The Effects of Breastfeeding on Childhood BMI: A Propensity Score Matching Approach

Background Many studies have found a statistical association between breastfeeding and childhood adiposity. This paper investigates whether breastfeeding has an effect on subsequent childhood body mass index (BMI) using propensity scores to account for confounding. Methods We use data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a nationally representative UK cohort survey, which contains detailed information on infant feeding and childhood BMI. Propensity score matching is used to investigate the mean BMI in children breastfed exclusively and partially for different durations of time. Results We find statistically significant influences of breastfeeding on childhood BMI, particularly in older children, when breastfeeding is prolonged and exclusive. At 7 years, children who were exclusively breastfed for 16 weeks had a BMI 0.28 kg/m 2 (95% confidence interval 0.07 to 0.49) lower than those who were never breastfed, a 2% reduction from the mean BMI of 16.6 kg/m 2 . Conclusions For this young cohort, even small effects of breastfeeding on BMI could be important. In order to reduce BMI, breastfeeding should be encouraged as part of wider lifestyle intervention. This evidence could help to inform public health bodies when creating public health guidelines and recommendations

Socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle factors and burden of morbidity associated with self-reported hearing and vision impairments in older British community-dwelling men: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Hearing and vision problems are common in older adults. We investigated the association of self-reported sensory impairment with lifestyle factors, chronic conditions, physical functioning, quality of life and social interaction. METHODS: A population-based cross-sectional study of participants of the British Regional Heart Study aged 63-85 years. RESULTS: A total of 3981 men (82% response rate) provided data. Twenty-seven per cent (n = 1074) reported hearing impairment including being able to hear with aid (n = 482), being unable to hear (no aid) (n = 424) and being unable to hear despite aid (n = 168). Three per cent (n = 124) reported vision impairment. Not being able to hear, irrespective of use of hearing aid, was associated with poor quality of life, poor social interaction and poor physical functioning. Men who could not hear despite hearing aid were more likely to report coronary heart disease (CHD) [age-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) 1.89 (95% confidence interval 1.36-2.63)]. Vision impairment was associated with symptoms of CHD including breathlessness [OR 2.06 (1.38-3.06)] and chest pain [OR 1.58 (1.07-2.35)]. Vision impairment was also associated with poor quality of life, poor social interaction and poor physical functioning. CONCLUSIONS: Sensory impairment is associated with poor physical functioning, poor health and poor social interaction in older men. Further research is warranted on pathways underlying these associations

Experimental and Finite Element Analysis of the Open-Cells Porous Materials Subjected to Compression Mechanical Loading

Progress in Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology enables the fabrication of complex structures that could not be obtained with traditional manufacturing methods. One AM research area is the development and use of lightweight products with cellular structures, containing complex lattices and pores, which give improved performance and functionality. It is well known that there is a strong link between mechanical properties and architecture of samples with cellular structures. This paper presents a comparison and validation of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulations of cellular structures with experimental data obtained from compression tests, and degradation behaviour under load compression. The specimens, with spherical open-cells, were produced in VeroClear RGD810 photopolymer resin. Mechanical compression tests were performed to investigate the compressive behaviour and the mechanical response was registered in the form of compressive stress-strain curves. Also, using the specimens’ CAD data and compression test parameters, a Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed. A macroscopic analysis of the specimens’ structure and microhardness tests before and after compression tests were also carried out

Constrained spin dynamics description of random walks on hierarchical scale-free networks

We study a random walk problem on the hierarchical network which is a scale-free network grown deterministically. The random walk problem is mapped onto a dynamical Ising spin chain system in one dimension with a nonlocal spin update rule, which allows an analytic approach. We show analytically that the characteristic relaxation time scale grows algebraically with the total number of nodes $N$ as $T \sim N^z$. From a scaling argument, we also show the power-law decay of the autocorrelation function C_{\bfsigma}(t)\sim t^{-\alpha}, which is the probability to find the Ising spins in the initial state {\bfsigma} after $t$ time steps, with the state-dependent non-universal exponent $\alpha$. It turns out that the power-law scaling behavior has its origin in an quasi-ultrametric structure of the configuration space.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figure

Strong, weak and flavor scalar triplets for the CDF Wjj anomaly

A model describing the 4.1\sigma\ Wjj anomaly observed by the CDF experiment at the Tevatron collider is introduced. It features new scalar particles which are charged both under the SU(3)_C and the SU(2)_L gauge groups and which couple to pairs of quarks. We introduce several identical replicas of the scalar multiplets in order to leave an unbroken U(3)_Q x U(3)_U x U(3)_D flavor symmetry to satisfy the constraints coming from flavor physics. We discuss the LHC reach on the new scalar resonances both in the resonant production channel (with the Wjj final state) and in the QCD pair production channel (with the 4j final state).Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures and 4 table

Sudden switch of generalized Lieb-Robinson velocity in a transverse field Ising spin chain

The Lieb-Robinson theorem states that the speed at which the correlations between two distant nodes in a spin network can be built through local interactions has an upper bound, which is called the Lieb-Robinson velocity. Our central aim is to demonstrate how to observe the Lieb-Robinson velocity in an Ising spin chain with a strong transverse field. We adopt and compare four correlation measures for characterizing different types of correlations, which include correlation function, mutual information, quantum discord, and entanglement of formation. We prove that one of correlation functions shows a special behavior depending on the parity of the spin number. All the information-theoretical correlation measures demonstrate the existence of the Lieb-Robinson velocity. In particular, we find that there is a sudden switch of the Lieb-Robinson speed with the increasing of the number of spin