Benefits of Time Spent Outdoors in Early Childhood Education: A Systematic Review

Several studies have provided evidence that time spent in nature (i.e., in natural environments or the outdoors) plays a beneficial role in child development by positively influencing children’s cognitive processes and states (Bowler et al., 2010; Bratman et al., 2012; 2014; Cameron-Faulkner et al., 2018; Kaplan, 1995; Mitchell et al.). However, to date, no study has looked systematically at the overall literature addressing the benefits nature plays in early childhood education, primarily through outdoor learning or time spent outside in natural environments. The purpose of the current study is to provide a systematic review of the empirical literature evaluating outcomes linked to children spending time outdoors through outdoor play, forests, gardens, or school playgrounds. A systematic search of PsycINFO was conducted to identify critical studies linking the outdoors with outcomes during early childhood. Inclusion criteria were as follows: research studies conducted with children enrolled in early childhood education programs (age 2-5-year-olds) related to nature base experiences in the United States and peer-reviewed articles written in English. This search yielded 12 empirical studies. Codes were developed to examine a) what outcomes have been measured for children spending time outdoors in their early childhood education settings and b) what approaches were used to measure these outcomes. The two most measured outcomes included in studies were children’s behavior (N = 3; 25%) and educational or learning outcomes (N = 3; 25%). Most activities were child-led (N= 6, 50%) while children engaged in free-play (N = 5, 29%) and physical activities (N= 5, 29%). The most common method utilized was a quasi-experimental design (N=5, 29%), followed by secondary research designs (N=2, 16%). A few studies used rigorous methods to examine the links between children spending time outdoors and their specific beneficial outcomes. Implications for future research in this area are discussed

3D Bioprinting and Near-Field Electrospinning Composite Scaffolds for the Bone-Ligament Interface

3D bioprinting is an additive manufacturing technique that can utilize a range of bioactive materials to construct specific architectures that mimic native tissue. Near-field electrospinning (NFE) offers precise alignment control to create non-woven mats with high tensile strengths. We built a custom E-spin printer that enables layer-by-layer alternating deposition between 3D bioprinting and NFE to create composite scaffolds for the bone-ligament interface. This complex region is difficult to simulate due to its functionally graded mechanical and biochemical properties. We created NFE poly(caprolactone) highly aligned micro-fibers which formed collagen fibril-like bundles. Poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate with decellularized bone was encased in the PCL fibers to create bony ligament support structures in a composite scaffold. Cytotoxicity of all materials was determined through a Live/Dead assay (Thermo Fisher) with NIH/3T3 cells. The materials and the composite scaffold were seeded with 3T3 cells and cultured for three days before undergoing an immunocytochemistry staining (ICC) to assess cell adhesion and spreading. Increased adhesion and spreading on decellularized bone scaffolds along with cell elongation in the direction of the fibers suggests the ability of the scaffold to encourage osteoblastic differentiation and ligamentous tissue formation, though a longitudinal study is still underway. Mechanical results suggest that the composite scaffolds have increased compressive strength over PEGDA alone as the PCL fibers constrict horizontal elongation, thus yielding a higher compressive modulus. The PCL fibers demonstrated a tensile strength approaching native ligament (3.96 ± 1.10 MPa), which shows promise as the ligament phase of the scaffold. The E-spin printer’s versatility with materials of disparate viscosities enabled the layer-by-layer fabrication of composite (PCL/PEGDA+bone) scaffolds that begin to mimic the complex nature of the bone-ligament interface

A new LED-LED portable CO2 gas sensor based on an interchangeable membrane system for industrial applications

CO2 monitoring is important for many areas of high economic relevance, like environmental monitoring, control of biotechnological processes in bio-pharmaceutical industries, and the food industry, particularly controlled atmosphere storage rooms and modified atmosphere packaging [ ]. CO2 sensing is not a trivial area of research, as is testified by the increasing numbers of publications regarding this topic over the past decade. The main reason is that CO2 chemically is relatively unreactive, and therefore finding a mechanism for signal generation is difficult. Most publications are based on its well-known acidic properties. In this communication, we present a portable optical sensor for gaseous CO2 detection based on the phosphorescence intensity variation of a platinum octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP) complex trapped in oxygen-insensitive poly(vinylidene chloride-co-vinyl chloride) (PVCD) membranes. The sensing mechanism arises from the increasing displacement of the α-naphtholphthalein acid–base equilibrium with rising CO2 concentrations [ ]. The low-power LED-based optical sensing instrumentation for monitoring CO2 is based on a pair of light emitting diodes (LEDs) arranged to face each other, wherein one LED functions as the light source and the other LED is reverse biased to function as a light detector [ ]. A transparent polymer substrate coated on both sides with the CO2 sensitive membrane placed between the two LEDs serves as a chemically responsive filter between the light source and the detector

