Analysis of faculty use and perceptions of ICT: planning for effective professional development at a Japanese HEI.

Unlabelled: For more than 20 years, Japanese HEIs have focused on ICT integration as a means to help students develop twenty-first century skills. However, effective ICT integration is only possible if faculty have an awareness of the possibilities of technology and see the value of a student-centered approach to teaching. This study was conducted to assess the current state of these qualities at a specific Japanese HEI for the purpose of facilitating meaningful professional development.

Associations of socioeconomic and other environmental factors with early brain development in Bangladeshi infants and children.

Studies of infants growing up in high-income countries reveal developmental changes in electroencephalography (EEG) power whereby socioeconomic factors - specifically, low SES and low income - are associated with lower EEG power in infants aged newborn to nine months. In the current paper we explore relationships of spectral EEG power across three regions (frontal, central, and parietal) and four frequency bands (theta, alpha, beta, and gamma) with socioeconomic and psychosocial factors in a cohort of n = 160 6-month-old infants and n = 187 36-month-old children living in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Household wealth is assessed as a multi-dimensional composite score encompassing income, assets, and housing materials.

Waterless Hand Cleansing with Chlorhexidine during the Neonatal Period by Mothers and Other Household Members: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Observational data suggest maternal handwashing with soap prevents neonatal mortality. We tested the impact of a chlorhexidine-based waterless hand cleansing promotion on the behavior of mothers and other household members. In rural Bangladesh in 2014, we randomized consenting pregnant women to chlorhexidine provision and hand cleansing promotion or standard practices.

Group penalized generalized estimating equation for correlated event-related potentials and biomarker selection.

Background: Event-related potentials (ERP) data are widely used in brain studies that measure brain responses to specific stimuli using electroencephalogram (EEG) with multiple electrodes. Previous ERP data analyses haven't accounted for the structured correlation among observations in ERP data from multiple electrodes, and therefore ignored the electrode-specific information and variation among the electrodes on the scalp. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of early adversity on brain connectivity by identifying risk factors and early-stage biomarkers associated with the ERP responses while properly accounting for structured correlation.

Relating anthropometric indicators to brain structure in 2-month-old Bangladeshi infants growing up in poverty: A pilot study.

Anthropometric indicators, including stunting, underweight, and wasting, have previously been associated with poor neurocognitive outcomes. This link may exist because malnutrition and infection, which are known to affect height and weight, also impact brain structure according to animal models. However, a relationship between anthropometric indicators and brain structural measures has not been tested yet, perhaps because stunting, underweight, and wasting are uncommon in higher-resource settings.

Growth faltering is associated with altered brain functional connectivity and cognitive outcomes in urban Bangladeshi children exposed to early adversity.

Background: Stunting affects more than 161 million children worldwide and can compromise cognitive development beginning early in childhood. There is a paucity of research using neuroimaging tools in conjunction with sensitive behavioral assays in low-income settings, which has hindered researchers' ability to explain how stunting impacts brain and behavioral development. We employed high-density EEG to examine associations among children's physical growth, brain functional connectivity (FC), and cognitive development.

Chronic inflammation is associated with neural responses to faces in bangladeshi children.

Background: Early exposure to inflammation in childhood is increasingly recognized as one of the major factors that hinder millions of children worldwide from meeting their full developmental potential. The current study examined the association between systemic inflammation and children's neural responses to facial stimuli and explored if this activity mediated the relation between inflammation and cognitive outcomes.

Method: Two separate cohorts of children living in an urban slum in Dhaka, Bangladesh who are at high-risk for sustained inflammation were recruited in this study.

Cumulative psychosocial risk and early child development: validation and use of the Childhood Psychosocial Adversity Scale in global health research.

Background: Evidence suggests that cumulative early psychosocial adversity can influence early child development (ECD). The Childhood Psychosocial Adversity Scale (CPAS) is a novel measure of cumulative risk designed for use in global ECD research. We describe its development and assess validity from its first application in Bangladesh, where it predicts cognitive development scores among young children.

Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to assess social information processing in poor urban Bangladeshi infants and toddlers.

Children living in low-resource settings are at risk for failing to reach their developmental potential. While the behavioral outcomes of growing up in such settings are well-known, the neural mechanisms underpinning poor outcomes have not been well elucidated, particularly in the context of low- and middle-income countries. In this study, we measure brain metabolic responses to social and nonsocial stimuli in a cohort of 6- and 36-month-old Bangladeshi children.

The relationship between biological and psychosocial risk factors and resting-state functional connectivity in 2-month-old Bangladeshi infants: A feasibility and pilot study.

Childhood poverty has been associated with structural and functional alterations in the developing brain. However, poverty does not alter brain development directly, but acts through associated biological or psychosocial risk factors (e.g.

Handwashing in 51 Countries: Analysis of Proxy Measures of Handwashing Behavior in Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys, 2010-2013.

In 2009, a common set of questions addressing handwashing behavior was introduced into nationally representative Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), providing large amounts of comparable data from numerous countries worldwide. The objective of this analysis is to describe global handwashing patterns using two proxy indicators for handwashing behavior from 51 DHS and MICS surveys conducted in 2010-2013: availability of soap anywhere in the dwelling and access to a handwashing place with soap and water. Data were also examined across geographic regions, wealth quintiles, and rural versus urban settings.

Impact of an Intensive Perinatal Handwashing Promotion Intervention on Maternal Handwashing Behavior in the Neonatal Period: Findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Rural Bangladesh.

One-quarter of neonatal deaths are attributed to infections. Maternal handwashing with soap may prevent neonatal sepsis. We examined impact of intensive handwashing promotion on handwashing behavior of mothers of neonates.

Low prevalence of RAS-RAF-activating mutations in Spitz melanocytic nevi compared with other melanocytic lesions.

Melanocytic lesions, including Spitz nevi (SN), common benign nevi (CBN) and cutaneous metastatic melanoma (CMM), were analyzed for activating mutations in NRAS, HRAS and BRAF oncogenes, which induce cellular proliferation via the MAP kinase pathway. One of 22 (4.5%) SN tested showed an HRAS G61L mutation.