Vulnerability in acquisition, language impairments in Dutch: Creating a VALID data archive

The VALID Data Archive is an open multimedia data archive (under construction) with data from speakers suffering from language impairments. We report on a pilot project in the CLARIN-NL framework in which five data resources were curated. For all data sets concerned, written informed consent from the participants or their caretakers has been obtained. All materials were anonymized. The audio files were converted into wav (linear PCM) files and the transcriptions into CHAT or ELAN format. Research data that consisted of test, SPSS and Excel files were documented and converted into CSV files. All data sets obtained appropriate CMDI metadata files. A new CMDI metadata profile for this type of data resources was established and care was taken that ISOcat metadata categories were used to optimize interoperability. After curation all data are deposited at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics Nijmegen where persistent identifiers are linked to all resources. The content of the transcriptions in CHAT and plain text format can be searched with the TROVA search engin

Therapists' characteristics associated with the (non-)use of exposure in the treatment of anxiety disorders in youth:A survey among Dutch-speaking mental health practitioners

INTRODUCTION: Although there is consensus that exposure is the key ingredient in treating childhood anxiety disorders, several studies in the USA suggest exposure to be underused in clinical practice. Previous research pointed to therapists' beliefs about exposure, their age, experience, caseload, training and theoretical orientation, as well as the level of the therapists' own anxiety as important factors in the underusage of exposure in the treatment of adult anxiety disorders. This study examined what therapist characteristics may be involved in the (non-)use of exposure in treating childhood anxiety disorders. METHODS: An internet-based survey among 207 youth mental health care professionals in the Netherlands and Belgium was conducted to assess therapists' beliefs about exposure, their age, experience, caseload, training and theoretical orientation, as well as the level of the therapists' own anxiety, depression and stress. RESULTS: The current survey showed that therapists used exposure in about half of their cases of childhood anxiety and that the non-use was independently associated with the relatively strong negative beliefs about exposure, therapists' age, and non-CBT orientation. DISCUSSION: Findings point to the importance of addressing negative beliefs about exposure in therapists' training and supervision to resolve therapy drift away from exposure, and consequently improve utilization and delivery of exposure-based therapy for childhood anxiety disorders

Особенности деонтологии в сексологической практике

Описаны основные принципы врачебной этики в сексологической практике. Рассмотрены особенности взаимоотношений врача−сексолога и пациента. Подчеркивается, что выполнение врачом деонтологических принципов будет способствовать гармонизации семейно−сексуальных отношений.Basic principles of medical ethics in sexological practice are presented. The peculiarities of mutual relations of the doctor sexologist and the patient are discussed. It is emphasized that adherence of the doctor−sexologist of ethical principles will promote harmonization of family sexual relations

Is It Time for a Change? A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Comparing a Multidisciplinary Integrated Care Model for Residential Homes to Usual Care

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a Multidisciplinary Integrated Care (MIC) model compared to Usual Care (UC) in Dutch residential homes. METHODS: The economic evaluation was conducted from a societal perspective alongside a 6 month, clustered, randomized controlled trial involving 10 Dutch residential homes. Outcome measures included a quality of care weighted sum score, functional health (COOP WONCA) and Quality Adjusted Life-Years (QALY). Missing cost and effect data were imputed using multiple imputation. Bootstrapping was used to analyze differences in costs and cost-effectiveness. RESULTS: The quality of care sum score in MIC was significantly higher than in UC. The other primary outcomes showed no significant differences between the MIC and UC. The costs of providing MIC were approximately €225 per patient. Total costs were €2,061 in the MIC group and €1,656 for the UC group (mean difference €405, 95% -13; 826). The probability that the MIC was cost-effective in comparison with UC was 0.95 or more for ceiling ratios larger than €129 regarding patient related quality of care. Cost-effectiveness planes showed that the MIC model was not cost-effective compared to UC for the other outcomes. INTERPRETATION: Clinical effect differences between the groups were small but quality of care was significantly improved in the MIC group. Short term costs for MIC were higher. Future studies should focus on longer term economic and clinical effects. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN11076857

Better together?:A randomized controlled microtrial comparing different levels of therapist and parental involvement in exposure-based treatment of childhood specific phobia

INTRODUCTION: Exposure is often limited to homework assignments in routine clinical care. The current study compares minimally-guided (MGE) and parent-guided (PGE) out-session homework formats to the 'golden standard' of therapist-guided in-session exposure with minimally-guided exposure at home (TGE).METHODS: Children with specific phobia (N = 55, age 8-12, 56% girls) participated in a single-blind, randomized controlled microtrial with a four-week baseline-treatment period design. Clinical interviews, behavioral avoidance tests, and self-report measures were assessed at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and at one-month follow-up.RESULTS: TGE resulted in a larger decline of specific phobia severity from baseline to post-treatment compared to MGE but not compared to PGE. Parental anxiety was found to be a moderator of less treatment efficacy of PGE from baseline to post-treatment. Overall, there was no meaningful difference in efficacy of TGE versus MGE or PGE from baseline to follow-up.CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that for improving short-term treatment gains, exposure exercises can best be conducted with the help of a therapist within the therapy session before they are conducted as homework assignments outside the therapy session. However, for long-term treatment gains exposure exercises can be handled by the child itself or with help of its parents.</p

Facial-muscle weakness, speech disorders and dysphagia are common in patients with classic infantile Pompe disease treated with enzyme therapy

Classic infantile Pompe disease is an inherited generalized glycogen storage disorder caused by deficiency of lysosomal acid α-glucosidase. If left untreated, patients die before one year of age. Although enzyme-replacement therapy (ERT) has significantly prolonged lifespan, it has also revealed new aspects of the disease. For up to 11 years, we investigated the frequency and consequences of facial-muscle weakness, speech disorders and dysphagia in long-term survivors. Sequential photographs were used to determine the timing and severity of facial-muscle weakness. Using standardized articulation tests and fibreoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing, we investigated speech and swallowing function in a subset of patients. This study included 11 patients with classic infantile Pompe disease. Median age at the start of ERT was 2.4 months (range 0.1-8.3 months), and median age at the end of the study was 4.3 years (range 7.7 months −12.2 years). All patients developed facial-muscle weakness before the age of 15 months. Speech was studied in four patients. Articulation was disordered, with hypernasal resonance and reduced speech intelligibility in all four. Swallowing function was studied in six patients, the most important findings being ineffective swallowing with residues of food (5/6), penetration or aspiration (3/6), and reduced pharyngeal and/or laryngeal sensibility (2/6). We conclude that facial-muscle weakness, speech disorders and dysphagia are common in long-term survivors receiving ERT for classic infantile Pompe disease. To improve speech and reduce the risk for aspiration, early treatment by a speech therapist and regular swallowing assessments are recommended

Consensus on treatment for residents in long-term care facilities : perspectives from relatives and care staff in the PACE cross-sectional study in 6 European countries

Background: In long-term care facilities often many care providers are involved, which could make it difficult to reach consensus in care. This may harm the relation between care providers and can complicate care. This study aimed to describe and compare in six European countries the degree of consensus among everyone involved in care decisions, from the perspective of relatives and care staff. Another aim was to assess which factors are associated with reporting that full consensus was reached, from the perspective of care staff and relatives.Methods: In Belgium, England, Finland, Italy, the Netherlands and Poland a random sample of representative long-term care facilities reported all deaths of residents in the previous three months (n = 1707). This study included residents about whom care staff (n = 1284) and relatives (n = 790) indicated in questionnaires the degree of consensus among all involved in the decision or care process. To account for clustering on facility level, Generalized Estimating Equations were conducted to analyse the degree of consensus across countries and factors associated with full consensus.Results: Relatives indicated full consensus in more than half of the residents in all countries (NL 57.9% - EN 68%), except in Finland (40.7%). Care staff reported full consensus in 59.5% of residents in Finland to 86.1% of residents in England. Relatives more likely reported full consensus when: the resident was more comfortable or talked about treatment preferences, a care provider explained what palliative care is, family-physician communication was well perceived, their relation to the resident was other than child (compared to spouse/partner) or if they lived in Poland or Belgium (compared to Finland). Care staff more often indicated full consensus when they rated a higher comfort level of the resident, or if they lived in Italy, the Netherland, Poland or England (compared to Finland).Conclusions: In most countries the frequency of full consensus among all involved in care decisions was relatively high. Across countries care staff indicated full consensus more often and no consensus less often than relatives. Advance care planning, comfort and good communication between relatives and care professionals could play a role in achieving full consensus

Amplitude saturation of MEMS resonators explained by autoparametric resonance

Abstract This paper describes a phenomenon that limits the power handling of MEMS resonators. It is observed that above a certain driving level, the resonance amplitude becomes independent of the driving level. In contrast to previous studies of power handling of MEMS resonators, it is found that this amplitude saturation cannot be explained by nonlinear terms in the spring constant or electrostatic force. Instead we show that the amplitude in our experiments is limited by nonlinear terms in the equation of motion which couple the in-plane length-extensional resonance mode to one or more out-of-plane (OOP) bending modes. We present experimental evidence for the autoparametric excitation of these OOP modes using a vibrometer. The measurements are compared to a model that can be used to predict a power-handling limit for MEMS resonators

Принципы организации объектно-ориентированных систем обработки неформализованной информации

Рассматривается класс логико-аналитических систем, использующих специальные лингвистические процессоры и базы знаний (БЗ) для обработки потоков неформализованных документов с целью решения пользовательских задач. На первом этапе формализации текста документа извлекаются информационные объекты и связи, которые образуют структуры знаний и запоминаются в БЗ. На уровне БЗ организуются различные виды анализа и объектных поисков: поиск похожих объектов и ситуаций, поиск по связям и другие. Рассматриваются основные компоненты подобных систем, называемых объектно-ориентированными, их особенности при использовании в различных приложениях: при обработке криминальной информации, при автоматической формализации резюме (заявок на работу), в системах обработки СМИ с выделением террористических групп и их деяний.A class of the logical-analytical systems using special linguistic processors and knowledge bases is considered. Such systems are called object-oriented. These systems are employed for processing of the unstructured documents flow for the user problems decision. At the first stage the document text is formalized: information objects and links are extracted and transferred into the knowledge structures which are stored in the knowledge base (KB). At the level of KB various kinds of analysis and object search are organized: the search for similar objects and situations, the search on the basis of links and other types of search. The basic components of these systems, their main features and the particular use in different applications are considered.The system operation in the subject areas of criminal information processing, automatic formalization of summary texts (applications for work), mass media analysis for extracting information about terrorist formations and their activities are presented

Draft genome of a novel methanotrophic Methylobacter sp. from the volcanic soils of Pantelleria Island

The genus Methylobacter is considered an important and often dominant group of aerobic methane-oxidizing bacteria in many oxic ecosystems, where members of this genus contribute to the reduction of CH4 emissions. Metagenomic studies of the upper oxic layers of geothermal soils of the Favara Grande, Pantelleria, Italy, revealed the presence of various methane-oxidizing bacteria, and resulted in a near complete metagenome assembled genome (MAG) of an aerobic methanotroph, which was classified as a Methylobacter species. In this study, the Methylobacter sp. B2 MAG was used to investigate its metabolic potential and phylogenetic affiliation. The MAG has a size of 4,086,539&nbsp;bp, consists of 134 contigs and 3955 genes were found, of which 3902 were protein coding genes. All genes for CH4 oxidation to CO2 were detected, including pmoCAB encoding particulate methane monooxygenase (pMMO) and xoxF encoding a methanol dehydrogenase. No gene encoding a formaldehyde dehydrogenase was present and the formaldehyde to formate conversion follows the tetrahydromethanopterin (H4MPT) pathway. “Ca. Methylobacter favarea” B2 uses the Ribulose-Mono-Phosphate (RuMP) pathway for carbon fixation. Analysis of the MAG indicates that Na+/H+ antiporters and the urease system might be important in the maintenance of pH homeostasis of this strain to cope with acidic conditions. So far, thermoacidophilic Methylobacter species have not been isolated, however this study indicates that members of the genus Methylobacter can be found in distinct ecosystems and their presence is not restricted to freshwater or marine sediments