Search

The current sentence is in the discussion (sub-section The role of pre-conception maternal depression) and reads: "Pre-conception treatment of mental health issues is also associated with substantial savings in health care costs (Chojenta et al., 2018)."

Background: Findings from previous studies on associations between prepregnancy dietary patterns and preterm birth and low birth weight (LBW) are limited and inconsistent.Objectives: To examine the association between prepregnancy dietary patterns and the risk of preterm birth and LBW.Methods: This study included 3422 and 3508 singleton live births from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH) for the analyses of preterm birth and LBW, respectively. We included women who were nulliparous and nonpregnant at baseline surveys. We used factor analyses and the Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) score to derive maternal dietary patterns. Four dietary patterns were identified with factor analyses: meats and high-fats; prudent diets; sugar, refined grains, and processed foods; and traditional vegetables. Preterm birth and LBW were assessed using maternal reports from ALSWH data between 2003 and 2015. Multivariable logistic regression analyses were used.Results: Greater adherence to the traditional vegetables pattern before pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of preterm birth and spontaneous preterm birth after adjustments for lifestyle factors and pregnancy complications, highest compared with lowest tertile (adjusted OR = 0.72, 95% CI: 0.53, 0.99) and (RR ratio = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.39, 1.00), respectively. However, these associations were attenuated by the prepregnancy BMI. No significant associations were observed between prepregnancy dietary patterns and LBW.Conclusion: This study suggests that better adherence to the traditional vegetables pattern before pregnancy is associated with a lower risk of preterm birth, particularly spontaneous preterm birth among nulliparous women. This finding warrants further examination.

Analysis based on Degree of Polymerization (DP) value is assumed to provide reliable regarding insulation condition. However, due to the invasive nature of testing, DP value based-analysis is not feasible in practical cases as it requires a paper sample from the in-service unit. Here, an attempt is made to develop a methodology to predict DP value based on non-invasive testing of oil-paper insulation. In this paper, it is found that DP value maintains a well-known relation with interfacial charge (estimated using Polarization Depolarization Current data) as both these parameters are related to the cellulosic condition. The proposed method successfully applied on various laboratory prepared samples containing different moisture content.

There is limited evidence on the association between maternal preconception body mass index (BMI) trajectories and pregnancy complications and child development. This study examined the relationships of maternal BMI trajectories, diabetes and hypertensive disorders during pregnancy and offspring’s childhood physical and cognitive development. Data were from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health and the Mothers and their Children’s Health study (n=771). Women’s preconception BMI trajectories were identified using group-based trajectory modelling. Children’s physical and cognitive development (up to the average age of 5 years) were obtained from the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (suspected gross motor delay) and the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). Generalized estimating equation models, adjusted for maternal sociodemographic and lifestyle factors, were used for analyses. Three distinct BMI trajectories were identified (normative, chronically overweight and chronically obese). Children born to chronically obese women were more likely to be classified as developmentally vulnerable/at-risk on AEDC domains; gross and fine motor skills [risk ratio (RR)=1.64, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04, 2.61] and communication skills and general knowledge (RR=1.71, 95% CI: 1.09, 2.68). They also had an elevated risk of suspected gross motor delay (RR=2.62, 95% CI: 1.26, 5.44) compared with children born to women with a normative BMI trajectory. Maternal diabetes or hypertensive disorders during pregnancy were not associated with child outcomes. Maternal preconception BMI trajectories were associated with poorer childhood development. This study finding underscores the importance of excessive weight gain prevention throughout the reproductive stage of life.

Objective: To determine the combined longitudinal effect of body mass index (BMI) and physical activity (PA) on health‐related quality of life (HrQoL), using the SF‐6D (SF‐36) utility measure. Methods: Five waves of self‐reported data from the 1946–51 cohort (n=5,200; data collection, 2001–2013) of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health were used. Mixed effect models were employed to address the objective. Results: Women with high PA experienced higher HrQoL regardless of BMI group, however, for those healthy or overweight, there was a very small decline in HrQoL over time. Women reporting no PA levels experienced the lowest baseline mean SF‐6D score within each BMI group, with decreasing trajectories over the follow‐up period. The rate of decline was greatest in women with obesity. Within each BMI group, there was a large, increasing gap in HrQoL between those who reported no and low PA over time. Women with obesity and high PA experienced similar HrQoL trajectories to women with normal weight or overweight with low PA levels. Overweight women with moderate PA experienced similar HrQoL to those with low PA but normal weight. Conclusions: PA may mitigate the adverse effect of overweight and obesity on HrQoL at mid‐life, at higher activity levels. Implications for public health: PA benefits HrQoL regardless of body mass, with larger gains for those currently not physically active. Moderate to high PA may mitigate the effect of overweight and obesity.

Flow harmonics ($v_n$) in the Fourier expansion of the azimuthal distribution of particles are widely used to quantify the anisotropy in particle emission in high-energy heavy-ion collisions. The symmetric cumulants, $SC(m,n)$, are used to measure the correlations between different orders of flow harmonics. These correlations are used to constrain the initial conditions and the transport properties of the medium in theoretical models. In this Letter, we present the first measurements of the four-particle symmetric cumulants in Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 39 and 200 GeV from data collected by the STAR experiment at RHIC. We observe that $v_{2}$ and $v_{3}$ are anti-correlated in all centrality intervals with similar correlation strengths from 39 GeV Au+Au to 2.76 TeV Pb+Pb (measured by the ALICE experiment). The $v_{2}$-$v_{4}$ correlation seems to be stronger at 39 GeV than at higher collision energies. The initial-stage anti-correlations between second and third order eccentricities are sufficient to describe the measured correlations between $v_{2}$ and $v_{3}$. The best description of $v_{2}$-$v_{4}$ correlations at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}$ = 200 GeV is obtained with inclusion of the system's nonlinear response to initial eccentricities accompanied by the viscous effect with $\eta/s$ $>$ 0.08. Theoretical calculations using different initial conditions, equations of state and viscous coefficients need to be further explored to extract $\eta/s$ of the medium created at RHIC., Comment: 4 figures, Accepted for publication in Physics Letter B, and final version

Introduction: Human immune deficiency viruses (HIV), Hepatitis B viruses (HBV) and Hepatitis C viruses (HCV) are the three most common chronic viral pathogens known. The viruses have common routes of transmission (such as blood and blood products, sharing needles to inject drugs and sexual activities) and similar risk factors. Aim and objective: The aim of study was to determine the seroprevalence of HIV, HBV and HCV in Kohalpur Teaching Hospital, Nepalgunj Medical College. Materials and methods: This is a descriptive hospital based study. The study was conducted at Nepalgunj Medical College, KTH, Banke. In this study, 2865 were tested for HIV, 2849 were tested for HBV and 2950 were tested for HCV from 12-01-2017 to 06-07-2017. Results: In case of HIV, 1781 (62.16%) were male and 1064 (37.84%) were female. The study revealed that in HIV reactive case was found to be 0.14% where 0.16% (3) were males and 0.09% (1) were females. In case of HBV, 1743 (61.18%) were males and 1106 (38.82%) were females. The prevalence of HBV reactive was found to be 1.65% where 1.2% (34) in male and 0.45% (13) in female. In case of HCV, 1200 (40.67%) were male and 1750 (59.33%) were female. The prevalence of HCV reactive was found to be 0.03% (1) which was only in female. Conclusion: We found that the prevalence of HIV was more predominant in males 0.16% (3). The HBV was more prevalent followed by HIV and HCV and the prevalence of HBV in male was more 1.2% (34) as compared to females 0.45% (13).

MatCH (Mothers and their Children’s Health) is a nationwide Australian study to investigate the links between the history of health, wellbeing and living conditions of mothers and the health and development of their children. MatCH builds on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH), which began in 1996 and has surveyed more than 58,000 women in four nationally representative age cohorts. MatCH focuses on the three youngest offspring of the cohort of ALSWH participants randomly sampled from all women in Australia born in 1973–78 (N=5780 children of N=3039 mothers). These women, who had completed up to seven postal or online surveys since 1996, were invited in 2016–17 to complete surveys about the health and development of their three youngest children aged under 13. The mothers reported on their children’s health conditions and symptoms, diet, anthropometric measures, childcare, screen time, physical activity, temperament, behaviour, language development, motor development and health service utilisation, as well as household and environmental factors. These data are being linked with each child’s records from official sources including the Australian Early Development Census (collected at age five to six), the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (collected at age eight, 10, 12 and 14) and other external datasets. MatCH will combine 20 years of maternal data with all the information on her children, taking into account the family setting. MatCH offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance our understanding of the relationship between maternal health and wellbeing and child health and development.

To examine whether body mass index (BMI), menopausal status and hormone therapy (HT) use modify the association between physical activity (PA) patterns throughout middle age and incidence and prevalence of joint symptoms in later middle age in women.Data were from 6661 participants (born 1946-1951) in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Surveys were completed every three years from 1998 to 2010 with questions on joint pain and stiffness, PA, height and weight, menopausal symptoms, and HT use. PA patterns were defined as 'none-or-low', 'low-or-meeting-guidelines', 'fluctuating' or 'meeting guidelines-at-all-times' (reference pattern). Logistic regression was used to examine the association between PA patterns and prevalent (in 2010) and cumulative incident (1998-2010) joint symptoms and effect modification by patterns of BMI, menopausal status and HT.The groups representing 'fluctuating' (odds ratio [OR]=1.34, 99% confidence interval [CI]=1.04-1.72) and 'none-or-low' physical activity (OR=1.60, CI =1.08-2.35) had higher odds of incident joint symptoms than those 'meeting guidelines-at-all-times'. Stratification by BMI showed that this association was statistically significant in the obese group only. No evidence was found for effect modification by menopausal status or HT use. The findings were similar for prevalent joint symptoms.Maintaining at least low levels of physical activity throughout middle age was associated with lower prevalence and incidence of joint symptoms in later life. This apparent protective effect of physical activity on joint symptoms was stronger in obese women than in under or normal weight women, and not related to menopause and HT status. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Alternate bearing in many mango (Mangifera indica L.) cultivars including Dashehari is one of the main hurdles in maximising fruit production thus causing a major threat to the expansion of mango industry. Therefore an experiment was conducted for four consecutive years on 10-12 years mango cv. Dashehari spaced at 7.5 m x 7.5 m to induce synchronous vegetative growth to get same physiological stage of shoots for regular uniform flowering and fruiting in mango cv. Dashehari. For this purpose, whole tree was tip pruned just below first node after crop harvest and thereafter drenched with paclobutrazol @ 3.2 ml/m canopy diameter during September. Tip pruning was also performed in October to study its effect on panicle emergence bypassing vegetative flushing. The result exhibited significant influence of post-harvest pruning cum paclobutrazol application on uniform flowering, fruit yield and quality parameters while October pruning had positive effects on light availability below tree canopy, however increased vegetative growth at the expense of flowering and fruiting. Thus whole tree tip pruning after harvest of off year fruits followed by soil drenching with paclobutrazol, a month prior to flower bud differentiation, could be adopted for regulating flowering and fruiting during off year.

Natural fibers are considered as a good reinforcement in composite material because of their good mechanical properties and low density. However the main drawback of these fibers is moisture absorption in their outdoor applications. The present investigation is aimed at processing a composite using jute fiber and epoxy resin as matrix and red mud as a filler material. The degradation of the composite mechanical properties such as flexural strength has been studied when it is subjected to different environmental conditions. To increase the adhesion between fiber and matrix material and to increase the moisture resistance chemical surface treatment has been performed on the fibers. The composites flexural strength and moisture resistance with modified fibers have also been investigated. It was found that chemical modification of fibers reduced the overall water uptake of the jute fibers. The flexural strength of the composite with modified fibers increases significantly compared to untreated fibers.

