The Effect of Hearing Impairment on Word Processing of Infant- and Adult-Directed Speech

Objective. Little is known about how children with hearing loss (CHL) process words. The Emergent Coalition Model (ECM) of early word learning proposes that multiple cues (e.g., perceptual, social, linguistic) are used to facilitate word learning. Because hearing loss influences speech perception, different word learning patterns may emerge in CHL relative to children with normal hearing (CNH). One perceptual cue used by young children to access word learning is infant-directed-speech (IDS). Specifically, twenty-one month-olds can learn words in IDS but not in adult directed speech (ADS); however, by 27 months children can learn words in ADS. Currently, it is unknown how CHL process words in IDS and ADS. This study examined how CHL and CNH process familiar and novel words in IDS and ADS. A Looking-WhileListening paradigm was used. We predicted that: 1) CNH would show faster reaction time (RT) and higher accuracy than CHL, 2) word processing may show different patterns for familiar versus novel words, and 3) vocabulary size would be correlated with word processing skills. Methods. Eleven children with bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss (M=32.48 months) using hearing aids or cochlear implants, and 11 CNH, matched for age, gender, and SES participated. Each child was tested in IDS and ADS on different days. At each visit, children were trained to map two novel labels to objects, counterbalanced across visits. Following training, accuracy and RT were assessed for both novel and familiar words. Vocabulary size was assessed using the McArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. Results. In the familiar word condition, for the CHL accuracy was significantly better in IDS than ADS, and RT was faster in IDS than ADS (but not significant). For CNH, accuracy was not different in IDS than in ADS, but RT was significantly faster in ADS than IDS. A significant speech type by group interaction was found (p \u3c.05), for both accuracy and RT. Follow-up tests showed that CNH have higher accuracy and faster RTs than CHL. Results for familiar words suggest that while IDS may lead to more efficient speech processing for CHL, CNH are more efficient at processing ADS. In the novel word condition, only 10 CHL completed the task. For CHL, accuracy was marginally better in IDS than ADS, but no significant difference was observed in RT. For CNH no differences were seen in accuracy or RT between IDS and ADS. Analysis of Variance for RT showed that CNH have significantly faster RTs than CHL for novel word processing. For CHL, vocabulary size was negatively correlated with RT to familiar words in IDS and ADS, suggesting that children with larger vocabularies processed familiar words faster than children with smaller vocabularies. For the CHN, vocabulary size was marginally correlated with accuracy and RT to novel words in ADS. Conclusions. This study demonstrates 1) the facilitative effects of IDS on word processing for young CHL, and 2) the relationship between word processing and expressive vocabulary in young children, suggesting that children with larger vocabularies are faster and more efficient at word processing tasks. The present findings suggest that CHL do not perform as well as their normal hearing peers on word processing tasks in ADS. These findings provide empirical evidence that childhood hearing loss affects processing of IDS and ADS differently than for CNH

Balancing long-term health literacy skills development with immediate action to facilitate use of reliable health information on COVID-19 in England

High-quality healthcare information exists for patients and the public, but a high proportion of individuals do not have the skills to access, assess and use this information. Health Education England leads the strategic development of knowledge and library services in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. One of the goals of the Knowledge for Healthcare strategy is that staff, learners, patients and the public are better equipped to use evidence-based patient, health and wellbeing information for shared decision-making and self-care. This paper outlines a partnership approach to raising awareness of health literacy, and improving the health literacy awareness and skills of NHS staff and citizens, whilst meeting immediate needs to access trustworthy information on COVID-19

Hand hygiene techniques:Still a requirement for evidence for practice?

Introduction Two hand hygiene techniques are promoted internationally: the World Health Organisation’s 6 step and the Centre for Disease Control’s 3 step techniques; both of which may be considered to have suboptimum levels of empirical evidence for use with alcohol based hand rub (ABHR). Objectives The aim of the study was to compare the effectiveness of the two techniques in clinical practice. Methods A prospective parallel group randomised controlled trial (RCT) was conducted with 1:1 allocation of 6 step versus the 3 step ABHR hand hygiene technique in a clinical setting. The primary outcome was residual microbiological load. Secondary outcomes were hand surface coverage and duration. The participants were medical and nursing participants (n=120) in a large teaching hospital. Results The 6 step technique was statistically more effective at reducing the bacterial count 1900cfu/ml (95% CI 1300, 2400cfu/ml) to 380cfu/ml (95% CI 150, 860 cfu/ml) than the 3 step 1200cfu/ml (95% CI 940, 1850cfu/ml) to 750cfu/ml (95% CI 380, 1400cfu/ml) (p=0.016) but even with direct observation by two researchers and use of an instruction card demonstrating the technique, compliance with the 6 step technique was only 65%, compared to 100% compliance with 3 step technique. Further those participants with 100% compliance with 6 step technique had a significantly greater log reduction in bacterial load with no additional time or difference in coverage compared to those with 65% compliance with 6 step technique (p=0.01). Conclusion To our knowledge this is the first published RCT to demonstrate the 6 step technique is superior to the 3 step technique in reducing the residual bacterial load after hand hygiene using alcohol based hand rub in clinical practice. What remains unknown is whether the residual bacterial load after the 3 step technique is low enough to reduce risk of transmission from the hands and whether the 6 step technique can be adapted to enhance compliance in order to maximise reduction in residual bacterial load and reduce duration

Parallel analysis of ribonucleotide-dependent deletions produced by yeast Top1 in vitro and in vivo

Ribonucleotides are the most abundant non-canonical component of yeast genomic DNA and their persistence is associated with a distinctive mutation signature characterized by deletion of a single repeat unit from a short tandem repeat. These deletion events are dependent on DNA topoisomerase I (Top1) and are initiated by Top1 incision at the relevant ribonucleotide 3′-phosphodiester. A requirement for the re-ligation activity of Top1 led us to propose a sequential cleavage model for Top1-dependent mutagenesis at ribonucleotides. Here, we test key features of this model via parallel in vitro and in vivo analyses. We find that the distance between two Top1 cleavage sites determines the deletion size and that this distance is inversely related to the deletion frequency. Following the creation of a gap by two Top1 cleavage events, the tandem repeat provides complementarity that promotes realignment to a nick and subsequent Top1-mediated ligation. Complementarity downstream of the gap promotes deletion formation more effectively than does complementarity upstream of the gap, consistent with constraints to realignment of the strand to which Top1 is covalently bound. Our data fortify sequential Top1 cleavage as the mechanism for ribonucleotide-dependent deletions and provide new insight into the component steps of this process

Collaboration Success in the Dataverse Libraries as Digital Humanities Research Partners

At Deakin, the Humanities Networked Infrastructure project (HuNI), has paved new ground for facilitating the effective use and re-use of humanities research data. HuNI is one of the first large-scale eResearch infrastructure projects for the humanities in Australia and the first national, cross-disciplinary Virtual Laboratory (VL) worldwide. HuNI provides new information infrastructure services for both humanities researchers and members of the public. Its development has been funded by the National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources project (NeCTAR) and undertaken by a consortium of thirteen institutions led by Deakin University. A Deakin University Library team with skills in data description, curation, retrieval and preservation is exploring with digital humanities researchers and developers effective means to support and maintain the HuNI project. HuNI ingests and aggregates data from a total of 31 different Australian cultural datasets which cover a wide range of disciplines in the humanities and creative arts. The HuNI VL also provides a number of online research capabilities for humanities researchers to discover and work with the large-scale aggregation of data. The HuNI VL enables researchers to create, save and publish selections of data; to analyse and manipulate the data; share findings and to export the data for reuse in external environments. In a major innovation, HuNI also enables researchers to assert relationships between entities in the form of ‘socially linked’ data. This capability contributes to the building of a ‘vernacular’ network of associations between HuNI records that embody diverse perspectives on knowledge and ramify avenues for research discovery beyond keyword and phrase searches. This paper reports on key milestones in this project, the future role of Libraries as digital humanities research partners and the challenges and sustainability issues that face national digital humanities research projects that are developed in strategic library settings

Discrete in vivo roles for the MutL homologs Mlh2p and Mlh3p in the removal of frameshift intermediates in budding yeast

AbstractThe DNA mismatch repair machinery is involved in the correction of a wide variety of mutational intermediates. In bacterial cells, homodimers of the MutS protein bind mismatches and MutL homodimers couple mismatch recognition to downstream processing steps [1]. Eukaryotes possess multiple MutS and MutL homologs that form discrete, heterodimeric complexes with specific mismatch recognition and repair properties. In yeast, there are six MutS (Msh1–6p) and four MutL (Mlh1–3p and Pms1p) family members [2,3]. Heterodimers comprising Msh2p and Msh3p or Msh2p and Msh6p recognize mismatches in nuclear DNA [4,5] and the subsequent processing steps most often involve a Mlh1p–Pms1p heterodimer [6,7]. Mlh1p also forms heterodimeric complexes with Mlh2p and Mlh3p [8], and a minor role for Mlh3p in nuclear mismatch repair has been reported [9]. No mismatch repair function has yet been assigned to the fourth yeast MutL homolog, Mlh2p, although mlh2 mutants exhibit weak resistance to some DNA damaging agents [10]. We have used two frameshift reversion assays to examine the roles of the yeast Mlh2 and Mlh3 proteins in vivo. This analysis demonstrates, for the first time, that yeast Mlh2p plays a role in the repair of mutational intermediates, and extends earlier results implicating Mlh3p in mismatch repair

Analysis and Production of the Children's Play, Sacramento Fifty Miles

The purpose of this thesis is to study the children's play Sacramento Fifty Miles, by Eleanor and Ray Harder, and to prepare a Production Book describing all of the techniques involved in this production.Speec

A Checkpoint-Related Function of the MCM Replicative Helicase Is Required to Avert Accumulation of RNA:DNA Hybrids during S-phase and Ensuing DSBs during G2/M

The Mcm2-7 complex is the catalytic core of the eukaryotic replicative helicase. Here, we identify a new role for this complex in maintaining genome integrity. Using both genetic and cytological approaches, we find that a specific mcm allele (mcm2DENQ) causes elevated genome instability that correlates with the appearance of numerous DNA-damage associated foci of γH2AX and Rad52. We further find that the triggering events for this genome instability are elevated levels of RNA:DNA hybrids and an altered DNA topological state, as over-expression of either RNaseH (an enzyme specific for degradation of RNA in RNA:DNA hybrids) or Topoisomerase 1 (an enzyme that relieves DNA supercoiling) can suppress the mcm2DENQ DNA-damage phenotype. Moreover, the observed DNA damage has several additional unusual properties, in that DNA damage foci appear only after S-phase, in G2/M, and are dependent upon progression into metaphase. In addition, we show that the resultant DNA damage is not due to spontaneous S-phase fork collapse. In total, these unusual mcm2DENQ phenotypes are markedly similar to those of a special previously-studied allele of the checkpoint sensor kinase ATR/MEC1, suggesting a possible regulatory interplay between Mcm2-7 and ATR during unchallenged growth. As RNA:DNA hybrids primarily result from transcription perturbations, we suggest that surveillance-mediated modulation of the Mcm2-7 activity plays an important role in preventing catastrophic conflicts between replication forks and transcription complexes. Possible relationships among these effects and the recently discovered role of Mcm2-7 in the DNA replication checkpoint induced by HU treatment are discussed

Role of the Srs2-Rad51 Interaction Domain in Crossover Control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae Srs2, in addition to its well-documented antirecombination activity, has been proposed to play a role in promoting synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA). Here we report the identification and characterization of an SRS2 mutant with a single amino acid substitution (srs2-F891A) that specifically affects the Srs2 pro-SDSA function. This residue is located within the Srs2-Rad51 interaction domain and embedded within a protein sequence resembling a BRC repeat motif. The srs2-F891A mutation leads to a complete loss of interaction with Rad51 as measured through yeast two-hybrid analysis and a partial loss of interaction as determined through protein pull-down assays with purified Srs2, Srs2-F891A, and Rad51 proteins. Even though previous work has shown that internal deletions of the Srs2-Rad51 interaction domain block Srs2 antirecombination activity in vitro, the Srs2-F891A mutant protein, despite its weakened interaction with Rad51, exhibits no measurable defect in antirecombination activity in vitro or in vivo Surprisingly, srs2-F891A shows a robust shift from noncrossover to crossover repair products in a plasmid-based gap repair assay, but not in an ectopic physical recombination assay. Our findings suggest that the Srs2 C-terminal Rad51 interaction domain is more complex than previously thought, containing multiple interaction sites with unique effects on Srs2 activity

The Promise and Limits of Cyber Power in International Law: Remarks

Hi, everyone. I am Monica Hakimi from the University of Michigan Law School, and I would like to welcome you to our panel on cyber power and its limits. The topic almost does not need an introduction. We all know just from reading the news that our collective dependence on cyberspace is also a huge vulnerability, and state and non-state actors exploit this vulnerability to do one another harm. They use cyber technologies not just to spy on one another, but also, for example, to interfere in national elections, to steal trade secrets or other valuable information, to disrupt the activities of political, military, or economic institutions, and at times to cause physical destruction or death. Moreover, because these technologies allow the perpetrators to obscure their identities or the full effects of their operations, the people and institutions that are affected do not always have the relevant information to protect themselves from future attacks or to respond