Production of Korean Case Particles in an English-Korean Bilingual Child with Specific Language Impairment: A Preliminary Study

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of Korean case particles in a Korean-English bilingual child with specific language impairment (SLI). The child\u27s production of four types of Korean case particles were compared to those of three typically developing children during probe and storytelling tasks. The Korean-English bilingual child with SLI produced the vocative and the nominative for person case particles similar to children matched on age and mean length of utterance (MLU). He produced the nominative for object and accusative case particles similar to the MLU-matched child but exhibited lower performance than that of his age-matched peers. The results suggest that longer duration of Korean case particles in the phrase-final position may provide perceptual salience and not pose particular difficulty for the Korean-English bilingual with SLI. Frequent omission of the accusative by the child with SLI and his MLU-matched peer, however, supports the argument that frequency effect in linguistic input influences morphological development. (Contains 6 tables and 1 figure.

A Survey of Dental Hygiene Program Directors: Curriculum Development and Implementation for the Dental Hygiene-Based Dental Therapist

Purpose: This study used a survey of program directors and program chairs to analyze relationships related to curriculum development for a dental hygiene-based dental therapist and the question of how external variables affect allied health workforce development and implementation. Methods: A survey instrument was utilized to help identify the relationship between a dental hygiene-based dental therapist curriculum and the external influences of future needs of the dental hygiene profession and workforce; external influences; and institutional influences on curriculum design and implementation using Spearman’s rho testing. The open-ended question was studied through the application of grounded theory analysis. (N=340). Results: Upon comparison of ten curricular concepts related to external influences across all three areas of influence, Business Management was a significantly related curriculum item, followed by Dental Hygiene Diagnosis; Foundational Knowledge; and Communications and Technology. As dental hygiene-based dental therapy curriculum is developed, these curricular relationships may be referenced in relation to how outside influences affect and facilitate workforce and program success. (n=133-138; 43%). Conclusion: Curriculum should be developed based upon the actual assessment of workforce and patient need, rather than on an assumption of need. This analysis helped to develop curriculum guidelines for a dental hygiene-based dental therapist workforce model that is responsive to workforce needs, professional requirements, and institutional needs and influences. An accurate, need-based curriculum can be used to develop performance measures that can be measured, evaluated, and improved over time

Rhythm in the speech of a person with right hemisphere damage: Applying the pairwise variability index

Although several aspects of prosody have been studied in speakers with right hemisphere damage (RHD), rhythm remains largely uninvestigated. This study compares the rhythm of an Australian English speaker with right hemisphere damage (due to a stroke, but with no concomitant dysarthria) to that of a neurologically unimpaired individual. The speakers' rhythm is compared using the pairwise variability index (PVI) which allows for an acoustic characterization of rhythm by comparing the duration of successive vocalic and intervocalic intervals. A sample of speech from a structured interview between a speech and language therapist and each participant was analysed. Previous research has shown that speakers with RHD may have difficulties with intonation production, and therefore it was hypothesized that there may also be rhythmic disturbance. Results show that the neurologically normal control uses a similar rhythm to that reported for British English (there are no previous studies available for Australian English), whilst the speaker with RHD produces speech with a less strongly stress-timed rhythm. This finding was statistically significant for the intervocalic intervals measured (t(8) = 4.7, p < .01), and suggests that some aspects of prosody may be right lateralized for this speaker. The findings are discussed in relation to previous findings of dysprosody in RHD populations, and in relation to syllable-timed speech of people with other neurological conditions

An Adaptive Fault-Tolerant Communication Scheme for Body Sensor Networks

A high degree of reliability for critical data transmission is required in body sensor networks (BSNs). However, BSNs are usually vulnerable to channel impairments due to body fading effect and RF interference, which may potentially cause data transmission to be unreliable. In this paper, an adaptive and flexible fault-tolerant communication scheme for BSNs, namely AFTCS, is proposed. AFTCS adopts a channel bandwidth reservation strategy to provide reliable data transmission when channel impairments occur. In order to fulfill the reliability requirements of critical sensors, fault-tolerant priority and queue are employed to adaptively adjust the channel bandwidth allocation. Simulation results show that AFTCS can alleviate the effect of channel impairments, while yielding lower packet loss rate and latency for critical sensors at runtime.Comment: 10 figures, 19 page

“So now I’m panic attack free!”: Response stories in a peer-to-peer online advice forum on pregnancy and parenting

This paper examines the functions of stories in an online peer-to-peer advice forum on pregnancy and parenting, particularly drawing attention to how parents as advice-givers use stories in health-related discussions. The analysis shows that stories are multi-functional, serving to establish rapport with advice-seekers, give and support advice, express and substantiate agreement or disagreement. The results add to the current scholarship by showing that response stories can be used to give etiological (causal) assessments of others’ health issues, thus delivering a diagnostic opinion

Solid feed provision reduces fecal clostridial excretion in veal calves

Enterotoxemia is characterized by a highly fatal hemorrhagic enteritis in cattle, caused by Clostridium perfringens. Production systems with intensive feeding, such as the veal industry, are predisposed. The primary objective of this study was to determine the effect of solid feed provision on fecal C. perfringens excretion in veal calves. Ten Holstein Friesian bull veal calves were randomly assigned to one of two test diets. Group I received solemnly milk replacer twice daily, while group 2 received milk replacer and a maximum of 300g solid feed/day, consisting of a mixture of 30% barley, 30% corn, 30% hulled wheat and 10% chopped straw. The number of C. perfringens per g feces or fecal clostridia! counts (FCC) were determined for all calves. Mean FCC were significantly lower in the calves fed milk replacer and solid feed, than in the calves fed solemnly milk replacer. Although the correlation between FCC and enterotoxemia risk remains to be determined, the provision of solid feed to veal calves reduced clostridial excretion, which might contribute to the prevention of this disease

IWRM and Rural Livelihood Project in Dzimphutsi: process documentation

Water resource management / Multiple use / Project planning / Project management / Participatory management / Community involvement / Dams / Irrigation schemes / Irrigated farming / Fish ponds / Livestock / Domestic water / Villages / Water scarcity / Institution building / Water users / Impact assessment / Malawi / Dzimphutsi Village / Mtendere Irrigation Scheme / Nkudzi River

Effectiveness of Autism Education in Accredited Dental Hygiene Programs

The increase in the prevalence of individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has increased dramatically over the last few decades, causing an increase in the exposure of dental professionals to patients with the disorder in a clinical setting. The purpose of this study is to understand the influence of the licensed dental hygienists’ professional attitude towards treating a patient with ASD, and the level of accommodations provided to patients with ASD during a routine dental visit, based on the amount of knowledge provided about the disorder during an accredited dental hygiene program. Survey data were collected from 78 registered dental hygienists from the states of Kentucky and Tennessee. The results revealed that 58 (80.5%) treat patients with ASD within their dental practices, and 41.03% of these reported treating one patient per month. The researcher sought to investigate the influence of the amount of knowledge presented on ASD within an accredited dental hygiene program and the influence of the dental hygienists’ attitude towards treating patients with ASD post-graduation. Results of the study revealed no significant difference of the dental hygienists’ professional attitude toward treating a patient with autism spectrum disorder and the accommodations provided to patients with autism during a routine dental visit and the amount of education provided during their accredited dental hygiene program. Given the increased prevalence of ASD, it is vital to address the lack of access to care, and evaluate the amount of education received while attending an accredited dental hygiene program

Interventions for treating oral mucositis for patients with cancer receiving treatment

Background Treatment of cancer is increasingly effective but is associated with short and long term side effects. Oral and gastrointestinal side effects, including oral candidiasis, remain a major source of illness despite the use of a variety of agents to treat them. Objectives To assess the effectiveness of interventions for the treatment of oral candidiasis for patients with cancer receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy or both. Search strategy Computerised searches of Cochrane Oral Health Group and PaPaS Trials Registers (to 1 June 2010), CENTRAL via the Cochrane Library (Issue 2, 2010, 1 June 2010), MEDLINE via OVID (1 June 2010), EMBASE via OVID (1 June 2010), CINAHL via EBSCO (1 June 2010), CANCERLIT via PubMed (1 June 2010), OpenSIGLE (1 June 2010) and LILACS via Virtual Health Library (1 June 2010) were undertaken. Reference lists fromrelevant articles were searched and the authors of eligible trials were contacted to identify trials and obtain additional information. Selection criteria All randomised controlled trials comparing agents prescribed to treat oral candidiasis in people receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy for cancer. The outcomes were eradication of oral candidiasis, dysphagia, systemic infection, amount of analgesia, length of hospitalisation, cost and patient quality of life. Data collection and analysis Data were independently extracted, in duplicate, by two review authors. Trial authors were contacted for details of randomisation and withdrawals and a quality assessment was carried out. Risk ratios (RR) were calculated using fixed-effect models. Main results Ten trials involving 940 patients, satisfied the inclusion criteria and are included in this review. Drugs absorbed from the gastrointestinal (GI) tract were beneficial in eradication of oral candidiasis compared with drugs not absorbed from the GI tract (three trials: RR = 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.09 to 1.52), however there was significant heterogeneity. A drug absorbed from the GI tract, ketoconazole, wasmore beneficial than placebo in eradicating oral candidiasis (one trial: RR = 3.61, 95% CI 1.47 to 8.88). Clotrimazole, at a higher dose of 50 mg was more effective than a lower 10 mg dose in eradicating oral candidiasis, when assessed mycologically (one trial: RR = 2.00, 95% CI 1.11 to 3.60). Only one of the ten trials was assessed as at low risk of bias. Authors' conclusions There is insufficient evidence to claimor refute a benefit for any antifungal agent in treating candidiasis. Further well designed, placebo-controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of old and new interventions for treating oral candidiasis are needed. Clinicians need to make a decision on whether to prevent or treat oral candidiasis in patients receiving treatment for cancer. This review is published as a Cochrane Review in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2010, Issue 7. Cochrane Reviews are regularly updated as new evidence emerges and in response to comments and criticisms, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews should be consulted for the most recent version of the Review.</p

MCMCpack: Markov Chain Monte Carlo in R

We introduce MCMCpack, an R package that contains functions to perform Bayesian inference using posterior simulation for a number of statistical models. In addition to code that can be used to fit commonly used models, MCMCpack also contains some useful utility functions, including some additional density functions and pseudo-random number generators for statistical distributions, a general purpose Metropolis sampling algorithm, and tools for visualization.