| 1. |
- Fabiani, Iacopo, et al.
(author)
-
Imaging of the vulnerable carotid plaque : Role of imaging techniques and a research agenda
- 2020
-
In: Neurology. - 1526-632X. ; 94:21, s. 922-932
-
Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: Atherothrombosis in the carotid arteries is a main cause of ischemic stroke and may depend on plaque propensity to complicate with rupture or erosion, in turn related to vulnerability features amenable to in vivo imaging. This would provide an opportunity for risk stratification and-potentially-local treatment of more vulnerable plaques. We here review current information on this topic. METHODS: We systematically reviewed the literature for concepts derived from pathophysiologic, histopathologic, and clinical studies on imaging techniques attempting at identifying vulnerable carotid lesions. RESULTS: Ultrasound, MRI, CT, and nuclear medicine-based techniques, alone or with multimodality approaches, all have a link to pathophysiology and describe different-potentially complementary-aspects of lesions prone to complications. There is also, however, a true paucity of head-to-head comparisons of such techniques for practical implementation of a thorough and cost-effective diagnostic strategy based on evaluation of outcomes. Especially in asymptomatic patients, major international societies leave wide margins of indecision in the advice to techniques guiding interventions to prevent atherothrombotic stroke. CONCLUSIONS: To improve practical management of such patients-in addition to the patient's vulnerability for systemic reasons-a more precise identification of the vulnerable plaque is needed. A better definition of the diagnostic yield of each imaging approach in comparison with the others should be pursued for a cost-effective translation of the single techniques. Practical translation to guide future clinical practice should be based on improved knowledge of the specific pathophysiologic correlates and on a comparative modality approach, linked to subsequent stroke outcomes.
|
|
| 2. |
|
|
| 3. |
|
|
| 4. |
- Linde, Erik, et al.
(author)
-
Dielectric spectroscopy as a condition monitoring technique for cable insulation based on crosslinked polyethylene
- 2015
-
In: Polymer testing. - : Elsevier BV. - 0142-9418 .- 1873-2348. ; 44, s. 135-142
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Dielectric spectroscopy was evaluated as a condition monitoring technique for aged polyethylene electrical insulation in nuclear power plants. Bare core insulations of crosslinked polyethylene were aged at 55 and 85 °C under exposure to 60Co γ-radiation at different dose rates (0.42, 0.76 and 1.06 kGy h−1) to different total doses. The samples were studied by dielectric spectroscopy and tensile testing, and the crystallinity, mass fraction of soluble component and density were determined. The oxidation profiles along the depth of the insulations were assessed by infrared microscopy. The aged samples showed an increase in both the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric permittivity over the whole frequency range studied, an increase in the mass fraction of soluble component and in the material density, and a decrease in the strain-at-break. The imaginary part of the dielectric permittivity at 100 kHz increased in a linear fashion with increasing material density, the latter being strictly related to the extent of oxidation of the material according to infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The generic relationship between the imaginary part of the permittivity and the density included all the data obtained under different ageing conditions. The results suggest that dielectric spectroscopy can be used for in-situ measurements of the degree of oxidation of polyethylene cables, in order to obtain information about the condition of the cable insulation to enable the remaining lifetime to be predicted.
|
|
| 5. |
- Linde, Erik, et al.
(author)
-
Non-destructive condition monitoring of aged ethylene-propylenecopolymer cable insulation samples using dielectric spectroscopy and NMR spectroscopy
-
Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The causes of changes in dielectric response as a result of thermal and irradiative ageingof a cable insulation of ethylene propylene copolymer rubber containing 38 wt.% filler wereinvestigated. Samples were aged in three different combinations of irradiation dose rate andtemperature, 0.42 kGy h–1 at 85 °C, and 1.58 kGy h–1 at 55 and 85 °C, and subsequentlystudied by dielectric spectroscopy, NMR spectroscopy using a portable spectrometer andtensile testing. The extractable mass fraction and density were determined, and related to theimaginary part of the dielectric permittivity at 100 kHz. The ageing led to an increase in thedielectric permittivity, stiffness, density and degree of oxidation, together with a decrease inboth strain-at-break and relaxation time, as revealed by NMR spectroscopy. Except for thestrain-at-break, the properties changed in a linear fashion with increasing imaginary part ofthe dielectric permittivity at 100 kHz, with a particularly good agreement with respect to thedensity. As these properties are affected by the degree of oxidation, the results show that bothNMR using a portable spectrometer and dielectric spectroscopy can be used as conditionmonitoring techniques to detect the degree of oxidation in complex systems such as filledcopolymers.
|
|
| 6. |
- Pourrahimi, Amir Masoud, 1985, et al.
(author)
-
Repurposing Poly(3-hexylthiophene) as a Conductivity-Reducing Additive for Polyethylene-Based High-Voltage Insulation
- 2021
-
In: Advanced Materials. - : Wiley. - 0935-9648 .- 1521-4095. ; 33:27
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) is found to be a highly effective conductivity-reducing additive for low-density polyethylene (LDPE), which introduces a new application area to the field of conjugated polymers. Additives that reduce the direct-current (DC) electrical conductivity of an insulation material at high electric fields have gained a lot of research interest because they may facilitate the design of more efficient high-voltage direct-current power cables. An ultralow concentration of regio-regular P3HT of 0.0005 wt% is found to reduce the DC conductivity of LDPE threefold, which translates into the highest efficiency reported for any conductivity-reducing additive to date. The here-established approach, i.e., the use of a conjugated polymer as a mere additive, may boost demand in absolute terms beyond the quantities needed for thin-film electronics, which would turn organic semiconductors from a niche product into commodity chemicals.
|
|
