Infant-Directed Speech to Preterm Infants during the First Year Postpartum: The Influence of Preterm Birth Weight and Maternal Parenting Stress

Premature birth can increase the level of parenting stress (PS), especially in the case of parents of high-risk infants (extremely low birth weight (ELBW) and very low birth weight (VLBW)). Though published research has explored how maternal PS influences early dyadic interactions, limited research has focused on infant-directed speech (IDS), and no studies have investigated the link between prematurity severity based on birth weight and maternal IDS. This study, involving 100 mother-infant dyads, categorized into 30 ELBW premature infants, 30 VLBW premature infants, and 40 full-term (FT) ones, examined the impact of preterm birth weight and maternal parenting stress on IDS features during early interactions at 3 and 9 months postpartum. Maternal input was assessed using the CHILDES system, while parenting stress was evaluated using the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The results revealed that high-risk conditions (ELBW preterm birth and high parenting stress) at 3 months were associated with reduced affect-salient speech and increased questioning. IDS functional patterns, specifically the proportion of affect-salient speech and questions, were influenced by both birth weight groups and parenting stress levels at 3 months but not at 9 months. These findings highlight the need to assess, within the context of prematurity, both birth weight and parenting stress in clinical practice, offering insights for developing interventions supporting positive parent-infant interactions and facilitating infant development

Individual attitude toward improvisation in information systems development: a multi-level perspective

Improvisation is rapidly becoming an important issue for both scholars and practitioners. Organizations that operate in turbulent environments must learn to swiftly adapt and respond to such instability, especially in areas as innovation and new product development. In such contexts traditional top-down, carefully-planned approaches to innovative projects may represent an obstacle to effectively dealing with environment uncertainty. Prior research on improvisation has focused considerable attention on the centrality of improvisation in individual and group outcomes, while less emphasis has been placed on how individual attitude toward improvisation is formed. In an attempt to fill this gap, we will theoretically analyze the antecedents of individual attitude toward improvisation, by looking at the Information Systems Development (ISD) domain. In particular, the outcome of this paper is the development of theoretical propositions which could be empirically tested in future research

The Criminalisation of Irregular Migration in the European Union. CEPS Liberty and Security in Europe No. 80/2015

This paper offers an academic examination of the legal regimes surrounding the criminalisation of irregular migrants in the EU and of acts of solidarity with irregular migrants, such as assisting irregular migrants to enter or remain in the EU, and other behaviour that is motivated by humanitarian instincts. The research analyses EU law and its relationship with national provisions regarding the criminalisation of irregular migration and of acts of solidarity vis-á-vis irregular migrants. A comparative analysis was made of the laws of the UK, France and Italy, supplemented by an analysis of the laws of Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. By considering the role of public trust in fostering compliance with the law, the paper explores the impact of criminalisation measures on institutions’ authority to compel individuals to comply with the law (institutional legitimacy). The study finds that certain indicators question institutional legitimacy and reveals the varied nature and extent of penalties imposed by different member states. The paper concludes that there is an important role for public trust in immigration law compliance, not just in measures directed towards irregular migrants but also towards those acting in solidarity with irregular migrants

Determination of the Water Content of Coffee Leaves Using Infrared Spectroscopy

M.S. University of Hawaii at Manoa 2016.Includes bibliographical references.Infrared (IR) spectroscopy and flat plate capacitors were examined as potential methods for the determination of leaf water content as alternatives to the current pressure bomb method. Flat plate capacitors were found to be a poor solution. IR spectroscopy was found to provide a good estimate of the leaf water content when using broad spectrum spectroscopy with partial least squares regression fitting (R2=0.95). Normalized indices comparing reflectance between 1080 nm and 1200 nm (R1080R1200) and between 1250 nm and 1450 nm (R1250R1450) were found to provide strong correlations (R2=0.90) with the commonly measured equivalent water thickness (EWT) and to provide reasonable (R2= 0.70) correlation with the leaf water pressure as measured by pressure bomb

Parental Distress and Affective Perception of Hospital Environment after a Pictorial Intervention in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Pictorial humanization is a useful intervention for the improvement of hospitalized patients' affective states. Despite benefits in many hospital wards having been well documented, so far, no attention was paid to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The aim of the present study was to evaluate the levels of distress and the affective perception of the environment experienced by parents of infants hospitalized in a NICU after the implementation of an intervention of pictorial humanization. A sample of 48 parents was recruited, 25 before the intervention was performed (Control Group), and 23 after its implementation (Pictorial Humanization Group). All parents completed the "Rapid Stress Assessment Scale" and "Scales of the Affective Quality Attributed to Place" questionnaires. Despite results showing no significant differences on parental distress, after implementation of pictorial intervention parents reported a perception of the NICU as significantly more pleasant, exciting, and arousing, and less distressing, unpleasant, gloomy, and sleepy. A higher level of distress and a perception of the environment as less relaxing was predicted for the Control Group condition. The present study suggests that the pictorial intervention represents a useful technique to create more welcoming hospital environments and to reduce the negative effects associated with infant hospitalization

Institución, acompañamiento y sujeto de la educación en un dispositivo de protección de trayectorias educativas

El presente trabajo describe y analiza una experiencia socioeducativa desarrollada en una escuela técnica del interior del país, cuyo punto de partida fue la puesta en marcha del Sistema de Protección a las Trayectorias Educativas. El objetivo principal consistió en acompañar a los jóvenes en el tránsito por un formato educativo innovador, respetando su trayectoria real, sus intereses y sus formas de adecuarse al oficio de ser estudiante. El análisis reveló la existencia de al menos dos elementos fundamentales a considerar en la implementación de éstos dispositivos: la figura y rol del acompañante, que se constituye en el gran articulador entre la institución y el sujeto; y, los elementos institucionales que obstaculizan el proceso de implementación, como la falta de previsión de éste dispositivo que requiere un espacio-tiempo, y recursos, o aquellos que lo facilitan, como la disposición individual o de los equipos de gestión que flexibilizan, unos sus roles, y otros, sus recursos, para que la experiencia acontezca. Se concluye sugiriendo que ante la implementación de estos formatos innovadores, sería oportuno intervenir en aspectos vinculados con la cultura organizacional, trabajar el perfil del acompañante y la concepción de sujeto de la educación que en cada subyace

Overexpression of Osmyb4 enhances compatible solute accumulation and increases stress tolerance of arabidopsis thaliana

In this paper, we report the metabolic and molecular changes in response to cold and drought induced in Osmyb4 transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana compared with the wildtype (WT). The rice Osmyb4 gene codes for a transcription factor (Myb4) induced by cold treatment and, in Arabidopsis transgenic plants, improves cold and freezing tolerance [Vannini C, Locatelli F, Bracale M, Magnani E, Marsoni M, Osnato M, Mattana M, Baldoni E, Coraggio I (2004) Plant J 37: 115-127]. Here, we report the ability of Myb4 to induce also drought tolerance in Arabidopsis transgenic plants. By the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and enzymatic assays, we showed that several compatible solutes (glucose, fructose, sucrose, proline, glycine betaine and sinapoyl malate) accumulate in higher amount in Osmyb4-overexpressing plants with respect to the WT, both under normal and stress conditions. Considering proline, we also found that in transgenic plants the levels of the mRNAs coding for \u3941- pyrroline-5-carboxylate synthase (EC not assigned) and for \u3941- pyrroline-5-carboxylate dehydrogenase (EC 1.5.1.12) were higher and lower, respectively. The constitutive activation of several stress-inducible pathways and different kinetics in the accumulation of several metabolites, in Myb4 transgenic plants, may represent an advantage to prepare plants to face the stress condition. Moreover, these results taken together suggest that Myb4 integrates the activation of multiple components of stress response

Depressive Symptoms in Fathers during the First Postpartum Year: The Influence of Severity of Preterm Birth, Parenting Stress and Partners' Depression

Although preterm birth constitutes a risk factor for postpartum depressive symptomatology, perinatal depression (PND) has not been investigated extensively in fathers of very low (VLBW) and extremely low birth weight (ELBW) infants. This study explored paternal depression levels at 3, 9, and 12 months of infant corrected age, investigating also the predictive role played by the severity of prematurity, maternal and paternal PND levels, and parenting stress. We recruited 153 fathers of 33 ELBW, 42 VLBW, and 78 full-term (FT) infants, respectively. Depression was investigated by the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) and distress by the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form-PSI-SF (Total and subscales: Parental Distress, Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction, and Difficult Child). ELBW fathers showed a significant decrease (improvement) in EPDS, total PSI-SF, and Parental Distress mean scores after 3 months. Paternal EPDS scores at 12 months were significantly predicted by VLBW and FT infants' birth weight categories, fathers' EPDS scores at 3 and 9 months, Parent-Child Dysfunctional Interaction subscale at 3 months, and Difficult Child subscale at 9 months. This study strengthens the relevance of including early routine screening and parenting support for fathers in perinatal health services, with particular attention to fathers who might be more vulnerable to mental health difficulties due to severely preterm birth

Infantile cortical hyperostosis and COL1A1 mutation in four generations

Infantile cortical hyperostosis (ICH, OMIM 114000) is a rare familial disorder which affects infants. It spontaneously heals in the first years of life. The disease is characterized by regressive subperiosteal hyperosteogenesis mainly affecting long bones, mandible, clavicles, and ribs which are remarkably swollen and deformed on X-rays. But it is also important to take into consideration the autosomal dominant pattern of inheritance to detect it. In 2005 Gensure et al. detected 3040C→T mutation in COL1A1 gene in three unrelated ICH families. Four generations of patients belonging to the same family were examined in our study. Molecular testing has now disclosed a pathogenic mutation in nine of them. The patients spontaneously recovered. Although our paper shows a distinct correlation between R836C mutation and ICH, there is a certain interindividual and intra-familial variability

UNDERSTOREY CHANGES COMPOSITION AFTER TEMPERATE KELP FOREST COLLAPSE BUT KEEPS RICHNESS AND DIVERSITY

Kelps are foundation species that provide important ecosystem services in temperate rocky shores worldwide. Similarly to terrestrial forests, healthy kelp forests are structurally complex as they are often arranged as patches composed by a multi-layered understorey of algae aggregations with different canopy adaptations. Over the last decades, several studies have reported a global kelp forest degradation, turning seascapes dominated by complex forest into structurally simpler mats of low-laying seaweeds. In NW Spain, golden kelp (Laminaria ochroleuca) canopy forests have recently receded within the limits of a MPA. This paradoxical loss inside a MPA allowed us to investigate the consequences of kelp forest collapse for other members of the biotic community, using nearby healthy kelp forest outside the MPA as a control. To assess these changes, four degraded sites within the MPA and four healthy kelp forest in nearby areas were sampled year round to assess the seasonal dynamics of understorey algae. Healthy and degraded kelp reefs had significantly different understorey assemblage compositions. However, unlike our expectations, these differences had little to none impact on the richness and diversity of the understorey assemblage. Moreover, understory differences were only perceptible when the assemblages were compared at the lowest taxonomic resolution (species). Unlike other studies, comparisons based on functional groups (canopy, sub-canopy, turf and crust) failed to detect any significant difference between healthy and degraded kelp forest