The human immune response to the flagellins of Burkholderia dolosa.

Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is the most commonly inherited lethal disorder in Caucasian populations. Chronic bacterial infection both decreases lung function and lowers the quality of the CF patient’s life. In one of the most recent CF epidemics, Burkholderia dolosa, an organism previously uncharacterized as an epidemic strain, infected over forty patients and led to the death of over seven patients at Children’s Hospital Boston. Preliminary research revealed that this strain of B. dolosa possesses genes for two distinct types of flagella, which is uncommon in bacterial pathogens. In this study we examine the interaction of human cells and B. dolosa, focusing on the human inflammatory response to these two types of B. dolosa flagella. The findings of this study could provide insight into B. dolosa pathogenesis, so that effective therapeutics may be designed to combat this organism in the future

A Measure Development Study for Youth Trauma Exposure and Developmental Trauma Disorder

Childhood trauma research and assessment are limited in addressing complex trauma. Specifically, current childhood trauma exposure measures are limited in the types of trauma queried, the ability to assess for frequency of trauma incidents, and the possibility of reporting on symptoms from multiple traumas (Hawkins & Radcliffe, 2006). Another problem with current childhood trauma practices is related to diagnosis. Most children who experience complex trauma are not diagnosed with PTSD; separation anxiety disorder and oppositional defiant disorder are most commonly diagnosed (Cook et al., 2005). Emotional and behavioral difficulties associated with complex trauma in childhood may be better captured by symptoms of a proposed diagnosis, developmental trauma disorder (DTD; van der Kolk, 2005). This measure development study included testing of an improved childhood trauma exposure measure, the Stressful Events Questionnaire (SEQ), and a measure to assess for DTD symptoms, the Developmental Trauma Disorder Questionnaire (DTDQ) in a clinical child sample. Children exposed to a variety of trauma experiences were assessed utilizing the SEQ, which includes potentially traumatic experiences and assesses for frequency of incidents, as well as utilizing the DTDQ. Results provided preliminary support for the reliability and validity of the SEQ and DTDQ in a clinical child sample. Results also provided empirical support for a broadened PTSD criterion A and support for DTD criteria. This study has implications for the diagnosis and treatment of trauma experiences in youth

Measuring Trauma: A Pilot Application for Children and Adolescents

The current definition of a ‘traumatic event’ in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition—Text Revision (DSM—IV TR; APA, 2000) may be too narrow to describe the myriad of difficult experiences that many youth undergo. Furthermore, youth may develop a distinct pattern of symptoms in relation to complex trauma, that is, when multiple stressful experiences occur or when an experience occurs chronically. It is argued that these children are likely to develop the proposed “developmental trauma disorder” (DTD; van der Kolk, 2005). The present study examined a new measure of childhood trauma exposure through a two-fold process. First, items were developed that assess for exposure to potentially traumatic experiences (PTEs) that may not typically be considered according to the diagnostic rubric of the DSM-IV TR. Two item formats were used in order to explore potential differences in reporting: closed-ended and open-ended questions. Second, three experimental questions describing symptom clusters defined by van der Kolk (2005) were administered. Participants were 186 eighteen and nineteen year olds who were asked to report retrospectively on their difficult childhood experiences. They were asked to complete an established measure of trauma exposure and half of the sample was asked to complete the PTE questionnaire with the closed-ended item format, while the other half was asked to complete the open-ended items. It was hypothesized that participants who completed the PTE questionnaire with the open-ended item format would report significantly more stressful experiences. It was also predicted that the participants who reported multiple or chronic stress events would be more likely to endorse symptoms associated with DTD, regardless of item format. The results were inconsistent with the first hypothesis, in that participants who completed the PTE questionnaire with closed-ended items were more likely to report stressful experiences than participants who completed the closed-ended questionnaire. However, the results supported the second hypothesis in that participants who reported multiple or chronic events were more likely to endorse symptoms associated with DTD. This study has implications for the diagnosis and treatment of trauma experiences in youth