Mechanisms of nonstoichiometry in HfN_1-<i>x</i>

Density functional theory is used to calculate defect structures that can accommodate nonstoichiometry in hafnium nitride: HfN1-x, 0 ≤ X ≤ 0.25. It is predicted that a mechanism assuming simple distributions of nitrogen vacancies can accurately describe the variation in the experimentally observed lattice parameter with respect to the nitrogen nonstoichiometry. Although the lattice parameter changes are remarkably small across the whole nonstoichiometry range, the variations in the bulk modulus are much greater

Influence of surgery and rehabilitation conditioning on psychophysiological fitness

The purpose of this study was to assess changes in psychophysiological fitness following reconstructive knee surgery and early phase (2.5 months) physical rehabilitation. Nine patients (7 male, 2 female; mean age, 29.9 years) electing to undergo anterior cruciate ligament reconstructive surgery (central third, bone-patella tendon-bone graft) were assessed on four separate assessment occasions post-surgery. Repeated measures ANOVAs showed significant condition (injured/non-injured leg) by test occasion (2 weeks pre-surgery and 6, 8 and 10 weeks post-surgery) interactions for knee ligamentous compliance (anterior tibiofemoral displacement), peak force and electromechanical delay associated with the knee flexors of the injured and noninjured legs (F3,24 = 4.7 to 6.6; p < 0.01), together with individualized emotional profile disturbance scores that were significantly less at 10 weeks post-surgery compared to pre-surgery, 6 weeks and 8 weeks post-surgery (F3,24 = 7.6; p < 0.01). Spearman rank correlation coefficients identified significant relationships between musculoskeletal fitness and emotional profile scores at pre-surgery (r = 0.69–0.72; p < 0.05) and at 8 weeks post-surgery (r = 0.70–0.73; p < 0.05). The 6 Bi-POMS subscales and the 12 ERAIQ responses found inconsistent patterns of response and relationships across the assessment occasions. Overall, the patterning of changes and associations amongst emotional performance profile discrepancy scores in conjunction with those scores from indices of musculoskeletal fitness performance capability offered important support for the efficacy of an approach which integrates self-perceptive and objective measurements of fitness capability during rehabilitation following surgery to a synovial joint

Excavations at the Lower Palaeolithic Site at Elveden, Suffolk

The Lower Palaeolithic site at Elveden, Suffolk, was the subject of new excavations from 1995–1999. Excavations around the edge and in the centre of the former clay-pit revealed sediments infilling a lake basin that had formed in Lowestoft till, overlying Chalk, the till being attributed to the Anglian glaciation (MIS 12). The lake sediments contain pollen that can be assigned to pollen zones HoI and HoIIa of the early Hoxnian (MIS 11). Overlying grey clays contain ostracods, molluscs, vertebrates, and carbonate concretions. Together they are indicative of a fluvial environment in a temperate climate. AAR ratios (amino acid racemisation) on the molluscs also suggest correlation with MIS 11. Further indications of a fluvial context are indicated by thin spreads of lag gravel along opposite sides of the clay-pit, marking the edges of a channel. The gravel forms the raw material for the human industries which consist of handaxes, flake tools, flakes, and cores. Further artefacts are found in the overlying black clay, which is interpreted as a palaeosol that formed with the silting-up of the channel. The basin was further infilled with colluvial ‘brickearths’, which also contain artefacts that are probably derived from the underlying gravel. Further evidence of soil formation was identified in the ‘brickearth’. Coversands with periglacial involutions overlie the ‘brickearth’ at the top of the sequence. These probably formed in the last cold stage, the Devensian

Sistema sulco/camalhão para irrigação e drenagem em áreas de várzea.

