“Cone Beam Imaging of Cochlear Implants “

Objectives to assess the role of Cone Beam CT (CBCT) in the postoperative cochlear implant (CI) imaging in determining details about the electrode position, insertion depth, angle and other fine anatomical details. Methods This retrospective study included 32 patients (34 ears) with post-CI CBCT imaging. All images were anonymized and reviewed by two experienced head and neck radiologists in consensus for the measurements of the implant insertion depth, facial canal (vertical part) diameter, wall thickness and distance between it and the electrode cable, then assessment of the quality of visualization of fine structures as the facial nerve canal, chorda tympani, separate electrode contacts and scalar position of electrodes were done using 4-point scale. Results The insertion angles for the electrodes were measured in all the ears with a mean ± SD = 430.24 ± 121.43, the facial canal diameters were measured in 97.1% (33 ears) with a mean ± SD = 1.54 ± 0.33, the facial wall thickness was measured in 79.4% (27 ears) with a mean ± SD = 0.62 ± 0.32, the facial canalelectrode cable distances were measured in 97.1% (33 ears) with a mean ± SD = 1.64 ± 0.50 and the chorda tympani was visualized in 88.2% (30 ears). Perfect visualization of the scalar position of electrodes were encountered in 76.5% (26 ears), separate electrode contacts in 20.6% (7 ears), facial canal in 35.3% (12 ears), facial canal wall in 26.5% (9 ears), and chorda tympani in 41.2% (14 ears). Conclusion CBCT is a valuable tool in the postoperative assessment of cochlear implants

MONITORING TERRAIN DEFORMATIONS CAUSED BY UNDERGROUND MINING USING UAV DATA

Underground mining causes terrain surface deformations that lead to various threats to the environment and people, thus a systematic deformation monitoring needs to be performed. This monitoring mainly focuses only on the vertical part of the deformation and remote sensing techniques are currently very often used for this purpose. The development of Unmanned Aerial Systems (UASs) open new possibilities in this context. Most commonly, the mapping UASs are equipped with RGB cameras but also other lightweight sensors are utilized. In this work, the usefulness of UAS photogrammetry and LiDAR data is investigated in the context of detection and measurement of terrain deformations caused by underground mining. The accuracy of the methods was compared in reference to TLS data. The UAS and TLS measurements were performed in 2018 and 2019 but the subsidence was also evaluated in regards to ALS data acquired in 2011. The standard methodology based on Digital Terrain Models of Difference (DoDs) was applied to detect the subsidence. The DoD analysis was restricted to the hard surfaces. The profiles along the roads were also analysed to validate the accuracy of the data. The analysis showed that the UAS photogrammetry enables to obtain less noisy data and more accurate results of the terrain subsidence measurement than the UAS LiDAR sensors. The comparison of the DoDs showed about 33 cm subsidence between 2011 and 2018, which gives a subsidence rate of about 5 cm/year. The observed subsidence between years 2018 and 2019 was equal to about 5 to 15 cm depending on the measurement technique and investigated area.

The Oppel–Kundt Illusion and Its Relation to Horizontal-Vertical and Oblique Effects

The Oppel–Kundt illusion consists in the overestimation of the length of filled versus empty extents. Two experiments explored its relation to the horizontal-vertical illusion, which consists in the overestimation of the length of vertical versus horizontal extents, and to the oblique effect, which consists in poorer discriminative sensitivity for obliquely as opposed to horizontally or vertically oriented stimuli. For Experiment 1, Kundt’s (1863) original stimulus was rotated in steps of 45° full circle around 360°. For Experiment 2, one part of the stimulus remained at a horizontal or vertical orientation, whereas the other part was tilted 45° or 90°. The Oppel–Kundt illusion was at its maximum at a horizontal orientation of the stimulus. The illusion was strongly attenuated with L-type figures when the vertical part was empty, but not enhanced when this part was filled, suggesting that the horizontal-vertical illusion only acts on nontextured extents. There was no oblique effect.

Cloud–cloud collision in the Galactic Center Arc

We performed a search of cloud–cloud collision (CCC) sites in the Sagittarius A molecular cloud (SgrAMC) based on the survey observations using the Nobeyama 45 m telescope in the C32S J = 1–0 and SiO v = 0 J = 2–1 emission lines. We found candidates abundant in shocked molecular gas in the Galactic Center Arc (GCA). One of them, M0.014−0.054, is located in the mapping area of our previous ALMA mosaic observation. We explored the structure and kinematics of M0.014−0.054 in the C32S J = 2–1, C34S J = 2–1, SiO v = 0 J = 2–1, H13CO+J = 1–0, and SO N, J = 2, 2–1, 1 emission lines and fainter emission lines. M0.014−0.054 is likely formed by the CCC between the vertical molecular filaments (the “vertical part,” or VP) of the GCA, and other molecular filaments along Galactic longitude. The bridging features between these colliding filaments on the PV diagram are found, which are the characteristics expected in CCC sites. We also found continuum compact objects in M0.014−0.054, which have no counterpart in the H42α recombination line. They are detected in the SO emission line, and would be “hot molecular cores” (HMCs). Because the local thermodynamic equilibrium mass of one HMC is larger than the virial mass, it is bound gravitationally. This is also detected in the CCS emission line. The embedded star would be too young to ionize the surrounding molecular cloud. The VP is traced by a poloidal magnetic field. Because the strength of the magnetic field is estimated to be ∼mgauss using the Chandrasekhar–Fermi method, the VP is supported against fragmentation. The star formation in the HMC of M0.014−0.054 is likely induced by the CCC between the stable filaments, which may be a common mechanism in the SgrAMC.

Stress Analysis and Microstructure Evolution of Titanium Alloy Pipe during Flattening Processing

TA24 titanium alloy pipe with 638mm diameter and 19mm wall thickness is carried out continuous load flatten test, and the stress of internal and external pipe wall during flatten process is studied in this paper. The results show that the TA24 titanium alloy tube has good flattening performance, and the flattening process has experienced original stage, flattened oblate stage, flattened straight wall stage, flattened depressed stage, flattened concave contact stage. During the flattening process, the outer layer of the upper and lower wall of the tube is subjected to compressive stress, and the inner layer material is subjected to tensile stress. The tensile and compressive forces cause the vertical part of the upper and lower walls to be concave. The outer layer of the left and right circular arc parts is subjected to tensile stress and the inner layer is subjected to tensile stress. The compressive stress also causes the radius of the arc to decrease due to the combined force of the tensile and compressive forces, that is, the flattening occurs. With the decrease of and pressing distance under continuous loading condition, the metal on the left and right sides of the pipe gathers toward the middle depression, which aggravates the deformation of the upper and lower walls until the upper and lower walls contact, and the arc radius of the left and right walls decreases until the outer surface cracks. The pipe microstructure changes significantly into elongated deformation structure during the flattening process. The most severe part of the deformation is the left and right end arc of the pipe, followed by the upper and lower end depression.