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

Effects of an Intervention Program on Interaction and Communication in Adults with Congenital Deafblindness and an Intellectual Disability

Interaction with people with congenital deafblindness (CDB) and an intellectual disability (ID), and recognition of their often unconventional expressions, is complex. In this study, the effects of a two-phase intervention program intended to foster harmonious interaction and the use and recognition of expressions based on a bodily emotional trace (BET) were examined. Five adults with CDB and an ID, and ten of their caregivers participated in the study. A multiple-baseline design was used. Target behaviours were attention by caregiver, attention by participant, confirmation by caregiver, mutual affective involvement, quality of interaction, participant expressions based on a BET, and participant expressions based on a BET recognised by the caregiver. Overall, the results tend to be positive. However, some of the changes were minimal and the results varied considerably among participants. The results of this study suggest that it is possible to foster harmonious interaction and the use and recognition of expressions based on a BET in adults with CDB and an ID

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

Accommodating the Bayley-III for motor and/or visual impairment:A comparative pilot study

PURPOSE: This study assessed the validity and usefulness of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third Edition (Bayley-III) Low Motor/Vision accommodated version. Accommodations are adaptations to minimize impairment bias, without altering what the test measures. Of the items, 66% have Low Motor accommodations like enlarged materials; 62% have Low Vision accommodations. METHODS: Using a within-subject design, we tested 19 children with the accommodated and standard Bayley-III, in a randomly counterbalanced order. The children had motor and/or visual impairment and a chronological age between 22 and 90 months. The test administrators completed an evaluation form. RESULTS: A subgroup of children benefited from the accommodations; 2 children obtained a large raw score difference. Test administrators considered the accommodations as practical, and advantageous for most children. CONCLUSION: The Low Motor/Vision accommodated version seems to validly assess the development of this population. Future, larger-scale research should study whether the accommodations improve the construct validity of the Bayley-III

Comparative transcriptomics and proteomics of p-hydroxybenzoate producing Pseudomonas putida S12: novel responses and implications for strain improvement

A transcriptomics and proteomics approach was employed to study the expression changes associated with p-hydroxybenzoate production by the engineered Pseudomonas putida strain S12palB1. To establish p-hydroxybenzoate production, phenylalanine-tyrosine ammonia lyase (pal/tal) was introduced to connect the tyrosine biosynthetic and p-coumarate degradation pathways. In agreement with the efficient p-hydroxybenzoate production, the tyrosine biosynthetic and p-coumarate catabolic pathways were upregulated. Also many transporters were differentially expressed, one of which—a previously uncharacterized multidrug efflux transporter with locus tags PP1271-PP1273—was found to be associated with p-hydroxybenzoate export. In addition to tyrosine biosynthesis, also tyrosine degradative pathways were upregulated. Eliminating the most prominent of these resulted in a 22% p-hydroxybenzoate yield improvement. Remarkably, the upregulation of genes contributing to p-hydroxybenzoate formation was much higher in glucose than in glycerol-cultured cells

Microbial degradation of furanic compounds: biochemistry, genetics, and impact

Microbial metabolism of furanic compounds, especially furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), is rapidly gaining interest in the scientific community. This interest can largely be attributed to the occurrence of toxic furanic aldehydes in lignocellulosic hydrolysates. However, these compounds are also widespread in nature and in human processed foods, and are produced in industry. Although several microorganisms are known to degrade furanic compounds, the variety of species is limited mostly to Gram-negative aerobic bacteria, with a few notable exceptions. Furanic aldehydes are highly toxic to microorganisms, which have evolved a wide variety of defense mechanisms, such as the oxidation and/or reduction to the furanic alcohol and acid forms. These oxidation/reduction reactions constitute the initial steps of the biological pathways for furfural and HMF degradation. Furfural degradation proceeds via 2-furoic acid, which is metabolized to the primary intermediate 2-oxoglutarate. HMF is converted, via 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid, into 2-furoic acid. The enzymes in these HMF/furfural degradation pathways are encoded by eight hmf genes, organized in two distinct clusters in Cupriavidus basilensis HMF14. The organization of the five genes of the furfural degradation cluster is highly conserved among microorganisms capable of degrading furfural, while the three genes constituting the initial HMF degradation route are organized in a highly diverse manner. The genetic and biochemical characterization of the microbial metabolism of furanic compounds holds great promises for industrial applications such as the biodetoxifcation of lignocellulosic hydrolysates and the production of value-added compounds such as 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid