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At least 1,423 records · Page 79

Blunt Impact Brain Injury using Cellular Injury Criterion

The Advanced Combat Helmet (\ACH") military specification (\mil-spec") requires a helmeted magnesium (\Mg") Department of Transportation (\DOT") headform be dropped vertically, with an impact speed of 3.1 m/s (10 ft/s), onto a steel hemispherical target. The pass/fail criteria are based on translational acceleration (150 G) alone, absent of any rotational component. Without a rotational component, the specification's injury risk application is limited to skull fracture and peripheral hematomas (subdural, subarachnoid), since this translational acceleration injury risk assessment is based on the Wayne State Tolerance Curve (\WSTC"). To provide a more comprehensive view of injury for the entire brain, an alternative approach is needed. To meet this need, we worked with a larger group called PANTHER, a collaboration between national laboratories, industry, and academia. Collaborations specific to research and results presented here come from efforts led by Mr. Ron Szalkowski and Mr. Sushant Malave, Ms. Alice Fawzi, and Dr. Christian Franck. We have developed a prototypical injury risk criterion based on the neuronal response to abrupt changes in general motion (translation, rotation, or both). The cellular-based mild traumatic brain injury (\cbmTBI") criterion utilizes both the strain and strain rate of brain tissue to account for the stretch and rate of stretch that occurs throughout the brain as a result of blunt impact to the head. We conducted physical experiments of an ACH-fitted magnesium headform, which produced repeatable headform peak accelerations. Then, we developed a simulation of the experiment, and validated the simulation output with the experimental data. We then substituted the magnesium headform with a human headform, consisting of skin, muscle, bone, gray matter, white matter, cerebral-spinal fluid, membranes, vasculature, intravertebral discs, airway and sinus. We quantified brain injury risk using the cbmTBI criterion, using the current mil-spec test and a modified test. The modified mil-spec test used an inclined anvil target that was located posterior to the crown of the helmet in the axial plane. While the current mil-spec test produced brain deformation from head translation alone, the modified test produced brain deformation from head translation and rotation, which is closer to most real world and combat theater impacts (e.g., such as occur in tertiary blast exposure). Compared to the current mil-spec test, the modified test produced elevated strains in the human digital twin. These data, mapped to the cbmTBI criterion, suggest increased injury risk for blunt impacts that cause rotation and translation, rather than just translation alone. Moreover, these data may lead to a rotational performance metric, which is rooted in the biology and pathology of the brain's response to impact and blast, and which should be used to improve next-generation helmet designs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Radiobiological Studies Using Cs-137 Gamma or 320 kV X Rays

There are numerous self-shielded research irradiators used in various facilities throughout the United States. The irradiators employ radioactive sources containing either 137 Cs or 60 Co and the irradiators are used for a variety of radiobiological investigations involving cellular and/or animal models. A report from the National Academy of Sciences described security issues associated with particular radiation sources and the desire for their replacement with suitable X-ray irradiators. One possible replacement would be a 320 kV X-ray irradiator. The participants in this research successfully performed in vivo radiobiological studies involving mice exposed to filtered (HVL ≈ 4 mm Cu) 320 kV X rays. Two publications (one published and one submitted at the publishing of this report) documenting key findings are provided in Appendices A and B of this report. The 320 kV X rays were found suitable for in vivo (in mice) cell survival studies and are expected to be suitable for bone marrow transplantation studies using mice but this needs to be experimentally validated.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

In Situ Synchrotron Tensile Investigations on Ultrasonic Additive Manufactured (UAM) Zirconium

The microstructure evolution of ultrasonic additive manufactured (UAM) zirconium under room temperature uniaxial tensile straining is reported. Miniature dog-bone tensile specimens of two orientations were cut from a UAM zirconium bar for in situ synchrotron tensile tests. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) scanning at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory was used to unveil the changes in microstructure of the entire gauge regions throughout the straining. A series of WAXS data analysis methods were utilized to quantify both elastic and plastic deformation mechanisms within the strained specimens. Stress concentrations were identified during early stage of plastic deformation, which become candidate necking positions and eventually lead to failure. Fracture surface analysis implied that these stress concentration locations may be correlated to the fabrication defects, providing insightful guidance for future improvement of the UAM zirconium process.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Bioinspired mineralizing microenvironments generated by liquid-liquid phase coexistence

Biominerals such as bones, teeth and shells exhibit improved mechanical properties and intricate morphologies not seen in nonbiologically-produced minerals of ostensibly the same composition. These remarkable properties of biogenic minerals are thought to arise due to precise local control over the mineral deposition process, including organic and inorganic inclusions. Understanding how Biology controls the local reaction environment during formation of these materials to control their composition, structure, and properties is a grand challenge that promises to enable new routes to high-performance materials. This project developed multi-compartment bioinspired microreactors as artificial mineralizing vesicles, and used them to understand and control formation of inorganic/organic composite solid materials. A major emphasis was on developing all-aqueous emulsions in which each droplet was a structured microreactor with two or more adjacent phases. This approach provided local control over reaction environment including availability of inclusions such as polypeptides and metal ions, while being sufficiently simple to produce large populations of essentially identical multiphase reactor droplets simultaneously within a batch. Organic/inorganic composite materials could be produced with very high organic content that stabilized the inorganic portions as amorphous materials (e.g., amorphous calcium carbonate) by preventing the typical conversion to more thermodynamically crystalline forms (e.g., calcite). These stabilized amorphous composites could be stored indefinitely and converted to crystalline forms later by removal of the organic inclusions via, for example, heating. Compositional gradients in the organic and inorganic components were embedded during synthesis due to the evolution of the reaction microenvironment, and despite the complexity of this process it occurred similarly across the population of reactive droplets and was hence encoded into the population of resulting composite particles. The approach developed here allows pre-structuring of reactive microenvironments to control the spatiotemporal reaction environment, which is an important step towards rational design and on-demand production of complex functional materials with desired composition, optical properties, and mechanical response.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Effects of Electron Irradiation on Candidate Materials for Target Window in Accelerator-Driven Mo-99 Production

Room-temperature (RT) axial tensile tests were conducted in 2018 and 2021 with flat, sub-sized, dog-boned samples of non-irradiated and irradiated Inconel 718 and irradiated beryllium (Be). The sample gauge length was 7.62 mm. Tensile properties of interest are the engineering yield stress (YS), ultimate tensile stress (UTS), uniform elongation (UE) and total elongation (TE). The electron dose of the 2021 samples was ≈2 times the dose of samples tested in 2018. Relative dose rates of 0, 1 (2018), and 2 (2021) are assigned to these samples. The 2021 electron-irradiated Be samples were brittle with a low failure stress of 338±64 MPa based on two samples. The failures occurred in the gauge section. The 2018 results for electron-irradiated Be indicated a slight decrease in ductility and strength for the one electron-irradiated sample that failed in the gauge section.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗

Project Liberty: Launch of an Integrated Bio-Refinery with Eco-Sustainable and Renewable Technologies. Conversion of Corn Stover Biomass to Bio-Ethanol, Final Report

POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, in collaboration with parent companies, POET and DSM, has successfully designed, constructed, and continuously operated Project Liberty, a 770 bone-dry ton per day (tpd) nameplate capacity, 20 million gallon (cellulosic bioethanol) per year demonstration scale integrated biorefinery (IBR). The IBR produced cellulosic bio-ethanol from agriculture waste (corn stover) feedstock using next-generation pretreatment and enzymatic conversion technologies. The IBR plant was built and demonstrated operations in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The schedule for this IBR project is illustrated in Figure E1. Due to uncontrollable market factors and COVID-19 pandemic, cellulosic bioethanol production ceased near the end of 2019 and remaining operations were idled June of 2020.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

