Federal Expenditures on Elementary-Age Children in 2008 (Ages 6 through 11)

Examines 2008 federal expenditures on elementary-age children, where funds are spent, and how; estimates 2009-12 expenditures; and outlines policy issues affecting this age group, including the importance of high-quality education and obesity prevention

Federal Expenditures on Pre-Kindergarteners and Kindergarteners in 2008 (Ages 3 through 5)

Examines 2008 federal, state, and local expenditures on benefits for children ages 3 to 5. Outlines the importance of high-quality care, education, and social services during pre-K and kindergarten years to developmental, economic, and health outcomes

Aluminum exposure from parenteral nutrition in preterm infants: bone health at 15-year follow-up

Background: Aluminum has known neurotoxicity and may impair short-term bone health. In a randomised trial we showed reduced neurodevelopmental scores in preterm infants previously exposed to aluminum from parenteral nutrition solutions. Here, in the same cohort, we test the hypothesis that neonatal aluminum exposure also adversely affects long-term bone health, as indicated by reduced bone mass. Methods: Bone area (BA) and bone mineral content (BMC) of lumbar spine, hip and whole body were measured with Dual X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) in 13-15yr olds who were born preterm and randomly assigned standard or aluminum-depleted parenteral nutrition (PN) solutions during the neonatal period. Results: 59 subjects (32% of survivors) were followed. Those randomised to standard PN solution had lower lumbar spine BMC; apparently explained by a concomitant decrease in bone size. In non-randomised analyses, subjects exposed to neonatal aluminum intakes above the median (55mcg/kg) had lower hip BMC (by 7.6% (95% CI 0.21 to 2.38; p=0.02)), independent of bone (or body) size. Conclusion: Neonates exposed to parenteral aluminum may have reduced lumbar spine and hip bone mass during adolescence, potential risk factors for later osteoporosis and hip fracture. These findings need confirmation in larger, more detailed studies. Nevertheless, given our previous finding of adverse developmental outcome in these subjects, and the sizeable number of contemporary infants undergoing intensive neonatal care who are still exposed to aluminum via parenteral feeding solutions, the potential adverse long term consequences of early aluminum exposure now deserve renewed attention

Prevalence of the HOXB13 G84E prostate cancer risk allele in men treated with radical prostatectomy

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/106912/1/bju12522.pd

Brain imaging and human nutrition: which measures to use in intervention studies?

The present review describes brain imaging technologies that can be used to assess the effects of nutritional interventions in human subjects. Specifically, we summarise the biological relevance of their outcome measures, practical use and feasibility, and recommended use in short- and long-term nutritional studies. The brain imaging technologies described consist of MRI, including diffusion tensor imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and functional MRI, as well as electroencephalography/magnetoencephalography, near-IR spectroscopy, positron emission tomography and single-photon emission computerised tomography. In nutritional interventions and across the lifespan, brain imaging can detect macro- and microstructural, functional, electrophysiological and metabolic changes linked to broader functional outcomes, such as cognition. Imaging markers can be considered as specific for one or several brain processes and as surrogate instrumental endpoints that may provide sensitive measures of short- and long-term effects. For the majority of imaging measures, little information is available regarding their correlation with functional endpoints in healthy subjects; therefore, imaging markers generally cannot replace clinical endpoints that reflect the overall capacity of the brain to behaviourally respond to specific situations and stimuli. The principal added value of brain imaging measures for human nutritional intervention studies is their ability to provide unique in vivo information on the working mechanism of an intervention in hypothesis-driven research. Selection of brain imaging techniques and target markers within a given technique should mainly depend on the hypothesis regarding the mechanism of action of the intervention, level (structural, metabolic or functional) and anticipated timescale of the intervention's effects, target population, availability and costs of the technique

The effect of intra-uterine growth on Verbal IQ scores in childhood: a monozygotic twin study

Objective. Given the adverse neurobiological effects of suboptimal nutrition on the developing brain, it is of social and medical importance to determine whether the global prevalence of poor intra-uterine growth causes lasting cognitive deficits. We examined whether sub-optimal intra-uterine growth relates to impaired cognitive outcome by comparing birthweight and cognition in monozygotic (MZ) twins. Our study considered whether children who do not reach their potential birthweight, as indexed by the weight of their heavier twin, also do not attain their potential IQ. Methods. 71 MZ twin pairs participated (7 years 11 months to 17 years 3 months). The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children Third Edition (WISC-III) was administered and Verbal IQ (VIQ) and Performance IQ (PIQ) scores calculated. Regression was used to relate within pair differences in birthweight to within pair differences in IQ scores. Results. VIQ but not PIQ score was affected by pre-natal growth restriction. The results suggest that the mean advantage for heavier twins relative to their lighter co-twins can be as much as half a SD in VIQ points. In pairs with minimal birthweight discordance, heavier twins had lower VIQ scores than their lighter co-twins Conclusions. Our study suggests that lower birthweight can negatively impact on cognition in the long term, not only in infants born small, but across the birthweight spectrum. Restricting analyses to MZ twins enables the effect of reduced intra-uterine growth on cognition to be examined independently of confounding factors including parental IQ and education, gender, age, genes, and gestation

