Point Defect Study in Fe75Al25 and Fe70Al25X5 X=(Cr, Ni) Alloys as a Function of Thermal Treatment by Positron Lifetime Spectroscopy

AbstractPositron lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) is employed to study retained vacancies in Fe75Al25 and Fe70Al25X5 X= (Cr, Ni) after various thermal treatments. The PALS spectra were analyzed with the two states trapping model. The positron lifetime in defects suggests that they are Fe-monovacancies. The vacancy concentration, determined by the rates of trapping positrons to vacancies, strongly depends on the cooling rate of the sample and the ternary addition. An addition of Cr lowers, whereas an addition of Ni increases the concentration of the retained vacancies in relation to Fe75Al25 samples after the same heat treatment

Hierarchical decline of the initiative and performance of complex activities of daily living in dementia

Objectives: While basic activities of daily living hierarchically decline in dementia, little is known about the decline of individual instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs). The objective of this study was to assess initiative and performance deficits in IADLs in dementia. Methods: A total of 581 carers completed the revised Interview for Deterioration in Daily Living Activities in Dementia 2 to rate their relative’s everyday functioning. Results: Initiating and performing IADLs deteriorated hierarchically, while people with dementia were consistently most impaired in initiating using the computer and managing finances. Initiating preparing a cold or hot meal and managing finances were more impaired than their performance, whereas performing maintaining an active social life for example were more impaired than their initiative. Conclusion: Findings can help identify the severity of dementia by understanding deficits in initiative and performance. This study has implications for the development of targeted interventions depending on the stage of dementia

Effective public involvement in the HoST-D Programme for dementia home care support: From proposal and design to methods of data collection (innovative practice)

Public involvement is an important element in health and social care research. However, it is little evaluated in research. This paper discusses the utility and impact of public involvement of carers and people with dementia in a five-year programme on effective home support in dementia, from proposal and design to methods of data collection, and provides a useful guide for future research on how to effectively involve the public. The Home SupporT in Dementia (HoST-D) Programme comprises two elements of public involvement, a small reference group and a virtual lay advisory group. Involving carers and people with dementia is based on the six key values of involvement – respect, support, transparency, responsiveness, fairness of opportunity, and accountability. Carers and people with dementia gave opinions on study information, methods of data collection, an economic model, case vignettes, and a memory aid booklet, which were all taken into account. Public involvement has provided benefits to the programme whilst being considerate of the time constraints and geographical locations of members

Odd Frequency Pairing in the Kondo Lattice

We discuss the possibility that heavy fermion superconductors involve odd-frequency pairing of the kind first considered by Berezinskii. Using a toy model for odd frequency triplet pairing in the Kondo lattice we are able to examine key properties of this new type of paired state. To make progress treating the strong $n_f=1$ constraint in the Kondo lattice model we use the technical trick of a Majorana representation of the local moments, which permits variational treatments of the model without a Gutzwiller approximation. The simplest mean field theory involves the development of bound states between the local moments and conduction electrons, characterized by a spinor order parameter. We show that this state is a stable realization of odd frequency triplet superconductivity with surfaces of gapless excitations whose spin and charge coherence factors vanish linearly in the quasiparticle energy. A $T^3$ NMR relaxation rate coexists with a linear specific heat. We discuss possible extensions of our toy model to describe heavy fermion superconductivity.Comment: 67 page

Donor genetic determinant of thymopoiesis, rs2204985, and stem cell transplantation outcome in a multipopulation cohort

\ua9 2024 The Author(s)Background: A genetic polymorphism, rs2204985, has been reported to be associated with the diversity of T-cell antigen receptor repertoire and TREC levels, reflecting the function of the thymus. As the thymus function can be assumed to be an important factor regulating the outcome of stem cell transplantation (SCT), it was of great interest that rs2204985 showed a genetic association to disease-free and overall survival in a German SCT donor cohort. Tools to predict the outcome of SCT more accurately would help in risk assessment and patient safety. Objective: To evaluate the general validity of the original genetic association found in the German cohort, we determined genetic associations between rs2204985 and the outcome of SCT in 1,473 SCT donors from four different populations. Study design: Genetic associations between rs2204985 genotype AA versus AG/GG and overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) in 1,473 adult, allogeneic SCT from Finland, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Poland were performed using the Kaplan-Meier analysis and log-rank tests. We adjusted the survival models with covariates using Cox regression. Results: In unrelated SCT donors (N = 425), the OS of genotype AA versus AG/GG had a trend for a similar association (p = 0.049, log-rank test) as previously reported in the German cohort. The trend did not remain significant in the Cox regression analysis with covariates. No other associations were found. Conclusion: Weak support for the genetic association between rs2204985, previously also associated with thymus function, and the outcome of SCT could be found in a cohort from four populations

Age, memory loss and perceptions of dementia in South Asian ethnic minorities

© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. Background: South Asian older adults are represented less frequently in mainstream mental health services or those for people with dementia. This study aimed to explore in detail the perceptions of dementia (symptoms, causes, consequences, treatments) held by South Asians and to discern how these understandings vary by age and by the self-recognition of memory problems, as these influence help-seeking behaviour. Methods: Participants were allocated to three groups: younger adults; older adults; and older adults with subjective memory problems. They completed the semi-structured Barts Explanatory Model Inventory for Dementia schedule, whilst older adults also completed measures of cognition (MMSE), and depression (GDS). Interviews were conducted in English, Gujarati or Urdu. Results: Groups were similar in identifying unusual forgetting and confusion as the most frequent symptoms; stress and age as the most frequent causes; and talking to your GP/nurse, taking medication, and talking to family and friends as the most frequent treatments. Younger adults more often knew about risk factors and reported practical consequences more than older adults. Older adults with subjective memory problems were more likely to describe sleep related problems or symptoms commonly associated with depression. They more often cited as causes of dementia lack of sleep, side effects of medication and medical reasons, and mentioned religion as a means to cope. Conclusions: Findings highlight variability in perceptions of dementia across the South Asian Community and identify specific areas where dementia awareness could be raised in South Asian sub-groups to improve timely diagnosis, treatment outcomes and service access

Non-Coding Changes Cause Sex-Specific Wing Size Differences between Closely Related Species of Nasonia

The genetic basis of morphological differences among species is still poorly understood. We investigated the genetic basis of sex-specific differences in wing size between two closely related species of Nasonia by positional cloning a major male-specific locus, wing-size1 (ws1). Male wing size increases by 45% through cell size and cell number changes when the ws1 allele from N. giraulti is backcrossed into a N. vitripennis genetic background. A positional cloning approach was used to fine-scale map the ws1 locus to a 13.5 kilobase region. This region falls between prospero (a transcription factor involved in neurogenesis) and the master sex-determining gene doublesex. It contains the 5′-UTR and cis-regulatory domain of doublesex, and no coding sequence. Wing size reduction correlates with an increase in doublesex expression level that is specific to developing male wings. Our results indicate that non-coding changes are responsible for recent divergence in sex-specific morphology between two closely related species. We have not yet resolved whether wing size evolution at the ws1 locus is caused by regulatory alterations of dsx or prospero, or by another mechanism. This study demonstrates the feasibility of efficient positional cloning of quantitative trait loci (QTL) involved in a broad array of phenotypic differences among Nasonia species

Expert Elicitation on Wind Farm Control

Wind farm control is an active and growing field of research in which the control actions of individual turbines in a farm are coordinated, accounting for inter-turbine aerodynamic interaction, to improve the overall performance of the wind farm and to reduce costs. The primary objectives of wind farm control include increasing power production, reducing turbine loads, and providing electricity grid support services. Additional objectives include improving reliability or reducing external impacts to the environment and communities. In 2019, a European research project (FarmConners) was started with the main goal of providing an overview of the state-of-the-art in wind farm control, identifying consensus of research findings, data sets, and best practices, providing a summary of the main research challenges, and establishing a roadmap on how to address these challenges. Complementary to the FarmConners project, an IEA Wind Topical Expert Meeting (TEM) and two rounds of surveys among experts were performed. From these events we can clearly identify an interest in more public validation campaigns. Additionally, a deeper understanding of the mechanical loads and the uncertainties concerning the effectiveness of wind farm control are considered two major research gaps

Defining mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC)-derived small extracellular vesicles for therapeutic applications.

Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) are transiting rapidly towards clinical applications. However, discrepancies and controversies about the biology, functions, and potency of MSC-sEVs have arisen due to several factors: the diversity of MSCs and their preparation; various methods of sEV production and separation; a lack of standardized quality assurance assays; and limited reproducibility of in vitro and in vivo functional assays. To address these issues, members of four societies (SOCRATES, ISEV, ISCT and ISBT) propose specific harmonization criteria for MSC-sEVs to facilitate data sharing and comparison, which should help to advance the field towards clinical applications. Specifically, MSC-sEVs should be defined by quantifiable metrics to identify the cellular origin of the sEVs in a preparation, presence of lipid-membrane vesicles, and the degree of physical and biochemical integrity of the vesicles. For practical purposes, new MSC-sEV preparations might also be measured against a well-characterized MSC-sEV biological reference. The ultimate goal of developing these metrics is to map aspects of MSC-sEV biology and therapeutic potency onto quantifiable features of each preparation