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PURPOSE: The present study examined the extent of genetic and environmental influences on individual differences in children's conversational language use. METHOD: Behavioral genetic analyses focused on conversational measures and 2 standardized tests from 380 twins (M = 7.13 years) during the 2nd year of the Western Reserve Reading Project (S. A. Petrill, K. Deater-Deckard, L. A. Thompson, L. S. DeThorne, & C. Schatschneider, 2006) Multivariate analyses using latent factors were conducted to examine the extent of genetic overlap and specificity between conversational and formalized language. RESULTS: Multivariate analyses revealed a heritability of .70 for the conversational language factor and .45 for the formal language factor, with a significant genetic correlation of .37 between the two factors. Specific genetic effects were also significant for the conversational factor. CONCLUSIONS: The current study indicated that over half of the variance in children's conversational language skills can be accounted for by genetic effects with no evidence of significant shared environmental influence. This finding casts an alternative lens on past studies that have attributed differences in children's spontaneous language use to differences in environmental language exposure. In addition, multivariate results generally support the context-dependent construction of language knowledge, as suggested by the theory of activity and situated cognition (J. S. Brown, A. Collins, & P. Duguid, 1989; T. A. Ukrainetz, 1998), but also indicate some degree of overlap between language use in conversational and formalized assessment contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Palliative care has been proposed for progressive non-cancer conditions but there have been few evaluations of service developments. We analysed recruitment, compliance and follow-up data of a fast track (or wait list control) randomised controlled trial of a new palliative care service – a design not previously used to assess palliative care. Methods/Design An innovative palliative care service (comprising a consultant in palliative medicine, a clinical nurse specialist, an administrator and a psychosocial worker) was delivered to people severely affected by multiple sclerosis (MS), and their carers, in southeast London. Our design followed the MRC Framework for the Evaluation of Complex Interventions. In phase II we conducted randomised controlled trial, of immediate referral to the service (fast-track) versus a 12-week wait (standard best practice). Main outcome measures were: compliance (the extent the trial protocol was adhered to), recruitment (target 50 patients), attrition and missing data rates; trial outcomes were Palliative Care Outcome Scale and MS Impact Scale. Results 69 patients were referred, 52 entered the trial (26 randomised to each arm), 5 refused consent and 12 were excluded from the trial for other reasons, usually illness or urgent needs, achieving our target numbers. 25/26 fast track and 21/26 standard best practice patients completed the trial, resulting in 217/225 (96%) of possible interviews completed, 87% of which took place in the patient's home. Main reasons for failure to interview and/or attrition were death or illness. There were three deaths in the standard best practice group and one in the fast-track group during the trial. At baseline there were no differences between groups. Missing data for individual questionnaire items were small (median 0, mean 1–5 items out of 56+ items per interview), not associated with any patient or carer characteristics or with individual questionnaires, but were associated with interviewer. Conclusion This is the first time a fast track (or wait list) randomised trial has been reported in palliative care. We found it achieved good recruitment and is a feasible method to evaluate palliative care services when patients are expected to live longer than 3–6 months. Home interviews are needed for a trial of this kind; interviewers need careful recruitment, training and supervision; and there should be careful separation from the clinical service of the control patients to prevent accidental contamination. Trial Registration Clinical Trials.Gov NCT00364963

Abstract Background Cell growth underlies many key cellular and developmental processes, yet a limited number of studies have been carried out on cell-growth regulation. Comprehensive studies at the transcriptional, proteomic and metabolic levels under defined controlled conditions are currently lacking. Results Metabolic control analysis is being exploited in a systems biology study of the eukaryotic cell. Using chemostat culture, we have measured the impact of changes in flux (growth rate) on the transcriptome, proteome, endometabolome and exometabolome of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Each functional genomic level shows clear growth-rate-associated trends and discriminates between carbon-sufficient and carbon-limited conditions. Genes consistently and significantly upregulated with increasing growth rate are frequently essential and encode evolutionarily conserved proteins of known function that participate in many protein-protein interactions. In contrast, more unknown, and fewer essential, genes are downregulated with increasing growth rate; their protein products rarely interact with one another. A large proportion of yeast genes under positive growth-rate control share orthologs with other eukaryotes, including humans. Significantly, transcription of genes encoding components of the TOR complex (a major controller of eukaryotic cell growth) is not subject to growth-rate regulation. Moreover, integrative studies reveal the extent and importance of post-transcriptional control, patterns of control of metabolic fluxes at the level of enzyme synthesis, and the relevance of specific enzymatic reactions in the control of metabolic fluxes during cell growth. Conclusion This work constitutes a first comprehensive systems biology study on growth-rate control in the eukaryotic cell. The results have direct implications for advanced studies on cell growth, in vivo regulation of metabolic fluxes for comprehensive metabolic engineering, and for the design of genome-scale systems biology models of the eukaryotic cell.

Abstract Background Proteomics continues to play a critical role in post-genomic science as continued advances in mass spectrometry and analytical chemistry support the separation and identification of increasing numbers of peptides and proteins from their characteristic mass spectra. In order to facilitate the sharing of this data, various standard formats have been, and continue to be, developed. Still not fully mature however, these are not yet able to cope with the increasing number of quantitative proteomic technologies that are being developed. Results We propose an extension to the PRIDE and mzData XML schema to accommodate the concept of multiple samples per experiment, and in addition, capture the intensities of the iTRAQTM reporter ions in the entry. A simple Java-client has been developed to capture and convert the raw data from common spectral file formats, which also uses a third-party open source tool for the generation of iTRAQTM reported intensities from Mascot output, into a valid PRIDE XML entry. Conclusion We describe an extension to the PRIDE and mzData schemas to enable the capture of quantitative data. Currently this is limited to iTRAQTM data but is readily extensible for other quantitative proteomic technologies. Furthermore, a software tool has been developed which enables conversion from various mass spectrum file formats and corresponding Mascot peptide identifications to PRIDE formatted XML. The tool represents a simple approach to preparing quantitative and qualitative data for submission to repositories such as PRIDE, which is necessary to facilitate data deposition and sharing in public domain database. The software is freely available from http://www.mcisb.org/software/PrideWizard.

Abstract Background Palliative care has been proposed to help meet the needs of patients who suffer progressive non-cancer conditions but there have been few evaluations of service development initiatives. We report here a novel protocol for the evaluation of a new palliative care service in this context. Methods/Design Using the MRC Framework for the Evaluation of Complex Interventions we modelled a new palliative care and neurology service for patients severely affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS). We conducted qualitative interviews with patients, families and staff, plus a literature review to model and pilot the service. Then we designed a delayed intervention randomised controlled trial to test its effectiveness as part of phase II of the MRC framework. Inclusion criteria for the trial were patients identified by referring clinicians as having unresolved symptoms or psychological concerns. Referrers were advised to use a score of greater than 8 on the Expanded Disability Scale was a benchmark. Consenting patients newly referred to the new service were randomised to either receive the palliative care service immediately (fast-track) or after a 12-week wait (standard best practice). Face to face interviews were conducted at baseline (before intervention), and at 4–6, 10–12 (before intervention for the standard-practice group), 16–18 and 22–24 weeks with patients and their carers using standard questionnaires to assess symptoms, palliative care outcomes, function, service use and open comments. Ethics committee approval was granted separately for the qualitative phase and then for the trial. Discussion We publish the protocol trial here, to allow methods to be reviewed in advance of publication of the results. The MRC Framework for the Evaluation of Complex Interventions was helpful in both the design of the service, methods for evaluation in convincing staff and the ethics committee to accept the trial. The research will provide valuable information on the effects of palliative care among non-cancer patients and a method to evaluate palliative care in this context.

Abstract Background Proteomics is rapidly evolving into a high-throughput technology, in which substantial and systematic studies are conducted on samples from a wide range of physiological, developmental, or pathological conditions. Reference maps from 2D gels are widely circulated. However, there is, as yet, no formally accepted standard representation to support the sharing of proteomics data, and little systematic dissemination of comprehensive proteomic data sets. Results This paper describes the design, implementation and use of a Proteome Experimental Data Repository (PEDRo), which makes comprehensive proteomics data sets available for browsing, searching and downloading. It is also serves to extend the debate on the level of detail at which proteomics data should be captured, the sorts of facilities that should be provided by proteome data management systems, and the techniques by which such facilities can be made available. Conclusions The PEDRo database provides access to a collection of comprehensive descriptions of experimental data sets in proteomics. Not only are these data sets interesting in and of themselves, they also provide a useful early validation of the PEDRo data model, which has served as a starting point for the ongoing standardisation activity through the Proteome Standards Initiative of the Human Proteome Organisation.

Abstract: The International Consensus (ICC) and World Health Organization fifth edition (WHO5) classifications introduced new, but differing, categories of myeloid disease defined by TP53 mutations. We reviewed a cohort of 188 cases of TP53-mutated myeloid disease to determine how diagnoses and outcomes differ between the 2 classifications. Overall, 120 (64%) cases were classified differently by the ICC and WHO5, including 24 of 80 (30%) cases with <20% blasts. These cases were discrepantly categorized primarily because of inclusion of complex karyotype (CK) as a surrogate for biallelic TP53 inactivation only in the ICC. However, there were no significant differences in clinicopathologic characteristics or overall survival between cases categorized as TP53-mutated disease by both classifications and those with a single TP53 mutation and CK, suggesting that CK reliably identifies TP53-mutated cases with biallelic TP53 inactivation. Most cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML; 96/102 [94%]) were discrepantly diagnosed between the ICC and WHO5 because of the introduction of AML with mutated TP53 as a distinct category only in the ICC. Nearly all of these were instead diagnosed as AML, myelodysplasia related (AML-MR) by WHO5. However, when compared with a separate cohort of patients with AML-MR without TP53 mutations, patients with TP53-mutated AML showed a distinct genetic profile and significantly worse overall survival, supporting the inclusion of AML with mutated TP53 as a distinct disease category. Overall, our results show that a significant percentage of TP53-mutated myeloid disease is classified differently by the ICC and WHO5 and highlight areas to address in future classification systems., (© 2025 by The American Society of Hematology. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), permitting only noncommercial, nonderivative use with attribution. All other rights reserved.)

Background: In 2021, the United States implemented a federal price transparency mandate to help combat price variability across the country. Initial studies conducted within several months of the mandate showed persistent price variability., Methods: To assess continued price variability for laboratory tests and factors associated with prices across all licensed hospitals in Tennessee approximately 2.5 years since the mandate, hospital websites were queried for gross, cash, and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) prices for common laboratory tests (n = 8). Hospital ownership and county demographic data including income, region, and population density were also collected., Results: All tests showed considerable price variability. Gross price was set higher than cash and BCBS prices. For the majority (n = 6) of tests, cash was higher than BCBS price. Maximum to minimum price ratios for each test ranged from 29 to 114 for gross, 57 to 243 for cash, and 25 to 115 for BCBS prices. Gross and cash prices were associated with median household income of the hospital's county while BCBS prices were not. Overall, prices were associated with hospital county income, for-profit status, and region., Conclusions: Our study shows continued price variability in Tennessee 2.5 years after the federal price transparency mandate., (© Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine 2025.)

DEK :: AFF2 fusion nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma (NKSCC) is an emerging entity in the sinonasal tract, temporal bone, and skull base. However, the clinical behavior of these tumors has not been well studied. Here, we report the largest cohort of DEK :: AFF2 carcinomas to determine if morphology, mitotic rate, and/or Ki-67 IHC are associated with patient outcomes, including a comparison with high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated and independent patients. We solicited cases of molecularly or AFF2 immunohistochemistry (IHC) proven DEK :: AFF2 SCC from surgical pathologists to collect patient demographic, clinical, and outcome data. Using representative H&E slides, we characterized the morphology and counted mitoses. Ki-67 immunohistochemistry was performed. We also compared the DEK :: AFF2 survival rates to those in a cohort of AFF2 IHC-negative HPV-associated and HPV-independent SCC. DEK :: AFF2 carcinomas most commonly arose in the nasal cavity (13/30, 43%), and the average number of recurrences was 1.8 (range: 0 to 10). At the last follow-up, most patients were disease free (19/30, 63%) or were alive with disease (9/30, 30%). There was an average mitotic rate of 2 per 2 mm 2 (range: 0 to 9) and Ki-67 proliferation rate of 26% (range: 3% to 60%). Local recurrence was common, but morphology, mitotic activity, and Ki-67 index were not associated with recurrence or survival. On Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, DEK :: AFF2 patients had lower disease-free survival but otherwise had similar outcomes to conventional SCC patients. Our multi-institutional study shows that local recurrence is common in DEK :: AFF2 fusion nonkeratinizing SCC patients, but patients have survival rates similar to conventional SCC. Despite showing a range of different features and proliferation rates, traditional grading by morphology, mitotic rate, and/or Ki-67 activity does not seem to be predictive of outcome., Competing Interests: Conflicts of Interest and Source of Funding: The authors have disclosed that they have no significant relationships with, or financial interest in, any commercial companies pertaining to this article., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Hemostatic abnormalities, including disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), are often cited as a common finding in patients following Loxosceles spider envenomation (ie, loxoscelism). The prevalence and severity of coagulopathy, however, particularly following L reclusa (ie, brown recluse) envenomation, is not well described. This study aimed to characterize coagulation laboratory parameters and coagulopathy in patients following L reclusa envenomation., Methods: We evaluated the coagulation laboratory parameters (eg, prothrombin time, partial thromboplastin time, coagulation factor activity levels, lupus anticoagulant [LA] testing) of 2 patients seen at our institution following brown recluse spider envenomation. We also comprehensively reviewed the literature for all reported cases of brown recluse spider envenomation and assessed patient demographics, clinical presentations, coagulation laboratory parameters, and outcomes., Results: We identified 2 patients with loxoscelism (1 cutaneous only, 1 systemic with hemolysis) with prolonged partial thromboplastin times but with normal clotting factor levels following envenomation. Literature review identified 263 patients: 12 patients had at least 1 prolonged clotting time, 31 reported a platelet count below 150 × 109/L, and there was clinical concern for DIC in 12 cases. The odds of death were statistically significantly higher in patients with clinical concern for DIC than in cases without concern for DIC or coagulopathy (odds ratio, 82.9 [95% CI, 12.6-433.8]; P < .001)., Conclusions: Following brown recluse spider envenomation, hemostatic perturbations are infrequent and clinical coagulopathy is uncommon, but the odds of death following a brown recluse spider bite are statistically significantly greater if DIC develops, even when compared to individuals with hemolysis without DIC., (© American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2025.)

Objectives: The goal of this study was to assess hospital compliance with federal price transparency mandates and barriers to pricing information in Tennessee., Methods: All hospitals websites were queried for gross, cash, and BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee prices for 8 high-frequency laboratory tests in 2 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services-mandated pricing sources: (1) a machine-readable file of all available services and (2) a consumer-friendly display of 300 shoppable services. Barriers, including click counts, data availability, and intrahospital price discrepancies, were noted., Results: Of the 145 Tennessee hospitals assessed, 97.2% were noncompliant with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services final rule. Subanalysis of available machine-readable files, price estimators, and shoppable services files demonstrated 49.6%, 95.1%, and 78.6% noncompliance, respectively. Barriers to pricing information included requiring protected health information (55.9%), missing at least 1 pricing source (7.6%), having no pricing sources available (6.2%), and involving more than 3 clicks to access the cash price in machine-readable files (54.1%) and price estimators (68.6%.) Average intrahospital discrepancy for basic metabolic panel cash prices across pricing sources was $101.30 (range, $0-1012.40)., Conclusions: Our study showed high levels of noncompliance with price transparency laws, inconsistent and inaccessible pricing, and continued challenges facing patients in Tennessee., (© American Society for Clinical Pathology, 2024.)

The purpose of this invited paper is to show the learning disabilities field what LDbase is, why it's important for the field, what it offers the field, and examples of how you can leverage LDbase in your own work., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

This study examined the heterogeneity of early literacy profiles of English learners and non-English learners. Utilizing a latent profile analysis, the degree to which distinct learner profiles emerged was examined using code-based and language-based measures administered in the beginning of first grade. Participants included 11,803 English learners and 34,129 non-English learners. Three early literacy profiles emerged for English learners while four profiles emerged for non-English learners. Both sets of profiles can be identified based on the severity of students' difficulties with component skills rather than the specificity of their difficulties. Resulting profiles in both samples were then utilized to predict performance on a measure of broad reading comprehension administered at the end of first and second grade. Results indicated that the profile that was associated with the greatest success on the later measures of reading comprehension for both samples included the strongest performance on measures of both code-related and language-related skills. Results highlight the heterogeneity of early literacy skills within the English learner and non-English learner populations and demonstrate the importance of designing instruction that addresses the severity of a student's skill deficit.

The Washington National Primate Research Center (WaNPRC) maintains the largest domestic breeding colony of pigtail macaques ( Macaca nemestrina ) in the United States, with animals housed in small to medium-sized social groups. As part of the animal care plan, a programmatic framework is utilized, which integrates clinical care with socialization considerations for nonhuman primates (NHPs). This framework encompasses the following areas: (1) socialization in the clinical setting; (2) positive reinforcement training (PRT); (3) measures to ensure proper identification and medication distribution; and (4) in-group treatments. The success of this framework is demonstrated by the high socialization rate for hospitalized animals (99.5% social pairing success), with the majority of clinical cases (95%) being treated in social groups. Ultimately, this framework seeks to buffer stressors when animals require clinical care or husbandry manipulations. Taken together, the above components foster an environment that provides a comprehensive approach to NHP medical and behavioral management.

This study examined the heterogeneity of literacy profiles for adolescents with and without Specific Learning Disability (SLD). Student subgroups displaying common patterns of performance in word level skills and reading comprehension were identified through latent profile analysis. Results indicate most of the total sample demonstrated below average performance in one or both areas with word level skill difficulties being more common than difficulties in reading comprehension alone. Changes in reading performance by profile over time (Grade 6 to 8) were examined through a latent transition analysis revealing consistent patterns in the SLD sample and variable patterns in the typically developing sample. Resulting profiles were utilized to predict performance on an end-of-year broad reading comprehension measure indicating very little change in performance over time. Findings suggest large numbers of adolescents with concurrent word level and reading comprehension difficulties likely need sustained intervention in word level skills to support their reading comprehension., Competing Interests: We have no conflict of interest to disclose.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is a historic event impacting children around the globe. Prior research on the educational experiences of children during the COVID-19 pandemic focused almost exclusively on spring 2020. This article extends this literature past the initial shock of spring 2020, capturing the first full school year (2020-2021) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This registered report study utilized a national sample of 1,666 United States twins in kindergarten through 12th grade from 43 states to provide the current descriptive report of children's educational experiences during this time, as reported by their parents. Specifically, we reported on school format, parents' role in education, parent-teacher interactions, schoolwork struggles, technology access, and school services. About half of children attended in-person schooling, with many children switching from online to in-person throughout the school year. Parents saw the pandemic as a risk to their children's education. During the 2020-2021 school year of the pandemic, parents felt they had a larger role in their children's education and were less satisfied in their interactions with teachers than what they experienced during the prepandemic part of the 2019-2020 school year. Children experienced more schoolwork struggles than they had in previous years, and this was similar across age groups. For most constructs, results were equivalent across age group, but parents of younger children tended to provide more schoolwork help. Overall, this article highlights the disruptions in their educational environments that children continued to experience through the first full school year (2020-2021) of the COVID-19 pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Competing Interests: Disclosures The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Background: The way in which socioeconomic status (SES) moderates the etiology of reading attainment has been explored many times, with past work often finding that genetic influences are suppressed under conditions of socioeconomic deprivation and more fully realized under conditions of socioeconomic advantage: a gene-SES interaction. Additionally, past work has pointed toward the presence of gene-location interactions, with the relative influence of genes and environment varying across geographic regions of the same country/state., Method: This study investigates the extent to which SES and geographical location interact to moderate the genetic and environmental components of reading attainment. Utilizing data from 2,135 twin pairs in Florida (mean age 13.82 years, range 10.71-17.77), the study operationalized reading attainment as reading comprehension scores from a statewide test and SES as household income. We applied a spatial twin analysis procedure to investigate how twin genetic and environmental estimates vary by geographic location. We then expanded this analysis to explore how the moderating role of SES on said genetic and environmental influences also varied by geographic location., Results: A gene-SES interaction was found, with heritability of reading being suppressed in lower- (23%) versus higher-SES homes (78%). The magnitude of the moderating parameters were not consistent by location, however, and ranged from -0.10 to 0.10 for the moderating effect on genetic influences, and from -0.30 to 0.05 for the moderating effect on environmental influences. For smaller areas and those with less socioeconomic variability, the magnitude of the genetic moderating parameter was high, giving rise to more fully realized genetic influences on reading there., Conclusions: SES significantly influences reading variability. However, a child's home location matters in both the overall etiology and how strongly SES moderates said etiologies. These results point toward the presence of multiple significant environmental factors that simultaneously, and inseparably, influence the underlying etiology of reading attainment., (© 2023 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.)

Core reading instruction and interventions have differential effects based on student characteristics such as cognitive ability and pre-intervention skill level. Evidence for differential effect based on affective characteristics is scant and ambiguous; however, students with problem behavior are more often non-responsive to core reading instruction and intensive reading interventions. In this study, we estimated the range of students' behavior ratings in which a core reading instruction intervention was effective using a data set including 3,024 students in K-3. Data came from seven independent studies evaluating the Individualized Student Instruction (ISI) Tier 1 reading intervention and were pooled using integrative data analysis. We estimated Johnson-Neyman intervals of student behavior ratings that showed a treatment effect both at the within and between classroom level. ISI was effective in improving reading scores ( b =0.51, p =.020, d = 0.08). However, students with very low or very high behavior ratings did not benefit from the approaches (range of behavior rating factor scores: -0.95 - 2.87). At the classroom level, students in classrooms with a higher average of problem behaviors did not benefit from ISI (average classroom behavior rating factor score: 0.05 - 4.25). Results suggest differentiating instruction alone is not enough for students with behavior problems to grow in reading ability.

The increasing adoption of open science practices in the last decade has been changing the scientific landscape across fields. However, developmental science has been relatively slow in adopting open science practices. To address this issue, we followed the format of Crüwell et al., (2019) and created summaries and an annotated list of informative and actionable resources discussing ten topics in developmental science: Open science; Reproducibility and replication; Open data, materials and code; Open access; Preregistration; Registered reports; Replication; Incentives; Collaborative developmental science. This article offers researchers and students in developmental science a starting point for understanding how open science intersects with developmental science. After getting familiarized with this article, the developmental scientist should understand the core tenets of open and reproducible developmental science, and feel motivated to start applying open science practices in their workflow., Competing Interests: We have no conflict of interest to disclose.

Introduction: Failure to recognize and mitigate critical patient deterioration remains a source of serious preventable harm to hospitalized pediatric cardiac patients. Emergency transfers (ETs) occur 10-20 times more often than code events outside the intensive care unit (ICU) and are associated with morbidity and mortality. This quality improvement project aimed to increase days between ETs and code events on an acute care cardiology unit (ACCU) from a baseline median of 17 and 32 days to ≥70 and 90 days within 12 months., Methods: Institutional leaders, cardiology-trained physicians and nurses, and trainees convened, utilizing the Institution for Healthcare Improvement model to achieve the project aims. Interventions implemented focused on improving situational awareness (SA), including a "Must Call List," evening rounds, a visual management board, and daily huddles. Outcome measures included calendar days between ETs and code events in the ACCU. Process measures tracked the utilization of interventions, and cardiac ICU length of stay was a balancing measure. Statistical process control chart methodology was utilized to analyze the impact of interventions., Results: Within the study period, we observed a centerline shift in primary outcome measures with an increase from 17 to 56 days between ETs and 32 to 62 days between code events in the ACCU, with sustained improvement. Intervention utilization ranged from 87% to 100%, and there was no observed special cause variation in our balancing measure., Conclusions: Interventions focused on improving SA in a particularly vulnerable patient population led to sustained improvement with reduced ETs and code events outside the ICU., (Copyright © 2023 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Madole & Harden describe how genetics can be used in a causal framework. We agree with many of their opinions but argue that comparing within-family designs to experiments is unnecessary and that the proposed influence of genetics on behavior can be better described as inus conditions.

Children who like to read and write tend to be better at it. This association is typically interpreted as enjoyment impacting engagement in literacy activities, which boosts literacy skills. We fitted direction-of-causation models to partial data of 3690 Finnish twins aged 12. Literacy skills were rated by the twins' teachers and literacy enjoyment by the twins themselves. A bivariate twin model showed substantial genetic influences on literacy skills (70%) and literacy enjoyment (35%). In both skills and enjoyment, shared-environmental influences explained about 20% in each. The best-fitting direction-of-causation model showed that skills impacted enjoyment, while the influence in the other direction was zero. The genetic influences on skills influenced enjoyment, likely via the skills→enjoyment path. This indicates an active gene-environment correlation: children with an aptitude for good literacy skills are more likely to enjoy reading and seek out literacy activities. To a lesser extent, it was also the shared-environmental influences on children's skills that propagated to influence children's literacy enjoyment. Environmental influences that foster children's literacy skills (e.g., families and schools), also foster children's love for reading and writing. These findings underline the importance of nurturing children's literacy skills. HIGHLIGHTS: It's known that how much children enjoy reading and writing and how good they are at it correlates ∼0.30, but causality remains unknown. We tested the direction of causation in 3690 twins aged 12. Literacy skills impacted literacy enjoyment, but not the other way around. Genetics influence children's literacy skills and how much they like and choose to read and write, indicating genetic niche picking., (© 2022 The Authors. Developmental Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Greater than 50% of neonates with Down Syndrome (DS) have perinatal complications that require admission to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at birth. Previous studies have shown increased morbidity and mortality rates in neonates without DS delivered prior to 39 weeks of completed gestation., Objective: To determine if an association exists between gestational age at delivery and adverse outcomes in neonates with DS., Study Design: Neonates with DS admitted to a large, tertiary care center NICU from 2010 to 2020 were evaluated. Gestational age (GA) was stratified into 4 groups: <34 (preterm), 34-36 (late-preterm), 37-38 (early-term) and ≥39 (term + post-term) completed weeks. Fisher's exact tests were used to evaluate morbidity and mortality rates between groups., Result: Of the 314 neonates with DS, 10% (N = 31) were <34 weeks, 22% (N = 68) 34-36 weeks, 40% (N = 127) 37-38 weeks, and 28% (N = 88) ≥39 completed weeks at birth. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. GA at birth <34 weeks was associated with a higher in-hospital mortality rate when compared to those born 37-38 (19% vs. 0%, P < 0.001) and ≥39 (19% vs. 3%, P = 0.01). Neonates with DS born <34 weeks had a higher likelihood of oxygen requirement at time of discharge compared to 34-36, 37-38, and ≥39 groups (P = 0.01; P < 0.001; P < 0.001 respectively). Neonates with DS < 34 weeks were more likely to develop necrotizing enterocolitis (P = 0.02) and require nitric oxide (P = 0.014) compared to neonates with DS ≥ 39. We observed no differences in the need for surgical interventions between groups aside from the rate of gastrostomy/jejunostomy tube placement between 34-36 weeks and 37-38 weeks GA., Conclusion: Neonates with DS born preterm (<34 weeks) represent a highly vulnerable subgroup. Multidisciplinary strategies are needed to address their higher rates of morbidity and mortality., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

The Confusion, Hubbub and Order Scale (CHAOS) - short form - is a survey tool intended to capture information about home environments. It is widely used in studies of child and adolescent development and psychopathology, particularly twin studies. The original long form of the scale comprised 15 items and was validated in a sample of infants in the 1980s. The short form of the scale was developed in the late 1990s and contains six items, including four from the original scale, and two new items. This short form has not been validated and is the focus of this study. We use five samples drawn from twin studies in Australia, the UK, and the USA, and examine measurement invariance of the CHAOS short-form. We first compare alternate confirmatory factor models for each group; we next test between-group configural, metric and scalar invariance; finally, we examine predictive validity of the scale under different conditions. We find evidence that a two-factor configuration of the six items is more appropriate than the commonly used one-factor model. Second, we find measurement non-invariance across groups at the metric invariance step, with items performing differently depending on the sample. We also find inconsistent results in tests of predictive validity using family-level socioeconomic status and academic achievement as criterion variables. The results caution the continued use of the short-form CHAOS in its current form and recommend future revisions and development of the scale for use in developmental research., Competing Interests: Competing Interests None

Noncognitive factors have gained attention in recent years as potential intervention targets for academic achievement improvement in students. Two notable facets, intelligence mindset and grit, have been of particular interest. Both have been shown to consistently improve educational outcomes, although little work has focused on reading ability. As such, we examined the relation between both grit and mindset on current, future, and change in reading comprehension ability in a twin sample. We used data from 422 twin pairs (171 monozygotic pairs, 251 dizygotic pairs) drawn from the Florida Twin Project on Reading, Behavior and Environment (Taylor et al., 2019). The racial composition of the sample included 1.00% American Indian or Alaska Native, 2.25% Asian, 13.25% Black or African American, 22.63% Hispanic, 1.00% Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, 56.13% White, and 3.75% more than 1 race. The household income of the sample at time 1 was 16.15% below $25,000, 18.06% $25,000-49,999, 36.34% $50,000-99,999, and 29.45% $100,000 or more and closely align with the overall composition reported for the state of Florida (United States Census Bureau, 2021). Twins were on average 13 years old when the questionnaire and first reading ability measure were collected, and on average 15 years old when the second reading ability measure was collected. Weak and moderate positive correlations were found between both mindset and grit and with each reading ability score and neither were significantly related to change in reading ability. Twin modeling suggested little to no common genetic or environmental influences between mindset and grit to reading ability. In total, our results do not lend support to the notion of mindset or grit being a mechanism of change for reading ability. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Background: The Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC 3 ) was established to improve acute care cardiology outcomes through the development of an accurate and well-validated clinical registry. We report the validation results of the initial PAC 3 registry audits and describe a novel regional audit format developed to accommodate a rapidly expanding membership facilitate collaborative learning and allow for necessary modification due to the COVID-19 pandemic., Materials and Methods: Six hospitals were audited using a regional audit format and three hospitals were subsequently audited virtually. Critical and challenging-to-collect data elements were audited among at least 40 randomly selected cases. Discrepancies were categorised as either major or minor depending on their relative importance to patient outcomes and clinical care. Results were tabulated and reported., Results: We audited 386 encounters and 27,086 individual data fields across 9 hospitals. The aggregate overall accuracy rate was 99.27% and the aggregate major discrepancy rate was 0.51%. The overall accuracy rate ranged from 98.77% to 99.59%, and the major discrepancy rate ranged from 0.26% to 0.88% across the cohort. No appreciable difference was seen between audit formats. Both the regional and virtual audit methods were viewed favourably by participants., Conclusions: A low data discrepancy rate was found demonstrating that the PAC 3 registry is a highly accurate data source for use in quality improvement, benchmarking, and research. Regional audits and virtual audits were both successfully implemented.

Although compelling and insightful, the proposal by Uchiyama et al. largely neglects within-person change over time, arguably the central topic of interest within their framework. Longitudinal behavioural genetics modelling suggests that the heritability of trajectories is low, in contrast to high and increasing cross-sectional heritability across development. Better understanding of the mechanisms of trajectories remains a crucial outstanding challenge.

Open-science reforms, which aim to increase credibility and access of research, have the potential to benefit the research base in special education, as well as practice and policy informed by that research base. Awareness of open science is increasing among special education researchers. However, relatively few researchers in the field have experience using multiple open-science practices, and few practical guidelines or resources have been tailored to special education researchers to support their exploration and adoption of open science. In this paper, we described and provided guidelines and resources for applying five core open-science practices-preregistration, registered reports, data sharing, materials sharing, and open-access publishing-in special education research.

Gene-environment processes tell us how genetic predispositions and environments work together to influence children in schools. One type of gene-environment process that has been extensively studied using behavioral genetics methods is a gene-by-environment interaction. A gene-by-environment interaction shows us when the effect of your context on a phenotype differs depending on your genetic predispositions, or vice versa, when the effect of your genetic predispositions on a phenotype differs depending on your context. Developmental behavioral geneticists interested in children's school achievement have examined many different contexts within the gene-by-environment interaction model, including contexts measured from within children's home and school environments. However, this work has been overwhelmingly focused on WEIRD samples children, leaving us with non-inclusive scientific evidence. This can lead to detrimental outcomes when we overgeneralize this non-inclusive scientific evidence to racialized groups. We conclude with a call to include racialized children in more research samples., (© 2022 Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Complex research questions often need large samples to obtain accurate estimates of parameters and adequate power. Combining extant data sets into a large, pooled data set is one way this can be accomplished without expending resources. Measurement invariance (MI) modeling is an established approach to ensure participant scores are on the same scale. There are two major problems when combining independent data sets through MI. First, sample sizes will often be large leading to small differences becoming noninvariant. Second, not all data sets may include the same combination of measures. In this article, we present a method that can deal with both these problems and is user friendly. It is a combination of generating random normal deviates for variables missing completely in combination with assessing model fit using the root mean square error of approximation good enough principle , based on the hypothesis that the difference between groups is not zero but small. We demonstrate the method by examining MI across eight independent data sets and compare the MI decisions of the traditional and good enough approach. Our results show the approach has potential in combining educational data., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2021.)

Many of the analytical models commonly used in educational research often aim to maximize explained variance and identify variable importance within models. These models are useful for understanding general ideas and trends, but give limited insight into the individuals within said models. Data envelopment analysis (DEA), is a method rooted in organizational management that makes such insights possible. Unlike models alluded to above, DEA does not explain variance. Instead, it explains how efficiently an individual utilizes their inputs to produce outputs, and identifies which input is not being utilized optimally. This paper provides a history and usages of DEA from fields outside of education, and describes the math and processes behind it. This paper then extends DEA's usage into the educational field using a study on child reading ability. Using students from the Project KIDS dataset ( n=1987 ), DEA is demonstrated using a simple view of reading framework, identifying individual efficiency levels in using reading-based skills to achieve reading comprehension, determining which skills are being underutilized, and classifying new subsets of readers. New subsets of readers were identified using this method, with implications for more targeted interventions., Competing Interests: Disclosure Statement The author(s) declared that there were no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship or the publication of this article.

In this paper, we discuss what heritability is and how it is measured, and explain why estimates of heritability are not always the same in different scientific papers. After providing this foundational knowledge, we bust some common myths about heritability. We end with discussing how teachers can use their knowledge about heritability in their own practice.

This manuscript provides information on datasets pertaining to Project KIDS. Datasets include behavioral and achievement data for over 4,000 students between five and twelve years old participating in nine randomized control trials of reading instruction and intervention between 2005-2011, and information on home environments of a subset of 442 students collected via parent survey in 2013. All data is currently stored on an online data repository and freely available. Data might be of interest to researchers interested in individual differences in reading development and response to instruction and intervention, as well as to instructors of data analytic methods such as hierarchical linear modeling and psychometrics.

Use of quantile regression, analysis at different levels of aggregation, and inclusion of covariates were used to assess how different methodologies produced varying results with contradictory implications for policy interventions regarding the relation between school funding and achievement. Results indicated that significantly different relations existed at various quantiles of the distribution of achievement, both for student and school-level outcomes. Further, significant differences were found when outcomes at the school-level were compared to outcomes for individual students. Finally, the inclusion of SES drastically altered the results of every analysis in this study, indicating the importance of controlling for confounds. Taking all of these findings into account, we find that higher levels of funding at the student-level were associated with smaller gaps in growth in achievement by SES for lower achieving students. The opposite finding was found at the school level, with higher levels of funding at the school level being associated with larger gaps in growth in achievement based on SES. We compare our findings to results of existing studies, framing our results and interpretations thereof in weighted-student funding literature. Discussion on how these findings can be translated into quasi-experimental research designs are also included.

In the US, undeniable evidence shows that socioeconomic inequities explain a high proportion of individual differences in school achievement. Although not all countries show this same effect due to socioeconomic status, it is consistently found that social inequities lead to achievement gaps. These achievement gaps then manifest into trajectories that set some individuals on a path of lower incomes, poorer health and higher mortality, lower wellbeing, and other poor adult outcomes. Like James Flynn so handily reminded the scientific literature that achievement gaps are explainable by environmental factors, the inequities we see around the world are based on environments some children are exposed to. In his work, Flynn stated his belief that the suppression of scientific work on intelligence would continue to lead to social inequities. We wish to take this idea and move it forward. We believe that the scientific construct of intelligence plays a key role in helping create a more equitable society through science. We also believe that the poor perception of intelligence, rooted in historical realities, means that it will continue to be misunderstood, feared, and misused, limiting how effective it could be in helping to close gaps in achievement and in creating a more equitable society.

Purpose This study aims to examine the predictive relation between measures obtained from African American students' written narrative language samples and reading achievement, as measured by standardized academic assessments. Method Written language samples were elicited from 207 African American students in Grades 1-8. The samples were examined for morphosyntactic variations from standardized written Generalized American English (GAE). These variations were categorized as either (a) specific to African American English (AAE) or (b) neutral across AAE and standardized written GAE (i.e., considered ungrammatical both in AAE and in standardized written GAE). Structural equation modeling was employed to then examine the predictive relation between the density of AAE-specific forms in students' writing and their performance on standardized assessments of literacy and reading vocabulary. This relation was examined while accounting for the density of dialect-neutral morphosyntactic forms, reported family income, age, and written sample length. Results The written samples were highly variable in terms of morphosyntax. Younger students and those from lower income homes tended to use AAE-specific forms at higher rates. However, the density of AAE-specific forms did not significantly predict standardized literacy scores or reading vocabulary after accounting for dialect-neutral variations, income, and sample length. Conclusions These results support the ongoing need to better understand the language, literacy, and overall academic development of students from all backgrounds. It may be essential to focus on dialect-neutral language forms (i.e., morphosyntactic forms that are consistent across both AAE and standardized written GAE) in written samples to maximize assessment validity across students who speak varying dialects of English. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.16879558.

Background: Non-invasive prenatal screening (NIPS) has fundamentally changed the screening process for Down syndrome (DS). Rates of complex congenital heart defects (CHD) have decreased in international studies but whether these shifts exist in the US is unknown., Methods: Encounters for neonates with DS from 2007 to 2018 were obtained from the Pediatric Health Information System database. CHD were categorized as complex CHD, atrioventricular septal defects (AVSD), ventricular septal defects (VSD), and tetralogy of Fallot (TOF). Comparisons were made between pre-NIPS era (2007-2010) vs. post-NIPS era (2014-2018) and between states with low vs. high access to pregnancy termination as described by the Guttmacher Institute., Results: Among 9122 patients, 6% had complex CHD, 22% had an AVSD, 22% had a VSD, and 4% had TOF. No difference in proportions of CHD was seen between eras. A small difference was observed in the proportion of AVSD between states with low vs. high access to pregnancy termination (23 vs. 17%, p < 0.001)., Conclusions: The proportion of CHD in patients with DS appears to be stable despite widespread adoption of NIPS in the US. Variations were observed between states with low vs. high access to pregnancy termination. Population based studies are needed to fully evaluate the current epidemiology of CHD in DS., Impact: Through investigation of the Pediatric Health Information System database, this study assesses contemporary epidemiology of congenital heart disease among patients with Down syndrome. It has been suggested that improved prenatal screening for Down syndrome has altered the cardiac phenotype in international populations. Whether a similar shift also exists in the United States is unknown. In a contemporary United States cohort, a shift in the proportion or type of heart defects over the past decade was not observed. Regional differences in the proportion of heart defects were seen and may be due to differential access to prenatal care., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.)

This paper extends the understanding of the relation between ADHD and reading comprehension, through examining how this relation differs depending on the quantile an individual falls in for each. Samples from three twin projects around the United States were used (Florida Twin Project, Colorado component of International Longitudinal Twin Study of Early Reading Development, & Western Reserve Reading and Math Projects). Phenotypic analysis using quantile regression showed relations between ADHD related behaviors and reading comprehension to be stronger in the lower quantiles of reading comprehension in two of three samples. A new method was developed extending this analysis into the bivariate genetic space. Results of this quantile genetic analysis revealed that overlapping common environmental influences accounted for a larger proportion of variance in the lower quantiles of these variables in two of three samples. Finally, in all three samples the phenotypic relation was strongest when shared environmental influences accounted for a larger proportion of the overall variance., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Objective: To determine the risk factors for acquiring a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and vaccine-preventable infections (R/VPI) in pediatric heart transplant recipients and the associated morbidity and hospital resource use., Study Design: Patients <18 years who underwent heart transplantation from September 2003 to December 2018 at hospitals using the Pediatric Health Information System database were identified. Their transplant hospitalization and subsequent hospitalizations for R/VPI through December 2018 were analyzed. Risk factors for R/VPI hospitalizations were evaluated using negative regression binomial models adjusted for demographic and clinical confounders. Total hospital costs were adjusted for 2018 US$., Results: Of 3815 transplant recipients, 681 (17.9%) had an R/VPI hospitalization during 23 746 available person-years of follow-up. There were 984 R/VPIs diagnosed during 951 hospitalizations, and 440 (44.7%) occurred the first year after transplantation. The most common causes were RSV (n = 380; 38.6%), influenza (n = 265; 26.9%), and pneumococcus (n = 105; 10.7%). In adjusted analyses, there was an increased risk of R/VPI hospitalization in patients requiring mechanical circulatory support before transplantation, patients receiving induction with ≥2 immunosuppressive agents, and patients <2 years in the first year after transplantation. The median length of stay for an R/VPI hospitalization was 4 days (IQR, 2-8 days) with a median total cost of $11 081 (IQR, $6215-$24 322)., Conclusions: Hospitalization for R/VPIs occurred frequently after heart transplantation and were associated with significant costs. Potential strategies to minimize R/VPI include expanding vaccine use through accelerated immunization schedules, further studies of use of palivizumab beyond 2 years of age, and immunogenicity monitoring after vaccination with re-immunization based on guidelines., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This article synthesizes findings from an international virtual conference, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), focused on the home mathematics environment (HME). In light of inconsistencies and gaps in research investigating relations between the HME and children's outcomes, the purpose of the conference was to discuss actionable steps and considerations for future work. The conference was composed of international researchers with a wide range of expertise and backgrounds. Presentations and discussions during the conference centered broadly on the need to better operationalize and measure the HME as a construct - focusing on issues related to child, family, and community factors, country and cultural factors, and the cognitive and affective characteristics of caregivers and children. Results of the conference and a subsequent writing workshop include a synthesis of core questions and key considerations for the field of research on the HME. Findings highlight the need for the field at large to use multi-method measurement approaches to capture nuances in the HME, and to do so with increased international and interdisciplinary collaboration, open science practices, and communication among scholars.

We utilized the multicenter Pediatric Acute Care Cardiology Collaborative (PAC 3 ) 2017 and 2019 surveys to describe practice variation in therapy availability and changes over a 2-year period. A high acuity therapies (ATs) score was derived (1 point per positive response) from 44 survey questions and scores were compared to center surgical volume. Of 31 centers that completed the 2017 survey, 26 also completed the 2019 survey. Scores ranged from 11 to 34 in 2017 and 11 to 35 in 2019. AT scores in 2019 were not statistically different from 2017 scores (29/44, IQR 27-32.5 vs. 29.5/44, IQR 27-31, p = 0.9). In 2019, more centers reported initiation of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) and Bi-level positive airway pressure (BiPAP) in Acute Care Cardiology Unit (ACCU) (19/26 vs. 4/26, p < 0.001) and permitting continuous CPAP/BiPAP (22/26 vs. 14/26, p = 0.034) compared to 2017. Scores in both survey years were significantly higher in the highest surgical volume group compared to the lowest, 33 ± 1.5 versus 25 ± 8.5, p = 0.046 and 32 ± 1.7 versus 23 ± 5.5, p = 0.009, respectively. Variation in therapy within the ACCUs participating in PAC 3 presents an opportunity for shared learning across the collaborative. Experience with PAC 3 was associated with increasing available respiratory therapies from 2017 to 2019. Whether AT scores impact the quality and outcomes of pediatric acute cardiac care will be the subject of further investigation using a comprehensive registry launched in early 2019.