Adults with developmental dyslexia show selective impairments in time-based and self-initiated prospective memory: Self-report and clinical evidence.

BACKGROUND: Prospective memory (PM; memory for delayed intentions) would seem to be impaired in dyslexia but evidence is currently limited in scope. AIMS: There is a need, therefore, firstly, to explore PM under controlled conditions using a broader range of PM tasks than used previously and, secondly, to determine whether objectively measured and self-reported PM problems can be found in the same individuals with dyslexia. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: The responses of 30 adults with dyslexia were compared with those of 30 IQ-matched adults without dyslexia on a self-report and a clinical measure of PM. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Dyslexia-related deficits were shown on the clinical measure overall and, more particularly, when PM responses had to be made to cues based on time rather than environmental events. Adults with dyslexia were also more likely to forget to carry out an intention under naturalistic conditions 24h later. On the self-report questionnaire, the group with dyslexia reported significantly more frequent problems with PM overall, despite using more techniques to aid their memory. In particular, problems were identified with longer-term PM tasks and PM which had to be self-initiated. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Dyslexia-related PM deficits were found under both laboratory and everyday conditions in the same participants; the first time that this has been demonstrated. These findings support previous experimental research which has highlighted dyslexia-related deficits in PM when the enacting of intentions is based on time cues and/or has to be self-initiated rather than being in prompted by environmental events

Time-based prospective memory in adults with developmental dyslexia.

Prospective memory (PM) is memory for delayed intentions. Despite its importance to everyday life, the few studies on PM function in adults with dyslexia which exist have relied on self-report measures. To determine whether self-reported PM deficits can be measured objectively, laboratory-based PM tasks were administered to 24 adults with dyslexia and 25 age- and IQ-matched adults without dyslexia. Self-report data indicated that people with dyslexia felt that time-based PM (TBPM; requiring responses at certain times in the future) was most problematic for them and so this form of PM was the focus of investigation. Whilst performing the ongoing task from which they were required to break out every 3 min to make a PM-related response, the participants were allowed to make clock checks whenever they wished. The cognitive demands made on ongoing behaviour were manipulated to determine whether loading executive resources had a mediating role in dyslexia-related deficits in PM, resulting in three tasks with varying working memory load. A semi-naturalistic TBPM task was also administered, in which the participants were asked to remind the experimenter to save a data file 40 min after being given this instruction. Dyslexia-related differences were found across all three computerized tasks, regardless of cognitive load. The adults with dyslexia made fewer correct PM responses and also fewer clock checks. On the semi-naturalistic task, the participants with dyslexia were less likely to remember to remind the experimenter to save the file. This is the first study to document PM deficits in dyslexia using objective measures of performance. Since TBPM impairments were found under more naturalistic conditions as well as on computerized tasks, the results have implications for workplace support for adults with dyslexia

An increased response to experimental muscle pain is related to psychological status in women with chronic non-traumatic neck-shoulder pain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neck-shoulder pain conditions, e.g., chronic trapezius myalgia, have been associated with sensory disturbances such as increased sensitivity to experimentally induced pain. This study investigated pain sensitivity in terms of bilateral pressure pain thresholds over the trapezius and tibialis anterior muscles and pain responses after a unilateral hypertonic saline infusion into the right legs tibialis anterior muscle and related those parameters to intensity and area size of the clinical pain and to psychological factors (sleeping problems, depression, anxiety, catastrophizing and fear-avoidance).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Nineteen women with chronic non-traumatic neck-shoulder pain but without simultaneous anatomically widespread clinical pain (NSP) and 30 age-matched pain-free female control subjects (CON) participated in the study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>NSP had lower pressure pain thresholds over the trapezius and over the tibialis anterior muscles and experienced hypertonic saline-evoked pain in the tibialis anterior muscle to be significantly more intense and locally more widespread than CON. More intense symptoms of anxiety and depression together with a higher disability level were associated with increased pain responses to experimental pain induction and a larger area size of the clinical neck-shoulder pain at its worst.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate that central mechanisms e.g., central sensitization and altered descending control, are involved in chronic neck-shoulder pain since sensory hypersensitivity was found in areas distant to the site of clinical pain. Psychological status was found to interact with the perception, intensity, duration and distribution of induced pain (hypertonic saline) together with the spreading of clinical pain. The duration and intensity of pain correlated negatively with pressure pain thresholds.</p

