Maternal race and intergenerational preterm birth recurrence

Background Preterm birth is a complex disorder with a heritable genetic component. Studies of primarily White women born preterm show that they have an increased risk of subsequently delivering preterm. This risk of intergenerational preterm birth is poorly defined among Black women. Objective Our objective was to evaluate and compare intergenerational preterm birth risk among non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White mothers. Study Design This was a population-based retrospective cohort study, using the Virginia Intergenerational Linked Birth File. All non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White mothers born in Virginia 1960 through 1996 who delivered their first live-born, nonanomalous, singleton infant ≥20 weeks from 2005 through 2009 were included. We assessed the overall gestational age distribution between non-Hispanic Black and White mothers born term and preterm (<37 weeks) and their infants born term and preterm (<37 weeks) using Cox regression and Kaplan-Meier survivor functions. Mothers were grouped by maternal gestational age at delivery (term, ≥37 completed weeks; late preterm birth, 34-36 weeks; and early preterm birth, <34 weeks). The primary outcomes were: (1) preterm birth among all eligible births; and (2) suspected spontaneous preterm birth among births to women with medical complications (eg, diabetes, hypertension, preeclampsia and thus higher risk for a medically indicated preterm birth). Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate odds of preterm birth and spontaneous preterm birth by maternal race and maternal gestational age after adjusting for confounders including maternal education, maternal age, smoking, drug/alcohol use, and infant gender. Results Of 173,822 deliveries captured in the intergenerational birth cohort, 71,676 (41.2%) women met inclusion criteria for this study. Of the entire cohort, 30.0% (n = 21,467) were non-Hispanic Black and 70.0% were non-Hispanic White mothers. Compared to non-Hispanic White mothers, non-Hispanic Black mothers were more likely to have been born late preterm (6.8% vs 3.7%) or early preterm (2.8 vs 1.0%), P <.001. Non-Hispanic White mothers who were born (early or late) preterm were not at an increased risk of early or late preterm delivery compared to non-Hispanic White mothers born term. The risk of early preterm birth was most pronounced for Black mothers who were born early preterm (adjusted odds ratio, 3.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.77–6.02) compared to non-Hispanic White mothers. Conclusion We found an intergenerational effect of preterm birth among non-Hispanic Black mothers but not non-Hispanic White mothers. Black mothers born <34 weeks carry the highest risk of delivering their first child very preterm. Future studies should elucidate the underlying pathways leading to this racial disparity

X-ray image reconstruction from a diffraction pattern alone

A solution to the inversion problem of scattering would offer aberration-free diffraction-limited 3D images without the resolution and depth-of-field limitations of lens-based tomographic systems. Powerful algorithms are increasingly being used to act as lenses to form such images. Current image reconstruction methods, however, require the knowledge of the shape of the object and the low spatial frequencies unavoidably lost in experiments. Diffractive imaging has thus previously been used to increase the resolution of images obtained by other means. We demonstrate experimentally here a new inversion method, which reconstructs the image of the object without the need for any such prior knowledge.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, improved figures and captions, changed titl

Transcriptional regulation of the urokinase receptor (u-PAR) - A central molecule of invasion and metastasis

The phenomenon of tumor-associated proteolysis has been acknowledged as a decisive step in the progression of cancer. This short review focuses on the urokinase receptor (u-PAR), a central molecule involved in tumor-associated invasion and metastasis, and summarizes the transcriptional regulation of u-PAR. The urokinase receptor (u-PAR) is a heavily glycosylated cell surface protein and binds the serine protease urokinase specifically and with high affinity. It consists of three similar cysteine-rich repeats and is anchored to the cell membrane via a GPI-anchor. The u-PAR gene comprises 7 exons and is located on chromosome 19q13. Transcriptional activation of the u-PAR promoter region can be induced by binding of transcription factors (Sp1, AP-1, AP-2, NF-kappaB). One current study gives an example for transcriptional downregulation of u-PAR through a PEA3/ets transcriptional silencing element. Knowledge of the molecular regulation of this molecule in tumor cells could be very important for diagnosis and therapy in the near future

The Uncertainty in Newton's Constant and Precision Predictions of the Primordial Helium Abundance

The current uncertainty in Newton's constant, G_N, is of the order of 0.15%. For values of the baryon to photon ratio consistent with both cosmic microwave background observations and the primordial deuterium abundance, this uncertainty in G_N corresponds to an uncertainty in the primordial 4He mass fraction, Y_P, of +-1.3 x 10^{-4}. This uncertainty in Y_P is comparable to the effect from the current uncertainty in the neutron lifetime, which is often treated as the dominant uncertainty in calculations of Y_P. Recent measurements of G_N seem to be converging within a smaller range; a reduction in the estimated error on G_N by a factor of 10 would essentially eliminate it as a source of uncertainty in the calculation of the primordial 4He abundance.Comment: 3 pages, no figures, fixed typos, to appear in Phys. Rev.

Spin, charge and orbital ordering in ferrimagnetic insulator YBaMn2_2O5_5

The oxygen-deficient (double) perovskite YBaMn$_2$O$_5$, containing corner-linked MnO$_5$ square pyramids, is found to exhibit ferrimagnetic ordering in its ground state. In the present work we report generalized-gradient-corrected, relativistic first-principles full-potential density-functional calculations performed on YBaMn$_2$O$_5$ in the nonmagnetic, ferromagnetic and ferrimagnetic states. The charge, orbital and spin orderings are explained with site-, angular momentum- and orbital-projected density of states, charge-density plots, electronic structure and total energy studies. YBaMn$_2$O$_5$ is found to stabilize in a G-type ferrimagnetic state in accordance with experimental results. The experimentally observed insulating behavior appears only when we include ferrimagnetic ordering in our calculation. We observed significant optical anisotropy in this material originating from the combined effect of ferrimagnetic ordering and crystal field splitting. In order to gain knowledge about the presence of different valence states for Mn in YBaMn$_2$O$_5$ we have calculated $K$-edge x-ray absorption near-edge spectra for the Mn and O atoms. The presence of the different valence states for Mn is clearly established from the x-ray absorption near-edge spectra, hyperfine field parameters and the magnetic properties study. Among the experimentally proposed structures, the recently reported description based on $P$4/$nmm$ is found to represent the stable structure

Apparatus for a Search for T-violating Muon Polarization in Stopped-Kaon Decays

The detector built at KEK to search for T-violating transverse muon polarization in K+ --> pi0 mu+ nu (Kmu3) decay of stopped kaons is described. Sensitivity to the transverse polarization component is obtained from reconstruction of the decay plane by tracking the mu+ through a toroidal spectrometer and detecting the pi0 in a segmented CsI(Tl) photon calorimeter. The muon polarization was obtained from the decay positron asymmetry of muons stopped in a polarimeter. The detector included features which minimized systematic errors while maintaining high acceptance.Comment: 56 pages, 30 figures, submitted to NI

Ecological enhancement techniques to improve habitat heterogeneity on coastal defence structures

Sea level rise and higher storm frequency are increasing the need for the placement of hard coastal defences worldwide. The majority of these defences lack optimal habitats for intertidal species, resulting in low diversity and abundance. The construction of coastal defences within marine protected areas (MPA) is also increasing and this study investigates ways to limit the loss of species diversity and intertidal habitat caused by installing rock armour defence structures and other coastal developments. Arrays of holes and grooves were created on granite rock armour in the north of England at Runswick Bay, N. Yorkshire and limestone rock groynes in southern England at Boscombe, Poole Bay, Dorset. Runswick Bay is a Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) designated for its intertidal habitat and Boscombe is located in close proximity to a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). After 12 months, the treatments had attracted new species to the defence structures and increased the overall diversity and abundance of organisms compared to control areas. Mobile fauna including crabs and fish were also recorded utilising the holes and grooves at Boscombe. Non-native species were recorded in grooves at one site however their abundance was not significantly different to that of control areas. At the southern site, species known to be spreading in response to climate change were found in treatments but not in control areas. The cost of the installation of these enhancement techniques was low in relation to that of the defence scheme and could be easily incorporated before, during or after construction. Through evaluation of the use of these ecological enhancement techniques on coastal structures, it is suggested that they have considerable potential to increase biodiversity on artificial structures, particularly when used within large-scale coastal engineering defence projects

The Kuiper Belt and Other Debris Disks

We discuss the current knowledge of the Solar system, focusing on bodies in the outer regions, on the information they provide concerning Solar system formation, and on the possible relationships that may exist between our system and the debris disks of other stars. Beyond the domains of the Terrestrial and giant planets, the comets in the Kuiper belt and the Oort cloud preserve some of our most pristine materials. The Kuiper belt, in particular, is a collisional dust source and a scientific bridge to the dusty "debris disks" observed around many nearby main-sequence stars. Study of the Solar system provides a level of detail that we cannot discern in the distant disks while observations of the disks may help to set the Solar system in proper context.Comment: 50 pages, 25 Figures. To appear in conference proceedings book "Astrophysics in the Next Decade

'Education, education, education' : legal, moral and clinical

This article brings together Professor Donald Nicolson's intellectual interest in professional legal ethics and his long-standing involvement with law clinics both as an advisor at the University of Cape Town and Director of the University of Bristol Law Clinic and the University of Strathclyde Law Clinic. In this article he looks at how legal education may help start this process of character development, arguing that the best means is through student involvement in voluntary law clinics. And here he builds upon his recent article which argues for voluntary, community service oriented law clinics over those which emphasise the education of students

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results