Salivary uric acid across child development and associations with weight, height, and body mass index

IntroductionObesity during childhood is a serious and growing chronic disease with consequences for lifelong health. In an effort to advance research into the preclinical indicators of pediatric obesity, we examined longitudinal assessments of uric acid concentrations in saliva among a cohort of healthy children from age 6-months to 12-years (n's per assessment range from 294 to 727).MethodsUsing data from a subsample of participants from the Family Life Project (an Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Program cohort), we: (1) characterized salivary uric acid (sUA) concentrations from infancy to early adolescence by sex and race; (2) assessed changes in sUA levels across development; and (3) evaluated associations between sUA concentrations and measures of child weight, height, and body mass index (BMI). Across four assessments conducted at 6-, 24-, 90-, and 154-months of age, 2,000 saliva samples were assayed for UA from 781 participants (217 participants had sUA data at all assessments).ResultsThere were no significant differences in sUA concentrations by sex at any assessment, and differences in sUA concentrations between White and non-White children varied by age. At the 90- and 154-month assessments, sUA concentrations were positively correlated with measures of child weight, height, and BMI (90-month: weight- ρ(610) = 0.13, p < 0.01; height- ρ(607) = 0.10, p < 0.05; BMI- ρ(604) = 0.13, p < 0.01; 154-month: weight- ρ(723) = 0.18, p < 0.0001; height- ρ(721) = 0.10, p < 0.01; BMI- ρ(721) = 0.17, p < 0.0001). Group based trajectory modeling identified two groups of children in our sample with distinct patterns of sUA developmental change. The majority (72%) of participants showed no significant changes in sUA across time (“Stable” group), while 28% showed increases in sUA across childhood with steep increases from the 90- to 154-month assessments (“Increasing” group). Children in the Increasing group exhibited higher sUA concentrations at all assessments (6-month: t(215) = −5.71, p < 0.001; 24-month: t(215) = −2.89, p < 0.01; 90-month: t(215) = −3.89, p < 0.001; 154-month: t(215) = −19.28, p < 0.001) and higher weight at the 24- and 90-month assessments (24-month: t(214) = −2.37, p < 0.05; 90-month: t(214) = −2.73, p < 0.01).DiscussionOur findings support the potential utility of sUA as a novel, minimally-invasive biomarker that may help advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying obesity as well as further surveillance and monitoring efforts for pediatric obesity on a large-scale

Quantum Monte Carlo study of quasi-one-dimensional Bose gases

We study the behavior of quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1d) Bose gases by Monte Carlo techniques, i.e., by the variational Monte Carlo, the diffusion Monte Carlo, and the fixed-node diffusion Monte Carlo technique. Our calculations confirm and extend our results of an earlier study [Astrakharchik et al., cond-mat/0308585]. We find that a quasi-1d Bose gas i) is well described by a 1d model Hamiltonian with contact interactions and renormalized coupling constant; ii) reaches the Tonks-Girardeau regime for a critical value of the 3d scattering length a_3d; iii) enters a unitary regime for |a_3d| -> infinity, where the properties of the gas are independent of a_3d and are similar to those of a 1d gas of hard-rods; and iv) becomes unstable against cluster formation for a critical value of the 1d gas parameter. The accuracy and implications of our results are discussed in detail.Comment: 15 pages, 9 figure

Quantum interference and phonon-mediated back-action in lateral quantum dot circuits

Spin qubits have been successfully realized in electrostatically defined, lateral few-electron quantum dot circuits. Qubit readout typically involves spin to charge information conversion, followed by a charge measurement made using a nearby biased quantum point contact. It is critical to understand the back-action disturbances resulting from such a measurement approach. Previous studies have indicated that quantum point contact detectors emit phonons which are then absorbed by nearby qubits. We report here the observation of a pronounced back-action effect in multiple dot circuits where the absorption of detector-generated phonons is strongly modified by a quantum interference effect, and show that the phenomenon is well described by a theory incorporating both the quantum point contact and coherent phonon absorption. Our combined experimental and theoretical results suggest strategies to suppress back-action during the qubit readout procedure.Comment: 25 pages, 8 figure

Dogs with macroadenomas have lower body temperature and heart rate than dogs with microadenomas

Pituitary macroadenomas compress the hypothalamus, which partly regulates heart rate and body temperature. The aim of this study was to investigate whether heart rate and/or body temperature could aid in clinically differentiating dogs with macroadenomas from dogs with microadenomas (i.e. small non-compressive pituitary mass). Two groups of dogs diagnosed with pituitary-dependent hyperadrenocorticism (i.e. Cushing’s disease) were included. Heart rate and body temperature were collected on initial presentation before any procedure. Dogs with macroadenoma had a significantly lower heart rate and body temperature (P < 0.01) compared to dogs with microadenoma. We suggest that the combined cut-off values of 84 beats per minutes and 38.3 °C in dogs with Cushing’s disease, especially with vague neurological signs (nine of 12 dogs = 75%), might help to suspect the presence of a macroadenoma

Methods of olfactory ensheathing cell harvesting from the olfactory mucosa in dogs

