The influence of alloying on the stacking fault energy of gold from density functional theory calculations

The generalized stacking fault (SFE) energy curves of pure gold (Au) and its binary alloys with transition metals are determined from density functional theory (DFT). Alloy elements Ag, Al, Cu, Ni, Ti, Zr, Zn, In, Ga, Sn, Mn, Cd, Sn, Ta and Cr are substituted into Au at concentrations up to 4%. A comparison of various proposed methodologies to calculate SFEs is given. The intrinsic SFE decreases for all alloying elements from its value for pure Au, but SFE energies (both stable and unstable) vary strongly with the distance of the alloying element from the stacking fault region, and with alloy concentration. The compositional dependence of the SFE on the volume change associated with alloying element is determined. This work demonstrates that the SFE is strongly influenced by misfit strain caused by the alloying elements. Moreover, the computed generalized SFE curves provide information valuable to developing an understanding of the deformation behavior of Au and Au-alloys

Beliefs, barriers and preferences of European overweight women to adopt a healthier lifestyle in pregnancy to minimize risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus: an explorative study

Introduction: Overweight and obese women are at high risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). Lifestyle programs might help curb the GDM risk. We explored beliefs, perceived barriers and preferences regarding lifestyle changes among overweight European pregnant women to help inform the development of future high quality lifestyle interventions. Methods: An explorative mixed methods, two-staged study was conducted to gather information from pregnant European women (BMI≥25kg/m2). In three European countries (Belgium, Netherlands, United Kingdom) interviews were conducted, followed by questionnaires in six other European countries (Austria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Spain). Content analysis, descriptive and chi square statistics were applied (p<0.05). Results: Women preferred to obtain detailed information about their personal risk. The health of their baby was major motivating factor. Perceived barriers for physical activity included pregnancy-specific issues such as tiredness and experiencing physical complaints. Insufficient time was a barrier more frequently reported by women with children. Abstaining from snacking was identified as a challenge for the majority of women, especially for those without children. Women preferred to obtain support from their partner, as well as health professionals and valued flexible lifestyle programs. Conclusions: Healthcare professionals need to inform overweight pregnant women about their personal risk, discuss lifestyle modification and assist in weight management. Lifestyle programs should be tailored to the individual, taking into account barriers experienced by overweight first-time mothers and multipara women

Die Nerven und das Bindegewebe der Pia des Menschen im mikrophotographischen Bild

Die Nerven der Pia des Menschen können mit der Silberkarbonattechnik von del Rio Hortega an Ganzpräparaten mikrophotographisch klar wiedergegeben und zwanglos in 2 Systeme eingeteilt werden: 1. Das perivaskuläre System, das von Nerven gebildet wird, die nach ihrem Eintritt in die Pia direkt zu den Gefäßen verlaufen und die letzteren mit einem dichten Geflecht umgeben. Das Grundnetz, welches von Nerven gebildet wird, die a) gleich nach ihrem Eintritt in die Pia sich aufsplittern und den Hauptteil des Grundnetzes bilden; b) von Nerven, welche von einem gefäßwärts verlaufenden Nerven sich abzweigen; c) von Nerven, welche zum perivaskulären Plexus gehören, und schließlich d) von starken Nervenbündeln, welche innerhalb des Grundnetzes zahlreiche Plexus bilden und allmählich in dasselbe übergehen. Das Grundnetz selbst erscheint histologisch als ein in sich geschlossenes Ganzes und enthält keine besonderen Endformationen. Die Strukturen des Bindegewebes zerfallen ebenfalls in 2 Systeme: A. das perivaskuläre Gewebe und B. das die Maschen der Gefäße ausfüllende Netz. A. Die oberflächliche Schicht der Adventitia besteht aus dichten, gleichmäßig starken, parallel verlaufenden Fasern. Die 2. Lage enthält große, ovale oder birnenförmige Zellen mit zahlreichen Ausläufern, welche in der Literatur vielfach als Ganglienzellen gedeutet worden sind. Die 3. Schicht ist durch ovale Auftreibungen ihrer Fasern charakterisiert und die 4. besteht aus zarten, der Media anliegenden Fibrillen. B. Die Maschen zwischen den Gefäßen sind von einem dichten Gewirr sich sternförmig kreuzender Fasern ausgefüllt. Es bestehen direkte Verbindungen zwischen dem Bindegewebe und den Zellen der Arachnoidea. The nerves and connective tissue of the human pia were investigated with the silver carbonate method of del Rio Hortega . The nerves of the pia form two distinctly different but closely associated systems: 1. the perivascular system is made up of nerves which enter the pia, give numerous branches to the ground network (Grundnetz) (Fig. 1), and form perivascular plexuses (Figs. 2, 3, 4) and, 2. the ground network (Grundnetz), which spreads out over the entire pia and is supported by connective tissue structures. The ground network is formed by: A) nerves which enter the pia and split into numerous branches (Fig. 5), B) ramification of perivascular nerves (Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9), C) numerous plexuses derived from coarse nerves which have no direct connection with the vessels; these plexuses gradually merge with the ground network (Figs. 10, 11, 12). The ground network is a dense interwoven structure without demonstrable terminal formations (Fig. 13). The latter have been found only on the media of vessels (Fig. 14). The connective tissue structures are no less complicated than those of the nerves and can also be subdivided into two systems: 1. the adventitia, and 2. the interwoven network of stellate fibers which fills in the space between the vessels. In the adventitia there can be distinguished four layers: A) the upper which contains coarse parallel fibers (Fig. 15), B) the second which is characterized by large, oval or round elements with numerous processes (Fig. 16), C) the third which is composed of fibers with numerous bead-like swellings along their course (Figs. 17, 18), and D) the fourth which consists of delicate fibers which lie directly on the media (Fig. 19). The meshes between the vessels are filled with stellate fiber formations (Fig. 20). The connective tissue fibers of the upper strata of the pia are connected with the processes of the cells of the arachnoidea and are surrounded by numerous connective tissue loops (Fig. 21). Les nerfs et le tissue conjonctif de la pie-mère humaine furent vérifiés à l'aide de la microphotographie de pièces du tissue entier imprégnées à la méthode de del Rio Hortega . Les nerfs montrent deux systèmes différents: 1. Le système périvasculaire formé par des nerfs qui en entrant dans la piemère joignent les vaisseaux en entournant ceux-ci avec un réseau dense.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/41654/1/702_2005_Article_BF01227770.pd

