Parental assessment of speech and language development for children older than three years

Logopedi imaju ključnu ulogu u postupku procjene djetetova jezičnog, govornog i komunikacijskog razvoja, no važna karika u tom procesu su i roditelji/skrbnici djece čije su jezične, govorne i komunikacijske sposobnosti u središtu procjene. Niz je istraživanja potvrdio da roditelji, posebice majke, predstavljaju pouzdan izvor informacija o jezičnom i komunikacijskom razvoju svoje djece. Naime, roditelji često zamjećuju određena ponašanja kod djeteta, a koja nije moguće uočiti unutar ograničenog trajanja formalne procjene. Međutim, većina istraživanja o roditeljskoj procjeni bila su usmjerena na uočavanje ponašanja djece mlađe od tri godine. Stoga je cilj ovoga rada bio ispitati roditeljsku procjenu jezičnog i govornog razvoja u dobi nakon treće godine, i to s obzirom na dob i spol djeteta te spol i obrazovanje roditelja koji je procjenjivao djetetov jezični i govorni razvoj. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 364 roditelja djece urednog jezično-govornog razvoja u dobi od tri, četiri i pet godina iz devet županija Republike Hrvatske. Ispitni se materijal sastojao od ukupno tri upitnika različita za tri dobne skupine djece (tri, četiri i pet godina), kojima su roditelji kod svoje djece procjenjivali govor na razini izgovora i razumljivosti, jezične sposobnosti na razini fonologije, morfosintakse, semantike i pragmatike te znanje o jeziku – metajezik. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da roditelji kod djece starije od tri godine uočavaju mjerene varijable jezičnog i govornog razvoja. Roditelji trogodišnjaka najviše uočavaju promjene na morfosintaktičkoj i pragmatičkoj razini, roditelji četverogodišnjaka obilježja semantike, a roditelji petogodišnjaka promjene na razini metajezika. Obrazovanje roditelja ima ulogu samo u procjeni jezičnih sposobnosti u dobi od tri i četiri godine, i to pri uočavanju onih obilježja koja su u navedenim dobima tek u začecima razvoja.Speech-language pathologists play an important role in the assessment of a child`s speech, language and communication abilities. However, parent reports of their own children\u27s language are also very important. Numerous studies have demonstrated that parents, especially mothers, are a very reliable source of information about their children\u27s language development. In fact, parents can observe behavior that occurs rarely and that is often nearly invisible in a formal setting. To date, most studies of parental assessment have focused on the assessment of children younger than three years of age. The main aim of this study was to investigate parental ability to assess speech and language behavior of children older than three years. The influence of child and parent gender and parental education on the accuracy of the assessment was also assessed. The study sample consisted of 364 parents of children with typical language development at the age of three, four and five years. All parents completed a questionnaire about the speech and language behavior of their children. Three different questionnaire forms were created, one for each age group. All three questionnaires consisted of items related to the assessment of pronunciation and speech intelligibility, phonological, morphosyntactic, semantic, and pragmatic language abilities and language knowledge, or metalanguage. The results suggest that parents can observe all forms of speech and language behavior included in the research. The parents of the youngest children (age 3) mostly observed changes in the morphosyntactic and pragmatic skills of their children, while parents of 4-year-old children most frequently observed changes in semantic features. Parents of the oldest children in this study (age 5) mainly observed the metalanguage skills of their children. The educational level of parents` influences parental assessment only in cases when children were in the core of the assessment at the age of three or four years

2015/16 seasonal vaccine effectiveness against hospitalisation with influenza a(H1N1)pdm09 and B among elderly people in Europe: Results from the I-MOVE+ project

We conducted a multicentre test-negative caseâ\u80\u93control study in 27 hospitals of 11 European countries to measure 2015/16 influenza vaccine effectiveness (IVE) against hospitalised influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B among people aged â\u89¥ 65 years. Patients swabbed within 7 days after onset of symptoms compatible with severe acute respiratory infection were included. Information on demographics, vaccination and underlying conditions was collected. Using logistic regression, we measured IVE adjusted for potential confounders. We included 355 influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 cases, 110 influenza B cases, and 1,274 controls. Adjusted IVE against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 was 42% (95% confidence interval (CI): 22 to 57). It was 59% (95% CI: 23 to 78), 48% (95% CI: 5 to 71), 43% (95% CI: 8 to 65) and 39% (95% CI: 7 to 60) in patients with diabetes mellitus, cancer, lung and heart disease, respectively. Adjusted IVE against influenza B was 52% (95% CI: 24 to 70). It was 62% (95% CI: 5 to 85), 60% (95% CI: 18 to 80) and 36% (95% CI: -23 to 67) in patients with diabetes mellitus, lung and heart disease, respectively. 2015/16 IVE estimates against hospitalised influenza in elderly people was moderate against influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and B, including among those with diabetes mellitus, cancer, lung or heart diseases

