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Over the past 15 years, there have been significant advances in the treatment of acute and chronic medical consequences of stroke in childhood. Given high rates of survival in pediatric stroke, practitioners are tasked with treating the ongoing motor and neuropsychological sequelae in patients over the course of their development. This article provides a review of the current literature on neuropsychological outcomes in pediatric stroke, including intelligence, academics, language, visual-spatial skills, attention, executive functions, memory, and psychosocial function. Recent developments in functional neuroimaging are discussed, with a particular focus on language outcomes. We further review the current research on cognitive and behavioral rehabilitation and introduce intervention models in pediatric stroke. In the final section, we discuss future directions for clinical practice and research in pediatric stroke.

Children with perinatal stroke are at increased risk for developmental language disorders, learning difficulties, and other mental health conditions. However to date, autism (ASD) prevalence in this group has not been reported. Given that early identification of ASD is essential to promoting optimal outcomes, our goal was to establish prevalence of ASD in children with perinatal stroke.A prospectively enrolled, single-center stroke registry maintained at our institution since 2005 was queried for all potentially eligible patients with a history of perinatal stroke. Information regarding stroke features, ASD diagnosis/concern, intellectual disability/global developmental delay, cerebral palsy/hemiparesis, epilepsy, and language disorder were collected via retrospective chart review from electronic health records.311 children were identified, of which 201 complete records were analyzed. Twenty-three cases were formally diagnosed with ASD (11.4%). First concerns were noted in toddlerhood (Mage = 2.66 years), yet the average age of diagnosis was 6.26 years. Children with ASD were more likely to have earlier diagnoses of intellectual disability/global developmental delay or a mixed receptive-expressive language disorder (Children with perinatal stroke have an increased prevalence of ASD (11.4%) than in the general population. ASD concerns arise at a similar age as the general population, yet ASD is diagnosed almost two years later than the general population and 3.60 years after first concerns present. Co-occurring neurological conditions are common. Clinicians must be aware of increased prevalence and implement screening as part of routine care for all pediatric patients with perinatal stroke.

Background Safety of HPV vaccines is still in question due to reports of autoimmune diseases (ADs) following HPV immunization. Objectives To assess the risk of ADs associated with HPV vaccination of female adolescents/young adults in France. Methods Systematic prospective case-referent study conducted to assess the risks associated with real-life use of HPV vaccines. Cases were female 11–25 years old with incident ADs [central demyelination/multiple sclerosis (CD/MS), connective tissue disease (CTD), Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), type-1 diabetes (T1D), autoimmune thyroiditis (AT), and idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)]. Cases were consecutively and prospectively identified at specialized centers across France (2008–2014) and individually matched by age and place of residence to referents recruited in general practice. Risk was computed using multivariate conditional logistic regression models adjusted for family history of ADs, living in France (north/south), co-medications and co-vaccinations. Results With a total of 478 definite cases matched to 1869 referents, all ADs combined were negatively associated to HPV vaccination with an adjusted odds ratio of 0.58 (95% confidence interval: 0.41–0.83). Similar results were obtained for CD/MS, AT, CT, and T1D, the last two not reaching statistical significance. No association was found for ITP and GBS. Sensitivity analyses combining definite and possible cases with secondary time window showed similar results. Conclusion Exposure to HPV vaccines was not associated with an increased risk of ADs within the time period studied. Results were robust to case definitions and time windows of exposure. Continued active surveillance is needed to confirm this finding for individual ADs.

The singular value decomposition (SVD) and proper orthogonal decomposition are widely used to decompose velocity field data into spatiotemporal modes. For noisy experimental data, the lower SVD modes remain relatively clean, which suggests the possibility for data filtering by retaining only the lower modes. Herein, we provide a method to (1) estimate the noise level in a given noisy dataset, (2) estimate the root mean square error (rmse) of the SVD modes, and (3) filter the noise using only the SVD modes that have low enough rmse. We show through both analytic and PIV examples that this method yields nearly the most accurate possible SVD-based reconstruction of the clean data. Moreover, we provide an analytic estimate of the accuracy of this reconstruction.

Although the singular value decomposition (SVD) and proper orthogonal decomposition have been widely used in fluid mechanics, Venturi (J Fluid Mech 559:215–254, 2006) and Epps and Techet (Exp Fluids 48:355–367, 2010) were among the first to consider how noise in the data affects the results of these decompositions. Herein, we extend those studies using perturbation theory to derive formulae for the 95% confidence intervals of the singular values and vectors, as well as formulae for the root mean square error (rmse) of each noisy SVD mode. Moreover, we show that the rmse is well approximated by $$\epsilon /\tilde{s}_k$$ (where $$\epsilon$$ is the rms noise and $$\tilde{s}_k$$ is the singular value), which provides a useful estimate of the overall uncertainty in each mode.

Children with perinatal arterial ischemic stroke (PAIS) have increased rates of attention and executive functioning (EF) weaknesses. Research in other pediatric disorders has documented poor consistency between parent report of these skills and performance-based measures. We compared these data sources in children with PAIS. Forty full-term (≥37 weeks) children ages 3-16 (median = 7.2 years; 58% male) with PAIS completed neuropsychological testing and composite scores were created for seven attention and EF domains (Processing Speed; Attention; Working Memory; Verbal Retrieval; Inhibitory Control; Flexibility/Shifting; Planning). Parents completed "real-world" functioning questionnaires (ADHD Rating Scale-IV, BRIEF). Correlational analysis were used to compare parent and performance measures. Correlations between ADHD Rating Scale-IV scores and the performance-based Attention and Inhibition composite scores were nonsignificant. Significant negative correlations were found between the BRIEF GEC and performance-based Verbal Retrieval and Processing Speed composites, but remaining GEC/composite comparisons were nonsignificant. Analyses between parent report BRIEF index scores and the corresponding performance-based domain identified one significant negative correlation between the BRIEF Working Memory Index and the Working Memory composite score. While children with PAIS demonstrate difficulties in attention and EF on both parent report and performance measures, little significance was found in comparisons of these two types of measures. There may be several explanations for this dissociation: measures assessing different aspects of the same underlying construct; performance-based measures lacking ecological validity; and parents underestimating/underreporting their child's deficits. Thus, multiple sources of informant and performance data are necessary to make more accurate conclusions about functioning in these domains.

Perinatal arterial ischemic stroke (PAIS) is a form of childhood stroke; the majority of those affected experience neurologic sequelae, including motor, language and neurocognitive impairments. This study examines the attention and executive functioning (EF) profiles of children following PAIS, as well as the impact of age and sex. In this single-center cross-sectional study, 40 children aged 3 to 16 years (median age 7.2 years; 58% male) who have suffered a PAIS underwent a comprehensive neuropsychological battery to assess attention and EF. Parents completed behavioral questionnaires regarding real-world functioning. Composite scores were calculated for seven attention and EF domains (Attention, Working Memory, Verbal Retrieval, Inhibitory Control, Flexibility/Shifting, Planning/Organization, and Processing Speed). The results for all measured domains of attention and EF are significantly lower in the participants compared to the normative samples (p

Peripartum cardiomyopathy also known as cardiomyopathy associated with pregnancy, is rarely a cause of heart failure, it affects pregnant or puerperal women in the first 5 months. Although the first case reported was in 1849, it was recognized until 1930. In 2010 the European Society of Cardiology Working Group on peripartum cardiomyopathy, defined this pathology as an idiopathic cardiomyopathy that affects pregnant women between the third trimester and five months after delivery. Characterized by a left ventricular failure with an ejection fraction of ≤45% and an end-diastolic dimension ≥2.7 cm/m2 , in absence of an identifiable cause of heart failure.We report a case of a 39-year-old patient, diagnosed with a peripartum cardiomyopathy in the early puerperium, characterized by hypertension, tachycardia, dyspnea and oxygen desaturation. The transesophageal echocardiogram reported heart failure, a hypokinetic left ventricle and a ventricular failure with an ejection fraction40%. We could not identify an other cause to justify heart failure. Multidisciplinary management was administered successfully.The importance of this article relies in the fact that eripartum cardiomyopathy has a high morbidity and mortality. The impact of this pathology is unknow in our country. Here we establish and discuss the multidisciplinary management held in our hospital with this specific patient in order to improve the prognosis on future occasions.

