Lower lung function associates with cessation of menstruation: UK Biobank data

Little is known about the effect of cessation of menstruation on lung function. The aims of the study were to examine the association of lung function with natural and surgical cessation of menstruation, and assess whether lower lung function is associated with earlier age at cessation of menstruation. The study was performed in 141,076 women from the UK Biobank, who had provided acceptable and reproducible spirometry measurements and information on menstrual status. The associations of lung function [FVC, FEV1, spirometric restriction (FVC<LLN), airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC<LLN)] with cessation of menstruation and age at cessation of menstruation were assessed using regression analysis. Women who had natural cessation of menstruation showed a lower FVC (-42mL; 95%CI - 53,- 30)and FEV1 (-34mL/s; 95%CI -43,-24) and higher risk of spirometric restriction (adjOR=1.27; 95%CI 1.18-1.37) than women still menstruating. These associations were stronger in women who had had a hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy. The earlier the natural cessation of menstruation, the lower thelung function. There was no clear association of lung function with age at hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy. Airflow obstruction was not associated with cessation of menstruation. Lower lung function associates with cessation of menstruation, especially if it occurs early in life

High-pTp_T ψψ\psi\psi production as signals for Double Parton scattering at hadron colliders

We present an analysis of the \psi\psi production from double parton (DP) sacttering and single parton (SP) scattering in the large p_T region via color-octet gluon fragmentation. We find that at the Tevatron the DP \psi\psi production is at the edge of the detectability at present, and at the LHC the DP cross section will dominate over the SP cross section in the lower p_T(min) region (i.e., p_T(min)<7GeV). We also conclude that the color-octet mechanism is of crucial importance to the double j/psi production at high energy hadron colliders.Comment: Revtex, 12 pages, 3 Postscript figure

Vermont Folklife Center: Digital Preservation Storage Planning

ReportIn spring 2017 AVPreserve (AVP) consultant Bertram Lyons was supported by the AFS Consultancy and Professional Development Program to work with the Vermont Folklife Center (VFC). The goals of the NEA-funded project focused on an assessment of VFC’s digital preservation procedures and hardware, and the formulation of recommendations for improving their efforts and upgrading storage systems. On April 10–11, 2017 Lyons traveled to Middlebury and met with Kolovos for the on-site portion of the consultancy. During this visit Lyons gathered data to assist VFC with both the NEA-funded aspects of his work and the AFS-supported project. Lyons conducted additional work off site over the course of the next month

Soft Photoproduction Physics

Several topics of interest in soft photoproduction physics are discussed. These include jet universality issues (particle flavour composition), the subdivision into event classes, the buildup of the total photoproduction cross section and the effects of multiple interactions.Comment: 10 pages, LaTeX2e, no figures, to appear in the proceedings of the Durham Workshop on HERA Physics, ``Proton, Photon and Pomeron Structure'', 17--23 September 1995, Durham, U.

Peer Learning Leadership Working Group Report

Repor

A Regional Public Folklore Association in Flux: The Association of Western States Folklorists Plans its Future

Conference reportThe 2015 Association of Western States Folklorists (AWSF) conference in Portland, Oregon, was an opportunity for folklorists from around the West to reconnect and network. The twenty-one attendees included retired folklorists, state folklorists, independent folklorists, students, and professionals from related disciplines. The diversity of perspective was helpful as AWSF looks to the future. The purpose of the 2015 meeting was to reevaluate and redirect the focus of the association. By the end of the meeting, everyone felt as if AWSF is on the right track to becoming a group that will serve the needs of its members while remaining a reason to gather once a year

Strangeness and Quark Gluon Plasma

A brief summary of strangeness mile stones is followed by a chemical non-equilibrium statistical hadronization analysis of strangeness results at SPS and RHIC. Strange particle production in AA interactions at \sqrt{s_{NN}}\ge 8.6 GeV can be understood consistently as originating from the deconfined quark--gluon plasma in a sudden hadronization process. Onset of QGP formation as function of energy is placed in the beam energy interval 10--30A GeV/c. Strangeness anomalies at LHC are described.Comment: 30 pages including numerouse figures, tables. Opening Lecture: Strangeness and Quark Gluon Plasma -- what has been learned so far and where do we go at SQM2003, North Carolina, March 2003, submitted to J. Phys.

SERPINA1 methylation and lung function in tobacco-smoke exposed European children and adults: a meta-analysis of ALEC population-based cohorts

Background The pathophysiological role of SERPINA1 in respiratory health may be more strongly determined by the regulation of its expression than by common genetic variants. A family based study of predominantly smoking adults found methylation at two Cytosine-phosphate-Guanine sites (CpGs) in SERPINA1 gene to be associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk. The objective of this study was to confirm the association of lung function with SERPINA1 methylation in general population samples by testing a comprehensive set of CpGs in the SERPINA gene cluster. We considered lung function level and decline in adult smokers from three European population-based cohorts and lung function level and growth in tobacco-smoke exposed children from a birth cohort. Methods DNA methylation using Illumina Infinium Human Methylation 450 k and EPIC beadchips and lung function were measured at two time points in 1076 SAPALDIA, ECRHS and NFBC adult cohort participants and 259 ALSPAC children. Associations of methylation at 119 CpG sites in the SERPINA gene cluster (PP4R4-SERPINA13P) with lung functions and circulating alpha-1-antitripsin (AAT) were assessed using multivariable cross-sectional and longitudinal regression models. Results Methylation at cg08257009 in the SERPINA gene cluster, located 32 kb downstream of SERPINA1, not annotated to a gene, was associated with FEV1/FVC at the Bonferroni corrected level in adults, but not in children. None of the methylation signals in the SERPINA1 gene showed associations with lung function after correcting for multiple testing. Conclusions The results do not support a role of SERPINA1 gene methylation as determinant of lung function across the life course in the tobacco smoke exposed general population exposed

Resolved Photon Processes

We review the present level of knowledge of the hadronic structure of the photon, as revealed in interactions involving quarks and gluons ``in" the photon. The concept of photon structure functions is introduced in the description of deep--inelastic $e \gamma$ scattering, and existing parametrizations of the parton densities in the photon are reviewed. We then turn to hard \gamp\ and \gaga\ collisions, where we treat the production of jets, heavy quarks, hard (direct) photons, \jpsi\ mesons, and lepton pairs. We also comment on issues that go beyond perturbation theory, including recent attempts at a comprehensive description of both hard and soft \gamp\ and \gaga\ interactions. We conclude with a list of open problems.Comment: LaTeX with equation.sty, 85 pages, 29 figures (not included). A complete PS file of the paper, including figures, can be obtained via anonymous ftp from ftp://phenom.physics.wisc.edu/pub/preprints/1995/madph-95-898.ps.