MATERNAL CARE AND DEVELOPMENTAL PLASTICITY
2007-10-06 - English

After viewing this presentation, the participant will be able to discuss:

- Epigenetic modifications
- Gene expression and DNA methylation
- Maternal care and stress reactivity
- Transgenerational transmission

THE ROLE OF EPIGENETIC MODIFICATIONS OF CHROMATIN STRUCTURE ON LUNG BIOLOGY IN HEALTH AND DISEASE
2007-10-06 - English

After viewing this presentation, the participant will be able to:

✔ Learn the impact of ventilation strategy on alveolar formation in the context of preterm birth, as an abrupt change in environment
✔ Learn the definition of epigenetics and its impact on...(more)

HOX AND SHOX GENES IN LIMB DEVELOPMENT
2007-10-06 - English

Background and aims: The development of our limbs is critically dependent upon a set of homeobox containing genes; the Hox genes. These genes encode transcription factors involved in progressively organizing and growing the various limb skeletal elements. For the past 15...(more)

THE FOETAL ANDROGEN THEORY OF NEURAL SEX DIFFERENCES AND AUTISM
2007-10-06 - English

Background and aims: Autism (a condition leading to social and communication difficulties) affects males much more often than females. The explanation for this must either lie in diagnostic practice, hormones, or genetics, or a mix of all three. In this paper I summarize...(more)

NEUROINFORMATICS, GENETICS AND PRETERM NEURODEVELOPMENT
2007-10-06 - English

YOUNGSTERS, OLDSTERS, VISION AND THE ESPR
2007-10-07 - English

The annual presentations of good Paediatric Research in a different European city have been one of the highlights of my academic life. Maybe not quite so academically pure or cutting edge as the equivalent US meetings, but more friendly and culturally as well as...(more)

AN AUTOMATIC SEGMENTATION OF BRAIN MRIS OF 2-YEAR-OLDS INTO 83 REGIONS OF INTEREST
2007-10-07 - English

Background and aims: Three-dimensional atlases and databases of the brain at different ages facilitate the description of neuroanatomy and the monitoring of cerebral growth and development.

Methods: We have developed an algorithm for automatic segmentation of young...(more)

SECRETORY PHOSPHOLIPASE A2 AND LUNG MECHANIICS IN NEONATAL ACUTE LUNG INJURY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS
2007-10-07 - English

Background and aims: Secretory phospholipase A2 (sPHA2) has been shown to be involved in alveolar inflammation and surfactant degradation in animal models. sPHA2 plays a role in adult RDS, but it has never been studied in human neonates with RDS. Study aim was to...(more)

THE EFFECT OF INCREASING PREMATURITY ON CEREBRAL WHITE MATTER STUDIED USING TRACT-BASED SPATIAL STATISTICS
2007-10-07 - English

Background and aims: Tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) is an automated observer-independent method of aligning fractional anisotropy (FA) images from multiple subjects to allow groupwise comparisons of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging (DT-MRI) data. We aimed...(more)

BETA1ADRENORECEPTOR ACTIVATION PROTECTS NEURONS FROM INFLAMMATION AND HYPOXIA IN MURINE JUVENILE HIPPOCAMPAL SLICES
2007-10-07 - English

Background and aims: Adrenoreceptor activation has potent immuno-modulatory effects in several immune cell populations. Inflammation and ischemia have a synergistic efect on perinatal brain damage.We evaluated the effect of adreno-receptor activation on neuronal cell death...(more)

EARLY RISK FACTORS FOR OBESITY IN CHILDHOOD
2007-10-07 - English

ackground and aims: The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing. Pregnancy, adiposity rebound and puberty may be critical time periods. The aim of this paper is to summarize findings from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).

Methods: Avon...(more)

SUCCESSFUL WEIGHT MANAGEMENT IN CHILDREN: CAN IT BE ACHIEVED?
2007-10-07 - English

The high prevalence of overweight children and adolescents will not likely respond to interventions directed at a single target in a single setting. Instead, like tobacco control, comprehensive programs that employ multiple strategies in a variety of settings are more...(more)

CARDIOVASCULAR RISK FACTORS VIEWED AS ADAPTATIONS TO PREGNANCY: THE MATERNAL ORIGINS HYPOTHESIS
2007-10-07 - English

I propose that cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors are the historical residue of genetic adaptations for maternal/fetal survival of pregnancy. Four CVD risk factors - obesity, fat deposition, hyperlipemia and insulin resistance - are maternal adaptations to the fetal...(more)

DEVELOPMENTAL PHARMACOLOGY: WHAT HAS TO BE KNOWN BY THE CLINICIAN.
2007-10-08 - English

When dealing with drug use in children, almost all aspects of metabolism are immature. This includes pharmacokinetic (PK) variables. There is also a great difference in term of drug pharmacodynamics (PD) between children and adults. This immature state is not static as...(more)

PHARMACOGENETICS: CURRENT STATUS, FUTURE CHALLENGES
2007-10-08 - English

Pharmacogenetics is the study of how genetic variation determines individual drug response. The term was coined in 1957, almost 50 years ago. Despite the long history, pharmacogenetics has made little clinical impact, bar a few exceptions, for example TPMT and...(more)

THE STATISTICAL ATTRIBUTION OF CAUSATION
2007-10-08 - English

Background and Aims
When using medicines for children, we need to know about their efficacy and safety. Typically evidence on efficacy comes from randomised controlled trials, which are fairly straightforward to interpret, at least when they have been carried out in...(more)

INFANT PAIN: PROCESSING, PERCEPTION AND PREVENTION
2007-10-08 - English

Background and aims: The study of pain processing in preterm infants is both clinically important and intellectually challenging.

On a practical level, developing improved methods of infant pain measurement is essential if analgesic studies and trials on infants in...(more)

THE EMERGENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS
2007-10-08 - English

The newborn human infant is not conscious if we consider verbal reportability as a hallmark of human consciousness. Furthermore he (she) cannot retain what no longer is or anticipate what as yet is not (Bergson).

However the neonate fulfils some of the criteria being...(more)