Correction to: The Effects of Lifestyle and/or Vitamin D Supplementation Interventions on Pregnancy Outcomes: What Have we Learned from the DALI Studies? (Current Diabetes Reports, (2019), 19, 12, (162), 10.1007/s11892-019-1282-7)

The original version of this review article unfortunately contained a mistake

Sex-related effects in major depressive disorder: Results of the European Group for the Study of Resistant Depression

Background: Sex-related effects on the evolution and phenotype of major depressive disorder (MDD) were reported previously. Methods: This European multicenter cross-sectional study compared sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment patterns between males and females in a real-world sample of 1410 in- and outpatients with current MDD. Results: Male MDD patients (33.1%) were rather inpatients, suffered from moderate to high suicidality levels, received noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressants (ADs) as first-line AD treatment, generally higher mean AD daily doses, and showed a trend towards a more frequent administration of add-on treatments. Female MDD patients (66.9%) were rather outpatients, experienced lower suicidality levels, comorbid thyroid dysfunction, migraine, asthma, and a trend towards earlier disease onset. Conclusions: The identified divergencies may contribute to the concept of male and female depressive syndromes and serve as predictors of disease severity and course, as they reflect phenomena that were repeatedly related to treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Especially the greater necessity of inpatient treatment and more complex psychopharmacotherapy in men may reflect increased therapeutic efforts undertaken to treat suicidality and to avoid TRD. Hence, considering sex may guide the diagnostic and treatment processes towards targeting challenging clinical manifestations including comorbidities and suicidality, and prevention of TRD and chronicity

Increase in testosterone levels is related to a lower risk of conversion of prediabetes to manifest diabetes in prediabetic males

Background: Testosterone plays an important role in the regulation of glucose metabolism. While earlier studies have shown that it has a protective effect in males, unfavorable effects of testosterone on glucose metabolism have been reported in females; however, whether there is a sex-specific relationship between testosterone and glucose metabolism in patients with prediabetes has not been investigated in detail hitherto. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis investigated 423 males and 287 females with diagnosed prediabetes. Detailed assessment of their metabolic profiles was performed, including a 2‑h oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), HbA1c levels, calculation of insulin resistance with homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), assessment of lipid metabolism, anthropometric parameters and the fatty liver index (FLI). By using Spearman's correlation test, we investigated the sex-specific relationship between testosterone and metabolism in the prediabetic individuals. Results: In the present study, prediabetic females (mean age 58.6 years, confidence interval [CI: 57.6 y; 59.5 y]) were characterized by lower fasting plasma glucose levels (104.2 mg/dl [CI: 103.0 mg/dl; 105.4 mg/dl] vs. 106.9 mg/dl [CI: 106.0 mg/dl; 107.8 mg/dl]) and a lower FLI (49.5 [CI: 45.7; 53.2] vs. 58.8 [CI: 55.8; 61.8]), but presented with a higher risk of developing manifest type 2 diabetes in the next 10 years (FINDRISK score: 17.6 [CI: 17.1; 18.1] vs. 16.1 [CI: 15.7; 16.5]) when compared to prediabetic males (mean age: 58.04 years [CI: 57.0 y; 59.1 y]). Testosterone was negatively related to insulin resistance (HOMA-IR: Spearman's ρ: -0.33, p < 0.01), 2‑h stimulated glucose levels during the OGTT (ρ = -0.18, p < 0.01), HbA1c levels (ρ = -0.13, p < 0.05), FLI and BMI in prediabetic males; however, no relationship between testosterone and metabolic parameters could be found in prediabetic females. Conclusion: The increase of testosterone levels in males was related to a more favorable glucose metabolism, including lower HbA1c, lower stimulated glucose levels and higher insulin sensitivity; however, in prediabetic females, testosterone was not related to glucose metabolism

The importance of maternal insulin resistance throughout pregnancy on neonatal adiposity

Background: Although previous studies evaluated the association of maternal health parameters with neonatal adiposity, little is known regarding the complexity of the relationships among different maternal health parameters throughout pregnancy and its impact on neonatal adiposity. Objectives: To evaluate the direct and indirect associations between maternal insulin resistance during pregnancy, in women with obesity, and neonatal adiposity. In addition, associations between maternal fasting glucose, triglycerides (TG), non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA), and neonatal adiposity were also assessed. Methods: This is a longitudinal, secondary analysis of the DALI study, an international project conducted in nine European countries with pregnant women with obesity. Maternal insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), fasting glucose, TG, and NEFA were measured three times during pregnancy (<20, 24-28, and 35-37 weeks of gestation). Offspring neonatal adiposity was estimated by the sum of four skinfolds. Structural equation modelling was conducted to evaluate the direct and indirect relationships among the variables of interest. Results: Data on 657 mother-infant pairs (50.7% boys) were analysed. Neonatal boys exhibited lower mean sum of skinfolds compared to girls (20.3 mm, 95% CI 19.7, 21.0 vs 21.5 mm, 95% CI 20.8, 22.2). In boys, maternal HOMA-IR at <20 weeks was directly associated with neonatal adiposity (β = 0.35 mm, 95% CI 0.01, 0.70). In girls, maternal HOMA-IR at 24-28 weeks was only indirectly associated with neonatal adiposity, which implies that this association was mediated via maternal HOMA-IR, glucose, triglycerides, and NEFA during pregnancy (β = 0.26 mm, 95% CI 0.08, 0.44). Conclusions: The timing of the role of maternal insulin resistance on neonatal adiposity depends on fetal sex. Although the association was time-dependent, maternal insulin resistance was associated with neonatal adiposity in both sexes

Orbital effects of a monochromatic plane gravitational wave with ultra-low frequency incident on a gravitationally bound two-body system

We analytically compute the long-term orbital variations of a test particle orbiting a central body acted upon by an incident monochromatic plane gravitational wave. We assume that the characteristic size of the perturbed two-body system is much smaller than the wavelength of the wave. Moreover, we also suppose that the wave's frequency is much smaller than the particle's orbital one. We make neither a priori assumptions about the direction of the wavevector nor on the orbital geometry of the planet. We find that, while the semi-major axis is left unaffected, the eccentricity, the inclination, the longitude of the ascending node, the longitude of pericenter and the mean anomaly undergo non-vanishing long-term changes. They are not secular trends because of the slow modulation introduced by the tidal matrix coefficients and by the orbital elements themselves. They could be useful to indepenedently constrain the ultra-low frequency waves which may have been indirectly detected in the BICEP2 experiment. Our calculation holds, in general, for any gravitationally bound two-body system whose characteristic frequency is much larger than the frequency of the external wave. It is also valid for a generic perturbation of tidal type with constant coefficients over timescales of the order of the orbital period of the perturbed particle.Comment: LaTex2e, 24 pages, no figures, no tables. Changes suggested by the referees include