Chronicity of maternal depressive symptoms, maternal sensitivity, and child functioning at 36 months.

Women (N?=?1,215) and their infants were followed from birth, and maternal reports of depressive symptoms were obtained at 1, 6, 15, 24, and 36 months. Women who never reported symptoms of depression were compared with those who reported symptoms sometimes or chronically. Women with chronic symptoms of depression were the least sensitive when observed playing with their children from infancy through 36 months. Children whose mothers reported feeling depressed performed more poorly on measures of cognitive-linguistic functioning and were rated as less cooperative and more problematic at 36 months. Depression-group differences in school readiness and verbal comprehension were accounted for by maternal sensitivity. Depression-group differences in expressive language and ratings of cooperation were moderated by maternal sensitivity; maternal sensitivity predicted better outcomes more noticeably among children whose mothers reported feeling depressed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Change of refraction in premature infants after cryotherapy for retinopathy of prematurity between the age of six months and three years

A community volunteer programme was initiated in rural Jamaica in May 1990. The main aim of the programme was to monitor the growth of children less than 36 months of age through community health volunteers (CHVs) and improve their nutritional status. At the end of the second year the programme was evaluated to determine its effectiveness. The results of the evaluation indicated that almost all (95.6%) of the children were covered by the CHVs. In addition the participation rate was high (78.5%). However, only 50% of the children were adequately covered. Nonetheless, 81% of them gained adequate weight. Indeed, malnutrition levels declined by 34.5%. The annual cost per child per year for the total programme was fairly moderate (US$14.5) with growth monitoring accounting for nearly half (42.7). The results suggest that CHVs can play an important role in primary health care programmes in developing countries.     

Hypoantigenic (HA) milk formula and blood cholesterol level in infants at 3 months of age

A preliminary observation is reported concerning total and high-density lipoprotein blood cholesterol levels in 36 infants at 3 months of age fed with a hypoantigenic milk formula. The values are compared with those of 66 breastfed and 76 conventional formula-fed infants. Total and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels in hypoantigenic formula-fed infants (152 and 65.7 mg dl(-1), respectively) were comparable to those of breastfed infants (148 and 61.8 mg dl(-1)) and significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those of conventional formula-fed infants (130 and 42.5 mg dl(-1)).     

Sex, birth order, and maternal age characteristics of infants with congenital heart defects

The records of the New England Regional Infant Cardiac Program, a service program covering all of New England, provide a useful source of information about the characteristics of children born with congenital heart defects. Data were analyzed on more than 2000 children born in New England who were diagnosed with a congenital heart defect before the first birthday. Children with arterio-venous fistula, aortic stenosis, transposition of the great arteries or hypoplastic left ventricle were predominantly male; children with persistent ductus arteriosus and endocardial cushion defect were predominantly female. Positive trends in risk with increasing birth order were present for pulmonic stenosis and transposition of the great arteries, and a negative trend was seen for persistent ductus arteriosus. What evidence there was for associations with maternal age was greatly reduced after controlling for confounding by birth order.     

Infant response to the still-face situation at 3 and 6 months.

Observed 37 mother–infant dyads in the laboratory when infants were 3 and 6 mo old to investigate developmental changes in infant responses to the mother's still face (SF). Infants reduced their smiling and increased their gazing away from mother during the SF at both 3 and 6 mo. Compared with 3-mo-olds, 6-mo-olds were more likely to use directed hand activities while gazing away from mother. Results suggest that developmental changes in gaze and motor activity are incorporated into the infant's response to a stressful situation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Neurodevelopmental outcome in very low birth weight infants at 24 months and 5 to 7 years of age: changing diagnosis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the importance of root canal therapy in the healing process of severe intrabony defects. Four beagle dogs were used and 32 interproximal intrabony defects, up to the apical third, were created. Wire ligatures were placed into these defects for plaque accumulation. Three weeks later, the ligatures were removed and 4 different treatment modalities were employed: group 1) scaling and root planing (SRP); group 2) modified Widman flap (MWF); group 3) modified Widman flap and root canal therapy performed at the same time (RCT/MWF); and group 4) modified Widman flap and root canal therapy performed 3 weeks after the surgical procedure (MWF + RCT). Postoperative oral hygiene was obtained by spraying a 0.12% chlorhexidine solution 3 times a week. The animals were sacrificed 7 weeks after treatment. Blocks were obtained and processed for routine histology. Results were expressed as a percentage of the total defect length (TDL). No differences were observed when SRP was compared to MWF. New bone formation (BF) presented better results for SRP (43.4%) and MWF (53.4%) when compared to RCT/MWF (15.5%). New cementum formation (CF) presented better results for SRP (59.8%) and MWF (64.6%) when compared to RCT/MWF (19.3%) and MWF + RCT (31.5%). Connective tissue repair (CTR) presented better results for SRP (72.4%) and MWF (74.2%) when compared to RCT/MWF (47.5%) and MWF + RCT (44.4%). Results were statistically significant at the level of 0.05. Within the limits of this study, it was concluded that root canal therapy performed simultaneously or 3 weeks after surgery modified the healing of intrabony defects, impairing new bone formation, new cementum formation and new attachment.     

