Investigators have suggested a link between birth weight and both hand and lumbar spine osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, we sought to extend these observations by investigating relationships between growth in early life, and clinical and radiological diagnoses of OA at the hand, knee and hip, among participants from the Hertfordshire Cohort Study. Data were available for 222 men and 222 women. Clinical OA was defined based on American College of Rheumatology criteria. Radiographs were taken of the knees and hips, and graded for the presence of osteophytes and overall Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) score. Lower weight at year one was associated with higher rates of clinical hand OA (OR 1.396, 95% CI 1.05, 1.85, P=0.021). Individuals with lower birth weights were more likely to have hip osteophytes (OR 1.512, 95% CI 1.14, 2.00, P=0.004) and this remained robust after adjustment for confounders. Furthermore, a low weight at one year was also associated with a higher osteophyte number in the lateral compartment of the knee, after adjustment for confounders (OR 1.388, 95% CI 1.01, 1.91, P=0.043). We have found further evidence of a relationship between early life factors and adult OA. These findings accord with previous studies.

Osteoporosis is a skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass and micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue with a consequent increase in bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture. Evidence is now accumulating from human studies that programming of bone growth might be an important contributor to the later risk of osteoporotic fracture. Body weight in infancy is a determinant of adult bone mineral content, as well as of the basal levels of activity of the growth hormone/insulin-like growth factor-1 (GH/IGF-1) and hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axes, and recent work has suggested a central role for vitamin D. Epidemiological studies have shown that maternal smoking and nutrition during pregnancy influence intrauterine skeletal mineralization. Childhood growth rates have been directly linked to the risk of hip fracture many decades later, and now evidence is emerging from experimental animal studies that support these observational data. Recent studies have also highlighted epigenetic phenomena as potential mechanisms underlying the findings from epidemiological studies.

Early growth is associated with later risk of osteoporosis and fractures. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the relationships between maternal lifestyle and body composition and neonatal bone size, geometry and density in the offspring. Participants were recruited from the Southampton Women’s Survey, a unique prospective cohort of 12,500 initially non-pregnant women aged 20–34 years, resident in Southampton, UK. These women were studied in detail before and during pregnancy, and the offspring underwent anthropometric and bone mineral assessment (using dual energy-X-ray absorptiometry) at birth. A total of 841 mother–baby pairs were studied (443 boys and 398 girls). The independent predictors of greater neonatal whole body bone area (BA) and bone mineral content included greater maternal birthweight, height, parity, triceps skinfold thickness and lower walking speed in late pregnancy. Maternal smoking was independently associated with lower neonatal bone mass. Neonatal BA adjusted for birth length (a measure of bone width) was predicted positively by maternal parity and late pregnancy triceps skinfold thickness and negatively by late pregnancy walking speed. These findings were similar in both genders. We have confirmed, in a large cohort, previous findings that maternal lifestyle and body build predict neonatal bone mineral; additionally, maternal parity and fat stores and walking speed in late pregnancy were associated with neonatal bone geometry. These findings may suggest novel public health strategies to reduce the burden of osteoporotic fracture in future generations.

Phase change memory devices were originally reported by S. R.Ovshinsky [1] in 1968. A 256-bit phase-change memory array based on chalcogenide materials was reported in 1970 [2] Recent advances in phase change materials, memory device designs, and process technology have resulted in significant advances in phase change device performance, and a new memory device, called Ovonic Unified Memory (OUM), has been developed. This paper will discuss various device and materials characteristics of OUM phase change memory materials of interest in applications for nonvolatile high-density memories. These materials are generally Te chalcogenide based, exploiting the congruent crystallization of the FCC phase and the associated reduction in resistivity that results from crystallization from the quenched amorphous state. Data storage is a thermally initiated, rapid, reversible structural phase change in the film. While rewriteable DVD disks employ laser heat to induce the phase change and modulate reflectivity, OUM technology uses a short electrical current pulse to modulate resistivity. The device geometry and thermal environment dictate the power and energy required for memory state programming.

