The Arizona Child Acoustic Database consists of longitudinal audio recordings from a group of children over a critical period of growth and development (ages 2-7 years). The goal of this database is to 1) document acoustic changes in speech production that may be related to physical growth 2) inform development of a model of speech production for child talkers. This work was funded by NSF BSC-1145011 awarded to Kate Bunton, Ph.D. and Brad Story, Ph.D, Principal Investigators. This database contains longitudinal audio recordings of 55 American English speaking children between the ages of 2-7 at 3-month intervals. Since children began the study at different ages, some children have fewer recording sessions than others. The database can also be used to provide cross-sectional data for children of a specific age. Please refer to the subject data table for information on specific sessions available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. All children were recorded using the same protocol; therefore, task numbers are consistent across children and sessions. A calibration tone is included as Record 1 for all sessions. The speech protocol focused on production of English monopthong and diphthong vowels in isolation, sVd, hVd, and monosyllabic real words. In addition, the protocol includes several nonsense vowel-to-vowel transitions. Speakers were prompted either verbally by investigators or by graphical prompts. Details of the protocol with reference to task numbers can be found in the protocol spreadsheet available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/handle/10150/316065. Details on data recording: All samples were recorded digitally using an AKG SE 300B microphone with a mouth to mic distance of approximately 10 inches. Signals were recorded digitally using a Marantz PMD671, 16 bit PCM (uncompressed) at 44.1KHz. Recordings are made available in .wav format. Individual zip files contain all recordings from a single session.

The Arizona Child Acoustic Database consists of longitudinal audio recordings from a group of children over a critical period of growth and development (ages 2-7 years). The goal of this database is to 1) document acoustic changes in speech production that may be related to physical growth 2) inform development of a model of speech production for child talkers. This work was funded by NSF BSC-1145011 awarded to Kate Bunton, Ph.D. and Brad Story, Ph.D, Principal Investigators. / This database contains longitudinal audio recordings of 55 American English speaking children between the ages of 2-7 at 3-month intervals. Since children began the study at different ages, some children have fewer recording sessions than others. The database can also be used to provide cross-sectional data for children of a specific age. Please refer to the subject data table for information on specific sessions available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/552714/1/SubjectTable.pdf. All children were recorded using the same protocol; therefore, task numbers are consistent across children and sessions. A calibration tone is included as Record 1 for all sessions. The speech protocol focused on production of English monopthong and diphthong vowels in isolation, sVd, hVd, and monosyllabic real words. In addition, the protocol includes several nonsense vowel-to-vowel transitions. Speakers were prompted either verbally by investigators or by graphical prompts. Details of the protocol with reference to task numbers can be found in the protocol spreadsheet available here http://arizona.openrepository.com/arizona/bitstream/10150/552731/1/tasklist.pdf.

Magister Artium (Social Work) - MA(SW) / This thesis explores the personal, social and environmental factors of caregivers from the Groblershoop community to determine whether these factors influence the caregiver’s ability to provide care to children from birth to six years. Using the Human Capabilities Approach and the Ethics of Care Perspective, this study seeks to examine the resources that are available for caring in Groblershoop. It also explores how the factors above (personal, social and environmental) play a role in how the resources are used by caregivers to increase the well-being of children under six years. The Human Capabilities Perspective purports that caregiving resources are not an end in itself. The resources are only as valuable as they are able to improve the functioning of the caregivers to provide care and assist in ensuring the well-being of the care receivers, namely the children. The Ethics of Care Perspective is used to examine the consequences of inadequate care by the State, community and caregivers themselves.This study was conducted among caregivers from the community of Groblershoop, which is 150km from the main town of Upington in the Northern Cape Province. The town is rural in nature and unemployment, poverty and social ills such as substance abuse and teenage pregnancies are rife. Work is largely seasonal in nature and is found mainly on the surrounding grape and cattle farms. This study is qualitative in nature and used a purposive sampling method. Ten caregivers were selected using the criteria that they must reside in the community of Groblershoop and must be the primary caregiver to children from birth to six years of age, to participate in the semi-structured interviews. Seven other caregivers were also selected using the same criteria above to participate in a focus group interview using participatory action learning techniques. Participant Observation was conducted in the homes of three caregivers that participated in the individual interviews. Additionally, seven individual interviews were conducted with service providers that provide services to the community of Groblershoop.The main findings of the study reflect that the personal, social and environmental factors do influence the caregiver’s ability to provide care to children from birth to six years among a small group of caregivers from the Groblershoop community. The personal factors explored in the study included the age, gender, health status, substance usage, educational level and income of the caregiver. Ill health was found to be a key factor which posed a challenge to caregivers in terms of being able to provide care to children. The World Health Organisation’s five key elements of care was used to provide a framework for assessing adequate caregiving. These factors were sustenance, stimulation, support, structure and surveillance. Factors such as educational levels were closely linked to income levels. The higher the educational level the better the income for the caregiver. The Child Support Grant was a major source of income for the majority of caregivers. Low levels of income also meant that the caregivers were unable to provide adequate nutrition to children.The social factors focused on in this study was public policies which make provision for care resources, parenting practice, support systems, and the gender practices of caregivers. The consequences of inadequate care were examined through focusing on the children and the associated developmental delays experienced by them. The study found that while good public policies exists not enough resources were available to enable these policies to increase the well-being of people at community level. The lack of resources available for caring in the Groblershoop community impacted on parenting practices of caregivers. Caregivers in this study, due to the lack of resources as well as other factors such as limited knowledge of child care, resulted in care being considered inadequate using the World Health Organisation’s five elements of care. Gender practices among the caregivers are based on the stereotypical gender roles which sanction the ideology of patriarchy. Women are the primary caregivers and the biological fathers were absent from the caring process. The environmental factors that were explored in this study were the climate, the physical home environment and the neighbourhood condition. Due to the excessive summer heat and the harsh cold of winter, physical activity and movement in the community is severely hampered. During summer, families sleep outside as the housing structures are built in a way that retains the heat and is freezing in the winter. Dwellings are small and typically compromises of a big room sub-divided by the family themselves. No ablution facilities are available inside dwellings and some homes still make use of chemical toilets and pit latrines.Crime and violence is closely linked to the alcohol usage at the local shebeens. These factors impact on caregiving as the environment with the lack of facilities and the harsh climate lends itself to fostering of illnesses amongst children.The study concludes that the personal, social and environmental factors significantly influence the caregiver’s ability to provide care to children from birth to six years in Groblershoop. To assist the development of children, it is essential that the above factors are considered as they influence the ability of the caregiver to use resources to achieve wellbeing. The findings of this study provides a good argument for an integrated coordinated approach to service delivery which takes into account the distinct challenges of rural communities, with regards to their distance from urban centres and the current lack of infrastructure within these communities. The study highlights the importance of focusing on how resources can effectively improve the quality of life of caregivers in communities as opposed to just making resources available and ensuring uptake. As this study demonstrates through the Human Capabilities lens, that resources alone do not result in people being able to live the lives they value. Ensuring that they are able to convert the resources into wellbeing should be the focus of how the State evaluates the effectiveness of programmes. November 2009

Bakgrund: Globalt har övervikt och fetma hos barn blivit ett utmanande folkhälsoproblem under 2000-talet. Cirka 41 miljoner barn under fem års ålder lider av övervikt. Studier visar att överviktiga barn som når vuxen ålder möter många hälsoproblem. Sjuksköterskor har en betydande roll i sitt hälsofrämjande och förebyggande arbete samt kunna uppmärksamma avvikelser om övervikt/fetma.    Motiv: Övervikt/fetma, liksom relaterade sjukdomar, kan i hög grad förebyggas. Det förebyggande arbetet av fetma hos barn behöver därför prioriteras högt. Som sjuksköterska är det viktigt att kunna hjälpa familjer genom att främja, förebygga och identifiera avvikelser i barnets hälsa. Övervikt/fetma hos barn, kan vara ett känsligt område att prata med familjer om. Författarna vill därför belysa hur sjuksköterskorna upplever mötet med familjer till överviktiga barn.   Syfte: Syftet med studien är att beskriva sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att möta familjer med överviktiga barn i åldrarna 2 – 6 år.   Metod:  En litteraturstudie baserad på åtta vetenskapliga artiklar av kvalitativ ansats. Dataanalysen genomfördes enligt Lundmans och Hällgren Graneheims innehållsanalys.   Resultat: Tre kategorier framkom ur analysen. Utmanande faktorer i mötet med vårdnadshavare; att beröra ett känsligt ämne, möta föräldrarnas reaktioner samt bemöta kulturella skillnader. Det goda mötet; att anpassa information efter familjens behov och bygga förtroende samt tillit. Hinder i arbetet med övervikt och fetma; hinder såsom stigmatisering kring övervikt/fetma, kunskapsbrist, otydliga riktlinjer samt tidsbrist.   Konklusion: Att diskutera barnets vikt upplevs som ett känsligt ämne. En trygg och god vårdrelation är avgörande i det förebyggande arbetet mot barnfetma. Tydligare riktlinjer vid behandling av övervikt/fetma underlättar. Resurser saknas i form av tid och samarbete med andra yrkesprofessioner för att kunna stötta föräldrarna i arbetet mot barns övervikt. Framtida forskning behövs, då fetma är ett folkhälsoproblem som påverkar den fysiska och psykiska hälsan negativt. / Background: Worldwide, children are becoming excessively heavy at younger ages This has become a challenging public health problem in the 2000s. Today about 41 million children, under the age of five, suffer from overweight/obesity today. Studies demonstrate that overweight/obese children who reach adulthood, faces many health problems. Hence, nurses play a significant role promoting health and working preventively, drawing attention to anomalies in overweight/obesity.  Motive: Overweight/obesity and their related diseases, can be prevented. Consequently, preventive measures taken for overweight/obese children needs to be highly prioritized. For nurse, it is important to promote, prevent, and identify abnormalities in a child’s health. Children´s obesity can be a sensitive topic to raise with families. Therefore, the authors wish to shed light on how nurses’ experiences and approaches engagement with family´s obese children.  Aim: The aim of this study is to describe nurses’ experiences in meeting families with overweight children, ages 2 – 6 years. Methods: A literary review based on eight scientific studies with qualitative approach. Data analysis was conducted according to Lundman’s and Hällgren Graneheim´s content analysis. Results: Three categories emerged from the analysis. Challenging factors in meeting with caregivers; challenges related to sensitive topics, facing families’ reaction, and dealing with cultural differences. The good meeting; adapting information families need and building trust and confidence. Restrictions in the works with overweight/obesity; stigma revolving around overweight/obesity, lack of knowledge and time and unclear guidelines. Conclusion: Discussing a child´s weight, is perceived as a sensitive topic. Safe and good care relations can promote work against child overweight/obesity. Clear guidelines in treatment of overweight/obesity, facilitates and supports nurses. Nurses lack resources in terms of time and collaborating with other professions, to support parents’ betterment of a child’s overweight/obesity. Future research is needed, as overweight/obesity is a public health problem that negatively affects physical and mental health.

This thesis Methodology of playing the flute of children from 4 to 6 years deals with the problem of learn to play the flute preschool children. The theoretical part deals with the importance of this activity, its contribution to the children themselves. It focuses on the developmental characteristics of this period, the physical and mental maturity, the skills needed for learning to play flute. It also compares the methodology and the methodology of music education games on the soprano recorder for children of school age and younger children. The practical part deals with the specific methodology you learn to play the soprano flute - using the "color music". Describes the formation method, its advantages for the acquisition of flute playing children 4 to 6 years, application of methods in teaching and, not least, textbook design, the concept would be based on this method.