Changes in delta-Plutonium due to self-irradiation aging observed by Continuous in-situ X-ray Scattering

The aging in plutonium is predominantly caused by its internal self-irradiation. The self-irradiation in Pu-239 is by the decay process of transmuting the Pu atom into uranium atom and emitting an {alpha}-particle. Most of the lattice damage comes from the uranium recoil resulting in Frenkel-type defects consisting of vacancies and self-interstitial atoms, helium in-growth and defect clusters and possibly even though it is not yet observed, the generation of voids. As part of the stockpile stewardship, it is important to understand the changes in the structure and microstructures and their correlations to the physical properties. Changes in the physical properties have a direct relationship to the quality of the structure, in terms of formation of defects and defect clustering, accumulation of voids, grain boundaries, phase changes and etc. which can adversely affect the stability of the material. These changes are very difficult to monitor because of the high activity of the sample, high atomic number making x-ray and synchrotron probe into the bulk very difficult (neutron probe is not feasible) and the long life time which normally requires decades to measure. In this paper we describe the development of an in-situ in-house transmission x-ray diffraction (XRD) experimental technique used to monitor the structural changes in these materials. This technique calls for a very thin sample of less that 2 mm and to accelerate the aging process due to self-irradiation, spiked alloy of 7.5 weight percent of Pu-238 is used. This is equivalent to roughly 17 times the normal rate of aging. Current results suggest that over a period of 2.8 equivalent years, an increase of 0.5% in unit cell parameter is observed. The increase appears to be an abrupt jump at about 1.1 equivalent years, brought about by the collapsing of the atoms from the interstitials to the lattice sites. Further data analysis is on the way

The Thermal Stability of Nanocrystalline Au-Cu Alloys

Grain refinement to the nanocrystalline scale is known to enhance physical properties as strength and surface hardness. For the case of Au-Cu alloys, development of the pulsed electroplating has led to the functional control of nanocrystalline grain size in the as-deposited condition. The thermal aging of Au-Cu electrodeposits is now investigated to assess the stability of the nanocrystalline grain structure and the difference between two diffusion mechanisms. The mobility of grain boundaries, dominant at low temperatures, leads to coarsening of grain size whereas at high temperature the process of bulk diffusion dominates. Although the kinetics of bulk diffusion are slow below 500 K at 10{sup -20} cm{sup 2} {center_dot} sec, the kinetics of grain boundary diffusion are faster at 10{sup -16} cm{sup 2} {center_dot} sec. The diffusivity values indicate that the grain boundaries of the as-deposited nanocrystalline Au-Cu are mobile and sensitive to low-temperature anneal treatments affecting the grain size, hence the strength of the material

X-ray Diffraction Techniques for Structural Determination of Amorphous Materials

Prevention of corrosion is a vital goal for the Department of Defense when billions of dollars are spent every year. Corrosion resistant materials have applications in all sort of military vehicles, and more importantly in naval vessels and submarines which come in contact with the seawater. An important application of the corrosion resistant material is in the radioactive waste disposable field where the vessels or containers are expected to hold the radioactive toxic materials for thousands of years to surpass the half life of the radiation. It has been known that corrosion resistance can be improved by the used of structurally designed materials in the amorphous state where the atoms are arranged in a non-periodic conditions, even though, some local chemical short range ordering may occur in the amorphous arrangement. On the other hand, the final material can also be elementally tailored to specific application. This work documents in details the characterization effort for the amorphous materials using x-ray diffraction technique as part of the High Performance Corrosion-Resistant Material--Structural Amorphous Metal (HPCRM-SAM) program here at LLNL. The samples are in the form of powders, ribbons and coatings deposited onto parts. Some brief theoretical background is given in order to interpret the results, instrumentation will also be described. The results suggest that the formation of amorphous phase in the metal alloys powders greatly depends on the processing conditions. In most of the powders, especially lot No.06, the result indicates that the materials are amorphous with a very small amount of iron boron alloy. In the ribbon samples, all the samples and of different compositions as well are observed to be amorphous. In most cases, starting from an amorphous powder sample, the coatings are also observed to be amorphous with a small amount of iron oxide, probably due to exposure to air during the thermal spraying process

An X-ray Study of Shock-Recovered Tantalum Single Crystals

In this paper, we report shock-induced new grains and residual lattice tension in tantalum single crystals. The single crystals with orientations in [001], [011], [111], and [123] directions are shocked at {approx}55 GPa in gas gun under almost identical conditions. New grains in the shocked crystals are revealed by x-ray scanning analysis. Rather than lattice compression that is frequently probed by in situ x-ray diffraction technique, we find significant residual lattice tension in the recovered tantalum crystals. Such residual lattice tension is attributed to the dislocation cells and their deformation. The dislocation cells are accordingly estimated to be greater than 100 nm from broadening of x-ray diffraction peak

Maternal Dietary Patterns and Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in a Multi-Ethnic Asian Cohort: The GUSTO Study

10.3390/nu8090574Nutrients89article no. 574GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

Highly Sensitive and Cost-Effective Portable Sensor for Early Gastric Carcinoma Diagnosis

Facile and efficient early detection of cancer is a major challenge in healthcare. Herein we developed a novel sensor made from a polycarbonate (PC) membrane with nanopores, followed by sequence-specific Oligo RNA modification for early gastric carcinoma diagnosis. In this design, the gastric cancer antigen CA72-4 is specifically conjugated to the Oligo RNA, thereby inhibiting the electrical current through the PC membrane in a concentration-dependent manner. The device can determine the concentration of cancer antigen CA72-4 in the range from 4 to 14 U/mL, possessing a sensitivity of 7.029 µAU−1mLcm−2 with a linear regression (R2) of 0.965 and a lower detection limit of 4 U/mL. This device has integrated advantages including high specificity and sensitivity and being simple, portable, and cost effective, which collectively enables a giant leap for cancer screening technologies towards clinical use. This is the first report to use RNA aptamers to detect CA72-4 for gastric carcinoma diagnosi

Advanced Glycation End-Products Suppress Mitochondrial Function and Proliferative Capacity of Achilles Tendon-Derived Fibroblasts

Debilitating cases of tendon pain and degeneration affect the majority of diabetic individuals. The high rate of tendon degeneration persists even when glucose levels are well controlled, suggesting that other mechanisms may drive tendon degeneration in diabetic patients. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of advanced glycation end-products on tendon fibroblasts to further our mechanistic understanding of the development and progression of diabetic tendinopathy. We proposed that advanced glycation end-products would induce limitations to mitochondrial function and proliferative capacity in tendon-derived fibroblasts, restricting their ability to maintain biosynthesis of tendon extracellular matrix. Using an in-vitro cell culture system, rat Achilles tendon fibroblasts were treated with glycolaldehyde-derived advanced glycation end-products (0, 50, 100, and 200 μg/ml) for 48 hours in normal glucose (5.5 mM) and high glucose (25 mM) conditions. We demonstrate that tendon fibroblasts treated with advanced glycation end-products display reduced ATP production, electron transport efficiency, and proliferative capacity. These impairments were coupled with alterations in mitochondrial DNA content and expression of genes associated with extracellular matrix remodeling, mitochondrial energy metabolism, and apoptosis. Our findings suggest that advanced glycation end-products disrupt tendon fibroblast homeostasis and may be involved in the development and progression of diabetic tendinopathy

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection: Current state of the science: A scientific statement from the American Heart Association

© 2018 American Heart Association, Inc. Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) has emerged as an important cause of acute coronary syndrome, myocardial infarction, and sudden death, particularly among young women and individuals with few conventional atherosclerotic risk factors. Patient-initiated research has spurred increased awareness of SCAD, and improved diagnostic capabilities and findings from large case series have led to changes in approaches to initial and long-term management and increasing evidence that SCAD not only is more common than previously believed but also must be evaluated and treated differently from atherosclerotic myocardial infarction. High rates of recurrent SCAD; its association with female sex, pregnancy, and physical and emotional stress triggers; and concurrent systemic arteriopathies, particularly fibromuscular dysplasia, highlight the differences in clinical characteristics of SCAD compared with atherosclerotic disease. Recent insights into the causes of, clinical course of, treatment options for, outcomes of, and associated conditions of SCAD and the many persistent knowledge gaps are presented

Evaluation of early and late presentation of patients with ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid to two major tertiary referral hospitals in the United Kingdom

PURPOSE: Ocular mucous membrane pemphigoid (OcMMP) is a sight-threatening autoimmune disease in which referral to specialists units for further management is a common practise. This study aims to describe referral patterns, disease phenotype and management strategies in patients who present with either early or established disease to two large tertiary care hospitals in the United Kingdom.\ud \ud PATIENTS AND METHODS: In all, 54 consecutive patients with a documented history of OcMMP were followed for 24 months. Two groups were defined: (i) early-onset disease (EOD:<3 years, n=26, 51 eyes) and (ii) established disease (EstD:>5 years, n=24, 48 eyes). Data were captured at first clinic visit, and at 12 and 24 months follow-up. Information regarding duration, activity and stage of disease, visual acuity (VA), therapeutic strategies and clinical outcome were analysed.\ud \ud RESULTS: Patients with EOD were younger and had more severe conjunctival inflammation (76% of inflamed eyes) than the EstD group, who had poorer VA (26.7%=VA<3/60, P<0.01) and more advanced disease. Although 40% of patients were on existing immunosuppression, 48% required initiation or switch to more potent immunotherapy. In all, 28% (14) were referred back to the originating hospitals for continued care. Although inflammation had resolved in 78% (60/77) at 12 months, persistence of inflammation and progression did not differ between the two phenotypes. Importantly, 42% demonstrated disease progression in the absence of clinically detectable inflammation.\ud \ud CONCLUSIONS: These data highlight that irrespective of OcMMP phenotype, initiation or escalation of potent immunosuppression is required at tertiary hospitals. Moreover, the conjunctival scarring progresses even when the eye remains clinically quiescent. Early referral to tertiary centres is recommended to optimise immunosuppression and limit long-term ocular damage.\ud \u