PTEN protein loss by immunostaining: Analytic validation and prognostic indicator for a high risk surgical cohort of prostate cancer patients

PURPOSE: Analytically validated assays to interrogate biomarker status in clinical samples are crucial for personalized medicine. PTEN is a tumor suppressor commonly inactivated in prostate cancer that has been mechanistically linked to disease aggressiveness. Though deletion of PTEN, as detected by cumbersome fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) spot counting assays, is associated with poor prognosis, few studies have validated immunohistochemical (IHC) assays to determine whether loss of PTEN protein is associated with unfavorable disease. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: PTEN IHC was validated by employing formalin fixed and paraffin embedded isogenic human cell lines containing or lacking intact PTEN alleles. PTEN IHC was 100% sensitive and 97.8% specific for detecting genomic alterations in 58 additional cell lines. PTEN protein loss was then assessed on 376 prostate tumor samples, and PTEN FISH or high resolution SNP microarray analysis was performed on a subset of these cases. RESULTS: PTEN protein loss, as assessed as a dichotomous IHC variable, was highly reproducible, correlated strongly with adverse pathologic features (e.g. Gleason score and pathological stage), detected between 75% and 86% of cases with PTEN genomic loss, and was found at times in the absence of apparent genomic loss. In a cohort of 217 high risk surgically treated patients, PTEN protein loss was associated with decreased time to metastasis. CONCLUSIONS: These studies validate a simple method to interrogate PTEN status in clinical specimens and support the utility of this test in future multi-center studies, clinical trials and ultimately perhaps for routine clinical care

Inspection time and cognitive abilities in twins aged 7 to 17 years: age-related changes, heritability and genetic covariance

We studied the age-related differences in inspection time and multiple cognitive domains in a group of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins aged 7 to 17 years. Data from 111 twin pairs and 19 singleton siblings were included. We found clear age-related trends towards more efficient visual information processing in older participants. There were substantial correlations between inspection time and cognitive abilities. The heritability of inspection time was 45%, and ranged from 73% to 85% for cognitive abilities. There were significant non-shared environmental effects on inspection time and Wechsler IQ scores, but no shared environmental effects. The genetic correlation between inspection time and Performance IQ was 0.55 and with Verbal IQ it was 0.28. There was a significant non-shared environmental correlation of 0.24 between inspection time and Verbal IQ

Characterisation of the Fibroblast Growth Factor Dependent Transcriptome in Early Development

BACKGROUND: FGF signaling has multiple roles in regulating processes in animal development, including the specification and patterning of the mesoderm. In addition, FGF signaling supports self renewal of human embryonic stem cells and is required for differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells into a number of lineages. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Given the importance of FGF signaling in regulating development and stem cell behaviour, we aimed to identify the transcriptional targets of FGF signalling during early development in the vertebrate model Xenopus laevis. We analysed the effects on gene expression in embryos in which FGF signaling was inhibited by dominant negative FGF receptors. 67 genes positively regulated by FGF signaling and 16 genes negatively regulated by FGF signaling were identified. FGF target genes are expressed in distinct waves during the late blastula to early gastrula phase. Many of these genes are expressed in the early mesoderm and dorsal ectoderm. A widespread requirement for FGF in regulating genes expressed in the Spemann organizer is revealed. The FGF targets MKP1 and DUSP5 are shown to be negative regulators of FGF signaling in early Xenopus tissues. FoxD3 and Lin28, which are involved in regulating pluripotency in ES cells are shown to be down regulated when FGF signaling is blocked. CONCLUSIONS: We have undertaken a detailed analysis of FGF target genes which has generated a robust, well validated data set. We have found a widespread role for FGF signaling in regulating the expression of genes mediating the function of the Spemann organizer. In addition, we have found that the FGF targets MKP1 and DUSP5 are likely to contribute to the complex feedback loops involved in modulating responses to FGF signaling. We also find a link between FGF signaling and the expression of known regulators of pluripotency