11,847 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
High-Order Coupled Cluster Method Calculations for the Ground- and Excited-State Properties of the Spin-Half XXZ Model
In this article, we present new results of high-order coupled cluster method
(CCM) calculations, based on a N\'eel model state with spins aligned in the
-direction, for both the ground- and excited-state properties of the
spin-half {\it XXZ} model on the linear chain, the square lattice, and the
simple cubic lattice. In particular, the high-order CCM formalism is extended
to treat the excited states of lattice quantum spin systems for the first time.
Completely new results for the excitation energy gap of the spin-half {\it XXZ}
model for these lattices are thus determined. These high-order calculations are
based on a localised approximation scheme called the LSUB scheme in which we
retain all -body correlations defined on all possible locales of
adjacent lattice sites (). The ``raw'' CCM LSUB results are seen to
provide very good results for the ground-state energy, sublattice
magnetisation, and the value of the lowest-lying excitation energy for each of
these systems. However, in order to obtain even better results, two types of
extrapolation scheme of the LSUB results to the limit (i.e.,
the exact solution in the thermodynamic limit) are presented. The extrapolated
results provide extremely accurate results for the ground- and excited-state
properties of these systems across a wide range of values of the anisotropy
parameter.Comment: 31 Pages, 5 Figure
Influence of quantum fluctuations on zero-temperature phase transitions between collinear and noncollinear states in frustrated spin systems
We study a square-lattice spin-half Heisenberg model where frustration is
introduced by competing nearest-neighbor bonds of different signs. We discuss
the influence of quantum fluctuations on the nature of the zero-temperature
phase transitions from phases with collinear magnetic order at small
frustration to phases with noncollinear spiral order at large frustration. We
use the coupled cluster method (CCM) for high orders of approximation (up to
LSUB6) and the exact diagonalization of finite systems (up to 32 sites) to
calculate ground-state properties. The role of quantum fluctuations is examined
by comparing the ferromagnetic-spiral and the antiferromagnetic-spiral
transition within the same model. We find clear evidence that quantum
fluctuations prefer collinear order and that they may favour a first order
transition instead of a second order transition in case of no quantum
fluctuations.Comment: 6 pages, 6 Postscipt figures; Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.
Pressure-induced phase transition and bi-polaronic sliding in a hole-doped Cu_2O_3 ladder system
We study a hole-doped two-leg ladder system including metal ions, oxygen, and
electron-lattice interaction, as a model for Sr_{14-x}Ca_xCu_{24}O_{41-\delta}.
Single- and bi-polaronic states at 1/4-hole doping are modeled as functions of
pressure by applying an unrestricted Hartree-Fock approximation to a multiband
Peierls-Hubbard Hamiltonian. We find evidence for a pressure-induced phase
transition between single-polaron and bi-polaron states. The electronic and
phononic excitations in those states, including distinctive local lattice
vibrational modes, are calculated by means of a direct-space Random Phase
approximation. Finally, as a function of pressure, we identify a transition
between site- and bond-centered bi-polarons, accompanied by a soft mode and a
low-energy charge-sliding mode. We suggest comparisons with available
experimented data
Linearized solutions of the Einstein equations within a Bondi-Sachs framework, and implications for boundary conditions in numerical simulations
We linearize the Einstein equations when the metric is Bondi-Sachs, when the
background is Schwarzschild or Minkowski, and when there is a matter source in
the form of a thin shell whose density varies with time and angular position.
By performing an eigenfunction decomposition, we reduce the problem to a system
of linear ordinary differential equations which we are able to solve. The
solutions are relevant to the characteristic formulation of numerical
relativity: (a) as exact solutions against which computations of gravitational
radiation can be compared; and (b) in formulating boundary conditions on the
Schwarzschild horizon.Comment: Revised following referee comment
Spatiotemporal evolution of polaronic states in finite quantum systems
We study the quantum dynamics of small polaron formation and polaron
transport through finite quantum structures in the framework of the
one-dimensional Holstein model with site-dependent potentials and interactions.
Combining Lanczos diagonalization with Chebyshev moment expansion of the time
evolution operator, we determine how different initial states, representing
stationary ground states or injected wave packets, after an electron-phonon
interaction quench, develop in real space and time. Thereby, the full quantum
nature and dynamics of electrons and phonons is preserved. We find that the
decay out of the initial state sensitively depends on the energy and momentum
of the incoming particle, the electron-phonon coupling strength, and the phonon
frequency, whereupon bound polaron-phonon excited states may emerge in the
strong-coupling regime. The tunneling of a Holstein polaron through a quantum
wall/dot is generally accompanied by strong phonon number fluctuations due to
phonon emission and re-absorption processes.Comment: 13 pages, 15 figures, final versio
The Weibull-Exponential Distribution: Its Properties and Applications
A three parameter probability model, the so called Weibull-exponential distribution
was proposed using the Weibull Generalized family of distributions. Some
important models in the literature were found to be sub models of the new model.
Explicit expressions for some of its basic mathematical properties like moments,
moment generating function, reliability analysis, limiting behavior and order
statistics were derived. The method of maximum likelihood estimation was
proposed in estimating its parameters and real life applications were provided to
illustrate its flexibility and potentiality over the exponential distribution
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
High-powered Gravitational News
We describe the computation of the Bondi news for gravitational radiation. We
have implemented a computer code for this problem. We discuss the theory behind
it as well as the results of validation tests. Our approach uses the
compactified null cone formalism, with the computational domain extending to
future null infinity and with a worldtube as inner boundary. We calculate the
appropriate full Einstein equations in computational eth form in (a) the
interior of the computational domain and (b) on the inner boundary. At future
null infinity, we transform the computed data into standard Bondi coordinates
and so are able to express the news in terms of its standard and
polarization components. The resulting code is stable and
second-order convergent. It runs successfully even in the highly nonlinear
case, and has been tested with the news as high as 400, which represents a
gravitational radiation power of about .Comment: 24 pages, 4 figures. To appear in Phys. Rev.
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