The feasibility of implementing autism intervention methods in formal education settings welcoming refugee and asylum-seeking children: A systematic review of the literature

Given the significant amount of time that refugee and asylum-seeking children (RASC) spend in schools, these institutions play an important role in their lives and represent an ideal environment in which to help them to adapt to their host society. The present study aimed to draw attention to the possibility of transferring intervention methods designed for children with ASD to formal education settings welcoming newly arrived RASC to support their adaptation to their new school environment. For this purpose, a systematic review was undertaken to assess the feasibility of implementing three specific ASD intervention methods (i.e., TEACCH, PECS, and PMI) in schools welcoming RASC. While the review did not reveal previous attempts to implement and evaluate ASD intervention methods with newcomer RASC, 21 records were uncovered providing preliminary evidence in support of this idea. Hypothesized strengths and limitations, as well as considerations about implementation, are discussed

Struktur, Funktion und mikrobielle Biosynthese methylierter Menachinon-Derivate

Die meisten biologischen Spezies der Erde sind abhängig von isoprenoiden Chinonen, welche in ihren Atmungsketten vorkommen. Bei Spezies in anaeroben Habitaten dominieren Menachinon (MK) und dessen methylierte Derivate Methylmenachinon (MMK) und Dimethylmenachinon (DMMK) als membrangebundene Redoxmediatoren. Gerade den methylierten Menachinonen wird eine essentielle Rolle in Elektronentransportketten zugeschrieben, die bei relativ negativen Standardredoxpotentialen operieren. Jedoch war die genaue Struktur und die Biosynthese der methylierten Menachinone bis dato unklar. Diese Arbeit beschreibt die Identifizierung und Charakterisierung neuartiger C-8 Menachinon- Methyltransferasen, welche zur Klasse C der radikalischen SAM Methyltransferasen (RSMT) gehören. Die Enzyme wurden MenK oder MqnK genannt, in Abhängigkeit davon welchen MK-Biosyntheseweg die MMK-produzierenden Organismen nutzen. Die heterologe Produktion der mqnK/menK-Gene aus Wolinella succinogenes, Adlercreutzia equolifaciens und Shewanella oneidensis in Escherichia coli führte zu einer Produktion von 8-MMK8 bzw. dem bisher nicht beschriebenen C-8 methylierten 2-Demethylmenachinon (8-MDMK8). Die Position der Methylgruppen der isolierten Chinone wurde mithilfe zweidimensionaler NMR bestimmt, und durch cyclovoltammetrische Messungen wurde für die methylierten Derivate ein negativeres Redoxpotential gemessen als für Menachinon. Des Weiteren wurde im Genom des DMMK-produzierenden Organismus A. equolifaciens ein weiteres menK-Homolog (menK2) identifiziert. MenK2 wurde in E. coli sowie in W. succinogenes produziert, was zu einer spezifischen Methylierung des Menachinons an Position C-7 führte. In Kombination mit dem nativen MqnK wurde in W. succinogenes erfolgreich 7,8-DMMK6 produziert. Durch die Charakterisierung von chimären Proteinen aus Teilen von MenK und MenK2 wurde der Teil der Methyltransferasen, der für die ortsspezifische Methylierung entscheidend ist, eingegrenzt. Die biochemische Charakterisierung der gereinigten C-8 Menachinon-Methyltransferase aus A. equolifaciens (AeMenK) zeigte die Existenz eines sauerstoffsensiblen und redoxaktiven [4Fe-4S]-Zentrums. Nach der Entwicklung eines Aktivitätstests wurden durch LC-MS basierte Methoden und dem Einsatz von deuterierten Substraten zum einen die Stöchiometrie der Produkte der Methylierungsreaktion bestimmt und zum anderen der Nachweis erbracht, dass die Methylierung des nicht-nukleophilen Kohlenstoffatoms des Menachinons über einen radikalischen Mechanismus erfolgt. Mithilfe dieser Erkenntnisse wurde der Reaktionsmechanismus von AeMenK aufgeklärt. Die gewonnenen Ergebnisse erlauben nicht nur die Nutzung der MenK2- und MenK/MqnK-Enzyme als Biomarker zur Vorhersage der MMK- und DMMK-Produktion, sondern erweitern auch das Verständnis über die Enzymologie der Klasse C RSMT-Enzyme. Dieses Wissen ist essentiell, um zukünftige biotechnologische Prozesse für die Methylierung von inerten Kohlenstoff- oder Phosphoratomen zu entwickeln

Assessing Cognitive Skills in Early Childhood Education Using a Bilingual Early Language Learner Assessment Tool

In this article, we propose that basic cognitive skills may be fostered and assessed in early childhood educational (pre-K) settings using a technology-based approach to assessment. BELLA (Bilingual English Language Learner Assessment), designed for use with both monolingual (English or Spanish speaking) and bilingual (English and Spanish speaking) children, is designed to attend to cognitive skill development in addition to (pre-)academic knowledge. Specifically, BELLA assesses analytical, creative, and practical thinking in 3–5-year-old children through unique item content and delivery. BELLA is among the first tablet-based pre-K assessments designed to assess cognitive skills needed for the era of the Anthropocene

Continuous mode of production for two classes of defective interfering influenza A virus particles as antiviral candidates

Influenza A virus (IAV) is a major human pathogen with a high mutation rate that causes annual epidemics. Defective interfering particles (DIPs) are naturally occurring IAV mutants that are responsible for low influenza virus yields in continuous passaging. Due to that, previous research suggested that DIPs may be utilized as an antiviral agent [1]. In contrast to infectious influenza standard virus (STV), DIPs typically contain a large internal deletion in at least one of the eight genomic viral RNA (vRNA) segments. For such a DIP, named DI244, protection of ferrets against pandemic influenza A virus was shown [1]. Furthermore, we have recently reported on a novel type of IAV-derived DIP, called OP7 virus, which only contains nucleotide substitutions in segment 7 vRNA instead of large internal deletions [2]. Hence, the focus of this work was to evaluate cell-based production in continuous mode for both DI244 and the newly discovered OP7 DIP. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Lace Up and Mindfulness: A Randomized Controlled Trial Intervention to Reduce Emotional Eating, Anxiety, and Sleep Disturbances in Latinx and Black Youth

This study assessed the effects of a 12-week afterschool mindfulness-based diet and exercise intervention on mental and physical health in Latinx and Black youth. One hundred forty-eight boys and girls (average age = 10.1 years, SD = 1.3 years; 52% girls; 72.3% Latinx) were randomized to either the experimental group (n = 80) or the control group (n = 68). The experimental group participants engaged in fitness yoga, kickboxing, and/or spinning sessions, and mindfulness practices (e.g., breathing, meditation, and mindful eating) twice per week for 12 weeks. The control group participants engaged in a recreational play session once per week for 12 weeks. All participants completed surveys (demographics, acculturation, anxiety, emotional eating, sleep, and food intake) and had their height, weight, and percent body fat measured pre- and post-intervention. Participants wore an accelerometer for 7 days pre- and post-intervention. Repeated measures analysis of covariance indicated that the experimental group participants reported lower scores in emotional eating, anxiety, and sleep latency post-intervention compared to the control group participants. Conversely, no significant differences were observed in physical activity between the experimental and control group participants post-intervention. These findings indicate that a mindfulness-based intervention has a positive effect on emotional eating, anxiety, and sleep latency among youth of color

Pressure gradient effects on wake-flow instabilities behind isolated roughness elements on re-entry capsules

Laminar-turbulent transition caused by modal disturbance growth in the wake flow of isolated roughness elements on blunt re-entry capsules is studied numerically at typical cold hypersonic wind-tunnel conditions. Two fundamentally different heat shield shapes are considered. On the sphere-cone forebody the wake flow of the roughness is exposed to an adverse pressure gradient, whereas the spherical heat shield exhibits a strongly favorable pressure gradient. The pressure gradient effects on the development of the stationary wake flow and its modal instability characteristics are discussed for various heights and diameters of the cylindrical roughness element. Regions of increased shear develop in its wake, which persist longer in the adverse pressure gradient case. Consequently, the results of spatial two-dimensional eigenvalue analyses reveal that the unstable wake-flow region extends much further downstream and the wake-mode instabilities are considerably more amplified. The disturbance kinetic energy production terms are used to assess the contributions of the different shear-layer regions to the mode growth and its dependence on the pressure gradient

Predicting aggressive behavior in children with the help of measure of implicit and explicit aggression

Abstract Aggressive behavior between children in schools is a topic that receives much interest as violence and aggressive behavior cause many maladaptive social outcomes in the school setting. In the current study the Implicit Association Test (IAT) was adapted as a measure of children's implicit aggression, by assessing the association of the self category (vs. other) with the attribute concept of aggressive (vs. peaceful). In addition to the IAT, a questionnaire measure to assess explicit aggression was utilized. The main goal of the present contribution was to examine the predictive validity of measures of implicit as well as explicit aggression in predicting the scores in a competitive computer game as an indicator of children's aggressive behavior. Taken together, the results indicated that measures of implicit and explicit aggression could serve as reliable predictors of children's aggressive behavior and that the IAT possesses incremental validity in addition to the self-report measure

Introduction to the Special Issue. Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in Clinical and Community Settings: Challenges, Alternatives, and Supplementary Designs

This article provides an overview of the contributions to the special issue on Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) in Clinical and Community Settings: Challenges, Alternatives, and Supplementary Designs. The article introduces the challenges of conducting RCTs in dynamic real-world settings and outlines the need to consider alternative and supplementary designs

Sequence analysis and specificity of distinct types of menaquinone methyltransferases indicate the widespread potential of methylmenaquinone production in bacteria and archaea

Menaquinone (MK) serves as an essential membranous redox mediator in various electron transport chains of aerobic and anaerobic respiration. In addition, the composition of the quinone/quinol pool has been widely used as a biomarker in microbial taxonomy. The HemN‐like class C radical SAM methyltransferases (RSMTs) MqnK, MenK and MenK2 have recently been shown to facilitate specific menaquinone methylation reactions at position C‐8 (MqnK/MenK) or C‐7 (MenK2) to synthesize 8‐methylmenaquinone, 7‐methylmenaquinone and 7,8‐dimethylmenaquinone. However, the vast majority of protein sequences from the MqnK/MenK/MenK2 family belong to organisms, whose capacity to produce methylated menaquinones has not been investigated biochemically. Here, representative putative menK and menK2 genes from Collinsella tanakaei and Ferrimonas marina were individually expressed in Escherichia coli (wild‐type or ubiE deletion mutant) and the corresponding cells were found to produce methylated derivatives of the endogenous MK and 2‐demethylmenaquinone. Cluster and phylogenetic analyses of 828 (methyl)menaquinone methyltransferase sequences revealed signature motifs that allowed to discriminate enzymes of the MqnK/MenK/MenK2 family from other radical SAM enzymes and to identify C‐7‐specific menaquinone methyltransferases of the MenK2 subfamily. This study will help to predict the methylation status of the quinone/quinol pool of a microbial species (or even a microbial community) from its (meta)genome and contribute to the future design of microbial quinone/quinol pools in a Synthetic Biology approach