Publications

David H. Gracias, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Insung Choi, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA Marcus Week, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA George M. Whitesides, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Lactation is associated with a lower risk of subsequent cardiometabolic disease among parous women; however, the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Further, the potential protective effects of lactation on cardiometabolic risk markers at mid-life among high-risk women with past gestational diabetes (GDM) are not established. Using data from the Diabetes & Women’s Health Study (2012–2014; n = 577), a longitudinal cohort of women with past GDM from the Danish National Birth Cohort (1996–2002), we assessed associations of cumulative lactation duration (none, <6 months, 6–12 months, ≥12–24 months, and ≥24 months) with clinical metabolic outcomes (including type 2 diabetes [T2D], prediabetes, and obesity) and cardiometabolic biomarkers (including biomarkers of glucose/insulin metabolism, fasting lipids, inflammation, and anthropometrics) 9–16 years after enrollment when women were at mid-life. At follow-up, women were 43.9 years old (SD 4.6) with a BMI of 28.7 kg/m2 (IQR 24.6, 33.0); 28.6% of participants had T2D, 39.7% had prediabetes, and 41.2% had obesity. Relative risks (95% CI) of T2D for 0–6, 6–12, 12–24, and ≥24 months of cumulative lactation duration compared to none were 0.94 (0.62,1.44), 0.88 (0.59,1.32), 0.73 (0.46,1.17), and 0.71 (0.40,1.27), respectively. Cumulative lactation duration was not significantly associated with any other clinical outcome or continuous biomarker. In this high-risk cohort of middle-aged women with past GDM, T2D, prediabetes, and obesity were common at follow-up, but not associated with history of cumulative lactation duration 9–16 years after the index pregnancy. Further studies in diverse populations among women at mid-age are needed to understand associations of breastfeeding with T2D.

The subgap excitations known as Andreev levels govern the low-energy physics of hybrid superconductor-semiconductor nanostructures, and lie at the origin of topological superconductivity. A quantitative understanding of their scaling with respect to relevant parameters is, however, still limited. Here, the authors address this issue for the prototypical case of a quantum dot coupled to a superconductor. Experimentally, the authors demonstrate the ability to controllably tune the hybridization of the dot and the superconductor. In addition, they develop a methodology to reliably extract the relevant parameters by numerically adjusting the Anderson model to the experimental data. As a result, they carefully study the scaling of Andreev levels within the parameter space and obtain an experimental phase diagram of the system. Their results show an impressive quantitative agreement with the theory.

Abstract : Predictions of large amplitude roll motions and capsize events have proven to be difficult and include large uncertainty. One of the reasons for this is a lack of knowledge of resultant forces and moments for large roll angles. Currently, the equations used by numerical models to predict forces and moments due to roll motion are based on experimental data performed within a small range of roll amplitudes. A data set of forces and moments is necessary to verify that the model predictions are accurate in the upper ranges, or to develop new models to predict the forces and moments for these larger roll amplitudes. In 2005, the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division, tested NSWC Model 5613, a tumblehome hullform, with the primary objective of obtaining model scale constrained seakeeping results to provide information necessary to perform verification of surge, sway, heave forces and motions, and roll, pitch, and yaw moments and motions acting on a surface combatant hull during large amplitude motions and capsize events. This report describes the testing and the resultant acquired data and begins to establish a database defining non-linear forces and moments associated with large amplitude motions and capsize events.

Hypertension affects more than one billion people worldwide. Here we identify 113 novel loci, reporting a total of 2,103 independent genetic signals (P < 5 × 10-8) from the largest single-stage blood pressure (BP) genome-wide association study to date (n = 1,028,980 European individuals). These associations explain more than 60% of single nucleotide polymorphism-based BP heritability. Comparing top versus bottom deciles of polygenic risk scores (PRSs) reveals clinically meaningful differences in BP (16.9 mmHg systolic BP, 95% CI, 15.5-18.2 mmHg, P = 2.22 × 10-126) and more than a sevenfold higher odds of hypertension risk (odds ratio, 7.33; 95% CI, 5.54-9.70; P = 4.13 × 10-44) in an independent dataset. Adding PRS into hypertension-prediction models increased the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) from 0.791 (95% CI, 0.781-0.801) to 0.826 (95% CI, 0.817-0.836, ∆AUROC, 0.035, P = 1.98 × 10-34). We compare the 2,103 loci results in non-European ancestries and show significant PRS associations in a large African-American sample. Secondary analyses implicate 500 genes previously unreported for BP. Our study highlights the role of increasingly large genomic studies for precision health research.

Der gezeigte seesternförmige …︁ …︁ Greifer nutzt in eine Elastomerstruktur eingebettete pneumatische Netzwerke, um eine lebende, betäubte Maus aufzuheben, ohne ihr Schaden zuzufügen. In der Zuschrift auf S. 1930 ff. schildern G. M. Whitesides et. al. den pneumatischen Antrieb von Elastomerstrukturen, wie sie in dieser Art von Geräten und in weichen Robotern genutzt werden, die einzigartig nützlich bei der Handhabung zerbrechlicher Objekte (wie der Maus oder eines rohen Eis) sein könnten. Kohlenhydrat-Antigene Das Tn-Antigen ist ein abnormes O-Glycan, das bei Krebs und anderen Erkrankungen auftritt. R. D. Cummings et al. fassen in ihrem Aufsatz auf S. 1808 ff. die komplexen biologischen und pathophysiologischen Eigenschaften dieser einfachen Struktureinheit zusammen.1 Brennstoffzellen In ihrer Zuschrift auf S. 1832 ff. berichten Z. P. Shao und Mitarbeiter über die Erzeugung von Elektrizität und Synthesegas aus Methan in einer Einkammer-Festkörperbrennstoffzelle, wobei Emissionen vermieden werden.1 Gasförmige Kohlensäure In der Zuschrift auf S. 1981 ff. stellen H. Grothe, T. Loerting et al. die IR-Spektren von aus der Gasphase abgefangenen Kohlensäuremolekülen vor. Diese Daten sind nützlich für die Identifizierung gasförmiger Kohlensäure im Weltraum.1

We present a framework within which to evaluate and compare computational methods to solve elliptic partial differential equations. We then report on the results of comparisons of some classical methods as well as a new one presented here. Our main motivation is the belief that the standard finite difference methods are almost always inferior for solving elliptic problems and our results are strong evidence that this is true. The superior methods are higher order (fourth or more instead of second) and we describe a new collocation finite element method which we believe is more efficient and flexible than the other well known methods, e.g., fourth order finite differences, fourth order finite element methods of Galerkin, Rayleigh-Ritz or least squares type. Our comparisons are in the context of the relatively complicated problems that arise in realistic applications. Our conclusion does not hold for simple model problems (e.g., Laplaces equation on a rectangle) where very specialized methods are superior to the generally applicable methods that we consider. The accurate and relatively simple treatment of boundary conditions involving curves and derivations is a feature of our collocation method.

Background: C-reactive protein (CRP) is associated with risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). Whether CRP is causally associated with CHD or merely a marker of underlying atherosclerosis is uncerta...