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This article describes how (sexual) consent is constructed as an objective for teaching in Swedish preschool. An age‐critical analysis of focus‐group discussions with preschool practitioners shows how a didactic of consent is constructed and characterised: (1) The child should be trained to feel non‐ambivalence. (2) Prohibitions are created against acts not considered age‐appropriate. (3) Age‐appropriate prior knowledge is required for a child's consent to be considered valid. Finally, alternative didactics of consent is discussed, in which ambivalence and unpredictability are highlighted as important elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a comparative analysis of the three groups of factors (biological (neurological), cognitive and affective), which are believed to be related to the impact of the learnersʼ age on the foreign language acquisition. Having analyzed the available research data concerning the possible role of biological aspects the hypothetic critical age may be based on (laterization, puberty, plasticity of specific brain areas, neuronsʼ maturation time, the thalamus hypothesis), the author formulates the preliminary conclusion about the contradictive data on the issue and the need for further research in the area. The same generally applies to the cognitive and affective aspects of the problem. The age differences in the foreign language learning can only partially be explained by different attitudes to language as an object of acquisition of children and adults considering a wide range of varieties within each of the said groups. The difference in adult and child acquisition strategies can be explained by a number of cognitive factors, such as the strong social attitude to the use of the native and foreign languages, as well as the ability of abstract thinking in adults. The cognitive development can explain why teenagers learn the language better than younger children, but it cannot account for the advantage of teenagers in the field of pronunciation acquisition or the childrenʼs better results in speaking over long periods of time. As far as affective aspects are concerned, many adults have problems in passing through the crucial stage (cultural stress) or they do not pass it through at all. In typical cases of language acquisition, most affective factors in the language environment are unfavorable for adults and favorable or neutral for children, creating unequal learning conditions. At the same time, some adults manage (due to individual and other factors) to approach the affective parameters of the childʼs conditions of acquisition. This may be an explanation for cases of adultsʼ rapid and effective acquisition of the foreign language.

This article examines the role of house churches in South Africa in the ministry of emerging adulthood. Emerging adulthood is a turbulent life stage that is characterised by change and exploration. Additionally, it involves increasing responsibility and autonomy as young people assume more adult roles. This article suggests that emerging adulthood is a critical life stage for several reasons. Given the contextual realities of South Africa (high unemployment, high levels of crime, poverty), as well as the associated negative behaviour and the increasing religious disaffiliation among emerging adults, it is essential to provide nurturing support to this group in particular. To this end, this article presents a missional model for house churches as an alternative method of ministry for reaching and retaining this population group. The characteristics of house churches and emerging adults are explored and serve as the backdrop for this missional model. Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article makes intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary contributions by engaging the theological disciplines of missiology and practical theology as well as psychology and sociology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a comparative analysis of various groups of data (language acquisition speed, quality of language acquisition, comparative acquisition efficiency depending on the period of exposure, adult-child, and younger-children versus older-childrenʼs differences in acquisition) obtained in different experiments over a substantial time span. As it follows from the experimental studies analysis, there is conflicting data regarding the existence of a “critical age” for the foreign language acquisition and its specific limits. Much of the data can be interpreted in various ways. Differences between adults and children, older children and younger children can be explained not only by the existence of the “critical age”, but also by other reasons. The advantage of older students may be explained by their better memory, which allows them to learn a large number of clichés with which they successfully communicate, even having a very limited supply of language material. In general, basing on the available data, it is hardly possible to state that there is any age boundary in human life beyond which the foreign language acquisition is impossible or difficult to any serious degree. Experimental data, while contradictory, do not give rise to a straightforward conclusion about the advantage of any age group in any aspect of language. In short-time courses, adults progress faster but on longer stretches, children close the gap and even outpace adults. There are quite a few differences in language acquisition between adults and children, as well as older and younger children, but these differences are probably not due to the existence of a “critical age”, but to other factors discussed in the paper. It is likely that adults can learn language just as effectively as children provided the factors that impede their learning (strong instrumental and integrative motivation, absence of unfavorable affective factors, etc.) are eliminated. However, this assumption requires further research.

Abstract Background Inequalities in child feeding practices are evident in urban slums in developing nations. Our study identified the determinants of complementary feeding (CF) practices in the informal settings of Pune, India, a district close to the business capital of India. Methods Employing a cross-sectional study design, 1066 mother–children dyads were surveyed. Five indicators defined by the WHO were used to study complementary feeding practices. Determinants of complementary feeding practices were identified using multivariate analyses. Results Timely initiation of CF was reported by 42%. Minimum acceptable diet (MAD), minimum meal frequency (MMF), and Diet Diversity Score > 4 were achieved by 14.9%, 76.5%, and 16.4%, respectively. Continued breastfeeding (CBF) at 2 years, and feeding processed foods were practiced by 94% and 50%, respectively. Among the maternal characteristics, a mother’s age > 30 years at pregnancy was less likely to achieve DD [AOR: 0.195 (CI 0.047–0.809)] and MAD [AOR: 0.231 (CI 0.056–0.960)]. Mothers with lower education were less likely to meet MMF [AOR: 0.302 (0.113–0.807)], MAD [AOR: 0.505 (CI 0.295–0.867)] and to introduce formula feeds (FF) [AOR: 0.417 (0.193- 0.899)]. Among obstetric characteristics, birth spacing

