An examination of visual and discursive connections between Expressionist art and commercial posters to show the equal importance of the aesthetic, utilitarian, and commercial in German modernism.
There are limited data relating folate nutritional status of mothers during pregnancy to mental and psychomotor development of their offspring. Using an existing data set from a study on the effect ...of prenatal zinc supplementation on child neurodevelopment, we evaluated the association between folate nutritional status of mothers during pregnancy and neurodevelopment of their children.
Maternal blood folate and total homocysteine (tHcy) concentrations were measured at 19, 26, and 37 weeks of gestation. At a mean of 5.3 years of age, 355 black children with low-socioeconomic background were given 6 tests: Differential Ability Scales, Visual and Auditory Sequential Memory, Knox Cube Test, Gross Motor Scale, and Grooved Pegboard. The scores of the tests between the 2 groups of mothers with poor versus adequate folate nutritional status classified by blood folate or tHcy concentrations were compared.
There were no differences in the test scores of neurodevelopment between the 2 groups.
Folate nutritional status of mothers in the later half of pregnancy assessed by plasma and erythrocyte folate and plasma tHcy concentrations had no impact on neurodevelopment of their children at age 5. It is unknown whether our findings in a low-socioeconomic population can be readily extrapolated to other populations.
Planning for future water resource management in a warming climate is confounded when an expectation of increasing evaporation from open water surfaces with global warming is contradicted by ...observations of secular declines of pan evaporation. Decreasing pan evaporation has been observed globally - a trend which has been attributed variously to declines in wind run ('global stilling'), declines in radiation ('global dimming') and increases in ambient humidity. This contrast between expectation and observation is known as the 'evaporation paradox'. We evaluated trends in Symons pan evaporation from 154 pans across South Africa. Whilst 59 pans (38% of the 154) showed a statistically significant decrease in observed evaporation rates (p≤0.05), 30 (20%) showed an increase, and 65 (42%) showed no change. These results do not support simple attributions of trends to a common global cause. There is no spatially coherent pattern to trends across South Africa, suggesting that shifts in local drivers of evaporation confound expectations of secular trends due to global drivers. Changes in fetch conditions of the Symons pan installations may be implicated, whereby increasing tree density (through afforestation, alien plant invasion and woody thickening) increases surface friction, reducing wind run, and/or irrigation nearby, increasing local humidity. Correct attribution of the evaporation paradox to reduced wind run in South Africa must consider changing local conditions. Increased tree cover has been observed near a third of the South African Symons pans. Observed evaporation increases for one fi th of pans may implicate expected global drivers for pans where local fetch conditions have remained relatively constant.Significance:Observed trends in Symons pan evaporation data for stations across South Africa comprise significant decreases (38% of stations), no change (42%) and significant increases (20%), with no clear geographic bias or coherency in the distribution of these trends. The observed diversity in trends appears to reflect local and global drivers, with land-cover changes emerging as a likely dominant local driver via friction-induced reductions in wind-run, possibly resolving the ‘evaporation paradox’. Observed trends in pan evaporation data may only be of value in testing for the impact of global drivers, such as global warming or global stilling, if local effects are accounted for. Caution is urged when using pan evaporation data for water resource planning. Attribution of observed trends requires a case-by-case assessment of local to regional land-cover and land-use changes, in addition to global influences
Background: A negative effect of prenatal zinc deficiency on brain function has been well established in experimental animals, but this association in humans is controversial. Objective: We evaluated ...the effect of prenatal zinc supplementation on the mental and psychomotor development of 355 children whose mothers participated in a double-blind trial of zinc supplementation that resulted in increased head circumference and birth weight. Design: The children took 6 tests-the Differential Ability Scales, Visual Sequential Memory, Auditory Sequential Memory, Knox Cube, Gross Motor Scale, and Grooved Pegboard tests-at a mean age of 5.3 y. The scores were compared between the children of women who received a daily oral dose of 25 mg Zn during the second half of pregnancy and the children of women who received placebo. Results: There were no differences in the test scores of neurologic development between the 2 groups. We analyzed the scores in 4 subgroups on the basis of maternal body mass index, because the increases in birth weight and head circumference due to the supplementation occurred only in the children of women with a body mass index (in kg/m2) < 26.0 in the original trial. No differences in the scores were found between these subgroups. Conclusions: Zinc supplementation of women in the latter half of pregnancy had no effect on the neurologic development of their children at age 5 y. It is not known whether our findings of no positive effect in the population with apparently inadequate zinc nutriture can be readily extrapolated to other populations.
To identify rates of overweight (body mass index BMI ≥85th percentile) and obesity (BMI ≥95th percentile) at 6-7 years of age and associated risk factors among extremely preterm infants born at <28 ...weeks of gestation.
Anthropometrics, blood pressure, and active and sedentary activity levels were prospectively assessed. Three groups were compared, those with a BMI ≥85th percentile (overweight or obese for age, height, and sex) and ≥95th percentile (obese) vs <85th percentile. Multiple regression analyses estimated the relative risks of BMI ≥85th percentile and ≥95th percentile associated with perinatal and early childhood factors.
Of 388 children, 22% had a BMI of ≥85th percentile and 10% were obese. Children with obesity and overweight compared with normal weight children had higher body fat (subscapular skinfold and triceps skinfold >85th percentile), central fat (waist circumference >90th percentile), spent more time in sedentary activity (20.5 vs 18.2 vs 16.7 hours/week), and had either systolic and/or diastolic hypertension (24% vs 26% vs 14%), respectively. Postdischarge weight gain velocities from 36 weeks postmenstrual age to 18 months, and 18 months to 6-7 years were independently associated with a BMI of ≥85th percentile, whereas weight gain velocity from 18 months to 6-7 years was associated with obesity.
One in 5 former extremely preterm infants is overweight or obese and has central obesity at early school age. Postdischarge weight gain velocities were associated with overweight and obesity. These findings suggest the obesity epidemic is spreading to the most extremely preterm infants.
ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT00063063 and NCT0000.
Objective To estimate risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) for extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants as a function of preterm formula (PF) and maternal milk intake and calculate the impact of ...suboptimal feeding on the incidence and costs of NEC. Study design We used aORs derived from the Glutamine Trial to perform Monte Carlo simulation of a cohort of ELBW infants under current suboptimal feeding practices, compared with a theoretical cohort in which 90% of infants received at least 98% human milk. Results NEC incidence among infants receiving ≥98% human milk was 1.3%; 11.1% among infants fed only PF; and 8.2% among infants fed a mixed diet ( P = .002). In adjusted models, compared with infants fed predominantly human milk, we found an increased risk of NEC associated with exclusive PF (aOR = 12.1, 95% CI 1.5, 94.2), or a mixed diet (aOR 8.7, 95% CI 1.2-65.2). In Monte Carlo simulation, current feeding of ELBW infants was associated with 928 excess NEC cases and 121 excess deaths annually, compared with a model in which 90% of infants received ≥98% human milk. These models estimated an annual cost of suboptimal feeding of ELBW infants of $27.1 million (CI $24 million, $30.4 million) in direct medical costs, $563 655 (CI $476 191, $599 069) in indirect nonmedical costs, and $1.5 billion (CI $1.3 billion, $1.6 billion) in cost attributable to premature death. Conclusions Among ELBW infants, not being fed predominantly human milk is associated with an increased risk of NEC. Efforts to support milk production by mothers of ELBW infants may prevent infant deaths and reduce costs.
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