Rotavirus vaccination for all children or subgroups only? Comment of the European Academy of Paediatrics (EAP) and the European Society for Paediatric Infectious Diseases (ESPID) recommendation group for rotavirus vaccination

Rotavirus gastroenteritis affects all children. Studies indicate that by the age of 5 years, almost all children have developed rotavirus antibodies. It has been estimated that in Europe, approximately 6550 children each year die as a result of rotavirus infection. Most of this mortality does not affect children from identifiable risk groups, but previously healthy infants. There is no accountable evidence on increased severity of rotavirus infection in specific risk groups, including children previously born preterm or immunocompromised children. Universal immunization in areas that have successfully achieved large coverage has greatly improved the health of children, reducing infection rates, hospitalization, and costs. Vaccination of infants with presumed high risk may be beneficial for the vaccinated individuals, and such a strategy may also be cost-effective in certain settings. Identifying all high-risk infants within the first few weeks of life is rather difficult especially in countries without primary care pediatricians and goes along with additional costs. Conclusion: Rotavirus vaccines should be recommended as a universal approach for all children and not be restricted to subgroups with assumed increased risk. Targeted vaccination could be considered as an option in countries with limited financial resources

Adolescent pregnancy: An important issue for paediatricians and primary care providers-A position paper from the European academy of paediatrics.

Adolescent pregnancy and childbearing, remain a widespread health-related problem with potential short and long-term consequences. Comprehensive social, economic, environmental, structural, and cultural factors heavily impact on adolescents' sexual and reproductive health and early pregnancy. Health professionals can play a pivotal role in the prevention of unplanned pregnancy. Improved access to family planning, sexuality education in schools, community-based interventions, and policies contribute greatly to reduce the risk of adolescent pregnancy and the adoption of respectful and responsible sexual behaviour. Additionally, health care professionals can support pregnant adolescents in making decisions under these circumstances and provide adequate health care. This review highlights actions that can guide healthcare professionals in empowering young adolescents to become more aware and capable of making informed decisions about their sexual life, health, and future

Denitrogenation process in ThMn12 nitride by in situ neutron powder diffraction

ThMn12 nitrides are good candidates for high performance permanent magnets. However, one of the remaining challenges is to transfer the good properties of the powder into a useful bulk magnet. Thus, understanding the denitrogenation process of this phase is of key importance. In this study, we investigate the magnetic and structural stability of the (Nd0.75, Pr0.25)1.2Fe10.5Mo1.5Nx compound (x=0 and 0.85) as function of temperature by means of neutron powder diffraction. Thermal dependence of the lattice parameters, formation of a-(Fe, Mo), as well as the nitrogen content in the nitrides are investigated by heating the compounds up to 1010 K. The decomposition takes place mainly via the formation of the a-(Fe, Mo) phase, which starts at around 900 K, whereas the nitrogen remains stable in the lattice. Additionally, we show that the magnetic properties of the nitrides [M(4T)=90 Am2/kg and Hc=0.55 T] are maintained after the thermal treatments up to 900 K. This study demonstrates that the ThMn12 nitrides with the Mo stabilizing element offer good prospects for a bulk magnet provided an adequate processing route is found

High-coercivity magnetism in nanostructures with strong easy-plane anisotropy

We report the fabrication of a rare-earth-free permanent-magnet material Co3Si in the form of nanoparticles and investigate its magnetic properties by experiments and density-functional theory (DFT). The DFT calculations show that bulk Co3Si has an easy-plane anisotropy with a high K1≈64 Merg/cm3 (6.4 MJ/m3) and magnetic polarization of 9.2 kG (0.92 T). In spite of having a negative anisotropy that generally leads to negligibly low coercivities in bulk crystals, Co3Si nanoparticles exhibit high coercivities (17.4 kOe at 10K and 4.3 kOe at 300 K). This result is a consequence of the unique nanostructure made possible by an effective easy-axis alignment in the cluster-deposition method and explained using micromagnetic analysis as a nanoscale phenomenon involving quantum-mechanical exchange interactions

Effect Of Nb And Cu On The Crystallization Behavior Of Understoichiometric Nd–Fe–B Alloys

