Orientational order parameters of a de Vries–type ferroelectric liquid crystal obtained by polarized Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction

The orientational order parameters 〈P2〉 and 〈P4〉 of the ferroelectric, de Vries–type liquid crystal 9HL have been determined in the SmA* and SmC* phases by means of polarized Raman spectroscopy, and in the SmA* phase using x-ray diffraction. Quantum density functional theory predicts Raman spectra for 9HL that are in good agreement with the observations and indicates that the strong Raman band probed in the experiment corresponds to the uniaxial, coupled vibration of the three phenyl rings along the molecular long axis. The magnitudes of the orientational order parameters obtained in the Raman and x-ray experiments differ dramatically from each other, a discrepancy that is resolved by considering that the two techniques probe the orientational distributions of different molecular axes. We have developed a systematic procedure in which we calculate the angle between these axes and rescale the orientational order parameters obtained from x-ray scattering with results that are then in good agreement with the Raman data. At least in the case of 9HL, the results obtained by both techniques support a “sugar loaf” orientational distribution in the SmA* phase with no qualitative difference to conventional smectics A. The role of individual molecular fragments in promoting de Vries–type behavior is considered

Determination of the optical depth of a DI diesel spray

The optical depth is responsible of limiting the optical diagnostic using visible wavelength in the sprays. This paper proposes to measure the optical depth directly in a real Diesel spray through line-of-sight laser extinction measurements. This easily reproducible method which does not require expensive or complex optical techniques is detailed and the measurement procedure is presented in this paper. As diesel sprays are mostly optically thick, the measurements in the denser region are not reliable and a fuel concentration model has been used to derive the results to the entire spray. This work provides values of SMD at different distance from the nozzle tip depending on the specific parameters like injection pressure or discharge density. The values extracted from a combined experimental/computational approach have been compared to PDPA measurements under the same testing conditions. The results have shown that the maximum optical depth was higher than 10 and that an increase of the injection pressure led to higher ¿ values. The SMD values appeared to be below the results measured by the PDPA and the droplet diameter showed to be the main responsible of the optical depth of the jet under the tested conditions. © 2011 The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.Payri González, F.; Pastor, JV.; Payri, R.; Manin, JL. (2011). Determination of the optical depth of a DI diesel spray. Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology. 25(1):209-219. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-010-1024-xS209219251L. Pickett and D. Siebers, Non-sooting, low flame temperature mixing-controlled DI diesel combustion, SAE Paper, 2004-01-1399 (2004).S. Cheng, A. Upatnieks and C. J. Mueller, Investigation of fuel effects on dilute, mixing-controlled combustion in an optical direct-injection diesel engine, Energy & Fuels, 21 (2007) 1989–2002.S. Park, H. Kim and B. Choi, Emission characteristics of exhaust gases and nanoparticles from a diesel engine with biodiesel-diesel blended fuel (BD20), J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 23(9) (2009) 2555–2564.J. Benajes, S. Molina, K. De Rudder and T. Rente, Influence of injection rate shaping on combustion and emissions for a medium duty diesel engine, J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 20(9) (2006) 1436–1448.S. Som, S. K. Aggarwal, E. M. El-Hannouny, D. E. Longman, Investigation of Nozzle Flow and Cavitation Characteristics in a Diesel Injector, J. of Eng. Gas Turb. and Power, 132(4) (2010).J. Lee and K. Min, Effects of needle response on spray characteristics in high pressure injector driven by piezo actuator for common-rail injection system, J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 19(5) (2005) 1194–1205.R. Payri, F. J. Salvador, J. Gimeno and V. Soare, Determination of diesel sprays characteristics in real engine in-cylinder air density and pressure conditions, J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 19 (2005) 2040–2052.Y. Yue, C. F. Powell, R. Poola and J. Wang, Quantitative measurements of diesel fuel spray characteristics in the near-nozzle region by using x-ray absorption, Atomization Sprays, 11(4) (2001).M. Linne, M. Paciaroni, T. Hall and T. Parker, Ballistic imaging of the near field in a diesel spray, Experiments in Fluid,s 40(6) (2006) 836–846.H. E. Albrecht, N. Damaschke, M. Borys and C. Tropea, Laser Doppler and Phase Doppler Measurement Techniques, Springer Berlin (2003).R. Domann and Y. Hardalupas, Quantitative Measurement of planar Droplet Sauter Mean Diameter in sprays using Planar Droplet Sizing, 11th Int. Symp. on App. of Laser Techniques to Fluid Mechanics (Lisbon Portugal) (2002).M. Van der Mark, M. Van Albada and A. Lagendijk, Light scattering in strongly scattering media: Multiple scattering and weak localization, Physical Review, B 37(7) (1988).L. Araneo and R. Payri, Experimental quantification of the planar droplet sizing technique error for micro-metric monodispersed spherical particles, Proc. of the Inst. for Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems Conf. (Como Italy) (2008).G. Hiromi, Multiple scattering correction in the measurement of particle size and number density by the diffraction method, Applied Optics 25(19) (1986) 3552–3558.C. Dumouchel, P. Yongyingsakthavorn and J. Cousin, Light multiple scattering correction of laser-diffraction spray drop-size distribution measurements, International Journal of Multiphase Flow 35(3) (2009) 277–287.J. V. Pastor, R. Payri, L. Araneo and J. Manin, Correction method for droplet sizing by laser-induced fluorescence in a controlled test situation, Optical Engineering, 48(1) (2009).C. Espey and J. E. Dec, The effect of TDC temperature and density on the liquid-phase fuel penetration in a Di Diesel engine, SAE transactions, 104(4) (1995) 1400–1414.J. M. Desantes, R. Payri, A. García and J. Manin, Experimental Study of Biodiesel Blends’ Effects on Diesel Injection Processes, Energy & Fuels, 23 (2009) 3227–3235.C. R. Kitchin, Stars, Nebulae and the Interstellar Medium: Observational Physics and Astrophysics CRC Press (1987).M. A. Linne, Spectroscopic Measurement: An Introduction to the Fundamentals, Academic Press (London, UK) (2002).J. V. Pastor, J. J. Lopez, J. E. Juliá and J. V. Benajes, Planar laser-induced fluorescence fuel concentration measurements in isothermal sprays, Opt. Express, 10(7) (2002) 309–323.J. Benajes, R. Payri, S. Molina, A.H. Plazas, Investigation of the influence of injection rate shaping on the spray characteristics in a diesel common rail system equipped with a piston amplifier, Journal of fluids engineering-transactions of the ASME, 127(6) (2005) 1102–1110.V. Bermudez, R. Payri, F. J. Salvador and A. H. Plazas, Study of the influence of nozzle seat type on injection rate and spray behavior, ImechE, Journal of automobile engineering, Part D, 219 (2005) 677–689.R. Payri, J. M. Garcia, F. J. Salvador and J. Gimeno, Using spray momentum flux measurements to understand the influence of diesel nozzle geometry on spray characteristics, Fuel, 84 (2005) 551–561.J. M. Desantes, R. Payri, F. J. Salvador and A. Gil, Development and validation of a theoretical model for diesel spray penetration, Fuel, 85 (2006) 910–917.H. Hattori, K. Narumiya, M. Tsue and T. Kadota, Analysis of initial breakup mechanism of diesel spray injected into high-pressure ambience, SAE Paper, 2004-01-0528 (2004).J. D. J. Ingle and S. R. Crouch, Spectrochemical Analysis, Prentice Hall (New Jersey, USA) (1988).F. V. Tinaut, A. Melgar, F. Castro, M. L. Sanchez and B. A. Gimenez, Method to determine liquid concentration in nonstationary axisymmetric sprays, Experiments in Fluids, 23 (1997) 299–305.P. Laven, Simulation of Rainbows, Coronas and Glories by the use of Mie theory, Applied Optics 43(3) (2003) 436–444.J. M. Desantes, R. Payri, J. M. Garcia and F. J. Salvador, A contribution to the understanding of isothermal diesel spray dynamics, Fuel, 86(7–8) (2007) 1093–1101.R. Payri, L. Araneo, J. Shakal and V. Soare, Phase doppler measurements: system set-up optimization for characterization of a diesel nozzle, J. Mech. Sci. Technol., 22 (2008) 1620–1632.E. Berrocal, D. L. Sedarsky, M. E. Paciaroni, I. V. Meglinski and M. A. Linne, Laser light scattering in turbid media Part I: Experimental and simulated results for the spatial intensity distribution, Optics Express, 15 (2007) 10649–10665.C. Roze, T. Girasole, L. Mevcs, G. Grehan, L. Hespel and A. Delfour, Interaction between ultra short pulses and a dense scattering medium by Monte Carlo simulation: consideration of particle size effect, Optics Communications, 220(4–6) (2003) 237–245.E. Berrocal, D. L. Sedarsky, M. E. Paciaroni, I. 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Problems recruiting and retaining postnatal women to a pilot randomised controlled trial of a web-delivered weight loss intervention ISRCTN48086713 ISRCTN

