Reporting on psychological well-being of older adults with chronic aphasia in the context of unaffected peers

Abstract Purpose: It is important that professionals working with individuals with acquired neurogenic communication disorders consider their clients’ psychological wellbeing. Much is known about the significant emotional, social and psychological consequences of aphasia after stroke, however little is known about individuals’ psychological wellbeing. This paper reports the psychological wellbeing of community-dwelling older adults with chronic aphasia in the context of their unaffected peers. Method: Thirty participants affected by aphasia and 75 unaffected participants completed the 24-item measure How I Feel About Myself drawn originally from Ryff (1989) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (Sheikh & Yesavage, 1986). Results: Individuals with aphasia after stroke had statistically similar range and average psychological wellbeing as the unaffected population, with the exception of lower environmental mastery (independence) and lower mood. Furthermore, a substantial number of individuals (affected and unaffected) reported lower than average psychological wellbeing. Conclusions: Many persons with chronic aphasia need support to manage the demands and responsibilities of their everyday lives and raise their mood. Clinicians need to be aware of this possibility and formally assess all persons with aphasia, as well as explore the potential impact of physical limitations. Identifying low well-being in older adults is important for all professionals working with the ageing population. The implications for speech and language therapy and for multi-disciplinary research and cross-sector joint working (health, social and community services) are discussed

Lunar orbital photogaphic planning charts for candidate Apollo J-missions

A technique is presented for minimizing Mapping Camera film usage by reducing redundant coverage while meeting the desired sidelap of greater than or equal to 55%. The technique uses the normal groundtrack separation determined as a function of the number of revolutions between the respective tracks, of the initial and final nodal azimuths (or orbital inclination), and of the lunar latitude. The technique is also applicable for planning Panoramic Camera photography such that photographic contiguity is attained but redundant coverage is minimized. Graphs are included for planning mapping camera (MC) and panoramic camera (PC) photographic passes for a specific mission (i.e., specific groundtracks) to Descartes (Apollo 16), for specific missions to potential Apollo 17 sites such as Alphonsus, Proclus, Gassendi, Davy, and Tycho, and for a potential Apollo orbit-only mission with a nodal azimuth of 85 deg. Graphs are also included for determining the maximum number of revolutions which can elapse between successive MC and PC passes, for greater than or equal 55% sidelap and rectified contiguity respectively, for nodal azimuths between 5 deg and 85 deg

Evidence-based practice and audiological interventions

Workshop 4postprin

Conversation Repair and Acquired Hearing Impairment: A Preliminary Quantitative Clinical Study

"Article Copyright 2004 The Authors." "Published edition Copyright 2004 Australian Academic Press. Published version of the paper reproduced here with permission from the publisher."This report provides a quantitative summary of the initial findings in a series of investigations into the validity and reliability of repair behaviour recorded in free conversation in clinical settings between adults who have acquired hearing impairments (HIs) and their frequent communication partners (FCPs). Seven adults who have severe or greater acquired HIs (and who had subsequently been either fitted with hearing aids or undergone cochlear implanta-tion) were audio-recorded undertaking a 20-minute free conversation in a quiet clinical setting with their chosen FCP. Transcriptions of the conversations were analysed for the occurrence of repair sequences following the Conversation Analysis (CA) model. A total of 735 completed repair sequences were identi-fied across the seven conversations, the majority occurring within the same turn as the trouble source. No difference was noted in the frequency with which all but one trajectory was initiated by either the HI or FCP participants. Repairs initiated by the HI participant and repaired by the FCP in response to a trouble source in a previous turn by the FCP occurred significantly more often than the same sequence initiated by the FCPs. The results empha-sise the usefulness of framing repair activity arising from acquired HI in the broader conversational act of repairing and the CA model

Roles of the Bloom's syndrome helicase in the maintenance of genome stability

The RecQ family of DNA helicases is highly conserved in evolution from bacteria to humans. Of the five known human RecQ family members, three (BLM, WRN and RECQ4, which cause Bloom's syndrome, Werner's syndrome and Rothmund-Thomson syndrome respectively) are mutated in distinct clinical disorders associated with cancer predisposition and/or premature aging. BLM forms part of a multienzyme complex including topoisomerase IIIalpha, replication protein A and a newly identified factor called BLAP75. Together, these proteins play a role in the resolution of DNA structures that arise during the process of homologous recombination repair. In the absence of BLM, cells show genomic instability and a high incidence of sister-chromatid exchanges. In addition to a DNA structure-specific helicase activity, BLM also catalyses Holliday-junction branch migration and the annealing of complementary single-stranded DNA molecules

Compact groups in theory and practice - I. The spatial properties of compact groups

We use a mock galaxy catalogue based upon the Millennium Run simulation to investigate the intrinsic spatial properties of compact groups of galaxies. We find that approximately 30% of galaxy associations identified in our mock catalogue are physically dense systems of four or more galaxies with no interlopers, approximately half are close associations of 2, 3 or 4 galaxies with one or more interlopers, and the remainder are not physically dense. Genuine compact groups are preferentially brighter and more isolated than those with interlopers; by increasing the required minimum surface brightness of a group from the canonical value of 26mags/arcsec^2 to 22mags/arcsec^2, we can increase the proportion of genuinely compact systems identified with no interlopers from 29% to 75%. Of the genuine compact groups identified, more than half consist of a single dark matter halo with all the member galaxies deeply embedded within it. In some cases, there are other galaxies which share the same halo (typically with mass ~ 10^13 h^{-1} M_\odot) but which are not identified as being members of the compact group. This implies that compact groups are associated with group environments, some or all members of which are in the compact group. For those compact groups where all galaxies are in the same halo, the three-dimensional velocity dispersion of the compact group correlates broadly with the virial velocity of the dark matter halo. However, the scale-size of the group - and hence the fraction of the halo mass which the group samples - is completely uncorrelated with the properties of the dark matter halo. This means that masses derived under the simple assumption of virial equilibrium using the observed velocity dispersions and sizes of compact groups give incorrect estimates of the true mass of the underlying dark matter.Comment: 12 pages, 9 figures. Accepted for publication in MNRA

Impact of Sodium Layer variations on the performance of the E-ELT MCAO module

Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics systems based on sodium Laser Guide Stars may exploit Natural Guide Stars to solve intrinsic limitations of artificial beacons (tip-tilt indetermination and anisoplanatism) and to mitigate the impact of the sodium layer structure and variability. The sodium layer may also have transverse structures leading to differential effects among Laser Guide Stars. Starting from the analysis of the input perturbations related to the Sodium Layer variability, modeled directly on measured sodium layer profiles, we analyze, through a simplified end-to-end simulation code, the impact of the low/medium orders induced on global performance of the European Extremely Large Telescope Multi-Conjugate Adaptive Optics module MAORY.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, SPIE conference Proceedin

“When that understanding is there, you work much better together”: the role of family in audiological rehabilitation for older adults

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to explore the experiences and perceptions of adults with hearing impairment and family members regarding the role of family in audiological rehabilitation. DESIGN: A qualitative descriptive methodology was used. STUDY SAMPLE: A total of 37 people participated, 24 older adults with hearing impairment and 13 family members (11 spouses and 2 adult children). Four focus group interviews were conducted with the adults with hearing impairment, and 3 with family members. RESULTS: Five key themes emerged from analysis of the transcripts: (1) knowledge and understanding of hearing impairment and treatment; (2) the role of family members in rehabilitation is complex and multifaceted; (3) audiologists have an influential role in facilitating family member involvement; (4) the role of communication in rehabilitation; and (5) outcomes of family member involvement. Importantly, although perceptions were generally very positive, there was some uncertainty about the role of family. CONCLUSIONS: Audiologists have a key role in facilitating family involvement in audiological rehabilitation that is identified by adults with hearing impairment and their families. Although participants reported limited involvement in audiological rehabilitation currently, they identified potential for involvement in areas such as goal setting and decision-making

Use of probiotic Lactobacillus preparation to prevent diarrhoea associated with antibiotics: randomised double blind placebo controlled trial

Objective To determine the efficacy of a probiotic drink containing Lactobacillus for the prevention of any diarrhoea associated with antibiotic use and that caused by Clostridium difficile. Design Randomised double blind placebo controlled study. Participants 135 hospital patients (mean age 74) taking antibiotics. Exclusions included diarrhoea on admission, bowel pathology that could result in diarrhoea, antibiotic use in the previous four weeks, severe illness, immunosuppression, bowel surgery, artificial heart valves, and history of rheumatic heart disease or infective endocarditis. Intervention Consumption of a 100 g (97 ml) drink containing Lactobacillus casei, L bulgaricus, and Streptococcus thermophilus twice a day during a course of antibiotics and for one week after the course finished. The placebo group received a longlife sterile milkshake. Main outcome measures Primary outcome: occurrence of antibiotic associated diarrhoea. Secondary outcome: presence of C difficile toxin and diarrhoea. Results 7/57 (12%) of the probiotic group developed diarrhoea associated with antibiotic use compared with 19/56 (34%) in the placebo group (P=0.007). Logistic regression to control for other factors gave an odds ratio 0.25 (95% confidence interval 0.07 to 0.85) for use of the probiotic, with low albumin and sodium also increasing the risk of diarrhoea. The absolute risk reduction was 21.6% (6.6% to 36.6%), and the number needed to treat was 5 (3 to 15). No one in the probiotic group and 9/53 (17%) in the placebo group had diarrhoea caused by C difficile (P=0.001). The absolute risk reduction was 17% (7% to 27%), and the number needed to treat was 6 (4 to 14). Conclusion Consumption of a probiotic drink containing L casei, L bulgaricus, and S thermophilus reduce the incidence of antibiotic associated diarrhoea and C difficile associated diarrhoea. This has the potential to decrease morbidity, healthcare costs, and mortality if used routinely in patients aged over 50

First Assessment of Mountains on Northwestern Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, as Potential Astronomical Observing Sites

Ellesmere Island, at the most northerly tip of Canada, possesses the highest mountain peaks within 10 degrees of the pole. The highest is 2616 m, with many summits over 1000 m, high enough to place them above a stable low-elevation thermal inversion that persists through winter darkness. Our group has studied four mountains along the northwestern coast which have the additional benefit of smooth onshore airflow from the ice-locked Arctic Ocean. We deployed small robotic site testing stations at three sites, the highest of which is over 1600 m and within 8 degrees of the pole. Basic weather and sky clarity data for over three years beginning in 2006 are presented here, and compared with available nearby sea-level data and one manned mid-elevation site. Our results point to coastal mountain sites experiencing good weather: low median wind speed, high clear-sky fraction and the expectation of excellent seeing. Some practical aspects of access to these remote locations and operation and maintenance of equipment there are also discussed.Comment: 21 pages, 2 tables, 15 figures; accepted for publication in PAS