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Effect of Music Therapy on Parent-Infant Bonding Among Infants Born Preterm: A Randomized Clinical Trial
Get PDFImportance Parent-infant bonding contributes to long-term infant health but may be disrupted by preterm birth. Objective To determine if parent-led, infant-directed singing, supported by a music therapist and initiated in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), improves parent-infant bonding at 6 and 12 months. Design, Setting, and Participants This randomized clinical trial was conducted in level III and IV NICUs in 5 countries between 2018 and 2022. Eligible participants were preterm infants (under 35 weeks’ gestation) and their parents. Follow-up was conducted across 12 months (as part of the LongSTEP study) at home or in clinics. Final follow-up was conducted at 12 months’ infant-corrected age. Data were analyzed from August 2022 to November 2022. Intervention Participants randomized to music therapy (MT) plus standard care or standard care alone during NICU admission, or to MT plus standard care or standard care alone postdischarge, using computer-generated randomization (ratio 1:1, block sizes of 2 or 4 varying randomly), stratified by site (51 allocated to MT NICU, 53 to MT postdischarge, 52 to both, and 50 to neither). MT consisted of parent-led, infant-directed singing tailored to infant responses and supported by a music therapist 3 times per week throughout hospitalization or 7 sessions across 6 months’ postdischarge. Main Outcome and Measure Primary outcome was mother-infant bonding at 6 months’ corrected age, measured by the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ), with follow-up at 12 months’ corrected age, and analyzed intention-to-treat as group differences. Results Of 206 enrolled infants with 206 mothers (mean [SD] age, 33 [6] years) and 194 fathers (mean [SD] age, 36 [6] years) randomized at discharge, 196 (95.1%) completed assessments at 6 months and were analyzed. Estimated group effects for PBQ at 6 months’ corrected age were 0.55 (95% CI, −2.20 to 3.30; P = .70) for MT in the NICU, 1.02 (95% CI, −1.72 to 3.76; P = .47) for MT postdischarge, and −0.20 (95% CI, −4.03 to 3.63; P = .92) for the interaction (12 months: MT in NICU, 0.17; 95% CI, −2.71 to 3.05; P = .91; MT postdischarge, 1.78; 95% CI, −1.13 to 4.70; P = .24; interaction, −1.68; 95% CI, −5.77 to 2.41; P = .42). There were no clinically important between-group differences for secondary variables. Conclusions and Relevance In this randomized clinical trial, parent-led, infant-directed singing did not have clinically important effects on mother-infant bonding, but was safe and well-accepted.publishedVersio
Marine nutrient subsidies promote biogeochemical hotspots in undisturbed, highly humic estuaries
Get PDFThe land-ocean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) flux represents a significant term within the global carbon budget, with peatland-dominated regions representing the most intense sources of terrestrial DOC export. As the interface between freshwater and marine systems, estuaries have the potential to act as a filter of the land-ocean carbon flux, removing terrestrially derived DOC, which is present at low concentrations in the oceans, via a combination of physicochemical and biological processes. However, the fate of peat-derived DOC within estuaries remains poorly quantified, partly due to the complicating influences of heterogeneous soils, land-use, point sources, and upstream modification of organic matter. To minimize these modifying factors, we studied DOC and inorganic nutrients in four small, peat-dominated, minimally disturbed, and oligotrophic Falkland Island estuaries. Contrary to expectations, we found limited evidence of physicochemical estuarine DOC removal, and instead observed apparent “hot zones” of biogeochemical activity, where terrestrially-derived silicate mixed with inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus entering the estuaries from the nutrient-rich marine ecosystem. In two estuaries, this coincided with apparent in situ DOC production. We suggest that the observed phenomena of marine nutrient subsidy of estuarine productivity, and flexible utilization of multiple nutrients within the oligotrophic system, may once have been widespread in temperate estuaries. However, this function has been lost in many ecosystems due to catchment eutrophication by agricultural and urban development. We conclude that the estuaries of the Falkland Islands provide a valuable pre-disturbance analogue for natural biogeochemical functioning in temperate estuaries receiving high organic matter inputs.publishedVersio
Reduksjon av støyrisiko i bygge- og anleggsprosjekter ved bruk av BIM. Bakgrunnsrapport
Get PDFI denne rapporten presenteres delresultater fra et prosjekt gjennomført av NORCE i samarbeid med Skanska og Multiconsult, finansiert av IA-bransjeprogram for bygg og anlegg. Det overordnede målet med prosjektet har vært å utvikle teknologi og prosesser/metodikk som integrerer HMS i bygningsinformasjonsmodellering (BIM), med spesielt fokus på støy. Hensikten er å bidra til økt kunnskap og større grad av felles forståelse av støyrisiko blant ulike aktører i bygge- og anleggsprosjekter, og derigjennom skape grunnlag for bedre håndtering av støyrisiko for ansatte. Resultatene i denne rapporten baserer seg på litteraturgjennomgang, intervjuer og gjennomføring av arbeidssamlinger. Alt dette danner også grunnlaget for øvrige leveranser i prosjektet; utvikling av metodikk, presentert i egen manual. Første del av rapporten gir en kunnskapsoversikt over støy og risikofaktorer i bygge- og anleggsbransjen, som utgjør et grunnlag for prosjektet. Deretter følger resultater fra intervjuer og møter, hvor ansatte fra bransjen har fått sette ord på sine erfaringer og sin tilnærming til støy. Et sentralt tema er hvilken plass støy har i planleggingen av et større prosjekt. Dernest, bruken av BIM og modellering, hvor vi har sett på verdien av – og utfordringer med – tverrfaglig samarbeid i tidlige prosjektfaser. Kompetanse om BIM og innsikt i andres fagområder er viktige stikkord her. Det har vært viktig å utforske hvilket potensial som bruk av BIM har for reduksjon av støyrisiko. Det innebærer en diskusjon av hva som skal til for å utnytte potensialet, og hvilke barrierer som må adresseres av ulike aktører for å realisere nytteverdien av den typen verktøy og metodikk som vi har utviklet i dette prosjektet. Rapporten løfter viktige diskusjoner om hvilken rolle støy og annen helserisiko har og bør ha i planleggingsprosesser, og peker på hvilke aktører som er i posisjon til å løfte helserisiko høyere på agendaen.publishedVersio
Experimental mining plumes and ocean warming trigger stress in a deep pelagic jellyfish
Get PDFThe deep pelagic ocean is increasingly subjected to human-induced environmental change. While pelagic animals provide important ecosystem functions including climate regulation, species-specific responses to stressors remain poorly documented. Here, we investigate the effects of simulated ocean warming and sediment plumes on the cosmopolitan deep-sea jellyfish Periphylla periphylla, combining insights gained from physiology, gene expression and changes in associated microbiota. Metabolic demand was elevated following a 4 °C rise in temperature, promoting genes related to innate immunity but suppressing aerobic respiration. Suspended sediment plumes provoked the most acute and energetically costly response through the production of excess mucus (at ≥17 mg L−1), while inducing genes related to aerobic respiration and wound repair (at ≥167 mg L−1). Microbial symbionts appeared to be unaffected by both stressors, with mucus production maintaining microbial community composition. If these responses are representative for other gelatinous fauna, an abundant component of pelagic ecosystems, the effects of planned exploitation of seafloor resources may impair deep pelagic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.publishedVersio
Learning from weather and climate science to prepare for a future pandemic
Get PDFEstablished pandemic models have yielded mixed results to track and forecast the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. To prepare for future outbreaks, the disease-modeling community can improve their modeling capabilities by learning from the methods and insights from another arena where accurate modeling is paramount: the weather and climate research field. To prepare for future outbreaks, the disease-modeling community should draw on the methods and insights of the weather and climate research field. Image credit: Shutterstock/NASA Images. We argue that these improvements fall into four categories: model development, international comparisons, data exchange, and risk communication. A proper quantification of uncertainties in observations and models—including model assumptions, tail risks, and appropriate communication using probabilistic, Bayesian-based approaches—did not receive enough attention during the pandemic. Standardized testing and international comparison of model results is routine in climate modeling. No equivalent currently exists for pandemic models. Sharing of data is urgently needed. The homogenized real-time international data exchange, as organized by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) since the 1960s, can serve as a role model for a global (privacy-preserving) data exchange by the World Health Organization. Lastly, researchers can look to climate change and high-impact weather forecasting to glean lessons about risk communication and the role of science in decision-making, in order to avoid common pitfalls and guide communication. Each of the four improvements is detailed here.publishedVersio
Taxonomy, phylogeny, and biodiversity of Lumbrineridae (Annelida, Polychaeta) from the Central Pacific Clarion-Clipperton Zone
Get PDFThe DNA taxonomy of six species of the annelid family Lumbrineridae collected from the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the Central Pacific, an area of potential mining interest for polymetallic nodules, is presented. Lumbrinerids are an ecologically important and understudied annelid family within the deep sea, with many species still undescribed. This study aims to document the taxonomy and biodiversity of the CCZ using specimens collected from the UK-1, OMS, and NORI-D exploration contract areas and Areas of Particular Environmental Interest. Species were identified through a combination of morphological and molecular phylogenetic analysis. We present informal species descriptions associated with voucher specimens, accessible through the Natural History Museum (London) collections, to improve future taxonomic and biodiversity studies of this region. Five taxa in this study had no morphological or genetic matches within the literature and therefore are possibly new to science, but their suboptimal morphological preservation prevented the formalisation of new species. The most abundant taxon Lumbrinerides cf. laubieri (NHM_0020) was compared with the holotype of Lumbrinerides laubieri Miura, 1980 from the deep Northeast Atlantic. Currently no reliable morphological characters separating the Pacific and Atlantic specimens have been found and molecular data from the Atlantic specimens was not available.publishedVersio
Coal phase-out pledges follow peak coal: evidence from 60 years of growth and decline in coal power capacity worldwide
Get PDFTransitioning to net-zero carbon emissions requires phasing-out unabated coal power; however, recently it has only been declining in some countries, while it stagnated or even increased in others. Where and under what circumstances, has coal capacity reached its peak and begun to decline? We address this question with an empirical analysis of coal capacity in 56 countries, accounting for 99% of coal generation in the world. The peaks in national coal power have been equally spread per decade since 1970. The peaks are more likely to occur in country-years with high levels of electoral democracy, higher GDP per capita, slower electricity demand growth, and with low levels of political corruption. Normally, peaking coal power preceded rather than followed political coal phase-out pledges, often with long time lags. We conclude that though the cost of coal alternatives are declining and concerns over climate change increasing, coal power does not automatically peak even in situations with low demand growth, aging power plants and high import dependence. A quick and decisive destabilization of coal regimes requires, in addition, having sufficient economic capacities and strong democratic governance.publishedVersio
Psychosocial resources predict frequent pain differently for men and women: A prospective cohort study
Get PDFIntroduction Psychosocial resources, psychological and social factors like self-efficacy and social support have been suggested as important assets for individuals with chronic pain, but the importance of psychosocial resources for the development of pain is sparsely examined, especially sex and gender differences. The aim of this study was to investigate associations between psychosocial resources and sex on the development of frequent pain in a general population sample, and to deepen the knowledge about sex and gender patterns. Methods A sample from the Swedish Health Assets Project, a longitudinal cohort study, included self-reported data from 2263 participants, 53% women, with no frequent pain at baseline. The outcome variable was frequent pain at 18–months follow-up. Psychosocial resources studied were general self-efficacy, instrumental and emotional social support. Log binomial regressions in a generalised linear model were used to calculate risk ratios (RRs), comparing all combinations of men with high psychosocial resources, men with low psychosocial resources, women with high psychosocial resources and women with low psychosocial resources. Results Women with low psychosocial resources had higher risk of frequent pain at follow-up compared to men with high resources: general self-efficacy RR 1.82, instrumental social support RR 2.33 and emotional social support RR 1.94. Instrumental social support was the most important protective resource for women, emotional social support was the most important one for men. Results were discussed in terms of gender norms. Conclusions The psychosocial resources general self-efficacy, instrumental and emotional support predicted the risk of developing frequent pain differently among and between men and women in a general population sample. The results showed the importance of studying sex and gender differences in psychological and not least social predictors for pain.publishedVersio