Central Cross Research Articles

Selective Attention to Faces in a Rapid Visual Stream: Hemispheric Differences in Enhancement and Suppression of Category-selective Neural Activity.

In daily life, efficient perceptual categorization of faces occurs in dynamic and highly complex visual environments. Yet the role of selective attention in guiding face categorization has predominantly been studied under sparse and static viewing conditions, with little focus on disentangling the impact of attentional enhancement and suppression. Here we show that attentional enhancement and suppression exert a differential impact on face categorization supported by the left and right hemispheres. We recorded 128-channel EEG while participants viewed a 6-Hz stream of object images (buildings, animals, objects, etc.) with a face image embedded as every fifth image (i.e., OOOOFOOOOFOOOOF…). We isolated face-selective activity by measuring the response at the face presentation frequency (i.e., 6 Hz/5 = 1.2 Hz) under three conditions: Attend Faces, in which participants monitored the sequence for instances of female faces; Attend Objects, in which they responded to instances of guitars; and Baseline, in which they performed an orthogonal task on the central fixation cross. During the orthogonal task, face-specific activity was predominantly centered over the right occipitotemporal region. Actively attending to faces enhanced face-selective activity much more evidently in the left hemisphere than in the right, whereas attending to objects suppressed the face-selective response in both hemispheres to a comparable extent. In addition, the time courses of attentional enhancement and suppression did not overlap. These results suggest the left and right hemispheres support face-selective processing in distinct ways-where the right hemisphere is mandatorily engaged by faces and the left hemisphere is more flexibly recruited to serve current tasks demands.

Quality of life in Indian women with fertility problems as assessed by the FertiQoL questionnaire: a single center cross sectional study

Purpose: Infertility and its treatment can significantly impact an individual's physical and psychological health; however, this has not been well-studied in the Indian population. This study aimed to assess the quality of life in women with infertility at a teaching hospital in Hyderabad, India.Methods: In this cross sectional study of women with infertility, the quality of life was measured using the ‘FertiQoL International’ questionnaire (English/Hindi).Results: The age ranged from 20 to 38 years and polycystic ovary syndrome was the most common cause of infertility. Core FertiQoL scores were analyzed in 215 women and Treatment FertiQoL in 156. The mean Total FertiQoL score in the study population was 66.1 (SD 13.0) and this overall score was not influenced by socio-demographic or infertility-specific factors. However, on subscale analysis, women who had living children and were university-educated had significantly better emotional scores while obese (≥35 kg/m2) women and those on ovulation induction treatment had poorer mind body and relational scores, respectively. Women with associated co-morbidities had worse quality of life on the Treatment Environment scale than those without.Conclusions: The results provide a baseline quality of life score in these women. Infertility had the greatest impact on the emotional domain.

Chromaticity separation and the alpha response

Chromatic gratings can be uncomfortable to view and can evoke a large haemodynamic response. Both the discomfort and the amplitude of the haemodynamic response increase monotonically with the perceptual difference in the colour of the component bars of the grating, as registered by the separation in their chromaticity in the CIE 1976 UCS diagram. Individuals with photosensitive epilepsy exhibit epileptiform EEG activity in response to flickering light of alternate colours. The probability of the epileptiform response again increases monotonically with the separation of the colours in the CIE UCS diagram. We investigated whether alpha power, which is known to reflect the excitation of large populations of neurons, is similarly affected by the separation in chromaticity. Chromatic square-wave gratings with bars that differed in CIE UCS chromaticity were presented, together with a central fixation cross. In 18 non-clinical participants, alpha responses were recorded over the visual cortex (O1, Oz, O2, PO3, POz, PO4, P1, P2) and compared to responses in prefrontal cortex (F1, F2). Gratings comprised bars of two alternate colours that either had a small difference in chromaticity (mean CIE UCS separation of 0.03), a medium difference (mean separation of 0.19), or a large difference (mean separation of 0.43). The colour pairs had chromaticities that lay on the red-green, red-blue, or blue-green borders of the screen gamut. Regardless of the hue, the larger the separation in chromaticity, the greater the alpha desynchronization and the lower the alpha power (p = 0.004), but only in posterior electrodes (p < 0.001). Together this indicates that differences in colour evoke a cortical excitation that increases monotonically with the colour difference. In this respect the alpha response resembles the haemodynamic response.

ERP responses greater for faces in the temporal compared to the nasal visual field.

The distribution of retino-tectal projections is dissimilar depending on whether the receptors are situated in the nasal and temporal visual hemiretinas. Indeed, it has been claimed that the superior colliculus receives a greater proportion of its input from the temporal visual hemifield (nasal hemi-retina) relative to the nasal hemifield (temporal hemi-retina). In order to investigate whether these subcortical projections influence face processing, we investigated the early cortical ERP responses to faces and houses presented in the temporal and nasal retinas using monocular viewing. Neutral or fearful faces were presented concurrently with houses on either side of a central fixation cross, while participants were asked to discriminate changes in luminance at the center. Results showed that the lateralized N170, computed as the contralateral-ipsilateral electrode difference, was greater for faces appearing in the nasal relative to the temporal visual hemifield. This was due to a greater ipsilateral N170 for temporal relative to nasal presentations. By contrast, no difference was found across emotional expressions. The enhanced ERP response to faces appearing in the temporal visual field, suggests that the retinotectal pathway modulates cortical processing, most likely through activation of a colliculo-pulvino-amygdalar pathway, with subsequent back-projections from the amygdala to visual cortical regions. However, unattended facial expressions do not seem to modulate the response, at least at these angles of eccentricity.

Is it Safe to Undertake Central Arterial Cross Clamping in a Patient With a ROX Coupler Arteriovenous Anastomosis?

Is it Safe to Undertake Central Arterial Cross Clamping in a Patient With a ROX Coupler Arteriovenous Anastomosis?

Cancer du sein en ligne : effets de l’utilisation des technologies de l’information et de la communication

ObjectivesWe want to know the effects of virtual exchanges places, on psychological adaptation of women patients to cancer pathology, and especially breast cancer. Patients and methodsA literature review was made. Databases Cairn, Wiley Online Library, Taylor and Francis, ScienceDirect Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR), Communication organisation, PubMed Central NCBI, APA PsycNET, EBSCOST, Cross Ref, Oxford Journals, Persee, and Link Springer were explored. We included all quantitative and qualitative studies on the use of technologies and online resources related to cancer, especially breast cancer. ResultsFifty-two articles were selected. Forty only included women with breast cancer and 12 included different types of cancer (breast, prostate, kidney, leukemia…). Most of the studies have reported significant results in terms of psychological adaptation: improved emotional, psychological and general well-being; a decrease in anxiety and stress; a greater optimism; a better quality of life and a better participation in health. ConclusionsResults suggest a positive relationship between spaces of exchange for women patients and outcomes related to their experiences in relation to the disease.

Attention mediates the encoding of duration

Attention has been suggested to play an important role in duration processing. Here, we investigated whether attention mediates the encoding of the durations of multiple events by measuring the duration after-effect (DAE) following adaptation to concurrently presented events with different durations. Observers adapted by viewing two streams of Gaussian blobs displayed to the left and right of a central fixation cross. In Experiment 1, blobs in one stream lasted 200 ms while the blobs in the other stream lasted 800 ms. To manipulate attention, observers were instructed to perform a duration-oddball detection task on one of the streams (and ignore the other), while maintaining central fixation. In Experiment 2, observers adapted in three conditions: repetitions of blobs lasting 200 and 400 ms, while performing the oddball task on the 200 ms blobs (Attended: 200 ms, Unattended: 400 ms; A200/U400) or the 400 ms blobs (A400/U200), or to repetitions of blobs that both lasted 400 ms, while performing the oddball task on one of the streams (A400/U400). To measure the DAE, observers completed a cross-modal duration judgment task in which they compared a fixed auditory reference to a visual test stimulus with a varying duration. The results of Experiment 1 reveal that attending to blobs lasting 200 ms caused an after-effect in line with adaptation to 200 ms, while attending 800 ms blobs caused an after-effect in line with adaptation to 800 ms. This shows that the magnitude of the DAE depended on which duration was attended to during adaptation. Experiment 2 revealed no difference between the after-effects when the unattended stimulus lasted 200 ms (A400/U200) and when it lasted 400 ms (A400/U400), demonstrating that the unattended duration does not contribute to the measured DAE. These results show that attention plays a crucial role in selecting which durations are encoded. Meeting abstract presented at VSS 2017

