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BACKGROUND: The supraclavicular fossa is the dominant location for human brown adipose tissue (BAT). Activation of BAT promotes non-shivering thermogenesis by utilization of glucose and free fatty acids and has been the focus of pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches for modulation in order to improve body weight and glucose homeostasis. Sympathetic neural control of supraclavicular BAT has received much attention, but its innervation has not been extensively investigated in humans. METHODS: Dissection of the cervical region in human cadavers was performed to find the distribution of sympathetic nerve branches to supraclavicular fat pad. Furthermore, proximal segments of the 4th cervical nerve were evaluated histologically to assess its sympathetic components. RESULTS: Nerve branches terminating in supraclavicular fat pad were identified in all dissections, including those from the 3rd and 4th cervical nerves and from the cervical sympathetic plexus. Histology of the proximal segments of the 4th cervical nerves confirmed tyrosine hydroxylase positive thin nerve fibers in all fascicles with either a scattered or clustered distribution pattern. The scattered pattern was more predominant than the clustered pattern (80% vs. 20%) across cadavers. These sympathetic nerve fibers occupied only 2.48% of the nerve cross sectional area on average. CONCLUSIONS: Human sympathetic nerves use multiple pathways to innervate the supraclavicular fat pad. The present finding serves as a framework for future clinical approaches to activate human BAT in the supraclavicular region.

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.

The present study aimed to investigate 1) whether country categories and type of DLD predict the type of therapy (direct, indirect, and mixed) the child receives, and 2) whether there is an association between country categories, type of therapy, and type of DLD (receptive, expressive, and mixed). European countries were categorised based on Sapir's typology into Continental, AngloSaxon, Nordic and Mediterranean groups. A fifth group i.e. Central European (including Baltic countries) was added. The data to address these questions comes from an online survey, translated and adapted into 30 languages, and is based on reports by 4685 professionals delivering services for children with DLD. This survey was developed by the COST Action IS1406 members and distributed online among practitioners in the year 2017 across European countries. Results indicated that country categories and type of DLD predicted type of therapy. It was suggested that cultural and contextual factors might play a key role in driving clinical practice above and beyond language profiles, patient characteristics and evidence-based practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although L2 reading is traditionally framed as an individual enterprise, digital annotation tools (DATs) have recently been developed allowing groups of readers to collaborate and provide mutual scaffolding through collective annotation of texts (Blyth, 2014; Thoms, Sung, & Poole, 2017). These tools reframe L2 reading as an interactive process where meaning is socially constructed. Digital social reading supports a multiliteracies approach to teaching L2 pragmatics. This study investigates interactional patterns in social reading across multiple groups of learners. In total, 215 students enrolled in 11 sections of a beginning university French course used the DAT eComma to annotate six L2 songs over three months. We performed a mixed-methods analysis of the annotations. Social engagement, as measured by the frequency of questions and replies as well as word count, decreased over time, and the use of linguistic affordances increased in later songs. However, these patterns were highly variable across the sections. Language choice, social engagement and register, among other factors, were influenced by the shared practices of members of each section. Through their interactions, participants co-constructed meaning about the texts themselves as well as broader cultural and pragmatic questions. Instructors reported that engagement in class discussion corresponded to that of the online discussion.

This study investigates associations between trajectories of children's vocabulary development and subsequent behavioral and emotional difficulties via two potential mediating mechanisms; literacy and peer problems. Nationally representative data from 4,983 Australian children were used to examine trajectories of receptive vocabulary (4-5, 6-7, and 8-9 years) and hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems and emotional symptoms (8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15 years), and literacy and peer problems (8-9 years). Lower growth in vocabulary was related to trajectories of hyperactivity-inattention, conduct problems, and emotional symptoms. Literacy was a key mediator explaining these associations. Results were consistent for children below the 50th percentile for vocabulary at 4-5 years compared to the full sample. These findings suggest that early literacy-based interventions may alleviate declining academic, emotional and behavioral functioning in adolescence.

Background: Parent-child interaction therapies are commonly used by speech and language therapists (SLTs) when providing services to young children with language learning difficulties. However, the way parents react to the demands of such interventions is clearly important, especially for those from socially disadvantaged backgrounds. Parents play a central role in the therapy process so to ensure parent engagement, and to maximize intervention effectiveness, parents' views must be considered. Aims: To explore the expectations and experiences of parents from socially disadvantaged backgrounds who had taken part in a parent-child interaction programme aimed at promoting language development in 2-3 year olds with language difficulties. Methods & Procedures: The sample included parents who had a child aged 2-3 years and had attended a parent-child interaction programme to promote their child's language development. Parents were eligible to take part if they were living in the 30% most deprived areas in a city in the North of England that constituted the study site. Ten parents participated in a qualitative semi-structured face-to-face interview in the home. Framework analysis was used to analyse the interview transcripts. Outcomes & Results: Parents' expectations before taking part in parent-child interaction interventions contribute to how they may engage throughout the intervention process. Barriers include parents' uncertainty about the nature of the intervention and differing attitudes regarding intervention approaches and strategies. Facilitators during the intervention process include gaining support from other parents, reassurance from the SLT regarding their child's language development, and their own ability to support their child's language learning, as well as increased confidence in how they support their child's development. Conclusions & Implications: Parents respond very differently to parent-child interaction intervention for children with language difficulties, depending on their expectations and attitudes towards intervention. Thus, it is critical that these different perspectives are understood by practitioners before intervention commences to ensure successful engagement.

The nature of 'Teacher talk' is likely to have a considerable bearing on the child's learning but measuring the communication environment in the classroom can present challenges. One tool which does this is the Communication Supporting Classroom Observation Tool (CSCOT). Initial use suggested that it was valid and reliably used by specialists (psychologists and speech and language therapists) and special educational needs coordinators (SENCOs). A key question is whether it can be used routinely by classroom teachers and whether results coincide with those in earlier studies. CSCOT observations were carried out by teachers in 33 schools (32 Reception classrooms, 25 in Year 1 and 25 in Year 2) in two local authorities in the North East of England and teachers were asked afterwards to reflect on their experiences using the tool. Scores were in line with those in earlier studies and were consistently higher on all dimensions for reception compared to Year 2, but there was no difference between other year groups. Results were mostly consistent with the original studies. Language learning environment was higher relative to both language learning opportunities and interactions across all years (which again did not differ). There was a moderate interaction between language learning environment where scores were significantly higher in the Reception group and lower in the Year 2 group. Teachers supported the use of the CSCOT in their feedback, suggesting that CSCOT was easy to use and useful in informing practice. The CSCOT clearly has utility as a starting point in auditing classroom communication. It allows teachers to compare between classrooms and year groups and potentially fosters collaboration between teachers and specialist practitioners who focus on communication such as speech and language therapists. Further work could link the observation tool into an intervention program co-constructed with teachers.

Background: An association between social disadvantage and early language development is commonly reported in the literature, but less attention has been paid to the way that different aspects of social disadvantage affect both expressive and receptive language in the first 2 years of life. Aims: To examine the contributions of gender, parental report of early language skills and proximal social variables (the amount of stimulation in the home, the resources available to the child and the attitudes/emotional status of the primary carer and the support available to him/her) controlling for distal social variables (family income and maternal education) to children's expressive and receptive language development at 2 years in a community ascertained population cohort. Methods & Procedures: Data from 1314 children in the Children in Focus (CiF) sample from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) were analyzed. Multivariable regression models identified the contribution of proximal (what parents do with their children) measures of social disadvantage adjusting for more distal (e.g., family income and material wealth) measures as well as early language development at 15 months to the development of verbal comprehension, expressive vocabulary and expressive grammar (word combinations) at 2 years of age. Outcome & Results: In the final multivariable models gender, earlier language and proximal social factors, co-varying for distal factors predicted 36% of the variance for expressive vocabulary, 22% for receptive language and 27% for word combinations at 2 years. Language development at 15 months remained a significant predictor of outcomes at 24 months. Environmental factors were associated with both expressive scales but the picture was rather more mixed for receptive language suggesting that there may be different mechanisms underlying the different processes. Conclusions & Implications: This study supports the argument that social advantage makes a strong contribution to children's language development in the early years. The results suggest that what parents/carers do with their children is critical even when structural aspects of social disadvantage such as family income and housing have been taken into consideration although this relationship varies for different aspects of language. This has the potential to inform the targeting of public health interventions focusing on early language and pre-literacy skills on the one hand and home learning environments on the other and, potentially, the two in combination.

This paper examines how school-based practitioners supporting children with speech, language and communication needs (SLCN) use particular social capital relations. Social capital theory together with selected 'Productive Pedagogies' items, are applied to re-frame and understand the co/production of support for such children. Empirical data from the 'Language for All' study, which investigates SLCN provision in schools in England, are analysed to understand support network social capital. Novel insights on the types and purposes of inter-professional connectedness within SLCN support networks, in particular how relational agency is inflected by affect, are offered.

OBJECTIVE: This paper describes the University of Michigans nine-year experience in developing and using a full-text search engine designed to facilitate information retrieval (IR) from narrative documents stored in electronic health records (EHRs). The system, called the Electronic Medical Record Search Engine (EMERSE), functions similar to Google but is equipped with special functionalities for handling challenges unique to retrieving information from medical text. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Key features that distinguish EMERSE from general-purpose search engines are discussed, with an emphasis on functions crucial to (1) improving medical IR performance and (2) assuring search quality and results consistency regardless of users medical background, stage of training, or level of technical expertise. RESULTS: Since its initial deployment, EMERSE has been enthusiastically embraced by clinicians, administrators, and clinical and translational researchers. To date, the system has been used in supporting more than 750 research projects yielding 80 peer-reviewed publications. In several evaluation studies, EMERSE demonstrated very high levels of sensitivity and specificity in addition to greatly improved chart review efficiency. DISCUSSION: Increased availability of electronic data in healthcare does not automatically warrant increased availability of information. The success of EMERSE at our institution illustrates that free-text EHR search engines can be a valuable tool to help practitioners and researchers retrieve information from EHRs more effectively and efficiently, enabling critical tasks such as patient case synthesis and research data abstraction. CONCLUSION: EMERSE, available free of charge for academic use, represents a state-of-the-art medical IR tool with proven effectiveness and user acceptance.

Oral language development is a key outcome of elementary school, and it is important to identify factors that predict it most effectively. Commonly researchers use ordinary least squares regression with conclusions restricted to average performance conditional on relevant covariates. Quantile regression offers a more sophisticated alternative. Using data of 17,687 children from the United Kingdom's Millennium Cohort Study, we compared ordinary least squares and quantile models with language development (verbal similarities) at 11 years as the outcome. Gender had more of an effect at the top of the distribution, whereas poverty, early language, and reading to the child had a greater effect at the bottom. The picture for TV watching was more mixed. The results are discussed in terms of the provision of universal and targeted interventions.