How, when, and why is social class linked to mental health and wellbeing? A systematic meta-review.

Meta-reviews synthesising research on social class and mental health and wellbeing are currently limited and focused on specific facets of social class (e.g., social capital) or mental health and wellbeing (e.g., mental health disorders), and none sought to identify mechanisms in this relationship. The present meta-review sought to (1) assess the overall relationship between social class and mental health and wellbeing, (2) determine the mechanisms that act in this relationship, and (3) evaluate the strength of evidence available. The protocol was prospectively registered on PROSPERO (CRD42021214731). We systematically searched twelve databases in September 2022 and identified 149 eligible reviews from 38,257 records screened. Quality of evidence was assessed with the JBI levels of evidence and risk of bias with the ROBIS tool. A large but low-quality evidence base points to class-based inequalities in mental health and wellbeing, with the strongest available evidence linking lower social positions to an increased risk of depression. In terms of different facets of stratification, the best available evidence suggests that deprivation (e.g., poverty), socioeconomic status, income, and subjective social status are consequential for individuals' mental health and wellbeing. However, high-quality evidence for the roles of education, occupation, other economic resources (e.g., wealth), and social capital is currently limited. Most reviews employed individual-level measures (e.g., income), as opposed to interpersonal- (e.g., social capital) or community-level (e.g., neighbourhood deprivation) measures. Considering mechanisms, we found some evidence for mediation via subjective social status, sense of control, and experiences of stress and trauma. There was also some evidence that higher socioeconomic status can provide a buffer for neighbourhood deprivation, lower social capital, and lower subjective social status. Future research employing experimental or quasi-experimental methods, and systematic reviews with a low risk of bias, are necessary to advance this area of research. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Research Opportunities and Visions for Smart and Pervasive Health

Improving the health of the nation's population and increasing the capabilities of the US healthcare system to support diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease is a critical national and societal priority. In the past decade, tremendous advances in expanding computing capabilities--sensors, data analytics, networks, advanced imaging, and cyber-physical systems--have, and will continue to, enhance healthcare and health research, with resulting improvements in health and wellness. However, the cost and complexity of healthcare continues to rise alongside the impact of poor health on productivity and quality of life. What is lacking are transformative capabilities that address significant health and healthcare trends: the growing demands and costs of chronic disease, the greater responsibility placed on patients and informal caregivers, and the increasing complexity of health challenges in the US, including mental health, that are deeply rooted in a person's social and environmental context.Comment: A Computing Community Consortium (CCC) white paper, 12 page

A fundamental limit for integrated atom optics with Bose-Einstein condensates

The dynamical response of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate manipulated by an integrated atom optics device such as a microtrap or a microfabricated waveguide is studied. We show that when the miniaturization of the device enforces a sufficiently high condensate density, three-body interactions lead to a spatial modulational instability that results in a fundamental limit on the coherent manipulation of Bose-Einstein condensates.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Non-destructive optical measurement of relative phase between two Bose condensates

We study the interaction of light with two Bose condensates as an open quantum system. The two overlapping condensates occupy two different Zeeman sublevels and two driving light beams induce a coherent quantum tunneling between the condensates. We derive the master equation for the system. It is shown that stochastic simulations of the measurements of spontaneously scattered photons establish the relative phase between two Bose condensates, even though the condensates are initially in pure number states. These measurements are non-destructive for the condensates, because only light is scattered, but no atoms are removed from the system. Due to the macroscopic quantum interference the detection rate of photons depends substantially on the relative phase between the condensates. This may provide a way to distinguish, whether the condensates are initially in number states or in coherent states.Comment: 26 pages, RevTex, 8 postscript figures, 1 MacBinary eps-figur

Persistent starspot signals on M dwarfs: multi-wavelength Doppler observations with the Habitable-zone Planet Finder and Keck/HIRES

Young, rapidly-rotating M dwarfs exhibit prominent starspots, which create quasiperiodic signals in their photometric and Doppler spectroscopic measurements. The periodic Doppler signals can mimic radial velocity (RV) changes expected from orbiting exoplanets. Exoplanets can be distinguished from activity-induced false positives by the chromaticity and long-term incoherence of starspot signals, but these qualities are poorly constrained for fully-convective M stars. Coherent photometric starspot signals on M dwarfs may persist for hundreds of rotations, and the wavelength dependence of starspot RV signals may not be consistent between stars due to differences in their magnetic fields and active regions. We obtained precise multi-wavelength RVs of four rapidly-rotating M dwarfs (AD Leo, G 227-22, GJ 1245B, GJ 3959) using the near-infrared (NIR) Habitable-zone Planet Finder, and the optical Keck/HIRES spectrometer. Our RVs are complemented by photometry from Kepler, TESS, and the Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) network of telescopes. We found that all four stars exhibit large spot-induced Doppler signals at their rotation periods, and investigated the longevity and optical-to-NIR chromaticity for these signals. The phase curves remain coherent much longer than is typical for Sunlike stars. Their chromaticity varies, and one star (GJ 3959) exhibits optical and NIR RV modulation consistent in both phase and amplitude. In general, though, we find that the NIR amplitudes are lower than their optical counterparts. We conclude that starspot modulation for rapidly-rotating M stars frequently remains coherent for hundreds of stellar rotations, and gives rise to Doppler signals that, due to this coherence, may be mistaken for exoplanets.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Multimodal assessment of circadian sleep health in predicting mental health outcomes in adolescents

IntroductionAspects of circadian sleep health including circadian alignment, circadian phase, or chronotype may be related to mental health outcomes in adolescents. Using novel and robust data collection methods, this study explored the relationship between adolescents' circadian sleep health and traits related to depression, anxiety, stress, and emotional regulation.MethodsFifty-two healthy 14–18-year-olds (58% female; 94% European American) participated in this study. Across a 10-day period, participants completed wrist-worn actigraphy. Next, participants completed a dim-light melatonin onset (DLMO) protocol where 12 saliva samples were collected over a 6-h period to measure circadian phase. Circadian phase was calculated as the duration of time between DMLO to average sleep onset time across the monitoring period. Social jetlag was measured as the discrepancy between sleep times from weekday to weekend. Participants completed the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21), Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), and the Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire for Adolescents (MEQ). Following dichotomizing sleep outcomes into clinically relevant groups (late vs. early circadian phase, aligned vs. misaligned circadian rhythms, minimal social jetlag vs. presence of social jetlag, intermediate to morningness vs. eveningness chronotype), we conducted general linear models to determine circadian group differences in mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, stress, expressive suppression, and cognitive reappraisal) while controlling for gender and pubertal development.ResultsCircadian phase had a large effect on depression symptoms in adolescents, with adolescents with later DLMO having significantly higher depression scores than those with earlier DLMO (p = 0.031). Chronotype had a medium but non-significant effect on anxiety and stress symptoms in adolescents, with adolescents with eveningness-tendencies having higher anxiety and stress symptoms than those with intermediate to morningness-tendencies (p's = 0.140 and 0.111, respectively).ConclusionsIn the first ever study using gold-standard methodologies to examine the relationship between mental health and circadian sleep health in healthy adolescents, we observed that adolescents with later circadian phase had increased depressive symptoms compared to earlier circadian phase. Furthermore, adolescents who endorsed behaviors that suggest eveningness tendencies may have heightened stress/anxiety. These conclusions encourage future experimental research regarding this topic and may help inform interventions aimed to decrease depression, anxiety, and stress in adolescents

On the alleged simplicity of impure proof

Roughly, a proof of a theorem, is “pure” if it draws only on what is “close” or “intrinsic” to that theorem. Mathematicians employ a variety of terms to identify pure proofs, saying that a pure proof is one that avoids what is “extrinsic,” “extraneous,” “distant,” “remote,” “alien,” or “foreign” to the problem or theorem under investigation. In the background of these attributions is the view that there is a distance measure (or a variety of such measures) between mathematical statements and proofs. Mathematicians have paid little attention to specifying such distance measures precisely because in practice certain methods of proof have seemed self- evidently impure by design: think for instance of analytic geometry and analytic number theory. By contrast, mathematicians have paid considerable attention to whether such impurities are a good thing or to be avoided, and some have claimed that they are valuable because generally impure proofs are simpler than pure proofs. This article is an investigation of this claim, formulated more precisely by proof- theoretic means. After assembling evidence from proof theory that may be thought to support this claim, we will argue that on the contrary this evidence does not support the claim

Five Kepler target stars that show multiple transiting exoplanet candidates

We present and discuss five candidate exoplanetary systems identified with the Kepler spacecraft. These five systems show transits from multiple exoplanet candidates. Should these objects prove to be planetary in nature, then these five systems open new opportunities for the field of exoplanets and provide new insights into the formation and dynamical evolution of planetary systems. We discuss the methods used to identify multiple transiting objects from the Kepler photometry as well as the false-positive rejection methods that have been applied to these data. One system shows transits from three distinct objects while the remaining four systems show transits from two objects. Three systems have planet candidates that are near mean motion commensurabilities---two near 2:1 and one just outside 5:2. We discuss the implications that multitransiting systems have on the distribution of orbital inclinations in planetary systems, and hence their dynamical histories; as well as their likely masses and chemical compositions. A Monte Carlo study indicates that, with additional data, most of these systems should exhibit detectable transit timing variations (TTV) due to gravitational interactions---though none are apparent in these data. We also discuss new challenges that arise in TTV analyses due to the presence of more than two planets in a system.Comment: Accepted to Ap

A.C.Electroluminescent Lamps: Shedding some light on their mysteries

A.C.powder electroluminescent lamps have been known and used for many years, but their mechanism of operation is still debated. Many thousands of phosphors are known, but the vast majority are not electroluminescent. A number of materials do exhibit the effect. Of these, however, ZnS doped with Cu is absolutely in a class of its own, and is the only material from which viable lamps can be made. In this work studies have been made of the performance of devices under a range of pulsed and continuous excitation conditions and new hypotheses presented which attempt to explain the behavior of this unique material