Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2009. / Title from title screen (site viewed October 15, 2009). PDF text: viii, 145 p. : col. ill. ; 1 Mb. UMI publication number: AAT 3355634. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:30:28Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-03-23Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:00:43Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 tashima_nt_dr_arafcf.pdf: 1639832 bytes, checksum: 4ebbfa8c2c4802ba76fbdfe822f9a1f3 (MD5) / Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) / O estudo epidemiológico da giardíase empregando técnicas moleculares, como o RAPD (Randomly Amplified Polimorphic DNA), fornece subsídio para identificação dos fatores de transmissão da G. lamblia. Este trabalho teve como objetivo estudar a epidemiologia da G. lamblia em uma creche infantil de Presidente Bernardes, SP, Brasil, no ano de 2006, por meio de um inquérito epidemiológico e tipagem molecular das cepas isoladas empregando a técnica de RAPD. A análise dos perfis genéticos obtidos foi realizada com auxílio de um dendrograma de similaridade obtido pelo programa Gel Compar II versão 2.0 para Windows (Applied MATHS). Foram realizados exames parasitológicos de fezes de 101 crianças freqüentadoras da creche infantil. A partir desses exames, 15 amostras que apresentavam cistos de G. lamblia foram purificadas para posterior extração do DNA. Os pais e irmãos das 15 crianças parasitadas, assim como os cães de estimação e também dos funcionários da creche tiveram suas fezes coletadas para posterior exame parasitológico. Das mesmas extraíram-se DNA das amostras que apresentavam cistos de G. lamblia. Entre as 31 amostras positivas para G. lamblia obtida entre as crianças e seus respectivos pais e irmãos, concluiu-se que a transmissão do parasita ocorreu entre as crianças provavelmente no convívio da creche, mas não no convívio familiar. / Epidemiological studies on giardiasis by using molecular techniques such as RAPD (Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA) give information on factors related to the transmission of G. lamblia. The aim of this work was to assess the G. lamblia epidemiology in a day care center in Presidente Bernardes, SP, Brazil, in 2006, by means of an epidemiological inquiry and molecular typing of the isolated strains by using the RAPD technique. The genetic profiles were analyzed by means of a dendrogram of similarity obtained with the software Gel Compar II v. 2.0 for Windows (Applied MATHS). Parasitological examinations were made on feces samples taken from 101 children attended in the day care center. After examinations, 15 samples that presented G. lamblia cysts were purified for further DNA extraction. The respective relatives and brothers of the 15 children, in addition to their pets and the day care center s workers had their feces collected for further parasitological examination. Samples in which G. lamblia cysts were found were also submitted to DNA extraction. Among the 31 samples positive for G. lamblia obtained from the children and their respective parents and brothers, it was concluded that the transmission of the parasite occurred between children probably during the cohabitation in the day care center, but not inside the family.

