Intergenerational transmission of paternal trauma among US Civil War ex-POWs.

We study whether paternal trauma is transmitted to the children of survivors of Confederate prisoner of war (POW) camps during the US Civil War (1861-1865) to affect their longevity at older ages, the mechanisms behind this transmission, and the reversibility of this transmission. We examine children born after the war who survived to age 45, comparing children whose fathers were non-POW veterans and ex-POWs imprisoned in very different camp conditions. We also compare children born before and after the war within the same family by paternal ex-POW status. The sons of ex-POWs imprisoned when camp conditions were at their worst were 1.11 times more likely to die than the sons of non-POWs and 1.09 times more likely to die than the sons of ex-POWs when camp conditions were better. Paternal ex-POW status had no impact on daughters. Among sons born in the fourth quarter, when maternal in utero nutrition was adequate, there was no impact of paternal ex-POW status. In contrast, among sons born in the second quarter, when maternal nutrition was inadequate, the sons of ex-POWs who experienced severe hardship were 1.2 times more likely to die than the sons of non-POWs and ex-POWs who fared better in captivity. Socioeconomic effects, family structure, father-specific survival traits, and maternal effects, including quality of paternal marriages, cannot explain our findings. While we cannot rule out fully psychological or cultural effects, our findings are most consistent with an epigenetic explanation

Abstinence Based Sex Education: A Mixed-Method Evaluation Of Experiences With And The Effectiveness Of Sex Education In The Deep South

This project examines the effectiveness of federally funded, abstinence-based sex education programs. It evaluates students\u27 experiences with sex education programs that have been, in some cases, proven to provide medically inaccurate information. Using a mixed-method online survey, this study focuses on undergraduate college students in Sociology 101 courses at the University of Mississippi. The online survey, which has both quantitative and qualitative elements that assess students\u27 sex education experience, what they remember being taught and what they wish they would have been taught. The results of the study highlight important shortcomings in current sex education programs in the deep south, and it shows the need for more comprehensive sex education that will ensure safety and health of students

Psychometric examination and factorial validity of the Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised in Italian exercisers

Background and aims: The purpose of this study was to verify the factorial structure, internal validity, reliability, and criterion validity of the 21-item Exercise Dependence Scale-Revised (EDS-R) in an Italian sample. Methods: Italian voluntary (N = 519) users of gyms who had a history of regular exercise for over a year completed the EDS-R and measures of exercise frequency. Results and conclusions: Confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated a good fit to the hypothesized 7-factor model, and adequate internal consistency for the scale was evidenced. Criterion validity was evidenced by significant correlations among all the subscale of the EDS and exercise frequency. Finally, individuals at risk for exercise dependence reported more exercise behavior compared to the nondependent-symptomatic and nondependent-asymptomatic groups. These results suggest that the seven subscales of the Italian version of the EDS are measuring the construct of exercise dependence as defined by the DSM-IV criteria for substance dependence and also confirm previous research using the EDS-R in other languages. More research is needed to examine the psychometric properties of the EDS-R in diverse populations with various research designs

Early medical abortion in Cairns, Queensland: July 2006 - April 2007

* Mifepristone (RU486), which is used for early medical abortion, can only be obtained in Australia under the Authorised Prescriber legislation (Section 19[5] of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 [Cwlth]); two of the authors have permission to obtain, prescribe and administer this drug in Cairns, Queensland. * From July 2006 to April 2007, 10 women who fulfilled the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) criteria of “life-threatening or otherwise serious” indications underwent medical abortion with mifepristone/misoprostol, and 12 women conforming with abortion requirements of Queensland law, but not TGA legislation for mifepristone administration, had medical abortions with the less preferable methotrexate/misoprostol combination. * Although it is now more than a year since the cross-party vote in federal Parliament in February 2006 confirmed wide support for the right of Australian women to a medical abortion, we believe we are at present the only medical practitioners in Australia with permission to use mifepristone. * Obtaining Authorised Prescriber status from the TGA is of necessity a complex and protracted process, involving ethics committee approval and auditing, and regular reporting to the TGA. * Because of the current restrictions, we believe that women seeking medical abortion in Australia face barriers not experienced by women in other comparable countries, and that drug manufacturing and distributing companies may be discouraged from seeking to market mifepristone in Australia

Multiple myeloma cells Graphs and Figures inhibit adipogenesis, increase senescencerelated and inflammatory gene transcript expression, and alter metabolism in preadipocytes

Myeloma cells alter metabolism & induce senescence in adipocyte-lineage cells, suggesting that senescence-associated proteins are involved in multiple myeloma.https://knowledgeconnection.mainehealth.org/lambrew-retreat-2021/1032/thumbnail.jp

The Aquarius Co-Moving Group is Not a Disrupted Classical Globular Cluster

We present a detailed analysis of high-resolution, high S/N spectra for 5 Aquarius stream stars observed with the MIKE spectrograph on the Magellan Clay telescope. Our sample represents one third of the 15 known members in the stream. We find the stream is not mono-metallic: the metallicity ranges from [Fe/H] = -0.63 to -1.58. No anti-correlation in Na-O abundances is present, and we find a strong positive Mg-Al relationship, similar to that observed in the thick disk. We find no evidence that the stream is a result of a disrupted classical globular cluster, contrary to a previously published claim. High [(Na, Ni, alpha)/Fe] and low [Ba/Y] abundance ratios in the stream suggests it is not a tidal tail from a disrupted dwarf galaxy, either. The stream is chemically indistinguishable from Milky Way field stars with the exception of one candidate, C222531-145437. From its position, velocity, and detailed chemical abundances, C222531-145437 is likely a star that was tidally disrupted from omega-Centauri. We propose the Aquarius stream is Galactic in origin, and could be the result from a disk-satellite perturbation in the Milky Way thick disk on the order of a few Gyr ago: derived orbits, UVW velocities, and angular momenta of the Aquarius members offer qualitative support for our hypothesis. Assuming C222531-145437 is a tidally disrupted member of omega-Centauri, this system is the most likely disk perturber. In the absence of compelling chemical and/or dynamical evidence that the Aquarius stream is the tidal tail of a disrupted satellite, we advocate the "Aquarius group" as a more appropriate description. Like the Canis Major over-density, as well as the Hercules and Monoceros groups, the Aquarius group joins the list of kinematically-identified substructures that are not actually accreted material: they are simply part of the rich complexity of the Milky Way structure.Comment: Accepted to MNRAS. Updated to journal versio

Exploring the Reasons for Labour Market Gender Inequality a Year into the Covid-19 Pandemic: Evidence from the UK Cohort Studies

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unexpected disruptions to Western countries which affected women more adversely than men. Previous studies suggest that gender differences are attributable to: women being over-represented in the most affected sectors of the economy, women’s labour market disadvantage as compared to their partners, and mothers taking a bigger share childcare responsibilities following school closures. Using the data from four British nationally representative cohort studies, we test these propositions. Our findings confirm that the adverse labour market effects were still experienced by women a year into the COVID-19 pandemic and that these effects were the most severe for women who lived with a partner and children, even if they worked in critical occupations. We show that adjusting for pre-pandemic job characteristics attenuates the gaps, suggesting that women were over-represented in jobs disproportionately affected by COVID-19 pandemic. However, the remaining gaps are not further attenuated by adjusting for the partner’s job and children characteristics, suggesting that the adversities experienced by women were not driven by their relative labour market position, as compared to their partners or childcare responsibilities. The residual gender differences observed in the rates of active, paid work and furlough for those who live with partner and children point to the importance of unobserved factors such as social norms, preferences, or discrimination. These effects may be long-lasting and jeopardise women’s longer-term position through the loss of experience, leading to reinforcement of gender inequalities or even reversal of the progress towards gender equality

Development and Utilization of an Isolation Box Test to Characterize Personality Traits of Dairy Calves

The use of an isolation box test (IBT) to characterize personality traits has been used in non-bovine species with success. We aimed to develop an IBT for dairy calves and determine if the behavioral responses to an IBT were associated with personality traits found from traditional tests (novel person, novel object, and a startle tests) and average daily gain (ADG; Kg/d) through weaning. Calf movement while in the IBT was measured via accelerometers attached to 5 locations on the exterior of the box. A total movement index (TMI) was calculated based on accelerometer readings during the IBT. We performed a principal component analysis on the traditional tests and identified 3 influential factors that we labeled as “fearful,” “bold,” and “active.” Calves were weighed biweekly to track liveweight ADG. Factor scores and ADG were regressed against TMI. A significant negative association was found between the TMI and the factor “active,” indicating the validity of IBT as a tool for assessing some personality traits of dairy calves. Furthermore, TMI had a positive association with ADG through the entire experimental period and thus has potential to help predict performance through weaning. IBT has potential to be used as a personality test in research scenarios. Further development is needed to produce an IBT that would be appropriate to measure animals\u27 responses reliably in production settings. An automated test that can accommodate a wide range of ages and developing a computer learning model to interpret output from the IBT would be a possible option to do so

High-Resolution Spectroscopic Study of Extremely Metal-Poor Star Candidates from the SkyMapper Survey

The SkyMapper Southern Sky Survey is carrying out a search for the most metal-poor stars in the Galaxy. It identifies candidates by way of its unique filter set that allows for estimation of stellar atmospheric parameters. The set includes a narrow filter centered on the Ca II K 3933A line, enabling a robust estimate of stellar metallicity. Promising candidates are then confirmed with spectroscopy. We present the analysis of Magellan-MIKE high-resolution spectroscopy of 122 metal-poor stars found by SkyMapper in the first two years of commissioning observations. 41 stars have [Fe/H] <= -3.0. Nine have [Fe/H] <= -3.5, with three at [Fe/H] ~ -4. A 1D LTE abundance analysis of the elements Li, C, Na, Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Zn, Sr, Ba and Eu shows these stars have [X/Fe] ratios typical of other halo stars. One star with low [X/Fe] [X/Fe values appears to be "Fe-enhanced," while another star has an extremely large [Sr/Ba] ratio: >2. Only one other star is known to have a comparable value. Seven stars are "CEMP-no" stars ([C/Fe] > 0.7, [Ba/Fe] < 0). 21 stars exhibit mild r-process element enhancements (0.3 <=[Eu/Fe] < 1.0), while four stars have [Eu/Fe] >= 1.0. These results demonstrate the ability to identify extremely metal-poor stars from SkyMapper photometry, pointing to increased sample sizes and a better characterization of the metal-poor tail of the halo metallicity distribution function in the future.Comment: Minor corrections to text, missing data added to Tables 3 and 4; updated to match published version. Complete tables included in sourc

Dynamics and timescales of mafic–silicic magma interactions at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat

Mafic magma intrusions into silica-rich magmatic reservoirs are commonly proposed to drive the eruptions of andesitic hybrid magmas that characterise many arc volcanoes. However, interactions between contrasting magmas involve large gradients of physical and chemical properties that change over time, and the details of such processes have proven difficult to constrain. In this paper we investigate the dynamics of magma mingling and mixing using chemical and textural zoning patterns recorded in plagioclase crystals from the February 2010 eruption at Soufrière Hills Volcano, Montserrat. This eruption is considered a classic example of interactions between the andesite magma that constitutes the bulk of the erupted volume and the basaltic andesite that occurs as enclaves. We find that plagioclase crystals are characterised by two well-defined zones that record mafic–silicic magma interaction: a crystal interior, often identified by a patchy, dusty and oscillatory zoning, and an overgrowth zone (rim) of a different composition. We use the anorthite and Mg contents to track the thermal and compositional changes experienced by the crystals over time. Our results reveal that the crystal rims formed a few hours to days prior to eruption, during co-eruptive magmatic interactions. The interaction between the two magmas with contrasting rheology is likely increased by a narrowing conduit geometry towards the surface, which facilitates convection and additional interface contact of the two magmas. Our findings shed new light on the nature and timing of magmatic interactions driving the final eruptive phase at Soufrière Hills Volcano and help to propose an interpretative framework of the monitoring signals