Resident Children Research Articles

Elemental Sulfur Use and Associations with Pediatric Lung Function and Respiratory Symptoms in an Agricultural Community (California, USA).

Background: Elemental sulfur, “the oldest of all pesticides,” is the most heavily used agricultural pesticide in California and Europe. Sulfur is considered relatively safe and is used in both conventional and organic farming systems. Adverse respiratory effects have been reported in applicators and animals, but the effect on residential populations, and especially on children living in proximity to fields treated with elemental sulfur, is not known.Objectives: We evaluated associations between residential proximity to elemental sulfur applications and respiratory symptoms and spirometry of children living in an agricultural community.Methods: Participants were enrolled in the CHAMACOS longitudinal birth cohort. We collected respiratory symptomatology for 347 children at 7 y of age and measured spirometry on a subset of 279. Of these, estimations of proximity to sulfur application and relevant covariate data were available for 237 and 205 children for whom we had symptomatology information and measurements, respectively. Data from the California Pesticide Use Reporting System were used to estimate the amount of elemental sulfur applied within 0.5, 1, and of a child’s residence during the week, month, and 12 mo prior to pulmonary evaluation. Regression models controlled for maternal smoking during pregnancy; season of birth; (particulate matter in aerodynamic diameter); breast feeding duration; child’s sex, age, and height; technician; and other covariates.Results: Adverse associations with respiratory outcomes were found for sulfur applications within 0.5- and radii. Specifically, asthma medication usage and respiratory symptoms increased [; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.50, 8.23, ; ; 95% CI: 1.27, 3.46, , respectively] and decreased (; 95% CI: , , ) per 10-fold increase in the estimated amount of sulfur used within of child residence during the year prior to pulmonary evaluation.Conclusions: This study suggests that elemental sulfur use, allowed in both organic and conventional farming, in close proximity to residential areas, may adversely affect children’s respiratory health. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP528

Recent versus chronic fine particulate air pollution exposure as determinant of the retinal microvasculature in school children

BackgroundMicrovascular changes may represent an underlying mechanism through which exposure to fine particulate matter with a diameter ≤ 2.5µm (PM2.5) contributes to age-related disease development. We investigated the effect of recent and chronic exposure to PM2.5 on the microcirculation, exemplified by retinal vessel diameters, using repeated measurements in 8- to 12-year-old children. Methods221 children (49.1% girls; mean age 9.9 years) were examined repeatedly (25 one, 124 two, and 72 three times) adding up to 489 retinal vessel examinations. Same-day exposure to PM2.5 was measured at school. In addition, recent (same and previous day) and chronic (yearly mean) exposure was modelled at the child's residence using a high-resolution interpolation model. Residential proximity to major roads was also assessed. Changes in retinal vessel diameters associated with recent and chronic exposures were estimated using mixed models, while adjusting for other known covariates such as sex, age, BMI, blood pressure and birth weight. ResultsEach 10µg/m³ increment in same-day exposure to PM2.5 measured at school was associated with 0.35µm (95% CI: 0.09–0.61µm) narrower retinal arterioles and 0.35µm (−0.03 to 0.73µm) wider venules. Children living 100m closer to a major road had 0.30µm (0.05–0.54µm) narrower arterioles. ConclusionsBlood vessel diameters of the retinal microcirculation of healthy school-aged children respond to same-day PM2.5 exposure. Furthermore, children living closer to major roads had smaller arteriolar diameters. Our results suggest that the microcirculation, with retinal microvasculature as a proxy in this study, is a pathophysiological target for air pollution in children.

Sexual violence against female university students in Ethiopia

BackgroundThough many women are suffering the consequences of sexual violence, only few victims speak out as it is sensitive and prone to stigma. This lack of data made it difficult to get full picture of the problem and design proper interventions. Thus, the aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and factors associated with sexual violence among female students of Wolaita Sodo University, south Ethiopia.MethodsInstitution based cross-sectional study was conducted among 462 regular female Wolaita Sodo University students on April 7/2015. Participants were selected by simple random sampling. Data were collected by self-administered questionnaire. Data entry and analysis was done by EPI info and SPSS statistical packages respectively. Descriptive statistics were done. Moreover, bivariate and multivariate analyses were also carried out to identify predictors of sexual violence.ResultThe age of respondents ranged from 18 to 26 years. Lifetime sexual violence was found to be 45.4%. However, 36.1% and 24.4% of respondents reported experiencing sexual violence since entering university and in the current academic year respectively. Life time sexual violence was positively associated with witnessing inter-parental violence as a child, rural childhood residence, having regular boyfriend, alcohol consumption and having friends who drink regularly; while it was negatively associated with discussing sexual issues with parents.ConclusionSexual violence is a common phenomenon among the students. More detailed research has to be conducted to develop prevention and intervention strategies.

Recurrent Childhood Animal Cruelty and Its Link to Recurrent Adult Interpersonal Violence.

In the early 1960s, researchers began to examine the potential link between childhood animal cruelty and future interpersonal violence. Findings since then have been inconsistent in establishing a relationship between the two. This may be due to researchers failing to measure the recurrency of childhood animal abuse and the recurrency of later violent acts committed in adulthood. The current study, using data from 257 inmates at a medium-security prison in a Southern state, is a replication of research conducted by Tallichet and Hensley, and Hensley, Tallichet, and Dutkiewicz, which examined this recurrency issue. The only statistically significant predictor of recurrent adult interpersonal violence in this study was recurrent childhood animal cruelty. Inmates who engaged in recurrent childhood animal cruelty were more likely to commit recurrent adult interpersonal violence. Respondents' race, education, and childhood residence were not significant predictors of the outcome variable.

Characterization of PM2.5-Bound Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in the Ambient Air of Győr, Hungary

ABSTRACTIn Hungary, the nationwide monitoring of PM10-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air is great importance for a number of reasons related to human health, the environment and compliance with European Union legislation. However, the measurement of PAH concentrations in PM2.5 aerosol fraction has not been carried out. Therefore, the concentration, distribution and sources of PM2.5-bound PAHs at different urban sites of Győr were investigated in a heating season. The total PAH concentrations (sum of 19 individual PAH compounds) ranged from 1.32 to 37.27 ng/m3 with the mean value of 10.54 ng/m3. The high molecular weight PAHs with 5 and 6 aromatic rings were the most abundant PAHs in PM2.5 aerosol samples, which averaged 82% of total PAHs. Using benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) equivalent approach on the concentration data of carcinogenic PAH species, BaP and indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene contributed the highest carcinogenic exposure equivalent (1.25 and 0.19 ng/m3 on average). However, the incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) values for resident children and adults indicated low-potential cancer risk (ILCR < 10−6). The source apportionment results reflected that the major sources of PAH compounds in the Győr atmosphere were fossil fuel combustion and vehicle emissions.

US Immigration Policy and the Case for Family Unity

As the Trump administration contemplates immigration reform, it is important to better understand what works and what does not in the current system. This paper reviews and critically evaluates the principle of family unity, a hallmark of US immigration policy over the past 50 years and the most important mechanism for immigration to the United States. Since 1965, the United States has been admitting a relatively high proportion of family-based migrants and allowing for the immigration of a broader range of family members. However, restrictive annual quotas have resulted in a long line of prospective immigrants waiting outside of the United States or within the United States, but without status. Further policy changes have led to an increasing number of undocumented migrants and mixed-status families in the United States. Several policies and practices contribute to prolonged periods of family separation by restricting travel and effectively locking in a large number of people either inside or outside of the United States. On top of that, increasingly aggressive enforcement practices undermine family unity of a large number of undocumented and mixed-status families. Deportations — and even a fear of deportation —cause severe psychological distress and often leave US-born children of undocumented parents without economic and social support. A recent comprehensive report concluded that immigration has overall positive impact on the US economy, suggesting that a predominantly family-based migration system carries net economic benefits. Immigrants rely on family networks for employment, housing, transportation, informal financial services, schooling, childcare, and old age care. In the US context where there is nearly no federal support for immigrants' integration and limited welfare policies, family unity is critical for promoting immigrant integration, social and economic well-being, and intergenerational mobility. Given the benefits of family unity in the US immigrant context and the significant negative consequences of family separation, the United States would do well to make a number of changes to current policy and practice that reaffirm its commitment to family unity. Reducing wait times for family reunification with spouses and children of lawful permanent residents, allowing prospective family-based migrants to visit their relatives in the United States while their applications are being processed, and providing relief from deportation and a path to legalization to parents and spouses of US citizens should be prioritized. The cost to implement these measures would likely be minor compared to current and projected spending on immigration enforcement and it would be more than offset by the improved health and well-being of American families.

Hair geochemical composition of children from Vilnius kindergartens as an indicator of environmental conditions.

The research is based on analysis data of Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, V, Zn (metals) and S in the hair of 47 girls and 63 boys from eight Vilnius kindergartens and the distribution pattern of high metal concentrations and bioavailability in snow-cover dust, also dust samples from vents of characteristic pollution sources. The kindergartens were selected according to topsoil total contamination index and dust-related indices. Significantly higher Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn concentrations in the hair of girls (means are 1.1, 1.9, 1.3, 1.2 times higher) and the differences between hair of genders according to inter-element correlation and clustering were found. Analysis of Spearman correlation coefficients between metal concentrations in hair of each gender and dust metal concentrations or metal loading rates at their residence sites revealed that for Mn, Cu and Zn, they are insignificant, while for Cr, Ni, Pb and V, they are mainly significant positive (except V in female hair). The correlation of the contents of Cr, Ni and V in dust with respective concentrations in hair was more significant for boys (p<0.001) than for girls. Only a few cases with a significant Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb and Zn increase were revealed in hair of children attending polluted kindergartens in comparison with control. It was concluded that relationship between metal concentrations in hair and dust-related indices is more expressed for children's residence sites than for their kindergarten sites. The gender-based grouping and site-by-site study design are recommended in the studies of reflection of environmental exposure in hair.

Mass Deportations Would Impoverish US Families and Create Immense Social Costs

Executive Summary1 This paper provides a statistical portrait of the US undocumented population, with an emphasis on the social and economic condition of mixed-status households - that is, households that contain a US citizen and an undocumented resident. It is based primarily on data compiled by the Center for Migration Studies (CMS). Major findings include the following: • There were 3.3 million mixed-status households in the United States in 2014. • 6.6 million US-born citizens share 3 million households with undocumented residents (mostly their parents). Of these US-born citizens, 5.7 million are children (under age 18). • 2.9 million undocumented residents were 14 years old or younger when they were brought to the United States. • Three-quarters of a million undocumented residents are self-employed, having created their own jobs and in the process, creating jobs for many others. • A total of 1.3 million, or 13 percent of the undocumented over age 18, have college degrees. • Of those with college degrees, two-thirds, or 855,000, have degrees in four fields: engineering, business, communications, and social sciences. • Six million undocumented residents, or 55 percent of the total, speak English well, very well, or only English. • The unemployment rate for the undocumented was 6.6 percent, the same as the national rate in January 2014.2 • Seventy-three percent had incomes at or above the poverty level. • Sixty-two percent have lived in the United States for 10 years or more. • Their median household income was $41,000, about $12,700 lower than the national figure of $53,700 in 2014 (US Census Bureau 2015). Based on this profile, a massive deportation program can be expected to have the following major consequences: • Removing undocumented residents from mixed-status households would reduce median household income from $41,300 to $22,000, a drop of $19,300, or 47 percent, which would plunge millions of US families into poverty. • If just one-third of the US-born children of undocumented residents remained in the United States following a mass deportation program, which is a very low estimate, the cost of raising those children through their minority would total $118 billion. • The nation's housing market would be jeopardized because a high percentage of the 1.2 million mortgages held by households with undocumented immigrants would be in peril. • Gross domestic product (GDP) would be reduced by 1.4 percent in the first year, and cumulative GDP would be reduced by $4.7 trillion over 10 years. CMS derived its population estimates for 2014 using a series of statistical procedures that involved the analysis of data collected by the US Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). The privacy of all respondents in the survey is legally mandated, and, for the reasons listed in the Appendix, the identity of undocumented residents cannot be derived from the data. A detailed description of the methodology used to develop the estimates is available at the CMS website.3

Food allergy: is prevalence increasing?

It is generally accepted that the prevalence of food allergy has been increasing in recent decades, particularly in westernised countries, yet high-quality evidence that is based on challenge confirmed diagnosis of food allergy to support this assumption is lacking because of the high cost and potential risks associated with conducting food challenges in large populations. Accepting this caveat, the use of surrogate markers for diagnosis of food allergy (such as nationwide data on hospital admissions for food anaphylaxis or clinical history in combination with allergen-specific IgE (sIgE) measurement in population-based cohorts) has provided consistent evidence for increasing prevalence of food allergy at least in western countries, such as the UK, United States and Australia. Recent reports that children of East Asian or African ethnicity who are raised in a western environment (Australia and United States respectively) have an increased risk of developing food allergy compared with resident Caucasian children suggest that food allergy might also increase across Asian and African countries as their economies grow and populations adopt a more westernised lifestyle. Given that many cases of food allergy persist, mathematical principles would predict a continued increase in food allergy prevalence in the short to medium term until such time as an effective treatment is identified to allow the rate of disease resolution to be equal to or greater than the rate of new cases.

Two-dose seasonal influenza vaccine coverage and timeliness among children aged 6 months through 3 years: An evidence from the 2010–11 to the 2014–15 seasons in Zhejiang province, east China

ABSTRACTObjective: To evaluate the coverage and timeliness of seasonal influenza vaccine vaccination (SIV) among children aged 6 months to 3 years from the 2010–11 through the 2014–15 seasons. Methods: Children registered in Zhejiang Provincial Immunization Information System (ZJIIS) and needed 2 seasonal influenza vaccine doses in a given season from 2010–11 to 2014–15 were enrolled. Socio-economic information and SIV records of target children were extracted from ZJIIS on 1 January 2016. Any (≥1 dose) and full (2 doses) vaccination coverage by December 1 and March 31 as well as interval between 2 doses were calculated. Trends of coverage over time and determinants on fully vaccination coverage and interval between 2 doses were assessed. Results: Full SIV overage by Mar 31 increased from the 2010–11 to the 2014–15 seasons (2.60% vs 2.92%). Less than 1% of children received 2 doses by December 1. The interval between 2 doses among fully vaccinated children decreased over time (2010–11: 68.32 days; 2014–15: 49.51 days; p < 0.05). Age, socio-economic development level of resident areas were inversely associated with full vaccination coverage and resident children had a significantly higher full vaccination coverage. Younger age, resident children, receiving vaccination from higher service frequency clinics and clinics with morning and afternoon sessions were positive determinants of a shorter interval between 2 doses. Conclusion: Majority of children aged 6 months to 3 years remained at risk of incomplete and delayed SIV. The importance of the 2-dose SIV recommendation needs to be emphasized and effective interventions needs to be implemented to improve the completeness and the timeliness of SIV.

Relationship of Social Determinants of Health with the Three-year Survival Rate of Breast Cancer

Background:Social determinants of health are among the key factors affecting the pathogenesis of diseases. Considering the increasingly high prevalence of breast cancer and the association of social determinants of health with its occurrence, related morbidity and mortality and survival rate, this study sought to assess the relationship of three-year survival rate of breast cancer with social determinants of health.Materials and Methods:This cohort study was conducted on males and females presenting to the Cancer Research Center of Shohada-E-Tajrish Hospital from 2006 to 2010 with definite diagnosis of breast cancer. Data were collected via phone interviews. Kaplan-Meier and Cox regression was fitted using SPSS (version 18) and PH assumption was tested by STATA (version 11) software.Results:The study was performed on 797 breast cancer patients, aged 25-93 years with mean age of 54.66 (SD=11.86) years. After 3 years from diagnosing cancer 700 (87.8%) patients were alive and 97 (12.2%) patients were dead. Using log rank test, there was relationship between 3-year survivals with age, education, childhood residence, sibling, treatment type, and district were significant (p<0.05). Using Cox PH regression, 3-year survival was related to age, level of education, municipal district of residence and childhood condition (p<0.05).Conclusion:Social determinants of health such as childhood condition, city region residency, level of education and age affect the three-year survival rate of breast cancer. Future studies must focus on the effect of childhood social class on the survival rates of cancers, which have been paid less attention to.

