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China was the first country suffering from the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and one of the countries with stringent mother-neonate isolation measure implemented. Now increasing evidence suggests that coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) should not be taken as an indication for formula feeding or isolation of the infant from the mother.

The global positioning system (GPS) trajectory data are extensively utilized in various fields, such as driving behavior analysis, vehicle navigation systems, and traffic management. GPS sensors installed in numerous driving recorders and smartphones facilitate data collection on a large-scale in a high-frequency manner. Therefore, map-matching algorithms are indispensable to identify the GPS trajectories on a road network. Although the local map-matching algorithm reduces computation time, it lacks sufficient accuracy. Conversely, the global map-matching algorithm enhances matching accuracy; however, the computations are time consuming in the case of large-scale data. Therefore, this study proposes a method to improve the accuracy of the local map-matching algorithm without affecting its efficiency. The proposed method first executes the incremental map-matching algorithm. It then identifies the mismatching links in the results based on the connectivity of the links. Finally, the shortest path algorithm and the longest common subsequence are used to correct these error links. An elderly driver's driving recorder data were used to conduct the experiment to compare the proposed method with four state-of-the-art map-matching algorithms in terms of accuracy and efficiency. The experimental results indicate that the proposed method can significantly increase the accuracy and efficiency of the map-matching process when considering high-frequency and large-scale data. Particularly, compared with the two-benchmark global map-matching algorithms, the proposed method can reduce the error rate of map-matching by nearly half, only consuming 18% and 58% of the computation time of the two global algorithms, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To prospectively explore the association of maternal serum 25(OH)D levels with the infant's gut microbiota in Chinese populations, and to evaluate its potential influence on the dynamic change patterns of offspring's gut microbiota from 1 to 6 months old., Methods: Eighty-seven mother-infant dyads (vitamin D insufficient group vs. normal group = 59 vs. 28) were included in this longitudinal study. Two fecal samples were collected for the included infant at home by the parents at 1 month of age ("M1 phase") and 6 months of age ("M6 phase"). Gut microbiota were profiled by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. We performed mixed effects models on alpha diversity metrics, PERMANOVA tests on beta diversity distances, and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to identify differently abundant taxa., Results: We observed significantly lower Pielou's evenness and Shannon diversity in the vitamin D insufficient group in the M6 phase ( p  = 0.049 and 0.015, respectively), but not in the M1 phase ( p  > 0.05), and the dynamic changes in alpha diversity from 1 to 6 months old were significantly different according to maternal vitamin D status ( p  < 0.05). There were also significant differences in gut microbiota composition between the vitamin D insufficient group and normal group, both in the M1 and M6 phases (LDA score > 2.0, p  < 0.05). Moreover, among the predicted metagenome functions, pathways related to amino acid biosynthesis, starch degradation, and purine nucleotides biosynthesis were enriched in the vitamin D insufficient group., Conclusion: Our findings highlight that maternal vitamin D status plays a pivotal role in shaping the early-life gut microbiota of the next generation., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Song, Li, Zhou, Xiao, Xiao, Wang and Zhu.)

Importance: This was the first study evaluating the performance of the Xpert Xpress group B Streptococcus (GBS) test using rectovaginal swabs from Chinese pregnant women. Compared to the other three assays, the Xpert Xpress GBS test demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity when screening 939 pregnant women for GBS in rectovaginal specimens. Additionally, its reduced time to obtain results makes it valuable for the rapid detection of GBS., Competing Interests: X.H. and Y.W.T. are employees of Cepheid, the commercial manufacturer of the Xpert Xpress GBS test. The remaining authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Objective: Self-sampling with proper instruction in 35-37 weeks' gestation is an option to clinician sampling to prevent early-onset invasive group B streptococcal disease of infants. We aimed to assess the accuracy of self-sampling and influencing factors of preference for collection method in Chinese women., Methods: We compared the screening results of self-sampling with clinician collection in a sample of 520 women in late pregnancy. We collected their demographics, clinical information and preference for collection method. A multi-nominal logistic regression model was used to measure the association between the influencing factors and these participants' preference., Results: A good agreement between the two collection methods was found with a Cohen's Kappa coefficient 0.83 (95%CI = 0.71-0.95). The prevalence of GBS infection in the two methods is statistically different in this low-risk group when self-sampling presented a better outcome in terms of detecting positive cases. Self-sampling is preferable by 20.9% of the participants. No less pain during self-sampling and age older than 35 years old was statistically related to preference for clinician collection., Conclusion: The accuracy of self-sampling is no worse than clinician collection. It could be an option for those younger than 35 years old, especially for those who report low pain threshold. Pregnant women are able to collect rectovaginal samples prior to their antenatal visit. Self-sampling followed by appropriate transportation of the sample to an advanced laboratory could eliminate the effects of local laboratory capacity. There are implications in increasing GBS screening participation in resource-limited settings.