Maternal IQ Predicts Child's Birth Weight

poster abstractBackground: Prior studies correlated birth weight with child IQ. Maternal IQ correlates with IQ in her offspring. Birth weight predicted IQ in monozygotic twins dicordant for birth weight. IUGR alters global DNA methylation. IQ in mother may be a biological marker for her child's rate of intrauterine growth (birth weight). Objective: Does maternal IQ predict her child's intrauterine growth rate (birth weight)? Design/Methods: Births from 1970-2004 using NLSY '79 database were studied Primary variables were children's IQ score from most recent Peabody Picture Vocabulary Revised Form L test and birth weight in grams. Maternal IQ was estimated from AirForce Qualifying test (AFQT)and categorized as 75, 50-74, 25-49 and <25%ile resp. Race, economic status, singleton, gestation, use of tobacco, alcohol and other drugs were used as covariates. Multivariate models were used to assess associations of Children's IQ and birth weight with maternal IQ levels controlling for other covariates. Results: 9,125 children were analyzed. 98.3% singleton, 12.3% preterm, and 51.2% male. Means Std's of birth weight and IQ score were 3,307 597 grams and 38 30.4 respectively.Of the total 4,121 mothers, 25.7% were blacks, 18.3% were Hispanics and 54.0% were non Hispanic non blacks(nHnB). The mean std of the AFQT was 36.9 28.1. Proportions of IQs were 13.6%, 17.2%, 27.2% and 42% from low to high IQs respectively among mothers. Multivariate models showed children's IQ scores were related to their mother's IQ ,birth weight, race/ethnicity, and economic status. In particular, the mean children's IQ scores were 28.1, 37.1, 46.8, and 55 at mother's IQ levels from low to high respectively (p-values<0.001). Children's IQs was increased by 0.14 0.06 (slope) for every 100 gram increase in birth weight (p=0.013). Children's birth weights were positively associated with their mothers' IQ. Means birth weight increased from 3,334 grams to 3,465 grams as mothers' IQ rose from low to high (p<0.001). When sub-populations stratified by race/ethnicity were analyzed, positive relationships between childs IQ and mother's IQ were found in all Hispanic, black and nHnB groups (p's<0.001); while the positive relationship between birth weight and mother's IQ levels was found significant only in the nHnB (white) group (p<0.001). The findings held even after preterm and non singleton births were excluded from analysis. Conclusions: Child's IQ correlates with birth weight and maternal IQ. Maternal IQ may also predict birth weight of offspring

You (Don’t) Look Marvelous: Considerations for Employers Regulating Employee Appearance

Under federal law, employers are generally allowed to set policies regulating employees’ appearance, provided that those policies do not impinge on groups specifically protected under federal statute. State and local laws, however, may preclude employers from implementing such dress and appearance policies. Employers whose workers are unionized must consider the provisions of the bargaining agreement. One trend in connection with regulations relating to employees’ appearance and dress is that creative lawyers have stretched the law to cover certain workers

Introduction: looking beyond the walls

In its consideration of the remarkable extent and variety of non-university researchers, this book takes a broader view of ‘knowledge’ and ‘research’ than in the many hot debates about today’s knowledge society, ‘learning age’, or organisation of research. It goes beyond the commonly held image of ‘knowledge’ as something produced and owned by the full-time experts to take a look at those engaged in active knowledge building outside the university walls

Increased SK3 expression in DM1 lens cells leads to impaired growth through a greater calcium-induced fragility

Although cataract is a characteristic feature of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), little is known of the underlying mechanisms. We generated four lens epithelial cell lines derived from DM1 cataracts and two from age-matched, non-DM cataracts. Small-pool PCR revealed typical large triplet repeat expansions in the DM1 cells. Furthermore, real-time PCR analysis showed reduced SIX5 expression and increased expression of the Ca2+-activated K+ channel SK3 in the DM1 cells. These cells also exhibited longer population doubling times which did not arise through reduced proliferation, but rather increased cell death as shown by increased release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Using 86Rb+ as a tracer for K+, we found no difference in the resting K+ influx or efflux kinetics. In all cases, the ouabain sensitive component of the influx contributed ~50% of the total. However, stimulating internal Ca2+ by exposure to ionomycin not only caused greater stimulation of K+ (86Rb) efflux in the DM1 cells but also induced a higher rate of cell death (LDH assay). Since both the hyper-stimulation of K+ efflux and cell death were reduced by the highly specific SK inhibitor apamin, we suggest that increased expression of SK3 has a critical role in the increased Ca2+-induced fragility in DM1 cells. The present data, therefore, both help explain the lower epithelial cell density previously observed in DM1 cataracts and provide general insights into mechanisms underlying the fragility of other DM1-affected tissues

Effect of nucleon exchange on projectile multifragmentation in the reactions of 28Si + 112Sn and 124Sn at 30 and 50 MeV/nucleon

Multifragmentation of quasiprojectiles was studied in reactions of 28Si beam with 112Sn and 124Sn targets at projectile energies 30 and 50 MeV/nucleon. The quasiprojectile observables were reconstructed using isotopically identified charged particles with Z_f <= 5 detected at forward angles. The nucleon exchange between projectile and target was investigated using isospin and excitation energy of reconstructed quasiprojectile. For events with total reconstructed charge equal to the charge of the beam (Z_tot = 14) the influence of beam energy and target isospin on neutron transfer was studied in detail. Simulations employing subsequently model of deep inelastic transfer, statistical model of multifragmentation and software replica of FAUST detector array were carried out. A concept of deep inelastic transfer provides good description of production of highly excited quasiprojectiles. The isospin and excitation energy of quasiprojectile were described with good overall agreement. The fragment multiplicity, charge and isospin were reproduced satisfactorily. The range of contributing impact parameters was determined using backtracing procedure.Comment: 11 pages, 8 Postscript figures, LaTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev. C ( Dec 2000

Signals for a Transition from Surface to Bulk Emission in Thermal Multifragmentation

Excitation-energy-gated two-fragment correlation functions have been studied between 2 to 9A MeV of excitation energy for equilibrium-like sources formed in $\pi^-$ and p + $^{197}$Au reactions at beam momenta of 8,9.2 and 10.2 GeV/c. Comparison of the data to an N-body Coulomb-trajectory code shows a decrease of one order of magnitude in the fragment emission time in the excitation energy interval 2-5A MeV, followed by a nearly constant breakup time at higher excitation energy. The observed decrease in emission time is shown to be strongly correlated with the increase of the fragment emission probability, and the onset of thermally-induced radial expansion. This result is interpreted as evidence consistent with a transition from surface-dominated to bulk emission expected for spinodal decomposition.Comment: 11 pages including 3 postscript figures (1 color

Inhomogeneous isospin distribution in the reactions of 28Si + 112Sn and 124Sn at 30 and 50 MeV/nucleon

We have created quasiprojectiles of varying isospin via peripheral reactions of 28Si + 112Sn and 124Sn at 30 and 50 MeV/nucleon. The quasiprojectiles have been reconstructed from completely isotopically identified fragments. The difference in N/Z of the reconstructed quasiprojectiles allows the investigation of the disassembly as a function of the isospin of the fragmenting system. The isobaric yield ratio 3H/3He depends strongly on N/Z ratio of quasiprojectiles. The dependences of mean fragment multiplicity and mean N/Z ratio of the fragments on N/Z ratio of the quasiprojectile are different for light charged particles and intermediate mass fragments. Observation of a different N/Z ratio of light charged particles and intermediate mass fragments is consistent with an inhomogeneous distribution of isospin in the fragmenting system.Comment: 5 pages, 4 Postscript figures, RevTe