SISTEMA SULCO/CAMALHÃO PARA IRRIGAÇÃO E DRENAGEM EM ÁREAS DE VÁRZEA - A soja e o milho são as principais culturas produtoras de grãos utilizadas na diversificação do sistema de produção nas várzeas do Rio Grande do Sul, em rotação com o arroz irrigado. Os principais fatores limitantes, para que estas culturas sejam produtivas e rentáveis neste sistema, são a deficiente drenagem natural do solo e a ocorrência de freqüentes períodos de estiagem, acarretando alternância entre o excesso e o déficit de umidade no solo. A Embrapa Clima Temperado testou e validou a técnica sulco/camalhão em áreas sistematizadas com e sem declive, para estes cultivos, com resultados bastante promissores. O sistema consiste na estruturação da lavoura para a irrigação por sulcos, obtendo-se, ao mesmo tempo, grande benefício em drenagem, com o cultivo sobre os camalhões formados entre os sulcos. Esta técnica, como sistema complementar de drenagem superficial do solo, mostrou-se muito eficiente mesmo nos cultivos em áreas sistematizadas sem declive, onde não existe um gradiente para escoamento superficial da água. O principal requisito para a irrigação por sulcos é que o terreno tenha uma declividade constante e uniforme, requerendo geralmente a sistematização do terreno. Para irrigações mais uniformes e eficientes, a declividade deve variar de 0,10% a 0,50%, sendo que valores intermediários entre 0,15% e 0,30% são os mais indicadosbitstream/item/31294/1/comunicado-165.pd

Engineered carbon-nanomaterial-based electrochemical sensors for biomolecules

The study of electrochemical behavior of bioactive molecules has become one of the most rapidly developing scientific fields. Biotechnology and biomedical engineering fields have a vested interest in constructing more precise and accurate voltammetric/amperometric biosensors. One rapidly growing area of biosensor design involves incorporation of carbon-based nanomaterials in working electrodes, such as one-dimensional carbon nanotubes, two-dimensional graphene, and graphene oxide. In this review article, we give a brief overview describing the voltammetric techniques and how these techniques are applied in biosensing, as well as the details surrounding important biosensing concepts of sensitivity and limits of detection. Building on these important concepts, we show how the sensitivity and limit of detection can be tuned by including carbon-based nanomaterials in the fabrication of biosensors. The sensing of biomolecules including glucose, dopamine, proteins, enzymes, uric acid, DNA, RNA, and H2O2 traditionally employs enzymes in detection; however, these enzymes denature easily, and as such, enzymeless methods are highly desired. Here we draw an important distinction between enzymeless and enzyme-containing carbon-nanomaterial-based biosensors. The review ends with an outlook of future concepts that can be employed in biosensor fabrication, as well as limitations of already proposed materials and how such sensing can be enhanced. As such, this review can act as a roadmap to guide researchers toward concepts that can be employed in the design of next generation biosensors, while also highlighting the current advancements in the field.ope

Effects of precompetition state anxiety interventions on performance time and accuracy among amateur soccer players: Revisiting the matching hypothesis

In this study, we tested the matching ypothesis, which contends that administration of a cognitive or somatic anxiety intervention should be matched to a participant's dominant anxiety response. Sixty-one male soccer players (mean age 31.6 years, s=6.3) were assigned to one of four groups based on their responses to the Competitive State Anxiety Inventory-2, which was modified to include a directional scale. Interventions were randomly administered in a counterbalanced order 10 min before each performance trial on a soccer skill test. The dominantly cognitive anxious group (n=17), the dominantly somatic anxious group (n=17), and the non-anxious control intervention group (n=14) completed a baseline performance trial. The second and third trials were completed with random administration of brief cognitive and somatic interventions. The non-anxious control group (n=13) completed three trials with no intervention. A mixed-model, GroupTreatment multivariate analysis of variance indicated significant (P0.05), or performance time or accuracy (P>0.05). The present findings do not provide support for the matching hypothesis for state anxiety intensity and direction, or for performance

Comportamento ecofisiológico de cultivares de arroz sobre Sulcocamalhão Residual em Terras Baixas de Clima Temperado.

