Prenatal exposure to recreational drugs affects global motion perception in preschool children

Chakraborty, A. et al. Prenatal exposure to recreational drugs affects global motion perception in preschool children. Sci. Rep. 5, 16921; doi: 10.1038/srep16921 (2015).Prenatal exposure to recreational drugs impairs motor and cognitive development; however it is currently unknown whether visual brain areas are affected. To address this question, we investigated the effect of prenatal drug exposure on global motion perception, a behavioural measure of processing within the dorsal extrastriate visual cortex that is thought to be particularly vulnerable to abnormal neurodevelopment. Global motion perception was measured in one hundred and forty-five 4.5-year-old children who had been exposed to different combinations of methamphetamine, alcohol, nicotine and marijuana prior to birth and 25 unexposed children. Self-reported drug use by the mothers was verified by meconium analysis. We found that global motion perception was impaired by prenatal exposure to alcohol and improved significantly by exposure to marijuana. Exposure to both drugs prenatally had no effect. Other visual functions such as habitual visual acuity and stereoacuity were not affected by drug exposure. Prenatal exposure to methamphetamine did not influence visual function. Our results demonstrate that prenatal drug exposure can influence a behavioural measure of visual development, but that the effects are dependent on the specific drugs used during pregnancy.This research was supported by the National Institutes on Drug Abuse grants 2RO1DA014948 and RO1DA021757 and the Auckland Medical Research Foundation

Neonatal Glycemia and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 2 Years

From McKinlay, C. J. D., Alsweiler, J. M., Ansell, J. M., Anstice, N. S., Chase, J. G., Gamble, G. D., … Harding, J. E. (2015). Neonatal Glycemia and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes at 2 Years. New England Journal of Medicine, 373(16), 1507–1518. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1504909 Copyright © 2015 Massachusetts Medical Society. Reprinted with permission.Neonatal hypoglycemia is a common and readily treatable risk factor for neurologic impairment in children. Although associations between prolonged symptomatic neonatal hypoglycemia and brain injury are well established,1 the effect of milder hypoglycemia on neurologic development is uncertain.2 Consequently, large numbers of newborns are screened and treated for low blood glucose concentrations, which involves heel-stick blood tests, substantial costs, and the possibility of iatrogenic harm. Under current guidelines,3 up to 30% of neonates are considered to be at risk for hypoglycemia, 15% receive a diagnosis of hypoglycemia, and approximately 10% require admission to a neonatal intensive care unit,4 costing an estimated $2.1 billion annually in the United States alone.5 Associated formula feeding and possible separation of mother and baby reduce breast-feeding rates,6 with potentially adverse effects on broader infant health and development. In addition, pain-induced stress in neonates, such as repeated heel sticks, may itself impair brain development.7 Thus, to determine appropriate glycemic thresholds for treatment, there have been repeated calls for studies of the effect of neonatal hypoglycemia on long-term development.2,8 We report the results of the Children with Hypoglycaemia and Their Later Development (CHYLD) study, a large prospective cohort study of term and late-preterm neonates born at risk for hypoglycemia. The study investigated the relation between the duration, frequency, and severity of low glucose concentrations in the neonatal period and neuropsychological development at 2 years.Supported by grants from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R01HD069622), the Health Research Council of New Zealand (10-399), and the Auckland Medical Research Foundation (1110009)

The Effects of Green Tea Amino Acid L-Theanine Consumption on the Ability to Manage Stress and Anxiety Levels:a Systematic Review

The green tea amino acid, L-theanine (L-THE) is associated with several health benefits, including improvements in mood, cognition and a reduction of stress and anxiety-like symptoms. This systematic review evaluated the effect of pure L-THE intake, in the form of orally administered nutritional supplements, on stress responses and anxiety levels in human randomised controlled trials. Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist, 9 peer-reviewed journal articles were identified where L-THE as a supplement was compared to a control. Our findings suggest that supplementation of 200–400 mg/day of L-THE may assist in the reduction of stress and anxiety in people exposed to stressful conditions. Despite this finding, longer-term and larger cohort clinical studies, including those where L-THE is incorporated into the diet regularly, are needed to clinically justify the use of L-THE as a therapeutic agent to reduce stress and anxiety in people exposed to stressful conditions

Global motion perception is associated with motor function in 2-year-old children

The final publication is available at Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2017.08.062 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The dorsal visual processing stream that includes V1, motion sensitive area V5 and the posterior parietal lobe, supports visually guided motor function. Two recent studies have reported associations between global motion perception, a behavioural measure of processing in V5, and motor function in pre-school and school aged children. This indicates a relationship between visual and motor development and also supports the use of global motion perception to assess overall dorsal stream function in studies of human neurodevelopment. We investigated whether associations between vision and motor function were present at 2 years of age, a substantially earlier stage of development. The Bayley III test of Infant and Toddler Development and measures of vision including visual acuity (Cardiff Acuity Cards), stereopsis (Lang stereotest) and global motion perception were attempted in 404 2-year-old children (±4 weeks). Global motion perception (quantified as a motion coherence threshold) was assessed by observing optokinetic nystagmus in response to random dot kinematograms of varying coherence. Linear regression revealed that global motion perception was modestly, but statistically significantly associated with Bayley III composite motor (r2 = 0.06, P < 0.001, n = 375) and gross motor scores (r2 = 0.06, p < 0.001, n = 375). The associations remained significant when language score was included in the regression model. In addition, when language score was included in the model, stereopsis was significantly associated with composite motor and fine motor scores, but unaided visual acuity was not statistically significantly associated with any of the motor scores. These results demonstrate that global motion perception and binocular vision are associated with motor function at an early stage of development. Global motion perception can be used as a partial measure of dorsal stream function from early childhood.Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health Human Development of the National Institutes of Health || award number R01HD0692201 Auckland Medical Research Foundation

Structural and spatially-resolved studies on the hardening of a commercial resin-modified glass-ionomer cement

A commercial photopolymerizable resinmodified glass-ionomer (Fuji II LC) was studied using a variety of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) techniques. H and F stray-field imaging (STRAFI) enabled to follow the acid–base reaction kinetics in self-cured (SC) samples. Gelation and maturation processes with 25 min and 40 h average time constants, respectively, were distinguished. In self- & photo-cured (SPC) samples, two processes were also observed, which occurred with 2 s and 47 s average time constants. H, Al and Si magic angle spinning (MAS) NMR, C cross-polarization (CP)/MAS NMR and 27Al multiple quanta (MQ)MAS NMR spectroscopy were used to obtain structural information on the glass and cements that were either SC or SPC. The presence of methacrylate groups was identified in the solid component. Unreacted hydroxyl ethylmethacrylate (HEMA) was detected in self-cured cement. Al data showed that approximately 28% and 20% of Al is leached out from glass particles in SC and SPC samples, respectively. The upfield shift detected in 25Si MAS NMR spectra of the cements is consistent with a decrease in the number of Al species in the second coordination sphere of the silicon structures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed existence of 3D shrinkage of the cement matrix in photo-cured cements.(undefined

The Effect of Fractal Contact Lenses on Peripheral Refraction in Myopic Model Eyes

Purpose: To test multizone contact lenses in model eyes: Fractal Contact Lenses (FCLs), designed to induce myopic peripheral refractive error (PRE). Methods: Zemax ray-tracing software was employed to simulate myopic and accommodation-dependent model eyes fitted with FCLs. PRE, defined in terms of mean sphere M and 90–180 astigmatism J180, was computed at different peripheral positions, ranging from 0 to 35 in steps of 5, and for different pupil diameters (PDs). Simulated visual performance and changes in the PRE were also analyzed for contact lens decentration and model eye accommodation. For comparison purposes, the same simulations were performed with another commercially available contact lens designed for the same intended use: the Dual Focus (DF). Results: PRE was greater with FCL than with DF when both designs were tested for a 3.5 mm PD, and with and without decentration of the lenses. However, PRE depended on PD with both multizone lenses, with a remarkable reduction of the myopic relative effect for a PD of 5.5 mm. The myopic PRE with contact lenses decreased as the myopic refractive error increased, but this could be compensated by increasing the power of treatment zones. A peripheral myopic shift was also induced by the FCLs in the accommodated model eye. In regard to visual performance, a myopia under-correction with reference to the circle of least confusion was obtained in all cases for a 5.5 mm PD. The ghost images, generated by treatment zones of FCL, were dimmer than the ones produced with DF lens of the same power. Conclusions: FCLs produce a peripheral myopic defocus without compromising central vision in photopic conditions. FCLs have several design parameters that can be varied to obtain optimum results: lens diameter, number of zones, addition and asphericity; resulting in a very promising customized lens for the treatment of myopia progression.This research was supported by the Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad (grant FIS2011-23175), the Generalitat Valenciana (grant PROMETEO2009-077) and the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (grant INNOVA SP20120569), Spain.Rodríguez Vallejo, M.; Benlloch Fornés, JI.; Pons Martí, A.; Monsoriu Serra, JA.; Furlan, WD. (2014). The Effect of Fractal Contact Lenses on Peripheral Refraction in Myopic Model Eyes. Current Eye Research. 39(12):1-10. https://doi.org/10.3109/02713683.2014.903498S110391

Global prevalence of childhood cataract: a systematic review

Childhood cataract is an avoidable cause of visual disability worldwide and is a priority for VISION 2020: The Right to Sight. There is a paucity of information about the burden of cataract in children and the aim of this review is to assess the global prevalence of childhood cataract. The methodology for the review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We performed a literature search for studies reporting estimates of prevalence or incidence of cataract among children (aged<18 years) at any global location using the Cochrane Library, Medline and Embase up to January 2015. No restrictions were imposed based on language or year of publication. Study quality was assessed using a critical appraisal tool designed for systematic reviews of prevalence. Twenty prevalence and four incidence studies of childhood cataract from five different geographical regions were included. The overall prevalence of childhood cataract and congenital cataract was in the range from 0.32 to 22.9/10000 children (median=1.03) and 0.63 to 9.74/10000 (median=1.71), respectively. The incidence ranged from 1.8 to 3.6/10000 per year. The prevalence of childhood cataract in low-income economies was found to be 0.42 to 2.05 compared with 0.63 to 13.6/10000 in high-income economies. There was no difference in the prevalence based on laterality or gender. This review highlights substantial gaps in the epidemiological knowledge of childhood cataract worldwide, particularly from low and lower middle-income economies. More studies are needed using standard definitions and case ascertainment methods with large enough sample sizes

Nanoscale Metallic Iron for Environmental Remediation: Prospects and Limitations

The amendment of the subsurface with nanoscale metallic iron particles (nano-Fe0) has been discussed in the literature as an efficient in situ technology for groundwater remediation. However, the introduction of this technology was controversial and its efficiency has never been univocally established. This unsatisfying situation has motivated this communication whose objective was a comprehensive discussion of the intrinsic reactivity of nano-Fe0 based on the contemporary knowledge on the mechanism of contaminant removal by Fe0 and a mathematical model. It is showed that due to limitations of the mass transfer of nano-Fe0 to contaminants, available concepts cannot explain the success of nano-Fe0 injection for in situ groundwater remediation. It is recommended to test the possibility of introducing nano-Fe0 to initiate the formation of roll-fronts which propagation would induce the reductive transformation of both dissolved and adsorbed contaminants. Within a roll-front, FeII from nano-Fe0 is the reducing agent for contaminants. FeII is recycled by biotic or abiotic FeIII reduction. While the roll-front concept could explain the success of already implemented reaction zones, more research is needed for a science-based recommendation of nano- Fe0 for subsurface treatment by roll-front

Identification of myopia-associated WNT7B polymorphisms provides insights into the mechanism underlying the development of myopia

10.1038/ncomms7689Nature Communications