Timing of parental depression on risk of child depression and poor educational outcomes: A population based routine data cohort study from Born in Wales, UK

Background: Maternal depression is a risk factor for depression in children, though the influence of paternal depression has been less well examined. We examined the association between maternal and paternal depression, and the timing of their depression (before or after the child’s birth) and outcomes for the child including incidence of child depression and poor educational attainment. Methods: A linked routine data cohort study linking General Practitioner(GP), hospital and education records of young people (aged 0 to 30 years) in Wales. Parental and child diagnosis of depression was identified from GP data. Regression analysis examined the association of maternal and paternal depression with time to diagnosis of depression in the child and odds of attaining educational milestones. Outcomes: In adjusted models, the relative risk of offspring developing depression was 1.22 if the mother had depression before the child was born, 1.55 if the mother had depression after the child was born and 1.73 if she had depression both before and after the child was born (chronic depression), compared to those were there was no maternal depression history. For achieving milestones at end of primary school, odds were 0.92, 0.88 and 0.79 respectively. Association of depression in the child was similar if the male living in the household had depression with risk ratios of 1.24 (before), 1.43 (after) and 1.27 (before and after) for child diagnosed depression and 0.85, 0.79 and 0.74 for achieving age 11 milestones. Interpretation: Children who live with a parent who has depression are more likely to develop depression and not achieve educational milestones, compared to children who live with a parent who has a history of depression (but no active depression in child’s lifetime) and compared to those with no depression. This finding suggests that working closely with families where depression (particularly chronic depression) is present in either parent and treating parental depression to remission is likely to have long-term benefits for children’s mental health and educational attainment

The Daily Mile: Whole-school recommendations for implementation and sustainability. A mixed-methods study

Regular physical activity (PA) during childhood is associated with a range of positive health outcomes and higher educational attainment. However, only 2.0% to 14.7% of girls and 9.5% to 34.1% of boys are meeting the current PA guidelines of 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous PA daily. Schools are targeted as a key setting to improve children's PA levels. The Daily Mile (TDM), a teacher-led 15 minute PA intervention was established in 2012 and has been widely adopted globally. However, the dynamic school environment generates challenges for school-based interventions to follow a uniform implementation method resulting in sustainability issues and limited evaluation. The aims of this mixed-methods study were to (1) explore whether whole-school experiences of TDM were related to implementation and (2) examine the association between TDM and CRF in children from high and low socio-economic groups. Focus groups with pupils (n = 6) and interviews with teachers (n = 9) and headteachers (n = 2) were conducted to explore factors associated with successful implementation. Pupils (n = 258 imputed) aged 9-11 from six primary schools in south Wales, United Kingdom participated in CRF assessments (20m shuttle run test) at two time-points (baseline, 6 month follow-up). Thematic analyses of qualitative measures and linear regression analyses of quantitative measures were used to assess the research questions. Qualitative findings identified implementation factors associated with a positive experience of TDM; flexible and adaptable, not replacing current play provision but delivered as an additional playtime, incorporate personal goal setting, teacher participation, whole-school delivery with community support. Both groups demonstrated equal increases in shuttles between baseline and follow-up (deprived: 4.7 ± 13.4, non-deprived: 4.8 ± 16.0). There was no significant difference in this increase for deprived compared to non-deprived children adjusted for age and gender. Findings from this study provide a set of recommendations for the future implementation and sustainability of TDM

Identifying prognostic structural features in tissue sections of colon cancer patients using point pattern analysis

Diagnosis and prognosis of cancer is informed by the architecture inherent in cancer patient tissue sections. This architecture is typically identified by pathologists, yet advances in computational image analysis facilitate quantitative assessment of this structure. In this article we develop a spatial point process approach in order to describe patterns in cell distribution within tissue samples taken from colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. In particular, our approach is centered on the Palm intensity function. This leads to taking an approximate-likelihood technique in fitting point processes models. We consider two Neyman-Scott point processes and a void process, fitting these point process models to the CRC patient data. We find that the parameter estimates of these models may be used to quantify the spatial arrangement of cells. Importantly, we observe characteristic differences in the spatial arrangement of cells between patients who died from CRC and those alive at follow-up

Differential gaze behavior towards sexually preferred and non-preferred human figures

The gaze pattern associated with image exploration is a sensitive index of our attention, motivation and preference. To examine whether an individual’s gaze behavior can reflect his/her sexual interest, we compared gaze patterns of young heterosexual men and women (M = 19.94 years, SD = 1.05) while viewing photos of plain-clothed male and female figures aged from birth to sixty years old. Our analysis revealed a clear gender difference in viewing sexually preferred figure images. Men displayed a distinctive gaze pattern only when viewing twenty-year-old female images, with more fixations and longer viewing time dedicated to the upper body and waist-hip region. Women also directed more attention at the upper body on female images in comparison to male images, but this difference was not age-specific. Analysis of local image salience revealed that observers’ eye-scanning strategies could not be accounted for by low-level processes, such as analyzing local image contrast and structure, but were associated with attractiveness judgments. The results suggest that the difference in cognitive processing of sexually preferred and non-preferred figures can be manifested in gaze patterns associated with figure viewing. Thus, eye-tracking holds promise as a potential sensitive measure for sexual preference, particularly in men

An inhomogeneous Weibull–Hawkes process to model underdispersed acoustic cues

TAM time covered by ACCURATE, funded by the US Navy Living Marine Resources program (contract no. N3943019C2176). TAM thanks partial support by CEAUL (funded by FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal, through the project UIDB/00006/2020). This work was supported by Marsden Fund proposal UOA 3723517 and Asian Office of Aerospace Research & Development grant FA2386-21-1-4028.A Hawkes point process describes self-exciting behaviour where event arrivals are triggered by historic events. These models are increasingly becoming a popular choice in analysing event-type data. Like all other inhomogeneous Poisson point processes, the waiting time between events in a Hawkes process is derived from an exponential distribution with mean one. However, as with many ecological and environmental data, this is an unrealistic assumption. We, therefore, extend and generalise the Hawkes process to account for potential under- or overdispersion in the waiting times between events by assuming the Weibull distribution as the foundation of the waiting times. We apply this model to the acoustic cue production times of sperm whales and show that our Weibull–Hawkes model better captures the inherent underdispersion in the interarrival times of echolocation clicks emitted by these whales.Peer reviewe

Primary school staff perspectives of school closures due to COVID-19, experiences of schools reopening and recommendations for the future: A qualitative survey in Wales

School closures due to the COVID-19 global pandemic are likely to have a range of negative consequences spanning the domains of child development, education and health, in addition to the widening of inequalities and inequities. Research is required to improve understanding of the impact of school closures on the education, health and wellbeing of pupils and school staff, the challenges posed during face-to-face reopening and importantly to identify how the impacts of these challenges can be addressed going forward to inform emerging policy and practice. This qualitative study aimed to reflect on the perspectives and experiences of primary school staff (pupils aged 3–11) in Wales regarding school closures and the initial face-to-face reopening of schools and to identify recommendations for the future. A total of 208 school staff completed a national online survey through the HAPPEN primary school network, consisting of questions about school closures (March to June 2020), the phased face-to-face reopening of schools (June to July 2020) and a return to face-to-face education. Thematic analysis of survey responses highlighted that primary school staff perceive that gaps in learning, health and wellbeing have increased and inequalities have widened during school closures. Findings from this study identified five recommendations; (i) prioritise the health and wellbeing of pupils and staff; (ii) focus on enabling parental engagement and support; (iii) improve digital competence amongst pupils, teachers and parents; (iv) consider opportunities for smaller class sizes and additional staffing; and (v) improve the mechanism of communication between schools and families, and between government and schools

EXPLORATORY AND CONFIRMATORY ANALYSES OF A HOSPITAL EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION SURVEY

This study explored the factor structure of a 22-item survey developed to measure employee satisfaction in a healthcare setting. The purpose was to determine if a homegrown survey possessed factors known to measure employee satisfaction. First an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was conducted, then using a different dataset, the EFA results were examined using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). A total of 2,216 employees were administered the survey, and the respondents were randomly divided into two samples, one for use with the EFA and the second sample was used for the CFA. Results from the EFA suggested two factors were present. The factors were measuring (a) satisfaction with management and (b) intrinsic satisfaction. The CFA results supported the findings of the EFA. The findings suggested the internally developed survey did not measure a large array of satisfaction indicators as one would hope; however, its use is appropriate if the intended scope and/or purpose are recognized. Implications of these findings and further research are discussed

A LEGISLATIVE EXAMINATION OF THE NORTH CAROLINA TEACHERS’ AND STATE EMPLOYEES’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

The North Carolina Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS) experienced a decline in its funded ratio from 112% in 2002 to 94% in 2011 and an increase in its unfunded actuarial accrued liabilities over the same period. The change in these two indicators is trending toward decreased fiscal solvency. The purpose of this research was to identify the potential changes to TSERS by the North Carolina legislature in light of its recent record of fiscal solvency. Using a qualitative case study research methodology, a thematic analysis of eleven interviews was conducted. Legislation and other documents as well as retrospective observations were analyzed. The results revealed five themes: revenue, politics, transportability, knowledge, and commitment that occurred across the four research questions. This study concluded that the legislature is likely to offer the following amendments in the future: the lowering of the 7.25% rate of return assumption, not allowing the spiking of salary, ensuring the entire amount of all annual required contributions are made, offering an optional defined contribution plan option, and a vesting period decrease

Headteachers’ prior beliefs on child health and their engagement in school based health interventions: a qualitative study

Background: Schools play an important role in promoting the health of children. However, little consideration is often given to the influence that headteachers' and school staff's prior beliefs have on the implementation of public health interventions. This study examined primary school headteachers' and school health co-ordinators' views regarding child health in order to provide greater insights on the school's perspective for those designing future school-based health interventions. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using 19 semi-structured interviews with headteachers, deputy headteachers and school health co-ordinators in the primary school setting. All transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Results: Whilst many participants in this study believed good health was vital for learning, wide variance was evident regarding the perceived health of school pupils and the magnitude of responsibility schools should take in addressing child health behaviours. Although staff in this study acknowledged the importance of their role, many believed the responsibility placed upon schools for health promotion was becoming too much; suggesting health interventions need to better integrate school, parental and societal components. With mental health highlighted as an increasing priority in many schools, incorporating wellbeing outcomes into future school based health interventions is advocated to ensure a more holistic understanding of child health is gained. Conclusion: Understanding the health beliefs of school staff when designing interventions is crucial as there appears to be a greater likelihood of interventions being successfully adopted if staff perceive a health issue as important among their pupils. An increased dependability on schools for addressing health was expressed by headteachers in this study, highlighting a need for better understanding of parental, child and key stakeholder perspectives on responsibility for child health. Without this understanding, there is potential for certain child health issues to be ignored.10 page(s