Trace elements are an essential nutritional component for humans and inadequate tissue-concentrations may have a significant effect on fetal size.
To measure ten trace elements in blood samples from ...mothers and their newborns, and assess their association with anthropometric characteristics at birth. The effects of other factors on fetal growth, such as biologic characteristics of the infant and mother, were analysed.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Hospital general, University of Valencia, Spain. Healthy pregnant women, and their full-term infants were selected (n = 54 paired samples). Infants were grouped according to birth weight: small for gestational age (SGA n = 11), appropriate (AGA n = 30), and large (LGA n = 13). Anthropometric and biologic characteristics of the infant and mother were recorded. Levels of ten essential elements: arsenic (As), barium (Ba), cobalt (Co), copper (Cu), chrome (Cr), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), selenium (Se) and zinc (Zn), in maternal and cord plasma samples were determined. Samples were obtained from the umbilical cord immediately after delivery and the samples of their mothers were drawn at 2-4 h after delivery.
The analysis identified that cord blood Cu (p = 0.017) and maternal blood Ba and Mg (p = 0.027 and p = 0.002, respectively) concentrations were significantly higher among SGA infants compared to AGA and LGA infants. A multiple linear regression analysis showed that increased umbilical cord Cu concentration (adjusted β -146.4 g, 95% CI -255 to -37.7; p = 0.009), maternal smoking during pregnancy (adjusted β -483.8 g, 95% CI -811.7 to -155.9; p = 0.005), shorter gestational age (adjusted β 350.1 g, 95% CI 244.5 to 455.8; p = 0.000), and female sex (adjusted β -374 g, 95% CI -648 to -100; p = 0.009) were significantly associated with decreased birth weight. Maternal anaemia was positively associated with birth weight (adjusted β 362 g, 95% CI 20.8 to 703.1; p = 0.038). No significant associations were found between maternal trace elements and birth weight in multivariate analysis.
We did not observe significant associations of cord blood trace elements other than Cu and maternal trace elements with birth weight in the multivariate analyses.
The complexity of the business world and current business models has motivated an increasing number of companies to disclose corporate information through sustainability reports. This reporting and ...stakeholders engagement may bring shared value to business and society in general although working towards sustainable development goals. This work adopts a new analytical approach by determining the global reporting initiative indicators related to labour practices and decent work, human rights, society, and product responsibility that are reported less frequently by companies. The final objective is to predict the influence that society's cultural values will play as a normative institutional pressure in their evolution. The results obtained for a sample comprising the 201 largest international companies that report in accordance with the recommendations of the G4 Guide in 2015 indicate that more than 50% of these large companies do not report specific mechanisms implemented to avoid violations of human rights and labour rights, or information on incidents related to production and commercial relations. Regulatory pressures associated with cultural values have limited effectiveness as drivers of greater corporate transparency in this area, as they are able to predict a favourable evolution for only 40% of companies that currently do not report.
This work evaluated the physicochemical and rheological properties of Greek‐style yoghurt supplemented with microencapsulated Lactobacillus casei ATCC 334 cells. The microencapsulation was able to ...protect the probiotic cells during yoghurt fermentation, and up to 21 days of cold storage, as well as to the exposure under gastrointestinal conditions. Samples added with free cells showed the lowest values of G′ (867 ± 31.76) after 24 h of fermentation and the highest values of G′ and G″ after 14 days of cold storage. The yoghurt added with microencapsulated cells exhibited greater firmness and the lowest adhesiveness values.
Probiotic Greek‐style yoghurt added with microencapsulated Lactobacillus casei ATCC 334 was developed. The probiotic survival under in vitro gastrointestinal conditions, during 3 weeks of refrigerated storage, was evaluated.
•UF process is a useful tool for reducing colour and organic load from TOPW.•UV modification was performed to enhance fouling-resistant membrane capability.•FTIR-ATR and water contact angle were ...measured to ensure the modification process.•Effect of PEG and Al2O3 on membrane performance was investigated.•Membranes modified with Al2O3 reduced the phenolic content in the concentrate stream.
Table olive processing wastewaters (TOPW) have high salt concentration and total phenolic content (TPC) causing many environmental problems. To reduce them, ultrafiltration (UF) was applied for treating TOPW. However, NaCl, which is the main responsible of salinity in TOPW, and phenols are small molecules that cannot be separated by conventional UF membranes. They have serious problems caused by fouling, which can be overcome using membrane modification techniques. For these reasons, photomodification may be an effective technique to obtain a stream rich in TPC due to the changes in membrane surface properties. UV-modification in the presence of two hydrophilic compounds (polyethylene glycol and aluminium oxide) was performed to achieve membranes with high reductions of organic matter and to keep the TPC as high as possible. Commercial polyethersulfone (PES) membranes of 30kDa were used. Surface modification was evaluated using FTIR-ATR spectroscopy and membrane performance was studied by calculating the rejection ratios of colour, chemical oxygen demand (COD) and TPC. Results demonstrated that UF is a useful pre-treatment to reduce organic matter from TOPW, obtaining a permeate rich in TPC. PES/Al2O3 membranes displayed superior antifouling properties and rejection values, keeping high the TPC (>95%). Therefore, UF using modified membranes is an appropriate and sustainable technique for treating TOPW.
To estimate medication noninitiation prevalence in the pediatric population and identify the explanatory factors underlying this behavior.
Observational study of patients (<18 years old) receiving at ...least 1 new prescription (28 pharmaceutical subgroups; July 2017 to June 2018) in Catalonia, Spain. A prescription was considered new when there was no prescription for the same pharmaceutical subgroup in the previous 6 months. Noninitiation occurred when a prescription was not filled within 1 month or 6 months (sensitivity analysis). Prevalence was estimated as the proportion of total prescriptions not initiated. To identify explanatory factors, a multivariable multilevel logistic regression model was used, and adjusted odds ratios were reported.
Overall, 1 539 003 new prescriptions were issued to 715 895 children. The overall prevalence of 1-month noninitiation was 9.0% (ranging from 2.6% oral antibiotics to 21.5% proton pump inhibitors), and the prevalence of 6-month noninitiation was 8.5%. Noninitiation was higher in the youngest and oldest population groups, in children from families with a 0% copayment rate (vulnerable populations) and those with conditions from external causes. Out-of-pocket costs of drugs increased the odds of noninitiation. The odds of noninitiation were lower when the prescription was issued by a pediatrician (compared with a primary or secondary care clinician).
The prevalence of noninitiation of medical treatments in pediatrics is high and varies according to patients' ages and medical groups. Results suggest that there are inequities in access to pharmacologic treatments in this population that must be taken into account by health care planners and providers.
Highlights • Central alterations are synergistically worsened in APP/PS1xdb/db mice. • Early central atrophy, tau pathology and inflammation is detected in APP/PS1xdb/db mice. • APP/PS1xdb/db mice ...show a shift in soluble/insoluble Aβ levels towards more toxic soluble species. • Spontaneous central bleeding synergistically worsened in APP/PS1xdb/db mice. • Cognition is severely impaired in APP/PS1xdb/db mice in an age dependent manner.
The COVID-19, a crossroads for female directors Garcia-Sanchez, Isabel-Maria; Uribe Bohorquez, Maria Victoria; Aibar-Guzmán, Cristina ...
Management decision,
07/2024, Letnik:
62, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Purpose For almost half a century, society has been aware of the existence of a glass ceiling, a term that describes the invisible barriers that hinder women’s access to power positions despite ...having equal or greater qualifications, skills and merits than their male counterparts. Nowadays, although there are signs of slow progress, women are still underrepresented in the upper echelons of large corporations and the risk of reversing the progress made in gender parity has increased because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper contributes to previous literature by analysing the impact that the uncertainty and cognitive effects associated with COVID-19 in 2020 had on the presence of women on the board of directors and whether this impact has been moderated by the regulatory and policy system on gender quotas in place at the time. Design/methodology/approach To test the authors' research hypotheses, the authors selected the major global companies worldwide with economic-financial and non-financial information available in the Thomson Reuters EIKON database over the 2015–2020 period. As a result, the authors' final sample is made up of 1,761 companies from 52 countries with different institutional settings that constitute an unbalanced data panel of 8,963 observations. The nature of the dependent variables requires the use of logistic regressions. The models incorporate the terms to control for any unobservable heterogeneity and the error term. Any endogeneity issues were addressed by considering the explanatory variables with a time lag. Findings The authors find that almost 30% of the companies downsized their boards in 2020. This decision resulted in more female than male directors being made redundant, causing a reversal in the fulfilment of gender quotas focussed on ensuring balanced boards with a female presence of 40% or more. This effect was enhanced in countries with hard-law regulation because the penalty for non-compliance with gender quotas had led to a significant increase in the size of these bodies in previous years through the inclusion of the required number of female directors. In contrast, the reduction in board size in soft-law countries does not differ from that in laissez-faire countries, lacking any moderating effect or impact on the number of female board members dismissed as a result of the pandemic. Originality/value This paper aims to contribute to current knowledge by analysing the impact that the countries' regulatory and normative systems on gender parity on boards of directors have had on the decisions made in relation to leadership positions, moderating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality at a global level.
Effective testing is essential to control the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission. Here we report a-proof-of-concept study on hyperspectral image analysis in the visible and ...near-infrared range for primary screening at the point-of-care of SARS-CoV-2. We apply spectral feature descriptors, partial least square-discriminant analysis, and artificial intelligence to extract information from optical diffuse reflectance measurements from 5 µL fluid samples at pixel, droplet, and patient levels. We discern preparations of engineered lentiviral particles pseudotyped with the spike protein of the SARS-CoV-2 from those with the G protein of the vesicular stomatitis virus in saline solution and artificial saliva. We report a quantitative analysis of 72 samples of nasopharyngeal exudate in a range of SARS-CoV-2 viral loads, and a descriptive study of another 32 fresh human saliva samples. Sensitivity for classification of exudates was 100% with peak specificity of 87.5% for discernment from PCR-negative but symptomatic cases. Proposed technology is reagent-free, fast, and scalable, and could substantially reduce the number of molecular tests currently required for COVID-19 mass screening strategies even in resource-limited settings.
PDF
