The role of language, social cognition, and social skill in the functional social outcomes of young adolescents with and without a history of SLI

Social skill and language are known to relate, not least in the example of those with specific language impairment (SLI). However, most of the research examining this trend has been conducted on young primary school age children and the nature of the relationships is unclear. Furthermore, little is known about which young people in general have social difficulties and whether language, social cognition, and social skills are directly associated at this age. In this study, a large cohort made up of young people with a history of SLI (N = 134) and a typically developing (TD) group (N = 124) of the same age were followed up in their final year of compulsory schooling (aged 16). Language, social cognition, social skills, and functional social outcomes (friendships and levels of social activity) were assessed using tasks and questionnaires. Modest associations were found between social cognition, language, and social behaviours, the strongest being between language and social cognition. Regression analyses showed that as a combined group, the adolescents' functional social outcomes were most associated with expressive language, social skill, and social cognitive ability. However, the patterns differed when the groups were analysed separately, with social cognition playing more of a role for those with SLI. These findings suggest that poor language may play a complex role in adolescents' social development

Narrative in adolescent specific language impairment (SLI): a comparison with peers across two different narrative genres

Background: Narrative may provide a useful way in which to assess the language ability of adolescents with specific language impairment and may be more ecologically valid than standardized tests. However, the language of this age group is seldom studied and, furthermore, the effect of narrative genre has not been explored in detail. Methods & Procedures: A total of 99 typically developing adolescents and 19 peers with specific language impairment were given two different types of narrative task: a story-telling condition and a conversational condition. Four areas of narrative (productivity, syntactic complexity, syntactic errors and performance) were assessed. Outcomes & Results: The group with specific language impairment was poorer on most aspects of narrative confirming recent research that specific language impairment is a long-term disorder. A number of measures also showed interactions between group and genre, with story-telling proving to be a disproportionately more difficult task for the specific language impairment group. Error analysis also suggested that the specific language impairment group was making qualitatively different errors to the typically developing group, even within a genre. Conclusions: Adolescents with specific language impairment are not only poorer at both types of narrative than peers, but also show different patterns of competence and error, and require more support from the narrative-partner. Clinical Implications: Assessments of adolescents are less frequent than at younger ages. This is partly because of the sparsity of tests available in this age range. Qualitative analysis of narrative might prove a useful alternative. The findings suggest that in every-day conversation, young people with specific language impairment manage their difficulties more discreetly and this might make them harder to identify in a mainstream setting

Short-term memory and vocabulary development in children with Down syndrome and children with specific language impairment

A longitudinal comparison was made between development of verbal and visuo-spatial short-term memory and vocabulary in children with Down syndrome (DS), children with specific language impairment (SLI), and typically developing children as a control group. Participants were 12 children with DS (6 males, 6 females; mean chronological age 9y 9mo [SD 2.8 mo], range 8y 6mo to 11y 4mo); nine children with SLI (4 males, 5 females; mean chronological age 3y 9mo [SD 4.8mo], range 3y 3mo to 4y 5mo); and 12 typically developing children (5 males, 7 females; mean chronological age 4y 4mo [SD 3.9mo], range 3y 3mo to 4y 3mo). Participants were matched on mental age (mean mental age 4y 3mo). All participants completed verbal short-term memory, visuo-spatial short-term memory, and expressive and receptive vocabulary tasks on three occasions over 1 year. Similarities were seen in the clinical groups for verbal short-term memory. There was some evidence of difficulty in visuo-spatial short-term memory in the children with SLI relative to the other groups, but all three groups showed overlap in visuo-spatial short-term memory performance. At the final time-point vocabulary performance in the clinical groups was similar; the typically developing children showed higher vocabulary abilities than both clinical groups

Cognitive abilities in children with specific language impairment: consideration of visuo-spatial skills

Background: The study is concerned with the cognitive abilities of children with specific language impairment (SLI). Previous research has indicated that children with SLI demonstrate difficulties with certain cognitive tasks despite normal non‐verbal IQ scores. It has been suggested that a general processing limitation might account for the pattern of language and cognitive difficulties seen in children with SLI. The performances on a visuo‐spatial short‐term memory task and a visuo‐spatial processing task were considered in a group of young children with SLI. Verbal short‐term memory was also measured. Aims: To identify whether children with SLI demonstrate difficulties with visuo‐spatial memory as well as verbal short‐term memory. To see whether a visuo‐spatial processing task without short‐term memory requirements is problematic for children with SLI. To consider performance on these tasks over time. Methods & Procedures: Nine children with SLI (mean age 3;9 years at the study outset) and nine typically developing children (mean age 3;9 years at the study outset) were visited on three occasions over 1 year. Verbal short‐term memory, visuo‐spatial short‐term memory and visuo‐spatial processing tasks were administered to the children, and performance over time was compared between the two groups. Outcomes & Results: The children with SLI performed at a lower level than the typically developing children on the verbal short‐term memory task. Both groups showed similar development on the verbal short‐term memory task and the visuo‐spatial processing task over time. Only the visuo‐spatial short‐term memory task showed slower development over time in the children with SLI relative to the typically developing children. Conclusions: Children with SLI demonstrated slower development on a visuo‐spatial short‐term memory task relative to typically developing children of the same chronological age. This finding has implications for speech and language therapists and other professionals working with children with SLI. It may mean that only certain types of visual support are suitable, and that children with SLI will have difficulty with tasks requiring a high level of processing, or a number of mental manipulations

Three-dimensional fluid motion in Faraday waves: creation of vorticity and generation of two-dimensional turbulence

We study the generation of 2D turbulence in Faraday waves by investigating the creation of spatially periodic vortices in this system. Measurements which couple a diffusing light imaging technique and particle tracking algorithms allow the simultaneous observation of the three-dimensional fluid motion and of the temporal changes in the wave field topography. Quasi-standing waves are found to coexist with a spatially extended fluid transport. More specifically, the destruction of regular patterns of oscillons coincides with the emergence of a complex fluid motion whose statistics are similar to that of two-dimensional turbulence. We reveal that a lattice of oscillons generates vorticity at the oscillon scale in the horizontal flow. The interaction of these vortices explain how 2D turbulence is fueled by almost standing waves. Remarkably, the curvature of Lagrangian trajectories reveals a "footprint" of the forcing scale vortices in fully developed turbulence. 2D Navier-Stokes turbulence should be considered a source of disorder in Faraday waves. These findings also provide a new paradigm for vorticity creation in 2D flows

Emotional health in adolescents with and without a history of specific language impairment (SLI)

Objective:  This study examined the emotional health of adolescents with and without specific language impairment (SLI). Method:  One hundred and thirty-nine adolescents with a history of SLI (15;10 years) and a peer group of 124 adolescents with normal language development (NLD) (15;11 years) participated, who were in their final year of compulsory schooling. The risk of emotional difficulties was assessed using the Moods and Feelings Questionnaire (MFQ) and the Child Manifest Anxiety Scale-R (CMAS-R). Comprehensive language and cognition data were available for all participants (NLD and SLI) concurrently and also longitudinally for those with SLI. Results:  A clear increased risk of emotional health symptoms was found for the SLI group on both self- and parental-report. Girls scored less favourably than boys when groups were combined, but these were due to the effect of the NLD group, with no gender differences found in the SLI group. Direct links with language and cognition were not obvious. Instead, more diffuse factors such as family history of emotional health difficulties may warrant further investigation. Conclusion:  There is a marked higher rate of anxiety and depression symptoms in adolescents with SLI. However, these do not appear to be a direct result of impoverished communicative experiences

Sensitive imaging of electromagnetic fields with paramagnetic polar molecules

We propose a method for sensitive parallel detection of low-frequency electromagnetic fields based on the fine structure interactions in paramagnetic polar molecules. Compared to the recently implemented scheme employing ultracold $^{87}$Rb atoms [B{\"o}hi \textit{et al.}, Appl. Phys. Lett. \textbf{97}, 051101 (2010)], the technique based on molecules offers a 100-fold higher sensitivity, the possibility to measure both the electric and magnetic field components, and a probe of a wide range of frequencies from the dc limit to the THz regime

A novel concept for the manufacture of individual sapphire-metallic hip joint endoprostheses.

At the present time, artificial joints made with metallic, ceramic, metal-polymeric or ceramicpolymeric friction pairs substituting for the natural biomechanic articulations "head of the hip joint-acetabulum" are widely used for endoprosthetic operations on hip joints. Experience gained in the course of more than 2000 operations has shown that along with the advantageous properties of modern endoprosthetic constructions made of metal, ceramics and polymers, they have certain drawbacks. Among them are insufficient biological inertness and susceptibility to excessive wear of the friction pair components. In addition, as a result of wear of the hinge friction pair, toxic and oncologically dangerous products of degradation accumulate in the different organs and tissues. This in turn results in severe complications and demands correspondingly complicated corrective intervention, often leading to worse disability than that which the original operation was designed to cure. The aim of the study reported here was the development and clinical validation of a highly effective and long-lived hip joint endoprosthesis with a sapphire head whose wear capacity is superior to all others. The endoprosthesis consists of a metallic pedicle, a dismountable articulation (metallic necklayer of supramolecular polyethylene-sapphire head) and an acetabular cup. The endoprostheses with the sapphire head proved themselves positively in clinical trials and are considered to be highly promising for future applications

Do emotional difficulties and peer problems hew together from childhood to adolescence? The case of children with a history of developmental language disorder (DLD)

Children and adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) are, overall, vulnerable to difficulties in emotional adjustment and in peer relations. However, previous research has shown that different subgroups follow different trajectories in respect of quality of peer relations. Less is known of the trajectories of emotional development. We consider here the possibility that development in these two domains is interrelated: that is, the trajectories of emotional and peer problems will proceed in parallel. We conducted longitudinal joint trajectories analyses of emotional and peer relations in a sample of young people identified as having DLD at age 7 years and seen at intervals up to 16 years. Potential influences on joint trajectory group membership were examined. Findings revealed five distinct joint trajectories. Emotional and peer difficulties do hew together from childhood to adolescence for just over half of the sample, but not all. The variables most clearly associated with group membership were pragmatic language ability, prosociality and parental mental health. This is the first study to examine joint longitudinal trajectories of emotional and peer difficulties in individuals with DLD. We demonstrate that development in individuals with DLD is heterogeneous and identify three key variables associated with personal and social adjustment from childhood to adolescence. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed