Adolescents and young adults consume a significant amount of health care resources in our current medical system. With the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a much larger number of previously uninsured young adults (aged ≥19) will be covered.

The Military Health System provides valuable information about the health utilization patterns of adolescents and young adults (aged 12–22) with universal insurance and excellent access to care. This information may help us understand the impact of new health care legislation. (Read the full article)

The period of transition from childhood to adulthood and the period immediately after transfer of care is a challenging time for young people with kidney failure.

Young patients with kidney failure cared for exclusively in adult-oriented facilities experience increased rates of avoidable hospitalizations during late adolescence and young adulthood. Avoidable hospitalizations increased among pediatric kidney failure patients during the years immediately after transfer to adult care. (Read the full article)

There is growing understanding of the detrimental effect of paternal depression on children. The transition to fatherhood is a unique time for men. Identifying which fathers are at-risk and when will inform effective methods to help men and their families.

Nonresident fathers have the highest depression symptom scores, peaking before entering fatherhood. Although resident fathers’ scores decrease preceding entry into fatherhood, there is a significant increase from 0 to 5 years of their child’s life when key parent–infant attachment occurs. (Read the full article)

Injuries in children and young adults commonly cause morbidity and mortality. Epilepsy is common among children. Injury risk may be greater among those with epilepsy, but there are few large, population-based studies, making it difficult to estimate risk.

Children and young adults with epilepsy are at a greater risk of medicinal poisonings, thermal injuries, and fractures than those without epilepsy. Young adults with epilepsy are at particularly high risk of medicinal poisonings. (Read the full article)

Adolescents with chronic disease are a diverse population with common needs for transition. Disease-specific interventions have shown promise at improving patient outcomes but with substantial personnel and resource costs. Whether a generic approach across diseases may be useful is unknown.

This study is among the first to evaluate a generic (across disease) approach to transition of adolescents to adult care. The approach demonstrated promise and cost savings due to reduced personnel requirement and use of low-cost technology dissemination methods. (Read the full article)

Electronic cigarettes have unknown health risks and youth and young adults increasingly use them. E-cigarette companies are marketing e-cigarettes using television ads. The content of these ads may appeal to young people because they emphasize themes of independence and maturity.

E-cigarette companies advertise to a broad television audience that includes 24 million youth. The reach and frequency of these ads increased dramatically between 2011 and 2013. If current trends continue, youth awareness and use of e-cigarettes are likely to increase. (Read the full article)

Preterm birth has been associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in infancy, but the longer-term risk is unknown.

In a large national cohort, low gestational age at birth was associated with increased risk of VTE in infancy, early childhood, and young adulthood. These findings call for better awareness of the long-term risk of VTE among preterm birth survivors. (Read the full article)

Partner violence victimization is associated with mental and behavioral health effects linked to weight gain. Childhood maltreatment is directly linked to obesity and associated with neuroanatomic and psychosocial changes, which heighten vulnerability to subsequent stressors.

This study finds that dating violence victimization is associated with greater increases in BMI from adolescence to young adulthood among women. Women with previous exposure to childhood sexual abuse are especially vulnerable to dating violence–related increases in BMI. (Read the full article)

Puberty suppression has rapidly become part of the standard clinical management protocols for transgender adolescents. To date, there is only limited evidence for the long-term effectiveness of this approach after gender reassignment (cross-sex hormones and surgery).

In young adulthood, gender dysphoria had resolved, psychological functioning had steadily improved, and well-being was comparable to same-age peers. The clinical protocol including puberty suppression had provided these formerly gender-dysphoric youth the opportunity to develop into well-functioning young adults. (Read the full article)

Preterm birth and faster infant growth have been identified as independent risk factors for autism-spectrum disorders (ASD). However, associations between prematurity and ASD-related traits as a continuum and effects of infant growth among those born preterm are still little studied.

