The Effects of Enhanced Milieu Teaching and a Voice Output Communication Aid on the Requesting of Three Children with Autism

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of enhanced milieu teaching when combined with a voice output communication aid on the requesting skills of three children with autism. The research design was a multiple probe across participants. All sessions were conducted during 5-min play sessions in the child's classroom. All three children learned to use the voice output communication aid to request items during play. Additionally, all three children increased their total requesting during play.     

Nanocomposites based on the graphene family for food packaging: historical perspective,preparation methods,and properties

Nanotechnology experienced a great technological advance after the discovery of the graphene family (graphene – Gr, graphene oxide – GO, and reduced graphene oxide-rGO). Based on the excellent properties of these materials, it is possible to develop novel polymeric nanocomposites for several applications in our daily routine. One of the most prominent applications is for food packaging, offering nanocomposites with improved thermal, mechanical, anti-microbial, and barrier properties against gas and water vapor. This paper reviewed food packaging from its inception to the present day, with the development of more resistant and intelligent packaging. Herein, the most common combinations of polymeric matrices (derived from non-renewable and renewable sources) with Gr, GO, and rGO and their typical preparation methods are presented. Besides, the interactions present in these nanocomposites will be discussed in detail, and their final properties will be thoroughly analyzed as a function of the preparation technique and graphene family-matrix combinations.

Food packaging based on nanotechnology of polymeric nanocomposites of graphene and graphene oxide results in packaging with better thermal, mechanical, antimicrobial, electrical packaging, moisture barrier and gas properties.     

PREDICTION OF NEURODEVELOPMENTAL IMPAIRMENT AT FOUR YEARS FROM BRAIN ULTRASOUND APPEARANCE OF VERY PRETERM INFANTS

The neurodevelopmental status of 171 very preterm infants whose brains had been scanned prospectively with ultrasound was assessed blind at four years using a wide range of tests, including tests of cognitive function. Highly significant correlations were found between the ultrasound appearance of the brain and outcome. The probability of a major neurodevelopmental impairment among the 137 children who had a normal ultrasound scan or uncomplicated periventricular haemorrhage at discharge from the unit was 7 per cent; and for any neurodevelopmental impairment (major plus minor) it was 22 per cent. The probabilities for major, or any, neurodevelopmental impairment among the 18 children who had ventricular dilatation were 33 and 50 per cent, respectively; and for the 16 with hydrocephalus and/or cerebral atrophy (loss of brain-tissue from any cause) the probabilities were 56 and 69 per cent. Impairments predicted from lesions detected by ultrasound were largely neurological. There was no evidence that cognitive impairments could be predicted among infants free of neurological impairments.     

Humanitarian nursing with Médecins Sans Frontières: Foregrounding the listening guide as a method for analysing oral history data

Aims

To demonstrate how the listening guide contributed to oral history data analysis. To better understand the continuing inclination of nurses to engage in humanitarian work, foregrounding the nurses’ lives.

Background

The voice‐centred relational method or listening guide is a method of qualitative data analysis used to analyse oral history data.

Design

A conventional approach to oral history interviews was adopted; intervention into the “flow” of participants’ narrative was kept to a minimum. A small number of prompts, how they came into nursing, recruitment to, life with and since Médecins Sans Frontières, were used.

Methods

Oral history interviews were conducted with seven nurses who had worked for Médecins Sans Frontières. Interviews were digitally recorded. This paper will demonstrate the application of the listening guide to historical data analysis and critique its applicability and value. The listening guide advocates four readings (listenings) of the text. Firstly, locating the plot in the narrative; secondly, actively listening for the use of “I?” (“we”, or “you”), the “self” in context of the story being told and “I poem” development; thirdly, listening for relationships and finally, locating accounts in relation to wider social, political and societal contexts.

Results

Analysis revealed: “becoming”, “being” and “leaving” Médecins Sans Frontières as chronological thematic areas. At one extreme creating “I poems” foregrounded individual voices while cross‐referencing to contemporaneous records of world events locates this in an International context.

Conclusion

It is argued that subjecting historical data to the listening guide can enable legitimate, creative exploration and analysis of data.     

Usefulness of MLPA in the detection of SHOX deletions

SHOX haploinsufficiency causes a wide spectrum of short stature phenotypes, such as Leri–Weill dyschondrosteosis (LWD) and disproportionate short stature (DSS). SHOX deletions are responsible for approximately two thirds of isolated haploinsufficiency; therefore, it is important to determine the most appropriate methodology for detection of gene deletion. In this study, three methodologies for the detection of SHOX deletions were compared: the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), microsatellite analysis and multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). Forty-four patients (8 LWD and 36 DSS) were analyzed. The cosmid LLNOYCO3′M′34F5 was used as a probe for the FISH analysis and microsatellite analysis were performed using three intragenic microsatellite markers. MLPA was performed using commercial kits. Twelve patients (8 LWD and 4 DSS) had deletions in SHOX area detected by MLPA and 2 patients generated discordant results with the other methodologies. In the first case, the deletion was not detected by FISH. In the second case, both FISH and microsatellite analyses were unable to identify the intragenic deletion. In conclusion, MLPA was more sensitive, less expensive and less laborious; therefore, it should be used as the initial molecular method for the detection of SHOX gene deletion.     

Filling the Holes in Cystic Kidney Disease Research

Kidney disease is a significant medical and public health problem. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases recently asked the community to identify research objectives, which, if addressed, could improve understanding of basic kidney function and aid in prevention, treatment, and reversal of kidney disease. The Kidney Research National Dialogue invited interested parties to submit, discuss, and prioritize ideas using an interactive website; 1600 participants posted more than 300 ideas covering all areas of kidney disease, including the cystic kidney diseases. Although much is known about the genetics and pathogenesis of cystic diseases, there remain challenges to our understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of cyst formation, what genes act as modifiers to cause variable responses in different people, and how to detect and monitor disease progression. This article summarizes key research questions for cystic kidney diseases.