Rapid shifting of a deep magmatic source at Fagradalsfjall volcano, Iceland.

Recent Icelandic rifting events have illuminated the roles of centralized crustal magma reservoirs and lateral magma transport1-4, important characteristics of mid-ocean ridge magmatism1,5. A consequence of such shallow crustal processing of magmas4,5 is the overprinting of signatures that trace the origin, evolution and transport of melts in the uppermost mantle and lowermost crust6,7. Here we present unique insights into processes occurring in this zone from integrated petrologic and geochemical studies of the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. Geochemical analyses of basalts erupted during the first 50 days of the eruption, combined with associated gas emissions, reveal direct sourcing from a near-Moho magma storage zone. Geochemical proxies, which signify different mantle compositions and melting conditions, changed at a rate unparalleled for individual basaltic eruptions globally. Initially, the erupted lava was dominated by melts sourced from the shallowest mantle but over the following three weeks became increasingly dominated by magmas generated at a greater depth. This exceptionally rapid trend in erupted compositions provides an unprecedented temporal record of magma mixing that filters the mantle signal, consistent with processing in near-Moho melt lenses containing 107-108 m3 of basaltic magma. Exposing previously inaccessible parts of this key magma processing zone to near-real-time investigations provides new insights into the timescales and operational mode of basaltic magma systems.

Deworming and micronutrient status by community open defecation prevalence: An observational study using nationally representative data from India, 2016-2018.

BACKGROUND: Micronutrient deficiencies are widespread in India. Soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections are acquired by interaction with soil and water contaminated by human feces and lead to blood loss and poor micronutrient absorption. The current recommendation for control of STH-related morbidity is targeted deworming, yet little is known about the effectiveness of deworming on micronutrient status in varying sanitation contexts. Ranging between 1% and 40% prevalence across Indian states, open defecation (OD) remains high despite India's investments at elimination by promoting community-wide sanitation. This variation provides an opportunity to study the relationship between deworming, micronutrient status, and OD at-scale. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Cross-sectional datasets that were representative for India were obtained the Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey in 2016 to 2018 (n = 105,060 individuals aged 1 to 19 years). Consumption of deworming medication was described by age and community OD level. Logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between deworming, cluster OD, and their interactions, with anemia and micronutrient deficiencies (iron, zinc, vitamin A, folate, and vitamin B12), controlling for age, sex, wealth, diet, and seasonality. These regression models further allowed us to identify a minimum OD rate after which deworming becomes ineffective. In sensitivity analyses, the association between deworming and deficiencies were tested in subsamples of communities classified into 3 OD levels based on statistical tertiles: OD free (0% of households in the community practicing OD), moderate OD (>0% and <30%), or high OD (at least 30%). Average deworming coverage and OD prevalence in the sample were 43.4% [IQR 26.0, 59.0] and 19.1% [IQR 0, 28.5], respectively. Controlling for other determinants of nutritional status, adolescents living in communities with higher OD levels had lower coverage of deworming and higher prevalence of anemia, zinc, vitamin A, and B12 deficiencies. Compared to those who were not dewormed, dewormed children and adolescents had lower odds of anemia (adjusted odds ratio 0.72, (95% CI [0.67, 0.78], p < 0.001) and deficiencies of iron 0.78, (95% CI [0.74, 0.82], p < 0.001) and folate 0.69, (95% CI [0.64,0.74], p<0.001)) in OD free communities. These protective effects remained significant for anemia but diminished for other micronutrient deficiencies in communities with moderate or high OD. Analysis of community OD indicated a threshold range of 30% to 60%, above which targeted deworming was no longer significantly associated with lower anemia, iron, and folate deficiency. The primary limitations of the study included potential for omitted variables bias and inability to capture longitudinal effects. CONCLUSIONS: Moderate to high rates of OD significantly modify the association between deworming and micronutrient status in India. Public health policy could involve sequencing interventions, with focus on improving deworming coverage in communities that have achieved minimum thresholds of OD and re- triggering sanitation interventions in high OD communities prior to deworming days, ensuring high coverage for both. The efficacy of micronutrient supplementation as a complementary strategy to improve nutritional outcomes alongside deworming and OD elimination in this age group needs further study.

Availability of national policies, programmes, and survey-based coverage data to track nutrition interventions in South Asia.

Progress to improve nutrition among women, infants and children in South Asia has fallen behind the pace needed to meet established global targets. Renewed political commitment and monitoring of nutrition interventions are required to improve coverage and quality of care. Our study aimed to assess the availability of national nutrition policies, programmes, and coverage data of nutrition interventions for women, children, and adolescents in eight countries in South Asia. We reviewed relevant policy and programme documents, examined questionnaires used in the most recent rounds of 20 nationally representative surveys, and generated an evidence gap map on the availability of policies, programmes, and survey data to track progress on coverage of globally recommended nutrition interventions. Current policies and programmes in South Asian countries addressed almost all the recommended nutrition interventions targeted at women, children, and adolescents. There was a strong policy focus in all countries, except Maldives, on health system platforms such as antenatal and postnatal care and child growth and development. Survey data on nutrition intervention coverage was most available in India and Nepal, while Bangladesh and Bhutan had the least. Though countries in South Asia have committed to national nutrition policies and strategies, national surveys had substantial data gaps, precluding progress tracking of nutrition intervention coverage. Greater attention and effort are needed for multisectoral collaboration to promote and strengthen nutrition data systems.

Variation on a theme: the structures and biosynthesis of specialized fatty acid natural products in plants.

Plants are able to construct lineage-specific natural products from a wide array of their core metabolic pathways. Considerable progress has been made toward documenting and understanding, for example, phenylpropanoid natural products derived from phosphoenolpyruvate via the shikimate pathway, terpenoid compounds built using isopentyl pyrophosphate, and alkaloids generated by the extensive modification of amino acids. By comparison, natural products derived from fatty acids have received little attention, except for unusual fatty acids in seed oils and jasmonate-like oxylipins. However, scattered but numerous reports show that plants are able to generate many structurally diverse compounds from fatty acids, including some with highly elaborate and unique structural features that have novel bioproduct functionalities. Furthermore, although recent work has shed light on multiple new fatty acid natural product biosynthesis pathways and products in diverse plant species, these discoveries have not been reviewed. The aims of this work, therefore, are to (i) review and systematize our current knowledge of the structures and biosynthesis of fatty acid-derived natural products that are not seed oils or jasmonate-type oxylipins, specifically, polyacetylenic, very-long-chain, and aromatic fatty acid-derived natural products, and (ii) suggest priorities for future investigative steps that will bring our knowledge of fatty acid-derived natural products closer to the levels of knowledge that we have attained for other phytochemical classes.

Imperfect transparency and camouflage in glass frogs.

Camouflage patterns prevent detection and/or recognition by matching the background, disrupting edges, or mimicking particular background features. In variable habitats, however, a single pattern cannot match all available sites all of the time, and efficacy may therefore be reduced. Active color change provides an alternative where coloration can be altered to match local conditions, but again efficacy may be limited by the speed of change and range of patterns available. Transparency, on the other hand, creates high-fidelity camouflage that changes instantaneously to match any substrate but is potentially compromised in terrestrial environments where image distortion may be more obvious than in water. Glass frogs are one example of terrestrial transparency and are well known for their transparent ventral skin through which their bones, intestines, and beating hearts can be seen. However, sparse dorsal pigmentation means that these frogs are better described as translucent. To investigate whether this imperfect transparency acts as camouflage, we used in situ behavioral trials, visual modeling, and laboratory psychophysics. We found that the perceived luminance of the frogs changed depending on the immediate background, lowering detectability and increasing survival when compared to opaque frogs. Moreover, this change was greatest for the legs, which surround the body at rest and create a diffuse transition from background to frog luminance rather than a sharp, highly salient edge. This passive change in luminance, without significant modification of hue, suggests a camouflage strategy, "edge diffusion," distinct from both transparency and active color change.

A Hemilabile NHC-Gold Complex and its Application to the Redox Neutral 1,2-Oxyarylation of Feedstock Alkenes.

We describe a AuI complex of a hemi-labile (C^N) N-heterocyclic carbene ligand that is able to mediate oxidative addition of aryl iodides. Detailed computational and experimental investigations have been undertaken to verify and rationalize the oxidative addition process. Application of this initiation mode has resulted in the first examples of "exogenous oxidant-free" AuI /AuIII catalyzed 1,2-oxyarylations of ethylene and propylene. These demanding yet powerful processes establish these commodity chemicals as nucleophilic-electrophilic building blocks in catalytic reaction design.

Unequal coverage of nutrition and health interventions for women and children in seven countries.

OBJECTIVE: To examine inequalities and opportunity gaps in co-coverage of health and nutrition interventions in seven countries. METHODS: We used data from the most recent (2015-2018) demographic and health surveys of mothers with children younger than 5 years in Afghanistan (n = 19 632), Bangladesh (n = 5051), India (n = 184 641), Maldives (n = 2368), Nepal (n = 3998), Pakistan (n = 8285) and Sri Lanka (n = 7138). We estimated co-coverage for a set of eight health and eight nutrition interventions and assessed within-country inequalities in co-coverage by wealth and geography. We examined opportunity gaps by comparing coverage of nutrition interventions with coverage of their corresponding health delivery platforms. FINDINGS: Only 15% of 231 113 mother-child pairs received all eight health interventions (weighted percentage). The percentage of mother-child pairs who received no nutrition interventions was highest in Pakistan (25%). Wealth gaps (richest versus poorest) for co-coverage of health interventions were largest for Pakistan (slope index of inequality: 62 percentage points) and Afghanistan (38 percentage points). Wealth gaps for co-coverage of nutrition interventions were highest in India (32 percentage points) and Bangladesh (20 percentage points). Coverage of nutrition interventions was lower than for associated health interventions, with opportunity gaps ranging from 4 to 54 percentage points. CONCLUSION: Co-coverage of health and nutrition interventions is far from optimal and disproportionately affects poor households in south Asia. Policy and programming efforts should pay attention to closing coverage, equity and opportunity gaps, and improving nutrition delivery through health-care and other delivery platforms.

Modeling relationships between iron status, behavior, and brain electrophysiology: evidence from a randomized study involving a biofortified grain in Indian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) are highly-prevalent nutrient deficiencies and have been shown to have a range of negative effects on cognition and brain function. Human intervention studies including measures at three levels-blood, brain, and behavior-are rare and our objective was to model the relationships among measures at these three levels in school-going Indian adolescents. METHODS: Male and female adolescents in rural India were screened for ID/IDA. Subjects consumed 2 meals/day for 6 months; half were randomly assigned to consume meals made from a standard grain (pearl millet) and half consumed meals made from an iron biofortified pearl millet (BPM). Prior to and then at the conclusion of the feeding trial, they completed a set of cognitive tests with concurrent electroencephalography (EEG). RESULTS: Overall, serum ferritin (sFt) levels improved over the course of the study. Ten of 21 possible measures of cognition showed improvements from baseline (BL) to endline (EL) that were larger for those consuming BPM than for those consuming the comparison pearl millet (CPM). Critically, the best model for the relationship between change in iron status and change in cognition had change in brain measures as a mediating factor, with both change in serum ferritin as a primary predictor and change in hemoglobin as a moderator. CONCLUSIONS: A dietary intervention involving a biofortified staple grain was shown to be efficacious in improving blood iron biomarkers, behavioral measures of cognition, and EEG measures of brain function. Modeling the relationships among these variables strongly suggests multiple mechanisms by which blood iron level affects brain function and cognition. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02152150 , 02 June 2014.

Anaemia in Indians aged 10-19 years: Prevalence, burden and associated factors at national and regional levels.

Anaemia control programmes in India are hampered by a lack of representative evidence on anaemia prevalence, burden and associated factors for adolescents. The aim of this study was to: (1) describe the national and subnational prevalence, severity and burden of anaemia among Indian adolescents; (2) examine factors associated with anaemia at national and regional levels. Data (n = 14,673 individuals aged 10-19 years) were from India's Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS, 2016-2018). CNNS used a multistage, stratified, probability proportion to size cluster sampling design. Prevalence was estimated using globally comparable age- and sex-specific cutoffs, using survey weights for biomarker sample collection. Burden analysis used prevalence estimates and projected population from 2011 Census data. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to analyse factors (diet, micronutrient deficiencies, haemoglobinopathies, sociodemographic factors, environment) associated with anaemia. Anaemia was present in 40% of girls and 18% of boys, equivalent to 72 million adolescents in 2018, and varied by region (girls 29%-46%; boys 11%-28%) and state (girls 7%-62%; boys 4%-32%). Iron deficiency (ferritin < 15 µg/L) was the strongest predictor of anaemia (odds ratio [OR]: 4.68, 95% confidence interval [CI]: [3.21,6.83]), followed by haemoglobinopathies (HbA2 > 3.5% or any HbS) (OR: 2.81, 95% CI: [1.66,4.74]), vitamin A deficiency (serum retinol <20 ng/ml) (OR: 1.86, 95% CI: [1.23,2.80]) and zinc deficiency (serum zinc < 70 µg/L) (OR: 1.32, 95% CI: [1.02,1.72]). Regional models show heterogeneity in the strength of association between factors and anaemia by region. Adolescent anaemia control programmes in India should continue to address iron deficiency, strengthen strategies to identify haemoglobinopathies and other micronutrient deficiencies, and further explore geographic variation in associated factors.

Background complexity can mitigate poor camouflage.

Avoiding detection through camouflage is often key to survival. However, an animal's appearance is not the only factor affecting conspicuousness: background complexity also alters detectability. This has been experimentally demonstrated for both artificially patterned backgrounds in the laboratory and natural backgrounds in the wild, but only for targets that already match the background well. Do habitats of high visual complexity provide concealment to even relatively poorly camouflaged animals? Using artificial prey which differed in their degrees of background matching to tree bark, we were able to determine their survival, under bird predation, with respect to the natural complexity of the background. The latter was quantified using low-level vision metrics of feature congestion (or 'visual clutter') adapted for bird vision. Higher background orientation clutter (edges with varying orientation) reduced the detectability of all but the poorest background-matching camouflaged treatments; higher background luminance clutter (varying achromatic lightness) reduced average mortality for all treatments. Our results suggest that poorer camouflage can be mitigated by more complex backgrounds, with implications for both camouflage evolution and habitat preferences.

Colour pattern variation forms local background matching camouflage in a leaf-mimicking toad.

Optimal camouflage can, in principle, be relatively easily achieved in simple, homogeneous, environments where backgrounds always have the same colour, brightness and patterning. Natural environments are, however, rarely homogenous, and species often find themselves viewed against varied backgrounds where the task of concealment is more challenging. One result of variable backgrounds is the evolution of intraspecific phenotypic variation which may either be generalized, with multiple similarly cryptic patterns, or specialized, with each discrete colour form maximizing concealment against a single component of the background. We investigated the role of phenotypic variation in a highly variable population of the Neotropical toad Rhinella margaritifera using visual modelling and a computer-based detection task. We found that phenotypic variation was not divided into discrete colour morphs, and all toads were well camouflaged against the forest floor. However, although the whole population may appear to consist of random samples from the background, the toads were a particularly close match to the leaf litter, suggesting that they masquerade as dead leaves, which are themselves variable. Furthermore, rather than each colour form being equally effective against a single background, each toad was specialized towards its own particular local surroundings, as suggested by a specialist strategy. Taken together, these data highlight the importance of background matching to a nominally masquerading species, as well as how habitat heterogeneity at multiple spatial scales may affect the evolution of camouflage and phenotypic variation.

Distance-dependent defensive coloration in the poison frog Dendrobates tinctorius, Dendrobatidae.

Poison dart frogs provide classic examples of warning signals: potent toxins signaled by distinctive, conspicuous coloration. We show that, counterintuitively, the bright yellow and blue-black color of Dendrobates tinctorius (Dendrobatidae) also provides camouflage. Through computational modeling of predator vision, and a screen-based detection experiment presenting frogs at different spatial resolutions, we demonstrate that at close range the frog is highly detectable, but from a distance the colors blend together, forming effective camouflage. This result was corroborated with an in situ experiment, which found survival to be background-dependent, a feature more associated with camouflage than aposematism. Our results suggest that in D. tinctorius the distribution of pattern elements, and the particular colors expressed, act as a highly salient close range aposematic signal, while simultaneously minimizing detectability to distant observers.

False holes as camouflage.

Long noted by naturalists, leaf mimicry provides some of the most impressive examples of camouflage through masquerade. Many species of leaf-mimicking Lepidoptera also sport wing markings that closely resemble irregularly shaped holes caused by decay or insect damage. Despite proposals that such markings can either enhance resemblance to damaged leaves or act to disrupt surface appearance through false depth cues, to our knowledge, no attempt has been made to establish exactly how these markings function, or even whether they confer a survival benefit to prey. Here, in two field experiments using artificial butterfly-like targets, we show that false hole markings provide significant survival benefits against avian predation. Furthermore, in a computer-based visual search experiment, we demonstrate that detection of such targets by humans is impeded in a similar fashion. Equally contrasting light marks do not have the same effect; indeed, they lead to increased detection. We conclude that the mechanism is the disruption of the otherwise homogeneous wing surface (surface disruptive camouflage) and that, by resembling the holes sometimes found in real leaves, the disruptive benefits are not offset by conspicuousness costs.

Overcoming the detectability costs of symmetrical coloration.

For camouflaged prey, enhanced conspicuousness due to bilaterally symmetrical coloration increases predation risk. The ubiquity of symmetrical body patterns in nature is therefore paradoxical, perhaps explicable through tight developmental constraints. Placing patterns that would be salient when symmetrical (e.g. high contrast markings) away from the axis of symmetry is one possible strategy to reduce the predation cost of symmetrical coloration. Artificial camouflaged prey with symmetrical patterns placed at different distances from the axis were used in both visual search tasks with humans and survival experiments with wild avian predators. Targets were less conspicuous when symmetrical patterning was placed outside a 'critical zone' near the midline. To assess whether real animals have evolved as predicted from these experiments, the saliency of features at different distances from the midline was measured in the cryptically coloured forewings of 36 lepidopteran species. Salience, both in absolute terms and relative to wing area, was greatest away from the axis of symmetry. Our work, therefore, demonstrates that prey morphologies may have evolved to exploit a loophole in the ability of mammalian and avian visual systems to spot symmetrical patterns.

In the corner of the eye: camouflaging motion in the peripheral visual field.

Most animals need to move, and motion will generally break camouflage. In many instances, most of the visual field of a predator does not fall within a high-resolution area of the retina and so, when an undetected prey moves, that motion will often be in peripheral vision. We investigate how this can be exploited by prey, through different patterns of movement, to reduce the accuracy with which the predator can locate a cryptic prey item when it subsequently orients towards a target. The same logic applies for a prey species trying to localize a predatory threat. Using human participants as surrogate predators, tasked with localizing a target on peripherally viewed computer screens, we quantify the effects of movement (duration and speed) and target pattern. We show that, while motion is certainly detrimental to camouflage, should movement be necessary, some behaviours and surface patterns reduce that cost. Our data indicate that the phenotype that minimizes localization accuracy is unpatterned, having the mean luminance of the background, does not use a startle display prior to movement, and has short (below saccadic latency), fast movements.

Underwater caustics disrupt prey detection by a reef fish.

Natural habitats contain dynamic elements, such as varying local illumination. Can such features mitigate the salience of organism movement? Dynamic illumination is particularly prevalent in coral reefs, where patterns known as 'water caustics' play chaotically in the shallows. In behavioural experiments with a wild-caught reef fish, the Picasso triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus), we demonstrate that the presence of dynamic water caustics negatively affects the detection of moving prey items, as measured by attack latency, relative to static water caustic controls. Manipulating two further features of water caustics (sharpness and scale) implies that the masking effect should be most effective in shallow water: scenes with fine scale and sharp water caustics induce the longest attack latencies. Due to the direct impact upon foraging efficiency, we expect the presence of dynamic water caustics to influence decisions about habitat choice and foraging by wild prey and predators.

Camouflage accuracy in Sahara-Sahel desert rodents.

Camouflage helps animals to hide from predators and is therefore key to survival. Although widespread convergence of animal phenotypes to their natural environment is well-established, there is a lack of knowledge about how species compromise camouflage accuracy across different background types in their habitat. Here we tested how background matching has responded to top-down selection by avian and mammalian predators using Sahara-Sahel desert rodents in North Africa. We show that the fur colouration of several species has become an accurate match to different types of desert habitats. This is supported by a correlation analysis of colour and pattern metrics, investigation of animal-to-background similarities at different spatial scales and is confirmed by modelling of two predator vision systems. The background match was closest across large (or global) spatial scales, suggesting a generalist camouflage tactic for many background types. Some species, may have a better match to the background over small (or focal) spatial scales, which could be the result of habitat choices or differential predation. Nevertheless, predicted discrimination distances of fur colouration were virtually indistinguishable for mammalian and low for avian vision model, which implies effective camouflage. Our study provides one of the best documented cases of multilevel camouflage accuracy in geographically widespread taxa. We conclude that background matching has become an effective and common adaptation against predatory threat in Sahara-Sahelian desert rodents.

Changes in Iron Status Are Related to Changes in Brain Activity and Behavior in Rwandan Female University Students: Results from a Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial Involving Iron-Biofortified Beans.

BACKGROUND: Evidence suggests that iron deficiency (ID) affects cognitive performance, as measured in behavior. Although such effects must be mediated by changes in the brain, very few studies have included measures of brain activity to assess this relation. OBJECTIVE: We tested the hypothesis that provision of iron-biofortified beans would result in improvements in measures of iron status, brain dynamics, and behavior. METHODS: A double-blind, randomized, intervention study was conducted in 55 women aged 18-27 y with low iron status (serum ferritin <20 µg/L). Women were randomly assigned to consume iron-biofortified (86.1 ppm iron) or comparison beans (50.1 ppm iron) daily for 18 wk. Iron status was assessed by hemoglobin, ferritin, transferrin receptor, and body iron; cognitive performance with 5 computerized tasks; and brain dynamics by concurrent electroencephalography (EEG). All measures were taken at baseline and endline. RESULTS: The groups did not differ on any measures at baseline. Intention-to-treat analyses revealed significant (all P < 0.05) improvements in hemoglobin (partial effect size attributable to the independent variable, η2 = 0.16), ferritin (η2 = 0.17), and body iron (η2 = 0.10), speed of responding in attentional and mnemonic tasks (η2 = 0.04-0.29), sensitivity and efficiency of memory retrieval (η2 = 0.12-0.55), and measures of EEG amplitude and spectral power (η2 = 0.08 to 0.49). Mediation models provided evidence in support of the hypothesis that changes in iron status produce changes in behavior by way of changes in brain activity. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral performance and brain activity, as measured by EEG, are sensitive to iron status, and the consumption of iron-biofortified beans for 18 wk resulted in improvements in measures of both, relative to what was obtained with a comparison bean, in a sample of female university students. Furthermore, the results support the conclusion that changes in brain activity resulting from consumption of biofortified beans mediate the relations between changes in iron biomarkers and changes in cognition. Clinical trial registry: ClinicalTrials.gov Reg No. NCT01594359.

