Comparison of Social Valdidity Ratings with the Effects of a Video-feedback Intervention for Communication Partners of Individuals with Deafblindness

The parents, teachers, and professional caregivers of individuals with disabilities may benefit from interventions to enhance their educational skills. In previous studies, positive effects were observed of a video-feedback intervention for caregivers (i.e. parents, teachers, and professional caregivers) on their communication with an individual with congenital deafblindness. The intervention they received, was the High-Quality Communication (HQC) intervention. The aim of the current study was to gain insight into the perceived relevance, feasibility, and effectiveness (i.e., social validity) of the HQC-intervention according to these caregivers, and the correspondence between the social validity ratings and the observational effects of the HQC-intervention. Responses on the Social Validity Scale from 25 caregivers who participated in the High-Quality Communication (HQC) intervention revealed that they considered the HQC intervention to be a relevant, feasible, and effective intervention. Comparing the caregiver ratings with observational effects of the HQC intervention at the individual case level, we found no association between the observed effectiveness of this intervention and caregivers’ opinions about its relevance, feasibility and effectiveness. There was however, an association between the rated feasibility and effectiveness, which suggests that the perceived success of the intervention was influenced by caregivers’ experienced competency in supporting the communication of individuals with CDB. The combination of observational and social validity data enabled a critical analysis of the clinical value of the HQC intervention. We recommend that future studies use multiple data source for social validity assessment

Analysis of coelom development in the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens yielding a deuterostome body plan

Companion Research Data "Two Z stacks of coelomogenesis in vestibula larvae of the sea urchin Holopneustes purpurescens recorded by high resolution confocal laser scanning microscopy from Morris (2016)" at http://hdl.handle.net/2123/14227An analysis of early coelom development in the echinoid Holopneustes purpurescens yields a deuterostome body plan that explains the disparity between the pentameral plan of echinoderms and the bilateral plans of chordates and hemichordates, the three major phyla of the monophyletic deuterostomes. The analysis shows an early separation into a medial hydrocoele and lateral coelomic mesoderm with an enteric channel between them before the hydrocoele forms the pentameral plan of five primary podia. The deuterostome body plan thus has a single axial or medial coelom and a pair of lateral coeloms, all surrounding an enteric channel, the gut channel. Applied to the phyla, the medial coelom is the hydrocoele in echinoderms, the notochord in chordates and the proboscis coelom in hemichordates: the lateral coeloms are the coelomic mesoderm in echinoderms, the paraxial mesoderm in chordates and the lateral coeloms in hemichordates. The plan fits frog and chick development and the echinoderm fossil record, and predicts genes involved in coelomogenesis as the source of deuterostome macroevolution

An instrument for dimensional diagnosis of a child’s constitution (ICC)

Developmental disorders present themselves with complex problems that may threaten a child’s development. In every child a disorder shows itself in a unique way, which makes it necessary to individualize. The objective of this preliminary study is to develop an instrument that provides a dimensional diagnosis by mapping the degree of (dis)balance in three domains of child development. The instrument is based on anthroposophic anthropology and typology. The instrument will be usable in all kinds of care for children with developmental disorders.The typology of a child’s constitution was operationalized using concept mapping and consensus building with experts. Preliminary tests of the psychometric properties of the instrument were applied on children with developmental disorders in a pilot study in Dutch healthcare. The Instrument for diagnosis of a Child’s Constitution (ICC) developed in this study consists of two parts. Part I contains 36 polar formulated items in three subscales of 12 items and is to be completed by healthcare professionals. Part II consists of three VAS scales (Visual analogue scales) and is to be completed y a practitioner. The outcome (the scores of Part I and II) forms a profile of the child’s constitution, showing the (dis) balance in three domains of child development. A pilot study with 38 children shows positive face validity, and moderate internal consistency and inter-rater reliability of the ICC. The ICC has been developed as a diagnostic instrument to assess individualized dimensional diagnosis of children with a developmental disorder. Future studies will focus on validation of the instrument

Enzymatic modification of bacterial exopolysaccharides : xanthan lyase as a tool for structural and functional modification of xanthan

Bacterial extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) can be applied, e.g., in foods, as a thickener or stabilizer. The functional properties that make a polysaccharide suitable for such applications are largely determined by the primary structure, i.e., the sugar composition, the linkage types between the sugar units, and the presence of side chains and non-sugar substituents. The aim of this research was to obtain EPS-modifying enzymes that could be used as tools both for studying structure-function relationships of (food-grade) EPSs and for the production of tailor-made EPSs with a specific, desired functionality. EPS-degrading microorganisms could serve as a source of such enzymes.To get an idea of the probability of finding EPS-degrading microorganisms, a comparative biodegradability study was carried out on eight EPSs, six of which were produced by lactic acid bacteria (Chapter 2). Human faeces or soil were used as inocula. Xanthan, clavan, and the EPSs of Streptococcus thermophilus strains SFi39 and SFi12 were readily degraded. The four other EPSs, produced by Lactococcus lactis ssp. cremoris B40, Lactobacillus sakei 0-1, S. thermophilus SFi20, and Lactobacillus helveticus Lh59, were not. Xanthan, the most relevant food-grade EPS, was chosen as the target for further studies.For efficient screening of polysaccharide-degrading microorganisms, plate methods are required that discriminate between intact and degraded polysaccharide. Such methods can make use of specific physicochemical properties of the polysaccharide, such as complex formation with dyes and gelling capacity. Alternatively, dye-labelled polysaccharides can be applied. Chapter 3 presents a survey of plate methods based on the above principles.A mixed xanthan-degrading culture was obtained from soil by enrichment on xanthan. From this culture, Paenibacillus alginolyticus XL-1 was isolated. This strain degraded 28% of the xanthan molecule and appeared to leave the backbone intact. Several xanthan-degrading enzymes were excreted during growth on xanthan, including a xanthan lyase. Xanthan lyase removes the terminal mannosyl residue of the trisaccharide xanthan side chain by aβ-eliminative mechanism, resulting in a double bond in the side chain glucuronyl residue. Xanthan lyase is the only polysaccharide lyase that is exo-acting, releasing residues from the outside of a polysaccharide molecule. All other polysaccharide lyases described to date are endo-acting, attacking the polysaccharide backbone. In P. alginolyticus XL-1, xanthan lyase production is induced by xanthan and inhibited by glucose and low-molecular-weight enzymatic degradation products from xanthan. A 97-kDa xanthan lyase was purified and characterized. The enzyme is specific for pyruvated mannosyl side chain residues and optimally active at pH 6.0 and 55°C (Chapter 4).The gene encoding the pyruvated mannose-specific xanthan lyase of P . alginolyticus XL-1, designated xalA , was isolated. The xalA gene encodes a 936-amino acid protein, including a 36-amino acid signal sequence. The XalA protein belongs to polysaccharide lyase family 8, which until now only contained chondroitinases and hyaluronate lyases. The part of the xalA gene encoding the 900-amino acid, 96,887-Da mature enzyme was expressed functionally in Escherichia coli . Like the native enzyme, the recombinant enzyme is specific for pyruvated xanthan. Heterologous production of XalA in E. coli increased the volumetric productivity by a factor 30, compared to production by P. alginolyticus . The recombinant xanthan lyase was used as a tool to modify xanthan, which resulted in a dramatic loss of the capacity to form gels with locust bean gum.Besides xanthan lyase, P. alginolyticus XL-1 produces other enzymes that could be useful for xanthan modification, such as a xanthan deacetylase and an enzyme releasing uronic acid, or uronic acid-containing oligosaccharides, from xanthan lyase-modified xanthan. Since these enzymes were produced at very low titers, P. alginolyticus XL-1 is not a suitable production organism for xanthan-modifying enzymes. Strain XL-1 may be very useful, however, as a source of genes for heterologous production of xanthan-modifying enzymes.</p