Breast milk versus Formula: What\u27s the Big deal?

Breastfeeding versus formula feeding infants has long been a debate and question for parents. Many negative and positive points are brought up for each side of the debate, but an overwhelming majority of evidence has pushed for breastfeeding and its positive benefits for the newborn. However, there is a concern for the incidence of hyperbilirubinemia in infants and whether breastfeeding or formula feeding affects bilirubin levels. The aim of this project is to gather evidence to determine whether or not bilirubin levels in newborns are significantly influenced in the first one to three weeks of life by source of feeding, either breast feeding or formula feeding. Our evidence was gathered from the following accessed databases: Medline, Proquest, and CINAHL. Our findings did suggest that bilirubin levels are higher in breastfed newborns in the first week to three weeks of life, but the positive benefits of breastfeeding out weighted the cons; however, great caution should be taken to monitor the levels of bilirubin in all infants due to the risk of hyperbilirubinemia causing neurological harm, such as brain damage. Therefore, nurses and all medical professionals working with infants should practice effective monitoring of bilirubin levels in newborns to effectively intervene when bilirubin levels reach a dangerous level and provide sufficient education to the parents

Early Postnatal Discharge for Infants: A Meta-analysis

CONTEXT: Postnatal length of hospital stay has reduced internationally but evidence-based abstract policies to support earlier discharge are lacking. OBJECTIVE: To determine the effects of early postnatal discharge on infant outcomes. DATA SOURCES: CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), Medline, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature , and SCI (Science Citation Index) were searched through to January 15, 2018. STUDY SELECTION: Studies reporting infant outcomes with early postnatal discharge versus standard discharge were included if they met Effective Practice and Organisation of Care study design criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Two authors independently assessed eligibility and extracted data, resolving disagreements by consensus. Data from interrupted time series (ITS) studies were extracted and reanalyzed in meta-analyses. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) used random effects models. RESULTS: Of 9298 studies, 15 met the inclusion criteria. RCT meta-analyses revealed that infants discharged ,48 hours after vaginal birth and ,96 hours after cesarean birth were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 28 days compared to standard discharge (risk ratio: 1.70; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.34 to 2.15). ITS meta-analyses revealed a reduction in the proportion of infants readmitted within 28 days after minimum postnatal stay policies and legislation were introduced (change in slope: 20.62; 95% CI 21.83 to 0.60), with increasing impact in the first and second years (effect estimate: 24.27 [95% CI 27.91 to 20.63] and 26.23 [95% CI 210.15 to 22.32]). LIMITATIONS: Withdrawals and crossover limited the value of RCTs in this context but not ITS evidence. CONCLUSIONS: Infants discharged early after birth were more likely to be admitted within 28 days. The introduction of postnatal minimum length of stay policies was associated with a longterm reduction in neonatal hospital readmission rates

The decline and rise of neighbourhoods: the importance of neighbourhood governance

There is a substantial literature on the explanation of neighbourhood change. Most of this literature concentrates on identifying factors and developments behind processes of decline. This paper reviews the literature, focusing on the identification of patterns of neighbourhood change, and argues that the concept of neighbourhood governance is a missing link in attempts to explain these patterns. Including neighbourhood governance in the explanations of neighbourhood change and decline will produce better explanatory models and, finally, a better view about what is actually steering neighbourhood change

Protocol for the development of a core outcome set for studies of pregnant women with pre-existing multimorbidity

Increasingly more pregnant women are living with pre-existing multimorbidity (≥two long-term physical or mental health conditions). This may adversely affect maternal and offspring outcomes. This study aims to develop a core outcome set (COS) for maternal and offspring outcomes in pregnant women with pre-existing multimorbidity. It is intended for use in observational and interventional studies in all pregnancy settings. We propose a four stage study design: (1) systematic literature search, (2) focus groups, (3) Delphi surveys and (4) consensus group meeting. The study will be conducted from June 2021 to August 2022. First, an initial list of outcomes will be identified through a systematic literature search of reported outcomes in studies of pregnant women with multimorbidity. We will search the Cochrane library, Medline, EMBASE and CINAHL. This will be supplemented with relevant outcomes from published COS for pregnancies and childbirth in general, and multimorbidity. Second, focus groups will be conducted among (1) women with lived experience of managing pre-existing multimorbidity in pregnancy (and/or their partners) and (2) their healthcare/social care professionals to identify outcomes important to them. Third, these initial lists of outcomes will be prioritised through a three-round online Delphi survey using predefined score criteria for consensus. Participants will be invited to suggest additional outcomes that were not included in the initial list. Finally, a consensus meeting using the nominal group technique will be held to agree on the final COS. The stakeholders will include (1) women (and/or their partners) with lived experience of managing multimorbidity in pregnancy, (2) healthcare/social care professionals involved in their care and (3) researchers in this field. This study has been approved by the University of Birmingham's ethical review committee. The final COS will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publication and conferences and to all stakeholders. [Abstract copyright: © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ.

