In the present study the walking pattern of 10 children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) was investigated and compared to that of 10 typically developing, matched control children. All children walked at a similar velocity that was scaled to the length of the leg on a motor-driven treadmill. Three-dimensional kinematics were recorded with a motion capture digital camera system. The spatiotemporal parameters of the gait pattern revealed that children with DCD walked with shorter steps and at a higher frequency than the typically developing children. In addition, the children with DCD exhibited a body configuration that demonstrated increased trunk inclination during the entire gait cycle and enhanced during the entire gait cycle. At toe-off a less pronounced plantar flexion of the ankle was observed in children with DCD. In conclusion, it appeared that children with DCD make adaptations to their gait pattern on a treadmill to compensate for problems with neuromuscular and/or balance control. These adaptations seem to result in a safer walking strategy where the compromise between equilibrium and propulsion is different compared to typically developing children.

These results suggest that children with DCD are more dependent on global visual flow information than TD children for the maintenance of balance and the control of velocity during walking. This increased dependency on visual control might be associated with a poorly developed internal sensorimotor model.

AIM The aim of this study was to investigate the stability of motor problems in a clinically referred sample of children with, or at risk of, autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and ⁄ or developmental coordination disorder (DCD).METHOD Participants were 49 children (39 males, 10 females; mean age 5y 6mo, SD 10mo) with various developmental problems, a Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) score on or below the 15th centile, and an IQ of 70 or more. Sixteen children were at risk of developing ADHD, 15 children had a diagnosis of, or were at risk of developing ASD, and 18 children had neither diagnosis. Children were reassessed 2 to 3 years later.RESULTS At follow-up (mean age 7y 11mo; SD 1y), the mean M-ABC score was significantly increased, and in 22 children was no longer below the 15th centile. A general linear model to compare the difference in M-ABC scores in the three groups of children demonstrated a significant difference between groups (p=0.013), with the age at the initial assessment as a significant covariate (p=0.052). The group of children with or at risk of ASD showed less improvement in motor performance.INTERPRETATION Motor problems among preschool age children are not always stable, but appear to be so in most children with ASDs.A number of children exhibit poor motor performance in the first 6 years of life. In some cases the motor problems can be explained by an apparent central nervous system disorder, and these problems are unlikely to resolve. However, some children without a clear neurological disorder present with poor motor abilities before 7 years of age. Some of these children could be considered to have developmental coordination disorder (DCD), according to DSM-IV-TR 1 criteria. However, it appears from the literature that the large majority of children with DCD are identified after starting school.2 In some cases, poor motor performance at preschool age is one of the first clear signs of another (comorbid) developmental disorder with more prominent behavioural features, such as autism spectrum disorders 3 (ASDs), or attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder 4 (ADHD). Although motor disorders can occur in isolation, many studies have described their frequent co-occurrence with ADHD 5,6 and ASD. 7,8 The purpose of this study was therefore, to determine the stability of poor motor performance among younger children.The most commonly used screening instruments for young children evaluate basic motor skills, referenced against age norms and based on early normative models of motor development. 9 But is motor development really a linear process with a small range of variability? Darrah et al. 10 investigated the stability of outcome on serial motor assessment and found a large variability of scores within individual infants and between infants aged 0 to 18 months. They concluded that motor development in very young children is non-linear, rather than occurring at a constant rate. They suggested that screening of infants should includ...

Although numerous biologically active molecules exist as glycosides in nature, information on the activity, stability, and solubility of glycosylated antioxidants is rather limited to date. In this work, a wide variety of antioxidants were glycosylated using different phosphorylase enzymes. The resulting antioxidant library, containing α/β-glucosides, different regioisomers, cellobiosides, and cellotriosides, was then characterized. Glycosylation was found to significantly increase the solubility and stability of all evaluated compounds. Despite decreased radical-scavenging abilities, most glycosides were identified to be potent antioxidants, outperforming the commonly used 2,6-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl)-4-methylphenol (BHT). Moreover, the point of attachment, the anomeric configuration, and the glycosidic chain length were found to influence the properties of these phenolic glycosides.

No abstract

This study examined and compared the control of posture during bilateral stance in ten boys with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) of 6-8 years old and ten matched typically developing boys in four sensory conditions (with or without vision, on a firm or complaint surface). In all conditions mean postural sway velocity was larger for the boys with DCD, in spite of a normal score on the balance items of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. A Group X Condition interaction revealed a larger dependency on vision in the boys with DCD when standing on a firm surface. These results suggest that in this specific subgroup of boys with DCD with predominantly problems in fine motor and

Sucrose Synthase (SuSy) catalyzes the reversible conversion of sucrose and a nucleoside diphosphate (NDP) into NDP-glucose and fructose. Biochemical characterization of several plant and bacterial SuSys has revealed that the eukaryotic enzymes preferentially use UDP whereas prokaryotic SuSys prefer ADP as acceptor. In this study, SuSy from the bacterium Acidithiobacillus caldus, which has a higher affinity for ADP as reflected by the 25-fold lower Km value compared to UDP, was used as a test case to scrutinize the effect of introducing plant residues at positions in a putative nucleotide binding motif surrounding the nucleobase ring of NDP. All eight single to sextuple mutants had similar activities as the wild-type enzyme but significantly reduced Km values for UDP (up to 60 times). In addition, we recognized that substrate inhibition by UDP is introduced by a methionine at position 637. The affinity for ADP also increased for all but one variant, although the improvement was much smaller compared to UDP. Further characterization of a double mutant also revealed more than 2-fold reduction in Km values for CDP and GDP. This demonstrates the general impact of the motif on nucleotide binding. Furthermore, this research also led to the establishment of a bacterial SuSy variant that is suitable for the recycling of UDP during glycosylation reactions. The latter was successfully demonstrated by combining this variant with a glycosyltransferase in a one-pot reaction for the production of the C-glucoside nothofagin, a health-promoting flavonoid naturally found in rooibos (tea).

'I Can!' is found to be an effective instructive program to ameliorate handwriting quality in typically developing children with handwriting difficulties. The program's success was by a therapy burst of only 7 weeks focusing on the child's self-regulated learning capacities, within an individualized education plan according to their needs and goals.