Comparison of shear-wave velocities obtained with shear-wave elastography of various peripheral lymph nodes in healthy Beagles

OBJECTIVE To compare shear-wave velocities (SWVs) with shear-wave elastography of various peripheral lymph nodes (LNs). ANIMALS 11 healthy Beagles. PROCEDURES For each dog, bilateral mandibular, medial retropharyngeal, superficial cervical, axillary, superficial inguinal, and popliteal LNs were evaluated with shear-wave elastography in sagittal and transverse scanning planes. Depth of each lymph node was recorded, and intra- and interobserver reliability was determined. RESULTS SWVs for all LNs were significantly higher in the sagittal scanning plane, compared with those in the transverse scanning plane. The SWV of the most superficial LN, the mandibular LN, was significantly higher, compared with that for the other LNs, except for the medial retropharyngeal LN. The SWV of the deepest LN, the medial retropharyngeal LN, was as high as that for the mandibular LN. Intra- and interobserver reliability was excellent. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE SWVs for normal peripheral LNs of Beagles may serve as a reference to compare with those for other breeds and diseased LNs. Scanning plane, LN depth, and interfering tissues between the LN and the transducer may affect SWV. Shear-wave elastography may not be operator dependent.

Comparison of shear-wave velocities obtained with shear-wave elastography of various peripheral lymph nodes in healthy Beagles

OBJECTIVE To compare shear-wave velocities (SWVs) with shear-wave elastography of various peripheral lymph nodes (LNs). ANIMALS 11 healthy Beagles. PROCEDURES For each dog, bilateral mandibular, medial retropharyngeal, superficial cervical, axillary, superficial inguinal, and popliteal LNs were evaluated with shear-wave elastography in sagittal and transverse scanning planes. Depth of each lymph node was recorded, and intra- and interobserver reliability was determined. RESULTS SWVs for all LNs were significantly higher in the sagittal scanning plane, compared with those in the transverse scanning plane. The SWV of the most superficial LN, the mandibular LN, was significantly higher, compared with that for the other LNs, except for the medial retropharyngeal LN. The SWV of the deepest LN, the medial retropharyngeal LN, was as high as that for the mandibular LN. Intra- and interobserver reliability was excellent. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE SWVs for normal peripheral LNs of Beagles may serve as a reference to compare with those for other breeds and diseased LNs. Scanning plane, LN depth, and interfering tissues between the LN and the transducer may affect SWV. Shear-wave elastography may not be operator dependent.

Evolution of the Seismic Response of Monopile-Supported Offshore Wind Turbines of Increasing Size from 5 to 15 MW including Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction

As a result of wind power’s expansion over the globe, offshore wind turbines (OWTs) are being projected in seismic prone areas. In parallel, the industry develops increasingly larger and more powerful generators. Many of the seismic response analyses of wind turbines conducted so far only consider smaller units. In this paper, a finite element substructuring model in frequency domain is used to compute the seismic response of four reference OWTs from 5 to 15 MW founded on monopiles embedded in several homogeneous soil profiles with shear wave velocities from 100 to 300 m/s and subjected to different accelerograms. The foundation behaviour is obtained through a continuum model including kinematic and inertial interaction. The relevance of soil-structure interaction and main trends of the seismic response of OWTs are inferred from the presented results. Although the seismic maximum bending moments increase with the size of the OWT system, their relevance with respect to the ones produced by design loads decreases as the turbine gets bigger. The same effect is observed for the shear forces if the soil is soft enough. The inclusion of SSI effects almost duplicates the seismic response when compared to the rigid base scenario.

Variability of Ground Motion Amplitudes Recorded in Bucharest Area during Vrancea Intermediate-Depth Earthquakes

This study focuses on the assessment of the correlation and variability of ground motion amplitudes recorded in Bucharest area during Vrancea intermediate-depth earthquakes from a database of 119 pairs of horizontal components. Empirical models for the evaluation of the peak ground velocity and displacement from spectral accelerations are proposed in this study. The distribution of the shear wave velocities from 41 boreholes at specific depths appears to follow a normal probability distribution. The analysis performed in this study has also shown that the variability of peak ground velocities and displacements does not appear to be influenced by the earthquake magnitude. In addition, it was observed that the variability in terms of shear wave velocities at specific depths is smaller than the variability of the spectral amplitudes of the recorded ground motions. The empirical site-amplification factors from the Eurocode 8 draft fail to capture the long-period spectral amplifications observed in Bucharest area during large magnitude Vrancea intermediate-depth earthquakes.

Microzonification of Floor with Sliding in Nulti Parish

Cuenca is located on three areas controlled by mega faults and 14 areas at risk from landslides. One of them is the Nulti community that registers landslides in 16 subzones during the past 10 years. The waters presence on the ground is one of the causes of these earth movements, and this generated infrastructural and environmental losses. According to the update of the Development and Land Management plan, the Santa Cecilia Pasto Romero neighborhood is one of the affected areas. This community is located in the Parish Center. This place lost a considerable number of houses and equipment like educational, health, religious, administrative infrastructure, because it has landslides of great magnitude. Given these antecedents, we carried out a study that allows to know the behavior of this soil against seismic waves and identify risk areas, their properties such as soil type, allowable loads, and elasticity modulus. In this way, the risks presented by these landslides were determined from a soil profile by processing the results of the Geophysical analysis like seismic refraction tests, standard penetration, and electrical soundings. This study generates future lines of research like slope stabilization and drainage designs. This study opens the possibility of being replicated in the other parishes of Cuenca. The subsoil presents a cohesive material with high plasticity. The soil has deposits with silty clay matrices of high plasticity. This mass of soil has been removed by the effects of landslides and colluvial deposits. Therefore, its low shear wave velocities expose loose soils of high plasticity and medium to high expansivity.

Study of the dependence of the strength characteristics of metals on variations in the modes of manufacturing process using microstructure-sensitive acoustic parameters

The microstructure-sensitive acoustic parameters (MSA parameters) of metal of the object under control are determined using measurements of the propagation time of bulk elastic waves of the ultrasonic range by the echo-pulse method. The structural features of the metal are thus evaluated not only in the surface layer, but also throughout the entire volume. We present the results of practical application of the MSA-parameters to estimation of the deviation of the velocity ratios of longitudinal and shear waves relative to the «basic» state with known strength characteristics. A correlation of the MSA-parameters with variations in the elastic moduli of metals attributed to modification of their microstructure is discussed. The generalized values of the ratios of wave velocities for steels of the same group are used in calculations to characterize the «base» state. It is shown that when calculating the MSA-parameters for a certain kind of construction steel, it is possible to use the averaged ratios of the velocities measured for quasi-isotropic reference samples made of the same type of steel. The generalized baseline ratios of the longitudinal and shear wave velocities are determined for the samples made of carbon steel, low-alloy, and alloyed steels. We present experimental evidence of using MSA-parameters to detect microstructural changes in metal samples and accompanying changes in their strength characteristics that occur during changes in modes and conditions of welding and heat treatment. A comparative analysis of the MSA parameters with the values of the mechanical properties and parameters of the crack resistance of the metal is carried out. It was shown that the accuracy of measuring the MCA parameters provided by modern hardware significantly exceeds changes in them occurred under significant deviations of the strength characteristics. The experimental results obtained clearly indicate that the MSA-parameters can be successfully used to improve the methods of quantitative non-destructive assessment of the features of metal microstructures

Micromechanical modeling of ultrasonic velocity for pore-structure and porosity characterization considering anisotropy in carbonate samples

This work presents an approach to characterize the pore-structure and anisotropy in carbonate samples based on the Effective Medium Method (EMM). It considers a matrix with spheroidal inclusions which induce a transverse anisotropy. The compressional wave (VP), vertical (VSV) and horizontal (VSH) shear wave velocities are estimated taking into account parameters as characteristic length, frequency, angle of wave incidence, aspect ratio, mineralogy, and pore-filling fluid to predict pore shape in carbonates. Ranges of aspect ratios are shown to discriminate different pore types: intercrystalline, intergranular, moldic, and vuggy. The angle of wave incidence is a determinant parameter in the estimation of VP(0º, 45º, 90º), VSV(0º) and VSH(90º) to calculate dynamic anisotropic Young’s modulus (E33) and Poisson’s ratio (v31), as well as the Thomsen parameters, Epsilon, Gamma and Delta for quantification of the anisotropic pore-structure. The obtained results establish that the size, as well as the pore-structure, have a more significant impact on the elastic properties when the porosity takes values greater than 4% for the three frequencies, ultrasonic, sonic, and seismic. This investigation predicts the pore-structure and pore-size to improve characterization and elastic properties modeling of carbonate reservoirs. Validation of results includes porosity measurements and ultrasonic velocity data for different carbonate samples.

First principles calculations on the novel high pressure phase of HfC

A new high-pressure structure of hafnium monocarbide (HfC) has been predicted by particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm based on first principles calculations. The newly found phase AuCu (L1[Formula: see text] belongs to the tetragonal P4/mmm space group. The transition pressure of NaCl (B1)[Formula: see text]L10 is predicted to be 387.6 GPa, which is much lower than that of B1[Formula: see text]CsCl (B2). L10 phase is found to transform to B2 structure at [Formula: see text]896.7 GPa. The structural stability criterion for tetragonal crystal was successfully deduced, which confirms the mechanical stability of L10 phase according to the calculated elastic constants. Thus, the equilibrium structure of HfC under high pressure was predicted to be L10 phase instead of B2. Furthermore, the bulk modulus, shear modulus, Young’s modulus and the compressional and shear wave velocities of HfC in B1 and L10 phases are found to increase monotonically as the pressure increases.