The compelling evidence linking small size at birth with later cardiovascular disease has renewed and amplified scientific and clinical interests into the determinants of fetal growth. It is accepted that genes and nutrition control fetal growth; however, prior to this study, it had been impossible to isolate the effect of increases and decreases in fetal oxygenation on the regulation of prenatal growth. We investigated the role of oxygen in the control of fetal growth in the chicken because in contrast to mammals, the effects on the fetus of changes in oxygenation could be isolated, by assessing them directly without alteration to the maternal or placental physiology or maternal nutrition during development. The data show that incubation at high altitude of fertilized eggs laid by sea level hens markedly restricted fetal growth. Incubation at high altitude of fertilized eggs laid by high altitude hens also restricted fetal growth, but to a lesser extent compared to eggs laid by sea level hens. By contrast, incubation at sea level of fertilized eggs laid by high altitude hens not only restored, but enhanced, fetal growth relative to sea level controls. Incubation at high altitude of sea level eggs with oxygen supplementation completely prevented the high altitude-induced fetal growth restriction. Thus, fetal oxygenation, independent of maternal nutrition during development, has a predominant role in the control of fetal growth. Further, prolonged high altitude residence confers protection against the deleterious effects of hypoxia on fetal growth.

Background There is a growing call for empirically based programming to support the success of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as they transition to college. Aims The purpose of this study was to identify the needs and challenges faced by adolescents and young adults with ASD in postsecondary education. Methods A mixed methods approach was taken to explore the needs of college-bound and college-enrolled students with ASD. Primary stakeholders (i.e., parents, educators/support staff from secondary and postsecondary institutions, and students) participated in an online survey (n = 67) and focus groups (n = 15). Results Across the stakeholder groups, commonly identified areas of difficulty included limited interpersonal competence, managing competing demands in postsecondary education, and poor emotional regulation. There was a high degree of agreement across stakeholders in the identified needs and challenges. Implications Findings from this preliminary needs analysis will inform the development of programming to support students with ASD.

The partial contributions of reductions in fetal nutrition and oxygenation to slow fetal growth and a developmental origin of cardiovascular disease remain unclear. By combining high altitude with the chick embryo model, we have previously isolated the direct effects of high-altitude hypoxia on growth. This study isolated the direct effects of high-altitude hypoxia on cardiovascular development. Fertilized eggs from sea-level or high-altitude hens were incubated at sea level or high altitude. Fertilized eggs from sea-level hens were also incubated at high altitude with oxygen supplementation. High altitude promoted embryonic growth restriction, cardiomegaly and aortic wall thickening, effects which could be prevented by incubating eggs from high-altitude hens at sea level or by incubating eggs from sea-level hens at high altitude with oxygen supplementation. Embryos from high-altitude hens showed reduced effects of altitude incubation on growth restriction but not on cardiovascular remodeling. The data show that: (1) high-altitude hypoxia promotes embryonic cardiac and vascular disease already evident prior to hatching and that this is associated with growth restriction; (2) the effects can be prevented by increased oxygenation; and (3) the effects are different in embryos from sea-level or high-altitude hens.

It is now established that adverse conditions during pregnancy can trigger a fetal origin of cardiovascular dysfunction and/or increase the risk of heart disease in later life. Suboptimal environmental conditions during early life that may promote the development of cardiovascular dysfunction in the offspring include alterations in fetal oxygenation and nutrition as well as fetal exposure to stress hormones, such as glucocorticoids. There has been growing interest in identifying the partial contributions of each of these stressors to programming of cardiovascular dysfunction. However, in humans and in many animal models this is difficult, as the challenges cannot be disentangled. By using the chicken embryo as an animal model, science has been able to circumvent a number of problems. In contrast to mammals, in the chicken embryo the effects on the developing cardiovascular system of changes in oxygenation, nutrition or stress hormones can be isolated and determined directly, independent of changes in the maternal or placental physiology. In this review, we summarise studies that have exploited the chicken embryo model to determine the effects on prenatal growth, cardiovascular development and pituitary-adrenal function of isolated chronic developmental hypoxia.

Due to the low incidence of precipitation attributed to climate change, many high-altitude Andean lakes (HAALs) and lagoons distributed along the central Andes in South America may soon disappear. This includes La Brava–La Punta, a brackish lake system located south of the Salar de Atacama within a hyper-arid and halophytic biome in the Atacama Desert. Variations in the physicochemical parameters of the water column can induce changes in microbial community composition, which we aimed to determine. Sixteen sampling points across La Brava–La Punta were studied to assess the influence of water physicochemical properties on the aquatic microbial community, determined via 16S rRNA gene analysis. Parameters such as pH and the concentrations of silica, magnesium, calcium, salinity, and dissolved oxygen showed a more homogenous pattern in La Punta samples, whereas those from La Brava had greater variability; pH and total silica were significantly different between La Brava and La Punta. The predominant phyla were Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Verrucomicrobia. The genera Psychroflexus (36.85%), Thiomicrospira (12.48%), and Pseudomonas (7.81%) were more abundant in La Brava, while Pseudospirillum (20.73%) and Roseovarius (17.20%) were more abundant in La Punta. Among the parameters, pH was the only statistically significant factor influencing the diversity within La Brava lake. These results complement the known microbial diversity and composition in the HAALs of the Atacama Desert.