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The mass distribution in massive elliptical galaxies encodes their evolutionary history, thus providing an avenue to constrain the baryonic astrophysics in their evolution. The power-law assumption for the radial mass profile in ellipticals has been sufficient to describe several observables to the noise level, including strong lensing and stellar dynamics. In this paper, we quantitatively constrained any deviation, or the lack thereof, from the power-law mass profile in massive ellipticals through joint lensing–dynamics analysis of a large statistical sample with 77 galaxy–galaxy lens systems. We performed an improved and uniform lens modelling of these systems from archival Hubble Space Telescope imaging using the automated lens modelling pipeline dolphin. We combined the lens model posteriors with the stellar dynamics to constrain the deviation from the power law after accounting for the line-of-sight lensing effects, a first for analyses on galaxy–galaxy lenses. We find that the Sloan Lens ACS Survey lens galaxies with a mean redshift of 0.2 are consistent with the power-law profile within 1.1σ (2.8σ) and the Strong Lensing Legacy Survey lens galaxies with a mean redshift of 0.6 are consistent within 0.8σ (2.1σ), for a spatially constant (Osipkov–Merritt) stellar anisotropy profile. We adopted the spatially constant anisotropy profile as our baseline choice based on previous dynamical observables of local ellipticals. However, spatially resolved stellar kinematics of lens galaxies are necessary to differentiate between the two anisotropy models. Future studies will use our lens models to constrain the mass distribution individually in the dark matter and baryonic components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article suggests that colleges and universities can improve intergroup relations on campus by implementing a cooperative learning technique known as the jigsaw classroom. What is argued is that use of the jigsaw classroom will facilitate a recategorization process by which members of racial-ethnic groups other than one's own (them) will begin to be seen as being members of a more inclusive "we." Included in this article is an examination of on-campus racial discrimination, a discussion of some social psychological work that is useful in helping us understand why this discrimination exists, and a discussion of the ways in which the jigsaw classroom has the potential to reduce this discrimination.

Rationale: Individuals with asthma-chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) overlap syndrome (ACOS), have more rapid decline in lung function, more frequent exacerbations, and poorer quality of life than those with asthma or COPD alone. Air pollution exposure is a known risk factor for asthma and COPD; however, its role in ACOS is not as well understood.Objectives: To determine if individuals with asthma exposed to higher levels of air pollution have an increased risk of ACOS.Methods: Individuals who resided in Ontario, Canada, aged 18 years or older in 1996 with incident asthma between 1996 and 2009 who participated in the Canadian Community Health Survey were identified and followed until 2014 to determine the development of ACOS. Data on exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) were obtained from fixed monitoring sites. Associations between air pollutants and ACOS were evaluated using Cox regression models.Measurements and Main Results: Of the 6,040 adults with incident asthma who completed the Canadian Community Health Survey, 630 were identified as ACOS cases. Compared with those without ACOS, the ACOS population had later onset of asthma, higher proportion of mortality, and more frequent emergency department visits before COPD diagnosis. The adjusted hazard ratios of ACOS and cumulative exposures to PM2.5 (per 10 μg/m(3)) and O3 (per 10 ppb) were 2.78 (95% confidence interval, 1.62-4.78) and 1.31 (95% confidence interval, 0.71-2.39), respectively.Conclusions: Individuals exposed to higher levels of air pollution had nearly threefold greater odds of developing ACOS. Minimizing exposure to high levels of air pollution may decrease the risk of ACOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: We compared school-based physical activity (PA) programs that prescribe intensity with programs that do not have such a prescription for their impact on improving measures of adiposity, aerobic, and musculoskeletal fitness in 11-18 year-olds. Methods: Ten databases were searched systematically. Main outcome measures included adiposity, aerobic fitness, and/or musculoskeletal fitness. Studies were appraised using the Downs and Black quality assessment tool. Results: Overall, 16 studies were selected; the overall mean quality index score was 19.6 (95% CI: 15.5 - 23.6) out of a possible score of 32. Studies that prescribed moderate-to-vigorous PA may demonstrate greater reductions in measures of adiposity and increases in measures of fitness; however, the studies included lacked the rigor to make sound conclusions. Conclusions: Recommendations are made to increase the rigor of primary studies for use in school-based policy/practice changes to the PE curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: High frequency health service use (HSU) is associated with poorly controlled asthma, and is a recognized risk factor for near-fatal or fatal asthma. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency of HSU in the year prior to asthma death.Methods: Individuals aged 0–99 years who died from asthma from April 1996 to December 2011 in Ontario, Canada were identified as cases. Cases were matched to 4–5 live asthma controls by age, sex, rural/urban residence, socioeconomic status, duration of asthma and a co-diagnosis of COPD. HSU records in the year prior to death [hospitalization, emergency department (ED) and outpatient visits] were assembled. The association of prior HSU and asthma death was measured by conditional logistic regression models.Results: From 1996 to 2011, 1503 individuals died from asthma. While the majority of cases did not have increased HSU as defined in the study, compared to matched live asthma controls, the cases were 8-fold more likely to have been hospitalized two or more times (OR = 7.60; 95% CI: 4.90, 11.77), 13-fold more likely to have had three or more ED visits (OR = 13.28; 95% CI: 7.55, 23.34) and 4-fold more likely to have had five or more physician visits for asthma (OR = 4.41; 95% CI: 3.58, 5.42).Conclusions: Frequency of HSU in the year prior was substantially higher in those died from asthma. Specifically, more than one asthma hospital admission, three ED visits or five physician visits increased the asthma mortality risk substantially and exponentially. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Misuse and/or lack of booster seat use are often associated with high rates of injury and death among school-aged children. This pilot study examined the efficacy and the potential effectiveness of a booster seat intervention in the classroom. Methods: Two elementary schools participated (randomly assigned as one intervention school and one control school). At the intervention school, a certified car seat specialist and a police officer held an interactive booster seat session. The height and age for each child were recorded. Children received a certificate indicating whether they met the requirements for booster seat use and a postcard with car seat restraint specifications. Children in the control school received a brochure on car seat safety. Pre- and post-intervention self-reports were collected and booster seat use was observed. Results: Observational findings showed a decline in booster seat use at the control school and an increase in use at the intervention school. Self-reports of booster seat use indicated a decline at both schools; however, cell sizes were too small to permit statistical analyses. Conclusion: Anecdotally researchers found the sessions were easy to conduct and were well received by the children and could be easily integrated into programming in schools. Classroom sessions may have the potential to positively influence booster seat use among 6- to 8-year-olds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author focuses on the legal situation of posthumous conception through the procedure of postmortem sperm retrieval (PMSR) that involves sperm extraction. He states that the sperm is extracted from a deceased male for impregnating a woman with the purpose of child birth even after the death of the male. He further discusses the case law and the uniform laws regarding the reproductive rights. Information on the statutes regarding this issue in the U.S. is also presented.

Background Air pollution, such as fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ), can increase risk of adverse health events among people with heart disease, diabetes, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by aggravating these conditions. Identifying the influence of PM 2.5 on prevalence of these conditions may help target interventions to reduce disease morbidity among high-risk populations. Objectives The objective of this study is to measure the association of exposure of PM 2.5 with prevalence risk of various chronic diseases among a longitudinal cohort of women. Methods Women from Ontario who enrolled in the Canadian National Breast Screening Study (CNBSS) from 1980 to 1985 (n = 29,549) were linked to provincial health administrative data from April 1, 1992 to March 31, 2013 to determine the prevalence of major chronic disease and conditions (heart disease, diabetes, asthma, COPD, acute myocardial infarction, angina, stroke and cancers). Exposure to PM 2.5 was measured using satellite data collected from January 1, 1998 to December 31, 2006 and assigned to resident postal-code at time of entry into study. Poisson regression models were used to describe the relationship between exposure to ambient PM 2.5 and chronic disease prevalence. Prevalence rate ratios (PRs) were estimated while adjusting for potential confounders: baseline age, smoking, BMI, marital status, education and occupation. Separate models were run for each chronic disease and condition. Results Congestive heart failure (PR = 1.31, 95% CI: 1.13, 1.51), diabetes (PR = 1.28, 95% CI: 1.16, 1.41), ischemic heart disease (PR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.14, 1.30), and stroke (PR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.35) showed over a 20% increase in PRs per 10 μg/m 3 increase in PM 2.5 after adjusting for risk factors. Risks were elevated in smokers and those with BMI greater than 30. Conclusions This study estimated significant elevated prevalent rate ratios per unit increase in PM 2.5 in nine of the ten chronic diseases studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Decoherence-free subspaces and subsystems (DFS) preserve quantum information by encoding it into symmetry-protected states unaffected by decoherence. An inherent DFS of a given experimental system may not exist; however, through the use of dynamical decoupling (DD), one can induce symmetries that support DFSs. Here, we provide the first experimental demonstration of DD-generated decoherence-free subsystem logical qubits. Utilizing IBM Quantum superconducting processors, we investigate two and three-qubit DFS codes comprising up to six and seven noninteracting logical qubits, respectively. Through a combination of DD and error detection, we show that DFS logical qubits can achieve up to a 23% improvement in state preservation fidelity over physical qubits subject to DD alone. This constitutes a beyond-breakeven fidelity improvement for DFS-encoded qubits. Our results showcase the potential utility of DFS codes as a pathway toward enhanced computational accuracy via logical encoding on quantum processors., (Creative Commons Attribution license.)