The objective of the study was to compare executive functioning (EF) profiles across several pediatric medical conditions and explore the influence of age of diagnosis and evaluation. A retrospective, cross-sectional study of 734 children aged 5 to 18 years was conducted across five medical groups (brain tumor, leukemia [ALL], epilepsy [EPI], neurofibromatosis type 1 [NF1], and ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency [OTC-D]), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) controls, and matched healthy controls. We compared groups across the scales of a parent-completed Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF) using a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Separate ANOVAs were conducted to look at age factors. The results showed that the ADHD group differed from all other groups and had the highest level of reported EF problems. The NF1 and OTC-D groups differed significantly from the healthy comparison group for overall EF problems, while the EPI and cancer groups did not. Working memory was the most elevated scale across medical groups, followed by plan/organize. Children with medical disorders were two to four times more likely than healthy controls to have clinically significant problems in several EF domains. There was a main effect for age at diagnosis and age at evaluation. A subset of children with medical disorders were found to have parent-reported EF difficulties, with particular vulnerability noted in working memory and organizational/planning skills. This has relevance for the development of interventions that may be helpful across disorders. Children with particular diagnoses and earlier age of diagnosis and evaluation had greater reported EF problems.

Turbocharger compressor performance plays a critical role in the ability of advanced Internal Combustion Engines (ICE) to meet the required fuel economy and drivability targets. Increased use of exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) combined with engine downsizing has pushed compressor operation towards — and often beyond — the stability boundary. However, certain applications and market trends require that no compromise be made to the rated power conditions. This has led to a highly disparate set of requirements for a single turbocharger system resulting in much of the compressor map, including the highest-efficiency area, unused or underutilized. A large percentage of the drive cycle is spent operating the compressor at low flow rates and low pressure ratios, near the compressor surge line, in an area of low efficiency. Compromises in efficiency in critical regions of engine operation result from balancing the disparate requirements. A current approach to meeting these disparate flow targets is the use of two turbochargers in series that are sized such that the operating compressor efficiency is markedly improved. This paper introduces a novel, hybrid single-stage compressor architecture which aerodynamically matches the functions of a series sequential dual turbocharger compression system. The use of a variable flow rate inducer bypass can provide a throttleable work-adding alternate flowpath for high-flow conditions, essentially emulating an efficient large compressor when the bypass is open and a small compressor when the bypass is closed. Using the variable bypass, the low-flow performance improves through an aerodynamically regulated inducer that is tailored to this flow regime. An engineering feasibility assessment supported by CFD, vector diagram analysis, and structural FEA suggest a substantial potential for improved performance across a wide flow range with this novel architecture.

Cobalamin C (CblC) disease is the most common inborn error of cobalamin metabolism and recent data has indicated a higher prevalence among children of Hispanic heritage in particular. The purpose of this study was to (a) describe the neuropsychological characteristics of a pilot sample of Hispanic children with CblC disease and (b) explore potential differences in outcome based on underlying genetic mutation(s) and biochemical levels. Six Hispanic children (ages 2-10) diagnosed with CblC disease through newborn screening (NBS) underwent neuropsychological evaluation with a bilingual examiner. Biochemical levels and underlying mutation(s) were obtained through medical records. The overall sample performed below normative expectations across neuropsychological domains, including general cognition, adaptive functioning, language ability, and visual-motor integration. Underlying mutations and associative clinical phenotypes were found to significantly predict general cognitive abilities, while plasma methionine and Hcy at the time of diagnosis were significantly correlated with language outcomes. Despite limited sample size, results indicate that Hispanic children with CblC disease detected through NBS and treated early experience neuropsychological deficits even when treated with current standard treatments. However, consistent with prior research in non-Hispanic children with CblC disease, underlying mutations and early biochemical levels may predict better outcomes in this population as well.

For both diesel and gasoline internal-combustion engines, stringent emissions regulations and fuel economy requirements have significantly intensified the demand on the turbocharger compressor operating flow range with high efficiency levels. To address these needs, the ongoing research and development effort has been focused on advanced turbocharger technologies for a high efficiency and a wide operating range. In this paper, a research effort is reported to enhance further the classic ported shroud or recirculating casing treatment with the addition of two switchable ports along the impeller shroud, which allows an augmented high-speed choke flow range without sacrificing the surge margin and efficiency. Impeller aerodynamic blade design considerations for exploiting this new dual-port casing treatment concept are discussed. Flow bench test results demonstrate that the underlying concepts of the new dual-port casing treatment implemented with a recently developed advanced centrifugal compressor impeller lead to 12% extra flow capacity at the rated speed over the same compressor with a conventional single-port recirculating casing treatment.