OBJECTIVES: The American Academy of Pediatrics National Registry for the Surveillance and Epidemiology of Perinatal coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (NPC-19) was developed to provide information on the effects of perinatal severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. METHODS: National Registry for the Surveillance and Epidemiology of Perinatal COVID-19 participating centers entered maternal and newborn data for pregnant persons who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 infection between 14 days before and 10 days after delivery. Incidence of and morbidities associated with maternal and newborn SARS-CoV-2 infection were assessed. RESULTS: From April 6, 2020 to March 19, 2021, 242 centers in the United States centers reported data for 7524 pregnant persons; at the time of delivery, 78.1% of these persons were asymptomatic, 18.2% were symptomatic but not hospitalized specifically for COVID-19, 3.4% were hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment, and 18 (0.2%) died in the hospital of COVID-related complications. Among 7648 newborns, 6486 (84.8%) were tested for SARS-CoV-2, and 144 (2.2%) were positive; the highest rate of newborn infection was observed when mothers first tested positive in the immediate postpartum period (17 of 125, 13.6%). No newborn deaths were attributable to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Overall, 15.6% of newborns were preterm: among tested newborns, 30.1% of polymerase chain reaction-positive and 16.2% of polymerase chain reaction-negative were born preterm (P < .001). Need for mechanical ventilation did not differ by newborn SARS-CoV-2 test result, but those with positive tests were more likely to be admitted to a NICU. CONCLUSIONS: Early in the pandemic, SARS-CoV-2 infection was acquired by newborns at variable rates and without apparent short-term effects. During a period that preceded widespread availability of vaccines, we observed higher than expected numbers of preterm births and maternal in-hospital deaths.

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These findings suggest that the utilization of different assays to detect ASA may detect sera that are positive for ASA with more reliability than single assay testing.

We analyze a performance profile of several accelerated and hybrid accelerated methods. All comparative methods are at least linearly convergent and have satisfied numerical characteristics regarding tested metrics: number of iterations, CPU time and number of function evaluations. Among the chosen set of methods we numerically show which one is the most efficient and the most effective. Therewith, we derived a conclusion about what type of method is more preferable to use considering analyzed metrics.

Biogas obtained by anaerobic digestion process from various organic fractions of waste is increasingly used as a renewable energy sources for the generation of electricity and heat. The quantity of biogas produced by anaerobic digestion depends on many factors: types and characteristics of organic waste, elemental composition of waste, C/N ratio, pH value, inhibitors, retention time, content of nutrients, etc. In addition to the selection of parameters that influence the process of anaerobic digestion, biogas yield can also be influenced by choosing the optimal combination and ratio of organic fractions of waste. In this paper, an analysis of the influential parameters in the process of anaerobic digestion was performed on biogas yields and an overview of the essential characteristics of waste (elementary composition, C/N ratio, lignin content, etc.) for different fractions of organic waste (organic municipal waste, various types of waste of animal origin, as well as agricultural waste). In order to choose the optimal mixing ratio of different fractions of organic waste for maximum biogas yield, a mathematical model has been developed using the multi-criteria optimization method. The boundary conditions set for the multi-criteria optimization was the C/N ratio in the range of 20 to 30 and the minimum content of the lignin in the substrate. The application of the developed model was carried out on the case study of the city of Nis, and the optimal mix of different types of organic waste was determined, as well as the optimal amount of each waste fraction and biogas yield.

Anaerobic co-digestion (AcD) of various fractions of organic wastes (OW) is a good method to solve the problem of OW management and energy recovery. The process is influenced by many factors, such as physical and chemical characteristics of the waste. This study is engaged with optimization of AcD process investigation; a mathematical model was developed, on the basis of characteristics of OW with the aim to achieve a maximum biogas production. Different fractions of OW available at the territory of the city of Niš, organic fractions of municipal waste (OFMSW), cow manure (CM), pig manure (PM), wheat straw (WS), maize silage (MS), hen manure (HM) and a  theory-calculated amount of sludge from wastewater treatment plant (WWS) were observed. By applying a multi-criteria optimization and observing a carbon, nitrogen, lipid and lignin content in OW, a mathematical model was developed. The criteria for the model were to achieve a maximum carbon and lipid content and minimize nitrogen and lignin content. Two different mixtures of OW were also examined. The first mixture included OFMSW, CM, PM, MS, HM, WS, whereas the second one included the fractions from the first mixture and sludge from the wastewater treatment plant. The results show that in the first optimal mixture there is 10% of HM, 10% PM and 10%MS, 24% OFMSW, 34%CM, and 12%WS. The share of carbon is 44.1%, nitrogen 2.4%, lipid 5.8%, and lignin 3.9%, while the C/N ratio is 17.7. The content of the second optimal mixture involves 10% of HM, 10% of PM, 10% of MS, and 10% of WWS, 23% of OFMSW, 26% of CM, and 11% of WS. Carbon content is 43.2%, nitrogen 2.7%, lipid 6.1% and lignin 4.1%, while the C/N ratio is 15.6. From the aspect of biogas production, the results showed that the first optimal mixture had 17.6% higher production than the second optimal mixture.

The puberty represents one of the most critical children and adolescents growth and development period, when considerable differences between age and sex may be observed. The aim of this paper was to determine body height, body mass, menarche and nutritional status in children aged 13 and 14 in Podgorica (urban area) and Berane (the rural area around Berane). This overview study, according to International Biology Program (IBP) instructions, was performed in 2018 in elementary schools in Podgorica and Berane, and includes children aged 13 and 14. In Podgorica, 216 students underwent analysis, while 214 of them underwent analysis in Berane. Boys from Podgorica had a slightly higher average body height, body weight and body mass index (BMI) in examined years compared to boys from Berane, but there was no statistical significance. Girls aged 14 years from Podgorica are slightly higher average body height and BMI and statistically significant (p <0.05) higher mean body weight compared to girls from Berane. An analysis of the nutritional status of children aged 13 and 14 in Podgorica and Berane shows that the highest percentage of boys (68.5% from Podgorica and 68.4% from Berane) and girls (75.7% from Podgorica and 74% from Berane) are in the category of normal weight. Girls in Podgorica have a menarche with 12.15 ± 0.84 and girls in Berane with 12.51 ± 0.68 years, which is a statistically significant difference (p=0.03). The girls in Podgorica have been puberty earlier than their peers in Berane. Higher obesity rate in girls in urban areas, leads to a conclusion that the attention should be particularly directed towards the diet and origin of food, especially in child development period.

Short CommunicationSignificant advances have been made regarding cancer treatment, and the ability to father children is becoming increasingly important to long term survivors. Since infertility is often the result of cancer treatment, semen cryopreservation prior to treatment is very practical, simple, relatively inexpensive, and highly recommended. Cryopreservation of semen is a well-established procedure since the birth of a baby from frozen thawed semen was first reported in early 1950's [1]. The cryopreservation procedures do affect the semen quality, especially if the semen quality is compromised, as is often observed with cancer patients. However, with the advent of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and within vitro fertilization embryo transfer (IVF-ET) procedure, cryostorage of compromised semen is feasible and should be considered. To our knowledge there is only one other report on fertility of 21 year cryostored semen of a cancer survivor [2]. At present many young cancer patients are requesting semen cryopreservation, and additional follow-up studies utilizing the cryostored semen are not only needed, but should be extended to cover many more years of cryostorage. This report describes a confirmed fertility of 25 year cryostored semen of a cancer survivor. A 17 year old was diagnosed with chronic granulocytic leukemia in March of 1985 and was treated with busulphan and thioguanine, which culminated in allogenic bone marrow transplant with cyclosporine. During treatment 5 different ejaculates obtained in June were cryopreserved in ampoules (Table 1). The patient remained cancer free with no evidence of recurrence, except for persistent azoospermia as confirmed following routine semen analyses performed in 1992, 2004 and 2010. Based on this finding an IVF-ET with ICSI procedure was initiated using the samples cryopreserved in 1985. Of the 13 mature eggs retrieved, 11 fertilized, yielding 5 blastocysts, 3 of which were cryopreserved for future use and 2 were transferred with a successful outcome, resulting in dizygotic twin boys. Paternity testing confirmed the identity of the boys. The germinal epithelium will be depleted by exposure to more than 600cGy radiation, and chemotherapeutic agents can often deplete germinal epithelium as well. Although it has been demonstrated in rodent mutation rates are high during and soon after therapy but in human it appears that the chromosomal aneuploidy is more frequent [3]. However, whether the observed DNA damage is reflected into a parallel increase in fetal malformation is not known. Only a relatively low number of men who store semen prior to cancer treatment utilize their semen within a few years. The reason may that the patients have restored their fertility, did not plan to have children or succumbed to death [4]. Fertility of long term cryostored semen has been previously documented. A sample obtained prior to vasectomy and cryostored for 28 years resulted in a successful birth following intra uterine insemination [5]. Also, a sample obtained from an i...