In this work, we present a complete study of the influence of Nb and Cu addition on the crystallization behavior of Nd-lean Nd-Fe-B melt-spun alloys. Alloys with compositions Nd10-x-yFe84B6NbxCuy (x = 1, y = 0 and x = 0.5, y = 0.5) were melt-spun at different wheel speeds (15-40 m s(-1)) to obtain samples in amorphous, highly disordered and nanocrystalline structures. The crystallization process, induced by different heat treatments, was studied by means of differential thermal analysis and x-ray powder thermodiffraction. Magnetic properties of as-made and heat-treated ribbons were measured by magnetometry. The as-made amorphous samples showed a crystallization to the 2: 14: 1 hard magnetic phase at T-1 similar to 350 degrees C. Doping with Nb results in an increase of T1, and addition of Cu lowers T1. This behavior is explained in terms of an inhibition of grain growth by Nb and a nucleation enhancement by Cu additions. During the crystallization process, a secondary phase (identified as a bcc-Fe-rich phase) is formed. The amount of such a phase increases with the annealing temperature. Coercivity increases upon annealing reaching maxima at 700-750 degrees C. This can be explained in terms of competition between the two phases formed: the 2: 14: 1 hard phase and the soft bcc-Fe-rich phase. The highest coercivity of the Nd-lean samples is observed when the microstructure is appropriate and both phases are exchange-coupled.This work has received funding from the DOE BES-DE-FG02-90ER45413 and the European Union MSCA grant agreement No 691235 (INAPEM). Technical and human support provided by SGIker (UPV/EHU, GV/EJ and ESF) is gratefully acknowledged

Repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic on child and adolescent mental health: A matter of concern—A joint statement from EAP and ECPCP

COVID-19 pandemic and the consequent rigid social distancing measures implemented, including school closures, have heavily impacted children's and adolescents' psychosocial wellbeing, and their mental health problems significantly increased. However, child and adolescent mental health were already a serious problem before the Pandemic all over the world. COVID-19 is not just a pandemic, it is a syndemic and mentally or socially disadvantaged children and adolescents are the most affected. Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) and previous mental health issues are an additional worsening condition. Even though many countries have responded with decisive efforts to scale-up mental health services, a more integrated and community-based approach to mental health is required. EAP and ECPCP makes recommendations to all the stakeholders to take action to promote, protect and care for the mental health of a generation

Hardness of porous nanocrystalline Co-Ni electrodeposits

The Hall-Petch relationship can fail when the grain size is below a critical value of tens of nanometres. This occurs particularly for coatings having porous surfaces. In this study, electrodeposited nanostructured Co-Ni coatings from four different nickel electroplating baths having grain sizes in the range of 11-23 nm have been investigated. The finest grain size, approximately 11 nm, was obtained from a coating developed from the nickel sulphate bath. The Co-Ni coatings have a mixed face centred cubic and hexagonal close-packed structures with varying surface morphologies and different porosities. A cluster-pore mixture model has been proposed by considering no contribution from pores to the hardness. As the porosity effect was taken into consideration, the calculated pore-free hardness is in agreement with the ordinary Hall-Petch relationship even when the grain size is reduced to 11 nm for the Co-Ni coatings with 77±2 at% cobalt. The present model was applied to other porous nanocrystalline coatings, and the Hall-Petch relationship was maintained. © 2013 The Korean Institute of Metals and Materials and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht. © KIM and Springer

Nitrogenation and sintering of (Nd-Zr)Fe10Si2 tetragonal compounds for permanent magnets applications

International audienceNd(1-x)Zr(x)Fe10Si2 alloys have been prepared in the tetragonal ThMn12-type structure by arc-melting and melt-spinning and then nitrogenated to improve their magnetic properties. For x = 0.4 and 0.6 the Curie temperature and magnetic anisotropy fields increase from 280-300 ºC to about 390 ºC and from 2.8-3 T to 4.5-5 T respectively. The saturation magnetization remains almost unchanged. The nitrogenated powders were processed by spark plasma sintering (SPS) leading to compact pellets, which retain the full nitrogen content and magnetic properties up to 600 ºC, but segregated Fe-Si at elevated temperatures. Nitrogenation and SPS processing are, therefore, appropriate for sintering metastable materials such as (Nd,Zr)Fe10Si2 into compact material without loosing functional properties. This opens a way towards a new family of permanent magnets, lean of critical raw materials

How to approach and take care of minor adolescents whose situations raise ethical dilemmas? a position paper of the European academy of pediatrics

In the care of adolescents, health care providers often face situations raising ethical concerns or dilemmas, such as refusal of a treatment or hospitalization, or request of confidentiality while engaging in risky behaviors or facing unplanned pregnancy. This position paper provides concrete avenues as how to assess the adolescent's capacity for autonomous decision making, e.g. the patient's competence in a specific situation, and how to elicit informed choice or consent. To do so, professionals need to be sensitized and trained as how to assess the cognitive and socio-psychological development of the young patient. Another challenge for the health professionals is to balance the needs to support patient's autonomy while offering secure guidance and protection if needed. To optimize such a process, they establish a climate of trust and empathy that will allow the patient to participate freely in the decision. In addition, especially when the decisions have potentially important consequences on the health and life, the professionals include, with the adolescent's permission, parents, caregivers or other significant adults, as well as they may request the opinion of other members of the health care team or expert colleagues such as ethicists