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Purpose: Supporting psychological well-being in persons with aphasia (PWA) can improve social and health outcomes; however, PWA and their care partners (CPs) are often not receiving mental health support. Previous research explores this from the perspective of health care professionals., Aims: The aim of this study was to examine knowledge, beliefs, and experiences related to mental health services directly from PWA and CPs., Method: The study included 11 PWA and 11 CPs. Participants completed a guided survey (virtual) with opportunities for elaboration related to the knowledge, beliefs, and experiences of mental health., Results: There was variability in personal preferences for referrals, types of coping strategies, and confidants for general thoughts and feelings and those specific to aphasia. PWA identified health care professionals as people to share thoughts and feelings, whereas CPs chose family and friends more often. Both CPs and PWA reported communication difficulty and finding a counselor as "sometimes" preventing access to services but cited fear and trust as "always" preventing access., Conclusions: Knowledge, beliefs, and experience with help-seeking and mental health services are personal and variable. Assessing barriers unique to living with aphasia, such as communication challenges and locating a suitable counselor, must also be considered within more complex and personal barriers of fear and trust that are consistently reported in the general public. Health professionals across the continuum of aphasia care need to understand the communication challenges of living with aphasia in tandem with understanding individual differences to personalize approaches to mental health services and help-seeking.

Many breeds of cattle with long histories of living in areas of endemic disease have evolved mechanisms that enable them to co-exist with specific pathogens. Understanding the genes that control tolerance and resistance could provide new strategies to improve the health and welfare of livestock. Around one sixth of the world cattle population is estimated to be at risk from one of the most debilitating tick-borne diseases of cattle, caused by the protozoan parasite, Theileria annulata. The parasite mainly infects cells of the myeloid lineage which are also the main producers of inflammatory cytokines. If an infectious or inflammatory insult is sufficiently great, inflammatory cytokines produced by macrophages enter the circulation and induce an acute phase proteins (APP) response. The Bos taurus Holstein breed produces higher and more prolonged levels of inflammatory cytokine induced APP than the Bos indicus Sahiwal breed in response to experimental infection with T. annulata. The Sahiwal exhibits significantly less pathology and survives infection, unlike the Holstein breed. Therefore, we hypothesised that the causal genes were likely to be expressed in macrophages and control the production of inflammatory cytokines. A functional genomics approach revealed that the transcriptome profile of the B. taurus macrophages was more associated with an inflammatory programme than the B. indicus macrophages. In particular the most differentially expressed gene was a member of the signal regulatory protein (SIRP) family. These are mainly expressed on myeloid cell surfaces and control inflammatory responses. Other differentially expressed genes included bovine major histocompatibility complex (MHC) (BoLA) class II genes, particularly BoLA DQ, and transforming growth factor (TGF)B2. We are now exploring whether sequence and functional differences in the bovine SIRP family may underlie the resistance or tolerance to T. annulata between the breeds. Potentially, our research may also have more general implications for the control of inflammatory processes against other pathogens. Genes controlling the balance between pathology and protection may determine how livestock can survive in the face of infectious onslaught. Next generation sequencing and RNAi methodologies for livestock species will bring new opportunities to link diversity at the genome level to functional differences in health traits in livestock species., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

This pilot study of a school-based telepractice pilot project in a rural, remote county of North Carolina investigated the satisfaction of parents/caregivers, teachers, and administrators with a year-long telespeech therapy program delivered by a university clinic. Upon completion of the almost year-long project, a satisfaction survey incorporating a 5-point equal-appearing Likert scale (1= strongly disagree; 5= strongly agree) was disseminated to the stakeholders. The results were sorted by the three populations surveyed and indicated stakeholder satisfaction with student progress toward their speech and language goals, and clinician accessibility and responsiveness (mean ratings > 4 points). The respondents (N=23) also indicated they would "recommend TeleSpeech Therapy to other school districts" (mean rating: 4.3). The only mean rating below 4.0 was associated with teacher responses to the statement: "My expectations for the TeleSpeech Therapy program have been met" (mean rating: 3.92). Overall, parents/caregivers, teachers, and administrators appeared to find telepractice a satisfactory service delivery model for school-based speech-language therapy.