Microstress in the matrix of a melt‐infiltrated SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composite

Microstress in the SiC: Si matrix of a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) has been characterized, using Raman spectroscopy. The matrix of the composite was manufactured using liquid melt infiltration, and has about 20% unreacted free silicon. During the processing of the composite, the unreacted free silicon expands 11 vol% when transforming from liquid to solid. This crystallization expansion creates compressive microstress in the silicon phase of the matrix, which ranges from 2.4 to 3.1 GPa, and tensile microstress in the SiC of the matrix which ranges from 0.24 to 0.75 GPa. The microstress varies significantly with position, following a normal distribution.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138911/1/jace15038_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138911/2/jace15038.pd

Sellafield Thermal Treatment Trials Using Advanced Joule Heated Ceramic Melter Technology -WM-10110

ABSTRACT The viability of thermal treatment using vitrification to immobilize two types of Sellafield intermediate level wastes (ILW) has been successfully demonstrated in proof-of-concept trials. The testing employed a type of Joule Heated Ceramic Melter (JHCM) technology that incorporates active mixing of the melt pool. Melt pool mixing improves heat and mass transport, increases waste processing rates, thereby reducing systems size and/or operating duration, and therefore overall treatment costs. Simulants for two Sellafield ILW streams-a Magnox sludge and a sand/clinoptilolite ion exchange waste slurry-were developed for testing in this work. Glass formulations were developed and tested for each of the two ILW streams. Acceptable glass formulations that met all processability and product quality constraints were selected for testing on a small-scale continuously-fed vitrification system. Two tests of nominally 50-hour duration were completed. Data were collected to characterize operating conditions, processing rates, and glass and off-gas compositions for mass balance. Key performance objectives included minimum nonactive additives; maximum volume reduction for the wastes; maximum retention of radionuclide and chemotoxic elements; minimal secondary wastes that require other processing; maximum passivation and stabilization of wastes; and meeting product compliance requirements. Test results demonstrate that vitrification using JHCM technology is well suited to immobilize the two Sellafield waste streams tested. The required system size and operating duration are well within the realm of prior experience of this technology. The technology offers the potential to significantly reduce lifecycle cost because the high volume reductions minimize the volume of treated wastes to be disposed, while the glass waste form offers superior waste form performance compared to almost all alternatives

Genomic inversions and GOLGA core duplicons underlie disease instability at the 15q25 locus.

Human chromosome 15q25 is involved in several disease-associated structural rearrangements, including microdeletions and chromosomal markers with inverted duplications. Using comparative fluorescence in situ hybridization, strand-sequencing, single-molecule, real-time sequencing and Bionano optical mapping analyses, we investigated the organization of the 15q25 region in human and nonhuman primates. We found that two independent inversions occurred in this region after the fission event that gave rise to phylogenetic chromosomes XIV and XV in humans and great apes. One of these inversions is still polymorphic in the human population today and may confer differential susceptibility to 15q25 microdeletions and inverted duplications. The inversion breakpoints map within segmental duplications containing core duplicons of the GOLGA gene family and correspond to the site of an ancestral centromere, which became inactivated about 25 million years ago. The inactivation of this centromere likely released segmental duplications from recombination repression typical of centromeric regions. We hypothesize that this increased the frequency of ectopic recombination creating a hotspot of hominid inversions where dispersed GOLGA core elements now predispose this region to recurrent genomic rearrangements associated with disease

The prevalence and incidence of mental ill-health in adults with autism and intellectual disabilities

The prevalence, and incidence, of mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities and autism were compared with the whole population with intellectual disabilities, and with controls, matched individually for age, gender, ability-level, and Down syndrome. Although the adults with autism had a higher point prevalence of problem behaviours compared with the whole adult population with intellectual disabilities, compared with individually matched controls there was no difference in prevalence, or incidence of either problem behaviours or other mental ill-health. Adults with autism who had problem behaviours were less likely to recover over a two-year period than were their matched controls. Apparent differences in rates of mental ill-health are accounted for by factors other than autism, including Down syndrome and ability level

Quality of life in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia: A literature review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>A couple of decades ago, hospitals or psychiatric institutions were in charge of caring for patients with schizophrenia; however, nowadays this role is performed by one or more patient's relatives. Evidence shows that informal caregivers experience negative changes in their quality of life (QOL). The aim of this study is to review the main factors associated with the QOL of caregivers of people with schizophrenia.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A search through databases from journals published last decade between 1998 and 2008 was performed. In accordance with the inclusion criteria, titles and abstracts of citations obtained from the search were examined independently by two authors and irrelevant articles discarded. The full text of those studies considered relevant by either reviewer were obtained and assessed independently. Where differences of opinion rose they were resolved by discussion. Out of the 258 references, 37 were included in the review.</p> <p>Studies which assessed factors associated with caregivers of people with schizophrenia's quality of life were included and the information summarized.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Evidence suggest that physical, emotional and economic distress affect negatively caregiver's QOL as a result of a number of unfulfilled needs such as, restoration of patient functioning in family and social roles, economic burden, lack of spare time, among other factors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Decreased QOL may be associated with caregivers' burden, lack of social support, course of the disease and family relationships problems. In addition, in developing countries, QOL is affected by caregivers' economic burden. High quality research is needed in order to identify factors associated with QOL over time and testing the efficacy of interventions aiming to improve QOL in caregivers of patients with schizophrenia.</p

The use of insulin declines as patients live farther from their source of care: results of a survey of adults with type 2 diabetes

BACKGROUND: Although most diabetic patients do not achieve good physiologic control, patients who live closer to their source of primary care tend to have better glycemic control than those who live farther away. We sought to assess the role of travel burden as a barrier to the use of insulin in adults with diabetes METHODS: 781 adults receiving primary care for type 2 diabetes were recruited from the Vermont Diabetes Information System. They completed postal surveys and were interviewed at home. Travel burden was estimated as the shortest possible driving distance from the patient's home to the site of primary care. Medication use, age, sex, race, marital status, education, health insurance, duration of diabetes, and frequency of care were self-reported. Body mass index was measured by a trained field interviewer. Glycemic control was measured by the glycosolated hemoglobin A1C assay. RESULTS: Driving distance was significantly associated with insulin use, controlling for the covariates and potential confounders. The odds ratio for using insulin associated with each kilometer of driving distance was 0.97 (95% confidence interval 0.95, 0.99; P = 0.01). The odds ratio for using insulin for those living within 10 km (compared to those with greater driving distances) was 2.29 (1.35, 3.88; P = 0.02). DISCUSSION: Adults with type 2 diabetes who live farther from their source of primary care are significantly less likely to use insulin. This association is not due to confounding by age, sex, race, education, income, health insurance, body mass index, duration of diabetes, use of oral agents, glycemic control, or frequency of care, and may be responsible for the poorer physiologic control noted among patients with greater travel burdens

Microbial Community and Chemical Characteristics of Swine Manure during Maturation

Swine diet formulations have the potential to lower animal emissions, including odor and ammonia (NH3). The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of manure storage duration on manure chemical and microbial properties in swine feeding trials. Three groups of 12 pigs were fed a standard corn–soybean meal diet over a 13-wk period. Urine and feces were collected at each feeding and transferred to 12 manure storage tanks. Manure chemical characteristics and headspace gas concentrations were monitored for NH3, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), volatile fatty acids, phenols, and indoles. Microbial analysis of the stored manure included plate counts, community structure (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis), and metabolic function (Biolog). All odorants in manure and headspace gas concentrations were significantly (p \u3c 0.01) correlated for length of storage using quadratic equations, peaking after Week 5 for all headspace gases and most manure chemical characteristics. Microbial community structure and metabolic utilization patterns showed continued change throughout the 13-wk trial. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis species diversity patterns declined significantly (p \u3c 0.01) with time as substrate utilization declined for sugars and certain amino acids, but functionality increased in the utilization of short chain fatty acids as levels of these compounds increased in manure. Studies to assess the effect of swine diet formulations on manure emissions for odor need to be conducted for a minimum of 5 wk. Efforts to determine the impact of diets on greenhouse gas emissions will require longer periods of study (\u3e13 wk)

Can medical therapy mimic the clinical efficacy or physiological effects of bariatric surgery?

The number of bariatric surgical procedures performed has increased dramatically. This review discusses the clinical and physiological changes, and in particular, the mechanisms behind weight loss and glycaemic improvements, observed following the gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy and gastric banding bariatric procedures. The review then examines how close we are to mimicking the clinical or physiological effects of surgery through less invasive and safer modern interventions that are currently available for clinical use. These include dietary interventions, orlistat, lorcaserin, phentermine/topiramate, glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors, pramlintide, dapagliflozin, the duodenal–jejunal bypass liner, gastric pacemakers and gastric balloons. We conclude that, based on the most recent trials, we cannot fully mimic the clinical or physiological effects of surgery; however, we are getting closer. A ‘medical bypass' may not be as far in the future as we previously thought, as the physician's armamentarium against obesity and type 2 diabetes has recently got stronger through the use of specific dietary modifications, novel medical devices and pharmacotherapy. Novel therapeutic targets include not only appetite but also taste/food preferences, energy expenditure, gut microbiota, bile acid signalling, inflammation, preservation of β-cell function and hepatic glucose output, among others. Although there are no magic bullets, an integrated multimodal approach may yield success. Non-surgical interventions that mimic the metabolic benefits of bariatric surgery, with a reduced morbidity and mortality burden, remain tenable alternatives for patients and health-care professionals

Associations of homelessness and residential mobility with length of stay after acute psychiatric admission

Background: A small number of patient-level variables have replicated associations with the length of stay (LOS) of psychiatric inpatients. Although need for housing has often been identified as a cause of delayed discharge, there has been little research into the associations between LOS and homelessness and residential mobility (moving to a new home), or the magnitude of these associations compared to other exposures. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 4885 acute psychiatric admissions to a mental health NHS Trust serving four South London boroughs. Data were taken from a comprehensive repository of anonymised electronic patient records. Analysis was performed using log-linear regression. Results: Residential mobility was associated with a 99% increase in LOS and homelessness with a 45% increase. Schizophrenia, other psychosis, the longest recent admission, residential mobility, and some items on the Health of the Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS), especially ADL impairment, were also associated with increased LOS. Informal admission, drug and alcohol or other non-psychotic diagnosis and a high HoNOS self-harm score reduced LOS. Including residential mobility in the regression model produced the same increase in the variance explained as including diagnosis; only legal status was a stronger predictor. Conclusions: Homelessness and, especially, residential mobility account for a significant part of variation in LOS despite affecting a minority of psychiatric inpatients; for these people, the effect on LOS is marked. Appropriate policy responses may include attempts to avert the loss of housing in association with admission, efforts to increase housing supply and the speed at which it is made available, and reforms of payment systems to encourage this