential candidate for a cell chip to investigate toxicity of environmental influences. A neural cell immobilized on a conductive surface has become a potential tool for the assessment of nanotoxicity based on electrochemical methods. The effective electrochemical monitoring largely depends on the adequate attachment of a neural cell on the chip surfaces. Recently, establishment of integrin receptor specific ligand molecules arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD or its several modifications RGD-Multi Armed Peptide terminated with cysteine (RGD-MAP-C, C(RGD4 ensure farm attachment of neural cell on the electrode surfaces either in their two dimensional (dot or three dimensional (rod or pillar like nano-scale arrangement. A three dimensional RGD modified electrode surface has been proven to be more suitable for cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation as well as electrochemical measurement. This review discusses fabrication as well as electrochemical measurements of neural cell chip with particular emphasis on their use for nanotoxicity assessments sequentially since inception to date. Successful monitoring of quantum dot (QD, graphene oxide (GO and cosmetic compound toxicity using the newly developed neural cell chip were discussed here as a case study. This review recommended that a neural cell chip established on a nanostructured ligand modified conductive surface can be a potential tool for the toxicity assessments of newly developed nanomaterials prior to their use on biology or biomedical technologies.

Heat transfer enhancement for fin-tube heat exchanger using vortex generators

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, Seong Yeon; Park, Dong Seong; Chung, Min Ho; Lee, Sang Yun

2002-01-01

Vortex generators are fabricated on the fin surface of a fin-tube heat exchanger to augment the convective heat transfer. In addition to horseshoe vortices formed naturally around the tube of the fin-tube heat exchanger, longitudinal vortices are artificially created on the fin surface by vortex generators. The purpose of this study is to investigate the local heat transfer phenomena in the fin-tube heat exchangers with and without vortex generators, and to evaluate the effect of vortices on the heat transfer enhancement. Naphthalene sublimation technique is employed to measure local mass transfer coefficients, then analogy equation between heat and mass transfer is used to calculate heat transfer coefficients. Experiments are performed for the model of fin-circular tube heat exchangers with and without vortex generators, and of fin-flat tube heat exchangers with and without vortex generators. Average heat transfer coefficients of fin-flat tube heat exchanger without vortex generator are much lower than those of fin-circular tube heat exchanger. On the other hand, fin-flat tube heat exchanger with vortex generators has much higher heat transfer value than conventional fin-circular tube heat exchanger. At the same time, pressure losses for four types of heat exchanger is measured and compared

Support tube of in-core instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suzumura, Takeshi; Saito, Shozo; Yasuda, Tetsuo; Shirosaki, Kiyotaka.

1975-01-01

Object: To permit satisfactory output measurement by preventing the bending of a in-core instrument tube within a reactor due to vibrations by means of a spring and thereby preventing mechanical damage of an adjacent fuel channel box. Structure: At a corner of a channel box of a fuel assembly, a in-core instrument tube is arranged along a channel box and has its surface provided with a plurality of removable leaf springs arranged in the direction of axis of the in-core instrument tube and each having an arcular tip. Thus, when the in-core instrument tube is inserted into the reactor, the arcular tip portions of the leaf springs are brought into plane contact with the corner of the channel box so that the in-core instrument tube is elastically supported on the channel box. Thus, there is no possibility of causing damage to the adjacent fuel channel box. (Kamimura, M.)

Atmospheric pressure argon surface discharges propagated in long tubes: physical characterization and application to bio-decontamination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kovalova, Zuzana; Leroy, Magali; Jacobs, Carolyn; Kirkpatrick, Michael J; Odic, Emmanuel; Machala, Zdenko; Lopes, Filipa; Laux, Christophe O; DuBow, Michael S

2015-01-01

Pulsed corona discharges propagated in argon (or in argon with added water vapor) at atmospheric pressure on the interior surface of a 49 cm long quartz tube were investigated for the application of surface bio-decontamination. H 2 O molecule dissociation in the argon plasma generated reactive species (i.e. OH in ground and excited states) and UV emission, which both directly affected bacterial cells. In order to facilitate the evaluation of the contribution of UV radiation, a DNA damage repair defective bacterial strain, Escherichia coli DH-1, was used. Discharge characteristics, including propagation velocity and plasma temperature, were measured. Up to ∼5.5 and ∼5 log 10 reductions were observed for E. coli DH-1 bacteria (from 10 6 initial load) exposed 2 cm and 44 cm away from the charged electrode, respectively, for a 20 min plasma treatment. The factors contributing to the observed bactericidal effect include desiccation, reactive oxygen species (OH) plus H 2 O 2 accumulation in the liquid phase, and UV-B (and possibly VUV) emission in dry argon. The steady state temperature measured on the quartz tube wall did not exceeded 29 °C; the contribution of heating, along with that of H 2 O 2 accumulation, was estimated to be low. The effect of UV-B emission alone or in combination with the other stress factors of the plasma process was examined for different operating conditions. (paper)

Condition monitoring and life assessment of lake water cooled admiralty brass condenser tubes of a nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De, P.K.; Ghosal, S.K.; Kutty, K.K.; Bhat, H.R.

2000-01-01

The present paper deals with the failure of condenser tubes in a nuclear power plant. The tubes were made of arsenical admiralty brass and were cooled using lake water. They were in service for over 25 years. So far about 1000 tubes have been plugged as they failed due to several reasons. In order to assess the remaining life of the existing tubes as well as to investigate the cause of recent tube failures, some of the tubes from the condenser were removed and examined in detail following several procedure. It was observed that in general, wall thickness of the tubes was reduced by 10- 15%. Maximum reduction in wall thickness took place near the water inlet ends. No denting type phenomenon was observed at the tube to tube-support plate crevice locations. At certain locations on ID surfaces of some tubes, small steps, 0.2 mm high, were noticed along the longitudinal direction of the tubes. ID surfaces of the tubes were covered with light gray coloured thin and adherent corrosion products decorated with red spots at places. EDAX analysis showed that these red spots were enriched with copper. While some pits were present on the ID surfaces, the OD surfaces were covered with shining black oxide film. Fracture surfaces of the tubes, which had lost much strength and broke while taking them out of the condenser, showed presence of cleavages with fatigue striations near the OD edges. Mechanical properties of the tubes as such had deteriorated significantly. The tubes were observed to have been degraded to a large extent due to localised corrosion on the ID surfaces and corrosion fatigue damage caused by flow induced vibration. Under the present operational conditions, the tubes are expected to perform satisfactorily for a limited period. (author)

Construction of diabatic energy surfaces for LiFH with artificial neural networks

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Yafu; Fu, Bina; Zhang, Dong H.

2017-12-01

A new set of diabatic potential energy surfaces (PESs) for LiFH is constructed with artificial neural networks (NNs). The adiabatic PESs of the ground state and the first excited state are directly fitted with NNs. Meanwhile, the adiabatic-to-diabatic transformation (ADT) angles (mixing angles) are obtained by simultaneously fitting energy difference and interstate coupling gradients. No prior assumptions of the functional form of ADT angles are used before fitting, and the ab initio data including energy difference and interstate coupling gradients are well reproduced. Converged dynamical results show remarkable differences between adiabatic and diabatic PESs, which suggests the significance of non-adiabatic processes.

Review: the role of neural crest cells in the endocrine system.

Science.gov (United States)

Adams, Meghan Sara; Bronner-Fraser, Marianne

2009-01-01

The neural crest is a pluripotent population of cells that arises at the junction of the neural tube and the dorsal ectoderm. These highly migratory cells form diverse derivatives including neurons and glia of the sensory, sympathetic, and enteric nervous systems, melanocytes, and the bones, cartilage, and connective tissues of the face. The neural crest has long been associated with the endocrine system, although not always correctly. According to current understanding, neural crest cells give rise to the chromaffin cells of the adrenal medulla, chief cells of the extra-adrenal paraganglia, and thyroid C cells. The endocrine tumors that correspond to these cell types are pheochromocytomas, extra-adrenal paragangliomas, and medullary thyroid carcinomas. Although controversies concerning embryological origin appear to have mostly been resolved, questions persist concerning the pathobiology of each tumor type and its basis in neural crest embryology. Here we present a brief history of the work on neural crest development, both in general and in application to the endocrine system. In particular, we present findings related to the plasticity and pluripotency of neural crest cells as well as a discussion of several different neural crest tumors in the endocrine system.

Decontamination of Steam Generator tube using Abrasive Blasting Technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, B. Y.; Kim, G. N.; Choi, W. K.; Lee, K. W.; Kim, D. H.; Kim, K. H.; Kim, B. T.

2010-01-01

As a part of a technology development of volume reduction and self disposal for large metal waste project, We at KAERI and our Sunkwang Atomic Energy Safety (KAES) subcontractor colleagues are demonstrating radioactively contaminated steam generator tube by abrasive blasting technology at Kori-1 NPP. A steam generator is a crucial component in a PWR (pressurized Water Reactor). It is the crossing between the primary, contaminated, circuit and the secondary waste-steam circuit. The heat from the primary reactor coolant loop is transferred to the secondary side in thousands of small tubes. Due to several problems in the material of those tube, like SCC (Stress Corrosion Cracking), insufficient control in water chemistry, which can be cause of tube leakage, more and more steam generators are replaced today. Only in Korea, already 2 of them are replaced and will be replaced in the near future. The retired 300 ton heavy Steam generator was stored at the storage waste building of Kori NPP site. The steam generator waste has a large volume, so that it is necessary to reduce its volume by decontamination. A waste reduction effect can be obtained through decontamination of the inner surface of a steam generator. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an optimum method for decontamination of the inner surface of bundle tubes. The dry abrasive blasting is a very interesting technology for the realization of three-dimensional microstructures in brittle materials like glass or silicon. Dry abrasive blasting is applicable to most surface materials except those that might be shattered by the abrasive. It is most effective on flat surface and because the abrasive is sprayed and can also applicable on 'hard to reach' areas such as inner tube ceilings or behind equipment. Abrasive decontamination techniques have been applied in several countries, including Belgium, the CIS, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the USA

Influence of test tube material on subcooled flow boiling critical heat flux in short vertical tube