High-grade metamorphic rocks are widely exposed along the SE-NW- to E-W-trending shear zones in the Truong Son Belt, Central Vietnam, but few petrological studies have been conducted in this area. Herein, we report the occurrence of mylonitized granulites that crop out along the Dai Loc shear zone in the southernmost Truong Son Belt. Detailed petrographic analysis, geochemistry and P-T-t estimates of the evolution of two granulite samples are presented to elucidate the formation processes of these high-grade metamorphic rocks. The results indicate that the rocks underwent two distinct metamorphic cycles. The first cycle (M1) is characterized by coarse-grained granulite mineral assemblages, defining a tight clockwise P-T path with near-isobaric heating to a near ultrahigh-temperature peak at low pressure, followed by cooling. The prograde mineral assemblage (M1a) is indicated by inclusions of cordierite + sillimanite + biotite + quartz + spinel & PLUSMN; plagioclase in coarse-grained garnet, orthopyroxene and cordierite. The mineral assemblage of garnet + orthopyroxene + cordierite + plagioclase + K-feldspar + ilmenite + melt & PLUSMN; biotite (M1b) defines the peak P-T conditions of 5.3-6.3 kbar and 850-920 & DEG;C. Post-peak cooling (M1c) is marked by the formation of quartz + biotite symplectites around garnet and orthopyroxene. The second cycle involved medium-pressure amphibolite facies metamorphism (M2), characterized by domainal development of fine-grained kyanite-bearing mineral associations. Petrographic observations indicate that these fine-grained associations were formed during mylonitization. Zircon U-Pb dating reveals that the timing of granulite facies metamorphism appears to be coeval with the intrusion of a post-collisional granitoid at 430-410 Ma. Granulite facies metamorphism and crustal melting were probably driven by asthenospheric mantle upwelling triggered by slab breakoff during the Early Palaeozoic. Considering previous structural and geochronological studies, the second metamorphic event likely occurred during the Triassic Indosinian orogeny.

The Dai Loc Complex, located in the southern Truong Son Belt, is separated from the northern Kontum Massif by the early Paleozoic Tam Ky-Phuoc Son suture zone. This study presents new zircon U-Pb ages and petrographic observations of the migmatitic pelitic gneisses and mylonitized granite intrusions from the Dai Loc Complex in order to constrain the Early Paleozoic thermal history of the eastern Indochina Block. The identification of metamorphic zircon with sillimanite inclusions, euhedral cordierite, and garnet in the migmatitic pelitic gneisses indicates high temperature metamorphic conditions at ca. 430-440 Ma. The metamorphism was followed by an isobaric cooling stage defined by the replacing of cordierite by kyanite-staurolite-quartz symplectite. The Dai Loc granite likely intruded the metapelites at ca. 430 Ma and was subsequently mylonitized. The thermal event in the Dai Loc Complex may be correlated with Ordovician-Silurian low pressure/high temperature metamorphism caused by subduction related arc magmatism in the Kannack and Ngoc Linh Complexes of the Kontum Massif. However, the frequency distribution of detrital zircon ages suggests the metasedimentary rocks from Dai Loc Complex have a unique provenance that was distinct from those of the neighboring A Vuong Formation and South China Block.

Background This study aimed to evaluate the performance of a preclinical PET insert in three configurations: as a stand-alone unit outside the MRI bore, inside the bore of a cryogen-free 3T MRI and, finally, while performing simultaneous PET/MRI studies. Methods The PET insert consists of two rings of six detectors, each detector comprising 8 × 12 SiPMs reading out dual offset layers of pixelated LYSO crystals with a 1.4-mm pitch. The inner diameter is 60 mm, transaxial field of view (FoV) 40 mm and axial FoV 98 mm. Evaluation was based on NEMA NU 4-2008 guidelines with appropriate modifications. Spatial resolution and sensitivity were measured inside and outside the MR bore. Image quality, count rate and quantitative performance were measured in all three configurations. The effect of temperature stability on PET sensitivity during fast spin echo sequences was also evaluated. B 0 field homogeneity and T1 and T2 relaxation times were measured using a water-filled phantom, with and without simultaneous PET operation. Finally, PET and MRI scans of a mouse injected with 10 MBq [ 18 F]NaF and a mouse injected with 16 MBq [ 18 F]FDG were performed in sequential and simultaneous modes. Results Peak absolute sensitivity was 10.15% with an energy window of 250–750 keV. Absolute sensitivity values outside and inside the MR bore with MR idle agreed to within 0.1%. Outside the MR bore, spatial resolution was 1.21/1.59 mm FWHM (radial/tangential) 5 mm from the centre of the FoV which compared well with 1.19/1.26 mm FWHM inside the MR bore. There were no substantial differences between all three scan configurations in terms of peak NEC rate (175 kcps at 17 MBq), scatter or random fractions. Uniformity and recovery coefficients were also consistent between scanning modes. B 0 field homogeneity and T1 and T2 relaxation times were unaltered by the presence of the PET insert. No significant differences were observed between sequential and simultaneous scans of the animals. Conclusions We conclude that the performance of the PET insert and MRI system is not significantly affected by the scanning mode.

Background The skin is both a target and a potential conduit for the delivery of drugs, but its cornified cell layer resists penetration by most molecules. This study investigated the potential of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles to facilitate the transdermal delivery of anticancer agents. Results Chemotherapeutic cancer drugs were applied with or without nanoparticles to the skin of hairless mice, and their ability to penetrate the skin was assessed using fluorescence microscopy and tumor growth. Nanoparticles enhanced the penetration of the skin by doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil as determined by fluorescence microscopy and growth retardation of experimental melanoma in immunocompetent, syngeneic mice. This drug enhancement did not require conjugation or encapsulation of the drugs by the nanoparticles—simple co-administration sufficed. Nanoparticles applied topically to melanomas increased the cytotoxicity and immune cell infiltration induced by co-administered 5-fluorouracil, and also reduced vascularization of the tumors independently of 5-fluorouracil. Conclusion Correctly formulated superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles can facilitate the chemotherapeutic effectiveness of cytotoxic drugs on skin tumors by both increasing their transdermal penetration and ameliorating host–tumor interactions. This enhancement of skin penetration occurs without the need for conjugation or encapsulation of the co-administered drugs, and so will likely be applicable to other drugs, also.

This study reported the U-Pb ages and Hf isotopes of the zircons of Triassic and Silurian metamorphic rocks in the Kontum Massif, central Vietnam to understand the origin and evolution of the Indochina Block. The detrital zircon signature of the Triassic metasedimentary rocks corresponds to the Neoproterozoic sequence in the Indochina Block and that of the Silurian rocks corresponds to the Paleoto Mesoproterozoic sequence in the southwestern margin of the Yangtze Block. From Triassic metaigneous rocks, we obtained three meaningful inherited ages; similar to 1450 Ma, 500 Ma, and 450 Ma. The Triassic metasedimentary rocks occur in close association with the Triassic felsic gneiss and mafic granulite (former eclogite) with magmatic inherited zircon similar to 1450 Ma and intermediate gneiss with similar to 500 Ma protolith age. The Hf isotopes suggest the similar to 1450 Ma age as the earlier or primary stage of the formation of the Indochina Block and the similar to 500 Ma age as the timing of its reworking, before the block subducted beneath the South China Block to form Triassic eclogite relicts. The Ordovician magmatic ages (similar to 450 Ma) from metaigneous rocks in the Kontum Massif, combined with their volcanic arc whole-rock chemistry, Ordovician-Silurian low-pressure/high-temperature isobaric heating metamorphism, and the detrital zircon signature strongly suggest an Ordovician-Silurian continental arc in the present southwestern margin of the South China Block prior to the Triassic continental collision. (c) 2020 International Association for Gondwana Research. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

UCO and UO2 tristructural isotropic fuel compacts were irradiated in the AGR-2 experiment, conducted in the Advanced Test Reactor for 559.2 effective full power days. UCO and UO2 compacts reached calculated peak burnups of 13.15 and 10.69% fissions per initial heavy-metal atom, and fast fluences of 3.47 x 10(25) and 3.53 x 10(25) n/m(2) (E > 0.18 MeV), respectively. The time-average volume-average temperatures ranged from 987 to 1296 degrees C in UCO compacts and from 996 to 1062 degrees C in UO2 compacts. Fission product release-to-birth (R/B) ratios remained below 2 x 10(-6) in UCO compacts and 10(-7) in UO2 compacts during the first three irradiation cycles. R/B data then became unreliable due to mixing of the capsule gas flows which hindered the evaluation of fuel performance for the later portion of the irradiation. Post-irradiation examination of the irradiation capsules and fuel compacts is underway and will provide additional information on fuel performance. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The open-source and community-supported gem5 simulator is one of the most popular tools for computer architecture research. This simulation infrastructure allows researchers to model modern computer hardware at the cycle level, and it has enough fidelity to boot unmodified Linux-based operating systems and run full applications for multiple architectures including x86, Arm, and RISC-V. The gem5 simulator has been under active development over the last nine years since the original gem5 release. In this time, there have been over 7500 commits to the codebase from over 250 unique contributors which have improved the simulator by adding new features, fixing bugs, and increasing the code quality. In this paper, we give and overview of gem5's usage and features, describe the current state of the gem5 simulator, and enumerate the major changes since the initial release of gem5. We also discuss how the gem5 simulator has transitioned to a formal governance model to enable continued improvement and community support for the next 20 years of computer architecture research.

Detailed geochronological and petrological investigations of metamorphic and igneous rocks can significantly improve our understanding of the tectonic processes that occur in orogenic belts. The Kon Turn Massif, central Vietnam, includes various types of magmatic and metamorphic rocks, the latter including ultrahigh- to high-temperature units. The Late Permian-Early Triassic metamorphic rocks in the massif correspond to the metamorphic characteristics of a collision between the Indochina and South China blocks in terms of their metamorphic evolution and timescales of deformation. U-Pb geochronological analyses of zircon obtained from two samples of garnet granite in the massif yielded magmatic ages of 239.6 +/- 3.9 Ma and 243.5 +/- 3.4 Ma. This permitted the reevaluation of previous Th-U-Pb electron microprobe analyses of monazite from the garnet granite and garnet-orthopyroxene gneiss and previously published U-Pb dating. These data reveal the metamorphic and magmatic history of the western part of the massif. The metamorphic rocks show a thermal evolution from 260 Ma to 240 Ma. Magmatic activity started at 260 Ma and ceased at 240 Ma. Considering this in terms of the regional-scale igneous activities in the Kon Turn Massif, the base of the massif, already thickened by the collision, was situated above underplating plume-related magma. Such magmatic activity resulted in high- to ultrahigh-temperature metamorphism and crustal melting during the Late Permian to Early Triassic, between 260 and 240 Ma.

A robust polymerization technique that enables the surfactant-free aqueous synthesis of a high solid content latex containing polymeric hollow particles is presented. Uniquely designed amphiphilic macro-reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) copolymers were used as sole stabilizers for monomer emulsification as well as for free-radical emulsion polymerization. The polymerization was found to be under RAFT control, generating various morphologies from spherical particles, wormlike structures to polymer vesicles. The final particles were dominantly polymeric vesicles which had a substantially uniform and continuous polymer layer around a single aqueous filled void. They produced hollow particles once dried and were successfully used as opacifiers to impart opacity into polymer paint films. This method is simple, can be performed in a controllable and reproducible manner, and may be performed using diverse procedures.

Power efficiency has become one of the most important design constraints for high-performance systems. In this paper, we revisit the design of low-power virtually-addressed caches. While virtually-addressed caches enable significant power savings by obviating the need for Translation Lookaside Buffer (TLB) lookups, they suffer from several challenging design issues that curtail their widespread commercial adoption. We focus on one of these challenges-cache flushes due to virtual page remappings. We use detailed studies on an ARM many-core server to show that this problem degrades performance by up to 25 percent for a mix of multi-programmed and multi-threaded workloads. Interestingly, we observe that many of these flushes are spurious, and caused by an indiscriminate invalidation broadcast on ARM architecture. In response, we propose a low-overhead and readily implementable hardware mechanism using bloom filters to reduce spurious invalidations and mitigate their ill effects.

