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    The effects of diet and beauty products on the uptake and storage of 14C in hair and nails: ramifications for the application of bomb pulse dating to forensic anthropological casework
    (Elsevier BV, 2023-08) Johnstone-Belford, EC.; Jacobsen, GE; Fallon, SJ; Dipnall, JF; Blau, S.
    Radiocarbon dating is a useful tool in the examination of unknown human remains. Recent studies have shown that the analysis of hair and nail samples can provide a highly accurate estimation of the year of death (YOD). However, little research has examined factors that may influence the uptake and storage of 14C in these tissues, such as diet, or the use of beauty products. This study measured the level of 14C in human hair and nail samples collected from living individuals to determine whether diet, and the use of hair dye or nail polish, has a significant impact on the estimation of YOD. The results of this study showed that diet did not appear to impact the radiocarbon content in human hair and nail, and thus should not be considered a limitation when analysing samples obtained from unidentified human remains. The use of nail polish, and in the majority of cases, hair dye, did not significantly impact the 14C concentration in nails and hair. While the results of this study are preliminary, they suggest that in most cases, both hair and nail can be successfully analysed using radiocarbon dating to estimate an individual’s YOD. However, best practice should involve the analysis of multiple tissue types, to minimise any error that may be introduced as a result of the decedent’s use of beauty products. © Crown Copyright 2023, Published by Elsevier B.V
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    The effect of molybdenum on clustering and precipitation behaviour of strip-cast steels containing niobium
    (Elsevier B. V., 2019-12) Jiang, L; Marceau, RKW; Guan, B; Dorin, T; Wood, K; Hodgson, PD; Stanford, N
    Two high-strength low-alloy (HSLA) steels containing Nb-carbonitrides were produced, one contained Mo and the other was Mo-free. The alloys were produced by simulated direct strip casting, and were fully bainitic in the as-cast condition. Isothermal ageing treatments were carried out to precipitate harden the alloy, and the strength was measured using a shear punch test. The dislocation density was measured with X-ray diffraction (XRD), and was found to be larger in the alloy containing Mo in all ageing conditions. Atom probe tomography (APT) showed the presence of solute clusters in the as-cast condition, and the addition of Mo increased both size and volume fraction of these clusters. The solute clusters provided significant strengthening increments of up to 112 MPa, and cluster strengthening was larger in the Mo-containing alloy. Precipitation of Nb-carbonitrides was observed after longer ageing times, which were refined by the addition of Mo. This was attributed to the higher dislocation density that increased the number of nucleation sites. Precipitate chemistry was similar for both alloys, and contrary to some literature reports, minimal Mo was observed to segregate to the precipitates. A thermodynamic rationale is presented which describes the reasons that Mo segregates to the Nb-carbide in some alloys but not in others, despite the alloy chemistries being relatively similar. © 2019 Acta Materialia Inc.
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    Synthesis of perdeuterated linoleic acid-d31 and chain deuterated 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine-d62
    (John Wiley & Sons, 2022-08-08) Moir, M; Yepuri, NR; Marshall, DL; Blanksby, SJ; Darwish, TA
    Herein, we report a gram-scale synthesis of perdeuterated linoleic acid-d31. The starting materials for the synthesis are two saturated fatty acids, azelaic acid-d14 and pentanoic acid-d9, which can be obtained by metal catalysed hydrothermal hydrogen-deuterium exchange. The synthesis utilises the fatty acids directly via decarboxylative coupling. Copper catalysed coupling of a terminal alkyne intermediate with a propargyl bromide derivative affords a skipped diyne, which can be reduced using P-2 nickel to obtain the desired cis,cis-diene geometry. The subsequent synthesis of the tail-deuterated phospholipid, 1-palmitoyl-2-linoleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine-d62 (PLPC-d62) is also described. Optimised reaction conditions were developed to access this phospholipid and its regioisomeric purity was characterised by two complementary mass spectrometry techniques. © 2022 The Authors - CC- BY Licence
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    The temperature-dependent phase transformation and microstructural characterisation in In-Sn solder alloys
    (Springer Nature, 2023-05-16) Zhou, J; Tan, XF; Gu, QF; McDonald, SD; Nogita, K
    Indium-based solder alloys are considered candidates for the next generation of low-temperature solder materials, especially for superconducting joints because of the properties of the β-In3Sn phase. The temperature-dependent phase transformation and thermal expansion behaviour of two different solder compositions including In-35Sn (in wt.%) and In-25.6Sn have been characterised using an in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction method. The c-axis of the β-In3Sn unit cell in the In-35Sn alloy exhibited a complex relationship with increasing temperature compared to the positive increasing trend in In-25.6Sn due to the temperature-dependent solubility of Sn in β-In3Sn and change in the volume fraction of phases commencing at 80°C. In situ heating scanning electron microscopy recorded a real-time melting-solidification microstructure variation and phase transition during annealing at 90°C that was further analysed using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The observations are discussed with respect to the lattice parameters of the γ-InSn4 and β-In3Sn phases and the proportions and composition of both phases present within the alloys. © 2023 The Authors - Open Access - funded through CAUL.
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    Treatment of multi-dentate surface complexes and diffuse layer implementation in various speciation codes
    (Elsevier, 2015-04) Lützenkirchen, J; Marsac, R; Kulik, DA; Payne, TE; Xue, ZG; Orsetti, S; Haderlein, SB
    Spectroscopic studies and atomistic simulations of (hydr)oxide surfaces show that ionic aqueous adsorbates can bind to one, two, three, or four surface oxygen atoms (sites), forming multi-dentate species in surface complexation reactions. The law of mass action (LMA) for such reactions can be expressed in several alternative scales of surface concentration (activity). Unlike for mono-dentate surface complexes, the numerical value of the equilibrium constant is not independent of the choice of the surface concentration scale. Here, we show in a number of examples that the different formalisms implemented in popular speciation codes (MINEQL, MINTEQ, PHREEQC, and ECOSAT) yield different results for the same systems when the same parameters are used. We conclude that it is very important to generate general equations to easily transfer stability constants between the different concentration scales. It is of utmost importance for application of these models to reactive transport that the implementation in both the model fitting and speciation codes, and in the transport codes, is transparent to users. We also point to the problem that the implementation of the diffuse layer formalism in the various codes is not necessarily generally applicable. Thus, codes like VisualMinteq or MINEQL involve the Gouy–Chapman equation, which is limited to symmetrical (z:z) electrolytes, while PHREEQC and ECOSAT use general equations. Application of the former two to environmental problems with mixed electrolytes will therefore involve an inconsistency. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd.