To celebrate 15 years of Google Maps, the popular mapping program gets a redesign, a host of new features, and an installation in New York's Madison Square Park.

Where is the truly disruptive software? Are we stuck with Microsoft Word until the end of eternity? For now, promising companies are usually just gobbled up by their bigger rivals.

Crystal Morey, a 6th grade math teacher at Enumclaw Middle School in Washington, uses learning menus as a differentiation strategy to help students become independent and engaged learners.

A new study finds that even high-achieving middle school students don't apply to New York City's most competitive high schools, raising questions about the power of high school choice.

Mandarin Chinese, French, German, and Vietnamese are also among five most-offered types of dual-language programs, a new federal report shows.

Optimism later in life is protective against a range of health problems. It has commonly been a focus in adolescent mental health promotion. Cross-sectional studies suggest a protective effect against adolescent health risks, but prospective studies have been lacking.

Optimism is somewhat protective against adolescent health risks; the strongest effect was seen against the onset of new depressive symptoms. Its protective effect against heavier substance use and antisocial behavior was modest and only for the highest categories compared to the lowest. Promoting optimism along with other positive aspects of psychological and emotional style has a role in mental health promotion that is likely to be enhanced if an intervention also addresses risk and protective factors in an adolescent's social context. (Read the full article)

Few epidemiological studies, which included varied exposure assessment, have investigated the relation between drinking-water–disinfection byproducts such as trihalomethanes and hypospadias, and their results have been inconclusive.

Little evidence was found for an association between trihalomethanes and hypospadias, but a novel association between water consumption and hypospadias was found. Factors that influence maternal water consumption, or other contaminants in tap or bottled water, might explain this finding. (Read the full article)

Intussusception is the most common cause of intestinal obstruction in young children. To date, there have been no prospective studies that have been able to develop a reliable clinical prediction model to determine which patients are at low risk for intussusception.

This study is the largest prospective cohort study to date to evaluate children with possible intussusception. It includes both univariate and multivariate analyses to develop clinical prediction models for patients at low risk for intussusception. (Read the full article)

Available clinical prediction rules to identify children with cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis at low risk for Lyme meningitis include headache duration, cranial nerve palsy, and percent cerebrospinal fluid mononuclear cells. These rules require independent validation.

These clinical prediction rules accurately identify patients at low risk for Lyme meningitis in our large multicenter cohort. Children at low risk may be considered for outpatient management while awaiting Lyme serology. (Read the full article)

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is the diagnosis for encephalopathy caused by continuous epileptic activity on EEG. It is a well-known cause of morbidity and mortality in critically ill adults and neonates. NCSE is increasingly reported in critically ill children.

We show that NCSE is common in all inpatient settings, not only in the critically ill. Key risk factors that should dramatically increase suspicion of NCSE in clinical practice include a history of convulsive seizure and acute imaging abnormalities. (Read the full article)

The availability of rapid response systems to assist deteriorating patients is the standard of care in children’s hospitals. Metrics for evaluating their effectiveness include cardiac and respiratory arrest rates, rare events that require years of data to show significant improvements.

A proximate outcome for in-hospital mortality among patients receiving rapid response system assistance was developed. This "critical deterioration" metric was eightfold more common than arrests and demonstrated criterion and construct validity, facilitating meaningful evaluation over shorter periods of time. (Read the full article)

Some studies reveal an association between exposure to alcohol consumption in movies and youth drinking, but the evidence is sparse.

Exposure to alcohol consumption in movies is associated with youth binge drinking, is little influenced by cultural differences between countries (Germany, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, and Scotland), and is specific to movie alcohol, not movie smoking, depictions. (Read the full article)

There is a perception among clinicians that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia and/or meningitis result in a greater burden of disease than invasive infections attributed to methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) among very low birth weight (VLBW) infants.

VLBW infants with MRSA and MSSA bacteremia and/or meningitis have equivalent morbidity and mortality. These findings suggest that allocation of resources for prevention and treatment of both MRSA and MSSA infections among VLBW infants should be comparable. (Read the full article)

Emergency contraception is a safe and effective method of pregnancy prevention after unprotected intercourse.

Pharmacies commonly communicate misinformation, both to adolescents and to physicians, concerning who is able to access emergency contraception and through what means. (Read the full article)

Fetus and infants until 3 months of age are unable to metabolize caffeine, which crosses the placenta and in adults has a somnolytic effect. Little is known about the effect of caffeine consumption by pregnant or nursing mothers over infant sleeping.

In this setting where caffeine is largely consumed in pregnancy and by nursing mothers, heavy consumption (≥300 mg/day) did not increase the number of nighttime awakenings by their 3-month-old infants. (Read the full article)

Studies have found that the degree of detail with which palliative care is described and the order in which options are presented can affect end-of-life decisions. None of these studies, though, involved decisions regarding very premature infants.

