A Randomized Controlled Trial on Very Early Speech and Language Therapy in Acute Stroke Patients with Aphasia

Background: Aphasia affects one third of acute stroke patients. There is a considerable spontaneous recovery in aphasia, but impaired communication ability remains a great problem. Communication difficulties are an impediment to rehabilitation. Early treatment of the language deficits leading to increased communication ability would improve rehabilitation. The aim of this study is to elucidate the efficacy of very early speech and language therapy (SLT) in acute stroke patients with aphasia. Methods: A prospective, open, randomized, controlled trial was carried out with blinded endpoint evaluation of SLT, starting within 2 days of stroke onset and lasting for 21 days. 123 consecutive patients with acute, first-ever ischemic stroke and aphasia were randomized. The SLT treatment was Language Enrichment Therapy, and the aphasia tests used were the Norsk grunntest for afasi (NGA) and the Amsterdam-Nijmegen everyday language test (ANELT), both performed by speech pathologists, blinded for randomization. Results: The primary outcome, as measured by ANELT at day 21, was 1.3 in the actively treated patient group and 1.2 among controls. NGA led to similar results in both groups. Patients with a higher level of education (>12 years) improved more on ANELT by day 21 than those with Conclusions: Very early intensive SLT with the Language Enrichment Therapy program over 21 days had no effect on the degree of aphasia in unselected acute aphasic stroke patients. In aphasic patients with more fluency, SLT resulted in a significant improvement as compared to controls. A higher educational level of >12 years was beneficial

Preliminary study on the utilization of Ca2+ and HCO3 − in karst water by different sources of Chlorella vulgaris

This article aims to present a picture of how a university discipline has been created in Lithuania, given the background of changes caused by the Lithuania’s emancipation from the Soviet Union. The theoretical frame of reference is provided by a modified model of Bronfenbrenners developmental ecology. Data collection has primarily been in the form of interviews with university staff from Lithuanian institutions for higher education. In addition to the interviews, literature lists, course schedules and other key documents have been collected and analysed. The analysis focuses on individual’s conceptualisation of three main areas. The study demonstrates how the creation of management and economics as a university discipline in Lithuania has been formed by a combination of political/ideological, economic, institutional and individual factors. One of the study’s main contributions is to highlight the significance of the concept of academic freedom and to focus on the paradox, where constraint under the old system is replaced by another form of constraint. In this case, where the rigidity of the old Soviet doctrine is replaced by a new freedom; but instead of being given greater opportunities to influence and change the subject, the academic staff are forced into a position where, once again they are subjugated to the influences of international sources

Low oxygen affects photophysiology and the level of expression of two-carbon metabolism genes in the seagrass <i>Zostera muelleri</i>

© 2017, Springer Science+Business Media B.V. Seagrasses are a diverse group of angiosperms that evolved to live in shallow coastal waters, an environment regularly subjected to changes in oxygen, carbon dioxide and irradiance. Zostera muelleri is the dominant species in south-eastern Australia, and is critical for healthy coastal ecosystems. Despite its ecological importance, little is known about the pathways of carbon fixation in Z. muelleri and their regulation in response to environmental changes. In this study, the response of Z. muelleri exposed to control and very low oxygen conditions was investigated by using (i) oxygen microsensors combined with a custom-made flow chamber to measure changes in photosynthesis and respiration, and (ii) reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR to measure changes in expression levels of key genes involved in C4 metabolism. We found that very low levels of oxygen (i) altered the photophysiology of Z. muelleri, a characteristic of C3 mechanism of carbon assimilation, and (ii) decreased the expression levels of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and carbonic anhydrase. These molecular-physiological results suggest that regulation of the photophysiology of Z. muelleri might involve a close integration between the C3 and C4, or other CO2 concentrating mechanisms metabolic pathways. Overall, this study highlights that the photophysiological response of Z. muelleri to changing oxygen in water is capable of rapid acclimation and the dynamic modulation of pathways should be considered when assessing seagrass primary production

High kinetic energy dense plasma jet

Researches on the plasma jet source and injection of hydrogen plasma and neutral gas jets into the Globus-M spherical tokamak are presented. A novel source of dense plasma with high directed velocity is designed, constructed and investigated. This is a double stage system consisting of an intense source utilizing titanium-hydride grains for neutral gas production and a conventional pulsed coaxial accelerator. Optimization of the accelerator parameters, so as to achieve a maximum possible flow velocity with a limited discharge current and a reasonable length of the coaxial electrodes is performed. The calculations are compared with the experiment. A test bed is used for investigation of the intense plasma jet generated by a plasma gun. Plasma jet parameters, among them pressure distribution across the jet, flow velocity, plasma density etc., were measured. Plasma jets with densities of up to 1022 m 3, total numbers of accelerated particles (1 5) . 1019, and flow velocities of 50 100 km/s were successfully injected into the plasma column of the Globus-M tokamak. Interferometric and Thomson scattering measurements confirmed a deep jet penetration and a fast density rise (<0.5 ms) at all spatial points up to the radius r H 0.3a. The injection did not result in plasma degradation

Dense plasma source development and jet injection in Globus-M*

Progress in the development of a plasma jet source and its utilization for injection of hydrogen plasma and neutral gas jets into the Globus-M spherical tokamak are presented. The latest version of the high kinetic energy gas and plasma jet source with titanium hydride grains is described. Reproducibility of the gas jet generation was increased due to automatic loading of fresh grains into the source before every shot. It allows producing stable gas release for many discharges. Impurity radiation intensity from the plasma jet was decreased by more than 100 times by preliminary processing titanium hydrate grains and developing a new filter. The result of special experiments on two colliding jets is discussed. It was confirmed that the plasma jet recombines into a gas jet after it escapes the source edge and has a kinetic energy higher than the hydrogen ionization potential. Hydrogen plasma jet with low impurity content has a density up to 2 × 1022 m-3, a total number of accelerated particles (1-5) × 1019 and a flow velocity of ~ 200 km/s. It was used as an instrument for density control in Globus-M. Jet injection into deuterium plasma core during current plateau phase led to fast density increase in all spatial points of the plasma column including the plasma central region. Such injection allowed density doubling in the tokamak plasma. The model predictions are consistent with the experimental observations of the density raise recorded by the interferometer and Thomson scattering

Protecting the seagrass biome: report from the traditional seagrass knowledge working group

To advance the notion that TEKW may strengthen regional efforts to protect the seagrass biome, scientists from Iceland, Spain, France, Malta, United Kingdom, Sweden, Germany, Australia, Japan and the United States recently formed the Traditional Seagrass Knowledge (TSK) Working Group at the Fourth International Seagrass Biology Workshop (Corsica). This effort is guided by studies that demonstrate seagrass flora had both cultural and socio-economic value for coastal dwellers in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific for many generations