Disfluency characteristics of nonstuttering children and children with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder

The purpose of this,study was to compare the frequency and type of disfluencies elicited by children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Typically Developing children (TD). Fourteen children age 7-6 to 10-6 years old were analyzed for disfluencies on an Original Story Telling Task (GST) and a Story Telling Task with Pictures (ST-P) tasks. Conture\u27s within-word and between-word classification system was used to identify and tabulate the frequency and type of disfluencies. The following research questions were asked: (1) Are children with ADHD more disfluent than their TD peers? (2) Are the Disfluencies elicited by children with ADHD qualitatively different from those elicited by the TD children? (3) Are the type and frequency of disfluencies produced on the Original Story Telling Task (OST) different from, those produced on the Story Telling Task with Pictures (ST-P)? A four way ANOVA was utilized to answer all research questions and the Wilk\u27s Lambda analysis was used to determine significant differences. Analysis indicated there were significant differences between the TD and ADHD participants for percent and type of disfluencies. The participants with ADHD were significantly more disfluent than the TD participants (p=0.046). Disfluencies were identified by type using Conture (1990) classification system. Results indicated that there was a significant difference between the type of disfluencies for children with ADHD compared to TD children (p=0.023). Overall the two groups (ADHD and TD) exhibited significantly more Normal Disfluencies (mean-3.5%) than Stuttered Disfluencies (mean=2.2%). Overall the ADHD participants were more disfluent that the TD participants, but the story telling task did not appear to affect the disfluencies for either group. Thus indicating that there was not a significant task effect for either group. The difference between the mean percent of disfluencies on the GST and the ST-P for the TD participants was 0.118% and for the participants with ADHD the mean difference was 0.506%. This difference was not significant

CityScapeLab Berlin: A Research Platform for Untangling Urbanization Effects on Biodiversity

Urban biodiversity conservation requires an understanding of how urbanization modulates biodiversity patterns and the associated ecosystem services. While important advances have been made in the conceptual development of urban biodiversity research over the last decades, challenges remain in understanding the interactions between different groups of taxa and the spatiotemporal complexity of urbanization processes. The CityScapeLab Berlin is a novel experimental research platform that allows the testing of theories on how urbanization affects biodiversity patterns and biotic interactions in general and the responses of species of conservation interest in particular. We chose dry grassland patches as the backbone of the research platform because dry grasslands are common in many urban regions, extend over a wide urbanization gradient, and usually harbor diverse and self-assembled communities. Focusing on a standardized type of model ecosystem allowed the urbanization effects on biodiversity to be unraveled from effects that would otherwise be masked by habitat- and land-use effects. The CityScapeLab combines different types of spatiotemporal data on (i) various groups of taxa from different trophic levels, (ii) environmental parameters on different spatial scales, and (iii) on land-use history. This allows for the unraveling of the effects of current and historical urban conditions on urban biodiversity patterns and the related ecological functions.BMBF, 01LC1501, BIBS-Verbund: Bridging in Biodiversity Science (BIBS

Emerging Urban Forests: Opportunities for Promoting the Wild Side of the Urban Green Infrastructure

Many cities aim to increase urban forest cover to benefit residents through the provision of ecosystem services and to promote biodiversity. As a complement to traditional forest plantings, we address opportunities associated with “emerging urban forests” (i.e., spontaneously developing forests in cities) for urban biodiversity conservation. We quantified the area of successional forests and analyzed the species richness of native and alien plants and of invertebrates (carabid beetles, spiders) in emerging forests dominated by alien or native trees, including Robinia pseudoacacia, Acer platanoides, and Betula pendula. Emerging urban forests were revealed as shared habitats of native and alien species. Native species richness was not profoundly affected by the alien (co-)dominance of the canopy. Instead, native and alien plant species richnesses were positively related. Numbers of endangered plants and invertebrates did not differ between native- and alien-dominated forest patches. Patterns of tree regeneration indicate different successional trajectories for novel forest types. We conclude that these forests (i) provide habitats for native and alien species, including some endangered species, (ii) allow city dwellers to experience wild urban nature, and (iii) support arguments for adapting forests to dynamic urban environments. Integrating emerging urban forests into the urban green infrastructure is a promising pathway to sustainable cities and can complement traditional restoration or greening approaches.BMBF, 01LC1501, Bridging in Biodiversity Science (BIBS

Neoadjuvant trials in early breast cancer: pathological response at surgery and correlation to longer term outcomes - what does it all mean?

BACKGROUND: Neoadjuvant breast cancer trials are important for speeding up the introduction of new treatments for patients with early breast cancer and for the highly productive translational research which they facilitate. Meta-analysis of trial data shows clear correlation between pathological response at surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy and longer-term outcomes at an individual patient level. However, this does not appear to be present on individual trial level analysis, when correlating improved outcome for the investigational arm for the primary endpoint (pathological response) with longer-term outcomes. DISCUSSION: The correlation between pathological response and longer-term outcomes in trials is dependent on many factors. These include definitions of pathological response, both complete and partial; assessment methods for pathological response at surgery; subtype and prognosis of breast cancer at diagnosis; number of patients recruited; adjuvant treatments; the mechanism of action of the investigational drug; the length of follow-up at the time of reporting; the definitions used in longer-term outcomes analysis; clonal heterogeneity; and new adaptive trial designs with additional neo/adjuvant treatments. Future developments of neoadjuvant breast cancer trials are discussed. With so many factors influencing the correlation of longer-term outcomes for trial-level data, we conclude that the main focus of neoadjuvant trials should remain the primary endpoint of pathological response. Neoadjuvant breast cancer trials are very important investigational studies that will continue to increase our understanding of the disease and offer the potential of more rapid introduction of new treatments for women with high-risk early breast cancer. In the future, we are likely to see both novel trial designs adopted in the neoadjuvant context and modifications of neo/adjuvant treatments for pathological non-responders within clinical trials. Both of these have the intention of improving longer-term outcomes for patients who do not have a good pathological response to first-line neoadjuvant treatment. If successful, these developments are likely to reduce further any positive correlation between pathological response and longer-term outcomes

In Silico Approaches and the Role of Ontologies in Aging Research

The 2013 Rostock Symposium on Systems Biology and Bioinformatics in Aging Research was again dedicated to dissecting the aging process using in silico means. A particular focus was on ontologies, as these are a key technology to systematically integrate heterogeneous information about the aging process. Related topics were databases and data integration. Other talks tackled modeling issues and applications, the latter including talks focussed on marker development and cellular stress as well as on diseases, in particular on diseases of kidney and skin

Identification of non-muscle myosin heavy chain as a substrate for Cdk5 and tool for drug screening

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Deregulated activation of cyclin-dependent kinase-5 (Cdk5) is implicated in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. One of the restricting factors for developing specific Cdk5 inhibitors is the lack of reproducible and well-characterized cellular in vitro assay systems.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>HEK293 cells were transfected with Cdk5 and its activator p25 as a starting point for an assay to screen for Cdk5 kinase inhibitors. To identify suitable substrates for Cdk5 we utilized an antibody that recognizes phospho serine in a consensus motif for Cdk substrates.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Western blot analysis of transfected cells detected a 200 kDa band that was identified, by mass spectrometry, as non-muscle myosin heavy chain, type B (NMHC-B). Phosphorylation of NMHC-B was evident only in cells that were double transfected with Cdk5/p25 and was dose-dependently inhibited by Roscovitine and other Cdk5 inhibitors. Cdk5 was found to phosphorylate NMHC-B also in the human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A novel Cdk5 substrate NMHC-B was identified in this study. A cellular assay for screening of Cdk5 inhibitors was established using NMHC-B phosphorylation as a read-out in Cdk5/p25 transfected HEK293 cells. A novel Cdk5 inhibitor was also pharmacologically characterized in this assay system.</p

HERRING Impact Report Herring spawning areas - present and future challenges

The Impact Report presents the research about the ecological conditions of herring spawning grounds in the case study areas and what present and future challenges they face.https://commons.wmu.se/herring/1001/thumbnail.jp