Intranasal oxytocin interacts with testosterone reactivity to modulate parochial altruism.

The neuropeptide hormone oxytocin and the steroid hormone testosterone have received attention as modulators of behavior in the context of intergroup conflict. However, to date, their interactive effect has yet to be tested. Here, in a double-blind placebo-control design, 204 participants (102 female participants) self-administrated oxytocin or placebo and completed an experimental economic game modeling intergroup conflict.

Mast cells contribute to the resolution of allergic inflammation by releasing resolvin D1.

Background: Mast cells are initiators and main effectors of allergic inflammation, together with eosinophils, with whom they can interact in a physical and soluble cross-talk with marked pro-inflammatory features, the Allergic Effector Unit. The pro-resolution role of mast cells, alone or in co-culture with eosinophils, has not been characterized yet.

Objectives: We aimed to investigate select pro-resolution pathways in mast cells in vitro and in vivo in allergic inflammation.

Changing genetic architecture of body mass index from infancy to early adulthood: an individual based pooled analysis of 25 twin cohorts.

Background: Body mass index (BMI) shows strong continuity over childhood and adolescence and high childhood BMI is the strongest predictor of adult obesity. Genetic factors strongly contribute to this continuity, but it is still poorly known how their contribution changes over childhood and adolescence. Thus, we used the genetic twin design to estimate the genetic correlations of BMI from infancy to adulthood and compared them to the genetic correlations of height.

Cromolyn Sodium differentially regulates human mast cell and mouse leukocyte responses to control allergic inflammation.

Background: Cromolyn Sodium (CS) has been used in the past as an anti-allergy drug owing to its mast cell (MC) stabilizing properties that impair histamine release. However, additional mechanisms for its clinical actions are likely and might help to identify new roles for MCs and leukocytes in regulating inflammation. Here, using human cord blood-derived MCs (CBMCs), mouse bone marrow-derived MCs (BMMCs) and eosinophils (BMEos), and in vivo mouse models of allergic inflammation (AI), additional actions of CS on MCs were determined.

Beta-Carotene derivatives as novel therapy for the prevention and treatment of autistic symptoms.

Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by impaired social interaction & communication as well as restricted and repetitive behavior. The currently reported incidence of ASD is 1-2%, and it increases dramatically to 10-20% in families predisposed to ASD. To date, there is no effective way to treat or prevent ASD, and only symptomatic treatment with limited efficacy is available.

Intranasal oxytocin, testosterone reactivity, and human competitiveness.

Competitiveness is an essential feature of human social interactions. Despite an extensive body of research on the underlying psychological and cultural factors regulating competitive behavior, the role of biological factors remains poorly understood. Extant research has focused primarily on sex hormones, with equivocal findings.

Second stage expedite delivery of low birth weight neonates: Emergent cesarean delivery versus vacuum assisted delivery.

Objective: To determine maternal and neonatal outcomes among women undergoing second stage emergent cesarean delivery (ECD) versus vacuum-assisted delivery (VAD) of low birthweight neonates.

Materials And Methods: A retrospective cohort study from two tertiary medical centers. We included women who underwent either ECD or VAD during the second stage of labor, and delivered neonates with a birthweight of <2500 g during 2011-2019.

Caring babies: Concern for others in distress during infancy.

Concern for distressed others is a highly valued human capacity, but little is known about its early ontogeny. Theoretical accounts of empathy development have emphasized stages, but this has been called into question. This study sheds new light on four key issues: onset, consistency, development, and predictive power of early manifestations of concern for others.

Genetic and environmental influences on human height from infancy through adulthood at different levels of parental education.

Genetic factors explain a major proportion of human height variation, but differences in mean stature have also been found between socio-economic categories suggesting a possible effect of environment. By utilizing a classical twin design which allows decomposing the variation of height into genetic and environmental components, we tested the hypothesis that environmental variation in height is greater in offspring of lower educated parents. Twin data from 29 cohorts including 65,978 complete twin pairs with information on height at ages 1 to 69 years and on parental education were pooled allowing the analyses at different ages and in three geographic-cultural regions (Europe, North America and Australia, and East Asia).

Do developmental and temperamental characteristics mediate the association between preterm birth and the quality of mother-child interaction?

Background: The current study aims to evaluate the association between preterm birth and the quality of mother-child interaction of very preterm-, moderate preterm-, and full-term-born children at 18 and 36 months and to determine whether developmental and behavioral characteristics mediate the association between preterm birth and the quality of mother-child interaction.

Method: Participants included 110 preterm-born children and 39 full-term-born children assessed at ages 18 and 36 months. Mother-child free play interactions, the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, the Infant Behavior Questionnaire, and the Early Childhood Behavior Questionnaire were administered.

Which way is better to deliver the very heavy baby: mode of delivery, maternal and neonatal outcome.

Purpose: Currently there are no existing data regarding the maternal and neonatal outcomes for nulliparous women delivering neonates with birthweight above 4500 g. We aim to evaluate birth outcome among these subset of parturients.

Methods: A retrospective study of nulliparous delivering a singleton fetus weighing  ≥ 4500 g in two tertiary medical centers between 2007 and 2018.

Trial of Labor After Cesarean in Adolescents - A Multicenter Study.

