Pregnancy loss is related to body mass index and prediabetes in early adulthood: Findings from Add Health

Pregnancy loss, including miscarriage and stillbirth, affects 15–20% of pregnancies in the United States (US) annually. Accumulating evidence suggests that pregnancy loss is associated with a greater cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden later in life. However, few studies have evaluated the impact of pregnancy loss on CVD risk factors in early adulthood (age <35 years). The aim of this study was to examine associations between pregnancy loss and CVD risk factors (body mass index, blood pressure, hyperlipidemia, diabetes status) in early adulthood. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis using the public-use dataset for Wave IV (2007–2009) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). Our sample consisted of women, ages 24–32 years, with a previous pregnancy who completed biological data collection (n = 2,968). Pregnancy loss was assessed as any history of miscarriage or stillbirth; and quantified as none, one, or recurrent (≥2) pregnancy loss. Associations between pregnancy loss and each CVD risk factor were tested using linear and logistic regression adjusting for sociodemographic factors, parity, health behaviors during pregnancy, and depression. We tested for interactions with race/ethnicity. A total of 670 women reported a pregnancy loss, of which 28% reported recurrent pregnancy loss. A prior pregnancy loss was related to a 3.79 (kg/mm2) higher BMI in non-Hispanic Black women, but not white women. Women with recurrent pregnancy loss were more likely to have prediabetes (AOR, 1.93; 95% CI, 1.10–3.37, p<0.05) than women with all live births. Findings suggest that pregnancy loss may be associated with a more adverse CVD risk profile in early adulthood, particularly for women who experience recurrent pregnancy loss. This highlights the need for CVD risk assessment in young women with a prior pregnancy loss. Further research is necessary to identify underlying risk factors of pregnancy loss that may predispose women to CVD

Cohort profile: The national longitudinal study of adolescent to adult health (Add Health)

Why was the cohort set up? The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) was developed in the 1990s in response to a mandate from the United States Congress to fund a study of adolescent health, and was designed by a team of multidisciplinary investigators from the social, behavioural and biomedical sciences. The original purpose of Add Health was to understand the causes of adolescent health and health behaviour, with special emphasis on the multiple contexts of adolescent life. To achieve this scientific goal, Add Health sampled the school and family environments in which young people live their lives, which included data on peer relationship dyads, parents, siblings, neighbourhoods and communities, and provides independent and direct measurement of these complex environments over time. As the cohort transitioned into adulthood, research objectives turned to understanding how adolescent experiences, behaviours and contexts are linked to health and achievement outcomes in adulthood, and the name of the study was officially changed to The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health in 2014

Linear Field Dependence of the Normal-State In-Plane Magnetoresistance of Sr2RuO4

The transverse and longitudinal in-plane magnetoresistances in the normal state of superconducting Sr2RuO4 single crystals have been measured. At low temperatures, both of them were found to be positive with a linear magnetic-field dependence above a threshold field, a result not expected from electronic band theory. We argue that such behavior is a manifestation of a novel coherent state characterized by a spin pseudo gap in the quasi-particle excitation spectrum in Sr2RuO4.Comment: 4 pages + 5 figure

The depths of despair among US adults entering midlife

Objectives. To test whether indicators of despair are rising among US adults as they age toward midlife and whether this rise is concentrated among low-educated Whites and in rural areas. Methods. We used data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative study of US adolescents in 1994. Our sample was restricted to individuals who participated in 1 or more of 5 waves (1994-2017) and self-identified as non-Hispanic White, non-Hispanic Black, or Hispanic (n = 18 446).We examined change in indicators of despair from adolescence to adulthood using multilevel regression analysis, testing for differences by race/ethnicity, education, and rurality. Results. We found evidence of rising despair among this cohort over the past decade. This increase was not restricted to low-educated Whites or to rural areas. Conclusions. Results suggest that generally rising despair among the young adult cohort now reaching midlife that cuts across racial/ethnic, educational, and geographic groups may presage rising midlife mortality for these subgroups in the next decade

Race/Ethnicity, Gender, and Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Across Early- and Mid-Life Among the Add Health Cohort

While disparities in depressive symptoms by race/ethnicity and gender have been documented, left unclear is how such status characteristics intersect to influence mental health, particularly across early life and among a diverse set of population subgroups. This study investigates how intra- and inter-individual trends in depressive symptoms unfold across a 30-year span (ages 12–42) and are structured by the intersection of race/ethnicity and gender among White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian American young adults (N = 18,566). Analyses use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a nationally representative study of adolescents who have been followed through their fourth decade of life. We draw on Waves I–IV and a representative subsample of the brand new Wave V data. Growth curve models indicated depressive symptoms decreased across adolescence and young adulthood before increasing in the early 30s. Racial/ethnic minorities reported more depressive symptoms than Whites. Women reported more depressive symptoms than men and experienced especially steep increases in their late 30s. Racial/ethnic-gender disparities remained stable with age, except for Hispanic-White disparities among women and Asian American-White disparities among men, which narrowed with age. Overall, findings demonstrate dynamic inequalities across a longer period of the life span than was previously known, as well as heterogeneity in trajectories of poor mental health within and between racial/ethnic-gender groups. Results also suggest that Black and Asian American women experience the highest mental health risks and that interventions for reducing disparities in depressive symptoms should focus on adults in their late 20s/early 30s, particularly women of color

An investigation into reinforced and functionally graded lattice structures

Lattice structures are regarded as excellent candidates for use in lightweight energy absorbing applications, such as crash protection. In this paper we investigate the crushing behaviour, mechanical properties and energy absorption of lattices made by an additive manufacturing (AM) process. Two types of lattice were examined; body-centred-cubic (BCC) and a reinforced variant called BCCz. The lattices were subject to compressive loads in two orthogonal directions, allowing an assessment of their mechanical anisotropy to be made. We also examined functionally graded versions of these lattices, which featured a density gradient along one direction. The graded structures exhibited distinct crushing behaviour, with a sequential collapse of cellular layers preceding full densification. For the BCCz lattice, the graded structures were able to absorb around 114% more energy per unit volume than their non-graded counterparts before full densification, 1371 +or- 9 kJ/m3 vs. 640 +or- 10 kJ/m3. This highlights the strong potential for functionally graded lattices to be used in energy absorbing applications. Finally, we determined several of the Gibson-Ashby coefficients relating the mechanical properties of lattice structures to their density; these are crucial in establishing the constitutive models required for effective lattice design. These results improve the current understanding of AM lattices, and will enable the design of sophisticated, functional, lightweight components in the future

Quantitative comparison of single- and two-particle properties in the cuprates

We explore the strong variations of the electronic properties of copper-oxygen compounds across the doping phase diagram in a quantitative way. To this end we calculate the electronic Raman response on the basis of results from angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES). In the limits of our approximations we find agreement on the overdoped side and pronounced discrepancies at lower doping. In contrast to the successful approach for the transport properties at low energies, the Raman and the ARPES data cannot be reconciled by adding angle-dependent momentum scattering. We discuss possible routes towards an explanation of the suppression of spectral weight close to the $(\pi,0)$ points which sets in abruptly close to 21% doping.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure

Performing the high-school prom in the UK: Locating authenticity through practice

The purpose of this study was threefold: to develop an understanding of the appropriation of the US High School Prom in the UK and more importantly to generate an insight into the producers and consumers of such an event; to establish if the performance of the prom is hyper-real or if there is an awareness of the authentic or inauthentic elements of this ritual and finally to ascertain local interpretation of authenticity and glocal practice. The method used here was a qualitative approach employing 24 in-depth interviews with young adults (18-20 years) who had attended a prom in the UK in the last three years. The findings illustrated that the role and the social network of the individual was key to engagement with the High School Prom and also indicated a possible symbiosis of the strands of theory associated with authenticity. Diverse localised meanings of the prom performance were also identified. As the school prom is a growth market in the UK businesses should be aware of adolescents’ desire for ownership of this event and should tailor their marketing accordingly

The Dependence of the Superconducting Transition Temperature of Organic Molecular Crystals on Intrinsically Non-Magnetic Disorder: a Signature of either Unconventional Superconductivity or Novel Local Magnetic Moment Formation

We give a theoretical analysis of published experimental studies of the effects of impurities and disorder on the superconducting transition temperature, T_c, of the organic molecular crystals kappa-ET_2X and beta-ET_2X (where ET is bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene and X is an anion eg I_3). The Abrikosov-Gorkov (AG) formula describes the suppression of T_c both by magnetic impurities in singlet superconductors, including s-wave superconductors and by non-magnetic impurities in a non-s-wave superconductor. We show that various sources of disorder lead to the suppression of T_c as described by the AG formula. This is confirmed by the excellent fit to the data, the fact that these materials are in the clean limit and the excellent agreement between the value of the interlayer hopping integral, t_perp, calculated from this fit and the value of t_perp found from angular-dependant magnetoresistance and quantum oscillation experiments. If the disorder is, as seems most likely, non-magnetic then the pairing state cannot be s-wave. We show that the cooling rate dependence of the magnetisation is inconsistent with paramagnetic impurities. Triplet pairing is ruled out by several experiments. If the disorder is non-magnetic then this implies that l>=2, in which case Occam's razor suggests that d-wave pairing is realised. Given the proximity of these materials to an antiferromagnetic Mott transition, it is possible that the disorder leads to the formation of local magnetic moments via some novel mechanism. Thus we conclude that either kappa-ET_2X and beta-ET_2X are d-wave superconductors or else they display a novel mechanism for the formation of localised moments. We suggest systematic experiments to differentiate between these scenarios.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figure