Teaching and learning in biophotonics: Crossing the bridge between educators and students.

As a rapidly growing field, biophotonics demonstrates an increasingly higher demand for interdisciplinary professionals and requires the implementation of a structured approach to educational and outreach activities focused on appropriate curriculum, and teaching and learning for audiences with diverse technical backgrounds and learning styles. Our study shows the main findings upon applying this approach to biophotonics workshops delivered 2 consecutive years while updating and improving learning outcomes, teaching strategies, workshop content based on student and teacher feedback. We provided resources for a variety of lecture-based, experimental, computer simulation activities.

Allergic disease, sleep problems, and psychological distress in children recruited from the general community.

Background: It is not clear which allergic disease is most strongly related to which sleep problem and whether sleep problems may mediate the association between allergic disease and psychological distress. There is also a need for more community-based studies using nonreferred samples.

Objective: To evaluate the association between individual allergic diseases and sleep problems and test whether the association between allergic disease and psychological distress is mediated through sleep problems.

Short report: Sleep talking and mental health in children with developmental problems and typically developing children.

Background: Sleep talking although often considered benign is associated with poor mental health. However, it remains to be tested whether this association may be better explained by the presence of co-morbid sleep problems and the presence in survey samples of children with development disorders who tend to report a higher frequency of both sleep problems and poor mental health.

Aim: The aim of the present study was to examine the association between sleep talking and mental health after controlling for comorbid sleep problems in typically developing children and children with developmental problems.

Utilisation of machine learning to predict surgical candidates for the treatment of childhood upper airway obstruction.

Objective: To investigate the effect of adenotonsillectomy on OSAS symptoms based on a data-driven approach and thereby identify criteria that may help avoid unnecessary surgery in children with OSAS.

Methods: In 323 children enrolled in the Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial, randomised to undergo either early adenotonsillectomy (eAT; N = 165) or a strategy of watchful waiting with supportive care (WWSC; N = 158), the apnea-hypopnea index, heart period pattern dynamics, and thoraco-abdominal asynchrony measurements from overnight polysomnography (PSG) were measured. Using machine learning, all children were classified into one of two different clusters based on those features.

Quality-of-life but not behavior improves 48-months post-adenotonsillectomy in children with SDB.

Background: Long term follow-up studies (>12 mths) of changes in behavior and quality-of-life (QoL) in children with sleep disordered breathing (SDB) post-adenotonsillectomy are limited and there is a lack of consensus in the reported findings. The aim of this study was to evaluate children's sleep, QoL and behavior at baseline and 6 mths and 48 mths post-adenotonsillectomy for clinically diagnosed SDB.

Methods: This prospective longitudinal study of children aged 3-12 y recruited from a Children's Hospital otolaryngology clinic compared polysomnographic parameters, behavior (Child Behavior Checklist; CBCL) and QoL (OSA-18) at baseline, 6mths and 48mths post-adenotonsillectomy and compared these parameters to healthy non-snoring controls recruited from the general community at the same time points.

Increased Platelet Aggregation in Children and Adolescents with Sleep-disordered Breathing.

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with increased vascular resistance in children and adults. Persistent increased vascular resistance damages vascular endothelial cells-a marker of which is increased platelet activation. This study compared whole-blood impedance platelet aggregation in children with clinically diagnosed SDB warranting adenotonsillectomy and healthy control subjects.

The microbial abundance dynamics of the paediatric oral cavity before and after sleep.

: Microhabitats in the oral cavity differ in microbial taxonomy. However, abundance variations of bacterial and viral communities within these microhabitats are not fully understood. : To assess the spatial distribution and dynamics of the microbial abundances within 6 microhabitats of the oral cavity before and after sleep.

The Inconsistent Nature of Heart Rate Variability During Sleep in Normal Children and Adolescents.

Cardiac function is modulated by multiple factors including exogenous (circadian rhythm) and endogenous (ultradian 90-110 min sleep cycle) factors. By evaluating heart rate variability (HRV) during sleep, we will better understand their influence on cardiac activity. The aim of this study was to evaluate HRV in the dark phase of the circadian rhythm during sleep in healthy children and adolescents.

Differences in dentofacial morphology in children with sleep disordered breathing are detected with routine orthodontic records.

Background: Residual snoring in children with obstructive sleep disordered breathing (SDB) may continue post-adenotonsillectomy. This study aims to identify baseline dentofacial differences in children with SDB using routine orthodontic records that might aid effective early intervention for the upper airway to prevent continued obstruction.

Methods: Children (6-16 years) with clinically diagnosed SDB from a paediatric Otolaryngology Clinic who required adenotonsillectomy were participants (n = 10).

Effect of adenotonsillectomy for childhood obstructive sleep apnea on nocturnal heart rate patterns.

Study Objectives: To assess the effect of adenotonsillectomy for relieving obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) symptoms in children on cardiac autonomic modulation.

Methods: In 354 children enrolled in the Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial, randomized to undergo either early adenotonsillectomy (eAT; N = 181) or a strategy of watchful waiting with supportive care (WWSC; N = 173), nocturnal heart rate control was analyzed during quiet, event-free sleep at baseline and at 7 months using overnight polysomnography (PSG). The relative frequency of patterns indicating monotonous changes in heart rate was quantified.

Changes in growth and sleep across school nights, weekends and a winter holiday period in two Australian schools.

Studies suggest that there may be an association between sleep and growth; however, the relationship is not well understood. Changes in biology and external factors such as school schedule heavily impact the sleep of adolescents, during a critical phase for growth. This study assessed the changes in sleep across school days, weekends and school holidays, while also measuring height and weight changes, and self-reported alterations in food intake and physical activity.

Ascending aortic blood flow velocity is increased in children with primary snoring/mild sleep-disordered breathing and associated with an increase in CD8 T cells expressing TNFα and IFNγ.

Sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is associated with cardiovascular disease and systemic inflammation in adults but this remains to be explored in children, especially in children with the most common form of SDB, i.e. primary snoring/mild SDB.

Altered Nocturnal Cardiovascular Control in Children With Sleep-Disordered Breathing.

Study Objectives: To assess cardiovascular control during sleep in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) and the effect of adenotonsillectomy in comparison to healthy nonsnoring children.

Methods: Cardiorespiratory signals obtained from overnight polysomnographic recordings of 28 children with SDB and 34 healthy nonsnoring children were analyzed. We employed an autoregressive closed-loop model with heart period (RR) and pulse transit time (PTT) as outputs and respiration as an external input to obtain estimates of respiratory gain and baroreflex gain.

Relationship between Vascular Resistance and Sympathetic Nerve Fiber Density in Arterial Vessels in Children With Sleep Disordered Breathing.

Background: Sleep disordered breathing in children is associated with increased blood flow velocity and sympathetic overactivity. Sympathetic overactivity results in peripheral vasoconstriction and reduced systemic vascular compliance, which increases blood flow velocity during systole. Augmented blood flow velocity is recognized to promote vascular remodeling.

Adenotonsillectomy for childhood obstructive sleep apnoea reduces thoraco-abdominal asynchrony but spontaneous apnoea-hypopnoea index normalisation does not.

The efficacy of adenotonsillectomy for treating obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS) in children has been established, but its precise effects on inspiratory effort are not well documented.In 353 children enrolled in the Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial, randomised to undergo either early adenotonsillectomy (n=182) or a strategy of watchful waiting with supportive care (WWSC) (n=171), thoraco-abdominal asynchrony (TAA) was analysed during quiet, non-apnoeic and non-hypopnoeic breathing during sleep at baseline and at 7 months using overnight polysomnography.Children who underwent early adenotonsillectomy demonstrated a reduction in TAA post-surgery while the WWSC arm showed no change.

The effect of adenotonsillectomy for childhood sleep apnoea on cardiorespiratory control.

The efficacy of adenotonsillectomy for relieving obstructive sleep apnoea symptoms in children has been firmly established, but its precise effects on cardiorespiratory control are poorly understood. In 375 children enrolled in the Childhood Adenotonsillectomy Trial, randomised to undergo either adenotonsillectomy (n=194) or a strategy of watching waiting (n=181), respiratory rate, respiratory sinus arrhythmia and heart rate were analysed during quiet, non-apnoeic and non-hypopnoeic breathing throughout sleep at baseline and at 7 months using overnight polysomnography. Children who underwent early adenotonsillectomy demonstrated an increase in respiratory rate post-surgery while the watchful waiting group showed no change.

Cognition, temperament, and cerebral blood flow velocity in toddlers and preschool children with sleep-disordered breathing or behavioral insomnia of childhood.

Background: Cognitive decrements, problematic behaviors, and increased cerebral blood flow velocities (CBFVs) have been reported in children aged 3-7 years with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB). Whether similar impairments exist in younger children or those with behavioral insomnia of childhood (BIC) remains unclear. This study aimed to compare cognition and temperament in children aged 1-5 years with SDB or BIC to healthy control children, and to investigate whether cognitive or behavioral deficits associated with sleep problems are related to changes in CBFV.

Prenatal Fish Oil Supplementation and Allergy: 6-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background And Objective: Evidence from randomized controlled trials in early infancy suggest that prenatal supplementation with Ω-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) reduces the incidence of allergic disease characterized by an immunoglobulin E (IgE) response. We aimed to determine whether protective effects were evident in the 6-year-old offspring of women supplemented with n-3 rich fish oil during pregnancy.

Methods: Six-year follow-up of children (n = 706) with a family history of allergic disease from the Docosahexaenoic Acid to Optimize Mother Infant Outcome (DOMInO) trial.

Omega-3 long-chain PUFA intake during pregnancy and allergic disease outcomes in the offspring: a systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies and randomized controlled trials.

Background: There is some evidence that increased maternal intake of omega-3 (n-3) long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFAs) during pregnancy may reduce the incidence of immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated allergic disease.

Objective: We aimed to evaluate prenatal n-3 LC-PUFA dietary exposure in observational studies and n-3 LC-PUFA supplementation in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on outcomes of IgE-mediated allergic disease.

Design: We conducted searches of the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, SCOPUS, and Web of Science to 30 July 2015.

Delayed brachial artery dilation response and increased resting blood flow velocity in young children with mild sleep-disordered breathing.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate whether the vascular dysfunction perceived in adults with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) was also evident in children with snoring referred for evaluation of clinically suspected SDB.

Objectives: This study compared flow-mediated dilatation (FMD), measured at the brachial artery, at rest and during hyperaemic stress between children who snore [n = 23; mean standard deviation (SD) age = 7.51 (1.

Effect of respiration on heartbeat-evoked potentials during sleep in children with sleep-disordered breathing.

Objective: Heartbeat-evoked potentials (HEPs) in electroencephalogram (EEG) provide a quantitative measure of cardiac interoception during sleep. We previously reported reduced HEPs in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB), indicative of attenuated cardiac information processing. The objective of this study was to investigate the link between HEP and respiration.

Flow-mediated dilatation, using time course data, shows maturation of the brachial artery from young children to mid-adolescents.

Flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) is a tool widely used to measure arterial responsiveness to sheer stress. However, there is scant literature to show how the peripheral arterial response changes as the vascular system matures. One reason for this is that the feasibility of measuring FMD in younger children has not been established.

Movement distribution: a new measure of sleep fragmentation in children with upper airway obstruction.

Study Objectives: To develop a measure of sleep fragmentation in children with upper airway obstruction based on survival curve analysis of sleep continuity.

Design: Prospective repeated measures.

Setting: Hospital sleep laboratory.

Heartbeat evoked potentials during sleep and daytime behavior in children with sleep-disordered breathing.

Rationale: Event-related brain potentials allow probing of cortical information processing, but when evoked with externally induced stimuli may disrupt sleep homeostasis and do not provide insight into intrinsic cortical information processing. To investigate if cortical processing of intrinsic information in children with sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) is different from healthy children and, if so, whether it resolves with treatment, we used heartbeat as a source of interoceptive event-related brain potentials.

Objectives: To investigate heartbeat evoked potentials (HEP) during sleep in healthy children and in children with SDB before and after treatment and to explore if there are any associations between HEP and daytime behavioral deficits in children with SDB.