PDQ Users Manual. Manual Version 2, for PDQ Code Version 1.20

PDQ is a tool for the management of the input and execution of batch jobs for simulation codes that use a text based input system. It accomplishes this goal by operating at two levels. First, it takes input file templates (commonly known at LANL as input deck templates) and creates multiple instantiations by performing substitutions of data from table files into symbols (variables) found in the template. Second, it provides commands to submit the created files to the SLURM batch system for execution. These two activities taken together produce a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts and provides an elegant way of executing studies across multiple similar simulations while minimizing the risk of typographical errors in the input files. PDQ was originally developed as a job management system called XVS by Jeff McAninch while he was at LANL. Besides the capabilities described here, XVS had many other features specific for interactions with particular simulation codes. After Jeff’s departure, maintenance of XVS was taken over by Rendell Carver; he added some new features as well as kept it functioning as the batch system at LANL was changed from LSF to MOAB to SLURM. In 2017, Rob Pelak decided to develop a different version that removed the additional features (many of which were rendered obsolete with the retirement of the simulation code or batch system that they supported) and produced a cleaner “bare bones” version of XVS. A few other behaviors of XVS that Rob found irksome were altered. Rob gave the resulting code a new name: PDQ. In 2022 Danielle McDermott developed a version that runs under Python 3.X. As suggested by Rob, she used the python2to3 utility to identify most changes. Given that PDQ continues to operate with Python version 2.7 we have advanced the version number to 1.20.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Mersen Grade 2114: A Comparison of Tensile Strength Data

The ASTM Brazilian disc graphite strength (splitting tensile strength, σ sts ) test method (ASTM D8289) is of interest because the small-specimen geometry is compatible with that of environmental effects specimens, thus allowing for environmental effects such as irradiation, irradiation creep, or oxidation on tensile strength to be investigated. The Brazilian disc strength of Mersen grade 2114 graphite is reported and compared with strength data previously obtained using larger cylindrical ASTM dog-bone specimens.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Artificial Intelligence for Accelerating Nuclear Applications, Science, and Technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) methods have had significant impacts in science and technology in recent years. These methods for generating models from datasets or logic-based algorithms that emulate aspects of human performance can similarly accelerate the fields of nuclear applications, science, and technology toward the IAEA goals of contributing to peace, health, and prosperity. In order to accomplish advances with AI in general and ML in particular across these fields, IAEA can play a significant role by establishing, hosting and curating centralised resources, including databases, adhering to FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable) principles and Open Science best practices, providing stewardship of data sharing, supporting training efforts and development of relevant workforces, as well as enabling connections among the scientific, technology, mathematics, AI and ethics communities. Many areas can benefit from the use of AI in the realm of nuclear applications. In human health, these areas include clinical research, epidemiology, nutrition, medical imaging, radiotherapy and education of health professionals. AI-based tools are also being used to facilitate different clinical tasks in imaging, computer-assisted diagnosis in mammography and lung cancer screening programmes, and dose prediction in nuclear medicine procedures. ML methods in particular may also increase the efficiency and accuracy of the analysis of computerised tomography and dual-energy absorptiometry scans for body composition and bone analysis. The application of AI methods to nuclear and related technologies in food and agriculture can lead to significant advances and improved efficiency in the optimisation of agricultural production, food product development, management of supply chains, food safety and food authenticity control. In the water and environmental sector, AI can help inform policies to mitigate the world’s water problems. The application of AI techniques to hydrology and environmental sciences is expected to improve patterns identification and enable model predictions under a changing climate.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

LANL PVC bag-out-bag replacement [Slides]

The US material at 8 months aging, at room temperature and exposed to gamma at 80 degrees C has been completed. The FTIR data does not show any discernible difference between the US APU-ether material and the British material. There are some differences and the curves of the FTIR, but the behavior shows that the US material is behaving comparable to the British material. The British Blue sample exposed to gamma at 70 degrees C did have an observable change in the contact angle. This was the only notable change between the two different types of polymer the TGA on both the US and the British had no observable difference. Mechanical testing samples (dog-bones) are being prepared for tensile, shear, and puncture testing. This data will be provided in later meetings. Mass spec testing is needed to measure the headspace gases that are being seen during the aging study to better health characterize the radiolytic degradation of the APU ether samples, this is also ongoing.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Ultimate FY23 Vacuum Creep Testing Facility Operation Report

