Finding a secure base: Exploring children's attachment behaviors with professional caregivers during the first months of daycare.

Recent decades have seen a major rise in demand for daycare services for children aged 0 to 3 years, and this has increased research interest in the child-professional caregiver relationship at daycare centers: How does the relationship between children and their new caregivers develop over time? How long does it take for children to settle in at daycare? What variables can influence the settling-in process? These questions are all of the utmost salience and bear crucial implications for children, parents, and daycare practitioners. In this study, we set out to explore the relationship between infants and their new caregivers over the first two months in daycare, using the Professional Caregiver Attachment Diary. The study involved seven Italian daycare centres and 55 professional caregivers, who observed 148 children (M=17.8 months). The children's attachment behaviors were assessed at three time-points: when the children started attending daycare (T1), one month later (T2), and two months later (T3). We found that positive attachment behaviors (Secure and Non-Distressed) increased over time, whereas insecure behaviors (Avoidant and Resistant) decreased. Most of the change took place during the first month. Furthermore, children who had attended more daycare more regularly (with fewer days of absence) displayed fewer avoidant behaviors and a more rapid decrease in resistant behaviors than did children who were absent more frequently. The findings suggest that the PCAD may be usefully deployed to observe and analyze children while they are settling into a new daycare setting, especially in relation to their exploratory behaviors.

Temporal recording of mammalian development and precancer.

Key to understanding many biological phenomena is knowing the temporal ordering of cellular events, which often require continuous direct observations [1, 2]. An alternative solution involves the utilization of irreversible genetic changes, such as naturally occurring mutations, to create indelible markers that enables retrospective temporal ordering [3-8]. Using NSC-seq, a newly designed and validated multi-purpose single-cell CRISPR platform, we developed a molecular clock approach to record the timing of cellular events and clonality in vivo , while incorporating assigned cell state and lineage information. Using this approach, we uncovered precise timing of tissue-specific cell expansion during murine embryonic development and identified new intestinal epithelial progenitor states by their unique genetic histories. NSC-seq analysis of murine adenomas and single-cell multi-omic profiling of human precancers as part of the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN), including 116 scRNA-seq datasets and clonal analysis of 418 human polyps, demonstrated the occurrence of polyancestral initiation in 15-30% of colonic precancers, revealing their origins from multiple normal founders. Thus, our multimodal framework augments existing single-cell analyses and lays the foundation for in vivo multimodal recording, enabling the tracking of lineage and temporal events during development and tumorigenesis.

Parent, child, and environmental predictors of vegetable consumption in Italian, Polish, and British preschoolers.

This study compared the vegetable intake of preschool children from three European countries [Italy, Poland, and the United Kingdom (UK)] and explored the parent, child, and environmental factors that predicted intake in each country. A total of 408 parents of preschoolers (Italy: N = 61, Poland: N = 124, and UK: N = 225; child mean age = 32.2 months, SD = 9.47) completed an online survey comprising a set of standardised questionnaires. For all three countries, the questionnaires included measures of children's vegetable intake (VegFFQ), child eating behaviour (CEBQ-FF), parents' mealtime goals (FMGs), and sociodemographic questions about family background and environment. In the UK and Italy, additional questionnaires were used to assess child temperament (EAS-T) and parents' feeding practices (CFPQ). The results showed that the number of child-sized portions of vegetables consumed per day varied significantly across countries; Polish children consumed the most (∼3 portions) and Italian children the least (∼1.5 portions). Between-country differences were seen in parents' goals for family mealtimes; compared to Italian parents, Polish and UK parents were more motivated to minimise mealtime stress, increase family involvement in meal preparation, and share the same foods with family members. British and Italian parents also adopted different feeding practices; parents in the UK reported more use of healthy modelling behaviours and more use of foods to support their child's emotion regulation. In terms of child factors, Italian children were reported to be more emotional and more sociable than British children. Analyses of the relationships between the parent, child, and environmental factors and children's vegetable intake revealed both similarities and differences between countries. Negative predictors of vegetable intake included child food fussiness in the UK and Poland, child temperament (especially, shyness) in Italy, and the use of food as a reward and child emotionality in the UK. Positive predictors included the parental mealtime goal of 'family involvement' in the UK. These results highlight differences in the extent to which European preschoolers achieve recommended levels of vegetable intake, and in the factors that influence whether they do. The results suggest a need to develop healthy eating interventions that are adopted to meet the specific needs of the countries in which they are implemented.

Theory of Mind Development in Italian Children with Specific Language Impairment and Autism Spectrum Disorder: Delay, Deficit, or Neither?

Some studies report delayed theory of mind (ToM) development in children with specific language impairment (SLI), while others do not. A ToM delay is acknowledged in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), while whether these children also display a deficit is still under debate. In the current study, we drew on a developmental trajectory approach to assess whether children with SLI or ASD displayed delays or deficits in their ToM performance. Forty-three children with SLI (age 4-10 years), 44 children with ASD (age 5-12 years), and 227 typically developing children (age 3-11 years) completed the ToM Storybooks. Children with SLI were not found to display either a delay or a deficit in ToM, while children with ASD were found to display a deficit.

Corrigendum: See & Eat! Using E-books to Promote Vegetable Eating Among Preschoolers: Findings From an Italian Sample.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.712416.].

See & Eat! Using E-books to Promote Vegetable Eating Among Preschoolers: Findings From an Italian Sample.

Different strategies have been developed to help parents with introducing new or disliked vegetables. Nonetheless, many parents of preschoolers struggle against children's refusal to eat vegetables. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of e-books in promoting positive attitudes toward vegetables through repeated visual exposures. A total of 61 families with preschoolers joined the See & Eat study and received an e-book about one of two vegetables chosen from a list of 24. Parents provided ratings of children's willingness to taste, intake, and liking of the chosen vegetables before and after reading the e-book; parents also evaluated their children's food fussiness and their agreement with respect to three mealtime goals of the family. Using a 2 (vegetable: target or non-target) × 2 (time: pre-test or post-test) within-subjects analysis, results from 53 families revealed a significant increase in children's willingness to taste, intake, and liking at post-test of both target and non-target vegetables. Following a two-week parent-child e-book reading intervention, children's food fussiness and parents' endorsement of positive mealtime goals slightly but significantly increased. Results suggest that e-books are effective in encouraging healthy eating among preschoolers and that the positive effect of e-book reading can generalize to other vegetables.

Radiolytic Degradation of Soil Carbon from the Mojave Desert by 60Co Gamma Rays: Implications for the Survival of Martian Organic Compounds Due to Cosmic Radiation.

The martian surface has been continuously exposed to galactic cosmic radiation. Since organic compounds are degraded by ionizing radiation, knowledge of their decay constants is fundamental to predicting their stability on the martian surface. In this study, we report the radiolysis constant for the destruction of soil organic compounds at a starting concentration of ∼2011 µg C/gsoil from the Mojave Desert. The soils were exposed to gamma irradiation with absorbed doses of up to 19 MGy at room temperature, representing ∼250 million years of exposure to galactic cosmic rays. The destruction of total soil organic carbon and the formation of gases were investigated by a sequential on-line analytical array coupled to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Soil inorganic and organic carbon were degraded exponentially with a radiolysis constant 0.3 MGy-1(30%) producing mostly carbon dioxide (93.2%), carbon monoxide (6.2%), and methane (0.6%). Using the dose rate measured by the Radiation Assessment Detector on board the Curiosity rover, we make predictions on the survival of organic compounds in the cold martian subsurface. It is estimated that soil organic compounds with initial concentrations as those found today at the Mojave Desert would have been destroyed to levels <1 ppb at 0.1 m in depth in ∼2000 Myr. Pristine organic compounds are expected to be present at a depth of ∼1.5 m. These results are relevant for the search of organic compounds in past, present, and future missions to Mars. In particular, we predict that the upcoming ExoMars will encounter pristine organic compounds at this depth.

Production of nitrates and perchlorates by laser ablation of sodium chloride in simulated Martian atmospheres. Implications for their formation by electric discharges in dust devils.

Nitrates and perchlorates are present both on Earth and Mars. In the Martian environment perchlorates dominate over nitrates whereas on Earth is contrariwise. This implies that the mechanisms responsible for their formation are different for both planets. The chemical elements required for their formation are nitrogen and chlorine, which are present in the atmosphere and surface, respectively. Dust in the Martian atmosphere causes atmospheric perturbations that lead to the development of dust-devils and sandstorms. Dust devils contain both chemical elements simultaneously, and normally generate high electric fields that can trigger the formation of electric discharges. Here we present laboratory experiments of this phenomenon using laser ablation of a sodium chloride (NaCl) plate in two different simulated atmospheres: (1) 96% CO2, 2% N2 and 2% Ar; and (2) 66% CO2, 33% N2 and 1% Ar. The dust that condensed and accumulated on the walls of the reactor was analyzed by different analytical techniques that included Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, visible spectroscopy using azo dyes, thermogravimetry/simultaneous thermal analyses coupled to mass spectrometry, powder X-ray diffraction, and ion chromatography. The main components of the ablated dust corresponded to NaCl ≥ 91.5%, sodium nitrate (NaNO3 = 1.6-6.0%), and sodium perchlorate (NaClO4 âˆ¼ 0.2-0.3%). It is interesting to note that these salts formed in a dry process that is relevant to Mars today. A thermochemical model was used to understand the chemical steps that led to the formation of these salts in the gas phase. The NaNO3NaClO4 (wt/wt) ratio of this process was estimated to vary from 5.0 to 30.0; this ratio is too high compared to that found on Mars (NO3-ClO4- (wt/wt)) from 0.004 to 0.13). This implies that gaseous NaCl was not efficiently oxidized to perchlorate by the electric discharge process. We propose instead that gaseous metal chlorides (e.g., MgCl2, NaCl, CaCl2, KCl) were supplied to the atmosphere by the volatilization of chloride minerals present in the dust by electric discharges generated in dust devils and were subsequently oxidized to perchlorate by photochemical processes. Further work is required to assess the relative contribution of this possible source.

Fndc-1 contributes to paternal mitochondria elimination in C. elegans.

Paternal mitochondria are eliminated following fertilization by selective autophagy, but the mechanisms that restrict this process to sperm-derived organelles are not well understood. FUNDC1 (FUN14 domain containing 1) is a mammalian mitophagy receptor expressed on the mitochondrial outer membrane that contributes to mitochondrial quality control following hypoxic stress. Like FUNDC1, the C. elegans ortholog FNDC-1 is widely expressed in somatic tissues and mediates hypoxic mitophagy. Here, we report that FNDC-1 is strongly expressed in sperm but not oocytes and contributes to paternal mitochondria elimination. Paternal mitochondrial DNA is normally undetectable in wildtype larva, but can be detected in the cross-progeny of fndc-1 mutant males. Moreover, loss of fndc-1 retards the rate of paternal mitochondria degradation, but not that of membranous organelles, a nematode specific membrane compartment whose fusion is required for sperm motility. This is the first example of a ubiquitin-independent mitophagy receptor playing a role in the selective degradation of sperm mitochondria.

Ubiquitination is required for the initial removal of paternal organelles in C. elegans.