Assessment of the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of a quadrivalent diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis and hepatitis B (DTPa-HBV) vaccine administered in a single injection with Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine, to infants at 2, 4 and 6 months of age

This double-blind, randomised study was performed to assess the immunogenicity and reactogenicity of three lots of a quadrivalent diphtheria-tetanus-acellular pertussis-hepatitis B vaccine (DTPa-HBV) co-administered with three lots of Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate (Hib) vaccine in one injection, as a primary vaccination course in healthy infants at 2, 4 and 6 months of age. 269 infants (8-11 weeks of age) were randomly allocated to three groups to receive DTPa-HBV/Hib vaccines, concomitantly with oral polio vaccine. Blood samples for antibody determinations were taken before vaccination and 1 month after the third dose in 262 subjects. Local and general symptoms were recorded by parents on diary cards. All vaccinees had post-vaccination protective anti-D and anti-T (> or = 0.1 IU ml-1) antibodies, and 98% had protective anti-HBs antibody titres (> or = 10 mIU ml-1). There were no statistically significant differences between groups in post-vaccination anti-D, anti-T, anti-HBs antibody geometric mean titres (GMT), these being 3.49 IU ml-1, 5.92 IU ml-1 and 1109 mIU ml-1, respectively. All subjects responded to three pertussis components, i.e. pertussis toxin (PT), filamentous haemagglutinin (FHA) and pertactin (PRN). Although statistically significant differences in GMTs of anti-PT, anti-FHA and anti-PRN were found between groups, these were not believed to be of any clinical relevance as the minimum GMTs were 60, 193 and 230 EL.U ml-1 for anti-PT, anti-FHA and anti-PRN, respectively. There were no statistically significant differences in anti-PRP antibody GMT (4.05 micrograms ml-1) between groups, 100% and 85% of subjects having titres > or = 0.15 and 1.0 microgram ml-1, respectively. No symptoms were reported for one third of the subjects. Fever (> 38 degrees C) was reported after 16% of doses, with < 1% having > 39.5 degrees C. Almost all local and general symptoms were mild or moderate, and lasted less than 48 h. No subject dropped out due to a severe adverse reaction. The administration of an experimental mix of DTPa-HBV and Hib vaccines in a single injection is safe, well-tolerated and immunogenic for all vaccine components.     

Influence of carrier-specific, thymus-derived cells on the immunologlobulin M antibody response to staphylococcal lipoteichoic acid

The immunoglobulin M antibody response to the lipoteichoic acid (LTA) of Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538P was examined by a procedure in which erythrocytes sensitized with periodate-activated LTA were used for the detection of immunoglobulin M-producing plaque-forming cells LTA-specific plaque-forming cells were first detected 2 days after immunization with heat-killed bacterial cells, and maximal numbers of plaque-forming cells, mostly of the immunoglobulin M class rather than the immunoblogulin G or immunoglobulin A class, were attained by day 4; specificity for LTA was affirmed by plaque inhibition tests. No plaque-forming cells were found in mice given isolated LTA over a 10,000-fold range of immunizing doses. Mice pretreated with a carrier known to activate thymus-derived helper lymphocytes produced a plaque-forming cell response to LTA only when immunized with LTA bound to the same carrier. This suggests that carrier-specific thymus-derived cells are needed to initiate an antibody response to poorly immunogenic LTA. Since an antibody response can be elicited in mice given heat-killed cells, other cell wall and/or cell membrane constituents may play an important role as immunologically active carriers for this antigen.     

Natural resistance to Marek''s disease at hatching in chickens lacking maternal antibody, and relationship between this early resistance and resistance acquired with age

A double-blind cross-over trial was conducted with 20 healthy paid volunteers for the evaluation of the subacute effects of chlorpromazine (CPZ) and sulpiride, in oral doses used for anxious outpatients, on psychomotor skills related to driving. Psychomotor performance was measured on the 7th and 14th days of treatment at 30, 90 and 150 min after the intake of 0.5 g/kg of an alcoholic or placebo drink. After the neuroleptics alone, reaction and coordination skills, but not attention, were slightly impaired, CPZ differing significantly from the placebo on the 14th day. Both drugs interacted additively with alcohol. The combined administration of CPZ and alcohol led to inaccuracy, a slowing of reactions and impaired proprioception and coordination. The combination of sulpiride and alcohol increased the error rate in the choice reaction test and impaired coordination in the coordination test driven at a free speed. It is concluded that the psychomotor decrement that occurs after 2 weeks of treatment with small doses of CPZ may effect the ability to control a motor vehicle. The concurrent administration of alcohol during treatment with CPZ or sulpiride may cause some extra risk in traffic or occupational life.     

Functional analysis of the contents of maternal speech to infants of 5 and 13 months in four cultures: Argentina, France, Japan, and the United States.

Maternal speech to infants of 2 ages in 4 cultures was examined to probe how infant age and cultural variation influence the contents of that speech. Argentine, French, Japanese, and US American mothers were individually videotaped in naturalistic free-play interactions at home with their 5- and 13-mo-old infants, maternal speech was transcribed, and the contents classified as affect salient or information salient. Mothers in the 4 cultures use all speech categories to young infants, speak to older infants more than to younger infants, but differ in the emphasis of the speech. Similarities speak to the universality of maternal speech to infants, provoked perhaps by infants' common psychological status; differences in the speech mothers choose to emphasize speak perhaps to the expression of cultural preferences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of complement on the allospecific antibody response to a primary vascularized organ graft

The induction of antibody responses against T cell-dependent antigens has been reported to be influenced by complement. We therefore asked if the primary induction of alloantibodies against transplantation antigens, an important determinant of transplant outcome, is complement sensitive and whether this has functional implications. We transplanted rat kidney allografts into fully major histocompatibility complex-mismatched recipients, in which complement activation was inhibited by daily injection of soluble recombinant human complement receptor type 1 (sCR1). Control allograft recipients were injected with saline. Animals in the control group showed a marked antibody response against donor-specific antigens and an increase in the proportion of activated B and T splenocytes by day 5 after transplantation. Complement-inhibited rats showed a reduced level of antibody binding on target cells sharing the same histocompatibility antigens as the donor strain (p < 0.001), and a reduced level of activated splenic B (p < 0.01) and T (p < 0.01) cells. In a functional assay, the plasma of complement-inhibited rats showed reduced cytotoxic activity against donor-specific cells, and their grafts contained less bound antibody than controls. Analysis beyond 6 days was obscured due to the development of antibodies against sCR1. We conclude that complement activation facilitates the induction of the alloantibody response. Sparing of vascular injury and prolongation of graft survival, previously reported in complement-inhibited rats (Pratt J. R. et al., Am. J. Path. 1996, 149: 2055), could therefore be due to down-regulation of the B cell response as well as reduced complement-dependent cytotoxicity. Inhibition of complement may provide an ancillary approach to the prevention of allospecific antibody formation and the prolongation of allograft survival in primary kidney grafting.     

Effects of diet on the lipid and fatty acid status of full-term infants at 4 months

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effects of the exogenous supply of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCP) and cholesterol on the lipid and fatty acid status in full-term, 4-month old infants. METHODS: Twenty-three infants received a standard infant formula while twenty-one were given a formula enriched with LCP and cholesterol in a prospective, randomized study. The composition of the two formulas differed only in fat quality. A group of fifteen breastfed infants fed was used as reference. No one was complemented with solid foods before blood sampling at 4 months of life. RESULTS: Differences in total-cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C) levels between feeding groups were mainly gender-related. Dietary cholesterol tended to increase LDL-C plasma levels. The breastfed and the enriched formula-fed groups had higher levels of circulating LCP than the group that received the standard formula. In the erythrocytes of infants fed the standard formula, C22:6 n-3 levels were less than 50% those of the breastfed and the enriched formula-fed ones. Higher C20:4 n-6 levels were found in the erythrocytes of the enriched formula-fed group. CONCLUSIONS: Formula-fed, full-term infants maintain a lipid and fatty acid status close to that of breastfed infants when supplied with dietary LCP and cholesterol.     

