Early human development最新文献

Purpose: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is one of the most severe childhood disorders and every child with this disorder has a unique situation in terms of strengths or challenges in cognitive, motor, emotional and social fields.

Methods: This study is semi-experimental with pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The statistical population in this research included all (ASD) from 8 to 12 years old in the educational centers for children with this disorder in Mazandaran province in 2024. Random sampling method was applied to select the target sample, based on which 30 children with autism spectrum disorders were selected for this study. The training program was taken from Horwitz and Sissel (Horwitz R), which includes reinforcement, games, and sports activities for children, performed by the experimental group for 24 sessions (60 min each session and for 70 days). Canadian Assessment of Physical Literacy - Second Edition (CAPL-2) was employed to assess physical literacy and Tower of London test for cognitive performance. The data were analyzed by multivariate covariance method.

Results: The obtained results indicated that for the total physical literacy, the results of the post-hoc-test for the main effect of Practice intervention showed that the experimental group is significantly different from control group, all p < 0.05. Means comparisons showed that the experimental group resulted in higher physical literacy than control group. Also time test (reaction time) from the series of tests of the tower of London (Cognitive Performance) no significant differences two groups in the pre-test (F > 1), confirming that the two groups did not differ before training.

Conclusion: Therefore, it can be concluded that performing physical activities as an essential and main part of the daily schedule of these children can provide effective consequences in improving their cognitive performance and physical literacy.

Maternal-fetal attachment (MFA) represents the evolving psychological bond between a pregnant person and their fetus, reflecting early emotional investment and expectations of the maternal role. Maternal awareness and response to fetal movement are key components of MFA, suggesting that fetal activity may serve as a meaningful cue in the development of maternal representations of the baby. Previous work shows that engaging in fetal movement counting significantly enhances MFA scores, and mothers who perceive greater fetal movements have higher MFA scores compared to those who perceive fewer movements. However, it remains unclear if this association reflects perception alone, or whether associations between objective fetal movement and MFA exist. Therefore, we objectively measured fetal movement alongside MFA in 51 pregnant women (mean age 28.9 years, SD = 6.0) in their third trimester (mean gestational weeks 36.7, SD = 2.2). Fetal movement was objectively measured with a Toitu MT-516 fetal actocardiograph and MFA was assessed using the Prenatal Attachment Inventory-Revised. Greater fetal movement was associated with higher MFA scores, independent of maternal mood, parity, knowledge of fetal sex, and gestational age. Taken together, these findings underscore the relevance of fetal movement within the psychology of pregnancy, suggesting that fetal movement outside of maternal perception may function as a communicative signal to enhance MFA. As maternal-fetal attachment is linked to postpartum bonding and caregiving, understanding these prenatal associations provides insight into how early psychological and relational processes shape postnatal development across the perinatal period.

Background: Over 1 million infants born annually with fetal exposure to HIV and maternal antiretroviral treatment (ART) who remain HIV-uninfected (HEU) are at higher risk of neurodevelopmental delays compared to infants HIV-unexposed (HU).

Objective: We explored the use of brain ultrasound radiomics, specifically texture analysis, as an early imaging neurodevelopmental biomarker, comparing findings by newborn in utero HIV exposure status.

Methods: Brain ultrasound was performed on full-term newborns (≥ 37 weeks gestation) enrolled in a prospective observational study in Botswana. Radiomic ultrasound features, including first-order statistics, run-length, and co-occurrence matrix parameters, were extracted from the basal ganglia and periventricular white matter. Statistical comparisons were conducted based on fetal exposure to maternal HIV. The diagnostic performance of individual features was assessed, and logistic regression was used to combine the features for overall performance evaluation.

Results: Thirty-three infants (HEU: 20, HU: 13) were included in the analysis. The basal ganglia of HEU infants exhibited significantly lower heterogeneity (176.6 ± 10.76 vs. 205.97 ± 13.26, p = 0.04) and entropy (0.37 ± 0.01 vs. 0.41 ± 0.01, p = 0.03), and marginally lower gray level non-uniformity (310.04 ± 15.32 vs. 352.37 ± 24.20, p = 0.06) compared to HU infants, suggesting reduced parenchymal complexity. These combined radiomic features yielded an AUC of 0.72 with a specificity of 0.86. Similar trends were observed in the white matter, where HEU infants demonstrated marginally lower heterogeneity (191.66 ± 14.32 vs. 231.76 ± 17.34, p = 0.06). Gray level non-uniformity and run length non-uniformity were significantly lower in the HEU group (1996.87 ± 157.06 vs. 2487.43 ± 223.67, p = 0.04 and 284.66 ± 20.37 vs. 406.61 ± 47.77, p = 0.01, respectively). The combined white matter model demonstrated an AUC of 0.76 and a sensitivity of 0.86, indicating greater discriminatory power compared to the basal ganglia.

Conclusion: Ultrasound radiomics reveals distinct differences in brain texture between HEU and HU newborns, with significant findings in both basal ganglia and white matter features. These results highlight the potential of radiomics in identifying subtle neuroanatomical variations. Further research is needed to explore the neurodevelopmental implications of these findings.

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine whether infants born to mothers with gestational or pregestational diabetes (IDM) and infants born to mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies have differences in percent body fat at birth, and to examine the relationship between glycemic control in pregnancy and infant body fat.

Study design: Percent body fat was measured in 132 IDM in the well-baby nursery using air displacement plethysmography and compared to a previously published cohort of 249 healthy control infants using t-tests. Linear regression models were used to examine the relationship between maternal glycemic control and infant percent body fat at birth.

Results: The difference in body fat between IDM and infants born to mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies was not clinically significant (12.9 ± 5 % vs 13.9 ± 4 %, p < 0.05). Among IDM, increasing maternal fasting blood glucose values and increasing percentages of elevated post-prandial glucose values were associated with increasing infant percent body fat. (β=0.19 and 0.08 respectively, P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Our cohort of healthy IDM that remained admitted to the term nursery did not have a clinically significant difference in percent body fat compared to control infants born to mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies. Among IDM, elevated maternal glucose levels correlated with increased infant percent body fat, suggesting glycemic control in pregnancy can affect body composition within this population.