High coercivity, anisotropic, heavy rare earth-free Nd-Fe-B by Flash Spark Plasma Sintering

The authors wish to extend their gratitude to neo Magnequench for providing the materials used in this study. The research was supported by EU-FP7 MAG-DRIVE project (No. 605348) [http://www.mag-drive-fp7.eu/]. MJR and SG would like to acknowledge the EPSRC Programme Grant XMAT [EP/K008749/2]

All-Optical Broadband Excitation of the Motional State of Trapped Ions

We have developed a novel all-optical broadband scheme for exciting, amplifying and measuring the secular motion of ions in a radio frequency trap. Oscillation induced by optical excitation has been coherently amplified to precisely control and measure the ion's secular motion. Requiring only laser line-of-sight, we have shown that the ion's oscillation amplitude can be precisely controlled. Our excitation scheme can generate coherent motion which is robust against variations in the secular frequency. Therefore, our scheme is ideal to excite the desired level of oscillatory motion under conditions where the secular frequency is evolving in time. Measuring the oscillation amplitude through Doppler velocimetry, we have characterized the experimental parameters and compared them with a molecular dynamics simulation which provides a complete description of the system.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

The Importance of Context in Understanding Homelessness and Mental Illness: Lessons Learned From a Research Demonstration Project

Research reports on the housing outcomes for persons who are homeless and mentally ill have focused on client characteristics, program type, and services as independent variables, with mixed results. From social work practice, evaluation theory, and public policy perspectives, context is an important variable. Yet, it has received scant research attention in studies of the outcomes of persons who are mentally ill and homeless. This article summarizes research results from a demonstration project providing outreach or linkage services to this target population, illustrating the significant impact of context variables (site and recruitment source) on client characteristics, implementation, qualitative and quantitative service assessments, and housing outcomes. The discussion suggests how these contextual factors may operate, and it goes on to make recommendations to improve social work research and practice concerning the important dimensions of context that should be assessed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/69136/2/10.1177_104973159800800203.pd

Nucleation of a sodium droplet on C60

We investigate theoretically the progressive coating of C60 by several sodium atoms. Density functional calculations using a nonlocal functional are performed for NaC60 and Na2C60 in various configurations. These data are used to construct an empirical atomistic model in order to treat larger sizes in a statistical and dynamical context. Fluctuating charges are incorporated to account for charge transfer between sodium and carbon atoms. By performing systematic global optimization in the size range 1<=n<=30, we find that Na_nC60 is homogeneously coated at small sizes, and that a growing droplet is formed above n=>8. The separate effects of single ionization and thermalization are also considered, as well as the changes due to a strong external electric field. The present results are discussed in the light of various experimental data.Comment: 17 pages, 10 figure

Effect of hygroscopic growth on the aerosol light-scattering coefficient: A review of measurements, techniques and error sources

Knowledge of the scattering enhancement factor, f(RH), is important for an accurate description of direct aerosol radiative forcing. This factor is defined as the ratio between the scattering coefficient at enhanced relative humidity, RH, to a reference (dry) scattering coefficient. Here, we review the different experimental designs used to measure the scattering coefficient at dry and humidified conditions as well as the procedures followed to analyze the measurements. Several empirical parameterizations for the relationship between f(RH) and RH have been proposed in the literature. These parameterizations have been reviewed and tested using experimental data representative of different hygroscopic growth behavior and a new parameterization is presented. The potential sources of error in f(RH) are discussed. A Monte Carlo method is used to investigate the overall measurement uncertainty, which is found to be around 20 e40% for moderately hygroscopic aerosols. The main factors contributing to this uncertainty are the uncertainty in RH measurement, the dry reference state and the nephelometer uncertainty. A literature survey of nephelometry-based f(RH) measurements is presented as a function of aerosol type. In general, the highest f(RH) values were measured in clean marine environments, with pollution having a major influence on f(RH). Dust aerosol tended to have the lowest reported hygroscopicity of any of the aerosol types studied. Major open questions and suggestions for future research priorities are outlined.This work was supported by the Andalusia Regional Government through projects P10-RNM-6299 and P12-RNM-2409; by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER through project CGL2013_45410-R; and by European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 654109, ACTRIS-2. G. Titos was partially funded by Programa del Plan Propio de Investigación “Contrato Puente” of the University of Granada. We thank the Stockholm International Meteorological Institute (IMI) for travel support of G. Titos

An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics

For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types

Hepatic Hilar Lymph Node Reactivity at Kasai Portoenterostomy for Biliary Atresia: Correlations With Age, Outcome, and Histology of Proximal Biliary Remnant

We hypothesized that if infection is the proximate cause of congenital biliary atresia, an appropriate response to antigen would occur in lymph nodes contiguous with the biliary remnant. We compared the number of follicular germinal centers (GC) in 79 surgically excised hilar lymph nodes (LN) and 27 incidentally discovered cystic duct LNs in 84 subjects at the time of hepatic portoenterostomy (HPE) for biliary atresia (BA) to autopsy controls from the pancreaticobiliary region of non-septic infants >3 months old at death. All 27 control LN lacked GC, a sign in infants of a primary response to antigenic stimulation. GC were found in 53% of 106 LN in 56 of 84 subjects. Visible surgically excised LN contiguous with the most proximal biliary remnants had 1 or more well-formed reactive GC in only 26/51 subjects. Presence of GC and number of GC/LN was unrelated to age at onset of jaundice or to active fibroplasia in the biliary remnant but was related to older age at HPE. Absent GC in visible and incidentally removed cystic duct LNs predicted survival with the native liver at 2 and 3 years after HPE, P = .03, but significance was lost at longer intervals. The uncommon inflammatory lesions occasionally found in remnants could be secondary either to bile-induced injury or secondary infection established as obstruction evolves. The absence of consistent evidence of antigenic stimulation in LN contiguous with the biliary remnant supports existence of at least 1 major alternative to infection in the etiology of biliary atresia

CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 attenuates microglial proliferation and neurodegeneration in P301S mice

Neuroinflammation and microglial activation are significant processes in Alzheimer's disease pathology. Recent genome-wide association studies have highlighted multiple immune-related genes in association with Alzheimer's disease, and experimental data have demonstrated microglial proliferation as a significant component of the neuropathology. In this study, we tested the efficacy of the selective CSF1R inhibitor JNJ-40346527 (JNJ-527) in the P301S mouse tauopathy model. We first demonstrated the anti-proliferative effects of JNJ-527 on microglia in the ME7 prion model, and its impact on the inflammatory profile, and provided potential CNS biomarkers for clinical investigation with the compound, including pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics and efficacy assessment by TSPO autoradiography and CSF proteomics. Then, we showed for the first time that blockade of microglial proliferation and modification of microglial phenotype leads to an attenuation of tau-induced neurodegeneration and results in functional improvement in P301S mice. Overall, this work strongly supports the potential for inhibition of CSF1R as a target for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other tau-mediated neurodegenerative diseases

Inflammatory biomarkers in Alzheimer&apos;s disease plasma

Introduction: Plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) diagnosis/stratification are a \u201cHoly Grail\u201d of AD research and intensively sought; however, there are no well-established plasma markers. Methods: A hypothesis-led plasma biomarker search was conducted in the context of international multicenter studies. The discovery phase measured 53 inflammatory proteins in elderly control (CTL; 259), mild cognitive impairment (MCI; 199), and AD (262) subjects from AddNeuroMed. Results: Ten analytes showed significant intergroup differences. Logistic regression identified five (FB, FH, sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that, age/APO\u3b54 adjusted, optimally differentiated AD and CTL (AUC: 0.79), and three (sCR1, MCP-1, eotaxin-1) that optimally differentiated AD and MCI (AUC: 0.74). These models replicated in an independent cohort (EMIF; AUC 0.81 and 0.67). Two analytes (FB, FH) plus age predicted MCI progression to AD (AUC: 0.71). Discussion: Plasma markers of inflammation and complement dysregulation support diagnosis and outcome prediction in AD and MCI. Further replication is needed before clinical translation