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Background: China is the world's largest tobacco consumer. Smoking initiation dramatically increases from teenage to adulthood. In this study, we investigated adolescents' future smoking intention at critical ages and its associated predictors. Methods: Using a longitudinal design (3 waves) across 6 months in 2016, data from 156 10th graders in two high schools in China were examined. We used latent class growth modelling to explore the heterogeneous trajectories of smoking intentions for two future age groups. Logistic regression was then used to estimate the predictors of trajectories. Results: Two trajectories and three trajectories were identified for future smoking intention in their twenties and forties, respectively. Gender, current smoking status, and mothers' and friends' smoking status all played distinct roles in future smoking intentions. Conclusions: Chinese adolescents' future intentions at critical ages are of concern. Future tobacco control should target the critical ages as well as incorporate social and cultural meanings of smoking in China. As important factors related to future smoking trajectories, gender and mothers' smoking status should also be considered in anti-smoking prevention efforts. Meanings associated with smoking status in the future should also be explored especially for female adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we provide an interval of existence of critical mortality rate parameters M and b and their asymptotic expressions in allometry survival model, in the absence of age-specific mortality data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to answer the question of whether there is a ‘critical age’ after which a second contralateral cochlear implant is less likely to provide enough speech perception to be of practical use. The study was not designed to predict factors that determine successful binaural implant use, but to see if there was evidence to help determine the latest age at which the second ear can usefully be implanted, should the first side fail and become unusable. Outcome data, in the form of speech perception test results, were collected from 11 cochlear implant programmes in the UK and one centre in Australia. Forty-seven congenitally bilaterally deaf subjects who received bilateral sequential implants were recruited to the study. The study also included four subjects with congenital unilateral profound deafness who had lost all hearing in their only hearing ear and received a cochlear implant in their unilaterally congenitally deaf ear. Of those 34 subjects for whom complete sets of data were available, the majority (72%) of those receiving their second (or unilateral) implant up to the age of 13 years scored 60 per cent or above in the Bamford Kowal Bench (BKB) sentence test, or equivalent. In contrast, of those nine receiving their second or unilateral implant at the age of 15 or above, none achieved adequate levels of speech perception on formal testing: two scored 29 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively, and the rest seven per cent or less. A discriminant function analysis performed on the data suggests that it is unlikely that a second contralateral implant received after the age of 16 to 18 years will, on its own, provide adequate levels of speech perception. As more children receive sequential bilateral cochlear implants and the pool of data enlarges the situation is likely to become clearer. The results provide support for the concept of a ‘critical age’ for implanting the second ear in successful congenitally deaf unilateral cochlear implant users. This would argue against ‘preserving’ the second ear beyond a certain age, in order to use newer models of cochlear implant or for the purpose of hair cell regeneration and similar procedures in the future. The results suggest a new and more absolute reason for bilateral implantation of congenitally deaf children at an early age. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the changing behavioral contexts at which social insects are exposed during the adult lifespan, they are ideal models to analyze the effect of particular sensory stimuli during young adulthood on later behavior. Specifically, our goal is to understand early influences on later foraging behavior. For that, olfactory memories were established by worker honeybees to different pre-foraging ages using either (1) classical conditioning in the proboscis extension response (PER) paradigm or (2) the offering of scented-sugar solution under different rearing conditions. By testing long-term memories (LTM) through a single PER test in workers of foraging ages (17–25 days), we found that retention of the early olfactory memories in honey bees is age-dependent and not time-dependent. Independently of the environmental conditions in which they were reared (laboratory cages or hives), bees were able to retain food-odor association from 5 days after emergence, but rarely before. In most experiments we observed a bi-modal pattern of response: bees exposed to scented-food at 5–8 and 13–16 days showed better retention than those exposed at 9–12 days. These differences disappeared for bees reared in hives. Retrieval of LTMs depending on the timing and the continuous inputs of appropriate sensory stimuli are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three critical phenomena of flowering can be recognized in nature: critical age, critical initial size and critical switchover size. In order to understand the ecological significance of these flowering phenomena from the viewpoint of matter production, a simple model of flowering phenomean (critical-production model) was studied, assuming that plant flowering is controlled by the productive capacity of the plant (critical-production model, under the condition that plants forecast environmental conditions affecting matter production. Thus, we concluded that all three critical phenomena are various manifestation of the same critical-production principle. Then, using the model simulation, the reliability of each critical phenomenon for securing a given critical production was investigated in relation to the photosynthetic productivity of the habitat. The main predictions obtained from the simulation were as follows: 1) Only annual and biennial plants will show critical age phenomena, and most biennials will be facultative. 2) Among perennials, the critical initial size phenomenon will appear in low productive habitats, whereas in high productive habitats the critical switchover size phenomenon will be observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]