Hazardous cosleeping environments and risk factors amenable to change: case-control study of SIDS in south west England

Objectives: To investigate the factors associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) from birth to age 2 years, whether recent advice has been followed, whether any new risk factors have emerged, and the specific circumstances in which SIDS occurs while cosleeping (infant sharing the same bed or sofa with an adult or child). Design: Four year population based case-control study. Parents were interviewed shortly after the death or after the reference sleep (within 24 hours) of the two control groups. Setting: South west region of England (population 4.9 million, 184 800 births). Participants: 80 SIDS infants and two control groups weighted for age and time of reference sleep: 87 randomly selected controls and 82 controls at high risk of SIDS (young, socially deprived, multiparous mothers who smoked). Results: The median age at death (66 days) was more than three weeks less than in a study in the same region a decade earlier. Of the SIDS infants, 54% died while cosleeping compared with 20% among both control groups. Much of this excess may be explained by a significant multivariable interaction between cosleeping and recent parental use of alcohol or drugs (31% v 3% random controls) and the increased proportion of SIDS infants who had coslept on a sofa (17% v 1%). One fifth of SIDS infants used a pillow for the last sleep (21% v 3%) and one quarter were swaddled (24% v 6%). More mothers of SIDS infants than random control infants smoked during pregnancy (60% v 14%), whereas one quarter of the SIDS infants were preterm (26% v 5%) or were in fair or poor health for the last sleep (28% v 6%). All of these differences were significant in the multivariable analysis regardless of which control group was used for comparison. The significance of covering the infant’s head, postnatal exposure to tobacco smoke, dummy use, and sleeping in the side position has diminished although a significant proportion of SIDS infants were still found prone (29% v 10%). Conclusions: Many of the SIDS infants had coslept in a hazardous environment. The major influences on risk, regardless of markers for socioeconomic deprivation, are amenable to change and specific advice needs to be given, particularly on use of alcohol or drugs before cosleeping and cosleeping on a sofa

Olivine-hosted melt inclusions as an archive of redox heterogeneity in magmatic systems

The redox state of volcanic products determines their leverage on the oxidation of Earth's oceans and atmosphere, providing a long-term feedback on oxygen accumulation at the planet's surface. An archive of redox conditions in volcanic plumbing systems from a magma's mantle source, through crustal storage, to eruption, is carried in pockets of melt trapped within crystals. While melt inclusions have long been exploited for their capacity to retain information on a magma's history, their permeability to fast-diffusing elements such as hydrogen is now well documented and their retention of initial oxygen fugacities () could be similarly diffusion-limited. To test this, we have measured Fe3+/ΣFe by micro-XANES spectroscopy in a suite of 65 olivine-hosted melt inclusions and 9 matrix glasses from the AD 1783 Laki eruption, Iceland. This eruption experienced pre-eruptive mixing of chemically diverse magmas, syn-eruptive degassing at the vent, and post-eruptive degassing during lava flow up to 60 km over land, providing an ideal test of whether changes in the of a magma may be communicated through to its cargo of crystal-hosted melt inclusions. Melt inclusions from rapidly quenched tephra samples have Fe3+/ΣFe of (ΔQFM of +0.7 ± 0.1), with no correlation between their and degree of trace element enrichment or differentiation. These inclusions preserve the redox conditions of the mixed pre-eruptive Laki magma. When corrected for fractional crystallisation to 10 wt.% MgO, these inclusions record a parental magma [Fe3+/ΣFe](10) of 0.18 (ΔQFM of +0.4), significantly more oxidised than the Fe3+/ΣFe of 0.10 that is often assumed for Icelandic basalt magmas. Melt inclusions from quenched lava selvages are more reduced than those from the tephra, having Fe3+/ΣFe between 0.133 and 0.177 (ΔQFM from −0.4 to +0.4). These inclusions have approached equilibrium with their carrier lava, which has been reduced by sulfur degassing. The progressive re-equilibration of between inclusions and carrier melts occurs on timescales of hours to days, causing a drop in the sulfur content at sulfide saturation (SCSS) and driving the exsolution of immiscible sulfide globules in the inclusions. Our data demonstrate the roles of magma mixing, progressive re-equilibration, and degassing in redox evolution within magmatic systems, and the open-system nature of melt inclusions to during these processes. Redox heterogeneity present at the time of inclusion trapping may be overprinted by rapid re-equilibration of melt inclusion with the external environment, both in the magma chamber and during slow cooling in lava at the surface. This can decouple the melt inclusion archives of , major and trace element chemistry, and mask associations between , magmatic differentiation and mantle source heterogeneity unless the assembly of diverse magmas is rapidly followed by eruption. Our tools for understanding the redox conditions of magmas are thus limited; however, careful reconstruction of pre- and post-eruptive magmatic history has enabled us to confirm the relatively oxidised nature of ocean island-type mantle compared to that of mid-ocean ridge mantle

Diffusive over-hydration of olivine-hosted melt inclusions

The pre-eruptive water content of magma is often estimated using crystal-hosted melt inclusions. However, olivine-hosted melt inclusions are prone to post-entrapment modification by H+ diffusion as they re-equilibrate with their external environment. This effect is well established for the case of H+ loss from olivine-hosted inclusions that have cooled slowly in degassed magma. Here we present evidence for the opposite effect: the addition of H+ into inclusions that are held in melts that are enriched in H2O with respect to the trapped melts. The compositional variability in a suite of 211 olivine-hosted inclusions from the Laki and Skuggafjöll eruptions in Iceland's Eastern Volcanic Zone indicates that diffusive H+ gain governs the H2O content of incompatible trace element depleted inclusions. Individual eruptive units contain olivine-hosted inclusions with widely varying incompatible element concentrations but near-constant H2O. Furthermore, over 40% of the inclusions have H2O/Ce>380H2O/Ce>380, significantly higher than the H2O/Ce expected in primary Icelandic melts or mid-ocean ridge basalts (150–280). The fact that the highest H2O/Ce ratios are found in the most incompatible element depleted inclusions indicates that hydration is a consequence of the concurrent mixing and crystallisation of compositionally diverse primary melts. Hydration occurs when olivines containing depleted inclusions with low H2O contents are juxtaposed against more hydrous melts during mixing. Melt inclusions from a single eruption may preserve evidence of both diffusive H+ loss and H+ gain. Trace element data are therefore vital for determining H2O contents of melt inclusions at the time of inclusion trapping and, ultimately, the H2O content of the mantle source regions

Fe-XANES analyses of Reykjanes Ridge basalts: Implications for oceanic crust's role in the solid Earth oxygen cycle

The cycling of material from Earth's surface environment into its interior can couple mantle oxidation state to the evolution of the oceans and atmosphere. A major uncertainty in this exchange is whether altered oceanic crust entering subduction zones can carry the oxidised signal it inherits during alteration at the ridge into the deep mantle for long-term storage. Recycled oceanic crust may be entrained into mantle upwellings and melt under ocean islands, creating the potential for basalt chemistry to constrain solid Earth–hydrosphere redox coupling. Numerous independent observations suggest that Iceland contains a significant recycled oceanic crustal component, making it an ideal locality to investigate links between redox proxies and geochemical indices of enrichment. We have interrogated the elemental, isotope and redox geochemistry of basalts from the Reykjanes Ridge, which forms a 700 km transect of the Iceland plume. Over this distance, geophysical and geochemical tracers of plume influence vary dramatically, with the basalts recording both long- and short-wavelength heterogeneity in the Iceland plume. We present new high-precision Fe-XANES measurements of Fe3+/∑Fe on a suite of 64 basalt glasses from the Reykjanes Ridge. These basalts exhibit positive correlations between Fe3+/∑Fe and trace element and isotopic signals of enrichment, and become progressively oxidised towards Iceland: fractionation-corrected Fe3+/∑Fe increases by ∼0.015 and ΔQFM by ∼0.2 log units. We rule out a role for sulfur degassing in creating this trend, and by considering various redox melting processes and metasomatic source enrichment mechanisms, conclude that an intrinsically oxidised component within the Icelandic mantle is required. Given the previous evidence for entrained oceanic crustal material within the Iceland plume, we consider this the most plausible carrier of the oxidised signal. To determine the ferric iron content of the recycled component ([Fe2O3]source) we project observed liquid compositions to an estimate of Fe2O3 in the pure enriched endmember melt, and then apply simple fractional melting models, considering lherzolitic and pyroxenitic source mineralogies, to estimate [Fe2O3](source) content. Propagating uncertainty through these steps, we obtain a range of [Fe2O3](source) for the enriched melts (0.9–1.4 wt%) that is significantly greater than the ferric iron content of typical upper mantle lherzolites. This range of ferric iron contents is consistent with a hybridised lherzolite–basalt (pyroxenite) mantle component. The oxidised signal in enriched Icelandic basalts is therefore potential evidence for seafloor–hydrosphere interaction having oxidised ancient mid-ocean ridge crust, generating a return flux of oxygen into the deep mantle

We don’t do Google, we do massive attacks: Notes on creative R&D collaborations

The article presents findings from an exploratory study investigating the nature of collaborative research and development in creative industries. Participants in the study are two creative SMEs with extensive experience of participating in collaborative projects. A collective case study approach is adopted with data collected on the factors impinging on the effectiveness of such collaborations. Findings are presented at the macro and micro levels of such collaborations. The paper concludes with a summary of some of the challenges faced by small creative SMEs when collaborating with other organizations during the research and development process

Tracing a toad invasion: lack of mitochondrial DNA variation, haplotype origins, and potential distribution of introduced Duttaphrynus melanostictus in Madagascar

The black-spined toad, Duttaphrynus melanostictus, is widespread in South and South-East (SE) Asia, although recent molecular analyses have revealed that it represents a species complex (here called the D. melanostictus complex). Invasive populations of this toad have been detected in Madagascar since, at least, 2014. We here trace the origin of this introduction based on mitochondrial DNA sequences of 340 samples. All 102 specimens from Madagascar have identical sequences pointing to a single introduction event. Their haplotype corresponds to a lineage occurring in Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and some locations of eastern Myanmar and northern Malaysia, here named the SE Asian lineage. Within this lineage, specimens from one location in Cambodia and three locations in Vietnam have the same haplotype as found in Madagascar. This includes Ho Chi Minh City, which has a major seaport and might have been the source for the introduction. Species distribution models suggest that the current range of the Madagascan invasive population is within the bioclimatic space occupied by the SE Asian lineage in its native range. The potential invasion zone in Madagascar is narrower than suggested by models from localities representing the full range of the D. melanostictus complex. Thus, an accurate taxonomy is essential for such inferences, but it remains uncertain if the toad might be able to spread beyond the potential suitable range because (1) knowledge on species-delimitation of the complex is insufficient, and (2) the native range in SE Asia might be influenced by historical biogeography or competition

Food Insecurity and Frailty Among Women With and Without HIV in the United States: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Introduction: Frailty is frequently observed among people with HIV, and food insecurity is associated with frailty in the general population. Evidence is scarce on the associations between food insecurity and frailty among women with HIV who maybe particularly vulnerable to the impacts of food insecurity. The goal of this study was to assess associations between food insecurity and frailty among women with and without HIV. Methods: There were 1265 participants from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study who participated in frailty assessments in2017. Frailty was measured using the Fried Frailty Phenotype, and women were subsequently categorized as robust, pre-frailor frail. Food insecurity was assessed using the U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module, with women categorized as having high, marginal, low or very low food security. Multinomial logistic regression models were conducted to examine cross-sectional associations between food insecurity and frailty while adjusting for socio-demographic, behavioural and HIV status covariates. Results and discussion: Approximately one-third (31.9%) of the women had marginal, low or very low food security, and the proportions of women who met the criteria for frailty or pre-frailty were 55.6% and 12.4% respectively. In the adjusted model, the relative risk ratio (RRR) of frailty for women with very low food security versus women with high food security was 3.37(95% CI [1.38 to 8.24],p Conclusions: Very low food security was associated with more frequent frailty and pre-frailty among women with and without for HIV. HIV serostatus was not associated with frailt

Mitochondrial Disease in Autism Spectrum Disorder Patients: A Cohort Analysis

Previous reports indicate an association between autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and disorders of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation. One study suggested that children with both diagnoses are clinically indistinguishable from children with idiopathic autism. There are, however, no detailed analyses of the clinical and laboratory findings in a large cohort of these children. Therefore, we undertook a comprehensive review of patients with ASD and a mitochondrial disorder.We reviewed medical records of 25 patients with a primary diagnosis of ASD by DSM-IV-TR criteria, later determined to have enzyme- or mutation-defined mitochondrial electron transport chain (ETC) dysfunction. Twenty-four of 25 patients had one or more major clinical abnormalities uncommon in idiopathic autism. Twenty-one patients had histories of significant non-neurological medical problems. Nineteen patients exhibited constitutional symptoms, especially excessive fatigability. Fifteen patients had abnormal neurological findings. Unusual developmental phenotypes included marked delay in early gross motor milestones (32%) and unusual patterns of regression (40%). Levels of blood lactate, plasma alanine, and serum ALT and/or AST were increased at least once in 76%, 36%, and 52% of patients, respectively. The most common ETC disorders were deficiencies of complex I (64%) and complex III (20%). Two patients had rare mtDNA mutations of likely pathogenicity.Although all patients' initial diagnosis was idiopathic autism, careful clinical and biochemical assessment identified clinical findings that differentiated them from children with idiopathic autism. These and prior data suggest a disturbance of mitochondrial energy production as an underlying pathophysiological mechanism in a subset of individuals with autism