The impact of COVID-19 on children with autism spectrum disorder

Introduction. Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience changing routines as a major challenge. For that reason, the need for adaptation during COVID-19 pandemic may have brought major problems to families with children with this pathology. Aim. To explore how children with ASD and their parents experienced the social isolation during COVID-19 outbreak period. Subjects and methods. We conducted an observational, cross-sectional and analytical study. We applied an anonymous questionnaire that included children's demographic and clinical characteristics, along with the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak in different aspects of family's daily life. Results. Out of 99 questionnaires obtained, 43 were related to children with ASD and 56 to control group. Children with ASD predominantly had changes in behavior, while children from control group mostly found no changes. The majority of parents of ASD children reported a negative impact in emotion management against those in control group reporting mostly positive or no impact. Caregivers reported higher mean scores of anxiety levels in themselves than in their children. ASD children and their parents had higher levels of anxiety than healthy ones. In the group with ASD, children that did not maintain routines had higher mean levels of anxiety than children that maintained routines. Conclusion. Our results show a potential important psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic not only in children with neurodevelopmental disorders but in their caregivers as well. Physicians must be prepared for the post-pandemic surveillance of mental disorders among families

Avaliação do stress parental em mães de crianças com perturbação de hiperatividade com défice de atenção

Introdução: Pretendeu-se identificar os níveis de stress nas mães de crianças e adolescentes com perturbação de hiperatividadecom défice de atenção e verificar se existe uma associação entre o stress percecionado por estas mães e o funcionamento familiar.Métodos: Foram utilizados o índice de stress parental, versão reduzida, que caracteriza o stress parental total de acordo comtrês dimensões (dificuldade parental, interação pais / criança e criança difícil), e a escala de avaliação da adaptabilidade e coesãofamiliar, que classifica as famílias em equilibradas, meio-termo ou extremas.Resultados: Participaram neste estudo 89 mães. Obtiveram-se valores médios no questionário índice de stress parental acimado percentil 85 (valor de cutoff) nas subescalas interação disfuncional criança-pais, criança difícil e no valor de stress total.Verificou-se ainda que havia uma forte correlação entre stress total e as três subescalas, isto é, mães com níveis mais elevadosde stress tendem a ter uma maior perceção de dificuldade parental, de interação disfuncional com a criança e de criança difícil.Não se verificaram diferenças estatisticamente significativas entre o tipo de família (equilibrada versus meio-termo ou extrema,ou monoparental versus nuclear) e o stress parental.Discussão: Concluiu-se que as mães das crianças com perturbação de hiperatividade com défice de atenção apresentam elevadosníveis de stress, o qual parece advir fundamentalmente das características da criança, que é percecionada como sendouma criança difícil, e de uma interação disfuncional entre os pais e a criança. Não parece haver relação entre o nível de stressexperienciado por estas mães e a funcionalidade ou organização da famíli

Estimulação, disciplina, vinculação e apresentação: as crenças das mães de grandes prematuros

Os pais valorizam e estimulam os filhos de acordo com o que estabelecem como relevante para o seu comportamento e desenvolvimento, sendo as práticas parentais de cuidados e educação determinadas pela sua cultura, crenças e valores. Perante o nascimento de uma criança prematura, os pais têm que lidar com a vulnerabilidade da criança internada na Neonatologia, um ambiente porventura facilitador da aquisição de crenças e cognições pouco adequadas.Os objetivos foram: avaliar as crenças parentais em crianças em idade pré-escolar com antecedentes de prematuridade (idade gestacional inferior a 32 semanas), identificar as práticas mais valorizadas pelas mães e relacionar as características sociodemográficas, a valorização das práticas, o grau de prematuridade e a duração do internamento com as crenças parentais.Os participantes foram as mães de crianças com antecedentes de prematuridade, com idade gestacional inferior a 32 semanas, observadas na consulta de Neurodesenvolvimento de um hospital terciário. Foram aplicados questionários sobre dados sociodemográficos e o Questionário de Crenças e Práticas Maternas sobre Cuidados com as Crianças. As mães atribuíram mais importância à dimensão Estimulação, sendo a Disciplina considerada a dimensão menos importante. A Vinculação e a Disciplina associam-se negativamente com a idade cronológica. Conclui-se que que as vivências marcantes dos pais dos grandes prematuros nos primeiros tempos de vida destes acarretam preocupações quanto ao seu posterior desenvolvimento psicomotor que os levam a dar prioridade a comportamentos de estimulação e a descurar as questões sociais e a disciplina.Parents appreciate and encourage their children according to when they believe that is relevant to their development, and parenting practices are determined by their culture, beliefs and values. Facing the birth of a premature child, parents have to deal with the child's vulnerability when admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, eventually an environment that facilitates the acquisition of wrong beliefs and concepts. Goals were: to evaluate parental beliefs of preschool age children, with a history of prematurity (gestational age of less than 32 weeks), identify the most valued practices / beliefs and relate them to social and demographic characteristics, degree of prematurity and length of stay in the hospital. The sample consisted of the mothers of children with a history of prematurity (gestational age less than 32 weeks) observed in the Neurodevelopmental consultation of a tertiary hospital. Questionnaires were applied to assess demographic data along with the Questionnaire of beliefs about maternal practices. Mothers have given more importance to the dimension "Stimulation", and "Discipline" was considered the least important dimension. "Bonding" and "discipline" were negatively associated with age. The results suggest that the remarkable experiences of parents of very premature infants in their early life lead to concerns about their further neurodevelopment, which leads them to prioritize stimulating behaviors, and neglecting social issues, presentation and discipline

[Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics in Portugal: Hospital Patient Volume, Resources and Needs - Changes After Ten Years]

Introduction: Neurodevelopmental disorders are, in modern societies, the most common chronic pediatric conditions. Many remain in adulthood. Organizing the national health care network to respond efficiently and effectively requires grounded knowledge of care needs. The Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics Society of the Portuguese Society of Pediatrics in order to know the current hospital care reality of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics, carried out a national survey in 2007, repeating it ten years later. Material e Methods: In the 2016-2017 biennium, a survey of 45 hospital units was conducted on the patient volume of Neurodevelopmental clinics, the allocation of human resources, and the needs for professional reinforcement. Results: We obtained a 100% response rate. The total number of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics consultations rose from 38 238 (2007) to 99 815 (2017). The number of professionals has also increased: pediatricians increased from 82 to 156. A median of 101 children were awaiting first consultation, compared with 185 in 2007. Discussion: In a decade, the patient volume almost tripled. The reinforcement of professionals, even though it was beneficial, did not increase accordingly; even so, the number of children on the waiting list for their first appointment has almost halved, reflecting the commitment of professionals. Conclusion: It is noteworthy that the overall improvement of the national response in the area of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics is remarkable. However, the requested reinforcement of human resources from a multidisciplinary perspective should not be neglected in view of the continuous improvement in care delivery in an area of great chronicity and complexity.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum fluctuations at the LHC energies

The first measurements of skewness and kurtosis of mean transverse momentum (〈pT〉) fluctuations are reported in Pb–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV, Xe–Xe collisions at sNN = 5.44 TeV and pp collisions at s=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector. The measurements are carried out as a function of system size 〈dNch/dη〉|η|<0.51/3, using charged particles with transverse momentum (pT) and pseudorapidity (η), in the range 0.2<3.0 GeV/c and |η|<0.8, respectively. In Pb–Pb and Xe–Xe collisions, positive skewness is observed in the fluctuations of 〈pT〉 for all centralities, which is significantly larger than what would be expected in the scenario of independent particle emission. This positive skewness is considered a crucial consequence of the hydrodynamic evolution of the hot and dense nuclear matter created in heavy-ion collisions. Furthermore, similar observations of positive skewness for minimum bias pp collisions are also reported here. Kurtosis of 〈pT〉 fluctuations is found to be in good agreement with the kurtosis of Gaussian distribution, for most central Pb–Pb collisions. Hydrodynamic model calculations with MUSIC using Monte Carlo Glauber initial conditions are able to explain the measurements of both skewness and kurtosis qualitatively from semicentral to central collisions in Pb–Pb system. Color reconnection mechanism in PYTHIA8 model seems to play a pivotal role in capturing the qualitative behavior of the same measurements in pp collisions

K *(892)± resonance production in Pb-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

The production of K∗(892)± meson resonance is measured at midrapidity (|y|<0.5) in Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=5.02 TeV using the ALICE detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The resonance is reconstructed via its hadronic decay channel K∗(892)±→KS0π±. The transverse momentum distributions are obtained for various centrality intervals in the pT range of 0.4-16 GeV/c. Measurements of integrated yields, mean transverse momenta, and particle yield ratios are reported and found to be consistent with previous ALICE measurements for K∗(892)0 within uncertainties. The pT-integrated yield ratio 2K∗(892)±/(K++K-) in central Pb-Pb collisions shows a significant suppression at a level of 9.3σ relative to pp collisions. Thermal model calculations result in an overprediction of the particle yield ratio. Although both hadron resonance gas in partial chemical equilibrium (HRG-PCE) and music + smash simulations consider the hadronic phase, only HRG-PCE accurately represents the measurements, whereas music + smash simulations tend to overpredict the particle yield ratio. These observations, along with the kinetic freeze-out temperatures extracted from the yields measured for light-flavored hadrons using the HRG-PCE model, indicate a finite hadronic phase lifetime, which decreases with increasing collision centrality percentile. The pT-differential yield ratios 2K∗(892)±/(K++K-) and 2K∗(892)±/(π++π-) are presented and compared with measurements in pp collisions at s=5.02 TeV. Both particle ratios are found to be suppressed by up to a factor of five at pT<2.0 GeV/c in central Pb-Pb collisions and are qualitatively consistent with expectations for rescattering effects in the hadronic phase. The nuclear modification factor (RAA) shows a smooth evolution with centrality and is found to be below unity at pT>8 GeV/c, consistent with measurements for other light-flavored hadrons. The smallest values are observed in most central collisions, indicating larger energy loss of partons traversing the dense medium

Multiplicity and event-scale dependent flow and jet fragmentation in pp collisions at √s=13 TeV and in p-Pb collisions at √sNN=5.02 TeV

Long- and short-range correlations for pairs of charged particles are studied via two-particle angular correlations in pp collisions at s = 13 TeV and p–Pb collisions at sNN = 5.02 TeV. The correlation functions are measured as a function of relative azimuthal angle ∆φ and pseudorapidity separation ∆η for pairs of primary charged particles within the pseudorapidity interval |η| < 0.9 and the transverse-momentum interval 1 < pT< 4 GeV/c. Flow coefficients are extracted for the long-range correlations (1.6 < |∆η| < 1.8) in various high-multiplicity event classes using the low-multiplicity template fit method. The method is used to subtract the enhanced yield of away-side jet fragments in high-multiplicity events. These results show decreasing flow signals toward lower multiplicity events. Furthermore, the flow coefficients for events with hard probes, such as jets or leading particles, do not exhibit any significant changes compared to those obtained from high-multiplicity events without any specific event selection criteria. The results are compared with hydrodynamic-model calculations, and it is found that a better understanding of the initial conditions is necessary to describe the results, particularly for low-multiplicity events