M.A. / Die rol van vroeë kinderontwikkeling in die bevordering van sosio-ekonomiese ontwikkeling in landelike gebiede is ‘n navorsingsprojek wat in Nongoma, Noordelike Kwa Zulu-Natal uitgevoer is. Die doel van die projek was om die rol wat deur vroeë kinderontwikkelingsentra (creches) gespeel is in die bevordering van gemeenskapsontwikkeling in landelike gebiede te verken. ‘n Kwalitatiewe ontwerp is gebruik om data van respondente in te win. Die data is ingewin van deelnemers in die vroeë kinderontwikelingsentra deur middel van ‘n onderhoudskedule. Onderhoude is deur middel van oudiobande opgeneem en later op papier getranskribeer. Temas is uit die data wat deur die respondente verskaf is, ontwikkel. Die steekproef is uit dertien crechebestuurders, twaalf vrouens uit armoedige ontwikkelingsverligtingsprojekte, een raadslid en twee lede van gemeenskapsbaseerde organisasies, saamgestel. Die doelwitte van die ondersoek is: • Om die verskeie rolspelers in vroeë kinderontwikkeling te identifiseer • Om die sosio-ekonomiese belangrikheid van vroeë kinderleidingsentra in Nongoma te ondersoek • Om die uitdagings wat die verskaffers van vroeë kinderleidingsdienste in Nongoma konfronteer, te beskryf • Om die verhouding tussen vroeë kinderleidingsdienste en gemeenskapsontwikkeling te ontleed Die ondersoek het rolspelers (staatsdepartemente, burgerlike samelewing en die private sektor) geidentifiseer en het die rol wat deur elke rolspeler uitgevoer is omskryf. Dit het ook gapings in dienslewering geidentifiseer. Dit het die opvoedkundige, gesondheids-, maatskaplike, ekonomiese en sielkundige belangrikheid van creches uitgelig. Dit het die belangrikheid van vroeë kinderontwikkelingsentra in vrouens se maatskaplike ontwikkeling uitgestip. Dit het ook ‘n begrip van “plaaslike ontwikkeling met ‘n kindersorg fokus” ontwikkel. Aanbevelings ten opsigte van wat maatskaplike werkers kan doen om plaaslike ontwikkeling met ‘n kindersorgfokus te bevorder, is gemaak. / Prof. W. A. Mitchell

This study was designed to examine the effectiveness of a multi-media presentation relating to the topic of employer-supported child care in British Columbia in the business community. Changes in the knowledge and attitude of employers, as measured by a questionaire, were the determinants of the effectiveness of the presentation. Personnel officers from the public and private sector were selected for the study subjects. Support for this study was obtained from a professional association of personnel officers, which offered to host an educational seminar on this topic. This seminar is the treatment of the study and the members of the association who elected to attend this seminar are the subjects. This study was part of a larger study that was a joint research project between the University of British Columbia and Douglas College. Each institution supplied a principal investigator, project personnel and institutional resources. The author of this thesis was the project researcher. Funding for the project was received from the Child Care Initiatives Fund, Health and Welfare Canada. A section of the larger project's findings were extracted for this study. The field of employer-supported child care is relatively recent in Canada. Since 1964 when the Riverdale Hospital opened a child care facility in Toronto, there have been just over one hundred such employer-supported child care facilities set up. Many other companies have set up company-assisted child care options that also fall within the term "employer-supported child care," but no one to date has catalogued the total number of such initiatives. In British Columbia there have been four known employer-supported child care centres; one is no longer in existence. There has been considerable interest and activity in the provincial business community since this study began in 1988. However, other than M. Mayfield's survey of employer involvement in child care in British Columbia in 1984, no research studies have been conducted on this topic. No other known studies are currently taking place, although the Child Care Initiatives Fund, Health and Welfare Canada does list several demonstration projects currently underway across Canada. This study, then, is to develop an effective multi-media presentation relating to employer-supported child care that would educate and influence employers to consider involvement in the child care needs of their employees from an economic perspective. Measurement of knowledge and attitude toward the topic would be taken to determine the effectiveness of this presentation. Results showed that the presentation was effective. Whereas before the seminar 2.5% of the respondents reported their company's level of involvement in child care at the "developing an option" stage, by the conclusion of the seminar, 32.5% of the respondents reported interest at the same level. Responses showed that the perceived obstacles of "lack of evidence of child care services providing long term benefits to the company", "corporate liability", and "equity" were significantly reduced. Employers acquired knowledge about the topic through the seminar. Perceived obstacles were overcome. The respondents were motivated to become involved in employer-supported child care. A need for future studies has been identified from the interpretation of the research results and it is hoped that issues raised from this study will form future research questions. / Education, Faculty of / Graduate

