Nonlinearity of muscle stiffness

In this letter, a comparison between three types (two linear and one nonlinear) of models of skeletal muscle stiffness is shown. Results are compared with experimental data for biceps brachii in the case of muscle stretching and with the Hill equation for a biological muscle. It is shown that results for nonlinear stiffness model in case of length-force relationship fits to the experimental data.     

Neurofibrillary tangles and plaques are not accompanied by white matter pathology in aged triple transgenic-Alzheimer disease mice

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is the most common cause of dementia in aging populations. Although senile plaques and neurofibrillary tangles are well-established hallmarks of AD, changes in cerebral white matter correlate with cognitive decline and may increase the risk of the development of dementia. We used the triple transgenic (3xTg)-AD mouse model of AD, previously used to show that white matter changes precede plaque formation, to test the hypothesis that MRI detectable changes occur in the corpus callosum, external capsule and the fornix. T₂-weighted and diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging and histological stains were employed to assess white matter in older (11–17 months) 3xTg-AD mice and controls. We found no statistically significant changes in white matter between 3xTg-AD mice and controls, despite well-developed neurofibrillary tangles and beta amyloid immunoreactive plaques. Myelin staining was normal in affected mice. These data suggest that the 3xTg-AD mouse model does not develop MRI detectable white matter changes at the ages we examined.     

Some classes of Kenmotsu manifolds with respect to semi-symmetric metric connection

In this paper, we study conharmonic curvature tensor in Kenmotsu manifolds with respect to semi-symmetric metric connection and also characterize conharmonically flat, conharmonically semi-symmetric and φ-conharmonically flat Kenmotsu manifolds with respect to semi-symmetric metric connection.     

Reflective mode of deformed-helix ferroelectric liquid crystal cells for sensing applications

We present a detailed theoretical and experimental study of the reflectance response of a deformed-helix ferroelectric (DHF) liquid crystal (LC) cell to an applied voltage under cross-polarisers. Using a model based on the effective dielectric tensor approximation, we derive simple analytical formulas to design a LC cell with maximum modulation depth and optimal linearity of the electro-optical response intensity versus the electric field. Our experimental results show that the cell works at frequencies up to 10 kHz and exhibits excellent linearity, with a total harmonic distortion as low as ?70 dB. These findings suggest that DHF-LCs can be exploited to develop simple and accurate optical sensors.     

Geometric derivation of the microscopic stress: A covariant central force decomposition

We revisit the derivation of the microscopic stress, linking the statistical mechanics of particle systems and continuum mechanics. The starting point in our geometric derivation is the Doyle–Ericksen formula, which states that the Cauchy stress tensor is the derivative of the free-energy with respect to the ambient metric tensor and which follows from a covariance argument. Thus, our approach to define the microscopic stress tensor does not rely on the statement of balance of linear momentum as in the classical Irving–Kirkwood–Noll approach. Nevertheless, the resulting stress tensor satisfies balance of linear and angular momentum. Furthermore, our approach removes the ambiguity in the definition of the microscopic stress in the presence of multibody interactions by naturally suggesting a canonical and physically motivated force decomposition into pairwise terms, a key ingredient in this theory. As a result, our approach provides objective expressions to compute a microscopic stress for a system in equilibrium and for force-fields expanded into multibody interactions of arbitrarily high order. We illustrate the proposed methodology with molecular dynamics simulations of a fibrous protein using a force-field involving up to 5-body interactions.     

Mechanistic model for deformation of polymer nanocomposite melts under large amplitude shear

We report the mechanical response of a model nanocomposite system of poly(styrene) (PS)-silica to large-amplitude oscillatory shear deformations. Nonlinear behavior of PS nanocomposites is discussed with the changes in particle dispersion upon deformation to provide a complete physical picture of their mechanical properties. The elastic stresses for the particle and polymer are resolved by decomposing the total stress into its purely elastic and viscous components for composites at different strain levels within a cycle of deformation. We propose a mechanistic model which captures the deformation of particles and polymer networks at small and large strains, respectively. We show, for the first time, that chain stretching in a polymer nanocomposite obtained in large amplitude oscillatory deformation is in good agreement with the nonlinear chain deformation theory of polymeric networks. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2013     

Quantitative assessment of motion correction for high angular resolution diffusion imaging

Several methods have been proposed for motion correction of high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) data. There have been few comparisons of these methods, partly due to a lack of quantitative metrics of performance. We compare two motion correction strategies using two figures of merit: displacement introduced by the motion correction and the 95% confidence interval of the cone of uncertainty of voxels with prolate tensors. What follows is a general approach for assessing motion correction of HARDI data that may have broad application for quality assurance and optimization of postprocessing protocols. Our analysis demonstrates two important issues related to motion correction of HARDI data: (1) although neither method we tested was dramatically superior in performance, both were dramatically better than performing no motion correction, and (2) iteration of motion correction can improve the final results. Based on the results demonstrated here, iterative motion correction is strongly recommended for HARDI acquisitions.     

Combined prostate diffusion tensor imaging and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI at 3T — quantitative correlation with biopsy

The purpose of this work was to compare diagnostic accuracy of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) and their combination in diagnosing prostate cancer. Twenty-five patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer underwent MRI, prior to transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsies. MRI data were correlated to biopsy results. Logistic regression models were constructed for the DTI parameters, DCE MRI parameters, and their combination. The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curves (AUC) were compared between the models. The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical analysis. The sensitivity and specificity values were respectively 81% (74–87%) and 85% (79–90%) for DTI and 63% (55–70%) and 90% (85–94%) for DCE. The combination “DTI or DCE MRI” had 100% (97–100%) sensitivity and 77% (69–83%) specificity, while “DTI and DCE MRI” had 44% (37–52%) sensitivity and 98% (94–100%) specificity. The AUC for DTI+DCE parameters was significantly higher than that for either DTI (0.96 vs. 0.92, P=.0143) or DCE MRI parameters (0.96 vs. 0.87, P=.00187) alone. In conclusion, the combination of DTI and DCE MRI has significantly better accuracy in prostate cancer diagnosis than either technique alone.     

Time-periodic solutions of the Einstein's field equations Ⅰ:general framework

In this paper,we develop a new algorithm to find the exact solutions of the Einstein's field equations.Time-periodic solutions are constructed by using the new algorithm.The singularities of the time-periodic solutions are investigated and some new physical phenomena,such as degenerate event horizon and time-periodic event horizon,are found.The applications of these solutions in modern cosmology and general relativity are expected.     

A model of nonlinear electrodynamics

A new model of nonlinear electrodynamics with two parameters is investigated. We also consider a model with one dimensional parameter. It was shown that the electric field of a point-like charge is not singular at the origin and there is the finiteness of the static electric energy of point-like charged particle. We obtain the canonical and symmetrical Belinfante energy–momentum tensors and dilatation currents. It is demonstrated that the dilatation symmetry and dual symmetry are broken in the models suggested. We have calculated the static electric energy of point-like particles.