A comparison of left versus right hand, and mouse versus touchscreen access methods on the Computerized Revised Token Test

This study examined the effect of hand used to access mouse vs. touchscreen in both normal adult individuals (NAI) and persons with aphasia (PWA) on the overall score from the Computerized Revised Token Test (CRTT) (McNeil et al., 2008). Both access modes were highly correlated with each other in both groups. PWA performed significantly worse than the NAI on both access modes, regardless of hand used. The touchscreen access mode generated significantly higher scores than the mouse for both groups independent of hand. The correlation coefficients within hand and between access modes were significant and high for both groups

Developing a standardized measure of short-term memory and syntactic complexity: results from subtests of the CRTT-R

Short-term memory (STM) effects have shown to be distinguishable from other working memory components supporting complex computations/central executive functions. To develop a measure capable of assessing the effects of STM and linguistic computations on sentence processing,  effects of syntactic complexity and padding were investigated with the Computerized Revised Token Test –Revised in individuals with aphasia and control participants.  Off-line measures revealed clear effects of both factors.  The expected interaction of complexity and padding  and overadditive effects for individuals with aphasia were not found. An effect of complexity on word errors in passive sentences for individuals was shown

Real-time Processing in Reading Sentence Comprehension for Normal Adult Individuals and Persons with Aphasia

The current study investigated whether persons with aphasia (PWA) exhibit longer processing times than normal adult individuals (NAI) in conditions that require more complex linguistic integration, using a self-paced word-by-word sentence reading method. The word-category comparison revealed that PWA show significantly longer reading times for nouns with high integration cost than for determiners with least linguistic integration cost compared to NAI. These results are consistent with the findings that PWA exhibit language-processing difficulties at points of high processing demand (Caplan, et al., 1985; McNeil, 1982)

Test-retest reliability of the auditory Computerized Revised Token Test (CRTT) and three experimental reading CRTT-R versions in normal elderly individuals and persons with aphasia

The purpose of this study was to assess the test-retest reliability of the Computerized Revised Token Test (CRTT) and three CRTT-R reading versions in normal elderly individuals (NEI) and in persons with aphasia (PWA). Results revealed high correlation coefficients between test and retest performance for all CRTT versions in the PWA and moderate to high correlations in the NEI. There were no significant differences among test-retest conditions for overall and subtest scores except for the reading word-fade condition (both groups) and auditory condition for the PWA. Overall, high test-retest reliability of the CRTT and the three CRTT-R versions was demonstrated

Concurrent Validation of the Computerized Revised Token Test (CRTT) and Three Experimental Reading Versions (CRTT-R) in Normal Elderly Individuals and Persons With Aphasia

This study evaluated one listening and three reading tasks with stimuli, scoring, and task requirements coherent for auditory and visual administrations of the Computerized Revised Token Test (CRTT), thus allowing for direct comparisons across modalities and language functions. Thirty Persons with Aphasia (PWA) and 30 Normal Elderly Individuals (NEI) received the four versions of the CRTT in random order. The Porch Index of Communicative Ability (PICA) and the Reading Comprehension Battery for Aphasia (RCBA) also were administered. In PWA the four versions were strongly related and highly correlated with the PICA and the RCBA. The NEI differed from this pattern

Automatic activation, interference and facilitation effects in persons with aphasia and normal adult controls on experimental CRTT-R-Stroop tasks

The current study investigated the effects of several color word congruent and incongruent “Stroop” tasks, within the context of a reading comprehension test (CRTT-R-wf-Stroop), in persons with aphasia (PWA) (N=25) and normal adults (NA) (N=29). Reading times, percentage of correct responses and CRTT-R-wf scores were examined for the color words. Both groups demonstrated significant vigilance and interference effects on RT ratios reflecting costs in sustained attention, interference/suppression effects and attentional switching. Both groups showed a facilitation effect on the CRTT-R-wf score. Unlike the NA, the PWA showed no attentional effects for the number of correct response on the color adjectives

Relationships between Working Memory Capacity and Listening and Reading Sentence Comprehension in Normal Elderly Individuals and Persons with Aphasia

The purposes of the study are to investigate whether working memory (WM) capacity significantly predicts performance on auditory and reading comprehension tasks for aphasic individuals, and to examine whether WM-group differences between low and high WM groups emerge in demanding comprehension tasks. The results revealed that WM capacity significantly predicted performance on an auditory comprehension task and on a reading comprehension task presented with a self-paced moving window method. WM group effects emerged especially under the subtests with more linguistic elements and these findings are consistent with the WM capacity model (Just & Carpenter, 1992)

Circulating Tumor Cell Clusters Are Cloaked with Platelets and Correlate with Poor Prognosis in Unresectable Pancreatic Cancer

