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Everyone faces uncertainty on a daily basis. Two kinds of probability expressions, verbal and numerical, have been used to characterize the uncertainty that we face. Because our cognitive concept of living things differs from that of non-living things, and distinguishing cognitive concepts might have linguistic markers, we designed four studies to test whether people use different probability expressions when faced with animate or inanimate uncertainty. We found that verbal probability is the preferred way to express animate uncertainty, whereas numerical probability is the preferred way to express inanimate uncertainty. The “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations were robust enough to persist when tested with forced-choice response patterns regardless of the information (e.g., equally likely outcomes, frequencies, or personal beliefs) used to construct probabilities of events. When the response pattern was changed to free-responses, the associations were evident unless the subjects were asked to write their own probability predictions for vague uncertainty. Given that the world around us consists of both animate (i.e., living) and inanimate (i.e., non-living) things, “verbal-animate” and “numerical-inanimate” associations may play a major role in risk communication and may otherwise be useful for practitioners and consultants.
Copy number variation (CNV) is a very common type of gene variation with high frequency. In recent years, CNV has been paid more attention in various fields, especially in livestock and poultry breeding, which has promoted the progress of breeding. WW domain binding protein 1-like (WBP1L) is a protein coding gene, which plays an important role in cattle populations, and its function has been extensively studied, but it is not clear whether the copy number of the gene can affect the growth and development of cattle populations. In this study, CNV of WBP1L gene was detected in 732 cattle of seven breeds (Qinchuan cattle, QC; Pinan cattle, PN; Yuengling cattle, YL; Xianan cattle, XN; Jiaxian cattle, JX; natural Guyuan cattle, NGY; Jian cattle, JA). In addition, the relationship between CNV and growth phenotype of cattle was studied. The experimental data indicate that the copy number of WBP1L was obviously correlated with heart girth of PN cattle (**P < 0.01), rump length (RL) and body weight (BW) of PN cattle (*P < 0.05), withers height (WH), RL, body length, chest depth and BW of JX cattle (*P < 0.05), WH of NGY cattle (*P < 0.05) and WH of JA cattle (*P < 0.05). It was proved that CNV of WBP1L gene could be used as molecular marker locus for genetic breeding of the above four cattle breeds.
The great demographic pressure brings tremendous volume of beef demand. The key to solve this problem is the growth and development of Chinese cattle. In order to find molecular markers conducive to the growth and development of Chinese cattle, sequencing was used to determine the position of copy number variations (CNVs), bioinformatics analysis was used to predict the function of ZNF146 gene, real-time fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used for CNV genotyping and one-way analysis of variance was used for association analysis. The results showed that there exists CNV in Chr 18: 47225201-47229600 (5.0.1 version) of ZNF146 gene through the early sequencing results in the laboratory and predicted ZNF146 gene was expressed in liver, skeletal muscle and breast cells, and was amplified or overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, which promoted the development of tumour through bioinformatics. Therefore, it is predicted that ZNF146 gene affects the proliferation of muscle cells, and then affects the growth and development of cattle. Furthermore, CNV genotyping of ZNF146 gene was three types (deletion type, normal type and duplication type) by Real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR (qPCR). The association analysis results showed that ZNF146-CNV was significantly correlated with rump length of Qinchuan cattle, hucklebone width of Jiaxian red cattle and heart girth of Yunling cattle. From the above results, ZNF146-CNV had a significant effect on growth traits, which provided an important candidate molecular marker for growth and development of Chinese cattle.
The
$\chi $
-stability index
$\mathrm {es}_{\chi }(G)$
of a graph G is the minimum number of its edges whose removal results in a graph with chromatic number smaller than that of G. We consider three open problems from Akbari et al. [‘Nordhaus–Gaddum and other bounds for the chromatic edge-stability number’, European J. Combin.84 (2020), Article no. 103042]. We show by examples that a known characterisation of k-regular (
$k\le 5$
) graphs G with
$\mathrm {es}_{\chi }(G) = 1$
does not extend to
$k\ge 6$
, and we characterise graphs G with
$\chi (G)=3$
for which
$\mathrm { es}_{\chi }(G)+\mathrm {es}_{\chi }(\overline {G}) = 2$
. We derive necessary conditions on graphs G which attain a known upper bound on
$\mathrm { es}_{\chi }(G)$
in terms of the order and the chromatic number of G and show that the conditions are sufficient when
$n\equiv 2 \pmod 3$
and
$\chi (G)=3$
.
The wheat aphid Sitobion miscanthi (CWA) is an important harmful pest in wheat fields. Insecticide application is the main method to effectively control wheat aphids. However, CWA has developed resistance to some insecticides due to its extensive application, and understanding resistance mechanisms is crucial for the management of CWA. In our study, a new P450 gene, CYP4CJ6, was identified from CWA and showed a positive response to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Transcription of CYP4CJ6 was significantly induced by both imidacloprid and thiamethoxam, and overexpression of CYP4CJ6 in the imidacloprid-resistant strain was also observed. The sensitivity of CWA to these two insecticides was increased after the knockdown of CYP4CJ6. These results indicated that CYP4CJ6 could be associated with CWA resistance to imidacloprid and thiamethoxam. Subsequently, the posttranscriptional regulatory mechanism was assessed, and miR-316 was confirmed to participate in the posttranscriptional regulation of CYP4CJ6. These results are crucial for clarifying the roles of P450 in the resistance of CWA to insecticides.
Based on hubs of neural circuits associated with addiction and their degree centrality (DC), this study aimed to construct the addiction-related brain networks for patients diagnosed with heroin dependence undertaking stable methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and further prospectively identify the ones at high risk for relapse with cluster analysis.
Methods
Sixty-two male MMT patients and 30 matched healthy controls (HC) underwent brain resting-state functional MRI data acquisition. The patients received 26-month follow-up for the monthly illegal-drug-use information. Ten addiction-related hubs were chosen to construct a user-defined network for the patients. Then the networks were discriminated with K-means-clustering-algorithm into different groups and followed by comparative analysis to the groups and HC. Regression analysis was used to investigate the brain regions significantly contributed to relapse.
Results
Sixty MMT patients were classified into two groups according to their brain-network patterns calculated by the best clustering-number-K. The two groups had no difference in the demographic, psychological indicators and clinical information except relapse rate and total heroin consumption. The group with high-relapse had a wider range of DC changes in the cortical−striatal−thalamic circuit relative to HC and a reduced DC in the mesocorticolimbic circuit relative to the low-relapse group. DC activity in NAc, vACC, hippocampus and amygdala were closely related with relapse.
Conclusion
MMT patients can be identified and classified into two subgroups with significantly different relapse rates by defining distinct brain-network patterns even if we are blind to their relapse outcomes in advance. This may provide a new strategy to optimize MMT.
People with serious mental illness are at great risk of suicide, but little is known about the suicide rates among this population. We aimed to quantify the suicide rates among people with serious mental illness (bipolar disorder, major depression, or schizophrenia).
Methods
PubMed and Web of Science were searched to identify studies published from 1 January 1975 to 10 December 2020. We assessed English-language studies for the suicide rates among people with serious mental illness. Random-effects meta-analysis was used. Changes in follow-up time and the suicide rates were presented by a locally weighted scatter-plot smoothing (LOESS) curve. Suicide rate ratio was estimated for assessments of difference in suicide rate by sex.
Results
Of 5014 identified studies, 41 were included in this analysis. The pooled suicide rate was 312.8 per 100 000 person-years (95% CI 230.3–406.8). Europe was reported to have the highest pooled suicide rate of 335.2 per 100 000 person-years (95% CI 261.5–417.6). Major depression had the highest suicide rate of 534.3 per 100 000 person-years (95% CI 30.4–1448.7). There is a downward trend in suicide rate estimates over follow-up time. Excess risk of suicide in males was found [1.90 (95% CI 1.60–2.25)]. The most common suicide method was poisoning [21.9 per 100 000 person-years (95% CI 3.7–50.4)].
Conclusions
The suicide rates among people with serious mental illness were high, highlighting the requirements for increasing psychological assessment and monitoring. Further study should focus on region and age differences in suicide among this population.
This chapter introduces the fundamental elements of random matrix theory and highlights key applications in line outage detection using actual data recovered from existing power systems around the globe. The key mathematical component is a novel concept referred to as the mean spectral radius (MSR) of non-Hermitian random matrices. By analyzing the changes of the MSR of random matrices, grid failure detection is reliably achieved. Several studies and simulations are considered to observe the performance of this new theoretical approach to line outage detection.
The Upper Triassic Xujiahe Formation is a typical tight gas reservoir in which natural fractures determine the migration, accumulation and production capacity of tight gas. In this study, we focused on the influences of natural fractures on the tight gas migration and production. We clarified characteristics and attributes (i.e. dips, apertures, filling degree and cross-cutting relationships) of the fractures based on image logging interpretations and core descriptions. Previous studies of electron spin resonance, carbon and oxygen isotopes, homogenization temperature of fluid inclusions analysis and basin simulation were considered. This study also analysed the fracture sequences, source of fracture fillings, diagenetic sequences and tight gas enrichment stages. We obtained insight into the relationship between fracture evolution and hydrocarbon charging, particularly the effect of the apertures and intensity of natural fractures on tight gas production. We reveal that the bedding fractures are short horizontal migration channels of tight gas. The tectonic fractures with middle, high and nearly vertical angles are beneficial to tight gas vertical migration. The apertures of fractures are controlled by the direction of maximum principal stress and fracture angle. The initial gas production of the vertical wells presents a positive correlation with the fracture abundance, and the intensity and aperture of fractures are the fundamental factors that determine the tight gas production. With these findings, this study is expected to guide the future exploration and development of tight gas with similar geological backgrounds.
The lattice Boltzmann method (LBM), which was originally designed for near-incompressible Navier–Stokes flows, has been extended to rarefied gas flows with high-order quadrature in recent years. Although the ability of the high-order LBM to capture rarefaction effects has been demonstrated by many authors, its accuracy and efficiency are often undermined by numerical dissipation introduced by the off-lattice abscissas in Gauss–Hermite quadrature. Here, using the spontaneous Rayleigh–Brillouin scattering problem as the benchmark, we assess the accuracy and efficiency of the high-order LBM with on-lattice quadrature rules up to 39th order. The numerical error comprises two parts, one due to the rarefaction effect and the other due to temporal-spatial discretization, and we find that the former depends not only on the number of discrete velocities, but also on their distribution in velocity space. With a quadrature of 29th order, the error between the LBM and the discrete velocity method is found to be below 1 % up to $Kn=2.0$. Compared with a finite-volume Bhatnagar–Gross–Krook solver using Gauss–Hermite quadrature, the on-lattice LBM has a numerical dissipation several orders of magnitude lower, and achieves the same accuracy with fewer discrete velocities.
TLR3 and IL-10 play a crucial role in antiviral defence. However, there is a controversy between TLR3 rs3775291 and IL-10 rs1800871 polymorphisms and the risk of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the two single nucleotide mutations and the risk of HBV infection by meta-analysis. Medline, EMBASE, Web of Science, CNKI, China Wanfang database were searched for the case-control studies on the relationship between TLR3 rs3775291 and IL-10 rs1800871 polymorphism and susceptibility to HBV, updated to June 2020. The data were analysed by Stata 15.0 software. A total of 22 articles were included. The results showed that in the analysis of IL10 rs1800871 polymorphism and the risk of HBV infection, the pooled OR was 1.21 (95% CI 1.06–1.37), 1.28 (95% CI 1.04–1.56) and 1.20 (95% CI 1.06–1.37) and 1.40 (95% CI 1.07–1.83) in the allele model (C vs. T), dominant model (CC+CT vs. TT), recessive model (CC vs. CT+TT) and homozygous model (CC vs. TT), respectively. There was no statistical significance in the heterozygote model. A subgroup analysis of the Asian population showed similar results. The analysis of TLR3 rs3775291 polymorphism and the risk of HBV showed that in the allele model (T vs. C), the pooled OR was 1.30 (95% CI 1.05–1.61). Except for the recessive model, no significances were found in other genetic models. In conclusion, TLR3 rs3775291 and IL-10 rs1800871 polymorphisms are associated with the risk of HBV. Allele C and genotype CC at IL10 rs1800871 loci, as well as allele T and genotype TT at TLR rs3775291 loci, may increase susceptibility to Hepatitis B infection.
The European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) guidelines recommend the Royal Free Hospital-Nutritional Prioritizing Tool (RFH-NPT) to identify malnutrition risk in patients with liver disease. However, little is known about the application of the RFH-NPT to screen for the risk of malnutrition in China, where patients primarily suffer from hepatitis virus-related cirrhosis. A total of 155 cirrhosis patients without liver cancer or uncontrolled co-morbid illness were enrolled in this prospective study. We administered the Nutritional Risk Screening 2002 (NRS-2002), RFH-NPT, Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) and Liver Disease Undernutrition Screening Tool (LDUST) to the patients within 24 h after admission and performed follow-up observations for 1·5 years. The RFH-NPT and NRS-2002 had higher sensitivities (64·8 and 52·4 %) and specificities (60 and 70 %) than the other tools with regard to screening for malnutrition risk in cirrhotic patients. The prevalence of nutritional risk was higher under the use of the RFH-NPT against the NRS-2002 (63 v. 51 %). The RFH-NPT tended more easily to detect malnutrition risk in patients with advanced Child–Pugh classes (B and C) and lower Model for End-stage Liver Disease scores (<15) compared with NRS-2002. RFH-NPT score was an independent predictive factor for mortality. Patients identified as being at high malnutrition risk with the RFH-NPT had a higher mortality rate than those at low risk; the same result was not obtained with the NRS-2002. Therefore, we suggest that using the RFH-NPT improves the ability of clinicians to predict malnutrition risk in patients with cirrhosis primarily caused by hepatitis virus infection at an earlier stage.
Major depressive disorder is characterized by a high risk of relapse. We aimed to compare the prophylactic effects of different antidepressant medicines (ADMs).
Methods
PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Embase and the Web of Science were searched on 4 July 2019. A pooled analysis of parametric survival curves was performed using a Bayesian framework. The main outcomes were hazard ratios (HRs), relapse-free survival and mean relapse-free months.
Results
Forty randomized controlled trials were included. The 1-year relapse-free survival for ADM (76%) was significantly better than that for placebo (56%). Most of the relapse difference (86.5%) occurred in the first 6 months. Most HRs were not constant over time. Proof of benefit after 6 months of follow-up was not established partially because of small differences between the drug and placebo after 6 months. Almost all studies used an ‘enriched’ randomized discontinuation design, which may explain the high relapse rates in the first 6 months after randomization.
Conclusions
The superiority of ADM v. placebo was mainly attributed to the difference in relapse rates that occurred in the first 6 months. Our analysis provided evidence that the prophylactic efficacy was not constant over time. A beneficial effect was observed, but the prevention of new episodes after 6 months was questionable. These findings may have implications for clinical practice.
We describe 14 yr of public data from the Parkes Pulsar Timing Array (PPTA), an ongoing project that is producing precise measurements of pulse times of arrival from 26 millisecond pulsars using the 64-m Parkes radio telescope with a cadence of approximately 3 weeks in three observing bands. A comprehensive description of the pulsar observing systems employed at the telescope since 2004 is provided, including the calibration methodology and an analysis of the stability of system components. We attempt to provide full accounting of the reduction from the raw measured Stokes parameters to pulse times of arrival to aid third parties in reproducing our results. This conversion is encapsulated in a processing pipeline designed to track provenance. Our data products include pulse times of arrival for each of the pulsars along with an initial set of pulsar parameters and noise models. The calibrated pulse profiles and timing template profiles are also available. These data represent almost 21 000 h of recorded data spanning over 14 yr. After accounting for processes that induce time-correlated noise, 22 of the pulsars have weighted root-mean-square timing residuals of
$<\!\!1\,\mu\text{s}$
in at least one radio band. The data should allow end users to quickly undertake their own gravitational wave analyses, for example, without having to understand the intricacies of pulsar polarisation calibration or attain a mastery of radio frequency interference mitigation as is required when analysing raw data files.
A series of xLiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4–yLi3V2(PO4)3/C (x:y= 4:1, 3:1, 2:1, 1:1, 1:2, and 1:3) composite cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries are successfully prepared by the rheological phase reaction method. The structures, morphologies, and electrochemical properties of these composite materials are studied. The results indicate that xLiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4–yLi3V2(PO4)3/C composites are composed of LiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4 and Li3V2(PO4)3 phases and mutual doping exists. The initial discharge capacities, initial Coulombic efficiencies, and capacity retentions of composites increase but then decline with the increase of Li3V2(PO4)3 content. All the composites show higher capacity retentions than LiMn0.5Fe0.5PO4/C and Li3V2(PO4)3/C single phases except LMFP–3LVP/C. The composite material of x:y= 1:1 exhibits remarkably superior electrochemical performance than the single phases and other composites both in discharge capacity and cycle performance, delivering the initial discharge capacity of 148.2 mA h/g (2.0–4.5 V) and 170.1 mA h/g (2.0–4.8 V) at 0.1 C. And the corresponding capacity retentions are 98.0 and 90.4% after 100 cycles, respectively.
Maternal supraphysiological estradiol (E2) environment during pregnancy leads to adverse perinatal outcomes. However, the influence of oocyte exposure to high E2 levels on perinatal outcomes remains unknown. Thus, a retrospective cohort study was conducted to explore the effect of high E2 level induced by controlled ovarian stimulation (COH) on further outcomes after frozen embryo transfer (FET). The study included all FET cycles (n = 10,581) between 2014 and 2017. All cycles were categorized into three groups according to the E2 level on the day of the human Chorionic Gonadotropin trigger. Odds ratios (ORs) and their confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the association between E2 level during COH and pregnancy outcomes and subsequent neonatal outcomes. From our findings, higher E2 level was associated with lower percentage of chemical pregnancy, clinical pregnancy, ongoing pregnancy, and live birth as well as increased frequency of early miscarriage. Preterm births were more common among singletons in women with higher E2 level during COH (aOR1 = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.22–3.06; aOR2 = 2.05, 95% CI: 1.33–3.06). Incidence of small for gestational age (SGA) was more common in both singletons (aOR1 = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.30–3.11; aOR2 = 2.51, 95% CI: 1.69–3.74) and multiples (aOR1 = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.03–2.45; aOR2 = 1.99, 95% CI: 1.05–3.84) among women with relatively higher E2 level. No association was found between high E2 level during COH and the percentage of macrosomia or large for gestational age. In summary, oocyte exposure to high E2 level during COH should be brought to our attention, since the pregnancy rate decreasing and the risk of preterm birth and SGA increasing following FET.
Improving the production traits and resistance against mastitis in dairy cattle is a challenge for animal scientists across the globe. The present study was designed to investigate the genetic effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Janus kinase 2 (JAK2) and diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT1) genes with production and mastitis-related traits. Four SNPs in JAK2 and one in DGAT1 were analyzed through Chinese Cow's SNPs Chip-I (CCSC-I) and genotyped in a population of 312 Chinese Holsteins. Our findings demonstrated that milk fat percentage, somatic cell count (SCC), somatic cell score (SCS), serum cytokines interleukin 6 (IL-6) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ) showed significant associations (P < 0.05) with at least one or more identified SNPs. Consequently, the analysis based on haplotypes amongst the SNPs in JAK2 revealed noteworthy (P < 0.05) association with SCC and IL-6. Collectively, our results verified the pleiotropic ability of detected SNPs in bovine JAK2 and DGAT1 for milk fat percentage as well as mastitis-related traits. The significant SNPs in both the genes could serve as powerful genetic markers to minimize mastitis risk. In addition, besides SCC and SCS, the IFN-γ and IL-6 could also be used as indicators of improved genetic resistance against mastitis.
By
Chen Wei, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing, China,
Shi Lei, Lecturer, Civil and Commercial Law School, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing, China
In today's world, one of the tendencies in modern family law reform is ‘to respect children more and fully protect the interests of children’. In 1989, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (hereinafter referred to as the CRC) affirmed the principle of the best interests of the child, which specifies the rights of the child to subsistence, development, living with parents and expression. The Chinese Government has always attached great importance to the protection of children's rights and interests. Articles 26 to 39 in the General Rules of Civil Law (hereinafter referred to as the GRCL), which came into effect on 1 October 2017, stipulate the guardianship system in China. Except for Articles 28 and 33, which do not involve the guardianship of minors (hereinafter referred to as child or children), the other clauses contain the relevant contents of the guardianship system for children. This chapter analyses the present rules and judicial interpretations on the guardianship system for minors, especially the GRCL, under the guidance of the CRC. The successes and shortcomings in the present laws and rules are explored. To conclude, based on the reality in China, the authors put forward suggestions for improving the present children's guardianship with a view to better child protection and child-friendly living environments.
THE PROVISIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE CRC ON CHILD GUARDIANSHIP
The 44th UN General Assembly adopted the Convention and opened it for signature on 20 November 1989 in its resolution 25. The Chinese Government had actively participated in the drafting of the Convention and signed it on 29 August 1990. It ratified the Convention on 29 December 1991 and submitted its instrument of ratification to the United Nations on 2 March 1992. For China, the Convention entered into force on 2 April 1992. The Chinese Government has always attached great importance to the legislative and judicial work for the protection of children's rights and interests. It has endeavoured to implement the relevant provisions in the CRC. China has recently formulated and improved relevant legislation concerning children's rights protection, and at the same time has worked hard to protect children's legitimate rights and interests through law, education programs and judicial trials. Due to length restrictions, it is mainly the child guardianship system that will be explored here.
Semantic shifts have been explored via a range of methods (Allan & Robinson 2012). Typically, semantic shifts were usually noted or described with methods such as a literature review or dictionary checking (e.g. Blank & Koch, 1999; Stockwell & Minkova, 2001; Williams, 1976), which are very labour-intensive and time-consuming methods. Other more recently developed methods involve sociolinguistic interviews (Robinson, 2012; Sandow & Robinson, 2018). However, with the development of large-sized corpora and computational semantics, diachronic semantic shifts have started to be captured in a data-driven way (Kutuzov et al., 2018). Recently, the word embeddings technique (Mikolov et al., 2013) has been proven to be a promising tool for the tracking of semantic shifts (e.g. Hamilton, Leskovec & Jurafsky, 2016a, 2016b; Kulkarni et al., 2015; Kutuzov et al., 2017). For example, Hamilton et al. (2016b) exemplified how to use the technique to capture the subjectification process of the word ‘actually’ during the 20th century.
The effect of maternal folate intake on small-for-gestational-age (SGA) births remains inconclusive. The present study aimed to investigate the associations of maternal folate intake from diet and supplements with the risk of SGA births using data from a cross-sectional study in Shaanxi Province of Northwest China. A total of 7307 women who were within 12 months (median 3; 10th–90th percentile 0–7) after delivery were included. Two-level models were adopted to examine the associations of folate (dietary folate, supplemental folic acid and total folate) intake with the risk of SGA births and birth weight Z score, controlling for a minimum set of confounders that were identified in a directed acyclic graph. Results showed that a higher supplemental folic acid intake during the first trimester was negatively associated with the risk of SGA births (≤60 d v. non-use: OR 0·80; 95 % CI 0·66, 0·96; >60 d v. non-use: OR 0·78; 95 % CI 0·65, 0·94; Ptrend = 0·010; per 10-d increase: OR 0·97; 95 % CI 0·95, 0·99). A higher total folate intake during pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of SGA births (highest tertile v. lowest tertile: OR 0·77; 95 % CI 0·64, 0·94; Ptrend = 0·010; per one-unit increase in the log-transformed value: OR 0·81; 95 % CI 0·69, 0·95). A similar pattern was observed for the birth weight Z score. Our study suggested that folic acid supplementation during the first trimester and a higher total folate intake during pregnancy were associated with a reduced risk of SGA births.