Evidence for perinatal and child health care guidelines in crisis settings: can Cochrane help?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It is important that healthcare provided in crisis settings is based on the best available research evidence. We reviewed guidelines for child and perinatal health care in crisis situations to determine whether they were based on research evidence, whether Cochrane systematic reviews were available in the clinical areas addressed by these guidelines and whether summaries of these reviews were provided in Evidence Aid.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Broad internet searches were undertaken to identify relevant guidelines. Guidelines were appraised using AGREE and the clinical areas that were relevant to perinatal or child health were extracted. We searched The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews to identify potentially relevant reviews. For each review we determined how many trials were included, and how many were conducted in resource-limited settings.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Six guidelines met selection criteria. None of the included guidelines were clearly based on research evidence. 198 Cochrane reviews were potentially relevant to the guidelines. These reviews predominantly addressed nutrient supplementation, breastfeeding, malaria, maternal hypertension, premature labour and prevention of HIV transmission. Most reviews included studies from developing settings. However for large portions of the guidelines, particularly health services delivery, there were no relevant reviews. Only 18 (9.1%) reviews have summaries in Evidence Aid.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We did not identify any evidence-based guidelines for perinatal and child health care in disaster settings. We found many Cochrane reviews that could contribute to the evidence-base supporting future guidelines. However there are important issues to be addressed in terms of the relevance of the available reviews and increasing the number of reviews addressing health care delivery.</p

Tracing pastoralist migrations to Southern Africa with lactase persistence alleles

SummaryAlthough southern African Khoisan populations are often assumed to have remained largely isolated during prehistory, there is growing evidence for a migration of pastoralists from eastern Africa some 2,000 years ago [1–5], prior to the arrival of Bantu-speaking populations in southern Africa. Eastern Africa harbors distinctive lactase persistence (LP) alleles [6–8], and therefore LP alleles in southern African populations may be derived from this eastern African pastoralist migration. We sequenced the lactase enhancer region in 457 individuals from 18 Khoisan and seven Bantu-speaking groups from Botswana, Namibia, and Zambia and additionally genotyped four short tandem repeat (STR) loci that flank the lactase enhancer region. We found nine single-nucleotide polymorphisms, of which the most frequent is −14010∗C, which was previously found to be associated with LP in Kenya and Tanzania and to exhibit a strong signal of positive selection [8]. This allele occurs in significantly higher frequency in pastoralist groups and in Khoe-speaking groups in our study, supporting the hypothesis of a migration of eastern African pastoralists that was primarily associated with Khoe speakers [2]. Moreover, we find a signal of ongoing positive selection in all three pastoralist groups in our study, as well as (surprisingly) in two foraging groups

Development of a construct-based risk assessment framework for genetic engineered crops

Experience gained in the risk assessment (RA) of genetically engineered (GE) crops since their first experimental introductions in the early nineties, has increased the level of familiarity with these breeding methodologies and has motivated several agencies and expert groups worldwide to revisit the scientific criteria underlying the RA process. Along these lines, the need to engage in a scientific discussion for the case of GE crops transformed with similar constructs was recently identified in Argentina. In response to this need, the Argentine branch of the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI Argentina) convened a tripartite working group to discuss a science-based evaluation approach for transformation events developed with genetic constructs which are identical or similar to those used in previously evaluated or approved GE crops. This discussion considered new transformation events within the same or different species and covered both environmental and food safety aspects. A construct similarity concept was defined, considering the biological function of the introduced genes. Factors like environmental and dietary exposure, familiarity with both the crop and the trait as well as the crop biology, were identified as key to inform a construct-based RA process.Inst. de Genética "Ewald A. Favret"- IGEAFFil: Becker, M.P. Bayer SA,; ArgentinaFil: Boari, P. Ministerio de Agroindustria. Secretaría de Valor Agregado. Dirección de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Burachik, Moisés. Instituto de Agrobiotecnologia Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cuadrado, V. Monsanto Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Junco, Mariano. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. Coordinación de Biotecnología y Productos Industrializados; ArgentinaFil: Lede, S. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lema, Martín. Ministerio de Agroindustria. Secretaría de Valor Agregado. Dirección de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Lewi, Dalia Marcela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética "Ewald A. Favret"; ArgentinaFil: Maggi, Andrés. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. Dirección de Calidad Agroalimentaria; ArgentinaFil: Meoniz, Ignacio Alberto. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. Análisis de Riesgo de Organismos Genéricamente Modificados; ArgentinaFil: Noe, G. Syngenta Agro; ArgentinaFil: Roca, Cecilia. Dow Agroscience SA; ArgentinaFil: Robredo, Claudio Gabriel. Chacra Experimental Agrícola Santa Rosa; ArgentinaFil: Rubinstein, Clara. Monsanto Argentina; Argantina. Instituto Internacional de Ciencias de la Vida; ArgentinaFil: Vicien, Carmen. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Cámara de Exportadores de la República Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Whelan, Agustina. Ministerio de Agroindustria. Secretaría de Valor Agregado. Dirección de Biotecnología; Argentin

Magnetic Properties of γ - Fe2O3 Nanoparticles at the Verge of Nucleation Process.

A low-energy new method based in a one-step synthesis at room temperature produces very small maghemite nanopar ticles. The fast neutralization reaction (co-precipitation) of a ferric solution (FeCl3 aqueous) in a basic medium (NH4OH concentrated) produces an intermediate phase, presumably two-line ferrihydrite, that in oxidizing conditions is transformed to maghemite nanopar ticles. That “primordial soup” is characterized by small atom arrangements that are the base for maghemite tiny crystals. The final product of the reaction was characterized by X-ray diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray absorption fine structure, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and magnetometry.CONICETANPCyTCOLCIENCIASCONACYTCNPEMLNL

Internal and External Validation of a Computer-Assisted Surveillance System for Hospital-Acquired Infections in a 754-Bed General Hospital in the Netherlands

OBJECTIVE. To evaluate a computer-assisted point-prevalence survey (CAPPS) for hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). DESIGN. Validation cohort. SETTING. A 754-bed teaching hospital in the Netherlands. METHODS. For the internal validation of a CAPPS for HAIs, 2,526 patients were included. All patient records were retrospectively reviewed in depth by 2 infection control practitioners (ICPs) to determine which patients had suffered an HAI. Preventie van Ziekenhuisinfecties door Surveillance (PREZIES) criteria were used. Following this internal validation, 13 consecutive CAPPS were performed in a prospective study from January to March 2013 to determine weekly, monthly, and quarterly HAI point prevalence. Finally, a CAPPS was externally validated by PREZIES (Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu [RIVM], Bilthoven, Netherlands). In all evaluations, discrepancies were resolved by consensus. RESULTS. In our series of CAPPS, 83% of the patients were automatically excluded from detailed review by the ICP. The sensitivity of the method was 91%. The time spent per hospital-wide CAPPS was similar to 3 hours. External validation showed a negative predictive value of 99.1% for CAPPS. CONCLUSIONS. CAPPS proved to be a sensitive, accurate, and efficient method to determine serial weekly point-prevalence HAI rates in our hospital

Science based criteria for a simplified risk assessment of genetic engineered crops developed using identical or similar constructs

Experience with Agricultural Biotechnology and the widespread adoption of different genetically engineered (GE) crops around the world has enabled breeders to develop different crops with similar phenotypic characteristics using the same or related genetic constructs. Identical constructs would be used mostly on vegetatively propagated crops, which need to be transformed de novo to produce new varieties with the same phenotypic characteristic(s), while similar constructs would also be used to develop different GE crops. The history of safe use of different methodologies by breeders to generate diversity in crops, current knowledge about plant genome dynamics, and experience with transgenesis provide a reasonable basis to focus on the introduced traits and phenotypes. Additionally, when assessing risks, the domestication, conventional breeding, and the intrinsic plasticity of plant genomes are recognized as greater sources of genetic changes than methodologies based on genetic engineering.Inst. de Genética "Ewald A. Favret"- IGEAFFil: Burachik, Moisés. Instituto de Agrobiotecnologia Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Cuadrado, V. Monsanto Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Herrmann, Claudia. Bayer Crop Science; ArgentinaFil: Junco, Mariano. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. Coordinación de Biotecnología y Productos Industrializados; ArgentinaFil: Lede, S. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Lewi, Dalia Marcela. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Instituto de Genética "Ewald A. Favret"; ArgentinaFil: Maggi, Andrés. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. Dirección de Calidad Agroalimentaria; ArgentinaFil: Meoniz, Ignacio Alberto. Servicio Nacional de Sanidad y Calidad Agroalimentaria. Análisis de Riesgo de Organismos Genéricamente Modificados; ArgentinaFil: Noe, G. Syngenta Agro; ArgentinaFil: Roca, Cecilia. Dow Agroscience SA; ArgentinaFil: Robredo, Claudio Gabriel. Chacra Experimental Agrícola Santa Rosa; ArgentinaFil: Rubinstein, Clara. Monsanto Argentina; Argantina. Instituto Internacional de Ciencias de la Vida; ArgentinaFil: Vicien, Carmen. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Cámara de Exportadores de la República Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Boari, P. Ministerio de Agroindustria. Secretaría de Valor Agregado. Dirección de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Whelan, Agustina. Ministerio de Agroindustria. Secretaría de Valor Agregado. Dirección de Biotecnología; ArgentinaFil: Lema, Martín. Ministerio de Agroindustria. Secretaría de Valor Agregado. Dirección de Biotecnología; Argentin