bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The role of media in road safety education for young children
Authors: Rothengatter Talib 
Published: July 2011

This study compares the effectiveness of two videotaped traffic safety messages, both concerning crossing the road in the vicinity of parked cars. In the ‘instructional’ version the message was presented according to the principles generally used in media presentations for children. The ‘modelling’ version closely followed social learning principles. Both versions were presented to subjects 5 years of age. The subjects were pre‐tested and post‐tested on crossing the road and their comprehension of the film content was tested after presentation. The ‘modelling’ version resulted in a significant increase in the children's capacity to demonstrate the crossing behaviour, whereas the ‘instructional’ version did not. The comprehension test demonstrated that children exposed to the ‘modelling’ version also showed a significantly higher level of understanding.The conclusion is drawn that traditional media presentations are not successful in effectuating behavioural change in young children. Presentations which follow ‘modelling’ principals and are adapted to the developmental characteristics of the audience can improve young children's behaviour capabilities and can as such be an important part of educational programmes such as road safety which aim at causing behavioural change in young children.
Factors influencing the use of transparency in children's drawing
Authors: Crook Charles 
Published: July 2011

When young children draw a scene in which one object partially occludes another, they often depict hidden features of the occluded object by rendering the nearer object transparent. This may signify a motive to produce drawings that are informative. Three experiments are reported in which a simple paradigm is employed to consider this possible basis of transparency drawing. Experiment 1 established a gradual decrease in the use of this device across the 5–7‐year age range. Its occurrence could not be ascribed to a simple lack of graphic skill and it was not readily inhibited by stronger perceptual marking of scene boundaries. The extent to which children were purposefully producing informative drawings was evaluated in Expts 2 and 3. Because an increase in occluded information actually served to inhibit transparencies, it is argued that they need not reflect such a communicative attitude.An alternative account is proposed whereby drawing decisions are guided, sometimes inappropriately, by the structure of cognitive representations children form of scenes. Transparencies signify a failure to anticipate certain graphic ambiguities thereby generated. However, they may be inhibited if the geometry of a particular scene forces the child to confront such ambiguity at the outset of drawing.
Children's perception of ‘aesthetic’ properties of the arts: Domain‐specific or pan‐artistic?
Authors: Winner Ellen , Rosenblatt Elizabeth , Windmueller Gail , Davidson Lyle , Gardner Howard 
Published: July 2011

A method is presented for examining perceptual development in the arts and a study based on this methodology is reported. The purpose of the study was to chart the developmental course of perceptual skills used in the arts and to investigate whether these skills generalize across art forms and aesthetic properties or are ‘art‐form‐specific’ and/or ‘property‐specific’.The sensitivity of 7‐, 9‐ and 12‐year‐olds to three aesthetic properties (repleteness, expression and composition) was investigated in three art forms (drawing, music and literature). Sensitivity to aesthetic properties increased with age. Ability to perceive aesthetic properties in one art form did not predict ability to perceive these same properties in another art form (supporting the ‘art‐form‐specific’ position). In much the same way, ability to perceive one aesthetic property of an art form did not predict ability to perceive another aesthetic property in the same art form (supporting the ‘property‐specific’ position). These results suggest that young children do not attend fully to aesthetic properties of adult works of art and that aesthetic perception develops property by property, and domain by domain. Aesthetic perception appears to emerge as not one skill but many.
Eliminating alternatives: Preschool children's use of indirect memory cues
Authors: Whittaker S. J. 
Published: July 2011

Two studies investigated preschool children's ability to use indirect external cues to eliminate possible solutions in a retrieval problem. Children observed four toy animals being hidden at four identical locations and recall was tested by the experimenter asking the child what was at each location in turn. Two types of cues were given to assist recall. These provided information about (a) the identity of the four animals which were hidden; and (b) what was at locations other than the one being probed.The first experiment investigated whether children who looked at both these sets of cues were able to eliminate possible retrieval solutions. Recall and error data indicated that they could do so. In the second experiment the two types of cues were presented separately. Only those cues which provided information about what was at locations other than the one being searched were found to help recall. The results are discussed for their implications for recent accounts of the development of cueing.
Serial recall of static and dynamic stimuli by deaf and hearing children
Authors: McGurk Harry , Saqi Sarah 
Published: July 2011

Previous experiments have failed to obtain recency effects for graphically presented serial lists, whereas such effects are readily obtained when lists are presented in auditory or lipread format. These findings may be observed with both deaf and hearing subjects and it has been suggested that both groups of subjects encode lipread information phonologically.It is argued that graphic displays have failed to yield recency effects because of their static nature. An experiment is reported in which deaf and hearing children were exposed to lists of digits presented in static graphic, lipread and dynamic graphic formats. Marked recency effects were only obtained with the latter two conditions. No differences were observed between deaf and hearing subjects in this respect.The argument that deaf and hearing children encode lipread information in a non‐modality specific phonological code is examined. It is concluded that the argument is not supported by evidence currently available.
The attitudes of young children towards peers with severe learning difficulties
Authors: Lewis Ann , Lewis Vicky 
Published: July 2011

Ten 6‐ and 7‐year‐olds attending a first school who were involved in an integration project with a group of 10 4‐ to 9‐year‐olds with severe learning difficulties (SLD) were interviewed individually on two occasions. The first interview preceded the integration project and examined their attitudes towards mainstream classmates whom they thought to be ‘not very clever’ or needing ‘a lot of help’. The second interview followed two afternoon integration sessions and examined their attitudes towards peers with SLD.Descriptions of classmates with difficulties concerned ability on cognitive tasks or behaviour whereas those of the children with SLD focused on physical descriptors and/or classroom misbehaviour. Hypothesized causes of SLD were physical and the SLD children, unlike classmates with difficulties, were not seen as responsible for their condition. A minority of the mainstream children had evolved coherent explanations of SLD based on concepts of the SLD group as normal, but younger, children.Attitudes towards children with SLD are discussed within a framework of attitude development based on that proposed by Katz (1982). Educational implications of the study are considered.
Blood lead levels, reaction time, inspection time and ability in Edinburgh children
Authors: Raab Gillian M. , Thomson George O. B. , Boyd Linda , Fulton Mary , Laxen Duncan P. H. 
Published: July 2011

The influence of blood lead levels on measures of inspection time (IT) and reaction time (RT) was studied in a sample of 501 6‐ to 9‐year‐old children. Both IT and RT performance were worse at higher blood lead levels, but the relationship was stronger for IT. The relationship between blood lead and RT was no longer significant after control for social and family background, whereas that between blood lead and IT remained significant. It is suggested that the IT task described here measures the ability to sustain attention, rather than perceptual speed per se.All the IT and RT measures correlated with ability and attainment, assessed by the British Ability Scales. The correlations with the combined ability score were modest, .31 for the IT error rate at long presentation times and .30 for median reaction time. The median reaction time and the IT error rates contributed independently to the prediction of the ability score. The influence of lead on the IT error rates no longer achieved statistical significance after control for ability, whereas the influence of lead on ability remained significant after control for IT error rates.
Fear and attachment in 2.5‐year‐olds
Authors: Stevenson‐Hinde Joan , Shouldice Anne 
Published: July 2011

Security of attachment ratings were significantly negatively related to indices of fear of strangers and separation distress/protest in 2.5‐year‐olds (r = − .32 and − .31 respectively, N = 82). With the attachment classifications, significant between‐group differences occurred even among the secure groups. Secure‐reserved and secure‐ambivalent children were significantly more fearful of strangers than very secure children. Secure‐ambivalent children showed more intense separation behaviour than very secure and secure‐reserved children.Two groups, one secure (secure‐ambivalent) and another insecure (ambivalent), were above the mean of the whole sample on all indices of fear and separation distress/protest, suggesting a particular behavioural ‘style’ independent of security of attachment. Such a style could reflect an influence of family relationships as well as early appearing temperament.Correlations between maternal and observer assessments were not significant for security of attachment (r = .11) but were significant for fear of strangers (r = .40). For both relations, significant discrepancies appeared: Mothers of children with secure classifications of attachment (very secure, secure‐reserved, secure‐ambivalent, and secure‐controlling) rated them as both less secure and more fearful of strangers than indicated by corresponding laboratory assessments, while mothers of insecurely attached children (avoidant, ambivalent, and controlling) rated them as more secure and less fearful.
Clearing up at 2.5 years
Authors: Achermann John , Dinneen Emma , Stevenson‐Hinde Joan 
Published: July 2011

In a sample of 51 mothers and their 2.5‐year‐old children, indices of attachment and behavioural style were related to interactions while clearing up toys in a laboratory setting. Correlations between ratings of the child's security of attachment to mother and mother/child interactions showed that the more secure the child, the more mothers were constructively involved in free play and approached the clear up more enthusiastically using warmer tones. A lower proportion of their statements attempted to control the child, but more of those that did were positive. Children with higher security ratings tended to ignore mothers' control statements less and show fewer babyish actions on being asked to clear up. Between‐group comparisons involving secure, insecure avoidant and insecure ambivalent classifications of attachment produced significant differences between secure and insecure ambivalent groups which reflected the above correlations. No significant differences involved the frequency of compliance.Those individual characteristics (Behavioral Style Questionnaire: McDevitt & Carey, 1978) most reflecting expression of feeling (i.e. intensity of reaction, negative mood, low threshold of responsiveness) correlated significantly with low compliance and other negative behaviour.Significant sex differences occurred just before and over the first 30 seconds, but not over the first 3 minutes, of the clear up. Girls' mothers played more constructively beforehand and were more positive in their approach to clearing up, whereas boys' mothers were more negative in tone and were often ignored by their sons.
Self‐monitoring in poor and good reading comprehenders and their use of strategy
Authors: Cataldo M. Giulia , Cornoldi Cesare 
Published: July 2011

The present research examines the ability of 6th‐ and 7th‐grade poor and good comprehenders to monitor their comprehension during reading and also examines their consequent activation of strategies. In particular, we considered the process of search through the text, that is moving up and down the text in order to find relevant information to respond to subsequent questions. In order to study this process, good and poor comprehenders were invited to read a descriptive passage and to respond to questions, some of which were embedded in the text and some of which were at the end of the text. Half of the participants in each group were also required to give a confidence rating of their response accuracy. Both groups benefited from the embedded questions, thus revealing that a specific search process affects the difficulty in responding to questions. Further, poor comprehenders were able to monitor their accuracy (i.e. know how well they understand). Finally the monitoring requirement did not have a positive influence on comprehension.A second experiment tested whether the poorer performance of poor comprehenders for the questions at the end of the text was due to an inability to search through the text in order to find the required information or to a deficit in strategy utilization. When explicitly invited to search through the text, poor comprehenders were able to search and improve their performance, suggesting that their failure with the final questions in Expt 1 was at least partially due to a deficit in strategy utilization.
Handedness, footedness, eyedness and earedness in the Colorado Adoption Project
Authors: Saudino K. , McManus I. C. 
Published: July 2011

Dominance of hand, foot, ear and eye was examined in the Colorado Adoption Project (CAP) to examine whether previously reported familial trends in lateralization are the result of genetic or environmental processes. Despite a relatively large sample size for an adoption study, and evidence that the measures of lateralization were typical of those found in other studies, no significant familial trends were found in any of the measures of direction of lateralization. Nevertheless, effects found for handedness were of a similar magnitude to that shown elsewhere in the literature and it was concluded that this adoption study alone did not have sufficient statistical power to partition variance into genetic and environmental components. Other studies taken alone are also likely to suffer from the same problem, and therefore the question is only likely to be definitively resolved by combining data from a number of studies by means of meta‐analysis.Degree of lateralization was also examined and no evidence was found for familial trends in handedness, footedness, eyedness or earedness. Power analysis suggested that the present data were sufficient to detect effects similar to those previously reported for handedness and that this result was best interpreted as a true failure of replication of familial association for handedness. The study is also the first to examine degree of eyedness, earedness and footedness, and finds no evidence for familial associations.
Candida albicans Adhesion to and Invasion and Damage of Vaginal Epithelial Cells: Stage-Specific Inhibition by Clotrimazole and Bifonazole
Authors: Wächtler Betty , Wilson Duncan , Hube Bernhard 
Published: July 2011

ABSTRACT

Clotrimazole and bifonazole are highly effective antifungal agents against mucosal
Candida albicans
infections. Here we examined the effects of low levels of clotrimazole and bifonazole on the ability of
C. albicans
to adhere, invade, and damage vaginal epithelial cells. Although adhesion and invasion were not affected, damage was greatly reduced upon azole treatment. This clearly indicates that low levels of azoles influence specific activities of
C. albicans
during distinct stages of vaginal epithelium infections.
Analysis of the Resistome of a Multidrug-Resistant NDM-1-Producing Escherichia coli Strain by High-Throughput Genome Sequencing
Authors: Poirel Laurent , Bonnin Rémy A. , Nordmann Patrice 
Published: July 2011

ABSTRACT

The resistome of the multidrug-resistant
Escherichia coli
strain 271 carrying the plasmid-mediated
bla
NDM-1
carbapenemase gene was analyzed by high-throughput genome sequencing. The p271A plasmid carrying the
bla
NDM-1
gene was 35.9 kb in size and possessed an IncN-type backbone that harbored a novel replicase gene. Acquisition of the
bla
NDM-1
gene on plasmid p271A had been likely the result of a cointegration event involving the transposase of Tn
5403
. The expression of
bla
NDM-1
was associated with the insertion sequence IS
Aba125
likely originating from
Acinetobacter baumannii. E. coli
271 accumulated multiple resistance determinants, including five β-lactamase genes (comprising the extended-spectrum β-lactamase CTX-M-15), two 16S RNA methylase ArmA- and RmtB-encoding genes, and the
qepA
gene encoding an efflux pump involved in resistance to fluoroquinolones. These resistance genes were located on three additional plasmids, of 160 kb (IncA/C), 130 kb (IncF), and 110 kb (IncI1). In addition, several chromosomally encoded resistance determinants were identified, such as topoisomerase mutations, porin modifications and truncations, and the intrinsic
ampC
gene of
E. coli
that was weakly expressed. The multidrug resistance pattern observed for
E. coli
271 was therefore the result of combined chromosome- and plasmid-encoded mechanisms.
In Vitro
Activity against Staphylococcus aureus of a Novel Antimicrobial Agent, PRF-119, a Recombinant Chimeric Bacteriophage Endolysin
Authors: Idelevich Evgeny A. , von Eiff Christof , Friedrich Alexander W. , Iannelli Domenico , Xia Guoqing , Peters Georg , Peschel Andreas , Wanninger Ingrid , Becker Karsten 
Published: July 2011

ABSTRACT

Antistaphylococcal activity of the novel chimeric endolysin PRF-119 was evaluated with the microdilution method. The MIC
50
and MIC
90
of 398 methicillin-susceptible
Staphylococcus aureus
isolates were 0.098 μg/ml and 0.391 μg/ml, respectively (range, 0.024 to 0.780 μg/ml). Both the MIC
50
and MIC
90
values of 776 methicillin-resistant
S. aureus
isolates were 0.391 μg/ml (range, 0.024 to 1.563 μg/ml). All 192 clinical isolates of coagulase-negative staphylococci exhibited MIC values of >50 μg/ml. In conclusion, PRF-119 exhibited very good activity specifically against
S. aureus
.
Sertaconazole Nitrate Shows Fungicidal and Fungistatic Activities against Trichophyton rubrum, Trichophyton mentagrophytes, and Epidermophyton floccosum, Causative Agents of Tinea Pedis
Authors: Carrillo-Muñoz Alfonso J. , Tur-Tur Cristina , Cárdenes Delia C. , Estivill Dolors , Giusiano Gustavo 
Published: July 2011

ABSTRACT

The fungistatic and fungicidal activities of sertaconazole against dermatophytes were evaluated by testing 150 clinical isolates of causative agents of tinea pedis,
Trichophyton rubrum
,
Trichophyton mentagrophytes
, and
Epidermophyton floccosum
. The overall geometric means for fungistatic and fungicidal activities of sertaconazole against these isolates were 0.26 and 2.26 μg/ml, respectively, although values were higher for
T. mentagrophytes
than for the others. This is the first comprehensive demonstration of the fungicidal activity of sertaconazole against dermatophytes.
Spread of IS
CR1
Elements Containing
bla
DHA-1
and Multiple Antimicrobial Resistance Genes Leading to Increase of Flomoxef Resistance in Extended-Spectrum-β-Lactamase-Producing Klebsiella pneumoniae
Authors: Lee Chen-Hsiang , Liu Jien-Wei , Li Chia-Chin , Chien Chun-Chih , Tang Ya-Fen , Su Lin-Hui 
Published: July 2011

ABSTRACT

Increasing resistance to quinolones, aminoglycosides, and/or cephamycins in extended-spectrum-β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing
Enterobacteriaceae
exacerbates the already limited antibiotic treatment options for infections due to these microbes. In this study, the presence of resistance determinants for these antimicrobial agents was examined by PCR among ESBL-producing
Klebsiella pneumoniae
(ESBL-KP) isolates that caused bacteremia. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to differentiate the clonal relationship among the isolates studied. Transferability and the location of the resistance genes were analyzed by conjugation experiments, followed by DNA-DNA hybridization. Among the 94 ESBL-KP isolates studied, 20 isolates of flomoxef-resistant ESBL-KP were identified. They all carried a DHA-1 gene and were genetically diverse. CTX-M genes were found in 18 of the isolates. Among these DHA-1/CTX-M-producing
K. pneumoniae
isolates, IS
CR1
was detected in 13 (72%) isolates,
qnr
genes (1
qnrA
and 17
qnrB
genes) were detected in 18 (100%),
aac(6
′
)-Ib-cr
was detected in 11 (61%), and 16S rRNA methylase (all
armA
genes) was detected in 14 (78%). Four transconjugants were available for further analysis, and
qnrB4
,
aac(6
′
)-Ib-cr
,
armA
, and
bla
DHA-1
were all identified on these self-transferable
bla
CTX-M
-carrying plasmids. The genetic environments of IS
CR1
associated with
armA
,
bla
DHA-1
, and
qnrB4
genes in the four transconjugants were identical. Replicon-type analysis revealed a FIIA plasmid among the four self-transferable plasmids, although the other three were nontypeable. The cotransfer of multiple resistance genes with the IS
CR1
element-carrying plasmids has a clinical impact and warrants close monitoring and further study.
Mutation of RNA Polymerase β Subunit (
rpoB
) Promotes hVISA-to-VISA Phenotypic Conversion of Strain Mu3
Authors: Matsuo Miki , Hishinuma Tomomi , Katayama Yuki , Cui Longzhu , Kapi Maria , Hiramatsu Keiichi 
Published: July 2011

ABSTRACT

The clinical vancomycin-intermediate
Staphylococcus aureus
(VISA) strain Mu50 carries two mutations in the
vraSR
and
graRS
two-component regulatory systems (TCRSs), namely,
vraS(I5N
) and
graR(N197S
) (hereinafter designated
graR
*). The clinical heterogeneously vancomycin-intermediate
S. aureus
(hVISA) strain Mu3 shares with Mu50 the mutation in
vraS
that encodes the VraS two-component histidine kinase. Previously, we showed that introduction of the plasmid p
graR
*, carrying the mutated two-component response regulator
graR
*, converted the hVISA strain Mu3 into VISA (vancomycin MIC = 4 mg/liter). Subsequently, however, we found that the introduction of a single copy of
graR
* into the Mu3 chromosome by a gene replacement method did not confer on Mu3 the VISA phenotype. The gene-replaced strain Mu3
graR
* thus obtained remained hVISA (MIC ≤ 2 mg/liter), although a small increase in vancomycin MIC was observed compared to that of the parent strain Mu3. Reevaluation of the Mu3 and Mu50 genomes revealed the presence of another mutation responsible for the expression of the VISA phenotype in Mu50. Here, we demonstrate that in addition to the two regulator mutations, a third mutation found in the Mu50
rpoB
gene, encoding the RNA polymerase β subunit, was required for Mu3 to achieve the level of vancomycin resistance of Mu50. The selection of strain Mu3
graR
* with rifampin gave rise to
rpoB
mutants with various levels of increased vancomycin resistance. Furthermore, 3 (33%) of 10 independently isolated VISA strains established from the heterogeneous subpopulations of Mu3
graR
* were found to possess
rpoB
mutations with or without an accompanying rifampin-resistance phenotype. The data indicate that a sizable proportion of the resistant hVISA cell subpopulations is composed of spontaneous
rpoB
mutants with various degrees of increased vancomycin resistance.