Integration of environment and nutrition in life cycle assessment of food items: opportunities and challenges

This report is the outcome of a consensus-building project to agree on best practices for environmental and nutritional Life Cycle Assessment (nLCA) methodology, and identify future research needs. The project involved 30 nutritional and environmental LCA researchers from 18 countries. It focused on the assessment of food items (as opposed to meals or diets).Best practice recommendations were developed to address the intended purpose of an LCA study and related modeling approach, choice of an appropriate functional unit, assessment of nutritional value, and reporting nLCA results. An nLCA study should report the quantities of as many essential nutrients as possible and aim to provide information on the nutritional quality and/or health impacts in addition to nutrient quantities. Outstanding issues requiring further research attention include: defining a minimum number of nutrients to be considered in an nLCA study; treatment of nutrients to limit; use of nutrient indexes; further development of Impact Assessment methods; representation of nutritional changes that may occur during subsequent distribution and food preparation in cradle-to-gate nLCA studies; and communication of data uncertainty and variability. More data are required for different regions (particularly developing countries); for the processing, distribution, retail, and consumption life cycle stages; and for food loss and waste. Finally, there is a need to extend nLCA methodology for the assessment of meals and diets, to consider further how to account for the multi-functionality of food in a sustainability framework, and to set nLCA studies within the context of environmental limits.These results provide a robust basis for improving nLCA methodology and applying it to identify solutions that minimize the trade-offs between nourishing populations and safeguarding the environment

Early development of negative and positive affect: Implications for ADHD symptomatology across three birth cohorts

High levels of early emotionality (of either negative or positive valence) are hypothesized to be important precursors to early psychopathology, with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) a prime early target. The positive and negative affect domains are prime examples of Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) concepts that may enrich a multilevel mechanistic map of psychopathology risk. Utilizing both variable-centered and person-centered approaches, the current study examined whether levels and trajectories of infant negative and positive emotionality, considered either in isolation or together, predicted children's ADHD symptoms at 4 to 8 years of age. In variable-centered analyses, higher levels of infant negative affect (at as early as 3 months of age) were associated with childhood ADHD symptoms. Findings for positive affect failed to reach statistical threshold. Results from person-centered trajectory analyses suggest that additional information is gained by simultaneously considering the trajectories of positive and negative emotionality. Specifically, only when exhibiting moderate, stable or low levels of positive affect did negative affect and its trajectory relate to child ADHD symptoms. These findings add to a growing literature that suggests that infant negative emotionality is a promising early life marker of future ADHD risk and suggest secondarily that moderation by positive affectivity warrants more consideration.</p

Perceptions About Work/Life Balance Among DU Community Members with Young Children

Background: In the past fifty years, families in the USA have changed in configuration, size and dynamics. The percentage of families that do not conform to the traditional family unit (married mother and father with children) has increased as there are more single-parent families, LGBTQ families and interracial families. The proportion of unmarried or divorced families has also increased, as it has the number of married and unmarried couples that opt to not have children and, additionally, more couples are opting for adoption and foster parenting (Pew Research Center 2010). Furthermore, the percentage of households where all the adults work has increased, which impacts the amount and quality of time available for family activities and household chores (Bianchi, Robinson and Milkie 2006). These and other trends have led to the identification of “work-family balance” as an important challenge of our times, one that families have been facing for decades and that institutions are only starting to pay attention to (Hochschild 2013). Although there are many aspects of family life that are challenging to balance with workplace demands, childcare has been specifically identified as one that needs attention (Desilver 2014). Methods: Study goal: To describe the perceptions that some DU community members with children have about work-family balance with attention to challenges, difficulties and institutional responses. Study design: Descriptive, cross-sectional, qualitative study. Population and sample: We recruited 63 University of Denver students (13), staff (14) and faculty (36) who are responsible of parenting at least one child under 10 years of age. We used purposive sampling. which consists in actively finding individuals who meet the criteria. Data collection: Semi structured interviews (January 23-February 8, 2017), in person, audio recorded and transcribed within one week. Participants’ autonomy, confidentiality and anonymity were protected throughout the process. Data analysis: Thematic analysis, which consists in the systematic identification of themes in the interview transcripts, followed by their conceptual organization and hierarchization. Research team: sixty-six undergraduate students taking Cultural Anthropology (ANTH 2010) in winter 2017, four graduate teaching assistants and one course instructor. Findings: Student participants portrayed work/life balance as set of interconnected situations and relations that go from the deeply personal to the interpersonal, communal and institutional. Aiming at capturing such complexity, we organized our findings in four themes: work/life balance, family dynamics, personal challenges and support. Participants told us about their struggles when negotiating work and life responsibilities which often lead to feelings of guilt, which are mediated by their colleagues’ reactions, schedule flexibility, their job situation and the presence or absence of maternity leave. Family dynamics reflected a tension between a narrative of independence and one of dependence in raising children, highlighting the importance of social networks, both of which are also affected by immigration status and intra-household negotiations particularly, Perceptions about work/life balance among DU community members with young children Cultural Anthropology (ANTH 2010) winter 2017 4 with their partners. Personal challenges relate primarily with time management and establishing clear boundaries between work and family, which related to managing emails, organization and scheduling of activities, maintaining a financial balance, and solving transportation needs, all of which were mediated the ability parents have of controlling a flexible work schedule, an ability greatly diminished among students. Support parents need related to child care goes from the one that happens in interpersonal interactions with neighbors, friends, relatives and colleagues, to the institutionalized forms of support, where participants expressed their frustration for the insufficiency of accessible options in Denver, the lack of options at DU, and the inaccessibility of DU’s Fisher Early Learning Center. Conclusions and recommendations: Participant’s ability to control their schedules together with their financial and social capital seem to shape important differences in the ability that parents have for balancing work and life. Students, single parents and recent immigrants seem to have a combination of elements that add to the challenges. At the interpersonal level, simple acts of kindness, sympathy and empathy in the everyday interactions seem to make an important difference to parents. The perception that many of the student participants expressed about the academy not being comfortable with children, families or parents could be addressed by making it normal to talk about all these aspects of life. At the institutional level, efforts could be made at reaching out to parents, especially students and single parents, to offer them guidance and support that is already in place at DU, such as counselling and wellbeing resources, as well as orientation related to institutional policies. Policies related to maternity and paternity leave should be refined to ensure that they do not negatively affect those they are supposed to support. Convenient, affordable and sustainable on-campus child care options should be seriously considered given that they would enhance the possibilities for parents to participate in activities at DU. Events should be organized where members of the DU community have the opportunity to share not as students, staff or faculty, but as members of families

Behavioral Coping Phenotypes and Associated Psychosocial Outcomes of Pregnant and Postpartum Women During the COVID-19 Pandemic

The impact of COVID-19-related stress on perinatal women is of heightened public health concern given the established intergenerational impact of maternal stress-exposure on infants and fetuses. There is urgent need to characterize the coping styles associated with adverse psychosocial outcomes in perinatal women during the COVID-19 pandemic to help mitigate the potential for lasting sequelae on both mothers and infants. This study uses a data-driven approach to identify the patterns of behavioral coping strategies that associate with maternal psychosocial distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a large multicenter sample of pregnant women (N = 2876) and postpartum women (N = 1536). Data was collected from 9 states across the United States from March to October 2020. Women reported behaviors they were engaging in to manage pandemic-related stress, symptoms of depression, anxiety and global psychological distress, as well as changes in energy levels, sleep quality and stress levels. Using latent profile analysis, we identified four behavioral phenotypes of coping strategies. Critically, phenotypes with high levels of passive coping strategies (increased screen time, social media, and intake of comfort foods) were associated with elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, and global psychological distress, as well as worsening stress and energy levels, relative to other coping phenotypes. In contrast, phenotypes with high levels of active coping strategies (social support, and self-care) were associated with greater resiliency relative to other phenotypes. The identification of these widespread coping phenotypes reveals novel behavioral patterns associated with risk and resiliency to pandemic-related stress in perinatal women. These findings may contribute to early identification of women at risk for poor long-term outcomes and indicate malleable targets for interventions aimed at mitigating lasting sequelae on women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic

Fine scale mapping of the 17q22 breast cancer locus using dense SNPs, genotyped within the Collaborative Oncological Gene-Environment Study (COGs)

Genome-wide association studies have found SNPs at 17q22 to be associated with breast cancer risk. To identify potential causal variants related to breast cancer risk, we performed a high resolution fine-mapping analysis that involved genotyping 517 SNPs using a custom Illumina iSelect array (iCOGS) followed by imputation of genotypes for 3,134 SNPs in more than 89,000 participants of European ancestry from the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). We identified 28 highly correlated common variants, in a 53 Kb region spanning two introns of the STXBP4 gene, that are strong candidates for driving breast cancer risk (lead SNP rs2787486 (OR = 0.92; CI 0.90–0.94; P = 8.96 × 10−15)) and are correlated with two previously reported risk-associated variants at this locus, SNPs rs6504950 (OR = 0.94, P = 2.04 × 10−09, r2 = 0.73 with lead SNP) and rs1156287 (OR = 0.93, P = 3.41 × 10−11, r2 = 0.83 with lead SNP). Analyses indicate only one causal SNP in the region and several enhancer elements targeting STXBP4 are located within the 53 kb association signal. Expression studies in breast tumor tissues found SNP rs2787486 to be associated with increased STXBP4 expression, suggesting this may be a target gene of this locus

Genome-wide association study identifies 32 novel breast cancer susceptibility loci from overall and subtype-specific analyses.

