Estimates of functional cerebral hemispheric differences in monolingual and bilingual people who stutter.

Purpose: The aim of this research was to examine the relationship between stuttering and bilingualism to hemispheric asymmetry for the processing and production of language. Methods: A total of 80 native speakers of German were recruited for the study, ranging in age from 15 to 58 years. Out of those 80 participants, 40 participants were also proficient speakers of English as a second language (L2). The participants were organised into four speaker groups (20 per group) according to language ability and speech status, consisting of monolinguals who stutter (MWS), monolinguals who do not stutter (MWNS), bilinguals who stutter (BWS), and bilinguals who do not stutter (BWNS). Each of the four groups comprised 12 males and 8 females. All participants completed a battery of behavioural assessments measuring functional cerebral hemispheric asymmetry during language processing and production. The behavioural tests included (1) a dichotic listening paradigm, (2) a visual hemifield paradigm, and (3) a dual-task paradigm. Results: Overall, the results showed no significant differences in language lateralisation between participant groups on the three behavioural tests. However group differences were identified in regard to executive functions on the visual hemifield and dual-task paradigms. Both bilingual groups showed significantly faster reaction times and fewer errors than the two monolingual groups on the visual hemifield paradigm. The bilingual groups also performed similarly on the dual-task paradigm, while the MWS group tended to show greater task disruption. No meaningful relationship was found between stuttering severity and the majority of results obtained for the test conditions. However, all four language modalities were found to correlate significantly with results obtained for the visual hemifield and dual-task paradigms, suggesting that performance on these tests increased with higher L2 proficiency. Conclusion: Although no differences in language lateralisation were found, it appears that bilingualism had a greater influence on functional cerebral hemispheric processing than stuttering. A prevailing finding was that bilingualism seems to be able to offset deficits in executive functioning associated with stuttering. Brain reserve and cognitive reserve are thought to have a close interrelationship with the executive control system. Cognitive reserve may have been reflected in the present study, resulting in a bilingual cognitive advantage. Hence, the results of the present study lend support to previous findings implicating the benefits of bilingualism

Разработка проекта мобильного event-приложения для деловых туристов г. Томска

Как с помощью ИКТ повысить комфортность пребывания и персонифицировать обслуживание деловых туристов г. Томска? Объект - деловой туризм. Предмет - влияние информационных технологий на развитие делового туризма. Цель - создание проекта мобильного event-приложения для деловых туристов г. Томска. Создан уникальный продукт по зарубежным аналогам, адаптированный под инфраструктуру г. Томска, дающий информационное удобство и комфорт деловым туристам.How to improve the comfort of staying and personalize the service of business tourists in Tomsk with the help of ICT? Object - business tourism. The subject is the influence of information technologies on the development of business tourism. The goal is to create a mobile event project for business tourists in Tomsk. A unique product has been created for foreign analogues, adapted for the infrastructure of Tomsk, which gives information convenience and comfort to business tourists

Review and application of Artificial Neural Networks models in reliability analysis of steel structures

This paper presents a survey on the development and use of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models in structural reliability analysis. The survey identifies the different types of ANNs, the methods of structural reliability assessment that are typically used, the techniques proposed for ANN training set improvement and also some applications of ANN approximations to structural design and optimization problems. ANN models are then used in the reliability analysis of a ship stiffened panel subjected to uniaxial compression loads induced by hull girder vertical bending moment, for which the collapse strength is obtained by means of nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA). The approaches adopted combine the use of adaptive ANN models to approximate directly the limit state function with Monte Carlo simulation (MCS), first order reliability methods (FORM) and MCS with importance sampling (IS), for reliability assessment. A comprehensive comparison of the predictions of the different reliability methods with ANN based LSFs and classical LSF evaluation linked to the FEA is provided

Intravenous alteplase for stroke with unknown time of onset guided by advanced imaging: systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data

Background: Patients who have had a stroke with unknown time of onset have been previously excluded from thrombolysis. We aimed to establish whether intravenous alteplase is safe and effective in such patients when salvageable tissue has been identified with imaging biomarkers. Methods: We did a systematic review and meta-analysis of individual patient data for trials published before Sept 21, 2020. Randomised trials of intravenous alteplase versus standard of care or placebo in adults with stroke with unknown time of onset with perfusion-diffusion MRI, perfusion CT, or MRI with diffusion weighted imaging-fluid attenuated inversion recovery (DWI-FLAIR) mismatch were eligible. The primary outcome was favourable functional outcome (score of 0–1 on the modified Rankin Scale [mRS]) at 90 days indicating no disability using an unconditional mixed-effect logistic-regression model fitted to estimate the treatment effect. Secondary outcomes were mRS shift towards a better functional outcome and independent outcome (mRS 0–2) at 90 days. Safety outcomes included death, severe disability or death (mRS score 4–6), and symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. This study is registered with PROSPERO, CRD42020166903. Findings: Of 249 identified abstracts, four trials met our eligibility criteria for inclusion: WAKE-UP, EXTEND, THAWS, and ECASS-4. The four trials provided individual patient data for 843 individuals, of whom 429 (51%) were assigned to alteplase and 414 (49%) to placebo or standard care. A favourable outcome occurred in 199 (47%) of 420 patients with alteplase and in 160 (39%) of 409 patients among controls (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1·49 [95% CI 1·10–2·03]; p=0·011), with low heterogeneity across studies (I2=27%). Alteplase was associated with a significant shift towards better functional outcome (adjusted common OR 1·38 [95% CI 1·05–1·80]; p=0·019), and a higher odds of independent outcome (adjusted OR 1·50 [1·06–2·12]; p=0·022). In the alteplase group, 90 (21%) patients were severely disabled or died (mRS score 4–6), compared with 102 (25%) patients in the control group (adjusted OR 0·76 [0·52–1·11]; p=0·15). 27 (6%) patients died in the alteplase group and 14 (3%) patients died among controls (adjusted OR 2·06 [1·03–4·09]; p=0·040). The prevalence of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage was higher in the alteplase group than among controls (11 [3%] vs two [<1%], adjusted OR 5·58 [1·22–25·50]; p=0·024). Interpretation: In patients who have had a stroke with unknown time of onset with a DWI-FLAIR or perfusion mismatch, intravenous alteplase resulted in better functional outcome at 90 days than placebo or standard care. A net benefit was observed for all functional outcomes despite an increased risk of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage. Although there were more deaths with alteplase than placebo, there were fewer cases of severe disability or death. Funding: None