Abstract Objective This paper highlights recruitment and retention problems identified during a pilot randomised controlled trial and process evaluation. The pilot trial aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a web-delivered weight loss intervention for postnatal women and associated trial protocol. Results General practice database searches revealed low rates of eligible postnatal women per practice. 16 (10%) of the 168 identified women were recruited and randomised, seven to the intervention and nine to the control. 57% (4/7) of the intervention women completed 3 month follow-up measurements in comparison to 56% (5/9) in the control group. By 12 months, retention in the intervention group was 43% (3/7), with 2/7 women active on the website, in comparison to 44% (4/9) of the control group. Interview findings revealed the web as an acceptable method for delivery of the intervention, with the suggestion of an addition of a mobile application. Alternative recruitment strategies, using health visitor appointments, midwifery departments or mother and baby/toddler groups, should be explored. Greater involvement of potential users should enable better recruitment methods to be developed. Trial registration ISRCTN: ISRCTN48086713, Registered 26 October 201

Associations of maternal pre-pregnancy obesity and excess pregnancy weight gains with adverse pregnancy outcomes and length of hospital stay

It is relatively less known whether pre-pregnancy obesity and excess gestational weight gain (GWG) are associated with caesarean delivery, pregnancy complications, preterm birth, birth and placenta weights and increased length of postnatal hospital stay

Association of Six Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms with Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in a Chinese Population

To investigate whether the candidate genes that confer susceptibility to type 2 diabetes mellitus are also correlated with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) in pregnant Chinese women.In this study, 1764 unrelated pregnant women were recruited, of which 725 women had GDM and 1039 served as controls. Six single nucleotide polymorphisms (rs7754840 in CDKAL1, rs391300 in SRR, rs2383208 in CDKN2A/2B, rs4402960 in IGF2BP2, rs10830963 in MTNR1B, rs4607517 in GCK) were genotyped using TaqMan allelic discrimination assays. The genotype and allele distributions of each SNP between the GDM cases and controls and the combined effects of alleles for the risk of developing GDM were analyzed. We found that the rs4402960, rs2383208 and rs391300 were statistically associated with GDM (OR = 1.207, 95%CI = 1.029-1.417, p = 0.021; OR = 1.242, 95%CI = 1.077-1.432, p = 0.003; OR = 1.202, 95%CI = 1.020-1.416, P = 0.028, respectively). In addition, the effect was greater under a recessive model in rs391300 (OR = 1.820, 95%CI = 1.226-2.701, p = 0.003). Meanwhile, the joint effect of these three loci indicated an additive effect of multiple alleles on the risk of developing GDM with an OR of 1.196 per allele (p = 1.08×10(-4)). We also found that the risk alleles of rs2383208 (b = -0.085, p = 0.003), rs4402960 (b = -0.057, p = 0.046) and rs10830963 (b = -0.096, p = 0.001) were associated with HOMA-B, while rs7754840 was associated with decrease in insulin AUC during a 100 g OGTT given at the time of GDM diagnosis (b = -0.080, p = 0.007).Several risk alleles of type 2 diabetes were associated with GDM in pregnant Chinese women. The effects of these SNPs on GDM might be through the impairment of beta cell function and these risk loci contributed additively to the disease

