In vivo functional connectome of human brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal,autonomic, and motor systems by high spatial resolution 7-Tesla fMRI

Objective

Our aim was to map the in vivo human functional connectivity of several brainstem nuclei with the rest of the brain by using seed-based correlation of ultra-high magnetic field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data.

Materials and methods

We used the recently developed template of 11 brainstem nuclei derived from multi-contrast structural MRI at 7 Tesla as seed regions to determine their connectivity to the rest of the brain. To achieve this, we used the increased contrast-to-noise ratio of 7-Tesla fMRI compared with 3 Tesla and time-efficient simultaneous multi-slice imaging to cover the brain with high spatial resolution (1.1-mm isotropic nominal resolution) while maintaining a short repetition time (2.5 s).

Results

The delineated Pearson’s correlation-based functional connectivity diagrams (connectomes) of 11 brainstem nuclei of the ascending arousal, motor, and autonomic systems from 12 controls are presented and discussed in the context of existing histology and animal work.

Conclusion

Considering that the investigated brainstem nuclei play a crucial role in several vital functions, the delineated preliminary connectomes might prove useful for future in vivo research and clinical studies of human brainstem function and pathology, including disorders of consciousness, sleep disorders, autonomic disorders, Parkinson’s disease, and other motor disorders.

     

Experimental study on low cycle fatigue strength of beam-to-column connections in steel bridge bents with different plate assembling and material mismatching

This study examined the effects of inherent defects due to plate assembling and material mismatched condition between base and weld metal on the fatigue strength of beam-to-column connections. Low cycle fatigue tests were carried out on specimens with different plate assembling systems and material mismatched conditions. The test results revealed that the global load-displacement relationships from specimens with different plate assembling systems and material mismatched conditions are similar, meaning these effects involve only local behavior of specimens. However, the fatigue strength of the specimens strongly depends on the location of defects resulting from plate assembling and mismatched conditions. The specimen with the undermatched conditions and the existing defect located closer to the corner of beam-to-column connection tends to have lower fatigue strength. The fracture surfaces indicated that failure patterns of specimen are different regarding mismatched conditions. While the crack propagated through the weld metal for the undermatched condition, it propagated towards the boundary between base and weld metal for overmatched condition. Elasto-plastic shell analysis was performed under the same condition as the experiments. And it is found that when evaluating fatigue strength of beam-to-column connections, the effects of plate assembling system and material mismatched condition should be considered.     

Investigations on mechanical and tribological properties of Al-Si10-Mg alloy/sugarcane bagasse ash particulate composites

Aluminum metal matrix composites are a new generation of metal matrix composites that have the potential of sustaining the emerging demand for advanced engineering applications. These demands were satisfied due to massive mechanical and tribological properties of the aluminum hybrid composite material. In this work, abundantly available agricultural waste product (i.e., sugarcane bagasse ash) was used as a reinforcement material in AlSi10Mg alloy to enhance the alloy material properties for their better accomplishment in industrial applications. Initially, the chemical composition of the sugarcane bagasse ash particles was analyzed using Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy test, which revealed the presence of rich Silica content in the ash particles. Sugarcane bagasse ash particles of three different weight percentages (i.e., 6, 9, and 12%) are reinforced with aluminum alloy (AlSi10Mg) using stir casting process. The wear mechanisms and fractured morphology of the tensile tested specimen were analyzed with the aid of scanning electron microscopy. The result shows that the tensile, hardness, and impact strength were increased with increase in the weight percentage of sugarcane bagasse ash particles but ductility decreased when increasing the weight percentage. Further, dry sliding wear behavior of the fabricated composites was tested using Pin-on-Disc for three different loads (10 N, 20 N, 30 N). The wear rate and coefficient of friction for the hybrid matrix composites were found to be decreased while increasing the weight percentage of ash content, but they increase while increasing the applied load.     

Adaptive nonlinear tool path optimization for five-axis machining

Current tool path computation in the CAM algorithms approximates the surface by piecewise linear interpolation. In the case of three-axis machining on a CNC machine the tool will exactly reproduce this computed tool path. However in the case of five-axis simultaneous machining the real tool path on the CNC machine will not follow the linear approximation computed by the conventional CAM algorithm. A new CAM algorithm is proposed which approximates the surface to be machined by a piecewise curved approximation. This curve represents the real tool path followed on the five-axis machine. This piecewise curved approximation is further optimized by formulating the tool path computation as the generation of a grid based on a variational smoothness penalty function. This new algorithm considerably improves the accuracy and reduces the number of blocks and machining time.     

Low- and high-cycle fatigue behavior of load-carrying cruciform joints with incomplete penetration and strength under-match

The fatigue strengths of load-carrying cruciform joints with incomplete penetration and a strength mismatch between the base metal and the deposit metal were studied. Low- and high-cycle fatigue tests were performed on specimens with five matching conditions and two sizes of incomplete penetration. The test results revealed that the failure life was governed by crack propagation in both the low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue regions, and the crack propagation paths differed according to the matching and loading conditions. In addition, the fatigue strengths of the joints were compared for the degree of strength matching and the size of incomplete penetration in the low- and high-cycle fatigue regions. It was found that the effect of strength matching on the fatigue strength is negligible in the high-cycle fatigue region, but it becomes large in the low-cycle fatigue region and significantly reduces the fatigue life of the specimen in the under-matched joints.     

Sparsity-enforced slice-selective MRI RF excitation pulse design

We introduce a novel algorithm for the design of fast slice-selective spatially-tailored magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) excitation pulses. This method, based on sparse approximation theory, uses a second-order cone optimization to place and modulate a small number of slice-selective sinc-like radio-frequency (RF) pulse segments ("spokes") in excitation k-space, enforcing sparsity on the number of spokes allowed while simultaneously encouraging those that remain to be placed and modulated in a way that best forms a user-defined in-plane target magnetization. Pulses are designed to mitigate B(1) inhomogeneity in a water phantom at 7 T and to produce highly-structured excitations in an oil phantom on an eight-channel parallel excitation system at 3 T. In each experiment, pulses generated by the sparsity-enforced method outperform those created via conventional Fourier-based techniques, e.g., when attempting to produce a uniform magnetization in the presence of severe B(1) inhomogeneity, a 5.7-ms 15-spoke pulse generated by the sparsity-enforced method produces an excitation with 1.28 times lower root mean square error than conventionally-designed 15-spoke pulses. To achieve this same level of uniformity, the conventional methods need to use 29-spoke pulses that are 7.8 ms long.     

The vibration behavior of impeller blades in the five-axis CNC flank milling process

Today, in most cases, impellers of centrifugal compressors are produced by flank milling on five-axis CNC milling machines. The complex three-dimensional geometry of the very thin blades consists of ruled surfaces. The flank milling process allows a fast production of the impellers and the surface of the blades is of high quality. The limited strength of the very thin blades and also the thin outer radial part of the disk lead to a high sensitivity to static and especially dynamic forces that are caused by the instationary flow in the impeller. The dynamic forces of rotating stall and surge are the most dangerous excitations of the bladed disk. Coupled vibrations may occur and damage the impeller. The highest static load is caused by the centrifugal forces. Therefore, most of the high-loaded impellers are manufactured from aluminum alloy or titanium because of the low density of this light metals and the relatively high strength. Most of the interests and the investigations in the last years are paid to the vibration behavior and the dynamic loads of the impeller during operation. But sometimes, the highest stress may occur during the production process and damage the impeller or weaken the strength and so cause later problems. Especially, excitations from the dynamic forces during the flank milling process have to be taken under consideration. The vibration behavior of the impeller is very complex and is affected by the vibration behavior of the cutter and the milling machine. In this paper, the change of the vibration behavior of centrifugal compressor impeller blades during the manufacturing process is investigated. During the finishing of the thin blades, the blade thickness is continuously changing and also the strength and the corresponding eigenfrequencies of the blade. The dynamic forces acting on the blades are caused by the cutter, the milling machine, and the cutting process. The quantity of the forces and the frequency of the excitation are determined by the rotational speed of the cutter, the feed, the number of edges, and the chip thickness. The results described in this paper give useful information about the change of the vibration behavior of the centrifugal impeller blades during the flank milling process and possible interaction with the cutter and the machine.