We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
To save content items to your account,
please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies.
If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account.
Find out more about saving content to .
To save content items to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org
is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings
on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part
of your Kindle email address below.
Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations.
‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi.
‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) are an urgent threat to healthcare, but the epidemiology of these antimicrobial-resistant organisms may be evolving in some settings since the COVID-19 pandemic. An updated analysis of hospital-acquired CRE (HA-CRE) incidence in community hospitals is needed.
Methods:
We retrospectively analyzed data on HA-CRE cases and antimicrobial utilization (AU) from two community hospital networks, the Duke Infection Control Outreach Network (DICON) and the Duke Antimicrobial Stewardship Outreach Network (DASON) from January 2013 to June 2023. The zero-inflated negative binomial regression model was used owing to excess zeros.
Results:
126 HA-CRE cases from 36 hospitals were included in the longitudinal analysis. The pooled incidence of HA CRE was 0.69 per 100,000 patient days (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 0.57–0.82 HA-CRE rate significantly decreased over time before COVID-19 (rate ratio [RR], 0.94 [95% CI, 0.89–0.99]; p = 0.02), but there was a significant slope change indicating a trend increase in HA-CRE after COVID-19 (RR, 1.32 [95% CI, 1.06–1.66]; p = 0.01). In 21 hospitals participating in both DICON and DASON from January 2018 to June 2023, there was a correlation between HA-CRE rates and AU for CRE treatment (Spearman’s coefficient = 0.176; p < 0.01). Anti-CRE AU did not change over time, and there was no level or slope change after COVID.
Conclusions:
The incidence of HA-CRE decreased before COVID-19 in a network of community hospitals in the southeastern United States, but this trend was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
While unobscured and radio-quiet active galactic nuclei are regularly being found at redshifts
$z > 6$
, their obscured and radio-loud counterparts remain elusive. We build upon our successful pilot study, presenting a new sample of low-frequency-selected candidate high-redshift radio galaxies (HzRGs) over a sky area 20 times larger. We have refined our selection technique, in which we select sources with curved radio spectra between 72–231 MHz from the GaLactic and Extragalactic All-sky Murchison Widefield Array (GLEAM) survey. In combination with the requirements that our GLEAM-selected HzRG candidates have compact radio morphologies and be undetected in near-infrared
$K_{\rm s}$
-band imaging from the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy Kilo-degree Infrared Galaxy (VIKING) survey, we find 51 new candidate HzRGs over a sky area of approximately
$1200\ \mathrm{deg}^2$
. Our sample also includes two sources from the pilot study: the second-most distant radio galaxy currently known, at
$z=5.55$
, with another source potentially at
$z \sim 8$
. We present our refined selection technique and analyse the properties of the sample. We model the broadband radio spectra between 74 MHz and 9 GHz by supplementing the GLEAM data with both publicly available data and new observations from the Australia Telescope Compact Array at 5.5 and 9 GHz. In addition, deep
$K_{\rm s}$
-band imaging from the High-Acuity Widefield K-band Imager (HAWK-I) on the Very Large Telescope and from the Southern Herschel Astrophysical Terahertz Large Area Survey Regions
$K_{\rm s}$
-band Survey (SHARKS) is presented for five sources. We discuss the prospects of finding very distant radio galaxies in our sample, potentially within the epoch of reionisation at
$z \gtrsim 6.5$
.
Only a limited number of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) respond to a first course of antidepressant medication (ADM). We investigated the feasibility of creating a baseline model to determine which of these would be among patients beginning ADM treatment in the US Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
Methods
A 2018–2020 national sample of n = 660 VHA patients receiving ADM treatment for MDD completed an extensive baseline self-report assessment near the beginning of treatment and a 3-month self-report follow-up assessment. Using baseline self-report data along with administrative and geospatial data, an ensemble machine learning method was used to develop a model for 3-month treatment response defined by the Quick Inventory of Depression Symptomatology Self-Report and a modified Sheehan Disability Scale. The model was developed in a 70% training sample and tested in the remaining 30% test sample.
Results
In total, 35.7% of patients responded to treatment. The prediction model had an area under the ROC curve (s.e.) of 0.66 (0.04) in the test sample. A strong gradient in probability (s.e.) of treatment response was found across three subsamples of the test sample using training sample thresholds for high [45.6% (5.5)], intermediate [34.5% (7.6)], and low [11.1% (4.9)] probabilities of response. Baseline symptom severity, comorbidity, treatment characteristics (expectations, history, and aspects of current treatment), and protective/resilience factors were the most important predictors.
Conclusions
Although these results are promising, parallel models to predict response to alternative treatments based on data collected before initiating treatment would be needed for such models to help guide treatment selection.
We present Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 photometric and grism observations of the candidate ultra-high-redshift ($z>7$) radio galaxy, GLEAM J0917–0012. This radio source was selected due to the curvature in its 70–230 MHz, low-frequency Murchison Widefield Array radio spectrum and its faintness in K-band. Follow-up spectroscopic observations of this source with the Jansky Very Large Array and Atacama Large Millimetre Array were inconclusive as to its redshift. Our F105W and F0986M imaging observations detect the host of GLEAM J0917–0012 and a companion galaxy, $\sim$ one arcsec away. The G102 grism observations reveal a single weak line in each of the spectra of the host and the companion. To help identify these lines we utilised several photometric redshift techniques including template fitting to the grism spectra, fitting the ultraviolet (UV)-to-radio photometry with galaxy templates plus a synchrotron model, fitting of the UV-to-near-infrared photometry with EAZY, and fitting the radio data alone with RAiSERed. For the host of GLEAM J0917–0012 we find a line at $1.12\,\mu$m and the UV-to-radio spectral energy distribution (SED) fitting favours solutions at $z\sim 2$ or $z\sim 8$. While this fitting shows a weak preference for the lower redshift solution, the models from the higher redshift solution are more consistent with the strength of the spectral line. The redshift constraint by RAiSERed of $>6.5$ also supports the interpretation that this line could be Lyman$-\alpha$ at $z=8.21$; however EAZY favours the $z\sim 2$ solution. We discuss the implications of both solutions. For the companion galaxy we find a line at $0.98\,\mu$m and the SED fitting favours solutions at $z<3$ implying that the line could be the [OII]$\lambda3727$ doublet at $z=1.63$ (although the EAZY solution is $z\sim 2.6\pm 0.5$). Further observations are still required to unambiguously determine the redshift of this intriguing candidate ultra-high-redshift radio galaxy.
Fewer than half of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) respond to psychotherapy. Pre-emptively informing patients of their likelihood of responding could be useful as part of a patient-centered treatment decision-support plan.
Methods
This prospective observational study examined a national sample of 807 patients beginning psychotherapy for MDD at the Veterans Health Administration. Patients completed a self-report survey at baseline and 3-months follow-up (data collected 2018–2020). We developed a machine learning (ML) model to predict psychotherapy response at 3 months using baseline survey, administrative, and geospatial variables in a 70% training sample. Model performance was then evaluated in the 30% test sample.
Results
32.0% of patients responded to treatment after 3 months. The best ML model had an AUC (SE) of 0.652 (0.038) in the test sample. Among the one-third of patients ranked by the model as most likely to respond, 50.0% in the test sample responded to psychotherapy. In comparison, among the remaining two-thirds of patients, <25% responded to psychotherapy. The model selected 43 predictors, of which nearly all were self-report variables.
Conclusions
Patients with MDD could pre-emptively be informed of their likelihood of responding to psychotherapy using a prediction tool based on self-report data. This tool could meaningfully help patients and providers in shared decision-making, although parallel information about the likelihood of responding to alternative treatments would be needed to inform decision-making across multiple treatments.
Data related to brain function may have the potential to improve the reliability and validity of assessments for the aetiologically and clinically heterogeneous syndrome of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This study investigated associations between questionnaire assessments of behavioural features of adults with ADHD and an aspect of neurocognitive performance which has been reported to be impaired in adults with ADHD.
Methods
Fifty-nine adult patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of ADHD, and their informants, completed questionnaires related to aspects of severity of ADHD. Associations were examined between questionnaire ratings and performance on a computer-administered task of spatial working memory (SWM).
Results
Correlations between ratings of ADHD and SWM indicated moderate but significant correlations for patients' ratings, but not for informants' ratings. Also, patients who reported a past history of ‘self-harm’ (N = 33) had a significantly worse mean performance on both measures of SWM (p = 0.004, 0.003).
Conclusions
The results indicate that aspects of impulsivity, i.e. self-ratings of ‘emotive’ behaviour (involving rapid response to stimuli and marked reactivity of mood) and of past ‘self-harm’, show relatively strong associations with SWM performance in adults selected on the basis of an ADHD diagnosis. A profile of neurocognitive performances may have a role in the assessment of ADHD.
Positive symptoms are a useful predictor of aggression in schizophrenia. Although a similar pattern of abnormal brain structures related to both positive symptoms and aggression has been reported, this observation has not yet been confirmed in a single sample.
Method
To study the association between positive symptoms and aggression in schizophrenia on a neurobiological level, a prospective meta-analytic approach was employed to analyze harmonized structural neuroimaging data from 10 research centers worldwide. We analyzed brain MRI scans from 902 individuals with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia and 952 healthy controls.
Results
The result identified a widespread cortical thickness reduction in schizophrenia compared to their controls. Two separate meta-regression analyses revealed that a common pattern of reduced cortical gray matter thickness within the left lateral temporal lobe and right midcingulate cortex was significantly associated with both positive symptoms and aggression.
Conclusion
These findings suggested that positive symptoms such as formal thought disorder and auditory misperception, combined with cognitive impairments reflecting difficulties in deploying an adaptive control toward perceived threats, could escalate the likelihood of aggression in schizophrenia.
Item 9 of the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) queries about thoughts of death and self-harm, but not suicidality. Although it is sometimes used to assess suicide risk, most positive responses are not associated with suicidality. The PHQ-8, which omits Item 9, is thus increasingly used in research. We assessed equivalency of total score correlations and the diagnostic accuracy to detect major depression of the PHQ-8 and PHQ-9.
Methods
We conducted an individual patient data meta-analysis. We fit bivariate random-effects models to assess diagnostic accuracy.
Results
16 742 participants (2097 major depression cases) from 54 studies were included. The correlation between PHQ-8 and PHQ-9 scores was 0.996 (95% confidence interval 0.996 to 0.996). The standard cutoff score of 10 for the PHQ-9 maximized sensitivity + specificity for the PHQ-8 among studies that used a semi-structured diagnostic interview reference standard (N = 27). At cutoff 10, the PHQ-8 was less sensitive by 0.02 (−0.06 to 0.00) and more specific by 0.01 (0.00 to 0.01) among those studies (N = 27), with similar results for studies that used other types of interviews (N = 27). For all 54 primary studies combined, across all cutoffs, the PHQ-8 was less sensitive than the PHQ-9 by 0.00 to 0.05 (0.03 at cutoff 10), and specificity was within 0.01 for all cutoffs (0.00 to 0.01).
Conclusions
PHQ-8 and PHQ-9 total scores were similar. Sensitivity may be minimally reduced with the PHQ-8, but specificity is similar.
Rumseyite, ideally [Pb2OF]Cl, is a new mineral species which is associated with calcite, cerussite, diaboleite, hydrocerussite and undifferentiated Mn oxides in a small cavity in 'hydrocerussite' from a manganese pod at Merehead quarry, Somerset, England. Rumseyite is tetragonal,I4/mmm, a = 4.065(1), c = 12.631(7) Å, V = 208.7(1) Å3, Z = 2. The mineral is translucent pale orange-brown with a white streak and vitreous lustre. It is brittle with perfect {100} cleavage; Dcalc = 7.71 gcm–3 (for the ideal formula, [Pb2OF]Cl). The mean refractive index in air at 589 nm is 2.15. The six strongest reflections in the X-ray powder-diffraction pattern [dmeas in Å, (Irel), (hkl)] are as follows: 2.923(100)(013),2.875(68)(110), 3.848(41)(011), 6.306(17)(002), 1.680(14)(123), 2.110(12)(006). The crystal structure of rumseyite is based on alternating [OFPb2] and Cl layers. Rumseyite is related to other layered Pb oxyhalides. Fluorine and oxygen are statistically disordered over one crystallographicsite. Rumseyite is named in honour of Michael Scott (Mike) Rumsey (1980– ), Curator and Collections Manager at the NHM (London), who discovered the mineral. The mineral and name have been approved by the IMA Commission on New Mineral Names and Classification (IMA 2011-091). The holotypespecimen is in the collections of the Natural History Museum, London (specimen number BM1970,110).
Different diagnostic interviews are used as reference standards for major depression classification in research. Semi-structured interviews involve clinical judgement, whereas fully structured interviews are completely scripted. The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), a brief fully structured interview, is also sometimes used. It is not known whether interview method is associated with probability of major depression classification.
Aims
To evaluate the association between interview method and odds of major depression classification, controlling for depressive symptom scores and participant characteristics.
Method
Data collected for an individual participant data meta-analysis of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) diagnostic accuracy were analysed and binomial generalised linear mixed models were fit.
Results
A total of 17 158 participants (2287 with major depression) from 57 primary studies were analysed. Among fully structured interviews, odds of major depression were higher for the MINI compared with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) (odds ratio (OR) = 2.10; 95% CI = 1.15–3.87). Compared with semi-structured interviews, fully structured interviews (MINI excluded) were non-significantly more likely to classify participants with low-level depressive symptoms (PHQ-9 scores ≤6) as having major depression (OR = 3.13; 95% CI = 0.98–10.00), similarly likely for moderate-level symptoms (PHQ-9 scores 7–15) (OR = 0.96; 95% CI = 0.56–1.66) and significantly less likely for high-level symptoms (PHQ-9 scores ≥16) (OR = 0.50; 95% CI = 0.26–0.97).
Conclusions
The MINI may identify more people as depressed than the CIDI, and semi-structured and fully structured interviews may not be interchangeable methods, but these results should be replicated.
Declaration of interest
Drs Jetté and Patten declare that they received a grant, outside the submitted work, from the Hotchkiss Brain Institute, which was jointly funded by the Institute and Pfizer. Pfizer was the original sponsor of the development of the PHQ-9, which is now in the public domain. Dr Chan is a steering committee member or consultant of Astra Zeneca, Bayer, Lilly, MSD and Pfizer. She has received sponsorships and honorarium for giving lectures and providing consultancy and her affiliated institution has received research grants from these companies. Dr Hegerl declares that within the past 3 years, he was an advisory board member for Lundbeck, Servier and Otsuka Pharma; a consultant for Bayer Pharma; and a speaker for Medice Arzneimittel, Novartis, and Roche Pharma, all outside the submitted work. Dr Inagaki declares that he has received grants from Novartis Pharma, lecture fees from Pfizer, Mochida, Shionogi, Sumitomo Dainippon Pharma, Daiichi-Sankyo, Meiji Seika and Takeda, and royalties from Nippon Hyoron Sha, Nanzando, Seiwa Shoten, Igaku-shoin and Technomics, all outside of the submitted work. Dr Yamada reports personal fees from Meiji Seika Pharma Co., Ltd., MSD K.K., Asahi Kasei Pharma Corporation, Seishin Shobo, Seiwa Shoten Co., Ltd., Igaku-shoin Ltd., Chugai Igakusha and Sentan Igakusha, all outside the submitted work. All other authors declare no competing interests. No funder had any role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis and interpretation of the data; preparation, review or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.
Yeomanite, Pb2O(OH)Cl, is a new Pb-oxychloride found in the manganese pod mineral assemblage at Merehead (Torr Works) Quarry, near Cranmore, Somerset, England. Yeomanite is named in joint recognition of Mrs Angela Yeoman (1931–) and her company, Foster Yeoman, who operatedMerehead Quarry for aggregate until 2006. The mineral is normally white, occasionally grey, with a white streak and a vitreous to transparent lustre. Invariably intimately associated with mendipite, yeomanite appears to be formed of small, twisted, rope-like fibres growing from the end ofcolumnar mendipite masses, forming loose mats and strands resembling asbestos. Individual fibres are generally <8 mm long, but exceptionally may reach up to 15 mm. There is a perfect cleavage parallel to the long axis of the fibres but this is masked by the fibrous nature, especially asindividual fibres break easily. The Dcalc for the ideal formula is 7.303 g/cm3. The mean RI in air at 589 nm is 2.27. The eight strongest reflections in the powder X-ray diffraction pattern [(d in Å) (Intensity) (hkl)] are: 2.880(100)(113);2.802(78)(006); 3.293(61)(200); 3.770(32)(011); 2.166(22)(206); 1.662(19)(119); 2.050(18)(303); 3.054(17)(105) Yeomanite is orthorhombic, Pnma, a = 6.585(10), b = 3.855(6), c = 17.26(1) Å, V = 438(1) Å3, Z = 4. Yeomanite is anew example of the growing family of lead oxychloride minerals that have a structure based upon oxocentred OPb4 tetrahedra, which, in this mineral, jointly with OHPb3 triangles, form [O(OH)Pb2]+ chains similar to those observed in synthetic Pb2O(OH)I.Yeomanite is structurally related to sidpietersite, penfieldite and laurionite.
Our understanding of the complex relationship between schizophrenia symptomatology and etiological factors can be improved by studying brain-based correlates of schizophrenia. Research showed that impairments in value processing and executive functioning, which have been associated with prefrontal brain areas [particularly the medial orbitofrontal cortex (MOFC)], are linked to negative symptoms. Here we tested the hypothesis that MOFC thickness is associated with negative symptom severity.
Methods
This study included 1985 individuals with schizophrenia from 17 research groups around the world contributing to the ENIGMA Schizophrenia Working Group. Cortical thickness values were obtained from T1-weighted structural brain scans using FreeSurfer. A meta-analysis across sites was conducted over effect sizes from a model predicting cortical thickness by negative symptom score (harmonized Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms or Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale scores).
Results
Meta-analytical results showed that left, but not right, MOFC thickness was significantly associated with negative symptom severity (βstd = −0.075; p = 0.019) after accounting for age, gender, and site. This effect remained significant (p = 0.036) in a model including overall illness severity. Covarying for duration of illness, age of onset, antipsychotic medication or handedness weakened the association of negative symptoms with left MOFC thickness. As part of a secondary analysis including 10 other prefrontal regions further associations in the left lateral orbitofrontal gyrus and pars opercularis emerged.
Conclusions
Using an unusually large cohort and a meta-analytical approach, our findings point towards a link between prefrontal thinning and negative symptom severity in schizophrenia. This finding provides further insight into the relationship between structural brain abnormalities and negative symptoms in schizophrenia.
This paper presents the results of a detailed experimental investigation into the effectiveness of sinusoidal leading edge serrations on aerofoils for the reduction of the noise generated by the interaction with turbulent flow. A detailed parametric study is performed to investigate the sensitivity of the noise reductions to the serration amplitude and wavelength. The study is primarily performed on flat plates in an idealized turbulent flow, which we demonstrate captures the same behaviour as when identical serrations are introduced onto three-dimensional aerofoils. The influence on the noise reduction of the turbulence integral length scale is also studied. An optimum serration wavelength is identified whereby maximum noise reductions are obtained, corresponding to when the transverse integral length scale is approximately one-fourth the serration wavelength. This paper proves that, at the optimum serration wavelength, adjacent valley sources are excited incoherently. One of the most important findings of this paper is that, at the optimum serration wavelength, the sound power radiation from the serrated aerofoil varies inversely proportional to the Strouhal number $St_{h}=fh/U$, where $f$, $h$ and $U$ are frequency, serration amplitude and flow speed, respectively. A simple model is proposed to explain this behaviour. Noise reductions are observed to generally increase with increasing frequency until the frequency at which aerofoil self-noise dominates the interaction noise. Leading edge serrations are also shown to reduce aerofoil self-noise. The mechanism for this phenomenon is explored through particle image velocimetry measurements. Finally, the lift and drag of the serrated aerofoil are obtained through direct measurement and compared against the straight edge baseline aerofoil. It is shown that aerodynamic performance is not substantially degraded by the introduction of the leading edge serrations on the aerofoil.
Tall ironweed is a troublesome perennial weed that infests cool-season grass pastures in Kentucky. Field experiments were conducted in 2000 through 2003 to evaluate the efficacy of fall-applied herbicides on established tall ironweed following a midsummer mowing. Triclopyr-containing treatments showed the greatest suppression of tall ironweed 12 mo after treatment (MAT), across all years. With triclopyr at 0.56 and 0.63 kg/ha, tall ironweed control was 80% or greater in 2 of the 3 yr. Dicamba initially provided 87% control 8 MAT in 2 of 3 yr and declined to less than 60% 12 MAT. Tall ironweed shoot density was also reduced 66% or more 12 MAT with fall-applied triclopyr-containing treatments. In contrast, tall ironweed density increased approximately twofold in dicamba-treated plots between 8 to 12 MAT in all 3 yr. The impact of herbicide treatment on dry matter (DM) yield of spring-seeded red clover (Trifolium pratense L.), tall ironweed, and forage grasses was also evaluated. Red clover DM yield in the herbicide-treated plots in 2002 showed no significant differences from the untreated control. However, red clover DM yield in 2003 was lowest for the two triclopyr + clopyralid treatments, indicating a decrease in DM production compared with that of the nontreated control. Results indicated that fall-applied triclopyr-containing herbicides following a midsummer mowing is an effective program for removing tall ironweed from grass pastures, but further research is needed to evaluate the establishment of red clover following herbicide treatment.
We describe the performance of the Boolardy Engineering Test Array, the prototype for the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder telescope. Boolardy Engineering Test Array is the first aperture synthesis radio telescope to use phased array feed technology, giving it the ability to electronically form up to nine dual-polarisation beams. We report the methods developed for forming and measuring the beams, and the adaptations that have been made to the traditional calibration and imaging procedures in order to allow BETA to function as a multi-beam aperture synthesis telescope. We describe the commissioning of the instrument and present details of Boolardy Engineering Test Array’s performance: sensitivity, beam characteristics, polarimetric properties, and image quality. We summarise the astronomical science that it has produced and draw lessons from operating Boolardy Engineering Test Array that will be relevant to the commissioning and operation of the final Australian Square Kilometre Array Path telescope.
For the conduct of controlled clinical trials, epidemiologic surveys or even of medical practice of varieties of peripheral neuropathy, the usefulness, error rate and cost-effectiveness of scannable case-report forms has not been studied. Materials and
Methods:
The overall performance, the frequency of the problems identified and corrected, and the time saved from use of a standard paper case report form was evaluated in multicenter treatment trials, single center epidemiologic surveys and in our neurologic practice. The paper case report form (Clinical Neuropathy Assessment [CNA]) for pen entry at study medical centers for patient, disease and demographic information (Lower Limb Function [LLF] and Neuropathy Impairment Score [NIS]) can be faxed to a core Reading and Quality Assurance Center where the form and data is electronically and interactively evaluated and corrected, if needed, by participating medical centers before electronic entry into database.
Observations and conclusions:
1) The approach provides a standard, scannable paper case report form for pen entry of neuropathy symptoms, impairments and disability at the bedside or in the office which is retained as a source document at the participating medical center but a facsimile can be transferred instantaneously, its data can be programmed, interactively evaluated, modified and stored while maintaining an audit trail; 2) it allowed efficient and accurate reading, transfer, analysis, and storage of data of more than 15,000 forms used in multicenter trials; 3) in 500 consecutive CNA evaluations, software programs identified and facilitated interactive corrections of omissions, discrepancies, and disease and study inconsistencies, introducing only a few readily identified and corrected entry errors; and 4) use of programmed, as compared to non-programmed assessment, was more accurate than double keyboard entry of data and was approximately five times faster.
This paper describes the system architecture of a newly constructed radio telescope – the Boolardy engineering test array, which is a prototype of the Australian square kilometre array pathfinder telescope. Phased array feed technology is used to form multiple simultaneous beams per antenna, providing astronomers with unprecedented survey speed. The test array described here is a six-antenna interferometer, fitted with prototype signal processing hardware capable of forming at least nine dual-polarisation beams simultaneously, allowing several square degrees to be imaged in a single pointed observation. The main purpose of the test array is to develop beamforming and wide-field calibration methods for use with the full telescope, but it will also be capable of limited early science demonstrations.
Maternal nutritional status during pregnancy has been reported to be associated with childhood asthma and atopic disease. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children has reported associations between reduced umbilical cord Fe status and childhood wheeze and eczema; however, follow-up was short and lung function was not measured. In the present study, the associations between maternal Fe status during pregnancy and childhood outcomes in the first 10 years of life were investigated in a subgroup of 157 mother–child pairs from a birth cohort with complete maternal, fetal ultrasound, blood and child follow-up data. Maternal Fe intake was assessed using FFQ at 32 weeks of gestation and Hb concentrations and serum Fe status (ferritin, soluble transferrin receptor and TfR-F (transferrin receptor:ferritin) index) were measured at 11 weeks of gestation and at delivery. Maternal Fe intake, Hb concentrations and serum Fe status were found to be not associated with fetal or birth measurements. Unit increases in first-trimester maternal serum TfR concentrations (OR 1·44, 95 % CI 1·05, 1·99) and TfR-F index (OR 1·42, 95 % CI 1·10, 1·82) (i.e. decreasing Fe status) were found to be associated with an increased risk of wheeze, while unit increases in serum ferritin concentrations (i.e. increasing Fe status) were found to be associated with increases in standardised mean peak expiratory flow (PEF) (β 0·25, 95 % CI 0·09, 0·42) and forced expiratory volume in the first second (FEV1) (β 0·20, 95 % CI 0·08, 0·32) up to 10 years of age. Increasing maternal serum TfR-F index at delivery was found to be associated with an increased risk of atopic sensitisation (OR 1·35, 95 % CI 1·02, 1·79). The results of the present study suggest that reduced maternal Fe status during pregnancy is adversely associated with childhood wheeze, lung function and atopic sensitisation, justifying further studies on maternal Fe status and childhood asthma and atopic disease.