Educational,psychosocial, and protection outcomes of child‐ and youth‐focused programming with Somali refugees in Dollo Ado,Ethiopia

Child‐ and youth‐friendly spaces have become a common feature of emergency humanitarian provision. This study reports on the outcomes of child and youth learning centres (CYLCs) in Ethiopia's Buramino Camp established for those fleeing conflict in Somalia. Eighty‐five youths completed baseline assessments shortly after arrival and follow‐up assessments three to six months later. Caregivers of 106 younger children completed similar appraisals. 693 children attending the CYLCs completed pre‐ and post‐educational assessments, which indicated major gains—significant at p<0.0001—in both literacy (younger children, t=9.06; youth, t=13.87) and numeracy (younger children, t=13.94; youths, t=17.10). Children's CYLC attendance increased reports of met needs among caregivers (t=2.53, p<0.05) and youths (t=2.57, p<0.05), and, among caregivers but not youths, significantly moderated protection concerns (t=2.39, p<0.05, and t=?1.90, p=0.06, respectively). There was general improvement in psychosocial well‐being over time for all children; CYLC attendance predicted greater reductions in reported difficulties only among younger children (t=2.51, p<0.05).     

指导小儿合理用药的几点体会

文章从三个方面讨论如何指导家长给小孩合理用药,并讨论了对家庭自备药物如何保管及如何处理小孩误服药物.     

铅污染与儿童健康

鉴于我国青少年铅中毒趋势的不断递升，文章从多方面论述了铅中毒的来源，找出铅中毒的对策。通过阐述铅中毒的现状和临床症状，以引起全社会的广泛关注和重视。解决有关健康和环境的问题，需要多部门的综合协调完成，只有整个社会都关心环境问题，重视对环境的综合治理，才能有效推进预防儿童铅中毒的工作,铅污染才能真正得到解决。     

成都市幼儿体铅水平与环境铅污染的关系

本文检测了成都市 50 1名 3～ 6岁儿童的发铅和血铅水平。发铅平均含量为 17 2 9± 9 70 μg/ g ,血铅平均浓度为 0 59± 0 33μmol/L( 12 3 81± 68 95μg/L)。 60 3%的儿童血铅浓度≥ 0 4 8μmol/L ( 10 0 μg/L) ;3 0 %的儿童血铅浓度≥ 1 4 4 μmol/L( 30 0 μg/L)。发铅与血铅无直线相关关系。市区儿童的发铅和血铅水平显著高于郊区儿童。大气铅测定显示市区铅污染重于郊区。讨论了铅污染的主要来源和儿童铅中毒的预防对策研究。     

沈阳市土壤铅对儿童血铅的影响

研究了沈阳市土壤铅和儿童血铅的动态关系,鉴于今后土壤是儿童最重要的铅暴露源,通过土壤铅预测儿童血铅,并计算当土壤铅含量削减到土壤质量二级标准时,儿童血铅恢复到安全阈值(10μg·dL^-1需要的时间,从而为土壤修复提供理论依据.研究表明,土壤铅和儿童血铅的相关系数在地理区水平上最高,为0.9200,地理区客观地代表了儿童铅暴露的真实范围.西部工业区有约90%的儿童血铅水平都高于安全阈值;东部儿童血铅水平最低,几乎没有超标现象;其它地理区儿童血铅的超标范围在3.48%～31.81%.西部工业区儿童血铅恢复到安全阈值以下所需的时间最长,平均为26.68月,其次为北部、东北部、西南部、西北部和中部,东部儿童已在安全水平.无论各地理区儿童血铅水平,还是平均恢复时间和最长恢复时间都受土壤铅含量控制.     

中国儿童铅暴露健康风险评估

通过检索中国生物医学文献数据库和中国全文期刊数据库,以及相关文献追溯等途径检索收集,并按照拟定的标准筛选国内1994-2012年公开发表的有关儿童血铅水平的论文;根据调查对象居住地点,将论文分为以城市儿童为研究对象和以农村儿童为研究对象两类.在此基础上,按照WHO推荐的评价方法,评估儿童铅暴露引起的轻度精神发育迟滞(以精神发育迟滞MMR发病率表征)及其疾病负担(以伤残调整寿命年DALYs表征),以此评价中国儿童铅暴露的健康风险.结果表明,中国城市儿童的血铅均值为7.02 μg·dL-1,MMR的发病率为17.9‰,农村儿童相应值分别为7.88 μg·dL-1和19.8‰.城市和农村儿童因铅暴露导致的DALYs损失分别为每千人39.4例和43.2例.结果提示,我国儿童铅暴露所致MMR发病率高于西太平洋区的平均水平,应采取积极的措施降低儿童铅暴露水平.     

Effect of automated versus manual emergency braking on rear seat adult and pediatric occupant precrash motion

Abstract

Objective: Emergency braking can potentially generate precrash occupant motion that may influence the effectiveness of restraints in the subsequent crash, particularly for rear-seated occupants who may be less aware of the impending crash. With the advent of automated emergency braking (AEB), the mechanism by which braking is achieved is changing, potentially altering precrash occupant motion. Further, due to anatomical and biomechanical differences across ages, kinematic differences between AEB and manual emergency braking (MEB) may vary between child and adult occupants. Therefore, the objective of this study was to quantify differences in rear-seated adult and pediatric kinematics and muscle activity during AEB and MEB scenarios.

Methods: Vehicle maneuvers were performed in a recent model year sedan traveling at 50?km/h. MEB (acceleration ～1?g) was achieved by the driver pressing the brake pedal with maximum effort. AEB (acceleration ～0.8?g) was triggered by the vehicle system. Inertial and Global Positioning System data were collected. Seventeen male participants aged 10–33 were restrained in the rear right passenger seat and experienced each maneuver twice. The subjects’ kinematics were recorded with an 8-camera 3D motion capture system. Electromyography (EMG) recorded muscle activity. Head and trunk displacements, raw and normalized by seated height, and peak head and trunk velocity were compared across age and between maneuvers. Mean EMG was calculated to interpret kinematic findings.

Results: Head and trunk displacement and peak velocity were greater in MEB than in AEB in both raw and normalized data (P?≤?.01). No effect of age was observed (P?≥?.21). Peak head and trunk velocities were greater in repetition 1 than in repetition 2 (P?≤?.006) in MEB but not in AEB. Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) mean EMG was greater in MEB compared to AEB, and muscle activity increased in repetition 2 in MEB.

Conclusions: Across all ages, head and trunk excursions were greater in MEB than AEB, despite increased muscle activity in MEB. This observation may suggest an ineffective attempt to brace the head or a startle reflex. The increased excursion in MEB compared to AEB may be attributed to differences in the acceleration pulses between the 2 scenarios. These results suggest that AEB systems can use specific deceleration profiles that have potential to reduce occupant motion across diverse age groups compared to sudden maximum emergency braking applied manually.     

Association of serum levels of polychlorinated biphenyls with IL-8 mRNA expression in blood samples from asthmatic and non-asthmatic Japanese children

Background

One of the suggested health outcomes of PCB exposure is childhood asthma.

Objectives

This study was conducted to find health relevant biomarkers providing the molecular epidemiological evidence for the positive relationship between exposure to PCBs and childhood asthma.

Methods

Blood samples from fifteen asthmatic children as well as an equal number of non-asthmatic children (average 2 year old) were collected, and were analyzed for PCBs and their select marker expression by using qRT-PCR.

Results

Among biomarkers examined IL-8 expression was significantly correlated to serum levels of PCB #163 + 164 (P = 0.022), #170 (P = 0.046), #177 (P = 0.022), #178 (P = 0.022) and #180 + 193 (P = 0.046) in a dose-dependent manner, which was found only among asthmatic children. In contrast, COX-2 correlations to individual congener levels were recognized only among control subjects, not among asthmatic subjects.

Conclusion

Serum concentrations of PCB#163 + 164, #170, #177, #178 and #180 + 193 correlate significantly with IL-8 mRNA expressions among asthmatic children.     

“Because we are all people”: outcomes and reflections from young people's participation in the planning and design of child-friendly public spaces

Child-Friendly Cities were conceived as a means to integrate children's rights into city decision-making and governance. Participatory research about child-friendly cities consistently finds overarching themes across ages and regions: children desire access to services, nature, and play; freedom from physical danger; and opportunities for inclusion within the city. This article explores a two-year visioning and participatory design process that engaged approximately 225 young people, aged 4–16, in the planning and design of a prominent public space in the City of Boulder. While participatory research with children has received much attention in the academic literature, much less attention has been given to what can be achieved through sustained integration of children into municipal planning processes, particularly in the USA. This paper thus moves children's participation beyond rhetoric and into the challenging reality of planning a city with children as a valued constituent.     

Assessment of the Immune Status of Women Working in the Potassium Salt Industry and Their Children

The state of the immune system was studied in the women working at the OAO Uralkalii (Berezniki) and OAO Sil'vinit (Solikamsk), where they were permanently exposed to salts and halite waste, and their children born after at least three years of such exposure. The control group consisted of women who had no occupational contact with salts and halite wastes and of their children. No significant differences between the differential leukocyte counts and immunograms of the women working at the OAO Uralkalii and OAO Sil'vinit and their children were found. The main parameters of the immune system of women and their children both in the first and second groups were within the norm.