SLI Group Research Articles

Narrative Retelling Abilities of Kindergarteners Considering Early Literacy and Language Skills

Objectives: This study investigated the narrative retelling abilities of 5-year-old children at risk of narrative development, early literacy, and language skills focusing on story grammar, linguistic cohesive devices, and semantic-grammatical index.Methods: Narrative Retelling production using KONA was conducted on a total of fifty kindergarten children, 10 typically developing children (TD), 10 at risk of developmental dyslexia (DD), 10 at risk of narrative discourse (ND), 10 at risk of narrative discourse and early literacy (ND·DD), and 10 at risk of early literacy and language as well as narrative discourse to compare the production of story grammars, linguistic cohesive markers, and use of linguistic indicators total number of words (NTW), number of grammatical morphemes, mean length of T-units in morpheme (MLT-m), grammatical morpheme error rate (GME) between groups.Results: ND, ND·DD and ND·DD·SLI groups showed lower performance in producing story grammars, linguistic cohesive markers, NTW, and number of grammatical morphemes compared to the TD and DD groups. There were no significant differences between groups in the number of inappropriate uses of linguistic cohesive devices, MLT-m, and grammatical morpheme error rate.Conclusion: The ND·DD·SLI group with poor semantics and grammar showed significantly lower narrative retelling ability. This suggests that early intervention may be beneficial for children at risk for difficulties in language and narrative development. The ND group with good semantics and grammar was identified with their low narrative retelling abilities. In addition to typical development in semantics and grammar, there were children at risk of narratives with low abilities in early literacy. In addition to language skills, we need to screen and identity narrative abilities considering early literacy skills during the kindergarten period.

Interstate differences in institutional delivery and Caesarean section rates in India

In the last two decades, India witnessed a steep rise in institutional delivery (ID) rates and some increase in Caesarean section (CS) rates. Analysis of raw data from three major surveys was undertaken with the objective of identifying factors associated with both low and high institutional deliveries and Caesarean rates so that appropriate locale specific corrective interventions can be initiated. The raw data from NFHS4, AHS and DLHS4 were analysed to assess urban-rural and interstate differences in ID and CS rates in government and private institutions and CS rates in relation to sociodemographic and obstetric profile of the woman.At national level 3/4 of women had ID. There were substantial interstate variations (50·4% to 99·8%). ID rates were higher in urban areas and in DLHS4 states. CS rate in ID at the national level was 18·5%; CS rates in ID were higher in urban areas, in DLHS4 states and in private institutions in all states. Interstate differences in CS rate were high (2·4% in government institutions in Bihar to 69·2% in private institutions in West Bengal. CS rates were higher in urban, educated women from higher SLI group delivering in private institutions.National surveys help in identifying the states and institutions with lower ID rates and higher CS rates and enable the initiation of appropriate interventions to strengthen institutions. Awareness generation about adverse consequences of home deliveries and CS without obstetric indications will hasten the progress towards universal institutional delivery and optimal CS rates.

Effect Soursop (Annona muricata L.) Leaf Aqueous Extract (SLAE) on Remodeling of Ventricle Heart Tissue in Obesity Rats Model

A high-fat and high-fructose diet can lead to obesity which contributes to an increased risk of heart failure complications. Soursop leaves are known to have the potential of antioxidant, but research about the effects of soursop leaf on complications of heart failure has never been studied. This study evaluated whether soursop leaf aqueous extract can inhibit the total of cardiomyocyte necrosis, cardiomyocyte diameter, and density of cardiac collagen in obese rats. The heart organs of obese rats that have been paraffin, which randomly divided into normal group, obesity group, and soursop leaf aqueous extract (SLAE) group with dose I (100 mg/kgbw), II (200 mg/kgbw), and III (400 mg/kgbw) (n=6 rats). The rats were induced by high-fat high-fructose and SLI diets for 10 weeks. The number of necrosis and diameter cardiomyocytes were measured by using Hematoxylin Eosin staining, while the density of cardiac collagen was measured by Masson's Trichrome staining and then observed with a trinocular and dot side microscope at 200x and 400x magnification. Statistical analysis using One Way ANOVA and continued by LSD test. We found that group SLAE with doses I, II, and III significantly reduced the number of cardiomyocyte necrosis and cardiac collagen density compared to the obesity group. The SLI group with doses II and III significantly reduced the diameter of cardiomyocytes compared to the obesity group, while the SLAE group with the dose I was unable to reduce the diameter of cardiomyocytes. In conclusion, Soursop leaf aqueous extract can inhibit the increase of cardiac collagen density, number necrosis and diameter cardiomyocyte.

Longitudinal progression of clinical variables associated with graded liver injury in COVID-19 patients.

BackgroundHospital-acquired liver injury is associated with worse outcomes in COVID-19. This study investigated the temporal progression of clinical variables of in-hospital liver injury in COVID-19 patients.MethodsCOVID-19 patients (n = 1361) were divided into no, mild and severe liver injury (nLI, mLI and sLI) groups. Time courses of laboratory variables were time-locked to liver-injury onset defined by alanine aminotransferase level. Predictors of liver injury were identified using logistic regression.ResultsThe prevalence of mLI was 39.4% and sLI was 9.2%. Patients with escalated care had higher prevalence of sLI (23.2% vs. 5.0%, p < 0.05). sLI developed 9.4 days after hospitalization. sLI group used more invasive ventilation, anticoagulants, steroids, and dialysis (p < 0.05). sLI, but not mLI, had higher adjusted mortality odds ratio (= 1.37 [95% CI 1.10, 1.70], p = 0.005). Time courses of the clinical variables of the sLI group differed from those of the nLI and mLI group. In the sLI group, alanine aminotransferase, procalcitonin, ferritin, and lactate dehydrogenase showed similar temporal profiles, whereas white-blood-cell count, D-dimer, C-reactive protein, respiration and heart rate were elevated early on, and lymphocyte and SpO2 were lower early on. The top predictors of sLI were alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, respiration rate, ferritin, and lymphocyte, yielding an AUC of 0.98, 0.92, 0.88 and 0.84 at 0, − 1, − 2 and − 3 days prior to onset, respectively.ConclusionsThis study identified key clinical variables predictive of liver injury in COVID-19, which may prove useful for management of liver injury. Late onset of sLI and more aggressive care are suggestive of treatment-related hepatotoxicity.

Similarities and Differences in the Learning Profiles of Adolescents with SLD and SLI in Mathematics-A Preliminary Analysis.

SLI and SLD constitute two independent neurodevelopmental disorders, which frequently cause challenges in the diagnosis process, especially due to their nature. This has caused disagreement among clinicians regarding their recognition as separate or overlapping disorders. The objective of the study was to enlighten the path of valid diagnosis and intervention during adolescence when the two disorders change their manifestation and overlap. Two hundred Greek adolescents (140 boys and 60 girls), 124 already diagnosed with SLD and 76 diagnosed with SLI, 12–16 years old, participated in the study. All participants were assessed in reading, oral and written language and mathematics (mathematical operations and mathematical reasoning) along with IQ testing. In order to determine statistically significant differences, the chi-square test, independent samples t-test, odds ratios and their 95 per cent confidence intervals were implemented. The results revealed that the SLI group presented significantly greater difficulties than SLD in their overall cognitive-mental profile and in most language and mathematical measurements (number concept, executive-procedural part of solving operations and mathematical reasoning). The similarity of the two groups was mainly detected in their deficient metacognitive, metalinguistic and metamnemonic strategies. The research concludes that SLD adolescents managed to overcome their difficulties to a significant degree, while adolescents with SLI still struggle with many learning areas.

Θεωρία του νου και ειδική γλωσσική διαταραχή σε παιδιά σχολικής ηλικίας

Language and Theory of Mind (ToM) develop rapidly in the first five years of life. The limited available research examining the relationship between aspects of language development and ToM in children with language disorders suggests that SLI children show a delay in the development of ToM because of a broad range of language impairments.The present study aimed to examine the relationships of the syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic skills with the ability to understand mental states in school-aged children. Three questions guided the present study. The first question addressed whether school-aged children with SLI have difficulty understanding ToM. The second question concerned the relationship between language and ToM in children with SLI, and the third question focused on the examination of the language skills that better predict performance on ToM tasks. Twenty-one children with SLI, aged 8-12 years were matched on chronological age, nonverbal intelligence, gender, and socioeconomic status with 21 typically developing children (TDC) and compared on a set of language tasks (tapping syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic abilities) and an advanced test of ToM. Results showed that children with SLI performed more poorly on the ToM task compared to the TDC group. Also, analysis showed that language skills and ToM are correlated and that syntactic and semantic abilities contributed significantly to the prediction of ToM performance in the SLI group. It is concluded that childrenwith SLI tend to focus on the semantic and syntactic properties of the language in order to decipher the communicative messages conveyed in speech.