There is substantial multimorbidity at mid-life but little is known about the strength of evidence on multimorbidity and health-related quality of life (HrQoL) at mid-life. This review addresses this gap, focusing on studies of the general population. PubMed, Web of Science, Embase and APA PsycNET databases were screened on 6 March 2017 for original research on multimorbidity and HrQoL in adults aged 40-65 years from the general population. Studies focused on index conditions, using single-item HrQoL measures, unlikely to represent the general population (e.g. primary care), and papers that were not in the English language were excluded. A narrative synthesis was presented due to heterogeneity in the measurement of multimorbidity. Of the 2557 articles, 83 underwent full text screening and 8 were included in the review. Included studies were of moderate to high quality and no exclusions were made on the basis of quality or bias. Multimorbidity was associated with poorer HrQoL at mid-life. Two cross-sectional studies found that adults with multimorbidity at early mid-life reported poorer HrQoL than adults with multimorbidity at late mid-life, while another found the reverse. Two distinct disease clusters were identified: mental health conditions and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Those in the mental health cluster reported poorer HrQoL than those in the CVD cluster, women more so than men. Limitations of the selected studies include lack of longitudinal evidence, use of self-reported conditions and no assessment of disease severity. Multimorbidity is associated with poor HrQoL at mid-life at the population level, with some evidence of differences in association with age and disease cluster and sparse evidence on sex differences. Longitudinal research using a weighted disease severity index and multimorbidity trajectories is needed to strengthen the evidence base.

Present investigation deals with the treatment of deactivated Co-Mn bromide catalyst for the recovery of Co and Mn as Co metal powder and chemical manganese dioxide by an integrated process comprising of a selective metal ion transfer from an aqueous solution containing a mixture of metal ions with a saponified solution of di-2ethyl-hexyl phosphoric acid, followed by selective scrubbing and metal stripping. The pure metal solutions so obtained were subjected to precipitation and hydrothermal treatment to obtain a desired material. The deactivated catalyst was leached by H2SO4 in presence of H2O2 followed by removing Fe, Si etc. The purified leach liquor of composition: 6.9g/L Co, 9.4g/L Mn was used for detail study to optimize the best conditions for the separation of Co from Mn. Experimental observations show that the extraction of both increased with increasing equilibrium pH and the concentration of the organic, with a separation factor of about 10, at equilibrium pH of 3. A quantitative extraction of Mn was possible with 20% D2EHPA in three stage counter-current extraction. After Co scrubbing, Mn was stripped with dilute H2SO4 and high pure spherical shaped CMD was produced. Co in the raffinate was recovered as powder by hydrothermal H2- reduction.

Introduction Postmenopausal osteoporosis is a highly prevalent disease. Prevention through lifestyle measures includes an adequate calcium intake. Despite the guidance provided by scientific societies and governmental bodies worldwide, many issues remain unresolved. Aims To provide evidence regarding the impact of calcium intake on the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis and critically appraise current guidelines. Materials and methods Literature review and consensus of expert opinion. Results and conclusion The recommended daily intake of calcium varies between 700 and 1200 mg of elemental calcium, depending on the endorsing source. Although calcium can be derived either from the diet or supplements, the former source is preferred. Intake below the recommended amount may increase fragility fracture risk; however, there is no consistent evidence that calcium supplementation at, or above, recommended levels reduces risk. The addition of vitamin D may minimally reduce fractures, mainly among institutionalised people. Excessive intake of calcium, defined as higher than 2000 mg/day, can be potentially harmful. Some studies demonstrated harm even at lower dosages. An increased risk for cardiovascular events, urolithiasis and even fractures has been found in association with excessive calcium intake, but this issue remains unresolved. In conclusion, an adequate intake of calcium is recommended for general bone health. Excessive calcium intake seems of no benefit, and could possibly be harmful.

AimTo develop a prediction model for preconception identification of women at risk of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).MethodsData from a prospective cohort, the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, were used. Nulliparous women aged 18–23 who reported a pregnancy up to age 37–42 were included. Preconception predictors of GDM during a first pregnancy were selected using logistic regression. Regression coefficients were multiplied by a shrinkage factor estimated with bootstrapping to improve prediction in external populations.ResultsAmong 6504 women, 314 (4.8%) developed GDM during their first pregnancy. The final prediction model included age at menarche, proposed age at future first pregnancy, ethnicity, body mass index, diet, physical activity, polycystic ovary syndrome, and family histories of type 1 or 2 diabetes and GDM. The model showed good discriminative ability with a C-statistic of 0.79 (95% CI 0.76, 0.83) after internal validation. More than half of the women (58%) were classified to be at risk of GDM (>2% predicted risk), with corresponding sensitivity and specificity values of 91% and 43%.ConclusionsNulliparous women at risk of GDM in a future first pregnancy can be accurately identified based on preconception lifestyle and health-related characteristics. Further studies are needed to test our model in other populations.

In the present effort, enhancement of mechanical properties of Aluminium alloy, Al6061, due to cold-rolling is compared with that due to peak-ageing. Heat treatable Al6061 was cold-rolled with different pre-rolling conditions. Since different peak-ageing conditions are given in literature, a systematic study was conducted to determine the peak-ageing conditions for the procured aluminium alloy. Micro-Vickers hardness tests as well as uniaxial tensile tests were conducted to evaluate the mechanical properties. Cold-rolling to higher thickness reductions resulted in a significant improvement in hardness and tensile strength as compared to peak-aged samples. Artificial peak-ageing before cold-rolling did not have a significant effect on the properties after cold-rolling. Enhancement of properties was comparable to the more complex severe plastic deformation process of cryo-rolling followed by warm-rolling. Cold-rolling could be used as a simpler and effective method to enhance mechanical properties of Al6061. No significant difference was found in the tensile strength between rolling and transverse directions.

Aim: To determine differences in food and nutrient intakes between Australian- and Asian-born women living in Australia. Methods: Data were obtained from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, including 6461 women born in Australia or Asia who completed food frequency questionnaires in 2001 and 2013. Diet was assessed using the Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies version 2. Longitudinal generalised estimating-equation modelling was performed to determine the effect of country of birth and survey year on fruit and vegetable intake. Results: Asian-born women ate more cereals, soybeans and fish but less vegetables, legumes, dairy, meat and meat products than Australian-born women both in 2001 and in 2013. Asian-born women ate less cereals, rice and noodles, meat and its products (P

The abundance of active galactic nuclei (AGN) in cosmic voids is relatively unexplored in the literature, but can potentially provide new constraints on the environmental dependence of AGN activity and the AGN-host co-evolution. We investigated AGN fraction in one of the largest samples of optically selected cosmic voids from SDSS Data Release 12 for redshift range 0.2-0.7 for moderately bright and bright AGN. We separated inner and outer void regions based on the void size, given by its effective void radius. We classified galaxies at a distance < 0.6Reff as inner void members and galaxies in the interval 0.6 < R/Reff < 1.3 as outer void galaxies. We found higher average fractions in the inner voids (4.9+-0.7)% than for their outer counterparts (3.1+-0.1)% at z>0.42, which clearly indicates an environmental dependence. This conclusion was confirmed upon further separating the data in narrower void-centric distance bins and measured a significant decrease in AGN activity from inner to outer voids for z>0.42. At low redshifts (z, 11 pages, 3 figures

Background: The aim of the study was to study the relationship between coronavirus anxiety, panic buying, work and social adjustment. It also examines how adjustment mediates the relationship between coronavirus anxiety and panic buying. Methods: The study's total sample size was 450 participants aged 21-76 years. Both genders were equally represented in the sample, with 225 males and 225 females. An incidental sampling technique was adopted for data collection. Data was collected using a Google form survey from participants who consented to participate in the research from various Uttar Pradesh, India cities. The socio-demographic details and corona anxiety, panic buying and work and social adjustment related responses were recorded.Results: The results indicated that coronavirus anxiety, work and social adjustment, and panic buying are significantly correlated with each other. Results showed that coronavirus anxiety and work and social adjustment would significantly variance in panic buying scores. It was also found that work and social adjustment mediated the relationship between coronavirus anxiety and panic buying.Conclusions: It was evident from the results that panic buying results from fear and negative emotions. This demonstrates the importance of adjustment training to cope with sudden or future uncertainties in a better manner. This could help alleviate the wave of anxiety and panic, leading to better emotional well-being and adjustment to unexpected and adverse circumstances.

The increasing challenge of multiple chronic diseases (multimorbidity) requires more evidence-based knowledge and effective practice. In order to better understand the existing evidence on multimorbidity, we performed a systematic review of systematic reviews on multimorbidity with pre-established search strategies and exclusion criteria by searching multiple databases and grey literature. Of 8006 articles found, 53 systematic reviews (including meta-analysis and qualitative research synthesis performed in some reviews) that stated multimorbidity as the main focus were included, with 79% published during 2013-2016. Existing evidence on definition, measurement, prevalence, risk factors, health outcomes, clinical practice and medication (polypharmacy), and intervention and management were identified and synthesised. There were three major definitions from three perspectives. Seven studies on prevalence reported a range from 3.5% to 100%. As six studies showed, depression, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, asthma, and osteoarthritis were prone to be comorbid with other conditions. Four groups of risk factors and eight multimorbidity associated outcomes were explored by five and six studies, respectively. Nine studies evaluated interventions, which could be categorized into either organizational or patient-oriented, the effects of these interventions were varied. Self-management process, priority setting and decision making in multimorbidity were synthesised by evidence from 4 qualitative systematic reviews. We were unable to draw solid conclusions from this overview due to the heterogeneity in methodology and inconsistent findings among included reviews. As suggested by all included studies, there is a need for prospective research, especially longitudinal cohort studies and randomized control trials, to provide more definitive evidence on multimorbidity.

Most passenger cars on the road today employ planetary automatic transmissions, which use torque converters for vibration isolation and torque amplification at vehicle launch. Torque converter models have been used primarily for analysis and design, but have seen some use for on-line estimation and control. Since model parameters vary with operating conditions such as temperature as well as the condition of the transmission fluid, there is a need for on-line identification of these parameters for validity of the model across a wide range of operating conditions. In the current study, a novel method to update torque converter model parameters on-line is presented. Importantly, exponential convergence of the model parameter estimates to their respective true values is demonstrated. The proposed method is numerically validated for a vehicle under realistic driving conditions. The simulation results indicate that the proposed method is capable of on-line torque converter model identification under slowly varying operating conditions.

Glauconite is a natural occurring iron-rich, heterogeneous, phyllosilicate rock containing around 4–8% of potash (K 2 O) locked in the alumino-silicate matrix. An attempt has been made to develop a complete flow-sheet for the recovery of potash from a typical glauconite sample containing 3.93% K 2 O, 10.75% Fe 2 O 3 , 4.41% Al 2 O 3 and 70.35% SiO 2 . Initially, the detail physico-chemical characterization and beneficiation study was performed to enrich the potash content from 3.93% to 5.52% by removing free silica. The enriched fraction of glauconite was further processed to recover locked potash through chemical treatment. Potassium recovery by direct acid leaching was found to be very poor and also resulted in simultaneous dissolution of iron. Therefore, a combined sulfation roasting–water leaching process was developed to break the matrix and selectively recover potash. Various parameters such as sulphuric acid concentration, roasting and leaching temperature were optimized to achieve > 98% potash dissolution. The potassium from the leach solution was recovered as sulfate of potash (SOP) suitable for fertilizer application.

Potassium is one of the important nutrients for healthy growth and development of plants. This article explores the possibility of extracting potassium from lean grade indigenous glauconitic sandstone, which is locked in the host matrix. Detail physico-chemical and mineralogical characterization of glauconitic sandstone collected from Guneri area of Kuchchh district, Gujarat (India) was carried out by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) followed by Energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Atomic absorption spectrometer (AAS) and conventional analytical tools. The major matrix of glauconite sample was found to contain 3.93% K2O, 10.75% Fe2O3, 4.41% Al2O3 and 70.35% SiO2. The K2O content could be enriched from 3.93% to 5.52% by simple screening and rejection of +425 μm particles fraction. Chemical leaching of enriched fraction with hydrochloric acid (HCl) yields very low recovery (

Issue addressed Smoking, risky drinking, overweight and obesity, and physical inactivity are health-risk factors (HRFs) that contribute significantly to morbidity worldwide. Several initiatives have been introduced over the past two decades to reduce these HRFs. This paper examines changes in the prevalence of HRFs in young women (aged 18–23 years) between 1996 and 2013, overall and within demographic groups. Methods Data from two cohorts of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health, born in 1973–78 (n = 14247) and 1989–95 (n = 17012) were weighted to provide national estimates. Prevalence ratios were used to compare HRFs in 2013 relative to 1996. Results In 1996, 32% were current smokers, 38% were risky drinkers, 22% were overweight or obese and 7% were physically inactive. In 2013, corresponding estimates were 19%, 35%, 33% and 6%. Between 1996 and 2013, overall smoking prevalence decreased, but remained over 43% among least educated women. Overweight and obesity increased in all demographic groups. Conclusions The findings suggest that only smoking, which has been the subject of changes in taxation, legislation and regulation, declined significantly, in all except the least educated women. In contrast, the prevalence of overweight and obesity, which has largely been addressed through awareness campaigns and voluntary actions by the food industry, increased markedly in all demographic sub-groups. So what? The findings show that comprehensive health promotion interventions, such as those for tobacco control, are successful (but may still be ineffective among less educated women). In contrast the measures to control population weight gain among young women have been futile so far.

Laser drilling has become an efficient method for precision drilling of versatile components. This work compares two hybrid optimization approaches for the determining the optimum process parameters which minimizes HAZ and hole circularity, and maximizes material removal rate in a Pulsed Nd:YAG laser micro-drilling of high carbon steel within existing resources. Pulse width, number of pulses, assist gas flow rate and its supply pressure are taken as the input process parameters for this study. The experimental results obtained from design of experiment are used in Fuzzy-TOPSIS methodology to determine the optimized parameters.

BACKGROUND:Frequent and severe vasomotor symptoms during menopause are linked with adverse health outcomes. Understanding modifiable lifestyle factors for the risk of vasomotor menopausal symptoms is important to guide preventive strategies. OBJECTIVE:We investigated the associations between body mass index and smoking, their joint effects with the risk of vasomotor symptoms, and whether the associations differed by menopausal stage. STUDY DESIGN:The International Collaboration for a Life Course Approach to Reproductive Health and Chronic Disease Events pooled data on 21,460 midlife women from 8 studies (median age, 50 years; interquartile range, 49-51 years) for the cross-sectional analysis. Four studies provided data for the prospective analysis (n=11,986). Multinomial logistic regression models with 4 categories of frequency/severity for the outcome of vasomotor symptoms were used to estimate relative risk ratios and 95% confidence intervals that were adjusted for within-study correlation and covariates. RESULTS:At baseline, nearly 60% of the women experienced vasomotor symptoms. One-half of them were overweight (30%) or obese (21%), and 17% were current smokers. Cross-sectional analyses showed that a higher body mass index and smoking more cigarettes with longer duration and earlier initiation were all associated with more frequent or severe vasomotor symptoms. Never smokers who were obese had a 1.5-fold (relative risk ratio, 1.52; 95% confidence interval, 1.35-1.73) higher risk of often/severe vasomotor symptoms, compared with never smokers who were of normal-weight. Smoking strengthened the association because the risk of often/severe vasomotor symptoms was much greater among smokers who were obese (relative risk ratio, 3.02; 95% confidence interval, 2.41-3.78). However, smokers who quit at

Background: There is debate regarding whether the association between maternal depressive symptoms (MDS) and child outcomes is due to the timing or chronicity of symptoms. Objectives: To investigate whether critical periods, sensitive periods, or accumulation models provided the best explanation for the association between MDS and children's behaviour and development. Methods: Data on mothers (N = 892) were collected from 1996 to 2015 as part of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health, a prospective longitudinal epidemiological study. Data on children (N = 978, 2-12 years) were collected in 2016/17 as part of the Mothers and their Children's Health study. Mothers were categorised according to whether they reported MDS (scored ≥ 10 on the CESD-10) before pregnancy, during pregnancy, or in early childhood. Child outcomes were maternal-rated behaviour problems (Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire; SDQ) and teacher-rated development (Australian Early Development Census; AEDC). We used a structured life course approach to rigorously test critical period, sensitive period, and accumulation (ie chronicity) theories by comparing the fit of a series of models. Results: Most mothers did not report MDS at any time (69.2%), 16.9% reported MDS before pregnancy, 13.2% during pregnancy, and 16.5% in early childhood. High/very high total behaviour problems were reported for 7.0% of children, and developmental vulnerability/risk was reported for 15.9% for social competence and 15.7% for emotional maturity. An accumulation model was the best fit, with each period of MDS associated with an increase of 1.71 points (95% CI 1.26, 2.17) on the SDQ and decreases of 0.31 (95% CI −0.50, −0.12) and 0.29 points (95% CI −0.49, −0.08) on AEDC social competence and emotional maturity, respectively. Conclusions: Chronic MDS were associated with poorer child outcomes than MDS at any single time. Sensitive and critical period models were not supported. This suggests chronicity of symptoms may be more important than timing.

Background: Early menopause is linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease mortality; however, the association between early menopause and incidence and timing of cardiovascular disease is unclear. We aimed to assess the associations between age at natural menopause and incidence and timing of cardiovascular disease. Methods: We harmonised and pooled individual-level data from 15 observational studies done across five countries and regions (Australia, Scandinavia, the USA, Japan, and the UK) between 1946 and 2013. Women who had reported their menopause status, age at natural menopause (if postmenopausal), and cardiovascular disease status (including coronary heart disease and stroke) were included. We excluded women who had hysterectomy or oophorectomy and women who did not report their age at menopause. The primary endpoint of this study was the occurrence of first non-fatal cardiovascular disease, defined as a composite outcome of incident coronary heart disease (including heart attack and angina) or stroke (including ischaemic stroke or haemorrhagic stroke). We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate multivariate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% CIs for the associations between age at menopause and incident cardiovascular disease event. We also adjusted the model to account for smoking status, menopausal hormone therapy status, body-mass index, and education levels. Age at natural menopause was categorised as premenopausal or perimenopausal, younger than 40 years (premature menopause), 40–44 years (early menopause), 45–49 years (relatively early), 50–51 years (reference category), 52–54 years (relatively late), and 55 years or older (late menopause). Findings: Overall, 301 438 women were included in our analysis. Of these 301 438 women, 12 962 (4·3%) had a first non-fatal cardiovascular disease event after menopause, of whom 9369 (3·1%) had coronary heart disease and 4338 (1·4%) had strokes. Compared with women who had menopause at age 50–51 years, the risk of cardiovascular disease was higher in women who had premature menopause (age

BackgroundWomen’s physical and mental health are strongly inter-related and may influence patterns of contraceptive use. We examined the longitudinal associations between young women’s physical and mental health and method of contraceptive use over a 5-year period.MethodsData from 4952 young women (≤27 years) participating in the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health who completed four self-reported surveys between 2013 and 2017 were analysed. Women’s contraceptive use was categorised as: contraceptive pill/oral contraceptives, long-acting reversible contraception (LARC), condom, other methods and none. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the longitudinal associations between women’s physical and mental health and method of contraception.ResultsOver the 5-year period the percentage of pill users decreased from 60% (95% CI 58% to 61%) to 41% (95% CI 39% to 42%) and LARC users increased from 13% (95% CI 12% to 14%) to 21% (95% CI 20% to 22%) as did non-users from 9% (95% CI 8% to 9%) to 17% (95% CI 16% to 18%). Compared with women using the pill, women who used LARCs were more likely to be overweight (OR 1.34; 95% CI 1.17 to 1.53) and obese (OR 1.84; 95% CI 1.55 to 2.19), current smokers (OR 1.45; 95% CI 1.23 to 1.71) and reported fair or poor general health (OR 1.50; 95% CI 1.28 to 1.76) and very high levels of psychological distress (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.24 to 1.76). Similar results were also found among women who used condoms or no contraception.ConclusionsFindings suggest that obesity, smoking and poor physical and mental health play an important role in young women’s contraceptive use.

STUDY QUESTION Is there an association between adverse childhood experiences (ACE) and the risk of miscarriage in the general population? SUMMARY ANSWER Specific ACE as well as the summary ACE score were associated with an increased risk of single and recurrent miscarriages. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY There is scarce evidence on the association between ACE and miscarriage risk. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION We conducted a retrospective national cohort study. The sample consisted of 2795 women aged 55–89 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Our study was population-based and included women who participated in the ELSA Life History Interview in 2007. We estimated multinomial logistic regression models of the associations of the summary ACE score and eight individual ACE variables (pertaining to physical and sexual abuse, family dysfunction and experiences of living in residential care or with foster parents) with self-reported miscarriage (0, 1, ≥2 miscarriages). MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Five hundred and fifty-three women (19.8% of our sample) had experienced at least one miscarriage in their lifetime. Compared with women with no ACE, women with ≥3 ACE were two times more likely to experience a single miscarriage in their lifetime (relative risk ratio 2.00, 95% CI 1.25–3.22) and more than three times more likely to experience recurrent miscarriages (≥2 miscarriages) (relative risk ratio 3.10, 95% CI 1.63, 5.89) after adjustment for birth cohort, age at menarche and childhood socioeconomic position. Childhood experiences of physical and sexual abuse were individually associated with increased risk of miscarriage. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION Given the magnitude of the observed associations, their biological plausibility, temporal order and consistency with evidence suggesting a positive association between ACE and adverse reproductive outcomes, it is unlikely that our findings are spurious. Nevertheless, the observed associations should not be interpreted as causal as our study was observational and potentially susceptible to bias arising from unaccounted confounders. Non-response and ensuing selection bias may have also biased our findings. Retrospectively measured ACE are known to be susceptible to underreporting. Our study may have misclassified cases of ACE and possibly underestimated the magnitude of the association between ACE and the risk of miscarriage. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS Our study highlights experiences of psychosocial adversity in childhood as a potential risk factor for single and recurrent miscarriages. Our findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of childhood trauma in miscarriage and add an important life course dimension to the study of miscarriage. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) ELSA is currently funded by the National Institute on Aging in USA (R01AG017644) and a consortium of UK government departments coordinated by the National Institute for Health Research. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the article. The authors have no actual or potential competing financial interests to disclose.

Background Several theoretical life course models (critical period, sensitive period, accumulation) have been proposed, all of which may be relevant for understanding of when and how socioeconomic inequalities in health arise. Our aim was to investigate whether the effect of socio-economic position on all-cause mortality accumulates over the life course or if some periods of the life course are more important than others. Methods We followed 3,951 men and 3,601 women born in Uppsala, Sweden, in 1915–1929 with known SEP at birth (age 0), during childhood (10 years), in adulthood (30–45 years) and in later life (50–65 years) from September 1980 until emigration, death, or until December 2010. Data on parents’, partner’s and own occupational status (a measure of SEP), marital status, deaths and emigrations were abstracted from birth records, parish records, school records, Census 1930 and routine registers. From the eligible sample who were alive and living in Sweden in September 1980 (n=11,336), 67% (n=7552) had SEP recorded at all four-time points. We compared a set of nested Cox proportional regression models, each corresponding to a specific life course model (critical, sensitive and accumulation models), to a fully saturated model, to ascertain which model best describes the relationship between SEP and mortality. An alternative analysis employed latent class trajectories of SEP across same four time points. Analyses were stratified by gender. Results The effect of SEP across the life course on all-cause mortality was best described by the sensitive period model in both genders with social advantage in later life (ages 50–65 years) having the largest protective effect (HR 0.80, 95%CI 0.73–0.87 in men and HR 0.82, 95%CI 0.75–0.91 in women). A linear accumulation model also provided a good fit of the data for women. Only 5% and 12% of individuals experienced downward and upward social mobility during childhood respectively. The sensitive period model indicated that being advantaged at age 10 appeared to be more protective than at birth for males, while there was no difference between SEP at birth and age 10 in their effect on all-cause mortality among women. Additional adjustments for marital status did not affect the results appreciably and main results were also consistent with analyses that employed latent class trajectories of SEP. Conclusion Our results lead to a conclusion that an individual’s socio-economic position over the life course, including during early childhood does affect their risk of all-cause mortality in later life. These findings indicate that improvements in social conditions at any stage of the life course can contribute to reducing mortality at old age.

The Λ (Λ[over ¯]) hyperon polarization along the beam direction has been measured in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV, for the first time in heavy-ion collisions. The polarization dependence on the hyperons' emission angle relative to the elliptic flow plane exhibits a second harmonic sine modulation, indicating a quadrupole pattern of the vorticity component along the beam direction, expected due to elliptic flow. The polarization is found to increase in more peripheral collisions, and shows no strong transverse momentum (p_{T}) dependence at p_{T} greater than 1 GeV/c. The magnitude of the signal is about 5 times smaller than those predicted by hydrodynamic and multiphase transport models; the observed phase of the emission angle dependence is also opposite to these model predictions. In contrast, the kinematic vorticity calculations in the blast-wave model tuned to reproduce particle spectra, elliptic flow, and the azimuthal dependence of the Gaussian source radii measured with the Hanbury Brown-Twiss intensity interferometry technique reproduce well the modulation phase measured in the data and capture the centrality and transverse momentum dependence of the polarization signal.

STUDY QUESTION Do diet, physical activity and contraceptive use change after receiving a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)? SUMMARY ANSWER Using longitudinal data 12 months apart, young women newly diagnosed with PCOS were more likely to stop using contraception but did not change their physical activity or vegetable intake. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Diagnostic criteria for PCOS have widened to capture more women, despite limited evidence of the benefits and harms. Possible benefits of a PCOS diagnosis are that it may help women with family planning and motivate them to implement healthy lifestyle changes to reduce the reproductive, metabolic and cardiovascular risks associated with PCOS. However, there are no empirical studies investigating how women respond to a diagnosis of PCOS with respect to their health behaviour, and longitudinal population-based studies are lacking. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION This is a longitudinal analysis of two waves of data collected 12 months apart from the cohort born 1989–1995 in the Australian Longitudinal Survey on Women’s Health, a population-based cohort study. Women in this cohort were first surveyed in 2012-2013, aged 18-23 years. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Women who responded to the 2014 survey (aged 19–24, n = 11 344) and 2015 survey (aged 20–25, n = 8961) were included. Using logistic regression, multinomial logistic regression and linear regression, change in vegetable intake, physical activity and contraceptive use were compared for women newly diagnosed with PCOS to women not reporting a diagnosis of PCOS. Changes in psychological distress and BMI were also examined. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Young women reporting a new diagnosis of PCOS were no more likely to increase their vegetable intake or physical activity than women not reporting a PCOS diagnosis. Women newly diagnosed with PCOS were 3.4 times more likely to stop using contraception during the 12-month study period than women without PCOS (14% versus 4%, 95% CI = 2.3 to 5.1, P LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION All data was self-reported including PCOS diagnosis, assessment of diet quality was limited to vegetable intake only. The exact timing of diagnosis within the 12-month period and whether the women intended to conceive are unknown. The number of women reporting a new diagnosis of PCOS was also relatively small. WIDER IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS These findings suggest that a diagnosis of PCOS may not produce short-term benefits by way of improving health behaviour. The observed reduction in contraception use suggests some women may be at increased risk of unplanned pregnancies, highlighting the importance of counselling about contraceptive needs. Both potential benefits and harms must be considered when determining the appropriateness of a PCOS diagnosis. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING interest(s) The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health. BWM reports consultancy for ObsEva, Merck, Merck KGaA and Guerbet. No further competing interests exist. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER N/A

We report the first measurement of rapidity-odd directed flow (v_{1}) for D^{0} and D^{0}[over ¯] mesons at midrapidity (|y|0.8) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV using the STAR detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. In 10-80% Au+Au collisions, the slope of the v_{1} rapidity dependence (dv_{1}/dy), averaged over D^{0} and D^{0}[over ¯] mesons, is -0.080±0.017(stat)±0.016(syst) for transverse momentum p_{T} above 1.5 GeV/c. The absolute value of D^{0} meson dv_{1}/dy is about 25 times larger than that for charged kaons, with 3.4σ significance. These data give a unique insight into the initial tilt of the produced matter, and offer constraints on the geometric and transport parameters of the hot QCD medium created in relativistic heavy-ion collisions.

We report on the first measurements of J/ψ production at very low transverse momentum (p_{T}0.2 GeV/c) in hadronic Au+Au collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=200 GeV and U+U collisions at sqrt[s_{NN}]=193 GeV. Remarkably, the inferred nuclear modification factor of J/ψ at midrapidity in Au+Au (U+U) collisions reaches about 24 (52) for p_{T}0.05 GeV/c in the 60%-80% collision centrality class. This noteworthy enhancement cannot be explained by hadronic production accompanied by cold and hot medium effects. In addition, the dN/dt distribution of J/ψ for the very low p_{T} range is presented for the first time. The distribution is consistent with that expected from the Au nucleus and shows a hint of interference. Comparison of the measurements to theoretical calculations of coherent production shows that the excess yield can be described reasonably well and reveals a partial disruption of coherent production in semicentral collisions, perhaps due to the violent hadronic interactions. Incorporating theoretical calculations, the results strongly suggest that the dramatic enhancement of J/ψ yield observed at extremely low p_{T} originates from coherent photon-nucleus interactions. In particular, coherently produced J/ψ's in violent hadronic collisions may provide a novel probe of the quark-gluon plasma.

Automatic transmission designs in automotive powertrains are expected to continue present trends towards higher numbers of transmission gear ratios with wider ratio spreads and smaller ratio steps, owing to their ability to improve fuel economy, while simultaneously satisfying stringent emissions norms. They are also expected to exhibit increased frequency of gearshifting, which requires re-evaluation of various aspects of the control of gearshifts. It is recognized here that clutch-to-clutch gearshift efficiency and quality (comfort) can be improved by minimizing the energy dissipated by the (oncoming) clutch during the speed synchronization (inertia) phase of a power-on upshift, which in turn would require control of both the engine and the (oncoming) clutch during the inertia phase. In order to achieve this control objective in a robust manner, it is proposed that both the engine and the (oncoming) clutch be under feedback control, unlike current practice in transmission control design where only the clutch is under feedback control. Gearshift control is particularly challenging for a 1–2 power-on upshift since the powertrain response is nonlinear due to the open torque converter clutch and, furthermore, a large ratio change is involved. The linear parameter varying (LPV) control technique is used here to design a gain-scheduled observer-based state feedback controller. It is shown through tests on a powertrain simulation that the resulting control solution is effective in controlling the inertia phase of gearshifts at different throttle openings, and is also robust to realistic modeling errors.

STUDY QUESTION Is age at natural menopause (ANM) associated with the development of multiple chronic conditions (multimorbidity) in postmenopausal life? SUMMARY ANSWER Women with premature menopause experience increased odds of developing individual chronic conditions and multimorbidity. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY ANM is considered as a marker of age-related morbidity and mortality in postmenopausal life. Multimorbidity affects more than 60% of older women and has been recognized as the most common ‘chronic condition’. Few studies have examined the association between ANM and the development of multimorbidity. STUDY DESIGN, SIZE, DURATION A prospective national cohort study of 11 258 Australian women, aged 45–50 years in 1996. Women were followed from 1996 to 2016. PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS Information about ANM and 11 chronic conditions (diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, osteoporosis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, anxiety and breast cancer) were estimated approximately every 3 years. Multimorbidity is defined as 2 or more of these 11 conditions. Generalized estimating equations were used to link the categorical ANM with individual chronic conditions and multimorbidity. MAIN RESULTS AND THE ROLE OF CHANCE Among 5107 women reporting ANM, 2.3% experienced premature menopause (≤40 years) and 55.1% developed multimorbidity. Compared with women who experienced menopause at age 50–51 years, women with premature menopause had twice the odds of experiencing multimorbidity by age 60 (OR = 1.98, 95% CI 1.31 to 2.98) and three times the odds of developing multimorbidity in their 60s (OR = 3.03, 95% CI 1.62 to 5.64). Women with premature menopause also experienced higher incidence of most individual chronic conditions. LIMITATIONS, REASONS FOR CAUTION The main limitation of this study was the use of self-reported data, but with repeated assessments from prospective study design and the validity of most of the chronic conditions from hospital data, the potential for non-differential misclassification is minimized. WIDE IMPLICATIONS OF THE FINDINGS To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the association of premature menopause and development of multimorbidity in a larger national cohort of mid-aged women. Health professionals should consider comprehensive screening and assessment of risk factors for multimorbidity when treating women who experienced premature menopause. STUDY FUNDING/COMPETING INTEREST(S) The Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health was supported by the Australian Government Department of Health. X.X. is funded by an International Postgraduate Research Scholarship from the Australian government and a UQ Centennial Scholarship from The University of Queensland. G.D.M. is supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellowship (APP1121844). None of the authors has any conflicts of interest to declare.

Multiple chronic physical conditions (physical multimorbidity) are common in people with depression. This study investigated the association between elevated depressive symptoms and the development and progression of physical multimorbidity in middle-aged women. A total of 7,407 women aged 45-50 years were followed up from 1996 to 2016. These women were free from diagnosed depression or chronic physical conditions at baseline. Data on depressive symptoms and chronic physical conditions were updated every 3 years, with depressive symptoms assessed using the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression scale. A 1-to-1 matched cohort analysis was conducted to compare the cumulative incidence and odds of physical multimorbidity between women with (depressed cohort) and women without (nondepressed cohort) elevated depressive symptoms, adjusted for sociodemographic and health behavioral factors. Over 20 years of follow-up, 3,199 women (43.2%) reported elevated depressive symptoms. Of these, 2,035 (63.6%) developed physical multimorbidity. After the onset of elevated depressive symptoms, women had a more than 4-fold increase in cumulative incidence of multimorbidity. Compared with the nondepressed cohort, the odds of the depressed cohort developing multimorbidity before the onset of depressive symptoms was 1.81 (95% confidence interval = 1.49, 2.20). After the onset of depressive symptoms, the odds ratio was 2.38 (95% confidence interval = 2.20, 2.57). Elevated depressive symptoms were common in women's midlife. Women with elevated depressive symptoms had increased odds of physical multimorbidity both before and after the onset of depressive symptoms. These findings support the emerging integrated management and prevention of mental and physical multimorbidity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).