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The mandated early childhood framework in Australia requires educators working in early childhood services to attend to children's spirituality. Also, one of the five outcomes in this framework tasks educators with promoting children's connectedness with and contribution to the world, including natural environments. In this paper I present findings from a qualitative investigation to determine educators' understandings and practices around promoting young children's spirituality in the context of religious childcare centres in Western Australia aligned with a focus on nature engagement. A social constructivist theoretical perspective with a phenomenological and interpretivist paradigm framed the research. Interview and observational data were collected and analysed through interpretative phenomenological analysis revealing that educators were able to articulate the connection between spirituality and engagement with nature in childhood. However, in practice, educators rarely offered opportunities for children to experience nature. Recommendations include the provision of professional development in the area of children's spirituality and its connection with nature along with the creation of guidelines on pedagogical practices that afford children opportunities to engage with their spirituality through nature. Keywords Childcare, early childhood, nature, spirituality, Introduction Holistic approaches are premised on nurturing the 'whole child' through affordances for children to develop across the cognitive, social, emotional, physical, creative, moral and spiritual capacities of the human [...]

During August 8, 2014-October 14, 2014, a total of 11 children with acute flaccid myelitis and distinctive neuroimaging changes were identified near Denver, Colorado, USA. A respiratory prodrome was experienced by 10, and nasopharyngeal specimens were positive for enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) for 4. To determine whether an association exists between EV-D68 infection and acute flaccid myelitis, we conducted a retrospective case-control study comparing these patients with 2 groups of outpatient control children (1 group tested for acute respiratory illness and 1 for Bordetella pertussis infection). Adjusted analyses indicated that, for children with acute flaccid myelitis, the odds of having EV-D68 infection were 10.3 times greater than for those tested for acute respiratory infection and 4.5 times greater than for those tested for B. pertussis infection. No statistical association was seen between acute flaccid myelitis and non-EV-D68 enterovirus or rhinovirus infection. These findings support an association between EV-D68 infection and acute flaccid myelitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are among the most common causes of respiratory tract infections in children. Little is known about the epidemiology and clinical presentation of HPIV type 4.Methods: A retrospective chart review and comparison of patients positive for HPIV types 1-4 by multiplex polymerase chain reaction between 2009 and 2012 at Children's Hospital Colorado was performed. Patients who had only direct fluorescent antibody testing performed or concurrent viral infections were excluded.Results: Of 11,533 samples, 752 (6.5%) were positive for HPIV. After exclusion criteria, 316 samples were included in the study. HPIV-4 had year-round prevalence with biennial peaks in odd-numbered years. HPIV-4 and HPIV-3 had similar clinical presentations. 50.8% and 51.5% of patients with HPIV-3-4 had hypoxia compared to 20.3% and 33.3% of patients with HPIV-1-2 (P < .01). HPIV-1 (23.6%) and HPIV-2 (24.2%) were more associated with stridor than HPIV-3 (6.6%) and HPIV-4 (0%) (P < .01). No patients with HPIV-4 had croup. Patients with HPIV-4 had similar lengths of stay and mortality as those with HPIV-1-3.Conclusions: This is the first large-scale analysis of HPIV-4 clinical and epidemiologic features. HPIV-4 was most similar to HPIV-3 in clinical presentation. HPIV-4 had year-round prevalence with peaks in the autumn of odd-numbered years. HPIV-4 is a common respiratory pathogen capable of causing significant morbidity in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A large body of evidence indicates that socioeconomic status (SES) is a strong predictor of school achievement, college graduation and child outcomes in general. Better developmental and health outcomes are strongly associated with family assets, income and education. We introduce a model incorporating a range of theoretical and empirical literature about the relationships between a household''s socio-economic position, household interactions, and child educational outcomes. The intention is to illustrate how these frequently cited factors are exacerbated and aligned by stress or difficult environments which cause long-term challenges for children in high-risk circumstances. Finally, we modify the model to illustrate the dynamic nature of these relationships, highlighting how the developmental trajectory of a child who lives with toxic stress might differ from a comparable child with social supports in a situation of low or tolerable stress. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We conducted a blinded, case-control, retrospective study in pediatric patients hospitalized at The Children's Hospital, Denver, Colorado, to determine whether human coronavirus (HCoV)—NL63 infection is associated with Kawasaki syndrome (KS). Over the course of a 7-month period, nasopharyngeal-wash samples from 2 (7.7%) of 26 consecutive children with KS and 4 (7.7%) of 52 matched control subjects tested positive for HCoV-NL63 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. These data suggest that, although HCoV-NL63 was circulating in children in our community during the time of the study, the prevalence of infection with HCoV-NL63 was not greater in patients with KS than in control subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article evolved from a presentation on research challenges and opportunities in asset building for children and youth at a symposium on Child Development Accounts in late 2008. Our presentation was part of a panel entitled “Reflections and Conclusions” on the final day of the symposium. We believe the presentation was well placed because, together, we have many years of experience as asset scholars. We are also able to reflect on where the field has been, and imagine some of the challenges ahead, from diverse perspectives since we have played different roles in the work to introduce and study asset-building policies and programs in local, state, tribal, national, and international contexts. We do not believe, however, that we leave readers with “conclusions” so much as a list of pressing theoretical questions and a review of some methodological challenges for asset researchers that must be tackled as we take asset scholarship into the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]