Why do women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care? A qualitative investigation with women attending maternity services

Background Despite the importance attributed to good pre-pregnancy care and its potential to improve pregnancy and child health outcomes, relatively little is known about why women invest in pre-pregnancy health and care. We sought to gain insight into why women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care. Methods We carried out 20 qualitative in-depth interviews with pregnant or recently pregnant women who were drawn from a survey of antenatal clinic attendees in London, UK. Interviewees were purposively sampled to include high and low investors in pre-pregnancy health and care, with variation in age, partnership status, ethnicity and pre-existing medical conditions. Data analysis was conducted using the Framework method. Results We identified three groups in relation to pre-pregnancy health and care: 1) The “prepared” group, who had high levels of pregnancy planning and mostly positive attitudes to micronutrient supplementation outside of pregnancy, carried out pre-pregnancy activities such as taking folic acid and making changes to diet and lifestyle. 2) The “poor knowledge” group, who also had high levels of pregnancy planning, did not carry out pre-pregnancy activities and described themselves as having poor knowledge. Elsewhere in their interviews they expressed a strong dislike of micronutrient supplementation. 3) The “absent pre-pregnancy period” group, had the lowest levels of pregnancy planning and also expressed anti-supplement views. Even discussing the pre-pregnancy period with this group was difficult as responses to questions quickly shifted to focus on pregnancy itself. Knowledge of folic acid was poor in all groups. Conclusion Different pre-pregnancy care approaches are likely to be needed for each of the groups. Among the “prepared” group, who were proactive and receptive to health messages, greater availability of information and better response from health professionals could improve the range of pre-pregnancy activities carried out. Among the “poor knowledge” group, better response from health professionals might yield greater uptake of pre-pregnancy information. A different, general health strategy might be more appropriate for the “absent pre-pregnancy period” group. The fact that general attitudes to micronutrient supplementation were closely related to whether or not women invested in pre-pregnancy health and care was an unanticipated finding and warrants further investigation.This report is independent research commissioned and funded by the Department of Health Policy Research Programme Pre-Pregnancy Health and Care in England: Exploring Implementation and Public Health Impact, 006/0068

Progestin Receptor-Mediated Reduction of Anxiety-Like Behavior in Male Rats

BACKGROUND: It is well known progesterone can have anxiolytic-like effects in animals in a number of different behavioral testing paradigms. Although progesterone is known to influence physiology and behavior by binding to classical intracellular progestin receptors, progesterone's anxiety reducing effects have solely been attributed to its rapid non-genomic effects at the GABA A receptor. This modulation occurs following the bioconversion of progesterone to allopregnanolone. Seemingly paradoxical results from some studies suggested that the function of progesterone to reduce anxiety-like behavior may not be entirely clear; therefore, we hypothesized that progesterone might also act upon progestin receptors to regulate anxiety. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To test this, we examined the anxiolytic-like effects of progesterone in male rats using the elevated plus maze, a validated test of anxiety, and the light/dark chamber in the presence or absence of a progestin receptor antagonist, RU 486. Here we present evidence suggesting that the anxiolytic-like effects of progesterone in male rats can be mediated, in part, by progestin receptors, as these effects are blocked by prior treatment with a progestin receptor antagonist. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: This indicates that progesterone can act upon progestin receptors to regulate anxiety-like behavior in the male rat brain

Causes, consequences and biomarkers of stress in swine: an update

BACKGROUND: In recent decades there has been a growing concern about animal stress on intensive pig farms due to the undesirable consequences that stress produces in the normal physiology of pigs and its effects on their welfare and general productive performance. This review analyses the most important types of stress (social, environmental, metabolic, immunological and due to human handling), and their biological consequences for pigs. The physio-pathological changes associated with stress are described, as well as the negative effects of stress on pig production. In addition an update of the different biomarkers used for the evaluation of stress is provided. These biomarkers can be classified into four groups according to the physiological system or axis evaluated: sympathetic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and immune system. CONCLUSIONS: Stress it is a process with multifactorial causes and produces an organic response that generates negative effects on animal health and production. Ideally, a panel of various biomarkers should be used to assess and evaluate the stress resulting from diverse causes and the different physiological systems involved in the stress response. We hope that this review will increase the understanding of the stress process, contribute to a better control and reduction of potential stressful stimuli in pigs and, finally, encourage future studies and developments to better monitor, detect and manage stress on pig farms

Επίδραση των Διαβαθμίσεων της Θερμοκρασίας και της Τάσης Τροφοδοσίας στην Πρόβλεψη της Απόδοσης σε Τρισδιάστατα Ολοκληρωμένα Κυκλώματα κατά την Πρώιμη Εξερεύνηση Λύσεων στα 45 νανόμετρα.

