Feasibility and potential benefits of an attention and executive function intervention on metacognition in a mixed pediatric sample.

The term "metacognition" describes thinking about a cognitive phenomenon or, more simply put, thinking about thinking . Metacognition involves using knowledge about one's cognitive processes to change behavior, including monitoring and controlling cognition. Metacognition is vital for learning and is often more difficult for children with neurodevelopmental concerns (e.

Attention and working memory training: A feasibility study in children with neurodevelopmental disorders.

The current study investigated the efficacy of a game-based process specific intervention for improving attention and working memory in children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The Caribbean Quest (CQ) is a 'serious game' that consists of five hierarchically structured tasks, delivered in an adaptive format, targeting different aspects of attention and/or working memory. In addition to game play, the intervention incorporates metacognitive strategies provided by trained educational assistants (EAs), to facilitate generalization and far transfer to academic and daily skills.

Impact of bisphosphonates on survival for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Objective: In this article we describe the association of bisphosphonate therapy on survival within a regional cohort of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) who received steroid therapy and were managed in a single center.

Patients And Methods: The records of all patients with confirmed DMD who were born between 1963 and 2006 and who had received at least 1 year of steroid therapy were reviewed from birth until they reached the study end points (death, loss to follow-up, or the last follow-up was in 2009). A survival analysis was used to account for the variable follow-up duration within this cohort.

Investigating the efficacy of an attention training programme in children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

Objective: The current study investigated the efficacy of a direct intervention programme aimed at improving attention abilities in children with foetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD).

Methods: The Computerized Progressive Attention Training (CPAT) program is an intervention which targets proposed attention networks. CPAT task difficulty automatically adjusts based on participant performance.

Impact of steroids on surgical experiences of patients with duchenne muscular dystrophy.

We studied surgical experiences within a regional cohort of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy, managed at a single center. Records of all patients with confirmed Duchenne muscular dystrophy who were born after 1962 were reviewed from birth until they reached study endpoints: scoliosis surgery, Achilles tendon lengthening, cataract surgery, loss to follow-up, or final follow-up point in 2009. A survival analysis was used to account for the variable follow-up duration within this cohort.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a 30-year population-based incidence study.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is among the most common lethal genetic diseases. It has been proposed that genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis have begun to lower the incidence. We reviewed the records of all patients with confirmed DMD who were born between 1969 and 2008.

Caffeine as an adjuvant to ibuprofen in treating childhood headaches.

In adults, caffeine has been shown to enhance the effectiveness of most analgesics, including ibuprofen. This double-blind cross-over pilot study evaluated the effect of ibuprofen and caffeine compared with ibuprofen and placebo in 12 children with headaches. Patients completed diaries for both headaches.

Vertebral fractures in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Osteoporosis causes significant morbidity for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Corticosteroid therapy given to prolong mobility may increase the rate of osteoporosis and risk of fracture. This study of 33 boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy determined retrospectively the incidence of vertebral fractures particularly after initiation of corticosteroids.

Parents of children with epilepsy are optimistic for their children's health, but relatively pessimistic when compared with other parents.

We examined parents' perceived risk of their children encountering 10 general health conditions and 10 epilepsy-specific health problems using a standard optimistic bias question with standard responses. "Compared to other children of similar age, my child's chance of getting [problem, e.g.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy--parental perceptions.

Quality of life and availability of services are important for boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and their families. Families attending our neuromuscular clinic completed a questionnaire on parental perception regarding the importance of services, health issues, and quality of life issues both "now" and "in the future." Eighty-nine percent of the families (31/35) completed questionnaires.

Treatment of febrile seizures: the influence of treatment efficacy and side-effect profile on value to parents.

Objectives: We examined parents' perception of the value of treatments designed to reduce the risk of febrile seizure recurrence.

Study Design: The families of 42 children with febrile seizures were recruited after pediatric or neuropediatric consultation. A mail questionnaire addressed the family's willingness to pay for a hypothetical treatment for febrile seizures with risk reductions for future febrile seizures of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100%.

Normal CD5+ B lymphocytes are poor stimulators in the autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction (AMLR).

