Estimation of gestational age from fundal height: a solution for resource-poor settings

Many women in resource-poor settings lack access to reliable gestational age assessment because they do not know their last menstrual period; there is no ultrasound (US) and methods of newborn gestational age dating are not practised by birth attendants. A bespoke multiple-measures model was developed to predict the expected date of delivery determined by US. The results are compared with both a linear and a nonlinear model. Prospectively collected early US and serial symphysis-pubis fundal height (SFH) data were used in the models. The data were collected from Karen and Burmese women attending antenatal care on the Thai–Burmese border. The multiple-measures model performed best, resulting in a range of accuracy depending on the number of SFH measures recorded per mother (for example six SFH measurements resulted in a prediction accuracy of ±2 weeks). SFH remains the proxy for gestational age in much of the resource-poor world. While more accurate measures should be encouraged, we demonstrate that a formula that incorporates at least three SFH measures from an individual mother and the slopes between them provide a significant increase in the accuracy of prediction compared with the linear and nonlinear formulae also using multiple SFH measures

Crescimento e produtividade do pinhão-manso em função do espaçamento e irrigação Growth and productivity of physic nut as a function of plant spacing and irrigation

Objetivou-se, com este trabalho, avaliar o efeito do espaçamento e da complementação hídrica no crescimento e produtividade do pinhão-manso. O experimento foi conduzido na área experimental do Instituto Federal Goiano, campus Rio Verde,GO, no período de 12/09/2009 a 30/04/2011, no delineamento de blocos casualizados com três repetições, os fatores foram sete espaçamentos e duas condições hídricas, cada parcela constituída de 16 plantas, sendo as quatro plantas centrais a área útil. Aos 60 dias após o transplantio das mudas foram feitas, bimensalmente, as avaliações dos parâmetros altura de planta, número de ramificações, área foliar e produtividade. O fator espaçamento não apresentou diferença significativa para os parâmetros altura, ramificação e produtividade e a complementação hídrica teve efeito significativo para altura aos 240 dias após transplantio. A produção de sementes em sequeiro foi maior no espaçamento 3 x 3 e com complementação hídrica no espaçamento 4 x 4.<br>The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of plant spacing and water supplementation on growth and productivity of physic nut (Jatropha). This research was carried out at the experimental area of the Instituto Federal Goiano - Rio Verde during the period 12/09/2009 to 30/04/2011, in a randomized block design with three replications. The factors consisted of seven plant spacings and two water conditions, each plot consisted of 16 plants, and four central plants were considered for data collection. At 60 days after transplanting of seedlings, fortnightly the evaluation of the parameters plant height, number of branches, leaf area and productivity was carried out. The plant spacing showed no significant difference for height, branching and productivity, while the water supplementation had significant effect on height at 240 days after transplanting. Seed production under rainfed conditions was higher in 3 x 3 m spacing and with complementary water in 4 x 4 m spacing

Heterologous challenge in the presence of maternally-derived antibodies results in vaccine-associated enhanced respiratory disease in weaned piglets

Control of influenza A virus (IAV) in pigs is done by vaccination of females to provide maternally-derived antibodies (MDA) through colostrum. Our aim was to evaluate if MDA interfere with IAV infection, clinical disease, and transmission in non-vaccinated piglets. In a first study, naïve sows were vaccinated with H1N2-δ1 whole inactivated virus (WIV) vaccine. In a follow-up study seropositive sows to 2009 pandemic H1N1 (H1N1pdm09) were boosted with H1N1pdm09 WIV or secondary experimental infection (EXP). MDA-positive pigs were challenged with homologous or heterologous virus, and MDA-negative control groups were included. WIV-MDA piglets were protected from homologous infection. However, piglets with WIV-derived MDA subsequently challenged with heterologous virus developed vaccine associated enhanced respiratory disease (VAERD), regardless of history of natural exposure in the sows. Our data indicates that although high titers of vaccine-derived MDA reduced homologous virus infection, transmission, and disease, MDA alone was sufficient to induce VAERD upon heterologous infection