"Ready for Landing"-study protocol for the evaluation of a brief sleep hygiene group intervention for youth with psychiatric disorders.

Background: Many children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders struggle with sleep problems that oftentimes stay unaddressed in therapeutic settings due to limited resources. Still, there is evidence that improving insufficient sleep positively affects mental health recovery. Addressing an adequate sleep hygiene is named to be the first line of treatment when it comes to unspecific sleep problems.

Evolving clinical features of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections following COVID-19 pandemic restrictions: a retrospective, comparative cohort study.

Unlabelled: Since its delayed re-emergence after non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) against the COVID-19 pandemic, Mycoplasma pneumoniae has caused community-acquired pneumonia outbreaks worldwide. In this study, we aimed to investigate how the clinical characteristics and severity of M. pneumoniae infections have changed after COVID-19 pandemic restriction, in order to enable adequate interpretation of clinical features and response to future M.

Data collection in pediatric outpatient settings during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: motivators and barriers to establishing a research network of primary care providers.

Background: Data collection in the pediatric primary care settings, conducted by general practitioners and pediatricians, is inherently challenging. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the urgent need for real-time, localized information on the pandemic's impact on children motivated a network of pediatric practices in the canton of Zurich to undertake systematic data collection and analysis. This initiative aimed to complement established public health networks by providing focused insights from the local pediatric primary care perspective.

Electroencephalogram features support the retrogenesis hypothesis of Alzheimer's disease: Exploratory comparison of brain changes in aging and childhood.

BackgroundThe retrogenesis hypothesis (RH) suggests that the functional and cognitive decline observed in Alzheimer's disease dementia mirrors in reverse order the brain development during childhood and adolescence.ObjectiveEquivalent electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns between older adults across different cognitive decline stages and children across different brain maturation stages were directly compared.MethodsTo capture the complex patterns that allow for such a comparison, a regression model was trained on EEG data from N = 510 older adults, at different stages of cognitive reserve, to identify EEG markers predictive of global cognitive status.

Association of Vesicoureteric Reflux and Urolithiasis: Single Center Experience in Pediatric Inpatients and Review of the Literature.

Objective: To investigate the potential influence of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) on stone formation in children.

Study Design: A retrospective analysis was conducted on consecutive patients admitted between 2010 and 2023 for either (1) stone treatment (via ESWL or PCNL) or (2) vesicoureteral reflux (VUR). The evaluation included demographic data and, if applicable, the timing and results of voiding cystourethrograms (VCUG).

Risk of Potentially Neurotoxic Exposure in Infants Under High-Dose Cefepime Treatment-A Pharmacometric Simulation Study.

Optimal dosing of cefepime in infants 1-2 months remains undefined. : We aimed to quantify the risk of potentially neurotoxic exposure with high-dose cefepime (50 mg/kg/8 h) in infants 1-2 months of age, as compared to adjacent age groups (neonates, infants 2-12 months) and lower dose treatment (50 mg/kg/12 h). : Pharmacometric simulations were performed using two published population pharmacokinetic models combined with demographic data, including serum creatinine, for neonates and infants ≤ 12 months.

Neuronal network analysis during short time transcranial direct current stimulation with permanent EEG measurement in early childhood: a feasibility study.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) as a non-invasive stimulation is still in the experimental stage for many psychiatric disorders even in adults. The use of tDCS provides an opportunity to influence neural networks and their functional connectivity. How tDCS affects cortical networks and how it influences the functional connectivity of the developing brain is largely unknown.

Increased Serum Neurofilament Light Chain Concentration Associated With Microglial Morphology Changes in Chronically-Starved Mice.

Objective: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is associated with hyperactivity, amenorrhea, and brain atrophy. Weight rehabilitation reversed these symptoms, although the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms are mostly unknown. Serum neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels are widely used as a biomarker of neurodegeneration.

Dose Evaluation and Optimization of Amoxicillin in Children Treated for Lyme Disease.

Amoxicillin is commonly used to treat erythema migrans in the first stage of Lyme disease in children, with a recommended dose of 50 mg/kg/day, administered three times a day (q8h). This model-based simulation study aimed to determine whether splitting the same daily dose into two administrations (q12h) would provide comparable drug exposure. A pharmacokinetic model suitable for a pediatric population (age: 1 month to 18 years, weight: 4-80 kg) was selected through a literature review.

