The association between folic acid supplementation and birth defects other than neural tube defects remains unclear. We used a log-binomial regression model to investigate if periconceptional folic acid and/or multivitamin use was associated with birth defects in Norway with prospectively collected data from the Medical Birth Registry of Norway (MBRN) during 1999-2013. We used the EUROCAT classification system to define 11 organ-specific major birth defect groups (nervous system, eye, ear-face-neck, cardiovascular system, respiratory system, oral clefts, digestive system, abdominal wall, urinary system, genital organs, and limb), with additional subgroups. Fetuses or infants whose mothers used folic acid and/or multivitamin supplements before and during pregnancy were classified as exposed. During the years 1999-2013, 888,294 (99.0%) live born infants, 6,633 (0.7%) stillborn infants, and 2,135 (0.2%) fetuses from terminated pregnancies due to fetal anomalies were registered in the MBRN. Among the live- and stillborn infants of women who used vitamin supplements compared to infants of non-users, the adjusted relative risk (aRR) was 0.94 (95% confidence intervals (CIs) 0.91-0.98) for total birth defects (n=18,382). Supplement use was associated with reduced risk of abdominal wall defects (aRR 0.58; 0.42-0.80, n=377), genital organ defects (aRR 0.81; 0.72-0.91, n=2,299), and limb defects (aRR 0.81; 0.74-0.90, n=3,409). Protective associations were also suggested for neural tube defects, respiratory system defects, and digestive system defects although CIs included the null value of 1. During the full study period, statistically significant associations between supplement use and defects in the eye, ear-face-neck, heart or oral clefts were not observed.The COVID-19 outbreak is ongoing in China. Here, Boltzmann function-based analyses reveal the potential total numbers of COVID-19 deaths 3,260 (95% confidence interval [CI], 3187-3394) in China; 110 (95% CI, 109-112) in Hubei Province; 3,174 (95% CI, 3095-3270) outside Hubei; 2,550 (95% CI, 2494-2621) in Wuhan City; and 617 (95% CI, 607-632) outside Wuhan.An accumulating body of evidence highlights the contribution of general cognitive processes, such as attention, to language-related skills. OBJECTIVE The purpose of the present study was to explore how interference control (a subcomponent of selective attention) is affected in developmental dyslexia (DD) by means of control over simple stimulus-response mappings. Furthermore, we aimed to examine interference control in adults with DD across sensory modalities. METHODS The performance of 14 dyslexic adults and 14 matched controls was compared on visual/auditory Simon tasks, in which conflict was presented in terms of an incongruent mapping between the location of a visual/auditory stimulus and the appropriate motor response. learn more RESULTS In the auditory task, dyslexic participants exhibited larger Simon effect costs; namely, they showed disproportionately larger reaction times (RTs)/errors costs when the auditory stimulus and response were incongruent relative to RT/errors costs of non-impaired readers. In the visual Simon task, both groups presented Simon effect costs to the same extent. CONCLUSION These results indicate that the ability to control auditory selective attention is carried out less effectively in those with DD compared with visually controlled processing. The implications of this impaired process for the language-related skills of individuals with DD are discussed.OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate contact endoscopy in detecting local treatment failures post-radiotherapy in squamous cell carcinoma of the upper aerodigestive tract. METHOD A total of 135 consecutive patients with suspected residual or recurrent cancer after definitive radiotherapy underwent contact endoscopy before biopsy. Contact endoscopy findings were compared with histopathological examination findings. Contact endoscopy could not be completed in 7 patients (5.9 per cent) and histopathological examination was inconclusive in 5 patients (3.7 per cent). The findings of the remaining 123 patients were compared. RESULTS The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of contact endoscopy were 88.75, 88.72 and 86.99 per cent, respectively, with similar results across various sites of upper aerodigestive tract. Inter-observer kappa value was 0.86 (95 per cent confidence interval 0.79-0.93). The intra-observer kappa value was 0.93 (95 per cent confidence interval 0.87-1.00) for the first observer and 0.95 (95 per cent confidence interval 0.90-1.00) for second and third observers. CONCLUSION Contact endoscopy showed the same high sensitivity and specificity with low inter- and intra-observer variability in detecting post-radiotherapy failures in cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract as has been shown in non-irradiated tissues in earlier studies.Increasing clinical and experimental evidence accumulated during the past few decades support an important role for dietary advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the pathogenesis of many chronic non-infectious diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and others, that are reaching epidemic proportions in the Western world. Although AGEs are compounds widely recognized as generated in excess in the body in diabetic patients, the potential importance of exogenous AGEs, mostly of dietary origin, has been largely ignored in the general nutrition audience. In this review we aim to describe dietary AGEs, their mechanisms of formation and absorption into the body as well as their main mechanisms of actions. We will present in detail current evidence of their potential role in the development of several chronic non-infectious clinical conditions, some general suggestions on how to restrict them in the diet and evidence regarding the potential benefits of lowering their consumption.BACKGROUND Chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) terrorism continues to be a global threat. Studies examining global and historical toxicological characteristics of CBR terrorism are lacking. METHODS Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and RAND Database of Worldwide Terrorism Incidents (RDWTI) were searched for CBR terrorist attacks from 1970 through 2017. Events fulfilling terrorism and poisoning definitions were included. Variables of event date and location, event realization, poisonous agent type, poisoning agent, exposure route, targets, connected events, additional means of harm, disguise methods, poisonings, and casualties were analyzed along with time trends and data gaps. RESULTS A total of 446 events of CBR terrorism were included from all world regions. A trend for increased number of events over time was observed (R2 = 0.727; coefficient = 0.511). In these attacks, 4,093 people lost their lives and 31,903 were injured. Chemicals were the most commonly used type of poison (63.5%). The most commonly used poisonous agents were acids (12.