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Purpose: Dyslexia is characterized by its diverse causes and heterogeneous manifestations. Chinese children with dyslexia exhibit orthographic, phonological, and semantic deficits across character and radical levels when writing. However, whether character dictation can be used to distinguish children with dyslexia from their typically developing peers remains unexplored. Method: A dataset of written characters from 1,015 Chinese children with and without dyslexia from Grades 2-6 was used to train multiple machine models with different learning algorithms. Results: The multi-level multidimensional model reached a predictive accuracy of 78.0%, with stroke, grade, lexicality, and character configuration manifesting as the most predictive features. The accuracy of the model improved to 80.0% when only these features were included. Conclusion: These results not only provide evidence for the multidimensional causes of Chinese dyslexia, but also highlight the utility of machine learning in distinguishing children with dyslexia from their peers via Chinese dictation, which elucidates a promising area of future research.

Background: Face-to-face class suspensions during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in 2019 increased telepractice in speech and language therapy. However, little is known about speech and language therapists' (SLTs) perceived effectiveness of telepractice and its antecedents. Aims: To examine the use of telepractice and the factors affecting its perceived effectiveness in Hong Kong mainstream schools during COVID-19. Methods & Procedures: Seventy-two school-based Hong Kong SLTs completed a 110-item online survey with six structural components: (1) concerns, (2) adoption, (3) student selection criteria, (4) perceived effectiveness, (5) continuous professional development and (6) attitudes/beliefs. Outcomes & Results: Over 90% of respondents adopted telepractice during the pandemic. Confirmatory factor analysis identified reliable constructs from their component measures. These participants reported great telepractice difficulties (especially in therapy preparation and managing students' attention and/or communication). Mixed-response analysis revealed that psychosocial factors (i.e., students' engagement and SLTs' attitudes towards telepractice) but not professional practice skill factors (i.e., student client selection criteria and SLTs' years of experience in school settings) contributed to SLTs' self-perceived effectiveness of telepractice. Conclusions & Implications: Our findings suggest that psychosocial factors play a more important role than professional practice skill factors in the self-perceived effectiveness of telepractice.

A compelling demonstration of implicit learning is the human ability to unconsciously detect and internalize statistical patterns of complex environmental input. This ability, called statistical learning, has been investigated in people with dyslexia using various tasks in different orthographies. However, conclusions regarding impaired or intact statistical learning in dyslexia remain mixed. This study conducted a systematic literature search of published and unpublished studies that compared statistical learning between people with and without dyslexia using different learning paradigms in different orthographies. We identified 49 papers consisting of 59 empirical studies, representing the data from 1,259 participants with dyslexia and 1,459 typically developing controls. The results showed that, on average, individuals with dyslexia performed worse in statistical learning than age-matched controls, regardless of the learning paradigm or orthography (average weighted effect size d = 0.47, 95% confidence interval [0.36, 0.59], p < 0.001). Meta-regression analyses further revealed that the heterogeneity of effect sizes between studies was significantly explained by one reader characteristic (i.e., verbal IQ) but no task characteristics (i.e., task paradigm, task modality, and stimulus type). These findings suggest domain-general statistical learning weakness in dyslexia across languages, and support the need for a new theoretical model of statistical learning and reading, that is, the SLR model, which elucidates how reader and task characteristics are regulated by a multicomponent memory system when establishing statistically optimal representations for deep learning and reading.

Abstract Developing central synapses exhibit robust plasticity and undergo experience-dependent remodeling. Evidently, synapses in sensory systems such as auditory brainstem circuits mature rapidly to achieve high-fidelity neurotransmission for sound localization. This depends on a developmental switch in AMPAR composition from slow-gating GluA1-dominant to fast-gating GluA4-dominant, but the mechanisms underlying this switch remain unknown. We hypothesize that patterned stimuli mimicking spontaneous/sound evoked activity in the early postnatal stage drives this gating switch. We examined activity-dependent changes in evoked and miniature excitatory postsynaptic currents (eEPSCs and mEPSCs) at the calyx of Held synapse by breaking through the postsynaptic membrane at different time points following 2 min of theta burst stimulation (TBS) to afferents in mouse brainstem slices. We found the decay time course of eEPSCs accelerated, but this change was not apparent until > 30 min after TBS. Histogram analyses of the decay time constants of mEPSCs for naive and tetanized synapses revealed two populations centered around τfast ≈ 0.4 and 0.8 ms, but the relative weight of the τ0.4 population over the τ0.8 population increased significantly only in tetanized synapses. Such changes are blocked by NMDAR or mGluR1/5 antagonists or inhibitors of CaMKII, PKC and protein synthesis, and more importantly precluded in GluA4−/− synapses, suggesting GluA4 is the substrate underlying the acceleration. Our results demonstrate a novel form of plasticity working through NMDAR and mGluR activation to trigger a gating switch of AMPARs with a temporally delayed onset of expression, ultimately enhancing the development of high-fidelity synaptic transmission.