Attention modulation of rapid face identity discrimination

The human face bears prominent biological and social significance and can be detected quickly and automatically (as early as 100ms after presentation; Crouzet et al., 2010). By contrast, it has been suggested that face identity processing could be modulated by selective attention (Palermo & Rhodes, 2007). Our study used a fast periodic visual stimulation approach to examine the effect of selective attention on face identity discrimination at a glance. We recorded 128-channel EEG while participants viewed 70s sequences of female faces shown at 6 Hz. Within each sequence, a randomly selected identity was repeated (A) with different female face identities (B, C…) embedded every 7th image (AAAAAABAAAAAAC…). Responses at 6 Hz reflect common visual processing of all stimuli, while responses at 0.857 Hz (i.e., 6 Hz/7) reflect face identity discrimination (Liu-Shuang, Norcia, & Rossion, 2014). Participants performed two tasks: (1) on Attend Fixation trials, participants monitored the central fixation cross for color changes (6 targets); (2) on Attend Face trials, participants responded to male faces which randomly replaced an oddball female face identity change (6 targets). Although there were robust face discrimination responses in the orthogonal task as shown previously (Liu-Shuang et al., 2014), attending to face gender increased responses on all electrodes, including the bilateral occipito-temporal regions. In order to avoid participants noticing the periodic identity change of every 7th female image, because male target faces always replaced the oddball female faces, in Experiment 2 we randomly embedded the male target faces during each stimulation sequence (replacing either a base face or an oddball face stimulus). However, we found the similar results to experiment 1. Thus, it appears that selective attention can modulate face identity discrimination in a rapid visual stream, but is not mandatory.

7. Prevalence of CAD in asymptomatic type II diabetics, using MPI as screening tool. Single center cross sectional study from KSA

Clinical research. Oral presentation. In patients with type 2 diabetes coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity. Knowing the elevated risk of cardiovascular events and high prevalence of silent myocardial ischemia, screening asymptomatic diabetic patients-yet controversial-is appealing. The aim of the study is to measure the prevalence of silent ischemia in asymptomatic type-II diabetic patient with at least one or more of the given risk factors i.e. Hypertension, Dyslipidemia, Smoking, obesity and F/H of CAD. Myocardial perfusion Imaging is a sensitive test to look for myocardial ischemia. This is a single center cross sectional study, approved by the institutional review board of the hospital. The study subjects were type-II diabetes of >5 years duration, asymptomatic, having one or more of the risk factors; The subjects were screened for CAD using myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). Further intervention or treatment was left to primary physician in case of positive results. A total of 137 patients-after obtaining an informed consent-underwent MPI. There were no complications during the tests. All of the patients tolerated the test well. ECGs were obtained. Two independent reviewers (blinded to each other’s findings) reviewed tests. A test was considered ”Positive” only if both reviewers results matched (in distribution, severity and size). Of 137 cohort, 21(15%) showed perfusion defects consistent with significant myocardial ischemia in a specific coronary artery distribution. Average sum stress score (SSS) was 5 (range 4–8, mode 4). Of the whole group, patients with higher HbA1C had the positive MPI. Results of positive patients were relayed to their primary physicians. Despite higher rate of diabetes in Saudi Arabia, asymptomatic Diabetics have a lower than expected incidence of active CAD. There would be a need to test this notion further. This would require more studies to confirm our findings in Saudi population.

Preparatory Encoding of the Fine Scale of Human Spatial Attention.

Our attentional focus is constantly shifting: In one moment, our attention may be intently concentrated on a specific spot, whereas in another moment we might spread our attention more broadly. Although much is known about the mechanisms by which we shift our visual attention from place to place, relatively little is known about how we shift the aperture of attention from more narrowly to more broadly focused. Here we introduce a novel attentional distribution task to examine the neural mechanisms underlying this process. In this task, participants are presented with an informative cue that indicates the location of an upcoming target. This cue can be perfectly predictive of the exact target location, or it can indicate-with varying degrees of certainty-approximately where the target might appear. This cue is followed by a preparatory period in which there is nothing on the screen except a central fixation cross. Using scalp EEG, we examined neural activity during this preparatory period. We find that, with decreasing certainty regarding the precise location of the impending target, participant RTs increased whereas target identification accuracy decreased. Additionally, the multivariate pattern of preparatory period visual cortical alpha (8-12 Hz) activity encoded attentional distribution. This alpha encoding was predictive of behavioral accuracy and RT nearly 1 sec later. These results offer insight into the neural mechanisms underlying how we use information to guide our attentional distribution and how that influences behavior.

Assessment of Liver Stiffness by Transient Elastography in Diabetics with Fatty Liver – A Single Center Cross Sectional observational Study

Assessment of Liver Stiffness by Transient Elastography in Diabetics with Fatty Liver – A Single Center Cross Sectional observational Study

Antidepressive-like effect of imperatorin from Angelica dahurica in prenatally stressed offspring rats through 5-hydroxytryptamine system.

Adolescence is a time of continued brain maturation, particularly in limbic and cortical regions, which undoubtedly plays a role in the physiological and emotional changes. Prenatally stressed offspring rats were used to investigate the potential antidepressive-like effects of imperatorin (IMP) extracted from the root of radix angelica. After 4 weeks of treatment of IMP, behavioral tests (sucrose-preference test, forced-swimming test, and open-field test) were measured. 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) concentration in the hippocampus and frontal cortex was measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Serotonin transporters (5-HTT) and 5-HT1A receptor (5-HT1AR) mRNA expression in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were also determined by real-time PCR. Administration with IMP (15 and 30 mg/kg/day, intragastrically) for 28 days markedly increased the percentage of sucrose (anhedonia), decreased the immobility time, and increased the number of total crossings, center crossings, rearing, and grooming in the male prenatally stressed offspring. Meanwhile, we found that 5-HT concentration in the hippocampus and frontal cortex was significantly increased in the IMP-treated group. Subsequently, we found significantly decreased 5-HTT and increased 5-HT1AR mRNA expressions in the hippocampus and frontal cortex after IMP treatment in the prenatally stressed male offspring. IMP showed antidepressive-like effects and increased 5-HT concentration in male prenatally stressed offspring, suggesting that IMP could be of therapeutic use in preventing depressive-like behavior in adolescence.

The narthex of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: A non-linear finite element approach to predict the structural damage

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem has a narthex in the front that is as long as the façade of the Church and about six meters wide. Currently, the narthex is covered by five cross vaults, three of which in a dangerous state of decay, and it is internally divided by three walls perpendicular to the façade, which appears to be strongly rotated outwards with a maximum horizontal top displacement of about 40cm. Inside the central cross vault, the narthex has been heavily damaged and propped since the thirties of the last century. Numerous attempts have been made over the time to identify the causes of such damage. Some archival researches, in-situ inspections of the subsoil and detailed laser scanner surveys, which were carried out during the recent restoration works in the Church and in the narthex, allowed for gaining a deeper insight into the construction features of the cross vaults and for putting forward some hypotheses about the possible causes of damage. This paper provides a scientific validation of these hypotheses by means of finite element numerical simulations, which try to reproduce the seismic response of the Church and the deformation process of a three-dimensional simplified model of the narthex from an assumed initial configuration up to an ultimate state of damage, comparable with the current one. Such models are discretized by means of tetrahedron elements obeying a damage plasticity law that exhibits a softening behavior in both tension and compression. The numerical simulations carried out provide some results that fit reasonably with the actual deformed configuration of the narthex and can be considered as a useful tool for further insights.

P119 Repetitive TMS can modulate local phase and global phase synchronization of human brain activity

The brain is certainly a nonlinear dynamical system which exhibits intriguing features such as oscillations and synchronization of neural activity. A number of studies have indicated that synchronous neuronal oscillations in different frequency bands are responsible for distinct classes of cognitive processes, e.g. perception and cognition. Furthermore, large-scale phase synchronization of oscillatory activity is a plausible mechanism for network communication between distant areas. To gain a further understanding of the causal links between phase synchronous neural oscillations and cognitive functions, we tested if we can directly manipulate the local and global phase dynamics of ongoing oscillations by TMS (Transcranial magnetic stimulation)-EEG (Electroencephalography) concurrent recordings in the human brain. Fourteen healthy volunteers participated in the experiment after giving written informed consent. While participants fixate a central cross with earplugs to attenuate TMS click sound, single-shot TMS, or repetitive TMS (rTMS) (5, 11, 23 Hz, 5-pulse trains) were delivered to the right visual or the left motor cortices at the intensity of 90% active motor threshold. We removed TMS-related EEG artifact by a combination of linear interpolation and ICA. We assessed spatiotemporal profiles regarding instantaneous phase and amplitude dynamics for the EEG data. At the local stimulation site, we observed prominent phase locking at each stimulation frequency in both visual and motor cortices. We found that phase locking was progressively enhanced by successive TMS pulses within a stimulus train. Moreover, the enhanced phase locking was likely to last for a few cycles after stimulation. Intriguingly, phase synchronization between the stimulation area and other brain areas was also enhanced at the stimulation frequency. We have demonstrated that rTMS can control local and global phase synchronization of ongoing oscillations in a frequency-specific way. rTMS, therefore, can be a promising tool for probing causal links between large-scale phase synchronization and brain functions in future We suggest that there is a great potential to aid and augment the disabled human performance associated with impaired synchrony by boosting synchrony in a frequency-specific manner by rTMS.

Pre-hospital and in-hospital first aid programs and specifications for spine and spinal cord injury in Beijing, China: study protocol for a prospective, multicenter, nonrandomized controlled trial

Background: The optimal time to rescue spinal cord function after spinal cord injury is within 24 hours, especially within 3 to 8 hours, after the injury. Timely and proper pre-hospital first aid, hospital admission, patient assessment, and surgery are essential for the rescue of spinal cord function. A sound and rapid treatment system is the basis for improving the level of injury treatment and recovery of spinal cord function. China currently lacks a systematic and standardized treatment system. Methods/Design: We herein propose our study protocol for a prospective, multicenter, nonrandomized controlled trial. We will recruit 200 patients with acute spinal cord injury undergoing pre-hospital treatment at Beijing Emergency Medical Center and Beijing Red Cross Emergency Rescue Center and receiving in-hospital treatment at Peking University People's Hospital, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Chaoyang Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, and Chinese PLA General Hospital, China. This study will comprise two parts: (1) establishment of a database of patients with spinal cord injury in the Beijing area; and (2) formulation of the pre-hospital and in-hospital process and establishment of a standardized treatment protocol for acute spinal cord injury. The primary outcome will be the American Spinal Injury Association impairment scale score for spinal nerve function. The secondary outcomes will be spinal X-ray, three-dimensional computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging findings and the incidence of complications due to improper pre-hospital and in-hospital treatment of acute spinal cord injury. Discussion: The aims of this study are as follows: (1) We will establish a spine and spinal cord injury treatment database in the Beijing area. (2) We will assess the complete pre-hospital and in-hospital evaluation of spine and spinal cord injury, develop and optimize first aid procedures, and create a pre-hospital and in-hospital standardized training program for the treatment of spine and spinal cord injury. (3) We will build a pre-hospital and in-hospital first aid “green channel” for acute spine and spinal cord injury after completion of the study. (4) We will develop first aid guidelines and establish an evaluation and treatment system for early surgery to save spinal cord function and reduce the degree of disability to the greatest extent as possible. (5) We anticipate that our results will be used in expert consensuses on acute spinal cord injury and that “green channel” patterns will be promoted in hospitals in Beijing and other cities of China to improve the level of first aid treatment of acute spine and spinal cord injury in Chinese cities and reduce the occurrence of secondary injury and severe dysfunction due to improper treatment. This trial will begin in May 2017. Patient recruitment will be finished in August 2019. Analysis of all data and results will be completed in December 2020. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT03103516. Ethics: All protocols will be in accordance with Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects in the Declaration of Helsinki (2013), formulated by the World Medical Association. The study protocol has been approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Peking University People's Hospital, China (approval number: 2016PHB136-01). Informed consent: Written informed consent will be provided by legal representative of participants.