Research being conducted on tristructural-isotropic fuel development and qualification involves seven advanced gas reactor (AGR) experiments that were planned to provide fuel qualification data to support the licensing and operation of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor. Each AGR test consists of multiple independent capsules containing fuel compacts placed in one or more graphite cylinders shrouded by a stainless-steel shell. These capsules are instrumented with thermocouples embedded in the graphite holder, enabling temperature control. The desired fuel temperature is maintained by variation of the neon/helium gas mixture in response to feedback from thermocouple readings. In the absence of direct measurements, the commercial finite-element heat transfer code ABAQUS was used to predict fuel temperatures. Recognizing inherent uncertainties in the simulation model due to complex physical mechanisms, capsule geometries, and material properties, comprehensive temperature uncertainty quantification was performed. The uncertainty results reveal that the uncertainties in gap sizes are among the most influential factors contributing to calculated temperature uncertainty. The gap size uncertainties originate from a lack of direct experimental data for accurate assessment of dimensional change rates of fuel compacts and graphite components due to complex irradiation-induced material shrinkage or swelling. The study described here focuses on the impact of the gap size uncertainties based on the post-irradiation examination metrology data on calculated temperature uncertainty.

Nowadays, DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine), an international standard used worldwide to store, print, handle and transmit various medical images, has provided a simple method to access medical images from computers throughout the hospital. This helps eliminate completely the usage of costly traditional films in X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound, which are not healthy for the environment. Besides, the existing infrastructure of the Internet has allowed us to develop a low-cost system capable of being used for medical image services on any smart device, especially over long distance. The purpose of this article is to design and implement web-based DICOM processing software system for telemedicine applications with mobile and smart television (TV). First, we identify several science and technology challenges and our methods of implementation for a web-based DICOM medical image processing system with mobile and smart TV. Then we describe the structure and functions of our system for diagnostics and consultation. Moreover, an efficient solution to enhance information security in DICOM images over the Internet is also proposed by exploiting different techniques of data encoding, cryptography and watermarking. The system has been implemented and evaluated in hospitals, which shows the usefulness and significant cost-savings of our solution.

•High Z metallic nanoparticles have the potential to be applied as radiosensitizer in proton beam therapy.•AuNPs, SPIONs, PtNDs and BiNRs under irradiation with 150 MeV proton beam increase cell death.•Proton beam irradiation with nanoparticles induce higher ROS generation.•BiNRs produce the most effective radiosensitization.

RAFT-mediated free-radical emulsion polymerization is successfully used to synthesize polystyrene nanofibers using triblock amphiphilic macro-RAFT copolymers as stabilizers. The polymerization is under RAFT control, producing various morphologies from spherical particles, nanofibers, nanoplatelets, and polymer vesicles. Optimum conditions are established for the synthesis of predominantly negatively charged polymer nanofibers. Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION)-decorated nanofibers are formed by simple mixing of the SPIONs with the fibers at an appropriate pH. The composite material has been found to be superparamagnetic and could be aligned under a magnetic field.

Nanomedicine is an emerging field with great potential in disease theranostics. We generated sterically stabilized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (s-SPIONs) with average core diameters of 10 and 25 nm and determined the in vivo biodistribution and clearance profiles. Healthy nude mice underwent an intraperitoneal injection of these s-SPIONs at a dose of 90 mg Fe/kg body weight. Tissue iron biodistribution was monitored by atomic absorption spectroscopy and Prussian blue staining. Histopathological examination was performed to assess tissue toxicity. The 10 nm s-SPIONs resulted in higher tissue-iron levels, whereas the 25 nm s-SPIONs peaked earlier and cleared faster. Increased iron levels were detected in all organs and body fluids tested except for the brain, with notable increases in the liver, spleen, and the omentum. The tissue-iron returned to control or near control levels within 7 days post-injection, except in the omentum, which had the largest and most variable accumulation of s-SPIONs. No obvious tissue changes were noted although an influx of macrophages was observed in several tissues suggesting their involvement in s-SPION sequestration and clearance. These results demonstrate that the s-SPIONs do not degrade or aggregate in vivo and intraperitoneal administration is well tolerated, with a broad and transient biodistribution. In an ovarian tumor model, s-SPIONs were shown to accumulate in the tumors, highlighting their potential use as a chemotherapy delivery agent.

