Factors Associated with Maternal Wellbeing at Four Months Post-Partum in Ireland

This study aimed to examine factors associated with maternal wellbeing at four months post-partum in the Irish context. Socio-demographic, health behaviour and infant feeding data were collected in pregnancy, at birth and at 17 weeks post-partum. Maternal distress, body image and resilience were measured at 17 weeks post-partum. Binary logistic regression predicted maternal distress and statistical significance was taken at p \u3c 0.05. One hundred and seventy-two women were followed-up in pregnancy, at birth and at 17 weeks post-partum. Three in five (61.6%, n106) initiated breastfeeding. At 17 weeks post-partum, 23.8% (n41) were exclusively or partially breastfeeding and over a third (36.0%, n62) of all mothers were at risk of distress. In multivariate analyses, independent predictors of distress included: low maternal resilience (p \u3c 0.01, odds ratio (OR): 7.22 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.49–20.95)); unsatisfactory partner support (p = 0.02, OR: 3.89 (95% CI: 1.20–12.65)); older age (p = 0.02, OR: 1.11 (95% CI: 1.02–1.21)); and breastfeeding (p = 0.01, OR: 2.89 (95% CI: 1.29–6.47)). Routine assessment of emotional wellbeing and targeted interventions are needed to promote a more healthful transition to motherhood among women in Ireland

Spacetime Dynamics of a Higgs Vacuum Instability During Inflation

A remarkable prediction of the Standard Model is that, in the absence of corrections lifting the energy density, the Higgs potential becomes negative at large field values. If the Higgs field samples this part of the potential during inflation, the negative energy density may locally destabilize the spacetime. We use numerical simulations of the Einstein equations to study the evolution of inflation-induced Higgs fluctuations as they grow towards the true (negative-energy) minimum. These simulations show that forming a single patch of true vacuum in our past light cone during inflation is incompatible with the existence of our Universe; the boundary of the true vacuum region grows outward in a causally disconnected manner from the crunching interior, which forms a black hole. We also find that these black hole horizons may be arbitrarily elongated---even forming black strings---in violation of the hoop conjecture. By extending the numerical solution of the Fokker-Planck equation to the exponentially suppressed tails of the field distribution at large field values, we derive a rigorous correlation between a future measurement of the tensor-to-scalar ratio and the scale at which the Higgs potential must receive stabilizing corrections in order for the Universe to have survived inflation until today.Comment: 36 pages, 11 figures; revised to match published versio

Antigen-Independent Selection of T15 Idiotype During B-Cell Ontogeny In Mice

Precursors of B cells capable of responding to a T-independent form of phosphorylcholine (PC) in splenic focus assays were detected in the spleens of neonatal mice as early as 4 days after birth. The earliest anti-PC B cells were T15-. T15+ foci-forming B cells were first detected 6 days after birth and expanded rapidly to constitute greater than 80% of the total PC-specific foci by day 10. Injection of heat-killed S. pneumoniae (R36A) into neonatal mice resulted in priming of the antibody response to PC, with an idiotype profile reflecting that of precursors of foci-forming B cells at the time of antigen administration. Priming of 2-dayold mice with 2 X106 and 2 X107 R36A induced a five- and ten-fold increase in the antibody response to phosphorylcholine 6 to 8 weeks later. However, only 10 to 15% of the serum antibodies expressed the normally dominant T15 idiotype. Doses below 2 x105 R36A showed no detectable priming activity. PC-specific hybridomas derived from mice injected with 2 X107 R36A 2 days after birth lacked the idiotypic and molecular characteristics typical of T15+ antibodies. Antibodies to phosphorylcholine, raised by immunization of 6-week-old mice are normally protective against pneumococcal infection. However, serum antibodies from mice treated with R36A 2 days after birth and responding to phosphorylcholine following challenge with R36A at 6 weeks of age failed to protect against deliberate infection with virulent S. pneumoniae. These observations imply that the antigen phosphorylcholine does not play a role in the selective expansion and dominant expression of the T15 idiotype

Dietary Energy Density as Marker of Dietary Quality in Swedish Children and Adolescents: The European Youth Heart Study

To investigate if dietary energy density is associated with measures of dietary quality (food group, micronutrient and macronutrient intakes) in children and adolescents

Singlet-Doublet Dark Matter

In light of recent data from direct detection experiments and the Large Hadron Collider, we explore models of dark matter in which an SU(2) doublet is mixed with a Standard Model singlet. We impose a thermal history. If the new particles are fermions, this model is already constrained due to null results from XENON100. We comment on remaining regions of parameter space and assess prospects for future discovery. We do the same for the model where the new particles are scalars, which at present is less constrained. Much of the remaining parameter space for both models will be probed by the next generation of direct detection experiments. For the fermion model, DeepCore may also play an important role.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures; v2 minor changes, references adde

An evaluation of the use and effectiveness of temporary sediment controls

Center for Research in Water Resource

An engineered Tetrahymena tRNA(Gln) for in vivo incorporation of unnatural amino acids into proteins by nonsense suppression

A new tRNA, THG73, has been designed and evaluated as a vehicle for incorporating unnatural amino acids site-specifically into proteins expressed in vivo using the stop codon suppression technique. The construct is a modification of tRNAGln(CUA) from Tetrahymena thermophila, which naturally recognizes the stop codon UAG. Using electrophysiological studies of mutations at several sites of the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor, it is established that THG73 represents a major improvement over previous nonsense suppressors both in terms of efficiency and fidelity of unnatural amino acid incorporation. Compared with a previous tRNA used for in vivo suppression, THG73 is as much as 100-fold less likely to be acylated by endogenous synthetases of the Xenopus oocyte. This effectively eliminates a major concern of the in vivo suppression methodology, the undesirable incorporation of natural amino acids at the suppression site. In addition, THG73 is 4-10-fold more efficient at incorporating unnatural amino acids in the oocyte system. Taken together, these two advances should greatly expand the range of applicability of the in vivo nonsense suppression methodology