Effect of bacterial filter on measurement of interrupter resistance in preschool and school-aged children

BACKGROUND: The interrupter technique is increasingly used in preschool children to assess airway resistance (Rint). Use of a bacterial filter is essential for prevention of cross-infection in a clinical setting. It is not known how large an effect this extra resistance and compliance exert upon interrupter measurements, especially on obstructive airways and in smaller children. We aim to determine the contribution of the filter to Rint, in a sample of children attending lung function testing at an asthma clinic. METHODS: Interrupter measurements were performed according to ATS/ERS guidelines during quiet normal breathing at an expiratory flow trigger of 200 ml s(-1), with the child seated upright with cheeks supported and wearing a nose clip. A minimum of 10 interrupter measurements was made with and without a bacterial filter. Spirometric and plethysmographic tests were also performed. RESULTS: A small but significant difference (0.12 (95% CI 0.06-0.17) kPa s L(-1), P = 0.0002) with 2x SD of 0.34 kPa s L(-1) was observed between Rint with and without filter in 39 children, with a large spread. This difference was not dependent on Rint magnitude, age or height, nor on lung function parameters (effective resistance, forced expiratory volume in 1 sec, and maximal expiratory flow at 50% of expired vital capacity). CONCLUSIONS: A bacterial filter causes a small difference but is not clinically significant, with a wide spread comparable to the variability of the technique and recommended cut-offs for assessing repeatability and bronchodilation. Age, height or severity of obstruction need not be corrected for in general.

How Insecurity impacts on school attendance and school drop out among urban slum children in Nairobi

This paper discusses how perceptions of personal security can impact on school enrolment and attendance. It mainly focuses on threats to physical harm, crime, community and domestic violence. These security fears can include insecurity that children suffer from as they go to school, maybe through the use of unsafe routes; insecurity that children feel at school; and the insecurity they suffer from in their homes. Although poverty is an indicator of insecurity, this paper does not focus solely on poverty as it is well covered elsewhere in the literature. The paper relies on qualitative data collected in Korogocho and Viwandani slum areas in Nairobi, Kenya between October and November 2004. The paper analyses data from individual interviews and focus group interviews and focuses on the narrative of slum dwellers on how insecurity impacts on educational attainment. The conclusion in this paper is that insecure neighbourhoods may have a negative impact on schooling. As a result policies that address insecurity in slum neighbourhoods can also improve school attendance and performance.

Modular training in vascular and endovascular surgery exemplified by the Vascular International Foundation and School

The partial shift from patient to model is a reasonable and necessary paradigm shift in surgery in order to increase patient safety and to adapt to the reduced training time periods in hospitals and increased quality demands. Since 1991 the Vascular International Foundation and School has carried out many training courses with more than 2,500 participants. The modular build training system allows to teach many open vascular and endovascular surgical techniques on lifelike models with a pulsatile circulation. The simulation courses cannot replace training in operating rooms but are suitable for supporting the cognitive and associative stages for achieving motor skills. Scientific evaluation of the courses has continually shown that the training principle established since 1991 can lead to significant learning success. They are extremely useful not only for beginners but also for experienced vascular surgeons. They can help to shorten the learning curve, to learn new techniques or to refine previously used techniques in all stages of professional development. Keywords Advanced training · Advanced training regulations · Training model · Vascular International · Certification

High-school students' need for cognition, self-control capacity, and school achievement: testing a mediation hypothesis

In the present article, we examine the hypothesis that high-school students' motivation to engage in cognitive endeavors (i.e., their need for cognition; NFC) is positively related to their dispositional self-control capacity. Furthermore, we test the prediction that the relation between NFC and school achievement is mediated by self-control capacity. A questionnaire study with grade ten high-school students (N = 604) revealed the expected relations between NFC, self-control capacity, and school achievement. Sobel tests showed that self-control capacity mediated the relation between NFC and school grades as well as grade retention.

University and school students' motivation for effortful thinking: Factor structure, reliability, and validity of the German Need for Cognition Scale

Need for cognition (NFC) reflects a relatively stable trait regarding the degree to which one enjoys and engages in cognitive endeavors. We examined whether the previously demonstrated one-dimensional structure of the German NFC Scale could be replicated in three samples of undergraduates and secondary school students. Moreover, we investigated the test-retest reliability of the German NFC Scale, which has not yet been tested. Further, we investigated whether the scale would be valid in a sample of secondary school students. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses established the one-dimensional factor structure of the long form as well as the short form of the German NFC Scale for undergraduates (N = 559), students of academic track secondary schools (German Gymnasium; N = 555), and students of vocational track secondary schools (German Realschule; N = 486). The scale proved to have a high test-retest reliability in a university student sample (N = 43). For secondary school students, we again found a high test-retest reliability (N = 157), and also found the scale to be valid (N = 181).

Profile Effects in Early Bilingual Language and Literacy

Bilingual children's language and literacy is stronger in some domains than others. Reanalysis of data from a broad-scale study of monolingual English and bilingual Spanish-English learners in Miami provided a clear demonstration of "profile effects," where bilingual children perform at varying levels compared to monolinguals across different test types. The profile effects were strong and consistent across conditions of socioeconomic status, language in the home, and school setting (two way or English immersion). The profile effects indicated comparable performance of bilingual and monolingual children in basic reading tasks, but lower vocabulary scores for the bilinguals in both languages. Other test types showed intermediate scores in bilinguals, again with substantial consistency across groups. These profiles are interpreted as primarily due to the "distributed characteristic" of bilingual lexical knowledge, the tendency for bilingual individuals to know some words in one language but not the other and vice versa.

Food availability in the home and dietary intake of the Harris County Department of Education Head Start population

Background. The prevalence of obesity and overweight children has been an ongoing health epidemic in the US for the last several decades. The problem has consistently worsened and has disproportionately been the most prevalent among low socioeconomic status (SES) populations. Food availability in the home has been suggested to be a potential factor related to overweight and obesity, as availability is likely associated with intake. Food availability of low SES preschool aged children has not been well examined. The purpose of this study was to explore the food environment of the Harris County Department of Education (HCDE) Head Start population, and describe reported frequency of intake of particular food groups. The effect of food availability on reported intake was also examined.^ Methods. This was a cross-sectional study of secondary data analysis. Data obtained from 17 HCDE Head Start Centers was analyzed using PASW 18 Statistical Software. Demographic analyses included population, age, gender, race, parent occupation, type of home, and language spoken in the home. Descriptive statistics included reported availability of foods in the home as well as frequency of intake.^ Regression analysis examined the relationship of availability of foods on intake. The food categories included were: dark leafy green and orange vegetables, other vegetables, fruits, soda, salty snacks, and sweet snacks. For both vegetable categories reported intake of fresh, frozen, and canned vegetables were included. For the fruit category, intake of fresh, frozen, canned, and dried fruits were reported.^ Results. Results showed that 90-95% of parents reported having vegetables and fruits available in the home. However, the only significant relationship between availability and intake was for fresh fruit and dried fruit. No associations were seen among the vegetable groups. Other vegetables (bell peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, iceberg lettuce, asparagus) that were frozen, approached significance for availability on intake, however once adjusted for confounders the relationship was no longer present. Among soda, salty snacks, and sweet snacks the only significant relationship was seen for soda availability and intake. Salty snacks and sweet snacks presence in the home was not a predictor of increased frequency of intake.^ Conclusions. This research supported the hypothesis that availability of foods has an impact on intake for fresh fruits, dried fruits and soda. No associations were seen for vegetables, salty snacks and sweet snacks. Additionally, most of the parents reported having fruits and vegetables in the home, but reported intakes were not meeting the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations. Strengths of the study included the large sample size taken from numerous HCDE Head Start Centers. Limitations included questionable reliability of participant’s responses, ability to generalize to other populations, and the use of secondary data rather than prospectively collected data.^

Cyberbullying and school attachment: An analysis of the 2005-2006 U.S. health behavior in school-aged children (HBSC) study

Despite a lack of consistent research, the possible association between school attachment and cyberbullying suggests that targeting school attachment as a method of increasing help-seeking behaviors may be important in intervention strategies for cyberbullying. The present study sought to fill the gap in current literature by examining cyberbullying and school attachment in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adolescents, grades 6-10 (n=9,227). Results found that negative school attachment was significantly associated with greater odds of cyberbullying victimization (OR=4.71, p<0.001), perpetration (OR=2.95, p<0.001), and cyberbully-victim status (OR=3.38, p<0.001). After adjustment for confounding variables, cyberbullying victimization remained significant (OR=1.90, p=0.002). Overall, the present analyses suggest that higher negative school attachment may be associated with higher frequency of cyberbullying behaviors. These findings provide evidence for an association between school attachment and cyberbullying, and support considerations that improving school attachment may be a potential source of intervention against cyberbullying in an adolescent population.^