Increasing Rotation Angle Research Articles

The association between asymmetric stress distribution on the lamina cribrosa and glaucoma progression.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of ocular movements on the progression of glaucoma. A total of 118 primary open-angle glaucoma patients were enrolled, comprising 71 patients in the progression group and 47 patients in the non-progression group. Utilizing three geometric parameters-axial length, optic disc radius, and optic cup deepening-a personalized virtual optic nerve head (ONH) model was designed. ONH biomechanical changes during ocular movement were simulated using a finite element analysis. Simulation results were analyzed and compared between the progression and non-progression groups. In both progression and non-progression groups, ONH strains significantly increased with increasing rotation angle. When the eye rotated by 10°, the stress on the anterior surface of the lamina cribrosa on the temporal side was significantly higher in the progression group compared to the non-progression group (16.19 ± 0.90kPa vs. 13.24 ± 3.00 kPa, P < 0.001). The stress ratio, indicating asymmetric stress distribution, was higher in the progression group than in the non-progression group (0.56 ± 0.13 vs. 0.49 ± 0.19, P = 0.018). Stress ratio significantly increased with increasing optic disc radius (standardized β = 0.303, P < 0.001) and optic cup deepening (standardized β = 0.538, P < 0.001). Asymmetric stress distribution with ocular movement was higher in the progression group. This asymmetry was associated with optic disc radius and optic cup deepening. Therefore, ocular movement may contribute to the progression of glaucoma, with ONH geometry playing a role. WHAT IS KNOWN : Ocular movement is considered one of the physical stress factors affecting the optic nerve head. Ocular movement increased the strain on the optic nerve head and resulted in an asymmetric stress distribution on the lamina cribrosa surface. Asymmetric stress distribution on lamina cribrosa with ocular movement was higher in the glaucoma progression group and associated with optic disc radius and optic cup deepening.

A Fast 3D Range-Modulator Delivery Approach: Validation of the FLUKA Model on a Varian ProBeam System Including a Robustness Analysis

A 3D range-modulator (RM), optimized for a single energy and a specific target shape, is a promising and viable solution for the ultra-fast dose delivery in particle therapy. The aim of this work was to investigate the impact of potential beam and modulator misalignments on the dose distribution. Moreover, the FLUKA Monte Carlo model, capable of simulating 3D RMs, was adjusted and validated for the 250 MeV single-energy proton irradiation from a Varian ProBeam system. A 3D RM was designed for a cube target shape rotated 45° around two axes using a Varian-internal research version of the Eclipse treatment planning software, and the resulting dose distribution was simulated in a water phantom. Deviations from the ideal alignment were introduced, and the dose distributions from the modified simulations were compared to the original unmodified one. Finally, the FLUKA model and the workflow were validated with base-line data measurements and dose measurements of the manufactured modulator prototype at the HollandPTC facility in Delft. The adjusted FLUKA model, optimized particularly in the scope of a single-energy FLASH irradiation with a PMMA pre-absorber, demonstrated very good agreement with the measured dose distribution resulting from the 3D RM. Dose deviations resulting from modulator-beam axis misalignments depend on the specific 3D RM and its shape, pin aspect ratio, rotation angle, rotation point, etc. A minor modulator shift was found to be more relevant for the distal dose distribution than for the spread-out Bragg Peak (SOBP) homogeneity. On the other hand, a modulator tilt (rotation away from the beam axis) substantially affected not only the depth dose profile, transforming a flat SOBP into a broad, Gaussian-like distribution with increasing rotation angle, but also shifted the lateral dose distribution considerably. This work strives to increase awareness and highlight potential pitfalls as the 3D RM method progresses from a purely research concept to pre-clinical studies and human trials. Ensuring that gantry rotation and the combined weight of RM, PMMA, and aperture do not introduce alignment issues is critical. Given all the other range and positioning uncertainties, etc., not related to the modulator, the RM must be aligned with an accuracy below 1° in order to preserve a clinically acceptable total uncertainty budget. Careful consideration of critical parameters like the pin aspect ratio and possibly a novel robust modulator geometry optimization are potential additional strategies to mitigate the impact of positioning on the resulting dose. Finally, even the rotated cube 3D modulator with high aspect ratio pin structures (~80 mm height to 3 mm pin base width) was found to be relatively robust against a slight misalignment of 0.5° rotation or a 1.5 mm shift in one dimension perpendicular to the beam axis. Given a reliable positioning and QA concept, the additional uncertainties introduced by the 3D RM can be successfully managed adopting the concept into the clinical routine.

A Novel Algorithm for Enhancing Terrain-Aided Navigation in Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

The position error in an inertial navigation system (INS) for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) increases over time. Terrain-aided navigation can assist in correcting these INS position errors. To enhance the matching accuracy under large initial position errors, an improved terrain matching algorithm comprising terrain contour matching (TERCOM), particle swarm optimization (PSO), and iterative closest contour point (ICCP), named TERCOM-PSO-ICCP, is proposed. Initially, an enhanced TERCOM with an increased rotation angle is utilized to minimize heading errors and reduce the initial position error. The similarity extremum approach evaluates the initial matching outcomes, leading to an enhanced accuracy in the initial results. Next, artificial bee colony (ABC)-optimized PSO is employed for secondary matching to further reduce the initial position error and narrow the matching area. Finally, the ICCP, using the Mahalanobis distance as the objective function, is applied for the third matching, leveraging the ICCP’s fine search capabilities. The effective combination of these three algorithms significantly improves the terrain-aided navigation matching effect. Two tests show that the improved TERCOM-PSO-ICCP effectively reduces the matching error and corrects the position of the INS.

Broadband asymmetric transmission in quasiperiodic-metamaterials based on high entropy alloys ribbon

The new paradigm was introduced for achieving excellent electromagnetic (EM) waves absorption through multi-layer superimposed quasiperiodic-metamaterials, which were generated in rotary high entropy alloys ribbon. With the help of asymmetry, the designed anisotropic metamaterials with excellent absorption (ReflectionLoss≤−10dB) covered from 3.8 GHz to 18 GHz on the scale of sub-wavelength. High entropy alloys ribbon increased soft magnetic properties that design cascaded configuration metamaterials displayed distinct phase differences with increased rotation angle, which significantly focus on microwave attenuation. Meanwhile, the direction of the wave vector accompanied by rotation can realize polarized conversion, from linear polarizer to circular polarizer which is demonstrated in simulation, highly desirable in controlling EM waves and shrinking the size of traditional absorbing coating. Our study provides a fresh perspective to developing high-performance absorbers by combining soft magnetic and irregular phase patterns as possible as need for complex EM waves manipulations, arbitrary phase encoding, and vortex field.

Measurements of emissivity and temperature for polarized long-wavelength infrared light from tungsten under simulating tokamak conditions.

Tungsten is regarded as the baseline first wall material in tokamaks. This work provides a polarized method for measuring the emissivity and temperature of the tungsten using an infrared camera and a polarizer under simulating tokamak conditions. In the experiment, a polarizer with an adjustable polarization direction is set up in front of an infrared camera. A rotatable fixture is used to fix the sample and change the angle between the surface and the normal. The sample is rotated from 0° to 80°, and the polarized emissivity first increases and then decreases with increasing rotation angle. The uncertainty in emissivity resulting from this polarized method and non-polarized method is analyzed. To compare the effects of the polarized method and the non-polarized method, the rotation angle is adjusted to 0°, and a fitting model is used to describe the relationship between emissivity and temperature. Errors between the calculated temperature and measured temperature are used as a scale, and the polarized method improves the accuracy of temperature measurement. This polarized method provides a technical way to measure the emissivity and temperature in a tokamak and can be applied in other similar applications.

Subacromial Motion Metrics in Painful Shoulder Impingement: A Dynamic Quantitative Ultrasonography Analysis

ObjectivesTo explore the subacromial motion metrics in patients with and without subacromial impingement syndrome (SIS) and to investigate whether the abnormality was associated with rotator cuff pathologies. DesignThis cross-sectional observational study used dynamic quantitative ultrasonography imaging for shoulder joint assessment. SettingOutpatient rehabilitation clinic. ParticipantsIndividuals with SIS on at least 1 shoulder (n=32) and asymptomatic controls (n=32) (N=64). InterventionsNot applicable. Main Outcome MeasuresFrame-by-frame, the humeral greater tuberosity against the lateral edge of the acromion was traced to obtain the minimal vertical acromiohumeral distance (AHD). The rotation angle and radius of the humerus were computed using the least-squares curve fitting method. ResultsApproximately two-thirds of the shoulders with SIS did not have any sonographically identifiable rotator cuff pathologies. There was a consistent trend of nonsignificantly increased humeral rotation angles in painful shoulders. The generalized estimating equation demonstrated that the decreased minimal vertical AHD was associated with painful subacromial impingement (β coefficient: −0.123cm, 95% confidence interval [CI], −0.199 to −0.047). The area under the curve for the minimal vertical AHD to discriminate painful or impinged shoulders ranged from 0.624-0.676. The increased rotation angle (β coefficient: 10.516°; 95% CI, 3.103-17.929) and decreased rotation radius (β coefficient: −2.903cm; 95% CI, −5.693 to −0.111) were shown to be significantly related to the presence of supraspinatus tendinopathy. ConclusionsShoulders with SIS were characterized by a decreased minimal vertical AHD during dynamic examination. Abnormal subacromial metrics can develop in patients with mild (or no) rotator cuff pathologies. More prospective cohort studies are warranted to investigate the changes in subacromial motion metrics in populations at risk for painful or impinged shoulders.

Directional independence of the Kaiser effect of sandstone with high diameter–thickness ratios

The Kaiser effect(KE) was investigated considering strain energy density factor theory in fracture mechanics and the formation mechanism of the independence of effect direction.The results were as follows: Felicity ratio (FR) increased with increasing rotation angle, indicating that the memory of the original rock stress was affected by the rotation angle. Thus, the directional independence of the KE was directly related to the rotation angle. In theoretical calculations, the directional independence of the KE was directly related to the relative value of critical stress. The change in the relative value of the critical stress increased the difficulty of cracking, affecting the accuracy of the KE point.Poisson’s ratio considerably affected the FR value, and the in situ stress values of the KE method on various types of rock samples differed. The results of the study can provide insight into the KE mechanism and development of effective methods.

Evaluation of slope reliability considering the rotation of the correlation structure of soil properties

At present, research on the spatial variability of soil parameters mostly considers isotropy and transverse anisotropy correlation structures; by comparison, little research on other general correlation structures is available. To address this issue, the present study generates a general rotated anisotropy correlation structure random field considering stratum rotation by using random field theory and the matrix decomposition method. FLAC3D and strength reduction theory are used to analyze the influence of the rotation angle of the correlation structure and the angle between the principal axes of the correlation structure on slope reliability. Thereafter, the influences of the coefficient of variation (COV) and shear strength cross-correlation on slope reliability are revealed. Results show that slope stability first increases and then decreases with increasing rotation angle of the correlation spindle. Slope stability is related to the rotation angle of the correlation spindles. In the two-parameter random field of shear strength, slopes in which the dip direction of the strata is against the dip direction of the slope demonstrate higher reliability than slopes in which the dip direction of the strata is along the dip direction of the slope. This effect is more obvious when the COV is small. Compared with the slope reliability analysis results obtained when considering the cross-correlation of shear strength parameters, the results obtained when cross-correlation is ignored demonstrate underestimation of the probability of failure.

THz guided-mode resonance notch filter with variable filtering strength

In this paper, we propose a terahertz (THz) guided-mode resonance (GMR) notch filter made of a monolithic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, which has a monolayer grating structure. The proposed configuration shows both polarization-dependent and polarization-independent notch filter characteristics for the incident THz wave depending on the rotation angle of the second grating film. When the rotation angle is 0°, the filtering strength (transmittance) at resonance frequency changes from 0.4 (0.996) to 99.0% (0.010) according to the incident polarization. The transmittance continuously decreases with increasing rotation angle until 90°. When the rotation angle is 90°, the transmittance converges to 0.065 (± 0.015) independent of the incident wave polarization. When the incident polarization angle ranges from 90° to 180°, paradoxically, the transmittance through the two GMR grating films is greater than the transmittance through only the first GMR grating film due to the enhancement of the vertical component of the THz wave. These results agree well with a calculation using a polar coordinate system.

Numerical study of the effect of the turning angle on heat transfer in multilayered elements of external enclosure structures

When building low-rise buildings with a variety of structural elements, it is important to have an idea of their thermal state in extreme heat exchange conditions. Therefore, the study of heat transfer processes in heat-stressed elements of external fences is relevant and of considerable practical interest. The purpose of this work is to conduct parametric studies in typical angular fragments of inhomogeneous enclosing structures with u-turn angles from 60 to 150°. At the same time, the analysis of the thermal state is carried out for both external and internal angles. The mathematical modeling of spatial heat transfer in the fragments under consideration is based on the solution of a nonlinear system of differential equations of thermal conductivity with corresponding boundary conditions by the finite element method using the Thermal module included in the ANSYS software package. The analysis of numerical results given for three types of enclosing structures made using various technologies allowed us to clarify the influence of their geometric and thermophysical characteristics on the distribution of temperature and heat flow over the thickness of the fragments under consideration, as well as to determine the change in these parameters on both the internal and external surfaces of the structure. To establish that for all types of walling with increasing rotation angle, the temperature in the inner corner of the structure decreases, and in the outer increases, and the density of the heat flow behaves vice versa; the distance from the corner to the area stabilization with increasing angle of rotation reduces, smiling for all types of structures for temperature and heat flow; an increase in the thermal resistance leads to a temperature increase and decrease of the heat flux in the corner tend to be developed fragments; issue recommendations for creating energy-efficient structures that meet modern requirements.

Influence of the axial rotation angle on tool mark striations

A tool's axial rotation influences the geometric properties of a tool mark. The larger the axial rotation angle, the larger the compression of structural details like striations. This complicates comparing tool marks at different axial rotations.Using chisels, tool marks were made from 0° to 75° axial rotation and compared using an automated approach Baiker et al. [10]. In addition, a 3D topographic surface of a chisel was obtained to generate virtual tool marks and to test whether the axial rotation angle of a mark could be predicted.After examination of the tool mark and chisel data-sets it was observed that marks lose information with increasing rotation due to the change in relative distance between geometrical details on the tool and the disappearance of smaller details.The similarity and repeatability were high for comparisons between marks with no difference in axial rotation, but decreasing with increased rotation angle from 0° to 75°. With an increasing difference in the rotation angles, the tool marks had to be corrected to account for the different compression factors between them. For compression up to 7.5%, this was obtained automatically by the tool mark alignment method. For larger compression, manually re-sizing the marks to the uncompressed widths at 0° rotation before the alignment was found suitable for successfully comparing even large differences in axial rotation. The similarity and repeatability were decreasing however, with increasing degree of re-sizing.The quality was assessed by determining the similarity at different detail levels within a tool mark. With an axial rotation up to 75°, tool marks were found to reliably represent structural details down to 100μm. The similarity of structural details below 100μm was dependent on the angle, with the highest similarity at small rotation angles and the lowest similarity at large rotation angles. Filtering to remove the details below 100μm lead to consistently higher similarity between tool marks at all angles and allowed for a comparison of marks up to 75° axial rotation.Finally, generated virtual tool mark profiles with an axial rotation were compared to experimental tool marks. The similarity between virtual and experimental tool marks remained high up to 60° rotation after which it decreased due to the loss in quality in both marks. Predicting the rotation angle is possible under certain conditions up to 45° rotation with an accuracy of 2.667±0.577° rotation.

Are developments in mental scanning and mental rotation related?

The development and relation of mental scanning and mental rotation were examined in 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-year old children and adults (N = 102). Based on previous findings from adults and ageing populations, the key question was whether they develop as a set of related abilities and become increasingly differentiated or are unrelated abilities per se. Findings revealed that both mental scanning and rotation abilities develop between 4- and 6 years of age. Specifically, 4-year-olds showed no difference in accuracy of mental scanning and no scanning trials whereas all older children and adults made more errors in scanning trials. Additionally, the minority of 4-year-olds showed a linear increase in response time with increasing rotation angle difference of two stimuli in contrast to all older participants. Despite similar developmental trajectories, mental scanning and rotation performances were unrelated. Thus, adding to research findings from adults, mental scanning and rotation appear to develop as a set of unrelated abilities from the outset. Different underlying abilities such as visual working memory and spatial coding versus representing past and future events are discussed.

A correlative study of aortic valve rotation angle and thoracic aortic sizes using ECG gated CT angiography

ObjectiveVarious degrees of aortic valve rotation may be seen in individuals with no history of congenital cardiovascular malformations, but its association with aortic sizes has not been studied. MethodsGated computed tomographic (CT angiograms in 217 patients were studied (66.7±15; 22–97 years old)). Aortic diameters were determined at 5 anatomic locations. The length of the aorta from sinus to left subclavian artery was measured. The angle of valve rotation was recorded by measuring the angle between a line connecting the midpoint of the non-coronary sinus to the anterior commissure and another line along the interatrial septum. Rotation angles were correlated with aortic measurements. Patients were separated into two groups based on aortic sizes and into three groups based on age. The threshold for aortic dilatation was set at maximum ascending aorta diameter ≥40mm (≥21mm body surface area [BSA] indexed). ResultsNo significant difference in rotation angles was seen between the three age groups or between genders. Rotation angles were significantly correlated with maximal, average, and BSA adjustment of the aortic root and ascending aortic measurements. The aortic root angles were significantly different between the dilated versus nondilated aortas. There was no significant association between the rotation angles and age, length of ascending aorta, or diameters of descending aorta. Multivariate adaptive regression splines showed 25° of aortic root rotation as the diagnostic cut off for ascending aorta dilation. Above the 25° rotation, every 10° of increasing rotation was associated with a 3.78±0.87mm increase in aortic diameter (p<0.01) and a 1.73±0.25 times increased risk for having a dilated aorta (p<0.01). ConclusionRotation angles of the aortic valve may be an independent non-invasive imaging marker for dilatation of the ascending aorta. Patients with increased rotation angle of the aortic valve may have higher risk for development or acceleration of an ascending aortic dilatation.

Investigation of subsurface damage considering the abrasive particle rotation in brittle material grinding

Brittle materials are prone to brittle fracture which is a primary mechanism of material removal in grinding process. Subsurface damage (SSD) strongly affects the quality of grinding surface which is necessary to be evaluated in brittle material grinding. In this paper, the theoretical analysis of SSD is presented in detail considering the effect of abrasive particle rotation along with the wheel. With the increasing rotation angle of abrasive particle, both the median and lateral cracks incline gradually. Moreover, SSD could disappear below the final grinding surface when the rotation angle of abrasive particle reaches a certain critical value. In addition, the grinding depth, the wheel diameter, and the ratio of wheel speed to workpiece speed influence the rotation angle of an abrasive particle; the effects of these parameters on SSD depth are also studied in detail by theoretical analysis and numerical simulation. The larger wheel diameter and the larger ratio of wheel speed to workpiece speed can obtain a smaller SSD depth, but the effect of grinding depth is unapparent due to the kinematic characteristics of the grinding process. The results are meaningful and helpful in predicting SSD depth and selecting the reasonable grinding parameters to obtain a good surface quality in brittle material grinding.

Design of a variable valve hydraulic lift system for diesel engine

A continuous variable valve lift (VVL) mechanism for a diesel engine is proposed in this research. The hydraulic mechanism, which consists of a driving plunger, a driven plunger, a hydraulic cylinder, and a hydraulic oil tank, is the key part of the VVL mechanism. Simulation is conducted to study the relationship between maximum valve lift and rotation angle of driving plunger. Calculation results indicate that the maximum valve lift decreases with increasing rotation angle. A prototype was manufactured and successfully tested in a single-cylinder diesel engine. The experiments, which were conducted at different rotation angles of the driving plunger, validate the accuracy of the calculation results. The difference between experimental valve lift curve and cam lift curve is considered the result of oil leakage. Rotating the driving plunger is an effective method to regulate valve lift. Working stability of the VVL mechanism is validated through a multi-cycle operation. Experimental results indicate that the VVL mechanism is effective and reliable for realizing continuous VVL in engines.

Dispersion of a cloud of particles by a moving shock: Effects of the shape, angle of rotation, and aspect ratio

This paper discusses the particle-laden flow development from a cloud of particles in an accelerated flow behind a normal moving shock. The effects of the aspect ratio of a rectangular and ellipsoidal cloud and the cloud’s angle of attack with respect to the carrier flow are studied. Computations are performed with an in-house high-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory (WENO-Z) finite-difference scheme-based Eulerian-Lagrangian solver that solves the conservation equations in the Eulerian frame, while particles are traced in the Lagrangian frame. Streamlined elliptically shaped clouds exhibit a lower dispersion than blunt rectangular clouds. The averaged and root-mean-square locations of the particle coordinates in the cloud show that the cloud’s streamwise convection velocity increases with decreasing aspect ratio. With increasing rotation angle, the cross-stream dispersion increases if the aspect ratio is larger than unity. The particle-laden flow development of an initially moderately rotated rectangle is qualitatively and quantitatively comparable to the dispersion of an initially triangular cloud.

