Mother–infant co-sleeping and maternally reported infant breathing distress in the UK millennium cohort

Mother–infant co-sleeping or bed sharing is discouraged by health organisations due to evidence that it is associated with unexplained sudden infant death. On the other hand, there is evidence that it should theoretically be beneficial for infants. One line of this evidence concerns breathing regulation, which at night is influenced by the rocking movement of the mother’s chest as she breathes. Here, the hypothesis that mother–infant co-sleeping will be associated with a lower probability of infant breathing distress is tested in the UK Millennium Cohort Study (n = 18,552 infants). Maternal, infant, family, and socio-economic covariates were included in logistic regression analysis, and in a machine learning algorithm (Random Forest) to make full use of the number of variables available in the birth cohort study data. Results from logistic regression analysis showed that co-sleeping was associated with a reduced risk of breathing difficulties (OR = 0.69, p = 0.027). The Random Forest algorithm placed high importance on socio-economic aspects of infant environment, and indicated that a number of maternal, child, and environmental variables predicted breathing distress. Co-sleeping by itself was not high in the Random Forest variable importance ranking. Together, the results suggest that co-sleeping may be associated with a modest reduction in risk of infant breathing difficulties

Identifying Risk Factors for Premature Birth in the UK Millennium Cohort Using a Random Forest Decision-Tree Approach

Prior research on causes of preterm birth has tended to focus on pathophysiological processes while acknowledging the role of socioeconomic indicators. The present research explored a wide range of factors plausibly associated with preterm birth informed by pathophysiological and evolutionary life history perspectives on gestation length. To achieve this, a machine learning ensemble classification data analysis approach, random forest (RF), was applied to the UK Millennium Cohort (18,201 births). The results highlighted the importance of socioeconomic variables and parental age in predicting preterm (before 37 completed weeks) and very preterm (before 32 weeks) birth. Infants born in households with low income and with young fathers had an increased risk of both very preterm and preterm birth. Maternal health and health problems during pregnancy were not found to be useful predictors. The best-performing algorithm was for very preterm birth and had 93% sensitivity and 100% specificity using six variables. Algorithms predicting preterm birth before 37 weeks showed increased error, with out-of-bag error rates of about 7% versus only 1% for those predicting very preterm birth. The poorer performance of algorithms predicting preterm births to 37 weeks of gestation suggests that some preterm birth may not result from pathology related to poor maternal health or social or economic disadvantage, but instead represents normal life-history variation

Influences of zero hour contracts and disability – Analysis of the 1970 British Cohort study

RATIONALE: In recent decades, there has been a rise of the “gig-economy” where workers are given non-standard work agreements, and work is completed in an ad-hoc nature. It was believed people this would create greater access to employment for people with disability as there would no longer be a need to disclose disability and could ‘pick and choose’ work. Although, little research has been done on the health-outcomes of working in non-standard agreements compared to traditional employment, and in particular it's impact on disability. OBJECTIVE: This study examines one particular non-standard workplace agreement, working under zero hour contracts as the main source of income as a predictor for disability at age 46 and how income levels effect this, while controlling for pre-existing illness at age 34. METHOD: This study used existing data made available in the 1970 British Cohort study. Age 46 and Age 34 sweeps were used, including predictors for disability such as zero hour work, sex, and income, and binary multiple logistic regression was used. RESULTS: This study was able to demonstrate that there is an association between working under a zero hour contract as the main source of income and disability. Further, this study shows that this association is statistically significant at low incomes but not at high incomes. CONCLUSIONS: The relationship between zero hour work and disability presented in this study may suggest that zero hour work will produce a burden on healthcare systems and limit further economic outputs by limiting individual's capacity for work

Test-enhanced learning improves learner attendance during a laparoscopic box trainer simulation program

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopy is the gold standard approach for many surgical procedures, but it is a complex skill to learn. Laparoscopic simulation training may help, but it is unclear how to best engage trainees in these programs. Test‐enhanced learning (TEL) uses regular, well‐defined assessments of performance throughout the training phase of learning. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the effects of TEL on a laparoscopic simulation program involving a cohort of medical student volunteers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective cohort study was performed with a convenience sample of 40 medical students. Students were recruited to participate in a ten‐week laparoscopic simulation program. Twenty students participated in a laparoscopic surgical program with TEL (‘TEL group’), and 20 students participated in a standard laparoscopic simulation program (‘control group’). RESULTS: Attendance in the TEL group was significantly higher than in the standard group (71 vs 51.5%, P = 0.03). There was no difference between groups in mean time scores. Four themes were identified in qualitative data drawn from student surveys – personal traits and motivators, training context, clear goals and feedback enabling understanding of one's own performance. CONCLUSION: Testing laparoscopic skills throughout a learning program, in conjunction with individualised feedback and tracking of learning trajectory, increases trainee attendance. Laparoscopic simulation training programs are encouraged to reflect on the pedagogic framework in which their procedural skills training operates

Socio-sexuality and episodic memory function in women: further evidence of an adaptive “mating mode”

The functionalist memory perspective predicts that information of adaptive value may trigger specific processing modes. It was recently demonstrated that women's memory is sensitive to cues of male sexual dimorphism (i.e., masculinity) that convey information of adaptive value for mate choice because they signal health and genetic quality, as well as personality traits important in relationship contexts. Here, we show that individual differences in women's mating strategies predict the effect of facial masculinity cues upon memory, strengthening the case for functional design within memory. Using the revised socio-sexual orientation inventory, Experiment 1 demonstrates that women pursuing a short-term, uncommitted mating strategy have enhanced source memory for men with exaggerated versus reduced masculine facial features, an effect that reverses in women who favor long-term committed relationships. The reversal in the direction of the effect indicates that it does not reflect the sex typicality of male faces per se. The same pattern occurred within women's source memory for women's faces, implying that the memory bias does not reflect the perceived attractiveness of faces per se. In Experiment 2, we reran the experiment using men's faces to establish the reliability of the core finding and replicated Experiment 1's results. Masculinity cues may therefore trigger a specific mode within women's episodic memory. We discuss why this mode may be triggered by female faces and its possible role in mate choice. In so doing, we draw upon the encoding specificity principle and the idea that episodic memory limits the scope of stereotypical inferences about male behavior