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Titanium aluminide alloys offer considerable promise for use in high temperature applications, such as gas turbines. In this study an extruded Ti-46Al-5Nb-1W alloy has been examined, in terms of its tensile and creep behaviour. A reasonably fine and uniform microstructure was found in this bar product. This gave excellent properties, with tensile strengths up to ∼950 MPa at room temperature, along with 1% elongation. These properties were accompanied by a very good creep behaviour, with low primary strains at the lower stresses and very low secondary creep rates. Comparison of the creep properties of this titanium aluminide alloy with other similar compositions and some typical nickel alloys shows that it is significantly superior to first generation titanium aluminides but also nickel alloys, such as IN718 and Udimet 720Li. However, the strain controlled fatigue performance of the titanium aluminide alloy was significantly poorer than these same wrought nickel alloys

Stroke patients appear to have lower morbidity and mortality rates and better outcomes when neurologists serve as the primary admitting physician. The effect of neurological consultations on coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients who have suffered a postoperative transient ischemic attack (TIA) has not yet been determined. The authors evaluated whether neurology consultations improved outcomes. A retrospective analysis was conducted of CABG patients from a high-volume tertiary care center. Primary end points included 30-day mortality, discharge disposition, length of stay, and 1-year incidence of stroke. Post-CABG TIA patients receiving a neurological consult (N = 127) were compared with propensity-matched controls. Thirty-day mortality was identical (3.1%), with nonsignificant difference in long-term incidence of stroke. There were no differences in home discharges or length of stay. Including a neurologist in the treating team for patients suffering TIAs after CABG appears not to reduce post-operative incidence of morbidity and mortality, reduce length of stay, or improve patient disposition at discharge.

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