Maternal factors associated with birth weight in term infants, Colombia, 2002-2011

ABSTRACT: The study aimed to identify maternal factors associated with birth weight in Colombia from 2002 to 2011. This was a descriptive study based on data from the Live Birth Registry of Colombia, Administrative Department of Vital Statistics. Birth weight was classified as low birth weight < 2,500g, insufficient birth weight 2,500-2,999g, normal birth weight 3,000-3,999g, and high birth weight ≥ 4,000g. Data analysis used Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and multinomial logistic regression. Women with increased likelihood of low birth weight newborns were 35 years or older (OR = 1.4; 95%CI: 1.39-1.4), had little schooling (OR = 1.1; 95%CI: 1.1-1.1), were single (OR = 1.1; 95%CI: 1.1-1.2), without prenatal care (OR = 1.9; 95%CI: 1.9-2.0), and lived in rural areas (OR = 1.2; 95%CI: 1.1-1.2). Women with higher prevalence of high birth weight newborns were 35 years or older (OR = 1.1; 95%CI: 1.1-1.1) and had four or more children (OR = 2.1; 95%CI 2.0-2.1). Insufficient birth weight showed a similar pattern to low birth weight. In conclusion, social, demographic, and maternal factors influence the birth weight of newborns in Colombia.RESUMEN: El estudio tuvo como objetivo identificar los factores maternos asociados con el peso al nacer, en Colombia, entre 2002-2011. Fue un estudio descriptivo, basado en información del Registro de Nacido Vivo de Colombia del Departamento Administrativo de Estadísticas Vitales, se clasificó el peso al nacer como: bajo peso al nacer < 2.500g, peso insuficiente 2.500- 2.999g, peso adecuado 3.000-3.999g y macrosomía ≥ 4.000g. Para el análisis se utilizó la U Mann-Whitney, Kruskall Wallis y un modelo de regresión logística multinomial. Las mujeres con mayor probabilidad de recién nacidos con bajo peso fueron las de 35 años o más (OR = 1,4; IC95%: 1,39- 1,4), con bajo nivel educativo (OR = 1,1; IC95%: 1,1-1,1), solteras (OR = 1,1; IC95%: 1,1-1,2), sin asistencia a controles prenatales (OR = 1,9; IC95%: 1,9-2,0) y de la zona rural (OR = 1,2; IC95%: 1,1-1,2). Las mujeres con mayor prevalencia de recién nacidos macrosómicos fueron de 35 años o más (OR = 1,1; IC95%: 1,1-1,1) y de 4 hijos o más (OR = 2,1; IC95%: 2,0-2,1). El peso insuficiente tuvo un comportamiento similar al bajo peso al nacer. En conclusión, los factores sociodemográficos y maternos influencian el peso al nacer de recién nacidos de mujeres colombianas

Genome-wide association study of Tourette Syndrome

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a developmental disorder that has one of the highest familial recurrence rates among neuropsychiatric diseases with complex inheritance. However, the identification of definitive TS susceptibility genes remains elusive. Here, we report the first genome-wide association study (GWAS) of TS in 1285 cases and 4964 ancestry-matched controls of European ancestry, including two European-derived population isolates, Ashkenazi Jews from North America and Israel, and French Canadians from Quebec, Canada. In a primary meta-analysis of GWAS data from these European ancestry samples, no markers achieved a genome-wide threshold of significance (p<5 × 10−8); the top signal was found in rs7868992 on chromosome 9q32 within COL27A1 (p=1.85 × 10−6). A secondary analysis including an additional 211 cases and 285 controls from two closely-related Latin-American population isolates from the Central Valley of Costa Rica and Antioquia, Colombia also identified rs7868992 as the top signal (p=3.6 × 10−7 for the combined sample of 1496 cases and 5249 controls following imputation with 1000 Genomes data). This study lays the groundwork for the eventual identification of common TS susceptibility variants in larger cohorts and helps to provide a more complete understanding of the full genetic architecture of this disorder

Partitioning the Heritability of Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Reveals Differences in Genetic Architecture

The direct estimation of heritability from genome-wide common variant data as implemented in the program Genome-wide Complex Trait Analysis (GCTA) has provided a means to quantify heritability attributable to all interrogated variants. We have quantified the variance in liability to disease explained

Naturaleza urbana. Plataforma de experiencias

Naturaleza Urbana presenta experiencias autogestionadas que, con el tiempo, se han posicionado como ejercicios alternativos de identificación, monitoreo y recuperación de la biodiversidad urbana. En otros casos, el modelo comunidad-gobierno ha permitido desarrollar diagnósticos y propuestas de gestión corresponsables y sistémicas, entendiendo por esto último iniciativas que nacen desde los valores mismos que cada comunidad le atribuye a su biodiversidad. Del mismo modo, se presentan esfuerzos gubernamentales que han enriquecido la visión ambiental de los principales instrumentos de planificación urbana, por ejemplo, integrando la condición propiamente urbana como oportunidad para aumentar la oferta ambiental de la ciudad, fortaleciendo las funciones y procesos de la biodiversidad y revitalizando, con ello, la calidad de vida del entorno urbano. Por su parte, las universidades y los centros de investigación se han sumado a la ola emergente de generación de conocimiento en biodiversidad urbana (fenómeno nacional e internacional), han brindado evidencia científica de su valor para el bienestar humano y han propuesto reflexiones y lineamientos cualitativos de biodiversidad, con miras a hacer del ordenamiento un ejercicio más coherente con cada contexto territorial en particular.Bogotá, D. C., ColombiaInstituto de Investigación de Recursos Biológicos Alexander von Humbold

Cross-disorder genome-wide analyses suggest a complex genetic relationship between Tourette's syndrome and OCD.

ObjectiveObsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's syndrome are highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders that are thought to share genetic risk factors. However, the identification of definitive susceptibility genes for these etiologically complex disorders remains elusive. The authors report a combined genome-wide association study (GWAS) of Tourette's syndrome and OCD.MethodThe authors conducted a GWAS in 2,723 cases (1,310 with OCD, 834 with Tourette's syndrome, 579 with OCD plus Tourette's syndrome/chronic tics), 5,667 ancestry-matched controls, and 290 OCD parent-child trios. GWAS summary statistics were examined for enrichment of functional variants associated with gene expression levels in brain regions. Polygenic score analyses were conducted to investigate the genetic architecture within and across the two disorders.ResultsAlthough no individual single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) achieved genome-wide significance, the GWAS signals were enriched for SNPs strongly associated with variations in brain gene expression levels (expression quantitative loci, or eQTLs), suggesting the presence of true functional variants that contribute to risk of these disorders. Polygenic score analyses identified a significant polygenic component for OCD (p=2×10(-4)), predicting 3.2% of the phenotypic variance in an independent data set. In contrast, Tourette's syndrome had a smaller, nonsignificant polygenic component, predicting only 0.6% of the phenotypic variance (p=0.06). No significant polygenic signal was detected across the two disorders, although the sample is likely underpowered to detect a modest shared signal. Furthermore, the OCD polygenic signal was significantly attenuated when cases with both OCD and co-occurring Tourette's syndrome/chronic tics were included in the analysis (p=0.01).ConclusionsPrevious work has shown that Tourette's syndrome and OCD have some degree of shared genetic variation. However, the data from this study suggest that there are also distinct components to the genetic architectures of these two disorders. Furthermore, OCD with co-occurring Tourette's syndrome/chronic tics may have different underlying genetic susceptibility compared with OCD alone

Urban Nature

Preservation, restoration, monitoring of biodiversity and promotion of native species, in their strict and classical sense, could be unviable strategies in the cities. Management systems such as the protected areas acquire profoundly different connotations and objectives from the traditional ones when thought of in the context of a city. Similarly, although ecological restoration seeks to return to a baseline ecosystem, there is little that we know about the vegetation present on the urban borders of the main Colombian cities prior to the 20th century. Finally, the models for potential distribution of species could produce unreliable results, because their methodological bases were not conceived based on urban dynamics. In this context, to de ne urban biodiversity and what strategy must be applied for its conservation implies a challenge that, beyond being scienti c, is necessarily social and cultural and involves planning and design. Innovation is inevitable.Bogotá, D. C