Myxovirus resistance protein A (MxA) is a protein induced during viral infections. A few small-scale studies have suggested that MxA could be used as a marker of viral infection in clinical routine practice.

This study involves the largest patient population thus far and confirms the usefulness of MxA for diagnosing viral infections in children consulting the emergency department in a clinical routine setting. (Read the full article)

Concern exists about the ability of new general pediatricians to find jobs that match their career goals.

A large majority of new pediatricians secure positions consistent with their career goals and desired responsibilities. (Read the full article)

Subtherapeutic doses of antibiotics have been used as growth promoters in animal farming since the 1950s. Antibiotic exposure during infancy is associated with increased body mass in humans.

The weight-promoting effect of antibiotics is most pronounced when the exposure occurs at <6 months of age or repeatedly during infancy. Increased body mass is distinctly associated with exposure to cephalosporins and macrolides, especially in boys. (Read the full article)

Firearm violence is a leading cause of death among US youth aged 14 to 24. The emergency department is a key setting for interacting with high-risk assault-injured youth and remains an underused but important setting for violence prevention programs.

High-risk youth seeking emergency department care for assault have high rates of firearm violence over the subsequent 2 years. Higher severity substance use, combined with negative retaliatory attitudes and access to firearms, increases this risk for involvement with firearm violence. (Read the full article)

Although the psychometric properties of the school-age Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) have been extensively examined by using longitudinal data, the preschool version of the SDQ has only been explored in a limited number of cross-sectional studies.

This is the first psychometric study of the preschool SDQ using longitudinal data. We report measurement invariance over time, satisfactory reliability, construct and criterion validity, and predictive utility for subsequent behavioral problems (4 years) and clinical disorders (2 years). (Read the full article)

Children’s time with parents is critical for healthy development. Lack of control over parents’ schedules and limited supervisor support for personal and family life can interfere with parents’ family time.

This is the first group randomized controlled field trial demonstrating effects of a workplace intervention, designed to increase schedule control and supervisor support, on working parents’ time with their children, as assessed by using longitudinal daily telephone interviews. (Read the full article)

Clinical trials of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine show it to be highly efficacious in preventing vaccine-type–specific cervical dysplasia and anogenital warts, but few studies have assessed its effects in the real world and none have done so at the program/population level.

This study provides strong evidence of the early benefits of quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccination on reductions in cervical dysplasia and possible reductions in anogenital warts among girls aged 14 to 17 years, offering additional justification for not delaying vaccination until girls are older. (Read the full article)

Outbreaks of serogroup B meningococcal disease occur at universities and other organizations. Until October 2014, options for control of serogroup B outbreaks were limited by the absence of a licensed vaccine for serogroup B meningococcal disease in the United States.

We describe a serogroup B outbreak at a university in 2013 and the campaign with investigational serogroup B vaccine held in response. This was the first use of a serogroup B vaccine as an outbreak response in the United States. (Read the full article)

Early psychosocial exposures are increasingly recognized as crucial to health throughout life. A possible mechanism is physiologic dysregulation due to stress. Cortisol in hair is a new biomarker assessing long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity.

Added early psychosocial exposures seem to increase infant long-term hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis activity and risk of common childhood diseases in a cumulative manner, supporting the model of physiologic dysregulation as a plausible mechanism through which early detrimental exposures determine health outcomes. (Read the full article)

Few studies have established the protective efficacy of 1 to 3 primary doses of diphtheria-tetanus-whole-cell pertussis (DTwP)/diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis (DTaP) vaccines against pertussis, hospitalization, or pertussis complications in infants. However, vaccine effectiveness against infant pertussis death has not been previously reported.

This is the first study to report the protective role of ≥1 DTwP/DTaP doses among vaccine-eligible infants aged ≥6 weeks against death, hospitalization, and complications from pertussis. It describes risk markers for death among vaccine-ineligible infants aged <6 weeks. (Read the full article)

Dyslexia has a lifelong impact on learning. The consensus in the literature from clinical studies is that dyslexia is not caused by vision abnormalities. However, interventions and therapies directed at eye-related functions are still available.

In this cohort the majority of dyslexic children had normal results for all ophthalmic tests. These population-based data support the consensus that dyslexia is not primarily a vision problem and that vision-based therapies are not justified or likely to help. (Read the full article)

Almost half of NICUs include low birth weight (<2.5 kg) as an inclusion criterion for car seat tolerance screening (CSTS), formerly car seat challenges. However, little is known about incidence and risk factors for failure in this group.

This is the largest study to date evaluating the incidence and predictors of CSTS failure in full-term low birth weight neonates. Epidemiologic data are provided to help guide future CSTS policies and protocol development for this group. (Read the full article)

Gastrostomy tube placement is a difficult decision for families of children with neurologic impairment. Better understanding the impact of these tubes on the lives of children and families will help improve decision-making and support from health care providers.

Gastrostomy tube placement has broad-reaching implications for children and their families. There are physical, emotional, and relational challenges and benefits for the child, the parents, and the family unit. Exploring potential outcomes with families may improve decision-making conversations and support. (Read the full article)

Previous studies have shown that concomitant administration of the quadrivalent human papillomavirus vaccine with MCV4 and Tdap was generally well tolerated and did not interfere with the immune responses to the respective vaccines.

Concomitant administration of the novel 9-valent human papillomavirus vaccine with MCV4 and Tdap, 2 vaccines that are currently recommended for routine vaccination of adolescents, did not compromise the safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity of the individual vaccines. (Read the full article)

Selective eating is a common, burdensome eating pattern in young children. A significant subset remain selective eaters at least until adolescence and, for some, adulthood. The question is whether selective eating is a serious enough developmental pattern to warrant intervention.

This study examines whether selective eating, at 2 levels of severity, is associated with current and future psychological problems. Because moderate levels of selective eating were associated with impairment, selective eating falls within the diagnosis of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder. (Read the full article)

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parent-child reading from infancy through at least kindergarten, the span of maximal brain growth. Home literacy environment, including reading behaviors and access to books, has been shown to promote oral language and print concepts.

Home reading environment is positively associated with activation of brain areas supporting narrative comprehension and mental imagery in preschool children. This offers novel insight into the neurobiological foundations of emergent literacy and potential effect of shared reading during early childhood. (Read the full article)

High bilirubin levels are associated with sensorineural hearing loss. Exchange transfusions are recommended when bilirubin levels reach certain thresholds. However, the relative and excess risks of hearing loss in infants with bilirubin levels at/above exchange transfusion thresholds are unknown.

In this Northern California population of term and late preterm infants, elevated bilirubin levels were not associated with an increased risk of sensorineural hearing loss unless the levels were at least 10 mg/dL above exchange transfusion thresholds. (Read the full article)

Making a diagnosis of Kawasaki disease (KD) is often a diagnostic dilemma. This dilemma is confounded when children present with symptoms consistent with known, common respiratory viruses and/or with KD symptoms that could potentially be attributed to a respiratory virus.

Patients with KD commonly have a concurrent respiratory viral infection. Clinicians should not dismiss the diagnosis of KD based on the presence of respiratory symptoms. Furthermore, a positive respiratory virus test result should not be used to exclude the diagnosis of KD. (Read the full article)

Historically, children with end-stage renal disease who initiated chronic dialysis during the first year of life were far less likely to survive or successfully receive a kidney transplant compared with those who initiated chronic dialysis at older ages.

In recent years, survival has improved markedly among children who initiate chronic peritoneal dialysis at <1 year of age. Among those infants who initiate dialysis after the neonatal period and later undergo kidney transplantation, graft survival has improved as well. (Read the full article)

Infants born very prematurely or with a very low birth weight are known to have an increased risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Results concerning late preterm children are controversial and studies examining fetal growth represented by weight for gestational age are scarce.

We demonstrate that each declining week of gestation increases the risk of ADHD. Also, late preterm infants have an increased risk. Furthermore, as weight for gestational age becomes smaller than 1 SD below the mean, the risk of ADHD increases. (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)

Children born preterm at very low birth weight have reduced lung function. Reduced lung function may extend to adult life, but to what extent this outcome is attributable to bronchopulmonary dysplasia and other prenatal and neonatal conditions is not known.

Young adults born preterm at very low birth weight had impaired airflow. This finding suggests an increased risk of later obstructive airways disease and was observed also among those with no bronchopulmonary dysplasia, regardless of other prenatal and neonatal complications. (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)

Minimal parent supervision and early pubertal maturation independently forecast alcohol misuse among adolescent girls. It is not known if pubertal timing amplifies risks associated with inadequate supervision during the formative years when youth are first exposed to alcohol.

Early maturing girls who enter secondary school with high levels of behavioral autonomy report a dramatic increase in alcohol abuse. The etiology of their problems with alcohol can be traced, in part, to heightened risks arising from low parent supervision. (Read the full article)

Guidelines for postdischarge monitoring of hyperbilirubinemia for neonates of white descent are available from the American Academy of Pediatrics; however, such information for healthy term and late preterm Chinese neonates is lacking.

A classification model for predicting the risk of significant hyperbilirubinemia in Chinese neonates was developed that combines a transcutaneous bilirubin–based nomogram with clinical risk factors. It classified newborns into 6 risk groups, which can guide clinicians in planning appropriate follow-up strategies. (Read the full article)

Adolescent vaccination rates lag behind other childhood vaccines. Text messaging to improve uptake of adolescent vaccines has been shown to be effective in academic centers but has not been studied in other settings.

