Insulin response and changes in composition of non-esterified fatty acids in blood plasma of middle-aged men following isoenergetic fatty and carbohydrate breakfasts

It was previously shown that a high plasma concentration of non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) persisted after a fatty breakfast, but not after an isoenergetic carbohydrate breakfast, adversely affecting glucose tolerance. The higher concentration after the fatty breakfast may in part have been a result of different mobilization rates of fatty acids. This factor can be investigated as NEFA mobilized from tissues are monounsaturated to a greater extent than those deposited from a typical meal. Twenty-four middle-aged healthy Caucasian men were given oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTT), and for 28 d isoenergetic breakfasts of similar fat composition but of low (L) or moderate (M) fat content. The composition of NEFA in fasting and postprandial plasma was determined on days 1 and 29. No significant treatment differences in fasting NEFA composition occurred on day 29. During the OGTT and 0-1 h following breakfast there was an increase in plasma long-chain saturated NEFA but a decrease in monounsaturated NEFA (mug/100 mug total NEFA; Pg/100 mug total NEFA; P<0.05), expressed as an increase in 18:1 and decreases in 16:0 and 17:0 in treatment M relative to treatment L (P<0.05). Serum insulin attained 35 and 65 mU/l in treatments M and L respectively during this period. Negative correlations were found between 16:0 in fasting plasma and both waist:hip circumference (P=0.0009) and insulin response curve area during OGTT (within treatment M, P=0.0001). It is concluded that a normal postprandial insulin response is associated with a rapid change in plasma saturated:monounsaturated NEFA. It is proposed that this change is the result of a variable suppression of fat mobilization, which may partly account for a large difference in postprandial total plasma NEFA between fatty and carbohydrate meals

Effect of pores and grain size on the elastic and piezoelectric properties of quartz-based materials

The role of grain size and porosity in the piezoelectric and elastic properties of SiO2-based materials was investigated using resonant piezoelectric spectroscopy, RPS, and resonant ultrasound spectroscopy, RUS. RPS performed on agate revealed a piezoelectric effect comparable in magnitude to that in single crystal quartz. The observed strong piezoelectricity in agate requires preferential orientation of SiO2 during crystal growth. Similarly, in novaculite and sandstone finite (but weak) RPS signals were evident, suggesting that the expected randomization of the piezoelectric quartz grains is incomplete. On the other hand, Vycor, a silica glass with a porosity of 40%, showed no evidence of the piezoelectric effect. According to temperature dependent RPS and RUS measurements, the α-β transition temperature in quartz does not change in polycrystalline samples. Finally, the temperature dependence under heating of the elastic constants is reversible in quartz and agate and irreversible in sandstone and vycor.RUS facilities in Cambridge were established through grant no. NE/B505738/1 to MAC from the Natural Environment Research Council. EKHS is grateful to the Leverhulme Foundation (RPG-2012-564) and EPSRC (EP/K009702/1) for financial support.This is the final version. It was first published by De Gruyter at http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/ammin.2015.100.issue-5-6/am-2015-5180ccby/am-2015-5180ccby.xm

The nonlinear anomalous lattice elasticity associated with the high-pressure phase transition in spodumene: A high precission static compression study

The high-pressure behavior of the lattice elasticity of spodumene, LiAlSi2O6, was studied by static compression in a diamond-anvil cell up to 9.3 GPa. Investigations by means of single-crystal XRD and Raman spectroscopy within the hydrostatic limits of the pressure medium focus on the pressure ranges around similar to 3.2 and similar to 7.7 GPa, which have been reported previously to comprise two independent structural phase transitions. While our measurements confirm the well-established first-order C2/c-P2(1)/c transformation at 3.19 GPa (with 1.2% volume discontinuity and a hysteresis between 0.02 and 0.06 GPa), both unit-cell dimensions and the spectral changes observed in high-pressure Raman spectra give no evidence for structural changes related to a second phase transition. Monoclinic lattice parameters and unit-cell volumes at in total 59 different pressure points have been used to re-calculate the lattice-related properties of spontaneous strain, volume strain, and the bulk moduli as a function of pressure across the transition. A modified Landau free energy expansion in terms of a one component order parameter has been developed and tested against these experimentally determined data. The Landau solution provides a much better reproduction of the observed anomalies than any equation-of-state fit to data sets truncated below and above P (tr), thus giving Landau parameters of K (0) = 138.3(2) GPa, K' = 7.46(5), lambda (V) = 33.6(2) GPa, a = 0.486(3), b = -29.4(6) GPa and c = 551(11) GPa

Elastic softening of leucite and the lack of polar domain boundaries

Elastic properties of leucite have been investigated using resonant ultrasound spectroscopy over a temperature range from 300 K to 1400 K. According to these measurements, elastic moduli soften by ~50% at the Ia3d-I41/acd ferroelastic transition temperature Tc1 = 940 K relative to the value at 1400 K. A second softening is observed at Tc2 = 920 K, corresponding to the structural change from the space group I41/acd to I41/a. These elastic anomalies are analyzed in a simple model of a pseudoproper ferroelastic transition under the assumption that the transitions observed at Tc1 and Tc2 can be approximated by a single pseudoproper ferroelastic transition. The two phase transitions are accompanied by a single peak in mechanical damping attributed to the high mobility of twin walls in the intermediate phase followed by pinning in the low temperature phase. To determine whether twin walls in tetragonal leucite are polar, resonant piezoelectric spectroscopy and second harmonic generation measurements were performed but no evidence of polarity was found.E.K.H.S. is grateful to EPSRC (EP/K009702/1) and the Leverhulme Foundation (RPG-2012-564) for support. M.A.C. acknowledges NERC grants (NER/A/S/2000/01055 and NE/F017081/1).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from De Gruyter via http://dx.doi.org/10.2138/am-2015-5313ccb

Age and mass studies for young star clusters in M31 from SEDs-fit

In this paper, we present photometry for young star clusters in M31, which are selected from Caldwell et al. These star clusters have been observed as part of the Beijing--Arizona--Taiwan--Connecticut (BATC) Multicolor Sky Survey from 1995 February to 2008 March. The BATC images including these star clusters are taken with 15 intermediate-band filters covering 3000--10000 \AA. Combined with photometry in the {\sl GALEX} far- and near-ultraviolet, broad-band $UBVRI$, SDSS $ugriz$, and infrared $JHK_{\rm s}$ of Two Micron All Sky Survey, we obtain their accurate spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from 1538-20000 \AA. We derive these star clusters' ages and masses by comparing their SEDs with stellar population synthesis models. Our results are in good agreement with previous determinations. The mean value of age and mass of young clusters ($<2$ Gyr) is about 385 Myr and $2\times 10^4 {M_\odot}$, respectively. There are two distinct peaks in the age distribution, a highest peak at age $\sim$ 60 Myr and a secondary peak around 250 Myr, while the mass distribution shows a single peak around $10^4 {M_\odot}$. A few young star clusters have two-body relaxation times greater than their ages, indicating that those clusters have not been well dynamically relaxed and therefore have not established the thermal equilibrium. There are several regions showing aggregations of young star clusters around the 10 kpc ring and the outer ring, indicating that the distribution of the young star clusters is well correlated with M31's star-forming regions. The young massive star clusters (age $\leq 100$ Myr and mass $\geq 10^4 {M_\odot}$) show apparent concentration around the ring splitting region, suggesting a recent passage of a satellite galaxy (M32) through M31 disk.Comment: Accepted for Publication in AJ, 15 pages, 14 figures and 4 table

On the effect of hydrogen on the elastic moduli and acoustic loss behaviour of Ti-6Al-4V

The elastic moduli and acoustic loss behaviour of Ti-6Al-4V (wt.%) in the temperature range 5–298 K have been studied using Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy. A peak in the acoustic dissipation was observed at 160 K within the frequency range 250–1000 kHz. Analysis of the data acquired in this study, coupled with complementary data from the literature, showed that this was consistent with a Snoek-like relaxation process with an associated activation energy of 23 3 kJ mol$^{−1}$. However, the loss peak was broader than would be expected for a Snoek-like relaxation, and the underlying process was shown to have a spread of relaxation times. It is suggested that this effect arises as a result of variations in the strain experienced by the β phase due to different local microstructural constraint by the bounding secondary α phase.The authors would like to acknowledge Dr M Thomas of TIMET UK for providing compositional analysis, and the EPSRC / Rolls-Royce Strategic Partnership for funding (SLD under EP/H022309/1, NGJ and HJS under EP/H500375/1 and EP/M005607/1). RUS facilities were established in Cambridge through grants from the Natural Environment Research Council of Great Britain (NE/B505738/1 and NE/F017081/1).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor & Francis via https://doi.org/10.1080/14786435.2016.119805

Elastic and anelastic relaxations associated with phase transitions in EuTiO3

Elastic and anelastic properties of single crystal samples of EuTiO3 have been measured between 10 and 300 K by Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy at frequencies in the vicinity of 1 MHz. Softening of the shear elastic constants C44 and by ~20-30% occurs with falling temperature in a narrow interval through the transition point, Tc = 284 K, for the cubic - tetragonal transition. This is accounted for by classical coupling of macroscopic spontaneous strains with the tilt order parameter, in the same manner as occurs in SrTiO3. A peak in the acoustic loss occurs a few degrees below Tc and is interpreted in terms of initially mobile ferroelastic twin walls which rapidly become pinned with further lowering of temperature. This contrasts with the properties of twin walls in SrTiO3 which remain mobile down to at least 15 K. No further anomalies were observed that might be indicative of strain coupling to any additional phase transitions above 10 K. A slight anomaly in the shear elastic constants, independent of frequency and without any associated acoustic loss, was found at ~140 K. It marks a change from elastic stiffening to softening with falling temperature and perhaps provides evidence for coupling between strain and local fluctuations of dipoles related to the incipient ferroelectric transition. An increase in acoustic loss below ~80 K is attributed to the development of dynamical magnetic clustering ahead of the known antiferromagnetic ordering transition at ~5.5 K. Detection of these elastic anomalies serves to emphasise that coupling of strain with tilting, ferroelectric and magnetic order parameters is likely to be a permeating influence in determining the structure, stability, properties and behaviour of EuTiO3.RUS facilities were established in Cambridge through a grant from the Natural Environment Research Council of Great Britain to MAC, which is gratefully acknowledged (NE/B505738/1). LJS acknowledges the support of the National Science Centre (NCN) through Grant MAESTRO No. DEC-2012/04/A/ST3/00342. CP acknowledges Financial support in Greece through grants EURYI and MEXT-CT-2006-039047 grants, and in Singapore through Award No. NRF-CRP-4-2008-04 of the Competitive Research Programme.This is the accepted version. The final version is published of the final version by APS here: http://journals.aps.org/prb/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevB.90.054119

Domains within domains and walls within walls: evidence for polar domains in cryogenic SrTiO3.

Resonant piezoelectric spectroscopy shows polar resonances in paraelectric SrTiO3 at temperatures below 80 K. These resonances become strong at T<40  K. The resonances are induced by weak electric fields and lead to standing mechanical waves in the sample. This piezoelectric response does not exist in paraelastic SrTiO3 nor at temperatures just below the ferroelastic phase transition. The interpretation of the resonances is related to ferroelastic twin walls which become polar at low temperatures in close analogy with the known behavior of CaTiO3. SrTiO3 is different from CaTiO3, however, because the wall polarity is thermally induced; i.e., there exists a small temperature range well below the ferroelastic transition point at 105 K where polarity appears on cooling. As the walls are atomistically thin, this transition has the hallmarks of a two-dimensional phase transition restrained to the twin boundaries rather than a classic bulk phase transition.This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council [grant number RG66344], the Natural Environment Research Council [grant number NE/B505738/1] and the Leverhulme Foundation [grant number RG66640].This is the accepted version of an article originally published in Physical Review Letters. The final version is available online at http://prl.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v111/i24/e247603

Missing binary outcomes under covariate-dependent missingness in cluster randomised trials.

Missing outcomes are a commonly occurring problem for cluster randomised trials, which can lead to biased and inefficient inference if ignored or handled inappropriately. Two approaches for analysing such trials are cluster-level analysis and individual-level analysis. In this study, we assessed the performance of unadjusted cluster-level analysis, baseline covariate-adjusted cluster-level analysis, random effects logistic regression and generalised estimating equations when binary outcomes are missing under a baseline covariate-dependent missingness mechanism. Missing outcomes were handled using complete records analysis and multilevel multiple imputation. We analytically show that cluster-level analyses for estimating risk ratio using complete records are valid if the true data generating model has log link and the intervention groups have the same missingness mechanism and the same covariate effect in the outcome model. We performed a simulation study considering four different scenarios, depending on whether the missingness mechanisms are the same or different between the intervention groups and whether there is an interaction between intervention group and baseline covariate in the outcome model. On the basis of the simulation study and analytical results, we give guidance on the conditions under which each approach is valid. © 2017 The Authors. Statistics in Medicine Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd

Magnetic field and in situ stress dependence of elastic behavior in EuTiO3 from resonant ultrasound spectroscopy

Magneto-electric coupling phenomena in EuTiO3 are of considerable fundamental interest and are also understood to be key to reported multiferroic behavior in strained films, which exhibit distinctly different properties to the bulk. Here the magneto-elastic coupling of EuTiO3 is investigated by resonant ultrasound spectroscopy with in-situ applied magnetic field and stress as a function of temperature ranging from temperatures above the structural transition temperature, Ts, to below the antiferromagnetic ordering temperature Tn. One single crystal and two polycrystalline samples are investigated and compared to each other. Both paramagnetic and diamagnetic transducer carriers are used, allowing an examination of the effect of both stress and magnetic field on the behaviour of the sample. The properties are reported in constant field/variable temperature and in constant temperature/variable field mode where substantial differences between both data sets are observed. In addition, elastic and magnetic poling at high fields and stresses at low temperature has been performed in order to trace the history dependence of the elastic constants. Four different temperature regions are identified, characterized by unusual elastic responses. The low temperature phase diagram has been explored and found to exhibit rich complexity. The data evidence a considerable relaxation of elastic constants at high temperatures, but with little effect from magnetic field alone above 20 K, in addition to the known low temperature coupling.MAC acknowledges support from NERC and EPSRC (grants NE/B505738/1 and EP/I036079/1, respectively). CP acknowledges financial support in Greece through FP7-REGPOT-2012-2013-1, and in Singapore through Award No. NRF-CRP-4-2008-04 of the Competitive Research Programme. LJS acknowledges the support of the National Science Centre (NCN) through grant MAESTRO no. DEC-2012/04/A/ST3/00342. Dr Albert Migliori (Los Alamos National Laboratory) is thanked for invaluable assistance in creating the RUS system with in-situ magnetic field. Prof Jim Scott (U. Cambridge) is thanked for his advice and assistance in interpreting the data and improving the manuscript. Tony Dennis (U. Cambridge) collected the SQUID data.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Physical Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.93.05410