Assessing the Body Composition of 6-17 Year-old Black and White Girls in Field Studies

The purpose of the study was to develop ethnic-specific equations for fat-free mass (FFM) from selected anthropometric dimensions and bioelectrical impedance measures of resistance (R) and reactance (Xc) for use in the NHLBI Growth and Heath Study. Using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry measures of body composition as the dependent variable and field measures of body composition by anthropometry and bioelectrical impedance as the explanatory variables, ethnic-specific prediction equations were developed on a sample of girls representing a wide range of ages and BMI. The equations were cross-validated using (1) the Prediction of Sum of Squares (PRESS) statistic and (2) an independent sample of 20 girls of each race from a study conducted at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD). Subjects were 65 White and 61 Black girls 6-17 years of age. The best race-specific equations for FFM each explained 99% and 97% of the variance in the White and Black girls, respectively. Root mean square errors (RMSE) ranged from 1.14 to 1.95 kg. The equation for Black girls used Stature2/Resistance (R), weight, and reactance (Xc) as predictor variables; the equation for White girls used Stature2/R, weight, and triceps skinfold thickness. The results indicate that (1) equations to predict FFM in girls should be ethnic-specific and that (2) accurate values for TBF and %BF can be calculated from the predicted FFM

The Spatial and Temporal Dynamics of Rabies in China

Rabies is a major problem in developing countries and responsible for more than 55,000 deaths annually. More than half of the cases occur in Asia and China has the second highest incidence of rabies after India. Human rabies cases in China decreased during the early 1990s but the virus began to re-emerge in the latter half of the decade and spread rapidly across the country with a corresponding increase in cases. To try and learn more about the epidemic, in 2006 the government implemented a trial surveillance program to sample and screen canine populations in locations where human cases were reported. In this work we selected a subset of samples (representative of the entire epidemic region) for sequencing and investigated the history and origin of the virus in China and examined the variation from a geographical perspective. Our results indicate that the epidemic is primarily composed of a younger strain with a geographical dispersion that was consistent with the recorded spread of the virus and a second older strain that corresponds to a previous epidemic. This second group exhibits a different geographical pattern, and it appears that this strain remained at low levels throughout the country and was able to re-emerge as the epidemic took hold

12．グルタミン酸ナトリウムはglucagon like peptide-1の食後早期の分泌を促進し, 食後血糖の上昇を抑制する

The purpose of this study was to compare the growth and nutritional status of infants fed different diets, some of whom received a low-fat formula. Beginning at four to six months of age, 101 infants were fed whole cow\u27s milk, one of two low-fat follow-up formulas, or a standard infant formula until 12 months of age. Weight, recumbent length, and head circumference were measured at one-month intervals. Analyses of status (values at an age) for all examinations showed no significant differences among the feeding groups in status for weight or recumbent length, but there were significant differences in head circumference for boys and for girls after adjustments for the initial values. Head circumferences were smaller in those fed whole cow\u27s milk and relatively large in those fed follow-up formula, but these differences were small and not of clinical significance. Comparisons with national reference data showed growth in weight, recumbent length, and head circumference was normal regardless of feeding group. These results indicate that, during the second half year of infancy, the use of lower fat concentrations in the follow-up formulas did not retard growth in weight, recumbent length, or head circumference

Insight-HXMT observations of Swift J0243.6+6124 during its 2017-2018 outburst

The recently discovered neutron star transient Swift J0243.6+6124 has been monitored by {\it the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope} ({\it Insight-\rm HXMT). Based on the obtained data, we investigate the broadband spectrum of the source throughout the outburst. We estimate the broadband flux of the source and search for possible cyclotron line in the broadband spectrum. No evidence of line-like features is, however, found up to $\rm 150~keV$. In the absence of any cyclotron line in its energy spectrum, we estimate the magnetic field of the source based on the observed spin evolution of the neutron star by applying two accretion torque models. In both cases, we get consistent results with $B\rm \sim 10^{13}~G$, $D\rm \sim 6~kpc$ and peak luminosity of $\rm >10^{39}~erg~s^{-1}$ which makes the source the first Galactic ultraluminous X-ray source hosting a neutron star.Comment: publishe

Overview to the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (Insight-HXMT) Satellite

As China's first X-ray astronomical satellite, the Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT), which was dubbed as Insight-HXMT after the launch on June 15, 2017, is a wide-band (1-250 keV) slat-collimator-based X-ray astronomy satellite with the capability of all-sky monitoring in 0.2-3 MeV. It was designed to perform pointing, scanning and gamma-ray burst (GRB) observations and, based on the Direct Demodulation Method (DDM), the image of the scanned sky region can be reconstructed. Here we give an overview of the mission and its progresses, including payload, core sciences, ground calibration/facility, ground segment, data archive, software, in-orbit performance, calibration, background model, observations and some preliminary results.Comment: 29 pages, 40 figures, 6 tables, to appear in Sci. China-Phys. Mech. Astron. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1910.0443

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data