8,577 research outputs found
Assessment and diagnosis of Developmental Language Disorder: The experiences of speech and language therapists
© The Author(s) 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).Background: For many years research and practice have noted the impact of the heterogeneous nature of Developmental Language Disorder (also known as language impairment or specific language impairment) on diagnosis and assessment. Recent research suggests the disorder is not restricted to the language domain and against this background, the challenge for the practitioner is to provide accurate assessment and effective therapy. The language practitioner aims to support the child and their carers to achieve the best outcomes. However, little is known about the experiences of the language practitioner in the assessment process, in contrast to other childhood disorders, yet their expertise is central in the assessment and diagnosis of children with language disorder. Aims: This study aimed to provide a detailed qualitative description of the experiences of speech and language therapists involved in the assessment and diagnosis of children with Developmental Language Disorder. Methods & Procedures: The qualitative study included three focus groups to provide a credible and rich description of the experiences of speech and language therapists involved in the assessment of Developmental Language Disorder. The speech and language therapists who participated in the study were recruited from three NHS Trusts across the UK and all were directly involved in the assessment and diagnosis procedures. The lengths of practitioner experience ranged from 2 years to 38 years. The data was analysed using a thematic analysis in accordance with the principles set out by Braun & Clarke (2006). Outcomes & Results: The data showed a number of key themes concerning the experiences of speech and language therapists in assessing children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD). These themes ranged from the participants’ experiences of the barriers to early referral, challenges for assessment and the concerns over continued future support. Conclusions & Implications: This study provides first-hand evidence from speech and language therapists in the assessment of children with Developmental Language Disorder, drawing together experiences from language practitioners from different regions. The findings provide insight to the barriers to referral, the potential variations in the assessment process, the role of practitioner expertise and the challenges faced them. The importance of early intervention, useful assessment tools and future support were expressed. Taken together, the results relate to some issues to be addressed on a practical level and a continuing need for initiatives to raise awareness of DLD in the public domain.Peer reviewe
Bogoliubov transformations and exact isolated solutions for simple non-adiabatic Hamiltonians
We present a new method for finding isolated exact solutions of a class of
non-adiabatic Hamiltonians of relevance to quantum optics and allied areas.
Central to our approach is the use of Bogoliubov transformations of the bosonic
fields in the models. We demonstrate the simplicity and efficiency of this
method by applying it to the Rabi Hamiltonian.Comment: LaTeX, 16 pages, 1 figure. Minor additions and journal re
The H molecular ion: a solution
Combining the WKB expansion at large distances and Perturbation Theory at
small distances it is constructed a compact uniform approximation for
eigenfunctions. For lowest states 1s\si_{g} and 2p\si_{u} this
approximation provides the relative accuracy (5 s.d.) for
any real in eigenfunctions and for total energy it gives 10-11 s.d.
for internuclear distances . Corrections to proposed
approximations are evaluated. Separation constants and the oscillator strength
for the transition 1s\si_{g} \rar 2p\si_{u} are calculated and compared with
existing data.Comment: 16 pages, 4 figures, 6 tables, typos are corrected and small
additions are inserted, to be published at JPB (fast track comm
Reduction of laser intensity scintillations in turbulent atmospheres using time averaging of a partially coherent beam
We demonstrate experimentally and numerically that the application of a
partially coherent beam (PCB) in combination with time averaging leads to a
significant reduction in the scintillation index. We use a simplified
experimental approach in which the atmospheric turbulence is simulated by a
phase diffuser. The role of the speckle size, the amplitude of the phase
modulation, and the strength of the atmospheric turbulence are examined. We
obtain good agreement between our numerical simulations and our experimental
results. This study provides a useful foundation for future applications of
PCB-based methods of scintillation reduction in physical atmospheres.Comment: 18 pages, 14 figure
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Associated reading skills in children with a history of Specific Language Impairment (SLI)
A large cohort of 200 eleven-year-old children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) were assessed on basic reading accuracy and on reading comprehension as well as language tasks. Reading skills were examined descriptively and in relation to early language and literacy factors. Using stepwise regression analyses in which age and nonverbal IQ were controlled for, it was found that a single word reading measure taken at 7 years was unsurprisingly a strong predictor of the two different types of reading ability. However, even with this measure included, a receptive syntax task (TROG) entered when reading accuracy score was the DV. Furthermore, a test of expressive syntax/narrative and a receptive syntax task completed at 7 years entered into the model for word reading accuracy. When early reading accuracy was excluded from the analyses, early phonological skills also entered as a predictor of both reading accuracy and comprehension at 11 years. The group of children with a history of SLI were then divided into those with no literacy difficulties at 11 and those with some persisting literacy impairment. Using stepwise logistic regression, and again controlling for IQ and age, 7 years receptive syntax score (but not tests of phonology, expressive vocabulary or expressive syntax/narrative) entered as a positive predictor of membership of the ‘no literacy problems’ group regardless of whether early reading accuracy was controlled for in step one. The findings are discussed in relation to the overlap of SLI and dyslexia and the long term sequelae of language impairment
Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Equation with Spatio-Temporal Perturbations
We investigate the dynamics of solitons of the cubic Nonlinear Schr\"odinger
Equation (NLSE) with the following perturbations: non-parametric
spatio-temporal driving of the form , damping, and a
linear term which serves to stabilize the driven soliton. Using the time
evolution of norm, momentum and energy, or, alternatively, a Lagrangian
approach, we develop a Collective-Coordinate-Theory which yields a set of ODEs
for our four collective coordinates. These ODEs are solved analytically and
numerically for the case of a constant, spatially periodic force . The
soliton position exhibits oscillations around a mean trajectory with constant
velocity. This means that the soliton performs, on the average, a
unidirectional motion although the spatial average of the force vanishes. The
amplitude of the oscillations is much smaller than the period of . In
order to find out for which regions the above solutions are stable, we
calculate the time evolution of the soliton momentum and soliton
velocity : This is a parameter representation of a curve which is
visited by the soliton while time evolves. Our conjecture is that the soliton
becomes unstable, if this curve has a branch with negative slope. This
conjecture is fully confirmed by our simulations for the perturbed NLSE.
Moreover, this curve also yields a good estimate for the soliton lifetime: the
soliton lives longer, the shorter the branch with negative slope is.Comment: 21 figure
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Early predictors of language and social communication impairments at ages 9-11 years: A follow-up study of early-referred children
Purpose: In this study, the authors aimed to evaluate hypotheses that early sociocognition will predict later social communication and early phonology will predict later morphosyntax in clinically referred preschoolers.
Method: Participants were 108 children ages 9–11 years who had been referred to clinical services with concerns about language at age 2½–3½ years. Predictors at Time 1 (T1) were measures of sociocognition, word/nonword repetition, and receptive language. Outcome measures at Time 3 (T3) included a social communication questionnaire completed by parents and tests of nonword repetition, morphosyntax, and receptive language.
Results: Group- and case-level analyses revealed early sociocognition to be the strongest predictor of social communication problems, which by T3 affected almost one third of the sample. At the group level, early phonology, which was a significant problem for the majority of children at T1, was a weak predictor of morphosyntax at T3. However, at the case level the majority of children with poor morphosyntax and nonword repetition at outcome had had very low repetition scores at T1.
Conclusions: In early language referrals, it is important to identify and address sociocognitive problems, a considerable risk for later social communication and autism spectrum disorders. The majority of early-referred children had phonological problems, often severe, but these require further investigation to determine their longer term significance for language
Instability of the Two-Dimensional Metallic Phase to Parallel Magnetic Field
We report on magnetotransport studies of the unusual two-dimensional metallic
phase in high mobility Si-MOS structures. We have observed that the magnetic
field applied in the 2D plane suppresses the metallic state, causing the
resistivity to increase dramatically by more than 30 times. Over the total
existence range of the metallic state, we have found three distinct types of
the magnetoresistance, related to the corresponding quantum corrections to the
conductivity. Our data suggest that the unusual metallic state is a consequence
of both spin- and Coulomb-interaction effects.Comment: 6 pages, Latex, 4 ps fig
Michaelis-Menten dynamics in protein subnetworks
To understand the behaviour of complex systems it is often necessary to use
models that describe the dynamics of subnetworks. It has previously been
established using projection methods that such subnetwork dynamics generically
involves memory of the past, and that the memory functions can be calculated
explicitly for biochemical reaction networks made up of unary and binary
reactions. However, many established network models involve also
Michaelis-Menten kinetics, to describe e.g. enzymatic reactions. We show that
the projection approach to subnetwork dynamics can be extended to such
networks, thus significantly broadening its range of applicability. To derive
the extension we construct a larger network that represents enzymes and enzyme
complexes explicitly, obtain the projected equations, and finally take the
limit of fast enzyme reactions that gives back Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The
crucial point is that this limit can be taken in closed form. The outcome is a
simple procedure that allows one to obtain a description of subnetwork
dynamics, including memory functions, starting directly from any given network
of unary, binary and Michaelis-Menten reactions. Numerical tests show that this
closed form enzyme elimination gives a much more accurate description of the
subnetwork dynamics than the simpler method that represents enzymes explicitly,
and is also more efficient computationally
Phase Transitions in the Spin-Half J_1--J_2 Model
The coupled cluster method (CCM) is a well-known method of quantum many-body
theory, and here we present an application of the CCM to the spin-half J_1--J_2
quantum spin model with nearest- and next-nearest-neighbour interactions on the
linear chain and the square lattice. We present new results for ground-state
expectation values of such quantities as the energy and the sublattice
magnetisation. The presence of critical points in the solution of the CCM
equations, which are associated with phase transitions in the real system, is
investigated. Completely distinct from the investigation of the critical
points, we also make a link between the expansion coefficients of the
ground-state wave function in terms of an Ising basis and the CCM ket-state
correlation coefficients. We are thus able to present evidence of the
breakdown, at a given value of J_2/J_1, of the Marshall-Peierls sign rule which
is known to be satisfied at the pure Heisenberg point (J_2 = 0) on any
bipartite lattice. For the square lattice, our best estimates of the points at
which the sign rule breaks down and at which the phase transition from the
antiferromagnetic phase to the frustrated phase occurs are, respectively, given
(to two decimal places) by J_2/J_1 = 0.26 and J_2/J_1 = 0.61.Comment: 28 pages, Latex, 2 postscript figure
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