The effects of socioeconomic status and indices of physical environment on reduced birth weight and preterm births in Eastern Massachusetts

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background: Air pollution and social characteristics have been shown to affect indicators of health. While use of spatial methods to estimate exposure to air pollution has increased the power to detect effects, questions have been raised about potential for confounding by social factors.Methods: A study of singleton births in Eastern Massachusetts was conducted between 1996 and 2002 to examine the association between indicators of traffic, land use, individual and area-based socioeconomic measures (SEM), and birth outcomes ( birth weight, small for gestational age and preterm births), in a two-level hierarchical model.Results: We found effects of both individual ( education, race, prenatal care index) and area-based ( median household income) SEM with all birth outcomes. The associations for traffic and land use variables were mainly seen with birth weight, with an exception for an effect of cumulative traffic density on small for gestational age. Race/ethnicity of mother was an important predictor of birth outcomes and a strong confounder for both area-based SEM and indices of physical environment. The effects of traffic and land use differed by level of education and median household income.Conclusion: Overall, the findings of the study suggested greater likelihood of reduced birth weight and preterm births among the more socially disadvantaged, and a greater risk of reduced birth weight associated with traffic exposures. Results revealed the importance of controlling simultaneously for SEM and environmental exposures as the way to better understand determinants of health.This work is supported by the Harvard Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Center, Grants R827353 and R-832416, and National Institute for Environmental Health Science (NIEHS) ES-0002

Lesbian and bisexual women's experiences of sexuality-based discrimination and their appearance concerns

Lesbian and bisexual women frequently experience sexuality-based discrimination, which is often based on others' judgements about their appearance. This short article aims to explore whether there is a relationship between lesbian and bisexual women's experiences of sexuality-based discrimination and their satisfaction with the way that they look. Findings from an online survey suggest that discrimination is negatively related to appearance satisfaction for lesbian women, but not for bisexual women. It is argued that this difference exists because lesbian appearance norms are more recognisable and distinctive than bisexual women's appearance norms

Nondispersive solutions to the L2-critical half-wave equation

We consider the focusing $L^2$-critical half-wave equation in one space dimension $$i \partial_t u = D u - |u|^2 u,$$ where $D$ denotes the first-order fractional derivative. Standard arguments show that there is a critical threshold $M_* > 0$ such that all $H^{1/2}$ solutions with $\| u \|_{L^2} < M_*$ extend globally in time, while solutions with $\| u \|_{L^2} \geq M_*$ may develop singularities in finite time. In this paper, we first prove the existence of a family of traveling waves with subcritical arbitrarily small mass. We then give a second example of nondispersive dynamics and show the existence of finite-time blowup solutions with minimal mass $\| u_0 \|_{L^2} = M_*$. More precisely, we construct a family of minimal mass blowup solutions that are parametrized by the energy $E_0 >0$ and the linear momentum $P_0 \in \R$. In particular, our main result (and its proof) can be seen as a model scenario of minimal mass blowup for $L^2$-critical nonlinear PDE with nonlocal dispersion.Comment: 51 page

Advanced model-based control studies for the induction and maintenance of intravenous anaesthesia

This paper describes strategies toward model-based automation of intravenous anaesthesia employing advanced control techniques. In particular, based on a detailed compartmental mathematical model featuring pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics information, two alternative model predictive control strategies are presented: a model predictive control strategy, based on online optimization, the extended predictive self-adaptive control and a multiparametric control strategy based on offline optimization, the multiparametric model predictive control. The multiparametric features to account for the effect of nonlinearity and the impact of estimation are also described. The control strategies are tested on a set of 12 virtually generated patient models for the regulation of the depth of anaesthesia by means of the bispectral index (BIS) using Propofol as the administrated anaesthetic. The simulations show fast response, suitability of dose, and robustness to induce and maintain the desired BIS setpoint

Generator Coordinate Method Calculations for Ground and First Excited Collective States in 4^{4}He, 16^{16}O and 40^{40}Ca Nuclei

The main characteristics of the ground and, in particular, the first excited monopole state in the $^{4}$He, $^{16}$O and $^{40}$Ca nuclei are studied within the generator coordinate method using Skyrme-type effective forces and three construction potentials, namely the harmonic-oscillator, the square-well and Woods-Saxon potentials. Calculations of density distributions, radii, nucleon momentum distributions, natural orbitals, occupation numbers and depletions of the Fermi sea, as well as of pair density and momentum distributions are carried out. A comparison of these quantities for both ground and first excited monopole states with the available empirical data and with the results of other theoretical methods are given and discussed in detail.Comment: 15 pages, LaTeX, 6 Postscript figures, submitted to EPJ

Do topology and ferromagnetism cooperate at the EuS/Bi2_2Se3_3 interface?

We probe the local magnetic properties of interfaces between the insulating ferromagnet EuS and the topological insulator Bi$_2$Se$_3$ using low energy muon spin rotation (LE-$\mu$SR). We compare these to the interface between EuS and the topologically trivial metal, titanium. Below the magnetic transition of EuS, we detect strong local magnetic fields which extend several nm into the adjacent layer and cause a complete depolarization of the muons. However, in both Bi$_2$Se$_3$ and titanium we measure similar local magnetic fields, implying that their origin is mostly independent of the topological properties of the interface electronic states. In addition, we use resonant soft X-ray angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (SX-ARPES) to probe the electronic band structure at the interface between EuS and Bi$_2$Se$_3$. By tuning the photon energy to the Eu anti-resonance at the Eu $M_5$ pre-edge we are able to detect the Bi$_2$Se$_3$ conduction band, through a protective Al$_2$O$_3$ capping layer and the EuS layer. Moreover, we observe a signature of an interface-induced modification of the buried Bi$_2$Se$_3$ wave functions and/or the presence of interface states

Deterministic Partial Differential Equation Model for Dose Calculation in Electron Radiotherapy

Treatment with high energy ionizing radiation is one of the main methods in modern cancer therapy that is in clinical use. During the last decades, two main approaches to dose calculation were used, Monte Carlo simulations and semi-empirical models based on Fermi-Eyges theory. A third way to dose calculation has only recently attracted attention in the medical physics community. This approach is based on the deterministic kinetic equations of radiative transfer. Starting from these, we derive a macroscopic partial differential equation model for electron transport in tissue. This model involves an angular closure in the phase space. It is exact for the free-streaming and the isotropic regime. We solve it numerically by a newly developed HLLC scheme based on [BerCharDub], that exactly preserves key properties of the analytical solution on the discrete level. Several numerical results for test cases from the medical physics literature are presented.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figure

Gravity-induced Wannier-Stark ladder in an optical lattice

We discuss the dynamics of ultracold atoms in an optical potential accelerated by gravity. The positions and widths of the Wannier-Stark ladder of resonances are obtained as metastable states. The metastable Wannier-Bloch states oscillate in a single band with the Bloch period. The width of the resonance gives the rate transition to the continuum.Comment: 5 pages + 8 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.