To assess the relative influence of menopausal status and hormone use on body mass index (BMI) among a multiethnic sample of mid-life women.
Cross-sectional telephone survey conducted at seven sites ...where each site targeted an ethnic minority group and Caucasians as part of Study of Women's Health Across the Nation (SWAN).
A total of 7181 Caucasians, 3949 African-Americans, 1660 Hispanics, 562 Chinese Americans, and 803 Japanese Americans between ages of 40 and 55 y residing in or near Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Newark, NJ, Oakland, CA, and Pittsburgh, PA.
Self-reported BMI based on weight in kg divided by height in m(2) menopausal status, physical inactivity, postmenopausal hormone use, ethnicity, and age in years.
Compared to premenopausal women (covariate adjusted M=27.3), women reporting a surgical menopause (M=28.2) or being in the perimenopausal transition (M=27.7 for early and 27.9 for late perimenopause) had higher BMI. Women reporting a natural menopause (M=27.4) did not have a higher BMI than premenopausal women, after adjusting for chronological age and other covariates. Hormone use was associated with lower BMI (M=26.5 vs 27.3). A comparison of effect sizes showed that menopausal status (F=13.1), followed by chronological age (F=24.0), were the least powerful predictors of BMI, whereas the more powerful predictors were physical activity level (F=1377.1) and ethnicity (F=400.5).
The menopausal transition affects body mass index in mid-life, but the effect is small relative to other influences. Interventions to increase physical activity are highly recommended to prevent increases in adiposity common in mid-life.
The Gamma-Ray Energy Tracking In-beam Nuclear Array (GRETINA) is a new generation high-resolution γ-ray spectrometer consisting of electrically segmented high-purity germanium crystals. GRETINA is ...capable of reconstructing the energy and position of each γ-ray interaction point inside the crystal with high resolution. This enables γ-ray energy tracking which in turn provides an array with large photopeak efficiency, high resolution and good peak-to-total ratio. GRETINA is used for nuclear structure studies with demanding γ-ray detection requirements and it is suitable for experiments with radioactive-ion beams with high recoil velocities. The GRETINA array has a 1π solid angle coverage and constitutes the first stage towards the full 4π array GRETA. We present in this paper the main parts and the performance of the GRETINA system.
UCGretina, a geant4 simulation of the GRETINA gamma-ray tracking array of highly-segmented high-purity germanium detectors is described. We have developed a model of the array, in particular of the ...Quad Module and the capsules, that gives good agreement between simulated and measured photopeak efficiencies over a broad range of gamma-ray energies and reproduces the shape of the measured Compton continuum. Both of these features are needed in order to accurately extract gamma-ray yields from spectra collected in in-beam gamma-ray spectroscopy measurements with beams traveling at v∕c≳0.3 at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory and the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. In the process of developing the model, we determined that millimeter-scale layers of passive germanium surrounding the active volumes of the simulated crystals must be included in order to reproduce measured photopeak efficiencies. We adopted a simple model of effective passive layers and developed heuristic methods of determining passive-layer thicknesses by comparison of simulations and measurements for a single crystal and for the full array. Prospects for future development of the model are discussed.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx≡ NO + NO2) are of central importance for air quality, climate forcing, and nitrogen deposition to ecosystems. The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) is now ...providing hourly NO2 satellite observations over East Asia, offering the first direct measurements of NO2 diurnal variation from space to guide understanding of NOx emissions and chemistry. The NO2 retrieval requires independent vertical profile information from a chemical transport model (CTM) to compute the air mass factor (AMF) that relates the NO2 column measured along the line of sight to the NO2 vertical column. Here, we use aircraft observations from the Korea-United States Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) campaign over the Seoul metropolitan area (SMA) and around the Korean Peninsula in May–June 2016 to better understand the factors controlling the NO2 vertical profile, its diurnal variation, the implications for the AMFs, and the ability of the GEOS-Chem CTM to compute the NO2 vertical profiles used for AMFs. Proper representation of oxidant chemistry is critical for the CTM simulation of NO2 vertical profiles and is achieved in GEOS-Chem through new model developments, including aerosol nitrate photolysis, reduced uptake of hydroperoxy (HO2) radicals by aerosols, and accounting for atmospheric oxidation of volatile chemical products (VCPs). We find that the tropospheric NO2 columns measured from space in the SMA are mainly contributed by the planetary boundary layer (PBL) below 2 km altitude, reflecting the highly polluted conditions. Repeated measurements of NO2 vertical profiles over the SMA at different times of day show that diurnal change in mixing depth affecting the NO2 vertical profile induces a diurnal variation in AMFs of comparable magnitude to the diurnal variation in the NO2 column. GEOS-Chem captures this diurnal variation in AMFs and more generally the variability in the AMFs for the KORUS-AQ NO2 vertical profiles (2.7 % mean bias, 7.6 % precision), with some outliers in the morning due to errors in the timing of mixed-layer growth.
A meta-analysis of prospective memory (PM) studies revealed that in laboratory settings younger participants outperform older participants on tests of both time- and event-based PM (
r
s = −.39 and ...−.34, respectively). Event-based PM tasks that impose higher levels of controlled strategic demand are associated with significantly larger age effects than event-based PM tasks that are supported by relatively more automatic processes (
r
s = −.40 vs. −.14, respectively). However, contrary to the prevailing view in the literature, retrospective memory as measured by free recall is associated with significantly greater age-related decline (
r
= -.52) than PM, and older participants perform substantially better than their younger counterparts in naturalistic PM studies (
r
s =.35 and.52 for event- and time-based PM, respectively).
The quadrupole collectivity of low-lying states and the anomalous behavior of the 0(2)(+) and 2(3)(+) levels in Ge-72 are investigated via projectile multi-step Coulomb excitation with GRETINA and ...CHICO-2. Atotal of forty six E2 and M1 matrix elements connecting fourteen low-lying levels were determined using the least-squares search code, GOSIA. Evidence for triaxiality and shape coexistence, based on the model-independent shape invariants deduced from the Kumar-Cline sum rule, is presented. These are interpreted using a simple two-state mixing model as well as multi-state mixing calculations carried out within the framework of the triaxial rotor model. The results represent a significant milestone towards the understanding of the unusual structure of this nucleus. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Excited states of neutron rich Iodine isotopes 130−134 I above the high spin isomers have been identified using prompt-delayed γ-ray spectroscopy. The Iodine isotopes have been produced as fission ...fragments of fusion-fission and transfer induced fission of 9 Be(238 U, f) at a beam energy of 6.2 MeV/u. The complete (A, Z) identification was obtained using the large acceptance magnetic spectrometer VAMOS++. The AGATA γ-ray tracking array was used to detect the prompt γ rays while the delayed γ rays (in the time range of 100 ns to 200 µs) from the isomeric states were identified by the EXOGAM segmented Clover detectors, placed behind the focal plane of VAMOS++ spectrometer. The high spin states above the (8 −) isomers in 130,132 I have been populated for the first time and a new isomer in 132 I has been identified. New γ-ray transition has also been assigned to the level structure of 134 I. Prompt transitions above the 19/2 − isomer have been identified in 131,133 I, for the first time. The level structures are interpreted in terms of the systematics of odd-Z nuclei above Z = 50 shell closure and large scale shell model calculations.
Detailed spectroscopy of the neutron-unbound nucleus F-28 has been performed for the first time following proton/neutron removal from Ne-29/F-29 beams at energies around 230 MeV=nucleon. The ...invariant-mass spectra were reconstructed for both the F-27((*)) + n and F-26((*)) + 2n coincidences and revealed a series of well-defined resonances. A near-threshold state was observed in both reactions and is identified as the F-28 ground state, with S-n(F-28) = -199(6) keV, while analysis of the 2n decay channel allowed a considerably improved S-n(F-27) = 1620(60) keV to be deduced. Comparison with shell-model predictions and eikonal-model reaction calculations have allowed spin-parity assignments to be proposed for some of the lower-lying levels of F-28. Importantly, in the case of the ground state, the reconstructed F-27 + n momentum distribution following neutron removal from F-29 indicates that it arises mainly from the 1p(3/2) neutron intruder configuration. This demonstrates that the island of inversion around N = 20 includes F-28, and most probably F-29, and suggests that O-28 is not doubly magic.
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