Establishing the Cultural Equivalence of the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) for Use in Singapore.

Aims: Establishing the cultural equivalence of clinical assessments is critical to ensuring culturally competent care. Developed in North America, the Young Children's Participation and Environment Measure (YC-PEM) is a caregiver questionnaire of participation in home, preschool, and community activities and perceptions of environmental impact on participation. The purpose of this study is to establish the cultural equivalence of YC-PEM content for use in Singapore.

Arm bone loading index predicts DXA musculoskeletal outcomes in two samples of post-menarcheal girls.

Objective: A site-specific bone loading index was developed to predict post-menarcheal arm bone mass, geometry, areal density and non-bone lean mass using organized activity records.

Methods: Two cohorts of post-menarcheal girls (A= 55, B= 48) met analysis inclusion criteria: (1) Whole body and non-dominant radius DXA scans +1.0 to +2.

Pre-menarcheal physical activity predicts post-menarcheal lean mass and core strength, but not fat mass.

Objectives: Youth exercise is associated with improved body composition, but details regarding timing and persistence are limited. We examined pre- and circum-menarcheal organized physical activity exposure (PA) as a factor in development of early post-menarcheal lean mass, fat mass and muscle strength.

Methods: Participants in a longitudinal study of musculoskeletal growth using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were included based on: 1) Whole body DXA scans: 0.

Quality of life in children with epilepsy: How does it compare with the quality of life in typical children and children with cerebral palsy?

Our objective was to compare the quality of life (QoL) of children with epilepsy to that of typical children and children with cerebral palsy (CP). We measured self- and proxy-reported QoL of children with epilepsy and contrasted that with data for typical children (European KIDSCREEN project) and children with CP (SPARCLE study). Children ages 8-12 years with epilepsy were recruited from six Canadian sites.

'Participation': a systematic review of language, definitions, and constructs used in intervention research with children with disabilities.

Aim: Improving participation of children with disabilities is a priority; however, the participation construct lacks clarity. This systematic review investigated how researchers defined 'participation' and the language used in participation intervention research.

Method: Nine health and education databases were searched for intervention studies of children with disabilities that included a participation outcome.

The cross-cut statistic and its sensitivity to bias in observational studies with ordered doses of treatment.

A common practice with ordered doses of treatment and ordered responses, perhaps recorded in a contingency table with ordered rows and columns, is to cut or remove a cross from the table, leaving the outer corners--that is, the high-versus-low dose, high-versus-low response corners--and from these corners to compute a risk or odds ratio. This little remarked but common practice seems to be motivated by the oldest and most familiar method of sensitivity analysis in observational studies, proposed by Cornfield et al. (1959), which says that to explain a population risk ratio purely as bias from an unobserved binary covariate, the prevalence ratio of the covariate must exceed the risk ratio.

Large, Sparse Optimal Matching with Refined Covariate Balance in an Observational Study of the Health Outcomes Produced by New Surgeons.

Every newly trained surgeon performs her first unsupervised operation. How do the health outcomes of her patients compare with the patients of experienced surgeons? Using data from 498 hospitals, we compare 1252 pairs comprised of a new surgeon and an experienced surgeon working at the same hospital. We introduce a new form of matching that matches patients of each new surgeon to patients of an otherwise similar experienced surgeon at the same hospital, perfectly balancing 176 surgical procedures and closely balancing a total of 2.

Identification of skin immune cells in non-human primates.

The skin is a valuable target for vaccine delivery because it contains many immune cell populations, notably antigen presenting cells. Skin immune cells have been extensively described in mice and humans but not in non-human primates, which are pertinent models for immunological research in vaccination. The aim of this work was to describe immune cell populations in the epidermis, dermis and skin draining lymph nodes in cynomolgus macaques by a single 12-parameter flow cytometry protocol.

Communicative participation changes in pre-school children receiving augmentative and alternative communication intervention.

Purpose: This paper reports changes in communicative participation skills-systematically measured and described-in an empirical observational case series of eight children receiving augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) interventions.

Method: The eight children (seven boys, one girl), ranging from 1 year 4 months to 4 years 11 months (mean = 2.8 years; SD = 1.

Performance of the measures of processes of care for adults and service providers in rehabilitation settings.

Introduction: In recent years, client-centered care has been embraced as a new philosophy of care by many organizations around the world. Clinicians and researchers have identified the need for valid and reliable outcome measures that are easy to use to evaluate success of implementation of new concepts.

Objective: The current study was developed to complete adaptation and field testing of the companion patient-reported measures of processes of care for adults (MPOC-A) and the service provider self-reflection measure of processes of care for service providers working with adult clients (MPOC-SP(A)).

Task-dependent modification of leg motor neuron synaptic input underlying changes in walking direction and walking speed.

Animals modify their behavior constantly to perform adequately in their environment. In terrestrial locomotion many forms of adaptation exist. Two tasks are changes of walking direction and walking speed.

Examining Causes of Racial Disparities in General Surgical Mortality: Hospital Quality Versus Patient Risk.

Background: Racial disparities in general surgical outcomes are known to exist but not well understood.

