The Effects of Past Experiences on the Vocabulary Use and Sentence Structure of a Two-Year-Old

Literacy acquisition does not begin with the onset of formal instruction in schools. Exposure to all aspects of literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language) in the home literacy environment before school-age can significantly impact an emergent learner\u27s foundation of literacy. The purpose of this study was to examine how one emergent learner\u27s language related to past experiences changed over time. This six-week naturalistic empirical action research study investigated the following research question: How do past experiences affect vocabulary use and sentence structure of a two-year-old? Throughout the study, naturally occurring data were collected every time the participant discussed a past event. A journal, a laptop, and a handheld recording device were used in order to record the data, which were then inputted into one or two charts (Appendix A and Appendix B) for analysis. The results of the data analysis were that adults and objects can int1uence an emergent learner\u27s language development related to past events, including through the modeling of appropriate sentence structure as well as exposure to academic vocabulary that the learner might imitate. Implications for teachers are addressed in addition to recommendations for further research in this area

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The Effects of Past Experiences on the Vocabulary Use and Sentence Structure of a Two-Year-Old

Literacy acquisition does not begin with the onset of formal instruction in schools. Exposure to all aspects of literacy (reading, writing, speaking, listening, and language) in the home literacy environment before school-age can significantly impact an emergent learner\u27s foundation of literacy. The purpose of this study was to examine how one emergent learner\u27s language related to past experiences changed over time. This six-week naturalistic empirical action research study investigated the following research question: How do past experiences affect vocabulary use and sentence structure of a two-year-old? Throughout the study, naturally occurring data were collected every time the participant discussed a past event. A journal, a laptop, and a handheld recording device were used in order to record the data, which were then inputted into one or two charts (Appendix A and Appendix B) for analysis. The results of the data analysis were that adults and objects can int1uence an emergent learner\u27s language development related to past events, including through the modeling of appropriate sentence structure as well as exposure to academic vocabulary that the learner might imitate. Implications for teachers are addressed in addition to recommendations for further research in this area

Patient-derived iPSCs show premature neural differentiation and neuron type-specific phenotypes relevant to neurodevelopment.

Ras/MAPK pathway signaling is a major participant in neurodevelopment, and evidence suggests that BRAF, a key Ras signal mediator, influences human behavior. We studied the role of the mutation BRAFQ257R, the most common cause of cardiofaciocutaneous syndrome (CFC), in an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived model of human neurodevelopment. In iPSC-derived neuronal cultures from CFC subjects, we observed decreased p-AKT and p-ERK1/2 compared to controls, as well as a depleted neural progenitor pool and rapid neuronal maturation. Pharmacological PI3K/AKT pathway manipulation recapitulated cellular phenotypes in control cells and attenuated them in CFC cells. CFC cultures displayed altered cellular subtype ratios and increased intrinsic excitability. Moreover, in CFC cells, Ras/MAPK pathway activation and morphological abnormalities exhibited cell subtype-specific differences. Our results highlight the importance of exploring specific cellular subtypes and of using iPSC models to reveal relevant human-specific neurodevelopmental events

A Quantitative Exploration of Relationships Between Severity of Infant Congenital Muscular Torticollis and Caregiver Understanding of Positioning and Handling During Occupations of Infancy

Congenital muscular torticollis (CMT) is a musculoskeletal disorder typically presenting in newborns/infants that is characterized by unilateral shortening and increased tone in the upper cervical muscle called the sternocleidomastoid. (Hardgrib, 2017) This increased tone and shortening of the musculature causes the infant to present in a higher degree of lateral flexion on the ipsilateral side, and higher degree of cervical rotation on the contralateral side. (Ellwood et al., 2020) Infants participate in occupations with their caregivers throughout daily routines, and the various impairments caused by CMT can cause an effect on occupational performance and participation of the infant. The problem is there is a lack of information and statistics on caregivers’ self-rating of their understanding on infant positioning and handling during occupations of infancy based on the severity of infant CMT. The purpose of this quantitative research type capstone project is to collect and analyze data on caregivers’ self-rating of their understanding on infant positioning and handling during occupations based on the severity of infant CMT. The researcher created a survey including questions on rating of understanding of positioning and handling techniques and posted the link to the survey to 3 Facebook support groups for the population. It was found that there was no statistically significant relationship between severity of CMT and mean self-rating responses of caregivers of infants with CMT in regard to play and rest/sleep. There was a statistically significant relationship between Mild CMT and Moderate CMT caregivers in regard to feeding, with mild CMT scoring significantly higher. The research also found that among the 3 severities, self-rating scores were relatively low across all occupations.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstonesfall2021/1031/thumbnail.jp

Human stem cell-derived astrocytes replicate human prions in a PRNP genotype-dependent manner.

Prions are infectious agents that cause neurodegenerative diseases such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD). The absence of a human cell culture model that replicates human prions has hampered prion disease research for decades. In this paper, we show that astrocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) support the replication of prions from brain samples of CJD patients. For experimental exposure of astrocytes to variant CJD (vCJD), the kinetics of prion replication occur in a prion protein codon 129 genotype-dependent manner, reflecting the genotype-dependent susceptibility to clinical vCJD found in patients. Furthermore, iPSC-derived astrocytes can replicate prions associated with the major sporadic CJD strains found in human patients. Lastly, we demonstrate the subpassage of prions from infected to naive astrocyte cultures, indicating the generation of prion infectivity in vitro. Our study addresses a long-standing gap in the repertoire of human prion disease research, providing a new in vitro system for accelerated mechanistic studies and drug discovery