What can repetition, reading and naming tell us about Jargon Aphasia?

Jargon Aphasia is an acquired language disorder characterised by high proportions of nonword error production, rendering spoken language incomprehensible. There exist two major hypotheses relating to the source of nonword error; one implicates disruption to phonological processing and the other suggests both phonological and lexical contributions. The lexical sources are described as failure in lexical retrieval followed by surrogate phonological construction, or a lexical selection error further compounded by phonological breakdown. The current study analysed nonword error patterns of ten individuals with fluent Neologistic Jargon aphasia in word repetition, reading and picture naming to gain insights into the contributions of these different sources. It was predicted that, if lexical retrieval deficits contribute to nonword production, naming would produce a greater proportion and severity of nonword errors in comparison to repetition and reading, where phonology is present and additional sub-lexical processing can support production. Both group and case series analyses were implemented to determine whether quantity and quality of nonwords differed across the three production tasks. Nonword phoneme inventories were compared against the normative phoneme distribution to explore whether phonological production takes place within a typically organised, lexically constrained system. Results demonstrated fewer nonword errors in naming and a tendency for nonwords in naming to be characterised by lower phonological accuracy. However, nonwords were, for the most part, constructed with reference to target phonological information and, generally, nonword phonological production patterns adhered to the statistical properties of the learned phonological system. While a subset of the current group demonstrated very limited lexical processing capacity which manifested as nonword errors in naming being most disrupted, overall the results suggest that nonwords are largely underpinned by some degree of successful lexical retrieval and implicate phonological sources, which manifest more severely when production is accomplished via nonlexical processing routes

The Bristol Twenty Miles Per Hour Limit Evaluation (BRITE) Study

This study aimed to evaluate the impact of the roll-out of 20mph speed limits across the city of Bristol. The research took a holistic, public health approach to evaluation, using a variety of data sources to examine changes in vehicle speeds, road traffic casualties, levels of walking and cycling, public perceptions and attitudes, and reported levels of health and wellbeing across the city. The study found statistically significant reductions in average traffic speeds of 2.7mph across the city of Bristol, following the introduction of 20mph speed limits. This is a larger reduction than seen in previous evaluations in other cities. The study employed a more sophisticated analysis than previous studies of 20mph limits, including using individual speed data from over 36 million vehicle observations and controlling for other factors that might affect changes in traffic speeds. There has been a reduction in the number of fatal, serious and slight injuries from road traffic collisions, equating to estimated cost savings of over £15 million per year. Although there is still majority support for 20mph speed limits in Bristol, there remains concern about compliance and behaviour of other drivers. Walking and cycling across Bristol has increased, both among children travelling to school and adults travelling to work. The introduction of 20mph speed limits in Bristol offers a model for other towns and cities across the UK, who are seeking to reduce traffic speeds, cut road traffic casualties, and promote community health and wellbeing through road danger reduction. In order to assess effectiveness of 20mph speed limits, it is vital that other towns and cities follow Bristol’s example, and prioritise the ongoing collection and analysis of appropriate data on vehicle speeds, road traffic casualties and wider public health impacts

Phonological and semantic processing during comprehension in Wernicke’s aphasia: a N400 and Phonological Mapping Negativity study

Comprehension impairments in Wernicke’s aphasia are thought to result from a combination of impaired phonological and semantic processes. However, the relationship between these cognitive processes and language comprehension has only been inferred through offline neuropsychological tasks. This study used ERPs to investigate phonological and semantic processing during online single word comprehension. EEG was recorded in a group of Wernicke’s aphasia n=8 and control participants n=10 while performing a word-picture verification task. The N400 and Phonological Mapping Negativity/ Phonological Mismatch Negativity (PMN) event-related potential components were investigated as an index of semantic and phonological processing, respectively. Individuals with Wernicke’s aphasia displayed reduced and inconsistent N400 and PMN effects in comparison to control participants. Reduced N400 effects in the WA group were simulated in the control group by artificially degrading speech perception. Correlation analyses in the Wernicke’s aphasia group found that PMN but not N400 amplitude was associated with behavioural word-picture verification performance. The results confirm impairments at both phonological and semantic stages of comprehension in Wernicke’s aphasia. However, reduced N400 responses in Wernicke’s aphasia are at least partially attributable to earlier phonological processing impairments. The results provide further support for the traditional model of Wernicke’s aphasia which claims a causative link between phonological processing and language comprehension impairments

Phonological and semantic processing during comprehension in Wernicke's aphasia: An N400 and Phonological Mapping Negativity Study

Comprehension impairments in Wernicke's aphasia are thought to result from a combination of impaired phonological and semantic processes. However, the relationship between these cognitive processes and language comprehension has only been inferred through offline neuropsychological tasks. This study used ERPs to investigate phonological and semantic processing during online single word comprehension. EEG was recorded in a group of Wernicke's aphasia n=8 and control participants n=10 while performing a word-picture verification task. The N400 and Phonological Mapping Negativity/Phonological Mismatch Negativity (PMN) event-related potential components were investigated as an index of semantic and phonological processing, respectively. Individuals with Wernicke's aphasia displayed reduced and inconsistent N400 and PMN effects in comparison to control participants. Reduced N400 effects in the WA group were simulated in the control group by artificially degrading speech perception. Correlation analyses in the Wernicke's aphasia group found that PMN but not N400 amplitude was associated with behavioural word-picture verification performance. The results confirm impairments at both phonological and semantic stages of comprehension in Wernicke's aphasia. However, reduced N400 responses in Wernicke's aphasia are at least partially attributable to earlier phonological processing impairments. The results provide further support for the traditional model of Wernicke's aphasia which claims a causative link between phonological processing and language comprehension impairments

Examining the intersection of child protection and public housing: development, health and justice outcomes using linked administrative data

OBJECTIVE: We described development, health and justice system outcomes for children in contact with child protection and public housing. DESIGN: Descriptive analysis of outcomes for children known to child protection who also had contact with public housing drawn from the South Australian (SA) Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) platform. SETTING: The BEBOLD platform holds linked administrative records collected by government agencies for whole-population successive birth cohorts in SA beginning in 1999. PARTICIPANTS: This study included data from birth registrations, perinatal, child protection, public housing, hospital, emergency department, early education and youth justice for all SA children born 1999–2013 and followed until 2016. The base population notified at least once to child protection was n=67 454. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURE: Contact with the public housing system. SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Hospitalisations and emergency department presentations before age 5, and early education at age 5, and youth justice contact before age 17. RESULTS: More than 60% of children with at least one notification to child protection had contact with public housing, and 60.2% of those known to both systems were known to housing first. Children known to both systems experienced more emergency department and hospitalisation contacts, greater developmental vulnerability and were about six times more likely to have youth justice system contact. CONCLUSIONS: There is substantial overlap between involvement with child protection and public housing in SA. Those children are more likely to face a life trajectory characterised by greater contact with the health system, greater early life developmental vulnerability and greater contact with the criminal justice system. Ensuring the highest quality of supportive early life infrastructure for families in public housing may contribute to prevention of contact with child protection and better life trajectories for children

Built and natural environment planning principles for promoting health: An umbrella review

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: The built and natural environment and health are inextricably linked. However, there is considerable debate surrounding the strength and quality of the evidence base underpinning principles of good practice for built and natural environment design in promoting health. This umbrella review aimed to assess relationships between the built and natural environment and health, concentrating on five topic areas: neighbourhood design, housing, food environment, natural and sustainable environment, and transport. Methods: A structured search was conducted for quantitative systematic reviews and stakeholder reviews published between January 2005 and April 2016. Seven databases and the websites of 15 relevant and respected stakeholder organisations known to publish review-level documentation were searched. Searches were limited to English-language publications and duplicate references were removed. Evidence quality and strength was appraised using validated techniques. Findings were used to develop a diagram for each topic area, illustrating relationships between built and natural environment planning principles and health-related outcomes. Results: A total of 117 systematic reviews and review-level documents were eligible for inclusion. The quality of evidence was mixed; much of the evidence examined relied on findings from cross-sectional studies, making it difficult to draw clear causal links between built environment exposures and health-related impacts and outcomes. Fourteen actionable planning principles associated with positive health-related outcomes were identified across the five topic areas. For example, neighbourhoods that enhanced walkability, were complete and compact in design, and those which enhanced connectivity through safe and efficient infrastructure were associated with better health-related outcomes relating to physical activity, social engagement, mental health, perceptions of crime, and road traffic collisions. Evidence for the effectiveness of planning principles across different topic areas and on reducing health inequalities was sparse and inconclusive. Conclusions: Findings provide an up-to-date overview of relationships between the built and natural environment and health and present logical, evidence-based messages to aid communication between public health and planning professionals

