Vapor pressures and vapor compositions in equilibrium with hypostoichiometric plutonium dioxide at high temperatures

Vapor pressures and vapor compositions in equilibrium with a hypostoichiometric plutonium dioxide condensed phase have been calculated for the temperature range 1500 less than or equal to T less than or equal to 4000 K. Thermodynamic functions for the condensed phase and for each of the gaseous species were combined with an oxygen-potential model to obtain the partial pressures of O/sub 2/, O, Pu, PuO, and PuO/sub 2/. New thermodynamic functions for the solid oxide were calculated from available information and from new estimates of the heat capacity of the liquid. Thermodynamic functions for the vapor species were calculated previously. A suitable oxygen-potential model has been used previously for the solid hypostoichiometric plutonium dioxide; this model has been extended into the liquid region using several alternative methods. The effects of these alternatives on the calculated oxygen pressures have been examined in detail

Assessment of the Noise Reduction Potential of Advanced Subsonic Transport Concepts for NASA's Environmentally Responsible Aviation Project

Aircraft system noise is predicted for a portfolio of NASA advanced concepts with 2025 entry-into-service technology assumptions. The subsonic transport concepts include tube-and-wing configurations with engines mounted under the wing, over the wing nacelle integration, and a double deck fuselage with engines at a mid-fuselage location. Also included are hybrid wing body aircraft with engines upstream of the fuselage trailing edge. Both advanced direct drive engines and geared turbofan engines are modeled. Recent acoustic experimental information was utilized in the prediction for several key technologies. The 301-passenger class hybrid wing body with geared ultra high bypass engines is assessed at 40.3 EPNLdB cumulative below the Stage 4 certification level. Other hybrid wing body and unconventional tube-and-wing configurations reach levels of 33 EPNLdB or more below the certification level. Many factors contribute to the system level result; however, the hybrid wing body in the 301-passenger class, as compared to a tubeand- wing with conventional engine under wing installation, has 11.9 EPNLdB of noise reduction due to replacing reflection with acoustic shielding of engine noise sources. Therefore, the propulsion airframe aeroacoustic interaction effects clearly differentiate the unconventional configurations that approach levels close to or exceed the 42 EPNLdB goal

Choline supplementation in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders has high feasibility and tolerability

There are no biological treatments for fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), lifelong conditions associated with physical anomalies, brain damage, and neurocognitive abnormalities. In preclinical studies, choline partially ameliorates memory and learning deficits from prenatal alcohol exposure. This phase I pilot study evaluated the feasibility, tolerability, and potential adverse effects of choline supplementation in children with FASD. We hypothesized that choline would be well tolerated with minimal adverse events. The study design was a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Participants included 20 children aged 2.5 to 4.9 years with prenatal alcohol exposure and FASD diagnoses. Participants were randomly assigned to 500 mg choline or placebo daily for 9 months (10 active, 10 placebo). Primary outcome measures included feasibility, tolerability, adverse effects, and serum choline levels. Seventeen participants completed the study. Compliance was 82% to 87%, as evidenced by parent-completed log sheets and dose counts. Periodic 24-hour dietary recalls showed no evidence of dietary confounding. Adverse events were minimal and were equivalent in the active and placebo arms with the exception of fishy body odor, which occurred only in the active group. There were no serious adverse events to research participants. This phase I pilot study demonstrates that choline supplementation at 500 mg/d for 9 months in children aged 2 to 5 years is feasible and has high tolerability. Further examination of the efficacy of choline supplementation in FASD is currently underway

Four-year follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of choline for neurodevelopment in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

Background: Despite the high prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), there are few interventions targeting its core neurocognitive and behavioral deficits. FASD is often conceptualized as static and permanent, but interventions that capitalize on brain plasticity and critical developmental windows are emerging. We present a long-term follow-up study evaluating the neurodevelopmental effects of choline supplementation in children with FASD 4 years after an initial efficacy trial. Methods: The initial study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of choline vs. placebo in 2-5-year-olds with FASD. Participants include 31 children (16 placebo; 15 choline) seen 4 years after trial completion. The mean age at follow-up was 8.6 years. Diagnoses were 12.9% fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS), 41.9% partial FAS, and 45.1% alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder. The follow-up included measures of intelligence, memory, executive functioning, and behavior. Results: Children who received choline had higher non-verbal intelligence, higher visual-spatial skill, higher working memory ability, better verbal memory, and fewer behavioral symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than the placebo group. No differences were seen for verbal intelligence, visual memory, or other executive functions. Conclusions: These data support choline as a potential neurodevelopmental intervention for FASD and highlight the need for long-term follow-up to capture treatment effects on neurodevelopmental trajectories. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.Gov #NCT01149538; Registered: June 23, 2010; first enrollment July 2, 2010

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities 1,2 . This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity 3�6 . Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55 of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017�and more than 80 in some low- and middle-income regions�was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing�and in some countries reversal�of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories. © 2019, The Author(s)

Thermophysical properties of fast reactor fuel

This paper identifies the fuel properties for which more data are needed for fast-reactor safety analysis. In addition, a brief review is given of current research on the vapor pressure over liquid UO/sub 2/ and (U,PU)O/sub 2-x/, the solid-solid phase transition in actinide oxides, and the thermal conductivity of molten urania

Computer codes used in the calculation of high-temperature thermodynamic properties of sodium

Three computer codes - SODIPROP, NAVAPOR, and NASUPER - were written in order to calculate a self-consistent set of thermodynamic properties for saturated, subcooled, and superheated sodium. These calculations incorporate new critical parameters (temperature, pressure, and density) and recently derived single equations for enthalpy and vapor pressure. The following thermodynamic properties have been calculated in these codes: enthalpy, heat capacity, entropy, vapor pressure, heat of vaporization, density, volumetric thermal expansion coefficient, compressibility, and thermal pressure coefficient. In the code SODIPROP, these properties are calculated for saturated and subcooled liquid sodium. Thermodynamic properties of saturated sodium vapor are calculated in the code NAVAPOR. The code NASUPER calculates thermodynamic properties for super-heated sodium vapor only for low (< 1644 K) temperatures. No calculations were made for the supercritical region