Antidepressant use in pregnancy and the risk of cardiac defects.

Background: Whether the use of selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and other antidepressants during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of congenital cardiac defects is uncertain. In particular, there are concerns about a possible association between paroxetine use and right ventricular outflow tract obstruction and between sertraline use and ventricular septal defects.

Methods: We performed a cohort study nested in the nationwide Medicaid Analytic eXtract for the period 2000 through 2007.

Laser light scan analysis of the "anticonvulsant face".

Background: The "anticonvulsant face," with a short nose, broad nasal bridge, epicanthal folds, and wide mouth, was described in the 1970s in children who had been exposed during pregnancy to the anticonvulsant drugs phenytoin and phenobarbital. The laser light scan makes it possible to establish three-dimensional positions of physical features and to determine more objectively the changes in the size and shape of the affected soft tissues of the faces of children exposed to these anticonvulsant drugs during pregnancy.

Methods: Thirteen individuals, exposed throughout pregnancy to phenytoin as either monotherapy or polytherapy, were identified in a previous analysis as having significant changes in their craniofacial features based on measurements of cephalometric radiographs.

Brief report: parent-child sexuality communication and autism spectrum disorders.

While considerable research has focused on promoting independence and optimizing quality of life for adolescents and young adult with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), sexual development and sexuality education have been largely neglected. Experts recommend that parents be the primary source of sex education for adolescents with ASD, and that sex education be tailored to a child's developmental level. Prior studies show that parents of youth with ASD are uncertain about how to best communicate about sex and which topics to discuss with their children.

Occipitocervical fusion in skeletal dysplasia: a new surgical technique.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Objective: This study describes clinical and radiological results of a new cable technique for occipitocervical fusion (OCF) in children with skeletal dysplasia (SD).

Summary Of Background Data: Anatomical variability and poor bone quality make upper cervical surgery technically challenging in patients with SD.

Energy cost of walking in children with spastic cerebral palsy: relationship with age, body composition and mobility capacity.

The energy cost (EC) of walking is different for typically developing (TD) and children with cerebral palsy (CP). The associated factors of EC are not fully understood in children with CP. We assessed the relationship between EC and age, body surface area (BSA), and gross motor function measure (GMFM).

The WRAIR projectile concussive impact model of mild traumatic brain injury: re-design, testing and preclinical validation.

The WRAIR projectile concussive impact (PCI) model was developed for preclinical study of concussion. It represents a truly non-invasive closed-head injury caused by a blunt impact. The original design, however, has several drawbacks that limit the manipulation of injury parameters.

Cost calculator methods for estimating casework time in child welfare services: A promising approach for use in implementation of evidence-based practices and other service innovations.

Estimating costs in child welfare services is critical as new service models are incorporated into routine practice. This paper describes a unit costing estimation system developed in England (cost calculator) together with a pilot test of its utility in the United States where unit costs are routinely available for health services but not for child welfare services. The cost calculator approach uses a unified conceptual model that focuses on eight core child welfare processes.

Addressing sexuality in youth with autism spectrum disorders: current pediatric practices and barriers.

Objective: Research on adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has focused on promoting independence and optimizing quality of life, yet the areas of sexual development and sexuality has been largely neglected. The American Academy of Pediatrics encourages pediatricians to address sexuality issues in youth with disabilities to foster healthy development and minimize negative consequences. However, it is unclear to what extent pediatricians address sexuality issues in this population.

Treatment of unicameral bone cyst: systematic review and meta analysis.

Purpose: Different treatment modalities have been utilized to treat unicameral bone cyst (UBC), but evidence has not been fully described to support one treatment over another and the optimal treatment is controversial. The aim of this quantitative systematic review was to assess the effectiveness of different UBC treatment modalities.

Methods: We utilized Pubmed to isolate retrospective studies on patients with UBC who received any kind of treatment.

Stress sonography of the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow in professional baseball pitchers: a 10-year study.

Background: An injury to the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the elbow is potentially career threatening for elite baseball pitchers. Stress ultrasound (US) of the elbow allows for evaluation of both the UCL and the ulnohumeral joint space at rest and with stress.

Hypothesis: Stress US can identify morphological and functional UCL changes and may predict the risk of a UCL injury in elite pitchers.

Association between topiramate and zonisamide use during pregnancy and low birth weight.

Objective: To assess the possible effects of topiramate and zonisamide use during pregnancy on fetal growth.

Methods: The study population was the singleton liveborns born to women who enrolled in the North American Antiepileptic Drug Pregnancy Registry between 1997 and 2012. Data were collected through telephone interviews at enrollment, 7 months of gestation, and postpartum.

Joint experimental and computational 17O solid state NMR study of Brownmillerite Ba2In2O5.

Structural characterization of Brownmillerite Ba2In2O5 was achieved by an approach combining experimental solid-state NMR spectroscopy, density functional theory (DFT) energetics, and GIPAW NMR calculations. While in the previous study of Ba2In2O5 by Adler et al. (S.

Sacrectomy and adjuvant radiotherapy for the treatment of sacral chordomas: a single-center experience over 27 years.

Study Design: Retrospective cohort (case only).

Objective: To evaluate the results and survival determinants of 21 patients with sacral chordomas treated with en bloc resection and adjuvant radiotherapy.

Summary Of Background Data: There are few long-term studies on treatment of sacral chordomas with more than 20 patients, and factors related to survival are not fully understood.

Antibacterial Screening of Secreted Compounds Produced by the Phase I Variant of Photorhabdus luminescens.

In this study, antibacterial activity of metabolites secreted by the phase I variant of Photorhabdus luminescens was investigated. Bioactivity of these metabolites was screened against 28 different bacterial species and strains. Bacterial sensitivity was determined by a modified-version of the Kirby-Bauer disk diffusion susceptibility method, whereas the phase I variant's culture permeate was utilized as the "antibacterial" agent.

The role of magnetic resonance imaging in acute cervical spine fractures.

Background Context: The role of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in neurologically intact cervical spine fractures is not well defined. To our knowledge, there are no studies that clearly identify the indications for MRI in this particular scenario. Controversy remains regarding the use of MRI in at-risk patients, primarily the obtunded and elderly patients.

Neutrophils promote the malignant glioma phenotype through S100A4.

Purpose: Antiangiogenic therapy is effective in blocking vascular permeability, inhibiting vascular proliferation, and slowing tumor growth, but studies in multiple cancer types have shown that tumors eventually acquire resistance to blockade of blood vessel growth. Currently, the mechanisms by which this resistance occurs are not well understood.

Experimental Design: In this study, we evaluated the effects of neutrophils on glioma biology both in vitro and in vivo and determined target genes by which neutrophils promote the malignant glioma phenotype during anti-VEGF therapy.

Effect of heat sterilization on the bioactivity of antibacterial metabolites secreted by Xenorhabdus nematophila.

Photorhabdus luminescens and Xenorhabdus nematophila are entomopathogenic bacterial symbionts of beneficial nematodes Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Steinernema carpocapsae, respectively. These bacterial symbionts are known to secrete an array of toxins, enzymes and antimicrobials that kill, bioconvert and protect the insect host for optimal nematode growth and reproduction. The present study explores heat stability of antibacterial metabolites secreted by X.

Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease in children with Down syndrome.

Objective: The aim of this study was to describe the features of Perthes disease in patients with Down syndrome.

Methods: The data of this retrospective case series were collected between 2000 and 2011. Patients were assessed according to demographic, clinical and radiographic classifications.

Maternal periconceptional exposure to cigarette smoking and congenital limb deficiencies.

Background: Congenital limb deficiencies (LD)s are characterised by the failure or disruption in formation of limbs or digits. Epidemiological research on maternal exposure to cigarette smoke and LDs is inconclusive.

Methods: Data from the National Birth Defects Prevention Study were used to examine LDs and maternal exposure to active or passive cigarette smoke.

The role of shelf acetabuloplasty in early and late stages of Perthes disease: a meta-analysis of observational studies.

Purpose: Perthes disease may result in deformity of the proximal femoral epiphysis and incongruity of the hip, and shelf acetabuloplasty has been frequently used for treatment. The aim of this study was to review the published articles about the outcome of shelf acetabuloplasty as a containment or reconstruction-salvage procedure in Perthes disease.

Methods: We utilized the PubMed online database for peer review articles using the following search terms: shelf arthroplasty, acetabuloplasty, and Perthes.

Mass Production of the Beneficial Nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and Its Bacterial Symbiont Photorhabdus luminescens.

Entomoparasitic nematodes (EPNs) are being commercialized as a biocontrol measure for crop insect pests, as they provide advantages over common chemical insecticides. Mass production of these nematodes in liquid media has become a major challenge for commercialization. Producers are not willing to share the trade secrets of mass production and by doing so, have made culturing EPNs extremely difficult to advance existing technologies.

Bacteria mediate oviposition by the black soldier fly, Hermetia illucens (L.), (Diptera: Stratiomyidae).

There can be substantial negative consequences for insects colonizing a resource in the presence of competitors. We hypothesized that bacteria, associated with an oviposition resource and the insect eggs deposited on that resource, serve as a mechanism regulating subsequent insect attraction, colonization, and potentially succession of insect species. We isolated and identified bacterial species associated with insects associated with vertebrate carrion and used these bacteria to measure their influence on the oviposition preference of adult black soldier flies which utilizes animal carcasses and is an important species in waste management and forensics.

Growth-sparing spinal instrumentation in skeletal dysplasia.

Study Design: Retrospective case series.

Objective: To report the outcomes of distraction-based, growth-sparing spinal instrumentation in patients with skeletal dysplasia.

Summary Of Background Data: Patients with skeletal dysplasia with spinal deformity often undergo early fusion, further compromising an already small chest.

Long-term outcome of planovalgus foot surgical correction in children with cerebral palsy.

Pes planovalgus deformity results from changes in the anatomic relations among tarsal bones. Foot deformity and pain can affect the patient's ability to ambulate and are common indications for surgery. The present study was a retrospective study aimed at assessing the effectiveness and complications of subtalar fusion and calcaneal lengthening during long-term follow-up in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy.