Shearography and thermography are optical techniques, both proven to be valuable tools for material nondestructive evaluation. Papers on these topics, however, are scattered and mainly appeared in optical journals. For the convenience of the materials community, this paper aims to present a comprehensive review of shearography and active thermography and their applications in nondestructive evaluation of materials. Both techniques enjoy the merits of full-field, non-contact and allowing speedy detection of material defects in metal, non-metal as well as composites materials. However, they are fundamentally different in flaw detection mechanisms. Shearography measures materials' mechanical response to stresses, whereas active thermography measures material's heat-transfer response to an instantaneous thermal excitation. A comparison of the advantages and limitations of two techniques for nondestructive evaluation will also be presented.

Frequency upconversion of Er3+ in alkali bismuth gallate glasses have been investigated. The upconversion mechanisms are discussed, and the dominant mechanisms are excited state absorption for the H11/22→I15/24 and S3/24→I15/24 transitions, and energy transfer upconversion for the F9/24→I15/24 transition. Intense green (around 525–550 nm) and red (around 660 nm) emission bands were observed under 800 nm excitation. At a pump intensity of 15.6 W/cm2, frequency upconversion efficiencies of 2.1×10−2 and 4.8×10−3 were obtained for the green and red emissions, respectively. The results are the highest among doped oxide glasses, and are comparable to those reported for Er3+/Yb3+ codoped fluoride glasses.

A novel circular Dammann grating is proposed to generate uniform-intensity impulse rings corresponding to different diffraction orders in the far field. The intensities of the rings are determined by the coefficients of the circular sine series decomposition of the grating function. The definition of diffraction efficiency and uniformity for this novel device are described. Numerical solutions of binary phase circular Dammann gratings are presented. A binary phase three-order circular Dammann grating of pi phase depth is fabricated by an e-beam direct writing technique and is experimentally demonstrated.

Previously, we demonstrated the importance of low-level-resistant variants to the evolution of resistance in Staphylococcus aureus exposed to ciprofloxacin in an in vitro system and developed a pharmacodynamic model which predicted the emergence of resistance. Here, we examine and model the evolution of resistance to levofloxacin in S. aureus exposed to simulated levofloxacin pharmacokinetic profiles. Enrichment of subpopulations with mutations in grlA and low-level resistance varied with levofloxacin exposure. A regimen producing average steady-state concentrations (C avg ss ) just above the MIC selected grlA mutants with up to 16-fold increases in the MIC and often additional mutations in grlA/grlB and gyrA. A regimen providing C avg ss between the MIC and the mutant prevention concentration (MPC) suppressed bacterial numbers to the limit of detection and prevented the appearance of bacteria with additional mutations or high-level resistance. Regimens producing C avg ss above the MPC appeared to eradicate low-level-resistant variants in the cultures and prevent the emergence of resistance. There was no relationship between the time concentrations remained between the MIC and the MPC and the degree of resistance or the presence or type of mutations that appeared in grlA/B or gyrA. Our pharmacodynamic model described the growth and levofloxacin killing of the parent strains and the most resistant grlA mutants in the starting cultures and correctly predicted conditions that enrich subpopulations with low-level resistance. These findings suggest that the pharmacodynamic model has general applicability for describing fluoroquinolone resistance in S. aureus and further demonstrate the importance of low-level-resistant variants to the evolution of resistance.In previous work, we examined the evolution of resistance when ciprofloxacin-susceptible (S) Staphylococcus aureus strains were exposed in an in vitro hollow-fiber system to simulated clinical and experimental ciprofloxacin pharmacokinetic profiles (4). We found that with increasing average steady-state concentrations (C avg ss ), the rate of initial killing approached a maximum, and the rate of regrowth decreased. Enrichment of subpopulations with mutations in grlA and low-level resistance also varied depending on the pharmacokinetic environment. A regimen producing C avg ss slightly above the MIC selected resistant (R) variants with grlA mutations that did not evolve to higher levels of resistance. Clinical regimens which provided C avg ss intermediate between the MIC and mutant prevention concentration (MPC) resulted in the emergence of subpopulations with gyrA mutations and higher levels of resistance and a regimen producing C avg ss greater than or equal to the MPC selected grlA mutants, but the appearance of subpopulations with higher levels of resistance was delayed. A regimen designed to maintain ciprofloxacin concentrations entirely above the MPC appeared to eradicate low-level-resistant variants in the inoculum and prevent the emergence of high-level-re...

Circulating osteogenic progenitor (COP) cells are considered as surrogates of the mesenchymal repository in the body. In this study, we hypothesized that COP cells decrease with age and that lower levels of COP cells are associated with greater frailty and disability in older persons. Using well-established clinical criteria, we quantified physical performance and disability and stratified frailty in a random sample of community-dwelling individuals enrolled in the Nepean Osteoporosis and Frailty (NOF) Study (mean age 82.8; N = 77; 70% female; 27 nonfrail, 23 prefrail, and 27 frail). Percentage of COP cells was quantified by flow cytometry. Logistic regression models estimated the relationship between the percentage of COP cells and prevalent disability, poor physical performance, and frailty. We found that aging is associated with a significant decrease in COP cells (p < .001). Lower percentages of COP cells were associated with disability and poor physical performance (p < .001). Older adults with COP cells in the lower quartile were more likely to be frail (odds ratio 2.65, 95% confidence interval 2.72-3.15, p < .001). In conclusion, COP cells in the circulation decrease with age. Lower percentages of COP cells in late life are associated with prevalent frailty and disability. Further longitudinal studies are needed to understand COP cells as a risk stratifier, biomarker, or therapeutic target and to predict disability in frail older persons.