Non-Hodgkin lymphomas and ionizing radiation: case report and review of the literature

Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) increased continuously since the last century in developed countries. While they are considered as disease in elder ages, a remarkable increasing incidence is also observed in German children and juveniles. The higher rates are interpreted by the changes in classification because diseases such as chronic lymphocytic leukaemia were also identified as NHL. Considerable rates of NHL were found in nuclear workers and liquidators of Chernobyl, i.e. in cases of low-dose chronical exposures. In Germany, we noticed three workers who developed NHL after decontamination of nuclear facilities. The bone marrow is generally considered as target organ for ionizing radiation, but NHL is obviously induced in the whole pool of lymphocytes. Therefore, the dosimetry in cases of typical occupational external and internal exposure must be revised. A high radiation sensitivity for NHL is a possible suspect and likely reason which may partly explain the continuous rise of the diseases in populations underlying the current increases of medical diagnostic exposure. NHL is also induced in children and juveniles with a history of diagnostic X-rays.

The coronavirus generation, i.e., the life situation of German children and adolescents during the pandemic

The results of the research presented in the article illustrate the complexity of the life situation of German children and adolescents during the pandemic. The article also presents the professional situation of parents during the crisis caused by the pandemic and changes in the labor market (e.g. the coronavirus effect). The results of the first studies characterizing the phenomenon of domestic violence, conducted by researchers at the Technical University of Munich, are also shown. The situation of children and adolescents is illustrated, among others, by numerical data of criminal statistics or the Robert Koch Institute. In the article, the midwife emphasizes examples of such research results in which children and adolescents were participants. This is because such a selection of respondents makes it possible to get to know their opinions about the time of the pandemic, lockdown or homeschooling. The research also revealed that the coronavirus has become a "virus of social inequality" as it has worsened the situation of families at risk of poverty. The conclusion also shows the directions of activities undertaken by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research to support students after the lockdown period.

Intergenerational Value Similarity and Subjective Well-Being

This investigation concentrates on the association of intergenerational value similarity and adult children’s and parents’ subjective well-being, on the linkage between relationship quality and subjective well-being. Mediation effects of the relationship quality on the associations between value similarity and subjective well-being were focused. The sample consisted of 600 adult German children (53.8% women) and their parents. Dyadic correlations were constructed to determine the value similarity. In this study, the general value orientation and the family values were objects of research. We measured the subjective well-being with the Satisfaction with Life Scale and we used the Network of Relationships Inventory (NRI) to measure the relationship quality. Associations between subjective well-being and value similarity, and between subjective well-being and relationship quality, as well as mediation effects, were found. All effects depend on gender and perspective.

Symptoms, SARS-CoV-2 Antibodies, and Neutralization Capacity in a Cross Sectional-Population of German Children

Background: Children and youth are affected rather mildly in the acute phase of COVID-19 and thus, SARS-CoV-2 infection infection may easily be overlooked. In the light of current discussions on the vaccinations of children it seems necessary to better identify children who are immune against SARS-CoV-2 due to a previous infection and to better understand COVID-19 related immune reactions in children.Methods: In a cross-sectional design, children aged 1–17 were recruited through primary care pediatricians for the study (a) randomly, if they had an appointment for a regular health check-up or (b) if parents and children volunteered and actively wanted to participate in the study. Symptoms were recorded and two antibody tests were performed in parallel directed against S (in house test) and N (Roche Elecsys) viral proteins. In children with antibody response in either test, neutralization activity was determined.Results: We identified antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in 162 of 2,832 eligible children (5.7%) between end of May and end of July 2020 in three, in part strongly affected regions of Bavaria in the first wave of the pandemic. Approximately 60% of antibody positive children (n = 97) showed high levels (>97th percentile) of antibodies against N-protein, and for the S-protein, similar results were found. Sufficient neutralizing activity was detected for only 135 antibody positive children (86%), irrespective of age and sex. Initial COVID-19 symptoms were unspecific in children except for the loss of smell and taste and unrelated to antibody responses or neutralization capacity. Approximately 30% of PCR positive children did not show seroconversion in our small subsample in which PCR tests were performed.Conclusions: Symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infections are unspecific in children and antibody responses show a dichotomous structure with strong responses in many and no detectable antibodies in PCR positive children and missing neutralization activity in a relevant proportion of the young population.

Morphological processing in developmental handwriting production: evidence from kinematics

In this study, we investigated effects of morphological processing on handwriting production in beginning writers of German. Children from Grades 3 and 4 were asked to copy words from a computer screen onto a pen tablet, while we recorded their handwriting with high spatiotemporal resolution. Words involved a syllable-congruent visual disruption (e.g., “Golfer”), a morpheme-congruent visual disruption (e.g., “Golfer”), or had no disruption (e.g., “Golfer”). We analyzed productions in terms of Writing Onset Duration and Letter Duration at the onset of the second syllable (“f” in “Gol.fer”) and the onset of the suffix (“e” in “Golf_er”). Results showed that durations were longer at word-writing onset only for words with a morpheme-congruent visual disruption. Also, letter durations were longer at the onset of the second syllable (i.e., “-fer”) and shorter at the onset of the suffix (i.e., “-er”) only for words with a syllable-congruent visual disruption. We interpret these findings within extant theories of handwriting production and offer an explanation for the observed effects before and during trajectory formation.

Sex differences in language competence of 4-year-old children: Female advantages are mediated by phonological short-term memory

For some time now, psycholinguistic research has involved the study of sex differences in language development. Overall, girls seem to have an early advantage over boys, mainly in regard to vocabulary, which appears to decrease and, eventually, vanish with age. While there are numerous studies on sex differences in the acquisition of vocabulary as well as grammar, early sex differences in phonological short-term memory (PSTM) have been mostly neglected, or if research was conducted, it resulted in null findings, for the most part. In the present study, we examined sex differences in language competence (in a wide array of linguistic domains) of German children 4 years of age. Several tests were administered to assess articulation, vocabulary, grammar, speech comprehension, and, most importantly, PSTM (by means of the repetition of non-words and sentences). Girls performed better than boys in all domains, although some effect sizes were small. Most importantly, we found evidence for a female advantage in PSTM performance. Furthermore, mediation analyses revealed that the obtained sex differences in articulation, vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension were partially or fully mediated by (sex differences in) PSTM.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Handwriting Legibility Versus the German Systematic Screening for Motoric-Handwriting Difficulties (SEMS)

Handwriting problems impact school achievement. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the agreement between teachers’ opinions and the German Systematische Erfassung motorischer Schreibstörungen’s (SEMS) handwriting test and to estimate the prevalence of handwriting problems. This was a prospective, correlational study. Teachers’ ratings of handwriting from German children (Grades 2 and 4) were compared to SEMS scores. The agreement was calculated with Gwet’s AC2; preliminary cutoffs and prevalence were assessed with receiver–operating characteristic curves. SEMS accurately identified Grade 2 children with handwriting problems (specificity = 98.21%, sensitivity = 100%) but fewer Grade 4 children with handwriting difficulties than did teachers (specificity 97.67%, sensitivity 28.57%). Grade 4 item agreement supports the SEMS’ ability to assess underlying handwriting dimensions as perceived by teachers. Teachers identified 12.70% of Grade 2 children versus SEMS 11.11% and 14% of Grade 4 children versus SEMS 6%. The SEMS supports clinical observations and provides information about underlying handwriting dimensions. Because handwriting is used primarily at school, the opinions of teachers are also critical.

Carry-over effects of tool functionality and previous unsuccessfulness increase overimitation in children

Children ‘overimitate’ causally irrelevant actions in experiments where both irrelevant and relevant actions involve a single common tool. This study design may make it harder for children to recognize the irrelevant actions, as the perceived functionality of the tool during the demonstration of the relevant action may be carried over to the irrelevant action, potentially increasing overimitation. Moreover, little is known how overimitation is affected by the demonstrator's expressed emotions and the child's prior success with the task. Here, 131 nine- to ten-year-old French and German children first engaged in a tool-based task, being successful or unsuccessful, and then watched an adult demonstrating the solution involving one irrelevant and one relevant action before smiling or remaining neutral. These actions were performed with the same tool or with two separate tools, testing potential carry-over effects of the functionality of the relevant action on the irrelevant action. We show that overimitation was higher when the same tool was used for both actions and when children were previously unsuccessful, but was not affected by the demonstrator's displayed emotion. Our results suggest that future overimitation research should account for the number of tools used in a demonstration and participants' previous task experience.