Predicting live birth, preterm and low birth weight infant after in-vitro fertilisation: a prospective study of 144018 treatment cycles

Background The extent to which baseline couple characteristics affect the probability of live birth and adverse perinatal outcomes after assisted conception is unknown. Methods and Findings We utilised the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority database to examine the predictors of live birth in all in vitro fertilisation (IVF) cycles undertaken in the UK between 2003 and 2007 (n = 144,018). We examined the potential clinical utility of a validated model that pre-dated the introduction of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) as compared to a novel model. For those treatment cycles that resulted in a live singleton birth (n = 24,226), we determined the associates of potential risk factors with preterm birth, low birth weight, and macrosomia. The overall rate of at least one live birth was 23.4 per 100 cycles (95% confidence interval [CI] 23.2–23.7). In multivariable models the odds of at least one live birth decreased with increasing maternal age, increasing duration of infertility, a greater number of previously unsuccessful IVF treatments, use of own oocytes, necessity for a second or third treatment cycle, or if it was not unexplained infertility. The association of own versus donor oocyte with reduced odds of live birth strengthened with increasing age of the mother. A previous IVF live birth increased the odds of future success (OR 1.58, 95% CI 1.46–1.71) more than that of a previous spontaneous live birth (OR 1.19, 95% CI 0.99–1.24); p-value for difference in estimate <0.001. Use of ICSI increased the odds of live birth, and male causes of infertility were associated with reduced odds of live birth only in couples who had not received ICSI. Prediction of live birth was feasible with moderate discrimination and excellent calibration; calibration was markedly improved in the novel compared to the established model. Preterm birth and low birth weight were increased if oocyte donation was required and ICSI was not used. Risk of macrosomia increased with advancing maternal age and a history of previous live births. Infertility due to cervical problems was associated with increased odds of all three outcomes—preterm birth, low birth weight, and macrosomia. Conclusions Pending external validation, our results show that couple- and treatment-specific factors can be used to provide infertile couples with an accurate assessment of whether they have low or high risk of a successful outcome following IVF

UK-born Pakistani-origin infants are relatively more adipose than white British infants: findings from 8704 mother-offspring pairs in the Born-in-Bradford prospective birth cohort

Background: Previous studies have shown markedly lower birth weight among infants of South Asian origin compared with those of White European origin. Whether such differences mask greater adiposity in South Asian infants and whether they persist across generations in contemporary UK populations is unclear. Our aim was to compare birth weight, skinfold thickness and cord leptin between Pakistani and White British infants and to investigate the explanatory factors, including parental and grandparental birthplace. Methods: We examined the differences in birth weight and skinfold thickness between 4649 Pakistani and 4055 White British infants born at term in the same UK maternity unit and compared cord leptin in a subgroup of 775 Pakistani and 612 White British infants. Results: Pakistani infants were lighter (adjusted mean difference −234 g 95% CI −258 to −210) and were smaller in both subscapular and triceps skinfold measurements. The differences for subscapular and triceps skinfold thickness (mean z-score difference −0.27 95% CI −0.34 to −0.20 and −0.23 95% CI −0.30 to −0.16, respectively) were smaller than the difference in birth weight (mean z-score difference −0.52 95% CI −0.58 to −0.47) and attenuated to the null with adjustment for birth weight (0.03 95% CI −0.03 to 0.09 and −0.01 95% CI −0.08 to 0.05, respectively). Cord leptin concentration (indicator of fat mass) was similar in Pakistani and White British infants without adjustment for birth weight, but with adjustment became 30% higher (95% CI 17% to 44%) among Pakistani infants compared with White British infants. The magnitudes of difference did not differ by generation. Conclusions: Despite being markedly lighter, Pakistani infants had similar skinfold thicknesses and greater total fat mass, as indicated by cord leptin, for a given birth weight than White British infants. Any efforts to reduce ethnic inequalities in birth weight need to consider differences in adiposity and the possibility that increasing birth weight in South Asian infants might inadvertently worsen health by increasing relative adiposity

Crop Updates - 2003 Weeds

This session covers Thirty four papers from different authors INTRODUCTION INTEGRATED WEED MANAGEMENT IWM system studies/demonstration sites Six years of IWM investigation – what does it tell us? Bill Roy, Agricultural Consulting and Research Services Pty Ltd Long term herbicide resistance site, the final chapter, Peter Newman and Glen Adam, Department of Agriculture Management of skeleton weed (chondrilla juncea) in a cropping rotation in Western Australia, J. R. Peirce and B. J. Rayner, Department of Agriculture WEED BIOLOGY AND COMPETITION Annual ryegrass seedbanks: The good, the bad and the ugly, Kathryn J. Steadman1, Amanda J. Ellery2 and Sally C. Peltzer3 , 1WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA, 2CSIRO Plant Industry, 3 Department of Agriculture Annual ryegrass seeds after-ripen faster during a hot summer, Kathryn J. Steadman1, Gavin P. Bignell1 and Amanda J. Ellery2, 1WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA, 2CSIRO Plant Industry Predicting annual ryegrass dormancy from climatic variables, Amanda Ellery, Andrew Moore, Sandy Nedelkos, Ross Chapman, CSIRO Plant Industry Removing dormancy in annual ryegrass seeds for early herbicide resistance testing, Kathryn J. Steadman and Mechelle J. Owen, WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA Annual ryegrass germination responds to nitrogen, Amanda Ellery1, Simone Dudley1 and Robert Gallagher2, 1CSIRO Plant Industry, 2Washington State University The agro-ecology of Malva parviflora (small flowered mallow), Pippa J. Michael, Kathryn J. Steadman and Julie A. Plummer, Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia The looming threat of wild radish, Peter Newman, Department of Agriculture IWM TOOLS Double knock, how close can we go? Peter Newman and Glen Adam, Department of Agriculture Double knock herbicide effect on annual ryegrass, Catherine Borger, Abul Hashem and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture Tactical techniques for managing Annual Ryegrass, Sally Peltzer1, Alex Douglas1, Fran Hoyle1, Paul Matson1 and Michael Walsh2 Department of Agriculture and 2Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative. Weed control through soil inversion, Sally Peltzer, Alex Douglas and Paul Matson, Department of Agriculture The burning issues of annual ryegrass seed control, Darren Chitty and Michael Walsh, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA No sign of chaff-cart resistant ryegrass! David Ferris, WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative UWA PACKAGES AND MODELLING Conserving glyphosate susceptibility – modelling past, present and future us. Paul Neve1, Art Diggle2, Patrick Smith3 and Stephen Powles1 ,1Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, School of Plant Biology, University of Western Australia, 2Department of Agriculture, 3CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems WEEDEM: A program for predicting weed emergence in Western Australia, Michael Walsh,1 David Archer2, James Eklund2 and Frank Forcella2, 1Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative, UWA, 2USDA-Agricultural Research Service, 803 Iowa Avenue, Morris, MN 56267, USA Weed and herbicide management for long term profit: A workshop, Alister Draper1 and Rick Llewellyn12, 1WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, 2School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia HERBICIDE RESISTANCE Alternative herbicides for control of triazine and diflufenican multiple resistant wild radish, Aik Cheam1, Siew Lee1, David Nicholson1 and Mike Clarke2 1Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, 2Bayer CropScience Resistance of wild mustard biotype to ALS-inhibiting herbicides in WA Wheatbelt, Abul Hashem, Department of Agriculture Glyphosate-resistant ryegrass biotypes in the WA wheatbelt, Abul Hashem, Catherine Borger and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture Implications of herbicide rates for resistance management, Paul Neve, Western Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia Putting a price on herbicide resistance, Rick Llewellyn, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics/WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia Herbicide resistance from over the fence: Mobility and management, Debbie Allena, Rick Llewellynb, aUniversity of Western Australia, 4th year student, 2002. Mingenew-Irwin Group, bSchool of Agricultural and Resource Economics/Western Australia Herbicide Resistance Initiative, University of Western Australia HERBICIDE TOLERANCE Herbicide tolerance of new barley varieties, Harmohinder S. Dhammu and Terry Piper, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of new lupins, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of new field pea varieties, Harmohinder S. Dhammu, Terry Piper and David Nicholson, Department of Agriculture Herbicide tolerance of new lentil varieties, H.S. Dhammu, T.J. Piper and L.E. Young, Department of Agriculture HERBICIDES – NEW PRODUCTS/PRODUCT USES; USE Kill half leaf ryegrass with Spray.Seed® at night, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agriculture CLEARFIELD™ wheat to control hard-to-kill weeds, Abul Hashem, Catherine Borger and Nerys Wilkins, Department of Agriculture Diuron, a possible alternative to simazine pre-emergent in lupins, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agriculture Dual Gold® soft on barley, soft on weeds in dry conditions, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agriculture Dual Gold® soft on lupins, soft on ryegrass in dry conditions, Peter Newman and Glenn Adam, Department of Agricultur

Augmenting the Eye of the Beholder: Exploring the Strategic Potential of Augmented Reality to Enhance Online Service Experiences

Driven by the proliferation of augmented reality (AR) technologies, many firms are pursuing a strategy of service augmentation to enhance customers’ online service experiences. Drawing on situated cognition theory, the authors show that AR - based service augmentation enhances customer value perceptions by simultaneously providing simulated physical control and environmental embedding. The resulting authentic situated experience, manifested in a feeling of spatial presence, funct ions as a mediator and also predicts customer decision comfort. Furthermore, the effect of spatial presence on utilitarian value perceptions is greater for customers who are disposed toward verbal rather than visual information processing, and the positive effect on decision comfort is attenuated by customers’ privacy concerns

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Neutralization of non-vaccine human papillomavirus pseudoviruses from the A7 and A9 species groups by bivalent HPV vaccine sera

► We examined neutralizing antibody in girls immunized with bivalent HPV vaccine. ► Antibody cross-reactivity dependent on response to vaccine types. ► Significant cross-reactivity against HPV31, HPV33, HPV45. ► Cross-reactive levels are low at <1% of vaccine type antibody responses. ► Potential role for cross-reactive antibodies as surrogate of protection

NHS cadet schemes: student experience, commitment, job satisfaction and job stress

In the context of various policy initiatives concerning widening access to and strengthening recruitment and retention in the health services, cadet schemes--predominantly in nursing--have proliferated over the last few years. As part of a larger national evaluation of National Health Service (NHS) cadet schemes, this paper reports on a survey of senior cadet students across 62 cadet schemes in England and examines their experience of being a cadet on such a scheme. Cadets forming the most senior cohort from each of the 62 schemes (n = 596) were surveyed using a questionnaire. The questionnaire included self-rated measures of job satisfaction, job stress and commitment. A 5% sample of these cadets participated in follow-up telephone interviews. Cadets reported high satisfaction with their courses. One of the most positive aspects of the schemes was the first-hand experience of working in the NHS they provided, whilst also giving cadets the opportunity to gain recognisable skills and qualifications. Cadets scored highly on the job satisfaction scale and, on the job stress scale, showed low stress overall. A significant positive correlation was found between satisfaction and stress, indicating that the cadets who are most satisfied are also more highly stressed. A negative correlation was found between stress and the dimensions of commitment indicating that those cadets who are stressed are less committed to the NHS. A negative correlation was also found between satisfaction and the dimensions of commitment, suggesting that commitment to the NHS is not contingent on high satisfaction. The implications for the findings of the survey are discussed