BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth - Healthcare related barriers and enablers for weight management among pregnant women with overweight and obesity: a rapid scoping review 

Obesity is a risk factor for many potentially serious conditions. Pregnant women with obesity can also experience further complications such as pre-eclampsia and gestational diabetes, as well as increasing the risk of long-term health effects on the baby. Excess gestational weight gain, which women with pre-pregnancy obesity are more prone to, can also affect the mother’s health; pregnancy weight management advice and behavioural interventions can be employed to prevent weight gain and therefore improve maternal and child’s health during pregnancy, in light of the inadvisability of weight loss during pregnancy.  

The authors of this rapid scoping review looked into the challenges and enablers in pregnancy weight management for women with overweight or obesity in healthcare settings. A total of 26 publications describing such barriers and facilitators were included in this review. The authors found that barriers included, among others, lack of access, lack of consistent advice, no continuity in maternity care, workload, long waiting lists, lack of guidelines and training for staff, and the tendency to avoid the topic of weight due to wanting to avoid blame and stigma on the part of the women, and the concern about offending and distressing the women on the healthcare staff part. Lack of health literacy was also found to be a factor, linked to normalisation of obesity, where this is thought not to be a concern due to its high prevalence. Facilitating aspects included, among others, clear advice that can be incorporated into one’s routine, local facilities to address transport issues, clear referral pathways and guidance, and a woman-centred approach, specifically led by midwives who can discuss weight management in a sensitive way during routine pregnancy care and establish a trusting relationship with the patients, also linked with continuity of care.  

Overall, this study presents an overview of the issues faced by both pregnant women and healthcare staff in the management of weight and highlights the need to address this important aspect.  

This article is part of the ‘Weight stigma in pregnancy and postpartum’ Collection. You can read more about the Collection here: https://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/wspp  

BMC Ecology and Evolution - Crowdsourcing conservation: unveiling Taiwan’s sea turtle foraging grounds, emerging threats, and residency with broad societal engagement 

Sea turtles have been suffering from loss of habitat and increasing pollution as well as poaching, to the point that three species of sea turtles, out of seven, are considered endangered. Conservation projects have been ongoing to reduce threats on sea turtle populations.  

Aiming to identify foraging grounds for sea turtles, the crowdsourced project called TurtleSpot Taiwan was launched on social media in 2017 and involves over 20,000 members. A photo-ID database was created for the benefit of users as part of the project, which identified 760 turtles. Foraging grounds for green turtles, identified as locations with high numbers of sightings and stable local aggregations, were found to be Liuqiu Island, Kenting and Green Island. Of the 760 turtles observed, 114 were injured, primarily due to debris, propellers and boat strikes. Approximately 59% of the green turtles and 37% hawksbill turtles were sighted more than once, and 74.3% of resighted green turtles were found to remain in the same area for more than a year. This was true for 84.6% of resighted hawksbill turtles. The longest residence was recorded for an adult green turtle, and the duration was 3,502 days.  

A total of 442 citizen scientists recorded sightings across 5 years, and the project received steady numbers of newly involved participants.  

This study highlights the importance of citizen engagement in conservation projects, as well as the importance of raising awareness of the impact of human activity on wild species.  

This article is part of the ‘Citizen science in ecological research’ Collection. You can read more about the Collection here: https://www.biomedcentral.com/collections/CSER  

BMC Surgery - Robotic resection of mediastinal tumors: surgical approach and procedure 

Mediastinal tumours occur in the space separating the pleural cavities, called mediastinum. This area includes the heart, the pericardium, oesophagus, trachea and major blood vessels, among others.  

Minimally invasive procedures such as robotic surgery have gained popularity due to lower recovery times and fewer complications, and are especially suited in cases of benign tumours. The assistance of robotic arms is considered highly valuable due to the flexibility and manoeuvrability of the arm, particularly useful in confined spaces such as the mediastinum. 

This study conducted in Japan aimed at reporting patient positioning and port placement to identify the optimal approach for robotic-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (RATS) resection of malignant and benign mediastinal tumours. Resections of upper, anterior, middle and posterior mediastinal tumour were included in the study. Lateral, subxiphoid and single incision were employed for anterior mediastinal tumours, while the lateral decubitus position was chosen for middle, upper and posterior mediastinal tumours. The study reports robotic arm positioning as well as port placement for all cases examined, and the authors conclude that the optimal approach and port placement are dictated by the location of the tumour.  

BMC Plant Biology - Pollen and anther morphological variation in rye was shaped by domestication 

Methods of pollination, such as insect or wind pollinations, are related to different pollen grain morphology. Secale cereale L., more commonly known as rye, is a wind-pollinating cereal which has long been domesticated.  

It has been shown that bigger pollen sizes are linked to higher nutrients stores, while longer anthers are associated with more significant pollen amounts. This study aimed at investigating the genetic architecture related to variations in the morphology of pollen and anther within rye. The investigation involved diverse domesticated, feral and wild sets, totalling 339 genotypes. Out of these, 298 and 328 individuals were included in the pollen and anther morphology analysis, respectively. This revealed that domesticated rye, namely old cultivars and landraces, has higher pollen size as well as anther length compared to feral rye. As smaller pollen is associated with ease of distribution, it might be more beneficial for wild populations as opposed to high density, cultivated ones. Importantly, morphological variations were found to be due to domestication-related selection rather than genetic drift. The genetic architecture of morphological traits revealed moderate heritability for pollen length and high heritability for anther length. A quantitative trait locus on chromosome 4R, which is known to be associated with anther length, exhibited the highest detection rate.  

This study presents insights into the history of rye domestication and its effects on morphological traits.  

BMC Public Health - Adherence to 24-hour movement guidelines and associations with mental well-being: a population-based study with adolescents in Canada 

Increasing sedentary lifestyles have often been expressed as a health concern. In Canada, this was highlighted by the introduction of the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines, which provides recommendations of physical activity and sleep to promote a healthy lifestyle. This study aimed at assessing the impact of the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Children and Youth, which specifically address ages between 5 and 17, on the mental well-being of adolescents. The authors found that, while the recommendations for sleep duration and physical activity were met in 73% and 69% of cases respectively, only 14% of adolescents met the screen time recommendation. Only 4% met all three recommendations. These findings particularly highlight the challenges in reducing screen time. Meeting at least one recommendation was associated with lower depressive symptoms and increased levels of optimism and life satisfaction. This association was found to be most significant for girls meeting all three recommendations when compared with those meeting none of the three.  

These findings highlight the importance of physical activity, sleep and reduced screen time on the mental well-being of young people. Adequate sleep in particular was found to be most strongly associated with mental well-being.