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The effect of digital literacy practices upon young children's learning is a contentious and growing area for research and debate. Nowadays, children encounter many different types of texts through their everyday engagement with digital technologies. The study reported here investigated the relationships between 6 and 7-year-old children's home digital literacy practices, parental views about the use of technology and children's attitudes towards reading as perceived by the children and their parents. A total of 105 children and their parents, from two primary schools in Istanbul participated in this study. Parents completed a questionnaire about their views on the use of technology, their children's digital literacy experiences and their perceptions of their children's reading attitudes, while the children engaged in individual interviews. The results from this study indicate that children's attitudes towards reading are significantly related to both the frequency of their engagement in digital literacy activities in their homes and their parents' perception of their child's attitudes to reading. The findings suggest that parents can support children's enjoyment in reading by engaging in both digital and non-digital print experiences with their children.

OBJECTIVEThe pathophysiology of trigeminal neuralgia (TN) in patients without neurovascular compression (NVC) is not completely understood. The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate the hypothesis that TN patients without NVC differ from TN patient with NVC with respect to brain anatomy and demographic characteristics.METHODSSix anatomical brain measurements from high-resolution brain MR images were tabulated; anterior-posterior (AP) prepontine cistern length, cerebellopontine angle (CPA) cistern volume, nerve-to-nerve distance, symptomatic nerve length, pons volume, and posterior fossa volume were assessed on OsiriX. Brain MRI anatomical measurements from 232 patients with either TN type 1 or TN type 2 (TN group) were compared with measurements obtained in 100 age- and sex-matched healthy controls (control group). Two-way ANOVA tests were conducted on the 6 measurements relative to group and NVC status. Bonferroni adjustments were used to correct for multiple comparisons. A nonhierarchical k-means cluster analysis was performed on the TN group using age and posterior fossa volume as independent variables.RESULTSWithin the TN group, females were found to be younger than males and less likely to have NVC. The odds ratio (OR) of females not having NVC compared to males was 2.7 (95% CI 1.3–5.5, p = 0.017). Patients younger than 30 years were much less likely to have NVC compared to older patients (OR 4.9, 95% CI 1.3–18.4, p = 0.017). The mean AP prepontine cistern length and symptomatic nerve length were smaller in the TN group than in the control group (5.3 vs 6.5 mm and 8.7 vs 9.7 mm, respectively; p < 0.001). The posterior fossa volume was significantly smaller in TN patients without NVC compared to those with NVC. A TN group cluster analysis suggested a sex-dependent difference that was not observed in those without NVC. Factorial ANOVA and post hoc testing found that findings in males without NVC were significantly different from those in controls or male TN patients with NVC and similar to those in females (female controls as well as female TN patients with or without NVC).CONCLUSIONSPosterior fossa volume in males was larger than posterior fossa volume in females. This finding, along with the higher incidence of TN in females, suggests that smaller posterior fossa volume might be an independent factor in the pathophysiology of TN, which warrants further study.

OBJECTIVEDespite rapid development and expansion of neuromodulation technologies, knowledge about device and/or therapy durability remains limited. The aim of this study was to evaluate the long-term rate of hardware and therapeutic failure of implanted devices for several neuromodulation therapies.METHODSThe authors performed a retrospective analysis of patients’ device and therapy survival data (Kaplan-Meier survival analysis) for deep brain stimulation (DBS), vagus nerve stimulation (VNS), and spinal cord stimulation (SCS) at a single institution (years 1994–2015).RESULTSDuring the study period, 450 patients underwent DBS, 383 VNS, and 128 SCS. For DBS, the 5- and 10-year initial device survival was 87% and 73%, respectively, and therapy survival was 96% and 91%, respectively. For VNS, the 5- and 10-year initial device survival was 90% and 70%, respectively, and therapy survival was 99% and 97%, respectively. For SCS, the 5- and 10-year initial device survival was 50% and 34%, respectively, and therapy survival was 74% and 56%, respectively. The average initial device survival for DBS, VNS, and SCS was 14 years, 14 years, and 8 years while mean therapy survival was 18 years, 18 years, and 12.5 years, respectively.CONCLUSIONSThe authors report, for the first time, comparative device and therapy survival rates out to 15 years for large cohorts of DBS, VNS, and SCS patients. Their results demonstrate higher device and therapy survival rates for DBS and VNS than for SCS. Hardware failures were more common among SCS patients, which may have played a role in the discontinuation of therapy. Higher therapy survival than device survival across all modalities indicates continued therapeutic benefit beyond initial device failures, which is important to emphasize when counseling patients.

This study investigated the relationship between children's attitudes towards reading and their parents' gendered views about literacy (GVL). It was assumed that parents may have GVL by favouring girls in reading activities, which could limit boys' enjoyment in reading activities. This study was conducted with 31 five-year-old children in first term at a school in South Australia. To measure children's enjoyment in reading-related activities, each child completed an individually administered Literacy Attitude Scale (LAS). Parents completed a questionnaire about their views on girls' and boys' early literacy and their book preferences. It was found that the parents' GVL were significantly and negatively related to children's attitudes towards reading. Importantly, both male and female children of parents, with highly GVL, exhibited lower attitudes towards reading. Overall, girls reported significantly more positive attitudes towards reading than boys. A weak but notable correlation was found between parents' perceptions about their children's attitudes towards reading and their children's self-reported reading attitudes.

The COVID-19 pandemic, which affects all areas of life, has also affected children in need of education and care. It is of great importance to develop policies that take into account the best interests of children in this process. In this review article, the policies developed for early childhood education and care during the pandemic period in five countries (Australia, Croatia, Hungary, Spain, and Turkey), how they are implemented, the problems that arose, and the solutions produced are discussed. As a result, the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed that we need to focus on eliminating the educational inequalities, set policies for the welfare of children on foundations that are more realistic, rebuild teacher training, and improve the welfare of families. Priorizating the best interests of the child in the policies to be developed and building the social ecology on justice will ease overcoming the crises that will be faced.

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