Possessionlessness Pluralized?

I cannot let pass without protest the use, in Susan Thorpe\u27s otherwise excellent article (Word Ways, Aug 1995) of POSSESSIONLESSNESSES. People who have possessions may have a wide variety of kinds and numbers of possessionfulnesses. But if several such persons were to lose their possessions would all be reduced to the null set and they would share in common a unique and singular possessionlessness, for which no plural is admissible

New Punctuation, New Meaning

Walsh\u27s Handy-Book of Literary Curiosities (Lippincott, 1892) relates the more-or-less apocryphal story of the soldier who asked an oracle if it were safe to go off to war. He chose to interpret the oracle\u27s reply (Ibis redibis no moreiris in bello) with a comma after redibis which, translated, means You will go, you will return, you will not die in battle: but as he lay dying on the battlefield he realized that the message could instead be read with the comma after non: You will go, you will return not, you will die in battle

Five year mortality and direct costs of care for people with diabetic foot complications are comparable to cancer.

BackgroundIn 2007, we reported a summary of data comparing diabetic foot complications to cancer. The purpose of this brief report was to refresh this with the best available data as they currently exist. Since that time, more reports have emerged both on cancer mortality and mortality associated with diabetic foot ulcer (DFU), Charcot arthropathy, and diabetes-associated lower extremity amputation.MethodsWe collected data reporting 5-year mortality from studies published following 2007 and calculated a pooled mean. We evaluated data from DFU, Charcot arthropathy and lower extremity amputation. We dichotomized high and low amputation as proximal and distal to the ankle, respectively. This was compared with cancer mortality as reported by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute.ResultsFive year mortality for Charcot, DFU, minor and major amputations were 29.0, 30.5, 46.2 and 56.6%, respectively. This is compared to 9.0% for breast cancer and 80.0% for lung cancer. 5 year pooled mortality for all reported cancer was 31.0%. Direct costs of care for diabetes in general was $237 billion in 2017. This is compared to$80 billion for cancer in 2015. As up to one-third of the direct costs of care for diabetes may be attributed to the lower extremity, these are also readily comparable.ConclusionDiabetic lower extremity complications remain enormously burdensome. Most notably, DFU and LEA appear to be more than just a marker of poor health. They are independent risk factors associated with premature death. While advances continue to improve outcomes of care for people with DFU and amputation, efforts should be directed at primary prevention as well as those for patients in diabetic foot ulcer remission to maximize ulcer-free, hospital-free and activity-rich days

Understanding the performance of nano-structured ferritic alloys through micro-mechanical testing

Oxide dispersion strengthened (ODS) steels are one of the most promising candidate materials for fuel cladding tubes, in GenIV nuclear reactors, and plasma facing components for tritium breeding blankets in fusion reactors. Although first developed during the 1960\u27s, recent research has demonstrated an improved high temperature strength and irradiation resistance over the more conventional high chromium reduced activation ferritic/martensitic (RAF/M) steels. This improved performance is obtained through microstructures that contain a high density of insoluble nanoscale oxides dispersed in the ferrite matrix (typically 2 -10 nm yttrium- titanium oxides). However, concerns remain over their use in future nuclear application and the following questions are of key issue; Due to the mechanical alloying and powder processing manufacturing routes typically used the microstructures can display significant inhomogeneity in local chemistry, grain size and oxide distribution. How this affects local mechanical properties needs to be measured. The exact mechanisms of strengthening (solid solution, grain refinement or hard particle hardening) are not well understood and individual contributions need to be assessed for better alloy design. How the mechanical properties of these alloys are affected by radiation damage is not well documented and is must be known if they are to be used in a nuclear environment. This work uses state of the art nanoindentation and micro-cantilever bending experiments on a series of systematically varied nanostructured ferritic alloys based on a Fe-14Cr-3W-0.2Ti-0.25Y2O3 in both as processed and irradiated conditions to answer these questions Nanoindentation was used to investigate the hardness and elastic modulus of each specimen, and effect of indent size on hardness. Indentation modulus was found to be similar for each sample but the nanocrystalline samples showed higher levels of hardness, confirmed using microscopic techniques. The variation in hardness was seen to increase in oxide containing samples. This was investigated using EBSD and EDX, and was determined to be caused by a pronounced heterogeneity of the microstructure. While Hall-Petch strengthening and changes in the local chemistry had some effect on the measured hardness, the most likely cause of the large variation in local hardness was heterogeneity in the nanoscale oxide population. By using TEM and atom probe tomography this inhomogeneous dispersion of the oxide particles can be demonstrated. Nanoindentation was also used to measure the strain rate sensitivity and creep rate of each specimen, where it is shown that the oxide containing alloy has superior performance. To simulate neutron damage samples were implanted with 2MeV protons to a peak damage level of 0.2dpa at 20μm depth below the surface. Samples were then rotated 90 degrees and polished to produce a cross section through the damaged layer. The cross-sectional surface of the irradiated layer was then exposed and inclined linear arrays of 250 nm deep indents were placed across the damage profile. 14WT (non-oxide containing) revealed a clear proton damage profile in plots of hardness against irradiation depth, No appreciable hardening was observed in either 14YWT specimens, attributed to fine dispersion of nanoscale oxides providing a high number density of defect sink sites. Micro-cantilevers were fabricated out of the irradiated layer cross-section. Larger micro-cantilevers, with 5 μm beam depth, were place with their beam centre at 0.026 dpa. Smaller micro-cantilevers, with 1.5 μm beam depth, were placed with their beam centre at 0.2 dpa. Both the large and the small micro-cantilevers fabricated in 14WT (non-Oxide containing) displayed significant irradiation hardening (from 0.5GPa to 1.04GPa yield stress) while in the oxide containing variant, irradiation hardening is suppressed. This paper will demonstrate that when the size effects inherent in these tests are accounted for the data produced is comparable to bulk mechanical testing and suggest some key next steps if these alloys are to be pursued as nuclear materials

