Speech Entrainment to Improve Spontaneous Speech in Broca\u27s Aphasia.

Speech entrainment, a treatment method that requires participants to mimic the speech of an audiovisual model in real time, has been shown to benefit individuals with non-fluent aphasia when they speak about trained topics. It is unclear if it improves spontaneous speech, which does not pertain to trained items, in the same way. In an effort to investigate this matter, the current study examined the effects of speech entrainment on spontaneous speech that does not relate to trained items, it also estimated effect sizes associated with improvements in speech production as a result of this treatment approach, and explored participant characteristics associated with treatment response. Twenty participants were recruited to participate in this study. Each participant received three weeks of treatment and underwent extensive speech and language testing before and after treatment had concluded, as well as testing of discourse abilities pre-treatment, post treatment, at three months post treatment and again at six months post-treatment. We found that speech entrainment treatment does in fact improve spontaneous speech for some people with non-fluent aphasia. The number of words and different words per minute in participants’ speech samples did not increase for everybody, but the accuracy of the information content that the participants uttered was found to increase significantly. Notably, there was also a significant positive change in aphasia quotient scores, picture naming, semantic processing and grammatical processing. Analysis of functional brain activity supported previous findings of the importance of pMTG for speech entrainment and how changes in activity could predict changes in both fluency and informativeness of spontaneous speech output

Localizing lesion locations to predict extent of aphasia recovery

Extensive research has related specific lesion locations to language impairment in aphasia. However, far less work has focused on the patterns of brain damage that predict prognosis in aphasia. The current study examined brain damage as a predictor of language recovery in acute patients with aphasia caused by stroke. Damage to the left posterior middle temporal gyrus (MTG) and left pars triangularis predicted poor recovery of speech production and MTG damage predicted less recovery of speech comprehension. These findings suggest that brain changes associated with language recovery rely on preservation and recruitment of the aforementioned areas in the left hemisphere

Effect of dietary fish-oil on survival of experimental animals after infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae or Klebsiella pneumoniae

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenObjective: Dietary fish-oil has beneficial effect in infections and in autoimmune disorders. This effect is thought to be associated with alterations in the immune system. The Gram negative organism Klebsiella pneumoniae has been used as an infective agent in most studies investigating the effect of dietary fish-oil on infection. The immune response against Gram positive bacteria is somewhat different to the response to Gram negative oeganisms. Moreover, the Gram positive bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae is a very common pathogen, particularly in children. To investigate whether dietary fish-oil has different effect in infections by Gram positive or Gram negative bacteria, we studied the survival of mice fed with fish-oil or corn-oil supplemented diets and infected in the lungs with either Klebsiella pneumoniae or Streptococcus pneumoniae. Materials and methods: 120 NMRI mice were divided into four groups and fed diets supplemented with fish-oil (two groups, 30 mice in each group) or corn-oil (two groups, 30 mice in each group). After six weeks, the mice were infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae (fish-oil group and corn-oil group) or with Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3 (fish-oil group and corn-oil group). The survival was monitored. The experiment was performed twice. Results: The survival of the mice infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae was significantly better in the groups receiving the fish-oil enriched diet as compared to the groups fed the corn-oil enriched diet (p=0.0001 and 0.0013). There was no difference in the survival of mice infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3, receiving the fish-oil or corn-oil enriched diets (p=0.74 and p=0.15). Conclusions: These results indicate that dietary fish-oil has beneficial effect on survival of mice after experimental infection with the Gram negative bacteria Klebsiella pneumoniae but not on experimental infections with the Gram positive bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3.Markmið: Áhrif lýsisneyslu á lifun eftir sýkingar og á sjálfnæmissjúkdóma hefur verið staðfest af ýmsum rannsóknarhópum. Talið er að áhrifin megi rekja til breytinga á ónæmissvari líkamans. Flestar rannsóknanna hafa verið gerðar með Gram neikvæðu bakteríunni Klebsiella pneumoniae. Ónæmissvarið gegn Gram jákvæðum bakteríum er nokkuð frábrugðið svari gegn Gram neikvæðum bakteríum. Þá er Gram jákvæða bakterían Streptococcus pneumoniae mjög algengur sýkingavaldur, einkum í börnum. Til að kanna hvort verndandi áhrif lýsisneyslu séu mismunandi eftir því hvort sýkt er með Gram jákvæðum eða Gram neikvæðum bakteríum rannsökuðum við áhrif lýsisríks fæðis á lifun músa eftir sýkingar með Klebsiella pneumoniae eða Streptococcus pneumoniae. Efniviður og aðferðir: 120 NMRI músum var skipt í fjóra hópa og voru aldar á fæði bættu með lýsi (tveir hópar, 30 mýs í hvorum hópi) eða á fæði bættu með kornolíu (tveir hópar, 30 mýs í hvorum hópi). Eftir sex vikur voru mýsnar sýktar með Klebsiella pneumoniae (lýsishópur og kornolíuhópur) eða með Streptococcus pneumoniae hjúpgerð 3 (lýsishópur og kornolíuhópur). Fylgst var með lifun músanna. Tilraunin var síðan endurtekin á sama hátt. Niðurstöður: Lifun músa sem sýktar voru með Klebsiella pneumoniae var marktækt betri hjá hópunum sem fengu lýsisríkt fæði samanborið við hópana sem fengu kornolíubætt fæði (p=0,0001 og 0,0013). Ekki var tölfræðilega marktækur munur á lifun músa sem sýktar voru með Streptococcus pneumoniae hjúpgerð 3 hvort heldur þær fengu lýsisríkt eða kornolíuríkt fæði (p=0,74 og p=0,15). Ályktanir: Niðurstöður okkar benda til þess að áhrif lýsisríks fæðis tilraunadýra séu greinileg þegar sýkt er með Gram neikvæðu bakteríunni Klebsiella pneumoniae en ekki í sýkingum með Streptococcus pneumoniae hjúpgerð 3

Beneficial effect of dietary fish-oil is independent of the infection site

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenObjective: Fish-oil enriched diet has a protective effect on experimental animals infected intramuscularly with Klebsiella pneumoniae. It also has beneficial effect in several other diseases, including autoimmune disorders. The pathophysiological effects of dietary fish-oil have still not been revealed although it is expected to influence the immune response. We have previously shown that dietary fish-oil has beneficial effect in mice infected intramuscularly with Klebsiella pneumoniae. If the beneficial effect of dietary fish-oil is due to influence on the immune response it should be independent of the infection site. We therefore investigated whether dietary fish-oil has beneficial effect in intrapulmonary infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae as it has on intramuscular infection with the same bacteria. Materials and methods: Sixty NMRI mice were fed diets enriched with fish-oil (30 mice) or corn-oil (30 mice) for six weeks. The mice were then infected in the lungs with Klebsiella pneumoniae and the survival was monitored. The experiment was performed twice. The results were compared to our earlier results with intramuscular infections. Results: The survival of the mice fed the fish-oil enriched diet and infected in the lungs with Klebsiella pneumoniae was significantly better compared to the survival of mice fed the corn-oil enriched diet in both experiments (p=0.0001 and p=0.0013). These results are similar to our earlier findings when the mice were infected intramuscularly. Conclusions: These results indicate that the beneficial effect of dietary fish-oil on infection is independent of the site of infection. These results are in accordance with the hypothesis that dietary fish-oil influences the immune response.Markmið: Lýsisríkt fæði hefur verndandi áhrif á tilraunadýr sem sýkt eru í vöðva með Klebsiella pneumoniae og hefur einnig áhrif í ýmsum sjúkdómum, þar á meðal sjálfnæmissjúkdómum. Ekki er ljóst á hvern hátt lýsið virkar þó líklegt sé að virknin tengist áhrifum lýsis á ónæmissvar dýranna við sýkingunum og öðru áreiti. Rannsóknarhópurinn hefur áður birt niðurstöður sem sýna verndandi áhrif lýsisneyslu í sýkingum með Klebsiella pneumoniae þegar bakteríunni er sprautað í vöðva. Ef verndandi áhrif lýsis í sýkingum tengjast almennt ónæmissvari líkamans ættu þau að koma fram óháð íkomustað sýkingarinnar. Í tilraunum okkar nú var því kannað hvort lýsið hefði sömu verndandi áhrif á tilraunadýr sem sýkt voru í lungu í stað vöðva eins og það gerði í fyrri tilraunum. Efniviður og aðferðir: Sextíu NMRI mýs voru aldar í sex vikur á fæði bættu með lýsi (30 mýs) eða fæði bættu með kornolíu (30 mýs). Eftir það voru mýsnar sýktar í lungu með Klebsiella pneumoniae og fylgst með lifun. Tilraunin var síðan endurtekin á nákvæmlega sama hátt. Niðurstöðurnar voru bornar saman við fyrri tilraunir hópsins þar sem sýkt var í læri. Niðurstöður: Lifun músa sem fengið höfðu lýsisbætt fæði var marktækt betri í báðum tilraununum samanborið við mýs sem aldar voru á kornolíubættu fæði (p=0,0001 og p=0,0013). Niðurstöðurnar eru sambærilegar fyrri niðurstöðum þegar sýkt var í vöðva. Ályktanir: Niðurstöðurnar benda til að jákvæð áhrif lýsisneyslu komi fram óháð íkomustað bakteríanna. Niðurstöðurnar eru því í samræmi við þá kenningu að lýsisneyslan hafi áhrif á ónæmissvar líkamans fremur en afmarkaða staðbundna þætti

