The relation between syntactic and morphological recovery in agrammatic aphasia: A case study

BACKGROUND: Production of grammatical morphology is typically impaired in agrammatic aphasic individuals, as is their capacity to produce the syntactic structure responsible for licensing that morphology. Whether these two impairments are causally related has been an issue of long-standing debate. If morphological deficits are a side-effect of underlying syntactic ones, as has been claimed (Friedmann & Grodzinsky, 1997; Izvorski & Ullman, 1999), therapy which improves the syntactic deficit should remediate the morphological deficit as well. This paper reports a case study of one individual with such co-occurring impairments and describes their recovery in response to linguistically-motivated treatment targeting his syntactic deficits. METHODS #ENTITYSTARTX00026; PROCEDURES: MD is a 56 year-old male diagnosed with non-fluent Broca's aphasia subsequent to a left-hemisphere CVA, with limited capacity to produce syntactically complex utterances and grammatical morphology. He was enrolled in therapy using Treatment of Underlying Forms (TUF; Thompson & Shapiro, 2005), targeting production of sentences involving Wh-movement (object relative clauses). MD participated in twice-weekly treatment sessions for approximately two months, with daily probes assessing his production of treated and untreated sentence types. In addition, probes assessing his grammatical morphology and sentence production were administered pre- and post-treatment. OUTCOMES #ENTITYSTARTX00026; RESULTS: Pre-treatment scores in tests of grammatical morphology and sentence production indicated deficits in both domains. During treatment, MD successfully acquired production of a variety of sentence with Wh-movement, though this did not generalize to sentences involving a grammatically distinct movement operation (NP-movement). Post-treatment scores also indicated a lack of improvement in production of grammatical morphology. CONCLUSIONS: The dissociation between MD's morphological and syntactic recovery indicates that the recovery of syntactic and morphological processes in aphasia may occur independently. This result is thus surprising under approaches in which morphological and syntactic impairments are strongly and causally related in aphasia, such as the Tree-Pruning Hypothesis (Friedmann, 2001; Friedmann & Grodzinsky, 1997). Further, these results reinforce the conclusion that aphasia treatment can lead to generalization, but only to linguistic material which is in a subset relation to trained structures (Thompson, Shapiro, Kiran & Sobecks, 2003).     

The influence of partnership centrality on organizational perceptions of support: a case study of the AHLN structure

Background  

Knowledge of the structure and character of inter-organizational relationships found among health promotion organizations is a prerequisite for the development of evidence-based network-level intervention activities. The Alberta Healthy Living Network (AHLN) mapped the inter-organizational structure of its members to examine the effects of the network environment on organizational-level perceptions. This exploratory analysis examines whether network structure, specifically partnership ties among AHLN members, influences organizational perceptions of support after controlling for organizational-level attributes.     

Growth/differentiation factor 5 enhances chondrocyte maturation.

Growth/differentiation factor 5 (GDF5) is required for limb mesenchymal cell condensation and joint formation during skeletogenesis. Here, we use a model consisting of long-term, high-density cultures of chick embryonic limb mesenchymal cells, which undergo the entire life history of chondrocyte development, to examine the effects of GDF5 overexpression on chondrocyte maturation. Exposure to GDF5 significantly enhanced chondrocyte hypertrophy and maturation, as determined by the presence of alkaline phosphatase activity, collagen type X protein production, and the presence of a sulfated proteoglycan-rich extracellular matrix. Histologic analysis also revealed an increase in cell volume and cellular encasement in larger lacunae in GDF5-treated cultures. Taken together, these results support a role for GDF5 in influencing chondrocyte maturation and the induction of hypertrophy in the late stages of embryonic cartilage development, and provide additional mechanistic insights into the role of GDF5 in skeletal development.     

Angiopoietin1/Tie2 and VEGF/Flk1 induced by MSC treatment amplifies angiogenesis and vascular stabilization after stroke.

Bone marrow stromal cells (MSCs) increase vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) expression and promote angiogenesis after stroke. Angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) and its receptor Tie2 mediate vascular integrity and angiogenesis as does VEGF and its receptors. In this study, we tested whether MSC treatment of stroke increases Ang1/Tie2 expression, and whether Ang1/Tie2 with VEGF/ vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2) (Flk1), in combination, induced by MSCs enhances angiogenesis and vascular integrity. Male Wistar rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) and treated with or without MSCs. Marrow stromal cell treatment significantly decreased blood-brain barrier (BBB) leakage and increased Ang1, Tie2, and occludin (a tight junction protein) expression in the ischemic border compared with MCAo control. To further test the mechanisms of MSC-induced angiogenesis and vascular stabilization, cocultures of MSCs with mouse brain endothelial cells (MBECs) or astrocytes were performed. Supernatant derived from MSCs cocultured with MBECs significantly increased MBEC expression of Ang1/Tie2 and Flk1 compared with MBEC alone. Marrow stromal cells cocultured with astrocytes also significantly increased astrocyte VEGF and Ang1/Tie2 expression compared with astrocyte culture alone. Conditioned media from MSCs alone, and media from cocultures of MSCs with astrocytes or MBECs, all significantly increased capillary tube-like formation of MBEC compared with control Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium media. Inhibition of Flk1 and/or Ang1 significantly decreased MSC-induced MBEC tube formation. Knockdown of Tie2 expression in MBECs significantly inhibited MSC-induced tube formation. Our data indicate MSC treatment of stroke promotes angiogenesis and vascular stabilization, which is at least partially mediated by VEGF/Flk1 and Ang1/Tie2.     

