WAIS-IV performance of working-age Polish people in the UK

Objectives: Clinical neuropsychologists are increasingly called upon to undertake cognitive assessment of clients who have English as an additional language. We sought to investigate how linguistic disadvantage affected performance on a widely-used cognitive test. Design: A cross-sectional, between groups study, in which UK residents with English as an additional language were examined on the WAIS-IV in English. Scores were compared to those of a primary English-speaking group, matched for sex, age, and years of education. Methods: 100 working-age Polish participants, males and females, from a range of educational and SES groups, were recruited from London and nearby areas, and individually examined on the 10 core WAIS-IV-UK subtests. Individuals’ scores were compared to the manual norms to derive subtest age-scaled scores and the main indices. A control group of 100 primary English speakers (individually matched to the Polish participants on sex, age, and years of education) was taken from the UK standardization sample. Group means were compared, along with item-level inspection for bias. Results: The Polish group were disadvantaged mainly on verbal tasks, but this affected their scores on tests of working memory. Measures of processing speed and visual functions were less affected; though differences emerged on tests widely considered culture-fair. In some cases, the Polish sample outperformed the UK controls. These differences should be borne in mind when interpreting individual test performances

Constructing a broadly inclusive seed plant phylogeny

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143673/1/ajb21019_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143673/2/ajb21019.pd

Universality of Cluster Dynamics

We have studied the kinetics of cluster formation for dynamical systems of dimensions up to $n=8$ interacting through elastic collisions or coalescence. These systems could serve as possible models for gas kinetics, polymerization and self-assembly. In the case of elastic collisions, we found that the cluster size probability distribution undergoes a phase transition at a critical time which can be predicted from the average time between collisions. This enables forecasting of rare events based on limited statistical sampling of the collision dynamics over short time windows. The analysis was extended to L$^p$-normed spaces ($p=1,...,\infty$) to allow for some amount of interpenetration or volume exclusion. The results for the elastic collisions are consistent with previously published low-dimensional results in that a power law is observed for the empirical cluster size distribution at the critical time. We found that the same power law also exists for all dimensions $n=2,...,8$, 2D L$^p$ norms, and even for coalescing collisions in 2D. This broad universality in behavior may be indicative of a more fundamental process governing the growth of clusters

Brain volume in chronic ketamine users - Relationship to sub-threshold psychotic symptoms and relevance to schizophrenia

RATIONALE: Ketamine may model aspects of schizophrenia arising through NMDA receptor activity deficits. Although acute ketamine can induce effects resembling both positive and negative psychotic symptoms, chronic use may be a closer model of idiopathic psychosis. OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypotheses that ketamine users had lower brain volumes, as measured using MRI, and greater sub-threshold psychotic symptoms relative to a poly-drug user control group. METHODS: Ketamine users (n = 17) and poly-drug using controls (n = 19) were included in the study. All underwent volumetric MRI imaging and measurement of sub-threshold psychotic symptoms using the Comprehensive Assessment of At-Risk Mental State (CAARMS). Freesurfer was used to analyse differences in regional brain volume, cortical surface area and thickness between ketamine users and controls. The relationship between CAARMS ratings and brain volume was also investigated in ketamine users. RESULTS: Ketamine users were found to have significantly lower grey matter volumes of the nucleus accumbens, caudate nucleus, cerebellum and total cortex (FDR p \u3c 0.05; Cohen\u27s d = 0.36-0.75). Within the cortex, ketamine users had significantly lower grey matter volumes within the frontal, temporal and parietal cortices (Cohen\u27s d 0.7-1.31; FDR p \u3c 0.05). They also had significantly higher sub-threshold psychotic symptoms (p \u3c 0.05). Frequency of ketamine use showed an inverse correlation with cerebellar volume (p \u3c 0.001), but there was no relationship between regional brain volumes and sub-threshold psychotic symptoms. CONCLUSIONS: Chronic ketamine use may cause lower grey matter volumes as well as inducing sub-threshold psychotic symptoms, although these likely arise through distinct mechanisms

Clinical and Epidemiologic Characterization of WU Polyomavirus Infection, St. Louis, Missouri

WU polyomavirus is a recently described polyomavirus found in patients with respiratory infections. Of 2,637 respiratory samples tested in St. Louis, Missouri, 2.7% were positive for WU polyomavirus by PCR, and 71% were coinfected with other respiratory viruses. Persistent human infection with WU polyomavirus is described

Caries associated with orthodontic care part 2: management

It is recognized that wearing an orthodontic appliance increases the caries risk of the individual. The prevalence of demineralization has been reported to be as high as 73%. When demineralization occurs a number of treatments exist: fluoride application, acid microabrasion, casein phosphopeptide-amorphous calcium phosphate (CCP-ACP), resin infiltration and self-assembling peptides. Of these, topical fluoride has the most evidence to support its use. CPD/Clinical Relevance: Demineralization is the most common complication of orthodontic care. The clinician should understand how to manage this when it occurs

Expressive free speech, the state, and the public sphere: A Bakhtinian–Deleuzian analysis of ‘public address’ at Hyde Park

This is the author's accepted manuscript. The final published article is available from the link below. Copyright @ 2008 Taylor & Francis.In this paper I explore how struggles around free speech between social movements and the state are often underpinned by a deeper struggle around expressive images of what counts as either ‘decent’ or ‘indecent’ discussion. These points are developed by exploring what is arguably the most famous populist place for free speech in Britain, namely Hyde Park. In 1872 the state introduced the Parks Regulation Act in order to regulate, amongst other things, populist uses of free speech at Hyde Park. However, although the 1872 Act designated a site in Hyde Park for public meetings, it did not mention ‘free speech’. Rather, the 1872 Act legally enforced the liberty to make a ‘public address’ and this was implicitly contrasted by the state of an expressive image of ‘indecent’ speakers exercising their ‘right’ of free speech at Hyde Park. Once constructed, the humiliating image of ‘indecent’ free speech could then be used by the state to regulate actual utterances of public speakers at Hyde Park. But the paper shows how in the years immediately following 1872 a battle was fought out in Hyde Park over the expressive image of public address between the state and regulars using Hyde Park as a public sphere to exercise free speech. For its part the state had to engage in meaningful deliberative forms of discussion within its own regulatory framework and with the public sphere at Hyde Park in order to maintain the legal form, content and expression of the 1872 Act. To draw out the implications of these points I employ some of the theoretical ideas of the Bakhtin Circle and Gilles Deleuze. Each set of thinkers in their own way make valuable contributions for understanding the relationship between the state, public sphere and expressive images