Unlike other end-of-life decisions, those regarding extremely premature infants are influenced neither by the degree of detail nor order of presentation of management options. Deep-seated values embodied in the reasons given for these choices suggest why they are so robust. (Read the full article)

A wide variety of prescription drugs are prescribed to US children. Although one of the steps in assessing the risk/benefit of therapies in the pediatric population is to understand how they are used, pediatric drug utilization is not well characterized.

By using large prescription databases, this study examines the frequency and patterns of national outpatient drug utilization (acute and chronic medications) in US infants, children, and adolescents for 2002 through 2010. (Read the full article)

Preterm infants from 33 gestational weeks can detect specific shape features (prism and cylinder) by touch (without visual control), and remember them; however, nothing is known about such abilities earlier in development.

The preterm infant, even when very immature (from 28 gestational weeks), is endowed with tactile sensory abilities: the exploration and memorization of an object by touch, the discrimination of a novel object, and the recognition of a familiar object after interference. (Read the full article)

Adolescent dating violence has been studied from the perpetrators' and survivors' perspectives. The risk and protective factors have been explored, and the strength of the association of these factors with adolescent dating violence has been adequately described.

This study assessed the perceptions and practices of school counselors on adolescent dating violence. Knowing school personnel’s practices and perceptions may help researchers and practitioners gain insights into possible ways to alleviate the problem of dating violence in adolescents. (Read the full article)

Ideal empirical antibiotic choices are based on local susceptibility data. These choices are important for ensuring positive patient outcomes, but pediatric-specific data may not be available.

Antibiotic susceptibilities differ by age group within a tertiary-care hospital. Knowing these differences, pediatricians chose empirical antibiotic therapy more likely to be successful. Children with infectious diseases would benefit from reporting of pediatric-specific susceptibility results. (Read the full article)

The outcome of status epilepticus in children depends on the etiology. In otherwise normal children who have ≥1 episodes of unprovoked status epilepticus as part of the evolution of their epilepsy, the seizure and intellectual outcome is unclear.

Based on population-based data and 20 to 30 years’ follow-up of normal children with focal epilepsy, one-third with status epilepticus had recurrence of status. Reassuringly, intelligence, seizure control, and rate of remission were not altered compared with those without status epilepticus. (Read the full article)

Early life nutrition may program pubertal timing. Limited evidence suggests breastfeeding is associated with later puberty and childhood milk consumption with earlier puberty; whether these observations are biologically mediated or confounded by socioeconomic position is unclear.

In a developed non-Western setting with little socioeconomic patterning of pubertal timing, neither breastfeeding nor childhood milk consumption was associated with pubertal timing, suggesting nutritional exposures during potentially critical periods may not have long-term effects on rates of maturation. (Read the full article)

Filling a prescription is the first step in medication adherence. Unfilled prescriptions are a documented component of nonadherence in adult and pediatric emergency departments and family practices. No one has reported the proportion of unfilled prescriptions in pediatric primary care.

This study identifies the proportion of unfilled prescriptions in a large sample of primary care pediatric patients. It describes clinical and demographic factors associated with prescription filling and suggests that electronic prescribing may improve adherence. (Read the full article)

Newborn screening is often seen as a fait accompli, even in programs that ostensibly proceed on the basis of informed choice and parental consent.

The study reports details of parental understanding, perceived ability to make an informed choice, and the availability of choice together with variables predictive of parental assessments of having made an informed choice. (Read the full article)

Several studies have reported inverse associations between fish consumption during pregnancy or later childhood and asthma prevalence. However, because fish can also be highly allergenic, the optimal timing of introduction of fish and the adequate amount in infancy remains unclear.

Introduction of fish between 6 and 12 months but not fish consumption afterward is associated with a lower risk of wheezing whereas no introduction of fish or introduction between 0 and 6 months of life increases the risk of wheezing. (Read the full article)

Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) consumption is associated with childhood obesity risk. Because dietary salt intake is a determinant of fluid consumption in adults, a high-salt diet may predict greater consumption of SSBs and therefore increase obesity risk.

In Australian children, the amount of salt consumed was positively associated with fluid consumption, and predicted the amount of SSB consumed. In addition, SSB consumption was associated with obesity risk, indicating a potential link between salt intake and childhood obesity. (Read the full article)

Children with Lyme and septic arthritis of the knee may present similarly, although septic arthritis requires prompt treatment initiation to avoid joint destruction. Clinicians must make initial management decisions without Lyme serology and bacterial culture results.

