An Investigation of Twenty/20 Vision in Reading

One functional anatomical model of reading, drawing on human neuropsychological and neuroimaging data, proposes that a region in left ventral occipitotemporal cortex (vOT) becomes, through experience, specialized for written word perception. We tested this hypothesis by presenting numbers in orthographical and digital form with two task demands, phonological and numerical. We observed a main effect of task on left vOT activity but not stimulus type, with increased activity during the phonological task that was also associated with increased activity in the left inferior frontal gyrus, a region implicated in speech production. Region-of-interest analysis confirmed that there was equal activity for orthographical and digital written forms in the left vOT during the phonological task, despite greater visual complexity of the orthographical forms. This evidence is incompatible with a predominantly feedforward model of written word recognition that proposes that the left vOT is a specialized cortical module for word recognition in literate subjects. Rather, the physiological data presented here fits better with interactive computational models of reading that propose that written word recognition emerges from bidirectional interactions between three processes: visual, phonological, and semantic. Further, the present study is in accord with others that indicate that the left vOT is a route through which nonlinguistic stimuli, perhaps high contrast two-dimensional objects in particular, gain access to a predominantly left-lateralized language and semantic system

Clinicians’ views of the training, use and maintenance of phonetic transcription in speech and language therapy

Background: The critical role of phonetic transcription in the assessment, diagnosis and management of speech disorders is well established and thus pre-registration degrees dedicate numerous hours to phonetic training. However, this training is not always fully utilised in clinical work and clinicians may find it difficult to maintain their skills, suggesting a ‘theory/practice gap’. Aims: This paper surveys speech-and-language therapists’ views of their training, practice and maintenance of transcription in order to investigate the posited theory/practice gap and to explore how education in phonetics is translated into practice. Methods & Procedure: Seven hundred and fifty nine speech-and-language therapists from the United Kingdom were surveyed via an online questionnaire. Multiple-choice questions were analysed using descriptive statistics, and free text comments were analysed thematically. Outcomes and Results: Thirty-five percent of SLTs found learning phonetics quite easy, and 30% quite difficult. Respondents suggested that more time was needed to practise transcription in and out of the classroom, nevertheless the majority felt at least equipped to undertake transcription after their training. 75% of SLTs require transcription for their role, with 61% using it often or all the time. 45% use a mix of broad and narrow transcription, with 41% using only broad transcription. Those not using narrow transcription attributed this to a lack of confidence. 57% of SLTs did not feel supported to maintain transcription skills in the workplace and 80% had never attended a refresher course in transcription, with 75% wishing to do so. Conclusions and Implications: As many clinicians found it difficult to learn transcription, there is an opportunity to provide more transcription practice both in and beyond the classroom. Despite most clinicians feeling equipped to undertake transcription upon completion of their training, and a large majority requiring transcription for their role, a theory/practice gap is apparent in the relatively small number of clinicians using narrow transcription exclusively, and those not using it expressing a lack of confidence in their skills. Additionally, as many clinicians have never attended refresher training in transcription, and rely on their course notes to maintain their skills, more provision of opportunities for revision should be made available. With clinicians remembering a need for more practice during their training, and expressing a desire for more training opportunities in practice there is an opportunity for clinicians, educators and regulatory bodies to work together to provide packages of transcription training material that can be used by students and practitioners to maintain and extend their skills

Length of hospital stay prior to ICU admission and outcome

No abstract available

Review of Injection Therapy Clinics Performed by Physiotherapists Working in Primary Care.

Objectives To determine painscores for injection therapy and to review the overall change in outcomes post injection for a variety of musculoskeletal injections compared with the previous audits of a NHS Primary care Physiotherapy injection clinic. Methods Subjects were assessed using a numerical rating scale between 0 to 10 before and 4 weeks post injection. Results All average painscale scores were reduced 4 weeks after injection for all conditions. There is an overall average reduction in pain on provoking activity of 45.7%. Trigger finger/thumb (65.0%) demonstrated the most significant reduction in pain. Contrary to a common patient perception, injection therapy is not an exceptionally painful experience, with an average score of 3.2. Discussion Results are comparable with previous scores for injections carried out within the same NHS Primary care Physiotherapy clinic

High pressure polymorphism of ?-TaON

The high pressure behavior of TaON was studied using a combination of Raman scattering, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy in diamond anvil cells to 70 GPa at ambient temperature. A Birch–Murnaghan equation of state fit for baddeleyite structured ?-TaON indicates a high bulk modulus value Ko = 328 ± 4 GPa with K?o = 4.3. EXAFS analysis of the high pressure XAS data provides additional information on changes in the Ta–(O,N) and Ta–Ta distances. Changes in the X-ray diffraction patterns and Raman spectra indicate onset of a pressure induced phase transition near 33 GPa. Our analysis indicates that the new phase has an orthorhombic cotunnite-type structure but that the phase transition may not be complete even by 70 GPa. Similar sluggish transformation kinetics are observed for the isostructural ZrO2 phase. Analysis of compressibility data for the new cotunnite-type TaON phase indicate a very high bulk modulus Ko 370 GPa, close to the theoretically predicted value.<br/

