Increased maternal TSH and decreased maternal FT4 are associated with a higher operative delivery rate in low-risk pregnancies:A prospective cohort study

Background:  The increasing number of operative deliveries is a topic of major concern in modern obstetrics. Maternal thyroid function is of known influence on many obstetric parameters. Our objective was to investigate a possible relation between maternal thyroid function, and operative deliveries. Secondary aim was to explore whether thyroid function was related to specific reasons for operative deliveries. Methods:  In this prospective cohort study, low-risk Caucasian women, pregnant of a single cephalic fetus were included. Women with known auto-immune disease, a pre-labour Caesarean section, induction of labour, breech presentation or preterm delivery were excluded. In all trimesters of pregnancy the thyroid function was assessed. Differences in mean TSH and FT4 were assessed using t-test. Mean TSH and FT4 levels for operative deliveries were determined by one way ANOVA. Repeated measurement analyses were performed (ANOVA), adjusting for BMI, partiy, maternal age and gestational age at delivery. Results:  In total 872 women were included, of which 699 (80.2 %) had a spontaneous delivery. At 36 weeks gestation women who had an operative delivery had a significantly higher mean TSH (1.63mIU/L versus 1.46mIU/L, p = 0.025) and lower mean FT4 (12.9pmol/L versus 13.3pmol/L, p = 0.007)) compared to women who had a spontaneous delivery. Mean TSH was significantly higher (p = 0.026) and mean FT4 significantly lower (p = 0.030) throughout pregnancy for women with an operative delivery due to failure to progress in second stage of labour, compared to women with a spontaneous delivery or operative delivery for other reasons. Conclusion:  Increased TSH and decreased FT4 seem to be associated with more operative vaginal deliveries and Caesarean sections. After adjusting for several confounders the association remained for operative deliveries due to failure to progress in second stage of labour, possibly to be explained by less efficient uterine action

Suppression of inhomogeneous broadening in rf spectroscopy of optically trapped atoms

We present a novel method for reducing the inhomogeneous frequency broadening in the hyperfine splitting of the ground state of optically trapped atoms. This reduction is achieved by the addition of a weak light field, spatially mode-matched with the trapping field and whose frequency is tuned in-between the two hyperfine levels. We experimentally demonstrate the new scheme with Rb 85 atoms, and report a 50-fold narrowing of the rf spectrum

Economic Threats, Political and National Identification Predict Affective Polarization:Longitudinal Evidence From Spain

Economic threats, along with political identities and ideologies, are associated with affective polarization. However, there is still a need to learn more about the consequences of different economic threats and identities fueling polarization. We take a longitudinal perspective in testing the influence of these phenomena on affective polarization. Specifically, we tested the effect of subjective personal and collective economic threats and political, national, regional, and European identities on affective polarization towards politicians and partisans in Spain. We use four waves of the E-DEM panel study from Spain (N = 2,501) collected between 2018 and 2019. We conducted longitudinal multilevel analyses to determine the growth in affective polarization and included predictors at the between- and within-person levels. Consistent with our hypotheses, we found that collective economic threats, such as perceiving more unfairness in the distribution of wealth and being dissatisfied with the Spanish economy, positively predict affective polarization. Contrary to our expectations, personal economic threats did not predict affective polarization. Furthermore, political and national identities positively predicted affective polarization towards politicians and partisans. Interestingly, exploratory analyses suggested that the associations between economic threats, identities, and affective polarization are moderated by political ideology. We discuss how economic threats and identities may exacerbate animosities toward political actors.</p

Public support for migration policy

De hoge instroom van asielzoekers in 2015 heeft het migratievraagstuk op de maatschappelijke agenda geplaatst. Er zijn soms sterke meningsverschillen tussen voor- en tegenstanders. Dit onderzoek focust op het draagvlak onder de Nederlandse bevolking voor verschillende aspecten van het Nederlandse migratiebeleid. De onderzoeksvraag is: Welke factoren beïnvloeden de mate van maatschappelijk draagvlak voor de verschillende aspecten van het migratiebeleid in Nederland, en in hoeverre kunnen die factoren worden ingezet om maatschappelijk draagvlak voor die aspecten te behouden dan wel versterken? Het onderzoek bestaat uit drie delen. Het eerste deel betreft een literatuurstudie waarin is nagegaan welke processen het draagvlak voor migratiebeleid bepalen. Het tweede deel betreft een enquête naar draagvlak onder een grote steekproef Nederlanders. Het derde deel bestaat uit telefonische interviews onder 80 deelnemers aan de enquête , waarbij het doel was om beter inzicht te krijgen in de redenen waarom men zo over deze beleidsmaatregelen en hun uitvoering denkt

Multiple micro-optical atom traps with a spherically aberrated laser beam

We report on the loading of atoms contained in a magneto-optic trap into multiple optical traps formed within the focused beam of a CO_{2} laser. We show that under certain circumstances it is possible to create a linear array of dipole traps with well separated maxima. This is achieved by focusing the laser beam through lenses uncorrected for spherical aberration. We demonstrate that the separation between the micro-traps can be varied, a property which may be useful in experiments which require the creation of entanglement between atoms in different micro-traps. We suggest other experiments where an array of these traps could be useful.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figure

Magneto-optical trapping of bosonic and fermionic neon isotopes and their mixtures: isotope shift of the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3 transition and hyperfine constants of the ^3D_3 state of Ne-21

We have magneto-optically trapped all three stable neon isotopes, including the rare Ne-21, and all two-isotope combinations. The atoms are prepared in the metastable ^3P_2 state and manipulated via laser interaction on the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3} transition at 640.2nm. These cold (T = 1mK) and environmentally decoupled atom samples present ideal objects for precision measurements and the investigation of interactions between cold and ultracold metastable atoms. In this work, we present accurate measurements of the isotope shift of the ^3P_2 to ^3D_3 transition and the hyperfine interaction constants of the ^3D_3 state of Ne-21. The determined isotope shifts are (1625.9\pm0.15)MHz for Ne-20 to Ne-22, (855.7\pm1.0)MHz for Ne-20 to Ne-21, and (770.3\pm1.0)MHz for Ne-21 to Ne-22. The obtained magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole hyperfine interaction constants are A(^3D_3)= (-142.4\pm0.2)MHz and B(^3D_3)=(-107.7\pm1.1)MHz, respectively. All measurements give a reduction of uncertainty by about one order of magnitude over previous measurements

Spatial Light Modulators for the Manipulation of Individual Atoms

We propose a novel dipole trapping scheme using spatial light modulators (SLM) for the manipulation of individual atoms. The scheme uses a high numerical aperture microscope to map the intensity distribution of a SLM onto a cloud of cold atoms. The regions of high intensity act as optical dipole force traps. With a SLM fast enough to modify the trapping potential in real time, this technique is well suited for the controlled addressing and manipulation of arbitrarily selected atoms.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure