Does Couples' Division of Labor Influence Union Dissolution? Evidence from Parents of Young Children in Chile.

We examined the role of couples' division of labor in the risk of union dissolution among parents of young children in Chile. We looked at whether specialization in the labor market and domestic work predicts union dissolution, and whether these associations differ by parents' marital status and mother's education. Using panel data from the Chilean (ELPI) 2010 and 2012 waves, we found that specialization in the division of labor is associated with a lower probability of union dissolution among parents of young children in Chile.

Do health sector measures of violence against women at different levels of severity correlate? Evidence from Brazil.

Objective: To evaluate if characteristics of reports of violence against women at different levels of severity are similar and to test if their prevalence is correlated at the municipal level.

Methods: I use data from women ages 15-49 who were killed by homicide in Brazil's national death registry (N = 14,373), were hospitalized for aggression (N = 14,701), or were included in the medical mandatory reports of incidents of violence against women (N = 42,134) between 2011 and 2016 in select municipalities. I provide national level descriptive statistics from 2016 contrasting distributions of victims (age, education, and race) and distributions of the characteristics of the incidents (location and time of day).

Center-Based Child Care and Differential Improvements In the Child Development Outcomes of Disadvantaged Children.

Background: Research finds center-based child care typically benefits children of low socio-economic status (SES) but few studies have examined if it also reduces inequalities in developmental disadvantage.

Objective: I test if the length of time in center-based care between ages one and three years associates with child development scores at age three years, focusing on the impact for groups of children in the lower tercile of child development scores and in the lower SES tercile.

Methods: Using data from 1,606 children collected in a nationally representative Chilean survey, I apply a value-added approach to measure gains in child development scores between age one and three years that are associated with length of time in center-based child care.

Mothers' and grandmothers' caregiving for young children in Chile: Roles and responsibilities.

Chile has the highest rates of grandparent caregiving of young children among Western countries. However, there is limited information on (a) how mothers and grandmothers share caregiving responsibilities, (b) if mother's care for children differs across different types of grandmother support, and (c) the perceived roles that grandmothers have as caregivers. Through a mixed-methods approach, we seek to explore the areas mentioned above.

Household transitions between ages 5 and 15 and educational outcomes: Fathers and grandparents in Peru.

Background: Latin America has high rates of single motherhood and intergenerational coresidence, resulting in children experiencing changes in household composition - particularly with respect to fathers and grandparents. In other contexts, such changes have been shown to influence educational outcomes.

Objective: To test if the presence of grandparents and fathers in the household are differentially associated with educational outcomes during schooling years in Peru.

Crop diversity is associated with higher child diet diversity in Ethiopia, particularly among low-income households, but not in Vietnam.

Objectives: To examine associations of household crop diversity with school-aged child dietary diversity in Vietnam and Ethiopia and mechanisms underlying these associations.

Design: We created a child diet diversity score (DDS) using data on seven food groups consumed in the last 24 h. Generalised estimating equations were used to model associations of household-level crop diversity, measured as a count of crop species richness (CSR) and of plant crop nutritional functional richness (CNFR), with DDS.

Sleep Problems in Preschoolers With Autism Spectrum Disorder Are Associated With Sensory Sensitivities and Thalamocortical Overconnectivity.

Background: Projections between the thalamus and sensory cortices are established early in development and play an important role in regulating sleep as well as in relaying sensory information to the cortex. Atypical thalamocortical functional connectivity frequently observed in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) might therefore be linked to sensory and sleep problems common in ASD.

Methods: Here, we investigated the relationship between auditory-thalamic functional connectivity measured during natural sleep functional magnetic resonance imaging, sleep problems, and sound sensitivities in 70 toddlers and preschoolers (1.

Hypoglycemia Due to Acquired Carnitine Deficiency in a Pediatric Patient Receiving Chemotherapy.

We describe a 21-month-old male with relapsed clear cell sarcoma of the kidney receiving enteral nutrition who experienced recurrent, ketotic hypoglycemia. During relapse therapy, he had recurrent hypoglycemia episodes, in the setting of hematochezia and diarrhea. Evaluation revealed low carnitine levels.

Socioeconomic Factors Account for Variability in Language Skills in Preschoolers with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Objective: Although no longer required for a diagnosis, language delays are extremely common in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Factors associated with socioeconomic status (SES) have broad-reaching impact on language development in early childhood. Despite recent advances in characterizing autism in early childhood, the relationship between SES and language development in ASD has not received much attention.

Cytochrome C Oxidase Subunit 4 (COX4): A Potential Therapeutic Target for the Treatment of Medullary Thyroid Cancer.

