Isotropy of Cosmic Rays beyond 10

We report an estimation of the injected mass composition of ultrahigh energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) at energies higher than 10 EeV. The composition is inferred from an energy-dependent sky distribution of UHECR events observed by the Telescope Array surface detector by comparing it to the Large Scale Structure of the local Universe. In the case of negligible extragalactic magnetic fields (EGMFs), the results are consistent with a relatively heavy injected composition at E∼10 EeV that becomes lighter up to E∼100 EeV, while the composition at E>100 EeV is very heavy. The latter is true even in the presence of highest experimentally allowed extragalactic magnetic fields, while the composition at lower energies can be light if a strong EGMF is present. The effect of the uncertainty in the galactic magnetic field on these results is subdominant.

The Green Light on Buying a Car: How Consumer Decision-Making Interacts with Environmental Attributes in the New Vehicle Purchase Process.

Although it is commonly understood that the average U.S. new vehicle buyer ranks price and safety above environmental attributes, a stated ranking of one shopping criterion above another is not necessarily maintained when consumers make an actual purchase decision. In fact, the distribution of shopping criteria rankings is not well understood, and it is unclear how rankings translate to the attributes of purchased vehicles. This raises several related questions: What is the distribution of shopping criteria rankings across the U.S. and how do they differ among demographic groups and purchasers of different vehicle fuel types or body styles?How do consumers weigh their purchase criteria?How does the environmental impact of a vehicle rank as a purchase criterion for U.S. new vehicle buyers, and its importance differ among gender, age, or income groups?Do purchase criteria differ for consumers who state that they value the environment?Is a consumer's shopping criteria ranking of environmental attributes reflected in the vehicles they consider and ultimately purchase? We explore these issues using data from an extensive survey of new vehicle buyers in 2014, 2015, and 2016 (approximately 250,000 respondents per year). We broadly find the environmental criterion outranked by preference for safety and performance, but different patterns emerge across groups defined by household income, purchased vehicle fuel type, and other measures of respondent attitude toward the environment. Stated preferences for environmental attributes align with higher fuel economy and greater likelihood of electric or hybrid fuel type within considered and purchased vehicles.

Frailty Trajectories and Its Associated Factors in Japanese Older Adults.

BACKGROUND: Associated factors for frailty development according to age group remain unclear. OBJECTIVES: To identify frailty score trajectories among community-dwelling older Japanese individuals and examine their associated factors. DESIGN: 13-year longitudinal study. SETTING: Kusatsu Town in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. PARTICIPANTS: 1706 older adults aged ≥ 65 years who completed an annual frailty assessment at least once between 2007 and 2019. MEASUREMENTS: Frailty status was determined using an index based on the Fried frailty phenotype criteria. Potential associated factors for frailty trajectory included physical, biological, lifestyle-related, and psychological factors, as well as comorbidities. RESULTS: We identified five trajectory patterns in the frailty score from age of 65 to 90 years -individuals who were robust (Group 1, 10.5%) as well as individuals with late-onset frailty (Group 2, 16.1%), middle-onset frailty (Group 3, 25.6% and Group 4, 35.2%), and early-onset frailty (Group 5, 12.7%). Compared with the other groups, the early-onset group showed a higher prevalence of cerebrovascular diseases, bone and joint diseases, poor nutrition, sarcopenia, hospitalization, low cognitive function, and smoking at the end of follow-up. Associated factors in the middle-onset group largely overlapped with those of the early-onset group. The late-onset frailty group tended to have a higher association with heart disease and bone and joint diseases compared with the robust group. CONCLUSION: Our findings from a 13-year longitudinal study identified five frailty trajectory patterns and seven associated factors for frailty trajectory. Proposed effective population-based frailty prevention strategies in each age group may contribute to effective strategies to extend healthy life expectancy in aging, aged, and super-aged communities.