Healthy people healthy places evidence tool: Evidence and practical linkage for design, planning and health

This project was commissioned by Public Health England to address the need for a UK centric evidence review which analyses and demonstrates the links between health and the built and natural environment. This umbrella review attempts to provide an overview, based on umbrella review methodology outlined in this document, of the strength of the evidence of the impacts on health of the built and natural environment with the purpose to inform action and policy

Sources of phoneme errors in repetition: perseverative, neologistic and lesion patterns in jargon aphasia

This study examined patterns of neologistic and perseverative errors during word repetition in fluent Jargon aphasia. The principal hypotheses accounting for Jargon production indicate that poor activation of a target stimulus leads to weakly activated target phoneme segments, which are outcompeted at the phonological encoding level. Voxel-lesion symptom mapping studies of word repetition errors suggest a breakdown in the translation from auditory-phonological analysis to motor activation. Behavioural analyses of repetition data were used to analyse the target relatedness (Phonological Overlap Index: POI) of neologistic errors and patterns of perseveration in 25 individuals with Jargon aphasia. Lesion-symptom analyses explored the relationship between neurological damage and jargon repetition in a group of 38 aphasia participants. Behavioural results showed that neologisms produced by 23 jargon individuals contained greater degrees of target lexico-phonological information than predicted by chance and that neologistic and perseverative production were closely associated. A significant relationship between jargon production and lesions to temporoparietal regions was identified. Region of interest regression analyses suggested that damage the posterior superior temporal gyrus and superior temporal sulcus in combination was best predictive of a Jargon aphasia profile. Taken together these results suggest that poor phonological encoding secondary to impairment in sensory-motor integration alongside impairments in self-monitoring result in jargon repetition. Insights for clinical management and future directions are discussed

The use of the triptycene framework for observing O⋯C=O molecular interactions

The triptycene skeleton has been used to measure (1,5) interactions between aldehyde groups, placed at both sp³ centres, and hydroxy or methoxy groups, placed at the respective ortho position on a benzene ring; HO⋯CHO interactions of 2.621–2.624 Å and MeO⋯CHO interactions of 2.528–2.584 Å were observed with the O⋯C vector making angles of 105.3–133.7° with the carbonyl bond. The lack of a competing conjugation with the framework for the electrophilic group is a favourable factor compared to the use of peri-naphthalene systems

Exploring the views of planners and public health practitioners on integrating health evidence into spatial planning in England: A mixed-methods study

Background: This study explored barriers and facilitators to integrating health evidence into spatial planning at local authority levels and examined the awareness and use of the Public Health England Spatial Planning for Health resource. Methods: A sequential exploratory mixed methods design utilised in-depth semi-structured interviews followed by an online survey of public health, planning and other built environment professionals in England. Results: Views from 19 individuals and 162 survey responses revealed high awareness and use of the Spatial Planning for Health resource, although public health professionals reported greater awareness and use than other professionals. Key barriers to evidence implementation included: differences in interpretation and use of ‘evidence’ between public health and planning professionals; lack of practical evidence to apply locally; and lack of resource and staff capacity in local authorities. Key facilitators included: integrating health into the design of Local Plans; articulating wider benefits to multiple stakeholders, and simplifying presenting evidence (regarding language and accessibility). Conclusion: The Spatial Planning for Health resource is a useful resource at local authority level. Further work is needed to maximise its use by built environment professionals. Public health teams need support, capacity and skills to ensure that local health and wellbeing priorities are integrated into local planning documents and decisions