Estimation of the Mixed Convection Heat Transfer of a Rotating Cylinder in a Vented Cavity Subjected to Nanofluid by Using Generalized Neural Networks

In this study, numerical investigation of mixed convection in a square cavity with ventilation ports filled with nanofluids in the presence of an adiabatic rotating cylinder is conducted. The governing equations are solved with a commercial finite element code (COMSOL). The effects of Grashof number (Gr = 103 to Gr = 105), Reynolds number (Re = 50 to Re = 300), nanoparticle volume fraction (φ = 0 to φ = 0.05), and cylinder rotation angle (Ω = −5 to Ω = 5) on the flow and thermal fields are numerically studied for a range of different parameter sets. The generalized neural network (GRNN) is used to predict the thermal performance of the system. It is observed that the heat transfer increases almost linearly with increasing the nanoparticle volume fraction. The increasing rotation angle in the clockwise direction generally enhances the heat transfer. Moreover, the validation results with artificial neural networks show that generalized neural nets show better performance compared to radial basis and feed-forward networks.

Torsion Profiling of Proteins Using Magnetic Particles

We report a method to profile the torsional spring properties of proteins as a function of the angle of rotation. The torque is applied by superparamagnetic particles and has been calibrated while taking account of the magnetization dynamics of the particles. We record and compare the torsional profiles of single Protein G-Immunoglobulin G (IgG) and IgG-IgG complexes, sandwiched between a substrate and a superparamagnetic particle, for torques in the range between 0.5 × 103 and 5 × 103 pN·nm. Both molecular systems show torsional stiffening for increasing rotation angle, but the elastic and inelastic torsion stiffnesses are remarkably different. We interpret the results in terms of the structural properties of the molecules. The torsion profiling technique opens new dimensions for research on biomolecular characterization and for research on bio-nanomechanical structure-function relationships.

A study of carbon-nanotube-based nanoelectromechanical resonators tuned by shear strain

This paper has investigated, using a classical molecular dynamics simulation method based on the Tersoff–Brenner potential, the resonance-frequency changes of single-walled carbon-nanotube resonators originating from the purely mechanical response of single-walled carbon nanotubes. The tension decreased with increasing rotation angle, so the resonance frequencies could be changed by controlling the rotation angles of the single-walled carbon nanotubes. The resonance frequencies decreased with increasing angle, and when the rotation angle was greater than 60°, the changes were marked. For nanotubes of similar length, the bandwidth for the (3, 3) single-walled carbon nanotube was higher than for the (5, 0) single-walled carbon nanotube. Because properties arising from the shear-strain-induced tension response can affect the electromechanical behavior of carbon nanotubes, the shear-strain-induced tension response should be given serious consideration in the application of embedded carbon nanotubes in nanoelectromechanical systems.

Age-related changes in matching novel objects across viewpoints

Object recognition is an important visual process. We are not only required to recognize objects across a variety of lighting conditions and variations in size, but also across changes in viewpoint. It has been shown that reaction times in object matching increase as a function of increasing angular disparity between two views of the same object, and it is thought that this is related to the time it takes to mentally rotate an object. Recent studies have shown that object rotations for familiar objects affect older subjects differently than younger subjects. To investigate the general normalization effects for recognizing objects across different viewpoints regardless of visual experience with an object, in the current study we used novel 3D stimuli. Older and younger subjects matched objects across a variety of viewpoints along both in-depth and picture-plane rotations. Response times (RTs) for in-depth rotations were generally slower than for picture plane rotations and older subjects, overall, responded slower than younger subjects. However, a male RT advantage was only found for objects that differed by large, in-depth rotations. Compared to younger subjects, older subjects were not only slower but also less accurate at matching objects across both rotation axes. The age effect was primarily due to older male subjects performing worse than younger male subjects, whereas there was no significant age difference for female subjects. In addition, older males performed even worse than older females, which argues against a general male advantage in mental rotations tasks.