The past, present, and future of child growth monitoring: A review and primer for clinical genetics.

Child growth measurements are critical vital signs to track, with every individual child growth curve potentially revealing a story about a child's health and well-being. Simply put, every baby born requires basic building blocks to grow and thrive: proper nutrition, love and care, and medical health. To ensure that every child who is missing one of these vital aspects is identified, growth is traditionally measured at birth and each well-child visit. While the blue and pink growth curves appear omnipresent in pediatric clinics, it is surprising to realize that their use only became standard of care in 1977 when the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) adopted the growth curve as a clinical tool for health. Behind this practice lies a socioeconomically, culturally, and politically complex interplay of individuals and institutions around the world. In this review, we highlight the often forgotten past, current state of practice, and future potential of this powerful clinical tool: the growth reference chart, with a particular focus on clinical genetics practice. The goal of this article is to understand ongoing work in the field of anthropometry (the scientific study of human measurements) and its direct impact on modern pediatric and genetic patient care.

New approaches and technical considerations in detecting outlier measurements and trajectories in longitudinal children growth data.

BACKGROUND: Growth studies rely on longitudinal measurements, typically represented as trajectories. However, anthropometry is prone to errors that can generate outliers. While various methods are available for detecting outlier measurements, a gold standard has yet to be identified, and there is no established method for outlying trajectories. Thus, outlier types and their effects on growth pattern detection still need to be investigated. This work aimed to assess the performance of six methods at detecting different types of outliers, propose two novel methods for outlier trajectory detection and evaluate how outliers affect growth pattern detection. METHODS: We included 393 healthy infants from The Applied Research Group for Kids (TARGet Kids!) cohort and 1651 children with severe malnutrition from the co-trimoxazole prophylaxis clinical trial. We injected outliers of three types and six intensities and applied four outlier detection methods for measurements (model-based and World Health Organization cut-offs-based) and two for trajectories. We also assessed growth pattern detection before and after outlier injection using time series clustering and latent class mixed models. Error type, intensity, and population affected method performance. RESULTS: Model-based outlier detection methods performed best for measurements with precision between 5.72-99.89%, especially for low and moderate error intensities. The clustering-based outlier trajectory method had high precision of 14.93-99.12%. Combining methods improved the detection rate to 21.82% in outlier measurements. Finally, when comparing growth groups with and without outliers, the outliers were shown to alter group membership by 57.9 -79.04%. CONCLUSIONS: World Health Organization cut-off-based techniques were shown to perform well in few very particular cases (extreme errors of high intensity), while model-based techniques performed well, especially for moderate errors of low intensity. Clustering-based outlier trajectory detection performed exceptionally well across all types and intensities of errors, indicating a potential strategic change in how outliers in growth data are viewed. Finally, the importance of detecting outliers was shown, given its impact on children growth studies, as demonstrated by comparing results of growth group detection.

GROWTH, HUSBANDRY, AND DIETS OF FIVE SUCCESSFULLY HAND-REARED ORPHANED GIRAFFE CALVES (GIRAFFA CAMELOPARDALIS ROTHSCHILDI AND GIRAFFA CAMELOPARDALIS RETICULATA).

Giraffe in the wild are in ongoing decline because of poaching and habitat loss and fragmentation, and were recently assessed as "vulnerable" on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species. Captive breeding and saving each individual are therefore becoming more important to save this species from extinction. This paper describes the husbandry and diets of successfully hand-reared Rothschild's giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis rothschildi; n = 3) and reticulated giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis reticulata; n = 2). All calves were initially fed with bovine colostrum followed by cow's milk (Holstein milk; Holstein milk with 10% of bovine colostrum; Jersey and Guernsey milk). Additionally, lactase enzymes (Lactaidt, Johnson & Johnson Inc., Guelp, Ontario N1K1A5, Canada) and probiotics (Probiost, Vets Plus, Inc., Menomonie, WI 54751, USA) were used. Average growth varied from 764 to 1,239 g/day from birth until 2 mo of age and between 508 and 1,161 g/day from birth until last measurement before weaning. Hand-reared calves gained up to 21 cm in height within the first month and 82-138% of their birth weight during the first 2 mo. The giraffes were weaned at 6 (n = 1), 8 (n = 3), and 11.5 (n = 1) mo and successfully socialized and introduced to other giraffes. The described diets and husbandry proved to be effective in all five calves. Large amounts of cow's milk per feeding (up to 6 L) did not result in gastrointestinal problems.

Plant Pathogenicity Phenotyping of Ralstonia solanacearum Strains.

In this chapter, we describe different methods for phenotyping strains or mutants of the bacterial wilt agent, Ralstonia solanacearum, on four different host plants: Arabidopsis thaliana, tomato (Solanum lycopersicum), tobacco (Nicotiana benthamiana), or Medicago truncatula. Methods for preparation of high volume or low volume inocula are first described. Then, we describe the procedures for inoculation of plants by soil drenching, stem injection or leaf infiltration, and scoring of the wilting symptoms development. Two methods for measurement of bacterial multiplication in planta are also proposed: (1) counting the bacterial colonies upon serial dilution plating and (2) determining the bacterial concentration using a qPCR approach. In this chapter, we also describe a competitive index assay to compare the fitness of two strains coinoculated in the same plant. Lastly, specific protocols describe in vitro and hydroponic inoculation procedures to follow disease development and bacterial multiplication in both the roots and aerial parts of the plant.

Comparison of methods to determine total edible meat in the male Holstein cattle carcass / Comparación de métodos para determinar el total de carne aprovechable en la canal de machos Holstein / Comparação de métodos para determinar o total de carne aproveitável na carcaça de bezerros holandeses

Background: the objective of beef cattle farming is to produce young animals with adequate proportions of meat, fat and bone. In many countries, including Colombia, research on carcass quality and performance has focused on Bos indicus, resulting in little information available on Bos taurus breeds, particularly Holstein. Objective: to compare several methods for determining total edible meat (TEM) in the carcass of intact Holstein males slaughtered at 330 kg and 26 months of age. Methods: the TEM was determined by the direct method (true-TEM), and also by two indirect methods based on equations. One equation involving carcass measurements was proposed by the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos (ICTA). The other equation is based on the muscle proportion between ribs 9-11. Results: variance analysis detected statistically significant difference (p<0.05) among all methods. The relationship between true-TEM and that estimated by indirect methods was high (r =0.9756). However, according to Bland-Altman interchangeability analysis, the direct method is not interchangeable with the prediction by ICTA. The TEM variability obtained by the three methods was similar (average CV = 18.15%). Conclusion: according to this study, the method based on the muscle proportion between ribs 9-11 is useful for estimating TEM in Holstein bull carcasses.

Antecedentes: el objetivo de la ganaderia de carne es producir animales jóvenes para sacrificio, con proporciones adecuadas de carne, hueso y grasa. En países como Colombia, las investigaciones sobre calidad y rendimiento en canal se han concentrado en ganado Bos indicus, existiendo muy poca información sobre razas Bos taurus, particularmente Holstein. Objetivo: comparar varios métodos para determinar el total de carne aprovechable (TEM) en la canal de machos Holstein enteros, sacrificados a un peso aproximado de 330 Kg y 26 meses de edad. Métodos: la determinación del TEM se realizó mediante el método directo (TEM real) y dos métodos indirectos basados en el empleo de ecuaciones, a saber, la ecuación propuesta por el Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos (ICTA) utilizando mediciones realizadas en la canal, y la basada en la proporción de músculo presente en la sección comprendida entre las costillas 9 y 11. Resultados: el análisis de varianza permitió detectar diferencia estadística significativa (p<0,05) entre todos los métodos evaluados. La relación entre el TEM real y el estimado desde los métodos indirectos fue alta (r =0,9756). Sin embargo, el análisis de intercambiabilidad de Bland-Altman permitió concluir que el método directo no es intercambiable con la predicción realizada a partir del sistema ICTA. La variabilidad del TEM obtenido por los tres métodos fue similar (CV medio =18,15%). Conclusión: de acuerdo con este estudio, el método basado en la proporción de músculo entre las costillas 9 y 11 es útil para estimar el TEM en la canal de machos Holstein.

Antecedentes: o objetivo do sector pecuário é produzir animais jovens, que assegurem proporções adequadas de carne, osso e gordura no momento do abate. Na Colômbia, as pesquisas sobre qualidade e rendimento da carcaça têm-se centrado em gado Bos indicus, e pouca informação existe na raça Holstein. Objetivo: comparar vários métodos de determinação do total de carne aproveitável (TEM) na carcaça de bezerros não castrados Holstein, abatidos, aproximadamente, aos 330 Kg de peso e 26 meses de idade. Métodos: o TEM foi determinado através do método directo (TEM real) e de dois métodos indirectos baseados no uso de equações, a saber, a equação proposta pelo Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos (ICTA) usando mensurações feitas na carcaça, e a equação baseada na proporção de músculo presente na secção entre a 9ª y 11ª costela. Resultados: a análise de variância permitiu detectar diferença estatisticamente significante (p<0,05) entre todos os métodos avaliados. A relação entre o TEM real e o predito desde os métodos indirectos foi elevada (r = 0,9756). No entanto, a análise de Bland-Altman permitiu concluir que o método directo não pode se substituir pela predição feita a partir do sistema ICTA. A variabilidade do TEM obtido desde os três métodos foi similar (média CV =18.15%). Conclusão: de acordo com este estudo, o método baseado na proporção de músculo entre a 9ª y 11ª costela é útil para estimar TEM na carcaça de machos Holstein.