1,154 research outputs found
Sex Differences Independent of Other Psycho-sociodemographic Factors as a Predictor of Body Mass Index in Black South African Adults
To better understand the sex differences in body mass index (BMI) observed in black South African adults in the Transition and Health during Urbanization of South Africans Study, the present study investigated whether these differences can be explained by the psycho-sociodemographic factors and/or health-related behaviours. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken among 1,842 black South African individuals from 37 study sites that represented five levels of urbanization. The behavioural factors that possibly could have an influence on the outcome of body-weight and that were explored included: diet, smoking, level of education, HIV infection, employment status, level of urbanization, intake of alcohol, physical activity, and neuroticism. The biological factors explored were age and sex. The prevalence of underweight, normal weight, and overweight among men and women was separately determined. The means of the variables were compared by performing Student's t-test for normally-distributed variables and Mann-Whitney U-test for non-normally-distributed variables. The means for the underweight and overweight groups were tested for significant differences upon comparison with normal-weight individuals stratified separately for sex. The differences in prevalence were tested using chi-square tests (p<0.05). All the variables with a large number of missing values were tested for potential bias. The association between sex and underweight or overweight was tested using the Mantel-Haenszel method of odds ratio (OR) and calculation of 95% confidence interval (CI), with statistical significance set at p<0.05 level. Logistic regression was used for controlling for confounders and for testing for effect modification. Females were more likely to be overweight/obese (crude OR=5.1; CI 3.8-6.8). The association was attenuated but remained strong and significant even after controlling for the psycho-sociodemographic confounders. In this survey, the risk for overweight/obesity was strongly related to sex and not to the psycho-sociodemographic external factors investigated. It is, thus, important to understand the molecular roots of sex and gender-specific variability in distribution of BMI as this is central to the future development of treatment and prevention programmes against overweight/obesity
Novel methods for spatial prediction of soil functions within landscapes (SP0531)
Previous studies showed that soil patterns could be predicted in agriculturally managed landscapes by modelling and extrapolating from extensive existing but related integrated datasets. Based on these results we proposed to develop and apply predictive models of the relationships between environmental data and known soil patterns to predict capacity for key soil functions within diverse
landscapes for which there is little detailed underpinning soil information available.
Objectives were:
To develop a high-level framework in which the non-specialist user-community could explore questions.
To generate digital soil maps for three selected catchments at a target resolution of 1:50000 to provide the base information for soil function prediction.
To use a modelling approach to predict the performance of key soil functions in catchments undergoing change but where only sparse or low resolution soil survey data are available.
To use a modelling approach to assess the impact of different management scenarios and/or environmental conditions on the delivery of multiple soil functions within a catchment.
To create a detailed outline of the requirements for ground-truthing to test the predicted model outputs at a catchment scale.
To contribute to the development of a high-level framework for decision makers
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Mass spectrometry imaging of glucosinolates in arabidopsis flowers and siliques
Glucosinolates are multi-functional plant secondary metabolites which play a vital role in plant defence and are, as dietary compounds, important to human health and livestock well-being. Knowledge of the tissue-specific regulation of their biosynthesis and accumulation is essential for plant breeding programs. Here, we report that in Arabidopsis thaliana, glucosinolates are accumulated differentially in specific cells of reproductive organs. Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI), distribution patterns of three selected compounds, 4-methylsulfinylbutyl
(glucoraphanin), indol-3-ylmethyl (glucobrassicin), and 4-benzoyloxybutyl glucosinolates, were mapped in the tissues of whole flower buds, sepals and siliques. The results show that tissue localization patterns of aliphatic glucosinolate glucoraphanin and 4-benzoyloxybutyl glucosinolate were similar, but indole glucosinolate glucobrassicin had different localisation, indicating a possible difference in function. The high resolution images obtained by a complementary approach, cryo-SEM Energy Dispersive X-ray analysis (cryo-SEM-EDX), confirmed increased concentration of sulphur in areas with elevated amounts of glucosinolates, and allowed identifying the cell types implicated in accumulation of glucosinolates. High concentration of sulphur was found in S-cells adjacent to the phloem in pedicels and siliques, indicating the presence of glucosinolates. Moreover, both MALDI MSI and cryo-SEM-EDX analyses indicated accumulation of glucosinolates in cells on the outer surface of the sepals, suggesting that a layer of glucosinolate-accumulating epidermal cells protects the whole of the developing flower, in addition to the S-cells, which protect the phloem. This research demonstrates the high potential of MALDI MSI for understanding the cell-specific compartmentation of plant metabolites and its regulation
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Sample preparation: a crucial factor for the analytical performance of rationally designed MALDI matrices
Evidence is presented that the performance of
the rationally designed MALDI matrix 4-chloro-α-cyanocinnamic acid (ClCCA) in comparison to its well-established predecessor α-cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) is significantly dependent on the sample preparation, such as the choice of the target plate. In this context, it becomes clear that any rational designs of MALDI matrices and their successful employment have to consider a larger set of physicochemical parameters, including sample crystallization and morphology/topology, in addition to parameters of basic (solution and/or gas-phase) chemistry
The Stony Brook / SMARTS Atlas of mostly Southern Novae
We introduce the Stony Brook / SMARTS Atlas of (mostly) Southern Novae. This
atlas contains both spectra and photometry obtained since 2003. The data
archived in this atlas will facilitate systematic studies of the nova
phenomenon and correlative studies with other comprehensive data sets. It will
also enable detailed investigations of individual objects. In making the data
public we hope to engender more interest on the part of the community in the
physics of novae. The atlas is on-line at
\url{http://www.astro.sunysb.edu/fwalter/SMARTS/NovaAtlas/} .Comment: 11 figures; 5 table
Sex Differences Independent of Other Psycho-sociodemographic Factors as a Predictor of Body Mass Index in Black South African Adults
To better understand the sex differences in body mass index (BMI)
observed in black South African adults in the Transition and Health
during Urbanization of South Africans Study, the present study
investigated whether these differences can be explained by the
psycho-sociodemographic factors and/or health-related behaviours. A
cross-sectional survey was undertaken among 1,842 black South African
individuals from 37 study sites that represented five levels of
urbanization. The behavioural factors that possibly could have an
influence on the outcome of body-weight and that were explored
included: diet, smoking, level of education, HIV infection, employment
status, level of urbanization, intake of alcohol, physical activity,
and neuroticism. The biological factors explored were age and sex. The
prevalence of underweight, normal weight, and overweight among men and
women was separately determined. The means of the variables were
compared by performing Student\u2019s t-test for normally-distributed
variables and Mann-Whitney Utest for non-normally-distributed
variables. The means for the underweight and overweight groups were
tested for significant differences upon comparison with normal-weight
individuals stratified separately for sex. The differences in
prevalence were tested using chi-square tests (p<0.05). All the
variables with a large number of missing values were tested for
potential bias. The association between sex and underweight or
overweight was tested using the Mantel-Haenszel method of odds ratio
(OR) and calculation of 95% confidence interval (CI), with statistical
significance set at p<0.05 level. Logistic regression was used for
controlling for confounders and for testing for effect modification.
Females were more likely to be overweight/ obese (crude OR=5.1; CI
3.8-6.8). The association was attenuated but remained strong and
significant even after controlling for the psycho-sociodemographic
confounders. In this survey, the risk for overweight/ obesity was
strongly related to sex and not to the psycho-sociodemographic external
factors investigated. It is, thus, important to understand the
molecular roots of sex- and gender-specific variability in distribution
of BMI as this is central to the future development of treatment and
prevention programmes against overweight/obesity
Stable spinning optical solitons in three dimensions
We introduce spatiotemporal spinning solitons (vortex tori) of the
three-dimensional nonlinear Schrodinger equation with focusing cubic and
defocusing quintic nonlinearities. The first ever found completely stable
spatiotemporal vortex solitons are demonstrated. A general conclusion is that
stable spinning solitons are possible as a result of competition between
focusing and defocusing nonlinearities.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev. Let
Time-of-flight mass measurements of neutron-rich chromium isotopes up to N = 40 and implications for the accreted neutron star crust
We present the mass excesses of 59-64Cr, obtained from recent time-of-flight
nuclear mass measurements at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory
at Michigan State University. The mass of 64Cr is determined for the first
time, with an atomic mass excess of -33.48(44) MeV. We find a significantly
different two-neutron separation energy S2n trend for neutron-rich isotopes of
chromium, removing the previously observed enhancement in binding at N=38.
Additionally, we extend the S2n trend for chromium to N=40, revealing behavior
consistent with the previously identified island of inversion in this region.
We compare our results to state-of-the-art shell-model calculations performed
with a modified Lenzi-Nowacki-Poves-Sieja interaction in the fp shell,
including the g9/2 and d5/2 orbits for the neutron valence space. We employ our
result for the mass of 64Cr in accreted neutron star crust network calculations
and find a reduction in the strength and depth of electron-capture heating from
the A=64 isobaric chain, resulting in a cooler than expected accreted neutron
star crust. This reduced heating is found to be due to the >1-MeV reduction in
binding for 64Cr with respect to values from commonly used global mass models.Comment: Accepted to Physical Review
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