Global and Regional Differences in Brain Anatomy of Young Children Born Small for Gestational Age

In children who are born small for gestational age (SGA), an adverse intrauterine environment has led to underdevelopment of both the body and the brain. The delay in body growth is (partially) restored during the first two years in a majority of these children. In addition to a negative influence on these physical parameters, decreased levels of intelligence and cognitive impairments have been described in children born SGA. In this study, we used magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain anatomy in 4- to 7-year-old SGA children with and without complete bodily catch-up growth and compared them to healthy children born appropriate for gestational age. Our findings demonstrate that these children strongly differ on brain organisation when compared with healthy controls relating to both global and regional anatomical differences. Children born SGA displayed reduced cerebral and cerebellar grey and white matter volumes, smaller volumes of subcortical structures and reduced cortical surface area. Regional differences in prefrontal cortical thickness suggest a different development of the cerebral cortex. SGA children with bodily catch-up growth constitute an intermediate between those children without catch-up growth and healthy controls. Therefore, bodily catch-up growth in children born SGA does not implicate full catch-up growth of the brain

Estimating past hepatitis C infection risk from reported risk factor histories: implications for imputing age of infection and modeling fibrosis progression

BackgroundChronic hepatitis C virus infection is prevalent and often causes hepatic fibrosis, which can progress to cirrhosis and cause liver cancer or liver failure. Study of fibrosis progression often relies on imputing the time of infection, often as the reported age of first injection drug use. We sought to examine the accuracy of such imputation and implications for modeling factors that influence progression rates.MethodsWe analyzed cross-sectional data on hepatitis C antibody status and reported risk factor histories from two large studies, the Women’s Interagency HIV Study and the Urban Health Study, using modern survival analysis methods for current status data to model past infection risk year by year. We compared fitted distributions of past infection risk to reported age of first injection drug use.ResultsAlthough injection drug use appeared to be a very strong risk factor, models for both studies showed that many subjects had considerable probability of having been infected substantially before or after their reported age of first injection drug use. Persons reporting younger age of first injection drug use were more likely to have been infected after, and persons reporting older age of first injection drug use were more likely to have been infected before.ConclusionsIn studies of fibrosis progression, modern methods such as multiple imputation should be used to account for the substantial uncertainty about when infection occurred. The models presented here can provide the inputs needed by such methods. Using reported age of first injection drug use as the time of infection in studies of fibrosis progression is likely to produce a spuriously strong association of younger age of infection with slower rate of progression

Identification of some Fruit Characteristics in Wild Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Accessions from Eastern Anatolia

WOS: 000425282000004Some important physicochemical and bioactive characteristics of disease free 10 wild grown bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) accessions were evaluated. External and internal fruit quality was assessed by standard parameters (fruit weight, fruit color, fruit firmness, soluble solids, pH and total acidity) and bioactive contents (total phenolics, total anthocyanins, total antioxidant capacity and, vitamin C) in fruit were also determined. The commercial grown northern higbush blueberry, Vaccinium corymbosum cv. Bluecrop also included in the study to make comparision with bilberry samples. The highbush blueberry cv. Bluecrop had distinctive external fruit characteristics, such as bigger and more attractive fruits. However, the wild grown bilberry accessions showed interesting characters in mesocarp, such as high total phenolic content, total anthocyanin and total antioxidant capacity. Total phenolic and total anthocyanin content was 327 mg gallic acid equivalent and 142 mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalent in 100 g fresh fruit in cv. Bluecrop while it was between 576-624 mg gallic acid equaivalent and 296-324 mg of cyanidin-3-glucoside equivalent in 100 g fresh fruits of bilberry accessions. Moreover, wild accessions approximately had 2 folds higher antioxidant capacity than cv. Bluecrop. Results suggested that bilberry accessions may serve as a source of desirable genes to develop improved varieties that respond to the new needs of the market