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Research

Reduced eye contact early in life may play a role in the developmental pathways that culminate in a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. However, there are contradictory theories regarding the neural mechanisms involved. According to the amygdala theory of autism, reduced eye contact results from a hypoactive amygdala that fails to flag eyes as salient. However, the eye avoidance hypothesis proposes the opposite-that amygdala hyperactivity causes eye avoidance. This review evaluated studies that measured the relationship between eye gaze and activity in the 'social brain' when viewing facial stimuli.

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The airway epithelium of children with asthma is characterized by aberrant repair that may be therapeutically modifiable. The development of epithelial-targeting therapeutics that enhance airway repair could provide a novel treatment avenue for childhood asthma.

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There are an estimated > 400 million people living with a rare disease globally, with genetic variants the cause of approximately 80% of cases. Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) rapidly identifies genetic variants however they are often of unknown significance.

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COVID-19 is mainly considered an “adult pandemic,” but it also has strong implications for children and consequently for pediatric anesthesia. Despite the lethality of SARS-CoV-2 infection being directly correlated with age, children have equally experienced the negative impacts of this pandemic.

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Due to the high prevalence of asthma and general airway reactivity, anesthesiologists frequently encounter children with asthma or asthma-like symptoms. This review focuses on the epidemiology, the underlying pathophysiology, and perioperative management of children with airway reactivity, including controlled and uncontrolled asthma.

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The induction of DNA damage has been employed as an anticancer strategy for more than 100years, first starting with the use of radiation to treat stomach cancer followed by the first uses of DNA-damaging chemotherapy to treat childhood leukemia.

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Recombinant protein-based vaccines targeting serogroup B meningococci protect against invasive disease but impacts on carriage are uncertain. This study assessed carriage prevalence of disease-associated meningococci in 2018-2020 as the proportion of vaccinated adolescents increased following introduction of a school-based 4CMenB immunization program.

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Studies of the gut microbiome have focused on its bacterial composition. We aimed to characterize the gut fungal microbiome (mycobiome) across pregnancy in women with and without type 1 diabetes.

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Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) is a serious autoimmune disease often resulting in major end-organ damage and increased mortality. Currently, no data exists focussing on the presentation, long-term management and progression of SLE in the Australian paediatric population.

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MECP2 duplication syndrome (MDS) is a rare, X-linked, neurodevelopmental disorder caused by a duplication of the methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2) gene-a gene in which loss-of-function mutations lead to Rett syndrome (RTT). MDS has an estimated live birth prevalence in males of 1/150,000.