Children are the foundation of the United States, and supporting them is a key component of building a successful future. However, millions of children face health inequities that compromise their development, well-being, and long-term outcomes, despite substantial scientific evidence about how those adversities contribute to poor health. Advancements in neurobiological and socio-behavioral science show that critical biological systems develop in the prenatal through early childhood periods, and neurobiological development is extremely responsive to environmental influences during these stages. Consequently, social, economic, cultural, and environmental factors significantly affect a child's health ecosystem and ability to thrive throughout adulthood. Vibrant and Healthy Kids: Aligning Science, Practice, and Policy to Advance Health Equity builds upon and updates research from Communities in Action: Pathways to Health Equity (2017) and From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development (2000). This report provides a brief overview of stressors that affect childhood development and health, a framework for applying current brain and development science to the real world, a roadmap for implementing tailored interventions, and recommendations about improving systems to better align with our understanding of the significant impact of health equity.

This book describes in detail the multidisciplinary management of obesity, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the rationale for a multidisciplinary approach and with the tools required to implement it effectively. The emphasis is on a translational approach, starting from basic concepts and fundamental mechanisms of the pathology and clinical morbidity. Experts in the field discuss the full range of relevant topics, including the significance of physical exercise, psychological issues, nutritional strategies, pharmacological options and bariatric surgery. Put another way, the book covers all aspects from the bench to the bedside. Physicians, scientists and postgraduate students will all find it to be invaluable in understanding the causes and optimal management of obesity, which has rapidly become a major public health problem.

Peace and human rights.

Movement Disorder Emergencies: Diagnosis and Treatment provides a fresh and unique approach to what is already a high-profile subspecialty area in clinical neurology. The disorders covered in this volume are standard fare in the field but emphasize the urgencies and emergencies that can occur. One of the very attractive features of the field of movement disorders is that diagnosis is often based on unique visible and sometimes audible phenomenological symptoms and signs. Therefore, in this era of highly sophisticated laboratory and radiological diagnostic tools, the diagnosis of many movement disorders is still largely made in the clinic where pattern recognition is key. Crucial to astute clinical diagnosis is broad clinical experience. In short, you have to have seen one to recognize one! Patients with movement disorders nearly always present as outpatients but, as aptly recognized by Drs. Frucht and Fahn, this may include acute manifestations leading to emergency presentations, often in an emergency room setting, where they are very likely to be unrecognized and therefore poorly managed. The authors define an “emergency” movement disorder as one in which failure to promptly diagnose and treat may result in significant morbidity or mortality. However, they also stress the importance of certain “can’t miss” diagnoses such as Wilson’s disease, dopa-responsive dystonia, and Whipple’s disease in which delayed diagnosis in less emergent situations can lead to slowly evolving and often irreversible neurological damage with tragic consequences.

Few issues on the American political agenda are more complex or divisive than immigration. There is no shortage of problems with current policies and practices, from the difficulties and delays that confront many legal immigrants to the large number of illegal immigrants living in the country. Moreover, few issues touch as many areas of U.S. domestic life and foreign policy. Immigration is a matter of homeland security and international competitiveness, as well as a deeply human issue central to the lives of millions of individuals and families. It cuts to the heart of questions of citizenship and American identity and plays a large role in shaping both America's reality and its image in the world. Immigration's emergence as a foreign policy issue coincides with the increasing reach of globalization. Not only must countries today compete to attract and retain talented people from around the world, but the view of the United States as a place of unparalleled openness and opportunity is also crucial to the maintenance of American leadership. There is a consensus that current policy is not serving the United States well on any of these fronts. Yet agreement on reform has proved elusive. The goal of the Independent Task Force on U.S. Immigration Policy was to examine this complex issue and craft a nuanced strategy for reforming immigration policies and practices.