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Background Many healthcare and educational services providers have undergone a rapid transition from a face-to-face to a tele-practice mode of service delivery in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak. This, in turn, has led to a need to understand better the evidence underpinning such moves. Based on a review of existing reviews, this paper critically analyses the relevant literature related to intervention with children with communication disabilities drawing on the COM-B model. Methods & procedures Ten reviews were identified following a systematic searching of electronic databases. These were then coded according to both PRISMA criteria and the components of the COM-B model. Based on these findings, a critical analysis of the state of the tele-practice intervention literature is discussed and fed into evidence-based advice for practitioners transitioning to this mode of service delivery. Outcomes & results The COM-B mapping suggests that the existing literature has provided primary evidence for physical opportunity and reflective motivation (e.g., participants have the time to take part and the necessary materials, as well as a desire to do it). It has also focused on elements of social opportunity (e.g., having support and prompts from others to take part). However, there are significant gaps in the description and analysis of both physical and psychological capability components. Conclusions & implications Whilst the evidence for tele-practice interventions for children and young people with communication disabilities is growing, it is also lacking a comprehensive framework to support its implementation. In times of rapid transitions, researchers and practitioners alike need to understand how to evaluate comprehensively the impact of changing the mode of intervention delivery. The COM-B model provides a powerful tool to reflect on the key elements for the successful design and implementation of tele-practice interventions. What this paper adds What is already known on this subject Tele-practice has been a feature of service delivery for speech and language therapists working with children and young people with speech and language disorders for many years, as it has in other areas of practice. This came into sharp focus during 2020 during the 'lock-down' following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when most practice went online. What this paper adds to existing knowledge This study set out to provide a framework for understanding service delivery, drawing on the COM-B behaviour change model. This is applied using a rapid review methodology to 10 systematic and narrative reviews of the existing literature published since 2005. The findings suggest that while most studies demonstrated efficacy, there was a lack of information regarding specific aspects of the model which would affect their implementation. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? It is anticipated that the paper has the potential to have a direct bearing on how tele-practice services for children and young people with speech and language disorders will be delivered in the future. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations for practice and research in terms of the application of the COM-B model to tele-practice in speech and language therapy.

Background: Children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) have a significant deficit in spoken language ability which affects their communication skills, education, mental health, employment and social inclusion. Aim: The present study reports findings from a survey by EU network COST ACTION 1406 and aims to explore differences in service delivery and funding of SLT services for children with DLD across Europe and beyond. Methods and procedures: The survey was completed by 5024 European professionals. COST countries were grouped into Nordic, Anglo-Saxon, Continental, Mediterranean, Central/Eastern and Non-European categories. The use of direct, indirect and mixed interventions, and their relationship to funding available (public, private or mixed) were considered for further analysis. Outcomes and results: The results revealed that for direct therapy, there were more cases than expected receiving private funding. For indirect therapy, fewer than expected received private and more than expected public funding. For mixed therapy, fewer cases than expected received private funding. Conclusions and implications: The results implies that other factors than evidence-based practices, practitioners experience, and patient preferences, drive choices in therapy. More research is needed to gain a better understanding of factors affecting the choice of therapy.

Additional file 2. The intervention presentation, content and materials for each step of the intervention.

Additional file 1. Stage 1 detailed methods and results.

Family dynamics and language input are related to children's language development. There is empirical evidence that indirect work with the child with DLD is an important component of interventions offered by professionals. This talk is a part of a group of talks on DLD and intervention. Its aim is to discuss the features of indirect approaches in different EU countries, i.e. to explore which professionals deliver it, which family members are involved, and which characteristics of SLPs can be associated with the implementation of indirect approaches. The talk is based on a Practitioner Survey developed within the COST Action IS1406. The majority of analyses stems from the questions exploring the role of parents. There were 4024 respondents - SLPs - from 60 countries (mainly EU Member States). Statistical analyses included Pearson's chi-square and t-tests. Respondents indicated that indirect therapy is provided via parents and teachers, with the latter becoming more involved as children grow and progress through the education system. This approach is implemented by a range of professionals who involve mothers, fathers and other family members. The characteristics of SLPs are not related to the use of indirect techniques, suggesting a general and gradual adoption of these approaches. The importance of indirect approaches to intervention seems to be recognized worldwide, despite differences in cultural, clinical, and research traditions across countries. Since mothers are not the only ones involved, it seems that conventional family roles are slowly being abandoned. Despite the research and clinical implication of the study, future work should investigate the exact nature of the most effective intervention approaches.

BACKGROUND: Speech therapists often master a number of culturally competent practices to work with children and families from different cultural groups, but additional tools, diversifying the profession are needed to ensure equality for all children. OBJECTIVES: The study explores practitioners’ perceptions of cultural and linguistic differences in the work with children with DLD. A comparison was made of the results from different countries. METHODS: A Practitioner Survey Within COST Action IS1406 entitled: Enhancing Children’s Oral Language Skills across Europe and beyond was used. A total number of 1, 358 answers of respondents from 10 countries – Ireland, UK, Bulgaria, Poland, Croatia, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Lebanon was used for the present analyses. RESULTS: The results show that participants from all the countries did not have enough knowledge in the field of cultural competence and most practitioners only worked in their country’s primary language. Professionals from Bulgaria, Poland and Croatia had similar responses to the questions about the cultural differences in the responsibility and behavior of parents related to the child’s language development. The professionals from Spain and Lebanon showed greater confidence in their cultural and language competence. The practitioners from Turkey and Lebanon had similar attitudes to parental behaviors typical of different cultural groups. CONCLUSIONS: The study points to the need for cultural and linguistic competence development and consideration by professional associations of the similarities and differences between countries. There is a need for gradual inclusion of more and more representatives of other cultures and speakers of other languages in the teams that work with children with DLD.

Additional file 3. GUIDED checklist.

Digital twins offer a unique opportunity to design, test, deploy, monitor, and control real-world robotic processes. In this paper we present a novel, modular digital twinning framework developed for the investigation of safety within collaborative robotic manufacturing processes. The modular architecture supports scalable representations of user-defined cyber-physical environments, and tools for safety analysis and control. This versatile research tool facilitates the creation of mixed environments of Digital Models, Digital Shadows, and Digital Twins, whilst standardising communication and physical system representation across different hardware platforms. The framework is demonstrated as applied to an industrial case-study focused on the safety assurance of a collaborative robotic manufacturing process. We describe the creation of a digital twin scenario, consisting of individual digital twins of entities in the manufacturing case study, and the application of a synthesised safety controller from our wider work. We show how the framework is able to provide adequate evidence to virtually assess safety claims made against the safety controller using a supporting validation module and testing strategy. The implementation, evidence and safety investigation is presented and discussed, raising exciting possibilities for the use of digital twins in robotic safety assurance.

Early identification is advocated for preschool children at risk of developing DLD (Law, Charlton, & Asmussen, 2017) Parents are key to the identification process (Marshall et al., 2017), and it is vital that their perspectives are considered to ensure that the process is acceptable. The Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) has been developed as a framework for exploring the acceptability of interventions from patients’ perspectives (Sekhon, Cartwright & Francis, 2018). This study aimed to explore the applicability of the TFA to the context of screening for speech and language during children’s developmental reviews. Parents attending the nationally mandated 24-30 month developmental review completed a survey (n=433) based on the TFA. Follow-up interviews with 40 parents explored perspectives of the speech and language component of the developmental review. Parents were recruited purposively on the basis of their level of concern about their child’s language development, and the outcomes of the developmental review, which were available from the Ages & Stages Questionnaire (ASQ) and Early Language Identification Measure (ELIM). Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to explore the survey results and qualitative interviews. Some themes from the TFA were relevant, including coherence of the assessment, while additional themes specific to the developmental review context included the parent’s relationship with the practitioner and the value placed on the outcome of the assessment for their child. The TFA provided a useful framework for exploring acceptability. However, this study identified additional elements of acceptability that were specific to the context of speech and language screening during the developmental review.

This is the final report for the SLCN project accepted by PHE Autumn 2020.

Background Recent large-scale research in England has reported lack of equity in the school services and support received by children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), even in schools in similar demographic areas. How headteachers organise support for pupils with SLCN is considered important in determining their school experiences, but there is little research related to SLCN. The present study analysed the views of eight headteachers to illustrate variation across school systems as reported by heads. Aims The aim was to illustrate and exemplify the wide range of headteachers' views and variation across school systems, and their impact for pupils. Methods & Procedures The study analysed data from face-to-face, semi-structured interviews with eight volunteer headteachers in a large-scale qualitative study of co-working and services for primary school pupils with SLCN, the Language for All project, in one English local authority. Responses were analysed using a four-level systems model, considering each head's views of the SEND policy environment; whether SLCN was considered when setting school goals and prioritising functions; staff recruitment and staff skills relating to SLCN, and the processes whereby curriculum adaptations were planned and delivered. Following close reading, discussion and review of headteachers’ transcribed interviews, the research team classified statements under the systems components, with dissonance sought in line with the study's aim of identifying variation. Responses from four headteachers who reported fundamentally different views were selected for discussion, illustrated by quotations. Outcomes & Results Despite coming under the same authority and policy directives, the systems analysis showed considerable variation. For example, Headteachers One and Two differed markedly on their schools' reported goals/functions and structures, with resulting difference in educational processes. Headteachers Three and Four illustrated large differences in processes, particularly how language-learning activities were planned and delivered. There was variation around how heads managed SEND funds; whether SLCN was formally recognised as a school priority; the recruitment and training of staff with expertise in SLCN and their recognition at management level; and in the resulting experiences for children, including reliance on outside professionals. All heads recognised the need to support SLCN, and were spending time and effort to secure adequate provision. Nonetheless, the variation shown risked inequality. Conclusions & Implications The systems analysis proved useful analysis and clarification of school organisation that contributes to variation in child experiences. Headteachers were powerful influences on school systems, with further understandings of their views, roles and actions is needed.

BackgroundGrowing evidence suggests that experiences in the early years play a major role in children’s development in terms of health, wellbeing and educational attainment. The Trial of healthy relationship initiatives for the very early years (THRIVE) aims to evaluate two antenatal group interventions, Enhanced Triple P for Baby and Mellow Bumps, designed for those with additional health or social care needs in pregnancy. As both interventions aim to improve maternal mental health and parenting skills, we hypothesise that in the longer term, participation may lead to an improvement in children’s life trajectories.MethodsTHRIVE is a three-arm, longitudinal, randomised controlled trial aiming to recruit 500 pregnant women with additional health or social care needs. Participants will be referred by health and social care professionals, predominately midwives. Consenting participants will be block randomised to one of the three arms: Enhanced Triple P for Baby plus care as usual, Mellow Bumps plus care as usual or care as usual. Groups will commence when participants are between 20 and 34 weeks pregnant.DiscussionThe population we aim to recruit are traditionally referred to as “hard to reach”, therefore we will monitor referrals received from maternity and social care pathways and will be open to innovation to boost referral rates. We will set geographically acceptable group locations for participants, to limit challenges we foresee for group participation and retention. We anticipate the results of the trial will help inform policy and practice in supporting women with additional health and social care needs during antenatal and early postnatal periods. This is currently a high priority for the Scottish and UK Governments.Trial registrationInternational Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN) Registry, ISRCTN:21656568. Registered on 28 February 2014 (registered retrospectively (by 3 months)).

A photoinduced isomerization reaction enables stereocontrolled access to a range of fused 5–8–5 ring systems., A 5–8–5 carbocyclic ring system forms the core of over 30 distinct natural products. Several members of this family have gained attention for their diverse activity in cell culture. In these cases, biological function is mediated by the arrangement of substituents around a conserved 5–8–5 nucleus. Despite the potential applications of this privileged substructure in medicinal chemistry, modular strategies for its assembly are underdeveloped. Herein, we describe a cycloisomerization reaction that forms the 5–8–5 framework directly. This strategy uniquely allows access to gram quantities of this valuable scaffold in four steps.

Preschool language and behavioural difficulties impact on multiple domains of the child's early life and can endure into adulthood, predicting poor educational, social and health outcomes. Highlighting risk factors associated with poor outcomes following language and behavioural difficulties raised in early childhood may facilitate early identification and intervention. Data from the Growing Up in Scotland national birth cohort study were used. Language and behavioural difficulties were assessed at age four years using parent-reported language concerns and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Measures of adjustment were collated into four key outcome domains; attitude to school life, language & general development, behaviour and general health at age six years. Both univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were fitted in order to explore independent associations between language & behavioural difficulties at age four and adjustment to life circumstances at age six, whilst controlling for other risk factors. Language difficulties at age four increased the odds of the child experiencing difficulty with language and general development, poorer health outcomes and behavioural difficulties at age six. Behavioural difficulties alone at age four were associated with increased odds of the child experiencing all of the aforementioned outcomes as well as difficulties in early school life. Lone parent family, low income and male gender were identified as risk factors for poorer outcomes in the domains measured. At age four, there was no additive effect found with the presence of behaviour difficulties on the relationship between language difficulties and language and developmental outcomes at six years. This paper demonstrates language and behavioural difficulties are associated with poor social, educational, health and behavioural outcomes. Taking seriously parent-reported concerns and identifying risk factors could limit negative outcomes for the child, their family and society.

