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Gestational diabetes and stillbirth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Full text linkBackgroundGlobally, around 2 million pregnancies each year end in stillbirth, with the majority occurring in low and middle-income countries. The association between gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and stillbirth has been widely researched but the evidence is increasingly controversial. The aim of this study is to evaluate the risk of stillbirth associated with GDM, and examine whether this risk differs according to country income status and GDM screening method.MethodsWe searched Scopus, Cinahl, Cochrane Central, ISRCTN, Medline, Embase and Epistemonikos on the 9th May 2025 from inception to May 2025 with no restrictions based on language, study location or time. We included cohort studies that estimated the association of interest. We conducted a random effects meta-analysis by study design and sub-group analyses by country income level and GDM screening method. (PROSPERO CRD4201800057).Findings101 included studies (92,915,856 women) presented unadjusted results, 19 reported adjusted results (63,629,536 women). Meta-analysis of adjusted cohort data did not show evidence of an association between a diagnosis of GDM and the risk of stillbirth worldwide (OR 0.81, 95% CI: 0.68-0.97; I2 = 87.7%; n = 19 studies). However, when stratified by country income level a diagnosis of GDM was associated with a reduction in the odds of stillbirth in high income countries (OR 0.73, 95% CI: 0.65-0.82; I2 = 31.9%; n = 13 studies), but this was not observed in upper and lower middle income countries, (OR 1.17, 95% CI: 0.71-1.93; I2 = 59.7%; n = 6 studies). There were no adjusted estimates from low-income countries. There was no evidence of a difference by GDM screening method.InterpretationIncreased screening, timely diagnosis and effective management strategies for GDM in high-income countries, such as induction of labour and increased antenatal care, may be responsible for the reduced risk of stillbirth in women with GDM. Further research is needed to identify the optimum strategy for screening and management in low and middle-income settings to reduce preventable stillbirths worldwide.FundingNone
Simultaneous identification of structural parameters and dynamic loads-Theory and experimental validation
Full text linkDirect measurement of dynamic loads acting on structures is often impractical due to high costs, inaccessibility, or operational constraints. Consequently, inverse identification techniques are widely employed to estimate these dynamic loads indirectly. However, most existing dynamic load identification methods rely on a computational models that assume precise knowledge of structural parameters, which significantly limits their applicability. In practice, only partial structural response measurements are typically available at a limited number of locations, while both the dynamic loads and some structural parameters remain unknown. This paper presents a novel methodology for the simultaneous identification of dynamic loads and structural parameters, applicable to large-scale finite element (FE) models at a manageable computational cost. The proposed approach solves the inverse problem in a reduced modal space using a gradient-based optimisation algorithm, substantially improving computational efficiency. Crucially, all required derivatives are computed analytically, ensuring higher accuracy and efficiency compared with conventional finite-difference schemes. Furthermore, the method is non-intrusive, enabling seamless integration with commercial structural analysis software. Numerical simulations and experimental validation demonstrate the effectiveness and practical applicability of the proposed approach
Human Capital and Strategic Foresight: Evidence from Managers' Stock Purchases
Full text linkWe explore how managers’ knowledge breadth gained through prior employment in multiple industries, firms, and functions shapes their foresight about the success of new products. In the context of managers’ purchases in their firms’ stock prior to new product introduction announcements, we find that managers with broad knowledge gained through experience across multiple firms and functions have superior foresight compared with those whose narrow knowledge was gained in fewer firms and functions. Yet when managers have broad knowledge gained across multiple industries, they underperform peers with narrower knowledge gained in fewer industries. Furthermore, these differences are more pronounced under higher financial market volatility. Overall, our study offers fresh contributions to the strategic foresight literature by foregrounding how the type of career experience shaping the human capital of managers affects their ability to evaluate their firms’ prospects. We also contribute to the strategic human capital literature by highlighting that instead of being a monolithic concept, knowledge breadth is more nuanced and is composed of different human capital dimensions that heterogeneously affect the capabilities and behavior of managers.
Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2024.0328 .</jats:p
Neurostructural correlates of intolerance of uncertainty: Regional and network-level associations with general psychological distress
No full textIntolerance of uncertainty (IU), which is characterized by an inability to endure aversive responses to uncertainty, is a transdiagnostic and transituational risk factor for general psychological distress (GPD). However, its neuroanatomical basis remains unclear. This study investigated the associations between IU and brain structure at both regional and network levels in 115 healthy university students, and explored whether IU mediates the brain-GPD association. Voxel-based morphometry revealed a positive correlation between IU and gray matter volume (GMV) in the right orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Graph-based analysis of structural covariance networks showed that IU was positively associated with patterns of nodal local efficiency (reflecting local information processing capability) and nodal clustering coefficient (reflecting regional modular connectivity). The brain regions contributing to these network patterns were primarily located within the limbic network (LN) and default mode network (DMN), including the inferior frontal gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, and parahippocampal gyrus. Critically, mediation analyses demonstrated that IU significantly accounting for variance in the link of right OFC GMV and the two structural covariance network patterns with GPD. All findings remained robust after controlling for family socioeconomic status or general anxiety. These results reveal multilevel neuroanatomical features associated with IU, implicating the right OFC and structural covariance patterns of LN and DMN. They further highlight IU as a critical psychological mechanism linking these brain structural features to GPD, offering potential targets for neurobehavioral interventions
The 2026 Nucleic Acids Research database issue and the online molecular biology database collection
No full textThe 2026 Nucleic Acids Research database issue has 182 papers from across biology and neighbouring fields. Eighty-four of these papers describe new databases, while 86 are updates on databases that have previously appeared here. Twelve more papers cover databases most recently published elsewhere. New nucleic acid databases include NapRNAdb for noncapped RNA and GlycoRNAdb. Protein structure is covered by updates from wwPDB members and the AlphaFold Database; SMART, PROSITE, and eggNOG cover domains and families. The Open Enzyme Database and QSproteome are new community-orientated initiatives. JoGo covers hierarchically named and contextualised human haplotypes in the issue’s first Breakthrough paper; So3D provides genuinely 3D spatial transcriptomics in the other. Foundational databases Genenames.org and Gene Ontology also provide updates. The Database Issue is freely available on the Nucleic Acids Research website (https://academic.oup.com/nar). At the NAR online Molecular Biology Database Collection (http://www.oxfordjournals.org/nar/database/c/), over the past year, 899 entries were reviewed, 96 new resources added, and 319 discontinued URLs removed, bringing the total number of databases to 2173
Exploring the Oral Health Needs of Sex Workers in Liverpool: a qualitative study of need, experiences, and perspectives
No full textHLS Participatory Research Grant and UKRI DOT grant
Reconfiguration and economic performance of British retail centres in the post-pandemic era
No full textThe UK retail landscape has undergone a profound change in past decades with popular debates largely focusing on decline of the traditional retail spaces. This, predominantly driven by technological advancement and corresponding changes in consumer behaviour, was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent disruption to supply chains and cost of living crisis. This study provides a comprehensive, data-driven descriptive analysis and new evidence on the transformation and economic performance of British retail centres over the five-year pre- and post-pandemic period (2019–2023), which is a crucial period offering a valuable perspective within three different periods: pre-pandemic, the Covid-19 pandemic and the initial post-pandemic ‘recovery’. Using longitudinal retailer occupancy data, this study presents a picture of the British retail landscape that is far from uniform, and shows that the decline was predominantly driven by ongoing trends of digitalisation within retailing and services and exacerbated by the temporary closure of ‘non-essential’ shops during the pandemic. Our findings also provide empirical evidence that Covid-19, when combined with pre-existing trends, prompted further demise of many ‘traditional’ retailers on high streets, evidenced by increasing vacancies. On the contrary and importantly, we find several trends which are facilitating reorientation and growth in the traditional retail centres and have emerged in the past five years. These changes are conceptualised within existing frameworks of retail resilience to economic shocks in particular retail centres economic cycle and their evolutionary trajectories. The new evidence can be used to substantiate the wider debates on the economic performance of British retail centres and their regeneration in the ‘new retail’ post Covid-19 era
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