Comparison of published orthopaedic trauma trials following registration in Clinicaltrials.gov

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>After the Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997, the registration of all clinical trials became mandatory prior to publication. Our primary objective was to determine publication rates for orthopaedic trauma trials registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. We further evaluated methodological consistency between registration and publication.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We searched Clinical Trials.gov for all trials related to orthopaedic trauma. We excluded active trials and trials not completed by July 2009, and performed a systematic search for publications resulting from registered closed trials. Information regarding primary and secondary outcomes, intervention, study sponsors, and sample size were extracted from registrations and publications.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 130 closed trials, 37 eligible trials resulted in 16 publications (43.2%). We found no significant differences in publication rates between funding sources for industry sponsored studies and nongovernment/nonindustry sponsored studies (<it>p </it>> 0.05). About half the trials (45%) did not include the NCT ID in the publication. Two (10%) publications had major changes to the primary outcome measure and ten (52.6%) to sample size.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Registration of orthopaedic trauma trials does not consistently result in publication. When trials are registered, many do not cite NCT ID in the publication. Furthermore, changes that are not reflected in the registry of the trial are frequently made to the final publication.</p

“We have been magnified for years - now you are under the microscope!": Co-researchers with learning disabilities created an online survey to challenge public understanding of learning disabilities

Public attitudes towards learning disabilities (LDs) are generally reported as positive, inclusive and empathetic. However, these findings do not reflect the lived experiences of people with LDs. To shed light on this disparity, a team of co-researchers with LDs created the first online survey to challenge public understanding of LDs, asking questions in ways that are important to them and represent how they see themselves. Here, we describe and evaluate the process of creating an accessible survey platform and an online survey in a research team consisting of academic and non-academic professionals with and without LDs or autism. Through this inclusive research process, the co-designed survey met the expectations of the co-researchers and was well-received by the initial survey respondents. We reflect on the co-researchers’ perspectives following the study completion, and consider the difficulties and advantages we encountered deploying such approaches and their potential implications on future survey data analysis

Observing Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in solar blowout jet

Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) is a basic physical process in fluids and magnetized plasmas, with applications successfully modelling e.g. exponentially growing instabilities observed at magnetospheric and heliospheric boundaries, in the solar or Earth’s atmosphere and within astrophysical jets. Here, we report the discovery of the KHI in solar blowout jets and analyse the detailed evolution by employing high-resolution data from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) satellite launched in 2013. The particular jet we focus on is rooted in the surrounding penumbra of the main negative polarity sunspot of Active Region 12365, where the main body of the jet is a super-penumbral structure. At its maximum, the jet has a length of 90 Mm, a width of 19.7 Mm, and its density is about 40 times higher than its surroundings. During the evolution of the jet, a cavity appears near the base of the jet, and bi-directional flows originated from the top and bottom of the cavity start to develop, indicating that magnetic reconnection takes place around the cavity. Two upward flows pass along the left boundary of the jet successively. Next, KHI develops due to a strong velocity shear (∼204 km s−1) between these two flows, and subsequently the smooth left boundary exhibits a sawtooth pattern, evidencing the onset of the instability

Intracellular Trafficking and Synaptic Function of APL-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans

Background: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder primarily characterized by the deposition of b-amyloid plaques in the brain. Plaques are composed of the amyloid-b peptide derived from cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). Mutations in APP lead to the development of Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD), however, the normal function of this protein has proven elusive. The organism Caenorhabditis elegans is an attractive model as the amyloid precursor-like protein (APL-1) is the single ortholog of APP, and loss of apl-1 leads to a severe molting defect and early larval lethality. Methodology/Principal Findings: We report here that lethality and molting can be rescued by full length APL-1, C-terminal mutations as well as a C-terminal truncation, suggesting that the extracellular region of the protein is essential for viability. RNAi knock-down of apl-1 followed by drug testing on the acetylcholinesterase inhibitor aldicarb showed that loss of apl-1 leads to aldicarb hypersensitivity, indicating a defect in synaptic function. The aldicarb hypersensitivity can be rescued by full length APL-1 in a dose dependent fashion. At the cellular level, kinesins UNC-104/KIF-1A and UNC-116/kinesin-1 are positive regulators of APL-1 expression in the neurons. Knock-down of the small GTPase rab-5 also leads to a dramatic decrease in the amount of apl-1 expression in neurons, suggesting that trafficking from the plasma membrane to the early endosome is important for apl-1 function. Loss of function of a different small GTPase, UNC-108, on the contrary, leads t

The Effectiveness of conservative management for acute Whiplash Associated Disorder (WAD) II : a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials

To evaluate the effectiveness of conservative management (except drug therapy) for acute Whiplash Associated Disorder (WAD) II.Systematic review and meta-analysis of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) using a pre-defined protocol. Two independent reviewers searched information sources, decided eligibility of studies, and assessed risk of bias (RoB) of included trials. Data were extracted by one reviewer and checked by the other. A third reviewer mediated any disagreements throughout. Qualitative trial and RoB data were summarised descriptively. Quantitative syntheses were conducted across trials for comparable interventions, outcome measures and assessment points. Meta-analyses compared effect sizes with random effects, using STATA version 12.PEDro, Medline, Embase, AMED, CINAHL, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library with manual searching in key journals, reference lists, British National Bibliography for Report Literature, Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information & Exchange, and National Technical Information Service were searched from inception to 15th April 2015. Active researchers in the field were contacted to determine relevant studies.RCTs evaluating acute (10 days) interventions, there were no statistically significant differences in all outcome measures between interventions at any time.Conservative and active interventions may be useful for pain reduction in patients with acute WADII. Additionally, cervical horizontal mobility could be improved by conservative intervention. The employment of a behavioural intervention (e.g. act-as-usual, education and self-care including regularly exercise) could have benefits for pain reduction and improvement in cervical movement in the coronal and horizontal planes. The evidence was evaluated as low/very low level according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system

“Positive” Results Increase Down the Hierarchy of the Sciences

The hypothesis of a Hierarchy of the Sciences with physical sciences at the top, social sciences at the bottom, and biological sciences in-between is nearly 200 years old. This order is intuitive and reflected in many features of academic life, but whether it reflects the “hardness” of scientific research—i.e., the extent to which research questions and results are determined by data and theories as opposed to non-cognitive factors—is controversial. This study analysed 2434 papers published in all disciplines and that declared to have tested a hypothesis. It was determined how many papers reported a “positive” (full or partial) or “negative” support for the tested hypothesis. If the hierarchy hypothesis is correct, then researchers in “softer” sciences should have fewer constraints to their conscious and unconscious biases, and therefore report more positive outcomes. Results confirmed the predictions at all levels considered: discipline, domain and methodology broadly defined. Controlling for observed differences between pure and applied disciplines, and between papers testing one or several hypotheses, the odds of reporting a positive result were around 5 times higher among papers in the disciplines of Psychology and Psychiatry and Economics and Business compared to Space Science, 2.3 times higher in the domain of social sciences compared to the physical sciences, and 3.4 times higher in studies applying behavioural and social methodologies on people compared to physical and chemical studies on non-biological material. In all comparisons, biological studies had intermediate values. These results suggest that the nature of hypotheses tested and the logical and methodological rigour employed to test them vary systematically across disciplines and fields, depending on the complexity of the subject matter and possibly other factors (e.g., a field's level of historical and/or intellectual development). On the other hand, these results support the scientific status of the social sciences against claims that they are completely subjective, by showing that, when they adopt a scientific approach to discovery, they differ from the natural sciences only by a matter of degree