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Objectives: Fetuses with late‐onset growth restriction (FGR) have a higher risk of suboptimal neurocognitive performance after birth. Previous studies have reported that impaired brain and cortical development can start in utero. The primary aim of this study was to report midline structure growth and cortical development in fetuses with late‐onset FGR according to its severity; the secondary aim was to elucidate whether the severity of FGR, as defined by the presence of abnormal Doppler findings, plays a role in affecting brain growth and maturation. Methods: This was a prospective observational study that included fetuses with late‐onset FGR (defined according to the Delphi FGR criteria) undergoing neurosonography between 32 and 34 weeks' gestation. Midline structure (corpus callosum (CC) and cerebellar vermis (CV)) length and cortical development, including the depth of the Sylvian (SF), parieto‐occipital (POF) and calcarine (CF) fissures, were compared between late‐onset FGR, small‐for‐gestational‐age (SGA) and appropriate‐for‐gestational‐age (AGA) fetuses. Subgroup analysis according to the severity of FGR (normal vs abnormal fetal Doppler) was also performed. Univariate analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: A total of 52 late‐onset FGR fetuses with normal Doppler findings, 60 late‐onset FGR fetuses with abnormal Doppler findings, 64 SGA fetuses and 100 AGA fetuses were included in the analysis. When comparing AGA controls with SGA fetuses, late‐onset FGR fetuses with normal Doppler findings and late‐onset FGR fetuses with abnormal Doppler findings, there was a progressive and significant reduction in the absolute values of the following parameters: CC length (median (interquartile range (IQR)), 43.5 (28.9–56.1) mm vs 41.9 (27.8–51.8) mm vs 38.5 (29.1–50.5) mm vs 31.7 (23.8–40.2) mm; K = 26.68; P < 0.0001), SF depth (median (IQR), 14.5 (10.7–16.8) mm vs 12.7 (9.8–15.1) mm vs 11.9 (9.1–13.4) mm vs 8.3 (6.7–10.3) mm; K = 75.82; P < 0.0001), POF depth (median (IQR), 8.6 (6.3–11.1) mm vs 8.1 (5.6–10.4) mm vs 7.8 (6.1–9.3) mm vs 6.6 (4.2–8.0) mm; K = 45.06; P < 0.0001) and CF depth (median (IQR), 9.3 (6.7–11.5) mm vs 8.2 (5.7–10.7) mm vs 7.7 (5.2–9.4) mm vs 6.3 (4.5–7.2) mm; K = 46.14; P < 0.0001). Absolute CV length was significantly higher in AGA fetuses compared with all other groups, although the same progressive pattern was not noted (median (IQR), 24.9 (17.6–29.2) mm vs 21.6 (15.2–26.1) mm vs 19.1 (13.8–25.9) mm vs 21.0 (13.5–25.8) mm; K = 16.72; P = 0.0008). When the neurosonographic variables were corrected for fetal head circumference, a significant difference in the CC length and SF, POF and CF depths, but not CV length, was observed only in late‐onset FGR fetuses with abnormal Doppler findings when compared with AGA and SGA fetuses. Conclusions: Fetuses with late‐onset FGR had shorter CC length and delayed cortical development when compared with AGA fetuses. After controlling for fetal head circumference, these differences remained significant only in late‐onset FGR fetuses with abnormal Doppler. These findings support the existence of a link between brain development and impaired placental function. © 2024 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beginning with invention of the cotton gin by Eli Whitney in 1793, cotton production in the United States has experienced many milestone advances over the last 200 years. Some of those were mechanized technological advances, such as the cotton gin and mechanical harvesters, and others were scientific advances, such as Boll Weevil Eradication (BWE) and transgenic cultivars, which, in some cases, revolutionized the industry and, in other cases, saved the industry from further declines. Many scientific and research studies have analyzed and measured the effects of these innovations on cotton production. None, however, have sought the opinions of the people involved in the day-to-day operation of cotton farms on the innovations most beneficial to them, and the innovations they believe will be important to them in the future. Interviews with experts involved in cotton production at the 2007 Beltwide Cotton Conferences suggested that the most important innovations in the last decade were transgenic cultivars, BWE, cotton breeding, and harvesting equipment. Producer responses to a survey conducted in February 2007 confirmed the results from the Beltwide Conference interviews. Survey respondents ranked the Roundup Ready trait as the number one innovation over the last 10 years. Transgenic cultivars as a group, BWE, and improved cotton germplasm ranked as high statistically as the Roundup Ready trait. Some differences of opinion were observed among groups. Smaller farmers ranked new harvesting technologies higher than larger producers, and farmers in the Delta ranked Boll Weevil Eradication lower than farmers in the other regions surveyed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]