Economic inequalities in adolescents' internalising symptoms: longitudinal evidence from eight countries.

Background: Research, mainly conducted in Europe and North America, has shown an inequitable burden of internalising mental health problems among adolescents from poorer households. We investigated whether these mental health inequalities differ across a diverse range of countries and multiple measures of economic circumstances.

Methods: In this longitudinal observational cohort study, we analysed data from studies conducted in eight countries (Australia, Ethiopia, India, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, the UK, and Viet Nam) across five global regions.

Late-childhood foundational cognitive skills predict educational outcomes through adolescence and into young adulthood: evidence from Ethiopia and Peru.

We estimate associations between foundational cognitive skills (inhibitory control, working memory, long-term memory, and implicit learning) measured at age 12 and educational outcomes measured at ages 15 and 19-20 in Ethiopia and Peru, using the Young Lives data. The estimates adjust for rich sets of controls and include measurements of children's baseline abilities. For a subset of the outcomes, we exploit within-household variation.

Population-Level Effectiveness of an Inactivated Whole-Virion COVID-19 Vaccine: A Test Negative Case-Control Study in the Dominican Republic.

Background: A continuing nationwide vaccination campaign began in the Dominican Republic on February 16, 2021 to prevent severe consequences of acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Estimates of vaccine effectiveness under real-world conditions are needed to support policy decision making and inform further vaccine selection.

Methods: We conducted a test-negative case-control study to assess the real-world effectiveness of nationwide coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program using an inactivated vaccine (CoronaVac) on preventing symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infections and hospitalizations from August to November 2021 in the Dominican Republic.

School environments and obesity: a systematic review of interventions and policies among school-age students in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Background: The rapid rise in obesity rates among school children in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) could have a direct impact on the region's physical and mental health, disability, and mortality. This review presents the available interventions likely to reduce, mitigate and/or prevent obesity among school children in LAC by modifying the food and built environments within and around schools.

Methods: Two independent reviewers searched five databases: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature for peer-reviewed literature published from 1 January 2000 to September 2021; searching and screening prospective studies published in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

Treatment of Soft Tissue Filler Complications: Expert Consensus Recommendations.

Background: Dermal fillers have been increasingly used in minimally invasive facial esthetic procedures. This widespread use has led to a rise in reports of associated complications. The aim of this expert consensus report is to describe potential adverse events associated with dermal fillers and to provide guidance on their treatment and avoidance.

Disparities in children's vocabulary and height in relation to household wealth and parental schooling: A longitudinal study in four low- and middle-income countries.

Children from low socio-economic status (SES) households often demonstrate worse growth and developmental outcomes than wealthier children, in part because poor children face a broader range of risk factors. It is difficult to characterize the trajectories of SES disparities in low- and middle-income countries because longitudinal data are infrequently available. We analyze measures of children's linear growth (height) at ages 1, 5, 8 and 12y and receptive language (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) at ages 5, 8 and 12y in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam in relation to household SES, measured by parental schooling or household assets.

Melatonin Decreases Glucose Metabolism in Prostate Cancer Cells: A C Stable Isotope-Resolved Metabolomic Study.

The pineal neuroindole melatonin exerts an exceptional variety of systemic functions. Some of them are exerted through its specific membrane receptors type 1 and type 2 (MT1 and MT2) while others are mediated by receptor-independent mechanisms. A potential transport of melatonin through facilitative glucose transporters (GLUT/) was proposed in prostate cancer cells.

Teachers' Perceptions of Preschool Children's Psychomotor Development in Spain.

This study analyzed the psychomotor profiles of preschool stage students and to determine how these data agreed with the students' teachers' subjective assessment. We also correlated these data with other variables such as age, gender, and family influence. A total of 211 children aged 3 to 6 years, in the second cycle of preschool from 30 classes of 10 schools in Spain participated.

Preventing the Complications Associated with the Use of Dermal Fillers in Facial Aesthetic Procedures: An Expert Group Consensus Report.

Background: The use of dermal fillers in minimally invasive facial aesthetic procedures has become increasingly popular of late, yet as the indications and the number of procedures performed increase, the number of complications is also likely to increase. Paying special attention to specific patient characteristics and to the technique used can do much to avoid these complications. Indeed, a well-trained physician can also minimize the impact of such problems when they do occur.

Does pre-school improve cognitive abilities among children with early-life stunting? A longitudinal study for Peru.

Several studies in developing countries have found that children who experience growth faltering in the first years of life show lower cognitive abilities than their peers. In this study, we use the Young Lives longitudinal dataset in Peru to analyze if attending pre-school affects cognitive abilities at age five years, and if there is an interaction with HAZ at age one year. Using instrumental variables we found, for receptive vocabulary, a positive effect of attending (formal) pre-schools; the effect of attending (community-based) pre-schools was not significant.

Postinfancy growth, schooling, and cognitive achievement: Young Lives.

Background: Early life growth failure and resulting cognitive deficits are often assumed to be very difficult to reverse after infancy.

Objective: We used data from Young Lives, which is an observational cohort of 8062 children in Ethiopia, India, Peru, and Vietnam, to determine whether changes in growth after infancy are associated with schooling and cognitive achievement at age 8 y.

Design: We represented the growth by height-for-age z score at 1 y [HAZ(1)] and height-for-age z score at 8 y that was not predicted by the HAZ(1).

What difference can fathers make? Early paternal absence compromises Peruvian children's growth.

Considerable evidence suggests that fathers' absence from home has a negative short- and long-term impact on children's health, psychosocial development, cognition and educational experience. We assessed the impact of father presence during infancy and childhood on children's height-for-age z-score (HAZ) at 5 years old. We conducted secondary data analysis from a 15-year cohort study (Young Lives) focusing on one of four Young Lives countries (Peru, n = 1821).

Adverse reactions after nonablative radiofrequency: follow-up of 290 patients.

Background: Monopolar radiofrequency has been Food and Drug Administration approved for the noninvasive treatment of periorbital rhytides and wrinkles in 2002 and for full-face treatment in 2004. In order to establish the degree of side effects in our practice, a retrospective review was done.

Observations: Seven hundred fifty-seven treatments of nonablative monopolar radiofrequency were done on 290 patients.

Developmental potential in the first 5 years for children in developing countries.

Many children younger than 5 years in developing countries are exposed to multiple risks, including poverty, malnutrition, poor health, and unstimulating home environments, which detrimentally affect their cognitive, motor, and social-emotional development. There are few national statistics on the development of young children in developing countries. We therefore identified two factors with available worldwide data--the prevalence of early childhood stunting and the number of people living in absolute poverty--to use as indicators of poor development.

Maternal education and intelligence predict offspring diet and nutritional status.

The traditional assumption that children's nutritional deficiencies are essentially due either to overall food scarcity or to a lack of family resources to purchase available food has been increasingly questioned. Parental characteristics represent 1 type of noneconomic factor that may be related to variability in children's diets and nutritional status. We report evidence on the relation of 2 parental characteristics, maternal education level and maternal intelligence, to infant and toddler diet and nutritional status.

Height, weight, and education achievement in rural Peru.

The education system in Peru and many other developing countries faces several challenges, including improving education achievement and increasing education enrollment in high school. It is clear from several indicators that rural students have lower education outcomes than do urban students. In this study we used cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis to determine the relationship between height-for-age z-scores (HAZ), weight-for-age z-scores (WAZ), body-mass index (BMI), and education outcomes.

Relation of neonatal iron status to individual variability in neonatal temperament.

The relation between indices of neonatal iron status and individual differences in neonatal temperament were investigated in a sample of 148 low-income Peruvian women and their newborn infants. Using cord blood, at birth we obtained measures of neonatal ferritin, serum iron, and hemoglobin. While neonates were still in the hospital, their behavior during a structured anthropometry examination was videotaped and subsequently coded on four temperament dimensions: activity level, negative emotionality, alertness, and soothability.

Breakfast and performance.

Evidence suggests that the effect of fasting on performance is not uniform, but it is dependent on the basal nutritional status of the subject. Breakfast consumption has a short-term effect in improving selected learning skills, especially work memory. School breakfast programmes have a positive effect on the nutritional status of children, on school attendance and probably on dropout rates.

Computed tomography scan versus ventilation-perfusion lung scan in the detection of pulmonary embolism.

This study compared the sensitivity and specificity of computed tomography (CT) scan and ventilation-perfusion (V-P) scan in detecting pulmonary embolism (PE) with pulmonary angiogram (AG) as the reference standard. Following a comprehensive search of the indexed medical literature, CT scan studies related to PE diagnosis were systematically evaluated to select those using AG as the reference standard and meeting specified methodologic criteria. Studies were further grouped by those reporting results for central PE findings only versus central and peripheral PE combined.

When science and politics listen to each other: good prospects from a new school breakfast program in Peru.

This article provides an overview of a school breakfast program implemented in 1993 in the Peruvian Andes. The program, designed by the Instituto de Investigación Nutricional in Lima and supported by the government of Peru, constitutes a clear departure from previous school feeding programs, which were heavily politicized and poorly documented. From the program's inception, nutritionists, managers, and social scientists have collaborated to produce a sound nutritional design, efficient distribution mechanisms, and effective evaluation methods.

Fasting and cognition in well- and undernourished schoolchildren: a review of three experimental studies.

This paper reviews three experiments on the effects of an overnight and morning fast on attention and memory processes among 9-11-y-old children. Two of the experiments focused on middle-class, well-nourished boys and girls in the United States: the third involved boys from low-income families with and without nutritional risk in Huaraz, Peru. All experiments used the same crossover design and followed similar experimental procedures to control the subjects' intakes and motor activity during the study period.

beta-Carotene attenuates peroxide-induced vasoconstriction in the human placenta.

Objective: Placental lipid peroxides and thromboxane are abnormally increased in preeclampsia. Peroxides stimulate thromboxane to increase placental vasoconstriction. Antioxidants, such as beta-carotene, control lipid peroxidation.

Synthesis and pharmacology of alkanediguanidinium compounds that block the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor.

Taking as models the polyamine toxin fraction FTX from the funnel-web spider venom, and the guanidinium moiety of guanethidine, a series of azaalkane-1, omega-diguanidinium salts were obtained. Some of them blocked ion fluxes through the neuronal nicotinic receptors for acetylcholine (nAChR). The blockade was exerted at submicromolar concentrations, suggesting a highly selective interaction with the nAChR.