The solution of a wedge disclination dipole interacting with an annular inclusion and the force acting on the disclination dipole

The interaction between a wedge disclination dipole and an elastic annular inclusion is investigated. Utilizing the Muskhelishvili complex variable method, the explicit series form solutions of the complex potentials in the matrix and the inclusion region are derived. The image force acting on the disclination dipole centre is also calculated. The influence of the location of the disclination dipole and the thickness of the annular inclusion as well as the elastic dissimilarity of materials upon the equilibrium position of the disclination dipole is discussed in detail. The results show that a stable equilibrium point of the disclination dipole near the inclusion is found for certain combinations of material constant. Moreover, the force on the disclination dipole is strongly affected by the position of the disclination dipole and the thickness of annular inclusion. The repulsion force increases （or the attraction force reduces） with the increase of the thickness of the annular inclusion. An appropriate critical value of the thickness of the annular inclusion may be found to change the direction of the force on the disclination dipole. The present solutions include previous results as special eases.

Evaluation of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging for determination of liver stiffness using transient elastography as a reference

AIM: To evaluate cut-off values and performance of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) using transient elastography [FibroScan■ (FS)] as a reference. METHODS: Six hundred and six patients were enrolled in this study.All patients underwent liver stiffness measurement with FS (FS-LS) and ARFI (with shear wave velocity quantification; ARFI-SWV) and the performance of ARFI in comparison to FS was determined. Sixtyeight patients underwent liver biopsy. RESULTS: Significantly higher success rates for the determination of liver stiffness were found using ARFI as compared to FS [604/606 (99.7%) vs 482/606 (79.5%); P < 0.001]. ARFI-SWV correlated significantly with FS-LS (r = 0.920, P < 0.001). ARFI-SWV increased significantly with the stage of fibrosis (1.09 ± 0.13 m/s for patients with no significant fibrosis (FS-LS < 7.6 kPa); 1.46 ± 0.27 m/s for patients with significant liver fibrosis (7.6 < FS-LS ≤ 13.0 kPa); and 2.55 ± 0.77 m/s for patients with liver cirrhosis (FS-LS > 13.0 kPa)). ARFI-SWV cut-off values were identified for no significant fibrosis (1.29 m/s; sensitivity 91.4% and specificity 92.6%) and for liver cirrhosis (1.60 m/s; sensitivity 92.3% and specificity 96.5%). The optimal cut-off value for predicting liver fibrosis (F ≥ 2) was 1.32 m/s (sensitivity 87.0% and specificity 80.0%) and for liver cirrhosis (F4) 1.62 m/s (sensitivity 100% and specificity 85.7%), for patients who underwent liver biopsy. An excellent inter-and intraobserver reproducibility was observed for ARFI-SWV determinations. CONCLUSION: An ARFI-SWV cut-off value of 1.29 m/s seems to be optimal for patients with no significant liver fibrosis and 1.60 m/s for patients with liver cirrhosis.

Primary biliary cirrhosis degree assessment by acoustic radiation force impulse imaging and hepatic fibrosis indicators

AIM: To evaluate the assessment of primary biliary cirrhosis degree by acoustic radiation force impulse imaging (ARFI) and hepatic fibrosis indicators. METHODS: One hundred and twenty patients who developed liver cirrhosis secondary to primary biliary cirrhosis were selected as the observation group, with the degree of patient liver cirrhosis graded by Child-Pugh (CP) score. Sixty healthy individuals were selected as the control group. The four indicators of hepatic fibrosis were detected in all research objects, including hyaluronic acid (HA), laminin (LN), type III collagen (PC III), and type IV collagen (IV-C). The liver parenchyma hardness value (LS) was then measured by ARFI technique. LS and the four indicators of liver fibrosis (HA, LN, PC III, and IV-C) were observed in different grade CP scores. The diagnostic value of LS and the four indicators of liver fibrosis in determining liver cirrhosis degree with PBC, whether used alone or in combination, were analyzed by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: LS and the four indicators of liver fibrosis within the three classes (A, B, and C) of CP scores in the observation group were higher than in the control group, with C class > B class > A class; the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.01). Although AUC values of LS within the three classes of CP scores were higher than in the four indicators of liver fibrosis, sensitivity and specificity were unstable. The ROC curves of LS combined with the four indicators of liver fibrosis revealed that: AUC and sensitivity in all indicators combined in the A class of CP score were higher than in LS alone, albeit with slightly decreased specificity; AUC and specificity in all indicators combined in the B class of CP score were higher than in LS alone, with unchanged sensitivity; AUC values (0.967), sensitivity (97.4%), and specificity (90%) of all indicators combined in the C class of CP score were higher than in LS alone (0.936, 92.1%, 83.3%). CONCLUSION: The diagnostic value of PBC cirrhosis degree in liver cirrhosis degree assessment by ARFI combined with the four indicators of serum liver fibrosis is of satisfactory effectiveness and has important clinical application value.

Application of acoustic radiation force impulse imaging for the evaluation of focal liver lesion elasticity

BACKGROUND: Acoustic radiation force impulse (ARFI) imaging is a new elastography method for the evaluation of tissue stiffness. This study aims to evaluate the performance of ARFI in noninvasive assessment of the tissue stiffness of focal liver lesion (FLL) and to explore its potential value in the differential diagnosis of FLL. METHODS: ARFI was performed in 140 patients with 154 FLLs, which included 28 hemangiomas (ANGIs), 14 focal nodular hyperplasias (FNHs), 61 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs), 39 metastases and 12 cholangiocellular carcinomas (CCCs). Virtual touch tissue quantification (VTTQ) values were obtained, analyzed and compared. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) and optimal cut-off values were obtained using a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to assess diagnostic performance. All cases were definitively diagnosed using histopathology, CT, MRI or contrast-enhanced ultrasound. RESULTS: The VTTQ median values of ANGI, FNH, HCC metastasis and CCC were 1.30, 1.80, 2.52, 3.08 and 3.89 m/s respectively. A significant increase in the VTTQ values of different lesions was observed: ANGI【FNH【HCC【metastasis 【CCC (P【0.001). The AUROC (95% CI) of VTTQ values was 0.94 (0.90-0.98) for ANGI, 0.91 (0.87-0.96) for malignant lesions and 0.87 (0.79-0.94) for CCC. The sensitivity and specificity for ANGI (86.5%, 89.3%, respectively), malignancy (81.3% 92.9%, respectively), and CCC (91.7%, 72.5%, respectively) were associated with VTTQ cut-off values of 1.76, 2.22 and 3.00 m/s respectively.CONCLUSIONS: ARFI can accurately and objectively assess the elasticity of lesions by obtaining the shear wave elastic value of FLL with VTTQ. Therefore, ARFI is a novel, simple, noninvasive and useful diagnostic method for the characterization of FLL.

A Modified Monte Carlo Model of Speckle Tracking of Shear Wave Induced by Acoustic Radiation Force for Acousto-Optic Elasticity Imaging

A modified Monte Carlo model of speckle tracking of shear wave propagation in scattering media is proposed. The established Monte Carlo model mainly concerns the variations of optical electric field and speckle. The two- dimensional intensity distribution and the time evolution of speckles in different probe locations are obtained. The fluctuation of speckle intensity tracks the acoustic-radiation-force shear wave propagation, and especially the reduction of speckle intensity implies attenuation of shear wave. Then, the shear wave velocity is estimated quantitatively on the basis of the time-to-peak algorithm and linear regression processing. The results reveal that a smaller sampling interval yields higher estimation precision and the shear wave velocity is estimated more efficiently by using speckle intensity difference than by using speckle contrast difference according to the estimation error. Hence, the shear wave velocity is estimated to be 2.25 m/s with relatively high accuracy for the estimation error reaches the minimum （0.071）.

Preliminary results of acoustic radiation force impulses (ARFI) ultrasound imaging of solid suspicious breast lesions

Objective： The aim of our study was to make the qualitative and quantitative analysis to breast lesions using acoustic radiation force impulses （ARFI）, and assess the diagnostic value of ARFI for differentiation between benign and malignant solid breast masses, meanwhile evaluate the influences of ARFI with breast imaging reporting and data system （BI-RADS） of suspicious masses. Methods： Seventy-five women with 86 breast lesions underwent conventional breast ultra- sound examination. Then B-mode BI-RADS features and assessments were recorded and standard breast US supplemented by ARFI elastographic examination were repeated. The data were recorded and analyzed as following： area ratio of breast lesion, the shear-wave velocity, the ratio of the shear-wave velocity between lesions and surrounding normal tissues, and according to the elastographic data reconsidered the BI-RADS category, all the results have been correlated with pathological results and make statistical evaluations of ARFI for differentiation between benign and malignant solid breast masses. Meantime our study has correlated the adjusted BI-RADS category of suspicious breast lesions with the pathological results and made assessment. Results： Thirty-eight patients were malignant breast carcinoma （31 invasive ductal carcinoma, 5 intraductal carcinoma in situ, 2 medullary carcinoma, 2 invasive Iobular carcinoma）, 48 patients were benign breast lesions （23 fibroadenoma, 12 benign nodular hyperplasia, 5 phyllodes tumor, 6 adenosis, 2 intraductal papilloma）. Underwent conventional breast ultrasound exam, 42 cases were BI-RADS category 3, 23 cases were BI-RADS category 4. When adding elastographic data, 46 cases were BI-RADS category 3 and 20 cases were BI-RADS category 4. Compared with pathological results showed for both the specificity of BIRADS features and the area under ROC curve has risen. Virtual touch tissue imaging （VTI） and virtual touch tissue quantification （VTQ） data showed the area ratio （AR） between elastographic lesions area and B-mode lesions area, SWV （maximal shear-wave velocity of lesions）, R-SWV （shear-wave velocity ratio between lesions and surrounding normal tissues） in benign breast lesions were lower than those in malignant lesions which has statistical significance and the cut-off point were 1.1,4.65 m/s, 5.18 respectively. Conclusion： The ARFI elastography can provide the reliable qualitative and quantitative analysis about hardness of breast lesions, supply the new BI-RADS category features to suspicious breast masses and serve as an effective diagnostic tool for differentiation between benign and malignant solid masses.

Explanation of Cold Nuclear Fusion and Biotransmutations

Low energy nuclear reactions are possible in condensed matter because of image forces. They result from induced charges at the surface of metals or very polarizable media. The height and width of the Coulomb barrier in free space can thus be reduced. Nuclear fusion requires also the formation of a compound nucleus in one of its excited states, but two deuterons yield an α particle that has 2 excited states. They are respectively accessible at high or low energies. Since the reduction of the Coulomb barrier depends on the local curvature of the interface, cold fusion becomes autocatalytic, but heat production is controllable. Even microbes, plants and animals can produce transmutations. They are also due to image forces. This solves a basic problem in nuclear physics and there are possible applications: facilitated synthesis of superheavy elements and development of a new type of energy sources. They are moderate, but safe.

Interaction between a screw dislocation and an elastic elliptical inhomogeneity with interfacial cracks

The elastic interaction between a screw dislocation and an elliptical inhomogeneity with interfacial cracks is studied. The screw dislocation may be located outside or inside the inhomogeneity. An efficient complex variable method for the complex multiply connected region is developed, and the general solutions to the problem are derived. As illustrative examples, solutions in explicit series form for complex potentials are presented in the case of one or two interfacial cracks. Image forces on the dislocation are calculated by using the Peach-Koehler formula. The influence of crack geometries and material properties on the image forces is evaluated and discussed. It is shown that the interfacial crack has a significant effect on the equilibrium position of the dislocation near an elliptical-arc interface. The main results indicate, when the length of the crack goes up to a critical value, the presence of the interfacial crack can change the interaction mechanism between a screw dislocation and an elliptical inclusion. The present solutions can include a number of previously known results as special cases.

A SCREW DISLOCATION IN A THREE-PHASE COMPOSITE CYLINDER MODEL WITH INTERFACIAL RIGID LINES

The problem of the elastic interaction between a screw dislocation and a three-phase circular inclusion with interracial rigid lines （anti-cracks） is investigated. An efficient and concise method for the complex multiply connected region is developed, with which explicit series form solutions of the complex potentials in the matrix, and the interphase layer and inclusion regions are derived. Based on the complex potentials, the image force on the screw dislocation is then calculated by using the Peach-Koehler formula. The equilibrium position of the dislocation is discussed in detail for various rigid line geometries, interphase layer thicknesses and material property combinations. The main results show that the interracial rigid lines exert a significant perturbation effect on the motion of the screw dislocation near the circular inclusion surrounded by an interphase layer.

Elastic behaviour of an edge dislocation near a sharp crack emanating from a semi-elliptical blunt crack

The interaction between an edge dislocation and a crack emanating from a senti-elliptic hole is dealt with. Utilizing the complex variable method, closed form solutions are derived for complex potentials and stress fields. The stress intensity factor at the tip of the crack and the image force acting on the edge dislocation are also calculated. The influence of the morphology of the blunt crack and the position of the edge dislocation on the shielding effect to the crack and the image force is examined in detail. The results indicate that the shielding or anti-shielding effect to the stress intensity factor increases acutely when the dislocation approaches the tip of the crack. The effect of the morphology of the blunt crack on the stress intensity factor of the crack and the image force is very significant.

INTERACTION OF A DISLOCATION DIPOLE WITH A MODE III INTERFACE CRACK

Interaction between a screw dislocation dipole and a mode III interface crack is investigated. By using the complex variable method, the closed form solutions for complex potentials are obtained when a screw dislocation dipole lies inside a medium. The stress fields and the stress intensity factors at the tip of the interface crack produced by the screw dislocation dipole are given. The influence of the orientation, the dipole arm and the location of the screw dislocation dipole as well as the material mismatch on the stress intensity factors is discussed. The image force and the image torque acting on the screw dislocation dipole center are also calculated. The mechanical equilibrium position of the screw dislocation dipole is examined for various material property combinations and crack geometries. The results indicate that the shielding or anti-shielding effect on the stress intensity factor increases abruptly when the dislocation dipole approaches the tip of the crack. Additionally, the disturbation of the interface crack on the motion of the dislocation dipole is also significant.

Influence of Surface Oxide Films on Elastic Behaviors of Straight Screw Dislocations Parallel to the Surface of Pure Aluminum

The image stress of straight screw dislocations parallel to the medium surface covered by thin heterogeneous films was analyzed and deduced, in order to calculate the image shear stress. The relationship between image stress and distance from the screw dislocation to the interface of pure aluminum and its oxide covering was calculated based on the analysis. It was shown quantitatively that a sign conversion of the image stress appears in the case of thin oxide covering, while dislocation would pile up near the interface because of the possible slips of the screw dislocations induced by the image stress, which might break down the very thin oxide covering. Further investigation on edge dislocations or other dislocation configurations need to be done.

INTERACTION OF A SCREW DISLOCATION WITH AN INTERFACIAL EDGE CRACK IN A TWO-PHASE PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIAL

The interaction of a screw dislocation with an interracial edge crack in a two-phase piezoelectric medium is investigated.Closed-form solutions of the elastic and electrical fields induced by the screw dislocation are derived using the conformal mapping method in conjunction with the image principle.Based on the electroelastic fields derived,the stress and electric displacement intensity factors,the image force acting on the dislocation are given explicitly.We find that the stress and electric displacement intensity factors depend on the effective electroelastic material constants.In the case where one of two phases is purely elastic,the stress intensity factor and image force are plotted to illustrate the influences of electromechanical coupling effect,the position of the dislocation and the material properties on the interaction mechanism.

ON THE ELECTROELASTIC INTERACTION OF A PIEZOELECTRIC SCREW DISLOCATION WITH AN ELLIPTICAL INCLUSION IN PIEZOELECTRIC MATERIALS

The electroelastic interaction of a piezoelectric screw dislocation with an elliptical inclusion in piezoelectric materials is considered. The electroelastic fields in both the matrix and the inclusion were given explicitly by using the perturbation concept and the method of Laurent series expansion. Furthermore, the expressions of the image force acting on a piezoelectric screw disolcation were obtained. Numerical examples are provided to reveal the effect of piezoelectricity and the relative stiffness between the inclusion and the matrix on the image force. Consequently, the new interaction mechanism is found.

Elastic behaviour of a wedge disclination dipole near a sharp crack emanating from a semi-elliptical blunt crack

The interaction between a wedge disclination dipole and a crack emanating from a semi-elliptic hole is investigated. Utilising the complex variable method, the closed form solutions are derived for complex potentials and stress fields. The stress intensity factor at the tip of the crack and the image force acting on the disclination dipole center are also calculated. The influence of the morphology of the blunt crack and the position of the disclination dipole on the shielding effect to the crack and the image force is examined in detail. The results indicate that the shielding or anti-shielding effect to the stress intensity factor increases when the wedge disclination dipole approaches the tip of the crack. The effects of the morphology of the blunt crack on the stress intensity factor of the crack and the image force are very significant.

ELASTIC INTERACTION BETWEEN WEDGE DISCLINATION DIPOLE AND INTERNAL CRACK

The system of a wedge disclination dipole interacting with an internal crack was investigated. By using the complex variable method, the closed form solutions of complex potentials to this problem were presented. The analytic formulae of the physics variables, such as stress intensity factors at the tips of the crack produced by the wedge disclination dipole and the image force acting on disclination dipole center were obtained. The influence of the orientation, the dipole arm and the location of the disclination dipole on the stress intensity factors was discussed in detail. Furthermore, the equilibrium position of the wedge disclination dipole was also examined. It is shown that the shielding or antishielding effect of the wedge disclination to the stress intensity factors is significant when the disclination dipole moves to the crack tips.

ANALYSIS OF A SCREW DISLOCATION INSIDE A CIRCULAR INCLUSION WITH INTERFACIAL CRACKS IN PIEZOELECTRIC COMPOSITES

The electroelastic interaction of a screw dislocation inside a circular inclusion with inteffacial cracks in piezoelectric composite materials under anti-plane shear and in-plane electric loads at infinity is investigated. The general solution to this problem was obtained by means of Riemann-Schwarz＇ s symmetry principle integrated with analysis of singularities of corresponding complex potentials. As a typical example, closed form expressions of the complex potentials and electroelastic field components in the matrix and inhomogeneity regions were derived explicitly when the interface contains a single crack. The image force acting on the screw dislocation was calculated by using the generalized Peach-Koehler formula. The influence of interfacial crack geometry and piezoelectric material property combinations upon the image force was discussed in detail. The results show that interfacial crack has a significant perturbation effect on the image force and the equilibrium position of the screw dislocation. The presence of the interfacial crack can change the direction of the image force when the length of the crack goes up to a critical value. The obtained explicit solutions can be used as Green＇s functions to study the problem on the interaction between interfacial cracks and arbitrary shape crack inside the inclusion. The present solutions can lead to previously known results as the special case.

ELECTROELASTIC INTERACTION BETWEEN A PIEZOELECTRIC SCREW DISLOCATION AND A CIRCULAR INHOMOGENEITY WITH INTERFACIAL CRACKS

A piezoelectric screw dislocation in the matrix interacting with a circular inhomogeneity with interfacial cracks under antiplane shear and in-plane electric loading at infinity was dealt with. Using complex variable method, a general solution to the problem was presented. For a typical case, the closed form expressions of complex potentials in the inhomogeneity and the matrix regions and the electroelastic field intensity factors were derived explicitly when the interface contains single crack. The image force acting on the piezoelectric screw dislocation was calculated by using the perturbation technique and the generalized Peach-Koehler formula. As a result, numerical analysis and discussion show that the perturbation influence of the interfacial crack on the interaction effects of the dislocation and the inhomogeneity is significant which indicates the presence of the interfacial crack will change the interaction mechanism when the length of the crack goes up to a critical value. It is also shown that soft inhomogeneity can repel the dislocation due to their intrinsic electromechanical coupling behavior.

A moving screw dislocation near interfacial rigid lines in two dissimilar anisotropic media

This paper attempts to investigate the problem for the interaction between a uniformly moving screw dislocation and interface rigid lines in two dissimilar.anisotropic. materials. Integrating Riemann-Schwarz＇s symmetry principle with the analysis singularity of complex functions, we present the general elastic solutions of this problem and the closed form solutions for interfaces containing one and two rigid lines. The expressions of stress intensity factors, at the rigid line tips and image force acting on moving dislocation are derived explicitly. The results show that dislocation velocity has an antishielding effect on the rigid line tip and a larger dislocation velocity leads to the equilibrium position of dislocation closing with the rigid line. The presented solutions contain previously known results as the special cases.

On edge dislocation in a multilayered laminate

We investigate the elastic field induced by an edge dislocation in a multilayered laminated composite composed of(N—2)thin bonded elastic layers sandwiched between two semi-infinite elastic media.A simple closed-form solution is obtained when all the phases have equal shear modulus but different Poisson's ratios,and when the dislocation is located in the upper semi-infinite phase.The image force acting on the dislocation due to its interaction with the multilayered structure is also derived. Several specific examples are discussed in detail to illustrate the mobility of the edge dislocation. Some interesting behaviors of the dislocation are observed.Our results indicate that it is possible to find at most(N—2)equilibrium positions for the edge dislocation in an N-phase composite structure.