Monday, February 10, 2025

Born too late? Climate change may be delaying births

Curtin University

New Curtin University research has found exposure to outdoor air pollution and extreme temperatures during pregnancy may increase the risk of prolonged pregnancy, offering new insights into the impact of climate change on maternal health.

The study analysed data from nearly 400,000 births in Western Australia and found that higher exposure to fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) and biothermal stress (a measure that combines air temperature, radiant temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and human physiology) was associated with pregnancies lasting beyond 41 weeks.

Lead author Dr Sylvester Dodzi Nyadanu from Curtin’s School of Population Health said while climate exposure has long been linked to preterm births, this is the first study to examine its impact on prolonged pregnancies.

“We know that being ‘born too soon’—preterm birth—has well-documented health risks, but little attention has been given to the risks associated with being ‘born too late’,” Dr Nyadanu said.

“Our findings show that exposure to air pollution and biothermal stress during pregnancy increases the likelihood of prolonged pregnancies, particularly among mothers over 35 years old, first-time mothers, those living in urban areas, and those with complicated pregnancies.

“Environmental stressors, including climate-related exposures during pregnancy, have been associated with maternal stress response and subsequent disruptions in endocrine and inflammatory activities, which increase towards the end of pregnancy. This can either shorten gestation, leading to preterm birth, or lengthen gestation, resulting in prolonged pregnancy in some cases.”

Dr Nyadanu said prolonged pregnancy can have serious health implications for both mother and baby, including the need for medical interventions such as labour induction or caesarean sections, increased risk of stillbirth, birth complications, child mortality, early childhood behavioural and emotional problems, and emotional impacts on families.

“With climate change driving more frequent extreme weather events and worsening air quality, it is essential that we recognise the potential impacts on maternal and child health,” Dr Nyadanu said.

“Healthcare providers, policymakers and pregnant women—particularly those in vulnerable groups—must consider climate-related exposures when assessing pregnancy risks and planning interventions.

“This study highlights the need for targeted policies and preventative measures to reduce climate-related health risks, including better air quality regulations and public health initiatives aimed at protecting expectant mothers and children from extreme climatic conditions.”

Published in Urban Climate, the study is titled ‘Maternal climate-related exposures and prolonged pregnancy: Findings from a statewide population-based cohort study in Western Australia’ and can be accessed here.

DOI

10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102316

Method of Research

Case study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Urban Climate

Investigating the health benefits of omega-3 from fish eggs

New Anglia Ruskin University and Arctic Bioscience collaboration examines omega-3 derived from herring roe

Anglia Ruskin University

Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) is partnering with Norwegian biotechnology company Arctic Bioscience to carry out the largest research project to date exploring how nutrients derived from fish eggs can support a healthy and active lifestyle across all ages.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential nutrients that can play an important role in maintaining overall health. However, the general population typically consumes few foods that are rich in omega-3, such as oily fish.

The new three-year project, called Active Romega, is investigating the benefits of omega-3 phospholipid fish oil and proteins derived from herring roe, which are the eggs of the fish. Unlike other omega-3 supplements, herring roe omega-3 contains a higher concentration of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and specialised pro-resolving mediators (SPMs).

DHA and SPMs have been shown to have potent anti-inflammatory effects and are also believed to benefit muscle function, metabolism, and cognitive function, which are all key to supporting a healthy lifestyle.

The Active Romega project comprises two distinct research strands led by Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) PhD students Dani Dalmay and Jorge Pinto. These are exploring the effects of herring roe omega-3 on exercise metabolism and recovery, specifically focusing on active females, and how herring roe omega-3 can support the healthy ageing process in older adults.

The overall project is being led by Dr Sanjoy Deb, Associate Professor in Exercise and Nutritional Science at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), who said: “The use of fish oils has shown promise across various health parameters, with emerging research indicating particular benefits for women and in supporting healthy ageing.

“This new partnership with Arctic Bioscience allows us to undertake robust research to explore the public health benefits of herring-derived omega-3, alongside exercise. This will be the first time this specific type of omega-3 has been tested to investigate its benefits in these areas.

“One of the reasons herring roe omega-3 is unique is its higher concentration of DHA [docosahexaenoic acid] compared to EPA [eicosapentaenoic acid] – most fish oils have more EPA than DHA – and the oil is naturally rich in the metabolites of DHA and EPA, namely specialised pro-resolving mediators such as resolvins, protectins and maresins. Herring roe omega-3 also has a phospholipid chemical structure, rather than a more typical triglyceride structure.

“Some studies suggest better absorption and improved health outcomes from marine-based phospholipids, although research is still in its infancy. Our Active Romega project should contribute significantly to this area of research.”

Hogne Hallaråker, the founder and Chief Science Officer of Arctic Bioscience said: “Arctic Bioscience is honoured to be a part of this project with Anglia Ruskin. We have been working with herring roe phospholipids and proteins for many years now, both in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical field, and see many potential health benefits for their use in sports nutrition.”

Air traffic control for drones: Engineers introduce low-cost UAV detection technology

Increase in drones means more congested, unregulated low-flying airspace

Brigham Young University

Air traffic control for drones — image:
A drone flies high above the valley floor in Utah County, Utah.
view more
Credit: Nate Edwards/BYU Photo

With the exponential rise in drone activity, safely managing low-flying airspace has become challenging — especially in highly populated areas. Just last month an unauthorized drone collided with a ‘Super Scooper’ aircraft above the Los Angeles wildfires, grounding the aircraft for several days and hampering the firefighting efforts.

Traditional radar systems are powerful but cannot effectively detect low-flying aircraft below 400 feet. While the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has some regulations to manage small, unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones, tracking and safety can be problematic – especially in congested or restricted airspaces. BYU researchers may have the solution.

Using a network of small, low-cost radars, engineering professor Cammy Peterson and her colleagues have built an air traffic control system for drones that can effectively and accurately track anything in an identified low-altitude airspace.

“Radar has been around for a long time,” said Karl Warnick, co-author and BYU professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Instead of having a $10 million spinning dish like you’d see at an airport, we have a simple thing that could be built for a few hundred dollars. The small radars don’t have all the capabilities of a higher-end radar, but a network of small radars can work together effectively.”

Peterson explained how the drone air traffic control system works:

Multiple ground station computers are connected to radar units, which are distributed around an area.
These radar units are pointed toward the sky to detect any moving objects within their field of view.
When a radar unit identifies an object, it records the position of that object in addition to the radar unit itself.
This information is then converted to a global coordinate frame to be shared with other ground stations to create a comprehensive, time-varying picture of air traffic in the area.

This conversion allows all ground stations to accurately interpret the object's position in real space, Peterson said. To achieve a dynamic air traffic picture, each radar unit must be calibrated or provided with the necessary data to convert from the local frame to the global frame.

“Each radar has a field of view as it’s pointed up at the sky,” said fellow researcher Tim McLain, a BYU professor of mechanical engineering. “You want the radars to be calibrated so they all see an individual aircraft at the same place in the sky,”

Researchers said the small radars could potentially be installed on structures such as light posts or cell towers.

Peterson recently published a paper about tracking drones with their air traffic control system, explaining that their research, completed using funding provided by the National Science Foundation, provides more certainty about real-time drone location — important when considering how to prevent collisions between drones.

While the BYU researchers focused on three radars — each able to track a circular airspace about 500 feet across — the technology could be scaled to a broader network with many radars.

“One company (like Amazon or Walmart) can’t take the whole airspace for an hour, right?” Peterson said. “To be cost effective you need to allow multiple vehicles from different companies to travel through the same area during the same time window. If you want to be safe, you’ll want to know where the other drones are at.”

The effectiveness of the system could be compromised due to weather or an object that bumps into a physical radar unit, causing it to move and point in an unintended direction. But an online calibration allows the radar units to adjust for an inadvertent change in its position as it is collecting data, and to correct for any problems.”

“An exciting aspect of this air traffic control system is that in the course of 10 seconds, our radars can correct for a unit’s new position,” said graduate student and co-author Brady Anderson.

To come to the 10-second correction time, Anderson focused on a mathematical equation that performs the online calibration. The research team demonstrated that this dynamic calibration technique showed clear improvements over research with recorded or “batch” data.

Peterson said that with the algorithms driving the system, the radar units could be swapped out or more could be added, allowing for different capabilities depending on the needs.

Journal

Journal of Intelligent & Robotic Systems

DOI

10.1007/s10846-024-02186-0