Early childhood transitions research: A review of concepts, theory, and practice’ Working Paper 48

Chapter 1 begins by outlining developmental concepts which underpin transition themes, in particular those associated with the theories of Jean Piaget and other ‘stage’ theorists. Their ideas are highlighted early on because so much transitions research builds on or reacts to core developmental assumptions. Chapter 1 then introduces socio-cultural perspectives on early childhood transitions. These are distinguished by their focus on how children learn by interacting with their immediate socio-cultural environments (e.g., caregivers, peers). This emphasis has been elaborated by several disciplines within the social sciences and is increasingly mirrored in early child development programmes around the world. Chapter 2 examines the different ways in which transitions are structured, drawing attention to varying logics that can be employed to mark transitions in early childhood. Institutional settings often use biological age as the criterion for readiness. By contrast, sociocultural transitions are often marked through rites of passage, following the cultural and economic reasoning of a given community. Also, around the world children engage in horizontal transitions as they move between different domains of everyday life. Chapter 3 shifts to perspectives on transitions that are informed by systems theories. These are distinguished from socio-cultural approaches by their greater emphasis on the links between individuals, macro social processes and historical changes. These approaches highlight the linkages between children, their communities and global societies and draw attention to the importance of comprehensive programmes that enable children to engage critically with the demands of a changing environment. Chapter 4 focuses on children’s active roles in shaping their transition experiences, with particular attention to the significance of peer group relationships as a moderating influence on transitions. The section then explores research methods that may enable the implementation of children’s right to participation within research and programming in this area. The final chapter discusses the findings of this review, highlighting significant research strengths and gaps of the various approaches presented, followed by a glossary of key transitions concepts discussed in the paper

Early Childhood Education Trajectories and Transitions: A study of the experiences and perspectives of parents and children in Andhra Pradesh, India. Young Lives Working Paper 52

This paper explores diverse pathways through early childhood in the context of Andhra Pradesh state, India. The particular focus is on experiences of pre-school and transitions to primary school. The paper is based on analysis of Young Lives survey data (n=1950) collected for a group of young children born at the beginning of the millennium, plus in-depth qualitative research with a small sub-sample (n=24). We start from the premise that children’s earliest educational experiences can have a crucial influence on their lifelong adjustments and achievements. Superficially, the evidence from Young Lives research is quite positive, suggesting equitable access to early childhood provision as well as high levels of primary school attendance. However, overall percentages are misleading and disguise major differences in early transition experiences. Many of these differences are shaped by the co-existence of a long established network of government anganwadis under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme, alongside a rapidly growing (relatively unregulated) private sector at both pre-school and primary levels. Parental decision making around private versus government education has been fuelled by the possibility of improved life opportunities in a rapidly changing economy and the attractiveness of English medium teaching, even at the earliest stages (more commonly available in the private sector). The paper identifies four quite distinct trajectories related to availability and choice of pre-school and primary school. Parental aspirations for individual boys and girls combined with beliefs about relative quality of government and private schools seem to shape individual trajectories in ways that seem likely to reproduce or even reinforce inequities related to wealth, location, caste and gender. The consequence for children is in many cases having to cope with multiple transitions during their early years, which may entail changing schools in an effort to ‘up-grade’ in perceived quality (e.g. from a government to private school), or moving into distant hostels or with relatives in order to attend better schools or to access grades unavailable locally

Effects of GABA B receptor agonists and antagonists on glycemia regulation in mice

γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) inhibits insulin secretion through GABAB receptors in pancreatic β-cells. We investigated whether GABAB receptors participated in the regulation of glucose homeostasis in vivo. BALB/c mice acutely pre-injected with the GABAB receptor agonist baclofen (7.5 mg/kg, i.p.) presented glucose intolerance and diminished insulin secretion during a glucose tolerance test (GTT, 2 g/kg body weight, i.p.). The GABAB receptor antagonist 2-hydroxysaclofen (15 mg/kg, i.p.) improved the GTT and reversed the baclofen effect. Also a slight increase in insulin secretion was observed with 2-hydroxysaclofen. In incubated islets 1.10−5 M baclofen inhibited 20 mM glucose-induced insulin secretion and this effect was reversed by coincubation with 1.10−5 M 2-hydroxysaclofen. In chronically-treated animals (18 days) both the receptor agonist (5 mg/kg/day i.p.) and the receptor antagonist (10 mg/kg/day i.p.) induced impaired GTTs; the receptor antagonist, but not the agonist, also induced a decrease in insulin secretion. No alterations in insulin tolerance tests, body weight and food intake were observed with the treatments. In addition glucagon, insulin-like growth factor I, prolactin, corticosterone and growth hormone, other hormones involved in glucose metabolism regulation, were not affected by chronic baclofen or 2-hydroxysaclofen. In islets obtained from chronically injected animals with baclofen, 2-hydroxysaclofen or saline (as above), GABAB2 mRNA expression was not altered. Results demonstrate that GABAB receptors are involved in the regulation of glucose homeostasis in vivo. Treatment with receptor agonists or antagonists, given acutely or chronically, altered glucose homeostasis and insulin secretion alerting to the need to evaluate glucose metabolism during the clinical use of these drugs.Fil: Bonaventura, Maria Marta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Crivello, Martin. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Ferreira, Maria Laura. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Repetto, Martín. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Bioquímica Humana; ArgentinaFil: Cymeryng, Cora Betriz. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Departamento de Bioquímica Humana; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Libertun, Carlos. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; ArgentinaFil: Lux Lantos, Victoria A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Fundación de Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental. Instituto de Biología y Medicina Experimental; Argentin

The Impact of Amino Acid Variability on Alloreactivity Defines a Functional Distance Predictive of Permissive HLA-DPB1 Mismatches in Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

AbstractA major challenge in unrelated hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is the prediction of permissive HLA mismatches, ie, those associated with lower clinical risks compared to their nonpermissive counterparts. For HLA-DPB1, a clinically prognostic model has been shown to be matching for T cell epitope (TCE) groups assigned by cross reactivity of T cells alloreactive to HLA-DPB1∗09:01; however, the molecular basis of this observation is not fully understood. Here, we have mutated amino acids (aa) in 10 positions of HLA-DPB1∗09:01 to other naturally occurring variants, expressed them by lentiviral vectors in B cell lines, and quantitatively measured allorecognition by 17 CD4+ T cell effectors from 6 unrelated individuals. A significant impact on the median alloresponse was observed for peptide contact positions 9, 11, 35, 55, 69, 76, and 84, but not for positions 8, 56, and 57 pointing away from the groove. A score for the “functional distance” (FD) from HLA-DPB1∗09:01 was defined as the sum of the median impact of polymorphic aa in a given HLA-DPB1 allele on T cell alloreactivity. Established TCE group assignment of 23 alleles correlated with FD scores of ≤0.5, 0.6 to 1.9 and ≥2 for TCE groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Based on this, prediction of TCE group assignment will be possible for any given HLA-DPB1 allele, including currently 367 alleles encoding distinct proteins for which T cell cross reactivity patterns are unknown. Experimental confirmation of the in silico TCE group classification was successfully performed for 7 of 7 of these alleles. Our findings have practical implications for the applicability of TCE group matching in unrelated HSCT and provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying this model. The innovative concept of FD opens new potential avenues for risk prediction in unrelated HSCT

A support programme for caregivers of children with disabilities in Ghana: Understanding the impact on the wellbeing of caregivers

Background: Four fifths of the estimated 150 million children with disability in the world live in resource poor settings where the role of the family is crucial in ensuring that these children survive and thrive. Despite their critical role, evidence is lacking on how to provide optimal support to these families. This study explores the impact of a participatory training programme for caregivers delivered through a local support group, with a focus on understanding caregiver wellbeing. Methods: A qualitative longitudinal study was conducted to investigate the impact of a training programme, “getting to know cerebral palsy,” with caregivers on their wellbeing. Eighteen caregivers, from four districts, were interviewed up to three times over 14 months, to assess impact and the reasons for any changes. Results: Low levels of knowledge, high levels of stigma, physical and emotional exhaustion, and often difficult family relationships with social exclusion of the child and caregiver were common themes at the outset. Caregivers struggled to combine their caring and economic activities. This was exacerbated by the common absence of the father. Two months after completion of the training, their reported wellbeing had improved. The reasons for this were an improved understanding about their child's condition, positive attitudinal change towards their child, feelings of hope, and through the group support, a profound realisation that they are “not on their own.” While relationships within the family remained complex in many cases, the support group offered an important and alternative social support network. Conclusions: This study illustrates the many benefits of a relatively simple caregiver intervention, which has the potential to offer a mechanism to provide sustainable social support for caregivers and children with cerebral palsy. Any future programme needs to also address more structural issues, including stigma and discrimination, and strengthen approaches to family engagement

The NESTORE e-Coach: Designing a Multi-Domain Pathway to Well-Being in Older Age

This article describes the coaching strategies of the NESTORE e-coach, a virtual coach for promoting healthier lifestyles in older age. The novelty of the NESTORE project is the definition of a multi-domain personalized pathway where the e-coach accompanies the user throughout different structured and non-structured coaching activities and recommendations. The article also presents the design process of the coaching strategies, carried out including older adults from four European countries and experts from the different health domains, and the results of the tests carried out with 60 older adults in Italy, Spain and The Netherlands

A Role for the Motor System in Binding Abstract Emotional Meaning

Sensorimotor areas activate to action- and object-related words, but their role in abstract meaning processing is still debated. Abstract emotion words denoting body internal states are a critical test case because they lack referential links to objects. If actions expressing emotion are crucial for learning correspondences between word forms and emotions, emotion word–evoked activity should emerge in motor brain systems controlling the face and arms, which typically express emotions. To test this hypothesis, we recruited 18 native speakers and used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging to compare brain activation evoked by abstract emotion words to that by face- and arm-related action words. In addition to limbic regions, emotion words indeed sparked precentral cortex, including body-part–specific areas activated somatotopically by face words or arm words. Control items, including hash mark strings and animal words, failed to activate precentral areas. We conclude that, similar to their role in action word processing, activation of frontocentral motor systems in the dorsal stream reflects the semantic binding of sign and meaning of abstract words denoting emotions and possibly other body internal states

Human subcortical brain asymmetries in 15,847 people worldwide reveal effects of age and sex

The two hemispheres of the human brain differ functionally and structurally. Despite over a century of research, the extent to which brain asymmetry is influenced by sex, handedness, age, and genetic factors is still controversial. Here we present the largest ever analysis of subcortical brain asymmetries, in a harmonized multi-site study using meta-analysis methods. Volumetric asymmetry of seven subcortical structures was assessed in 15,847 MRI scans from 52 datasets worldwide. There were sex differences in the asymmetry of the globus pallidus and putamen. Heritability estimates, derived from 1170 subjects belonging to 71 extended pedigrees, revealed that additive genetic factors influenced the asymmetry of these two structures and that of the hippocampus and thalamus. Handedness had no detectable effect on subcortical asymmetries, even in this unprecedented sample size, but the asymmetry of the putamen varied with age. Genetic drivers of asymmetry in the hippocampus, thalamus and basal ganglia may affect variability in human cognition, including susceptibility to psychiatric disorders

Subcortical volumes across the lifespan: Data from 18,605 healthy individuals aged 3–90 years

Age has a major effect on brain volume. However, the normative studies available are constrained by small sample sizes, restricted age coverage and significant methodological variability. These limitations introduce inconsistencies and may obscure or distort the lifespan trajectories of brain morphometry. In response, we capitalized on the resources of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta‐Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to examine age‐related trajectories inferred from cross‐sectional measures of the ventricles, the basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens), the thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala using magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from 18,605 individuals aged 3–90 years. All subcortical structure volumes were at their maximum value early in life. The volume of the basal ganglia showed a monotonic negative association with age thereafter; there was no significant association between age and the volumes of the thalamus, amygdala and the hippocampus (with some degree of decline in thalamus) until the sixth decade of life after which they also showed a steep negative association with age. The lateral ventricles showed continuous enlargement throughout the lifespan. Age was positively associated with inter‐individual variability in the hippocampus and amygdala and the lateral ventricles. These results were robust to potential confounders and could be used to examine the functional significance of deviations from typical age‐related morphometric patterns

Subcortical volumes across the lifespan: Data from 18,605 healthy individuals aged 3-90 years

Age has a major effect on brain volume. However, the normative studies available are constrained by small sample sizes, restricted age coverage and significant methodological variability. These limitations introduce inconsistencies and may obscure or distort the lifespan trajectories of brain morphometry. In response, we capitalized on the resources of the Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA) Consortium to examine age-related trajectories inferred from cross-sectional measures of the ventricles, the basal ganglia (caudate, putamen, pallidum, and nucleus accumbens), the thalamus, hippocampus and amygdala using magnetic resonance imaging data obtained from 18,605 individuals aged 3-90 years. All subcortical structure volumes were at their maximum value early in life. The volume of the basal ganglia showed a monotonic negative association with age thereafter; there was no significant association between age and the volumes of the thalamus, amygdala and the hippocampus (with some degree of decline in thalamus) until the sixth decade of life after which they also showed a steep negative association with age. The lateral ventricles showed continuous enlargement throughout the lifespan. Age was positively associated with inter-individual variability in the hippocampus and amygdala and the lateral ventricles. These results were robust to potential confounders and could be used to examine the functional significance of deviations from typical age-related morphometric patterns