This thesis is an exploratory ecological study of the role of the family environment as it relates to a number of variables under investigation in the Vancouver Day Care Research Project's extensive contextual study of children enrolled in family day care settings. These variables include child language scores, indices of socio-economic status, conditions of maternal employment and attitudes related to maternal employment, other measures of the home environment, and parental attitudes to childrearing. In addition, the family environments of the family day care caregivers were examined in relation to the quality of care provided. The Moos Family Environment Scale (1986) was administered to parents and caregivers enrolled in the study. Scores from its ten subscales were correlated with measures of the variables of interest and then tested for significance. Data was then analyzed for important trends, patterns and highlights. Results showed that exposure of family members to stimulating ideas and activities is facilitative of child language skills, while an emphasis on achievement seems to have a negative effect. Families from higher socio-economic status homes seemed to be more likely to provide these opportunities for their children, particularly if they are well-educated. Findings also indicate that mothers who are satisfied with their employment tend to provide more positive family environments for their children than those who are working reluctantly. Mothers who worked part-time also appeared to provide better family environments than did those who experienced the increased stress of full-time employment. Adult-centered parenting values which stressed obedience were associated with family environments which were less facilitative of child cognitive development, whereas homes with child-centered parenting values appeared to be more positive. Family day care caregivers who provided superior childcare were found to be more organized in their own families, more supportive of one another, and more able to allow their family members to function independently than were other caregivers. There was considerable overlap in the results for each variable of interest; many similar features were found in the environments which were considered optimal in terms of language development, socio-economic factors, conditions of maternal employment, attitudes to childrearing, and high quality care for children. The study results strongly support the importance of exposure to a wide range of intellectual and cultural stimuli, participation in activities outside the home, expression of feelings amongst family members, and well-organized family functioning in the creation of optimal family environments; an emphasis on achievement, and the use of rigid rules and doctrine were found to be deleterious to the creation of positive home environments. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Bibliography: leaves 265-271. / The study was designed to investigate the structure and function of informal day care provision for pre-school children in Khayelitsha, but the inquiry succeeded in generating information beyond the original assignment. Data was gathered from interviews with active in the day care field and from local agencies meetings with residents in Khayelitsha, as well as from a field study carried out in Khayelitsha. A review of international and local literature was also undertaken. A brief history of black settlement in the Western Cape and an examination of their socio-cultural environment provided the necessary backdrop for the study. The field study involved systematic selection of 200 houses in Khayelitsha. Respondents completed a questionnaire administered by the investigator. The questionnaire furnished information on the use of day care and produced a profile of day carers and the services they offered. A similar questionnaire was used to collect information from the pre-school centre. Analysis of the data revealed that child rearing practices differed from those of technologically advanced societies, but they were not deficient! The findings demonstrated that parents preferred day care in the home setting to that of the school setting. The pattern of day care services accentuates the importance of mutual aid and kinship and social networks in the community. Day care arrangements tended to be stable and were provided predominantly by relatives, friends and neighbours. The frequency with which day care services were required, corresponded to the work commitments of the parents, and usually involved overnight care. The pre-school centre operated during the weekdays from 7.30 am to 4.30 pm, with after-school care frequently undertaken by older siblings. The findings reveal that day carers function as surrogate mothers and incorporate the children into their families. The data collected with regard to suitability of the service offered, relates to physical needs, emotional needs, discipline and promoting readiness for the future, and emphasizes the universal poverty that abounds in the area, but simultaneously highlights the importance of traditions and the resourcefulness of the people in transcending the culture of poverty and providing an enriching environment for the children. The recommendations draw attention to the need for finance, training and supportive services, but recognises the justified resistance of the community to initiatives from the State.

