Controlling the corrosion and cathodic activation of magnesium via microalloying additions of Ge

The evolution of corrosion morphology and kinetics for magnesium (Mg) have been demonstrated to be influenced by cathodic activation, which implies that the rate of the cathodic partial reaction is enhanced as a result of anodic dissolution. This phenomenon was recently demonstrated to be moderated by the use of arsenic (As) alloying as a poison for the cathodic reaction, leading to significantly improved corrosion resistance. The pursuit of alternatives to toxic As is important as a means to imparting a technologically safe and effective corrosion control method for Mg (and its alloys). In this work, Mg was microalloyed with germanium (Ge), with the aim of improving corrosion resistance by retarding cathodic activation. Based on a combined analysis herein, we report that Ge is potent in supressing the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (reduction of water) upon Mg, improving corrosion resistance. With the addition of Ge, cathodic activation of Mg subject to cyclic polarisation was also hindered, with beneficial implications for future Mg electrodes

Evaluating rehabilitation following lumbar fusion surgery (REFS): study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND: The rate of lumbar fusion surgery (LFS) is increasing. Clinical recovery often lags technical outcome. Approximately 40% of patients undergoing LFS rate themselves as symptomatically unchanged or worse following surgery. There is little research describing rehabilitation following LFS with no clear consensus as to what constitutes the optimum strategy. It is important to develop appropriate rehabilitation strategies to help patients manage pain and recover lost function following LFS. METHODS/DESIGN: The study design is a randomised controlled feasibility trial exploring the feasibility of providing a complex multi-method rehabilitation intervention 3 months following LFS. The rehabilitation protocol that we have developed involves small participant groups of therapist led structured education utilising principles of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), progressive, individualised exercise and peer support. Participants will be randomly allocated to either usual care (UC) or the rehabilitation group (RG). We will recruit 50 subjects, planning to undergo LFS, over 30 months. Following LFS all participants will experience normal care for the first 3 months. Subsequent to a satisfactory 3 month surgical review they will commence their allocated post-operative treatment (RG or UC). Data collection will occur at baseline (pre-operatively), 3, 6 and 12 months post-operatively. Primary outcomes will include an assessment of feasibility factors (including recruitment and compliance). Secondary outcomes will evaluate the acceptability and characteristics of a limited cluster of quantitative measures including the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and an aggregated assessment of physical function (walking 50 yards, ascend/descend a flight of stairs). A nested qualitative study will evaluate participants' experiences. DISCUSSION: This study will evaluate the feasibility of providing complex, structured rehabilitation in small groups 3 months following technically successful LFS. We will identify strengths and weakness of the proposed protocol and the usefulness and characteristics of the planned outcome measures. This will help shape the development of rehabilitation strategies and inform future work aimed at evaluating clinical efficacy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN60891364, 10/07/2014

Quantifying the health impacts of ambient air pollutants: recommendations of a WHO/Europe project.

OBJECTIVE: Quantitative estimates of air pollution health impacts have become an increasingly critical input to policy decisions. The WHO project "Health risks of air pollution in Europe--HRAPIE" was implemented to provide the evidence-based concentration-response functions for quantifying air pollution health impacts to support the 2013 revision of the air quality policy for the European Union (EU). METHODS: A group of experts convened by WHO Regional Office for Europe reviewed the accumulated primary research evidence together with some commissioned reviews and recommended concentration-response functions for air pollutant-health outcome pairs for which there was sufficient evidence for a causal association. RESULTS: The concentration-response functions link several indicators of mortality and morbidity with short- and long-term exposure to particulate matter, ozone and nitrogen dioxide. The project also provides guidance on the use of these functions and associated baseline health information in the cost-benefit analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The project results provide the scientific basis for formulating policy actions to improve air quality and thereby reduce the burden of disease associated with air pollution in Europe

Multiple populations in globular clusters. Lessons learned from the Milky Way globular clusters

Recent progress in studies of globular clusters has shown that they are not simple stellar populations, being rather made of multiple generations. Evidence stems both from photometry and spectroscopy. A new paradigm is then arising for the formation of massive star clusters, which includes several episodes of star formation. While this provides an explanation for several features of globular clusters, including the second parameter problem, it also opens new perspectives about the relation between globular clusters and the halo of our Galaxy, and by extension of all populations with a high specific frequency of globular clusters, such as, e.g., giant elliptical galaxies. We review progress in this area, focusing on the most recent studies. Several points remain to be properly understood, in particular those concerning the nature of the polluters producing the abundance pattern in the clusters and the typical timescale, the range of cluster masses where this phenomenon is active, and the relation between globular clusters and other satellites of our Galaxy.Comment: In press (The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review

Cyclic AMP signalling pathways in the regulation of uterine relaxation

Studying the mechanism(s) of uterine relaxation is important and will be helpful in the prevention of obstetric difficulties such as preterm labour, which remains a major cause of perinatal mortality and morbidity. Multiple signalling pathways regulate the balance between maintaining relative uterine quiescence during gestation, and the transition to the contractile state at the onset of parturition. Elevation of intracellular cyclic AMP promotes myometrial relaxation, and thus quiescence, via effects on multiple intracellular targets including calcium channels, potassium channels and myosin light chain kinase. A complete understanding of cAMP regulatory pathways (synthesis and hydrolysis) would assist in the development of better tocolytics to delay or inhibit preterm labour. Here we review the enzymes involved in cAMP homoeostasis (adenylyl cyclases and phosphodiesterases) and possible myometrial substrates for the cAMP dependent protein kinase. We must emphasise the need to identify novel pharmacological targets in human pregnant myometrium to achieve safe and selective uterine relaxation when this is indicated in preterm labour or other obstetric complications

A descriptive study of a manual therapy intervention within a randomised controlled trial for hamstring and lower limb injury prevention

The journal has been informed by its publisher BioMed Central that contrary to the statement in this article [Wayne Hoskins, Henry Pollard, Chiropractic & Osteopathy 2010, 18:23], they have been advised by the authors' institution Macquarie University, that its Human Research Ethics Committee did not approve this study. Because the study was conducted without institutional ethics committee approval it has been retracted

Searching for dark matter signals from local dwarf spheroidal galaxies at low radio frequencies in the GLEAM survey

© 2020 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society The search for emission from weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter annihilation and decay has become a multipronged area of research not only targeting a diverse selection of astrophysical objects, but also taking advantage of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. The decay of WIMP particles into standard model particles has been suggested as a possible channel for synchrotron emission to be detected at low radio frequencies. Here, we present the stacking analysis of a sample of 33 dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxies with low-frequency (72-231 MHz) radio images from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. We produce radial surface brightness profiles of images centred upon each dSph galaxy with background radio sources masked. We remove 10 fields from the stacking due to contamination from either poorly subtracted, bright radio sources or strong background gradients across the field. The remaining 23 dSph galaxies are stacked in an attempt to obtain a statistical detection of any WIMP-induced synchrotron emission in these systems. We find that the stacked radial brightness profile does not exhibit a statistically significant detection above the 95 per cent confidence level of ∼1.5 mJy beam−1. This novel technique shows the potential of using low-frequency radio images to constrain fundamental properties of particle dark matter

Exercise and manual auricular acupuncture: a pilot assessor-blind randomised controlled trial. (The acupuncture and personalised exercise programme (APEP) Trial)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Evidence supports the use of exercise for chronic low back pain (CLBP); however, adherence is often poor due to ongoing pain. Auricular acupuncture is a form of pain relief involving the stimulation of points on the outer ear corresponding with specific body parts. It may be a useful adjunct to exercise in managing CLBP; however, there is only limited evidence to support its use with this patient group.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This study was designed to test the feasibility of an assessor-blind randomised controlled trial which assess the effects on clinical outcomes and exercise adherence of adding manual auricular acupuncture to a personalised and supervised exercise programme (PEP) for CLBP. No sample size calculation has been carried out as this study aims to identify CLBP referral rates within the catchment area of the study site. The researchers aim to recruit four cohorts of n = 20 participants to facilitate a power analysis for a future randomised controlled trial. A computer generated random allocation sequence will be prepared centrally and used to allocate participants by cohort to one of the following interventions: 1) six weeks of PEP <it>plus </it>manual auricular acupuncture; 2) six weeks of PEP alone. Both groups will also complete a further six weeks of self-paced exercise with telephone follow-up support. In addition to a baseline and exit questionnaire at the beginning and end of the study, the following outcomes will be collected at baseline, and after 7, 13 and 25 weeks: pain frequency and bothersomeness, back-specific function, objective assessment and recall of physical activity, use of analgesia, perceived self-efficacy, fear avoidance beliefs, and beliefs about the consequences of back pain. Since this is a feasibility study, significance tests will not be presented, and treatment effects will be represented by point estimates and confidence intervals. For each outcome variable, analysis of covariance will be performed on the data, conditioning on the baseline value.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The results of this study investigating the adjuvant effects of auricular acupuncture to exercise in managing CLBP will be used to inform the design of a future multi-centre randomised controlled trial.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN94142364.</p

Extremely short duration high intensity interval training substantially improves insulin action in young healthy males

Background: Traditional high volume aerobic exercise training reduces cardiovascular and metabolic disease risk but involves a substantial time commitment. Extremely low volume high-intensity interval training (HIT) has recently been demonstrated to produce improvements to aerobic function, but it is unknown whether HIT has the capacity to improve insulin action and hence glycemic control. Methods: Sixteen young men (age: 21 ± 2 y; BMI: 23.7 ± 3.1 kg·m-2; VO2peak: 48 ± 9 ml·kg-1·min-1) performed 2 weeks of supervised HIT comprising of a total of 15 min of exercise (6 sessions; 4-6 × 30-s cycle sprints per session). Aerobic performance (250-kJ self-paced cycling time trial), and glucose, insulin and NEFA responses to a 75-g oral glucose load (oral glucose tolerance test; OGTT) were determined before and after training. Results: Following 2 weeks of HIT, the area under the plasma glucose, insulin and NEFA concentration-time curves were all reduced (12%, 37%, 26% respectively, all P < 0.001). Fasting plasma insulin and glucose concentrations remained unchanged, but there was a tendency for reduced fasting plasma NEFA concentrations post-training (pre: 350 ± 36 v post: 290 ± 39 μmol·l-1, P = 0.058). Insulin sensitivity, as measured by the Cederholm index, was improved by 23% (P < 0.01), while aerobic cycling performance improved by ∼6% (P < 0.01). Conclusion: The efficacy of a high intensity exercise protocol, involving only ∼250 kcal of work each week, to substantially improve insulin action in young sedentary subjects is remarkable. This novel time-efficient training paradigm can be used as a strategy to reduce metabolic risk factors in young and middle aged sedentary populations who otherwise would not adhere to time consuming traditional aerobic exercise regimes