Elastic and thermodynamic properties of the shape-memory alloy AuZn

The current work reports on the elastic shear moduli, internal friction, and the specific heat of the B2 cubic ordered alloy AuZn as a function of temperature. Measurements were made on single-crystal and polycrystalline samples using Resonant Ultrasound Spectroscopy (RUS), semi-adiabatic calorimetry and stress-strain measurements. Our results confirm that this alloy exhibits the shape-memory effect and a phase transition at 64.75 K that appears to be continuous (second-order) from the specific heat data. It is argued that the combination of equiatomic composition and a low transformation temperature constrain the chemical potential and its derivatives to exhibit behavior that lies at the borderline between that of a first-order (discontinuous) and a continuous phase transition. The acoustic dissipation does not peak at the transtion temperature as expected, but shows a maximum well into the low-temperature phase. The Debye temeprature value of 219 K, obtained from the low-temperature specific heat data is in favorable agreement with that determined from the acoustic data (207 K) above the transition.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Genetic architecture of common bunt resistance in winter wheat using genome-wide association study

Background: Common bunt (caused by Tilletia caries and T. foetida) has been considered as a major disease in wheat (Triticum aestivum) following rust (Puccinia spp.) in the Near East and is economically important in the Great Plains, USA. Despite the fact that it can be easily controlled using seed treatment with fungicides, fungicides often cannot or may not be used in organic and low-input fields. Planting common bunt resistant genotypes is an alternative. Results: To identify resistance genes for Nebraska common bunt race, the global set of differential lines were inoculated. Nine differential lines carrying nine different genes had 0% infected heads and seemed to be resistant to Nebraska race. To understand the genetic basis of the resistance in Nebraska winter wheat, a set of 330 genotypes were inoculated and evaluated under field conditions in two locations. Out of the 330 genotypes, 62 genotypes had different degrees of resistance. Moreover, plant height, chlorophyll content and days to heading were scored in both locations. Using genome-wide association study, 123 SNPs located on fourteen chromosomes were identified to be associated with the resistance. Different degrees of linkage disequilibrium was found among the significant SNPs and they explained 1.00 to 9.00% of the phenotypic variance, indicating the presence of many minor QTLs controlling the resistance. Conclusion: Based on the chromosomal location of some of the known genes, some SNPs may be associated with Bt1, Bt6, Bt11 and Bt12 resistance loci. The remaining significant SNPs may be novel alleles that were not reported previously. Common bunt resistance seems to be an independent trait as no correlation was found between a number of infected heads and chlorophyll content, days to heading or plant height

Intersystem Implications of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: Advancing Health Promotion in the 21st Century

The developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) theory and life course theory (LCT) are emerging fields of research that have significant implications for the public health and health promotion professions. Using a DOHaD/LCT perspective, social determinants of health (SDH) take on new critical meaning by which health promotion professionals can implement DOHaD/LCT guided interventions, including recommended policies. Through these interventions, public health could further address the sources of worldwide chronic disease epidemics and reduce such disease rates substantially if related policy, programs, and interdisciplinary and multi-sector collaboration are emphasized. Additional characteristics of the most effective interventions involve context-specific adaptation and societal structures that impact upstream, early life environments on a broad scale, influencing multiple locations and/or diseases

Sticks and stones: Language, face, and online dispute resolution

C1 - Refereed Journal Articl

Prevalence of malnutrition risk and the impact of nutrition risk on hospital outcomes: results from nutritionDay in the U.S.

Background: Malnutrition risk estimates vary greatly, and no robust data on the association between food intake and outcomes exist for hospitals in the United States (U.S.). This study aimed to determine the prevalence of malnutrition risk and to evaluate the impact of food intake on mortality using the nutritionDay in the U.S. dataset. Methods: This study analyzed data from 2009 to 2015 for all adult patients from participating hospitals. Prevalence of malnutrition risk was determined by mapping self-reported nutritionDay survey questions to the Malnutrition Screening Tool (MST). Fine and Gray competing-risk analysis with clustering was used to evaluate the impact of nutrition risk and food intake on patients' 30-day in-hospital mortality, while controlling for age, mobility, and other disease-related factors. Results: Analysis included data from 9959 adult patients from 601 wards. The overall prevalence of malnutrition risk (MST score ≥2) was 32.7%. On nutritionDay, 32.1% of patients ate a quarter of their meal or less. Hospital mortality hazard ratio was 3.24 (95% CI: [1.73, 6.07]; P-value < 0.001) for patients eating a quarter compared with those who ate all their meal and increased to 5.99 (95% CI: [3.03, 11.84]; P-value < 0.0001) for patients eating nothing despite being allowed to eat. Conclusion: This study provides the most robust estimate of malnutrition risk in U.S. hospitalized patients to date, finding that approximately 1 in 3 are at risk. Additionally, patients who have diminished meal intake experience increased mortality risk. These results highlight the ongoing issue of malnutrition in the hospital setting

Application of calorimetry on a chip to high-pressure materials

Silicon micromachined calorimeters (“calorimeter on a chip”) are used to measure heat capacities and phase transition enthalpies for thin film, single crystal, and powder samples (5–500 μg). The technology is thus compatible with the small samples produced in multianvil and large diamond anvil cells. Techniques for handling small samples and attaching them to the calorimetric devices have been developed. Initial data illustrate application to CoO and to Fe2SiO4 olivine and spinel, a quenched high pressure phase metastable at ambient conditions. The calorimetric entropy of the olivine - spinel transition in Fe2SiO4 (−16 ± 5 J/mol·K) is in good agreement with that calculated from phase equilibrium data (−14 ± 3 J/mol·K). A magnetic transition in iron silicate spinel, detected previously by Mossbauer spectroscopy, is seen in the calorimetric signal