Attention control comparisons with SLT for people with aphasia following stroke: methodological concerns raised following a systematic review

Objective: Attention control comparisons in trials of stroke rehabilitation require care to minimize the risk of comparison choice bias. We compared the similarities and differences in SLT and social support control interventions for people with aphasia. Data sources: Trial data from the 2016 Cochrane systematic review of SLT for aphasia after stroke. Methods: Direct and indirect comparisons between SLT, social support and no therapy controls. We double-data extracted intervention details using the template for intervention description and replication. Standardized mean differences and risk ratios (95% confidence intervals (CIs)) were calculated. Results: Seven trials compared SLT with social support (n  =  447). Interventions were matched in format, frequency, intensity, duration and dose. Procedures and materials were often shared across interventions. Social support providers received specialist training and support. Targeted language rehabilitation was only described in therapy interventions. Higher drop-out (P  =  0.005, odds ratio (OR) 0.51, 95% CI 0.32–0.81) and non-adherence to social support interventions (P  <  0.00001, OR 0.18, 95% CI 0.09–0.37) indicated an imbalance in completion rates increasing the risk of control comparison bias. Conclusion: Distinctions between social support and therapy interventions were eroded. Theoretically based language rehabilitation was the remaining difference in therapy interventions. Social support is an important adjunct to formal language rehabilitation. Therapists should continue to enable those close to the person with aphasia to provide tailored communication support, functional language stimulation and opportunities to apply rehabilitation gains. Systematic group differences in completion rates is a design-related risk of bias in outcomes observed

Speech and language therapy for aphasia following stroke

Our review provides some evidence of the effectiveness of SLT (speech and language therapy) for people with aphasia following stroke in terms of improved functional communication, receptive and expressive language. However, some trials were poorly reported. The potential benefits of intensive SLT over conventional SLT were confounded by a significantly higher dropout from intensive SLT. More participants also withdrew from social support than SLT interventions. There was insufficient evidence to draw any conclusion regarding the effectiveness of any one specific SLT approach over another

Dietetic Students’ Changes in Attitudes after Participating in Online Interprofessional Education

Interprofessional education (IPE) is an accreditation requirement and an important component of training for future registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) and access to quality IPE is often limited in online programs. An online IPE module was developed to provide dietetics students the opportunity to build collaborative skills with students in other healthcare training programs. A research study was designed to answer the following research question: How and to what extent does participation in an online IPE module impact online dietetics students’ attitudes of interprofessional practice? Participants were dietetics students enrolled in an upper-division online dietetics course. Data gathered included a retrospective pre-post survey, reflection journal entries, and focus group interviews. Results suggested that the online IPE intervention had a positive impact on dietetics students’ attitudes of interprofessional practice and enhanced their understanding of the roles of members of the interprofessional team. The opportunity for participants to work on a final project as part of an interprofessional team likely contributed to the positive shared learning experiences and overall growth in interprofessional collaboration

Archaeology and Critical Feminism of Science: Interview with Alison Wylie

In this wide-ranging interview with three members of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sao Paolo (Brazil) Wylie explains how she came to work on philosophical issues raised in and by archaeology, describes the contextualist challenges to ‘received view’ models of confirmation and explanation in archaeology that inform her work on the status of evidence and contextual ideals of objectivity, and discusses the role of non-cognitive values in science. She also is pressed to explain what’s feminist about feminist research and in that connection outlines her account of feminist standpoint theory and the relevance of feminist analysis to science

xArx2: An Aristaless Homolog That Regulates Brain Regionalization During Development in Xenopus laevis

The aristaless-related gene, Arx, plays a fundamental role in patterning the brain in humans and mice. Arx mutants exhibit lissencephaly among other anomalies. We have cloned a Xenopus aristaless homolog that appears to define specific regions of the developing forebrain. xArx2 is transcribed in blastula through neurula stages, and comes to be restricted to the ventra and lateral telencephalon, lateral diencephalon, neural floor plate of the anterior spinal cord, and somites. In this respect, Arx2 expresses in regions similar to Arx with the exception of the somites. Overexpression enlarges the telencephalon, and interference by means of antisense morpholino-mediated translation knockdown reduces growth of this area. Overexpression and inhibition studies demonstrate that misregulation of xArx2 imposes dire consequences upon patterns of differentiation not only in the forebrain where the gene normally expresses, but also in more caudal brain territories and derivatives as well. This suggests that evolutionary changes that expanded Arx-expression from ventral to dorsal prosencephalon might be one of the determinants that marked development and expansion of the telencephalon. genesis 47:19-31, 2009. (C) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc

L'estat de la democràcia: auditoria dels valors democràtics a Austràlia

El creixement del nombre de democràcies a tot el món ha coincidit amb l’increment de l’interès per les avaluacions sobre l’estat de la democràcia. En aquest escrit s’examinen els orígens i el desenvolupament de l’auditoria de la democràcia o la metodologia de l’avaluació de l’estat de la democràcia, que ja s’ha emprat en més de 20 democràcies. El punt de vista de l’auditoria fuig de les classificacions imposades externament i dels punts afegits que es poden trobar en altres mètodes d’avaluació més antics i, en canvi, se centra en els principis i els valors democràtics subjacents per dirimir qüestions que són igualment rellevants per a les democràcies noves i velles. L’avaluació de les fermeses i les febleses, així com les oportunitats de reforma, les assumeixen experts i professionals residents que estan familiaritzats amb la història institucional i legislativa del país interessat; s’obté una opinió pública més completa a través de diferents tipus d’enquesta.Els autors expliquen la manera en què l’equip de l’auditoria australiana va afegir als principis originals del marc de l’auditoria d’igualtat política i control popular del govern els de llibertats civils i drets humans i  democràcia deliberativa com a principis separats i, de vegades, enfrontats. L’ascens del repte populista majoritari en moltes de les institucions intermediàries de la democràcia representativa ha provocat que la separació d’altres principis majoritaris menors fos important.L’auditoria australiana es va iniciar el 2001, quan el país celebrava el centenari de la federació. Des d’aleshores, regularment s’han preparat informes i documents de consulta destinats a fomentar el debat i la discussió dins de la societat australiana. El resultat ha estat que l’auditoria australiana reapareix regularment en els mitjans de comunicació i sovint se cita en els debats parlamentaris com una font fiable d’informació sobre temes de democràcia. El 2008 es publicarà un llibre fonamental que recull els resultats de les dues primeres auditories.L’auditoria australiana empra un marc tant comparatiu extern per a països similars que ja havien realitzat avaluacions d’auditoria de la democràcia (el Canadà, Nova Zelanda i el Regne Unit) com intern, en les nou jurisdiccions legislatives: la Commonwealth (nacional), sis estats i dos territoris continentals. Dibuixa les diferents trajectòries institucionals i la localització d’exemples de bones pràctiques, ja sigui dins de la jurisdicció australiana com en una democràcia de comparació

The microbiota and autoimmunity: their role in thyroid autoimmune diseases

Since the 1970s, the role of infectious diseases in the pathogenesis of Graves' disease (GD) has been an object of intensive research. The last decade has witnessed many studies on Yersinia enterocolitica, Helicobacter pylori and other bacterial organisms and their potential impact on GD. Retrospective, prospective and molecular binding studies have been performed with contrary outcomes. Until now it is not clear whether bacterial infections can trigger autoimmune thyroid disease. Common risk factors for GD (gender, smoking, stress, and pregnancy) reveal profound changes in the bacterial communities of the gut compared to that of healthy controls but a pathogenetic link between GD and dysbiosis has not yet been fully elucidated. Conventional bacterial culture, in vitro models, next generation and high-throughput DNA sequencing are applicable methods to assess the impact of bacteria in disease onset and development. Further studies on the involvement of bacteria in GD are needed and may contribute to the understanding of pathogenetic processes. This review will examine available evidence on the subject