Prenatal ultrasound diagnosis of anterior abdominal wall defects in sub Saharan Africa; simple but often missed

Background: Congenital anterior abdominal wall defects (AAWD) is a spectrum of abdominal wall defects that includes omphalocele, gastroschisis, bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy, prune belly syndrome and pentalogy of Cantrell. Early Prenatal diagnosis of AAWD provides opportunity for abnormal karyotypes screening and planned delivery in a specialized centre. Ultrasound can detect these defects during pregnancy. This study aims to evaluate the detection rate of AAWD during routine obstetric ultrasonography in our region.Methods: A retrospective study of all patients that presented with AAWD to our centre from January 2008 to July 2020. Data included patient’s age, sex, birth weight, diagnosis, resuscitation time, outcome, maternal age, parity and antenatal ultrasound scan (USS) records. Antenatal USS before 12 weeks only, were excluded. Data analysed using excel.Results: Of the 140 with AAWD, 84.29% had omphalocele, 10% gastroschisis, 2.14% prune belly syndrome and 0.71% each with bladder exstrophy, cloacal exstrophy and pentalogy of Cantrell. There were 123 booked pregnancies. Majority (112) had antenatal care elsewhere while 11 attended our Centre. Ultrasonography of 108 pregnancies scanned at12 weeks or beyond, had 4 confirmed prenatal diagnosis of AAWD. All done in our centre. Mean gestational age at diagnosis was 24weeks. Outcome was rupture1 (25%) and 25% mortality (prenatally diagnosed) and 51.92% mortality for patients with missed diagnosis.Conclusions: Our obstetric ultrasound detection rate of AAWD is very low. There is a need for improvement in training to improve perinatal care of these defects

Neraca Timpang Bagi Si Miskin: Penelitian Skema dan Penyaluran Dana Bantuan Hukum di Lima Wilayah di Indonesia

Diterbitkannya Undang-Undang Nomor 16 Tahun 2011 tentang Bantuan Hukum membawa harapan baru bagi penegakan hak asasi manusia di Indonesia, khususnya membuka akses keadilan bagi masyarakat miskin. Perjuangan 40 tahun Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia dalam memastikan keadilan untuk semua lapisan masyarakat, pada akhirnya memperoleh pengakuan dan jaminan oleh Negara. Kami sangat mengapresiasi dan menyambut baik komitmen Negara melalui sistim Bantuan Hukum ini. Namun demikian, sistim ini bukan tanpa kelemahan. Alokasi anggaran yang kurang responsif terhadap kebutuhan faktual bantuan hukum, merupakan salah satu bentuk kelemahan dari sistim ini. Meskipun potensi anggaran bantuan hukum yang tersebar di berbagai instansi Pemerintahan cukup besar jika diintegrasikan ke dalam sistim ini. Kelemahan ini ditengarai akibat dari penyusunan kebijakan yang kurang partisipatif dan minimnya basis penelitian lapangan

Routine cognitive errors: A trait-like predictor of individual differences in anxiety and distress

Five studies (N=361) sought to model a class of errors—namely, those in routine tasks—that several literatures have suggested may predispose individuals to higher levels of emotional distress. Individual differences in error frequency were assessed in choice reaction-time tasks of a routine cognitive type. In Study 1, it was found that tendencies toward error in such tasks exhibit trait-like stability over time. In Study 3, it was found that tendencies toward error exhibit trait-like consistency across different tasks. Higher error frequency, in turn, predicted higher levels of negative affect, general distress symptoms, displayed levels of negative emotion during an interview, and momentary experiences of negative emotion in daily life (Studies 2–5). In all cases, such predictive relations remained significant with individual differences in neuroticism controlled. The results thus converge on the idea that error frequency in simple cognitive tasks is a significant and consequential predictor of emotional distress in everyday life. The results are novel, but discussed within the context of the wider literatures that informed them

Mutually beneficial host exploitation and ultra-biased sex ratios in quasisocial parasitoids

Selfish interests usually preclude resource sharing, but under some conditions collective actions enhance per capita gains. Such Allee effects underlay early explanations of social evolution but current understanding focusses on kin selection (inclusive fitness). We find an Allee effect that explains unusual quasisociality (cooperative brood care) among parasitoid wasps without invoking or precluding kin selection effects. In Sclerodermus harmandi, individual females produce most offspring when exploiting small hosts alone. However, larger hosts are more successfully exploited by larger groups of females, with the per-female benefits outweighing the costs of host sharing. Further, the extremely biased sex ratios (97% female) are better explained by mutually beneficial female–female interactions that increase the reproductive value of daughters (local resource enhancement), rather than by the usually invoked local mate competition between males. Thus, atypical quasisocial behaviour in a parasitoid wasp directly enhances reproductive success and selects for very extremely female-biased sex ratios

Reparameterization of RNA χ Torsion Parameters for the AMBER Force Field and Comparison to NMR Spectra for Cytidine and Uridine

A reparameterization of the torsional parameters for the glycosidic dihedral angle, χ, for the AMBER99 force field in RNA nucleosides is used to provide a modified force field, AMBER99χ. Molecular dynamics simulations of cytidine, uridine, adenosine, and guanosine in aqueous solution using the AMBER99 and AMBER99χ force fields are compared with NMR results. For each nucleoside and force field, 10 individual molecular dynamics simulations of 30 ns each were run. For cytidine with AMBER99χ force field, each molecular dynamics simulation time was extended to 120 ns for convergence purposes. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, including one-dimensional (1D) 1H, steady-state 1D 1H nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE), and transient 1D 1H NOE, was used to determine the sugar puckering and preferred base orientation with respect to the ribose of cytidine and uridine. The AMBER99 force field overestimates the population of syn conformations of the base orientation and of C2′-endo sugar puckering of the pyrimidines, while the AMBER99χ force field’s predictions are more consistent with NMR results. Moreover, the AMBER99 force field prefers high anti conformations with glycosidic dihedral angles around 310° for the base orientation of purines. The AMBER99χ force field prefers anti conformations around 185°, which is more consistent with the quantum mechanical calculations and known 3D structures of folded ribonucleic acids (RNAs). Evidently, the AMBER99χ force field predicts the structural characteristics of ribonucleosides better than the AMBER99 force field and should improve structural and thermodynamic predictions of RNA structures

Scientists' warning on climate change and insects

Climate warming is considered to be among the most serious of anthropogenic stresses to the environment, because it not only has direct effects on biodiversity, but it also exacerbates the harmful effects of other human-mediated threats. The associated consequences are potentially severe, particularly in terms of threats to species preservation, as well as in the preservation of an array of ecosystem services provided by biodiversity. Among the most affected groups of animals are insects—central components of many ecosystems—for which climate change has pervasive effects from individuals to communities. In this contribution to the scientists' warning series, we summarize the effect of the gradual global surface temperature increase on insects, in terms of physiology, behavior, phenology, distribution, and species interactions, as well as the effect of increased frequency and duration of extreme events such as hot and cold spells, fires, droughts, and floods on these parameters. We warn that, if no action is taken to better understand and reduce the action of climate change on insects, we will drastically reduce our ability to build a sustainable future based on healthy, functional ecosystems. We discuss perspectives on relevant ways to conserve insects in the face of climate change, and we offer several key recommendations on management approaches that can be adopted, on policies that should be pursued, and on the involvement of the general public in the protection effort

Erratum to: 36th International Symposium on Intensive Care and Emergency Medicine

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1186/s13054-016-1208-6.]