258 research outputs found
The relationship between obesity associated weight-adjusted waist index and the prevalence of hypertension in US adults aged ≥60 years: a brief report
ObjectivesThe main objective was to examine the relationship between weight-adjusted waist index (WWI) and the prevalence of hypertension among individuals aged ≥60 years who participated in the NHANES between 2011 and 2018 years.MethodsThe data for this study were obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–2018. In this population-based study, we focused on participants who were over 60 years old. Data were collected from the aforementioned survey, and the variable of interest was WWI, which was calculated as waist (cm) divided by the square root of body weight (kg). Multivariable logistic regression model was applied to calculate adjusted ORs with 95% CIs in order to explore any possible correlation between WWI and the prevalence of hypertension. Subgroup analysis were used to verify the stability of the relationship between WWI and the prevalence of hypertension. The interaction tests were also conducted in this research.ResultsResults revealed that adults aged ≥60 years who were in the highest WWI quartile had significantly higher chances of developing hypertension when compared to those in the lowest quartile, after adjusting for covariates and potential confounders (p < 0.001).ConclusionThese findings suggest that there is a strong correlation between elevated levels of WWI and the risk of developing hypertension among older adults. As such, WWI could serve as a unique and valuable biomarker for identifying hypertension risk at an earlier stage in the older adults population
The Hidden Nematic Fluctuations in the Triclinic (Ca0.85La0.15)10(Pt3As8)(Fe2As2)5 Superconductor Revealed by Ultrafast Optical Spectroscopy
We reported the quasiparticle relaxation dynamics of an optimally doped
triclinic iron-based superconductor
(CaLa)(PtAs)(FeAs) with bulk
= 30 K using polarized ultrafast optical pump-probe spectroscopy. Our results
reveal anisotropic transient reflectivity induced by nematic fluctuations
develops below 120 K and persists in the superconducting
states. Measurements under high pump fluence reveal three distinct, coherent
phonon modes at frequencies of 1.6, 3.5, and 4.7 THz, corresponding to
, , and modes, respectively. The high-frequency
mode corresponds to the -axis polarized vibrations of FeAs
planes with a nominal electron-phonon coupling constant
0.139 0.02. Our findings suggest that the superconductivity and
nematic state are compatible but competitive at low temperatures, and the
phonons play an important role in the formation of Cooper pairs in
(CaLa)(PtAs)(FeAs).Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures and Supplemental Material
Public Company Health Insurers and Medical Loss Ratios: An Event Study of Dates Associated with the Affordable Care Act
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has proved to be a contentious regulatory and political topic. Although key features were established within the law the complexity of the new provisions and political opposition resulted in a series of federal and state governmental process changes, rule clarifications, and legal challenges. One component of the ACA is the introduction of a federal Medical Loss Ratio (MLR), which requires insurers to spend specified percentages of their premium revenue dollars on medical services and quality improvement actions. If thresholds are not met, insurers must refund premiums to their members, potentially removing millions of dollars from their operating income in any given year. This research uses event study methodology to examine share price fluctuations for publicly traded health insurers to understand the relationship between legislative and regulatory events associated with the establishment of the ACA and the federal MLR requirements. Regulatory developments in aggregate were found to be associated with slightly positive changes in share prices. Legislative events in aggregate were not associated with a significant change in share prices for publicly traded health insurers. Upon closer investigation, the initial draft of ACA legislation produced by the HELP Committee and sent to the Congressional Budget Office on June 9, 2009, including federal MLR requirements, was associated with a significant negative change in share prices for publicly traded health insurers
Superconductivity and Charge-density-wave-like Transition in Th2Cu4As5
We report the synthesis, crystal structure, and physical properties of a
novel ternary compound, ThCuAs. The material crystallizes in a
tetragonal structure with lattice parameters {\AA} and
{\AA}. Its structure can be described as an alternating stacking
of fluorite-type ThAs layers with antifluorite-type double-layered
CuAs slabs. The measurement of electrical resistivity, magnetic
susceptibility and specific heat reveals that ThCuAs undergoes bulk
superconducting transition at 4.2 K. Moreover, all these physical quantities
exhibit anomalies at 48 K, where the Hall coefficient change the sign. These
findings suggest a charge-density-wave-like (CDW) transition, making
ThCuAs a rare example for studying the interplay between CDW and
superconductivity.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, and 1 tabl
Calibration of the Timing Performance of GECAM-C
As a new member of the Gravitational wave high-energy Electromagnetic
Counterpart All-sky Monitor (GECAM) after GECAM-A and GECAM-B, GECAM-C
(originally called HEBS), which was launched on board the SATech-01 satellite
on July 27, 2022, aims to monitor and localize X-ray and gamma-ray transients
from 6 keV to 6 MeV. GECAM-C utilizes a similar design to GECAM but
operates in a more complex orbital environment. In this work, we utilize the
secondary particles simultaneously produced by the cosmic-ray events on orbit
and recorded by multiple detectors, to calibrate the relative timing accuracy
between all detectors of GECAM-C. We find the result is 0.1 , which
is the highest time resolution among all GRB detectors ever flown and very
helpful in timing analyses such as minimum variable timescale and spectral
lags, as well as in time delay localization. Besides, we calibrate the absolute
time accuracy using the one-year Crab pulsar data observed by GECAM-C and
Fermi/GBM, as well as GECAM-C and GECAM-B. The results are and , respectively. Finally, we investigate the
spectral lag between the different energy bands of Crab pulsar observed by
GECAM and GBM, which is .Comment: submitte
The hornwort genome and early land plant evolution
Hornworts, liverworts and mosses are three early diverging clades of land plants, and together comprise the bryophytes. Here, we report the draft genome sequence of the hornwort Anthoceros angustus. Phylogenomic inferences confirm the monophyly of bryophytes, with hornworts sister to liverworts and mosses. The simple morphology of hornworts correlates with low genetic redundancy in plant body plan, while the basic transcriptional regulation toolkit for plant development has already been established in this early land plant lineage. Although the Anthoceros genome is small and characterized by minimal redundancy, expansions are observed in gene families related to RNA editing, UV protection and desiccation tolerance. The genome of A. angustus bears the signatures of horizontally transferred genes from bacteria and fungi, in particular of genes operating in stress-response and metabolic pathways. Our study provides insight into the unique features of hornworts and their molecular adaptations to live on land
The Minimum Variation Timescales of X-ray bursts from SGR J1935+2154
The minimum variation timescale (MVT) of soft gamma-ray repeaters can be an
important probe to estimate the emission region in pulsar-like models, as well
as the Lorentz factor and radius of the possible relativistic jet in gamma-ray
burst (GRB)-like models, thus revealing their progenitors and physical
mechanisms. In this work, we systematically study the MVTs of hundreds of X-ray
bursts (XRBs) from SGR J1935+2154 observed by {\it Insight}-HXMT, GECAM and
Fermi/GBM from July 2014 to Jan 2022 through the Bayesian Block algorithm. We
find that the MVTs peak at 2 ms, corresponding to a light travel time
size of about 600 km, which supports the magnetospheric origin in pulsar-like
models. The shock radius and the Lorentz factor of the jet are also constrained
in GRB-like models. Interestingly, the MVT of the XRB associated with FRB
200428 is 70 ms, which is longer than that of most bursts and implies
its special radiation mechanism. Besides, the median of MVTs is 7 ms, shorter
than the median MVTs of 40 ms and 480 ms for short GRBs or long GRBs,
respectively. However, the MVT is independent of duration, similar to GRBs.
Finally, we investigate the energy dependence of MVT and suggest that there is
a marginal evidence for a power-law relationship like GRBs but the rate of
variation is at least about an order of magnitude smaller. These features may
provide an approach to identify bursts with a magnetar origin.Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ
Notolutesins A–J, Dolabrane-Type Diterpenoids from the Chinese Liverwort Notoscyphus lutescens
Ten new dolabrane-type diterpenoids, notolutesins A–J (1–10), were isolated from the Chinese liverwort Notoscyphus lutescens, along with four known compounds. The structures of the new compounds were established on the basis of extensive spectroscopic data, and that of 1 was confirmed by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The absolute configuration of 1 was determined by comparing its experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism spectra. All of the isolates were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against a small panel of human cancer cell lines, and compound 1 exhibited an IC50 value of 6.2 μM against the PC3 human prostate cancer cell line
Genomewide association study of leprosy.
BACKGROUND: The narrow host range of Mycobacterium leprae and the fact that it is refractory to growth in culture has limited research on and the biologic understanding of leprosy. Host genetic factors are thought to influence susceptibility to infection as well as disease progression. METHODS: We performed a two-stage genomewide association study by genotyping 706 patients and 1225 controls using the Human610-Quad BeadChip (Illumina). We then tested three independent replication sets for an association between the presence of leprosy and 93 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that were most strongly associated with the disease in the genomewide association study. Together, these replication sets comprised 3254 patients and 5955 controls. We also carried out tests of heterogeneity of the associations (or lack thereof) between these 93 SNPs and disease, stratified according to clinical subtype (multibacillary vs. paucibacillary). RESULTS: We observed a significant association (P<1.00x10(-10)) between SNPs in the genes CCDC122, C13orf31, NOD2, TNFSF15, HLA-DR, and RIPK2 and a trend toward an association (P=5.10x10(-5)) with a SNP in LRRK2. The associations between the SNPs in C13orf31, LRRK2, NOD2, and RIPK2 and multibacillary leprosy were stronger than the associations between these SNPs and paucibacillary leprosy. CONCLUSIONS: Variants of genes in the NOD2-mediated signaling pathway (which regulates the innate immune response) are associated with susceptibility to infection with M. leprae
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