The Day-in-the-Life method for assessing infant caregiving in rural Pakistan

Objective: This manuscript describes the Day-in-the-Life (DIL) method for assessing child caregiving activities, its implementation, and findings regarding family members' roles and associations with maternal depression symptoms. Background: Infant caregiving activities are most commonly performed by the mother, although there is increasing acknowledgement of others' contribution. Few methods exist to measure the diverse caregiving activities that mothers and others perform. Method: Method development occurred within the Bachpan Cohort Study in rural Pakistan (N = 1154 maternal–child dyads) when the child was 3 months old. The DIL was designed as a semi-structured interview in which the mother describes her child's day from their perspective. Regression analyses were then used to explore the correlation between the DIL and depression symptoms, using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) measure. Results: The DIL method was easy to administer and displayed excellent interrater agreement. The findings indicated that instrumental caregiving was mostly provided by the mother alone, others in the household tended to contribute more to infant social interactions, and there was more support from others when the mother was less able to provide care (e.g., when ill). Depression symptoms were higher among women who experienced less contribution from family members when the mother was less able to provide care. Conclusions: The DIL can be deployed to measure infant caregiving activities and associations with maternal mental health. Implications: This method is promising for researchers interested in disentangling the contribution of multiple family members toward child caregiving and its impacts on maternal and child health

Maternal prenatal anxiety and the fetal origins of epigenetic aging

Stress and Psychopatholog

Maternal antenatal depression and child mental health: moderation by genomic risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Maternal antenatal depression strongly influences child mental health but with considerable inter-individual variation that is, in part, linked to genotype. The challenge is to effectively capture the genotypic influence. We outline a novel approach to describe genomic susceptibility to maternal antenatal depression focusing on child emotional/behavioral difficulties. Two cohorts provided measures of maternal depression, child genetic variation, and child mental health symptoms. We constructed a conventional polygenic risk score (PRS) for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) (PRSADHD) that significantly moderated the association between maternal antenatal depression and internalizing problems at 60 months (p = 2.94 x 10(-4), R-2 = .18). We then constructed an interaction PRS (xPRS) based on a subset of those single nucleotide polymorphisms from the PRSADHD that most accounted for the moderation of the association between maternal antenatal depression and child outcome. The interaction between maternal antenatal depression and this xPRS accounted for a larger proportion of the variance in child emotional/behavioral problems than models based on any PRSADHD (p = 5.50 x 10(-9), R-2 = .27), with similar findings in the replication cohort. The xPRS was significantly enriched for genes involved in neuronal development and synaptic function. Our study illustrates a novel approach to the study of genotypic moderation on the impact of maternal antenatal depression on child mental health and highlights the utility of the xPRS approach. These findings advance our understanding of individual differences in the developmental origins of mental health.Stress and Psychopatholog

The AeroCom evaluation and intercomparison of organic aerosol in global models

This paper evaluates the current status of global modeling of the organic aerosol (OA) in the troposphere and analyzes the differences between models as well as between models and observations. Thirty-one global chemistry transport models (CTMs) and general circulation models (GCMs) have participated in this intercomparison, in the framework of AeroCom phase II. The simulation of OA varies greatly between models in terms of the magnitude of primary emissions, secondary OA (SOA) formation, the number of OA species used (2 to 62), the complexity of OA parameterizations (gas-particle partitioning, chemical aging, multiphase chemistry, aerosol microphysics), and the OA physical, chemical and optical properties. The diversity of the global OA simulation results has increased since earlier AeroCom experiments, mainly due to the increasing complexity of the SOA parameterization in models, and the implementation of new, highly uncertain, OA sources. Diversity of over one order of magnitude exists in the modeled vertical distribution of OA concentrations that deserves a dedicated future study. Furthermore, although the OA / OC ratio depends on OA sources and atmospheric processing, and is important for model evaluation against OA and OC observations, it is resolved only by a few global models. The median global primary OA (POA) source strength is 56 Tg a−1 (range 34–144 Tg a−1) and the median SOA source strength (natural and anthropogenic) is 19 Tg a−1 (range 13–121 Tg a−1). Among the models that take into account the semi-volatile SOA nature, the median source is calculated to be 51 Tg a−1 (range 16–121 Tg a−1), much larger than the median value of the models that calculate SOA in a more simplistic way (19 Tg a−1; range 13–20 Tg a−1, with one model at 37 Tg a−1). The median atmospheric burden of OA is 1.4 Tg (24 models in the range of 0.6–2.0 Tg and 4 between 2.0 and 3.8 Tg), with a median OA lifetime of 5.4 days (range 3.8–9.6 days). In models that reported both OA and sulfate burdens, the median value of the OA/sulfate burden ratio is calculated to be 0.77; 13 models calculate a ratio lower than 1, and 9 models higher than 1. For 26 models that reported OA deposition fluxes, the median wet removal is 70 Tg a−1 (range 28–209 Tg a−1), which is on average 85% of the total OA deposition. Fine aerosol organic carbon (OC) and OA observations from continuous monitoring networks and individual field campaigns have been used for model evaluation. At urban locations, the model–observation comparison indicates missing knowledge on anthropogenic OA sources, both strength and seasonality. The combined model–measurements analysis suggests the existence of increased OA levels during summer due to biogenic SOA formation over large areas of the USA that can be of the same order of magnitude as the POA, even at urban locations, and contribute to the measured urban seasonal pattern. Global models are able to simulate the high secondary character of OA observed in the atmosphere as a result of SOA formation and POA aging, although the amount of OA present in the atmosphere remains largely underestimated, with a mean normalized bias (MNB) equal to −0.62 (−0.51) based on the comparison against OC (OA) urban data of all models at the surface, −0.15 (+0.51) when compared with remote measurements, and −0.30 for marine locations with OC data. The mean temporal correlations across all stations are low when compared with OC (OA) measurements: 0.47 (0.52) for urban stations, 0.39 (0.37) for remote stations, and 0.25 for marine stations with OC data. The combination of high (negative) MNB and higher correlation at urban stations when compared with the low MNB and lower correlation at remote sites suggests that knowledge about the processes that govern aerosol processing, transport and removal, on top of their sources, is important at the remote stations. There is no clear change in model skill with increasing model complexity with regard to OC or OA mass concentration. However, the complexity is needed in models in order to distinguish between anthropogenic and natural OA as needed for climate mitigation, and to calculate the impact of OA on climate accurately

RANTES/CCL5 and risk for coronary events: Results from the MONICA/KORA Augsburg case-cohort, Athero-express and CARDIoGRAM studies

Background: The chemokine RANTES (regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and secreted)/CCL5 is involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease in mice, whereas less is known in humans. We hypothesised that its relevance for atherosclerosis should be reflected by associations between CCL5 gene variants, RANTES serum concentrations and protein levels in atherosclerotic plaques and risk for coronary events. Methods and Findings: We conducted a case-cohort study within the population-based MONICA/KORA Augsburg studies. Baseline RANTES serum levels were measured in 363 individuals with incident coronary events and 1,908 non-cases (mean follow-up: 10.2±

Studies on the behaviour of catabolic plasmid pWW15

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:DX79305 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

An examination of the cost structures associated with providing urban bus services in Britain

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Lending Division - LD:6227.743(83) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

TEBUCONAZOLE (FOLICUR®) SHOWS POTENTIAL IN THE CONTROL OF WHITE ROT (Sclerotium cepivorum) IN GARLIC IN SUBTROPICAL QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

White rot (Sclerotium cepivorum) is a major disease of garlic and onions in the Lockyer Valley in S.E. Queensland where garlic (Allium sativum) is a minor industry. This industry has continued to diminish in recent years due to the competition of imports and to a lesser extent the threat of white rot. As part of a small ongoing garlic research program at Gatton Research Station, chemical control of white rot is being investigated. In 1996, four rates (0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0) of tebuconazole (Folicur®) and five rates (0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 ) of procymidone (Sumisclex®) in the Flocol liquid formulation were applied to the cloves of the varieties Glenlarge and Southern Glen as separate treatments. An untreated control within each variety was also included. The trial was conducted in an area heavily infested with white rot. Survival counts made throughout the growth of the crop demonstrated that the tebuconazole treatments were superior in both varieties. The percentage of surviving plants at harvest for the 0.75 and 1.0 treatments of tebuconazole were 91.1 and 92.5 respectively in Glenlarge and 84.2 and 85.8 respectively in Southern Glen. The highest survival rate with the procymidone treatments was 33.6% in Glenlarge and 25.1% in Southern Glen which compared to 24.9% and 20.2% respectively in the Glenlarge and Southern Glen controls. Highest marketable yields were obtained from the highest rate of tebuconazole in Glenlarge (7.7 t/ha) and Southern Glen (8.6 t/ha) but in both cases this was not significantly higher than the 0.75 rate. The respective controls in Glenlarge and Southern Glen produced 1.6 and 0.9 t/ha and the highest yields from the best procymidone treatment were 2.5 t/ha (Glenlarge) and 2.1 t/ha (Southern Glen). Tebuconazole at a rate of 0.75 has demonstrated effective control of white rot in S.E. Queensland

DEVELOPMENT OF A SUITE OF ONION VARIETIES FOR THE SUBTROPICAL REGION OF THE LOCKYER VALLEY IN S.E. QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

Approximately 80% of Queensland’s annual onion production of 20 000 t is produced in the subtropical environment of the Lockyer Valley in S.E. Queensland. Here, short to medium daylength onions can be produced over an extended period. Over the past three years varieties supplied by seed companies, local seed producers and selections developed at Gatton Research Station have been evaluated over a series of planting dates commencing in February and ceasing in June. In years one and two, varieties were planted at fortnightly intervals and at monthly intervals in year three. In early season plantings (February-March) locally developed open-pollinated lines including Early Lockyer White and Brown and Golden Brown were the highest yielding. Wallon Brown, Golden Brown and Cavalier hybrid were the most successful varieties in April plantings. In May, the hybrids Diamond White and Cavalier and the open-pollinated Wallon Brown were dominant. Hybrid varieties including Gladiator, Omega and SPS 846 were outstanding in June plantings. Average yields for the best three varieties in the early and late season plantings were 54﷓56 t/ha, 70﷓84 t/ha for the best three varieties in the April plantings and 60-63t/ha for May plantings. Observations were recorded on the incidence of doubles, bolting and shell development at harvest throughout the trial series. Generally the production of doubles was greatest in the March/April plantings and then declined until the June planting when a slight increase was observed. Bolting was more of a seasonal occurrence with very little in year one compared to year two. It was generally absent in all late season plantings. The development of 2﷓3 complete skins at harvest was remarkably constant throughout the season and from year to year. The program has identified a suite of well adapted varieties for the extended production of fresh, low pungency onions in a subtropical environment