Clinical, ultrasound and molecular biomarkers for early prediction of large for gestational age infants in nulliparous women: an international prospective cohort study

Objective: To develop a prediction model for term infants born large for gestational age (LGA) by customised birthweight centiles. Methods: International prospective cohort of nulliparous women with singleton pregnancy recruited to the Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) study. LGA was defined as birthweight above the 90th customised centile, including adjustment for parity, ethnicity, maternal height and weight, fetal gender and gestational age. Clinical risk factors, ultrasound parameters and biomarkers at 14–16 or 19–21 weeks were combined into a prediction model for LGA infants at term using stepwise logistic regression in a training dataset. Prediction performance was assessed in a validation dataset using area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve (AUC) and detection rate at fixed false positive rates. Results: The prevalence of LGA at term was 8.8% (n = 491/5628). Clinical and ultrasound factors selected in the prediction model for LGA infants were maternal birthweight, gestational weight gain between 14–16 and 19–21 weeks, and fetal abdominal circumference, head circumference and uterine artery Doppler resistance index at 19–21 weeks (AUC 0.67; 95%CI 0.63–0.71). Sensitivity of this model was 24% and 49% for a fixed false positive rate of 10% and 25%, respectively. The addition of biomarkers resulted in selection of random glucose, LDL-cholesterol, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor-1 (VEGFR1) and neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), but with minimal improvement in model performance (AUC 0.69; 95%CI 0.65–0.73). Sensitivity of the full model was 26% and 50% for a fixed false positive rate of 10% and 25%, respectively. Conclusion: Prediction of LGA infants at term has limited diagnostic performance before 22 weeks but may have a role in contingency screening in later pregnancy

Three-year follow-up of physical activity in Norwegian youth from two ethnic groups: associations with socio-demographic factors

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>More research on factors associated with physical activity and the decline in participation during adolescence is needed. In this paper, we investigate the levels, change, and stability of physical activity during the late teens among ethnic Norwegians and ethnic minorities, and we examine the associations between physical activity and socio-demographic factors.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The baseline (T1) of this longitudinal study included 10^thgraders who participated in the youth part of the Oslo Health Study, which was carried out in schools in 2000–2001. The follow-up (T2) in 2003–2004 was conducted partly at school and partly by mail. A total of 2489 (1112 boys and 1377 girls) participated both at baseline and at follow-up. Physical activity level was measured by a question on weekly hours of physical activity outside of school. Socio-demographic variables were collected by questionnaire and from data obtained from Statistics Norway. Analysis of variance was used to study the level of and changes (T1 to T2) in physical activity, and the associations between physical activity and socio-demographic factors. Stability in physical activity was defined as the percentage of students reporting the same physical activity both times.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Boys were more active than girls at age 15 and 18 years, independent of ethnic background. Among girls, ethnic Norwegians were more active than ethnic minorities. Hours per week spent on physical activity declined in all groups during the follow-up period. Few associations were found between physical activity and socio-demographic factors in both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. Among the ethnic minority girls, 65% reported being physically active 0–2 hours per week at baseline, and 82% of these girls reported the same level at follow up.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The association between physical activity and ethnicity at age 15 years remained the same during the follow-up. Few associations were found between physical activity and socio-demographic variables. A large proportion of ethnic minority girls reported a persistently low physical activity level, and this low participation rate may need special attention.</p

The republic of science and its citizens: what role may humanities play within the popperian framework?

This essay aims at underlining Ian Jarvie’s specific contribution to the study of some of Karl Popper’s ideas in The Poverty of Historicism. It will also show how he goes further than Popper. Jarvie acknowledges the difficulty of writing about Popper’s view of the differences between the natural and the social sciences because Popper never addresses the critique of anti-naturalistic doctrines. He offers instead a critique of methodological essentialism and an apology of a certain nominalism. Popper shares these two ideas with Friedrich A. Hayek; however, Popper minimizes Hayek’s subjectivism of the social sciences. Looking through Hayek’s subjectivism, this chapter argues that the difference in method is greater than it seems, and that something akin to a Republic of Letters should be built alongside the Republic of Science, without ignoring the inherent faults in these republics that Jarvie underlines.Universidad de Navarrainfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio