The relative contributions of TWIP and TRIP to strength in fine grained medium-Mn steels

A medium Mn steel of composition Fe-4.8Mn-2.8Al-1.5Si-0.51C (wt.%) was processed to obtain two different microstructures representing two different approaches in the hot rolling mill, resulting in equiaxed vs. mixed equiaxed and lamellar microstructures. Both were found to exhibit a simultaneous Twinning Induced Plasticity and Transformation Induced Plasticity (TWIP ＋ TRIP) mechanism where deformation twins and -martensite formed independently of twinning with strain. Interrupted tensile tests were conducted in order to investigate the differences in deformation structures between the two microstructures. A constitutive model was used to find that, surprisingly, twinning contributed relatively little to the strength of the alloy, chiefly due to the fine initial slip lengths that then gave rise to relatively little opportunity for work hardening by grain subdivision. Nevertheless, with lower high-cost alloying additions than equivalent Dual Phase steels (2–3 wt% Mn) and greater ductility, medium-Mn TWIP ＋ TRIP steels still represent an attractive area for future development

1979: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

THE HOME IN CRISIS Being the Abilene Christian University Annual Bible Lectures 1979 Published by Abilene Christian University Book Store ACU Station Abilene, Texas 7960

1985: Abilene Christian College Bible Lectures - Full Text

WHAT THE CHURCH NEEDS TO HEAR Being the Abilene Christian University Annual Bible Lectures 1985 Published by A-C-U PRESS ACU Station Abilene, Texas 7969

Predicting the Impact of Climate Change on Threatened Species in UK Waters

Global climate change is affecting the distribution of marine species and is thought to represent a threat to biodiversity. Previous studies project expansion of species range for some species and local extinction elsewhere under climate change. Such range shifts raise concern for species whose long-term persistence is already threatened by other human disturbances such as fishing. However, few studies have attempted to assess the effects of future climate change on threatened vertebrate marine species using a multi-model approach. There has also been a recent surge of interest in climate change impacts on protected areas. This study applies three species distribution models and two sets of climate model projections to explore the potential impacts of climate change on marine species by 2050. A set of species in the North Sea, including seven threatened and ten major commercial species were used as a case study. Changes in habitat suitability in selected candidate protected areas around the UK under future climatic scenarios were assessed for these species. Moreover, change in the degree of overlap between commercial and threatened species ranges was calculated as a proxy of the potential threat posed by overfishing through bycatch. The ensemble projections suggest northward shifts in species at an average rate of 27 km per decade, resulting in small average changes in range overlap between threatened and commercially exploited species. Furthermore, the adverse consequences of climate change on the habitat suitability of protected areas were projected to be small. Although the models show large variation in the predicted consequences of climate change, the multi-model approach helps identify the potential risk of increased exposure to human stressors of critically endangered species such as common skate (Dipturus batis) and angelshark (Squatina squatina)

Tuberculosis diagnostics and biomarkers: needs, challenges, recent advances, and opportunities

Tuberculosis is unique among the major infectious diseases in that it lacks accurate rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests. Failure to control the spread of tuberculosis is largely due to our inability to detect and treat all infectious cases of pulmonary tuberculosis in a timely fashion, allowing continued Mycobacterium tuberculosis transmission within communities. Currently recommended gold-standard diagnostic tests for tuberculosis are laboratory based, and multiple investigations may be necessary over a period of weeks or months before a diagnosis is made. Several new diagnostic tests have recently become available for detecting active tuberculosis disease, screening for latent M. tuberculosis infection, and identifying drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. However, progress toward a robust point-of-care test has been limited, and novel biomarker discovery remains challenging. In the absence of effective prevention strategies, high rates of early case detection and subsequent cure are required for global tuberculosis control. Early case detection is dependent on test accuracy, accessibility, cost, and complexity, but also depends on the political will and funder investment to deliver optimal, sustainable care to those worst affected by the tuberculosis and human immunodeficiency virus epidemics. This review highlights unanswered questions, challenges, recent advances, unresolved operational and technical issues, needs, and opportunities related to tuberculosis diagnostics

A Qualitative Assessment of Participation in a Rapid Scale-Up, Diagonally-Integrated MDG-Related Disease Prevention Campaign in Rural Kenya

Background: Many countries face severe scale-up barriers toward achievement of MDGs. We ascertained motivational and experiential dimensions of participation in a novel, rapid, ‘‘diagonal’ ’ Integrated Prevention Campaign (IPC) in rural Kenya that provided prevention goods and services to 47,000 people within one week, aimed at rapidly moving the region toward MDG achievement. Specifically, the IPC provided interventions and commodities targeting disease burden reduction in HIV/ AIDS, malaria, and water-borne illness. Methods: Qualitative in-depth interviews (IDI) were conducted with 34 people (18 living with HIV/AIDS and 16 not HIVinfected) randomly selected from IPC attendees consenting to participate. Interviews were examined for themes and patterns to elucidate participant experience and motivation with IPC. Findings: Participants report being primarily motivated to attend IPC to learn of their HIV status (through voluntary counseling and testing), and with receipt of prevention commodities (bednets, water filters, and condoms) providing further incentive. Participants reported that they were satisfied with the IPC experience and offered suggestions to improve future campaigns. Interpretation: Learning their HIV status motivated participants along with the incentive of a wider set of commodities that were rapidly deployed through IPC in this challenging region. The critical role of wanting to know their HIV status combine

The worldwide marine radiocarbon reservoir effect: definitions, mechanisms, and prospects

When a carbon reservoir has a lower radiocarbon content than the atmosphere, this is referred to as a reservoir effect. This is expressed as an offset between the radiocarbon ages of samples from the two reservoirs at a single point in time. The marine reservoir effect (MRE) has been a major concern in the radiocarbon community, as it introduces an additional source of error that is often difficult to accurately quantify. For this reason, researchers are often reluctant to date marine material where they have another option. The influence of this phenomenon makes the study of the MRE important for a broad range of applications. The advent of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) has reduced sample size requirements and increased measurement precision, in turn increasing the number of studies seeking to measure marine samples. These studies rely on overcoming the influence of the MRE on marine radiocarbon dates through the worldwide quantification of the local parameter ΔR, that is, the local variation from the global average MRE. Furthermore, the strong dependence on ocean dynamics makes the MRE a useful indicator for changes in oceanic circulation, carbon exchange between reservoirs, and the fate of atmospheric CO2, all of which impact Earth's climate. This article explores data from the Marine Reservoir Database and reviews the place of natural radiocarbon in oceanic records, focusing on key questions (e.g., changes in ocean dynamics) that have been answered by MRE studies and on their application to different subjects

Clinical presentation, demographics and outcome of Tuberculosis (TB) in a low incidence area: a 4-year study in Geneva, Switzerland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The incidence of tuberculosis (TB) in developed countries has decreased since the 1990s, reflecting worldwide efforts to identify and treat TB according to WHO recommendations. However TB remains an important public health problem in industrialized countries with a high proportion of cases occurring among subjects originating from high prevalence countries. The aim of this study was to describe clinical and social characteristics of patients with TB and their outcome in a low incidence area with a high immigration rate.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Four-year retrospective study based on a computerized database and subsequent review of medical records of all patients with TB followed at the outpatient section of the Division of Pulmonary Diseases, Geneva University Hospital, Switzerland.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>252 patients (84% foreigners, 25% asylum seekers) aged 38 ± 19 yrs were studied (11% co-infected with HIV). TB was intrapulmonary (TBP) in 158 cases (63%), extrapulmonary (TBE) in 137 (54%), and both in 43 cases (17%). TBP was smear (S)+/culture (C)+ in 59%, S-/C+ in 37%, S-/C- in 4%. Smoking was significantly associated with cavitary disease.</p> <p>Time from onset of symptoms to diagnosis was 2.1 ± 3.1 months. Initially, 10% were asymptomatic; 35% had no general symptoms. Despite systematic sputum analysis (induced or spontaneous), TBP was confirmed only by bronchoscopy in 38 subjects (24% of TBP). Side effects requiring changes in treatment occurred in 38 cases (11%).</p> <p>Treatment was completed in 210 (83%) patients. In 42 cases, follow up was unsuccessful; causes were: failure (n = 2; 0.8%), defaulters (n = 8; 3%), transfer out (n = 28; 11%) and death (n = 4; 1.6%). Relapse rate was 0.24 per 100 patient-years. Considering S+ TBP only, success rate was 87%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>TB in our area is predominantly a disease of young foreign-born subjects. Smoking appears as a possible risk factor for cavitary TBP. Time to diagnosis remains long. Compliance to treatment is satisfactory. Success rate for S+ TBP is within WHO objectives.</p

Fitting the integrated Spectral Energy Distributions of Galaxies

Fitting the spectral energy distributions (SEDs) of galaxies is an almost universally used technique that has matured significantly in the last decade. Model predictions and fitting procedures have improved significantly over this time, attempting to keep up with the vastly increased volume and quality of available data. We review here the field of SED fitting, describing the modelling of ultraviolet to infrared galaxy SEDs, the creation of multiwavelength data sets, and the methods used to fit model SEDs to observed galaxy data sets. We touch upon the achievements and challenges in the major ingredients of SED fitting, with a special emphasis on describing the interplay between the quality of the available data, the quality of the available models, and the best fitting technique to use in order to obtain a realistic measurement as well as realistic uncertainties. We conclude that SED fitting can be used effectively to derive a range of physical properties of galaxies, such as redshift, stellar masses, star formation rates, dust masses, and metallicities, with care taken not to over-interpret the available data. Yet there still exist many issues such as estimating the age of the oldest stars in a galaxy, finer details ofdust properties and dust-star geometry, and the influences of poorly understood, luminous stellar types and phases. The challenge for the coming years will be to improve both the models and the observational data sets to resolve these uncertainties. The present review will be made available on an interactive, moderated web page (sedfitting.org), where the community can access and change the text. The intention is to expand the text and keep it up to date over the coming years.Comment: 54 pages, 26 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics & Space Scienc

Evolution of the patellar sesamoid bone in mammals

The patella is a sesamoid bone located in the major extensor tendon of the knee joint, in the hindlimb of many tetrapods. Although numerous aspects of knee morphology are ancient and conserved among most tetrapods, the evolutionary occurrence of an ossified patella is highly variable. Among extant (crown clade) groups it is found in most birds, most lizards, the monotreme mammals and almost all placental mammals, but it is absent in most marsupial mammals as well as many reptiles. Here, we integrate data from the literature and first-hand studies of fossil and recent skeletal remains to reconstruct the evolution of the mammalian patella. We infer that bony patellae most likely evolved between four and six times in crown group Mammalia: in monotremes, in the extinct multituberculates, in one or more stem-mammal genera outside of therian or eutherian mammals and up to three times in therian mammals. Furthermore, an ossified patella was lost several times in mammals, not including those with absent hindlimbs: once or more in marsupials (with some re-acquisition) and at least once in bats. Our inferences about patellar evolution in mammals are reciprocally informed by the existence of several human genetic conditions in which the patella is either absent or severely reduced. Clearly, development of the patella is under close genomic control, although its responsiveness to its mechanical environment is also important (and perhaps variable among taxa). Where a bony patella is present it plays an important role in hindlimb function, especially in resisting gravity by providing an enhanced lever system for the knee joint. Yet the evolutionary origins, persistence and modifications of a patella in diverse groups with widely varying habits and habitats—from digging to running to aquatic, small or large body sizes, bipeds or quadrupeds—remain complex and perplexing, impeding a conclusive synthesis of form, function, development and genetics across mammalian evolution. This meta-analysis takes an initial step toward such a synthesis by collating available data and elucidating areas of promising future inquiry