Objectives: To determine if black-white disparities in general surgery mortality for Medicare patients are attributable to poorer health status among blacks on admission or differences in the quality of care provided by the admitting hospitals.

Research Design: Matched cohort study using Tapered Multivariate Matching.

Glycerin enemas and suppositories in premature infants: a meta-analysis.

Background And Objective: Premature infants are often given glycerin enemas or suppositories to facilitate meconium evacuation and transition to enteral feeding. The purpose of this study was to assess the available evidence for this treatment strategy.

Methods: We conducted a systematic search of Medline, Embase, Central, and trial registries for randomized controlled trials of premature infants treated with glycerin enemas or suppositories.

QUANTITATIVE REEVALUATION OF THE EFFECTS OF SHORT- AND LONG-TERM REMOVAL OF DESCENDING MODULATORY INPUTS ON THE PYLORIC RHYTHM OF THE CRAB, .

The crustacean stomatogastric ganglion (STG) receives descending neuromodulatory inputs from three anterior ganglia, the paired commissural ganglia (CoGs) and the single esophageal ganglion (OG). In this paper we provide the first detailed and quantitative analyses of the short- and long-term effects of removal of these descending inputs (decentralization) on the pyloric rhythm of the STG. Thirty minutes after decentralization, the mean frequency of the pyloric rhythm dropped from 1.

Exploring Client-Centered Care Experiences in In-Patient Rehabilitation Settings.

Patient or client-centered care has been widely accepted as an essential component of health care delivery in many countries. Few studies explore actual implementation of client-centered principles and clients' and health care providers' (HCPs) experiences with these approaches. Our objective was to explore current models of delivery of rehabilitation services from the perspectives of patients, families, and HCPs.

Knowledge mobilization to spread awareness of the 'F-words' in childhood disability: lessons from a family-researcher partnership.

Background: In 2012, two CanChild researchers published an article in Child: Care, Health and Development titled 'The "F-words" in childhood disability: I swear this is how we should think!' Building on the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework, the article featured key strengths-based ICF themes (i.e. the 'F-words' - Function, Family, Fitness, Fun, Friends and Future).

Children's perspective of quality of life in epilepsy.

Objective: To study child mental health, parental support, and social support of children with epilepsy as these relate to quality of life (QOL) using child self-report, seizure-related variables, and estimated verbal intelligence based on receptive vocabulary.

Methods: A cross-sectional structural equation model of baseline data from the QUALITÉ cohort study, which includes 6 Canadian child epilepsy ambulatory programs. A sample of 3,481 children were screened for the following eligibility: 8 to 14 years of age, with active or medication-managed epilepsy.

Promoting consistent use of the communication function classification system (CFCS).

Purpose: We developed a Knowledge Translation (KT) intervention to standardize the way speech-language pathologists working in Ontario Canada's Preschool Speech and Language Program (PSLP) used the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS). This tool was being used as part of a provincial program evaluation and standardizing its use was critical for establishing reliability and validity within the provincial dataset.

Method: Two theoretical foundations - Diffusion of Innovations and the Communication Persuasion Matrix - were used to develop and disseminate the intervention to standardize use of the CFCS among a cohort speech-language pathologists.

Fundoplication and gastrostomy versus percutaneous gastrojejunostomy for gastroesophageal reflux in children with neurologic impairment: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Children with neurologic impairment often fail medical management of gastroesophageal reflux and proceed to fundoplication and gastrostomy (FG) or percutaneous gastrojejunostomy (GJ). Current guidelines do not recommend one treatment over the other, and there is ongoing uncertainty regarding clinical management.

Methods: We conducted a structured search of Medline, Embase, trial registries, and the gray literature.

Indicators of airborne fungal concentrations in urban homes: understanding the conditions that affect indoor fungal exposures.

Indoor fungal exposure can compromise respiratory health. Low-income urban areas are of concern because of high asthma and allergy rates and housing disrepair. Understanding the conditions that affect indoor fungal exposures is important for assessing health risks and for developing mitigation strategies.

Developing a non-categorical measure of child health using administrative data.

Background: Few studies have examined the potential of linked administrative data for research on child health. This analysis describes the application of a non-categorical survey-based tool, the Children with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN) Screener, to administrative data.

Data And Methods: Five Screener items were applied to linked administrative health data from Population Data British Columbia.

A Bioecological framework to evaluate communicative participation outcomes for preschoolers receiving speech-language therapy interventions in Ontario, Canada.

Background: The Preschool Speech and Language Program (PSLP) in Ontario, Canada, is a publically funded intervention service for children from birth to 5 years with communication disorders. It has begun a population-level programme evaluation of children's communicative participation outcomes following therapy. Data are currently being collected for all children who access this service--over 50,000 children each year.

The "5Rs of Reorganization": A Case Report on Service Delivery Reorganization within a Pediatric Rehabilitation Organization.

Aims: Pediatric rehabilitation centers constantly reorganize services to accommodate changes in funding, client needs, evidence-based practices, accountability requirements, theoretical models, and values. However, there are few service delivery models or descriptions of how organizations plan for change to guide organizations through this complex task.

Methods: This case report presents the "5Rs of Reorganization," a novel process for planning service delivery reorganization projects in pediatric rehabilitation centers.