"It's not just the medical aspects that are important": A qualitative exploration of first-time parents' experiences of antenatal imaging and their influence on parent-fetal bonding.

INTRODUCTION: Antenatal imaging provides clinical information regarding fetal growth and development. The additional benefit afforded by imaging for expectant parents in developing an emotional connection (bond) to the unborn baby is also acknowledged. However, the relationship between imaging and bonding is not fully understood, particularly where there are differing parental and pregnancy circumstances, for example use of advanced imaging techniques or the prenatal diagnosis of a congenital fetal condition. This study aimed to explore the role of antenatal imaging in enhancing the developing parent-fetal bond in first-time parents. METHODS: A descriptive, qualitative methodology was used. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with first-time expectant parents attending a London hospital for clinical ultrasound (n = 20) or research MRI (n = 8) imaging during pregnancy. The sample included parents receiving specialist antenatal care for a diagnosed fetal cardiac condition (n = 8). Thematic analysis was conducted. RESULTS: The analysis generated three themes: 1) Our baby, our scan too; 2) Destination parenthood; and 3) Being in the dark, then finding the light. These themes highlight the important, but transient role of antenatal imaging in enhancing parent-fetal bonding, as well as the differing care needs of expectant parents. The integral role of healthcare professionals in providing a personalised, supportive, imaging experience to facilitate bonding is also reflected. CONCLUSION: Adopting parent-centred care approaches which involve expectant parents in fetal imaging influences bonding by helping parents to consider the reality of their impending parenthood. Knowledge acquired during scans is used to create an identity for the unborn baby, which parents can develop an emotional connection to. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: To optimise the potential for enhanced parent-fetal bonding, care provision in fetal imaging should be tailored to the individual needs of expectant parents.

A category contingent aftereffect for faces labelled with different religious affiliation is seen 7 days after adaptation.

Visual adaptation occurs after a prolonged exposure to a stimulus. The duration of aftereffects differs across stimuli type, and face aftereffects may be especially long lasting. The current study investigates adaptation decay of category contingent opposing aftereffects. Specifically, we tested whether naïve undergraduate participants' adaptation to photos of faces with explicit religious labels, differed from that of participants who had adapted to the same faces 7 days previously. We also tested whether 7-day old category-contingent opposing aftereffects interfere with the ability to re-adapt to a new condition. In Session 1, undergraduates made attractiveness preference selections before and after adapting to two groups of distorted faces. Participants then returned 7 days later to re-assess the attractiveness of the same faces. Participants were then adapted to the two groups of faces distorted in the opposite direction. Adaptation strength was stronger in Session 1 than in Session 2, although adaptation strength was not related to pre-adaptation selections. Week-old aftereffects interfered with the creation of aftereffects in the opposite direction 7 days later.

"It has been the most difficult time in my career": A qualitative exploration of UK obstetric sonographers' experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: Substantial changes were made to the provision of pregnancy ultrasound services during the COVID-19 pandemic with the intention of minimising virus transmission and maintaining service continuity. Published literature describing the impact of the pandemic on obstetric sonographers is predominantly quantitative in nature, however statistics cannot fully convey sonographers' voices. This study aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the lived experiences of UK obstetric sonographers performing pregnancy ultrasound scans during the pandemic. METHODS: A UK-wide, online, anonymous cross-sectional survey on Qualtrics XM™ was open to responses between 9th March and 6th May 2021. Whilst this survey contained some quantitative elements, open questions were included to capture additional qualitative detail from respondents about their perceptions and experiences of scanning during the pandemic. Key themes were generated from free text responses using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Written responses were received from 111/138 sonographers participating in the survey. Five themes were generated, depicting the impact of the pandemic on obstetric sonographers: 1) continuity in a crisis; 2) decisions about me, without me; 3) battle scars - the lasting damage of COVID-19; 4) what people think I do vs. what I really do; and 5) the human touch. A cross-cutting theme was sonographers' feelings of disconnection from senior figures and expectant parents which created a sense of abandonment and distrust. CONCLUSION: Survey respondents' self-reported experiences of ineffective leadership and management, and perceived lack of understanding of the complexity of the sonographer role are potential contributory factors in the high levels of moral injury and occupational burnout reported within the workforce during the pandemic.

Longitudinal MRI Evaluation of Brain Development in Fetuses with Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia around the Time of Fetal Endotracheal Occlusion.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Congenital diaphragmatic hernia is associated with high mortality and morbidity, including evidence suggesting neurodevelopmental comorbidities after birth. The aim of this study was to document longitudinal changes in brain biometry and the cortical folding pattern in fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia compared with healthy fetuses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study including fetuses with isolated congenital diaphragmatic hernia between January 2007 and May 2019, with at least 2 MR imaging examinations. For controls, we used images from fetuses who underwent MR imaging for an unrelated condition that did not compromise fetal brain development and fetuses from healthy pregnant women. Biometric measurements and 3D segmentations of brain structures were used as well as qualitative and quantitative grading of the supratentorial brain. Brain development was correlated with disease-severity markers. RESULTS: Forty-two fetuses were included, with a mean gestational age at first MR imaging of 28.0 (SD, 2.1) weeks and 33.2 (SD, 1.3) weeks at the second imaging. The mean gestational age in controls was 30.7 (SD, 4.2) weeks. At 28 weeks, fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia had abnormal qualitative and quantitative maturation, more extra-axial fluid, and larger total skull volume. By 33 weeks, qualitative grading scores were still abnormal, but quantitative scoring was in the normal range. In contrast, the extra-axial fluid volume remained abnormal with increased ventricular volume. Normal brain parenchymal volumes were found. CONCLUSIONS: Brain development in fetuses with congenital diaphragmatic hernia around 28 weeks appears to be delayed. This feature is less prominent at 33 weeks. At this stage, there was also an increase in ventricular and extra-axial space volume.

Belief that addiction is a discrete category is a stronger correlate with stigma than the belief that addiction is biologically based.

BACKGROUND: Drug addiction is stigmatized, and this stigma contributes to poor outcomes for individuals with addiction. Researchers have argued that providing genetic explanations of addiction will reduce stigma, but there has been limited research testing this prediction. METHODS: We presented participants (N = 252) with news articles that either provided genetic or anti-genetic explanations of addiction. RESULTS: There was no effect of article condition on stigma. Participants' biological essentialism correlated with stigma in the context of both opioid and methamphetamine addiction. However, participants' non-biological essentialism was a significantly stronger correlate with stigma. CONCLUSIONS: This suggests that other essentialist beliefs, like belief that categories are discrete, may be more useful than biological essentialism for understanding addiction stigma.

Opposing aftereffects between a White male face set and a diverse face set.

Opposing aftereffects have been observed for faces categorized by gender, race, and age. In order to form opposing aftereffects, it appears that the two face sets must be both physically distinct and differ in terms of social meaning. The current study tests whether (1) a face set that is diverse with respect to sex and race can produce a coherent aftereffect and (2) whether this diversity itself is socially meaningful enough to support opposing aftereffects. Participants adapted to a homogenous face set consisting of only White male Republican congressmen and a diverse face set consisting of White, Asian, Black, and Latino male and female Democratic congress members. Opposing aftereffects were observed: participants adapted simultaneously and in opposite directions to the face sets. These results are the first evidence of adaptation to a face set that varies based on race and sex, and the first evidence of diversity being perceived as a socially meaningful category marker.

Kidney morphology in pregnancy using T2-weighted MRI.

AIM: To report the morphology of maternal kidneys captured on fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) including kidney length, volume, renal pelvis diameter, and corticomedullary differentiation in pregnancy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study of maternal kidney morphology captured incidentally on fetal MRI. Women without chronic kidney disease, with a complete view of both kidneys and a singleton pregnancy were included. Kidney length, maximal renal pelvis diameter, kidney volume, and corticomedullary differentiation ratio were measured independently in duplicate. Associations with maternal and pregnancy variables were explored using linear regression. RESULTS: MRI images from 42 women were performed at 22-32 weeks' gestation. Serum creatinine concentrations are not checked routinely during pregnancy and were available for 15 (36%) women, with a median creatinine of 57 µmol/l (IQR: 50-63 µmol/l). Mean interpolar lengths were 10.9 and 10.4 cm for the left and right kidneys and varied with height. Mean maximal renal pelvis diameters were 9 mm and 12 mm, with upper reference intervals of 17 and 25 mm for the left and right kidneys, respectively. Renal volume in pregnancy was within the non-pregnant reference interval and varied with height and gestation. CONCLUSIONS: Maternal kidney length and volume in pregnancy are within the normal reference intervals for non-pregnant women. Renal pelvis diameter in pregnancy measured using MRI is substantially higher than described previously by ultrasound, with implications for routine reporting.

Implementing the 4R and 9H regimens for TB preventive treatment in Indonesia.

BACKGROUND: The implementation of tuberculosis preventive treatment (TPT) is challenging especially in resource-limited settings. As part of a Phase 3 trial on TPT, we described our experience with the use of rifampicin for 4 months (4R) and isoniazid for 9 months (9H) in Indonesia.METHODS: In 2011-2017, children and adults with latent TB infection were randomised to either 4R or 9H and followed until 16 months after randomisation for children and 28 months for adults. The primary outcome was the treatment completion rate. Secondary outcomes were Grade 3-5 adverse events (AEs), active TB occurrence, and health costs.RESULTS: A total of 157 children and 860 adults were enrolled. The 4R treatment completion rate was significantly higher than that of 9H (78.7% vs. 65.5%), for a rate difference of 13.2% (95% CI 7.1-19.2). No Grade 3-5 AEs were reported in children; in adults, it was lower in 4R (0.4%) compared to 9H (2.8%). The incidence of active TB was lower with 4R than with 9H (0.09/100 person-year vs. 0.36/100 person-year) (rate difference: -0.36/100 person-year). The total cost per patient was lower for the 4R regimen than for the 9H regimen (USD151.9 vs. USD179.4 in adults and USD152.9 vs. USD206.5 in children)CONCLUSIONS: Completion and efficacy rates for 4R were better than for 9H. Compared to 9H, 4R was cheaper in all age groups, safer in adults and equally safe in children. The Indonesian TB program could benefit from these benefits of the 4R regimen.

Distinct Biological Motion Perception in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Meta-Analysis.

If neurotypical people rely on specialized perceptual mechanisms when perceiving biological motion, then one would not expect an association between task performance and IQ. However, if those with ASD recruit higher order cognitive skills when solving biological motion tasks, performance may be predicted by IQ. In a meta-analysis that included 19 articles, we found an association between biological motion perception and IQ among observers with ASD but no significant relationship among typical observers. If the task required emotion perception, then there was an even stronger association with IQ in the ASD group.

The development of template-based facial expression perception from 6 to 15 years of age.

When perceiving emotional facial expressions, adults use a template-matching strategy, comparing the perceived face with a stored representation. A rejection of unnaturally exaggerated faces is characteristic of this strategy because the exaggerated expressions do not match the stored template. In contrast, a rule-based perceptual strategy (e.g., wide eyes indicate surprise) would be more tolerant of exaggeration. The current study uses exaggeration tolerance to test the expression perception strategies of children from 6 to 15 years of age. In Experiment 1, 62 (38 male) participants viewed pairs of happy or sad faces varying in exaggeration and selected the face that looked closest to how a happy (or sad) person really looks. With age, children became less likely to choose the more exaggerated expression. In Experiment 2, this result was replicated with each of the six basic emotions. Sixty-six children (26 male, 50 Caucasian, 10 mixed-race, four Indian, two unidentified) from 6 to 15 years of age completed the same experimental tasks as Experiment 1 for all six emotions. Again, with age children became less likely to choose the more exaggerated face. The results from both experiments suggest that the development of an adult-like template-matching strategy lasts into adolescence. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

A Uniform Description of Perioperative Brain MRI Findings in Infants with Severe Congenital Heart Disease: Results of a European Collaboration.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A uniform description of brain MR imaging findings in infants with severe congenital heart disease to assess risk factors, predict outcome, and compare centers is lacking. Our objective was to uniformly describe the spectrum of perioperative brain MR imaging findings in infants with congenital heart disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Prospective observational studies were performed at 3 European centers between 2009 and 2019. Brain MR imaging was performed preoperatively and/or postoperatively in infants with transposition of the great arteries, single-ventricle physiology, or left ventricular outflow tract obstruction undergoing cardiac surgery within the first 6 weeks of life. Brain injury was assessed on T1, T2, DWI, SWI, and MRV. A subsample of images was assessed jointly to reach a consensus. RESULTS: A total of 348 MR imaging scans (180 preoperatively, 168 postoperatively, 146 pre- and postoperatively) were obtained in 202 infants. Preoperative, new postoperative, and cumulative postoperative white matter injury was identified in 25%, 30%, and 36%; arterial ischemic stroke, in 6%, 10%, and 14%; hypoxic-ischemic watershed injury in 2%, 1%, and 1%; intraparenchymal cerebral hemorrhage, in 0%, 4%, and 5%; cerebellar hemorrhage, in 6%, 2%, and 6%; intraventricular hemorrhage, in 14%, 6%, and 13%; subdural hemorrhage, in 29%, 17%, and 29%; and cerebral sinovenous thrombosis, in 0%, 10%, and 10%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A broad spectrum of perioperative brain MR imaging findings was found in infants with severe congenital heart disease. We propose an MR imaging protocol including T1-, T2-, diffusion-, and susceptibility-weighted imaging, and MRV to identify ischemic, hemorrhagic, and thrombotic lesions observed in this patient group.

Early Attention to Animacy: Change-Detection in 11-Month-Olds.

Adults are faster and more accurate at detecting changes to animate compared to inanimate stimuli in a change-detection paradigm. We tested whether 11-month-old children detected changes to animate objects in an image more reliably than they detected changes to inanimate objects. During each trial, infants were habituated to an image of a natural scene. Once the infant habituated, the scene was replaced by a scene that was identical except that a target object was removed. Infants dishabituated significantly more often if an animate target had been removed from the scene. Dishabituation results suggested that infants, like adults, preferentially attend to animate rather than to inanimate objects.

Children's Perception of Animacy: Social Attributions to Moving Figures.

Adults describe abstract shapes moving in a goal-directed manner using animate terms. This study tested which variables affect school-aged children's descriptions of moving geometrical shapes. Children aged 5 to 9 years were shown displays of interacting geometrical shapes and were asked to describe them. Across participants, instructions, number of moving figures, whether a figure caught another, and complexity of the scene were manipulated. Nine-year-olds used significantly more animate phrases than 5-year-olds. Furthermore, we found an Age by Condition interaction. Five-year-olds made significantly more animate statements in the animate condition, while 7-year-olds and 9-year-olds were less affected by instructions. Scene complexity increased children's use of animate phrases. Number of agents present on the screen and whether a catch occurred did not impact children's animate attributions. Our results support the hypothesis that children, like adults, are attuned to animacy cues and describe chasing agents in animate terms.

Magnetic ordering in the Ising antiferromagnetic pyrochlore Nd2ScNbO7.

The question of structural disorder and its effects on magnetism is relevant to a number of spin liquid candidate materials. Although commonly thought of as a route to spin glass behaviour, here we describe a system in which the structural disorder results in long-range antiferromagnetic order due to local symmetry breaking. Nd2ScNbO7is shown to have a dispersionless gapped excitation observed in other neodymium pyrochlores belowTN= 0.37 K through polarized and inelastic neutron scattering. However the dispersing spin waves are not observed. This excited mode is shown to occur in only 14(2)% of the neodymium ions through spectroscopy and is consistent with total scattering measurements as well as the magnitude of the dynamic moment 0.26(2)µB. The remaining magnetic species order completely into the all-in all-out Ising antiferromagnetic structure. This can be seen as a result of local symmetry breaking due disordered Sc+3and Nb+5ions about theA-site. From this work, it has been established thatB-site disorder restores the dipole-like behaviour of the Nd+3ions compared to the Nd2B2O7parent series.

Longer looking to agent with false belief at 7 but not 6 months of age.

Theory of mind refers to the ability to reason about others' beliefs and to understand others' behaviour in terms of those beliefs. A large body of previous research has examined theory of mind reasoning in young children using false belief tasks, but tasks to examine this capacity during infancy have only been developed more recently. This research used stimuli developed by Kovács, et al., Science, 2010, 330, 1830-1834, to measure looking time to an agent with a false belief in infants aged 6 and 7 months. Using an eye-tracking procedure, we found looking behaviour consistent with 7-month-olds distinguishing an agent who has a false belief from one who has a true belief, consistent with the results reported by Kovács et al. We did not find evidence of this looking preference among 6-month-olds.

Towards automated extraction of 2D standard fetal head planes from 3D ultrasound acquisitions: A clinical evaluation and quality assessment comparison.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical evaluation of deep learning (DL) tools is essential to compliment technical accuracy metrics. This study assessed the image quality of standard fetal head planes automatically-extracted from three-dimensional (3D) ultrasound fetal head volumes using a customised DL-algorithm. METHODS: Two observers retrospectively reviewed standard fetal head planes against pre-defined image quality criteria. Forty-eight images (29 transventricular, 19 transcerebellar) were selected from 91 transabdominal fetal scans (mean gestational age = 26 completed weeks, range = 20+5-32+3 weeks). Each had two-dimensional (2D) manually-acquired (2D-MA), 3D operator-selected (3D-OS) and 3D-DL automatically-acquired (3D-DL) images. The proportion of adequate images from each plane and modality, and the number of inadequate images per plane was compared for each method. Inter and intra-observer agreement of overall image quality was calculated. RESULTS: Sixty-seven percent of 3D-OS and 3D-DL transventricular planes were adequate quality. Forty-five percent of 3D-OS and 55% of 3D-DL transcerebellar planes were adequate. Seventy-one percent of 3D-OS and 86% of 3D-DL transventricular planes failed with poor visualisation of intra-cranial structures. Eighty-six percent of 3D-OS and 80% of 3D-DL transcerebellar planes failed due to inadequate visualisation of cerebellar hemispheres. Image quality was significantly different between 2D and 3D, however, no significant difference between 3D-modalities was demonstrated (p < 0.005). Inter-observer agreement of transventricular plane adequacy was moderate for both 3D-modalities, and weak for transcerebellar planes. CONCLUSION: The 3D-DL algorithm can automatically extract standard fetal head planes from 3D-head volumes of comparable quality to operator-selected planes. Image quality in 3D is inferior to corresponding 2D planes, likely due to limitations with 3D-technology and acquisition technique. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Automated image extraction of standard planes from US-volumes could facilitate use of 3DUS in clinical practice, however image quality is dependent on the volume acquisition technique.

Canadian children's concepts of national groups: A comparison with children from the United States.

Understanding the development and structure of people's concepts of national groups can contribute to an understanding of their behavior in the political arena, including perhaps the recent rise in nationalism and anti-immigrant sentiment. Here, we provide a developmental investigation of concepts of national groups in a sample of 5- to 8-year-old Canadian children (N = 79). Using an extensive battery of measures, we assessed the extent to which children conceive of national groups as socially constructed versus as having deeper, perhaps biological, "essences" that shape their members' physical and psychological makeup. At younger ages, Canadian children tended to essentialize national groups, including in a biological sense. At older ages, the biological conception of national groups subsided, but children continued to view these groups as meaningful and informative. A statistical comparison with 5- to 8-year-old American children's responses to the same measures (N = 70; using data from Hussak & Cimpian, 2019) revealed a great degree of overlap, despite substantial differences between the two countries in how national identity is conceived and described. These findings add an important piece to our understanding of the development of concepts of national groups. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

MRI Findings at Term-Corrected Age and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in a Large Cohort of Very Preterm Infants.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Brain MR imaging at term-equivalent age is a useful tool to define brain injury in preterm infants. We report pragmatic clinical radiological assessment of images from a large unselected cohort of preterm infants imaged at term and document the spectrum and frequency of acquired brain lesions and their relation to outcomes at 20 months. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Infants born at <33 weeks' gestation were recruited from South and North West London neonatal units and imaged in a single center at 3T at term-equivalent age. At 20 months' corrected age, they were invited for neurodevelopmental assessment. The frequency of acquired brain lesions and the sensitivity, specificity, and negative and positive predictive values for motor, cognitive, and language outcomes were calculated, and corpus callosal thinning and ventricular dilation were qualitatively assessed. RESULTS: Five hundred four infants underwent 3T MR imaging at term-equivalent age; 477 attended for assessment. Seventy-six percent of infants had acquired lesions, which included periventricular leukomalacia, hemorrhagic parenchymal infarction, germinal matrix-intraventricular hemorrhage, punctate white matter lesions, cerebellar hemorrhage, and subependymal cysts. All infants with periventricular leukomalacia, and 60% of those with hemorrhagic parenchymal infarction had abnormal motor outcomes. Routine 3T MR imaging of the brain at term-equivalent age in an unselected preterm population that demonstrates no focal lesion is 45% sensitive and 61% specific for normal neurodevelopment at 20 months and 17% sensitive and 94% specific for a normal motor outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Acquired brain lesions are common in preterm infants routinely imaged at term-equivalent age, but not all predict an adverse neurodevelopmental outcome.

Toddlers Categorically Perceive Emotional Facial Expressions Along a Happy-Sad Continuum.

Adults perceive a continuum of emotional facial expressions categorically rather than continuously. Categorical perception is thought to be adaptive and functional, allowing for inferences that inform behavior. To date, studies have demonstrated categorical perception of some emotional facial expressions in infants. However, a recent study reported that 12-month-olds infants do not perceive facial emotional expressions categorically across a happy-sad continuum. In contrast, toddlers at 3.5 years of age appear to use categorical perception along the happy-sad continuum. Using a novel paradigm that employed the use of a looking-time discrimination task and an explicit identification task, this study measured 26-month-old's identification of faces and ability to discriminate between faces along a happy-sad continuum. Results suggest that 26-month-olds perceive facial expressions categorically along the happy-sad continuum.

Collapse dynamics of spherical cavities in a solid under shock loading.

Extraordinary states of highly localised pressure and temperature can be generated upon the collapse of impulsively driven cavities. Direct observation of this phenomenon in solids has proved challenging, but recent advances in high-speed synchrotron radiography now permit the study of highly transient, subsurface events in real time. We present a study on the shock-induced collapse of spherical cavities in a solid polymethyl methacrylate medium, driven to shock states between 0.49 and 16.60 GPa. Utilising multi-MHz phase contrast radiography, extended sequences of the collapse process have been captured, revealing new details of interface motion, material failure and jet instability formation. Results reveal a rich array of collapse characteristics dominated by strength effects at low shock pressures and leading to a hydrodynamic response at the highest loading conditions.