The nuclear-encoded subunit 4 of cytochrome c oxidase (COX4) plays a role in regulation of oxidative phosphorylation and contributes to cancer progression. We sought to determine the role of COX4 in differentiated (DTC) and medullary (MTC) thyroid cancers. We examined the expression of COX4 in human thyroid tumors by immunostaining and used shRNA-mediated knockdown of COX4 to evaluate its functional contributions in thyroid cancer cell lines.

Greater functional connectivity between sensory networks is related to symptom severity in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder.

Background: Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) emerge in the first years of life. Yet, little is known about the organization and development of functional brain networks in ASD proximally to the symptom onset. Further, the relationship between brain network connectivity and emerging ASD symptoms and overall functioning in early childhood is not well understood.

Fifteen-minute consultation: The infant with a neck lump.

Studying head and neck anatomy may be a distant memory and clinicians can struggle with how to approach neck lumps diagnostically. This article gives a brief guide to common (and rare but serious) causes of neck lumps in infancy, their identification and management.

A conditional cash transfer and Women's empowerment: Does Bolsa Familia Influence intimate partner violence?

We apply mixed methods to explore how a conditional cash transfer (CCT) may influence intimate partner violence (IPV). Qualitative interviews with female beneficiaries of Bolsa Familia, Brazil's CCT program, and service providers suggest positive, negative, and null associations between CCTs and IPV are all plausible. These associations result from a combination of economic and psychological motivations.

Variation in primary health care services after implementation of quality improvement policy in Brazil.

Background: Brazil is the most populous country with a public, universal and free health care system. The National Program for Access and Quality Improvement in Primary Care (PMAQ) was created to improve the quality of primary health care (PHC).

Objective: To evaluated whether progress generally has been made within Brazil's PHC since PMAQ implementation, and if changes occurred uniformly in the country, while also identifying municipal characteristics that may have influenced the improvement.

What is the relative impact of primary health care quality and conditional cash transfer program in child mortality?

Objective: Evaluate how coverage and quality of primary health care (PHC) and a conditional cash transfer (CCT) program associate with child mortality in Brazil.

Methods: Multivariate linear regression models and least absolute shrinkage and selection estimator (LASSO) were utilized with the municipal level child mortality rate as the key dependent variable. PHC quality with PHC and CCT coverage were the independent variables.

Can a conditional cash transfer reduce teen fertility? The case of Brazil's Bolsa Familia.

In 2008, Brazil's conditional cash transfer program expanded to cover a wider range of ages. Poor families are now given stipends for their children's school attendance up to age seventeen, whereas prior the maximum age was fifteen. Using a nationally representative household survey, we estimate the impact of this policy on teen fertility with a triple difference analysis on the fertility outcomes of treated cohorts vs.

Mothers' labor market choices and child development outcomes in Chile.

This paper examines associations between labor market participation of Chilean mothers and the cognitive, language, and socio-economic development of their children. Using a nationally-representative sample of 3-year-old children, we test if mothers' work intensity in the two previous years is associated with child development outcomes; data were collected in 2010 when children were one year old, and again in 2012, when they were three years old. We find that children who were three years old with mothers who worked for higher fractions of their children's lives in the previous two years perform significantly better on all tests (cognitive, language, socio-emotional) than children whose mothers had worked less, while controlling for baseline test performance.

Disparities in children's vocabulary and height in relation to household wealth and parental schooling: A longitudinal study in four low- and middle-income countries.

Children from low socio-economic status (SES) households often demonstrate worse growth and developmental outcomes than wealthier children, in part because poor children face a broader range of risk factors. It is difficult to characterize the trajectories of SES disparities in low- and middle-income countries because longitudinal data are infrequently available. We analyze measures of children's linear growth (height) at ages 1, 5, 8 and 12y and receptive language (Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test) at ages 5, 8 and 12y in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam in relation to household SES, measured by parental schooling or household assets.

Sex of children and family structure in Brazil: father & grandmother bias?

Brazil has a high rate of mothers living without a partner as well as a high intergenerational co-residence rate, including parents and grandparents. These family types may influence a child's well-being. Even though there is no evidence of sex-selective abortion in Brazil, sex preference could still be subtly present.

Family structure and child development in Chile: A longitudinal analysis of household transitions involving fathers and grandparents.

Background: Adults support child development economically, socially, and emotionally. Household transitions may disrupt these support structures, impacting child development.

Objective: We document the large portion of children in Chile that experience biological-father and grandparent household transitions, and test if these transitions are associated with child vocabulary and behavior and if income could be a mechanism behind our findings.