Our clinical prediction rule accurately identified patients at low risk for septic arthritis in a Lyme disease–endemic area. In the appropriate clinical context, low-risk patients may be spared invasive testing such as diagnostic arthrocentesis. (Read the full article)

Among adolescents younger than 15, 18% have had sex and 16 000 pregnancies occur annually; among those aged 15 to 17, 30% have had sex and 252 000 get pregnant. Information on the youngest adolescents has not been previously published.

Sexual activity and pregnancy are rare among 10-, 11-, and 12-year-olds, and sex is more likely to be nonconsensual. This arguably represents a different public health issue than sex among older teens, who have a greater need for contraception. (Read the full article)

Forgoing artificial nutrition and hydration in children at the end of life is an acceptable practice under some circumstances. However, there is a paucity of pediatric evidence to guide health care providers’ and parents’ decision-making around this practice.

This study describes experiences of parents whose children died after forgoing artificial nutrition and hydration. All parents were satisfied with their decision and believed their child’s death was peaceful. This study adds to the limited evidence to guide clinical practice. (Read the full article)

Electronic health record (EHR) uptake by US hospitals has been slow, including among children’s hospitals. The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health program, which began in 2011, offers incentives for adoption and meaningful use of EHRs.

Using an annual survey, we evaluated how children’s hospitals have progressed in EHR adoption from 2008 through the start of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health program and assessed their ability to meaningfully use EHRs. (Read the full article)

A low-level risk of intussusception after rotavirus vaccines, ~1 to 2 cases per 100 000 vaccinees, exists in some settings. In the United States, a risk of 1 in 65 000 was excluded, but lower risk could exist.

A persistent clustering of intussusception events 3 to 6 days after dose 1 indicates the possibility of a low-level risk of intussusception of ~0.8 cases per 100 000 vaccinees. The documented benefits of rotavirus vaccine far outweigh this low-level risk of intussusception. (Read the full article)

Self-medication with antibiotics available without prescription is among the main causes of antibiotic misuse in the developing world and is associated with antibiotic resistance. Inappropriate antibiotic prescription is common in children. Patient expectations seem to influence physicians’ advice.

This study demonstrates that even in places where antibiotics are unregulated, improving physician prescribing habits could reduce irrational use overall and also future caregiver-driven misuse. Physician training in adequate antibiotic prescription could be a cost-effective intervention in these settings. (Read the full article)

Medication ingestions are increasing among children despite a number of public health interventions. The majority of these poisonings are related to prescription as opposed to over-the-counter medications.

Rising rates of poisonings in children are strongly correlated with rising use of hypoglycemics, antihyperlipidemics, β-blockers, and opioids among adults. These events are associated with considerable health care utilization, both in terms of emergency department visits and hospital admissions. (Read the full article)

Exemption rates for immunization requirements have until recently been stable in states permitting religious exemptions. States with easy exemption processes have seen higher rates of vaccine-preventable diseases.

In New York, the rate of religious exemptions has increased. Counties with higher rates of exemption have a greater incidence of pertussis. (Read the full article)

Previous studies have shown that nonmedical exemptions (NMEs) to immunization cluster geographically and contribute to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases such as pertussis. The 2010 pertussis resurgence in California has been widely attributed to waning immunity from acellular pertussis vaccines.

This study provides evidence of spatial and temporal clustering of NMEs and clustering of pertussis cases and suggests that geographic areas with high NME rates were also associated with high rates of pertussis in California in 2010. (Read the full article)

Unintentional overdose and emergency department visits secondary to nonmedical use of prescription drugs are on the rise with peak age of onset in midadolescence for these risk behaviors. Also, risk behaviors, such as substance use and violence, tend to cluster.

Approximately 1 in 10 adolescents or young adults using the emergency department endorse nonmedical prescription opioid or sedative use in the past year. Rates of current opioid or sedative prescriptions are low among this group. (Read the full article)

Epidemiologic studies have documented that children’s sleep duration is associated with obesity risk. Experimental studies with adults suggest that short sleep may lead to changes in appetite-regulating hormones and food intake, which could lead to weight gain over time.

This controlled experimental study demonstrates that compared to sleeping less, when children increase sleep, they report decreased caloric intake, have lower fasting leptin levels, and weigh less. Such changes, if maintained, could help prevent excess weight gain over time. (Read the full article)

Increasing numbers of hospitals are instituting 24/7 in-hospital pediatric intensivist coverage. Data regarding patient outcomes are mixed and the impact on housestaff education remains unknown.

This study quantifies the perceived impact of in-hospital attending coverage on pediatric resident and critical care fellow education and also investigates the growing concern that increasing supervision may contribute to housestaff being less well prepared for independent clinical practice. (Read the full article)

Childhood obesity poses a serious threat to human health. Obesity is caused by genetic and environmental factors and linked to type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Pediatric obesity cohorts aim at understanding early events in the pathophysiology of obesity-related complications.

Cohort subjects are examined at consecutive visits, including measurements of glucose tolerance and hormones regulating nutrient handling (enhanced glucose tolerance tests) and body composition (MRI and bioimpedance). Mechanisms causing obese children to progress to type 2 diabetes are delineated. (Read the full article)

Sibship size has been negatively associated with children’s language, cognitive, and academic outcomes. This phenomenon is often explained in terms of resource dilution, wherein more children in the home is associated with fewer parental resources allocated to each child.

The current study identifies a moderator of this relationship. Specifically, if children’s next-in-age older siblings exhibit high levels of cognitive sensitivity then sibship size is not significantly related to children’s vocabulary. (Read the full article)

Concerns have been raised that human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination could lead to riskier behaviors in vaccinated adolescents, but it is unknown whether changes in risk perceptions after vaccination lead to riskier sexual behaviors.

Risk perceptions following HPV vaccination were not associated with subsequent riskier sexual behaviors in sexually experienced and inexperienced young women. These data contribute to the growing evidence that HPV vaccination does not lead to changes in sexual behaviors among adolescents. (Read the full article)

Owing to genetic variability in its metabolism, codeine can lead to fatal toxicity or inadequate treatment in pediatric subpopulations and several guidelines have recommended against its use in children. Little is known about codeine prescribing for children in the United States.

There has been a small decline in pediatric codeine prescriptions overall in emergency departments, but no change in prescription for children who have cough or upper respiratory infection, despite professional recommendations against this practice. Substantial numbers of children are being prescribed codeine annually. (Read the full article)

As technical improvements of pharmacogenetics (PGx) continue to be made, little is known about the perceptions of the public, in particular parents and children, on the topic of PGx.

If PGx testing is for oneself, differences in opinion are due to baseline PGx knowledge, regardless of whether respondents are parents or not. If PGx testing is for children, parents would prioritize their own understanding above their child’s assent. (Read the full article)

Several experimental and observational studies reveal an association between exposure to alcohol consumption in movies and youth drinking, but little is known about the effect of such exposure on drinking onset among low-risk adolescents.

In a longitudinal study, exposure to alcohol consumption in movies was associated with drinking initiation in a sample of adolescents from 6 European countries who had never drunk alcohol and were attitudinally nonsusceptible to future use at the time of exposure. (Read the full article)

Inadequate nutrient intake can compromise a child’s nutritional status, which may affect immune function. Improving dietary intake via a follow-up formula may support appropriate immune responses and improve a child’s ability to resist infection.

Children who consumed an experimental follow-up formula had fewer episodes and shorter duration of acute respiratory infections, as well as less antibiotic treatment, and fewer days missed of day care due to illness. (Read the full article)

Poor health in children is associated with exposure to family violence and disruption. Telomere length has been hypothesized to be a lasting biological indicator of exposure to early adversity and potentially predictive of negative health outcomes throughout the life course.

Telomere length reflects exposure to family violence and disruption and may be an early indicator of the biological impact of early adversity. Children exposed to interpersonal violence and family disruptions had significantly shorter telomeres. Gender moderated these associations. (Read the full article)

To date, studies of adaptive behavior in fragile X syndrome have focused on particular age points, either longitudinally or cross-sectionally across a broad age spectrum. Studies have shown variable patterns in adaptive behavior among people with fragile X syndrome.

This study fills a critical gap in knowledge about the profile of adaptive behavior across childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood in fragile X syndrome. This study is the first to incorporate longitudinal data from an age-matched typically developing group. (Read the full article)

Prescribing patterns in the US pediatric population are changing but not uniformly. A detailed examination of prescription variation is needed to better understand pharmacotherapy of children and to inform future exploration of the causes and consequences of diverse practices.

We examine pediatric pharmacotherapy and quantify payer type differences and small geographic area variation. Substantial payer-type differences and regional variations were found, likely reflecting local practice cultures. Variation was greatest for medications used in situations of diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty. (Read the full article)

There is a generational shift in social norms related to body weight among adult population; little is known about the secular change of paternal perceptions of their child’s weight.

A shift in body norms toward heavier weight statuses exists among parents of children, presenting a vast challenge to family-based childhood obesity prevention. Primary care providers can play a more active role in identifying the children with increased weight. (Read the full article)

Cardiovascular risk begins in childhood. New clinical guidelines established a care strategy for lowering risks. Incorporation of guidelines into routine practice lags due to barriers related to knowledge and attitudes about guidelines, as well as behaviors of practitioners, patients, and clinical systems.

This study demonstrated that a multifaceted approach including tools, education, and support for changes in practice systems can accelerate the adoption of guidelines during routine pediatric well-child visits, compared with dissemination of the guidelines alone. (Read the full article)