As a teacher in the Stockton Public Schools, the writer became interested in the child-care program when he was asked to direct the newly formed center at the Lafayette school in Stockton on July 1, 1945. At this writing he served nearly two years in this center and has a modest feeling that possibly his experiences, observations and conclusions might be worth writing down, hence this thesis. At the outset the author intended to confine his thesis to the Child-Care Center as a war emergency matter, feeling that child-care centers were more or less of recent origin, set up mainly as a temporary measure to meet the needs of our enormously expanding industries and the need to supplant man-power with woman-power. At first he had the feeling that once the emergency was over, we would revert to the belief that the mother's place was in the home and that the child should remain there as long as possible and that we would continue the standard educational pattern used before the war. But as he has worked in the day-care program for the past two years and having gathered much information from books and pamphlets as well as from many discussions with co-workers, teachers and parents, his feelings about the program have run the gauntlet from indifference, through mild interest to a genuine belief that the nursery and extended-care idea, in addition to meeting a vital need in the present emergency, has something worthwhile to offer education when the war is over. Today, as never before the needs of young children the world over should be given new consideration. With the whole world embroiled in a war in which the cream of the male population is being lost, the children of this generation will be called upon to play an increasingly responsible part in the years to come. Within the past twenty years, we have come to an ever increasing realization that if the security of two, three, four and five-year old children is shaken, their entire lives may be affected. Indeed, it often happens that when such children become adults, even though apparently successful, they cannot quite shake that brooding sense of anxiety and the feeling of impending ill that overshadowed their lives as children.1 With this none too bright picture for the future, what can we, as parents and teachers offer our children? Many homes are being broken up or upset by the father joining the service or to meet the need for increased production of war materials, families have migrated to overpopulated areas where people are compelled to live under extremely trying conditions. Courage, strength and resourcefulness and the best thought and planning are now needed by all to provide the children with the best opportunities so that the scar of this war will not leave too great an impression on their lives. Fortunately far-seeing individuals in many communities, together with the Federal government are meeting this urgent need by the establishment of child-care centers where parents can bring their children and teachers can assist by giving some of their time. It was during and after the war years of 1914-1918 that the problems of young children first became a matter of public concern, largely due to the fact that such a high percentage of young men were considered unfit for military service. Other facts are being learned as a result of the present war which are likely to nourish the growth and development of children, and those likely to impede children's progress.

In November 1977 Congress established the Nutrition Education and Training Program (NETP) with the passage of Public Law 95-166. Section 227.37 of the NETP Regulations (1978) mandates that each state establish a plan of action for the use of any federally appropriated funds earmarked for "nutrition education" , and further, the plan should contain a proposal to instruct all students in the state about the nutritional value of foods as well as the relationship between food , nutrition, and health. Section 19 of Public Law 95- 166 stipulates a "needs assessment" as one of the components of NETP and that each state conduct such assessments. The purpose of this study is to furnish the Utah State Office of Education Nutrition Specialist information about the "Licensed Group Day Care Centers" regarding: l. the nutrition concepts taught; 2. the methods and strategies used; 3. the educational level of day care personnel; 4. the State Office of Education Nutrition Specialist's role in day care; 5 . the day care center's cooperation for nutrition inservicing of the faculty; and, 6. the day care center's cooperation with secondary/university training programs. A review of literature indicates that little has been done to evaluate day care programs with regard to "nutrition education". Before the establishment of Public Law 95- 166 Federal and State licensing, guidelines were vague and did not stipulate "education" in their nutrition regulations. Results of a mail survey show that 89 . 1% of the responding centers teach some nutritional concepts. Cooking and tasting experiences, along with pictures and stories, were the main activities used by the centers. The most requested teaching aides we r e puppet and flannel board stories , songs , pictures , and food recipes. This survey shows the majority of the teachers are college educated and have some nutritional training.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the existence of recreation programs in adult day care centers, the utilization of textile crafts in them, and the types of textile crafts used. Systematically selected, the sample was taken from the Health Care Financing Administration's Directory of Adult Day Care Centers. A questionnaire developed for this study, and an explanatory cover letter were mailed to 203 directors nationwide. A 51 percent response rate resulted in 103 useable returns. Recreation was included in 100 of the 103 adult day care centers. The respondents indicated that clients who attended adult day care generally participated in recreation. Textile crafts were part of 97 recreation programs, and activities were directed by trained recreation staff members knowledgeable about textile crafts. Crafts made available to clients were those the staff were capable of teaching. Sewing, crocheting, and weaving were ranked by respondents as easiest for clients, and needlepoint, embroidery, and macrame’ were ranked as difficult. Although the value and benefit of textile crafts to clients was not investigated, the fact that facilities include textile crafts within their programs suggests that crafts play an important part in filling the needs of at least some of the elderly. / Master of Science