38,522 research outputs found
Cognitive and behavioural outcomes of non-organic failure to thrive
No full textIn a study of failure to thrive in 1987-8, 54 children (21%) from an annual cohort attending two clinics in a deprived area of Newcastle Upon Tyne were identified as having fallen across two or more major weight centiles for a month or more during the first 18 months of life. They were studied with 52 normally growing controls selected from the same clinics. Eighty nine per cent of these children were traced for a follow up study at age 6-7 years old. This follow up study is reported in this thesis. IQ was assessed using the Weschler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence. The Teacher's Report Form (Achenbach, 1991) was used to assess behaviour problems in the groups. Testers were unaware of the clinical status of the children. Height was routinely measured at school entry and the original data were analysed to determine age at the lowest centile point and severity of fall in weight gain. In an independent samples analysis, a small but statistically significant difference in height at school entry age was found, but there was no statistically significant difference between the cases and controls in IQ (mean IQ 83.6 and 87 respectively, P=0.16), or ratings of behaviour problems (TRF median problems reported 23 and 14, Mann U=1.05, P=0.297). Teacher ratings did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance in any subsequent analysis. A within case group analysis of growth data was carried out to determine if there was a larger effect on a subset of cases sharing characteristics of growth failure. The effects of chronicity, age at the lowest centile point and severity of failure to thrive were analysed. A significant association was found between IQ and severity of failure to thrive (P=.03).Analysis of weight gains showed that while the screening criterion used was sensitive, identifying a group of children with a median rate of weight gain below the 10th centile for expected weight gain, 6 had fallen no lower than their expected weight gain and 17 were only mildly growth retarded. However, the measure for severity of fall used in this study is not only a sensitive criterion, but can also distinguish between a normal fall in rate of weight gain towards the population mean and an abnormal fall away from the mean and it was this measure that was significantly associated with IQ
Feeding and failure to thrive in early infancy
No full textThe aims of this thesis were fourfold. The first aim was the early identification of cases of non organic failure to thrive in a community based study and of randomly selected controls. Cases and controls were identified at six weeks of age using Thrive Index (Wright et al, 1994). The Thrive Index was used to measure growth velocity from birth to six weeks using two weights (birth weight and six weeks weight).The second aim was to analyse the familial characteristics of case and control families to investigate whether the frequency of failure to thrive over this period was higher in more deprived families, or families with other social characteristics. The characteristics recorded were maternal education, wage earning status, home and car ownership number of previous children and religious affiliation. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups or any of these variables. The third aim was to investigate the early feeding behaviour of the case and control infants. This was done using two separate approaches. The first was a six week feeding questionnaire given to all mothers asking them to provide information about their infant's feeding behaviour. Case infants were more likely to be fed on demand than set times (Chi-square =5.035, df=l, p=0.025). Also, mothers of cases reported their infants’ appetite to be poorer than that of controls (Mann-Whitney U = 1494, z=-2.179, p=0.02). The second approach was to directly observe and measure the infants feeding behaviour when the infants were aged between eight and twelve weeks. This was carried out blind to eliminate experimental bias. The sucking behaviour was analysed using a method described in Woolridge and Drewett (1986). Cases and controls did not differ on any of the recorded sucking behaviour characteristics. The fourth aim was to monitor the growth of cases and controls over one year. Using regression analyses it was found that only sex predicted weight gain to the end of the first year
An observational study of the eating behaviour and related activities of children in the first two years
No full textThis study was carried out with the intention of providing a method for studying children with feeding disorders, especially those with nonorganic failure to thrive, in then own homes. Thirty-two children, four girls and four boys in each of four different age groups: 6-8, 12-14, 18-20 and 24-26 months, were recruited from volunteers in the Newcastle upon Tyne area. They were each observed individually on three separate occasions, totalling nine hours of observation from 8.00 a m to 5.00 p.m. This allowed most of the children to be observed during their three main meals, and between them The method adapted for the study used data sheets containing tune rulers at one minute intervals, on which codings of direct observations of the child and caretaker could be recorded easily and systematically, without the use of video recorders. These were supplemented by a continuous 'Running Record' of speech, supplementary behaviour descriptions, and descriptions of all food given to and consumed by the child. The boys in this study slept more than the girls, giving them a shorter waking tune. Other behaviours were analysed as a percentage of the child's waking time. There were no significant sex differences, except that caretakers talked more to girls during their waking tune. Older children were more active, they cried less and talked more. They also drank fluids more. They did not spend more time eating, presumably because they were able to eat more quickly than younger children. Caretakers attended significantly more to the care of younger children, they held younger children more, gave them solids more and prompted them to eat more. The direct observational method used in this study allowed a detailed description of the eating behaviours and related activities of normal healthy babies and toddlers, without the reliance of recall by the mothers or caretaker
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Statistical analysis of child growth data
No full textThe study of child growth is complex. There are many clinical questions to answer but not necessarily the statistical methodology to deal with these questions. Human growth begins at conception and continues into adult life. In chapter 1 we discuss the characteristics of the growth process from conception to maturity and the purpose of growth monitoring. In chapter 2 we summarise the mathematical approaches to growth data. In chapter 3 we summarise the approaches that have been used to detect growth faltering. In this chapter we introduce the conditional gain Z-score. The data set analysed within this thesis is from the Newcastle growth and development study. In infancy we have routine weights of 3415 term infants. A sub-sample of these infants were followed-up at 7-9 years as part of a research study. These children belonged to three subgroups: cases were children that were defined as failing to thrive in infancy, controls were matched to cases and a 20% systematic sample. The school entry data of the sub-sample followed at 7-9 years were retrieved from school health records. In chapter 4 we carry out a preliminary analysis of the routine infancy weight Z-scores. The infancy data provided the opportunity to generate the correlation structure of routine weight Z-scores in infancy. In chapter 5 we develop a model for this correlation structure. In chapter 7 we explore patterns in the conditional weight gain Z-scores and also suggest some alternative criteria for identifying growth faltering in infancy. In chapters 6, 8 and 9 we analyse the anthropometric data obtained at follow-up and school entry. In childhood, the conditional gain Z-score is used to contrast height with mid-parental height and height at follow-up with height at school entry. The anthropometric data of the case and control children will be compared
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Social and Therapeutic Horticulture: Evidence and Messages from Research
No full textThis literature review presents a detailed analysis of over 100 texts relating to the outcomes and effectiveness of horticulture and gardening in a number of different therapeutic settings and with different client groups. It will be invaluable to anyone interested in demonstrating the benefits of social and therapeutic horticulture, as well as those interested in understanding the background and development of this growing field. This literature review represents the first part Growing Together, the first detailed study of horticulture and gardening projects across the UK. The Growing Together study is a partnership between Thrive and Loughborough University and has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund
Intelligence and reading abilities in eight year old children who failed to thrive in infancy
No full textThe aim of the work reported in this thesis was to investigate intelligence and reading ability at school age in a population based sample of children who failed to thrive in the first two years of life. Weights for an annual cohort of term infants, retrieved from clinic records, were compared with weight expected conditional upon early weight. Those with weights in the lowest 5% in two or more age bands (3, 6, 9, 12 and 18 months) were identified as cases (n =136). Cases were stratified by age, sex and deprivation level of their area of residence at eighteen months of age, and the same number of controls selected from each stratum. Two controls were later omitted as they were found to have been born preterm (< 37 weeks). Between ages 7 and 9 years 79% of cases and 82% of controls were traced and studied. Height, head circumference and weight were measured, and an IQ and reading test administered. Information about socio-economic status, family structure and medical history was gathered during a home visit. The mother's height was measured, the father's being reported by the mothers, and the mother's IQ tested. All testing was carried out blind to the child’s case or control status. The child's medical records were retrieved where admission to a hospital or outpatient clinic was reported and the conditions diagnosed were coded blind for their probable effects on cognitive outcomes or growth. At eight years of age mothers in the case group reported more feeding problems in infancy and more organic conditions. Cases were shorter, lighter, thinner and had a smaller head circumference than controls. These anthropometric differences were all statistically significant and remained so after allowing for parental stature. There were no statistically significant differences in IQ and reading ability either before or after adjusting for maternal IQ, organic condition or the few covariates found to differ between the groups
Feeding behaviour and appetite in young children with non-organic failure to thrive
No full textThe study reported in this thesis was aimed at investigating taste preferences and caloric compensation in one to two year old children with non-organic failure to thrive (FTT) as compared to normally developing children of the same age. The sample studied included 28 cases with non-organic FTT, and 28 controls with normal growth. The study comprised two experiments. The first tested the child's relative preference for sucrose sweetened solutions versus water. The test session included six 60 second presentations of tastant at three levels of concentration n i.e. water, 0.2 Mol sucrose solution, and 0.4 Mol sucrose solution, with at least 30 second intervals between presentations. The second experiment measured caloric compensation, by testing the child's intake from a standard meal on two occasions, after a pre-load of no-calorie or high-calorie drink. In addition meal time behavioural observations were made, and information about the child’s feeding history was obtained from parent reports. All children regardless of whether they were failing to thrive or not preferred 0.2 Mol sucrose solution to 0.4 Mol sucrose and to water. The energy intake of children with FTT was lower than that of controls, and meal-time behaviours showed some differences between groups in both the child and parent behaviours. Unlike the controls the FTT children showed no caloric compensation, but showed a trend towards the opposite of compensation. Analysis of growth data showed that FTT in the sample studied was present from birth
Exploratory talk within collaborative small groups in mathematics
No full textThis report describes one aspect of a wider research study on exploratory talk within collaborative small groups in secondary mathematics lessons. It outlines students’ views of using collaborative activity to learn mathematics. The fuller research study explores the extent to which exploratory talk occurs in collaborative peer groups in secondary mathematics classrooms
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