Data management planning in BiSC

In this post we want to explain you in detail the data management process of the BiSC Project. Any data analysis project begins with data collection, followed by validation and cleansing. Once you are sure that all the information is true, you can proceed with the statistical analysis to try to draw significant conclusions.

In the case of the BiSC Project, data collection and processing is the longest and most important stage. As you already know, this project requires the collection of large-scale data, coming from very diverse sources and topics in a time window that includes both pregnancy monitoring and post-natal follow up. The data collected is not only on the development of the baby, but also other aspects such as the characterization of lifestyle, exposure to air pollution and noise, or the presence of green spaces in the city. Dealing with data of a […]

We continue the tests at 28-35 months!

Today we want to present you the follow-up that we carry out on the BiSC children at 28 months. In this follow-up we focus on the development of the nervous and respiratory systems. We will prospectively evaluate the relationship between various prenatal and postnatal exposure outcomes and infant health, with an emphasis on neurodevelopment.

What are we asking the families to do?

In the 28-35 month follow-up there is no face-to-face visit, you will receive a call from our team to explain a series of questionnaires to answer, some similar to those we already did for the 6-8 month follow-up.

At this stage of development we also begin assessments of executive functions; specifically, the beginning of mental flexibility skills, emotional control, planning capacity and organization, among others, through the BRIEF questionnaire.

And once everything is filled?

After receiving the answers to the questionnaires, an individualized report is prepared […]

Who are the BiSC data managers?

As we already shared with you in a previous post, BiSC has obtained support from the Generalitat de Catalunya for the aids program for hiring young professionals, the Investigo 2022 grants. Since November the data management team has two new members. Below you can find a small presentation of them so that you can get to know them a bit more:

Adrià Sentís is a graduate in biomedical sciences and he completed a master’s degree in advanced microbiology at the University of Barcelona. He is currently finishing a second master’s degree in Statistics and Operations Research at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Due to his academic background, he has decided to develop in the professional field of data processing in the biology sector in order to integrate the knowledge he has from both worlds.

Toni Galmés studied the double degree of statistics and economics and took […]

Extension of the environmental visit at 18 months

Last week we shared with you in the weekly publication the details of the neurodevelopmental tests that are carried out in the follow-up of the BiSC children, including the visit with the neuropsychologist at 18 months. Today we want to share a small modification that we have incorporated in the collection of samples.

Many of you have already performed the sample collection for the 18-month visit. During the follow-up visit, Muriel, the psychologist, has offered you a kit with which you have taken a urine sample and two stool samples from your sons and daughters. A few days later, the field technician contacted you to install a tube that measures nitrogen dioxide (NO2) for a week, a tube that has accompanied your children in the various spaces where they spend their daily routines: daycare, home, strolling…

Starting in December, however, we will incorporate […]

The BiSC team grows

Starting this November, the BiSC psychology and neuropsychology department will have one more psychologist. This is a new incorporation thanks to the granting of Investigo Program grants (AGAUR) for the hiring of young people in seek of employment in research and innovation initiatives.

This is good news for the project as it will allow us to continue improving the organization and planning of the tests included on the protocol for assessments of children’s neurodevelopment and maternal mental health in each of the visits (face-to-face and distance); for the ones that currently performing and those that will come. The tests of the neurodevelopment protocol of the children of the BiSC project to date are:

Each of these tests and questionnaires is at a different stage of the research process. While the first ones are already being entered into […]

We got funded by La Marató 2021

At the BiSC team we are very excited because a few days ago we heared that the project will receive funding from La Marató de TV3 and Catalunya Ràdio, which in the 2021 edition dealt with Mental Health with the motto “La Marató that breaks barriers”.

As you already know, and thanks to the solidarity and commitment of the more than 1000 families that participate, the BiSC Project has very valuable information: we have neuropsychological and mental health evaluations at different times up to 28 months of age of the children and we also have many data related to exposure to pollutants, fetal growth, placental function, neuroimaging and a wide range of sociodemographic data. Now, with financing from La Marató, the objective is to identify genetic, psychosocial and environmental risk factors, as well as gene-environment interactions in the development and evolution of neurobehavioral and […]

Finishing the 6-month follow-up visit

Last April, the 6-month visit of BiSC children ended, which lasted two and a half years (2020 – 2022). After doing the first review of the visit data we want to share the numbers with you. A total of 705 families answered the health and lifestyle questionnaires. 614 families have taken air pollution measurements with NO2 tubes and 176 have participated in the noise campaign by installing sound meters in their homes. In addition, 185 infants have had the eye-tracking visit, a method that monitors and records the way a person looks at a certain scene or image and is used to evaluate the child’s behavior. Regarding the biological samples, we collected 576 stool samples and 568 urine samples. The former will be used to analyze the composition of the intestinal microbiota of children and the latter to measure exposure to non-persistent chemical compounds.

The role of students in the BiSC project

A large number of bachelor and master students participate and collaborate in the BiSC project, where they carry out an internship for between 3 and 6 months. They join our team through internship agreements between Universities and ISGlobal, which give them the opportunity to complete their final degree or master’s thesis.
Throughout the complex functioning of BiSC, students have been and are a very important support. They have varied backgrounds: environmental sciences, medicine, pharmacy or psychology, for example. Despite this great diversity, all of them have one thing in common: the desire to learn and collaborate.
The tasks that the students carry out are mainly material preparation for the environmental campaigns, collection of biological samples, delivery and collection of NO2 tubes and contact with mothers, among others. They also carry out data management tasks such as registration of the neurodevelopment questionnaires of the 18-month […]

What’s behind the 18 month’s visit?

Behind the environmental visit of the 18 months, there is a lot of work to do. Here we explain it step by step!
The first one is preparing the biological sample kits, one for urine and two for stools. The second one is a new kit to analyze nanoplastics, which contains aluminum paper, a wooden cup and a pot to store the sample. Here you can see the two types of kits:

Our psychologist, Muriel, once the on-site visit of the 18 months is finished, will do the delivery of the material.
Afterwards, the environmental technicians will contact the mothers by telephone to collect biological samples to deliver a tube that measures nitrogen dioxide.
This tube will have to be carried next to the boys and girls for a week  in their […]

A new follow-up visit at 24 months where an electroencephalography (EEG) test is performed!

The BiSC project, in collaboration with the Cognition and Brain Plasticity Unit of the University of Barcelona, ​​has begun a new follow-up visit at 24 months. This visit will include an electroencephalography (EEG) test while the children listen to sounds and play a learning game in front of the computer.

EEG is a completely safe, non-invasive technique with no side effects that will allow us to measure the electrical activity of the brain while children perform the various tests. This will allow us to assess the impact of pollution on the functioning of brain circuits crucial to cognition and perception.

In order to do the EEG, children will need to wear a helmet (similar to a swimming cap) with sensors. These sensors, with a little cream, allow us to measure the electrical activity of the brain. Then, as […]