Developmental Categories Research Articles

Differential DNA methylation in peripheral blood mononuclear cells in adolescents exposed to significant early but not later childhood adversity.

Internationally adopted adolescents who are adopted as young children from conditions of poverty and deprivation have poorer physical and mental health outcomes than do adolescents conceived, born, and raised in the United States by families similar to those who adopt internationally. Using a sample of Russian and Eastern European adoptees to control for Caucasian race and US birth, and nonadopted offspring of well-educated and well-resourced parents to control for postadoption conditions, we hypothesized that the important differences in environments, conception to adoption, might be reflected in epigenetic patterns between groups, specifically in DNA methylation. Thus, we conducted an epigenome-wide association study to compare DNA methylation profiles at approximately 416,000 individual CpG loci from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of 50 adopted youth and 33 nonadopted youth. Adopted youth averaged 22 months at adoption, and both groups averaged 15 years at testing; thus, roughly 80% of their lives were lived in similar circumstances. Although concurrent physical health did not differ, cell-type composition predicted using the DNA methylation data revealed a striking difference in the white blood cell-type composition of the adopted and nonadopted youth. After correcting for cell type and removing invariant probes, 30 CpG sites in 19 genes were more methylated in the adopted group. We also used an exploratory functional analysis that revealed that 223 gene ontology terms, clustered in neural and developmental categories, were significantly enriched between groups.

Establishment of post-harvest early-developmental categories for viability maintenance of Araucaria angustifolia seeds

Araucaria angustifolia seeds are recalcitrant, and their metabolism remains high during storage. This research aimed to describe the initiation of germination in A. angustifolia seeds during storage in order to standardize the assessment of physiological quality and to promote seed conservation. Seeds were collected from two populations and stored for 270 days in the natural laboratory environment and cold chamber. Seeds were classified according to four early developmental stages: I - mature seeds; II - seeds with elongation along the embryonic axis; III - beginning of root protrusion; IV - advanced germination stage, with seedling shoots. After categorization, physical and physiological quality was assessed. In freshly collected seeds, only category I was observed. At 270 days, approximately 40% of seeds were in category III in laboratory conditions, while the maintenance in a cold chamber delayed germinative metabolism. Viability tests showed that seeds in categories III and IV were more susceptible to damage caused by storage. In conclusion, the percentage of viable A. angustifolia seeds depends on the development stage after collection. Seeds that have reached early developmental category III should be prioritized for propagation, while those remaining in categories I and II should be longer stored with periodic assessment for reduction in physiological quality.

Influence of sleep-onset time on the development of 18-month-old infants: Japan Children’s cohort study

ObjectiveWe report here the influence of sleep patterns on the development of infants in Japan. A total of 479 infants were registered in two different Japanese cities. Direct neurological observations were performed by licensed pediatric neurologists. MethodWe designed a prospective cohort study and identified the sleep factors of children showing atypical development. The Kinder Infant Developmental Scale (KIDS) was used to evaluate the infant developmental quotient (DQ); we also applied a neurobehavioral screening battery. Neurobehavioral observations in 18-month-old infants were designed to check all developmental categories within the three areas of motor function, language, and social function. Based on the observations, each infant was classified as having “atypical development” or “typical development”. ResultWe found that later sleep onset time (>22:00h), and longer naps during the day each had significant positive correlations with atypical development patterns in 18-month-old infants. For each hour the infant sleep-onset time extended past 22:00h, the infants showed worse neurodevelopmental outcomes, at an odds ratio increase of 2.944. ConclusionAlthough our results may be confounded by sleep problems resulting from pre-existing developmental disabilities, we can safely conclude that appropriate sleeping habits are important for healthy development in 18-month-old infants.

Overweight trends among Polish schoolchildren before and after the transition from communism to capitalism

This study aims to reveal the secular trends in body mass index (BMI) and the prevalence of overweight and obesity among Polish schoolchildren between the years 1966–2012, during which intense socio-political changes took place. Four surveys were conducted in several districts of Poland looking at 69,746 schoolchildren aged 7–18. Significant increase in mean BMI as well as in the prevalence of overweight and obesity was observed. During this time the highest increase in both mean BMI and excess weight was observed between 1988 and 2012, i.e. after the political transformation, resulting in the improvement of living conditions. However, with respect to girls in late adolescence, between these years, the mean BMI as well as the prevalence of overweight were leveling off, while the percentage of boys with excess body fat in the same developmental category significantly increased in 2012. In the years 1966–1978 and 1978–1988 the pattern of changes in the prevalence of overweight and obesity reflected the social and economic circumstances, i.e. temporary economic improvements, or deepening political crises and food shortage. In conclusion, the weight status of schoolchildren strongly reflects socio-political changes that took place in Poland, as well as in most of the Central European countries in the last half century.

Hormone crosstalk in plants.

For years, many plant science researchers who study the genetic programming that determines structural organization and reproductive processes self-identified as developmental biologists, while those studying plant responses to the environment identified as plant physiologists. Plant hormones such as auxins, cytokinins, and gibberellic acids that function as developmental messengers were viewed as functionally distinct from ‘stress’ and ‘defence’ hormones such as ethylene, abscisic acid, jasmonic acid, and salicylic acid. This division of hormone function was convenient, but was also known to be thoroughly artificial. Over the past two decades, new hormones have been identified, tissue and organ-specific hormone functions have been determined, methods have been developed to measure and visualize hormones in situ, receptor mechanisms have been conclusively identified or discounted, hormone transport processes have been largely elucidated, and the cellular processes downstream of hormone signalling have been painstakingly dissected. Over time, simple models of hormone antagonism (gibberellic acid vs. abscisic acid, auxin vs. cytokinin) have been displaced by the concept of complex hormonal crosstalk. The classification of hormones into developmental or environmental response categories has been replaced by mapping of hormonal signalling into transcriptional and post-transcriptional response networks. This transition has accompanied a profound shift in the way that plant physiology and development are taught in the classroom, with undergraduate and graduate courses increasingly combining physiology and development as inseparable components of growth. Book chapters and reviews that were previously focused on specific hormones now address aspects of programmed and plastic development and their by genetics, epigenetics, protein modification, second messengers, and hormones. This special issue on Hormone Crosstalk is intended to provide an update of the topic that will be of value to both experts in the field and the general community of plant scientists. The reviews and original research articles presented in this special issue were invited in consultation with the organizers of the 2014 International Symposium on Auxin and Cytokinins in Development (ACPD) held in Prague, Czech Republic. For the past 15 years, the ACPD conference has been organized by the Institute of Experimental Botany/Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic to provide a primary forum for scientific discussions of recent progress in the understanding of hormonal control of plant development. As is always the case with the Journal, all of the articles accepted for this special issue were rigorously reviewed by external experts to assure that they meet journal standards. The issue begins with six review articles (Zwack and Rashotte, 2015; Schafer et al., 2015; Naseem et al., 2015; Hrtyan et al., 2015; Zdarska et al., 2015; and Koltai, 2015) describing various aspects of hormonal crosstalk observed in developmental and environmental plant responses. Next are three reviews (Zhu and Geisler, 2015; Hill, 2015; and Turchi et al., 2015) that provide updates on mechanisms that function in hormonal signalling. Three more reviews (Doyle et al., 2015; Fraas and Luthen, 2015; and Chen et al., 2015) describe improved experimental systems used to characterize hormone function. Reviews by Cortleven and Schmulling (2015); Didi et al. (2015); and Robert et al. (2015) provide updates on hormonal interactions that regulate chloroplast development, cell wall formation and organogenesis, respectively. Six invited original research articles round out this special issue. Grones et al. (2015) analyse auxin binding pocket function in gain-of-function Auxin Binding Protein 1 lines in an effort to reassess the function of this controversial protein. New approaches to modelling of polarized auxin fluxes are described by Cieslak et al. (2015). Lofke et al. (2015) characterize the relative contributions of PIN2 auxin efflux carrier activity in atrichoblasts and root hair cell files. The role of chaperone proteins in maintaining auxin flows is expanded by a study from D’Alessandro et al. (2015) in which the p23 chaperone protein is shown to regulate auxin-dependent root development and meristem function. Song et al. (2015) characterize interactions between cytokinin biosynthetic genes and nutrient mobilization proteins in Brassica napus development. Finally, Stes et al. (2015) describe a previously undescribed function of strigolactones in the leafy gall syndrome of Arabidopsis. It is our hope that this set of articles will provide the reader with an enhanced understanding of hormonal crosstalk and stimulate new avenues of research in this emergent area of inquiry.

Megalencephaly and Macrocephaly.

Megalencephaly is a developmental disorder characterized by brain overgrowth secondary to increased size and/or numbers of neurons and glia. These disorders can be divided into metabolic and developmental categories based on their molecular etiologies. Metabolic megalencephalies are mostly caused by genetic defects in cellular metabolism, whereas developmental megalencephalies have recently been shown to be caused by alterations in signaling pathways that regulate neuronal replication, growth, and migration. These disorders often lead to epilepsy, developmental disabilities, and behavioral problems; specific disorders have associations with overgrowth or abnormalities in other tissues. The molecular underpinnings of many of these disorders are now understood, providing insight into how dysregulation of critical pathways leads to disease. The advances in molecular understanding are leading to improved diagnosis of these conditions, as well as providing new avenues for therapeutic interventions.

P123 – 2671: Follow up of neurodevelopmental outcome after therapeutic hypothermia for perinatal asphyxia

Objective Neuroprotective benefit of therapeutic hypothermia in term newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy was assessed by analyzing survival and neurodevelopmental outcome of neonates subjected to this procedure. Methods Newborns with gestational age of more than 36 weeks and less than 6 hours of age with moderate to severe asphyxial encephalopathy underwent cooling protocol at a temperature of 33.5 °C for 72 hours and rewarming period of 6 hours. The outcome measures assessed were death and neurodevelopmental characteristics, which we compared at the different age using ASQ-3, at least 3 times during follow-up. Results Twenty-five children were assessed during the period from October 2010 to October 2013. Median gestational age was 40 weeks, birth weight 3470 g, Apgar score 2/4 and pH on admission to the hospital 7.02. Four (16%) children died and two were lost for follow up. At the first assessment developmental categories of communication were normal in 68.4%, problem solving in 73.7%, personal-social in 68.4%, gross motor in 57.9%, and fine motor in 36.8% but with a high need of retesting in this area. Seven of 19 patients (36.8%) had completely normal results for all five categories, while three (15.8%) had abnormal results for all categories. Second assesment was done in 17 patients with developmental categories of communication normal in 70.5%, problem solving in 76.5%, personal-social in 70.5%, gross motor in 58.8%, and fine motor in 41.1%. Third evaluation was done in 13 patients: developmental categories of communication were normal in 69.2%, problem solving in 76.9%, personal-social in 69.2%, gross motor in 61.5%, and fine motor in 46.2%. Conclusion Relatively small number of patients and limitations of this study design precluded any far-reaching conclusions, but we think that therapeutic hypothermia in term newborns can provide better survival and less neurologic sequels in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy patients.

Reproductive ecology of coypu (Myocastor coypus Molina, 1782) in the Middle Delta of the Paraná River, Argentina.

The objective of this study was to estimate and compare some important reproductive parameters of Myocastor coypus over time (June 2006-May 2008), in wetlands of the Middle Delta of the Paraná River (MD) Entre Ríos province, R. Argentina. Within the original coypu distribution range, the MD is among the areas of highest habitat suitability for the species. Coypus were captured and the following reproductive parameters were estimated on a monthly, seasonal and annual basis: pregnancy rate (PR), litter size (LS), gross productivity (GP) and annual production (AP). Statistical non-parametric tests were used for comparisons. Additionally, the expected birth date of each embryo and fetus was estimated by assigning it to a developmental stage category and considering the gestation period of the species. All the parameters showed high values and PR and LS differed significantly between the dry (2006) and humid years (2007). Two peaks of birth were detected, one in spring and another one in mid-autumn. The implications of these results for ensuring the sustainable management of this rodent are discussed.

Development of an aggregated system for classifying causes of drug-related problems.

More than 20 different types of classification systems for drug-related problems (DRPs) and their causes have been developed. Classification is necessary to describe and assess clinical, organizational, and economic impacts of DRPs through documentation of collected data. However, many researchers have judged classification systems incomplete when describing their data, and have modified them or developed their own. This variability between systems has made study comparisons difficult. To perform a category-by-category comparison of the content of selected DRP classification systems to construct an aggregated cause-of-DRP classification system containing the content of all systems. DRP classification systems were identified after a literature review, with 7 chosen based on their use in varied health care settings, geographical diversity, frequency of use, and method of development. These systems were critically analyzed, and the content of each category was compared and aggregated where appropriate. A hierarchy of categories was constructed to include all content from all systems. Any modifications that previous studies may have made to the 7 systems were also cross-referenced to ensure that no concepts were missing from the newly aggregated system. Clinical examples to optimize application, and instructions for when or when not to use categories, were developed. Interrater agreement for classification of the causes of DRPs from 10 medication reviews was performed between 3 clinical pharmacists and the authors' gold standard. We found variation in developmental methods, category descriptions, number and types of categories, and validation methods between the 7 selected systems, together with intermingling of categories identified as causes of DRPs with DRPs themselves. A hierarchical classification system was constructed consisting of 9 cause-of-DRP categories, 33 subcategories, and 58 sub-subcategories, for which interrater agreements were 82.5%, 74.6%, and 58.8%, respectively. An aggregated classification system was constructed through a unique and transparent developmental process that may provide the most comprehensive description of causes of DRPs to date. This may facilitate teaching of pharmaceutical care, comparisons of clinical practice, and measurement of the effectiveness of pharmaceutical care interventions.

A Comparison of Least-to-Most Prompting and Video Modeling for Teaching Pretend Play Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

AbstractThe aim of this study is to compare effectiveness and efficiency of least-to-most prompting and video modeling for teaching pretend play skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. adapted alternating treatment model, a single-subject design, was used in the study. Three students, one girl and two boys, between the ages of 5-6 participated in the study. effectiveness results of the study showed that there is no marked difference between least-to-most prompting and video modeling for teaching pretend play skills to children with autism spectrum disorder in terms of acquisition, maintenance, and generalization. However, when these two teaching processes are compared in terms of efficiency parameters, it was observed that teaching with least-to-most prompting is more efficient in comparison to video modeling for two subjects. social validity findings of the study showed that the mothers of the subjects and the graduate students who studied and had already taken certain courses for their master's degree in the Applied Behavior Analysis Program expressed positive opinions about the study. Findings obtained from the study were discussed and suggestions were given for further studies.Keywords: Autism spectrum disorders * Video modeling * Least-to-most prompting * Pretend playOne of the fundamental problems of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is the failure in social interaction and communication skills. These failures constitute a significant part of the criterion included in guidelines published by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for ASD diagnosis from past to present (2001, 2013). It is seen that failures in symbolic and scenario play take place in the DSM-IV-TR (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) under the developmental process category of communication disorders titled as improper playing skills (KircaaliIftar, 2012). According to the DSM-5, the most recent edition, failures in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships are emphasized within the category of social interaction and communication disorders. Failures such as difficulty in sharing pretend play or having friends come to the forefront in this sub-category (APA, 2013). Therefore, it is seen that failures in pretend play skills have a vital role in the diagnosis of individuals with ASD.Play is an enjoyable, spontaneous activity in which children actively discover the world around them and bridge the gap between dreams and reality. They gain new experiences with people, objects and events using current knowledge, providing intrinsic motivation (Wolfberg, 1999). It is also an effective educational process supporting the development of a child's cognitive, lingual, social-emotional, and physical aspects (Lifter, Foster-Sanda, Arzamarski, Briesch, & McClure, 2011; Phillips & Beavan, 2012). Pretend play has an important role among early childhood play because it is emphasized in literature that pretend play in particular among the types of play is an early indicator of cognitive, social, and language skills (Barton & Pavilanis, 2012; Barton & Wolery, 2008; Lam & Yeung, 2012). Barton and Wolery (2008) stated that performing a series of interrelated realistic activities in pretend play can provide a basis for higher levels of thinking and reasoning. While pretend play is experienced at a basic level in early periods, it can turn into more complicated play to which symbolic components are added in parallel with development. Four different types of pretend play are listed : (a) functional play with pretense (a child can take an empty cup and pretend to drink water), (b) object substitution (a child can use a block as if it is a car) , (c) imagining absent objects (a child can hold their hand up to the doll's mouth pretending to feed it.), and (d) assigning absent attributes (a child can take the doll on their lap and say, The baby is ill,) as per Barton & Pavilanis (2012) and Ulke-Kurkcuoglu (2012). …

Neurodevelopmental Follow Up After Therapeutic Hypothermia for Perinatal Asphyxia.

Introduction:Neuroprotective benefit of therapeutic hypothermia in term newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) was assessed by analyzing survival and neurodevelopmental outcome of neonates subjected to this procedure.Material and methods:Newborns with gestational age > 36 weeks and < 6 hours of age with moderate to severe asphyxial encephalopathy underwent cooling protocol at a temperature of 33.5 °C for 72 hours and rewarming period of 6 hours. Outcome measures assessed were death and neurodevelopmental characteristics, which were compared at the different age using ASQ-3. Twenty-five children were assessed at age 3-6, 12-18 and 24-36 months. Median gestational age was 40 weeks, birth weight 3470 g, Apgar score 2/4 and pH on admission to the hospital 7.02. Four (16%) children died.Results:At the first assessment developmental categories of communication were normal in 78.9%, problem solving in 63.2%, personal-social in 68.4%, gross motor in 68.4%, and fine motor in 42.1% with a high need of retesting in this area. Second assessment was done in 17 patients: developmental categories of communication normal in 58.8%, problem solving in 70.6%, personal-social in 64.7%, gross motor in 64.7%, and fine motor in 35.3%. Third evaluation was done in 14 patients: developmental categories of communication were normal in 64.3%, problem solving in 71.4%, personal-social in 57.1%, gross motor in 64.3%, and fine motor in 42.9%.Conclusion:There was no correlation between baseline parameters and outcome. Results of the study are showing that therapeutic hypothermia in term newborns can provide better survival and less neurologic sequels in HIE patients.

Experiencing (Pereživanie) as Developmental Category: Learning from a Fisherman who is Becoming (as) a Teacher-in-a-Village-School

In this study, we take up L. S. Vygotsky’s challenge to study learning and development in terms of categories, irreducible units that preserve the characteristics of the whole (society). One such category (unit) is experiencing [pereživanie], a process that integrates over the relation of person and environment. Using a case study from Iceland, we theorize the process of “becoming as a teacher-in-a-village school” in terms of experiencing [pereživanie]. The case describes a stage of development in the life of a person who becomes a teacher and then experiences a developmental trajectory very different from his previous life as a fisherman. This is an aspect of teacher education that is hardly (if ever) described in the teacher education literature which tend to be concerned with events after a person has entered a professional program or after a person has begun teaching. We discuss the implications of taking experiencing [pereživanie] as the developmental unit for theory and the practice of teacher education and development.

Neurodevelopmental outcome following therapeutic hypothermia for perinatal asphyxia

Studies are supporting neuroprotective benefi t of therapeutic hypothermia in term newborns with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy. We assessed survival and neurodevelopmental outcome of neonates subjected to the procedure and factors that may have infl uenced it. Newborns with gestational age of more than 36 weeks and less than 6 hours of age with moderate to severe asphyxi al encephalopathy underwent cooling protocol at a temperature of 33.5 °C for 72 hours and rewarming period of 6 hours. The outcome measures assessed were death and neurodevelopmental characteristics. Twenty-fi ve children were assessed during the period from October 2010 to October 2013. Median gestational age was 40 weeks, birth weight 3470 g, Apgar score 2/4 and pH on admission to the hospital 7.02. Four (16%) children died and two were lost for follow up. At the age of fi nal assessment, developmental cate gories of communication were normal in 68.4%, problem solving in 73.7%, personal-social in 68.4%, gross motor in 57.9%, and fimotor in 36.8% but with a high need of retesting in this area. Seven of 19 patients (36.8%) had completely normal results for all fi e categories, while three (15.8%) had abnormal results for all categories. None of the 18 parameters that were correlated with neurodevelopmental outcome showed statistical signifi cance. Amplitude integrated electroencephalography was done in ten patients and the most prominent fiwas discontinuous activity in eight patients. In conclusion, a relatively small number of patients and l imitations of this study design precluded any far-reaching conclusions, but we think that this method can provide better survival and less neurologic sequels in hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy patients.

179: Integrating Developmental Services with School-Based Health Care: Feasibility, Efficacy and Relevance in a Universal Healthcare System

The School-based health center (SBHC) is an emerging model for developmental healthcare delivery in Canada. Despite access to universal healthcare, barriers such as language, cultural differences and transportation affect access for children in underserved populations in Canada. The Model Schools Pediatric Health Initiative is the first SBHC program in Ontario, Canada established to alleviate barriers inner city children face to accessing developmental care. As part of the program, pediatricians attend interdisciplinary monthly school based (school support team, SST) meetings to help identify which students require developmental assessments and then offer them through the participating SHBC. To provide an update on the Model Schools Pediatric Health Initiative SHBC program with respect to feasibility and efficacy. A retrospective chart review of all clinic users from November 2010 to January 2012 was conducted and a prospective longitudinal cross-sectional analysis was implemented from February 2012 to June 2013. Among those referred for developmental concerns, time from identification at the SST meeting to first developmental assessment at the SBHC was calculated. The feasibility metrics included the number of children who enrolled at the SBHC. The efficacy metrics included the proportion of enrolled children who attended the SBHC, the proportion of new diagnoses established, as well as wait times. In total, 1042 children enrolled at the SBHC and 443 (43%of those that enrolled) attended the SBHC. There were a total of 282 new diagnoses established at the SBHC and among these 181 (64%) were in the developmental diagnostic category. From March 2012 to April 2013, 41 students were referred for developmental assessments from the School Support Team (SST). Thirty-three assessments were completed at the time of analysis and the mean wait time from presentation at the SST to developmental assessment was 102 days. The SBHC has proven to be feasible and efficacious. This model relies on an integrated approach whereby pediatricians and school board professionals meet monthly to discuss and triage at risk students needing developmental assessments. This process allows for better understanding of school related problems and provides assessments within the school setting thereby eliminating some barriers to healthcare access. Relative to the standard of care this process is fast and efficient and creates an optimal setting to increase access to specialized developmental services for inner city children facing barriers to accessing health-care in Canada.

Molecular investigations of Hepatozoon species in dogs and developmental stages of Rhipicephalus sanguineus

The occurrence and distribution of Hepatozoon species in stray dogs, and the developmental stages of Rhipicephalus sanguineus detached from the same dogs in Diyarbakır Province, Turkey is reported. A total of 328 ticks, including 133 adults (55 males and 75 females consist of 63 partially engorged and 15 fully engorged) and 195 nymphs (91 partially engorged and 104 fully engorged) were detached from the dogs. Fully engorged nymphs and females were incubated at 27°C and relative humidity of 85% to molt to adult stage and recover eggs. The ticks were pooled according to sex and developmental stage. No Hepatozoon gamonts were found, whereas, by PCR, 15.87% (10/63) of the dogs were infected with Hepatozoon canis. Of the 68 tick pools tested, 14 (20.58%) pools were infected with Hepatozoon spp., an overall maximum likelihood estimation of prevalence of 4.9% (95% confidence intervals (CI) = 2.85-7.93%) per 100 ticks. Maximum likelihood estimation of the infection rate varied by tick sex and developmental categories, ranging from 1.75% (95% CI = 0.11-8.11%) in fed males to 6.81% (95% CI = 2.07-17.46%) in unfed females. One amplicon from a fed adult female was 99% identical to the sequence for Hepatozoon felis. The remaining sequences isolated from both dogs and ticks shared 99-100% similarity with the corresponding H. canis isolates. This is the first detection of H. canis and H. felis in the tick R. sanguineus in Turkey.

Assessment of social function in four-year-old children with cerebral palsy

Objective: To determine whether scores from the social function domain of the Paediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) would reflect differences among speech–language profile groups for children with cerebral palsy (CP).Methods: Thirty-four children with CP participated (mean age = 54.4 months). PEDI social function raw scores, developmentally stratified skill levels, and types of skills mastered at a 75% criterion level were examined.Results: Significant differences were observed in social function scores overall and within early and age-appropriate skills among all profile groups with one exception. Skill mastery varied based on profile group and on developmental age category of each skill.Conclusions: The PEDI appears to capture language delay in children with CP, but it may not be sensitive to the impact of speech intelligibility deficits on social function. Findings call for the development of a new tool that more accurately assesses communicative activities and participation in children with CP.

Spanish–English speech perception in children and adults: Developmental trends

This study explored the developmental trends and phonetic category formation in bilingual children and adults. Participants included 30 fluent Spanish–English bilingual children, aged 8–11, and bilingual adults, aged 18–40. All completed gating tasks that incorporated code-mixed Spanish–English stimuli. There were significant differences in performance according to phonotactic construction of the stimuli, with fastest word recognition on words with voiceless initial consonants. Analysis of developmental trends revealed significant differences in children's performance by grade level and fastest recognition on English voiceless initial consonants than Spanish voiceless initial consonants. Differences in voice onset time between English and Spanish may have contributed to quicker recognition of English voiceless consonants than Spanish voiceless consonants. It is also possible that increased exposure to both spoken and written English may account for faster recognition of English voiceless words than Spanish voiceless words. In conclusion, multiple factors may influence perception of a second language.

Between grammar and dictionary: With special reference to Slovene verb

Slovene resources confirm that verbal aspect and aspectualness depend on the morphological, lexical, syntactic, and other characteristics of a particular language. Since verbal aspect is directly connected to the meaning of a particular verb, as well as its structural and semantic-syntactic abilities, it is considered to be an essential characteristic in terms of the language system of every language. The specific features of aspectualness, especially if we take into account its connectedness to a given language system, are confirmed by various contrastive studies, which also place considerable emphasis on a number of general aspectual characteristics that can be applied to all languages. Within every language system, for example, the grammatical (morphological), lexical, and syntactic aspectualness are distinguished from one another, whereas in the case of a particular text, the relationship between aspect, time, and mood cannot be overlooked. What remains central in both current and future discussions is establishing the relationship between aspectualness and temporality within a particular language or languages. Cases of ?aspectual competitiveness?, related to the temporal structure of a given sentence, have been noted in Slovene as well, especially in examples like Sem ze vecerjal - Sem ze povecerjal (?I already had dinner - I already finished my dinner?), Vedno smo k obstojecemu doprinesli tudi nekaj novega - Vedno smo k obstojecemu doprinasali tudi nekaj novega (?We always contributed something new to the existing condition - We always used to contribute something new to the existing condition?), etc. That the behavior of the imperfect may vary in the past and future is shown by examples like Temperatura se je dvigovala ?visala, padala in spet visala? (The temperature kept rising ?rising, falling, and rising again?), Temperatura se bo dvigovala ?vedno samo navzgor, brez nihanja? (The temperature will keep on rising ?it will rise without falling?). It is also important how a particular dictionary presents verbal valency as a developmental category. The most common is the change from monovalent verbs to bivalent or governed verbs. When considering the valency of non-deverbal nouns and adjectives, it must be noted that especially in the case of nondeverbal adjectives, valency is the consequence of the dynamic meaning of semantically similar verbs, which can replace non-deverbal adjectives in a particular sentence.

Egg developmental status and the complexity of synthetic kairomones combine to influence attraction behaviour in the blowfly Calliphora vicina

The flight responses of 750 female Calliphora vicina Robineau‐Desvoidy, 1830 (Diptera: Calliphoridae) are investigated in a wind tunnel bioassay. The attraction of C. vicina towards dead mice and seven different synthetic lures made from dimethyl trisulphide, mercaptoethanol and O‐cresol is compared. Responses towards natural odours and the three‐component synthetic kairomones depend on the flies' ovarian egg developmental status. The natural and three‐component lures also induce similar age‐dependent responses, although the dead mice lure yields a significantly higher attraction. Oriented flight increases with the number of chemicals in the synthetic kairomone; one‐, two‐ and three‐compound lures induce 13–25%, 32–43% and 62% attraction, respectively. Responses to one‐component lures are not significantly influenced by egg developmental status, whereas blends of two or three components are. Attraction levels increase in a stepwise manner both across egg developmental categories and with the number of compounds. The results suggest that the attractiveness of synthetic kairomones is influenced not only by the blowflies' physiological state, but also by the complexity of the lure.

Assessing the patterns of linkage disequilibrium in genic regions of the human genome

We used the genotyping data generated by the International HapMap Project to study the patterns of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in human genic regions. LD patterns for 11,998 genes from 11 HapMap populations were identified by analyzing the distribution of haplotype blocks. The genes were prioritized using LD levels. The results showed that there were significant differences in the degree of LD between genes. Genes with high or low LD (the upper and lower quartiles of the LD levels) fell into different Gene Ontology functional categories. The high LD genes clustered preferentially in the metabolic process, macromolecule localization and cell-cycle categories, whereas the low LD genes clustered in the developmental process, ion transport, and immune and regulation system categories. Furthermore, we subdivided the genic region into 3'-UTR, 5'-UTR and CDS (coding region), and compared the different LD patterns in these subregions. We found that the LD patterns in low LD genes had a more interspersed block structure compared with the high LD genes. This was especially true in the CDS and 5'-UTR. The extent of LD was somewhat higher in 5'-UTRs compared with 3'-UTRs for both high and low LD genes. In addition, we assessed the overlap for the intragenic LD regions and found that the LD regions in high LD genes were more consistent among populations. Comprehensive information about the distribution of LD patterns in gene regions in populations may provide insights into the evolutionary history of humans and help in the selection of biomarkers for disease association studies.