Changes in the Mitochondria-Related Nuclear Gene Expression Profile during Human Oocyte Maturation by the IVM Technique

To address which mitochondria-related nuclear differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and related pathways are altered during human oocyte maturation, single-cell analysis was performed in three oocyte states: in vivo matured (M-IVO), in vitro matured (M-IVT), and failed to mature in vitro (IM-IVT). There were 691 DEGs and 16 mitochondria-related DEGs in the comparison of M-IVT vs. IM-IVT oocytes, and 2281 DEGs and 160 mitochondria-related DEGs in the comparison of M-IVT vs. M-IVO oocytes, respectively. The GO and KEGG analyses showed that most of them were involved in pathways such as oxidative phosphorylation, pyruvate metabolism, peroxisome, and amino acid metabolism, i.e., valine, leucine, isoleucine, glycine, serine, and threonine metabolism or degradation. During the progress of oocyte maturation, the metabolic pathway, which derives the main source of ATP, shifted from glucose metabolism to pyruvate and fatty acid oxidation in order to maintain a low level of damaging reactive oxygen species (ROS) production. Although the immature oocytes could be cultured to a mature stage by an in vitro technique (IVM), there were still some differences in mitochondria-related regulations, which showed that the mitochondria were regulated by nuclear genes to compensate for their developmental needs. Meanwhile, the results indicated that the current IVM culture medium should be optimized to compensate for the special need for further development according to this disclosure, as it was a latent strategy to improve the effectiveness of the IVM procedure.

Questionnaire Measures of Empathy in Children: A Scoping Review

Children’s unique developmental and contextual needs make it challenging to measure empathy validly and reliably. This scoping review is the first to collate currently available information about self-report, other-report, and performance-based questionnaire measures of empathy for children aged up to 11 years. Following the guidelines for Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR; Tricco et al., 2018), a literature search using PsycINFO, Scopus, and Google Scholar identified 24 relevant measures of empathy in children, with publication years spanning 1958 to 2019. Questionnaires could broadly be classified into four groups, according to the extent to which they were developed with children’s developmental needs and contexts in mind, and were based on contemporary theory and research findings. There was a distinction between performance-based measures, which elicited children’s empathy-related responses to novel content and therefore assessed situational state empathy, and self- and other-report measures, which rated children’s general empathic tendencies and thus assessed dispositional trait empathy. Results highlighted the importance of researchers having clarity on their definition of empathy and choosing measures consistent with this, and the merit of utilizing a multimodal assessment approach.

The child with developmental disabilities: The effects on the whole family. What do the families really need from the ‘early intervention’ professional system?

This paper is based on the premise that the current services delivered to children with developmental disabilities and their families in Wales are in need of revision in order to fully support the families to then be able to support their children. Currently services use a medically dominated approach in trying to ‘fix’ these disabled children and are lacking regard for the emotional and psychological impact on the families. The author comes from a position of having worked with these families as a clinical psychologist for over 20 years and shares with the reader things that her lived experiences tell her matter to these families and what families have said matters. There are ‘extra’ demands of looking after a child with developmental needs and in managing oneself in relation to a complex set of professional demands (services). In relation to this, there are a complex array of emotional experiences and dilemmas that parents are often fluctuating between. Six key themes have been developed which potentially form a model to think about some of the dynamics for families in these situations; Denial v acceptance, Guilt v forgiveness, isolation v support, fear v courage and anxious thinking v reimagining the family story. This paper provides the reader with a practical and strength-based model for service delivery to support children with developmental disabilities and their families. The new model of care is about helping families ‘to come to terms with’ a condition that cannot be cured. The new vision is about adaptation, re-framing or seeing from a different perspective, that is, a ‘fulfillment in new dreaming’. Families must adjust physically, psychologically and practically to living with limitations which can be severe and uncertain at times and may not be resolved. Two main principles that should be followed: 1. Caring about what matters. That is to say addressing a child’s developmental disabilities within the broad context of the child and family’s lives. Parents need space to acknowledge and process their feelings without judgement, with professionals and peers who have ‘good’ understanding and empathy. 2. We the people. Health care should become the work of we the people not we the professionals serving the rest of the people. At the heart of it is the orientating ideal that captures what the work is about – well-being of families. The principles of the model being to engage a resource that is largely untapped in our strained healthcare system: the knowledge, wisdom and energy of individuals, families and communities who have a child with developmental disabilities/learning disabilities in their everyday lives. These families are no longer simply consumers of services who respond to requests to ‘fix’ disabled children. The author describes what she is doing to develop services including the development of Early Positive Approaches to support (EPAtS). The author also considers some issues that get in the way of developing this new practice smoothly. Summary A new way of looking at and considering what is important in the professional system supporting children with developmental disabilities and their families.

Young People's Comprehension of the Rights Caution in New Zealand

<p>In New Zealand we have a child/youth, and an adult version of the Rights Caution, which are the rights read to an individual when they are arrested, detained, or questioned by police. The child/youth version was created with the developmental needs of young people in mind, however, it remains unclear whether it is assisting young people to better understand their rights. No research has been completed in New Zealand looking at young people’s comprehension of the Rights Caution, however, international research has shown that 1) the majority of individuals under 15 years old have limited rights comprehension, and 2) adapted versions of rights do not increase young people’s understanding. In consideration of these findings, the current research aimed to answer three key questions: 1) Do young people in New Zealand understand the Rights Caution, 2) what level of understanding do they have, and does this change with age, and 3) is the child/youth version of the Rights Caution helping to increase young people’s level of understanding of their rights, compared to the adult version? Participants were recruited from two Wellington region schools (N=101). They were interviewed using The New Zealand Rights Caution Competency Questionnaire, which was designed for this study, to assess young people’s understanding of the New Zealand Rights Caution. Participants were divided into either a 10-to-13-year-old age group (n=58), or a 14-to-16-year-old age group (n=43), and were randomly selected to be interviewed using either the child/youth, or adult version of the Rights Caution. It was found that participants had limited understanding of the Rights Caution, exhibiting more basic understanding, compare to in depth knowledge around the application of the rights. Level of understanding was not affected by participant’s age; the older participants knew as little as the younger ones did. Furthermore, it was found that the child/youth version of the Rights Caution did not assist participants in their understanding, and actually contained language that participants found more difficult to understand. These findings suggest that the New Zealand Rights Caution may not be effective in providing young people with the legal protection that it is intended to, and the processes around its use with New Zealand youth may need to be revised.</p>

Young People's Comprehension of the Rights Caution in New Zealand

<p>In New Zealand we have a child/youth, and an adult version of the Rights Caution, which are the rights read to an individual when they are arrested, detained, or questioned by police. The child/youth version was created with the developmental needs of young people in mind, however, it remains unclear whether it is assisting young people to better understand their rights. No research has been completed in New Zealand looking at young people’s comprehension of the Rights Caution, however, international research has shown that 1) the majority of individuals under 15 years old have limited rights comprehension, and 2) adapted versions of rights do not increase young people’s understanding. In consideration of these findings, the current research aimed to answer three key questions: 1) Do young people in New Zealand understand the Rights Caution, 2) what level of understanding do they have, and does this change with age, and 3) is the child/youth version of the Rights Caution helping to increase young people’s level of understanding of their rights, compared to the adult version? Participants were recruited from two Wellington region schools (N=101). They were interviewed using The New Zealand Rights Caution Competency Questionnaire, which was designed for this study, to assess young people’s understanding of the New Zealand Rights Caution. Participants were divided into either a 10-to-13-year-old age group (n=58), or a 14-to-16-year-old age group (n=43), and were randomly selected to be interviewed using either the child/youth, or adult version of the Rights Caution. It was found that participants had limited understanding of the Rights Caution, exhibiting more basic understanding, compare to in depth knowledge around the application of the rights. Level of understanding was not affected by participant’s age; the older participants knew as little as the younger ones did. Furthermore, it was found that the child/youth version of the Rights Caution did not assist participants in their understanding, and actually contained language that participants found more difficult to understand. These findings suggest that the New Zealand Rights Caution may not be effective in providing young people with the legal protection that it is intended to, and the processes around its use with New Zealand youth may need to be revised.</p>

Leveraging City-level Climate Change Law and Policy for the Protection of Children

While climate change is a global challenge, its impact is generally felt in local communities, particularly cities. The impact of climate change in urban settings is exacerbated by the built environment, high energy usage, air pollution and urbanisation, among other factors. Due to urbanisation, more children will be born and raised, or migrate to live in cities. Children in cities are vulnerable to the impact of climate change due to their physiology and developmental needs. City authorities are expected to utilise their constitutional and legislative powers in climate governance to protect children from the impact of climate change. The central inquiry of this article is to explore how city-level climate law and policy protects children in the context of climate change. Using Kenya and South Africa, as key examples, it illustrates that cities have constitutional powers and legislative authority to plan, implement and govern in certain climate-related functional areas and that could be leveraged to ensure the protection of children. The discussion of cities, children’s rights and climate change governance has global significance given the trends of urban growth in the present and coming decade.

Tell Me about Loneliness: Interviews with Young People about What Loneliness Is and How to Cope with It

Background: loneliness is a common experience for adolescents, yet the voices of adolescents are missing from current conceptualisations of loneliness. That means, measures that have been created based on current conceptualisations may miss important contexts of adolescence, such as the roles of friendships, that determine the way loneliness is experienced. The current study aims to centre adolescent voices to identify how they conceptualise loneliness and what strategies they consider to be useful for adolescents to cope with loneliness. Method: thematic framework analysis (TFA) was conducted on qualitative interviews with young people aged 8–14 years in Belgium and Italy to identify salient themes in their conceptualisations of loneliness. Results: Loneliness was conceptualised as a negative emotional state involving negative thinking patterns that occurs when an individual perceives they are missing out on a desired aspect in their social relationships. Coping strategies related to alleviating negative affect, and aiding social reconnection. Conclusions: friendships with peers were understood to be central to adolescent loneliness experiences. In line with that, loneliness was seen to be experienced at school. Age-related differences in friendship expectations were identified, highlighting how developmental needs relate to the loneliness experience.

Action Research: Improving My Music Therapy Practice with Hospitalised Adolescents through Building Relationships and Meeting their Developmental Needs

<p>This study examines the researcher's music therapy intervention with hospitalised adolescents within a paediatric hospital The hospital is located in a New Zealand city serving a broad multicultural population of mainly Pakeha, Maori and Pacific Island people. There is a large body of literature showing that experiences of hospitalisation are often unpleasant and that the challenges adolescents encounter during hospitalisation can also be detrimental to their development. The researcher employed an action research model of cycles of planning, action and reflection to explore the potential for practice improvement in meeting the needs of hospitalised adolescents. In addition, young people's feedback on the sessions and input from supervisors also contributed to the researcher's planning. Personal goals in clinical practice and specific planning for the needs of individual participants were the starting points of each cycle. Subsequently, each cycle had a learning analysis to relate planning to action and to collect the knowledge for the next cycle or future practice. The researcher found that through scrutiny of her clinical work she was able to improve her professional practice. The findings also showed that relationship-building through music therapy was able to support the developmental needs of hospitalised adolescents.</p>

Action Research: Improving My Music Therapy Practice with Hospitalised Adolescents through Building Relationships and Meeting their Developmental Needs

<p>This study examines the researcher's music therapy intervention with hospitalised adolescents within a paediatric hospital The hospital is located in a New Zealand city serving a broad multicultural population of mainly Pakeha, Maori and Pacific Island people. There is a large body of literature showing that experiences of hospitalisation are often unpleasant and that the challenges adolescents encounter during hospitalisation can also be detrimental to their development. The researcher employed an action research model of cycles of planning, action and reflection to explore the potential for practice improvement in meeting the needs of hospitalised adolescents. In addition, young people's feedback on the sessions and input from supervisors also contributed to the researcher's planning. Personal goals in clinical practice and specific planning for the needs of individual participants were the starting points of each cycle. Subsequently, each cycle had a learning analysis to relate planning to action and to collect the knowledge for the next cycle or future practice. The researcher found that through scrutiny of her clinical work she was able to improve her professional practice. The findings also showed that relationship-building through music therapy was able to support the developmental needs of hospitalised adolescents.</p>

Reimagining American education: Possible futures: A curriculum that promotes civic ends and meets developmental needs

If schools are to prepare students to participate more productively in civic life, schools will need to ensure that they have opportunities to practice the skills of civic reasoning, argues Carol Lee. Yet schools are challenged by the limits in the curriculum and the difficulty of addressing the different types of prior knowledge that students bring to the classroom. Lee suggests that when schools build their content and pedagogy on current understandings of human learning, they will be better able to enable students from all backgrounds to practice building the understandings they need, now and in the future.