Association between body mass index and mental health among Scottish adult population: a cross-sectional study of 37,272 participants

<b>Background:</b> The evidence is conflicting as to whether body mass index (BMI) is associated with mental health and, if so, to what extent it varies by sex and age. We studied mental health across the full spectrum of BMI among the general population, and conducted subgroup analyses by sex and age.<p></p> <b>Method:</b> We undertook a cross-sectional study of a representative sample of the Scottish adult population. The Scottish Health Survey provided data on mental health, measured by the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ), BMI, demographic and life-style information. Good mental health was defined as a GHQ score <4, and poor mental health as a GHQ score ≥4. Logistic regression models were applied. Results Of the 37 272 participants, 5739 (15.4%) had poor mental health. Overall, overweight participants had better mental health than the normal-weight group [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.87–0.99, p = 0.049], and individuals who were underweight, class II or class III obese had poorer mental health (class III obese group: adjusted OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.05–1.51, p = 0.013). There were significant interactions of BMI with sex (p = 0.013) and with age (p < 0.001). Being overweight was associated with significantly better mental health in middle-aged men only. In contrast, being underweight at all ages or obese at a young age was associated with significantly poorer mental health in women only.<p></p> <b>Conclusions:</b> The adverse associations between adiposity and mental health are specific to women. Underweight women and young women who are obese have poorer mental health. In contrast, middle-aged overweight men have better mental health.<p></p&gt

Long term cognitive outcomes of early term (37-38 weeks) and late preterm (34-36 weeks) births: a systematic review

Background: There is a paucity of evidence regarding long-term outcomes of late preterm (34-36 weeks) and early term (37-38 weeks) delivery.  The objective of this systematic review was to assess long-term cognitive outcomes of children born at these gestations. Methods: Four electronic databases (Medline, Embase, clinicaltrials.gov and PsycINFO) were searched.  Last search was 5 th August 2016.  Studies were included if they reported gestational age, IQ measure and the ages assessed.  The protocol was registered with the International prospective register of systematic reviews (PROSPERO Record CRD42015015472).  Two independent reviewers assessed the studies.  Data were abstracted and critical appraisal performed of eligible papers. Results: Of 11,905 potential articles, seven studies reporting on 41,344 children were included.  For early term births, four studies (n = 35,711) consistently showed an increase in cognitive scores for infants born at full term (39-41 weeks) compared to those born at early term (37-38 weeks) with increases for each week of term (difference between 37 and 40 weeks of around 3 IQ points), despite differences in age of testing and method of IQ/cognitive testing.  Four studies (n = 5644) reporting childhood cognitive outcomes of late preterm births (34 - 36 weeks) also differed in study design (cohort and case control); age of testing; and method of IQ testing, and found no differences in outcomes between late preterm and term births, although risk of bias was high in included studies. Conclusion:  Children born at 39-41 weeks have higher cognitive outcome scores compared to those born at early term (37-38 weeks).  This should be considered when discussing timing of delivery.  For children born late preterm, the data is scarce and when compared to full term (37-42 weeks) did not show any difference in IQ scores

Using cascading Bloom filters to improve the memory usage for de Brujin graphs

De Brujin graphs are widely used in bioinformatics for processing next-generation sequencing data. Due to a very large size of NGS datasets, it is essential to represent de Bruijn graphs compactly, and several approaches to this problem have been proposed recently. In this work, we show how to reduce the memory required by the algorithm of [3] that represents de Brujin graphs using Bloom filters. Our method requires 30% to 40% less memory with respect to the method of [3], with insignificant impact to construction time. At the same time, our experiments showed a better query time compared to [3]. This is, to our knowledge, the best practical representation for de Bruijn graphs.Comment: 12 pages, submitte

Association between exposure to environmental tobacco smoke and biomarkers of oxidative stress among patients hospitalised with acute myocardial infarction

Objective To determine whether exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was associated with oxidative stress among patients hospitalised for acute myocardial infarction.<p></p> Design An existing cohort study of 1,261 patients hospitalised for acute myocardial infarction.<p></p> Setting Nine acute hospitals in Scotland.<p></p> Participants Sixty never smokers who had been exposed to environmental tobacco smoke (admission serum cotinine ≥3.0 ng/mL) were compared with 60 never smokers who had not (admission serum cotinine ≤0.1 ng/mL).<p></p> Intervention None.<p></p> Main outcome measures Three biomarkers of oxidative stress (protein carbonyl, malondialdehyde (MDA) and oxidised low-density lipoprotein (ox-LDL)) were measured on admission blood samples and adjusted for potential confounders.<p></p> Results After adjusting for baseline differences in age, sex and socioeconomic status, exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was associated with serum concentrations of both protein carbonyl (beta coefficient 7.96, 95% CI 0.76, 15.17, p = 0.031) and MDA (beta coefficient 10.57, 95% CI 4.32, 16.81, p = 0.001) but not ox-LDL (beta coefficient 2.14, 95% CI −8.94, 13.21, p = 0.703).<p></p> Conclusions Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke was associated with increased oxidative stress. Further studies are requires to explore the role of oxidative stress in the association between environmental tobacco smoke and myocardial infarction.<p></p&gt

Short-Term Effects of Biogas Digestates and Pig Slurry Application on Soil Microbial Activity

The effect of four biogas digestates (BD-A, BD-B, BD-C, and BD-D) and pig slurry (PS) on soil microbial functions was assessed at application rates corresponding to 0–1120 kg NH4+-N ha−1. At dose corresponding to 140 kg NH4+-N ha−1, 30.9–32.5% of the carbon applied in BD-A, BD-C, and PS was utilized during 12 days, while for BD-B and BD-D corresponding utilization was 19.0 and 16.9%, respectively. All BDs resulted in net nitrogen assimilation at low rates (17.5–140 kg NH4+-N ha−1) but net mineralization dominated at higher rates. PS resulted in net mineralization at all application rates. All residues inhibited potential ammonium oxidation (PAO), with EC50-values ranging between 45 and 302 kg NH4+-N ha−1. Low rates of BDs appeared to weakly stimulate potential denitrification activity (PDA), while higher rates resulted in logarithmic decrease. The EC50-values for PDA were between 238 and 347 kg NH4+-N ha−1. No inhibition of PDA was observed after amendment with PS. In conclusion, biogas digestates inhibited ammonia oxidation and denitrification, which could be an early warning of potential hazardous substances in the digestates. However, this effect can also be regarded as positive, since it may reduce nitrogen losses

Gestational age at delivery of twins and perinatal outcomes : a cohort study in Aberdeen, Scotland

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust through a PhD studentship to SRM [104490] and a Clinical Career Development Fellowship to SJS [209560]. First published: 03 Apr 2019, 4:65 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15211.1) Latest published: 22 Jul 2019, 4:65 (https://doi.org/10.12688/wellcomeopenres.15211.2)Peer reviewedPublisher PD