Impaired abilities in multiple domains is common in children with learning difficulties. Co-occurrence of low reading and mathematical abilities (LRLM) appears in almost every second child with learning difficulties. However, little is known regarding the neural bases of this combination. Leveraging a unique and tightly controlled sample including children with LRLM, isolated low reading ability (LR), and isolated low mathematical ability (LM), we uncover a distinct neural signature in children with co-occurring low reading and mathematical abilities differentiable from LR and LM. Specifically, we show that LRLM is neuroanatomically distinct from both LR and LM based on reduced cortical folding of the right parahippocampal gyrus, a medial temporal lobe region implicated in visual associative learning. LRLM children were further distinguished from LR and LM by patterns of intrinsic functional connectivity between parahippocampal gyrus and brain circuitry underlying reading and numerical quantity processing. Our results critically inform cognitive and neural models of LRLM by implicating aberrations in both domain-specific and domain-general brain regions involved in reading and mathematics. More generally, our results provide the first evidence for distinct multimodal neural signatures associated with LRLM, and suggest that this population displays an independent phenotype of learning difficulty that cannot be explained simply as a combination of isolated low reading and mathematical abilities.

Background: Phototherapy using light in the spectral range of 410-500 nm, which overlaps the absorption of bilirubin, is the common treatment for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Hemoglobin (Hb) absorbs light strongly throughout this same range and thus can compete with bilirubin for this light and consequently reduce the efficacy of phototherapy. Here, we determined the effect of hematocrit (Hct) on in vitro bilirubin photoalteration using narrow-band blue (450 nm) lightemitting diodes (LEDs). Methods: Suspensions with Hcts from 0 to 80% and 16 ± 1 mg/dl bilirubin were prepared by mixing red blood cells (RBCs), bilirubin (30 mg/dl) in 4% human serum albumin, and normal saline. Aliquots of each suspension were exposed to blue light at equal irradiances. Before and after 60 min of exposure, bilirubin levels in supernatants (n = 46) were measured using a diazo-dye method. results: Bilirubin photoalteration steeply decreased by ~60% as Hct increased from 0 to 10%. Over the clinically relevant range of 30-70% Hct, the decrease was significant, but less drastic, exhibiting a quasi-linear dependence on Hct. conclusion: Bilirubin photoalteration under blue light in vitro is significantly reduced as Hct increases. Clinical studies are warranted to confirm these in vitro observations that Hct can affect the efficacy of phototherapy.

Young Black and Latinx justice-involved males in the United States have unique, intersecting, and disproportionate health needs that often go unmet during reentry, the 6-month period when youth return home after incarceration. Masculinity has been shown to affect various health outcomes among Black and Latinx males, who are disproportionately represented in the U.S. juvenile justice system. To better understand young Black and Latinx males' perspectives on how masculinity may impact health and health-related behaviors during reentry, we analyzed 32 longitudinal interviews from 23 participants who identified as Latinx (n = 20) or Black (n = 3) males discussing their health and health care utilization during reentry. Using deductive thematic analysis, we identified two themes on masculinity and health during reentry: (1) young Black and Latinx males undergoing reentry endorse masculine attitudes; and (2) young Black and Latinx males undergoing reentry engage in masculine behaviors that impact health. Participants linked masculine attitudes to masculine behaviors that both promote and impede health, suggesting potential opportunity to leverage health-promoting aspects of masculinity while addressing health-detracting ones to facilitate health for young Black and Latinx males. Public Significance StatementThe young Black and Latinx males in our sample endorsed masculine attitudes and engaged in masculine behaviors during community reentry after incarceration. They described certain aspects of masculinity as promoting their health, while other aspects reportedly impeded their health. Finding suggests a potential for programs, policies, and interventions to challenge certain aspects of masculinity while leveraging others to promote the health of young Black and Latinx males during reentry.

The cover image is based on the Paper Neural signatures of co ‐ occurring reading and mathematical difficulties, by Michael A. Skeide et al., DOI .