VLBW young adults reported higher levels of ASD-related traits, particularly traits related to poorer social skills. Within the VLBW group, faster growth in weight, height, and head circumference from birth to term was associated with lower levels of ASD-related traits. (Read the full article)

Youth in foster care are at higher risk of health problems at entrance and during their stays in care. Little is known about this group’s risk of health problems in young adulthood, in comparison with other populations of young adults.

This is the first prospective study to our knowledge demonstrating that former foster youth are at higher risk of chronic health problems than economically secure and insecure general population young adults. (Read the full article)

Studies have shown that reciprocal vocalizations between mother and infant have positive effects on language development. It has been shown that girls acquire vocabulary and language skills earlier than boys.

Mothers more readily respond to their infant’s vocal cues than fathers, and infants show a preferential vocal response to their mothers in the first months of life. Mothers respond preferentially to infant girls versus boys at birth and 44 weeks. (Read the full article)

Prenatal alcohol exposure can cause congenital neuropsychological and behavioral disabilities in later life. These usually lead to secondary disabilities (adverse outcome when the individual interacts with environmental settings), such as problems with school, the law, alcohol, or drugs.

This was a 30-year psychosocial register–based follow-up on adults with fetal alcohol syndrome and state care comparison group. The FAS-group had lower education and higher rates of unemployment, social welfare, and mental health problems than peers. Rates of criminality did not differ. (Read the full article)

Fasting insulin levels in childhood are increasingly being used as a surrogate for insulin resistance and risk of later type 2 diabetes, despite only a moderate correlation with whole-body insulin sensitivity and few data related to adult outcomes.

Elevated insulin values between the ages of 3 and 6 years are associated with an elevated risk for later type 2 diabetes. In 9- to 18-year-olds, elevated BMI (but not insulin values) is associated with later type 2 diabetes. (Read the full article)

Adults born very preterm or with very low birth weight have a lower likelihood of leaving their childhood home, and starting romantic relationships, and are older when experiencing first intercourse or having their first child than their term-born peers.

Compared with term-born individuals, those born preterm perceived themselves less attractive and were less likely to have cohabited or experienced first-time sexual intercourse by young adulthood. This outcome indicates that social outcomes are different among preterm-born individuals. (Read the full article)

More than 70% of all preterm deliveries are late preterm (34–36 weeks of gestation). Existing evidence suggests that compared with those born at term, those born late preterm score lower on neurocognitive tests in childhood and young adulthood.

The effect of late preterm birth on neurocognitive performance persists up to late adulthood, especially among those who have only a basic or upper secondary level of education. Late preterm birth is also associated with a risk of memory impairments. (Read the full article)

Early-life lower respiratory illnesses, including pneumonia, are associated with increased prevalence of asthma and diminished lung function in children. Whether early-life pneumonia is associated with subsequent impaired lung function and asthma in adults is not yet clear.

This is the first article providing strong data for an association between early-life pneumonia in an outpatient setting and airflow limitation and asthma into adulthood, supporting the hypothesis of the early-life origins of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. (Read the full article)

Youth drinking is associated with adult drinking. Alcohol policies can influence youth and adult drinking. However, it is unknown whether alcohol policies influence youth drinking patterns directly or through their effect on adult drinking.

Alcohol policies, including population-oriented policies, are protective for youth drinking. The effect of population-oriented policies may be mediated though effects on adults. These findings suggest that efforts to reduce youth drinking should rely on policies that address all age groups. (Read the full article)

Pediatric patients suffer higher mortality due to the shortage of transplantable organs. Factors influencing families’ donation decisions are similar for pediatric and adult patients. However, the general perception that families of pediatric patients are less willing to donate persists.

Communication emerged as a critical factor of family authorization, reinforcing its importance in the organ donation process. Patient age (ie, adult versus pediatric) was not predictive of family authorization. (Read the full article)

Children born very preterm (VP) or with very low birth weight (VLBW) are at risk for cognitive deficits and low IQ in childhood. Recent evidence indicates that IQ discrepancies between VP/VLBW and term-born individuals are still found in adulthood.

Development of cognitive function is more stable for VP/VLBW than term-born individuals from infancy into adulthood and can be predicted fairly well from age 20 months onward. However, when adults with cognitive impairment are excluded, group differences in stability disappear. (Read the full article)

Unmet health care need in adolescence is associated with poor contemporaneous health outcomes. Adolescence is increasingly recognized as an important stage of the life-course, when there may be a significant opportunity for health care interventions to improve later health outcomes.

The odds of adverse adult health outcomes were 13% to 52% higher among subjects who had reported unmet health care need in adolescence, compared with subjects with similar adolescent health outcomes, insurance coverage, and sociodemographic background but no unmet need. (Read the full article)

Childhood inflammatory mediators are associated with adult obesity, but the stimuli that initiate and perpetuate chronic inflammation start in early life are largely unknown.

Childhood infection-related hospitalization was independently associated with adverse adult metabolic variables, which suggests that infections and/or their treatment in childhood may contribute to causal pathways leading to adult cardiometabolic diseases. (Read the full article)

Children born preterm at very low birth weight have reduced lung function. Reduced lung function may extend to adult life, but to what extent this outcome is attributable to bronchopulmonary dysplasia and other prenatal and neonatal conditions is not known.

Young adults born preterm at very low birth weight had impaired airflow. This finding suggests an increased risk of later obstructive airways disease and was observed also among those with no bronchopulmonary dysplasia, regardless of other prenatal and neonatal complications. (Read the full article)

Twenty-two students recently graduated from Penn College at Wellsboro’s practical nursing program, the first to fulfill their requirements at a facility dedicated in May.

The new analysis significantly increases the annual estimate of undocumented high school students earning diplomas that has long been used in debates about immigration and special protections for immigrant youth who were illegally brought to the U.S. as children.

The HUB-Robeson Galleries are proud to present "moments," an online thesis exhibition of photography by Zsuzsanna Nagy, a second-year master of fine arts student in photography.

Stuckeman School graduate student Debora Verniz, who is a doctoral candidate in architecture, has been awarded the 2020 Alumni Association Dissertation Award from the Graduate School at Penn State for her research work in planning affordable housing structures in low-income areas.

Gabriella Pinto provides a great example of what undergraduate research can do for a student. The Penn State food science major, who graduates this month, is headed for a good job armed with a wealth of experience and knowledge from her research, which gives her a leg up on her career.

Background: This study summarizes drug resistance analyses in 4 recent phase 2b trials of the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) fusion inhibitor presatovir in naturally infected adults.

Methods: Adult hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients, lung transplant recipients, or hospitalized patients with naturally acquired, laboratory-confirmed RSV infection were enrolled in 4 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies with study-specific presatovir dosing. Full-length RSV F sequences amplified from nasal swabs obtained at baseline and postbaseline were analyzed by population sequencing. Substitutions at RSV fusion inhibitor resistance-associated positions are reported.

Results: Genotypic analyses were performed on 233 presatovir-treated and 149 placebo-treated subjects. RSV F variant V127A was present in 8 subjects at baseline. Population sequencing detected treatment-emergent substitutions in 10/89 (11.2%) HCT recipients with upper and 6/29 (20.7%) with lower respiratory tract infection, 1/35 (2.9%) lung transplant recipients, and 1/80 (1.3%) hospitalized patients treated with presatovir; placebo-treated subjects had no emergent resistance-associated substitutions. Subjects with substitutions at resistance-associated positions had smaller decreases in viral load during treatment relative to those without, but similar clinical outcomes.

Conclusions: Subject population type and dosing regimen may have influenced RSV resistance development during presatovir treatment. Subjects with vs without genotypic resistance development had decreased virologic responses but comparable clinical outcomes.

BACKGROUND:

The association of dietary fat distribution with markers of subclinical atherosclerosis during early life is unknown. We examined whether success in achieving the main target of an infancy-onset dietary intervention based on the distribution of dietary fat was associated with aortic and carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and distensibility from childhood to young adulthood.

BACKGROUND:

Elevated non–high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) levels are used to identify children at increased cardiovascular risk, but the use of non–HDL-C in childhood to predict atherosclerosis is unclear. We examined whether the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute classification of youth non–HDL-C status predicts high common carotid artery intima-media thickness in adulthood.

Young adults born prematurely with very low birth weight (≤1500 g) have higher blood pressure than do their counterparts born at term. We tested whether they also have higher blood pressure reactivity to psychosocial stress, which may be a more-specific predictor of long-term cardiovascular morbidity. Systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels for 44 very low birth weight adults (mean age: 23.1 years; SD: 2.3 years) and 37 control subjects (mean age: 23.6 years; SD: 2.0 years) were measured through noninvasive finger photoplethysmography during a standardized psychosocial stress challenge (Trier Social Stress Test). Baseline and task values and their difference (ie, reactivity) served as outcome variables. In comparison with the control group, the very low birth weight group had 7.9 mm Hg higher diastolic blood pressure during the task and 4.8 mm Hg higher diastolic reactivity, with adjustment for gender and age, height, and BMI at testing. A similar trend was seen for systolic blood pressure during the baseline period and the task, but the group differences were not statistically significant. Our results indicate that very low birth weight is associated with elevated blood pressure reactivity to psychosocial stress and, therefore, may increase the risk of cardiovascular morbidity.

Penn State Abington students involved in undergraduate research quickly designed ways to present their findings online. It mirrors a global effort as many academic conferences transitioned to online due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The intercollege minor in entrepreneurship and innovation (ENTI) continues to spread its influence as it graduates its largest number of students this spring with 153 across eight clusters.

Penn State Behrend graduate Abraham Berhane lived in a refugee camp after fleeing his home in Eritrea. “When we came to Erie, we started our life from zero,” he said.

Penn State Brandywine’s spring graduates will celebrate their milestone achievement on Saturday, May 9 with a University-wide virtual commencement ceremony and video conferencing with campus faculty and staff.

The Infinite

Tom Nigl, doctoral candidate in materials science and engineering (MatSE), was awarded the Intercollege Graduate Student Outreach Achievement Award from the Graduate School for outreach efforts that promote science within society.

Dylan Fredricey, a senior majoring in rehabilitation and human services, has been chosen as the recipient of the Outstanding Adult Learner of the Year award for Penn State Wilkes-Barre.

Penn State Wilkes-Barre’s sixth annual Celebration of Scholarship, an undergraduate research poster contest, was held virtually for the first time this year, with the winners honored during an online ceremony held May 1.

Debra Roach, director of workforce development and continuing education at Penn State Beaver, has been honored with the 2020 Shirley Hendrick Award, presented by the Penn State Commission for Adult Learners for service to adult learners.

Come May 18, College of Education student Gabriela Marsh will commission as second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps. She graduated from Officers Candidate School in August 2019, completed her senior year at Penn State in the Navy ROTC program and commissions with the Marines in mid-May.

Too many districts that use a lot of credit recovery to enable students to finish high school don't have sufficient policy safeguards to ensure that those catch-up courses are high quality, according to a new report.

DOVER – Governor John Carney and Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA) Director Anas Ben Addi announced the launch of a new homeownership program for recent college graduates at an event recognizing Homeownership Month. The new program, Homes for Grads, will offer discounted rates on DSHA’s down payment assistance loans for homebuyers who have graduated college […]

To prepare to view the University's virtual commencement ceremony on May 9, graduates and guests may on Thursday and Friday test the livestream and confirm that browser settings are adjusted to view the livestream.

Mark Alpert made a generous gift $200,000 in memory of his late wife, Claire, to establish the Mark E. and Claire L. Alpert Graduate Fellowship in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Penn State.

Graduating members of Penn State Scranton’s Lambda Pi Eta Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter received their honor cords recently during a virtual celebration. Lambda Pi Eta is the official honor society of the National Communication Association and currently, the only academic honor society at Penn State Scranton.

Tamil Nadu has announced major relaxations in coronavirus lockdown guidelines starting Monday, including re-opening of standalone and neighbourhood shops and private companies.