Pilomatrix carcinoma presenting as an extra axial mass: clinicopathological features

Pilomatrix carcinoma is the rare malignant counterpart of pilomatrixoma, a skin adnexal tumour originating from hair matrix cells. Pilomatrix carcinoma can arise as a solitary lesion de novo, or through transformation of a pilomatrixoma. Pilomatrixoma was first described erroneously as being of sebaceous gland origin but was later discovered to be derived from hair matrix cells. They are rare, slow growing tumours of the skin found in the lower dermis and subcutaneous fat and are predominantly found in the neck and the scalp. While known to be locally aggressive, no malignant form was thought to exist until it was described relatively recently. Since then, approximately ninety cases of pilomatrix carcinoma have been reported

Activin promotes oocyte development in ovine preantral follicles in vitro

Activins have been implicated as important regulating factors for many reproductive processes. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of activin A on the development of ovine preantral follicles in vitro. Mechanically isolated preantral follicles (161 ± 2 microm) were cultured for 6 days in the presence of human recombinant activin A (0, 10 and 100 ng/ml). Half of the medium was replaced every second day and follicle diameters were measured. Conditioned medium was subsequently analysed for oestradiol content using a delayed enhancement lanthanide fluorometric immunoassay (DELFIA). At the end of the culture period, follicles were fixed and processed for histology, after which oocyte diameter and granulosa cell death were measured. There was significant follicle growth over 6 days in all groups (p < 0.001). Activin, at both concentrations, increased follicle growth over control levels by Day 6 (p < 0.05). Oocyte diameters were also significantly increased by Day 6 of culture in all groups (p < 0.05), with 100 ng/ml activin increasing oocyte diameter over control levels (p < 0.05). Activin, at both concentrations, increased oestradiol production on Day 2 of culture, but this increase was not sustained during the culture period. Moreover, activin did not have any effect on antrum formation or follicle survival. In conclusion, activin promoted ovine preantral follicle and oocyte growth in vitro, but did not accelerate follicle differentiation over a six-day culture period. These results support a paracrine role for activin A during early oocyte and follicular development

Room temperature and high temperature micromechanical testing of SiC- SiC fiber composites for nuclear fuel cladding applications

Silicon carbide ceramics are a candidate material for the use in nuclear power generation and are suggested to be used in novel accident tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding designs due to its favorable properties, in particular reduced (compared to Zircaloy) oxidation under accident conditions, good neutronic performance, high temperature strength and stability under irradiation. Due to its inherent brittleness, it is suggested to be used in the form of SiC-fiber reinforced SiC-matrix composite. In order to reliably model behavior of highly non-uniform and anisotropic composite materials the knowledge of the individual properties of fiber and matrix, and, crucially, the fiber-matrix interfaces, is required. In addition, nuclear fuel cladding materials are exposed to elevated temperatures during their operation, and therefore the understanding of the temperature dependences of the relevant properties is essential. Micromechanical testing techniques, such as nanoindentation and microcantilever beam fracture, allow determination of such localized properties, and can be implemented in the wide range of temperatures. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Illusions of gunk

The possibility of gunk has been used to argue against mereological nihilism. This paper explores two responses on the part of the microphysical mereological nihilist: (1) the contingency defence, which maintains that nihilism is true of the actual world; but that at other worlds, composition occurs; (2) the impossibility defence, which maintains that nihilism is necessary true, and so gunk worlds are impossible. The former is argued to be ultimately unstable; the latter faces the explanatorily burden of explaining the illusion that gunk is possible. It is argued that we can discharge this burden by focussing on the contingency of the microphysicalist aspect of microphysical mereological nihilism. The upshot is that gunk-based arguments against microphysical mereological nihilism can be resisted