Phosphorus-acquisition strategies of canola, wheat and barley in soil amended with sewage sludges

Crops have different strategies to acquire poorly-available soil phosphorus (P) which are dependent on their architectural, morphological, and physiological root traits, but their capacity to enhance P acquisition varies with the type of fertilizer applied. The objective of this study was to examine how P-acquisition strategies of three main crops are affected by the application of sewage sludges, compared with a mineral P fertilizer. We carried out a 3-months greenhouse pot experiment and compared the response of P-acquisition traits among wheat, barley and canola in a soil amended with three sludges or a mineral P fertilizer. Results showed that the P-acquisition strategy differed among crops. Compared with canola, wheat and barley had a higher specific root length and a greater root carboxylate release and they acquired as much P from sludge as from mineral P. By contrast, canola shoot P content was greater with sludge than with mineral P. This was attributed to a higher rootreleased acid phosphatase activity which promoted the mineralization of sludge-derived P-organic. This study showed that contrasted P-acquisition strategies of crops allows increased use of renewable P resources by optimizing combinations of crop and the type of P fertilizer applied within the cropping system

Development and Validation of an Instrument to Measure Work-Related Learning

This paper describes the development and validation of an instrument for measuring work-related learning, which can be applied in different occupational contexts. Based on a comprehensive literature review and group discussions among the authors, the instrument was carefully constructed and examined among a heterogeneous sample of Flemish employees (N = 3232). The dataset was randomly divided into two subsets. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted on the first dataset (n = 1616) to provide insight into the underlying structure of the instrument. The second subset of the data (n = 1616) was used to validate the retrieved structure by means of a confirmatory factor analysis and to investigate the internal consistencies, convergent and discriminant validity, and the measurement invariance across different groups. After six months, the instrument was retested among the same respondents to examine longitudinal measurement invariance and predictive validity. The results showed that three factors could be distinguished and confirmed, namely informal learning activities using personal sources, informal learning activities using environmental sources, and formal learning activities. The results regarding the reliability and validity of the instrument were satisfactory

Nonverbal Executive Functioning in Relation to Vocabulary and Morphosyntax in Preschool Children With and Without Developmental Language Disorder

Purpose: Developmental language disorder (DLD) is characterized by persistent and unexplained difficulties in language development. Accumulating evidence shows that children with DLD also present with deficits in other cognitive domains, such as executive functioning (EF). There is an ongoing debate on whether exclusively verbal EF abilities are impaired in children with DLD or whether nonverbal EF is also impaired, and whether these EF impairments are related to their language difficulties. The aims of this study were to (a) compare nonverbal performance of preschoolers with DLD and typically developing (TD) peers, (b) examine how nonverbal EF and language abilities are related, and (c) investigate whether a diagnosis of DLD moderates the relationship between EF and language abilities. Method: A total of 143 children (nDLD = 65, nTD = 78) participated. All children were between 3 and 6.5 years old and were monolingual Dutch. We assessed nonverbal EF with a visual selective attention task, a visuospatial short-term and working memory task, and a task gauging broad EF abilities. Vocabulary and morphosyntax were each measured with two standardized language tests. We created latent variables for EF, vocabulary, and morphosyntax. Results: Analyses showed that children with DLD were outperformed by their TD peers on all nonverbal EF tasks. Nonverbal EF abilities were related to mor-phosyntactic abilities in both groups, whereas a relationship between vocabulary and EF skills was found in the TD group only. These relationships were not significantly moderated by a diagnosis of DLD. Conclusions: We found evidence for nonverbal EF impairments in preschool children with DLD. Moreover, nonverbal EF and morphosyntactic abilities were significantly related in these children. These findings may have implications for intervention and support the improvement of prognostic accuracy

Behaviors related to autism spectrum disorder in children with developmental language disorder and children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at an increased risk to develop behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The relationship between early language difficulties and the occurrence of ASD-related behaviors in DLD is poorly understood. One factor that may hinder progress in understanding this relationship is the etiological heterogeneity of DLD. We therefore study this relationship in an etiologically homogeneous group of children, who share phenotypic characteristics with children with DLD: children with the 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS). We compare children with 22q11DS, to children with DLD and age-matched typically developing children (TD). METHOD: 44 children with 22q11DS, 65 children with DLD and 81 TD children, between 3.0-6.5 years old, participated in a longitudinal cohort study that included a baseline measure and a follow-up measure with a 1-year interval. A parental questionnaire (SRS-2) was used to measure the incidence of behaviors in two key behavioral domains associated with ASD: Social Communication and Interaction and Restricted Repetitive Behaviors and Interests. At baseline, we assessed children's expressive and receptive language abilities as well as their intellectual functioning with standardized tests. We compared the distribution of ASD-related behaviors between the three groups. We used regression analyses to investigate whether language abilities at baseline predict ASD-related behavior at follow-up, accounting for ASD-related behavior at baseline, demographic variables and intellectual functioning. RESULTS: Both the children with 22q11DS and the children with DLD displayed significantly more ASD-related behaviors than the TD children. Over 30% of children in both clinical groups had scores exceeding the subclinical threshold for ASD in both behavioral domains. Both in 22q11DS and DLD, baseline receptive language scores were negatively correlated with ASD-related behaviors 1 year later, when controlling for baseline SRS-scores. However, this association was statistically significant only in children with 22q11DS, even when controlled for IQ-scores, and it was significantly stronger as than in the TD group. The strength of the association did not differ significantly between 22q11DS and DLD. CONCLUSION: Both children with 22q11DS and children with DLD present with elevated rates of ASD-related behaviors at a preschool-age. Only in children with 22q11DS we observed that weaker receptive language skills were related to increased behavioral problems in the domain of social communication and interaction one year later. IMPLICATIONS: Our findings indicate that relations between early language impairment and other behavioral phenotypes may be more feasible to detect in a subgroup of children with a homogeneous etiology, than in a group of children with a heterogeneous etiology (such as children with DLD). Our results in 22q11DS reveal that receptive language is especially important in predicting the occurrence of ASD-related behaviors. Future research is needed to determine to what extent receptive language predicts the occurrence of ASD-related behaviors in children with DLD, especially among those children with DLD with the weakest receptive language. Clinically, screening for ASD-related behaviors in children with developmental language difficulties is recommended from a young age, especially among children with receptive language difficulties

Behaviors related to autism spectrum disorder in children with developmental language disorder and children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Background and Aim.: Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at an increased risk to develop behaviors associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The relationship between early language difficulties and the occurrence of ASD-related behaviors in DLD is poorly understood. One factor that may hinder progress in understanding this relationship is the etiological heterogeneity of DLD. We therefore study this relationship in an etiologically homogeneous group of children, who share phenotypic characteristics with children with DLD: children with the 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS). We compare children with 22q11DS, to children with DLD and age-matched typically developing children (TD). Method: 44 children with 22q11DS, 65 children with DLD and 81 TD children, between 3.0–6.5 years old, participated in a longitudinal cohort study that included a baseline measure and a follow-up measure with a 1-year interval. A parental questionnaire (SRS-2) was used to measure the incidence of behaviors in two key behavioral domains associated with ASD: Social Communication and Interaction and Restricted Repetitive Behaviors and Interests. At baseline, we assessed children's expressive and receptive language abilities as well as their intellectual functioning with standardized tests. We compared the distribution of ASD-related behaviors between the three groups. We used regression analyses to investigate whether language abilities at baseline predict ASD-related behavior at follow-up, accounting for ASD-related behavior at baseline, demographic variables and intellectual functioning. Results: Both the children with 22q11DS and the children with DLD displayed significantly more ASD-related behaviors than the TD children. Over 30% of children in both clinical groups had scores exceeding the subclinical threshold for ASD in both behavioral domains. Both in 22q11DS and DLD, baseline receptive language scores were negatively correlated with ASD-related behaviors 1 year later, when controlling for baseline SRS-scores. However, this association was statistically significant only in children with 22q11DS, even when controlled for IQ-scores, and it was significantly stronger as than in the TD group. The strength of the association did not differ significantly between 22q11DS and DLD. Conclusion: Both children with 22q11DS and children with DLD present with elevated rates of ASD-related behaviors at a preschool-age. Only in children with 22q11DS we observed that weaker receptive language skills were related to increased behavioral problems in the domain of social communication and interaction one year later. Implications: Our findings indicate that relations between early language impairment and other behavioral phenotypes may be more feasible to detect in a subgroup of children with a homogeneous etiology, than in a group of children with a heterogeneous etiology (such as children with DLD). Our results in 22q11DS reveal that receptive language is especially important in predicting the occurrence of ASD-related behaviors. Future research is needed to determine to what extent receptive language predicts the occurrence of ASD-related behaviors in children with DLD, especially among those children with DLD with the weakest receptive language. Clinically, screening for ASD-related behaviors in children with developmental language difficulties is recommended from a young age, especially among children with receptive language difficulties

Reversal of the hanging protocol of Contrast Enhanced Mammography leads to similar diagnostic performance yet decreased reading times

Objectives: Contrast-enhanced mammography (CEM) was found superior to Full-Field Digital Mammography (FFDM) for breast cancer detection. Current hanging protocols show low-energy (LE, similar to FFDM) images first, followed by recombined (RC) images. However, evidence regarding which hanging protocol leads to the most efficient reading process and highest diagnostic performance is lacking. This study investigates the effects of hanging-protocol ordering on the reading process and diagnostic performance of breast radiologists using eye-tracking methodology. Furthermore, it investigates differences in reading processes and diagnostic performance between LE, RC and FFDM images. Materials and methods: Twenty-seven breast radiologists were randomized into three reading groups: LE–RC (commonly used hangings), RC-LE (reversed hangings) and FFDM. Thirty cases (nine malignant) were used. Fixation count, net dwell time and time-to-first fixation on malignancies as visual search measures were registered by the eye-tracker. Reading time per image was measured. Participants clicked on suspicious lesions to determine sensitivity and specificity. Area-under-the-ROC-curve (AUC) values were calculated. Results: RC-LE scored identical on visual search measures, t(16)= -1.45, p =.17 or higher-p values, decreased reading time with 31%, t(16)= -2.20, p =.04, while scoring similar diagnostic performance compared to LE-RC, t(13.2)= -1.39, p -.20 or higher p-values. The reading process was more efficient on RC compared to LE. Diagnostic performance of CEM was superior to FFDM; F (2,26)= 16.1, p <.001. Average reading time did not differ between the three groups, F (2,25)= 3.15, p =.06. Conclusion: The reversed CEM hanging protocol (RC-LE) scored similar on diagnostic performance compared to LE-RC, while reading time was a third faster. Abnormalities were interpreted quicker on RC images. A RC-LE hanging protocol is therefore recommended for clinical practice and training. Diagnostic performance of CEM was (again) superior to FFDM

Grammatical skills of Dutch children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome in comparison with children with Developmental Language Disorder: Evidence from spontaneous language and standardized assessment

Background: Virtually all children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) experience language difficulties, next to other physical and psychological problems. However, the grammatical skills of children with 22q11DS are relatively unexplored, particularly in naturalistic settings. The present research filled this gap, including two studies with different age groups in which standardized assessment was complemented with spontaneous language analysis. In both studies, we compared children with 22q11DS to children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), for whom the origin of language difficulties is unknown. Methods: The first study included 187 preschool children (n = 44 with 22q11DS, n = 65 with DLD, n = 78 typically developing; TD). Standardized assessment consisted of grammar and vocabulary measures in both expressive and receptive modality. Spontaneous language during a play session was analyzed for a matched subsample (n = 27 per group). The second study included 29 school-aged children (n = 14 with 22q11DS, n = 15 with DLD). We administered standardized tests of receptive vocabulary and expressive grammar, and elicited spontaneous language with a conversation and narrative task. In both studies, spontaneous language measures indexed grammatical accuracy and complexity. Results: Spontaneous language analysis in both studies did not reveal significant differences between the children with 22q11DS and peers with DLD. The preschool study showed that these groups produced less complex and more erroneous utterances than TD children, who also outperformed both groups on the standardized measures, with the largest differences in expressive grammar. The children with 22q11DS scored lower on the receptive language tests than the children with DLD, but no differences emerged on the expressive language tests. Discussion: Expressive grammar is weak in both children with 22q11DS and children with DLD. Skills in this domain did not differ between the groups, despite clear differences in etiology and cognitive capacities. This was found irrespective of age and assessment method, and highlights the view that there are multiple routes to (impaired) grammar development. Future research should investigate if interventions targeting expressive grammar in DLD also benefit children with 22q11DS. Moreover, our findings indicate that the receptive language deficits in children with 22q11DS exceed those observed in DLD, and warrant special attention

Grammatical skills of Dutch children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome in comparison with children with Developmental Language Disorder: Evidence from spontaneous language and standardized assessment

Background: Virtually all children with 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11DS) experience language difficulties, next to other physical and psychological problems. However, the grammatical skills of children with 22q11DS are relatively unexplored, particularly in naturalistic settings. The present research filled this gap, including two studies with different age groups in which standardized assessment was complemented with spontaneous language analysis. In both studies, we compared children with 22q11DS to children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD), for whom the origin of language difficulties is unknown. Methods: The first study included 187 preschool children (n = 44 with 22q11DS, n = 65 with DLD, n = 78 typically developing; TD). Standardized assessment consisted of grammar and vocabulary measures in both expressive and receptive modality. Spontaneous language during a play session was analyzed for a matched subsample (n = 27 per group). The second study included 29 school-aged children (n = 14 with 22q11DS, n = 15 with DLD). We administered standardized tests of receptive vocabulary and expressive grammar, and elicited spontaneous language with a conversation and narrative task. In both studies, spontaneous language measures indexed grammatical accuracy and complexity. Results: Spontaneous language analysis in both studies did not reveal significant differences between the children with 22q11DS and peers with DLD. The preschool study showed that these groups produced less complex and more erroneous utterances than TD children, who also outperformed both groups on the standardized measures, with the largest differences in expressive grammar. The children with 22q11DS scored lower on the receptive language tests than the children with DLD, but no differences emerged on the expressive language tests. Discussion: Expressive grammar is weak in both children with 22q11DS and children with DLD. Skills in this domain did not differ between the groups, despite clear differences in etiology and cognitive capacities. This was found irrespective of age and assessment method, and highlights the view that there are multiple routes to (impaired) grammar development. Future research should investigate if interventions targeting expressive grammar in DLD also benefit children with 22q11DS. Moreover, our findings indicate that the receptive language deficits in children with 22q11DS exceed those observed in DLD, and warrant special attention

The cellular modifier MOAG-4/SERF drives amyloid formation through charge complementation.

While aggregation-prone proteins are known to accelerate aging and cause age-related diseases, the cellular mechanisms that drive their cytotoxicity remain unresolved. The orthologous proteins MOAG-4, SERF1A, and SERF2 have recently been identified as cellular modifiers of such proteotoxicity. Using a peptide array screening approach on human amyloidogenic proteins, we found that SERF2 interacted with protein segments enriched in negatively charged and hydrophobic, aromatic amino acids. The absence of such segments, or the neutralization of the positive charge in SERF2, prevented these interactions and abolished the amyloid-promoting activity of SERF2. In protein aggregation models in the nematode worm Caenorhabditis elegans, protein aggregation and toxicity were suppressed by mutating the endogenous locus of MOAG-4 to neutralize charge. Our data indicate that MOAG-4 and SERF2 drive protein aggregation and toxicity by interactions with negatively charged segments in aggregation-prone proteins. Such charge interactions might accelerate primary nucleation of amyloid by initiating structural changes and by decreasing colloidal stability. Our study points at charge interactions between cellular modifiers and amyloidogenic proteins as potential targets for interventions to reduce age-related protein toxicity

The Language Profile of Preschool Children With 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome and the Relationship With Speech Intelligibility

Purpose: Young children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS) often have impaired language development and poor speech intelligibility. Here, we report a comprehensive overview of standardized language assessment in a relatively large sample of preschool-aged children with 22q11DS. We furthermore explored whether speech ability explained variability in language skills. Method: Forty-four monolingual Dutch preschoolers (3–6 years) with a confirmed genetic 22q11DS diagnosis participated in this prospective cohort study. Standardized tests (Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals Preschool-2-NL and Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-III-NL) were administered. Speech intelligibility was rated by two expert speech and language therapists using a standardized procedure. Results: Most children had impaired language skills across all tested domains. The composite score for expressive language was significantly lower than that for receptive language, but the two were strongly correlated. Only small differences between the mean scores on the various subtests were observed, with the lowest scores for expressive morphosyntactic skills. Language scores showed a moderate positive relation with speech intelligibility, but language abilities varied greatly among the children with intelligible speech. Conclusions: We show that the majority of preschool children with 22q11DS have a broad range of language problems. Other than the relatively larger impairment in expressive than in receptive language skills, our results do not show a clearly delineated language profile. As many of the children with intelligible speech still had below-average language scores, we highlight that language problems require a broad assessment and care in all young children with 22q11DS. Future research using spontaneous language and detailed speech analysis is recommended, to provide more in-depth understanding of children's language profile and the relationship between speech and language in 22q11DS