A comparison by milk feeding method of the nutrient intake of a cohort of Australian toddlers

Breastfeeding is recommended beyond 12 months of age, but little is known about the contribution of breastmilk and infant formula to the nutritional intake of toddlers as they transition to a family diet in the second year of life. This study is a cross-sectional analysis of data collected from a birth cohort study in Adelaide, Australia. Dietary intake data were collected when children were approximately 1 year of age by an interviewer-administered multi-pass 24 h recall and a mother-completed 2 days food diary. Children were categorized according to their milk feeding method, i.e., breastmilk, infant formula, combination or other, and their nutrient intakes compared with recommended nutrient reference values. Complete data were available for 832 children, of which 714 had plausible energy intakes. Breastmilk and formula made a substantial contribution to the nutrient intake of those toddlers, contributing 28% and 34% of total energy, and 16% and 26% of protein intake, respectively when not drunk in combination. In general, Australian toddlers transitioning to the family diet consumed nutritionally adequate diets, although almost one quarter of all children and half of breastfed children with plausible intakes had iron intakes below the estimated average requirement, placing them at risk of iron deficiency.Jane Scott, Kristina Davey, Ellen Ahwong, Gemma Devenish, Diep Ha and Loc D

An Empirical Investigation of Debt Contract Design: The Determinants of the Choice of Debt Terms in Eurobond Issues

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the determinants for the optimal choice of contract terms on Eurobonds issued by UK companies. We examine predictions of extant theories that associate the choice of debt features namely, maturity, call options, convertible options, and protective covenants to firm and market characteristics. Like in Correia (2003), a simultaneous equations approach is adopted to test the alternative use of contract features for mitigating debt-contracting costs. The evidence provides strong support to the prediction that both callable and short-term debt and convertible and debt with protective covenants are used as alternative control devises to mitigate agency costs. Further evidence suggests, however, that contrary to the fundamentals guiding the choice of maturity and callability structures, the use of conversion options and protective covenants in Eurobond contracts seems to be determined by equity agency costs rather than debt agency costs. Also, some support is found for the risk uncertainty theory underlying the use of convertibles and for liquidity risk arguments regarding the choice to include protective covenants.

The Fate of Binaries in the Galactic Center: The Mundane and the Exotic

The Galactic Center (GC) is dominated by the gravity of a super-massive black hole (SMBH), Sagittarius A$^*$, and is suspected to contain a sizable population of binary stars. Such binaries form hierarchical triples with the SMBH, undergoing Eccentric Kozai-Lidov (EKL) evolution, which can lead to high eccentricity excitations for the binary companions' mutual orbit. This effect can lead to stellar collisions or Roche-lobe crossings, as well as orbital shrinking due to tidal dissipation. In this work we investigate the dynamical and stellar evolution of such binary systems, especially with regards to the binaries' post-main-sequence evolution. We find that the majority of binaries (~75%) is eventually separated into single stars, while the remaining binaries (~25%) undergo phases of common-envelope evolution and/or stellar mergers. These objects can produce a number of different exotic outcomes, including rejuvenated stars, G2-like infrared-excess objects, stripped giant stars, Type Ia supernovae (SNe), cataclysmic variables (CVs), symbiotic binaries (SBs), or compact object binaries. We estimate that, within a sphere of 250 Mpc radius, about 7.5 to 15 Type Ia SNe per year should occur in galactic nuclei due to this mechanism, potentially detectable by ZTF and ASAS-SN. Likewise we estimate that, within a sphere of 1 Gpc$^3$ volume, about 10 to 20 compact object binaries form per year that could become gravitational wave sources. Based on results of EKL-driven compact object binary mergers in galactic nuclei by Hoang at al. (2018), this compact object binary formation rate translates to about 15 to 30 events per year detectable by Advanced LIGO.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figures, accepted by Ap

Information-Geometric Indicators of Chaos in Gaussian Models on Statistical Manifolds of Negative Ricci Curvature

A new information-geometric approach to chaotic dynamics on curved statistical manifolds based on Entropic Dynamics (ED) is proposed. It is shown that the hyperbolicity of a non-maximally symmetric 6N-dimensional statistical manifold M_{s} underlying an ED Gaussian model describing an arbitrary system of 3N degrees of freedom leads to linear information-geometric entropy growth and to exponential divergence of the Jacobi vector field intensity, quantum and classical features of chaos respectively.Comment: 8 pages, final version accepted for publicatio

Can chaotic quantum energy levels statistics be characterized using information geometry and inference methods?

