Yes Cymru: the debate on Welsh independence has begun for good

The tectonic plates under the United Kingdom are moving: a second Independence Referendum for Scotland is coming and calls from both sides of the Irish border for a reunification referendum have been made. In Wales, the dragon is ever-so-slowly beginning to wake from its slumber, writes Samuel Parry

After the Brexit vote Plaid Cymru is finally becoming a radical alternative to Labour in Wales

There is a future to be had for the Welsh independence movement. Wales’ vote in favour of Brexit was not a one in favour of centralising more power in Westminster. At the same time Labour, that has dominated the country political scene, finds its formula of civic Welsh nationalism increasingly untenable. Samuel Parry writes that but for the virtual non-existence of independent Welsh media conditions post-Brexit are ripe for the Welsh independence movement to thrive

Changing lives through music: Professional audition practice and a community focus; an explorative study into the musical development of the Western Australian Charity Orchestra

In 2008, the Western Australian Charity Orchestra (WACO) was formed with a mission to change lives through music. It was hoped that by providing the opportunity for members to play music that was rewarding and challenging within a positive, friendly environment, they would be free to motivate each other to create excellent music. Embedded within a charitable and community focus it was further hoped that the result was an orchestra that would achieve increasing musical capability and community connectedness. Through the exploration into the practices of selected community orchestras combined with the results of a survey and action research model, I will be attempting to ascertain if the combination of a professional audition process and a charitable mission makes a notable difference to the standard of the music and the experience of musicians. It is possible that community orchestras may have greater impact on the players, on the audience members and on the wider musical community, if their focus was twofold; to come together through an unbiased audition process to create satisfying musical performances within the guise of raising awareness and supporting charitable organisations

KN-based Lead-free Ferroelectric Materials for SONAR applications

(Ba0.85Ca0.15)(Ti0.90Zr0.10)O3 ceramic was synthesised using the mixed oxide method. The full piezoelectric matrix of the device was characterised and the material was machined and used in two types of transducer device. The receive sensitivity and transmit voltage response of the device was then measured. The synthesis of pure KNbO3 by the mixed oxide method was optimised to reduce potassium loss. Solid solutions of (1-x)KNbO3-xCaZrO3, (1-x)KNbO3-xLiNbO3 and (1-x-y)KNbO3-xCaZrO3-yLiNbO3 were synthesised. The aim was to replicate the mixed of phases found in PZT and BCTZ. Substituting KNbO3 with CaZrO3 induced a rhombohedral phase to appear at room temperature when x=0.03, making a mixed phase of orthorhombic and rhombohedral. CaZrO3 decreased the TO-T and TT-C phase transitions. Substituting KNbO3 with increasing amounts of LiNbO3 initially reduced the TO-T before inducing a secondary phase. LiNbO3 also acted as a sintering aid, which allowed high electric field measurements. The d33* of the solid solution peaked when x=0.07. Combining both solid solutions the individual effects of each system was repeated. Increasing the fraction of CaZrO3 induced a rhombohedral phase at room temperature and increasing the fraction of LiNbO3 improved the sinterability and overall piezoelectric performance

The Future Theater-Level Model: A Research Project Update

Proceedings of the 1994 Winter Simulation Conference ed. J. D. Tew, S. Manivannan, D. A. Sadowski, and A. F. SeilaResearch has been conducted at the Naval Postgraduate School into new methodologies for joint theater-level combat simulation modeling, emphasizing C3I, operational intelligence, decisionmaking under uncertainty, and aggregated stochastic process modeling. Research outcomes to date as well as a prototype software tool are described in this paper

The surface area and reactivity of granitic soils: I. Dissolution rates of primary minerals as a function of depth and age deduced from field observations

Surface area-normalised dissolution rates of the primary minerals in two distinct granitic soils located in 1) the Dartmoor National Park, England and 2) Glen Dye, Scotland were determined as a function of depth. Each soil was sampled to a depth of ~ 1 m. The maximum soil ages based on 14C analysis of the humin fraction of the soil are 15,600 and 4400 years for the Dartmoor and Glen Dye soil profiles, respectively. The measured BET surface areas of the soil minerals are close to 5 m2/g in the B and C horizons, but decrease to less than 1 m2/g close to the surface. Retrieved geometric surface area normalised mineral dissolution rates are most rapid at the surface and at the bedrock–soil interface; this behaviour is interpreted to stem from a combination of the approach to equilibrium of the soil waters with depth and more rapid dissolution rates of fresh versus weathered surfaces. At the soil surface, the relative mineral dissolution rate order is found to be quartz > feldspar > mica, with quartz geometric surface area dissolution rates as fast as 2.6 to 4.1 × 10− 13 mol/m2/s. As observed in a number of past studies, field based rates obtained in this study are significantly slower than corresponding rates obtained from laboratory studies, suggesting that these latter rates may not accurately describe the reactivity of primary minerals in soils

Serelaxin Elicits Bronchodilation and Enhances β-Adrenoceptor-Mediated Airway Relaxation.

Treatment with β-adrenoceptor agonists does not fully overcome the symptoms associated with severe asthma. Serelaxin elicits potent uterine and vascular relaxation via its cognate receptor, RXFP1, and nitric oxide (NO) signaling, and is being clinically evaluated for the treatment of acute heart failure. However, its direct bronchodilator efficacy has yet to be explored. Tracheal rings were prepared from male Sprague-Dawley rats (250-350 g) and tricolor guinea pigs, and precision cut lung slices (PCLSs) containing intrapulmonary airways were prepared from rats only. Recombinant human serelaxin (rhRLX) alone and in combination with rosiglitazone (PPARγ agonist; recently described as a novel dilator) or β-adrenoceptor agonists (isoprenaline, salbutamol) were added either to pre-contracted airways, or before contraction with methacholine or endothelin-1. Regulation of rhRLX responses by epithelial removal, indomethacin (cyclooxygenase inhibitor), L-NAME (nitric oxide synthase inhibitor), SQ22536 (adenylate cyclase inhibitor) and ODQ (guanylate cyclase inhibitor) were also evaluated. Immunohistochemistry was used to localize RXFP1 to airway epithelium and smooth muscle. rhRLX elicited relaxation in rat trachea and PCLS, more slowly than rosiglitazone or isoprenaline, but potentiated relaxation to both these dilators. It markedly increased β-adrenoceptor agonist potency in guinea pig trachea. rhRLX, rosiglitazone, and isoprenaline pretreatment also inhibited the development of rat tracheal contraction. Bronchoprotection by rhRLX increased with longer pre-incubation time, and was partially reduced by epithelial removal, indomethacin and/or L-NAME. SQ22536 and ODQ also partially inhibited rhRLX-mediated relaxation in both intact and epithelial-denuded trachea. RXFP1 expression in the airways was at higher levels in epithelium than smooth muscle. In summary, rhRLX elicits large and small airway relaxation via epithelial-dependent and -independent mechanisms, likely via RXFP1 activation and generation of NO, prostaglandins and cAMP/cGMP. rhRLX also enhanced responsiveness to other dilators, suggesting its potential as an alternative or add-on therapy for severe asthma

Onset of human preterm and term birth is related to unique inflammatory transcriptome profiles at the maternal fetal interface.

BackgroundPreterm birth is a main determinant of neonatal mortality and morbidity and a major contributor to the overall mortality and burden of disease. However, research of the preterm birth is hindered by the imprecise definition of the clinical phenotype and complexity of the molecular phenotype due to multiple pregnancy tissue types and molecular processes that may contribute to the preterm birth. Here we comprehensively evaluate the mRNA transcriptome that characterizes preterm and term labor in tissues comprising the pregnancy using precisely phenotyped samples. The four complementary phenotypes together provide comprehensive insight into preterm and term parturition.MethodsSamples of maternal blood, chorion, amnion, placenta, decidua, fetal blood, and myometrium from the uterine fundus and lower segment (n = 183) were obtained during cesarean delivery from women with four complementary phenotypes: delivering preterm with (PL) and without labor (PNL), term with (TL) and without labor (TNL). Enrolled were 35 pregnant women with four precisely and prospectively defined phenotypes: PL (n = 8), PNL (n = 10), TL (n = 7) and TNL (n = 10). Gene expression data were analyzed using shrunken centroid analysis to identify a minimal set of genes that uniquely characterizes each of the four phenotypes. Expression profiles of 73 genes and non-coding RNA sequences uniquely identified each of the four phenotypes. The shrunken centroid analysis and 10 times 10-fold cross-validation was also used to minimize false positive finings and overfitting. Identified were the pathways and molecular processes associated with and the cis-regulatory elements in gene's 5' promoter or 3'-UTR regions of the set of genes which expression uniquely characterized the four phenotypes.ResultsThe largest differences in gene expression among the four groups occurred at maternal fetal interface in decidua, chorion and amnion. The gene expression profiles showed suppression of chemokines expression in TNL, withdrawal of this suppression in TL, activation of multiple pathways of inflammation in PL, and an immune rejection profile in PNL. The genes constituting expression signatures showed over-representation of three putative regulatory elements in their 5'and 3' UTR regions.ConclusionsThe results suggest that pregnancy is maintained by downregulation of chemokines at the maternal-fetal interface. Withdrawal of this downregulation results in the term birth and its overriding by the activation of multiple pathways of the immune system in the preterm birth. Complications of the pregnancy associated with impairment of placental function, which necessitated premature delivery of the fetus in the absence of labor, show gene expression patterns associated with immune rejection

Incorporation and retention of 99-Tc(IV) in magnetite under high pH conditions

Technetium incorporation into magnetite and its behavior during subsequent oxidation has been investigated at high pH to determine the technetium retention mechanism(s) on formation and oxidative perturbation of magnetite in systems relevant to radioactive waste disposal. Ferrihydrite was exposed to Tc(VII)(aq) containing cement leachates (pH 10.5-13.1), and crystallization of magnetite was induced via addition of Fe(II)aq. A combination of X-ray diffraction (XRD), chemical extraction, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) techniques provided direct evidence that Tc(VII) was reduced and incorporated into the magnetite structure. Subsequent air oxidation of the magnetite particles for up to 152 days resulted in only limited remobilization of the incorporated Tc(IV). Analysis of both X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) and extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) data indicated that the Tc(IV) was predominantly incorporated into the magnetite octahedral site in all systems studied. On reoxidation in air, the incorporated Tc(IV) was recalcitrant to oxidative dissolution with less than 40% remobilization to solution despite significant oxidation of the magnetite to maghemite/goethite: All solid associated Tc remained as Tc(IV). The results of this study provide the first direct evidence for significant Tc(IV) incorporation into the magnetite structure and confirm that magnetite incorporated Tc(IV) is recalcitrant to oxidative dissolution. Immobilization of Tc(VII) by reduction and incorporation into magnetite at high pH and with significant stability upon reoxidation has clear and important implications for limiting technetium migration under conditions where magnetite is formed including in geological disposal of radioactive wastes