John J. Dziak, Donna L. Coffman, Matthew Reimherr, Justin Petrovich, Runze Li, Saul Shiffman, Mariya P. Shiyko.

Source: Statistics Surveys, Volume 13, 150--180.

Abstract:
Researchers are sometimes interested in predicting a distal or external outcome (such as smoking cessation at follow-up) from the trajectory of an intensively recorded longitudinal variable (such as urge to smoke). This can be done in a semiparametric way via scalar-on-function regression. However, the resulting fitted coefficient regression function requires special care for correct interpretation, as it represents the joint relationship of time points to the outcome, rather than a marginal or cross-sectional relationship. We provide practical guidelines, based on experience with scientific applications, for helping practitioners interpret their results and illustrate these ideas using data from a smoking cessation study.

Women and children, especially pregnant women and children 0-2 years of age, are among the groups most vulnerable to food insecurity and chronic malnutrition. This is no different in Mozambique where, according to the FAO Technical Secretariat for Food Security and Nutrition 35% of the population is food insecure and 43% of children under 5 are chronically malnourished. Chronic undernutrition levels [...]

In the first two weeks of the operation, the sports organization's meal program has used almost 25,000 pounds of chicken, 15,000 pounds of potatoes, 10,000 pounds of mixed vegetables and 8,000 pounds of pasta.

The Carolina Panthers have agreed to a four-year, $64 million contract extension with All-Pro Christian McCaffrey, a person familiar with the contract negotiation told The Associated Press, making McCaffrey the highest-paid running back in the NFL.

Rome Newsroom, Apr 30, 2020 / 10:30 am (CNA).- The coronavirus pandemic is telling us that “our health counts more than the economy’s health and that true human fraternity is more valuable and noble than diplomatic success,” a Taiwanese archbishop has said.

Archbishop John Hung Shan-chuan of Taipei spoke to CNA about how the East Asian state has been at the forefront of efforts to halt COVID-19. 

Taiwan was one of the first countries to warn the international community about the risks of the pandemic, although its appeal was not heeded initially by the World Health Organization. 

The country, which has a population of 24 million, has had only 429 documented coronavirus cases and six deaths as of April 30, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Archbishop Hung, who has overseen the archdiocese based in the Taiwanese capital since 2007, explained that the local Church has not faced a crisis because the government has been effective in countering the virus.

Taiwan also sent medical masks and supplies to the Vatican, to be delivered to the poor. Taiwan’s ambassador to the Holy See personally brought 280,000 medical masks to the Vatican and the Italian bishops’ conference, and donated food and supplies to the Papal Almoner.

Although Taipei has been considered a model in countering the pandemic, it has been overshadowed by its powerful neighbor, the People’s Republic of China, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory.

This shadow also extends to Taiwan-Holy See relations. On September 18, 2018, the Holy See signed a confidential agreement with China on the appointment of bishops. The agreement is scheduled to expire in August, and negotiations for its renewal are underway.

Although the Holy See and Taiwan have had uninterrupted ties for almost 80 years, the Holy See is now keeping a low profile in relation to Taiwan, likely in order not to annoy mainland China.

The Holy See press office issued a statement April 9 thanking two Chinese foundations for providing medical supplies to the Vatican Pharmacy. Despite the considerable commitment of Taiwan, the Holy See has not released any official statement thanking Taiwan.  

The archbishop of Taipei, however, emphasized the broader picture and did not complain about the Vatican’s choice.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented global crisis and represents a danger to all humanity,” he said. “No nation, absolutely no nation, can extirpate it by operating alone without the help of other countries.”

“What the world badly needs now is solidarity in action, not self-interest. And it is good that China can provide material aid to other countries on a very large scale.” 

“Thanks to the donations of supplies from China, the Vatican will be able to help many, many poor people in other countries who are forgotten by the politicians and barely reported by the media.”

Archbishop Hung continued: “The Catholic Church in poor countries is waiting for help. And the Vatican will be thankful for any concrete gesture of solidarity, regardless of the political system of the countries as the Church is entrusted with the mission to proclaim the Good News to all nations promoting at the same time a culture of fraternity and peaceful co-existence.”

Turning to Taiwan, he said: “Thanks to the competence of the government authorities and the remarkable support of the population, the people in Taiwan need not deal with emergencies, such as cluster infection. Understandably, no special contribution in terms of material aid to the local population is solicited from Caritas Taiwan.”

But the archbishop highlighted the plight of migrant workers, who ran a high risk of contracting and spreading the coronavirus.

Caritas Taiwan has been very active, the archbishop reported, distributing face masks to fishermen and and-based migrant workers who would not have them otherwise because of government rationing of masks.

“Furthermore,” he said, “in collaboration with other NGOs, Caritas Taiwan also advocates for the protection of migrant workers who are vulnerable to COVID-19 and asked the government to let them overstay in Taiwan, in case their visa is due.”

Archbishop Hung applauded the government for taking preventive measures to counter the pandemic. He stressed that the local bishops’ conference reacted very quickly and “complied with the recommendations and regulations of the ministry of the interior and decided, one by one, to suspend all the indoor Church gatherings, including Mass celebration on weekdays and Sundays, to avoid at all cost any possible infection that could cause death and the closure of the church premises.”

The Catholic Church in Taiwan has livestreamed Masses, while pastors have multiplied their efforts to be close to the faithful via social media and phone.

The archbishop noted that, although Taiwan has diplomatic ties with very few countries, “the Catholic Church is present in every nation,” and therefore “the Church in Taiwan never feels isolated.” 

“On the contrary,” he said, “thanks to the apostolic nunciature and its representative, we truly feel the communion with the Holy Father and with other local churches.”

Meanwhile, the Church in Taiwan is planning for the future. 

Archbishop Hung said: “Our bishops’ conference has been preparing a national evangelization congress since last year, which was initially scheduled for August this year.”

“The congress will gather clergy and laity that will come together to pray, to reflect and to discuss different issues regarding the future of the Catholic Church in Taiwan. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the congress is now postponed to next year.”

He also noted that Taiwan could be a bridge-builder to the Chinese world.

“As a Chinese-speaking bishops’ conference in the Catholic Church, the Church in Taiwan can contribute to the evangelization of the Chinese-speaking people,” he said.

Taiwan’s bishops’ conference collaborates with the dioceses of Hong Kong and Macau to translate the pope’s messages and writings, as well as Vatican documents, into Chinese. 

“Evangelization presupposes inculturation and goes hand in hand with the teaching of the Catholic Faith,” the archbishop said, adding that his bishops’ conference was helping to make “the Catholic Faith relevant to the Chinese-speaking people all over the world.”

Hailed as transitional by local observers, the latest polls were expected to usher in a new type of leadership in FRELIMO, with Filipe Nyussi being the first non-liberation northern leader in a southern dominated elite; they would also see opposition parties RENAMO and MDM alter their strategies and become more politically relevant; and would possibly be the last polls before the country became a mass resource-producing economy. However, the Presidential and parliamentary elections of 15 October have made the political setting, the prospects for improved governance and wealth redistribution more opaque, and the implementation of the new peace agreement harder.

Two OM workers introduce friends to the story of redemption through a trip to Jerusalem.

While praying for her dad to have a spiritual dream, one Muslim background believer dreams of Jesus and surrenders her own life to Him.

When Berlin Brandenburg Airport is put into operation at the end of October 2020, Schönefeld Airport will become Terminal 5 (T5) of BER. In order to avoid duplicate names of terminal sections, gates and car parks at BER, the building and car park infras...

OM Ministry Leader, Lenna Lidstone, discusses how to use Discovery Bible Studies to see vibrant communities of Jesus Followers among the least reached.

CHRISTMAS is coming, the goose is getting fat and there's no wine as flexible with the varied foods of the season than rioja, so let’s take a seasonal look at our favourite Spaniard.

Penn State Shenango's Upcycled Art Contest will be held in conjunction with the campus' annual Earth Fest on Saturday, April 4.

IT is good to see that one of your readers, R Russell Smith, has been enjoying our wildlife and fresh air, having “walked over fields and alongside the burn close to home, enjoying the sunshine and company of lambs gambolling” (Herald letters, May 5).

It is not known whether birth at a pediatric cardiac specialty center or at a hospital with a higher neonatal level of care affects mortality for infants with ductal-dependent congenital heart disease.

For infants with ductal-dependent congenital heart disease, there is no difference in 90-day mortality for those born at specialty centers versus other centers in the state of Washington. (Read the full article)

Very low birth weight (VLBW) male neonates appear to have increased mortality. VLBW female neonates appear to have better long-term outcomes.

VLBW male neonates have increased mortality and poorer neurological outcome. This gender difference appears to disappear at weeks' gestation. (Read the full article)

Prematurely born children have an increased prevalence of behavioral problems in the long term. Knowledge regarding the effects of early intervention programs is sparse, and more randomized controlled trials are warranted.

A modified version of the Mother-Infant Transaction Program showed beneficial effects on behavioral outcomes reported by both parents of preterm infants with birth weights of <2000 g at a corrected age of 5 years. (Read the full article)

Traumatic brain injury in school-aged children is associated with intellectual, behavioral, and social deficits. Research into outcomes of children injured before 3 years of age is limited despite data suggesting a high incidence of injury in this age group.

Results show that a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury before 3 years of age is associated with lowered cognitive function. Furthermore, this study highlights the link between social disadvantage and poor outcomes after traumatic brain injury in early childhood. (Read the full article)

Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with neurobehavioral morbidity in children. Prior related research has generally been cross-sectional or short (ie, 1–2 years) follow-up studies of a single symptom (ie, snoring, obstructive sleep apnea, mouth breathing), with limited control for confounders.

Sleep-disordered breathing was assessed as a trajectory of combined symptoms from 6 months to 69 months, in more than 11 000 children. Sleep-disordered breathing was associated with 40% and 60% more behavioral difficulties at 4 and 7 years, respectively. (Read the full article)

High or low lymphocyte counts at birth have been reported as a marker for subsequent intraventricular hemorrhage, retinopathy of prematurity, and periventricular leukomalacia. However, this conclusion is questionable because reference ranges for lymphocyte counts have not been constructed by using large numbers of neonates.

This study provides reference ranges for lymphocytes of neonates. A high count at birth is associated with early onset sepsis and IVH and a low count with early onset sepsis, IVH, and retinopathy of prematurity. Among neonates with birth asphyxia, a low count identifies a high risk for death. (Read the full article)

Cross-sectional studies have demonstrated associations between the white matter injury and cognitive impairment in very preterm born children. Longitudinal studies confirmed the relationships between cerebral MRI at term and neurodevelopmental outcomes at up to 2 years old.

White matter injury (but not gray matter injury) on term MRI predicted cognitive impairments of very preterm born infants at 9 years old. Qualitative assessment of white matter signal intensities showed limited predictive values of cognitive impairments. (Read the full article)

We lack prospective studies documenting "dosage effects" of chronic child maltreatment for both subsequent adolescent and adult outcomes. It is unknown whether effects are linear, shelving, or exponential, and we lack data across domains of outcomes.

Chronic child maltreatment reports are a robust indicator of future negative health and behavioral outcomes. There is a dose-response relationship between chronicity and outcomes in adolescence, but this is attenuated in adulthood once adverse child outcomes are controlled. (Read the full article)

Information on infant safety after exposure to maternal antiretroviral regimens during pregnancy in international clinical trials is lacking. As antiretroviral drugs are released to populations in resource-limited settings through clinical trials, it becomes critical to collect pediatric outcome data.

The study demonstrates the feasibility of reporting infant outcomes following adult antiretroviral trials in developing countries, provides HIV-free infant survival and prospective growth data in association with maternal parameters, and details morbidity, mortality, and genetic defects following maternal antiretroviral exposure. (Read the full article)

Late-onset hypocalcemia is common in neonates, often presents with seizures or tetany, and is often attributed to transient hypoparathyroidism.

Late-onset hypocalcemia in neonates is often a sign of coexisting vitamin D deficiency and hypomagnesemia and is readily managed with therapy of limited duration, and neonates presenting with tetany or seizures due to hypocalcemia are unlikely to benefit from neuroimaging studies. (Read the full article)

Although morbidity-free survival for preterm infants has remained constant in US NICUs when assessed collectively, morbidity-free survival differs among centers. Center-specific practices before, at, or after delivery might affect outcomes of the most premature infants.

Our findings suggest that the approach taken to infants at the limits of viability is associated with outcomes of more-mature infants. Identifying centers with higher survival and lower morbidity might lead to identification of key practices to improve morbidity-free survival. (Read the full article)

Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is a common cause of meningitis in young infants. Studies from the 1980s revealed that GBS meningitis resulted in substantial mortality and reported that survivors of the infection had a high likelihood of adverse neurodevelopmental outcome.

Contemporary long-term outcomes for children surviving GBS meningitis reveal that 56% are functioning normally. The remainder sustained mild-to-moderate (25%) or severe (19%) neurodevelopmental impairment, highlighting the need for GBS prevention and for ongoing developmental follow-up for GBS meningitis survivors. (Read the full article)

Children in foster care are at elevated risk for adverse outcomes. Placement instability and failure to achieve timely permanence exacerbate that risk. A handful of studies have found that parent-management training is effective in promoting placement stability and timely permanence.

Unlike parent-management training, youth focused interventions have not been systematically evaluated for their impact on placement and permanency outcomes. A mentoring and skills group intervention for preadolescents in foster care demonstrated better placement and permanency outcomes, especially for high-risk subgroups. (Read the full article)

Febrile infants in the first 90 days may have life-threatening serious bacterial infection. Well-appearing febrile infants with serious bacterial infections cannot be distinguished from those without by examination alone. Variation in care resulting in both undertreatment and overtreatment is common.

The systemwide implementation of an evidence-based care process model for the care of febrile infants in Intermountain Healthcare was associated with increased delivery of evidence-based care, improved infant outcomes, and lower costs. This model adopted nationally can improve value. (Read the full article)

Infant malnutrition is known to be associated with behavioral and cognitive impairment throughout childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. However, controlled studies addressing adult outcomes in middle life, including earning potential, educational attainment, and standard of living, are limited.

A discrete episode of moderate to severe malnutrition in infancy, with good rehabilitation thereafter, is associated with lower adult social status and a widening income gap relative to healthy controls, partially attributable to cognitive impairment in the previously malnourished. (Read the full article)

Data suggest that delivery at high-volume, high-technology hospitals reduces neonatal mortality. No study has examined other complications or compared the effects in multiple states by using a study design to control for unmeasured differences in case mix.

The survival benefit to delivering at a high-level NICU between 1995 and 2005 is larger than previously reported and varies between states. The survival benefits affect both extremely and moderately preterm infants. Complication rates were similar between hospital types. (Read the full article)

Eating disorder not otherwise specified (EDNOS) is the most common eating disorder diagnosis. Binge eating disorder, 1 type of EDNOS, is associated with obesity among adults. Little is known about the health outcomes associated with other types of EDNOS.

This is the first study to evaluate the prospective association of full and subthreshold bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, purging disorder, and other EDNOSs with specific mental and physical health outcomes. (Read the full article)

There is evidence from both developed and developing countries that antiretroviral treatment significantly reduces mortality in HIV-infected children. However, in sub-Saharan Africa, numerous health system, financial, and human resource obstacles make delivering quality pediatric HIV care a challenge.

We describe the experience of the Baylor International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative in Malawi, Lesotho, and Swaziland. Despite challenges delivering pediatric treatment in these countries, mortality and clinical outcomes approaching those from developed countries are feasible. (Read the full article)

3,4-Methylenedioxymetham-phetamine (MDMA, ecstasy) is a widely used recreational drug affecting the serotonergic system. Preclinical studies indicate learning/memory problems with fetal exposure. Human infant prenatal exposure was related to alterations in gender ratio and poorer motor development at 4 months.

This is the first study documenting that heavier prenatal 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine exposure predicts poorer infant mental and motor development at 12 months with significant, persistent neurotoxic effects. Language and emotional regulation were unaffected. (Read the full article)

Pediatric obesity is a prevalent public health issue that is associated with medical and physical consequences. Clinic-based interventions for pediatric obesity are effective, but they have limited reach and are costly.

This is the first examination of an empirically informed, scalable treatment of pediatric overweight and obesity delivered in YMCAs. The results indicate that a scalable, community-based pediatric obesity intervention can produce clinically meaningful changes in weight and quality of life. (Read the full article)

Children born late preterm (34–36 weeks’ gestation) are at increased risk of adverse early childhood outcomes compared with term-born children. The impact of the neonatal experience on longer-term outcomes of these infants has not yet been well considered.

This study provides information regarding the development of late preterm infants at 3 years. Late preterm infants who received neonatal intensive or high-dependency care had similar developmental outcomes to children born late preterm who did not receive this care. (Read the full article)

Infant behavioral dysregulation is a common concern, involving irritability, excessive crying, and problems with feeding and sleep. Previous research into its behavioral outcomes has been limited by small cohorts and short follow-up, and findings have been contradictory.

Long-term follow-up of a large cohort showed that infant behavioral dysregulation was a risk factor for maternal-reported behavior concerns at 5 and 14 years, but was unrelated to young adult mental health outcomes. (Read the full article)

Concerns persist about sexual disinhibition after human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of preteenage girls. Self-reported surveys have indicated few anticipated behavior changes after HPV vaccination. Little is known about sexual activity–related clinical outcomes after HPV vaccination.

Utilizing managed care organization electronic data, we evaluated the incidence of adverse outcomes of sexual activity among vaccinated preteenage girls and found little difference between those who received HPV vaccine and those who did not. (Read the full article)

Doxorubicin therapy, effective against many malignancies, is limited by cardiotoxicity. Continuous-infusion doxorubicin, compared with bolus-infusion, reduces early cardiotoxicity in adults. Its effectiveness in reducing late cardiotoxicity in children remains uncertain.

This multicenter randomized trial assessed whether continuous-infusion of doxorubicin in pediatric patients provides long-term cardioprotection or improvement in event-free survival over bolus-infusion in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Continuous-infusion of doxorubicin provided no cardioprotection or improvement in event-free survival. (Read the full article)

Although a number of cross-sectional studies have documented associations between teen dating violence victimization and adverse health outcomes, including sexual risk behaviors, suicidality, substance use, and depression, longitudinal work examining the relationship between victimization and outcomes is limited.

This study is the first to demonstrate the longitudinal associations between teen dating violence victimization and multiple young adult health outcomes in a nationally representative sample. Findings emphasize the need for screening and intervention for both male and female victims. (Read the full article)

Provider training level is associated with lower rates of successful tracheal intubation in selected neonatal settings. However, little is known about the association of training level with tracheal intubation success and adverse events in the PICU.

Our results demonstrate the association of training level on the first attempt and overall success rate as well as the incidence of adverse tracheal intubation–associated events in a large-scale, prospective assessment across 15 academic PICUs. (Read the full article)

Studies of clinically derived samples of infants with failure to thrive have reported that children remain shorter and lighter than their peers at school-age. Enhanced weight gain ("catch-up") in small infants has been linked to subsequent obesity.

Infants with early weight faltering caught up in weight by 2 years, but height gain remained disproportionally slow. Those with weight faltering later in infancy remained shorter and lighter throughout childhood. Anthropometric outcomes of both groups were within population norms at 13 years. (Read the full article)

Guidelines encourage pediatric health care providers to aid in identifying women with postpartum depression but not postpartum anxiety, yet the major life event of childbirth can be anxiety provoking for many women.

During the postpartum hospital stay, anxiety was far more common than depression among breastfeeding women. Anxiety remained more common for the 6 months after childbirth, and was associated with increased health care use and reduced breastfeeding duration, particularly among primiparous women. (Read the full article)

Although it is known that extremely preterm children are at increased risk for cognitive deficits, academic underachievement, and behavioral problems, the frequency and severity of these impairments may decline with advances in neonatal care.

Despite recent changes in obstetric and neonatal management of extremely preterm infants, the rate of neurobehavioral impairments at school age is still too high. (Read the full article)

The remarkable improvement in the survival of extremely premature infants has been well documented. However, there have been few cohort studies large enough to determine the neurodevelopmental outcomes of survivors born at 22 or 23 weeks.

The proportions of unimpaired or minimally impaired were 12.0% at 22 weeks (n = 75) and 20.0% at 23 weeks (n = 245). The outcomes were inferior compared with those for infants born at 24 and 25 weeks, but were improved compared with those in previous studies. (Read the full article)

About one in five 2-year-olds are overweight, with potential adverse outcomes. Early feeding practices lay the foundation for food preferences and eating behavior and may contribute to future obesity risk. High-quality obesity prevention trials commencing in infancy are rare.

In this large randomized controlled trial, anticipatory guidance on the "when, what, and how" of complementary feeding was associated with increased maternal "protective" feeding practices. Differences in anthropometric indicators were in the expected direction but did not achieve statistical significance. (Read the full article)

There is wide variation in testing and treatment of children hospitalized with pneumonia. Limited data are available on diagnostic testing patterns and the association of test utilization with disposition outcomes for children with pneumonia evaluated in the emergency department (ED).

Significant variation exists in testing for pediatric pneumonia. EDs that use more testing have higher hospitalization rates. However, ED revisit rates were not significantly different between high- and low-utilizing EDs, suggesting an opportunity to reduce testing without negatively affecting outcomes. (Read the full article)

The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program-Pediatric has examined 30-day risk-adjusted outcomes in children’s surgery. Because of low event rates, initial efforts yielded valid models that did not meaningfully discriminate outcomes among over 20 participating institutions.

Programmatic growth, sampling algorithm refinement, and hierarchical modeling use have resulted in the ability to reliably discriminate performance among hospitals in multiple domains. We report the first actionable peer-reviewed risk-adjusted, multiinstitutional outcome data in children’s surgery. (Read the full article)