Spin-exchanging interactions govern the properties of strongly correlated electron systems such as many magnetic materials. When orbital degrees of freedom are present, spin exchange between ...different orbitals often dominates, leading to the Kondo effect, heavy fermion behaviour or magnetic ordering. Ultracold ytterbium or alkaline-earth ensembles have attracted much recent interest as model systems for these effects, with two (meta-) stable electronic configurations representing independent orbitals. We report the observation of spin-exchanging contact interactions in a two-orbital SU(N)-symmetric quantum gas realized with fermionic 173Yb. We find strong inter-orbital spin exchange by spectroscopic characterization of all interaction channels and demonstrate SU(N = 6) symmetry within our measurement precision. The spin-exchange process is also directly observed through the dynamic equilibration of spin imbalances between ensembles in separate orbitals. The realization of an SU(N)-symmetric two-orbital Hubbard Hamiltonian opens the route to quantum simulations with extended symmetries and with orbital magnetic interactions, such as the Kondo lattice model.
Patients with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at risk of arterial disease. We examined the risk of (non)fatal coronary heart disease (CHD) or stroke in patients with PCOS and ovulatory women ...without PCOS, and assessed whether obesity might explain a higher risk of CHD or stroke.
We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled observational studies. Four definitions of PCOS were considered: World Health Organization type II anovulation, National Institutes of Health criteria, Rotterdam consensus and Androgen-excess criteria. Obesity was defined as BMI > 30 kg/m(2) and/or waist circumference >88 cm. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Primary outcome was fatal/non-fatal CHD or stroke. Definitions of CHD and stroke were based on criteria used by the various authors. The effect measure was the pooled relative risk in a random effects model. Risk ratios and rate ratios were combined here.
After identifying 1340 articles, 5 follow-up studies published between 2000 and 2008 were included. The studies showed heterogeneity in design, definitions and quality. In a random effects model the relative risk for CHD or stroke were 2.02 comparing women with PCOS to women without PCOS (95% confidence interval 1.47, 2.76). Pooling the two studies with risk estimates adjusted for BMI showed a relative risk of 1.55 (1.27, 1.89).
This meta-analysis showed a 2-fold risk of arterial disease for patients with PCOS relative to women without PCOS. BMI adjustment did not affect this finding, suggesting the increased risk for cardiovascular events in PCOS is not completely related to a higher BMI in patients with PCOS.
We present new 0.6-10 GHz observations of the binary neutron star merger GW170817 covering the period up to 300 days post-merger, taken with the upgraded Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array, the ...Australia Telescope Compact Array, the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope and the MeerKAT telescope. We use these data to precisely characterize the decay phase of the late-time radio light curve. We find that the temporal decay is consistent with a power-law slope of t−2.2, and that the transition between the power-law rise and decay is relatively sharp. Such a slope cannot be produced by a quasi-isotropic (cocoon-dominated) outflow, but is instead the classic signature of a relativistic jet. This provides strong observational evidence that GW170817 produced a successful jet, and directly demonstrates the link between binary neutron star mergers and short-hard gamma-ray bursts. Using simple analytical arguments, we derive constraints on the geometry and the jet opening angle of GW170817. These results are consistent with those from our companion very long baseline interferometry paper, reporting superluminal motion in GW170817.
Summary
Background
Antiplatelet therapy is the standard treatment for the prevention of cardiovascular events (CVEs). High on‐treatment platelet reactivity (HPR) is a risk factor for secondary CVEs ...in patients prescribed aspirin and/or clopidogrel. The present review and meta‐analysis was aimed at assessing the ability of individual platelet‐function tests to reliably identify patients at risk of developing secondary CVEs.
Methods and Results
A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies on platelet‐reactivity measurements and CVEs. The main inclusion criteria were: (i) prospective study design; (ii) study medication, including aspirin and/or clopidogrel; and (iii) a platelet‐function test being performed at baseline, before follow‐up started. Of 3882 identified studies, 102 (2.6%; reporting on 44 098 patients) were included in the meta‐analysis. With regard to high on‐aspirin platelet reactivity (HAPR), 22 different tests were discussed in 55 studies (22 441 patients). Pooled analysis showed that HAPR was diagnosed in 22.2% of patients, and was associated with an increased CVE risk (relative risk RR 2.09; 95% confidence interval CI 1.77–2.47). Eleven HAPR tests independently showed a significantly increased CVE risk in patients with HAPR as compared with those with normal on‐aspirin platelet reactivity. As regards high on‐clopidogrel platelet reactivity (HCPR), 59 studies (34 776 patients) discussed 15 different tests, and reported that HCPR was present in 40.4% of patients and was associated with an increased CVE risk (RR 2.80; 95% CI 2.40–3.27). Ten tests showed a significantly increased CVE risk.
Conclusions
Patients with HPR are suboptimally protected against future cardiovascular complications. Furthermore, not all of the numerous platelet tests proved to be able to identify patients at increased cardiovascular risk.
New clinical, laboratory and experimental insights, since the 1999 publication of the Sapporo preliminary classification criteria for antiphospholipid syndrome (APS), had been addressed at a workshop ...in Sydney, Australia, before the Eleventh International Congress on antiphospholipid antibodies. In this document, we appraise the existing evidence on clinical and laboratory features of APS addressed during the forum. Based on this, we propose amendments to the Sapporo criteria. We also provide definitions on features of APS that were not included in the updated criteria.
We investigate the impact of the recent global recession on European countries and regions. We first identify the heterogeneous impact of the global recession on individual European countries and ...regions. We then discuss three classes of explanations for spatial heterogeneity in the severity of the crisis: (i) the extent to which countries are integrated in the global economy via financial and trade linkages, (ii) differences in the institutional framework of countries and (iii) differences in their sectoral composition. We show that especially variation in the sectoral composition contributes to the variation in the effects of the current crisis, both at the country level and at the detailed regional level across Europe.
ABSTRACT
Based on micro data on individual workers for the period 2000–2005, we show that wage differentials in the Netherlands are small but present. A large part of these differentials can be ...attributed to individual characteristics. Remaining effects are partially explained by variations in employment density, with an elasticity of about 4.8 percent, and by Marshall‐Arrow‐Romer externalities, where doubling the local share of a (two‐digit) industry results in a 2.9 percent higher productivity. We also find evidence for small negative effects of competition (Porter externalities) and diversity (Jacobs externalities).
Purpose
Adequate dietary protein intake is required to postpone and treat sarcopenia in elderly people. Insight into dietary protein intake in this heterogeneous population segment is needed to ...locate dietary inadequacies and to identify target populations and feeding strategies for dietary interventions. Therefore, we assessed dietary protein intake, distribution of protein intake throughout the day, and the use of protein-containing food sources in community-dwelling, frail, and institutionalized elderly people in the Netherlands.
Methods
Secondary analyses were carried out using dietary data collected from studies among community-dwelling, frail, and institutionalized elderly people to evaluate protein intake characteristics.
Results
Dietary protein intake averaged 1.1 ± 0.3 g/kg-bw/day in community-dwelling, 1.0 ± 0.3 g/kg-bw/day in frail, and 0.8 ± 0.3 g/kg-bw/day in institutionalized elderly men. Similar protein intakes were found in women. Ten percent of the community-dwelling and frail elderly and 35% of the institutionalized elderly people showed a protein intake below the estimated average requirement (0.7 g/kg-bw/day). Protein intake was particularly low at breakfast in community-dwelling (10 ± 10 g), frail (8 ± 5 g), and institutionalized elderly people (12 ± 6 g) with bread and dairy products as predominant protein sources.
Conclusions
Whereas daily protein intake is generally well above the recommended dietary allowance in community-dwelling and frail elderly people, a significant proportion of institutionalized elderly showed an intake below the current protein requirement, making them an important target population for dietary interventions. Particularly at breakfast, there is scope for improving protein intake.
Periodontitis is one of the most common inflammatory diseases, with a prevalence of 11% worldwide for the severe forms and an estimated heritability of 50%. It is classified into the widespread ...moderate form chronic periodontitis (CP) and the rare early-onset and severe phenotype aggressive periodontitis (AgP). These different disease manifestations are thought to share risk alleles and predisposing environmental factors. To obtain novel insights into the shared genetic etiology and the underlying molecular mechanisms of both forms, we performed a two step-wise meta-analysis approach using genome-wide association studies of both phenotypes. Genotypes from imputed genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of AgP and CP comprising 5,095 cases and 9,908 controls of North-West European genetic background were included. Two loci were associated with periodontitis at a genome-wide significance level. They located within the pseudogene MTND1P5 on chromosome 8 (rs16870060-G, P = 3.69 × 10
, OR = 1.36, 95% CI = 1.23-1.51) and intronic of the long intergenic non-coding RNA LOC107984137 on chromosome 16, downstream of the gene SHISA9 (rs729876-T, P = 9.77 × 10
, OR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.15-1.34). This study identified novel risk loci of periodontitis, adding to the genetic basis of AgP and CP.
Summary
The association between adherence to Mediterranean diet (MD) and hip fracture incidence is not yet established. In a diverse population of elderly, increased adherence to MD was associated ...with lower hip fracture incidence. Except preventing major chronic diseases, adhering to MD might have additional benefits in lowering hip fracture risk.
Introduction
Hip fractures constitute a major public health problem among older adults. Latest evidence links adherence to Mediterranean diet (MD) with reduced hip fracture risk, but still more research is needed to elucidate this relationship. The potential association of adherence to MD with hip fracture incidence was explored among older adults.
Methods
A total of 140,775 adults (116,176 women, 24,599 men) 60 years and older, from five cohorts from Europe and the USA, were followed-up for 1,896,219 person-years experiencing 5454 hip fractures. Diet was assessed at baseline by validated, cohort-specific, food-frequency questionnaires, and hip fractures were ascertained through patient registers or telephone interviews/questionnaires. Adherence to MD was evaluated by a scoring system on a 10-point scale modified to be applied also to non-Mediterranean populations. In order to evaluate the association between MD and hip fracture incidence, cohort-specific hazard ratios (HR), adjusted for potential confounders, were estimated using Cox proportional-hazards regression and pooled estimates were subsequently derived implementing random-effects meta-analysis.
Results
A two-point increase in the score was associated with a significant 4% decrease in hip fracture risk (pooled adjusted HR 0.96; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.92–0.99, p
heterogeneity
= 0.446). In categorical analyses, hip fracture risk was lower among men and women with moderate (HR 0.93; 95% CI 0.87–0.99) and high (HR 0.94; 95% CI 0.87–1.01) adherence to the score compared with those with low adherence.
Conclusions
In this large sample of older adults from Europe and the USA, increased adherence to MD was associated with lower hip fracture incidence.
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