Prenatal Stress & Socioemotional Outcomes in School-Aged Children: A Meta-Analytic Review

Prenatal stress has been linked to a myriad of adverse obstetric, infant, and childhood outcomes. Several prospective studies have linked maternal stress and distress during pregnancy with long-term neurocognitive, behavioral, and emotional consequences for the offspring, including decreased cognitive abilities as well as symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression, and anxiety. However, limited conclusions on the influence of type of stressors and the magnitude of the effect of prenatal stress on specific developmental trajectories can be drawn due to variation in study design and measured outcomes. This meta-analysis synthesized the state of the current literature and quantified the effects of prenatal stress on internalizing, externalizing, and ADHD symptoms among children ages 5 to 18. The current study also evaluated whether pregnancy specific (e.g., type of stressor), sociodemographic (e.g., child gender), and methodological factors (e.g., reporter of child outcome) moderated the association between prenatal stress and outcomes in school-aged children. A total of 29 studies met full inclusion criteria for data analysis. A small positive effect was observed between prenatal stress and internalizing (r = .15), externalizing (r = .13), and ADHD (r = .18), symptoms in school aged youth. Moderator analysis indicated effect sizes were stronger in younger women whose children were experiencing internalizing symptoms. Findings suggest maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with offspring emotional and behavioral developmental outcomes in school aged children and adolescents. Improvement in the operationalization of sociodemographic variables is needed to continue to explore alternative characteristics that could contribute to this association

Maternal Trauma Experience on Infant Cortisol Reactivity at 12 months

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health concern in the United States (US). One third of women in the US have experienced rape, physical assault or stalking by a former or current partner (Black et al., 2011). Evidence suggests that women experience increased risk for IPV during the perinatal period and exposure to IPV during and after pregnancy increases risk for adverse physical and mental health outcomes for victims. The “fetal programming” hypothesis proposes that prenatal experiences are also particularly impactful for offspring development in the short and long term; prenatal poor nutrition and stress have been linked to negative health outcomes for infants and children, including temperamental difficulties, decreased emotion regulation, and psychopathology (Bergman, Sarkar, O’Connor, Modi & Glover, 2007; Davis et al., 2004; Huizink, de Medina, Mulder, Visser, & Buitelaar, 2002). The Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) has been identified as a potential mechanism linking prenatal experience and maladaptive outcomes later on. However, there is a paucity of information about the influence of prenatal IPV, a common, often chronic, and highly detrimental stressor, on infant HPA axis development. The current study explores the influence of prenatal IPV exposure on the infant stress response using salivary cortisol, a hormonal indicator of the HPA axis. This study also evaluates the interactions between prenatal IPV exposure, and common co-occurring risk factors, including maternal childhood maltreatment history, and maternal postpartum depressive and PTSD symptoms. A more comprehensive understanding of the biopsychosocial concomitants of prenatal exposure to IPV is needed to inform future prevention and intervention efforts early in life

An institutional theory account of how governance affects alignment and performance outcomes in a complex IS project

A long-standing challenge in the Information Systems discipline is the development of a theoretical account of how IT alignment is achieved, sustained, and generates positive effects. In this paper, we focus on a key piece of that problem: the role of governance. It is commonly agreed that governance – the leadership, structure, and decision-making processes instituted to ensure that IS projects generate value while minimising risk – plays an important role in achieving and sustaining IT alignment, but there has been little theoretical work on how it may do so. Without such theoretical development, it is difficult to justify the linkages between IT governance, alignment, and performance, and explain how these links play out in practice. We seek to contribute to the IT alignment and IT governance literatures by providing an institutional theory account of how governance – and changes in governance over time – affect the achievement and sustainment of alignment in a complex IS project, and thereby affect the project’s performance outcomes

Notes from the Field: 10 Short Lessons on One-Shot Instruction

Librarians teach. It might not be what they planned to do when they entered the profession, or it may have been a secret hope all along. Either way, librarians teach, and one teaching scenario remains quintessential: the one-shot library instruction session. In recognition of the centrality of the one-shot, this article shares several authors\u27 notes from the field. The notes provide a range of strategies for developing pedagogically sound one-shot library instruction sessions, grouped loosely into three categories: planning, delivery, and integration. The authors offer these insights in their own words in hopes that other teaching librarians may benefit from their experiences

Achieving integrated treatment:a realist synthesis of service models and systems for co-existing serious mental health and substance use conditions

