Early childhood growth is associated with cognitive function. However, the independent associations of fat mass (FM) and fat-free mass (FFM) with cognitive function are not well understood. We investigated associations of FM and FFM at birth and 0–5 years accretion with cognitive function at 10 years. Healthy-term newborns were enrolled in this cohort. FM and FFM were measured at birth, 1·5, 2·5, 3·5, 4·5 and 6 months and 4 and 5 years. Cognitive function was assessed using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) at 10 years. FM and FFM accretions were computed using statistically independent conditional accretion from 0 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, 6 months to 4 years and 4 to 5 years. Multiple linear regression was used to assess associations. At the 10-year follow-up, we assessed 318 children with a mean (sd) age of 9·8 (1·0) years. A 1 sd higher birth FFM was associated with a 0·14 sd (95 % CI 0·01, 0·28) higher PPVT at 10 years. FFM accretion from 0 to 3 and 3 to 6 months was associated with PPVT at 10 years: β = 0·5 sd (95 % CI 0·08, 0·93) and β = −0·48 sd (95 % CI −0·90, −0·07, respectively. FFM accretion after 6 months showed no association with PPVT. Neither FM at birth nor 0–5 years accretion showed an association with PPVT. Overall, birth FFM, but not FM, was associated with cognitive function at 10 years, while the association of FFM accretion and cognitive function varied across distinct developmental stages in infancy. The mechanisms underlying this varying association between body composition and cognitive function need further investigation.

The radiocarbon (14C) calibration curve so far contains annually resolved data only for a short period of time. With accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) matching the precision of decay counting, it is now possible to efficiently produce large datasets of annual resolution for calibration purposes using small amounts of wood. The radiocarbon intercomparison on single-year tree-ring samples presented here is the first to investigate specifically possible offsets between AMS laboratories at high precision. The results show that AMS laboratories are capable of measuring samples of Holocene age with an accuracy and precision that is comparable or even goes beyond what is possible with decay counting, even though they require a thousand times less wood. It also shows that not all AMS laboratories always produce results that are consistent with their stated uncertainties. The long-term benefits of studies of this kind are more accurate radiocarbon measurements with, in the future, better quantified uncertainties.

The concentration of radiocarbon (14C) differs between ocean and atmosphere. Radiocarbon determinations from samples which obtained their 14C in the marine environment therefore need a marine-specific calibration curve and cannot be calibrated directly against the atmospheric-based IntCal20 curve. This paper presents Marine20, an update to the internationally agreed marine radiocarbon age calibration curve that provides a non-polar global-average marine record of radiocarbon from 0–55 cal kBP and serves as a baseline for regional oceanic variation. Marine20 is intended for calibration of marine radiocarbon samples from non-polar regions; it is not suitable for calibration in polar regions where variability in sea ice extent, ocean upwelling and air-sea gas exchange may have caused larger changes to concentrations of marine radiocarbon. The Marine20 curve is based upon 500 simulations with an ocean/atmosphere/biosphere box-model of the global carbon cycle that has been forced by posterior realizations of our Northern Hemispheric atmospheric IntCal20 14C curve and reconstructed changes in CO2 obtained from ice core data. These forcings enable us to incorporate carbon cycle dynamics and temporal changes in the atmospheric 14C level. The box-model simulations of the global-average marine radiocarbon reservoir age are similar to those of a more complex three-dimensional ocean general circulation model. However, simplicity and speed of the box model allow us to use a Monte Carlo approach to rigorously propagate the uncertainty in both the historic concentration of atmospheric 14C and other key parameters of the carbon cycle through to our final Marine20 calibration curve. This robust propagation of uncertainty is fundamental to providing reliable precision for the radiocarbon age calibration of marine based samples. We make a first step towards deconvolving the contributions of different processes to the total uncertainty; discuss the main differences of Marine20 from the previous age calibration curve Marine13; and identify the limitations of our approach together with key areas for further work. The updated values for ΔR, the regional marine radiocarbon reservoir age corrections required to calibrate against Marine20, can be found at the data base http://calib.org/marine/.

