Microcytosis is associated with low cognitive outcomes in healthy 2-year-olds in a high-resource setting

Fe deficiency in early childhood is associated with long-term consequences for cognitive, motor and behavioural development; however explorations in healthy children from low risk, high-resource settings have been limited. We aimed to explore associations between Fe status and neurodevelopmental outcomes in low risk, healthy 2-year-olds. This study was a secondary analysis of a nested case–control subgroup from the prospective, maternal-infant Cork Babies after Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints: Evaluating the Longitudinal Impact using Neurological and Nutritional Endpoints (BASELINE) Birth Cohort Study. At 2 years, serum ferritin, Hb and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were measured and neurodevelopment was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development (n 87). Five children had Fe deficiency (ferritin <12 µg/l) and no child had Fe deficiency anaemia (Hb<110 g/l+ferritin<12 µg/l). Children with microcytosis (MCV<74 fl, n 13) had significantly lower mean cognitive composite scores (88·5 (sd 13·3) v. 97·0 (sd 7·8), P=0·04, Cohen’s d effect size=0·8) than those without microcytosis. The ferritin concentration which best predicted microcytosis was calculated as 18·4 µg/l (AUC=0·87 (95% CI 0·75, 0·98), P<0·0001, sensitivity 92 %, specificity 75 %). Using 18·5 µg/l as a threshold, children with concentrations <18·5 µg/l had significantly lower mean cognitive composite scores (92·3 (sd 10·5) v. 97·8 (sd 8·1), P=0·012, Cohen’s d effect size=0·6) compared with those with ferritin ≥18·5 µg/l. All associations were robust after adjustment for potential confounding factors. Despite a low prevalence of Fe deficiency using current diagnostic criteria in this healthy cohort, microcytosis was associated with lower cognitive outcomes at 2 years. This exploratory study emphasises the need for re-evaluation of the diagnostic criteria for Fe deficiency in young children, with further research in adequately powered studies warranted

Stable U(IV) Complexes Form at High-Affinity Mineral Surface Sites

Uranium (U) poses a significant contamination hazard to soils, sediments, and groundwater due to its extensive use for energy production. Despite advances in modeling the risks of this toxic and radioactive element, lack of information about the mechanisms controlling U transport hinders further improvements, particularly in reducing environments where UIV predominates. Here we establish that mineral surfaces can stabilize the majority of U as adsorbed UIV species following reduction of UVI. Using X-ray absorption spectroscopy and electron imaging analysis, we find that at low surface loading, UIV forms inner-sphere complexes with two metal oxides, TiO2 (rutile) and Fe3O4 (magnetite) (at <1.3 U nm–2 and <0.037 U nm–2, respectively). The uraninite (UO2) form of UIV predominates only at higher surface loading. UIV–TiO2 complexes remain stable for at least 12 months, and UIV–Fe3O4 complexes remain stable for at least 4 months, under anoxic conditions. Adsorbed UIV results from UVI reduction by FeII or by the reduced electron shuttle AH2QDS, suggesting that both abiotic and biotic reduction pathways can produce stable UIV–mineral complexes in the subsurface. The observed control of high-affinity mineral surface sites on UIV speciation helps explain the presence of nonuraninite UIV in sediments and has important implications for U transport modeling

Learning the price of poverty across the UK

© 2017, © The Author(s) 2017. In 2016, the British Educational Research Association (BERA) Commission on Poverty and Policy Advocacy brought together several academics from across the four jurisdictions of the UK already engaged in work on poverty, education and schooling. The aim of this BERA Commission was to build a network of research-active practitioners across the UK and, internationally, to engage in knowledge building about poverty and multiple factors of deprivation as these find expression in education and schooling. The Commission also aimed to facilitate counter discourses to be voiced and articulated in contrast to the dominant pathologising discourses of poor people and their education. The Commission therefore addressed the question: what can research tell us about the ways that different devolved policy contexts impact on the learning and well-being of young people living in poverty? This article describes the methodology used by the Commission to bring together researchers, policymakers, practitioners and children and young people to learn about the price of poverty in education and to reflect on the implications for policy. In so doing, the article addresses some challenges, opportunities and outcomes in terms of knowledge production, as well as implications for critical scholarship, with a focus on poverty and education

A two-component pre-seeded dermal-epidermal scaffold

We have developed a bilayered dermal-epidermal scaffold for application in the treatment of full-thickness skin defects. The dermal component gels in situ and adapts to the lesion shape, delivering human dermal fibroblasts in a matrix of fibrin and cross-linked hyaluronic acid modified with a cell adhesion-promoting peptide. Fibroblasts were able to form a tridimensional matrix due to material features such as tailored mechanical properties, presence of protease-degradable elements and cell-binding ligands. The epidermal component is a robust membrane containing cross-linked hyaluronic acid and poly-l-lysine, on which keratinocytes were able to attach and to form a monolayer. Amine-aldehyde bonding at the interface between the two components allows the formation of a tightly bound composite scaffold. Both parts of the scaffold were designed to provide cell-type-specific cues to allow for cell proliferation and form a construct that mimics the skin environment.D.S.K. acknowledges funding from the Biotechnology Research Endowment from the Department of Anesthesiology at Boston Children's Hospital. I.P.M. acknowledges the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology for the grant BD/39396/2007 and the MIT-Portugal Program. D.G. acknowledges the Swiss National Science Foundation for a post-doctoral fellowship (PBGEP3-129111). B.P.T. acknowledges an NIR Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (F32GM096546)