bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Early childhood Education and Public Care Policies in Chile: A Historical Perspective to Analyze the Present
Authors: Peralta Maria Victoria 
Published: February 2015

Abstract
Comparative studies in public policy is, in general, an important area, suitable for deep analysis, since it indicates how the State creates a hierarchy of different development sectors that have an impact nationwide, as well as telling us exactly what the end policy product is. With this in mind, the analysis of these policies in emerging countries becomes a particularly interesting field, since it implies that some prioritizations in economical and social contexts are not relatively complex. In this sense, as part of Latin America, Chile is an interesting case to analyze, since in its earliest years as a republic it was concerned about early childhood education. This means that since the first experiences in the 19th Century, an institutional legal basis has been created in the ECEC field. This has made it possible to establish increasingly challenging public policies as seen in the recently created social protection program, “Chile Crece contigo” (Chile Grows with You). This article aims at providing a historical account of the development of public policies in this field, by analyzing their origins and most particularly, their present status. This current situation allows Chile to assist 50% of the population of those aged 0 to 6 in various institutions and in different ways, mainly with public funding (83%).
Creating Conditions for Reflective Practice in Early Childhood Education
Authors: Venninen Tuulikki , Leinonen Jonna , Ojala Mikko , Lipponen Lasse 
Published: February 2015

AbstractIn this study, we describe the development of working practices in Finnish day care centers within the Helsinki metropolitan area, which has 500 day care centers. Every two years, 21 of them are selected for a study to be included in a development network. The Development Unit of Early Childhood Education (VKK-Metro), which includes the University of Helsinki and four municipalities in the metropolitan area, coordinates the development of working practices. The objective is to collaborate on the development of day care pedagogy. The objectives and operating structure of VKK-Metro and the principles of developing practices included within it are described and the operation itself is illustrated in the context of the research results. The leading idea is the development of working practices and pedagogy through a reflective and open dialogue. Research results will be utilized in the development of the day care network studied and in workshops arranged for educators in the region.
Getting Early Childhood onto the Reform Agenda: An Australian Case Study
Authors: Flottman Rachel , Page Jane 
Published: February 2015

Abstract
Many Governments around the world turned their attention to early childhood policy and service provision throughout the early 2000s, and the Victorian State Government within Australia was no different. Over the past six years, the Victorian Government has reformed the early childhood education and care system substantially. The factors leading to this emphasis on early childhood reform were not straight-forward. This article adapts Richmond’s and Kotelchuck’s (1983) model for examining the interacting forces shaping public policy to make sense of how early childhood so successfully found itself at the centre of the Victorian Government’s reform agenda. It concludes that far from being random, it was a combination of political will, a rich, expanding and interdisciplinary knowledge base and a well-developed social strategy for the application of the knowledge base that led to early childhood being at the centre of the reform agenda. It concludes that much of the evidence by which the reform agenda was informed came from studies conducte d internationally and that more Australian research is needed to investigate early childhood program effectiveness in our own local context if the momentum is to continue.
Family Day Care and the National Quality Framework: Issues in Improving Quality of Service
Authors: Ishimine Karin , Tayler Collette 
Published: February 2015

Abstract
Family child care, or family day care (FDC), as it is known in Australia, is an important early childhood education and care (ECEC) option, as it offers unique services compared with other ECEC services such as greater flexibility, wider children’s age range (0–12 years old) and differential operation procedures. In Australia, however, a new National Quality Framework (NQF) is in the process of being implemented in Australia. This will affect all ECEC services, including FDCs, through the application of National Quality Standards (NQS). How will FDCs respond to the major changes ensuing from introducing the NQF and NQS? We argue that there are several factors impacting on the quality of provision by FDCs over the longer term. These include workforce qualifications, carer-child interactions, systemic implementation processes and measures of quality. This paper will discuss the impact of NQF and NQS on FDC and will address issues where no specific quality improvement strategy is applied.
Qualitative Research in Early Childhood Education and Care Implementation
Authors: Jarvie Wendy K. 
Published: February 2015

Abstract
Governments around the world have boosted their early childhood education and care (ECEC) engagement and investment on the basis of evidence from neurological studies and quantitative social science research. The role of qualitative research is less understood and under-valued. At the same time the hard evidence is only of limited use in helping public servants and governments design policies that work on the ground. The paper argues that some of the key challenges in ECEC today require a focus on implementation. For this a range of qualitative research is required, including knowledge of organisational and parent behaviour, and strategies for generating support for change. This is particularly true of policies and programs aimed at ethnic minority children. It concludes that there is a need for a more systematic approach to analysing and reporting ECEC implementation, along the lines of “implementation science” developed in the health area.
Data on Early Child Education and Care Learning Environments in Germany
Authors: Linberg Tobias , Baeumer Thomas , Rossbach Hans-Guenther 
Published: February 2015

Abstract
Early child education and care (ECEC) learning environments play an important role in children’s developmental status and educational outcomes as international research has shown. However, the data basis for analyzing the effects of learning environments on children’s competencies and educational trajectories has been rather sparse in Germany. The National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) has been set up in order to contribute to filling this gap. The main task of the NEPS is to prepare Scientific Use Files that are disseminated to the scientific community. Because all NEPS data and documentation are translated and available to the international scientific community, the aim of this paper is threefold: After giving an introduction to the field of research and discussing the objectives and legislative characteristics of the German ECEC system, we present an overview on the sections of the NEPS that survey children 2 years before regular school enrollment and the ECEC characteristics they experience. On the basis of first-wave data, we deliver some first results on how children in Germany are cared for within the German ECEC system. The paper ends with a discussion on further possible contributions, especially when longitudinal data are being made available by the NEPS for quantitative educational research and evidence-based political decision making.
Trends in State Funded Preschool in the United States: Findings from 10 Years of Policy Surveys
Authors: Barnett Steven , Carolan Megan 
Published: February 2015

Abstract
An annual survey by the National Institute for Early Education Research has traced state pre-K policy change in the United States since 2001. Such programs are only one part of a system that also includes a large federal program (Head Start) and a large private sector. The last decade was one of large changes in enrollment, policies relating to access and quality, and expenditures. Not all of these chances were positive, and it appears that the Great Recession had substantial negative impacts. Major trends in state pre-K include large enrollment growth at age 4, while enrollment at age 3 changed little, universal adoption of comprehensive early learning standards and, modestly, in program quality standards. On the downside, state expenditure per child fell by more than $1,000 adjusting for inflation over 10 years. Some disadvantaged groups who might benefit most from high quality state pre-K have the least access, such as English language learners and Hispanic children. State policies show extreme variation, and the range increased over the decade. Some states moved to universal enrollment while others still have no program. State funding per child varies by almost $10,000 per pupil from highest to lowest. Surveys such as this are an important tool for understanding how policy varies over time and geopolitical boundaries as well as examining equity in access to quality.
Child Schooling and Child Work in India: Does Poverty Matter?
Authors: Malik Bijaya Kumar 
Published: February 2015

AbstractThis paper examines the differentials of school attendance patterns. i.e. never attended, entered into school, dropout rate, repeating, left school two or more years ago and child work by economic condition of household in India. The wealth index is used to understand the economic differentials in child schooling of households. The study findings suggest that children belonging to the poorest wealth quintile of households are significantly more likely never to have attended school, have higher dropout rates and be over-age compared to children belonging to wealthier and the wealthiest quintiles. The states’ differentials in child school attendance patterns showed that the state of Bihar has the highest proportion of children never having attended compared to lowest proportion for Kerala (39 percent vs. 2 percent). The working children among poor households are more deprived to attend school compared to children from wealthier households. This paper concludes that economic conditions of the household are the main determinant of child schooling in India.
Has a National Policy Focus on Early Childhood Made a Difference for Indigenous Children? An Analysis of LSAC Data
Authors: Sims Margaret , Phan Huy P. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractThe Australian policy environment has undergone significant changes with a move towards evidence-based policy development. It is in this climate that the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) began collecting data. The study began in 2003 with 2 cohorts of children (birth-1 year and 4–5 years) and the 5th wave of data collection occurred in 2011/12. In this analysis we use the data from the first wave of data (collected in the 6 months between August 2003 and March 2004) and the third wave, collected in the 9 months between July 2007 and April 2008. This latter was a time when a range of initiatives addressing Indigenous disadvantage through early childhood interventions had been in operation for some time: both early childhood and Indigenous policy was strongly focused on the quality of early childhood service provision, with a strong focus on evidence-based service development. In this paper we present a comparison of outcomes for Indigenous and non-indigenous Australian children who have grown up in these 2 different policy eras.
Understanding and Using Early Learning Standards for Young Children Globally
Authors: Kagan Sharon Lynn , Castillo Elise , Gomez Rebecca E. , Gowani Saima 
Published: February 2015

Abstract
Around the world, there is an increasing focus on the importance of the early years, with growing numbers of countries specifying early learning and development standards. The authors find that differences in country context and pre-primary service delivery influence the content and use of standards documents. Generally, within their documents, countries favor either specifying precise indicators of what children should know and be able to do, or including many elements that guide early education more broadly, such as broad learning goals for children and pedagogical guidance for teachers. Although the standards’ documents vary, countries generally use their documents for the purposes of curriculum development, professional development, parent engagement, and national monitoring and evaluation. By using the standards for multiple purposes, early education is better aligned and countries are advancing the integration of their services. Standards have made numerous positive contributions to the early childhood field, but, lacking rigorous outcome evaluations, it is too early to discern the effect of standards on children’s performance and learning. The authors recommend that countries devote greater attention to developing their early childhood infrastructure so that the standards documents are more effectively understood, utilized, and evaluated.
A Latent Transition Analysis Model for Latent-State-Dependent Nonignorable Missingness
Authors: Sterba Sonya K. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractPsychologists often use latent transition analysis (LTA) to investigate state-to-state change in discrete latent constructs involving delinquent or risky behaviors. In this setting, latent-state-dependent nonignorable missingness is a potential concern. For some longitudinal models (e.g., growth models), a large literature has addressed extensions to accommodate nonignorable missingness. In contrast, little research has addressed how to extend the LTA to accommodate nonignorable missingness. Here we present a shared parameter LTA that can reduce bias due to latent-state-dependent nonignorable missingness: a parallel-process missing-not-at-random (MNAR-PP) LTA. The MNAR-PP LTA allows outcome process parameters to be interpreted as in the conventional LTA, which facilitates sensitivity analyses assessing changes in estimates between LTA and MNAR-PP LTA. In a sensitivity analysis for our empirical example, previous and current membership in high-delinquency states predicted adolescents’ membership in missingness states that had high nonresponse probabilities for some or all items. A conventional LTA overestimated the proportion of adolescents ending up in a low-delinquency state, compared to an MNAR-PP LTA.
Potential neuroprotective strategies for perinatal infection and inflammation
Authors: Ranchhod S.M. , Gunn K.C. , Fowke T.M. , Davidson J.O. , Lear C.A. , Bai J. , Bennet L. , Mallard C. , Gunn A.J. , Dean J.M. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractPreterm born infants have high rates of brain injury, leading to motor and neurocognitive problems in later life. Infection and resulting inflammation of the fetus and newborn are highly associated with these disabilities. However, there are no established neuroprotective therapies. Microglial activation and expression of many cytokines play a key role in normal brain function and development, as well as being deleterious. Thus, treatment must achieve a delicate balance between possible beneficial and harmful effects. In this review, we discuss potential neuroprotective strategies targeting systemic infection or the resulting systemic and central inflammatory responses. We highlight the central importance of timing of treatment and the critical lack of studies of delayed treatment of infection/inflammation.
WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE EQUINE SLAUGHTER BAN ON HORSE PRICES?
Authors: VESTAL MALLORY K. , LUSK JAYSON L. , COOPER STEVEN R. , WARD CLEMENT E. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractAs a result of several judicial rulings, processing of horses for human consumption came to a halt in 2007. This article determines the change in horse prices resulting from elimination of horse-processing facilities. As expected, lower-valued horses were more affected by the ban than higher-valued horses. The analysis suggests the slaughter ban reduced horse prices, on average, by about 13% and resulted in a loss in producer surplus to sellers of approximately 14% at the sale we analyzed. We also show horse prices are affected by a myriad of factors including breed, gender, age, coat color, and sale catalog description.
THE IMPACT OF BIOFUELS POLICY AND DROUGHT ON THE U.S. GRAIN AND LIVESTOCK MARKETS
Authors: DHOUBHADEL SUNIL P. , AZZAM AZZEDDINE M. , STOCKTON MATTHEW C. 
Published: February 2015

AbstractThis article examines the impact of the 2012 drought and the biofuels mandate on the U.S. grain and livestock markets and estimates the mandate waiver required to offset the impact on the corn price. The framework used is a stochastic equilibrium displacement model that integrates the beef, pork, and poultry markets with the corn, distillers’ grain, soybean, soymeal, and ethanol markets. The corn and beef markets are found to be the most vulnerable. A mandate waiver of approximately 23% is required to fully negate the impact of the drought on corn prices. The waiver is equivalent to a 13.7% reduction in ethanol consumption.
Biomechanical strength of glass ionomer cement in incudostapedial rebridging
Authors: Server E A , Alkan Z , Yigit O , Acioglu E , Bekem A , Unal A , Akkin S M 
Published: February 2015

AbstractObjective:To study the biomechanical properties of glass ionomer cement used for incudostapedial rebridging.Methods:Two groups were established based on the size of the gap between the incus and stapes (1.0 mm in group 1 and 2.0 mm in group 2). Glass ionomer cement was applied to the gaps, and compression tests were performed. Maximum force was measured at the fracture point, and was divided by the cross-sectional area to obtain the maximum compressive strength.Results:No significant difference was found in the maximum force for the two groups (p = 0.312). The glass ionomer cement diameter was significantly higher in group 2 than in group 1 (p = 0.006). The maximum compressive strength was significantly higher in group 1 than in group 2 (p = 0.042).Conclusion:The fragility of bone cement used in this study was 25.5 per cent higher for a 2 mm gap than for a 1 mm gap. We speculate that the use of bone cement may be safer for the repair of smaller incudostapedial defects.
APP intracellular domain acts as a transcriptional regulator of miR-663 suppressing neuronal differentiation
Authors: Shu R , Wong W , Ma Q H , Yang Z Z , Zhu H , Liu F J , Wang P , Ma J , Yan S , Polo J M , Bernard C C A , Stanton L W , Dawe G S , Xiao Z C 
Published: February 2015

AbstractAmyloid precursor protein (APP) is best known for its involvement in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. We have previously demonstrated that APP intracellular domain (AICD) regulates neurogenesis; however, the mechanisms underlying AICD-mediated regulation of neuronal differentiation are not yet fully characterized. Using genome-wide chromatin immunoprecipitation approaches, we found that AICD is specifically recruited to the regulatory regions of several microRNA genes, and acts as a transcriptional regulator for miR-663, miR-3648 and miR-3687 in human neural stem cells. Functional assays show that AICD negatively modulates neuronal differentiation through miR-663, a primate-specific microRNA. Microarray data further demonstrate that miR-663 suppresses the expression of multiple genes implicated in neurogenesis, including FBXL18 and CDK6. Our results indicate that AICD has a novel role in suppression of neuronal differentiation via transcriptional regulation of miR-663 in human neural stem cells.
Selective inhibition of HDAC8 decreases neuroblastoma growth in vitro and in vivo and enhances retinoic acid-mediated differentiation
Authors: Rettig I , Koeneke E , Trippel F , Mueller W C , Burhenne J , Kopp-Schneider A , Fabian J , Schober A , Fernekorn U , von Deimling A , Deubzer H E , Milde T , Witt O , Oehme I 
Published: February 2015

AbstractFor differentiation-defective malignancies, compounds that modulate transcription, such as retinoic acid and histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors, are of particular interest. HDAC inhibitors are currently under investigation for the treatment of a broad spectrum of cancer diseases. However, one clinical drawback is class-specific toxicity of unselective inhibitors, limiting their full anticancer potential. Selective targeting of individual HDAC isozymes in defined tumor entities may therefore be an attractive alternative treatment approach. We have previously identified HDAC family member 8 (HDAC8) as a novel target in childhood neuroblastoma. Using small-molecule inhibitors, we now demonstrate that selective inhibition of HDAC8 exhibits antineuroblastoma activity without toxicity in two xenograft mouse models of MYCN oncogene-amplified neuroblastoma. In contrast, the unselective HDAC inhibitor vorinostat was more toxic in the same models. HDAC8-selective inhibition induced cell cycle arrest and differentiation in vitro and in vivo. Upon combination with retinoic acid, differentiation was significantly enhanced, as demonstrated by elongated neurofilament-positive neurites and upregulation of NTRK1. Additionally, MYCN oncogene expression was downregulated in vitro and tumor cell growth was markedly reduced in vivo. Mechanistic studies suggest that cAMP-response element-binding protein (CREB) links HDAC8- and retinoic acid-mediated gene transcription. In conclusion, HDAC-selective targeting can be effective in tumors exhibiting HDAC isozyme-dependent tumor growth in vivo and can be combined with differentiation-inducing agents.
In a three-dimensional reconstructed human epidermis filaggrin-2 is essential for proper cornification
Authors: Pendaries V , Le Lamer M , Cau L , Hansmann B , Malaisse J , Kezic S , Serre G , Simon M 
Published: February 2015

AbstractAtopic dermatitis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease with defects in the epidermal barrier. In a cohort of African-American children, a FLG2 nonsense mutation has been associated with the disease. In the epidermis of European patients, the expression of filaggrin-2, the filaggrin-related protein encoded by FLG2, is decreased. To describe the function of filaggrin-2 and evaluate the impact of its deficiency, its expression was downregulated using lentivirus-mediated shRNA interference in a three-dimensional reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) model. This resulted in parakeratosis and a compact stratum corneum, presence of abnormal vesicles inside the corneocytes, increased pH and reduced amounts of free amino acids at the RHE surface, leading to increased sensitivity to UVB radiations. The expression of differentiation markers was slightly modified. However, we observed reduced proteolytic processing of corneodesmosin, hornerin and filaggrin in parallel with reduced amounts of caspase-14 and bleomycin hydrolase. Our data demonstrated that filaggrin-2 is important for a proper cornification and a functional stratum corneum. Its downregulation in atopic patients may be involved in the disease-associated epidermis impairment.