Sketching meaning: preference for manual and non-manual pointing gestures in communication among people with aphasia

Obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) is a subtype of HCM characterized by left ventricular outflow tract obstruction resulting from cardiac muscle hypertrophy and anatomic alterations in the mitral valve and apparatus. Mavacamten, a cardiac myosin inhibitor metabolized primarily by CYP2C19 in the liver, is the first and only targeted medication approved for the treatment of symptomatic New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II-III oHCM. Previous pharmacokinetic (PK) results of mavacamten in healthy Caucasian, Japanese, and Asian participants demonstrated that mavacamten exposure was affected by CYP2C19 metabolism status. This open-label, parallel-group, phase I trial aimed to determine the PK and safety of mavacamten in healthy Chinese participants with different CYP2C19 genotypes. The primary outcome was to define the PK of mavacamten in healthy Chinese participants; the secondary outcome was to examine safety and tolerability. After a single oral dose of 15 or 25 mg mavacamten in fasted healthy adult Chinese individuals, Cmax was reached within a median Tmax of 0.6-1.5 h, indicating rapid absorption. Inter-individual variability was moderate, and individuals carrying non-functional CYP2C19 alleles (*2/*2, *3/*3, or *2/*3) exhibited longer half-life and increased total exposure. After stratification of CYP2C19 genotypes, total mavacamten exposures were similar among different ethnic groups when compared with prior PK studies. No significant adverse events were observed in this study. Single oral administration of mavacamten at 15 mg was well tolerated across all CYP2C19 genotypes, and 25 mg dose was well tolerated in healthy participants with CYP2C19 genotypes UM/RM/NM. The PK profile of mavacamten in the healthy Chinese population was consistent with that in other healthy populations.

Introduction. Many studies have reported that individuals with schizophrenia (SZ) may have impaired social cognition, resulting in communication disorders and theory of mind (ToM) impairments. However, the classical tasks used to assess impaired ToM ability are too complex. The aim of this study was to assess ToM ability using both a classical task and a referential communication task that reproduces a ‘‘natural’’ conversation situation. Methods. Thirty-one participants with schizophrenia and 29 matched healthy participants were tested individually on a referential communication task and on a standard ToM task. Results and Conclusion. The main results showed that SZ participants had difficulties using reference markers and attributing mental states in both ToM tasks. Contrary to healthy participants, they exhibited a tendency to ineffectively mark the information they used (indefinite articles for old information and/or definite articles for new information) and had problems using information they shared with the experimenter.

The cortical mechanism of “remind-to-move” in stroke patients: A near infrared spectroscopic topography case study

An avid translator, the poet, novelist, essayist and journalist, Dezső Kosztolányi believed in linguistic relativism, the uniqueness of each language-created world view, and the impossibility of translation. Paradoxically, one of his main concerns was to express in fiction various encounters between individuals belonging to different linguistic and cultural communities, and to explore whether communication between them was at all possible. It is exactly this double bind—this status of finding oneself between two or more cultures and languages—that the Hungarian novelist explored in many of his works, particularly in his last fictional writings, the Esti Kornél cycles: Esti Kornél (1933) and Esti Kornél Kalandjai (The Adventures of Kornél Esti, 1936). Several of the Esti Kornél episodes are linguistic explorations of the encounter between “self” and “other,” when these two often belong to different cultural and linguistic communities. The result of estranging language during such encounters leads to a better understanding of language and the context that created it—just as, in translation, the loss and, therefore, the presence of the original’s linguistic form is most acutely felt and understood by the translator.

Whether language has its evolutionary origins in vocal or gestural communication has long been a matter of debate. In humans, the arcuate fasciculus, a major fronto-temporal white matter tract, is left-lateralized, is larger than in nonhuman apes, and is linked to language. However, the extent to which the arcuate fasciculus of nonhuman apes is linked to vocal and/or manual communication is currently unknown. Here, using probabilistic tractography in 67 chimpanzees (45 female, 22 male), we report that the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus is not left-lateralized at the population level, in marked contrast with humans. However, individual variation in the anatomy and leftward asymmetry of the chimpanzee arcuate fasciculus is associated with individual variation in the use of both communicative gestures and communicative sounds under volitional orofacial motor control. This indicates that the arcuate fasciculus likely supported both vocal and gestural communication in the chimpanzee/human last common ancestor, 6–7 million years ago.

Communication can be defined as a verbal and non verbal exchange of thoughts and emotions. While verbal communication deficit in Alzheimer's disease is well documented, very little is known about gestural communication, especially in interpersonal situations. This study examines the production of gestures and its relations with verbal aspects of communication. Three patients suffering from moderately severe Alzheimer's disease were compared to three healthy adults. Each one were given a series of pictures and asked to explain which one she preferred and why. The interpersonal interaction was video recorded. Analyses concerned verbal production (quantity and quality) and gestures. Gestures were either non representational (i.e., gestures of small amplitude punctuating speech or accentuating some parts of utterance) or representational (i.e., referring to the object of the speech). Representational gestures were coded as iconic (depicting of concrete aspects), metaphoric (depicting of abstract meaning) or deictic (pointing toward an object). In comparison with healthy participants, patients revealed a decrease in quantity and quality of speech. Nevertheless, their production of gestures was always present. This pattern is in line with the conception that gestures and speech depend on different communicational systems and look inconsistent with the assumption of a parallel dissolution of gesture and speech. Moreover, analyzing the articulation between verbal and gestural dimensions suggests that representational gestures may compensate for speech deficits. It underlines the importance for the role of gestures in maintaining interpersonal communication.

The article discusses the peculiarities of the functioning of the Komi-Permyak language in Perm Krai (Perm region). The study appears to be relevant due to the ongoing demographic changes, in particular, the reduction in the number of native speakers of the Komi-Permyak language, being the indigenous population of Perm Krai, the outflow of population from the territory of the Komi-Permyak District to large Russian-speaking locations, which may indicate ongoing changes in the linguistic situation in the region. For the study, we analyzed the results of surveys of native Komi-Permyak speakers conducted in 2015 and 2023-2024. For a comprehensive assessment of the language situation in Perm Krai in terms of the Komi-Permyak language, the key objective and subjective components were selected. Among the objective components of the language situation, we studied the Russian and Komi-Permyak languages proficiency factors, the use of Komi-Permyak and Russian in interpersonal and official communication situations. As a subjective component of the language situation, we considered the intergroup assessment by native speakers of the value and prestige of the Komi-Permyak language. The study has revealed the following: the number of Komi-Permyak speakers who consider this language to be their native language is decreasing; subjective assessments of the Komi-Permyak language according to the criteria ‘value’ and ‘prestige’ are low; Komi-Permyak is mainly used in interpersonal communication, while its use in the public-legal field is limited. From 2015 to 2024 the situation changed for the worse, which indicates a critical change in the status of the Komi-Permyak language in the language situation of Perm Krai.

Most research on gestures (especially in the field of Mathematics Education) has focused on gestures in communication with others. In contrast, here, we focus on gestures which are not directed at others, but which we assume accompany inner speech or embodied thought, such as the gesticulation one makes by touching one’s fingers whilst silently counting; that is, whilst thinking, or communicating with oneself. Typically, these gestures are accompanied by eye gaze, which is detached from others who are present and turned either inwards or towards relevant artefacts present. Additionally, these gestures—whilst structurally similar—are much smaller than “normal” gestures used in interpersonal communication, suggesting an attenuation parallel to that found in inner speech. These physical gestures are in effect objectifications for oneself, which we can interpret as a not-quite-yet “underground” part of embodied thought. We suggest that they might be particularly vital for understanding the imagistic, visuospatial dimension of mathematics in general and fractions in particular.

Research from Europe and the USA suggest higher rates of hearing loss among children from diverse racial or ethnic backgrounds, but there is a lack of data in the Australian context. About one in four Australians has a diverse cultural and linguistic background, so there is a compelling need to investigate inequalities in hearing among Australian children from these communities and the factors that contribute to any inequalities. Objectives of this study were (1) to examine the prevalence of hearing loss in children from culturally and linguistically diverse versus majority backgrounds, and (2) to examine the demographic, socioeconomic, health, and migration-related factors associated with hearing loss in children from diverse cultural and linguistic communities. A population-based cross-sectional dataset of 11- to 12-year-old children, collected in 2015 from the Child Health Checkpoint sub-set of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children was analyzed. Children from diverse cultural and linguistic communities were identified based on primary caregivers speaking a language other than English at home. A total of 145 children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and 1324 children from ethnic majority background who completed pure-tone audiometry were included in the analysis. Logistic regression was used to estimate correlates of hearing loss. A higher prevalence of any hearing loss (>15 dB HL in either ear) was found in children from diverse cultural and linguistic (38.3%) compared with ethnic majority (21.1%) communities. Of the 49 children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds with hearing loss, 58.0% had unilateral hearing loss. Most hearing loss (85.7%) was slight (16 to 25 dB HL). After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, family history of hearing loss, and presence of ear infections, children from diverse cultural and linguistic communities had 58% higher odds of hearing loss compared to their ethnic majority counterparts (odds ratio [OR], 1.58: 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01-2.46). Primary caregiver self-reported lower English language proficiency (OR, 3.54; 95% CI, 1.58-7.92) was associated with higher likelihood of hearing loss, while longer duration of residence in Australia was associated with reduced odds of hearing loss (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.94-0.99) among children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Hearing loss was more common among children from culturally and linguistically diverse families compared with their ethnic majority peers. Future research should focus on identifying causal factors to inform hearing loss prevention strategies, and systematic screening for hearing loss targeting diverse cultural and linguistic communities to address hearing health inequalities.

The emergence of mass spectrometry (MS)-based signatures as biomarkers has generated considerable enthusiasm among oncologists. However, variations in normal individuals also exist, and a better understanding of serum peptide patterns of healthy individuals will be important for further exploring disease-specific serum peptide patterns. Following development of a serum peptide pattern platform, we analyzed 500 serum samples obtained from healthy individuals. Samples from breast (n = 84), lung (n = 70), and rectal (n = 30) cancer patients were also examined. Extensive data analysis revealed negligible contributions of age to serum peptide patterns except in healthy individuals between 20–30 and 60+ years of age. Gender-related variations in the serum patterns of healthy individuals were only observed in 20–30 year-old individuals. Our results revealed substantial variation in individual peptide profiles, but 65 peptides were detected at a 20% higher frequency in the healthy population. A peptide profile was developed for each type of cancer, containing 10 discriminating peptides not prevalent in healthy individuals. Sequence identification of 111 signature peptides revealed that they fell into several tight clusters and most were exopeptidase products of serum resident proteins. We have obtained a MS-based serum peptide profile for healthy individuals, providing a reference for observing the occurrence of cancer-specific peptides.

Gesture height reflects common ground status even in patients with amnesia

Background: Coronary artery calcium score (CACS) is a reliable predictor for future cardiovascular disease risk. Although deep learning studies using computed tomography (CT) images to predict CACS have been reported, no study has assessed the feasibility of machine learning (ML) algorithms to predict the CACS using clinical variables in a healthy general population. Therefore, we aimed to assess whether ML algorithms other than binary logistic regression (BLR) could predict high CACS in a healthy population with general health examination data. Methods: This retrospective observational study included participants who had regular health screening including coronary CT angiography. High CACS was defined by the Agatston score ≥ 100. Univariable and multivariable BLR was performed to assess predictors for high CACS in the entire dataset. When performing ML prediction for high CACS, the dataset was randomly divided into a training and test dataset with a 7:3 ratio. BLR, catboost, and xgboost algorithms with 5-fold cross-validation and grid search technique were used to find the best performing classifier. Performance comparison of each ML algorithm was evaluated with the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve. Results: A total of 2133 participants were included in the final analysis. Mean age and proportion of male sex were 55.4 ± 11.3 years and 1483 (69.5%), respectively. In multivariable BLR analysis, age (odds ratio [OR], 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10–1.15, p < 0.001), male sex (OR, 2.91; 95% CI, 1.57–5.38, p < 0.001), systolic blood pressure (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.00–1.03, p = 0.019), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (OR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.99–1.00, p = 0.047) were significant predictors for high CACS. Performance in predicting high CACS of xgboost was AUROC of 0.823, followed by catboost (0.750) and BLR (0.585). The comparison of AUROC between xgboost and BLR was significant (p for AUROC comparison < 0.001). Conclusions: Xgboost ML algorithm was found to be a more reliable predictor of CACS in healthy participants compared to the BLR algorithm. ML algorithms may be useful for predicting CACS with only laboratory data in healthy participants.

Impact of aerobic exercise on immune components across healthy and diseased populations: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Towards a Dialogical Theory of Cultural Liminality. Contemporary Writing and Cultural Identity in Mexico Lauro Zavala UAMXochimilco, Mexico City This essay contributes to the current discussion of otherness from a non-European point of view and to the study of cultural identity in general. It is part of a larger ongoing project of reading Bakhtinian concepts such as doublevoicedness, carnivalization and heteroglossia to create a dialogical theory of cultural liminality. By liminality I mean the paradoxical and potentially productive condition of being situated between two locations. These locations may be physical locations, languages, literary genres, cultural traditions , or stages of development. The concept of liminality erases hierarchical separations. This paper concentrates on cultural liminality, as it is expressed in literary discourse. I will refer to the contemporary debate about cultural identity in Mexico as it is expressed in some recent literary works and the essays of critical social scientists in Mexico. This debate exemplifies a growing need to create a dialogical theory of liminality in literary criticism and contemporary Cultural Studies. What is said here about Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Volume 1, 1997 10 Arizona Journal of Hispanic Cultural Studies Mexican cultural debates could be applied, in general terms, to the debates over cultural identity in most contemporary cultures, including most European, Chicano, Spanish American and many other cultural and linguistic communities. They are symptoms of a growing tendency towards international multiculturalism and different types of cultural liminality. Bakhtin and Liminality For Mikhail Bakhtin, parody is "a dialogically engaged understanding of a living heteroglossia" (308). In accordance with his ideas I am convinced that metafiction and parody are signs of historical, geographical, linguistic, and cultural liminality in the contemporary world. Their presence is symptomatic of the historical tendency toward the hybridization of cultures, literary genres and languages. All of this is an indirect consequence of multiculturalism. Heteroglossia is a specific kind of double-voiced speech. In parody, heteroglossia expresses two simultaneous intentions: the characters' or narrator's (directly ), and the author's (indirectly) (Bakhtin 324). Comic, ironic and parodie writing are forms of hybrid construction , and they lend themselves very well to the expression of liminal, hybrid, transitional and paradoxical historical conditions, as they are expressed by the writers who use them. All these writing strategies express the cultural need for new languages not yet created, especially those of emerging communities. These multiple communities, with their multiple voices, express the need to distance themselves from the tradition inherited from their predecessors while encoding that preceding discourse in an ironical, double-voiced way. Liminal cultures, because of their self-conscious historical condition , tend to make carnivalistic use of traditions and of traditional boundaries, be it in geographical terms, in historical, cultural, or political terms, or in strictly linguistic or literary terms. The comic style also questions the boundaries of separate discursive fields. Style is grounded on the diversity of types of speech, not on the unity of a normative shared language (Bakhtin 308). Therefore, parodie and self-conscious writing, as a kind of extreme stylization and polyphonic writing, is a result of the existence of different styles and voices in a cultural context. The liminal nature of contemporary multiculturalism gives way to complex strategies of writing, such as "islands of scattered direct speech and purely authorial speech, washed by heteroglot waves from Lauro Zavala 11 all sides" (Bakhtin 307). This is the case in most contemporary Chicano writing, the product of a liminal, borderland community. This cultural community, very close to the Mexican tradition, is also very similar to othet liminal communities around the world. Europe provides an interesting example of liminality because of its increasingly multicultural profile. Humor and Irony A few comments about a general theory of humor forming a liminal theory of culture are in order, since irony is the main feature of the literature written on the borders and in zones of cultural uncertainty . According to Jorge Portilla and other Mexican phenomenologists of the late 50s, humor is a gesture of freedom, whereas irony is an act of simultaneous destruction and recreation, of simultaneous uncertainty and complicity, of simultaneous ambiguity and commitment (1966). While certain kinds of humor (not laughter) may sometimes appear as a...

BackgroundAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) traits are continuously distributed throughout the population, and ASD symptoms are also frequently observed in patients with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both ASD and ADHD have been linked to alterations in reward-related neural processing. However, whether both symptom domains interact and/or have distinct effects on reward processing in healthy and ADHD populations is currently unknown.MethodsWe examined how variance in ASD and ADHD symptoms in individuals with ADHD and healthy participants was related to the behavioural and neural response to reward during a monetary incentive delay (MID) task. Participants (mean age: 17.7 years, range: 10–28 years) from the NeuroIMAGE study with a confirmed diagnosis of ADHD (n = 136), their unaffected siblings (n = 83), as well as healthy controls (n = 105) performed an MID task in a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner. ASD and ADHD symptom scores were used as predictors of the neural response to reward anticipation and reward receipt. Behavioural responses were modeled using linear mixed models; neural responses were analysed using FMRIB’s Software Library (FSL) proprietary mixed effects analysis (FLAMEO).ResultsASD and ADHD symptoms were associated with alterations in BOLD activity during reward anticipation, but not reward receipt. Specifically, ASD scores were related to increased insular activity during reward anticipation across the sample. No interaction was found between this effect and the presence of ADHD, suggesting that ASD symptoms had no differential effect in ADHD and healthy populations. ADHD symptom scores were associated with reduced dorsolateral prefrontal activity during reward anticipation. No interactions were found between the effects of ASD and ADHD symptoms on reward processing.ConclusionsVariance in ASD and ADHD symptoms separately influence neural processing during reward anticipation in both individuals with (an increased risk of) ADHD and healthy participants. Our findings therefore suggest that both symptom domains affect reward processing through distinct mechanisms, underscoring the importance of multidimensional and multimodal assessment in psychiatry.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13229-015-0043-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.