Elimination of paternal mitochondria after fertilization occurs in many species using the process of selective autophagy. The mechanism for targeting paternal mitochondria, but not maternal mitochondria, for elimination in the early embryo is not well understood. The results in this paper suggest that there are at least two different mechanisms for targeting paternal mitochondria for elimination: the first involving ubiquitination and a second involving a mitochondrial associated autophagy receptor, fndc-1. Elimination of paternal mitochondria can be visualized in embryos of the nematode, C. elegans. Paternal mitochondria enter the zygote at fertilization. Initially, they are closely associated with another sperm organelle, the membraneous organelle (MO). The MOs become ubiquitinated within minutes after fertilization. Simultaneous RNAi knockdown of two ubiquitin conjugating enzymes, ubc-18 and ubc-16, reduces MO ubiquitination. Loss of function of ubc-18 alone leads to loss of K48-linked polyubiquitin chains and halts the recruitment of proteasome to MOs. Interestingly, knockdown of ubc-18 or ubc-16 or the combination does not reduce the localization of K63-linked ubiquitin chains to MOs suggesting that some ubiquitin structure other than K63 chains is responsible for recruiting the autophagy machinery to MOs. Double knockdown (ubc-18/ubc-16) inhibits the recruitment of the autophagy protein, LGG-1 (homolog of LC3/GABARAP), to paternal organelles and causes the persistence of paternal mitochondria into the two cell stage. If paternal mitochondria are not eliminated via this early process, they are eventually removed from the embryo in a process that depends on the mitophagy adaptor protein, fndc-1. Thus, there are two redundant, but temporally distinct mechanisms that target paternal mitochondria for elimination in C. elegans. In addition to the involvement of ubiquitination in the elimination of paternal mitochondria, two subunits of the proteasome, rpn-10 and rad-23, are required for elimination of paternal mitochondria. These subunits are known to function as ubiquitin receptors and knockdown of either inhibits the recruitment of proteasome to ubiquitinated MOs. Their knockdown does not affect the localization of LGG-1 to paternal structures indicating that the proteasome is not required for autophagy membrane recruitment but might be involved in autophagosome maturation or its fusion with the lysosome.

Theory of Mind Development in Children with Visual Impairment: The Contribution of the Adapted Comprehensive Test ToM Storybooks.

Research that focused on Theory of Mind (ToM) development in blind children showed that they were delayed, but not permanently deficient, in various types of false belief tasks. More recent studies reported first evidence of typical ToM development in blind children and suggested that more comprehensive tools to evaluate ToM had to be used. The current paper analyzed ToM development in blind children, using the adapted version of the ToM Storybooks; this is a standardized comprehensive test developed to provide a reliable and stable measurement, in comparison with the false belief tasks. Results showed that blind children's ToM performances were very similar to the ones of matched typically developing children, matched on chronological age and gender. The current finding supported the importance of the use of a more comprehensive tool to assess ToM in atypical population.

Children With Cerebral Palsy Playing With Mainstream Robotic Toys: Playfulness and Environmental Supportiveness.

Purpose: Play is a right for every child and has a key role in child development. Play can be analyzed according to the construct of playfulness, which is the child's disposition to play. Children with cerebral palsy (CP) show difficulties in play and can also experience lower playfulness scores when compared to matched typically developing children. This paper analyses play and playfulness in children with CP using mainstream robotic toys with supporting adult play partners. Methodology: Five mainstream robotic toys were selected and used in play situations with six children with CP interacting with two adult partners. The play situations were coded through the Test of Playfulness (ToP) and the Test of Environmental Supportiveness (ToES), to analyze the role of robotic toys, adult partners and environment in supporting play and playfulness in children with CP. Results: The children obtained high ToP scores, showing that they were intrinsically motivated to be engaged in the play situations. The ToP scores weakly correlated with the ToES scores. To discuss this result, different features of each robot, the role of adults as scaffolder, and the space characteristics in supporting play are presented and discussed. Conclusion: This research field is new: to our knowledge, in the literature only one study focused on the use of one type of mainstream robotic toy to support the playfulness of children with CP. The parallel use of the ToP and the ToES was crucial to observe the complexity of the play situations and the role of playmates and toys during the play process. The role of the adult as play scaffolder has been important to mediate between the child with CP and the environment, toys included: the adult should be strongly aware of this role to better support the child in being in charge of the play situation. Further research is needed.

The Factor Structure of the CA-MIR as Evaluated Using Confirmatory Factor Analysis.

Introduction: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the factor structure of the CArtes- Modèles Individuels de Relations (CA-MIR), a self-report questionnaire designed to tap into the relational strategies of adults that was developed by a French-speaking research group coordinated by Blaise Pierrehumbert. The CA-MIR's particular merit lies in the richness and complexity of the theoretical model underpinning it. However, to date, this model has only been partially reproduced in studies using exploratory analysis and has never been tested via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Objective and Method: We thus conducted CFA on data collected from a sample of 979 subjects, recruited using a snowball sampling method during the spring and fall of 2005. To assess if some item multidimensionality was present, we estimated both the independent clusters model (ICM-CFA) and a model in which some zero loading restrictions were removed. Results: The results supported the originally proposed structure of the CA-MIR; the large majority of items were good indicators of the expected latent dimensions and only few items showed relevant secondary loadings or loaded in an unexpected factor. The instrument adequately differentiates the three attachment styles, taking into account both past and present experiences of attachment relationships, and providing a rich and complex assessment of multiple features of attachment. In terms of internal consistency, alpha values were satisfactory and comparable to those found in the original Swiss validation study. Conclusions: Our results are of key importance for both research and clinical work, given the lack of valid and easy-to-administer tools for evaluating adult attachment.

The Migrant Border Crossing Study: A methodological overview of research along the Sonora-Arizona border.

Increased border enforcement efforts have redistributed unauthorized Mexican migration to the United States (US) away from traditional points of crossing, such as San Diego and El Paso, and into more remote areas along the US-Mexico border, including southern Arizona. Yet relatively little quantitative scholarly work exists examining Mexican migrants' crossing, apprehension, and repatriation experiences in southern Arizona. We contend that if scholars truly want to understand the experiences of unauthorized migrants in transit, such migrants should be interviewed either at the border after being removed from the US, or during their trajectories across the border, or both. This paper provides a methodological overview of the Migrant Border Crossing Study (MBCS), a unique data source on Mexican migrants who attempted an unauthorized crossing along the Sonora-Arizona border, were apprehended, and repatriated to Nogales, Sonora in 2007-09. We also discuss substantive and theoretical contributions of the MBCS.

Social Cognition in Preschoolers: Effects of Early Experience and Individual Differences.

Social cognition is the way in which people process, remember, and use information in social contexts to explain and predict their own behavior and that of others. Children's social cognition may be influenced by multiple factors, both external and internal to the child. In the current study, two aspects of social cognition were examined: Theory of Mind and Emotion Understanding. The aim of this study was to analyze the effects of type of early care (0-3 years of age), maternal education, parents' country of birth, and child's language on the social cognition of 118 Italian preschoolers. To our knowledge, the joint effect of these variables on social cognition has not previously been investigated in the literature. The measures used to collect social cognition and linguistic data were not parent- or teacher-reports, but based on direct assessment of the children through two standardized tests, the Test of Emotion Comprehension and the ToM Storybooks. Relationships among the variables showed a complex pattern. Overall, maternal education and linguistic competence showed a systematic effect on social cognition; the linguistic competence mediated the effect of maternal education. In children who had experienced centre-base care in the first 3 years of life, the effect of maternal education disappeared, supporting the protective role of centre-base care for children with less educated mothers. The children with native and foreign parents did not significantly differ on the social cognition tasks. Limits of the study, possible educational outcomes and future research lines were discussed.

Factorial structure of the 'ToM Storybooks': A test evaluating multiple components of Theory of Mind.

This study examined the factorial structure of the Theory of Mind (ToM) Storybooks, a comprehensive 93-item instrument tapping the five components in Wellman's model of ToM (emotion recognition, understanding of desire and beliefs, ability to distinguish between physical and mental entities, and awareness of the link between perception and knowledge). A sample of 681 three- to eight-year-old Italian children was divided into three age groups to assess whether factorial structure varied across different age ranges. Partial credit model analysis was applied to the data, leading to the empirical identification of 23 composite variables aggregating the ToM Storybooks items. Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted on the composite variables, providing support for the theoretical model. There were partial differences in the specific composite variables making up the dimensions for each of the three age groups. A single test evaluating distinct dimensions of ToM is a valuable resource for clinical practice which may be used to define differential profiles for specific populations.