Lusztig limit of quantum sl(2) at root of unity and fusion of (1,p) Virasoro logarithmic minimal models

We introduce a Kazhdan--Lusztig-dual quantum group for (1,p) Virasoro logarithmic minimal models as the Lusztig limit of the quantum sl(2) at pth root of unity and show that this limit is a Hopf algebra. We calculate tensor products of irreducible and projective representations of the quantum group and show that these tensor products coincide with the fusion of irreducible and logarithmic modules in the (1,p) Virasoro logarithmic minimal models.Comment: 19 page

Maternal Interleukin-6 concentration during pregnancy is associated with variation in frontolimbic white matter and cognitive development in early life

Maternal inflammation during pregnancy can alter the trajectory of fetal brain development and increase risk for offspring psychiatric disorders. However, the majority of relevant research to date has been conducted in animal models. Here, in humans, we focus on the structural connectivity of frontolimbic circuitry as it is both critical for socioemotional and cognitive development, and commonly altered in a range of psychiatric disorders associated with intrauterine inflammation. Specifically, we test the hypothesis that elevated maternal concentration of the proinflammatory cytokine interleukin-6 (IL-6) during pregnancy will be associated with variation in microstructural properties of this circuitry in the neonatal period and across the first year of life. Pregnant mothers were recruited in early pregnancy and maternal blood samples were obtained for assessment of maternal IL-6 concentrations in early (12.6 ± 2.8 weeks [S.D.]), mid (20.4 ± 1.5 weeks [S.D.]) and late (30.3 ± 1.3 weeks [S.D.]) gestation. Offspring brain MRI scans were acquired shortly after birth (N = 86, scan age = 3.7 ± 1.7 weeks [S.D.]) and again at 12-mo age (N = 32, scan age = 54.0 ± 3.1 weeks [S.D.]). Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) was used to characterize fractional anisotropy (FA) along the left and right uncinate fasciculus (UF), representing the main frontolimbic fiber tract. In N = 30 of the infants with serial MRI data at birth and 12-mo age, cognitive and socioemotional developmental status was characterized using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. All analyses tested for potentially confounding influences of household income, prepregnancy Body-Mass-Index, obstetric risk, smoking during pregnancy, and infant sex, and outcomes at 12-mo age were additionally adjusted for the quality of the postnatal caregiving environment. Maternal IL-6 concentration (averaged across pregnancy) was prospectively and inversely associated with FA (suggestive of reduced integrity under high inflammatory conditions) in the newborn offspring (bi-lateral, p < 0.01) in the central portion of the UF proximal to the amygdala. Furthermore, maternal IL-6 concentration was positively associated with rate of FA increase across the first year of life (bi-lateral, p < 0.05), resulting in a null association between maternal IL-6 and UF FA at 12-mo age. Maternal IL-6 was also inversely associated with offspring cognition at 12-mo age, and this association was mediated by FA growth across the first year of postnatal life. Findings from the current study support the premise that susceptibility for cognitive impairment and potentially psychiatric disorders may be affected in utero, and that maternal inflammation may constitute an intrauterine condition of particular importance in this context

Early, regular breast-milk pumping may lead to early breast-milk feeding cessation

Objective To estimate the effect of early, regular breast-milk pumping on time to breast-milk feeding (BMF) and exclusive BMF cessation, for working and non-working women.Design Using the Infant Feeding Practices Survey II (IFPS II), we estimated weighted hazard ratios (HR) for the effect of regular pumping (participant defined) compared with non-regular/not pumping, reported at month 2, on both time to BMF cessation (to 12 months) and time to exclusive BMF cessation (to 6 months), using inverse probability weights to control confounding.Setting USA, 2005-2007.Subjects BMF (n 1624) and exclusively BMF (n 971) IFPS II participants at month 2.Results The weighted HR for time to BMF cessation was 1·62 (95 % CI 1·47, 1·78) and for time to exclusive BMF cessation was 1·14 (95 % CI 1·03, 1·25). Among non-working women, the weighted HR for time to BMF cessation was 2·05 (95 % CI 1·84, 2·28) and for time to exclusive BMF cessation was 1·10 (95 % CI 0·98, 1·22). Among working women, the weighted HR for time to BMF cessation was 0·90 (95 % CI 0·75, 1·07) and for time to exclusive BMF cessation was 1·14 (95 % CI 0·96, 1·36).Conclusions Overall, regular pumpers were more likely to stop BMF and exclusive BMF than non-regular/non-pumpers. Non-working regular pumpers were more likely than non-regular/non-pumpers to stop BMF. There was no effect among working women. Early, regular pumpers may need specialized support to maintain BMF

Neonatal brain volume as a marker of differential susceptibility to parenting quality and its association with neurodevelopment across early childhood

Parenting quality is associated with child cognitive and executive functions (EF), which are important predictors of social and academic development. However, children vary in their susceptibility to parenting behaviors, and the neurobiological underpinnings of this susceptibility are poorly understood. In a prospective longitudinal study, we examined whether neonatal total brain volume (TBV) and subregions of interest (i.e., hippocampus (HC) and anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG)) moderate the association between maternal sensitivity and cognitive/EF development across early childhood. Neonates underwent a brain magnetic resonance imaging scan. Their cognitive performance and EF was characterized at 2.0 ± 0.1 years (N = 53) and at 4.9 ± 0.8 years (N = 36) of age. Maternal sensitivity was coded based on observation of a standardized play situation at 6-mo postpartum. Neonatal TBV moderated the association between maternal sensitivity and 2-year working memory as well as all 5-year cognitive outcomes, suggesting that the positive association between maternal sensitivity and child cognition was observed only among children with large or average but not small TBV as neonates. Similar patterns were observed for TBV-corrected HC and ACG volumes. The findings suggest that larger neonatal TBV, HC and ACG may underlie susceptibility to the environment and affect the degree to which parenting quality shapes long-term cognitive development

Lattice fusion rules and logarithmic operator product expansions

The interest in Logarithmic Conformal Field Theories (LCFTs) has been growing over the last few years thanks to recent developments coming from various approaches. A particularly fruitful point of view consists in considering lattice models as regularizations for such quantum field theories. The indecomposability then encountered in the representation theory of the corresponding finite-dimensional associative algebras exactly mimics the Virasoro indecomposable modules expected to arise in the continuum limit. In this paper, we study in detail the so-called Temperley-Lieb (TL) fusion functor introduced in physics by Read and Saleur [Nucl. Phys. B 777, 316 (2007)]. Using quantum group results, we provide rigorous calculations of the fusion of various TL modules. Our results are illustrated by many explicit examples relevant for physics. We discuss how indecomposability arises in the "lattice" fusion and compare the mechanisms involved with similar observations in the corresponding field theory. We also discuss the physical meaning of our lattice fusion rules in terms of indecomposable operator-product expansions of quantum fields.Comment: 54pp, many comments adde

On modulational instability and energy localization in anharmonic lattices at finite energy density

The localization of vibrational energy, induced by the modulational instability of the Brillouin-zone-boundary mode in a chain of classical anharmonic oscillators with finite initial energy density, is studied within a continuum theory. We describe the initial localization stage as a gas of envelope solitons and explain their merging, eventually leading to a single localized object containing a macroscopic fraction of the total energy of the lattice. The initial-energy-density dependences of all characteristic time scales of the soliton formation and merging are described analytically. Spatial power spectra are computed and used for the quantitative explanation of the numerical results.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figure

Maternal Cortisol Concentrations During Pregnancy and Sex-Specific Associations With Neonatal Amygdala Connectivity and Emerging Internalizing Behaviors

Background: Maternal cortisol during pregnancy has the potential to influence rapidly developing fetal brain systems that are commonly altered in neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Research examining maternal cortisol concentrations across pregnancy and offspring neurodevelopment proximal to birth is needed to advance understanding in this area and lead to insight into the etiology of these disorders. Methods: Participants were 70 adult women recruited during early pregnancy and their infants born after 34 weeks gestation. Maternal cortisol concentrations were assessed serially over 4 days in early, mid, and late gestation. Resting state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging of the neonatal amygdala was examined. Mothers reported on children's internalizing behavior problems at 24 months of age. Results: Maternal cortisol concentrations during pregnancy were significantly associated with neonatal amygdala connectivity in a sex-specific manner. Elevated maternal cortisol was associated with stronger amygdala connectivity to brain regions involved in sensory processing and integration, as well as the default mode network in girls, and with weaker connectivity to these brain regions in boys. Elevated maternal cortisol was associated with higher internalizing symptoms in girls only, and this association was mediated by stronger neonatal amygdala connectivity. Conclusions: Normative variation in maternal cortisol during pregnancy is associated with the coordinated functioning of the amygdala soon after birth in a sex-specific manner. The identified pathway from maternal cortisol to higher internalizing symptoms in girls via alterations in neonatal amygdala connectivity may be relevant for the etiology of sex differences in internalizing psychiatric disorders, which are more prevalent in women

Maternal Systemic Interleukin-6 During Pregnancy Is Associated With Newborn Amygdala Phenotypes and Subsequent Behavior at 2 Years of Age

Background Maternal inflammation during pregnancy increases the risk for offspring psychiatric disorders and other adverse long-term health outcomes. The influence of inflammation on the developing fetal brain is hypothesized as one potential mechanism but has not been examined in humans. Methods Participants were adult women (N = 86) who were recruited during early pregnancy and whose offspring were born after 34 weeks’ gestation. A biological indicator of maternal inflammation (interleukin-6) that has been shown to influence fetal brain development in animal models was quantified serially in early, mid-, and late pregnancy. Structural and functional brain magnetic resonance imaging scans were acquired in neonates shortly after birth. Infants’ amygdalae were individually segmented for measures of volume and as seeds for resting state functional connectivity. At 24 months of age, children completed a snack delay task to assess impulse control. Results Higher average maternal interleukin-6 concentration during pregnancy was prospectively associated with larger right amygdala volume and stronger bilateral amygdala connectivity to brain regions involved in sensory processing and integration (fusiform, somatosensory cortex, and thalamus), salience detection (anterior insula), and learning and memory (caudate and parahippocampal gyrus). Larger newborn right amygdala volume and stronger left amygdala connectivity were in turn associated with lower impulse control at 24 months of age, and mediated the association between higher maternal interleukin-6 concentrations and lower impulse control. Conclusions These findings provide new evidence in humans linking maternal inflammation during pregnancy with newborn brain and emerging behavioral phenotypes relevant for psychiatric disorders. A better understanding of intrauterine conditions that influence offspring disease susceptibility is warranted to inform targeted early intervention and prevention efforts

A method and tool for ‘cradle to grave’ embodied energy and carbon impacts of UK buildings in compliance with the new TC350 standards

As operational impacts from buildings are reduced, embodied impacts are increasing. However, the latter are seldom calculated in the UK; when they are, they tend to be calculated after the building has been constructed, or are underestimated by considering only the initial materials stage. In 2010, the UK Government recommended that a standard methodology for calculating embodied impacts of buildings be developed for early stage design decisions. This was followed in 2011–12 by the publication of the European TC350 standards defining the ‘cradle to grave’ impact of buildings and products through a process Life Cycle Analysis. This paper describes a new whole life embodied carbon and energy of buildings (ECEB) tool, designed as a usable empirical-based approach for early stage design decisions for UK buildings. The tool complies where possible with the TC350 standards. Initial results for a simple masonry construction dwelling are given in terms of the percentage contribution of each life cycle stage. The main difficulty in obtaining these results is found to be the lack of data, and the paper suggests that the construction and manufacturing industries now have a responsibility to develop new data in order to support this task