Association of Cumulative Paternal Early Life Stress With White Matter Maturation in Newborns.

Importance: Early life stress (ELS) has been shown to affect brain development and health outcomes. Recent animal studies have linked paternal early stress exposures with next-generation outcomes. Epigenetic inheritance through the male germline has been suggested to be one of the mechanisms.

A systematic review of MRI studies of language development from birth to 2 years of age.

Neurocognitive functions supporting language development start to develop well before first words are spoken during the first years of life. This process coincides with the initial growth spurt of the brain. While the core components of the language network are well characterized in adults and children, the initial neural correlates of language skills are still relatively unknown.

Constitutive PGC-1α Overexpression in Skeletal Muscle Does Not Contribute to Exercise-Induced Neurogenesis.

Physical exercise can improve age-dependent decline in cognition, which in rodent is partly mediated by restoration of an age-dependent decline in neurogenesis. Exercise-inducible myokines in the circulation present a link in muscle-brain crosstalk. The transcription factor PGC-1α regulates the release of such myokines with neurotrophic properties into the circulation.

A variation in the infant oxytocin receptor gene modulates infant hippocampal volumes in association with sex and prenatal maternal anxiety.

Genetic variants in the oxytocin receptor (OTR) have been linked to distinct social phenotypes, psychiatric disorders and brain volume alterations in adults. However, to date, it is unknown how OTR genotype shapes prenatal brain development and whether it interacts with maternal prenatal environmental risk factors on infant brain volumes. In 105 Finnish mother-infant dyads (44 female, 11-54 days old), the association of offspring OTR genotype rs53576 and its interaction with prenatal maternal anxiety (revised Symptom Checklist 90, gestational weeks 14, 24, 34) on infant bilateral amygdalar, hippocampal and caudate volumes were probed.

Complete Genome Sequence of Francisella tularensis subsp. Strain A271_1 (FDC408), Isolated from a Eurasian Beaver (Castor fiber).

Here, we report the complete genome sequence of subsp. strain A271_1, isolated from a Eurasian beaver () in 2012 in the Berlin/Brandenburg region, Germany.

Climate vulnerability of Swedish newborns: Gender differences and time trends of temperature-related neonatal mortality, 1880-1950.

Background: In resource-poor societies, neonatal mortality (death in the first 28 days of life) is usually very high. Young infants are particularly vulnerable to environmental health risks, which are modified by socioeconomic factors that change over time. We investigated the association between ambient temperature and neonatal mortality in northern Sweden during the demographic transition.

The Success of a Screening Program Is Largely Dependent on Close Collaboration between the Laboratory and the Clinical Follow-Up of the Patients.

Neonatal screening for congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency is now performed in an increasing number of countries all over the world. The main goal of the screening is to achieve early diagnosis and treatment in order to prevent neonatal salt-crisis and death. The screening laboratory can also play an important role in increasing the general awareness of the disease and act as the source of information and education for clinicians to facilitate improved initial care, ensure prompt and correct glucocorticoid dosing to optimize the long-term outcome for the patients.

Publisher Correction: Frequent new particle formation over the high Arctic pack ice by enhanced iodine emissions.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Update to the European Bioanalysis Forum recommendation on biomarkers assays; bringing context of use into practice.

In 2012, the European Bioanalysis Forum published a recommendation on biomarker method development and the bioanalysis of biomarkers in support of drug development. Since then, there has been significant discussion on how to bring the topic of context of use of biomarker assays to the forefront so that the purpose of the assay, the use of the data and the decisions being made with the data are well defined and clearly understood, not just by the bioanalytical scientist, but across all stakeholders. Therefore, it is imperative that discussions between the bioanalytical laboratory and the end users of the data happen early (and regularly) in the drug development process to enable the right assays to be developed and appropriately validated to generate the correct data and allow suitable decisions to be made.

Psychiatric Disabilities and Other Long-term Consequences of Childhood Bacterial Meningitis.

Background: Bacterial meningitis is known to cause hearing impairments and neurologic deficits; however, less is known regarding psychiatric disabilities. In this study, we assessed psychiatric disabilities and other long-term consequences of childhood bacterial meningitis.

Methods: From a previously validated dataset, we selected children having had bacterial meningitis.

Frequent new particle formation over the high Arctic pack ice by enhanced iodine emissions.

In the central Arctic Ocean the formation of clouds and their properties are sensitive to the availability of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The vapors responsible for new particle formation (NPF), potentially leading to CCN, have remained unidentified since the first aerosol measurements in 1991. Here, we report that all the observed NPF events from the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition are driven by iodic acid with little contribution from sulfuric acid.

[Tularaemia in two patients referred on suspicion of cancer mammae and cancer occulta].

Tularaemia (rabbit fever) is a rare infection caused by Francisella tularensis, which can be transmitted from hares and rats to humans by ticks. We present two case reports of patients with tularaemia. Both were initially referred on suspicion of cancer.

The longitudinal associations between temperament and sleep during the first year of life.

Temperament and sleep in infants are related but also distinct concepts. The longitudinal effects of temperament on sleep in infancy remain unclear, although this information is potentially important for the prevention and treatment of early sleep problems. We examined how various temperament features influence sleep development during the first year of life in a large birth cohort.

Early-life adversities and adult attachment in depression and alexithymia.

Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by difficulties in identifying and verbalizing feelings, a restricted imagination, and an externally oriented thinking style. As alexithymia shows marked overlap with depression, its independent nature as a personality construct is still being debated. The etiology of alexithymia is unknown, although childhood emotional neglect and attachment formation are thought to play important roles.

Complete Genome Sequence of Francisella halioticida Type Strain DSM 23729 (FSC1005).

Here, we announce the complete genome sequence of the type strain DSM 23729 (FSC1005), isolated from a diseased cultured giant abalone in Japan in 2005. The genome is composed of a 2,197,430-bp-long circular chromosome, with a G+C content of 31.2%.

Sex-specific association between infant caudate volumes and a polygenic risk score for major depressive disorder.

Polygenic risk scores for major depressive disorder (PRS-MDD) have been identified in large genome-wide association studies, and recent findings suggest that PRS-MDD might interact with environmental risk factors to shape human limbic brain development as early as in the prenatal period. Striatal structures are crucially involved in depression; however, the association of PRS-MDD with infant striatal volumes is yet unknown. In this study, 105 Finnish mother-infant dyads (44 female, 11-54 days old) were investigated to reveal how infant PRS-MDD is associated with infant dorsal striatal volumes (caudate, putamen) and whether PRS-MDD interacts with prenatal maternal depressive symptoms (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, gestational weeks 14, 24, 34) on infant striatal volumes.

Parental divorce in childhood does not independently predict maternal depressive symptoms during pregnancy.

Background: This study sought to investigate if parental divorce in childhood increases the risk for depressive symptoms in pregnancy.

Methods: Women were recruited during their ultrasound screening in gestational week (gwk) 12. The final study sample consisted of 2,899 pregnant women.

Changes in dental fear and its relations to anxiety and depression in the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study.

This study aimed to: (i) evaluate short-term changes in dental fear during a 9-month period among women and men, and (ii) evaluate whether the course and magnitude of changes in dental fear were associated with changes in depression and anxiety. The longitudinal data of the FinnBrain Birth Cohort Study were used. Out of 3808 women and 2623 men, 1984 women and 1082 men filled in the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) at gestational weeks 14 and 34, and 3 months after childbirth.

First Trimester DEX Treatment Is Not Associated with Altered Brain Activity During Working Memory Performance in Adults.

Context: Prenatal dexamethasone (DEX) treatment is sometimes used in pregnancies at risk for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) to prevent virilization in female fetuses with CAH. In boys and in fetuses not having CAH, there is no benefit of early DEX treatment and the risks of this therapy must be thoroughly investigated. High doses of prenatal glucocorticoid might alter the developmental trajectory of the brain into adulthood, even for CAH unaffected subjects treated with DEX for a short term during the first trimester.

Newborn left amygdala volume associates with attention disengagement from fearful faces at eight months.

After 5 months of age, infants begin to prioritize attention to fearful over other facial expressions. One key proposition is that amygdala and related early-maturing subcortical network, is important for emergence of this attentional bias - however, empirical data to support these assertions are lacking. In this prospective longitudinal study, we measured amygdala volumes from MR images in 65 healthy neonates at 2-5 weeks of gestation corrected age and attention disengagement from fearful vs.

Effect of Optimized Versus Guidelines-Based Automated External Defibrillator Placement on Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest Coverage: An In Silico Trial.

Background Mathematical optimization of automated external defibrillator (AED) placement may improve AED accessibility and out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) outcomes compared with American Heart Association (AHA) and European Resuscitation Council (ERC) placement guidelines. We conducted an in silico trial (simulated prospective cohort study) comparing mathematically optimized placements with placements derived from current AHA and ERC guidelines, which recommend placement in locations where OHCAs are usually witnessed. Methods and Results We identified all public OHCAs of presumed cardiac cause from 2008 to 2016 in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Newborn amygdalar volumes are associated with maternal prenatal psychological distress in a sex-dependent way.

Maternal psychological distress during pregnancy (PPD) has been associated with changes in offspring amygdalar and hippocampal volumes. Studies on child amygdalae suggest that sex moderates the vulnerability of fetal brains to prenatal stress. However, this has not yet been observed in these structures in newborns.

Child Temperament and Total Diurnal Cortisol in Out-of-Home Center-Based Child Care and in At-Home Parental Care.

The association between child temperament characteristics and total diurnal saliva cortisol in 84 children (M = 2.3 years, SD = 0.6) attending out-of-home, center-based child care and 79 children (M = 2.

Bathroom Modifications, Clutter, and Tripping Hazards: Prevalence and Changes after Incident Falls in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

To describe the prevalence of bathroom modifications, clutter, and tripping hazards in the homes of US older adults and to examine changes after an incident fall. We used data from the 2015-2017 National Health and Aging Trends Study ( = 7499). Outcomes were the prevalence of bathroom modifications, clutter, and tripping hazards and changes after incident fall.

Prenatal maternal depressive symptoms are associated with smaller amygdalar volumes of four-year-old children.

Prenatal maternal depressive symptoms are related to an increased offspring susceptibility to psychiatric disorders over the life course. Alterations in fetal brain development might partly mediate this association. The relation of prenatal depressive symptoms with child's amygdalar volumes is still underexplored, and this study aimed to address this gap.