Kia Tīmata Pai (Best Start): a study protocol for a cluster randomised trial with early childhood teachers to support children's oral language and self-regulation development.

Introduction: Oral language skills are associated with children's later self-regulation and academic skills; in turn, self-regulation in early childhood predicts successful functioning later in life. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the separate and combined effectiveness of an oral language intervention (Enhancing Rich Conversations, ENRICH) and a self-regulation intervention (Enhancing Neurocognitive Growth with the Aid of Games and Exercise, ENGAGE) with early childhood teachers and parents for children's oral language, self-regulation and academic functioning.

Methods And Analysis: The Kia Tīmata Pai (Best Start) study is a cluster randomised controlled trial with teachers and children in approximately 140 early childhood centres in New Zealand.

Electromagnetic acoustic imaging methods: resolution, signal-to-noise, and image contrast in phantoms.

Electromagnetic acoustic imaging (EMAI) is a hybrid imaging technique using radio-frequency irradiation to induce ultrasound (US), providing an US image in which spatial conductivity differences provide image contrast. The method is potentially clinically important in that the added diagnostic parameter has been shown to be useful in cancer detection and vascular space delineation. We report the development of coil configurations and imaging processing techniques designed to address the low signal-to-noise of EMAI and demonstrate achievable resolution and contrast in phantoms along with EMAI signals in excised animal tissue.

In school and out of school digital use and the development of children's self-regulation and social skills.

More needs to be known about the benefits and risks to the development of interpersonal and intrapersonal skills in ubiquitous digital environments at school and at home. Nine to 12-year-old students (n = 186) in a 1:1 digital programme serving low SES and culturally diverse communities rated their self-regulation and social skills for both non-digital and digital contexts. Downward trends in self-regulation and related personality dimensions were found.

Te Reo Māori: indigenous language acquisition in the context of New Zealand English.

This study assessed the status of te reo Māori, the indigenous language of New Zealand, in the context of New Zealand English. From a broadly representative sample of 6327 two-year-olds (Growing Up in New Zealand), 6090 mothers (96%) reported their children understood English, and 763 mothers (12%) reported their children understood Māori. Parents completed the new MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory short forms for te reo Māori (NZM: CDI sf) and New Zealand English (NZE: CDI sf).

Electromagnetic acoustic imaging.

Electromagnetic acoustic imaging (EMAI) is a new imaging technique that uses long-wavelength RF electromagnetic (EM) waves to induce ultrasound emission. Signal intensity and image contrast have been found to depend on spatially varying electrical conductivity of the medium in addition to conventional acoustic properties. The resultant conductivity- weighted ultrasound data may enhance the diagnostic performance of medical ultrasound in cancer and cardiovascular applications because of the known changes in conductivity of malignancy and blood-filled spaces.