Recruiting future neuroscientists: what asking the recruits can teach us.

Many different strategies are used to recruit students into scientific research careers, including neuroscience research. These strategies are rarely based on knowledge about students; instead, activities are selected based on their ease of implementation. The goal of the LEARN Project is to encourage high school students into mental health science research using the theme of learning and memory. One intervention the authors developed is five Web-based biographies introducing students to contemporary neuroscientist role models studying learning and memory. To guide the design of this intervention, the authors created a survey to determine where students obtain career information and who and what influences their career selection. In a convenience sample of 124 students, the authors found that almost all students use the Internet for information about careers, in addition to consulting family members and teachers. Students' career selections are influenced most by family members, teachers, and people already in the field. The most important factors students look for in their future career are money, fun, and a good match between current interests and future careers. The data affirm the value of outreach efforts that go beyond students to include a broader audience of parents and teachers who play a critical role in career selection.     

Insulin-like growth factor I promotes leiomyoma cell growth in vitro

Objective: Our purpose was to determine whether insulin-like growth factors I and II preferentially stimulate uterine leiomyoma cells versus myometrial cells in monolayer culture.Study design: Leiomyomas and normal myometrium were obtained at hysterectomy from five premenopausal women. Specimens were enzymatically digested for use in primary monolayer cell cultures. By use of serum-free media, insulin-like growth factor I or II was added in 1, 10, and 100 ng/ml concentrations to both cell types with the patient serving as her own control. Cell number, prolactin production, and proliferative index values were measured on day 15 of cell culture.Results: Significant increases in cell number were found in the leiomyoma cultures (p < 0.05) treated with 10 and 100 ng/ml insulin-like growth factors I but not with insulin-like growth factos II. Neither factor exerted a stimulatory effect on myometrial cells.Conclusion: Insulin-like growth factor sI preferentially stimulates leiomyoma cells in monolayer culture. These results suggest an autocrine-paracine role in vivo for this factor in conjuction with gonadal steroids in promoting leiomyoma growth.     

A preliminary study of serotonergic antidepressants in treatment of dysthymia

Rosenthal, Jesse et al. A Preliminary Study of Serotonergic Antidepressants in the Treatment of Dysthymia. Prog. Neuro-Psychopharmacol. & Biol. Psychiat. 1992, 16(6): 933–941.

1. 1. There is increasing evidence that antidepressants may alleviate symptoms of dysthymia, but few prior studies on selective serotonergic agents.

2. 2. Twenty patients meeting criteria for dysthymia, but not meeting criteria for major depression, received open label trials of a serotonergic antidepressant, either fluoxetine or trazodone.

3. 3. Seventeen (85%) completed three-month medication trials, and of these, twelve (70.6% of completers) responded to treatment. Seven (41.2% of completers) were still in remission on followup at five months.

4. 4. Both fluoxetine and trazodone were well tolerated in dysthymics, and showed similar short-term effectiveness in treating dysthymic symptoms.

Oral Health Status of Children and Adolescents by Rural Residence, United States

CONTEXT: The limited information available on the oral health status of rural children in the United States makes it difficult to devise policy strategies to address perceived problems. PURPOSE: To document the oral health status and dental care utilization of US children by place of residence, METHODS: Data from National Health Interview Surveys for 1995, 1997, and 1998, and from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1988-1994) were analyzed. FINDINGS: Children residing in rural areas were more likely to be uninsured for dental care than were children from urban areas (41.1% versus 34.7%). A greater percentage of rural than urban children reported unmet dental needs (7.5% versus 5.6%); there was no difference in self-reported poor dental status. Urban children were more likely than rural children to have visited the dentist in the past year (73.6% versus 69.9%) and were also more likely to be regular users of dental care (61.7% versus 51.4%). Differences in percentage of rural and urban children with caries lesions and caries experience were not significant. CONCLUSIONS: Children residing in rural areas have less access to and utilization of dental care compared to children residing in urban areas. Moreover, poor rural children display less utilization of dental services than poor urban children. Differences in the sum of decayed and filled primary teeth and the sum of decayed, missing, and filled permanent teeth were not significant.