A Systematic Review of Attachment-Based Interventions for Caregivers and Young Children Living in Poverty

Almost half of the 11 million children under the age of three in the United States live in low-income families. Early childhood may be the developmental period most sensitive to the conditions affected by income and living in poverty places children at greater risk for low quality attachment. The purpose of this systematic review was to summarize common themes, differences and shortcomings of interventions that aim to improve child-caregiver attachment and caregiver behaviors with children under the age of three who have been identified as living in poverty or a low socioeconomic background. Eighteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Data extraction identified specific intervention characteristics and the quality of intervention reporting using the TIDieR checklist. Characteristics of the caregivers, children, and interventionists involved in the studies, intervention delivery method, group or individual intervention, location of intervention implementation, the duration, and dose of the intervention were coded from each article. Studies were also analyzed to identify cultural aspects of the participants involved in the interventions, and how those characteristics may have modified or changed the interventions. TIDieR intervention guidelines clearly revealed that more detail was needed in all aspects of intervention reporting. Identification and description of the procedures and materials were most often missing, making it difficult to compare and contrast intervention procedures, and replication of interventions. However, common characteristics of interventions were noted. Mothers were the primary caregivers involved in the intervention, most of were delivered face-to-face (n=18) and in the home (n=17). The majority of interventions (n=14) were provided in individual family/dyad settings as opposed to group settings. Eight studies addressed cultural characteristics regarding the participants involved or how attachment definitions may change regarding participants’ culture; most addressed language (n=6). Based on the results of this systematic review, it is recommended that interventions to enhance child-caregiver attachment and caregiver behaviors for those living in poverty should incorporate a multidimensional and culturally relevant approach, and be reported in a detailed way to allow for deep understanding and replication of the interventions

A Meta-Analysis of Driving Performance and Crash Risk Associated with the Use of Cellular Telephones While Driving

This paper addresses the effects of cell phones on driving by means of a review of the literature and an analysis of scientifically credible epidemiological and driver performance studies. A total of 84 articles were obtained covering the period from 1969 to 2004. Sixty-eight articles were research papers measuring driving performance while using a cell phone and 16 articles were epidemiological studies that examined cell phone usage and their relationship to vehicular crashes. Epidemiological findings consistently showed an increase in crashes associated with use of cell phones. However, these studies did not control for exposure to cell phone use or to driving. The negative impact of cell phone usage is larger for responses to critical events than for vehicular control. Drivers responded about a quarter of a second later to stimuli in the presence of a cell phone distractor for all studies that were analyzed. Hands-free cell phones produced similar performance decrements to hand-held phones

Registration of the LouAu (Louise/IWA8608077) Wheat Recombinant Inbred Line Mapping Population

LouAu (Louise/IWA8608077) (MP-7, NSL 511036) is a wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) recombinant inbred line population developed by the USDA-ARS, with Oregon State and Washington State Universities, from a cross between the soft white spring cultivar Louise and the white facultative Iranian landrace IWA8608077. The population was developed by single seed descent from the F₂ generation to the F₅ generation. The population has 150 F₂:₅ recombinant inbred lines and has been used to study the genetics of resistance to root-lesion nematodes (Pratylenchus neglectus and P. thornei), and root architecture. The 26 linkage groups identified include 30 codominant simple sequence repeat markers and 2008 single nucleotide polymorphic markers from the Illumina 9K wheat single nucleotide polymorphism chip. Chi-square analysis shows 21 to 95% of identified polymorphic markers within individual linkage groups were in segregation distortion. The population frequency distributions have a normal distribution for the measured traits P. neglectus resistance, root length, root weight, root lignin content, and plant height. The population frequency distribution has a bimodal distribution for P. thornei resistance, left skewed for lateral root number and right skewed for growth stage. This population has shown potential for mapping resistance to other soilborne pathogens as well as abiotic stresses and will be useful in that endeavor

Identification of Resistance to Pratylenchus neglectus and Pratylenchus thornei in Iranian Landrace Accessions of Wheat

The pathogenic nematodes Pratylenchus neglectus (Rensch, 1924) Filipjev and Schuurmans Stekhoven, 1941 and Pratylenchus thornei Sher and Allen, 1953 cause severe yield losses in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The objectives in this study were to assay a collection of Iranian landrace accessions collected from 12 provinces in Iran to identify novel sources of resistance to both species and to characterize agronomic traits critical for consideration in wheat breeding. Seventy-eight accessions were assayed for dual resistance to parasitic nematodes P. neglectus and P. thornei in controlled environment assays. Field trials conducted in Pullman, WA, and Pendleton, OR, evaluated stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) resistance, days to heading, grain volume weight, plant height, seed protein content, seed kernel characterization, glume tenacity, and pubescence. The accessions were assayed with simple-sequence repeat (SSR), single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and known vernalization markers for hierarchical cluster analysis to identify relatedness among accessions. Thirty-two accessions were identified as resistant or moderately resistant to both Pratylenchus species. Six were identified with moderate adult plant resistance to stripe rust in the field. The range of mean agronomic traits over locations was 53 to 105 cm for plant height, 46 to 84 d for post planting days to heading, and 151 to 728 kg m⁻³ for grain volume weight. The genetic cluster analysis identified three clusters based on the number of rare polymorphisms in the subset. The nematode resistance was distributed over the three clusters. The diversity within this subset could be useful for wheat breeders to integrate genetic variation and resistance to both Pratylenchus spp

The prevalence and incidence of mental ill-health in adults with autism and intellectual disabilities

The prevalence, and incidence, of mental ill-health in adults with intellectual disabilities and autism were compared with the whole population with intellectual disabilities, and with controls, matched individually for age, gender, ability-level, and Down syndrome. Although the adults with autism had a higher point prevalence of problem behaviours compared with the whole adult population with intellectual disabilities, compared with individually matched controls there was no difference in prevalence, or incidence of either problem behaviours or other mental ill-health. Adults with autism who had problem behaviours were less likely to recover over a two-year period than were their matched controls. Apparent differences in rates of mental ill-health are accounted for by factors other than autism, including Down syndrome and ability level

Developing limits for driving under cannabis

ABSTRACT Objective Development of a rational and enforceable basis for controlling the impact of cannabis use on traffic safety. Methods An international working group of experts on issues related to drug use and traffic safety evaluated evidence from experimental and epidemiological research and discussed potential approaches to developing per se limits for cannabis. Results In analogy to alcohol, finite (non-zero) per se limits for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in blood appear to be the most effective approach to separating drivers who are impaired by cannabis use from those who are no longer under the influence. Limited epidemiological studies indicate that serum concentrations of THC below 10 ng/ml are not associated with an elevated accident risk. A comparison of meta-analyses of experimental studies on the impairment of driving-relevant skills by alcohol or cannabis suggests that a THC concentration in the serum of 7-10 ng/ml is correlated with an impairment comparable to that caused by a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.05%. Thus, a suitable numerical limit for THC in serum may fall in that range. Conclusions This analysis offers an empirical basis for a per se limit for THC that allows identification of drivers impaired by cannabis. The limited epidemiological data render this limit preliminary

General anesthesia does not impair simulator driving skills in volunteers in the immediate recovery period — a pilot study

The current recommendations to refrain from driving for 24 hr after general anesthesia (GA) lack evidence. Our objective was to measure impairment of driving performance at various time intervals after anesthesia using driving impairment at different blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) as a gold standard for comparison.Institutional Review Board approval was obtained. Acrossover design, within subject comparison was used. Twelve volunteers were randomized to three treatments: GA, alcohol, and no drug. Psychomotor recovery was assessed by Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST) and Trieger Dot Test (TDT). On the anesthetic day, GA was induced with propofol 2.5 mgℐg−1 and fentanyl l μg·kg−1 and maintained with N2O-O2 50:50 and approximately one minimum alveolar concentration of desflurane by spontaneous ventilation for 30 min. Driving simulator test runs occurred at two, three, four, and 24 hr postanesthesia. On the alcohol treatment day, a vodka and orange juice beverage was administered to reach the legal limit for BAC in the province of Ontario, Canada (BAC 0.08%). On the control day, no drug was given. Driving simulator test runs corresponded to the same time of day as the postanesthetic test runs. Two-way analysis of variance for dependent samples (ANOVA) was performed using the SAS program. P values of less than 0.05 were considered significant.There was no significant difference in postanesthetic driving skills at two, three, and four hours postanesthesia, and the corresponding control sessions. There was no significant difference among the three sessions with respect to pen and paper tests of psychomotor performance. Performance during the alcohol session differed significantly from that during the control and postanesthetic sessions.Certain driving skills return by two hours after one half hour of GA of propofol, desflurane, and fentanyl in a group of young volunteers.La recommandation courante restreignant la conduite pendant 24 h après une anesthésie générale (AG) manque de preuve. Notre objectif était de mesurer l’altération des habiletés de conduite à différents intervalles de temps après l’anesthésie en utilisant la détérioration de la conduite selon divers taux d’alcoolémie comme référence.Nous avons obtenu l’approbation du Comité d’examen de l’établissement. Un devis croisé avec comparaison intra-sujets a été utilisé. Douze volontaires ont reçu trois traitements au hasard: AG, alcool et absence de médicament. La récupération psychomotrice a été évaluée par le test de substitution de codes (TSC) et le Trieger Dot Test (TDT). Le jour de l’anesthésie, l’AG a été induite avec 2,5 mg·kg−1 de propofol et I μ·kg−1 de fentanyl et maintenue avec un mélange à 50 % de N2O-O2 et environ une CAM de desflurane par ventilation spontanée pendant 30 min. La série de tests de simulation de conduite a eu lieu deux, trois, quatre et 24 h après l’anesthésie. Le jour où on a donné l’alcool, une boisson faite de vodka et de jus d’orange a permis d’atteindre le taux d’alcoolémie limite accepté en Ontario, Canada (0,08 %). Le jour témoin, aucun médicament n’a été administré. La série de tests de simulation de conduite s’est faite aux mêmes intervalles de temps que la série réalisée le jour de l’anesthésie. Une analyse de variance à deux facteurs pour variables dépendantes (ANOVA) a été réalisée avec l’usage du programme SAS. Les valeurs de P de moins de 0,05 ont été considérées significatives.II n’y a pas eu de différence significative entre les habiletés postanesthésiques testées à deux, trois et quatre heures après l’anesthésie et pendant les sessions témoins correspondantes. II n’y a pas eu de différence significative entre les trois sessions quant à la performance psychomotrice aux tests d’écriture. La performance pendant la session sous alcool a présenté une différence significative par rapport aux deux autres sessions