Object clitic production in French-speaking L2 children and children with SLI

Abstract This study examines French object clitic production in 20 typically developing L2 children (L1 English) compared to 19 monolingual children with SLI. We collected spontaneous and elicitation data twice at a one-year interval (T1, T2) in order to better evaluate the impact of age- and time-related factors on the L2-SLI comparison, as well as the impact of proficiency and working memory on object clitic production. The data revealed considerable group overlap at T1 in both tasks, but the L2 children produced significantly more object clitics than the SLI group at T2 in spontaneous language, thus suggesting that the L2-SLI overlap decreases when the L2 children have more language exposure. In elicitation, clitic production in both groups increased from T1 to T2 when all clitic types were included, but when only 3p accusative clitics were analyzed, the L2 children outperformed the SLI group. Age played an important role in elicitation in both groups, thus suggesting that mature performance systems, including unimpaired working memory, are required for object clitic production in this task. Language-related measures were linked to both tasks, thus suggesting that object clitic production is particularly sensitive to overall language proficiency, possibly because of issues with resource allocation.

Lithium Benzenedithiolate Catholytes for Rechargeable Lithium Batteries

AbstractOrganic electrode materials have become a vibrant area of research. Lithium benzenedithiolate (LBDT) consists of two –SLi groups that could donate 2Li+ and 2e− in oxidation reactions, thus being a potential high‐capacity organic cathode material for rechargeable lithium batteries. Herein, 1,2‐, 1,3‐, and 1,4‐LBDTs are investigated to elucidate the relationship of their redox chemistry and effect of lithium thiolate position on their electrochemical behavior experimentally and theoretically. High‐performance liquid chromatography in tandem with quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry is used, for the first time, to separate and identify the charge and discharge products of these compounds in lithium batteries. During the charging process, 1,2‐, 1,3‐ and 1,4‐LBDTs are mainly converted to the cyclic dimer, trimer, and tetramer respectively. While in the discharge process, the initial lithiated materials are recovered. The cyclic dimer of 1,2‐LBDT shows the lowest discharge overpotential and fast kinetics, which are related to the easiness of the 2nd lithiation process. It delivers an initial specific capacity of 340 mAh g−1 and retains 84.1% of the initial capacity over 100 cycles at C/2 rate. In addition, it shows much better rate capability than the other two LBDTs. The structure–performance relationship of LBDT in lithium batteries is correlated.

The use of evaluative expressions in the narratives of adolescents with a history of SLI

ABSTRACTTypically, young children diagnosed with specific language impairment (SLI; also called Developmental language disorder, DLD) have been found to show weakness in narrative development, and such weakness has been judged to be unlikely to resolve over time. However, developmental outcomes for adolescents with a prior SLI diagnosis have not been thoroughly studied. In particular, studies on the evaluative aspects of narratives of such persons are almost non-existent. Here we examine the question whether narrative evaluation of adolescents formerly diagnosed with SLI remains problematic into adolescence or comes to resemble more typical narrative performance. We compare the use of evaluative expressions in the narratives of 19 adolescents diagnosed with SLI against 19 typically language developing (TLD) peers. Spoken narratives by the SLI group (Mean age = 14.3; SD = 0.64) and TLD group (Mean age = 14.5; SD = 0.84) using the wordless picture storybook “Frog, where are you?” (https://childes.talkbank.org/access/Clinical-MOR/Conti/Conti4.html) were analysed. Each narrative was coded for evaluative clauses, types of evaluative devices (frames of mind, character speech, hedges, negatives, and causal connectives), as well as evaluative perspectives (global vs. local). Although the quantitative analysis did not reveal any significant differences between the two groups, the qualitative analysis showed certain notable strengths in the narrative skills of the focal group of SLI adolescents. Results suggest that adolescents with a history of SLI may approximate TLD narrative skill in evaluating their own narratives, but additional work with more sensitive measures applied at intervals are needed to illuminate developmental pathways of narrative production and of evaluative capacities in adolescents formerly diagnosed with SLI.

Value of Neo-Puff as a tool for Sustained Lung Inflation in Preterm babies

Preterm labor is an obstetrics emergency and a threat to population health. 75% of infant mortality is related to preterm labor, to detect and predict efficacy of Neo-puff as a tool for sustained lung inflation on preterm, 100 preterm children were included in this study, The patients were divided in to 2 groups: Group A: SLI inflation and Group B: assessed as usually. Then the groups were compared regarding their outcome and their need of respiratory assessment. there was a statistical difference between groups regarding need to mechanical ventilator, as 34% of group A and 54% in group B (p=0.035), there was a statistical difference between groups regarding the time of use of mechanical ventilator, the use of mechanical ventilator in the 1st day was higher (46%) in group B, compared to only 14% of group A, p=0.004, there was no statistical difference between groups regarding occurrence of BPD, hospitalization or mortality rate. Sustained lung inflation is easier to perform even with a single operator; it reduces the necessity of mechanical ventilator in the first 72 hours without statistically evident adverse effects. However, did not decrease the need for respiratory support, occurrence of BPD, hospitalization or mortality rate.

Explantation of Adjustable Gastric Bands: An Observation Study of 10 Years of Experience at a Tertiary Center.

PurposeAlthough laparoscopic adjustable gastric bands are considered a standard treatment for severe obesity, their use remains controversial. We evaluated rates of band explantation and the incidences of complications leading to and following band explantation.Materials and MethodsThis retrospective review was performed on patients that underwent adjustable gastric band explantation. For each of the three groups of patients that underwent explantation, we compared demographic and anthropometric data, band duration in situ, operative approach, and morbidities.ResultsBetween January 2009 and October 2018, a total of 267 patients underwent primary laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery. Of these 267 patients, 99 (37.1%) underwent band explantation. Numbers (%) of patients in the slippage (SL), band erosion (BE), and intolerance (IT) groups were 13 (13.1%), 39 (39.4), and 47 (47.5%), respectively. Mean %EBMIL values at explantation in these groups were 74.6±45.5, 79.7±40.3, and 36.1±46.0, respectively (p<0.001), and mean times for maintaining bands in situ were 45.1±28.0, 39.4±24.3, and 51.2±22.7 months, respectively. Isolated band removal was performed for slippage (SLi, n=12), band erosion (BEi, n=39), and intolerance (ITi, n=31). The numbers (%) of patients in the SLi, BEi, and ITi groups that experienced a surgical complication (Clavien-Dindo class ≥1) were 0 (0.0%), 24 (61.5%), and 3 (9.7%), respectively (p<0.001). In the BEi group, four patients (4/39, 10.3%) underwent reoperation after AGB removal.ConclusionDuring our 10 years of experience, 37.1% of adjustable gastric band had to be removed. Intra-abdominal abscess and intragastric bleeding were rare but serious complications after explantation. Potential candidates for adjustable gastric band should be informed of the high long-term risk of band explantation and its associated morbidities.

Case marking in German-speaking children with specific language impairment and with phonological impairment

ABSTRACT Identification of children with specific language impairment (SLI, now known as Developmental Language Disorder) remains challenging. Morphosyntax difficulties have been proposed as potential linguistic ‘markers’ for SLI across a number of languages. This study investigates the existence of such a clinical marker in German-speaking children with SLI, looking in particular at German case marking, and makes comparisons with matched typically developing groups and a group with isolated phonological impairment (PI). A case-control study was completed with 66 pre-school children in four groups (1) SLI, (2) PI, (3) age-matched typically developing children (TD-A) (4) language-matched typically developing children (TD-L). Errors in nominative, accusative and dative marking were analysed from the production of articles in elicitation tasks and spontaneous language samples. The performance of the SLI group was poorer than the TD-A group across all three grammatical cases investigated, but there was little supportive evidence for this being a diagnostic marker. It is, however, suggested that poor case marking may alert clinicians to the need for further linguistic assessment. No significant differences were found between the SLI and PI groups; rather scores for the PI group suggested they fell on a gradient between the SLI TD-A groups. Findings are discussed in relation to the proposed new diagnostic category of developmental language disorder.

Emotional and behavioural needs in children with specific language impairment and in children with autism spectrum disorder: The importance of pragmatic language impairment

BackgroundLanguage problems may negatively affect children’s behaviour and have detrimental effects on the development of peer-relations. AimsWe investigated and compared emotional and behavioural profiles in children with SLI and in children with ASD aged 6–15 years and explored to what extent pragmatic language problems contributed to the emotional and behavioural needs (EBN) in these clinical groups. Methods and proceduresThe ASD group consisted of 23 children (19 boys; 4 girls) and the SLI group consisted of 20 children (18 boys; 2 girls). In order to assess EBN and language abilities, the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Children’s Communication Checklist −2 (CCC-2) were filled out by parents. Outcomes and resultsOur main findings were that although EBN was common in both groups; the children in the ASD group were significantly impaired relative to the children in the SLI group. However, in both groups pragmatic language problems were found to be significantly associated with EBN. ImplicationsA comprehensive assessment of EBN as well as pragmatic language abilities should be an integral part of the assessment procedure. Considering the substantial influence of pragmatic language abilities on social function and in resolving interpersonal conflicts with peers further development of therapy plans and interventions targeting pragmatics is strongly needed.

Semantic and Pragmatic Abilities Can Be Spared in Italian Children with SLI

ABSTRACTSpecific language impairment (SLI) is a heterogeneous disorder affecting various aspects of language. While most studies have investigated impairments in the domain of syntax and morphosyntax, little is known about compositional semantics and the process of deriving pragmatic meanings in SLI. We selected a group of sixteen monolingual Italian-speaking children with SLI (mean-age 7;4) with a severe morphosyntactic deficit at the receptive and expressive level. We tested their comprehension of quantified sentences including all and some in order to establish whether they were competent with the logical and pragmatic meanings of these quantifiers. Children performed as well as their typically developing controls in understanding logical meanings. In comprehending pragmatic meanings, they obtained lower scores than age-matched controls but they were not different from language-matched children. However, differences in this ability correlated positively with age and with the ability to understand simple sentences in the SLI group. This suggests that aspects of the syntactic component might be involved in the development of this ability and that, despite their severe morphosyntactic deficits, children with SLI might catch up with their peers in deriving pragmatic meanings.

Structural alterations of the language connectome in children with specific language impairment

We evaluated brain white matter pathways associated with language processing in 37 children with specific language impairment aged 6–12years and 34 controls, matched for age, sex and handedness. Arcuate fascicle (AF), inferior fronto-occipital fascicle (IFOF), inferior longitudinal fascicle (ILF) and uncinate fascicle (UF) were identified using magnetic resonance diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Diffusivity parameters and volume of the tracts were compared between the SLI and control group. Children with SLI showed decreased fractional anisotropy in all investigated tracts, increased mean diffusivity and radial diffusivity component in arcuate fascicle bilaterally, left IFOF and left ILF. Further, bilaterally increased volume of the ILF in children with SLI was found. We confirmed previous findings indicating deficient connectivity of the arcuate fascicle and as a novel finding, demonstrate abnormal development of the ventral language stream in patients with SLI.

Connective use in the narratives of bilingual children and monolingual children with SLI

Differences between monolinguals and bilinguals are often attributed to crosslinguistic influence. This paper compares production of discourse connectives by Dutch–Russian bilinguals (Dutch-dominant), typically-developing Dutch/Russian monolinguals and Russian-speaking children with SLI. If non-target-like production in bilinguals is due to crosslinguistic influence, bilinguals should perform differently from both impaired and unimpaired monolinguals. However, if differences between bilinguals and monolinguals are due to other factors (e.g., input quantity, processing capacities), bilinguals’ language production might be similar to that of children with SLI. The results demonstrate that language dominance determines the direction of crosslinguistic influence. In terms of frequency distributions of Russian connectives across pragmatic contexts, the bilingual group performed differently from both monolingual groups and the differences were compatible with the structural properties of Dutch. However, based on error rates and types bilinguals could not be distinguished from the SLI group, suggesting that factors other than crosslinguistic influence may also be at play.

Évaluation de l’orthographe des élèves dysphasiques en situation de narration communicative : variations selon le type d’orthographe, lexicale versus morphologique

IntroductionThe overall goal of the study was to draw, in French language, a complete picture of spelling abilities in young students with SLI, enrolling in ordinary classes. ObjectiveThe main aim was to show how the developmental trajectories of lexical spelling and the morphological spelling are different when a large age span is observed (7 to 18 years old). MethodsThe spelling abilities were evaluated through a narrative communicative. Two groups of students with SLI (7–11 years and 12–18 years) were compared with two groups of typical students matched on chronological age. ResultsThe lexical spelling was acquired before the morphological spelling for SLI and typical participants. At 12–18 of age, the SLI participants did not produce more lexical errors than the typical group. For the lexical spelling, at 7–11 years, the SLI participants had a specific difficulty with the segmentation of the words: they produced words that do not exist in the language and which by definition have no morphological markers. ConclusionThe SLI participants need more time to learn than the typical participants. At 7–11 years, before learning of morphology, they must be able to control segmentation the segmentation of words. The low number of morphological errors in the school SLI group of 7–11 years is not necessarily a sign of difficulty. The increase in the number of errors at 12–18 years is the sign that this problem has been exceeded and that the learning of the written morphological markers can really begin.

Rewarding Research

Rewarding Research

The differences in clinical aspect between specific language impairment and global developmental delay.

ObjectiveTo compare and analyze the clinical characteristics of children with delayed language acquisition due to two different diagnoses, which were specific language impairment (SLI, a primarily delayed language development) and global developmental delay (GDD, a language delay related to cognitive impairment).MethodsAmong 1,598 children who had visited the developmental delay clinic from March 2005 to February 2011, 467 children who were diagnosed with GDD and 183 children who were diagnosed with SLI were included in this study. All children were questioned about past, family, and developmental history, and their language competences and cognitive function were assessed. Some children got electroencephalography (EEG), in case of need.ResultsThe presence of the perinatal risk factors showed no difference in two groups. In the children with GDD, they had more delayed acquisition of independent walking and more frequent EEG abnormalities compared with the children with SLI (p<0.01). The positive family history of delayed language development was more prevalent in children with SLI (p<0.01). In areas of language ability, the quotient of receptive language and expressive language did not show any meaningful statistical differences between the two groups. Analyzing in each group, the receptive language quotient was higher than expressive language quotient in both group (p<0.01). In the GDD group, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II (BSID-II) showed a marked low mental and motor quotient while the Wechsler Intelligence Scale showed low verbal and nonverbal IQ. In the SLI group, the BSID-II and Wechsler Intelligence Scale showed low scores in mental area and verbal IQ but sparing motor area and nonverbal IQ.ConclusionThe linguistic profiles of children with language delay could not differentiate between SLI and GDD. The clinicians needed to be aware of these developmental issues, and history taking and clinical evaluation, including cognitive assessment, could be helpful to diagnose adequately and set the treatment plan for each child.

Investigating the link between cognitive skills and learning in non-comorbid samples of ADHD and SLI

The aim of this study was to investigate how two cognitive skills—working memory and IQ—are linked to learning in students with ADHD or SLI. Although there has been much research examining ADHD and its co-morbidity with language impairment, little research has been conducted on their learning profiles when these two conditions occur independently. The data confirmed that those with ADHD performed better in some tasks of verbal abilities (learning outcomes), compared to those with SLI. In contrast, children with SLI had relative strengths in some nonverbal tasks (WM and IQ) compared to those with ADHD. However when looking at academic performance, there were domain-specific links between cognitive abilities and learning outcomes: verbal skills predict verbal-based academic tests and visuo-spatial skills predict visuo-spatial-based academic tests, in both ADHD and SLI groups. This finding can have important implications for how intervention is tailored in the classroom, as domain-specific support could yield important gains in learning.