The Role of Plasma Extracellular Vesicles in Remote Ischemic Conditioning and Exercise-Induced Ischemic Tolerance

Ischemic conditioning and exercise have been suggested for protecting against brain ischemia-reperfusion injury. However, the endogenous protective mechanisms stimulated by these interventions remain unclear. Here, in a comprehensive translational study, we investigated the protective role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) released after remote ischemic conditioning (RIC), blood flow restricted resistance exercise (BFRRE), or high-load resistance exercise (HLRE). Blood samples were collected from human participants before and at serial time points after intervention. RIC and BFRRE plasma EVs released early after stimulation improved viability of endothelial cells subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation. Furthermore, post-RIC EVs accumulated in the ischemic area of a stroke mouse model, and a mean decrease in infarct volume was observed for post-RIC EVs, although not reaching statistical significance. Thus, circulating EVs induced by RIC and BFRRE can mediate protection, but the in vivo and translational effects of conditioned EVs require further experimental verification.     

Use of Eddy Current Conductivity and Hardness Testing to Evaluate Heat Damage in Aluminum Alloys

Aluminum alloys are heat treated to provide optimal material properties for use in a variety of applications. However, when exposed to abnormally high temperatures, an evaluation must be performed to determine if the aluminum component has been compromised. Nondestructive evaluation of aluminum alloys, by means of electrical conductivity and hardness tests, can assist in determining the condition of the part. These techniques require experience and engineering judgment to properly interpret the data produced in order to determine whether a part needs to be replaced. This article will elaborate on issues with these nondestructive techniques to help diagnose the condition of aluminum alloys exposed to high temperatures.     

An OpenCL library for parallel random number generators

The Journal of Supercomputing - We present a library of 22 pseudo-random number generators on the GPU. The library is implemented in OpenCL and all generators are tested using the TestU01 and...     

Using internal domain-specific languages to inherit tool support and modularity for model transformations

Software and Systems Modeling - Model-driven engineering (MDE) has proved to be a useful approach to cope with today’s ever-growing complexity in the development of software systems;...     

Change propagation and bidirectionality in internal transformation DSLs

Software and Systems Modeling - Despite good results in several industrial projects, model-driven engineering (MDE) has not been widely adopted in industry. Although MDE has existed for more than a...     

Landsat approaches to map agro-pastoral farming in the wetlands of southern Sudan

Machine-learning algorithms (MLA) are coming of age within satellite remote sensing (SRS). This study compares the performance of a number of MLAs with more traditional indices and algorithms to map annual agro-pastoralist farming activity in southern Sudan. Two Landsat images from the early dry season 2014 and 2015 were analysed thoroughly and evaluated by interpretation of farming cover from very high resolution (VHR) images on Google Earth (GE). Traditional SRS indices based upon red and near infrared (NIR) bands used for monitoring rangelands did not perform well for the wet rangeland conditions compared to the use of blue and shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands. The species distribution model programme, MaxEnt, was used to produce a continuous farming activity indices using only Landsat-derived variables. Compared to other SRS classification approaches, maximum entropy (MaxEnt) showed the best overall performance to map farming activity followed by classification tree analysis (CTA). Overall mapping agreement >95.0% was reached for most methodologies, with MaxEnt showing very high mapping agreement (≥98.5%) for both years. When the result of MaxEnt’s good performance is put together in a 2014–15 or a 1999–2002 change detection scenario, it corroborates ground reports on massive human abuses that have taken place in Unity state of southern Sudan.     

How to prepare polished cement product surfaces for optical microscopy without introducing visible cracks

It is shown that preparation procedures may introduce cracks in epoxy impregnated hardened cement paste specimens. This is of vital importance for optical microscopic examination. A method which gives no visible cracks due to preparation is described.     

Note on flash and distillation systems

Flash and distillation systems evolving on the equilibrium manifold possess stable steady states when the molar flows and the boundary conditions are fixed and a vapor and liquid phase is present at all times. The results extend the range of validity of a local stability theorem for linear, constant molar overflow systems due to Acrivos and Amundson. The approach to stability analysis is motivated by the tangent plane method developed by Gibbs to open systems as it takes advantage of the negative curvature of the entropy surface to construct a Lyapunov function. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 59: 3322–3332, 2013     

Processing-structure-multi-functional property relationship in carbon nanotube/epoxy composites

The novel properties of carbon nanotubes have generated scientific and technical interest in the development of nanotube-reinforced polymer composites. In order to utilize nanotubes in multi-functional material systems it is crucial to develop processing techniques that are amenable to scale-up for high volume, high rate production. In this research we investigate a scalable calendering approach for achieving dispersion of CVD-grown multi-walled carbon nanotubes through intense shear mixing. Electron microscopy was utilized to study the micro and nanoscale structure evolution during the manufacturing process and optimize the processing conditions for producing highly-dispersed nanocomposites. After processing protocols were established, nanotube/epoxy composites were processed with varying reinforcement fractions and the fracture toughness and electrical/thermal transport properties were evaluated. The as-processed nanocomposites exhibited significantly enhanced fracture toughness at low nanotube concentrations. The high aspect ratios of the carbon nanotubes in the as-processed composites enabled the formation of a conductive percolating network at concentrations below 0.1% by weight. The thermal conductivity increased linearly with nanotube concentration to a maximum increase of 60% at 5 wt.% carbon nanotubes.