Influence of inorganic solution components on lithium carbonate crystal growth

Lithium-bearing brines are an increasingly attractive source of Li for extraction. One extraction mechanism is the removal of Li from the fluid phase through the precipitation of zabuyelite (Li2CO3). The chemistry of the brine plays an important role in this process because ions in solution can compete for the components of the Li-carbonate phase. Here we explore the effect of different brine components on the precipitation of zabuyelite using experiments and computational simulations. Crystals formed in all solutions showed morphological evidence for potential transformation from a precursor phase. Our study indicates that Ca2+ and SO42– are incorporated into the precipitated zabuyelite crystals. Sulfate also interacts directly with specific surfaces on the growing crystal and is expected to form ion pairs with Li+ in solution. Similarly, Na+ appears to form ion pairs in solution with the carbonate ion, slowing nucleation of zabuyelite in the experiments. K+ and Cl– may interact with the growing zabuyelite crystals but do not appear to affect zabuyelite nucleation and growth times. These experiments highlight the importance of understanding the solution chemistry on zabuyelite formation in order to predict the efficiency of extraction processes and the purity of the solids

Three birds with one stone: Tidal wetland restoration, carbon sequestration, and enhancing resilience to rising sea levels in the Snohomish River Estuary, Washington

Recent attention has focused on exploring the carbon storage and sequestration values of tidal wetlands to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. Efforts are now underway to develop the tools and refine the science needed to bring carbon markets to bear on tidal wetland restoration activities. Effective restoration not only maximizes carbon storage in former tidal wetlands but also, through the accumulation of organic and mineral matter, enhances these systems’ resilience to rising sea levels. To this end, this project focuses on the Snohomish River estuary of the Puget Sound, Washington, which offers a continuum of diked and un-diked wetlands including seasonal floodplains, open mudflats, mature and tidal forests, and salt marsh habitats. In addition, there is strong restoration potential in a suite of ongoing and proposed projects. We report here on the carbon storage pools, long-term sediment accretion rates (100 years), and estimated rates of carbon storage, derived from sediment cores collected at representative sites within the Snohomish estuary during the spring and summer of 2013. We found that natural wetlands (open to tidal exchange and riverine inputs) were accreting at rates that equaled or exceeded current rates of eustatic sea level rise, while formerly, or currently diked wetlands (closed to such exchanges and inputs) revealed marked evidence of subsidence. Restored sites showed evidence of both high rates of sediment accretion (1.61 cm/year) and carbon storage (352 g C/m2/year)

Predictors of quality of care in mental health supported accommodation services in England: a multiple regression modelling study.

BACKGROUND: Specialist mental health supported accommodation services are a key component to a graduated level of care from hospital to independently living in the community for people with complex, longer term mental health problems. However, they come at a high cost and there has been a lack of research on the quality of these services. The QuEST (Quality and Effectiveness of Supported tenancies) study, a five-year programme of research funded by the National Institute for Health Research, aimed to address this. It included the development of the first standardised quality assessment tool for supported accommodation services, the QuIRC-SA (Quality Indicator for Rehabilitative Care - Supported Accommodation). Using data collected from the QuIRC-SA, we aimed to identify potential service characteristics that were associated with quality of care. METHODS: Data collected from QuIRC-SAs with 150 individual services in England (28 residential care, 87 supported housing and 35 floating outreach) from four different sources were analysed using multiple regression modelling to investigate associations between service characteristics (local authority area index score, total beds/spaces, staffing intensity, percentage of male service users and service user ability) and areas of quality of care (Living Environment, Therapeutic Environment, Treatments and Interventions, Self-Management and Autonomy, Social Interface, Human Rights and Recovery Based Practice). RESULTS: The local authority area in which the service is located, the service size (number of beds/places) and the usual expected length of stay were each negatively associated with up to six of the seven QuIRC-SA domains. Staffing intensity was positively associated with two domains (Therapeutic Environment and Treatments and Interventions) and negatively associated with one (Human Rights). The percentage of male service users was positively associated with one domain (Treatments and Interventions) and service user ability was not associated with any of the domains. CONCLUSIONS: This study identified service characteristics associated with quality of care in specialist mental health supported accommodation services that can be used in the design and specification of services

Discovery and structure-activity relationships of a novel isothiazolone class of bacterial type II topoisomerase inhibitors

There is an urgent and unmet medical need for new antibacterial drugs that tackle infections caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. During the course of our wider efforts to discover and exploit novel mechanism of action antibacterials, we have identified a novel series of isothiazolone based inhibitors of bacterial type II topoisomerase. Compounds from the class displayed excellent activity against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria with encouraging activity against a panel of MDR clinical Escherichia coli isolates when compared to ciprofloxacin. Representative compounds also displayed a promising in vitro safety profile

Structural Brain Alterations in Individuals at Ultra-high Risk for Psychosis: A Review of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies and Future Directions

Individuals at ultra-high-risk (UHR) for psychosis have become a major focus for research designed to explore markers for early detection of and clinical intervention in schizophrenia. In particular, structural magnetic resonance imaging studies in UHR individuals have provided important insight into the neurobiological basis of psychosis and have shown the brain changes associated with clinical risk factors. In this review, we describe the structural brain abnormalities in magnetic resonance images in UHR individuals. The current accumulated data demonstrate that abnormalities in the prefrontal and temporal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex occur before illness onset. These regions are compatible with the regions of structural deficits found in schizophrenia and first-episode patients. In addition, the burgeoning evidence suggests that such structural abnormalities are potential markers for the transition to psychosis. However, most findings to date are limited because they are from cross-sectional rather than longitudinal studies. Recently, researchers have emphasized neurodevelopmental considerations with respect to brain structural alterations in UHR individuals. Future studies should be conducted to characterize the differences in the brain developmental trajectory between UHR individuals and healthy controls using a longitudinal design. These new studies should contribute to early detection and management as well as provide more predictive markers of later psychosis

Insetos em presépios e as "formigas vestidas" de Jules Martin (1832-1906): uma curiosa manufatura paulistana do final do século XIX

Encontrados no Brasil desde os primórdios da colonização portuguesa, os presépios logo tiveram de adaptar-se à realidade local, circunstância muito propícia ao aparecimento de concepções heterodoxas e ao emprego de elementos exóticos da fauna e flora de cada região. Como registros envolvendo insetos são muito pouco comuns, chama a atenção que fêmeas de saúva, Atta sp. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), tenham sido aproveitadas na composição de presépios no estado de São Paulo. Tendo subsistido pelo menos até a década 1960, os "presépios de formigas" existentes em cidades como Embu das Artes poderiam estar relacionados às "formigas vestidas" criadas por Jules Martin, curiosa manufatura paulistana do último quartel do século XIX.Present in Brazil since the beginning of Portuguese colonization, crèche nativity scenes were soon adapted to local reality, a propitious circumstance for the appearance of heterodox conceptions and the use of exotic elements of the fauna and flora peculiar to each region. As records about insects are very uncommon, it is noteworthy that females of leaf-cutting ants, Atta sp. (Hymenoptera, Formicidae), were used to compose crèche nativity scenes in São Paulo State. Having subsisted at least up to the decade of 1960, the "ant crèches" of cities such as Embu das Artes could be related to the then famous "dressed ants" created by Jules Martin, a curious manufacture of the city of São Paulo in the last quarter of the 19th century

Neuroanatomical heterogeneity and homogeneity in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis.

Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) demonstrate heterogeneity in clinical profiles and outcome features. However, the extent of neuroanatomical heterogeneity in the CHR-P state is largely undetermined. We aimed to quantify the neuroanatomical heterogeneity in structural magnetic resonance imaging measures of cortical surface area (SA), cortical thickness (CT), subcortical volume (SV), and intracranial volume (ICV) in CHR-P individuals compared with healthy controls (HC), and in relation to subsequent transition to a first episode of psychosis. The ENIGMA CHR-P consortium applied a harmonised analysis to neuroimaging data across 29 international sites, including 1579 CHR-P individuals and 1243 HC, offering the largest pooled CHR-P neuroimaging dataset to date. Regional heterogeneity was indexed with the Variability Ratio (VR) and Coefficient of Variation (CV) ratio applied at the group level. Personalised estimates of heterogeneity of SA, CT and SV brain profiles were indexed with the novel Person-Based Similarity Index (PBSI), with two complementary applications. First, to assess the extent of within-diagnosis similarity or divergence of neuroanatomical profiles between individuals. Second, using a normative modelling approach, to assess the 'normativeness' of neuroanatomical profiles in individuals at CHR-P. CHR-P individuals demonstrated no greater regional heterogeneity after applying FDR corrections. However, PBSI scores indicated significantly greater neuroanatomical divergence in global SA, CT and SV profiles in CHR-P individuals compared with HC. Normative PBSI analysis identified 11 CHR-P individuals (0.70%) with marked deviation (>1.5 SD) in SA, 118 (7.47%) in CT and 161 (10.20%) in SV. Psychosis transition was not significantly associated with any measure of heterogeneity. Overall, our examination of neuroanatomical heterogeneity within the CHR-P state indicated greater divergence in neuroanatomical profiles at an individual level, irrespective of psychosis conversion. Further large-scale investigations are required of those who demonstrate marked deviation

Neuroanatomical heterogeneity and homogeneity in individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis

Individuals at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis (CHR-P) demonstrate heterogeneity in clinical profiles and outcome features. However, the extent of neuroanatomical heterogeneity in the CHR-P state is largely undetermined. We aimed to quantify the neuroanatomical heterogeneity in structural magnetic resonance imaging measures of cortical surface area (SA), cortical thickness (CT), subcortical volume (SV), and intracranial volume (ICV) in CHR-P individuals compared with healthy controls (HC), and in relation to subsequent transition to a first episode of psychosis. The ENIGMA CHR-P consortium applied a harmonised analysis to neuroimaging data across 29 international sites, including 1579 CHR-P individuals and 1243 HC, offering the largest pooled CHR-P neuroimaging dataset to date. Regional heterogeneity was indexed with the Variability Ratio (VR) and Coefficient of Variation (CV) ratio applied at the group level. Personalised estimates of heterogeneity of SA, CT and SV brain profiles were indexed with the novel Person-Based Similarity Index (PBSI), with two complementary applications. First, to assess the extent of within-diagnosis similarity or divergence of neuroanatomical profiles between individuals. Second, using a normative modelling approach, to assess the ‘normativeness’ of neuroanatomical profiles in individuals at CHR-P. CHR-P individuals demonstrated no greater regional heterogeneity after applying FDR corrections. However, PBSI scores indicated significantly greater neuroanatomical divergence in global SA, CT and SV profiles in CHR-P individuals compared with HC. Normative PBSI analysis identified 11 CHR-P individuals (0.70%) with marked deviation (>1.5 SD) in SA, 118 (7.47%) in CT and 161 (10.20%) in SV. Psychosis transition was not significantly associated with any measure of heterogeneity. Overall, our examination of neuroanatomical heterogeneity within the CHR-P state indicated greater divergence in neuroanatomical profiles at an individual level, irrespective of psychosis conversion. Further large-scale investigations are required of those who demonstrate marked deviation.publishedVersio