Longitudinal Development Research Articles

AMYPAD: Correlation of Amyloid PET results with anxiety and depressive symptoms in SCD+, MCI and dementia patients

AbstractBackgroundDepression and anxiety are two frequent neuropsychiatric symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Moreover, depressive symptoms and anxiety are frequently associated with greater amyloid deposition and risk of Alzheimer’s dementia. The aim of the present study is to assess the association between anxiety and depression and amyloid burden.MethodIn the AMPYAD study, participants with subjective cognitive decline (SCD+, n = 244), mild cognitive impairment (MCI, n = 341) and dementia (n = 255) were enrolled in eight European memory clinics between 2018 and 2020. They underwent three study visits (baseline, six months, thirteen months) with collection of cognitive data and symptoms of depression and anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, HADS) as well as measures of quality of life and coping strategies. Amyloid burden was obtained as the standardized centiloid values (CL). Correlation analyses were carried out for HADS‐Scores and CL. We analyzed the progression of depressive and anxiety symptoms over time between patients with and without presence of amyloid (CL≥21) using mixed‐model‐ANOVA. All analyses were corrected for time of PET result disclosure.ResultA total of 840 patients (46.2% female; mean age of 70.9 (SD = 7.8)) were included. Among SCD+ patients, CL values were positively correlated with baseline anxiety scores (r(216) = .14, p = .038). In contrast, MCI and dementia patients showed a negative correlation between CL and depressive symptoms (r(296) = ‐.16, p = .005; r(209) = ‐.23, p<.001). In SCD+, there was no significant interaction between time and CL status for anxiety (p = .512), but a significant main effect of time (F(2,302) = 3.4, p = .036, η² = .02), indicating a decline in anxiety symptoms over time. A trend indicated higher anxiety for amyloid positive participants, but the effect missed statistical significance (p = .068). For depressive symptoms, we found no main effects and no significant interaction of time and CL status.ConclusionThe AMYPAD study contains a large amyloid‐PET data set of patients from eight European memory clinics. We observed an association of increased anxiety scores with amyloid load in SCD+, but reduced symptoms of depression with higher amyloid load in the MCI and dementia group. These findings and their longitudinal development over time will be put into a broader context of patient characteristics.

Trajectories of Peer Play Disconnection and Predictive Factors in Early Childhood

Objectives: This study examined the longitudinal development trajectories of peer play disconnection in early childhood and investigated individual and environmental influencing factors.Methods: Data from 1,018 young children of the Panel Study on Korean Children (PSKC) from the 5th to 7th waves were used. Latent Growth Curve Modeling was applied using SPSS 21.0 and AMOS 20.0 to analyze the trajectories of play disconnection and predictive factors.Results: Peer play disconnection increased linearly during early childhood, with significant individual differences in the intercept and slope. Gender, sociality, language development, teacher interaction, and institute preference were factors that reduced the initial value of play disconnection in peer play. Higher reported negative emotionality and marital conflicts were associated with higher initial values of play disconnection. The rate of change in play disconnection was influenced by negative emotionality, activity, language development, teacher interaction, institute preference, and the media use of games and smartphones.Conclusion: Play disconnection in peer play tends to increase continuously, with temperament and language development, media use, and institutional factors influencing this increase. Negative emotionality and activity are associated with a significant increase in play disconnection, while language development and institutional factors may be noted as protective factors affecting the continuous increase in play disconnection. In addition, the increase in the use of screen games and smartphones has been shown to contribute to a rapid increase in play disconnection during early childhood. A theoretical and practical discussion is provided on preventing increased play disconnection in peer play.

Motor Development in Children with Cerebral Palsy in Sweden-A Population-Based Longitudinal Register Study.

The aim was to explore longitudinal motor development in children with cerebral palsy (CP) in Sweden with respect to the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). In this national CP registry-based study, 2138 children aged 0.5-19 years participated (42% girls). The distribution with respect to GMFCS was I: 49%, II: 16%, III: 10%, IV: 14%, and V: 11%. In total, 5538 assessments (mean 2.7, min-max: 1-9) with the Gross Motor Function Measure-66 were included. Data were analysed using non-linear mixed-effects regression models, and the Stable Limit Model was selected to fit data. Five distinct curves of predicted gross motor development with respect to GMFCS levels were obtained. The achieved motor development was maintained over time. The estimated average GMFM-66 limit and the average age when 90% of the expected limits were reached were at GMFCS I: 88 at age 4.5; GMFCS II: 71 at age 4.2; GMFCS III: 54 at age 3.1; GMFCS IV: 38 at age 2.6, and at GMFCS V: 18 at age 0.9. In conclusion, this is the first national population-based study following motor development in CP. Five distinct curves reported in previous controlled research studies were confirmed. Our study adds knowledge about motor development captured in children's everyday context.

Increased Bone Turnover and Decreased BCMA Levels in Patients with Response to Anti-BCMA CAR T Cell Therapy in Relapsed/Refractory Multiple Myeloma

Introduction For most patients (pts), multiple myeloma (MM) remains an incurable disease. Osteolytic lesions (OL) are present in 80% of pts at diagnosis and skeletal-related events are the most common cause for symptomatic relapse. Hence, myeloma bone disease (MBD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality especially among pts with relapsed/refractory MM (RRMM). B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) targeted chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells have revolutionized treatment of patients with RRMM. While remission rates are high and pts experience long-standing treatment free intervals after CAR T cell treatment, little is known about its effects on MBD and bone turnover. The latter can be determined in plasma by measuring markers of bone formation and resorption. We aimed to analyze the longitudinal development of bone turnover during and after anti-BCMA CAR T cell treatment in RRMM pts. Methods We analyzed 28 consecutive pts with RRMM who underwent treatment with either Idecabtagene-Vicleucel (n=27) or Ciltacabtagen-Autoleucel (n=1) at our center between December 2021 and February 2023. Median age at infusion was 63 (range 39-75) years. 57% of pts were male. All pts were triple-class exposed, 21% had penta-class refractory disease. Status prior to CAR T cell infusion was complete remission (CR, 11%), partial remission (PR, 21%), very good PR (14%), stable disease (4%), or progressive disease (PD, 50%). The impact of CAR T cell treatment on bone turnover was assessed by collecting plasma samples on the day of T cell apheresis, as well as days (d) 30 and 100 after CAR T cell infusion. Samples were analyzed by ELISA to evaluate plasma levels of bone formation marker Osteocalcin (OCN), bone resorption markers Tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase 5b (TRAcP5b) and fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) as well as BCMA as a marker for the targeted myeloma cells. Median levels were compared between subgroups by Wilcoxon tests. Remission status after CAR T cell therapy was first evaluated at d 30 according to International Myeloma Working Group consensus criteria. Median follow-up was 6 months. Results Of the 28 pts treated with anti-BCMA CAR T cells, 64% achieved at least a PR (responders), while 36% had PD shortly (30 d) after. Within 14 d after infusion, 82% developed a cytokine release syndrome (CRS, °I or II), in 30% of which Tocilizumab was applied. Only 1 pt developed immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome. In responders, BCMA levels in plasma decreased significantly between apheresis and d 30 ( P<.01) and between apheresis and d 100 ( P<.01), while pts with PD showed no significant change in BCMA levels at the same timepoints ( P=.6 and P=.8). Furthermore, BCMA levels were significantly higher in pts with PD at d 30 ( P<.01) and d 100 ( P=.02), compared to responders (Figure 1). Regarding bone resorption markers, TRAcP5b levels were significantly increased in responders ( P=.01) but not pts with PD ( P=.56) on d 30 after apheresis. Furthermore, we determined a significant increase of intact FGF23 between apheresis and d 30 ( P<.01) and a subsequent significant decrease of intact FGF23 ( P=.02) between d 30 and d 100 in responders. Since FGF23 and interleukin-6 (IL-6) are physiologically dependent, the observed FGF23 dynamics are likely to be an effect of increasing IL-6 in the context of CRS. Aptly, pts who received Tocilizumab because of full-blown CRS had higher intact FGF23 levels at d 30 ( P=.02) compared to pts without Tocilizumab treatment. The bone formation marker OCN showed a significant increase in responders between apheresis and d 100 ( P=.01), as well as between d30 and d100 ( P=.02), while there were no significant changes in OCN levels over the time in pts with PD (Figure 2). Conclusion Pts responding to treatment with anti-BCMA CAR T cells, showed an increased bone turnover shortly after infusion. The increase of bone resorption marker levels appeared to be a short-term trend and could possibly be related to inflammation and high interleukin levels during the first days after infusion. However, we also saw a steady increase of bone formation marker OCN, which remained significant till d 100 in responders. Our data implies, that response to anti-BCMA CAR T cells is accompanied by increasing bone formation. Further analyses are needed to evaluate, whether this treatment can have positive long-term effects on MBD.

Reversible aberrancies in gut microbiome of moderate and late preterm infants: results from a randomized, controlled trial

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to obtain insight into the composition and function of the deviant gut microbiome throughout infancy in children born moderately and late preterm and their response to microbiome modulation. We characterized the longitudinal development of the gut microbiome from birth to the age of 12 months by metagenomic sequencing in 43 moderate and late preterm children participating in a randomized, controlled trial (ClinicalTrials.gov/no.NCT00167700) assessing the impact of a probiotic (Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG, ATCC 53,103, currently Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus GG) and a prebiotic (galacto-oligosaccharide and polydextrose mixture, 1:1) intervention as compared to a placebo administered from 3 to 60 days of life. In addition, 9 full-term, vaginally delivered, breast-fed infants, who remained healthy long-term were included as references. Significant differences in taxonomy, but not in functional potential, were found when comparing the gut microbiome composition of preterm and full-term infants during the first month of life. However, the gut microbiome of preterm infants resembled that of full-term infants by 6 months age. Probiotic and prebiotic treatments were found to mitigate the shift in the microbiome of preterm infants by accelerating Bifidobacteria-dominated gut microbiome in beta diversity analysis. This study provides intriguing information regarding the establishment of the gut microbiome in children born moderately and late preterm, representing the majority of children born preterm. Specific pro- and prebiotics may reverse the proinflammatory gut microbiome composition during the vulnerable period, when the microbiome is low in resilience and susceptible to environmental exposure and simultaneously promotes immunological and metabolic maturation.

Lexical cohesion development in English as a foreign language learners' argumentative writing: A latent class growth model approach

The current study explored the longitudinal development of lexical cohesion for speakers of English as a foreign language (EFL) at the group level by employing Latent Class Growth Modelling (LCGM). A convenience sample of 276 university students from Southwest China were recruited and invited to write four argumentative essays over four months. Their essays formed a learner corpus, which was utilized to construct unconditional latent class growth models to explore the latent classes of EFL learners' development trajectories of lexical cohesion in their writing. Besides, conditional LCGM including logistic regression analysis was employed to investigate the effect of English proficiency on the classifications. The unconditional models demonstrated that there were different latent classes of development trajectories for local and global cohesion indices, which supports the heterogeneity of their development trajectories. Those models also revealed that two categories were the optimal ones for latent classes of development trajectories for selected local and global lexical cohesion indices. Additionally, logistic regression analyses showed that English proficiency affected latent classes of development trajectories of only one global cohesion index. The implications for EFL/L2 writing instruction and language development research are also discussed.

Profiling the Longitudinal Development of Babbling in Infants with Cerebral Palsy: Validation of the Infant Monitor of Vocal Production (IMP) Using the Stark Assessment of Early Vocal Development-Revised (SAEVD-R)

Profiling the Longitudinal Development of Babbling in Infants with Cerebral Palsy: Validation of the Infant Monitor of Vocal Production (IMP) Using the Stark Assessment of Early Vocal Development-Revised (SAEVD-R)

Effects of multidomain environmental and mental health factors on the development of empathetic behaviors and emotions in adolescence.

Empathy is at the core of our social world, yet multidomain factors that affect its development in socially sensitive periods, such as adolescence, are incompletely understood. To address this gap, this study investigated associations between social, environmental and mental health factors, and their temporal changes, on adolescent empathetic behaviors/emotions and, for comparison, callous unemotional (CU) traits and behaviors, in the early longitudinal Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development sample (baseline: n = 11062; 2-year follow-up: n = 9832, median age = 119 and 144 months, respectively). Caregiver affection towards the youth, liking school, having a close friend, and importance of religious beliefs/spirituality in the youth's life were consistently positively correlated with empathetic behaviors/emotions across assessments (p<0.001, Cohen's f = ~0.10). Positive family dynamics and cohesion, living in a neighborhood that shared the family's values, but also parent history of substance use and (aggregated) internalizing problems were additionally positively associated with one or more empathetic behaviors at follow-up (p<0.001, f = ~0.10). In contrast, externalizing problems, anxiety, depression, fear of social situations, and being withdrawn were negatively associated with empathetic behaviors and positively associated with CU traits and behaviors (p<0.001, f = ~0.1-0.44). The latter were also correlated with being cyberbullied and/or discriminated against, anhedonia, and impulsivity, and their interactions with externalizing and internalizing issues. Significant positive temporal correlations of behaviors at the two assessments indicated positive (early) developmental empathetic behavior trajectories, and negative CU traits' trajectories. Negative changes in mental health adversely moderated positive trajectories and facilitated negative ones. These findings highlight that adolescent empathetic behaviors/emotions are positively related to multidomain protective social environmental factors, but simultaneously adversely associated with risk factors in the same domains, as well as bully victimization, discrimination, and mental health problems. Risk factors instead facilitate the development of CU traits and behaviors.