A longitudinal cohort study examining determinants of overweight and obesity in adulthood.

Adulthood overweight and obesity are multifaceted conditions influenced by a combination of biological, environmental and socio-cultural factors across the lifespan. Using a longitudinal study design, we aimed to identify determinants of adulthood overweight and obesity, in relation to: 1) childhood and life course factors, 2) geographical differences in air quality, and 3) gender-specific factors, in a cohort followed from childhood into adulthood. Childhood data were acquired (1978-1986) from children residing in four distinct Hamilton neighbourhoods (Ontario, Canada), including air-quality assessments. Adulthood data were obtained (2006-2007) from successfully retraced participants (n = 315) using comprehensive self-administered questionnaires. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to evaluate determinants of adulthood overweight (BMI: 25-29.9 kg/m2) and obesity (BMI: ≥30). The prevalence of normal weight decreased drastically at follow-up in adulthood, while that of overweight and obesity increased. Both overweight and obesity in adulthood were associated with male gender and occupational exposures to contaminants. Childhood residence in Hamilton neighbourhoods with better air quality was associated with lesser odds of adulthood overweight, whereas adulthood obesity was strongly linked to childhood weight gain (overweight or obesity). Among females, childhood weight status predicted overweight and obesity in adulthood, with always living in Hamilton, lack of additional health insurance, negative self-appraisal and high blood pressure during adulthood identified as other significant predictors. Among males, prolonged occupational exposures to contaminants emerged as a unique determinant of adulthood weight gain. Adulthood overweight and obesity are associated with childhood and life course determinants, including childhood weight status, residential air quality and occupational contaminant exposures, in a gender-specific manner.

Some Epidemiological Aspects of Bronchial Asthma in Children in Qena Governorate, Egypt

Background: Bronchial asthma is one of the most prevalent diseases affecting children in both developed and developing countries. Due to paucity of data, we believe that epidemiological state of asthma should be wellestimated. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the epidemiology and risk factors of asthma among children with bronchial asthma in Qena Governorate, Egypt. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on children with bronchial asthma in Qena district in Upper Egypt during the period from April 2013 to March 2014. All patients were subjected to clinical and epidemiological data questionnaires including personal and demographic data, precipitating factors for acute exacerbation, clinical manifestations during acute exacerbation, history suggestive for other atopic diseases, asthma grading at diagnosis and course of the disease. Results: Of the 100 studied asthmatic children, the percentage of males and urban resident asthmatic children was more than females and rural resident children respectively. Regarding socioeconomic status, low socioeconomic level children showed a highly significant effect as risk factors for asthma compared to middle and high socioeconomic level children. Exercise-induced asthma was found in up to 37%, allergic rhinitis in 44%, atopic dermatitis in 67% and food allergy in 22% of asthmatic children. According to asthma severity, mild intermittent cases were the most frequent among total children. Conclusion: Bronchial asthma is an important public health problem among children and adolescents in Qena district and this necessitates an adequate attention. There is also a need for public health policy in Egypt including upper Egypt planning on reducing environmental triggers, and educating health care personnel on the preventive measures of asthma.

Justice for New Zealandds Stolen Generation: The State's Criminal Responsibility for Historical Institutional Child Abuse

The New Zealand Government has been increasingly pressured to establish an independent public inquiry into the abuse and neglect of children in social welfare residences between the 1950s to the 1990s. This paper seeks to determine a response to historical institutional child abuse in New Zealand that achieves justice for victims. The State should be held criminally responsible for historical institutional child abuse in New Zealand by responding to it in a way that recognises its criminal nature. Although New Zealand’s criminal law does not provide for the criminal prosecution of the State for historical institutional child abuse, and legislating a retrospective offence would be inappropriate, a restorative justice process should be used to recognise the criminal responsibility of the State.

Dementia, Help with Financial Management, and Well-Being

Earlier research indicated that the vast majority of retirees with dementia do not use the U.S. Social Security Administration’s Representative Payee Program, despite the fact that many have lost the capacity to manage their own finances. However, that research also indicated that most retirees with dementia do have access to informal caregivers who could assist them (e.g., a resident adult child or non-impaired spouse), but the research did not examine whether those individuals provided assistance specifically with financial management. This paper uses the National Health and Aging Trends Study to determine whether beneficiaries with dementia receive help from their informal caregivers in managing their finances. The paper also examines the financial well-being of those with assistance compared to those without assistance.

Transgenerational effects of radiation on cancer and other disorders in mice and humans

Parental exposure of mice to radiation and chemicals causes a variety of adverse effects in the progeny, and the tumor-susceptibility phenotype is transmissible beyond the first postradiation generation. The induced rates of tumors were 100-fold higher than those known for mouse specific locus mutations. There were clear strain differences in the types of naturally-occurring and induced tumors and most of the latter were malignant. Another important finding was that germ-line exposure elicited very weak tumorigenic responses, but caused persistent hypersensitivity in the offspring for the subsequent development of cancer by the postnatal environment. Various disorders were induced in the offspring of mice exposed to radiation. Microsatellite mutations increase dose-dependently and accumulated for 58 generations in the offspring of male parental mice exposed to single dose of X-rays. Changes in gene expression also transmitted to further generations. Radiation-induced genomic instability in germ cells may enhance cancer and other disorders in next generation. In humans, a higher risk of leukemia and birth defects has been reported in the children of fathers who had been exposed to radionuclides in the nuclear reprocessing plants and to diagnostic radiation. These findings have not been supported in the children of atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who were exposed to higher doses of atomic radiation. However, long-term monitoring of children by Russian Federation Children's Center of Antiradiation Protection after Chernobyl accident shows higher prevalence of malignant neoplasm, mostly childhood cancer, malformation, and other disorders in the children of residents exposed to contaminated radionuclides (>556 kBq/m2). Persistent accumulation of genomic instability may cause various disorders in a further generation in human. This view will gain support from our mouse experiments, because the induced rate of solid tumors in the offspring of mice exposed to radiation is much higher than that of leukemia.

Assessment of quality of life in children with epilepsy in rural settings of South India: A cross sectional study

Background: Epilepsy is the most common pediatric neurological disorder which alters the conscious, behavior, motor activity, and autonomy function leads to compromised quality of life (QoL) in children. Objective: The aim is to assess the QoL, and to evaluate the influence of demographic and clinical factors on QoL in children with epilepsy. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted over 1 year from October 2013 to September 2014. Baseline demographic characteristics and other details were collected from patient case data and through a semi-structured interview during their recruitment into the present investigation. The child version of TNO-AZL Children's QoL questionnaire was administered by the trained research coordinator to collect data from and about the study subjects. Statistical Analysis: ANOVA and student t -test were performed for the statistical analysis. The data analysis was performed using Graph pad instat 3.0.10.0. Results: The educational status, socioeconomic status, and maternal education were the demographic characters that significantly affected the QoL of study subjects. Type of seizures, early childhood history of seizures, duration of therapy and duration of epilepsy were the most important clinical characteristics that could significantly affect the QoL of study subjects. Conclusion: Further QoL studies and interventional programs may be conducted to improve the QoL and to individualize management in rural resident children with epilepsy.

The Psychotherapy Benefits of Horticultural Therapy: A Case Study on Parentless Children

Child-care institutions have been traditionally known as the orphanage, but due to the changing of social needs, the asylum object presents a wide range to integrated single-parent family, poverty or child protection cases. These people are facing a situation of multiple disadvantaged. They have more pressure than any other children. So a long period of negative effect of emotions may cause depression, thus triggering the motive of this research. This research hopes thronging the different Horticultural Therapy activity for children living in Children’s home have what kind of benefit, And hope by through Horticultural Therapy to reduce negative behavior of resident children. Our case study is on the children of one private-donated foster home in Taichung area. Before the experiment, educators sampled 10 children with the age range of 10 to 13 years old. 20-week horticultural therapy courses are taken for kids in four levels activities, which are Indoor, outdoor, horticultural handicraft and group activities. Before and after the Depression Scale assessment found：Depression degree of effectiveness can be reduced. The t-test found significant differences when completed Horticultural therapy fourth level course (20 weeks) in melancholy circumstances around these case. Implementation of Horticultural therapy courses of depression degree in five indicators, With negative emotions have a greater effect of mitigation. Although part effects found in life-adapting, it found no significant difference in life-adapting situation before and after in t-test. Horticulture therapy courses would be significant effective suggest more than 20-week courses for 9-13 year-old children. Suggest observed performance and response change of internal and external of children in long-term tracking.

