Shared decision-making involves the assessment of preferences and goals and has been prioritized in new attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder treatment guidelines, yet no studies have examined the impact of both preferences and goals on treatment initiation.

Supporting the clinical utility of preference and goal assessment, we found that parental treatment preferences are associated with treatment initiation, and those with distinct goals select different treatments. (Read the full article)

End-stage kidney disease (ESKD) causes significant morbidity and mortality after solid organ transplantation. Adults commonly develop advanced kidney disease, particularly after liver and intestinal transplantation. Previous pediatric studies have not compared the relative incidence of ESKD by organ type.

This national cohort study shows the highest risk of ESKD among pediatric lung and intestinal transplant recipients, reflecting unique organ-specific causes of kidney injury. Our findings have implications for screening for and treating early kidney disease in transplant recipients. (Read the full article)

Previous studies have found links between prepregnancy BMI and/or pregnancy weight gain and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) risk. Several contributing factors to BMI and pregnancy weight gain (ie, prematurity, advanced maternal age, parental education, and parity) overlap with established ASD risk factors.

This study identifies an association between ASD risk and prenatal weight gain, but not prepregnancy BMI, and accounts for important confounding variables excluded in previous analyses. It provides the first within-mother comparison of these factors by including unaffected sibling controls. (Read the full article)

Violence from school staff toward children is anecdotally widespread, but there are few empirical data on prevalence and health consequences, especially in low-income settings.

Despite a ban on corporal punishment, just over 52% of children in Luwero District experienced physical violence from school staff members in the previous week. This was associated with poor mental health in boys and girls and poor educational performance in girls. (Read the full article)

Early timing of puberty and affiliation with deviant friends are associated with higher levels of delinquent and aggressive behavior. Early-maturing adolescents tend to affiliate with more-deviant peers and appear more susceptible to negative peer influences.

Young early-maturing girls do not yet associate with deviant friends but are more susceptible to negative peer influences. Early puberty effects are stable over time for delinquency but dissipate for aggression. Most of these relationships are invariant across race/ethnicity. (Read the full article)

Currently, the false-positive rate of appendicitis in children is ≤5%. Abdominal imaging and blood tests (particularly leukocytosis) help minimize the negative appendectomy rate, but appendicitis is not always associated with an elevated white blood cell count.

Reducing the threshold of leukocytosis as a criterion for appendicitis to 8000 to 9000 white blood cells per µL improves specificity (negative appendectomy: <1%) while only marginally decreasing sensitivity. (Read the full article)

There is a perception that Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) bloodstream infection is increasing in the NICU, and those infections caused by a multidrug-resistant (MDR) strain are a growing threat to hospitalized patients.

Exposure to broad-spectrum antibiotics is the most important risk factor for MDR GNB bacteremia, which is associated with higher mortality. Neonates with risk factors for bacteremia caused by a MDR GNB strain may benefit from empirical antimicrobial therapy with carbapenem. (Read the full article)

Existing data do not demonstrate a need for combination therapy after antimicrobial susceptibility data indicate adequate in vitro activity with β-lactam monotherapy. However, the role of empirical combination therapy for the treatment of Gram-negative bacteremia in children remains unsettled.

We conducted a retrospective, propensity-score matched study demonstrating no improvement in 10-day mortality of children who have Gram-negative bacteremia receiving empirical β-lactam and aminoglycoside combination therapy compared with β-lactam monotherapy, unless the bacteremic episode was attributable to a multidrug-resistant organism. (Read the full article)

Previous studies have shown that food advertisements influence caloric intake among children. However, individual susceptibility to food advertisements has not been examined thoroughly.

This study examines the role of impulsivity in the effect of food advertisements. An advergame promoting snacks overruled refraining from eating, especially among impulsive children. The findings suggest that impulsivity plays an important role in susceptibility to food advertisements. (Read the full article)

Electronic cigarettes have unknown health risks and youth and young adults increasingly use them. E-cigarette companies are marketing e-cigarettes using television ads. The content of these ads may appeal to young people because they emphasize themes of independence and maturity.

E-cigarette companies advertise to a broad television audience that includes 24 million youth. The reach and frequency of these ads increased dramatically between 2011 and 2013. If current trends continue, youth awareness and use of e-cigarettes are likely to increase. (Read the full article)

Invasive pneumococcal disease causes enormous morbidity in children. The spectrum and severity of illness caused by pneumococcal serotypes not present in the current vaccine, and whether the clinical profile and severity of disease have changed, are largely unknown.

Initial data suggest that nonvaccine serotypes are more common in children with underlying conditions, who have greater morbidity from disease. In the post-PCV13 era, a larger proportion of patients are hospitalized, but mortality rates are unchanged. (Read the full article)

Passive or opt-out consent has been successfully used to recruit subjects in several investigational studies. However, institutional review boards are often inconsistent in their application of federal regulations regarding passive consent.

This study documented the variability among 24 local institutional review boards in their application of federal regulations regarding passive consent and parental acceptance of a passive consent strategy in a multicenter pediatric study. (Read the full article)

Concerns as well as hopes regarding electronic games have led researchers to study the influence of games on children, yet studies to date have largely examined potential positive and negative effects in isolation and using samples of convenience.

Results from this nationally representative study of children 10 to 15 years indicated low levels of regular daily play related to better psychosocial adjustment, compared with no play, whereas the opposite was true for those engaging in high daily play. (Read the full article)

Studies have shown that setbacks, such as receiving low school grades, lead children to experience negative self-feelings (eg, shame, insecurity, powerlessness). Psychological theory predicts that unconditional regard can buffer this adverse impact of setbacks. However, causal evidence is lacking.

This randomized field experiment shows that briefly reflecting on experiences of unconditional regard buffers children’s negative self-feelings after an academic setback 3 weeks later. Unconditional regard may thus be an important psychological lever to reduce negative self-feelings in youth. (Read the full article)

Pneumococcal conjugated vaccines (PCVs) are known to decrease invasive pneumococcal disease in children, but their effect on pneumonia necessitating hospitalization is more variable across study sites, and effects on hospitalization for sinusitis have not been shown previously.

There was a significant decrease in hospitalizations for sinusitis in children <2 years of age, and hospitalization for pneumonia decreased in children aged <5 years after sequential introduction of PCV7 and PCV13. (Read the full article)

IP-10 is a novel immunologic marker for tuberculosis (TB) infection. It has been suggested that IP-10 may perform better in children compared with the QuantiFERON test, but only a few studies have investigated IP-10 for diagnosing active TB in children.

This study is the first to investigate IP-10 and QuantiFERON for diagnosing TB in children by using consensus classifications. Both IP-10 and QuantiFERON exhibited poor performance in children from a high-burden setting, and performance was especially compromised in young children. (Read the full article)

Although we know breastfeeding is beneficial and infant weight gain can predict obesity later in life, the relationship between breastfeeding duration and infant weight gain patterns among populations exhibiting high risk for obesity is unexplored.

This study demonstrates the greater odds of increased infant weight gain for infants who breastfed for shorter durations among those exposed to a high number of maternal biopsychosocial risk factors for obesity. (Read the full article)

There is a debate about whether e-cigarettes will benefit public health. However, there is little knowledge about how e-cigarette users and dual users (those using both e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes) differ from other adolescents on a range of variables.

Teenagers who only used e-cigarettes were intermediate in levels of risk and protective factors between nonusers and those who used both cigarettes and e-cigarettes. This raises a question about whether e-cigarettes recruit low-risk youth to tobacco product use. (Read the full article)

Previous research has established steep socioeconomic status gradients in children’s cognitive ability at kindergarten entry. Few studies have had comprehensive data to examine the contribution of a wide range of risk and protective factors across early childhood to these gradients.

Family background, health, home learning, parenting, and early care and education factors explain over half the gaps in reading and math ability between US children in the lowest versus highest socioeconomic status quintiles, suggesting a need for comprehensive early interventions. (Read the full article)

US children consume excessive amounts of sodium and substantial amounts of added sugars. Early life exposures to salt and sugar can set taste preferences and health trajectories.

A substantial proportion of toddler meals and other commercial foods meant for children age ≥12 months are of potential concern because of their high sodium content or presence of ≥1 added sugar. (Read the full article)

Accountable care organizations are expanding. In pediatrics, however, there is no information on cost savings or quality generated by such organizations.

Partners for Kids is a pediatric accountable care organization that increased value for Medicaid children in 34 Ohio counties, primarily through cost savings. This slowing in cost growth was achieved without diminishing the overall quality or outcomes of care. (Read the full article)

Preterm infants are at an increased risk of infections; therefore, vaccination is of particular importance. Because immune response data reported for preterm infants may vary according to gestational age and vaccination timing, vaccine responses in this population warrant additional research.

This study evaluated 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine in preterm infants. Results suggest that this vaccine was well tolerated and immunogenic; most subjects achieved serotype-specific immunoglobulin G antibody levels and functional antibody responses likely to correlate with protection against invasive disease. (Read the full article)

US parents trust the health care system and bring their infant children in for preventive care. Previous studies have demonstrated the ability of health care systems to identify, and sometimes address, the economic needs of low-income families.

Families of newborns at a safety-net primary care center have high levels of economic hardship. Compared with controls, Developmental Understanding and Legal Collaboration for Everyone families had accelerated access to concrete supports, improved rates of on-time immunization and preventive care, and decreased emergency department utilization. (Read the full article)

Pediatric patients suffer higher mortality due to the shortage of transplantable organs. Factors influencing families’ donation decisions are similar for pediatric and adult patients. However, the general perception that families of pediatric patients are less willing to donate persists.

Communication emerged as a critical factor of family authorization, reinforcing its importance in the organ donation process. Patient age (ie, adult versus pediatric) was not predictive of family authorization. (Read the full article)

Conventional invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) definition using laboratory confirmation lacks sensitivity. Using a vaccine-probe design, the FinIP trial showed that IPD disease burden and vaccine-preventable disease incidence were fourfold higher when a more sensitive outcome, clinically suspected IPD, was used.

Vaccine-preventable disease incidence (ie, absolute reduction due to PCV10 vaccination) during routine vaccination program was threefold with the more sensitive outcome of clinically suspected IPD compared with the conventional IPD definition. This has major implications for cost-effectiveness of PCVs. (Read the full article)

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use in adolescence is increasing. E-cigarette use has been associated with cigarette use, but there has been little study of other psychosocial risk factors for e-cigarette use and their relationship with cigarette use.

Approval and use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes among friends and family were strongly associated with cigarette and e-cigarette use in a cohort of adolescents in southern California. (Read the full article)

Late preterm infants, compared with full-term infants, have less proficiency in reading and math at school age, with increased need for individualized educational plans and special education services. They also have lower cognitive performance on standardized IQ exams.

Late preterm infants have worse outcomes at school entry, and development is variable during the preschool years, so socioeconomic status, language spoken in the home, maternal education, maternal race, and being a late preterm infant have a large impact. (Read the full article)

Electronic cigarette use among youth is rising exponentially. Among other concerns, modified electronic cigarettes can be used to vaporize cannabis. However, no scientific data have been published on the rates of using electronic cigarettes to vaporize cannabis among youth.

This study presents rates of vaporizing cannabis among a sample of high school students (N = 3847). Rates of vaporizing cannabis were high among lifetime e-cigarette users (18.0%), lifetime cannabis users (18.4%), and lifetime dual cannabis and e-cigarette users (26.5%). (Read the full article)

Congenital cytomegalovirus infection is the leading infectious cause of neurologic disabilities and sensorineural hearing loss in children. Little is known concerning the frequency and impact of vestibular disorders induced by cytomegalovirus infection.

This study reports on the largest cohort of vestibular assessment of children congenitally infected with cytomegalovirus, demonstrating vestibular damages, and analyzes the correlations between vestibular dysfunction and hearing impairment or severity of infection. Cytomegalovirus infection affects postural development in children. (Read the full article)

Executive functioning and excess weight have been associated in both cross-sectional and prospective studies, but mechanisms explaining this relationship are unclear.

Impulsivity and planning at age 10 predicted age 10 to 16 BMI changes, and age 12 binge-eating tendencies mediated the relation between impulsivity at age 10 and changes in BMI change through age 16. (Read the full article)

Maternal gestational weight gain is associated with childhood overweight. It is unknown whether gestational weight gain programs the child’s health or whether gestational weight gain is an indicator of postnatal behavioral factors.

We disentangled these influences by studying the effect of gestational weight gain simultaneously with postdelivery maternal weight change as an indicator for shared family lifestyle on child’s weight development and found that both had an independent effect. (Read the full article)

Sometimes your iPhone just isn't big enough to enjoy the best of iOS gaming. Grab your iPad and take advantage of the expanded screen real estate with these games.

A group of Bulgarian teenagers and leaders took part in this year’s TeenStreet Europe for the first time and experienced God in new ways.

This year at the sports and English camp in Bulgaria, the team noticed the fruit of building on relationships over time.

Improvement and innovation have different rules, expectations, and risks. The key is knowing which game you're playing, but getting the balance right between fostering innovation and fighting for equity may be the challenge of our time.

Every time an education institution loses a funding source, rethinks program delivery, revises positions, incorporates technology, or changes curriculum, it is making an investment in change. These are sizable, important investments, so why not protect them?

On Thursday, the company sent an email to third-party dealers, saying they would need approval to sell used Nintendo Games. Turns out the email was actually sent out in error, Amazon claims.

If you're shopping for a gamer, especially if you can pin down their preferred platform, these cheap but fun accessories are guaranteed winners.

Valve's tweet describes the upcoming title Half-Life: Alyx as the company's 'flagship VR game.' So you'll probably need a virtual headset to play it. The company will reveal more details on Thursday.

An underground stall in Seoul's Yongsan district holds one of the biggest classic video game malls you'll ever see. Take a tour through our photos.

The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) has a huge, diverse library of games. These are the cream of the crop for Nintendo's iconic 8-bit home console

The N64 game library feels historically slim compared to other Nintendo consoles, but these are the greatest Nintendo games of the 64-bit era

Movies are barely earning money compared to the games people don't even have to pay for up front—because in-app purchases are making bank.

The first hotel will break ground later this year in Phoenix, Arizona. Another is being planned for Las Vegas. They promise to offer Atari-themed lodging, along with lots of video gaming experiences.

February pulls no punches, offering entertainment-starved gamers eight excellent titles to snatch up over the next few weeks.

24 April 2014This briefing is produced to assist the Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee in their inquiry into Scotland’s Economic Future Post-2014.

Academic gender gaps in reading and math follow different paths as American students move from their school years into adulthood, according to new federal data.

Female teachers, principals, and superintendents in Pennsylvania earn significantly less money than their male counterparts, a new study shows.

In spite of stereotypes, gender gaps in math and reading aren't universal. The most comprehensive study to date on gender gaps suggests the size and even the direction of the gaps vary from one school district to another.

Anna-Maree Manciet is one of the estimated 164 million adult gamers. But for the Pennsylvania College of Technology alum, gaming is much more than entertainment. It’s a source of goodwill, both for herself and countless others. Since graduating from Penn College in 2013, Manciet’s video game prowess has led to personal healing, a thriving career and nearly $88,000 raised for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.