The parent?infant dyad and the construction of the subjective self

Developmental psychology and psychopathology has in the past been more concerned with the quality of self-representation than with the development of the subjective agency which underpins our experience of feeling, thought and action, a key function of mentalisation. This review begins by contrasting a Cartesian view of pre-wired introspective subjectivity with a constructionist model based on the assumption of an innate contingency detector which orients the infant towards aspects of the social world that react congruently and in a specifically cued informative manner that expresses and facilitates the assimilation of cultural knowledge. Research on the neural mechanisms associated with mentalisation and social influences on its development are reviewed. It is suggested that the infant focuses on the attachment figure as a source of reliable information about the world. The construction of the sense of a subjective self is then an aspect of acquiring knowledge about the world through the caregiver's pedagogical communicative displays which in this context focuses on the child's thoughts and feelings. We argue that a number of possible mechanisms, including complementary activation of attachment and mentalisation, the disruptive effect of maltreatment on parent-child communication, the biobehavioural overlap of cues for learning and cues for attachment, may have a role in ensuring that the quality of relationship with the caregiver influences the development of the child's experience of thoughts and feelings

Operational stability of subtilisin CLECs in organic solvents in repeated batch and in continuous operation

The operational stability of cross-linked crystals (CLECs) of subtilisin Carlsberg in organic media is compared between repeated batch and continuous flow operation. The study was designed to create similar conditions in the two modes, although these can never be identical in all respects. The biocatalyst inactivates rapidly during the first two batches of 2 h each, losing 50% or more of its activity. The inactivation becomes slower over the following longer batches of 24 h. This pattern of rapid and slower phases of inactivation is similar to that observed in continuous reactors. However, in both acetonitrile and tetrahydrofuran, inactivation is somewhat faster over the first 4h of continuous operation than in the equivalent batch mode

Collaboration on guidance : experiences from the Eindhoven region

ROC Eindhoven organised learning communities around work-based learning for several courses (nursing, facility management, beauty salons). These learning communities were targeted on common learning on guidance models for interships and inservice students. Researchers from Eindhoven Technical University supported these learning processes with developmental and evaluation investigations. This resulted in empirical data on (problems in) cooperation between college and practice, which in turn lead towards the design of improved guidance models. In a second round of investigatory projects these designs are evaluated by professionals (teachers and mentors on feasibility) and students (on satisfaction and results). Eventually the process has lead to an ¿Eindhoven model¿ for guidance of internships, which is ready for use both locally as well as nationally