Approximately 30-50% of people with serious mental illness have co-existing drug/alcohol problems (COSMHAD), associated with adverse health/social care outcomes. UK guidelines advocate both co-occurring needs being met within mental health services but uncertainty remains about how to operationalise this to improve outcomes. Various unevaluated service configurations exist in the UK. A realist synthesis was undertaken to identify, test and refine programme theories (PTs) explaining how context shapes the mechanisms through which UK service models for COSMHAD work, for whom, and in what circumstances. Structured and iterative realist searches of 7 databases identified 5,099 records. A two-stage screening process identified 132 papers. Three broad contextual factors shaped COMSHAD services across 11 PTs: committed leadership; clear expectations regarding COSMAHD from mental health and substance use workforces; and clear care coordination processes. These contextual factors led to increased staff empathy, confidence, legitimisation and multidisciplinary ethos which improved care coordination, and increased people with COSMHAD’s motivations to work towards their goals. Our synthesis highlights that integrating COSMHAD care is complex and both individual and cultural behavioural shifts in leadership, workforce and service delivery is essential to ensure people with COSMHAD receive compassionate, trauma informed care that meets their needs

Reduced Gravity Testing of the Nanoparticle Field Extraction Thruster

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/77245/1/AIAA-2008-4995-883.pd

Psychiatric Symptoms and Proinflammatory Cytokines in Pregnancy

Clinical studies suggest that psychiatric symptoms, particularly depression, anxiety and trauma, may be associated with inflammation, as indexed by proinflammatory cytokines. Such a link may be especially significant in pregnancy, and may shed additional light on the etiology of perinatal mood disorders

The GATA1s isoform is normally down-regulated during terminal haematopoietic differentiation and over-expression leads to failure to repress MYB, CCND2 and SKI during erythroid differentiation of K562 cells

Background: Although GATA1 is one of the most extensively studied haematopoietic transcription factors little is currently known about the physiological functions of its naturally occurring isoforms GATA1s and GATA1FL in humans—particularly whether the isoforms have distinct roles in different lineages and whether they have non-redundant roles in haematopoietic differentiation. As well as being of general interest to understanding of haematopoiesis, GATA1 isoform biology is important for children with Down syndrome associated acute megakaryoblastic leukaemia (DS-AMKL) where GATA1FL mutations are an essential driver for disease pathogenesis. <p/>Methods: Human primary cells and cell lines were analyzed using GATA1 isoform specific PCR. K562 cells expressing GATA1s or GATA1FL transgenes were used to model the effects of the two isoforms on in vitro haematopoietic differentiation. <p/>Results: We found no evidence for lineage specific use of GATA1 isoforms; however GATA1s transcripts, but not GATA1FL transcripts, are down-regulated during in vitro induction of terminal megakaryocytic and erythroid differentiation in the cell line K562. In addition, transgenic K562-GATA1s and K562-GATA1FL cells have distinct gene expression profiles both in steady state and during terminal erythroid differentiation, with GATA1s expression characterised by lack of repression of MYB, CCND2 and SKI. <p/>Conclusions: These findings support the theory that the GATA1s isoform plays a role in the maintenance of proliferative multipotent megakaryocyte-erythroid precursor cells and must be down-regulated prior to terminal differentiation. In addition our data suggest that SKI may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of children with DS-AMKL

The 1999 international emergency humanitarian evacuation of the Kosovars to Canada: A qualitative study of service providers' perspectives at the international, national and local levels

BACKGROUND: In response to the Kosovo crisis, Canada received 5,500 Albanian Kosovar refugees in 1999 as part of the emergency humanitarian evacuation and settlement effort. This study attempts to describe the experiences of service providers at the international, national, and local levels, involved in the organization and delivery of health and settlement services in Canada for the Kosovar refugees. METHODS: A qualitative case study design using key informant interviews was used. Nominated sampling was used to identify 17 individuals involved in the organization and delivery of health and settlement. Key themes were identified and recommendations made to provide a framework for the development of policy to guide response to future humanitarian emergencies. RESULTS: Six themes emerged: (1) A sense of being overwhelmed, (2) A multitude of health issues, (3) critical challenges in providing health care, (4) access to health and settlement services, (5) overall successes and (6) need for a coordinated approach to migration health. CONCLUSIONS: For those involved, the experience was overwhelming but rewarding. Interviewees' major concerns were the need for a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to the flow of medical information and handling of specific health problems