The structure of calcium metaphosphate glass obtained from x-ray and neutron diffraction and reverse Monte Carlo modelling

The short range structure of (CaO)(0.5)(P2O5)(0.5) glass has been studied using x-ray and neutron diffraction and modelled using the reverse Monte Carlo method. Using this combination of techniques has allowed six interatomic correlations to be distinguished and fitted to obtain a set of bond lengths and coordination numbers that describe the structure of the glass. The glass consists of metaphosphate chains of phosphate tetrahedra and each phosphate unit has two non-bridging oxygen atoms available for coordination with Ca. The Ca-O correlation was fitted with two peaks at 2.35 and 2.86 angstrom, representing a broad distribution of bond lengths. The total Ca-O coordination is 6.9 and is consistent with distorted polyhedral units such as capped octahedra or capped trigonal prisms. It is found that most non-bridging oxygen atoms are bonded to two calcium atoms. All of these observations are consistent with Hoppe's model for phosphate glasses. Furthermore, the medium range order is revealed to consist of phosphate chains intertwined with apparently elongated clusters of Ca ions, and the Ca-O and Ca-P correlations contributed significantly to the first sharp diffraction peak in x-ray diffraction

Age and growth of Hawaiian seaturtles (Chelonia mydas): an analysis based on skeletochronology

Skeletochronological data on growth changes in humerus diameter were used to estimate the age of Hawaiian green seaturtles ranging from 28.7 to 96.0 cm straight carapace length. Two age estimation methods, correction factor and spline integration, were compared, giving age estimates ranging from 4.1 to 34.6 and from 3.3 to 49.4 yr, respectively, for the sample data. Mean growth rates of Hawaiian green seaturtles are 4–5 cm/yr in early juveniles, decline to a relatively constant rate of about 2 cm/yr by age 10 yr, then decline again to less than 1 cm/yr as turtles near age 30 yr. On average, age estimates from the two techniques differed by just a few years for juvenile turtles, but by wider margins for mature turtles. The spline-integration method models the curvilinear relationship between humerus diameter and the width of periosteal growth increments within the humerus, and offers several advantages over the correction-factor approach

Children’s friendships in diverse primary schools: teachers and the processes of policy enactment

Drawing on data from a project exploring children's and adults’ friendships across social class and ethnic difference, this paper focuses on the enactment of national and institutional policy around children’s friendships as realized in three primary schools in diverse urban areas in London. Through a focus on the way in which social and emotional learning (SEL) and teachers’ understandings of children’s friendships seek to govern children’s friendship behaviours, we turn to Foucault’s work to explore how power shapes relations between policy frameworks and teachers’ practices, and between those who teach and those who are taught. We discuss the disciplinary potential of SEL and teachers’ ‘common sense’ understandings of children’s friendships, but conclude by noting possibilities for teachers to create spaces in which all children can safely explore the nature of friendships

Investigating student teachers’ presentations of literacy and literacy pedagogy in a complex context

The field of literacy and primary literacy education is patterned by multiple discourses and this raises challenges for those educating the next generation of primary literacy teachers. In England, the last 15 years have seen considerable levels of prescription in the primary literacy curriculum and compliance by the school and teacher education sectors has been enforced through demanding accountability regimes. In this paper, the authors draw on findings of a small-scale interview study to consider how understandings of literacies associated with different contexts may or may not inflect student teachers’ orientations towards literacy provision in school. The authors explore how five student teachers presented their experiences of literacy within and beyond the classroom and how they seemed to position themselves in relation to literacy pedagogy. The authors focus particularly on continuities and discontinuities between literacies in the student teachers’ personal and professional lives, and on tensions they identified between the teachers they felt they wanted to, and were expected to, become. Reflecting on this work, the authors consider how they can best equip pre-service primary and early years teachers to develop as critical reflective literacy practitioners in the current context

Clinical judgement, case complexity and symptom scores as predictors of outcome in depression: an exploratory analysis

Background: Clinical guidelines for depression in adults recommend the use of outcome measures and stepped care models in routine care. Such measures are based on symptom severity, but response to treatment is likely to also be influenced by personal and contextual factors. This observational study of a routine clinical sample sought to examine the extent to which “symptom severity measures” and “complexity measures” assess different aspects of patient experience, and how they might relate to clinical outcomes, including disengagement from treatment. Methods: Subjects with symptoms of depression (with or without comorbid anxiety) were recruited from people referred to an established Primary Care Mental Health Team using a stepped care model. Each participant completed three baseline symptom measures (the Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ), Generalised Anxiety Disorder questionnaire (GAD) and Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation (CORE-10)), and two assessments of “case complexity” (the Minnesota-Edinburgh Complexity Assessment Measure (MECAM) and a local complexity assessment). Clinician perception of likely completion of treatment and patient recovery was also assessed. Outcome measures were drop out and clinical improvement on the PHQ. Results: 298 subjects were recruited to the study, of whom 258 had a sufficient dataset available for analysis. Data showed that the three measures of symptom severity used in this study (PHQ, GAD and CORE-10) seemed to be measuring distinct characteristics from those associated with the measures of case complexity (MECAM, previous and current problem count). Higher symptom severity scores were correlated with improved outcomes at the end of treatment, but there was no association between outcome and complexity measures. Clinicians could predict participant drop-out from care with some accuracy, but had no ability to predict outcome from treatment. Conclusions: These results highlight the extent to which drop-out complicates recovery from depression with or without anxiety in real-world settings, and the need to consider other factors beyond symptom severity in planning care. The findings are discussed in relation to a growing body of literature investigating prognostic indicators in the context of models of collaborative care for depression