The AMLR is decreased in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), which is characterized by a monoclonal expansion of CD5+ B lymphocytes. Since B cells are used to stimulate the AMLR, we investigated the capacity of normal CD5+ B cells to function as stimulators in the AMLR. We isolated B cells from the peripheral blood of normal individuals and fractionated them into subpopulations enriched for CD5+ and CD5- cells, which were used as stimulators in the AMLR.

Families are content to discontinue antiepileptic drugs at different risks than their physicians.

Purpose: To define the risk of seizure recurrence (RSR) that families and physicians would accept before discontinuing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) for children with controlled epilepsy.

Methods: A questionnaire was completed by families of 76 children with epilepsy > or = 3 months seizure-free and by their attending epilepsy specialist (n = 4).

Results: Forty-two percent of families were unwilling to discontinue AEDs with an RSR of 25%.

Growth of B cell colonies independent of T cells: a new perspective.

Growth of human peripheral blood B cells in a B cell colony assay system is a useful technique to study the function of B cell biology. In the initial reports, T and B cells were admixed in the culture system, prior to which the T cells were treated with mitomycin or irradiation to prevent their proliferation. There were reports that optimal growth of B cell colonies required T cells to be in contact with the B cells.

Feedback suppression of B cell colony formation by supernatants of B colony cells: role of immunoglobulin.

We have reported previously that CD5+ B cells from mature B cell colonies provide a negative feedback signal to the growth of autologous B cell colonies. Now we have observed that supernatants from mature B cell colonies also provide a negative feedback signal to the growth of autologous B cell colonies. We investigated the mechanism of this effect by growing B cell colonies physically separated by a 0.

Immunologic changes after blood transfusion in patients undergoing vascular surgery.

Immunologic changes after blood transfusions cannot be studied ethically in normal individuals. We therefore studied two comparable groups of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who received similar drug treatment and experienced a similar degree of surgical trauma, except that one group received an average of 2.5 units of packed red cells at one time period during surgery.

Manipulation of macrophage migration inhibition/stimulation responses by adjuvants and interleukins.

C57 B1/6 mice were immunized with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and Freund's complete and incomplete adjuvants in various concentrations. Spleen cells from these animals were subsequently stimulated with concanavalin A (Con A), purified protein derivative or BSA, and lymphokine responses were measured in one-stage migration assays. Con A consistently produced macrophage migration inhibition factor (MIF) responses in nonimmunized animals and those immunized with complete adjuvant.

Feedback suppression of B cell colony formation in healthy individuals.

Proliferation and differentiation of B cells has been extensively studied and the study of feedback suppression of B cell proliferation has been limited to humoral factors. However, very little is known about feedback suppression of B cell proliferation by cellular influences. We have previously reported on the role of T cells and their subsets on B cell proliferation in that we did not observe suppression of B cell colony growth by T cells.

Growth of B cell colonies independent of T cell contact.

One of the methods of obtaining B cell colonies involves physically admixing B cells in growth medium containing mitogens with accessory T cells treated with mitomycin C or low dose irradiation to prevent T cell colony formation. However, under these conditions T cells still have the capacity to form colonies in methylcellulose, which is most frequently used for colony assays, and B cells recovered from the colonies are contaminated by the large number of added T cells. Therefore, we have developed a method of growing B cell colonies by physically separating the enriched B cells from the T cells by using millicell-HA inserts (Millipore).

Presence of mitomycin resistant T cells in peripheral blood of normal individuals.

T cell colonies can be easily grown from peripheral blood, and are an index of cellular immunocompetence. Mitomycin-treated T cells are used as stimulator cells in mixed lymphocyte reactions and as feeder cells for growth of B cell colonies, the assumption being that mitomycin prevents proliferation of T cells. We tested this assumption by comparing the proliferation of mitomycin-treated T cells in response to stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) with that of untreated T cells in liquid cultures and in T cell colony assay.

Familial systemic lupus erythematosus: evidence for separate loci controlling C4 deficiency and formation of antibodies to DNA, nRNP, Ro and La.

A family has been identified in the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island in which 2 sisters have systemic lupus erythematosus in a sibship of 14. Studies are reported on 11 of the siblings and 16 other family members. The affected siblings, and 4 other members of their sibship, are halfnull homozygotes for the C4A component of complement.