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Abstract By the end of primary school, children are expected to acquire a range of mathematical skills that progressively develop. This study aimed to gain insight into how a large number of numerical and geometrical measures are grouped and whether the structures shift or remain invariant along child’s development based on the data obtained from a sample of 1346 s to sixth grade children. On the basis of correlation analyses and exploratory factor analyses, we came up with an invariant four-factor structure for each grade. The four factors obtained were the following: (a) early and retrieval skills (subitizing, enumeration, number facts) (b) transcoding and ordinality skills, (c) numerical advanced skills and (d) visual-spatial advanced skills. Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the four-factor model fits well to the data (RMSEA 0.95, GFI > 0.93, SRMR

Abstract Background Sharing and fairness are important prosocial behaviors that help us navigate the social world. However, little is known about how and whether individuals with Williams Syndrome (WS) engage in these behaviors. The unique phenotype of individuals with WS, consisting of high social motivation and limited social cognition, can also offer insight into the role of social motivation in sharing and fairness when compared to typically developing (TD) individuals. The current study used established experimental paradigms to examine sharing and fairness in individuals with WS and TD individuals. Methods We compared a sample of patients with WS to TD children (6-year-olds) matched by mental age (MA) on two experimental tasks: the Dictator Game (DG, Experiment 1, N = 17 WS, 20 TD) with adults modeling giving behaviors used to test sharing and the Inequity Game (IG, Experiment 2, N = 14 WS, 17 TD) used to test fairness. Results Results showed that the WS group behaved similarly to the TD group for baseline giving in the DG and in the IG, rejecting disadvantageous offers but accepting advantageous ones. However, after viewing an adult model giving behavior, the WS group gave more than their baseline, with many individuals giving more than half, while the TD group gave less. Combined these results suggest that social motivation is sufficient for sharing and, in particular, generous sharing, as well as the self-focused form of fairness. Further, individuals with WS appear capable of both learning to be more generous and preventing disadvantageous outcomes, a more complex profile than previously known. Conclusions In conclusion, the present study provides a snapshot into sharing and fairness-related behaviors in WS, contributing to our understanding of the intriguing social-behavioral phenotype associated with this developmental disorder.

Abstract Vitamin D deficiency is a common deficiency worldwide, particularly among women of reproductive age. During pregnancy, it increases the risk of immune-related diseases in offspring later in life. However, how the body remembers exposure to an adverse environment during development is poorly understood. Herein, we explore the effects of prenatal vitamin D deficiency on immune cell proportions in offspring using vitamin D deficient mice established by dietary manipulation. We found that prenatal vitamin D deficiency alters immune cell proportions in offspring by changing the transcriptional properties of genes downstream of vitamin D receptor signaling in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells of both the fetus and adults. Moreover, further investigations of the associations between maternal vitamin D levels and cord blood immune cell profiles from 75 healthy pregnant women and their term offspring also confirm that maternal vitamin D levels in the second trimester significantly affect immune cell proportions in the offspring. These findings imply that the differentiation properties of hematopoiesis act as long-term memories of prenatal vitamin D deficiency exposure in later life.

High electrical conductivity, along with high piezoresistive sensitivity and stretchability, are crucial for designing and developing nanocomposite strain sensors for damage sensing and on-line structural health monitoring of smart carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. In this study, the influence of the geometric features and loadings of carbon-based nanomaterials, including reduced graphene oxide (rGO) or carbon nanofibers (CNFs), on the tunable strain-sensing capabilities of epoxy-based nanocomposites was investigated. This work revealed distinct strain-sensing behavior and sensitivities (gauge factor, GF) depending on both factors. The highest GF values were attained with 0.13 wt.% of rGO at various strains. The stability and reproducibility of the most promising self-sensing nanocomposites were also evaluated through ten stretching/relaxing cycles, and a distinct behavior was observed. While the deformation of the conductive network formed by rGO proved to be predominantly elastic and reversible, nanocomposite sensors containing 0.714 wt.% of CNFs showed that new conductive pathways were established between neighboring CNFs. Based on the best results, formulations were selected for the manufacturing of pre-impregnated materials and related smart CFRP composites. Digital image correlation was synchronized with electrical resistance variation to study the strain-sensing capabilities of modified CFRP composites (at 90° orientation). Promising results were achieved through the incorporation of CNFs since they are able to form new conductive pathways and penetrate between micrometer-sized fibers.

Developmental dyscalculia (DD) has long been thought to be determined by multiple components. Dyscalculia has high comorbidity with other learning and developmental disabilities, including reading and writing disorders, attention deficits, and problems in visual/spatial skills, short memory, and working memory. This study aims to assess prevalence rates for isolated as well as comorbid DD in a sample of Italian-speaking children. In addition, we studied the neuropsychological profile of children with isolated or combined dyscalculia. We tested 380 children (176 males and 204 females) between the ages of 8.17 and 9.33 years using an extensive battery to determine the neuropsychological profile. The assessment included an arithmetic battery and nonverbal intelligence, short-term memory, reading, and writing tests. The results indicated that children with DD more frequently have a reading disorder and writing disorder. They also have a lower nonverbal intelligence quotient (IQ) and obtain significantly lower scores in short-term memory tests and on a visuospatial skills questionnaire. They also had significantly higher scores (indicative of greater attentional difficulties) on the Conners subscale for attentional problems. Children with DD present different cognitive and neuropsychological profiles.

This review article gathers the most recent recycling technologies for thermoset and thermoplastic polymers. Results about existing experimental procedures and their effectiveness are presented. For thermoset polymers, the review focuses mainly on fibre-reinforced polymer composites, with an emphasis on epoxy-based systems and carbon/glass fibres as reinforcement, due to the environmental concerns of their end-of-life management. Thermal processes (fluidised bed, pyrolysis) and chemical processes (different types of solvolysis) are discussed. The most recent combined processes (microwave, steam, and ultrasonic assisted techniques) and extraordinary recycling attempts (electrochemical, biological, and with ionic liquids) are analysed. Mechanical recycling that leads to the downgrading of materials is excluded. Insights are also given for the upcycling methodologies that have been implemented until now for the reuse of fibres. As for thermoplastic polymers, the most state-of-the-art recycling approach for the most common polymer matrices is presented, together with the appropriate additivation for matrix upcycling. Mechanical, chemical, and enzymatic recycling processes are described, among others. The use of fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites is quite new, and thus, the most recent achievements are presented. With all of the above information, this extensive review can serve as a guide for educational purposes, targeting students and technicians in polymers recycling.

We conducted a cross-sectional study to compare the impact of social distancing and lifestyle changes that occurred during Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) lockdown on children and adolescents with and without Neurodevelopmental Disorders (NDDs). An online questionnaire was administered in order to investigate the effects of NDD condition, socio-demographic status, familiar/home environment and COVID-19 exposure on their lives during a two months period of social isolation. We used logistic regression, focusing on five endpoints (remote learning, lifestyle, stress/anxiety, sociality, scolding) to define the extent of these effects. Most questions were paired up to parents and children, to verify the occurrence of agreement. 8305 questionnaires were analyzed, 1362 of which completed by NDDs and 6943 by controls. Results showed that the presence of a NDD, compared to controls, had a significant impact on: Remote Learning (i.e. subjects with NDDs experienced more difficulties in attending online classes and studying), Sociality (i.e. subjects with NDDs missed their schoolmates less), Scolding (i.e. subjects with NDDs were scolded more often) and Anxiety (i.e. subjects with NDDs were perceived by their parents as more anxious). Substantial agreement between parents and children arose from questions concerning Remote learning, Lifestyle and Scolding. The current study actually points out that having a NDD gives account for a stronger influence on school performance and on behavioral and psychological aspects, during a two months lockdown. Such results may provide useful information to governments and school authorities on how carrying through supportive strategies for youth affected by NDDs., Author(s): Cristiano Termine [sup.1] [sup.2] , Linda Greta Dui [sup.3] , Laura Borzaga [sup.1] , Vera Galli [sup.4] , Rossella Lipari [sup.1] , Marta Vergani [sup.5] , Valentina Berlusconi [sup.1] [...]

Background: Dupilumab has been shown to be a safe and effective drug for the treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) in children from 6 months to 11 years in randomized clinical trials. Aim: The aim of this real-life study was to determine the effectiveness in disease control and safety of dupilumab at W52 in moderate-to-severe AD children aged 6-11 years. Methods: All data were collected from 36 Italian dermatological or paediatric referral centres. Dupilumab was administered at label dosage with an induction dose of 300 mg on day 1 (D1), followed by 300 mg on D15 and 300 mg every 4 weeks (Q4W). Treatment effect was determined as overall disease severity, using EASI, P-NRS, S-NRS and c-DLQI at baseline, W16, W24, and W52. Ninety-six AD children diagnosed with moderate-to-severe AD and treated with dupilumab were enrolled. Results: Ninety-one (94.8%) patients completed the 52-week treatment period and were included in the study. A significant improvement in EASI score, P-NRS, S-NRS and c-DLQI was observed from baseline to weeks 16, 24 and 52. Conclusions: Our real-life data seem to confirm dupilumab effectiveness and safety in paediatric patients. Moreover, our experience highlighted that patients achieving clinical improvement at W16 preserved this condition over time.

We studied the quantitative composition, spatial distribution, and temporal dynamics of the zooplankton community of the alpine Lake Sevan, Armenia, the largest surface water in the Caucasus region. This article is providing a long-term information and fills the research gap of multiyear data on zooplankton, as the previous research on zooplankton provided only snapshots of the community, and a consistent assessment over multiple years was missing. However, an initial mini-review of historical studies indicated that zooplankton biomass and fish abundance were undergoing large fluctuations, indicating the importance of top-down control. We analysed 239 samples from the period 2016-2019 from 32 sampling sites in Lake Sevan and recorded 37 species of meso- and macrozooplankton (Rotifers, Copepods, Cladocera). Biomass fluctuations were high with peaking biomasses in 2016 and lowest biomasses in 2018, yearly averaged biomass varied about one order of magnitude. Variability over time was hence much higher than spatial variability. The pelagic habitat at the deepest part of the lake showed the highest diversity and biomasses but contrasts between sampling sites remained smaller than changes from year to year or seasonally. Many samples were dominated by a single species, and these key species explain observed biomass dynamics to a wide extent. We applied hierarchical clustering in order to identify phenological groups that appear to show similar patterns of occurrence. This clustering resulted in 6 groups where of 5 groups just consisting of one single species and these 5 key species were the Cladocerans Daphnia magna, Daphnia hyalina, Diaphanosoma sp. as well as the calanoids Arctodiaptomus bacillifer and Acanthodiaptomus denticornis. The most important species in Lake Sevan’s zooplankton during the observation period was D. magna, which reached high biomasses in 2016 and 2017 but then suddenly almost disappeared in 2018 and 2019. When there were more D. magna present, the water became clearer, which was measured using Secchi depth. This shows that these large water fleas effectively controlled the amount of phytoplankton in the water. Daphnia magna, in turn, managed to dominate zooplankton community only during times of extremely low fish biomass indicating strong top-down control of this large Cladoceran by fish. Both observations together imply a strong trophic linkage between fish, zooplankton, and phytoplankton and provide evidence for trophic cascades in Lake Sevan. Besides the novel insights into zooplankton community dynamics of this unique lake of high socio-economical, cultural, and ecological importance, our study also points to potential management opportunities for eutrophication control by biomanipulation, as well as our investigation allows us to conclude that probably biotic factors were more important than abiotic factors in explaining the observed changes and dynamics within the plankton community.

Summary: Fear-related disorders arise from inefficient fear extinction and have immeasurable social and economic costs. Here, we characterize mouse phenotypes that spontaneously show fear-independent behavioral traits predicting adaptive or maladaptive fear extinction. We find that, already before fear conditioning, specific morphological, electrophysiological, and transcriptomic patterns of cortical and amygdala pyramidal neurons predispose to fear-related disorders. Finally, by using an optogenetic approach, we show the possibility to rescue inefficient fear extinction by activating infralimbic pyramidal neurons and to impair fear extinction by activating prelimbic pyramidal neurons.

Abstract Handwriting learning delays should be addressed early to prevent their exacerbation and long-lasting consequences on whole children’s lives. Ideally, proper training should start even before learning how to write. This work presents a novel method to disclose potential handwriting problems, from a pre-literacy stage, based on drawings instead of words production analysis. Two hundred forty-one kindergartners drew on a tablet, and we computed features known to be distinctive of poor handwriting from symbols drawings. We verified that abnormal features patterns reflected abnormal drawings, and found correspondence in experts’ evaluation of the potential risk of developing a learning delay in the graphical sphere. A machine learning model was able to discriminate with 0.75 sensitivity and 0.76 specificity children at risk. Finally, we explained why children were considered at risk by the algorithms to inform teachers on the specific weaknesses that need training. Thanks to this system, early intervention to train specific learning delays will be finally possible.

Abstract Although developmental reading disorders (developmental dyslexia) have been mainly associated with auditory-phonological deficits, recent longitudinal and training studies have shown a possible causal role of visuo-attentional skills in reading acquisition. Indeed, visuo-attentional mechanisms could be involved in the orthographic processing of the letter string and the graphemic parsing that precede the grapheme-to-phoneme mapping. Here, we used a simple paper-and-pencil task composed of three labyrinths to measure visuo-spatial attention in a large sample of primary school children (n = 398). In comparison to visual search tasks requiring visual working memory, our labyrinth task mainly measures distributed and focused visuo-spatial attention, also controlling for sensorimotor learning. Compared to typical readers (n = 340), children with reading difficulties (n = 58) showed clear visuo-spatial attention impairments that appear not linked to motor coordination and procedural learning skills implicated in this paper and pencil task. Since visual attention is dysfunctional in about 40% of the children with reading difficulties, an efficient reading remediation program should integrate both auditory-phonological and visuo-attentional interventions.

ObjectivesWe validated a screening protocol in which thoracic ultrasound (TUS) acts as a first-line complementary imaging technique in selecting patients which may deserve a second-line low-dose high resolution computed tomography (HRCT) scan among a population of asymptomatic high-risk subjects for interstitial lung abnormalities (ILA) and lung cancer. Due to heavy environmental pollution burden, the district Tamburi of Taranto has been chosen as “case study” for this purpose.MethodsFrom July 2018 to October 2020, 677 patients aged between 45 and 65 year and who had been living in the Tamburi district of Taranto for at least 10 years were included in the study. After demographic, clinical and risk factor exposition data were collected, each participant underwent a complete TUS examination. These subjects were then asked to know if they agreed to perform a second-level examination by low-dose HRCT scan.ResultsOn a total of 167 subjects (24.7%) who agreed to undergo a second-level HRCT, 85 patients (50.9%) actually showed pleuro-pulmonary abnormalities. Interstitial abnormalities were detected in a total of 36 patients on HRCT scan. In particular, 34 participants presented subpleural ILAs, that were classified in the fibrotic subtype in 7 cases. The remaining 2 patients showed non-subpleural interstitial abnormalities. Subpleural nodules were observed in 46 patients. TUS showed an overall diagnostic accuracy of 88.6% in detecting pleuro-pulmonary abnormalities in comparison with HRCT scan, with a sensitivity of 95.3%, a specificity of 81.7%, a positive predictive value of 84.4% and a negative predictive value of 94.4%. The matched evaluation of specific pulmonary abnormalities on HRTC scan (i.e., interstitial abnormalities or pulmonary nodules) with determinate sonographic findings revealed a reduction in both TUS sensibility and specificity. Focusing TUS evaluation on the assessment of interstitial abnormalities, a thickened pleural line showed a sensitivity of 63.9% and a specificity of 69.5%, hypoechoic striae showed a sensitivity of 38.9% and a specificity of 90.1% and subpleural nodules showed a sensitivity of 58.3% and a specificity of 77.1%. Regarding to the assessment of subpleural nodules, TUS showed a sensitivity of 60.9% and a specificity of 81.0%. However, the combined employment of TUS examination and HRCT scans allowed to identify 34 patients with early subpleural ILA and to detect three suspicious pulmonary nodules (of which two were intraparenchymal and one was a large subpleural mass), which revealed to be lung cancers on further investigations.ConclusionA first-line TUS examination might aid the identification of subjects highly exposed to environmental pollution, who could benefit of a second-line low-dose HRCT scan to find early interstitial lung diseases as well as lung cancer.Protocol registration codePLEURO-SCREENING-V1.0_15 Feb, 17.