Hypertension, Microvascular Pathology, and Prognosis After an Acute Myocardial Infarction

The rationale for our study was to investigate the pathophysiology of microvascular injury in patients with acute ST-segment–elevation myocardial infarction in relation to a history of hypertension. We undertook a cohort study using invasive and noninvasive measures of microvascular injury, cardiac magnetic resonance imaging at 2 days and 6 months, and assessed health outcomes in the longer term (URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT02072850). Three hundred twenty-four patients with acute myocardial infarction (mean age, 59 [12] years; blood pressure, 135 [25] / 79 [14] mm Hg; 237 [73%] male, 105 [32%] with antecedent hypertension) were prospectively enrolled during emergency percutaneous coronary intervention. Compared with patients without antecedent hypertension, patients with hypertension were older (63 [12] years versus 57 [11] years; P<0.001) and a lower proportion were cigarette smokers (52 [50%] versus 144 [66%]; P=0.007). Coronary blood flow, microvascular resistance within the culprit artery, infarct pathologies, inflammation (C-reactive protein and interleukin-6) were not associated with hypertension. Compared with patients without antecedent hypertension, patients with hypertension had less improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction at 6 months from baseline (5.3 [8.2]% versus 7.4 [7.6]%; P=0.040). Antecedent hypertension was a multivariable associate of incident myocardial hemorrhage 2-day post-MI (1.81 [0.98–3.34]; P=0.059) and all-cause death or heart failure (n=47 events, n=24 with hypertension; 2.53 [1.28–4.98]; P=0.007) postdischarge (median follow-up 4 years). Severe progressive microvascular injury is implicated in the pathophysiology and prognosis of patients with a history of hypertension and acute myocardial infarction

The Influence of MHC and Immunoglobulins A and E on Host Resistance to Gastrointestinal Nematodes in Sheep

Gastrointestinal nematode parasites in farmed animals are of particular importance due to their effects on production. In Australia, it is estimated that the direct and indirect effects of parasite infestation cost the animal production industries hundreds of millions of dollars each year. The main factors considered by immunologists when studying gastrointestinal nematode infections are the effects the host's response has on the parasite, which immunological components are responsible for these effects, genetic factors involved in controlling immunological responses, and the interactions between these forming an interconnecting multilevel relationship. In this paper, we describe the roles of immunoglobulins, in particular IgA and IgE, and the major histocompatibility complex in resistance to gastrointestinal parasites in sheep. We also draw evidence from other animal models to support the involvement of these immune components. Finally, we examine how IgA and IgE exert their influence and how methods may be developed to manage susceptible animals

Testing mood-activated psychological markers for suicidal ideation

To what extent are death- and life-oriented psychological processes among suicidal individuals activated by mood? According to Teasdale’s (1988) Differential Activation Hypothesis, we would expect that negative mood-activated psychological processes are maladaptive among suicide ideators (vs. non-ideators) and predictive of subsequent suicidal ideation. This, however, has never been prospectively studied. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a prospective study assessing psychological risk factors via the Death/Life Implicit Association Test (IAT) and the Suicide Stroop task before and after a temporary negative mood induction. Suicidal ideation was assessed one and six months later. Results based on Death/Life IAT performance largely supported hypotheses, such that suicide ideators demonstrated significantly weaker implicit identification with life after (vs. before) the negative mood induction. Non-ideators demonstrated no significant change, maintaining strong identification with life irrespective of mood. Of note, this baseline interaction may have been accounted for by depressive symptoms. Identification with death (vs. life) predicted greater likelihood of suicidal ideation one month later, controlling for depressive symptoms and baseline suicidal ideation. Only negative mood-activated identification with death predicted suicidal ideation six months later. Suicide Stroop scores did not change as a function of mood or predict subsequent suicidal ideation. Death/Life IAT findings support the Differential Activation Hypothesis and suggest that suicide ideators’ identification with life is more variable and easily weakened by negative mood relative to non-ideators. We encourage future work to consider the potential role of transient mood and the importance of measuring psychological processes that pertain to both death and life

A prometaphase mechanism of securin destruction is essential for meiotic progression in mouse oocytes

Securin inhibits the protease separase and must be removed before anaphase to ensure timely chromosome segregation. Here, the authors define a mechanism of securin destruction in prometaphase I in mouse oocytes and demonstrate its importance for successful meiotic progression