Maternal hematological status and risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery in Nepal.

Background: Our aim was to investigate associations between maternal characteristics, with emphasis on hematological status, and risk of low birth weight and preterm delivery among pregnant Nepali women.

Methods: In a case-control study, 1400 pregnant women attending Patan Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal for antenatal care and delivery in the period 1994 to 1996 were included. Women with twin pregnancies (n=15) and those delivering infants with congenital malformations (n=13) were excluded from the study.

Birth weight and childhood onset type 1 diabetes: population based cohort study.

Objective: To assess the associations between birth weight or gestational age and risk of type 1 diabetes.

Design: Population based cohort study by record linkage of the medical birth registry and the National Childhood Diabetes Registry.

Setting: Two national registries in Norway.

Survival and reproduction among males with birth defects and risk of recurrence in their children.

Context: Few systematic data exist on survival and reproduction among males with birth defects and their contribution to occurrence of birth defects in the next generation.

Objective: To estimate survival of males with registered birth defects, their subsequent reproduction rates, and their risk of transmitting birth defects to their offspring.

Design And Setting: Population-based cohort study of data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway.

Anemia in pregnancy in the highlands of Tanzania.

Background: Anemia in pregnancy is common in Tanzania, but many areas have not been investigated. This study describes prevalence and determinants of anemia among rural pregnant women living at 1300-2200 meters above sea level in Northern Tanzania.

Methods: Three thousand eight hundred and thirty-six pregnant women from two rural divisions of Mbulu and Hanang districts attending antenatal clinic between January 1995 and March 1996 were assessed in a cross-sectional study.

Estimates of maternal mortality by the sisterhood method in rural nothern Tanzania: a household sample and an antenatal clinic sample.

Objective: To estimate maternal mortality in two samples of a population in northern Tanzania.

Setting: Rural communities and antenatal clinics, Mbulu and Hanang districts, Arusha region, Tanzania.

Population: From a household survey 2,043 men and women aged 15-60, and from an antenatal clinic survey 4,172 women aged 15-59.

The diagnosis of urinary tract infections among pregnant women in rural Tanzania; prevalences and correspondence between different diagnostic methods.

Background: To assess the prevalence of dysuria, dipsticks positive on nitrite and leukocyte esterase and positive Uricult dip slides among pregnant women in rural Tanzania.

Methods: 3,715 pregnant women were examined for dysuria and had their urine tested with nitrite and leukocyte esterase dipsticks and Uricult dipslides, at their first antenatal visit in 1995-96.

Results: The prevalences of positive symptoms and tests were as follows: dysuria 32%, nitrite 40.

Assessing quality of obstetric care for low-risk deliveries; methodological problems in the use of population based mortality data.

Background: Studies evaluating safety of different birth settings for low-risk deliveries are often difficult to interpret because of great methodological problems.

Objective: To assess potential bias in comparisons of mortality between maternity institutions with different size and level of care, particularly when using various definitions of low-risk delivery and when studying stillbirth rates.

Design: Population-based study.

Seasonal variation in risk of anemia among pregnant Nepali women.

Objective: We aimed to investigate whether there is any seasonal variation in risk of anemia among pregnant Nepali women.

Methods: We studied the hematocrit values in pregnant women (n=5495) attending Patan Hospital, Kathmandu for the first antenatal visit in the 2-year period from January 1994 until December 1995. In a sub-sample of subjects (n=2706), additional information was obtained through interviews and clinical examinations.

The prevalence of anemia in pregnant Nepali women--a study in Kathmandu.

Background: Anemia in pregnancy is associated with maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality. The World Health Organization has suggested that where up-to-date information is not available, prevalence studies should be undertaken.

Methods: The distribution of hematocrit in 2280 pregnant women attending Patan Hospital, Kathmandu, for their first antenatal visit in a twelve month period, 1994-95, was studied.

Anaemia in pregnancy: possible causes and risk factors in Nepali women.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the importance of nutritional deficiencies and infections in the development of anaemia in pregnant Nepali women.

Design: Case-control study.

Setting: Patan Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Role of heme oxygenase in pulmonary response to antigen challenge in sensitized rats in vivo.

Heme oxygenase (HO) protects against oxidant-mediated lung injury. However, it is uncertain whether changes in HO activity modulate antigen-induced airway inflammation. We studied the effects of pretreatment with either hemoglobin, a HO inducer, or tin protoporphyrin (SnPP)-9, a specific HO inhibitor, on increases in pulmonary insufflation pressure (PIP) and plasma extravasation induced by intravenously injected ovalbumin (OA) antigen in rats sensitized to OA in vivo with Evans blue dye as a marker.

Protective effects of heme oxygenase-1 against oxidant-induced injury in the cultured human tracheal epithelium.

To examine whether increases in heme oxygenase (HO)-1 activity have protective effects on the oxidant-induced injury of airway epithelial cells, human tracheal epithelial cells were cultured on a porous filter membrane, and electrical conductance (G) and mannitol flux across epithelial membrane were measured with Ussing's chamber methods and D-[(3)H]mannitol, respectively. Hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2); 1 mM) increased G with time from the baseline value of 6.0 +/- 0.

Relation between size of delivery unit and neonatal death in low risk deliveries: population based study.

Aim: To examine risk of neonatal death after low risk pregnancies in relation to size of delivery units.

Methods: A population based study of live born singleton infants in Norway with birthweights of at least 2500 g was carried out. Antenatal risk factors were adjusted for.

A population-based study of survival and childbearing among female subjects with birth defects and the risk of recurrence in their children.

Background And Methods: Persons with birth defects are at high risk for death during the perinatal period and infancy. Less is known about the later survival or reproduction of such persons. We studied a cohort that comprised 8192 women and adolescent girls with registered birth defects and 451,241 women and adolescent girls with no birth defects, all of whom were born in Norway from 1967 through 1982.

Consanguinity and recurrence risk of stillbirth and infant death.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to estimate the recurrence risk for stillbirth and infant death and compare results for offspring of first-cousin parents with results for offspring of unrelated parents.

Methods: The study population consisted of all single births with a previous sibling born in Norway between 1967 and 1994. Altogether, 629,888 births were to unrelated parents, and 3466 births were to parents who were first cousins.

Consanguinity and recurrence risk of birth defects: a population-based study.

Recurrence risks give insight into the causes of birth defects and are useful in genetic counseling. There are few population-based studies of recurrence of birth defects for subsequent sibs with consanguineous parents. The aim of this study was to estimate and compare the recurrence risk of birth defects for offspring of first cousins and nonconsanguineous parents.

Causes of death in patients with peptic ulcer perforation: a long-term follow-up study.

Background: Survival is lower in ulcer perforation patients than in the general population. This study assesses the causes of death in patients treated for peptic ulcer perforation.

Methods: Cause-specific mortality in a population-based cohort of 817 patients treated for ulcer perforation in western Norway during the period 1962-1990 was compared with cause-specific population death rates.

Ethics of resource allocation in developing countries: the case of Sri Lanka.

The issues of prioritization of health care services and allocation of resources have recently received increasing attention and discussion. Several reports have been published by governments in different countries and the issues are discussed in many recent books and papers. In this paper the focus is on the problems faced by a developing country when allocation of health care resources is considered.

Distinguishing the effects of maternal and offspring genes through studies of "case-parent triads".

A gene variant that increases disease risk will be overrepresented among diseased persons, even compared with their own biologic parents. This insight has led to tests based solely on the asymmetric distribution of a variant allele among cases and their parents (e.g.

Influence of consanguinity and maternal education on risk of stillbirth and infant death in Norway, 1967-1993.

To analyze the influence of consanguinity and maternal education on stillbirth and infant death for children born in Norway between 1967 and 1993, the authors studied 7,274 children of ethnic Pakistani origin and 1,431,055 children of Norwegian ethnic origin. Of these children, 31.0% of the Pakistani children and 0.

Expected survival compared with survival of peptic ulcer patients.

In analyses of patient survival it is often desirable to compare observed survival curves with expected survival curves based on information obtained from the general population. However, current methods of calculating expected survival curves are difficult to interpret and are often poorly documented. We discuss an alternative formulation of the so-called direct method which we recommend for general use.

A log-linear approach to case-parent-triad data: assessing effects of disease genes that act either directly or through maternal effects and that may be subject to parental imprinting.

We describe a log-linear method for analysis of case-parent-triad data, based on maximum likelihood with stratification on parental mating type. The method leads to estimates of association parameters, such as relative risks, for a single allele, and also to likelihood ratio chi2 tests (LRTs) of linkage disequilibrium. Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium need not be assumed.