Determinants of response to a parent questionnaire about development and behaviour in 3 year olds: European multicentre study of congenital toxoplasmosis.

Background: We aimed to determine how response to a parent-completed postal questionnaire measuring development, behaviour, impairment, and parental concerns and anxiety, varies in different European centres. Methods: Prospective cohort study of 3 year old children, with and without congenital toxoplasmosis, who were identified by prenatal or neonatal screening for toxoplasmosis in 11 centres in 7 countries. Parents were mailed a questionnaire that comprised all or part of existing validated tools. We determined the effect of characteristics of the centre and child on response, age at questionnaire completion, and response to child drawing tasks. Results: The questionnaire took 21 minutes to complete on average. 67% (714/1058) of parents responded. Few parents (60/1058) refused to participate. The strongest determinants of response were the score for organisational attributes of the study centre (such as direct involvement in follow up and access to an address register), and infection with congenital toxoplasmosis. Age at completion was associated with study centre, presence of neurological abnormalities in early infancy, and duration of prenatal treatment. Completion rates for individual questions exceeded 92% except for child completed drawings of a man (70%), which were completed more by girls, older children, and in certain centres. Conclusion: Differences in response across European centres were predominantly related to the organisation of follow up and access to correct addresses. The questionnaire was acceptable in all six countries and offers a low cost tool for assessing development, behaviour, and parental concerns and anxiety, in multinational studies

A rocky planet transiting a nearby low-mass star

M-dwarf stars -- hydrogen-burning stars that are smaller than 60 per cent of the size of the Sun -- are the most common class of star in our Galaxy and outnumber Sun-like stars by a ratio of 12:1. Recent results have shown that M dwarfs host Earth-sized planets in great numbers: the average number of M-dwarf planets that are between 0.5 to 1.5 times the size of Earth is at least 1.4 per star. The nearest such planets known to transit their star are 39 parsecs away, too distant for detailed follow-up observations to measure the planetary masses or to study their atmospheres. Here we report observations of GJ 1132b, a planet with a size of 1.2 Earth radii that is transiting a small star 12 parsecs away. Our Doppler mass measurement of GJ 1132b yields a density consistent with an Earth-like bulk composition, similar to the compositions of the six known exoplanets with masses less than six times that of the Earth and precisely measured densities. Receiving 19 times more stellar radiation than the Earth, the planet is too hot to be habitable but is cool enough to support a substantial atmosphere, one that has probably been considerably depleted of hydrogen. Because the host star is nearby and only 21 per cent the radius of the Sun, existing and upcoming telescopes will be able to observe the composition and dynamics of the planetary atmosphere.Comment: Published in Nature on 12 November 2015, available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature15762. This is the authors' version of the manuscrip

Commercializing Biomedical Research Through Securitization Techniques

Biomedical innovation has become riskier, more expensive and more difficult to finance with traditional sources such as private and public equity. Here we propose a financial structure in which a large number of biomedical programs at various stages of development are funded by a single entity to substantially reduce the portfolio's risk. The portfolio entity can finance its activities by issuing debt, a critical advantage because a much larger pool of capital is available for investment in debt versus equity. By employing financial engineering techniques such as securitization, it can raise even greater amounts of more-patient capital. In a simulation using historical data for new molecular entities in oncology from 1990 to 2011, we find that megafunds of $5–15 billion may yield average investment returns of 8.9–11.4% for equity holders and 5–8% for 'research-backed obligation' holders, which are lower than typical venture-capital hurdle rates but attractive to pension funds, insurance companies and other large institutional investors

Coefficient, Distortion and Growth Inequalities for Certain Close-to-Convex Functions

In the present investigation, certain subclasses of close-to-convex functions are investigated. In particular, we obtain an estimate for the Fekete-Szeg\"o functional for functions belonging to the class, distortion, growth estimates and covering theorems

Prevalence of nail biting and its association with mental health in a community sample of children

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study evaluates onychophagia or nail biting (NB) prevalence and association with mental health of a community sample of children from Shiraz, Iran.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>The parents of 743 primary school children, selected by random sampling, reported NB behavior of their children and themselves. Children's mental health problem was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). 22.3% (95% CI: 19.3 to 25.3) of children had NB behavior in the last three months (girls: 20.1% (95% CI: 15.9 to 24.2). The rate in boys was 24.4% (95% CI: 20.1 to 28.7). 36.8% of the children with NB had at least one family member with nail biting. Older age was associated with a higher prevalence of NB while a higher score on the prosocial score was associated with a lower prevalence of NB.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>NB is a very common behavior in both genders in children and their family members. Children with NB have less prosocial ability than those without it.</p