An updated investigation of the multidimensional structure of language lateralization in left- and right-handed adults: a test-retest functional transcranial Doppler sonography study with six language tasks

A previous study we reported in this journal suggested that left and right-handers may differ in their patterns of lateralization for different language tasks (Woodhead et al. 2019 R. Soc. Open Sci.6, 181801. (doi:10.1098/rsos.181801)). However, it had too few left-handers (N = 7) to reach firm conclusions. For this update paper, further participants were added to the sample to create separate groups of left- (N = 31) and right-handers (N = 43). Two hypotheses were tested: (1) that lateralization would be weaker at the group level in left-than right-handers; and (2) that left-handers would show weaker covariance in lateralization between tasks, supporting a two-factor model. All participants performed the same protocol as in our previous paper: lateralization was measured using functional transcranial Doppler sonography during six different language tasks, on two separate testing sessions. The results supported hypothesis 1, with significant differences in laterality between groups for four out of six tasks. For hypothesis 2, structural equation modelling showed that there was stronger evidence for a two-factor model in left than right-handers; furthermore, examination of the factor loadings suggested that the pattern of laterality across tasks may also differ between handedness groups. These results expand on what is known about the differences in laterality between left- and right-handers

Leading edge noise reduction of thin aerofoil by the straight and curved serrations of the add-on type

This paper presents the experimental results of the effect of add-on type leading edge serrations on the aeroacoustic performance of a symmetrical NACA0008 aerofoil. The focus is on the turbulence-leading edge interaction broadband noise. Tests have been conducted in an aeroacoustic open jet wind tunnel at Brunel University London. 25 serrated leading edges (straight) that can be adequately described by their serration wavelength and serration amplitude h have been investigated at Reynolds numbers between 0.2 and 0.6 millions. It was found that those with large h are very effective in reducing the broadband noise levels up to about 9 dB. However, the serration designs with smaller h can produce noticeable levels of noise increase at high frequency. The effect of the on the noise reduction depends on the corresponding h value. For example, a particular design with both the largest and h has been shown to be very effective. Another one with a similar , but the smallest h can actually degrade the performance significantly where noise increase over the baseline aerofoil becomes dominant. The curved-serration has been shown to be able to outperform the straight-serration counterpart by a further 5 dB broadband noise reduction when it is optimised properly. The mechanism is due to the increase of the “effective” serration amplitude h as a result of the curvature although its “normal” serration amplitude h actually remains the same as the straight-serration counterpart. Currently, there is no evidence to support the hypothesis that the peak of the curved-serration can prevent the interaction between the grid-generated turbulence structures and the serration troughs. Overall, the add-on type leading edge serration has been shown to be very effective in the reduction of the interaction broadband noise. The nature-inspired concept of a curvedserration at the leading edge provides an avenue for further research

The Metropolis and Evangelical Life: Coherence and Fragmentation in the ‘Lost City of London’

This article examines the interplay of different processes of cultural and subjective fragmentation experienced by conservative evangelical Anglicans, based on an ethnographic study of a congregation in central London. The author focuses on the evangelistic speaking practices of members of this church to explore how individuals negotiate contradictory norms of interaction as they move through different city spaces, and considers their response to tensions created by the demands of their workplace and their religious lives. Drawing on Georg Simmel’s ‘The Metropolis and Mental Life’, the author argues that their faith provides a sense of coherence and unity that responds to experiences of cultural fragmentation characteristic of everyday life in the city, while simultaneously leading to a specific consciousness of moral fragmentation that is inherent to conservative evangelicalism

Cardiovascular disease treatment among patients with severe mental illness: a data linkage study between primary and secondary care

Background Suboptimal treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) among patients with severe mental illness (SMI) may contribute to physical health disparities. Aim To identify SMI characteristics associated with meeting CVD treatment and prevention guidelines. Design and setting Population-based electronic health record database linkage between primary care and the sole provider of secondary mental health care services in south east London, UK. Method Cardiovascular disease prevalence, risk factor recording, and Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) clinical target achievement were compared among 4056 primary care patients with SMI whose records were linked to secondary healthcare records and 270 669 patients without SMI who were not known to secondary care psychiatric services, using multivariate logistic regression modelling. Data available from secondary care records were then used to identify SMI characteristics associated with QOF clinical target achievement. Results Patients with SMI and with coronary heart disease and heart failure experienced reduced prescribing of beta blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACEI/ARB). A diagnosis of schizophrenia, being identified with any indicator of risk or illness severity, and being prescribed with depot injectable antipsychotic medication was associated with the lowest likelihood of prescribing. Conclusion Linking primary and secondary care data allows the identification of patients with SMI most at risk of undertreatment for physical health problems