Adequate screening of youngsters for depressive characteristics

Introduction. In order to set up an effective early-detection of depressive symptoms in youngsters, the current study aims to investigate whether two measure moments of the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) improve screening and whether a multi-informant procedure is superior compared to a single-informant procedure thereby controlling for comorbid. symptoms. Method. Youngsters (10-15 years) filled in the CDI and an Anxiety Scale at Time 1 and the CDI and Youth Self Report one week later. Next, a structured clinical interview was administered. The Child Behaviour CheckList was filled in by the parents. Results. Two measure moments of the CDI are not more accurate in capturing disordered mood changes. Furthermore, parent reports were no significant contributor to the variance over and above the CDI. Discussion. A second moment does not increase screening accuracy. Further research on setting up an effective multistage screening procedure for depressive symptoms for youngsters is however necessary

Mijn angst belet me om voluit te leven

Anne is een meisje van 13 jaar. Ze zit in het derde jaar algemeen secundair onderwijs en volgt de richting moderne talen. Het gezin bestaat uit vader, moeder en Anne. Papa heeft een fulltime baan en moeder is niet werkzaam. Anne werd aangemeld door haar moeder omdat Anne al enkele jaren problemen heeft, maar sinds een jaar gaat dit gepaard met flauwvallen met verlies bewustzijn. Mama omschrijft de problemen van Anne als faalangst, angststoornissen en een laag zelfvertrouwen

Attachment and children's biased attentional processing: evidence for the exclusion of attachment-related information

Research in both infants and adults demonstrated that attachment expectations are associated with the attentional processing of attachment-related information. However, this research suffered from methodological issues and has not been validated across ages. Employing a more ecologically valid paradigm to measure attentional processes by virtue of eye tracking, the current study tested the defensive exclusion hypothesis in late childhood. According to this hypothesis, insecurely attached children are assumed to defensively exclude attachment-related information. We hypothesized that securely attached children process attachment- related neutral and emotional information in a more open manner compared to insecurely attached children. Sixty-two children (59.7% girls, 8–12 years) completed two different tasks, while eye movements were recorded: task one presented an array of neutral faces including mother and unfamiliar women and task two presented the same with happy and angry faces. Results indicated that more securely attached children looked longer at mother’s face regardless of the emotional expression. Also, they tend to have more maintained attention to mother’s neutral face. Furthermore, more attachment avoidance was related to a reduced total viewing time of mother’s neutral, happy, and angry face. Attachment anxiety was not consistently related to the processing of mother’s face. Findings support the theoretical assumption that securely attached children have an open manner of processing all attachment-related information

Young adolescent's confidence in maternal support: attentional bias moderates the link between attachment-related expectations and behavioral problems

Attachment security is an important resilience factor for children at risk for psychopathology, whereas attachment insecurity can be an important risk factor. Effects of attachment security on behavior problems may be partially explained by expectations regarding attachment figures' availability and the moderating effect of concurrent automatic biases in children's attentional processing of their mother on the link between attachment-related expectations and behavioral problems. This hypothesis was tested in two studies with 10-12 year old early adolescents (Study 1: N = 32; Study 2: N = 138). In both studies, the findings confirmed the moderation hypothesis, suggesting that less confidence in maternal support was related to more behavioral problems when children's attentional processing of mother was biased

Influence of binder attributes on binder effectiveness in a continuous twin screw wet granulation process via wet and dry binder addition

The effect of a wide variety of binders on the quality of granules produced via continuous twin screw wet granulation was studied. Anhydrous dicalcium phosphate was used as poorly soluble filler and was granulated applying dry or wet addition of binders. Furthermore, dry and wet binder characteristics were determined and linked to the binder effectiveness. PVA 4–88 and starch octenyl succinate exhibited the lowest granule friability at low liquid-to-solid ratios, i.e. the highest binder effectiveness, which was attributed to fast binder activation based on the fast wetting kinetics of the binder, to efficient wetting of DCP particles, and to good spreading in the powder bed. The performance of wettability measurements in an early formulation development stage is therefore considered highly important. Additionally, an increased stickiness of the binder surface caused by high binder viscosity and slow dissolution kinetics also positively influenced the binder effectiveness. In conclusion, this study revealed which binder attributes have a critical impact on the granulation process of dicalcium phosphate. Additionally, dry binder addition proved successful for creation of high quality granules

Identifying critical binder attributes to facilitate binder selection for efficient formulation development in a continuous twin screw wet granulation process

The suitability of pharmaceutical binders for continuous twin-screw wet granulation was investigated as the pharmaceutical industry is undergoing a switch from batch to continuous manufacturing. Binder selection for twin-screw wet granulation should rely on a scientific approach to enable efficient formulation development. Therefore, the current study identified binder attributes affecting the binder effectiveness in a wet granulation process of a highly soluble model excipient (mannitol). For this formulation, higher binder effectiveness was linked to fast activation of the binder properties (i.e., fast binder dissolution kinetics combined with low viscosity attributes and good wetting properties by the binder). As the impact of binder attributes on the granulation process of a poorly soluble formulation (dicalcium phosphate) was previously investigated, this enabled a comprehensive comparison between both formulations in current research focusing on binder selection. This comparison revealed that binder attributes that are important to guide binder selection differ in function of the solubility of the formulation. The identification of critical binder attributes in the current study enables rational and efficient binder selection for twin-screw granulation of well soluble and poorly soluble formulations. Binder addition proved especially valuable for a poorly soluble formulation

Metabolism of alcaligenes denitrificans in biofilm vs planktonic cells

Aims: To compare the effect of phosphorous concentration (200 mg P 1-1 and 20 mg P 1-1) on the denitrifying efficiency of Alcaligenes denitrificans when in the form of planktonic cells or in the form of a biofilm, and to select the most adequate C/N ratio. Methods and Results: Two types of assays were carried out: with planktonic cells and with cells in biofilm form. Anoxic bottles with the appropriate C/N and phosphorous concentration were incubated at 30°C and submitted to orbital shaking at 150 rev min-1. The specific activity of cells in biofilm form, in terms of substrate consumption, was significantly higher than cells in planktonic form. With regard to the effect of increasing phosphorous concentration, an increase in specific activity was also only evident when the cells were in biofilm form. Conclusions: The two forms showed different performances and phosphorous concentration only markedly affected the biofilm form. Significance and Impact of the Study: The importance of the C/N/P ratio in the denitrification process is demonstrated. As there was no report in the literature about the stoichiometric relationship of heterotrophic denitrification with citrate, its stoichiometry, including the requirement for cell synthesis, was determined.Instituto de Biotecnologia e Química Fina (IBQF). PRAXIS XXI