Anemia Prevalence among Pregnant Women and Birth Weight in Five Areas in China

Objectives: To investigate the current prevalence of anemia among pregnant women in different areas of China and the association with birth weight and educational level. Methods: A total of 6,413 women aged 24-37 in the third trimester of pregnancy from five areas were randomly selected from all gravidas who gave birth in the hospitals from 1999 to 2003. Blood hemoglobin concentration (Hb) was measured by the cyanomethemoglobin method; Hb <110 g/l was considered as anemia. Results: The overall prevalence of anemia was 58.6%, ranging from 48.1 to 70.5% in the five areas. There was a significant difference in the prevalence of anemia between women who have mental jobs and those who have physical jobs (52.3 vs. 61.1%, p <0.01). The prevalence of anemia depended on the level of education: with 52.9, 62.4 and 66.5%, for college, secondary school and primary education, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p = 0.005). Results showed that higher birth weight was associated with Hb concentrations ranging from 90 to 140 g/l, whereas lower birth weight occurred below 80 g/l and above 140 g/l Hb. Conclusions: The prevalence of anemia in Chinese pregnant women was high both in rural areas and towns. Area of residence, education level and type of job influenced the prevalence of anemia. Low maternal Hb concentrations influenced birth weight

New evidence for strong nonthermal effects in Tycho's supernova remnant

For the case of Tycho's supernova remnant (SNR) we present the relation between the blast wave and contact discontinuity radii calculated within the nonlinear kinetic theory of cosmic ray (CR) acceleration in SNRs. It is demonstrated that these radii are confirmed by recently published Chandra measurements which show that the observed contact discontinuity radius is so close to the shock radius that it can only be explained by efficient CR acceleration which in turn makes the medium more compressible. Together with the recently determined new value $E_{sn}=1.2\times 10^{51}$ erg of the SN explosion energy this also confirms our previous conclusion that a TeV gamma-ray flux of $(2-5)\times 10^{-13}$ erg/(cm$^2$s) is to be expected from Tycho's SNR. Chandra measurements and the HEGRA upper limit of the TeV gamma-ray flux together limit the source distance $d$ to $3.3\leq d\leq 4$ kpc.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science, Proc. of "The Multi-Messenger Approach to High-Energy Gamma-ray Sources (Third Workshop on the Nature of Unidentified High-Energy Sources)", Barcelona, July 4-7, 200

Analysis of the doubly heavy baryons in the nuclear matter with the QCD sum rules

In this article, we study the doubly heavy baryon states $\Xi_{cc}$, $\Omega_{cc}$, $\Xi_{bb}$ and $\Omega_{bb}$ in the nuclear matter using the QCD sum rules, and derive three coupled QCD sum rules for the masses, vector self-energies and pole residues. The predictions for the mass-shifts in the nuclear matter $\Delta M_{\Xi_{cc}}=-1.11\,\rm{GeV}$, $\Delta M_{\Omega_{cc}}=-0.33\,\rm{GeV}$, $\Delta M_{\Xi_{bb}}=-3.37\,\rm{GeV}$ and $\Delta M_{\Omega_{bb}}=-1.05\,\rm{GeV}$ can be confronted with the experimental data in the future.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

How practice makes perfect: the role of persistence, flexibility and learning in problem solving efficiency

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.To fully understand how problem solving ability provides adaptive advantages for animals, we should understand the mechanisms that support this ability. Recent studies have highlighted several behavioural traits including persistence, behavioural variety and behavioural/cognitive flexibility that contribute to problem solving success. However, any increment in these traits will increase time and energy costs in natural conditions, so they are not necessarily advantageous. To examine how behavioural traits vary during learning to solve a problem efficiently, we gave grey squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis) a problem solving task that required squirrels to obtain out-of-reach but visible hazelnuts by making a lever drop in the laboratory. We recorded persistence, measured as attempt rate, flexibility, measured as the rate of switching between tactics, and behavioural selectivity, measured as the proportion of effective behaviours, in relation to problem solving efficiency on a trial-by-trial basis. Persistence and behavioural selectivity were found to be directly associated with problem solving efficiency. These two factors also mediated the effects of flexibility and increased experience. We also found two routes that led to more efficient problem solving across learning trials: increasing persistence or increasing behavioural selectivity. Flexibility was independent from learning. Flexibility could increase problem solving efficiency, but it also has a time cost; furthermore it seemed to involve a trade-off with behavioural selectivity, with high flexibility being associated with a higher frequency of some disadvantageous ineffective behaviours. These results suggest that flexibility is an independent cognitive process or behavioural trait that may not always bring advantages to animals

Dynamic Ad-Dimer Twisting Assisted Nanowire Self-Assembly on Si(001)

Based on ab initio total energy calculation, we show that a dynamic ad-dimer twisting assisted (DATA) process plays a crucial role in facilitating a novel structural reconstruction involving surface and subsurface atoms on Si(001). It leads to self-assembly of long nanowires of group-V elements (Bi, Sb) in the trenches of surface dimer vacancy lines (DVLs) with a characteristic double-dimer configuration. The key to this is the lowering of the kinetic barrier by the DATA process in conjunction with a favorable interaction between ad-dimers and step edges in DVLs. The present results provide an excellent account for experimental observations and reveal the atomistic origin and the dynamic transformation path for nanowire self-assembly on Si(001)

Analysis of the ΛQ\Lambda_Q baryons in the nuclear matter with the QCD sum rules

In this article, we study the $\Lambda_c$ and $\Lambda_b$ baryons in the nuclear matter using the QCD sum rules, and obtain the in-medium masses $M_{\Lambda_c}^*=2.335\,\rm{GeV}$, $M_{\Lambda_b}^*=5.678\,\rm{GeV}$, the in-medium vector self-energies $\Sigma^{\Lambda_c}_v=34\,\rm{MeV}$, $\Sigma^{\Lambda_b}_v=32\,\rm{MeV}$, and the in-medium pole residues $\lambda_{\Lambda_c}^*=0.021\,\rm{GeV}^3$, $\lambda_{\Lambda_b}^*=0.026\,\rm{GeV}^3$. The mass-shifts are $M_{\Lambda_c}^*-M_{\Lambda_c}=51\,\rm{MeV}$ and $M_{\Lambda_b}^*-M_{\Lambda_b}=60\,\rm{MeV}$, respectively.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, revised versio

Energy system decarbonization and productivity gains reduced the coupling of CO2 emissions and economic growth in 73 countries between 1970 and 2016

Industrial Ecolog

Rotational diversity effects in a triticale-based cropping system

Research indicates that not all crops respond similarly to cropping diversity and the response of triticale (× Triticosecale ssp.) has not been documented. We investigated the effects of rotational diversity on cereals in cropping sequences with canola (Brassica napus L.), field pea (Pisum sativum L.), or an intercrop (triticale:field pea). Six crop rotations were established consisting of two, 2-yr low diversity rotations (LDR) (continuous triticale (T-T_LDR) and triticale-wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (T-W_LDR)); three, 2-yr moderate diversity rotations (MDR) (triticale-field pea (T-P_MDR), triticale-canola (T-C_MDR), and a triticale: field pea intercrop (T- in P_MDR)); and one, 3-yr high diversity rotation (HDR) (canola-triticale-field pea (C-T-P_HDR)). The study was established in Lethbridge, Alberta (irrigated and rainfed); Swift Current (rainfed) and Canora (rainfed), Saskatchewan, Canada; and carried out from 2008 to 2014. Triticale grain yield for the 3-yr HDR was superior over the LDR rotations and the MDR triticale-field pea system; however, results were similar for triticale-canola, and removal of canola from the system caused a yield drag in triticale. Triticale biomass was superior for the 3-yr HDR. Moreover, along with improved triticale grain yield, the 3-yr HDR provided greater yield stability across environments. High rotational diversity (C-T-P_HDR) resulted in the highest soil microbial community and soil carbon concentration, whereas continuous triticale provided the lowest. Net economic returns were also superior for C-T-P_HDR ($670 ha–1) and the lowest for T-W_LDR ($458 ha–1). Overall, triticale responded positively to increased rotational diversity and displayed greater stability with the inclusion of field pea, leading to improved profitability and sustainability of the system