This study, done in 5 private and 2 safety-net practices, used a bidirectional text message as a behavioral prompt and showed text messaging was effective at increasing uptake of all adolescent vaccines. Costs were similar to other reminder/recall methods. (Read the full article)

A number of studies have reported an association between birth by cesarean delivery and adverse childhood health outcomes such as obesity, asthma, atopy, and a number of neurodevelopmental abnormalities. However, these studies have had limited capacity to control for confounders.

Using a prospective cohort while controlling for birth factors, social vulnerability, maternal BMI, and breastfeeding, we found few differences between children delivered by cesarean delivery and those born vaginally. Higher child BMI was explained by maternal BMI. (Read the full article)

Systemic responses occur after burn injury that lead to widespread changes to the body, including the heart. Elevated levels of catecholamines and stress hormones have been found up to 3 years after severe burns. Little is known about the longer-term effects.

Children with burns had 1.3 times as many admissions and 2.3 times the number of days in hospital for circulatory diseases compared with uninjured children. Children with minor burns had an increased risk of incident admissions for circulatory diseases. (Read the full article)

Many families share genetic cancer risk information with their children, and some parents and providers believe BRCA1/2 testing should be permitted in adolescence. The psychosocial effects and impact on health and risk behaviors of this knowledge is unknown.

In our cohort of 869 mother-daughter pairs, we found no differences in general adjustment, but 10- to 13-year-old girls with breast cancer family histories reported higher breast cancer–specific distress and perceived breast cancer risk. Mother distress was associated with daughter distress. (Read the full article)

A student-centered approach to teaching mathematics enables students to develop conceptual understanding and to grow as confident mathematicians.

Boys and girls start out on the same biological footing when it comes to math, finds the first neuroimaging study of math gender differences in children, published this month in the journal Science of Learning.

Educators are changing instructional priorities, altering lessons, and working on ways to help teachers grow professionally, all in an effort to raise math achievement.

Under a fifth of South Africans over the age of 60 are receiving private pensions, a new report has shown.

A Fin24 reader nearing retirement wants to know if he can access his retirement annuity now while still employed or only after officially retiring.

Minister of Finance Tito Mboweni has announced a number of "exceptional tax measures as part of the fiscal package outlined by President Cyril Ramaphosa to fight the coronavirus pandemic.

If you contracted the coronavirus at work, you may be able to claim for temporary or permanent disability, depending on how you were affected - but you will have to prove that you did, in fact, become ill at work.

Rick talks with Larry Rosenstock, education icon, the founder and CEO of High Tech High, and recent recipient of the WISE Prize for Education, about what he's learned after a half century in education.

On Thursday, Valve showed off footage for Half-Life: Alyx, which will be set before the events of Half-Life 2. Instead of using a mouse and keyboard, you'll need a VR headset to play it.

The developer, Ndemic Creations, wants to remind people that Plague Inc. is just a game, not a scientific model. The game's popularity has skyrocketed amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, which has managed to spread to the US.

A record 62 clubs from 50 countries have entered the 2019/20 edition: see who is aiming for Vienna.

Overall, average scores were up two points since 2014 on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in Technology and Engineering Literacy.

Equipping teachers to help transgender students feel safe and included requires special training, advocates say.

Boys and girls start out on the same biological footing when it comes to math, according to the first neuroimaging study of math gender differences in children.

Boys and girls start out on the same biological footing when it comes to math, finds the first neuroimaging study of math gender differences in children, published this month in the journal Science of Learning.

Twenty-two students recently graduated from Penn College at Wellsboro’s practical nursing program, the first to fulfill their requirements at a facility dedicated in May.

The Dallas String Quartet will deliver its passionate fusion of classical and contemporary music to the Community Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 19.

Very carefully, experts say, while understanding that federal laws governing special education were not written with online education in mind.

Source: www.businessinsider.com - Saturday, May 09, 2020
Dating apps like Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge have reported increased use amid the coronavirus pandemic, while touting virtual dating alternatives for users instead of meeting up in person. Swaths of users are still encouraging matches to break quarantine to have sex and go on dates, despite social distancing guidelines and fines to comply with them. An illustrator on Instagram has been collecting screenshots of these situations, and told Business Insider that users will brand themselves as "badasses," dispute the effectiveness of isolating, and lash out in anger and hurl abusive language when they're rejected. Spokespeople for Grindr, Tinder and Bumble told Business Insider they've informed users to adhere to social-distancing guidelines, but did not respond to inquiries about actions they're taking against users in places where violating lockdown orders can be against the law. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories . As millions remain confined to their homes to prevent the spread of coronavirus, the desire for human contact and connection has risen dramatically and led some to search for ways to break those social distancing rules. Popular dating apps — including Tinder , Bumble , and Hinge — have reported significant increases during the outbreak of swiping activity, matches between users, and messages exchanged. It's also led to the introduction of a breed of users who are interested in shirking lockdown orders, an

Track where schools are closed and their status for reopening.

Professor of Chemistry Paul Cremer is developing a biosensor platform that could be used to perform real-time, continuous detection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.