bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Assessing lexicon: validation and developmental data of the Picture Naming Game (PiNG), a new picture naming task for toddlers
Authors: Bello A. , Giannantoni P. , Pettenati P. , Stefanini S. , Caselli M. C. 
Published: July 2012

Abstract  Background: Understanding lexical abilities in infants and toddlers is important, yet no single tool can be used.Aims: To perform a validation of a new tool (known as the Picture Naming Game, or ‘PiNG’) for assessing lexical comprehension and production in toddlers and to obtain developmental trends for Italian children.Methods & Procedures: PiNG consists of four subtests: Noun Comprehension (NC), Noun Production (NP), Predicate Comprehension (PC) and Predicate Production (PP), each containing 20 lexical targets. It was administered to 388 children with typical development aged 19–37 months. The short form of the Italian version of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB‐CDI), previously completed by parents of participants, was used for the validation of PiNG.Outcomes & Results: For the validation study, reliability, internal consistency and concurrent validity were analysed. The reliability was optimal for NC, NP and PP, and satisfactory for PC. Split‐half analysis showed a fair internal consistency for all of the subtests. Concurrent validity was verified through the correlation with MB‐CDI using Pearson's correlation coefficient, which was significant even after having controlled for age. To describe the developmental trends, data are provided for 1‐month age intervals. The comprehension subtests showed a rapid increase at younger ages, with children reaching a plateau slightly earlier for the NC (at 30 months versus 33 months for the PC). The increase in the production subtests was gradual; PP appeared to be the most difficult subtest, administrable starting at the age of 24 months. When we analysed, as potential confounders for developmental trends, gender, parents’ educational level, and the way in which the subtests were administered, no differences were found, except for a better performance for girls in the NP subtest.Conclusions & Implications: Overall, the results suggest that PiNG is suitable for children in the age range considered to evaluate language abilities. It can be used together with other tools with clinical and theoretical objectives also to describe lexical abilities in atypical populations, such as children with cognitive and/or language impairment, as well as with late‐talking children. Finally, the four subtests can be administered separately or combined, which provides flexibility in clinical use, in that the individual child's linguistic and/or cognitive characteristics and level can be taken into consideration.
Speech‐like and non‐speech lip kinematics and coordination in aphasia
Authors: Bose Arpita , van Lieshout Pascal 
Published: July 2012

AbstractBackground:In addition to the well‐known linguistic processing impairments in aphasia, oro‐motor skills and articulatory implementation of speech segments are reported to be compromised to some degree in most types of aphasia.Aims:This study aimed to identify differences in the characteristics and coordination of lip movements in the production of a bilabial closure gesture between speech‐like and non‐speech tasks in individuals with aphasia and healthy control subjects.Methods & Procedures:Upper and lower lip movement data were collected for a speech‐like and a non‐speech task using an AG 100 EMMA system from five individuals with aphasia and five age‐ and gender‐matched control subjects. Each task was produced at two rate conditions (normal and fast), and in a familiar and a less familiar manner. Single articulator kinematic parameters (peak velocity, amplitude, duration and cyclic spatio‐temporal index) and multi‐articulator coordination indices (average relative phase and variability of relative phase) were measured to characterize lip movements.Outcomes & Results:The results showed that when the two lips had similar task goals (bilabial closure) in speech‐like and non‐speech task, kinematic and coordination characteristics were not found to be different. However, when changes in rate were imposed on the bilabial gesture, only speech‐like task showed functional adaptations, indicated by a greater decrease in amplitude and duration at fast rates. In terms of group differences, individuals with aphasia showed smaller amplitudes and longer movement durations for upper lip, higher spatio‐temporal variability for both lips, and higher variability in lip coordination than the control speakers. Rate was an important factor in distinguishing the two groups, and individuals with aphasia were limited in implementing the rate changes.Conclusions & Implications:The findings support the notion of subtle but robust differences in motor control characteristics between individuals with aphasia and the control participants, even in the context of producing bilabial closing gestures for a relatively simple speech‐like task. The findings also highlight the functional differences between speech‐like and non‐speech tasks, despite a common movement coordination goal for bilabial closure.
Effects of Mindfulness Meditation on three individuals with aphasia
Authors: Orenstein Ellen , Basilakos Alexandra , Marshall Rebecca Shisler 
Published: July 2012

