Structure and Kinematics of the Nearby Dwarf Galaxy UGCA 105

Owing to their shallow stellar potential, dwarf galaxies possess thick gas disks, which makes them good candidates for studies of the galactic vertical kinematical structure. We present 21 cm line observations of the isolated nearby dwarf irregular galaxy UGCA 105, taken with the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), and analyse the geometry of its neutral hydrogen (HI) disk and its kinematics. The galaxy shows a fragmented HI distribution. It is more extended than the optical disk, and hence allows one to determine its kinematics out to very large galacto-centric distances. The HI kinematics and morphology are well-ordered and symmetric for an irregular galaxy. The HI is sufficiently extended to observe a substantial amount of differential rotation. Moreover, UGCA 105 shows strong signatures for the presence of a kinematically anomalous gas component. Performing tilted-ring modelling by use of the least-squares fitting routine TiRiFiC, we found that the HI disk of UGCA 105 has a moderately warped and diffuse outermost part. Probing a wide range of parameter combinations, we succeeded in modelling the data cube as a disk with a strong vertical gradient in rotation velocity ($\approx -60\,\rm km\,s^{-1}\,kpc^{-1}$), as well as vertically increasing inwards motion ($\approx -70\,\rm km\,s^{-1}\,kpc^{-1}$) within the radius of the stellar disk. The inferred radial gas inflow amounts to $0.06\,\rm M_\odot \rm yr^{-1}$, which is similar to the star formation rate of the galaxy. The observed kinematics are hence compatible with direct or indirect accretion from the intergalactic medium, an extreme backflow of material that has formerly been expelled from the disk, or a combination of both.Comment: 15 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysic

How does the UK childcare energy-balance environment influence 3-to-4-year-olds’ anthropometry? A cross-sectional exploration

ABSTRACT Objectives To assess the association between time spent in care, the childcare energy-balance environment, and preschool-aged children’s Body Mass Index z-score (z-BMI), waist-to-height ratio (WHR), and sum of skinfolds thickness (SST). Design Cross-sectional study. Setting and participants 3-to-4-year-old children were recruited from 30 childcare centres in Cambridgeshire (UK) in 2013. Main outcome measures Objectively measured height and weight was used to calculate BMI z-score; waist circumference and height were used to generate WHR; subscapular and tricep skinfolds were used to calculate SST. Associations between childcare attendance, the nutrition, physical activity, and overall childcare environment, and three anthropometric outcomes were explored using two-level hierarchical regression models, adjusting for demographic and family-based confounders. Results Valid data were available for 196 children (49% female). Time spent in care, the nutrition, physical activity, and overall childcare environment were not associated with children’s z-BMI score, WHR, and SST. Conclusions Childcare environment and level of attendance were not associated with UK preschool-aged children’s anthropometry. The childcare environment has been central to intervention efforts to prevent/ reduce early childhood obesity, yet other factors, including child-, family-, wider environmental, and policy-level factors warrant substantial attention when considering obesity prevention strategies for young children

The relationship between childcare and adiposity, body mass and obesity-related risk factors: protocol for a systematic review of longitudinal studies

BACKGROUND: The rising prevalence of obesity, particularly in childhood, is a global public health emergency. There is some evidence that exposure to non-parental childcare before age 6 years is associated with subsequent development of obesity and obesity-related behaviours such as physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, diet and stress, although these findings are inconsistent. It is possible that the relationship between early childcare and later obesity and obesity-related behaviours depends on characteristics of childcare exposure such as type (i.e. informal versus formal care), duration (i.e. number of years spent in childcare), intensity (e.g. number of hours per week) and timing (i.e. age of onset of childcare) of care received. The relationship may also be moderated by socio-demographic characteristics of children and their families. We will conduct a systematic review exploring longitudinal associations between childcare (type, duration, intensity and timing) and measures of adiposity and body mass, physical activity, sedentary behaviour, sleep, diet and stress. We will also assess whether these relationships vary by socio-demographic factors. METHODS: We will include studies that explore longitudinal associations between childcare attendance in children aged <6 years not in primary school at first assessment and body weight, adiposity, physical activity, diet, sleep and stress. We will limit studies to those involving middle- and high-income countries. Two independent reviewers will screen search results in two stages: (1) title and abstract and (2) and full text. One reviewer will extract relevant data and a second will verify this information. We will assess risk of bias of included studies using an adaption of the United States Department of Agriculture National Evidence Library Bias Assessment Tool. We will tabulate and summarise results narratively. We may conduct meta-analysis if at least five studies report comparable data. DISCUSSION: To our knowledge, this will be the first systematic review to summarise the existing evidence on longitudinal associations between childcare and adiposity, body mass and obesity-related risk factors. The results will be of relevance to other researchers, childcare practitioners and policy makers. SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: PROSPERO CRD42015027233.British Heart Foundation, Cancer Research UK, Economic and Social Research Council, Medical Research Council, National Institute for Health Research, Wellcome Trus

Reconstruction of Sea Level Around the Korean Peninsula Using Cyclostationary Empirical Orthogonal Functions

Since the advent of the modern satellite altimeter era, the understanding of the sea level has increased dramatically. The satellite altimeter record, however, dates back only to the 1990s. The tide gauge record, on the other hand, extends through the 20th century but with poor spatial coverage when compared to the satellites. Many studies have been conducted to create a dataset with the spatial coverage of the satellite datasets and the temporal length of the tide gauge records by finding novel ways to combine the satellite data and tide gauge data in what is known as sea level reconstruction. However, most of the reconstructions of sea level were conducted on a global scale, leading to reduced accuracy on regional levels, especially when there are relatively few tide gauges. The seas around the Korean Peninsula are one such area with few tide gauges before 1960. In this study, new methods are proposed to reconstruct past sea level around the Korean Peninsula. Using spatial patterns obtained from a cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function decomposition of satellite data, we reconstruct sea level over the period from 1900 to 2014. Sea surface temperature data and altimeter data are used simultaneously in the reconstruction process, leading to an elimination of reliance on tide gauge data. Although we did not use the tide gauge data in the reconstruction process, the reconstructed sea level has a better agreement with the tide gauge observations in the region than previous studies that incorporated the tide gauge data. This study demonstrates a reconstruction technique that can potentially be used at regional levels, with particular emphasis on areas with poor tide gauge coverage

Promoting breastfeeding in child care through state regulation.

Policies supporting breastfeeding vary by state, but little is known about the geographical aspects of this variation. This study describes state breastfeeding licensing and administrative regulations targeting child care settings, compares regulations with national standards, and examines the spatial patterning and clustering of these regulations throughout the United States (US). We compared regulations for child care centers (centers) and family child care homes (homes) with national standards for: (1) general breastfeeding support; (2) designated place for breastfeeding; (3) no solids before infants are four months of age; and (4) no formula for breastfed infants without parent permission. We scored state regulations as 0 = standard not addressed, 1 = standard partially addressed, and 2 = standard fully addressed. We considered each regulation individually, and also summed scores to provide an overall rating of regulations by state. We mapped regulations using geographic information systems technology, and explored overall and local spatial autocorrelation using global and local variants of Moran's I. Five states had regulations for centers and two for homes that addressed all four standards. Mean regulation scores were 0.35, 0.20, 0.98, 0.74 for centers, and 0.17, 0.15, 0.79, 0.58 for homes. Local Moran's I revealed that New York and Pennsylvania had substantially stronger regulations than their adjacent states, while Florida had weaker regulations than its neighbors. Overall, few states had regulations that met breastfeeding standards. We identified some patterns of spatial correlation, suggesting avenues for future research to better understand distributions of regulations across the US.This is the final published version of the article. It was first published in the Maternal and Child Health Journal here: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10995-014-1560-6

Associations of childcare type, age at start, and intensity with body mass index trajectories from 10 to 42 years of age in the 1970 British Cohort Study

Background: Attending childcare is related to greater childhood obesity risk, but there are few long-term follow-up studies. We aimed to examine the associations of childcare type, age at start, and intensity with body mass index body mass index (BMI) trajectories from ages 10 to 42 years. Methods: The sample comprised 8234 individuals in the 1970 British Cohort Study, who had data on childcare attendance (no, yes), type (formal, informal), age at start (4-5, 3-3.99, 0-2.99 years old), and intensity (1, 2, 3, 4-5 days/week) reported at age 5 years and 32 563 BMI observations. Multilevel linear spline models were used to estimate the association of each exposure with the sample-average BMI trajectory, with covariate adjustment. A combined age at start and intensity exposure was also examined. Results: Attending vs not attending and the type of childcare (none vs formal/informal) were not strongly related to BMI trajectories. Among participants who attended childcare 1 to 2 days a week, those who started when 3 to 3.99 years old had a 0.197 (−0.004, 0.399) kg/m2 higher BMI at age 10 years than those who started when 4 to 5 years old, and those who started when 0 to 2.99 years old had a 0.289 (0.049, 0.529) kg/m2 higher BMI. A similar dose-response pattern for intensity was observed when holding age at start constant. By age 42 years, individuals who started childcare at age 0 to 2.99 years and attended 3 to 5 days/week had a 1.356 kg/m2 (0.637, 2.075) higher BMI than individuals who started at age 4 to 5 years and attended 1 to 2 days/week. Conclusions: Children who start childcare earlier and/or attend more frequently may have greater long-term obesity risk

20th Century Multivariate Indian Ocean Regional Sea Level Reconstruction

Despite having some of the world\u27s most densely populated and vulnerable coastlines, Indian Ocean sea level variability over the past century is poorly understood relative to other ocean basins primarily, due to the short and sparse observational records. In an attempt to overcome the limitations imposed by the lack of adequate observations, we have produced a 20th century Indian Ocean sea level reconstruction product using a new multivariate reconstruction technique. This technique uses sea level pressure and sea surface temperature in addition to sea level data to help constrain basin‐wide sea level variability by (1) the removal of large spurious signals caused as a result of insufficient tide gauge data specifically during the first half of the 20th century and (2) through its information on large‐scale climate modes such as El Niño‐Southern Oscillation and Indian Ocean Dipole. Basis functions generated by Cyclostationary Empirical Orthogonal Functions are used for the reconstruction. This new multivariate technique provides improved regional sea level variability estimates along with a longer record length in comparison to existing globally reconstructed sea level data. The biggest advantage of using this multivariate reconstruction technique lies in its ability to reconstruct Indian Ocean sea level for the first half of the 20th century, providing a long sea level record for the study of Indian Ocean internal climate variability. This will enable future studies to help improve the understanding of how sea level trends and variability can be modulated by internal climate variability in the Indian Ocean

Prevalence estimates of neurodevelopmental disorders in Japan: A community sample questionnaire study

Abstract Aim The prevalence estimates of neurodevelopmental disorders have been calculated by questionnaire surveys scored by a single rater, which introduces inherent rater biases. The present study aimed to estimate the prevalence and comorbidity rates of four neurodevelopmental disorders based both on parent and teacher rating scales. Methods We performed a community sample survey recruiting 3852 children aged 6?9?years. Both parents and teachers evaluated clinical conditions in children using questionnaire-style scales. These scales with the cut-off values were used to estimate the prevalence and comorbidity rates of attention deficit / hyperactive disorder, autism spectrum disorder, specific learning disorder (or developmental dyslexia), and developmental coordination disorder. Results The prevalence estimates were separately confirmed according to the raters. Some estimates were higher than those in the previous studies conducted in other countries. We also found a large disagreement between the parent and teacher rating scores. Moreover, the degree of agreement between two raters varied depending on the severity of clinical condition in the child. Conclusion These estimates are the first findings based on evaluating children by two raters. The prevalence and comorbidity estimates are informative to the researchers and clinicians of pediatric neurology. The disagreement between two raters raises questions about previous estimates of neurodevelopmental disorders. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Peer reviewe

Measurement error in a multi-level analysis of air pollution and health: a simulation study.

BACKGROUND: Spatio-temporal models are increasingly being used to predict exposure to ambient outdoor air pollution at high spatial resolution for inclusion in epidemiological analyses of air pollution and health. Measurement error in these predictions can nevertheless have impacts on health effect estimation. Using statistical simulation we aim to investigate the effects of such error within a multi-level model analysis of long and short-term pollutant exposure and health. METHODS: Our study was based on a theoretical sample of 1000 geographical sites within Greater London. Simulations of "true" site-specific daily mean and 5-year mean NO2 and PM10 concentrations, incorporating both temporal variation and spatial covariance, were informed by an analysis of daily measurements over the period 2009-2013 from fixed location urban background monitors in the London area. In the context of a multi-level single-pollutant Poisson regression analysis of mortality, we investigated scenarios in which we specified: the Pearson correlation between modelled and "true" data and the ratio of their variances (model versus "true") and assumed these parameters were the same spatially and temporally. RESULTS: In general, health effect estimates associated with both long and short-term exposure were biased towards the null with the level of bias increasing to over 60% as the correlation coefficient decreased from 0.9 to 0.5 and the variance ratio increased from 0.5 to 2. However, for a combination of high correlation (0.9) and small variance ratio (0.5) non-trivial bias (> 25%) away from the null was observed. Standard errors of health effect estimates, though unaffected by changes in the correlation coefficient, appeared to be attenuated for variance ratios > 1 but inflated for variance ratios < 1. CONCLUSION: While our findings suggest that in most cases modelling errors result in attenuation of the effect estimate towards the null, in some situations a non-trivial bias away from the null may occur. The magnitude and direction of bias appears to depend on the relationship between modelled and "true" data in terms of their correlation and the ratio of their variances. These factors should be taken into account when assessing the validity of modelled air pollution predictions for use in complex epidemiological models