bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Performance of Younger and Older Adults on Tests of Word Knowledge and Word Retrieval: Independence or Interdependence of Skills?
Authors: Kavé Gitit , Yafé Ronit 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the associations between vocabulary knowledge and word retrieval in younger and older adults.

Method

Three tests of word retrieval and 2 tests of word knowledge were administered to 140 Hebrew-speaking adults, half of whom were younger (
M
age
= 24.20 years) and half of whom were older (
M
age
= 74.83 years).

Results
Younger adults outperformed older adults on tests of retrieval, whereas older adults outperformed younger adults on tests of vocabulary, and no association was found between the 2 skills across the entire sample. Once age and education were taken into account, both skills contributed to the prediction of each other and were similarly related within each group. Older adults performed equally well when required to produce and recognize word meanings, whereas younger adults were better at recognition than at production.

Conclusions
Older age is associated with better knowledge and with retrieval difficulties, yet individual differences in vocabulary within each age group affect level of retrieval, and variability in search skills affects performance on vocabulary tests. Although the assessment of vocabulary is not free of retrieval demands, older adults as a group are more successful than are younger adults at producing word definitions, most likely because their knowledge is more complete.
Use of the Children's Communication Checklist—2 for Classification of Language Impairment Risk in Young School-Age Children With Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder
Authors: Timler Geralyn R. 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are at elevated risk for language impairment (LI). This study examined the feasibility of using the Children's Communication Checklist—2 (CCC–2; Bishop, 2006) to classify risk for LI in young children, ages 5–8 years, with ADHD.

Method
Parents of 32 children with ADHD and 12 typically developing peers completed the CCC–2. The Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition (Semel, Wiig, & Secord, 2003) and the Test of Narrative Language (Gillam & Pearson, 2004) were administered to diagnose LI. Language samples were collected to examine clinical markers of LI.

Results
CCC–2 General Communication Composite scores ≤ 85 correctly classified 10 participants with ADHD diagnosed with LI as defined by composite scores ≤ 85 on the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals, Fourth Edition, or on the Test of Narrative Language. Five of these participants demonstrated 1 or more clinical markers of LI in language samples. Three additional participants, who received a General Communication Composite score ≤ 85 yet scored above 85 on the language tests, demonstrated CCC–2 profiles suggestive of pragmatic impairment. Sensitivity and specificity rates were 100% and 85.29%, respectively. CCC–2 scores and most measures were significantly correlated.

Conclusion
The results support the feasibility of using the CCC–2 as a screener to identify children with ADHD who are at elevated risk for LI and need referral for comprehensive assessment.
Audiological Abnormalities in Patients With Turner Syndrome
Authors: Oliveira Conceição Silva , Ribeiro Francine Mendonça , Lago Renata , Alves Crésio 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, type, and severity of hearing impairment in patients with Turner syndrome (TS) and to determine whether these characteristics correlated with the patient karyotype and age.

Method
This was a cross-sectional prospective study. The participants underwent an audiological evaluation, including pure-tone audiometry, speech audiometry, and acoustic immittance measures.

Results

This study included 52 patients with TS (mean age = 19 years,
SD
= 6 years, range = 7–37 years). The majority of these patients had a decline in pure-tone thresholds at 8000 Hz, and most also had mild to moderate hearing loss. Most patients had normal tympanometric results. More than 80% of patients had acoustic reflexes present at 500, 1000, and 2000 Hz frequencies bilaterally, but less than 50% of the patients displayed an acoustic reflex at 4000 Hz bilaterally. The hearing loss was more prevalent in patients with a 45,X karyotype and isochromosomes as compared to patients with mosaicism.

Conclusion
The results showed that TS patients with a 45,X karyotype and isochromosomes with loss of the p-arm of the X chromosome had a greater risk of developing hearing loss than patients with mosaicism. There was a linear association between hearing loss and age in these patients.
Understanding the Speech-Understanding Problems of Older Adults
Authors: Humes Larry E. 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
The purpose of this article was to review recent research from our laboratory on the speech-understanding problems of older adults.

