Language At Rest: A Longitudinal Study Of Intrinsic Functional Connectivity In Preterm Children

Preterm (PT) children show early cognitive and language deficits and display altered cortical connectivity for language compared to term (T) children. Developmentally, functional connectivity networks become more segregated and integrated through the weakening of short-range and strengthening of long-range connections. The specific aims of this study are: (1) To use residual fMRI data to investigate intrinsic connectivity development from ages 8 to 16 years in PT vs. T controls; and (2) To correlate intrinsic connectivity to cognitive and language scores. Longitudinal intrinsic connectivity distribution (ICD) values were assessed in PT (n = 13) compared to T children (n = 12) at ages 8 vs. 16 years using a Linear Mixed Effects model. Connectivity values in regions generated by the group x age interaction analysis were correlated with scores on full IQ (FSIQ), verbal IQ (VIQ), verbal comprehension IQ (VCIQ), performance IQ (PIQ), Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test­Revised (PPVT­R), and Rapid Naming Composite (RDRL_cmp). The group x age analysis revealed significant ICD differences in the following regions: bilateral Brodmann area (BA) 47­BA11­BA10­L BA45 (p=0.0002) and L fusiform­BA18­BA19 (p=0.008). The larger frontal region (bilateral BA47-BA11-BA10-L BA45) was separated into subregions for further analysis, which showed the following significant ICD group x age differences: L and R BA47 (p=0.03 and p=0.0006, respectively), bilateral BA11 (p=0.0008), L and R BA10 (p=0.0005 and 0.005, respectively), and L BA46 (p=0.03). Over time, PT ICD increased in: bilateral BA47­BA11­BA10­L BA45 (p\u3c0.0001), L and R BA47 (p=0.02 and \u3c0.0001, respectively), bilateral BA11 (p\u3c0.0001), L and R BA10 (p\u3c0.0001 for both), and L BA46 (p=0.002). In addition, PT showed decreased ICD in L fusiform­BA18­BA19 (p=0.002). In contrast, the T subjects had no significant changes in ICD values over time. At age 16, PT had greater ICD than T in: bilateral BA47­BA11­BA10­L BA45 (p=0.0002), L & R BA47 (p=0.03 & p=0.0007), bilateral BA11 (p=0.0009), L & R BA10 (p=0.0006 & p=0.005), and L BA46 (p=0.03). PT had less ICD than T in L fusiform­BA18­BA19 (p=0.04). L fusiform­BA18­BA19 ICD positively correlated to scores on VIQ (p=0.021), PIQ (p=0.041), and FSIQ (p=0.015). None of the other regions correlated to scores on the cognitive tasks. The L fusiform-BA18-BA19 region includes the visual word form area, which has long been associated with reading performance and complex visual processing. These data demonstrate for the first time that, over the course of adolescence, prematurely-born children undergo widespread developmental changes in intrinsic connectivity that differ from term-born children. The development of resting state connectivity in prematurely-born children does not reflect compensatory alterations but rather appears to underscore and perpetuate impairment in language and cognitive processing

Releasing Messiaen's birds from their musical cages: Using Deleuzian theory to unlock new performance frameworks

Many of Olivier Messiaen’s later compositions have a foundation in the systematic collection and notation of birdsong. The integration of these songs into works such as Le Merle Noir (1952) and Catalogue d’Oiseaux (1958), was conducted through a dual transcription process, with the composer notating his works using a combination of live field sounds and a collection of birdsong recordings. While much music-theoretical research has explored the relationship between analysis and performance, the synthesis has rarely been made with relation to birdsong, with past research relating to either analysis or performance. The primary aim of this study is to establish new possibilities and frameworks for the performance of birdsong and other equivalent sound sources. While Messiaen’s birdsong works are the focus of this project, the theories and possibilities provided can be applied to any musical work. The study therefore seeks to answer the following questions: 1. In what ways are natural sound sources manipulated when employed in a musical work? 2. To what extent can performers overcome the ‘limiting forces’ of notation to communicate a ‘natural’ narrative as well as the technical format of a work? 3. How can new performance approaches unlock greater interpretative flexibility in a work with ‘natural’ origins (such as birdsong)? To expand the current research beyond existing performance studies, the investigation takes a philosophical approach, using the work of Gilles Deleuze as a basis for other lines of enquiry. Deleuze and Guattari suggest that “birdsongs are often recognised as having a territorial function” (Bogue, 1999). In transforming them into music, the songs undergo ‘relative deterritorialization’, with written notation forming a discrete symbolic ‘language’ centred around fixed variables rather than the natural continuum of birdsong. Through a philosophical lens, this thesis employs a combination of primary and secondary research methods, working with performers and listeners of Messiaen’s music to explore how a territorial approach may alter or expand their interpretations of both micro and macro aspects of the repertoire. The current study expands on existing performance conventions through consideration of Messiaen’s creative process, rather than his end product. In doing so, the project offers new interpretative possibilities (‘territories’) for future performance. These opportunities enable performers and listeners to further ‘deterritorialize’ Messiaen’s discrete musical notation to maintain greater focus on its birdsong inspiration: a continual process which Deleuze insists should be our ultimate goal

Visual function in Norwegian children aged 5–13 years with prenatal exposure to opioid maintenance therapy: A case–control study

