Pescado or Fish? Rapid Automatic Naming Performance for Young Spanish-Speaking English Language Learners

Rapid Automatic Naming (RAN) is a behavioral task that measures how quickly and accurately an individual can name a set of pictured items. This task is an important predictor for reading success in young children, regardless of the number of languages spoken. As a measure of lexical processing eficiency, RANreflects the speed and accuracy of lexical access and retrieval, which is required for comprehension and production fo spoken and written language. The aim of this dissertation was to investigate the longitudinal performance across languages on a RANObjects task for young Spanish-speaking English language learning (ELL)children, as well as the predictive value of the task measures for later word reading for ELLand monolingual children. Although the ELL children are reported to have little experience with English prior to entering kindergarten, we found that ELLchildren were acutaully faster and more accurate in English than in Spanish by the end of kindergarten. Another surprising finding was that when compared to their monolingual English-speaking peers, ELLchildren were equally as fast and accurate as the monolinguals on this RANObjects task in English. Additionally, we found that these early RANmeasures were significantly predictive of later word reading for both ELLand monolingual children. Based on our findings, we proposed that ELLchildren have a rapid shift in lexical processing efficiency from their first to their second language during the kindergarten year. This shift occurs much earlier than previously reported and may be facilitated by a combination of cognitive-linguistic and environmental factors, including lexical density, the strength of lexical connectivity, and priming effects secondary to environmental context. Overall, this expands upon prior research by emphasizing the predicitve value of the errors produced on the RANObjects task. This work also supports evidence-based practice by demonstrating that the time of testing, language of testing, and the types of measures used are important considerations when identifying children for potential reading deficits. Taken together, these findings provide theoretical and practical insight into the importance of the RANObjects task as an indicator of lexical processing for young Spanish-speaking ELL children

Audiologic Management and Outcomes of Children with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD)

Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) is clinically characterized by abnormal Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) wave morphology and normal outer hair cell function with present cochlear microphonic and/or otoacoustic emissions (OAEs) (Starr et al, 1996). This combination of features makes electrophysiologic prediction of functional hearing and outcomes of amplification difficult to predict (Berlin et al, 2010). Hearing ranges from normal to profound loss in one or both ears, and with equally variable speech performance that is often disproportionately poor relative to the degree of hearing loss (Rance et al, 1999). There is no current international standard of management for this population. Clinical interventions vary between no intervention, hearing aids, and cochlear implants. The purpose of this systematic review is to evaluate the current literature for management strategies for ANSD internationally and their associated outcomes

The Development and Implementation of ALIGN: A Multidimensional Program Designed to Enhance the Success of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Graduate Students in Communication Sciences and Disorders

The critical lack of racially and ethnically diverse healthcare professionals in the field of Communication Sciences & Disorders (CSD) in contrast to the increasing diversity of the U.S. population may contribute to healthcare disparities and negatively impact healthcare outcomes. It is therefore imperative for transformational programs and practices to be enacted to substantially increase the number of CSD professionals representing Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). As training institutions that graduate and contribute to the certification of CSD professionals, universities are fundamental for contributing to this change. Numerous barriers have been identified that limit the number of underrepresented minority students who matriculate in and graduate from speech-language pathology and audiology graduate programs. At Syracuse University, a group of academic and clinical CSD faculty developed a program to specifically address these barriers: the Academic Skill Building and Networking (ALIGN) program. ALIGN implements a multifaceted approach toward facilitating the success of CSD BIPOC graduate students through the integration of academic and professional skill building, peer mentoring and networking, and professional mentoring and networking into the program curriculum. This study described the rationale and development of the ALIGN program, and reported quantitative and qualitative survey results to determine the preliminary effects of this program on an inaugural cohort of ALIGN participants. Overall, quantitative and qualitative data indicated that ALIGN had a substantial, positive impact on academic skills relative to study habits, understanding difficult course concepts, and general learning, and provided crucial support and connection opportunities with fellow BIPOC students

Master of Public Service and Administration Program Review and Evaluation

Assessing the quality and effectiveness of educational programs is becoming increasingly important. Ensuring the quality of Master of Public Administration (MPA) programs, like that at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, is even more critical. This capstone designed and implemented evaluative methods to assess the MPSA program. The group designed and conducted data collection and analysis to identify the program�s strengths and limitations by collecting alumni feedback. This project helped the MPSA program meet accreditation requirements and provided input to the next self-study report to be completed by the program during the 2012-2013 academic year. The capstone created and distributed an alumni survey to MPSA graduates and conducted alumni focus groups. The capstone report consists of a literature review followed by a summary of the research methodologies applied in the project, and concludes with results and a discussion of the findings.Report Submitted to Dr. Jeryl Mumpower, Director of the MPSA Progra

Elucidating the mechanism of Danicamtiv on force, kinetics, and myosin structure and function

Myosin modulators are a novel class of small molecules that alter cardiac contractility. Omecamtiv mecarbil, the first identified myosin activator, showed only modest clinical benefits in systolic heart failure patients. Thus, there is an urgency to develop alternative myosin activators. Danicamtiv (Dani) has emerged as a potential candidate; however, a detailed mechanism is not known. Here, we aim to elucidate the mechanism of Dani on contractile function in pig cardiac muscle. Demembranated ventricular tissues show a significant 0.1 pCa unit increase in calcium sensitivity and 10% increase in maximal force after incubation in 1 µM Dani. The most potent effects occur in submaximal calcium concentrations, leading to a flattening of the force-calcium relationship, suggesting decreased cooperativity. Maximal rates of tension redevelopment are decreased by approximately 60% with Dani. Isolated cardiac myofibrils provide details about contractile kinetics. Experiments with 1 µM Dani show a 49% decrease in fast-phase relaxation kinetics. Slow-phase isometric relaxation exhibits 47% slower crossbridge detachment rate and 34% longer thin filament deactivation. Next, we assess ATP utilization in the crossbridge cycle. Filament sliding velocity slows 55% on addition of 0.5 µM Dani, similar to the effect of ADP on velocity. The effects of Dani and ADP are not additive suggesting a similar mode of action. ATP binding is unaltered up to 10 µM Dani using stopped flow spectroscopy. Results of X-ray diffraction studies of porcine myocardium at rest show an increase in equatorial intensity ratio (I1,1/I1,0) in response to 50 µM Dani, reflecting an increased proximity of myosin heads to the thin filament. In conclusion, we hypothesize that Dani primes the thick filament for activation and alters relaxation through inhibited ATP hydrolysis product release. Future studies will test these hypotheses

Accent modification as a raciolinguistic ideology: a commentary in response to Burda et al. (2022)

In this commentary, we collectively examine a recent article titled “Effectiveness of Intense Accent Modification Training with Refugees from Burma” by Burda et al. (2022). Whilst our response is aimed at revealing the theoretical and methodological shortcomings of Burda et al., it will also expose the raciolinguistic ideologies in accent modification and highlight the need for careful ethical considerations on vulnerable populations, such as refugees and asylum seekers

A multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex

ABSTRACT We report the generation of a multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex (MOp or M1) as the initial product of the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN). This was achieved by coordinated large-scale analyses of single-cell transcriptomes, chromatin accessibility, DNA methylomes, spatially resolved single-cell transcriptomes, morphological and electrophysiological properties, and cellular resolution input-output mapping, integrated through cross-modal computational analysis. Together, our results advance the collective knowledge and understanding of brain cell type organization: First, our study reveals a unified molecular genetic landscape of cortical cell types that congruently integrates their transcriptome, open chromatin and DNA methylation maps. Second, cross-species analysis achieves a unified taxonomy of transcriptomic types and their hierarchical organization that are conserved from mouse to marmoset and human. Third, cross-modal analysis provides compelling evidence for the epigenomic, transcriptomic, and gene regulatory basis of neuronal phenotypes such as their physiological and anatomical properties, demonstrating the biological validity and genomic underpinning of neuron types and subtypes. Fourth, in situ single-cell transcriptomics provides a spatially-resolved cell type atlas of the motor cortex. Fifth, integrated transcriptomic, epigenomic and anatomical analyses reveal the correspondence between neural circuits and transcriptomic cell types. We further present an extensive genetic toolset for targeting and fate mapping glutamatergic projection neuron types toward linking their developmental trajectory to their circuit function. Together, our results establish a unified and mechanistic framework of neuronal cell type organization that integrates multi-layered molecular genetic and spatial information with multi-faceted phenotypic properties

Semantic Difficulty for Bilingual Children: Effects of Age, Language Exposure, and Language Ability.

PURPOSE: Semantic tasks evaluate dimensions of childrens lexical-semantic knowledge. However, the relative ease of semantic task completion depends on individual differences in developmental and language experience factors. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how language experience and language ability impact semantic task difficulty in English for school-age Spanish-English bilingual children with and without developmental language disorder (DLD). METHOD: Participants included 232 Spanish-English bilingual children in second through fifth grade with (n = 35) and without (n = 197) DLD. Data included childrens performance on the English Semantics subtest of the Bilingual English-Spanish Assessment-Middle Extension Field Test Version (BESA-ME), age of English acquisition, and percent English language exposure. Task difficulty, a measurement of the relative ease of task completion, was calculated for six semantic task types included on the BESA-ME. Multilevel regression modeling was conducted to estimate longitudinal growth trajectories for each semantic task type. RESULTS: Results showed that language ability and grade level drive semantic task difficulty for all task types, and children with DLD experienced greater difficulty on all task types compared to their typically developing peers. Longitudinally, semantic task difficulty decreased for all children, regardless of language ability, indicating that semantic task types became easier over time. While children made gains on all semantic tasks, the growth rate of task difficulty was not equal across task types, where some task types showed slower growth compared with others. English language exposure emerged as a significant predictor of semantic task difficulty while age of acquisition was not a significant factor. CONCLUSIONS: This study clarifies developmental profiles of lexical-semantic performance in bilingual children with and without DLD and supports clinical decision-making regarding childrens English language learning

Rapid shift in naming efficiency on a rapid automatic naming task by young Spanish-speaking English language learners

The present study analyzed lexical processing efficiency in Spanish-speaking English language learners (ELLs) and their monolingual English-speaking peers from kindergarten through second grade. Specifically, changes in the patterns of speed and accuracy on a rapid object-naming task were evaluated across languages for the ELL children and across the groups of children. Repeated measures analysis of variance demonstrated that ELL children have a rapid shift in language processing efficiency from Spanish to English by the end of kindergarten. Results also showed that by the end of kindergarten ELL children were slightly faster and more accurate in English compared with their monolingual peers. This work provides perspective on how lexical processing is impacted by the development of a dual lexical system. We discuss how lexical density, strength of lexical connections, and environmental constraints may influence this rapid shift in lexical processing efficiency for young Spanish-speaking ELL children