An Integrated Analysis of Maternal-Infant Sleep, Breastfeeding, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome Research Supporting a Balanced Discourse

Breastfeeding and the place of sleep for the mother and the infant have been controversial internationally due to reported concerns regarding infant deaths despite the known benefits of exclusive and prolonged breastfeeding, which are increased by breastfeeding at night. The aims of this integrated analysis were to (a) review breastfeeding and maternal and infant sleep research literature via historical, epidemiological, anthropological, and methodological lenses; (b) use this information to determine where we are currently in safeguarding both infant lives and breastfeeding; and (c) postulate the direction that research might take from this point forward to improve our knowledge and inform our policy and practice. Despite well-meaning but unsuccessful campaigns in some countries to dissuade parents from sleeping with their babies, many breastfeeding mothers and caregivers do sleep with their infants whether intentionally or unintentionally. Taking cultural contexts and socio-ecological circumstances into consideration, data supports policies to counsel parents and caregivers on safe sleep practices, including bed-sharing in non-hazardous circumstances, particularly in the absence of parental smoking, recent parental alcohol consumption, or sleeping next to an adult on a sofa. Further research with appropriate methodology is needed to drill down on actual rates of infant deaths, paying close attention to the definitions of deaths, the circumstances of the deaths, and confounding factors, in order to ensure we have the best information with which to derive public health policy. Introduction and use of the concept of “breastsleeping” is a plausible way to remove the negative connotations of “co-sleeping” and redirect ongoing data-driven discussions and education of best practices of breastfeeding and sleep

The Provision Of Data From The COSMOS-UK Soil Moisture Monitoring Network

This paper describes the data available from COSMOS-UK, a new soil moisture monitoring network for the UK based on passive cosmic-ray moisture probes which are capable of measuring average soil water content over a circular footprint of around 350m in radius and depths of up to 0.5 m. Around 35 probes, with an associated array of meteorological and point soil moisture sensors, will be deployed across the UK in a network designed to best represent a range of soil and land cover types, complement existing scientific monitoring over a wide range of subject areas, and capture the variability in soil moisture over the country. Data will be automatically quality controlled and data streams will be openly and freely accessible via services and formats that conform to existing international standards, enabling integration with forecasting and data assimilation systems

Infant sleep and anxiety disorders in early childhood: Findings from an Australian pregnancy cohort study

Emphasis on continuous infant sleep overnight may be driven by parental concern of risk to child mental health outcomes. The Mercy Pregnancy and Emotional Wellbeing Study (MPEWS) examined whether infant sleep at 6 and 12 months postpartum predicts anxiety disorders at 2–4 years, and whether this is moderated by maternal depression, active physical comforting (APC) or maternal cognitions about infant sleep. Data included 349 women and infants. Infant sleep was measured using the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire and child anxiety disorders by the Preschool Age Psychiatric Assessment. The risk of developing generalised anxiety or social phobia disorders at 3–4 years was reduced by 42% (p = 0.001) and 31% (p = 0.001), respectively, for a one standard deviation increase in total sleep at 12 months. No other infant sleep outcomes were associated. Maternal depression, APC and cognitions about infant sleep did not significantly moderate these relationships. Focus may need to be on total infant sleep, rather than when sleep is achieved. Highlights: To assess whether infant sleep outcomes (i.e., frequency of nocturnal wakes; nocturnal wakefulness and total sleep per day) at 6 and 12 months predict early childhood anxiety disorders at 3–4 years of age. Maternally reported infant sleep outcomes were not associated with the risk of developing early childhood anxiety disorders at 3–4 years. It may be total infant sleep, irrespective of when sleep occurs or night waking and, independently, active physical comforting that requires further investigation

An Adaptive Decision Framework for the Conservation of a Threatened Plant

This is the publisher's version, also available electronically from http://www.fwspubs.org/.Mead's milkweed Asclepias meadii, a long-lived perennial herb of tallgrass prairie and glade communities of the central United States, is a species designated as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. Challenges to its successful management include the facts that much about its life history is unknown, its age at reproductive maturity is very advanced, certain life stages are practically unobservable, its productivity is responsive to unpredictable environmental events, and most of the known populations occur on private lands unprotected by any legal conservation instrument. One critical source of biological uncertainty is the degree to which fire promotes growth and reproductive response in the plant. To aid in its management, we developed a prototype population-level state-dependent decision-making framework that explicitly accounts for this uncertainty and for uncertainties related to stochastic environmental effects and vital rates. To parameterize the decision model, we used estimates found in the literature, and we analyzed data from a long-term monitoring program where fates of individual plants were observed through time. We demonstrate that different optimal courses of action are followed according to how one believes that fire influences reproductive response, and we show that the action taken for certain population states is informative for resolving uncertainty about competing beliefs regarding the effect of fire. We advocate the use of a model-predictive approach for the management of rare populations, particularly when management uncertainty is profound. Over time, an adaptive management approach should reduce uncertainty and improve management performance as predictions of management outcome generated under competing models are continually informed and updated by monitoring data

An Investigation into the Potential of Targeting Escherichia coli rne mRNA with Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA) Gapmers as an Antibacterial Strategy

The increase in antibacterial resistance is a serious challenge for both the health and defence sectors and there is a need for both novel antibacterial targets and antibacterial strategies. RNA degradation and ribonucleases, such as the essential endoribonuclease RNase E, encoded by the rne gene, are emerging as potential antibacterial targets while antisense oligonucleotides may provide alternative antibacterial strategies. As rne mRNA has not been previously targeted using an antisense approach, we decided to explore using antisense oligonucleotides to target the translation initiation region of the Escherichia coli rne mRNA. Antisense oligonucleotides were rationally designed and were synthesised as locked nucleic acid (LNA) gapmers to enable inhibition of rne mRNA translation through two mechanisms. Either LNA gapmer binding could sterically block translation and/or LNA gapmer binding could facilitate RNase H-mediated cleavage of the rne mRNA. This may prove to be an advantage over the majority of previous antibacterial antisense oligonucleotide approaches which used oligonucleotide chemistries that restrict the mode-of-action of the antisense oligonucleotide to steric blocking of translation. Using an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, we demonstrate that the LNA gapmers bind to the translation initiation region of E. coli rne mRNA. We then use a cell-free transcription translation reporter assay to show that this binding is capable of inhibiting translation. Finally, in an in vitro RNase H cleavage assay, the LNA gapmers facilitate RNase H-mediated mRNA cleavage. Although the challenges of antisense oligonucleotide delivery remain to be addressed, overall, this work lays the foundations for the development of a novel antibacterial strategy targeting rne mRNA with antisense oligonucleotides

Bedsharing and Breastfeeding: The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine Protocol #6, Revision 2019

A central goal of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is the development of clinical protocols for managing common medical problems that may impact breastfeeding success. These protocols serve only as guidelines for the care of breastfeeding mothers and infants and do not delineate an exclusive course of treatment or serve as standards of medical care. Variations in treatment may be appropriate according to the needs of an individual patient

Multiagency approaches to preventing sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI): a review and analysis of UK policies

Background Recent reviews of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI) in England recommend a multiagency working (MAW) approach to prevention but lack clear guidance around how this might be implemented.Aims In England, local authorities commission and oversee public health services. This review examines how local authority policies address implementation of MAW for SUDI prevention to understand local variations and identify strengths and weaknesses.Methods Using a comprehensive list of all metropolitan, county, unitary councils and London boroughs in England, we systematically searched local authority websites for relevant published documents and submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests where policies or guidance for SUDI prevention had not been sourced online. We extracted data from documents using a standardised form to summarise policy contents which were then collated, described and appraised.Findings We searched the websites of 152 council and London boroughs, identifying 36 relevant policies and guidelines for staff. We submitted 116 FOI requests which yielded 64 responses including six valid documents: 45% (52/116) of local authorities did not respond. Seventeen councils shared the same guidance under safeguarding partnerships; removal of duplicates resulted in 26 unique documents. Only 15% (4/26) of the documents included a detailed plan for how MAW approaches were to be implemented despite 73% (19/26) of the documents mentioning the importance of engaging the MAW in raising awareness of safe sleep for babies with vulnerable families. Five areas of variation were identified across policies: (1) scope, (2) responsibilities, (3) training, (4) implementation and (5) evaluation.Conclusions There are discrepancies between local authorities in England in whether and how MAW for SUDI prevention is carried out. Strengths and weaknesses of approaches are identified to inform future development of MAW for SUDI prevention

Developing and enhancing biodiversity monitoring programmes: a collaborative assessment of priorities

1.Biodiversity is changing at unprecedented rates, and it is increasingly important that these changes are quantified through monitoring programmes. Previous recommendations for developing or enhancing these programmes focus either on the end goals, that is the intended use of the data, or on how these goals are achieved, for example through volunteer involvement in citizen science, but not both. These recommendations are rarely prioritized. 2.We used a collaborative approach, involving 52 experts in biodiversity monitoring in the UK, to develop a list of attributes of relevance to any biodiversity monitoring programme and to order these attributes by their priority. We also ranked the attributes according to their importance in monitoring biodiversity in the UK. Experts involved included data users, funders, programme organizers and participants in data collection. They covered expertise in a wide range of taxa. 3.We developed a final list of 25 attributes of biodiversity monitoring schemes, ordered from the most elemental (those essential for monitoring schemes; e.g. articulate the objectives and gain sufficient participants) to the most aspirational (e.g. electronic data capture in the field, reporting change annually). This ordered list is a practical framework which can be used to support the development of monitoring programmes. 4.People's ranking of attributes revealed a difference between those who considered attributes with benefits to end users to be most important (e.g. people from governmental organizations) and those who considered attributes with greatest benefit to participants to be most important (e.g. people involved with volunteer biological recording schemes). This reveals a distinction between focussing on aims and the pragmatism in achieving those aims. 5.Synthesis and applications. The ordered list of attributes developed in this study will assist in prioritizing resources to develop biodiversity monitoring programmes (including citizen science). The potential conflict between end users of data and participants in data collection that we discovered should be addressed by involving the diversity of stakeholders at all stages of programme development. This will maximize the chance of successfully achieving the goals of biodiversity monitoring programmes