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When addressing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), professional guidelines tend to refer to stimulant medications (such as methylphenidates and amphetamines) as the main form of treatment. Yet the public's perceptions of pharmacological treatment for ADHD are controversial, with negative attitudes having an impact on adherence to treatment in children and adolescents. Teachers, who play a key role in the diagnosis, referral, and treatment of children with ADHD, are highly influential in children's adherence to their prescribed medication. Physical education student teachers (PEST) are trained to serve as role models regarding healthy behaviors and are expected to lead healthy lifestyles themselves. It is therefore important to examine the lifestyles and attitudes of this population regarding the use of harmful substances, the use of prescribed and nonprescribed stimulant ADHD medications, while comparing them to those of general education student teachers (GEST), who are not necessarily trained to actively promote healthy lifestyle behaviors. The aim of this study, therefore, was to compare between health behaviors and attitudes of PEST and GEST participants. Quantitative questionnaires were completed by 652 pre-service teachers (438 PEST and 214 GEST). Our findings indicate that less PEST participants reported smoking tobacco compared to GEST ones (5.4% vs 9.1%), while more PEST participants reported using marijuana or alcohol than GEST ones (6.1% vs 3.3% and 7.6% vs 4.8%, respectively). No differences were seen in the use of prescribed stimulant medication for ADHD. However, more PEST reported using non-prescribed stimulant medication for treating ADHD (14.7% vs 2.7%), or not taking their prescribed medication (94.1% vs 78.4%). Furthermore, PEST participants were less inclined to encourage their future students with ADHD to comply with stimulant treatment. These results raise concerns regarding the health behaviors and attitudes of future physical education teachers, and the implications on their students who are diagnosed with ADHD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The GeneChip human mapping 250K Nsp array of affymetrix in the samples of three patients are used to perform homozygosity mapping in order to localize the missense mutated gene, MED17, segregated with disease associated with mental retardation, seizures and spasticity. The findings indicated that the p.1.371P mutation in MED17 is a founder mutation in the Caucasus Jewish community and the homozygosity in these gene mutations are associated with infantile cerebral and cerebellar atrophy with poor myelination.

Naming is a complex, multi-level process. It is composed of distinct semantic and phonological levels. Children with naming deficits produce different error types when failing to retrieve the target word. This study explored the error characteristics of children with language impairment compared to those with typical language development. 46 preschool children were tested on a naming test: 16 with language impairment and a naming deficit and 30 with typical language development. The analysis compared types of error in both groups. In a group level, children with language impairment produced different error patterns compared to the control group. Based on naming error analysis and performance on other language tests, two case studies of contrasting profiles suggest different sources for lexical retrieval difficulties in children. The findings reveal differences between the two groups in naming scores and naming errors, and support a qualitative impairment in early development of children with naming deficits. The differing profiles of naming deficits emphasise the importance of including error analysis in the diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Biological and environmental factors have been related to the persistence of psychopathology in preschool children. The objective of the study was to identify the factors predicting the clinical outcome in preschool inpatients with emotional and behavioral disorders., Method: Twenty-eight children aged 3 to 6.5 years attending a therapeutic nursery were evaluated. Clinical data were collected from the children's charts, including: biological parameters, developmental milestones, intelligence level, socioeconomic status, and stressful life events. Severity of symptoms at follow-up was assessed using the Clinical Global Impression Scale., Results: Low socioeconomic status, excess stressful life events, and female gender were associated with poor clinical outcome. Biological factors such as pregnancy and birth complications and genetic factors were not significant predictors., Limitations: The study was limited by its retrospective design and small sample size., Conclusions: More effort in social interventions and supportive family therapy may improve the outcome of young children with emotional and behavioral problems.