The umbilical vein in the human fetus has a non-linear growth pattern across gestation.

Introduction And Objectives: Estimation of the umbilical venous blood flow volume relies on the diameter of the vein, which has been reported to be reduced in severely growth restricted fetuses. However, there is only limited information on the growth pattern of this vessel in the normal human fetus. The aim of this study is to examine the growth pattern of the umbilical vein across gestation in low-risk human pregnancies.

Childhood behavior problems and age at first sexual intercourse: a prospective birth cohort study.

Background And Objectives: Early first sexual intercourse (FSI) is a risk factor for unplanned teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted infection, and adverse social, emotional, and physical health outcomes in adolescence and into adulthood. The aim of this study was to examine relationships between internalizing (eg, anxious/depressed, withdrawn) and externalizing (eg, delinquent, aggressive) behavior problems in childhood and age at FSI.

Methods: We used a large, population-based birth cohort (The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort [Raine] Study) to address this question.

Umbilical cord blood testosterone and childhood internalizing and externalizing behavior: a prospective study.

Antenatal testosterone exposure influences fetal neurodevelopment and gender-role behavior in postnatal life and may contribute to differences in developmental psychopathology during childhood. We prospectively measured the associations between umbilical cord blood testosterone levels at birth and childhood behavioral development in both males and females from a large population based sample. The study comprised 430 females and 429 males from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study where umbilical cord blood had been collected.

Analysis of baseline hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal activity in late adolescence reveals gender specific sensitivity of the stress axis.

Dysfunctional regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been proposed as an important biological mechanism underlying stress-related diseases; however, a better understanding of the interlinked neuroendocrine events driving the release of cortisol by this stress axis is essential for progress in preventing or halting irreversible development of adverse HPA-function. We aimed to investigate basal HPA-activity in a normal population in late adolescence, the time of life believed to overlap with HPA-axis maturation and establishment of a lasting set point level of HPA function. A total of 1258 participants (mean age 16.

The association between perinatal testosterone concentration and early vocabulary development: a prospective cohort study.

Prenatal exposure to testosterone is known to affect fetal brain maturation and later neurocognitive function. However, research on the effects of prenatal testosterone exposure has been limited by indirect measures of testosterone and small unrepresentative samples. This study investigated whether bioavailable testosterone (BioT) concentrations in umbilical cord blood are associated with expressive vocabulary development, in a large birth cohort.

Perinatal testosterone exposure and autistic-like traits in the general population: a longitudinal pregnancy-cohort study.

Background: Increased prenatal testosterone exposure has been hypothesized as a mechanism underlying autism spectrum disorders (ASD). However, no studies have prospectively measured prenatal testosterone exposure and ASD. The current study sought to determine whether testosterone concentrations in umbilical cord blood are associated with a clinical diagnosis of ASD in a small number of children and with autistic-like traits in the general population.

Androgen concentrations in umbilical cord blood and their association with maternal, fetal and obstetric factors.

The aim of this study was to measure umbilical blood androgen concentrations in a birth cohort using a highly specific liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) assay and assesses the effects of sex, labor, and gestational age on fetal androgen levels at birth. We performed a prospective cohort study of androgen concentrations in mixed arterial and venous umbilical cord serum from 803 unselected singleton pregnancies from a general obstetric population in Western Australia. Total testosterone (TT), Δ4-androstenedione, and dehydroepiandrosterone were extracted from archived cord serum samples and measured using LC-MS/MS.

Stress-sensitive neurosignalling in depression: an integrated network biology approach to candidate gene selection for genetic association analysis.

Genetic risk for depressive disorders is poorly understood despite consistent suggestions of a high heritable component. Most genetic studies have focused on risk associated with single variants, a strategy which has so far only yielded small (often non-replicable) risks for depressive disorders. In this paper we argue that more substantial risks are likely to emerge from genetic variants acting in synergy within and across larger neurobiological systems (polygenic risk factors).

Neurocognitive functioning in adolescents with eating disorders: a population-based study.

Introduction: Neurocognitive deficits have been identified in eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. However, current data do not allow for firm conclusions regarding the nature or extent of these deficits. The current study aimed to evaluate neurocognitive functioning in a population-based sample of adolescents with and without eating disorders.

Associations between anxious-depressed symptoms and cardiovascular risk factors in a longitudinal childhood study.

Objective: To examine the influence of anxious/depressed scores on cardiovascular risk factors throughout childhood.

Methods: Data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study, a study of 2900 pregnancies recruited between 1989 and 1991, were used. Anxious-depressed scores (derived from the Childhood Behavior Checklist), body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure were measured at 5 (n=1681), 8 (n=1697), 10 (n=1575) and 14 (n=1386) years.

Sex-specific associations between umbilical cord blood testosterone levels and language delay in early childhood.

Background:   Preliminary evidence suggests that prenatal testosterone exposure may be associated with language delay. However, no study has examined a large sample of children at multiple time-points.

Methods:   Umbilical cord blood samples were obtained at 861 births and analysed for bioavailable testosterone (BioT) concentrations.

Prenatal stress and risk of behavioral morbidity from age 2 to 14 years: the influence of the number, type, and timing of stressful life events.

The maternal experience of stressful events during pregnancy has been associated with a number of adverse consequences for behavioral development in offspring, but the measurement and interpretation of prenatal stress varies among reported studies. The Raine Study recruited 2900 pregnancies and recorded life stress events experienced by 18 and 34 weeks' gestation along with numerous sociodemographic data. The mother's exposure to life stress events was further documented when the children were followed-up in conjunction with behavioral assessments at ages 2, 5, 8, 10, and 14 years using the Child Behavior Checklist.

Fetal androgen exposure and pragmatic language ability of girls in middle childhood: implications for the extreme male-brain theory of autism.

Prenatal exposure to testosterone has been shown to affect fetal brain maturation as well as postnatal cognition and behavior in animal studies. Although there are well-established sex-differences in the use of social communication (or 'pragmatic language') in humans, there has been limited investigation of the association between fetal testosterone exposure and postnatal pragmatic language ability. In this prospective study, pragmatic language skills, assessed using a pragmatic language score (PLS), were measured in 78 girls aged 10 years and correlated with testosterone levels in umbilical cord blood.

Smoking cessation in pregnancy and the risk of child behavioural problems: a longitudinal prospective cohort study.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of smoking in pregnancy on child and adolescent behavioural development, in comparison with mothers who ceased smoking in the first 18 weeks of pregnancy and with those who never smoked, in a large prospective pregnancy cohort.

Methods: The Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study provided comprehensive data from 2900 pregnancies. Smoking was assessed at 18 weeks gestation, and children were followed up at ages 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 14 years.

Maternal mood scores in mid-pregnancy are related to aspects of neonatal immune function.

Background: Although there are recognised associations between psychological and immune function, the effects of maternal depressive symptoms on fetal immune development have not been investigated.

Methods: This study examined the relationship between maternal depression scores as assessed by the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) in the second trimester and measure of neonatal immune function measured in cord blood. This study was conducted in a cohort of women (n=83) who had received either fish oil containing 3.

Pre- and postnatal influences on preschool mental health: a large-scale cohort study.

Background: Methodological challenges such as confounding have made the study of the early determinants of mental health morbidity problematic. This study aims to address these challenges in investigating antenatal, perinatal and postnatal risk factors for the development of mental health problems in pre-school children in a cohort of Western Australian children.

Methods: The Raine Study is a prospective cohort study of 2,868 live born children involving 2,979 pregnant women recruited at 18 weeks gestation.

Hypertensive diseases of pregnancy and the development of behavioral problems in childhood and adolescence: the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study.

Objective: To examine whether maternal gestational hypertension and preeclampsia are associated with behavioral problems in offspring throughout childhood and early adolescence.

Study Design: We conducted a prospective cohort study of 2804 women in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort Study and their children observed at age 2, 5, 8, 10, and 14 years. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) was used to measure problem child behavior with continuous z-scores and clinical cutoff points.

Predicting commercial success for Australian medical inventions patented in the United States: a cross sectional survey of Australian inventors.

Objectives: To examine the commercial development of Australian medical patents and identify the determinants of their being used in innovations (new or improved products or production processes).

Design: Cross-sectional survey with a nested case-control study.

Participants And Setting: 177 inventors listed as the first Australian on medical patents granted in the United States between 1 January 1984 and 30 December 1994, and surveyed in 1998-1999.