Is early center-based child care associated with tantrums and unmanageable behavior over time up to school entry?

Background. Existing research suggests that there is a relationship between greater exposure to center-based child care and child behavioral problems though the mechanism for the impact is unclear. However the measure used to document child care has usually been average hours, which may be particularly unreliable in the early months when fewer children are in center care. In addition individual trajectories for behavior difficulties have not been studied. Objective. The purpose of the current study was to examine whether the extent of exposure to center-based child care before two years predicted the trajectory of children’s difficult behavior (i.e., tantrums and unmanageable behavior) from 30 to 51 months controlling for child and maternal characteristics. Method. Data were drawn from UK-based Families, Children and Child Care (FCCC) study (n=1201). Individual growth models were fitted to test the relation between early center-based child care experiences and subsequent difficult behavior. Results. Children with more exposure to center-based care before two had less difficult behavior at 30 months, but more increase over time. Initial levels were predicted by higher difficult temperament and lower verbal ability. Higher difficult temperament and lower family socio-economic status predicted its change over time. Conclusion. Findings suggest that early exposure to center-based care before two years old is a risk factor for subsequent behavior problems especially when children have a longer period of exposure. A possible explanatory process is that child coping strategies to manage frustration are less well developed in a group context, especially when they lag behind in expressive language

Electronic structure, linear, nonlinear optical susceptibilities and birefringence of CuInX2 (X = S, Se, Te) chalcopyrite-structure compounds

The electronic structure, linear and nonlinear optical properties have been calculated for CuInX2 (X=S, Se, Te) chalcopyrite-structure single crystals using the state-of-the-art full potential linear augmented plane wave (FP-LAPW) method. We present results for band structure, density of states, and imaginary part of the frequency-dependent linear and nonlinear optical susceptibilities. We find that these crystals are semiconductors with direct band gaps. We have calculated the birefringence of these crystals. The birefringence is negative for CuInS2 and CuInSe2 while it is positive for CuInTe2 in agreement with the experimental data. Calculations are reported for the frequency-dependent complex second-order non-linear optical susceptibilities . The intra-band and inter-band contributions to the second harmonic generation increase when we replace S by Se and decrease when we replace Se by Te. We find that smaller energy band gap compounds have larger values of in agreement with the experimental data and previous theoretical calculations.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figure

Training attention control of very preterm infants: protocol for a feasibility study of the Attention Control Training (ACT)

Background Children born preterm may display cognitive, learning, and behaviour difficulties as they grow up. In particular, very premature birth (gestation age between 28 and less than 32 weeks) may put infants at increased risk of intellectual deficits and attention deficit disorder. Evidence suggests that the basis of these problems may lie in difficulties in the development of executive functions. One of the earliest executive functions to emerge around 1 year of age is the ability to control attention. An eye-tracking-based cognitive training programme to support this emerging ability, the Attention Control Training (ACT), has been developed and tested with typically developing infants. The aim of this study is to investigate the feasibility of using the ACT with healthy very preterm (VP) infants when they are 12 months of age (corrected age). The ACT has the potential to address the need for supporting emerging cognitive abilities of VP infants with an early intervention, which may capitalise on infants’ neural plasticity. Methods/design The feasibility study is designed to investigate whether it is possible to recruit and retain VP infants and their families in a randomised trial that compares attention and social attention of trained infants against those that are exposed to a control procedure. Feasibility issues include the referral/recruitment pathway, attendance, and engagement with testing and training sessions, completion of tasks, retention in the study, acceptability of outcome measures, quality of data collected (particularly, eye-tracking data). The results of the study will inform the development of a larger randomised trial. Discussion Several lines of evidence emphasise the need to support emerging cognitive and learning abilities of preterm infants using early interventions. However, early interventions with preterm infants, and particularly very preterm ones, face difficulties in recruiting and retaining participants. These problems are also augmented by the health vulnerability of this population. This feasibility study will provide the basis for informing the implementation of an early cognitive intervention for very preterm infants. Trial registration Registered Registration ID: NCT03896490. Retrospectively registered at Clinical Trials Protocol Registration and Results System (clinicaltrials.gov)

Behavioural and educational outcomes following extremely preterm birth : current controversies and future directions

As a consequence of improved survival rates for extremely preterm (EP; <28 weeks of gestation) births, there is a growing body of evidence detailing the impact of extreme prematurity on outcomes throughout childhood and adolescence. Historically, attention first focused on documenting rates of sensory impairments and severe neurodevelopmental disabilities. However, over recent years, there has been growing interest in the impact of EP birth on long term mental health and educational outcomes. In this chapter we review literature relating to the impact of EP birth on attention, social and emotional problems, psychiatric disorders and educational outcomes. We also outline current controversies in the field. In particular, we present emergent research exploring developmental trajectories to determine whether the sequelae associated with EP birth represent a developmental delay or persistent deficit, and we consider what approaches to intervention may be most fruitful in improving behavioural and educational outcomes in this population

Determination of nutritional and chemical composition of some edible wild plants used in herby cheese

Same as in many parts of the world, many edible weeds belonging to different families that have not been cultured in Turkey are traditionally used in the making of many foods. In this study, minerals and nutrients of six edible wild plant species belonging to the Liliaceae family, which are currently used in the production of herby cheese in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, were determined. The determination of these macro- and micro-minerals was performed on ICP-AES and UV Visible spectrophotometers. As a result of the study, major differences were discovered between these plant species in terms of the mineral content (Na, Mg, K, s, Ca, P, Fr, Mn, Cu, Zn, Cr, and Co) and nutrient properties (total ash, crude fibre, pH, N, and crude protein). Except for the Allium schoenoprasum species, all plant samples were found to be rich in many important minerals, such as Fe, Cu, Ca, K, Mn, and Zn, which are known to be vital for human health. The concentrations of these minerals and a few heavy metals in plant samples were found in the following ranges: 17.25 - 25.47 mg kg-1 for copper, 18.45 - 34.14 mg kg-1 for zinc, 33.42 - 98.42 mg kg-1 for manganese, 0.12 - 0.54 mg kg-1 for chromium, 0.31 - 1.61 mg kg-1 cobalt. Many significant correlations were found among the parameters analysed. The study presents essential results on the availability of some vital minerals that could be useful or harmful to consumers, in order to provide dietary information for designing value-added foods

Chemical composition and antibacterial activities of Juniperus horizontalis essential oil

In recent years, the screening of antibacterial activity has been the subject of much research, and the antibacterial activity of essential oils could be a promising subject for future investigation. In this study, the antibacterial activities of Juniperus horizontalis essential oils and their components were investigated. Essential oils were isolated using the hydro-distillation method and their components were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main compounds found in the oil of leaves were linalool (33.76%), P-cymene (23.20%), gamma-terpinene (8.67%), trans-sabinene hydrate (8.59%), thyme camphor (8.49%), carvol (5.08%) and borneol (4.22%). Juniperus horizontalis essential oils were evaluated for antibacterial activity against six bacterial strains using the disc diffusion method. The results indicate that the essential oil of J. horizontalis shows variable and significant antibacterial activities against the six tested bacteria species. The diameters of the inhibition zones formed for bacteria were measured. The lowest inhibition zone was 12 mm (sensitive) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 10145 and the highest zone was 32 mm (extremely sensitive) against Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212

Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Properties of Schinus molle L. Essential Oil from Turkey

In traditional medicine, Schinus molle was used in treating a variety of wounds and infections due to its antibacterial and antiseptic properties. Based on this, the chemical constituents, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Schinus molle fruit essential oils were investigated. The hydro-distillation was used for the essential oil extraction of Schinus molle fruits and the chemical composition of extracted essential oils were identified by GC-MS. Antibacterial activities were evaluated by the agar disc diffusion method. Antioxidant properties were determined according to the TEAC method. The major components were identified as ?-phellandrene (31.74%), limonene (16.82%), ß-phellandrene (16.49%) and p-cymene (11.36%), respectively. The results showed that essential oils of the fruits had weak biological effects against five of eight tested bacterial and yeast species. The essential oil extract prepared from S. molle fruits had weak antioxidant activity with 4.7±1.2 mM Trolox values which monitored slightly good radical scavenging activities. © 2017, Har Krishan Bhalla & Sons

Chemical composition and antibacterial activities of Juniperus horizontalis essential oil (vol 94, pg 323, 2014)

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