Length-Weight Relationship, Condition Factor and Gut Content of Chrysichthys Furcatus Gunther, 1864 (Bagridae) from Cross River at Ahaha

The study aimed to estimate the length weight relationship, condition factor and gut content of Chrysichthys furcatus a commercial important food fish in Obubra, central Cross River State. Monthly samples were collected for six month between May to October 2014. During the period a total of 187 specimens comprising of 125 females and 62 males were collected. The length - weight frequency distribution shows a total length ranged of 16 cm-60 cm and weight 50 g-549 g. The female fish have the highest length and weight frequency distribution except at weight ranged of 50 g-99 g where the males were more. Both sexes exhibited negative allometric growth pattern with an increased in length resulting to increase in weight of the fish. The condition factor (k) decreased with increased in the size of fish, why July and August recorded the least monthly condition factor. About 102 (54.55%) stomachs had some degree of food items in their guts with medium size specimens having the highest number of stomachs with some degree of food than small and large respectively. A total of 7 major categories with 27 food items comprising of animals, plants and detritus materials were identified. The sum total of 3,486 prey item with Cyclops (531) 15.24% constituting the most encountered while coleopteran (10) 0.29% was the least encountered prey. The most occurred prey item was detritus (100%) and Cyclops (98.12%) while the least coleopterans 3.67% with sand grains (11.44%) constituting the bulks of the gut content. The index of relative importance (IRI) reveals that Cyclops (1736.72), keretela (1394.82), tublex (1251.06), crustacean (1238.33) and crustacean eggs (1238.33) were the important and preferred prey item in the guts of C. furcatus. The ability of fish to capitalize on any available food items in the environment (euryphagous) is an important characteristic of culturable fish species. This implies that C. furcatus have brighter prospects for culture in ponds and proper species management and sustainability.

Anticonvulsant, Anxiolytic, and Sedative Activities of Verbena officinalis.

We describe different neuropharmacological effects of Verbena officinalis crude extract (Vo.Cr). Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures, elevated plus maze, light–dark box (LDB), open field and thiopental-induced sleeping test models were employed to evaluate Vo.Cr actions in mice. Vo.Cr dose-dependently (100–500 mg/Kg) delayed onset time of myoclonic jerks and tonic-clonic seizures, while decreased duration of tonic-clonic seizures (P < 0.05, P < 0.001 vs. saline group). Vo.Cr at 100 and 300–500 mg/Kg doses reduced animals’ mortality in PTZ-induced seizures test to 75 and 0%, respectively. Vo.Cr (50–300 mg/Kg) significantly increased time spent and number of entries into open arms, while decreased time spent and number of entries into closed arms (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.001 vs. saline group), measured in elevated plus maze. Vo.Cr (50–300 mg/Kg) increased time spent in light compartment, while decreased time spent in dark compartment (P < 0.01, P < 0.001 vs. saline group) in LDB, like caused by diazepam. In open field test, Vo.Cr decreased number of ambulations and rearings frequencies, while increased the number of central squares crossings. In thiopental-induced sleeping test, Vo.Cr (50–300 mg/Kg) decreased onset time of sleep, while increased the duration of sleep (P < 0.05, P < 0.01, P < 0.001 vs. saline group). These results indicate that Verbena officinalis possess anticonvulsant, anxiolytic and sedative activities, which provides scientific background for its medicinal application in various neurological ailments, such as epilepsy, anxiety, and insomnia.

Ultrapotassic dykes in the Moldanubian Zone and their significance for understanding of the post-collisional mantle dynamics during Variscan orogeny in the Bohemian Massif

We report mineral textures, geochemistry and age relations of two ultrapotassic dykes from a dyke swarm in the Western part of the Moldanubian Zone at contact to the Teplá-Barrandian Block. The dykes have orientation almost perpendicular to the NNE–SSW trending Central Bohemian plutonic complex and cross cut metamorphic foliation in basement gneisses and migmatites. Based on mineral compositions and geochemistry, the dykes show close relations to Mg-K syenite plutons in the Moldanubian Zone. The two dykes are vaugnerite and syenite in compositions and contain talc pseudomorphs after olivine within a fine-grained matrix that consists of K-feldspar, phlogopite with small amounts of clinopyroxene and accessory quartz, apatite, titanite and sulphides of Fe, Cu, Ni. The syenite porphyry dyke cross cuts the vaugnerite. It contains quartz phenocrysts and comparing to vaugnerite has lower modal content of talc pseudomorphs.The vaugnerite and syenite porphyry have high K2O (6 to 7wt.%) and mg-number (0.66–0.74), but low CaO and Na2O contents. The vaugnerite is markedly rich in P2O5 (>2wt.%) and comparing to syenite porphyry has higher amount of mantle-incompatible elements (e.g. Rb, Cs, Ba, Pb, Th, U), V and Cr. ID-TIMS analyses on titanite in vaugnerite and on zircon in syenite porphyry yielded 338.59±0.68 and 337.87±0.21Ma, respectively. Mineral and bulk rock chemistry of the dykes indicates that the source magma was formed by a low degree of partial melting of a highly anomalous domain in the upper mantle which subsequently fractionated and was contaminated with crustal material during its ascent. Formation of ultrapotassic magma is explained by transcurrent shear zones in the mantle lithosphere that occurred due to block rotation and post-collisional mantle dynamics initiated by slab break-off and asthenosphere upwelling into the Moldanubian accretionary complex during the Variscan Orogeny.

Air bearing center cross gap of neutron stress spectrometer sample table support system

A support system is the main load-bearing component of sample table for neutron stress spectrometer, and air bearing is an important element of a support system. The neutron stress spectrometer sample table was introduced, and the scheme for air bearing combination was selected. To study the performance of air bearing center cross gap, finite element models (FEMs) were established based on air motion and Reynolds equations, effects of air supply pressure, and gap parameters on the overturning moment and bearing capacity of air bearing center cross gap were analyzed. Results indicate that the width, depth, and height differences of the marble floor gap played important roles in the performance of the air bearing. When gap width is lesser than 1 mm and gap depth is lower than 0.4 mm, bearing capacity and overturning moment would vary rapidly with the variation of the width and depth. A gap height difference results in the bearing capacity dropping rapidly. The FEM results agree well with experimental results. Further, findings of the study could guide the design of the support system and marble floor.

Study on snoring habit in healthy population of Eastern Odisha

Introduction: Snoring caused due to relaxation of upper airway tract leading to partial closure of the respiratory passage and characteristic snoring sound with reduced oxygen entry into lungs. Estimates of prevalence of snoring ranges from 5-44% of the general population. As per the gender distribution 24 - 50% men &14 - 30% women had snoring habits. Methods: It was single Centre cross sectional study done by Department of Physiology, IMS & SUM Hospital in apparently healthy attendants accompanying patients using ‘Snore Survey’ questionnaire, Berlin Questionnaire. Results: There were 550 participants. Out of which 59.72% of men, 40.20% of women snored, 47.46% from both sexes were unaware of their snoring habit. 25.6% of all snorers confirmed daytime sleepiness. Prevalence of snoring increased in both sexes with increase in age. In males, the highest prevalence rate of snoring was obtained in the age group 50 -59, out of which 19.5% had moderate and 14.6% had habitual snoring.10.6% of the males in the age group 55–69 years had clinically suspected Obstructive Sleep Apneas. For females, the highest prevalence rate of snoring occurred at age 40-49years with 17.8% having moderate and 7.1% habitual snoring, whereas clinically suspected Obstructive Sleep Apneas among the female was 8%. Conclusion: Snoring a commonly ignored problem in our society, unless treated leads to risk of metabolic syndrome, Diabetes, CVS diseases like Hypertension, Arrhythmias& death.