Dynamics in Interaction in Bilingual Team Teaching : Examples from a Finnish Preschool Classroom

The current study aims to explore team teaching as it is manifested in bilingual interactional patterns in a preschool classroom in Finland. The data was collected in a preschool classroom where a bilingual pedagogy in Finnish (majority language) and Swedish (minority language) was implemented with monolingual Finnishspeaking children. Video recordings were made while two teachers with different predefined language roles were team teaching a class of 20 children during two circle times. A two-level analytic model was developed: on the macro level activity types, participant roles (type of leadership) and language allocation (the teachers’ relative use of Finnish and Swedish) were identified, and on the micro level teacher interaction was analysed in detail in terms of turn-taking patterns and language use. The findings are analysed in relation to the predefined roles of the two teachers – one as a Finnish speaker and the other as a bilingual Swedish/Finnish speaker. The results show extensive dynamics in how the predefined participant and language roles were put into practice: all three types of leadership (single, alternated and co-leadership) were identified in the data and both the teachers communicated both monolingually and bilingually in the various circle time activities. When communicating bilingually, the teachers applied strategies such as code-switching, avoidance of translation and the use of scaffolding to support understanding. Separation strategies (separation by person, topic or purpose) also appeared in the data, however. The two teachers’ cooperation was smooth and they supported and assisted each other in various ways both academically and linguistically.peerReviewe

Role of prenatal magnetic resonance imaging in fetuses with isolated anomalies of corpus callosum: multinational study

Objective To assess the performance of fetal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in detecting associated anomalies in fetuses diagnosed with isolated corpus callosal (CC) anomaly on multiplanar ultrasound evaluation of the fetal brain (neurosonography). Methods This was a multicenter, retrospective cohort study involving 14 fetal medicine centers in Italy, UK, Portugal, Canada, Austria and Spain. Inclusion criteria were fetuses with an apparently isolated CC anomaly, defined as an anomaly of the CC and no other additional central nervous system (CNS) or extra-CNS abnormality detected on expert ultrasound, including multiplanar neurosonography; normal karyotype; maternal age >= 18 years; and gestational age at diagnosis >= 18 weeks. The primary outcome was the rate of additional CNS abnormalities detected exclusively on fetal MRI within 2 weeks following neurosonography. The secondary outcomes were the rate of additional abnormalities according to the type of CC abnormality (complete (cACC) or partial (pACC) agenesis of the CC) and the rate of additional anomalies detected only on postnatal imaging or at postmortem examination. Results A total of 269 fetuses with a sonographic prenatal diagnosis of apparently isolated CC anomalies (207 with cACC and 62 with pACC) were included in the analysis. Additional structural anomalies of the CNS were detected exclusively on prenatal MRI in 11.2% (30/269) of cases, with malformations of cortical development representing the most common type of anomaly. When stratifying the analysis according to the type of CC anomaly, the rate of associated anomalies detected exclusively on MRI was 11.6% (24/207) in cACC cases and 9.7% (6/62) in pACC cases. On multivariate logistic regression analysis, only maternal body mass index was associated independently with the likelihood of detecting associated anomalies on MRI (odds ratio, 1.07 (95% CI, 1.01-1.14); P = 0.03). Associated anomalies were detected exclusively after delivery and were missed on both types of prenatal imaging in 3.9% (8/205) of fetuses with prenatal diagnosis of isolated anomaly of the CC. Conclusion In fetuses with isolated anomaly of the CC diagnosed on antenatal neurosonography, MRI can identify a small proportion of additional anomalies, mainly malformations of cortical development, which are not detected on ultrasound. (c) 2021 International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology

Dynamic illumination of spatially restricted or large brain volumes via a single tapered optical fiber

Optogenetics promises spatiotemporal precise control of neural processes using light. However, the spatial extent of illumination within the brain is difficult to control and cannot be adjusted using standard fiber optics. We demonstrate that optical fibers with tapered tips can be used to illuminate either spatially restricted or large brain volumes. Remotely adjusting the light input angle to the fiber varies the light-emitting portion of the taper over several millimeters without movement of the implant. We use this mode to activate dorsal versus ventral striatum of individual mice and reveal different effects of each manipulation on motor behavior. Conversely, injecting light over the full numerical aperture of the fiber results in light emission from the entire taper surface, achieving broader and more efficient optogenetic activation of neurons when compared to the standard flat-faced fiber stimulation. Thus, tapered fibers permit focal or broad illumination that can be precisely and dynamically matched to experimental needs