Individual development of preschool children - prevalences and determinants of delays in Germany: a cross-sectional study in Southern Bavaria

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2431/12/188 Extent: 9p.Background: Even minor abnormalities of early child development may have dramatic long term consequences. Accurate prevalence rates for a range of developmental impairments have been difficult to establish. Since related studies have used different methodological approaches, direct comparisons of the prevalence of developmental delays are difficult. The understanding of the key factors affecting child development, especially in preschool aged children remains limited. We used data from school entry examinations in Bavaria to measure the prevalence of developmental impairments in pre-school children beginning primary school in 1997–2009. Methods: The developmental impairments of all school beginners in the district of Dingolfing- Landau, Bavaria were assessed using modified “Bavarian School Entry Model” examination from 1997 to 2009 (N=13,182). The children were assessed for motor, cognitive, language and psychosocial impairments using a standardised medical protocol. Prevalence rates of impairments in twelve domains of development were estimated. Using uni- and multivariable logistic regression models, association between selected factors and development delays were assessed. Results: The highest prevalence existed for impairments of pronunciation (13.8%) followed by fine motor impairments (12.2%), and impairments of memory and concentration (11.3%) and the lowest for impairments of rhythm of speech (3.1%). Younger children displayed more developmental delays. Male gender was strongly associated with all developmental impairments (highest risk for fine motor impairments = OR 3.22, 95% confidence interval 2.86-3.63). Preschool children with siblings (vs. children without any siblings) were at higher risk of having impairments in pronunciation (OR 1.31, 1.14-1.50). The influence of the non-German nationality was strong, with a maximum risk increase for the subareas of grammar and psychosocial development. Although children with non-German nationality had a reduced risk of disorders for the rhythm of speech and pronunciation, in all other 10 subareas their risk was increased. Conclusions: In preschool children, most common were delays of pronunciation, memory and concentration. Age effects suggest that delays can spontaneously resolve, but providing support at school entry might be helpful. Boys and migrant children appear at high risk of developmental problems, which may warrant tailored intervention strategies.Heribert L Stich, Bernhard Th Baune, Riccardo N Caniato, Rafael T Mikolajczyk and Alexander Kräme

Cryptococcal meningitis: A neglected NTD?

Although HIV/AIDS has been anything but neglected over the last decade, opportunistic infections (OIs) are increasingly overlooked as large scale donors shift their focus from acute care to prevention and earlier antiretroviral treatment (ART) initiation. Of these OIs, cryptococcal meningitis, a deadly invasive fungal infection, continues to affect hundreds of thousands of HIV patients with advanced disease each year and is responsible for an estimated 15%-20% of all AIDS-related deaths [1,2]. Yet cryptococcal meningitis ranks amongst the most poorly funded “neglected” diseases in the world, receiving 0.2% of available relevant research and development (RandD) funding according to Policy Cures’ 2016 G-Finder Report [3,4]

Importance of the Gulf of Aqaba for the formation of bottom water in the Red Sea

[1] Conductivity-temperature-depth tracer and direct current measurements collected in the northern Red Sea in February and March 1999 are used to study the formation of deep and bottom water in that region. Historical data showed that open ocean convection in the Red Sea can contribute to the renewal of intermediate or deep water but cannot ventilate the bottom water. The observations in 1999 showed no evidence for open ocean convection in the Red Sea during the winter 1998/1999. The overflow water from the Gulf of Aqaba was found to be the densest water mass in the northern Red Sea. An anomaly of the chlorofluorocarbon component CFC-12 observed in the Gulf of Aqaba and at the bottom of the Red Sea suggests a strong contribution of this water mass to the renewal of bottom water in the Red Sea. The CFC data obtained during this cruise are the first available for this region. Because of the new signal, it is possible for the first time to subdivide the deep water column into deep and bottom water in the northern Red Sea. The available data set also shows that the outflow water from the Gulf of Suez is not dense enough to reach down to the bottom of the Red Sea but was found about 250 m above the bottom

Naar een humane toekomst? Cultuur, vrede en opvoeding in een postmoderne wereld

Op donderdag 7 en vrijdag 8 november 1991 werd in de UR-zaal van het Bestuursgebouw van de Universiteit van Utrecht het symposium Naar een humane toekomst? - Cultuur, vrede en opvoeding in een postmoderne wereld gehouden. Dit symposium werd georganiseerd door het Bureau Studium Generale op initiatief van en in samenwerking met de werkgroep Theorie van de Vereniging Pedagogen voor de Vrede. Het heeft lang geduurd maar uiteindelijk is het er toch van gekomen. De bundel die voor u ligt bevat de teksten van de inleidingen, de kritische commentaren en de bewerkingen van de discussies. De bijdrage van Harry Kunneman zult u (helaas) niet aantreffen in de bundel. Dientengevolge is ook de reactie van Lennart Vriens op deze bijdrage niet opgenomen