Construction of the free energy landscape by the density functional theory

On the basis of the density functional theory, we give a clear definition of the free energy landscape. To show the usefulness of the definition, we construct the free energy landscape for rearrangement of atoms in an FCC crystal of hard spheres. In this description, the cooperatively rearranging region (CRR) is clealy related to the hard spheres involved in the saddle between two adjacent basins. A new concept of the simultaneously rearranging region (SRR) emerges naturally as spheres defined by the difference between two adjacent basins. We show that the SRR and the CRR can be determined explicitly from the free energylandscape.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, submitted to J. Chem. Phy

Effectiveness of a Locally Produced, Fish-Based Food Product on Weight Gain among Cambodian Children in the Treatment of Acute Malnutrition: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Cambodia continues to have a high prevalence of acute malnutrition. Low acceptability has been found for standard ready-to-use-therapeutic-food (RUTF) products. Therefore, NumTrey, a locally-produced fish-based RUTF, was developed. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of NumTrey compared to an imported milk-based RUTF for weight gain among children aged 6–59 months in the home-treatment for acute malnutrition. Effectiveness was tested in a single-blinded randomized controlled trial with weight gain as the primary outcome. Anthropometry was assessed at baseline and bi-weekly follow-ups until endline at Week 8. In total, 121 patients were randomized into BP-100TM (n = 61) or NumTrey (n = 60). There was no statistical difference in mean weight gain between the groups (1.06 g/kg/day; 95% CI (0.72, 1.41) and 1.08 g/kg/day; 95% CI (0.75, 1.41) for BP-100™ and NumTrey, respectively). In addition, no statistically significant differences in secondary outcomes were found. Although the ability to draw conclusions was limited by lower weight gain than the desired 4 g/kg/day in both groups, no superiority was found for eitherRUTF. A locally produced RUTF is highly relevant to improve nutrition interventions in Cambodia. A locally produced fish-based RUTF is a relevant alternative to imported milk-based RUTF for the treatment of SAM in Cambodia