Mucosal immunity develops in the human fetal intestine by 11-14 weeks of gestation, yet whether viable microbes exist in utero and interact with the intestinal immune system is unknown. Bacteria-like ...morphology was identified in pockets of human fetal meconium at mid-gestation by scanning electron microscopy (n = 4), and a sparse bacterial signal was detected by 16S rRNA sequencing (n = 40 of 50) compared to environmental controls (n = 87). Eighteen taxa were enriched in fetal meconium, with Micrococcaceae (n = 9) and Lactobacillus (n = 6) the most abundant. Fetal intestines dominated by Micrococcaceae exhibited distinct patterns of T cell composition and epithelial transcription. Fetal Micrococcus luteus, isolated only in the presence of monocytes, grew on placental hormones, remained viable within antigen presenting cells, limited inflammation ex vivo and possessed genomic features linked with survival in the fetus. Thus, viable bacteria are highly limited in the fetal intestine at mid-gestation, although strains with immunomodulatory capacity are detected in subsets of specimens.
Mechanisms and kinetics of metal-induced embrittlement, hydrogen-embrittlement, and stress-corrosion cracking are discussed, and long-standing controversies are addressed by reviewing critical ...observations. Recommendations are also made regarding further work (including repetition of previous work using more advanced measurement and characterisation techniques) that should be carried out in order to resolve some of the contentious issues. The evidence to date suggests that adsorption-based mechanisms, involving weakening of substrate interatomic bonds so that dislocation emission or decohesion is facilitated, accounts for embrittlement in many systems. Embrittling adsorbed species include some metal atoms, hydrogen, and complex ions produced by de-alloying. Other viable mechanisms of embrittlement include those based on (1) dissolution of anodic grain-boundary regions, and (2) decohesion at grain boundaries owing to segregated hydrogen and impurities. The hydrogen-enhanced localised-plasticity mechanism, based on solute hydrogen facilitating dislocation activity in the plastic zone ahead of cracks, makes a contribution in some cases, but is relatively unimportant compared with these other mechanisms for most fracture modes. The film-induced cleavage mechanism, proposed especially for stress-corrosion cracking in systems involving de-alloying at crack tips, is questionable on numerous grounds, and is probably not viable. Rate-controlling processes for environmentally assisted cracking are not well established, except for solid-metal induced embrittlement where surface self-diffusion of embrittling atoms to crack tips controls cracking kinetics. In some systems, adsorption kinetics are probably rate-controlling for liquid-metal embrittlement, hydrogen-environment embrittlement, and stress-corrosion cracking. In other cases, rate-controlling processes could include the rate of anodic or cathodic reactions at and behind crack tips (responsible for producing embrittling species such as hydrogen) and rates of hydrogen diffusion ahead of cracks.
Force-sensing insoles are wearable technology that offer an innovative way to measure loading outside of laboratory settings. Few studies, however, have utilized insoles to measure daily loading in ...real-world settings. This is an ancillary study of a randomized controlled trial examining the effect of weight loss alone, weight loss plus weighted vest, or weight loss plus resistance training on bone health in older adults. The purpose of this ancillary study was to determine the feasibility of using force-sensing insoles to collect daily limb loading metrics, including peak force, impulse, and loading rate. Forty-four participants completed a baseline visit of three, 2-minute walking trials while wearing force-sensing insoles. During month two of the intervention, 37 participants wore insoles for 4 days for 8 waking hours each day. At 6-month follow-up, participants completed three, two-minute walking trials and a satisfaction questionnaire. Criteria for success in feasibility was defined as: a) > 60 % recruitment rate; b) > 80 % adherence rate; c) > 75 % of usable data, and d) > 75 % participant satisfaction. A 77.3 % recruitment rate was achieved, with 44 participants enrolled. Participants wore their insoles an average of 7.4 hours per day, and insoles recorded an average of 5.5 hours per day. Peak force, impulse, and loading rate collected at baseline and follow-up were 100 % usable. During the real-world settings, 87.8 % of data was deemed usable with an average of 1200 min/participant. Lastly, average satisfaction was 80.5 %. These results suggest that force-sensing insoles appears to be feasible to capture real-world limb loading in older adults.
Background and purpose
Alterations in the gut microbial community composition may be influential in neurological disease. Microbial community profiles were compared between early onset pediatric ...multiple sclerosis (MS) and control children similar for age and sex.
Methods
Children ≤18 years old within 2 years of MS onset or controls without autoimmune disorders attending a University of California, San Francisco, USA, pediatric clinic were examined for fecal bacterial community composition and predicted function by 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing and phylogenetic reconstruction of unobserved states (PICRUSt) analysis. Associations between subject characteristics and the microbiota, including beta diversity and taxa abundance, were identified using non‐parametric tests, permutational multivariate analysis of variance and negative binomial regression.
Results
Eighteen relapsing−remitting MS cases and 17 controls (mean age 13 years; range 4–18) were studied. Cases had a short disease duration (mean 11 months; range 2–24) and half were immunomodulatory drug (IMD) naïve. Whilst overall gut bacterial beta diversity was not significantly related to MS status, IMD exposure was (Canberra, P < 0.02). However, relative to controls, MS cases had a significant enrichment in relative abundance for members of the Desulfovibrionaceae (Bilophila, Desulfovibrio and Christensenellaceae) and depletion in Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae (all P and q < 0.000005). Microbial genes predicted as enriched in MS versus controls included those involved in glutathione metabolism (Mann−Whitney, P = 0.017), findings that were consistent regardless of IMD exposure.
Conclusions
In recent onset pediatric MS, perturbations in the gut microbiome composition were observed, in parallel with predicted enrichment of metabolic pathways associated with neurodegeneration. Findings were suggestive of a pro‐inflammatory milieu.
► There is a good correlation between the intergranular SCC plateau velocities and the initial open-circuit potential of brittle intergranular fracture surfaces. ► The initial OCP and SCC velocity of ...overaged alloys appeared to be mainly controlled by the copper content of grain-boundary precipitates. ► Increases in OCP with time of immersion are due to de-alloying of grain-boundary precipitates and film formation. ► Measurements of OCP of ‘fresh’ brittle intergranular fracture surfaces give a good global indication of the electrochemical reactivity of grain-boundaries.
There is little or no correlation between grain-boundary, or matrix, microstructures and stress corrosion cracking (SCC) susceptibility. Grain-boundary microchemistry, especially the copper content of grain-boundary precipitates (GBP) is the most important factor. Further evidence for this is a correlation between the initial open-circuit potential of ‘fresh’ brittle intergranular fracture surfaces, the copper content of GBP, and the plateau SCC velocities of overaged 7079 and 7075 alloys. Preliminary comparisons of overaged (T7) and peak-aged (T651) material have also been made, and support the view that beneficial effects of overaging on SCC resistance is associated with increasing copper content of GBPs.
Einstein's theory of gravity-the general theory of relativity
-is based on the universality of free fall, which specifies that all objects accelerate identically in an external gravitational field. ...In contrast to almost all alternative theories of gravity
, the strong equivalence principle of general relativity requires universality of free fall to apply even to bodies with strong self-gravity. Direct tests of this principle using Solar System bodies
are limited by the weak self-gravity of the bodies, and tests using pulsar-white-dwarf binaries
have been limited by the weak gravitational pull of the Milky Way. PSR J0337+1715 is a hierarchical system of three stars (a stellar triple system) in which a binary consisting of a millisecond radio pulsar and a white dwarf in a 1.6-day orbit is itself in a 327-day orbit with another white dwarf. This system permits a test that compares how the gravitational pull of the outer white dwarf affects the pulsar, which has strong self-gravity, and the inner white dwarf. Here we report that the accelerations of the pulsar and its nearby white-dwarf companion differ fractionally by no more than 2.6 × 10
. For a rough comparison, our limit on the strong-field Nordtvedt parameter, which measures violation of the universality of free fall, is a factor of ten smaller than that obtained from (weak-field) Solar System tests
and a factor of almost a thousand smaller than that obtained from other strong-field tests
.
We report the first detections of the repeating fast radio burst source FRB 121102 above 5.2 GHz. Observations were performed using the 4-8 GHz receiver of the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope ...with the Breakthrough Listen digital backend. We present the spectral, temporal, and polarization properties of 21 bursts detected within the first 60 minutes of a total of 6 hr of observations. These observations comprise the highest burst density yet reported in the literature, with 18 bursts being detected in the first 30 minutes. A few bursts clearly show temporal sub-structure with distinct spectral properties. These sub-structures superimpose to provide an enhanced peak signal-to-noise ratio at higher trial dispersion measures. Broad features occur in ∼1 GHz wide subbands that typically differ in peak frequency between bursts within the band. Finer-scale structures (∼10-50 MHz) within these bursts are consistent with the structure expected from Galactic diffractive interstellar scintillation. The bursts exhibit nearly 100% linear polarization, and a large average rotation measure of 9.359 0.012 × 104 rad m−2 (in the observer's frame). No circular polarization was found for any burst. We measure an approximately constant polarization position angle in the 13 brightest bursts. The peak flux densities of the reported bursts have average values (0.2 0.1 Jy) similar to those seen at lower frequencies (<3 GHz), while the average burst widths (0.64 0.46 ms) are relatively narrower.
FRB 121102 is the only known repeating fast radio burst source. Here we analyze a wide-frequency-range (1-8 GHz) sample of high signal-to-noise, coherently dedispersed bursts detected using the ...Arecibo and Green Bank telescopes. These bursts reveal complex time-frequency structures that include subbursts with finite bandwidths. The frequency-dependent burst structure complicates the determination of a dispersion measure (DM); we argue that it is appropriate to use a DM metric that maximizes frequency-averaged pulse structure, as opposed to peak signal-to-noise, and find DM = 560.57 0.07 pc cm−3 at MJD 57,644. After correcting for dispersive delay, we find that the subbursts have characteristic frequencies that typically drift lower at later times in the total burst envelope. In the 1.1-1.7 GHz band, the ∼0.5-1 ms subbursts have typical bandwidths ranging from 100 to 400 MHz, and a characteristic drift rate of ∼200 MHz ms−1 toward lower frequencies. At higher radio frequencies, the subburst bandwidths and drift rate are larger, on average. While these features could be intrinsic to the burst emission mechanism, they could also be imparted by propagation effects in the medium local to the source. Comparison of the burst DMs with previous values in the literature suggests an increase of ΔDM ∼ 1-3 pc cm−3 in 4 yr; though, this could be a stochastic variation as opposed to a secular trend. This implies changes in the local medium or an additional source of frequency-dependent delay. Overall, the results are consistent with previously proposed scenarios in which FRB 121102 is embedded in a dense nebula.
Metal mining activities have resulted in the widespread metal pollution of soils and sediments and are a worldwide health concern. Pb is often prolific in metal-mining impacted systems and has acute ...and chronic toxic effects. Environmental factors controlling diffuse pollution from contaminated riverbank sediment are currently seen as a “black box” from a process perspective. This limits our ability to accurately predict and model releases of dissolved Pb. Previous work by the authors uncovered key mechanisms responsible for the mobilisation of dissolved Zn. The current study identifies key mechanisms controlling the mobilisation of dissolved Pb, and the environmental risk these releases pose, in response to various sequences of “riverbank” inundation/drainage. Mesocosm experiments designed to mimic the riverbank environment were run using sediment severely contaminated with Pb, from a mining-impacted site. Results indicated that, although Pb is generally reported as less mobile than Zn, high concentrations of dissolved Pb are released in response to longer or more frequent flood events. Furthermore, the geochemical mechanisms of release for Zn and Pb were different. For Zn, mechanisms were related to reductive dissolution of Mn (hydr)oxides with higher concentrations released, at depth, over prolonged flood periods. For Pb, key mechanisms of release were related to the solubility of anglesite and the oxidation of primary mineral galena, where periodic drainage events serve to keep sediments oxic, particularly at the surface. The results are concerning because climate projections for the UK indicate a rise in the occurrence of localized heavy rainfall events that could increase flood frequency and/or duration. This study is unique in that it is the first to uncover key mechanisms responsible for dissolved Pb mobilisation from riverbank sediments. The mineralogy at the mining-impacted site is common to many sites worldwide and it is likely the mechanisms identified in this study are widespread.
Display omitted
•Environmental factors controlling diffuse pollution are currently seen as a “black box”.•Two mesocosm experiments were designed to mimic the riverbank environment.•High concentrations of dissolved Pb were released, due to the oxidation of galena.•Solubility of Pb sulphate mineral anglesite had little control over dissolved Pb concentrations.
Highlights ► Studies of the human gut microbiota has increased interest in probiotic therapies. ► Standardization in probiotic trials is essential to address current conflicting data. ► Probiotic ...regulation differs greatly between countries and continents. ► Consumers and manufacturers will benefit from globally harmonized regulations.
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