Maternal Gestational Diabetes Associated with Higher Child BMI Z-Score at Preschool and Lower Likelihood of Breastfeeding Initiation

Objectives: To examine the association of maternal GDM with 1) child BMI z-score at preschool; 2) breastfeeding initiation and duration, while adjusting for child birthweight in addition to potential confounders. Method: Sample included 53 children (3 - 5 years old) recruited from two preschools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mothers completed a self-administered questionnaire. Child anthropometry was completed using standardized procedures. BMI z-scores were calculated using the WHO standards/reference data. Linear regression models were tested to examine the association between maternal GDM and child BMI z-score, as well as breastfeeding duration. Logistic regression models were tested to examine the association between maternal GDM and breastfeeding initiation. Models were adjusted for child birthweight, maternal BMI, and maternal age at pregnancy. Results: Mean child BMI z-score was 1.10 (SD= 1.22). About one quarter (24.5%) of mothers reported being diagnosed with GDM. Mean birthweight of children whose mothers were diagnosed with GDM was 3.10 kg (SD= 0.74). Adjusting for covariates, we found that maternal GDM was associated with increased child BMI z-score (B= 1.04, 95% CI= 0.14 - 1.94, P-value= 0.02), and lower odds of breastfeeding initiation (OR= 0.10, 95% CI= 0.02 – 0.49, P-value= 0.005). Maternal GDM was not associated with breastfeeding duration (B= -4.75, 95% CI: -11.79 – 2.29, P-value= 0.18). Conclusion: Findings suggest that maternal GDM is associated with higher child BMI z-score at preschool and lower likelihood of breastfeeding initiation. Studies are needed in order to identify the underlying mechanisms of associations. Obesity prevention programs may target children whose mothers were diagnosed with GDM; prenatal breastfeeding counseling may be offered

Determinants and value relevance of UK CEO pay slice

This paper studies the CEO pay slice (CPS) of UK listed firms during the period 2003 to 2009. We investigate the determinants of CPS. We study the links between CPS and measures of firm performance. We find that firms with higher levels of corporate governance ratings and those with more independent boards tend to have higher CPS. In addition, we find that CEOs are more likely to receive lower compensation when they chair the board and when they work in firms with large board size. We also find that higher CPS is positively associated with firm performance after controlling for the firm-specific characteristics and corporate governance variables. We get compatible results when we examine the association between equity-based CPS and firm performance. Our results remain robust to alternative accounting measures of firm performance. Our results suggest that high UK CPS levels do indeed reflect top managerial talent rather than managerial power

Computability of simple games: A complete investigation of the sixty-four possibilities

Classify simple games into sixteen "types" in terms of the four conventional axioms: monotonicity, properness, strongness, and nonweakness. Further classify them into sixty-four classes in terms of finiteness (existence of a finite carrier) and algorithmic computability. For each such class, we either show that it is empty or give an example of a game belonging to it. We observe that if a type contains an infinite game, then it contains both computable ones and noncomputable ones. This strongly suggests that computability is logically, as well as conceptually, unrelated to the conventional axioms.Comment: 25 page

Conditioning factors determination for landslide susceptibility mapping using support vector machine learning

This study investigates the effectiveness of two sets of landslide conditioning variable(s). Fourteen landslide conditioning variables were considered in this study where they were duly divided into two sets G1 and G2. Two Support Vector Machine (SVM) classifiers were constructed based on each dataset (SVM-G1 and SVM-G2) in order to determine which set would be more suitable for landslide susceptibility prediction. In total, 160 landslide inventory datasets of the study area were used where 70% was used for SVM training and 30% for testing. The intra-relationships between parameters were explored based on variance inflation factors (VIF), Pearson's correlation and Cohen's kappa analysis. Other evaluation metrics are the area under curve (AUC)

The Prevalence of Nocturnal Enuresis among Patients with Vesicoureteral Reflux

Background: To identify the prevalence and other associated factors of nocturnal enuresis in children with vesicoureteral reflux undergoing surgical interventions.Methods: This is a cross-sectional study were the medical records of 40 children with confirmed vesicoureteral reflux were reviewed. Additionally, parents were asked to fill out a questionnaire inquiring about presence, onset & course of nocturnal enuresis as has been defined according to ICD-10.Results: Among the 40 children, 22 children (55%) had nocturnal enuresis before any surgical intervention. However; gender, family history of bedwetting, renal hydronephrosis on ultrasound, positive urine culture, and pre-op creatinine level were found to have statistically insignificant association with nocturnal enuresis. After surgical management only 13 (32.5%) children experienced nocturnal enuresis.Conclusion: This study can conclude that there is a weak correlation between NE and VUR in patients undergoing surgical intervention. Also, the surgical management of VUR did not significantly affect the prevalence of NE. However, it is an essential problem for both families and children in Jordan for which specific guidelines should be developed

Assessment of Treadmill Exercise Test Preparation in Mosul Cardiac Center

Background: The exercise ECG has a role in articulating the clinical history through stimulating symptoms such as chest pain (which is the most common presenting complaint indicating coronary artery disease and is seen frequently by primary care physicians) and breathlessness, and prompting additional details about their symptoms so it can facilitate communication between patient and clinician as the evaluation of chest pain can be very difficult since it is possible to have a normal resting ECG with considerable narrowing of the coronary arteries. Objectives: This study sought to assess the roles of preparation for treadmill and the frequency of inconclusive result. Methods: The study sample consisted of persons of all ages and both sexes attending the exercise units during the study period in Mosul city, Iraq were included in the research and the collection of cases started from the 1st of January 2012 to 1st of June 2012. Results: The present study included a sample of 593 patients during the study period. The mean age of patients was 49±9 years. Mean age of males patients (48.7±9 years) compared with the females’ mean age (50.3±8 years) (p=0.000). The percentage of unprepared group for testing in the present study sample were 23.1%, a condition that was significantly associated with inconclusive result in general (p=0.000) and incomplete result in specific (p=0.001). On the other hand, 67.9% of patients were well prepared. Conclusion: It was concluded that patients must be well prepared for exercise tolerance test. They should not only know the purpose of the test, but also signs and symptoms that indicate the test should be stopped