Purpose: To assess various aspects of visual function in school children prenatally exposed to opioid maintenance therapy (OMT) and to explore possible outcome differences between prenatal methadone and buprenorphine exposure. Methods: In a cross-sectional case–control study, 63 children aged 5–13 years with prenatal OMT exposure were compared with 63 age- and gender-matched, non-exposed controls regarding important visual parameters, such as visual acuity, orthoptic status, refractive state, colour vision, and visual field. Results: The OMT-exposed children had significantly poorer visual acuity, both for the best eye, the worst eye and binocularly. Two children had mild visual impairment. Manifest strabismus was more frequent in the OMT group, 30%, vs. 4.8% in the control group. The most frequent types of strabismus were accommodative esotropia and intermittent exotropia. Manifest nystagmus was present in 10 (16%) of the exposed children compared to one among the non-exposed children. The accommodative amplitude was decreased in the OMT group compared to the controls. After adjusting for polydrug exposure and SGA (small-for-gestational-age), the between-group differences in visual acuity, strabismus, and nystagmus remained. The methadone-exposed children had poorer visual acuity, increased frequency of strabismus and a higher percentage of nystagmus, hypermetropia and astigmatism compared to the buprenorphine-exposed children. Conclusions: School-age children exposed to methadone or buprenorphine in utero had a higher prevalence of strabismus and nystagmus, and a lower visual acuity and accommodation amplitude. Buprenorphine exposure was associated with more favourable results than methadone exposure on most visual outcome measures and should be the preferred substance in OMT.publishedVersio

Language at rest: A longitudinal study of intrinsic functional connectivity in preterm children

AbstractBackgroundPreterm (PT) children show early cognitive and language deficits and display altered cortical connectivity for language compared to term (T) children. Developmentally, functional connectivity networks become more segregated and integrated, through the weakening of short-range and strengthening of long-range connections.MethodsLongitudinal intrinsic connectivity distribution (ICD) values were assessed in PT (n=13) compared to T children (n=12) at ages 8 vs. 16 using a Linear Mixed Effects model. Connectivity values in regions generated by the group×age interaction analysis were then correlated to scores on full IQ (FSIQ), verbal IQ (VIQ), verbal comprehension IQ (VCIQ), performance IQ (PIQ), Peabody picture vocabulary test—revised (PPVT­R), and Rapid Naming Composite (RDRL_Cmp).ResultsNine regions were generated by the group×age interaction analysis. PT connectivity significantly increased over time in all but two regions, and they ultimately displayed greater relative connectivity at age 16 than Ts in all areas except the left occipito-temporal cortex (OTC). PTs underwent significant connectivity reductions in the left OTC, which corresponded with worse performance on FSIQ, VIQ, and PIQ. These findings differed from Ts, who did not undergo any significant changes in connectivity over time.ConclusionsThese findings suggest that the developmental alterations in connectivity in PT children at adolescence are both pervasive and widespread. The persistent and worsening cognitive and language deficits noted in the PT subjects may be attributed to the loss of connections in the left OTC

Understanding the circumgalactic medium is critical for understanding galaxy evolution

Galaxies evolve under the influence of gas flows between their interstellar medium and their surrounding gaseous halos known as the circumgalactic medium (CGM). The CGM is a major reservoir of galactic baryons and metals, and plays a key role in the long cycles of accretion, feedback, and recycling of gas that drive star formation. In order to fully understand the physical processes at work within galaxies, it is therefore essential to have a firm understanding of the composition, structure, kinematics, thermodynamics, and evolution of the CGM. In this white paper we outline connections between the CGM and galactic star formation histories, internal kinematics, chemical evolution, quenching, satellite evolution, dark matter halo occupation, and the reionization of the larger-scale intergalactic medium in light of the advances that will be made on these topics in the 2020s. We argue that, in the next decade, fundamental progress on all of these major issues depends critically on improved empirical characterization and theoretical understanding of the CGM. In particular, we discuss how future advances in spatially-resolved CGM observations at high spectral resolution, broader characterization of the CGM across galaxy mass and redshift, and expected breakthroughs in cosmological hydrodynamic simulations will help resolve these major problems in galaxy evolution.Comment: Astro2020 Decadal Science White Pape

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

A Review of Scleral Flap Shape on Trabeculectomy Outcomes

Introduction: Trabeculectomies are amongst the most common surgical procedures to lower intraocular pressure (IOP). Scleral flap dimensions are a key factor in influencing aqueous outflow and subsequent IOP reduction, especially in the early postoperative period. Despite the substantial diversity of scleral flap shapes that is used in practice, there is little information comparing outcomes between them. In this study, we review the literature on the uses and outcomes of various scleral flap shapes. Methods: A literature review was performed using the databases: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and Web of Science. Search terms for relevant studies included the following: trabeculectomy AND (square OR triang* OR rectang* OR polygon* OR arc OR shape) AND flap. Results: Our initial literature search revealed 71 unique articles, six of which met our inclusion and exclusion criteria and were reviewed. Four articles reported the use of triangular flaps, one rectangular flap, one square flap, and two arc-shaped flaps. The data from each article were reviewed for the following: • Surgical technique • Early postoperative intraocular pressure reduction • Final postoperative intraocular pressure reduction • Postoperative complications Conclusions: A myriad of scleral flap shapes is utilized in surgical practice. Essentially all of the trabeculectomy procedures, regardless of scleral flap shape, achieved substantial reductions in IOP with similar success rates. However, due to the variability in surgical technique and lack of direct comparison, we cannot definitively conclude or deny that one flap shape is superior to another. We believe our review provides the most comprehensive analysis of scleral flap shape to date and highlights its importance in regulating aqueous flow, especially in the early postoperative period