67 research outputs found
A home calendar and recall method of last menstrual period for estimating gestational age in rural Bangladesh: a validation study
Background: The best method of gestational age assessment is by
ultrasound in the first trimester; however, this method is impractical
in large field trials in rural areas. Our objective was to assess the
validity of gestational age estimated from prospectively collected date
of last menstrual period (LMP) using crown-rump length (CRL) measured
in early pregnancy by ultrasound. Methods: As part of a large,
cluster-randomized, controlled trial in rural Bangladesh, we collected
dates of LMP by recall and as marked on a calendar every 5 weeks in
women likely to become pregnant. Among those with a urinetest confirmed
pregnancy, a subset with gestational age of <15 weeks (n = 353) were
enrolled for ultrasound follow-up to measure CRL. We compared
interview-assessed LMP with CRL gestational age estimates and
classification of preterm, term, and post-term births. Results:
LMP-based gestational age was higher than CRL by a mean (SD) of 2.8
(10.7) days; differences varied by maternal education and preterm birth
(P < 0.05). Lin\u2019s concordance correlation coefficient was good
at ultrasound [0.63 (95 % CI 0.56, 0.69)] and at birth [0.77 (95 % CI
0.73, 0.81)]. Validity of classifying preterm birth was high but
post-term was lower, with specificity of 96 and 89 % and sensitivity of
86 and 67 %, respectively. Results were similar by parity. Conclusions:
Prospectively collected LMP provided a valid estimate of gestational
age and preterm birth in a rural, low-income setting and may be a
suitable alternative to ultrasound in programmatic settings and large
field trials. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0086047
Ancestral Diversity in Lipoprotein(a) Studies Helps Address Evidence Gaps
INTRODUCTION: The independent and causal cardiovascular disease risk factor lipoprotein(a) (Lp(a)) is elevated in \u3e1.5 billion individuals worldwide, but studies have prioritised European populations.
METHODS: Here, we examined how ancestrally diverse studies could clarify Lp(a)\u27s genetic architecture, inform efforts examining application of Lp(a) polygenic risk scores (PRS), enable causal inference and identify unexpected Lp(a) phenotypic effects using data from African (n=25 208), East Asian (n=2895), European (n=362 558), South Asian (n=8192) and Hispanic/Latino (n=8946) populations.
RESULTS: Fourteen genome-wide significant loci with numerous population specific signals of large effect were identified that enabled construction of Lp(a) PRS of moderate (R
CONCLUSIONS: Our results emphasise the merits of prioritising ancestral diversity when addressing Lp(a) evidence gaps
Why small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements should be integrated into comprehensive strategies to prevent child undernutrition in nutritionally vulnerable populations : response to Gupta et al.’s commentary
We write in response to the commentary by Gupta et al. (2023) on small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) for infants and young children 6 to 24 months of age, which was prompted by the recent brief guidance note from UNICEF (2023) explaining when, why and how SQ-LNS are being prioritized as part of their package of preventive actions to combat early childhood malnutrition. The UNICEF document was disseminated shortly after publication of a correspondence in Nature Food (Aguayo et al. 2023), authored by nutrition leaders from several organizations, that summarized the evidence on the benefits of SQ-LNS and called for this intervention to be scaled up and integrated into programs for populations in which child undernutrition is prevalent and dietary quality is very poor. We agree with Gupta et al. that child malnutrition is the result of many factors and there is no single “quick fix” or “magic bullet”. In fact, the above-cited documents state clearly and frequently that provision of SQ-LNS is not a stand-alone intervention and must be integrated into comprehensive strategies to improve infant and young child feeding (IYCF), including the promotion of dietary diversity, as well as other actions needed to prevent malnutrition. SQ-LNS are intended for vulnerable populations who lack access to an affordable, nutritionally adequate complementary feeding diet and have high rates of stunting, wasting and mortality. In such populations, we agree with Gupta et al. that IYCF messages alone are not enough. This is precisely why SQ-LNS were originally developed
Validation of the Body Concealment Scale for Scleroderma (BCSS): Replication in the Scleroderma Patient-centered Intervention Network (SPIN) Cohort
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd Body concealment is an important component of appearance distress for individuals with disfiguring conditions, including scleroderma. The objective was to replicate the validation study of the Body Concealment Scale for Scleroderma (BCSS) among 897 scleroderma patients. The factor structure of the BCSS was evaluated using confirmatory factor analysis and the Multiple-Indicator Multiple-Cause model examined differential item functioning of SWAP items for sex and age. Internal consistency reliability was assessed via Cronbach's alpha. Construct validity was assessed by comparing the BCSS with a measure of body image distress and measures of mental health and pain intensity. Results replicated the original validation study, where a bifactor model provided the best fit. The BCSS demonstrated strong internal consistency reliability and construct validity. Findings further support the BCSS as a valid measure of body concealment in scleroderma and provide new evidence that scores can be compared and combined across sexes and ages
Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome
The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead
The Cell Tracking Challenge: 10 years of objective benchmarking
The Cell Tracking Challenge is an ongoing benchmarking initiative that
has become a reference in cell segmentation and tracking algorithm
development. Here, we present a signifcant number of improvements
introduced in the challenge since our 2017 report. These include the
creation of a new segmentation-only benchmark, the enrichment of
the dataset repository with new datasets that increase its diversity and
complexity, and the creation of a silver standard reference corpus based
on the most competitive results, which will be of particular interest for
data-hungry deep learning-based strategies. Furthermore, we present
the up-to-date cell segmentation and tracking leaderboards, an in-depth
analysis of the relationship between the performance of the state-of-the-art
methods and the properties of the datasets and annotations, and two
novel, insightful studies about the generalizability and the reusability
of top-performing methods. These studies provide critical practical
conclusions for both developers and users of traditional and machine
learning-based cell segmentation and tracking algorithms.Web of Science2071020101
Fungal Planet description sheets : 320–370
Novel species of fungi described in the present study include the following from Malaysia: Castanediella
eucalypti from Eucalyptus pellita, Codinaea acacia from Acacia mangium, Emarcea eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus
brassiana, Myrtapenidiella eucalyptorum from Eucalyptus pellita, Pilidiella eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus brassiana
and Strelitziana malaysiana from Acacia mangium. Furthermore, Stachybotrys sansevieriicola is described from
Sansevieria ehrenbergii (Tanzania), Phacidium grevilleae from Grevillea robusta (Uganda), Graphium jumulu from
Adansonia gregorii and Ophiostoma eucalyptigena from Eucalyptus marginata (Australia), Pleurophoma ossicola from
bone and Plectosphaerella populi from Populus nigra (Germany), Colletotrichum neosansevieriae from Sansevieria
trifasciata, Elsinoë othonnae from Othonna quinquedentata and Zeloasperisporium cliviae (Zeloasperisporiaceae
fam. nov.) from Clivia sp. (South Africa), Neodevriesia pakbiae, Phaeophleospora hymenocallidis and Phaeophleospora
hymenocallidicola on leaves of a fern (Thailand), Melanconium elaeidicola from Elaeis guineensis (Indonesia),
Hormonema viticola from Vitis vinifera (Canary Islands), Chlorophyllum pseudoglobossum from a grassland (India),
Triadelphia disseminata from an immunocompromised patient (Saudi Arabia), Colletotrichum abscissum from Citrus
(Brazil), Polyschema sclerotigenum and Phialemonium limoniforme from human patients (USA), Cadophora vitícola
from Vitis vinifera (Spain), Entoloma flavovelutinum and Bolbitius aurantiorugosus from soil (Vietnam), Rhizopogon
granuloflavus from soil (Cape Verde Islands), Tulasnella eremophila from Euphorbia officinarum subsp. echinus
(Morocco), Verrucostoma martinicensis from Danaea elliptica (French West Indies), Metschnikowia colchici from
Colchicum autumnale (Bulgaria), Thelebolus microcarpus from soil (Argentina) and Ceratocystis adelpha from
Theobroma cacao (Ecuador). Myrmecridium iridis (Myrmecridiales ord. nov., Myrmecridiaceae fam. nov.) is also
described from Iris sp. (The Netherlands). Novel genera include (Ascomycetes): Budhanggurabania from Cynodon
dactylon (Australia), Soloacrosporiella, Xenocamarosporium, Neostrelitziana and Castanediella from Acacia mangium
and Sabahriopsis from Eucalyptus brassiana (Malaysia), Readerielliopsis from basidiomata of Fuscoporia wahlbergii
(French Guyana), Neoplatysporoides from Aloe ferox (Tanzania), Wojnowiciella, Chrysofolia and Neoeriomycopsis
from Eucalyptus (Colombia), Neophaeomoniella from Eucalyptus globulus (USA), Pseudophaeomoniella from Olea
europaea (Italy), Paraphaeomoniella from Encephalartos altensteinii, Aequabiliella, Celerioriella and Minutiella from
Prunus (South Africa). Tephrocybella (Basidiomycetes) represents a novel genus from wood (Italy). Morphological
and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa.Alina V. Alexandrova was supported by the Russian Science
Foundation (project N 14-50-00029). Ekaterina F. Malysheva, Olga V.
Morozova,
Alexander E. Kovalenko and Eugene S. Popov acknowledge
financial support from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project
13-04-00838a and 15-04-04645a). Margarita Dueñas, María P. Martín and
M. Teresa Telleria acknowledge financial support from the Plan Nacional I+D+I
projects No. CGL2009-07231 and CGL2012-3559. Cony Decock gratefully acknowledges the financial support received from
the FNRS / FRFC (convention FRFC 2.4544.10), the CNRS-French Guiana
and the Nouragues staff, which enabled fieldwork in French Guiana, and the
Belgian State – Belgian Federal Science Policy through the BCCMTM research
programme.http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nhn/pimjam201
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