Children with Disabilities Tend to Stay in a Highly-resourced Early Head Start/Head Start Program Longer than Children without Disabilities

Using data from 21 Educare schools, the researchers measured the rate at which children from birth to kindergarten-age enter the school and rate at which they exit the school. Educare schools are highly resourced Early Head Start/Head Start programs targeting children at risk, especially children from low-income backgrounds. About 10% of the children have a disability. Results showed that children with a disability tended to stay in the program longer, especially when enrolled in Early Head Start.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/ccids_posters/1037/thumbnail.jp

A Residue at the Cytoplasmic Entrance of BK-Type Channels Regulating Single-Channel Opening by Its Hydrophobicity

Single large-conductance calcium-activated K+ (BK) channels encoded by the mSlo gene usually have synchronous gating, but a Drosophila dSlo (A2/C2/E2/G5/10) splice variant (dSlo1A) exhibits very flickery openings. To probe this difference in gating, we constructed a mutant I323T. This channel exhibits four subconductance levels similar to those of dSlo1A. Rectification of the single-channel current-voltage relation of I323T decreased as [Ca2+ ]in increased from 10 to 300 μM. Mutagenesis suggests that the hydrophobicity of the residue at the position is important for the wild-type gating; i.e., increasing hydrophobicity prolongs open duration. Molecular dynamics simulation suggests that four hydrophobic pore-lining residues at position 323 of mSlo act cooperatively in a “shutter-like” mechanism gating the permeation of K+ ions. Rate-equilibrium free energy relations analysis shows that the four I323 residues in an mSlo channel have a conformation 65% similar to the closed conformation during gating. Based on these observations, we suggest that the appearance of rectification and substates of BK-type channels arise from a reduction of the cooperativity among these four residues and a lower probability of being open

Polarization in the Production of the Antihydrogen Ion

We provide estimates of both the cross section and rate coefficient for the radiative attachment of a second positron to create the H̅+ ion, H̅(1s)+e+→H̅+(1s2 1Se)+ℏω, for which the polarization of the initial state H̅(1s) is taken into account. We show how to analytically integrate the resulting six-dimensional, three-body integrals for wave functions composed of explicitly correlated exponentials, a result that may be extended to Hylleraas wave functions. We extend Bhatia’s polarization results for the equivalent matter problem down to the low temperatures required for the Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest (GBAR) experiment at CERN. The two-electron polarization cross-term is of intrinsic interest because it has every appearance of being singular at the origin, but non-singular when integrated numerically. We show that conventional approaches lead to a final integral with two singular terms that may be made to cancel in lowest order. However, higher-order terms in such approaches defy analytical integration. We use an integro-differential transform based on Gaussian transforms to bypass this blockage to yield a fully analytic result. Even in this method, one avoids the singular form only by integrating out the radial integrals before solving the second Gaussian integral

Polarization in the production of the antihydrogen ion

We provide estimates of both the cross section and rate coefficient for the radiative attachment of a second positron to create the ${\overline{\mathrm{H}}}^{+}$ ion, $\overline{\mathrm{H}}(1s)+{e}^{+}\to {\overline{\mathrm{H}}}^{+}\left(1{s}^2{\enspace }^1{S}^e\right)+\mathrm{\hslash }\omega$, for which the polarization of the initial state $\overline{\mathrm{H}}(1s)$ is taken into account. We show how to analytically integrate the resulting six-dimensional, three-body integrals for wave functions composed of explicitly correlated exponentials, a result that may be extended to Hylleraas wave functions. We extend Bhatia’s polarization results for the equivalent matter problem down to the low temperatures required for the Gravitational Behaviour of Antihydrogen at Rest (GBAR) experiment at CERN. The two-electron polarization cross-term is of intrinsic interest because it has every appearance of being singular at the origin, but non-singular when integrated numerically. We show that conventional approaches lead to a final integral with two singular terms that may be made to cancel in lowest order. However, higher-order terms in such approaches defy analytical integration. We use an integro-differential transform based on Gaussian transforms to bypass this blockage to yield a fully analytic result. Even in this method, one avoids the singular form only by integrating out the radial integrals before solving the second Gaussian integral

High-quality early education: Age of entry and time in care differences in student outcomes for English-only and dual language learners

•This study examined links between high-quality early education exposure and outcomes.•Earlier entry and more time in care were related to better receptive language skills.•Age of entry and time in care were linked equivocally to social–behavioral skills.•The positive links between exposure and outcomes were strongest for DLL children. Research on early education and care (EEC) dosage, defined as the amount or timing of either current or cumulative participation in EEC programming, generally suggests that more time in high-quality EEC programs is beneficial for children's developmental outcomes. Many of the studies on time in high quality EEC programs are with black and white children and less is known about the effects of dosage with dual language learner (DLL) children. This study used data from an implementation evaluation of Educare – a high-quality early education program serving children from birth to 5 – to examine the extent to which age of entry and time in care relate to language and social–emotional skills for DLL and English-only (EO) children from low-income families. Participants were 5037 children who were enrolled in one of 12 Educare schools as infants, toddlers, or preschoolers between 2003 and 2013 and were followed for their duration in Educare. Longitudinal assessments of children's receptive language and social–emotional skills were analyzed with hierarchical linear modeling, controlling for demographic characteristics and classroom quality. Both age of entry and duration were positively associated with receptive language outcomes, with stronger effect sizes for DLL than EO children. DLL children who entered early consistently scored well across the assessment ages, and late enterers made significant gains during their 1 or 2 years of EEC but lagged considerably behind early entering DLL children when they left for kindergarten. Spanish-speaking DLLs did not lose their proficiency in Spanish as they learned English. Teacher ratings of children's social–emotional skills were lower if children entered at a younger age, but still within normal ranges, and the ratings improved with longer attendance. Results suggest that renewed focus is needed on ensuring that children at-risk for poor school outcomes have access to high-quality EEC early in life and for sustained periods of time to reduce later achievement gaps

Addressing Adversity to Support Family and Child Well Being

This study documented that nearly half of a large national sample of Head Start and Early Head Start children enrolled in participating programs experienced adversity and that this adversity is related to their learning and development.  However, children in the programs, including those who had experienced adversity, had better outcomes in some domains if they had longer durations in their early childhood programs.  Implications of these findings include the need to a) understand the experiences of the children and families in Head Start as part of preventing and reducing adversity; b) address the effects of adversity in instructional and other interventions to promote children’s learning and development; and c) work to retain high risk families through targeted programming and professional development