16,378 research outputs found
Parental stress increases body mass index trajectory in pre-adolescents.
What is already known about this subjectRates of childhood obesity have increased since the mid-1970s. Research into behavioural determinants has focused on physical inactivity and unhealthy diets. Cross-sectional studies indicate an association between psychological stress experienced by parents and obesity in pre-adolescents.What this study addsWe provide evidence of a prospective association between parental psychological stress and increased weight gain in pre-adolescents. Family-level support for those experiencing chronic stress might help promote healthy diet and exercise behaviours in children.ObjectiveWe examined the impact of parental psychological stress on body mass index (BMI) in pre-adolescent children over 4 years of follow-up.MethodsWe included 4078 children aged 5-10 years (90% were between 5.5 and 7.5 years) at study entry (2002-2003) in the Children's Health Study, a prospective cohort study in southern California. A multi-level linear model simultaneously examined the effect of parental stress at study entry on the attained BMI at age 10 and the slope of change across annual measures of BMI during follow-up, controlled for the child's age and sex. BMI was calculated based on objective measurements of height and weight by trained technicians following a standardized procedure.ResultsA two standard deviation increase in parental stress at study entry was associated with an increase in predicted BMI attained by age 10 of 0.287 kg m(-2) (95% confidence interval 0.016-0.558; a 2% increase at this age for a participant of average attained BMI). The same increase in parental stress was also associated with an increased trajectory of weight gain over follow-up, with the slope of change in BMI increased by 0.054 kg m(-2) (95% confidence interval 0.007-0.100; a 7% increase in the slope of change for a participant of average BMI trajectory).ConclusionsWe prospectively demonstrated a small effect of parental stress on BMI at age 10 and weight gain earlier in life than reported previously. Interventions to address the burden of childhood obesity should address the role of parental stress in children
K2-265 b: a transiting rocky super-Earth
We report the discovery of the super-Earth K2-265 b detected with K2 photometry. The planet orbits a bright (V_(mag) = 11.1) star of spectral type G8V with a period of 2.37 days. We obtained high-precision follow-up radial velocity measurements from HARPS, and the joint Bayesian analysis showed that K2-265 b has a radius of 1.71 ± 0.11 R⊕ and a mass of 6.54 ± 0.84 M⊕, corresponding to a bulk density of 7.1 ± 1.8 g cm^(−3). Composition analysis of the planet reveals an Earth-like, rocky interior; this object has a rock mass fraction of ~80%. The short orbital period and small radius of the planet puts it below the lower limit of the photoevaporation gap, where the envelope of the planet could have eroded owing to strong stellar irradiation, leaving behind an exposed core. Knowledge of the planet core composition allows us to infer the possible formation and evolution mechanism responsible for its current physical parameters
Biased EPR entanglement and its application to teleportation
We consider pure continuous variable entanglement with non-equal correlations
between orthogonal quadratures. We introduce a simple protocol which equates
these correlations and in the process transforms the entanglement onto a state
with the minimum allowed number of photons. As an example we show that our
protocol transforms, through unitary local operations, a single squeezed beam
split on a beam splitter into the same entanglement that is produced when two
squeezed beams are mixed orthogonally. We demonstrate that this technique can
in principle facilitate perfect teleportation utilising only one squeezed beam.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure
Topology design and performance analysis of an integrated communication network
A research study on the topology design and performance analysis for the Space Station Information System (SSIS) network is conducted. It is begun with a survey of existing research efforts in network topology design. Then a new approach for topology design is presented. It uses an efficient algorithm to generate candidate network designs (consisting of subsets of the set of all network components) in increasing order of their total costs, and checks each design to see if it forms an acceptable network. This technique gives the true cost-optimal network, and is particularly useful when the network has many constraints and not too many components. The algorithm for generating subsets is described in detail, and various aspects of the overall design procedure are discussed. Two more efficient versions of this algorithm (applicable in specific situations) are also given. Next, two important aspects of network performance analysis: network reliability and message delays are discussed. A new model is introduced to study the reliability of a network with dependent failures. For message delays, a collection of formulas from existing research results is given to compute or estimate the delays of messages in a communication network without making the independence assumption. The design algorithm coded in PASCAL is included as an appendix
Stability of Filters for the Navier-Stokes Equation
Data assimilation methodologies are designed to incorporate noisy
observations of a physical system into an underlying model in order to infer
the properties of the state of the system. Filters refer to a class of data
assimilation algorithms designed to update the estimation of the state in a
on-line fashion, as data is acquired sequentially. For linear problems subject
to Gaussian noise filtering can be performed exactly using the Kalman filter.
For nonlinear systems it can be approximated in a systematic way by particle
filters. However in high dimensions these particle filtering methods can break
down. Hence, for the large nonlinear systems arising in applications such as
weather forecasting, various ad hoc filters are used, mostly based on making
Gaussian approximations. The purpose of this work is to study the properties of
these ad hoc filters, working in the context of the 2D incompressible
Navier-Stokes equation. By working in this infinite dimensional setting we
provide an analysis which is useful for understanding high dimensional
filtering, and is robust to mesh-refinement. We describe theoretical results
showing that, in the small observational noise limit, the filters can be tuned
to accurately track the signal itself (filter stability), provided the system
is observed in a sufficiently large low dimensional space; roughly speaking
this space should be large enough to contain the unstable modes of the
linearized dynamics. Numerical results are given which illustrate the theory.
In a simplified scenario we also derive, and study numerically, a stochastic
PDE which determines filter stability in the limit of frequent observations,
subject to large observational noise. The positive results herein concerning
filter stability complement recent numerical studies which demonstrate that the
ad hoc filters perform poorly in reproducing statistical variation about the
true signal
Rota-Baxter algebras and new combinatorial identities
The word problem for an arbitrary associative Rota-Baxter algebra is solved.
This leads to a noncommutative generalization of the classical Spitzer
identities. Links to other combinatorial aspects, particularly of interest in
physics, are indicated.Comment: 8 pages, improved versio
Unification of bulk and interface electroresistive switching in oxide systems
We demonstrate that the physical mechanism behind electroresistive switching
in oxide Schottky systems is electroformation, as in insulating oxides.
Negative resistance shown by the hysteretic current-voltage curves proves that
impact ionization is at the origin of the switching. Analyses of the
capacitance-voltage and conductance-voltage curves through a simple model show
that an atomic rearrangement is involved in the process. Switching in these
systems is a bulk effect, not strictly confined at the interface but at the
charge space region.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted in PR
Activation Energy of Metastable Amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 from Room Temperature to Melt
Resistivity of metastable amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 (GST) measured at device level
show an exponential decline with temperature matching with the steady-state
thin-film resistivity measured at 858 K (melting temperature). This suggests
that the free carrier activation mechanisms form a continuum in a large
temperature scale (300 K - 858 K) and the metastable amorphous phase can be
treated as a super-cooled liquid. The effective activation energy calculated
using the resistivity versus temperature data follow a parabolic behavior, with
a room temperature value of 333 meV, peaking to ~377 meV at ~465 K and reaching
zero at ~930 K, using a reference activation energy of 111 meV (3kBT/2) at
melt. Amorphous GST is expected to behave as a p-type semiconductor at Tmelt ~
858 K and transitions from the semiconducting-liquid phase to the
metallic-liquid phase at ~ 930 K at equilibrium. The simultaneous Seebeck (S)
and resistivity versus temperature measurements of amorphous-fcc mixed-phase
GST thin-films show linear S-T trends that meet S = 0 at 0 K, consistent with
degenerate semiconductors, and the dS/dT and room temperature activation energy
show a linear correlation. The single-crystal fcc is calculated to have dS/dT =
0.153 {\mu}V/K for an activation energy of zero and a Fermi level 0.16 eV below
the valance band edge.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
XAX: a multi-ton, multi-target detection system for dark matter, double beta decay and pp solar neutrinos
A multi-target detection system XAX, comprising concentric 10 ton targets of
136Xe and 129/131Xe, together with a geometrically similar or larger target of
liquid Ar, is described. Each is configured as a two-phase
scintillation/ionization TPC detector, enhanced by a full 4pi array of
ultra-low radioactivity Quartz Photon Intensifying Detectors (QUPIDs) replacing
the conventional photomultipliers for detection of scintillation light. It is
shown that background levels in XAX can be reduced to the level required for
dark matter particle (WIMP) mass measurement at a 10^-10 pb WIMP-nucleon cross
section, with single-event sensitivity below 10^-11 pb. The use of multiple
target elements allows for confirmation of the A^2 dependence of a coherent
cross section, and the different Xe isotopes provide information on the
spin-dependence of the dark matter interaction. The event rates observed by Xe
and Ar would modulate annually with opposite phases from each other for WIMP
mass >~100 GeV/c^2. The large target mass of 136Xe and high degree of
background reduction allow neutrinoless double beta decay to be observed with
lifetimes of 10^27-10^28 years, corresponding to the Majorana neutrino mass
range 0.01-0.1 eV, the most likely range from observed neutrino mass
differences. The use of a 136Xe-depleted 129/131Xe target will also allow
measurement of the pp solar neutrino spectrum to a precision of 1-2%.Comment: 16 pages with 17 figure
- …