Functional Lateralization of Speech Processing in Adults and Children Who Stutter

Developmental stuttering is a speech disorder in fluency characterized by repetitions, prolongations, and silent blocks, especially in the initial parts of utterances. Although their symptoms are motor related, people who stutter show abnormal patterns of cerebral hemispheric dominance in both anterior and posterior language areas. It is unknown whether the abnormal functional lateralization in the posterior language area starts during childhood or emerges as a consequence of many years of stuttering. In order to address this issue, we measured the lateralization of hemodynamic responses in the auditory cortex during auditory speech processing in adults and children who stutter, including preschoolers, with near-infrared spectroscopy. We used the analysis–resynthesis technique to prepare two types of stimuli: (i) a phonemic contrast embedded in Japanese spoken words (/itta/ vs. /itte/) and (ii) a prosodic contrast (/itta/ vs. /itta?/). In the baseline blocks, only /itta/ tokens were presented. In phonemic contrast blocks, /itta/ and /itte/ tokens were presented pseudo-randomly, and /itta/ and /itta?/ tokens in prosodic contrast blocks. In adults and children who do not stutter, there was a clear left-hemispheric advantage for the phonemic contrast compared to the prosodic contrast. Adults and children who stutter, however, showed no significant difference between the two stimulus conditions. A subject-by-subject analysis revealed that not a single subject who stutters showed a left advantage in the phonemic contrast over the prosodic contrast condition. These results indicate that the functional lateralization for auditory speech processing is in disarray among those who stutter, even at preschool age. These results shed light on the neural pathophysiology of developmental stuttering

Effect of lifestyle on 6‐year periodontitis incidence or progression and tooth loss in older adults

AimTo evaluate the longitudinal association of combined healthy lifestyle factors with incidence or progression of periodontitis and tooth loss in older adults.Materials and methodsThis 6‐year study included 374 Japanese 70‐year olds with 7,157 teeth, from a source eligible baseline population of 554 individuals. Four lifestyle factors—cigarette smoking, physical activity, relative weight, and dietary quality—were scored as healthy (1 point) or unhealthy (0 point). Adding the individual scores generated the “healthy lifestyle score” (0–4 points). Multilevel mixed‐effects logistic regression models were applied to evaluate tooth‐specific associations between the baseline healthy lifestyle score and the incidence or progression of periodontitis (increase in clinical attachment loss ≥3 mm) and tooth loss.ResultsAfter 6 years, 19.0% of the teeth exhibited periodontitis incidence or progression and 8.2% were lost. Compared with a healthy lifestyle score of 0–1 (least healthy), the highest score (4 points) was associated with a significantly lower tooth‐specific risk of periodontitis (adjusted odds ratio = 0.32; 95% confidence interval: 0.16–0.62) and tooth loss (adjusted odds ratio = 0.42; 95% confidence interval: 0.23–0.77).ConclusionsSimultaneous adherence to multiple healthy lifestyle factors significantly lowers the risk of incidence or progression of periodontitis and tooth loss in older adults.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145573/1/jcpe12920_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145573/2/jcpe12920.pd

Two-photon excitable boron complex based on tridentate imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine ligand for heavy-atom-free mitochondria-targeted photodynamic therapy

We have synthesized a cyan fluorescent boron complex based on a tridentate imidazo[1,5-a]pyridine ligand. The boron complex was found to have potential applications as not only a chiroptical material but also a heavy-atom-free mitochondria-targeted photosensitizer for cancer treatment

Hyposalivation and 10‐year all‐cause mortality in an elderly Japanese population

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143602/1/ger12319.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143602/2/ger12319_am.pd

Trophic Ecology of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus) Larvae from the Gulf of Mexico and NW Mediterranean Spawning Grounds: A Comparative Stable Isotope Study

The present study uses stable isotopes of nitrogen and carbon (δ15Nandδ13C) as trophic indicators for Atlantic bluefin tuna larvae (BFT) (6–10mm standard length) in the highly contrasting environmental conditions of the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and the Balearic Sea (MED). These regions are differentiated by their temperature regime and relative productivity, with the GOM being significantly warmer and more productive. MED BFT larvae showed the highest δ15N signatures, implying an elevated trophic position above the underlyingmicrozooplankton baseline. Ontogenetic dietary shifts were observed in the BFT larvae from the GOM and MED which indicates early life trophodynamics differences between these spawning habitats. Significant trophic differences between the GOM and MED larvae were observed in relation to δ15N signatures in favour of the MED larvae, which may have important implications in their growth during their early life stages. These low δ15N levels in the zooplankton from the GOM may be an indication of a shifting isotopic baseline in pelagic food webs due to diatrophic inputs by cyanobacteria. Lack of enrichment for δ15N in BFT larvae compared to zooplankton implies an alternative grazing pathway from the traditional food chain of phytoplankton— zooplankton—larval fish. Results provide insight for a comparative characterization of the trophic pathways variability of the two main spawning grounds for BFT larvaeVersión del editor4,411

Automatic Tracking of Region of Interest in Sonograms Using Respiratory Information

In heavy ion radiation therapy for cancer, tracking the region of interest (ROI) is important in order to monitor the position of the treatment target, which varies with respect to respiration, during therapy. We previously proposed a method to compute the optical flow, which is a 2-D velocity field, and the locus of the ROI in the internal organs using the optical flow and its reliability. In the present work, this locus is assumed to be prior knowledge and an on-line tracking method of the ROI is proposed. In this method, the ROI position is predicted using the estimated locus, and the template matching technique usingthe respiratory information is applied. The locus is then updated using the template matching result obtained via the Kalman filter. The effectiveness and reliability of this method are confirmed through real image experiments