Head Start Parents' Reports of Managing Time to Support Parent Involvement

In order to encourage parents’ involvement in children’s learning and development, teachers in one Head Start program sent a developmentally appropriate activity, linked to the classroom curriculum, home each week for parents and children to do together.  This exploratory study used focus groups to examine how parents made the time to complete these “homework†activities.  Parents reported using a variety of time management strategies and supports such as organizational aids, supportive family members, routines, and a flexible time perspective. They also discussed the obstacles they faced in managing time such as work schedules, high levels of parental stress, and household responsibilities.  These results are limited by sample size and characteristics. However, asking parents how they make the time to be involved with their children may result in information that can be shared with other Head Start families who are struggling with this issue

Time Management and Home-Based Parent Involvement in Head Start Families

Head Start programs encourage parents’ involvement in children’s learning and development.  To help accomplish this objective, teachers in one program sent a developmentally appropriate activity, linked to the classroom curriculum, home each week for parents and children to do together.  This study used focus groups to examine how parents made the time to complete these “homework†activities and the obstacles they faced in doing so. Parents (n = 22) reported using a variety of time management strategies and supports, described the obstacles they faced in managing time, and discussed the management of the homework activities themselves.  Although the results are limited by sample size and characteristics, this study adds to the very limited knowledge about time management strategies in low-income families.  Asking parents how they make time to be involved with their children may result in information that can be shared with other families struggling with this issue

Exceptionally Cold Winter Months in Europe (1951-2010)

W pracy podjęto się charakterystyki częstości, czasu wystąpienia i zasięgu przestrzennego niezwykle zimnych miesięcy zimowych w Europie. Podstawę badań stanowiły wartości średniej miesięcznej temperatury powietrza z 60 stacji meteorologicznych od połowy XX wieku do 2010 roku. Za niezwykle zimne miesiące zimowe (NZM) uznano te, w których średnia temperatura powietrza na danej stacji różni się od odpowiedniej średniej wieloletniej (1951-2010) przynajmniej o 2 odchylenia standardowe. W rozpatrywanym 60-leciu największą częstością NZM wyróżniły się 2 pierwsze 10-lecia – odpowiednio 16 i 17 NZM, najmniej (7) ich było w ostatnim 10-leciu 1991-2000, a od początku XXI wieku ponownie zaczęła nieznacznie wzrastać ich częstość i zasięg. Poszczególne NZM obejmowały obszary różnej wielkości. Najrzadziej zdarzały się w południowo-zachodniej części Europy (jeden NZM). Względnie rzadko występowały NZM na obszarze Wysp Brytyjskich oraz krańcach południowo-wschodnich Europy, po ok. 5 NZM w 60-leciu. Na pozostałym obszarze Europy wystąpiło po 7-9 NZM, przy czym największą ich częstością wyróżnił się obszar od Półwyspu Skandynawskiego, przez środek Europy po Bałkany. Na wschodnich krańcach Europy NZM były też względnie częste, ale żaden z nich nie objął całego obszaru, lecz tylko większą lub mniejszą jego część południową albo północną. NZM o największym zasięgu był NZM luty 1956, który wystąpił na 36 z 60 stacji. Objął on całą południową Europę i pas środkowy kontynentu od Atlantyku do Uralu. Podczas tego NZM największa anomalia temperatury wystąpiła w Astrachaniu -14°C i była największą w całym rozpatrywanym materiale. Do miesięcy niezwykle zimnych o dużym zasięgu przestrzennym, obejmującym przynajmniej jedną trzecią liczby stacji (ponad 20 stacji) należały także: luty 1954, styczeń 1963 i 1987.Europe's climate is characterised by the occurrence of deep short-lasting drops in air temperature, which are reflected in anomalously low monthly average temperatures. This study has been undertaken in order to determine the frequency, timing and spatial extent of exceptionally cold winter months at 60 weather stations across Europe. The study was based on monthly average air temperatures recorded by 60 stations between the mid-20th century and 2010. Exceptionally cold winter months (ECMs) are considered to occur when the average air temperature at a given station differs from the respective multi-annual average (1951-2010) by at least 2 standard deviations. It was found that such ECMs are quite frequent in Europe: during the 180 winter months of the six decades of 1951-2010, 67 ECMs occurred at 387 stations, which means that each ECM covered an area with 6 stations on average. In the six decades under study, the highest frequency of ECMs was seen in the first 2 decades – 16 and 17 ECMs respectively, and the lowest (7) in the last decade of the 20th century. The individual ECMs extended over areas of various sizes. Their frequency was the lowest in south-west Europe (one ECM), where, behind the barrier of the Alps and the Pyrenees, advection of cold air masses from the north is less frequent. ECMs were relatively rare in the area of the British Isles and the southern and eastern ends of Europe which saw 5 ECMs each in the 60-year period and where such months were not recorded by all the stations. The number of ECMs in the rest of Europe ranged between 7 and 9 with the highest frequency recorded by the area stretching from the Scandinavian Peninsula, across the centre of Europe, to the Balkans. ECMs were also relatively frequent in the easternmost parts of Europe, but none of them covered the entire area, only its bigger or smaller southern or northern parts. In the latter, the monthly average temperatures at many spots dropped below -25°C with temperature anomalies exceeding -10°C, and even -13°C. The ECM of February 1956 had the greatest extent of all comprising 36 out of the 60 stations. It covered the entire south of Europe and stretched across the central part of the continent from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains. During that ECM, the largest temperature anomaly of -14°C was recorded in Astrakhan which was the largest in the entire period under study. Other exceptionally cold months with a large spatial extent, covering at least one third of the stations (over 20), were February 1954, January 1963 and January 1987

Molecular characterization, expression in Escherichia coli, and epitope analysis of a two EF-hand calcium-binding birch pollen allergen, Bet v 4

Birch pollen belongs to the most potent elicitors of Type I allergic reactions in early spring. Using serum IgE from a birch pollen allergic patient, two cDNA clones (clone 6 and clone 13) were isolated hom a birch pollen expression cDNA library constructed in phage lambda gt11. Clone 6 encoded a 9.3 kD two EF-hand calcium-binding protein, designated Bet v 4, with significant end to end sequence homology to EF-hand calcium-binding allergens from weed and grass pollen. Recombinant Bet v 4, expressed as beta-galactosidase fusion protein, reacted with serum IgE from approximately 20% of pollen allergic individuals. Depletion of allergen-bound calcium by EGTA treatment lead to a substantial reduction of IgE-binding to Bet v 4, indicating that protein-bound calcium is necessary for the maintenance of IgE-epitopes. The greatly reduced IgE-binding capacity of clone 13, a Bet v 4 fragment that lacked the 16 N-terminal amino acids, indicated that the N-terminus contributes significantly to the proteins IgE-binding capacity. By IgE-inhibition experiments it was demonstrated that recombinant Bet v 4 shared IgE-epitopes with natural Bet v 4 and a homologous timothy grass pollen allergen. Recombinant Bet v 4 may therefore be considered as a relevant crossreactive plant allergen, which may be used for diagnosis and treatment of patients suffering from multivalent plant allergies. (C) 1997 Academic Press