Background: Growing evidence suggests that experiences in the early years play a major role in children's development in terms of health, wellbeing and educational attainment. The Trial of healthy relationship initiatives for the very early years (THRIVE) aims to evaluate two antenatal group interventions, Enhanced Triple P for Baby and Mellow Bumps, designed for those with additional health or social care needs in pregnancy. As both interventions aim to improve maternal mental health and parenting skills, we hypothesise that in the longer term, participation may lead to an improvement in children's life trajectories. Methods: THRIVE is a three-arm, longitudinal, randomised controlled trial aiming to recruit 500 pregnant women with additional health or social care needs. Participants will be referred by health and social care professionals, predominately midwives. Consenting participants will be block randomised to one of the three arms: Enhanced Triple P for Baby plus care as usual, Mellow Bumps plus care as usual or care as usual. Groups will commence when participants are between 20 and 34 weeks pregnant. Discussion: The population we aim to recruit are traditionally referred to as "hard to reach", therefore we will monitor referrals received from maternity and social care pathways and will be open to innovation to boost referral rates. We will set geographically acceptable group locations for participants, to limit challenges we foresee for group participation and retention. We anticipate the results of the trial will help inform policy and practice in supporting women with additional health and social care needs during antenatal and early postnatal periods. This is currently a high priority for the Scottish and UK Governments. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN) Registry, ISRCTN:21656568. Registered on 28 February 2014 (registered retrospectively (by 3 months)).

Background: \ud Growing evidence suggests that experiences in the early years play a major role in children’s development in terms of health, wellbeing and educational attainment. The Trial of healthy relationship initiatives for the very early years (THRIVE) aims to evaluate two antenatal group interventions, Enhanced Triple P for Baby and Mellow Bumps, designed for those with additional health or social care needs in pregnancy. As both interventions aim to improve maternal mental health and parenting skills, we hypothesise that in the longer term, participation may lead to an improvement in children’s life trajectories.\ud \ud Methods: \ud THRIVE is a three-arm, longitudinal, randomised controlled trial aiming to recruit 500 pregnant women with additional health or social care needs. Participants will be referred by health and social care professionals, predominately midwives. Consenting participants will be block randomised to one of the three arms: Enhanced Triple P for Baby plus care as usual, Mellow Bumps plus care as usual or care as usual. Groups will commence when participants are between 20 and 34 weeks pregnant.\ud \ud Discussion: \ud The population we aim to recruit are traditionally referred to as “hard to reach”, therefore we will monitor referrals received from maternity and social care pathways and will be open to innovation to boost referral rates. We will set geographically acceptable group locations for participants, to limit challenges we foresee for group participation and retention. We anticipate the results of the trial will help inform policy and practice in supporting women with additional health and social care needs during antenatal and early postnatal periods. This is currently a high priority for the Scottish and UK Governments.\ud \ud Trial registration: \ud International Standard Randomised Controlled Trials Number (ISRCTN) Registry, ISRCTN:21656568. Registered on 28 February 2014 (registered retrospectively (by 3 months)).

ObjectiveTo determine whether brown adipose tissue (BAT) activity in school-age children differs between the sexes and to explore the impact of dietary intake, sedentary behavior, and picky/fussy eating.Study designChildren aged 8.5-11.8 years of age (n = 36) underwent infrared thermography to determine the temperature of the skin overlying the main superficial BAT depot in the supraclavicular region before and after 5 minutes of mild cold exposure (single-hand immersion in cool tap water at about 20°C). The relationships between the supraclavicular region temperature and parental reports of food consumption, eating behavior, and inactivity were explored.ResultsThe supraclavicular region temperature was higher in boys (n = 16) at baseline, and after cold exposure. Boys displayed a greater thermogenic response to cold. Strong negative correlations were observed between the supraclavicular region temperature and body mass index percentile, and differences in supraclavicular region temperature between girls and boys persisted after adjustment for body mass index percentile. A negative linear relationship was observed between protein and vegetable intake and supraclavicular region temperature in girls only, but did not persist after adjustment for multiple comparisons. There was no difference in the adjusted supraclavicular region temperature between active or inactive children, or picky and nonpicky eaters.ConclusionsThese findings indicate sexual dimorphism in BAT thermogenic activity and a sex-specific impact of diet. Future studies should aim to quantify the contribution of BAT to childhood energy expenditure, energy imbalance, and any role in the origins of childhood obesity.

THRIVE baseline questionnaire (v1.5 15.11.13). Questionnaire completed by study participants at the baseline visit (12â 24â weeks gestation) (PDF 5336 kb)

THRIVE follow-up questionnaire (v2.1 25.01.16). Questionnaire completed by study participants at the follow-up visit (6â months postnatal). (PDF 2561 kb)

Standard protocol items: recommendations for interventional trials (SPIRIT) checklist. SPIRIT checklist indicating the location of relevant information with this publication. (DOC 121 kb)

Supplemental material, Teacher_questionnaire_Questions_Analysed for Teachers observing classroom communication: An application of the Communicating Supporting Classroom Observation Tool for children aged 4–7 years by James Law, Josie Tulip, Helen Stringer, Maria Cockerill and Julie Dockrell in Child Language Teaching and Therapy

Information sheet and consent form (v3.0 06.09.17). Information sheet provided to participants before study participation and consent form to be completed by all enrolled participants. (PDF 454 kb)

Public awareness of language impairment in childhood (Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)) has been identified as an important determiner of research and clinical service delivery, yet studies directly assessing public awareness are lacking. This study surveyed awareness across 18 countries of Europe., Method: A questionnaire developed by an international team asked whether respondents had heard of language impairment affecting children, what they thought its manifestations and causes were and where they had heard of it. Respondents were also asked whether they had heard of autism, dyslexia, ADD/ADHD and speech disorder. The questionnaire was administered to members of the public in 18 European countries. A total of 1519 responses were obtained, spanning 6 age groups, 4 educational level groups and 3 income level groups., Results: Across all but one country, significantly fewer people had heard of language impairment than any of the other disorders (or 60 % compared to over 90 % for autism). Awareness tended to be lowest in Eastern Europe and greatest in North-Western Europe, and was influenced by education level, age and income level. People in countries with overall low and overall high awareness differed in their views on manifestations and causes. People had heard of language impairment and autism the same way - most frequently through the media, including Internet, and less frequently through their child’s school or a medical professional., Discussion: The study confirms that awareness of language impairment and knowledge of the breadth of its manifestations are low. It also suggests opportunities for how to increase awareness, including greater media coverage of language impairment and more efficient use of venues such as schools and healthcare. Ways in which cultural and linguistic differences may influence public awareness efforts are discussed, including the translatability of clinical labels and scientific terms. These may impact the acceptance of a common term and definition across all countries. As awareness campaigns are gaining momentum, the findings of this study can serve as a baseline against which to compare future findings., peer-reviewed

The application of deep learning techniques resulted in remarkable improvement of machine learning models. In this paper provides detailed characterizations of deep learning models used in many Facebook social network services. We present computational characteristics of our models, describe high performance optimizations targeting existing systems, point out their limitations and make suggestions for the future general-purpose/accelerated inference hardware. Also, we highlight the need for better co-design of algorithms, numerics and computing platforms to address the challenges of workloads often run in data centers.

Interest in brown adipose tissue has increased in recent years as a potential target for novel obesity, diabetes and metabolic disease treatments. One of the significant limitations to rapid progress has been the difficulty in measuring brown adipose tissue activity, especially in humans. Infrared thermography (IRT) is being increasingly recognized as a valid and complementary method to standard imaging modalities, such as positron emission tomography–computed tomography (PET/CT). In contrast to PET/CT, it is non-invasive, cheap and quick, allowing, for the first time, the possibility of large studies of brown adipose tissue (BAT) on healthy populations and children. Variations in study protocols and analysis methods currently limit direct comparison between studies but IRT following appropriate BAT stimulation consistently shows a change in supraclavicular skin temperature and a close association with results from BAT measurements from other methods.

The deployment of collaborative robotic systems in industry 4.0 raises the potential for complex human-robot interaction to create highly flexible processes. This brings a need for systems that can facilitate rapid programming and development of safe collaborative processes, without the need for extensive training. In this paper we introduce a novel Application Programming Interface (API) for the KUKA Intelligent Industrial Work Assistant (iiwa) Lightweight Robot (LBR) that enables fast development and integration of devices, using the popular Robot Operating System (ROS), without compromising the inherent safety features of the robot. We describe the API, released as a freely available download, and provide an example application of its use to support a large-scale interactive participant experiment. As flexible manufacturing technologies become ever more connected and complex, it is important to ensure compatibility between networked devices and provide tools to support system integration based on common platforms. Our API is one such tool, and has been designed to support faster and easier system integration and development, providing particular support to scientists in creating experiments for studying human-robot collaboration.

Many architects believe that major improvements in cost-energy-performance must now come from domain-specific hardware. This paper evaluates a custom ASIC---called a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU)---deployed in datacenters since 2015 that accelerates the inference phase of neural networks (NN). The heart of the TPU is a 65,536 8-bit MAC matrix multiply unit that offers a peak throughput of 92 TeraOps/second (TOPS) and a large (28 MiB) software-managed on-chip memory. The TPU's deterministic execution model is a better match to the 99th-percentile response-time requirement of our NN applications than are the time-varying optimizations of CPUs and GPUs (caches, out-of-order execution, multithreading, multiprocessing, prefetching, ...) that help average throughput more than guaranteed latency. The lack of such features helps explain why, despite having myriad MACs and a big memory, the TPU is relatively small and low power. We compare the TPU to a server-class Intel Haswell CPU and an Nvidia K80 GPU, which are contemporaries deployed in the same datacenters. Our workload, written in the high-level TensorFlow framework, uses production NN applications (MLPs, CNNs, and LSTMs) that represent 95% of our datacenters' NN inference demand. Despite low utilization for some applications, the TPU is on average about 15X - 30X faster than its contemporary GPU or CPU, with TOPS/Watt about 30X - 80X higher. Moreover, using the GPU's GDDR5 memory in the TPU would triple achieved TOPS and raise TOPS/Watt to nearly 70X the GPU and 200X the CPU., 17 pages, 11 figures, 8 tables. To appear at the 44th International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA), Toronto, Canada, June 24-28, 2017

This review has been commissioned by the Education Endowment Foundation and Public Health England to identify priorities for improving practice in the support and management of children with delays in early language development between birth and five years (72 months). In addition, it has the specific objectives of highlighting interventions that have the greatest potential to improve children’s life chances, reduce inequalities in outcomes, and potentially inform further rounds of research funded by the EEF. The review starts with an overview of the most recent findings associated with our understanding of early language and preliteracy development. It goes on to look at prevalence and at the proportion of children not attaining the appropriate levels of attainment in the early years. It then turns to interventions, their efficacy and effectiveness, and contextual factors that affect their implementation. Finally, we move on to the way that services are delivered on the ground in England and highlight the profile of five local authorities, the services they deliver, and factors affecting that delivery. The review ends with a summary of the main findings and recommendations for which interventions could usefully be taken forward. In the Appendices we provide summaries of the interventions identified and a table of interventions and their outcomes and then provide some additional details about the five case studies identified in Chapter 5.

This record also includes a French translation of the article. Background Lack of agreement about criteria and terminology for children's language problems affects access to services as well as hindering research and practice. We report the second phase of a study using an online Delphi method to address these issues. In the first phase, we focused on criteria for language disorder. Here we consider terminology. Methods The Delphi method is an iterative process in which an initial set of statements is rated by a panel of experts, who then have the opportunity to view anonymised ratings from other panel members. On this basis they can either revise their views or make a case for their position. The statements are then revised based on panel feedback, and again rated by and commented on by the panel. In this study, feedback from a second round was used to prepare a final set of statements in narrative form. The panel included 57 individuals representing a range of professions and nationalities. Results We achieved at least 78% agreement for 19 of 21 statements within two rounds of ratings. These were collapsed into 12 statements for the final consensus reported here. The term ‘Language Disorder’ is recommended to refer to a profile of difficulties that causes functional impairment in everyday life and is associated with poor prognosis. The term, ‘Developmental Language Disorder’ (DLD) was endorsed for use when the language disorder was not associated with a known biomedical aetiology. It was also agreed that (a) presence of risk factors (neurobiological or environmental) does not preclude a diagnosis of DLD, (b) DLD can co-occur with other neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. ADHD) and (c) DLD does not require a mismatch between verbal and nonverbal ability. Conclusions This Delphi exercise highlights reasons for disagreements about terminology for language disorders and proposes standard definitions and nomenclature.

Background The term ‘specific language impairment’ (SLI), in use since the 1980s, describes children with language impairment whose cognitive skills are within normal limits where there is no identifiable reason for the language impairment. SLI is determined by applying exclusionary criteria, so that it is defined by what it is not rather than by what it is. The recent decision to not include SLI in DSM-5 provoked much debate and concern from researchers and clinicians. Aims To explore how the term ‘specific language impairment’ emerged, to consider how disorders, including SLI, are generally defined and to explore how societal changes might impact on use the term. Methods & Procedures We reviewed the literature to explore the origins of the term ‘specific language impairment’ and present published evidence, as well as new analyses of population data, to explore the validity of continuing to use the term. Outcomes & Results and Conclusions & Implications We support the decision to exclude the term ‘specific language impairment’ from DSM-5 and conclude that the term has been a convenient label for researchers, but that the current classification is unacceptably arbitrary. Furthermore, we argue there is no empirical evidence to support the continued use of the term SLI and limited evidence that it has provided any real benefits for children and their families. In fact, the term may be disadvantageous to some due to the use of exclusionary criteria to determine eligibility for and access to speech pathology services. We propose the following recommendations. First, that the word ‘specific’ be removed and the label ‘language impairment’ be used. Second, that the exclusionary criteria be relaxed and in their place inclusionary criteria be adopted that take into account the fluid nature of language development particularly in the preschool period. Building on the goodwill and collaborations between the clinical and research communities we propose the establishment of an international consensus panel to develop an agreed definition and set of criteria for language impairment. Given the rich data now available in population studies it is possible to test the validity of these definitions and criteria. Consultation with service users and policy-makers should be incorporated into the decision-making process., It is argued that the current state of affairs on terminology is unsatisfactory. It is suggested that the way ahead needs to be determined by consideration of the purposes of classification and the key concepts that should shape diagnosis., Many researchers in the area of SLI are already using a broader definition of SLI, and do not use this term as a declaration that their study participants have a pure profile. The effort to acknowledge this broader outlook through the alternative term ‘language impairment’ would create more problems of boundary confusion than it would solve., Difficulties with the definition of SLI are shared with other neurodevelopmental disorders. Although a functional definition of language impairment (LI) could meet service needs, it remains important to identify its primary or ‘core’ features. The definition should recognize that LI can be observed in pure form (‘selective’) or co-occur with other risk factors in order to clarify targets for intervention., This commentary reflects on some issues which arise from the short- and long-term recommendations made by Reilly et al. from a clinical perspective in the diagnosis of specific language impairment (SLI). It also highlights the ethical dilemma of the removal of the diagnostic label for those children and families, young people and adults living with SLI., Reilly and colleagues have made a compelling case for the field to move away from the diagnostic category of specific language impairment. An important step is for researchers to acknowledge the heterogeneity of language impairment rather than rail against it. I argue that a failure of the research community to embrace a new paradigm will reflect a significant failure of leadership., The identification of children’s language difficulties has implications for the nature and amount of additional support provided in schools. Terminology should allow for communication between professionals across health and education and with researchers. Classification should reflect the nature, degree and persistence of the language impairment and allow for changing developmental needs., Repeatedly debated and discussed, a powerful label is needed to reflect the needs and impact of language difficulties—not least for children and their families. Language impairment, while a relevant alternative to SLI, may present issues in determining exactly which children would be included. A dynamic approach to assessment, supported by a skilled workforce, would help the decision-making process., Reilly et al. make a compelling argument against the label ‘specific’ language impairment and associated exclusionary criteria. Instead, a focus on inclusive diagnostic criteria and measures of functional impact are advocated. This commentary questions what inclusive criteria and measures of functional impact might look like. Relaxing diagnostic criteria will increase demand for services; evaluating how best to meet this demand is a priority for future research., Reilly et al.’s proposed changes to the term and definition of language impairment are theoretically sound but immensely challenging to services. Removing the current verbal/nonverbal discrepancy criteria without implementing an agreed prioritization system risks causing a period of confusion. Additionally the term ‘language impairment’ is too broad, and other options need to be considered., This article considers research by Reilly and others into specific language impairment. On practical grounds in terms of securing support for children who need it, I accept that this classification is unnecessary and should be replaced by the term ‘language impairment’ with an agreed definition (provided that that recognizes gradations of impairment) and supported by large-scale longitudinal research.

BackgroundEffective co-practice is essential to deliver services for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN). The necessary skills, knowledge and resources are distributed amongst professionals and agencies. Co-practice is complex and a number of barriers, such as ‘border disputes’ and poor awareness of respective priorities, have been identified. However social–relational aspects of co-practice have not been explored in sufficient depth to make recommendations for improvements in policy and practice. Here we apply social capital theory to data from practitioners: an analytical framework with the potential to move beyond descriptions of socio-cultural phenomena to inform change.AimsCo-practice in a local authority site was examined to understand: (1) the range of social capital relations extant in the site's co-practice; (2) how these relations affected the abilities of the network to collaborate; (3) whether previously identified barriers to co-practice remain; (4) the nature of any new complexities that may have emerged; and (5) how inter-professional social capital might be fostered.Methods & ProceduresA qualitative case study of SLCN provision within one local authority in England and its linked NHS partner was completed through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with professionals working with children with SLCN across the authority. Interviews, exploring barriers and facilitators to interagency working and social capital themes, were transcribed, subjected to thematic analysis using iterative methods and a thematic framework derived.Outcomes & ResultsWe identified a number of characteristics important for the effective development of trust, reciprocity and negotiated co-practice at different levels of social capital networks: macro—service governance and policy; meso—school sites; and micro—intra-practitioner knowledge and skills. Barriers to co-practice differed from those found in earlier studies. Some negative aspects of complexity were evident, but only where networked professionalism and trust was absent between professions. Where practitioners embraced and services and systems enabled more fluid forms of collaboration, then trust and reciprocity developed.Conclusions & ImplicationsHighly collaborative forms of co-practice, inherently more complex at the service governance, macro-level, bring benefits. At the meso-level of the school and support team network there was greater capacity to individualize co-practice to the needs of the child. Capacity was increased at the micro-level of knowledge and skills to harness the overall resource distributed amongst members of the inter-professional team. The development of social capital, networks of trust across SLCN support teams, should be a priority at all levels—for practitioners, services, commissioners and schools.