CO2 sensor for food application

The carbon dioxide levels inside meat packages can be used as indicator of freshness. If the CO2 concentration changes during storage it is a clear indicator that bacteria are growing inside the container and / or the package is not well sealed and the modified atmosphere has been compromised. However, a non-destructive method for determining the CO2 concentration within the package has not, as yet, been reported. To this end, the objective of the SmartPack project is to exploit the development and integration of a CO2 sensor in meat packages using the imaging and communications capabilities of Smartphones for freshness detection. Optical CO2 sensors based on the acidity of this molecule, are normally solvent-based sensors, the drawback of this approach in the food packaging industry is due to the long-term instability of the sensors, arising from the quaternary ammonium hydroxides decomposition. However, in this project we avoid the use of these compounds. Water based sensors are prepared using meta cresol purple sodium salt as indicator, glycerol as plasticizer and sodium bicarbonate as buffer in a matrix of hydroxyethyl cellulose. In this way, the lifetime is increased and also this composition creates an easily printable ink. Moreover, ionic liquids have been included in the matrix making the sensor more selective to CO2 than other gases due to its higher solubility. This new water-based sensor has been characterised in terms of carbon dioxide sensitivity, dynamic response, and stability under different conditions. The sensor responds up to 100% of carbon dioxide. In Figure 1 can be observed the change in colour from 0 to 100% of CO2. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that the stability is much higher than the solvent-based sensors making them suitable for smart packaging application. The sensitive ink has been optimised and characterized using bench-top instrumentation. Moreover, the RGB and HSV readout of standard digital photographic cameras have been used as a simple imaging techniqu

The Impact of Postnatal Systemic Steroids on the Growth of Preterm Infants: A Multicenter Cohort Study

Postnatal steroids, often used to prevent and treat bronchopulmonary dysplasia, may influence the growth of preterm infants, although data are scarce in the literature. This is a multicenter cohort study including surviving preterm infants <32 weeks at birth (n = 17,621) from the Spanish Neonatal Network SEN1500 database, without major congenital malformations. Linear regression models were adjusted for postnatal steroids, respiratory severity course (invasive mechanical ventilation at 28 days), progression to moderate-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (O2 at 36 weeks), length of stay, sex, gestational age and z-scores at birth. A subgroup analysis depending on the timing of administration, ventilation status at 28 days and moderate-severe BPD diagnosis was also performed. Overall, systemic postnatal steroids were not independently associated with poorer weight gain (0.1; 95% CI: -0.05 to 0.2 g/kg/day), linear growth (0; 95% CI: -0.03 to 0.01 cm/week) or head circumference growth (-0.01; 95% CI: -0.02 to 0 cm/week). Patients who received steroids after 28 days or who were not O2 dependent at 36 weeks after having received steroids gained more weight (0.22; 95% CI: 0.04 to 0.4 and 0.2; 95% CI: 0.004 to 0.5 g/kg/day, respectively). Globally, systemic postnatal steroids had no significant adjusted effect on postnatal growth

Implementation of a psychological online intervention for low to moderate depression in primary care: study protocol

Background: Depression affects millions of people all over the world and implies a great socioeconomic burden. Despite there are different effective evidence-based interventions for treating depression, only a small proportion of these patients receives an appropriate treatment. In this regard, information and communication technologies (ICTs) can be used with therapeutic aims and this can contribute to make interventions more accessible. One example is “Smiling is fun”, an internet-based treatment which has proved to be effective and cost-effective for treating depression in Spanish Primary Care (PC). However, the “know-do gap” between research and clinical settings implies that the actual implementation of such interventions could last up to 20 years. To overcome this obstacle, the implementation research establishes the methodology to implement the advances developed in the laboratories to the health care services maintaining the validity of the intervention and offering specific stra- tegies for the implementation process. Objective: This is the protocol of an implementation study for the Internet-based program “Smiling is fun”, which will be conducted on patients with mild-to-moderate depression of Spanish PC settings. In the implementation study, the feasibility, efficacy, cost-efficacy, acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, fidelity, penetration, normalization, and sustainability will be assessed. Methods: The current investigation is a Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Type II design. A Stepped Wedge randomized controlled trial design will be used, with a cohort of 420 adults diagnosed with depression (mild-to- moderate) who will undergo a first control phase (no treatment) followed by the intervention, which will last 16 weeks, and finishing with an optional use of the intervention. All patients will be assessed at baseline, during the treatment, and at post-treatment. The study will be conducted in three Spanish regions: Andalusia, Aragon, and the Balearic Islands. Two primary care centers of each region will participate, one located in the urban setting and the other in the rural setting. The primary outcome will be implementation success of the intervention assessing the reach, clinical effect, acceptability, appropriateness, adoption, feasibility, fidelity, penetration, implementation costs and sustainability services. Discussion: “Smiling is Fun”, which has already been established as effective and cost-effective, will be adapted according to users' experiences and opinions, and the efficacy and cost-efficacy of the program will again be assessed. The study will point out barriers and facilitators to consider in the implementation process of internet- based psychological interventions in health services. The ultimate goal is to break the research-to-practice split, which would undoubtedly contribute to reduce the high burden of depression in our societ

LED-LED portable oxygen gas sensor

A portable instrument for oxygen determination, based on the quenching of phosphorescent octaethylporphyrin by gaseous O2, has been developed using the fluorimetric paired emitter–detector diode technique (FPEDD). The instrument configuration used consists of two light emitting diodes (LEDs) facing each other including an interchangeable support containing a phosphorescent membrane in between, in which one of the LEDs is used as the light source (emitter LED) and the other working in reverse bias mode as the light detector. In this report, we study the feasibility of using a LED as a luminescent detector and realising a sensing instrument whose small size possibles to embed it into a portable measurement system. A complete study of instrument was carried out in order to optimise the specifications of the portable instrument such as: range, sensitivity, short term and long term stability, dynamical behaviour, temperature influence, humidity influence and temporal drift. Keywords: Oxygen sensor, Gas sensor, Optical sensor, Paired emitter detector-diode sensor; Portable instrumentation

Bipolar multiplex families have an increased burden of common risk variants for psychiatric disorders

Multiplex families with a high prevalence of a psychiatric disorder are often examined to identify rare genetic variants with large effect sizes. In the present study, we analysed whether the risk for bipolar disorder (BD) in BD multiplex families is influenced by common genetic variants. Furthermore, we investigated whether this risk is conferred mainly by BD-specific risk variants or by variants also associated with the susceptibility to schizophrenia or major depression. In total, 395 individuals from 33 Andalusian BD multiplex families (166 BD, 78 major depressive disorder, 151 unaffected) as well as 438 subjects from an independent, BD case/control cohort (161 unrelated BD, 277 unrelated controls) were analysed. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) for BD, schizophrenia (SCZ), and major depression were calculated and compared between the cohorts. Both the familial BD cases and unaffected family members had higher PRS for all three psychiatric disorders than the independent controls, with BD and SCZ being significant after correction for multiple testing, suggesting a high baseline risk for several psychiatric disorders in the families. Moreover, familial BD cases showed significantly higher BD PRS than unaffected family members and unrelated BD cases. A plausible hypothesis is that, in multiplex families with a general increase in risk for psychiatric disease, BD development is attributable to a high burden of common variants that confer a specific risk for BD. The present analyses demonstrated that common genetic risk variants for psychiatric disorders are likely to contribute to the high incidence of affective psychiatric disorders in the multiplex families. However, the PRS explained only part of the observed phenotypic variance, and rare variants might have also contributed to disease development

Landscape-use optimisation with regards to the groundwater resources protection in mountain hardrock areas, LOWRGREP

Synthesis of work performed during the European Project LOWRGREPThis report assesses the degree of interference of human activities with the hydrosphere in mountain-zones, all located in hard-rock areas of different countries in the European Union. Each of the test-regions has a specific degree of protection: from regions with very few inhabitants and very low human impact, to regions submitted to a strong anthropogenic impact. The investigations focused on the changes in water quality and on the simulation of various alternatives leading to optimum landscape-use from the point of view of water-management. The project's own Geographic Information System was used to fulfil the following objective: present all the obtained knowledge and analyse all the data in user-friendly form (maps of water vulnerability) and make this knowledge available for potential users with, for instance, the creation and use of a web site. A simulation tool has been developed which facilitates the assessment of the impact of landscape-use on the water budget of the catchment. In all the areas investigated chloride is present, only in winter and very close to roads. Another result of this work is the decreasing impact on water of sulphur and sulphuric compounds in Germany and in the Czech Republic, while the nitrogen impact is increasing. Recommendations concerning the landscape-use presented for all the regions in particular for good practices in agricultur