Στην εργασία αυτή, προτείνεται μια νέα ροή σχεδίασης για εξερεύνηση λύσεων σε τρισδιάστατα ολοκληρωμένα κυκλώματα. Σε αυτή τη διαδικασία, ο χρονισμός, η κατανάλωση ισχύος και το κόστος κατασκευής είναι οι στόχοι σχεδίασης. Οι διαβαθμίσεις της τάση τροφοδοσίας και της θερμοκρασίας λαμβάνονται υπόψη, για να καταστεί δυνατή η ακριβής πρόβλεψη των επιδόσεων. Ένα εκτεταμένο στάδιο προ-χαρακτηρισμών, επιτρέπει γρήγορες και ακριβείς προβλέψεις της απόδοσης του συνολικού συστήματος. Χρησιμοποιείται η θεωρία ακραίων τιμών για την γρήγορη εκτίμηση της χειρότερης κατανάλωσης ισχύος. Χρησιμοποιούνται 3 επίπεδα ιεραρχίας: υπο-κυκλώματα, που αποτελούνται από πύλες, υπέρ-κυκλώματα κάτω από την ίδια τροφοδοσία, που περιλαμβάνουν υπο-κυκλώματα, τη συνολική ψηφίδα, που περιλαμβάνει υπέρ-κυκλώματα κάτω από την ίδια τροφοδοσία. Η χωροθέτηση είναι μια διαδικασία δύο βημάτων. Αρχικά, σχεδιάζονται τα υπερ-κυκλώματα κάτω από την ίδια τροφοδοσία και μετά ολόκληρη η ψηφίδα. Τα περισσότερα τμήματα της προτεινόμενης ροής σχεδίασης υλοποιήθηκαν, για να διερευνηθεί η επίδραση των διαβαθμίσεων της θερμοκρασίας και της τάσης τροφοδοσίας στην πρόβλεψη της απόδοσης σε τρισδιάστατα ολοκληρωμένα κυκλώματα κατά την πρώιμη εξερεύνηση λύσεων στα 45 νανόμετρα. Χρησιμοποιήθηκαν τα κυκλώματα αναφοράς ITC99, μαζί με τυποποιημένα κελιά από την βιβλιοθήκη Nangate45 στα 45 νανόμετρα. Η συμπεριφορά των τυποποιημένων κελιών στα 45 νανόμετρα, καθώς και μεγαλύτερων κυκλωμάτων ως 220.000 πύλες, ως συνάρτηση της τάσης και της θερμοκρασίας, εξάγεται και αναφέρεται. Παρατηρούνται ισχυρές εξαρτήσεις με την τάση τροφοδοσίας και τη θερμοκρασία. Σε ένα μεγάλο σύστημα, της τάξης των εκατοντάδων εκατομμυρίων πυλών, οι διαβαθμίσεις της τάσης τροφοδοσίας και της θερμοκρασίας, δείχνεται ότι προκαλεί κατά μέσο όρο 40% αύξηση στο χρονισμό και 53% αύξηση στην κατανάλωση ισχύος, σε σύγκριση με την υπόθεση των ονομαστικών συνθηκών, καθιστώντας τη παραδοσιακή ροή σχεδίαση ακατάλληλη για τα μεγάλα συστήματα. Τέλος, ένας γενετικός αλγόριθμος βελτιστοποίησης πολλών παραμέτρων, με βάση μια ήδη δημοσιευμένη αναπαράσταση τρισδιάστατης χωροθέτησης, μαζί με ειδικούς τελεστές μετάλλαξης και διασταύρωσης, δείχνονται να βελτιστοποιήσουν την κατανάλωση ισχύος και το χρονισμό, παρέχοντας σαφείς και χρήσιμους συμβιβασμούς μεταξύ των παραμέτρων.In this work, a novel design flow, to perform design exploration in 3D ICs is proposed. In this framework, power consumption, timing and fabrication cost are the design goals. Power supply voltage and thermal variations are taken into account, to allow accurate performance predictions. An extensive pre-characterization step, aids fast and accurate whole-system performance predictions. Extreme Value Theory is used to speed-up worst case power estimation. 3 levels of hierarchy are assumed: Modules comprising gates, Common Power Supply Hyper Modules comprising modules under the same power supply, the whole Chip, comprising Common Power Supply Hyper Modules. Floorplanning is a two-step procedure. Initially, Common Power Supply Hyper Modules are treated. Finally, the whole chip is designed. Most parts of the proposed framework were implemented, and used to investigate the impact of temperature and power supply voltage variations, on performance prediction in 3D ICs on 45nm. The ITC99 benchmark circuits were used, along with standard cells from Nangate45, a 45nm standard cell library. The behavior of standard cells in 45nm, and of bigger circuit modules up to 220000 gates, as a function of voltage and temperature is extracted and reported. Strong dependencies on supply voltage and temperature are observed. In a big system, on the order of hundreds million gates, the variability of power supply voltage and temperature is shown to cause on average 40% increase in timing and 53% increase in power consumption, compared to the assumption of nominal conditions, rendering the traditional 5 corner-based design flow inappropriate, for large designs. Finally, a multi-objective genetic algorithm, based on a previously published 3D floorplan representation, along with custom mutation and crossover operators, is shown to optimize for power consumption and timing, yielding clear and useful tradeoffs.Φίλιππος Α. Τουφεξή

Socialising the Landscape in the Early Neolithic of Thessaly, Greece

This article attempts to draw attention to the social choices of the earliest farming societies, evaluating new and old settlement data from the Early Neolithic of Thessaly in Greece. We examine the inhabitation of landscapes, the organisation of the inhabited spaces and the human-landscape interaction as a framework for the creation of a socialised environment. Taking into account aspects such as settlement location, duration, architecture and intra- and intersite arrangements, this study shows that the observed diversity in space and time reflects alternative modes of settlement and land use, variations in notions of permanence and continuity and different modalities of the adoption and meaning of new socioeconomic practices. This evidence challenges traditional interpretations of simplicity, homogeneity and change as being induced from outside and calls for a new reading of the Early Neolithic. We argue that the model of a single and uniform development, deriving from concepts of diffusionism and evolutionism, does not hold in Neolithic Thessaly (or in Greece). Instead, Neolithisation was a contextual process that involved human awareness and different choices, and that the social landscape created by the pioneering farming societies set the stage for all kinds of different developments that occurred in later phases. © 2021 Stella Souvatzi et al., published by De Gruyter

Food-Restriction Lowers the Acoustic Startle Response in both Male and Female Rats, and, in Combination with Acute Ghrelin Injection, Abolishes the Expression of Fear-Potentiated Startle in Male Rats

Food restriction has been reported to reduce anxiety-like behaviour in male rats, whereas the effects of food restriction on anxiety in female rats are less clear. Ghrelin is a peptide hormone produced and secreted in the stomach that stimulates food intake and is considered to play a role in reward and emotional responses such as fear expression. Under food restriction, endogenous ghrelin levels increase. In the present study, we examined the effect of moderate food restriction (80% of ad libitum fed weight), with or without an acute application of a small dose of exogenous ghrelin intended to cause an immediate hunger response, on the expression of the acoustic startle reflex (ASR). This was carried out under basal conditions (baseline ASR to 90- and 95-dB noise bursts), and in the presence of a light cue associated with a mild foot-shock, as measured by fear-potentiated startle, which compares the proportional change in ASR in the presence of the conditioned stimulus. The results obtained show that food-restriction reduces basal ASR in both male and female rats, apart from any concomitant change in motor activity, suggesting that food-restriction reduces anxiety levels in both sexes. In addition, the data show that food-restriction reduces fear-potentiated startle in male but not female rats. Acute ghrelin injection, prior to fear-potentiated startle testing, eliminates the expression of fear-potentiated startle in food-restricted male rats alone, suggesting a role for ghrelin in the reduction of fear expression in food-restricted male rats. These data imply that, although food-restriction decreases anxiety in both sexes, learned fear responses remain intact after food-restriction in female but not male rats

Power, performance and area prediction of 3D ICs during early stage design exploration in 45nm

In this work, the impact of across-chip temperature and power supply voltage variations, on performance predictions in 3D ICs, is investigated. To make this possible, a novel design flow is proposed to perform design exploration of 3D ICs. Power supply voltage and thermal variations are modeled, to allow accurate PPA (power, performance and area) predictions. Using the main parts of this design flow, in a system comprising hundreds of million gates, complicated mechanisms are shown to determine the performance of the system. With increasing number of dies, timing is shown to exhibit 4 distinct regions, where either temperature or voltage drop is the dominant limiting factor. Power consumption does not scale monotonically with increasing die number. As a consequence, optimum system performance is in no way achieved by minimizing temperature and voltage drop, as is assumed in the literature so far. The across-chip temperature and power supply voltage variations are finally shown to cause on average 40% increase in timing and 53% decrease in power consumption, compared to the assumption of nominal conditions. © 2011 IEEE