Stress Across Generations: DNA Methylation as a Potential Mechanism Underlying Intergenerational Effects of Stress in Both Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Pre-clinical Predator Stress Rodent Models.

Although most humans will experience some type of traumatic event in their lifetime only a small set of individuals will go on to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Differences in sex, age, trauma type, and comorbidity, along with many other elements, contribute to the heterogenous manifestation of this disorder. Nonetheless, aberrant hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity, especially in terms of cortisol and glucocorticoid receptor (GR) alterations, has been postulated as a tenable factor in the etiology and pathophysiology of PTSD.

Normative pediatric data for three tests of functional vision.

Objective: To provide the normative pediatric data for three tests of functional vision.

Design: Prospective, cross-sectional study.

Participants: The participants were 281 children between 3 and 5 years of age (mean 4.

Comparison of Patti Pics and Lea Symbols optotypes in children and adults.

Purpose: Although a great variety of pediatric tests of visual acuity exist, few have been compared directly within the same patients or have been evaluated directly against an adult gold standard.

Methods: Right eyes from 80 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers were tested at 3 m with the two current pediatric optotype tests-the Patti Pics and the Lea Symbols (Mass VAT versions)-that best adhere to the international standard for early eye and vision screening. For comparison, right eyes from 52 adults were tested under the same conditions with both pediatric tests and with a gold standard Mass VAT Sloan letter test.

A randomized trial of DHA intake during infancy: school readiness and receptive vocabulary at 2-3.5 years of age.

Background: Studies investigating the effects of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in infant formula on language development yield conflicting results. No study to date has investigated the effects of DHA in infant formula on school readiness.

Aim: To determine the effects of different dietary concentrations of DHA provided during the first 12 months of life on language development and school readiness.

Cognitive function in 18-month-old term infants of the DIAMOND study: a randomized, controlled clinical trial with multiple dietary levels of docosahexaenoic acid.

Background: Studies investigating cognitive outcomes following docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation of infant formula yield conflicting results, perhaps due to inadequate dietary concentrations.

Aim: To determine the optimal DHA concentration in term formula to support cognitive maturation.

Design: This was a double-masked, randomized, controlled, prospective trial.

Vernier acuity cards: examination of development and screening validity.

Purpose: Because vernier acuity seems to be limited by the visual cortex, it possesses excellent potential as a clinical/screening tool to detect amblyopia in infants and toddlers. Thus, we developed the vernier acuity cards specifically for this age group. We compared developmental data gathered using this new test and the Teller Acuity Cards.

Final version of the Distance Randot Stereotest: normative data, reliability, and validity.

Purpose: Measurement of distance stereoacuity may be useful in assessing strabismic patients, especially those with intermittent exotropia. We developed the Distance Randot Stereotest as an easily administered quantitative test for distance stereoacuity in children. By using a prototype, we reported testability, validity, and normative data.

The DIAMOND (DHA Intake And Measurement Of Neural Development) Study: a double-masked, randomized controlled clinical trial of the maturation of infant visual acuity as a function of the dietary level of docosahexaenoic acid.

Background: The range of human milk docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentrations worldwide is much broader than the range explored in randomized clinical trials to date.

Objective: The primary objective was to determine the effect of 4 amounts of DHA supplementation on the visual acuity of formula-fed infants at 12 mo of age. Secondary objectives were to evaluate visual acuity maturation, red blood cell fatty acids, tolerance, anthropometric measures, and adverse events.

Three randomized controlled trials of early long-chain polyunsaturated Fatty Acid supplementation on means-end problem solving in 9-month-olds.

This study examines whether feeding infants formula supplemented with long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) improves cognitive function of 9-month-olds. Participants included 229 infants from 3 randomized controlled trials. Children received either formula supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid and arachidonic acid, or a control formula beginning at 1-5 days (12-month feeding study), or following 6 weeks (6-week-weaning study) or 4-6 months of breastfeeding (4-to 6-month weaning study).

The teller acuity cards are effective in detecting amblyopia.

Purpose: Detection of amblyopia in infants and toddlers is difficult because the current clinical standard for this age group, fixation preference, is inaccurate. Although grating acuity represents an alternative, studies of preschoolers and schoolchildren report that it is not equivalent to the gold standard optotype acuity. Here, we examine whether the Teller Acuity Cards (TAC) can detect amblyopia effectively by testing children old enough (7.

Phonological processing deficits and the acquisition of the alphabetic principle in a severely delayed reader: a case study.

At the end of first grade, TM did not know the alphabet and could read no words. He could not tap syllables in words, had difficulty producing rhyming words and retrieving the phonological representations of words, and he could not discriminate many phoneme contrasts. He learned letter-sound correspondences first for single-consonant onsets and then later for the final consonant in a word but had difficulty with letter-sound associations for vowels.

Prevalence of amblyopia and other vision disorders in young Newfoundland and Labrador children.

Background: Currently, there is a lack of adequate data on pediatric eye and vision disorders in Canada, particularly in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. In the present study, we estimate the prevalence of eye and vision disorders among young children who participated in a vision screening program in the St. John's, Newfoundland, metropolitan region.

Normative pediatric visual acuity using single surrounded HOTV optotypes on the Electronic Visual Acuity Tester following the Amblyopia Treatment Study protocol.

Purpose: To provide normative pediatric visual acuity data using HOTV optotypes presented on the Electronic Visual Acuity Tester following the Amblyopia Treatment Study (ATS) protocol.

Methods: Monocular testing was conducted on 384 healthy full-term children ranging from 3 to 10 years of age (mean, 5.4 years; SD, 1.

Improvement in motor development following surgery for infantile esotropia.

Purpose: Infantile esotropia is associated with abnormal visual development and thus may delay the achievement of developmental milestones. Although early surgery can improve visual function, less is known about its effect on motor development. Here we address whether early surgery can improve motor development.

Randot Preschool Stereoacuity Test: normative data and validity.

Introduction: The Randot Preschool Stereoacuity Test is a widely used three-book test for the assessment of binocular status. Using a prototype, we previously reported high testability in children as young as 3 years, validity data, and some normative data. Here we report extensive normative and validity data for the final version of the test.

Accuracy of the contrast sensitivity card test for infants: retest variability and prediction of spatial resolution.

Purpose: We assessed the retest variability of a new contrast sensitivity (CS) card procedure and its ability to predict spatial resolution.

Methods: Twenty-four 3-month-olds were tested twice with the CS cards and once with the Teller acuity cards (TAC) within a single session.

Results: Coefficient of repeatability (COR) analysis revealed that retest variability of the new cards is superior to that of an earlier prototype at low to mid spatial frequencies.

Improving the effectiveness of the infant contrast sensitivity card procedure.

Based on results from an earlier prototype, custom software and printing techniques were developed to construct a new card-based test of contrast sensitivity (CS) for nonverbal subjects. Compared with the prototype, the new CS card test contains three improvements: (1) larger, more salient test gratings; (2) higher contrast warm-up cards for each spatial frequency set; and (3) smaller contrast step size between adjacent cards. The success of the new cards was evaluated by testing 3.