AbstractBackground: There is evidence to suggest that people with aphasia (PWA) may have deficits in attention stemming from the inefficient allocation of resources. The inaccurate perception of task demand, or sense of effort, may underlie the misallocation of the available attention resources. Given the lack of treatment options for improving attention in aphasia, Mindfulness Meditation, shown to improve attention in neurologically intact individuals, may prove effective in increasing attention in PWA.Aims: The purpose of the present study was to determine if Mindfulness Meditation improves divided attention or language in PWA and if it affects the overall sense of effort.Methods & Procedures: A multiple baseline single‐subject design was used to determine the effects of Mindfulness Meditation on divided attention for three PWA. Divided attention was measured using a non‐linguistic divided attention task. Visual inspection of the data was used to determine changes in performance (sense of effort, reaction time and accuracy, language) over time.Outcomes & Results: High performance observed on the attention measures suggests that PWA have varying degrees of attentional impairment that may surface when certain demands are presented. There were no observable changes in the performance on the sense of effort or language measures; however, measures of reaction time may indicate Mindfulness Meditation improved efficiency of task completion.Conclusions & Implications: All three participants reported that Mindfulness Meditation was easy to learn and carry out on a daily basis, and reported feeling more ‘relaxed’ and ‘peaceful’ after Mindfulness Meditation training than before. With the knowledge that PWA can learn meditative practices, and with such successful findings in neurologically intact individuals, it is important to continue evaluating the benefits of Mindfulness Meditation in PWA.
Impact of diabetes duration and chronic pancreatitis on the association between type 2 diabetes and pancreatic cancer risk
Authors: Brodovicz K. G. , Kou T. D. , Alexander C. M. , O'Neill E. A. , Engel S. S. , Girman C. J. , Goldstein B. J. 
Published: July 2012

AimTo examine the impact of diabetes duration, chronic pancreatitis and other factors on pancreatic cancer risk.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study using the UK General Practice Research Database compared pancreatic cancer incidence and risk in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) versus patients without diabetes. Multivariate Cox regression adjusting for age, sex, history of chronic pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, obesity, smoking and alcohol use and Charlson comorbidity index was used to estimate hazard ratio (HR) [95% confidence interval, CI]. Analyses were repeated using various time windows for diabetes duration.ResultsA total of 1903 incident pancreatic cancers were identified, 436 in patients with T2DM (78.76 per 100 000 person‐years [95% CI: 71.54, 86.51]) and 1467 in patients without diabetes (11.46 per 100 000 person‐years [10.88, 12.06]). Pancreatic cancer risk was significant for T2DM (adjusted HR 1.80 [1.52, 2.14]), increasing age, history of chronic pancreatitis and tobacco use. For patients with chronic pancreatitis and T2DM, the adjusted HR was 12.12 [6.02, 24.40]. Incidence was highest in patients with ≥5 year duration of T2DM. In patient populations with duration of T2DM ranging from ≥1 to ≥5 years, adjusted HRs remained significant but point estimates attenuated slightly with longer duration of T2DM.ConclusionsPatients with T2DM had an 80% increased risk of pancreatic cancer versus patients without diabetes. Patients with T2DM and chronic pancreatitis were 12 times more likely to develop pancreatic cancer.
Oral vitamin E absorption in English Cocker Spaniels with familial vitamin E deficiency and retinal pigment epithelial dystrophy
Authors: McLellan Gillian J. , Bedford Peter G. C. 
Published: July 2012

AbstractBackground Retinal Pigment Epithelial Dystrophy (RPED) with neuroaxonal degeneration in English Cocker Spaniels (ECS) is associated with systemic vitamin E deficiency in the absence of dietary insufficiency.Objective To evaluate the ability of ECS with RPED to absorb orally administered vitamin E and establish a basis for vitamin E supplementation in affected dogs.Animals studied 8 RPED‐affected ECS and five clinically normal dogs.Procedures An oral vitamin E tolerance test (OVETT) was conducted in each dog. Blood samples were obtained prior to and at 3, 6, 9, 12, 24, 120, and 240 h following oral administration of 90 iu/kg ofRRR‐α‐tocopherol. Plasma alpha tocopherol (αTOC) content was measured by normal phase, high‐performance liquid chromatography, and indices of vitamin E absorption calculated.Results There was marked variation in OVETT results between individuals. In RPED‐affected ECS, mean peak plasma αTOC concentration (17.87 ± 13.21 μg/mL), attained after administration of a large oral dose of the vitamin, was significantly lower than the mean peak plasma αTOC concentration attained in normal dogs (47.61 ± 17.17 μg/mL;P < 0.005). However, the plasma concentrations achieved in 7/8 RPED‐affected dogs remained within the normal reference range for plasma αTOC in vitamin E‐replete dogs, for at least 12 h postdose.Conclusions Vitamin E–deficient ECS with RPED are capable of absorbing orally administered vitamin E. Twice daily administration of 600–900 iu tocopherol is likely to restore plasma vitamin E concentrations to the normal range in most affected dogs.
A CRITICAL REVIEW OF CONTAGION RISK IN BANKING
Authors: Hasman Augusto 
Published: July 2012

