Early career investigator

Congratulations to Veerajalandhar Allareddy, M.D., M.B.A., the Early Career Investigator for October! Read his Commentary to discover how a farm boy became a Harvard graduate. His Letter to the Editor in this issue describes a study of the increase in opioid abuse among children. See pages 564 and 562

DNA methylation maybe a useful biomarker for IUGR

Wu et al. investigated DNA methylation in maternal blood as a biomarker for intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Using nicotine to induce IUGR in rat pups, they observed significant differences in methylation of the gene for syncytin b in DNA isolated from the dams' blood. See page 704

No simple measure of visceral abdominal adipose tissue in children

Assessment of visceral abdominal adipose tissue (VAT), which indicates cardiometabolic risk, is difficult in normal-weight children. Tinggaard et al. used magnetic resonance imaging to determine VAT in healthy normal-weight children and found that none of the standard measures of abdominal fat correspond to those for VAT; they are suitable only for subcutaneous abdominal fat. Thus, simple measures of VAT in children are still lacking. See page 620

Definition of neonatal acute kidney injury for research

Zappatelli et al. summarize a recent workshop on neonatal acute kidney injury (AKI). On the basis of those proceedings, they provide recommendations for the development of a definition of neonatal AKI. See page 569

Review of diagnostics for neonatal sepsis

In their useful review, Iroh Tam and Bendel present current and future approaches for diagnosing neonatal sepsis. Their descriptions include the sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value for each test, along with pertinent notes. This paper would be a tremendous resource for every neonatal intensive care unit. See page 574

Histone deacetylase inhibitors for cardiac disease

Blakeslee et al. found that histone deacetylases (HDACs) have greater activity and expression in the right cardiac ventricle in both children with single-ventricle physiology and rat pups chronically exposed to hypoxia. The findings indicate that HDACs may be a new therapeutic target. See page 642

Antenatal corticosteroids in VLBWs do not result in cardiometabolic risk in adolescence

Washburn et al. studied 184 14-year-old adolescents who had been born with low birth weight (VLBW) to investigate the relationship of antenatal corticosteroid exposure to markers of increased cardiometabolic risk. Interestingly, they found no association. See page 697