ObjectivesEarly childhood is a crucial phase for motor development in which differences between children can manifest. These differences might be related to factors in ecosystems in which children... Show moreObjectivesEarly childhood is a crucial phase for motor development in which differences between children can manifest. These differences might be related to factors in ecosystems in which children are raised, of which little is currently known. The current study's purpose was to explore which modifiable factors in children's ecosystems are associated with the odds for low versus higher motor competence (MC) in 4- to 6-year-old children.DesignA cross-sectional study design was conducted to investigate which modifiable social and physical factors in the home environment and direct living environment were associated with differences in MC.MethodsChildren's MC was measured through the Athletic Skills Track in 612 4- to 6-year-olds, from 10 primary schools in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Parenting practices, characteristics of the home environment, and perceptions of the direct living environment were assessed through parental questionnaires. Hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted to evaluate factors associated with low MC in children.ResultsThe presence of a garden at home and higher perceived sports facilities in the direct living environment decreased the likelihood of children being classified as low MC. Moreover, stronger parental active transportation routines and more discouraging physical activity parenting practices resulted in lower odds of low MC. In addition, girls were more at risk for low MC.ConclusionsCharacteristics of the social and physical home environment and direct living environment were associated with MC disparities during early childhood. Both parenting practices and parental physical activity-involved behaviours are relevant modifiable factors related to differences in children's MC. Show less
Arterial spin labeling (ASL) is a non-invasive MRI technique that allows for quantitative measurement of cerebral perfusion. Incomplete or inaccurate reporting of acquisition parameters complicates... Show moreArterial spin labeling (ASL) is a non-invasive MRI technique that allows for quantitative measurement of cerebral perfusion. Incomplete or inaccurate reporting of acquisition parameters complicates quantification, analysis, and sharing of ASL data, particularly for studies across multiple sites, platforms, and ASL methods. There is a strong need for standardization of ASL data storage, including acquisition metadata. Recently, ASL-BIDS, the BIDS extension for ASL, was developed and released in BIDS 1.5.0. This manuscript provides an overview of the development and design choices of this first ASL-BIDS extension, which is mainly aimed at clinical ASL applications. Discussed are the structure of the ASL data, focussing on storage order of the ASL time series and implementation of calibration approaches, unit scaling, ASL-related BIDS fields, and storage of the labeling plane information. Additionally, an overview of ASL-BIDS compatible conversion and ASL analysis software and ASL example datasets in BIDS format is provided. We anticipate that large-scale adoption of ASL-BIDS will improve the reproducibility of ASL research. Show less
