Sample records for warao amerindian children

  1. HIV-1 epidemic in Warao Amerindians from Venezuela: spatial phylodynamics and epidemiological patterns.

    PubMed

    Villalba, Julian A; Bello, Gonzalo; Maes, Mailis; Sulbaran, Yoneira F; Garzaro, Domingo; Loureiro, Carmen L; Rangel, Hector R; de Waard, Jacobus H; Pujol, Flor H

    2013-07-17

    We previously reported HIV-1 infection in Warao Amerindians from Venezuela. The aim of this study was to evaluate the extent and the dynamic of HIV-1 dissemination in eight Warao communities. HIV-1 infection was evaluated in 576 Warao Amerindians from the Orinoco Delta. Partial HIV-1 pol sequences were analyzed to reconstruct the spatiotemporal and demographic dynamics of the epidemic. HIV-1 antibodies were present in 9.55% of Warao Amerindians, ranging from 0 to 22%. A significantly higher prevalence was found in men (15.6%) compared with women (2.6%), reaching up to 35% in men from one community. All but one isolates were classified as subtype B. Warao's HIV-1 subtype-B epidemic resulted from a single viral introduction at around the early 2000s. After an initial phase of slow growth, the subtype B started to spread at a fast rate (0.8/year) following two major routes of migration within the communities. A dramatic high prevalence was documented in almost all the communities of Warao Amerindians from the Orinoco Delta tested for HIV-1 infection. This epidemic resulted from the dissemination of a single HIV-1 subtype B founder strain introduced about 10 years ago and its size is probably doubling every year, creating a situation that can be devastating for this vulnerable Amerindian group.

  2. Nasopharyngeal carriage of respiratory pathogens in Warao Amerindians: significant relationship with stunting.

    PubMed

    Verhagen, Lilly M; Hermsen, Meyke; Rivera-Olivero, Ismar A; Sisco, María Carolina; de Jonge, Marien I; Hermans, Peter W M; de Waard, Jacobus H

    2017-04-01

    To assess risk factors for nasopharyngeal carriage of potential pathogens in geographically isolated Warao Amerindians in Venezuela. In this point prevalence survey, nasopharyngeal swabs were obtained from 1064 Warao Amerindians: 504 children aged 0-4 years, 227 children aged 5-10 years and 333 caregivers. Written questionnaires were completed to obtain information on demographics and environmental risk factors. Anthropometric measurements were performed in children aged 0-4 years. Carriage rates of Streptococcus pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis were 51%, 7%, 1% and 13%, respectively. Crowding index, method of cooking and tobacco exposure were not associated with increased carriage. In multivariable analysis, an increase in height-for-age Z score (i.e. improved chronic nutritional status) was associated with decreased odds of S. pneumoniae colonisation (OR 0.76, 95% CI 0.70-0.83) in children aged 0-4 years. Better knowledge of demographic and environmental risk factors facilitates better understanding of the dynamics of colonisation with respiratory bacteria in an Amerindian population. Poor chronic nutritional status was associated with increased pathogen carriage in children <5 years of age. The high rates of stunting generally observed in indigenous children may fuel the acquisition of respiratory bacteria that can lead to respiratory and invasive disease. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Recurrent wheezing is associated with intestinal protozoan infections in Warao Amerindian children in Venezuela: a cross-sectional survey.

    PubMed

    Overeem, Marcella M A; Verhagen, Lilly M; Hermans, Peter W M; del Nogal, Berenice; Sánchez, Adriana Márquez; Acevedo, Natacha Martinez; Murga, Rosalicia Ramirez; Roelfsema, Jeroen; Pinelli, Elena; de Waard, Jacobus H

    2014-05-29

    While in developed countries the prevalence of allergic diseases is rising, inflammatory diseases are relatively uncommon in rural developing areas. High prevalence rates of helminth and protozoan infections are commonly found in children living in rural settings and several studies suggest an inverse association between helminth infections and allergies. No studies investigating the relationship between parasitic infections and atopic diseases in rural children of developing countries under the age of 2 years have been published so far. We performed a cross-sectional survey to investigate the association of helminth and protozoan infections and malnutrition with recurrent wheezing and atopic eczema in Warao Amerindian children in Venezuela. From August to November 2012, 229 children aged 0 to 2 years residing in the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela were enrolled. Data were collected through standardized questionnaires and physical examination, including inspection of the skin and anthropometric measurements. A stool sample was requested from all participants and detection of different parasites was performed using microscopy and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We observed high prevalence rates of atopic eczema and recurrent wheezing, respectively 19% and 23%. The prevalence of helminth infections was 26% and the prevalence of protozoan infections was 59%. Atopic eczema and recurrent wheezing were more frequently observed in stunted compared with non-stunted children in multivariable analysis (OR 4.3, 95% CI 1.3 - 13.6, p = 0.015 and OR 4.5, 95% CI 0.97 - 21.2, p = 0.055). Furthermore, recurrent wheezing was significantly more often observed in children with protozoan infections than in children without protozoan infections (OR 6.7, 95% CI 1.5 - 30.5). High prevalence rates of atopic eczema and recurrent wheezing in Warao Amerindian children under 2 years of age were related to stunting and intestinal protozoan infections respectively. Helminth

  4. Recurrent wheezing is associated with intestinal protozoan infections in Warao Amerindian children in Venezuela: a cross-sectional survey

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Background While in developed countries the prevalence of allergic diseases is rising, inflammatory diseases are relatively uncommon in rural developing areas. High prevalence rates of helminth and protozoan infections are commonly found in children living in rural settings and several studies suggest an inverse association between helminth infections and allergies. No studies investigating the relationship between parasitic infections and atopic diseases in rural children of developing countries under the age of 2 years have been published so far. We performed a cross-sectional survey to investigate the association of helminth and protozoan infections and malnutrition with recurrent wheezing and atopic eczema in Warao Amerindian children in Venezuela. Methods From August to November 2012, 229 children aged 0 to 2 years residing in the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela were enrolled. Data were collected through standardized questionnaires and physical examination, including inspection of the skin and anthropometric measurements. A stool sample was requested from all participants and detection of different parasites was performed using microscopy and real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results We observed high prevalence rates of atopic eczema and recurrent wheezing, respectively 19% and 23%. The prevalence of helminth infections was 26% and the prevalence of protozoan infections was 59%. Atopic eczema and recurrent wheezing were more frequently observed in stunted compared with non-stunted children in multivariable analysis (OR 4.3, 95% CI 1.3 – 13.6, p = 0.015 and OR 4.5, 95% CI 0.97 – 21.2, p = 0.055). Furthermore, recurrent wheezing was significantly more often observed in children with protozoan infections than in children without protozoan infections (OR 6.7, 95% CI 1.5 – 30.5). Conclusions High prevalence rates of atopic eczema and recurrent wheezing in Warao Amerindian children under 2 years of age were related to stunting and intestinal

  5. Evidence of at Least Two Introductions of HIV-1 in the Amerindian Warao Population from Venezuela

    PubMed Central

    Rangel, Héctor R.; Maes, Mailis; Villalba, Julian; Sulbarán, Yoneira; de Waard, Jacobus H.; Bello, Gonzalo; Pujol, Flor H.

    2012-01-01

    Background The Venezuelan Amerindians were, until recently, free of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. However, in 2007, HIV-1 infection was detected for the first time in the Warao Amerindian population living in the Eastern part of Venezuela, in the delta of the Orinoco river. The aim of this study was to analyze the genetic diversity of the HIV-1 circulating in this population. Methodology/Principal Findings The pol genomic region was sequenced for 16 HIV-1 isolates and for some of them, sequences from env, vif and nef genomic regions were obtained. All HIV-1 isolates were classified as subtype B, with exception of one that was classified as subtype C. The 15 subtype B isolates exhibited a high degree of genetic similarity and formed a highly supported monophyletic cluster in each genomic region analyzed. Evolutionary analyses of the pol genomic region indicated that the date of the most recent common ancestor of the Waraos subtype B clade dates back to the late 1990s. Conclusions/Significance At least two independent introductions of HIV-1 have occurred in the Warao Amerindians from Venezuela. The HIV-1 subtype B was successfully established and got disseminated in the community, while no evidence of local dissemination of the HIV-1 subtype C was detected in this study. These results warrant further surveys to evaluate the burden of this disease, which can be particularly devastating in this Amerindian population, with a high prevalence of tuberculosis, hepatitis B, among other infectious diseases, and with limited access to primary health care. PMID:22808212

  6. Childhood Vaccine Acceptance and Refusal among Warao Amerindian Caregivers in Venezuela; A Qualitative Approach.

    PubMed

    Burghouts, Jochem; Del Nogal, Berenice; Uriepero, Angimar; Hermans, Peter W M; de Waard, Jacobus H; Verhagen, Lilly M

    2017-01-01

    Acceptance of childhood vaccination varies between societies, affecting worldwide vaccination coverage. Low coverage rates are common in indigenous populations where parents often choose not to vaccinate their children. We aimed to gain insight into reasons for vaccine acceptance or rejection among Warao Amerindians in Venezuela. Based on records of vaccine acceptance or refusal, in-depth interviews with 20 vaccine-accepting and 11 vaccine-declining caregivers were performed. Parents' attitudes were explored using a qualitative approach. Although Warao caregivers were generally in favor of vaccination, fear of side effects and the idea that young and sick children are too vulnerable to be vaccinated negatively affected vaccine acceptance. The importance assigned to side effects was related to the perception that these resembled symptoms/diseases of another origin and could thus harm the child. Religious beliefs or traditional healers did not influence the decision-making process. Parental vaccine acceptance requires educational programs on the preventive nature of vaccines in relation to local beliefs about health and disease. Attention needs to be directed at population-specific concerns, including explanation on the nature of and therapeutic options for side effects.

  7. Childhood Vaccine Acceptance and Refusal among Warao Amerindian Caregivers in Venezuela; A Qualitative Approach

    PubMed Central

    Burghouts, Jochem; Del Nogal, Berenice; Uriepero, Angimar; Hermans, Peter W. M.; de Waard, Jacobus H.; Verhagen, Lilly M.

    2017-01-01

    Objectives Acceptance of childhood vaccination varies between societies, affecting worldwide vaccination coverage. Low coverage rates are common in indigenous populations where parents often choose not to vaccinate their children. We aimed to gain insight into reasons for vaccine acceptance or rejection among Warao Amerindians in Venezuela. Methods Based on records of vaccine acceptance or refusal, in-depth interviews with 20 vaccine-accepting and 11 vaccine-declining caregivers were performed. Parents’ attitudes were explored using a qualitative approach. Results Although Warao caregivers were generally in favor of vaccination, fear of side effects and the idea that young and sick children are too vulnerable to be vaccinated negatively affected vaccine acceptance. The importance assigned to side effects was related to the perception that these resembled symptoms/diseases of another origin and could thus harm the child. Religious beliefs or traditional healers did not influence the decision-making process. Conclusions Parental vaccine acceptance requires educational programs on the preventive nature of vaccines in relation to local beliefs about health and disease. Attention needs to be directed at population-specific concerns, including explanation on the nature of and therapeutic options for side effects. PMID:28107501

  8. Pneumococcal carriage among indigenous Warao children in Venezuela: serotypes, susceptibility patterns, and molecular epidemiology.

    PubMed

    Rivera-Olivero, Ismar A; Bogaert, Debby; Bello, Teresita; del Nogal, Berenice; Sluijter, Marcel; Hermans, Peter W M; de Waard, Jacobus H

    2007-12-01

    Little attention has been paid to pneumococcal carriage and disease in Amerindians from Latin America. The Warao people, an indigenous population from Venezuela, live in the delta of the Orinoco River in geographically isolated communities with difficult access to medical care. To obtain insight into pneumococcal carriage and the theoretical coverage of pneumococcal vaccines in this population, we investigated pneumococcal colonization, serotype, and genotype distribution among Warao children in 9 distinct, geographically isolated communities in the Delta Amacuro area in the northeast of Venezuela. From April 2004 through January 2005, a total of 161 Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates were recovered from single nasopharyngeal swab samples obtained from 356 children aged 0-72 months. The overall pneumococcal carriage rate was 49%, ranging from 13% to 76%, depending on the community investigated and the age of the children (50% among children aged <2 years and 25% among children aged >2 years). The most frequent serotypes were 23F (19.5% of isolates), 6A (19.5%), 15B (10.4%), 6B (9.1%), and 19F (7.2%). The theoretical coverage of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, including the cross-reactive nonvaccine serotype 6A, was 65%. A total of 26% of the isolates were resistant to first-line antibiotics, with 70% of these strains being covered by the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Restriction fragment end labelling analysis revealed 65 different genotypes, with 125 (80%) of the isolates belonging to 27 different genetic clusters, suggesting a high degree of horizontal spread of pneumococcal strains in and between the villages. The high colonization rates and high (registered) acute respiratory tract infection morbidity and mortality in this part of Venezuela suggest that Warao children are at increased risk for pneumococcal disease and, therefore, benefit from vaccination.

  9. High prevalence of acute respiratory tract infections among Warao Amerindian children in Venezuela in relation to low immunization coverage and chronic malnutrition.

    PubMed

    Verhagen, Lilly M; Warris, Adilia; Hermans, Peter W M; del Nogal, Berenice; de Groot, Ronald; de Waard, Jacobus H

    2012-03-01

    Higher prevalence rates of acute respiratory tract infections (ARTIs) have been described in Australian and Canadian indigenous populations than in nonindigenous age-matched counterparts. Few studies on ARTIs in South American indigenous populations have been published. We performed a cross-sectional survey to describe the prevalence of upper respiratory tract infections and acute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs) and associations with malnutrition and immunization status. From December 1, 2009 to May 31, 2010, 487 Warao Amerindian children 0 to 59 months of age living in the Delta Amacuro in Venezuela were included in a cross-sectional survey. Data were obtained through parent questionnaires, vaccination cards, and physical examinations including anthropometric measurements. Of the 487 children, 47% presented with an ARTI. Of these, 60% had upper respiratory tract infections and 40% were ALRTI. Immunization coverage was low, with only 27% of all children presenting a vaccination card being fully immunized. The prevalence of malnutrition was high (52%), with stunting (height-for-age <-2 standard deviations) being the most frequent presentation affecting 45% of children. ARTI and ALRTI prevalence diminished with increasing age (odds ratio for ALRTI in children 25-59 months of age vs. children younger than 12 months, 0.49; 95% confidence interval, 0.26-0.93). Furthermore, significant differences in ARTI prevalence were seen between villages. No significant associations between immunization status or malnutrition and ARTI or ALRTI prevalence were identified. A high prevalence of ARTIs and chronic malnutrition in combination with a low immunization status highlights the need for an integrated approach to improve the health status of indigenous Venezuelan children.

  10. A predictive signature gene set for discriminating active from latent tuberculosis in Warao Amerindian children.

    PubMed

    Verhagen, Lilly M; Zomer, Aldert; Maes, Mailis; Villalba, Julian A; Del Nogal, Berenice; Eleveld, Marc; van Hijum, Sacha Aft; de Waard, Jacobus H; Hermans, Peter Wm

    2013-02-01

    Tuberculosis (TB) continues to cause a high toll of disease and death among children worldwide. The diagnosis of childhood TB is challenged by the paucibacillary nature of the disease and the difficulties in obtaining specimens. Whereas scientific and clinical research efforts to develop novel diagnostic tools have focused on TB in adults, childhood TB has been relatively neglected. Blood transcriptional profiling has improved our understanding of disease pathogenesis of adult TB and may offer future leads for diagnosis and treatment. No studies applying gene expression profiling of children with TB have been published so far. We identified a 116-gene signature set that showed an average prediction error of 11% for TB vs. latent TB infection (LTBI) and for TB vs. LTBI vs. healthy controls (HC) in our dataset. A minimal gene set of only 9 genes showed the same prediction error of 11% for TB vs. LTBI in our dataset. Furthermore, this minimal set showed a significant discriminatory value for TB vs. LTBI for all previously published adult studies using whole blood gene expression, with average prediction errors between 17% and 23%. In order to identify a robust representative gene set that would perform well in populations of different genetic backgrounds, we selected ten genes that were highly discriminative between TB, LTBI and HC in all literature datasets as well as in our dataset. Functional annotation of these genes highlights a possible role for genes involved in calcium signaling and calcium metabolism as biomarkers for active TB. These ten genes were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in an additional cohort of 54 Warao Amerindian children with LTBI, HC and non-TB pneumonia. Decision tree analysis indicated that five of the ten genes were sufficient to classify 78% of the TB cases correctly with no LTBI subjects wrongly classified as TB (100% specificity). Our data justify the further exploration of our signature set as biomarkers

  11. A predictive signature gene set for discriminating active from latent tuberculosis in Warao Amerindian children

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background Tuberculosis (TB) continues to cause a high toll of disease and death among children worldwide. The diagnosis of childhood TB is challenged by the paucibacillary nature of the disease and the difficulties in obtaining specimens. Whereas scientific and clinical research efforts to develop novel diagnostic tools have focused on TB in adults, childhood TB has been relatively neglected. Blood transcriptional profiling has improved our understanding of disease pathogenesis of adult TB and may offer future leads for diagnosis and treatment. No studies applying gene expression profiling of children with TB have been published so far. Results We identified a 116-gene signature set that showed an average prediction error of 11% for TB vs. latent TB infection (LTBI) and for TB vs. LTBI vs. healthy controls (HC) in our dataset. A minimal gene set of only 9 genes showed the same prediction error of 11% for TB vs. LTBI in our dataset. Furthermore, this minimal set showed a significant discriminatory value for TB vs. LTBI for all previously published adult studies using whole blood gene expression, with average prediction errors between 17% and 23%. In order to identify a robust representative gene set that would perform well in populations of different genetic backgrounds, we selected ten genes that were highly discriminative between TB, LTBI and HC in all literature datasets as well as in our dataset. Functional annotation of these genes highlights a possible role for genes involved in calcium signaling and calcium metabolism as biomarkers for active TB. These ten genes were validated by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction in an additional cohort of 54 Warao Amerindian children with LTBI, HC and non-TB pneumonia. Decision tree analysis indicated that five of the ten genes were sufficient to classify 78% of the TB cases correctly with no LTBI subjects wrongly classified as TB (100% specificity). Conclusions Our data justify the further exploration of our

  12. Helminths and skewed cytokine profiles increase tuberculin skin test positivity in Warao Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Verhagen, L M; Hermans, P W M; Warris, A; de Groot, R; Maes, M; Villalba, J A; del Nogal, B; van den Hof, S; Mughini Gras, L; van Soolingen, D; Pinelli, E; de Waard, J H

    2012-11-01

    The immune regulatory mechanisms involved in the acquisition of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in children are largely unknown. We investigated the influence of parasitic infections, malnutrition and plasma cytokine profiles on tuberculin skin test (TST) positivity in Warao Amerindians in Venezuela. Pediatric household contacts of sputum smear-positive tuberculosis (TB) cases were enrolled for TST, chest radiograph, plasma cytokine analyses, QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube (QFT-GIT) testing and stool examinations. Factors associated with TST positivity were studied using generalized estimation equations logistic regression models. Of the 141 asymptomatic contacts, 39% was TST-positive. After adjusting for age, gender and nutritional status, TST positivity was associated with Trichuris trichiura infections (OR 3.5, 95% CI 1.1-11.6) and low circulating levels of T helper 1 (Th1) cytokines (OR 0.51, 95% CI 0.33-0.79). Ascaris lumbricoides infections in interaction with Th2- and interleukin (IL)-10-dominated cytokine profiles were positively associated with TST positivity (OR 3.1, 95% CI 1.1-8.9 and OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.04-5.7, respectively). A negative correlation of QFT-GIT mitogen responses with Th1 and Th2 levels and a positive correlation with age were observed (all p < 0.01). We conclude that helminth infections and low Th1 cytokine plasma levels are significantly associated with TST positivity in indigenous Venezuelan pediatric TB contacts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Low child survival index in a multi-dimensionally poor Amerindian population in Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Villalba, Julian A; Liu, Yushi; Alvarez, Mauyuri K; Calderon, Luisana; Canache, Merari; Cardenas, Gaudymar; Del Nogal, Berenice; Takiff, Howard E; De Waard, Jacobus H

    2013-01-01

    Warao Amerindians, who inhabit the Orinoco Delta, are the second largest indigenous group in Venezuela.  High Warao general mortality rates were mentioned in a limited study 21 years ago. However, there have been no comprehensive studies addressing child survival across the entire population. To determine the Child Survival-Index (CSI) (ratio: still-living children/total-live births) in the Warao population, the principal causes of childhood death and the socio-demographic factors associated with childhood deaths. We conducted a cross-sectional epidemiological survey of 688 women from 97 communities in 7 different subregions of the Orinoco Delta. Data collected included socio-demographic characteristics and the reproductive history of each woman surveyed. The multidimensional poverty index (MPI) was used to classify the households as deprived across the three dimensions of the Human Development Index. Multivariable linear regression and Generalized Linear Model Procedures were used to identify socioeconomic and environmental characteristics statistically associated with the CSI. The average CSI was 73.8% ±26. The two most common causes of death were gastroenteritis/diarrhea (63%) and acute respiratory tract Infection/pneumonia (18%).  Deaths in children under five years accounted for 97.3% of childhood deaths, with 54% occurring in the neonatal period or first year of life.  Most of the women (95.5%) were classified as multidimensionally poor.  The general MPI in the sample was 0.56.   CSI was negatively correlated with MPI, maternal age, residence in a traditional dwelling and profession of the head of household other than nurse or teacher. The Warao have a low CSI which is correlated with MPI and maternal age.  Infectious diseases are responsible for 85% of childhood deaths.  The low socioeconomic development, lack of infrastructure and geographic and cultural isolation suggest that an integrated approach is urgently needed to improve the

  14. Low Child Survival Index in a Multi-Dimensionally Poor Amerindian Population in Venezuela

    PubMed Central

    Villalba, Julian A.; Liu, Yushi; Alvarez, Mauyuri K.; Calderon, Luisana; Canache, Merari; Cardenas, Gaudymar; Del Nogal, Berenice; Takiff, Howard E.; De Waard, Jacobus H.

    2013-01-01

    Background Warao Amerindians, who inhabit the Orinoco Delta, are the second largest indigenous group in Venezuela.  High Warao general mortality rates were mentioned in a limited study 21 years ago. However, there have been no comprehensive studies addressing child survival across the entire population. Objectives To determine the Child Survival-Index (CSI) (ratio: still-living children/total-live births) in the Warao population, the principal causes of childhood death and the socio-demographic factors associated with childhood deaths. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional epidemiological survey of 688 women from 97 communities in 7 different subregions of the Orinoco Delta. Data collected included socio-demographic characteristics and the reproductive history of each woman surveyed. The multidimensional poverty index (MPI) was used to classify the households as deprived across the three dimensions of the Human Development Index. Multivariable linear regression and Generalized Linear Model Procedures were used to identify socioeconomic and environmental characteristics statistically associated with the CSI. Findings The average CSI was 73.8% ±26. The two most common causes of death were gastroenteritis/diarrhea (63%) and acute respiratory tract Infection/pneumonia (18%).  Deaths in children under five years accounted for 97.3% of childhood deaths, with 54% occurring in the neonatal period or first year of life.  Most of the women (95.5%) were classified as multidimensionally poor.  The general MPI in the sample was 0.56.   CSI was negatively correlated with MPI, maternal age, residence in a traditional dwelling and profession of the head of household other than nurse or teacher. Conclusions The Warao have a low CSI which is correlated with MPI and maternal age.  Infectious diseases are responsible for 85% of childhood deaths.  The low socioeconomic development, lack of infrastructure and geographic and cultural isolation suggest that an

  15. High prevalence of asthma symptoms in Warao Amerindian children in Venezuela is significantly associated with open-fire cooking: a cross-sectional observational study

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Background The International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) reported a prevalence of asthma symptoms in 17 centers in nine Latin American countries that was similar to prevalence rates reported in non-tropical countries. It has been proposed that the continuous exposure to infectious diseases in rural populations residing in tropical areas leads to a relatively low prevalence of asthma symptoms. As almost a quarter of Latin American people live in rural tropical areas, the encountered high prevalence of asthma symptoms is remarkable. Wood smoke exposure and environmental tobacco smoke have been identified as possible risk factors for having asthma symptoms. Methods We performed a cross-sectional observational study from June 1, 2012 to September 30, 2012 in which we interviewed parents and guardians of Warao Amerindian children from Venezuela. Asthma symptoms were defined according to the ISAAC definition as self-reported wheezing in the last 12 months. The associations between wood smoke exposure and environmental tobacco smoke and the prevalence of asthma symptoms were calculated by means of univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results We included 630 children between two and ten years of age. Asthma symptoms were recorded in 164 of these children (26%). The prevalence of asthma symptoms was associated with the cooking method. Children exposed to the smoke produced by cooking on open wood fires were at higher risk of having asthma symptoms compared to children exposed to cooking with gas (AOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.18 - 3.84). Four percent of the children lived in a household where more than ten cigarettes were smoked per day and they had a higher risk of having asthma symptoms compared to children who were not exposed to cigarette smoke (AOR 2.69, 95% CI 1.11 - 6.48). Conclusion Our findings suggest that children living in rural settings in a household where wood is used for cooking or where more than ten cigarettes are smoked

  16. High prevalence of asthma symptoms in Warao Amerindian children in Venezuela is significantly associated with open-fire cooking: a cross-sectional observational study.

    PubMed

    Kraai, Stèphan; Verhagen, Lilly M; Valladares, Enrique; Goecke, Joaquin; Rasquin, Lorena; Colmenares, Paula; Del Nogal, Berenice; Hermans, Peter Wm; de Waard, Jacobus H

    2013-07-20

    The International Study on Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) reported a prevalence of asthma symptoms in 17 centers in nine Latin American countries that was similar to prevalence rates reported in non-tropical countries. It has been proposed that the continuous exposure to infectious diseases in rural populations residing in tropical areas leads to a relatively low prevalence of asthma symptoms. As almost a quarter of Latin American people live in rural tropical areas, the encountered high prevalence of asthma symptoms is remarkable. Wood smoke exposure and environmental tobacco smoke have been identified as possible risk factors for having asthma symptoms. We performed a cross-sectional observational study from June 1, 2012 to September 30, 2012 in which we interviewed parents and guardians of Warao Amerindian children from Venezuela. Asthma symptoms were defined according to the ISAAC definition as self-reported wheezing in the last 12 months. The associations between wood smoke exposure and environmental tobacco smoke and the prevalence of asthma symptoms were calculated by means of univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses. We included 630 children between two and ten years of age. Asthma symptoms were recorded in 164 of these children (26%). The prevalence of asthma symptoms was associated with the cooking method. Children exposed to the smoke produced by cooking on open wood fires were at higher risk of having asthma symptoms compared to children exposed to cooking with gas (AOR 2.12, 95% CI 1.18 - 3.84). Four percent of the children lived in a household where more than ten cigarettes were smoked per day and they had a higher risk of having asthma symptoms compared to children who were not exposed to cigarette smoke (AOR 2.69, 95% CI 1.11 - 6.48). Our findings suggest that children living in rural settings in a household where wood is used for cooking or where more than ten cigarettes are smoked daily have a higher risk of having

  17. Decreasing prevalence of Hepatitis B and absence of Hepatitis C Virus infection in the Warao indigenous population of Venezuela

    PubMed Central

    Blanco, Ruth Y.; Loureiro, Carmen L.; Sulbarán, Yoneira F.; Maes, Mailis; de Waard, Jacobus H.; Rangel, Héctor R.

    2018-01-01

    Prevalence and molecular epidemiology studies for hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) virus are scarce in Warao Amerindians from Venezuela, where an epidemic of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has recently been documented. To carry out a molecular epidemiology analysis of hepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) virus in Warao individuals from the Delta Amacuro State of Venezuela. A total of 548 sera were tested for serological and molecular markers for HBV and HCV. The prevalence of active infection (presence of HBV surface antigen, HBsAg), exposure to HBV (presence of Antibody to HBV core antigen, anti-HBc) and anti-HCV, was 1.8%, 13% and 0% respectively. HBV exposure was significantly lower in men below 18 years old and also lower than rates previously reported in other Amerindian communities from Venezuela. Thirty one percent (31%, 25/80) of individuals without evidence of HBV infection exhibited anti-HBs titer ≥ 10U.I / ml, being significantly more frequent in individuals younger than 20 years. A higher HBV exposure was observed among HIV-1 positive individuals (33% vs 11%, p <0.005). A high prevalence of occult HBV infection was also observed (5.6%, 11/195). Phylogenetic analysis of S gene and complete HBV genomes showed that F3 is the only circulating subgenotype, different from the F2 subgenotype found in 1991 in this population. These results suggest a recent introduction of subgenotype F3, with a low divergence among the isolates. These results highlight the importance of molecular epidemiology studies for viral control, and support the effectiveness of vaccination in reducing transmission of HBV. PMID:29799873

  18. [Tuberculosis in subjects under 15 years of age in the population of Warao in Venezuela].

    PubMed

    Fernández de Larrea, Carlos; Fandiño, Cecil; López, Diana; del Nogal, Berenice; Rodríguez, Nilia; Convit, Jacinto; Araujo, Zaida; de Waard, Jacobus H

    2002-03-01

    It is difficult to establish a definitive diagnosis of tuberculosis in rural areas where there is no access to a large hospital. The Warao people of the Delta Amacuro State in Venezuela, have a very high prevalence of adult TB, and we suspected that the Warao children would also have a high prevalence of the disease, almost entirely undiagnosed. We applied a simple methodology to select children suspicious for tuberculosis that is based on a rating system using clinical criteria, reactivity to tuberculin and intradomicilliary contacts. Of the 502 children under the age of 15 that were evaluated with this rating system, 27 were determined to be suspicious of TB and were further evaluated by a chest X-ray. Radiologic confirmation of TB was found in 16 (60%) of the 27 suspicious children. Of these 16 patients, 13 (81%) were PPD positive and 3 were PPD negative. Additionally, 7 of the 16 children with pathologic x-ray changes had one or more confirmatory findings: 3 were positive by culture or smear examination and 5 had a positive serologic B diagnostic test. In conclusion this methodology proved to be highly efficient in diagnosing childhood tuberculosis in this population, and should also be useful in other rural populations with a high prevalence of adult TB.

  19. Characterization of hepatitis B virus in Amerindian children and mothers from Amazonas State, Colombia

    PubMed Central

    Jaramillo, Carlos Mario; de La Hoz, Fernando; Porras, Alexandra; di Filippo, Diana; Choconta-Piraquive, Luz Angela; Payares, Edra; Montes, Neyla

    2017-01-01

    Background Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide public health problem. In the 1980’s a highly effective and safe vaccine against HBV was developed, although breakthrough infection still occasionally occurs because of the emergence of escape mutants. The aim of this study was to identify HBV genotypes and escape mutants in children and their mothers in Amerindian communities of the Amazonas State, Southern Colombia. Methods Blood specimens collected from children and mothers belonging to 37 Amerindian communities in Amazonas state, were screened for HBsAg and anti-HBc using ELISA. The partial region containing the S ORF was amplified by nested PCR, and amplicons were sequenced. The phylogenetic analysis was performed using the MEGA 5.05 software. Results Forty-six children (46/1275, 3.6%) and one hundred and seventy-seven mothers (177/572, 30.9%) were tested positive for the anti-HBc serological marker. Among them, 190 samples were tested for viral genome detection; 8.3% (2/31) serum samples obtained from children and 3.1% (5/159) from mothers were positive for the ORF S PCR. The predominant HBV genotype in the study population was F, subgenotype F1b; in addition, subgenotype F1a and genotype A were also characterized. Two HBV escape mutants were identified, G145R, reported worldwide, and W156*; this stop codon was identified in a child with occult HBV infection. Other mutations were found, L109R and G130E, located in critical positions of the HBsAg sequence. Conclusions This study aimed to characterize the HBV genotype F, subgenotypes F1b and F1a, and genotype A in Amerindian communities and for the first time escape mutants in Colombia. Further investigations are necessary to elucidate the frequency and the epidemiological impact of the escape mutants in the country. PMID:29016603

  20. HLA in North Colombia Chimila Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio; Palacio-Grüber, Jose; Juarez, Ignacio; Hernández, Ennio; Muñiz, Ester; Bayona, Brayan; Campos, Cristina; Nieto, Jorge; Martin-Villa, Manuel; Silvera, Carlos

    2018-04-01

    HLA-A,-B,-C,-DRB1 and -DQB1 alleles have been studied in Chimila Amerindians from Sabana de San Angel (North Colombian Coast) by using high resolution molecular typing. A frequent extended haplotype was found:HLA-A*24:02-B*51:10-C*15:02-BRB1*04:07-DQB1*03:02 (28.7%) which has also been described in Amerinndian Mayos Mexican population (Mexico, California Gulf, Pacific Ocean). Other haplotypes had already been found in Amerindians from Mexico (Pacific and Atlantic Coast), Peru (highlands and Amazon Basin), Bolivia and North USA. A geographic pattern according to HLA allele or haplotype frequencies is lacking in Amerindians, as already known. Also, five new extended haplotypes were found in Chimila Amerindians. Their HLA-A*24:02 high frequencies characteristic is shared with aboriginal populations of Taiwan; also, HLA-C*01:02 high frequencies are found in New Zealand Maoris, New Caledonians and Kimberly Aborigines from Australia. Finally, this study may show a model of evolutionary factors acting and rising one HLA allele frequency (-A*24:02), but not in others that belong to the same or different HLA loci. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  1. Antibacterial Resistance, Wayampis Amerindians, French Guyana

    PubMed Central

    Grenet, Karine; Guillemot, Didier; Jarlier, Vincent; Moreau, Brigitte; Dubourdieu, Stéphane; Ruimy, Raymond; Armand-Lefevre, Laurence; Bau, Pierre

    2004-01-01

    Drug resistance in fecal bacteria was high in Wayampis Amerindians who did not take antibacterial agents and were not hospitalized for 1 year. In the Wayampis Amerindians, an isolated traditional community in French Guyana, antibacterial use was 0.64 treatments per person per year. Hospitalization rate was 6.1% per year. Antibacterial drug–resistant bacteria can spread in persons who are not taking antibacterial agents. PMID:15207074

  2. Amerindian and Translingual Literacies across Time and Space

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Coronel-Molina, Serafín M.; Cowan, Peter M.

    2017-01-01

    Recent studies have examined Indigenous and mestizo communities that engage in social practices of transculturated, Amerindian and translingual literacies, often to resist efforts by powerful groups to oppress them. By drawing on data from studies conducted in Peru and the United States, we trace the trajectories of Amerindian and translingual…

  3. Increasing seroprevalence of human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) with age confirms HHV-8 endemicity in Amazon Amerindians from Brazil.

    PubMed

    Cunha, A M G; Caterino-de-Araujo, A; Costa, S C B; Santos-Fortuna, E; Boa-Sorte, N C A; Gonçalves, M S; Costa, F F; Galvão-Castro, B

    2005-09-01

    Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) seroprevalences were determined in two isolated Amazon Amerindian tribes, according to age, gender and familial aggregation. Plasma and serum samples obtained from 982 Amazon Amerindians (664 Tiriyó and 318 Waiampi) were tested for antibodies against lytic and latent HHV-8 antigens by using 'in-house' immunofluorescence assays. Overall, HHV-8 seroprevalence was 56.8 % (57.4 % in the Tiriyó tribe and 55.7 % in the Waiampi tribe). Seroprevalence was independent of gender and increased linearly with age: it was 35.0 % among children aged 2-9 years, 51.4 % in adolescents (10-19 years), 72.9 % in adults and 82.3 % in adults aged >50 years. Interestingly, 44.4 % of children under 2 years of age were HHV-8-seropositive. No significant differences in seroprevalence between tribes and age groups were detected. It is concluded that HHV-8 is hyperendemic in Brazilian Amazon Amerindians, with vertical and horizontal transmission during childhood, familial transmission and sexual contact in adulthood contributing to this high prevalence in these isolated populations.

  4. Factor IX gene haplotypes in Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Franco, R F; Araújo, A G; Zago, M A; Guerreiro, J F; Figueiredo, M S

    1997-02-01

    We have determined the haplotypes of the factor IX gene for 95 Indians from 5 Brazilian Amazon tribes: Wayampí, Wayana-Apalaí, Kayapó, Arára, and Yanomámi. Eight polymorphisms linked to the factor IX gene were investigated: MseI (at 5', nt -698), BamHI (at 5', nt -561), DdeI (intron 1), BamHI (intron 2), XmnI (intron 3), TaqI (intron 4), MspI (intron 4), and HhaI (at 3', approximately 8 kb). The results of the haplotype distribution and the allele frequencies for each of the factor IX gene polymorphisms in Amerindians were similar to the results reported for Asian populations but differed from results for other ethnic groups. Only five haplotypes were identified within the entire Amerindian study population, and the haplotype distribution was significantly different among the five tribes, with one (Arára) to four (Wayampí) haplotypes being found per tribe. These findings indicate a significant heterogeneity among the Indian tribes and contrast with the homogeneous distribution of the beta-globin gene cluster haplotypes but agree with our recent findings on the distribution of alpha-globin gene cluster haplotypes and the allele frequencies for six VNTRs in the same Amerindian tribes. Our data represent the first study of factor IX-associated polymorphisms in Amerindian populations and emphasizes the applicability of these genetic markers for population and human evolution studies.

  5. Argentine Population Genetic Structure: Large Variance in Amerindian Contribution

    PubMed Central

    Seldin, Michael F.; Tian, Chao; Shigeta, Russell; Scherbarth, Hugo R.; Silva, Gabriel; Belmont, John W.; Kittles, Rick; Gamron, Susana; Allevi, Alberto; Palatnik, Simon A.; Alvarellos, Alejandro; Paira, Sergio; Caprarulo, Cesar; Guillerón, Carolina; Catoggio, Luis J.; Prigione, Cristina; Berbotto, Guillermo A.; García, Mercedes A.; Perandones, Carlos E.; Pons-Estel, Bernardo A.; Alarcon-Riquelme, Marta E.

    2011-01-01

    Argentine population genetic structure was examined using a set of 78 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to assess the contributions of European, Amerindian, and African ancestry in 94 individuals members of this population. Using the Bayesian clustering algorithm STRUCTURE, the mean European contribution was 78%, the Amerindian contribution was 19.4%, and the African contribution was 2.5%. Similar results were found using weighted least mean square method: European, 80.2%; Amerindian, 18.1%; and African, 1.7%. Consistent with previous studies the current results showed very few individuals (four of 94) with greater than 10% African admixture. Notably, when individual admixture was examined, the Amerindian and European admixture showed a very large variance and individual Amerindian contribution ranged from 1.5 to 84.5% in the 94 individual Argentine subjects. These results indicate that admixture must be considered when clinical epidemiology or case control genetic analyses are studied in this population. Moreover, the current study provides a set of informative SNPs that can be used to ascertain or control for this potentially hidden stratification. In addition, the large variance in admixture proportions in individual Argentine subjects shown by this study suggests that this population is appropriate for future admixture mapping studies. PMID:17177183

  6. Influence of Bacille Calmette-Guérin on tuberculin skin testing in Venezuelan Amerindians in high tuberculosis burden areas.

    PubMed

    Maes, Mailis; Verhagen, Lilly M; Ortega, Dagmarys; Sánchez, Gregorio L; Segovia, Yajaira; del Nogal, Berenice; de Waard, Jacobus H

    2014-02-13

    Extraordinarily high tuberculosis (TB) prevalence rates have been reported in Venezuelan Amerindians. Amerindian populations often live in geographically isolated villages where they receive little medical attention and live under precarious sanitary conditions. TB prevalence varies by ethnicity and geographic location and is generally higher in Amerindians than in non-indigenous (Creole) people. Between January 1, 1998 and December 31, 2009, the tuberculin skin test (TST) was administered during field operations to 9,538 Amerindian and Creole people between 0 and 94 years of age living in Venezuela. In 6,979 individuals (73%), Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccination status, age, and ethnicity were recorded. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the influence of previous BCG vaccination, age, and ethnicity on TST outcomes. Age, ethnicity, and the number of BCG vaccinations administered each had a significant influence on TST outcomes (p < 0.001). The influence of BCG vaccination on TST outcomes varied by ethnicity and was only significant in children aged between 0 and 3 years. The utility of TST in the diagnosis of TB infection in high TB burden settings with widespread BCG vaccination should be evaluated locally and individually as this depends on ethnicity, age, and the number of BCG vaccinations administered. In Venezuelan children 4 years of age and older, the TST remains a useful tool for the detection of TB infection, independent of BCG vaccination status.

  7. High Rate of Infection by Only Oncogenic Human Papillomavirus in Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Vargas-Robles, Daniela; Magris, Magda; Morales, Natalia; de Koning, Maurits N C; Rodríguez, Iveth; Nieves, Tahidid; Godoy-Vitorino, Filipa; Sánchez, Gloria I; Alcaraz, Luis David; Forney, Larry J; Pérez, María-Eglée; García-Briceño, Luis; van Doorn, Leen-Jan; Domínguez-Bello, María Gloria

    2018-06-27

    Human papillomavirus (HPV), an etiological agent of cervical cancer (CC), has infected humans since ancient times. Amerindians are the furthest migrants out of Africa, and they reached the Americas more than 14,000 years ago. Some groups still remain isolated, and some migrate to towns, forming a gradient spanning urbanization. We hypothesized that, by virtue of their history, lifestyle, and isolation from the global society, remote Amerindian women have lower HPV diversity than do urban women (Amerindian or mestizo). Here we determined the diversity of the 25 most relevant cervical HPV types in 82 Amerindians spanning urbanization (low, medium, and high, consistent with the exposure to urban lifestyles of the town of Puerto Ayacucho in the Venezuelan Amazonas State), and in 29 urban mestizos from the town. Cervical, anal, oral, and introitus samples were taken, and HPVs were typed using reverse DNA hybridization. A total of 23 HPV types were detected, including 11 oncogenic or high-risk types, most associated with CC. Cervical HPV prevalence was 75%, with no differences by group, but Amerindians from low and medium urbanization level had significantly lower HPV diversity than mestizos did. In Amerindians, but not in mestizos, infections by only high-risk HPVs were higher than coinfections or by exclusively low-risk HPVs. Cervical abnormalities only were observed in Amerindians (9/82), consistent with their high HPV infection. The lower cervical HPV diversity in more isolated Amerindians is consistent with their lower exposure to the global pool, and transculturation to urban lifestyles could have implications on HPV ecology, infection, and virulence. IMPORTANCE The role of HPV type distribution on the disparity of cervical cancer (CC) incidence between human populations remains unknown. The incidence of CC in the Amazonas State of Venezuela is higher than the national average. In this study, we determined the diversity of known HPV types (the viral agent of CC

  8. HLA genetic profile of Mapuche (Araucanian) Amerindians from Chile.

    PubMed

    Rey, Diego; Parga-Lozano, Carlos; Moscoso, Juan; Areces, Cristina; Enriquez-de-Salamanca, Mercedes; Fernández-Honrado, Mercedes; Abd-El-Fatah-Khalil, Sedeka; Alonso-Rubio, Javier; Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio

    2013-07-01

    Amerindian Mapuche (Araucanians) are now living in Chile and Argentina at both sides of Andean Mountains. They are anthropologically and genetically different from southernmost South America Patagonian Amerindians. Most of the HLA alleles found in our Mapuche sample are frequent or very frequent in North and South America Amerindians: (1) Class I: A*02:01, A*03:01, A*68:01, B*39:09, B*51:01, (2) Class II: DRB1*03:01, DRB1*04:03, DRB1*07:01, DRB1*08:02, DRB1*14:02, DRB1*16:02. One of the nine most frequent extended haplotypes seems to be from European origin, suggesting the existence of a degree of admixture with Europeans in our Mapuche sample. It has been calculated of about 11 % admixture. Three of the extended haplotypes are also found in other Amerindians and five of them are newly found in Mapuche Amerindians: A*68:01-B*39:09-DRB1*08:02-DQB1*04:02; A*68:01-B*51:01-DRB1*04:03-DQB1*03:02; A*29:01-B*08:01-DRB1*03:01-DQB1*02:01; A*02:01-B*15:01-DRB1*04:03-DQB1*03:02; A*33:01-B*14:02-DRB1*07:01-DQB1*03:03. The medical importance of calculating HLA profile is discussed on the diagnostic (HLA and disease) and therapeutical bases of HLA pharmacogenomics and on the construction of a virtual transplantation HLA list profile. Also, anthropological conclusions are drawn.

  9. Amerindian-specific regions under positive selection harbour new lipid variants in Latinos

    PubMed Central

    Ko, Arthur; Cantor, Rita M.; Weissglas-Volkov, Daphna; Nikkola, Elina; Reddy, Prasad M. V. Linga; Sinsheimer, Janet S.; Pasaniuc, Bogdan; Brown, Robert; Alvarez, Marcus; Rodriguez, Alejandra; Rodriguez-Guillen, Rosario; Bautista, Ivette C.; Arellano-Campos, Olimpia; Muñoz-Hernández, Linda L.; Salomaa, Veikko; Kaprio, Jaakko; Jula, Antti; Jauhiainen, Matti; Heliövaara, Markku; Raitakari, Olli; Lehtimäki, Terho; Eriksson, Johan G.; Perola, Markus; Lohmueller, Kirk E.; Matikainen, Niina; Taskinen, Marja-Riitta; Rodriguez-Torres, Maribel; Riba, Laura; Tusie-Luna, Teresa; Aguilar-Salinas, Carlos A.; Pajukanta, Päivi

    2014-01-01

    Dyslipidemia and obesity are especially prevalent in populations with Amerindian backgrounds, such as Mexican–Americans, which predispose these populations to cardiovascular disease. Here we design an approach, known as the cross-population allele screen (CPAS), which we conduct prior to a genome-wide association study (GWAS) in 19,273 Europeans and Mexicans, in order to identify Amerindian risk genes in Mexicans. Utilizing CPAS to restrict the GWAS input variants to only those differing in frequency between the two populations, we identify novel Amerindian lipid genes, receptor-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA) and salt-inducible kinase 3 (SIK3), and three loci previously unassociated with dyslipidemia or obesity. We also detect lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) harbouring specific Amerindian signatures of risk variants and haplotypes. Notably, we observe that SIK3 and one novel lipid locus underwent positive selection in Mexicans. Furthermore, after a high-fat meal, the SIK3 risk variant carriers display high triglyceride levels. These findings suggest that Amerindian-specific genetic architecture leads to a higher incidence of dyslipidemia and obesity in modern Mexicans. PMID:24886709

  10. Distinct cutaneous bacterial assemblages in a sampling of South American Amerindians and US residents.

    PubMed

    Blaser, Martin J; Dominguez-Bello, Maria G; Contreras, Monica; Magris, Magda; Hidalgo, Glida; Estrada, Isidoro; Gao, Zhan; Clemente, Jose C; Costello, Elizabeth K; Knight, Rob

    2013-01-01

    The human skin harbors complex bacterial communities. Prior studies showing high inter-individual variation focused on subjects from developed countries. We therefore compared cutaneous bacterial communities of Amerindians in the Venezuelan Amazon with subjects in the United States. Forearm skin specimens were studied from healthy Amerindians in Platanillal village in Amazonas State, and from healthy persons in New York and Colorado. All skin sampling used similar swab/buffer techniques. Multiplexed V2-targeted 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing yielded high quality sequences from 112 samples. The results show 20 phyla, with three (Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria) predominating. US residents and Venezuelan Amerindians had significantly different forearm skin bacterial community compositions, with United States dominated by Propionibacterium. Among the Amerindians, there was a deep split based on bacterial community membership, with 30 and 42 samples, respectively, falling into each of the two groups, not associated with age, gender, or body mass index. One Amerindian group had diversity similar to the United States, but was dominated by Staphylococcus rather than Propionibacterium. The other Amerindian group was significantly more diverse and even than the US or the other Amerindian group, and featured a broad range of Proteobacteria. The results provide evidence that ethnicity, lifestyle and/or geography are associated with the structure of human cutaneous bacterial communities.

  11. Recovering mitochondrial DNA lineages of extinct Amerindian nations in extant homopatric Brazilian populations.

    PubMed

    Gonçalves, Vanessa F; Parra, Flavia C; Gonçalves-Dornelas, Higgor; Rodrigues-Carvalho, Claudia; Silva, Hilton P; Pena, Sergio Dj

    2010-12-01

    Brazilian Amerindians have experienced a drastic population decrease in the past 500 years. Indeed, many native groups from eastern Brazil have vanished. However, their mitochondrial mtDNA haplotypes, still persist in Brazilians, at least 50 million of whom carry Amerindian mitochondrial lineages. Our objective was to test whether, by analyzing extant rural populations from regions anciently occupied by specific Amerindian groups, we could identify potentially authentic mitochondrial lineages, a strategy we have named 'homopatric targeting'. We studied 173 individuals from Queixadinha, a small village located in a territory previously occupied by the now extinct Botocudo Amerindian nation. Pedigree analysis revealed 74 unrelated matrilineages, which were screened for Amerindian mtDNA lineages by restriction fragment length polymorphism. A cosmopolitan control group was composed of 100 individuals from surrounding cities. All Amerindian lineages identified had their hypervariable segment HVSI sequenced, yielding 13 Amerindian haplotypes in Queixadinha, nine of which were not present in available databanks or in the literature. Among these haplotypes, there was a significant excess of haplogroup C (70%) and absence of haplogroup A lineages, which were the most common in the control group. The novelty of the haplotypes and the excess of the C haplogroup suggested that we might indeed have identified Botocudo lineages. To validate our strategy, we studied teeth extracted from 14 ancient skulls of Botocudo Amerindians from the collection of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. We recovered mtDNA sequences from all the teeth, identifying only six different haplotypes (a low haplotypic diversity of 0.8352 ± 0.0617), one of which was present among the lineages observed in the extant individuals studied. These findings validate the technique of homopatric targeting as a useful new strategy to study the peopling and colonization of the New World, especially when direct

  12. Recovering mitochondrial DNA lineages of extinct Amerindian nations in extant homopatric Brazilian populations

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background Brazilian Amerindians have experienced a drastic population decrease in the past 500 years. Indeed, many native groups from eastern Brazil have vanished. However, their mitochondrial mtDNA haplotypes, still persist in Brazilians, at least 50 million of whom carry Amerindian mitochondrial lineages. Our objective was to test whether, by analyzing extant rural populations from regions anciently occupied by specific Amerindian groups, we could identify potentially authentic mitochondrial lineages, a strategy we have named 'homopatric targeting'. Results We studied 173 individuals from Queixadinha, a small village located in a territory previously occupied by the now extinct Botocudo Amerindian nation. Pedigree analysis revealed 74 unrelated matrilineages, which were screened for Amerindian mtDNA lineages by restriction fragment length polymorphism. A cosmopolitan control group was composed of 100 individuals from surrounding cities. All Amerindian lineages identified had their hypervariable segment HVSI sequenced, yielding 13 Amerindian haplotypes in Queixadinha, nine of which were not present in available databanks or in the literature. Among these haplotypes, there was a significant excess of haplogroup C (70%) and absence of haplogroup A lineages, which were the most common in the control group. The novelty of the haplotypes and the excess of the C haplogroup suggested that we might indeed have identified Botocudo lineages. To validate our strategy, we studied teeth extracted from 14 ancient skulls of Botocudo Amerindians from the collection of the National Museum of Rio de Janeiro. We recovered mtDNA sequences from all the teeth, identifying only six different haplotypes (a low haplotypic diversity of 0.8352 ± 0.0617), one of which was present among the lineages observed in the extant individuals studied. Conclusions These findings validate the technique of homopatric targeting as a useful new strategy to study the peopling and colonization of the New

  13. Further evidence of an Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool on Easter Island.

    PubMed

    Thorsby, E; Flåm, S T; Woldseth, B; Dupuy, B M; Sanchez-Mazas, A; Fernandez-Vina, M A

    2009-06-01

    Available evidence suggests a Polynesian origin of the Easter Island population. We recently found that some native Easter Islanders also carried some common American Indian (Amerindian) human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles, which probably were introduced before Europeans discovered the island in 1722. In this study, we report molecular genetic investigations of 21 other selected native Easter Islanders. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome markers showed no traces of an Amerindian contribution. However, high-resolution genomic HLA typing showed that two individuals carried some other common Amerindian HLA alleles, different from those found in our previous investigations. The new data support our previous evidence of an Amerindian contribution to the gene pool on Easter Island.

  14. Ancestry informative markers in Amerindians from Brazilian Amazon.

    PubMed

    Luizon, Marcelo Rizzatti; Mendes-Junior, Celso Teixeira; De Oliveira, Silviene Fabiana; Simões, Aguinaldo Luiz

    2008-01-01

    Ancestry informative markers (AIMs) are genetic loci with large frequency differences between the major ethnic groups and are very useful in admixture estimation. However, their frequencies are poorly known within South American indigenous populations, making it difficult to use them in admixture studies with Latin American populations, such as the trihybrid Brazilian population. To minimize this problem, the frequencies of the AIMs FY-null, RB2300, LPL, AT3-I/D, Sb19.3, APO, and PV92 were determined via PCR and PCR-RFLP in four tribes from Brazilian Amazon (Tikúna, Kashinawa, Baníwa, and Kanamarí), to evaluate their potential for discriminating indigenous populations from Europeans and Africans, as well as discriminating each tribe from the others. Although capable of differentiating tribes, as evidenced by the exact test of population differentiation, a neighbor-joining tree suggests that the AIMs are useless in obtaining reliable reconstructions of the biological relationships and evolutionary history that characterize the villages and tribes studied. The mean allele frequencies from these AIMs were very similar to those observed for North American natives. They discriminated Amerindians from Africans, but not from Europeans. On the other hand, the neighbor-joining dendrogram separated Africans and Europeans from Amerindians with a high statistical support (bootstrap = 0.989). The relatively low diversity (G(ST) = 0.042) among North American natives and Amerindians from Brazilian Amazon agrees with the lack of intra-ethnic variation previously reported for these markers. Despite genetic drift effects, the mean allelic frequencies herein presented could be used as Amerindian parental frequencies in admixture estimates in urban Brazilian populations. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  15. MHC Class II haplotypes of Colombian Amerindian tribes

    PubMed Central

    Yunis, Juan J.; Yunis, Edmond J.; Yunis, Emilio

    2013-01-01

    We analyzed 1041 individuals belonging to 17 Amerindian tribes of Colombia, Chimila, Bari and Tunebo (Chibcha linguistic family), Embera, Waunana (Choco linguistic family), Puinave and Nukak (Maku-Puinave linguistic families), Cubeo, Guanano, Tucano, Desano and Piratapuyo (Tukano linguistic family), Guahibo and Guayabero (Guayabero Linguistic Family), Curripaco and Piapoco (Arawak linguistic family) and Yucpa (Karib linguistic family). for MHC class II haplotypes (HLA-DRB1, DQA1, DQB1). Approximately 90% of the MHC class II haplotypes found among these tribes are haplotypes frequently encountered in other Amerindian tribes. Nonetheless, striking differences were observed among Chibcha and non-Chibcha speaking tribes. The DRB1*04:04, DRB1*04:11, DRB1*09:01 carrying haplotypes were frequently found among non-Chibcha speaking tribes, while the DRB1*04:07 haplotype showed significant frequencies among Chibcha speaking tribes, and only marginal frequencies among non-Chibcha speaking tribes. Our results suggest that the differences in MHC class II haplotype frequency found among Chibcha and non-Chibcha speaking tribes could be due to genetic differentiation in Mesoamerica of the ancestral Amerindian population into Chibcha and non-Chibcha speaking populations before they entered into South America. PMID:23885196

  16. Study of Colombia North Wiwa El Encanto Amerindians HLA- genes: Pacific Islanders relatedness.

    PubMed

    Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio; Palacio-Grüber, Jose; Juarez, Ignacio; Muñiz, Ester; Hernández, Ennio; Bayona, Brayan; Campos, Cristina; Nuñez, Jorge; Lopez-Nares, Adrian; Martin-Villa, Manuel; Silvera, Carlos

    2018-07-01

    We have studied Wiwa/Sanja Amerindians HLA-A, -B, -C, -DRB1 and DQB1 allele frequencies and extended haplotypes in 52 unrelated individuals from "El Encanto" town at Guanachaca riverside. High frequency alleles were in general present in other Amerindian populations. Also, three extended haplotypes and eight ones were respectively both "new found" and already described in Amerindians from North, Central and South America, including Lakota-Sioux, Mayas, Teeneks, Quechua and Aymaras. Analyses of HLA-A*24:02 and -C*01:02 Wiwa high frequency alleles suggested a specific relatedness with another Amerindian and Pacific Islander ethnic groups (these two particular alleles bearing in high frequencies); they include New Zealand Maoris, Taiwanese, Japanese, Papua New Guinea, and Samoans among others. This may indicate that selective forces are maintaining these two alleles high frequency within this wide American/Pacific area. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  17. The targetable A1 Huntington disease haplotype has distinct Amerindian and European origins in Latin America

    PubMed Central

    Kay, Chris; Tirado-Hurtado, Indira; Cornejo-Olivas, Mario; Collins, Jennifer A; Wright, Galen; Inca-Martinez, Miguel; Veliz-Otani, Diego; Ketelaar, Maria E; Slama, Ramy A; Ross, Colin J; Mazzetti, Pilar; Hayden, Michael R

    2017-01-01

    Huntington disease (HD) is a dominant neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the Huntingtin (HTT) gene. HD occurs worldwide, but the causative mutation is found on different HTT haplotypes in distinct ethnic groups. In Latin America, HD is thought to have European origins, but indigenous Amerindian ancestry has not been investigated. Here, we report dense HTT haplotypes in 62 mestizo Peruvian HD families, 17 HD families from across Latin America, and 42 controls of defined Peruvian Amerindian ethnicity to determine the origin of HD in populations of admixed Amerindian and European descent. HD in Peru occurs most frequently on the A1 HTT haplotype (73%), as in Europe, but on an unexpected indigenous variant also found in Amerindian controls. This Amerindian A1 HTT haplotype predominates over the European A1 variant among geographically disparate Latin American controls and in HD families from across Latin America, supporting an indigenous origin of the HD mutation in mestizo American populations. We also show that a proportion of HD mutations in Peru occur on a C1 HTT haplotype of putative Amerindian origin (14%). The majority of HD mutations in Latin America may therefore occur on haplotypes of Amerindian ancestry rather than on haplotypes resulting from European admixture. Despite the distinct ethnic ancestry of Amerindian and European A1 HTT, alleles on the parent A1 HTT haplotype allow for development of identical antisense molecules to selectively silence the HD mutation in the greatest proportion of patients in both Latin American and European populations. PMID:28000697

  18. Origin of Aymaras from Bolivia and their relationship with other Amerindians according to HLA genes.

    PubMed

    Arnaiz-Villena, A; Siles, N; Moscoso, J; Zamora, J; Serrano-Vela, J I; Gomez-Casado, E; Castro, M J; Martinez-Laso, J

    2005-04-01

    Aymara Amerindians from the Titicaca Lake Andean highlands are studied for HLA-A, HLA-B, HLA-DRB1 and HLA-DQB1 gene frequencies. Genetic distances, neighbour-joining and correspondence analyses are performed by using other Amerindian and worldwide populations (15384 chromosomes are studied). The HLA genetic profile of Aymaras is different from neighbouring and language-related Quechuas (Incas). Both Quechuas and Aymaras seem to present an HLA-DRB1*0901 high frequency, which is present in a very low frequency or absent in Mesoamericans (Mazatecans, Mayans) and most studied Amerindians. Moreover, it is observed a closer relatedness of Aymaras with Amerindians from the Amazon Basin and Chaco lowlands, compared to Quechuans.

  19. Severe and benign Plasmodium vivax malaria in Emberá (Amerindian) children and adolescents from an endemic municipality in Western Colombia.

    PubMed

    Medina-Morales, Diego A; Montoya-Franco, Estefanía; Sanchez-Aristizabal, Viviana D P; Machado-Alba, Jorge E; Rodríguez-Morales, Alfonso J

    2016-01-01

    Malaria in children is still an important public health problem in endemic areas of South-East Asia and Latin America. Certain forms of the disease, such as Plasmodium vivax severe malaria, are still neglected. This descriptive study assessed the frequency of severe and benign P. vivax infection in Emberá children (<14 years of age) from an endemic municipality in Colombia in 2013, using the WHO criteria. During 2013, 270 Emberá children presented 349 episodes of malaria. From them, 22 (8.1%) presented at least one of the criteria for severe malaria. Some patients with P. vivax presented with severe malaria (severe anemia, renal dysfunction, respiratory distress and seizure). Mixed malaria cases presented more complications than those with monoinfection (OR=5.535; 95%CI 1.81-16.9). In Colombia, few data are available about severe P. vivax malaria in children, especially in the Amerindian ethnic groups. Mixed infections were associated with increased risk of severe malaria. At the same time, detailed and prospective studies are needed to measure the real impact of severe vivax malaria, as was evidenced in this paper. Copyright © 2015 King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. The Polynesian gene pool: an early contribution by Amerindians to Easter Island.

    PubMed

    Thorsby, Erik

    2012-03-19

    It is now generally accepted that Polynesia was first settled by peoples from southeast Asia. An alternative that eastern parts of Polynesia were first inhabited by Amerindians has found little support. There are, however, many indications of a 'prehistoric' (i.e. before Polynesia was discovered by Europeans) contact between Polynesia and the Americas, but genetic evidence of a prehistoric Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool has been lacking. We recently carried out genomic HLA (human leucocyte antigen) typing as well as typing for mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y chromosome markers of blood samples collected in 1971 and 2008 from reputedly non-admixed Easter Islanders. All individuals carried HLA alleles and mtDNA types previously found in Polynesia, and most of the males carried Y chromosome markers of Polynesian origin (a few had European Y chromosome markers), further supporting an initial Polynesian population on Easter Island. The HLA investigations revealed, however, that some individuals also carried HLA alleles which have previously almost only been found in Amerindians. We could trace the introduction of these Amerindian alleles to before the Peruvian slave trades, i.e. before the 1860s, and provide suggestive evidence that they were introduced already in prehistoric time. Our results demonstrate an early Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool on Easter Island, and illustrate the usefulness of typing for immunogenetic markers such as HLA to complement mtDNA and Y chromosome analyses in anthropological investigations.

  1. CYP2D6 genotype and phenotype in Amerindians of Tepehuano origin and Mestizos of Durango, Mexico.

    PubMed

    Sosa-Macías, Martha; Elizondo, Guillermo; Flores-Pérez, Carmen; Flores-Pérez, Janet; Bradley-Alvarez, Francisco; Alanis-Bañuelos, Ruth E; Lares-Asseff, Ismael

    2006-05-01

    Although the drug-metabolizing enzyme CYP2D6 has been studied extensively in subjects of differing ethnicities, limited CYP2D6 pharmacogenetic data are available for the Amerindian population and Mestizos of Mexico. Dextromethorphan hydroxylation phenotype was studied in Tepehuano Amerindian (n = 58) and Mestizo (n = 88) subjects, and 195 individuals (85 Tepehuano Amerindians and 110 Mestizos) were genotyped by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism methods to identify the frequencies of the CYP2D6*3, *4, *6, and *10 alleles. Tepehuano Amerindian subjects lacked the poor metabolizer (PM) phenotype, whereas in Mestizos the PM phenotype frequency was 6.8%. The CYP2D6*3, *6, and *10 alleles were not found in Tepehuano Amerindians. The CYP2D6*4 allele had a low frequency (0.006) in this Amerindian group. In the Mestizo group, the CYP2D6*3, *4, and *10 alleles had frequencies of 0.009, 0.131, and 0.023, respectively. The CYP2D6*6 allele was not found in Mestizos. The genotype-phenotype association was strongly statistically significant (r(2) = .45; P = .005) in Mestizos. The Tepehuano population was found to have a low phenotypic and genotypic CYP2D6 diversity and differed from other Amerindian groups. On the other hand, the frequencies of the CYP2D6 variant alleles in Mestizos were similar to those reported for whites.

  2. Attenuated CagA oncoprotein in Helicobacter pylori from Amerindians in Peruvian Amazon.

    PubMed

    Suzuki, Masato; Kiga, Kotaro; Kersulyte, Dangeruta; Cok, Jaime; Hooper, Catherine C; Mimuro, Hitomi; Sanada, Takahito; Suzuki, Shiho; Oyama, Masaaki; Kozuka-Hata, Hiroko; Kamiya, Shigeru; Zou, Quan-Ming; Gilman, Robert H; Berg, Douglas E; Sasakawa, Chihiro

    2011-08-26

    Population genetic analyses of bacterial genes whose products interact with host tissues can give new understanding of infection and disease processes. Here we show that strains of the genetically diverse gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori from Amerindians from the remote Peruvian Amazon contain novel alleles of cagA, a major virulence gene, and reveal distinctive properties of their encoded CagA proteins. CagA is injected into the gastric epithelium where it hijacks pleiotropic signaling pathways, helps Hp exploit its special gastric mucosal niche, and affects the risk that infection will result in overt gastroduodenal diseases including gastric cancer. The Amerindian CagA proteins contain unusual but functional tyrosine phosphorylation motifs and attenuated CRPIA motifs, which affect gastric epithelial proliferation, inflammation, and bacterial pathogenesis. Amerindian CagA proteins induced less production of IL-8 and cancer-associated Mucin 2 than did those of prototype Western or East Asian strains and behaved as dominant negative inhibitors of action of prototype CagA during mixed infection of Mongolian gerbils. We suggest that Amerindian cagA is of relatively low virulence, that this may have been selected in ancestral strains during infection of the people who migrated from Asia into the Americas many thousands of years ago, and that such attenuated CagA proteins could be useful therapeutically.

  3. High malnutrition rate in Venezuelan Yanomami compared to Warao Amerindians and Creoles: significant associations with intestinal parasites and anemia.

    PubMed

    Verhagen, Lilly M; Incani, Renzo N; Franco, Carolina R; Ugarte, Alejandra; Cadenas, Yeneska; Sierra Ruiz, Carmen I; Hermans, Peter W M; Hoek, Denise; Campos Ponce, Maiza; de Waard, Jacobus H; Pinelli, Elena

    2013-01-01

    Children in rural areas experience the interrelated problems of poor growth, anemia and parasitic infections. We investigated the prevalence of and associations between intestinal helminth and protozoan infections, malnutrition and anemia in school-age Venezuelan children. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 390 children aged 4-16 years from three rural areas of Venezuela: the Amazon Region, Orinoco Delta and Carabobo State. Stool samples were collected for direct parasitic examinations. Anthropometric indicators of chronic (height-for-age Z score) and acute (weight-for-height and Body Mass Index (BMI)-for-age Z score in respectively children under 5 years of age and children aged 5 years and above) malnutrition were calculated. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were built to determine factors associated with nutritional status and polyparasitism. Hookworm and Strongyloides stercoralis prevalences were highest in children from the Amazon rainforest (respectively 72% and 18%) while children from the Orinoco Delta and Carabobo State showed higher rates of Ascaris lumbricoides (respectively 28% and 37%) and Trichuris trichiura (40% in both regions). The prevalence of Giardia lamblia infection was not significantly different between regions (average: 18%). Anemia prevalence was highest in the Amazon Region (24%). Hemoglobin levels were significantly decreased in children with a hookworm infection. Malnutrition was present in respectively 84%, 30% and 13% of children from the Amazon Region, Orinoco Delta and Carabobo State. In multivariate analysis including all regions, G. lamblia and helminth infections were significantly and negatively associated with respectively height-for-age and weight-for-height/BMI-for-age Z scores. Furthermore, hemoglobin levels were positively associated with the height-for-age Z score (0.11, 95% CI 0.02 - 0.20). In rural populations in Venezuela helminthiasis and giardiasis were associated with acute and chronic

  4. Environmental, entomological, socioeconomic and behavioural risk factors for malaria attacks in Amerindian children of Camopi, French Guiana

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Malaria is a major health issue in French Guiana. Amerindian communities remain the most affected. A previous study in Camopi highlighted the predominant role of environmental factors in the occurrence of malaria. However, all parameters involved in the transmission were not clearly identified. A new survey was conducted in order to clarify the risk factors for the presence of malaria cases in Camopi. Methods An open cohort of children under seven years of age was set up on the basis of biologically confirmed malaria cases for the period 2001-2009. Epidemiological and observational environmental data were collected using two structured questionnaires. Data were analysed with a multiple failures multivariate Cox model. The influence of climate and the river level on malaria incidence was evaluated by time-series analysis. Relationships between Anopheles darlingi human biting rates and malaria incidence rates were estimated using Spearman's rank correlation. Results The global annual incidence over the nine-year period was 238 per 1,000 for Plasmodium falciparum, 514 per 1,000 for Plasmodium visa and 21 per 1,000 for mixed infections. The multivariate survival analysis associated higher malaria incidence with living on the Camopi riverside vs. the Oyapock riverside, far from the centre of the Camopi hamlet, in a home with numerous occupants and going to sleep late. On the contrary, living in a house cleared of all vegetation within 50 m and at high distance of the forest were associated with a lower risk. Meteorological and hydrological characteristics appeared to be correlated with malaria incidence with different lags. Anopheles darlingi human biting rate was also positively correlated to incident malaria in children one month later. Conclusions Malaria incidence in children remains high in young children despite the appearance of immunity in children around three years of age. The closeness environment but also the meteorological parameters play an

  5. Evaluation of forensic and anthropological potential of D9S1120 in Mestizos and Amerindian populations from Mexico

    PubMed Central

    Rangel-Villalobos, Héctor; Sánchez-Gutiérrez, Viviana M; Botello-Ruiz, Miriam; Salazar-Flores, Joel; Martínez-Cortés, Gabriela; Muñoz-Valle, José F; Phillips, Christopher

    2012-01-01

    Aim To carry out a deeper forensic and anthropological evaluation of the short tandem repeat (STR) D9S1120 in five Mestizo populations and eight Amerindian groups from Mexico. Methods We amplified the STR D9S1120 based on primers and conditions described by Phillips et al, followed by capillary electrophoresis in the genetic analyzer ABI Prism 310. Genotypes were analyzed with the GeneMapper ID software. In each population we estimated statistical parameters of forensic importance and Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Heterozygosity and FST-values were compared with those previously obtained with nine STRs of the Combined DNA Index System (CODIS-STRs). Results Amerindian and Mestizo populations showed high frequencies of the allele 9 and 16, respectively. Population structure analysis (AMOVA) showed a significant differentiation between Amerindian groups (FST = 2.81%; P < 0.0001), larger than between Mestizos (FST = 0.44%; P = 0.187). D9S1120 showed less genetic diversity but better population differentiation estimates than CODIS-STRs between Amerindian groups and between Amerindians and Mestizos, but not between Mestizo groups. Conclusion This study evaluated the ability of D9S1120 to be used for human identification purposes and demonstrated its anthropological potential to differentiate Mestizos and Amerindian populations. PMID:23100204

  6. HLA-G, -A haplotypes in Amerindians (Ecuador): HLA-G*01:05N World distribution.

    PubMed

    Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio; Palacio-Gruber, Jose; Enriquez de Salamanca, Mercedes; Juárez, Ignacio; Campos, Cristina; Nieto, Jorge; Muñiz, Ester; Martin-Villa, Jose Manuel

    2018-02-01

    HLA-G and HLA-A frequencies have been analysed in Amerindians from Ecuador. HLA-G allele frequencies are found to be closer to those of other Amerindians (Mayas from Guatemala and Uros from Peru) and closer to European ones than to Far East Asians groups, particularly, regarding to HLA-G*01:04 allele. HLA-G/-A haplotypes have been calculated for the first time in Amerindians. It is remarkable that HLA-G*01:05N "null" allele is found in a very low frequency (like in Amerindian Mayas and Uros) and is also found in haplotypes belonging to the HLA-A19 group of alleles (HLA-A*30, -A*31, -A*33). It was previously postulated that HLA-G*01:05N appeared in HLA-A*30/-B*13 haplotypes in Middle East Mediterraneans. It may be hypothesized that in Evolution, HLA-G*01:05N existed primarily in one of the HLA extant or extinct -A19 haplotype, whether this haplotype was placed in Middle East or other World areas, including America. However, the highest present day HLA-G*01:05N frequencies are found in Middle East Mediterraneans. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  7. HLA-DRB1 alleles in four Amerindian populations from Argentina and Paraguay

    PubMed Central

    2009-01-01

    The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is one of the biological systems of major polymorphisms. The study of HLA class II variability has allowed the identification of several alleles that are characteristic to Amerindian populations, and it is an excellent tool to define the relations and biological affinities among them. In this work, we analyzed the allelic distribution of the HLA-DRB1 class II locus in four Amerindian populations: Mapuche (n = 34) and Tehuelche (n = 23) from the Patagonian region of Argentina, and Wichi SV (n = 24) and Lengua (n = 17) from the Argentinean and Paraguayan Chaco regions, respectively. In all of these groups, relatively high frequencies of Amerindian HLA-DRB1 alleles were observed (DRB1*0403, DRB1*0407, DRB1*0411, DRB1*0417, DRB1*0802, DRB1*0901, DRB1*1402, DRB1*1406 and DRB1*1602). However, we also detected the presence of non-Amerindian variants in Mapuche (35%) and Tehuelche (22%). We compared our data with those obtained in six indigenous groups of the Argentinean Chaco region and in a sample from Buenos Aires City. The genetic distance dendrogram showed a clear-cut division between the Patagonian and Chaco populations, which formed two different clusters. In spite of their linguistic differences, it can be inferred that the biological affinities observed are in concordance with the geographic distributions and interethnic relations established among the groups studied. PMID:21637670

  8. Anemia and malaria in a Yanomami Amerindian population from the southern Venezuelan Amazon.

    PubMed

    Pérez Mato, S

    1998-12-01

    The prevalence and age distribution of anemia and malaria among Yanomami Amerindians undergoing sociocultural assimilation are described. Anemia and malaria proportions were determined in 103 individuals randomly selected from 515 villagers in Mavaca in the southern Venezuelan Amazon. The age and sex distribution reflected that of the entire village cluster. Anemia (hematocrit less than World Health Organization/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reference values) was found in 91% of the study population. As a group, adults (> or = 15 years old) had the highest proportion of anemia (P=0.037). Adult females had lower mean hematocrit values than adult males (P=0.013). The anemia was predominantly hypochromic and microcytic (62%), a finding that could suggest a diagnosis of iron deficiency in the absence of known hereditary hemoglobinopathies in these Amerindians. Malaria was diagnosed in 14% overall. Children (< 10 years old) displayed the highest proportion of Plasmodium falciparum (17%) and P. vivax (14%) parasitemia, splenomegaly (94%), and fever (34%) (P=0.059, 0.039, 0.005, and 0.008, respectively). The high proportions of anemia and splenomegaly observed in the survey may be used as indicators of inadequately controlled malaria in this community. Further studies to assess the epidemiology of risk factors for the high prevalence of anemia, and predominance of P. falciparum infections in the area are urgently needed.

  9. High Malnutrition Rate in Venezuelan Yanomami Compared to Warao Amerindians and Creoles: Significant Associations WITH Intestinal Parasites and Anemia

    PubMed Central

    Verhagen, Lilly M.; Incani, Renzo N.; Franco, Carolina R.; Ugarte, Alejandra; Cadenas, Yeneska; Sierra Ruiz, Carmen I.; Hermans, Peter W. M.; Hoek, Denise; Campos Ponce, Maiza; de Waard, Jacobus H.; Pinelli, Elena

    2013-01-01

    Background Children in rural areas experience the interrelated problems of poor growth, anemia and parasitic infections. We investigated the prevalence of and associations between intestinal helminth and protozoan infections, malnutrition and anemia in school-age Venezuelan children. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in 390 children aged 4-16 years from three rural areas of Venezuela: the Amazon Region, Orinoco Delta and Carabobo State. Stool samples were collected for direct parasitic examinations. Anthropometric indicators of chronic (height-for-age Z score) and acute (weight-for-height and Body Mass Index (BMI)-for-age Z score in respectively children under 5 years of age and children aged 5 years and above) malnutrition were calculated. Multivariate linear and logistic regression models were built to determine factors associated with nutritional status and polyparasitism. Results Hookworm and Strongyloides stercoralis prevalences were highest in children from the Amazon rainforest (respectively 72% and 18%) while children from the Orinoco Delta and Carabobo State showed higher rates of Ascaris lumbricoides (respectively 28% and 37%) and Trichuris trichiura (40% in both regions). The prevalence of Giardia lamblia infection was not significantly different between regions (average: 18%). Anemia prevalence was highest in the Amazon Region (24%). Hemoglobin levels were significantly decreased in children with a hookworm infection. Malnutrition was present in respectively 84%, 30% and 13% of children from the Amazon Region, Orinoco Delta and Carabobo State. In multivariate analysis including all regions, G. lamblia and helminth infections were significantly and negatively associated with respectively height-for-age and weight-for-height/BMI-for-age Z scores. Furthermore, hemoglobin levels were positively associated with the height-for-age Z score (0.11, 95% CI 0.02 - 0.20). Conclusions In rural populations in Venezuela helminthiasis and giardiasis were

  10. Uniparental genetic markers in South Amerindians

    PubMed Central

    Bisso-Machado, Rafael; Bortolini, Maria Cátira; Salzano, Francisco Mauro

    2012-01-01

    A comprehensive review of uniparental systems in South Amerindians was undertaken. Variability in the Y-chromosome haplogroups were assessed in 68 populations and 1,814 individuals whereas that of Y-STR markers was assessed in 29 populations and 590 subjects. Variability in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroup was examined in 108 populations and 6,697 persons, and sequencing studies used either the complete mtDNA genome or the highly variable segments 1 and 2. The diversity of the markers made it difficult to establish a general picture of Y-chromosome variability in the populations studied. However, haplogroup Q1a3a* was almost always the most prevalent whereas Q1a3* occurred equally in all regions, which suggested its prevalence among the early colonizers. The STR allele frequencies were used to derive a possible ancient Native American Q-clade chromosome haplotype and five of six STR loci showed significant geographic variation. Geographic and linguistic factors moderately influenced the mtDNA distributions (6% and 7%, respectively) and mtDNA haplogroups A and D correlated positively and negatively, respectively, with latitude. The data analyzed here provide rich material for understanding the biological history of South Amerindians and can serve as a basis for comparative studies involving other types of data, such as cultural data. PMID:22888284

  11. Impact of Genetic Ancestry and Socio-Demographic Status on the Clinical Expression of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus in Amerindian-European Populations

    PubMed Central

    Sánchez, Elena; Rasmussen, Astrid; Riba, Laura; Acevedo, Eduardo; Kelly, Jennifer A.; Langefeld, Carl D.; García-De La Torre, Ignacio; Maradiaga-Ceceña, Marco A.; Cardiel, Mario H.; Esquivel-Valerio, Jorge A.; Rodriguez-Amado, Jacqueline; Moctezuma, José Francisco; Miranda, Pedro; Perandones, Carlos; Castel, Cecilia; Laborde, Hugo A.; Alba, Paula; Musuruana, Jorge; Goecke, Annelise; Anaya, Juan-Manuel; Kaufman, Kenneth M.; Adler, Adam; Brown, Elizabeth E.; Alarcón, Graciela S.; Kimberly, Robert P.; Edberg, Jeffrey C.; Criswell, Lindsey A.; Gilkeson, Gary S.; Niewold, Timothy B.; Martin, Javier; Vyse, Timothy J.; Ramsey-Goldman, Rosalind; Petri, Michelle; Merrill, Joan T.; Reveille, John D.; Tsao, Betty P.; Orozco, Lorena; Baca, Vicente; James, Judith A.; Harley, John B.; Tusié-Luna, Teresa; Pons-Estel, Bernardo A.; Jacob, Chaim O.; Alarcón-Riquelme, Marta E.

    2012-01-01

    Objective Amerindian-Europeans, Asians and African-Americans have an excess morbidity from SLE and higher prevalence of lupus nephritis than Caucasians. The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between genetic ancestry and socio-demographic characteristics and clinical features in a large cohort of Amerindian-European SLE patients. Methods A total of 2116 SLE patients of Amerindian-European origin and 4001 SLE patients of European descent with clinical data were used in the study. Genotyping of 253 continental ancestry informative markers was performed on the Illumina platform. The STRUCTURE and ADMIXTURE software were used to determine genetic ancestry of each individual. Correlation between ancestry and socio-demographic and clinical data were analyzed using logistic regression. Results The average Amerindian genetic ancestry of 2116 SLE patients was 40.7%. There was an increased risk of having renal involvement (P<0.0001, OR= 3.50 95%CI 2.63-4.63) and an early age of onset with the presence of Amerindian genetic ancestry (P<0.0001). Amerindian ancestry protected against photosensitivity (P<0.0001, OR= 0.58 95%CI 0.44-0.76), oral ulcers (P<0.0001, OR= 0.55 95%CI 0.42-0.72), and serositis (P<0.0001, OR= 0.56 95%CI 0.41-0.75) after adjustment by age, gender and age of onset. However, gender and age of onset had stronger effects on malar rash, discoid rash, arthritis and neurological involvement than genetic ancestry. Conclusion In general, genetic Amerindian ancestry correlates with lower socio-demographic status and increases the risk for developing renal involvement and SLE at an earlier age of onset. PMID:22886787

  12. Helicobacter pylori Genotyping from American Indigenous Groups Shows Novel Amerindian vacA and cagA Alleles and Asian, African and European Admixture

    PubMed Central

    Camorlinga-Ponce, Margarita; Perez-Perez, Guillermo; Gonzalez-Valencia, Gerardo; Mendoza, Irma; Peñaloza-Espinosa, Rosenda; Ramos, Irma; Kersulyte, Dangeruta; Reyes-Leon, Adriana; Romo, Carolina; Granados, Julio; Muñoz, Leopoldo; Berg, Douglas E.; Torres, Javier

    2011-01-01

    It is valuable to extend genotyping studies of Helicobacter pylori to strains from indigenous communities across the world to better define adaption, evolution, and associated diseases. We aimed to genetically characterize both human individuals and their infecting H. pylori from indigenous communities of Mexico, and to compare them with those from other human groups. We studied individuals from three indigenous groups, Tarahumaras from the North, Huichols from the West and Nahuas from the center of Mexico. Volunteers were sampled at their community site, DNA was isolated from white blood cells and mtDNA, Y-chromosome, and STR alleles were studied. H. pylori was cultured from gastric juice, and DNA extracted for genotyping of virulence and housekeeping genes. We found Amerindian mtDNA haplogroups (A, B, C, and D), Y-chromosome DYS19T, and Amerindian STRs alleles frequent in the three groups, confirming Amerindian ancestry in these Mexican groups. Concerning H.pylori cagA phylogenetic analyses, although most isolates were of the Western type, a new Amerindian cluster neither Western nor Asian, was formed by some indigenous Mexican, Colombian, Peruvian and Venezuelan isolates. Similarly, vacA phylogenetic analyses showed the existence of a novel Amerindian type in isolates from Alaska, Mexico and Colombia. With hspA strains from Mexico and other American groups clustered within the three major groups, Asian, African or European. Genotyping of housekeeping genes confirmed that Mexican strains formed a novel Asian-related Amerindian group together with strains from remote Amazon Aborigines. This study shows that Mexican indigenous people with Amerindian markers are colonized with H. pylori showing admixture of Asian, European and African strains in genes known to interact with the gastric mucosa. We present evidence of novel Amerindian cagA and vacA alleles in indigenous groups of North and South America. PMID:22073291

  13. Helicobacter pylori genotyping from American indigenous groups shows novel Amerindian vacA and cagA alleles and Asian, African and European admixture.

    PubMed

    Camorlinga-Ponce, Margarita; Perez-Perez, Guillermo; Gonzalez-Valencia, Gerardo; Mendoza, Irma; Peñaloza-Espinosa, Rosenda; Ramos, Irma; Kersulyte, Dangeruta; Reyes-Leon, Adriana; Romo, Carolina; Granados, Julio; Muñoz, Leopoldo; Berg, Douglas E; Torres, Javier

    2011-01-01

    It is valuable to extend genotyping studies of Helicobacter pylori to strains from indigenous communities across the world to better define adaption, evolution, and associated diseases. We aimed to genetically characterize both human individuals and their infecting H. pylori from indigenous communities of Mexico, and to compare them with those from other human groups. We studied individuals from three indigenous groups, Tarahumaras from the North, Huichols from the West and Nahuas from the center of Mexico. Volunteers were sampled at their community site, DNA was isolated from white blood cells and mtDNA, Y-chromosome, and STR alleles were studied. H. pylori was cultured from gastric juice, and DNA extracted for genotyping of virulence and housekeeping genes. We found Amerindian mtDNA haplogroups (A, B, C, and D), Y-chromosome DYS19T, and Amerindian STRs alleles frequent in the three groups, confirming Amerindian ancestry in these Mexican groups. Concerning H.pylori cagA phylogenetic analyses, although most isolates were of the Western type, a new Amerindian cluster neither Western nor Asian, was formed by some indigenous Mexican, Colombian, Peruvian and Venezuelan isolates. Similarly, vacA phylogenetic analyses showed the existence of a novel Amerindian type in isolates from Alaska, Mexico and Colombia. With hspA strains from Mexico and other American groups clustered within the three major groups, Asian, African or European. Genotyping of housekeeping genes confirmed that Mexican strains formed a novel Asian-related Amerindian group together with strains from remote Amazon Aborigines. This study shows that Mexican indigenous people with Amerindian markers are colonized with H. pylori showing admixture of Asian, European and African strains in genes known to interact with the gastric mucosa. We present evidence of novel Amerindian cagA and vacA alleles in indigenous groups of North and South America.

  14. Differential perpetuation of malaria species among Amazonian Yanomami Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Laserson, K F; Wypij, D; Petralanda, I; Spielman, A; Maguire, J H

    1999-05-01

    To determine whether malaria perpetuates within isolated Amerindian villages in the Venezuelan Amazon, we surveyed malaria infection and disease among 1,311 Yanomami in three communities during a 16-month period. Plasmodium vivax was generally present in each of these small, isolated villages; asymptomatic infection was frequent, and clinical disease was most evident among children less than five years of age (odds ratio [OR] = 6.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.4-29.2) and among persons experiencing parasitemias > or = 1,000 parasites/mm3 of blood (OR = 45.0, 95% CI = 5.5-370.7). Plasmodium falciparum, in contrast, was less prevalent, except during an abrupt outbreak in which 72 infections resulted in symptoms in all age groups and at all levels of parasitemia, and occasionally were life-threatening. The observed endemic pattern of P. vivax infection may derive from the capacity of this pathogen to relapse, while the epidemic pattern of P. falciparum infection may reflect occasional introductions of strains carried by immigrants or residents of distant villages and the subsequent disappearance of this non-relapsing pathogen.

  15. The importance of leaf- and litter-feeding invertebrates as sources of animal protein for the Amazonian Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Paoletti, M G; Dufour, D L; Cerda, H; Torres, F; Pizzoferrato, L; Pimentel, D

    2000-11-22

    At least 32 Amerindian groups in the Amazon basin use terrestrial invertebrates as food. Leaf- and litter-consuming invertebrates provide the more important, underestimated food sources for many Amerindian groups. Further, litter-consuming earthworms are also an important food resource for the Ye'Kuana (also known as Makiritare) in the Alto Orinoco (Amazonas, Venezuela). By selecting these small invertebrates the Amerindians are choosing their animal food from those food webs in the rainforest which have the highest energy flow and which constitute the greatest renewable stock of readily available nutrients. Here we show that the consumption of leaf- and litter-feeding invertebrates as a means of recovering protein, fat and vitamins by the forest-living peoples offers a new perspective for the development of sustainable animal food production within the paradigm of biodiversity maintenance.

  16. Prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic disease in the Warao, Kari'ña, and Chaima indigenous populations of Monagas State, Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Granados, Ysabel; Rosillo, Celenia; Cedeño, Ligia; Martínez, Yanira; Sánchez, Gloris; López, Geovalis; Pérez, Fernando; Martínez, Damarys; Maestre, Gabriela; Berbin, Sol; Chacón, Rosa; Stekman, Iván; Valls, Evart; Peláez-Ballestas, Ingris

    2016-07-01

    This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and rheumatic diseases in the Warao, Kari'ña, and Chaima indigenous populations of Monagas State, Venezuela. A cross-sectional, analytical, community-based study was conducted in 1537 indigenous subjects ≥18 years old (38.6 % male, mean age 41.4 ± 17.5 years). The cross-culturally validated Community Oriented Program for the Control of Rheumatic Diseases (COPCORD) diagnostic questionnaire was applied. Subjects with a positive COPCORD diagnosis (either historic or current pain) were evaluated by primary care physicians and rheumatologists. A descriptive analysis was performed and comparisons made using analysis of variance and the chi-square test. Pain in the last 7 days was reported by 32.9 %, with pain intensity, according to a Likert-type scale [no pain, 195 (38.5 %); minimal pain, 231 (45.6 %); strong pain, 68 (13.4 %); intense pain, 5 (0.9 %)], 38.0 % reported historical pain, and 641 (41.7 %) had either historic or current pain. Of the COPCORD-positive subjects, pain most frequently occurred in the knee, back, and hands. Musculoskeletal and rheumatic diseases included osteoarthritis (14.1 %), back pain (12.4 %), rheumatic regional pain syndromes (RRPS) (9.7 %), undifferentiated arthritis (1.5 %), rheumatoid arthritis (1.1 %), and fibromyalgia (0.5 %). Chaima (18.3 %) and Kari'ña (15.6 %) subjects had a high prevalence of osteoarthritis, and Warao subjects had a high prevalence of low back pain (13.8 %). The prevalence of RRPS was high in all three ethnic groups. The Chaima group had the highest prevalence of rheumatic diseases, with 2.0 % having rheumatoid arthritis. This study provides useful information for health care policy-making in indigenous communities.

  17. Paleoclimate and Amerindians: Evidence from stable isotopes and atmospheric circulation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lovvorn, M.B.; Frison, G.C.; Tieszen, L.L.

    2001-01-01

    Two Amerindian demographic shifts are attributed to climate change in the northwest plains of North America: at ???11,000 calendar years before present (yr BP), Amerindian culture apparently split into foothills-mountains vs. plains biomes; and from 8,000-5,000 yr BP, scarce archaeological sites on the open plains suggest emigration during xeric "Altithermal" conditions. We reconstructed paleoclimates from stable isotopes in prehistoric bison bone and relations between weather and fractions of C4 plants in forage. Further, we developed a climate-change model that synthesized stable isotope, existing qualitative evidence (e.g., palynological, erosional), and global climate mechanisms affecting this midlatitude region. Our isotope data indicate significant warming from ???12,400 to 11,900 yr BP, supporting climate-driven cultural separation. However, isotope evidence of apparently wet, warm conditions at 7,300 yr BP refutes emigration to avoid xeric conditions. Scarcity of archaeological sites is best explained by rapid climate fluctuations after catastrophic draining of the Laurentide Lakes, which disrupted North Atlantic Deep Water production and subsequently altered monsoonal inputs to the open plains.

  18. HLA non-class II genes may confer type I diabetes susceptibility in a Mapuche (Amerindian) affected family.

    PubMed

    Pérez-Bravo, Francisco; Martinez-Laso, Jorge; Martin-Villa, Jose M; Moscoso, Juan; Moreno, Almudena; Serrano-Vela, Juan I; Zamora, Jorge; Asenjo, Silvia; Gleisner, Andrea; Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio

    2006-01-01

    A rare case of type I diabetes is studied in an Amerindian (Mapuche) family from Chile, analyzing glutamic acid decarboxylase, islet-cell autoantibodies and human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes. The affected sib is the only one that has one specific HLA haplotype combination that differs from the other sibs only in the HLA class I genes. It is concluded that HLA diabetes susceptibility factors may be placed outside the class II region or even that susceptibility factors do not exist in the HLA region in this Amerindian family.

  19. Genetic and environmental determinants of the susceptibility of Amerindian derived populations for having hypertriglyceridemia

    PubMed Central

    Aguilar-Salinas, Carlos A.; Tusie-Luna, Teresa; Pajukanta, Päivi

    2014-01-01

    Here, we discuss potential explanations for the higher prevalence of hypertriglyceridemia in populations with an Amerindian background. Although environmental factors are the triggers, the search for the ethnic related factors that explains the increased susceptibility of the Amerindians is a promising area for research. The study of the genetics of hypertriglyceridemia in Hispanic populations faces several challenges. Ethnicity could be a major confounding variable to prove genetic associations. Despite that, the study of hypertriglyceridemia in Hispanics has resulted in significant contributions. Two GWAS reports have exclusively included Mexican mestizos. Fifty percent of the associations reported in Caucasians could be generalized to the Mexicans, but in many cases the Mexican lead SNP was different than that reported in Europeans. Both reports included new associations with apo B or triglycerides concentrations. The frequency of susceptibility alleles in Mexicans is higher than that found in Europeans for several of the genes with the greatest effect on triglycerides levels. An example is the SNP rs964184 in APOA5. The same trend was observed for ANGPTL3 and TIMD4 variants. In summary, we postulate that the study of the genetic determinants of hypertriglyceridemia in Amerindian populations which have major changes in their lifestyle, may prove to be a great resource to identify new genes and pathways associated with hypertriglyceridemia. PMID:24768220

  20. Helicobacter pylori from Peruvian Amerindians: Traces of Human Migrations in Strains from Remote Amazon, and Genome Sequence of an Amerind Strain

    PubMed Central

    Kersulyte, Dangeruta; Kalia, Awdhesh; Gilman, Robert H.; Mendez, Melissa; Herrera, Phabiola; Cabrera, Lilia; Velapatiño, Billie; Balqui, Jacqueline; Paredes Puente de la Vega, Freddy; Rodriguez Ulloa, Carlos A.; Cok, Jaime; Hooper, Catherine C.; Dailide, Giedrius; Tamma, Sravya; Berg, Douglas E.

    2010-01-01

    Background The gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori is extraordinary in its genetic diversity, the differences between strains from well-separated human populations, and the range of diseases that infection promotes. Principal Findings Housekeeping gene sequences from H. pylori from residents of an Amerindian village in the Peruvian Amazon, Shimaa, were related to, but not intermingled with, those from Asia. This suggests descent of Shimaa strains from H. pylori that had infected the people who migrated from Asia into The Americas some 15,000+ years ago. In contrast, European type sequences predominated in strains from Amerindian Lima shantytown residents, but with some 12% Amerindian or East Asian-like admixture, which indicates displacement of ancestral purely Amerindian strains by those of hybrid or European ancestry. The genome of one Shimaa village strain, Shi470, was sequenced completely. Its SNP pattern was more Asian- than European-like genome-wide, indicating a purely Amerind ancestry. Among its unusual features were two cagA virulence genes, each distinct from those known from elsewhere; and a novel allele of gene hp0519, whose encoded protein is postulated to interact with host tissue. More generally, however, the Shi470 genome is similar in gene content and organization to those of strains from industrialized countries. Conclusions Our data indicate that Shimaa village H. pylori descend from Asian strains brought to The Americas many millennia ago; and that Amerind strains are less fit than, and were substantially displaced by, hybrid or European strains in less isolated communities. Genome comparisons of H. pylori from Amerindian and other communities should help elucidate evolutionary forces that have shaped pathogen populations in The Americas and worldwide. PMID:21124785

  1. What Future for the Amerindians of South America? Minority Rights Group Report 15.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Shaughnessy, Hugh

    Accounts of massacres, rumors of slavery, reports of exploitation and the fashionable preoccupation with ecology have all combined to create a conscience about the Amerindian peoples of South America. There now seems to be generalized feelings in Western Europe and elsewhere that something ought to be done about these peoples. The purpose of this…

  2. Mitochondrial DNA diversity of the Amerindian populations living in the Andean Piedmont of Bolivia: Chimane, Moseten, Aymara and Quechua.

    PubMed

    Corella, Alfons; Bert, Francesc; Pérez-Pérez, Alejandro; Gené, Manel; Turbón, Daniel

    2007-01-01

    Chimane, Moseten Aymara and Quechua are Amerindian populations living in the Bolivian Piedmont, a characteristic ecoregion between the eastern slope of the Andean mountains and the Amazonian Llanos de Moxos. In both neighbouring areas, dense and complex societies have developed over the centuries. The Piedmont area is especially interesting from a human peopling perspective since there is no clear evidence regarding the genetic influence and peculiarities of these populations. This land has been used extensively as a territory of economic and cultural exchange between the Andes and Amazonia, however Chimane and Moseten populations have been sufficiently isolated from their neighbour groups to be recognized as distinct populations. Genetic information suggests that evolutionary processes, such as genetic drift, natural selection and genetic admixture have formed the history of the Piedmont populations. The objective of this study is to characterize the genetic diversity of the Piedmont populations, analysing the sequence variability of the HVR-I control region in the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). Haplogroup mtDNA data available from the whole of Central and South America were utilized to determine the relationship of the Piedmont populations with other Amerindian populations. Hair pulls were obtained in situ, and DNA from non-related individuals was extracted using a standard Chelex 100 method. A 401 bp DNA fragment of HVR-I region was amplified using standard procedures. Two independent 401 and 328 bp DNA fragments were sequenced separately for each sample. The sequence analyses included mismatch distribution and mean pairwise differences, median network analyses, AMOVA and principal component analyses. The genetic diversity of DNA sequences was measured and compared with other South Amerindian populations. The genetic diversity of 401 nucleotide mtDNA sequences, in the hypervariable Control Region, from positions 16 000-16 400, was characterized in a sample of 46

  3. Identity-by-Descent Mapping Identifies Major Locus for Serum Triglycerides in Amerindians Largely Explained by an APOC3 Founder Mutation.

    PubMed

    Hsueh, Wen-Chi; Nair, Anup K; Kobes, Sayuko; Chen, Peng; Göring, Harald H H; Pollin, Toni I; Malhotra, Alka; Knowler, William C; Baier, Leslie J; Hanson, Robert L

    2017-12-01

    Identity-by-descent mapping using empirical estimates of identity-by-descent allele sharing may be useful for studies of complex traits in founder populations, where hidden relationships may augment the inherent genetic information that can be used for localization. Through identity-by-descent mapping, using ≈400 000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), of serum lipid profiles, we identified a major linkage signal for triglycerides in 1007 Pima Indians (LOD=9.23; P =3.5×10 -11 on chromosome 11q). In subsequent fine-mapping and replication association studies in ≈7500 Amerindians, we determined that this signal reflects effects of a loss-of-function Ala43Thr substitution in APOC3 (rs147210663) and 3 established functional SNPs in APOA5 . The association with rs147210663 was particularly strong; each copy of the Thr allele conferred 42% lower triglycerides (β=-0.92±0.059 SD unit; P =9.6×10 -55 in 4668 Pimas and 2793 Southwest Amerindians combined). The Thr allele is extremely rare in most global populations but has a frequency of 2.5% in Pimas. We further demonstrated that 3 APOA5 SNPs with established functional impact could explain the association with the most well-replicated SNP (rs964184) for triglycerides identified by genome-wide association studies. Collectively, these 4 SNPs account for 6.9% of variation in triglycerides in Pimas (and 4.1% in Southwest Amerindians), and their inclusion in the original linkage model reduced the linkage signal to virtually null. APOC3/APOA5 constitutes a major locus for serum triglycerides in Amerindians, especially the Pimas, and these results provide an empirical example for the concept that population-based linkage analysis is a useful strategy to identify complex trait variants. © 2017 American Heart Association, Inc.

  4. Cunning Pedagogics: The Encounter between the Jesuit Missionaries and Amerindians in Th-Century New France

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Welton, Michael

    2005-01-01

    The Jesuit encounter with the Amerindians of the St. Lawrence Valley in Th-century New France provides us with incalculable insights into the inner workings of the "colonial imagination" that believes the objects of instruction have everything to learn and nothing of value to teach. This article explicates how the Jesuits got to know their…

  5. The microbiome of uncontacted Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Clemente, Jose C; Pehrsson, Erica C; Blaser, Martin J; Sandhu, Kuldip; Gao, Zhan; Wang, Bin; Magris, Magda; Hidalgo, Glida; Contreras, Monica; Noya-Alarcón, Óscar; Lander, Orlana; McDonald, Jeremy; Cox, Mike; Walter, Jens; Oh, Phaik Lyn; Ruiz, Jean F; Rodriguez, Selena; Shen, Nan; Song, Se Jin; Metcalf, Jessica; Knight, Rob; Dantas, Gautam; Dominguez-Bello, M Gloria

    2015-04-03

    Most studies of the human microbiome have focused on westernized people with life-style practices that decrease microbial survival and transmission, or on traditional societies that are currently in transition to westernization. We characterize the fecal, oral, and skin bacterial microbiome and resistome of members of an isolated Yanomami Amerindian village with no documented previous contact with Western people. These Yanomami harbor a microbiome with the highest diversity of bacteria and genetic functions ever reported in a human group. Despite their isolation, presumably for >11,000 years since their ancestors arrived in South America, and no known exposure to antibiotics, they harbor bacteria that carry functional antibiotic resistance (AR) genes, including those that confer resistance to synthetic antibiotics and are syntenic with mobilization elements. These results suggest that westernization significantly affects human microbiome diversity and that functional AR genes appear to be a feature of the human microbiome even in the absence of exposure to commercial antibiotics. AR genes are likely poised for mobilization and enrichment upon exposure to pharmacological levels of antibiotics. Our findings emphasize the need for extensive characterization of the function of the microbiome and resistome in remote nonwesternized populations before globalization of modern practices affects potentially beneficial bacteria harbored in the human body.

  6. The microbiome of uncontacted Amerindians

    PubMed Central

    Clemente, Jose C.; Pehrsson, Erica C.; Blaser, Martin J.; Sandhu, Kuldip; Gao, Zhan; Wang, Bin; Magris, Magda; Hidalgo, Glida; Contreras, Monica; Noya-Alarcón, Óscar; Lander, Orlana; McDonald, Jeremy; Cox, Mike; Walter, Jens; Oh, Phaik Lyn; Ruiz, Jean F.; Rodriguez, Selena; Shen, Nan; Song, Se Jin; Metcalf, Jessica; Knight, Rob; Dantas, Gautam; Dominguez-Bello, M. Gloria

    2015-01-01

    Most studies of the human microbiome have focused on westernized people with life-style practices that decrease microbial survival and transmission, or on traditional societies that are currently in transition to westernization. We characterize the fecal, oral, and skin bacterial microbiome and resistome of members of an isolated Yanomami Amerindian village with no documented previous contact with Western people. These Yanomami harbor a microbiome with the highest diversity of bacteria and genetic functions ever reported in a human group. Despite their isolation, presumably for >11,000 years since their ancestors arrived in South America, and no known exposure to antibiotics, they harbor bacteria that carry functional antibiotic resistance (AR) genes, including those that confer resistance to synthetic antibiotics and are syntenic with mobilization elements. These results suggest that westernization significantly affects human microbiome diversity and that functional AR genes appear to be a feature of the human microbiome even in the absence of exposure to commercial antibiotics. AR genes are likely poised for mobilization and enrichment upon exposure to pharmacological levels of antibiotics. Our findings emphasize the need for extensive characterization of the function of the microbiome and resistome in remote nonwesternized populations before globalization of modern practices affects potentially beneficial bacteria harbored in the human body. PMID:26229982

  7. Amerindian mitochondrial DNAs have rare Asian mutations at high frequencies, suggesting they derived from four primary maternal lineages.

    PubMed Central

    Schurr, T G; Ballinger, S W; Gan, Y Y; Hodge, J A; Merriwether, D A; Lawrence, D N; Knowler, W C; Weiss, K M; Wallace, D C

    1990-01-01

    The mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation of the South American Ticuna, the Central American Maya, and the North American Pima was analyzed by restriction-endonuclease digestion and oligonucleotide hybridization. The analysis revealed that Amerindian populations have high frequencies of mtDNAs containing the rare Asian RFLP HincII morph 6, a rare HaeIII site gain, and a unique AluI site gain. In addition, the Asian-specific deletion between the cytochrome c oxidase subunit II (COII) and tRNA(Lys) genes was also prevalent in both the Pima and the Maya. These data suggest that Amerindian mtDNAs derived from at least four primary maternal lineages, that new tribal-specific variants accumulated as these mtDNAs became distributed throughout the Americas, and that some genetic variation may have been lost when the progenitors of the Ticuna separated from the North and Central American populations. Images Figure 1 PMID:1968708

  8. The use of Amerindian charm plants in the Guianas.

    PubMed

    van Andel, Tinde; Ruysschaert, Sofie; Boven, Karin; Daly, Lewis

    2015-09-15

    Magical charm plants to ensure good luck in hunting, fishing, agriculture, love and warfare are known among many Amerindians groups in the Guianas. Documented by anthropologists as social and political markers and exchangeable commodities, these charms have received little attention by ethnobotanists, as they are surrounded by secrecy and are difficult to identify. We compared the use of charm species among indigenous groups in the Guianas to see whether similarity in charm species was related to geographical or cultural proximity. We hypothesized that cultivated plants were more widely shared than wild ones and that charms with underground bulbs were more widely used than those without such organs, as vegetatively propagated plants would facilitate transfer of charm knowledge. We compiled a list of charm plants from recent fieldwork and supplemented these with information from herbarium collections, historic and recent literature among 11 ethnic groups in the Guianas. To assess similarity in plant use among these groups, we performed a Detrended Component Analysis (DCA) on species level. To see whether cultivated plants or vegetatively propagated species were more widely shared among ethnic groups than wild species or plants without rhizomes, tubers or stem-rooting capacity, we used an independent sample t-test. We recorded 366 charms, representing 145 species. The majority were hunting charms, wild plants, propagated via underground bulbs and grown in villages. Our data suggest that similarity in charm species is associated with geographical proximity and not cultural relatedness. The most widely shared species, used by all Amerindian groups, is Caladium bicolor. The tubers of this plant facilitate easy transport and its natural variability allows for associations with a diversity of game animals. Human selection on shape, size and color of plants through clonal reproduction has ensured the continuity of morphological traits and their correlation with animal

  9. Genetic differences between Chibcha and Non-Chibcha speaking tribes based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups from 21 Amerindian tribes from Colombia

    PubMed Central

    Usme-Romero, Solangy; Alonso, Milena; Hernandez-Cuervo, Helena; Yunis, Emilio J.; Yunis, Juan J.

    2013-01-01

    We analyzed the frequency of four mitochondrial DNA haplogroups in 424 individuals from 21 Colombian Amerindian tribes. Our results showed a high degree of mtDNA diversity and genetic heterogeneity. Frequencies of mtDNA haplogroups A and C were high in the majority of populations studied. The distribution of these four mtDNA haplogroups from Amerindian populations was different in the northern region of the country compared to those in the south. Haplogroup A was more frequently found among Amerindian tribes in northern Colombia, while haplogroup D was more frequent among tribes in the south. Haplogroups A, C and D have clinal tendencies in Colombia and South America in general. Populations belonging to the Chibcha linguistic family of Colombia and other countries nearby showed a strong genetic differentiation from the other populations tested, thus corroborating previous findings. Genetically, the Ingano, Paez and Guambiano populations are more closely related to other groups of south eastern Colombia, as also inferred from other genetic markers and from archeological data. Strong evidence for a correspondence between geographical and linguistic classification was found, and this is consistent with evidence that gene flow and the exchange of customs and knowledge and language elements between groups is facilitated by close proximity. PMID:23885195

  10. Genetic differences between Chibcha and Non-Chibcha speaking tribes based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups from 21 Amerindian tribes from Colombia.

    PubMed

    Usme-Romero, Solangy; Alonso, Milena; Hernandez-Cuervo, Helena; Yunis, Emilio J; Yunis, Juan J

    2013-07-01

    We analyzed the frequency of four mitochondrial DNA haplogroups in 424 individuals from 21 Colombian Amerindian tribes. Our results showed a high degree of mtDNA diversity and genetic heterogeneity. Frequencies of mtDNA haplogroups A and C were high in the majority of populations studied. The distribution of these four mtDNA haplogroups from Amerindian populations was different in the northern region of the country compared to those in the south. Haplogroup A was more frequently found among Amerindian tribes in northern Colombia, while haplogroup D was more frequent among tribes in the south. Haplogroups A, C and D have clinal tendencies in Colombia and South America in general. Populations belonging to the Chibcha linguistic family of Colombia and other countries nearby showed a strong genetic differentiation from the other populations tested, thus corroborating previous findings. Genetically, the Ingano, Paez and Guambiano populations are more closely related to other groups of south eastern Colombia, as also inferred from other genetic markers and from archeological data. Strong evidence for a correspondence between geographical and linguistic classification was found, and this is consistent with evidence that gene flow and the exchange of customs and knowledge and language elements between groups is facilitated by close proximity.

  11. Molecular genetic studies of natives on Easter Island: evidence of an early European and Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool.

    PubMed

    Lie, B A; Dupuy, B M; Spurkland, A; Fernández-Viña, M A; Hagelberg, E; Thorsby, E

    2007-01-01

    Most archaeological and linguistic evidence suggest a Polynesian origin of the population of Easter Island (Rapanui), and this view has been supported by the identification of Polynesian mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) polymorphisms in prehistoric skeletal remains. However, some evidence of an early South American contact also exists (the sweet potato, bottle gourd etc.), but genetic studies have so far failed to show an early Amerindian contribution to the gene pool on Easter Island. To address this issue, we analyzed mtDNA and Y chromosome markers and performed high-resolution human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genotyping of DNA harvested from previously collected sera of 48 reputedly nonadmixed native Easter Islanders. All individuals carried mtDNA types and HLA alleles previously found in Polynesia, and most men carried Y chromosome markers of Polynesian origin, providing further evidence of a Polynesian origin of the population of Easter Island. A few individuals carried HLA alleles and/or Y chromosome markers of European origin. More interestingly, some individuals carried the HLA alleles A*0212 and B*3905, which are of typical Amerindian origin. The genealogy of some of the individuals carrying these non-Polynesian HLA alleles and their haplotypic backgrounds suggest an introduction into Easter Island in the early 1800s, or earlier. Thus, there may have been an early European and Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool of Easter Island.

  12. Heterogenous Distribution of MTHFR Gene Variants among Mestizos and Diverse Amerindian Groups from Mexico

    PubMed Central

    Contreras-Cubas, Cecilia; Sánchez-Hernández, Beatríz E.; García-Ortiz, Humberto; Martínez-Hernández, Angélica; Barajas-Olmos, Francisco; Cid, Miguel; Mendoza-Caamal, Elvia C.; Centeno-Cruz, Federico; Ortiz-Cruz, Gabriela; Jiménez-López, José Concepción; Córdova, Emilio J.; Salas-Bautista, Eva Gabriela; Saldaña-Alvarez, Yolanda; Fernández-López, Juan Carlos; Mutchinick, Osvaldo M.

    2016-01-01

    Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key enzyme in folate metabolism. Folate deficiency has been related to several conditions, including neural tube defects (NTDs) and cardiovascular diseases. Hence, MTHFR genetic variants have been studied worldwide, particularly the C677T and A1298C. We genotyped the C677T and A1298C MTHFR polymorphisms in Mexican Amerindians (MAs), from the largest sample included in a genetic study (n = 2026, from 62 ethnic groups), and in a geographically-matched Mexican Mestizo population (MEZ, n = 638). The 677T allele was most frequent in Mexican individuals, particularly in MAs. The frequency of this allele in both MAs and MEZs was clearly enriched in the South region of the country, followed by the Central East and South East regions. In contrast, the frequency of the 1298C risk allele in Mexicans was one of the lowest in the world. Both in MAs and MEZs the variants 677T and 1298C displayed opposite allele frequency gradients from southern to northern Mexico. Our findings suggest that in Mestizos the 677T allele was derived from Amerindians while the 1298C allele was a European contribution. Some subgroups showed an allele frequency distribution that highlighted their genetic diversity. Notably, the distribution of the frequency of the 677T allele was consistent with that of the high incidence of NTDs reported in MEZ. PMID:27649570

  13. Forensic efficiency parameters of the Investigator Argus X-12 kit in women from two Mestizo and seven Amerindian populations from Mexico.

    PubMed

    Cortés-Trujillo, I; Ramos-González, B; Salas-Salas, O; Zuñiga-Chiquette, F; Zetina Hernández, A; Martínez-Cortés, G; Ruiz-Hernández, M; González-Martín, A; Ferragut, J F; Rangel-Villalobos, H

    2017-05-01

    Allele frequency distribution and statistical parameters of forensic efficiency concerning the Investigator Argus X-12 kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany) were determined in a total sample of 641 unrelated Mexican females, including two Mestizo-admixed- populations (n=309) and seven Amerindian groups (n=332) from the main regions of the country. Most of the 12 X-STRs were in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg expectations in all nine Mexican populations. The power of discrimination in females (PD) and Median exclusion chance for trios (MEC T ) and duos (MEC D ) of this genetic system based on X-STRs were >99.99%. Although Mexican populations showed significant pairwise differentiation, a closer relationship was evident between Amerindian groups and nearby Mestizos, in agreement with historical records, previous genetic studies, and X-linked inheritance pattern expectations. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. Amerindian genetic ancestry and INDEL polymorphisms associated with susceptibility of childhood B-cell Leukemia in an admixed population from the Brazilian Amazon.

    PubMed

    Carvalho, Darlen C; Wanderley, Alayde V; Amador, Marcos A T; Fernandes, Marianne R; Cavalcante, Giovanna C; Pantoja, Karla B C C; Mello, Fernando A R; de Assumpção, Paulo P; Khayat, André S; Ribeiro-Dos-Santos, Ândrea; Santos, Sidney; Dos Santos, Ney P C

    2015-08-20

    Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a malignant tumor common in children. Studies of genetic susceptibility to cancer using biallelic insertion/deletion (INDEL) type polymorphisms associated with cancer development pathways may help to clarify etymology of ALL. In this study, we investigate the role of eight functional INDEL polymorphisms and influence of genetic ancestry to B-cell ALL susceptibility in children of Brazilian Amazon population, which has a high degree of inter-ethnic admixture. Ancestry analysis was estimated using a panel of 48 autosomal ancestry informative markers. 130 B-cell ALL patients and 125 healthy controls were included in this study. The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals were adjusted for confounders. The results indicated an association between the investigated INDEL polymorphisms in CASP8 (rs3834129), CYP19A1 (rs11575899) e XRCC1 (rs3213239) genes in the development of B-cell ALL. The carriers of Insertion/Insertion (Ins/Ins) genotype of the polymorphism in CASP8 gene presented reduced chances of developing B-cell ALL (P=0.001; OR=0.353; 95% CI=0.192-0.651). The Deletion/Deletion (Del/Del) genotype of the polymorphism in CYP19A1 gene was associated to a lower chance of developing B-cell ALL (P=3.35×10 -6 ; OR=0.121; 95% CI=0.050-0.295), while Del/Del genotype of the polymorphism in XRCC1 gene was associated to a higher chance of developing B-cell ALL (P=2.01×10 -4 ; OR=6.559; 95% CI=2.433-17.681). We also found that Amerindian ancestry correlates with the risk of B-cell ALL. For each increase of 10% in the Amerindian ancestry results in 1.4-fold chances of developing B-cell ALL (OR=1.406; 95% IC=1.123-1.761), while each increase of 10% in the European ancestry presents a protection effect in the development of B-cell ALL (OR=0.666; 95% IC=0.536-0.827). The results suggest that genetic factors influence leukemogenesis and might be explored in the stratification of B-cell ALL risk in admixed populations. Copyright © 2015 Z

  15. Mitochondrial DNA variability among six South American Amerindian villages from the Pano linguistic group.

    PubMed

    Mendes-Junior, Celso T; Simoes, Aguinaldo L

    2014-01-01

    Although scattered throughout a large geographic area, the members of the Pano linguistic group present strong ethnic, linguistic, and cultural homogeneity, a feature that causes them to be considered components of a same "Pano" tribe. Nevertheless, the genetic homogeneity between Pano villages has not yet been examined. To study the genetic structure of the Pano linguistic group, four major Native American mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) founder haplogroups were analyzed in 77 Amerindians from six villages of four Pano tribes (Katukina, Kaxináwa, Marúbo, and Yaminawa) located in the Brazilian Amazon. The central position of these tribes in the continent makes them relevant for attempts to reconstruct population movements in South America. Except for a single individual that presented an African haplogroup L, all remaining individuals presented one of the four Native American haplogroups. Significant heterogeneity was observed across the six Pano villages. Although Amerindian populations are usually characterized by considerable interpopulational diversity, the high heterogeneity level observed is unexpected if the strong ethnic, linguistic, and cultural homogeneity of the Pano linguistic group is taken into account. The present findings indicate that the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural homogeneity does not imply genetic homogeneity. Even though the genetic heterogeneity uncovered may be a female-specific process, the most probable explanation for that is the joint action of isolation and genetic drift as major factors influencing the genetic structure of the Pano linguistic group. Copyright © 2014 Wayne State University Press, Detroit, Michigan 48201-1309.

  16. Ants as biological indicators of Wayana Amerindian land use in French Guiana.

    PubMed

    Delabie, Jacques H C; Céréghino, Régis; Groc, Sarah; Dejean, Andrea; Gibernau, Marc; Corbara, Bruno; Dejean, Alain

    2009-07-01

    We examined the ecological impact of traditional land use by Wayana Amerindians in French Guiana using ants as bio-indicators. Ants were sampled through a rapid assessment method and the core results analyzed using Kohonen's self-organizing maps (SOM). Our sample sites included: (1) a Wayana village; (2) a cassava plantation; (3) an abandoned cassava plantation; (4) a forest fragment near the village; (5) a riparian forest; and (6) a primary terra firma forest. The ant diversity decreases according to the degree to which the habitat is disturbed. The SOM allowed us to compare the ecological succession between the six habitats. The protocol used is robust since the same conclusions were drawn using partial data.

  17. Origin of Bolivian Quechua Amerindians: their relationship with other American Indians and Asians according to HLA genes.

    PubMed

    Martinez-Laso, Jorge; Siles, Nancy; Moscoso, Juan; Zamora, Jorge; Serrano-Vela, Juan I; R-A-Cachafeiro, Juan I; Castro, Maria J; Serrano-Rios, Manuel; Arnaiz-Villena, Antonio

    2006-01-01

    The Incas were Quechua-speaking people who settled down near Cuzco (Peru). They had an empire ranging from Ecuador to Chile, when Spanish conquerors seized their kingdom around 1532 AD. Nowadays, Quechua-speaking people inhabits Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, Peru and Argentina; however, Quechua language was imposed by both Incas and Spaniards to many non-Quechua speaking communities. We have taken a sample of Quechuan Bolivian blood donors from La Paz (Titicaca Lake region) where Inca-Quechuas themselves believed that came from. This group was compared with 6892 individuals from 68 different world populations regarding HLA/DNA allele frequencies distribution. Genetic distances, dendrograms and correspondence analyses were carried out in order to establish relationships among populations. The main conclusions are: (1) DRB1 and -DQB1 haplotypes shared with Asians are found in Quechuas and are not observed in other (Mesoamerican) Amerindians. (2) Aymara-speaking people from the same Titicaca Lake (La Paz) area shows close genetic distances with Quechuas in one dimension results (genetic distances); however, their HLA gene frequency distribution differs according to Neighbor-Joining (NJ) trees and correspondence analysis (multidimensional and more reliable analyses). Also, the common high frequency Asian and Athabascan HLA-DRB1*0901 allele is found in Quechuas in a significant frequency. Quechuas are clearly included within the Amerindian group.

  18. Genetic characterization of an epidemic of Plasmodium falciparum malaria among Yanomami Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Laserson, K F; Petralanda, I; Almera, R; Barker, R H; Spielman, A; Maguire, J H; Wirth, D F

    1999-12-01

    Malaria parasites are genetically diverse at all levels of endemicity. In contrast, the merozoite surface protein (MSP) alleles in samples from 2 isolated populations of Yanomami Amerindians during an epidemic of Plasmodium falciparum were identical. The nonvariable restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns further suggested that the sequential outbreak comprised only a single P. falciparum genotype. By examination of serial samples from single human infections, the MSP characteristics were found to remain constant throughout the course of infection. An apparent clonal population structure of parasites seemed to cause outbreaks in small isolated villages. The use of standard molecular epidemiologic methods to measure genetic diversity in malaria revealed the occurrence of a genetically monomorphic population of P. falciparum within a human community.

  19. Antigenic Diversity of Hepatitis B Virus Strains of Genotype F in Amerindians and Other Population Groups from Venezuela

    PubMed Central

    Blitz, Linda; Pujol, Flor H.; Swenson, Paul D.; Porto, Leticia; Atencio, Ricardo; Araujo, Mary; Costa, Luciana; Monsalve, Diana Callejas; Torres, Jaime R.; Fields, Howard A.; Lambert, Steve; Van Geyt, Caroline; Norder, Helene; Magnius, Lars O.; Echevarría, José M.; Stuyver, Lieven

    1998-01-01

    The adw4 subtype of hepatitis B virus (HBV) belongs to a unique genomic group (genotype F) representing the original HBV strains from the New World. Data regarding the prevalence of this subtype among HBV carriers in South America are, however, scarce, and those concerning HBV genotype F are based on only a few samples from Latin America. In this study, serum samples were obtained from 141 hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) carriers from Amerindians and urban populations from Venezuela. The HBsAg subtype was identified with monoclonal antibodies in 105 samples, and the HBV genotype was identified by reverse-phase hybridization with DNA fragments in 58 samples. The adw4 subtype was highly prevalent in the population studied (75%); among the Amerindians, the prevalence was 97%. The adw2 subtype was also present (10%), while other subtypes (ayw3 and ayw4) were only occasionally found. The HBV subtype was associated with the expected genotype in most cases (80%), and thus genotype F was highly prevalent. Sequencing of viral strains that gave genotypes unpredicted by the HBsAg subtyping confirmed seven of them as belonging to not previously described genotype-subtype associations: namely, adw2 and ayw4 within genotype F. PMID:9508289

  20. The European lactase persistence genotype determines the lactase persistence state and correlates with gastrointestinal symptoms in the Hispanic and Amerindian Chilean population: a case–control and population-based study

    PubMed Central

    Morales, Eugenia; Azocar, Lorena; Maul, Ximena; Perez, Claudio; Chianale, José

    2011-01-01

    Background The lactase persistent (LP) or lactase non-persistent (LNP) state in European adults is genetically determined by a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) located 13.9 kb upstream of the lactase (LCT) gene, known as LCT C>T−13910 (rs4988235). The LNP condition leads to an inability to digest the milk sugar lactose leading to gastrointestinal symptoms and can affect nutrient and calcium intake in certain populations. Objectives The authors studied a group of 51 Chilean patients to assess whether this SNP influences the LP/LNP state in this population, and determined the prevalence of LCT C>T−13910 genotypes in a representative sample of 216 Hispanics and 43 Amerindians with correlation to digestive symptoms. Design Case–control study done in Chilean patients with clinical suspicion of LNP that were assessed using clinical survey, hydrogen breath test (HBT) and SNP genotyping. The population sample of Hispanics and Amerindians was assessed by clinical survey and SNP genotyping. Results Of the 51 patients with clinical suspicion of LNP, 29 were HBT-positive. The CC genotype (LNP) was present in 89.7% of the patients with positive HBT and in only 4.7% of those with negative HBT. The prevalence of the CC genotype was 56.9% in the Hispanic population and 88.3% in Amerindians, and was associated with a higher self-reported clinical intolerance to ingestion of dairy products. Conclusion The LP/LNP state is determined by the LCT C>T−13910 variant in Chileans. This variant predicts digestive symptoms associated with the ingestion of lactose and is a good tool for the diagnosis of primary adult hypolactasia. The LCT T−13910 allele is rare in the Amerindian population and is suggestive of European ancestry in this contemporary population. PMID:22021768

  1. Physical growth and nutritional status of Tsimane' Amerindian children of lowland Bolivia.

    PubMed

    Foster, Z; Byron, E; Reyes-García, V; Huanca, T; Vadez, V; Apaza, L; Pérez, E; Tanner, S; Gutierrez, Y; Sandstrom, B; Yakhedts, A; Osborn, C; Godoy, R A; Leonard, W R

    2005-03-01

    This study examines patterns of growth and nutritional status of indigenous Tsimane' children under 9 years of age (n = 199 boys and 210 girls), based on a cross-sectional sample from 58 villages from the Beni Deparment of lowland Bolivia. Compared with US children, Tsimane' children are quite short, with linear growth tracking at or below the US 5th centile in both sexes. The prevalence of low height-for-age ("stunting;" HA Z-scores children approximates the US median, with the prevalence of low weight-for-height ("wasting"; WH Z-scores children is similar to that of their US age peers, and this suggests that they are not experiencing acute protein malnutrition. Variation in measures of nutritional status of Tsimane' children is modestly correlated with village-level differences. Degree of isolation, as measured by distance to urban centers or to primary forest, was not a strong predictor of children's anthropometric status. Rather, in both boys and girls, nutritional status was most strongly associated with number of teachers in the village, a measure of access to education. Comparative analyses indicate that high levels of statural growth stunting are common among indigenous populations throughout lowland South America. This problem appears to be largely attributable to poor dietary quality (diets low in key micronutrients) and high disease loads. Further research is needed to identify the specific causes and potential interventions for the high rates of childhood growth stunting in this region. (c) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  2. Genetic structure of Quechua-speakers of the Central Andes and geographic patterns of gene frequencies in South Amerindian populations.

    PubMed

    Luiselli, D; Simoni, L; Tarazona-Santos, E; Pastor, S; Pettener, D

    2000-09-01

    A sample of 141 Quechua-speaking individuals of the population of Tayacaja, in the Peruvian Central Andes, was typed for the following 16 genetic systems: ABO, Rh, MNSs, P, Duffy, AcP1, EsD, GLOI, PGM1, AK, 6-PGD, Hp, Gc, Pi, C3, and Bf. The genetic structure of the population was analyzed in relation to the allele frequencies available for other South Amerindian populations, using a combination of multivariate and multivariable techniques. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was performed independently for 13 alleles to identify patterns of gene flow in South America as a whole and in more specific geographic regions. We found a longitudinal cline for the AcP1*a and EsD*1 alleles which we interpreted as the result of an ancient longitudinal expansion of a putative ancestral population of modern Amerindians. Monmonnier's algorithm, used to identify areas of sharp genetic discontinuity, suggested a clear east-west differentiation of native South American populations, which was confirmed by analysis of the distribution of genetic distances. We suggest that this pattern of genetic structures is the consequence of the independent peopling of western and eastern South America or to low levels of gene flow between these regions, related to different environmental and demographic histories. Copyright 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  3. Distribution of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 Polymorphisms Associated with Poor Metabolizer Phenotype in Five Amerindian Groups and Western Mestizos from Mexico

    PubMed Central

    Salazar-Flores, Joel; Torres-Reyes, Luis A.; Martínez-Cortés, Gabriela; Rubi-Castellanos, Rodrigo; Sosa-Macías, Martha; Muñoz-Valle, José F.; González-González, César; Ramírez, Angélica; Román, Raquel; Méndez, José L.; Barrera, Andrés; Torres, Alfredo; Medina, Rafael

    2012-01-01

    Background: The distribution of polymorphisms in the CYP2D6 and CYP2C19 genes allows inferring the potential risk for specific adverse drug reactions and lack of therapeutic effects in humans. This variability shows differences among human populations. The aim of this study was to analyze single-nucleotide polymorphisms related to a poor metabolizer (PM) phenotype in nonpreviously studied Amerindian groups and Mestizos (general admixed population) from Mexico. Methods: We detected by SNaPshot® different polymorphisms located in CYP2D6 (*3, *4, *6, *7, and *8) and CYP2C19 (*2, *3, *4 and *5) in western Mestizos (n=145) and five Amerindian groups from Mexico: Tarahumaras from the North (n=88); Purépechas from the Center (n=101); and Tojolabales (n=68), Tzotziles (n=88), and Tzeltales (n=20) from the Southeast. Genotypes were observed by capillary electrophoresis. The genetic relationships among these populations were estimated based on these genes. Results and Discussion: The wild-type allele (*1) of both genes was predominant in the Mexican populations studied. The most widely observed alleles were CYP2C19*2 (range, 0%–31%) and CYP2D6*4 (range, 1.2%–7.3%), whereas CYP2D6*3 was exclusively detected in Mestizos. Conversely, CYP2C19*4 and *5, as well as CYP2D6*3, *6, *7, and *8, were not observed in the majority of the Mexican populations. The Tarahumaras presented a high frequency of the allele CYP2C19*2 (31%) and of homozygotes *2/*2 (10.7%), which represent a high frequency of potentially PM phenotypes in this Amerindian group. The genetic distances showed high differentiation of Tarahumaras (principally for CYP2C19 gene). In general, a relative proximity was observed between most of the Amerindian, Mexican-Mestizo, and Latin-American populations. Conclusion: In general, the wild-type allele (*1) predominates in Mexican populations, outlining a relatively homogeneous distribution for CYP2C19 and CYP2D6. The exception is the Tarahumara group that displays a

  4. Growth status of school-age Mayan children in Belize, Central America.

    PubMed

    Crooks, D L

    1994-02-01

    This paper reports the growth status of a sample of Mopan Maya school children living in a rural village in Belize. These children exhibit a growth pattern typical of chronic undernutrition, in that a high percentage are stunted (66%), but virtually none are wasted by WHO criteria. The Belize Maya children are compared to four other Amerindian groups and found to be shorter and lighter than a semi-urban group from Guatemala, but taller and heavier than three rural groups from Guatemala and Mexico. The Belize children exhibit the largest arm circumferences among all five groups. This pattern of growth is discussed in light of current ideas concerning the contribution of genetics vs. environment to childhood growth and population well-being.

  5. Genetic diversity of the HLA-G coding region in Amerindian populations from the Brazilian Amazon: a possible role of natural selection.

    PubMed

    Mendes-Junior, C T; Castelli, E C; Meyer, D; Simões, A L; Donadi, E A

    2013-12-01

    HLA-G has an important role in the modulation of the maternal immune system during pregnancy, and evidence that balancing selection acts in the promoter and 3'UTR regions has been previously reported. To determine whether selection acts on the HLA-G coding region in the Amazon Rainforest, exons 2, 3 and 4 were analyzed in a sample of 142 Amerindians from nine villages of five isolated tribes that inhabit the Central Amazon. Six previously described single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were identified and the Expectation-Maximization (EM) and PHASE algorithms were used to computationally reconstruct SNP haplotypes (HLA-G alleles). A new HLA-G allele, which originated in Amerindian populations by a crossing-over event between two widespread HLA-G alleles, was identified in 18 individuals. Neutrality tests evidenced that natural selection has a complex part in the HLA-G coding region. Although balancing selection is the type of selection that shapes variability at a local level (Native American populations), we have also shown that purifying selection may occur on a worldwide scale. Moreover, the balancing selection does not seem to act on the coding region as strongly as it acts on the flanking regulatory regions, and such coding signature may actually reflect a hitchhiking effect.

  6. [Hepatitis A virus infection in Amerindian area in the east Brazilian Amazon].

    PubMed

    Nunes, Heloisa Marceliano; Soares, Manoel do Carmo Pereira; Silva, Helena Maria Ribeiro

    2004-01-01

    The hepatitis A virus infection represents an important problem of public health all over the world, being related to the socioeconomic and hygienic conditions of the population. In Brazilian Amazon, seroepidemiological studies in amerindians populations have been demonstrating high endemicity related to the infection. With the objective of evaluate the prevalence of the hepatitis virus A infection in xicrin village, in the municipality district of Altamira-Pará-Brazil, whose investigation was unchained by indigenous child's obit, that clinical developed in nine days with a picture icterus-hemorrhagic, without confirmation by serologic exams, 352 samples of blood were analyzed by serologic tests of the markers of the hepatitis A, B, C and D virus, for immunoenzymatic technic, that indicated a prevalence of 98% of antibodies against the hepatitis A virus, which 30.5% with recent infection, characterizing in laboratorial basis, the outbreak of infection for the virus of the hepatitis A and raising the possibility to be associated with the obit happened in the village.

  7. Distribution of three SNPs related to low bone mineral density in Amerindian groups and Mestizos from Mexico.

    PubMed

    Nuño-Arana, Ismael; Sahagún-Núñez, Valeria Del Rocío; Muñoz-Valle, José Francisco; Sandoval, Lucila; Pinto-Escalante, Doris; Páez-Riberos, Luis Antonio; Lazalde, Brissia; Maldonado-González, Montserrat; Rangel-Villalobos, Héctor

    2012-01-01

    Some Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of several candidate genes have been associated with low bone mineral density (BMD) and fracture risk. As the genetic variability of such SNPs in Hispanic and Native American populations is scarce, we analyzed the three SNPs that have been related with bone mass disorders (Sp1, A163G, and BsmI) located in the genes of Type I Collagen (COL1A1), Osteoprotegerin (OPG), and Vitamin D receptor (VDR) in Mexican Mestizos (people resulting from post-Columbian admixture) and five Amerindian populations. We genotyped these three SNPs by Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) in 523 individuals from five Mexican Amerindian groups (Nahua, Maya, Purépecha, Tarahumara, and Huichol) and 227 western Mestizos (Jalisco state). The modal allele was the same in all the six populations for Sp1-COL1A1 (S > 77%), A163G-OPG (A > 80%), and BsmI-VDR (b > 62%). Genotype distribution was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in all SNPs/populations, excepting Sp1-COL1A1 in the Purépecha group and BsmI-VDR in Mestizo. In terms of the presumably Sp1-COL1A1 risk allele to low BMD (allele "s"), the Purépecha group showed the highest allele (23%) and homozygous (14.5%) frequencies. If the role of this allele as a genetic predisposing factor to low BMD were confirmed, this would mean increased susceptibility of Purépechas with regard to Europeans (14.5 vs. 6.8%). This finding presumably could influence the genetic susceptibility to low BMD in Purépechas. For the SNPs, BsmI-VDR and A163G-OPG, relative homogeneity was observed among the Mexican populations analyzed here. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  8. Las lenguas amerinda y la conformacion de la lengua nacional en Mexico en el siglo XIX (The Amerindian Languages and the Creation of a National Mexican Language in the Nineteenth Century).

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cifuentes, Barbara

    1994-01-01

    Presents the first diagnosis of multilingualism in Mexico. The study examines the role scientific societies played in delineating the basis of language policy with the objective of constructing a national identity that embraced the Hispanic and Amerindian traditions as equally relevant. (31 references) (Author/CK)

  9. Unusual presentation of hepatitis B serological markers in an Amerindian community of Venezuela with a majority of occult cases

    PubMed Central

    2011-01-01

    Background Occult hepatitis B infection (OBI) is characterized by the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in the absence of HBsAg in the serum of patients. The aim of this study was to characterize HBV infection among a Piaroa community, an Amerindian group which exhibits significant evidence of exposure to HBV but relatively low presence of HBsAg, and to explore the presence of OBI in this population. Results Of 150 sera, with 17% anti-HBc and 1.3% HBsAg prevalence, 70 were tested for the presence of HBV DNA. From these, 25 (36%) were found positive for HBV DNA by PCR in the core region. Two of these 25 sera were HBsAg positive, indicating an overt infection. Of the remaining 68 sera tested, 23 exhibited OBI. Of these, 13 were HBV DNA out of 25 anti-HBc positive (52%) and 10 HBV DNA positive, out of 43 anti-HBc negative (23%), with a statistical significance of p = 0.03. Viral DNA and HBsAg were present intermittently in follow up sera of 13 individuals. Sequence analysis in the core region of the amplified DNA products showed that all the strains belonged to HBV genotype F3. The OBI isolates displayed 96-100% nucleotide identity between them. One isolate exhibited the co-circulation of a wild type variant with a variant with a premature stop codon at the core protein, and a variant exhibiting a deletion of 28 amino acids. Conclusions The frequency of OBI found in this Amerindian group warrants further studies in other communities exhibiting different degrees of HBV exposure. PMID:22152023

  10. Seropositivity for ascariosis and toxocariosis and cytokine expression among the indigenous people in the Venezuelan Delta region.

    PubMed

    Araujo, Zaida; Brandes, Sietze; Pinelli, Elena; Bochichio, María A; Palacios, Andrea; Wide, Albina; Rivas-Santiago, Bruno; Jiménez, Juan Carlos

    2015-01-01

    The present study aimed at measuring seropositivities for infection by Ascaris suum and Toxocara canis using the excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens from Ascaris suum (AES) and Toxocara canis (TES) within an indigenous population. In addition, quantification of cytokine expressions in peripheral blood cells was determined. A total of 50 Warao indigenous were included; of which 43 were adults and seven children. In adults, 44.1% were seropositive for both parasites; whereas children had only seropositivity to one or the other helminth. For ascariosis, the percentage of AES seropositivity in adults and children was high; 23.3% and 57.1%, respectively. While that for toxocariosis, the percentage of TES seropositivity in adults and children was low; 9.3% and 14.3%, respectively. The percentage of seronegativity was comparable for AES and TES antigens in adults (27.9%) and children (28.6%). When positive sera were analyzed by Western blotting technique using AES antigens; three bands of 97.2, 193.6 and 200.2 kDas were mostly recognized. When the TES antigens were used, nine major bands were mostly identified; 47.4, 52.2, 84.9, 98.2, 119.1, 131.3, 175.6, 184.4 and 193.6 kDas. Stool examinations showed that Blastocystis hominis, Hymenolepis nana and Entamoeba coli were the most commonly observed intestinal parasites. Quantification of cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-6, TGF-β, TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-4 expressions showed that there was only a significant increased expression of IL-4 in indigenous with TES seropositivity (p < 0.002). Ascaris and Toxocara seropositivity was prevalent among Warao indigenous.

  11. SEROPOSITIVITY FOR ASCARIOSIS AND TOXOCARIOSIS AND CYTOKINE EXPRESSION AMONG THE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN THE VENEZUELAN DELTA REGION

    PubMed Central

    Araujo, Zaida; Brandes, Sietze; Pinelli, Elena; Bochichio, María A.; Palacios, Andrea; Wide, Albina; Rivas-Santiago, Bruno; Jiménez, Juan Carlos

    2015-01-01

    The present study aimed at measuring seropositivities for infection by Ascaris suum and Toxocara canis using the excretory/secretory (E/S) antigens from Ascaris suum (AES) and Toxocara canis (TES) within an indigenous population. In addition, quantification of cytokine expressions in peripheral blood cells was determined. A total of 50 Warao indigenous were included; of which 43 were adults and seven children. In adults, 44.1% were seropositive for both parasites; whereas children had only seropositivity to one or the other helminth. For ascariosis, the percentage of AES seropositivity in adults and children was high; 23.3% and 57.1%, respectively. While that for toxocariosis, the percentage of TES seropositivity in adults and children was low; 9.3% and 14.3%, respectively. The percentage of seronegativity was comparable for AES and TES antigens in adults (27.9%) and children (28.6%). When positive sera were analyzed by Western blotting technique using AES antigens; three bands of 97.2, 193.6 and 200.2 kDas were mostly recognized. When the TES antigens were used, nine major bands were mostly identified; 47.4, 52.2, 84.9, 98.2, 119.1, 131.3, 175.6, 184.4 and 193.6 kDas. Stool examinations showed that Blastocystis hominis, Hymenolepis nana and Entamoeba coli were the most commonly observed intestinal parasites. Quantification of cytokines IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-6, TGF-β, TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-4 expressions showed that there was only a significant increased expression of IL-4 in indigenous with TES seropositivity (p < 0.002). Ascaris and Toxocara seropositivity was prevalent among Warao indigenous. PMID:25651326

  12. Traditional Amerindian cultivators combine directional and ideotypic selection for sustainable management of cassava genetic diversity.

    PubMed

    Duputié, A; Massol, F; David, P; Haxaire, C; McKey, D

    2009-06-01

    Plant domestication provides striking examples of rapid evolution. Yet, it involves more complex processes than plain directional selection. Understanding the dynamics of diversity in traditional agroecosystems is both a fundamental goal in evolutionary biology and a practical goal in conservation. We studied how Amerindian cultivators maintain dynamically evolving gene pools in cassava. Farmers purposely maintain diversity in the form of phenotypically distinct, clonally propagated landraces. Landrace gene pools are continuously renewed by incorporating seedlings issued from spontaneous sexual reproduction. This poses two problems: agronomic quality may decrease because some seedlings are inbred, and landrace identity may be progressively lost through the incorporation of unrelated seedlings. Using a large microsatellite dataset, we show that farmers solve these problems by applying two kinds of selection: directional selection against inbred genotypes, and counter-selection of off-type phenotypes, which maintains high intra-landrace relatedness. Thus, cultural elements such as ideotypes (a representation of the ideal phenotype of a landrace) can shape genetic diversity.

  13. The nutrition transition in the Venezuelan Amazonia: increased overweight and obesity with transculturation.

    PubMed

    Hidalgo, G; Marini, E; Sanchez, W; Contreras, M; Estrada, I; Comandini, O; Buffa, R; Magris, M; Dominguez-Bello, M G

    2014-01-01

    Amerindians have a particularly high propensity to overweight and obesity as they change lifestyle and experience a nutrition transition. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of transculturation on nutritional status in three Amazonian Amerindian villages. Nutritional status was assessed in 232 volunteers: 65 Yanomami from an isolated village and 167 Guahibo subjects from villages with intermediate and high levels of transculturation. There was a significant pattern of decreasing stunting and increasing overweight and obesity across the gradient of transculturation. From the jungle Yanomami to the intermediate and transculturated Guahibo, stunting was respectively 72, 55, and 39%, and children /adult overweight was 0, 3/44, and 15/89%. These anthropometric-based patterns were confirmed by bioimpedance vector analysis. Transculturation in these Amerindian populations is associated with an increase in overweight and obesity coexisting with undernourished children. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Founding Amerindian mitochondrial DNA lineages in ancient Maya from Xcaret, Quintana Roo.

    PubMed

    González-Oliver, A; Márquez-Morfín, L; Jiménez, J C; Torre-Blanco, A

    2001-11-01

    Ancient DNA from the bone remains of 25 out of 28 pre-Columbian individuals from the Late Classic-Postclassic Maya site of Xcaret, Quintana Roo, was recovered, and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was amplified by using the polymerase chain reaction. The presence of the four founding Amerindian mtDNA lineages was investigated by restriction analysis and by direct sequencing in selected individuals. The mtDNA lineages A, B, and C were found in this population. Eighty-four percent of the individuals were lineage A, whereas lineages B and C were present at low frequencies, 4% and 8%, respectively. Lineage D was absent from our sample. One individual did not possess any of the four lineages. Six skeletons out of 7 dated from the Late Classic period were haplotype A, whereas 11 skeletons out of 16 dated from the Postclassic period were also haplotype A. The distribution of mtDNA lineages in the Xcaret population contrasts sharply with that found in ancient Maya from Copán, which lack lineages A and B. On the other hand, our results resemble more closely the frequencies of mtDNA lineages found in contemporary Maya from the Yucatán Peninsula and in other Native American contemporary populations of Mesoamerican origin. Copyright 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  15. HLA antigens in five Amerindian groups (Yuko, Bari, Tunebo, Guane and Paez) of Colombia: results of 'Expedición Humana'.

    PubMed

    Bernal, J E; Duran, C; Briceno, I; Ortega, J; Papiha, S S

    1995-01-01

    The serological HLA types (A, B, C and D loci) were studied in five different Indian groups in Colombia. The range of polymorphism was not very restricted in these groups, but there was significant genetic heterogeneity among the five populations in all the HLA loci. The gene frequency data, when converted into a kinship matrix and a two-dimensional eigen vector plot, showed a closer affinity between Bari and Yuko Indians, while Guane, Tunebo and Paez Indians were not only genetically different from the former but also well-differentiated from each other. It seems therefore from this study that geographical proximity may play a greater role than linguistic similarities in the genetic affinities of Colombian Amerindians.

  16. Absence of the HLA-G*0113N allele in Amerindian populations from the Brazilian Amazon region.

    PubMed

    Mendes-Junior, Celso T; Castelli, Erick C; Moreau, Philippe; Simões, Aguinaldo L; Donadi, Eduardo A

    2010-04-01

    The HLA-G gene is predominantly expressed at the maternal-fetal interface and has been associated with maternal-fetal tolerance. The HLA-G*0113N is a null allele defined by the insertion of a premature stop codon at exon 2, observed in a single Ghanaian individual. Likewise the G*0105N allele, the occurrence of the HLA-G*0113N in a population from an area with high pathogen load suggests that the reduced HLA-G expression in G*0113N heterozygous placentas could improve the intrauterine defense against infections. The presence of the G*0113N allele here was investigated in 150 Amerindians from five isolated tribes that inhabit the Central Amazon and in 295 admixed individuals from the State of São Paulo, Southeastern Brazil, previously genotyped for HLA-G. No copy of the G*0113N null allele was found in both population samples by exon 2 sequence-based analysis, reinforcing its restricted occurrence in Africa.

  17. [Yanomami children's nutritional status in the middle Rio Negro, Brazilian Amazônia].

    PubMed

    Istria, Jacques; Gazin, Pierre

    2002-01-01

    The nutritional status of 290 Yanomami Amerindians children, from birth to about six year-olds, living in the middle Rio Negro, Brazilian Amazonia, has been studied in 1998 and 1999 using the weight-for-height. All of them were of low stature. Twenty malnourished (7%), defined as below two standard deviations of NCHS' data, have been observed. Five of them showed a severe malnutrition (children and of a special bad status in their group.

  18. Genetic polymorphism and immune response to tuberculosis in indigenous populations: a brief review.

    PubMed

    Longhi, Renata Maronna Praça; Zembrzuski, Verônica Marques; Basta, Paulo Cesar; Croda, Julio

    2013-01-01

    We systematically reviewed studies of the immune response to tuberculosis and the genetic polymorphisms associated with Th1- or Th2-mediated cytokine expression in indigenous populations. A bibliographic search was performed on the Medline and ISI databases and included studies published between January 1980 and October 2011. The search terms were tuberculosis, American Indians, Amerindian, indigenous, Indians, native people, aboriginal, immun*, host immune, immune response, cytokine*, polymorphism*, and gene. Regardless of their design, studies that evaluated immunoglobulin, cytokine levels and genetic polymorphisms that altered cytokine expression were included. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were performed in Latin America, and five investigated the Warao ethnic group of Venezuela. Most of the investigations indirectly evaluated the immune response. Higher anergy to the tuberculin skin test, higher IgG4 and IgM levels, higher IL-5 production and lower TNF-α, IL-12p40 and IFN-γ production were found in the indigenous populations. The studies also reported a predominantly Th2-type response in these populations and a possibly higher susceptibility to tuberculosis. A better understanding of the relevant genetic polymorphisms and their role in immune regulation would help to clarify the immunogenetic mechanisms of TB infection in these populations. This information would be useful for identifying new treatments and preventing infection and progression to active disease. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  19. Feeding mice with diets containing mercury-contaminated fish flesh from French Guiana: a model for the mercurial intoxication of the Wayana Amerindians

    PubMed Central

    Bourdineaud, Jean-Paul; Bellance, Nadège; Bénard, Giovani; Brèthes, Daniel; Fujimura, Masatake; Gonzalez, Patrice; Marighetto, Aline; Maury-Brachet, Régine; Mormède, Cécile; Pédron, Vanessa; Philippin, Jean-Nicolas; Rossignol, Rodrigue; Rostène, William; Sawada, Masumi; Laclau, Muriel

    2008-01-01

    Background In 2005, 84% of Wayana Amerindians living in the upper marshes of the Maroni River in French Guiana presented a hair mercury concentration exceeding the limit set up by the World Health Organization (10 μg/g). To determine whether this mercurial contamination was harmful, mice have been fed diets prepared by incorporation of mercury-polluted fish from French Guiana. Methods Four diets containing 0, 0.1, 1, and 7.5% fish flesh, representing 0, 5, 62, and 520 ng methylmercury per g, respectively, were given to four groups of mice for a month. The lowest fish regimen led to a mercurial contamination pressure of 1 ng mercury per day per g of body weight, which is precisely that affecting the Wayana Amerindians. Results The expression of several genes was modified with mercury intoxication in liver, kidneys, and hippocampus, even at the lowest tested fish regimen. A net genetic response could be observed for mercury concentrations accumulated within tissues as weak as 0.15 ppm in the liver, 1.4 ppm in the kidneys, and 0.4 ppm in the hippocampus. This last value is in the range of the mercury concentrations found in the brains of chronically exposed patients in the Minamata region or in brains from heavy fish consumers. Mitochondrial respiratory rates showed a 35–40% decrease in respiration for the three contaminated mice groups. In the muscles of mice fed the lightest fish-containing diet, cytochrome c oxidase activity was decreased to 45% of that of the control muscles. When mice behavior was assessed in a cross maze, those fed the lowest and mid-level fish-containing diets developed higher anxiety state behaviors compared to mice fed with control diet. Conclusion We conclude that a vegetarian diet containing as little as 0.1% of mercury-contaminated fish is able to trigger in mice, after only one month of exposure, disorders presenting all the hallmarks of mercurial contamination. PMID:18959803

  20. High prevalence of chitotriosidase deficiency in Peruvian Amerindians exposed to chitin-bearing food and enteroparasites.

    PubMed

    Manno, N; Sherratt, S; Boaretto, F; Coico, F Mejìa; Camus, C Espinoza; Campos, C Jara; Musumeci, S; Battisti, A; Quinnell, R J; León, J Mostacero; Vazza, G; Mostacciuolo, M L; Paoletti, M G; Falcone, F H

    2014-11-26

    The human genome encodes a gene for an enzymatically active chitinase (CHIT1) located in a single copy on Chromosome 1, which is highly expressed by activated macrophages and in other cells of the innate immune response. Several dysfunctional mutations are known in CHIT1, including a 24-bp duplication in Exon 10 causing catalytic deficiency. This duplication is a common variant conserved in many human populations, except in West and South Africans. Thus it has been proposed that human migration out of Africa and the consequent reduction of exposure to chitin from environmental factors may have enabled the conservation of dysfunctional mutations in human chitinases. Our data obtained from 85 indigenous Amerindians from Peru, representative of populations characterized by high prevalence of chitin-bearing enteroparasites and intense entomophagy, reveal a very high frequency of the 24-bp duplication (47.06%), and of other single nucleotide polymorphisms which are known to partially affect enzymatic activity (G102S: 42.7% and A442G/V: 25.5%). Our finding is in line with a founder effect, but appears to confute our previous hypothesis of a protective role against parasite infection and sustains the discussion on the redundancy of chitinolytic function. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  1. Ethnic characterization of a population of children exposed to high doses of arsenic via drinking water and a possible correlation with metabolic processes

    PubMed Central

    Bobillo, Cecilia; Navoni, Julio A; Olmos, Valentina; Merini, Luciano J; Villaamil Lepori, Edda; Corach, Daniel

    2014-01-01

    Because the ratio between the two major arsenic metabolites is related to the adverse health effects of arsenic, numerous studies have been performed to establish a relationship between the ability to metabolically detoxify arsenic and other variables, including exposure level, gender, age and ethnicity. Because ethnicity may play a key role and provide relevant information for heterogeneous populations, we characterized a group of 70 children from rural schools in the Argentinean provinces of Chaco and Santiago del Estero who were exposed to high levels of arsenic. We used genetic markers for maternal, paternal and bi-parental ancestry to achieve this goal. Our results demonstrate that the Amerindian maternal linages are present in 100% of the samples, whereas the Amerindian component transmitted through the paternal line is less than 10%. Informative markers for autosomal ancestry show a predominantly European ancestry, in which 37% of the samples contained between 90 and 99% European ancestry. The native American component ranged from 50 to 80% in 15.7% of the samples, and in all but four samples, the African component was less than 10%. Correlation analysis demonstrated that the ethnicity and the ratio of the excreted arsenic metabolites monomethyl arsenic and dimethyl arsenic are not associated, dismissing a relationship between ethnic origin and differential metabolism. PMID:24596592

  2. Plasma lipid fatty acid composition, desaturase activities and insulin sensitivity in Amerindian women.

    PubMed

    Vessby, B; Ahrén, B; Warensjö, E; Lindgärde, F

    2012-03-01

    Two Amerindian populations--Shuar women living in the Amazonian rain forest under traditional conditions and urbanized women in a suburb of Lima were studied. The fatty acid composition in plasma lipids and the relationships between fatty acid composition and metabolic variables were studied, as well as in a reference group of Swedish women. Fasting plasma was used for analyses of glucose, insulin, leptin and fatty acid composition. Women in Lima had more body fat, higher fasting insulin and leptin and lower insulin sensitivity than the Shuar women, who had insulin sensitivity similar to Swedish women. Shuar women had very high proportions (mean; SD) of palmitoleic (13.2; 3.9%) and oleic (33.9; 3.7%) acids in the plasma cholesteryl esters with very low levels of linoleic acid (29.1; 6.1 3%), as expected on a low fat, high carbohydrate diet. The estimated activity of delta 9 (SCD-1) desaturase was about twice as high in the Shuar compared with Lima women, suggesting neo lipogenesis, while the delta 5 desaturase activity did not differ. The Lima women, as well as the Swedish, showed strong positive correlations between SCD-1 activity on the one hand and fasting insulin and HOMA index on the other. These associations were absent in the Shuar women. The high SCD-1 activity in the Shuar women may reflect increased lipogenesis in adipose tissue. It also illustrates how a low fat diet rich in non-refined carbohydrates can be linked to a good metabolic situation. Copyright © 2010. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  3. Effect of chemotherapy on malaria transmission among Yanomami Amerindians: simulated consequences of placebo treatment.

    PubMed

    Freeman, J; Laserson, K F; Petralanda, I; Spielman, A

    1999-05-01

    To determine whether chemotherapy effectively reduces Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission in isolated human populations, we followed two abrupt sequential outbreaks of malaria infection among Yanomami Amerindians and modeled the effect of chemotherapy and the consequences if no drug was available. A Macdonald-type mathematical model demonstrated that both outbreaks comprised a single epidemic event linked by an invisible outbreak in vector mosquitoes. The basic reproductive number, R0, from fitted values based on the treated epidemic was 2 during the initial phase of the epidemic, and waned as vector density decreased with the onset of the dry season. In the observed epidemic, 60 (45%) of 132 village residents were affected, and the treated outbreak ended after two months. Although the initial chemotherapy regimen was only marginally effective, the duration of human infectivity was reduced from an expected nine months to two weeks. In the absence of this intervention, the initial R0 value would have been 40, more than 60% of the population would have been infected, and more than 30% would have remained parasitemic until the next rainy season (about six months later). Another outbreak would then have ensued, and malaria probably would have remained endemic in this village. Our simulated placebo treatment permits us to conclude that even partially effective chemotherapeutic interventions, such as those in our study, interrupt serial transmission of P. falciparum among isolated human populations that are exposed to infection seasonally.

  4. Phyllanthus piscatorum, ethnopharmacological studies on a women's medicinal plant of the Yanomamï Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Gertsch, Jürg; Niomawë; Gertsch-Roost, Kathrin; Sticher, Otto

    2004-04-01

    The shrub Phyllanthus piscatorum Kunth (Euphorbiaceae) is cultivated by various ethnic groups of the Amazon because of its piscicidal properties. During ethnobotanical fieldwork among the Yanomamï Amerindians in Venezuela we observed that Phyllanthus piscatorum was exclusively cultivated and used by the women. Aerial parts of this herbaceous shrub are employed as fish poison and medicine to treat wounds and fungal infections. In addition, the leaves are used as tobacco substitute. Ethnobotanical data regarding the context of the use of this plant are presented. To validate ethnobotanical information related to its medicinal indications, antimicrobial, and antiprotozoal properties of water, methanol (MeOH) and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts were studied. No activity against Gram-positive bacterial strains but significant activity against the fungi Aspergillus fumigatus, Aspergillus flavus and the yeast Candida albicans were found. All extracts showed weak in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum and Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense. The extracts were further investigated for cytotoxic effects in an in vitro test system with leukemia Jurkat T, HeLa, and human peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMCs). During the first 48 h the extracts did not exhibit any cytotoxicity. After 72 h the DCM extract potently inhibited viability of HeLa cells. Although in several communities along the upper Orinoco the cultivation and use of Phyllanthus piscatorum is being lost because of the ongoing acculturation, the traditional medicinal use of Phyllanthus piscatorum might provide an effective and cheap remedy against dermatological diseases linked with Candida albicans infections.

  5. Education for Francisation: The Case of New France in the Seventeenth Century.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jaenen, Cornelius J.

    1983-01-01

    Discusses the seventeenth-century French missionary and bureaucratic attempt to "francisize" (to make French) Canadian Indian children, so they would eventually be assimilated into the French expatriate colony, an effort based on the idea that contact with Europeans and education would convert Amerindians to Catholicism and make them…

  6. Phenotypical expression of CYP2D6 in amerindians of tepehuano origin from Durango, Mexico.

    PubMed

    Lares-Asseff, Ismael; Sosa-Macías, Martha; Elizondo-Azuela, Guillermo; Flores-Pérez, Carmen; Flores-Pérez, Janett; Bradley-Alvarez, Francisco

    2005-01-01

    Cytochrome P4502D6 (CYP2D6) shows genetic polymorphism, which is clinically important in the metabolism of drugs and other xenobiotics. Dextrometorphan (DM) has been used as a test compound to evaluate the in vivo activity of CYP2D6. Phenotypical frequencies of CYP2D6 have been determined in some populations, but little is known about them in native populations. The object of this study was to characterize the phenotypical expression of CYP2D6 in Amerindian subjects of Tepehuano origin from the State of Durango, using DM as metabolic marker, as well as the effect of age, sex and nutritional status on this activity. Three hr after oral administration of a single 30 mg dose of DM, the plasma concentration of DM and its metabolite dextrophan (DX) were determined with HPLC in 55 Tepehuano subjects. All subjects were extensive metabolizers (metabolic ratio MR < 0.3). No correlation of age, sex or nutritional status was found with the DM/DX metabolic ratio. However, we found a monoexponential relationship between the metabolic ratio of DM and DX, and their concentrations respectively, which can have clinical applications, since metabolic ratio can be predicted from a known DM or DX concentration. Three hr after ingestion of DM, 18 individuals showed DM plasma concentrations of 5 to 10 ng/mL, 15 subjects of 11 to 20 ng/mL, 8 subjects of 21 to 50 ng/mL and 14 subjects >51 ng/mL pointing out that DM concentrations and MR must be determined to establish toxicity risk levels.

  7. Mastery: A Lesson from Maria in Venezuela

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Powell, Sandra Anez; Powell, Norman W.

    2012-01-01

    Children who have been born into poverty or into at-risk circumstances are often considered "disposable" and not a societal priority. These youngsters have few advocates and limited successful options in life. In the city of Maracaibo, Venezuela, there is a large population of Amerindians who are called Guajiros. These indigenous people…

  8. Protracted outbreak of severe delta hepatitis: experience in an isolated Amerindian population of the Upper Orinoco basin.

    PubMed

    Torres, J R; Mondolfi, A

    1991-01-01

    In an investigation of a 21-year-old epidemic of severe hepatitis, 80 serum samples were studied from two isolated Yanomami Amerindian populations of the Upper Orinoco basin in Venezuela. Of the assayed samples, 30.6% were positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), 53.7% were considered to reflect immunity to infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV), and only 16.2% were believed to reflect susceptibility to HBV infection; 82.5% of the samples tested positive for any marker of HBV infection. Thirty-one (39.7%) of 78 samples were also positive for antibody to delta antigen, including 91.6% of those positive for HBsAg and 20.9% of those immune to HBV. Our findings provide evidence of a high prevalence of HBV infection in this population. Furthermore, the high prevalence of antibody to delta antigen strongly suggests that coinfections with HBV or superinfections with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) in HBV carriers may be an important factor in the occurrence of an unusually high number of cases of fulminant hepatitis and of chronic liver disease. Serum samples obtained at the beginning of the outbreak 13 years earlier from 36 selected cases in the same population revealed a high rate of HBV infection (96.5%). All six HBsAg carriers from whom enough serum remained to be assayed were positive for antibody to delta antigen. Our findings indicate that the outbreak coincided with the introduction of HDV into a population with an already-high prevalence of HBV infection.

  9. Differences in physical growth of Aymara and Quechua children living at high altitude in Peru.

    PubMed

    de Meer, K; Bergman, R; Kusner, J S; Voorhoeve, H W

    1993-01-01

    Physical growth of Amerindian children living in two Aymara and three Quechua peasant communities in the Andean highlands of southern Peru (altitude 3,810-3,840 m) was studied, taking into account differences in the microclimate, agronomic situation, and sociodemographic variables. Anthropometric measurements were taken in 395 children aged under 14 years of age in a sample of 151 families in these communities, who were surveyed for sociodemographic variables as well. Data on the land system were available for 77 families. In comparison with reference populations from the United States (NCHS) and The Netherlands, stature, weight, head circumference, and midupper arm circumference (but not weight for stature) in the sample children were reduced. Growth retardation increased after the age of 1 year. Stature and weight in the present sample were very similar compared with previously published data on growth of rural Aymara children living near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. Head circumference, midupper arm circumference, and weight for stature were significantly larger in Aymara children compared with Quechua children. Land was significantly more fragmented in Aymara compared with Quechua families, but amount of land owned was not different. Perinatal and infant mortality was elevated in Aymara vs. Quechua communities. Most families in Aymara communities used protected drinking water. One Quechua community had a severe microclimate, grim economic outlook, and weak social cohesion. Children in this community showed significant reductions in weight and midupper arm circumference compared with their peers in the other communities. We conclude that (presumably nutritionally mediated) intervillage and Aymara-Quechua differences in childhood physical growth existed in this rural high-altitude population in Peru and were associated with microclimate and the village economy, sociodemographic factors, and differences in the land system.

  10. Physicochemical and microbiological characterization of chicha, a rice-based fermented beverage produced by Umutina Brazilian Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Puerari, Cláudia; Magalhães-Guedes, Karina Teixeira; Schwan, Rosane Freitas

    2015-04-01

    Chicha is a traditional, fermented rice beverage produced by the indigenous Umutina people in Brazil. Culture-dependent and independent approaches were used to investigate the microbial community dynamic. The bacterial population ranged from 0.1 to 6.83 log mL(-1). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and Bacillus dominated throughout the fermentation process. Representative colonies were grouped by Repetitive Extragenic Palindromic and Polymerase Chain Reaction (Rep-PCR) and by biochemical features. Genera of Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Leuconostoc, Enterococcus, Streptomyces, Enterobacter, Acinetobacter, Escherichia, Cronobacter, and Klebsiella were identified by partial 16S rRNA gene sequence. As shown by Polimerase and Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) analysis, uncultivable Bifidobacterium and Propioniobacterium were found throughout fermentation. Uncultured fungi composed the fungal PCR-DGGE profile. The pH values decreased from 5.2 (time 0) to 3.9 at 36 h of fermentation. Ethanol was not found. The lactic acid concentration increased rapidly throughout fermentation until it reached a high final value (1.4 g L(-1)) and the average glycerol content in the beverage was 0.425 g L(-1). Chicha fermentation might be described by the following phenomena: (i) increasing bacterial population, with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) as the largest group detected; (ii) increasing concentrations of lactic and citric acids; and (iii) the final product is characterized by a high content of acids and the absence of ethanol, therefore characterizing rice chicha an acidic and nonalcoholic beverage. First, this study characterizes the microbial population involved in the nonalcoholic fermentation of chicha, which is produced from rice by Amerindians in Brazil. This study is important for promoting the appreciation of and safeguarding this Brazilian indigenous beverage as an immaterial cultural heritage. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Onchocerciasis in Venezuela: prevalence of microfilaraemia in Amerindians and morphological characteristics of the microfilariae from the Upper Orinoco Focus.

    PubMed

    Botto, C; Arango, M; Yarzábal, L

    1984-09-01

    Data are presented on microfilaraemia in 191 Yanomami Amerindians from two areas of Venezuela's Upper Orinoco Basin, where an endemic focus of onchocerciasis has been recently detected. Onchocerca microfilariae were found in the blood of 12.6% of the persons examined. In the village with the higher number of examined individuals (N = 162), the prevalence of microfilaraemia in the age groups covaried with the prevalence of microfilariae in the skin and with the parasite load (mf/mg of skin). A positive correlation was found between age and these three variables. The prevalence of Onchocerca microfilaraemia in the Upper Orinoco focus is high, and may be related to the ability of the strain to invade the blood stream. Morphobiometric characteristics of the Onchocerca microfilariae isolated from human blood are similar to those of O. volvulus fixed in formalin from skin and from the uterus of female O. volvulus worms. All have a very short cephalic space. Comparisons with the entity from the Upper Caura river designated as Microfilaria bolivarensis were also made. It was concluded that there are no valid biometric differences in thick blood smears between microfilaria bolivarensis and microfilaria of O. volvulus from the Upper Orinoco deme. A more striking difference may be in the concentration of microfilariae observed in the blood, which in one case of mf. bolivarensis was more than forty times the highest number recorded for microfilaria O. volvulus in Parima.

  12. Human T Cell Lymphotropic Virus Type 2a Strains Among HIV Type 1-Coinfected Patients from Brazil Have Originated Mostly from Brazilian Amerindians

    PubMed Central

    Magri, Mariana Cavalheiro; Brigido, Luis Fernando de Macedo; Morimoto, Helena Kaminami

    2013-01-01

    Abstract The human T cell lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2) is found mainly in Amerindians and in intravenous drug users (IDUs) from urban areas of the United States, Europe, and Latin America. Worldwide, HTLV-2a and HTLV-2b subtypes are the most prevalent. Phylogenetic analysis of HTLV-2 isolates from Brazil showed the HTLV-2a subtype, variant -2c, which spread from Indians to the general population and IDUs. The present study searched for the types of HTLV-2 that predominate among HIV-1-coinfected patients from southern and southeastern Brazil. Molecular characterization of the LTR, env, and tax regions of 38 isolates confirmed the HTLV-2c variant in 37 patients, and one HTLV-2b in a patient from Paraguay. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences showed different clades of HTLV-2 associated with risk factors and geographic region. These clades could represent different routes of virus transmission and/or little diverse evolutionary rates of virus. Taking into account the results obtained in the present study and the lack of the prototypic North American HTLV-2a strain and HTLV-2b subtypes commonly detected among HIV-coinfected individuals worldwide, we could speculate on the introduction of Brazilian HTLV-2 strains in such populations before the introduction of HIV. PMID:23484539

  13. Effects of Methylmercury Contained in a Diet Mimicking the Wayana Amerindians Contamination through Fish Consumption: Mercury Accumulation, Metallothionein Induction, Gene Expression Variations, and Role of the Chemokine CCL2

    PubMed Central

    Bourdineaud, Jean-Paul; Laclau, Muriel; Maury-Brachet, Régine; Gonzalez, Patrice; Baudrimont, Magalie; Mesmer-Dudons, Nathalie; Fujimura, Masatake; Marighetto, Aline; Godefroy, David; Rostène, William; Brèthes, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    Methylmercury (MeHg) is a potent neurotoxin, and human beings are mainly exposed to this pollutant through fish consumption. We addressed the question of whether a diet mimicking the fish consumption of Wayanas Amerindians from French Guiana could result in observable adverse effects in mice. Wayanas adult men are subjected to a mean mercurial dose of 7 g Hg/week/kg of body weight. We decided to supplement a vegetarian-based mice diet with 0.1% of lyophilized Hoplias aimara fish, which Wayanas are fond of and equivalent to the same dose as that afflicting the Wayanas Amerindians. Total mercury contents were 1.4 ± 0.2 and 5.4 ± 0.5 ng Hg/g of food pellets for the control and aimara diets, respectively. After 14 months of exposure, the body parts and tissues displaying the highest mercury concentration on a dry weight (dw) basis were hair (733 ng/g) and kidney (511 ng/g), followed by the liver (77 ng/g). Surprisingly, despite the fact that MeHg is a neurotoxic compound, the brain accumulated low levels of mercury (35 ng/g in the cortex). The metallothionein (MT) protein concentration only increased in those tissues (kidney, muscles) in which MeHg demethylation had occurred. This can be taken as a molecular sign of divalent mercurial contamination since only Hg2+ has been reported yet to induce MT accumulation in contaminated tissues. The suppression of the synthesis of the chemokine CCL2 in the corresponding knockout (KO) mice resulted in important changes in gene expression patterns in the liver and brain. After three months of exposure to an aimara-containing diet, eight of 10 genes selected (Sdhb, Cytb, Cox1, Sod1, Sod2, Mt2, Mdr1a and Bax) were repressed in wild-type mice liver whereas none presented a differential expression in KO Ccl2−/− mice. In the wild-type mice brain, six of 12 genes selected (Cytb, Cox1, Sod1, Sod2, Mdr1a and Bax) presented a stimulated expression, whereas all remained at the basal level of expression in KO Ccl2−/− mice. In the

  14. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups in 1526 unrelated individuals from 11 Departments of Colombia

    PubMed Central

    Yunis, Juan J.; Yunis, Emilio J.

    2013-01-01

    The frequencies of four mitochondrial Native American DNA haplogroups were determined in 1526 unrelated individuals from 11 Departments of Colombia and compared to the frequencies previously obtained for Amerindian and Afro-Colombian populations. Amerindian mtDNA haplogroups ranged from 74% to 97%. The lowest frequencies were found in Departments on the Caribbean coast and in the Pacific region, where the frequency of Afro-Colombians is higher, while the highest mtDNA Amerindian haplogroup frequencies were found in Departments that historically have a strong Amerindian heritage. Interestingly, all four mtDNA haplogroups were found in all Departments, in contrast to the complete absence of haplogroup D and high frequencies of haplogroup A in Amerindian populations in the Caribbean region of Colombia. Our results indicate that all four Native American mtDNA haplogroups were widely distributed in Colombia at the time of the Spanish conquest. PMID:24130438

  15. Antiplasmodial and anti-inflammatory effects of an antimalarial remedy from the Wayana Amerindians, French Guiana: takamalaimë (Psidium acutangulum Mart. ex DC., Myrtaceae).

    PubMed

    Houël, Emeline; Fleury, Marie; Odonne, Guillaume; Nardella, Flore; Bourdy, Geneviève; Vonthron-Sénécheau, Catherine; Villa, Pascal; Obrecht, Adeline; Eparvier, Véronique; Deharo, Eric; Stien, Didier

    2015-05-26

    Field investigations highlighted the use of Psidium acutangulum Mart. ex DC (syn. P. persoonii McVaugh), a small tree used by the Wayana Amerindians in Twenke-Taluhwen and Antecume-Pata, French Guiana, for the treatment of malaria, and administered either orally in the form of a decoction or applied externally over the whole body. This use appears limited to the Wayana cultural group in French Guiana and has never been reported anywhere else. Our goal was to evaluate the antimalarial and anti-inflammatory activities of a P. acutangulum decoction to explain the good reputation of this remedy. Interviews with the Wayana inhabitants of Twenke-Taluhwen and Antecume-Pata were conducted within the TRAMAZ project according to the TRAMIL methodology, which is based on a quantitative and qualitative analysis of medicinal plant uses. A decoction of dried aerial parts of P. acutangulum was prepared in consistency with the Wayana recipe. In vitro antiplasmodial assays were performed on chloroquine-resistant FcB1 ([(3)H]-hypoxanthine bioassay) and 7G8 (pLDH bioassay) P. falciparum strains and on chloroquine sensitive NF54 ([(3)H]-hypoxanthine bioassay) P. falciparum strain. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNFα) was evaluated on LPS-stimulated human PBMC and NO secretion inhibition was measured on LPS stimulated RAW murine macrophages. Cytotoxicity of the decoction was measured on L6 mammalian cells, PBMCs, and RAW cells. A preliminary evaluation of the in vivo antimalarial activity of the decoction, administered orally twice daily, was assessed by the classical four-day suppressive test against P. berghei NK65 in mice. The decoction displayed a good antiplasmodial activity in vitro against the three tested strains, regardless to the bioassay used, with IC50 values of 3.3µg/mL and 10.3µg/mL against P. falciparum FcB1 and NF54, respectively and 19.0µg/mL against P. falciparum 7G8. It also exhibited significant anti-inflammatory activity in vitro in a

  16. Hyperreactive malarial splenomegaly is associated with low levels of antibodies against red blood cell and Plasmodium falciparum derived glycolipids in Yanomami Amerindians from Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Vivas, Livia; O'Dea, Kieran P; Noya, Oscar; Pabon, Rosalba; Magris, Magda; Botto, Carlos; Holder, Anthony A; Brown, K Neil

    2008-03-01

    The immunological basis of the aberrant immune response in hyperreactive malarial splenomegaly (HMS) is poorly understood, but believed to be associated with polyclonal B cell activation by an unidentified malaria mitogen, leading to unregulated immunoglobulin and autoantibody production. HMS has been previously reported in Yanomami communities in the Upper Orinoco region of the Venezuelan Amazon. To investigate a possible association between antibody responses against Plasmodium falciparum and uninfected red blood cell (URBC) glycolipids and splenomegaly, a direct comparison of the parasite versus host anti-glycolipid antibody responses was made in an isolated community of this area. The anti-P. falciparum glycolipid (Pfglp) response was IgG3 dominated, whereas the uninfected red blood cell glycolipid (URBCglp) response showed a predominance of IgG1. The levels of IgG1 against Pfglp, and of IgG4 and IgM against URBCglp were significantly higher in women, while the anti-Pfglp or URBCglp IgM levels were inversely correlated with the degree of splenomegaly. Overall, these results suggest differential regulation of anti-parasite and autoreactive responses and that these responses may be linked to the development and evolution of HMS in this population exposed to endemic malaria. The high mortality rates associated with HMS point out that its early diagnosis together with the implementation of malaria control measures in these isolated Amerindian communities are a priority.

  17. A comparative epidemiological study of hepatitis B and hepatitis D virus infections in Yanomami and Piaroa Amerindians of Amazonas State, Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Duarte, María Carolina; Cardona, Nathalia; Poblete, Fresia; González, Kenia; García, Mayila; Pacheco, Milian; Botto, Carlos; Pujol, Flor H; Williams, John R

    2010-08-01

    To report the prevalences of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis D (HDV) infections in remote and more accessible Yanomami and Piaroa Venezuelan Amazonian Amerindian populations; to estimate incidence per susceptible. Clinico-epidemiological evaluation was carried out in 9 Piaroa villages. Blood samples were tested for HBV core antibody (anti-HBc), surface antigen (HBsAg) and HDV antibody (anti-HDV). Results were analysed using logistic regression, and estimates made of HBV forces of infection (FOI). Prevalences and FOI were also estimated for 4 Yanomami villages. Mean Piaroa anti-HBc and HBsAg prevalences were 27.4% and 5.1%, respectively (up to 53% and 19% in the remote Autana region). Mean Yanomami anti-HBc and HBsAg prevalences were, respectively, 58.0% (range 43-70%) and 14.3% (31% in the village with highest HBsAg). No significant difference was found between sexes, with age and maternal HBsAg the only risk factors for HBV identified in multivariate regression of Piaroa data. Only 4 Piaroa and 2 Yanomami individuals were anti-HDV positive. Piaroa HBV prevalences were generally higher in remote villages than in less remote ones, with prevalences in Yanomami villages even higher. Anti-HBc prevalence was 47% in one Yanomami village with a history of HBV vaccination but no HBsAg cases were identified, suggestive of previously cleared or possibly transient infection or vaccine escape. Despite a past history of HDV epidemic outbreaks and HBsAg levels in some villages appearing sufficient to facilitate HDV transmission, anti-HDV prevalence was low; it remains to be established why no recent outbreaks have been reported.

  18. Y-chromosome lineages in native South American population.

    PubMed

    Blanco-Verea, A; Jaime, J C; Brión, M; Carracedo, A

    2010-04-01

    The present work tries to investigate the population structure and variation of the Amerindian indigenous populations living in Argentina. A total of 134 individuals from three ethnic groups (Kolla, Mapuche and Diaguitas) living in four different regions were collected and analysed for 26 Y-SNPs and 11 Y-STRs. Intra-population variability was analysed, looking for population substructure and neighbour populations were considered for genetic comparative analysis, in order to estimate the contribution of the Amerindian and the European pool, to the current population. We observe a high frequency of R1b1 and Q1a3a* Y-chromosome haplogroups, in the ethnic groups Mapuche, Diaguita and Kolla, characteristic of European and Native American populations, respectively. When we compare our native Argentinean population with other from the South America we also observe that frequency values for Amerindian lineages are relatively lower in our population. These results show a clear Amerindian genetic component but we observe a predominant European influence too, suggesting that typically European male lineages have given rise to the displacement of genuinely Amerindian male lineages in our South American population. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Analysis of Polymorphisms in Genes (AGT, MTHFR, GPIIIa, and GSTP1) Associated with Hypertension, Thrombophilia and Oxidative Stress in Mestizo and Amerindian Populations of México

    PubMed Central

    Juárez-Velázquez, Rocio; Canto, Patricia; Canto-Cetina, Thelma; Rangel-Villalobos, Hector; Rosas-Vargas, Haydee; Rodríguez, Maricela; Canizales-Quinteros, Samuel; Velázquez Wong, Ana Claudia; Ordoñez-Razo, Rosa María; Vilchis-Dorantes, Guadalupe; Coral-Vázquez, Ramón Mauricio

    2010-01-01

    Several polymorphisms related to hypertension, thrombophilia, and oxidative stress has been associated with the development of cardiovascular disease. We analyzed the frequency of M235T angiotensinogen (AGT), A222V 5,10 methylenete-trahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR), L33P glycoprotein IIIa (GPIIIa), and I105V glutathione S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) polymorphisms in 285 individuals belonging to Mexican-Mestizo and five Amerindian population from México, by real time PCR allelic discrimination. Allele and genotype frequencies were compared using χ2 tests. All populations followed the Hardy Weinberg equilibrium for assay markers with the exception of the Triki, whose were in Hardy Weinberg dysequilibrium for the glutathione S-transferase P1 polymorphism. Interestingly, according to all the analyzed single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), the Triki population was the most differentiated and homogeneous group of the six populations analyzed. A comparison of our data with those previously published for some Caucasian, Asian and Black populations showed quite significant differences. These differences were remarkable with all the Mexican populations having a lower frequency of the 105V allele of the glutathione S-transferase P1 and reduced occurrence of the 222A allele of the 5,10 methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. Our results show the genetic diversity among different Mexican populations and with other racial groups. PMID:20592457

  20. [Correlation analysis of surnames and Y-chromosome genetic heritage in 3 provinces of southwestern Colombia].

    PubMed

    Gómez, Alberto; Avila, Sandra J; Briceño, Ignacio

    2008-09-01

    In Colombia, surnames are characters usually passed to the children by the father, and they have been compared to neutral alleles associated with the Y-chromosome. Population frequencies were determined for 17 short tandem repeats (STR) DNA markers on the Y-chromosome to compare the two identity codes and define the correlation between haplotypes and surnames in each individual. DNA was extracted from blood samples from 308 male individuals in provinces of Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Nariño, all in southwestern Colombia. Sample DNA was analyzed with the commercial kit AmpFLSTR Yfiler (Applied Biosystems) and examined for the following 17 Y-chromosome STR markers: DYS19, DYS389I, DYS389II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS385a/b, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635 and Y-GATA-H4. The frequencies of molecular haplotypes were associated with the surname reported by each individual, and a correlation table was constructed. Amerindian and European surnames were associated with the presence of allele DYS19/13, a characteristic of Amerindian populations. Allele frequencies were reported for each of the 17 STR markers in the southwestern region of Colombia-high genetic and haplotypic diversities were obtained. Approximately 40% of lineage inconsistencies were found when the molecular genotype was compared with the European or Amerindian surnames. Surnames must be used as population markers with reservation. The genetic evidence indicates that traditional genealogies based on surnames with or without documental support, may be inconsistant with their biological provenance.

  1. Ancestral effect on HOMA-IR levels quantitated in an American population of Mexican origin.

    PubMed

    Qu, Hui-Qi; Li, Quan; Lu, Yang; Hanis, Craig L; Fisher-Hoch, Susan P; McCormick, Joseph B

    2012-12-01

    An elevated insulin resistance index (homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance [HOMA-IR]) is more commonly seen in the Mexican American population than in European populations. We report quantitative ancestral effects within a Mexican American population, and we correlate ancestral components with HOMA-IR. We performed ancestral analysis in 1,551 participants of the Cameron County Hispanic Cohort by genotyping 103 ancestry-informative markers (AIMs). These AIMs allow determination of the percentage (0-100%) ancestry from three major continental populations, i.e., European, African, and Amerindian. We observed that predominantly Amerindian ancestral components were associated with increased HOMA-IR (β = 0.124, P = 1.64 × 10(-7)). The correlation was more significant in males (Amerindian β = 0.165, P = 5.08 × 10(-7)) than in females (Amerindian β = 0.079, P = 0.019). This unique study design demonstrates how genomic markers for quantitative ancestral information can be used in admixed populations to predict phenotypic traits such as insulin resistance.

  2. How many populations set foot through the Patagonian door? Genetic composition of the current population of Bahía Blanca (Argentina) based on data from 19 Alu polymorphisms.

    PubMed

    Resano, M; Esteban, E; González-Pérez, E; Vía, M; Athanasiadis, G; Avena, S; Goicoechea, A; Bartomioli, M; Fernández, V; Cabrera, A; Dejean, C; Carnese, F; Moral, P

    2007-01-01

    The city of Bahía Blanca occupies a strategic place in Argentina south of the Pampean region in the north-east corner of the Patagonia. Since 1828, this city has been the historical and political border between Amerindian lands in the south, and the lands of European colonists. Nowadays, Bahía Blanca is an urban population mainly composed by descendents of immigrants from Spain and other European countries with apparently low admixture with Amerindians. In view of the unexpectedly high Amerindian admixture levels (about 46.7%) suggested by mtDNA data, and protein markers (19.5%), we analyzed a set of 19 Alu polymorphisms (18 autosomal, 1 of Chromosome Y) in a well-documented genealogical sample from Bahía Blanca. The genotyped sample was made up of 119 unrelated healthy individuals whose birth place and grandparent origins were fully documented. According to available genealogical records, the total sample has been subdivided into two groups: Bahía Blanca Original (64 individuals with all 4 gandparents born in Argentina) and Bahía Blanca Mix (55 individuals with one to three grandparents born out of Argentina). Allele frequencies and gene diversity values in Bahía Blanca fit well into the European ranges. Population relationships have been tested for 8 Alu markers, whose variation has been described in several Amerindian and European samples. Reynolds genetic distances underline the significant genetic similarity of Bahía Blanca to Europeans (mean distance 0.044) and their differentiation from Amerindians (0.146). Interestingly enough, when the general sample is divided, Bahía Blanca Original appears slightly closer to Amerindians (0.127) in contrast to Bahía Blanca Mix (0.161). Furthermore, the genetic relationships depicted through a principal components analysis emphasize the relative similarity of Bahía Blanca Original to Amerindians. A thorough knowledge of the sample origins has allowed us to make a subtle distinction of the genetic composition of

  3. Prevalence and risk factors associated with the metabolic syndrome and dyslipidemia in White, Black, Amerindian and Mixed Hispanics in Zulia State, Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Florez, Hermes; Silva, Eglé; Fernández, Virginia; Ryder, Elena; Sulbarán, Tulio; Campos, Gilberto; Calmón, Gustavo; Clavel, Emilio; Castillo-Florez, Sumaya; Goldberg, Ronald

    2005-07-01

    Studies have highlighted the association between insulin resistance (IR) and several cardiovascular (CV) risk factors, including hypertension (HTN), obesity, dyslipidemia (i.e. high triglyceride and low HDL-cholesterol) and glucose intolerance, in a cluster known as the metabolic syndrome (MS). There are few data on the frequency of the MS and dyslipidemia in developing countries, and none in South America. To estimate the prevalence of the MS and its components in Zulia State, Venezuela, and to establish associated demographic and clinical factors, we evaluated 3108 Hispanic men and women aged 20 years or older from a cross-sectional survey of a random representative sample from each health district in Zulia State, Venezuela (1999-2001). Prevalence of the MS and dyslipidemia was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP)/Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III) criteria. The age-adjusted prevalence of MS and dyslipidemia was 31.2% and 24.1%, respectively, with higher rates in men than in women. Prevalence rates increased with age and with the degree of obesity. MS prevalence was lower in Amerindian (17.%) compared to Black (27.2%), White (33.3%) and Mixed (37.4%) men, but no differences were found among women. Overall, low HDL-cholesterol (65.3%), abdominal obesity (42.9%) and HTN (38.1%) were the most frequent MS components. After adjusting for age, sex and race groups, family history of diabetes, obesity and HTN were associated with the MS. Sedentary lifestyle also increased the risk of MS, event after adjusting for the same covariates, obesity and the degree of IR. These results suggest that MS is found in approximately one-third of the Venezuelan adult population in Zulia State, with higher prevalence in men related to the presence of dyslipidemia. Lifestyle interventions in MS subjects are needed in Venezuela to halt the burden of CV disease and diabetes.

  4. Genome-Wide Analysis in Brazilians Reveals Highly Differentiated Native American Genome Regions

    PubMed Central

    Havt, Alexandre; Nayak, Uma; Pinkerton, Relana; Farber, Emily; Concannon, Patrick; Lima, Aldo A.; Guerrant, Richard L.

    2017-01-01

    Despite its population, geographic size, and emerging economic importance, disproportionately little genome-scale research exists into genetic factors that predispose Brazilians to disease, or the population genetics of risk. After identification of suitable proxy populations and careful analysis of tri-continental admixture in 1,538 North-Eastern Brazilians to estimate individual ancestry and ancestral allele frequencies, we computed 400,000 genome-wide locus-specific branch length (LSBL) Fst statistics of Brazilian Amerindian ancestry compared to European and African; and a similar set of differentiation statistics for their Amerindian component compared with the closest Asian 1000 Genomes population (surprisingly, Bengalis in Bangladesh). After ranking SNPs by these statistics, we identified the top 10 highly differentiated SNPs in five genome regions in the LSBL tests of Brazilian Amerindian ancestry compared to European and African; and the top 10 SNPs in eight regions comparing their Amerindian component to the closest Asian 1000 Genomes population. We found SNPs within or proximal to the genes CIITA (rs6498115), SMC6 (rs1834619), and KLHL29 (rs2288697) were most differentiated in the Amerindian-specific branch, while SNPs in the genes ADAMTS9 (rs7631391), DOCK2 (rs77594147), SLC28A1 (rs28649017), ARHGAP5 (rs7151991), and CIITA (rs45601437) were most highly differentiated in the Asian comparison. These genes are known to influence immune function, metabolic and anthropometry traits, and embryonic development. These analyses have identified candidate genes for selection within Amerindian ancestry, and by comparison of the two analyses, those for which the differentiation may have arisen during the migration from Asia to the Americas. PMID:28100790

  5. Local ecological knowledge concerning the invasion of Amerindian lands in the northern Brazilian Amazon by Acacia mangium (Willd.).

    PubMed

    Souza, Arlene Oliveira; Chaves, Maria do Perpétuo Socorro Rodrigues; Barbosa, Reinaldo Imbrozio; Clement, Charles Roland

    2018-05-03

    Invasive plants can impact biodiversity as well as the lives of native human populations. Natural ecosystems represent sources of natural resources essential for the subsistence and socio-cultural continuity of these social groups. Approximately 30,000 ha of Acacia mangium were planted for commercial purposes in savanna areas surrounding indigenous lands in Roraima State, Brazil, at the end of the 1990s. We examined the local ecological knowledge of indigenous Wapichana and Macuxi Amerindians, members of the Arawak and Carib linguistic families, respectively, concerning A. mangium Willdenow (Fabaceae) in a savanna ecosystem ("Lavrado") to attempt to understand its propagation beyond the limits of the commercial plantations and contribute to mitigating its impacts on socio-ecological systems. The present study was undertaken in the Moskow, São Domingos, and Malacacheta communities in the Moskow and Malacacheta Indigenous Lands (ILs) in the Serra da Lua region of Roraima State, in the northern Brazilian Amazon region. Interviews were conducted with a total of 94 indigenous individuals of both sexes, with ages between 18 and 76, and low levels of formal schooling, with an average time of permanence in the area of 21 years; some still spoke only their native languages. The interviews focused on their ecological knowledge of the invasive, non-native A. mangium and their uses of it. The informants affirmed that A. mangium negatively impacted the local fauna and flora, making their subsistence more difficult and altering their daily routines. Among the problems cited were alterations of water quality (71.3%), negative impacts on crops (60.6%), negative impacts on the equilibrium of the local fauna (52.1%), increased farm labor requirements (41.5%), and restriction of access to indigenous lands (23.4%). There were no significant differences between the opinions of men and women, nor between community leaders and nonleaders. Most of the interviewees (89%) felt that A

  6. Strong Selection at MHC in Mexicans since Admixture

    PubMed Central

    Zhou, Quan; Zhao, Liang; Guan, Yongtao

    2016-01-01

    Mexicans are a recent admixture of Amerindians, Europeans, and Africans. We performed local ancestry analysis of Mexican samples from two genome-wide association studies obtained from dbGaP, and discovered that at the MHC region Mexicans have excessive African ancestral alleles compared to the rest of the genome, which is the hallmark of recent selection for admixed samples. The estimated selection coefficients are 0.05 and 0.07 for two datasets, which put our finding among the strongest known selections observed in humans, namely, lactase selection in northern Europeans and sickle-cell trait in Africans. Using inaccurate Amerindian training samples was a major concern for the credibility of previously reported selection signals in Latinos. Taking advantage of the flexibility of our statistical model, we devised a model fitting technique that can learn Amerindian ancestral haplotype from the admixed samples, which allows us to infer local ancestries for Mexicans using only European and African training samples. The strong selection signal at the MHC remains without Amerindian training samples. Finally, we note that medical history studies suggest such a strong selection at MHC is plausible in Mexicans. PMID:26863142

  7. [Infection by hepatitis virus among the indigenous populations of South America: a review of the problem].

    PubMed

    Echevarría, J M; Blitz-Dorfman, L; Pujot, F H

    1996-09-01

    After the report of the epidemic outbreak of delta hepatitis among the Yukpa amerindians in the early 80s, the viral hepatitis arose as an important health problem in all the Amerindian communities from the north of South America and the Amazonian Basin. Despite the few data available, the results obtained in different communities from Venezuela (Yukpa, Barí, Yanomami) have shown a high endemicity of hepatitis B and D virus infections and a significant prevalence of hepatitis E virus-specific antibody among their members. By contrast, the infection by hepatitis C virus, which is present in all the urban areas from South America, seems uncommon, or even absent among some Amerindian populations. At the moment, a satisfactory explanation for this findings has not yet been arised. However, it could be possible that the margination of these populations regarding the health care system has been keeping them free of an infection largely linked worldwide to iatrogeny. Vaccination of Amerindian populations against hepatitis B should be taken as a priority of the health care programs. Moreover, such programs should consider the iatrogenic transmission of the HCV as a matter of concern regarding such populations, since parenterally transmitted hepatitis viruses seems to spread quickly among their members once they are introduced, giving rise to serious health problems.

  8. Phylogenetic analysis of mtDNA lineages in South American mummies.

    PubMed

    Monsalve, M V; Cardenas, F; Guhl, F; Delaney, A D; Devine, D V

    1996-07-01

    Some studies of mtDNA propose that contemporary Amerindians have descended from four haplotype groups, each defined by specific sets of polymorphisms. One recent study also found evidence of other potential founder haplotypes. We wanted to determine whether the four haplotypes in modern populations were also present in ancient South American aboriginals. We subjected mtDNA from Colombian mummies (470 to 1849 AD) to PCR amplification and restriction endonuclease analysis. The mtDNA D-loop region was surveyed for sequence variation by restriction analysis and a segment of this region was sequenced for each mummy to characterize the haplotypes. Our mummies exhibited three of the four major characteristic haplotypes of Amerindian populations defined by four markers. With sequence data obtained in the ancient samples and published data on contemporary Amerindians it was possible to infer the origin of these six mummies.

  9. JPRS Report, Latin America.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1987-06-08

    under- stand the phenomena, negotiations, and electoral agreements which occurred during the congress. It is for this reason that we decided to make ...demanded that Brasilia’s attention be directed to him. Dias’ vehemence raises a question: Is the governor trying to make friends for the new ministry, is...conference was convened to encourage discussion and decison - making between the leaders and residents of Amerindian communi- ties, to acquaint Amerindian

  10. Genetic structure and forensic parameters of 38 Indels for human identification purposes in eight Mexican populations.

    PubMed

    Martínez-Cortés, G; Gusmão, L; Pereira, R; Salcido, V H; Favela-Mendoza, A F; Muñoz-Valle, J F; Inclán-Sánchez, A; López-Hernández, L B; Rangel-Villalobos, H

    2015-07-01

    Insertion-deletions for human identification purposes (HID-Indels) offer advantages to solve particular forensic situations and complex paternity cases. In Mexico, admixed population known as Mestizos is the largest (∼90%), plus a number of Amerindian groups (∼10%), which have not been studied with HID-Indels. For this reason, allele frequencies and forensic parameters for 38 HID-Indels were estimated in 531 unrelated individuals from one Amerindian (Purépecha) and seven Mestizo populations from different regions of the country. Genotype distribution was in agreement with Hardy-Weinberg expectations in almost all loci/populations. The linkage disequilibrium (LD) test did not reveal possible associations between loci pairs in all eight Mexican populations. The combined power of discrimination was high in all populations (PD >99.99999999998%). However, the power of exclusion of the 38 HID-Indel system (PE >99.6863%) was reduced regarding most of autosomal STR kits. The assessment of genetic structure (AMOVA) and relationships between populations (FST) demonstrated significant differences among Mexican populations, mainly of the Purépecha Amerindian group. Among Mexican-Mestizos, three population clusters consistent with geography were defined: (i) North-West region: Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Jalisco; (ii) Central-Southern region: Mexico City, Veracruz and Yucatan; (iii) South region: Chiapas. In brief, this report validates the inclusion of the 38 HID-Indel system in forensic casework and paternity cases in seven Mexican-Mestizo populations from different regions, and in one Mexican Amerindian group. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. The Orinoco megadelta as a conservation target in the face of the ongoing and future sea level rise.

    PubMed

    Vegas-Vilarrúbia, T; Hernández, E; Rull, Valentí; Rull Vegas, Elisa

    2015-05-15

    Currently, risk assessments related to rising sea levels and the adoption of defensive or adaptive measures to counter these sea level increases are underway for densely populated deltas where economic losses might be important, especially in the developed world. However, many underpopulated deltas harbouring high biological and cultural diversity are also at risk but will most likely continue to be ignored as conservation targets. In this study, we explore the potential effects of erosion, inundation and salinisation on one of the world's comparatively underpopulated megadeltas, the Orinoco Delta. With a 1 m sea level rise expected to occur by 2100, several models predict a moderate erosion of the delta's shorelines, migration or loss of mangroves, general inundation of the delta with an accompanying submersion of wetlands, and an increase in the distance to which sea water intrudes into streams, resulting in harm to the freshwater biota and resources. The Warao people are the indigenous inhabitants of the Orinoco Delta and currently are subject to various socioeconomic stressors. Changes due to sea level rise will occur extremely rapidly and cause abrupt shifts in the Warao's traditional environments and resources, resulting in migrations and abandonment of their ancestral territories. However, evidence indicates that deltaic aggradation/accretion processes at the Orinoco delta due to allochthonous sediment input and vegetation growth could be elevating the surface of the land, keeping pace with the local sea level rise. Other underpopulated and large deltas of the world also may risk immeasurable biodiversity and cultural losses and should not be forgotten as important conservation targets. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  12. High-resolution HLA allele and haplotype frequencies in majority and minority populations of Costa Rica and Nicaragua: Differential admixture proportions in neighboring countries.

    PubMed

    Arrieta-Bolaños, E; Madrigal-Sánchez, J J; Stein, J E; Órlich-Pérez, P; Moreira-Espinoza, M J; Paredes-Carias, E; Vanegas-Padilla, Y; Salazar-Sánchez, L; Madrigal, J A; Marsh, S G E; Shaw, B E

    2018-06-01

    The HLA system shows the most extensive polymorphism in the human genome. Allelic and haplotypic frequencies of HLA genes vary dramatically across human populations. Due to a complex history of migration, populations in Latin America show a broad variety of admixture proportions, usually varying not only between countries, but also within countries. Knowledge of HLA allele and haplotype frequencies is essential for medical fields such as transplantation, but also serves as a means to assess genetic diversity and ancestry in human populations. Here, we have determined high-resolution HLA-A, -B, -C, and -DRB1 allele and haplotype frequencies in a sample of 713 healthy subjects from three Mestizo populations, one population of African descent, and Amerindians of five different groups from Costa Rica and Nicaragua and compared their profiles to a large set of indigenous populations from Iberia, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the Americas. Our results show a great degree of allelic and haplotypic diversity within and across these populations, with most extended haplotypes being private. Mestizo populations show alleles and haplotypes of putative European, Amerindian, and Sub-Saharan African origin, albeit with differential proportions. Despite some degree of gene flow, Amerindians and Afro-descendants show great similarity to other Amerindian and West African populations, respectively. This is the first comprehensive study reporting high-resolution HLA diversity in Central America, and its results will shed light into the genetic history of this region while also supporting the development of medical programs for organ and stem cell transplantation. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Genomic ancestry of rural African-derived populations from Southeastern Brazil.

    PubMed

    Kimura, Lilian; Ribeiro-Rodrigues, Elzemar Martins; De Mello Auricchio, Maria Teresa Balester; Vicente, João Pedro; Batista Santos, Sidney Emanuel; Mingroni-Netto, Regina Célia

    2013-01-01

    xMany Africans were brought to Brazil as slaves. The runaway or abandoned slaves founded isolated communities named quilombos. There are many quilombo remnants in Vale do Ribeira region in the southern part of São Paulo State. The aim of our study was to contribute to understanding the origins of these populations, through admixture studies. We genotyped 307 unrelated DNA samples obtained from ten quilombo populations from Vale do Ribeira region, using a panel of 48 INDEL polymorphisms. We estimated genetic differentiation between populations (F(ST) ) and genomic ancestry from these populations. Our data were compared to a similar study performed in quilombo remnants from the Brazilian Amazon region. Population admixture estimates showed high degree of miscegenation in the quilombo remnants from Vale do Ribeira (average admixture estimates at 39.7% of African, 39.0% of European and 21.3% of Amerindian contribution). The proportions of ancestral genes varied greatly among individuals, ranging from 7.3 to 69.5%, 12.9 to 68.3%, and 7.3 to 58.5% (African, European, and Amerindian, respectively). Genetic differentiation between these populations was low (all F(ST) values <5%), indicating gene flow between them. Both groups of quilombos, from Vale do Ribeira and Amazon, presented similar patterns of admixture. INDEL markers were useful to evidence the triple interbreeding among African, European, and Amerindian in the formation of quilombo populations. The low F(ST) values suggested gene flow among quilombos from Vale do Ribeira. Our data highlight the important role of Amerindians in the formation of quilombo populations. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. A Delta-Sarcoglycan Gene Polymorphism as a Risk Factor for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

    PubMed Central

    Garrido-Garduño, Martín H.; Pérez-Martínez, Ramón A.; Ruiz, Victor M.; Herrera-Tepatlán, Esteban; Rodríguez-Cruz, Maricela; Jiménez-Vaca, Ana L.; Minauro-Sanmiguel, Fernando; Salamanca-Gómez, Fabio A.

    2012-01-01

    Background: The C allele of c.−94C>G polymorphism of the delta-sarcoglycan gene was associated as a risk factor for coronary spasm in Japanese patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Aim: We evaluated whether the c.−94C>G polymorphism can be a risk factor for HCM in Mexican patients. Methods: The polymorphism was genotyped and the risk was estimated in 35 HCM patients and 145 healthy unrelated individuals. Data of this polymorphism reported in Mexican Amerindian populations were included. Results: The C allele frequency in HCM patients was higher with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.37, and the risk for the CC genotype increased to 5.0. The analysis with Mexican Amerindian populations showed that the C allele frequency was significantly higher in HCM patients with an OR of 2.96 and for CC genotype the risk increased to 7.60. Conclusions: The C allele of the c.−94C>G polymorphism is a risk factor for HCM, which is increased by the Amerindian component and can play an important role in the etiology and progression of disease in Mexican patients. PMID:22524166

  15. Surnames in Chile: a study of the population of Chile through isonymy.

    PubMed

    Barrai, I; Rodriguez-Larralde, A; Dipierri, J; Alfaro, E; Acevedo, N; Mamolini, E; Sandri, M; Carrieri, A; Scapoli, C

    2012-03-01

    In Chile, the Hispanic dual surname system is used. To describe the isonymic structure of this country, the distribution of 16,277,255 surnames of 8,178,209 persons was studied in the 15 regions, the 54 provinces, and the 346 communes of the nation. The number of different surnames found was 72,667. Effective surname number (Fisher's α) for the entire country was 309.0, the average for regions was 240.8 ± 17.6, for provinces 209.2 ± 8.9, and for communes 178.7 ± 4.7. These values display a variation of inbreeding between administrative levels in the Chilean population, which can be attributed to the 'Prefecture effect' of Nei and Imaizumi. Matrices of isonymic distances between units within administrative levels were tested for correlation with geographic distance. The correlations were highest for provinces (r = 0.630 ± 0.019 for Euclidean distance) and lowest for communes (r = 0.366 ± 0.009 for Lasker's). The geographical distribution of the first three-dimensions of the Euclidean distance matrix suggests that population diffusion may have taken place from the north of the country toward the center and south. The prevalence of European plus European-Amerindian (95.4%) over Amerindian ethnicity (4.6%, CIA World Factbook) is compatible with diffusion of Caucasian groups over a low-density area populated by indigenous groups. The significant excess of maternal over paternal indigenous surnames indicates some asymmetric mating between nonAmerindian and Amerindian Chileans. The available studies of Y-markers and mt-markers are in agreement with this asymmetry. In the present work, we investigate the Chilean population with the aim of detecting its structure through the study of isonymy (Crow and Mange,1965) in the three administrative levels of the nation, namely 15 regions, 54 provinces, and 346 communes. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Genetic Diversity and Differentiation in Urban and Indigenous Populations of Mexico: Patterns of Mitochondrial DNA and Y-Chromosome Lineages.

    PubMed

    González-Sobrino, Blanca Z; Pintado-Cortina, Ana P; Sebastián-Medina, Leticia; Morales-Mandujano, Fabiola; Contreras, Alejandra V; Aguilar, Yasnaya E; Chávez-Benavides, Juan; Carrillo-Rodríguez, Aurelio; Silva-Zolezzi, Irma; Medrano-González, Luis

    2016-01-01

    Aside from the admixture between indigenous people and people from overseas, populations in Mexico changed drastically after the Spanish conquest of the sixteenth century, forming an intricate history that has been underutilized in understanding the genetic population structure of Mexicans. To infer historical processes of isolation, dispersal, and assimilation, we examined the phylogeography of mitochondrial (mt) DNA and Y-chromosome lineages in 3,026 individuals from 10 urban and nine indigenous populations by identifying single nucleotide polymorphisms. A geographic array with a predominance of Amerindian lineages was observed for mtDNA, with northern indigenous populations being divergent from the central and southern indigenous populations; urban populations showed low differentiation with isolation by distance. Y-chromosome variation distinguished urban and indigenous populations through the Amerindian haplogroup Q frequency. The MtDNA and the Y-chromosome together primarily distinguished urban and indigenous populations, with different geographic arrays for both. Gene flow across geographical distance and between the urban and indigenous realms appears to have altered the pre-Hispanic phylogeography in central and southern Mexico, mainly by displacement of women, while maintaining the indigenous isolation in the north, southeast, and Zapotec regions. Most Amerindian mtDNA diversity currently occurs in urban populations and appears to be reduced among indigenous people.

  17. Migration in Afro-Brazilian rural communities: crossing demographic and genetic data.

    PubMed

    Amorim, Carlos Eduardo G; Gontijo, Carolina C; Falcão-Alencar, Gabriel; Godinho, Neide M O; Toledo, Rafaela C P; Pedrosa, Maria Angélica F; Luizon, Marcelo R; Simões, Aguinaldo L; Klautau-Guimãres, Maria N; Oliveira, Silviene F

    2011-08-01

    Many studies have used genetic markers to understand global migration patterns of our species. However, there are only few studies of human migration on a local scale. We, therefore, researched migration dynamics in three Afro-Brazilian rural communities, using demographic data and ten Ancestry Informative Markers. In addition to the description of migration and marriage structures, we carried out genetic comparisons between the three populations, as well as between locals and migrants from each community. Genetic admixture analyses were conducted according to the gene-identity method, with Sub-Saharan Africans, Amerindians, and Europeans as parental populations. The three analyzed Afro-Brazilian rural communities consisted of 16% to 30% of migrants, most of them women. The age pyramid revealed a gap in the segment of men aged between 20 to 30 yrs. While endogamous marriages predominated, exogamous marriages were mainly patrilocal. Migration dynamics are apparently associated with matrimonial customs and other social practices of such communities. The impact of migration upon the populations' genetic composition was low but showed an increase in European alleles with a concomitant decrease in the Amerindian contribution. Admixture analysis evidenced a higher African contribution to the gene pool of the studied populations, followed by the contribution of Europeans and Amerindians, respectively.

  18. CYP2D6 variability in populations from Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Moreno, Nancy; Flores-Angulo, Carlos; Villegas, Cecilia; Mora, Yuselin

    2016-12-01

    CYP2D6 is an important cytochrome P450 enzyme that plays an important role in the metabolism of about 25% of currently prescribed drugs. The presence of polymorphisms in the CYP2D6 gene may modulate enzyme level and activity, thereby affecting individual responses to pharmacological treatments. The most prevalent diseases in the admixed population from Venezuela are cardiovascular and cancer, whereas viral, bacterial and parasitic diseases, particularly malaria, are prevalent in Amerindian populations; in the treatment of these diseases, several drugs that are metabolized by CYP2D6 are used. In this work, we reviewed the data on CYP2D6 variability and predicted metabolizer phenotypes, in healthy volunteers of two admixed and five Amerindian populations from Venezuela. The Venezuelan population is very heterogeneous as a result of the genetic admixture of three major ethnical components: Europeans, Africans and Amerindians. There are noticeable inter-regional and inter-population differences in the process of mixing of this population. Hitherto, there are few published studies in Venezuela on CYP2D6; therefore, it is necessary to increase research in this regard, in particular to develop studies with a larger sample size. There is a considerable amount of work remaining before CYP2D6 is integrated into clinical practice in Venezuela.

  19. Wayanin and guaijaverin, two active metabolites found in a Psidium acutangulum Mart. ex DC (syn. P. persoonii McVaugh) (Myrtaceae) antimalarial decoction from the Wayana Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Houël, Emeline; Nardella, Flore; Jullian, Valérie; Valentin, Alexis; Vonthron-Sénécheau, Catherine; Villa, Pascal; Obrecht, Adeline; Kaiser, Marcel; Bourreau, Eliane; Odonne, Guillaume; Fleury, Marie; Bourdy, Geneviève; Eparvier, Véronique; Deharo, Eric; Stien, Didier

    2016-07-01

    Psidium acutangulum Mart. ex DC is a small tree used by the Wayana Amerindians from the Upper-Maroni in French Guiana for the treatment of malaria. In a previous study, we highlighted the in vitro antiplasmodial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of the traditional decoction of P. acutangulum aerial parts. Our goal was then to investigate on the origin of the biological activity of the traditional remedy, and eventually characterize active constituents. Liquid-liquid extractions were performed on the decoction, and the antiplasmodial activity evaluated against chloroquine-resistant FcB1 ([(3)H]-hypoxanthine bioassay) and 7G8 (pLDH bioassay) P. falciparum strains, and on a chloroquine sensitive NF54 ([(3)H]-hypoxanthine bioassay) P. falciparum strain. The ethyl acetate fraction (D) was active and underwent bioguided fractionation. All the isolated compounds were tested on P. falciparum FcB1 strain. In vitro anti-inflammatory activity (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNFα) of the ethyl acetate fraction and of an anti-Plasmodium active compound, was concurrently assessed on LPS-stimulated human PBMC and NO secretion inhibition was measured on LPS stimulated RAW murine macrophages. Cytotoxicity of the fractions and pure compounds was measured on VERO cells, L6 mammalian cells, PBMCs, and RAW cells. Fractionation of the ethyl acetate soluble fraction (IC50 ranging from 3.4 to <1µg/mL depending on the parasite strain) led to the isolation of six pure compounds: catechin and five glycosylated quercetin derivatives. These compounds have never been isolated from this plant species. Two of these compounds (wayanin and guaijaverin) were found to be moderately active against P. falciparum FcB1 in vitro (IC50 5.5 and 6.9µM respectively). We proposed the name wayanin during public meetings organized in June 2015 in the Upper-Maroni villages, in homage to the medicinal knowledge of the Wayana population. At 50µg/mL, the ethyl acetate fraction (D) significantly inhibited IL-1

  20. Assessing interethnic admixture using an X-linked insertion-deletion multiplex.

    PubMed

    Ribeiro-Rodrigues, Elzemar Martins; dos Santos, Ney Pereira Carneiro; dos Santos, Andrea Kely Campos Ribeiro; Pereira, Rui; Amorim, António; Gusmão, Leonor; Zago, Marco Antonio; dos Santos, Sidney Emanuel Batista

    2009-01-01

    In this study, a PCR multiplex was optimized, allowing the simultaneous analysis of 13 X-chromosome Insertion/deletion polymorphisms (INDELs). Genetic variation observed in Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans reveals high inter-population variability. The estimated proportions of X-chromosomes in an admixed population from the Brazilian Amazon region show a predominant Amerindian contribution (approximately 41%), followed by European (approximately 32%) and African (approximately 27%) contributions. The proportion of Amerindian contribution based on X-linked data is similar to the expected value based on mtDNA and Y-chromosome information. The accuracy for assessing interethnic admixture, and the high differentiation between African, European, and Native American populations, demonstrates the suitability of this INDEL set to measure ancestry proportions in three-hybrid populations, as it is the case of Latin American populations.

  1. Reference values for airway resistance in newborns, infants and preschoolers from a Latin American population.

    PubMed

    Gochicoa, Laura G; Thomé-Ortiz, Laura P; Furuya, María E Y; Canto, Raquel; Ruiz-García, Martha E; Zúñiga-Vázquez, Guillermo; Martínez-Ramírez, Filiberto; Vargas, Mario H

    2012-05-01

    Several studies have determined reference values for airway resistance measured by the interrupter technique (Rint) in paediatric populations, but only one has been done on Latin American children, and no studies have been performed on Mexican children. Moreover, these previous studies mostly included children aged 3 years and older; therefore, information regarding Rint reference values for newborns and infants is scarce. Rint measurements were performed on preschool children attending eight kindergartens (Group 1) and also on sedated newborns, infants and preschool children admitted to a tertiary-level paediatric hospital due to non-cardiopulmonary disorders (Group 2). In both groups, Rint values were inversely associated with age, weight and height, but the strongest association was with height. The linear regression equation for Group 1 (n = 209, height 86-129 cm) was Rint = 2.153 - 0.012 × height (cm) (standard deviation of residuals 0.181 kPa/L/s). The linear regression equation for Group 2 (n = 55, height 52-113 cm) was Rint = 4.575 - 0.035 × height (cm) (standard deviation of residuals 0.567 kPa/L/s). Girls tended to have slightly higher Rint values than boys, a difference that diminished with increasing height. In this study, Rint reference values applicable to Mexican children were determined, and these values are probably also applicable to other paediatric populations with similar Spanish-Amerindian ancestries. There was an inverse relationship between Rint and height, with relatively large between-subject variability. © 2012 The Authors. Respirology © 2012 Asian Pacific Society of Respirology.

  2. Forensic-paternity effectiveness and genetics population analysis of six non-CODIS mini-STR loci (D1S1656, D2S441, D6S1043, D10S1248, D12S391, D22S1045) and SE33 in Mestizo and Amerindian populations from Mexico.

    PubMed

    Burguete-Argueta, Nelsi; Martínez De la Cruz, Braulio; Camacho-Mejorado, Rafael; Santana, Carla; Noris, Gino; López-Bayghen, Esther; Arellano-Galindo, José; Majluf-Cruz, Abraham; Antonio Meraz-Ríos, Marco; Gómez, Rocío

    2016-11-01

    STRs are powerful tools intensively used in forensic and kinship studies. In order to assess the effectiveness of non-CODIS genetic markers in forensic and paternity tests, the genetic composition of six mini short tandem repeats-mini-STRs-(D1S1656, D2S441, D6S1043, D10S1248, D12S391, D22S1045) and the microsatellite SE33 in Mestizo and Amerindian populations from Mexico were studied. Using multiplex polymerase chain reactions and capillary electrophoresis, this study genotyped all loci from 870 chromosomes and evaluated the statistical genetic parameters. All mini-STRs studied were in agreement with HW and linkage equilibrium; however, an important HW departure for SE33 was found in the Mestizo population (p ≤ 0.0001). Regarding paternity and forensic statistical parameters, high values of combined power discrimination and mean power of exclusion were found using these seven markers. The principal co-ordinate analysis based on allele frequencies of three mini-STRs showed the complex genetic architecture of the Mestizo population. The results indicate that this set of loci is suitable to genetically identify individuals in the Mexican population, supporting its effectiveness in human identification casework. In addition, these findings add new statistical values and emphasise the importance of the use of non-CODIS markers in complex populations in order to avoid erroneous assumptions.

  3. Amazonian foods and implications for human biology.

    PubMed

    Dufour, Darna L; Piperata, Barbara A; Murrieta, Rui S S; Wilson, Warren M; Williams, Drake D

    2016-07-01

    Diets of subsistence-based Amazonian populations have been linked to local resources, but are changing with market penetration. To review the available data on traditional Amazonian foods and diets and evaluate their implications for human biology as a step toward understanding nutrition transitions in the region. This study used the Human Relations Area Files for information on the diets of Amerindian groups in the Amazon Basin from 1950 to the present, and used other published sources and the authors' own data. Data on food use was identified for only nine groups and dietary intake data for individuals in only three of the groups. A diet based on starchy staples (manioc and plantains) and fish, supplemented with a limited variety of other plant and animal foods, was found. Bitter manioc-based foods were associated with the consumption of cyanogens and fish with the consumption of mercury. Diets of adults appear to be adequate in energy and protein and low in fats. Children's diets were not well documented. Based on the limited available data, Amazonian diets are restricted in variety, but appear to be adequate in energy and protein for adults, but likely insufficiently nutrient-dense for children.

  4. Genetics and epidemiology of gallbladder disease in New World native peoples.

    PubMed Central

    Weiss, K M; Ferrell, R E; Hanis, C L; Styne, P N

    1984-01-01

    Native peoples of the New World, including Amerindians and admixed Latin Americans such as Mexican-Americans, are highly susceptible to diseases of the gallbladder. These include cholesterol cholelithiasis (gallstones) and its complications, as well as cancer of the gallbladder. Although there is clearly some necessary dietary or other environmental risk factor involved, the pattern of disease prevalence is geographically associated with the distribution of genes of aboriginal Amerindian origin, and levels of risk generally correspond to the degree of Amerindian admixture. This pattern differs from that generally associated with Westernization, which suggests a gene-environment interaction, and that within an admixed population there is a subset whose risk is underestimated when admixture is ignored. The risk that an individual of a susceptible New World genotype will undergo a cholecystectomy by age 85 can approach 40% in Mexican-American females, and their risk of gallbladder cancer can reach several percent. These are heretofore unrecognized levels of risk, especially of the latter, because previous studies have not accounted for admixture or for the loss of at-risk individuals due to cholecystectomy. A genetic susceptibility may, thus, be as "carcinogenic" in New World peoples as any known major environmental exposure; yet, while the risk has a genetic basis, its expression as gallbladder cancer is so delayed as to lead only very rarely to multiply-affected families. Estimates in this paper are derived in part from two studies of Mexican-Americans in Starr County and Laredo, Texas. PMID:6517051

  5. America's Stonehenge, (A.S.), Its "Window into the Past," Jung's "Reincarnations," and Problems Like "A Wonderful Mind" Are Associated With Time-recurret Natural Phenomena Monitored By Native Americans Impacting Religous Zealotry.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alexander, Kimbereley E.; McLeod, Roger D.

    2002-04-01

    Phenomena detected at A.S. in North Salem, N.H. are associated with: positive ionic charges, inclement weather, periodicities that are daily, weekly, earth-moon related, but not with the full moon, seasonal annual and longer cyclicities, exceedingly faint lotus-blossom-blue light "tubes" traveling along electromagnetic field (EMF) lines, incorrect beliefs about reincarnation, and a multitude of aspects of schizophrenia as popularized in the movie "A Wonderful Mind". EgyptAir Flight 990, 10/99, documented approximately 90 seconds of the copilot's repeated phrase "I rely on God." Spiritual Gnostic, Cathar-Amerindian mistaken "reincarnations" and other esoteric mystical visions and unions, teenagers or other psychologically bizarre behaviors and all of the above are related to detectable or documented time variations of the EMF; Amerindians say schizoid behavior, supernatural beings, or advanced ideas are "Manitou" aspects of the Great Spirit, our EMF!

  6. The Wealth of the Body: Trade Relations, Objects, and Personhood in Northeastern Amazonia

    PubMed Central

    Grotti, Vanessa

    2016-01-01

    This article is an analysis of trade among the Trio (Suriname), and their relationship with objects and persons in their quest for manufactured goods. Based on data mostly collected in the Trio village of Tëpu in southern Suriname, it discusses trade from the point of view of Amerindian sociality, with regard to the nature of the interpersonal relations involved. I examine trade through the prism of an Amerindian understanding of personhood, the body and materiality, and show how these relationships tend to be fabricated over a lifetime, eventually becoming an integral and material part of the actors involved. This is manifested in the way Trio social space is constructed and inhabited as an extension of the body, and how objects acquired through trade come to elicit narratives of past exploits and travels to distant spheres of alterity. [Brazil, Guyana, indigenous people, social anthropology, Surinam] PMID:27175223

  7. Local plant names reveal that enslaved Africans recognized substantial parts of the New World flora.

    PubMed

    van Andel, Tinde R; van 't Klooster, Charlotte I E A; Quiroz, Diana; Towns, Alexandra M; Ruysschaert, Sofie; van den Berg, Margot

    2014-12-16

    How did the forced migration of nearly 11 million enslaved Africans to the Americas influence their knowledge of plants? Vernacular plant names give insight into the process of species recognition, acquisition of new knowledge, and replacement of African species with American ones. This study traces the origin of 2,350 Afro-Surinamese (Sranantongo and Maroon) plant names to those plant names used by local Amerindians, Europeans, and related groups in West and Central Africa. We compared vernacular names from herbarium collections, literature, and recent ethnobotanical fieldwork in Suriname, Ghana, Benin, and Gabon. A strong correspondence in sound, structure, and meaning among Afro-Surinamese vernaculars and their equivalents in other languages for botanically related taxa was considered as evidence for a shared origin. Although 65% of the Afro-Surinamese plant names contained European lexical items, enslaved Africans have recognized a substantial part of the neotropical flora. Twenty percent of the Sranantongo and 43% of the Maroon plant names strongly resemble names currently used in diverse African languages for related taxa, represent translations of African ones, or directly refer to an Old World origin. The acquisition of new ethnobotanical knowledge is captured in vernaculars derived from Amerindian languages and the invention of new names for neotropical plants from African lexical terms. Plant names that combine African, Amerindian, and European words reflect a creolization process that merged ethnobotanical skills from diverse geographical and cultural sources into new Afro-American knowledge systems. Our study confirms the role of Africans as significant agents of environmental knowledge in the New World.

  8. Insulin resistance and β-cell function in Colombian mestizo and Embera-Chamí populations and their relation with adiposity degree.

    PubMed

    Caro-Gomez, María Antonieta; Naranjo-González, Andrés; Parra-Marín, María Victoria; Gallego-Lopera, Natalia; Valencia, Diana María; Rúa-Molina, Diana Carolina; Rosique-Gracia, Javier; García-Pineda, Andres Felipe; Gómez-Isaza, Luis Felipe; Pizano-Ramírez, Norman Diego; Arcos, Edgar Gerardo; Villegas-Perrasse, Alberto; Duque-Botero, Julieta; Bedoya-Berrío, Gabriel

    2017-04-01

    Insulin resistance (IR) is a condition favored by metabolic and endocrine changes experienced by adipose tissue in the context of obesity. The prevalence and the presentation of both IR and obesity vary among the populations, and may be affected by ancestral genetic composition among other factors. The aim of this study was to compare the presence of IR and obesity in Amerindians of the Embera-Chamí ethnicity and Colombian mestizo population. A sample of 630 individuals, 471 mestizos and 159 Amerindians of the Embera-Chamí ethnicity, from the general population of Colombia were studied. For each participant, anthropometric and biochemical measurements, as well as blood pressure and the Homeostatic Model Assessment (HOMA) of IR and β-cell function (%B) were recorded. These values were compared between the two populations. While prevalence of central obesity was similar in both populations (48.7% and 42.6% in the mestizo and Embera groups respectively; p=0.148), body mass index (BMI) values suggested a higher prevalence of overweight in the Embera than in mestizo population (43.4% Embera, 31.8% mestizo; p=0.027). Despite the similarities in the prevalence of HOMA-IR and HOMA-%B status between both populations, the Embera population had a significantly greater pancreatic β-cell function, higher insulin levels, and better glucose control, across BMI and central obesity categories, than the mestizo population. There are differences in aspects related to energy metabolism between the samples of the mestizo and Amerindian populations analyzed. Copyright © 2017 SEEN. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  9. Relationship between Adiposity and Admixture in African American and Hispanic American Women

    PubMed Central

    Nassir, Rami; Qi, Lihong; Kosoy, Roman; Garcia, Lorena; Allison, Matthew; Ochs– Balcom, Heather M.; Tylavsky, Fran; Manson, JoAnn E.; Shigeta, Russell; Robbins, John; Seldin, Michael F.

    2011-01-01

    Objective To investigate whether differences in admixture in African American (AFA) and Hispanic American (HA) adult women are associated with adiposity and adipose distribution. Design The proportion of European, sub– Saharan African and Amerindian admixture was estimated for AFA and HA women in the Women's Heath Initiative using 92 ancestry informative markers. Analyses assessed the relationship between admixture and adiposity indices. Subjects 11712 AFA and 5088 HA self– identified post– menopausal women. Results There was a significant positive association between body mass index (BMI) and African admixture when BMI was considered as a continuous variable, and age, education, physical activity, parity, family income and smoking were included covariates (p < 10− 4). A dichotomous model (upper and lower BMI quartiles) showed that African admixture was associated with a high odds ratio [OR = 3.27 (for 100% admixture compared to 0% admixture), 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.08 – 5.15]. For HA there was no association between BMI and admixture. In contrast, when waist to hip ratio (WHR) was used as a measure of adipose distribution, there was no significant association between WHR and admixture in AFA but there was a strong association in HA (p<10− 4; OR Amerindian admixture = 5.93, CI = 3.52 – 9.97). Conclusion These studies show that 1) African admixture is associated with BMI in AFA women; 2) Amerindian admixture is associated with WHR but not BMI in HA women; and 3) it may be important to consider different measurements of adiposity and adipose distribution in different ethnic population groups. PMID:21487399

  10. Local plant names reveal that enslaved Africans recognized substantial parts of the New World flora

    PubMed Central

    van ‘t Klooster, Charlotte I. E. A.; Towns, Alexandra M.; Ruysschaert, Sofie; van den Berg, Margot

    2014-01-01

    How did the forced migration of nearly 11 million enslaved Africans to the Americas influence their knowledge of plants? Vernacular plant names give insight into the process of species recognition, acquisition of new knowledge, and replacement of African species with American ones. This study traces the origin of 2,350 Afro-Surinamese (Sranantongo and Maroon) plant names to those plant names used by local Amerindians, Europeans, and related groups in West and Central Africa. We compared vernacular names from herbarium collections, literature, and recent ethnobotanical fieldwork in Suriname, Ghana, Benin, and Gabon. A strong correspondence in sound, structure, and meaning among Afro-Surinamese vernaculars and their equivalents in other languages for botanically related taxa was considered as evidence for a shared origin. Although 65% of the Afro-Surinamese plant names contained European lexical items, enslaved Africans have recognized a substantial part of the neotropical flora. Twenty percent of the Sranantongo and 43% of the Maroon plant names strongly resemble names currently used in diverse African languages for related taxa, represent translations of African ones, or directly refer to an Old World origin. The acquisition of new ethnobotanical knowledge is captured in vernaculars derived from Amerindian languages and the invention of new names for neotropical plants from African lexical terms. Plant names that combine African, Amerindian, and European words reflect a creolization process that merged ethnobotanical skills from diverse geographical and cultural sources into new Afro-American knowledge systems. Our study confirms the role of Africans as significant agents of environmental knowledge in the New World. PMID:25453066

  11. Relationship between adiposity and admixture in African-American and Hispanic-American women.

    PubMed

    Nassir, R; Qi, L; Kosoy, R; Garcia, L; Allison, M; Ochs-Balcom, H M; Tylavsky, F; Manson, J E; Shigeta, R; Robbins, J; Seldin, M F

    2012-02-01

    The objective of this study was to investigate whether differences in admixture in African-American (AFA) and Hispanic-American (HA) adult women are associated with adiposity and adipose distribution. The proportion of European, sub-Saharan African and Amerindian admixture was estimated for AFA and HA women in the Women's Heath Initiative using 92 ancestry informative markers. Analyses assessed the relationship between admixture and adiposity indices. The subjects included 11 712 AFA and 5088 HA self-identified post-menopausal women. There was a significant positive association between body mass index (BMI) and African admixture when BMI was considered as a continuous variable, and age, education, physical activity, parity, family income and smoking were included covariates (P<10(-4)). A dichotomous model (upper and lower BMI quartiles) showed that African admixture was associated with a high odds ratio (OR=3.27 (for 100% admixture compared with 0% admixture), 95% confidence interval 2.08-5.15). For HA, there was no association between BMI and admixture. In contrast, when waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) was used as a measure of adipose distribution, there was no significant association between WHR and admixture in AFA but there was a strong association in HA (P<10(-4); OR Amerindian admixture=5.93, confidence interval=3.52-9.97). These studies show that: (1) African admixture is associated with BMI in AFA women; (2) Amerindian admixture is associated with WHR but not BMI in HA women; and (3) it may be important to consider different measurements of adiposity and adipose distribution in different ethnic population groups.

  12. Structure of the human gastric bacterial community in relation to Helicobacter pylori status.

    PubMed

    Maldonado-Contreras, Ana; Goldfarb, Kate C; Godoy-Vitorino, Filipa; Karaoz, Ulas; Contreras, Mónica; Blaser, Martin J; Brodie, Eoin L; Dominguez-Bello, Maria G

    2011-04-01

    The human stomach is naturally colonized by Helicobacter pylori, which, when present, dominates the gastric bacterial community. In this study, we aimed to characterize the structure of the bacterial community in the stomach of patients of differing H. pylori status. We used a high-density 16S rRNA gene microarray (PhyloChip, Affymetrix, Inc.) to hybridize 16S rRNA gene amplicons from gastric biopsy DNA of 10 rural Amerindian patients from Amazonas, Venezuela, and of two immigrants to the United States (from South Asia and Africa, respectively). H. pylori status was determined by PCR amplification of H. pylori glmM from gastric biopsy samples. Of the 12 patients, 8 (6 of the 10 Amerindians and the 2 non-Amerindians) were H. pylori glmM positive. Regardless of H. pylori status, the PhyloChip detected Helicobacteriaceae DNA in all patients, although with lower relative abundance in patients who were glmM negative. The G2-chip taxonomy analysis of PhyloChip data indicated the presence of 44 bacterial phyla (of which 16 are unclassified by the Taxonomic Outline of the Bacteria and Archaea taxonomy) in a highly uneven community dominated by only four phyla: Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Positive H. pylori status was associated with increased relative abundance of non-Helicobacter bacteria from the Proteobacteria, Spirochetes and Acidobacteria, and with decreased abundance of Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. The PhyloChip detected richness of low abundance phyla, and showed marked differences in the structure of the gastric bacterial community according to H. pylori status.

  13. Structure of the human gastric bacterial community in relation to Helicobacter pylori status

    PubMed Central

    Maldonado-Contreras, Ana; Goldfarb, Kate C; Godoy-Vitorino, Filipa; Karaoz, Ulas; Contreras, Mónica; Blaser, Martin J; Brodie, Eoin L; Dominguez-Bello, Maria G

    2011-01-01

    The human stomach is naturally colonized by Helicobacter pylori, which, when present, dominates the gastric bacterial community. In this study, we aimed to characterize the structure of the bacterial community in the stomach of patients of differing H. pylori status. We used a high-density 16S rRNA gene microarray (PhyloChip, Affymetrix, Inc.) to hybridize 16S rRNA gene amplicons from gastric biopsy DNA of 10 rural Amerindian patients from Amazonas, Venezuela, and of two immigrants to the United States (from South Asia and Africa, respectively). H. pylori status was determined by PCR amplification of H. pylori glmM from gastric biopsy samples. Of the 12 patients, 8 (6 of the 10 Amerindians and the 2 non-Amerindians) were H. pylori glmM positive. Regardless of H. pylori status, the PhyloChip detected Helicobacteriaceae DNA in all patients, although with lower relative abundance in patients who were glmM negative. The G2-chip taxonomy analysis of PhyloChip data indicated the presence of 44 bacterial phyla (of which 16 are unclassified by the Taxonomic Outline of the Bacteria and Archaea taxonomy) in a highly uneven community dominated by only four phyla: Proteobacteria, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria and Bacteroidetes. Positive H. pylori status was associated with increased relative abundance of non-Helicobacter bacteria from the Proteobacteria, Spirochetes and Acidobacteria, and with decreased abundance of Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. The PhyloChip detected richness of low abundance phyla, and showed marked differences in the structure of the gastric bacterial community according to H. pylori status. PMID:20927139

  14. Strong selection at MHC in Mexicans since admixture

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Mexicans are a recent admixture of Amerindians, Europeans, and Africans. We performed local ancestry analysis of Mexican samples from two genome-wide association studies obtained from dbGaP, and discovered that at the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region Mexicans have excessive African ance...

  15. A Comparative Study of Behavior Problems among Left-Behind Children, Migrant Children and Local Children.

    PubMed

    Hu, Hongwei; Gao, Jiamin; Jiang, Haochen; Jiang, Haixia; Guo, Shaoyun; Chen, Kun; Jin, Kaili; Qi, Yingying

    2018-04-01

    This study aims to estimate the prevalence of behavioral problems among left-behind children, migrant children and local children in China, and to compare the risks of behavioral problems among the three types of children. Data on 4479 children aged 6-16 used in this study were from a survey conducted in China in 2017. The school-age version of the Children Behavior Checklist was used to measure children's behavioral problems. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and logistic regressions were conducted. The prevalence of behavioral problems was 18.80% and 13.59% for left-behind children and migrant children, respectively, both of which were higher than that of local children. Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustments for individual and environmental variables, the likelihood of total, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems for left-behind children and migrant children were higher than those for local children; left-behind children had a higher likelihood of internalizing problems than externalizing problems, while migrant children had a higher prevalence of externalizing problems. Left-behind children had a higher prevalence of each specific syndrome than migrant and local children. Both individual and environmental factors were associated with child behavioral problems, and family migration may contribute to the increased risks. Left-behind and migrant children were more vulnerable than local children to behavioral problems.

  16. Endocarditis - children

    MedlinePlus

    Valve infection - children; Staphylococcus aureus - endocarditis - children; Enterococcus - endocarditis- children; Streptococcus viridians - endocarditis - children; Candida - endocarditis - children; Bacterial endocarditis - children; Infective ...

  17. A Comparative Study of Behavior Problems among Left-Behind Children, Migrant Children and Local Children

    PubMed Central

    Hu, Hongwei; Gao, Jiamin; Jiang, Haochen; Jiang, Haixia; Guo, Shaoyun; Chen, Kun; Jin, Kaili; Qi, Yingying

    2018-01-01

    This study aims to estimate the prevalence of behavioral problems among left-behind children, migrant children and local children in China, and to compare the risks of behavioral problems among the three types of children. Data on 4479 children aged 6–16 used in this study were from a survey conducted in China in 2017. The school-age version of the Children Behavior Checklist was used to measure children’s behavioral problems. Descriptive analysis, correlation analysis, and logistic regressions were conducted. The prevalence of behavioral problems was 18.80% and 13.59% for left-behind children and migrant children, respectively, both of which were higher than that of local children. Logistic regression analysis showed that after adjustments for individual and environmental variables, the likelihood of total, internalizing and externalizing behavior problems for left-behind children and migrant children were higher than those for local children; left-behind children had a higher likelihood of internalizing problems than externalizing problems, while migrant children had a higher prevalence of externalizing problems. Left-behind children had a higher prevalence of each specific syndrome than migrant and local children. Both individual and environmental factors were associated with child behavioral problems, and family migration may contribute to the increased risks. Left-behind and migrant children were more vulnerable than local children to behavioral problems. PMID:29614783

  18. Transforming the Colombian Army During the War on Terrorism

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2006-03-15

    Amerindian 1% Religion : Literacy rate: Roman Catholic 90% 93% (2003 est.) Economic summary: • GDP/PPP (2004 est.): $281.1 billion; per capita...Carlisle Barracks, U.S. Army War College, Student Research Paper, 2004. 10 Nestor Hernando Parra, Colombia dos siglos en busca de la gobernabilidad

  19. Beyond La Nina, La Pinta, and La Santa Maria: The Invention and Mental Mapping of the New World

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Fernandez, Luis Martinez

    2013-01-01

    The topics of Columbus's voyages of exploration, the first encounters between Amerindians and Europeans, and the ensuing collision of their respective worlds provide ample opportunities for creative and stimulating pedagogical approaches that go beyond the stale memorization of dates, places, and names. This essay and accompanying classroom…

  20. Genetic Influences on Preterm Birth in Argentina

    PubMed Central

    Mann, Paul C.; Cooper, Margaret E.; Ryckman, Kelli K.; Comas, Belén; Gili, Juan; Crumley, Suzanne; Bream, Elise N.A.; Byers, Heather M.; Piester, Travis; Schaefer, Amanda; Christine, Paul J.; Lawrence, Amy; Schaa, Kendra L.; Kelsey, Keegan J.P.; Berends, Susan K.; Gadow, Enrique; Cosentino, Viviana; Castilla, Eduardo E.; Camelo, Jorge López; Saleme, Cesar; Day, Lori J.; England, Sarah K.; Marazita, Mary L.; Dagle, John M.; Murray, Jeffrey C.

    2013-01-01

    Objective To investigate genetic etiologies of preterm birth (PTB) in Argentina through evaluation of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in candidate genes and population genetic admixture. Study Design Genotyping was performed in 389 families. Maternal, paternal, and fetal effects were studied separately. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was sequenced in 50 males and 50 females. Y-chromosome anthropological markers were evaluated in 50 males. Results Fetal association with PTB was found in the progesterone receptor (PGR, rs1942836; p= 0.004). Maternal association with PTB was found in small conductance calcium activated potassium channel isoform 3 (KCNN3, rs883319; p= 0.01). Gestational age associated with PTB in PGR rs1942836 at 32 –36 weeks (p= 0.0004). MtDNA sequencing determined 88 individuals had Amerindian consistent haplogroups. Two individuals had Amerindian Y-chromosome consistent haplotypes. Conclusions This study replicates single locus fetal associations with PTB in PGR, maternal association in KCNN3, and demonstrates possible effects for divergent racial admixture on PTB. PMID:23018797

  1. Adaptation to Life in the High Andes: Nocturnal Oxyhemoglobin Saturation in Early Development.

    PubMed

    Hill, Catherine Mary; Baya, Ana; Gavlak, Johanna; Carroll, Annette; Heathcote, Kate; Dimitriou, Dagmara; L'Esperance, Veline; Webster, Rebecca; Holloway, John; Virues-Ortega, Javier; Kirkham, Fenella Jane; Bucks, Romola Starr; Hogan, Alexandra Marie

    2016-05-01

    Physiological adaptation to high altitude hypoxia may be impaired in Andeans with significant European ancestry. The respiratory 'burden' of sleep may challenge adaptation, leading to relative nocturnal hypoxia. Developmental aspects of sleep-related breathing in high-altitude native children have not previously been reported. We aimed to determine the influence of development on diurnal-nocturnal oxyhemoglobin differences in children living at high altitude. This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Seventy-five healthy Bolivian children aged 6 mo to 17 y, native to low altitude (500 m), moderate high altitude (2,500 m), and high altitude (3,700 m) were recruited. Daytime resting pulse oximetry was compared to overnight recordings using Masimo radical oximeters. Genetic ancestry was determined from DNA samples. Children had mixed European/Amerindian ancestry, with no significant differences between altitudes. Sixty-two participants had ≥ 5 h of nocturnal, artifact-free data. As predicted, diurnal mean oxyhemoglobin saturation decreased across altitudes (infants and children, both P < 0.001), with lowest diurnal values at high altitude in infants. At high altitude, there was a greater drop in nocturnal mean oxyhemoglobin saturation (infants, P < 0.001; children, P = 0.039) and an increase in variability (all P ≤ 0.001) compared to low altitude. Importantly, diurnal to nocturnal altitude differences diminished (P = 0.036), from infancy to childhood, with no further change during adolescence. Physiological adaptation to high-altitude living in native Andeans is unlikely to compensate for the significant differences we observed between diurnal and nocturnal oxyhemoglobin saturation, most marked in infancy. This vulnerability to sleep-related hypoxia in early childhood has potential lifespan implications. Future studies should characterize the sleep- related respiratory physiology underpinning our observations. © 2016 Associated Professional Sleep Societies

  2. Children's Choices: Teaching with Books Children Like.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roser, Nancy, Ed.; Frith, Margaret, Ed.

    Supplementing Children's Choices--a list of children's literature that children grades K-8 found most enjoyable, published annually in "The Reading Teacher" journal--this collection of articles provides suggestions for effective use of children's favorite books in the classroom. In addition to providing an extensive bibliography of…

  3. Physical activity and modernization among Bolivian Amerindians.

    PubMed

    Gurven, Michael; Jaeggi, Adrian V; Kaplan, Hillard; Cummings, Daniel

    2013-01-01

    Physical inactivity is a growing public health problem, and the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Conversely, indigenous populations living traditional lifestyles reportedly engage in vigorous daily activity that is protective against non-communicable diseases. Here we analyze physical activity patterns among the Tsimane, forager-horticulturalists of Amazonian Bolivia with minimal heart disease and diabetes. We assess age patterns of adult activity among men and women, test whether modernization affects activity levels, and examine whether nascent obesity is associated with reduced activity. A factorial method based on a large sample of behavioral observations was employed to estimate effects of age, sex, body mass index, and modernization variables on physical activity ratio (PAR), the ratio of total energy expenditure to basal metabolic rate. Accelerometry combined with heart rate monitoring was compared to the factorial method and used for nighttime sampling. Tsimane men and women display 24 hr physical activity level (PAL) of 2.02-2.15 and 1.73-1.85, respectively. Little time was spent "sedentary", whereas most activity was light to moderate, rather than vigorous. Activity peaks by the late twenties in men, and declines thereafter, but remains constant among women after the early teens. Neither BMI, fat free mass or body fat percentage are associated with PAR. There was no negative effect of modernization on physical activity. Tsimane display relatively high PALs typical of other subsistence populations, but of moderate intensity, and not outside the range of developed populations. Despite rapidly increasing socioeconomic change, there is little evidence that total activity has yet been affected. Overweight and obesity are more prevalent among women than men, and Spanish fluency is associated with greater obesity in women. The lack of cardiovascular disease among Tsimane is unlikely caused by activity alone; further study of diet, food intake and infectious disease is needed.

  4. Physical Activity and Modernization among Bolivian Amerindians

    PubMed Central

    Gurven, Michael; Jaeggi, Adrian V.; Kaplan, Hillard; Cummings, Daniel

    2013-01-01

    Background Physical inactivity is a growing public health problem, and the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality. Conversely, indigenous populations living traditional lifestyles reportedly engage in vigorous daily activity that is protective against non-communicable diseases. Here we analyze physical activity patterns among the Tsimane, forager-horticulturalists of Amazonian Bolivia with minimal heart disease and diabetes. We assess age patterns of adult activity among men and women, test whether modernization affects activity levels, and examine whether nascent obesity is associated with reduced activity. Methods and Findings A factorial method based on a large sample of behavioral observations was employed to estimate effects of age, sex, body mass index, and modernization variables on physical activity ratio (PAR), the ratio of total energy expenditure to basal metabolic rate. Accelerometry combined with heart rate monitoring was compared to the factorial method and used for nighttime sampling. Tsimane men and women display 24 hr physical activity level (PAL) of 2.02–2.15 and 1.73–1.85, respectively. Little time was spent “sedentary”, whereas most activity was light to moderate, rather than vigorous. Activity peaks by the late twenties in men, and declines thereafter, but remains constant among women after the early teens. Neither BMI, fat free mass or body fat percentage are associated with PAR. There was no negative effect of modernization on physical activity. Conclusions Tsimane display relatively high PALs typical of other subsistence populations, but of moderate intensity, and not outside the range of developed populations. Despite rapidly increasing socioeconomic change, there is little evidence that total activity has yet been affected. Overweight and obesity are more prevalent among women than men, and Spanish fluency is associated with greater obesity in women. The lack of cardiovascular disease among Tsimane is unlikely caused by activity alone; further study of diet, food intake and infectious disease is needed. PMID:23383262

  5. The split of the Arara population: comparison of genetic drift and founder effect.

    PubMed

    Ribeiro-dos-Santos, A K; Guerreiro, J F; Santos, S E; Zago, M A

    2001-01-01

    The total genetic diversity of the Amerindian population is as high as that observed for other continental human populations because a large contribution from variation among tribes makes up for the low variation within tribes. This is attributed mainly to genetic drift acting on small isolated populations. However, a small founder population with a low genetic diversity is another factor that may contribute to the low intratribal diversity. Small founder populations seem to be a frequent event in the formation of new tribes among the Amerindians, but this event is usually not well recorded. In this paper, we analyze the genetic diversity of the Arara of Laranjal village and the Arara of Iriri village, with respect to seven tandem repeat autosomic segments (D1S80, ApoB, D4S43, vW1, vW2, F13A1 and D12S67), two Y-chromosome-specific polymorphisms (DYS19 and DYS199), and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers (restriction fragment length polymorphisms and sequencing of a segment of the D loop region). The occurrence of a single Y chromosome and mtDNA haplotype, and only 1-4 alleles of the autosomic loci investigated, corroborates historic and demographic records that the Arara of Iriri were founded by a single couple of siblings who came from the Arara of Laranjal, the largest group. Notwithstanding this fact, the genetic distance and the molecular variance between the two Arara villages were greater than those observed between them and other Amazonian tribes, suggesting that the microevolutionary process among Brazilian Amerindians may be misinterpreted if historic demographic data are not considered. Copyright 2000 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  6. The population genetics of Quechuas, the largest native South American group: autosomal sequences, SNPs, and microsatellites evidence high level of diversity.

    PubMed

    Scliar, Marilia O; Soares-Souza, Giordano B; Chevitarese, Juliana; Lemos, Livia; Magalhães, Wagner C S; Fagundes, Nelson J; Bonatto, Sandro L; Yeager, Meredith; Chanock, Stephen J; Tarazona-Santos, Eduardo

    2012-03-01

    Elucidating the pattern of genetic diversity for non-European populations is necessary to make the benefits of human genetics research available to individuals from these groups. In the era of large human genomic initiatives, Native American populations have been neglected, in particular, the Quechua, the largest South Amerindian group settled along the Andes. We characterized the genetic diversity of a Quechua population in a global setting, using autosomal noncoding sequences (nine unlinked loci for a total of 16 kb), 351 unlinked SNPs and 678 microsatellites and tested predictions of the model of the evolution of Native Americans proposed by (Tarazona-Santos et al.: Am J Hum Genet 68 (2001) 1485-1496). European admixture is <5% and African ancestry is barely detectable in the studied population. The largest genetic distances were between African versus Quechua or Melanesian populations, which is concordant with the African origin of modern humans and the fact that South America was the last part of the world to be peopled. The diversity in the Quechua population is comparable with that of Eurasian populations, and the allele frequency spectrum based on resequencing data does not reflect a reduction in the proportion of rare alleles. Thus, the Quechua population is a large reservoir of common and rare genetic variants of South Amerindians. These results are consistent with and complement our evolutionary model of South Amerindians (Tarazona-Santos et al.: Am J Hum Genet 68 (2001) 1485-1496), proposed based on Y-chromosome data, which predicts high genomic diversity due to the high level of gene flow between Andean populations and their long-term effective population size. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  7. Marketing foods to children: a comparison of nutrient content between children's and non-children's products.

    PubMed

    Lythgoe, Amelia; Roberts, Caireen; Madden, Angela M; Rennie, Kirsten L

    2013-12-01

    The predominance of marketing of products high in fat, sugar and/or salt to children has been well documented and implicated in the incidence of obesity. The present study aimed to determine whether foods marketed to children in UK supermarkets are nutritionally similar to the non-children's equivalent, focusing on food categories that may be viewed as healthier options. Nutritional data were collected on yoghurts (n 147), cereal bars (n 145) and ready meals (n 144) from seven major UK supermarkets and categorised as children's or non-children's products based on the characteristics, promotional nature or information on the product packaging. Fat, sugar and salt content was compared per 100 g and per recommended portion size. UK. Per 100 g, children's yoghurts and cereal bars were higher in total sugars, fat and saturated fat than the non-children's; this was significant for all except sugar and total fat in cereal bars. Per portion these differences remained, except for sugars in yoghurts. Conversely children's ready meals were significantly lower in these nutrients per portion than non-children's, but not when expressed per 100 g. Children's yoghurts and ready meals had significantly lower sodium content than non-children's both per portion and per 100 g. Significant differences between the nutritional composition of children's and non-children's products were observed but varied depending on the unit reference. A significant number of products marketed towards children were higher in fat, sugar and salt than those marketed to the general population.

  8. Young Children's Explorations: Young Children's Research?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Jane

    2012-01-01

    "Exploration" is recognised as research behaviour; anecdotally, as an early years' teacher, I witnessed many young children exploring. However, young children's self-initiated explorations are rarely regarded as research by adult researchers and policy-makers. The exclusion of young children's autonomous explorations from recognition as…

  9. SOME NOTES ON CUBAN TRADITIONAL MEDICINE

    PubMed Central

    Santana, Refal Milanes

    1996-01-01

    The traditional medical system of cuba is an amalgam so the medical knowledge of the Africans, Hispanics and the Amerindians of cuba. An attempt is made is this article to provide a short introduction to this fascinating body of knowledge, which awaits further investigations by scholars of ethnic medicine. PMID:22556768

  10. Children's ability to recognize other children's faces.

    PubMed

    Feinman, S; Entwisle, D R

    1976-06-01

    Facial recognition ability was studied with 288 children from 4 grades--first, second, third, and sixth--who also varied by sex race, and school type, the last being segregated or integrated. Children judged whether each of 40 pictures of children's faces had been present in a set of 20 pictures viewed earlier. Facial recognition ability increased significantly with each grade but leveled off between ages 8 and 11. Blacks' performance is significantly better than whites', and blacks are better at recognizing faces of whites than whites are at recognizing blacks. Children from an integrated school show smaller differences recognizing black or white faces than children from segregated schools, but the effect appears only for children of the integrated school who also live in mixed-race neighborhoods.

  11. Philippines: street children, children at risk.

    PubMed

    Tantoco, F G

    1993-01-01

    Almost 2 million of Manila's 2.5 million children younger than 15 years old live on or below the poverty line. 75,000 of these children live on the streets after having run away from home or being abandoned. They beg, steal, scavenge for food, and sell newspapers, cigarettes, and leis. About 20,000 of the street children prostitute themselves. It is these latter children and adolescents who are at particular risk of HIV infection. Studies in the Philippines indicate that 91% of reported HIV infections are among individuals aged 15-44, the male/female infection ratio is one to one, the transmission rate is 45%, and the most common mode of transmission is through heterosexual intercourse. The high incidence of child sexual abuse and child prostitution in the Philippines would suggest that there are a significant number of children and adolescents under age 15 who are infected with HIV. Caritas Manila has developed an information, education, and communication program for HIV/AIDS prevention focusing upon individuals who have direct influence upon and are in direct contact with people: clergy, religious and civic associations, educators, and social and health workers. Caritas has also to a limited extent reached out directly to populations at risk, while collaborating with human rights advocacy groups and networking with other children-oriented agencies in the interest of providing resources to street children. Efforts must be made to protect the rights of children and provide them with an environment conducive to their growth and development. The author notes how off-duty policemen in Manila help real estate developers forcibly eject the poor from their shelters to clear the way for the construction of new infrastructure without concern for the legal processes and requirements in the humane and peaceful relocation of the homeless poor. Many women and children are hurt and killed in the process. It has also been reported that off-duty policemen in Rio de Janeiro

  12. Health Insurance for Children. The Future for Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Behrman, Richard E., Ed.

    2003-01-01

    This issue of "The Future of Children" focuses on efforts to provide publicly funded health insurance to low-income children in the United States through Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The articles summarize current knowledge and research about which children are uninsured and why, discuss ways to…

  13. Where Are the Children in Children's Literature? Teaching Children's Literature to Undergraduates.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Grugeon, Elizabeth

    An undergraduate course in children's literature was developed at De Montfort University in Bedford, England, United Kingdom (UK). In a children's literature course for first year students from a variety of backgrounds, age groups, and future intents, it is important to consider the discourse of children's literature, to trace intertextual…

  14. Children in Our Midst: Voices of Farmworkers' Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McCartney, Irene, Ed.

    For many years, farmworkers in Zimbabwe have been a marginalized and neglected community. This book describes the lives of hired farmworkers' children in their own words. Over 850 children aged 10-17 were interviewed or wrote essays in English or Shona. Nearly all the children were in elementary school in grades 4-7. Many farm children undergo…

  15. "Twilight Children": The Street Children of Johannesburg.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hickson, Joyce; Gaydon, Vanessa

    1989-01-01

    Interviewed approximately 25 street children in Johannesburg, South Africa, and social services and educational personnel providing services to these children. Street children had experienced stress within their family, school, and society. Many came from structurally disadvantaged homes. Approximately 90 percent were identified as learning…

  16. Admixture and genetic relationships of Mexican Mestizos regarding Latin American and Caribbean populations based on 13 CODIS-STRs.

    PubMed

    Salazar-Flores, J; Zuñiga-Chiquette, F; Rubi-Castellanos, R; Álvarez-Miranda, J L; Zetina-Hérnandez, A; Martínez-Sevilla, V M; González-Andrade, F; Corach, D; Vullo, C; Álvarez, J C; Lorente, J A; Sánchez-Diz, P; Herrera, R J; Cerda-Flores, R M; Muñoz-Valle, J F; Rangel-Villalobos, H

    2015-02-01

    Short tandem repeats (STRs) of the combined DNA index system (CODIS) are probably the most employed markers for human identification purposes. STR databases generated to interpret DNA profiles are also helpful for anthropological purposes. In this work, we report admixture, population structure, and genetic relationships of Mexican Mestizos with respect to Latin American and Caribbean populations based on 13 CODIS-STRs. In addition, new STR population data were included from Tijuana, Baja California (Northwest, Mexico), which represents an interesting case of elevated genetic flow as a bordering city with the USA. Inter-population analyses included CODIS-STR data from 11 Mexican Mestizo, 12 Latin American and four Caribbean populations, in addition to European, Amerindian, and African genetic pools as ancestral references. We report allele frequencies and statistical parameters of forensic interest (PD, PE, Het, PIC, typical PI), for 15 STRs in Tijuana, Baja California. This Mexican border city was peculiar by the increase of African ancestry, and by presenting three STRs in Hardy-Weinberg disequilibrium, probably explained by recurrent gene flow. The Amerindian ancestry in Central and Southeast of Mexico was the greatest in Latin America (50.9-68.6%), only comparable with the North of Central America and Ecuador (48.8-56.4%), whereas the European ancestry was prevalent in South America (66.7-75%). The African ancestry in Mexico was the smallest (2.2-6.3%) in Latin America (≥ 2.6%), particularly regarding Brazil (21%), Honduras (62%), and the Caribbean (43.2-65.2%). CODIS-STRs allowed detecting significant population structure in Latin America based on greater presence of European, Amerindian, and African ancestries in Central/South America, Mexican Mestizos, and the Caribbean, respectively. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  17. Genome-wide association study of red blood cell traits in Hispanics/Latinos: The Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos

    PubMed Central

    Morrison, Jean V.; Brown, Lisa; Schurmann, Claudia; Chen, Diane D.; Liu, Yong Mei; Auer, Paul L.; Taylor, Kent D.; Papanicolaou, George; Kurita, Ryo; Nakamura, Yukio; Loos, Ruth J. F.; North, Kari E.; Thornton, Timothy A.; Pankratz, Nathan; Bauer, Daniel E.

    2017-01-01

    Prior GWAS have identified loci associated with red blood cell (RBC) traits in populations of European, African, and Asian ancestry. These studies have not included individuals with an Amerindian ancestral background, such as Hispanics/Latinos, nor evaluated the full spectrum of genomic variation beyond single nucleotide variants. Using a custom genotyping array enriched for Amerindian ancestral content and 1000 Genomes imputation, we performed GWAS in 12,502 participants of Hispanic Community Health Study and Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) for hematocrit, hemoglobin, RBC count, RBC distribution width (RDW), and RBC indices. Approximately 60% of previously reported RBC trait loci generalized to HCHS/SOL Hispanics/Latinos, including African ancestral alpha- and beta-globin gene variants. In addition to the known 3.8kb alpha-globin copy number variant, we identified an Amerindian ancestral association in an alpha-globin regulatory region on chromosome 16p13.3 for mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin. We also discovered and replicated three genome-wide significant variants in previously unreported loci for RDW (SLC12A2 rs17764730, PSMB5 rs941718), and hematocrit (PROX1 rs3754140). Among the proxy variants at the SLC12A2 locus we identified rs3812049, located in a bi-directional promoter between SLC12A2 (which encodes a red cell membrane ion-transport protein) and an upstream anti-sense long-noncoding RNA, LINC01184, as the likely causal variant. We further demonstrate that disruption of the regulatory element harboring rs3812049 affects transcription of SLC12A2 and LINC01184 in human erythroid progenitor cells. Together, these results reinforce the importance of genetic study of diverse ancestral populations, in particular Hispanics/Latinos. PMID:28453575

  18. Pharmacogenetics in the Brazilian Population

    PubMed Central

    Suarez-Kurtz, Guilherme

    2010-01-01

    Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and its present population, in excess of 190;million, is highly heterogeneous, as a result of centuries of admixture between Amerindians, Europeans, and Sub-Saharan Africans. The estimated individual proportions of biogeographical ancestry vary widely and continuously among Brazilians: most individuals, irrespective of self-identification as White, Brown or Black – the major categories of the Brazilian Census “race/color” system – have significant degrees of European and African ancestry, while a sizeable number display also Amerindian ancestry. These features have important pharmacogenetic (PGx) implications: first, extrapolation of PGx data from relatively well-defined ethnic groups is clearly not applicable to the majority of Brazilians; second, the frequency distribution of polymorphisms in pharmacogenes (e.g., CYP3A5, CYP2C9, GSTM1, ABCB1, GSTM3, VKORC, etc) varies continuously among Brazilians and is not captured by race/color self-identification; third, the intrinsic heterogeneity of the Brazilian population must be acknowledged in the design and interpretation of PGx studies in order to avoid spurious conclusions based on improper matching of study cohorts. The peculiarities of PGx in Brazilians are illustrated with data for different therapeutic groups, such as anticoagulants, HIV protease inhibitors and non-steroidal antinflammatory drugs, and the challenges and advantages created by population admixture for the study and implementation of PGx are discussed. PGx data for Amerindian groups and Brazilian-born, first-generation Japanese are presented to illustrate the rich diversity of the Brazilian population. Finally, I introduce the reader to the Brazilian Pharmacogenetic Network or Refargen1, a nation-wide consortium of research groups, with the mission to provide leadership in PGx research and education in Brazil, with a population health impact. PMID:21833165

  19. Children's Graphical Representations and Emergent Writing: Evidence from Children's Drawings

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wu, Li-Yuan

    2009-01-01

    Previous research on children's drawing and writing focused on children's drawing and symbolization with syllabic languages, providing little information regarding young children's symbolization in drawing with a logo language. This study investigated children's emergent writing by examining qualitatively how children's writing takes place as…

  20. Epistemology and the Curriculum: The Bio-Ecocultural Cognitive Spiral as Model.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gagne, Raymond C.

    Described is a curriculum theory and construction within an epistemological model whose specific purpose is to serve as a general guide to the Amerindian peoples (Indians and Inuit) in their search for solutions to the problem of cultural survival. The model is also meant to have universal application, especially where there are cultures in…

  1. Brain tumor - children

    MedlinePlus

    ... children; Neuroglioma - children; Oligodendroglioma - children; Meningioma - children; Cancer - brain tumor (children) ... The cause of primary brain tumors is unknown. Primary brain tumors may ... (spread to nearby areas) Cancerous (malignant) Brain tumors ...

  2. Phylogenetic information in polymorphic L1 and Alu insertions from East Asians and Native American populations.

    PubMed

    Mateus Pereira, L H; Socorro, A; Fernandez, I; Masleh, M; Vidal, D; Bianchi, N O; Bonatto, S L; Salzano, F M; Herrera, R J

    2005-09-01

    This study attempts to ascertain genetic affinities between Native American and East Asian populations by analyzing four polymorphic Alu insertions (PAIs) and three L1 polymorphic loci. These two genetic systems demonstrated strong congruence when levels of diversity and genetic distances were considered. Overall, genetic relatedness within Native American groups does not correlate with geographical and linguistic structure, although strong grouping for Native Americans with East Asians was demonstrated, with clear discrimination from African and European groups. Most of the variation was assigned to differences occurring within groups, but the interpopulation variation found for South Amerindians was recognizably higher in comparison to the other sampled groups of populations. Our data suggest that bottleneck events followed by strong influence of genetic drift in the process of the peopling of the Americas may have been determinant factors in delineating the genetic background of present-day South Amerindians. Since no clear subgroups were detected within Native Americans and East Asians, there is no indication of multiple waves in the early colonization of the New World. (c) 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  3. The unmanaged reproductive ecology of domesticated plants in traditional agroecosystems: An example involving cassavaand a call for data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elias, Marianne; McKey, Doyle

    2000-05-01

    Although cassava is a strictly vegetatively propagated crop, in many traditional Amazonian agroecosystems, Amerindian farmers recognise volunteer seedlings of cassava and allow them to grow. If their properties are deemed desirable, plants originating from seedlings are included in the harvest of tuberous roots, and their stems are used to prepare cuttings for propagation. Incorporation of these products of spontaneous sexual reproduction appears to be important in origin and maintenance of genetic diversity in this clonally propagated plant. Our observations conducted in an Amerindian village in Guyana suggest that volunteer seedlings arise from a bank of viable seeds stored in soil, and that dispersal and burial of seeds by ants may be important in its constitution. Future investigations of the dynamics of genetic diversity in this crop in traditional agroecosystems must consider the role of the 'wild' sexual reproduction that occurs in parallel with vegetative propagation. We suggest that unmanaged processes of sexual reproduction play important but neglected roles in the evolutionary ecology of many domesticated plants in traditional agroecosystems.

  4. Children's Writing.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    MacPhee, Angus

    1971-01-01

    The proper approach to children's writing from an educational point of view is discussed. The point is made that there is something fundamentally wrong with the current approach in children's writing. Current books on children's writing deal only with children's writing. It is recommended that any program which aims to be efficient in the teaching…

  5. Children's Responses to Literature: Views of Children and Teachers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pascoe, Elaine; Gilchrist, Margaret

    1987-01-01

    Presents a study comparing the elements children report enjoying in a book and the elements teachers believe children enjoy. Concludes that a great discrepancy exists between the two groups, as children reported they liked books offering excitement, suspense, and action, while teachers believed children pay more attention to characters. (JC)

  6. Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy by Children, for Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zygmunt-Fillwalk, Eva; Staley, Lynn; Kumar, Rashmi; Lin, Cecilia Lingfen; Moore, Catherine; Salakaya, Manana; Szecsi, Tunde

    2007-01-01

    This article describes a project called "Kids Speaking Up for Kids: Advocacy by Children, for Children". The project was simple in scope. The authors sought to collect stories of child advocacy--ways in which children were working on behalf of other children. They also sought to collect and profile children's voices and vision and so…

  7. Vulnerable Children; Three Studies of Children in Conflict: Accident Involved Children, Sexually Assualted Children and Children with Asthma.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Burton, Lindy

    Three retrospective studies related children's socially inappropriate behavior to needs for approval and self assurance. Four girls and 16 boys (a sex difference of p=.006) involved in road accidents, aged 5 to 15, who were consecutively admitted to a hospital for arm and leg fractures were matched with controls. The accident children shared a…

  8. Participation in siblings׳ birth at home from children׳s viewpoint.

    PubMed

    Jouhki, Maija-Riitta; Suominen, Tarja; Peltonen, Kirsi; Åstedt-Kurki, Päivi

    2016-03-01

    partners often participate in childbirth, and the effects on both partners have been intensively investigated, but children׳s participation is rare in western countries and less studied. Thus, the aim of this study was to explore and construct a comprehensive structure of meaning of Finnish children׳s experiences of participating in birth of a sibling at home. a phenomenological study based on analysis of open-interview transcripts by Colaizzi׳s approach and drawings. seven children aged five to 17 years who participated in birth of a sibling at home. the children׳s experience of participating in a sibling׳s birth was multifaceted. Their feelings varied from joy to worry, they helped their mother and learned from the experience. They chose to participate. They experienced overwhelmingly strong and positive feelings, but were also worried about the well-being of other family members during the birth. Further, younger children were frustrated, especially if the birth took a long time and they were not allowed to do all they wanted, such as going to a birthing pool. It was important for the children to be able to help their mother and support younger siblings. They learned a lot about childbirth from their participation and information given by the adults. The children regarded home as safe, cosy and a better place to give birth than a hospital. The older children also regarded a home birth as a possible choice for them in the future. They celebrated the baby׳s arrival and remembered the birth day as being joyful and happy. Participation in the sibling׳s birth made relationships between the children closer and warmer. Children felt hurt when people outside the family were suspicious when told that the baby was born at home. the children׳s experience of participating in a sibling׳s birth at home included varying feelings, learning from their experience and helping mother. The findings could be utilised in parent education if they are going to have their

  9. The Akuriyo of Surinam. A Case of Emergence from Isolation. IWGIA Document 27.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kloos, Peter

    In 1968, the Amerindian nomads of southeast Surinam, South America known as the Akuriyo were rediscovered by the West Indies Mission through the Wayana and Trio Indians with whom the Mission worked in Surinam. Although the Akuriyo had always been suspicious of other peoples, they soon realized the missionaries and the Trio meant them no harm.…

  10. From the past to the globalized future for Caribbean birds

    Treesearch

    Joseph Wunderle Jr.

    2008-01-01

    Extinctions of Caribbean animals were well underway during the period of Amerindian occupation and have continued since the arrival of Columbus. Despite high extinction rates, the Caribbean still retains high levels of terrestrial biodiversity and, for some taxa, exceptionally high levels of endemism relative to other parts of the world. The fate of the Caribbean’s...

  11. "El Norte," Deracination and Circularity: An Epic Gone Awry

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brakel, Arthur

    2007-01-01

    Early journalistic reviews (e.g., Gold, Ebert, and Kael) of "El Norte" (1983), Gregory Nava's first major film, identify it as an epic. In "El Norte" the siblings Enrique and Rosa, two Guatemalan Amerindians, leave their native village on a quest to what for them is the mythical land in the North. Although "El Norte"…

  12. Association between Helicobacter pylori and intestinal parasites in an Añu indigenous community of Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Fuenmayor-Boscán, Alisbeth D; Hernández, Ileana M; Valero, Kutchynskaya J; Paz, América M; Sandrea, Lisette B; Rivero, Zulbey

    2016-03-01

    Helicobacter pylori (Hp) and enteroparasite infections are highly prevalent in populations with poor living conditions, like the Amerindian communities. Identifying associations between both types of infectious agents could help to detect shared risk factors or transmission routes in these minority ethnic groups. Therefore, the prevalence and association between Hp and enteroparasites were investigated in an indigenous community whose living conditions favor such infectious diseases. Seropositivity (anti-Hp-specific IgG) and active infection (stool antigen test), intestinal parasitosis (direct and concentrated coproparasitological test, methylene blue, and Kinyoun stains), and risk factors for fecal-oral transmission were determined in 167 children and 151 adults of the Añu indigenous community living at the Sinamaica Lagoon, in Venezuela. A high rate of Hp infection (seropositivity and active infection) and enteroparasitosis was evidenced, as expected. Some significant associations were detected: direct associations between Hp and polyparasitic infection, helminths, and protozoan (particularly in children); inverse association between Hp and Giardia lamblia. No shared epidemiological factors were identified for Hp and the detected intestinal parasites, probably due to overlapping factors. Direct associations detected support the participation of the fecal-oral route in the transmission of the involved infectious agents. Inverse relationship (Hp) and G. lamblia may suggest the existence of antagonistic interactions between them. Further research is required to elucidate the mechanisms underlying these associations.

  13. Consultation with children in hospital: children, parents' and nurses' perspectives.

    PubMed

    Coyne, Imelda

    2006-01-01

    To explore children's, parents' and nurses' views on participation in care in the healthcare setting. Children have a right to be consulted and involved in their care. The grounded theory method was used and data were collected through in-depth interviews, questionnaires and observation. Sample consisted of 11 children, 10 parents and 12 nurses from four paediatric wards in two hospitals in England. Parents felt that children should be involved in the decision-making process thereby enhancing and promoting children's self-esteem and positive self-regard, which would consequently enhance their overall welfare. Likewise, children expressed the need for consultation and information so that they could understand their illness; be involved in their care, and prepare themselves for procedures. However, children's own opinions and views were underused and they had varying experiences of being consulted about their care and treatment. Nurses appeared to hold varying and discrepant views on the involvement of children in decisions and for some nurses, the child's involvement seemed to be dependent on the child's cognitive maturity and being defined as a rational subject. Health professionals' communication behaviour may reflect recognition of children's cognitive abilities rather than their competence to understand. The fact that children's nurses appeared to make decisions about involving children in decision making in the absence of a reliable framework was a significant finding and highlights a real problem in the current climate. Nurses faced with workforce pressures may encounter considerable challenges to facilitating children's involvement in decisions about their care. Hence it is imperative that nurses' examine the basis of their decisions and use more explicit criteria for determining children's involvement.

  14. Equity for Children: Linking Education and Children's Services.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kirst, Michael W.

    1994-01-01

    Educational equity must be reconceptualized and merged with children's conditions and a broader concept of children's services than schooling. National goals, particularly learning readiness, demand a broader definition of children's finance and equity. School-linked services can be funded by converging existing public and private funding streams…

  15. A Comparison of Social Skills in Turkish Children with Visual Impairments, Children with Intellectual Impairments and Typically Developing Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ozkubat, Ufuk; Ozdemir, Selda

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare the social skills of five groups of children: children with visual impairments attending inclusive education schools, children with visual impairments attending schools for the blind, children with intellectual impairments attending inclusive education schools, children with intellectual impairments…

  16. Hodgkin lymphoma - children

    MedlinePlus

    Lymphoma - Hodgkin - children; Hodgkin disease - children; Cancer - Hodgkin lymphoma - children; Childhood Hodgkin lymphoma ... In children, Hodgkin lymphoma is more likely to occur between ages 15 to 19 years. The cause of this ...

  17. Swedish parents' activities together with their children and children's health: a study of children aged 2-17 years.

    PubMed

    Berntsson, Leeni T; Ringsberg, Karin C

    2014-11-01

    Nordic children's health has declined. Studies show that parents' engagement in children's leisure-time activities might provide beneficial health outcomes for children. The aim of the present study was to examine the association between Swedish parents' activities together with their children, the parents' experiences of time pressure and their children's health. Data of 1461 Swedish children aged 2-17 years old that were collected in the NordChild study of 2011 were used. We analyzed physical health, diseases and disabilities, psychosomatic health and well-being, and the parents' experiences of time pressure; and we calculated the associations between parental activity together with the child and health indicators. Activities that were significantly and positively associated with children's health at ages 2-17 years of age were: playing and playing games; going to the cinema, theatre, and sporting events; reading books; playing musical instruments/singing; sports activities; watching TV/video/DVD. Playing video games or computer games, driving child to activities and going for walks were significantly and positively associated at age groups 7-12 years and 13-17 years. Activities that were negatively associated with health were: surfing/blogging on the Internet, going shopping and doing homework. Parents who were not experiencing time pressures had a higher level of activity together with their children. The parental experience of time pressure was associated with work time, with less homework activity and more symptoms in children. The family and home are important settings for the development of children's health we found eight parental activities together with their children that promoted the children's health parents' working time and their time pressure experiences affected their activities with their children there is a need for an increased focus on parental activities that are positively associated with children's health. © 2014 the Nordic Societies of

  18. Teaching Young Children Self-Regulation through Children's Books

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cooper, Patricia M.

    2007-01-01

    Today's emphasis on using children's literature as a tool to teach reading and writing sub-skills distracts teachers' attention from looking to children's books for their historical role in helping children navigate the intellectual, social, and emotional terrains of childhood. This article argues, first, that early childhood educators must remain…

  19. Gastroesophageal reflux disease - children

    MedlinePlus

    Peptic esophagitis - children; Reflux esophagitis - children; GERD - children; Heartburn - chronic - children; Dyspepsia - GERD - children ... GERD. Certain factors can lead to GERD in children, including: Birth defects, such as hiatal hernia , a ...

  20. Participation of Children with Intellectual Disability Compared with Typically Developing Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Matthew; Shields, Nora; Imms, Christine; Black, Monique; Ardern, Clare

    2013-01-01

    We compared participation in out-of-school activities between children with intellectual disability and children with typical development using the Children's Assessment of Participation and Enjoyment and Preferences for Activities of Children questionnaires. Thirty-eight pairs of children were matched for age (mean age 12.3 plus or minus 2.7…

  1. Children in Poverty: The State of Milwaukee's Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Social Development Commission, Milwaukee, WI.

    This publication presents data and descriptive information on the status of poor children and families in Milwaukee (Wisconsin). The analysis of the information suggests that the children are poor because their families are poor and that only providing their families with adequate employment and family supports will lift these children out of the…

  2. Mealtime Behaviors of Preschool Children: Comparison of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Children with Typical Development

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Provost, Beth; Crowe, Terry K.; Osbourn, Patricia L.; McClain, Catherine; Skipper, Betty J.

    2010-01-01

    This study identified mealtime behaviors of young children (3-6 years old) with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and compared these behaviors to children with typical development matched for age, gender, and ethnicity. The parents of children with ASD (n = 24) and children with typical development (n = 24) completed a mealtime survey to assess early…

  3. As If Children Matter: Perspectives on Children, Rights and Disability.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Roeher Inst., North York (Ontario).

    This collection of 16 papers attempts to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of children in the nations of the Americas. The collection's five sections examine children's rights, perspectives of five parents from five different nations, children with disabilities in the legal system, promoting the rights of children through social…

  4. Nutritional Intake in Children with Disabilities Compared to Typical Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Raddish, Michele; And Others

    Using interviews with parents and guardians, and the child where appropriate, this study compared feeding problems of children with disabilities in Kentucky with a sample of typical children. Subjects were 50 children ages 3-5; 25 children were without disabilities. In addition to interviews, data were collected from case records, medical…

  5. Amerindian women of the Brazilian Amazon and STD.

    PubMed

    Brito, E B; Silva, I D C; Stávale, J N; Taromaru, E; Menezess, R C; Martins, S J

    2006-01-01

    Papanicolaou tests, PCR for HPV, C. trachomatis, HSV-1/2 and N. gonorrhoea, and Hybrid Capture II were performed for high- and low-risk HPV groups during screening for cervical cancer in 49 women of the Parakana tribe. Cytological diagnoses of HPV were suggested in three samples: PCR showed 12 (22.4%) cases of DNA positive HPV, 16 (1), 18 (2), 58 (3), 39 (1), 61 (1), 33 (1), 35 (1), unknown (2), and HCII analyzed 48 samples: 19 positive (39.58%) for the high-risk group and four (18.33%) for the low-risk group. The prevalence of HPV was 42.85% (p = 0.001) by molecular biology methods. The largest viral load was 1588.11 pg/ml for HPV 39 in a 16-year-old. PCR was positive for C. trachomatis and negative for HSV-1/2 and N. gonorrhoea. Parakana women present a high risk for the development of cervical cancer.

  6. Investing in children: changes in parental spending on children, 1972-2007.

    PubMed

    Kornrich, Sabino; Furstenberg, Frank

    2013-02-01

    Parental spending on children is often presumed to be one of the main ways that parents invest in children and a main reason why children from wealthier households are advantaged. Yet, although research has tracked changes in the other main form of parental investment-namely, time-there is little research on spending. We use data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey to examine how spending changed from the early 1970s to the late 2000s, focusing particularly on inequality in parental investment in children. Parental spending increased, as did inequality of investment. We also investigate shifts in the composition of spending and linkages to children's characteristics. Investment in male and female children changed substantially: households with only female children spent significantly less than parents in households with only male children in the early 1970s; but by the 1990s, spending had equalized; and by the late 2000s, girls appeared to enjoy an advantage. Finally, the shape of parental investment over the course of children's lives changed. Prior to the 1990s, parents spent most on children in their teen years. After the 1990s, however, spending was greatest when children were under the age of 6 and in their mid-20s.

  7. Architecture and Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Anne; Campbell, Leslie

    1988-01-01

    Describes "Architecture and Children," a traveling exhibition which visually involves children in architectural principles and historic styles. States that it teaches children about architecture, and through architecture it instills the basis for aesthetic judgment. Argues that "children learn best by concrete examples of ideas, not…

  8. Restavèk children in context: Wellbeing compared to other Haitian children.

    PubMed

    Haydocy, Kelci E; Yotebieng, Marcel; Norris, Alison

    2015-12-01

    In Haiti, large numbers of vulnerable children and the country's particular historical context has led to a unique phenomenon known as the "restavèk" system. An estimated 300,000 Haitian children are restavèks, living as unpaid domestic servants. Child-welfare advocates describe the restavèk system as modern slavery, but researchers and advocates lack information about restavèk children's circumstances, particularly vis-à-vis other children in Haiti. In a cross-sectional analysis of a nationally representative sample, we evaluated differences in well-being (school attendance, work responsibilities, physical abuse, and hunger) between restavèk children and: (a) all non-restavèk children; and (b) the poorest quintile of non-restavèk children. As compared to all Haitian children and the poorest Haitian children, restavèk children have statistically significantly lower school attendance rates and more labor responsibilities. However, restavèk children experience statistically significantly less physical abuse and less hunger than non-restavèk Haitian children. The restavèk system remains active in Haiti because poor families lack basic resources to support their children, and restavèk children are at risk for mistreatment due to their vulnerable social status. The surprising finding that restavèk children are better off in some respects than their non-restavèk peers highlights the desperate poverty in Haiti and suggests that structural changes for poverty reduction will be required before the restavèk system will end. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Children's Computers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Samaras, Anastasia P.

    1996-01-01

    Suggests that teachers and social context determine what young children acquire from computer experiences. Provides anecdotes of teachers working with children who are using a computer program to complete a picture puzzle. The computer allowed teachers to present a problem, witness children's cognitive capabilities, listen to their metacognitive…

  10. Children who witness violence, and parent report of children's behavior.

    PubMed

    Augustyn, Marilyn; Frank, Deborah A; Posner, Michael; Zuckerman, Barry

    2002-08-01

    To examine how much distress children report in response to violence that they have witnessed and how this is associated with parental reports of children's behavior. As part of a study of in utero exposure to cocaine, children completed the Levonn interview for assessing children's symptoms of distress in response to witnessing violence. The children's caregivers completed the Exposure to Violence Interview (EVI), a caretaker-report measure of the child's exposure to violent events during the last 12 months. The EVI was analyzed as a 3-level variable: no exposure, low exposure, and high exposure. The caregivers also completed the Children's Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Of 94 six-year-old children, 58% had no exposure to violence, 36% had low exposure to violence, and 6% had high exposure to violence, according to caretaker reports. The children's median+/-SD Levonn score was 64 (SD +/- 19.3). The mean SD +/- CBCL total T-score was 53 (SD +/- 10.2). In multiple regression analyses with gender, low and high exposure on EVI, Levonn, and prenatal cocaine exposure status as predictors, the Levonn score explained 4.8% of total variance in children's CBCL internalizing scores, 9.1% of the total variance in CBCL externalizing score, and 12.2% of the total variance in CBCL total score (P =.04, P =.004, and P<.001, respectively). After accounting for the caretaker's report of the level of the child's exposure to violence, the child's own report significantly increased the amount of variance in predicting child behavior problems with the CBCL. These findings indicate that clinicians and researchers should elicit children's own accounts of exposure to violence in addition to the caretakers' when attempting to understand children's behavior.

  11. Urinary tract infection - children

    MedlinePlus

    UTI - children; Cystitis - children; Bladder infection - children; Kidney infection - children; Pyelonephritis - children ... Urinary tract infections (UTIs) can occur when bacteria get into the bladder or the kidneys. These bacteria are common ...

  12. Adaptation to Life in the High Andes: Nocturnal Oxyhemoglobin Saturation in Early Development

    PubMed Central

    Hill, Catherine Mary; Baya, Ana; Gavlak, Johanna; Carroll, Annette; Heathcote, Kate; Dimitriou, Dagmara; L'Esperance, Veline; Webster, Rebecca; Holloway, John; Virues-Ortega, Javier; Kirkham, Fenella Jane; Bucks, Romola Starr; Hogan, Alexandra Marie

    2016-01-01

    Study Objectives: Physiological adaptation to high altitude hypoxia may be impaired in Andeans with significant European ancestry. The respiratory ‘burden’ of sleep may challenge adaptation, leading to relative nocturnal hypoxia. Developmental aspects of sleep-related breathing in high-altitude native children have not previously been reported. We aimed to determine the influence of development on diurnal-nocturnal oxyhemoglobin differences in children living at high altitude. Methods: This was a cross-sectional, observational study. Seventy-five healthy Bolivian children aged 6 mo to 17 y, native to low altitude (500 m), moderate high altitude (2,500 m), and high altitude (3,700 m) were recruited. Daytime resting pulse oximetry was compared to overnight recordings using Masimo radical oximeters. Genetic ancestry was determined from DNA samples. Results: Children had mixed European/Amerindian ancestry, with no significant differences between altitudes. Sixty-two participants had ≥ 5 h of nocturnal, artifact-free data. As predicted, diurnal mean oxyhemoglobin saturation decreased across altitudes (infants and children, both P < 0.001), with lowest diurnal values at high altitude in infants. At high altitude, there was a greater drop in nocturnal mean oxyhemoglobin saturation (infants, P < 0.001; children, P = 0.039) and an increase in variability (all P ≤ 0.001) compared to low altitude. Importantly, diurnal to nocturnal altitude differences diminished (P = 0.036), from infancy to childhood, with no further change during adolescence. Conclusions: Physiological adaptation to high-altitude living in native Andeans is unlikely to compensate for the significant differences we observed between diurnal and nocturnal oxyhemoglobin saturation, most marked in infancy. This vulnerability to sleep-related hypoxia in early childhood has potential lifespan implications. Future studies should characterize the sleep- related respiratory physiology underpinning our

  13. Immigration Enforcement Practices Harm Refugee Children and Citizen-Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Zayas, Luis H.

    2018-01-01

    Aggressive immigration enforcement hurts the very youngest children. Refugee and U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants experience many childhood adversities, compromising their development and health. Refugee children flee traumatizing violence in their home countries, face grueling migrations, and are harmed further by being held in…

  14. Prosodic skills in children with Down syndrome and in typically developing children.

    PubMed

    Zampini, Laura; Fasolo, Mirco; Spinelli, Maria; Zanchi, Paola; Suttora, Chiara; Salerni, Nicoletta

    2016-01-01

    Many studies have analysed language development in children with Down syndrome to understand better the nature of their linguistic delays and the reason why these delays, particularly those in the morphosyntactic area, seem greater than their cognitive impairment. However, the prosodic characteristics of language development in children with Down syndrome have been scarcely investigated. To analyse the prosodic skills of children with Down syndrome in the production of multi-word utterances. Data on the prosodic skills of these children were compared with data on typically developing children matched on developmental age and vocabulary size. Between-group differences and the relationships between prosodic and syntactic skills were investigated. The participants were nine children with Down syndrome (who ranged in chronological age from 45 to 63 months and had a mean developmental age of 30 months) and 12 30-month-old typically developing children. The children in both groups had a vocabulary size of approximately 450 words. The children's spontaneous productions were recorded during observations of mother-child play sessions. Data analyses showed that despite their morphosyntactic difficulties, children with Down syndrome were able to master some aspects of prosody in multi-word utterances. They were able to produce single intonation multi-word utterances on the same level as typically developing children. In addition, the intonation contour of their utterances was not negatively influenced by syntactic complexity, contrary to what occurred in typically developing children, although it has to be considered that the utterances produced by children with Down syndrome were less complex than those produced by children in the control group. However, children with Down syndrome appeared to be less able than typically developing children to use intonation to express the pragmatic interrogative function. The findings are discussed considering the effects of social

  15. Expressing negative emotions to children: Mothers' aversion sensitivity and children's adjustment.

    PubMed

    Moed, Anat; Dix, Theodore; Anderson, Edward R; Greene, Shannon M

    2017-03-01

    Research is unclear about when expressing negative emotions to children performs valuable socialization and regulatory functions and when, instead, it undermines children's adjustment. In this study, we isolated 1 kind of negative expression to test the aversion sensitivity hypothesis: that rapid increases in mothers' negativity as a function of increases in the aversiveness of children's behavior are uniquely problematic for children. During multiple assessments of a divorcing sample over 2 years (N = 284), 12-min interactions between mothers and their 4- to 11-year-old children were recorded. Forty-seven observed child behaviors were ranked from low to high aversive. Within-dyad changes demonstrated that mothers' general negativity-their tendency to express negative emotion at high rates-was unrelated to children's adjustment. In contrast, mothers' aversion-focused negativity-their tendency to increase negative emotional expression rapidly as the aversiveness of children's behavior increased-predicted children's poor social competence, poor emotion regulation, and externalizing behavior problems at the next assessment. The findings suggest that negative expression that reflects mothers' affective sensitivity to aversive child behavior may promote interaction patterns and adaptations in children that are particularly likely to place children at risk for adjustment problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

  16. Impact of the Children's Television Act on Children's Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Calvert, Sandra; Kotler, Jennifer; Kuhl, Alison; Riboli, Michael

    The impact of the Children's Television Act, which requires broadcasters to provide educational and informational programs for children, was examined by having 141 second through sixth graders watch 16 popular and unpopular television programs and then assess the motivational appeal of, and children's learning from, these programs. Popular and…

  17. Deconstructing Adults' and Children's Discourse on Children's Play: Listening to Children's Voices to Destabilise Deficit Narratives

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nicholson, Julie; Kurnik, Jean; Jevgjovikj, Maja; Ufoegbune, Veronica

    2015-01-01

    This study used discourse analysis to compare the language adults use to discuss contemporary children's play and children's narratives of their own play experiences. Adult discourse was analysed to determine whether they positioned children through deficit or strength and the attributions of responsibility embedded within their language choices…

  18. An Analysis on Children's Rights in Stories Recommended for Children in Turkey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Karaman-Kepenekci, Yasemin

    2010-01-01

    Children's rights are legally protected benefits for children to develop physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and morally with freedom and honor in a healthy and normal way. It is important that children know the rights they have. Works of high quality children's literature ensure the socialization of children by making them understand or…

  19. Understanding Children's Drawings.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Malchiodi, Cathy A.

    Children's art not only provides a window to children's problems, it also gives them another language with which to share feelings and ideas. This book provides an overview of the multidimensional aspects of children's drawings, and is intended to assist therapists in working with children and their drawings. Chapter 1 discusses projective tests…

  20. Conflict Strategies: Parents with Children and Children with Peers.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crockenberg, Susan; Lourie, Andrea

    A study investigated whether parents' use of power-assertive or negotiating strategies to resolve conflicts with children predicted children's psychosocial adjustment and use of comparable strategies with peers. The study also determined whether children's behavior with mothers at 2 years of age predicted their behavior with peers at age 6. The…

  1. Why Identify Gifted Children?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Congdon, Peter

    1985-01-01

    Emphasizes need to systematically identify gifted children. Defines the term "gifted" and considers three groups in detail: children of high intelligence, children of high academic aptitude, and talented children. Offers strategy for educational diagnosis of gifted children. (DST)

  2. Exploring Language Profiles for Children with ADHD and Children with Asperger Syndrome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Helland, Wenche Andersen; Biringer, Eva; Helland, Turid; Heimann, Mikael

    2012-01-01

    Objective: The aims of the present study was to investigate communication impairments in a Norwegian sample of children with ADHD and children with Asperger syndrome (AS) and to explore whether children with ADHD can be differentiated from children with AS in terms of their language profiles on the Norwegian adaptation of the Children's…

  3. Nineteenth-Century Architects of Children's Minds and Children's Spaces

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johanningmeier, Erwin

    2005-01-01

    The author profiles two nineteenth-century architects of children's minds and children's spaces. More than any other two Americans Henry Barnard and Catharine Beecher defined children's educational spaces--the home and the school--and successfully specified how those spaces were to be organized and furnished, who was to govern those spaces, what…

  4. Children's Rights and Research Processes: Assisting Children to (In)formed Views

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lundy, Laura; McEvoy, Lesley

    2012-01-01

    Acknowledging children as rights-holders has significant implications for research processes. What is distinctive about a children's rights informed approach to research is a focus not only on safe, inclusive and engaging opportunities for children to express their views but also on deliberate strategies to assist children in the formation of…

  5. Cognitive Development of Chinese Urban Only Children and Children with Siblings.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jiao, Shulan; And Others

    1996-01-01

    First- and fifth-grade only-children and children with siblings completed 11 cognitive tasks to investigate differences in cognitive abilities that may exist due to the Chinese 1-child family planning program. Superiority of grade one only-children over children with siblings appeared for memory processes, language skills, and mathematics.…

  6. HLA in anthropology: the enigma of Easter Island.

    PubMed

    Sanchez-Mazas, Alicia; Thorsby, Erik

    2013-01-01

    In this article, we first present four significant cases where human leukocyte antigen (HLA) studies have been useful for the reconstruction of human peopling history on the worldwide scale; i.e., the spread of modern humans from East Africa, the colonization of East Asia along two geographic routes, the co-evolution of genes and languages in Africa, and the peopling of Europe through a main northward migration. These examples show that natural selection did not erase the genetic signatures of our past migrations in the HLA genetic diversity patterns observed today. In the second part, we summarize our studies on Easter Island. Using genomic HLA typing, we could trace an introduction of HLA alleles of native American (Amerindian) origin to Easter Island before the Peruvian slave trades; i.e., before the 1860s, and provide suggestive evidence that they may have already been introduced in prehistoric time. Our results give further support to an initial Polynesian population of the island, but also reveal an early contribution by Amerindians. Together, our data illustrate the usefulness of typing for HLA alleles to complement genetic analyses in anthropological investigations.

  7. A variant of the endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene (NOS3) associated with AMS susceptibility is less common in the Quechua, a high altitude Native population.

    PubMed

    Wang, Pei; Ha, Alice Y N; Kidd, Kenneth K; Koehle, Michael S; Rupert, Jim L

    2010-01-01

    Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) is a vascular enzyme that produces nitric oxide, a transient signaling molecule that by vasodilatation regulates blood flow and pressure. Nitric oxide is believed to play roles in both short-term acclimatization and long-term evolutionary adaptation to environmental hypoxia. Several laboratories, including ours, have shown that variants in NOS3 (the gene encoding eNOS) are overrepresented in individuals with altitude-related illnesses such as high altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE) and acute mountain sickness (AMS), suggesting that NOS3 genotypes contribute to altitude tolerance. To further test our hypothesis that the G allele at the G894T polymorphism in NOS3 (dbSNP number: rs1799983; protein polymorphism Glu298Asp) is beneficial in hypoxic environments, we compared frequencies of this allele in an altitude-adapted Amerindian population, Quechua of the Andean altiplano, with those in a lowland Amerindian population, Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula. While common in both populations, the G allele was significantly more frequent in the highlanders. Taken together, our data suggest that this variant in NOS3, which has been previously associated with higher levels of nitric oxide, contributes to both acclimatization and adaptation to altitude.

  8. Adverse metabolic risk profiles in Greenlandic Inuit children compared to Danish children.

    PubMed

    Munch-Andersen, T; Sorensen, K; Andersen, L B; Aachmann-Andersen, N J; Aksglaede, L; Juul, A; Helge, J W

    2013-06-01

    During recent decades, the prevalence of metabolic morbidity has increased rapidly in adult Greenlandic Inuit. To what extent this is also reflected in the juvenile Inuit population is unknown. The objective was, therefore, in the comparison with Danish children, to evaluate metabolic profiles in Greenlandic Inuit children from the capital in the southern and from the northern most villages 187 Inuit and 132 Danish children were examined with anthropometrics, pubertal staging, fasting blood samples, and a maximal aerobic test. Both Inuit children living in Nuuk and the northern villages had significantly higher glucose, total cholesterol, apolipoprotein A1 levels, and diastolic blood pressure compared with Danish children after adjustment for differences in adiposity and aerobic fitness levels. The Inuit children living in Nuuk had significantly higher BMI, body fat %, HbA1 c, and significantly lower aerobic fitness and ApoA1 levels than northern living Inuit children. Greenlandic Inuit children had adverse metabolic health profile compared to the Danish children, the differences where more pronounced in Inuit children living in Nuuk. The tendencies toward higher prevalence of diabetes and metabolic morbidity in the adult Greenlandic Inuit population may also be present in the Inuit children population. Copyright © 2013 The Obesity Society.

  9. Children and media.

    PubMed

    Patankar, M

    1989-01-01

    Program developers in India's mass media are turning to the discipline of child development to increase their sensitivity to the special needs and capacities of child audiences. Children are particularly susceptible to having their thoughts, feelings, values, and behavior influenced by media programming. In India, radio is the medium with the greatest opportunity to communicate with children and programming for young people includes educational material, variety programs, quiz shows, drama, and live programs in which children participate. The 1st Children's Film Festival was held in India in 1952 and India participates in the International Center of Films for Children and Young People. Television enjoys popularity among children, illiterates, and the poor, but its potential to create social awareness, change behaviors, and raise the standard of living of the Indian people has not been fully realized. Drama is less able to reach large numbers of children, but offers children the opportunity to participate directly in the portrayal of different characters and emotions. Recently, the tradition of puppetry has been rivived and integrated into India's school curriculum. Finally, India is taking steps to expand the number of books available to children and the Government has established 2 trusts to support the publication of children's literature. Regardless of the form of media, it is important for parents to play a role in ensuring the appropriateness of the programming for the child and processing its content.

  10. Children's Reactions to a Children's News Program: Reception, Recognition and Learning.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ward, Sara Ann

    The major objectives of this study were to determine the reception of "In the News" by children within the target audience's ages, to determine if children within the target audience recognize the news program as a program, to determine if children learn from "In the News," and to compare children's learning from hard news…

  11. Helping Children Cope with Fears: Using Children's Literature in Classroom Guidance.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Nicholson, Janice I.; Pearson, Quinn M.

    2003-01-01

    Many children are dealing with adult fears, such as death, crime, and war at early ages. School counselors can help children cope with these fears using stories from children's literature. The role that children's literature can play in teaching these coping skills is discussed along with strategies for choosing books. (Contains 33 references.)…

  12. Questions Children Ask: Helping Children Adjust When a Parent Has Kidney Failure

    MedlinePlus

    ... Advocacy Donate A to Z Health Guide Questions Children Ask: Helping Children Adjust When a Parent Has Kidney Failure Print ... future plans. If a parent develops kidney failure, children have questions too. Some children are outspoken and ...

  13. Children of divorce.

    PubMed

    Leung, A K; Robson, W L

    1990-10-01

    Divorce is a stressful experience for children. The disruption of the home is associated with significant emotional, financial, and social costs. Children often react to divorce with emotional responses typically associated with death. Divorce may be perceived as the death of an established family unit. Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance are often part of the emotional evolution of a child experiencing the divorce of the parents. The grieving process may last months or years and in some children may never end. The exact nature of the response is influenced by the age and the developmental level of the child. Most children are able to overcome the initial trauma of parental divorce and resume normal development and function. Some children, however, experience severe depression or anxiety and are left with an emotional scar for the rest of their lives. The adverse impact of a divorce can be minimised by a realistic and sensitive understanding of the effects on children. Parents can help at the time of divorce by preparing their children for what is about to happen. The preparation should be appropriate for the age and the developmental level of the child. Parents should demonstrate a strong commitment to their children. Children cope better with divorce if the parents co-operate with each other and adopt an attitude of 'together for our child while separate for us.'

  14. Children's Hospital visit

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2011-02-04

    NASA senior staff members from John C. Stennis Space Center traveled to Children's Hospital in New Orleans on Feb. 4 for a morning of educational outreach, offering interactive demonstrations and activities for children. Staff members offered cryogenic demonstrations, informative and interactive exhibits and a chance for children to take photos 'wearing' a space suit. Children also had a chance to interact with Stennis' astronaut mascot.

  15. Parental coping with children's negative emotions: relations with children's emotional and social responding.

    PubMed

    Fabes, R A; Leonard, S A; Kupanoff, K; Martin, C L

    2001-01-01

    This study examined the relation between parents' reactions to children's negative emotions and social competence. Additionally, the role of parental emotional distress in children's emotional socialization was examined. The emotional reactions of 57 preschoolers (33 girls, 24 boys; M age = 59.2 months) were observed during their free-play interactions. Parents (mostly mothers) completed questionnaires about their reactions to children's negative emotions. An index of children's social competence was obtained from teachers. Results indicated that the relation between harsh parental coping strategies and children's emotional responding was moderated by parental distress. In addition, the relation of the interaction of parental coping and distress to children's social competence was mediated by children's level of emotional intensity. It was concluded that distressed parents who use harsh coping strategies in response to children's negative emotions have children who express emotion in relatively intense ways. In turn, these children find it relatively difficult to behave in a socially competent manner.

  16. Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Headley, Clea; Campbell, Marilyn A.

    2013-01-01

    This study examined primary school teachers' knowledge of anxiety and excessive anxiety symptoms in children. Three hundred and fifteen primary school teachers completed a questionnaire exploring their definitions of anxiety and the indications they associated with excessive anxiety in primary school children. Results showed that teachers had an…

  17. Cognitive abilities of preschool children: implications for nurses working with young children.

    PubMed

    Hauck, M R

    1991-08-01

    To effectively care for well or ill children, nurses must know something about how children think and what they are capable of comprehending. Nurses have traditionally based assumptions about children's cognitive abilities on a surface knowledge of Piaget's theory of cognitive development. Many recent researchers in the field of cognitive development have pointed out limitations in Piaget's theory and offer new ways of conceptualizing the way children think. In this article, I will identify limitations of Piaget's theory as it applies to preschool-aged children. Ideas of researchers using an information processing approach to understanding children's thinking will be described as alternative approaches to the understanding of preschool thought. I prescriptively postulate how research findings concerning cognition have implications for nurses working with young children.

  18. Bacterial and fungal components in house dust of farm children, Rudolf Steiner school children and reference children--the PARSIFAL Study.

    PubMed

    Schram, D; Doekes, G; Boeve, M; Douwes, J; Riedler, J; Ublagger, E; von Mutius, E; Budde, J; Pershagen, G; Nyberg, F; Alm, J; Braun-Fahrländer, C; Waser, M; Brunekreef, B

    2005-05-01

    Growing up on a farm and an anthroposophic lifestyle are associated with a lower prevalence of allergic diseases in childhood. It has been suggested that the enhanced exposure to endotoxin is an important protective factor of farm environments. Little is known about exposure to other microbial components on farms and exposure in anthroposophic families. To assess the levels and determinants of bacterial endotoxin, mould beta(1,3)-glucans and fungal extracellular polysaccharides (EPS) in house dust of farm children, Steiner school children and reference children. Mattress and living room dust was collected in the homes of 229 farm children, 122 Steiner children and 60 and 67 of their respective reference children in five European countries. Stable dust was collected as well. All samples were analysed in one central laboratory. Determinants were assessed by questionnaire. Levels of endotoxin, EPS and glucans per gram of house dust in farm homes were 1.2- to 3.2-fold higher than levels in reference homes. For Steiner children, 1.1- to 1.6-fold higher levels were observed compared with their reference children. These differences were consistently found across countries, although mean levels varied considerably. Differences between groups and between countries were also significant after adjustment for home and family characteristics. Farm children are not only consistently exposed to higher levels of endotoxin, but also to higher levels of mould components. Steiner school children may also be exposed to higher levels of microbial agents, but differences with reference children are much less pronounced than for farm children. Further analyses are, however, required to assess the association between exposure to these various microbial agents and allergic and airway diseases in the PARSIFAL population.

  19. Parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation: Associations with abused children's school functioning

    PubMed Central

    Haskett, Mary E.; Stelter, Rebecca; Proffit, Katie; Nice, Rachel

    2012-01-01

    Objective Identifying factors associated with school functioning of abused children is important in prevention of long-term negative outcomes associated with school failure. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation predicted early school behavior of abused children. Methods The sample included 92 physically abused children ages 4-7 and one of their parents (95.7% mothers). Parents completed a measure of their own emotional expressiveness, and parents and teachers provided reports of children's self-regulatory skills. Children's school functioning was measured by observations of playground aggression and teacher reports of aggression and classroom behavior. Results Parents’ expression of positive and negative emotions was associated with various aspects of children's self-regulation and functioning in the school setting. Links between self-regulation and children's school adjustment were robust; poor self-regulation was associated with higher aggression and lower cooperation and self-directed behavior in the classroom. There was minimal support for a mediating role of children's self-regulation in links between parent expressiveness and children's behavior. Practice implications Findings point to the relevance of parent emotional expressivity and children's self-regulatory processes in understanding physically abused children's functioning at the transition to school. Although further research is needed, findings indicate that increasing parental expression of positive emotion should be a focus in treatment along with reduction in negativity of abusive parents. Further, addressing children's self-regulation could be important in efforts to reduce aggression and enhance children's classroom competence. PMID:22565040

  20. Parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation: associations with abused children's school functioning.

    PubMed

    Haskett, Mary E; Stelter, Rebecca; Proffit, Katie; Nice, Rachel

    2012-04-01

    Identifying factors associated with school functioning of abused children is important in prevention of long-term negative outcomes associated with school failure. The purpose of this study was to examine the degree to which parent emotional expressiveness and children's self-regulation predicted early school behavior of abused children. The sample included 92 physically abused children ages 4-7 and one of their parents (95.7% mothers). Parents completed a measure of their own emotional expressiveness, and parents and teachers provided reports of children's self-regulatory skills. Children's school functioning was measured by observations of playground aggression and teacher reports of aggression and classroom behavior. Parents' expression of positive and negative emotions was associated with various aspects of children's self-regulation and functioning in the school setting. Links between self-regulation and children's school adjustment were robust; poor self-regulation was associated with higher aggression and lower cooperation and self-directed behavior in the classroom. There was minimal support for a mediating role of children's self-regulation in links between parent expressiveness and children's behavior. Findings point to the relevance of parent emotional expressivity and children's self-regulatory processes in understanding physically abused children's functioning at the transition to school. Although further research is needed, findings indicate that increasing parental expression of positive emotion should be a focus in treatment along with reduction in negativity of abusive parents. Further, addressing children's self-regulation could be important in efforts to reduce aggression and enhance children's classroom competence. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Influence of product placement in children's movies on children's snack choices.

    PubMed

    Brown, Callie L; Matherne, Camden E; Bulik, Cynthia M; Howard, Janna B; Ravanbakht, Sophie N; Skinner, Asheley C; Wood, Charles T; Bardone-Cone, Anna M; Brown, Jane D; Perrin, Andrew J; Levine, Cary; Steiner, Michael J; Perrin, Eliana M

    2017-07-01

    Media exposure affects health, including obesity risk. Children's movies often contain food placements-frequently unhealthy foods. However, it is not known if these cues influence children's food choices or consumption after viewing. We explored whether children's snack choices or consumption differs based on: 1) recent exposure to movies with high versus low product placement of unhealthy foods; and 2) children's weight status. Children ages 9-11 were assigned to watch a high ("Alvin and the Chipmunks," n = 54) or low ("Stuart Little," n = 60) product-placement movie. After viewing, participants selected a snack choice from each of five categories, several of which were specifically featured in "Alvin." Uneaten snacks from each participant were weighed upon completion. Snack choice and amount consumed by movie were compared by t-tests, and differences in snack choices by movie were tested with logistic regression. Participants consumed an average of 800.8 kcal; mean kcal eaten did not vary by movie watched. Participants who watched the high product-placement movie had 3.1 times the odds (95% CI 1.3-7.2) of choosing cheese balls (most featured snack) compared to participants who watched the low product-placement movie. Children who were overweight or obese consumed a mean of 857 kcal (95% CI: 789-925) compared to 783 kcal (95% CI: 742-823, p = 0.09) for children who were underweight or healthy weight. Children's weight status did not significantly affect their choice of snack. Branding and obesogenic messaging in children's movies influenced some choices that children made about snack foods immediately following viewing, especially food with greatest exposure time in the film, but did not affect total calories consumed. Future studies should examine how the accumulation of these messages affects children's long-term food choices. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  2. Characteristics of children with cerebral palsy in the ORACLE children study.

    PubMed

    Marlow, Neil; Pike, Katie; Bower, Eva; Brocklehurst, Peter; Jones, David; Kenyon, Sara; Kurinczuk, Jennifer J; Taylor, David; Salt, Alison

    2012-07-01

    We have identified an excess of children with cerebral palsy (CP) born to women who received antibiotic treatment for spontaneous preterm labour (SPL). This nested study investigated the profile of impairment among children with CP in the ORACLE Children Study (OCS), and contrasted outcomes with those in 4Child, a population CP registry. The study group comprised 167 children aged from 7 to 10 years (100 males, 67 females) with CP from the OCS, who were subdivided into a preterm rupture of membranes (PROM) group (87 children) and an SPL group (80 children). The OCS sought follow-up information regarding the health and behaviour of surviving children at 7 years of age in the UK using a parent-report postal questionnaire. Families provided further information to define wider aspects of function and were offered a physiotherapy assessment. The prevalence of CP was higher among children in the OCS than among those in 4Child (standardized morbidity ratios: SPL group, 3.12 [95% confidence interval {CI} 2.47-3.87); PROM group: 1.56 (CI 1.24-1.92)]. The proportion of children with CP born after 32 weeks of gestation was higher in in the SPL group (73%) than in the PROM group (30%); the prevalence of CP was higher in the SPL group than in the PROM group or 4Child. Children with CP in the OCS tended to have similar distributions of neuroimpairment as children in 4Child, but motor impairment and associated vision and hearing problems were found to be less severe. The pattern of CP in both the PROM and the SPL groups was similar, but functional outcomes were milder, compared with children with CP in the general population. However, in these groups the risk of CP was increased independently of gestational age. This is consistent with findings that ongoing inflammatory damage can cause CP. © The Authors. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology © 2012 Mac Keith Press.

  3. Children with social phobia have lower quality friendships than children with other anxiety disorders.

    PubMed

    Baker, J R; Hudson, J L

    2015-01-01

    Whilst shy, socially anxious or socially withdrawn children in nonclinical community samples report lower friendship quality (FQ) than nonanxious children, no study has examined the FQ of clinically anxious children. The aim of the study was to examine the FQ of children with anxiety disorders; and whether it differs for clinical children with or without a diagnosis of social phobia (SP). The study design was cross-sectional self-report. Clinical children - 39 anxiety-disordered children with SP and 28 anxiety-disordered children without SP (No-SP) - presented for psychological treatment, and 29 nonclinical children were recruited from the community. Same-sex close friends were invited to participate using an unrestricted nomination procedure. All children were aged between 7 and 13 years. Both target child and friend completed the Friendship Quality Questionnaire and the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale. Using multilevel modeling within the framework of the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model, SP dyads were found to report lower overall FQ than No-SP dyads. SP dyads did not report lower overall FQ than nonclinical dyads. Children with SP in their diagnostic profile may be unique in their friendship experiences relative to children with other anxiety disorders.

  4. Family-Peer Linkages for Children with Intellectual Disability and Children with Learning Disabilities.

    PubMed

    Floyd, Frank J; Olsen, Darren L

    2017-09-01

    Family interactions are potential contexts for children with intellectual and learning disabilities to develop skillful social behaviors needed to relate effectively with peers. This study examined problem solving interactions within families of elementary school-age children (7-11 years) with intellectual disability (n = 37), specific learning disabilities (n =48), and without disabilities (n = 22). After accounting for group differences in children's behaviors and peer acceptance, across all groups, mothers' behaviors that encouraged egalitarian problem solving predicted more engaged and skillful problem solving by the children. However, mothers' controlling, directive behaviors predicted fewer of these behaviors by the children. Fathers' behaviors had mixed associations with the children's actions, possibly because they were reactive to children's unengaged and negative behaviors. For the children, greater involvement, more facilitative behaviors, and less negativity with their families were associated with greater acceptance from their peers, supporting family-peer linkages for children at risk for peer rejection.

  5. Analysis of the SNPforID 52-plex markers in four Native American populations from Venezuela.

    PubMed

    Ruiz, Y; Chiurillo, M A; Borjas, L; Phillips, C; Lareu, M V; Carracedo, Á

    2012-09-01

    The SNPforID 52-plex single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) were analyzed in four native Venezuelan populations: Bari, Pemon, Panare and Warao. None of the population-locus combinations showed significant departure from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. Calculation of forensic and statistical parameters showed lower values of genetic diversity in comparison with African and European populations, as well as other, admixed populations of neighboring regions of Caribbean, Central and South America. Significant levels of divergence were observed between the four Native Venezuelan populations as well as with other previously studied populations. Analysis of the 52-plex SNP loci with Structure provided an optimum number of population clusters of three, corresponding to Africans, Europeans and Native Americans. Analysis of admixed populations indicated a range of membership proportions for ancestral populations consisting of Native American, African and European components. The genetic differences observed in the Native American groups suggested by the 52 SNPs typed in our study are in agreement with current knowledge of the demographic history of the Americas. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Traumatic dental injury research: on children or with children?

    PubMed

    Wallace, Ann; Rogers, Helen J; Zaitoun, Halla; Rodd, Helen D; Gilchrist, Fiona; Marshman, Zoe

    2017-06-01

    It is widely acknowledged that children should participate in healthcare decisions, service development and even setting research agendas. Dental traumatology is a major component of paediatric dentistry practice and research. However, little is known about young patients' contribution to new knowledge in this field. The aim of the study was to establish the extent to which children are involved in contemporary dental trauma research and to evaluate the quality of the related literature. A systematic review of the dental trauma literature was conducted from 2006 to 2014. The electronic databases, MEDLINE and Scopus, were used to identify relevant studies. The selected papers were independently examined by five calibrated reviewers. Studies were categorized by the degree of children's involvement and appraised using a validated quality assessment tool. The initial search yielded 4374 papers. After application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, only 96 studies remained. Research on children accounted for 87.5% of papers, and a proxy was involved in 4.2%. Children were engaged to some degree in only 8.3% of studies, and there were no studies where children were active research participants. In the quality assessment exercise, papers scored, on average, 57% (range = 14-86%). There is scope to encourage more active participation of children in dental trauma research in the future. Furthermore, there are some areas where the quality of research could be improved overall. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Children of Conflict

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Saturday Review: Education, 1973

    1973-01-01

    Latest research on how children are socialized to war. Over 2,677 children in grades three to eight in New York, New Jersey, and Maryland, were interviewed. Excerpted from the book Children and War'' by Howard Tolley, Jr. (DS)

  8. Mothers' and Children's Story-Telling: A Study of Dyads with Typically Developing Children and Children with ASD

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hutchins, Tiffany L.; Deraway, Chelsea; Prelock, Patricia; O'Neill, Ana

    2017-01-01

    The production of specific mental state terms types and functions by caregivers and their TD children and caregivers and their children with ASD were assessed in two contexts: a parent's story-telling task and a child's story-telling task. Caregivers of children with ASD produced less causal talk and proportionally less desire and cognitive talk…

  9. Children as Catalysts of Change: Children's Participation in Rural Development in India.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wesley, Caroline

    1995-01-01

    Presents information on the participation of children in effecting change in their lives and their communities in The Concerned for Working Children rural project in Karnataka, India. Discusses the concept of a children's trade union and the nature of community participation in empowering children to lead self-reliant lives. (AIM)

  10. Children's diets (image)

    MedlinePlus

    ... healthy and strong. One important element in the diet of children is the proper amount of fat. Children under ... thought to be important nutrients for brain development. Children over ... added to their diets. Fat in the diet is necessary to help ...

  11. Bullying among Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bullock, Janis R.

    2002-01-01

    Notes that teachers have differing views toward children who bully. Addresses characteristics of bullies and their victims, incidences of bullying among children, the effects of bullying on children, and recommendations for teachers' support, including school-wide, classroom, and individual interventions. (DLH)

  12. Smooth Pursuit Eye Movements in Children with Strabismus and in Children with Vergence Deficits

    PubMed Central

    Lions, Cynthia; Bui-Quoc, Emmanuel; Wiener-Vacher, Sylvette; Seassau, Magali; Bucci, Maria Pia

    2013-01-01

    Purpose The objective of our study was to examine horizontal smooth pursuit performance in strabismic children and in children with vergence deficits, and to compare these data with those recorded in a group of control age-matched children. Methods Binocular eye movements were recorded by video-oculography in ten strabismic children (mean age: 9.8±0.8) and seven children with vergence deficits (mean age: 10.8±0.6). Data were compared to that of age-matched control children (mean age: 9.8±0.8 years). Results Catch-up saccades amplitude in strabismic children and in children with vergence deficits were significantly higher than in control age-matched children. Moreover, in strabismic children the amplitude of catch-up saccades was significantly higher in rightward than in leftward direction. The number of catch-up saccades was also significantly higher in rightward than in leftward direction. The gain value of pursuits in rightward direction was significantly higher in the right eye than in the left one; for the right eye, the gain value was significantly higher in rightward than in leftward direction. Binocular coordination of pursuit was better in control age-matched children than in children with vergence deficits and than in strabismic children. Conclusions Binocular coordination of pursuit is abnormal in children with vergence deficits and worse in strabismic children. Binocular vision plays an important role in improving binocular coordination of pursuit. PMID:24376777

  13. Blind Children in Nurseries with Sighted Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Preisler, Gunilla M.

    1993-01-01

    This paper describes the integration of nine preschool children with blindness into a regular preschool program in Sweden. It focuses on the first introductory period; the children's strategies in orienting within the environment and exploring objects and toys; their participation in play; and their social interaction with sighted peers and…

  14. Developmental Outcomes of Foster Children: A Meta-Analytic Comparison With Children From the General Population and Children at Risk Who Remained at Home.

    PubMed

    Goemans, Anouk; van Geel, Mitch; van Beem, Merel; Vedder, Paul

    2016-08-01

    Foster care is often preferred to other placement options for children in the child welfare system. However, it is not clear how the developmental outcomes of foster children relate to children in other living arrangements. In this study, a series of meta-analyses are performed to compare the cognitive, adaptive, and behavioral functioning of children placed in foster care (n = 2,305) with children at risk who remained with their biological parents (n = 4,335) and children from the general population (n = 4,971). A systematic literature search in PsycINFO, Medline, ERIC, and ProQuest identified 31 studies suitable for inclusion (N = 11,611). Results showed that foster children had generally lower levels of functioning than children from the general population. No clear differences were found between foster children and children at risk who remained at home, but both groups experienced developmental problems. Improving the quality of foster care and future research to identify which children are best served by either foster care or in-home services are recommended. © The Author(s) 2016.

  15. Differences between Non-Aggressive, Rejected Children and Popular Children during Peer Collaboration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Crosby, Kimberly A.; Fireman, Gary D.; Clopton, James R.

    2011-01-01

    This study examined the communication of non-aggressive, rejected (NAR) children and popular children during peer interaction. The participants were 80 fifth and sixth graders recruited from a larger sociometric sample (40 boys and 40 girls; 20 NAR children and 60 non-aggressive, popular children). Participants were assigned to 40 same-gender…

  16. Do Integrated Children's Services Improve Children's Outcomes?: Evidence from England's Children's Trust Pathfinders

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    O'Brien, Margaret; Bachmann, Max O.; Jones, Natalia R.; Reading, Richard; Thoburn, June; Husbands, Chris; Shreeve, Ann; Watson, Jacqueline

    2009-01-01

    Thirty-five children's trust pathfinders, local cross-sector partnerships, were introduced across England in 2003 to promote greater integration in children's services. Using administrative performance data, this paper tracks yearly trends in child service outputs and child well-being outcomes from 1997 to 2004 in these local areas, including the…

  17. [Parents' and Children's Perspectives of Parental Mediation Strategies in Association with Children's Internet Skills].

    PubMed

    Glüer, Michael; Lohaus, Arnold

    2018-02-01

    Parents' and Children's Perspectives of Parental Mediation Strategies in Association with Children's Internet Skills The purpose of this study was to examine the association of parental mediation strategies (from parents' and children's perspective) and children's internet skills. In total 194 parent-child dyads were questioned about their parent's mediation strategies. The children (fifth to ninth grade) additionally answered questions about their internet skills and the amount of time they spent daily on the internet. Parents' and children's ratings of the parental mediation strategies showed moderate associations. Parents reported to use more often mediation strategies than was perceived by their children. The mediation strategies had only limited value for the prediction of the children's internet skills. Parents' and children's perspective about restrictive content mediation were both negatively associated to children's internet skills. After controlling for children's age, sex and time spent daily on the internet, results showed that only congruencies between children's and parental perspectives regarding the parental restrictive content mediation were associated with decreased technical and social internet skills. Additionally, discrepancies between the children's and parental perspectives regarding the parental use of technical mediation were associated with decreased technical internet skills. Discrepancies regarding the parental mediation strategy monitoring were related to increased information navigation skills.

  18. Children of Alcoholics/Addicts: Children at Risk.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gover, F. Jill

    Children of alcoholics/addicts (COAs) are at a greater risk to develop alcohol and drug dependency, eating disorders, attention deficit disorders, stress-related illness, and suicidal behavior. Children become part of a conspiracy of silence by being told not to talk about the drug problem. The family members assume different roles which…

  19. Children receiving chemotherapy at home: perceptions of children and parents.

    PubMed

    Stevens, Bonnie; McKeever, Patricia; Law, Madelyn P; Booth, Marilyn; Greenberg, Mark; Daub, Stacey; Gafni, Amiram; Gammon, Janet; Yamada, Janet; Epstein, Iris

    2006-01-01

    The aim of this descriptive exploratory study was to determine the perspectives of parents and children with cancer on a home chemotherapy program. Qualitative analyses were used to organize data from 24 parents and 14 children into emerging themes. Themes included (1) financial and time costs, (2) disruption to daily routines, (3) psychological and physical effects, (4) recommendations and caveats, and (5) preference for home chemotherapy. When home chemotherapy was compared with hospital clinic-based chemotherapy, parents reported fewer financial and time costs and less disruption to their work and family schedules, and children reported more time to play/study, improved school attendance, and engagement in normal activities. Although some parents felt more secure with hospital chemotherapy, most found it more exhausting and stressful. At home, children selected places for their treatment and some experienced fewer side effects. Although some coordination/communication problems existed, the majority of parents and children preferred home chemo-therapy. Home chemotherapy treatment is a viable, acceptable, and positive health care delivery alternative from the perspective of parents and children with cancer.

  20. [Violence against children].

    PubMed

    Daher, Michel

    2007-01-01

    The Convention of Human Rights defines violence as "all forms of physical or mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation, including sexual abuse". Violence against children cuts across boundaries of geography, race, class, religion and culture. It occurs in homes, schools and streets ; in places of work and entertainment, and in care and detention centers. Perpetrators include parents, family members, teachers, caretakers, law enforcement authorities and other children. Some children are particularly vulnerable because of gender, race, ethnic origin, disability or social status. And no country is immune, whether rich or poor. Although the consequences of violence for children may vary according to its nature and severity, the short- and long-term repercussions are very often grave and damaging. Violence may result in greater susceptibility to lifelong social, emotional, and cognitive impairments and to health-risk behaviors, such as substance abuse and early initiation of sexual behavior. Governments are ultimately responsible for the protection of children. It is therefore up to governments to act now, to fulfill their human rights obligations and other commitments, to ensure the protection of children from all forms of violence. Violence against children is never justifiable. Nor is it inevitable. After providing a global picture of violence against children, we propose recommendations to prevent and respond to this issue.

  1. Key Facts about Children in Utah. Children and Families at Risk: A Status Report of Our Children, 1994.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Utah Children, Salt Lake City.

    The Utah KIDS COUNT program provides information about child well-being to enhance discussions on securing better futures for children. Indicators of children's quality of life are chosen to reflect a range of influences on children, conditions across developmental stages, and comparisons across time. Ten indicators examined included: (1) low…

  2. Emotional congruence with children and sexual offending against children: a meta-analytic review.

    PubMed

    McPhail, Ian V; Hermann, Chantal A; Nunes, Kevin L

    2013-08-01

    Emotional congruence with children is an exaggerated affective and cognitive affiliation with children that is posited to be involved in the initiation and maintenance of sexual offending against children. The current meta-analysis examined the relationship between emotional congruence with children and sexual offending against children, sexual recidivism, and change following sexual offender treatment. A systematic literature review of online academic databases, conference proceedings, governmental agency websites, and article, book chapter, and book reference lists was performed. Thirty studies on emotional congruence with children in sexual offenders against children (SOC) were included in a random-effects meta-analysis. Extrafamilial SOC-especially those with male victims--evidenced higher emotional congruence with children than most non--SOC comparison groups and intrafamilial SOC. In contrast, intrafamilial SOC evidenced less emotional congruence with children than many of the non-SOC comparison groups. Higher levels of emotional congruence with children were associated with moderately higher rates of sexual recidivism. The association between emotional congruence with children and sexual recidivism was significantly stronger in extrafamilial SOC samples (d = 0.58, 95% CI [0.31, 0.85]) compared with intrafamilial SOC samples (d = -0.15, 95% CI [-0.58, 0.27]). Similarly, emotional congruence with children showed a significant reduction from pre- to posttreatment for extrafamilial SOC (d = 0.41, 95% CI [0.33, 0.85]), but not for intrafamilial SOC (d = 0.06, 95% CI [-0.10, 0.22]). Emotional congruence with children is a characteristic of extrafamilial SOC, is moderately predictive of sexual recidivism, and is potentially amenable through treatment efforts. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

  3. Dental needs and status of autistic children: results from the National Survey of Children's Health.

    PubMed

    Kopycka-Kedzierawski, Dorota T; Auinger, Peggy

    2008-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to assess the oral health status and dental needs of a nationally representative sample of 1- to 17-year-old children with or without autism. In the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health, parents reported their child's oral health status and needs. The condition of the child's teeth, demographics, time since last dental visit, and dental needs were assessed in autistic children (N=495) and nonautistic children (N=95,059). For a subset of children with reported fair or poor teeth, specific problems about their dentition were assessed for autistic children (N=69) and nonautistic children (N=7,002). Weighted percentages and chi-square statistics were calculated. According to parents, 69% of nonautistic children and 52% of autistic children had their teeth in excellent or very good condition (P <.001). The dental status of children with autism and without autism, identified with fair or poor teeth, was comparable. Overall, parents of US autistic children were more likely to report their children's dentition to be in fair or poor condition than parents of US nonautistic children. Children with or without autism who had fair or poor teeth are faced with similar dental problems.

  4. Children's Online Privacy.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Aidman, Amy

    2000-01-01

    The first federal Internet privacy law (the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) provides safeguards for children by regulating collection of their personal information. Unfortunately, teens are not protected. Legislation is pending to protect children from online marketers such as ZapMe! Interactive technologies require constant vigilance.…

  5. Children and Hypertension.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carter, Denise

    1983-01-01

    Since children as young as seven years old can suffer from hypertension, all children should have blood pressure checked during physical examinations. Guidelines for testing children's blood pressure are presented along with suggestions about what schools and parents can do to help deal with the problem. (PP)

  6. Influence of Parental Expressed Emotions on Children's Emotional Eating via Children's Negative Urgency.

    PubMed

    Munsch, Simone; Dremmel, Daniela; Kurz, Susanne; De Albuquerque, Jiske; Meyer, Andrea H; Hilbert, Anja

    2017-01-01

    We investigated whether parental expressed emotion (criticism and emotional overinvolvement) is related to children's emotional eating and whether this relationship is mediated by children's negative urgency. One hundred children, aged 8 to 13 years, either healthy or have binge-eating disorder and/or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, completed the questionnaires, along with their parents. Parental criticism and, to a lesser extent, parental emotional overinvolvement were both positively related to children's emotional eating, and this relationship was mediated by children's negative urgency. Further exploratory analyses revealed that the mediating role of children's negative urgency in the relationship between parental criticism and children's emotional eating was pronounced in the clinical group of children with binge-eating disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder but almost absent in the healthy control group. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

  7. Nutrient intake of children with intractable epilepsy compared with healthy children.

    PubMed

    Volpe, Stella L; Schall, Joan I; Gallagher, Paul R; Stallings, Virginia A; Bergqvist, A G Christina

    2007-06-01

    Growth retardation is common among children with epilepsy, and poor dietary intake may be one of the causes. The goal of this cross-sectional study was to compare the nutrient intake of children 1 to 8 years of age with intractable epilepsy to healthy children of the same age from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2001 to 2002 (N=1,718) and with the Dietary Reference Intakes. Children with intractable epilepsy were divided into two age groups: 1.0 to 3.9 and 4.0 to 8.9 years, to correspond with the Dietary Reference Intakes. Forty-three children with intractable epilepsy, mean age=4.7+/-2.2 years, had significantly lower intakes (P<0.05) of total energy; protein; carbohydrate; fat; dietary fiber; vitamins A, E, B-6, and B-12; riboflavin; niacin; folate; calcium; phosphorus; magnesium; zinc; copper; and selenium compared with healthy children. Thirty percent or more of the children with intractable epilepsy in both age groups had intakes below the Recommended Dietary Allowance or Adequate Intake for vitamins D, E, and K; folate; calcium; linoleic acid; and alpha-linolenic acid. Health care professionals caring for children with intractable epilepsy should be aware of this pattern of decreased nutrient intake and educate families to provide an adequate diet and/or consider vitamin/mineral supplementation.

  8. The Children's Video Marketplace.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ducey, Richard V.

    This report examines a growing submarket, the children's video marketplace, which comprises broadcast, cable, and video programming for children 2 to 11 years old. A description of the tremendous growth in the availability and distribution of children's programming is presented, the economics of the children's video marketplace are briefly…

  9. Games Children Play: How Games and Sport Help Children Develop.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brooking-Payne, Kim

    This book presents games for children, teenagers, and adults, explaining how each game can help children develop in a holistic way. It begins by discussing tips for teaching games, how to deal with children who break the rules, and what type of equipment to use. The book provides help on how to approach play within each of the different age…

  10. Children's rights in pediatrics.

    PubMed

    Streuli, Jürg C; Michel, Margot; Vayena, Effy

    2011-01-01

    The United Nations Convention of Children's Rights (UNCRC) introduced in 1989 has generated a global movement for the protection of children's rights and has brought about a paradigm change in how children are perceived. Pediatric healthcare professionals are interacting with children and therefore with children's rights on a daily basis. However, although at least 18 of the 54 articles are relevant for pediatric practice, there is limited systematic training on how pediatricians can support children's rights in the clinical setting. This article discusses the principles and aims of the UNCRC and proposes a comprehensive checklist of rights vis-à-vis issues that arise in clinical practice.

  11. Swiss Children's Moral and Psychological Judgments about Inclusion and Exclusion of Children with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gasser, Luciano; Malti, Tina; Buholzer, Alois

    2014-01-01

    Children's judgments about inclusion and exclusion of children with disabilities were investigated in a Swiss sample of 6-, 9-, and 12-year-old children from inclusive and noninclusive classrooms (N = 422). Overall, the majority of children judged it as morally wrong to exclude children with disabilities. Yet, participants were less likely to…

  12. Children Worldwide, 1992.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Lejeune, Genevieve, Ed.

    1992-01-01

    Each of the three journal issues comprising volume 19 (1992) of "Children Worldwide" focuses on a specific theme. Issue 1 contains six articles about refugee children, including essays about a community self-help approach in Pakistan, unaccompanied minors in Hong Kong, and refugee families raising children in a new culture; guidelines…

  13. Children and Prejudice.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Byrnes, Deborah A.

    1988-01-01

    Reviews studies on prejudice and children focusing on how children learn prejudice and what can be done to prevent it. Offers three activity and discussion ideas which can be used to develop children's awareness of inappropriate prejudgments. Identifies a selection of related instructional resources and includes a 34-item bibliography. (JDH)

  14. Anti-reflux surgery - children - discharge

    MedlinePlus

    Fundoplication - children - discharge; Nissen fundoplication - children - discharge; Belsey (Mark IV) fundoplication - children - discharge; Toupet fundoplication - children - discharge; Thal fundoplication - ...

  15. [Stress in families with children: are children the cause?].

    PubMed

    Engell, Rikke; Nielsen, Naja Rod; Andersen, Anne-Marie Nybo

    2007-01-22

    Stress may affect health negatively. Therefore, it is important to identify risks factors for high levels of stress. Previous studies indicate that parents report higher levels of stress than adults without children. Whether this it due to having children or due to other circumstances is unknown. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether parents have higher levels of stress than adults without children after controlling for possible confounders. A possible interaction between being a parent and working time on perceived stress will be examined. Cross-sectional data from Danish Health and Morbidity Survey 2000 were used. 3,083 men and 2,813 women aged 25-49 years answered one question on perceived stress. All analyses were stratified on sex and marital status and adjusted for age, socio-economic level, income and work hours/week. No differences in perceived stress between men and women with and without children were found. Women, who were lone parents and worked more than 37 hours a week, had a markedly increased level of stress (OR: 3.2, 95%CI: (1.3-7.8)) compared to single women without children working 37 hours a week. Children in the household did not appear to be the cause of a high level of perceived stress. Single mothers with long working hours were an exception to this conclusion.

  16. The Efficacy of the Instruments of National Power in Winning Insurgent Warfare: A Case Study Focused on Peru and Sendero Luminoso

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-06-01

    Japanese, Chinese, and others, making up 3-percent; and the Amerindians, largely Quechua or Aymara-speaking, making up the remaining 45-percent and...feel compelled to change their identity and are expected to learn Spanish and deny their Quechua roots.19 Ethno-racial attributes still affect social...relaxed. Women did not receive the right to vote until 1956 and literacy requirements excluded the majority of the Quechua -speaking people until the

  17. Media Use by Children, and Parents' Views on Children's Media Usage.

    PubMed

    Dinleyici, Meltem; Carman, Kursat Bora; Ozturk, Emel; Sahin-Dagli, Figen

    2016-06-07

    New (mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, and social media) and traditional media (television) have come to dominate the lives of many children and adolescents. Despite all of this media time and new technology, many parents seem to have few rules regarding the use of media by their children and adolescents. The aim of this study was to evaluate media access/use of children and to evaluate beliefs and attitudes of parents concerning the use of old and new media in Turkey. This is a cross-sectional electronic survey of a national convenience sample in Turkey via SurveyMonkey, including 41 questions regarding topics relevant to television, computers, mobile phones, iPad/tablet use, and social media accounts. The responses of the 333 participants (238 women, 95 men; 27-63 years) were evaluated. The average daily watching alone time was 0 to 2 hours among 53.4% (46/86), and daily coviewing time with parents of children was 0 to 2 hours among 62.7% (54/86) of children below 2 years of age. Regarding parents' monitoring their children's computer use (n=178), 35.4% (63/178) of the parents prefer coviewing, 13.5% of the parents use a family filter (24/178), and 33.1% (59/178) of the parents prefer to check Web history. Approximately 71.2% (237/333) of the participants had an iPad/tablet in the house, 84.3% (200/333) of the parents give their children permission to use the iPad/tablet. Of the parents, 22.5% (45/200) noted that their children used the iPad/tablet at the table during lunch/dinner and 57.9% (26/45) of these children were aged 5 years and below. Of parents, 27.3% (91/333) agreed that the optimal age for owning a mobile phone was 12 years, and 18.0% (60/333) of the parents noted that their children (one-third was below 2 years) used the mobile phone at the table during meals. A total of 33.3% (111/333) children/adolescents have a Facebook profile, and 54.0% (60/111) were below 13 years of age. Approximately 89.2% (297/333) of the parents emphasized that the

  18. Children of Alcoholics.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Krois, Deborah Helen

    Although alcoholism has long been considered a serious problem, the impact of parental alcoholism on children has only recently begun to receive attention from researchers and clinicians. A review of the empirical literature on children of alcoholics was conducted and it was concluded that children raised in an alcoholic family are at increased…

  19. Children's Stress Index.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sherman, Dianne, Ed.

    1993-01-01

    This double issue of the "ZPG Reporter" focuses on the theme of ZPG's Children's Stress Index", the first national survey of children's well-being based on population- related pressures. Using an extensive list of social, economic, and environmental factors that affect the lives of children, the index ranks 828 cities, counties, and…

  20. Children Writing Stories

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Armstrong, Michael

    2006-01-01

    In this book, the author reveals the creative force of children's narrative imagination and shows how this develops through childhood. He provides a new and powerful understanding of the significance of narrative for children's intellectual growth and for learning and teaching. The book explores a series of real stories written by children between…

  1. Literature for Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Salomone, Ronald E., Ed.

    1985-01-01

    The 15 articles in this journal issue deal with children's literature. Among the topics and titles discussed are (1) Virginia Hamilton's books, (2) the new realism in children's literature, (3) gender bias in children's books, (4) teaching "Where the Wild Things Are" to adults, (5) language use in "Alice in Wonderland," (6)…

  2. Mental states and activities in Danish narratives: children with autism and children with language impairment.

    PubMed

    Engberg-Pedersen, Elisabeth; Christensen, Rikke Vang

    2017-09-01

    This study focuses on the relationship between content elements and mental-state language in narratives from twenty-seven children with autism (ASD), twelve children with language impairment (LI), and thirty typically developing children (TD). The groups did not differ on chronological age (10;6-14;0) and non-verbal cognitive skills, and the groups with ASD and TD did not differ on language measures. The children with ASD and LI had fewer content elements of the storyline than the TD children. Compared with the TD children, the children with ASD used fewer subordinate clauses about the characters' thoughts, and preferred talking about mental states as reported speech, especially in the form of direct speech. The children with LI did not differ from the TD children on these measures. The results are discussed in the context of difficulties with socio-cognition in children with ASD and of language difficulties in children with LI.

  3. Children's pain perspectives.

    PubMed

    Esteve, R; Marquina-Aponte, V

    2012-05-01

    Previous studies on children's pain perspectives remain limited to English-speaking populations. An exploratory cross-sectional descriptive design was used to investigate the developmental progression of children's pain perspectives, including their pain experience, its definition and attributes, causality and coping. The Children's Pain Perspectives Inventory was applied to 180 healthy Spanish children. A coding system was developed following the content analysis method. Three age groups were compared: 4-6 years, corresponding to the Piagetian pre-operational stage of cognitive development; 7-11 years, corresponding to stage of concrete operations; and 12-14 years, corresponding to the period of early formal operations. In children between 4 and 6, the predominant narratives related to physical injuries, the notion of causality and the definition of pain. In children between 7 and 11, the predominant narratives were those in which pain was described as a sensation in one part of the body. The view of pain as having an emotional basis significantly increased with age and was more frequent in adolescents. In contrast, children between 4-6 and 7-11 indicated that pain occurs spontaneously. The denial of any positive aspects of pain significantly decreased with age; some children between 7 and 11 referred to the 'possibility of relief', while the view that pain is a 'learning experience' was significantly more frequent among adolescents aged between 12 and 14 years. The use of cognitive strategies to control pain significantly increased with age. Between 12 and 14 years of age, adolescents communicate pain by non-verbal behaviour and reported that they do not express demands for relief. There was a progression from concrete to more complex notions of pain as age increased. These results may be of use to health professionals and parents to understand how children at various developmental stages express and cope with pain and to develop tools that effectively assess and

  4. Self-Concept of Children with Cerebral Palsy Compared with that of Children without Impairment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shields, Nora; Loy, Yijun; Murdoch, Alison; Taylor, Nicholas F.; Dodd, Karen J

    2007-01-01

    This study examined whether the self-concept of children with cerebral palsy (CP) differed from that of children without impairment. Forty-seven children (24 males, 23 females; mean age 11y 8mo [SD 2y 6mo]) with spastic diplegia or hemiplegia were matched with children without impairment. The level of disability of the children with CP was…

  5. Children with Health Issues

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schuster, Mark A.; Chung, Paul J.; Vestal, Katherine D.

    2011-01-01

    All children, even the healthiest, have preventive and acute health care needs. Moreover, a growing number of children are chronically ill, with preventive, acute, and ongoing care needs that may be much more demanding than those for healthy children. Because children are unable to care for themselves, their parents are expected to provide a range…

  6. Children's memory and suggestibility about a distressing event: the role of children's and parents' attachment.

    PubMed

    Chae, Yoojin; Goodman, Gail S; Larson, Rakel P; Augusti, Else-Marie; Alley, Deborah; VanMeenen, Kirsten M; Culver, Michelle; Coulter, Kevin P

    2014-07-01

    Our goal was to identify individual difference predictors of children's memory and suggestibility for distressing personally experienced events. Specifically, we examined children's and parents' attachment orientations and children's observable levels of distress, as well as other individual difference factors, as predictors of children's memory and suggestibility. Children (N=91) aged 3 to 6years were interviewed about inoculations received at medical clinics. For children whose parents scored as more avoidant, higher distress levels during the inoculations predicted less accuracy, whereas for children whose parents scored as less avoidant, higher distress levels predicted greater accuracy. Children with more rather than less positive representations of parents and older rather than younger children answered memory questions more accurately. Two children provided false reports of child sexual abuse. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Recovery Responses to Maximal Exercise in Healthy-Weight Children and Children with Obesity

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Easley, Elizabeth A.; Black, W. Scott; Bailey, Alison L.; Lennie, Terry A.; Sims, Wilma J.; Clasey, Jody L.

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine differences in heart rate recovery (HRRec) and oxygen consumption recovery (VO2 recovery) between young healthy-weight children and children with obesity following a maximal volitional graded exercise test (GXTmax). Method: Twenty healthy-weight children and 13 children with obesity completed body…

  8. STATISTICS ON PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENT CHILDREN, 1964. CHILDREN'S BUREAU STATISTICAL SERIES 81.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    TOWNSEND, ALAIR A.

    AN ANALYSIS OF 245 UNITED STATES PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS FOR DELINQUENT CHILDREN FOR FISCAL YEAR JULY 1963 TO JUNE 1964 PROVIDES DATA ON NUMBERS OF CHILDREN IN PUBLIC TRAINING SCHOOLS, NUMBERS OF CHILDREN COMMITTED AND DISCHARGED, SEX OF CHILDREN, RETURNEES, RUNAWAYS, LENGTH OF STAY, INSTITUTION CAPACITY, AND OCCUPANCY RATE. PER CAPITA OPERATING…

  9. Do You See What I See? School Perspectives of Deaf Children, Hearing Children, and Their Parents

    PubMed Central

    Marschark, Marc; Bull, Rebecca; Sapere, Patricia; Nordmann, Emily; Skene, Wendy; Lukomski, Jennifer; Lumsden, Sarah

    2013-01-01

    Perspectives on academic and social aspects of children's school experiences were obtained from deaf and hearing children and their (deaf or hearing) parents. Possible differences between (1) the views of children and their parents and (2) those of hearing children and their parents compared to deaf children and their parents were of particular interest. Overall, parents gave their children higher school friendship ratings than the children gave themselves, and hearing children and their parents were more positive about children's friendships than were deaf children and their parents. Both children and parents also saw deaf children as less successful in reading than hearing children. However, deaf children’s having deaf parents, attending a school for the deaf, and using sign language at home all were associated with more positive perceptions of social success. Use of cochlear implants was not associated with perceptions of greater academic or social success. These and related findings are discussed in the context of parent and child perspectives on social and academic functioning and particular challenges confronted by deaf children in regular school settings. PMID:23543959

  10. Children's Health

    MedlinePlus

    Your child's health includes physical, mental and social well-being. Most parents know the basics of keeping children healthy, like offering ... for children to get regular checkups with their health care provider. These visits are a chance to ...

  11. Children and Divorce.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    West, Suzanne E.

    Some basic principles are discussed that can help divorcing parents understand the feelings and behaviors of their children, and guidelines are suggested for parents wanting to help their children adjust to the divorce-induced changes in their lives. The process of divorce is discussed in terms of children's experience, cause and effect, and time.…

  12. Psychosocial profile of institutionalised street children in Alexandria, Egypt: a comparative study with school children.

    PubMed

    Attia, Medhat S; Tayel, Kholoud Y; Shata, Zeinab N; Othman, Sally S

    2017-09-01

    The phenomenon of street children in Egypt constitutes a public health concern. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of institutionalised street children in Alexandria, to compare the prevalence of substance abuse and conduct disorder between street children and school children, and to identify predictors of these mental health outcomes among street children. Institutionalised street children (n = 102) participated in a cross-sectional comparative study with a matched group of school children (n = 156). An interviewing questionnaire was used to assess demographic characteristics and substance use. Conduct disorder was measured using the Revised Ontario Child Health study scale. Poverty, family breakdown, and domestic violence were the main reasons for street children having left home. Street children recorded significantly higher rates of substance use (9.8%) and conduct disorder (35.3%) compared to school children. In street children, smoking was a significant predictor of substance use and conduct disorder. Other predictors of conduct disorder included physical illness and having 5 to 7 siblings. Substance abuse and conduct disorder were present among institutionalised street children at higher rates than school children. Absence of basic life needs and disrupted families constituted the main reasons for leaving home. Interventions at the governmental and non-governmental levels are needed.

  13. Family income and crowd out among children enrolled in Massachusetts Children's Medical Security Plan.

    PubMed

    Feinberg, E; Swartz, K; Zaslavsky, A; Gardner, J; Klein Walker, D

    2001-12-01

    To assess whether participation in a state publicly financed health insurance program, Massachusetts Children's Medical Security Plan (CMSP) , which is open to children regardless of income, was associated with disenrollment from private insurance. A survey of participants in CMSP who were enrolled as of April 1998 was used. We conducted analyses to detect differences in access to and uptake of private insurance between Medicaid-eligible and in eligible children, and between children eligible for the State Children's Health insurance Program (SCHIP) and in eligible children. A stratified sample of children was drawn from administrative files. the sampling strategy allowed us to examine crowd out among children based on in come and eligibility for publicly funded coverage: those who were Medicaid-eligible (income pound 133 percent of the federal poverty level [FPL]) , those who were SCHIP-eligible (134-200 percent of FPL) , and those with family in comes that exceed SCHIP eligibility criteria (> 200 percent of FPL). The majority of telephone interviews were conducted with the child's parent/guardian between November 1998 and March 1999. The overall response rate was 61.8 percent , yielding a sample of 996 children. Of the children in our sample whose recent health coverage was employer-sponsored insurance (59 percent), 70 percent were no longer eligible. Few children who had employer-sponsored insurance at enrollment dropped this coverage to enroll in CM SP (1 percent, 4 percent, and 2 percent by income). Compared to Medicaid-eligible children, children with incomes > 133 percent of FPL were significantly more likely to be eligible for employer-sponsored insurance but they were no more likely to have purchased offered coverage. Access to employer-sponsored insurance was limited (19 percent), and uptake was low (13 percent). We found no significant difference between SCHIP-eligible children and those whose family incomes exceeded SCHIP guidelines. The Massachusetts

  14. Children at Risk/Children of Promise: Youth and the Modern Predicament.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ayers, William, Ed.; Lyon, Gabrielle, Ed.; McKinney, Gina, Ed.; O'Brien, James, Ed.; Quinn, Therese, Ed.

    1998-01-01

    Articles in this theme issue explore the state of children and youth at the end of the millennium. Imagination and the arts, ethnographic and interpretive exploration, and traditional social science investigations are used to consider the meaning of childhood and what life is like for children today. The articles are: (1) "Children at…

  15. Children's Image of God and Their Parents: Explorations in Children's Spirituality

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baring, Rito

    2012-01-01

    Exploring children's image of God and parents has invited interest among program preparers for children's spirituality in the Philippines. This research seeks to find out the fundamental orientation of children's image of God as well as their perceptions of father and mother from 241 fifth graders in three selected government primary schools in…

  16. When children affect parents: Children's academic performance and parental investment.

    PubMed

    Yurk Quadlin, Natasha

    2015-07-01

    Sociologists have extensively documented the ways that parent resources predict children's achievement. However, less is known about whether and how children's academic performance shapes parental investment behaviors. I use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) and longitudinal fixed effects models to examine how changes in teacher assessments are related to changes in the conferral of various parent resources. Overall, I find that the relationship between achievement and investment varies based on the directionality in children's achievement and the type of resource at hand. Children whose performance improves receive a broad range of enrichment resources, while declines in performance are met with corrective educational resources. Results are largely consistent whether language or math assessments are used to predict investment, and also among children whose achievement does not change over time. I discuss these patterns, along with implications for the use of parent resources in education and family research. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Integrating Refugee Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vershok, Anna

    2003-01-01

    Notes that the Moscow Center for the Integration and Education of Refugee Children attempts to provide real schooling for refugee children displaced from the Chechen Republic. Suggests main task was to prepare the children for regular school, and to help them adapt to both their new school and their new home, Moscow. Hopes this experience may help…

  18. Fantasy and Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Feshbach, Seymour

    Because fantasy has a special role in the lives of children, the meaning and consequences of fantasy experiences in children's lives are central psychological questions. Although the scientific study of fantasy is in its infancy, it does seem to be the case that children with rich fantasy lives have better self-control and are less likely to be…

  19. Children with low working memory and children with ADHD: same or different?

    PubMed

    Holmes, Joni; Hilton, Kerry A; Place, Maurice; Alloway, Tracy P; Elliott, Julian G; Gathercole, Susan E

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare working memory (WM), executive function, academic ability, and problem classroom behaviors in children aged 8-11 years who were either identified via routine screening as having low WM, or had been diagnosed with ADHD. Standardized assessments of WM, executive function and reading and mathematics were administered to 83 children with ADHD, 50 children with low WM and 50 typically developing children. Teachers rated problem behaviors on checklists measuring attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional behavior, and difficulties associated with executive function in the classroom. The ADHD and low WM groups had highly similar WM and executive function profiles, but were distinguished in two key respects: children with ADHD had higher levels of rated and observed impulsive behavior, and children with low WM had slower response times. Possible mechanisms for these common and distinct deficits are discussed.

  20. Understanding of emotions and false beliefs among hearing children versus deaf children.

    PubMed

    Ziv, Margalit; Most, Tova; Cohen, Shirit

    2013-04-01

    Emotion understanding and theory of mind (ToM) are two major aspects of social cognition in which deaf children demonstrate developmental delays. The current study investigated these social cognition aspects in two subgroups of deaf children-those with cochlear implants who communicate orally (speakers) and those who communicate primarily using sign language (signers)-in comparison to hearing children. Participants were 53 Israeli kindergartners-20 speakers, 10 signers, and 23 hearing children. Tests included four emotion identification and understanding tasks and one false belief task (ToM). Results revealed similarities among all children's emotion labeling and affective perspective taking abilities, similarities between speakers and hearing children in false beliefs and in understanding emotions in typical contexts, and lower performance of signers on the latter three tasks. Adapting educational experiences to the unique characteristics and needs of speakers and signers is recommended.

  1. Psychosocial Characteristics of Children with Central Disorders of Hypersomnolence Versus Matched Healthy Children

    PubMed Central

    Avis, Kristin T.; Shen, Jiabin; Weaver, Patrick; Schwebel, David C.

    2015-01-01

    Background: Hypersomnia of central origin from narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia (IHS) is characterized by pathological levels of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Central hypersomnia has historically been underdiagnosed and poorly understood, especially with respect to its impact on daytime functioning and quality of life in children. Objective: Describe the psychosocial adjustment of children treated for narcolepsy or IHS on school performance, quality of life, and physical/extracurricular activities. Methods: Using a matched case control design, we compared child self- and parent-reported data from thirty-three 8- to 16-year-olds with an established diagnosis of narcolepsy or IHS, according to ICSD-2 criteria, to that of 33 healthy children matched by age, race/ethnicity, gender, and household income. Assessments evaluated academic performance, quality of life and wellness, sleepiness, and participation in extracurricular activities. Results: Compared to healthy controls, children with central hypersomnia had poorer daytime functioning in multiple domains. Children with hypersomnia missed more days of school and had lower grades than healthy controls. Children with hypersomnia had poorer quality of life by both parent and child report. Children with hypersomnia were significantly sleepier, had higher BMI, and were more likely to report a history of recent injury. Finally, children with hypersomnia engaged in fewer after-school activities than healthy controls. Conclusions: A range of significant psychosocial consequences are reported in children with hypersomnia even after a diagnosis has been made and treatments initiated. Health care professionals should be mindful of the psychosocial problems that may present in children with hypersomnia over the course of treatment. Citation: Avis KT, Shen J, Weaver P, Schwebel DC. Psychosocial characteristics of children with central disorders of hypersomnolence versus matched healthy children. J Clin Sleep Med 2015

  2. Differences Between Children with Attention Deficit Disorder, Children with Specific Learning Disabilities, and Normal Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kuehne, Cheryl; And Others

    1987-01-01

    Investigated power of five measures to differentiate between normal children and children with Attention Deficit Disorder or Specific Learning Disabilities. Discriminant analysis revealed that Connors Parent Questionnaire was best predictor of group membership, followed in order by Connors Teacher Questionnaire, Porteus Mazes Test, and Matching…

  3. Comparison of ego defenses among physically abused children, neglected, and non-maltreated children.

    PubMed

    Finzi, Ricky; Har-Even, Dov; Weizman, Abraham

    2003-01-01

    The nature and level of ego functioning were assessed in 41 recently detected physically abused children, and in two control groups of 38 neglected and 35 non-abused/non-neglected children (aged 6 to 12 years), using the Child Suicidal Potential Scales (CSPS). The results obtained in this study support the hypothesis that the influences of parental violence on the child's ego functions are detrimental, as reflected by significantly higher impairments in affect regulation (like irritability, anger, passivity, depression), low levels of impulse control, distortions in reality testing, and extensive operation of immature defense mechanisms in the physically abused children in comparison to the controls. Significant differences between the physically abused and the non-abused/non-neglected children were found for all mechanisms except displacement. The differences between the physically abused and neglected children for regression, denial and splitting, projection, and introjection (high scores for the physically abused children), and for compensation and undoing (higher scores for the neglected children) were also significant. It is suggested that physically abused children should be distinguished as a high-risk population for future personality disorders.

  4. Children and violence.

    PubMed

    Renshaw, Domeena C

    2006-01-01

    In this "information era" it can no longer be said that children are being raised in Eden or in a gentle environment of kindness and love. However rural their home, children will undoubtedly see depictions of violence on television, in the movies, or in newspapers, or hear about it on the radio or while at school or on classroom computers. All children require safety education in order to learn how to protect themselves from harm at home, at school, or in the neighborhood. This article outlines how violence may impact today's children who seek medical care.

  5. Children and war.

    PubMed

    Pearn, J

    2003-04-01

    Children bear disproportionate consequences of armed conflict. The 21st century continues to see patterns of children enmeshed in international violence between opposing combatant forces, as victims of terrorist warfare, and, perhaps most tragically of all, as victims of civil wars. Innocent children so often are the victims of high-energy wounding from military ordinance. They sustain high-energy tissue damage and massive burns - injuries that are not commonly seen in civilian populations. Children have also been deliberately targeted victims in genocidal civil wars in Africa in the past decade, and hundreds of thousands have been killed and maimed in the context of close-quarter, hand-to-hand assaults of great ferocity. Paediatricians serve as uniformed military surgeons and as civilian doctors in both international and civil wars, and have a significant strategic role to play as advocates for the rights and welfare of children in the context of the evolving 'Laws of War'. One chronic legacy of contemporary warfare is blast injury to children from landmines. Such blasts leave children without feet or lower limbs, with genital injuries, blindness and deafness. This pattern of injury has become one of the post-civil war syndromes encountered by all intensivists and surgeons serving in four of the world's continents. The continued advocacy for the international ban on the manufacture, commerce and military use of antipersonnel landmines is a part of all paediatricians' obligation to promote the ethos of the Laws of War. Post-traumatic stress disorder remains an undertreated legacy of children who have been trapped in the shot and shell of battle as well as those displaced as refugees. An urgent, unfocused and unmet challenge has been the increase in, and plight of, child soldiers themselves. A new class of combatant comprises these children, who also become enmeshed in the triad of anarchic civil war, light-weight weaponry and drug or alcohol addiction. The

  6. Exploring children's stigmatisation of AIDS-affected children in Zimbabwe through drawings and stories.

    PubMed

    Campbell, Catherine; Skovdal, Morten; Mupambireyi, Zivai; Gregson, Simon

    2010-09-01

    AIDS-related stigma is a major contributor to the health and psychosocial well-being of children affected by AIDS. Whilst it is often suggested that AIDS-affected children may be stigmatised by other children, to date no research focuses specifically on child-on-child stigma. Using social representations theory, we explore how Zimbabwean children represent AIDS-affected peers, examining (i) whether or not they stigmatise, (ii) the forms stigma takes, and (iii) the existence of non-stigmatising representations that might serve as resources for stigma-reduction interventions. Our interest in identifying both stigmatising and non-stigmatising representations is informed by a theory of change which accords a central role to community-level debate and dialogue in challenging and reframing stigmatising representations. In late 2008, 50 children (aged 10-12) were asked to "draw a picture of a child whose family has been affected by AIDS in any way", and to write short stories about their drawings. Thematic analysis of stories and drawings revealed frequent references to stigmatisation of AIDS-affected children--with other children refusing to play with them, generally keeping their distance and bullying them. However children also frequently showed a degree of empathy and respect for AIDS-affected children's caring roles and for their love and concern for their AIDS-infected parents. We argue that a key strategy for stigma-reduction interventions is to open up social spaces in which group members (in this case children) can identify the diverse and contradictory ways they view a stigmatised out-group, providing opportunities for them to exercise agency in collectively challenging and renegotiating negative representations. Contrary to the common view that drawings enable children to achieve greater emotional expression than written stories, our children's drawings tended to be comparatively stereotypical and normative. It was in written stories that children most

  7. Children's choice: Color associations in children's safety sign design.

    PubMed

    Siu, Kin Wai Michael; Lam, Mei Seung; Wong, Yi Lin

    2017-03-01

    Color has been more identified as a key consideration in ergonomics. Color conveys messages and is an important element in safety signs, as it provides extra information to users. However, very limited recent research has focused on children and their color association in the context of safety signs. This study thus examined how children use colors in drawing different safety signs and how they associate colors with different concepts and objects that appear in safety signs. Drawing was used to extract children's use of color and the associations they made between signs and colors. The child participants were given 12 referents of different safety signs and were asked to design and draw the signs using different colored felt-tip pens. They were also asked to give reasons for their choices of colors. Significant associations were found between red and 'don't', orange and 'hands', and blue and 'water'. The child participants were only able to attribute the reasons for the use of yellow, green, blue and black through concrete identification and concrete association, and red through abstract association. The children's use of color quite differs from that shown in the ISO registered signs. There is a need to consider the use of colors carefully when designing signs specifically for children. Sign designers should take children's color associations in consideration and be aware if there are any misunderstandings. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Communicating with children with asthma.

    PubMed

    Callery, Peter

    Nurses are expected to treat children, young people and their parents as individuals and respect their dignity. Some information about asthma symptoms and about what is most important to children can only be obtained by communicating directly with children themselves rather than relying on parents. Consultations about children's asthma usually have three participants--nurse, parent and child. Children often take a passive role or are marginalised, sometimes by parents' interventions. Nurses need to take account of children's views and preferences, and build alliances with parents and children. Nursing needs to develop its own evidence base for practice, to underpin training and education.

  9. Parental reactions to children's negative emotions: relationships with emotion regulation in children with an anxiety disorder.

    PubMed

    Hurrell, Katherine E; Hudson, Jennifer L; Schniering, Carolyn A

    2015-01-01

    Research has demonstrated that parental reactions to children's emotions play a significant role in the development of children's emotion regulation (ER) and adjustment. This study compared parent reactions to children's negative emotions between families of anxious and non-anxious children (aged 7-12) and examined associations between parent reactions and children's ER. Results indicated that children diagnosed with an anxiety disorder had significantly greater difficulty regulating a range of negative emotions and were regarded as more emotionally negative and labile by their parents. Results also suggested that mothers of anxious children espoused less supportive parental emotional styles when responding to their children's negative emotions. Supportive and non-supportive parenting reactions to children's negative emotions related to children's emotion regulation skills, with father's non-supportive parenting showing a unique relationship to children's negativity/lability. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Street children and political violence: a socio-demographic analysis of street children in Rwanda.

    PubMed

    Veale, Angela; Donà, Giorgia

    2003-03-01

    The aims were: (1) to examine the profile of African street children and to assess the link between street children in Africa and political violence; (2) to undertake a systematic examination of causal factors of street children in postgenocide Rwanda; and (3) to situate this analysis in the context of the socio-cultural and political impact of the genocide on Rwandan communities. Observational mapping examined the profile and activities of Rwandan street children. Structured interviews were carried out with 290 children in four regional towns to obtain information on socio-demographic, familial, educational background, causal factors surrounding street life involvement, psychological well-being, and relationship to the street. Focus group discussions and key informant interviews examined the relationship between street children and the broader Rwandan society. Street children in Rwanda were predominantly adolescent boys, almost half of whom were homeless (42%), with a high proportion of orphaned children or children who had lost at least one parent. Two variables predicted homelessness: child's guardian and reason for being in street. Qualitative accounts of children conveyed the impact of death of family members, repatriation, imprisonment of parents, and poverty on their lives. The analysis highlighted the need for community based support for children in alternative guardianship care and for policies to support the reintegration of male youths in postconflict welfare strategies as prevention strategies for street migration.

  11. Young Children and War Play.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Carlsson-Paige, Nancy; Levin, Diane E.

    1988-01-01

    In a recent survey of parents and early childhood professionals the prevalence of war play among children and an increase in the amount of violence in children's play was noted. Outlines how the deregulation of children's television during the Reagan administration has affected children's exposure to violence in children's television programming.…

  12. A comparison of vowel productions in prelingually deaf children using cochlear implants, severe hearing-impaired children using conventional hearing aids and normal-hearing children.

    PubMed

    Baudonck, Nele; Van Lierde, K; Dhooge, I; Corthals, P

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare vowel productions by deaf cochlear implant (CI) children, hearing-impaired hearing aid (HA) children and normal-hearing (NH) children. 73 children [mean age: 9;14 years (years;months)] participated: 40 deaf CI children, 34 moderately to profoundly hearing-impaired HA children and 42 NH children. For the 3 corner vowels [a], [i] and [u], F(1), F(2) and the intrasubject SD were measured using the Praat software. Spectral separation between these vowel formants and vowel space were calculated. The significant effects in the CI group all pertain to a higher intrasubject variability in formant values, whereas the significant effects in the HA group all pertain to lower formant values. Both hearing-impaired subgroups showed a tendency toward greater intervowel distances and vowel space. Several subtle deviations in the vowel production of deaf CI children and hearing-impaired HA children could be established, using a well-defined acoustic analysis. CI children as well as HA children in this study tended to overarticulate, which hypothetically can be explained by a lack of auditory feedback and an attempt to compensate it by proprioceptive feedback during articulatory maneuvers. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  13. Children of divorce.

    PubMed

    Waldman, H B

    1997-01-01

    Limited attention has been directed in the dental literature to the emotional, economic and associated consequences of divorces on children. A general introduction is provided on 1) the numbers of children involved in divorces in different single-parent population groups, with 2) emphasis on the emotional impact of divorce on children and 3) the potential significance for pediatric dental practices.

  14. Bipolar Disorder in Children

    PubMed Central

    2014-01-01

    Although bipolar disorder historically was thought to only occur rarely in children and adolescents, there has been a significant increase in children and adolescents who are receiving this diagnosis more recently (Carlson, 2005). Nonetheless, the applicability of the current bipolar disorder diagnostic criteria for children, particularly preschool children, remains unclear, even though much work has been focused on this area. As a result, more work needs to be done to further the understanding of bipolar symptoms in children. It is hoped that this paper can assist psychologists and other health service providers in gleaning a snapshot of the literature in this area so that they can gain an understanding of the diagnostic criteria and other behaviors that may be relevant and be informed about potential approaches for assessment and treatment with children who meet bipolar disorder criteria. First, the history of bipolar symptoms and current diagnostic criteria will be discussed. Next, assessment strategies that may prove helpful for identifying bipolar disorder will be discussed. Then, treatments that may have relevance to children and their families will be discussed. Finally, conclusions regarding work with children who may have a bipolar disorder diagnosis will be offered. PMID:24800202

  15. "Value"ing Children Differently? Migrant Children in Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Devine, Dympna

    2013-01-01

    This paper considers dilemmas around "value" and the "valuing" of children and childhood(s) in schools. I argue that in neo-liberal contexts, processes of children's identity making become aligned with the idea of the corporate citizen--value and worth derived from the capacity to produce, excel, self-regulate as well as…

  16. Islands of Remorse: Amerindian Education in the Contemporary World.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Courtney, Richard

    1986-01-01

    American Indian education fails because schools force acceptance of a nonindigenous world view and ignore native people's perceptions of life, spirituality, art, time, mores, and learning practices. A University of Calgary experiment demonstrates that the creative arts, especially spontaneous drama, are more effective learning vehicles for native…

  17. Play preference of children with ADHD and typically developing children in Brazil: a pilot study.

    PubMed

    Pfeifer, Luzia Iara; Terra, Lauana Nogueira; dos Santos, Jair Lício Ferreira; Stagnitti, Karen Ellen; Panúncio-Pinto, Maria Paula

    2011-12-01

    Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been reported to have play deficits, which can cause problems in occupational development. The aim of this paper was to report research findings on children with ADHD and typically developing children in relation to preference of play partners, play places, toys and type of play. Thirty-two school aged children from low socioeconomic status were divided into two groups. One group of 16 children with ADHD were matched with 16 typically developing children. There were no significant differences between the two groups in relation to play partners, with classmates being the most frequent play partner for both groups. There were significant differences between the two groups in preferred place to play. Children with ADHD preferred to play in school and typically developing children preferred to play on the street. There were significant differences in relation to toys and type of play engaged in with children with ADHD preferring educational materials and typically developing children preferring electronic games. These findings add to knowledge of Brazilian children with ADHD and their play preferences. Comparisons are made with research with Australian children with and without ADHD. © 2011 The Authors. Australian Occupational Therapy Journal © 2011 Occupational Therapy Australia.

  18. Children with low working memory and children with ADHD: same or different?

    PubMed Central

    Holmes, Joni; Hilton, Kerry A.; Place, Maurice; Alloway, Tracy P.; Elliott, Julian G.; Gathercole, Susan E.

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare working memory (WM), executive function, academic ability, and problem classroom behaviors in children aged 8–11 years who were either identified via routine screening as having low WM, or had been diagnosed with ADHD. Standardized assessments of WM, executive function and reading and mathematics were administered to 83 children with ADHD, 50 children with low WM and 50 typically developing children. Teachers rated problem behaviors on checklists measuring attention, hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional behavior, and difficulties associated with executive function in the classroom. The ADHD and low WM groups had highly similar WM and executive function profiles, but were distinguished in two key respects: children with ADHD had higher levels of rated and observed impulsive behavior, and children with low WM had slower response times. Possible mechanisms for these common and distinct deficits are discussed. PMID:25538599

  19. "Children are sexually innocent": Iranian parents' understanding of children's sexuality.

    PubMed

    Merghati-Khoei, Effat; Abolghasemi, Naria; Smith, Thomas G

    2014-04-01

    Sexuality education (SE) is hotly contested in the West and there is much abstinence-only education; however, it remains controversial in a variety of contexts, including in Iran. The lack of consensus about children's SE in Muslim societies obliges us to explore different aspects of this topic systematically. The qualitative research presented here was about how Iranian parents perceived children's sexuality. Data from parents of 26 children were collected during four focus group sessions. Informants were selected from Area 5 in West Tehran. This area included 72 primary schools for girls and 82 for boys. The sessions were facilitated by using a semi-structured focus group guide. Content analysis was adopted using combined free and analytical coding to reduce data, to extract meanings, and to categorize domains. One of the three main domains identified, family management of child sexuality, is comprised of the following: (1) understanding of child sexuality, (2) family rules, (3) parent-child interactions, and (4) opposite sex interactions. Parental misinformation, accumulated myths, and ignorance about children's sexual development were evident. Strict family rules and a lack of consistent policy and instruction for SE were also identified. Parents said they were neither well-prepared nor competent to educate their children about sexuality. In fact, a majority of mothers raised "incompetence" as an important determinant in their own parent-child interactions. Societal changes as well as children's socialization patterns have forced parents to accept their children's opposite sex friendships as a reality. Results suggest a community need for developing comprehensive and culturally sensitive SE for schools and parental use.

  20. Psychopathology in children of schizophrenics

    PubMed Central

    Shah, Sharita; Kamat, Sanjeev; Sawant, Urmila; Dhavale, H.S.

    2003-01-01

    The higher prevalence of schizophrenia in children of schizophrenics than in the general population has generated an interest in pinpointing those behaviors that may precede the disorder and serve as an index of vulnerability to the disorder. Signs of neurobehavioral dysfunction in areas of neurocognitive functioning and social behavior have been found in school-age children of schizophrenic parents. This study assessed the neurobehavioral functioning, social behavior, cognitive functioning, attention and intelligence in children with a schizophrenic parent and compared the same parameters with children of mentally healthy parents. The children aged 12-15 years, were assessed with a battery of neurobehavioral tests. The children with a schizophrenic parent performed more poorly on the tests as compared to the children of mentally healthy parents. The children with a schizophrenic parent were seen to have more behavioral problems, especially withdrawn behavior and more social problems when compared to the other children in the study. Poor attention, disordered thoughts and lower intelligence were also observed to be more in the children of the schizophrenic parent PMID:21206831

  1. Glucose tolerance in two unacculturated Indian tribes of Brazil.

    PubMed

    Spielman, R S; Fajans, S S; Neel, J V; Pek, S; Floyd, J C; Oliver, W J

    1982-08-01

    Plasma levels of glucose, insulin, growth hormone, and pancreatic polypeptide in response to a standard oral glucose load were studied in the Yanomama and the Marubo, two relatively unacculturated Amerindian tribes of the Brazilian Amazon. The findings in the two tribes differed significantly from each other and in the degree of deviation from control subjects. The average responses in both tribes differed significantly from those of age- and sex-matched Caucasoid control subjects studied in Ann Arbor, Michigan; however, of the two tribes, the Marubo, the more acculturated group, resembled the controls more closely. Plasma concentrations of glucose and the hormones at three time points (fasting, 1 h, 2 h) were compared by means of a multivariate analysis. When the Marubo were compared with the control subjects, the only highly significant difference was in the plasma glucose concentrations (all three points were higher in the Marubo); however, the Yanomama differed significantly from the control subjects with respect to all four plasma indicators (p less than 0.05). Unlike the Marubo, the Yanomama showed no significant rise in plasma glucose at 1 h and no decrease at 2 h. Neither tribe exhibited the bimodality of the 2 h glucose value characteristic of acculturated Amerindians, such as the Pima, but the samples studied were small.

  2. Genetic admixture of eight Mexican indigenous populations: based on five polymarker, HLA-DQA1, ABO, and RH loci.

    PubMed

    Buentello-Malo, Leonora; Peñaloza-Espinosa, Rosenda I; Salamanca-Gómez, Fabio; Cerda-Flores, Ricardo M

    2008-01-01

    This study explores the genetic admixture of eight Mexican indigenous populations (Otomi-Ixmiquilpan, Otomi-Actopan, Tzeltales, Nahua-Milpa-Alta, Nahua-Xochimilco, Nahua-Zitlala, Nahua-Ixhuatlancillo, and Nahua-Coyolillo) on the basis of five PCR-based polymorphic DNA loci (LDLR, GYPA, HBGG, D7S8, GC), HLA_DQA1, and the blood groups ABO and Rh (CcDEe). Among the indigenous populations, the highest gene frequencies for O and D were 0.9703 and 1.000 for Zitlala (State of Guerrero) and 0.9955 and 0.9414 for Tzeltales (State of Chiapas), respectively. Maximum likelihood estimates of admixture components yield a trihybrid model with Amerindian (assuming that Nahua-Zitlala is the most representative indigenous population), Spanish, and African ancestry with the admixture proportions: 93.03, 6.03, and 0.94 for Tzeltales, and 28.99, 44.03, and 26.98 for Coyolillo. A contribution of the ancestral populations of Ixhuatlancillo, Actopan, Ixmiquilpan, Milpa-Alta, and Xochimilco were found with the following average of admixture proportions: 75.84, 22.50, and 1.66. The findings herein demonstrate that the genetic admixture of the Mexican indigenous populations who at present speak the same Amer-Indian language can be differentiated and that the majority of them have less ancestral indigenous contribution than those considered as Mestizo populations.

  3. Autosomal and X chromosome Alu insertions in Bolivian Aymaras and Quechuas: two languages and one genetic pool.

    PubMed

    Gayà-Vidal, Magdalena; Dugoujon, Jean-Michel; Esteban, Esther; Athanasiadis, Georgios; Rodríguez, Armando; Villena, Mercedes; Vasquez, René; Moral, Pedro

    2010-01-01

    Thirty-two polymorphic Alu insertions (18 autosomal and 14 from the X chromosome) were studied in 192 individuals from two Amerindian populations of the Bolivian Altiplano (Aymara and Quechua speakers: the two main Andean linguistic groups), to provide relevant information about their genetic relationships and demographic processes. The main objective was to determine from genetic data whether the expansion of the Quechua language into Bolivia could be associated with demographic (Inca migration of Quechua-speakers from Peru into Bolivia) or cultural (language imposition by the Inca Empire) processes. Allele frequencies were used to assess the genetic relationships between these two linguistic groups. Our results indicated that the two Bolivian samples showed a high genetic similarity for both sets of markers and were clearly differentiated from the two Peruvian Quechua samples available in the literature. Additionally, our data were compared with the available literature to determine the genetic and linguistic structure, and East-West differentiation in South America. The close genetic relationship between the two Bolivian samples and their differentiation from the Quechua-speakers from Peru suggests that the Quechua language expansion in Bolivia took place without any important demographic contribution. Moreover, no clear geographical or linguistic structure was found for the Alu variation among South Amerindians. (c) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

  4. Quality of life in children with epilepsy: How does it compare with the quality of life in typical children and children with cerebral palsy?

    PubMed

    Mezgebe, Meron; Akhtar-Danesh, Gileh-Gol; Streiner, David L; Fayed, Nora; Rosenbaum, Peter L; Ronen, Gabriel M

    2015-11-01

    Our objective was to compare the quality of life (QoL) of children with epilepsy to that of typical children and children with cerebral palsy (CP). We measured self- and proxy-reported QoL of children with epilepsy and contrasted that with data for typical children (European KIDSCREEN project) and children with CP (SPARCLE study). Children ages 8-12 years with epilepsy were recruited from six Canadian sites. Same-aged children with CP and children in the general population aged 8-11 years came from several European countries. All participants completed the KIDSCREEN-52 questionnaire. Our results showed no clinically important differences (>0.5 SD) between self-reported QoL in 345 children with epilepsy compared with 489 children with CP or 5950 children in the general population. However, parents reported clinically important differences between the epilepsy and the other groups in five KIDSCREEN-52 domains. Compared with the CP group, parents of children with epilepsy reported better QoL in physical well-being (Cohen d=0.81), social support (d=0.80), and autonomy (d=0.72). Parents reported poorer QoL in the domains of mood and emotions compared with both contrast groups (d=-0.72 and d=-0.53), and in the domain of bullying compared with the CP group (d=-0.51). Families should find comfort in the results, which indicate that children with epilepsy do not perceive any important differences in QoL compared with their typical peers. The comparisons of parental reports detect their group-specific observations and worries that need to be addressed by the health-care providers and may require specifically designed assessment batteries followed by appropriate interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Children's Sleep Comic: development of a new diagnostic tool for children with sleep disorders.

    PubMed

    Schwerdtle, Barbara; Kanis, Julia; Kahl, Lena; Kübler, Andrea; Schlarb, Angelika A

    2012-01-01

    A solid diagnosis of sleep disorders in children should include both self-ratings and parent ratings. However, there are few standardized self-assessment instruments to meet this need. The Children's Sleep Comic is an adapted version of the unpublished German questionnaire "Freiburger Kinderschlafcomic" and provides pictures for items and responses. Because the drawings were outdated and allowed only for qualitative analysis, we revised the comic, tested its applicability in a target sample, and suggest a procedure for quantitative analysis. All items were updated and pictures were newly drawn. We used a sample of 201 children aged 5-10 years to test the applicability of the Children's Sleep Comic in young children and to run a preliminary analysis. The Children's Sleep Comic comprises 37 items covering relevant aspects of sleep disorders in children. Application took on average 30 minutes. The procedure was well accepted by the children, as reflected by the absence of any dropouts. First comparisons with established questionnaires indicated moderate correlations. The Children's Sleep Comic is appropriate for screening sleep behavior and sleep problems in children. The interactive procedure can foster a good relationship between the investigator and the child, and thus establish the basis for successful intervention if necessary.

  6. Comparison of auditory comprehension skills in children with cochlear implant and typically developing children.

    PubMed

    Mandal, Joyanta Chandra; Kumar, Suman; Roy, Sumit

    2016-12-01

    The main goal of this study was to obtain auditory comprehension skills of native Hindi speaking children with cochlear implant and typically developing children across the age of 3-7 years and compare the scores between two groups. A total of sixty Hindi speaking participants were selected for the study. They were divided into two groups- Group-A consisted of thirty children with normal hearing and Group-B thirty children using cochlear implants. To assess the auditory comprehension skills, Test of auditory comprehension in Hindi (TACH) was used. The participant was required to point to one of three pictures which would best correspond to the stimulus presented. Correct answers were scored as 1 and incorrect answers as 0. TACH was administered on for both groups. Independent t-test was applied and it was found that auditory comprehension scores of children using cochlear implant were significantly poorer than the score of children with normal hearing for all three subtests. Pearson's correlation coefficient revealed poor correlation between the scores of children with normal hearing and children using cochlear implant. The results of this study suggest that children using cochlear implant have poor auditory comprehension skills than children with normal hearing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Raising Multilingual Children: Foreign Language Acquisition and Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tokuhama-Espinosa, Tracey

    This book illustrates how children learn foreign languages and when they can do so with the best results. The most recent studies in linguistics, neurology, education, and psychology are evaluated, and the findings are presented in a recipe format. Parents are encouraged to evaluate the multilingual children in their lives with the use of tools…

  8. Crowded visual search in children with normal vision and children with visual impairment.

    PubMed

    Huurneman, Bianca; Cox, Ralf F A; Vlaskamp, Björn N S; Boonstra, F Nienke

    2014-03-01

    This study investigates the influence of oculomotor control, crowding, and attentional factors on visual search in children with normal vision ([NV], n=11), children with visual impairment without nystagmus ([VI-nys], n=11), and children with VI with accompanying nystagmus ([VI+nys], n=26). Exclusion criteria for children with VI were: multiple impairments and visual acuity poorer than 20/400 or better than 20/50. Three search conditions were presented: a row with homogeneous distractors, a matrix with homogeneous distractors, and a matrix with heterogeneous distractors. Element spacing was manipulated in 5 steps from 2 to 32 minutes of arc. Symbols were sized 2 times the threshold acuity to guarantee visibility for the VI groups. During simple row and matrix search with homogeneous distractors children in the VI+nys group were less accurate than children with NV at smaller spacings. Group differences were even more pronounced during matrix search with heterogeneous distractors. Search times were longer in children with VI compared to children with NV. The more extended impairments during serial search reveal greater dependence on oculomotor control during serial compared to parallel search. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Marital Conflict and Children's Adjustment: The Mediating and Moderating Role of Children's Coping Strategies

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shelton, Katherine H.; Harold, Gordon T.

    2007-01-01

    This prospective, longitudinal study examined the role of children's coping strategies in the link between interparental conflict and children's psychological adjustment. Using a sample of 100 parents and children aged 11-14 years, this study investigated children's venting of negative emotion, social support seeking, and problem solving…

  10. Self-recognition in retarded children.

    PubMed

    Hill, S D; Tomlin, C

    1981-03-01

    This study was designed to investigate the relationship between cognitive and affective development. Young preverbal retarded children watched TV images of themselves with faces marked or unmarked and of a peer whose face was marked. We used the objective technique of increased mark-directed responses as evidence of self-recognition and rated the children's reactions as they watched these images. The emergence of self-recognition was closely tied to the maturity of the children's general responsiveness to their reflections. The Down's syndrome children made a broad range of responses, including the curiosity and self-conscious behaviors characteristic of normal children during the second year of life, and all except one of these children showed evidence that they recognized their images. In contrast, the range of behaviors displayed by multihandicapped children was greatly restricted and similar to children in the first year of life. Less than half of these children showed an emergence of self-recognition.

  11. The effect of war on children: the children of Europe after World War II.

    PubMed

    Shields, L; Bryan, B

    2002-06-01

    In war, children are inevitably innocent victims. In the carnage that was World War II, more children were killed or orphaned than at any other time in history. This article gives a brief history of the place of children within the conflagration, then describes the effects of war on the children. We concentrate on postwar life, placing children in the context of the environment in which they were living at the time. Our article outlines the work carried out by relief agencies and how Europe began to rebuild itself, how the children were fed and made healthy, and how, where possible, they were reunited with their families. We report briefly on the physical and psychological damage children suffered, both during the war and in its aftermath. History such as this is relevant to nurses in the 21st century, as it provides insight upon which nursing care for both our present ageing population and for children of the future can be based.

  12. Parental conflict resolution styles and children's adjustment: children's appraisals and emotion regulation as mediators.

    PubMed

    Siffert, Andrea; Schwarz, Beate

    2011-01-01

    Guided by the emotional security hypothesis and the cognitive-contextual framework, the authors investigated whether the associations between negative parental conflict resolution styles and children's internalizing and externalizing problems were mediated by children's appraisals of threat and self-blame and their emotion regulation. Participants were 192 Swiss 2-parent families with children aged 9-12 years (M age = 10.62 years, SD = 0.41 years). Structural equation modeling was used to test the empirical validity of the theoretical model. Results indicated that children's maladaptive emotion regulation mediated the association between negative parental conflict resolution styles and children's internalizing as well as externalizing problems. Whereas perceived threat was related only to children's internalizing problems, self-blame did not mediate the links between negative parental conflict resolution styles and children's adjustment. Implications for understanding the mechanisms by which exposure to interparental conflict could lead to children's maladjustment and limitations of the study are discussed.

  13. HIV-associated malignancies in children.

    PubMed

    Singh, Elvira; Naidu, Gita; Davies, Mary-Ann; Bohlius, Julia

    2017-01-01

    HIV-infected children are at an increased risk of developing cancer. Many of the cancers in HIV-infected children are linked to immunosuppression and oncogenic coinfections. Worldwide most HIV-infected children live in sub-Saharan Africa, but cancer data for this population are scarce. In this article, we review the current literature on the epidemiology and prevention of cancer in HIV-infected children. Combined antiretroviral therapy (cART) reduces the risk of developing cancer in HIV-infected children. Cancer risk remains increased in children who start cART at older ages or more advanced immunosuppression as compared with children who start cART at younger age and with mild immunosuppression. Starting cART before severe immunosuppression develops is key to prevent cancer in HIV-infected children but most children in low-income countries start cART at severe immunosuppression levels. Vaccination against high-risk variants of human papillomavirus may protect again human papillomavirus-associated cancer later in life. However, tailoring of human papillomavirus vaccination guidelines for HIV-infected children and young women awaits answers to determine the best vaccination strategies. Better data on the short-term and long-term risks of developing cancer and the effects of preventive measures in HIV-infected children from regions with high burden of HIV/AIDS are urgently needed.

  14. Diet quality of children post-liver transplantation does not differ from healthy children.

    PubMed

    Alzaben, Abeer S; MacDonald, Krista; Robert, Cheri; Haqq, Andrea; Gilmour, Susan M; Yap, Jason; Mager, Diana R

    2017-09-01

    Little has been studied regarding the diets of children following LTX. The study aim was to assess and compare dietary intake and DQ of healthy children and children post-LTX. Children and adolescents (2-18 years) post-LTX (n=27) and healthy children (n=28) were studied. Anthropometric and demographic data and two 24-hour recalls (one weekend; one weekday) were collected. Intake of added sugar, HFCS, fructose, GI, and GL was calculated. DQ was measured using three validated DQ indices: the HEI-C, the DGI-CA, and the DQI-I. Although no differences in weight-for-age z-scores were observed between groups, children post-LTX had lower height-for-age z-scores than healthy children (P<.01). With the exception of vitamin B12, no significant differences in energy and macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, and fat), added sugar, HFCS, fructose, GI, GL, and micronutrient intakes and DQ indices (HEI-C, DGI-CA, and DQI-I) between groups were observed (P>.05). The majority of children in both groups (>40%) had low DQ scores. No significant interrelationships between dietary intake, anthropometric, and demographic were found (P>.05). Both healthy and children post-LTX consume diets with poor DQ. This has implications for risk of obesity and metabolic dysregulation, particularly in transplant populations on immunosuppressive therapies. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. [Biliary dysfunction in obese children].

    PubMed

    Aleshina, E I; Gubonina, I V; Novikova, V P; Vigurskaia, M Iu

    2014-01-01

    To examine the state of the biliary system, a study of properties of bile "case-control") 100 children and adolescents aged 8 to 18 years, held checkup in consultative and diagnostic center for chronic gastroduodenitis. BMI children were divided into 2 groups: group 1-60 children with obesity (BMI of 30 to 40) and group 2-40 children with normal anthropometric indices. Survey methods included clinical examination pediatrician, endocrinologist, biochemical parameters (ALT, AST, alkaline phosphatase level, total protein, bilirubin, lipidogram, glucose, insulin, HOMA-index), ultrasound of the abdomen and retroperitoneum, EGD with aspiration of gallbladder bile. Crystallography bile produced by crystallization of biological substrates micromethods modification Prima AV, 1992. Obese children with chronic gastroduodenita more likely than children of normal weight, had complaints and objective laboratory and instrumental evidence of insulin resistance and motor disorders of the upper gastrointestinal and biliary tract, liver enlargement and biliary "sludge". Biochemical parameters of obese children indicate initial metabolic changes in carbohydrate and fat metabolism and cholestasis, as compared to control children. Colloidal properties of bile in obese children with chronic gastroduodenita reduced, as indicated by the nature of the crystallographic pattern. Conclusions: Obese children with chronic gastroduodenitis often identified enlarged liver, cholestasis and biliary dysfunction, including with the presence of sludge in the gallbladder; most often--hypertonic bile dysfunction. Biochemical features of carbohydrate and fat metabolism reflect the features of the metabolic profile of obese children. Crystallography bile in obese children reveals the instability of the colloidal structure of bile, predisposing children to biliary sludge, which is a risk factor for gallstones.

  16. Psychosocial Characteristics of Children with Central Disorders of Hypersomnolence Versus Matched Healthy Children.

    PubMed

    Avis, Kristin T; Shen, Jiabin; Weaver, Patrick; Schwebel, David C

    2015-11-15

    Hypersomnia of central origin from narcolepsy or idiopathic hypersomnia (IHS) is characterized by pathological levels of excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS). Central hypersomnia has historically been underdiagnosed and poorly understood, especially with respect to its impact on daytime functioning and quality of life in children. Describe the psychosocial adjustment of children treated for narcolepsy or IHS on school performance, quality of life, and physical/extracurricular activities. Using a matched case control design, we compared child self- and parent-reported data from thirty-three 8- to 16-year-olds with an established diagnosis of narcolepsy or IHS, according to ICSD-2 criteria, to that of 33 healthy children matched by age, race/ethnicity, gender, and household income. Assessments evaluated academic performance, quality of life and wellness, sleepiness, and participation in extracurricular activities. Compared to healthy controls, children with central hypersomnia had poorer daytime functioning in multiple domains. Children with hypersomnia missed more days of school and had lower grades than healthy controls. Children with hypersomnia had poorer quality of life by both parent and child report. Children with hypersomnia were significantly sleepier, had higher BMI, and were more likely to report a history of recent injury. Finally, children with hypersomnia engaged in fewer after-school activities than healthy controls. A range of significant psychosocial consequences are reported in children with hypersomnia even after a diagnosis has been made and treatments initiated. Health care professionals should be mindful of the psychosocial problems that may present in children with hypersomnia over the course of treatment. © 2015 American Academy of Sleep Medicine.

  17. Emotion in Children's Art: Do Young Children Understand the Emotions Expressed in Other Children's Drawings?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Misailidi, Plousia; Bonoti, Fotini

    2008-01-01

    This study examined developmental changes in children's ability to understand the emotions expressed in other children's drawings. Eighty participants, at each of four age groups--three, four, five and six years--were presented with a series of child drawings, each expressing a different emotion (happiness, sadness, anger or fear). All drawings…

  18. Recovery Responses to Maximal Exercise in Healthy-Weight Children and Children With Obesity.

    PubMed

    Easley, Elizabeth A; Black, W Scott; Bailey, Alison L; Lennie, Terry A; Sims, Wilma J; Clasey, Jody L

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine differences in heart rate recovery (HRRec) and oxygen consumption recovery (VO 2 recovery) between young healthy-weight children and children with obesity following a maximal volitional graded exercise test (GXTmax). Twenty healthy-weight children and 13 children with obesity completed body composition testing and performed a GXTmax. Immediately after the GXTmax, HRRec and VO 2 recovery were measured each minute for 5 consecutive minutes. There were no statistically significant group differences in HRRec for the 5 min following maximal exercise, Wilks's Lambda = .885, F(4, 28) = 0.911, p = .471, between the healthy-weight children and children with obesity despite statistically significant differences in body fat percentage (BF%; healthy-weight children, 18.5 ± 6.1%; children with obesity, 41.1 ± 6.9%, p < .001) and aerobic capacity relative to body mass (VO 2 peak; healthy-weight children, 46.8 ± 8.2 mL/kg/min; children with obesity, 31.9 ± 4.7 mL/kg/min, p < .001). There were statistically significant differences in VO 2 recovery for the 5 min following exercise, Wilks's Lambda = .676, F(4, 26) = 3.117, p = .032. There were no statistically significant correlations between HRRec and body mass index (BMI), BF%, VO 2 peak, or physical activity. In a healthy pediatric population, obesity alone does not seem to significantly impact HRRec, and because HRRec was not related to obesity status, BMI, or BF%, it should not be used as the sole indicator of aerobic capacity or health status in children. Using more than one recovery variable (i.e., HRRec and VO 2 recovery) may provide greater insight into cardiorespiratory fitness in this population.

  19. Comparison of BMI and physical activity between old order Amish children and non-Amish children.

    PubMed

    Hairston, Kristen G; Ducharme, Julie L; Treuth, Margarita S; Hsueh, Wen-Chi; Jastreboff, Ania M; Ryan, Kathy A; Shi, Xiaolian; Mitchell, Braxton D; Shuldiner, Alan R; Snitker, Soren

    2013-04-01

    The Old Order Amish (OOA) is a conservative Christian sect of European origin living in Pennsylvania. Diabetes is rare in adult OOA despite a mean BMI rivaling that in the general U.S. non-Hispanic white population. The current study examines childhood factors that may contribute to the low prevalence of diabetes in the OOA by comparing OOA children aged 8-19 years with National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data and children from Maryland's Eastern Shore (ES), a nearby, non-Amish, rural community. We hypothesized that pediatric overweight is less common in OOA children, that physical activity (PA) and BMI are inversely correlated, and that OOA children are more physically active than ES children. We obtained anthropometric data in 270 OOA children and 229 ES children (166 non-Hispanic white, 60 non-Hispanic black, 3 Hispanic). PA was measured by hip-worn accelerometers in all ES children and in 198 OOA children. Instrumentation in 43 OOA children was identical to ES children. OOA children were approximately 3.3 times less likely than non-Hispanic white ES children and NHANES estimates to be overweight (BMI ≥85th percentile, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Time spent in moderate/vigorous PA (MVPA) was inversely correlated to BMI z-score (r = -0.24, P = 0.0006). PA levels did not differ by ethnicity within the ES group, but OOA children spent an additional 34 min/day in light activity (442 ± 56 vs. 408 ± 75, P = 0.005) and, impressively, an additional 53 min/day in MVPA (106 ± 54 vs. 53 ± 32, P < 0.0001) compared with ES children. In both groups, boys were more active than girls but OOA girls were easily more active than ES boys. We confirmed all three hypotheses. Together with our previous data, the study implies that the OOA tend to gain their excess weight relatively late in life and that OOA children are very physically active, both of which may provide some long-term protection against diabetes.

  20. Proneness to guilt, shame, and pride in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and neurotypical children.

    PubMed

    Davidson, Denise; Hilvert, Elizabeth; Misiunaite, Ieva; Giordano, Michael

    2018-06-01

    Self-conscious emotions (e.g., guilt, shame, and pride) are complex emotions that require self-reflection and self-evaluation, and are thought to facilitate the maintenance of societal norms and personal standards. Despite the importance of self-conscious emotions, most research has focused on basic emotion processing in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, in the present study, we used the Test of Self-Conscious Affect for Children (TOSCA-C) to assess proneness to, or propensity to experience, the self-conscious emotions guilt, shame, and pride in children with ASD and neurotypical children. The TOSCA-C is designed to capture a child's natural tendency to experience a given emotion across a range of everyday situations [Tangney, Stuewig, & Mashek, 2007]. We also assessed how individual characteristics contribute to the development of proneness to self-conscious emotions, including theory of mind (ToM) and ASD symptomatology. In comparison to neurotypical children, children with ASD showed less proneness to guilt, although all children showed relatively high levels of proneness to guilt. Greater ToM ability was related to more proneness to guilt and authentic pride in children with ASD. Additionally, we found that children with ASD with more severe symptomatology were more prone to hubristic pride. Our results provide evidence of differences in proneness to self-conscious emotions in children with ASD, as well as highlight important mechanisms contributing to how children with ASD may experience self-conscious emotions. Autism Res 2018,11:883-892. ©2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. This research examined proneness to guilt, shame, and pride in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and neurotypical children. We found that children with ASD showed less proneness to guilt than neurotypical children. Better understanding of theory of mind was related to greater proneness to guilt and pride, but only

  1. Life Interrupted: Parents' Positivity and Negativity Toward Children Following Children's and Parents' Transitions Later in Life.

    PubMed

    Hammersmith, Anna M

    2018-03-14

    Parents' and children's lives are interwoven over the life course. Parents' positivity and negativity toward children relate to children's and parents' transitions, although the nature of this relationship is unclear. This study investigated the extent to which transitions-like those tied to residence, unions, employment, parenthood, and health-related to parents' positivity and negativity. This study used the Health and Retirement Study's Psychosocial Survey from 2006 and 2010 to examine how parents' and children's transitions related to parents' positivity and negativity toward children. Children's residential independence, parents' return to employment, and widowhood increased parents' positivity. Parents' negativity was higher when children moved home or lost employment, while negativity was lower when any child divorced and following the parent's divorce. The analyses also revealed children's transitions-moving in and employment loss-mattered more than the parent's own divorce for negativity. Children's transitions indicating parenting success or children's support needs-like residential, employment, and union transitions-linked to parents' positivity and negativity toward children. Parents' transitions related to positivity and negativity were also likely related to support and strength of ties between parents and children. Moreover, children's transitions matter more than parental divorce when considering negativity, although dependent on child's transition type. This study has implications for older adults, especially as parents' feelings toward children are indicative of late-life well-being and potential support avenues.

  2. Kidney Cancer in Children

    MedlinePlus

    What is Kidney Cancer in Children? Kidney (renal) tumors are very rare in children. Still, the three most common renal tumors ... treatable and curable. What are the Types of Kidney Cancer in Children? Male urinary tract Medical Illustration ...

  3. Ptosis - infants and children

    MedlinePlus

    Blepharoptosis - children; Congenital ptosis; Eyelid drooping - children; Eyelid drooping - amblyopia; Eyelid drooping - astigmatism ... Ptosis in infants and children is often due to a problem with the muscle that raises the eyelid. A nerve problem in the eyelid can ...

  4. Emotional Congruence With Children Is Associated With Sexual Deviancy in Sexual Offenders Against Children.

    PubMed

    Hermann, Chantal A; McPhail, Ian V; Helmus, L Maaike; Hanson, R Karl

    2017-09-01

    Emotional congruence with children is a psychologically meaningful risk factor for sexual offending against children. The present study examines the correlates of emotional congruence with children in a sample of 424 adult male sexual offenders who started a period of community supervision in Canada, Alaska, and Iowa between 2001 and 2005. Consistent with previous work, we found sexual offenders against children high in emotional congruence with children were more likely to be sexually deviant, have poor sexual self-regulation, experience social loneliness, and have more distorted cognitions about sex with children. Overall, our findings are most consistent with a sexual deviancy model, with some support for a blockage model.

  5. Comparison of Physical Activity between Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Typically Developing Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bandini, Linda G.; Gleason, James; Curtin, Carol; Lividini, Keith; Anderson, Sarah E.; Cermak, Sharon A.; Maslin, Melissa; Must, Aviva

    2013-01-01

    Regular physical activity is important for promoting health and well-being; however, physical activity behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have received little attention. We compared physical activity levels among 53 children with ASD and 58 typically developing children aged 3-11 years who participated in the Children's…

  6. The Factors Related to Preschool Children and Their Mothers on Children's Intuitional Mathematics Abilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Guven, Yildiz

    2009-01-01

    The aim of this study is to assess the factors that are related to preschool children and their mothers on children's intuitional mathematics abilities. Results of the study showed that there were significant differences in children's intuitional mathematics abilities when children are given the opportunity to think intuitionally and to make…

  7. Parents' and children's knowledge of oral health: a qualitative study of children with cleft palate.

    PubMed

    Davies, Karen; Lin, Yin-Ling; Callery, Peter

    2017-07-01

    Children with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) are prone to poorer oral health outcomes than their peers, with serious implications for treatment. Little is known of the knowledge and practice of children with CLP in caring for teeth and how these contribute to oral health. To investigate (i) parents' and children's knowledge of oral health, (ii) how knowledge is acquired, and (iii) how knowledge is implemented. A qualitative design was used to investigate knowledge, beliefs, and practices reported by parents and children, age 5-11 years with CLP. Data were collected from 22 parents and 16 children and analysed using thematic analysis. Four themes were derived as follows: (i) implicit knowledge: children express simple knowledge underpinned by basic rationales, (ii) situated knowledge: children gain skills as part of everyday childhood routines, (iii) maintaining good practice in oral health: parents take a lead role in motivating, monitoring, and maintaining children's toothbrushing, and (iv) learning opportunities: pivotal moments provide opportunities for children to extend their knowledge. Developers of oral health education interventions should take account of children's implicit knowledge and the transmission of beliefs between generations that influence toothbrushing behaviours. This could enhance interventions to support parents and children's practice. © 2016 BSPD, IAPD and John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Bone marrow transplant – children - discharge

    MedlinePlus

    Transplant - bone marrow - children - discharge; Stem cell transplant - children - discharge; Hematopoietic stem cell transplant -children - discharge; Reduced intensity, non-myeloablative transplant - children - discharge; Mini transplant - children - discharge; Allogenic bone ...

  9. Factor Structure of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire in Children with Williams Syndrome

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Leyfer, Ovsanna; John, Angela E.; Woodruff-Borden, Janet; Mervis, Carolyn B.

    2012-01-01

    To examine the factor structure of temperament in 5-10-year-olds with Williams syndrome, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the responses of parents of 192 children on the children's behavior questionnaire. Four factors were identified. Two corresponded to factors reported for typically developing children: effortful control and…

  10. Mentalization in children exposed to parental methamphetamine abuse: relations to children's mental health and behavioral outcomes.

    PubMed

    Ostler, Teresa; Bahar, Ozge Sensoy; Jessee, Allison

    2010-05-01

    This study examined the mentalization capabilities of children exposed to parental methamphetamine abuse in relation to symptom underreporting, mental health, and behavioral outcomes. Twenty-six school-aged children in foster care participated in this study. Mentalization was assessed using the My Family Stories Interview (MFSI), a semi-structured interview in which children recalled family stories about a happy, sad or scary and fun time. An established scale of the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children (TSCC), a self-report measure, provided information on children's symptom underreporting. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), completed by the children's foster caregivers, assessed children's mental health and behavioral outcomes. Children with higher mentalization were significantly less prone to underreport symptoms. These children had fewer mental health problems and were rated by their foster caregivers as more socially competent. The findings underscore that mentalization could be an important protective factor for children who have experienced parental substance abuse.

  11. Medicinal plants of the Mapuche.

    PubMed

    Houghton, P J; Manby, J

    1985-03-01

    A list of 136 plants used for medicinal purposes by the Mapuche Amerindians of Chile has been compiled. This is the first such list in English and is important due to the disappearance of Mapuche culture with increasing urbanisation. Some introduced plants have been incorporated into the traditional medicine of the Mapuche since the advent of European settlers but there is also a wealth of information about the uses of many indigenous species.

  12. A study of malnourished children in children's hospital Lusaka (Zambia).

    PubMed

    Khan, A A; Gupta, B M

    1979-01-01

    The parents of 200 malnourished childred referred and admitted over the July-December 1976 period to the nutrition wing of the Children's University Teaching Hospital, Zambia, were interviewed in an effort to understand the home environment of malnourished children in Lusaka, Zambia. The 1974 incidence of malnutrition in Zambia was about 23% with higher prevalences of marasmus and moderate malnutrition. There were 9.4% severly malnourished children admitted in 1976 as compared with less than 1% in 1971. Many of these children were admitted very late in a hypothermic shocked state which is directly responsible for the increasing incidence of mortality over these years. Plasma or blood transfusion is a standard procedure in all shocked cases of kwashiorkor, yet many of the children still die within 24 hours of admission. Malnutrition incidence was found to be closely linked to the rise in price index. The majority of the children were admitted from the rainy months November to March, the time associated with a higher incidence of gastroenteritis, respiratory infections, and measles. 88% of the children were between 1-3 years old. Marasmus (33.5%) and marasmic kwashiorkor (40.5%) were more frequent. 63% of the malnourished childred had attended the child health clinics in their infancy and were immunized but discontinued attendance one vaccination was completed. The problem of malnutrition was in the toddler age group. 86% of the childred came from urban slums and periurban areas; 83% were from unitary families, living in 1 or 2 bedroom houses with no separate provision for a kitchen. Rural families (14%) were living as joint families. 32% of the children were from large families. 52% of the parents were employed as casual laborers and earning under US $35 per month. There were only 10 families with earnings in excess of US $125 per month and only 8 had good sources of income from farms. As many as 68.5% children were experiencing 1 or more adverse factors which

  13. [Unwanted children].

    PubMed

    Sulová, L; Fait, T

    2009-06-01

    Aim of the study is review of knowledges about psychosocial aspects of unwanted pregnancy for child. Literary review. Department of psychology, Faculty of psychology, Charles University Prague. In our review article we give results of studies which evaluate physical, psychological and social aspects of beeing unwanted baby. Especially we show unique results of Prague study. The majority of studies confirm that unwanted children are significantly discriminated against wanted children. Unwanted children have more diseases, worse school result with identical inteligence quotient, higher frequency of nervous and psychosomatic disables and worse social adaptibility. Results of studies confirm order to find for every women safe and effective method for familly planning.

  14. Children With Cochlear Implants and Their Parents: Relations Between Parenting Style and Children's Social-Emotional Functioning.

    PubMed

    Ketelaar, Lizet; Wiefferink, Carin H; Frijns, Johan H M; Rieffe, Carolien

    Parenting a child who has a severe or profound hearing loss can be challenging and at times stressful, and might cause parents to use more adverse parenting styles compared with parents of hearing children. Parenting styles are known to impact children's social-emotional development. Children with a severe to profound hearing loss may be more reliant on their parents in terms of their social-emotional development when compared with their hearing peers who typically have greater opportunities to interact with and learn from others outside their family environment. Identifying the impact which parenting styles pertain on the social-emotional development of children who have cochlear implants (CIs) could help advance these children's well-being. Therefore, the authors compared parenting styles of parents with hearing children and of parents with children who have a CI, and examined the relations between parenting styles and two key aspects of children's social-emotional functioning: emotion regulation and empathy. Ninety-two hearing parents and their children (aged 1 to 5 years old), who were either hearing (n = 46) or had a CI (n = 46), participated in this cross-sectional study. Parents completed questionnaires concerning their parenting styles (i.e., positive, negative and uninvolved), and regarding the extent to which their children expressed negative emotions (i.e., anger and sadness) and empathy. Furthermore, an emotion-regulation task measuring negative emotionality was administered to the children. No differences in reported parenting styles were observed between parents of hearing children and parents of children with a CI. In addition, negative and uninvolved parenting styles were related to higher levels of negative emotionality in both groups of children. No relation was found between positive parenting and children's social-emotional functioning. Hearing status did not moderate these relationships. Language mediated the relationship between parenting

  15. Maternal employment and overweight among Hispanic children of immigrants and children of natives.

    PubMed

    Baker, Elizabeth; Balistreri, Kelly Stamper; Van Hook, Jennifer

    2009-06-01

    This research examines the relationship between maternal employment and child overweight among fifth grade Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort fifth grade sample (N = 4,360) were analyzed. OLS regression models were estimated predicting percentile BMI as a function of maternal employment, ethnicity, parental nativity status, income, and the interactions of employment, ethnicity/nativity, and income. Among Hispanic children of immigrants, maternal employment is associated with lower percentile BMI and this association strengthens at higher levels of income. Among Hispanic children of natives and non-Hispanic whites, maternal employment is beneficial (i.e. associated with lower percentile BMI) among low-income children but detrimental among high-income children, but this pattern is significantly greater in strength for Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites. Thus, maternal employment is associated with worse health outcomes only in the case of Hispanic children of natives, and maternal employment is associated with the best outcomes for Hispanic children of mothers from high-income families. We speculate that among children of immigrants, maternal employment may signify and/or accelerate assimilation towards middle- or upper-class American values of healthy weight and body size. Diet, meal regularity and supervision, and childcare did not mediate the relationship between maternal employment and overweight.

  16. Children in difficulties.

    PubMed

    Pairojkul, Srivieng; Limratana, Napa

    2012-07-01

    Children in difficulties are characterized by: chronic neglect; disability; physical, emotional or sexual abuse; HIV or one/both parents with HIV and/or limited socio-economic opportunities. To review the current situation by reviewing the incidence of problems affecting children and exploring both potential short-/long-term strategies, including the role of pediatricians. The authors reviewed the incidence and situations of children in difficulties, did a synthesis of guidelines and made recommendations. The fundamental causes of difficulties include: failed macro-economic policies; inadequate and inaccessible education system; and weakness of the family unit, which is associated with: separation and divorce; violence between partners and/or toward their children; neglect and abandonment; inappropriate child-rearing; and child exploitation, including trafficking. GOs and NGOs need to work collaboratively for child protection. Pediatricians can play a vital role in strengthening the family (a) by providing timely strategic, informal education for parents on healthy child-rearing (b) by being attuned to signs, symptoms and attitudes of children in difficulties from childhood through adolescence and (c) by working interactively with children/teens, their families, teachers and communities. Medical schools need to revise the curricula to include these crucial roles for pediatricians in child and family advocacy.

  17. Children's experiences of war: handicapped children in England during the Second World War.

    PubMed

    Wheatcroft, Sue

    2008-01-01

    The experiences of children during the Second World War have attracted considerable attention, both scholarly and popular. Not all children however, have received equal attention. Handicapped children are conspicuous by their absence from all types of literature, both on evacuation and on children's experiences of the Second World War. This article restores these children to the story of wartime England and assesses their experiences. It examines the plans that were made for their evacuation and how they were carried out, and compares their lives, both individually and institutionally (i.e. in the various types of 'special' school) with those who, for various reasons, were not evacuated. It also compares their experiences, to a lesser degree, with those of their non-handicapped counterparts. The article argues that for many handicapped children it was a positive experience but one which depended on specific aspects, such as the attitudes of the authorities and of the general public, and perhaps more importantly, the attitudes and quality of the teaching and nursing staff, who were responsible for the children on a daily basis.

  18. Influence of Linguistic Environment on Children's Language Development: Flemish versus Dutch Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wiefferink, C. H.; Spaai, G. W. G.; Uilenburg, N.; Vermeij, B. A. M.; De Raeve, L.

    2008-01-01

    In the present study, language development of Dutch children with a cochlear implant (CI) in a bilingual educational setting and Flemish children with a CI in a dominantly monolingual educational setting is compared. In addition, we compared the development of spoken language with the development of sign language in Dutch children. Eighteen…

  19. A Review of Children's, Teachers' and Parents' Influences on Children's Drawing Experience

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rose, Sarah E.; Jolley, Richard P.; Burkitt, Esther

    2006-01-01

    In this article we argue that research into children's drawings should consider the context in which drawing occurs and that it is crucial to investigate the attitudes and practices of teachers, parents and children themselves that shape children's drawing experience and the drawings which they produce. We review the findings of seven empirical…

  20. Child perceptions of parental care and overprotection in children with cancer and healthy children.

    PubMed

    Tillery, Rachel; Long, Alanna; Phipps, Sean

    2014-06-01

    The primary aims of this study were to: (a) examine child perceptions of overprotection; and (b) explore how these perceptions relate to child health and adjustment. Children with a prior diagnosis of cancer (n = 205) and children without a history of serious illness (n = 76) reported on parental overprotective and caring behaviors. Children with cancer were recruited from one of four strata based on the elapsed time since their cancer diagnosis (1-6 months; 6-24 months; 2-5 years; >5 years) Children also reported on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. Children with cancer did not differ from healthy children in their perceptions of parental care or overprotection. Child distress was more strongly related to perceptions of care and overprotection than child's health status. Children with cancer do not report their parents approach to care and protection differently than children without a cancer history. These findings mirror prior research examining parental perceptions of overprotection and suggest that, despite the challenges of parenting a child with serious illness, parental protection is not significantly altered.

  1. Helping Children Understand Divorce.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Allers, Robert D.

    1980-01-01

    Children of divorced parents may bring many problems along when they come to school. Teachers can recognize these troubles and help children learn to handle them. They may be able to help children better understand their feelings about their parents' divorce. (CJ)

  2. Preventing gun injuries in children.

    PubMed

    Crossen, Eric J; Lewis, Brenna; Hoffman, Benjamin D

    2015-02-01

    Firearms are involved in the injury and death of a large number of children each year from both intentional and unintentional causes. Gun ownership in homes with children is common, and pediatricians should incorporate evidence-based means to discuss firearms and protect children from gun-related injuries and violence. Safe storage of guns, including unloaded guns locked and stored separately from ammunition, can decrease risks to children, and effective tools are available that pediatricians can use in clinical settings to help decrease children's access to firearms. Furthermore, several community-based interventions led by pediatricians have effectively reduced firearm-related injury risks to children. Educational programs that focus on children's behavior around guns have not proven effective. © American Academy of Pediatrics, 2015. All rights reserved.

  3. Culture and children's cosmology.

    PubMed

    Siegal, Michael; Butterworth, George; Newcombe, Peter A

    2004-06-01

    In this investigation, we examined children's knowledge of cosmology in relation to the shape of the earth and the day-night cycle. Using explicit questioning involving a choice of alternative answers and 3D models, we carried out a comparison of children aged 4-9 years living in Australia and England Though Australia and England have a close cultural affinity, there are differences in children's early exposure to cosmological concepts. Australian children who have early instruction in this domain were nearly always significantly in advance of their English counterparts. In general, they most often produced responses compatible with a conception of a round earth on which people can live all over without falling off. We consider coherence and fragmentation in children's knowledge in terms of the timing of culturally transmitted information, and in relation to questioning methods used in previous research that may have underestimated children's competence.

  4. Comparison of the Nutritional Status of Overseas Refugee Children with Low Income Children in Washington State.

    PubMed

    Dawson-Hahn, Elizabeth E; Pak-Gorstein, Suzinne; Hoopes, Andrea J; Matheson, Jasmine

    2016-01-01

    The extent that the dual burden of undernutrition and overnutrition affects refugee children before resettlement in the US is not well described. To describe the prevalence of wasting, stunting, overweight, and obesity among refugee children ages 0-10 years at their overseas medical screening examination prior to resettlement in Washington State (WA), and to compare the nutritional status of refugee children with that of low-income children in WA. We analyzed anthropometric measurements of 1047 refugee children ages 0-10 years old to assess their nutritional status at the overseas medical screening examination prior to resettlement in WA from July 2012--June 2014. The prevalence estimates of the nutritional status categories were compared by country of origin. In addition, the nutritional status of refugee children age 0-5 years old were compared to that of low-income children in WA from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System. A total of 982 children were eligible for the study, with the majority (65%) from Somalia, Iraq and Burma. Overall, nearly one-half of all refugee children had at least one form of malnutrition (44.9%). Refugee children ages 0-10 years were affected by wasting (17.3%), stunting (20.1%), overweight (7.6%) and obesity (5.9%). Among children 0-5 years old, refugee children had a significantly higher prevalence of wasting (14.3% versus 1.9%, p<0.001) and stunting (21.3% versus 5.5%, p<0.001), and a lower prevalence of obesity (6.2% versus 12.9%, p<0.001) than low-income children in WA. The dual burden of under- and over-nutrition among incoming refugee children as well as their overall difference in prevalence of nutritional status categories compared to low-income children in WA provides evidence for the importance of tailored interventions to address the nutritional needs of refugee children.

  5. Environmental Design for Young Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Frank, Mary, Ed.

    1977-01-01

    The special issue of the journal, Children in Contemporary Society, contains 17 brief articles on environmental design for young handicapped and normal children. Articles have the following titles: "Introduction", "Environmental Design and Architecture", "Why Is Environmental Design Important to Young Children", "Children's Hospital National…

  6. Friendship Characteristics of Children With ADHD.

    PubMed

    Marton, Imola; Wiener, Judith; Rogers, Maria; Moore, Chris

    2015-10-01

    This study explored the friendship characteristics of 8 to 12 year old children with and without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Friendship characteristics included number of nominated and corroborated friends, duration of friendships, amount of contact with friends, and the proportion of friends with learning and behavioral problems. The sample comprised 92 children, 50 with a diagnosis of ADHD and 42 comparison children. While children with ADHD did not differ from comparison children in the number of friends they nominated, parents and teachers of children with ADHD were less likely to corroborate that these friendships existed. The friendships of children with ADHD were also shorter in duration. While children with ADHD were indistinguishable from comparison children with regards to the amount of telephone contact with friends, they spent less time with friends outside of school than comparison children. Children with ADHD had a higher proportion of friends with learning and behavior problems. While children with ADHD differ from comparison children in the above friendship characteristics, it is promising that they still fall within the average range for the number of corroborated friendships and they demonstrate adequate stability in their friendships. © 2012 SAGE Publications.

  7. Brain abscess in children.

    PubMed

    Atiq, Mehnaz; Ahmed, Umair Syed; Allana, Salman Saleem; Chishti, Khalid N

    2006-05-01

    Brain abscess is a serious life-threatening complication of several diseases. The objective of this study was to look at the clinical profile of patients, predisposing conditions, microbiology and outcome of children suffering from brain abscess. Thirty children aged less than 15 years were reviewed. There were 15 males and 15 females. The mean age of presentation was 5.6+/-4.4 years. The duration of illness at the time of admission was 17.6+/-24.6 days. Typically patients presented with fever, vomiting, headache and seizures. The predisposing conditions found were cyanotic congenital heart disease in 11 (37%) of children, meningitis in 6 (20%), septicemia in 7 (23%) and no underlying cause was found in 5 (17%) children. The most common microbe in children with cyanotic congenital heart disease was of the Streptococcus milleri group (52%). Computerized tomography confirmed the diagnosis and the most common location of the abscess was the parietal lobe of the cerebral hemisphere. All abscesses were large, more than 2 cm in diameter and were aspirated surgically. Excision was performed in 6 children. Five children expired, one due to a intracranial bleeding and the others due to severe cerebral edema and tentorial herniation. Complications were seen in 20 children and 16 had sequelae, hemiparesis in 11 and seizure disorder in 5. Brain abscess is a serious infection with poor outcome if diagnosed late. Delayed surgical drainage has high morbidity and mortality. The threshold for diagnosis should be low, particularly in children with a predisposing condition like cyanotic congenital heart disease.

  8. Children of imprisoned mothers.

    PubMed

    Senanayake, M P; Arachchi, J K; Wickremasinghe, V P

    2001-06-01

    To describe the problems faced by children during separation from their imprisoned mothers, and evaluate the health of children who accompanied their mothers into prison. A prospective observational study. Welikada Prison, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 200 randomly selected mothers who had left their children at home were interviewed using a questionnaire. During a period of 8 months 30 children living with their mothers in prison underwent physical and developmental examination and tuberculin testing. The living conditions within the prison were evaluated. During 18 months from January 1999, 4089 women were imprisoned. 88% were remanded, 20% awaited trial for more than one year in prison. 2416 were mothers. 1411 had at least one child under 12 years of age. The 200 mothers interviewed had 262 children under 12 years at home. Their care arrangements were: a relative (69%), father (16%), older sibling (4%), religious organisation (2.7%), neighbour (1.3%). None had received social services support. 70 children accompanied mothers into prison. In the 30 children followed up regularly 23% had scabies, 10% pediculosis, and 7% impetigo. No severe malnutrition was found and screening for tuberculosis was negative. 70% were breastfed. The child-friendly dormitory was inadequate to accommodate all children. Care arrangements and schooling were affected and no counselling services were provided during the imprisoned mothers' absence. The children within the prison enjoyed close bonds with the mothers and their physical needs were met. The child's best interest had not always been considered by court when deciding on custody during the mothers' imprisonment.

  9. Children in an aging society.

    PubMed

    Uhlenberg, Peter

    2009-06-01

    This article explores ways in which population aging in the United States between 2010 and 2030 might impact the well-being of children, with a distinction made between advantaged and disadvantaged children. A variety of economic and demographic statistics are used to describe the changing age structure of the population and changing public spending on older people and children. Data from the 1985 General Social Survey and Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households are also used to examine connections between older people and children. In recent decades, there has been a graying of the federal budget, and programs for children have received a declining proportion of domestic spending. These trends will be exaggerated between 2010 and 2030 unless structural changes occur. Grandparents may provide increasing resources for their grandchildren. Age segregation results in relatively few older people being directly involved with children not related to them by kinship. The implications of population aging for children are relevant primarily for disadvantaged children. Disadvantaged children have grandparents with fewest resources and are most in need of public spending. As costs of supporting the older population increase, intentional social changes will be needed to prevent growing inequality among children.

  10. Integrating Mathematics and Children's Literature for Young Children with Disabilities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Green, Katherine B.; Gallagher, Peggy A.; Hart, Lynn

    2018-01-01

    Math skills are critical for children's future success in school, as school-entry math knowledge is the strongest predictor of later academic achievement. Although there is a recent increase of literature on math with young children, there is a scarcity of research related to young children with disabilities. This quasi-experimental study with 50…

  11. Detecting Children's Lies: Are Parents Accurate Judges of Their Own Children's Lies?

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Talwar, Victoria; Renaud, Sarah-Jane; Conway, Lauryn

    2015-01-01

    The current study investigated whether parents are accurate judges of their own children's lie-telling behavior. Participants included 250 mother-child dyads. Children were between three and 11 years of age. A temptation resistance paradigm was used to elicit a minor transgressive behavior from the children involving peeking at a forbidden toy and…

  12. Bone Health in Children

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Parents and caregivers have many concerns about their childrens physical and emotional well-being when they are trying to raise healthy children. Parental concern for the potential development of osteoporosis when their children become elderly is probably not a priority during childhood. Yet, just a...

  13. Comparison of BMI and Physical Activity Between Old Order Amish Children and Non-Amish Children

    PubMed Central

    Hairston, Kristen G.; Ducharme, Julie L.; Treuth, Margarita S.; Hsueh, Wen-Chi; Jastreboff, Ania M.; Ryan, Kathy A.; Shi, Xiaolian; Mitchell, Braxton D.; Shuldiner, Alan R.; Snitker, Soren

    2013-01-01

    OBJECTIVE The Old Order Amish (OOA) is a conservative Christian sect of European origin living in Pennsylvania. Diabetes is rare in adult OOA despite a mean BMI rivaling that in the general U.S. non-Hispanic white population. The current study examines childhood factors that may contribute to the low prevalence of diabetes in the OOA by comparing OOA children aged 8–19 years with National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data and children from Maryland’s Eastern Shore (ES), a nearby, non-Amish, rural community. We hypothesized that pediatric overweight is less common in OOA children, that physical activity (PA) and BMI are inversely correlated, and that OOA children are more physically active than ES children. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We obtained anthropometric data in 270 OOA children and 229 ES children (166 non-Hispanic white, 60 non-Hispanic black, 3 Hispanic). PA was measured by hip-worn accelerometers in all ES children and in 198 OOA children. Instrumentation in 43 OOA children was identical to ES children. RESULTS OOA children were approximately 3.3 times less likely than non-Hispanic white ES children and NHANES estimates to be overweight (BMI ≥85th percentile, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Time spent in moderate/vigorous PA (MVPA) was inversely correlated to BMI z-score (r = −0.24, P = 0.0006). PA levels did not differ by ethnicity within the ES group, but OOA children spent an additional 34 min/day in light activity (442 ± 56 vs. 408 ± 75, P = 0.005) and, impressively, an additional 53 min/day in MVPA (106 ± 54 vs. 53 ± 32, P < 0.0001) compared with ES children. In both groups, boys were more active than girls but OOA girls were easily more active than ES boys. CONCLUSIONS We confirmed all three hypotheses. Together with our previous data, the study implies that the OOA tend to gain their excess weight relatively late in life and that OOA children are very physically active, both of which may provide some

  14. Strabismus and discrimination in children: are children with strabismus invited to fewer birthday parties?

    PubMed

    Mojon-Azzi, Stefania Margherita; Kunz, Andrea; Mojon, Daniel Stéphane

    2011-04-01

    To determine the social acceptance of children with strabismus by their peers and to determine the age at which the negative impact of strabismus on psychosocial interactions emerges. Photographs of six children were digitally altered in order to create pictures of identical twins except for the position of the eyes (orthotropic, exotropic and exotropic) and the colour of the shirt. One hundred and eighteen children aged 3-12 years were asked to select, for each of the six twin pairs, one of the twins to invite to their birthday party. The grouping of the pictures and the composition of the twin pairs were determined by Latin squares. Children younger than 6 years old did not make any significant distinctions between orthotropic children and children with strabismus. Respondents aged 6 years or older invited children with a squint to their birthday parties significantly less often than orthotropic children. The authors found no impact (p>0.1) of gender, of the colour of the shirt or of the type of strabismus, but did find a highly significant impact of age on the number of invited children with strabismus. Children aged 6 years or older with a visible squint seem to be less likely to be accepted by their peers. Because this negative attitude towards strabismus appears to emerge at approximately the age of 6 years, corrective surgery for strabismus without prospects for binocular vision should be performed before this age.

  15. Children's Explanations of Family Resemblances.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Horobin, Karen D.

    Four studies investigated children's explanations for family resemblance and species-typical characteristics, under different conditions of biological parentage and rearing environment. Participating were 226 children between 3 and 11 years. Children Children were presented with a number of different tasks, some involving people and some domestic…

  16. Welfare Reform: Serving America's Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moynihan, Daniel Patrick

    1989-01-01

    The poorest group in our population is children. This article discusses past and present public assistance programs that affect children and the disproportionate number of minority group children and children in single-parent homes who live in poverty. The need for welfare reform is discussed also. (IAH)

  17. Social competence of elementary-school children: relationships to maternal authoritativeness, supportive maternal responses and children's coping strategies.

    PubMed

    Chan, S M

    2011-07-01

    Although the influences of parenting on children's development of social competence have been well established, research on the underlying mechanisms of this link is relatively limited. The present study examined children's coping strategies as a mediator of the effects of maternal authoritativeness and maternal inductive responses on their social competence. The mothers of 183 Hong Kong Chinese children aged 6 to 8 years (89 girls and 94 boys) reported on their adoption of authoritative parenting and their responses to their children's expressions of emotion, and rated their children's adoption of constructive coping strategies. The children's teachers reported on the children's prosocial behaviour, and rated their level of peer acceptance at school. A model of maternal authoritativeness and supportive maternal responses affecting children's social competence is presented. The study results show that the effects of authoritative parenting on children's adoption of constructive coping strategies were mediated by supportive maternal responses to children's expression of emotion, and that the effects of maternal authoritativeness and maternal responses on children's social competence were mediated by children's coping strategies. These results suggest that school personnel should organize training programmes on emotion-coping strategies for both parents and children. The findings imply that positive parenting facilitates children's acquisition of constructive emotion-coping strategies. Programmes on emotion-coping strategies should be introduced for both parents and school children. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  18. Improving children's affective decision making in the Children's Gambling Task.

    PubMed

    Andrews, Glenda; Moussaumai, Jennifer

    2015-11-01

    Affective decision making was examined in 108 children (3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds) using the Children's Gambling Task (CGT). Children completed the CGT and then responded to awareness questions. Children in the binary_experience and binary_experience+awareness (not control) conditions first completed two simpler versions. Children in the binary_experience+awareness condition also responded to questions about relational components of the simpler versions. Experience with simpler versions facilitated decision making in 4- and 5-year-olds, but 3-year-olds' advantageous choices declined across trial blocks in the binary_experience and control conditions. Responding to questions about relational components further benefited the 4- and 5-year-olds. The 3-year-olds' advantageous choices on the final block were at chance level in the binary_experience+awareness condition but were below chance level in the other conditions. Awareness following the CGT was strongly correlated with advantageous choices and with age. Awareness was demonstrated by 5-year-olds (all conditions) and 4-year-olds (binary_experience and binary_experience+awareness) but not by 3-year-olds. The findings demonstrate the importance of complexity and conscious awareness in cognitive development. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. A Brief Measure of Children's Behavior Problems: The Behavior Rating Index for Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stiffman, Arlene R.; And Others

    1984-01-01

    Describes the development of the Behavior Rating Index for Children (BRIC), a 13-item summated category partition scale that provides a prothetic measure of children's behavior problems. Evaluation of the BRIC with 600 referred and nonreferred children suggested adequate reliability and validity. (JAC)

  20. Association of ambient air quality with children`s lung function in urban and rural Iran

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Asgari, M.M.; Dubois, A.; Beckett, W.S.

    During the summer of 1994, a cross-sectional epidemiological study, in which the pulmonary function of children in Tehran was compared with pulmonary function in children in a rural town in Iran, was conducted. Four hundred children aged 5--11 y were studied. Daytime ambient nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulate matter were measured with portable devices, which were placed in the children`s neighborhoods on the days of study. Levels of these ambient substances were markedly higher in urban Tehran than in rural areas. Children`s parents were questioned about home environmental exposures (including heating source and environmental tobacco smoke) and the children`smore » respiratory symptoms. Pulmonary function was assessed, both by spirometry and peak expiratory flow meter. Forced expiratory volume in 1 s and forced vital capacity--as a percentage of predicted for age, sex and height--were significantly lower in urban children than in rural children. Both measurements evidenced significant reverse correlations with levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter. Differences in spirometric lung function were not explained by nutritional status, as assessed by height and weight for age, or by home environmental exposures. Reported airway symptoms were higher among rural children, whereas reported physician diagnosis of bronchitis and asthma were higher among urban children. The association between higher pollutant concentrations and reduced pulmonary function in this urban-rural comparison suggests that there is an effect of urban air pollution on short-term lung function and/or lung growth and development during the preadolescent years.« less

  1. Colorado Children's Budget 2013

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Buck, Beverly; Baker, Robin

    2013-01-01

    The "Colorado Children's Budget" presents and analyzes investments and spending trends during the past five state fiscal years on services that benefit children. The "Children's Budget" focuses mainly on state investment and spending, with some analysis of federal investments and spending to provide broader context of state…

  2. The Status of Children 1977.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Snapper, Kurt J.; Ohms, JoAnne S.

    This second biennial report on children presents information pertaining to children, discusses the implications and use of such information in planning for children, describes certain historical trends affecting children, and provides updates of statistics and significant expansions on many topics covered in the 1975 report. Part A examines basic…

  3. Do You See What I See? School Perspectives of Deaf Children, Hearing Children and Their Parents

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Marschark, Marc; Bull, Rebecca; Sapere, Patricia; Nordmann, Emily; Skene, Wendy; Lukomski, Jennifer; Lumsden, Sarah

    2012-01-01

    Perspectives on academic and social aspects of children's school experiences were obtained from deaf and hearing children and their (deaf or hearing) parents. Possible differences between (1) the views of children and their parents and (2) those of hearing children and their parents compared to deaf children and their parents were of particular…

  4. Comparing Levels of Mastery Motivation in Children with Cerebral Palsy (CP) and Typically Developing Children.

    PubMed

    Salavati, Mahyar; Vameghi, Roshanak; Hosseini, Seyed Ali; Saeedi, Ahmad; Gharib, Masoud

    2018-02-01

    The present study aimed to compare motivation in school-age children with CP and typically developing children. 229 parents of children with cerebral palsy and 212 parents of typically developing children participated in the present cross sectional study and completed demographic and DMQ18 forms. The rest of information was measured by an occupational therapist. Average age was equal to 127.12±24.56 months for children with cerebral palsy (CP) and 128.08±15.90 for typically developing children. Independent t-test used to compare two groups; and Pearson correlation coefficient by SPSS software applied to study correlation with other factors. There were differences between DMQ subscales of CP and typically developing groups in terms of all subscales ( P <0.05). The lowest motivation scores of subscales obtained in gross motor persistence (2.4870±.81047) and cognitive-oriented persistence (2.8529±.84223) in children with CP. Motivation was correlated with Gross Motor function Classification System (r= -0.831, P<0.001), Manual ability classification system (r=-0.782, P<0.001) and cognitive impairment (r=-0.161, P<0.05). Children with CP had lower mastery motivation than typically developing children. Rehabilitation efforts should take to enhance motivation, so that children felt empowered to do tasks or practices.

  5. Comic strips help children understand medical research: targeting the informed consent procedure to children's needs.

    PubMed

    Grootens-Wiegers, Petronella; de Vries, Martine C; van Beusekom, Mara M; van Dijck, Laura; van den Broek, Jos M

    2015-04-01

    Children involved in medical research often fail to comprehend essential research aspects. In order to improve information provision, a participatory approach was used to develop new information material explaining essential concepts of medical research. A draft of a comic strip was developed by a science communicator in collaboration with pediatricians. The draft was presented to children participating in a clinical trial and to two school classes. Children were consulted for further development in surveys and interviews. Subsequently, the material was revised and re-evaluated in four school classes with children of varying ages and educational levels. In the first evaluation, children provided feedback on the storyline, wording and layout. Children thought the comic strip was 'fun' and 'informative'. Understanding of 8 basic research aspects was on average 83% and all above 65%, illustrating that children understood and remembered key messages. A comic strip was developed to support the informed consent process. Children were consulted and provided feedback. The resulting material was well understood and accepted. Involving children in the development of information material can substantially contribute to the quality of the material. Children were excited to participate and to 'be a part of science'. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Obliging children.

    PubMed

    Lyons, Barry

    2011-01-01

    Children may sometimes undergo healthcare procedures that are not intended to improve their health status. Such interventions might include the use of young children as bone marrow donors or their enrolment in non-therapeutic research. One of the justifications used to legitimise these interventions is the premise that children have obligations to others; to their family in the case of related bone marrow transplantation, and to wider society in the case of non-therapeutic research. However, this 'obligation model' (the notion that children possess positive obligations to advance the health status of others) fails as a justificatory paradigm because it is based upon a confusion, identified by Hart, between two notions; that of 'being under an obligation to do something' and that of 'being obliged to do something'. Instead the 'obligation model' is a device employed to put a justificatory gloss upon a consequentialist decision-making process; removing the legitimising gloss allows for a more transparent look at the conflict between parental rights and an individual child's right to bodily integrity.

  7. Children's Glasses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akerskog, Gunnar; Soderlund, Jan

    1980-07-01

    There is a common opinion among eye specialists and opticians that children's glasses often are not shaped for optimal fitting. A fundamental reason for this is the lack of data for the shaping of the bows, with the result that most children's glasses are reduced copies of adult's glasses. This report describes a photogrammetric method for collection of primary data for manufac-turing bows for children. An ordinary amateur camera was equipped with a stereo-adapter. With a few arrangements, such as projecting a pattern on the face and keeping the hair away from the ears, 600 children were photographed. A calibration photograph was exposed at the beginning and end of each film or when the equipment had been transported or otherwise disturbed. The photographs were measured in a stereocomparator and the coordinates analytically corrected for distortion. After determination of model coordinates the requested geometric information, such as pupillar distance, eye-ear distance, location of the bridge of the nose etc, was calculated. The shapes of average noses were presented as profile plots.

  8. Children with Speech Sound Disorders at School: Challenges for Children, Parents and Teachers

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Daniel, Graham R.; McLeod, Sharynne

    2017-01-01

    Teachers play a major role in supporting children's educational, social, and emotional development although may be unprepared for supporting children with speech sound disorders. Interviews with 34 participants including six focus children, their parents, siblings, friends, teachers and other significant adults in their lives highlighted…

  9. Maternal Employment and Overweight Among Hispanic Children of Immigrants and Children of Natives

    PubMed Central

    Balistreri, Kelly Stamper; Van Hook, Jennifer

    2012-01-01

    This research examines the relationship between maternal employment and child overweight among fifth grade Hispanic and non-Hispanic white children. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Kindergarten (ECLS-K) cohort fifth grade sample (N = 4,360) were analyzed. OLS regression models were estimated predicting percentile BMI as a function of maternal employment, ethnicity, parental nativity status, income, and the interactions of employment, ethnicity/nativity, and income. Among Hispanic children of immigrants, maternal employment is associated with lower percentile BMI and this association strengthens at higher levels of income. Among Hispanic children of natives and non-Hispanic whites, maternal employment is beneficial (i.e. associated with lower percentile BMI) among low-income children but detrimental among high-income children, but this pattern is significantly greater in strength for Hispanics than non-Hispanic whites. Thus, maternal employment is associated with worse health outcomes only in the case of Hispanic children of natives, and maternal employment is associated with the best outcomes for Hispanic children of mothers from high-income families. We speculate that among children of immigrants, maternal employment may signify and/or accelerate assimilation towards middle- or upper-class American values of healthy weight and body size. Diet, meal regularity and supervision, and childcare did not mediate the relationship between maternal employment and overweight. PMID:17963041

  10. Grammaticality Sensitivity in Children with Early Focal Brain Injury and Children with Specific Language Impairment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wulfeck, Beverly; Bates, Elizabeth; Krupa-Kwiatkowski, Magda; Saltzman, Danna

    2004-01-01

    Grammaticality judgments and processing times associated with violation detection were examined in typically developing children, children with focal brain lesions (FL) acquired early in life, and children with specific language impairment (SLI). Grammatical sensitivity in the FL group, while below typically developing children, was above levels…

  11. Bad Air For Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kane, Dorothy Noyes

    1976-01-01

    Children are especially sensitive to air pollution and consequences to them maybe of longer duration than to adults. The effects of low-level pollution on children are the concern of this article. The need for research on the threat of air pollution to childrens' health is emphasized. (BT)

  12. Children, Child Abuse and Child Protection: Placing Children Centrally.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    1999

    This book provides an overview of the political, moral, and social context within which British child welfare practitioners and managers attempt to work with children, families, and others. The book reviews the development of improved policy and practices in child protection. Placing children at the center of policy, practice, and discourse, it…

  13. Children's Stories and Play: Storyride--A Children's Culture Project.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brostrom, Stig

    In modern societies, children are becoming more and more users of a child culture constructed by adults, rather than producers of their own culture. This paper describes a project, implemented in Nordic child care centers and early childhood classes, that provides children the opportunity to narrate and illustrate their own stories, written down…

  14. Working Vulnerability: Agency of Caring Children and Children's Rights

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wihstutz, Anne

    2011-01-01

    A growing number of empirical studies deal with children's participation in care relationships in the family. Based on a review of empirical findings in the UK and Germany, this article discusses care-giving children in terms of vulnerability and agency. The focus is set on understandings of family life as interdependent and reciprocal…

  15. Assessing Working Memory in Children: The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children - Working Memory (CABC-WM).

    PubMed

    Cabbage, Kathryn; Brinkley, Shara; Gray, Shelley; Alt, Mary; Cowan, Nelson; Green, Samuel; Kuo, Trudy; Hogan, Tiffany P

    2017-06-12

    The Comprehensive Assessment Battery for Children - Working Memory (CABC-WM) is a computer-based battery designed to assess different components of working memory in young school-age children. Working memory deficits have been identified in children with language-based learning disabilities, including dyslexia 1 , 2 and language impairment 3 , 4 , but it is not clear whether these children exhibit deficits in subcomponents of working memory, such as visuospatial or phonological working memory. The CABC-WM is administered on a desktop computer with a touchscreen interface and was specifically developed to be engaging and motivating for children. Although the long-term goal of the CABC-WM is to provide individualized working memory profiles in children, the present study focuses on the initial success and utility of the CABC-WM for measuring central executive, visuospatial, phonological loop, and binding constructs in children with typical development. Immediate next steps are to administer the CABC-WM to children with specific language impairment, dyslexia, and comorbid specific language impairment and dyslexia.

  16. Mothers', fathers' and children's perceptions of parents' expectations about children's family obligations in nine countries.

    PubMed

    Lansford, Jennifer E; Godwin, Jennifer; Alampay, Liane Peña; Uribe Tirado, Liliana Maria; Zelli, Arnaldo; Al-Hassan, Suha M; Bacchini, Dario; Bombi, Anna Silvia; Bornstein, Marc H; Chang, Lei; Deater-Deckard, Kirby; Di Giunta, Laura; Dodge, Kenneth A; Malone, Patrick S; Oburu, Paul; Pastorelli, Concetta; Skinner, Ann T; Sorbring, Emma; Tapanya, Sombat

    2016-10-01

    Children's family obligations involve assistance and respect that children are expected to provide to immediate and extended family members and reflect beliefs related to family life that may differ across cultural groups. Mothers, fathers and children (N = 1432 families) in 13 cultural groups in 9 countries (China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Philippines, Sweden, Thailand and United States) reported on their expectations regarding children's family obligations and parenting attitudes and behaviours. Within families, mothers and fathers had more concordant expectations regarding children's family obligations than did parents and children. Parenting behaviours that were warmer, less neglectful and more controlling as well as parenting attitudes that were more authoritarian were related to higher expectations regarding children's family obligations between families within cultures as well as between cultures. These international findings advance understanding of children's family obligations by contextualising them both within families and across a number of diverse cultural groups in 9 countries. © 2015 International Union of Psychological Science.

  17. Coordination of precision grip in 2–6 years-old children with autism spectrum disorders compared to children developing typically and children with developmental disabilities

    PubMed Central

    David, Fabian J.; Baranek, Grace T.; Wiesen, Chris; Miao, Adrienne F.; Thorpe, Deborah E.

    2012-01-01

    Impaired motor coordination is prevalent in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and affects adaptive skills. Little is known about the development of motor patterns in young children with ASD between 2 and 6 years of age. The purpose of the current study was threefold: (1) to describe developmental correlates of motor coordination in children with ASD, (2) to identify the extent to which motor coordination deficits are unique to ASD by using a control group of children with other developmental disabilities (DD), and (3) to determine the association between motor coordination variables and functional fine motor skills. Twenty-four children with ASD were compared to 30 children with typical development (TD) and 11 children with DD. A precision grip task was used to quantify and analyze motor coordination. The motor coordination variables were two temporal variables (grip to load force onset latency and time to peak grip force) and two force variables (grip force at onset of load force and peak grip force). Functional motor skills were assessed using the Fine Motor Age Equivalents of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scale and the Mullen Scales of Early Learning. Mixed regression models were used for all analyses. Children with ASD presented with significant motor coordination deficits only on the two temporal variables, and these variables differentiated children with ASD from the children with TD, but not from children with DD. Fine motor functional skills had no statistically significant associations with any of the motor coordination variables. These findings suggest that subtle problems in the timing of motor actions, possibly related to maturational delays in anticipatory feed-forward mechanisms, may underlie some motor deficits reported in children with ASD, but that these issues are not unique to this population. Further research is needed to investigate how children with ASD or DD compensate for motor control deficits to establish functional skills

  18. Child Perceptions of Parental Care and Overprotection in Children with Cancer and Healthy Children

    PubMed Central

    Tillery, Rachel; Long, Alanna; Phipps, Sean

    2014-01-01

    Objective The primary aims of this study were to: a) examine child perceptions of overprotection; and b) explore how these perceptions relate to child health and adjustment. Method Children with a prior diagnosis of cancer (n = 205) and children without a history of serious illness (n = 76) reported on parental overprotective and caring behaviors. Children with cancer were recruited from one of four strata based on the elapsed time since their cancer diagnosis (1–6 months; 6–24 months; 2–5 years; > 5 years) Children also reported on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress. Results Children with cancer did not differ from healthy children in their perceptions of parental care or overprotection. Child distress was more strongly related to perceptions of care and overprotection than child’s health status. Conclusions Children with cancer do not report their parents approach to care and protection differently than children without a cancer history. These findings mirror prior research examining parental perceptions of overprotection and suggest that, despite the challenges of parenting a child with serious illness, parental protection is not significantly altered. PMID:24682801

  19. Uninsured but Eligible Children

    PubMed Central

    DeVoe, Jennifer E.; Krois, Lisa; Edlund, Christine; Smith, Jeanene; Carlson, Nichole E.

    2016-01-01

    Background Despite expansions in public health insurance programs, millions of US children lack coverage. Nearly two-thirds of Oregon’s uninsured children seem to be eligible for public insurance. Objectives We sought to identify uninsured but eligible children and to examine how parental coverage affects children’s insurance status. Methods We collected primary data from families enrolled in Oregon’s food stamp program, which has similar eligibility requirements to public health insurance in Oregon. In this cross-sectional, multivariable analysis, results from 2861 surveys were weighted back to a population of 84,087 with nonresponse adjustment. Key predictor variables were parental insurance status and type of insurance; the outcome variable was children’s insurance status. Results Nearly 11% of children, presumed eligible for public insurance, were uninsured. Uninsurance among children was associated with being Hispanic, having an employed parent, and higher household earnings (133–185% of the federal poverty level). Children with an uninsured parent were more likely to be uninsured, compared with those who had insured parents (adjusted odds ratio 14.21, 95% confidence interval 9.23–20.34). More surprisingly, there was a higher rate of uninsured children among privately-insured parents, compared with parents covered by public insurance (adjusted odds ratio 4.39, 95% confidence interval 2.00–9.66). Conclusions Low-income Oregon parents at the higher end of the public insurance income threshold and those with private insurance were having the most difficulty keeping their children insured. These findings suggest that when parents succeed in pulling themselves out of poverty and gaining employment with private health insurance coverage, children may be getting left behind. PMID:18162849

  20. Children & Race.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Milner, David

    The major aims of this book are to provide an account of racial attitude development in young children and to describe the effects of racism on the development of black children, specifically in the United Kingdom. The book draws freely on American and British research in an effort to illuminate the British experience. The first two chapters…

  1. Repetitive and ritualistic behaviour in children with Prader-Willi syndrome and children with autism.

    PubMed

    Greaves, N; Prince, E; Evans, D W; Charman, T

    2006-02-01

    Recent research has shown that the range of repetitive behaviour seen in individuals with Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) extends beyond food-related behaviour. The presence and intensity of repetitive, rigid and routinized behaviour in children with PWS was compared with that seen in children with another neurodevelopmental condition in which repetitive behaviour is common: children with autism. Parents completed the Childhood Routines Inventory (CRI). Contrary to our predictions, controlling for developmental level, children with PWS and children with autism showed similar levels of repetitive and ritualistic behaviour overall and on the two CRI factors measuring 'just right' and 'repetitive' behaviour. Indeed, the majority of the sample of parents of children with PWS endorsed most items on the CRI. However there was some specificity at the level of individual items with parents of children with PWS more frequently endorsing an item on 'collecting and storing objects' and parents of children with autism more frequently endorsing 'lining up objects', 'has a strong preference for certain foods' and 'seems aware of detail at home'. These findings confirm the range of repetitive behaviours that form part of the behavioural phenotype of PWS, including insistence on sameness and 'just right' behaviours, and uncover a surprising overlap with those seen in children with autism. Clinical management for children with PWS should include advice and education regarding management of repetitive and rigid behaviour. Future research should investigate whether the repetitive behaviours that form part of the behavioural phenotype of both PWS and autism are associated with a common neuropsychological, neurotransmitter or genetic origin.

  2. Insiders' Perspectives: A Children's Rights Approach to Involving Children in Advising on Adult-Initiated Research

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dunn, Jill

    2015-01-01

    Consulting with children is widely recognised as an essential element in building understanding about children's lives. From a children's rights perspective, it is also a legal requirement on professionals working with children. However, translating the rhetoric into research and practice is still evolving. Previous studies report on working with…

  3. The Grieving Process in Children: Strategies for Understanding, Educating, and Reconciling Children's Perceptions of Death.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Willis, Clarissa A.

    2002-01-01

    Provides an overview of how young children understand death, and offers concrete strategies for talking to children about death and suggestions for teachers about how to help children of various ages through grief and mourning. Highlights developmental differences in four components of children's understanding of death: irreversibility, finality,…

  4. Children's Death Concepts and Ethnicity.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wass, Hannelore; Towry, Betty J.

    1980-01-01

    Relationships between death concepts of Black and White children and their racial status were examined. Lower-middle-class elementary children completed a four-item questionnaire on death. Most children defined death as the end of living and listed physical causes as the explanation of death. In general, children's death concepts were similar.…

  5. Seeing Children's Pleasure with Food

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Curtis, Deb

    2010-01-01

    Children's relationship with food in early childhood programs is often a complex topic. Families have concerns about "picky eaters" and teachers feel pressure to make sure that children eat enough while in their care. Children bring snacks that teachers describe as junk food and believe this negatively impacts children's behavior. Foods marketed…

  6. 34 CFR 300.644 - Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children. 300.644 Section 300.644 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education... STATES FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES Monitoring, Enforcement, Confidentiality, and...

  7. 34 CFR 300.644 - Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children. 300.644 Section 300.644 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education... STATES FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES Monitoring, Enforcement, Confidentiality, and...

  8. 34 CFR 300.644 - Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children. 300.644 Section 300.644 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education... STATES FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES Monitoring, Enforcement, Confidentiality, and...

  9. 34 CFR 300.644 - Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2011-07-01 2010-07-01 true Annual report of children served-criteria for counting children. 300.644 Section 300.644 Education Regulations of the Offices of the Department of Education... STATES FOR THE EDUCATION OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES Monitoring, Enforcement, Confidentiality, and...

  10. Children's Communication Checklist (CCC) Scores in 11-Year-Old Children with Communication Impairments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Botting, Nicola

    2004-01-01

    Background: The pragmatic skills of children with communication disorders and their assessment are currently an issue for speech and language therapy and educational placement. Aims: To explore whether different subgroups of children with communication disorders score differently on the Children's Communication Checklist (CCC) and to study how…

  11. Tonsillectomies and children

    MedlinePlus

    Children and tonsillectomies ... many parents wonder if it is wise for children to have the tonsils taken out. Tonsillectomy may be recommended if your child has any of the following: Difficulty swallowing Obstructed ...

  12. Understanding Children's Anger: Recognizing and Working with Young Children's Anger and Frustration

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Honig, Alice Sterling; Miller, Susan A.; Church, Ellen Booth

    2007-01-01

    This article presents the causes of anger and frustrations of children at different ages. Honig discusses understanding children's anger from ages 0-2 and gives suggestions on how to cope with anger. Miller discusses how children ages 3-4 provoke to anger, and recommends ways to prevent it. Church discusses the cause of anger in 5- and 6-year old…

  13. Bereavement Support for Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Auman, Mary Jo

    2007-01-01

    The death of a parent is one of the most significant and stressful events children can encounter. Surviving children may experience psychiatric problems and social dysfunction during their childhood and possibly throughout their adult lives. Children surviving a sibling's death may develop behavioral problems, because no one can fill the emptiness…

  14. Leadership in Children's Services

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Booker, Roger

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines the different contexts for leadership in children's services with a particular focus on integrated working. It reviews contemporary theories that appear to offer relevant frameworks for thinking about children's service leadership. It is argued that children's services require leadership at all levels to enable a dynamic,…

  15. Socioeconomic Status and Body Mass Index Among Hispanic Children of Immigrants and Children of Natives

    PubMed Central

    Van Hook, Jennifer

    2009-01-01

    Objectives. We examined how Hispanic parents' income and education, combined with their nativity status, influenced the body mass index (BMI) of their children, compared with non-Hispanic White children and their parents. Methods. We used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 to estimate linear growth curve models of children's initial BMI in kindergarten and change in BMI through fifth grade. Socioeconomic status was measured by logged household income and parental educational attainment (less than high school, high school graduate, some college, college graduate or higher). Results. Parental education was negatively associated with children's BMI (baseline and growth) for non-Hispanic White children. Among Hispanic children, the association of parental education with growth in BMI was negative but much weaker. The weak effect of parental education was not explained by the presence of immigrants in the Hispanic population. Income was strongly negatively associated with children's BMI in kindergarten among children of Hispanic and White natives, but positively associated among Hispanic immigrant families. Conclusions. The positive income–BMI association among Hispanic immigrant children might reflect cultural differences that immigrant parents carry with them from their countries of origin. PMID:19846690

  16. [Microsurgery in children].

    PubMed

    Duteille, F; Yeo, S; Perrot, P

    2016-10-01

    While we celebrated the fortieth anniversary of the first free flap in children, new techniques emerged in reconstructive surgery (NPT, artificial dermis…) and reduced microsurgery procedures. However, microsurgery in children as in adults still have clinical applications in reconstructive surgery. Free flaps remain essential in clinical situations where they are the only ones to provide capacity for growth and stability scarring, two elements essential to the future quality of life of the children. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  17. Children at Risk: Global Views on Challenges Facing Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Neugebauer, Roger

    2011-01-01

    Members of the World Forum community were invited to respond to the question: "What is the most urgent challenge facing young children in your country?" Here are some of their responses. Jamils Richard Achunji Anguaseh mentions that in Cameroon, young children face lots of insecurity, both from health hazards and poor parenting practices. There…

  18. Pictorial Personality Traits Questionnaire for Children (PPTQ-C)-A New Measure of Children's Personality Traits.

    PubMed

    Maćkiewicz, Marta; Cieciuch, Jan

    2016-01-01

    In order to adjust personality measurements to children's developmental level, we constructed the Pictorial Personality Traits Questionnaire for Children (PPTQ-C). To validate the measure, we conducted a study with a total group of 1028 children aged between 7 and 13 years old. Structural validity was established through Exploratory Structural Equation Model (ESEM). Criterion validity was confirmed with a multitrait-multimethod analysis for which we introduced the children's self-assessment scores from the Big Five Questionnaire for Children. Despite some problems with reliability, one can conclude that the PPTQ-C can be a valid instrument for measuring personality traits, particularly in a group of young children (aged ~7-10 years).

  19. Headache in children's drawings.

    PubMed

    Wojaczyńska-Stanek, Katarzyna; Koprowski, Robert; Wróbel, Zygmunt; Gola, Małgorzata

    2008-02-01

    Headache is a common health problem in childhood. Children's drawings are helpful in the diagnosis of headache type. Children, especially younger ones, communicate better through pictures than verbally. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the usefulness of drawings of the child's headache in the diagnostic process carried out by a pediatrician and a pediatric neurologist. At the beginning of a visit in a neurological clinic, or on the first day of hospitalization, the child was asked, "Please draw your headache," or "How do you feel your headache?" without any additional explanations or suggestions. Clinical diagnosis of headache type was made on the basis of the standard diagnostic evaluation. For the purpose of this study, children's headaches were categorized as migraine, tension-type headache, or "the others." One hundred twenty-four drawings of children with headaches were analyzed by 8 pediatricians and 8 pediatric neurologists. The analysts were unaware of the clinical history, age, sex, and diagnosis of the patients. The clinical diagnosis was considered the "gold standard" to which the headache drawing diagnosis was compared. There were 68 girls 5-18 years of age and 56 boys 7-18 years of age. Of the 124 children, 40 were clinically diagnosed with migraine (32.2%), 47 with tension-type headache (37.9%), and 37 (29.8%) as the others. Children with migraine most frequently draw sharp elements. Children with tension-type headache mainly drew compression elements and pressing elements. In the group of "the other" headaches, 21 children were diagnosed with somatoform disorders. The most frequent element in this group's drawings was a whirl in the head. Colors used most frequently were black and red, which signify severe pain. There was no difference in sensitivity of diagnoses between neurologists and pediatricians. Because the evaluation of drawings by children with headaches done both by pediatricians and pediatric neurologists was correct for

  20. Urban children's perceptions of violence.

    PubMed

    Sheehan, Karen; Kim, Lynn E; Galvin, John P

    2004-01-01

    To determine how preadolescent urban children conceptualize and experience violence in their lives. This qualitative study reports the results of focus groups designed to examine perceptions of violence among preadolescent urban children. Program directors were trained to conduct the sessions using a semistructured script. All groups were audiotaped or videotaped. The summaries were analyzed for recurring themes. A community-based visual arts program for children designed to be a secondary violence-prevention program. There were 12 focus groups of volunteer participants. Each consisted of 3 to 6 children aged 8 to 12 years, separated by sex and age. Fifty children participated: 27 boys and 23 girls. These children defined violence in a broader way than most adults would. Not only did the children identify shootings and stabbings as examples of violence, but they also considered violence to be any act that might hurt someone's feelings (such as cheating and lying) or any act accompanying violence (such as cursing and yelling). The boys and girls were very similar in their views except regarding the issue of intimate-partner violence. The girls were almost universally concerned about this issue, but the boys seemed noticeably unaware that intimate-partner violence was considered a form of violence. Most children felt safe at home, and almost no child felt safe at school. They looked to trusted adults to keep them safe. Future investigators measuring the effect of violence-prevention activities on preteen children should be aware that their definition of violence may differ from that of young children and should be cognizant of potential sex differences, especially around the topic of intimate-partner violence. Those designing violence-prevention programs for children should consider engaging adult family members as well because children usually turn to them for safety.

  1. Children and Firearms

    MedlinePlus

    ... for Families - Vietnamese Spanish Facts for Families Guide Firearms and Children No. 37; Updated December 2014 Parents, ... large numbers of children and adolescents killed by firearms. In order to prevent further deaths, it is ...

  2. Relationship between Children's Sleep and Mental Health in Mothers of Children with and without Autism

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hodge, Danelle; Hoffman, Charles D.; Sweeney, Dwight P.; Riggs, Matt L.

    2013-01-01

    The study employed 90 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) who were matched to 90 typically developing children on age, gender, and ethnicity. Using structural equation modeling, maternal sleep and maternal stress mediated the relationship between children's sleep and mothers' mental health for mothers of children with and without ASDs.…

  3. Children's rights and school psychology: children's right to participation.

    PubMed

    Lansdown, Gerison; Jimerson, Shane R; Shahroozi, Reza

    2014-02-01

    The Convention on the Rights of the Child detailed an international imperative to fulfilling, protecting, and respecting the rights of every child. In particular, the Convention set out a clear mandate for guaranteeing opportunities for children to be heard on all matters of concern to them. The attainment of these goals involves respecting and valuing children as active participants in the educational process. If fully implemented, the right of children to express views and have them taken seriously, throughout the school environment, would represent one of the most profound transformations in moving towards a culture of respect for children's rights, for their dignity and citizenship, and for their capacities to contribute significantly towards their own well-being. These values and principles are consistent with those of the school psychology profession, thus, school psychologists are encouraged to be at the Center of the process advocating and actualizing the Convention in schools throughout the world. Copyright © 2014 Society for the Study of School Psychology. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. What do children observe and learn from televised sports betting advertisements? A qualitative study among Australian children.

    PubMed

    Pitt, Hannah; Thomas, Samantha L; Bestman, Amy; Daube, Mike; Derevensky, Jeffrey

    2017-12-01

    To explore children's awareness of sports betting advertising and how this advertising may influence children's attitudes, product knowledge and desire to try sports betting. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 48 children (8-16 years) from Melbourne, Victoria. The interview schedule explored children's recall and interpretations of sports betting advertising, strategies within advertisements that may appeal to children, children's product knowledge and understanding of betting terminology, and factors that may encourage gambling. Interviews were transcribed and thematic analysis was conducted. Children recalled in detail sports betting advertisements that they had seen, with humour the most engaging appeal strategy. They were also able to describe other specific appeal strategies and link these strategies to betting brands. Many children described how advertisements demonstrated how someone would place a bet, with some children recalling the detailed technical language associated with betting. Children had detailed recall of sports betting advertisements and an extensive knowledge of sports betting products and terminology. Implications for public health: To protect children from the potential harms associated with sports betting, governments should consider changing regulations and implementing evidence-based education campaigns to counter the positive messages children receive from the sports betting industry. © 2017 The Authors.

  5. Sleep Problems among Taiwanese Children with Autism, Their Siblings and Typically Developing Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chou, Miao-Chun; Chou, Wen-Jiun; Chiang, Huey-Ling; Wu, Yu-Yu; Lee, Ju-Chin; Wong, Ching-Ching; Gau, Susan Shur-Fen

    2012-01-01

    The current study compared the sleep schedules, sleep problems among children with autism, their siblings and typically developing children, and to explore other associated factors with sleep problems. We conducted a case-control study consisting 110 children with autistic disorder, 125 unaffected siblings, and 110 age-, sex-, and parental…

  6. Reading Gender: A Feminist, Queer Approach to Children's Literature and Children's Discursive Agency

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Earles, Jennifer

    2017-01-01

    Children's literature helps young people make sense of gender. However, while books offer children the imaginative ability to create their own worlds, normative gender can manifest in characters and stories. The study described in this article draws upon "disruptive" storytimes with 114 preschool children, interviews with 20 parents and…

  7. Hyperprolactinemia in Children with Subclinical Hypothyroidism.

    PubMed

    Sharma, Neera; Dutta, Deep; Sharma, Lokesh Kumar

    2017-12-15

    Prevalence of hyperprolactinemia in children with subclinical hypothyroidism (ScH) is not known. This study aimed to determine the occurrence and predictors of hyperprolactinemia in euthyroid children and in children with ScH and overt primary hypothyroidism (OPH). Serum prolactin levels were estimated in consecutive children <18 years of age undergoing thyroid function evaluation and diagnosed to have normal thyroid function, ScH, or OPH. Children with pituitary adenomas, secondary hypothyroidism, multiple pituitary hormone deficiency, comorbid states, and drug-induced hyperprolactinemia were excluded. From the initially screened 791 children, hormonal data from 602 children who fulfilled all criteria were analyzed. Seventy-one (11.79%) of these had ScH, and 33 (5.48%) had OPH. Occurrence of hyperprolactinemia was highest in the OPH group (51.51%), followed by ScH (30.98%) and euthyroid children (4.41%) (p<0.001). Median (25 th -75 th percentiles) levels for prolactin in euthyroid, ScH, and OPH children were 13.3 (9.4-17.95), 19.15 (15.97-30.12), and 28.86 (17.05-51.9) ng/mL, respectively (p<0.001). In children, prolactin levels were comparable in males and females. An age-related increase in serum prolactin was noted in euthyroid children, which was statistically significant in post-pubertal (16-18 years) children. Area under the curve for thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) in predicting hyperprolactinemia in children was 0.758 (95% confidence interval: 0.673-0.829; p<0.001). TSH ≥4.00 mIU/L had a sensitivity of 69.4% and specificity of 77.6% in detecting hyperprolactinemia. Hyperprolactinemia is common in children with ScH and OPH. TSH ≥4.00 mIU/L has a good sensitivity and specificity in predicting hyperprolactinemia in children. More studies are needed to establish if hyperprolactinemia should be an indication for treating ScH in children.

  8. Children and Computers Abstracts.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rothenberg, Dianne, Ed.

    1992-01-01

    Abstracts of reports of eight research studies on computer uses in children's education are presented. Topics covered include (1) LOGO computer language; (2) computer graphics for art instruction; (3) animation; (4) problem solving; (5) children's use of symbols; (6) an evaluation of a Chapter 1 program involving children's computer use; (7) peer…

  9. Children's Theories of Motivation

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gurland, Suzanne T.; Glowacky, Victoria C.

    2011-01-01

    To investigate children's theories of motivation, we asked 166 children (8-12 years of age) to rate the effect of various motivational strategies on task interest, over the short and long terms, in activities described as appealing or unappealing. Children viewed the rewards strategy as resulting in greatest interest except when implemented over…

  10. Helping Your Children Discover.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Schroepfer, Dorothy; Yeaton, Charles

    Children discover many things about themselves, about the world around them, and about words and language, before they go to school. This booklet was prepared to guide parents in helping their children make such discoveries in preparation for the demands of learning in school. Activities are suggested for developing children's self-confidence,…

  11. Children's Empowerment in Play

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Canning, Natalie

    2007-01-01

    This article examines the level of empowerment and autonomy children can create in their play experiences. It examines the play discourses that children build and maintain and considers the importance of play contexts in supporting children's emotional and social development. These aspects of play are often unseen or misunderstood by the adult…

  12. Colorado Children's Budget 2005

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Colorado Children's Campaign, 2005

    2005-01-01

    The Children's Budget is a comprehensive report on funding for children's services in Colorado. This report provides a six- year funding history for more than 50 programs funded with state, local, and federal dollars. The Colorado Children's Budget analyzes reductions in programs and services during the economic downturn. The data in the…

  13. Artistic Works for Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cieslikowski, Jerzy

    This paper discusses the nature and function of children's literature and theater. Artistic creative work for children is constituted not only by literature but also by the theater, film, radio and television. Children's literature used to be an art of narration, a verbal text coupled with gesture. Modern, highly technical communication media have…

  14. [Children's conditions. Peace should be used for the children's advantage].

    PubMed

    Neertoft, S

    1990-02-28

    It is estimated that about half of the budgets of underdeveloped countries are spent on armaments and repayments of debt. These two essentially unproductive activities cost an average of $500/family in underdeveloped countries each year. At the same time about 8000 children die each day for lack of vaccination. About 7000 children die each day from dehydration as a result of diarrhea and about 6000 children die each day from lung inflammation. The solutions to these health problems are well known and would cost only about what the USSR spends on vodka or what tobacco companies in the US spend on cigarette advertising. It would amount to 10% of the European Economic Community's support to agriculture and about 2% of what developing countries altogether spend on armaments. UNICEF, the UN children's organization, in its 1990 report on the state of the world's children estimates that about 40,000 children die each day worldwide from preventable causes and that many more live undernourished in poor health, physically and mentally unable to sustain the level of capability that they were born with. With military expenditures falling, there is hope that the peace dividend can be diverted to improve the world level of health care. If the debt crisis could be solved, a cut of only 5-10% in military expenditures would produce about $50 billion which could be used in the poorest parts of the world during the next 10 years to cover the most fundamental needs for food, pure drinking water, health care and education.

  15. Children and Grief. ERIC Digest.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    McEntire, Nancy

    Noting that the death of a loved one brings grief to children as well as adults, this Digest draws on research to examine how children respond to death and the role of parents and teachers in helping children cope with loss. The Digest delineates children's "tasks" during mourning that are essential to their adjustment to loss, such as…

  16. Human Rights for Children: A Curriculum for Teaching Human Rights to Children Ages 3-12.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Hatch, Virginia; And Others

    Created to heighten teachers' awareness of human rights issues, particularly those related to children's rights, this guide offers children knowledge and skills in developing both self-worth and empathy for others. These feelings, the curriculum argues, are the foundation children need if they are to understand their rights as children and the…

  17. Anxious adults vs. cool children: children's views on smoking and addiction.

    PubMed

    Rugkåsa, J; Knox, B; Sittlington, J; Kennedy, O; Treacy, M P; Abaunza, P S

    2001-09-01

    Tobacco addiction represents a major public health problem, and most addicted smokers take up the habit during adolescence. We need to know why. With the aim of gaining a better understanding of the meanings smoking and tobacco addiction hold for young people, 85 focused interviews were conducted with adolescent children from economically deprived areas of Northern Ireland. Through adopting a qualitative approach within the community rather than the school context, the adolescent children were given the opportunity to freely express their views in confidence. Children seem to differentiate conceptually between child smoking and adult smoking. Whereas adults smoke to cope with life and are thus perceived by children as lacking control over their consumption, child smoking is motivated by attempts to achieve the status of cool and hard, and to gain group membership. Adults have personal reasons for smoking, while child smoking is profoundly social. Adults are perceived as dependent on nicotine, and addiction is at the core of the children's understanding of adult smoking. Child smoking, on the other hand, is seen as oriented around social relations so that addiction is less relevant. These ideas leave young people vulnerable to nicotine addiction. It is clearly important that health promotion efforts seek to understand and take into account the actions of children within the context of their own world-view to secure their health.

  18. Priorities for children and young people - opportunities and challenges for children and young people's nurses.

    PubMed

    Smith, Fiona

    2016-05-09

    Across Europe children's nurses today face many challenges, including rising childhood obesity, the soaring incidence of issues with the mental health of children and young people, the effects of social media, child maltreatment and the impact of poverty, war and conflict on children and families. There are opportunities for children's nurses to undertake new roles and to influence both policy and practice to improve the health outcomes of children and young people, and thereby the future health of the population.

  19. Lyme disease in children.

    PubMed

    Sood, Sunil K

    2015-06-01

    The diagnosis and management of Lyme disease in children is similar to that in adults with a few clinically relevant exceptions. The use of doxycycline as an initial empiric choice is to be avoided for children 8 years old and younger. Children may present with insidious onset of elevated intracranial pressure during acute disseminated Lyme disease; prompt diagnosis and treatment of this condition is important to prevent loss of vision. Children who acquire Lyme disease have an excellent prognosis even when they present with the late disseminated manifestation of Lyme arthritis. Guidance on the judicious use of serologic tests is provided. Pediatricians and family practitioners should be familiar with the prevention and management of tick bites, which are common in children. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Children's theories of motivation.

    PubMed

    Gurland, Suzanne T; Glowacky, Victoria C

    2011-09-01

    To investigate children's theories of motivation, we asked 166 children (8-12 years of age) to rate the effect of various motivational strategies on task interest, over the short and long terms, in activities described as appealing or unappealing. Children viewed the rewards strategy as resulting in greatest interest except when implemented over the long term for appealing activities. Individual difference analyses revealed that some children held operant theories of motivation, in which rewards were central, and others held hybrid theories, in which rewards were key, but some allowance was made for interest to be self-sustaining in the absence of inducements. Children's theories predicted their academic self-regulation. Their theories are discussed relative to an expert theory of motivation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Celebrating Children's Choices: 25 Years of Children's Favorite Books.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Post, Arden DeVries

    This book provides the background and development of the Children's Choices project and highlights many of the best known and most popular books that have appeared on the Children's Choices list over the past 25 years. Each book selection features a picture of the book jacket, an annotation from the Choices list, a list of classroom applications,…

  2. Written for Children: An Outline of English Children's Literature.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Townsend, John Rowe

    Children's prose literature in Britain is surveyed from the 17th century to the present. The main stream of this development is exemplified by an examination of the lives and works of such authors as (1) John Newbery, whose books for children include "Goody Two-Shoes" (1766), (2) Mrs. Sherwood, whose didactic books contain a moral lesson in every…

  3. [Healthcare of children and adolescents in national strategy for action for children for 2012-2017].

    PubMed

    Kuchma, V R

    2013-01-01

    The National Strategy defines the main directions and objectives of public policy in the interests of children and the key mechanisms for its implementation. The strategy is based on the universally recognized principles and norms of international law. Implementation of the National Strategy will be realized in the following areas: Family Child Welfare Policy, availability to quality education and training, cultural development, and information security of children, child-friendly health care, and healthy lifestyle; equal opportunities for children in need of special care of the State, the creation of protection and safeguarding the rights and interests of children and child-friendly justice, and children - members of the realization of National Strategy. School health care is intended to be actively involved in two directions: availability to quality education and training, cultural development, and information security of children, health care, child-friendly and healthy lifestyle. The main tasks in the part of hygiene and children's health are: state support for the construction of new preschool educational institutions and the development of all forms of safe preschool education, including non-state sector, providing for every upperclassman safe choice of training profile corresponding to his inclinations and life plans, as well as the functional possibilities and health state; providing quality psychological, correctional and pedagogical aid to children in educational institutions; renewal of forms and methods of control of child neglect, drug addiction, alcoholism, crime, prostitution; the development of effective mechanisms in prevention of deviant behavior in childhood; the creation and implementation of training programs for children and adolescents on rules of safety behavior in the World Wide Web, prevention of Internet addiction; the introduction of the system for monitoring of the educational environment; the creation of portals and sites accumulating

  4. Catching-up: Children with developmental coordination disorder compared to healthy children before and after sensorimotor therapy

    PubMed Central

    2017-01-01

    The aims of the present study were to (a) compare healthy children in terms of sensorimotor maturity to untreated children diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and (b) compare healthy children to diagnosed children following completed treatment with sensorimotor therapy. Participants were 298 children, 196 boys and 102 girls, distributed into a Norm group of healthy children (n = 99) and a group of children diagnosed with DCD (n = 199) with a total mean age of 8.77 years (SD = 2.88). Participants in both groups were assessed on instruments aimed to detect sensorimotor deviations. The children in the DCD group completed, during on average 36 months, sensorimotor therapy which comprised stereotypical fetal- and infant movements, vestibular stimulation, tactile stimulation, auditory stimulation, complementary play exercises, gross motor milestones, and sports-related gross motor skills. At the final visit a full assessment was once more performed. Results showed that the Norm group performed better on all sensorimotor tests as compared to the untreated children from the DCD group, with the exception of an audiometric test where both groups performed at the same level. Girls performed better on tests assessing proprioceptive and balance abilities. Results also showed, after controls for natural maturing effects, that the children from the DCD group after sensorimotor therapy did catch up with the healthy children. The concept of “catching-up” is used within developmental medicine but has not earlier been documented with regard to children and youth in connection with DCD. PMID:29020061

  5. New Education for Underprivileged Children: The Codification of Children's Rights in Japanese Law

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ito, Toshiko

    2012-01-01

    This article examines the educational concepts that were pursued for the benefit of underprivileged children in the era of the New Education Movement. Children's rights in Japanese modernity, as represented by the struggle to apply New Education principles to underprivileged children, are contrasted with the conventional view of childhood in the…

  6. Bilingualism and Procedural Learning in Typically Developing Children and Children with Language Impairment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Park, Jisook; Miller, Carol A.; Rosenbaum, David A.; Sanjeevan, Teenu; van Hell, Janet G.; Weiss, Daniel J.; Mainela-Arnold, Elina

    2018-01-01

    Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate whether dual language experience affects procedural learning ability in typically developing children and in children with specific language impairment (SLI). Method: We examined procedural learning in monolingual and bilingual school-aged children (ages 8-12 years) with and without SLI. The…

  7. Fact Retrieval Deficits in Low Achieving Children and Children with Mathematical Learning Disability

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Geary, David C.; Hoard, Mary K.; Bailey, Drew H.

    2012-01-01

    Using 4 years of mathematics achievement scores, groups of typically achieving children (n = 101) and low achieving children with mild (LA-mild fact retrieval; n = 97) and severe (LA-severe fact retrieval; n = 18) fact retrieval deficits and mathematically learning disabled children (MLD; n = 15) were identified. Multilevel models contrasted…

  8. Deaf Children and Children with ADHD in the Inclusive Classroom: Working Memory Matters

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Cockcroft, Kate; Dhana-Dullabh, Hansini

    2013-01-01

    This study compared the working memory functioning of deaf children, children with ADHD and typically developing children. Working memory is involved in the storage and mental manipulation of information during classroom learning activities that are crucial for the acquisition of complex skills and knowledge. Thus, it is important to determine how…

  9. Status of Oregon's Children: 1998 County Data Book. Special Focus: Children's Health Care.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Children First for Oregon, Portland.

    This Kids Count report examines statewide trends in the well-being of Oregon's children, focusing on children's health care. The statistical portrait is based on indicators of well-being including: (1) children's insurance coverage; (2) health care access; (3) health outcomes, including immunization rates and early prenatal care; (4) juvenile…

  10. Homeless children: the lives of a group of Brazilian street children.

    PubMed

    Ribeiro, M O; Trench Ciampone, M H

    2001-07-01

    To evaluate the life trajectories of a group of school-age street children frequenting two São Paulo city public shelters. A large proportion of the Brazilian child population suffers extreme disadvantage, although the Brazilian government gave the issue 'absolute priority' in 1990. Maternal and Under 5 mortality rates remain unacceptably high. In the metropolitan region of São Paulo an estimated 200 000 minors do not live with their mothers. Brazilian street children live lives of extreme personal and social risk. The data were collected through individual, semi-structured interviews, with 14 school age (7-12 years) participants frequenting two city public refuges, with their legal guardians' consent. Data analysis was based on Social Representation Theory and used content analysis. The children's most meaningful experiences were grouped into the thematic categories of family, the street, friends, drugs, the police, the shelters and the future. Synthesis of these categories showed the lives of these children to be permeated by violence, resulting in experiences restricting their full development. The solution to their problems depends on pressure being put on the State by the civilian community in order to establish social and health policies that conform to the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA). We consider that assisting street children involves attitudes that go beyond professional performance and demands acts of citizenship. The development of an ethical-political attitude by professionals to the problems of homeless street children is essential, and educational curricula should be appropriately constituted. Political projects to develop health and welfare policies and education should be directed to these children and their relatives, and include participation by health professionals to provide the necessary preventive and curative services.

  11. The Self-Esteem of Rural Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Raymond K.; Fetsch, Robert J.

    2007-01-01

    The self-esteem of children in small towns was assessed. Comparing these children's self-rated competencies to extant norms suggests that rural children's self-perceptions are not distinctly different from suburban and urban children. Rural children's feelings of self-worth and self-assessments of scholastic competence are comparable to or higher…

  12. Spouses, Adult Children, and Children-in-Law as Caregivers of Older Adults: A Meta-Analytic Comparison

    PubMed Central

    Pinquart, Martin; Sörensen, Silvia

    2015-01-01

    The present meta-analysis integrates the results from 168 empirical studies on differences between caregiving spouses, adult children, and children-in-law. Spouses differ from children and children-in-law significantly with regard to sociodemographic variables; also, they provide more support but report fewer care recipient behavior problems. Spouse caregivers report more depression symptoms, greater financial and physical burden, and lower levels of psychological well-being. Higher levels of psychological distress among spouses are explained mostly—but not completely—by higher levels of care provision. Few differences emerge between children and children-in-law, but children-in-law perceive the relationship with the care recipient as less positive and they report fewer uplifts of caregiving. PMID:21417538

  13. Exercise and Children's Health.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rowland, Thomas W.

    This book paints a broad picture of the role of exercise in children's health and provides information for the physician and other health care providers on healthful forms of physical activity for children. The book is divided into three parts: (1) "Developmental Exercise Physiology: The Physiological Basis of Physical Fitness in Children"; (2)…

  14. Children and the Nintendo.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Keller, Suzanne M.

    The four reports contained in this document examine the effects of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), which entered the lives of many children in the United States in 1986. The first report discusses a study of children's interaction with the game hardware. The study of fourth- and fifth-grade students indicated that children's interaction…

  15. Teaching African-American Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Horton, Harold

    1994-01-01

    Examines the historical blighting of African-American slaves' minds, which stripped them of their African culture. Examines the effect on African-American children, as well as other children of color. Offers suggestions for coping with the problems of modern schools in terms of respecting and teaching these children that the system is the problem,…

  16. Macrophage activation syndrome in children with systemic lupus erythematosus and children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

    PubMed

    Bennett, Tellen D; Fluchel, Mark; Hersh, Aimee O; Hayward, Kristen N; Hersh, Adam L; Brogan, Thomas V; Srivastava, Rajendu; Stone, Bryan L; Korgenski, E Kent; Mundorff, Michael B; Casper, T Charles; Bratton, Susan L

    2012-12-01

    To describe patient demographics, interventions, and outcomes in hospitalized children with macrophage activation syndrome (MAS) complicating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) or juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We performed a retrospective cohort study using data recorded in the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database from October 1, 2006 to September 30, 2010. Participants had International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes for MAS and either SLE or JIA. The primary outcome was hospital mortality (for the index admission). Secondary outcomes included intensive care unit (ICU) admission, critical care interventions, and medication use. A total of 121 children at 28 children's hospitals met the inclusion criteria, including 19 children with SLE and 102 children with JIA. The index admission mortality rate was 7% (8 of 121 patients). ICU admission (33%), mechanical ventilation (26%), and inotrope/vasopressor therapy (26%) were common. Compared to children with JIA, those with SLE had a similar mortality rate (6% versus 11%, respectively; exact P = 0.6). More patients with SLE than those with JIA received ICU care (63% versus 27%; P = 0.002), received mechanical ventilation (53% versus 21%; P = 0.003), and had cardiovascular dysfunction (47% versus 23% received inotrope/vasopressor therapy; P = 0.02). Children with SLE and those with JIA received cyclosporine at similar rates, but more children with SLE received cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil, and more children with JIA received interleukin-1 antagonists. Organ system dysfunction is common in children with rheumatic diseases complicated by MAS, and more organ system support is required in children with underlying SLE than in children with JIA. Current treatment of pediatric MAS varies based on the underlying rheumatic disease. Copyright © 2012 by the American College of Rheumatology.

  17. Parental misperceptions about children and firearms.

    PubMed

    Baxley, Frances; Miller, Matthew

    2006-05-01

    To assess the accuracy of parental predictions about their children's self-reported behavior around household guns. Survey. Family practice clinic in rural Alabama. Convenience sample of parents and their children aged 5 to 14 years. Questionnaires about firearms administered separately to children and their parents. Rates of concordance and discordance between parents and their children living in homes with guns about whether the children knew the storage location of household firearms and had ever handled firearms in the home. Of 420 parent-child dyads, 314 agreed to participate; 201 of the 314 homes contained guns. Children younger than 10 years were as likely as older children to report knowing the storage location (73% vs 79%, respectively) and to report having handled a household gun (36% vs 36%, respectively). Thirty-nine percent of parents who reported that their children did not know the storage location of household guns and 22% of parents who reported that their children had never handled a household gun were contradicted by their children's reports. Such discordance between parent and child reports was unrelated to whether parents stored their firearms locked away or had ever discussed firearm safety with their children. Many parents who were living in homes with firearms and who reported that their children had never handled firearms in their homes were contradicted by their children's self-reports. Parents who locked their guns away and discussed gun safety with their children were as likely to be contradicted as parents who did not take such safety measures.

  18. Dietary Patterns and Feeding Problems of Turkish Children with Intellectual Disabilities and Typically Developing Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sayin, Kubra; Ilik, Senay

    2017-01-01

    This study aimed to determine whether dietary patterns and feeding problems differ among children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and typically developing children (TDC) in Turkey. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 220 (112 children with ID and 108 TDC) 7-12 aged children in Konya, Turkey. We assessed usual dietary intakes by a…

  19. Developing Responsive Preventative Practices: Key Messages from Children's and Families' Experiences of the Children's Fund

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Pinnock, Katherine; Evans, Ruth

    2008-01-01

    As part of the prevention and social inclusion agenda, the Children's Fund, set up in 2000, has developed preventative services for children at risk of social exclusion. Drawing on a large qualitative dataset of interviews conducted in 2004/05 with children, young people and their parents/carers who accessed Children Fund services, this article…

  20. To children with love.

    PubMed

    Kumar, K T

    1995-01-01

    People debating population growth in India and why adults in India choose to bear so many children seem to either not understand or overlook that people in India like children; the more the better. Indeed, children interest every Indian, with new mothers receiving advice on baby care from all quarters. The child is king in India, spoiled, but generally well-behaved. It could be that children receive so much attention from many loving relatives that they do not need to act out in order to get attention. Having a child is the focus and meaning of married life. Without a child, life loses its color and joy. Moreover, childless couples face the insecurity of not having children to care for them once they grow old. The author notes her failure to observe children who were poorly adjusted and sad because they habitually shared a bed with their parents. As concerned individuals ponder the perils of global population growth, they might consider the merit of the Indian view on the subject.

  1. [Respecting rights of hospitalized children].

    PubMed

    Mroczek, Bozena

    2004-01-01

    Children's rights are nowadays an important social, pedagogic, legal and moral problem. Practical respecting of resolutions included in the Convention on the Rights of the Child is far from perfect and requires changing social way of thinking. To attain this, the contents and essence of children's rights have to be disseminated and consequently enforced. The aim of my research was to answer the question: "What are the conditions for upholding children's right to respect at children wards?". The subject of my analysis was nurses' value hierarchy and individual conditions influencing respecting children rights. Research procedures were directed towards finding the answer to the following question: "What is the range of upholding children's right to respect?". I defined children's right to respect on the basis of analysis of Janusz Korczak's scientific output and the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The rights being the subject of my research are classified either as "soft" or "hard" rights. "Soft" rights are defined in articles no. 12-16 and 31. Rights defined in articles no. 6, 7, 9 and 24 are referred to as "hard" rights. The synthesis of research results leads to the following solution of the research problem: The assumption of a strong influence of the most important values on mental life-thinking, perception, emotional-motivation processes, attitude and behavior of questioned nurses did not have proper empirical confirmation. Nurses' value hierarchy does not ensure upholding of children's right to respect in hospitals. Nurses' awareness of children rights reaches average level, while their knowledge and activity are at low level, and understanding of essence of children's rights and valuation of the rights--at average level. Average level of awareness of respecting children's rights makes children's existence in hospital imperiled by intuitive, often routine activities of nurses. The level of nurses' awareness is differentiated by age

  2. Children and adolescents with complex regional pain syndrome: More psychologically distressed than other children in pain?

    PubMed Central

    Logan, Deirdre E; Williams, Sara E; Carullo, Veronica P; Claar, Robyn Lewis; Bruehl, Stephen; Berde, Charles B

    2013-01-01

    BACKGROUND Historically, in both adult and pediatric populations, a lack of knowledge regarding complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) and absence of clear diagnostic criteria have contributed to the view that this is a primarily psychiatric condition. OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that children with CRPS are more functionally disabled, have more pain and are more psychologically distressed than children with other pain conditions. METHODS: A total of 101 children evaluated in a tertiary care pediatric pain clinic who met the International Association for the Study of Pain consensus diagnostic criteria for CRPS participated in the present retrospective study. Comparison groups included 103 children with abdominal pain, 291 with headache and 119 with back pain. Children and parents completed self-report questionnaires assessing disability, somatization, pain coping, depression, anxiety and school attendance. RESULTS: Children with CRPS reported higher pain intensity and more recent onset of pain at the initial tertiary pain clinic evaluation compared with children with other chronic pain conditions. They reported greater functional disability and more somatic symptoms than children with headaches or back pain. Scores on measures of depression and anxiety were within normal limits and similar to those of children in other pain diagnostic groups. CONCLUSIONS: As a group, clinic-referred children with CRPS may be more functionally impaired and experience more somatic symptoms compared with children with other pain conditions. However, overall psychological functioning as assessed by self-report appears to be similar to that of children with other chronic pain diagnoses. Comprehensive assessment using a biopsychosocial framework is essential to understanding and appropriately treating children with symptoms of CRPS. PMID:23662291

  3. Children's health insurance program premiums adversely affect enrollment, especially among lower-income children.

    PubMed

    Abdus, Salam; Hudson, Julie; Hill, Steven C; Selden, Thomas M

    2014-08-01

    Both Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which are run by the states and funded by federal and state dollars, offer health insurance coverage for low-income children. Thirty-three states charged premiums for children at some income ranges in CHIP or Medicaid in 2013. Using data from the 1999-2010 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys, we show that the relationship between premiums and coverage varies considerably by income level and by parental access to employer-sponsored insurance. Among children with family incomes above 150 percent of the federal poverty level, a $10 increase in monthly premiums is associated with a 1.6-percentage-point reduction in Medicaid or CHIP coverage. In this income range, the increase in uninsurance may be higher among those children whose parents lack an offer of employer-sponsored insurance than among those whose parents have such an offer. Among children with family incomes of 101-150 percent of poverty, a $10 increase in monthly premiums is associated with a 6.7-percentage-point reduction in Medicaid or CHIP coverage and a 3.3-percentage-point increase in uninsurance. In this income range, the increase in uninsurance is even larger among children whose parents lack offers of employer coverage. Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.

  4. Young Children's Research Behaviour? Children Aged Four to Eight Years Finding Solutions at Home and at School

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Murray, Jane M.

    2013-01-01

    Children's research abilities have become increasingly recognised by adults, yet children remain excluded from the academy. This restricts children's freedom to make choices in matters affecting them, underestimates their capabilities and denies children particular rights. The present paper reports on young children's problem-solving as part of a…

  5. Self-Esteem: A Comparison between Hong Kong Children and Newly Arrived Chinese Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chan, Yiu Man; Chan, Christine Mei-Sheung

    2004-01-01

    The Self-esteem Inventory developed by Coopersmith (1967) was used to measure the self-esteem of 387 Chinese children. The sample included newly arrived mainland Chinese children and Hong Kong children. The results showed significant statistical differences when measuring the self-esteem level associated with the length of their stay in Hong Kong…

  6. Advancing the Language Skills of Young Latino Children. New Journalism on Latino Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bridges, Margaret; Anguiano, Rebecca; Fuller, Bruce

    2010-01-01

    More than 20% of U.S. children entering kindergarten today are of Latino heritage. And Latino children--growing-up in highly diverse communities--enter school with weaker math and English preliteracy skills than their non-Latino peers. The growing percentage of Spanish-speaking children in today's classrooms raises questions for educators,…

  7. Effects of enrollment in medicaid versus the state children's health insurance program on kindergarten children's untreated dental caries.

    PubMed

    Brickhouse, Tegwyn H; Rozier, R Gary; Slade, Gary D

    2008-05-01

    We compared levels of untreated dental caries in children enrolled in public insurance programs with those in nonenrolled children to determine the impact of public dental insurance and the type of plan (Medicaid vs State Children's Health Insurance Program [SCHIP]) on untreated dental caries in children. Dental health outcomes were obtained through a calibrated oral screening of kindergarten children (enrolled in the 2000-2001 school year). We obtained eligibility and claims data for children enrolled in Medicaid and SCHIP who were eligible for dental services during 1999 to 2000. We developed logistic regression models to compare children's likelihood and extent of untreated dental caries according to enrollment. Children enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP were 1.7 times (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.65, 1.77) more likely to have untreated dental caries than were nonenrolled children. SCHIP-enrolled children were significantly less likely to have untreated dental caries than were Medicaid-enrolled children (odds ratio [OR]=0.74; 95% CI=0.67, 0.82). According to a 2-part regression model, children enrolled in Medicaid or SCHIP have 17% more untreated dental caries than do nonenrolled children, whereas those in SCHIP had 16% fewer untreated dental caries than did those in Medicaid. Untreated tooth decay continues to be a significant problem for children with public insurance coverage. Children who participated in a separate SCHIP program had fewer untreated dental caries than did children enrolled in Medicaid.

  8. The Recession's Ongoing Impact on America's Children: Indicators of Children's Economic Well-Being through 2011

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Isaacs, Julia B.

    2011-01-01

    Children throughout the United States continue to be negatively impacted by the lingering effects of the Great Recession, with children in some states more hard hit than others. The impact of the recession on children can be hard to see. Some economic statistics ignore children, while others come out with a long time delay. This updated issue…

  9. Climate change and children's health--a call for research on what works to protect children.

    PubMed

    Xu, Zhiwei; Sheffield, Perry E; Hu, Wenbiao; Su, Hong; Yu, Weiwei; Qi, Xin; Tong, Shilu

    2012-09-10

    Climate change is affecting and will increasingly influence human health and wellbeing. Children are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change. An extensive literature review regarding the impact of climate change on children's health was conducted in April 2012 by searching electronic databases PubMed, Scopus, ProQuest, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science, as well as relevant websites, such as IPCC and WHO. Climate change affects children's health through increased air pollution, more weather-related disasters, more frequent and intense heat waves, decreased water quality and quantity, food shortage and greater exposure to toxicants. As a result, children experience greater risk of mental disorders, malnutrition, infectious diseases, allergic diseases and respiratory diseases. Mitigation measures like reducing carbon pollution emissions, and adaptation measures such as early warning systems and post-disaster counseling are strongly needed. Future health research directions should focus on: (1) identifying whether climate change impacts on children will be modified by gender, age and socioeconomic status; (2) refining outcome measures of children's vulnerability to climate change; (3) projecting children's disease burden under climate change scenarios; (4) exploring children's disease burden related to climate change in low-income countries; and (5) identifying the most cost-effective mitigation and adaptation actions from a children's health perspective.

  10. Perceived athletic competence and physical activity in children with developmental coordination disorder who are clinically referred, and control children.

    PubMed

    Noordstar, Johannes J; Stuive, Ilse; Herweijer, Hester; Holty, Lian; Oudenampsen, Chantal; Schoemaker, Marina M; Reinders-Messelink, Heleen A

    2014-12-01

    The relationship between perceived athletic competence (PAC) and physical activity (PA) in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is still unclear. This study investigated differences in PAC and PA between, and within, a group of children with DCD that were clinically referred (n = 31) and a group of control children (n = 38), aged 7-12 years. All children were categorized in four groups: (1) children with DCD/low PAC, (2) children with DCD/normal to high PAC, (3) control children/low PAC, and (4) control children/normal to high PAC. PAC was assessed with the Self-Perception Profile for Children, and PA was assessed with the Modifiable Activity Questionnaire. Children with DCD participated less in unorganized PA, but not in organized PA, compared with control children. Normal to high PAC was found in more than half of the children (64.5%) with DCD. Children with DCD/low PAC and children with DCD/normal to high PAC participated significantly less in unorganized physical activity compared with control children/normal to high PAC, but not compared with control children/low PAC. The results indicate that there are large individual differences in PAC in children with DCD. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Help for Special Children.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Simon, Rosalyn

    In large type and in very simple language, this pamphlet informs parents about the provisions of Public Law 94-142. It states that children with handicaps can go to public school with other children, that the school must give the special help that children with handicaps need to learn in school, and that the special help is called special…

  12. The Games Children Play

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Padak, Nancy; Rasinski, Timothy

    2008-01-01

    The games that children play are not just for fun-they often lead to important skill development. Likewise, word games are fun opportunities for parents and children to spend time together and for children to learn a lot about sounds and words. In this Family Involvement column, the authors describe 12 easy-to-implement word games that parents and…

  13. Predicting social functioning in children with a cochlear implant and in normal-hearing children: the role of emotion regulation.

    PubMed

    Wiefferink, Carin H; Rieffe, Carolien; Ketelaar, Lizet; Frijns, Johan H M

    2012-06-01

    The purpose of the present study was to compare children with a cochlear implant and normal hearing children on aspects of emotion regulation (emotion expression and coping strategies) and social functioning (social competence and externalizing behaviors) and the relation between emotion regulation and social functioning. Participants were 69 children with cochlear implants (CI children) and 67 normal hearing children (NH children) aged 1.5-5 years. Parents answered questionnaires about their children's language skills, social functioning, and emotion regulation. Children also completed simple tasks to measure their emotion regulation abilities. Cochlear implant children had fewer adequate emotion regulation strategies and were less socially competent than normal hearing children. The parents of cochlear implant children did not report fewer externalizing behaviors than those of normal hearing children. While social competence in normal hearing children was strongly related to emotion regulation, cochlear implant children regulated their emotions in ways that were unrelated with social competence. On the other hand, emotion regulation explained externalizing behaviors better in cochlear implant children than in normal hearing children. While better language skills were related to higher social competence in both groups, they were related to fewer externalizing behaviors only in cochlear implant children. Our results indicate that cochlear implant children have less adequate emotion-regulation strategies and less social competence than normal hearing children. Since they received their implants relatively recently, they might eventually catch up with their hearing peers. Longitudinal studies should further explore the development of emotion regulation and social functioning in cochlear implant children. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Young Children and Trust in Turkey

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alat, Zeynep

    2014-01-01

    The aim of the study was to examine differences in children's generalised trust and the maternal behaviour, child temperament, and demographic factors on the levels of trust in children. A total of 314 mothers and their children participated in the study. Results showed no evidence of sex differences in children's beliefs. Children living in urban…

  15. 34 CFR 303.17 - Homeless children.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2014-07-01 2013-07-01 true Homeless children. 303.17 Section 303.17 Education... DISABILITIES General Definitions Used in This Part § 303.17 Homeless children. Homeless children means children who meet the definition given the term homeless children and youths in section 725 (42 U.S.C. 11434a...

  16. 34 CFR 303.17 - Homeless children.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Homeless children. 303.17 Section 303.17 Education... DISABILITIES General Definitions Used in This Part § 303.17 Homeless children. Homeless children means children who meet the definition given the term homeless children and youths in section 725 (42 U.S.C. 11434a...

  17. 34 CFR 303.17 - Homeless children.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 34 Education 2 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Homeless children. 303.17 Section 303.17 Education... DISABILITIES General Definitions Used in This Part § 303.17 Homeless children. Homeless children means children who meet the definition given the term homeless children and youths in section 725 (42 U.S.C. 11434a...

  18. Parental reactions to children's negative emotions: prospective relations to Chinese children's psychological adjustment.

    PubMed

    Tao, Annie; Zhou, Qing; Wang, Yun

    2010-04-01

    The prospective relations between five types of parental reactions to children's negative emotions (PRCNE) and children's psychological adjustment (behavioral problems and social competence) were examined in a two-wave longitudinal study of 425 school-age children in China. Parents (mostly mothers) reported their own PRCNE. Parents, teachers, and children or peers reported on children's adjustment. Parental punitive reactions positively predicted externalizing problems (controlling for baseline), whereas emotion- and problem-focused reactions were negatively related to internalizing problems. Parental minimizing and encouragement of emotion expression were unrelated to adjustment. Concurrent relations were found between PRCNE and parents' authoritative and authoritarian parenting dimensions. However, PRCNE did not uniquely predict adjustment controlling for global parenting dimensions. The findings have implications for cultural adaptation of parent-focused interventions for families of Chinese origin. 2010 APA, all rights reserved

  19. Massage therapy for children with cancer.

    PubMed

    Post-White, Janice; Fitzgerald, Maura; Savik, Kay; Hooke, Mary C; Hannahan, Anne B; Sencer, Susan F

    2009-01-01

    This pilot study aimed to determine the feasibility of providing massage to children with cancer to reduce symptoms in children and anxiety in parents. Twenty-three children/parent dyads were enrolled; 17 completed all data points. Children with cancer, ages 1 to 18 years, received at least 2 identical cycles of chemotherapy, and one parent, participated in the 2-period crossover design in which 4 weekly massage sessions alternated with 4 weekly quiet-time control sessions. Changes in relaxation (heart and respiratory rates, blood pressure, and salivary cortisol level) and symptoms (pain, nausea, anxiety, and fatigue) were assessed in children; anxiety and fatigue were measured in parents. Massage was more effective than quiet time at reducing heart rate in children, anxiety in children less than age 14 years, and parent anxiety. There were no significant changes in blood pressure, cortisol, pain, nausea, or fatigue. Children reported that massage helped them feel better, lessened their anxiety and worries, and had longer lasting effects than quiet time. Massage in children with cancer is feasible and appears to decrease anxiety in parents and younger children.

  20. Social Information Processing in Elementary-School Aged Children with ADHD: Medication Effects and Comparisons with Typical Children

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    King, Sara; Waschbusch, Daniel A.; Pelham, William E., Jr.; Frankland, Bradley W.; Andrade, Brendan F.; Jacques, Sophie; Corkum, Penny V.

    2009-01-01

    Examined social information processing (SIP) in medicated and unmedicated children with ADHD and in controls. Participants were 75 children (56 boys, 19 girls) aged 6-12 years, including 41 children with ADHD and 34 controls. Children were randomized into medication conditions such that 20 children with ADHD participated after receiving placebo…

  1. Children's Physic: Medical Perceptions and Treatment of Sick Children in Early Modern England, c. 1580-1720.

    PubMed

    Newton, Hannah

    2010-12-01

    Historians of medicine, childhood and paediatrics have often assumed that early modern doctors neither treated children, nor adapted their medicines to suit the peculiar temperaments of the young. Through an examination of medical textbooks and doctors' casebooks, this article refutes these assumptions. It argues that medical authors and practising doctors regularly treated children, and were careful to tailor their remedies to complement the distinctive constitutions of children. Thus, this article proposes that a concept of 'children's physic' existed in early modern England. This term refers to the notion that children were physiologically distinct, requiring special medical care. Children's physic was rooted in the ancient traditions of Hippocratic and Galenic medicine: it was the child's humoral make-up that underpinned all medical ideas about children's bodies, minds, diseases and treatments. Children abounded in the humour blood, which made them humid and weak, and in need of medicines of a particularly gentle nature.

  2. Reducing children's television-viewing time: a qualitative study of parents and their children.

    PubMed

    Jordan, Amy B; Hersey, James C; McDivitt, Judith A; Heitzler, Carrie D

    2006-11-01

    The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children over age 2 years spend < or = 2 hours per day with screen media, because excessive viewing has been linked to a plethora of physical, academic, and behavioral problems. The primary goal of this study was to qualitatively explore how a recommendation to limit television viewing might be received and responded to by a diverse sample of parents and their school-age children. The study collected background data about media use, gathered a household media inventory, and conducted in-depth individual and small group interviews with 180 parents and children ages 6 to 13 years old. Most of the children reported spending approximately 3 hours per day watching television. The average home in this sample had 4 television sets; nearly two thirds had a television in the child's bedroom, and nearly half had a television set in the kitchen or dining room. Although virtually all of the parents reported having guidelines for children's television viewing, few had rules restricting the time children spend watching television. Data from this exploratory study suggest several potential barriers to implementing a 2-hour limit, including: parents' need to use television as a safe and affordable distraction, parents' own heavy television viewing patterns, the role that television plays in the family's day-to-day routine, and a belief that children should spend their weekend leisure time as they wish. Interviews revealed that for many of these families there is a lack of concern that television viewing is a problem for their child, and there remains confusion about the boundaries of the recommendation of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Parents in this study expressed interest in taking steps toward reducing children's television time but also uncertainty about how to go about doing so. Results suggest possible strategies to reduce the amount of time children spend in front of the screen.

  3. Factors influencing children's food choice.

    PubMed

    Koivisto Hursti, U K

    1999-04-01

    Although food habits are not stable and unchanging during a person's lifetime, a base for healthy food habits can be created in early childhood. Children's food habits can be assumed to be influenced by their parents' food habits and choices. The aim of this article is to review factors influencing food choice in children as well as in adults. The results demonstrate that the development of children's food habits is influenced by a multitude of factors. Parents play an important role in the formation of food habits and preferences of young children. They can influence their children's food choice by making specific foods available, by acting as models for their children and by their behaviour in specific situations. Children tend to be afraid of new foods and do not readily accept them. However, experience is known to enhance preference, and earlier experiences of a particular food are the major determinants of the development of children's food acceptance patterns. Thus, parents should be encouraged to make healthy foods easily available to the child and serve these foods in positive mealtime situations in order to help their child to develop healthy food habits.

  4. Factors influencing children's food choice.

    PubMed

    Hursti, Ulla-Kaisa Koivisto

    1999-01-01

    Although food habits arc not stable and unchanging during a person's lifetime, a base for healthy food habits can be created in early childhood. Children's food habits can be assumed to be influenced by their parents' food habits and choices. The aim of this article is to review factors influencing food choice in children as well as in adults. The results demonstrate that the development of children's food habits is influenced by a multitude of factors. Parents play an important role in the formation of food habits and preferences of young children. They can influence their children's food choice by making specific foods available, by acting as models for their children and by their behaviour in specific situations. Children tend to be afraid of new foods and do not readily accept them. However, experience is known to enhance preference, and earlier experiences of a particular food are the major determinants of the development of children's food acceptance patterns. Thus, parents should be encouraged to make healthy foods easily available to the child and serve these foods in positive mealtime situations in order to help their child to develop healthy food habits.

  5. The children's menu assessment: development, evaluation, and relevance of a tool for evaluating children's menus.

    PubMed

    Krukowski, Rebecca A; Eddings, Kenya; West, Delia Smith

    2011-06-01

    Restaurant foods represent a substantial portion of children's dietary intake, and consumption of foods away from home has been shown to contribute to excess adiposity. This descriptive study aimed to pilot-test and establish the reliability of a standardized and comprehensive assessment tool, the Children's Menu Assessment, for evaluating the restaurant food environment for children. The tool is an expansion of the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey-Restaurant. In 2009-2010, a randomly selected sample of 130 local and chain restaurants were chosen from within 20 miles of Little Rock, AR, to examine the availability of children's menus and to conduct initial calibration of the Children's Menu Assessment tool (final sample: n=46). Independent raters completed the Children's Menu Assessment in order to determine inter-rater reliability. Test-retest reliability was also examined. Inter-rater reliability was high: percent agreement was 97% and Spearman correlation was 0.90. Test-retest was also high: percent agreement was 91% and Spearman correlation was 0.96. Mean Children's Menu Assessment completion time was 14 minutes, 56 seconds ± 10 minutes, 21 seconds. Analysis of Children's Menu Assessment findings revealed that few healthier options were available on children's menus, and most menus did not provide parents with information for making healthy choices, including nutrition information or identification of healthier options. The Children's Menu Assessment tool allows for comprehensive, rapid measurement of the restaurant food environment for children with high inter-rater reliability. This tool has the potential to contribute to public health efforts to develop and evaluate targeted environmental interventions and/or policy changes regarding restaurant foods. Copyright © 2011 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Preventing head injuries in children

    MedlinePlus

    Concussion - preventing in children; Traumatic brain injury - preventing in children; TBI - children; Safety - preventing head injury ... Playing contact sports, such as lacrosse, ice hockey, football Riding a skateboard, scooter, or in-line skates ...

  7. Examining Children's Models of Seed.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jewell, Natalie

    2002-01-01

    Reports research that examines children's models of seed. Explores the conceptions held by children (N=75) of germination and seed formation. Concludes that children hold a restricted meaning for the term 'seed'. (DDR)

  8. Inferential functioning in visually impaired children.

    PubMed

    Puche-Navarro, Rebeca; Millán, Rafael

    2007-01-01

    The current study explores the inferential abilities of visually impaired children in a task presented in two formats, manipulative and verbal. The results showed that in the group of visually impaired children, just as with children with normal sight, there was a wide range of inference types. It was found that the visually impaired children perform slightly better in the use of inductive and relational inferences in the verbal format, while in the manipulative format children with normal sight perform better. These results suggest that in inferential functioning of young children, and especially visually impaired children, the format of the task influences performance more than the child's visual ability.

  9. Psychometric Properties of the Self-Perception Profile for Children in Children with Chronic Illness.

    PubMed

    Ferro, Mark A; Tang, Jennie

    2017-07-01

    The Self-Perception Profile for Children (SPPC) is a commonly used measure of self-concept in children, but little research has examined its psychometric properties in children newly-diagnosed with chronic illness. Confirmatory factor analysis and examination of reliability and convergent and discriminant validity of the SPPC was conducted in 31 children newly-diagnosed with asthma, diabetes, epilepsy, food allergy, or juvenile arthritis. The unidimensionality of each domain of the SPPC was confirmed, internal reliability was robust (α=.83-.95), and inter-domain polychoric correlations ranged from weak to strong (ρ=.05-.85) Convergent validity was demonstrated with measures of global self-concept and domains of quality of life. The Global Self-worth domain showed discriminant validity between children with and without comorbid mental disorder. Findings extend the psychometric properties of the SPPC as a valid and reliable scale in children newly-diagnosed with chronic illness.

  10. Putting Children First

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2000-01-01

    This document focuses on what has been and what still needs to be done to protect children from death or injury in transportation-related crashes. The following issues areas are examined: air bags and children, permanent child safety seat fitting sta...

  11. Tinnitus in children: an uncommon symptom?

    PubMed

    Shetye, A; Kennedy, V

    2010-08-01

    Tinnitus in children is regarded as an uncommon problem rarely noted by general paediatricians. Its reported prevalence varies from 12% to 36% in children with normal hearing thresholds and up to 66% in children with hearing loss and approximately 3-10% of children have been reported troubled by tinnitus. Some children do not spontaneously complain of it, but may demonstrate behavioural problems at school and home. A careful history, in conjunction with clinical findings, should guide the appropriate management approach. Even very young children are able to provide insights into what troubles them allowing children's thoughts and fears regarding this symptom to be addressed. We review the available literature on the nature and impact of tinnitus and as guidelines for this do not exist, suggest a pragmatic approach to the management of tinnitus in children. Children with troublesome tinnitus, however, should be referred on to a paediatric audiology department for further investigation and management.

  12. [Family characteristics of stuttering children].

    PubMed

    Simić-Ruzić, Budimirka; Jovanović, Aleksandar A

    2008-01-01

    Stuttering is a functional impairment of speech, which is manifested by conscious, but nonintentionally interrupted, disharmonic and disrhythmic fluctuation of sound varying in frequency and intensity. Aetiology of this disorder has been conceived within the frame of theoretical models, which tend to connect genetic and epigenetic factors. The goal of the paper was to study the characteristics of the family functioning of stuttering children in comparison to the family functioning of children without speech disorder, which confirmed the justification of the introduction of family orientated therapeutic interventions into the therapy spectrum of child stuttering. Seventy-nine nucleus families of 3 to 6-year-old children were examined; of these, 39 families had stuttering children and 40 had children without speech disorder. The assessment of family characteristics was made using the Family Health Scale, an observer-rating scale which according to semistructured interview and operational criteria, measures 6 basic dimensions of family functioning: Emotional State, Communication, Borders, Alliances, Adaptability & Stability, Family Skills. A total score calculated from the basic dimensions, is considered as a global index of family health. Families with stuttering children compared to families with children without speech disorder showed significantly lower scores in all the basic dimension of family functioning, as well as in the total score on the Family Health Scale. Our research results have shown that stuttering children in comparison with children without speech disorder live in families with unfavourable emotional atmosphere, impaired communication and worse control over situational and developmental difficulties, which affect children's development and well-being. In the light of previous research, the application of family therapy modified according to the child's needs is now considered indispensable in the therapeutic approach to stuttering children. The

  13. Profiling children's emotion regulation behaviours.

    PubMed

    Callear, Angela; Harvey, Shane T; Bimler, David; Catto, Nicholas

    2018-02-20

    Callear, Harvey, and Bimler (2016, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41, 456) organized children's emotion regulation behaviours into a coherent structure. However, further investigation is needed to identify core patterns of these emotion regulation behaviours. To identify clusters and prototypal constellations of emotion regulation behaviours, the 85 behavioural items comprising the Children's Emotion Regulation Inventory (ChERI) were ranked by 151 parents in order of applicability, using an ordinal sorting procedure (Method of Successive Sorts). Responses were aggregated in empirical scales, for classification of the cases using hierarchical and k-means clustering. The scales were based on nine key 'hotspots' of children's emotion regulation behaviours, interpreted as Outward Engagement, Inward or Somatic Focus, Disengagement, Disruptive, Impulsive/Labile, Social Connectedness/Compliance, Generating Closeness/Intimacy, Establishing Order and Generating Disorder. Five summary styles of children's emotion regulation emerged and are characterized on those scales. These hotspots and styles provide guidance to clinicians, parents, teachers, and other invested adults to assess and support children's emotional development. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Measurements of children's emotion regulation predominantly focus on internal processes and/or isolated expressions of emotion regulation behaviours. Research detailing anger and anxiety emotion regulation styles exists (e.g., Carthy, Horesh, Apter, & Gross, 2010, Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 32, 23; Zalewski, Lengua, Wilson, Trancik, & Bazinet, 2011, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 110, 141). Callear, Harvey, and Bimler (2016, International Journal of Behavioral Development, 41, 456) developed the Children's Emotion Regulation Inventory to identify children's observable emotion regulation strategies. What does this study add? Research

  14. Children of Incarcerated Parents: Cumulative Risk and Children's Living Arrangements. JCPR Working Paper.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Johnson, Elizabeth Inez; Waldfogel, Jane

    This paper examines risk factors that exist in the lives of incarcerated parents and their children, focusing on the living arrangements of the children. It uses data from the 1997 Survey of Inmates in State and Federal Correctional Facilities to address three issues: risk factors present in the lives of incarcerated parents and their children,…

  15. Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 6 Years, 2013. Fact Sheet

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jiang, Yang; Ekono, Mercedes; Skinner, Curtis

    2015-01-01

    Children under 18 years represent 23 percent of the population, but they comprise 33 percent of all people in poverty. Among all children, 44 percent live in low-income families and approximately one in every five (22 percent) live in poor families. Young children under age 6 years appear to be particularly vulnerable, with 48 percent living in…

  16. Basic Facts about Low-Income Children: Children under 3 Years, 2013. Fact Sheet

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Jiang, Yang; Ekono, Mercedes; Skinner, Curtis

    2015-01-01

    Children under 18 years represent 23 percent of the population, but they comprise 33 percent of all people in poverty. Among all children, 44 percent live in low-income families and approximately one in every five (22 percent) live in poor families. Our very youngest children--infants and toddlers under age 3 years--appear to be particularly…

  17. Local ecological knowledge among Baka children: a case of “children's culture” ?

    PubMed Central

    Gallois, Sandrine; Duda, Romain; Reyes-García, Victoria

    2016-01-01

    Childhood is an extensive life period specific to the human species and a key stage for development. Considering the importance of childhood for cultural transmission, we test the existence of a 'children's culture', or child-specific knowledge and practices not necessarily shared with adults, among the Baka in Southeast Cameroon. Using structured questionnaires, we collected data among 69 children and 175 adults to assess the ability to name, identify, and conceptualize animals and wild edibles. We found that some of the ecological knowledge related to little mammals and birds reported by Baka children was not reported by adults. We also found similarities between children’s and adult’s knowledge, both regarding the content of knowledge and how knowledge is distributed. Thus, middle childhood children hold similar knowledge than adults, especially related to wild edibles. Moreover, as children age, they start shedding child-specific knowledge and holding more adult’s knowledge. Additionally and echoing the gendered knowledge distribution present in adulthood, since middle childhood there are differences in the knowledge hold by boys and girls. We discuss our results highlighting the existence of specific ecological knowledge held by Baka children, the overlap between children’s and adults’ knowledge, and the changes in children’s ecological knowledge as they move into adulthood. PMID:28386157

  18. Children's concepts of the urinary tract.

    PubMed

    Equit, Monika; Sambach, Heike; Niemczyk, Justine; von Gontard, Alexander

    2013-10-01

    To assess children's body concepts about anatomy and physiology of the urinary tract, children drew pictures responding to the question 'Where do you believe urine comes from?' A total of 152 children in three groups were examined. 81 children were out-patients. Of these, 36 children were being seen for the first time and 45 children had previously undergone bladder and bowel group training. They were compared to 71 continent controls. Children were given a body silhouette, in which they drew their view of the urinary tract. Half of the children (52.6%) drew a bladder and other organs; nearly 43% drew a tube or other anatomically incorrect pictures. Significant differences were found for group and age. Children who had undergone the group training more often drew a bladder and other organs (80%). Correct pictures and pictures of bladder and other organs were more common from children aged 11-16 years. Children have subjective concepts of the urinary tract which do not follow actual anatomy and physiology. For medical interventions as well as any training programmes, it is essential to understand these concepts and provide instructions in a child-centred and developmentally adequate way. Copyright © 2012 Journal of Pediatric Urology Company. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Understanding Traumatic Stress in Children

    MedlinePlus

    ... here Home 22 Apr 2013 Report Understanding Traumatic Stress in Children Supporting Children and Families After Traumatic ... affiliate of AIR, developed a resource, Understanding Traumatic Stress in Children , to help. This guide describes the ...

  20. America's Children and the Environment

    MedlinePlus

    ... Labs and Research Centers America's Children and the Environment (ACE) Contact Us Share ACE presents key information ... of updates to ACE . America's Children and the Environment (ACE) America's Children and the Environment (ACE) is ...