An evaluation of screening measures for cognitive impairment after stroke

Objectives: to assess the sensitivity and specificity of a screening battery for detecting cognitive impairment after stroke. Design: a randomized controlled trial. Methods: stroke patients were recruited from hospitals in three centres. Patients were screened for cognitive impairment on the Mini‐Mental State Examination, the Sheffield Screening Test for Acquired Language Disorders and Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices and received a further battery of assessments of cognitive function. Sensitivity and specificity values were calculated for the three screening measures for overall conclusions regarding cognitive impairment reached from a comprehensive assessment. Receiver Operating Characteristic Curves were plotted. Conclusion: the Mini‐Mental State Examination was not a useful screen for memory problems or overall cognitive impairment after stroke. The Sheffield Screening Test for Acquired Language Disorders was an appropriate screen for language problems. The Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices was appropriate as a screen for perceptual problems and visual inattention but not for executive deficits

Effects of Dehydration on Balance as Measured by the Balance Error Scoring System

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of active dehydration on balance in euthermic individuals employing the Balance Error Scoring System (BESS). The results indicate that dehydration significantly negatively affects balance

Veritas et Vanitas

A journal of creative nonfiction produced by students at the Marion campus of The Ohio State University with contributions from the students and faculty at the Marion campus of The Ohio State University and Marion Technical College

Indeterminate and discrepant rapid HIV test results in couples' HIV testing and counselling centres in Africa

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many HIV voluntary testing and counselling centres in Africa use rapid antibody tests, in parallel or in sequence, to establish same-day HIV status. The interpretation of indeterminate or discrepant results between different rapid tests on one sample poses a challenge. We investigated the use of an algorithm using three serial rapid HIV tests in cohabiting couples to resolve unclear serostatuses.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Heterosexual couples visited the Rwanda Zambia HIV Research Group testing centres in Kigali, Rwanda, and Lusaka, Zambia, to assess HIV infection status. Individuals with unclear HIV rapid antibody test results (indeterminate) or discrepant results were asked to return for repeat testing to resolve HIV status. If either partner of a couple tested positive or indeterminate with the screening test, both partners were tested with a confirmatory test. Individuals with indeterminate or discrepant results were further tested with a tie-breaker and monthly retesting. HIV-RNA viral load was determined when HIV status was not resolved by follow-up rapid testing. Individuals were classified based on two of three initial tests as "Positive", "Negative" or "Other". Follow-up testing and/or HIV-RNA viral load testing determined them as "Infected", "Uninfected" or "Unresolved".</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Of 45,820 individuals tested as couples, 2.3% (4.1% of couples) had at least one discrepant or indeterminate rapid result. A total of 65% of those individuals had follow-up testing and of those individuals initially classified as "Negative" by three initial rapid tests, less than 1% were resolved as "Infected". In contrast, of those individuals with at least one discrepant or indeterminate result who were initially classified as "Positive", only 46% were resolved as "Infected", while the remainder was resolved as "Uninfected" (46%) or "Unresolved" (8%). A positive HIV serostatus of one of the partners was a strong predictor of infection in the other partner as 48% of individuals who resolved as "Infected" had an HIV-infected spouse.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In more than 45,000 individuals counselled and tested as couples, only 5% of individuals with indeterminate or discrepant rapid HIV test results were HIV infected. This represented only 0.1% of all individuals tested. Thus, algorithms using screening, confirmatory and tie-breaker rapid tests are reliable with two of three tests negative, but not when two of three tests are positive. False positive antibody tests may persist. HIV-positive partner serostatus should prompt repeat testing.</p

Advanced spectroscopy-based phenotyping offers a potential solution to the ash dieback epidemic

Natural and urban forests worldwide are increasingly threatened by global change resulting from human-mediated factors, including invasions by lethal exotic pathogens. Ash dieback (ADB), incited by the alien invasive fungus Hymenoscyphus fraxineus, has caused large-scale population decline of European ash (Fraxinus excelsior) across Europe, and is threatening to functionally extirpate this tree species. Genetically controlled host resistance is a key element to ensure European ash survival and to restore this keystone species where it has been decimated. We know that a low proportion of the natural population of European ash expresses heritable, quantitative resistance that is stable across environments. To exploit this resource for breeding and restoration efforts, tools that allow for effective and efficient, rapid identification and deployment of superior genotypes are now sorely needed. Here we show that Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy of phenolic extracts from uninfected bark tissue, coupled with a model based on soft independent modelling of class analogy (SIMCA), can robustly discriminate between ADB-resistant and susceptible European ash. The model was validated with populations of European ash grown across six European countries. Our work demonstrates that this approach can efficiently advance the effort to save such fundamental forest resource in Europe and elsewhere

Links between looking and speaking in autism and first-degree relatives: insights into the expression of genetic liability to autism

Abstract Background Rapid automatized naming (RAN; naming of familiar items presented in an array) is a task that taps fundamental neurocognitive processes that are affected in a number of complex psychiatric conditions. Deficits in RAN have been repeatedly observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and also among first-degree relatives, suggesting that RAN may tap features that index genetic liability to ASD. This study used eye tracking to examine neurocognitive mechanisms related to RAN performance in ASD and first-degree relatives, and investigated links to broader language and clinical-behavioral features. Methods Fifty-one individuals with ASD, biological parents of individuals with ASD (n = 133), and respective control groups (n = 45 ASD controls; 58 parent controls) completed RAN on an eye tracker. Variables included naming time, frequency of errors, and measures of eye movement during RAN (eye-voice span, number of fixations and refixations). Results Both the ASD and parent-ASD groups showed slower naming times, more errors, and atypical eye-movement patterns (e.g., increased fixations and refixations), relative to controls, with differences persisting after accounting for spousal resemblance. RAN ability and associated eye movement patterns were correlated with increased social-communicative impairment and increased repetitive behaviors in ASD. Longer RAN times and greater refixations in the parent-ASD group were driven by the subgroup who showed clinical-behavioral features of the broad autism phenotype (BAP). Finally, parent-child dyad correlations revealed associations between naming time and refixations in parents with the BAP and increased repetitive behaviors in their child with ASD. Conclusions Differences in RAN performance and associated eye movement patterns detected in ASD and in parents, and links to broader social-communicative abilities, clinical features, and parent-child associations, suggest that RAN-related abilities might constitute genetically meaningful neurocognitive markers that can help bridge connections between underlying biology and ASD symptomatology

The Vehicle, Fall 1970

Vol. 13, No. 1 Table of Contents A Thought Written in a Locked RoomJudy Huntpage 1 The Eggshell MoonWilliam Probeckpage 2 PoemBarb Parkerpage 3 4/5, May, 1970J. Michael Sainpage 5 A TreeRichard Stickannpage 6 both or noneMichelle Hallpage 6 The TrainSteve Sestinapage 8 Attempted DiscoveryDonald R. Johnsonpage 16 Island of SmokeVerna L. Jonespage 18 AwakeRobert Bladepage 19 PoemMary Klinkerpage 19 In ChurchMuriel Poolpage 21 PoemBarb Parkerpage 21 PoemMichelle Hallpage 22 Pod\u27nerVerna L. Jonespage 23 Rain and Other ThingsCarol Staniecpage 24 PoemAnn Graffpage 24 Examination of StudentdomMelvin Zaloudekpage 26 Women\u27s LiberationTonya Mortonpage 27 Morning Reflections on the Evening NewsPrudence Herberpage 29 Art and Photography Credits Jim Diaspage 4 Mike Dorseypages 7, 20 David Griffithpages 8, 17, 25 Cover PhotographyMark McKinneyhttps://thekeep.eiu.edu/vehicle/1024/thumbnail.jp

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy mutations in the calponin-homology domain of ACTN2 affect actin binding and cardiomyocyte Z-disc incorporation

α-Actinin-2 (ACTN2) is the only muscle isoform of α-actinin expressed in cardiac muscle. Mutations in this protein have been implicated in mild to moderate forms of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). We have investigated the effects of two mutations identified from HCM patients, A119T and G111V, on the secondary and tertiary structure of a purified actin binding domain (ABD) of ACTN2 by circular dichroism and X-ray crystallography, and show small but distinct changes for both mutations. We also find that both mutants have reduced F-actin binding affinity, although the differences are not significant. The full length mEos2 tagged protein expressed in adult cardiomyocytes shows that both mutations additionally affect Z-disc localization and dynamic behaviour. Overall, these two mutations have small effects on structure, function and behaviour, which may contribute to a mild phenotype for this disease

Beyond the pandemic – poverty and school education in Scotland

The introduction of Universal Credit and the effects of the economic crisis precipitated by the Covid-19 pandemic, compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, have all contributed to a rise in the levels of poverty and child poverty in Scotland and the wider United Kingdom. The rise in child poverty will have an impact on an increasing number of children and young people and their effective engagement with school education. This article presents a series of research findings and insights by leading researchers from Scottish Universities on key themes in Scottish education that were highly relevant in the pre-Covid and pre-war era, themes that will continue to be highly relevant in the forthcoming years. The themes are: Education in Local Child Poverty Action Reports; Digital Poverty and Education; School Uniform; Challenges for music education in Scotland and Teacher preparation for educational inclusion