Visual perceptual difficulties and under-achievement at school in a large community-based sample of children

Introduction

Difficulties with visual perception (VP) are often described in children with neurological or developmental problems. However, there are few data regarding the range of visual perceptual abilities in populations of normal children, or on the impact of these abilities on children''s day-to-day functioning.

Methods

Data were obtained for 4512 participants in an ongoing birth cohort study (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children; ALSPAC). The children''s mothers responded to questions designed to elicit indications of visual perceptual difficulties or immaturity, when their children were aged 13 years. We examined associations with standardised school test results in reading and in mathematics at age 13–14 years (SATS-KS3), accounting for potential confounders including IQ.

Results

Three underlying factors explained half the variance in the VP question responses. These correlated best with questions on interpreting cluttered scenes; guidance of movement and face recognition. The adjusted parameter estimates (95% CI) for the cluttered-scenes factor (0.05; 0.02 to 0.08; p<0.001) suggested positive associations with the reading test results whilst that for the guidance-of-movement factor (0.03; 0.00 to 0.06; p = 0.026) suggested positive association with the mathematics results. The raw scores were associated with both test results.

Discussion

VP abilities were widely distributed in this sample of 13-year old children. Lower levels of VP function were associated with under-achievement in reading and in mathematics. Simple interventions can help children with VP difficulties, so research is needed into practicable, cost-effective strategies for identification and assessment, so that support can be targeted appropriately.     

Amidine derivatives are highly effective against Trypanosoma evansi trypomastigotes

The in vitro effect of N,N'-diphenyl-4-R-benzamidine (where R = H, CN, Br, Cl, CH3, OCH3 and NO2) in three isolates of Trypanosoma evansi was studied. The compounds were solubilized in dimethysulphoxide (DMSO) and tested in a concentration range of 5 to 160 micrograms/ml. The parasites were isolated from a horse, a dog and a coati. They were maintained in immunosuppressed rats, since they could not be cultured in vitro, and further purified through a diethylaminoethanol (DEAE) column. The trypomastigotes obtained were mixed with different concentrations of the drugs and after incubation at 26 degrees C for 24 h, the remaining parasites were counted in a Neubauer chamber. The percentage of inhibition was evaluated compared with the control, without the drugs. Most of the amidine derivatives showed high activity against the three T. evansi isolates, but different patterns of sensitivity to the tested compounds were observed. At least four compounds with Br, Cl, OCH3 and NO2 as substituents, were much more effective than Berenil [4,4'-(diazoamine)-dibenzamidine aceturate], the reference drug used, which is included in the same chemical class of amidines.     

Biochemical and Cytochemical Evidence for the Polar Concentration of Periplasmic Enzymes in a “Minicell” Strain of Escherichia coli

A number of "surface" enzymes of Escherichia coli (i.e., among those selectively released by osmotic shock) all displayed higher specific activities in extracts of minicells than in extracts of typical rod forms; these enzymes included alkaline phosphatase, cyclic phosphodiesterase, acid hexose monophosphatase, 5'-nucleotidase, and ribonuclease I. In addition, alkaline phosphatase, cyclic phosphodiesterase, and acid hexose monophosphatase were cytochemically localized to regions of minicell periplasm that resembled reactive polar enlargements of the periplasm in rod forms. In contrast, a number of "internal" cytoplasmic enzymes (inorganic pyrophosphatase, beta-galactosidase, glutamine synthetase, polynucleotide phosphorylase, and ribonuclease II) showed elevated or similar specific activities in extracts of rod forms versus extracts of minicells. A specific heat-labile inhibitor for 5'-nucleotidase, known to occur in the cytoplasm, also showed no enrichment in minicells. These findings indicate that the "surface" enzymes are segregated in vivo into the terminal minicell buds, possibly because these enzymes are concentrated in the polar enlargements of the periplasm in typical rod forms.     

The synergism of cardiotoxin and phospholipase A2 in hemolysis

The synergistic effect of exogenous cobra phospholipase A₂ on the hemolysis rate of guinea pig erythrocytes by highly purified snake venom cardiotoxins was investigated. In the presence of phospholipase A₂ the reaction was not only faster and had a lower activation energy but followed a sigmoidal instead of a linear time course. Similar results were obtained using porcine pancreatic phospholipase A₂. Significantly, addition of even a trace of cobra phospholipase A₂ (approx. 0.1%, w/w) was sufficient to bring about the full synergistic effect, emphasizing the stringent purity requirements for any meaningful investigation of cardiotoxin's own action. The possibility that the action of cardiotoxin on its own may involve the stimulation of an endogenous phospholipase is discussed in the light of the results obtained with exogenous cobra enzyme.     

The response of some prosimian primate mothers to their own anesthetized infants

Six lemur mothers of three different species and oneGalago crassicaudatus mother were observed in the presence of their own anesthetized infants. Two of the lemur mothers spent only very brief periods sitting near their infants and seldom groomed them; the other four spent over half of the infant immobility period in close proximity to their infants and groomed them frequently. Four lemur mothers groomed the ano-genital region of their infant at least once. None of the lemur mothers picked up or carried her immobilized infant, as has been reported for some higher primate mothers, although one lemur mother used her hands to pull the infant toward her ventrum while sitting on the floor. Five lemur mothers rejected their infants when the infants displayed disoriented behavior while emerging from anesthesia. The galago mother retrieved her anesthetized infant in her jaws but dropped the infant several times while attempting to groom it. These results suggest very tentatively that prosimian mothers lack the ability shown by mothers of some higher primate species to improvise protective ways of behaving toward helpless infants.     

Expression of alpha-lactalbumin, alpha-S1-casein, and lactoferrin genes is heterogeneous in sheep and cattle mammary tissue.

We used 35S-labeled cRNA probes to localize the sites of alpha-lactalbumin, alpha-S1-casein, and lactoferrin mRNA synthesis in sheep and forcibly weaned cattle mammary tissue. Expression of alpha-lactalbumin was absent in three of four "virgin" glands studied, present in some alveoli of "pregnant" glands but not in others, despite a similar histological appearance. In the early lactating gland, expression was high in those alveoli with few fat globules in their cells and lumen and was absent in alveoli with abundant fat globules. These observations suggest either that alpha-lactalbumin gene expression is linked to the long-term secretory activity of cells and falls once cells are resting or regressing, or that there are cyclical variations in expression, or that in the lactating gland some groups of epithelial cells are synthesizing alpha-lactalbumin and some are synthesizing fat. Expression patterns of alpha-S1-casein were similar to those of alpha-lactalbumin. Lactoferrin, in contrast, was expressed almost exclusively in the "fatty alveoli" of both species. Our results show that dramatic variations in milk gene expression can occur throughout the mammary gland of sheep and cattle and that at no stage of pregnancy, lactation, or involution can the gland be considered metabolically homogeneous.     

Dissecting a complex chemical stress: chemogenomic profiling of plant hydrolysates

The efficient production of biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks will require the efficient fermentation of the sugars in hydrolyzed plant material. Unfortunately, plant hydrolysates also contain many compounds that inhibit microbial growth and fermentation. We used DNA‐barcoded mutant libraries to identify genes that are important for hydrolysate tolerance in both Zymomonas mobilis (44 genes) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (99 genes). Overexpression of a Z. mobilis tolerance gene of unknown function (ZMO1875) improved its specific ethanol productivity 2.4‐fold in the presence of miscanthus hydrolysate. However, a mixture of 37 hydrolysate‐derived inhibitors was not sufficient to explain the fitness profile of plant hydrolysate. To deconstruct the fitness profile of hydrolysate, we profiled the 37 inhibitors against a library of Z. mobilis mutants and we modeled fitness in hydrolysate as a mixture of fitness in its components. By examining outliers in this model, we identified methylglyoxal as a previously unknown component of hydrolysate. Our work provides a general strategy to dissect how microbes respond to a complex chemical stress and should enable further engineering of hydrolysate tolerance.     

Replanning and analysis of partial setup strategies in printed circuit board assembly systems

This paper considers the operation of component placement equipment for the assembly of printed circuit boards (PCBs) in a medium-volume, medium-variety manufacturing environment. It focuses on the setup management and operational planning issues associated with productive use of these expensive resources. The concept of replanning is introduced to adapt to changes in the production environment by explicitly considering the initial state of the system. The partial setup strategy is suggested as a means of efficient adaptation and as a strategy that subsumes other setup strategies encountered in practice and the literature. These concepts are applied to the optimization of a single-placement machine producing multiple products. The results of using partial setups are compared with other commonly used strategies. Experimental results suggest significant gains at the singlemachine level. Future research is being pursued to improve the solution procedures and extend these replanning concepts to the line level.     

Social encounter networks: characterizing Great Britain

A major goal of infectious disease epidemiology is to understand and predict the spread of infections within human populations, with the intention of better informing decisions regarding control and intervention. However, the development of fully mechanistic models of transmission requires a quantitative understanding of social interactions and collective properties of social networks. We performed a cross-sectional study of the social contacts on given days for more than 5000 respondents in England, Scotland and Wales, through postal and online survey methods. The survey was designed to elicit detailed and previously unreported measures of the immediate social network of participants relevant to infection spread. Here, we describe individual-level contact patterns, focusing on the range of heterogeneity observed and discuss the correlations between contact patterns and other socio-demographic factors. We find that the distribution of the number of contacts approximates a power-law distribution, but postulate that total contact time (which has a shorter-tailed distribution) is more epidemiologically relevant. We observe that children, public-sector and healthcare workers have the highest number of total contact hours and are therefore most likely to catch and transmit infectious disease. Our study also quantifies the transitive connections made between an individual''s contacts (or clustering); this is a key structural characteristic of social networks with important implications for disease transmission and control efficacy. Respondents'' networks exhibit high levels of clustering, which varies across social settings and increases with duration, frequency of contact and distance from home. Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings for the transmission and control of pathogens spread through close contact.