Transition to kindergarten for children with disabilities: school practices and parent involvement

Using Pianta and Walsh's (1996) Contextual Systems Model (CSM), this study analyzed parent involvement in school as a key element for transition to kindergarten for children with disabilities and their families, along with the practices schools employ to improve school-family collaboration. Focusing on the relationship between the school system and the family/child system, this research explored the parent involvement and the factors influencing it using the views of Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler (1995), Eccles and Harold (1996), and Smith et al. (1997). The study drew from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten Year of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K) a subsample of 1,016 children who have Individualized Education Programs (IEP). A profile of kindergarten-aged children with disabilities was created. School practices related to families were found to be low-intensity, formalized, and poorly correlated in number with degree of parent involvement. Parent involvement was assessed using seven items from the parent interviews. The items measured whether or not a parent participated in parent involvement activities with the schools during the kindergarten year. A composite variable measuring the number of types of activities a parent was involved in during the kindergarten year was created and used in a Linear Regression. A second parent involvement variable measuring the total number of activities that parents reported was created and used in a second Linear Regression. Parent involvement was unbalanced; i.e., parents tended to become involved in some types of parent involvement activities, but not in all types, and they chose different types. Family demographics (education, language), other family characteristics (perceptions, expectations, involvement at home) were found to be significant predictors for parent involvement. These results are discussed, and recommendations are offered

Histological aspects of the esophagus in guinea pigs (Cavia porcellus)

The aim of this study is the detailed description of the esophageal microscopic structure in guinea pigs. Fragments from the cervical, thoracic and abdominal segments of the esophagus were processed for classical paraffin embedding and the sections were stained by hematoxylin-eosin and Goldner’s trichrome methods. The esophagus in guinea pigs is lined by keratinized stratified squamous epithelium and there are no glands in the lamina propria and the submucosa. The muscularis mucosae is formed by smooth muscle cells disposed longitudinally. The muscularis externa is formed by striated muscle cells disposed on 3 layers in the first 2 thirds of the esophagus, while in some regions of the abdominal segment’s circumference, the cells form 4 layers

Histological Aspects of Brunner’s Glands in Chinchillas (Chinchilla lanigera)

Since their discovery, Brunner’s glands have been an attractive subject of research. The study aimed to investigate the structure, the topography, and the degree of development of the Brunner’s glands in chinchillas through light microscopy. Transversal fragments from the duodenum of 5 chinchilla males were histologically processed by classical paraffin technique. Brunner glands are much more developed and proportionally, they occupy at least three times more space than the Lieberkuhn glands. In many places, Brunner glands are clustered, suggesting that more than one such gland spills its secretion product through a common Lieberkuhn gland in the space between villi. We can affirm that Brunner glands, after their disposition, appearance and absence of distinct muscularis mucosae, are disposed into the thickness of the mucosa and submucosa in chinchilla (together with the Lieberkuhn glands) and not strictly in the submucosa as in other mammals

A simple asthma prediction tool for preschool children with wheeze or cough

BACKGROUND Many preschool children have wheeze or cough, but only some have asthma later. Existing prediction tools are difficult to apply in clinical practice or exhibit methodological weaknesses. OBJECTIVE We sought to develop a simple and robust tool for predicting asthma at school age in preschool children with wheeze or cough. METHODS From a population-based cohort in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, we included 1- to 3-year-old subjects seeing a doctor for wheeze or cough and assessed the prevalence of asthma 5 years later. We considered only noninvasive predictors that are easy to assess in primary care: demographic and perinatal data, eczema, upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms, and family history of atopy. We developed a model using logistic regression, avoided overfitting with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator penalty, and then simplified it to a practical tool. We performed internal validation and assessed its predictive performance using the scaled Brier score and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS Of 1226 symptomatic children with follow-up information, 345 (28%) had asthma 5 years later. The tool consists of 10 predictors yielding a total score between 0 and 15: sex, age, wheeze without colds, wheeze frequency, activity disturbance, shortness of breath, exercise-related and aeroallergen-related wheeze/cough, eczema, and parental history of asthma/bronchitis. The scaled Brier scores for the internally validated model and tool were 0.20 and 0.16, and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.76 and 0.74, respectively. CONCLUSION This tool represents a simple, low-cost, and noninvasive method to predict the risk of later asthma in symptomatic preschool children, which is ready to be tested in other populations

Breastfeeding, lung volumes and alveolar size at school-age

Background: Previous studies found larger lung volumes at school-age in formerly breastfed children, with some studies suggesting an effect modification by maternal asthma. We wanted to explore this further in children who had undergone extensive lung function testing. The current study aimed to assess whether breastfeeding was associated with larger lung volumes and, if so, whether all compartments were affected. We also assessed association of breastfeeding with apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC), which measures freedom of gas diffusion in alveolar-acinar compartments and is a surrogate of alveolar dimensions. Additionally, we assessed whether these effects were modified by maternal asthma.Methods: We analysed data from 111 children and young adults aged 11–21 years, who had participated in detailed lung function testing, including spirometry, plethysmography and measurement of ADC of 3Helium (3He) by MR. Information on breastfeeding came from questionnaires applied in early childhood (age 1–4 years). We determined the association between breastfeeding and these measurements using linear regression, controlling for potential confounders.Results: We did not find significant evidence for an association between duration of breastfeeding and lung volumes or alveolar dimensions in the entire sample. In breastfed children of mothers with asthma, we observed larger lung volumes and larger average alveolar size than in non-breastfed children, but the differences did not reach significance levels.Conclusions: Confirmation of effects of breastfeeding on lung volumes would have important implications for public health. Further investigations with larger sample sizes are warranted