Classification and feature analysis of the Human Connectome Project dataset for differentiating between males and females

We analysed features relevant for differentiation between males and females based on the data available from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) S1200 dataset. We used 354 features containing cognitive and emotional measures as well as measures derived from task functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and structural brain MRI. The paper presents a thorough analysis of this extensive set of features using a machine learning approach with a goal of identifying features that have the ability to differentiate between males and females. We used two state of the art classification algorithms with different properties: support vector machine (SVM) and random forest classifier (RFC). For each classifier the hyperparameters were obtained and classifiers were optimized using nested cross validation and grid search. This resulted in the classification performance of 91% and 89% accuracy using SVM and RFC, respectively. Using SHAP (SHapley Additive exPlanations) method we obtained relevance of features as indicators of sex differences and identified features with high discriminative power for sex classification. The majority of top features were brain morphological measures, and only a small proportion were features related to cognitive performance. Our results demonstrate the importance and advantages of using a machine learning approach when analysing sex differences

Improving Current Knowledge on Seroprevalence and Genetic Characterization of Swine Influenza Virus in Croatian Pig Farms: A Retrospective Study

In a total of 1536 blood serum samples analysed by ELISA, antibodies for IAV nucleoprotein (NP) were detected in 30.3%. Results from HI show that the most common subtype of swIAV in the Croatian pig population was H1N1 (44.6%), followed by H3N2 (42.7%) and H1N2 (26.3%). Antibodies to at least one subtype were detected in 62.19% of blood serum samples. Detection of swIAV antigen was performed by IHC and detected in 8 of 28 lung samples collected post-mortem. The matrix (M) gene was detected in nine of one hundred and forty-two lung tissue samples and in seven of twenty-nine nasopharyngeal swabs. Phylogenetic analysis of amplified HA and NA gene fragments in Croatian isolates suggests the presence of swIAV H1avN1av

Method for segmentation of the layers in the outer retina

This paper presents a method to determine the number of visible layers in the outer retina and perform segmentation. Each layer in the outer retina is represented by a Gaussian function, and multiple models with a different number of layers are used to form the outer retina. Parameters of competing models are calculated by using maximum likelihood estimation after which the model that best describes the data is selected. Model selection is based on the goodness of fit and model complexity thereby ensuring that the model that best represents the data is chosen. The method was applied to in-vivo macular images of human retinas acquired by optical coherence tomography after conversion to attenuation coefficients. Examples of detected number of visible layers and corresponding segmentation results are shown in both normal and retinitis pigmentosa affected retinas.</p

<i>Cordylobia anthropophaga</i> Myiasis Mimicking Hyperproliferative Skin Disorder in Traveler Returning from Sub-Saharan Africa

Myiasis is one of the most common skin diseases found in travelers returning from tropical and subtropical regions, where humans living in or visiting the African continent are most commonly infested by C. anthropophaga during the rainy season in regions with a warm climate. Here, we present a case of furuncular myiasis caused by C. anthropophaga in a Serbian patient returning from temporary work in Kenya, where the initial histology of skin lesion mimicked hyperproliferative skin disorder

Measles outbreak in Dubrovnik-Neretva County, Croatia, May to June 2018

In May 2018, measles was introduced in the Dubrovnik region by an adult who recently travelled to Kosovo*. Control measures and an outbreak investigation were implemented: 15 epidemiologically-linked cases met the outbreak case definition of a visitor/resident of Dubrovnik-Neretva County with laboratory-confirmed measles and symptom onset beginning on May 19. New cases were identified through hospitals and primary care physicians. Throat swabs, urine and/or serum samples were collected from outbreak cases. RT-PCR detection of viral RNA and IgM/IgG was used to confirm infection. The median age of cases was 33 years, with one 8 month-old infant. Vaccination status was unknown for 9 cases, three were unvaccinated, one case had history of one dose and two cases reported receiving two doses of measles-containing vaccine. There were 11 hospitalisations and one person developed pneumonia. Control teams undertook an extensive search of contacts and implemented a range of control measures. Despite the outbreak occurring at the beginning of the summer tourism season, it was contained and did not spread to neighbouring regions. With continuing measles transmission in Europe, even small outbreaks create a burden on the health system in countries which have eliminated measles, and illustrate the importance of maintaining high immunisation coverag