Interactive book-reading to improve inferencing abilities in kindergarten classrooms : a clinical project

Inferencing abilities are crucial to development of reading comprehension. However, few studies addressed those abilities in interventions promoting early literacy skills, especially in kindergartners. The aim of this study was to measure the efficacy of an interactive book-reading intervention targeting inferencing abilities, delivered by a school-based speech-language pathologist (SLP) in whole group kindergarten classes. Two hundred and forty-nine 5-year-old kindergartners from low socio-economic settings were quasi-randomly assigned to either one of the experimental groups (EG1 and EG2) or an active control group (CG). EG1 received a 7-week interactive book-reading intervention followed by a 7-week period where it was up to the teachers to implement aspects of the intervention in their teaching or not. EG2 received the 7-week interactive book-reading intervention only and the active control group received an initial workshop only. Three subtests targeting (1) causal inferences during book-reading, (2) causal inferences in a formal task, and (3) referential inferences in a formal task were performed at pre- and post-intervention assessments. There was a significant Time × Group interaction effect for the first subtest indicating an advantage for EG1 compared to CG over time. EG2 appeared as an intermediary group as its results were not different from EG1 and showing only a trend toward significance (p = 0.064) when compared to CG. There was no significant Time × Group interaction effect for the second subtest. A significant Time × Group interaction effect was present for the third subtest, EG1 and EG2 showing larger improvement than CG

Conversational pauses between persons with aphasia and their spouses

People with aphasia often exhibit greater than usual frequency and duration of pauses. The manner the spouse reacts to these pauses can have an impact on the following conversation. In order to study pauses, two couples with one member with aphasia were studied in natural conversations which were qualitatively analyzed. Results show that for one couple the husband with aphasia as well as his wife introduced frequent changes of topic following a pause, while for the other couple, the wife appeared to be more tolerant of pauses which permitted to maintain the conversational topic

Overprotection in conversation in couples with aphasia

Overprotection can manifest itself in conversation when a spouse ‘speaks for’ a person with aphasia. This tendency can have an effect on a person with aphasia’s participation in conversation. To study this phenomenon and establish if there are relationships between overprotection, ‘speaking for’ behaviors and participation in conversation, eighteen couples completed questionnaires on overprotection and were video-recorded in an interview situation. Main results demonstrated significant and moderate relationships between (1) overprotection as reported by spouses and their 'speaking for' behaviors in conversation and (2) spouses’ ‘speaking for’ behaviors and minor participation in conversation by person with aphasia

Development of a procedure for the evaluation of spouses' and persons with aphasia's contributions an interview situation

Person with aphasia’s participation in group conversations in presence of her/his spouse have not been extensively studied. The development of a procedure that addresses the spouses’contributions (i.e., ‘repair’, ‘speaking for’ and ‘support’) as well as the reaction and participation of the person with aphasia in an interview situation is presented. Results from eight couples indicate that spouses are quite active when the aphasic person has the floor. Aphasic persons most often approve what the spouse has contributed and continue to participate fully. However, unsolicited ‘speaking for’ behaviors are sometimes followed by a decrease participation in conversation of people with aphasia

Conversational pauses between persons with aphasia and their spouses

People with aphasia often exhibit greater than usual frequency and duration of pauses. The manner the spouse reacts to these pauses can have an impact on the following conversation. In order to study pauses, two couples with one member with aphasia were studied in natural conversations which were qualitatively analyzed. Results show that for one couple the husband with aphasia as well as his wife introduced frequent changes of topic following a pause, while for the other couple, the wife appeared to be more tolerant of pauses which permitted to maintain the conversational topic

Effects of Age, Gender and Education on Semantic Fluency for Living and Artifact Categories

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of age, gender and education on semantic fluency for four living and four artifact categories. Thirty males and thirty females in two age groups matched for education level were included. Results revealed females named significantly more fruit and furniture items while males named more tools. Participants with a college degree had a significant advantage for clothing. Older males and younger females named more four-footed animals than did their gender-matched peers. There was no significant difference between living versus artifact categories overall. Implications will be discussed

The use of studiocode for tracking change in conversational therapy

Spouses of people with aphasia have reported that developing an effective mode of communication with their partner is one of their most important needs ((McGurk, Kneebone, & Pit ten Café, 2011; Michallet, Le Dorze & Tétrault, 2001). There is a growing interest in a intervention focused on communication between the person with aphasia and his/her main conversation partner (e.g.,Turner & Witworth, 2006; Beeke, Maxim & Wilkinson, 2007). In studies that aim to verify the efficacy of conversational intervention, few measures have been taken during the intervention to measure the evolution. As a result, they are conducted with less experimental control than it is desirable. These studies provide valuable information on the evolution of conversations, but quantitative research is needed to study more couples and conversations. The present pilot project was developed to verify the efficacy of a conversational intervention with a dyad of a man with aphasia and his spouse, using the powerful Studiocode program for quantitative analysis

Hippocampal tau oligomerization early in tau pathology coincides with a transient alteration of mitochondrial homeostasis and DNA repair in a mouse model of tauopathy

International audienceInsoluble intracellular aggregation of tau proteins into filaments and neurodegeneration are histopathological hallmarks of Alzheimer disease (AD) and other tauopathies. Recently, prefibrillar, soluble, oligomeric tau intermediates have emerged as relevant pathological tau species; however, the molecular mechanisms of neuronal responses to tau oligomers are not fully understood. Here, we show that hippocampal neurons in six-month-old transgenic mouse model of tauopathy, THY-Tau22, are enriched with oligomeric tau, contain elongated mitochondria, and display cellular stress, but no overt cytotoxicity compared to the control mice. The levels of several key mitochondrial proteins were markedly different between the THY-Tau22 and control mice hippocampi including the mitochondrial SIRT3, PINK1, ANT1 and the fission protein DRP1. DNA base excision repair (BER) is the primary defense system against oxidative DNA damage and it was elevated in six-month-old transgenic mice. DNA polymerase β, the key BER DNA polymerase, was enriched in the cytoplasm of hippocampal neurons in six-month-old transgenic mice and localized with and within mitochondria. Polβ also co-localized with mitochondria in human AD brains in neurons containing oligomeric tau. Most of these altered mitochondrial and DNA repair events were specific to the transgenic mice at 6 months of age and were not different from control mice at 12 months of age when tau pathology reaches its maximum and oligomeric forms of tau are no longer detectable. In summary, our data suggests that we have identified key cellular stress responses at early stages of tau pathology to preserve neuronal integrity and to promote survival. To our knowledge, this work provides the first description of multiple stress responses involving mitochondrial homeostasis and BER early during the progression of tau pathology, and represents an important advance in the etiopathogenesis of tauopathies

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution.

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms