We have investigated the relationship between decline in lung function and dietary intakes of magnesium, vitamin C, and other antioxidant vitamins in a general population cohort in Nottingham, United Kingdom. In 1991, we measured dietary intake by semiquantitative food frequency questionnaire, forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and respiratory symptoms in a cross-sectional survey of 2,633 adults aged 18-70. Nine years later we repeated these measures in 1,346 of these individuals. In cross-sectional analyses, after adjustment for smoking and other confounders, higher intakes of vitamin C and magnesium, but not vitamins A or E, were associated with higher levels of FEV1 in both 1991 and 2000. In longitudinal analysis with adjustment for confounders, decline in FEV1 between 1991 and 2000 was lower amongst those with higher average vitamin C intake by 50.8 ml (95% confidence interval, 3.8-97.9) per 100 mg of vitamin C per day, but was unrelated to magnesium intake. There was no relationship between decline in FEV1 and intake of vitamins A or E. This study suggests that a high dietary intake of vitamin C, or of foods rich in this vitamin, may reduce the rate of loss of lung function in adults and thereby help to prevent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Writing is a necessary part of the graduate student's journey; it can also be a stressful and frustrating one that leaves students feeling "stuck" and disheartened. In this article we discuss four playful and alternative strategies that aim to free-up and inspire our graduate writers: our use of shape cards, LEGO®, walking tutorials, and yoga and meditation for writing. Through a combination of reflection on experience, initial primary research, and engagement with wider discussions, we demonstrate the benefits and joys of our creative and innovative writing support work. However, we also acknowledge that such techniques involve risks and challenges, and they certainly will not suit every graduate writer: as one of our students put it, "I am done with toys!" Nevertheless, as this article demonstrates, such practices have a real potential to support, empower, and deepen graduate student writing.

<p>The roles of organic additives in the assembly and crystallisation of zeolites is still not fully understood. This is important when attempting to prepare novel frameworks to produce new zeolites. We consider 18-crown-6 ether as an additive, which has previously been shown to differentiate between the EMT and FAU zeolite frameworks. However, it is unclear whether this distinction is dictated by influences on the metastable free-energy landscape or geometric templating. Using high pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction, we have observed that the presence of 18C6 does not impact the EMT framework flexibility – agreeing with our previous geometric simulations and suggesting that 18C6 does not behave as a true geometric template. This was further studied with computational modelling, using first-principles comparative periodic DFT and lattice-dynamics calculations. It is shown that the lattice energy of FAU is more stable than EMT, however this is strongly impacted by the presence of solvent/guest molecules in the framework. Furthermore, the EMT topology possesses a greater vibrational entropy, being stabilised by free energy at finite temperature. Overall, these findings demonstrate that the role of the 18C6 additive is to influence the free-energy of crystallisation to assemble the EMT framework as opposed to FAU. </p>

<p>Previous work has shown a strong correlation between zeolite framework flexibility and the nature of structural symmetry and phase transitions. However, there is little experimental data regarding this relationship, in addition to how flexibility can be connected to the synthesis of these open framework materials. This is of interest for the synthesis of novel zeolites, which require organic additives to permutate the resulting geometry and symmetry of the framework. Here, we have used high pressure powder X-ray diffraction to study the three zeolites: Na-X, RHO and ZK-5, which can all be prepared using 18-crown-6 ether as an organic additive. We observe significant differences in how the occluded 18-crown-6 ether influences the framework flexibility – this being dependant on the geometry of the framework. We use these differences as an indicator to define the role of 18-crown-6 ether during zeolite crystallisation. Furthermore, in conjunction with previous work we predict that pressure-induced symmetry transitions are intrinsic to body-centred cubic zeolites. The high symmetry yields fewer degrees of freedom, meaning it is energetically favourable to lower the symmetry to facilitate further compression.</p>

<p>Previous work has shown a strong correlation between zeolite framework flexibility and the nature of structural symmetry and phase transitions. However, there is little experimental data regarding this relationship, in addition to how flexibility can be connected to the synthesis of these open framework materials. This is of interest for the synthesis of novel zeolites, which require organic additives to permutate the resulting geometry and symmetry of the framework. Here, we have used high pressure powder X-ray diffraction to study the three zeolites: Na-X, RHO and ZK-5, which can all be prepared using 18-crown-6 ether as an organic additive. We observe significant differences in how the occluded 18-crown-6 ether influences the framework flexibility – this being dependant on the geometry of the framework. We use these differences as an indicator to define the role of 18-crown-6 ether during zeolite crystallisation. Furthermore, in conjunction with previous work we predict that pressure-induced symmetry transitions are intrinsic to body-centred cubic zeolites. The high symmetry yields fewer degrees of freedom, meaning it is energetically favourable to lower the symmetry to facilitate further compression.</p>