1,413 research outputs found
Maternal iron status in early pregnancy and birth outcomes : insights from the Baby's Vascular health and Iron in Pregnancy study
No full textDate of Acceptance: 16/03/2015 Acknowledgements N. A. A. was funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship (WT87789). H. J. M. and H. E. H. are supported by the Scottish Government’s Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services. N. A. B. S. is supported by Cerebra. The authors’ contributions are as follows: N. A. A. was responsible for organising the study conduct, data collection and database management, performed the statistical analysis, interpreted the results and drafted the paper. N. A. A., N. A. B. S., J. E. C., H. J. M. and D. C. G. contributed to the study concept and design, and interpretation of results. H. J. M. and H. E. H. analysed the laboratory samples. J. E. C. and D. C. G. provided advice on statistical strategy and analysis. All authors have fully participated in the reporting stage and have critically reviewed and approved the final draft of the paper. The authors declare no conflict of interestPeer reviewe
Is infant arterial stiffness associated with maternal blood pressure in pregnancy? Findings from a UK birth cohort (Baby VIP study)
No full textBackground: In adults, arterial stiffness measured by pulse wave velocity (PWV) is regarded as a predictor of cardiovascular disease. Infant vascular development depends on factors related to pregnancy, including maternal blood pressure (BP). This study assessed the association between maternal BP in pregnancy and infant brachio-femoral PWV at age 2–6 weeks.
Methods: The Baby Vascular health and Iron in Pregnancy (Baby VIP) study is a birth cohort which measured PWV and heart rate (HR) in 284 babies in Leeds, UK, at 2–6 weeks after birth. Maternal BP measurements at 12 and 36 weeks gestation was collected from antenatal clinical records. Multivariable linear regression models assessed associations between maternal systolic and diastolic BPs, and BP change from booking to 36 weeks, with infant PWV adjusting for covariables at both mother and baby level.
Results: There was no evidence of an association between infant PWV and maternal systolic BP at booking (adjusted regression coefficient -0.01 m/s per 10mmHg, 95% CI -0.11, 0.14, p = 0.84) or at 36 weeks (adjusted regression coefficient 0.00 m/s per 10mmHg, 95% CI -0.12, 0.11, p = 0.95). Change between 12 and 36 weeks gestation of more than 30 mmHg in systolic BP or 15 mmHg in diastolic BP was also not associated with infant PWV. There was an inverse relationship between infant HR and infant PWV (regression coefficient -0.14 m/s per 10 bpm, 95% CI -0.22, -0.05, p<0.01).
Conclusions: This study has shown no evidence of association between infant PWV at 2–6 weeks of age and maternal BP in early or late pregnancy. Infant HR was inversely associated with infant PWV. Further studies are required to determine the predictors of infant PWV as well as the importance and long term implications of PWV measurements in infants
Vacancy generation resulting from electrical deactivation of arsenic
No full textElectrical deactivation of arsenic in highly doped silicon has been studied using the positron-beam technique. Direct experimental evidence linking the formation of arsenic-vacancy complexes (i.e., As-n-v) to the deactivation process is reported. The average number of arsenic atoms per complex, (n) over bar>2, was determined by comparing the observed complex concentrations with those of the deactivated arsenic inferred from Hall-effect measurements. (C) 1995 American Institute of Physics.PT: J; CR: AERS GC, 1991, POSITRON BEAMS SOLIE, P162 ALATALO M, 1995, PHYS REV B, V51, P4176 CHU WK, 1980, LASER SOLID INTERACT, P253 DANNEFAER S, 1987, PHYS STATUS SOLIDI A, V102, P481 DLUBEK G, 1987, PHYS STATUS SOLIDI A, V102, P443 FAHEY PM, 1989, REV MOD PHYS, V61, P289 GOETZLICH J, 1985, ION BEAN PROCESSES A, P349 GOLDBERG RD, 1995, APPL SURF SCI, V85, P287 JACKMAN TE, 1989, APPL PHYS A-SOLID, V49, P335 LIETOILA A, 1981, J APPL PHYS, V52, P230 LIETOLA A, 1980, APPL PHYS LETT, V36, P675 LUNING S, 1992, IEDM, P349 LYNN KG, 1979, PHYS REV B, V20, P3566 PANDEY KC, 1988, PHYS REV LETT, V61, P1282 ROUSSEAU PM, 1994, APPL PHYS LETT, V65, P578 SCHULTZ PJ, 1988, NUCL INSTRUM METH B, V30, P94 SCHULTZ PJ, 1988, REV MOD PHYS, V60, P701 SIMPSON PJ, UNPUB; NR: 18; TC: 38; J9: APPL PHYS LETT; PG: 3; GA: TJ304Source type: Electronic(1
Dietary iron intake during early pregnancy and birth outcomes in a cohort of British women
No full textBackground: Iron deficiency during pregnancy is associated with adverse birth outcomes, particularly, if present during early gestation. Iron supplements are widely recommended during pregnancy, but evidence of their benefit in relation to infant outcomes is not established. This study was performed in the UK, where iron supplements are not routinely recommended during pregnancy, to investigate the association between iron intake in pregnancy and size at birth. Methods: From a prospective cohort of 1274 pregnant women aged 18–45 years, dietary intake was reported in a 24-h recall administered by a research midwife at 12-week gestation. Dietary supplement intake was ascertained using dietary recall and three questionnaires in the first, second and third trimesters. Results: Of the cohort of pregnant women, 80% reported dietary iron intake below the UK Reference Nutrient Intake of 14.8 mg/day. Those reported taking iron-containing supplements in the first, second and third trimesters were 24, 15 and 8%, respectively. Women with dietary iron intake >14.8 mg/day were more likely to be older, have a higher socioeconomic profile and take supplements during the first trimester. Vegetarians were less likely to have low dietary iron intake [odds ratio = 0.5, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.4, 0.8] and more likely to take supplements during the first and second trimesters. Total iron intake, but not iron intake from food only, was associated with birthweight centile (adjusted change = 2.5 centiles/10 mg increase in iron, 95% CI: 0.4, 4.6). This association was stronger in the high vitamin C intake group, but effect modification was not significant. Conclusion: There was a positive relationship between total iron intake, from food and supplements, in early pregnancy and birthweight. Iron intake, both from diet and supplements, during the first trimester of pregnancy was higher in vegetarians and women with a better socioeconomic profile. <br/
Kanter Revisited: Gender, Power and (In)visibility
No full textThis paper revisits Kanter's (1977) seminal work Men and Women of the Corporation, rereading her account of numerical advantage and disadvantage through a poststructuralist lens which exposes hidden dimensions of gendered power. This lens is captured in the ‘(In)visibility Vortex’ (Lewis and Simpson, 2010) which highlights struggles and tensions around the norm through processes of preservation and concealment within the norm as well as dynamics of revealing, exposure and disappearance as features of the margins. The study draws on developments in feminist theorizing, specially around visibility, invisibility and power, to facilitate this rereading. In so doing, the author demonstrate that while Kanter retreated from explanations based on the gendering of organizations or from recognition of gendered power, these dynamics can be identified in her text. The authors suggest that rereading classic texts can surface dimensions of organizations that have contemporary significance and can inform future research
Why won't aliens talk to us? Content and community dynamics in online citizen science
No full textWe conducted a quantitative analysis of ten citizen science projects hosted on the Zooniverse platform, using a data set of over 50 million activity records and more than 250,000 users, collected between December 2010 and July 2013. We examined the level of participation of users in Zooniverse discussion forums in relation to their contributions toward the completion of scientific (micro-)tasks. As Zooniverse is home to a multitude of projects, we were also interested in the emergence of cross-projects effects, and identified those project characteristics, most importantly the subject domain and the duration of a project. We also looked into the adoption of expert terminology, showing that this phenomenon is dependent on the scientific domain which a project addresses but also affected by how the communication features are actually used by a community. This is the first study of this kind in this increasingly important class of online community, and its insights will inform the design and further development of the Zooniverse platform, and of citizen science systems as a whol
Does the Decline of the Humanities Track the Decline in Civil Society?
No full textThe following conversation took place on January 28, 2022 in Davis California between Margaret Ferguson, David Simpson, Andrea Ross and the interviewer, NASJ editor Andrew Majeske (AM). Margaret Ferguson (MF), Professor Emerita at UC Davis, is author of Dido’s Daughters: Literacy, Gender and Empire in Early Modern England and France, as well as other books and numerous articles. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, she is past president of the Modern Language Association, and she was co-editor for the 6th and most recent edition of the Norton Anthology of Poetry. Margie’s husband, David Simpson (DS), Professor Emeritus at UC Davis, retired from there as G. B. Needham Endowed Chair in English. He also is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as a former Guggenheim Fellow, and is a past president of the Wordsworth-Coleridge Association. He is author of many books, most recently of States of Terror: History, Theory, Literature (U of Chicago P 2019), and Engaging Violence: Civility and the Reach of Literature, forthcoming later this year from Stanford UP. Andrea Ross (AR) is the author of Unnatural Selection: A Memoir of Adoption and Wilderness and teaches in UC Davis’ University Writing Program
Infant arterial stiffness and maternal iron status in pregnancy : a UK birth cohort (Baby VIP study)
No full textAcknowledgements We are sincerely grateful to all study participants. Our thanks go to Angela Wray, Julie Grindey and Viv Dolby for data collection; Antony Hales, Russel Booth, Ruth Owen and Christine Kennedy for facilitating laboratory analysis, and Stephen Greenwald for advice on PWV measurement. Source of funding: N.A.A. is funded by a Wellcome Trust Research Training Fellowship (WT87789). H.J.M. and H.E.H. are supported by the Scottish Government Rural and Environmental Services (RESAS). N.A.B.S. is supported by Cerebra.Peer reviewe
Use of pulsed-field gel electrophoresis to genotypically characterize salmonellae grouped by serotype
No full textThe prevention and control of salmonellae in commercial swine operations are becoming increasingly important. The current approach focuses on identifying sources and/or origins of salmonellae contamination before swine are processed for human consumption. The objective of the current study was to assess strain variability among salmonellae grouped by serotype and to determine common origins of contamination (farm or slaughter plant). Salmonellae were previously collected from swine at slaughter, serotyped by the National Veterinary Services Laboratory and stored at - 70??C. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was performed to genotypically characterize serotypic isolates using restriction endonuclease XbaI. Dendrogram comparisons were also used to assess genotypic similarity when multiple genotypes existed. This study found PFGE to be more discriminatory than serotyping indicating that multiple genotypic strains existed among selected serotypes. On the basis of PFGE results alone, origins of contamination could not be determined in this study. It is suggested by the author, that origins of contamination could be further defined pending future research, in which in-depth longitudinal studies are included. When used as an adjunct to conventional typing methods, PFGE may prove to be a substantial subtyping system in epidemiologic investigations to identify point-of-entry contaminants to the food chain
Clinical prediction in early pregnancy of infants small for gestational age by customised birthweight centiles: findings from a healthy nulliparous cohort
No full texton behalf of the SCOPE ConsortiumOBJECTIVE Small for gestational age (SGA) infants comprise up to 50% of all stillbirths and a minority are detected before birth. We aimed to develop and validate early pregnancy predictive models for SGA infants. METHODS 5628 participants from SCOPE, a prospective study of nulliparous pregnant women, were interviewed at 15±1 weeks’ gestation. Fetal anthropometry, uterine and umbilical Doppler studies were performed at 20±1 weeks’. The cohort was divided into training (n = 3735) and validation datasets (n = 1871). All-SGA (birthweight 12 months to conceive, university student, cigarette smoking, proteinuria, daily vigorous exercise and diastolic blood pressure ≥80. Recreational walking ≥4 times weekly, rhesus negative blood group and increasing random glucose were protective. AUC for clinical risk factors was 0.63. Fetal abdominal or head circumference z scores <10th centile and increasing uterine artery Doppler resistance at 20±1 weeks’ were associated with increased risk. Addition of these parameters increased the AUC to 0.69. Clinical predictors of Normotensive and Hypertensive-SGA were sub-groups of All-SGA predictors and were quite different. The combined clinical and ultrasound AUC for Normotensive and Hypertensive-SGA were 0.69 and 0.82 respectively. CONCLUSION Predictors for SGA of relevance to clinical practice were identified. The identity and predictive potential differed in normotensive women and those who developed hypertension.Lesley M. E. McCowan, John M. D. Thompson, Rennae S. Taylor, Robyn A. North, Lucilla Poston, Philip N. Baker, Jenny Myers, Claire T. Roberts, Gustaaf A. Dekker, Nigel A. B. Simpson, James J. Walker, Louise C. Kenn
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