Copy number variation of the beta-defensin genes in Europeans: no supporting evidence for association with lung function, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma

Lung function measures are heritable, predict mortality and are relevant in diagnosis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD and asthma are diseases of the airways with major public health impacts and each have a heritable component. Genome-wide association studies of SNPs have revealed novel genetic associations with both diseases but only account for a small proportion of the heritability. Complex copy number variation may account for some of the missing heritability. A well-characterised genomic region of complex copy number variation contains beta-defensin genes (DEFB103, DEFB104 and DEFB4), which have a role in the innate immune response. Previous studies have implicated these and related genes as being associated with asthma or COPD. We hypothesised that copy number variation of these genes may play a role in lung function in the general population and in COPD and asthma risk. We undertook copy number typing of this locus in 1149 adult and 689 children using a paralogue ratio test and investigated association with COPD, asthma and lung function. Replication of findings was assessed in a larger independent sample of COPD cases and smoking controls. We found evidence for an association of beta-defensin copy number with COPD in the adult cohort (OR = 1.4, 95%CI:1.02–1.92, P = 0.039) but this finding, and findings from a previous study, were not replicated in a larger follow-up sample(OR = 0.89, 95%CI:0.72–1.07, P = 0.217). No robust evidence of association with asthma in children was observed. We found no evidence for association between beta-defensin copy number and lung function in the general populations. Our findings suggest that previous reports of association of beta-defensin copy number with COPD should be viewed with caution. Suboptimal measurement of copy number can lead to spurious associations. Further beta-defensin copy number measurement in larger sample sizes of COPD cases and children with asthma are needed

Enhancement of bone consolidation using high-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields (HF-PEMFs): An experimental study on rats

In vitro studies showed that high-frequency pulsed electromagnetic fields (HF-PEMFs) increase the activity/expression of early and late osteogenic markers and enhance bone mineralization. The main aim of this study was to investigate the in vivo effects of HF-PEMFs on fracture healing using a rat model. A femur fracture was established by surgery in 20 male Wistar rats. Titanium nails were implanted to reduce and stabilize the fracture. After surgery, 20 rats were equally divided into untreated control and treated group (from the first postoperative day HF-PEMFs at 400 pulses/sec [pps] were applied for 10 minutes/day, for two weeks). Quantitative and qualitative assessment of bone formation was made at two and eight weeks following surgery and included morphological and histological analysis, serological analysis by ELISA, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), and three-point bending test. At two weeks in HF-PEMF group, soft callus was at a more advanced fibrocartilaginous stage and the bone volume/total tissue volume (BV/TV) ratio in the callus area was significantly higher compared to control group (p = 0.047). Serum concentration of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OC) was significantly higher in HF-PEMF group (ALP p = 0.026, OC p = 0.006) as well as the mechanical strength of femurs (p = 0.03). At eight weeks, femurs from HF-PEMF group had a completely formed woven bone with dense trabeculae, active bone marrow, and had a significantly higher BV/TV ratio compared to control (p = 0.01). HF-PEMFs applied from the first postoperative day, 10 minutes/day for two weeks, enhance bone consolidation in rats, especially in the early phase of fracture healing

A simple asthma prediction tool for preschool children with wheeze or cough

BACKGROUND Many preschool children have wheeze or cough, but only some have asthma later. Existing prediction tools are difficult to apply in clinical practice or exhibit methodological weaknesses. OBJECTIVE We sought to develop a simple and robust tool for predicting asthma at school age in preschool children with wheeze or cough. METHODS From a population-based cohort in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, we included 1- to 3-year-old subjects seeing a doctor for wheeze or cough and assessed the prevalence of asthma 5 years later. We considered only noninvasive predictors that are easy to assess in primary care: demographic and perinatal data, eczema, upper and lower respiratory tract symptoms, and family history of atopy. We developed a model using logistic regression, avoided overfitting with the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator penalty, and then simplified it to a practical tool. We performed internal validation and assessed its predictive performance using the scaled Brier score and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. RESULTS Of 1226 symptomatic children with follow-up information, 345 (28%) had asthma 5 years later. The tool consists of 10 predictors yielding a total score between 0 and 15: sex, age, wheeze without colds, wheeze frequency, activity disturbance, shortness of breath, exercise-related and aeroallergen-related wheeze/cough, eczema, and parental history of asthma/bronchitis. The scaled Brier scores for the internally validated model and tool were 0.20 and 0.16, and the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves were 0.76 and 0.74, respectively. CONCLUSION This tool represents a simple, low-cost, and noninvasive method to predict the risk of later asthma in symptomatic preschool children, which is ready to be tested in other populations