Breast cancer susceptibility variants frequently show heterogeneity in associations by tumor subtype1-3. To identify novel loci, we performed a genome-wide association study including 133,384 breast cancer cases and 113,789 controls, plus 18,908 BRCA1 mutation carriers (9,414 with breast cancer) of European ancestry, using both standard and novel methodologies that account for underlying tumor heterogeneity by estrogen receptor, progesterone receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 status and tumor grade. We identified 32 novel susceptibility loci (P < 5.0 × 10-8), 15 of which showed evidence for associations with at least one tumor feature (false discovery rate < 0.05). Five loci showed associations (P < 0.05) in opposite directions between luminal and non-luminal subtypes. In silico analyses showed that these five loci contained cell-specific enhancers that differed between normal luminal and basal mammary cells. The genetic correlations between five intrinsic-like subtypes ranged from 0.35 to 0.80. The proportion of genome-wide chip heritability explained by all known susceptibility loci was 54.2% for luminal A-like disease and 37.6% for triple-negative disease. The odds ratios of polygenic risk scores, which included 330 variants, for the highest 1% of quantiles compared with middle quantiles were 5.63 and 3.02 for luminal A-like and triple-negative disease, respectively. These findings provide an improved understanding of genetic predisposition to breast cancer subtypes and will inform the development of subtype-specific polygenic risk scores

Genome-wide association study identifies human genetic variants associated with fatal outcome from Lassa fever

Infection with Lassa virus (LASV) can cause Lassa fever, a haemorrhagic illness with an estimated fatality rate of 29.7%, but causes no or mild symptoms in many individuals. Here, to investigate whether human genetic variation underlies the heterogeneity of LASV infection, we carried out genome-wide association studies (GWAS) as well as seroprevalence surveys, human leukocyte antigen typing and high-throughput variant functional characterization assays. We analysed Lassa fever susceptibility and fatal outcomes in 533 cases of Lassa fever and 1,986 population controls recruited over a 7 year period in Nigeria and Sierra Leone. We detected genome-wide significant variant associations with Lassa fever fatal outcomes near GRM7 and LIF in the Nigerian cohort. We also show that a haplotype bearing signatures of positive selection and overlapping LARGE1, a required LASV entry factor, is associated with decreased risk of Lassa fever in the Nigerian cohort but not in the Sierra Leone cohort. Overall, we identified variants and genes that may impact the risk of severe Lassa fever, demonstrating how GWAS can provide insight into viral pathogenesis

Undersköterskors erfarenhet av delaktighet i rehabilitering inom slutenvård

Bakgrund: Rehabilitering inom slutenvården innefattar ett samarbete mellan undersköterska och sjukgymnast. Undersköterskor har en viktig roll i rehabiliteringen men det saknas forskning om deras uppfattningar kring sin roll. Syfte: Att undersöka undersköterskors erfarenheter av delaktighet i sjukgymnastisk rehabilitering av patienter på en vårdavdelning inom slutenvården. Metod: En kvalitativ design med induktiv ansats användes. Datainsamlingen gjordes i form av semistrukturerade gruppintervjuer med undersköterskor. Materialet analyserades sedan med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i fem kategorier som blev två teman, Känsla av att vara viktiga och god egen tilltro till sin förmåga at utföra rehabiliterande insatser samt Samarbetet kring rehabiliteringen påverkas av individerna och omgivningen. Diskussion: Resultatet visar att undersköterskornas känsla av delaktighet påverkas av konsekvenser, individer, beteende och omgivning vilket kan ses i förhållande till den operanta inlärningsteorin och den socialkognitiva teorin. Slutsats: Undersköterskorna känner sig delaktiga i rehabilitering då de är engagerade, aktivt medverkande och känner att de är till nytta. En svaghet i delaktigheten är att kommunikationen kring rehabiliteringen upplevs vara bristfällig och därmed minskar undersköterskornas medinflytande. Vidare anser författarna att en upprepning av studien behövs samt att det saknas forskning om effekten av undersköterskors arbete och deras uppfattningar kring detta. Nyckelord: fysioterapi, kvalitativ forskning, sjukgymnastik, socialkognitiv teori, vårdpersonalBackground: Rehabilitation within hospital care involves teamwork between assistant nurses and physiotherapists. Assistant nurses have an important role in rehabilitation but there is a lack of research regarding their perceptions of their role. Aim: To investigate the assistant nurses’ experiences of participation in physiotherapy rehabilitation of patients in hospital care. Method: A qualitative design with inductive approach was used. The data was collected through semi-structured group interviews with assistant nurses and the material was analysed using qualitative content analysis. Result: The analysis resulted in five categories which became two themes, Good self-confidence and feeling of being important in the rehabilitation and Collaboration regarding the rehabilitation is affected by the individuals and the environment. Discussion: The assistant nurses’ perceptions of their participation is affected by consequences, individuals, behaviour and environment which is confirmed by the social cognitive theory and the operant conditioning theory. Conclusions: The assistant nurses experience participation in the rehabilitation because they are engaged, actively involved and feel useful. A weakness in their participation is insufficient communication about the rehabilitation. The authors consider that a replication of the study and more research on assistant nurses’ perceptions and the usefulness of their work are required. Keywords: nursing staff, physiotherapy, social cognitive theory, qualitative researc

Quality evaluation of height determination using GNSS technology : Analysis of variance of single station-RTK and network-RTK

GNSS-teknik ersätter i allt högre grad terrester mätteknik, dels på grund av sin enkelhet och dels på grund av att den är mindre kostsam än traditionella metoder. En vanlig förekommande GNSS-teknik är RTK (Real Time Kinematic) som är en teknik som beräknar en position i realtid genom bärvågsmätning. Inom RTK-mätning finns det olika tekniker att utöva; enkelstations-RTK (ERTK) och nätverks-RTK (NRTK). I studien undersöktes kvaliteten och lägesosäkerhet på höjdbestämningsdata erhållen från dessa metoder. En envägs variansanalys (ANOVA) användes för att undersöka om det fanns en signifikant skillnad mellan de genomsnittliga avvikelser som erhölls från mätmetoderna. Mätmetoderna utfördes över två punkter med känd höjd som fastställdes tidigare med ett dubbelavvägningståg. ERTK och NRTK varvades med en observationstid på 20 minuter med positioneringsintervall på 3 sekunder. Tidseparationen mellan mätningarna varade i 30 minuter och sammanlagt utfördes 5 mätserier med 400 observationer i varje serie. Grova fel eliminerades genom att kassera värden som föll utanför 3σ-gränsen. Resultaten från ERTK-mätningarna visade att punkten kunde höjdbestämmas med en lägesosäkerhet på 22 mm och en mätosäkerhet på 32 mm (2σ) för samtliga mätserier tillsammans. Internt varierade lägesosäkerheten 13–28 mm mellan serierna. NRTK mätningarna erhöll en total lägesosäkerhet på 14 mm och en mätosäkerhet på 24 mm (2σ). Från enskilda mätserier erhöll serie 3 den lägsta lägesosäkerheten på 9 mm, och serie 4 den högsta med 18 mm. Generellt visade NRTK-metoden lägre och jämnare avvikelser från referensdata än ERTK, resultatet kan dock ha blivit påverkat av basens läge i relation till ett närliggande träd. ANOVA-testet visade att det fanns en signifikant skillnad mellan mätserierna (p =0,00) per enskild metod, men skillnaden av medelavvikelserna mellan dessa metoder var inte signifikanta (p =0,115). Resultatet från denna studie är viktig med avseende på kvalitetsutvärdering av olika GNSS-metoder och kan användas som underlag för beslut om tillämpad metod för andra mätuppdrag.A quality survey was performed on the position accuracy of two GNSS-methods (single station-RTK and network-RTK) for height determination, and a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for statistical investigation of differences in the spread of height deviations. The GNSS-methods were applied on a reference point, which was determined prior with leveling, and measured with 20 minutes observation time and 30 minutes time separation, resulting in 5 series containing 400 observations each from respective method. The ANOVA test was performed by grouping the height deviations with respect to the measurement series, as well as the mean deviations with respect to the methods. Height determination with the ERTK method showed a total positional uncertainty of 22 mm (13-28 mm between the series) and a measurement uncertainty of 32 mm (2σ). Results obtained with NRTK showed a total positional uncertainty of 14 mm (9-14 between the series) and a total measurement uncertainty of 24 mm (2σ). The statistical tests showed that the differences between the measurement series for individual methods were significant (p = 0,000) but that the mean deviations between the methods were not (p = 0,115). NRTK obtained a lower positional uncertainty than ERTK measurements in this study, and the ANOVA test showed that there was no significant difference in the distribution of the mean deviations between the measurement methods. This study is important with regard to quality evaluation of different GNSS-methods and can be used as a basis for deciding on the applied measurement method