Widening our Focus: Characterizing Socioeconomic and Racial Disparities in Congenital Heart Disease.

Background: Socioeconomic and racial (SER) disparities among patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) may limit access to high-quality care. We characterized the national SER landscape and its relationship to early outcomes and identified interactions among determinants mitigating adverse outcome.

Methods: The Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database was queried for patients (age <26 years) with CHD between 2016 and 2018.

Implementation of a Quality Improvement Initiative: Improved Congenital Muscular Torticollis Outcomes in a Large Hospital Setting.

Background: The American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) published a guideline for congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) in 2013. Our division adopted the guideline as the institutional practice standard and engaged in a quality improvement (QI) initiative to increase the percentage of patients who achieved resolution of CMT within 6 months of evaluation.

Objective: The aims of this report are to describe the QI activities conducted to improve patient outcomes and discuss the results and implications for other institutions and patient populations.

Factors associated with the interfacility transfer of the pediatric trauma patient: implications for prehospital triage.

Objective: The goal of this study was to identify prehospital factors associated with increased likelihood of interfacility transfer of pediatric trauma patients. Such factors might serve as a basis for improvements in future field pediatric trauma triage guidelines.

Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of children aged 12 years or younger with blunt, penetrating, or thermal injuries who were transported by ground emergency medical services from the scene to the emergency department of a Level I, II, or III trauma center within the Denver metropolitan area from January 1, 2000, to December 31, 2008.

Gender ratios for reading difficulties.

The prevalence of reading difficulties is typically higher in males than females in both referred and research-identified samples, and the ratio of males to females is greater in more affected samples. To explore possible gender differences in reading performance, we analysed data from 1133 twin pairs in which at least one member of each pair had a school history of reading problems and from 684 twin pairs from a comparison sample with no reading difficulties. Although the difference between the average scores of males and females in these two samples was very small, the variance of reading performance was significantly greater for males in both groups.

DeFries-Fulker and Pearson-Aitken model-fitting analyses of reading performance data from selected and unselected twin pairs.

Although a comparison of concordance rates for deviant scores in identical and fraternal twin pairs can provide prima facie evidence for a genetic etiology, information is not fully utilized when continuous measures are analyzed in a dichotomous manner. Thus, DeFries and Fulker (Behav Genet 15:467-473, 1985; Acta Genet Med Gemellol, 37:205-216, 1988) developed a regression-based methodology (DF analysis) to assess genetic etiology in both selected and unselected twin samples. While the DF analysis is a very versatile and relatively powerful statistical approach, it is not easily extended to the multivariate case.

Genetic influences on reading difficulties in boys and girls: the Colorado twin study.

To test the hypothesis that the genetic etiology for reading disability may differ in males and females, data from identical and fraternal twin pairs were analysed using both concordance and multiple regression methods. The sample included 264 identical (129 male, 135 female) and 214 same-sex fraternal (121 male, 93 female) twin pairs in which at least one member of each pair had reading difficulties. The difference between the identical and fraternal twin pair concordance rates was slightly larger for females than for males, suggesting a possible sex difference in etiology; however, a loglinear analysis of the three-way interaction of sex, zygosity, and concordance was not significant (p> or = 0.

Exploring human interaction and diet effects on the behavior of dogs in a public animal shelter.

This study examined the effects of 2 manipulations--a brief, regular period of human contact and diet--on the behavior of dogs confined in a public animal shelter. A behavioral battery designed to assess reactions to novel situations, and a test of responsiveness to an unfamiliar human were administered both prior to (pretest) and immediately following (posttest) the 8-week intervention period. Overall, the regular periods of increased human contact together with a diet that contained augmented levels of digestible protein, fat, calories, and animal-derived ingredients reduced signs of behavioral reactivity from pretest to posttest.

Effects of a program of human interaction and alterations in diet composition on activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in dogs housed in a public animal shelter.

Objective: To determine whether a program of human interaction or alterations in diet composition would alter activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in dogs housed in an animal shelter.

Design: Prospective study.

Animals: 40 dogs.

Social influences on cortisol and behavioral responses of preweaning, periadolescent, and adult guinea pigs.

In various species, the presence of an attachment figure can reduce hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) responses. In the guinea pig, the mother reduces HPA elevations of her young both prior to and following weaning. Recently, an unfamiliar female was also found to reduce the HPA responses of postweaning guinea pigs.