This facility operation report covers the refurbishment and initial testing of a vacuum creep frame used to conduct 1300°C tensile and creep tests on Mo- and Nb-based alloys. The report details the refurbishment of the frame and initial operation including 100 h creep experiments compared to similar tests in argon. Unlike the 25 mm dogbone specimens tested in argon, the vacuum load train requires 76 mm dog bone specimens. Testing in vacuum has eliminated concern of O embrittlement in argon and Nb alloy CB103 showed >120% tensile elongation at 1300°C and 1450°C. Also, a window in the vacuum chamber allows the use of digital image correlation (DIC) to measure strain rather than the load train displacement used in the argon frames. Comparison of the displacement and DIC results in the vacuum frame showed significant variation in primary creep deformation, likely due to the machine compliance, but similar secondary creep rates. Recently, ULTIMATE teams have submitted specimens for testing in vacuum. With the relatively low volume of creep testing, the facility performance metric of testing within 4 weeks of receiving specimens has been met.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Process Variability Effects on Tensile Response in Injection Molded, Fluorinated Thermoplastics

The mechanical properties of fluorinated thermoplastics (i.e., tensile strength and elongation) can vary with changes in injection molding processing parameters. Four fluoropolymers are examined: poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and random poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (PVDF-CTFE) with three CTFE concentrations. Dog bones were manufactured with various cylinder dwell times and mold cooling times to assess the manufacturing sensitivity to the tensile response. Dwell and cooling times increasingly impact mechanical performance as CTFE concentration increases. Specimens exhibit higher tensile strength as a function of injection order. The first injected specimen exhibits the lowest tensile strength and highest elongation in all copolymers. This trend becomes more pronounced among fluoropolymers with higher CTFE concentration and lower weight-averaged molecular weight. Parallel plate rheology was used to obtain the zero-shear viscosity as a function of material type, process, and injection order. We found that in the copolymers, the first injected sample exhibited a lower zero-shear viscosity than the next, which indicates a lower molecular weight in the first injected specimen. This phenomenon was not present for the PVDF homopolymer. Copolymer mechanical uncertainties are hypothesized to result from the shorter molecular weight chains extruding out of the specimens’ sides as a flash due to higher mobility with CTFE segments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mersen Grade 2114: Tensile Strength from Brazilian Disc Testing

The ASTM Brazilian disc graphite strength (splitting tensile strength, σ sts ) test method (ASTM D8289) is of interest because the small-specimen geometry is compatible with that of environmental effects specimens, thus allowing for environmental effects such as irradiation, irradiation creep, or oxidation on tensile strength to be investigated. The Brazilian disc strength of Mersen grade 2114 graphite (billet 116310 slab 1) is reported and compared with strength data previously obtained using larger cylindrical ASTM dog-bone specimens and with Brazilian disc strength data obtained from billet 116310 slab 5.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Conceptual Designs for Irradiation Creep Testing of SiC in HFIR

Understanding irradiation creep of nuclear fuel cladding is important to properly size the initial fuel-cladding gap and understand when pellet-cladding contact is expected to occur due to a combination of fuel swelling and cladding creep-down. Irradiation creep also plays a role in relaxing stresses that develop in-pile. Silicon carbide fiber–reinforced silicon carbide matrix (SiC/SiC) composites are the leading long-term accident-tolerant fuel cladding concept for light-water reactors (LWRs). Although some limited data are available regarding irradiation creep of the individual constituents (fibers, matrix), data regarding irradiation creep of SiC/SiC composites are currently insufficient. Additional data regarding irradiation creep compliance and the rupture lifetime (combination of creep and slow crack growth) are needed to understand material limitations. This work describes the design and development of two irradiation vehicles that are being pursued for testing SiC/SiC concepts in the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). The first is a passive experiment, referred to as the PRECISE experiment, that leverages the constant coolant pressure of HFIR to compress a metallic bellows and provide a well-characterized load to drive creep in a SiC/SiC dog bone specimen. The total creep strain would be quantified post-irradiation by measuring dimensional changes of the specimen length as well as local dimensional changes within the gauge region. Non-stressed specimens would also be irradiated under the same conditions to provide an indication of dimensional changes due to radiation-induced swelling in the absence of creep. A second, more complex experiment, referred to as the INSITE experiment, is being designed in parallel that would use pneumatics to pressurize a metal bellows and linear variable differential transformers (LVDTs) to measure the specimen displacement in situ during irradiation. Such an experiment would provide significantly more data regarding the evolution of the creep compliance as a function of dose and applied stress within a single experiment but would require significantly more development time and cost to execute. The primary concern with the INSITE experiment is the accuracy, reliability, and expected lifetime of the LVDTs during irradiation at elevated temperatures. Efforts are being made to adjust the experiment design and operating procedure to limit LVDT temperatures and mitigate or otherwise compensate for uncertainties due to factors such as temperature fluctuations, creep in the surrounding structural materials, and drift of the LVDTs. This work describes the experiment designs, thermal and structural analysis that were performed to ensure that the desired temperature and stress conditions can be achieved, some initial sensitivity analyses to predict the evolution of the radiation-induced specimen displacements, and potential sources of uncertainty in the measurements. Out-of-pile testing is being performed in parallel to confirm that the test trains achieve the expected stress states in the specimens and do not result in prohibitive stress concentrators (e.g., in the grip regions) that might risk pre-mature failure. The PRECISE experiments are proceeding toward fabrication and assembly with HFIR insertion planned during fiscal year 2026. The INSITE experiment is progressing toward out-of-pile demonstrations, which will provide more conclusive evidence regarding the feasibility of executing these tests in HFIR or whether alternative displacement monitoring techniques may need to be considered.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Grid-Ready Flexible Transformers for Resilient Transmission Networks

Today’s transmission networks extend for hundreds of kilometers, transferring significant amounts of electrical energy. For every country, there are sort of “back- bone” lines, where a massive failure of transformers would create serious challenges to sustain a reliable energy supply. Natural phenomena and human driven actions could be triggers of such catastrophic events. For large utilities, or groups of utilities, it would be highly convenient to count with “flexible transformers”, which could be used as replacements for different voltage levels and with impedance adjustable to match optimum local requirements of impacted substations. Currently applied “emergency transformers” are fixed-impedance devices. In this contribution, a new concept of flexible, “future-grid ready” type of power transformers, specially devised for transmission networks is explained. This transformer has adjustable impedance features, which could be on-line operated. The concept has been proven to be functional and stable in the factory lab and in the field, by means of a prototype autotransformer of of 100 MVA, 165/69 Kv.

impedance of transformers↗

Evaluation of 134 Ce/ 134 La as a PET Imaging Theranostic Pair for 225 Ac α-Radiotherapeutics

225 Ac-targeted α-radiotherapy is a promising approach to treating malignancies, including prostate cancer. However, α-emitting isotopes are difficult to image because of low administered activities and a low fraction of suitable γ-emissions. The in vivo generator 134 Ce/ 134 La has been proposed as a potential PET imaging surrogate for the therapeutic nuclides 225 Ac and 227 Th. In this report, we detail efficient radiolabeling methods using the 225 Ac-chelators DOTA and MACROPA. These methods were applied to radiolabeling of prostate cancer imaging agents, including PSMA-617 and MACROPA-PEG 4 -YS5, for evaluation of their in vivo pharmacokinetic characteristics and comparison to the corresponding 225 Ac analogs. Methods: Radiolabeling was performed by mixing DOTA/MACROPA chelates with 134 Ce/ 134 La in NH 4 OAc, pH 8.0, at room temperature, and radiochemical yields were monitored by radio–thin-layer chromatography. In vivo biodistributions of 134 Ce-DOTA/MACROPA.NH 2 complexes were assayed through dynamic small-animal PET/CT imaging and ex vivo biodistribution studies over 1 h in healthy C57BL/6 mice, compared with free 134 CeCl 3 . In vivo, preclinical imaging of 134 Ce-PSMA-617 and 134 Ce-MACROPA-PEG 4 -YS5 was performed on 22Rv1 tumor–bearing male nu/nu-mice. Ex vivo biodistribution was performed for 134 Ce/ 225 Ac-MACROPA-PEG 4 -YS5 conjugates. Results: 134 Ce-MACROPA.NH 2 demonstrated near-quantitative labeling with 1:1 ligand-to-metal ratios at room temperature, whereas a 10:1 ligand-to-metal ratio and elevated temperatures were required for DOTA. Rapid urinary excretion and low liver and bone uptake were seen for 134 Ce/ 225 Ac-DOTA/MACROPA. NH 2 conjugates in comparison to free 134 CeCl 3 confirmed high in vivo stability. An interesting observation during the radiolabeling of tumor-targeting vectors PSMA-617 and MACROPA-PEG 4 -YS5—that the daughter 134 La was expelled from the chelate after the decay of parent 134 Ce—was confirmed through radio–thin-layer chromatography and reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Both conjugates, 134 Ce-PSMA-617 and 134 Ce-MACROPA-PEG 4 -YS5, displayed tumor uptake in 22Rv1 tumor–bearing mice. The ex vivo biodistribution of 134 Ce-MACROPA.NH 2 , 134 Ce-DOTA and 134 Ce-MACROPA-PEG 4 -YS5 corroborated well with the respective 225 Ac-conjugates. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the PET imaging potential for 134 Ce/ 134 La-labeled small-molecule and antibody agents. The similar 225 Ac and 134 Ce/ 134 La-chemical and pharmacokinetic characteristics suggest that the 134 Ce/ 134 La pair may act as a PET imaging surrogate for 225 Ac-based radioligand therapies.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

Proteo-Genomic Analysis Identifies Two Major Sites of Vulnerability on Ebolavirus Glycoprotein for Neutralizing Antibodies in Convalescent Human Plasma

Three clinically relevant ebolaviruses – Ebola (EBOV), Bundibugyo (BDBV), and Sudan (SUDV) viruses, are responsible for severe disease and occasional deadly outbreaks in Africa. The largest Ebola virus disease (EVD) epidemic to date in 2013-2016 in West Africa highlighted the urgent need for countermeasures, leading to the development and FDA approval of the Ebola virus vaccine rVSV-ZEBOV (Ervebo ® ) in 2020 and two monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based therapeutics (Inmazeb ® [atoltivimab, maftivimab, and odesivimab-ebgn] and Ebanga ® (ansuvimab-zykl) in 2020. The humoral response plays an indispensable role in ebolavirus immunity, based on studies of mAbs isolated from the antibody genes in peripheral blood circulating ebolavirus-specific human memory B cells. However, antibodies in the body are not secreted by circulating memory B cells in the blood but rather principally by plasma cells in the bone marrow. Little is known about the protective polyclonal antibody responses in convalescent plasma. Here we exploited both single-cell antibody gene sequencing and proteomic sequencing approaches to assess the composition of the ebolavirus glycoprotein (GP)-reactive antibody repertoire in the plasma of an EVD survivor. We first identified 1,512 GP-specific mAb variable gene sequences from single cells in the memory B cell compartment. Using mass spectrometric analysis of the corresponding GP-specific plasma IgG, we found that only a portion of the large B cell antibody repertoire was represented in the plasma. Molecular and functional analysis of proteomics-identified mAbs revealed recognition of epitopes in three major antigenic sites - the GP head domain, the glycan cap, and the base region, with a high prevalence of neutralizing and protective mAb specificities that targeted the base and glycan cap regions on the GP. Polyclonal plasma antibodies from the survivor reacted broadly to EBOV, BDBV, and SUDV GP, while reactivity of the potently neutralizing mAbs we identified was limited mostly to the homologous EBOV GP. Together these results reveal a restricted diversity of neutralizing humoral response in which mAbs targeting two antigenic sites on GP – glycan cap and base – play a principal role in plasma-antibody-mediated protective immunity against EVD.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

The Facial Reconstruction of a Mesolithic Dog, Muge, Portugal

This paper presents the facial reconstruction of a Mesolithic dog whose skeleton was recovered from the Muge shell middens (Portugal) in the 19th century. We used the anatomical deformation approach based on a collection of computer tomography images as an attempt to reconstruct the Muge dog’s head appearance. We faced a few challenges due to the level of bone displacement and the absence of some cranium anatomical parts, as well as accurate information on soft tissue thickness for modern dogs. This multidisciplinary study combined anatomical, veterinary, zooarchaeological, artistic and graphic aspects to allow for the facial reconstruction of the Muge dog. Albeit an approximation, it confers a recognition to this prehistoric finding.

Moraes, Cicero (ORCID:0000000294790028)↗