Why Does the Importance of Education for Health Differ across the United States?

The positive association between educational attainment and adult health (“the gradient”) is stronger in some areas of the United States than in others. Explanations for the geographic pattern have not been rigorously investigated. Grounded in a contextual and life-course perspective, the aim of this study is to assess childhood circumstances (e.g., childhood health, compulsory schooling laws) and adult circumstances (e.g., wealth, lifestyles, economic policies) as potential explanations. Using data on U.S.-born adults aged 50 to 59 years at baseline (n = 13,095) and followed for up to 16 years across the 1998 to 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, the authors examined how and why educational gradients in morbidity, functioning, and mortality vary across nine U.S. regions. The findings indicate that the gradient is stronger in some areas than others partly because of geographic differences in childhood socioeconomic conditions and health, but mostly because of geographic differences in adult circumstances such as wealth, lifestyles, and economic and tobacco policies

Why Does the Importance of Education for Health Differ across the United States?

The positive association between educational attainment and adult health (“the gradient”) is stronger in some areas of the United States than in others. Explanations for the geographic pattern have not been rigorously investigated. Grounded in a contextual and life-course perspective, the aim of this study is to assess childhood circumstances (e.g., childhood health, compulsory schooling laws) and adult circumstances (e.g., wealth, lifestyles, economic policies) as potential explanations. Using data on U.S.-born adults aged 50 to 59 years at baseline (n = 13,095) and followed for up to 16 years across the 1998 to 2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, the authors examined how and why educational gradients in morbidity, functioning, and mortality vary across nine U.S. regions. The findings indicate that the gradient is stronger in some areas than others partly because of geographic differences in childhood socioeconomic conditions and health, but mostly because of geographic differences in adult circumstances such as wealth, lifestyles, and economic and tobacco policies

Molecules in the transition disk orbiting T Cha

We seek to establish the presence and properties of gas in the circumstellar disk orbiting T Cha, a nearby (d~110 pc), relatively evolved (age ~5-7 Myr) yet actively accreting 1.5 Msun T Tauri star. We used the APEX 12 m radiotelescope to search for submillimeter molecular emission from the T Cha disk, and we reanalyzed archival XMM-Newton spectroscopy of T Cha to ascertain the intervening absorption due to disk gas along the line of sight to the star (N_H). We detected submillimeter rotational transitions of 12CO, 13CO, HCN, CN and HCO+ from the T Cha disk. The 12CO line appears to display a double-peaked line profile indicative of Keplerian rotation. Analysis of the CO emission line data indicates that the disk around T Cha has a mass (M_disk,H_2 = 80 M_earth) similar to, but more compact (R_disk, CO~80 AU) than, other nearby, evolved molecular disks (e.g. V4046 Sgr, TW Hya, MP Mus) in which cold molecular gas has been previously detected. The HCO+/13CO and HCN/13CO, line ratios measured for T Cha appear similar to those of other evolved circumstellar disks (i.e. TW Hya and V4046 Sgr), while the CN/13CO ratio appears somewhat weaker. Analysis of the XMM-Newton data shows that the atomic absorption $N_H$ toward T Cha is 1-2 orders of magnitude larger than toward the other nearby T Tauri with evolved disks. Furthermore, the ratio between atomic absorption and optical extinction N_H/A_V toward T Cha is higher than the typical value observed for the interstellar medium and young stellar objects in the Orion Nebula Cluster. This may suggest that the fraction of metals in the disk gas is higher than in the interstellar medium. Our results confirm that pre-main sequence stars older than ~5 Myr, when accreting, retain cold molecular disks, and that those relatively evolved disks display similar physical and chemical properties.Comment: Accepted for publication on A&

U.S. State Policy Contexts and Physical Health among Midlife Adults

This study examines how state policy contexts may have contributed to unfavorable adult health in recent decades. It merges individual-level data from the 1993–2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n=2,166,835) with 15 state-level policy domains measured annually on a conservative to liberal continuum. We examined associations between policy domains and health among adults ages 45–64 years and assess how much of the associations is accounted by adults’ socioeconomic, behavioral/lifestyle, and family factors. A more liberal version of the civil rights domain was associated with better health. It was disproportionately important for less-educated adults and women, and its association with adult health was partly accounted by educational attainment, employment, and income. Environment, gun safety, and marijuana policy domains were, to a lesser degree, predictors of health in some model specifications. In sum, health improvements require a greater focus on macro-level factors that shape the conditions in which people live

Kinematic and morphological modeling of the bipolar nebula Sa2-237

We present [OIII]500.7nm and Halpha+[NII] images and long-slit, high resolution echelle spectra in the same spectral regions of Sa2--237, a possible bipolar planetary nebula. The image shows a bipolar nebula of about 34" extent, with a narrow waist, and showing strong point symmetry about the central object, indicating it's likely binary nature. The long slit spectra were taken over the long axis of the nebula, and show a distinct ``eight'' shaped pattern in the velocity--space plot, and a maximum projected outflow velocity of V=106km/s, both typical of expanding bipolar planetary nebulae. By model fitting the shape and spectrum of the nebula simultaneously, we derive the inclination of the long axis to be 70 degrees, and the maximum space velocity of expansion to be 308 km/s. Due to asymmetries in the velocities we adopt a new value for the system's heliocentric radial velocity of -30km/s. We use the IRAS and 21cm radio fluxes, the energy distribution, and the projected size of Sa2-237 to estimate it's distance to be 2.1+-0.37kpc. At this distance Sa2-237 has a luminosity of 340 Lsun, a size of 0.37pc, and -- assuming constant expansion velocity -- a nebular age of 624 years. The above radial velocity and distance place Sa2--237 in the disk of the Galaxy at z=255pc, albeit with somewhat peculiar kinematics.Comment: 10pp, 4 fig

Detection of CI line emission towards the oxygen-rich AGB star omi Cet

We present the detection of neutral atomic carbon CI(3 P1 - 3 P0 ) line emission towards omi Cet. This is the first time that CI is detected in the envelope around an oxygen-rich M-type asymptotic giant branch (AGB) star. We also confirm the previously tentative CI detection around V Hya, a carbon-rich AGB star. As one of the main photodissociation products of parent species in the circumstellar envelope (CSE) around evolved stars, CI can be used to trace sources of ultraviolet (UV) radiation in CSEs. The observed flux density towards omi Cet can be reproduced by a shell with a peak atomic fractional abundance of $2.4 \times 10^{-5}$ predicted based on a simple chemical model where CO is dissociated by the interstellar radiation field. However, the CI emission is shifted by $\sim$ 4 km/s from the stellar velocity. Based on this velocity shift, we suggest that the detected CI emission towards omi Cet potentially arises from a compact region near its hot binary companion. The velocity shift could, therefore, be the result of the orbital velocity of the binary companion around omi Cet. In this case, the CI column density is estimated to be $1.1 \times 10^{19}$ cm$^{-2}$. This would imply that strong UV radiation from the companion and/or accretion of matter between two stars is most likely the origin of the CI enhancement. However, this hypothesis can be confirmed by high-angular resolution observations