An exploration of knowledge, attitudes and advice given by health professionals to parents in Ireland about the introduction of solid foods. A pilot study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>For the purposes of this paper "weaning is defined as the introduction of the first solid foods to infants". Global recommendations by the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend that all infants be exclusively breast-fed for the first six months of life. No global recommendations have been made for formula fed infants. In Europe it is recommended that weaning foods should be introduced between 18 weeks and 26 weeks regardless of whether infants are breast or formula fed. In the United Kingdom it is recommended that solids be introduced at around six-months for both breast and formula fed infants. In Ireland official guidelines recommend that breast fed infants should be introduced solids at 6 months of age while for formula fed infants the recommendation is for 4 months. The disparity between these global, European, UK and local recommendations may be a source of confusion for parents and health care professional based in Ireland. Emerging evidence suggests that babies in Ireland are given solid foods before the recommended age but there has been little investigation of the weaning advice provided by health professionals. Since community health professionals have routine parent interactions in the pre-weaning and early-weaning period and hence are in a unique position to positively influence parental weaning decisions, this study aimed to explore their knowledge, attitudes and advice practices about weaning.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A mixed-methods approach was used for the research, commencing with a multi-disciplinary focus group to guide and develop a questionnaire. Questionnaires were then distributed in a postal survey to General Practitioners (GPs) (<it>n </it>179), Practice Nurses (PNs) (<it>n </it>121), Public Health Nurses (PHNs) (<it>n </it>107) and Community Dieticians (CDs) (<it>n </it>8).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results indicate varying levels of knowledge of official weaning recommendations and a variety of advice practices. CDs and PHNs acknowledged a clear role in providing weaning advice while demonstrating high confidence levels in providing this advice. However, 19% of PNs and 7% of GP respondents did not acknowledge that they have a role in providing weaning advice to parents; even though Health Service Executive (HSE) written literature given to parents states that they should seek information from PNs and GPs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Small pockets of misinformation about the introduction of solid foods persist amongst health professionals which may lead to inconsistent advice for parents. Further research is needed.</p

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Disparities in the Operative Experience Between Female and Male General Surgery Residents: A Multi-institutional Study From the US ROPE Consortium

OBJECTIVE: To examine differences in resident operative experience between male and female general surgery residents. BACKGROUND: Despite increasing female representation in surgery, sex and gender disparities in residency experience continue to exist. The operative volume of male and female general surgery residents has not been compared on a multi-institutional level. METHODS: Demographic characteristics and case logs were obtained for categorical general surgery graduates between 2010 and 2020 from the US Resident OPerative Experience Consortium database. Univariable, multivariable, and linear regression analyses were performed to compare differences in operative experience between male and female residents. RESULTS: There were 1343 graduates from 20 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited programs, and 476 (35%) were females. There were no differences in age, race/ethnicity, or proportion pursuing fellowship between groups. Female graduates were less likely to be high-volume residents (27% vs 36%, P \u3c 0.01). On univariable analysis, female graduates performed fewer total cases than male graduates (1140 vs 1177, P \u3c 0.01), largely due to a diminished surgeon junior experience (829 vs 863, P \u3c 0.01). On adjusted multivariable analysis, female sex was negatively associated with being a high-volume resident (OR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.56 to 0.98, P = 0.03). Over the 11-year study period, the annual total number of cases increased significantly for both groups, but female graduates (+16 cases/year) outpaced male graduates (+13 cases/year, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS: Female general surgery graduates performed significantly fewer cases than male graduates. Reassuringly, this gap in operative experience may be narrowing. Further interventions are warranted to promote equitable training opportunities that support and engage female residents

VERITAS discovery of very high energy gamma-ray emission from S3 1227+25 and multiwavelength observations

We report the detection of very high energy gamma-ray emission from the blazar S3 1227+25 (VER J1230+253) with the Very Energetic Radiation Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS). VERITAS observations of the source were triggered by the detection of a hard-spectrum GeV flare on May 15, 2015 with the Fermi-Large Area Telescope (LAT). A combined five-hour VERITAS exposure on May 16th and May 18th resulted in a strong 13$\sigma$ detection with a differential photon spectral index, $\Gamma$ = 3.8 $\pm$ 0.4, and a flux level at 9% of the Crab Nebula above 120 GeV. This also triggered target of opportunity observations with Swift, optical photometry, polarimetry and radio measurements, also presented in this work, in addition to the VERITAS and Fermi-LAT data. A temporal analysis of the gamma-ray flux during this period finds evidence of a shortest variability timescale of $\tau_{obs}$ = 6.2 $\pm$ 0.9 hours, indicating emission from compact regions within the jet, and the combined gamma-ray spectrum shows no strong evidence of a spectral cut-off. An investigation into correlations between the multiwavelength observations found evidence of optical and gamma-ray correlations, suggesting a single-zone model of emission. Finally, the multiwavelength spectral energy distribution is well described by a simple one-zone leptonic synchrotron self-Compton radiation model.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ

A VERITAS/Breakthrough Listen Search for Optical Technosignatures

The Breakthrough Listen Initiative is conducting a program using multiple telescopes around the world to search for "technosignatures": artificial transmitters of extraterrestrial origin from beyond our solar system. The VERITAS Collaboration joined this program in 2018, and provides the capability to search for one particular technosignature: optical pulses of a few nanoseconds duration detectable over interstellar distances. We report here on the analysis and results of dedicated VERITAS observations of Breakthrough Listen targets conducted in 2019 and 2020 and of archival VERITAS data collected since 2012. Thirty hours of dedicated observations of 136 targets and 249 archival observations of 140 targets were analyzed and did not reveal any signals consistent with a technosignature. The results are used to place limits on the fraction of stars hosting transmitting civilizations. We also discuss the minimum-pulse sensitivity of our observations and present VERITAS observations of CALIOP: a space-based pulsed laser onboard the CALIPSO satellite. The detection of these pulses with VERITAS, using the analysis techniques developed for our technosignature search, allows a test of our analysis efficiency and serves as an important proof-of-principle.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

The IPDGC/GP2 Hackathon - an open science event for training in data science, genomics, and collaboration using Parkinson's disease data

Open science and collaboration are necessary to facilitate the advancement of Parkinson's disease (PD) research. Hackathons are collaborative events that bring together people with different skill sets and backgrounds to generate resources and creative solutions to problems. These events can be used as training and networking opportunities, thus we coordinated a virtual 3-day hackathon event, during which 49 early-career scientists from 12 countries built tools and pipelines with a focus on PD. Resources were created with the goal of helping scientists accelerate their own research by having access to the necessary code and tools. Each team was allocated one of nine different projects, each with a different goal. These included developing post-genome-wide association studies (GWAS) analysis pipelines, downstream analysis of genetic variation pipelines, and various visualization tools. Hackathons are a valuable approach to inspire creative thinking, supplement training in data science, and foster collaborative scientific relationships, which are foundational practices for early-career researchers. The resources generated can be used to accelerate research on the genetics of PD.This project was supported by the Global Parkinson’s Genetics Program (GP2). GP2 is funded by the Aligning Science Against Parkinson’s (ASAP) initiative and implemented by The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (https://gp2.org).Open Access funding provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).This research was supported in part by the Intramural Research Program of the NIH, National Institute on Aging (NIA), National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services; project numbers ZO1 AG000535 and ZO1 AG000949, as well as the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokePeer reviewe

Iron-Deficiency Anemia in CKD: A Narrative Review for the Kidney Care Team

Anemia is a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and is associated with increased mortality and reduced health-related quality of life. Anemia is characterized by a decrease in hemoglobin, the iron-rich protein that the body uses for oxygen transport. Iron is required to produce hemoglobin, and disruptions in the iron homeostasis can lead to iron-deficiency anemia. Management of anemia in individuals with CKD is typically performed by a team of physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or registered nurses. Throughout the care continuum, the management can be enhanced by multidisciplinary care, and individuals with CKD can benefit from the involvement of other specialties, with dietitians/nutritionists playing an important role. However, a key area of unmet clinical need is how to assess and address iron-deficiency anemia. This review aims to provide an overview of iron-deficiency anemia in CKD and how this may be diagnosed and managed by the entire kidney care team, such as describing the mechanisms underlying iron homeostasis, the complications of iron-deficiency anemia, and the current challenges associated with its diagnosis and treatment in CKD. Opportunities for each multidisciplinary team member to add value to the care of individuals with CKD and iron-deficiency anemia are also described