Simple Summary: Despite recent advances, some patients with pancreatic cancer are refractory to treatment and the disease rapidly progresses, resulting in early death. The potential prognostic value of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) has been demonstrated in other cancer types, but the clinical validity in pancreatic cancer remains elusive. Here, we show that CTC clusters, which show mesenchymal characteristics and platelet marker expression, are highly correlated with poor prognosis in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer.Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are known to be heterogeneous and clustered with tumor-associated cells, such as macrophages, neutrophils, fibroblasts, and platelets. However, their molecular profile and clinical significance remain largely unknown. Thus, we aimed to perform a comprehensive gene expression analysis of single CTCs and CTC clusters in patients with pancreatic cancer and to identify their potential clinical relevance to provide personalized medicine. Epitope-independent, rapid (> 3 mL of whole blood/min) isolation of single CTCs and CTC clusters was achieved from a prospective cohort of 16 patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer using a centrifugal microfluidic device. Forty-eight mRNA expressions of individual CTCs and CTC clusters were analyzed to identify pancreatic CTC phenotype. CTC clusters had a larger proportion of mesenchymal expression than single CTCs (p = 0.0004). The presence of CTC clusters positively correlated with poor prognosis (progression-free survival, p = 0.0159; overall survival, p = 0.0186). Furthermore, we found that most CTCs in these patients (90.7%) were cloaked with platelets and found the presence of a positive correlation between the increase in CTC clusters and rapid disease progression during follow-ups. Efficient CTC cluster isolation and analysis techniques will enhance the understanding of complex tumor metastasis processes and can facilitate personalized disease management

Effects of linguistic complexity and executive attentional demands on sentence comprehension in persons with aphasia and normal controls: Exploring on-line and offline measures with two reading versions of the Computerized Revised Token Test

Verbal Working Memory (VWM) specifies the fundamental cognitive components (language computations (LC), short term memory, executive attention (EA)) for sentence comprehension.  Tests for VWM do not assess their differential impairments.  The Computerized Revised Token Test (Reading) (CRTT-R) was administered in normal reading and “Stroop” conditions to controls and persons with aphasia (PWA).  CRTT-R captured the LC and EA components of VWM in both groups.  On-line color word reading times and errors captured the EA effects.  Off-line CRTT-R scores, reading and response times captured the LC effects.  Response time yielded the expected PWA by EA and PWA by LC complexity interactions

D’Yves Saint Laurent (1936-2008) à YSL, l’invention d’un style

Yves Saint Laurent débute son métier dans la Haute couture, qu’il hisse au niveau d’un Art. Néanmoins, son style s’ouvre la voie du prêt-à-porter et s’impose à la rue. Sa double culture, né en Algérie avec toute sa carrière réalisée en France, l’amène à être ouvert sur le monde. Ainsi, il développe son concept de « voyage imaginaire » autour de la Chine, le Japon, la Russie, l’Amérique, l’Espagne, l’Inde, etc. A partir de sa culture originale et de ses influences dans le métier, telles que celles exercées par Christian Dior, Gabrielle Chanel ou Elsa Schiaparelli, il habille la femme d’une manière moderne, séduisante et d’une beauté contrastée : la féminité se teinte de masculin, classique dans la modernité, exotique dans le style occidental, dépouillée dans l’abondance, le chic casual. Très exotique, très abondant, très original mais aussi très moderne et attrayant. Tandis que tous ces éléments éclairent la façon d’Yves Saint Laurent, il nous vient une interrogation : quelle est la clé d’origine de son impact et de sa singularité ? A cette question, nous proposons l’hypothèse que la quintessence de son style réside dans la simplification, qui identifie parfaitement son œuvre et constitue la clé de toute sa création. Ensuite, nous déterminons la nature des liens entre cette simplification et son style, et le pourquoi de ces liens qui lui ont permis de maintenir sa place dans le domaine de la couture, malgré les évolutions industrielles.The French designer Yves Saint Laurent start as a fashion stylist Haute couture and he redound to his fashion in Art level. However, his fashion is achieved his way to ready to wear and overpower the street fashion. His double culture, born in Algeria but all his career was realized in France, was taken him more advanced over to the wide world and he develop it in a concept of « imaginary travel » : around China, Japan, Russia, U.S.A, Spain, India, and so forth. From his original culture and his great role models, such as Christian Dior, Gabrielle Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent put on women in modern, glamorous looks and compared beauty: femininity in masculinity, classic in modern, exotic in western style, minimalist in glamour, and, casual in chic. Very exotic,very abundant, very original, however, equally very modern fascinating. While all these elements were reflecting his style, several questions come to mind: what is the essence key of his impact and his originality. To define these questions, we frame a hypothesis that the essence of the style Yves Saint Laurent is simplication. This simplication is perfectly identified in his work and compose every key of his creation. We determine also to unit the nature of link between his simplication and his style. And then, this link to what is enable to maintain his position in fashion, in spite of change of fashion industry evolution