Emotional competence mediates the relationship between communication problems and reactive externalizing problems in children with and without developmental language disorder: A longitudinal study

Language problems are a risk factor for externalizing problems, but the developmental path remains unclear. Emotional competence may mediate the relationship, especially when externalizing problems are reactive in nature, such as in Oppositional Deviant Disorder (ODD) and reactive aggression. We examined the development of reactive and proactive externalizing problems in children with (n = 98) and without (n = 156) Developmental Language Disorder (DLD; age: 8–16 years) over 18 months. Relationships with communicative risk factors (structural, pragmatic and emotion communication) and the mediating role of emotional competence (emotion recognition and anger dysregulation) were examined. Multi-level analyses showed that increasing emotion recognition and decreasing anger dysregulation were longitudinally related to decreasing ODD symptoms in both groups, whereas anger dysregulation was related to more reactive aggression in children with DLD alone. Pragmatic and emotion communication problems were related to more reactive externalizing problems, but these relationships were mediated by emotional competence, suggesting that problems in emotional competence explain the communication problems of children with DLD. Therefore, in addition to interventions for communication skills, there is a need to address the emotional competence of children with DLD, as this decreases the risk for reactive externalizing problems

The genetic basis of male fertility in relation to haplodiploid reproduction in Leptopilina clavipes (Hymenoptera:Figitidae)

Traits under relaxed selection are expected to become reduced or disappear completely, a process called vestigialization. In parthenogenetic populations, traits historically involved in sexual reproduction are no longer under selection and potentially subject to such reduction. In Leptopilina clavipes, thelytokous (parthenogenetic) populations are infected by Wolbachia bacteria. Arrhenotokous Populations do not harbor Wolbachia. When antibiotics are applied to infected females, they are cured from their infection and males arise. Such males are capable of producing offspring with uninfected females, but with lower fertilization success than sexual males. This can be attributed to the lack of selection on male fertility in thelytokous lines. In this study we used this variation in L. clavipes male fertility to determine the genetic basis of this trait. Males from Cured thelytokous populations were crossed to females from uninfected Populations. Using AFLP markers, a genetic linkage map was generated, consisting of five linkage groups and spanning a total distance of 219.9 cM. A single QTL of large effect (explaining 46.5% of the phenotypic variance) was identified for male fertility, which we call male fertility factor (mff). We discuss possible mechanisms underlying the effect of mff as well as mechanisms involved in vestigialization of traits involved in sexual reproduction.</p

The sponge microbiome within the greater coral reef microbial metacommunity

Much recent marine microbial research has focused on sponges, but very little is known about how the sponge microbiome fits in the greater coral reef microbial metacommunity. Here, we present an extensive survey of the prokaryote communities of a wide range of biotopes from Indo-Pacific coral reef environments. We find a large variation in operational taxonomic unit (OTU) richness, with algae, chitons, stony corals and sea cucumbers housing the most diverse prokaryote communities. These biotopes share a higher percentage and number of OTUs with sediment and are particularly enriched in members of the phylum Planctomycetes. Despite having lower OTU richness, sponges share the greatest percentage (>90%) of OTUs with >100 sequences with the environment (sediment and/or seawater) although there is considerable variation among sponge species. Our results, furthermore, highlight that prokaryote microorganisms are shared among multiple coral reef biotopes, and that, although compositionally distinct, the sponge prokaryote community does not appear to be as sponge-specific as previously thought.publishe

The Optokinetic Reflex as a Tool for Quantitative Analyses of Nervous System Function in Mice: Application to Genetic and Drug-Induced Variation

The optokinetic reflex (OKR), which serves to stabilize a moving image on the retina, is a behavioral response that has many favorable attributes as a test of CNS function. The OKR requires no training, assesses the function of diverse CNS circuits, can be induced repeatedly with minimal fatigue or adaptation, and produces an electronic record that is readily and objectively quantifiable

Phosphorylcholine Allows for Evasion of Bactericidal Antibody by Haemophilus influenzae

The human pathogen Haemophilus influenzae has the ability to quickly adapt to different host environments through phase variation of multiple structures on its lipooligosaccharide (LPS), including phosphorylcholine (ChoP). During colonization with H. influenzae, there is a selection for ChoP+ phase variants. In a murine model of nasopharyngeal colonization, this selection is lost in the absence of adaptive immunity. Based on previous data highlighting the importance of natural antibody in limiting H. influenzae colonization, the effect of ChoP expression on antibody binding and its bactericidal activity was investigated. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that ChoP+ phase variants had decreased binding of antibody to LPS epitopes compared to ChoP− phase variants. This difference in antibody binding correlated with increased survival of ChoP+ phase variants in the presence of antibody-dependent, complement-mediated killing. ChoP+ phase variants were also more resistant to trypsin digestion, suggesting a general effect on the physical properties of the outer membrane. Moreover, ChoP-mediated protection against antibody binding correlated with increased resilience of outer membrane integrity. Collectively, these data suggest that ChoP expression provides a selective advantage during colonization through ChoP-mediated effects on the accessibility of bactericidal antibody to the cell surface

Parâmetros acústicos do contraste de sonoridade das plosivas no desenvolvimento fonológico típico e no desviante Acoustic parameters of the voicing contrast of plosives in typical phonological development and phonological disorder

OBJETIVO: Investigar se as crianças com desvio fonológico apresentam características acústicas distintas de sons plosivos surdos e sonoros das crianças com desenvolvimento fonológico típico. MÉTODOS:Participaram do estudo 11 crianças com desenvolvimento fonológico típico e cinco com desvio fonológico e dificuldade na aquisição do traço [+voz] das consoantes plosivas. Por meio de palavras (['papa], ['baba], ['tata], ['dada], ['kaka] e ['gaga]) inseridas em frases-veículo, mediu-se o voice onset time, a duração da vogal, a amplitude do burst e a duração da oclusão de cada plosivo. Foram comparados todos os registros acústicos de plosivos surdos e sonoros intra e intergrupo, por meio de testes estatísticos. RESULTADOS: As crianças com desenvolvimento fonológico típico apresentaram resultados significativos, principalmente, na diferenciação dos parâmetros de voice onset time, duração da vogal e oclusão de plosivos surdos e sonoros, diferentemente do observado para as crianças com desvio fonológico. A comparação entre os dois grupos mostrou diferenças quanto à produção de voice onset time e duração da oclusão dos plosivos sonoros. Com relação aos demais parâmetros analisados, os valores foram aproximados entre os grupos, sem diferença estatística. CONCLUSÃO: A marcação do contraste de sonoridade do grupo desviante mostra-se distinta em relação ao grupo de crianças com desenvolvimento fonológico típico, principalmente no que se refere ao voice onset time e à duração da oclusão dos segmentos sonoros.<br>PURPOSE: To investigate if children with phonological disorder present different acoustic characteristics of voiceless and voiced plosives from children with typical phonological development. METHODS: Participants were 11 children with typical phonological development and five children with phonological disorder and difficulty to establish the distinctive feature [+voice] of plosives. Through words (['papa], ['baba], ['tata], ['dada], ['kaka] and ['gaga]) inserted into carrier phrases, we measured voice onset time, vowel length, burst amplitude, and occlusion length of each plosive. The acoustic parameters of voiceless and voiced plosives were compared between and within groups through statistical analysis. RESULTS: The subjects within typical phonological development presented significant results mainly in distinguishing the parameters voice onset time, vowel length, and occlusion of voiceless and voiced stops, which was different from what was observed for children with phonological disorder. The comparison between groups showed differences related to the production of voice onset time and the occlusion length of voiced plosives. Regarding the other analyzed parameters, the values were similar between groups, with no statistical differences. CONCLUSION: The marking of the voicing contrast of the group with phonological disorder is different from the group with typical phonological development, especially regarding the voice onset time and the occlusion length of the voiced segments

Foreign accent strength and listener familiarity with an accent codetermine speed of perceptual adaptation

Contains fulltext : 116500.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)We investigated how the strength of a foreign accent and varying types of experience with foreign-accented speech influence the recognition of accented words. In Experiment 1, native Dutch listeners with limited or extensive prior experience with German-accented Dutch completed a cross-modal priming experiment with strongly, medium, and weakly accented words. Participants with limited experience were primed by the medium and weakly accented words, but not by the strongly accented words. Participants with extensive experience were primed by all accent types. In Experiments 2 and 3, Dutch listeners with limited experience listened to a short story before doing the cross-modal priming task. In Experiment 2, the story was spoken by the priming task speaker and either contained strongly accented words or did not. Strongly accented exposure led to immediate priming by novel strongly accented words, while exposure to the speaker without strongly accented tokens led to priming only in the experiment’s second half. In Experiment 3, listeners listened to the story with strongly accented words spoken by a different German-accented speaker. Listeners were primed by the strongly accented words, but again only in the experiment’s second half. Together, these results show that adaptation to foreign-accented speech is rapid but depends on accent strength and on listener familiarity with those strongly accented words.20 p