Search

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea complicates 10% to 32% or greater of pregnancies, however, reports on long-term effects on the children of pregnancies affected by obstructive sleep apnea are limited., Objective: We sought to test the hypothesis that the children of pregnant people with symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea during pregnancy have an increased incidence of autism spectrum disorder., Methods: This was a case-control study comparing the pregnancies of people whose children were later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder without a known associated genetic condition to those whose children were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder with a known associated genetic condition., Results: Of the 51 total parents who were eligible and consented to participate, 4 had a child with autism associated with a known genetic condition, and 47 had a child with autism with no known genetic condition. The prevalence of any snoring (50.0% and 36.2%, respectively) and daytime tiredness (75.0% and 89.4%, respectively) were similar between both groups., Conclusions: In this study, the prevalence of any snoring and falling asleep while driving during pregnancy was higher in the sampled population than typically reported in pregnant people. While the sample size for this study was small, our preliminary results suggest that parents of children with autism have a high prevalence of sleep-related concerns during their pregnancies, which indicates the need for further investigation - especially for obstructive sleep apnea. Future studies exploring the neurodevelopmental outcomes of children of a cohort of pregnant people with known presence or absence of obstructive sleep apnea during pregnancy is warranted., (Copyright© Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System and The Medical College of Wisconsin, Inc.)

Ketogenic therapy is now an accepted treatment for pediatric and adult patients with medically refractory epilepsy. 1-3 However, young adults treated with a ketogenic diet face unique challenges when transitioning to adult neurology providers. 4 The variable acceptance of dietary therapy, paucity of nutritionists and adult neurology providers educated in dietary therapy, and lack of insurance coverage for dietary education may interfere with transition to adult care. In addition, patients in this life stage may just begin to independently seek medical care, cook meals, and manage medications, making strict dietary limitations difficult. 4 In this worldwide study, we surveyed 191 pediatric and adult neurology providers who prescribe ketogenic dietary therapy for epilepsy. Our response rate was 39% with a total of 74 valid surveys received. Our goal was to identify perceived barriers that inhibit effective transition and successful continuation of dietary therapy during transition to adult care. We found that dietary therapy is a more accepted treatment of intractable epilepsy in children (84%) than adults (17%) in all geographic areas. Although half of pediatric neurology providers (50%) transition their young adult patients on dietary therapy to adult providers, only 23% have a documented transition plan or a formal transition protocol. Most (87%) pediatric providers who prescribe the ketogenic diet feel the lack of sufficient adult providers who prescribe dietary therapy as a barrier to transitioning adolescent and young adult patients.

Using combined experimental and computational approaches, we show that at 43 GPa and 1300 K gallium phosphide adopts the super- Cmcm structure, here indicated with its Pearson notation oS24. First-principles enthalpy calculations demonstrate that this structure is more thermodynamically stable above ∼20 GPa than previously proposed polymorphs. In contrast to other polymorphs, the oS24 phase shows a strong bonding differentiation and distorted fivefold coordination geometries of both P atoms. The shortest bond of the phase is a single covalent P-P bond measuring 2.171(11) Å at synthesis pressure. Phosphorus dimerization in GaP sheds light on the nature of the super- Cmcm phase and provides critical new insights into the high-pressure polymorphism of octet semiconductors. Bond directionality and anisotropy explain the relatively low symmetry of this high-pressure phase.

Diaphanospondylodysostosis (DSD) and ischiospinal dysostosis (ISD) are both rare skeletal dysplasias consisting of abnormal axial skeletal development but normal appendicular skeletal development. Both disorders recently have been found to result from mutations in the BMPER gene. We report a patient with one deletion and one mutation of the BMPER gene who has features most consistent with DSD but who has survived to age 9 years. Survival suggests that DSD and ISD reflect a spectrum of severity of one disease process., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)