Both plasma and red blood cells contain amino acids (AA), but the relative amount of AA transferred from each vascular compartment to the tissues remains unclear. For splanchnic tissues, the relative transfers between the plasma, the red blood cells and the tissues may vary with nutritional state, but whether the same situation pertains for other tissues is not known. The current study focused on the transfer of lysine from plasma and red blood cells across the hindquarters of sheep offered four levels of intakes (0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.5×maintenance energy). This design, coupled with use of [U-13C]lysine as tracer, also allowed the effect of intake on protein kinetics to be examined. At all intakes, the concentration of lysine in the sheep’ red blood cells exceeded that in plasma by 50 % (P<0.001), while the distribution of labelled lysine between the plasma and the red blood cells was 0.71:0.29. Net lysine uptake by the hindquarters increased in a linear manner (P<0.001) with intake, with more than 90 % extracted from the plasma. Free lysine enrichments in plasma from the posterior vena cava were less than that from the artery (P<0.001), but those in red blood cells were not different between the artery and vein. The red blood cells thus play a minor role in the transfers to and from the hindquarter tissues, regardless of intake. Based on plasma transfers and the enrichment of lysine in arterial plasma, hindquarter protein synthesis increased linearly with intake (P<0.001). In contrast, protein breakdown was unaffected by intake. The contribution of hindquarter protein synthesis to whole-body lysine flux remained unchanged with intake (18–20 %).

We are presently carrying out a northern hemisphere survey of the Galactic Hα emission. Our instrument, the Virginia Tech Spectral Line Imaging Camera (SLIC) utilizes a fast objective lens (f/1.2) with a cryogenically-cooled TK 512×512 CCD. A filter wheel in front of the lens allows us to select interference filters, including a narrowband Hα filter and a broader bandpass continuum filter in a line free part of the spectrum. The fast optics in combination with the low noise CCD result in sub-Rayleigh sensitivity at confusion limited levels. (1 Rayleigh = 106/4π photons cm–2 s–1 sr–1.) This corresponds to an emission measure sensitivity of ≈ 1 pc cm–6. Parameters of our system are given in Table 1.

1. The nature of the digestion-inhibiting substance in Kikuyu grass (Pennisetum clandestinum, Hochst), containing high levels of nitrate, was investigated using in vitro digestibility techniques.

2. Nitrite, which accumulated during the reduction of nitrate to ammonia, seemed to be the primary factor reducing digestibility. Nitrate and ammonia did not affect digestion in vitro.

3. Nitrite caused a reduction in the cellulolytic, xylanolytic and total microbial population, with a concomitant reduction in cellulase and xylanase activity of the digesta.

4. The mode of action of nitrite on rumen microbial growth was investigated.

5. The possibility that the growth of cellulolytic rumen microbes was depressed by a reduction in concentration of essential branched-chain volatile fatty acids by nitrite was discounted.

6. Although nitrite caused a marked increase in the redox potential, due to its oxidizing properties, the more-positive redox potential did not reduce the digestibility of the grass.

7. The growth of three of the four major cellulolytic bacteria commonly found in the rumen was severely depressed by nitrite, while some rumen bacteria were relatively insensitive to nitrite.

8. Growth inhibition seemed to depend primarily on the extent to which these microbes derive their energy from electron-transport-mediated processes.

9. It was suggested that, due to the sensitivity of some rumen bacteria to nitrite, digestibility and therefore animal performance could be affected long before clinical symptoms of nitrite toxicity become apparent.

At the lowest radio frequencies (≤30 MHz), the Earth's ionosphere transmits poorly or not at all. This relatively unexplored region of the electromagnetic spectrum is thus an area where high resolution, high sensitivity observations can open a new window for astronomical investigations. Also, extending observations down to very low frequencies brings astronomy to a fundamental physical limit where the Milky Way becomes optically thick over relatively short path lengths due to diffuse free-free absorption.