Differential effects of suppressors on hazardous sound pressure levels generated by AR-15 rifles: Considerations for recreational shooters, law enforcement, and the military

10.3109/14992027.2015.1122241<br/>Edward Lobarinas

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Effects of low speed wind on the recognition/identification and pass-through communication tasks of auditory situation awareness afforded by military hearing protection/enhancement devices and tactical communication and protective systems

10.3109/14992027.2015.1129073<br/>Kichol Lee

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Differential effects of suppressors on hazardous sound pressure levels generated by AR-15 rifles: Considerations for recreational shooters, law enforcement, and the military

10.3109/14992027.2015.1122241<br/>Edward Lobarinas

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Effects of low speed wind on the recognition/identification and pass-through communication tasks of auditory situation awareness afforded by military hearing protection/enhancement devices and tactical communication and protective systems

10.3109/14992027.2015.1129073<br/>Kichol Lee

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Differential effects of suppressors on hazardous sound pressure levels generated by AR-15 rifles: Considerations for recreational shooters, law enforcement, and the military

10.3109/14992027.2015.1122241<br/>Edward Lobarinas

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via IFTTT

Effects of low speed wind on the recognition/identification and pass-through communication tasks of auditory situation awareness afforded by military hearing protection/enhancement devices and tactical communication and protective systems

10.3109/14992027.2015.1129073<br/>Kichol Lee

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Differential effects of suppressors on hazardous sound pressure levels generated by AR-15 rifles: Considerations for recreational shooters, law enforcement, and the military

10.3109/14992027.2015.1122241<br/>Edward Lobarinas

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Effects of low speed wind on the recognition/identification and pass-through communication tasks of auditory situation awareness afforded by military hearing protection/enhancement devices and tactical communication and protective systems

10.3109/14992027.2015.1129073<br/>Kichol Lee

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Differential effects of suppressors on hazardous sound pressure levels generated by AR-15 rifles: Considerations for recreational shooters, law enforcement, and the military

10.3109/14992027.2015.1122241<br/>Edward Lobarinas

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via IFTTT

Effects of low speed wind on the recognition/identification and pass-through communication tasks of auditory situation awareness afforded by military hearing protection/enhancement devices and tactical communication and protective systems

10.3109/14992027.2015.1129073<br/>Kichol Lee

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Parent Reports of Young Spanish–English Bilingual Children's Productive Vocabulary: A Development and Validation Study

Purpose

This 2-phase study aims to extend research on parent report measures of children's productive vocabulary by investigating the development (n = 38) of the Spanish Vocabulary Extension and validity (n = 194) of the 100-item Spanish and English MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories Toddler Short Forms and Upward Extension (Fenson et al., 2000, 2007; Jackson-Maldonado, Marchman, & Fernald, 2013) and the Spanish Vocabulary Extension for use with parents from low-income homes and their 24- to 48-month-old Spanish–English bilingual children.

Method

Study participants were drawn from Early Head Start and Head Start collaborative programs in the Northeastern United States in which English was the primary language used in the classroom. All families reported Spanish or Spanish–English as their home language(s). The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories as well as the researcher-designed Spanish Vocabulary Extension were used as measures of children's English and Spanish productive vocabularies.

Results

Findings revealed the forms' concurrent and discriminant validity, on the basis of standardized measures of vocabulary, as measures of productive vocabulary for this growing bilingual population.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that parent reports, including our researcher-designed form, represent a valid, cost-effective mechanism for vocabulary monitoring purposes in early childhood education settings.

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Factors Affecting Early Services for Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

Purpose

To describe factors affecting early intervention (EI) for children who are hard of hearing, we analyzed (a) service setting(s) and the relationship of setting to families' frequency of participation, and (b) provider preparation, caseload composition, and experience in relation to comfort with skills that support spoken language for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (CDHH).

Method

Participants included 122 EI professionals who completed an online questionnaire annually and 131 parents who participated in annual telephone interviews.

Results

Most families received EI in the home. Family participation in this setting was significantly higher than in services provided elsewhere. EI professionals were primarily teachers of CDHH or speech-language pathologists. Caseload composition was correlated moderately to strongly with most provider comfort levels. Level of preparation to support spoken language weakly to moderately correlated with provider comfort with 18 specific skills.

Conclusions

Results suggest family involvement is highest when EI is home-based, which supports the need for EI in the home whenever possible. Access to hands-on experience with this population, reflected in a high percentage of CDHH on providers' current caseloads, contributed to professional comfort. Specialized preparation made a modest contribution to comfort level.

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Do Live Versus Audio-Recorded Narrative Stimuli Influence Young Children's Narrative Comprehension and Retell Quality?

Purpose

The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether different ways of presenting narrative stimuli (i.e., live narrative stimuli versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) influence children's performances on narrative comprehension and oral-retell quality.

Method

Children in kindergarten (n = 54), second grade (n = 74), and fourth grade (n = 65) were matched on their performance on a standardized oral-language comprehension task and then were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 conditions that differed in how narrative stimuli were presented to children: live narrative stimuli and audio-recorded narrative stimuli.

