Irrigation method does not affect wild bee pollinators of hybrid sunflower

Irrigation method has the potential to directly or indirectly influence populations of wild bee crop pollinators nesting and foraging in irrigated crop fields. The majority of wild bee species nest in the ground, and their nests may be susceptible to flooding. In addition, their pollination of crops can be influenced by nectar quality and quantity, which are related to water availability. To determine whether different irrigation methods affect crop pollinators, we compared the number of ground-nesting bees nesting and foraging in drip- and furrow-irrigated hybrid sunflower fields in the Sacramento Valley. We found that irrigation method did not impact wild bee nesting rates or foraging bee abundance or bee species richness. These findings suggest that changing from furrow irrigation to drip irrigation to conserve water likely will not alter hybrid sunflower crop pollination

Surveys for Urban Equity

This dataset contains results and documentation from three cross-sectional urban household surveys done in Kathmandu (Nepal), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Hanoi (Vietnam) in 2017 and 2018. The surveys primarily aimed to test the feasibility of using new urban household survey methods that try to better cover/capture informal/slum settlements using sampling frame data generated from random forest models that incorporate census data (which is often outdated and inaccurate) with multiple remotely-sensed covariates, such as urbanisation and infrastructure data. Additionally, the surveys also aimed to gather data on a range of topics including many that are not commonly collected in household surveys, particularly of urban areas: A) basic socio-demographic details of household members, B) household characteristics, assets, income and expenses, C) household migration and social capital, D) household member injury and injury related death, and, for one individual per household, E) migration, social capital and depression/mental health. See the "Readme - dataset file descriptions.docx” file for a description of all files and datasets available, plus additional relevant references

A combined community- and facility-based approach to improve pregnancy outcomes in low-resource settings: a Global Network cluster randomized trial

Background: Fetal and neonatal mortality rates in low-income countries are at least 10-fold greater than in high-income countries. These differences have been related to poor access to and poor quality of obstetric and neonatal care. Methods: This trial tested the hypothesis that teams of health care providers, administrators and local residents can address the problem of limited access to quality obstetric and neonatal care and lead to a reduction in perinatal mortality in intervention compared to control locations. In seven geographic areas in five low-income and one middle-income country, most with high perinatal mortality rates and substantial numbers of home deliveries, we performed a cluster randomized non-masked trial of a package of interventions that included community mobilization focusing on birth planning and hospital transport, community birth attendant training in problem recognition, and facility staff training in the management of obstetric and neonatal emergencies. The primary outcome was perinatal mortality at ≥28 weeks gestation or birth weight ≥1000 g. Results: Despite extensive effort in all sites in each of the three intervention areas, no differences emerged in the primary or any secondary outcome between the intervention and control clusters. In both groups, the mean perinatal mortality was 40.1/1,000 births (P = 0.9996). Neither were there differences between the two groups in outcomes in the last six months of the project, in the year following intervention cessation, nor in the clusters that best implemented the intervention. Conclusions: This cluster randomized comprehensive, large-scale, multi-sector intervention did not result in detectable impact on the proposed outcomes. While this does not negate the importance of these interventions, we expect that achieving improvement in pregnancy outcomes in these settings will require substantially more obstetric and neonatal care infrastructure than was available at the sites during this trial, and without them provider training and community mobilization will not be sufficient. Our results highlight the critical importance of evaluating outcomes in randomized trials, as interventions that should be effective may not be. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT0107348

First look: a cluster-randomized trial of ultrasound to improve pregnancy outcomes in low income country settings

Background: In high-resource settings, obstetric ultrasound is a standard component of prenatal care used to identify pregnancy complications and to establish an accurate gestational age in order to improve obstetric care. Whether or not ultrasound use will improve care and ultimately pregnancy outcomes in low-resource settings is unknown. Methods/Design: This multi-country cluster randomized trial will assess the impact of antenatal ultrasound screening performed by health care staff on a composite outcome consisting of maternal mortality and maternal near-miss, stillbirth and neonatal mortality in low-resource community settings. The trial will utilize an existing research infrastructure, the Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research with sites in Pakistan, Kenya, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo and Guatemala. A maternal and newborn health registry in defined geographic areas which documents all pregnancies and their outcomes to 6 weeks post-delivery will provide population-based rates of maternal mortality and morbidity, stillbirth, neonatal mortality and morbidity, and health care utilization for study clusters. A total of 58 study clusters each with a health center and about 500 births per year will be randomized (29 intervention and 29 control). The intervention includes training of health workers (e.g., nurses, midwives, clinical officers) to perform ultrasound examinations during antenatal care, generally at 18–22 and at 32–36 weeks for each subject. Women who are identified as having a complication of pregnancy will be referred to a hospital for appropriate care. Finally, the intervention includes community sensitization activities to inform women and their families of the availability of ultrasound at the antenatal care clinic and training in emergency obstetric and neonatal care at referral facilities. Discussion: In summary, our trial will evaluate whether introduction of ultrasound during antenatal care improves pregnancy outcomes in rural, low-resource settings. The intervention includes training for ultrasound-naïve providers in basic obstetric ultrasonography and then enabling these trainees to use ultrasound to screen for pregnancy complications in primary antenatal care clinics and to refer appropriately. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT # 01990625

A prospective study of maternal, fetal and neonatal deaths in low- and middle-income countries

To quantify maternal, fetal and neonatal mortality in low- and middle-income countries, to identify when deaths occur and to identify relationships between maternal deaths and stillbirths and neonatal deaths

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Meta-analysis of genome-wide DNA methylation identifies shared associations across neurodegenerative disorders

Background People with neurodegenerative disorders show diverse clinical syndromes, genetic heterogeneity, and distinct brain pathological changes, but studies report overlap between these features. DNA methylation (DNAm) provides a way to explore this overlap and heterogeneity as it is determined by the combined effects of genetic variation and the environment. In this study, we aim to identify shared blood DNAm differences between controls and people with Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Parkinson’s disease. Results We use a mixed-linear model method (MOMENT) that accounts for the effect of (un)known confounders, to test for the association of each DNAm site with each disorder. While only three probes are found to be genome-wide significant in each MOMENT association analysis of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease (and none with Alzheimer’s disease), a fixed-effects meta-analysis of the three disorders results in 12 genome-wide significant differentially methylated positions. Predicted immune cell-type proportions are disrupted across all neurodegenerative disorders. Protein inflammatory markers are correlated with profile sum-scores derived from disease-associated immune cell-type proportions in a healthy aging cohort. In contrast, they are not correlated with MOMENT DNAm-derived profile sum-scores, calculated using effect sizes of the 12 differentially methylated positions as weights. Conclusions We identify shared differentially methylated positions in whole blood between neurodegenerative disorders that point to shared pathogenic mechanisms. These shared differentially methylated positions may reflect causes or consequences of disease, but they are unlikely to reflect cell-type proportion differences

Monitoring of forest removal and groundworks to rejuvenate dunes at Newborough Warren – Ynys Llanddwyn SSSI. Part 2. First year results for 2015

In order to re-establish mobile sand in the frontal dunes area of parts of Newborough Forest, small scale felling was carried out in two zones. The West zone is just west of the rock ridge, the East zone lies between the main visitor car park and the Warren area. Within these zones, four treatments were established to examine restoration success in different areas and with different techniques, with at least 6 replicate monitoring locations per treatment per zone. The ‘treatments’ were as follows: • Dune vegetation understory with sparse or stunted tree cover (T). Trees only removed, with relict dune understory left undisturbed. • Felling and Scraping (FS). Trees, stumps and organic soil removed, stumps removed by grinding or de-stumping, litter layer and surface organic soil layer scraped and removed, to approximately 5 cm depth. • Felling only (F). Trees only removed, but soils and litter layer remain undisturbed. These are 10 x 10 m experimental plots located within treatment zone ‘FS’. • Unfelled control areas (UF). Locations behind or adjacent to felling zones, on similar substrate, and with similar tree canopy structure where possible. Experimental plots were felled in winter of 2014/15 with stumps, brash and litter removed subsequently. Two plots remained unfelled by the time of the first year resurvey. Plots were relocated in August 2015, and re-surveyed for vegetation cover and sand burial. This report focuses on analysis of 2015 (Year 1) data, and comparison with 2014 baseline data. Despite some variability in the implementation of the treatments, it has been possible to maintain sufficient replication to allow longer-term monitoring and statistically robust assessment of their efficacy in the future. The pre-restoration conditions in each zone are well characterised. However, the need to set up some new plots means that not every plot has baseline data. Overall, the first year results are encouraging. In the first year after restoration, all intervention plots saw an increase in conditions suitable for dune species recolonization, i.e. increased bare sand cover, higher soil pH (inferred from Ellenberg R scores) and higher light levels (inferred from Ellenberg L scores). The improvement in physical conditions is reflected by early increases in some typical dune species and species of open habitats commonly found in dunes, coupled with a decline in woodland species. There is an increase in wind-dispersed weedy species, which is expected to be relatively short-lived. There has been some loss of relict dune species of older more stable habitats, which was expected in the short term, but these are likely to return as succession proceeds. Ongoing monitoring is expected to show a rapid increase in species richness and, after a peak then decline of weedy species over a 2-5 year timescale, a longer-term shift towards a typical dune flora of semi-fixed dunes is expected, leading via succession to fixed dune grassland over a 40+ year period