Effects of Transmitters and Amyloid-Beta Peptide on Calcium Signals in Rat Cortical Astrocytes: Fura-2AM Measurements and Stochastic Model Simulations

BACKGROUND: To better understand the complex molecular level interactions seen in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, the results of the wet-lab and clinical studies can be complemented by mathematical models. Astrocytes are known to become reactive in Alzheimer's disease and their ionic equilibrium can be disturbed by interaction of the released and accumulated transmitters, such as serotonin, and peptides, including amyloid- peptides (A). We have here studied the effects of small amounts of A25-35 fragments on the transmitter-induced calcium signals in astrocytes by Fura-2AM fluorescence measurements and running simulations of the detected calcium signals. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Intracellular calcium signals were measured in cultured rat cortical astrocytes following additions of serotonin and glutamate, or either of these transmitters together with A25-35. A25-35 increased the number of astrocytes responding to glutamate and exceedingly increased the magnitude of the serotonin-induced calcium signals. In addition to A25-35-induced effects, the contribution of intracellular calcium stores to calcium signaling was tested. When using higher stimulus frequency, the subsequent calcium peaks after the initial peak were of lower amplitude. This may indicate inadequate filling of the intracellular calcium stores between the stimuli. In order to reproduce the experimental findings, a stochastic computational model was introduced. The model takes into account the major mechanisms known to be involved in calcium signaling in astrocytes. Model simulations confirm the principal experimental findings and show the variability typical for experimental measurements. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Nanomolar A25-35 alone does not cause persistent change in the basal level of calcium in astrocytes. However, even small amounts of A25-35, together with transmitters, can have substantial synergistic effects on intracellular calcium signals. Computational modeling further helps in understanding the mechanisms associated with intracellular calcium oscillations. Modeling the mechanisms is important, as astrocytes have an essential role in regulating the neuronal microenvironment of the central nervous system

Nutrition, mental health and violence: from pregnancy to postpartum Cohort of women attending primary care units in Southern Brazil - ECCAGE study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Woman's nutritional status, before and during pregnancy, is a strong determinant of health outcomes in the mother and newborn. Gestational weight gain and postpartum weight retention increases risk of overweight or obesity in the future and they depend on the pregestational nutritional status and on food consumption and eating behavior during pregnancy. Eating behavior during pregnancy may be the cause or consequence of mood changes during pregnancy, especially depression, which increases likelihood of postpartum depression. In Brazil, a study carried out in the immediate postpartum period found that one in three women experienced some type of violence during pregnancy. Violence and depression are strongly associated and both exposures during pregnancy are associated with increased maternal stress and subsequent harm to the infant. The main objectives of this study are: to identify food intake and eating behaviors patterns; to estimate the prevalence of common mental disorders and the experience of violence during and after pregnancy; and to estimate the association between these exposures and infant's health and development.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This is a cohort study of 780 pregnant women receiving care in 18 primary care units in two cities in Southern Brazil. Pregnant women were first evaluated between the 16^thand 36^thweek of pregnancy at a prenatal visit. Follow-up included immediate postpartum assessment and around the fifth month postpartum. Information was obtained on sociodemographic characteristics, living circumstances, food intake, eating behaviors, mental health and exposure to violence, and on infant's development and anthropometrics measurements.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>This project will bring relevant information for a better understanding of the relationship between exposures during pregnancy and how they might affect child development, which can be useful for a better planning of health actions aiming to enhance available resources in primary health care.</p