Search

Background: Treatment planning is one of the crucial stages of healthcare assessment and delivery. Moreover, it also has a significant impact on patient outcomes and system efficiency. With the evolution of transformative healthcare technologies, most areas of healthcare have started collecting data at different levels, as a result of which there is a splurge in the size and complexity of health data being generated every minute. Introduction: This paper explores the different characteristics of health data with respect to big data. Besides this, it also classifies research efforts in treatment planning on the basis of the informatics domain being used, which includes medical informatics, imaging informatics and translational bioinformatics. Method: This is a survey paper that reviews existing literature on the use of big data technologies for treatment planning in the healthcare ecosystem. Therefore, a qualitative research methodology was adopted for this work. Results: Review of existing literature has been analyzed to identify potential gaps in research, identifying and providing insights into high prospect areas for potential future research. Conclusion: The use of big data for treatment planning is rapidly evolving, and findings of this research can head start and streamline specific research pathways in the field.

We use experimental data from the Head Start Impact Study to examine the effect of sequential participation in childcare programs on cognitive outcomes. Using a sequential threshold model, which accounts for selection beyond initial randomization, we estimate causal returns to program sequences, including joint and cross returns across skill investment programs. We then estimate a dynamic structural model as a juxtaposition and evaluate a counterfactual policy reform which limits individuals to one year of Head Start. Our results support Head Start implementation earlier in life, and support engaging low-ability children with center-based care and high-ability children with some home care.

Background: Parent mentors are a potential community-based mechanism for delivering behavioral interventions. For communities at a higher risk of obesity and challenges with access to care, such as migrant and seasonal farm workers, this may be an effective intervention for obesity. This study examined the effect of parent mentors on weight outcomes. Methods: This randomized clinical trial assigned parents of 2- to 5 year-old children enrolled in Head Start 1:1:1 to control, a parent mentor teaching We Can!, or a parent mentor teaching an intervention derived from positive deviance methods. The parent mentor arms were designed to have weekly interactions and monthly community meetings over 6 months. The primary outcome was change in adiposity, as measured by body mass indices. Results: We randomized 188 parents, and 155 completed the 6-month visit. Most parents, 107 (58%), had less than a high school education, and 170 (90%) reported Latino ethnicity. In the intention-to-treat analysis, no difference between the groups was observed for change in percent distance from the median or BMI z-score. The median number of interactions was 14 (IQR 10-20) over 6 months for those who did engage, though 24 of 118 (20%) had no interaction. Those with no interactions in We Can! had a mean increase in change from median of 6.7 [standard deviation (SD) = 8.2]; those with higher participation experienced a 0.4 (SD = 9.2) change, p = 0.04. Conclusions: Parent mentors were not effective in changing the adiposity indices in this study overall, with some evidence of efficacy after accounting for participation. Clinicaltrials.gov registration number: NCT03330743.

Despite established linkages between family routines and practices with aspects of school readiness, our understanding of these linkages would be further enhanced with research that: measures school readiness skills and behaviors across multiple domains; examines family routines and practices comprehensively; and is sufficiently generalizable to preschool-age children living in poverty. This study investigated the family routines and practices of newly enrolled Head Start attendees and explored connections between routines and practices and children's school readiness at preschool entry across 5 developmental domains: cognitive, physical, language, social-emotional, and approaches to learning. Utilizing the Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey (FACES) 2009 cohort, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed 5 distinct factors that characterize the underlying relationships between family routines and practices children experience. Specifically, family routine and practice patterns included: (1) implementing learning- and literacy-focused activities; (2) implementing art activities and playing games; (3) engaging in community activities; (4) avoiding unhealthful foods; and (5) consuming healthful foods. Regression results revealed the factors related to implementing art activities and playing games and implementing learning- and literacy-focused activities are the most consistent predictors of school readiness outcomes across all domains measured. Using a nationally representative sample of entering Head Start attendees, findings suggest that family routines and practices may serve as protective factors for young children living in poverty and support their school readiness across multiple key readiness domains.

In this secondary data analysis study, we will draw data from the HS Family and Child Experiences Survey 2019 (FACES 2019), which is the only nationally-representative study that can tell us about HS family, child, and center experiences during the pandemic. In this project, we will address four specific goals: to (1) examine HS families’ stability during the pandemic in the domains of economic well-being, mental health, health care access, and parent-child activities both overall and for different groups of families (i.e., those that differed at baseline on financial strain, material hardship, food security, number of parents in the household, language(s) spoken, immigrant status, and race/ethnicity); (2) understand the variation in services and supports (e.g., food and nutrition services, health care, community partnerships) that families had access to during the pandemic; (3) investigate which HS services and supports were associated with family stability during the pandemic; and (4) consider whether HS services and supports offered during the pandemic were differentially supportive of family stability for families with different characteristics.

Maternal depression, particularly during the first years of a child’s life, can have a significant negative impact on both the lives of the mother and child. Early Head Start (EHS), which serves nearly 185,000 families with young children across the United States, represents an excellent point of intervention to provide resources and referrals to caregivers who may be in need of them. As part of its ongoing mission to provide evidence-based early childhood services to families, ACF has issued a request for Secondary Analyses of Head Start and Early Head Start Data. GSURF, in collaboration with the Center of Excellence for Children’s Behavioral Health (COE) is proud to propose a study which will look at these issues from a developmental, systemic perspective and provide data-informed recommendations. COE proposes to analyze the 2009-2012 version of the Baby FACES study, which includes several years of longitudinal data, collected from a nationally representative sample of EHS families, to conduct a study which will support ACF in its mission to inform EHS policy on responding to maternal depression. COE proposes to conduct secondary analyses on the Baby FACES 2009-2012 data set in order to investigate two over-arching research areas, looking to see whether EHS services impact maternal depressive symptoms and whether changes in those symptoms influence children’s early developmental outcomes (e.g., cognitive and social-emotional development). COE will focus on how EHS policies and practices might promote health for both mother and child. COE proposes to leverage the longitudinal nature of the data and growth curve and structural equation modeling to search for factors that might influence the severity of depressive symptoms in mothers and might impact the relationship between depression and child development. COE is uniquely placed in Georgia to bring together research capacity with close relationships formed with “on the ground” state-level directors and other policymakers who can both inform this work and benefit from the recommendations that it produces. COE’s goal is to analyze the proposed research questions, conduct additional follow-up analysis where warranted, and provide data-driven policy recommendations on how EHS can be a force to promote the well-being of both mothers and children over the course of their involvement in the EHS program and beyond. By looking at points of contact at several levels of influence within an ecological model, COE will be able to provide recommendations that address the topic of maternal depression from the lens of the caregiver, EHS staff, EHS programs, and EHS policymakers.

During the pandemic, Head Start has served as an essential community support that bolstered our children, our youngest neighbors, and their families as they experienced quarantines, child care interruptions, economic stress, tragic loss of life, and exacerbated mental health challenges. Yet, Head Start programs experienced challenges as well. The child care sector overall saw unprecedented program closures and staff turnover (Bassok, et al., 2021a, NAEYC, 2020, Salzwedel, et al. 2020). Disruptions in caregiving due to early childhood program staffing challenges negatively impacted child development and wellbeing, particularly for marginalized children (Deoni, et al., 2021; Neece, et al. 2020). Because Head Start programs serve high-needs children and families, it is critical to understand the scope and variation of staffing challenges among Head Start programs as well as factors and policies that supported retention during the pandemic. This study seeks to understand the impact that COVID-19 had on Head Start employment stability, what factors determined whether staff stayed or left, and what policies contributed to strong staff retention during a public health crisis. The proposed study leverages a decade of administrative panel data to understand Head Start staff turnover rates before and during COVID-19. The findings will identify the percentage of staff departure directly attributable to COVID-19 and will use qualitative, open-ended administrative data to disentangle the distinct COVID-related reasons for departure (e.g., fear, illness, child care, etc.) from well-established pre-pandemic drivers of turnover (e.g., compensation, workplace culture, etc.). The research will also identify disparities in staff turnover by program characteristics and service delivery models. Notably, this study will include often-overlooked data from the American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) Head Start Programs as well as the Migrant and Seasonal Head Start Programs. Preliminary data suggest that staff turnover is more prevalent in AIAN Early Head Start programs and that the staff turnover rate in all programs has steadily increased over the past decade. References Bassok, D., Markowitz, A. J., Bellows, L. (2021a). Stabilizing child care requires more than emergency COVID-19 relief funds. Brookings Institute. Deoni, S., Beauchemin, J., Volpe, A., & D'Sa, V. (2021). Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early child cognitive development: Initial findings in a longitudinal observational study of child health. Medrxiv. National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). 2020. “Am I Next? Sacrificing to Stay Open, Child Care Providers Face a Bleak Future Without Relief.” https://www.naeyc.org/sites/default/files/globally-shared/downloads/PDFs/our-work/public-policy-advocacy/naeyc_policy_crisis_coronavirus_december_survey_data.pdf Neece, C., McIntyre, L. L., & Fenning, R. (2020). Examining the impact of COVID‐19 in ethnically diverse families with young children with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 64(10), 739-749. Salzwedel, M., Liebman, A., Kruse, K., & Lee, B. (2020). The COVID-19 impact on childcare in agricultural populations. Journal of Agromedicine, 25(4), 383-387.

Research shows that both Head Start and Early Head Start have long-term cost benefits, and some studies suggest that braiding funds from other early care and education (ECE) programs, such as child care and pre-K, is associated with increased quality. Despite this, limited up-to-date research exists that describes the costs of providing Head Start (HS) and Early Head Start (EHS) services, and the types and numbers of funding streams HS and EHS grantees braid. And current research does not explore the characteristics of HS grant recipients, the children and families attending HS and EHS, and state factors associated with the cost of offering HS/EHS services and HS grantees’ likelihood of braiding funding. Finally, research is needed on HS costs and how they relate to quality. Our study will produce policy-relevant information for the Office of Head Start, HS and EHS grantees, federally funded technical assistance (TA) providers, and ECE policymakers. We will produce factsheets and a policy report describing(a)how grantee characteristics, characteristics of children and families attending HS, and state policy contexts are associated with different braided-funding approaches; (b) how these factors relate to HS service delivery costs; and (c) how these factors relate to HS service quality. We will submit a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal that presents a regression analysis showing the relationships among grantee, child and family, and state policy variables; number and types of funds HS grantees access; and how these relate to quality indicators. We propose a study with two components. Forth first component, we will analyze the Family and Adult Child Experiences Survey (FACES), which contains a nationally representative sample of HS grantees. We will document how grantee characteristics (such as size and urbanicity) and child and family characteristics (such as race and ethnicity) are associated with the number and types of funding sources grantees braid. This analysis will inform the second component of the study, which will examine the how grant recipient characteristics, characteristics of children and families served, and state policy context variables are associated with the likelihood that the grant recipients braid funds and with HS costs. State context variables will be from the Child Care and Development Fund (CCDF) database and the National Institutes for Early Education Research (NIEER)State of Preschool Report. We will analyze Public Information Report (PIR) data to capture grantee characteristics and the characteristics of children and families served. We will combine these data with coded data from a sample of proposals and budget narratives in the Head Start Enterprise System (HSES). We hypothesize that grantee characteristics, characteristics of children and families served, and state policy contexts(such as pre-K Funding and CCDF policies) are related to the number and types of funding streams grantees braid and reported costs. These, in turn, are associated with quality. We will also perform exploratory analyses of a sample of applications submitted by HS and EHS to OHS to understand costs and approaches to braiding funds. Information produced from this research is vital for federal policymakers, HS grant recipients and TA providers seeking to deliver HS as part of a mixed-delivery system. The project will result in a report, factsheets, a manuscript, and presentations at key policy research conferences, as well as collaboration with other OPRE grantees.

This is a primary data collection request to examine, using a qualitative multi- case study, how and why Head Start grant recipients convert enrollment slots from Head Start to Early Head Start, how grant recipients plan and implement Early Head Start services and the facilitators and barriers to the implementation of high-quality Early Head Start services following conversion. The study will include up to six cases, each focusing on a specific grant recipient. This study aims to present an internally valid description of the conversion process for up to six purposively selected grant recipients, not to promote statistical generalization to different grant recipients or service populations.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the utility of providing comprehensive literacy instruction to preschool children starting at age three. The literacy development in two groups of four-year-old children (N = 1320) was compared during their enrollment in a literacy-enriched Head Start program. The first group entered the program at age four and participated in the program for only one year (Group 4-1); the second group had previously participated in the program at age three and at the time of the study were in their second year of the program (Group 4-2). Multilevel growth modelling procedures were used to compare literacy performance levels and growth rates between the two groups after controlling for relevant child, family, and educational variables. Results showed that Group 4-2 exhibited significantly higher literacy skills than Group 4-1 at both the beginning and end of the program year, although Group 4-2 had a slower growth rate than Group 4-1 over the program year. The theoretical and practical implications of the study were discussed. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.11.14

This research examines associations between maternal depressive symptoms and parenting practices among Head Start eligible, low-income families. Among 3,780 mothers, four types of childcare were id...

Conservation translocations are important in maintaining viable wildlife populations of vulnerable species within their indigenous ranges. To be effective, population restoration efforts (e.g., head start programs) must consider the species' life history, regional ecology, and physiology and the health status of wild and translocated populations. The decline of Blanding's turtles (

This paper examines public meetings in the Netherlands where experts and officials interact with local residents on the human health effects of livestock farming. Using Conversation Analysis, we reveal a ‘weapon of the weak’: a practice by which the residents resist experts’ head start in information meetings. It is shown how residents draw on the given question-answer format to challenge experts and pursue an admission of, for example, methodological shortcomings. We show how the residents’ first question functions as a ‘foot-in-the-door’, providing them with a strong basis for skepticism. By systematically challenging the expert responses, the residents exploit the interaction’s sequential organization, with the effect that the goal becomes them being convinced rather than being informed. Consequently, the withholding of consent becomes the residents’ ‘weapon’. Finally, we argue that in an age where expertise is increasingly contested, it is crucial to understand how, and to what end, this contestation may occur.

In the past decade, there has been a significant increase in the number of dual-language learning (DLL) preschool children. Guided by the literatures on home-school partnership and caregiver ethnot...

Shantel Meek of the Children’s Equity Project talks with Kappan about the challenges facing early childhood education. These include the splintered nature of the system, a lack of funding, and the low status and pay afforded to the early childhood workforce. Although early care programs, such as Head Start, have helped children in poverty, disparities in access and program quality in early childcare persist for young children of color, children with disabilities, and young dual-language learners.

Teaching is one of the most stressful occupations, often due to the emotional investment of managing and caring for a classroom of students. In addition to environmental stressors, teacher wellbeing is impacted by relationships with students. While the relation between challenging student behaviors and adverse outcomes for both teachers and students is well-established, less is known about teachers’ mental representations and perceptions of challenging behaviors. This study examines preschool teachers’ perceptions and interpretations of challenging student behaviors through a reflective writing exercise. Eight Head Start teachers provided reflections on their relationship with a specific student displaying challenging behavior. Through content analysis, we found four distinct themes: balance, malleability, valence, and relational flexibility. Taken together, these themes suggest that, while all teachers’ mental representations of their relationship with students are impacted by the challenging behavior, their perceptions of the types of behaviors identified as challenging, the attribution of the challenging behavior, the tone used to describe the relationship, and the beliefs around sources of and solutions for the challenging behavior, vary considerably. By gaining a deeper understanding of teachers’ perceptions of their relationships with students displaying challenging behaviors through reflective writing, these findings provide the groundwork for interventions capable of improving overall classroom interaction quality, teacher wellbeing, and student learning and development.

Research Findings: In recent years, several initiatives have been put into place both federally and state-wide to expand access to high-quality early education programs. At the center of these effo...

Using data from the Head Start Impact Study (2002–2008), a randomized control trial, I estimate the effect of child Head Start attendance and, more broadly, non-parental child care on maternal labor supply, maternal schooling, household income, and welfare participation. The availability of Head Start significantly increased the proportion of mothers using non-parental care but had no effect on the overall probability of maternal employment. However, Head Start availability facilitated full-time employment and decisions over course enrollment for some mothers. For mothers who first applied to Head Start when her child was three years old, the availability of Head Start increased full-time employment by 4.7 percentage points (14.7 percent), decreased part-time employment (21 percent), and increased course enrollment (35 percent). Additionally, for these mothers there is suggestive evidence of persistence in full-time employment after their child exited Head Start. For mothers who first applied to Head Start when their child was four, the availability had little effect on maternal employment and schooling. For both groups of mothers, Head Start availability did not significantly impact household income or welfare participation in SSI, TANF, food stamps, or WIC.

The impact of evidence-based parenting health promotion programs is threatened by limited enrollment and attendance. We used a discrete choice experiment (DCE) to examine how Early Head Start and Head Start parents prioritized key attributes of parenting programs when considering potential participation. Utility values and importance scores indicate that parents placed the highest priority on a program that optimized child academic outcomes, and after that, on a program that offered incentives and logistical supports, and maximized potential effects on friendship skills, behavioral skills, and the parent-child relationship. Next, we used simulations or forecasting tools to estimate parents' preferences for types of programs. Sixty-five percent of parents preferred Outcome-focused Programs that fostered parents' understanding and practice of skills, whereas 23% prioritized Enhanced Support Programs offering logistic support, such as incentives, followed by child outcomes. The remaining 12% of parents preferred Format-focused Programs that targeted positive outcomes via one 30-min meeting. Parents preferring Outcome-focused Programs reported higher child prosocial behaviors compared to parents preferring Enhanced Support and Format-focused Programs. Parents preferring Outcome-focused Programs were more likely to be those of 3- and 4-year-old children than of 2-year-olds. Findings challenge the one-size-fits-all approach to offering parenting programs and suggest ways to enhance accessibility and program reach.

Using the nationally representative Head Start Family and Child Experiences Survey 2014 (FACES 2014), this study examined the associations of Head Start children’s behavioral challenges with teachers’ well-being (i.e., depressive symptoms, job commitment) and intent to leave, controlling for teacher characteristics. We sought to explore the direct and indirect associations of Head Start children’s behavioral challenges with teachers’ intent to leave, potentially mediated by teacher well-being. The results indicate that children’s behavioral challenges were not directly associated with Head Start teachers’ intent to leave. However, these behavioral challenges were indirectly associated with teachers’ intent to leave through their link to teachers’ depressive symptoms and commitment. This study provides insight for policy and practice as the field aims to build a healthy and sustainable workforce committed to a high-quality early care and education experience critical to children’s development.

There is a lack of resources available to support transition into the first year of UK medical schools. Due to COVID-19 and the possibility that students have lost learning, it is argued that there is a demand for free, accessible curated materials. These can reinforce confidence in expected core topics, mitigate differences in student knowledge and provide a head start in new concepts prior to entry — particularly important in the transition to a virtual learning environment. During lockdowns, this may lessen the effect of lost learning and can be assembled by medical students pitching appropriate content and encouraging near-peer support.

Background:Scholars in the fields of early childhood education (ECE) and multicultural education have argued that preschools are key sites in which children learn about race and racism. However, there is little research on how teachers negotiate conflicting tensions and enact antiracist approaches within Head Start (HS) classrooms that use comprehensive and commercialized curriculums.Study Purpose:This article is about the challenges early childhood educators face when young children (ages 3–5) bring painful and uncomfortable issues of race, racism, and incarceration to preschool. This study is part of the research project Negotiating Head Start Curriculum (NHSC), a comparative study of policy implementation in four cultural communities in the United States. Here we focus on educators’ response to the “Jail Scene,” a pivotal scene taped in an HS classroom serving African American children.Research Design:The method used in the NHSC project is a multivocal ethnographic research method combined with a comparative case study design. We selected classrooms in each community that implemented both Creative Curriculum® and Teaching Strategies Gold®, led by experienced teachers in Chicanx and Latinx, Samoan, and white Appalachian communities. We made videotapes of similar activities across all sites. We then used these videos as cues for focus group interviews with educators (teachers, directors, and instructional personnel). We applied constant comparative, Critical Discourse Analysis, and Voloshinovian literary analysis to 41 interview transcripts of 132 educators’ talks.Findings:Analysis of transcripts indicates Black teachers are more likely to recognize racism, including the effects of incarceration and arrest on children’s talk and play, in ways unavailable to teachers from outside their community. Despite extant research suggesting early childhood teachers of color are no more likely to engage with young children about racism than white teachers, our study found that Black teachers offer nuanced, careful, and responsive approaches to antiracist pedagogy. They respond in sensitive, child-led, playful ways, inserting counternarratives within the confines of scripted curricula.Conclusions:ECE teachers’ disparity of interpretation has particular importance as ECE moves to professionalize the field. If elementary school patterns are any indication, the field should expect a sharp increase in the percentage of white, middle-class teachers instructing children of color. Unintentionally, these teachers may fail to recognize the play and talk to contain challenges born out of racism and inequality. We suggest policymakers, curriculum designers, and the broader field of ECE must carefully consider the approaches of teachers of color and take these approaches seriously.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a recognized global public health concern. Although the link between antimicrobial usage in food animals and AMR in humans is established, the detailed interactions are unclear. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) in livestock was first implemented in Europe with Sweden as the pioneer in 1986. Despite this head start, AMR is still an ongoing challenge for Europe. The European Union (EU) is an established agriculture producer, the second largest pork producer globally, and one of the largest markets for organic food. China is the global leader in both production and consumption of pork. China's rise in prosperity has led to an increase in its pork demand. Chinese producers commonly use antimicrobials during production for disease treatment and prevention to meet this increased demand. China's rising prosperity together with recent publicized food safety scandals, disease outbreaks in domestic livestock products, and increased AMR awareness have resulted in an increased willingness to pay and demand for organic food by Chinese consumers. Responding to the growing concerns of AMR by consumers and the World Health Organization (WHO), the Chinese government introduced a national pilot program in 2016 to reduce unnecessary antimicrobial use. Compared with China, the EU is a different entity as it is a political union comprising diverse countries and although it may have more experience in AMS, both entities face similar issues with AMR and increasing demand for organic food. Increased interest in organic food has arisen due to concerns about AMR, food safety, outbreaks of bacterial food contamination, and animal welfare. This article aims to compare the different AMS strategies employed by each entity, China and the EU, and how the increased demand for organic produce globally also influences the effort to reduce antimicrobial use in these entities' pork industries.

Assess effects of an obesity prevention program promoting eating self-regulation and healthy preferences in Hispanic preschool children.Randomized controlled trial with pretest, posttest, 6- and 12-month assessments. Fourteen waves, each lasting 7 weeks.Families recruited from Head Start across 2 sites.Two hundred fifty-five families randomized into prevention (n = 136) or control (n = 119).Prevention received curriculum; control received no curriculum.Feeding knowledge/practices/styles (parent); body mass index percentile, eating self-regulation, trying new foods, and fruit/vegetable consumption (child).Multilevel analyses for nested data (time points within families; families within waves) and multinomial regression.Program increased mothers' repeated presentation of new foods (P0.05), measured portion sizes (P0.05), child involvement in food preparation (P0.001), feeding responsiveness (P0.001), knowledge of best feeding practices (P0.001), and feeding efficacy (P0.05); reduced feeding misconceptions (P0.01) and uninvolved feeding (P0.01). Effects on child eating behavior were minimal. At 12 months, children in the prevention group were less likely to have overweight (P0.05) or obesity (P0.05).Program effects emphasize the importance of feeding approaches in reducing childhood obesity.

This qualitative study sought to understand whether there were difference in how early childhood education (ECE) teachers who stayed in or left their jobs interpreted their job demands and resource...

This cluster-randomized pre-post comparison study examined the effects of using Sesame Workshop's Little Children, Big Challenges: General Resilience (LCBC) digital media toolkit in preschool classrooms over a 12-week period. Participants included 157 preschool teachers and 766 preschool children from 159 preschool classrooms in 38 Head Start centers, 7 Military Child Development Centers, 2 community-based preschool agencies, and a public school district. Children's social-emotional skills, behaviors, and relationship qualities were measured using a combination of direct testing of children and teacher behavioral ratings. Hierarchical linear modeling accounted for classroom-level nested data and the results indicated that LCBC increased emotion vocabulary, attachment, initiative, self-control, emotion regulation, and adaptability. The LCBC intervention also significantly reduced teacher conflict, attention problems, and emotion control problems. Additionally, the teacher survey indicated that the intervention was appealing to teachers and students. Reasons for nonsignificant effects on teacher closeness, social problem solving, and social skills are discussed.

This analysis examined key protective factors among preschool children in low-income, rural areas. Teacher-reported Devereux Early Childhood Assessments for Preschoolers were completed for 182 Head Start children (54% female, 46% male) from seven rural, midwestern communities. The majority of children were in the typical range for each protective factor and for behavioral concerns. In comparison to a standardized sample, the rural sample had lower mean scores for all protective factors. Females had statistically significantly higher scores for initiative, self-regulation, attachment/relationships, and total protective factors, while having lower behavioral concerns than males. T-scores for initiative were statistically significantly higher for 4-year-olds than for 3-year-olds. Statistically significant negative correlations were also found between behavioral concerns and each protective factor, with the strongest negative correlation occurring with self-regulation. There was no statistically significant difference in T-scores between the fall (i.e., Time 1) and spring (i.e., Time 2). This analysis adds to existing literature by delineating the prevalence of with-in child protective factors among preschool children in rural, low-income communities and identifying areas in which these children are most in need of additional support.

A key component in the usage of Industry 4.0 arrangements is the up and coming age of system network, LTE/LTE advanced today, and 5G, later on. Industry 4.0 is conveying private LTE arranges today, as they trust it will give them an upper hand and a solid head start when 5G opens up. LTE uses multiple input multiple output (MIMO), a promising technique to accomplish the necessary data rate. This article presents consequences of 8x8 MIMO framework in fading channel utilizing V-BLAST by means of zero-forcing (ZF) with standard ZF. The relative investigation in the fading channel on account of symbol error proves V-BLAST by means of ZF has predominant execution than standard ZF finder. In addition to this, in order to support adaptive modulation, various M-QAM modulation schemes for these detectors are compared. This comparison shows 128-QAM performs superiorly to staying two. This investigation is carried out to help utilization of MIMO in LTE to support Industry 4.0.

Forestry export is one of Indonesia’s strongest industries embraced in economic diplomacy or the international trade negotiation. FLEGT VPA that is conducted between Indonesia and European Union gave a fresh head start for Indonesia’s forestry exports, however it also exposed Indonesia into new challenges amid the Indonesia-EU CEPA negotiation with the EU Green Deal happening. Therefore, Indonesia needs to scrutinize every dimension that might obstruct national export development in the post-pandemic era and to keep the demands flowing for the forest industries. This article is aimed to discuss on how FLEGT VPA impacts Indonesia’s forest timber exports after the signing of Permendag 74/2020. This article also discussed the context on how Indonesia through FLEGT VPA can face against the EU Green Deal in forestry export. This article is researched using document-based research of literature studies and supporting data. This research concludes that FLEGT VPA through Permendag 74/2020 is adopted as part of Indonesia’s trade development and recovery efforts in post Covid-19 pandemic and to adopts the Timber Legal Verification System. FLEGT VPA has also impacts the forestry small and medium exporters because of the increased production cost as the result of the timber bureaucracy that was set by the government. This article resulted that FLEGT VPA however imposed challenges but at the same time developing its market capabilites and export to create a positive image for the sustainable timber industry. Amid the increased green politics in European Union affecs intra ASEAN hence committed for all member states in starting through possible foreign trade and economic cooperation scheme.

Droplet microfluidics techniques have shown promising results to study single-cells at high throughput. However, their adoption in laboratories studying “-omics” sciences is still irrelevant because of the field’s complex and multidisciplinary nature. To facilitate their use, here we provide engineering details and organized protocols for integrating three droplet-based microfluidic technologies into the metagenomic pipeline to enable functional screening of bioproducts at high throughput. First, a device encapsulating single-cells in droplets at a rate of ~ 250 Hz is described considering droplet size and cell growth. Then, we expand on previously reported fluorescent activated droplet sorting (FADS) systems to integrate the use of 4 independent fluorescence-exciting lasers (e.g., 405, 488, 561, 637 nm) in a single platform to make it compatible with different fluorescence-emitting biosensors. For this sorter, both hardware and software are provided and optimized for effortlessly sorting droplets at 60 Hz. Then, a passive droplet merger was also integrated into our method to enable adding new reagents to already made droplets at a rate of 200 Hz. Finally, we provide an optimized recipe for manufacturing these chips using silicon dry-etching tools. Because of the overall integration and the technical details presented here, our approach allows biologists to quickly use microfluidic technologies and achieve both single-cell resolution and high-throughput (> 50,000 cells/day) capabilities to mining and bioprospecting metagenomic data.

As an abatement emissions control and energy-consuming device, cyclone separators are the most common device used in bioprocessing to separate fine and coarse particulate matter (PM) from the gas flow. In this investigation, four standard cyclones geometries viz. 1D2D, 2D2D, 1D3D, and 1D3D with 2D2D inlet (1D3D/w2D2D) in addition to a designed one, were simulated to investigate the performance characteristics. The D's refers to the cyclone diameter, and the numbers before each D's relate to the length of the cylindrical and conical sections, respectively. The PM used for testing and modeling was conducted on two types of real heterogeneous bioparticles (jojoba seeds and their leaves). This research is considered the first head start approach to predict the cyclone performance under the true shape modeling of PM. Discrete Element Method (DEM) was employed to simulate the trajectory of each particle, taking into consideration the interactions and collisions. Simultaneously, the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was used to simulate the highly curved streamlines and the chaotic turbulence of the continuum airflow with the Reynolds stress turbulence model (RSM). The designed cyclone was used to validate the results, which showed a good agreement between simulated data and the experimental work. The result showed that the 1D2D cyclone design has a better performance than that of the other cyclones. The methods used in this work for analyzing the phenomena occurring inside the cyclone separator allow for the conclusion that cyclone performance not only varies significantly with the cyclone type but the operating conditions as well. With these presented characteristics and evaluations, industrialists can utilize the mentioned designs for different processing to get high performance using a coarse and large PM process.

Research Findings: A constellation of social positions of difference can contribute to substantial variation among children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. Using data ...

Background The Head Start treatment protocols have focused on curing young children with brain tumors while avoiding or delaying radiotherapy through using a combination of high-dose, marrow-ablative chemotherapy and autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation (AuHCT). Late effects data from treatment on the Head Start II (HS II) protocol have previously been published for short-term follow-up (STF) at a mean of 39.7 months post-diagnosis. The current study examines long-term follow-up (LTF) outcomes from the same cohort. Methods Eighteen HS II patients diagnosed with malignant brain tumors Results There was no significant change in Full Scale IQ at LTF compared to baseline or STF. Similarly, most domains had no significant change from STF, including verbal IQ, performance IQ, academics, receptive language, learning/memory, visual-motor integration, and externalizing behaviors. Internalizing behaviors increased slightly at LTF. Clinically, most domains were within the average range, except for low average mathematics and receptive language. Additionally, performance did not significantly differ by age at diagnosis or time since diagnosis. Of note, children treated with high-dose methotrexate for disseminated disease or atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor displayed worse neurocognitive outcomes. Conclusions These results extend prior findings of relative stability in intellectual functioning for a LTF period. Ultimately, this study supports that treatment strategies for avoiding or delaying radiotherapy using high-dose, marrow-ablative chemotherapy and AuHCT may decrease the risk of neurocognitive and social-emotional declines in young pediatric brain tumor survivors.

In this paper, we examine stakeholder initiatives to revitalise Indigenous languages in two countries, Aotearoa New Zealand and Canada, the countries in which we live and conduct research. We provi...

This article describes the innovation and creativity employed in an early childhood program, motivated by the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenge we faced, as teacher educators, wa...

The demographic landscape in the United States is changing rapidly, and early childhood programs are experiencing an increase in the enrollment of Dual Language Learners (DLLs). The current study employed a mixed-methods case study design to explore the impact of creative drama on Head Start DLLs’ social and emotional development. Six DLLs enrolled in a Head Start center participated in the 9-week creative drama intervention. Quantitative data showed that participants’ social and emotional skills improved significantly after the intervention. Qualitative data further revealed that participants demonstrated improvements in social interactions, including increased confidence, enhanced cooperation skills, and better emotion management. Overall, the findings from the current study suggest that creative drama is a promising strategy for Head Start DLLs to increase their social and emotional competence.

Turnover is particularly worrisome in Early Head Start/Head Start (EHS/HS) where consistency in relational-care systems and stable environments are critical quality indicators. Key adults in EHS/HS...

Objective To assess the effectiveness of food-based science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) learning activities on preschoolers’ liking of 9 target vegetables and objectively-assessed fruit and vegetable (FV) intake. Methods Seven hands-on, food-based STEAM learning activities were implemented to expose children to 9 target vegetables in 3 Head Start preschools (11 classrooms) across North Carolina. Child-reported vegetable liking scores and skin carotenoid status (SCS) were dependent variables collected at baseline, midpoint, and posttest. Adjusted repeated-measures ANOVA was used to examine intervention impact. Results A total of 113 children (intervention = 49; comparison = 64) participated. Children were an average age of 3.7 ± 0.57 years at baseline. Mean target vegetable liking scores for the intervention and comparison groups, respectively, were 3.2 ± 0.19 and 3.2 ± 0.17 at baseline, 2.9 ± 0.17 and 3.1 ± 0.15 at midpoint, and 2.8 ± 0.15 and 3.1 ± 0.13 at posttest. A time × group interaction was not significant for target vegetable liking scores. Mean SCS were 268.6 ± 13.24 and 270.9 ± 12.13 at baseline, 271.3 ± 12.50 and 275.6 ± 11.46 at midpoint, and 267.8 ± 11.26 and 229.6 ± 10.32 at posttest for the intervention and comparison groups, respectively. A time × group interaction was significant for SCS (F1,77 = 3.98; P = 0.02; r = 0.10). Both groups declined from baseline to posttest (intervention = 0.06%; comparison = 15.09%), which occurred after winter break, with a smaller decline observed in the intervention group (P = 0.02). Conclusions and Implications Food-based STEAM learning activities may present a unique opportunity to affect FV intake while meeting academic standards. More research is needed to understand how liking for familiar FV changes over time and its relationship with consumption. In addition, more implementation research featuring larger sample sizes, teachers as the interventionist, and a longer study duration is needed to confirm the outcomes of food-based STEAM learning observed in the current study and the long-term impact this approach may have on children's’ dietary quality.

Objectives This article is one of a series on acute, severe diseases of humans caused by emerging viruses for which there are no or limited licensed medical countermeasures. We approached this summary on South American Hemorrhagic Fevers from a clinical perspective, focusing on pathogenesis, clinical features, and diagnostics, with an emphasis on therapies and vaccines that have demonstrated potential for use in an emergency situation through their evaluation in nonhuman primates (NHPs) and/or in humans. Methods A standardized literature review was conducted on the clinical, pathological, vaccine, and treatment factors for South American Hemorrhagic Fevers as a group and for each individual virus/disease. Results We identified two treatments and one vaccine platform that have demonstrated potential benefit for treating or preventing infection in humans and four other potential treatments currently under investigation. Conclusion We provide succinct summaries of these countermeasures to give the busy clinician a head start in reviewing the literature if faced with a patient with a South American Hemorrhagic Fever. We also provide links to other authoritative sources of information.

Edward Zigler's groundbreaking research on child development resulted in the historic Head Start program. It is useful to examine the theoretical implications of his work by applying a human development theoretical perspective. Phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory (PVEST) is a strengths-based theoretical framework that engages the variability of resource access and coping strategies that promote positive identity development for diverse children. While skill acquisition is a key focus of human capital theory's engagement of early childhood needs, this article highlights the on-going status of human vulnerability that undergirds identity development over the life course. The authors note that “inequality presence denial” combines with high-risk contexts, framed by geography and psychohistoric moments (e.g., The Great Recession, COVID-19), to alter diverse children's developmental pathways. The acknowledgement of “morbid risk” motivates the urgency for research that builds upon Zigler's innovations and privileges human development imperatives. The case study explores these concepts by examining the challenges and assets available to mothers in a low-income community. The article's closing notes developments in the field of economics that ameliorate human capital theory's conceptual limitations, underscoring human development's theoretical strength in motivating research and policies that are maximally responsive to children's positive identity development.

In a career spanning six decades, Edward Zigler redefined developmental psychology as the equal integration of scientific inquiry and evidence with social policy formulation and analysis to improve child well-being. The theme of his accumulated work was advancing child development as social action for children and families. Besides early childhood intervention and policy, for which he devoted most of his time, Dr. Zigler did pioneering work in education and school reform, social policy, prevention, child maltreatment, family support, developmental disabilities, and in service to government. In this article, I reflect on four of Dr. Zigler's major contributions to science and society that are underrated and, in many respects, under-appreciated in the larger context of the field. These are (a) historical analysis of Head Start, (b) conceptualization and analysis of motivation as a key component of early childhood program impacts, (c) development of preschool-to-third-grade programs and school reforms, and (d) critical analysis of theory, research, policy, and practice. Together, these and other contributions by Dr. Zigler provide a strong foundation to build a better society for all.

Three-year-old children are seldom the focus in studies about supplemental early literacy instructional support. This study examines 3-year-old children’s potential need for additional early literacy support, extending and replicating a previous investigation that identified prekindergarten children (i.e., 4-year-olds) in Head Start classrooms for additional tiers of early literacy support. The sample included 143 children from Head Start centers in a southeastern, urban region of the United States who had received both fall and spring administrations of an early literacy screener (i.e., Get Ready to Read! —Revised). Standard scores were used to classify children into three tiers, and child tier movement from fall to spring was analyzed. Results support the feasibility of a tiered approach for examining 3-year-old children’s early literacy instructional needs. This might allow researchers and practitioners to provide intervention to children much sooner, thereby increasing the potential for positive long-term reading outcomes.

Although researchers and practitioners have acknowledged that family engagement in children’s schooling occurs in many forms, most studies and program efforts continue to focus primarily on school-based participation, or the school-to-home link. Embedded within this notion of family-school partnership is the reification of a power differential between teachers (the experts) and parents (the learners) that assumes if parents only apply themselves to learn the socialization practices of the schools, their children’s outcomes will improve. However, this approach does not recognize that for many low-income, ethnic minority and immigrant families, sociocultural and language differences between families and educators make this school-to-home flow of information and influence fraught. Cultural misconceptions and hierarchical power structures often preclude educators from accessing potentially powerful information about home-based practices and routines, families’ experiential knowledge, and other aspects of children’s out-of-school lives. Such information-seeking attitudes and practices could form the basis of engaging and meaningful family engagement programming, as well as translate into culturally-sustaining curriculum that reflects children’s everyday lives in the classroom. By disrupting the existing power structure, seeking to cross cultural boundaries, and framing family engagement as emphasizing information flowing from the home to the school, Head Start staff and parent leaders, as illustrated in the description of this pilot program, made a shift in their expectations for how families can contribute to their children’s school readiness and success. They sought to build a culturally inclusive and welcoming environment for all. This paper will describe their work together for the benefit of other early childhood practitioners who seek alternative ways to engage with families.

People who compete alone may entertain different psychological motivations from those who compete for a team. We examine how psychological motivations influence individual competitive behavior in response to a head start or a handicap when competing alone or competing for a team. We find that contestants’ behavior in both individual and team contests exhibits a psychological momentum effect, whereby leaders fight harder than trailers. However, the momentum effect is significantly larger in individual contests than in team contests and further disappears in team contests that are enriched with pre-play communication. The standard economic model, which predicts neither momentum effects nor treatment differences, fails to explain our findings. The findings can be better explained by a combination of two behavioral models: disappointment aversion and team spirit.

Care multiplicity, defined here as more than one concurrent early childhood education (ECE) experience, is common among children attending Head Start (HS). Yet, we know little about who experiences it nor what effects such experiences have for children’s school performance. Understanding HS children’s utilization of other publicly-funded center-based ECE programs has particular policy relevance given the capacity of such information to inform systematic collaboration and coordination to improve outcomes. For over three decades Iowa has invested in coordinated early childhood services, including universal state-funded preschool, a comprehensive two-generation program for low-income families, and an integrated data system (IDS) designed to use administrative data in a systematic approach for social problem solving and continuous quality improvement through data-driven decision-making. Capitalizing on these investments, this study will integrate and/or merge sets of state-level administrative data: (1) 16 to 17 enrollment and attendance datasets from Iowa’s 18 HS grantees (16 dataset received and 1 pending); (2) Vital Statistics birth records from the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH); (3) preschool enrollment, kindergarten and grade 1 school records from the Iowa Department of Education (IDE); (4) Child Care Assistant (CCA) records from the Iowa Department of Health Services (IDHS); (5) Teaching Strategies GOLD preschool assessments from the IDE; and (6) Head Start Program Collaboration Survey data from the Iowa HS State Collaboration Office. Using integrated data, this study will provide the following information about Iowa’s children who attended HS: (1) patterns of care multiplicity; (2) child and family characteristics relating to care multiplicity experiences; (3) effects of care multiplicity on children’s school performance (risk vs. on-target status) at kindergarten and first grade; and (4) the role of program partnership between HS and co-serving ECE programs on school performance. Our analytical sample differ for each research question (RQ). Our study sample for RQ 1 will represent children who attended HS a year prior to kindergarten in 2016-17 or 2017-18 (SY 2017 and 2018; N expected = 5,408 or more). RQ 2 will include children who were born in Iowa and attended HS a year prior to be kindergarten eligible SY 2017 and 2018 (N expected = 4,204 or more). RQs 3 and 4 will represent children who were born in Iowa, attended HS the year prior to kindergarten and attended kindergarten in Iowa in SY 2017 and 2018 (N expected = 3,750 or more). Analytic approaches include basic descriptive statistics as well as logistic regression and propensity score analysis to address selection bias in ECE programs.