Pulmonary vein isolation in patients with paroxysmal and persistent atrial fibrillation

Viele Studien zeigen, dass die zirkumferente Pulmonalvenenisolation(CPVI) bei Patienten mit paroxysmalem Vorhofflimmern der CPVI bei Patienten persistierendem VHF überlegen ist. Dies konnte in der aktuellen Untersuchung bestätigt werden. Obwohl sich die Untersuchungsmodalitäten und die CPVI bei Patienten mit persistierendem VHF aufwendiger darstellen, sind weder die Komplikationsrate noch die Inzidenz von atypischem Vorhofflattern nach der RFA bei diesen Patienten erhöht. Somit ist weder die Komplikationsrate noch das Auftreten von atypischem Vorhofflattern an die Form des Vorhofflimmerns gebunden. Die Reevaluation der Pulmonalvenenisolation bei Patienten mit Rezidiven zeigt, dass die erholte Leitungsfähigkeit der Pulmonalvenen bei insgesamt 92% der Patienten den Grund für den Rückfall darstellte. Dies hebt die Rolle einer anhaltenden CPVI nochmals in den Vordergrund. Das Bestehen von Klappenvitien und das Auftreten eines Frührezidivs waren in der aktuellen Untersuchung signifikante Prädiktoren für das Auftreten eines Rezidivs nach der Erstablation. Das Bestehen einer arteriellen Hypertonie war ein signifikanter Prädiktor bei Patienten mit paroxysmalem VHF und die COPD wies einen Trend für einen Misserfolg bei Patienten mit persistierendem VHF auf. Diese Ergebnisse stellen einen Ansatz für eine individuellere Behandlung der Patienten mit Vorhofflimmern dar. Zudem zeigte die aktuelle Untersuchung, dass auch Patienten, welche nach der Ablation ein Jahr und mehr im Sinusrhythmus verblieben sind, weiterhin Rückfälle erleiden. Die Gefahr eines Rezidivs, wie auch das erhöhte Schlaganfallrisiko, besteht somit auch bei langjährig erhaltenem Sinusrhythmus weiter. Folglich sollte auch bei bisher rezidivfreien Patienten die Antikoagulation fortgeführt werden, wenn der Patient (nach CHADS2) ein erhöhtes thromboembolisches Risiko aufweist.Several studies have shown pulmonary vein isolation to be less promising in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation than in patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation (AF). This finding is reproduced in the current study. While the procedure in itself proves to be more complex in patients with persistent atrial fibrillation, the incidence of complications and proarythmias after the interventions are similar in both groups. A reevaluation of the electric isolation of the pulmonary veins at redo interventions following relapses of atrial fibrillation shows the recovery of electric conduction from at least one pulmonary vein to be the origin of the relapse in 92% of patients. This underlines the importance of the pulmonary veins in the genesis as well as perpetuation of atrial fibrillation Further, the current study shows that the risk for recurrence remains even in patients with a long term success. Thus, an anticoagulation therapy should not be discontinued in such patients, as the increased thromboembolic risk persists. The existence of valve dysfunction and the occurrence of an early recurrence are significant predictors for an unsuccessful primary intervention. In patients with paroxzsmal AF the existence of arterial hypertension is a predictor for relapse and in patients with persistent AF the existence of a COPD shows a trend for a recurrence of AF. Further studies are needed to make a clear statement on behalf of valid predictors for a recurrence of AF

Robuster Reglerentwurf auf Grundlage der Menge aller stabilisierenden PID-Regler

The book presents a new design method for PID-controllers in theory and practice meeting many limitations of today's methods. It addresses both experts in control theory and users of PID control loops in all engineering disciplines which want to apply the free available software tool PIDrobust (basing on MATLAB). Concerning important tuning criteria (pole placement, gain and phase margin) a PID-controller can be systematically designed possessing defined robustness properties w.r.t. parametric uncertainties. The focus is on the determination of the set of all stabilising controller parameters for an arbitrary linear proper plant model (including delay, unstable and non-minimal-phase systems of any order)