Association of COVID-19 Vaccination During Pregnancy With Incidence of SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Infants

IMPORTANCE: Pregnant women are recommended to receive COVID-19 vaccination to reduce risk of severe COVID-19. Whether vaccination during pregnancy also provides passive protection to infants after birth remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether COVID-19 vaccination in pregnancy was associated with reduced risk of COVID-19 in infants up to age 4 months during COVID-19 pandemic periods dominated by Delta and Omicron variants. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This nationwide, register-based cohort study included all live-born infants born in Norway between September 1, 2021, and February 28, 2022. EXPOSURES: Maternal messenger RNA COVID-19 vaccination during second or third trimester compared with no vaccination before or during pregnancy. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The risk of a positive polymerase chain reaction test result for SARS-CoV-2 during an infant's first 4 months of life by maternal vaccination status during pregnancy with either dose 2 or 3 was estimated, as stratified by periods dominated by the Delta variant (between September 1 and December 31, 2021) or Omicron variant (after January 1, 2022, to the end of follow-up on April 4, 2022). A Cox proportional hazard regression was used, adjusting for maternal age, parity, education, maternal country of birth, and county of residence. RESULTS: Of 21 643 live-born infants, 9739 (45.0%) were born to women who received a second or third dose of a COVID-19 vaccine during pregnancy. The first 4 months of life incidence rate of a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 was 5.8 per 10 000 follow-up days. Infants of mothers vaccinated during pregnancy had a lower risk of a positive test compared with infants of unvaccinated mothers and lower risk during the Delta variant-dominated period (incidence rate, 1.2 vs 3.0 per 10 000 follow-up days; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.19-0.46) compared with the Omicron period (incidence rate, 7.0 vs 10.9 per 10 000 follow-up days; adjusted hazard ratio, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.57-0.79). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: The results of this Norwegian population-based cohort study suggested a lower risk of a positive test for SARS-CoV-2 during the first 4 months of life among infants born to mothers who were vaccinated during pregnancy. Maternal COVID-19 vaccination may provide passive protection to young infants, for whom COVID-19 vaccines are currently not available

Quantifying the contribution of material and junction resistances in nano-networks

Networks of nanowires and nanosheets are important for many applications in printed electronics. However, the network conductivity and mobility are usually limited by the inter-particle junction resistance, a property that is challenging to minimise because it is difficult to measure. Here, we develop a simple model for conduction in networks of 1D or 2D nanomaterials, which allows us to extract junction and nanoparticle resistances from particle-size-dependent D.C. resistivity data of conducting and semiconducting materials. We find junction resistances in porous networks to scale with nanoparticle resistivity and vary from 5 Ohm for silver nanosheets to 25 GOhm for WS2 nanosheets. Moreover, our model allows junction and nanoparticle resistances to be extracted from A.C. impedance spectra of semiconducting networks. Impedance data links the high mobility (~7 cm2/Vs) of aligned networks of electrochemically exfoliated MoS2 nanosheets to low junction resistances of ~670 kOhm. Temperature-dependent impedance measurements allow us to quantitatively differentiate intra-nanosheet phonon-limited band-like transport from inter-nanosheet hopping for the first time.Comment: 5 figure

The influence of cycloplegic in objective refraction

The purpose of this study was to compare refractions measured with an autorefractor and retinoscopy in cycloplegic and non-cycloplegic eyes. The objective refractions were performed in 199 right eyes from 199 healthy young adults with a mean age of 21.6 ±2.66 years. The measurements were performed first without cycloplegia and repeated 30 minutes later with cycloplegia. Data were analyzed using Fourier decomposition of the power profile. More negative values of component M and J0 were give by non-cycloplegic autorefraction compared to cycloplegic autorefraction (p<0.001). However more positive values were given by non-cycloplegic autorefraciton regarding to the J45 vector, althought this differences were not statistically significant (p=0.233). Regarding retinoscopy, more negative values of component M where obtained with non-cycloplegic retinoscopy (p<0.001); for the cylindrical vectors J0 and J45 the retinoscopy without cycloplegic yields more negative values (p= 0.234; p= 0.112, respectively). Accepting that differences between cycloplegic and non-cycloplegic retinoscopy are only due to accommodative response, present results confirm that when performed by an experienced clinician, retinoscopy is a more reliable method to obtain objective start point for refraction under non-cycloplegic conditions

Certified high-efficiency "large-area" perovskite solar cells module for Fresnel lens-based concentrated photovoltaic

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available on open access from Cell Press via the DOI in this recordData availability: All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the Supplementary Information article and its data source. Source data are provided in this paper. All data reported in this paper will be shared by the lead contact upon request.The future of energy generation is well in tune with the critical needs of the global economy, leading to more green innovations and emissions-abatement technologies. Introducing concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) is one of the most promising technologies owing to its high photo-conversion efficiency (PCE). While most researchers use silicon and cadmium telluride for CPV, we investigate the potential in nascent technologies, such as perovskite solar cell (PSC). This work constitutes a preliminary investigation into a ‘large-area’ PSC module under a Fresnel lens (FL) with a ‘refractive optical concentrator-silicon-on-glass’ base to minimise the PV performance and scalability trade-off concerning the PSCs. The FL-PSC system measured the solar current-voltage characteristics in variable lens-to-cell distances and illuminations. A systematic study of the PSC module temperature was monitored using the COMSOL transient heat transfer mechanism. The FL-based technique for ‘large-area’ PSC architecture is an unfolded technology that further facilitates the potential for commercialisation.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)Valais Energy Demonstrators FundEuropean Union Horizon 2020Deputyship for Research & Innovation, Ministry of Education, Saudi Arabi

Candidate high myopia loci on chromosomes 18p and 12q do not play a major role in susceptibility to common myopia

BACKGROUND: To determine whether previously reported loci predisposing to nonsyndromic high myopia show linkage to common myopia in pedigrees from two ethnic groups: Ashkenazi Jewish and Amish. We hypothesized that these high myopia loci might exhibit allelic heterogeneity and be responsible for moderate /mild or common myopia. METHODS: Cycloplegic and manifest refraction were performed on 38 Jewish and 40 Amish families. Individuals with at least -1.00 D in each meridian of both eyes were classified as myopic. Genomic DNA was genotyped with 12 markers on chromosomes 12q21-23 and 18p11.3. Parametric and nonparametric linkage analyses were conducted to determine whether susceptibility alleles at these loci are important in families with less severe, clinical forms of myopia. RESULTS: There was no strong evidence of linkage of common myopia to these candidate regions: all two-point and multipoint heterogeneity LOD scores were < 1.0 and non-parametric linkage p-values were > 0.01. However, one Amish family showed slight evidence of linkage (LOD>1.0) on 12q; another 3 Amish families each gave LOD >1.0 on 18p; and 3 Jewish families each gave LOD >1.0 on 12q. CONCLUSIONS: Significant evidence of linkage (LOD> 3) of myopia was not found on chromosome 18p or 12q loci in these families. These results suggest that these loci do not play a major role in the causation of common myopia in our families studied

Future and potential spending on health 2015-40 : development assistance for health, and government, prepaid private, and out-of-pocket health spending in 184 countries

Background The amount of resources, particularly prepaid resources, available for health can affect access to health care and health outcomes. Although health spending tends to increase with economic development, tremendous variation exists among health financing systems. Estimates of future spending can be beneficial for policy makers and planners, and can identify financing gaps. In this study, we estimate future gross domestic product (GDP), all-sector government spending, and health spending disaggregated by source, and we compare expected future spending to potential future spending. Methods We extracted GDP, government spending in 184 countries from 1980-2015, and health spend data from 1995-2014. We used a series of ensemble models to estimate future GDP, all-sector government spending, development assistance for health, and government, out-of-pocket, and prepaid private health spending through 2040. We used frontier analyses to identify patterns exhibited by the countries that dedicate the most funding to health, and used these frontiers to estimate potential health spending for each low-income or middle-income country. All estimates are inflation and purchasing power adjusted. Findings We estimated that global spending on health will increase from US$9.21 trillion in 2014 to$24.24 trillion (uncertainty interval [UI] 20.47-29.72) in 2040. We expect per capita health spending to increase fastest in upper-middle-income countries, at 5.3% (UI 4.1-6.8) per year. This growth is driven by continued growth in GDP, government spending, and government health spending. Lower-middle income countries are expected to grow at 4.2% (3.8-4.9). High-income countries are expected to grow at 2.1% (UI 1.8-2.4) and low-income countries are expected to grow at 1.8% (1.0-2.8). Despite this growth, health spending per capita in low-income countries is expected to remain low, at $154 (UI 133-181) per capita in 2030 and$195 (157-258) per capita in 2040. Increases in national health spending to reach the level of the countries who spend the most on health, relative to their level of economic development, would mean $321 (157-258) per capita was available for health in 2040 in low-income countries. Interpretation Health spending is associated with economic development but past trends and relationships suggest that spending will remain variable, and low in some low-resource settings. Policy change could lead to increased health spending, although for the poorest countries external support might remain essential.Peer reviewe

Global, regional, and national disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) for 306 diseases and injuries and healthy life expectancy (HALE) for 188 countries, 1990-2013: Quantifying the epidemiological transition

Background The Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013) aims to bring together all available epidemiological data using a coherent measurement framework, standardised estimation methods, and transparent data sources to enable comparisons of health loss over time and across causes, age-sex groups, and countries. The GBD can be used to generate summary measures such as disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) and healthy life expectancy (HALE) that make possible comparative assessments of broad epidemiological patterns across countries and time. These summary measures can also be used to quantify the component of variation in epidemiology that is related to sociodemographic development. Methods We used the published GBD 2013 data for age-specific mortality, years of life lost due to premature mortality (YLLs), and years lived with disability (YLDs) to calculate DALYs and HALE for 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, and 2013 for 188 countries. We calculated HALE using the Sullivan method; 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs) represent uncertainty in age-specific death rates and YLDs per person for each country, age, sex, and year. We estimated DALYs for 306 causes for each country as the sum of YLLs and YLDs; 95% UIs represent uncertainty in YLL and YLD rates. We quantified patterns of the epidemiological transition with a composite indicator of sociodemographic status, which we constructed from income per person, average years of schooling after age 15 years, and the total fertility rate and mean age of the population. We applied hierarchical regression to DALY rates by cause across countries to decompose variance related to the sociodemographic status variable, country, and time. Findings Worldwide, from 1990 to 2013, life expectancy at birth rose by 6·2 years (95% UI 5·6-6·6), from 65·3 years (65·0-65·6) in 1990 to 71·5 years (71·0-71·9) in 2013, HALE at birth rose by 5·4 years (4·9-5·8), from 56·9 years (54·5-59·1) to 62·3 years (59·7-64·8), total DALYs fell by 3·6% (0·3-7·4), and age-standardised DALY rates per 100 000 people fell by 26·7% (24·6-29·1). For communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disorders, global DALY numbers, crude rates, and age-standardised rates have all declined between 1990 and 2013, whereas for non-communicable diseases, global DALYs have been increasing, DALY rates have remained nearly constant, and age-standardised DALY rates declined during the same period. From 2005 to 2013, the number of DALYs increased for most specific non-communicable diseases, including cardiovascular diseases and neoplasms, in addition to dengue, food-borne trematodes, and leishmaniasis; DALYs decreased for nearly all other causes. By 2013, the five leading causes of DALYs were ischaemic heart disease, lower respiratory infections, cerebrovascular disease, low back and neck pain, and road injuries. Sociodemographic status explained more than 50% of the variance between countries and over time for diarrhoea, lower respiratory infections, and other common infectious diseases; maternal disorders; neonatal disorders; nutritional deficiencies; other communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional diseases; musculoskeletal disorders; and other non-communicable diseases. However, sociodemographic status explained less than 10% of the variance in DALY rates for cardiovascular diseases; chronic respiratory diseases; cirrhosis; diabetes, urogenital, blood, and endocrine diseases; unintentional injuries; and self-harm and interpersonal violence. Predictably, increased sociodemographic status was associated with a shift in burden from YLLs to YLDs, driven by declines in YLLs and increases in YLDs from musculoskeletal disorders, neurological disorders, and mental and substance use disorders. In most country-specific estimates, the increase in life expectancy was greater than that in HALE. Leading causes of DALYs are highly variable across countries. Interpretation Global health is improving. Population growth and ageing have driven up numbers of DALYs, but crude rates have remained relatively constant, showing that progress in health does not mean fewer demands on health systems. The notion of an epidemiological transition - in which increasing sociodemographic status brings structured change in disease burden - is useful, but there is tremendous variation in burden of disease that is not associated with sociodemographic status. This further underscores the need for country-specific assessments of DALYs and HALE to appropriately inform health policy decisions and attendant actions