The epicardium is an essential cell population during cardiac development. It contributes different cell types to the developing heart through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and it... Show moreThe epicardium is an essential cell population during cardiac development. It contributes different cell types to the developing heart through epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and it secretes paracrine factors that support cardiac tissue formation. In the adult heart the epicardium is a quiescent layer of cells which can be reactivated upon ischemic injury, initiating an embryonic-like response in the epicardium that contributes to post-injury repair processes. Therefore, the epicardial layer is considered an interesting target population to stimulate endogenous repair mechanisms. To date it is still not clear whether there are distinct cell populations in the epicardium that contribute to specific lineages or aid in cardiac repair, or that the epicardium functions as a whole. To address this putative heterogeneity, novel techniques such as single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA seq) are being applied. In this review, we summarize the role of the epicardium during development and after injury and provide an overview of the most recent insights into the cellular composition and diversity of the epicardium. Show less
Children and adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at increased risk for the development of psychosocial problems compared to their peers without DLD. There is much individual... Show moreChildren and adolescents with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) are at increased risk for the development of psychosocial problems compared to their peers without DLD. There is much individual variation within the group of children with DLD regarding their level and development of psychosocial problems. However, there is no systematic relationship between the severity of children’s communication problems and their psychosocial problems.Emotional competence refers to the ability to recognise, understand, regulate, and express emotions adaptively in social interactions. Emotional competence is gained through social interactions, in which language plays an important role. In children without DLD, problems in emotional competence are important risk factors for the development of different psychosocial problems, which may also be the case in children with DLD. Therefore, it this research project we examined whether problems in emotional competence could explain the level and development of children with and without DLD between 9 and 16 years old. We found that problems in emotional competence indeed explained higher levels of psychosocial problems in children with and without DLD and that increasing levels of emotional competence were related to lower levels of psychosocial problems across time. These outcomes indicate that difficulties in emotional competence make children with DLD vulnerable to psychosocial problems and requires specific support and interventions. Show less
Children spend most of their days interacting with their social environment. Emotions form a large part of these interactions and vice versa social emotions become meaningful when interacting... Show moreChildren spend most of their days interacting with their social environment. Emotions form a large part of these interactions and vice versa social emotions become meaningful when interacting with others. Understanding the emotion processes that underlie successful social functioning is important, especially in children that experience difficulties in social-emotional functioning such as children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). These studies used a unique approach towards understanding the complex mechanisms that are involved in emotion processing, incorporating how emotions are perceived, experienced, regulated, and expressed. Sensitive and direct measures of emotion processing such as eyetracking and physiology revealed for the first time on a neurobiological level that children with ASD have difficulties emotionally resonating with others, use less efficient strategies to regulate their emotions, and provided evidence for a possible discordance between the expression and experience of emotions. The preschool years also presented with a possible window of opportunity; children with ASD do feel emotions when it comes to their own experiences and the development of social attention towards others might be prone to improvements during the preschool years. These findings are important to parents and professional and enhance the understanding of emotion processing during these very early years of life. Show less
Internet connectivity is widely considered to be a game changer for knowledge economies of developing countries. The arrival of submarine fibre-optic underwater cables in East Africa in 2009 and... Show moreInternet connectivity is widely considered to be a game changer for knowledge economies of developing countries. The arrival of submarine fibre-optic underwater cables in East Africa in 2009 and 2010 is seen by many as a strong case in point. The fast evolution of the information and communication technology (ICT) landscape of Kenya and Rwanda that ensued has attracted the attention of actors from private investors, development agencies, NGOs, policymakers and many other groups. Kenya became a role model for its widespread adoption of mobile money services and a burgeoning ICT application development sector; Rwanda's government became known for its explicitly ICT-oriented development agenda as well as large-scale ICT projects in government, health and education that aimed to latch onto fast-growing mobile subscription rates and 3G network roll-outs. For this report, we set out to examine the role that changing connectivity has played for a particular component of the ICT sector in Kenya and Rwanda: ICT-enabled business process outsourcing (BPO).1 BPO has been a priority in the national ICT strategies of both countries, so we anticipated this sector to provide a fertile ground for comparing expectations and realities of the role that changing connectivity has played following the deployment of fibre-optic cable infrastructure. The study outlined how policy, popular discourse and media got somewhat carried away by the promise of internet connectivity as the fuel for the growth of Kenya's and Rwanda's BPO sectors. The development of ICT sectors fell short of many original hopes. Internet connectivity proved to only function as a catalyst for economic growth in combination with other enablers, even for the examined sectors of connectivity-based enterprises. Competitive advantage is always relative, and, in the case of Kenya's and Rwanda's BPO sectors, India and other Asian BPO destinations have maintained the edge in international markets. Despite the overall positive evolution of ICT-based subsectors in Kenya and Rwanda, the role of internet connectivity for growth in knowledge economies continues to be a complicated one, including for connectivity-based enterprises. Future opportunities might actually lie in 'close' (local and regional) markets, and policymakers and indeed all economic actors will need to continue to learn and adjust to other unexpected developments brought about by internet connectivity. Show less
For a long time, Africa has 'lagged' behind global advances in transparency, but there are now significant developments on the continent. In a ground-breaking book, Access to Information in Africa... Show moreFor a long time, Africa has 'lagged' behind global advances in transparency, but there are now significant developments on the continent. In a ground-breaking book, Access to Information in Africa brings together for the first time a collection of African academics and practitioners to contribute to the fast-growing body of scholarship that is now accumulating internationally. This is therefore an African account of progress made and setbacks suffered, but also an account of challenges and obstacles that confront both policy-makers and practitioners. These challenges must be overcome if greater public access to information is to make a distinctive, positive contribution to the continent's democratic and socio-economic future. This book offers a necessarily multi-dimensional perspective on the state of ATI in African jurisdictions and the emerging, new praxis - a praxis that will entail a genuine domestication of the right of access to information on the continent. Show less
The history of development cooperation has attracted very little research to date. This volume offers an innovative interpretation by considering the history of SNV Netherlands Development... Show moreThe history of development cooperation has attracted very little research to date. This volume offers an innovative interpretation by considering the history of SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, which has been in existence for over forty years now. Through SNV's history, an analysis emerges of the role of the Netherlands in development cooperation and the attitudes of Dutch society towards it over the last fifty years as well as the changing ideas, practices and policies in development work more generally. The views and expectations of (former) SNV staff and those of local participants who were ultimately to benefit from the development activities were the focus of this historical research. This has resulted in a socio-cultural history 'from below' rather than a dry description of the organisation's administrative changes and formal bureaucratic structures. Show less