Changes in Circadian Rhythm in Chronically-Starved Mice Are Associated With Glial Cell Density Reduction in the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus.

Objective: Anorexia nervosa (AN) is an eating disorder characterized by severe weight loss and associated with hyperactivity and circadian rhythm disruption. However, the cellular basis of circadian rhythm disruption is poorly understood. Glial cells in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the principal circadian pacemaker, are involved in regulating circadian rhythms.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in psychiatric disorders in early childhood (aged under 10 years): a systematic review.

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) remains experimental for many psychiatric disorders in adults. Particularly in childhood, there is limited research on the evidence for the efficacy and mechanisms of action of tDCS on the developing brain. The objective of this review is to identify published experimental studies to examine the efficacy and mechanisms of tDCS in children with psychiatric or developmental disorders in early (prepubertal) childhood (aged under 10 years).

Clinical characteristics and serological profiles of Lyme disease in children: a 15-year retrospective cohort study in Switzerland.

Background: Lyme disease (LD) is caused by and is the most common tickborne disease in the northern hemisphere. Although classical characteristics of LD are well-known, the diagnosis and treatment are often delayed. Laboratory diagnosis by serological testing is recommended for most LD manifestations.

Tonsil explants as a human model to study vaccine responses.

Introduction: Vaccination is one of the most effective infection prevention strategies. Viruses with high mutation rates -such as influenza- escape vaccine-induced immunity and represent significant challenges to vaccine design. Influenza vaccine strain selection is based on circulating strains and immunogenicity testing in animal models with limited predictive outcomes for vaccine effectiveness in humans.

Association of institutional masking policies with healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 infections in Swiss acute care hospitals during the BA.4/5 wave (CH-SUR study): a retrospective observational study.

Background: In the initial phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, masking has been widely accepted in healthcare institutions to mitigate the risk of healthcare-associated infection. Evidence, however, is still scant and the role of masks in preventing healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 acquisition remains unclear.We investigated the association of variation in institutional mask policies with healthcare-associated SARS-CoV-2 infections in acute care hospitals in Switzerland during the BA.

Risk loci involved in giant cell arteritis susceptibility: a genome-wide association study.

Background: Giant cell arteritis is an age-related vasculitis that mainly affects the aorta and its branches in individuals aged 50 years and older. Current options for diagnosis and treatment are scarce, highlighting the need to better understand its underlying pathogenesis. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have emerged as a powerful tool for unravelling the pathogenic mechanisms involved in complex diseases.

Pharmacometric in silico studies used to facilitate a national dose standardisation process in neonatology - application to amikacin.

Background And Aims: Pharmacometric in silico approaches are frequently applied to guide decisions concerning dosage regimes during the development of new medicines. We aimed to demonstrate how such pharmacometric modelling and simulation can provide a scientific rationale for optimising drug doses in the context of the Swiss national dose standardisation project in paediatrics using amikacin as a case study.

Methods: Amikacin neonatal dosage is stratified by post-menstrual age (PMA) and post-natal age (PNA) in Switzerland and many other countries.

Bright Light Therapy as Add-On to Inpatient Treatment in Youth With Moderate to Severe Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Major depressive disorder is one of the most common mental disorders among adolescents, entailing severe, long-term psychosocial impairment and a high risk of chronicity. In view of the large number of patients requiring treatment, along with insufficient treatment responses with small effect sizes, innovative adjunctive treatment strategies are urgently needed.

Objective: To investigate whether the effect of adolescent psychiatric inpatient treatment as usual for major depressive disorder can be enhanced by simultaneous use of morning bright light therapy.

Information in summaries of product characteristics about use in children is limited and needs standardisation: a systematic analysis in Switzerland.

Background: A considerable proportion of drugs administered to children are not authorised for this purpose, and consequently off-label use is common in paediatric care. Our aims were to quantify systematically the number of drugs authorised in Switzerland for use in children based on their current summary of product characteristics (SmPC) and to assess the quality of this information.

Methods: We used natural language processing to screen all Swiss SmPCs, available in German language in the open-source drug database, for information about use in children.