Dietary factors causing hypertension in India

The prevalence of hypertension was studied in 2,638 North Indian and 1,860 South Indian railway workers, all men, between 20 and 58 years of age, by determining casual arterial pressure. The main survey included 1,046 North Indian and 1,106 South Indian clerks from the Accounting Section of the Finance Branch, comparable in their socioeconomic status, nature of work, and wage bracket. The South Indian population showed a much higher prevalence of hypertension as well as higher mean arterial pressures, probably due to environmental rather than ethnic reasons. In neither of these populations was the prevalence of hypertension related to age, occupation, body weight, smoking, chronic pyelonephritis, dietary salt intake, or psychological factors. The differences appeared to be due to hemodynamic changes probably brought about by dietary factors (especially the long-chain versus short-chain fatty acids in fats consumed) by virtue of their effect on the size and nature of chylomicrons, blood viscosity, and peripheral resistance

Serum lipids, dietary factors and ischemic heart disease

Serum lipid levels in 28 pairs of age-matched railwaymen from two geographically different population groups with disparate consumption of fats and showing big differences in mortality rates from ischemic heart disease showed no significant differences in total and ester cholesterol, free and esterified fatty acids, and total serum triglycerides. Although the consumption of fats, most of which were of animal origin, was 10 times more in North Indians as compared with South Indians, there were no differences in the levels of their serum lipids. These differences in diet were, on the other hand, related inversely to the fecal and urine urobilinogen excretion, which may indicate that in the presence of a deficiency of bilirubin in the intestinal lumen less fat is absorbed even though more may be present in the food, while in the case of a higher bilirubin content more fat is absorbed even though less was present in the food. The role of physical activity, smoking, and the amount and kind of fat in these results is unproved. These results can be explained entirely on the basis of the amount of bilirubin available in the intestine, which in turn seems to depend upon the pattern of diet and eating. Evidence pertaining to the possible differences in the chain length of plasma triglyceride acids, despite there being no differences in the serum lipid levels in our two groups, is discussed and this may explain the discrepancy that mortality from ischemic heart disease is 15 times higher among our South Indian population as compared with our North Indian population. This is true even though the South Indians eat one-tenth as much fat, most of which is from seed oils and is composed of long-chain fatty acids, in contrast to the North Indians whose dietary fats are mostly of animal origin but have a preponderance of short-chain fatty acid triglycerides

A comparison of unrefined wheat and rice diets in the management of duodenal ulcer

Twenty-one chronic duodenal ulcer patients in a rice-eating area were put on to an unrefined wheat diet and twenty-one continued on their previous rice diet. After 5 years only 14% of the first group had had relapses compared with 81% of the second group. A similar 5-year relapse rate (80%) was obtained in a group of thirty patients from another area with a more varied rice diet. The author attributes this difference to the increased mastication required by the unrefined wheat diet, which is associated with an increase in saliva, lower stomach acidity and reduced bile output

Redshifts of the Gravitational Lenses MG1131+0456 and B1938+666

The redshifts of the gravitational lens galaxies in MG1131+0456 and B1938+666 are 0.844 and 0.881 respectively. Both are early-type galaxies lying at the redshifts predicted by assuming that they are early-type galaxies with old stellar populations lying on the fundamental plane. We also find evidence for a foreground group of galaxies at z=0.343 near MG1131+0456. The source redshifts are predicted to be >1.8 in both systems, but they are so red that infrared spectra will be required to determine their redshifts.Comment: 10 pages, AASTeX Latex, including 1 JPEG and 2 postscript figures, submitted to Astronomical Journal Minor typos fixe

Redshifts of the Gravitational Lenses MG0414+0534 and MG0751+2716

We report redshifts in two gravitational lens systems, MG0414+0534 and MG0751+2716. The lens galaxy in MG0414+0534 lies at z_l=0.9584+/-0.0002. The luminosity and extreme red color of the lens are then typical of a passively evolving, early-type, ~2L* galaxy. The galaxy cannot have a significant global mean extinction without being anomalously luminous. The lens galaxy in MG0751+2716 has a redshift of z_l=0.3502+/-0.0003 and it is a member of a small group. The group includes the nearby, bright companion galaxy whose redshift we confirmed to be z=0.3501+/-0.0001 and a nearby emission line galaxy with z=0.3505+/-0.0003. A second emission line galaxy with z=0.5216+/-0.0001 was found nearly superposed on the first emission line galaxy. The source in MG0751+2716 is a z_s=3.200+/-0.001 radio quasar. For flat universes with Omega_0=1.0 (0.3), 96% (87%) of lenses like MG0414+0534 and 7% (3%) of lenses like MG0751+2716 are expected to have lower lens redshifts than observed.Comment: 9 pages, AASTeX Latex, including 5 Postscript figures, submitted to Astronomical Journa

Galactic winds and stellar populations in Lyman α\alpha emitting galaxies at z ~ 3.1

We present a sample of 33 spectroscopically confirmed z ~ 3.1 Ly$\alpha$-emitting galaxies (LAEs) in the Cosmological Evolution Survey (COSMOS) field. This paper details the narrow-band survey we conducted to detect the LAE sample, the optical spectroscopy we performed to confirm the nature of these LAEs, and a new near-infrared spectroscopic detection of the [O III] 5007 \AA\ line in one of these LAEs. This detection is in addition to two [O III] detections in two z ~ 3.1 LAEs we have reported on previously (McLinden et al 2011). The bulk of the paper then presents detailed constraints on the physical characteristics of the entire LAE sample from spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting. These characteristics include mass, age, star-formation history, dust content, and metallicity. We also detail an approach to account for nebular emission lines in the SED fitting process - wherein our models predict the strength of the [O III] line in an LAE spectrum. We are able to study the success of this prediction because we can compare the model predictions to our actual near-infrared observations both in galaxies that have [O III] detections and those that yielded non-detections. We find a median stellar mass of 6.9 $\times$ 10$^8$ M$_{\odot}$ and a median star formation rate weighted stellar population age of 4.5 $\times$ 10$^6$ yr. In addition to SED fitting, we quantify the velocity offset between the [O III] and Ly$\alpha$ lines in the galaxy with the new [O III] detection, finding that the Ly$\alpha$ line is shifted 52 km s$^{-1}$ redwards of the [O III] line, which defines the systemic velocity of the galaxy.Comment: 38 pages, 27 figures, 4 tables, Accepted for publication in MNRA

Chandra X-ray Sources in the LALA Cetus Field

The 174 ks Chandra Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer exposure of the Large Area Lyman Alpha Survey (LALA) Cetus field is the second of the two deep Chandra images on LALA fields. In this paper we present the Chandra X-ray sources detected in the Cetus field, along with an analysis of X-ray source counts, stacked X-ray spectrum, and optical identifications. A total of 188 X-ray sources were detected: 174 in the 0.5-7.0 keV band, 154 in the 0.5-2.0 keV band, and 113 in the 2.0-7.0 keV band. The X-ray source counts were derived and compared with LALA Bootes field (172 ks exposure). Interestingly, we find consistent hard band X-ray source density, but 36+-12% higher soft band X-ray source density in Cetus field. The weighted stacked spectrum of the detected X-ray sources can be fitted by a powerlaw with photon index Gamma = 1.55. Based on the weighted stacked spectrum, we find that the resolved fraction of the X-ray background drops from 72+-1% at 0.5-1.0 keV to 63+-4% at 6.0-8.0 keV. The unresolved spectrum can be fitted by a powerlaw over the range 0.5-7 keV, with a photon index Gamma = 1.22. We also present optical counterparts for 154 of the X-ray sources, down to a limiting magnitude of r' = 25.9 (Vega), using a deep r' band image obtained with the MMT.Comment: 21 pages, including 6 figures, 1 table, ApJ accepte

An Overdensity of Lyman-alpha Emitters at Redshift z=5.7 near the Hubble Ultra Deep Field

We have identified an obvious and strong large scale structure at redshift z=5.75 in a wide (31 by 33 arcminute) field, narrowband survey of the Chandra Deep Field South region. This structure is traced by 17 candidate Lyman alpha emitters, among which 12 are found in an 823nm filter (corresponding to Lyman alpha at z=5.77 +- 0.03) and 5 in an 815nm image (z=5.70 +- 0.03). The Lyman alpha emitters in both redshift bins are concentrated in one quadrant of the field. The Hubble Ultra Deep Field, Chandra Deep Field South, and GOODS-South fields all lie near the edge of this overdense region. Our results are consistent with reports of an overdensity in the UDF region at z=5.9. This structure is the highest redshift overdensity found so far.Comment: 12 pages, AASTeX. Submitted to ApJ Letters, and revised in response to referee's comment