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BACKGROUND Many speakers with non-fluent aphasia (NFA) are able to produce some well-formed word combinations such as 'I like it' or 'I don't know', although they may not use variations such as 'He likes it' or 'I don't know that person'. This suggests that these utterances represent fixed forms. AIMS This case series investigation explored the impact of a novel intervention aimed at enhancing the connected speech of individuals with NFA. The intervention, motivated by usage-based principles, involved filling open slots in semi-fixed sentence frames. METHODS & PROCEDURES Five participants with NFA completed a 6-week intervention programme. The intervention trained participants to insert a range of different lexical items into the open slots of high-frequency phrases such as 'I like it' to enable more productive sentences (e.g., 'they like flowers'). The outcomes and acceptability were examined: The primary outcome measure focused on changes in connected narrative, and the availability of trained constructions (e.g., 'I like it') was explored through a story completion test. Two baseline measures of behaviour were taken prior to intervention, and outcomes assessed immediately after intervention and at a 6-week maintenance assessment. OUTCOME & RESULTS A pre-/post-treatment comparison of connected speech measures showed evidence of enhanced connected speech for two of the five participants (P2 and P5). An analysis of story completion test scores revealed positive change for two participants (P1 and P2). Findings were mixed with regard to baseline stability of outcome measures and post-intervention stability of language changes. The intervention was acceptable to all participants. CONCLUSION & IMPLICATIONS While this pilot study yielded promising findings with regard to the intervention's acceptability and increased connected speech for some participants, the findings were mixed across the sample of five participants. This research helps inform hypotheses and selection criteria for future studies. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS What is already known on the subject Despite difficulties producing grammatically correct sentences, many speakers with aphasia are able to produce well-formed utterances, often representing familiar expressions such as 'I don't know' and 'I like it'. In usage-based Construction Grammar (CxG) theories, familiar utterances are assumed to be processed as one unit and are therefore more resilient to brain damage. CxG assumes that residual utterances such as 'I like it' map onto more abstract sentence frames (e.g., '[REFERENT] like-TENSE [THING]'). What this paper adds to existing knowledge Sentence therapy, informed by CxG principles, is novel in aphasiology, and usage-based interventions need to be evaluated with regard to their impact on language processing at the connected speech level. This case series report explores the acceptability and outcomes of a usage-based sentence therapy. We also introduce and explore the value of an automated, frequency-based analysis tool for evaluating connected speech outcomes in aphasia therapy. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The findings inform further development of usage-based aphasia interventions targeting word combinations.

Research into human language processing is challenged by its implicit nature of processes, the short time-window in which they take place, and heterogeneity within the population. We used a word monitoring task to measure implicit sensitivity to grammar, semantics, and the strength of word collocations, when listening to natural spoken sentences. We report substantial and novel adjustments to the paradigm, which allowed a participant to be tested in about three minutes, and data from a proof-of-concept study for which we recruited 125 visitors of different backgrounds to a science event. Linear mixed-effects models suggest that participants’ response time to target words was 45ms slower when words were less predictable in their grammatical, semantic, or collocational context (p = .034). There was no significant difference between language conditions. However, in non-native speakers, grammatical manipulation was less effective than manipulations of semantics and word collocations (p < .08), which is consistent with theories of shallow language processing in non-native speakers. There was no significant effect of age on language sensitivity. Effects generally replicated findings based on standard word-monitoring methods, suggesting that the novel adjustments can be applied in situations where participants’ time is limited, e.g. at events, in schools or online.

Background: Familiar collocations (e.g., “it’s alright”) are an important part of everyday conversation. Such word combinations are often retained in speakers with Broca’s aphasia. However, only fe...

The geopolitical discourse of the 1930s did not only negotiate the territorial demarcations of a future »Grosseuropa« which was to be identif ied with Germany. Racial and gender related difference constructions also played a part. Historically, these functioned as the legitimization and naturalization of territorial claims. Ultimately, symbolic demarcations not only substantially add to the rigor of territorial borders, they are integral to their continuance and their working. The second part of this article analyzes the visual representations of the Greek myth of Europe (among others by Werner Peiner) from the same perspective. After all, the close allegorical relation constructed between the body of the community and the (female) human body forms one of the central intersections between geographico-territorial demarcation processes and other symbolic difference constructions. Particularly, the comparison between two fields of discourse that appear to be disparate at first sight allows one to draw conclusions concerning the prevalence and virulence of intersectional patterns that legitimized the NS demarcation processes. Thus, this contribution shows that not only territorial demarcations but also gender related and racial differences formed part of the development of the (external) borders of the National Socialist »GROSSEUROPA« in geopolitical texts as well as artistic visualizations of Europe – precisely because they followed similar intersectional logic.

Dieser Band geht Krisenphänomenen der Moderne um 1900 nach, in deren Deutung moderne Erfahrungen der Kontingenz und alte Muster der Religion eingehen. Auf der Suche nach dem Ungreifbaren und Abnormen sind Labor, Kino, Hörsaal und Jahrmarkt vielfältig verknüpfte Schauplätze für Geschlechter- und Rassenfigurationen, die ihren Ausdruck in Konstruktionen von Vamps, Hysterikerinnen und Hysterikern sowie Perversen fanden. Der Mythos der »neuen Frau«, antisemitische Sexualbilder und sexualisierte Konstruktionen des »Primitiven« erzeugen Verwerfungen und Figurationen, die, wie der Band zeigt, in Film und Fotografie, Wissenschaft und Kunst aufgegriffen, verändert und reproduziert werden.

