Using the Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory to Strengthen Collaborations for Improving Maternal and Child Health.

Introduction: The Wilder Collaboration Factors Inventory is a free, publicly available questionnaire about the quality and context of community collaboration. The purpose of this article is to share lessons from using this questionnaire in a North Carolina maternal and child health initiative.

Methods: In 2015, the State's General Assembly funded five local health departments to implement evidence-based strategies for improving maternal and child health.

"Watch Me!" Training Increases Knowledge and Impacts Attitudes Related to Developmental Monitoring and Referral Among Childcare Providers.

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of "Watch Me!" developmental monitoring training on childcare providers' knowledge and attitudes related to monitoring developmental milestones and making recommended referrals when there is a concern about a child's development.

Methods: A pretest-posttest design using web-based surveys was used to assess the impact of "Watch Me!" training on knowledge and attitudes related to conducting five key components of developmental monitoring (tracking development, recognizing delays, talking to parents about development, talking to parents about concerns, and making referrals). Variables included belief that developmental monitoring is important and is part of childcare provider role; perceived knowledge of, access to tools for, and prioritization of developmental monitoring; and ability to list recommended referrals when there is a concern.

Neurodevelopmental evaluation strategies for children with congenital heart disease aged birth through 5 years: recommendations from the cardiac neurodevelopmental outcome collaborative.

This paper provides specific guidelines for the neurodevelopmental evaluation of children aged birth through 5 years with complex congenital heart disease. There is wide recognition that children with congenital heart disease are at high risk for neurodevelopmental impairments that are first apparent in infancy and often persist as children mature. Impairments among children with complex congenital heart disease cross developmental domains and affect multiple functional abilities.

How Are They Doing? Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at School Age of Children Born Following Assisted Reproductive Treatments.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to assess major neurodevelopmental aspects of children conceived by assisted reproductive treatments compared to spontaneously conceived children during the early school years.

Material & Methods: In this follow-up study, mothers of 358 children born following assisted reproductive treatments and 401 spontaneously-conceived children were interviewed by telephone regarding their children's health and development, when the children were 7-8 years old. The main outcomes were maternal responses to 4 questionnaires: Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, Short Sensory Profile, Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire, and the Attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) Child Symptom Inventory-4 subscale.

Sleep-dependent memory consolidation in children with self-limited focal epilepsies.

Objective: Children with self-limited focal epilepsies of childhood (SLFE) are known to show impaired memory functions, particularly in the verbal domain. Interictal epileptiform discharges (IED) in these epilepsies are more pronounced in nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. Nonrapid eye movement sleep is crucial for consolidation of newly-encoded memories.

Provider Perspectives on the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Autism: Transition to Adulthood Program.

Objective: Despite their complex health care needs, transition-aged youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (TAY-ASD) receive few transition services and describe difficulty finding adult providers. A 12-week primary care provider (PCP) training was developed to improve the delivery of transition services for TAY-ASD [Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Autism: Transition to Adulthood program]. The current study examines the PCPs' perspectives and experiences of the program and application of the training material.

Behavioral problems in very preterm children at five years of age using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A multicenter cohort study.

Introduction: Children born very preterm (VPT) are at increased risk of emotional and behavioral problems later in life. We aimed to determine the prevalence and spectrum of behavioral abnormalities at five years of age in VPT children.

Methods: Multi-center cohort study on 339 early-school aged children born at a gestational age below 32 weeks, between 2008 and 2011 and followed through the SwissNeoNet.

The association between maternal human papillomavirus (HPV) experiences and HPV vaccination of their children.

HPV vaccination prevents most HPV-related cancers yet vaccination rates remain low. In this cross-sectional study, we examined the association between maternal HPV experiences and HPV vaccination uptake among children and whether this association may be explained by perceived benefits of vaccination. We used logistic regression models to estimate the effect of (1) maternal history of abnormal Pap smear, (2), family/friend history of cervical cancer, and (3) maternal history of cervical cancer on HPV vaccination uptake among children.

Young Autism Spectrum Disorder Children in Special and Mainstream Education Settings Have Similar Behavioral Characteristics.

In many countries, parents can place autism spectrum disorder (ASD) children in either mainstream or special education settings, which differ in their ability to provide structured early intervention programs. There are no clear guidelines for how to make initial placement decisions and ongoing debate about the benefits and drawbacks of each educational setting. Previous studies have mostly examined placement of school-age children and reported that those with poorer cognitive abilities and more severe ASD symptoms tend to be placed in special education.

Bilateral polymicrogyria associated with dystonia: A new neurogenetic syndrome?

The clinical presentation of bilateral perisylvian polymicrogyria (PMG) is highly variable, including oromotor dysfunction, epilepsy, intellectual disability, and pyramidal signs. Extrapyramidal features are extremely rare. We present four apparently unrelated patients with a unique association of PMG with dystonia.

The Autism Impact Measure (AIM): Examination of Sensitivity to Change.

The Autism Impact Measure (AIM) was designed specifically for treatment-outcome assessment in children with ASD, focusing on treatment-relevant aspects of symptom presentation and efficient detection of short-term improvement. The AIM demonstrated strong reliability and validity in initial psychometric studies. The current study evaluated the AIM's sensitivity to change across well-established treatments.

The effects of exercise on sleep quality in persons with Parkinson's disease: A systematic review with meta-analysis.

We conducted a systematic review with meta-analysis to determine the evidence in support of exercise to improve sleep quality assessed subjectively and objectively in Parkinson's Disease (PD). Standardized mean differences (SMD) comparing the effects of exercise and control interventions on sleep quality with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Data from 10 randomized and 2 non-randomized controlled trials, including a total of 690 persons with PD were included.

Autism spectrum conditions in hikikomori: A pilot case-control study.

Aim: Hikikomori, a form of pathological social withdrawal, has been suggested to have comorbidity with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This study aimed to clarify how characteristics of hikikomori are associated with ASD, including undiagnosed autism spectrum conditions (ASC), in clinical settings.

Methods: A total of 416 clinical patients were recruited through the Mood Disorder/Hikikomori Clinic at Kyushu University Hospital.

Four patients with D-bifunctional protein (DBP) deficiency: Expanding the phenotypic spectrum of a highly variable disease.

Introduction: Peroxisomal D-bifunctional protein (DBP) deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder historically described as a Zellweger-like syndrome comprising neonatal seizures, retinopathy, hearing loss, dysmorphic features, and other complications. The gene encodes DBP which is essential for oxidation of peroxisomal substrates. We describe 4 patients - 2 unrelated female girls and 2 monozygotic twin sisters - with DBP deficiency and phenotypic diversity.

Predictors of exclusive breastfeeding practice among migrant and non-migrant mothers in urban China: results from a cross-sectional survey.

Objective: To explore and compare the predictors for exclusive breast feeding (EBF) among migrant and non-migrant mothers in China.

Design: A large-scale cross-sectional study.

Setting: 12 counties/districts were covered in China.

Shuffling babies and autism spectrum disorder.

Background And Purpose: Bottom shuffling is a locomotion strategy that precedes independent walking in some infants. Shuffling babies are generally considered to have favorable outcomes. The aim of the present study was to reveal clinical features and neurodevelopmental outcomes of shuffling babies who visited a child developmental center.

Membranous aplasia cutis congenita in trisomy 18.

Background: Aplasia cutis congenita (ACC) is a rare congenital condition characterized by the absence of skin layers and sometimes other underlying structures, in a localized or widespread area. The exact etiopathogenesis is not yet completely understood. Membranous ACC (MACC) also described as bullous or cystic ACC is a clinical subtype of ACC, covered with a membranous or glistening surface, and appears as a flat scar.

Autism risk linked to prematurity is more accentuated in girls.

Introduction: Prematurity has been identified as a risk factor for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The link between Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and birth-week has not been strongly evidenced. We evaluated the correlation between the degree of prematurity and the incidence of autism in a cohort of 871 children born prematurely and followed from birth.

The experience-dependent increase in deep sleep activity is reduced in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Objective/background: Learning of a visuomotor adaptation task during wakefulness leads to a local increase in slow-wave activity (SWA, EEG power between 1 and 4.5 Hz) during subsequent deep sleep. Here, we examined this relationship between learning and SWA in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Associations and Dissociations among Phonological Processing Skills, Language Skills and Nonverbal Cognition in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to examine the nature of phonological processing in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as it pertains to their nonverbal cognitive and linguistic abilities.

Methods: Twenty-one participants between the ages of 9 and 21 years were administered a nonverbal cognitive assessment (Raven test), a language measure that requires receptive and expressive knowledge of semantics, syntax and morphology, as well as the integration across these language domains (CELF-4), and a measure of phonological processing (CTOPP).

Results: Results show that performance on nonword repetition (NWR) that reflects an aspect of phonological memory was significantly low, whereas performance on phoneme reversal, phoneme elision, blending words and memory for digits was within the normal range.

Mental development is associated with cortical connectivity of the ventral and nonspecific thalamus of preterm newborns.

Introduction: The thalamus is a key hub for regulating cortical connectivity. Dysmaturation of thalamocortical networks that accompany white matter injury has been hypothesized as neuroanatomical correlate of late life neurocognitive impairment following preterm birth. Our objective was to find a link between thalamocortical connectivity measures at term equivalent age and two-year neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants.

Factor Structure of the Aberrant Behavior Checklist in Individuals with Fragile X Syndrome: Clarifications and Future Guidance.

The Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) is a standardized rating scale used for assessing problematic behavior of individuals with developmental disabilities. It has five subscales: Irritability, Social Withdrawal, Stereotypic Behavior, Hyperactivity, and Inappropriate Speech. A previous study in individuals with fragile X syndrome (FXS) reported six factors, with the Social Withdrawal factor bifurcating into Socially Unresponsive and Social Avoidance factors, suggesting a different factor structure in people with FXS.