Fifth survey of parents of three and four year old children and their use of early years services (Summer 2000 to Spring 2001)

The main aim of the survey was to establish rates of participation for three and four year olds in all forms of pre-school provision in England... The survey also investigated the characteristics of providers used and parents’ opinions of the quantity and quality of provision in the local area in general as well as of the providers they used, and the influences on their choice of providers

The rights and duties of the principal and the teacher in their professional relationship

The New Century Dictionary defines the word "charity": "good will to others; leniency in judging others or their actions.” If "Charity", as applied in school relationships, could be broadened to include "sympathetic understanding", much of the friction which has been growing up between principals and teachers, during the past few years, would cease to be. Friction among individuals, groups, or even organizations, is largely an outgrowth of a lack of understanding. If principals and teachers each understood the others’ problems, if they recognized the desire for appreciation of a task well done, if they could envision the ambitions of their co-workers, the teaching profession would make great strides towards living up to the ideals set forth in its codes of ethics

Teacher guidance of the sex development of six and seven-year-old pupils

Psychologists have been unable to agree on what are the original behavior drives which are native to every child, such as the bodily appetites and emotions;1 however, they are in substantial agreement that these and the learned responses of early life have great effect on behavior in later life. Ruth May Strang, with wide experience in child guidance, places moderate emphasis on the early years in her remarks: The period of infancy and young childhood has the advantage of being the period in which many habits are initiated. . . Children seem not to outgrow their early experiences—especially vivid emotional crises—as they do their dresses and shoes. These experiences sometimes have been retained and have influenced adult behavior.

A protocol for evidence-based targeting and evaluation of statewide strategies for preventing falls among community-dwelling older people in Victoria, Australia

BACKGROUND: Falls are a significant threat to the safety, health and independence of older citizens. Despite the now substantial evidence about effective falls prevention interventions, translation into falls reductions has not yet been fully realised. While the hip fracture rate is decreasing, the number and rate of fall-related hospital admissions among older people is increasing. The challenge now is to deliver the most effective interventions efficiently at a population level, and for these interventions to be taken up by older people. OBJECTIVE: To support the development, and evaluation of, effective falls prevention policy and practice in the state of Victoria, Australia. METHODS: The RE-AIM model (Reach, Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation, Maintenance) was used to identify strategies for an effective programme. Research objectives were developed to support the strategies. These include: (1) identification of subgroups of older people most frequently admitted to hospital for falls; (2) examining the acceptability of established falls interventions; (3) identification of factors that encourage and support relevant lifestyle changes; (4) identifying opportunities to incorporate confirmed interventions in existing programmes and services; (5) developing guidelines for sustainability. The research results will subsequently guide strategy details for the falls prevention plan. RE-AIM will provide the framework for the evaluation structure. OUTCOME MEASURES MEASURES: to monitor the implementation of the selected interventions will be determined for each intervention, based on the five key factors of the RE-AIM model. The overall effect of the falls prevention plan will be monitored by time series analysis of fall-related hospital admission rates for community-dwelling older people

Incentives as connectors : insights into a breastfeeding incentive intervention in a disadvantaged area of North-West England

PMID: 22458841 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] PMCID: PMC3414740 Free PMC ArticlePeer reviewedPublisher PD

IGEMS : The Consortium on Interplay of Genes and Environment Across Multiple Studies - An Update

The Interplay of Genes and Environment across Multiple Studies (IGEMS) is a consortium of 18 twin studies from 5 different countries (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, United States, and Australia) established to explore the nature of gene-environment (GE) interplay in functioning across the adult lifespan. Fifteen of the studies are longitudinal, with follow-up as long as 59 years after baseline. The combined data from over 76,000 participants aged 14-103 at intake (including over 10,000 monozygotic and over 17,000 dizygotic twin pairs) support two primary research emphases: (1) investigation of models of GE interplay of early life adversity, and social factors at micro and macro environmental levels and with diverse outcomes, including mortality, physical functioning and psychological functioning; and (2) improved understanding of risk and protective factors for dementia by incorporating unmeasured and measured genetic factors with a wide range of exposures measured in young adulthood, midlife and later life.Peer reviewe

Apolipoprotein-ε4 is Associated with Higher Fecundity in a Natural Fertility Population

In many populations, the apolipoprotein-ε4 (APOE-ε4) allele increases the risk for several chronic diseases of aging, including dementia and cardiovascular disease; despite these harmful effects at later ages, the APOE-ε4 allele remains prevalent. We assess the impact of APOE-ε4 on fertility and its proximate determinants (age at first reproduction, interbirth interval) among the Tsimane, a natural fertility population of forager-horticulturalists. Among 795 women aged 13 to 90 (20% APOE-ε4 carriers), those with at least one APOE-ε4 allele had 0.3 to 0.5 more children than (ε3/ε3) homozygotes, while those with two APOE-ε4 alleles gave birth to 1.4 to 2.1 more children. APOE-ε4 carriers achieve higher fertility by beginning reproduction 0.8 years earlier and having a 0.23-year shorter interbirth interval. Our findings add to a growing body of literature suggesting a need for studies of populations living in ancestrally relevant environments to assess how alleles that are deleterious in sedentary urban environments may have been maintained by selection throughout human evolutionary history