AbstractThe recent financial crisis has focused the attention of scholars and policymakers on how to improve financial stability through better macro‐prudential regulation and supervision. In this paper, we compare the existing theoretical and empirical literature on contagion through the banking system. It is argued that the structure of the interbank market, the size of banks, the linkages among them, the level of correlation of their investments and the transparency of the regulator are key factors in determining the possibility of contagion. We discuss the different findings and present avenues for future research.
SOLIDARITY IN CONTEMPORARY BIOETHICS – TOWARDS A NEW APPROACH
Authors: PRAINSACK BARBARA , BUYX ALENA 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTThis paper, which is based on an extensive analysis of the literature, gives a brief overview of the main ways in which solidarity has been employed in bioethical writings in the last two decades. As the vagueness of the term has been one of the main targets of critique, we propose a new approach to defining solidarity, identifying it primarily as a practice enacted at the interpersonal, communal, and contractual/legal levels. Our three‐tier model of solidarity can also help to explain the way in which crises of solidarity can occur, notably when formal solidaristic arrangements continue to exist despite ‘lower tiers’ of solidarity practices at inter‐personal and communal levels having ‘broken away’. We hope that this contribution to the growing debate on the potential for the value of solidarity to help tackle issues in bioethics and beyond, will stimulate further discussion involving both conceptual and empirically informed perspectives.
ALTRUISM OR SOLIDARITY? THE MOTIVES FOR ORGAN DONATION AND TWO PROPOSALS
Authors: SAUNDERS BEN 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTProposals for increasing organ donation are often rejected as incompatible with altruistic motivation on the part of donors. This paper questions, on conceptual grounds, whether most organ donors really are altruistic. If we distinguish between altruism and solidarity – a more restricted form of other‐concern, limited to members of a particular group – then most organ donors exhibit solidarity, rather than altruism. If organ donation really must be altruistic, then we have reasons to worry about the motives of existing donors. However, I argue that altruism is not necessary, because organ donation supplies important goods, whatever the motivation, and we can reject certain dubious motivations, such as financial profit, without insisting on altruism.Once solidaristic donation is accepted, certain reforms for increasing donation rates seem permissible. This paper considers two proposals. Firstly, it has been suggested that registered donors should receive priority for transplants. While this proposal appears based on a solidaristic norm of reciprocity, it is argued that such a scheme would be undesirable, since non‐donors may contribute to society in other ways. The second proposal is that donors should be able to direct their organs towards recipients that they feel solidarity with. This is often held to be inconsistent with altruistic motivation, but most donation is not entirely undirected in the first place (for instance, donor organs usually go to co‐nationals). While allowing directed donation would create a number of practical problems, such as preventing discrimination, there appears to be no reason in principle to reject it.
A DIALECTIC OF COOPERATION AND COMPETITION: SOLIDARITY AND UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE PROVISION
Authors: BUTLER SAMUEL A. 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTThe concept of solidarity has achieved relatively little attention from philosophers, in spite of its signal importance in a variety of social movements over the past 150 years. This means that there is a certain amount of preliminary philosophical work concerning the concept itself that must be undertaken before one can ask about its potential use in arguments concerning the provision of health care. In this paper, I begin with this work through a survey of some of the most prominent bioethical, political philosophical and intellectual historical literature concerned with the project of determining a philosophically specific and historically perspicacious meaning of the term ‘solidarity’. This provides a conceptual foundation for a sketch of a four‐tiered picture of social competition and cooperation within the nation‐state. Corresponding to this picture is a four‐tiered account of health care provision. These two models, taken together, provide a framework for articulating the conclusion that, while there are myriad examples of solidarity in claiming health care for some, or even many, the concept does not provide a basis for claiming health care for all.
GLOBAL SOLIDARITY, MIGRATION AND GLOBAL HEALTH INEQUITY
Authors: ECKENWILER LISA , STRAEHLE CHRISTINE , CHUNG RYOA 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTThe grounds for global solidarity have been theorized and conceptualized in recent years, and many have argued that we need a global concept of solidarity. But the question remains: what can motivate efforts of the international community and nation‐states? Our focus is the grounding of solidarity with respect to global inequities in health. We explore what considerations could motivate acts of global solidarity in the specific context of health migration, and sketch briefly what form this kind of solidarity could take. First, we argue that the only plausible conceptualization of persons highlights their interdependence. We draw upon a conception of persons as ‘ecological subjects’ and from there illustrate what such a conception implies with the example of nurses migrating from low and middle‐income countries to more affluent ones. Next, we address potential critics who might counter any such understanding of current international politics with a reference to real‐politik and the insights of realist international political theory. We argue that national governments – while not always or even often motivated by moral reasons alone – may nevertheless be motivated to acts of global solidarity by prudential arguments. Solidarity then need not be, as many argue, a function of charitable inclination, or emergent from an acknowledgment of injustice suffered, but may in fact serve national and transnational interests. We conclude on a positive note: global solidarity may be conceptualized to helpfully address global health inequity, to the extent that personal and transnational interdependence are enough to motivate national governments into action.
FAMILY SOLIDARITY AND INFORMAL CARE: THE CASE OF CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH DEMENTIA
Authors: TER MEULEN RUUD , WRIGHT KATHARINE 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTAccording to Bayertz the core meaning of solidarity is the perception of mutual obligations between the members of a community. This definition leaves open the various ways solidarity is perceived by individuals in different communities and how it manifests itself in a particular community. This paper explores solidarity as manifested in the context of families in respect of caregiving for a family member who has become dependent because of disease or illness. Though family caregiving is based on the same perception of mutual obligation as the solidarity that supports welfare arrangements in society, the manifestation of solidarity in families is different. Solidarity that underpins welfare arrangements is based on a perception of mutual obligation towards an anonymous dependent other and is enforced by the government. Solidarity in families is directed towards a concrete other and is based on free choice, albeit often accompanied by a strong sense of personal duty. In this paper we try to distinguish between solidarity as a sociological concept and as a moral concept. An important moral element of solidarity, as expressed in families, is the need for recognition of family caregivers, not only of their concrete practical efforts, but also of their own identity as caregivers and as individuals. We illustrate this argument by referring to examples in the Nuffield Council on Bioethics report Dementia: ethical issues, about the experiences of family caregivers in dementia care and the importance for them of recognition of their role.
The medicalisation of revolt: a sociological analysis of medical cannabis users
Authors: Pedersen Willy , Sandberg Sveinung 
Published: July 2012

AbstractIn a qualitative study, we investigated the medical motives of 100 Norwegian cannabis users, none of whom had legal access to medical cannabis. Cannabis was used therapeutically for conditions such as multiple sclerosis, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and rheumatism, as well as for quality of life conditions such as quality of sleep, relaxation and wellbeing. The borders between medical and recreational cannabis use were blurred. This article identifies strategies of medical cannabis users to gain social acceptance. Several respondents downplayed effects such as intoxication and euphoria. Others used the language of medicine and knowledge of current research in psychopharmacology. Cannabis was contrasted with the potential for abuse of prescription medicines. The medical cannabis movement has had little success in Norway. Medical professionals are unable to accept that users may be more knowledgeable than experts and medical users cannot discard the values of traditional cannabis culture. Calls for medical cannabis use are thus perceived as a gambit in attempts to have cannabis legalised. We argue that, despite having had little effect on health authorities, the medical cannabis movement may be having the unintended effect of medicalising cannabis use and using it as a cure for everyday problems.
SCALE‐INDEPENDENT TECHNOLOGICAL‐KNOWLEDGE BIAS, HUMAN‐CAPITAL ACCUMULATION AND GENDER INEQUALITY
Authors: Afonso Oscar 
Published: July 2012

ABSTRACTWe present a dynamic, non‐scale general‐equilibrium model with female and male human capital where Schumpeterian R&D and human‐capital accumulation are the engines of growth and gender wage inequality. Gender wage inequality is encouraged by changes in relative supply and relative demand of both human‐capital types. Relative supply restricts the levels of employed human capital. Relative demand is affected by the technological‐knowledge bias, which is driven by the price channel and is affected by human‐capital accumulation. In particular, the female‐premium per unit of human capital and per worker increases when the observed discrimination against women decreases or is removed.
Human skin equivalents are an excellent tool to study the effect of moisturizers on the water distribution in the stratum corneum
Authors: Bouwstra J. A. , Nahmoed N. , Groenink H. W. W. , Ponec M. 
Published: July 2012

SynopsisIn this study, the mode of action of moisturizers on the level of water in the stratum corneum was studied using cryo‐scanning electron microscopy. As model for dry skin, we used human skin equivalents (HSEs) generated at 93% or 60% relative humidity (RH). During the generation of the HSEs, the moisturizers were applied during a period of maximal 2 weeks. In HSEs generated under normal culture conditions (93% RH), application of 10% glycerol or 5% urea formulations resulted in increased water levels. Whereas the 5% urea formulations resulted mainly in the formation of intercellular water domains, after 10% glycerol both swelling of corneocytes and formation of intercellular water domains were noticed. A reduction in RH to 60% during treatment reduced the stratum corneum water levels drastically. Treatment with the non‐occlusive lipophilic moisturizer isopropyl isostearate resulted in increased water level in the central part of the stratum corneum compared with the untreated control. Our results show that HSEs can be used as a model to study the water distribution.