More than just food: Field visits to an emergency relief centre

Emergency relief centres provide financial, housing, food and other types of support to families and individuals who experience financial hardship. These centres are non-profit, often government supported organizations that rely on the help of their volunteers and social workers. This paper reports on our preliminary findings from field visits to one such centre called Communify, in the inner west of Brisbane, Australia. Communify runs an emergency food relief facility for people who find themselves in a crisis or temporarily unable to afford groceries. Over a period of five months, we did several field visits to the centre and carried out 21 short in-situ interviews, with a mix of Communify clients and volunteers. Our results shed light on people’s experiences of financial hardship and their interactions with the emergency relief centre. In particular, issues related to their perceived values and stigmas associated with their experiences are highlighted in our findings. We identify opportunities for design that can empower people struggling with financial hardship.

Genetic relationship between five psychiatric disorders estimated from genome-wide SNPs

Most psychiatric disorders are moderately to highly heritable. The degree to which genetic variation is unique to individual disorders or shared across disorders is unclear. To examine shared genetic etiology, we use genome-wide genotype data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) for cases and controls in schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). We apply univariate and bivariate methods for the estimation of genetic variation within and covariation between disorders. SNPs explained 17-29% of the variance in liability. The genetic correlation calculated using common SNPs was high between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (0.68 +/- 0.04 s.e.), moderate between schizophrenia and major depressive disorder (0.43 +/- 0.06 s.e.), bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder (0.47 +/- 0.06 s.e.), and ADHD and major depressive disorder (0.32 +/- 0.07 s.e.), low between schizophrenia and ASD (0.16 +/- 0.06 s.e.) and non-significant for other pairs of disorders as well as between psychiatric disorders and the negative control of Crohn's disease. This empirical evidence of shared genetic etiology for psychiatric disorders can inform nosology and encourages the investigation of common pathophysiologies for related disorders.

Diagnostic values for skin temperature assessment to detect diabetes-related foot complications

Background Skin temperature assessment is a promising modality for early detection of diabetic foot problems, but its diagnostic value has not been studied. Our aims were to investigate the diagnostic value of different cutoff skin temperature values for detecting diabetes-related foot complications such as ulceration, infection, and Charcot foot and to determine urgency of treatment in case of diagnosed infection or a red-hot swollen foot. Materials and Methods The plantar foot surfaces of 54 patients with diabetes visiting the outpatient foot clinic were imaged with an infrared camera. Nine patients had complications requiring immediate treatment, 25 patients had complications requiring non-immediate treatment, and 20 patients had no complications requiring treatment. Average pixel temperature was calculated for six predefined spots and for the whole foot. We calculated the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for different cutoff skin temperature values using clinical assessment as reference and defined the sensitivity and specificity for the most optimal cutoff temperature value. Mean temperature difference between feet was analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis tests. Results The most optimal cutoff skin temperature value for detection of diabetes-related foot complications was a 2.2°C difference between contralateral spots (sensitivity, 76%; specificity, 40%). The most optimal cutoff skin temperature value for determining urgency of treatment was a 1.35°C difference between the mean temperature of the left and right foot (sensitivity, 89%; specificity, 78%). Conclusions Detection of diabetes-related foot complications based on local skin temperature assessment is hindered by low diagnostic values. Mean temperature difference between two feet may be an adequate marker for determining urgency of treatment.

Inflammation-driven bone formation in a mouse model of ankylosing spondylitis: Sequential not parallel processes

Background Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is an immune-mediated arthritis particularly targeting the spine and pelvis and is characterised by inflammation, osteoproliferation and frequently ankylosis. Current treatments that predominately target inflammatory pathways have disappointing efficacy in slowing disease progression. Thus, a better understanding of the causal association and pathological progression from inflammation to bone formation, particularly whether inflammation directly initiates osteoproliferation, is required. Methods The proteoglycan-induced spondylitis (PGISp) mouse model of AS was used to histopathologically map the progressive axial disease events, assess molecular changes during disease progression and define disease progression using unbiased clustering of semi-quantitative histology. PGISp mice were followed over a 24-week time course. Spinal disease was assessed using a novel semi-quantitative histological scoring system that independently evaluated the breadth of pathological features associated with PGISp axial disease, including inflammation, joint destruction and excessive tissue formation (osteoproliferation). Matrix components were identified using immunohistochemistry. Results Disease initiated with inflammation at the periphery of the intervertebral disc (IVD) adjacent to the longitudinal ligament, reminiscent of enthesitis, and was associated with upregulated tumor necrosis factor and metalloproteinases. After a lag phase, established inflammation was temporospatially associated with destruction of IVDs, cartilage and bone. At later time points, advanced disease was characterised by substantially reduced inflammation, excessive tissue formation and ectopic chondrocyte expansion. These distinct features differentiated affected mice into early, intermediate and advanced disease stages. Excessive tissue formation was observed in vertebral joints only if the IVD was destroyed as a consequence of the early inflammation. Ectopic excessive tissue was predominantly chondroidal with chondrocyte-like cells embedded within collagen type II- and X-rich matrix. This corresponded with upregulation of mRNA for cartilage markers Col2a1, sox9 and Comp. Osteophytes, though infrequent, were more prevalent in later disease. Conclusions The inflammation-driven IVD destruction was shown to be a prerequisite for axial disease progression to osteoproliferation in the PGISp mouse. Osteoproliferation led to vertebral body deformity and fusion but was never seen concurrent with persistent inflammation, suggesting a sequential process. The findings support that early intervention with anti-inflammatory therapies will be needed to limit destructive processes and consequently prevent progression of AS.

Kinetics and mechanism of hot corrosion of γ-Y 2Si 2O 7 in thin-film Na 2SO 4 molten salt

γ-Y 2Si 2O 7 is a promising candidate material both for hightemperature structural applications and as an environmental/thermal barrier coating material due to its unique properties such as high melting point, machinability, thermal stability, low linear thermal expansion coefficient (3.9×10 -6/K, 200°-1300°C), and low thermal conductivity (<3.0 W/ṁK above 300°C). The hot corrosion behavior of γ-Y 2Si 2O 7 in thin-film molten Na 2SO 4 at 850°-1000°C for 20 h in flowing air was investigated using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) and a mass spectrometer (MS). γ-Y 2Si 2O 7 exhibited good resistance against Na 2SO 4 molten salt. The kinetic curves were well fitted by a paralinear equation: the linear part was caused by the evaporation of Na2SO4 and the parabolic part came from gas products evolved from the hotcorrosion reaction. A thin silica film formed under the corrosion scale was the key factor for retarding the hot corrosion. The apparent activation energy for the corrosion of γ-Y 2Si 2O 7 in Na 2SO 4 molten salt with flowing air was evaluated to be 255 kJ/mol.

Low-temperature synthesis and sintering of γ-Y2Si2O7

In this article, a novel pressureless solid-liquid reaction method is presented for preparation of yttrium disilicate (γ-Y2Si2O7). Single-phase γ-Y2Si2O7 powder was synthesized by calcination of SiO2 and Y2O3 powders with the addition of LiYO2 at 1400 °C for 4 h. The addition of LiYO2 significantly decreased the synthesis temperature, shortened the calcination time, and enhanced the stability of γ-Y2Si2O7. The sintering of these powders in air and O2 was studied by means of thermal mechanical analyzer. It is shown that the γ-Y2Si2O7 sintered in oxygen had a faster densification rate and a higher density than that sintered in air. Furthermore, single-phase γ-Y2Si2O7 with a density of 4.0 g/cm3 (99% of the theoretical density) was obtained by pressureless sintering at 1400 °C for 2 h in oxygen. Microstructures of the sintered samples are studied by scanning electron microscope.

Observation of sea-salt fraction in sub-100 nm diameter particles at Cape Grim

Volatility-hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer measurements were used to infer the composition of sub-100 nm diameter Southern Ocean marine aerosols at Cape Grim in November and December 2007. This study focuses on a short-lived high sea spray aerosol (SSA) event on 7–8 December with two externally mixed modes in the Hygroscopic Growth Factor (HGF) distributions (90% relative humidity (RH)), one at HGF > 2 and another at HGF~1.5. The particles with HGF > 2 displayed a deliquescent transition at 73–75% RH and were nonvolatile up to 280°C, which identified them as SSA particles with a large inorganic sea-salt fraction. SSA HGFs were 3–13% below those for pure sea-salt particles, indicating an organic volume fraction (OVF) of up to 11–46%. Observed high inorganic fractions in sub-100 nm SSA is contrary to similar, earlier studies. HGFs increased with decreasing particle diameter over the range 16–97 nm, suggesting a decreased OVF, again contrary to earlier studies. SSA comprised up to 69% of the sub-100 nm particle number, corresponding to concentrations of 110–290 cm−3. Air mass back trajectories indicate that SSA particles were produced 1500 km, 20–40 h upwind of Cape Grim. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray spectrometry measurements of sub-100 nm aerosols collected from the same location, and at the same time, displayed a distinct lack of sea salt. Results herein highlight the potential for biases in TEM analysis of the chemical composition of marine aerosols.