No association between TGF-β1 polymorphisms and risk of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in a large North African case-control study.

BackgroundGenetic susceptibility plays a key role in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and in fact the disease presents with an unusually high incidence in certain regions of the world like North Africa. We investigated the association between polymorphism of the Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and risk of NPC in North Africa. TGF-β1 is a multifunctional cytokine that acts as both a tumor suppressor and a stimulator of cancer development; it has been shown to influence risk of numerous other carcinomas including lung, breast and prostate cancer.MethodsTGF-β1 polymorphisms C-509T and T869C were studied in a large North African sample of 384 NPC cases and 361 controls, matched for age, sex and urban or rural residence in childhood. Genotypes were determined using polymerase chain reaction–restriction fragment length polymorphism.ResultsNo association was observed between individual single nucleotide polymorphisms or their haplotypes and NPC susceptibility (for TGF-β1 C-509T: OR = 0.74; 95 % CI 0.46 − 1.18; for TGF-β1 T869C: OR = 0.86; 95 % CI 0.56 − 1.31), even when the samples were stratified by age, gender and TNM stage.ConclusionContrary to what has been observed in Asian samples, in our North African sample, the TGF-β1 C-509T and T869C polymorphisms did not substantially influence NPC susceptibility.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12881-016-0337-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Association of exposure to environmental chemicals with risk of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between exposure to environmental chemicals and the risk of childhood acute lymphocytic leukemia(cALL). Methods: A case-controlled study was conducted in Shenzhen Children's Hospital, China from January 2015 to January 2016. The cases were selected from the section of Hematology and Oncology, and the controls were selected from Orthopedics by 1∶2 matching of cases according to sex and age. A questionnaire including population data and chemical exposure characteristics was conducted on the children's parents, and urine and EDTA-blood were collected from the children. Then, we quantitatively measured the internal dose of formaldehyde(i.e., formaldehyde-human serum albumin)by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and the doses of metabolites benzene, toluene, and xylene(i.e., trans-muconic acid, hippuric acid, and methylhippuric acid)by high-performance liquid chromatography. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the relationships between exposure factors measured from children and their parents and cALL. Results: In the study, 71 cases(average age: 6.08±3.61 years), and 142 controls(average age: 5.91±3.57 years)were assessed; there were no differences in general demographics between two groups. The self-reported results showed that living in a home that had been painted in the past 10 years(OR=4.39, 95% CI: 1.87-10.31), maternal chemical exposure during pregnancy(OR=11.78, 95% CI: 1.65-83.88), paternal diesel or gasoline exposure(OR=8.15, 95% CI: 2.68-24.83), paternal dye exposure(OR=7.77, 95% CI: 1.52-39.67)and trash burning near the child's residence(OR=6.08, 95% CI: 1.17-31.66)were associated with increased risk of cALL. The positive detection rates of only benzene metabolites were significantly higher in cases(40/44)than controls(81/111)(χ2=5.92, P=0.021). The median formaldehyde and benzene concentrations in cases(32.120 pg/ml, 2.505 μg/gCr)were significantly higher than those in controls(18.705 pg/ml, 0.672 μg/gCr; Z values:-1.98 and-3.95, P values: 0.047 and<0.001, respectively). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that benzene exposure(OR=1.09, 95% CI: 1.00-1.19), home painting in the past 10 years(OR=3.56, 95% CI: 1.20-10.53)and paternal diesel or gasoline exposure(OR= 3.75, 95% CI: 1.06-13.22)were associated with increased risk of cALL. Conclusion: A variety of environmental chemistry factors, such as benzene exposure, increase the risk of cALL, and further studies are warranted to explore their specific roles.