Social skills in post-institutional adopted children

Many children who are adopted internationally into the USA spent time in an institution prior to adoption. While the majority of adoptees fall within the normal range of adjustment, post-institutional (PI) children have been found to have higher rates of peer difficulties than non-adopted parent-reared children, they may display indiscriminate friendliness and difficulty understanding social cues and social boundaries, and they may have difficulty with self-regulation which is likely to relate to social skills (Gunnar, 2001; Gunnar, van Dulmen, & The International Adoption Project Team, 2007; Rutter and the ERA Study Team, 1998; Rutter, Kreppner, & O'Connor, 2001). The purpose of this study was to examine the parent-reported social skills (using the Social Skills Rating System; Gresham & Elliott, 1990) of children adopted to the USA from Russian orphanages that were primarily deficient in their social-emotional environments (The St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team, 2008). PI children who were adopted before 18 months had higher/better scores than children adopted after 18 months, and there does not appear to be a significant decrease in social skills with later ages (e.g., 24+ months) at adoption, suggesting a step function at 18 months of age at adoption. Further, the Elementary school age sample had higher/better scores than the Secondary school age sample

Dredged Sediments Contain Potentially Beneficial Microorganisms for Agriculture and Little Harmful Cyanobacteria

Abstract Introduction Soils worldwide are degrading, raising concerns about our ability to feed the growing global population. Soil amendments that can alleviate degradation are gaining attention. The application of sediments dredged from waterways to agricultural fields has increasing promise as a means for improving degraded soils. However, herbaceous plant species may have difficulty establishing on dredged material because of low nutrient availability, inhibitory levels of toxins, unsuitable moisture conditions and lack of microorganisms capable of ameliorating these characteristics. To counteract these issues, we sought to understand if the use of a cover crop would increase the abundance, diversity and function of beneficial soil microorganisms compared to harmful microorganisms in dredged sediments. Materials and Methods We collected soil samples from two 100% dredged sediment plots, one where winter cereal rye (Secale cereal) was grown as a winter cover crop and one left fallow over the winter, followed by traditional corn (Zea mays) planting. We sampled both plots three times during the growing season: before cover crop application, following cover crop application but before corn planting and following final corn harvest. We then used high‐throughput sequencing to identify the bacterial and fungal communities present in the samples. Results Our data show that cover crop application did not alter the microbial community in these plots. However, sampling time decreased species diversity and altered the composition of both fungal and bacterial communities recovered from these plots. Across both plots, microorganisms associated with carbon cycling were more abundant than those associated with harmful effects, including microcystin‐producing cyanobacteria, which were an extremely small portion of the overall community. Conclusion Our work suggests that dredged sediments have the potential to improve soil function through the addition of microorganisms associated with nutrient cycling, but a cover crop is not necessary to incur these benefits

“Coign of Vantage” e ação: Considerando a responsabilidade local e planos de financiamento de escola da Califórnia para estudantes de inglês

Local control has been a bedrock principle of public schooling in America since its inception. In 2013, the California Legislature codified a new local accountability approach for school finance. An important component of the new California Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) approach is a focus on English learners (ELs). The law mandates that every school district produce a Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) to engage the local community in defining outcomes and determining funding for ELs. Based on an exploratory analysis of a representative sample of LCAPs, we show that, although California’s new approach offered an opportunity to support locally-defined priorities and alternatives to top-down accountability, few if any districts had yet taken full advantage of the opportunity. That is, the school districts in our sample had not yet engaged with the local community to facilitate significant changes to accountability or redistribution of funding and resources to support educational equity for ELs.El control local ha sido un principio fundamental de la educación pública en América desde su creación. En 2013, la Legislatura de California codificó un nuevo enfoque de responsabilidad local para las finanzas escolares. Un componente importante del nuevo enfoque de California Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) es un enfoque en los estudiantes de inglés (ELs). La ley exige que cada distrito escolar produzca un Plan de Responsabilidad de Control Local (LCAP) para involucrar a la comunidad local en la definición de resultados y la determinación de fondos para ELs. Basado en un análisis exploratorio de una muestra representativa de LCAPs, mostramos que, aunque el nuevo enfoque de California ofreció una oportunidad para apoyar las prioridades definidas localmente y las alternativas a la responsabilidad de arriba a abajo, pocos o ninguno de los distritos habían aprovechado la oportunidad. Es decir, los distritos escolares de nuestra muestra aún no se habían comprometido con la comunidad local para facilitar cambios significativos en la rendición de cuentas o la redistribución de fondos y recursos para apoyar la equidad educativa para los EL.O controle local tem sido um princípio fundamental da educação pública na América desde a sua criação. Em 2013, a Califórnia Legislativo codificada uma nova abordagem à responsabilidade local para as finanças da escola. Um componente importante da nova abordagem local fórmula de financiamento Controle Califórnia (LCFF) é um foco em estudantes de inglês (ELS). A lei exige que cada distrito escolar para produzir um Accountability Plano de Controle Local (LCAP) para envolver a comunidade local na definição de resultados e determinação de fundos para ELs. Com base em uma análise exploratória de uma amostra representativa de LCAPs, mostramos que, embora a nova abordagem da Califórnia ofereceu uma oportunidade para apoiar as prioridades definidas localmente e alternativas a responsabilidade de cima para baixo, poucos ou nenhum dos distritos tinha tomado a oportunidade. Ou seja, os distritos escolares em nossa amostra ainda não tinha sido comprometida com a comunidade local para fazer mudanças significativas na prestação de contas ou redistribuição de fundos e recursos para apoiar a equidade educacional para ELs.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHILDREN ADOPTED FOLLOWING A SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL INTERVENTION IN AN INSTITUTION

Worldwide, over 2 million children reside in institutional care; while family care is ideal, institutions will continue to exist for many years, and it is important to investigate ways to improve the care of children who reside in institutions. The current study is a post-adoption follow-up of an intervention in St. Petersburg, Russian Federation Baby Homes (BHs) wherein children received enhanced social-emotional care by regular BH caregivers. Children in this study previously resided in a St. Petersburg BH and received either No Intervention (CNoI), Training Only (TO), or Training and Structural Changes (T+SC). While children were in the institution, there were clear differences between groups in their physical, behavioral, and social-emotional development with T+SC faring the best, TO intermediate, and NoI having the poorest outcomes (St. Petersburg-USA Orphanage Research Team, 2008). This dissertation aimed to determine whether benefits of the intervention persisted up to 8 years after adoption. Parents completed measures including the 23-item Attachment Questionnaire, Indiscriminately Friendly Behavior Measure, BRIEF-P, CBQ (selected subtests), ITSEA, and CBCL 1½-5. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the effect of Age at Adoption, Years in Adoptive Home, Intervention Group, and Age at Adoption x Intervention Group interactions on each outcome measure. Overall, while there are some residual effects of the intervention on children after adoption, graduates of each intervention group are functioning very well in early childhood. Graduates of intervention BHs tend to have better attachment security, lower levels of indiscriminately friendly behavior (T+SC only), fewer behavior problems (T+SC only), and lower levels of Internalizing problems (TO only) and Dysregulation (TO only) than CNoI. An older age at adoption or more time in the adoptive home were associated poorer outcomes in some domains. Children who had more exposure to intervention conditions (e.g., T+SC and TO adopted at older ages) had better attachment security (T+SC) fewer externalizing (TO only) and internalizing (TO only) problems, but poorer executive function and lower competence. Because all groups were, on average, functioning within the normal range of behavior, “poorer” outcomes are hypothesized to reflect the increased agency, creativity, and emotional expression of children from intervention BHs

CLASH: Joint Analysis of Strong-Lensing, Weak-Lensing Shear and Magnification Data for 20 Galaxy Clusters

We present a comprehensive analysis of strong-lensing, weak-lensing shear and magnification data for a sample of 16 X-ray-regular and 4 high-magnification galaxy clusters at 0.19 ≾ z ≾ 0.69 selected from Cluster Lensing And Supernova survey with Hubble (CLASH). Our analysis combines constraints from 16-band Hubble Space Telescope observations and wide-field multi-color imaging taken primarily with Suprime-Cam on the Subaru Telescope, spanning a wide range of cluster radii (10"–16'). We reconstruct surface mass density profiles of individual clusters from a joint analysis of the full lensing constraints, and determine masses and concentrations for all of the clusters. We find the internal consistency of the ensemble mass calibration to be ≤5% ± 6% in the one-halo regime (200–2000 kpc h−1) compared to the CLASH weak-lensing-only measurements of Umetsu et al. For the X-ray-selected subsample of 16 clusters, we examine the concentration–mass (c–M) relation and its intrinsic scatter using a Bayesian regression approach. Our model yields a mean concentration of c|_z=0.34 =3.95 ± 0.35 at M_(200c) ≃ 14 × 10^(14) M_⊙ and an intrinsic scatter of σ(ln c_(200c) = 0.13 ± 0.06, which is in excellent agreement with Λ cold dark matter predictions when the CLASH selection function based on X-ray morphological regularity and the projection effects are taken into account. We also derive an ensemble-averaged surface mass density profile for the X-ray-selected subsample by stacking their individual profiles. The stacked lensing signal is detected at 33σ significance over the entire radial range ≤4000 kpc h^(−1), accounting for the effects of intrinsic profile variations and uncorrelated large-scale structure along the line of sight. The stacked mass profile is well described by a family of density profiles predicted for cuspy dark-matter-dominated halos in gravitational equilibrium, namely, the Navarro–Frenk–White (NFW), Einasto, and DARKexp models, whereas the single power-law, cored isothermal and Burkert density profiles are disfavored by the data. We show that cuspy halo models that include the large-scale two-halo term provide improved agreement with the data. For the NFW halo model, we measure a mean concentration of c_(200c) = 3.79_(-0.28)^(+0.30) at M_(200c) 14.1_(-1.0)^(+1.0) x 10^(14) M_☉, demonstrating consistency between the complementary analysis methods

Cost-Effectiveness of Pharmacotherapy to Reduce Obesity

Aims: Obesity causes a high disease burden in Australia and across the world. We aimed to analyse the cost-effectiveness of weight reduction with pharmacotherapy in Australia, and to assess its potential to reduce the disease burden due to excess body weight

A common variant associated with dyslexia reduces expression of the KIAA0319 gene

This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (MYD, SP, TSS, JCK, RWM, PC, SB, and APM), the Intramural Research Programs of the National Human Genome Research Institute (MYD and EDG) and National Cancer Institute (MPO), and the NIH/Ox-Cam Graduate Partnership Program (MYD).Numerous genetic association studies have implicated the KIAA0319 gene on human chromosome 6p22 in dyslexia susceptibility. The causative variant(s) remains unknown but may modulate gene expression, given that (1) a dyslexia-associated haplotype has been implicated in the reduced expression of KIAA0319, and (2) the strongest association has been found for the region spanning exon 1 of KIAA0319. Here, we test the hypothesis that variant(s) responsible for reduced KIAA0319 expression resides on the risk haplotype close to the gene's transcription start site. We identified seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms on the risk haplotype immediately upstream of KIAA0319 and determined that three of these are strongly associated with multiple reading-related traits. Using luciferase-expressing constructs containing the KIAA0319 upstream region, we characterized the minimal promoter and additional putative transcriptional regulator regions. This revealed that the minor allele of rs9461045, which shows the strongest association with dyslexia in our sample (max p-value = 0.0001), confers reduced luciferase expression in both neuronal and non-neuronal cell lines. Additionally, we found that the presence of this rs9461045 dyslexia-associated allele creates a nuclear protein-binding site, likely for the transcriptional silencer OCT-1. Knocking down OCT-1 expression in the neuronal cell line SHSY5Y using an siRNA restores KIAA0319 expression from the risk haplotype to nearly that seen from the non-risk haplotype. Our study thus pinpoints a common variant as altering the function of a dyslexia candidate gene and provides an illustrative example of the strategic approach needed to dissect the molecular basis of complex genetic traits.PostprintPeer reviewe

Andean and Tibetan Patterns of Adaptation to High Altitude

Objectives: High-altitude hypoxia, or decreased oxygen levels caused by low barometric pressure, challenges the ability of humans to live and reproduce. Despite these challenges, human populations have lived on the Andean Altiplano and the Tibetan Plateau for millennia and exhibit unique circulatory, respiratory, and hematological adaptations to life at high altitude. We and others have identified natural selection candidate genes and gene regions for these adaptations using dense genome scan data. One gene previously known to be important in cellular oxygen sensing, egl nine homolog 1 (EGLN1), shows evidence of positive selection in both Tibetans and Andeans. Interestingly, the pattern of variation for this gene differs between the two populations. Continued research among Tibetan populations has identified statistical associations between hemoglobin concentration and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype at EGLN1 and a second gene, endothelial PAS domain protein 1 (EPAS1). Methods: To measure for the effects of EGLN1 and EPAS1 altitude genotypes on hemoglobin concentration among Andean highlanders, we performed a multiple linear regression analysis of 10 candidate SNPs in or near these two genes. Results: Our analysis did not identify significant associations between EPAS1 or EGLN1 SNP genotypes and hemoglobin concentration in Andeans. Conclusions: These results contribute to our understanding of the unique set of adaptations developed in different highland groups to the hypoxia of high altitude. Overall, the results provide key insights into the patterns of genetic adaptation to high altitude in Andean and Tibetan populations

Re-Examining the Definition of Community Psychology Practice

Throughout the early and mid-2000s, Community Psychology practitioners worked with the Society for Community Research and Action (SCRA) Executive Committee (EC) to revisit relevant organizational goals and objectives.  These conversations resulted in the recognition of the need to more fully operationalize the “action” component of SCRA. Ultimately, a draft statement was brought to the first International Community Psychology Conference in Puerto Rico.  Through a highly participative process, a group of conference attendees emerged with a definition of community psychology practice:  The aim of community psychology practice is to strengthen the capacity of communities to meet the needs of constituents and help them to realize their dreams in order to promote well-being, social justice, economic equity and self-determination through systems, organizational and/or individual change. Since the definition was developed over a decade ago, much has changed. This special issue was conceived as a means for the field to consider the definition of Community Psychology practice in light of these and other advances in our thinking. The special issue editorial team invites the field to ponder proposed changes and new definitions of community psychology practice