AGR-3/4 was the combined third and fourth planned irradiations for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Gas Reactor (AGR) Fuel Development and Qualification Program. The primary purpose of the AGR program is to support the development and qualification of tristructural isotropic (TRISO)-coated particle fuel for use in High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactors. AGR-3/4 was designed as a fission product transport irradiation experiment whose specific objectives were to: (1) irradiate fuel containing UCO (uranium oxycarbide) designed-to-fail (DTF) fuel particles that provide a fixed source of fission products for subsequent transport through compact matrix and structural graphite materials; (2) assess the effects of sweep gas impurities on fuel performance and fission product transport; (3) provide irradiated fuel and material samples for post-irradiation examination (PIE) and post-irradiation heating; and (4) support the refinement of fuel performance and fission product transport models. The AGR-3/4 test train was irradiated in the northeast flux trap of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for 369.1 effective full power days from December 2011 to April 2014. The experiment was successful in achieving its specification goals in terms of burnup and fast fluence levels reached at the end of irradiation and fuel temperature levels maintained throughout irradiation: peak compact burnup reached 15.27% fissions per initial heavy-metal atom and peak compact fast fluence reached 5.32x10(25) n/m(2) (E > 0.18 MeV), while the time-average volume-average temperatures of the compacts ranged from 854 to 1345 degrees C. Fission product release-to-birth ratios reached values in the 10(-4)-10(-3) range early during irradiation as the DTF particles started to fail. Subsequent post-irradiation examination will provide information on fission product distributions in matrix and core graphite materials, enabling refinement of fission product transport models.

Assessment and management of aging concrete structures in nuclear power plants require a more systematic approach than simple reliance on existing code margins of safety. Health monitoring of concrete structures is performed to understand the current condition of a structure based on heterogeneous measurements and then produce high-confidence actionable information regarding structural integrity. This information can then be used to support operational and maintenance decisions. The proposed diagnosis and prognosis framework consists of four elements: health monitoring, data analytics, uncertainty quantification, and prognosis. The objectives of this ongoing research project focuses on health monitoring and data analytics of concrete slab cast, which is cured using four pockets of reactive aggregates: pure silica, wells, placitas, and spratt. A controlled concrete slab with four aggregates is cast at Vanderbilt University in representative conditions to accelerate degradation due to alkali-silica reaction (ASR). Four nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques (thermography, mechanical deformation measurements, nonlinear impact resonance-acoustic spectroscopy, and vibro-acoustic modulation) are used to examine the degraded concrete slab. Heterogeneous data from these techniques are analyzed for assessing ASRrelated degradation in concrete samples. In addition, this report discusses thermography assessment of three cement bricks cured under different conditions to accelerate ASR-related degradation. The application of the digital image correlation technique to study ASR-related degradation on a large concrete sample at the University of Tennessee Knoxville is discussed and initial observations are presented in this report. The results from the data analysis of the NDE techniques on concrete slab cured at Vanderbilt University are discussed in detail in this report. The major outcome of the analysis suggests that the nonlinear impact resonance acoustic spectroscopy is able to detect potential degradation in a concrete slab but is unable to locate or isolate the degradation. Alternatively, the vibro-acoustic technique is able to detect degradation and locate the damage in the concrete slab cast. The outcomes supports development of a structural health monitoring framework.

Physiologically stable multimodality imaging probes for positron emission tomography/single-photon emission computed tomography (PET/SPECT)-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were synthesized using the superparamagnetic maghemite iron oxide (γ-Fe2O3) nanoparticles (SPIONs). The SPIONs were sterically stabilized with a finely tuned mixture of diblock copolymers with either methoxypolyethylene glycol (MPEG) or primary amine NH2 end groups. The radioisotope for PET or SPECT imaging was incorporated with the SPIONs at high temperature. 57Co2+ ions with a long half-life of 270.9 days were used as a model for the radiotracer to study the kinetics of radiolabeling, characterization, and the stability of the radiolabeled SPIONs. Radioactive 67Ga3+ and Cu2+-labeled SPIONs were also produced successfully using the optimized conditions from the 57Co2+-labeling process. No free radioisotopes were detected in the aqueous phase for the radiolabeled SPIONs 1 week after dispersion in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS). All labeled SPIONs were not only well dispersed and stable under physiological conditions but also noncytotoxic in vitro. The ability to design and produce physiologically stable radiolabeled magnetic nanoparticles with a finely controlled number of functionalizable end groups on the SPIONs enables the generation of a desirable and biologically compatible multimodality PET/SPECT-MRI agent on a single T2 contrast MRI probe.