Main Concepts for Two Picture Description Tasks: An Addition to Richardson and Dalton, 2016

Background: Proposition analysis of the discourse of persons with aphasia (PWAs) has a long history, yielding important advancements in our understanding of communication impairments in this population. Recently, discourse measures have been considered primary outcome measures, and multiple calls have been made for improved psychometric properties of discourse measures. Aims: To advance the use of discourse analysis in PWAs by providing Main Concept Analysis checklists and descriptive statistics for healthy control performance on the analysis for the Cat in the Tree and Refused Umbrella narrative tasks utilized in the AphasiaBank database protocol. Methods & Procedures: Ninety-two control transcripts, stratified into four age groups (20–39 years; 40–59; 60–79; 80+), were downloaded from the AphasiaBank database. Relevant concepts were identified, and those spoken by at least one-third of the control sample were considered to be a main concept (MC). A multilevel coding system was used to determine the accuracy and completeness of the MCs produced by control speakers. Outcomes & Results: MC checklists for two discourse tasks are provided. Descriptive statistics are reported and examined to assist readers with evaluation of the normative data. Conclusions: These checklists provide clinicians and researchers with a tool to reliably assess the discourse of PWAs. They also help address the gap in available psychometric data with which to compare PWAs to healthy controls

A Large-Scale Comparison of Main Concept Production Between Persons with Aphasia and Persons Without Brain Injury

Purpose: The purposes of this study are to provide clinicians and researchers with introductory psychometric data for the main concept analysis (MCA), a measure of discourse informativeness, and specifically, to provide descriptive and comparative statistical information about the performance of a large sample of persons not brain injured (PNBIs) and persons with aphasia (PWAs) on AphasiaBank discourse tasks. Method: Transcripts of 5 semi-spontaneous discourse tasks were retrieved from the AphasiaBank database and scored according to detailed checklists and scoring procedures. Transcripts from 145 PNBIs and 238 PWAs were scored; descriptive statistics, median tests, and effect sizes are reported. Results: PWAs demonstrated overall lower informativeness scores and more frequent production of statements that were inaccurate and/or incomplete. Differences between PNBIs and PWAs were observed for all main concept measures and stories. Comparisons of PNBIs and aphasia subtypes revealed significant differences for all groups, although the pattern of differences and strength of effect sizes varied by group and discourse task. Conclusions: These results may improve the investigative and clinical utility of the MCA by providing descriptive and comparative information for PNBIs and PWAs for standardized discourse tasks that can be reliably scored. The results indicate that the MCA is sensitive to differences in discourse as a result of aphasia

Factors Influencing Fatal Car Accidents

Fatal car accidents are all too common in the world today. There were 29,757 fatal car accidents in the United States in 2011. I used an ordinary least squares model and SPSS to produce a regression that explains the relation between multiple variables and the number of fatalities in an accident. Through my research, I hoped to gain insight as to what variables have the biggest impact on the number of fatalities, and what drivers can do to protect themselves each day from being killed while driving. Although there are many factors that influence fatal car accidents, choosing to wear a seat belt was the most crucial action in saving lives

Factors Influencing Fatal Car Accidents

Fatal car accidents are all too common in the world today. There were 29,757 fatal car accidents in the United States in 2011. I used an ordinary least squares model and SPSS to produce a regression that explains the relation between multiple variables and the number of fatalities in an accident. Through my research, I hoped to gain insight as to what variables have the biggest impact on the number of fatalities, and what drivers can do to protect themselves each day from being killed while driving. Although there are many factors that influence fatal car accidents, choosing to wear a seat belt was the most crucial action in saving lives

Optimizing the Allocation of Vaccines in the Presence of Multiple Strains of the Influenza Virus

During the annual flu season, multiple strains of the influenza virus are often present within a population. It is a significant challenge for health care administrators to determine the most effective allocation of two different vaccines to combat the various strains when treating the public. We employ a mathematical model, a system of differential equations, to find a strategy for vaccinating a population in order to minimize the number of infected individuals. We consider various strengths of transmission of the disease, availability of vaccine doses, vaccination rates, and other model parameters. This research may lead to more effective health care policies for vaccine administration

The Pathophysiology of Tumor Lysis Syndrome in Oncology Patients

Patients with oncological conditions are at an increased risk of developing a wide variety of complications from chemotherapy that they would not otherwise be exposed too. One such life threatening complication is tumor lysis syndrome, which is an oncology emergency that frequently lands patients in the intensive care unit. Tumor lysis syndrome (TLS) occurs most frequently after the initiation of chemotherapy or other chemotoxic drugs during the patients’ treatment course [8]. It causes faster than normal tumor cell breakdown and release of intracellular contents into the general circulation. [8]. This leads to a very predictable development of electrolyte imbalances to take place within the body, which if not treated can lead to end-organ damage as well as fatal cardiac dysrhythmias [8]. While TLS is fairly uncommon, there are specific factors that place some individuals at a higher risk of developing TLS then others. These include large tumor size, tumors with rapid cell division, and hematological cancers such as leukemia [3]. In addition, TLS can progress extremely quickly and has a high rate of morbidity and mortality [8]. It is important that nurses and physicians are educated and on the look out for TLS in high-risk individuals and initiate prophylactic treatment if indicated. Also, prompt recognition of TLS and initiation of treatment modalities is key to preventing end-organ damage and possibly death. In oncology specific intensive care units, such as the medical intensive care unit at The James Cancer Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, TLS is one of the most common reasons for patients to receive continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) after sepsis. The purpose of this poster is to provide information to nurses on general oncology floors so that they are able to recognize the signs and symptoms of TLS early, in the hopes that early identification and treatment will improve patient outcomes and decrease the number of patients with acute kidney injuries necessitating the need for CRRT