Adults with medical multimorbidity (≥2 chronic conditions) present challenges for health care systems to provide coordinated care. Substance use can complicate the management of chronic medical conditions, but little research has focused on the intersection of medical multimorbidity and substance use. This study uses cross-sectional analysis of 115,335 adult respondents of the 2012-2014 administrations of the National Survey on Drug Use and Health to estimate the prevalence and correlates of past-year drug use among adults with multimorbidity. The prevalence of past-year drug use was compared between individuals reporting 0, 1, and ≥2 chronic medical conditions. We used multivariable logistic regression to determine correlates of past-year drug use among adults with ≥2 chronic medical conditions. 53.1% reported no chronic conditions, 29.5% reported one chronic condition, and 17.4% reported ≥2 chronic conditions. Past-year drug use was reported by 18.3% of those with no chronic conditions, 14.8% with 1 chronic condition, and 11.6% with ≥2 chronic conditions. Cannabis and opioid analgesics (nonmedical use) were the most common drugs used across all three groups. In the adjusted model, among adults with medical multimorbidity, adults with past-year drug use were more likely to be younger, male, have lower income, and report current tobacco use, alcohol dependence, past-year depression, and having received mental health treatment in the past year. In this national cohort, fewer adults with multimorbidity reported substance use compared to adults with no or one chronic condition, however, this population with high multimorbidity may be particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of drug use.

Novel optical sources require fast decay rates, making hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs) an increasingly attractive option. HMMs are well‐known for their remarkable anisotropy, and leverage hyperbolic dispersion to enhance the decay rate of a fluorophore placed on top of them. This study tackles the complex task of embedding a fluorophore into an HMM, successfully overcoming challenges related to surface roughness, thickness imperfections, and layer washing effects. Specifically, CsPbBr3 perovskite nanocrystals (NCs)‐based HMM are fabricated, by alternating silver/nanocrystals (Ag/NCs) layers. Through a systematic investigation of the photophysical response following the deposition of each bilayer, compelling evidence of the achievement of hyperbolic dispersion is provided. Specifically, the impact of "high‐k" modes is isolated, which is distinctive to the HMM architecture. Therefore, the longstanding debate regarding the number of bilayers needed to achieve hyperbolic dispersion is conclusively resolved. The research demonstrates a nearly twofold increase in the decay rate and a threefold enhancement in photoluminescence intensity. These findings are further supported by theoretical Purcell factor calculations. This study marks a pioneering advancement in the field of bulk dye‐embedded HMMs, laying the groundwork for the development of advanced optical sources such as "resonant gain HMMs". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]