The genetic underpinnings of variation in ages at menarche and natural menopause among women from the multi-ethnic Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study: A trans-ethnic meta-analysis

Current knowledge of the genetic architecture of key reproductive events across the female life course is largely based on association studies of European descent women. The relevance of known loci for age at menarche (AAM) and age at natural menopause (ANM) in diverse populations remains unclear. We investigated 32 AAM and 14 ANM previously-identified loci and sought to identify novel loci in a trans-ethnic array-wide study of 196,483 SNPs on the MetaboChip (Illumina, Inc.). A total of 45,364 women of diverse ancestries (African, Hispanic/Latina, Asian American and American Indian/Alaskan Native) in the Population Architecture using Genomics and Epidemiology (PAGE) Study were included in cross-sectional analyses of AAM and ANM. Within each study we conducted a linear regression of SNP associations with self-reported or medical record-derived AAM or ANM (in years), adjusting for birth year, population stratification, and center/region, as appropriate, and meta-analyzed results across studies using multiple meta-analytic techniques. For both AAM and ANM, we observed more directionally consistent associations with the previously reported risk alleles than expected by chance (p-valuesbinomial0.01). Eight densely genotyped reproductive loci generalized significantly to at least one non-European population. We identified one trans-ethnic array-wide SNP association with AAM and two significant associations with ANM, which have not been described previously. Additionally, we observed evidence of independent secondary signals at three of six AAM trans-ethnic loci. Our findings support the transferability of reproductive trait loci discovered in European women to women of other race/ethnicities and indicate the presence of additional trans-ethnic associations both at both novel and established loci. These findings suggest the benefit of including diverse populations in future studies of the genetic architecture of female growth and development

The Reproductive Revolution

Este texto fue publicado en 2009 por The Sociological Review. Rogamos que, a efectos de divulgación, docencia y cita bibliográfica se acuda a la publicación impresa (u online de la propia revista) y la cita sea esta: MacInnes, J., Pérez Díaz, J. (2009), "The reproductive revolution" The Sociological Review 57 (2): 262-284. Su versión html puede encontrarse en esta dirección:http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122368561/HTMLSTART Quienes estén interesados en ampliar la información sobre nuestra Teoría de la Revolución Reproductiva pueden visitar la página web siguiente: http://www.ieg.csic.es/jperez/pags/RRweb/RRweb.htm También encontrarán en este mismo repositorio otra publicación con unaexposición en castellano de las mismas ideas y publicada en la REIS bajo el título “La tercera revolución de la modernidad: la reproductiva”.We suggest that a third revolution alongside the better known economic and political ones has been vital to the rise of modernity: the reproductive revolution, comprising a historically unrepeatable shift in the efficiency of human reproduction which for the first time brought demographic security.As well as highlighting the contribution of demographic change to the rise of modernity and addressing the limitations of orthodox theories of the demographic transition, the concept of the reproductive revolution offers a better way to integrate sociology and demography. The former has tended to pay insufficient heed to sexual reproduction, individual mortality and the generational replacement of population, while the latter has undervalued its own distinctive theoretical contribution, portraying demographic change as the effect of causes lying elsewhere. We outline a theory of the reproductive revolution, review some relevant supporting empirical evidence and briefly discuss its implications both for demographic transition theory itself, and for a range of key social changes that we suggest it made possible: the decline of patriarchy and feminisation of the public sphere, the deregulation and privatisation of sexuality, family change, the rise of identity, ‘low’ fertility and ‘population ageing’.Peer reviewe

56W frequency doubled source at 530 nm pumped by a single-mode single-polarization picosecond Yb³⁺-doped fiber MOPA

We report a frequency doubled green source at 530nm pumped based on an all-fiber, picosecond, single polarization Yb3+-doped fiber MOPA delivering 20ps pulses at user selectable repetition rates of up to 910MHz and an average output power in excess of 100W at 1.06µm. The output of the MOPA was frequency doubled using a LBO crystal. Up to 56 W of green light was generated at a corresponding repetition rate of 227 MHz at an overall conversion efficiency of 56%. The diode-to-green optical power conversion efficiency was 37%

Picosecond fiber MOPA pumped supercontinuum source with 39W output power

We report picosecond fiber MOPA pumped supercontinuum source with 39W output, spanning at least 0.4-1.75 µm with high and relatively uniform spectral power density of ~31.7mW/nm corresponding to peak power density of ~12.5W/nm in 20ps pulse

Over 55W of frequency doubled light at 530nm pumped by an all-fiber diffraction limited picosecond fibre MOPA

We report the realisation of a high power, picosecond pulse source at 530 nm pumped by an all-fiber, single mode, single polarisation, Yb-doped MOPA. The pump MOPA comprised of a gain switched seed source generating 20 ps pulse source at a repetition frequency of 910 MHz followed by three amplification stages. Output power in excess of 100 W was obtained at 85% slope efficiency with respect to launched pump power at 975 nm. A 15mm long LBO crystal was used to frequency double the single mode, single polarisation output of the fiber MOPA. To satisfy the phase matching condition, the internal temperature of the LBO crystal was maintained at 1550C. Frequency doubled power in excess of 55 W was obtained at 56% optical-to-optical conversion efficiency. Output power at 530 nm started to roll-off after 50 W due to self-phase modulation (SPM) assisted spectral broadening of the fundamental light within the final stage amplifier. Measured spectral bandwidth of the frequency doubled signal remained at ~0.4 nm with the increase in fundamental power even though that of the fundamental increased steadily with output power and reached to a value of 0.9 nm at 100 W output power