Results

Kindergartners and 2nd graders in the live condition had higher mean performance on narrative comprehension, with effect sizes of .43 and .39, respectively, after accounting for age, gender, and school. No differences were found in narrative comprehension for children in 4th grade. Children's oral-retell quality did not differ as a function of condition in any grade.

Conclusion

These results suggest that how narrative stimuli are presented to children (i.e., live versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) may affect children's narrative comprehension, particularly for young children in kindergarten and Grade 2. Implications for assessment and instruction are discussed.

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Voice Disorder Management Competencies: A Survey of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists in Nebraska

Purpose

The purpose of this survey was to determine the self-perceived competence levels in voice disorders of practicing school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and identify correlated variables.

Method

Participants were 153 master's level, school-based SLPs with a Nebraska teaching certificate and/or licensure who completed a survey, including demographic information and a 25-item voice disorders competency checklist.

Results

Findings indicated school-based SLPs did not feel particularly competent in their ability to assess and treat students with voice disorders. Only 1 response mean was higher than a “moderately competent” level. All other item means were at or below this level. Four correlations indicated positive associations with SLPs' overall self-perceived competence levels: number of continuing education activities related to voice disorders, number of clients with voice disorders in the last 3 months, percentage of time spent with clients who have voice disorders, and feelings of preparation in the area of voice disorders immediately after academic program completion. Informal comparisons to medically based SLP respondents (n = 22) were included.

Conclusion

School-based SLPs' competence perceptions with voice disorders are consistent with the minimal levels of competence reported for other underserved or low-incidence populations. Pursuing continuing education in voice disorders is recommended at the same time as access to the population becomes available.

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School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge and Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Bullying

Purpose

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') knowledge and perceptions of bullying, with an emphasis on autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method

A 46-item, web-based survey was used to address the purposes of this investigation. Participants were recruited through e-mail and electronic mailing lists for American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) special interest divisions 1 (Language, Learning, and Education) and 16 (School-Based Issues). Also, an embedded link to the survey was posted on the ASHA Community website and ASHA Facebook page.

Results

Participants demonstrated knowledge of many aspects of bullying research; however, they demonstrated weaknesses in others. All respondents agreed that SLPs should intervene in moments of bullying, but not all indicated that they feel comfortable intervening. Few participants indicated that their school district implemented antibullying campaigns specific to children with special needs, such as ASD.

Conclusions

As recognized experts in working with children with communication deficits, including individuals with ASD, SLPs have the opportunity to play a key role in antibullying efforts. Results revealed, however, that school-based SLPs may benefit from more information on bullying in order to understand the nature, context, and extent of this issue, as well as ways in which to respond to bullying when it is observed.

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Parent Reports of Young Spanish–English Bilingual Children's Productive Vocabulary: A Development and Validation Study

Purpose

This 2-phase study aims to extend research on parent report measures of children's productive vocabulary by investigating the development (n = 38) of the Spanish Vocabulary Extension and validity (n = 194) of the 100-item Spanish and English MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories Toddler Short Forms and Upward Extension (Fenson et al., 2000, 2007; Jackson-Maldonado, Marchman, & Fernald, 2013) and the Spanish Vocabulary Extension for use with parents from low-income homes and their 24- to 48-month-old Spanish–English bilingual children.

Method

Study participants were drawn from Early Head Start and Head Start collaborative programs in the Northeastern United States in which English was the primary language used in the classroom. All families reported Spanish or Spanish–English as their home language(s). The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories as well as the researcher-designed Spanish Vocabulary Extension were used as measures of children's English and Spanish productive vocabularies.

Results

Findings revealed the forms' concurrent and discriminant validity, on the basis of standardized measures of vocabulary, as measures of productive vocabulary for this growing bilingual population.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that parent reports, including our researcher-designed form, represent a valid, cost-effective mechanism for vocabulary monitoring purposes in early childhood education settings.

from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1OAFY8d
via IFTTT

Toddlers' Verb Lexicon Diversity and Grammatical Outcomes

Purpose

The goals of this study were to quantify longitudinal expectations for verb lexicon growth and to determine whether verb lexicon measures were better predictors of later grammatical outcomes than noun lexicon measures.

Method

Longitudinal parent-report measures from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson et al., 2007) from ages 21 to 30 months from an archival database were used to model growth in common noun and verb lexicon size for 45 typically developing toddlers. Communicative Development Inventory growth coefficients and 24-month measures of lexical diversity from spontaneous language samples were used to predict 30-month grammatical outcomes on the Index of Productive Syntax (Scarborough, 1990).

Results

Average verb growth was characterized by 50.57 verbs at 24 months, with linear growth of 8.29 verbs per month and deceleration overall. Children with small verb lexicons or slow linear growth at 24 months accelerated during this developmental period. Verb lexicon measures were better predictors of grammatical outcomes than noun lexicon measures, accounting for 47.8% of the variance in Index of Productive Syntax scores. Lexical verb diversity in spontaneous speech emerged as the single best predictor.

