Motion processing in autism: evidence for a dorsal stream deficiency

We report that motion coherence thresholds in children with autism are significantly higher than in matched controls. No corresponding difference in form coherence thresholds was found. We interpret this as a specific deficit in dorsal stream function in autism. To examine the possibility of a neural basis for the perceptual and motor related abnormalities frequently cited in autism we tested 23 children diagnosed with autistic disorder, on two tasks specific to dorsal and ventral cortical stream functions. The results provide evidence that autistic individuals have a specific impairment in dorsal stream functioning. We conclude that autism may have common features with other developmental disorders and with early stages of normal development, perhaps reflecting a greater vulnerability of the dorsal system.     

Colonization by gentamicin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis in a special care baby unit

Babies entering a special care baby unit during a 3-month period were studied prospectively for colonization by gentamicin-sensitive and -resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS). Gentamicin-resistant isolates were characterized by biotyping, antibiotic sensitivity pattern and phage-typing. All the babies studied became colonized with gentamicin-resistant CNS and often with multiple strains. Gentamicin-sensitive CNS usually appeared first and predominated, but gentamicin-resistant staphylococci could be detected by enrichment culture at a median time of 1 day, and, by direct culture at a median time of 4 days. Similar strains were found in the environment and nasal carriage was detected in 60% of the staff of the unit by enrichment culture. The gentamicin-resistant strains were all resistant to benzylpenicillin and other antibiotics. No particular pathogenic strain could be identified, but clusters of colonizations by distinguishable strains were noted. Biotype SVI was frequently encountered, particularly among clinically significant isolates.     

A re-evaluation of the pour plate blood culture method for the detection of Candida and other septicaemias

Over a 1-year period the use of a pour plate in detecting significant septicaemias due to bacteria and fungi was evaluated and compared with a conventional broth blood culture system. Of 207 significant bacterial blood culture isolates only 113 (56%) were detected by the pour plate. However, three out of four candidaemias were detected by the pour plate method alone. Despite its low positivity rate, the pour plate is cheap and allows for early detection of bacteraemia and candidaemia.     

Specular microscopic and histologic observations in nonguttate corneal endothelial degeneration

Six phakic patients with unilateral corneal edema and clinically normal-appearing fellow eyes were examined with specular microscopy and found to have endothelial pleomorphism and reduced cell counts in the nonedematous cornea. None of these patients had any previous eye disease, trauma, inflammation, or surgery. Clinically unrecognized endothelial disease was proposed as a cause for the unilateral corneal edema and was verified by light and electron microscopic studies in five patients. These pathologic findings vary somewhat from those found in Fuchs' dystrophy and may represent either a variant or a form of endothelial cell degeneration of as yet undetermined etiology. Our studies suggest that this condition is not detectable in the nonedematous cornea by standard high magnification biomicroscopy and requires the use of the clinical specular microscope to confirm the diagnosis in suspected cases.     

ADAM12s in maternal serum as a potential marker of pre-eclampsia

OBJECTIVE: To examine whether maternal serum ADAM12s, a potential first- and second-trimester marker of fetal aneuploidy and fetal growth, had altered concentrations in the first or second trimester of pregnancies subsequently developing pre-eclampsia. METHODS: ADAM12s was measured by a time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay developed by PerkinElmer Life Science. Maternal serum samples from women taking part in early first-trimester aneuploidy screening in whom the pregnancy resulted in pre-eclampsia (64) were identified from a cohort of 4,390 singleton pregnancies in which uterine artery Doppler mean Pulsatility Index (PI) had been measured at 22-24 weeks. From amongst those cases delivering a normal term infant with birth weight greater than the 10th centile for gestational age 240 cases were selected as gestational age-matched controls. A second study group consisting of maternal serum taken at 22-24 weeks at the time of uterine artery Doppler in a group of 12 women developing pre-eclampsia were compared with 86 matched controls from a previously studied cohort of 24 cases and 144 controls. Serum ADAM12s concentrations were converted to multiple of the median (MoM) to take account of gestational age variation. RESULTS: First-trimester maternal serum ADAM12s levels in women who developed pre-eclampsia were reduced with a median MoM of 0.71 which was further reduced in those delivering prior to 35 weeks (0.50). At the 5th centile of normal (0.48 MoM) ADAM12s identified 27% of cases with pre-eclampsia and 47% of those with early pre-eclampsia. Combining ADAM12s with PAPP-A from a previous study only resulted in a further 1% increase in detection of all women developing pre-eclampsia. However combining ADAM12s with mean PI increased the detection rate to 66%. In the second trimester at 22-24 weeks the maternal serum ADAM12s levels were increased in those women developing pre-eclampsia compared to controls (709 vs 486 ug/L, p = 0.045). CONCLUSION: ADAM12s in addition to being a potential marker of aneuploidy may also be a marker of pre-eclampsia. Further studies are required to see if this can improve on the clinical discrimination already provided by PAPP-A in the early first trimester.     

Screening for trisomy 21 in twin pregnancies in the first trimester: an update of the impact of chorionicity on maternal serum markers

OBJECTIVE: To examine the distribution of first-trimester biochemical markers of aneuploidy in twin pregnancies, and to assess whether there are differences in the distributions between monochorionic and dichorionic twins. METHODS: Maternal serum-free beta-hCG and PAPP-A were measured between 11 + 0 and 13 + 6 weeks as part of a routine first-trimester screening program in conjunction with fetal nuchal translucency (NT) performed at two sites. Data from twin pregnancies were extracted from the fetal databases along with information on the chorionicty. The individual marker concentrations were expressed as weight corrected, ethnicity corrected, smoking corrected and IVF corrected MoM using data from singleton pregnancies as the reference. The overall medians were compared to those in singleton pregnancies and between monochorionic and dichorionic twins. RESULTS: Data was available from 1914 sets of twins. Of these, 1214 had information with respect to chorionicity, with 1024 being dichorionic and 190 being monochorionic. The overall median weight corrected, ethnicity corrected, smoking corrected and IVF corrected MoM amongst twin pregnancies were 2.023 for free beta-hCG (sd log(10) MoM = 0.2611 and 2.121 for PAPP-A (sd log(10) MoM = 0.2255) -- both medians were significantly greater than the medians in singleton pregnancies (1.00 MoM). In the case of monochorionic and dichorionic twins the median weight corrected, ethnicity corrected, smoking corrected and IVF corrected, free beta-hCG MoM's were not significantly different (1.983 v 2.041), however for PAPP-A the median weight corrected, ethnicity corrected, smoking corrected and IVF corrected MoM in monochorionic twins was significantly lower than in dichorionic twins (1.756 v 2.250) whilst the sd log(10) MoM's were not significantly different (0.2185 v 0.2167). CONCLUSION: Screening in twin pregnancies requires adjustment of the calculated MoM to account for the presence of two fetuses. In general, for free beta-hCG, this should be by dividing the observed corrected MoM by 2.023. For PAPP-A two different factors are required - 2.192 in dichorionic twins and 1.788 in monochorionic twins.     

The seasonal relationships between household dietary diversity and child growth in a rural Timor‐Leste community

Both child growth and dietary diversity are poor in rural Timor‐Leste. The rainy season is associated with food scarcity, yet the association between seasonal scarcity, food diversity, and child growth is underdocumented. This study assesses the relationship between household dietary diversity and children''s standardized growth across the 2018 food‐scarce (April–May; post‐rainy period) and post‐harvest (October) seasons in the agricultural community of Natarbora, on the south‐coastal plains of Timor‐Leste. We conducted household interviews and collected anthropometric data across 98 and 93 households in the post‐rainy and post‐harvest periods, respectively. Consumed household foods were obtained via 24‐h diet recalls and were subsequently categorized into a nine‐food‐group dietary diversity score (DDS; number of different food groups consumed). The DDS was related to children''s standardized short‐term growth (z‐weight, z‐body mass index [BMI] and percent change in weight over the harvest season) via linear mixed models. Across seasons, DDS increased from 3.9 (standard deviation [SD] = 1.0) to 4.3 (SD = 1.4; p < 0.05). In the post‐rainy season, children in high DDS households had higher z‐weight than those in low DDS households and higher z‐BMI than children in medium and low DDS households. In the post‐harvest period, household DDS did not predict children''s z‐weight but predicted z‐BMI. Consumption of protein‐rich foods, particularly animal‐source foods and legumes, in low‐ and medium‐DDS households may be associated with improved child growth. While consuming more animal‐source foods in the post‐rainy season would be ideal, promoting the consumption of locally grown legumes, such as beans and pulses, may facilitate better nutritional outcomes for more children in rural Timor‐Leste.