Electroencephalogram asymmetry in response to the approach of a stranger and maternal separation in 10-month-old infants.

We recently reported the presence of reliable asymmetries in frontal-brain electrical activity in infants that distinguished between certain positive- and negative-affect elicitors. In order to explore the degree to which these asymmetries in brain activity are associated with individual differences in affective response, 35 ten-month-old female infants were presented with a stranger-approach, mother-approach, and maternal-separation experience while an electroencephalogram (EEG) from the left- and right-frontal and left- and right-parietal scalp regions was recorded and facial and other behavioral responses were videotaped. Changes in frontal-EEG asymmetry reflected behavioral changes between conditions. In addition, individual differences in affective response to separation were related to differences in frontal-brain asymmetries. These findings indicate that lawful changes exist in asymmetries of frontal-brain activation during the expression of certain emotions in the first year of life and that individual differences in emotional responsivity are related to these measures of brain activity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of attachment and separation experience on separation distress at 18 months.

Examined distress in response to brief maternal separations in 93 16–20 mo old infants, using the "strange situation" procedure developed by M. D. Ainsworth (1978). At 18 mo, the age when separation protest began to decline, securely attached Ss were better able than anxiously attached Ss to tolerate brief maternal separations. Separation experience, measured by hours per week in extrafamilial child care, related to separation distress in a curvilinear fashion. Moderate separation experience predicted lower levels of distress, whereas either extensive or minimal experience predicted greater distress. This finding is consistent with the cognitive-developmental hypothesis that moderate experience should be most conducive to the development of an understanding of the circumstances of parental separations. Multiple regression indicated that secure attachment and moderate separation experience both contributed independently to the development of the capacity to cope with separation during the 2nd year, so that the otherwise secure infant who lacks such experience will find it more difficult to tolerate parental separation. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Breast-feeding lowers the frequency and duration of acute respiratory infection and diarrhea in infants under six months of age

Temperature-sensitive simian virus 40 (SV40) T antigen-transformed central nervous system (CNS)-derived murine cell lines were used to analyse the host response to transplantation in the mouse adult brain. The cell lines were shown to be susceptible to immune recognition in vitro by cytotoxic effector cells indicating that tissue-specific privilege was not in operation. Histological examination at time points post-implantation showed characteristic responses similar to those seen during graft rejection. Astrocytosis and up-regulation of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I and MHC class II activation of resident microglia and recruitment of macrophages were observed in both allogeneic and syngeneic hosts 10 days post-implantation suggesting a trauma-induced response. However, the response in allogeneic hosts was more widespread and evident when the syngeneic responses had returned to normal levels. Evidence of T-cell infiltration was also more pronounced in the allogeneic hosts. Despite quite extensive host reactions to these cellular grafts at early time-points the implants appeared to survive in the host CNS long after the responses had abated and could be detected at the maximum time-point studied of 40 days.     

Correlates of attachment at school age: maternal reported stress, mother-child interaction, and behavior problems

The contribution of attachment, maternal reported stress, and mother-child interaction to the prediction of teacher-reported behavior problems was examined for a French-Canadian sample of 121 school-age children. Attachment classifications were assigned on the basis of reunion behavior with mother when the children were between 5 and 7 years of age. Maternal reported stress and mother-child interaction patterns were assessed concurrent to the attachment measure, whereas behavior problems were evaluated both at ages 5 to 7 and 7 to 9 years. Security of attachment significantly predicted the likelihood of school-age behavior problems: Controlling/other children were most at risk for both externalizing and internalizing problems across both age periods. Younger ambivalent children presented clinical cut-off levels of externalizing problems, and older avoidant boys had higher internalizing scores. Patterns of maternal-reported stress and mother-child interaction differed across attachment groups and contributed to prediction of school-age behavior problems, partially mediating the relation between attachment and adaptation. Results support the importance of attachment in explaining school-age adaptation and validity of attachment coding for children of this age.     

Social cognition, joint attention, and communicative competence from 9 to 15 months of age

At around 1 year of age, human infants display a number of new behaviors that seem to indicate a newly emerging understanding of other persons as intentional beings whose attention to outside objects may be shared, followed into, and directed in various ways. These behaviors have mostly been studied separately. In the current study, we investigated the most important of these behaviors together as they emerged in a single group of 24 infants between 9 and 15 months of age. At each of seven monthly visits, we measured joint attentional engagement, gaze and point following, imitation of two different kinds of actions on objects, imperative and declarative gestures, and comprehension and production of language. We also measured several nonsocial-cognitive skills as a point of comparison. We report two studies. The focus of the first study was the initial emergence of infants' social-cognitive skills and how these skills are related to one another developmentally. We found a reliable pattern of emergence: Infants progressed from sharing to following to directing others' attention and behavior. The nonsocial skills did not emerge predictably in this developmental sequence. Furthermore, correlational analyses showed that the ages of emergence of all pairs of the social-cognitive skills or their components were inter-related. The focus of the second study was the social interaction of infants and their mothers, especially with regard to their skills of joint attentional engagement (including mothers' use of language to follow into or direct infants' attention) and how these skills related to infants' early communicative competence. Our measures of communicative competence included not only language production, as in previous studies, but also language comprehension and gesture production. It was found that two measures--the amount of time infants spent in joint engagement with their mothers and the degree to which mothers used language that followed into their infant's focus of attention--predicted infants' earliest skills of gestural and linguistic communication. Results of the two studies are discussed in terms of their implications for theories of social-cognitive development, for theories of language development, and for theories of the process by means of which human children become fully participating members of the cultural activities and processes into which they are born.     

IgD-receptor up-regulation on human peripheral blood T cells in response to IgD in vitro or antigen in vivo correlates with the antibody response to influenza vaccination

Aged individuals (more than 65 years) were classified as antibody (Ab) responders on the basis that they showed increases to more than or = 1:40 in serum Ab titers to all influenza virus strains present in the trivalent influenza vaccine within 4 weeks after immunization. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from pre-immunization samples of blood taken from seven Ab-responders and seven Ab-nonresponders were examined for their ability to exhibit up-regulation of IgD-receptor (IgD-R) after exposure for 2 h to immobilized cross-linked IgD, as shown by rosetting with IgD-coated ox erythrocytes. The responsiveness to IgD was found to be predictive of the ability to produce Ab responses to viral protein Ag: the IgD-R up-regulation was greater than 5% in all Ab-responders and less than 4% in all the Ab-nonresponders. In addition, there was an excellent correlation between mean Ab titers (to the three viruses in sera collected 4 weeks after immunization) and the percentage of IgD-R+ cells obtained in response to IgD in PBMC from the same individual prior to immunization: p = 0.894. Injection of influenza vaccine itself also induced IgD-R on PBMC in vivo. The percentage of IgD-R+ cells peaked after 24 h, was still detectable above background by day 7 or 14, and returned to pre-injection levels by day 28 in young subjects and aged Ab-responders, but not in Ab-nonresponders. Similarly, purified peripheral blood T cells obtained from aged Ab-responders exhibited IgD-R upon immunization in vivo. These findings suggest that Ag injection causes rapid up-regulation of IgD-R by cross-linking IgD in humans as well as in mice as shown previously. In analogy with results in mice, the present data are consistent with a role for IgD-R+ T cells in the humoral response in man. Proliferative responses to influenza proteins in peripheral blood T cells from vaccinated individuals were found to peak on day 7 and were higher in Ab-responders than in Ab-nonresponders.     

Effect of diarrhea on the humoral response to oral polio vaccination

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to measure the effect of concurrent diarrheal illness on seroconversion to trivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV). METHODS: Six- to 16-week-old infants with acute diarrhea and age-matched controls received single doses of OPV at enrollment, 4 weeks after enrollment and 8 weeks after enrollment. Serum specimens were obtained at enrollment, before the second OPV dose and 4 weeks after the third OPV dose for measurement of antibody titers to polio virus by the microneutralization assay. RESULTS: Four weeks after the first OPV dose, the serologic responses to poliovirus types 2 and 3 in the case cohort were lower by 26 and 34%, respectively, than in the control cohort (P < 0.002 for both comparisons). Poliovirus type 2 and 3 geometric mean antibody titers in the diarrhea cohort were approximately 50% of the geometric mean antibody titers in the control cohort (235 (95% confidence interval (CI) 154 to 359) vs. 446 (95% CI 350 to 569) and 64 (95% CI 45 to 90) vs. 112 (95% CI 88 to 143), respectively, P < 0.01 for both comparisons). After the third OPV dose the seroconvertion rates to poliovirus types 2 and 3 each remained about 10% lower in the case cohort than in the control cohort, but the differences were not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: Concurrent acute diarrhea adversely affects seroconvertion rates of type 2 and 3 polioviruses among infants in Bangladesh receiving the first dose of trivalent OPV.