bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Inflammation-related epigenetic risk and child and adolescent mental health: A prospective study from pregnancy to middle adolescence
Authors: Barker Edward D. , Cecil Charlotte A. M. , Walton Esther , Houtepen Lotte C. , O'Connor Thomas G. , Danese Andrea , Jaffee Sara R. , Jensen Sarah K. G. , Pariante Carmine , McArdle Wendy , Gaunt Tom R. , Relton Caroline L. , Roberts Susanna 
Published: August 2018

AbstractIn 785 mother–child (50% male) pairs from a longitudinal epidemiological birth cohort, we investigated associations between inflammation-related epigenetic polygenic risk scores (i-ePGS), environmental exposures, cognitive function, and child and adolescent internalizing and externalizing problems. We examined prenatal and postnatal effects. For externalizing problems, one prenatal effect was found: i-ePGS at birth associated with higher externalizing problems (ages 7–15) indirectly through lower cognitive function (age 7). For internalizing problems, we identified two effects. For a prenatal effect, i-ePGS at birth associated with higher internalizing symptoms via continuity in i-ePGS at age 7. For a postnatal effect, higher postnatal adversity exposure (birth through age 7) associated with higher internalizing problems (ages 7–15) via higher i-ePGS (age 7). Hence, externalizing problems were related mainly to prenatal effects involving lower cognitive function, whereas internalizing problems appeared related to both prenatal and postnatal effects. The present study supports a link between i-ePGS and child and adolescent mental health.
Prenatal stress and the developing brain: Risks for neurodevelopmental disorders
Authors: Van den Bergh Bea R. H. , Dahnke Robert , Mennes Maarten 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe prenatal period is increasingly considered as a crucial target for the primary prevention of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Understanding their pathophysiological mechanisms remains a great challenge. Our review reveals new insights from prenatal brain development research, involving (epi)genetic research, neuroscience, recent imaging techniques, physical modeling, and computational simulation studies. Studies examining the effect of prenatal exposure to maternal distress on offspring brain development, using brain imaging techniques, reveal effects at birth and up into adulthood. Structural and functional changes are observed in several brain regions including the prefrontal, parietal, and temporal lobes, as well as the cerebellum, hippocampus, and amygdala. Furthermore, alterations are seen in functional connectivity of amygdalar–thalamus networks and in intrinsic brain networks, including default mode and attentional networks. The observed changes underlie offspring behavioral, cognitive, emotional development, and susceptibility to neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. It is concluded that used brain measures have not yet been validated with regard to sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, or robustness in predicting neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders. Therefore, more prospective long-term longitudinal follow-up studies starting early in pregnancy should be carried out, in order to examine brain developmental measures as mediators in mediating the link between prenatal stress and offspring behavioral, cognitive, and emotional problems and susceptibility for disorders.
Prenatal programming of postnatal plasticity revisited—And extended
Authors: Hartman Sarah , Belsky Jay 
Published: August 2018

AbstractTwo sets of evidence reviewed herein, one indicating that prenatal stress is associated with elevated behavioral and physiological dysregulation and the other that such phenotypic functioning is itself associated with heightened susceptibility to positive and negative environmental influences postnatally, raises the intriguing hypothesis first advanced by Pluess and Belsky (2011) that prenatal stress fosters, promotes, or “programs” postnatal developmental plasticity. Here we review further evidence consistent with this proposition, including new experimental research systematically manipulating both prenatal stress and postnatal rearing. Collectively this work would seem to explain why prenatal stress has so consistently been linked to problematic development: stresses encountered prenatally are likely to continue postnatally, thereby adversely affecting the development of children programmed (by prenatal stress) to be especially susceptible to environmental effects. Less investigated are the potential benefits prenatal stress may promote, due to increased plasticity, when the postnatal environment proves to be favorable. Future directions of research pertaining to potential mechanisms instantiating postnatal plasticity and moderators of such prenatal-programming effects are outlined.
The early care environment and DNA methylome variation in childhood
Authors: Garg Elika , Chen Li , Nguyen Thao T. T. , Pokhvisneva Irina , Chen Lawrence M. , Unternaehrer Eva , MacIsaac Julia L. , McEwen Lisa M. , Mah Sarah M. , Gaudreau Helene , Levitan Robert , Moss Ellen , Sokolowski Marla B. , Kennedy James L. , Steiner Meir S. , Meaney Michael J. , Holbrook Joanna D. , Silveira Patricia P. , Karnani Neerja , Kobor Michael S. , O'Donnell Kieran J. ,   Mavan Study Team
Published: August 2018

AbstractPrenatal adversity shapes child neurodevelopment and risk for later mental health problems. The quality of the early care environment can buffer some of the negative effects of prenatal adversity on child development. Retrospective studies, in adult samples, highlight epigenetic modifications as sentinel markers of the quality of the early care environment; however, comparable data from pediatric cohorts are lacking. Participants were drawn from the Maternal Adversity Vulnerability and Neurodevelopment (MAVAN) study, a longitudinal cohort with measures of infant attachment, infant development, and child mental health. Children provided buccal epithelial samples (mean age = 6.99,SD= 1.33 years,n= 226), which were used for analyses of genome-wide DNA methylation and genetic variation. We used a series of linear models to describe the association between infant attachment and (a) measures of child outcome and (b) DNA methylation across the genome. Paired genetic data was used to determine the genetic contribution to DNA methylation at attachment-associated sites. Infant attachment style was associated with infant cognitive development (Mental Development Index) and behavior (Behavior Rating Scale) assessed with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 36 months. Infant attachment style moderated the effects of prenatal adversity on Behavior Rating Scale scores at 36 months. Infant attachment was also significantly associated with a principal component that accounted for 11.9% of the variation in genome-wide DNA methylation. These effects were most apparent when comparing children with a secure versus a disorganized attachment style and most pronounced in females. The availability of paired genetic data revealed that DNA methylation at approximately half of all infant attachment-associated sites was best explained by considering both infant attachment and child genetic variation. This study provides further evidence that infant attachment can buffer some of the negative effects of early adversity on measures of infant behavior. We also highlight the interplay between infant attachment and child genotype in shaping variation in DNA methylation. Such findings provide preliminary evidence for a molecular signature of infant attachment and may help inform attachment-focused early intervention programs.
Major depressive disorder during pregnancy: Psychiatric medications have minimal effects on the fetus and infant yet development is compromised
Authors: Gustafsson Hanna C. , Goodman Sherryl H. , Feng Tianshu , Choi Jean , Lee Seonjoo , Newport D. Jeffrey , Knight Bettina , Pingeton Blaire , Stowe Zachary N. , Monk Catherine 
Published: August 2018

AbstractPsychotropic medication use and psychiatric symptoms during pregnancy each are associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring. Commonly, studies considering medication effects do not adequately assess symptoms, nor evaluate children when the effects are believed to occur, the fetal period. This study examined maternal serotonin reuptake inhibitor and polypharmacy use in relation to serial assessments of five indices of fetal neurobehavior and Bayley Scales of Infant Development at 12 months in N = 161 socioeconomically advantaged, non-Hispanic White women with a shared risk phenotype, diagnosed major depressive disorder. On average fetuses showed the expected development over gestation. In contrast, infant average Bayley psychomotor and mental development scores were low (M = 84.10 and M = 89.92, range of normal limits 85–114) with rates of delay more than 2–3 times what would be expected based on this measure's normative data. Controlling for prenatal and postnatal depressive symptoms, prenatal medication effects on neurobehavioral development were largely undetected in the fetus and infant. Mental health care directed primarily at symptoms may not address the additional psychosocial needs of women parenting infants. Speculatively, prenatal serotonin reuptake inhibitor exposure may act as a plasticity rather than risk factor, potentially enhancing receptivity to a nonoptimal postnatal environment in some mother–infant dyads.
The influence of prenatal experience on behavioral and social development: The benefits and limitations of an animal model
Authors: Lickliter Robert 
Published: August 2018

AbstractPrenatal experience is both a formative and a regulatory force in the process of development. As a result, birth is not an adequate starting point for explanations of behavioral development. However, surprisingly little is currently known regarding the role of prenatal experience in the emergence and facilitation of perceptual, cognitive, or social development. Our lack of knowledge in this area is due in part to the very restricted experimental manipulations possible with human fetuses. A comparative approach utilizing animal models provides an essential step in addressing this gap in our knowledge and providing testable predictions for studies with human fetuses, infants, and children. Further, animal-based comparative research serves to minimize the amount of exploratory research undertaken with human subjects and hone in on issues and research directions worthy of further research investment. In this article, I review selected animal-based research exploring how developmental influences during the prenatal period can guide and constrain subsequent behavioral and social development. I then discuss the importance of linking the prenatal environment to postnatal outcomes in terms of how psychologists conceptualize “innate” biases, preferences, and skills in the study of human development.
An epigenetic pathway approach to investigating associations between prenatal exposure to maternal mood disorder and newborn neurobehavior
Authors: Conradt Elisabeth , Adkins Daniel E. , Crowell Sheila E. , Monk Catherine , Kobor Michael S. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractFollowing recent advances in behavioral and psychiatric epigenetics, researchers are increasingly using epigenetic methods to study prenatal exposure to maternal mood disorder and its effects on fetal and newborn neurobehavior. Despite notable progress, various methodological limitations continue to obscure our understanding of the epigenetic mechanisms underpinning prenatal exposure to maternal mood disorder on newborn neurobehavioral development. Here we detail this problem, discussing limitations of the currently dominant analytical approaches (i.e., candidate epigenetic and epigenome-wide association studies), then present a solution that retains many benefits of existing methods while minimizing their shortcomings: epigenetic pathway analysis. We argue that the application of pathway-based epigenetic approaches that target DNA methylation at transcription factor binding sites could substantially deepen our mechanistic understanding of how prenatal exposures influence newborn neurobehavior.
Prenatal neural origins of infant motor development: Associations between fetal brain and infant motor development
Authors: Thomason Moriah E. , Hect Jasmine , Waller Rebecca , Manning Janessa H. , Stacks Ann M. , Beeghly Marjorie , Boeve Jordan L. , Wong Kristyn , van den Heuvel Marion I. , Hernandez-Andrade Edgar , Hassan Sonia S. , Romero Roberto 
Published: August 2018

AbstractFunctional circuits of the human brain emerge and change dramatically over the second half of gestation. It is possible that variation in neural functional system connectivity in utero predicts individual differences in infant behavioral development, but this possibility has yet to be examined. The current study examines the association between fetal sensorimotor brain system functional connectivity and infant postnatal motor ability. Resting-state functional connectivity data was obtained in 96 healthy human fetuses during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy. Infant motor ability was measured 7 months after birth using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development. Increased connectivity between the emerging motor network and regions of the prefrontal cortex, temporal lobes, posterior cingulate, and supplementary motor regions was observed in infants that showed more mature motor functions. In addition, females demonstrated stronger fetal-brain to infant-behavior associations. These observations extend prior longitudinal research back into prenatal brain development and raise exciting new ideas about the advent of risk and the ontogeny of early sex differences.
Climate risk and food availability in Guatemala
Authors: Vargas Renato , Cabrera Maynor , Cicowiez Martin , Escobar Pamela , Hernández Violeta , Cabrera Javier , Guzmán Vivian 
Published: August 2018

AbstractIn this paper, we use a computable general equilibrium model to simulate the effects of drought and a decrease in agricultural productivity caused by climate change in Guatemala. A reduction in agricultural productivity would mean a considerable drop in crop and livestock production, and the resulting higher prices and lower household income would mean a significant reduction in the consumption of agricultural goods and food. The most negative effects of a drought would be concentrated in agriculture, given its intensive use of water. Because agricultural production is essential to ensuring food availability, these results suggest that Guatemala needs a proper water-distribution regulatory framework.
Antimicrobial-based dry cow therapy approaches for cure and prevention of intramammary infections: a protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Afifi Mohamed , Kabera Fidèle , Stryhn Henrik , Roy Jean-Philippe , Heider Luke C. , Godden Sandra , Montelpare William , Sanchez Javier , Dufour Simon 
Published: August 2018

AbstractIn dairy herds, application of antimicrobials at drying-off is a common mastitis control measure. This article describes a protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis to address three crucial points regarding antimicrobial usage at drying-off: (1) comparative efficacy of antimicrobials used for preventing new and eliminating existing intramammary infections (IMI); (2) comparison of selective and blanket dry cow therapy approaches in preventing new and eliminating existing IMI; and (3) assessment of the extra prevention against new IMI that can be gained from using antimicrobial-teat sealant combinations versus antimicrobials alone. Five PICO (Population, Intervention, Comparator, Outcome) questions were formulated to cover the three objectives of the review. Medline, CAB Abstracts, Web of Science, and conference proceedings will be searched along with iterative screening of references. Articles will be eligible if: (1) published after 1966; (2) written in English or French; and (3) reporting field clinical trials and observational studies, conducted on dairy cows at drying-off, with at least one antimicrobial-treated group and one IMI-related outcome. Authors will independently assess the relevance of titles and abstracts, extract data, and assess bias and the overall quality of evidence. Results will be synthesized and analyzed using pairwise and network meta-analysis. The proposed study will significantly update previously conducted reviews.
The National Health Service (NHS) in ‘crisis’: the role played by a shift from horizontal to vertical principles of equity
Authors: Asthana Sheena , Gibson Alex 
Published: August 2018

AbstractExplanations of the state of ‘crisis’ in the English National Health Service (NHS) generally focus on the overall level of health care funding rather than the way in which funding is distributed. Describing systematic patterns in the way different areas are experiencing crisis, this paper suggests that NHS organisations in older, rural and particularly coastal areas are more likely to be ‘failing’ and that this is due to the historic underfunding of such areas. This partly reflects methodological and technical shortcomings in NHS resource allocation formulae. It is also the outcome of a philosophical shift from horizontal (equal access for equal needs) to vertical (unequal access to equalise health outcomes) principles of equity. Insofar as health inequalities are determined by factors well beyond health care, we argue that this is an ineffective approach to addressing health inequalities. Moreover, it sacrifices equity in access to health care by failing to adequately fund the health care needs of older populations. The prioritisation of vertical over horizontal equity also conflicts with public perspectives on the NHS. Against this background, we ask whether the time has come to reassert the moral and philosophical case for the principle of equal access for equal health care need.
Something’s Going on Here
Authors: Hart Joshua , Graether Molly 
Published: August 2018

Abstract. Research on individual-difference factors predicting belief in conspiracy theories has proceeded along several independent lines that converge on a profile of conspiracy believers as individuals who are relatively untrusting, ideologically eccentric, concerned about personal safety, and prone to perceiving agency in actions and profundity in bullshit. The present research represents the first attempt at an integrative approach to testing the independent contributions of these diverse factors to conspiratorial thinking. Two studies (N = 1,253) found that schizotypy, dangerous-world beliefs, and bullshit receptivity independently and additively predict endorsement of generic (i.e., nonpartisan) conspiracy beliefs. Results suggest that “hyperactive” agency detection and political orientation (and related variables) might also play a role. The studies found no effects of situational threats (mortality salience or a sense of powerlessness) – though it remains to be seen whether real-world instantiations of situational threats might move some people to seek refuge in conspiratorial ideation.
Craton Destruction 1: Cratonic Keel Delamination Along a Weak Midlithospheric Discontinuity Layer
Authors: Liu Liang , Morgan Jason P. , Xu Yigang , Menzies Martin 
Published: August 2018

AbstractCratons are generally observed to retain thick (>180 km) conductive keels for billions of years. However, some cratons have undergone keel removal, with well‐documented examples being the eastern North China Craton (NCC) and the Wyoming Craton (WC). These keelless subregions appear to have kept a lithospheric bottom at ~80–100‐km depths. This is also the depth range where modern cratons, including the remaining portions of the NCC and the WC, have seismically visible midlithospheric discontinuity layers (MLDLs). MLDLs are proposed to be regions of preferential accumulation of metasomatic minerals and/or anomalously wet (>1,000 ppm) peridotites, both of which would lead to a relatively weak rheology. We propose that the cratonic keels of the eastern NCC (ENCC) and the western WC (WWC) utilized this weak MLDL layer to delaminate from overlying lithosphere. We first explore this hypothesis with a lubrication‐theory‐based analytical model. This model suggests a close relationship between a cratonic keel's long‐term stability and the strength of the MLDL's edge. We further test this prediction with less idealized 2‐D numerical experiments which reveal that (a) dense lower keels beneath MLDL‐bearing cratons can persist for billions of years as long as the MLDL's edges abut relatively cold and strong lithosphere; (b) MLDL edge failure can induce rapid intramantle lower keel delamination; and (c) the predicted rates of keel delamination along a ~10‐km‐thick MLDL with a hydrous olivine or metasomatic mineral‐dominated rheology are consistent with observations for the removal speeds of the WWC and the ENCC.
Impact of Convective Gravity Waves on the Tropical Middle Atmosphere During the Madden‐Julian Oscillation
Authors: Kalisch S. , Kang M.‐J. , Chun H.‐Y. 
Published: August 2018

AbstractThe Madden‐Julian oscillation (MJO) prominently influences weather systems in the tropical Indian Ocean region. Although understanding of the MJO has improved over the last decade, insufficient simulation of the MJO still considerably degrades forecasting skill of atmospheric models. In this study we investigate the interaction of gravity waves (GWs) from convection with the background atmosphere during MJO cycles between 1979 and 2010. For this, we utilize a parameterization of convective GW (CGW) forcing and propagation to evaluate the entire life cycle of GWs from their convective excitation to their dissipation in the tropical upper stratosphere region. CGW forcing at source level was calculated using the Song and Chun (2005, https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-3363.1) parameterization. We performed simulations for all respective MJO phases and MJO cycles during a period of 32 years using Climate Forecast System Reanalysis data for the full spectrum of CGWs. Our results show a clear connection between 850 hPa winds and zonal momentum flux during all MJO phases. This prominent momentum flux feature changes with the progress of each MJO cycle. Zonal means of eastward directed momentum flux also show this correlation. Furthermore, we estimated the spectral characteristics of launched GWs and found significant GW momentum flux for horizontal wavelengths as short as 80 km at launch altitude. Eastward GW drag (GWD) consistently shows a maximum at altitudes below 40 km and prominent westward GWD at altitudes higher than 40 km. Additionally, we investigated the impact of the phase of the quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) on our findings with GWD found stronger during the QBO easterly phase compared to the QBO westerly phase.
Forcing the reversibility of a mechanochemical reaction
Authors: Beedle Amy E. M. , Mora Marc , Davis Colin T. , Snijders Ambrosius P. , Stirnemann Guillaume , Garcia-Manyes Sergi 
Published: August 2018

AbstractMechanical force modifies the free-energy surface of chemical reactions, often enabling thermodynamically unfavoured reaction pathways. Most of our molecular understanding of force-induced reactivity is restricted to the irreversible homolytic scission of covalent bonds and ring-opening in polymer mechanophores. Whether mechanical force can by-pass thermodynamically locked reactivity in heterolytic bimolecular reactions and how this impacts the reaction reversibility remains poorly understood. Using single-molecule force-clamp spectroscopy, here we show that mechanical force promotes the thermodynamically disfavored SN2 cleavage of an individual protein disulfide bond by poor nucleophilic organic thiols. Upon force removal, the transition from the resulting high-energy unstable mixed disulfide product back to the initial, low-energy disulfide bond reactant becomes suddenly spontaneous, rendering the reaction fully reversible. By rationally varying the nucleophilicity of a series of small thiols, we demonstrate how force-regulated chemical kinetics can be finely coupled with thermodynamics to predict and modulate the reversibility of bimolecular mechanochemical reactions.