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Dupuytren’s disease is a complex condition, with both genetic and environmental factors contributing to its aetiology. We aimed to quantify the extent to which genetic factors predispose to the disease, through the calculation of sibling recurrence risk (ls), and to calculate the proportion of heritability accounted for by currently known genetic loci. From 174 siblings of patients with surgically confirmed disease, 100 were randomly selected. Controls were recruited from patients attending an ophthalmology outpatient clinic for eye conditions unrelated to diabetes. There were no statistically significant differences in baseline characteristics between the case and control groups. In siblings, 47% had Dupuytren’s disease, compared with 10% of controls, giving a ls of 4.5. Currently known loci that predispose to Dupuytren’s disease account for 12.1% of the total heritability of the disease. Dupuytren’s disease was significantly more common in siblings than in controls. These results accurately quantify the magnitude of the genetic predisposition to Dupuytren’s disease. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Phosphate based glasses (PBG) are currently of huge interest in the biomaterials field and findings have shown that their durability can be increased by doping with selected metal cations. In this study various compositions in the system (50-x)Na2O-xCaO-50P2O5 glasses, 0≤x≤50, were investigated to determine their characteristic temperatures (glass transition temperature (Tg), onset and peak temperatures of crystallisation (Tx and Tp), melting point and liquidus temperature (Tm and TJ), and also the temperature dependence of viscosity and density. The glass compositions were confirmed via EDX and the amorphous nature of the glasses was confirmed via XRD. Tg increased with increasing CaO mol% from 280±0⋅5°C to 521±01°C. The temperature dependence of viscosity revealed an increase in the temperature window for extrusion (from 26±0-66°C to 42±0-31°C) and fibre drawing (from 363±1⋅0°C to 539±0⋅9°C). The density was also seen to increase from 2⋅5 to 2⋅64 gcm-3. The increases in properties were attributed to the crosslinking of Ca2+ cations between phosphate chains which strengthened the glass network. For x≤20 mol% the activation energy for viscous flow is affected by the phosphate chain length. For 30≥x≥50 mol% the crosslinking effect of Ca2+ counters the effect of decreasing chain length, resulting in increasing activation energy for viscous flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Arsenic sulfide and arsenic selenide glasses, batched from elemental precursors in stoichiometric proportions, are synthesised in ≤35min via microwave heating in a domestic microwave oven (DMO). The DMO products are compared with the stoichiometric glasses made by conventional resistive furnace melting using: X-ray diffraction (XRD); transmission electron microscopy with selected area electron diffraction (TEM-SAED); analytical scanning electron microscopy; optical microscopy; differential thermal analysis (DTA); and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. From XRD and TEM-SAED, only part of the DMO As–S product is amorphous and exhibits up to three DTA glass transitions (T gs) showing that homogenisation has not taken place. In contrast, As40Se60 glass is readily prepared in the DMO and has similar properties to conventionally melted As40Se60 glass. Furthermore, the DMO As40Se60 glass can be patterned using hot embossing and drawn to fibre. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We show that oxy-fluoride glass ceramics, with typical composition, 32(SIO[sub 2]):9(A1O [sub 1.5]):31.5(CdF[sub 2]): 18.5(PbF[sub 2]): 5.5(ZnF[sub 2]): 3.5 (ErF[sub 3]) mol % have potential applications in telecommunications. Upon heat treatment, Er[sup 3+] nucleates the growth of the nanocrystalline β-PbF[sub 2], which acts as its host. Heat treatment at 440 °C for 5 h and at 390 °C for 3 h gave rise to ∼12 and ∼2.5 nm diameter crystals, respectively. The emission band of Er[sup 3+] in the 1.54 µm telecommunications window ([sup 4]I[sub 13/2]→[sup 4]I[sub 15/2] transition, at the half-height width) was 75 nm in the former and 90 nm in the latter case, while [sup 4]I[sub 13/2]↔[sup 4]I[sub 15/2] absorption and emission bands became wavelength divergent in both cases. Also in the latter case, the spectrum was flat from 1.53 to 1.56 µm. The evolution of spectral behavior is explained by changes in average site geometry of the Er[sup 3+] dopant, related to the α→β phase transition of PbF[sub 2], which is stimulated by heat treatment. We show that oxy-fluoride glass ceramics, with typical composition, 32(SIO[sub 2]):9(A1O [sub 1.5]):31.5(CdF[sub 2]): 18.5(PbF[sub 2]): 5.5(ZnF[sub 2]): 3.5 (ErF[sub 3]) mol % have potential applications in telecommunications. Upon heat treatment, Er[sup 3+] nucleates the growth of the nanocrystalline β-PbF[sub 2], which acts as its host. Heat treatment at 440 °C for 5 h and at 390 °C for 3 h gave rise to ∼12 and ∼2.5 nm diameter crystals, respectively. The emission band of Er[sup 3+] in the 1.54 µm telecommunications window ([sup 4]I[sub 13/2]→[sup 4]I[sub 15/2] transition, at the half-height width) was 75 nm in the former and 90 nm in the latter case, while [sup 4]I[sub 13/2]↔[sup 4]I[sub 15/2] absorption and emission bands became wavelength divergent in both cases. Also in the latter case, the spectrum was flat from 1.53 to 1.56 &micro... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]