Availability of Food Preparation Supplies among Pregnant Women: Preliminary Results from the Decision Making, Eating, and Weight Gain during Pregnancy (DEW) Study

Background: Lack of cooking supplies may be a potential barrier to preparing healthy meals at home. We examined the availability of food preparation supplies among pregnant women in relation to sociodemographic characteristics. Methods: We used preliminary data (N=59) from an ongoing study which enrolled English-speaking women aged 18+ years, pregnant with singleton gestation \u3c36\u3eweeks, pre-pregnancy BMI 18.5-40 kg/m2, and planning to deliver at UMMHC. Women completed the Food Preparation Checklist (FPC) at home. The FPC asks women if 41 specific food preparation items; scores reflect number of items present in the home. Other variables were self-reported. Pearson’s correlation, t-tests, and ANOVAs provided comparisons. We constructed an adjusted linear regression model to explore FPC by sociodemographic characteristics. Results: Women were aged 30.3 (SD=4.1) years, 64.4% were non-Hispanic White, 84.8% were married or living with a partner, and 30.5% reported difficulty paying for basic expenses. Women were enrolled at 22.7 (SD=5.6) weeks gestation; 30.5% were primigravid. Mean pre-pregnancy BMI was 25.0 (SD=4.6) kg/m2; 25.4% were overweight and 17.0% obese. Average FPC score was 32.3 (SD=6.1; range:14-39). FPC scores were higher among Non-Hispanic White women (34.6±3.5 vs. 28.1±7.5, p\u3c0.0001), those with higher education (28.3±7.0 high school/GED or less, 31.0±6.2 some/college degree, vs. 34.7±4.6 some/degree graduate, p\u3c0.01), those married or living with a partner (33.3±5.7 vs. 26.9±5.7, p\u3c0.01), with lower pre-pregnancy BMI (r=-0.38, p\u3c0.01), and who had no difficulty paying for basic expenses (34.0±5.0 vs. 28.4±6.6, p\u3c0.001). In a model that additionally adjusted for pre-pregnancy BMI, non-Hispanic White women had on average 5.7 more food preparation items (95% CI: 3.2, 8.3) and those reporting difficulty paying for basic expenses 3.8 fewer items (95% CI: -6.8, -0.9). Conclusions: Understanding the food preparation supplies available to pregnant women may be useful when designing interventions to improve diet quality and promote healthy weight gain during pregnancy

Evening Snacking in Relation to Self-reported Declines in Sleep Quality during Pregnancy: Preliminary Results from the Decision-Making, Eating, and Weight Gain During Pregnancy (DEW) Study

Background: Poor sleep in non-pregnant adults has been associated with increased evening snacking, which may contribute to weight gain. Sleep disturbances are common during pregnancy. Objective: To examine the association between changes in sleep quality from pre-pregnancy and evening snacking. Methods: In an ongoing prospective cohort study, pregnant women were recruited from UMMHC obstetric practices and the community. Participants are 18+ years, with singleton gestationweeks, pre-pregnancy BMI 18.5-40 kg/m2, English-speaking, and with plans to deliver at UMMHC. Participants were asked “compared to the three months before you became pregnant, how is your sleep quality now?”; we combined responses of “about the same”/“a little better”/“a lot better” versus “a little worse”/“much worse”. Participants completed three 24-hour dietary recalls (2 weekdays, 1 weekend day). Evening snacks were defined as eating occasions after dinner but before bedtime during which food items other than water was consumed. Fisher’s Exact tests and t-tests provided comparisons for evening snacking (yes/no), number of snacks, and energy intake. Results: Women with complete data (n=55) were 58% non-Hispanic White and aged 30.0 (SD:4.3) years; gestational age at study visit was 23.0 (SD:5.9) weeks. Of 866 meals reported, 94 were evening snacks. 71% (n=39) reported that their current sleep quality was worse than before pregnancy. Evening snacks were reported by 90% of women reporting worse sleep and 69% same/better (p=0.1028). While the number of snacks among snackers did not differ by change in sleep quality (M[SD]: 2.2[1.2] versus 1.6[0.8], p=0.2372), energy intake from these snacks was higher among women whose sleep quality had declined (M[SD]: 630[488] versus 309[331] kcal, p=0.0480). Conclusions: Declines in sleep quality during pregnancy may be linked to evening snacking. More research is needed to understand the role of sleep quality, eating behavior, and weight gain during pregnancy

The Canadian Dementia Imaging Protocol: Harmonization validity for morphometry measurements

© 2019 The Authors The harmonized Canadian Dementia Imaging Protocol (CDIP) has been developed to suit the needs of a number of co-occurring Canadian studies collecting data on brain changes across adulthood and neurodegeneration. In this study, we verify the impact of CDIP parameters compliance on total brain volume variance using 86 scans of the same individual acquired on various scanners. Data included planned data collection acquired within the Consortium pour l\u27identification précoce de la maladie Alzheimer - Québec (CIMA-Q) and Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) studies, as well as opportunistic data collection from various protocols. For images acquired from Philips scanners, lower variance in brain volumes were observed when the stated CDIP resolution was set. For images acquired from GE scanners, lower variance in brain volumes were noticed when TE/TR values were within 5% of the CDIP protocol, compared to values farther from that criteria. Together, these results suggest that a harmonized protocol like the CDIP may help to reduce neuromorphometric measurement variability in multi-centric studies

Multimorbidity, physical frailty, and self-rated health in older patients with atrial fibrillation

BACKGROUND: Holistic care models emphasize management of comorbid conditions to improve patient-reported outcomes in treatment of atrial fibrillation (AF). We investigated relations between multimorbidity, physical frailty, and self-rated health (SRH) among older adults with AF. METHODS: Patients (n = 1235) with AF aged 65 years and older were recruited from five medical centers in Massachusetts and Georgia between 2015 and 2018. Ten previously diagnosed cardiometabolic and 8 non-cardiometabolic conditions were assessed from medical records. Physical Frailty was assessed with the Cardiovascular Health Study frailty scale. SRH was categorized as either excellent/very good , good , and fair/poor . Separate multivariable ordinal logistic models were used to examine the associations between multimorbidity and SRH, physical frailty and SRH, and multimorbidity and physical frailty. RESULTS: Overall, 16% of participants rated their health as fair/poor and 14% were frail. Hypertension (90%), dyslipidemia (80%), and heart failure (37%) were the most prevalent cardiometabolic conditions. Arthritis (51%), anemia (31%), and cancer (30%), the most common non-cardiometabolic diseases. After multivariable adjustment, patients with higher multimorbidity were more likely to report poorer health status (Odds Ratio (OR): 2.15 [95% CI: 1.53-3.03], \u3e /= 8 vs 1-4; OR: 1.37 [95% CI: 1.02-1.83], 5-7 vs 1-4), as did those with more prevalent cardiometabolic and non-cardiometabolic conditions. Patients who were pre-frail (OR: 1.73 [95% CI: 1.30-2.30]) or frail (OR: 6.81 [95% CI: 4.34-10.68]) reported poorer health status. Higher multimorbidity was associated with worse frailty status. CONCLUSIONS: Multimorbidity and physical frailty were common and related to SRH. Our findings suggest that holistic management approaches may influence SRH among older patients with AF

Characterizing, modelling and understanding the climate variability of the deep water formation in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea

Observing, modelling and understanding the climate-scale variability of the deep water formation (DWF) in the North-Western Mediterranean Sea remains today very challenging. In this study, we first characterize the interannual variability of this phenomenon by a thorough reanalysis of observations in order to establish reference time series. These quantitative indicators include 31 observed years for the yearly maximum mixed layer depth over the period 1980–2013 and a detailed multi-indicator description of the period 2007–2013. Then a 1980–2013 hindcast simulation is performed with a fully-coupled regional climate system model including the high-resolution representation of the regional atmosphere, ocean, land-surface and rivers. The simulation reproduces quantitatively well the mean behaviour and the large interannual variability of the DWF phenomenon. The model shows convection deeper than 1000 m in 2/3 of the modelled winters, a mean DWF rate equal to 0.35 Sv with maximum values of 1.7 (resp. 1.6) Sv in 2013 (resp. 2005). Using the model results, the winter-integrated buoyancy loss over the Gulf of Lions is identified as the primary driving factor of the DWF interannual variability and explains, alone, around 50 % of its variance. It is itself explained by the occurrence of few stormy days during winter. At daily scale, the Atlantic ridge weather regime is identified as favourable to strong buoyancy losses and therefore DWF, whereas the positive phase of the North Atlantic oscillation is unfavourable. The driving role of the vertical stratification in autumn, a measure of the water column inhibition to mixing, has also been analyzed. Combining both driving factors allows to explain more than 70 % of the interannual variance of the phenomenon and in particular the occurrence of the five strongest convective years of the model (1981, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2013). The model simulates qualitatively well the trends in the deep waters (warming, saltening, increase in the dense water volume, increase in the bottom water density) despite an underestimation of the salinity and density trends. These deep trends come from a heat and salt accumulation during the 1980s and the 1990s in the surface and intermediate layers of the Gulf of Lions before being transferred stepwise towards the deep layers when very convective years occur in 1999 and later. The salinity increase in the near Atlantic Ocean surface layers seems to be the external forcing that finally leads to these deep trends. In the future, our results may allow to better understand the behaviour of the DWF phenomenon in Mediterranean Sea simulations in hindcast, forecast, reanalysis or future climate change scenario modes. The robustness of the obtained results must be however confirmed in multi-model studies

Accumulation of Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Adipocytes: Selective Targeting to Lipid Droplets and Role of Caveolin-1

Background : Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent environmental pollutants that preferentially accumulate in lipid-rich tissues of contaminated organisms. Although the adipose tissue constitutes a major intern reservoir of PCBs and recent epidemiological studies associate PCBs to the development of obesity and its related disorders, little is known about the mechanisms involved in their uptake by the adipose tissue and their intracellular localization in fat cells

High methylmercury in Arctic and subarctic ponds is related to nutrient levels in the warming eastern Canadian Arctic

Permafrost thaw ponds are ubiquitous in the eastern Canadian Arctic, yet little information exists on their potential as sources of methylmercury (MeHg) to freshwaters. They are microbially active and conducive to methylation of inorganic mercury, and are also affected by Arctic warming. This multiyear study investigated thaw ponds in a discontinuous permafrost region in the Subarctic taiga (Kuujjuarapik-Whapmagoostui, QC) and a continuous permafrost region in the Arctic tundra (Bylot Island, NU). MeHg concentrations in thaw ponds were well above levels measured in most freshwater ecosystems in the Canadian Arctic (>0.1 ng L−1). On Bylot, ice-wedge trough ponds showed significantly higher MeHg (0.3−2.2 ng L−1) than polygonal ponds (0.1−0.3 ng L−1) or lakes (<0.1 ng L−1). High MeHg was measured in the bottom waters of Subarctic thaw ponds near Kuujjuarapik (0.1−3.1 ng L−1). High water MeHg concentrations in thaw ponds were strongly correlated with variables associated with high inputs of organic matter (DOC, a320, Fe), nutrients (TP, TN), and microbial activity (dissolved CO2 and CH4). Thawing permafrost due to Arctic warming will continue to release nutrients and organic carbon into these systems and increase ponding in some regions, likely stimulating higher water concentrations of MeHg. Greater hydrological connectivity from permafrost thawing may potentially increase transport of MeHg from thaw ponds to neighboring aquatic ecosystems

Autoantibodies neutralizing type I IFNs are present in ~4% of uninfected individuals over 70 years old and account for ~20% of COVID-19 deaths

Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.Circulating autoantibodies (auto-Abs) neutralizing high concentrations (10 ng/ml; in plasma diluted 1:10) of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are found in about 10% of patients with critical COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pneumonia but not in individuals with asymptomatic infections. We detect auto-Abs neutralizing 100-fold lower, more physiological, concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega (100 pg/ml; in 1:10 dilutions of plasma) in 13.6% of 3595 patients with critical COVID-19, including 21% of 374 patients >80 years, and 6.5% of 522 patients with severe COVID-19. These antibodies are also detected in 18% of the 1124 deceased patients (aged 20 days to 99 years; mean: 70 years). Moreover, another 1.3% of patients with critical COVID-19 and 0.9% of the deceased patients have auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-beta. We also show, in a sample of 34,159 uninfected individuals from the general population, that auto-Abs neutralizing high concentrations of IFN-alpha and/or IFN-omega are present in 0.18% of individuals between 18 and 69 years, 1.1% between 70 and 79 years, and 3.4% >80 years. Moreover, the proportion of individuals carrying auto-Abs neutralizing lower concentrations is greater in a subsample of 10,778 uninfected individuals: 1% of individuals 80 years. By contrast, auto-Abs neutralizing IFN-beta do not become more frequent with age. Auto-Abs neutralizing type I IFNs predate SARS-CoV-2 infection and sharply increase in prevalence after the age of 70 years. They account for about 20% of both critical COVID-19 cases in the over 80s and total fatal COVID-19 cases.Peer reviewe

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure