Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

AbstractOptimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was &lt;1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified.</jats:p

Resonances in bimolecular reactions

In this Perspective we briefly review our recent studies which prove unequivocally the existence of a quantum dynamical resonance in the F + HD → HF + D reaction. The signatures of the resonance in the integral and differential cross sections of this reaction are elucidated. The interplay between experiment and theory is crucial in establishing the existence of a resonance in a bimolecular reaction and in revealing its physical characteristics. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2002

Observation of a transition state resonance in the integral cross section of the F+HD reaction

We have studied the reaction F+HD at low collision energies using a combination of experimental and theoretical methods. Clear evidence for a reactive resonance is found in the integral cross section for the reactive channel F+HD→HF+D. Using a crossed molecular beam apparatus, the total reactive cross sections for the HF+D and DF+H channels were obtained in the collision energy range of 0.2-5 kcal/mol. In addition, Doppler profiles were obtained over this range of energies, which provide information about the angularly resolved distribution of final vibrational states. The cross section shows a distinctive steplike feature near 0.5 kcal/mol. Furthermore, the Doppler profiles reveal a dramatic change in the angular distribution of products over a narrow energy range centered at 0.5 kcal/mol. This feature is shown to arise from a reactive resonance localized near the transition state. Theoretical scattering calculations have been carried out using the Stark-Werner potential energy surface, which accurately reproduce the shape of the resonance feature. A detailed analysis of quantum dynamics using the spectral quantization method reveals that a quantum resonance exists near 0.52 kcal/mol, which is localized about the collinear FHD geometry. At collision energies below 1 kcal/mol, the reaction was found to proceed almost exclusively through resonant tunneling with very little contribution from direct, over the barrier, reaction. The properties of the quantum resonance, such as the position, lifetime, and partial widths were found to correlate well with the experimental results and the quantum scattering calculations. © 2000 American Institute of Physics

Resonance-mediated chemical reaction: F+HD--&gt;HF+D

Conclusive evidence is presented for the existence of a reactive resonance in the F+HD reaction. In a molecular beam experiment, the resonance appears in the integral cross section as a distinct steplike feature, while in the differential cross section it is manifested as sharply varying forward-backward peaks in the product distribution. A detailed analysis of the quantum dynamics establishes that a reactive resonance localized in the transition-state region is responsible for these remarkable observations. At collision energies below 1 kcal/mol, the reaction proceeds almost exclusively through resonant tunneling with very little contribution from the more conventional direct mechanism