Modelling the coefficient of thermal expansion in Ni-based superalloys and bond coatings

The coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of nickel-based superalloys and bond coat layers was modelled by considering contributions from their constituent phases. The equilibrium phase composition of the examined materials was determined using thermodynamic equilibrium software with an appropriate database for Ni-based alloys, whereas the CTE and elastic properties of the principal phases were modelled using published data. The CTEs of individual phases were combined using a number of approaches to determine the CTE of the phase aggregate. As part of this work, the expansion coefficients of the superalloy IN-738LC and bond coat Amdry-995 were measured as a function of temperature and compared with the model predictions. The predicted values were also validated with the published data for the single-crystal superalloy CMSX-4 and a number of other Ni-based alloy compositions at 1000 K. A very good agreement between experiment and model output was found, especially up to 800  $$^\circ$$ � C. The modelling approaches discussed in this paper have the potential to be an extremely useful tool for the industry and for the designers of new coating systems

Investigating the widely held belief that men and women with learning disabilities receive poor quality healthcare when admitted to hospital: a single-site study of 30-day readmission rates.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to use 30-day readmission rates to investigate the presumption that men and women with learning disabilities (LDs, known internationally as intellectual disabilities) receive poorer quality hospital care than their non-disabled peers. METHOD: A 12-month retrospective audit was conducted using Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) at a single acute hospital in the East of England. This identified all in-patient admissions; admissions where the person concerned was recognised as having a LD; and all emergency readmissions within 30 days of discharge. Additionally, the healthcare records of all patients identified as having a LD and readmitted within 30 days as a medical emergency were examined in order to determine whether or not these readmissions were potentially preventable. RESULTS: Over the study period, a total of 66 870 adults were admitted as in-patients, among whom 7408 were readmitted as medical emergencies within 30 days of discharge: a readmission rate of 11%. Of these 66 870 patients, 256 were identified as having a LD, with 32 of them experiencing at least one emergency readmission within 30 days: a readmission rate of 13%. When examined, the healthcare records pertaining to these 32 patients who had a total of 39 unique 30-day readmissions revealed that 69% (n = 26) of these readmissions were potentially preventable. CONCLUSION: Although overall readmission rates were similar for patients with LDs and those from the general population, patients with LDs had a much higher rate of potentially preventable readmissions when compared to a general population estimate from van Walraven et al. This suggests that there is still work to be done to ensure that this patient population receives hospital care that is both safe and of high quality.This research was funded by a grant from the Addenbrooke's Charitable Trust (CK), while the preparation of this paper was funded by the Health Foundation (AH, MR) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care East of England (AH, MR, AW) at Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Wiley via http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jir.1219

Fresh Activity in Old Systems: Radio AGN in Fossil Groups of Galaxies

We present the first systematic 1.4 GHz Very Large Array radio continuum survey of fossil galaxy group candidates. These are virialized systems believed to have assembled over a gigayear in the past through the merging of galaxy group members into a single, isolated, massive elliptical galaxy and featuring an extended hot X-ray halo. We use new photometric and spectroscopic data from SDSS Data Release 7 to determine that three of the candidates are clearly not fossil groups. Of the remaining 30 candidates, 67% contain a radio-loud (L_1.4GHz > 10^23 W Hz^-1) active galactic nucleus (AGN) at the center of their dominant elliptical galaxy. We find a weak correlation between the radio luminosity of the AGN and the X-ray luminosity of the halo suggesting that the AGN contributes to energy deposition into the intragroup medium. We only find a correlation between the radio and optical luminosity of the central elliptical galaxy when we include X-ray selected, elliptically dominated non-fossil groups, indicating a weak relationship between AGN strength and the mass assembly history of the groups. The dominant elliptical galaxy of fossil groups is on average roughly an order of magnitude more luminous than normal group elliptical galaxies in optical, X-ray, and radio luminosities and our findings are consistent with previous results that the radio-loud fraction in elliptical galaxies is linked to the stellar mass of a population. The current level of activity in fossil groups suggests that AGN fueling continues long after the last major merger. We discuss several possibilities for fueling the AGN at the present epoch.Comment: Accepted for publication in A

Systemic restoration of UBA1 ameliorates disease in spinal muscular atrophy

Acknowledgments Blood biochemistry analysis and serum analysis were performed by the Easter Bush Pathology Department, University of Edinburgh. Animal husbandry was performed by Centre for Integrative Physiology bio-research restructure technical staff, University of Edinburgh. Assistance with intravenous injections was provided by Ian Coldicott (University of Sheffield) and Hannah Shorrock (University of Edinburgh). Human blood cDNA was a gift to GH from Kathy Evans, University of Edinburgh. Imaging was performed at the IMPACT imaging facility, University of Edinburgh, with technical assistance from Anisha Kubasik-Thayil. The authors would also like to thank Lyndsay Murray for technical discussions relating to qRT-PCR analysis. This work was supported by funding from the SMA Trust and the Anatomical Society (via grants to THG); the Euan MacDonald Centre for Motor Neurone Disease Research (via grants to THG and SHP); the Wellcome Trust (via grants to EJNG and THG); Muscular Dystrophy UK (via grants to THG and CGB); a Elphinstone Scholarship from the University of Aberdeen (to SHP); and The French Muscular Dystrophy Association (via grants to CM and JC).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Electrochemical titrations and reaction time courses monitored in situ by magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy

Magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectra, at ultraviolet–visible or near-infrared wavelengths (185–2000 nm), contain the same transitions observed in conventional absorbance spectroscopy, but their bisignate nature and more stringent selection rules provide greatly enhanced resolution. Thus, they have proved to be invaluable in the study of many transition metal-containing proteins. For mainly technical reasons, MCD has been limited almost exclusively to the measurement of static samples. But the ability to employ the resolving power of MCD to follow changes at transition metal sites would be a potentially significant advance. We describe here the development of a cuvette holder that allows reagent injection and sample mixing within the 50-mm-diameter ambient temperature bore of an energized superconducting solenoid. This has allowed us, for the first time, to monitor time-resolved MCD resulting from in situ chemical manipulation of a metalloprotein sample. Furthermore, we report the parallel development of an electrochemical cell using a three-electrode configuration with physically separated working and counter electrodes, allowing true potentiometric titration to be performed within the bore of the MCD solenoid

Case report: Severe mercuric sulphate poisoning treated with 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulphonate and haemodiafiltration

INTRODUCTION: Inorganic mercury poisoning is uncommon, but when it occurs it can result in severe, life-threatening features and acute renal failure. Previous reports on the use of extracorporeal procedures such as haemodialysis and haemoperfusion have shown no significant removal of mercury. We report here the successful use of the chelating agent 2,3-dimercaptopropane-1-sulphonate (DMPS), together with continuous veno-venous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF), in a patient with severe inorganic mercury poisoning. CASE REPORT: A 40-year-old man presented with haematemesis after ingestion of 1 g mercuric sulphate and rapidly deteriorated in the emergency department, requiring intubation and ventilation. His initial blood mercury was 15 580 μg/l. At 4.5 hours after ingestion he was started on DMPS. He rapidly developed acute renal failure and so he was started on CVVHDF for renal support and in an attempt to improve mercury clearance; CVVHDF was continued for 14 days. METHODS: Regular ultradialysate and pre- and post-filtrate blood samples were taken and in addition all ultradialysate generated was collected to determine its mercury content. RESULTS: The total amount of mercury in the ultrafiltrate was 127 mg (12.7% of the ingested dose). The sieving coefficient ranged from 0.13 at 30-hours to 0.02 at 210-hours after ingestion. He developed no neurological features and was discharged from hospital on day 50. Five months after discharge from hospital he remained asymptomatic, with normal creatinine clearance. DISCUSSION: We describe a patient with severe inorganic mercury poisoning in whom full recovery occurred with the early use of the chelating agent DMPS and CVVHDF. There was removal of a significant amount of mercury by CVVHDF. CONCLUSION: We feel that CVVHDF should be considered in patients with inorganic mercury poisoning, particularly those who develop acute renal failure, together with meticulous supportive care and adequate doses of chelation therapy with DMPS

Challenging Perceptions of Disability through Performance Poetry Methods: The "Seen but Seldom Heard" Project.

This paper considers performance poetry as a method to explore lived experiences of disability. We discuss how poetic inquiry used within a participatory arts-based research framework can enable young people to collectively question society’s attitudes and actions towards disability. Poetry will be considered as a means to develop a more accessible and effective arena in which young people with direct experience of disability can be empowered to develop new skills that enable them to tell their own stories. Discussion of how this can challenge audiences to critically reflect upon their own perceptions of disability will also be developed

Structure and expression of GSL1 and GSL2 genes encoding gibberellin stimulated-like proteins in diploid and highly heterozygous tetraploid potato reveals their highly conserved and essential status

Background: GSL1 and GSL2, Gibberellin Stimulated-Like proteins (also known as Snakin-1 and Snakin-2), are cysteine-rich peptides from potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) with antimicrobial properties. Similar peptides in other species have been implicated in diverse biological processes and are hypothesised to play a role in several aspects of plant development, plant responses to biotic or abiotic stress through their participation in hormone crosstalk, and redox homeostasis. To help resolve the biological roles of GSL1 and GSL2 peptides we have undertaken an in depth analysis of the structure and expression of these genes in potato. Results: We have characterised the full length genes for both GSL1 (chromosome 4) and GSL2 (chromosome 1) from diploid and tetraploid potato using the reference genome sequence of potato, coupled with further next generation sequencing of four highly heterozygous tetraploid cultivars. The frequency of SNPs in GSL1 and GSL2 were very low with only one SNP every 67 and 53 nucleotides in exon regions of GSL1 and GSL2, respectively. Analysis of comprehensive RNA-seq data substantiated the role of specific promoter motifs in transcriptional control of gene expression. Expression analysis based on the frequency of next generation sequence reads established that GSL2 was expressed at a higher level than GSL1 in 30 out of 32 tissue and treatment libraries. Furthermore, both the GSL1 and GSL2 genes exhibited constitutive expression that was not up regulated in response to biotic or abiotic stresses, hormone treatments or wounding. Potato transformation with antisense knock-down expression cassettes failed to recover viable plants. Conclusions: The potato GSL1 and GSL2 genes are very highly conserved suggesting they contribute to an important biological function. The known antimicrobial activity of the GSL proteins, coupled with the FPKM analysis from RNA-seq data, implies that both genes contribute to the constitutive defence barriers in potatoes. The lethality of antisense knock-down expression of GSL1 and GSL2, coupled with the rare incidence of SNPs in these genes, suggests an essential role for this gene family. These features are consistent with the GSL protein family playing a role in several aspects of plant development in addition to plant defence against biotic stresses. © 2014 Meiyalaghan et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd