Increased risk of hospitalization among children who were HIV-exposed and uninfected compared to population controls.

Objectives: While studies have demonstrated increased morbidity and mortality risk in infancy among children who are HIV-exposed and uninfected (CHEU), longitudinal data are limited. The objective of this study was to assess long-term risk of hospitalization among CHEU compared to children who are HIV-unexposed and uninfected (CHUU), and determine risk factors for hospitalization among CHEU.

Design: A longitudinal cohort study (1988-2015) linking the Centre maternel et infantile sur le SIDA cohort (Montreal, Quebec) to administrative data from the Régie de l'assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), a universal health insurance provider in the province of Quebec.

Variations in CD4 counts during pregnancy in women living with HIV.

Objective: Our objective was to determine the frequency at which CD4 counts drop below 200 cells/mm during pregnancy in women living with HIV and to identify factors associated with this.

Methods: Data from 2005 to 2020 from two prospective Canadian cohorts of pregnant women living with HIV were extracted. As per national guidelines, women received antiretroviral therapy and CD4 counts were monitored once per trimester and at delivery.

Associations of neighborhood walkability with moderate to vigorous physical activity: an application of compositional data analysis comparing compositional and non-compositional approaches.

Background: We compared the relation between neighborhood features and moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) using linear regression analysis and the more novel compositional data analysis (CoDA). Compositional data analysis allows us to take the time children allocate to different movement behaviours during a 24-hour time period into account.

Methodology: Data from youth participants (n = 409) in the QUALITY (QUebec Adipose and Lifestyle InvesTigation in Youth) cohort were included.

Clinical Correlates of Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 (HIV-1) DNA and Inducible HIV-1 RNA Reservoirs in Peripheral Blood in Children With Perinatally Acquired HIV-1 Infection With Sustained Virologic Suppression for at Least 5 Years.

Background: The Early Pediatric Initiation Canada Child Cure Cohort (EPIC4) study is a prospective, multicenter, Canadian cohort study investigating human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) reservoirs, chronic inflammation, and immune responses in children with perinatally acquired HIV-1 infection. The focus of this report is HIV-1 reservoirs and correlates in the peripheral blood of children who achieved sustained virologic suppression (SVS) for ≥5 years.

Methods: HIV-1 reservoirs were determined by measuring HIV-1 DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and inducible cell-free HIV-1 RNA in CD4+ T-cells by a prostratin analogue stimulation assay.

Quasispecies Diversity Is a Major Risk Factor for Vertical Hepatitis C Virus Transmission.

Background: Vertical transmission is the major cause of pediatric hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The objective of this study was to better understand HCV pathogenesis in pregnant women and provide insights into risk factors and mechanisms involved in vertical transmission.

Methods: Evolutionary dynamics of HCV variant spectra and HCV-specific neutralizing antibody responses were examined using high-throughput sequencing and pseudoparticle-based assays in pregnant women monoinfected with HCV (n = 17) or coinfected with HCV and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 (n = 15).

Association between metabolic syndrome and gingival inflammation in obese children.

Background And Objective: Our previous work showed a positive association between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) in a sample of obese and non-obese children. However, whether this association persists among obese children is unknown. We aim to investigate the extent to which MetS is associated with GCF TNF-α level among obese children.

Independent associations between child and parent perceived neighborhood safety, child screen time, physical activity and BMI: a structural equation modeling approach.

Objective: The main objective of this study was to investigate whether children's perceptions of neighborhood safety are associated with their weight status and weight-related behaviors, independently of their parents' perceptions.

Methods: Data were from the baseline wave (collected in 2005-2008) of the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth (QUALITY), an ongoing prospective study of 630 children aged 8-10 years (from Quebec, Canada) at risk of obesity. Weight and height were measured, and World Health Organization age- and sex-specific body mass index (BMI) z-scores were computed.

Parenting style and obesity risk in children.

Background: Parents play a critical role in their children's lifestyle habits. The objective was to assess the effect of parenting style on the risk of childhood obesity, and to determine whether poverty was a moderator of the association.

Methods: Participants were from the 1994-2008 cross-sectional samples of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY), a nationally representative survey of Canadian youth.

Persistent and occasional poverty and children's food consumption: evidence from a longitudinal Québec birth cohort.

Background: Childhood poverty is associated with poorer food consumption but longitudinal data are limited. The objective was to assess if food consumption differs depending on age (6, 7, 10 and 12 years) and pattern of poverty.

Methods: Participants were from the 1998-2010 'Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development' birth cohort.

Does parental body mass index status modify the associations among birth weight, early growth and childhood adiposity?

Objectives: To examine the associations among birth weight, infant growth and childhood adiposity, and to test whether parental weight status modifies these associations.

Methods: The sample was comprised of 423 participants born at term who were an appropriate size for their gestational age from the Quebec Adipose and Lifestyle Investigation in Youth (QUALITY) study, a cohort of 630 children with a parental history of obesity. Infant growth velocity from zero to two years of age was estimated using slopes from simple linear regression for weight and body mass index (BMI) Z-scores.

Cohort profile of the CARTaGENE study: Quebec's population-based biobank for public health and personalized genomics.

The CARTaGENE (CaG) study is both a population-based biobank and the largest ongoing prospective health study of men and women in Quebec. In population-based cohorts, participants are not recruited for a particular disease but represent a random selection among the population, minimizing the need to correct for bias in measured phenotypes. CaG targeted the segment of the population that is most at risk of developing chronic disorders, that is 40-69 years of age, from four metropolitan areas in Quebec.

Atypical febrile seizures, mesial temporal lobe epilepsy, and dual pathology.

Febrile seizures occurring in the neonatal period, especially when prolonged, are thought to be involved in the later development of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE) in children. The presence of an often undetected, underlying cortical malformation has also been reported to be implicated in the epileptogenesis process following febrile seizures. This paper highlights some of the various animal models of febrile seizures and of cortical malformation and portrays a two-hit model that efficiently mimics these two insults and leads to spontaneous recurrent seizures in adult rats.

Cortical GABAergic interneurons in cross-modal plasticity following early blindness.

Early loss of a given sensory input in mammals causes anatomical and functional modifications in the brain via a process called cross-modal plasticity. In the past four decades, several animal models have illuminated our understanding of the biological substrates involved in cross-modal plasticity. Progressively, studies are now starting to emphasise on cell-specific mechanisms that may be responsible for this intermodal sensory plasticity.