In this paper, we review our novel information geometrodynamical approach to chaos (IGAC) on curved statistical manifolds and we emphasize the usefulness of our information-geometrodynamical entropy (IGE) as an indicator of chaoticity in a simple application. Furthermore, knowing that integrable and chaotic quantum antiferromagnetic Ising chains are characterized by asymptotic logarithmic and linear growths of their operator space entanglement entropies, respectively, we apply our IGAC to present an alternative characterization of such systems. Remarkably, we show that in the former case the IGE exhibits asymptotic logarithmic growth while in the latter case the IGE exhibits asymptotic linear growth. At this stage of its development, IGAC remains an ambitious unifying information-geometric theoretical construct for the study of chaotic dynamics with several unsolved problems. However, based on our recent findings, we believe it could provide an interesting, innovative and potentially powerful way to study and understand the very important and challenging problems of classical and quantum chaos.Comment: 21 page

Information Geometry of Quantum Entangled Gaussian Wave-Packets

Describing and understanding the essence of quantum entanglement and its connection to dynamical chaos is of great scientific interest. In this work, using information geometric (IG) techniques, we investigate the effects of micro-correlations on the evolution of maximal probability paths on statistical manifolds induced by systems whose microscopic degrees of freedom are Gaussian distributed. We use the statistical manifolds associated with correlated and non-correlated Gaussians to model the scattering induced quantum entanglement of two spinless, structureless, non-relativistic particles, the latter represented by minimum uncertainty Gaussian wave-packets. Knowing that the degree of entanglement is quantified by the purity P of the system, we express the purity for s-wave scattering in terms of the micro-correlation coefficient r - a quantity that parameterizes the correlated microscopic degrees of freedom of the system; thus establishing a connection between entanglement and micro-correlations. Moreover, the correlation coefficient r is readily expressed in terms of physical quantities involved in the scattering, the precise form of which is obtained via our IG approach. It is found that the entanglement duration can be controlled by the initial momentum p_{o}, momentum spread {\sigma}_{o} and r. Furthermore, we obtain exact expressions for the IG analogue of standard indicators of chaos such as the sectional curvatures, Jacobi field intensities and the Lyapunov exponents. We then present an analytical estimate of the information geometric entropy (IGE); a suitable measure that quantifies the complexity of geodesic paths on curved manifolds. Finally, we present concluding remarks addressing the usefulness of an IG characterization of both entanglement and complexity in quantum physics.Comment: 37 pages, 3 figure

Predicting live birth, preterm and low birth weight infant after in-vitro fertilisation: a prospective study of 144018 treatment cycles

Background The extent to which baseline couple characteristics affect the probability of live birth and adverse perinatal outcomes after assisted conception is unknown. Methods and Findings We utilised the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority database to examine the predictors of live birth in all in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles undertaken in the UK between 2003 and 2007 (n = 144,018). We examined the potential clinical utility of a validated model that pre-dated the introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as compared to a novel model. For those treatment cycles that resulted in a live singleton birth (n = 24,226), we determined the associates of potential risk factors with preterm birth, low birth weight, and macrosomia. The overall rate of at least one live birth was 23.4 per 100 cycles (95% confidence interval [CI] 23.2–23.7). In multivariable models the odds of at least one live birth decreased with increasing maternal age, increasing duration of infertility, a greater number of previously unsuccessful IVF treatments, use of own oocytes, necessity for a second or third treatment cycle, or if it was not unexplained infertility. The association of own versus donor oocyte with reduced odds of live birth strengthened with increasing age of the mother. A previous IVF live birth increased the odds of future success (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.46–1.71) more than that of a previous spontaneous live birth (OR 1.19, 95% CI 0.99–1.24); p-value for difference in estimate <0.001. Use of ICSI increased the odds of live birth, and male causes of infertility were associated with reduced odds of live birth only in couples who had not received ICSI. Prediction of live birth was feasible with moderate discrimination and excellent calibration; calibration was markedly improved in the novel compared to the established model. Preterm birth and low birth weight were increased if oocyte donation was required and ICSI was not used. Risk of macrosomia increased with advancing maternal age and a history of previous live births. Infertility due to cervical problems was associated with increased odds of all three outcomes—preterm birth, low birth weight, and macrosomia. Conclusions Pending external validation, our results show that couple- and treatment-specific factors can be used to provide infertile couples with an accurate assessment of whether they have low or high risk of a successful outcome following IVF

Search for Second-Generation Scalar Leptoquarks in ppˉ\bm{p \bar{p}} Collisions at s\sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

Results on a search for pair production of second generation scalar leptoquark in $p \bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}$=1.96 TeV are reported. The data analyzed were collected by the CDF detector during the 2002-2003 Tevatron Run II and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 198 pb$^{-1}$. Leptoquarks (LQ) are sought through their decay into (charged) leptons and quarks, with final state signatures represented by two muons and jets and one muon, large transverse missing energy and jets. We observe no evidence for $LQ$ production and derive 95% C.L. upper limits on the $LQ$ production cross sections as well as lower limits on their mass as a function of $\beta$, where $\beta$ is the branching fraction for $LQ \to \mu q$.Comment: 9 pages (3 author list) 5 figure