Introduction: Although oral rehydration therapy is recommended for children with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) with none to some dehydration, intravenous (IV) rehydration is still commonly administered to these children in high-income countries. IV rehydration is associated with pain, anxiety, and emergency department (ED) revisits in children with AGE. A better understanding of the factors associated with IV rehydration is needed to inform knowledge translation strategies. Methods: This was a planned secondary analysis of the Pediatric Emergency Research Canada (PERC) and Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) randomized, controlled trials of oral probiotics in children with AGE-associated diarrhea. Eligible children were aged 3-48 months and reported > 3 watery stools in a 24-hour period. The primary outcome was administration of IV rehydration at the index ED visit. We used mixed-effects logistic regression model to explore univariable and multivariable relationships between IV rehydration and a priori risk factors. Results: From the parent study sample of 1848 participants, 1846 had data available for analysis: mean (SD) age of 19.1 ± 11.4 months, 45.4% females. 70.2% (1292/1840) vomited within 24 hours of the index ED visit and 34.1% (629/1846) received ondansetron in the ED. 13.0% (240/1846) were administered IV rehydration at the index ED visit, and 3.6% (67/1842) were hospitalized. Multivariable predictors of IV rehydration were Clinical Dehydration Scale (CDS) score [compared to none: mild to moderate (OR: 8.1, CI: 5.5-11.8); severe (OR: 45.9, 95% CI: 20.1-104.7), P < 0.001], ondansetron in the ED (OR: 1.8, CI: 1.2-2.6, P = 0.003), previous healthcare visit for the same illness [compared to no prior visit: prior visit with no IV (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.3-2.9); prior visit with IV (OR: 10.5, 95% CI: 3.2-34.8), P < 0.001], and country [compared to Canada: US (OR: 4.1, CI: 2.3-7.4, P < 0.001]. Significantly more participants returned to the ED with symptoms of AGE within 3 days if IV fluids were administered at the index visit [30/224 (13.4%) versus 88/1453 (6.1%), P < 0.001]. Conclusion: Higher CDS scores, antiemetic use, previous healthcare visits and country were independent predictors of IV rehydration which was also associated with increased ED revisits. Knowledge translation focused on optimizing the use of antiemetics (i.e. for those with dehydration) and reducing the geographic variation in IV rehydration use may improve the ED experience and reduce ED-revisits.

Individuals born small have an increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes. Altered food preferences in these subjects seem to play a role; however, limited evidence is available on the association between being born small-for-gestational-age (SGA) at term and food intake in adolescence. Alterations in leptin, ghrelin and dopamine levels are suggested mechanisms linking SGA with later food intake. From a large prospective Danish National Birth Cohort, we compared dietary intake of adolescents being born SGA with normal-for-gestational-age (NGA) adolescents. Intake of foods and nutrients was assessed by a validated food frequency questionnaire in a subsample of 15,607 14-year-old individuals born at term. SGA was defined by birth weight (BW) <10th percentile (n = 1470) and NGA as BW between 10 and 90th percentile (n = 14,137) according to sex and gestational age-specific BW standard curves. Girls born SGA had a 7% (95% CI: 3–12%, P = 0.002) higher intake of added sugar and a 2–8% lower intake of dietary fibre, vegetables, polyunsaturated fatty acids, and total n−6, compared with NGA girls (P < 0.05). Adjusting for parental socio-occupational status, maternal smoking and diet in pregnancy did not substantially change the differences in dietary intake, except from dietary fibre, which were no longer statistically significant. No significant differences in dietary intake between SGA and NGA boys were found. In summary, girls born SGA had an unfavourable dietary intake compared with NGA girls. These differences persisted after controlling for potential confounders, thus supporting a fetal programming effect on dietary intake in girls born SGA at term. However, residual confounding by other factors operating early in childhood cannot be excluded.

The Arizona Department of Health Services identified unusually high levels of influenza activity and severe complications during the 2015–2016 influenza season leading to concerns about potential increased disease severity compared with prior seasons. We estimated state-level burden and severity to compare across three seasons using multiple data sources for community-level illness, hospitalisation and death. Severity ratios were calculated as the number of hospitalisations or deaths per community case. Community influenza-like illness rates, hospitalisation rates and mortality rates in 2015–2016 were higher than the previous two seasons. However, ratios of severe disease to community illness were similar. Arizona experienced overall increased disease burden in 2015–2016, but not increased severity compared with prior seasons. Timely estimates of state-specific burden and severity are potentially feasible and may provide important information during seemingly unusual influenza seasons or pandemic situations.

One case of hospital-acquired listeriosis was linked to milkshakes produced in a commercial-grade shake freezer machine. This machine was found to be contaminated with a strain of Listeria monocytogenes epidemiologically and molecularly linked to a contaminated pasteurized, dairy-based ice cream product at the same hospital a year earlier, despite repeated cleaning and sanitizing. Healthcare facilities should be aware of the potential for prolonged Listeria contamination of food service equipment. In addition, healthcare providers should consider counselling persons who have an increased risk for Listeria infections regarding foods that have caused Listeria infections. The prevalence of persistent Listeria contamination of commercial-grade milkshake machines in healthcare facilities and the risk associated with serving dairy-based ice cream products to hospitalized patients at increased risk for invasive L. monocytogenes infections should be further evaluated.