Study Objective: Data regarding trial of labor after cesarean delivery (TOLAC) among young women are limited. The aim of this study was to assess the TOLAC success rate and its related factors among adolescent women who had never delivered vaginally.

Design: A multicenter retrospective cohort study of all adolescent women aged ≤21 years with a history of 1 previous cesarean delivery, who delivered in 2 tertiary medical centers during 2007-2019.

Factors associated with postcesarean blood transfusion: a case control study.

Objective: Cesarean delivery (CD) is a known risk factor for postpartum hemorrhage. However, the characteristics associated with post-CD transfusion are not well-established. We aimed to assess blood transfusion rates and associated factors following CD.

The role of oligopeptides in preventing autism.

Previous reports in this series point to insufficient insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) in the newborn as the key to brain dysconnectivity characteristic of autism. Such a deficiency should be detectable in the baby's blood at or soon after birth. Breast-feeding exclusively for the first year of postpartum life or supplementation with oral agents to raise the serum IGF1 level, such a cyclo-glycylproline, could be helpful for this purpose.

Recurrence risk of preterm birth in a subsequent singleton pregnancy after a spontaneous preterm triplet delivery.

Objective: History of prior preterm birth (PTB) represents one of the strongest risk factors for recurrent PTB. Nevertheless, whether the occurrence of PTB in multifetal gestation is associated with increased risk of PTB in subsequent pregnancies remains unclear. We aimed to determine the recurrence risk of PTB in a subsequent singleton pregnancy after a previous spontaneous preterm triplet delivery.

Birth weight and autism spectrum disorder: A population-based nested case-control study.

Low birth weight (<2,500 g) and preterm birth (<37 weeks) were found to be associated with increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), however, the data regarding the entire birth weight (BW) and gestational age (GA) range are inconclusive. In this population nested case-control study, based on the Israeli National Insurance Institute records, we aimed to estimate the associations in the Israeli population. The study population included all children born between 2000 and 2012 and diagnosed with ASD (N = 12,635 cases), and a random 20% sample of children born in the same period who were not diagnosed with ASD (N = 369,548 controls).

Factors associated with the severity of neonatal subgaleal haemorrhage following vacuum assisted delivery.

Objective: To evaluate factors associated with subgaleal hemorrhage (SGH) severity following attempted vacuum-assisted delivery (VAD).

Study Design: This retrospective cohort study was conducted in a tertiary medical center. The population comprised parturients who delivered at our medical center during 2009-2018, and who underwent attempted VAD with singleton pregnancies that resulted in neonatal SGH formation.

Trial of labor after cesarean in older women who never delivered vaginally.

Objective: Maternal age is an established determinant of successful trial of labor after cesarean (TOLAC). While an increasing proportion of parturients are aged 40 years and older, and previously underwent a cesarean section, little data regarding TOLAC success for this age group is available. This study assessed TOLAC success, and its associated characteristics, among women >40 years who never delivered vaginally.

Neonatal subgaleal hemorrhage unrelated to assisted vaginal delivery: clinical course and outcomes.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the occurrence of subgaleal hemorrhage (SGH) following non-assisted vaginal delivery (normal vaginal delivery or cesarean delivery), and to characterize associated factors, clinical course, and outcomes, compared to attempted assisted vaginal delivery (AVD)-associated SGH METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted. All cases of SGH encountered following delivery of a singleton neonate at Hadassah, Hebrew University Medical Center during 2011-2018 were included. Maternal, fetal, intrapartum, and neonatal characteristics and outcomes were compared between AVD-related and non-AVD-related SGH groups.

Subsequent Pregnancy Outcomes After Failed Vacuum-Assisted Delivery.

Objective: To examine trial of labor after cesarean delivery (TOLAC) success rates and its associated factors among women with a previous failed vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study. The study group comprised all women with a prior failed vacuum-assisted vaginal delivery who subsequently delivered from 2008 to 2017 at a university hospital.

Weight gain, feeding and eating in the first year of life of babies of smoking and non-smoking mothers.

Babies of mothers who smoke during pregnancy tend to be born underweight but are at risk for pediatric obesity. Maternal feeding practices, maternal disordered eating, and child temperament were assessed as potential mediators of early weight gain in babies of smoking and non-smoking mothers. The BMIs of babies of 88 smoking and 107 non-smoking mothers were recorded at birth and reported one year later.

Missed opportunities for optimal antenatal corticosteroid timing in medically indicated preterm births.

Objective: Although delivery timing is physician dictated in indicated preterm births, suboptimal antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) administration occurs in most cases. We aimed to characterize the patterns of use of ACS in indicated preterm births and identify missed opportunities of optimal ACS administration.

Methods: We reviewed the records of women who received ACS and were delivered due to maternal or fetal indications at 24-34 weeks of gestation during 2015-2017 at a university hospital.

Molecular biology of autism's etiology - An alternative mechanism.

Autism is a neuropathologic condition believed to be the consequence of cerebral dysconnectivity. Hypomyelination of axons in brain nerve pathways parallels behavioral abnormalities characteristic of autism. The present discussion will examine the functional association of insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF1) to neo-neuron myelination, especially in autistic children.