Impact of subsidized fortified wheat on anaemia in pregnant Indian women.

The World Health Assembly called for a 50% global anaemia reduction in women of reproductive age (15-49 years of age) from 2012 to 2025. India accounts for the most cases of anaemia in the world, and half of all pregnant Indian women are anaemic. In India, the government implemented a 4-year food-based safety net programme from 2008 to 2012 involving the provision of fortified wheat flour through its public distribution system. We assessed programme impact on anaemia among pregnant women (n = 10,186) using data from the 2002-2004 and 2012-2013 Indian District Level Health Surveys. The difference-in-differences method was used to estimate the impact on haemoglobin (Hb) and anaemia in pregnant women living in northern India (Punjab) and southern India (Tamil Nadu), with pregnant women in neighbouring states without wheat fortification programmes serving as controls. In northern India, we found no impact on Hb (ß = -0.184, P = 0.793) or anaemia reduction (ß = -0.01, P = 0.859), as expected, given that the intervention targeted only nonpoor households and demand for fortified wheat was low. In southern India, where intervention coverage was high, we found no impact on Hb (ß = -0.001, P = 0.998) but did see an impact on anaemia reduction (ß = -0.08, P = 0.042), which was unexpected given low consumption of wheat in this predominantly rice-eating region. India's wheat fortification programmes were largely ineffective in terms of reducing anaemia among pregnant women. As policymakers expand fortification programs, it is critical to ensure that the fortified food is universally available and distributed widely through well-functioning and popular outlets.

Cognitive Performance in Indian School-Going Adolescents Is Positively Affected by Consumption of Iron-Biofortified Pearl Millet: A 6-Month Randomized Controlled Efficacy Trial.

BACKGROUND: Iron deficiency remains the most prevalent micronutrient deficiency globally, but few studies have examined how iron status relates to cognition in adolescents. Iron biofortification of staple food crops is being scaled up, yet it is unknown whether consuming biofortified crops can benefit cognition. Objective: Our objective was to determine the efficacy of iron-biofortified pearl millet in improving attention and memory in Indian school-going adolescents. Methods: A double-blind, randomized, intervention study was conducted in 140 Indian boys and girls, aged 12-16 y, who were assigned to consume iron-biofortified [Fe = 86 parts per million (ppm)] or conventional (Fe = 21-52 ppm) pearl millet. Hemoglobin, ferritin, and transferrin receptor (TfR) were measured and body iron (BI) was calculated at baseline and after 4 and 6 mo. Five measures of cognitive function were obtained at baseline and 6 mo: simple reaction time (SRT), Go/No-Go (GNG) task, Attentional Network Task (ANT), Composite Face Effect (CFE) task, and Cued Recognition Task (CRT). Intention-to-treat analysis was used. Results: Daily iron intake from pearl millet was higher in those consuming biofortified compared with conventional pearl millet (19.6 compared with 4.8 mg/d). Effects on ferritin, TfR, and BI at 4 mo, and on TfR at 6 mo (all P < 0.05), indicated efficacy of biofortified pearl millet over conventional pearl millet in improving iron status. Compared with conventional pearl millet, the consumption of biofortified pearl millet resulted in greater improvement in attention (SRT, GNG, and ANT) and memory (CFE and CRT). Reaction time decreased twice as much from 0 to 6 mo in those consuming biofortified compared with conventional pearl millet on attention tasks (SRT: -123 compared with -63 ms; GNG: -67 compared with -30 ms; ANT double cue: -74 compared with -32 ms; all P < 0.01). Conclusion: Consuming iron-biofortified pearl millet improves iron status and some measures of cognitive performance in Indian adolescents. This trial was registered at http://www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02152150.