The association between early minor motor difficulties in extreme low birth weight infants and school age attentional difficulties

Introduction: Extremely premature infants of normal intellectual ability have an increased prevalence of motor and attentional difficulties. Knowledge of the relationship between early motor difficulties and measures of attention at school age would enhance understanding of these developmental pathways, their interrelationship and opportunities for intervention. Objective: This study examines whether an association exists between early findings of minor motor difficulties and school age clinical and psychometric measures of attention. Methodology: 45/60 eligible ELBW(1000 g) or preterm (< 27/40 gestation) infants born at the Mater Mother's Hospital were assessed at 12 and 24 months for minor motor deficits (using NSMDA) and at 7-9 years for attention, using clinical (Conners and Du Paul Rating Scales) and psychometric (assessing attention span, selective and divided attention) measures. Results: NSMDA at 12 months was only associated with the psychometric measures of verbal attention span. It was not associated with later clinical measures of attention. NSMDA at 24months was strongly associated with specific clinical measures of attention at school age, independent of biological and social factors. It was not associated with psychometric measures of attention. Conclusion: The major finding of this study is that motor difficulties in ELBW infants at 2 years are associated with later clinical measures of attention. Possible mechanisms underlying this relationship are considered. Crown Copyright (c) 2005 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

The determinants of export performance:evidence for manufacturing plants in Ireland and Northern Ireland

The dramatic GDP and export growth of Ireland over the last decade forms a marked contrast with that of its nearest neighbour Northern Ireland. In Ireland, export volume growth averaged 15.5% p.a. from 1991 to 1999 compared with 6.3% from Northern Ireland. Using data on individual manufacturing plants this paper considers the determinants of export performance in the two areas. Larger, externally owned plants with higher skill levels are found to have the highest export propensities in both areas. Other influences (plant age, R&D, etc.) prove more strongly conditional on location, plant size, and ownership. Structural factors (e.g. ownership, industry) explain almost all of the difference in export propensity between larger plants in Northern Ireland and Ireland but only around one-third of that between smaller plants. Significant differences are also evident between plants in terms of their sources of new technology. For indigenously owned plants, inhouse R&D is important. For externally owned plants, R&D conducted elsewhere in the group - typically outside Ireland and Northern Ireland - proves more significant. This external dependency and lower than expected export propensity on the part of small plants in Northern Ireland represent significant policy challenges for the future.© 2006 Scottish Economic Society. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Profile of anisometropia and aniso-astigmatism in children; prevalence and association with age, ocular biometric measures, and refractive status

Purpose. We describe the profile and associations of anisometropia and aniso-astigmatism in a population-based sample of children. Methods. The Northern Ireland Childhood Errors of Refraction (NICER) study used a stratified random cluster design to recruit a representative sample of children from schools in Northern Ireland. Examinations included cycloplegic (1% cyclopentolate) autorefraction, and measures of axial length, anterior chamber depth, and corneal curvature. ?2 tests were used to assess variations in the prevalence of anisometropia and aniso-astigmatism by age group, with logistic regression used to compare odds of anisometropia and aniso-astigmatism with refractive status (myopia, emmetropia, hyperopia). The Mann-Whitney U test was used to examine interocular differences in ocular biometry. Results. Data from 661 white children aged 12 to 13 years (50.5% male) and 389 white children aged 6 to 7 years (49.6% male) are presented. The prevalence of anisometropia =1 diopters sphere (DS) did not differ statistically significantly between 6- to 7-year-old (8.5%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9–13.1) and 12- to 13-year-old (9.4%; 95% CI, 5.9–12.9) children. The prevalence of aniso-astigmatism =1 diopters cylinder (DC) did not vary statistically significantly between 6- to 7-year-old (7.7%; 95% CI, 4.3–11.2) and 12- to 13-year-old (5.6%; 95% CI, 0.5–8.1) children. Anisometropia and aniso-astigmatism were more common in 12- to 13-year-old children with hyperopia =+2 DS. Anisometropic eyes had greater axial length asymmetry than nonanisometropic eyes. Aniso-astigmatic eyes were more asymmetric in axial length and corneal astigmatism than eyes without aniso-astigmatism. Conclusions. In this population, there is a high prevalence of axial anisometropia and corneal/axial aniso-astigmatism, associated with hyperopia, but whether these relations are causal is unclear. Further work is required to clarify the developmental mechanism behind these associations.

(Table 1) Details on the Uranium/Thorium age determinations carried out on core GeoB11569-2

Cold-water corals are widely distributed along the Atlantic continental margin with varying growth patterns in relation to their specific environment. Here, we investigate the long-term development of cold-water corals that once thrived on a low-latitude (17°40'N) cold-water coral mound in the Banda Mound Province off Mauritania during the last glacial-interglacial cycle. U/Th dates obtained from 20 specimens of the cold-water coral Lophelia pertusa, revealed three distinct periods of coral growth during the last glacial at 65 to 57 kyr BP, 45 to 32 kyr BP and 14 kyr BP, thus comprising the cool periods of Marine Isotopic Stages (MIS) 2-4. These coral growth periods occur during periods of increased productivity in the region, emphasizing that productivity seems to be the major steering factor for coral growth off Mauritania, which is one of the major upwelling regions in the world. This pattern differs from the well studied coral mounds off Ireland, where the current regime predominantly influences the prosperity of the cold-water corals. Moreover, coral growth off Ireland takes place during rather warm interglacial and interstadial periods, whereas off Mauritania coral growth is restricted to glacial and stadial periods. However, the on-mound sedimentation patterns off Mauritania largely resemble the observations reported from the Irish mounds. The bulk of the preserved sediments derives from periods of coral growth, whereas during periods without corals hardly any net sedimentation or mound growth took place.