The preservice and in-service predictors of 1,668 Part C early intervention and Part B(619) preschool special practitioners' perceived self-efficacy beliefs are reported. The preservice variables were type of degree (discipline), years of formal postsecondary education, licensure, and participants' judgment of how well their preservice training prepared the practitioners to work with young children and their families. The in-service variables were type of state training/technical assistance available to the participants, whether participants were required to have continuing education, and the amount of in-service training the participants received. Self-efficacy was measured in terms of the participants' perceived confidence and competence to successfully enact three procedural practices (family-centered practices, teaming practices, and assessment in education practices), and three intervention practices (IFSPs/IEPs, instructional practices, and natural environment/inclusion practices). Results suggest that participants' judgments of their preservice preparedness to work with young children and their families, and the number of different kinds of in-service training for which they availed themselves, were the best predictors of all four types of self-efficacy beliefs. Implications for preservice and in-service professional preparation and training are discussed.

The main goal of this study was to chemically characterize an aqueous S. nigra flower extract and validate it as a bioactive agent. The elderflower aqueous extraction was performed at different temperatures (50, 70 and 90 °C). The extract obtained at 90 °C exhibited the highest phenolic content and antiradical activity. Therefore, this extract was analyzed by GC-MS and HPLC-MS, which allowed the identification of 46 compounds, being quercetin and chlorogenic acid derivatives representative of 86% of the total of phenolic compounds identified in hydrophilic fraction of the aqueous extract. Naringenin (27.2%) was the major compound present in the lipophilic fraction. The antiproliferative effects of the S. nigra extract were evaluated using the colon cancer cell lines RKO, HCT-116, Caco-2 and the extract’s antigenotoxic potential was evaluated by the Comet assay in RKO cells. The RKO cells were the most susceptible to S. nigra flower extract (IC50 = 1250 µg mL−1). Moreover, the extract showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria, particularly Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis. These results show that S. nigra-based extracts can be an important dietary source of bioactive phenolic compounds that contribute to health-span improving life quality, demonstrating their potential as nutraceutical, functional foods and/or cosmetic components for therapeutic purposes.

The digestion of S. nigra extracts influences the stability of its phenolic compounds, although they are able to exert their bioactivity. Non-digested and digested extracts have low toxicity and differentiated activity in normal and cancerous cells.

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