Sun Exposure over a Lifetime in Australian Adults from Latitudinally Diverse Regions

Spatio‐temporal patterns in sun exposure underlie variations in skin cancer incidence and vitamin D deficiency, indicate effectiveness of sun protection programs and provide insights into future health risks. From 558 adults across four regions of Australia (Brisbane (27°S), Newcastle (33°S), Geelong and the Western Districts of Victoria (37°S) and Tasmania (43°S)), we collected: self‐report data on time‐in‐the‐sun from age 6 years; natural skin color and ethnicity; silicone skin casts (for cumulative skin damage); and serum for vitamin D status. Ambient ultraviolet radiation (UVR) at the location of residence, with time‐in‐the‐sun, was used to calculate a “UVR dose” for each year of life. Individuals maintained their ranking compared to their peers for time‐in‐the‐sun in summer compared to winter and across ages (Spearman rho 0.24–0.84, all P < 0.001). Time‐in‐the‐sun decreased with age in all birth cohorts, and over calendar time. Summer time‐in‐the‐sun increased with increasing latitude (P < 0.001). Seasonal variation in vitamin D status had greater amplitude and vitamin D deficiency increased with increasing latitude. Temporal patterns are consistent with effectiveness of sun protection programs. Higher relative time‐in‐the‐sun persists from childhood through adulthood. Lower summer time‐in‐the‐sun in the warmest location may have implications for predictions of UVR‐related health risks of climate change.     

Evaluation of lipid peroxidation inhibition and free radical scavenging abilities of 5,6,7-trimethoxy dihydroflavonols

Four naturally rare 5,6,7-trimethoxy-2,3-cis-dihydroflavonols(3-6) and two 5,6,7-trimethoxy-2,3-trans-dihydroflavonols(7-8) were designed and synthesized.Their antioxidative properties were evaluated by way of examining their scavenging capacities towards DPPH and O_2~(·-) free radicals,as well as by measuring their inhibitory ability against LPO.Both the 2,3-trans and the 2,3- cis conformers exhibited certain quenching abilities to DPPH and O_2~(·-) radicals,while most of the synthetic dihydroflavonols ...     

Preparative isolation and characterization of some minor impurities of astaxanthin by high-performance liquid chromatography

A simple and rapid preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method has been developed to isolate and characterize some minor impurities of astaxanthin using a normal-phase Lichrosorb silica column with n-hexane-acetone-tetrahydrofuran (90:2:8, v/v/v) as mobile-phase and detection at 475 nm. The isolated impurities were characterized as astacene, dehydro astacene and apoastaxanthinal by UV-vis, ESI-MS, 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and the molecular structures were assigned. The impurities collected using the developed conditions were over 98% pure.     

Observation of the effects of radially sheared electric fields on the suppression of turbulent vortex structures and the associated transverse loss in GAMMA 10

Vortexlike turbulent structures in hot-ion mode plasmas with several keV are observed in the case with a radially produced weak shear of electric fields E(r). However, a strong E(r) shear formation due to a high ion-confining potential phi(c) production clears up these vortices together with plasma-confinement improvement and disappearance of both drift-wave and turbulencelike Fourier spectral signals. These findings are based on three-time progress in phi(c) in comparison to phi(c) attained 1992-2002. The significant advance of phi(c) is well extended in line with proposed potential-formation physics scalings.     

Hydrothermal Synthesis and Characterization of a Novel Two-dimensional Framework Materials Constructed from Polyoxometalate and Coordination Groups: [H_2Mo_(5.5)V_(10.5)O_(40)(PO_4)][Cu(en)_2]_4·7H_2O

IntroductionPolyoxometalatesarewidelystudiedfortheirin terestingapplicationsincatalysis ,electronicconduc tivity ,magnetism ,nonlinearopticsandmedicine[1— 4 ] .Whilethemechanismofthesynthesisofpolyoxometalatesremainselusiveandisoftende scribedasself assembly ,thereseemstobeanincreas inguseofthecombinationofthehydrothermalmethodandthestructure directingtemplate .There searchwiththismethodhasdemonstratedthatanum beroftransitionmetaloxides ,typicallyreducedmolybdenumoxides ,mixedvalancevanadiumo…     

STUDY ON THE BLOOD FAT REGULATION OF THE FUCOIDA-GALACTOSAN SULFATE (FGS) FROM LAMINARIA JAPONICA

1. INTRODUCTION Blood fat primarily contains cholesterol, cholesterol ester, phosphatide, triglyceride and free fatty acid in serum of human being and mammalian. Under physiological conditions, the lipids transport in the form of lipoproteins linked with the proteins. Except for the free fatty acid linked with albumin, the other lipids are linked with the globular proteins into high-density lipoproteins (HDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL), very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and so…     

Down syndrome and parity

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effect of parity on Down syndrome (DS). METHODS: The study was conducted on data from Northeast Italy (NEI) (1981-1996) and Sicily (ISMAC) (1991-1996) Congenital Malformation Registries. In these areas, all DS births are recorded and confirmed by chromosomal analysis; the NEI Registry also registers pregnancy terminations (TOPs) after prenatal diagnosis of DS. In order to estimate the effect of parity independently of the mother's age and to reduce the truncation effect, different age classes and three classes of parity (1, 2-4, >4) were defined. RESULTS: The study sample consisted of 1,088 consecutive newborns and 169 consecutive fetuses affected by DS. In both NEI and ISMAC samples, we found a significantly increased risk of having a DS child for multiparas > or =35 years of age. In the NEI sample, the inclusion of TOP data did not seem to modify this finding. In the ISMAC sample, a significantly reduced risk for primiparas was found at all ages. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm a higher risk of having a DS child in women with parity >4. As this effect is evident only in women > or =35 years age, its practical impact is null because these women are usually offered prenatal diagnosis in any case. However, the mechanisms involved, if this association is true, are very intriguing and the observation should stimulate scientific studies allowing a better knowledge of the nondisjunction mechanism.     

A study of the reactions γp→ωp and γp→ωp and γp→ωΔ+

The differential and total corss sections and the decay density matrix elements have been measured for the reactions, γp→ωp and γp→ωΔ⁺ (1232) in the photon energy range 2.8 to 4.8 GeV. The total cross sections for ωΔ⁺ (1232) photo-production are found to be slightly larger than those for elastic ω photo-production in this energy range. The data are compared to the predictions of a theoretical model and the contributing exchange mechanics are discussed.     

Surface and interior strain fileds measured by multiple-embedded-grid moiré and strain gages

Surface and interior straini fields in thick specimens of polycarbonate have been measured by an embedded-multiple-grid moiré method. Interior gratings are photographed through intervening gratings. Coherent optical processing of grating records creates moiré fringe pattern. A correction procedure was developed to eliminate moiré errors caused by strain-induced gradients of refractive index. This procedure utilizes the refraction distribution as obtained from observation of a grating from opposite sides of a specimen. No measurements other than the normal moiré observations are required in order to find actual strains. The correction technique should be useful in refining the results obtained when other optical methods are used in three-dimensional situations. The method is utilized to determine strains on the surfaces and at the mid-and quarter-planes of thick compact tension specimens. Results obtained, after correction, agree with measurements made with embedded strain gages. Maximum tensile strain occurs on the midplane. The findings are rationalized by consideration of thickness and proximity to the crack tip.