Objective To determine the viral diagnosis and the outcome of eyes with acute retinal necrosis (ARN) treated with intravenous acyclovir and oral prednisolone alone or combined with early vitrectomy and intravitreal acyclovir lavage. Design Nonrandomized, retrospective, interventional, comparative, consecutive series. Participants A cohort of 27 human immunodeficiency virus–negative patients with ARN comprising 24 unilateral and 3 bilateral cases. Intervention Vitreous biopsy for viral diagnosis. Twenty eyes were treated with intravenous acyclovir in combination with oral prednisolone (group A). Ten eyes were treated additionally with early vitrectomy, intravitreal acyclovir lavage, laser demarcation of necrotic retinal areas when feasible—with or without scleral buckling, and gas or silicone oil tamponade (group B). Vitrectomy was performed in all cases of secondary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD). Main Outcome Measures Results of vitreous biopsy, rate of RD, rate of phthisis bulbi, and course of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Results Varicella zoster virus (VZV) was detected in 26 eyes, followed by herpes simplex virus (5 eyes), and Epstein-Barr virus (2 eyes, in conjunction with VZV). An RD developed in more eyes in group A (18 of 20 eyes) than in group B (4 of 10 eyes; P = 0.007). In 2 of 20 eyes in group A and in 0 of 10 eyes in group B, phthisis bulbi developed without a significant difference between groups A and B. Mean BCVA (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) at first visit was 1.09 (standard deviation [SD], 0.83), and mean final BCVA was 1.46 (SD, 0.88) without significant difference between groups A and B. Conclusions Varicella zoster virus is the leading cause of ARN. Visual prognosis is guarded. Early vitrectomy with intravitreal acyclovir lavage was associated with a lower incidence of secondary RD; however, it did not improve mean final visual acuity. Financial Disclosure(s) Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.

Die Schriften des franzosischen Philosophen Michel Foucault verstehen sich selbst nicht als kompakter methodischer Leitfaden fur eine veranderte Forschungspraxis. Sie ermoglichen dennoch eine Art Perspektivverschiebung gegenuber jenen Traditionen, Vorstellungen und Fragen der Geschichtswissenschaft, die sich mit den Begriffen Ideengeschichte, Ideologiekritik und Historische Sozialwissenschaft verbinden. Naturlich macht eine an Foucault orientierte Diskursanalyse auch viele wichtige Anleihen bei diesen Theorien.1 Im Folgenden mochte ich jedoch das Trennende hervorheben, um deutlicher zu machen, was die Diskursanalyse fur die historische Forschung leistet. Um eine solche Perspektivverschiebung plastisch werden zu lassen, mochte ich sie fur die drei Felder des Wissens, der Macht und der Subjektformation skizzieren, um anschliesend zu zeigen, welche Impulse die Geschichte des Mannerbundes durch die Diskursanalyse bekommen konnte.2

Die Schriften des franzosischen Philosophen Michel Foucault verstehen sich selbst nicht als kompakter methodischer Leitfaden fur eine veranderte Forschungspraxis.1 Sie ermoglichen dennoch eine Art Perspektivverschiebung gegenuber jenen Traditionen, Vorstellungen und Fragen der Geschichtswissenschaft, die sich mit den Begriffen Ideengeschichte, Ideologiekritik und Historische Sozialwissenschaft verbinden. Naturlich macht eine an Foucault orientierte Diskursanalyse auch viele wichtige Anleihen bei diesen Theorien.2 Im Folgenden mochte ich jedoch das Trennende hervorheben, um deutlicher zu machen, was die Diskursanalyse fur die historische Forschung leistet. Um eine solche Perspektivverschiebung plastisch werden zu lassen, mochte ich sie fur die drei Felder des Wissens, der Macht und der Subjektformation skizzieren, um anschliesend zu zeigen, welche Impulse die Geschichte des Mannerbundes durch die Diskursanalyse bekommen konnte.3

In Thorn sollte sich eine folgenreiche Wende in Hans Bluhers (1888–1955) Leben ereignen. Bisher hatte sich der in Berlin lebende Schriftsteller vor allem fur homoerotische Formen des Mannerbundes interessiert und die junge Wandervogelbewegung in diesem Sinne gedeutet, was ihn ebenso popular wie umstritten gemacht hatte. Obwohl er weder Mediziner noch Naturwissenschaftler war, hatte er sich Anerkennung in sexualwissenschaftlichen und psychoanalytischen Fachkreisen erworben. Wahrend des Krieges wurden seine Schriften zunehmend pessimistischer und wissenschaftskritischer. 1916 warb er fur die Erneuerung der platonischen Akademie durch einen Zusammenschluss aller „wahrhaft Geistigen“ gegen die Intellektuellen und hatte 1917 grosen Erfolg mit seiner Monographie uber Die Rolle der Erotik im mannlichen Staat. Sein Antifeminismus der Kaiserreichszeit wurde in der Weimarer Republik von einem starken Antisemitismus uberlagert.

Die Geschlechterforschung hat in mannigfaltiger Weise aufgezeigt, dass die wirkungsmachtigen universalistischen Konzepte, auf denen die ‚Meistererzahlungen‘ der Moderne beruhen, durchgangig von der Kategorie ‚Geschlecht‘ strukturiert sind. Die philosophischen Konzepte der Vernunft und des Fortschrittes, gehoren ebenso dazu, wie die politisch und kulturell Epoche machenden Entwurfe von Nation und Gemeinschaft oder aber der Begriff der Arbeit.