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The aim of this study was to examine whether short sleep duration is associated with poor receptive vocabulary at age 10 years. In the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development, parents reported their children's nocturnal sleep duration annually from ages 2.5 to 10 years, and children were assessed for receptive vocabulary using the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-Revised (PPVT-R) at ages 4 and 10 years. Groups with distinct nocturnal sleep duration trajectories were identified and the relationships between sleep trajectories and poor PPVT-R performance were characterized. In all, 1192 children with available sleep duration and PPVT-R data participated in this epidemiological study. We identified four longitudinal nocturnal sleep trajectories: short persistent sleepers (n = 72, 6.0%), short increasing sleepers (n = 47, 3.9%), 10-h sleepers (n = 628, 52.7%) and 11-h sleepers (n = 445, 37.3%). In all, 14.8% of the children showed poor PPVT-R performance at age 10 years. Nocturnal sleep trajectories and poor PPVT-R performance at age 10 were associated significantly (P = 0.003). After adjusting for baseline receptive vocabulary performance at age 4 and other potential confounding variables, logistic regression analyses suggest that, compared to 11-h sleepers, the odds ratio of presenting poor receptive vocabulary at age 10 was 2.67 [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.24-5.74, P = 0.012] for short persistent sleepers and 1.66 (95% CI: 1.06-2.59, P = 0.026) for 10-h sleepers. These results corroborate previous findings in early childhood, and indicate that short sleep duration is associated with poor receptive vocabulary during middle childhood. © 2016 European Sleep Research Society.

Background Little is known about how children differ in the onset and evolution of separation anxiety (SA) symptoms during the preschool years, and how SA develops into separation anxiety disorder. In a large, representative population-based sample, we investigated the developmental trajectories of SA symptoms from infancy to school entry, their early associated risk factors, and their associations with teachers' ratings of SA in kindergarten. Methods Longitudinal assessment of SA trajectories and risk factors in a cohort of 1,933 families between the ages of 1.5 and 6 years. Results Analyses revealed a best-fitting, 4-trajectory solution, including a prevailing, unaffected Low-Persistent group (60.2%), and three smaller groups of distinct developmental course: a High-Increasing (6.9%), a High-Decreasing (10.8%), and a Low-Increasing group (22.1%). The High-Increasing group remained high throughout the preschool years and was the only trajectory to predict teacher-assessed SA at age 6 years. Except for the High-Increasing, all trajectories showed substantial reduction in symptoms by age 6 years. The High-Increasing and High-Decreasing groups shared several early risk factors, but the former was uniquely associated with higher maternal depression, maternal smoking during pregnancy, and parental unemployment. Conclusions Most children with high SA profile at age 1.5 years are expected to progressively recover by age 4-5. High SA at age 1.5 that persists over time deserves special attention, and may predict separation anxiety disorder. A host of child perinatal, parental and family-contextual risk factors were associated with the onset and developmental course of SA across the preschool years. © 2015 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

De novo mutations (DNM) are an important source of rare variants and are increasingly being linked to the development of many diseases. Recently, the paternal age effect has been the focus of a number of studies that attempt to explain the observation that increasing paternal age increases the risk for a number of diseases. Using disease-free familial quartets we show that there is a strong positive correlation between paternal age and germline DNM in healthy subjects. We also observed that germline CNVs do not follow the same trend, suggesting a different mechanism. Finally, we observed that DNM were not evenly distributed across the genome, which adds support to the existence of DNM hotspots.

Background: Research is needed to identify early life risk factors associated with different developmental paths leading to overweight by adolescence. Objectives: To model heterogeneity in overweight development during middle childhood and identify factors associated with differing overweight trajectories. Methods: Data was drawn from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development (QLSCD; 1998-2010). Trained research assistants measured height and weight according to a standardized protocol and conducted yearly home interviews with the child's caregiver (mother in 98% of cases). Information on several putative early life risk factors for the development of overweight were obtained, including factors related to the child's perinatal, early behavioral family and social environment. Group-based trajectories of the probability of overweight (6-12 years) were identified with a semiparametric method (n=1678). Logistic regression analyses were used to identify early risk factors (5 months- 5 years) associated with each trajectory. Results: Three trajectories of overweight were identified: "early-onset overweight" (11.0%), "lateonset overweight" (16.6%) and "never overweight" (72.5%). Multinomial analyses indicated that children in the early and late-onset group, compared to the never overweight group, had 3 common types of risk factors: parental overweight, preschool overweight history, and large size for gestational age. Maternal overprotection (OR= 1.12, CI: 1.01-1.25), short nighttime sleep duration (OR=1.66, CI: 1.07-2.57), and immigrant status (OR=2.01, CI: 1.05-3.84) were factors specific to the early-onset group. Finally, family food insufficiency (OR=1.81, CI: 1.00-3.28) was weakly associated with membership in the late-onset trajectory group. Conclusions: The development of overweight in childhood follows two different trajectories, which have common and distinct risk factors that could be the target of early preventive interventions. © 2015 Pryor et al. This

Les cours d’eau traversant des bassins versants agricoles sont les plus pollués du Québec, notamment à cause d’un surplus de phosphore, de nitrates et de pesticides. Le gouvernement du Québec a choisi de légiférer pour limiter l’ajout de matières fertilisantes à la source avec l’obligation pour les agriculteurs de respecter les plans agroenvironnementaux de fertilisation. Le choix d’implanter un marais filtrant dans les cours d’eau traversant les terres agricoles est donc une mesure complémentaire peu connue des agriculteurs. L’objectif de ce présent essai est de proposer des recommandations permettant de favoriser l'implantation de marais filtrants en zone agricole et d’améliorer leur efficacité de filtration. Pour ce faire, une revue de la littérature scientifique a permis de recenser tous les types de marais filtrants et les modes de gestion des marais qui améliorent le traitement du phosphore, de l’azote et des pesticides dans un climat nordique. Dans la littérature, on recense plusieurs types de marais filtrants qui ont tous des caractéristiques techniques et des performances de filtration différentes. Les marais les plus efficaces et les plus souvent cités sont les marais à écoulement sur la surface avec plantes, les marais à écoulement horizontal sous la surface, les marais à écoulement vertical sous la surface et les marais filtrants intégrés. Ils sont utilisés pour traiter les effluents agricoles à faible coût. Pour être plus efficaces, ils sont jumelés à d’autres ouvrages : un bassin de sédimentation, un fossé d’oxygénation et un étang de polissage. L’opinion de 12 agriculteurs a été récoltée afin de déterminer leurs préoccupations face à l’implantation de marais filtrants sur leurs terres. Les résultats démontrent que très peu d’agriculteurs ont une connaissance sur le sujet. C’est pourquoi la sensibilisation de la part des agronomes, la rédaction d’articles dans des revues spécialisées et des bulletins d’information ont été recommandés dans un premier te