O arroz é uma planta semiaquática, cultivada usualmente em monocultura em ambiente inundado. O sistema de sulco-camalhão foi idealizado para permitir o cultivo de espécies de sequeiro em terras baixas, viabilizando a rotação de culturas com o arroz. Após a colheita da espécie de sequeiro, normalmente o produtor retorna com o arroz, tendo custos associados ao desmonte dos camalhões antes da semeadura. Embora não seja a condição mais favorável ao arroz, a semeadura pode ocorrer sobre os camalhões residuais. Com o objetivo de averiguar a habilidade das plantas de arroz em retirar água do solo e em manter níveis adequados de clorofila nas folhas, quando semeadas sobre sulco-camalhão residual do cultivo anterior, foi instalado um experimento em condições de campo, na Embrapa Clima Temperado, com as cultivares BRS Pampa, BRS Pampeira e Guri. Os tratamentos consistiram na interação entre os seguintes fatores: (i) posição da planta na lavoura (início, centro e final); e (ii) posição da planta no perfil do sulco-camalhão (topo, base). Utilizou-se o método da amostragem aleatória com n = 15, e os dados foram analisados por estatística descritiva. Não foram observadas tensões de água no xilema maiores do que 530 kPa. BRS Pampeira apresentou melhor desempenho que as demais nesse quesito. Foi alcançado teor de clorofila total em torno de 42 ICF para BRS Pampa. O valor de referência (45 ICF de clorofila total) foi ultrapassado somente por BRS Pampa para plantas estabelecidas na base do camalhão, mais próximas à entrada de água. Os efeitos de tratamento sobre o teor de clorofila foram discretos.ODS

Growth/differentiation factor 15 causes TGFβ activated kinase 1 dependent muscle atrophy in pulmonary arterial hypertension

Introduction Skeletal muscle dysfunction is a clinically important complication of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Growth/differentiation factor 15 (GDF-15), a prognostic marker in PAH, has been associated with muscle loss in other conditions. We aimed to define the associations of GDF-15 and muscle wasting in PAH, to assess its utility as a biomarker of muscle loss and to investigate its downstream signalling pathway as a therapeutic target. Methods GDF-15 levels and measures of muscle size and strength were analysed in the monocrotaline (MCT) rat, Sugen/hypoxia mouse and in 30 patients with PAH. In C2C12 myotubes the downstream targets of GDF-15 were identified. The pathway elucidated was then antagonised in vivo. Results Circulating GDF-15 levels correlated with tibialis anterior (TA) muscle fibre diameter in the MCT rat (Pearson r=−0.61, p=0.003). In patients with PAH, plasma GDF-15 levels of <564 pg/L predicted those with preserved muscle strength with a sensitivity and specificity of ≥80%. In vitro GDF-15 stimulated an increase in phosphorylation of TGFβ-activated kinase 1 (TAK1). Antagonising TAK1, with 5(Z)-7-oxozeaenol, in vitro and in vivo led to an increase in fibre diameter and a reduction in mRNA expression of atrogin-1 in both C2C12 cells and in the TA of animals who continued to grow. Circulating GDF-15 levels were also reduced in those animals which responded to treatment. Conclusions Circulating GDF-15 is a biomarker of muscle loss in PAH that is responsive to treatment. TAK1 inhibition shows promise as a method by which muscle atrophy may be directly prevented in PAH

‘Sons of athelings given to the earth’: Infant Mortality within Anglo-Saxon Mortuary Geography

FOR 20 OR MORE YEARS early Anglo-Saxon archaeologists have believed children are underrepresented in the cemetery evidence. They conclude that excavation misses small bones, that previous attitudes to reporting overlook the very young, or that infants and children were buried elsewhere. This is all well and good, but we must be careful of oversimplifying compound social and cultural responses to childhood and infant mortality. Previous approaches have offered methodological quandaries in the face of this under-representation. However, proportionally more infants were placed in large cemeteries and sometimes in specific zones. This trend is statistically significant and is therefore unlikely to result entirely from preservation or excavation problems. Early medieval cemeteries were part of regional mortuary geographies and provided places to stage events that promoted social cohesion across kinship systems extending over tribal territories. This paper argues that patterns in early Anglo-Saxon infant burial were the result of female mobility. Many women probably travelled locally to marry in a union which reinforced existing social networks. For an expectant mother, however, the safest place to give birth was with experience women in her maternal home. Infant identities were affected by personal and legal association with their mother’s parental kindred, so when an infant died in childbirth or months and years later, it was their mother’s identity which dictated burial location. As a result, cemeteries central to tribal identities became places to bury the sons and daughters of a regional tribal aristocracy