Stroke and aphasia quality of Life Scale-39: investigating preliminary content validity of picture representations by people with mild to moderate aphasia

Speech-language pathologists must consider the clients’ quality of life (QoL) to provide effective and meaningful evidence-based treatment (ASHA, 2005). Quality of life assessment goes beyond language impairments and is often a key part of planning intervention. However, few QoL measures exist for people with aphasia (PWA). The Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39 (SAQOL-39; Hilari, 2003) is one of the few valid and reliable measures used to assess QoL in people with mild to moderate aphasia. However, the validity and reliability of the SAQOL-39 has not been established for individuals with severe aphasia who are unable to read and comprehend the written items (Hilari & Byng, 2001). Proxy reports for people with severe aphasia are not reliable and can contribute to misinterpretation of people with severe aphasia and their QoL (Hilari & Byng, 2009). High-context color photographs may access intact linguistic processes in PWA by bypassing their reading deficits (McKelvey, Hux, Dietz, & Beukelman, 2010). Therefore, visual aids may enhance accessibility of written assessments like the SAQOL-39 for people with severe aphasia. Preliminary content validity has been established for high-context color photographs paired with SAQOL-39 items by normal aging adults (Brouwer, 2013). The present study aimed to continue to establish the content validity of the photographs by investigating how 10 adults with mild to moderate aphasia, aged 30-89 years, rated similarities of photographic representations of SAQOL-39 items, rated on a 7-point Likert scale. The present results supported high content validity of photographic representations. The overall mean rating of items was 6.40 and 92% of the photographs were rated a 6 or 7 at least 60% of the time, indicating most people with mild to moderate aphasia rated photographs highly similar to the written questions they were paired with. This study’s results suggest the photographs may make the SAQOL-39 more accessible for people with severe aphasia to self-report on their QoL. Further research is warranted to investigate accessibility of the photographs among the severe aphasia population

Age Declines in Memory Self-Efficacy: General or Limited to Particular Tasks and Measure?

The potential for lifelong learning has been demonstrated clearly in research on problem solving, prose recall, and other measures of mental skill (Reese & Puckett, 1993; Sinnott, 1989). However, there are factors that may serve as barriers to lifelong learning for older adults (see Arenberg, chapter 23 in this volume). Among others, these factors include age changes in attentional or memory capacity (e.g., Salthouse, 1991), declines in memory self-confidence or change in memory beliefs (e.g., Berry, West & Dennehy, 1989), and reduced opportunities for education and training (e.g., Rebok & Offermann, 1983). This chapter focuses on self-report or subjective beliefs about memory

Reconciling professional identity: a grounded theory study of nurse academics' role modelling

The findings of this grounded theory PhD study into role modeling by nurse academics provide new insight into the concept of clinical currency. Reconciling professional identity, the core category of this grounded theory, encompasses three categories: creating a context for learning, creating a context for authentic rehearsal and mirroring identity. The category of creating a context for authentic rehearsal includes elements of safe-zoning and clinical currency, which is the focus of this presentation. These findings indicate that clinical currency differs from clinical legitimacy, clinical credibility and currency of nursing knowledge. Clinical legitimacy and clinical credibility refer to others' perceptions of individual nurse academics; looking from the outside in. The two key components of clinical currency that this study has identified: confidence and clinical presence are nurse academics' perspectives of their professional selves. Confidence refers to the nurse academics' self-assessment of their ability to provide clinical nursing care. Clinical presence refers to the time nurse academics spend in clinical settings in addition to, and complementary to, their time in academia. Nurse academics that are clinically present achieve this in a number of ways. They conduct research with clinical partners, provide support or guidance to students on clinical placement, liaise with clinical partners to develop policy, and contribute directly to the provision of patient care. Academics who allocate time to working with clinical partners report higher levels of clinical confidence than academics that allocate little or no time to this part of their role. Nurse academics that sustain a presence in the clinical setting have a greater awareness of clinical practice and procedures, policy, technology and equipment, report higher levels of clinical confidence and resultant currency. It is this clinical currency that these nurse academics draw on in creating a context for authentic rehearsal

Reconciling professional identity: a grounded theory study of nurse academics' role modelling

The findings of this grounded theory PhD study into role modeling by nurse academics provide new insight into the concept of clinical currency. Reconciling professional identity, the core category of this grounded theory, encompasses three categories: creating a context for learning, creating a context for authentic rehearsal and mirroring identity. The category of creating a context for authentic rehearsal includes elements of safe-zoning and clinical currency, which is the focus of this presentation. These findings indicate that clinical currency differs from clinical legitimacy, clinical credibility and currency of nursing knowledge. Clinical legitimacy and clinical credibility refer to others' perceptions of individual nurse academics; looking from the outside in. The two key components of clinical currency that this study has identified: confidence and clinical presence are nurse academics' perspectives of their professional selves. Confidence refers to the nurse academics' self-assessment of their ability to provide clinical nursing care. Clinical presence refers to the time nurse academics spend in clinical settings in addition to, and complementary to, their time in academia. Nurse academics that are clinically present achieve this in a number of ways. They conduct research with clinical partners, provide support or guidance to students on clinical placement, liaise with clinical partners to develop policy, and contribute directly to the provision of patient care. Academics who allocate time to working with clinical partners report higher levels of clinical confidence than academics that allocate little or no time to this part of their role. Nurse academics that sustain a presence in the clinical setting have a greater awareness of clinical practice and procedures, policy, technology and equipment, report higher levels of clinical confidence and resultant currency. It is this clinical currency that these nurse academics draw on in creating a context for authentic rehearsal

Selective Targeting to Glioma with Nucleic Acid Aptamers

Malignant glioma is characterised by a rapid growth rate and high capacity for invasive infiltration to surrounding brain tissue; hence, diagnosis and treatment is difficult and patient survival is poor. Aptamers contribute a promising and unique technology for the in vitro imaging of live cells and tissues, with a potentially bright future in clinical diagnostics and therapeutics for malignant glioma. The binding selectivity, uptake capacity and binding target of two DNA aptamers, SA43 and SA44, were investigated in glioma cells and patient tissues. The binding assay showed that SA43 and SA44 bound with strong affinity (Kd, 21.56 ± 4.60 nM and Kd, 21.11 ± 3.30 nM respectively) to the target U87MG cells. Quantitative analysis by flow cytometry showed that the aptamers were able to actively internalise in U87MG and 1321N1 glioma cells compared to the non-cancerous and non-glioma cell types. Confocal microscopy confirmed staining in the cytoplasm, and co-localisation studies with endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi apparatus and lysosomal markers suggested internalisation and compartmentalisation within the endomembrane system. Both aptamers selectively bound to Ku 70 and Ku 80 DNA repair proteins as determined by aptoprecipitation (AP) followed by mass spectrometry analysis and confirmation by Western blot. In addition, aptohistochemical (AHC) staining on paraffin embedded, formalin fixed patient tissues revealed that the binding selectivity was significantly higher for SA43 aptamer in glioma tissues (grade I, II, III and IV) compared to the non-cancerous tissues, whereas SA44 did not show selectivity towards glioma tissues. The results indicate that SA43 aptamer can differentiate between glioma and non-cancerous cells and tissues and therefore, shows promise for histological diagnosis of glioma

Mindfulness-based parenting programmes for improving psychosocial outcomes in children from birth to age 18 and their parents:(Protocol)

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effectiveness of mindfulness-based parent training programmes on the psychosocial functioning of children (from birth to age 18 years) and their parents

Diverse human extracellular RNAs are widely detected in human plasma

There is growing appreciation for the importance of non-protein-coding genes in development and disease. Although much is known about microRNAs, limitations in bioinformatic analyses of RNA sequencing have precluded broad assessment of other forms of small-RNAs in humans. By analysing sequencing data from plasma-derived RNA from 40 individuals, here we identified over a thousand human extracellular RNAs including microRNAs, piwi-interacting RNA (piRNA), and small nucleolar RNAs. Using a targeted quantitative PCR with reverse transcription approach in an additional 2,763 individuals, we characterized almost 500 of the most abundant extracellular transcripts including microRNAs, piRNAs and small nucleolar RNAs. The presence in plasma of many non-microRNA small-RNAs was confirmed in an independent cohort. We present comprehensive data to demonstrate the broad and consistent detection of diverse classes of circulating non-cellular small-RNAs from a large population