iCatcher+: Robust and Automated Annotation of Infants' and Young Children's Gaze Behavior From Videos Collected in Laboratory, Field, and Online Studies.

Technological advances in psychological research have enabled large-scale studies of human behavior and streamlined pipelines for automatic processing of data. However, studies of infants and children have not fully reaped these benefits because the behaviors of interest, such as gaze duration and direction, still have to be extracted from video through a laborious process of manual annotation, even when these data are collected online. Recent advances in computer vision raise the possibility of automated annotation of these video data. In this article, we built on a system for automatic gaze annotation in young children, iCatcher, by engineering improvements and then training and testing the system (referred to hereafter as iCatcher+) on three data sets with substantial video and participant variability (214 videos collected in U.S. lab and field sites, 143 videos collected in Senegal field sites, and 265 videos collected via webcams in homes; participant age range = 4 months-3.5 years). When trained on each of these data sets, iCatcher+ performed with near human-level accuracy on held-out videos on distinguishing "LEFT" versus "RIGHT" and "ON" versus "OFF" looking behavior across all data sets. This high performance was achieved at the level of individual frames, experimental trials, and study videos; held across participant demographics (e.g., age, race/ethnicity), participant behavior (e.g., movement, head position), and video characteristics (e.g., luminance); and generalized to a fourth, entirely held-out online data set. We close by discussing next steps required to fully automate the life cycle of online infant and child behavioral studies, representing a key step toward enabling robust and high-throughput developmental research.

Odor Enrichment Increases Hippocampal Neuron Numbers in Mouse

The hippocampus and olfactory bulb incorporate new neurons migrating from neurogenic regions in the brain. Hippocampal atrophy is evident in numerous neurodegenerative disorders, and altered hippocampal neurogenesis is an early pathological event in Alzheimer's disease. We hypothesized that hippocampal neurogenesis is affected by olfactory stimuli through the neural pathway of olfaction-related memory. In this study, we exposed mice to novel pleasant odors for three weeks and then assessed the number of neurons, non-neuronal cells (mainly glia) and proliferating cells in the hippocampus and olfactory bulb, using the isotropic fractionator method. We found that the odor enrichment significantly increased the neuronal cell numbers in the hippocampus, and promoted cell proliferation and neurogenesis in the olfactory bulb. In contrast, the glial cell numbers remained unchanged in both of the regions. Our results suggest that exposure to novel odor stimuli promotes hippocampal neurogenesis and support the idea that enriched environments may delay the onset or slow down the progression of neurodegenerative disorders.

Exploring Myelin Dysfunction in Multiple System Atrophy

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a rare, yet fatal neurodegenerative disease that presents clinically with autonomic failure in combination with parkinsonism or cerebellar ataxia. MSA impacts on the autonomic nervous system affecting blood pressure, heart rate and bladder function, and the motor system affecting balance and muscle movement. The cause of MSA is unknown, no definitive risk factors have been identified, and there is no cure or effective treatment. The definitive pathology of MSA is the presence of alpha-synuclein aggregates in the brain and therefore MSA is classified as an alpha-synucleinopathy, together with Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. Although the molecular mechanisms of misfolding, fibrillation and aggregation of alpha-synuclein partly overlap with other alpha-synucleinopathies, the pathological pathway of MSA is unique in that the principal site for alpha-synuclein deposition is in the oligodendrocytes rather than the neurons. The sequence of pathological events of MSA is now recognized as abnormal protein redistributions in oligodendrocytes first, followed by myelin dysfunction and then neurodegeneration. Oligodendrocytes are responsible for the production and maintenance of myelin, the specialized lipid membrane that encases the axons of all neurons in the brain. Myelin is composed of lipids and two prominent proteins, myelin basic protein and proteolipid protein. In vitro studies suggest that aberration in protein distribution and lipid transport may lead to myelin dysfunction in MSA. The purpose of this perspective is to bring together available evidence to explore the potential role of alpha-synuclein, myelin protein dysfunction, lipid dyshomeostasis and ABCA8 in MSA pathogenesis.

Collaborative simulation project to teach scope of practice.

Nursing faculty from three schools of nursing collaborated to develop a simulation project to enable nursing students to practice and apply principles, leadership, and culturally competent care. A simulated five-bed hospital was created where students were assigned to teams to plan and care for these patients. After the simulation exercise, students participated in a debriefing session in which they reflected on their performance.

Integrating evidence-based practice in the child mental health agency: a template for clinical and organizational change.

This article describes a linked set of activities designed to address the present "science-to-service" gap in evidence-based practice from the perspective of the nonprofit child mental health agency: (a) implementing "systems-of-care" principles; (b) logic modeling; (c) strategic partnerships with external researchers; (d) selective, in-depth program evaluation; (e) critical comparison with a limited number of evidence-based practice models of national significance; and (f) internal and external dissemination activities oriented to evidence-based practice. Implications are drawn both for continuous quality improvement of existing clinical services and for the potential for agencies to contribute high quality, science-based information to child mental health services, singly and through the future development of a national network of experimenting child mental health agencies.

Cefazolin versus cefazolin plus metronidazole for antibiotic prophylaxis at cesarean section.

BACKGROUND: Although prophylactic antibiotic medications have been shown to reduce the incidence of postoperative infectious morbidity after cesarean delivery, the most effective regimens have not been established. The purpose of this investigation was to compare the efficacy and costs of prophylaxis with cefazolin alone with cefazolin plus metronidazole. METHODS: Women undergoing cesarean delivery were randomized to prophylaxis with 2 g cefazolin (n = 81) or 1 g cefazolin plus 500 mg metronidazole (n = 79). Postoperative infectious morbidity and the duration of hospitalization in the two groups were compared. RESULTS: Thirty-seven (23%) of 160 patients developed endomyometritis. There was a significant reduction in the number of postoperative infections (14 versus 32%) and hospital days (3.12 versus 4.46) with cefazolin and metronidazole prophylaxis (P = 0.0064 versus P = 0.014) compared with cefazolin alone. The estimated antibiotic prophylaxis cost per person was less with cefazolin and metronidazole than with cefazolin alone (9.12 dollars versus 26.73 dollars). CONCLUSION: Antibiotic prophylaxis with metronidazole and cefazolin results in fewer postoperative infections, decreased duration of hospitalization, and lower medication cost than cefazolin alone.