BackgroundThe ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in the suspension of face-to-face classes and a considerable increase in the use of telepractice services in speech-language pathology. However, little is known about parents’ and students’ satisfaction with telepractice services and their preferences for different service delivery modes. These factors may affect therapy effectiveness and the future adoption of telepractice. ObjectiveWe evaluated students’ and parents’ perceptions of telepractice efficacy and their preferences for different service delivery modes (ie, on-site practice vs telepractice). We also identified factors that affect parents’ and students’ preferences for different service delivery modes during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsA 19-question survey on telepractice satisfaction and preferences was administered to 41 Hong Kong Chinese students and 85 parents who received telepractice services from school-based speech-language pathologists during the COVID-19 class suspension period. In addition to providing demographic information and data on the implementation of telepractice services, all participants were asked to rate their perceptions of the efficacy of telepractice services and compare on-site practices to telepractice on a 5-point Likert scale (ie, 1=strongly disagree/prefer the use of on-site speech-language therapy services and 5=strongly agree/prefer the use of telepractice services). ResultsDespite the fact that telepractice efficacy was highly rated by parents (95% CI 3.30-3.66) and students (95% CI 3.21-3.76), both groups believed that telepractice was less effective than on-site practices (parents: 95% CI 2.14-2.52; students: 95% CI 2.08-2.65). Moreover, parents preferred on-site practices over telepractice (95% CI 2.04-2.43), whereas students did not prefer one mode of practice over the other (95% CI 2.74-3.41). A significant association between telepractice efficacy and a preference for telepractice services was found only among the students (τ=.43, P

BackgroundAntiretrovirals (ARVs) are key in the management of HIV. Although no cure exists, ARVs help patients live healthy lives and prevent transmission to others. Adherence to complex regimens is paramount to outcomes and in avoiding the emergence of drug-resistant viruses. The goal of therapy is to reach an undetectable viral load. However, adherence is a common problem, stemming from issues such as mental health, chaotic home situations, and busy work schedules. Mobile health (mHealth) represents a new approach in improving medication adherence, and multiple studies have been performed in this area. ObjectiveThis study aims to review the current implementation of mHealth in the management of HIV among different groups of patients. MethodsWe used PubMed, Academic Search Elite, and 1 journal database with various search terms to review the current implementation of mHealth in HIV care. ResultsTitles and abstracts were screened, and 61 papers were identified and fully reviewed. The literature was divided into lower- and higher-income nations, as defined by the United Nations. A total of 20 studies with quantitative results were identified, with 10 being text- and SMS-based interventions (the majority of these being in lower-income countries) and 8 being smartphone-based apps (primarily in higher-income countries). The majority of these studies determined whether there was an effect on adherence or biochemical parameters (viral load and CD4 count). Various qualitative studies have also been conducted, and many have focused on determining the specific design of interventions that were successful (frequency of messaging, types of messages, etc) as well as priorities for patients with regard to mHealth interventions. ConclusionsThere seems to be a role of mHealth in the management of HIV in lower-income nations; however, the optimal design of an intervention needs to be delineated. In higher-income countries, where the 2 significant risk factors were injection drugs and men who have sex with men, the benefit was less clear, and more research is needed.

Controversial findings have been reported in the literature regarding the impact of the absence of standard modifiable cardiovascular risk factors (SMuRFs) on long-term mortality risk in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). While the prognostic additive value of SMuRFs has been well described, the prognostic role of prior cardiovascular disease (CVD) by sex is less well-known in patients with and without SMuRFs. EPICOR and EPICOR Asia are prospective, observational registries conducted between 2010 and 2014, which enrolled ACS patients in 28 countries across Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Association between SMuRFs (diabetes, dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and smoking) and 2-year postdischarge mortality was evaluated using adjusted Cox models stratified by geographical region. Among 23,489 patients, the mean age was 60.9 ± 11.9 years, 24.3% were women, 4,582 (20.1%) presented without SMuRFs, and 16,055 (69.5%) without prior CVD. Patients with SMuRFs had a higher crude 2-year postdischarge mortality (HR 1.86; 95% CI, 1.56-2.22; P <.001), compared to those without SMuRFs. After adjustment for potential confounding, the association between SMuRFs and 2-year mortality risk was substantially attenuated (HR 1.17, 95% CI 0.98-1.41; P =.087), regardless of the type of ACS. The risk conferred by prior CVD was added to the underlying risk of SMuRFs to provide risk-specific phenotypes (eg, women with SMuRFs and with prior CVD were at higher risk of dying than women without SMuRFs and without CVD; HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.34-2.06). In this large-scale international ACS cohort the absence of SMuRFs was not associated with a lower adjusted 2-year postdischarge mortality risk. Patients with both SMuRFs and prior CVD had a higher mortality irrespective of their sex. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that word processing in English as a second language (L2) is affected by first language (L1) orthographic features. However, little is known about what affects L2 Chinese character processing in adult Chinese learners with different L1 orthographies such as Japanese, Korean, and English. With a picture-character mapping task, we found that when no cue was provided, the Japanese and Korean groups used semantic and phonetic radicals equally, whereas the English group preferred semantic radicals. With semantic (or phonetic) cues, all 3 groups showed increased use of semantic (phonetic) radicals, but the English group benefited less from phonetic cues than the Korean group, and the Japanese group benefited more from semantic cues than the other 2 groups. These results support a non-native Chinese character processing model (NCCP), which reflects the properties of the Chinese writing system and assumes a dynamic interaction between L1-L2 orthographies and learners' instructional experience.