Moving Toward Non-transcription Based Discourse Analysis in Stable and Progressive Aphasia

Measurement of communication ability at the discourse level holds promise for predicting how well persons with stable (e.g., stroke-induced), or progressive aphasia navigate everyday communicative interactions. However, barriers to the clinical utilization of discourse measures have persisted. Recent advancements in the standardization of elicitation protocols and the existence of large databases for development of normative references have begun to address some of these barriers. Still, time remains a consistently reported barrier by clinicians. Non-transcription based discourse measurement would reduce the time required for discourse analysis, making clinical utilization a reality. The purpose of this article is to present evidence regarding discourse measures (main concept analysis, core lexicon, and derived efficiency scores) that are well suited to non-transcription based analysis. Combined with previous research, our results suggest that these measures are sensitive to changes following stroke or neurodegenerative disease. Given the evidence, further research specifically assessing the reliability of these measures in clinical implementation is warranted

Use of Copula and Auxiliary BE by African American Children with Gullah/Geechee Heritage

The purpose of this study was to document the auxiliary and copula BE system of African American (AA) children with Gullah/Geechee (GG) heritage and to compare the findings to those from African American English (AAE)-speaking children without this heritage and to what has been documented in previous studies of Gullah and AAE. The data came from 38 children, aged five to six years. Nineteen were from rural South Carolina and classified as GG, and 19 were from rural Louisiana and classified as AAE. All were developing language typically, and the groups were matched on a number of socio-demographic variables and language test scores. The children’s 4,114 productions of BE were elicited using a standardized language screener, probes, and language samples. The GG group produced some patterns of BE that aligned with previous studies of Gullah. These included 81 BEEN and four də forms and variable marking of AM (69%) and WAS/WERE (63% - 88%). Similar to adult AAE, the AAE group did not produce BEEN or də, and they produced categorically high rates of AM and WAS/WERE, with higher rates of overtly marked AM than IS. The GG group also produced patterns of BE that were consistent with both Gullah and AAE. These included variable marking of IS and ARE, with IS \u3e ARE, and significant effects for contractibility (contractible \u3e uncontractible), grammatical function (copula \u3e auxiliary) and preceding contexts (it/that/what \u3e noun \u3e pronoun), although the statistical significance of these effects varied by the type of analysis completed. The AAE group also produced these patterns. These findings indicate that although language contact has led to evolution and change in Gullah, vestiges of this language variety can still be found in the BE system of modern day AA children with GG heritage

Concussion History and Behavioural Problems in Child and Adolescent Athletes

Sport-related concussion has become a “hot-button” topic in the media and in science. Increasingly, researchers are beginning to understand the association between concussion history and psychosocial adjustment in adults. But little research has been conducted examining this relation in children, and studies done have yielded discrepant results. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate this relation by using current internalizing and externalizing behaviour to predict past history of concussion among child athletes. Forty-eight (77.1% female) elite community athletes aged 11 to 14 years old (M age = 12.95) completed baseline assessments at the University of Windsor as part of a larger concussion management protocol. Psychosocial functioning was assessed using the parent-report version of the Behavior Assessment System for Children (BASC-3; Internalizing and Externalizing scales only), and previous concussion history was assessed via a demographics questionnaire. A binary logistic regression analysis using the BASC-3 scales as predictors and concussion history (0 vs. ≥1 previous concussion) as the dichotomous outcome variable indicated that the predictors were unable to differentiate between athletes with and without a prior history of concussion. Moreover, neither predictor significantly contributed to the model. These findings suggest that there is no relation between concussion history and current behavioural functioning in this population. Implications of these findings are discussed given the methodological and statistical limitations of the study. Future research should seek to replicate this methodology with more diverse samples to ensure greater generalizability of results

The effect of pronuclear transfer on human preimplantation development

Phd ThesisMutations in maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can cause a range of complex diseases for which there are currently no curative treatments. Using IVF based techniques involving nuclear genome transplantation, it may be possible enable women who carry mtDNA mutations to have a genetically related child without the risk of transmitting disease. The central aim of this project is to perform preclinical studies testing the safety and efficiency of pronuclear transfer (PNT). Surprisingly, the PNT technique developed using abnormally fertilised zygotes was detrimental to survival of normally fertilised zygotes. We tested the possibility that this might be due to the relatively accelerated development of normally fertilised zygotes allowing insufficient time for recovery following transplantation of the pronuclei. Switching the timing of PNT to shortly after pronuclei appearance (ePNT) rather than shortly before disappearance resulted in increased survival. Further modification of the enucleation and embryo culture media resulted in improved blastocyst quality. As part of the optimisation process, I tested the effect and reversibility of drugs that are used to inhibit the cytoskeleton of oocytes and zygotes in preparation for manipulations. Comparison of two compounds, which directly inhibit actin polymerisation, revealed marked differences in the reversibility. However, latrunculin B, which is rapidly reversed, has a detrimental effect on blastocyst development compared with latrunculin A, which is more potent and less readily reversible. Finally, I analysed single-cell RNA-sequencing data to determine whether gene expression in human blastocysts is altered by ePNT. This work was done in collaboration with Dr Kathy Niakan at the Francis Crick Institute. The findings indicate no detectable differences in global or lineage-associated gene expression between control and good quality ePNT blastocysts. Analysis of mitochondrial gene expression revealed high variability in the level of expression both within and between blastocysts. However, this variability was observed in ePNT and control blastocysts, and there was no detectable difference between them. In conclusion, this study has tested PNT in normally fertilised human zygotes for the first time; results indicate no detectable harmful effects of the ePNT procedure. We therefore conclude that it is likely to give rise to normal pregnancies.Wellcome Trust and NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centr