Dietary long-chain n-3 PUFA (n-3 LCPUFA) in infancy may have long-term effects on lifestyle disease risk. The present follow-up study investigated whether maternal fish oil (FO) supplementation during lactation affected growth and blood pressure in adolescents and whether the effects differed between boys and girls. Mother–infant pairs (n 103) completed a randomised controlled trial with FO (1·5 g/d n-3 LCPUFA) or olive oil (OO) supplements during the first 4 months of lactation; forty-seven mother–infant pairs with high fish intake were followed-up for 4 months as the reference group. We also followed-up 100 children with assessment of growth, blood pressure, diet by FFQ and physical activity by 7-d accelerometry at 13·5 (sd 0·4) years of age. Dried whole-blood fatty acid composition was analysed in a subgroup (n 49). At 13 years of age, whole-blood n-3 LCPUFA, diet, physical activity and body composition did not differ between the three groups. The children from the FO group were 3·4 (95 % CI 0·2, 6·6) cm shorter (P=0·035) than those from the OO group, and tended to have less advanced puberty (P=0·068), which explained the difference in height. There was a sex-specific effect on diastolic blood pressure (P sex×group=0·020), which was driven by a 3·9 (95 % CI 0·2, 7·5) mmHg higher diastolic blood pressure in the FO compared with the OO group among boys only (P=0·041). Our results indicate that early n-3 LCPUFA intake may reduce height in early adolescence due to a delay in pubertal maturation and increase blood pressure specifically in boys, thereby tending to counteract existing sex differences.

Historically, alloy development with better radiation performance has been focused on traditional alloys with one or two principal element(s) and minor alloying elements, where enhanced radiation resistance depends on microstructural or nanoscale features to mitigate displacement damage. In sharp contrast to traditional alloys, recent advances of single-phase concentrated solid solution alloys (SP-CSAs) have opened up new frontiers in materials research. In these alloys, a random arrangement of multiple elemental species on a crystalline lattice results in disordered local chemical environments and unique site-to-site lattice distortions. Based on closely integrated computational and experimental studies using a novel set of SP-CSAs in a face-centered cubic structure, we have explicitly demonstrated that increasing chemical disorder can lead to a substantial reduction in electron mean free paths, as well as electrical and thermal conductivity, which results in slower heat dissipation in SP-CSAs. The chemical disorder also has a significant impact on defect evolution under ion irradiation. Considerable improvement in radiation resistance is observed with increasing chemical disorder at electronic and atomic levels. The insights into defect dynamics may provide a basis for understanding elemental effects on evolution of radiation damage in irradiated materials and may inspire new design principles of radiation-tolerant structural alloys for advanced energy systems.

Skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs) due to Staphylococcus aureus have become increasingly common in the outpatient setting; however, risk factors for differentiating methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) SSTIs are needed to better inform antibiotic treatment decisions. We performed a case-case-control study within 14 primary-care clinics in South Texas from 2007 to 2015. Overall, 325 patients [S. aureus SSTI cases (case group 1, n = 175); MRSA SSTI cases (case group 2, n = 115); MSSA SSTI cases (case group 3, n = 60); uninfected control group (control, n = 150)] were evaluated. Each case group was compared to the control group, and then qualitatively contrasted to identify unique risk factors associated with S. aureus, MRSA, and MSSA SSTIs. Overall, prior SSTIs [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 7·60, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3·31–17·45], male gender (aOR 1·74, 95% CI 1·06–2·85), and absence of healthcare occupation status (aOR 0·14, 95% CI 0·03–0·68) were independently associated with S. aureus SSTIs. The only unique risk factor for community-associated (CA)-MRSA SSTIs was a high body weight (⩾110 kg) (aOR 2·03, 95% CI 1·01–4·09).

We described levels of habitual physical activity and physical capacity in HIV patients initiating antiretroviral treatment in Ethiopia and assessed the role of HIV and nutritional indicators on these outcomes. Physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) and activity levels were measured with combined heart rate and movement sensors. Physical capacity was assessed by grip strength, sleeping heart rate and heart rate economy. Grip strength data was also available from a sex- and age-matched HIV-negative reference group. Median PAEE was 27·9 (interquartile range 17·4–39·8) kJ/kg per day and mean±s.d. grip strength was 23·6 ± 6·7 kg. Advanced HIV disease predicted reduced levels of both physical activity and capacity; e.g. each unit viral load [log(1+copies/ml)] was associated with –15% PAEE (P < 0·001) and –1·0 kg grip strength (P < 0·001). Grip strength was 4·2 kg lower in patients compared to HIV-negative individuals (P < 0·001). Low body mass index (BMI) predicted poor physical activity and capacity independently of HIV status, e.g. BMI <16 was associated with −42% PAEE (P < 0·001) and −6·8 kg grip strength (P < 0·001) compared to BMI ⩾18·5. The study shows that advanced HIV and malnutrition are associated with considerably lower levels of physical activity and capacity in patients at initiation of antiretroviral treatment.

PILOT (the Pathfinder for an International Large Optical Telescope) is a proposed 2.5-m optical/infrared telescope to be located at Dome C on the Antarctic plateau. The atmospheric conditions at Dome C deliver a high sensitivity, high photometric precision, wide-field, high spatial resolution, and high-cadence imaging capability to the PILOT telescope. These capabilities enable a unique scientific potential for PILOT, which is addressed in this series of papers. The current paper presents a series of projects dealing with the nearby Universe that have been identified as key science drivers for the PILOT facility. Several projects are proposed that examine stellar populations in nearby galaxies and stellar clusters in order to gain insight into the formation and evolution processes of galaxies and stars. A series of projects will investigate the molecular phase of the Galaxy and explore the ecology of star formation, and investigate the formation processes of stellar and planetary systems. Three projects in the field of exoplanet science are proposed: a search for free-floating low-mass planets and dwarfs, a program of follow-up observations of gravitational microlensing events, and a study of infrared light-curves for previously discovered exoplanets. Three projects are also proposed in the field of planetary and space science: optical and near-infrared studies aimed at characterising planetary atmospheres, a study of coronal mass ejections from the Sun, and a monitoring program searching for small-scale Low Earth Orbit satellite debris items.

PILOT (the Pathfinder for an International Large Optical Telescope) is a proposed 2.5-m optical/infrared telescope to be located at Dome C on the Antarctic plateau. Conditions at Dome C are known to be exceptional for astronomy. The seeing (above ∼30 m height), coherence time, and isoplanatic angle are all twice as good as at typical mid-latitude sites, while the water-vapour column, and the atmosphere and telescope thermal emission are all an order of magnitude better. These conditions enable a unique scientific capability for PILOT, which is addressed in this series of papers. The current paper presents an overview of the optical and instrumentation suite for PILOT and its expected performance, a summary of the key science goals and observational approach for the facility, a discussion of the synergies between the science goals for PILOT and other telescopes, and a discussion of the future of Antarctic astronomy. Paper II and Paper III present details of the science projects divided, respectively, between the distant Universe (i.e. studies of first light, and the assembly and evolution of structure) and the nearby Universe (i.e. studies of Local Group galaxies, the Milky Way, and the Solar System).

Regulations in the United States require animal biosafety level 3 (ABSL-3) or biosafety level 3 agriculture (BSL-3-Ag) containment for many endemic zoonotic pathogens and etiologic agents of foreign animal diseases. In an effort to protect public health, billions of dollars were invested in regulatory programs over many years to reduce the prevalence of zoonotic pathogens such as Brucella and Mycobacterium bovis in domestic livestock. In addition to research needs in domestic livestock hosts, the establishment of brucellosis and tuberculosis in wildlife in the United States has created a need for research studies addressing these zoonotic diseases. As guidelines in the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL, 2009) for BSL-3 and BSL-3-Ag facilities are primarily directed toward laboratory or vivarium facilities, additional issues should be considered in designing large animal containment facilities for domestic livestock and/or wildlife. Flight distance, herd orientation, social needs, aggressiveness, and predictability are all factors we considered on a species by species basis for designing our containment facilities and for work practices with large ruminants. Although safety risk cannot be completely eliminated when working with large animals, studies in natural hosts are critical for advancing vaccine and diagnostic development, and providing basic knowledge of disease pathogenesis in natural hosts. Data gathered in these types of studies are vital for state and national regulatory personnel in their efforts to design strategies to control or eradicate diseases such as brucellosis and tuberculosis in their natural hosts, whether it is domestic livestock or wildlife. It is likely that failure to address the prevalence of disease in wildlife reservoirs will lead to re-emergence in domestic livestock. The overall benefit of these studies is to protect public health, provide economic benefits to producers, and protect the economic investment made in regulatory programs.