Brain age predicts long-term recovery in post-stroke aphasia

Funding Information: This study was supported by the following grant sponsors: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (P50 DC014664; DC008355); National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS054266). Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Author(s).The association between age and language recovery in stroke remains unclear. Here, we used neuroimaging data to estimate brain age, a measure of structural integrity, and examined the extent to which brain age at stroke onset is associated with (i) cross-sectional language performance, and (ii) longitudinal recovery of language function, beyond chronological age alone. A total of 49 participants (age: 65.2 ± 12.2 years, 25 female) underwent routine clinical neuroimaging (T1) and a bedside evaluation of language performance (Bedside Evaluation Screening Test-2) at onset of left hemisphere stroke. Brain age was estimated from enantiomorphically reconstructed brain scans using a machine learning algorithm trained on a large sample of healthy adults. A subsample of 30 participants returned for follow-up language assessments at least 2 years after stroke onset. To account for variability in age at stroke, we calculated proportional brain age difference, i.e. the proportional difference between brain age and chronological age. Multiple regression models were constructed to test the effects of proportional brain age difference on language outcomes. Lesion volume and chronological age were included as covariates in all models. Accelerated brain age compared with age was associated with worse overall aphasia severity (F(1, 48) = 5.65, P = 0.022), naming (F(1, 48) = 5.13, P = 0.028), and speech repetition (F(1, 48) = 8.49, P = 0.006) at stroke onset. Follow-up assessments were carried out ≥2 years after onset; decelerated brain age relative to age was significantly associated with reduced overall aphasia severity (F(1, 26) = 5.45, P = 0.028) and marginally failed to reach statistical significance for auditory comprehension (F(1, 26) = 2.87, P = 0.103). Proportional brain age difference was not found to be associated with changes in naming (F(1, 26) = 0.23, P = 0.880) and speech repetition (F(1, 26) = 0.00, P = 0.978). Chronological age was only associated with naming performance at stroke onset (F(1, 48) = 4.18, P = 0.047). These results indicate that brain age as estimated based on routine clinical brain scans may be a strong biomarker for language function and recovery after stroke.Peer reviewe

Arðbærni og rekstrarumhverfi sjónvarpsstöðva á Íslandi

Viðfangsefni þessa verkefnis er rekstrarumhverfi sjónvarpsfyrirtækja á Íslandi. Markmið verkefnisins er að fá niðurstöðu í það hvort rekstur sjónvarpsfyrirtækja á Íslandi getur verið arðbær til lengri tíma. Þetta munum við gera með því að greina íslenska sjónvarpsmarkaðinn, helstu þátttakendur á honum og með því að meta það umhverfi sem rekstraraðilar í sjónvarpsreksri starfa á. Einnig verður litið til stærðar markaðssvæðis, reglugerða og efnahagslegra þátta. Að þessu viðbættu verður Fimm krafta líkan Porters notað til greiningar og tölulegur samanburður á rekstri sjónvarpsstöðva gerður. Með því að bera íslenskan rekstur saman við nokkur lönd í Evrópu, fæst enn skýrari mynd af sérstöðu íslensks sjónvarpsreksturs og hvað blasir við þegar leitast er eftir arðbærri starfsemi. Nærtækasta dæmið eru nágrannalöndin, þar sem rekstrarumhverfi er sambærilegt, menning svipuð og sterkar ríkisreknar stöðvar starfa ásamt nokkrum einkareknum stöðvum. Helstu niðurstöður eru að sjónvarpsrekstur á Íslandi er ekki arðbær til lengri tíma, þó það liggi fyrir rekstrarlegur grundvöllur. Helstu ástæður eru lítill markaður, takmarkaðir möguleikar til tekjuöflunar, óstöðugleiki í gengismálum, sem hefur gífurleg áhrif á kostnaðarverð seldra vara, og rekstrarform fyrirtækjann

Pneumococcal meningitis in children in Icelandcase report and summary

Publisher Copyright: © 2023 Laeknafelag Islands. All rights reserved.Ellefu mánaða gömul stúlka var send á bráðamóttöku Barnaspítala Hringsins vegna hita og slappleika. Stúlkan var bráðveik við skoðun með sveiflukennda meðvitund. Henni versnaði mjög hratt stuttu eftir komu og reyndist hún vera með heilahimnubólgu af völdum Streptococcus pneumoniae. Frá mars 2022 hafa greinst nokkur tilfelli af heilahimnubólgu af völdum baktería hjá börnum og S. pneumoniae verið algengasti meinvaldur. Sjúkdómsvaldandi hjúpgerðir hafa verið hjúpgerðir sem eru ekki í almennu bóluefni sem hefur verið notað á Íslandi og því tóku heilbrigðisyfirvöld þá ákvörðun vorið 2023 að breyta bólusetningum barna gegn pneumókokkum. An eleven month old girl was referred to the pediatric emergency department at Landspitali Hospital due to fever and lethargy. On examination she was acutely ill with fluctuating level of conciousness. She deteriorated quickly after arrival at the emergency department and was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis. In the past year several cases of bacterial meningitis have been diagnosed with Streptococcus pneumoniae as the most common pathogen. The disease causing serotypes have been serotypes that were not in the vaccine that was used in iceland and the Icelandic health authorities have decided to change the vaccination programme accordingly.Peer reviewe

The effect of dietary fish oil on survival after infection with Klebsiella pneumoniae or Streptococcus pneumoniae.

To access publisher full text version of this article. Please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links fieldDietary fish oil is believed to have a beneficial effect in various infections and in autoimmune disorders. This effect may correspond to an altered immune response. In order to discover whether the effect of dietary fish oil is different in various infections, we studied the survival of mice fed fish oil or corn oil supplemented diets and infected in the lungs with either Klebsiella pneumoniae or Streptococcus pneumoniae. 120 NMRI mice were divided into 4 groups, of which 2 groups were fed a fish oil supplemented diet and 2 a corn oil supplemented diet. After 6 weeks the mice were infected in the lungs with Klebsiella pneumoniae (fish oil groups and corn oil groups) or with Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3 (both groups). The survival rate was monitored. The experiment was performed twice. The survival of the mice fed fish oil enriched diet and infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae was significantly better compared with the mice fed corn oil enriched diet (p = 0.0001 and p = 0.0013). No difference was found between the mice fed corn oil enriched diet or fish oil enriched diet and infected with Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3 (p = 0.74 and p = 0.15). Our results indicate that dietary fish oil has a beneficial effect on survival of mice after experimental pneumoniae when infected with Klebsiella pneumoniae, but not after infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 3

Native joint infections in Iceland 2003-2017: an increase in postarthroscopic infections.

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked DownloadObjectives: Nationwide study on the epidemiology, clinical characteristics and outcomes among patients with native joint infection (NJI) in Iceland, 2003-2017. Methods: All positive synovial fluid culture results in Iceland were identified and medical records reviewed. Results: A total of 299 NJI (40 children and 259 adults) were diagnosed in Iceland in 2003-2017, with a stable incidence of 6.3 cases/100 000/year, but marked gender difference among adults (33% women vs 67% men, p<0.001). The knee joint was most commonly affected, and Staphylococcus aureus was the most common isolate in both adults and children, followed by various streptococcal species in adults and Kingella kingae in children. NJI was iatrogenic in 34% of adults (88/259) but comprised 45% among 18-65 years and a stable incidence. Incidence of infections following arthroscopic procedures in adults increased significantly compared with the previous decade (9/100 000/year in 1990-2002 vs 25/100 000/year in 2003-2017, p<0.01) with no significant increase seen in risk per procedure. The proportion of postarthroscopic NJI was 0.17% overall but 0.24% for knee arthroscopy. Patients with postarthroscopic infection were more likely to undergo subsequent arthroplasty when compared with other patients with NJI (p=0.008). Conclusions: The incidence of NJI in Iceland has remained stable. The proportion of iatrogenic infections is high, especially among young adults, with an increase seen in postarthroscopic infections when compared with the previous decade. Although rare, NJI following arthroscopy can be a devastating complication, with significant morbidity and these results, therefore, emphasise the need for firm indications when arthroscopic treatment is considered. Keywords: arthritis; epidemiology; health services research; infectious; orthopedic procedures.Science Fund, Landspitali University Hospita

Functional Connectivity and Speech Entrainment Speech Entrainment Improves Connectivity Between Anterior and Posterior Cortical Speech Areas in Non-fluent Aphasia.

To access publisher's full text version of this article click on the hyperlink belowBackground: Speech entrainment (SE), the online mimicking of an audio-visual speech model, has been shown to increase speech fluency in individuals with non-fluent aphasia. One theory that may explain why SE improves speech output is that it synchronizes functional connectivity between anterior and posterior language regions to be more similar to that of neurotypical speakers. Objectives: The present study tested this by measuring functional connectivity between 2 regions shown to be necessary for speech production, and their right hemisphere homologues, in 24 persons with aphasia compared to 20 controls during both free (spontaneous) speech and SE. Methods: Regional functional connectivity in participants with aphasia were normalized to the control data. Two analyses were then carried out: (1) normalized functional connectivity was compared between persons with aphasia and controls during free speech and SE and (2) stepwise linear models with leave-one-out cross-validation including normed functional connectivity during both tasks and proportion damage to the left hemisphere as independent variables were created for each language score. Results: Left anterior-posterior functional connectivity and left posterior to right anterior functional connectivity were significantly more similar to connectivity of the control group during SE compared to free speech. Additionally, connectivity during free speech was more associated with language measures than connectivity during SE. Conclusions: Overall, these results suggest that SE promotes normalization of functional connectivity (i.e., return to patterns observed in neurotypical controls), which may explain why individuals with non-fluent aphasia produce more fluent speech during SE compared to spontaneous speech. Keywords: aphasia; aphasia recovery; chronic stroke; functional connectivity; speech entrainment.United States Department of Health & Human Services National Institutes of Health (NIH) - USA NIH National Institute on Deafness & Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD