Reference population for international comparisons and time trend surveillance of preterm delivery proportions in three countries

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>International comparison and time trend surveillance of preterm delivery rates is complex. New techniques that could facilitate interpretation of such rates are needed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We studied all live births and stillbirths (≥ 28 weeks gestation) registered in the medical birth registers in Sweden, Denmark and Norway from 1995 through 2004. Gestational age was determined by best estimate. A reference population of pregnant women was designed using the following criteria: 1) maternal age 20–35, 2) primiparity, 3) spontaneously conceived pregnancy, 4) singleton pregnancy and 5) mother born in the respective country. National preterm delivery rate, preterm delivery rate in the reference population and rate of spontaneous preterm delivery in the reference population were calculated for each country.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The total national preterm delivery rate (< 37 completed gestational weeks), increased in both Denmark (5.3% to 6.1%, p < 0.001) and Norway (6.0% to 6.4%, p = 0.006), but remained unchanged in Sweden, during 1995–2004. In Denmark, the preterm delivery rate in the reference population (5.3% to 6.3%, p < 0.001) and the spontaneous preterm delivery rate in the reference population (4.4% to 6.8%, p < 0.001) increased significantly. No similar increase was evident in Norway. In Sweden, rates in the reference population remained stable.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Reference populations can facilitate overview and thereby explanations for changing preterm delivery rates. The model also permits comparisons over time. This model may in its simplicity prove to be a valuable supplement to assessments of national preterm delivery rates for public health surveillance.</p

Environmental changes during Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Kuyavia Lakeland, Central Poland

Funding Information: The field research was carried out as part of the project “Settlement of the Funnel Beaker Culture in the Wietrzychowice Cultural Park”, thanks to the funds of the Professor Konrad Jażdżewski Foundation for Archaeological Research and the County Labor Office - “Exploreres” program. Thanks are also due to Mrs. B. Lewandowska and Mr. A. Myrta for their invaluable help during the field works of Śmieły site, and to Kacper Świerk for his help in Chironomidae subfossils analysis. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Ltd and INQUAThe Wietrzychowice Cultural Park protects one of the last preserved megalithic barrows constructed by the Funnel Beaker Culture societies at the Kuyavia Lakeland (Central Poland). The nearby archaeological site at Śmieły located on the shore of Karaśnia Lake provided numerous Mesolithic and Neolithic remains such as flint artefacts, potsherds, arrowheads, and mammal bones with traces of human processing. The lake and peat sediments at the Śmieły site provided a unique opportunity to investigate man-environment relationships during the transition period from Mesolithic to Neolithic. The age-depth model for the deposits was based on five radiocarbon dates as well as archaeological artefacts. The multi-proxy study, including geochemistry, pollen, plant macrofossils, Mollusca, Cladocera and Chironomidae analyses, were conducted to recognize palaeoenvironmental changes between 7500 and 3500 BCE. Combining environmental and archaeological data, we attempt to distinguish between natural phenomena triggered by climate factors with those induced by human activity. The data indicated hydrological changes associated with natural factors: (1) the phase of aquatic ecosystem since 7500 to 5800 BCE, (2) the phase of water shallowing between 5800 and 4600 BCE, and (3) the development of alder fen in the lake shore zone since ca. 4600 BCE. Vegetation changes suggest early landscape transformations in Central Poland already due to the activity of Mesolithic societies. Fossil pollen and plant macroremains data combined with detailed map of modern soil distribution in the area allowed to identify pattern of vegetation distribution around the Mesolithic campsite. Neolithic discontinuity of habitation process between ca. 4600 and 4000 BCE (in the times of Brześć Kujawski Group of Lendyel Culture) can be associated with climate change resulting in Karaśnia Lake level lowering.Peer reviewe

Tillage erosion as an important driver of in‐field biomass patterns in an intensively used hummocky landscape

Tillage erosion causes substantial soil redistribution that can exceed water erosion especially in hummocky landscapes under highly mechanized large field agriculture. Consequently, truncated soil profiles can be found on hill shoulders and top slopes, whereas colluvial material is accumulated at footslopes, in depressions, and along downslope field borders. We tested the hypothesis that soil erosion substantially affects in-field patterns of the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) of different crop types on landscape scale. The interrelation between the EVI (RAPIDEYE satellite data; 5 m spatial resolution) as a proxy for crop biomass and modeled total soil erosion (tillage and water erosion modeled using SPEROS-C) was analyzed for the Quillow catchment (size: 196 km2) in Northeast Germany in a wet versus normal year for four crop types (winter wheat, maize, winter rapeseed, winter barley). Our findings clearly indicate that eroded areas had the lowest EVI values, while the highest EVI values were found in depositional areas. The differences in the EVI between erosional and depositional sites are more pronounced in the analyzed normal year. The net effect of total erosion on the EVI compared to areas without pronounced erosion or deposition ranged from −10.2% for maize in the normal year to +3.7% for winter barley in the wet year. Tillage erosion has been identified as an important driver of soil degradation affecting in-field crop biomass patterns in a hummocky ground moraine landscape. While soil erosion estimates are to be made, more attention should be given toward tillage erosion.ISSN:1085-3278ISSN:1099-145

Risk perception of women during high risk pregnancy: A systematic review

Risk perception in women with high risk pregnancies can affect their attitude to medical care and therefore influence the wellbeing of mother and baby. This article reviews quantitative measures of risk perception in women with high risk pregnancies. A systematic search of eight electronic databases was conducted. Additional articles were obtained through searching references of identified articles. Seven studies were identified that reported quantitative measures of risk perception in relation to high risk pregnancy. The main findings were that women with high risk pregnancies perceive themselves and the pregnancies to be at risk. However, mean risk scores consistently fall below the midpoint on risk perception measures suggesting women do not perceive this risk as extreme. Women with high risk pregnancies consistently rated their risk as being greater than that of women with low risk pregnancies. Results were inconsistent for the association between women's risk perception and that of healthcare professionals. Women with higher socio-economic status were more likely to be concerned about risk, although lower socio-economic status is associated with increased risk in pregnancy. There was a consistent association between high risk pregnancy and higher levels of anxiety. This review indicates that women at high risk during pregnancy do not perceive this risk to be extreme and that there is poor agreement between women's and healthcare professionals’ perceptions of risk. This is likely to have implications for medical care and pregnancy outcomes

Maternal care and birth outcomes among ethnic minority women in Finland

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Care during pregnancy and labour is of great importance in every culture. Studies show that people of migrant origin have barriers to obtaining accessible and good quality care compared to people in the host society. The aim of this study is to compare the access to and use of maternity services, and their outcomes among ethnic minority women having a singleton birth in Finland.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study is based on data from the Finnish Medical Birth Register in 1999–2001 linked with the information of Statistics Finland on woman's country of birth, citizenship and mother tongue. Our study data included 6,532 women of foreign origin (3.9% of all singletons) giving singleton birth in Finland during 1999–2001 (compared to 158,469 Finnish origin singletons).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Most women have migrated during the last fifteen years, mainly from Russia, Baltic countries, Somalia and East Europe. Migrant origin women participated substantially in prenatal care. Interventions performed or needed during pregnancy and childbirth varied between ethnic groups. Women of African and Somali origin had most health problems resulted in the highest perinatal mortality rates. Women from East Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Somalia had a significant risk of low birth weight and small for gestational age newborns. Most premature newborns were found among women from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia. Primiparous women from Africa, Somalia and Latin America and Caribbean had most caesarean sections while newborns of Latin American origin had more interventions after birth.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Despite good general coverage of maternal care among migrant origin women, there were clear variations in the type of treatment given to them or needed by them. African origin women had the most health problems during pregnancy and childbirth and the worst perinatal outcomes indicating the urgent need of targeted preventive and special care. These study results do not confirm either healthy migrant effect or epidemiological paradox according to which migrant origin women have considerable good birth outcomes.</p

Apoptosis of CD4+CD25high T Cells in Type 1 Diabetes May Be Partially Mediated by IL-2 Deprivation

from T1D subjects. in T1D may be caught up in a relatively deficient cytokine milieu. function in subjects predisposed to T1D

Individual correction of birth weight for parental stature with special reference to small-for-date and large-for-date infants

Peer Reviewe