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Research

The education word gap emerges by 18 months: findings from an Australian prospective study

The idea of the '30 million word gap' suggests families from more socioeconomically advantaged backgrounds engage in more verbal interactions with their child than disadvantaged families. Initial findings from the Language in Little Ones (LiLO) study up to 12 months showed no word gap between maternal education groups.

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Plasma Adenosine Deaminase (ADA)-1 and -2 Demonstrate Robust Ontogeny Across the First Four Months of Human Life

Human adenosine deaminases (ADAs) modulate the immune response: ADA1 via metabolizing adenosine, a purine metabolite that inhibits pro-inflammatory and Th1 cytokine production, and the multi-functional ADA2, by enhancing T-cell proliferation and monocyte differentiation. Newborns are relatively deficient in ADA1 resulting in elevated plasma adenosine concentrations and a Th2/anti-inflammatory bias compared to adults.

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Exploring genotype-phenotype relationships in the CDKL5 deficiency disorder using an international dataset

Characterized by early-onset seizures, global developmental delay and severe motor deficits, CDKL5 deficiency disorder is caused by pathogenic variants in the cyclin-dependent kinase-like 5 gene. Previous efforts to investigate genotype-phenotype relationships have been limited due to small numbers of recurrent mutations and small cohort sizes. Using data from the International CDKL5 Disorder Database we examined genotype-phenotype relationships for 13 recurrent CDKL5 variants and the previously analyzed historic variant groupings. We have applied the CDKL5 Developmental Score (CDS) and an adapted version of the CDKL5 Clinical Severity Assessment (CCSA), to grade the severity of phenotype and developmental outcomes for 285 individuals with CDKL5 variants.

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DNA methylation and body mass index from birth to adolescence: meta-analyses of epigenome-wide association studies

DNA methylation has been shown to be associated with adiposity in adulthood. However, whether similar DNA methylation patterns are associated with childhood and adolescent body mass index (BMI) is largely unknown. More insight into this relationship at younger ages may have implications for future prevention of obesity and its related traits. We examined whether DNA methylation in cord blood and whole blood in childhood and adolescence was associated with BMI in the age range from 2 to 18 years using both cross-sectional and longitudinal models.

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Associations between interpregnancy interval and preterm birth by previous preterm birth status in four high-income countries: a cohort study

To investigate the effect of interpregnancy interval (IPI) on preterm birth (PTB) according to whether the previous birth was preterm or term.

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Tasmania’s child and family centres building parenting capability: a mixed methods study

This mixed methods study investigated the impact of Tasmania’s Child and Family Centres on parents’ confidence and competence

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Early life arsenic exposure and acute and long-term responses to influenza A infection in mice

Exposure to arsenic in early life has been shown to increase the rate of respiratory infections during infancy, reduce childhood lung function, and increase...

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The relationship between nutrition in infancy and cognitive performance during adolescence

Nutrition in early childhood may have a long-term association with fundamental cognitive processing speed, which is likely to be related to enhanced brain...

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Validity and Reliability of the Early Development Instrument in Indonesia

This study finds that the EDI shows moderate validity and reliability in poor communities in Indonesia and highlights some of the difficulties associated with adapting western instruments for non-western cultures and contexts.

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Early development of emerging and English-proficient bilingual children at school entry in an Australian population cohort

Children who enter school with limited proficiency in the language of instruction face a range of challenges in negotiating this new context, yet limited...