Olfactory ensheathing cells are thought to support regeneration and remyelination of damaged axons when transplanted into spinal cord injuries. Following transplantation, improved locomotion has been detected in many laboratory models and in dogs with naturally-occurring spinal cord injury; safety trials in humans have also been completed. For widespread clinical implementation, it will be necessary to derive large numbers of these cells from an accessible and, preferably, autologous, source making olfactory mucosa a good candidate. Here, we compared the yield of olfactory ensheathing cells from the olfactory mucosa using 3 different techniques: rhinotomy, frontal sinus keyhole approach and rhinoscopy. From canine clinical cases with spinal cord injury, 27 biopsies were obtained by rhinotomy, 7 by a keyhole approach and 1 with rhinoscopy. Biopsy via rhinoscopy was also tested in 13 cadavers and 7 living normal dogs. After 21 days of cell culture, the proportions and populations of p75-positive (presumed to be olfactory ensheathing) cells obtained by the keyhole approach and rhinoscopy were similar (~4.5 x 106 p75-positive cells; ~70% of the total cell population), but fewer were obtained by frontal sinus rhinotomy. Cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea was observed in one dog and emphysema in 3 dogs following rhinotomy. Blepharitis occurred in one dog after the keyhole approach. All three biopsy methods appear to be safe for harvesting a suitable number of olfactory ensheathing cells from the olfactory mucosa for transplantation within the spinal cord but each technique has specific advantages and drawbacks

Interval Slopes as Numerical Abstract Domain for Floating-Point Variables

The design of embedded control systems is mainly done with model-based tools such as Matlab/Simulink. Numerical simulation is the central technique of development and verification of such tools. Floating-point arithmetic, that is well-known to only provide approximated results, is omnipresent in this activity. In order to validate the behaviors of numerical simulations using abstract interpretation-based static analysis, we present, theoretically and with experiments, a new partially relational abstract domain dedicated to floating-point variables. It comes from interval expansion of non-linear functions using slopes and it is able to mimic all the behaviors of the floating-point arithmetic. Hence it is adapted to prove the absence of run-time errors or to analyze the numerical precision of embedded control systems

Restoring soil functionality in degraded areas of organic vineyards - Preliminary results of the ReSolVe project in the French vineyards

Degraded soil areas in vineyards are associated with problems in vine health, grape production and quality. Different causes for soil degradation are possible such as poor organic matter content, lower plant nutrient availability, pH, water deficiency, soil compaction / lower oxygenation… The aim of this preliminary study is to assess soil functionality (OM decomposition), biodiversity through mesofauna diversity and consequences for vine growth and quality

Prevalence of prediabetes and undiagnosed diabetes in patients with HFpEF and HFrEF and associated clinical outcomes

Purpose: The prevalence and consequences of prediabetic dysglycemia and undiagnosed diabetes is unknown in patients with heart failure (HF) and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) and has not been compared to heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Methods: We examined the prevalence and outcomes associated with normoglycemia, prediabetic dysglycemia and diabetes (diagnosed and undiagnosed) among individuals with a baseline glycated hemoglobin (hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c) measurement stratified by HFrEF or HFpEF in the Candesartan in Heart failure Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity programme (CHARM). We studied the primary outcome of HF hospitalization or cardiovascular (CV) death, and all-cause death, and estimated hazard ratios (HR) by use of multivariable Cox regression models. Results: HbA1c was measured at baseline in CHARM patients enrolled in the USA and Canada and was available in 1072/3023 (35%) of patients with HFpEF and 1578/4576 (34%) patients with HFrEF. 18 and 16% had normoglycemia (HbA1c &lt; 6.0), 20 and 22% had prediabetes (HbA1c 6.0–6.4), respectively. Finally among patients with HFpEF 22% had undiagnosed diabetes (HbA1c &gt; 6.4), and 40% had known diabetes (any HbA1c), with corresponding prevalence among HFrEF patients being 26 and 35%. The rates of both clinical outcomes of interest were higher in patients with undiagnosed diabetes and prediabetes, compared to normoglycemic patients, irrespective of HF subtype, and in general higher among HFrEF patients. For the primary composite outcome among HFpEF patients, the HRs were 1.02 (95% CI 0.63–1.65) for prediabetes, HR 1.18 (0.75–1.86) for undiagnosed diabetes and 2.75 (1.83–4.11) for known diabetes, respectively, p value for trend across groups &lt; 0.001. Dysglycemia was also associated with worse outcomes in HFrEF. Conclusions: These findings confirm the remarkably high prevalence of dysglycemia in heart failure irrespective of ejection fraction phenotype, and demonstrate that dysglycemia is associated with a higher risk of adverse clinical outcomes, even before the diagnosis of diabetes and institution of glucose lowering therapy in patients with HFpEF as well as HFrEF

Structure of boson systems beyond the mean-field

We investigate systems of identical bosons with the focus on two-body correlations. We use the hyperspherical adiabatic method and a decomposition of the wave function in two-body amplitudes. An analytic parametrization is used for the adiabatic effective radial potential. We discuss the structure of a condensate for arbitrary scattering length. Stability and time scales for various decay processes are estimated. The previously predicted Efimov-like states are found to be very narrow. We discuss the validity conditions and formal connections between the zero- and finite-range mean-field approximations, Faddeev-Yakubovskii formulation, Jastrow ansatz, and the present method. We compare numerical results from present work with mean-field calculations and discuss qualitatively the connection with measurements.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figures, submitted to J. Phys. B. Ver. 2 is 28 pages with modified figures and discussion