Measuring social-emotional development in schoolchildren: A national-level analysis of ECLS-B cohort data.

The present study examined the social-emotional development items assessed by kindergarten teachers in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort to determine the optimal factor structure underlying the items as well as the reliability and validity of the resulting factors. This study identified an empirically derived factor structure for teacher-reported social development, investigated whether there was evidence of bias in teacher assessments of social-emotional constructs, examined factor invariance across demographic characteristics (i.e.

Correction to: A Disruption, Not an Interruption: The Impact of COVID-19 on Child Care in Iowa.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1007/s10566-023-09739-8.].

A Disruption, Not an Interruption: The Impact of COVID-19 on Child Care in Iowa.

Background: In March 2020, when public health stay home orders began in order to halt the spread of COVID-19, child care as an industry was drastically and abruptly impacted. This public health emergency highlighted the weaknesses in the child care system in the United States.

Objective: This study investigated the changes in operations cost, child enrollment and attendance, and state and federal support that occurred during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic among both center-based and home-based child care programs.

Music Engagement and Episodic Memory Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A National Longitudinal Analysis.

Objectives: The objective of this study was to examine associations between music engagement and episodic memory for more than 12 years in a nationally representative sample of middle- and older-aged adults in the United States.

Methods: This study is based on a secondary analysis of data from a sample (N = 5,021) of cognitively normal adults from the Health and Retirement Study (2006-2018). Episodic memory was measured by immediate and delayed recall tasks.

Impact of Mild Behavioral Impairment on Longitudinal Changes in Cognition.

Background: To examine cross-sectional differences and longitudinal changes in cognitive performance based on the presence of mild behavioral impairment (MBI) among older adults who are cognitively healthy or have mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: Secondary data analysis of participants (n = 17 291) who were cognitively healthy (n = 11 771) or diagnosed with MCI (n = 5 520) from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center database. Overall, 24.

Psychosis as a Treatment Target in Dementia: A Roadmap for Designing Interventions.

Psychotic phenomena are among the most severe and disruptive symptoms of dementias and appear in 30% to 50% of patients. They are associated with a worse evolution and great suffering to patients and caregivers. Their current treatments obtain limited results and are not free of adverse effects, which are sometimes serious.

State Policies Concerning Disaster Preparedness for Home- and Community-Based Service Providers.

Older adults are among those most vulnerable to harm in disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires. Nursing homes and other Medicare providers are subject to federal requirements to develop detailed disaster plans. However, millions of older adults receive care at home from non-Medicare providers who are under federal disaster preparedness rules that are less prescriptive than Medicare rules and subject to state interpretation.

Eye Removal in Living Zebrafish Larvae to Examine Innervation-dependent Growth and Development of the Visual System.

Zebrafish exhibit remarkable life-long growth and regenerative abilities. For example, specialized stem cell niches established during embryogenesis support continuous growth of the entire visual system, both in the eye and the brain. Coordinated growth between the retinae and the optic tectum ensures accurate retinotopic mapping as new neurons are added in the eyes and brain.

Developmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on young children: a conceptual model for research with integrated administrative data systems.

The COVID-19 pandemic made its mark on the entire world, upending economies, shifting work and education, and exposing deeply rooted inequities. A particularly vulnerable, yet less studied population includes our youngest children, ages zero to five, whose proximal and distal contexts have been exponentially affected with unknown impacts on health, education, and social-emotional well-being. Integrated administrative data systems could be important tools for understanding these impacts.

A longitudinal analysis of fast-food exposure on child weight outcomes: Identifying causality through school transitions.

This article investigates the effect of fast-food availability on childhood weight outcomes by gender, race, and location. We use a novel identification strategy based on changes in fast-food exposure along the route between the home and school that occur as students progress through the public school system and transition to different types of schools, e.g.

Association Between Music Engagement and Episodic Memory Among Middle-Aged and Older Adults: A National Cross-Sectional Analysis.

Objectives: To determine whether music engagement influences middle-aged and older adults' performance on episodic memory tasks.

Method: Secondary data analysis of a sample (N = 4,592) of cognitively healthy adults from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study was used for this study. Multivariable regression models were used to analyze the cross-sectional differences in performance on tasks of episodic memory between participants who listened to music (n = 3,659) or sang or played an instrument (n = 989).

Tissue-Specific Requirement for the GINS Complex During Zebrafish Development.

Efficient and accurate DNA replication is particularly critical in stem and progenitor cells for successful proliferation and survival. The replisome, an amalgam of protein complexes, is responsible for binding potential origins of replication, unwinding the double helix, and then synthesizing complimentary strands of DNA. According to current models, the initial steps of DNA unwinding and opening are facilitated by the CMG complex, which is composed of a GINS heterotetramer that connects Cdc45 with the mini-chromosome maintenance (Mcm) helicase.

Mild behavioral impairment as a predictor of cognitive functioning in older adults.

Objective: To assess the influence of mild behavioral impairment (MBI) on the cognitive performance of older adults who are cognitively healthy or have mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Methods: Secondary data analysis of a sample (n = 497) of older adults from the Florida Alzheimer's Disease Research Center who were either cognitively healthy (n = 285) or diagnosed with MCI (n = 212). Over half of the sample (n = 255) met the operationalized diagnostic criteria for MBI.

Neuropsychiatric symptoms as a distinguishing factor between memory diagnoses.

Objectives: To determine whether neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) are able to differentiate those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia from persons who are cognitively healthy.

Methods: Multinomial and binary logistic regressions were used to assess secondary data of a sample (n = 613) of older adults with NPS. Analyses evaluated the ability to differentiate between diagnoses, as well as the influence of these symptoms for individuals with amnestic MCI (MCI-A), non-amnestic MCI (MCI-NA), and dementia compared with those who are cognitively healthy.

Obese Peers' Influence on Students' BMI: Heterogeneity in Race and Sex.

Objectives: In this study, we investigate peer influence on obesity, with a focus on race and sex.

Methods: We conducted econometric analysis of longitudinal health data of 277,566 public school students, ages 5-13 years.

Results: A percentage point increase in the proportion of obese students within the same grade increased a student's BMI z-scores by about 4 one-thousandths of a standard deviation.

Assessment of Cognitive Training & Social Interaction in People with Mild to Moderate Dementia: A Pilot Study.

: To evaluate the cognitive, neuropsychiatric, and quality of life outcomes of computer-based cognitive training and social interaction on people with mild to moderate dementia. : Ten individuals with dementia were recruited to complete a cognitive training regimen. They were randomly assigned to a high social interaction (HSI) group (n = 5) and low social interaction (LSI) group (n = 5).

Direct Single-Cell Analysis of Human Polar Bodies and Cleavage-Stage Embryos Reveals No Evidence of the Telomere Theory of Reproductive Ageing in Relation to Aneuploidy Generation.

Reproductive ageing in women, particularly after the age of 35, is associated with an exponential increase in the proportion of chromosomally abnormal oocytes produced. Several hypotheses have attempted to explain this observation, including the 'limited oocyte pool' hypothesis and the 'two-hit' hypothesis, the latter explaining that a depletion in oocyte quality with age results from the multiple opportune stages for errors to occur in meiosis. Recently however, the telomere theory of reproductive ageing in women has been proposed.

Prevalence, Patterns, and Predictors: A Statewide Longitudinal Study of Childhood Obesity.

Background: We examined prevalence, incidence, and trajectory of obesity from kindergarten through grade 8 in one of the first states to implement annual surveillance.

Methods: Participants included 16,414 children enrolled in kindergarten in Arkansas in 2004 with complete body mass index (BMI) measurements in kindergarten and eighth grade. Repeated measures of weight status were entered in multiple linear and logistic regression models with demographics and family poverty status.

Implications of the diagnostic criteria of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in clinical practice: Analysis from the Australian Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Registry.

Background And Objective: Current guidelines for the diagnosis of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) provide specific criteria for diagnosis in the setting of multidisciplinary discussion (MDD). We evaluate the utility and reproducibility of these diagnostic guidelines, using clinical data from the Australian IPF Registry.

Methods: All patients enrolled in the registry undergo a diagnostic review whereby international IPF guidelines are applied via a registry MDD.

Nasolacrimal Sac Diverticulum: A Case Series and Literature Review.

Purpose: To describe the demographics, presentation, treatment, and outcome in 10 cases of lacrimal sac diverticulum and to review the literature on this topic, and to determine the incidence of diverticula from a series of dacryocystograms.

Methods: Data were collected for all consecutive patients with lacrimal sac diverticulum seen between 2003 and 2015, including patient demographics, clinical presentation, imaging findings, treatment, and follow-up. A systematic literature review was performed for cases of lacrimal sac diverticulum.

Middle school transition and body weight outcomes: Evidence from Arkansas Public Schoolchildren.

There is evidence that middle school transition adversely affects educational and psychological outcomes of pre-teen children, but little is known about the impacts of middle school transition on other aspects of health. In this article, we estimate the impact of middle school transition on the body mass index (BMI) of public schoolchildren in Arkansas, United States. Using an instrumental variable approach, we find that middle school transition in grade 6 led to a moderate decrease of 0.

Food environment and childhood obesity: the effect of dollar stores.

In this paper we examine the effect of dollar stores on children's Body Mass Index (BMI). We use a dataset compiled by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement that reflects a BMI screening program for public school children in the state of Arkansas. We combine propensity score matching with difference-in-differences methods to deal with time-invariant as well time-varying unobserved factors.

Quantifying change in pulmonary function as a prognostic marker in systemic sclerosis-related interstitial lung disease.

Objectives: Clinically meaningful change in systemic sclerosis (SSc) related interstitial lung (SSc-ILD) disease is unknown. The aim of this study was to quantify change in pulmonary function as a predictor of outcome in SSc-ILD.

Methods: All patients had SSc-ILD defined by HRCT chest.