412 research outputs found
Effects of muscle strength and endurance on blood pressure and related cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to adolescence
Objective: This study aimed to examine the evolution of relationships between measures of muscle strength and endurance with individual cardiometabolic risk factors from childhood to late adolescence in a prospective population-based cohort. Methods: Participants from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study at ages 10, 14 and 17 were analysed, using longitudinal linear mixed model analyses. Results: Handgrip strength after adjusting for the confounding effects of BMI was positively associated with SBP, but not DBP. The association between handgrip strength and SBP was stronger in men than women at all time points [coefficient (women): 0.18, Pâ<â0.001; sexâĂâhandgrip strength coefficient: 0.09, Pâ=â0.002]. The association was strongest at 10 years and significantly attenuated over time (yearâĂâhandgrip coefficient from 10 to 14 years: â0.11, Pâ=â0.003; yearâĂâhandgrip coefficient from 10 to 17 years: â0.19, Pââ€â0.001). After the inclusion of BMI as a confounder, handgrip strength was significantly negatively associated with homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein over time in both sexes. Back muscle endurance was positively associated with SBP, but not DBP, after adjustment for the confounding effects of BMI (coefficient: 0.01, Pâ=â0.002). There were small, albeit significant, inverse associations between back muscle endurance and log homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance and log high-sensitivity C-reactive protein. Conclusion: The positive association between handgrip strength and back muscle endurance with SBP throughout childhood and adolescence contrasts with beneficial effects on other related traditional cardiometabolic risk factors. Mechanisms underlying these paradoxical effects on SBP warrant further investigation
Dynamic response of HTS composite tapes to pulsed currents
Dynamic voltage-current characteristics of an HTS Ag/BiSCCO composite tape
are studied both experimentally and theoretically. The tape is subjected by
pulsed currents with different shapes and magnitude and voltage traces are
measured using the four-point method with different location of potential taps
on the sample surface. Clockwise and anticlockwise hysteresis loops are
obtained for the same sample depending on location of the potential taps. The
dynamic characteristics deviate substantially from the DC characteristic,
especially in the range of low voltages where a criterion for the critical
current value is usually chosen (1-10 mkV/cm). The critical current determined
from dynamic characteristics and its change with the pulse magnitude depend on
location of the potential taps and on the curve branch chosen for the critical
current determination (ascending or descending). The theoretical analysis is
based on a model of the magnetic flux diffusion into a composite tape for a
superconductor described by the flux creep characteristic. Numerical simulation
based on this model gives the results in good agreement with the experimental
ones and explains the observed peculiarities of the dynamic characteristics of
HTS composite tapes. The difference between the magnetic diffusion into a tape
and a slab is discussed.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure
Instability and `Sausage-String' Appearance in Blood Vessels during High Blood Pressure
A new Rayleigh-type instability is proposed to explain the `sausage-string'
pattern of alternating constrictions and dilatations formed in blood vessels
under influence of a vasoconstricting agent. Our theory involves the nonlinear
elasticity characteristics of the vessel wall, and provides predictions for the
conditions under which the cylindrical form of a blood vessel becomes unstable.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures submitted to Physical Review Letter
and couplings in QCD
We calculate the and couplings using QCD sum rules on the
light-cone. In this approach, the large-distance dynamics is incorporated in a
set of pion wave functions. We take into account two-particle and
three-particle wave functions of twist 2, 3 and 4. The resulting values of the
coupling constants are and .
From this we predict the partial width \Gamma (D^{*+} \ra D^0 \pi^+ )=32 \pm
5~ keV . We also discuss the soft-pion limit of the sum rules which is
equivalent to the external axial field approach employed in earlier
calculations. Furthermore, using and the pole
dominance model for the B \ra \pi and D\ra \pi semileptonic form factors
is compared with the direct calculation of these form factors in the same
framework of light-cone sum rules.Comment: 27 pages (LATEX) +3 figures enclosed as .uu file MPI-PhT/94-62 ,
CEBAF-TH-94-22, LMU 15/9
Measurement of J/psi to eta_c gamma at KEDR
We present a study of the inclusive photon spectra from 5.9 million J/psi
decays collected with the KEDR detector at the VEPP-4M e+e- collider. We
measure the branching fraction of radiative decay J/psi to eta_c gamma, eta_c
width and mass. Our preliminary results are: M(eta_c) = 2979.4+-1.5+-1.9 MeV,
G(eta_c) = 27.8+-5.1+-3.3 MeV, B(J/psi to eta_c gamma) = (2.34+-0.15+-0.40)%.Comment: To be published in Proceedings of the PhiPsi09, Oct. 13-16, 2009,
Beijing, Chin
A comparison of outcomes with angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and diuretics for hypertension in the elderly
Spatial transcriptomics reveals discrete tumour microenvironments and autocrine loops within ovarian cancer subclones
High-grade serous ovarian carcinoma (HGSOC) is genetically unstable and characterised by the presence of subclones with distinct genotypes. Intratumoural heterogeneity is linked to recurrence, chemotherapy resistance, and poor prognosis. Here, we use spatial transcriptomics to identify HGSOC subclones and study their association with infiltrating cell populations. Visium spatial transcriptomics reveals multiple tumour subclones with different copy number alterations present within individual tumour sections. These subclones differentially express various ligands and receptors and are predicted to differentially associate with different stromal and immune cell populations. In one sample, CosMx single molecule imaging reveals subclones differentially associating with immune cell populations, fibroblasts, and endothelial cells. Cell-to-cell communication analysis identifies subclone-specific signalling to stromal and immune cells and multiple subclone-specific autocrine loops. Our study highlights the high degree of subclonal heterogeneity in HGSOC and suggests that subclone-specific ligand and receptor expression patterns likely modulate how HGSOC cells interact with their local microenvironment
Distant agricultural landscapes
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits any use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and the source are credited. The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11625-014-0278-0This paper examines the relationship between the development of the dominant industrial food system and its associated global economic drivers and the environmental sustainability of agricultural landscapes. It makes the case that the growth of the global industrial food system has encouraged increasingly complex forms of âdistanceâ that separate food both geographically and mentally from the landscapes on which it was produced. This separation between food and its originating landscape poses challenges for the ability of more localized agricultural sustainability initiatives to address some of the broader problems in the global food system. In particular, distance enables certain powerful actors to externalize ecological and social costs, which in turn makes it difficult to link specific global actors to particular biophysical and social impacts felt on local agricultural landscapes. Feedback mechanisms that normally would provide pressure for improved agricultural sustainability are weak because there is a lack of clarity regarding responsibility for outcomes. The paper provides a brief illustration of these dynamics with a closer look at increased financialization in the food system. It shows that new forms of distancing are encouraged by the growing significance of financial markets in global agrifood value chains. This dynamic has a substantial impact on food system outcomes and ultimately complicates efforts to scale up small-scale local agricultural models that are more sustainable.The Trudeau Foundation || Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canad
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