Parent-child interaction therapy for preschool children with disruptive behaviour problems in the Netherlands

Background\ud Persistent high levels of aggressive, oppositional and impulsive behaviours, in the early lives of children, are significant risk factors for adolescent and adult antisocial behaviour and criminal activity. If the disruptive behavioural problems of young children could be prevented or significantly reduced at an early age, the trajectory of these behavioural problems leading to adolescent delinquency and adult antisocial behaviour could be corrected. Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is a short-term, evidence-based, training intervention for parents dealing with preschool children, who exhibit behavioural problems. Recently, PCIT was implemented in a Dutch community mental health setting. This present study aims to examine the short-term effects of PCIT on reducing the frequency of disruptive behaviour in young children. \ud \ud Methods\ud This study is based on the data of 37 referred families. Whereby the results of which are derived from an analysis of parent reports of the Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory (ECBI), obtained during each therapeutic session. Furthermore, demographic information, extracted from client files, was also utilized. However, it must be noted that eleven families (27.5%) dropped out of treatment before the treatment protocol was completed. To investigate the development of disruptive behaviour, a non-clinical comparison group was recruited from primary schools (N = 59). \ud \ud Results\ud The results of this study indicate that PCIT significantly reduces disruptive behaviour in children. Large effect sizes were found for both fathers and mothers reported problems (d = 1.88, d = 1.99, respectively), which is similar to American outcome studies. At post treatment, no differences were found concerning the frequency of behavioural problems of children who completed treatment and those who participated in the non-clinical comparison group. \ud \ud Conclusion\ud The findings of this study suggest that PCIT is potentially an effective intervention strategy for young children and their parents in the Dutch population. However, further research into the evaluation of PCIT using a randomised controlled trial is recommendable\u

Traditional, Cyber and Combined Bullying Roles: Differences in Risky Online and Offline Activities

This study (1) reports frequency rates of mutually exclusive traditional, cyber and combined (both traditional and cyber) bullying roles; and (2) investigates whether adolescents belonging to particular bullying roles show higher levels of involvement in risky online activities (Compulsive Internet Use (CIU), online grooming victimization, and sexting) and risky offline activities (bad behavior in school, drinking alcohol and truancy) than non-involved adolescents. The sample comprised self-reports of 1928 German, Dutch and Thai adolescents (Age = 12–18; M = 14.52; SD = 1.6). The results revealed age, sex and country differences in bullying frequency rates. CIU, sending of sexts and risky offline activities were most strongly associated with combined bully-victims. The receiving of sexts was most strongly associated with combined bullies; and online grooming victimization was most strongly related to cyber bully-victims. Another important finding is that the associations between risky offline activities and combined bullying are stronger than for traditional and cyber bullying. The findings contribute to better understanding of the associations between varying bullying roles and risky online and offline activities among adolescents. In sum, the results underscore the need to promote life skills rather than adopting more conventional approaches, which focus almost exclusively on reduction of risks

Policy Implications of Present Knowledge on the Development and Prevention of Physical Aggression

Research indicates that children are born with aggressive tendencies which they learn to control through early socialization. A small group, however, shows high aggression levels early on which remain stable throughout their life. Physical aggression is an epiphenomenon in a wide variety of antisocial behaviour, which wrecks the life of the individual as well as having large and negative consequences on society. The premise of this article is that physical aggression can be successfully influenced, but that there is a small window of opportunity in which to do this. Five rules about interventions which are more likely to be successful are presented: 1) the need for adequate evaluation, 2) the increased benefits of early prevention rather than later intervention, 3) intervention in multiple domains of the child’s life, 4) the importance of paying attention to treatment fidelity and professional execution, and 5) The current lack of substantive guidelines for specific interventions types. Within this context we review seven types of interventions to prevent physical aggression including: (1) promotion of physical health of mother and child, (2) increase family income, (3) increase access to existing services, (4) home visiting, (5) childcare, (6) preschool programs and (7) improving parenting. We conclude that promoting the physical health of mother and child should be more actively pursued, though additional experimental evidence is needed to clarify the relationship between health and social behaviour. An increase in family income, however, was not found by itself to help prevent the occurrence of physical aggression. An increase in access to existing services does not seem to reduce physical aggression, possibly because of the variable quality of these services. There is strong evidence that nurse home visitation programs, like the Nurse-Family Partnership, as well as some of the more rigorous preschool programs like the High/Scope Perry Preschool program, can be effective in deterring a child’s trajectory into violence, though more research in both these areas is needed and this research should be done by those who are not connected to these programs or past evaluations. Finally, we find that improving parenting through programmes like the Parent-Child Interaction Therapy programme can reduce the likelihood of violent behaviour, though, again, more experimental evidence is necessary. Overall, we argue that more experimental studies are necessary to better guide polic

Assessment of 19 Genes and Validation of CRM Gene Panel for Quantitative Transcriptional Analysis of Molecular Rejection and Inflammation in Archival Kidney Transplant Biopsies.

Background: There is an urgent need to develop and implement low cost, high-throughput standardized methods for routine molecular assessment of transplant biopsies. Given the vast archive of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue blocks in transplant centers, a reliable protocol for utilizing this tissue bank for clinical validation of target molecules as predictors of graft outcome over time, would be of great value. Methods: We designed and optimized assays to quantify 19 target genes, including previously reported set of tissue common rejection module (tCRM) genes. We interrogated their performance for their clinical utility for detection of graft rejection and inflammation by analyzing gene expression microarrays analysis of 163 renal allograft biopsies, and subsequently validated in 40 independent FFPE archived kidney transplant biopsies at a single center. Results: A QPCR (Fluidigm) and a barcoded oligo-based (NanoString) gene expression platform were compared for evaluation of amplification of gene expression signal for 19 genes from degraded RNA extracted from FFPE biopsy sections by a set protocol. Increased expression of the selected 19 genes, that reflect a combination of specific cellular infiltrates (8/19 genes) and a graft inflammation score (11/19 genes which computes the tCRM score allowed for segregation of kidney transplant biopsies with stable allograft function and normal histology from those with histologically confirmed acute rejection (AR; p = 0.0022, QPCR; p = 0.0036, barcoded assay) and many cases of histological borderline inflammation (BL). Serial biopsy shaves used for gene expression were also processed for in-situ hybridization (ISH) for a subset of genes. ISH confirmed a high degree of correlation of signal amplification and tissue localization. Conclusions: Target gene expression amplification across a custom set of genes can identify AR independent of histology, and quantify inflammation from archival kidney transplant biopsy tissue, providing a new tool for clinical correlation and outcome analysis of kidney allografts, without the need for prospective kidney biopsy biobanking efforts

Давидові псалми в інтерпретації Ліни Костенко

The article studies king David’s psalms’ transformation in the light of the author’s personality. There is a study of national, politic context and Christian myths, poetic interpretation in the work. The concept of parallel comparison for the Psalter’s text and the poetry of Lina Kostenko is used. We can trace poet’s credo and her self-analyzing in a little investigated triptych of poetry «Psalms of David»

Nonmodal Solution of Spherical Shells With Cutouts Excited by High-frequency Axisymmetric Forces

[3, 4] , and, to a lesser extent, elastic Presented at the Sixth U. S. National Congress of Applied Mechanics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., June [15][16][17][18][19] 1970. Discussion of this paper should be addressed to the Editorial Department, ASME, United Engineering Center, 345 East 47th Street, New York, N. Y. 10017, and will be accepted until January 20, 1971. Discussion received after the closing date will be returned. Manuscript received by ASME Applied Mechanics Division, January 19, 1970; final revision, March 13, 1970. where (Ci + C\) is a clockwise contour around the positive real axis, The contour is now deformed into a counterclockwise contour comprising the semicircular arc C R+ and the line integrals (C 3 + d). The semicircular integral C R+ vanishes as \s\ -»• <*>. The integrand in (la) being odd in s, the line integral C3 above the negative real axis equals its mirror image C\. Plence, the counterclockwise contour integral {C R+ + C 3 + C2) is equivalent to the original contour integral (Ci + Ci). The new contour integral can be evaluated as (2iri) times the residues at the complex zeros Sj of Z($l, s), where Im(s y ) > 0: It is found that 0(s 3 ) = 0(Q) and that Sj has comparable imaginary and real components. Watson's residue or creeping-wave series is effectively a series in negative powers of frequency or more precisely, of the radii of curvature of the diffracting surface measured in terms of wavelengths. It is therefore most efficien

Green's-function theory of the Heisenberg ferromagnet in a magnetic field

We present a second-order Green's-function theory of the one- and two-dimensional S=1/2 ferromagnet in a magnetic field based on a decoupling of three-spin operator products, where vertex parameters are introduced and determined by exact relations. The transverse and longitudinal spin correlation functions and thermodynamic properties (magnetization, isothermal magnetic susceptibility, specific heat) are calculated self-consistently at arbitrary temperatures and fields. In addition, exact diagonalizations on finite lattices and, in the one-dimensional case, exact calculations by the Bethe-ansatz method for the quantum transfer matrix are performed. A good agreement of the Green's-function theory with the exact data, with recent quantum Monte Carlo results, and with the spin polarization of a $\nu=1$ quantum Hall ferromagnet is obtained. The field dependences of the position and height of the maximum in the temperature dependence of the susceptibility are found to fit well to power laws, which are critically analyzed in relation to the recently discussed behavior in Landau's theory. As revealed by the spin correlation functions and the specific heat at low fields, our theory provides an improved description of magnetic short-range order as compared with the random phase approximation. In one dimension and at very low fields, two maxima in the temperature dependence of the specific heat are found. The Bethe-ansatz data for the field dependences of the position and height of the low-temperature maximum are described by power laws. At higher fields in one and two dimensions, the temperature of the specific heat maximum linearly increases with the field.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure

Cell cycle progression or translation control is not essential for vesicular stomatitis virus oncolysis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

The intrinsic oncolytic specificity of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is currently being exploited to develop alternative therapeutic strategies for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Identifying key regulators in diverse transduction pathways that define VSV oncolysis in cancer cells represents a fundamental prerequisite to engineering more effective oncolytic viral vectors and adjusting combination therapies. After having identified defects in the signalling cascade of type I interferon induction, responsible for attenuated antiviral responses in human HCC cell lines, we have now investigated the role of cell proliferation and translation initiation. Cell cycle progression and translation initiation factors eIF4E and eIF2Bepsilon have been recently identified as key regulators of VSV permissiveness in T-lymphocytes and immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblasts, respectively. Here, we show that in HCC, decrease of cell proliferation by cell cycle inhibitors or siRNA-mediated reduction of G(1) cyclin-dependent kinase activities (CDK4) or cyclin D1 protein expression, do not significantly alter viral growth. Additionally, we demonstrate that translation initiation factors eIF4E and eIF2Bepsilon are negligible in sustaining VSV replication in HCC. Taken together, these results indicate that cellular proliferation and the initiation phase of cellular protein synthesis are not essential for successful VSV oncolysis of HCC. Moreover, our observations indicate the importance of cell-type specificity for VSV oncolysis, an important aspect to be considered in virotherapy applications in the future

The acoustic characteristics of turbomachinery cavities

Internal fluid flows are subject not only to self-sustained oscillations of the purely hydrodynamic type but also to the coupling of the instability with the acoustic mode of the surrounding cavity. This situation is common to turbomachinery, since flow instabilities are confined within a flow path where the acoustic wavelength is typically smaller than the dimensions of the cavity and flow speeds are low enough to allow resonances. When acoustic coupling occurs, the fluctuations can become so severe in amplitude that it may induce structural failure of engine components. The potential for catastrophic failure makes identifying flow-induced noise and vibration sources a priority. In view of the complexity of these types of flows, this report was written with the purpose of presenting many of the methods used to compute frequencies for self-sustained oscillations. The report also presents the engineering formulae needed to calculate the acoustic resonant modes for ducts and cavities. Although the report is not a replacement for more complex numerical or experimental modeling techniques, it is intended to be used on general types of flow configurations that are known to produce self-sustained oscillations. This report provides a complete collection of these models under one cover