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Sophorolipids are carbohydrate-based, amphiphilic biosurfactants that are of increasing interest for use in environmentally benign cleaning agents. Sophorolipid production was tested for 26 strains representing 19 species of the Starmerella yeast clade, including Starmerella bombicola and Candida apicola, which were previously reported to produce sophorolipids. Five of the 19 species tested showed significant production of sophorolipids: S. bombicola, C. apicola, Candida riodocensis, Candida stellata and a new species, Candida sp. NRRL Y-27208. A high-throughput matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight MS assay was developed that showed S. bombicola and C. apicola to produce a lactone form of sophorolipid, whereas C. riodocensis, C. stellata and Candida sp. NRRL Y-27208 produced predominantly free acid sophorolipids. Phylogenetic analysis of sequences for the D1/D2 domains of the nuclear large subunit rRNA gene placed all sophorolipid-producing species in the S. bombicola subclade of the Starmerella clade.

Novel strains of rhamnolipid-producing bacteria were isolated from soils at a biodiesel facility on the basis of their ability to grow on glycerol as a sole carbon source. Strains were identified as Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Enterobacter asburiae, Enterobacter hormaechei, Pantoea stewartii, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The strains of the former five species were found to produce rhamnolipids in quantities the same as, or similar to, coisolated strains of P. aeruginosa. Measurements of surface tension revealed that that emulsifying properties of these strains were similar to levels displayed by rhamnolipids produced by P. aeruginosa. Results of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight MS analyses revealed that the predominant compounds made by all strains were C₁₀-C₁₀ mono- and dirhamnolipids. Notably, E. hormaechei and one strain of A. calcoaceticus produced rhamnolipids in amounts similar to the pseudomonads. As all strains examined were from the same taxonomic class of Proteobacteria, further examination of this group may reveal many additional species not previously known to produce rhamnolipids in addition to novel strains of species currently known to produce rhamnolipids.

One portion of a national study of bullying, which surveyed gifted 8th graders regarding bullying during their school years (N = 432), used structured interviews (N = 57) to explore the lived experience of being bullied or being a bully. Qualitative analysis of interview data found that even just one incident was highly distressing for some. Also important are the findings that many victims suffered in silence, struggled to understand bullying, assumed responsibility for stopping it themselves, despaired when it continues, and thought violent thoughts. Intelligence appeared to have helped most of those interviewed to make sense of bullying, including those who had intentionally halted their own bullying. Many subjects believed that not being known contributed to being bullied. Helping students to make social connections and adjustments, especially during the early middle school years, may be crucial to their well-being and to their feeling safe in school.

Gifted eighth graders (N = 432) in 11 U.S. states participated in a retrospective national study that explored the prevalence and effects of being bullied and being a bully during kindergarten through grade 8. No significant differences were found related to size of city, race/ethnicity, and geographical region in terms of either being bullied or being a bully. Sixty-seven percent of all participants had experienced at least 1 of 13 kinds of bullying listed on the survey, more in grade 6 than in other grades, and 11% had experienced repeated bullying. Name-calling and teasing about appearance were the most common kinds of bullying, and the latter was among several kinds of bullying significantly related to emotional impact. In grade 8, 16% were bullies, and 29% had violent thoughts. At all grade levels, a larger percentage of males than females were bullied, were bullied more than 10 times, and were bullies.

In the U.S., youth violence is the second leading cause of death for young people between the ages of 10 and 24. This volume, authored by a noted psychotherapist with more than 30 years of experience in family violence, examines recent violent episodes perpetrated by young offenders in order to understand their root causes and to disseminate current prevention and treatment methods through a multidisciplinary lens. The book addresses the theoretical underpinnings of youth violence from the perspectives of psychology and neurobiology, describes different types of violence, includes the latest research on \"what works\" in prevention and treatment, and examines connections between substance abuse, familial and community violence, and school failure in promoting violence in adolescents. Youth Violence is a comprehensive yet highly readable volume for mental health and social service professionals who work with youth and families, and violence researchers.

Evidence supports a link between handwriting and aspects of literacy, including both reading and writing. Most evidence, however, pertains to children from grade one and above, once foundation skills known to support emerging literacy have been established. The purpose of this systematic review is to synthesise the extant literature concerning measurement of handwriting and literacy and the relationships between these measures for kindergarten students (the first year of formal instruction). Following a systematic search of the literature, 17 studies involving 3343 participants were identified. Handwriting measures could be grouped into two categories—letter writing fluency and perceptual motor skills, while literacy measures addressed one or more of letter name and sound knowledge, phonological skills, word reading, writing composition, and spelling. Strong evidence was found for the impact of letter writing fluency on writing composition, and letter name and sound knowledge. In addition, there was moderate evidence for a relationship between letter writing fluency, spelling, word reading and phonological skills. Weaker evidence was found for the impact of perceptual motor skill proficiency on letter knowledge and spelling, word reading and phonological skills. However, as all intervention approaches focusing on letter forming fluency included perceptual motor skill practice or exposure, an important role for perceptual motor skill in both letter writing fluency and literacy may be inferred. This review has found preliminary evidence to support the facilitating impact of handwriting on the foundations of literacy in kindergarten. Further research into the effects of handwriting interventions on kindergarten literacy is indicated.

The ultimate goal of reading is to comprehend written text, and this goal can only be attained if the reader can decode written words and understand their meanings. The science of reading has provided compelling evidence for the subskills that form the foundation of decoding. Decoding words requires understanding of the alphabetic principle and letter–sound, or grapheme–phoneme, correspondence. In the first year of formal schooling (kindergarten), this same understanding is also required for young learners who are learning to write the letters of the alphabet. In this article, we examine the effectiveness of a handwriting intervention, Write Start–K, that emphasizes the recall, retrieval, reproduction, and repetition (the 4Rs model) of grapheme–phoneme relations. We conducted a two-group, pre/posttest study at two Australian schools across four kindergarten classes (n = 77 students). One school received the intervention, and the other continued with standard teaching. Participants (mean age = 5 years 8.45 months, standard deviation = 4.18 months) at both schools were assessed at baseline, immediately after the eight-week intervention period, and at 12 weeks following the end of the intervention (follow-up). We used linear mixed models to determine the statistical significance of effects over three time intervals. We identified statistically significant Group × Time effects for letter name knowledge and word reading, whereas changes in letter sound knowledge and nonsense word–reading fluency approached statistical significance. These results indicate that a handwriting intervention, incorporating repeated practice in recalling and reproducing letter forms, had a statistically significant impact on early reading skills.

This paper presents a three-manuscript dissertation exploring the unmet needs for academic support of TRIO-eligible college students on the Goodman Campus of Holmes Community College (HCC) in Mississippi. The quantitative study uses descriptive and comparative statistic techniques to analyze two data sets, including the academic success of students who are qualified, applied for, and were selected for HCC TRIO SSS in 2017–18 and the success of students who are qualified, applied for, but were not selected for 2017–18 federal program. The aggregate academic successes, as measured by grade-point average (GPA), was the first comparison of the two groups. This study also compared the two groups’ academic success by gender, which was the subsequent comparison. This research study found that the GPAs of the students who are qualified, applied for, and were selected for the program were significantly higher than the students who are qualified, applied for, but were not selected for 2017–2018 HCC TRIO program. This manuscript focused on the attainments of students who participate in student support service programs, which including tutoring, financial literacy, mentoring, and other pre- and post-college services. They have higher GPAs and are more successful completing post-secondary education. At the conclusion of the study, the researcher provides several recommendations for practitioners to use.

BackgroundThe Developmental Epilepsy Clinic assesses children with complex epilepsy, providing information on a child’s current developmental ability, tracking developmental trajectories and informing options, including the Children’s Epilepsy Surgery Service pathway. Epilepsy can have wide ranging impact on development and for about 30 young people seen in the clinic every year, their development is consistent with severe to profound intellectual disability and current assessment tools available to us are limited. In a PPI project families reported that the current clinic process was not conducive to their child showing their best skills e.g. after travelling long distances and being in an unfamiliar environment. We were therefore keen to develop a measure which could capture skills more holistically and track individual progress.MethodA video-based assessment tool was developed, which allowed families to follow a script and record their children doing a range of activities relevant to their child’s interests, within their home environment. As part of a pilot project, we identified 19 families who were invited to complete this, alongside our traditional assessment in clinic. Feedback from families and clinicians was also collected.Results10 families completed the protocol and of these, 100% reported finding the experience helpful and in 90% of cases more information was gathered than was seen in clinic using usual practice. However, there were some difficulties related to technology and following the tasks required, resulting in gaps of data. MDT professionals reported that they would benefit from further training in interpreting observations from the videos.ConclusionsWe plan to review our video instructions/script and identify appropriate training for the team. Further to this we plan to continue piloting and evaluating the helpfulness of this personalised assessment. By repeating the tasks with families over the next year, hopefully demonstrate change over time.