Grapheme-phoneme learning in an unknown orthography: a study in typical reading and dyslexic children

In this study, we examined the learning of new grapheme-phoneme correspondences in individuals with and without dyslexia. Additionally, we investigated the relation between grapheme-phoneme learning and measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge and rapid automatized naming, with a focus on the unique joint variance of grapheme-phoneme learning to word and non-word reading achievement. Training of grapheme-phoneme associations consisted of a 20-min training program in which eight novel letters (Hebrew) needed to be paired with speech sounds taken from the participant's native language (Dutch). Eighty-four third grade students, of whom 20 were diagnosed with dyslexia, participated in the training and testing. Our results indicate a reduced ability of dyslexic readers in applying newly learned grapheme-phoneme correspondences while reading words which consist of these novel letters. However, we did not observe a significant independent contribution of grapheme-phoneme learning to reading outcomes. Alternatively, results from the regression analysis indicate that failure to read may be due to differences in phonological and/or orthographic knowledge but not to differences in the grapheme-phoneme-conversion process itself

Characterization of CMR5c and CMR12a, novel fluorescent Pseudomonas strains from the cocoyam rhizosphere with biocontrol activity

Aim: To screen for novel antagonistic Pseudomonas strains producing both phenazines and biosurfactants that are as effective as Pseudomonas aeruginosa PNA1 in the biocontrol of cocoyam root rot caused by Pythium myriotylum. Material and Results: Forty pseudomonads were isolated from the rhizosphere of healthy white and red cocoyam plants appearing in natural, heavily infested fields in Cameroon. In vitro tests demonstrated that Py. myriotylum antagonists could be retrieved from the red cocoyam rhizosphere. Except for one isolate, all antagonistic isolates produced phenazines. Results from whole-cell protein profiling showed that the antagonistic isolates are different from other isolated pseudomonads, while BOX-PCR revealed high genomic similarity among them. 16S rDNA sequencing of two representative strains within this group of antagonists confirmed their relatively low similarity with validly described Pseudomonas species. These antagonists are thus provisionally labelled as unidentified Pseudomonas strains. Among the antagonists, Pseudomonas CMR5c and CMR12a were selected because of their combined production of phenazines and biosurfactants. For strain CMR5c also, production of pyrrolnitrin and pyoluteorin was demonstrated. Both CMR5c and CMR12a showed excellent in vivo biocontrol activity against Py. myriotylum to a similar level as Ps. aeruginosa PNA1. Conclusion: Pseudomonas CMR5c and CMR12a were identified as novel and promising biocontrol agents of Py. myriotylum on cocoyam, producing an arsenal of antagonistic metabolites. Significance and Impact of the Study: Present study reports the identification of two newly isolated fluorescent Pseudomonas strains that can replace the opportunistic human pathogen Ps. aeruginosa PNA1 in the biocontrol of cocoyam root rot and could be taken into account for the suppression of many plant pathogens

Clinical findings just after return to play predict hamstring re-injury, but baseline MRI findings do not

__Abstract__ Background Acute hamstring re-injuries are common and hard to predict. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between clinical and imaging findings and the occurrence of hamstring re-injuries. Methods We obtained baseline data (clinical and MRI findings) of athletes who sustained an acute hamstring injury within 5 days of initial injury. We also collected data of standardised clinical tests within 7 days after return to play (RTP). The number of re-injuries was recorded within 12 months. We analysed the association between the possible predictive variables and re-injuries with a multivariate Cox proportional-hazards regression model. Results Eighty patients were included at baseline and 64 p

Higher-order Singular Value Decomposition Filter for Contrast Echocardiography

Assessing the coronary circulation with contrast-enhanced echocardiography has high clinical relevance. However, it is not being routinely performed in clinical practice because the current clinical tools generally could not provide adequate image quality. The contrast agent’s visibility in the myocardium is generally poor, impaired by motion and non-linear propagation artifacts. The established multi-pulse contrast schemes (MPCS) and the more experimental singular value decomposition (SVD) filter also fall short to solve these issues. Here, we propose a scheme to process AM/AMPI echoes with higher-order singular value decomposition (HOSVD) instead of conventionally summing the complementary pulses. The echoes from the complementary pulses form a separate dimension in the HOSVD algorithm. Then, removing the ranks in that dimension with dominant coherent signals coming from tissue scattering would provide the contrast detection. We performed both in vitro and in vivo experiments to assess the performance of our proposed method in comparison with the current standard methods. A flow phantom study shows that HOSVD on AM pulsing exceeds the contrast-to-background ratio (CBR) of conventional AM and an SVD filter by 10dB and 14dB, respectively. In vivo porcine heart results also demonstrate that, compared to AM, HOSVD improves CBR in open-chest acquisition (up to 19dB) and contrast ratio in closed-chest acquisition (3dB)

Grapheme-Phoneme Learning in an Unknown Orthography: A Study in Typical Reading and Dyslexic Children

In this study, we examined the learning of new grapheme-phoneme correspondences in individuals with and without dyslexia. Additionally, we investigated the relation between grapheme-phoneme learning and measures of phonological awareness, orthographic knowledge and rapid automatized naming, with a focus on the unique joint variance of grapheme-phoneme learning to word and non-word reading achievement. Training of grapheme-phoneme associations consisted of a 20-min training program in which eight novel letters (Hebrew) needed to be paired with speech sounds taken from the participant's native language (Dutch). Eighty-four third grade students, of whom 20 were diagnosed with dyslexia, participated in the training and testing. Our results indicate a reduced ability of dyslexic readers in applying newly learned grapheme-phoneme correspondences while reading words which consist of these novel letters. However, we did not observe a significant independent contribution of grapheme-phoneme learning to reading outcomes. Alternatively, results from the regression analysis indicate that failure to read may be due to differences in phonological and/or orthographic knowledge but not to differences in the grapheme-phoneme-conversion process itself

Onset and transition of and recovery from adverse development:study methodology

AIM: Early intervention programs for first-episode psychosis have led to the awareness that the period before onset of a first episode is important in light of early intervention. This has induced a focus on the so-called 'at risk mental state' (ARMS). Individuals with ARMS are at increased risk for later psychotic disorder, but also for other psychiatric disorders as well as poor psychosocial functioning. Thus, adequate detection and treatment of ARMS is essential. METHODS: Since 2018, screening for and treatment of ARMS is recommended standard care in the Netherlands. Implementation is still ongoing. We initiated a naturalistic long-term cohort study of ARMS individuals, the onset and transition of and recovery from adverse development (OnTheROAD) study, with the aim to monitor course and outcome of symptoms and psychosocial functioning over time, as well as patterns of comorbidity and associations with factors of risk and resilience. To this end, participants complete a broad battery of instruments at baseline and yearly follow-up assessments up to 3 years. Outcome is defined in terms of symptom severity level, functioning and quality of life. In particular, we aim to investigate the impact of negative symptoms as part of the ARMS concept. Results from this study can aid in refining the existing ARMS criteria, understanding the developmental course of ARMS and investigating the hypothesized pluripotentiality in outcome of ARMS. New knowledge may inform the further development of specialized early interventions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: In this article, we describe the rationale, outline and set-up of OnTheROAD

High-Frame-Rate Volumetric Porcine Renal Vasculature Imaging

Objective:The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility and imaging options of contrast-enhanced volumetric ultrasound kidney vasculature imaging in a porcine model using a prototype sparse spiral array. Methods: Transcutaneous freehand in vivo imaging of two healthy porcine kidneys was performed according to three protocols with different microbubble concentrations and transmission sequences. Combining high-frame-rate transmission sequences with our previously described spatial coherence beamformer, we determined the ability to produce detailed volumetric images of the vasculature. We also determined power, color and spectral Doppler, as well as super-resolved microvasculature in a volume. The results were compared against a clinical 2-D ultrasound machine. Results: Three-dimensional visualization of the kidney vasculature structure and blood flow was possible with our method. Good structural agreement was found between the visualized vasculature structure and the 2-D reference. Microvasculature patterns in the kidney cortex were visible with super-resolution processing. Blood flow velocity estimations were within a physiological range and pattern, also in agreement with the 2-D reference results. Conclusion:Volumetric imaging of the kidney vasculature was possible using a prototype sparse spiral array. Reliable structural and temporal information could be extracted from these imaging results.</p

The impact of different volumetric thresholds to determine progressive disease in patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with bevacizumab

Background: The optimal volumetric threshold for determining progressive disease (PD) in recurrent glioblastoma is yet to be determined. We investigated a range of thresholds in association with overall survival (OS). Methods: First recurrent glioblastoma patients treated with bevacizumab and/or lomustine were included from the phase II BELOB and phase III EORTC26101 trials. Enhancing and nonenhancing tumor volumes were measured at baseline, first (6 weeks), and second (12 weeks) follow-up. Hazard ratios (HRs) for the appearance of new lesions and several thresholds for tumor volume increase were calculated using cox regression analysis. Results were corrected in a multivariate analysis for well-established prognostic factors. Results: At first and second follow-up, 138 and 94 patients respectively, were deemed eligible for analysis of enhancing volumes, while 89 patients were included in the analysis of nonenhancing volumes at first follow-up. New lesions were associated with a significantly worse OS (3.2 versus 11.2 months, HR = 7.03, P <. 001). At first follow-up a threshold of enhancing volume increase of ≥20% provided the highest HR (5.55, p =. 001. At second follow-up, any increase in enhancing volume (≥0%) provided the highest HR (9.00, p <. 001). When measuring nonenhancing volume at first follow-up, only 6 additional patients were scored as PD with the highest HR of ≥25% increase in volume (HR=3.25, p =. 008). Conclusion: Early appearing new lesions were associated with poor OS. Lowering the volumetric threshold for PD at both first and second follow-up improved survival prediction. However, the additional number of patients categorized as PD by lowering the threshold was very low. The per-RANO added change in nonenhancing volumes to the analyses was of limited value

The dynamics of social activation and suspiciousness in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis

INTRODUCTION: Social functioning is often impaired during the ultra-high risk (UHR) phase for psychosis, but group-level studies regarding the role of social functioning in transition to psychosis are inconsistent. Exploring the inter-individual differences which underlie the association between social functioning and psychotic symptoms in this phase could yield new insights.OBJECTIVE: To examine the idiographic and dynamic association between social activation and suspiciousness in individuals at UHR for psychosis using time-series analysis.METHODS: Twenty individuals at UHR for psychosis completed a diary application every evening for 90 days. Two items on social activation (quantity: 'time spent alone' and quality: 'feeling supported') and two items on suspiciousness ('feeling suspicious' and 'feeling disliked') were used. Time series (T = 90) of each individual were analyzed using vector auto regression analysis (VAR), to estimate the lagged (over 1 day) effect of social activation on suspiciousness, and vice versa, as well as their contemporaneous associations.RESULTS: Heterogeneous person-specific associations between social activation and suspiciousness were found in terms of strength, direction and temporal aspects.CONCLUSIONS: The association between social activation and suspiciousness differs amongst individuals who are at UHR for psychosis. These findings underline the importance of tailoring psychosocial interventions to the individual. Future studies may examine whether using results of single-subject studies in clinical practice to personalize treatment goals leads to better treatment outcomes.</p

Phenotype-guided targeted therapy based on functional signal transduction pathway activity in recurrent ovarian cancer patients:The STAPOVER study protocol

Objective: Ovarian cancer is the fifth cause of cancer-related death among women. The benefit of targeted therapy for ovarian cancer patients is limited even if treatment is stratified by molecular signature. There remains a high unmet need for alternative diagnostics that better predict targeted therapy, as current diagnostics are generally inaccurate predictors. Quantitative assessment of functional signal transduction pathway (STP) activity from mRNA measurements of target genes is an alternative approach. Therefore, we aim to identify aberrantly activated STPs in tumour tissue of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer and start phenotype-guided targeted therapy to improve survival without compromising quality of life. Study design: Patients with recurrent ovarian cancer and either 1) have platinum-resistant disease, 2) refrain from standard therapy or 3) are asymptomatic and not yet eligible for standard therapy will be included in this multi-centre prospective cohort study with multiple stepwise executed treatment arms. Targeted therapy will be available for patients with aberrantly high functional activity of the oestrogen receptor, androgen receptor, phosphoinositide 3-kinase or Hedgehog STP. The primary endpoint of this study is the progression-free survival (PFS) ratio (PFS2/PFS1 ratio) according to RECIST 1.1 determined by the PFS on matched targeted therapy (PFS2) compared to PFS on prior therapy (PFS1). Secondary endpoints include among others best overall response, overall survival, side effects, health-related quality of life and cost-effectiveness. Conclusion: The results of this study will show the clinical applicability of STP activity in selecting recurrent ovarian cancer patients for effective therapies.</p