Volume 85 No. 6 May 2019

Early Career Investigator

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Congratulations to Deepak Jain, the Early Career Investigator for May. His early life was shaped by many role models, including his three older siblings. After training in India and a short stint in England, Dr. Jain came to New York for his pediatric residency, then moved to Florida for his neonatology fellowship, once again encountering superb mentorship. In an article in this issue, he and colleagues explore the impact of transfusion on cerebral oxygenation. His advice? Try to strike a balance between everything that brings joy to you! See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0333-8 and https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0266-7

The prematurity-related ventilatory control study

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In this Special Article, Dennery et al. provide an overview of Pre-Vent (the Prematurity-Related Ventilatory Control Study) as it launches in nine participating neonatal intensive care units. The rising incidence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia has spurred these investigators to further explore the use of continuous cardiorespiratory data to identify predictive biomarkers of the disorder. See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0317-8

Determining the optimal wavelength for bilirubin degradation

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Using bilirubin solutions in vitro, Vreman et al. determined the effect of different wavelengths of light. At wavelengths of 490–500 nm they found the shortest half-life of bilirubin and highest lumirubin production. The importance of these results is discussed in the commentary by Tiribelli. See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0310-2 and https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0350-7

Baroreceptor activity, sensitivity, and baroreceptor effectiveness

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Alnoor et al. describe normal values for baroreceptor activity, sensitivity, and the Baroreceptor Effectiveness Index. In addition, they present new data that might be beneficial in the diagnosis of patients with orthostatic intolerance. See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0327-6

Epigenetic changes may indicate risk of obesity

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Kochmanski et al. measured DNA methylation changes from neonatal blood spots and three epochs during childhood. They found age-specific indicators of reduced obesity risk among 3- to 5-year-olds. See also the accompanying policy commentary. See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0227-1 and https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0363-2

Testing for minimally disseminated LCH

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Schwentner et al. compared peripheral blood BRAF levels with cell-free DNA in six patients with Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH). They found that BRAF measurement is the superior method of determining disease status, and that single-agent treatment reduces disease burden but does not cure it. An Insights article in this issue describes a family’s experience with LCH. See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0238-y and https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0302-2

Impact of maternal obesity and inflammation on neurodevelopmental outcome

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In this fascinating article, Monthé-Drèze et al. describe the association of maternal obesity with neurodevelopmental outcome. They found a relationship between the Wide Range Assessment of Visual Motor activities and body mass index that was attenuated with a biomarker of inflammation. See also the accompanying policy commentary. See https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-018-0229-z and https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-019-0363-2