Mixing properties of liquid Al-Au alloys

The thermodynamic and structural properties of liquid Al-Au alloy have been studied in frame-work of R-K polynomial using temperature-dependent energy interaction parameters at different temperatures. Thermodynamic properties, excess free energy of mixing and activity, and in structural properties, concentration fluctuation in long wave-length limit have been computed at temperatures 1338 K, 1500 K and 1600 K. The properties, such as surface tension and surface concentration of the system have been computed at above mentioned temperatures using Butler model. The system shows transformation from segregating to ordering in nature with increase in concentration of Au

Maternal health care-seeking behaviour of married adolescent girls: A prospective qualitative study in Banke District, Nepal

Background: Nepal has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the South Asia region, partly due to the underutilization of maternal health services and the high number of adolescent pregnancies. This study explores married Nepali adolescent girls’ healthcare-seeking behaviour throughout their pregnancies, during their delivery and postpartum. Methods: We conducted a prospective qualitative study in Banke district, Nepal. In-depth interviews were conducted with 27 married adolescent girls before and after delivery. In addition, a focus group discussion was conducted with community health works and key-informant interviews were conducted with family members of adolescent girls, representatives from the government and health care providers. We applied the Social-Ecological Model (SEM) as a framework to guide thematic content analysis and presentation of our qualitative data. Results: Several factors in the SEM influenced maternal health care-seeking behaviour of adolescents. At the individual level, girls’ perceptions, their lack of knowledge about maternal and reproductive health, certain traditional practices, their sole dependency on their husbands and mothers-in-laws and their low decision-making autonomy towards their own health care negatively influenced their utilization of skilled maternal health services. Mothers-in-law and other family members played a critical role in either encouraging or discouraging the use of skilled maternal health services. At the health systems level, lack of adolescent-friendly maternal health services, difficulties in accessing quality maternal health services, and the fixed operating hours of public health facilities restricted their ability to obtain services. The existence of the Safe Motherhood Programme, knowledge sharing platforms such as “women’s groups” and the active role of Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) positively influenced utilization of skilled maternal health services among these girls. Conclusion: Influences on married adolescent girls’ use of skilled maternal health services in Banke District, Nepal were multi-factoral. Ensuring easy access and availability of adolescent-friendly maternal health services are important to encourage adolescent girls to use skilled maternal health services. Moreover, interventions are needed to improve adolescent girls’ knowledge of maternal health, keep them in school, involve family members (mainly mothers-in-law) in health interventions, as well as overcome negative traditional beliefs within the community that discourage care-seeking for skilled maternal health services

Using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) to model human neuromuscular connectivity: promise or reality?

Motor neuron diseases (MND) such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy are devastating, progressive and ultimately fatal diseases for which there are no effective treatments. Recent evidence from systematic studies of animal models and human patients suggests that the neuromuscular junction (NMJ) is an important early target in MND, demonstrating functional and structural abnormalities in advance of pathological changes occurring in the motor neuron cell body. The ability to study pathological changes occurring at the NMJ in humans is therefore likely to be important for furthering our understanding of disease pathogenesis, and also for designing and testing new therapeutics. However, there are many practical and technical reasons why it is not possible to visualise or record from NMJs in pre- and early-symptomatic MND patients in vivo. Other approaches are therefore required. The development of stem cell technologies has opened up the possibility of creating human NMJs in vitro, using pluripotent cells generated from healthy individuals and patients with MND. This review covers historical attempts to develop mature and functional NMJs in vitro, using co-cultures of muscle and nerve from animals, and discusses how recent developments in the generation and specification of human induced pluripotent stem cells provides an opportunity to build on these previous successes to recapitulate human neuromuscular connectivity in vitro

Genetic trends in CIMMYT’s tropical maize breeding pipelines

Fostering a culture of continuous improvement through regular monitoring of genetic trends in breeding pipelines is essential to improve efficiency and increase accountability. This is the first global study to estimate genetic trends across the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) tropical maize breeding pipelines in eastern and southern Africa (ESA), South Asia, and Latin America over the past decade. Data from a total of 4152 advanced breeding trials and 34,813 entries, conducted at 1331 locations in 28 countries globally, were used for this study. Genetic trends for grain yield reached up to 138 kg ha−1 yr−1 in ESA, 118 kg ha−1 yr−1 South Asia and 143 kg ha−1 yr−1 in Latin America. Genetic trend was, in part, related to the extent of deployment of new breeding tools in each pipeline, strength of an extensive phenotyping network, and funding stability. Over the past decade, CIMMYT’s breeding pipelines have significantly evolved, incorporating new tools/technologies to increase selection accuracy and intensity, while reducing cycle time. The first pipeline, Eastern Africa Product Profile 1a (EA-PP1a), to implement marker-assisted forward-breeding for resistance to key diseases, coupled with rapid-cycle genomic selection for drought, recorded a genetic trend of 2.46% per year highlighting the potential for deploying new tools/technologies to increase genetic gain

Multi-messenger searches via IceCube’s high-energy neutrinos and gravitational-wave detections of LIGO/Virgo

We summarize initial results for high-energy neutrino counterpart searches coinciding with gravitational-wave events in LIGO/Virgo\u27s GWTC-2 catalog using IceCube\u27s neutrino triggers. We did not find any statistically significant high-energy neutrino counterpart and derived upper limits on the time-integrated neutrino emission on Earth as well as the isotropic equivalent energy emitted in high-energy neutrinos for each event

In-situ estimation of ice crystal properties at the South Pole using LED calibration data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory instruments about 1 km3 of deep, glacial ice at the geographic South Pole using 5160 photomultipliers to detect Cherenkov light emitted by charged relativistic particles. A unexpected light propagation effect observed by the experiment is an anisotropic attenuation, which is aligned with the local flow direction of the ice. Birefringent light propagation has been examined as a possible explanation for this effect. The predictions of a first-principles birefringence model developed for this purpose, in particular curved light trajectories resulting from asymmetric diffusion, provide a qualitatively good match to the main features of the data. This in turn allows us to deduce ice crystal properties. Since the wavelength of the detected light is short compared to the crystal size, these crystal properties do not only include the crystal orientation fabric, but also the average crystal size and shape, as a function of depth. By adding small empirical corrections to this first-principles model, a quantitatively accurate description of the optical properties of the IceCube glacial ice is obtained. In this paper, we present the experimental signature of ice optical anisotropy observed in IceCube LED calibration data, the theory and parametrization of the birefringence effect, the fitting procedures of these parameterizations to experimental data as well as the inferred crystal properties.</p