The Effect of Word-Learning Biases on Early Vocabulary Acquisition in Young Children on the Autism Spectrum

Background: Vocabulary composition and word-learning biases are closely interrelated in typical development. Such word-learning biases are influenced by perceptually and conceptually salient word features, including imageability, concreteness, iconicity, and attention to shape. Autistic children often have delayed language acquisition, but there is currently little research examining the underlying mechanisms autistic children use to acquire words. The current study aimed to examine the noun composition of autistic children across a range of vocabulary sizes by examining associations between expressive noun vocabulary size and imageability, iconicity, concreteness and evidence for the shape bias, and to examine whether these patterns differ from their non-autistic peers. Methods: Participants for the word features analyses included 246 autistic children who were reported to produce between 5-312 nouns, and 940 expressive-vocabulary non-autistic children. Participants in the shape bias analyses included 272 autistic children who were reported to produce between 1-312 nouns, and 1,021 expressive-vocabulary and non-autistic children. Expressive vocabulary knowledge was measured using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson et al., 2007). Results: Each analysis indicated that imageability, iconicity, and concreteness were associated with noun vocabulary size for both groups. Both groups displayed nonlinear change across vocabulary size, and group differences were found for each perceptual feature except imageability The pattern of the associations differed slightly for concreteness and iconicity for the autistic group, primarily at the very earliest points in noun vocabulary learning. Across the three word features, both autistic and non-autistic children learn highly imageable, iconic, and concrete words during the earliest stages of noun learning. Both groups also demonstrated evidence for the shape bias system, but the trajectory of growth of evidence for the system differed between the two groups. Conclusions: Imageability, iconicity, and concreteness were identified as significant lexicosemantic features for describing expressive noun vocabulary size in autistic children. Although slight differences across word features were observed, autistic children seem to have broadly similar noun vocabularies to their non-autistic peers. Furthermore, autistic children with smaller vocabularies produced more words that are highly imageable, iconic, and concrete, whereas children with larger vocabularies produced words that are less perceptually salient, indicating a potential shift away from reliance on perceptual-based language processing. We report unique information about nonlinear growth patterns associated with each word feature, with evidence for the shape system, and distinctions in these growth patterns between groups. Future studies should explore word-learning and lexical growth patterns involving early verb acquisition in autistic children

The Canadian and Soviet Claims to the Arctic Sea Routes: A Comparative Study

The Arctic Polar Region is becoming increasingly important in terms of strategic operations. especially on the part of the superpowers. Surrounding the Arctic Ocean are two passages through which international navigation is possible. The Northwest Passage lies within Canada\u27s coastline. and the Northeast Passage. within the Soviet Union\u27s northern shores. Both countries have advanced claims to the effect that the waters of these passages are under their respective exclusive jurisdiction; thus. they are claiming these as their internal waters. The US disagrees and maintains that the waters of those northern Arctic sea routes are international waters. This paper discusses the Canadian and Soviet positions with respect to their individual claims; the basis of their international legal argumentation is also reviewed. The similarities and contrasts are highlighted in an analysis of both situations. A survey of American position is undertaken in terms of US stated policies and practice with regard to the Northwest and Northeast Passages

Le rôle des facteurs institutionnels dans la décision d’externaliser

Notre étude démontre le rôle de facteurs institutionnels dans le recours à l\u27externalisation. Pour ce faire, nous exploitons les principes développés par les auteurs néo-institutionnels. Une étude empirique a été menée auprès d\u27organisations évoluant dans le secteur de la métallurgie. Les résultats obtenus mettent en évidence que l\u27environnement institutionnel conditionne les dirigeants dans la décision d\u27externaliser une activité et que ce choix est déterminé par un phénomène de mimétisme. Si la logique économique caractérise la décision d\u27exter-naliser, nous ne pouvons pas rejeter complè-tement qu\u27elle relève d\u27une logique non économique. La recherche de légitimité, autre principe néo-institutionnel, est moins clairement établie

Emerging targeted strategies for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease.

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is a widespread genetic disease that leads to renal failure in the majority of patients. The very first pharmacological treatment, tolvaptan, received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2018 after previous approval in Europe and other countries. However, tolvaptan is moderately effective and may negatively impact a patient's quality of life due to potentially significant side effects. Additional and improved therapies are still urgently needed, and several clinical trials are underway, which are discussed in the companion paper Müller and Benzing (Management of autosomal-dominant polycystic kidney disease-state-of-the-art) Clin Kidney J 2018; 11: i2-i13. Here, we discuss new therapeutic avenues that are currently being investigated at the preclinical stage. We focus on mammalian target of rapamycin and dual kinase inhibitors, compounds that target inflammation and histone deacetylases, RNA-targeted therapeutic strategies, glucosylceramide synthase inhibitors, compounds that affect the metabolism of renal cysts and dietary restriction. We discuss tissue targeting to renal cysts of small molecules via the folate receptor, and of monoclonal antibodies via the polymeric immunoglobulin receptor. A general problem with potential pharmacological approaches is that the many molecular targets that have been implicated in ADPKD are all widely expressed and carry out important functions in many organs and tissues. Because ADPKD is a slowly progressing, chronic disease, it is likely that any therapy will have to continue over years and decades. Therefore, systemically distributed drugs are likely to lead to potentially prohibitive extra-renal side effects during extended treatment. Tissue targeting to renal cysts of such drugs is one potential way around this problem. The use of dietary, instead of pharmacological, interventions is another