Grain refinement of magnesium alloys: a review of recent research, theoretical developments and their application

This paper builds on the ‘‘Grain Refinement of Mg Alloys’’ published in 2005 and reviews the grain refinement research onMg alloys that has been undertaken since then with an emphasis on the theoretical and analytical methods that have been developed. Consideration of recent research results and current theoretical knowledge has highlighted two important factors that affect an alloy’s as-cast grain size. The first factor applies to commercial Mg-Al alloys where it is concluded that impurity and minor elements such as Fe and Mn have a substantially negative impact on grain size because, in combination with Al, intermetallic phases can be formed that tend to poison the more potent native or deliberately added nucleant particles present in the melt. This factor appears to explain the contradictory experimental outcomes reported in the literature and suggests that the search for a more potent and reliable grain refining technology may need to take a different approach. The second factor applies to all alloys and is related to the role of constitutional supercooling which, on the one hand, promotes grain nucleation and, on the other hand, forms a nucleation-free zone preventing further nucleation within this zone, consequently limiting the grain refinement achievable, particularly in low solute-containing alloys. Strategies to reduce the negative impact of these two factors are discussed. Further, the Interdependence model has been shown to apply to a broad range of casting methods from slow cooling gravity die casting to fast cooling high pressure die casting and dynamic methods such as ultrasonic treatment

Age at first birth in women is genetically associated with increased risk of schizophrenia

Prof. Paunio on PGC:n jäsenPrevious studies have shown an increased risk for mental health problems in children born to both younger and older parents compared to children of average-aged parents. We previously used a novel design to reveal a latent mechanism of genetic association between schizophrenia and age at first birth in women (AFB). Here, we use independent data from the UK Biobank (N = 38,892) to replicate the finding of an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women, and to estimate the genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in women stratified into younger and older groups. We find evidence for an association between predicted genetic risk of schizophrenia and AFB in women (P-value = 1.12E-05), and we show genetic heterogeneity between younger and older AFB groups (P-value = 3.45E-03). The genetic correlation between schizophrenia and AFB in the younger AFB group is -0.16 (SE = 0.04) while that between schizophrenia and AFB in the older AFB group is 0.14 (SE = 0.08). Our results suggest that early, and perhaps also late, age at first birth in women is associated with increased genetic risk for schizophrenia in the UK Biobank sample. These findings contribute new insights into factors contributing to the complex bio-social risk architecture underpinning the association between parental age and offspring mental health.Peer reviewe

Estimation of Genetic Correlation via Linkage Disequilibrium Score Regression and Genomic Restricted Maximum Likelihood

J. Lönnqvist on työryhmän Psychiat Genomics Consortium jäsen.Genetic correlation is a key population parameter that describes the shared genetic architecture of complex traits and diseases. It can be estimated by current state-of-art methods, i.e., linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) and genomic restricted maximum likelihood (GREML). The massively reduced computing burden of LDSC compared to GREML makes it an attractive tool, although the accuracy (i.e., magnitude of standard errors) of LDSC estimates has not been thoroughly studied. In simulation, we show that the accuracy of GREML is generally higher than that of LDSC. When there is genetic heterogeneity between the actual sample and reference data from which LD scores are estimated, the accuracy of LDSC decreases further. In real data analyses estimating the genetic correlation between schizophrenia (SCZ) and body mass index, we show that GREML estimates based on similar to 150,000 individuals give a higher accuracy than LDSC estimates based on similar to 400,000 individuals (from combinedmeta-data). A GREML genomic partitioning analysis reveals that the genetic correlation between SCZ and height is significantly negative for regulatory regions, which whole genome or LDSC approach has less power to detect. We conclude that LDSC estimates should be carefully interpreted as there can be uncertainty about homogeneity among combined meta-datasets. We suggest that any interesting findings from massive LDSC analysis for a large number of complex traits should be followed up, where possible, with more detailed analyses with GREML methods, even if sample sizes are lesser.Peer reviewe

Mapping nutrient resorption efficiencies of subarctic cryptogams and seed plants onto the Tree of Life

Nutrient resorption from senescing photosynthetic organs is a powerful mechanism for conserving nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in infertile environments. Evolution has resulted in enhanced differentiation of conducting tissues to facilitate transport of photosynthate to other plant parts, ultimately leading to phloem. Such tissues may also serve to translocate N and P to other plant parts upon their senescence. Therefore, we hypothesize that nutrient resorption efficiency (RE, % of nutrient pool exported) should correspond with the degree of specialization of these conducting tissues across the autotrophic branches of the Tree of Life. To test this hypothesis, we had to compare members of different plant clades and lichens within a climatic region, to minimize confounding effects of climatic drivers on nutrient resorption. Thus, we compared RE among wide-ranging basal clades from the principally N-limited subarctic region, employing a novel method to correct for mass loss during senescence. Even with the limited numbers of species available for certain clades in this region, we found some consistent patterns. Mosses, lichens, and lycophytes generally showed low REN (70%). REP appeared higher in eudicots and liverworts than in mosses. Within mosses, taxa with more efficient conductance also showed higher REN. The differences in REN among clades broadly matched the degree of specialization of conducting tissues. This novel mapping of a physiological process onto the Tree of Life broadly supports the idea that the evolution of conducting tissues toward specialized phloem has aided land plants to optimize their internal nitrogen recycling. The generality of evolutionary lines in conducting tissues and nutrient resorption efficiency needs to be tested across different floras in different climatic regions with different levels of N versus P availability

Are plant growth-form-based classifications useful in predicting northern ecosystem carbon cycling feedbacks to climate change?

1. Plant species affect ecosystem carbon uptake via biomass production and carbon release via decomposition processes. Differences in their responses to climate change and effects on ecosystem carbon cycling processes may thus feedback to the atmospheric carbon balance and the climate at a global scale. Hierarchical species classifications based on plant growth forms are widely used in cold, northern biomes to generalize and predict these differences. This review investigates the usefulness of broad (vascular, non-vascular), intermediate (woody, non-woody) and narrow (evergreen shrubs, deciduous shrubs, graminoids, forbs) plant growth-form-based groups in these biomes for predicting plant responses to climate change and effects on the main processes of the full carbon cycle by looking at the similarity of species within growth-form groups and the consistency of differences among groups under changing environmental conditions. 2. Production responses to climate change differ between broad growth-form groups, but their opposite responses do not imply that the responses of non-vascular plants are consistently negative. Within vascular growth forms, production responses to climate change are not always similar among species under identical conditions, and average differences among narrow vascular growth forms are usually small. Moreover, differences in production responses among growth forms strongly depend upon the duration of the study, the region and the ecosystem type. 3. Species within narrow growth forms show a high similarity for a range of leaf litter chemistry variables and differences among narrow growth forms are often large and consistent. However, differences in leaf litter decomposability are large between broad growth-form groups, but small and environment-dependent among important narrow vascular growth forms. Litter feedback effects to plant production vary among narrow vascular growth forms, but the differences strongly depend on the study duration. Data on the climate dependence of growth-form differences regarding this aspect of the carbon cycle are currently lacking. 4. Synthesis: Overall, the usefulness of growth-form-based groups clearly differs between carbon cycling processes. Different aggregation levels are therefore needed for different processes. For most processes there is evidence that the differences among growth forms depend on environmental conditions, which hampers their use for generalizations and modelling. Future studies should therefore explicitly test for differences among growth-form groups and aim to unravel the dependence of growth-form differences on environmental conditions. © 2007 The Author