AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the predictive value of a computer-based video analysis of the development of cerebral palsy (CP) in young infants.METHOD A prospective study of general movements used recordings from 30 high-risk infants (13 males, 17 females; mean gestational age 31wks, SD 6wks; range 23-42wks) between 10 and 15 weeks post term when fidgety movements should be present. Recordings were analysed using computer vision software. Movement variables, derived from differences between subsequent video frames, were used for quantitative analyses. CP status was reported at 5 years.RESULTS Thirteen infants developed CP (eight hemiparetic, four quadriparetic, one dyskinetic; seven ambulatory, three non-ambulatory, and three unknown function), of whom one had fidgety movements. Variability of the centroid of motion had a sensitivity of 85% and a specificity of 71% in identifying CP. By combining this with variables reflecting the amount of motion, specificity increased to 88%. Nine out of 10 children with CP, and for whom information about functional level was available, were correctly predicted with regard to ambulatory and non-ambulatory function.INTERPRETATION Prediction of CP can be provided by computer-based video analysis in young infants. The method may serve as an objective and feasible tool for early prediction of CP in highrisk infants.Cerebral palsy (CP) is a permanent disorder in the development of movement and posture in the developing fetal or infant brain 1 and is one of the major disabilities that result from extremely preterm birth. [2][3][4] The utility of predictive assessment tools in young infants is limited by the need for expensive equipment and highly experienced personnel, as well as low accuracy. Although the primary insult(s) cannot be repaired, early identification of CP enables intervention to be instituted while the plasticity of the nervous system is high. [5][6][7][8] Early identification may also lead to more focused follow-up and reassure the parents of those children who are unlikely to develop CP.In young infants, neurological damage is typically expressed by means of generalized and non-specific dysfunction. 9 The General Movement Assessment (GMA), based on systematic observation of infants' spontaneous movements from video recordings, has been shown to predict CP with high accuracy. 10,11 The absence of fidgety movements at 2 to 4 months corrected age may identify infants who will develop CP with more than 90% sensitivity. 10,[12][13][14] Although the GMA has been demonstrated to predict CP with high accuracy, it depends on highly experienced observers, and its use in clinical practice is limited. 12,15,16 A software program developed within the Max/MSP/Jitter environment for analysing music-related movements in musicians and dancers 17 has recently been customized for the purpose of studying fidgety movements. Using the customized software, movement variables have been demonstrated to identify infants with fidgety movements with high accuracy. 18 The aim of...

No abstract

Gender differences in the prevalence of symptoms of anxiety and depression during adolescence are well documented. However, little attention has been given to differences in subjective well-being, self-esteem and psychosocial functioning between boys and girls with symptoms of anxiety and depression. The aim of this study was to investigate gender differences in the associations between such symptoms and subjective well-being, self-esteem, school functioning and social relations in adolescents. Data were taken from a major population-based Norwegian study, the Nord-Trøndelag Health study (HUNT), in which 8984 (91% of all invited) adolescents, aged 13-19 years, completed an extensive self-report questionnaire. Although prevalence rates of symptoms of anxiety and depression were higher in girls than in boys, a significant interaction between gender and symptoms of anxiety and depression was found in respect of each of the following outcome variables: subjective well-being, self-esteem, academic problems, frequency of meeting friends and the feeling of not having enough friends. These interactions indicate that the associations between symptoms of anxiety and depression and lower subjective well-being and self-esteem, more academic problems in school and lower social functioning were stronger for boys than for girls. Our findings may contribute to an earlier assessment and more efficient treatment of male adolescent anxiety and depression.

Lower birth weight, shorter gestation, and intraventricular hemorrhage were risk factors for psychiatric problems in the very low birth weight group. Lower Apgar score increased the risk for autism spectrum symptoms and internalizing symptoms. Among adolescents born term small for GA, the main risk factor for psychiatric symptoms was low socioeconomic status.

It is shown that the fiducial distribution in a group model, or more generally a quasigroup model, determines the optimal equivariant frequentist inference procedures. The proof does not rely on existence of invariant measures, and generalizes results corresponding to the choice of the right Haar measure as a Bayesian prior. Classical and more recent examples show that fiducial arguments can be used to give good candidates for exact or approximate confidence distributions. It is here suggested that the fiducial algorithm can be considered as an alternative to the Bayesian algorithm for the construction of good frequentist inference procedures more generally.Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/13-AOS1083 the Annals of Statistics (http://www.imstat.org/aos/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org