Perception and comprehension of linguistic and affective prosody in children with Landau-Kleffner syndrome

International audienceThe present study investigated language outcomes in children with Landau-Kleffner syndrome compared with 7 to 8 year-old healthy children and healthy adults. We examined their capacity of understanding simple sentences using linguistic and affective prosodic cues and perceiving them. A battery of prosodic tests was elaborated and used for this study. Results revealed certain delayed language development or a different pattern of performance in participants with Landau-Kleffner syndrome. With more subjects tested in the future results from our battery of prosodic tests would allow us to better understand language development in child and it would be helpful for speech-language therapies

The impact of parental migration on health status and health behaviours among left behind adolescent school children in China

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>One out of ten of China's population are migrants, moving from rural to urban areas. Many leave their families behind resulting in millions of school children living in their rural home towns without one or both their parents. Little is known about the health status of these left behind children (LBC). This study compares the health status and health-related behaviours of left behind adolescent school children and their counterparts in a rural area in Southern China.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional study was conducted among middle school students in Fuyang Township, Guangdong, China (2007-2008). Information about health behaviours, parental migration and demographic characteristics was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Overweight/obesity and stunting were defined based on measurements of height and weight. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to estimate the differences in health outcomes between LBC and non-LBC.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>18.1% of the schoolchildren had one or both parents working away from home. Multivariate analysis showed that male LBC were at higher risk of skipping breakfast, higher levels of physical inactivity, internet addiction, having ever smoked tobacco, suicide ideation, and being overweight. LBC girls were more likely to drink excessive amounts of sweetened beverage, to watch more TV, to have ever smoked or currently smoke tobacco, to have ever drunk alcohol and to binge drinking. They were also more likely to be unhappy, to think of planning suicide and consider leaving home.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our findings suggest that parental migration is a risk factor for unhealthy behaviours amongst adolescent school children in rural China. Further research is required in addition to the consideration of the implications for policies and programmes to protect LBC.</p

Relationship between sleep and obesity among U.S. and South Korean college students

Background Little is known about the relationship between sleep and obesity in young adults, particularly college students. This study examined the relationship between sleep (i.e., sleep duration and quality) and obesity in a large and diverse binational sample of college students. Methods Analyses were based on a 40-item paper survey from 2016/2017 to 2017/2018 academic years, with a 72% response rate. The samples were 1578 college students aged 18–25 years from five universities (two in the U.S. and three in South Korea). Weight and height were measured objectively; other measures (e.g., health behaviors) were self-reported. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between sleep duration and independent variables (race/nationality, gender, and BMI). Poisson regression was used to examine the relationship between sleep quality and independent variables. Results Overall, blacks had a higher adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of short sleep (\u3c 7 h/night) than whites (AOR = 1.74, P \u3c .01); overweight participants had a higher AOR of short sleep than normal weight participants (AOR = 1.52, P \u3c .01); and obese participants had a higher AORs of both short and long sleep (\u3e 9 h/night) (AOR = 1.67, P \u3c .01; AOR = 1.79, P \u3c .05, respectively). Among men, being black, overweight, and obesity were associated with short sleep (P \u3c .05), whereas only obesity was related to short sleep among women (P \u3c .05). In analyses stratified by race and nationality, overweight and obesity were related to short sleep among blacks only (P \u3c .05). Overall, sleep quality (getting enough sleep to feel rested in the morning in the past 7 days) was worse in blacks and South Koreans than whites (P \u3c .05), worse in women than men (P \u3c .05), and worse in participants with obesity than normal weight participants (P \u3c .05). Conclusions Obesity was associated with both short (\u3c 7 h/night) and long sleep duration (\u3e 9 h/night) and poor sleep quality among all participants. In comparison with whites, blacks were more like to have short sleep, and blacks and South Koreans had worse sleep quality. Further investigations using a larger sample of college students in multiple countries may be helpful to identify target populations who are at a greater risk of obesity and sleep problems

Long-term use of antibiotics and risk of type 2 diabetes in women:a prospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: Accumulating evidence suggested that long-term antibiotic use may alter the gut microbiome, which has, in turn, been linked to type 2 diabetes. We undertook this study to investigate whether antibiotic use was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes. METHODS: This prospective cohort study included women free of diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer in the Nurses’ Health Study (NHS 2008–2014) and NHS II (2009–2017). We evaluated the overall duration of antibiotics use in the past 4 years and subsequent diabetes risk with Cox proportional-hazards regression adjusting for demography, family history of diabetes and lifestyle factors. RESULTS: Pooled analyses of NHS and NHS II (2837 cases, 703 934 person-years) revealed that a longer duration of antibiotic use in the past 4 years was associated with higher risk of diabetes [Trend-coefficient = 0.09, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.04 to 0.13]. Participants who received antibiotics treatment for a medium duration of 15 days to 2 months [hazard ratio (HR) 1.23, 95% CI 1.10 to 1.39] or long duration of >2 months (HR 1.20, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.38) had higher risk of type 2 diabetes as compared with non-users. Subgroup analyses suggested that the associations were unlikely to be modified by age, family history of diabetes, obesity, smoking, alcohol drinking, physical activity and overall diet quality. CONCLUSIONS: A longer duration of antibiotic use in recent years was associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes in women. Physicians should exercise caution when prescribing antibiotics, particularly for long-term use

Retropharyngeal abscess coinfected with and after rhinoviral infection in a 1-month-old infant

A retropharyngeal abscess is a rare disease entity in young infants but can develop after nasopharyngeal viral infection. Group B Streptococcus and Staphylococcus aureus are the most common pathogens in young infants, however, Mycobacterium tuberculosis is very rare. We report the case of retropharyngeal abscess and coinfection with S. aureus and M. tuberculosis in a very young infant presenting with respiratory symptoms due to upper airway obstruction. Usually tuberculous retropharyngeal abscesses are caused by the direct invasion of the bacteria from the spine via anterior longitudinal ligament of the spine. However, in this case, no associated spinal disease was observed

Relationship between sleep and obesity among U.S. and South Korean college students

Background Little is known about the relationship between sleep and obesity in young adults, particularly college students. This study examined the relationship between sleep (i.e., sleep duration and quality) and obesity in a large and diverse binational sample of college students. Methods Analyses were based on a 40-item paper survey from 2016/2017 to 2017/2018 academic years, with a 72% response rate. The samples were 1578 college students aged 18–25 years from five universities (two in the U.S. and three in South Korea). Weight and height were measured objectively; other measures (e.g., health behaviors) were self-reported. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess the association between sleep duration and independent variables (race/nationality, gender, and BMI). Poisson regression was used to examine the relationship between sleep quality and independent variables. Results Overall, blacks had a higher adjusted odds ratio (AOR) of short sleep ( 9 h/night) (AOR = 1.67, P < .01; AOR = 1.79, P < .05, respectively). Among men, being black, overweight, and obesity were associated with short sleep (P < .05), whereas only obesity was related to short sleep among women (P < .05). In analyses stratified by race and nationality, overweight and obesity were related to short sleep among blacks only (P < .05). Overall, sleep quality (getting enough sleep to feel rested in the morning in the past 7 days) was worse in blacks and South Koreans than whites (P < .05), worse in women than men (P < .05), and worse in participants with obesity than normal weight participants (P < .05). Conclusions Obesity was associated with both short ( 9 h/night) and poor sleep quality among all participants. In comparison with whites, blacks were more like to have short sleep, and blacks and South Koreans had worse sleep quality. Further investigations using a larger sample of college students in multiple countries may be helpful to identify target populations who are at a greater risk of obesity and sleep problems

Safety and immunogenicity of a freeze-dried, Vero cell culture-derived, inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine (KD-287, ENCEVAC®) versus a mouse brain-derived inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccine in children: a phase III, multicenter, double-blinded, randomized trial

Background: Although mouse brain-derived, inactivated Japanese encephalitis vaccines (JE-MBs) have been successfully used for a long time, potential rare neurological complications have prompted the development of a Vero cell culture-derived inactivated vaccine (JE-VC). In a phase III clinical study, we aimed to compare the safety and immunogenicity of a JE-VC, KD-287 with a JE-MB, JEV-GCC, in children. Methods: In this multicenter, double-blinded, randomized controlled trial, the study population consisted of 205 healthy Korean children aged 12–23 months. Each subject was subcutaneously vaccinated with either KD-287 or JEV-GCC twice at an interval of 2 weeks and then vaccinated once 12 months after the second vaccination. Neutralizing antibodies were measured by the plaque reduction neutralization test using the homologous and heterologous, as a post hoc analysis, challenge virus strains. Results: The three-dose regimen of KD-287 showed a comparable safety profile with JEV-GCC except higher incidence of fever after the first dose (30.4% and 14.7%, respectively). Most of the fever was mild degree (61.3% and 66.7%, respectively). KD-287 fulfilled the non-inferiority criteria for seroconversion rate (SCR) and geometric mean titer (GMT) of the neutralizing antibody, which were the primary endpoints, at 4 weeks after the third vaccination (95% CI: −1.00, 3.10 for the SCR difference and 10.8, 17.6 for the GMT ratio). The SCRs of KD-287 were all 100% and the GMTs were higher in the KD-287 group than in the JEV-GCC group after the second vaccination and before and after the third vaccination (GMT ratio: 5.59, 20.13, and 13.79, respectively, p < 0.001 in all). GMTs were higher in the KD-287 group in the heterologous analysis also (GMT ratio: 4.05, 5.15, and 4.19, respectively, p < 0.001 in all). Conclusions: This study suggests that the KD-287, a JE-VC is as safe as and may be more effective than the licensed MB-derived vaccine. KD-287 could thus be useful as a second-generation vaccine and substitute for the current JE-MB vaccine in Korean children.Peer Reviewe