Dynamics of multi-stage infections on networks

This paper investigates the dynamics of infectious diseases with a nonexponentially distributed infectious period. This is achieved by considering a multistage infection model on networks. Using pairwise approximation with a standard closure, a number of important characteristics of disease dynamics are derived analytically, including the final size of an epidemic and a threshold for epidemic outbreaks, and it is shown how these quantities depend on disease characteristics, as well as the number of disease stages. Stochastic simulations of dynamics on networks are performed and compared to output of pairwise models for several realistic examples of infectious diseases to illustrate the role played by the number of stages in the disease dynamics. These results show that a higher number of disease stages results in faster epidemic outbreaks with a higher peak prevalence and a larger final size of the epidemic. The agreement between the pairwise and simulation models is excellent in the cases we consider

Vascular responses of the extremities to transdermal application of vasoactive agents in Caucasian and African descent individuals

This is an accepted manuscript of an article published by Springer in European Journal of Applied Physiology on 04/04/2015, available online: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-015-3164-2 The accepted version of the publication may differ from the final published version.© 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg. Purpose: Individuals of African descent (AFD) are more susceptible to non-freezing cold injury than Caucasians (CAU) which may be due, in part, to differences in the control of skin blood flow. We investigated the skin blood flow responses to transdermal application of vasoactive agents. Methods: Twenty-four young males (12 CAU and 12 AFD) undertook three tests in which iontophoresis was used to apply acetylcholine (ACh 1 w/v %), sodium nitroprusside (SNP 0.01 w/v %) and noradrenaline (NA 0.5 mM) to the skin. The skin sites tested were: volar forearm, non-glabrous finger and toe, and glabrous finger (pad) and toe (pad). Results: In response to SNP on the forearm, AFD had less vasodilatation for a given current application than CAU (P = 0.027–0.004). ACh evoked less vasodilatation in AFD for a given application current in the non-glabrous finger and toe compared with CAU (P = 0.043–0.014) with a lower maximum vasodilatation in the non-glabrous finger (median [interquartile], AFD n = 11, 41[234] %, CAU n = 12, 351[451] %, P = 0.011) and non-glabrous toe (median [interquartile], AFD n = 9, 116[318] %, CAU n = 12, 484[720] %, P = 0.018). ACh and SNP did not elicit vasodilatation in the glabrous skin sites of either group. There were no ethnic differences in response to NA. Conclusion: AFD have an attenuated endothelium-dependent vasodilatation in non-glabrous sites of the fingers and toes compared with CAU. This may contribute to lower skin temperature following cold exposure and the increased risk of cold injuries experienced by AFD.Published versio

Entomological Surveillance of Behavioural Resilience and Resistance in Residual Malaria Vector Populations.

The most potent malaria vectors rely heavily upon human blood so they are vulnerable to attack with insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) within houses. Mosquito taxa that can avoid feeding or resting indoors, or by obtaining blood from animals, mediate a growing proportion of the dwindling transmission that persists as ITNs and IRS are scaled up. Increasing frequency of behavioural evasion traits within persisting residual vector systems usually reflect the successful suppression of the most potent and vulnerable vector taxa by IRS or ITNs, rather than their failure. Many of the commonly observed changes in mosquito behavioural patterns following intervention scale-up may well be explained by modified taxonomic composition and expression of phenotypically plastic behavioural preferences, rather than altered innate preferences of individuals or populations. Detailed review of the contemporary evidence base does not yet provide any clear-cut example of true behavioural resistance and is, therefore, consistent with the hypothesis presented. Caution should be exercised before over-interpreting most existing reports of increased frequency of behavioural traits which enable mosquitoes to evade fatal contact with insecticides: this may simply be the result of suppressing the most behaviourally vulnerable of the vector taxa that constituted the original transmission system. Mosquito taxa which have always exhibited such evasive traits may be more accurately described as behaviourally resilient, rather than resistant. Ongoing national or regional entomological monitoring surveys of physiological susceptibility to insecticides should be supplemented with biologically and epidemiologically meaningfully estimates of malaria vector population dynamics and the behavioural phenotypes that determine intervention impact, in order to design, select, evaluate and optimize the implementation of vector control measures