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For many Indigenous children living in remote communities, the prerequisites to achieving strong language and learning outcomes include the maintenance of their first languages and progress in learning English as an additional language. This paper reports on data from a Linkage study conducted with families at two Families as First Teachers (FaFT) playgroups in two remote Northern Territory communities. The data highlight the ways parents and carers encouraged very young children to engage in home languages as a foundation on which to develop skills in English during play and book reading activities. Transcripts of mother-child book reading and play sessions and reflections of FaFT Family Liaison Officers are examined to explore the language interactions and the strategies used by mothers to support children's multilingual learning. The data highlight the importance of early childhood teaching and learning that honours children's linguistic and cultural resources and prioritises families' aspirations for children's multilingual language learning.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore the impact of early health risks on young Aboriginal children's attendance in playgroups and their early learning outcomes. Design: The study used a cross-sectional design to identify associations between children's early health characteristics, their attendance at a Families as First Teachers (FaFT) playgroup and their early learning outcomes. Setting: A total of 128 Aboriginal children from two remote Northern Territory (NT) communities attending FaFT playgroups participated in the study. Method: Health data were coded as risk factors and associated with children's attendance and learning outcome data. Results: Children in the cohort experienced relatively high rates of health risks: ear infections (otitis media, 57%), anaemia (37%), skin infections (28%), low birthweight (22%), low weight for age (19%) and a high proportion were born to teenage mothers (26%). However, these rates were lower than previously recorded rates for Aboriginal children in remote NT communities. Despite the presence of multiple health risks, low weight for age was the only risk factor found to be negatively associated with children's learning outcomes (language skills) and only two health risks (teenage motherhood and lower child haemoglobin levels) were negatively associated with children's attendance at playgroup. Most children (65%) experienced one or two health risks during the study and no significant associations were found between the number of health risks experienced and children's attendance or learning outcomes. Conclusion: The study highlights the importance of culturally responsive, evidence-based and integrated health and education programmes within remote Aboriginal Australian communities as a means to mitigate risks to poor learning and development outcomes.

There is growing recognition that literacy learning takes place in the years prior to formal schooling and that young children develop literacy-like behaviours through exposure to interactions in shared contexts in which literacy is a component. Despite this, there are few assessments that measure the very early literacy skills that children develop before 36 months of age. This article reports on the design and validation of a new instrument -- the Early Literacy Engagement Assessment (ELEA). This tool was developed to provide insights into the impact of Conversational Reading, a key pedagogical strategy implemented at Families as First Teachers playgroups, on young children's early receptive and expressive vocabulary and literacy skills. The instrument was trialled with 104 children living in locations across Melbourne, Victoria, and 39 Aboriginal children living in remote communities in the Northern Territory. The trial process was undertaken in two phases: (1) a technical assessment to test item consistency, characteristics and placement and (2) concurrent validity testing against items from the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-2 tool. The findings from the trial and validation process indicate that overall the ELEA discriminates well between children of high and low ability, and it is a useful tool in the authentic assessment of expressive and receptive vocabulary skills in young children.

New approaches to support the early learning for young Indigenous children are important to government policies across Australia. This study explores whether the Abecedarian Approach Australia (3a) intervention, with strong cultural adaptations, can boost young Aboriginal children's early language and learning skills, prior to preschool. Participants in this study were Aboriginal children attending playgroups, "Families as First Teachers," in school settings in two remote communities in the Northern Territory. Implementation data on two components (Conversational Reading and LearningGames) of the Abecedarian Approach Australia (3"a") intervention are reported, and the level of exposure the children had to the programme during the study period is analysed. Child outcomes were assessed on the Brigance Early Childhood Screen II for 149 children aged from 24 to 56 months. Children's language and early learning were associated with intervention dosage. Higher exposure to Conversational Reading and LearningGames predicted stronger language and overall development for young children. This study demonstrates that this intervention can be delivered effectively in playgroups in remote settings and is a meaningful and robust strategy to support early childhood learning, with potential to improve educational outcomes for young Aboriginal children in remote communities.

Previous studies have shown that intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) can impair nephrogenesis, but uncertainties remain about the importance of the gestational timing of the insult and the effects on the renal renin-angiotensin system (RAS). We therefore hypothesized that induction of IUGR during late gestation alters the RAS, and this is associated with a decrease in nephron endowment. Our aims were to determine the effects of IUGR induced during the later stages of nephrogenesis on 1) nephron number; 2) mRNA expression of angiotensin A[T.sub.1] and A[T.sub.2] receptors, angiotensinogen, and renin genes in the kidney; and 3) the size of maculae densae. IUGR was induced in fetal sheep (n = 7) by umbilical-placental embolization from 110 to 130 days of the ~147-day gestation; saline-infused fetuses served as controls (n = 7). Samples of cortex from the left kidney were frozen, and the right kidney was perfusion fixed. Total kidney volume, nephron number, renal corpuscle volume, total maculae densae volume, and the volume of macula densa per glomerulus were stereologically estimated, mRNA expression of A[T.sub.1] and A[T.sub.2] receptors, angiotensinogen, and renin in the renal cortex was determined. In IUGR fetuses at 130 days, body and kidney weights were significantly reduced and nephron number was reduced by 24%. There was no difference in renin, angiotensinogen, or A[T.sub.1] and A[T.sub.2] receptor mRNA expression levels in the IUGR kidneys compared with controls. We conclude that fetal growth restriction late in nephrogenesis can lead to a marked reduction in nephron endowment but does not affect renal corpuscle or macula densa size, or renal RAS gene expression. kidney; nephron endowment; macula densa; stereology

Maternal ethanol intake during pregnancy impairs fetal growth, but mechanisms are not clearly defined. Reduced IGF abundance or bioavailability in the fetus and/or mother may contribute to this growth restriction. We hypothesized that an episode of acute ethanol exposure, mimicking binge drinking would restrict fetal growth and perturb the maternal and fetal IGF axes. Pregnant sheep were infused intravenously with saline or ethanol (1 g/kg maternal wt) over 1 h, on days 116, 117, and 118 of gestation (start of 1st infusion = time 0, term is 147 days). Maternal and fetal plasma IGF and IGF-binding protein (IGFBP) concentrations were measured before and after each infusion. Compared with controls, ethanol exposure reduced fetal weight at day 120 by 19%, transiently reduced maternal plasma IGF-I (-35%) at 30 h, and decreased fetal plasma IGF-II (-28%) from 24 to 54 h after the first infusion. Ethanol exposure did not alter maternal or fetal plasma concentrations of IGFBP-2 and IGFBP-3, measured by Western ligand blotting. We conclude that suppression of maternal and fetal IGF abundance may contribute to fetal growth restriction induced by acute or binge ethanol exposure. alcohol; gestation; fetal growth restriction; insulin-like growth factor-binding protein

Research was conducted to study the influence of placental insufficiency induced by umbilicoplacental embolization on fetal renal function and amniotic fluid volume and composition. Blood glucose concentrations decreased in control fetuses while urine production increased over the 21 study days. Results indicated that the sheep model of fetal growth restriction and placental insufficiency may not duplicate changes during human pregnancies affected by intrauterine growth restriction.

Objective:Previous studies on the effects of umbilical cord occlusion (UCO) on the fetal brain have focused on short-term alterations, and in most cases have used only subjective techniques to evaluate brain injury. Our aim was to assess quantitatively the persistent consequences of UCO on the developing brain; we also examined the retina.Methods:We subjected fetal sheep to a single episode of UCO at 126 days of gestation (term ∼147 days) to induce at least 10 minutes of isoelectric fetal electrocorticogram (ECoG).Results:UCO resulted in fetal asphyxia and transient mild alterations in fetal mean arterial pressure (MAP). UCO did not result in significant injury to the developing brain or retina when assessed 15 days after the insult. There was no change in the endogenous expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein in the hippocampus, nor was there a significant loss of CA1 hippocampal pyramidal cells. However, this insult did result in subtle neuropathologic alterations in the brain, including a reduction in the weight of the cerebral hemispheres, an increase in the areal density of cerebellar Purkinje cells, and enlarged perivascular spaces around blood vessels and inflammatory cells in the cerebral white matter. UCO did not affect the thickness of the central or peripheral retina or the numbers of retinal dopaminergic, cholinergic, and nitrergic amacrine cells.Conclusions:Thus, while 10 minutes of UCO did not result in overt injury to the fetal brain or retina, the observed changes in the fetal brain suggest altered growth of neural processes, which may contribute to neurologic deficits postnatally or to increased vulnerability of the brain to later insults during either the remainder of gestation or after birth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]