Method
The method involved a narrative review of previously reported data from our laboratory.

Conclusion
To date, the results from most of our studies have indicated that peripheral and cognitive factors are the primary contributors to the speech-understanding problems of older adults, with the relative mix of these 2 factors changing for unaided (primarily peripheral) and aided (primarily cognitive) listening conditions.
Hearing Status in Older Persons: A Significant Determinant of Depression and Loneliness? Results From the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam
Authors: Pronk Marieke , Deeg Dorly J. H. , Kramer Sophia E. 
Published: February 2014

Purpose
In this study, the authors' aims were to (a) determine the longitudinal relationships between baseline hearing status and 4-year follow-up depression and loneliness in an older population and (b) investigate possible differences across subgroups in these relationships.

Method
The authors used data from 2 waves of the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (4-year follow-up, baseline ages 63–93 years). Sample sizes were 996 (self-report analyses) and 830 (speech-in-noise test analyses). The authors used multiple linear regression analyses to assess the associations between baseline hearing status and 4-year follow-up of depression, social loneliness, and emotional loneliness. Hearing was measured by self-report and by a speech-in-noise test. Age, gender, hearing aid use, baseline depression or loneliness, and relevant confounders and effect modifiers were incorporated.

Results

Both hearing measures showed significant associations with loneliness (
p
< .05), but these effects were confined to specific subgroups of older persons. For instance, adverse effects were confined to nonusers of hearing aids (self-report, social loneliness model) and men (self-report and speech-in-noise test, emotional-loneliness model). No significant effects appeared for depression.

Conclusion
Significant adverse effects of poor hearing on loneliness were found for specific subgroups of older persons. In future research, investigators should further examine the subgroup effects observed. Eventually, this may contribute to the development of tailored prevention programs.
State and Territory EHDI Databases: What We Do and Don't Know About the Hearing or Audiological Data From Identified Children
Authors: Uhler Kristin , Thomson Vickie , Cyr Nicole , Gabbard Sandra Abbott , Yoshinaga-Itano Christine 
Published: February 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to define the information currently collected by state and territory Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) coordinators and to determine whether best practice guidelines are used.MethodA multiple-choice electronic survey querying areas of diagnostic assessment, amplification, early intervention (EI) and medical information regarding hearing loss was sent to all state and territory EHDI coordinators.ResultsSeventy percent of surveys were completed. Diagnostic, amplification, and Part C services were tracked by the majority of respondents. Additionally, medical prenatal and postnatal risks were collected.ConclusionData collected on audiologic screening and diagnostic evaluations has increased. On the basis of these results, it is difficult to discern whether best practices are being used for each child. A delay in reporting a confirmed hearing loss was observed. Amplification results suggest that systems are not in place to ensure consistency and accountability for fitting amplification in infants. The results of this survey identified audiologic and EI information tracked by states to help provide a framework to monitor quality care in the future.
The Effects of Digital Signal Processing Features on Children's Speech Recognition and Loudness Perception
Authors: Crukley Jeffery , Scollie Susan D. 
Published: February 2014

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to determine the effects of hearing instruments set to Desired Sensation Level version 5 (DSL v5) hearing instrument prescription algorithm targets and equipped with directional microphones and digital noise reduction (DNR) on children's sentence recognition in noise performance and loudness perception in a classroom environment.MethodTen children (ages 8–17 years) with stable, congenital sensorineural hearing losses participated in the study. Participants were fitted bilaterally with behind-the-ear hearing instruments set to DSL v5 prescriptive targets. Sentence recognition in noise was evaluated using the Bamford–Kowal–Bench Speech in Noise Test (Niquette et al., 2003). Loudness perception was evaluated using a modified version of the Contour Test of Loudness Perception (Cox, Alexander, Taylor, & Gray, 1997).ResultsChildren's sentence recognition in noise performance was significantly better when using directional microphones alone or in combination with DNR than when using omnidirectional microphones alone or in combination with DNR. Children's loudness ratings for sounds above 72 dB SPL were lowest when fitted with the DSL v5 Noise prescription combined with directional microphones. DNR use showed no effect on loudness ratings.ConclusionUse of the DSL v5 Noise prescription with a directional microphone improved sentence recognition in noise performance and reduced loudness perception ratings for loud sounds relative to a typical clinical reference fitting with the DSL v5 Quiet prescription with no digital signal processing features enabled. Potential clinical strategies are discussed.
Retrospective Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Treatments for Aphasia: An Approach Using Experimental Data
Authors: Ellis Charles , Lindrooth Richard C. , Horner Jennifer 
Published: February 2014

PurposeEvidence supports the effectiveness of speech-language treatment for individuals with aphasia, yet less is known about the cost-effectiveness of such treatments. The purpose of this study was to examine the incremental cost and cost-effectiveness of aphasia treatment using previously published data.MethodThe authors completed a retrospective cost-effectiveness analysis using experimental data that they extracted from 19 previously published aphasia treatment studies. Average and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios were calculated based on participants' pre- and posttreatment proficiency scores.ResultsThe average cost-effectiveness ratio for all sessions was $9.54 for each 1% increase in the outcome of interest. Measures of incremental cost-effectiveness indicated that aphasia treatments resulted in statistically significant improvements up to and including 17 treatment sessions. Increases in proficiency occurred at a cost of approximately $7.00 per 1% increase for the first 3 sessions to more than $20.00 in the 14th session; the ratio was either not statistically significant or dominated (more costly and less effective) in later sessions.ConclusionsThis cost-effectiveness analysis demonstrated that initial aphasia treatment sessions resulted in relatively larger and more cost-effective benefits than did later aphasia treatment sessions. The findings reported here are preliminary and have limitations. Prospective studies are needed to examine the cost-effectiveness of speech-language treatment for individuals with aphasia.
Host plant peptides elicit a transcriptional response to control theSinorhizobium meliloticell cycle during symbiosis
Authors: Penterman Jon , Abo Ryan P. , De Nisco Nicole J. , Arnold Markus F. F. , Longhi Renato , Zanda Matteo , Walker Graham C. 
Published: February 2014

SignificanceSinorhizobium melilotiand its legume hosts establish a symbiosis in which bacterial fixed nitrogen is exchanged for plant carbon compounds. We study this symbiosis because it is agriculturally and ecologically important and to identify mechanisms used in host–microbe interactions.S. melilotiis internalized in specialized host nodule cells that then use small, cysteine-rich peptides to drive their differentiation into polyploid cells that fix nitrogen. We found that a representative host peptide blocks cell division, in part by eliciting significant changes in the expression of genes that regulate the cell cycle and mediate cell division. We also found that the peptide activated pathways conserved in related pathogens. Our study provides insights into how host peptides cause differentiation ofS. melilotiduring symbiosis.
Relative Preferences for Soil Conservation Incentives among Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from Malawi
Authors: Marenya Paswel , Smith Vincent H. , Nkonya Ephraim 
Published: February 2014

AbstractThis paper uses framed choice experiments to examine the preferences of smallholder farmers in Malawi regarding alternative policy‐based incentives to adopt conservation practices that reduce soil erosion and increase yields. The policy incentives offered in the choice experiments included an ideal index‐based crop insurance contract, an index insurance contract with basis risk, cash payments, and fertilizer subsidies. Prior to implementing the choice experiments, the farmers participated in a workshop utilizing small group‐based dynamic learning games that demonstrated how index‐based crop insurance contracts function. The choice experiment results indicate that most farmers preferred cash payments to index insurance contracts, even when the insurance contracts offered substantially higher expected returns. Further, more risk averse farmers were more likely to prefer cash payments than less risk averse and risk loving farmers.
Learning phenotype densities conditional on many interacting predictors
Authors: Kessler David C. , Taylor Jack A. , Dunson David B. 
Published: February 2014

AbstractMotivation: Estimating a phenotype distribution conditional on a set of discrete-valued predictors is a commonly encountered task. For example, interest may be in how the density of a quantitative trait varies with single nucleotide polymorphisms and patient characteristics. The subset of important predictors is not usually known in advance. This becomes more challenging with a high-dimensional predictor set when there is the possibility of interaction.Results: We demonstrate a novel non-parametric Bayes method based on a tensor factorization of predictor-dependent weights for Gaussian kernels. The method uses multistage predictor selection for dimension reduction, providing succinct models for the phenotype distribution. The resulting conditional density morphs flexibly with the selected predictors. In a simulation study and an application to molecular epidemiology data, we demonstrate advantages over commonly used methods.Availability and implementation: MATLAB code available at https://googledrive.com/host/0Bw6KIFB-k4IOOWQ0dFJtSVZxNE0/ktdctf.htmlContact: dave.kessler@gmail.com
Visualization and probability-based scoring of structural variants within repetitive sequences
Authors: Halper-Stromberg Eitan , Steranka Jared , Burns Kathleen H. , Sabunciyan Sarven , Irizarry Rafael A. 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Motivation: Repetitive sequences account for approximately half of the human genome. Accurately ascertaining sequences in these regions with next generation sequencers is challenging, and requires a different set of analytical techniques than for reads originating from unique sequences. Complicating the matter are repetitive regions subject to programmed rearrangements, as is the case with the antigen-binding domains in the Immunoglobulin (Ig) and T-cell receptor (TCR) loci.
Results: We developed a probability-based score and visualization method to aid in distinguishing true structural variants from alignment artifacts. We demonstrate the usefulness of this method in its ability to separate real structural variants from false positives generated with existing upstream analysis tools. We validated our approach using both target-capture and whole-genome experiments. Capture sequencing reads were generated from primary lymphoid tumors, cancer cell lines and an EBV-transformed lymphoblast cell line over the Ig and TCR loci. Whole-genome sequencing reads were from a lymphoblastoid cell-line.
Availability: We implement our method as an R package available at https://github.com/Eitan177/targetSeqView. Code to reproduce the figures and results are also available.
Contact: ehalper2@jhmi.edu
Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
A dual promoter system regulating λ DNA replication initiation
Authors: Olszewski Paweł , Szambowska Anna , Barańska Sylwia , Narajczyk Magdalena , Węgrzyn Grzegorz , Glinkowska Monika 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
Transcription and DNA replication are tightly regulated to ensure coordination of gene expression with growth conditions and faithful transmission of genetic material to progeny. A large body of evidence has accumulated, indicating that encounters between protein machineries carrying out DNA and RNA synthesis occur in vivo and may have important regulatory consequences. This feature may be exacerbated in the case of compact genomes, like the one of bacteriophage λ, used in our study. Transcription that starts at the rightward pR promoter and proceeds through the λ origin of replication and downstream of it was proven to stimulate the initiation of λ DNA replication. Here, we demonstrate that the activity of a convergently oriented pO promoter decreases the efficiency of transcription starting from pR. Our results show, however, that a lack of the functional pO promoter negatively influences λ phage and λ-derived plasmid replication. We present data, suggesting that this effect is evoked by the enhanced level of the pR-driven transcription, occurring in the presence of the defective pO, which may result in the impeded formation of the replication initiation complex. Our data suggest that the cross talk between the two promoters regulates λ DNA replication and coordinates transcription and replication processes.
Direct activation of human and mouse Oct4 genes using engineered TALE and Cas9 transcription factors
Authors: Hu Jiabiao , Lei Yong , Wong Wing-Ki , Liu Senquan , Lee Kai-Chuen , He Xiangjun , You Wenxing , Zhou Rui , Guo Jun-Tao , Chen Xiongfong , Peng Xianlu , Sun Hao , Huang He , Zhao Hui , Feng Bo 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The newly developed transcription activator-like effector protein (TALE) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9 transcription factors (TF) offered a powerful and precise approach for modulating gene expression. In this article, we systematically investigated the potential of these new tools in activating the stringently silenced pluripotency gene Oct4 (Pou5f1) in mouse and human somatic cells. First, with a number of TALEs and sgRNAs targeting various regions in the mouse and human Oct4 promoters, we found that the most efficient TALE-VP64s bound around −120 to −80 bp, while highly effective sgRNAs targeted from −147 to −89-bp upstream of the transcription start sites to induce high activity of luciferase reporters. In addition, we observed significant transcriptional synergy when multiple TFs were applied simultaneously. Although individual TFs exhibited marginal activity to up-regulate endogenous gene expression, optimized combinations of TALE-VP64s could enhance endogenous Oct4 transcription up to 30-fold in mouse NIH3T3 cells and 20-fold in human HEK293T cells. More importantly, the enhancement of OCT4 transcription ultimately generated OCT4 proteins. Furthermore, examination of different epigenetic modifiers showed that histone acetyltransferase p300 could enhance both TALE-VP64 and sgRNA/dCas9-VP64 induced transcription of endogenous OCT4. Taken together, our study suggested that engineered TALE-TF and dCas9-TF are useful tools for modulating gene expression in mammalian cells.
DNA-PKcs is required to maintain stability of Chk1 and Claspin for optimal replication stress response
Authors: Lin Yu-Fen , Shih Hung-Ying , Shang Zengfu , Matsunaga Shinji , Chen Benjamin PC 
Published: February 2014

Abstract
The ataxia telangiectasia mutated and Rad3-related (ATR)-checkpoint kinase 1 (Chk1) axis is the major signaling pathway activated in response to replication stress and is essential for the intra-S checkpoint. ATR phosphorylates and activates a number of molecules to coordinate cell cycle progression. Chk1 is the major effector downstream from ATR and plays a critical role in intra-S checkpoint on replication stress. Activation of Chk1 kinase also requires its association with Claspin, an adaptor protein essential for Chk1 protein stability, recruitment and ATR-dependent Chk1 phosphorylation. We have previously reported that, on replication stress, the catalytic subunit of DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) is rapidly phosphorylated by ATR at the stalled replication forks and is required for cellular resistance to replication stresses although the impact of DNA-PKcs onto the ATR signaling pathway remains elusive. Here we report that ATR-dependent Chk1 phosphorylation and Chk1 signaling are compromised in the absence of DNA-PKcs. Our investigation reveals that DNA-PKcs is required to maintain Chk1–Claspin complex stability and transcriptional regulation of Claspin expression. The impaired Chk1 activity results in a defective intra-S checkpoint response in DNA-PKcs–deficient cells. Taken together, these results suggest that DNA-PKcs, in addition to its direct role in DNA damage repair, facilitates ATR-Chk1 signaling pathway in response to replication stress.
De Interpretatione
Authors: Weidemann Hermann 
Published: February 2014

AbstractBoth the title of this treatise (in Greek: Peri Hermêneias, in Latin: De Interpretatione) and its traditional placement as the second of Aristotle's logical writings (neither of which is due to Aristotle himself) are highly misleading. What, on the one hand, De Interpretatione deals with is not, as its title suggests, a theory of interpretation, but rather a theory of statement-making sentences of different sorts and the logical relations that obtain between them; and what, on the other hand, this theory aims at is not, as suggested by the place which De Interpretatione traditionally occupies in the Organon between the Categories and the Prior Analytics, providing preliminaries to the study of syllogistic by analyzing statement-making sentences as possible parts of syllogisms, but rather underpinning the study of dialectical debates by examining such sentences as possible members of contradictory pairs. Among other things, De Interpretatione deals with symbols or signs, truth, bivalence, determinism, modal logic, and modal statements.