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Background: Despite its importance, in-depth analysis of connected speech is often neglected in the diagnosis of primary progressive aphasia (PPA) -- especially for the logopenic variant (lvPPA) for which unreliable differential diagnosis has been documented. Only a few studies have been conducted on this topic in lvPPA. Aims: The aim of this study was to describe and compare lexico-semantic and morphosyntactic features of connected speech in participants with lvPPA, in comparison with healthy controls, using three different elicitation tasks (i.e., picture description, story narration and semi-structured interviews). In addition to a number of discourse features, we were particularly interested in the presence or absence of syntactic deficits in this PPA variant in line with recent findings. Methods & Procedures: A prospective group study was conducted to compare lvPPA participants (n = 13) to age- and education-matched healthy controls (n = 13). For each individual, connected speech was obtained using three tasks: (1) The Cookie Theft picture description; (2) Cinderella Story; (3) Topic-directed interview. Production on each task was recorded, transcribed and analysed according to the Quantitative Production Analysis (QPA) protocol, a tool developed by Berndt et al. (2000) for the analysis of sentence production in aphasia. Differences between lvPPA and healthy controls and among elicitation tasks were analysed using repeated measures multilevel mixed-effects regression, separately for each outcome. Outcomes & Results: Four measures were significantly different between lvPPA participants and healthy controls across all elicitation tasks. Specifically, lvPPA participants produced a reduced proportion of open-class words, a higher proportion of verbs, a higher proportion of pronouns and fewer well-formed sentences. For these measures, the difference between lvPPA and healthy controls was consistent among elicitation tasks, except for the proportion of well-formed sentences, where the difference between the two groups was significantly greater in the story narration task than in the other tasks. Conclusions & Implications: Across elicitation tasks that used the same analysis protocol (i.e., QPA), a similar pattern of deficits in connected speech emerged in lvPPA patients. Importantly, the findings replicate previous studies, which used different elicitation tasks and analysis protocols. Especially in relation to the documented syntactic deficits, these findings provide implications for differential diagnosis in PPA.

In this rejoinder, we provide a different perspective on the positions put forth by Giacalone and Promislo as they relate to (1) the claims of the pervasiveness of "misinformation" that is communicated by management faculty and (2) the proposition that management educators should teach in a nonideological fashion. Our position on these topics is that the pervasiveness of the misinformation problem in the focal article is unsubstantiated and not supported by data, and that it is impossible to effectively teach social science without at least acknowledging the impact of individual bias or ideology on all parties involved, including faculty. We present our rationale along with data gathered from a variety of current management textbooks to support our assertions. [For "The Menace of Misinformation: Faculty Misstatements in Management Education and Their Consequences," see EJ1221863.]

This study tested the association between neuroticism and six cognitive measures, and examined the potential mediating roles of social connection (social isolation and loneliness) among middle-aged and older adults. This cross-sectional study was a secondary analysis of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) Comprehensive Cohort, a sample of Canadians aged 45–85 years at baseline. Respondents with data collected at the first follow-up, between 2015 and 2018, were included (n = 27,765). Structural equation modelling was used to assess the association between neuroticism and six cognitive measures (Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test immediate recall and delayed recall, Animal Fluency Test, Mental Alternation Test, Controlled Oral Word Association Test and Stroop Test interference ratio), with direct and indirect effects (through social isolation and loneliness). All analyses were stratified by sex, including females (n = 14,133) and males (n = 13,632). In unadjusted models, there was evidence of associations between neuroticism and all cognitive measures, except the Stroop Test interference ratio, suggesting higher neuroticism was associated with lower scores on memory and executive function tests. In the models of these other five outcomes, there was consistent evidence of indirect effects (through social isolation and loneliness) and, in some cases, direct effects. The results are discussed in context with limitations, including the use of cross-sectional design and alternative hypotheses to explain the association between personality and cognition. Among middle-aged and older adults, for both males and females, the findings suggest that the association between neuroticism and cognitive outcomes may be mediated by aspects of social connection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to evaluate outcomes for older persons post-hip fracture repair, including those with cognitive impairment (CI), following implementation of a novel model of care - the Patient-Centered Rehabilitation Model including persons with CI (PCRM-CI). The PCRM-CI is an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program that incorporates education for healthcare professionals (HCPs), including nurses, which is focused on geriatric care including management of dementia and delirium, support for HCPs from an Advanced Practice Nurse, and family support and education. Primary outcome measures were mobility gain from admission to discharge and whether or not patients returned home post-discharge.MethodsThe PCRM-CI intervention was evaluated using a quasi-experimental design, following implementation in two community hospital inpatient rehabilitation units. One hundred forty-nine patients aged 65 and older participated as patients in the usual care (76) or PCRM-CI intervention (73) groups. Patient mobility was assessed at admission and discharge by the Functional Independence Measure Motor Subscale (FIMM); the difference in mobility scores was defined as mobility gain. Patient discharge location was also captured to determine whether or not patients returned home from inpatient rehabilitation.ResultsNo difference in mobility gain was found between the usual care and PCRM-CI groups as measured by the FIMM. Patients in the intervention group were more likely to return home post-discharge than those in the usual care group (p = 0.02).ConclusionsResults of the PCRM-CI evaluation suggest that older adults with CI can successfully be rehabilitated post-hip fracture repair using this novel, interdisciplinary rehabilitation program.

Recent research has suggested that perceived control and a person's perceptions of their neighborhood environment may mediate the association between socioeconomic status (SES) and health. This cross-sectional study assessed whether perceptions of informal social control mediated the association between SES and self-reported health, and if these two constructs represented distinct mechanisms linking SES with self-reported health. The sample consisted of 869 adults residing in 300 census tracts in Montreal, Canada. Multilevel methods were used to assess the associations among self-reported health, SES, perceived control, and perceived informal social control adjusting for sociodemographic variables. Perceived control (mediation estimate=-0.16, p less than 0.001) and perceived informal social control (mediation estimate=-0.05, p less than 0.05) partially mediated the association between SES and self-reported health. Perceived control did not mediate the association of perceived informal social control with self-reported health. Perceived informal social control may act alongside but distinct from perceived control as a mechanism linking SES to self-reported health. (Contains 3 tables and 1 figure.)

Healthcare providers caring for people living with dementia may experience moral distress when faced with ethically challenging situations, such as the inability to provide care that is consistent with their values. The COVID-19 pandemic produced conditions in long-term care homes (hereafter referred to as 'care homes') that could potentially contribute to moral distress. We conducted an online survey to examine changes in moral distress during the pandemic, its contributing factors and correlates, and its impact on the well-being of care home staff. Survey participants (n = 227) working in care homes across Ontario, Canada were recruited through provincial care home organizations. Using a Bayesian approach, we examined the association between moral distress and staff demographics and roles, and characteristics of the long-term care home. We performed a qualitative analysis of the survey's free-text responses. More than 80% of care home healthcare providers working with people with dementia reported an increase in moral distress since the start of the pandemic. There was no difference in the severity of distress by age, sex, role, or years of experience. The most common factors associated with moral distress were lack of activities and family visits, insufficient staffing and high turnover, and having to follow policies and procedures that were perceived to harm residents with dementia. At least two-thirds of respondents reported feelings of physical exhaustion, sadness/anxiety, frustration, powerlessness, and guilt due to the moral distress experienced during the pandemic. Respondents working in not-for-profit or municipal homes reported less sadness/anxiety and feelings of not wanting to go to work than those in for-profit homes. Front-line staff were more likely to report not wanting to work than those in management or administrative positions. Overall, we found that increases in moral distress during the pandemic negatively affected the well-being of healthcare providers in care homes, with preliminary evidence suggesting that individual and systemic factors may intensify the negative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]