Transient peak-strain matching partially recovers the age-impaired mechanoadaptive cortical bone response

Mechanoadaptation maintains bone mass and architecture; its failure underlies age-related decline in bone strength. It is unclear whether this is due to failure of osteocytes to sense strain, osteoblasts to form bone or insufficient mechanical stimulus. Mechanoadaptation can be restored to aged bone by surgical neurectomy, suggesting that changes in loading history can rescue mechanoadaptation. We use non-biased, whole-bone tibial analyses, along with characterisation of surface strains and ensuing mechanoadaptive responses in mice at a range of ages, to explore whether sufficient load magnitude can activate mechanoadaptation in aged bone. We find that younger mice adapt when imposed strains are lower than in mature and aged bone. Intriguingly, imposition of short-term, high magnitude loading effectively primes cortical but not trabecular bone of aged mice to respond. This response was regionally-matched to highest strains measured by digital image correlation and to osteocytic mechanoactivation. These data indicate that aged bone’s loading response can be partially recovered, non-invasively by transient, focal high strain regions. Our results indicate that old murine bone does respond to load when the loading is of sufficient magnitude, and bones’ age-related adaptation failure may be due to insufficient mechanical stimulus to trigger mechanoadaptation

Analysis of Dehydration and Strength in Elite Badminton Players

Background: The negative effects of dehydration on aerobic activities are well established. However, it is unknown how dehydration affects intermittent sports performance. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of dehydration in elite badminton players and its relation to muscle strength and power production. Methodology: Seventy matches from the National Spanish badminton championship were analyzed (46 men?s singles and 24 women?s singles). Before and after each match, jump height and power production were determined during a countermovement jump on a force platform. Participants? body weight and a urine sample were also obtained before and after each match. The amount of liquid that the players drank during the match was also calculated by weighing their individual drinking bottles. Results and Discussion: Sweat rate during the game was 1.1460.46 l/h in men and 1.0260.64 l/h in women. The players rehydrated at a rate of 1.1060.55 l/h and 1.0160.44 l/h in the male and female groups respectively. Thus, the dehydration attained during the game was only 0.3760.50% in men and 0.3260.83% in women. No differences were found in any of the parameters analyzed during the vertical jump (men: from 31.8265.29 to 32.9064.49 W/kg; p.0.05, women: from 26.3664.73 to 27.2564.44 W/kg; p.0.05). Post-exercise urine samples revealed proteinuria (60.9% of cases in men and 66.7% in women), leukocyturia (men = 43.5% and women = 50.0%) and erythrocyturia (men = 50.0% and women = 21.7%). Conclusions: Despite a moderate sweat rate, badminton players adequately hydrated during a game and thus the dehydration attained was low. The badminton match did not cause muscle fatigue but it significantly increased the prevalence of proteinuria, leukocyturia and erythrocyturia

First-principles study of defect behavior in irradiated uranium monocarbide

International audienceAb initio electron theory based on the projector-augmented-wave method in the generalized gradient approximation of the density functional theory is used for calculating formation and migration energies of point defects in uranium monocarbide (UC). The use of the Hubbard term to describe the 5f electrons of uranium is discussed on the basis of the density of states and cohesive energies. A formalism allowing the "raw" calculated energies to be normalized is proposed to take into account the compositional dependence of defective crystals. Such formation energies are then used to determine the population of predominant defects as a function of nonstoichiometry. We identify the most stable defects as uranium antisites and carbon vacancies for UC(1-x), and dimers C(2) for UC(1+ x). The most stable thermal defects are obtained, in turn, by formation of complex defects associating dimer C(2) and carbon vacancies whereas carbon Frenkel pairs and Schottky defects require larger formation energies. The migration energies are also calculated for different mechanisms, using as diffusion vectors both thermal vacancy sources and preexisting constitutional defects in the case of off-stoichiometric alloys. We compare the calculated diffusion paths with available experimental data proposed by Matzke [J. Less-Common Met. 121, 537 (1986)]

First-principles study of the stability of fission products in uranium monocarbide

International audienceThe incorporation and stability of fission products in uranium monocarbide are studied by means of Density Functional Theory using the generalized gradient approximation and projector-augmented waves method. The computations are performed considering incorporation sites of UC, such as the U, C and interstitial sites, and Schottky defects. The computed incorporation energies are discussed on the basis of the atomic size of the fission products, their chemical environment and the electronic structure. These energies show that all the studied fission products would preferentially occupy the U site. However, incorporation energies do not provide any further information on the fission product location in the case of unavailability of the sites which is why the concept of solution energies is also used. The solution energies obtained confirm that all the fission products are expected to be more stable on a U site of a single uranium vacancy or within a non-bound Schottky defect in equilibrium conditions. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Investigation of the diffusion of atomic fission products in UC by density functional calculations

Activation energies of U and C atoms self-diffusion in UC, as well as activation energies of hetero-diffusion of fission products (FPs) are investigated by first-principles calculations. According to a previous study which showed a likely U site occupation was favoured for all the FPs, their diffusion is restricted to the uranium sublattice of UC in the present study. In this framework, long-range displacements are only possible through a concerted mechanism with a surrounding uranium vacancy. Using the apparent formation energies of the uranium vacancy defect calculated in our previous study and the classical approach used in UO2 by Andersson et al., the activation energies of the main fission products in the various stoichiometric domains have been calculated. The results are compared to those obtained with the five frequency model applied to two representative fission products, Xe and Zr. Interestingly, despite strong differences of formalism, both models provided similar activation energies. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

La Caractéristique des Styles (风格的特征)

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Fuel and fission product behaviour in early phases of a severe accident. Part II Interpretation of the experimental results of the PHEBUS FPT2 test

International audienceOne objective of the FPT2 test of the PHEBUS FP Program was to study the degradation of an irradiated UO2 fuel bundle and the fission product behaviour under conditions of low steam flow. The results of the post-irradiation examinations (PIE) at the upper levels (823 mm and 900 mm) of the test section previously reported are interpreted in the present paper. Solid state interactions between fuel and cladding have been compared with the characteristics of interaction identified in the previous separate-effect tests. Corium resulting from the interaction between fuel and cladding was formed. The uranium concentration in the corium is compared to analytical tests and a scenario for the corium formation is proposed. The analysis showed that, despite the rather low fuel burn up, the conditions of temperature and oxygen potential reached during the starvation phase are able to give an early very significant release fraction of caesium. A significant part (but not all) of the molybdenum was segregated at grain boundaries and trapped in metallic inclusions from which they were totally removed in the final part of the experiment. During the steam starvation phase, the conditions of oxygen potential were favourable for the formation of simple Ba and BaO chemical forms but the temperature was too low to provoke their volatility. This is one important difference with out-of-pile experiments such as VERCORS for which only a combination of high temperature and low oxygen potential induced a significant barium release. Finally another significant difference with analytical out-of-pile experiments comes from the formation of foamy zones due to the fission gas presence in FPT2-type experiments which give an additional possibility for the formation of stable fission product compounds. © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved