Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors defined by the presence of abdominal obesity, glucose intolerance, hypertension and/or dyslipidemia. It is a major public health epidemic worldwide, and a known risk factor for the development of cognitive dysfunction and dementia. Several studies have demonstrated a positive association between the presence of metabolic syndrome an...

The most recently developed high temperature materials are known as in-situ composites or directionally solidified eutectics. Since the composites are formed during solidification, they have excellent morphological stabilities up to near their melting temperatures. The Ni-Al-Mo system has received the greatest attention for recent several years(1)~(3) since the alloy is expected to form a struc...

Concussions had long been considered an injury of little to no consequence. However, the forced retirement of several high profile athletes due to the impact of having suffered multiple concussions has pushed the issue to the forefront of scientific and sports culture alike. Despite the growing public awareness and the ever-expanding scientific understanding of concussions there is still much t...

BACKGROUND Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Current avenues of AD research focus on pre-symptomatic biomarkers that will assist with early diagnosis of AD. The majority of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) based biomarker research to date has focused on neuronal loss in grey matter and there is a paucity of research on white matter. METHODS Longitudinal DTI...

Abstract. A constitutive theory which accounts for scission and cross linking processes in polymers during deformation is used to analyze the torsion of a circular bar. In each increment of deformation at a material element of the torsion bar, some volume fraction of material undergoes scission and then re-cross links to form a new network with a new reference state. The scission process reduce...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD) are among the most common neurodegenerative disorders affecting older populations. AD is characterized by impaired memory and cognitive decline while the primary symptoms of PD include resting tremor, bradykinesia and rigidity. In PD, mild cognitive changes are frequently present, which could progress to dementia (PD dementia (PDD)). PDD and...

BACKGROUND The exact underlying pathomechanism of central sleep apnea with Cheyne-Stokes respiration (CSA-CSR) is still unclear. Recent studies have demonstrated an association between cerebral white matter changes and CSA. A dysfunction of central respiratory control centers in the brainstem was suggested by some authors. Novel MR-imaging analysis tools now allow far more subtle assessment of ...

OBJECTIVE To trace microstructural changes in patients with aquaporin-4 antibody (AQP4-ab)-seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) by investigating the afferent visual system in patients without clinically overt visual symptoms or visual pathway lesions. METHODS Of 51 screened patients with NMOSD from a longitudinal observational cohort study, we compared 6 AQP4-ab-serop...

There is ample evidence that the occipital cortex of congenitally blind individuals processes nonvisual information. It remains a debate whether the cross-modal activation of the occipital cortex is mediated through the modulation of preexisting corticocortical projections or the reorganisation of thalamocortical connectivity. Current knowledge on this topic largely stems from anatomical studie...

Several methods, such as electron microscopy, scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), X-ray diffraction, and decoration technique can be used to observe radiation damage in materials. In this work, we report microstructural changes and defect clusters induced by swift heavy ions (SHI) on graphite surfaces, visualized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Our studies have been performed on fine-g...