Dynamics and Crosstalk between Gut Microbiota, Metabolome, and Fecal Calprotectin in Very Preterm Infants: Insights into Feeding Intolerance.

Feeding intolerance (FI) is a significant concern in the care of preterm infants, impacting their growth and development. We previously reported that FI is linked to lower fecal calprotectin (FC) levels. This study aims to explore the postnatal dynamics and interplay between microbiota, metabolic profiles, and host immunity in preterm infants with and without FI. Infants with gestational age <32 weeks or birth weight <1500 g were enrolled at the Children's Hospital of Fudan University between January 2018 and October 2020. Weekly fecal samples were analyzed for bacterial profiling, metabolome, and calprotectin levels, exploring their longitudinal development and interrelationships. Of the 118 very preterm infants studied, 48 showed FI. These infants experienced an interrupted microbial-immune trajectory, particularly at 3-4 weeks of age, marked by a reduced bacterial abundance, alpha diversity, and FC levels. Metabolic changes in FI were pronounced between 3 and 6 weeks. Pantothenic acid and two polyamine metabolites were closely associated with bacterial abundance and FC levels and negatively correlated with the duration to attain full enteral feeding. FI infants demonstrated compromised microbiome-immune interactions, potentially influenced by specific metabolites. This research underscored the importance of early microbial and metabolic development in the pathogenesis of FI in very preterm infants.

Statistical analysis of the longitudinal fundamental movement skills data in the REACT project using the multilevel ordinal logistic model.

The REACT project was designed around two main aims: (1) to assess children's growth and motor development after the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) to follow their fundamental movement skills' developmental trajectories over 18 months using a novel technological device (Meu Educativo®) in their physical education classes. In this article, our goal is to describe statistical analysis of the longitudinal ordinal motor development data that was obtained from these children using the multilevel ordinal logistic model. Longitudinal ordinal data are often collected in studies on motor development. For example, children or adolescents might be rated as having poor, good, or excellent performance levels in fundamental movement skills, and such ratings may be obtained yearly over time to assess changes in fundamental movement skills levels of performance. However, such longitudinal ordinal data are often analyzed using either methods for continuous outcomes, or by dichotomizing the ordinal outcome and using methods for binary data. These approaches are not optimal, and so we describe in detail the use of the multilevel ordinal logistic model for analysis of such data from the REACT project. Our intent is to provide an accessible description and application of this model for analysis of ordinal motor development data. Our analyses show both the between-subjects and within-subjects effects of age on motor development outcomes across three timepoints. The between-subjects effect of age indicate that children that are older have higher motor development ratings, relative to thoese that are younger, whereas the within-subject effect of age indicates higher motor development ratings as a child ages. It is the latter effect that is particularly of interest in longitudinal studies of motor development, and an important advantage of using the multilevel ordinal logistic model relative to more traditional methods.

Dynamics of the nasopharyngeal microbiome of apparently healthy calves and those with clinical symptoms of bovine respiratory disease from disease diagnosis to recovery.

Bovine respiratory disease (BRD) is a multifactorial disease complex in which bacteria in the upper respiratory tract play an important role in disease development. Previous studies have related the presence of four BRD-pathobionts (Mycoplasma bovis, Histophilus somni, Pasteurella multocida, and Mannheimia haemolytica) in the upper respiratory tract to BRD incidence and mortalities in the dairy and beef cattle industry, but these studies typically only use one time point to compare the abundance of BRD-pathobionts between apparently healthy and BRD-affected cattle. The objective of this study was to characterize the longitudinal development of the nasopharyngeal (NP) microbiome from apparently healthy calves, and in calves with clinical signs of BRD, the microbiota dynamics from disease diagnosis to recovery. Deep nasopharyngeal swabs were taken from all calves immediately after transport (day 0). If a calf was diagnosed with BRD (n = 10), it was sampled, treated with florfenicol or tulathromycin, and sampled again 1, 5, and 10 days after antibiotic administration. Otherwise, healthy calves (n = 20) were sampled again on days 7 and 14. Bacterial community analysis was performed through 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. The NP microbiome of the healthy animals remained consistent throughout the study, regardless of time. The NP microbiota beta diversity and community composition was affected by tulathromycin or florfenicol administration. Even though BRD-pathobionts were identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing in BRD-affected animals, no difference was observed in their relative abundance between the BRD-affected and apparently healthy animals. The abundance of BRD-pathobionts was not predictive of disease development while the relative abundance of BRD pathobionts was unique to each BRD-affected calf. Interestingly, at the end of the study period, the genera Mycoplasma was the most abundant genus in the healthy group, while Lactobacillus was the most abundant genus in the animals that recovered from BRD. This study highlights that injected antibiotics seem to improve the NP microbiome composition (higher abundance of Lactobacillus and lower abundance of Mycoplasma), and that the relative abundance of BRD-pathobionts differs between individual calves but is not strongly predictive of BRD clinical signs, indicating that additional factors are likely important in the clinical progression of BRD.

How do social and academic integration develop over time? Longitudinal analyses of differences based on students’ sociodemographic background

ABSTRACT Although social and academic integration are considered significant predictors of academic success, little is known about their longitudinal development. In addition, cross-sectional research indicates differences in the integration process based on the sociodemographic background of students, but lacks longitudinal confirmation, especially in Germany. This research gap was addressed by examining students’ integration across three years with measures at four time points (N = 4270) based on data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) in Germany. Longitudinal growth curve analyses were conducted considering interindividual differences between four groups: first-generation students with and without a migration background, and continuing-generation students with and without a migration background. Differences in students’ social and academic integration, measured by several sub-dimensions, partly supported expected advantages for students from academic backgrounds without a migration background, both at the first time point and regarding the longitudinal development. Nevertheless, these differences were small and partly accompanied by non-significant findings highlighting similarities across students. Assumptions about differences between students and implications for future research on the longitudinal development of student integration are discussed.

Assessment of longitudinal brain development using super-resolution magnetic resonance imaging following fetal surgery for open spina bifida.

Prenatal surgery is offered for selected fetuses with open spina bifida (OSB) to improve long-term outcome. We studied the effect of fetal OSB surgery on brain development using advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to quantify the volume, surface area and shape of cerebral structures and to analyze surface curvature by means of parameters that correspond to gyrification. We compared MRI data from 29 fetuses with OSB before fetal surgery (mean gestational age (GA), 23 + 3 weeks) and at 1 and 6 weeks after surgery, with that of 36 GA-matched control fetuses (GA range, 21 + 2 to 36 + 2 weeks). Automated super-resolution reconstruction provided three-dimensional isotropic volumetric brain images. Unmyelinated white matter, cerebellum and ventricles were segmented automatically and refined manually, after which volume, surface area and shape parameter (volume/surface area) were quantified. Mathematical markers (shape index (SI) and curvedness) were used to measure gyrification. Parameters were assessed according to lesion type (myelomeningocele vs myeloschisis (MS)), postoperative persistence of hindbrain herniation (HH) and the presence of supratentorial anomalies, namely partial agenesis of the corpus callosum (pACC) and heterotopia (HT). Growth in ventricular volume per week and change in shape parameter per week were higher at 6 weeks after surgery in fetuses with OSB compared with controls (median, 2500.94 (interquartile range (IQR), 1689.70-3580.80) mm3 /week vs 708.21 (IQR, 474.50-925.00) mm3 /week; P < 0.001 and 0.075 (IQR, 0.047-0.112) mm/week vs 0.022 (IQR, 0.009-0.042) mm/week; P = 0.046, respectively). Ventricular volume growth increased 6 weeks after surgery in cases with pACC (P < 0.001) and those with persistent HH (P = 0.002). During that time period, the change in unmyelinated white-matter shape parameter per week was decreased in OSB fetuses compared with controls (0.056 (IQR, 0.044-0.092) mm/week vs 0.159 (IQR, 0.100-0.247) mm/week; P = 0.002), particularly in cases with persistent HH (P = 0.011), MS (P = 0.015), HT (P = 0.022), HT with corpus callosum anomaly (P = 0.017) and persistent HH with corpus callosum anomaly (P = 0.007). At 6 weeks postoperatively, despite OSB fetuses having a lower rate of change in curvedness compared with controls (0.061 (IQR, 0.040-0.093) mm-1 /week vs 0.094 (IQR, 0.070-0.146) mm-1 /week; P < 0.001), reversing the trend seen at 1 week after surgery (0.144 (IQR, 0.099-0.236) mm-1 /week vs 0.072 (IQR, 0.059-0.081) mm-1 /week; P < 0.001), gyrification, as determined using SI, appeared to be increased in OSB fetuses overall compared with controls. This observation was more prominent in fetuses with pACC and those with severe ventriculomegaly (P-value range, < 0.001 to 0.006). Following fetal OSB repair, volume, shape and curvedness of ventricles and unmyelinated white matter differed significantly compared with those of normal fetuses. Morphological brain changes after fetal surgery were not limited to effects on the circulation of cerebrospinal fluid. These observations may have implications for postnatal neurocognitive outcome. © 2023 The Authors. Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

An Easily Implemented, Inexpensive, Useful Novel Surgical Intern Wellness Initiative

Determine whether use of reflective questions asked on a twice monthly basis is a useful addition to our intern wellness curriculum, with a goal of longitudinal development. Prior studies have demonstrated the use of reflection in processing educational experiences toward professional growth at both the medical student and resident level. During the first year, every 2 weeks, the 13 interns were asked and answered 2 reflective prompts by email. Their responses went to a single faculty member and were then blinded for analysis. The second year of the program, prompts were discussed by participants in a closed group setting. Participation was voluntary. The questions fell into 6 major categories: role expectations, role assessment, role affirmation, role reflection, emotional self-assessment, work-life integration, and boundaries. Thematic analysis of the responses was performed using an inductive approach by 2 independent expert reviewers. Brown General Surgery Residency Program, academic years 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023. Use of reflective questions is a valuable tool as part of an intern wellness curriculum and can be easily implemented. It is inexpensive, does not require a huge time commitment, and is easily adaptable to a program's specific needs. It encourages developing surgeons to recognize and share in their emotions as they encounter the new and stressful experiences inherent in residency and may help to prevent burnout. Sustained participation through the year and robust responses suggest good resident engagement and acceptance of the program.

80 Longitudinal Development of Response Inhibition in Adolescence and Young Adulthood and Associations with Gray Matter Architecture

Objective:The present study explored how individual differences and development of gray matter architecture in inferior frontal gyri (IFG), anterior cingulate (ACC), and inferior parietal lobe (IPL) relate to development of response inhibition as measured by both the Stop Signal Task (SST) and the Go/No-Go (GNG) task in a longitudinal sample of healthy adolescents and young adults. Reliability of behavioral and neural measures was also explored.Participants and Methods:A total of 145 individuals contributed data from the second through fifth timepoints of an accelerated longitudinal study focused on adolescent brain and behavioral development at the University of Minnesota. At baseline, participants were 9 to 23 years of age and were typically-developing. Assessment waves were spaced approximately 2 years apart. Behavioral measures of response inhibition collected at each assessment included GNG Commission Errors (CE) and the SST Stop Signal Reaction Time (SSRT). Structural T1 MRI scans were collected on a Siemens 3 T Tim Trio and processed with the longitudinal Freesurfer 6.0 pipeline to yield cortical thickness (CT) and surface area values. Regions of interest based on the Desikan-Killiany-Tourville atlas included IFG regions (pars opercularis (PO) and pars triangularis (PT)), ACC and IPL. The cuneus and global brain measures were evaluated as control regions. Retest stability of all measures was calculated using the psych package in R. Mixed linear effects modeling using the lme4 R package identified whether age-based trajectories for SSRTs and GNG CEs best fit linear, quadratic, or inverse curve. Then, disaggregated between- and within-subjects effects of regional cortical architecture measures were added to longitudinal behavioral models to identify individual differences and developmental effects, respectively.Results:Both response inhibition metrics demonstrated fair reliability and were best fit by an inverse age trajectory. Neural measures demonstrated excellent retest stability (all ICCs &gt; 0.834). Age-based analyses of regional CT identified heterogeneous patterns of development, including linear trajectories for ACC and inverse age trajectories for bilateral PT. Individuals with thinner left PO showed worse performance on both response inhibition tasks. SSRTs were related to individual differences in right PO thickness and surface area. A developmental pattern was observed for right PT cortical thickness, where thinning over time was related to better GNG performance. Lower surface area of the right PT was related to worse GNG performance. No individual differences or developmental patterns were observed for the ACC, IPL, cuneus, or global metrics.Conclusions:This study examined the adolescent development of response inhibition and its association with cortical architecture in the IFG, ACC and IPL. Separate response inhibition tasks demonstrated similar developmental patterns with steepest improvements in early adolescence and relationships with left PO thickness, but each measure had unique relationships with other IFG regions. This study indicates that a region of the IFG, the par opercularis, relates to both individual difference and developmental change in response inhibition. These patterns suggest brain-behavior association that could be further explored in functional imaging studies and that may index, in vulnerable individuals, risk for psychopathology.

Heart rate variability and cardiovascular risk factors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A longitudinal study.

It is established that the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is increased in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA). Heart rate variability (HRV) is a method for evaluating the activity in the cardiac autonomic nervous system. Our aim was to assess the longitudinal development of HRV in patients with RA and compare with healthy controls. Furthermore, we wanted to investigate associations between HRV, inflammatory disease activity and cardiovascular complications in patients with RA over time. HRV was assessed with frequency-domain analysis at baseline and after five years in 50 patients with early RA, all being younger than 60years. HRV indices were age-adjusted based on the estimated age-dependency in 100 age and sex matched healthy controls. Additionally, clinical data including serological markers, disease activity, and blood pressure were collected from the patients. Eleven years after inclusion CVD was assessed. At baseline, patients with RA presented with lower HRV compared to controls during deep breathing (6 breaths/min), paced normal breathing (12 breaths/min) and after passive tilt to the upright position. No significant change in HRV was observed at the five-year follow-up. A significant negative correlation was found between HRV parameters and systolic blood pressure (SBP) at baseline. A significant positive correlation was found between heart rate and inflammatory markers at baseline but not after five years. Nine patients had developed CVD after 11years, but no significant association was found with baseline HRV data. This study showed that patients with RA have autonomic imbalance both at an early stage of the disease and after five years, despite anti-rheumatic medication, but no correlation between HRV and inflammation markers were observed. Reduced HRV was also significantly negatively correlated with increased SBP. Hypertension is a common finding in patients with RA. Thus, significant decline of HRV could be a useful early marker for development of hypertension in patients with RA.

Ethnic minority multilingual young learners’ longitudinal development of metacognitive knowledge and breadth of vocabulary knowledge

Ethnolinguistic minority students may have lower levels of metacognitive knowledge and English vocabulary knowledge than non-minority students. Nevertheless, few longitudinal studies have examined their growth trajectories of metacognitive knowledge and English vocabulary knowledge over time. Drawing upon a latent growth curve model, the present study aims to contrast two groups of students’ growth trajectories in metacognitive knowledge and breadth of English vocabulary knowledge: with a sample of 115 ethnolinguistic Yao minority and 108 ethnolinguistic majority Han students. The results showed that both groups improved their metacognitive knowledge and breadth of English vocabulary knowledge from third grade to sixth grade in a cumulative trend. Metacognitive knowledge predicted the breadth of English vocabulary knowledge throughout the examined school years. The results also highlighted differences in the students’ development of metacognitive knowledge and breadth of English vocabulary knowledge. The ethnolinguistic Yao minority students lagged behind their ethnolinguistic majority Han counterparts. The findings suggest a need for pedagogical interventions to enhance ethnolinguistic minority students’ metacognitive knowledge and English vocabulary knowledge.

The longitudinal development of language attitudes towards Spanish and Catalan during the transition from primary to secondary school

ABSTRACT This study investigates the longitudinal development of language attitudes towards Catalan and Spanish over a five-year period in the transition from primary to secondary education of a sample of students (N = 1,143) in Catalonia and Aragon. Two research questions were investigated: (1) How do language attitudes develop over time? and (2) How do individual and environmental variables contribute to the longitudinal development of language attitudes? The results from a sociolinguistic questionnaire showed that the participants demonstrated positive (for Catalan) and neutral (for Spanish) language attitudes. Regarding their longitudinal development, the findings indicate that the attitudes towards Catalan developed from positive to neutral. These attitudes developed significantly during the transition from primary to secondary and within secondary. Attitudes towards Spanish stayed neutral but significantly decreased over time between primary and secondary education. Results from longitudinal mixed models showed that the variables that accounted the most for attitude differences were environmental, which included the language used in the participant’s social network, at home, and with peers. These results are discussed in relation to the development of language attitudes and the impact of individual and environmental factors.

Long-term motor development after hypothermia-treated hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy

AimsTo describe longitudinal motor development in children treated with therapeutic- hypothermia (TH) due to neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy (HIE) and to explore motor functioning in early adolescence. Material and methodsChildren treated with TH due to HIE during 2007–2009, in Stockholm, participated in a prospective follow-up study. Motor development was assessed on four occasions, reported as percentiles and at mean ages. Alberta Infant Motor Scale was used at 0.35 years of age, Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III at 2.1 years and Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2) at 7.3 and 11.1 years of age. MABC-2 Checklist was completed by parents at 7.3 and 11.1 years of age. General cognition was assessed using Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children Fifth Edition (WISC-V). ResultsThirty-one percent (14/45) of the children had a motor score ≤ 15th percentile, indicating risk of motor difficulties at 11.1 years of age, and simultaneously the scores from parents of 52% (23/44), indicating risk of motor difficulties in the everyday context. These children had significantly lower motor percentile at 2.1 years of age, but within the normal range. Longitudinal motor development displayed a weak association with WISC-V Full Scale IQ (rs0.38, p = 0.013). ConclusionAmong survivors of hypothermia-treated HIE free of moderate/severe cerebral palsy, a third had MABC-2 scores indicating risk of motor difficulties at 11.1 years of age. As motor difficulties became more apparent over time, we suggest that children treated with TH due to neonatal HIE should be followed into at least middle school age.

Cortical growth from infancy to adolescence in preterm and term-born children.

Early life experiences can exert a significant influence on cortical and cognitive development. Very preterm birth exposes infants to several adverse environmental factors during hospital admission, which affect cortical architecture. However, the subsequent consequence of very preterm birth on cortical growth from infancy to adolescence has never been defined; despite knowledge of critical periods during childhood for establishment of cortical networks. Our aims were to: chart typical longitudinal cortical development and sex differences in cortical development from birth to adolescence in healthy term-born children; estimate differences in cortical development between children born at term and very preterm; and estimate differences in cortical development between children with normal and impaired cognition in adolescence. This longitudinal cohort study included children born at term (≥37 weeks' gestation) and very preterm (<30 weeks' gestation) with MRI scans at ages 0, 7 and 13 years (n = 66 term-born participants comprising 34 with one scan, 18 with two scans and 14 with three scans; n = 201 very preterm participants comprising 56 with one scan, 88 with two scans and 57 with three scans). Cognitive assessments were performed at age 13 years. Cortical surface reconstruction and parcellation were performed with state-of-the-art, equivalent MRI analysis pipelines for all time points, resulting in longitudinal cortical volume, surface area and thickness measurements for 62 cortical regions. Developmental trajectories for each region were modelled in term-born children, contrasted between children born at term and very preterm, and contrasted between all children with normal and impaired cognition. In typically developing term-born children, we documented anticipated patterns of rapidly increasing cortical volume, area and thickness in early childhood, followed by more subtle changes in later childhood, with smaller cortical size in females than males. In contrast, children born very preterm exhibited increasingly reduced cortical volumes, relative to term-born children, particularly during ages 0-7 years in temporal cortical regions. This reduction in cortical volume in children born very preterm was largely driven by increasingly reduced cortical thickness rather than area. This resulted in amplified cortical volume and thickness reductions by age 13 years in individuals born very preterm. Alterations in cortical thickness development were found in children with impaired language and memory. This study shows that the neurobiological impact of very preterm birth on cortical growth is amplified from infancy to adolescence. These data further inform the long-lasting impact on cortical development from very preterm birth, providing broader insights into neurodevelopmental consequences of early life experiences.