Conclusion

Measures of verb lexicon size and diversity should be included as part of early language assessment to guide clinical decision making with young children at risk for language impairment.

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Factors Affecting Early Services for Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

Purpose

To describe factors affecting early intervention (EI) for children who are hard of hearing, we analyzed (a) service setting(s) and the relationship of setting to families' frequency of participation, and (b) provider preparation, caseload composition, and experience in relation to comfort with skills that support spoken language for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (CDHH).

Method

Participants included 122 EI professionals who completed an online questionnaire annually and 131 parents who participated in annual telephone interviews.

Results

Most families received EI in the home. Family participation in this setting was significantly higher than in services provided elsewhere. EI professionals were primarily teachers of CDHH or speech-language pathologists. Caseload composition was correlated moderately to strongly with most provider comfort levels. Level of preparation to support spoken language weakly to moderately correlated with provider comfort with 18 specific skills.

Conclusions

Results suggest family involvement is highest when EI is home-based, which supports the need for EI in the home whenever possible. Access to hands-on experience with this population, reflected in a high percentage of CDHH on providers' current caseloads, contributed to professional comfort. Specialized preparation made a modest contribution to comfort level.

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A Comparison of High and Low Dosages of a Component of Milieu Teaching Strategies for Two Preschool-Age Learners With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Purpose

The intersection of treatment intensity and communication intervention is an emerging area of investigation. Milieu teaching (MT) approaches for teaching communication skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a substantial evidence base (see Goldstein, 2002). However, a relatively small percentage (37.8%) of MT studies have fully detailed the parameters that are required to determine treatment intensity (Parker-McGowan et al., 2014). This study compared the effect of two dosages of the modeling component of milieu teaching on acquisition and maintenance of new vocabulary for two preschoolers with ASD.

Method

Low- and high-dosage conditions were compared within an adapted alternating treatments design. Participants were two preschool-age children with ASD.

Results

Results suggested a functional relationship between dose of MT models and acquisition of vocabulary items. For 1 participant, a high-dose application yielded more efficient acquisition. For the second participant, a low-dose application yielded more efficient acquisition.

Conclusion

The results of this study highlight the influence of individual differences in ostensibly similar persons and response to intervention. The need for better quantifying dosage parameters and examining the relationship between dosage and intervention approaches for preschool-age learners with ASD is discussed.

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Do Live Versus Audio-Recorded Narrative Stimuli Influence Young Children's Narrative Comprehension and Retell Quality?

Purpose

The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether different ways of presenting narrative stimuli (i.e., live narrative stimuli versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) influence children's performances on narrative comprehension and oral-retell quality.

Method

Children in kindergarten (n = 54), second grade (n = 74), and fourth grade (n = 65) were matched on their performance on a standardized oral-language comprehension task and then were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 conditions that differed in how narrative stimuli were presented to children: live narrative stimuli and audio-recorded narrative stimuli.

Results

Kindergartners and 2nd graders in the live condition had higher mean performance on narrative comprehension, with effect sizes of .43 and .39, respectively, after accounting for age, gender, and school. No differences were found in narrative comprehension for children in 4th grade. Children's oral-retell quality did not differ as a function of condition in any grade.

Conclusion

These results suggest that how narrative stimuli are presented to children (i.e., live versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) may affect children's narrative comprehension, particularly for young children in kindergarten and Grade 2. Implications for assessment and instruction are discussed.

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Voice Disorder Management Competencies: A Survey of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists in Nebraska

Purpose

The purpose of this survey was to determine the self-perceived competence levels in voice disorders of practicing school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and identify correlated variables.

Method

Participants were 153 master's level, school-based SLPs with a Nebraska teaching certificate and/or licensure who completed a survey, including demographic information and a 25-item voice disorders competency checklist.

Results

Findings indicated school-based SLPs did not feel particularly competent in their ability to assess and treat students with voice disorders. Only 1 response mean was higher than a “moderately competent” level. All other item means were at or below this level. Four correlations indicated positive associations with SLPs' overall self-perceived competence levels: number of continuing education activities related to voice disorders, number of clients with voice disorders in the last 3 months, percentage of time spent with clients who have voice disorders, and feelings of preparation in the area of voice disorders immediately after academic program completion. Informal comparisons to medically based SLP respondents (n = 22) were included.

Conclusion

School-based SLPs' competence perceptions with voice disorders are consistent with the minimal levels of competence reported for other underserved or low-incidence populations. Pursuing continuing education in voice disorders is recommended at the same time as access to the population becomes available.

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School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge and Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Bullying

Purpose

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') knowledge and perceptions of bullying, with an emphasis on autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method

A 46-item, web-based survey was used to address the purposes of this investigation. Participants were recruited through e-mail and electronic mailing lists for American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) special interest divisions 1 (Language, Learning, and Education) and 16 (School-Based Issues). Also, an embedded link to the survey was posted on the ASHA Community website and ASHA Facebook page.

Results

Participants demonstrated knowledge of many aspects of bullying research; however, they demonstrated weaknesses in others. All respondents agreed that SLPs should intervene in moments of bullying, but not all indicated that they feel comfortable intervening. Few participants indicated that their school district implemented antibullying campaigns specific to children with special needs, such as ASD.

Conclusions

As recognized experts in working with children with communication deficits, including individuals with ASD, SLPs have the opportunity to play a key role in antibullying efforts. Results revealed, however, that school-based SLPs may benefit from more information on bullying in order to understand the nature, context, and extent of this issue, as well as ways in which to respond to bullying when it is observed.

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via IFTTT

Toddlers' Verb Lexicon Diversity and Grammatical Outcomes

Purpose

The goals of this study were to quantify longitudinal expectations for verb lexicon growth and to determine whether verb lexicon measures were better predictors of later grammatical outcomes than noun lexicon measures.

Method

Longitudinal parent-report measures from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson et al., 2007) from ages 21 to 30 months from an archival database were used to model growth in common noun and verb lexicon size for 45 typically developing toddlers. Communicative Development Inventory growth coefficients and 24-month measures of lexical diversity from spontaneous language samples were used to predict 30-month grammatical outcomes on the Index of Productive Syntax (Scarborough, 1990).

Results

Average verb growth was characterized by 50.57 verbs at 24 months, with linear growth of 8.29 verbs per month and deceleration overall. Children with small verb lexicons or slow linear growth at 24 months accelerated during this developmental period. Verb lexicon measures were better predictors of grammatical outcomes than noun lexicon measures, accounting for 47.8% of the variance in Index of Productive Syntax scores. Lexical verb diversity in spontaneous speech emerged as the single best predictor.

Conclusion

Measures of verb lexicon size and diversity should be included as part of early language assessment to guide clinical decision making with young children at risk for language impairment.

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via IFTTT

A Comparison of High and Low Dosages of a Component of Milieu Teaching Strategies for Two Preschool-Age Learners With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Purpose

The intersection of treatment intensity and communication intervention is an emerging area of investigation. Milieu teaching (MT) approaches for teaching communication skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a substantial evidence base (see Goldstein, 2002). However, a relatively small percentage (37.8%) of MT studies have fully detailed the parameters that are required to determine treatment intensity (Parker-McGowan et al., 2014). This study compared the effect of two dosages of the modeling component of milieu teaching on acquisition and maintenance of new vocabulary for two preschoolers with ASD.

Method

Low- and high-dosage conditions were compared within an adapted alternating treatments design. Participants were two preschool-age children with ASD.

Results

Results suggested a functional relationship between dose of MT models and acquisition of vocabulary items. For 1 participant, a high-dose application yielded more efficient acquisition. For the second participant, a low-dose application yielded more efficient acquisition.

Conclusion

The results of this study highlight the influence of individual differences in ostensibly similar persons and response to intervention. The need for better quantifying dosage parameters and examining the relationship between dosage and intervention approaches for preschool-age learners with ASD is discussed.

from #Audiology via xlomafota13 on Inoreader http://ift.tt/1Pe7iup
via IFTTT

Parent Reports of Young Spanish–English Bilingual Children's Productive Vocabulary: A Development and Validation Study

Purpose

This 2-phase study aims to extend research on parent report measures of children's productive vocabulary by investigating the development (n = 38) of the Spanish Vocabulary Extension and validity (n = 194) of the 100-item Spanish and English MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories Toddler Short Forms and Upward Extension (Fenson et al., 2000, 2007; Jackson-Maldonado, Marchman, & Fernald, 2013) and the Spanish Vocabulary Extension for use with parents from low-income homes and their 24- to 48-month-old Spanish–English bilingual children.

Method

Study participants were drawn from Early Head Start and Head Start collaborative programs in the Northeastern United States in which English was the primary language used in the classroom. All families reported Spanish or Spanish–English as their home language(s). The MacArthur Communicative Development Inventories as well as the researcher-designed Spanish Vocabulary Extension were used as measures of children's English and Spanish productive vocabularies.

Results

Findings revealed the forms' concurrent and discriminant validity, on the basis of standardized measures of vocabulary, as measures of productive vocabulary for this growing bilingual population.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that parent reports, including our researcher-designed form, represent a valid, cost-effective mechanism for vocabulary monitoring purposes in early childhood education settings.

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via IFTTT

Factors Affecting Early Services for Children Who Are Hard of Hearing

Purpose

To describe factors affecting early intervention (EI) for children who are hard of hearing, we analyzed (a) service setting(s) and the relationship of setting to families' frequency of participation, and (b) provider preparation, caseload composition, and experience in relation to comfort with skills that support spoken language for children who are deaf and hard of hearing (CDHH).

Method

Participants included 122 EI professionals who completed an online questionnaire annually and 131 parents who participated in annual telephone interviews.

Results

Most families received EI in the home. Family participation in this setting was significantly higher than in services provided elsewhere. EI professionals were primarily teachers of CDHH or speech-language pathologists. Caseload composition was correlated moderately to strongly with most provider comfort levels. Level of preparation to support spoken language weakly to moderately correlated with provider comfort with 18 specific skills.

Conclusions

Results suggest family involvement is highest when EI is home-based, which supports the need for EI in the home whenever possible. Access to hands-on experience with this population, reflected in a high percentage of CDHH on providers' current caseloads, contributed to professional comfort. Specialized preparation made a modest contribution to comfort level.

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via IFTTT

Do Live Versus Audio-Recorded Narrative Stimuli Influence Young Children's Narrative Comprehension and Retell Quality?

Purpose

The primary aim of the present study was to examine whether different ways of presenting narrative stimuli (i.e., live narrative stimuli versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) influence children's performances on narrative comprehension and oral-retell quality.

Method

Children in kindergarten (n = 54), second grade (n = 74), and fourth grade (n = 65) were matched on their performance on a standardized oral-language comprehension task and then were randomly assigned to 1 of the 2 conditions that differed in how narrative stimuli were presented to children: live narrative stimuli and audio-recorded narrative stimuli.

Results

Kindergartners and 2nd graders in the live condition had higher mean performance on narrative comprehension, with effect sizes of .43 and .39, respectively, after accounting for age, gender, and school. No differences were found in narrative comprehension for children in 4th grade. Children's oral-retell quality did not differ as a function of condition in any grade.

Conclusion

These results suggest that how narrative stimuli are presented to children (i.e., live versus audio-recorded narrative stimuli) may affect children's narrative comprehension, particularly for young children in kindergarten and Grade 2. Implications for assessment and instruction are discussed.

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Voice Disorder Management Competencies: A Survey of School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists in Nebraska

Purpose

The purpose of this survey was to determine the self-perceived competence levels in voice disorders of practicing school-based speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and identify correlated variables.

Method

Participants were 153 master's level, school-based SLPs with a Nebraska teaching certificate and/or licensure who completed a survey, including demographic information and a 25-item voice disorders competency checklist.

Results

Findings indicated school-based SLPs did not feel particularly competent in their ability to assess and treat students with voice disorders. Only 1 response mean was higher than a “moderately competent” level. All other item means were at or below this level. Four correlations indicated positive associations with SLPs' overall self-perceived competence levels: number of continuing education activities related to voice disorders, number of clients with voice disorders in the last 3 months, percentage of time spent with clients who have voice disorders, and feelings of preparation in the area of voice disorders immediately after academic program completion. Informal comparisons to medically based SLP respondents (n = 22) were included.

Conclusion

School-based SLPs' competence perceptions with voice disorders are consistent with the minimal levels of competence reported for other underserved or low-incidence populations. Pursuing continuing education in voice disorders is recommended at the same time as access to the population becomes available.

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via IFTTT

School-Based Speech-Language Pathologists' Knowledge and Perceptions of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Bullying

Purpose

The purpose of the current investigation was to examine speech-language pathologists' (SLPs') knowledge and perceptions of bullying, with an emphasis on autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Method

A 46-item, web-based survey was used to address the purposes of this investigation. Participants were recruited through e-mail and electronic mailing lists for American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) special interest divisions 1 (Language, Learning, and Education) and 16 (School-Based Issues). Also, an embedded link to the survey was posted on the ASHA Community website and ASHA Facebook page.

Results

Participants demonstrated knowledge of many aspects of bullying research; however, they demonstrated weaknesses in others. All respondents agreed that SLPs should intervene in moments of bullying, but not all indicated that they feel comfortable intervening. Few participants indicated that their school district implemented antibullying campaigns specific to children with special needs, such as ASD.

Conclusions

As recognized experts in working with children with communication deficits, including individuals with ASD, SLPs have the opportunity to play a key role in antibullying efforts. Results revealed, however, that school-based SLPs may benefit from more information on bullying in order to understand the nature, context, and extent of this issue, as well as ways in which to respond to bullying when it is observed.

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via IFTTT

Toddlers' Verb Lexicon Diversity and Grammatical Outcomes

Purpose

The goals of this study were to quantify longitudinal expectations for verb lexicon growth and to determine whether verb lexicon measures were better predictors of later grammatical outcomes than noun lexicon measures.

Method

Longitudinal parent-report measures from the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (Fenson et al., 2007) from ages 21 to 30 months from an archival database were used to model growth in common noun and verb lexicon size for 45 typically developing toddlers. Communicative Development Inventory growth coefficients and 24-month measures of lexical diversity from spontaneous language samples were used to predict 30-month grammatical outcomes on the Index of Productive Syntax (Scarborough, 1990).

Results

Average verb growth was characterized by 50.57 verbs at 24 months, with linear growth of 8.29 verbs per month and deceleration overall. Children with small verb lexicons or slow linear growth at 24 months accelerated during this developmental period. Verb lexicon measures were better predictors of grammatical outcomes than noun lexicon measures, accounting for 47.8% of the variance in Index of Productive Syntax scores. Lexical verb diversity in spontaneous speech emerged as the single best predictor.

Conclusion

Measures of verb lexicon size and diversity should be included as part of early language assessment to guide clinical decision making with young children at risk for language impairment.

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via IFTTT

A Comparison of High and Low Dosages of a Component of Milieu Teaching Strategies for Two Preschool-Age Learners With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Purpose

The intersection of treatment intensity and communication intervention is an emerging area of investigation. Milieu teaching (MT) approaches for teaching communication skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have a substantial evidence base (see Goldstein, 2002). However, a relatively small percentage (37.8%) of MT studies have fully detailed the parameters that are required to determine treatment intensity (Parker-McGowan et al., 2014). This study compared the effect of two dosages of the modeling component of milieu teaching on acquisition and maintenance of new vocabulary for two preschoolers with ASD.

Method

Low- and high-dosage conditions were compared within an adapted alternating treatments design. Participants were two preschool-age children with ASD.

Results

Results suggested a functional relationship between dose of MT models and acquisition of vocabulary items. For 1 participant, a high-dose application yielded more efficient acquisition. For the second participant, a low-dose application yielded more efficient acquisition.

Conclusion

The results of this study highlight the influence of individual differences in ostensibly similar persons and response to intervention. The need for better quantifying dosage parameters and examining the relationship between dosage and intervention approaches for preschool-age learners with ASD is discussed.

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Local propagation speed constrained estimation of the slowness vector from non-planar array observations

The estimation of the slowness vector of infrasoundwaves propagating across an array is a critical process leading to the determination of parameters of interest such as the direction of arrival. The sensors of an array are often considered to be located in a horizontal plane. However, due to topography, the altitudes of the sensors are not identical and introduce a bias on the estimate if neglected. However, the unbiased 3D estimation procedure, while suppressing the bias, leads to an increase of the variance. Accounting for an a priori constraint on the slowness vector significantly reduces the variance and could therefore improve the performance of the estimation if the introduced bias by incorrect a priori information remains negligible. This study focuses on measuring the benefits of this approach with a thorough investigation of the bias and variance of the constrained 3D estimator, which is not available in the existing literature. This contribution provides such computations based on an asymptotic Gaussian approximation. Simulations are carried out to assess the theoretical results both with synthetic and real data. Thus, a constrained 3D estimator is proposed yielding the best bias/variance compromise if good knowledge of the propagation wave speed is accessible.

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REVIEWS OF ACOUSTICAL PATENTS

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REVIEWS OF ACOUSTICAL PATENTS

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Hypersingular meshless method using double-layer potentials for three-dimensional exterior acoustic problems

Three-dimensional exterior acoustic problems with irregular domains are solved using a hypersingular meshless method. In particular, the method of fundamental solutions (MFS) is used to formulate and analyze such acoustic problems. It is well known that source points for MFS cannot be located on the real boundary due to the singularity of the kernel functions. Thus, the diagonal terms of the influence matrices are unobtainable when source points are located on the boundary. An efficient approach is proposed to overcome such difficulties, when the MFS is used for three-dimensional exterior acoustic problems. This work is an extension of previous research on two-dimensional problems. The solution of the problem is expressed in terms of a double-layer potential representation on the physical boundary. Three examples are presented in which the proposed method is compared to the MFS and boundary element method. Good numerical performance is demonstrated by the proposed hypersingular meshless method.

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More than 1 in 20 U.S. children have dizziness and balance problems

First large-scale, nationally representative survey finds issues slightly more common in girls, non-Hispanic white children.More than 1 in 20 (nearly 3.

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More than 1 in 20 U.S. children have dizziness and balance problems

First large-scale, nationally representative survey finds issues slightly more common in girls, non-Hispanic white children.More than 1 in 20 (nearly 3.

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Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Ear Care in Coastal Karnataka.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Ear Care in Coastal Karnataka.

J Clin Diagn Res. 2015 Dec;9(12):MC01-MC04

Authors: Dosemane D, Ganapathi K, Kanthila J

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Ear as an organ is necessary for the perception of sound and body balance. Ear infection, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and excessive use of mobile phone for listening to music at high volume all can reduce hearing. No earlier study was available in the costal Karnataka population, regarding the practice of ear care. The study objective was to ascertain the level of knowledge of the community regarding ear care, to find out whether some of the common conditions affecting hearing are known and to find out the common practices involved in maintaining ear hygiene.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 subjects in two tertiary care hospitals by convenient sampling, using self-administered questionnaire. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice across the age groups, religion & education background were studied.
RESULTS: Across different education groups, 66.7%-90% did not know that 'cold' can cause ear infection and 46.7%-75.0% did not know that diabetes and hypertension can reduce hearing. When there is ear pain or discharge, people put ear drops available at home in 48.3%-75.0% across 3 age groups; 58.5%-61.5% across 3 religions and 44.8%-67.9% across 5 education groups. No statistically significant difference was found in the practice of pouring oil into ears across religions. A total of 58.6%-100% daily clean inside the ear and 70-100% use cotton buds.
CONCLUSION: General perception of the people is that ear is necessary only for hearing. Majority did not know that nasal infection can affect the ear and that DM and hypertension can cause hearing loss. When there is ear pain and discharge, most of the adults put drops that are available at home. Pouring oil into the ears and cleaning inside the ear canals is routinely practiced in costal Karnataka.

PMID: 26816922 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Ear Care in Coastal Karnataka.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Ear Care in Coastal Karnataka.

J Clin Diagn Res. 2015 Dec;9(12):MC01-MC04

Authors: Dosemane D, Ganapathi K, Kanthila J

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Ear as an organ is necessary for the perception of sound and body balance. Ear infection, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and excessive use of mobile phone for listening to music at high volume all can reduce hearing. No earlier study was available in the costal Karnataka population, regarding the practice of ear care. The study objective was to ascertain the level of knowledge of the community regarding ear care, to find out whether some of the common conditions affecting hearing are known and to find out the common practices involved in maintaining ear hygiene.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 500 subjects in two tertiary care hospitals by convenient sampling, using self-administered questionnaire. Knowledge, Attitude and Practice across the age groups, religion & education background were studied.
RESULTS: Across different education groups, 66.7%-90% did not know that 'cold' can cause ear infection and 46.7%-75.0% did not know that diabetes and hypertension can reduce hearing. When there is ear pain or discharge, people put ear drops available at home in 48.3%-75.0% across 3 age groups; 58.5%-61.5% across 3 religions and 44.8%-67.9% across 5 education groups. No statistically significant difference was found in the practice of pouring oil into ears across religions. A total of 58.6%-100% daily clean inside the ear and 70-100% use cotton buds.
CONCLUSION: General perception of the people is that ear is necessary only for hearing. Majority did not know that nasal infection can affect the ear and that DM and hypertension can cause hearing loss. When there is ear pain and discharge, most of the adults put drops that are available at home. Pouring oil into the ears and cleaning inside the ear canals is routinely practiced in costal Karnataka.

PMID: 26816922 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

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Runners with patellofemoral pain have altered biomechanics which targeted interventions can modify: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Publication date: March 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 45
Author(s): Bradley S. Neal, Christian J. Barton, Rosa Gallie, Patrick O’Halloran, Dylan Morrissey
Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is the most prevalent running pathology and associated with multi-level biomechanical factors. This systematic review aims to guide treatment and prevention of PFP by synthesising prospective, observational and intervention studies that measure clinical and biomechanical outcomes in symptomatic running populations. Medline, Web of Science and CINAHL were searched from inception to April 2015 for prospective, case-control or intervention studies in running-related PFP cohorts. Study methodological quality was scored by two independent raters using the modified Downs and Black or PEDro scales, with meta-analysis performed where appropriate. 28 studies were included. Very limited evidence indicates that increased peak hip adduction is a risk factor for PFP in female runners, supported by moderate evidence of a relationship between PFP and increased peak hip adduction, internal rotation and contralateral pelvic drop, as well as reduced peak hip flexion. Limited evidence was also identified that altered peak force and time to peak at foot level is a risk factor for PFP development. Limited evidence from intervention studies indicates that both running retraining and proximal strengthening exercise lead to favourable outcomes in both pain and function, but only running retraining significantly reduces peak hip adduction, suggesting a possible kinematic mechanism. Put together, these findings highlight limited but coherent evidence of altered biomechanics which interventions can alter with resultant symptom change in females with PFP. There is a clear need for high quality prospective studies of intervention efficacy with measurement of explanatory mechanisms.



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Runners with patellofemoral pain have altered biomechanics which targeted interventions can modify: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Publication date: March 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 45
Author(s): Bradley S. Neal, Christian J. Barton, Rosa Gallie, Patrick O’Halloran, Dylan Morrissey
Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is the most prevalent running pathology and associated with multi-level biomechanical factors. This systematic review aims to guide treatment and prevention of PFP by synthesising prospective, observational and intervention studies that measure clinical and biomechanical outcomes in symptomatic running populations. Medline, Web of Science and CINAHL were searched from inception to April 2015 for prospective, case-control or intervention studies in running-related PFP cohorts. Study methodological quality was scored by two independent raters using the modified Downs and Black or PEDro scales, with meta-analysis performed where appropriate. 28 studies were included. Very limited evidence indicates that increased peak hip adduction is a risk factor for PFP in female runners, supported by moderate evidence of a relationship between PFP and increased peak hip adduction, internal rotation and contralateral pelvic drop, as well as reduced peak hip flexion. Limited evidence was also identified that altered peak force and time to peak at foot level is a risk factor for PFP development. Limited evidence from intervention studies indicates that both running retraining and proximal strengthening exercise lead to favourable outcomes in both pain and function, but only running retraining significantly reduces peak hip adduction, suggesting a possible kinematic mechanism. Put together, these findings highlight limited but coherent evidence of altered biomechanics which interventions can alter with resultant symptom change in females with PFP. There is a clear need for high quality prospective studies of intervention efficacy with measurement of explanatory mechanisms.



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Runners with patellofemoral pain have altered biomechanics which targeted interventions can modify: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Publication date: March 2016
Source:Gait & Posture, Volume 45
Author(s): Bradley S. Neal, Christian J. Barton, Rosa Gallie, Patrick O’Halloran, Dylan Morrissey
Patellofemoral pain (PFP) is the most prevalent running pathology and associated with multi-level biomechanical factors. This systematic review aims to guide treatment and prevention of PFP by synthesising prospective, observational and intervention studies that measure clinical and biomechanical outcomes in symptomatic running populations. Medline, Web of Science and CINAHL were searched from inception to April 2015 for prospective, case-control or intervention studies in running-related PFP cohorts. Study methodological quality was scored by two independent raters using the modified Downs and Black or PEDro scales, with meta-analysis performed where appropriate. 28 studies were included. Very limited evidence indicates that increased peak hip adduction is a risk factor for PFP in female runners, supported by moderate evidence of a relationship between PFP and increased peak hip adduction, internal rotation and contralateral pelvic drop, as well as reduced peak hip flexion. Limited evidence was also identified that altered peak force and time to peak at foot level is a risk factor for PFP development. Limited evidence from intervention studies indicates that both running retraining and proximal strengthening exercise lead to favourable outcomes in both pain and function, but only running retraining significantly reduces peak hip adduction, suggesting a possible kinematic mechanism. Put together, these findings highlight limited but coherent evidence of altered biomechanics which interventions can alter with resultant symptom change in females with PFP. There is a clear need for high quality prospective studies of intervention efficacy with measurement of explanatory mechanisms.



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3D morphometric analysis of the human incudomallear complex using clinical cone-beam CT

Publication date: Available online 28 January 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Joris AM. Soons, Femke Danckaers, William Keustermans, Toon Huysmans, Jan Sijbers, Jan W. Casselman, Joris JJ. Dirckx
Human middle ears show large morphological variations. This could affect our perception of hearing and explain large variation in experimentally obtained transfer functions. Most morphological studies focus on capturing variation by using landmarks on cadaveric temporal bones.We present statistical shape analysis based on clinical cone beam CT (CBCT) scans of 100 patients. This allowed us to include surface information on the incudomallear (IM) complex (joint, ligaments and tendon not included) of 123 healthy ears with a scanning resolution of 150 μm and without a priori assumptions. Statistical shape modeling yields an average geometry for the IM complex and the variations present in the population with a high precision.Mean values, variation and correlations among anatomical features (length of manubrium, combined length of malleus head and neck, lengths of incus long and short process, enclosing angles, ossicular lever ratio, incudomallear angle, and principal moments of inertia) are reported and compared to results from the literature. Most variation is found in overall size and the angle between incus and malleus. The compact representation provided by statistical shape modeling is demonstrated and its benefits for surface modeling are discussed.



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3D morphometric analysis of the human incudomallear complex using clinical cone-beam CT

Publication date: Available online 28 January 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Joris AM. Soons, Femke Danckaers, William Keustermans, Toon Huysmans, Jan Sijbers, Jan W. Casselman, Joris JJ. Dirckx
Human middle ears show large morphological variations. This could affect our perception of hearing and explain large variation in experimentally obtained transfer functions. Most morphological studies focus on capturing variation by using landmarks on cadaveric temporal bones.We present statistical shape analysis based on clinical cone beam CT (CBCT) scans of 100 patients. This allowed us to include surface information on the incudomallear (IM) complex (joint, ligaments and tendon not included) of 123 healthy ears with a scanning resolution of 150 μm and without a priori assumptions. Statistical shape modeling yields an average geometry for the IM complex and the variations present in the population with a high precision.Mean values, variation and correlations among anatomical features (length of manubrium, combined length of malleus head and neck, lengths of incus long and short process, enclosing angles, ossicular lever ratio, incudomallear angle, and principal moments of inertia) are reported and compared to results from the literature. Most variation is found in overall size and the angle between incus and malleus. The compact representation provided by statistical shape modeling is demonstrated and its benefits for surface modeling are discussed.



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3D morphometric analysis of the human incudomallear complex using clinical cone-beam CT

Publication date: Available online 28 January 2016
Source:Hearing Research
Author(s): Joris AM. Soons, Femke Danckaers, William Keustermans, Toon Huysmans, Jan Sijbers, Jan W. Casselman, Joris JJ. Dirckx
Human middle ears show large morphological variations. This could affect our perception of hearing and explain large variation in experimentally obtained transfer functions. Most morphological studies focus on capturing variation by using landmarks on cadaveric temporal bones.We present statistical shape analysis based on clinical cone beam CT (CBCT) scans of 100 patients. This allowed us to include surface information on the incudomallear (IM) complex (joint, ligaments and tendon not included) of 123 healthy ears with a scanning resolution of 150 μm and without a priori assumptions. Statistical shape modeling yields an average geometry for the IM complex and the variations present in the population with a high precision.Mean values, variation and correlations among anatomical features (length of manubrium, combined length of malleus head and neck, lengths of incus long and short process, enclosing angles, ossicular lever ratio, incudomallear angle, and principal moments of inertia) are reported and compared to results from the literature. Most variation is found in overall size and the angle between incus and malleus. The compact representation provided by statistical shape modeling is demonstrated and its benefits for surface modeling are discussed.



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