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BACKGROUND: Previous studies of sleep patterns and perceived problems in early childhood indicate variation by family socioeconomic status. The purpose of this study was to examine variation in correlates of a caregiver-perceived child sleep problem across and within levels of community disadvantage in a large US sample. METHODS: Caregivers of 14,980 young children (ages 0–35.9 months) in the US completed the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaired—Revised (BISQ-R) on the freely and publicly available Johnson’s® Bedtime® Baby Sleep App. Zip code was used to identify a Distressed Communities Index (DCI) score, which represents community disadvantage based on neighborhood indicators. RESULTS: Across all levels of community disadvantage, caregivers who reported greater impact of child sleep on their own sleep, bedtime difficulty, more frequent and longer night wakings, and increased total nighttime sleep were more likely to endorse a child sleep problem. These associations varied by level of community disadvantage. For caregivers living in more disadvantaged communities, impact of child sleep on their own sleep and night wakings were the strongest correlates of endorsing a child sleep problem, whereas for those in more advantaged communities the impact of child sleep on their own sleep and night wakings as well as additional aspects of sleep health, such as short sleep duration, were associated with endorsement of a child sleep problem. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that families living in more distressed communities are most likely to identify the impact of child sleep on their own sleep and night wakings in reporting a child sleep problem, whereas those from more prosperous communities consider these factors as well as other sleep parameters, including sleep duration. Clinicians should consider expanding screening questions for child sleep problems to include the perceived impact on caregiver sleep.

The use of Information and Communications technology has become widely accepted as an effective tool in teaching. Worldwide, it has become a familiar scene to see a teacher equipped with gadgets for audio, visual, and hands-on presentations of their lesson. To accomplish this objective the researcher used the descriptive method of research in the investigation because this concerns the existing condition of ICT-related issues in the school. Based on the data gathered, the following findings were revealed: (1) As to the percentage of students who have access to ICT and social media, 74.20% or 331 out of 447 students answered that they have access. This data is important to determine if there will be a considerable number of clients who will be affected by a school-based ICT policy. (2) Teachers use ICT, including social media in the performance of the following according to the frequency of usage: 2.1) Work-related tasks; 2.2)preparation of lesson aids and teaching strategies inside the classroom tied with Communicating with co-workers inside and outside the school, and 2.3) Communicating with the students outside the classroom setting. (3) Of the 20 policies listed, the most common violation is copying or using files that are not authorized by the owner, followed by Plagiarism. Item Use of bad language comes next, while the occurrence of “cyberbullying, identify theft, online gambling, pornography, and market fraud,” which can cause isolation, humiliation, and trauma came 4th. Completing the top 5 is the spreading of fake news. Other policies should also be given consideration, especially those items which respondents are not aware.

Sleep problems are prevalent in early childhood, with the majority of caregivers desiring to change something about their child’s sleep. Quality-assured education and resources are needed to be related to infant and toddler sleep. This article describes the development and dissemination of a global consumer health information website (http://www.babysleep.com) by the Pediatric Sleep Council to provide publicly accessible evidence-based information and resources for caregivers and practitioners. The website includes sleep health-related information and resources. Three phases, including the launch, social media strategy, and search engine optimization, for promotion and dissemination of the site was implemented. Analysis of dissemination indicates exponential growth of the site since its launch. With access across the globe, the site has developed from its inception into a widely-used resource, with over 800,000 users from around the world (99% of countries).

Alzheimer’s disease is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that accounts for up to 80% of all dementias. Characterised by deteriorations of memory and cognitive function, the key neuropathological features are accumulations of β-amyloid and hyperphosphorylated tau, as ‘plaques’ and ‘tangles’ respectively. Despite extensive study, however, the exact mechanism underlying aggregate formation in Alzheimer’s disease remains elusive, as does the contribution of these aggregates to disease progression. Importantly, a recent evaluation of current Alzheimer’s disease animal models suggested that rodent models are not able to fully recapitulate the pathological intricacies of the disease as it occurs in humans. Therefore, increasing attention is being paid to species that might make good alternatives to rodents for studying the molecular pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. The sheep (Ovis aries) is one such species, although to date there have been few molecular studies relating to Alzheimer’s disease in sheep. Here, we investigated the Alzheimer’s disease relevant histopathological characteristics of twenty-two sheep, using anti-β-amyloid (Abcam 12267 and mOC64) and phosphorylation specific anti-tau (AT8 and S396) antibodies. We identified numerous intraneuronal aggregates of both β-amyloid and tau that are consistent with early Alzheimer’s disease-like pathology. We confirmed the expression of two 3-repeat (1N3R, 2N3R) and two 4-repeat (1N4R, 2N4R) tau isoforms in the ovine brain, which result from the alternative splicing of two tau exons. Finally, we investigated the phosphorylation status of the serine396 residue in thirty sheep, and report that the phosphorylation of this residue begins in sheep aged as young as two years. Together, these data show that sheep exhibit naturally occurring β-amyloid and tau pathologies, that reflect those that occur in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. This is an important step towards the validation of the sheep as a feasible large animal species in which to model Alzheimer’s disease.

Background and Aims: The dose and duration of mesalazine treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC) is a potentially important determinant of effectiveness, with evidence suggesting that continuing the induction dose for 6-12 months may improve outcomes; however, real-world data are lacking. We assessed mesalazine use in Dutch clinical practice, including how differences in dose and duration affected UC outcomes. Methods: Adults with mild-to-moderate UC who received oral prolonged-release mesalazine de novo or had a dose escalation for an active episode were followed for 12 months in this non-interventional study (ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02261636). The primary endpoint was time from start of treatment to dose reduction (TDR). Secondary endpoints included recurrence rate, adherence, and work productivity. Results: In total, 151 patients were enrolled, of whom 108 (71.5%) were newly diagnosed with UC. The majority (120; 79.5%) received a dose of ≥4 g/day. Nearly one-third (48; 31.8%) underwent dose reduction, with mean TDR being 8.3 months. Disease extent and endoscopic appearance did not influence duration of induction therapy, while TDR increased with higher baseline UCDAI scores. TDR was longer in patients without (mean 8.8 months) than with (4.1 months) recurrence, although not significantly (p=0.09). Patients on ≥4 g/day had a significantly lower chance of recurrence versus those on 2-6 months vs 3-6 months: 0.19 (95%CI: 0.08-0.46); p6 months) was associated with a lower recurrence risk.

Bedtime problems and night wakings are highly prevalent in infants. This study assessed the real-world effectiveness of an mHealth behavioral sleep intervention (Customized Sleep Profile; CSP). Caregivers (83.9% mothers) of 404 infants (age 6 to 11.9 m, M = 8.32 m, 51.2% male) used the CSP (free and publicly available behavioral sleep intervention delivered via smartphone application, Johnson's® Bedtime® Baby Sleep App). Caregivers completed the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire-Revised (BISQ-R) at baseline and again 4 to 28 days later. Changes in sleep patterns were analyzed, based on sleep problem status (problem versus no problem sleepers; PS; NPS). Sleep onset latency improved in both groups. Earlier bedtimes, longer continuous stretches of sleep, as well as decreased number and duration of night wakings, were evident in the PS group only. The BISQ-R Total score, total nighttime sleep, and total 24-hour sleep time improved for both groups, with a greater change for the PS group. Further, caregivers of infants in the PS group decreased feeding (bedtime and overnight) and picking up overnight, and perceived better sleep. Bedtime routine regularity, bedtime difficulty, sleep onset difficulty, and caregiver confidence improved for both groups, with the PS group showing a greater magnitude of change. Thus, a real-world, publicly available, mHealth behavioral sleep intervention was associated with improved outcomes for older infants. Intervention recommendations resulted in changes in caregivers' behavior and improvements in caregiver-reported sleep outcomes in infants, in as few as 4 days.

Objectives To develop an age-based norm-referenced scoring system for the Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire – Revised (BISQ-R). Methods In sum, 33,835 submissions (data sample 1) of the expanded and revised BISQ-R by caregivers of infants and toddlers (1–36 months) were analyzed in the US via a publicly-available smartphone application, Johnson's® Bedtime®. Three subscales were created: Infant Sleep (IS; 5 items), Parent Perception (PP; 3 items), and Parent Behavior (PB; 11 items). The scoring algorithm was based on an age-based normative system, and each subscale was scored using a weighted average of items. Primary application of the scoring model was performed on a follow up set of 16,531 submissions (data sample 2). Secondary application was tested on an original web-based ecology study (data sample 3). Tertiary application was tested using previously published datasets consisting of a longitudinal study (data sample 4) and randomized control trial behavioral intervention study (data sample 5). Results Overall application of the scoring algorithm was confirmed across multiple samples. Each subscale (IS, PP, PB) and total score (T) is age referenced (scores range from 0 to 100). Cross-comparison between subscales across studies reveal consistent and convergent relationships. Conclusions The BISQ-R provides a comprehensive assessment of infant and toddler sleep patterns, as well as parent perception and parent behaviors that may contribute to sleep outcomes. The age-based norm-referenced scoring system is publicly available to be used by researchers and clinicians.

Objective Little is known about whether sleep space impacts toddler sleep outcomes. We examined the prevalence of crib-sleeping and its association with caregiver-reported sleep patterns and problems in a large sample of toddlers from Western countries. Methods Participants were caregivers of 1983 toddlers ages 18.0–35.9 months (51.7% male; mean age 25.3 months) from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States sleeping in a crib or bed in a separate room from caregivers. Caregiver-reported sleep patterns and problems were collected via a free, publicly available child sleep smartphone application. Results Across countries/regions, rates of crib-sleeping decreased linearly with age, with 63.4% of toddlers ages 18.0–23.9 months, 34.3% of toddlers ages 24.0–29.9 months, and 12.6% of toddlers ages 30.0–35.9 months sleeping in a crib. Across age groups and countries, crib sleeping was significantly associated with an earlier bedtime, shorter sleep onset latency, fewer night awakenings, longer stretches of time asleep, increased nighttime sleep duration, and decreased bedtime resistance and sleep problems. The duration of night awakenings did not significantly differ by sleep space. Conclusion Sleeping in a crib instead of a bed is associated with enhanced caregiver-reported sleep quantity and quality for toddlers in Western countries. Consistent with practice recommendations, deferring the crib-to-bed transition until age 3 years may benefit toddlers’ sleep in Western contexts. Additional research is needed to identify the impact of sleep space on child sleep in other countries/regions.

The state of California has passed legislation to divert organic materials from landfills to reduce the emission of methane to the atmosphere. A large amount of this source separated organic (SSO) material is expected to be used as a feedstock for anaerobic digestion processes. Based on a review of properties for likely SSO feedstocks, it is clear that while SSO are high in volatile solids, they are also concentrated sources of nutrients (principally, ammonium). When SSO feedstocks are digested, these nutrients are released into the digestate, where ammonium can cause problems both within the digester and in downstream treatment processes. The focus of this paper is on the performance of two pilot studies designed to remove ammonia from a digester effluent. The process used in the study is a thermal stripping column with tray configuration, operating under a vacuum. In the first study, food waste digestate was treated as a slurry in the stripping column with and without NaOH addition. At process temperatures near 90 °C, the performance with and without caustic was similar. In the second study, centrate from a co-digestion facility, that blends food processing waste with wastewater process solids, was treated in the same thermal stripping column under the same conditions and without chemical addition. The results from both studies, which can be described using the same performance curves, are presented and discussed in this paper.