A century of trends in adult human height

Being taller is associated with enhanced longevity, and higher education and earnings. We reanalysed 1472 population-based studies, with measurement of height on more than 18.6 million participants to estimate mean height for people born between 1896 and 1996 in 200 countries. The largest gain in adult height over the past century has occurred in South Korean women and Iranian men, who became 20.2 cm (95% credible interval 17.5-22.7) and 16.5 cm (13.3-19.7) taller, respectively. In contrast, there was little change in adult height in some sub-Saharan African countries and in South Asia over the century of analysis. The tallest people over these 100 years are men born in the Netherlands in the last quarter of 20th century, whose average heights surpassed 182.5 cm, and the shortest were women born in Guatemala in 1896 (140.3 cm; 135.8-144.8). The height differential between the tallest and shortest populations was 19-20 cm a century ago, and has remained the same for women and increased for men a century later despite substantial changes in the ranking of countries

Quiescence of Human Monocytes after Affinity Purification: A Novel Method Apt for Monocyte Stimulation Assays

Several methods to isolate monocytes from whole blood have been previously published, with different advantages and disadvantages. For the purpose of cytokine release assessment upon external stimulation, the use of monocyte preparations consisting of non-activated cells is prerequisite. Affinity-isolated monocyte preparations from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), obtained via positive or negative selection using magnetic beads, released pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-alpha and IL-6 even without adding external stimuli, hindering any assessment of an effect of bacterial lipoproteins on cell stimulation. Hence, the cell preparation protocol was modified by adding a quiescence step on repellent surface culture plates, dampening any monocyte pre-activation. This protocol now provides a robust method to prepare silent yet fully activatable, pure monocyte populations for further use in stimulus-elicited activation experiments

Evaluation of factors related to entrepreneurial intentions among young pharmacists in the Mekong Delta region: a cross - sectional study in Vietnam

At present, a new wave of entrepreneurship has emerged and made a significant impact in Vietnam despite challenges. The study aims to assess the factors related to the entrepreneurial intentions of young pharmacists in 2023 in the Mekong Delta region. A cross-sectional descriptive method was conducted, involving interviews with 815 young pharmacists living in the Mekong Delta region, via a pre-designed research questionnaire. Results showed that 6 out of 43 variables were eliminated after Cronbach’s alpha was run. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin coefficient (0.5–0.923) indicated statistical significance and suitable conditions for Exploratory Factor Analysis. Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Structural Equation Modeling results were consistent with market data. With the impact of difficulties, attitude, perception of behavioral control, subjective norms, achievement needs on knowledge, and knowledge on entrepreneurial intentions (p < 0.05). In conclusion, the study successfully collected samples and gained a deeper understanding of the factors influencing the entrepreneurial intentions of young pharmacists

First Report of a Methicillin-Resistant, High-Level Mupirocin-Resistant 'Staphylococcus' argenteus

We describe the identification of a methicillin-resistant, high-level mupirocin-resistant Staphylococcus argenteus. The isolate (1801221) was characterized as t6675-ST2250-SCCmecIVc, and whole-genome sequencing revealed that the isolate possessed two plasmids. One plasmid (34,870 bp), designated p1_1801221 with rep23, harboured the mupirocin resistance (mupA) gene. The second plasmid (20,644 bp), assigned as p2_1801221 with rep5a and rep16, carried the resistance determinants for penicillin (blaZ) and cadmium (cadD). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the isolate clustered with the European ST2250 lineage. The overall high similarity of both plasmids in S. argenteus with published DNA sequences of Staphylococcus aureus plasmids strongly suggests an interspecies transfer. The pathogenic potential, community and nosocomial spread, and acquisition of antibiotic resistance gene determinants, including the mupA gene by S. argenteus, highlight its clinical significance and the need for its correct identification

Spin-orbit interaction in a dual gated InAs/GaSb quantum well

The spin-orbit interaction is investigated in a dual gated InAs/GaSb quantum well. Using an electric field, the quantum well can be tuned between a single-carrier regime with exclusively electrons as carriers and a two-carrier regime where electrons and holes coexist. The spin-orbit interaction in both regimes manifests itself as a beating in the Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations. In the single-carrier regime the linear Dresselhaus strength is characterized by β=28.5 meV Å and the Rashba coefficient α is tuned from 75 to 53 meV Å by changing the electric field. In the two-carrier regime a quenching of the spin splitting is observed and attributed to a crossing of spin bands.QRD/Kouwenhoven LabQuTechQRD/Wimmer La

Impact of two-phase region rolling on the microstructure and properties distribution in heavy gauge structural steel plate (INCROHSS).

Heavy gauge line-pipe and structural steel plates are often rolled in the two-phase region for strength reasons. However, strength and toughness show opposite trends and the exact effect of each rolling process parameter remains unclear. A stable process window can only be achieved by a more profound understanding of the microstructure development during the intercritical rolling and its relationship with final microstructures and mechanical properties. By means of recently developed microstructure investigation techniques and modeling, the relationship between the temperature gradient, α-γ phase balance at high temperature, strain partitioning between phases and subsequent transformation was studied in detail to allow for wider process windows

Direct whole-genome deep-sequencing of human respiratory syncytial virus A and B from Vietnamese children identifies distinct patterns of inter- and intra-host evolution

10.1099/jgv.0.000298Journal of General Virology96123470-348

Splitting of satellites in a time-dependent Kondo model

A time-dependent Kondo model, where both the voltage and the Kondo couplings oscillate on time, is considered. The bosonization technique at the Toulouse limit is applied to study the conductance and the magnetic susceptibility. It is shown that in addition to the satellites of the Kondo peak that appear in the conductance and the susceptibility as a function of the magnetic field or dc voltage, when the voltage oscillates, these satellites further split when the Kondo couplings also oscillate on time. The distance of the satellite splitting solely depends on the ratio between the oscillation frequencies of the voltage and of the Kondo couplings. When the Kondo couplings oscillate more rapidly than the voltage, the distance of the satellite peaks can be smaller than the voltage oscillation frequency