Problems with and local solutions for organic matter management in Vietnam

Soil organic matter plays a major role in sustainable agricultural development in Vietnam. A general soil evaluation shows that the content of organic matter in most soil units in Vietnam ranges between 0.5 to 3.0% soil organic matter (in the A and B horizon only) with lower levels especially on sloping land. Most upland soils (70% that contain ≤ 2% soil organic matter) are in danger due to imminent soil erosion. Soil organic matter is lost very quickly due to erosion, lack of organic manure and poor farming techniques in these areas. Using green hedgerows along contour lines and intercropping with legume species to cover the soil are technological options to control soil erosion and improve soil organic matter content on sloping land. Green hedgerows significantly reduce soil and organic matter loss by 50–70%, compared to sloping land without hedgerows. Intercropping with legume species reduces soil loss by 40–50%, and can provide the soil with 2.5–12 tons of green manure/ha/year. However, more studies are needed to identify the best technologies for managing soil organic matter in upland areas. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Reciprocal influences in children's and families' adaptation to early childhood wheezing.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to demonstrate the reciprocal relationships between family adaptation to illness and children's medication use over time among children who presented with wheezing illness in infancy but have varying illness outcomes by age 4. Design: A longitudinal design and latent growth curve models (LGM) were used to predict change in family and caregiver adaptation to illness and children's medication use over three years among 140 infants with wheezing, among families from low socioeconomic, multi-ethnic backgrounds. Main Outcome Measures: One LGM predicted level and change (slope) of family adaptation to illness from children's baseline medication use. The second LGM predicted level and change (slope) of children's medication use from baseline family adjustment to illness. In both models, illness severity, caregivers' psychological resources, and emergency department use were covaried with the independent variable. Results: Two latent growth models were found to adequately fit the data and demonstrate full reciprocal relations between family adaptation to illness and children's medication use while accounting for baseline variables. Baseline measures of caregiver psychological functioning and illness severity were also significant predictors of family adaptation and children's medication use over time. The two models were not statistically different for children with and without active asthma at 4 years of age. Conclusion: Findings support the reciprocal effects model of child and family influences on pediatric illness and underscore the importance of early indicators of individual and family functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal emotional signaling: Its effect on the visual cliff behavior of 1-year-olds.

Studied the effect of maternal facial expressions of emotion on 108 12-mo-old infants in 4 studies. The deep side of a visual cliff was adjusted to a height that produced no clear avoidance and much referencing of the mother. In Study 1, 19 Ss viewed a facial expression of joy, while 17 Ss viewed one of fear. In Study 2, 15 Ss viewed interest, while 18 Ss viewed anger. In Study 3, 19 Ss viewed sadness. In Study 4, 23 Ss were used to determine whether the expressions influenced Ss' evaluation of an ambiguous situation or whether they were effective in controlling behavior merely because of their discrepancy or unexpectedness. Results show that Ss used facial expressions to disambiguate situations. If a mother posed joy or interest while S referenced, most Ss crossed the deep side. If a mother posed fear or anger, few Ss crossed. In the absence of any depth whatsoever, few Ss referenced the mother and those who did, while the mother was posing fear, hesitated but crossed nonetheless. It is suggested that facial expressions regulate behavior most clearly in contexts of uncertainty. (17 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Glutamine stabilizes intestinal permeability and reduces pancreatic infection in acute experimental pancreatitis

Intestinal barrier failure and subsequent translocation of bacteria from the gut play a decisive role in the development of systemic infections in severe acute pancreatitis. Glutamine (GLN) has been shown to stabilize gut barrier function and to reduce bacterial translocation in various experimental settings. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether GLN reduces gut permeability and bacterial infection in a model of acute necrotizing pancreatitis. Acute necrotizing pancreatitis was induced in 50 rats under sterile conditions by intraductal infusion of glycodeoxycholic acid and intravenous infusion of cerulein. Six hours after the induction of pancreatitis, animals were randomly assigned to one of two groups: standard total parental nutrition (TPN) or TPN combined with GLN (0.5 g/kg(-1)/day(-1)). After 96 hours, the animals were killed. The pancreas was prepared for bacteriologic examination, and the ascending colon was mounted in a Ussing chamber for determination of transmucosal resistance and mannitol flux as indicators of intestinal permeability. Transmucosal resistance was 31% higher in the animals treated with GLN- supplemented TPN compared to the animals given standard TPN. Mannitol flux through the epithelium was decreased by 40%. The prevalence of pancreatic infections was 33% in animals given GLN-enriched TPN as compared to 86% in animals receiving standard TPN (P < 0.05). Adding GLN to standard TPN not only reduces the permeability of the colon but decreases pancreatic infections in acute necrotizing pancreatitis in the rat. This confirms previous reports that GLN decreases bacterial translocation by stabilizing the intestinal mucosal barrier. The present findings provide the first evidence suggesting that stabilizing the intestinal barrier can reduce the prevalence of pancreatic infection in acute pancreatitis and that GLN may be useful in preventing septic complications in clinical pancreatitis.     

Social referencing: The infant's use of emotional signals from a friendly adult with mother present.

Previous studies have demonstrated that 1-yr-old infants look toward their mothers' facial expressions and use the emotional information conveyed. In this study, 46 1-yr-olds were confronted with an unusual toy in a context where an experimenter familiar to the infants posed either happy or fearful expressions and where their mothers were present but did not provide facial signals. Results indicate that most of the Ss (83%) referenced the familiarized stranger. Once the adult's facial signals were noted, the S's instrumental behaviors and expressive responses to the toy were influenced in the direction of the affective valence of the adult's expression. It is suggested that infants may be influenced by the emotional expressions of a much broader group of adults than has previously been recognized. (22 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gray-scale ALIAS

Based on the paradigm of collective learning systems, ALIAS (adaptive learning image analysis system) is an adaptive image-processing engine specifically designed to detect anomalies in otherwise normal images and signals. To accomplish this, ALIAS requires only one pass through a training set, which typically consists of less than 100 samples. The original version of ALIAS (1.0) was limited to an input domain of binary images. A gray-scale version of ALIAS (2.3) was completed in Apr. 1991. The authors present the theoretical background and technical design of ALIAS and describe two experiments with the gray-scale capability     

Developmental models of infant and childhood temperament

The developmental courses of specific temperamental constructs were explored by using structural equation model fitting. Maternal ratings were obtained from either 2 or 3 different temperament questionnaires for 180 children at 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 months of age. Several formal structural models were fit in infancy (3-18 months), in the toddler-preschooler period (24-48 months), and across all measurement occasions. In infancy, the autoregressive simplex model fit well for all 4 composites considered: Positive Emotionality, Distress-Anger, Fear, and Activity Level. In contrast to the considerable change in temperament during infancy, temperament appears to be very stable from 24 to 48 months of age, and a common factor model fits well with these data. Across all measurement occasions, models that allowed for stability in temperament to be at least partially mediated through intermediate forms of the trait fit best.