Delayed or impaired language development is a common developmental concern, yet there is little agreement about the criteria used to identify and classify language impairments in children. Children's language difficulties are at the interface between education, medicine and the allied professions, who may all adopt different approaches to conceptualising them. Our goal in this study was to use an online Delphi technique to see whether it was possible to achieve consensus among professionals on appropriate criteria for identifying children who might benefit from specialist services. We recruited a panel of 59 experts representing ten disciplines (including education, psychology, speech-language therapy/pathology, paediatrics and child psychiatry) from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA). The starting point for round 1 was a set of 46 statements based on articles and commentaries in a special issue of a journal focusing on this topic. Panel members rated each statement for both relevance and validity on a sevenpoint scale, and added free text comments. These responses were synthesised by the first two authors, who then removed, combined or modified items with a view to improving consensus. The resulting set of statements was returned to the panel for a second evaluation (round 2). Consensus (percentage reporting 'agree' or 'strongly agree') was at least 80 percent for 24 of 27 round 2 statements, though many respondents qualified their response with written comments. These were again synthesised by the first two authors. The resulting consensus statement is reported here, with additional summary of relevant evidence, and a concluding commentary on residual disagreements and gaps in the evidence base.

© 2016 Bishop et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Delayed or impaired language development is a common developmental concern, yet there is little agreement about the criteria used to identify and classify language impairments in children. Children's language difficulties are at the interface between education, medicine and the allied professions, who may all adopt different approaches to conceptualising them. Our goal in this study was to use an online Delphi technique to see whether it was possible to achieve consensus among professionals on appropriate criteria for identifying children who might benefit from specialist services. We recruited a panel of 59 experts representing ten disciplines (including education, psychology, speech-language therapy/pathology, paediatrics and child psychiatry) from English-speaking countries (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom and USA). The starting point for round 1 was a set of 46 statements based on articles and commentaries in a special issue of a journal focusing on this topic. Panel members rated each statement for both relevance and validity on a sevenpoint scale, and added free text comments. These responses were synthesised by the first two authors, who then removed, combined or modified items with a view to improving consensus. The resulting set of statements was returned to the panel for a second evaluation (round 2). Consensus (percentage reporting 'agree' or 'strongly agree') was at least 80 percent for 24 of 27 round 2 statements, though many respondents qualified their response with written comments. These were again synthesised by the first two authors. The resulting consensus statement is reported here, with additional summary of relevant evidence, and a concluding commentary on residual disagreements and gaps in the evidence base.

Brown adipose tissue (BAT) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obesity, type 2 diabetes and the metabolic syndrome and is a potential therapeutic target. Brown adipose tissue can have a significant impact on energy balance and glucose homeostasis through the action of uncoupling protein 1, dissipating chemical energy as heat following neuroendocrine stimulation. We hypothesized that psychological stress, which is known to promote cortisol secretion, would simultaneously activate BAT at thermoneutrality. Brown adipose tissue activity was measured using infrared thermography to determine changes in the temperature of the skin overlying supraclavicular BAT (TSCR). A mild psychological stress was induced in five healthy, lean, female, Caucasian volunteers using a short mental arithmetic (MA) test. The TSCR was compared with a repeated assessment, in which the MA test was replaced with a period of relaxation. Although MA did not elicit an acute stress response, anticipation of MA testing led to an increase in salivary cortisol, indicative of an anticipatory stress response, that was associated with a trend towards higher absolute and relative TSCR. A positive correlation between TSCR and cortisol was found during the anticipatory phase, a relationship that was enhanced by increased cortisol linked to MA. Our findings suggest that subtle changes in the level of psychological stress can stimulate BAT, findings that may account for the high variability and inconsistency in reported BAT prevalence and activity measured by other modalities. Consistent assessment of this uniquely metabolic tissue is fundamental to the discovery of potential therapeutic strategies against metabolic disease.

Formaldehyde is a highly toxic molecule; despite this, it is produced in the cells of all living organisms as a by-product of metabolic pathways. Consequently, several pathways have evolved throughout life in order to detoxify cellular formaldehyde. These pathways need to be regulated within the cell and this study sets out to determine how these pathways are regulated in particular bacteria. Several approaches are taken to achieve this. Known or predicted transcription factors that regulate formaldehyde detoxification pathways from particular organisms are considered. These proteins are called FrmR (E. coli), HxlR1 (Bacillus subtilis), and HxlR2 (Bacillus Cereus). The transcription factors are cloned and purified using molecular biology techniques. The proteins are subject to biophysical characterisation i.e. size and secondary structure composition. Additionally, the X-ray crystal structure of HxlR2 is determined and significant progress is made towards determining the structure of FrmR. Interactions of these transcription factors towards their target DNA sequences are studied along with the effect that formaldehyde has on these interactions. A reporter system is constructed that enables the behaviour of FrmR to be studied in vivo. Residues that are likely to play important roles in DNA recognition by this regulator are identified. Additionally, this reporter system identifies a residue that is essential for formaldehyde sensing by this protein. Overall, some significant insights into how these transcription factors carry out their biological function are established.

Background: Although economic evaluation has been widely recognized as a key feature of both health services and educational research, for many years there has been a paucity of such studies relevant to services for children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN), making the application of economic arguments to the development of services difficult.\ud \ud Aims: The study has two aims, namely to review systematically the cost-effectiveness literature related to services for children with SLCN and to highlight key issues that need to be included in future economic effectiveness studies.\ud \ud Methods & Procedures: A comprehensive search of the international literature for the last 30 years was completed and the studies were evaluated against the ‘gold standard’ criteria developed by Drummond and colleagues in 1996 and 2005.\ud \ud Outcomes & Results: Five studies met the review inclusion criteria. All focused on young (2–11 years) children with SLCN and most compared clinic-based and parent-administered interventions. The studies provide variable levels of detail on the key elements needed, but few provided sufficient details of costs to draw comparisons across studies. Only two studies attempted to bring together costs and effectiveness data.\ud \ud Conclusions & Implications: The studies point to the importance of home-based and indirect intervention and, in many cases, emphasize the parental perspective. There is a need for intervention studies to include a cost dimension based on readily comparable methods of establishing unit costs and for greater use to be made of cost-effectiveness analysis more generally.

Advances in the synthesis of materials and device structures have accentuated the need to understand nanoscale electronic structure and its implications. Scanning probe microscopy offers a rich variety of highly spatially accurate techniques that can further our understanding of the interactions that occur in nanoscale semiconductor materials and devices. The promising nitride semiconductor materials system suffers from perturbations in local electronic structure due to crystallographic defects. Understanding the electronic properties and physical origin of these defects can be invaluable in mitigating their impacts or eliminating them all together. In the second chapter of this dissertation, scanning capacitance microscopy (SCM) is used to characterize local electronic structure in a-plane n-type gallium nitride. Analysis reveals the presence of a linear, positively charged feature aligned along the direction which likely corresponds to a partial dislocation at the edge of a stacking fault. In the third chapter, conductive atomic force microscopy is used to determine the effects of Ga/N flux on the conductive behavior of reverse-bias leakage paths in gallium nitride grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Our data reveal a band of fluxes near Ga/N ̃ ̃1 for which these pathways cease to be observable. These observations suggest a method for controlling the primary source of reverse-bias Schottky contact leakage in n-type GaN grown by MBE. A deeper understanding of the interaction between macro-scale objects and nanoscale electronic properties is required to bring the exciting new possibilities that semiconductor nanowires offer to fruition. In the fourth chapter, SCM is used to examine the effects of micron-scale metal contacts on carrier modulation and electrostatic behavior in indium arsenide semiconductor nanowires. We interpret a pronounced dependence of capacitance spectra on distance between the probe tip and nanowire contact as a consequence of electrostatic screening of the tip-nanowire potential difference by the large metal contact. These results provide direct experimental verification of contact screening effects on the electronic behavior of nanowire devices and are indicative of the importance of accounting for the effect of large-scale contact and circuit elements on the characteristics of nanoscale electronic devices

Multirobot control architectures often require robotic tasks to be well defined before allocation. In complex missions, it is often difficult to decompose an objective into a set of well defined tasks; human operators generate a simplified representation based on experience and estimation. The result is a set of robot roles, which are not best suited to accomplishing those objectives. This thesis presents an alternative approach to generating multirobot control algorithms using task abstraction. By carefully analysing data recorded from similar systems a multidimensional and multilevel representation of the mission can be abstracted, which can be subsequently converted into a robotic controller.\ud This work, which focuses on the control of a team of robots to play the complex game of football, is divided into three sections: In the first section we investigate the use of spatial structures in team games. Experimental results show that cooperative teams beat groups of individuals when competing for space and that controlling space is important in the game of robot football. In the second section, we generate a multilevel representation of robot football based on spatial structures measured in recorded matches. By differentiating between spatial configurations appearing in desirable and undesirable situations, we can abstract a strategy composed of the more desirable structures. In the third section, five partial strategies are generated, based on the abstracted structures, and a suitable controller is devised. A set of experiments shows the success of the method in reproducing those key structures in a multirobot system. Finally, we compile our methods into a formal architecture for task abstraction and control.\ud The thesis concludes that generating multirobot control algorithms using task abstraction is appropriate for problems which are complex, weakly-defined, multilevel, dynamic, competitive, unpredictable, and which display emergent properties.

To compare routine speech and language therapy in preschool children with delayed speech and language against 12 months of "watchful waiting."Pragmatic randomised controlled trial.16 community clinics in Bristol.159 preschool children with appreciable speech or language difficulties who fulfilled criteria for admission to speech and language therapy.Four quantitative measures of speech and language, assessed at 6 and 12 months; a binary variable indicating improvement, by 12 months, on the trial entry criterion.Improvement in auditory comprehension was significant in favour of therapy (adjusted difference in means 4.1, 95% confidence interval 0.5 to 7.6; P=0.025). No significant differences were observed for expressive language (1.4, -2.1 to 4.8; P=0.44); phonology error rate (-4.4, -12.0 to 3.3; P=0.26); language development (0.1, -0.4 to 0.6; P=0.73); or improvement on entry criterion (odds ratio 1.3, 0.67 to 2.4; P=0.46). At the end of the trial, 70% of all children still had substantial speech and language deficits.This study provides little evidence for the effectiveness of speech and language therapy compared with watchful waiting over 12 months. Providers of speech and language therapy should reconsider the appropriateness, timing, nature, and intensity of such therapy in preschool children. Continued research into more specific provision to subgroups of children is also needed to identify better treatment methods. The lack of resolution of difficulties for most of the children suggests that further research is needed to identify effective ways of helping this population of children.

http://archive.org/details/managementeducat1094512589

Brown, and brown-like, adipose tissue provides a potential target for treatments to increase energy expenditure and the consumption of lipids and glucose. In humans, active depots have been shown to persist into adulthood where, previously, they were thought to atrophy in childhood. Due to the presence of uncoupling protein-1 (UCP1) within the inner mitochondrial membrane, brown adipocytes possess the capability to prevent the energy released during cellular respiration from being stored as adenosine triphosphate, instead allowing the energy to be released as heat. Since heat energy is, eventually, dissipated from the body, the result is energy expenditure. Why the body possesses such a tissue specifically designed to waste energy is explained by the benefit conferred by the ability to produce heat on demand, in response to cold challenge. The major alternative heat generating method, shivering, can respond instantly but produces vastly less heat for the same effort. Beyond the acute shivering response, which cannot be maintained for prolonged periods, brown adipose tissue is an essential contributor to thermal homeostasis.\ud \ud Brown adipose tissue is innervated by the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), acting on B3-adrenoreceptors to stimulate intracellular lipolysis, increased free fatty acids (as well as glucose uptake), upregulation of UCP1 and, hence, heat production. This process is modulated both at the level of the hypothalamic SNS activity and at the intracellular level by thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones act on the hypothalamus to increase brown adipose tissue stimulation and the biologically active thyroid hormone, triiodothyronine, concentrations are increased within the BAT cell by conversion from the inactive form, thyroxine, by 5’deiodinase-2.\ud \ud To examine the efficacy of potential stimulators, an effective way of measuring brown adipose tissue activity is required. Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT) measures glucose uptake and therefore, under cold stimulation, has allowed brown adipose tissue activity to be quantified using the surrogate measure of glucose uptake and for brown adipose tissue volumes to be calculated. However, PET-CT is unable to measure brown adipose tissue in the fed state due to glucose uptake of muscles, and the radiation exposure means it is not suitable for use in children, large studies or repeat measurements. It is of particular interest to understand the attributes of brown adipose tissue in children since this is the period of maximal brown adipose tissue activity and the time in which physiological parameters are established with lifelong effects.\ud Since the major output of BAT is heat, attempts have been made to measure the heat that is transferred from the BAT depot to the skin either by use of thermocouples, such as iButtons™, or infrared thermography. These methods aim to address some of the limitations of PET-CT as they are non-invasive, readily available and do not expose the participant to ionising radiation. Furthermore, they directly measure the major output of BAT activity, i.e. heat, rather than measuring an input, e.g. glucose uptake, which may not always reflect the activity of the tissue.\ud The thesis presented here aimed to validate IRT against PET-CT for the measurement of BAT activity and to improve the efficiency of IRT image analysis by automation before using IRT to demonstrate the effects of a) glucose dysregulation and b) thyroid hormone dysfunction on human BAT in vivo.\ud While infrared thermography was clearly able to demonstrate a supraclavicular hotspot, it was questioned whether this truly reflected BAT and whether changes in the thermal signature were indicative of BAT activation as many other factors influence skin temperature. In addition, image analysis was limited by the time-intensive process of manual image analysis. I, therefore, designed a semi-automated method of image analysis, coded using MATLAB™ by a colleague in the University’s Faculty of Engineering. This method was 86% faster than the previous method, without any increase in variation on repeated analysis.\ud \ud I then undertook an analysis of thermal images and PET-CT scans from the same individuals and compared them. Following image alignment, the “hotspot” of glucose uptake on PET-CT overlaps with the thermal “hotspot” from infrared thermography and glucose uptake was correlated well with changes in the temperature of the skin overlying the BAT depot.\ud \ud Having established and validated the image analysis method, a series of cold-water swimmers were imaged before and after their event. Exposure to this mixed maximal stimulation showed dramatic preservation of the BAT hotspot compared to the sternal reference region (3.5±1.6°C higher post-swimming compared to baseline), although further work is needed to identify the relative effects of the different stimulation components.\ud \ud I have then shown that girls with autoimmune hypothyroidism have reduced increase in supraclavicular temperature relative to a sternal reference point compared to healthy controls (hypothyroid: 0.1±0.1°C; control: 0.2±0.2°C; p = 0.04) yet, within those participants with hypothyroidism, TSH concentration was associated with increased relative supraclavicular temperatures (r = 0.7, p = 0.01). In children with diabetes compared to healthy controls stimulated relative supraclavicular temperatures were lower (diabetes: 35.0±0.6°C; control: 35.4±0.5°C; p = 0.04) and a smaller change in relative supraclavicular temperature following stimulation, after adjusting for BMI (diabetes: 0.1±0.1°C; control: 0.2±0.2°C; p = 0.03). In these studies, data was not available on thyroid function test results or glycaemic status for healthy volunteers which future work should look to address in addition to measuring and controlling for pubertal status.\ud \ud In conclusion, this thesis demonstrates that infrared thermography is a valid and reproducible way to measure BAT activity in the non-invasive and affordable way. The increase in image analysis rate provides the opportunity for future work to look at larger groups, longer imaging periods or increased image frequency even to the level of thermal videos and, thereby, reveal finer detail about the mechanisms and potential stimulators. Further advances in image analysis techniques will aim to fully automate the process.\ud \ud In children with diabetes, there is an indication of a similar reduction in BAT activity, potentially due to the differences between exogenous and endogenous insulin, such as endogenous insulin not being suppressed by sympathetic nervous system activity. Further work is also required to better understand the complex interaction between BAT and the thyroid-axis with many questions remaining. In girls with autoimmune thyroid disease, BAT activity appears to be reduced but TSH appears to stimulate BAT activity suggesting that the disease process itself may have a negative effect on BAT response but this may be mitigated by high TSH levels.

Collaborative robots offer opportunities to increase the sustainability of work and workforces by increasing productivity, quality, and efficiency, whilst removing workers from hazardous, repetitive, and strenuous tasks. They also offer opportunities for increasing accessibility to work, supporting those who may otherwise be disadvantaged through age, ability, gender, or other characteristics. However, to maximise the benefits, employers must overcome negative attitudes toward, and a lack of confidence in, the technology, and must take steps to reduce errors arising from misuse. This study explores how dynamic graphical signage could be employed to address these issues in a manufacturing task. Forty employees from one UK manufacturing company participated in a field experiment to complete a precision pick-and-place task working in conjunction with a collaborative robotic arm. Twenty-one participants completed the task with the support of dynamic graphical signage that provided information about the robot and the activity, while the rest completed the same task with no signage. The presence of the signage improved the completion time of the task as well as reducing negative attitudes towards the robots. Furthermore, participants provided with no signage had worse outcome expectancies as a function of their response time. Our results indicate that the provision of instructional information conveyed through appropriate graphical signage can improve task efficiency and user wellbeing, contributing to greater workforce sustainability. The findings will be of interest for companies introducing collaborative robots as well as those wanting to improve their workforce wellbeing and technology acceptance. Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC): EP/IO33467/1 and EP/V026747/1.

The acquisition of language is a human universal, achieved by all normal children raised in normal environments. However, normal environments are widely variable, with consequences for language development. This chapter introduces the subsequent chapters in this edited volume language development in social contexts. This chapter provides historical background and presents findings from two contemporary research projects. The historical background includes shifts in the field of language acquisition from linguistics to a bioecological model of development as the guiding theoretical framework, shifts from universals of language acquisition to individual differences as the outcome to be explained, and multiple methodological advances that have made possible much of the research presented in this book. This chapter also provides two examples of current empirical work on how children’s language development is shaped by the social contexts in which they live, including one project on language development in the bilingual context of immigrant families in the United States and another project on home and childcare influences on the language and preliteracy skill development of children in Denmark, in the context of near universal childcare attendance.

One of the earliest references in the Finnish literature to language difficulties in children was in 1959 by Forsius and her colleagues (1959). They described the condition and intervention for eight 5-to 12-year-old children with aphasia or an aphasia-like disorder treated at Lapinlahti hospital, Helsinki. In the 1970s-1980s the terms (developmental) dysphasia, delayed or deviant language development and language impairment were used. The first linguistically oriented doctoral dissertation on grammatical difficulties in Finnish children was published in 1977 and used the term delayed language development (Leiwo, 1977). The term specific language impairment (SLI) was not adopted until the 1990s. It was introduced more widely in 2010 when the Finnish Current Care Guidelines for SLI were published (Finnish Medical Society Duodecim, 2010). Currently, researchers also in Finland prefer to use the term developmental language disorder (DLD) to refer to the fact that these children may also have other co-morbid difficulties besides language (Bishop et al., 2016). © 2019 selection and editorial matter, James Law, Cristina McKean, Carol-Anne Murphy and Elin Thordardottir; individual chapters, the contributors.