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Government and market are the two main factors that drive the practices of the Chinese media system and influence the news construction process. A dramatic, socially disruptive event like the 2014 Kunming terrorist attack has the potential both to damage the government image and to attract readers. Analyzing how different types of media, more specifically the state-sponsored and the market-oriented press, construct a terrorist attack may therefore reveal essential characteristics of the Chinese media system and its relationship with both government and market. In doing so, the present study makes a contribution in terms of methodology, resources, and empirical description. From a methodological perspective, drawing on a dataset of 275 news articles about the Kunming attack that was collected from 16 mainstream Chinese newspapers, we explore the possibilities of combining computer-assisted techniques (i.e. part-of-speech tagging, sentiment analysis, collocation, and concordance) and Discursive News Values Analysis (DNVA), based on which we identified 699 Chinese lexical indicators distributed across ten news values. The open-source wordlist produced by this procedure will facilitate future quantitative DNVA, but also fills a resource gap in non-English news values studies. After calculating the mean normalized frequency of indicators under each news value on a more empirical level, we found that the state-sponsored and the market-oriented press converge in foregrounding the news values of Eliteness and Personalization, in line with public expectations, while at the same time diverging in their use of the news values of Positivity, Negativity, and Superlativeness, which we can relate to the different aims and responsibilities of these two types of newspapers.

Objectives: To understand the subjective pain experience of patients, healthcare providers rely heavily on self-reporting. However, to quantify this unique pain experience, objective parameters are not yet available in daily clinical practice. With regard to patients with failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) treated with spinal cord stimulation (SCS), pain therapists may recover the individual functional information about the patient's posture from the implantable pulse generator (IPG) of the stimulator. The aim of this study is to investigate whether subjective self-reporting is in correlation with the functional capacities of a patient. Materials and Methods: Thirty-nine patients with FBSS, treated with SCS were included. The accelerometer in the IPG detects positional changes and provides an objective output of seven functional positions (lying back, lying prone, lying left, lying right, transition, upright, and upright + mobile). The Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), VAS-diary, and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were assessed to evaluate physical functioning, pain intensities, and subjective sleep quality. Additionally, 21 patients wore a wearable actigraph device to objectify sleep quality. The agreement and Spearman correlations between objective and subjective parameters were assessed. Results: Spearman rank correlations revealed no significant correlations between the ODI (subscales walking, sitting, standing, and sleeping) and the output of the IPG (percentage upright + mobile, transition, upright, and lying, respectively). Sleep parameters measured with the Actiwatch and the PSQI were not in agreement. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that self-reporting questionnaires do not correlate with the findings of objective measurements. Therefore, we recommend using both subjective and objective parameters when determining treatment options for FBSS patients.

BackgroundThe diagnostic work-up of Alzheimer Disease (AD) is complex, time-consuming, expensive, and quite demanding for the patients. Therefore, there is a growing need for simple non-invasive tools that add to the diagnostic work-up of patients. ObjectivesThis paper investigates a new method for monitoring motor functions in AD using everyday interactions related to writing with a computer, i.c. executing a copy task. MethodsAn experimental exploratory study was set up in which a carefully designed copy task was presented to three groups of participants: young adults (n=20), cognitively healthy elderly (n=20) and age-matched elderly with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) or mild dementia due to AD (n=12). The task consisted of ten different sub-tasks in which specific bigram characteristics were manipulated. The participants' typing behavior was monitored with keystroke logging. ResultsThe three groups differed significantly from each other in performing the copy task. Typing speed gradually decreased with age. Moreover, the cognitively impaired age-matched adults performed slower on all subtasks expressed in longer interkey intervals within the targeted bigrams. Integrative multilevel modelling showed that all the manipulated bigram characteristics contributed significantly to the model. ConclusionThis explorative study shows the potential relevance of using a typing copy task in the diagnostic work-up of patients with neurodegenerative brain disorders. It relates to a natural task, is non-invasive and easy to automatize. In comparison to other motor tasks it allows for fine-grained measurements at an individual level and combines different aspects of complex and fine motor activities in one task. A carefully constructed typing copy task is proposed.A copy task is a useful instrument in the diagnostic work-up of dementia patients.A copy task allows for fine-grained measurements at an individual level.A copy task combines different aspects of complex and fine motor activities.

As the Vrije Universiteit Brussel switched from an in-house built CRIS to Pure, a large number of data quality issues were discovered. In order to solve these, a large-scale data quality assessment and improvement program was started. The assessment sought to find data quality issues and prioritize cleaning tasks along different dimensions, such as reusability and complexity, while taking into account compliance and stakeholder happiness. Moreover, in doing these assessments, an attempt was made to isolate relatively easy to clean parts of the data in order to make them more feasible for people with less domain-knowledge. Finally, some of these data quality improvement operations turned out to be straightforward enough to fully automate them.

This multi-study analysis (6 fMRI studies; 142 participants) explores the functional activation and connectivity of the cerebellum with the cerebrum during repeated behavioral information uptake informing about personality traits of different persons. The results suggest that trait repetition recruits activity in areas belonging to the mentalizing and executive control networks in the cerebrum, and the executive control areas in the cerebellum. Cerebral activation was observed in the executive control network including the posterior medial frontal cortex (pmFC), the bilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) and bilateral inferior parietal cortex (IPC), in the mentalizing network including the bilateral middle temporal cortex (MTC) extending to the right superior temporal cortex (STC), as well as in the visual network including the left cuneus (Cun) and the left inferior occipital cortex. Moreover, cerebellar activation was found bilaterally in lobules VI and VII belonging to the executive control network. Importantly, significant patterns of functional connectivity were found linking these cerebellar executive areas with cerebral executive areas in the medial pmFC, the left PFC and the left IPC, and mentalizing areas in the left MTC. In addition, connectivity was found between the cerebral areas in the left hemisphere involved in the executive and mentalizing networks, as well as with their homolog areas in the right hemisphere. The discussion centers on the role of these cerebello-cerebral connections in matching internal predictions generated by the cerebellum with external information from the cerebrum, presumably involving the sequencing of behaviors.

This multi-study connectivity analysis explores the functional connectivity of the cerebellum with the cerebrum in social mentalizing, that is, understanding the mind of another person. The analysis covers 5 studies ( n = 92) involving abstract and complex forms of social mentalizing such as (a) person and group impression formation based on behavioral descriptions and (b) constructing personal counterfactual events (i.e., how the past could have turned out better). The results suggest that cerebellar activity during these social processes reflects a domain-specific mentalizing functionality that is strongly connected with a corresponding mentalizing network in the cerebrum. A significant pattern of connectivity was found linking the dorsal medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the right temporo-parietal junction (TPJ) with the right posterior cerebellum, and linking the latter with the left TPJ. In addition, in the cerebrum, further connectivity was found through links of the bilateral TPJ with the dorsal mPFC, orbitofrontal cortex and between right and left TPJ. The discussion centers on the role of these cerebro-cerebellar connections in matching external information from the cerebrum with internal predictions generated by the cerebellum. These internal predictions might involve the sequencing of the person's behaviors.

BACKGROUND: Extraforaminal lumbar disc herniation (EFLDH) accounts for 7%-12% of all lumbar disc herniations. We report on a surgical technique for EFLDH, which requires only minimal resection of the facet joint and also allows access to the preforaminal space, if necessary. METHODS: The medical records of 61 consecutive patients treated with disc fragment herniectomy through a facet joint quadrantectomy for EFLDH at the Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel were critically evaluated with respect to preoperative clinical signs and symptoms, surgery-related complications and outcome at 6 weeks after intervention. Patient satisfaction after the surgery was evaluated using the MacNab classification. RESULTS: The prevalence of leg pain decreased from 100% before the intervention to 19.7% at follow-up. Only 9 patients (14.8%) suffered from residual motor deficit at follow-up, compared with 37 patients (60.7%) in the preoperative situation. The postoperative improvement was highly significant for all parameters (P < 0.0001) and this evolution is also reflected in the MacNab classification showing 62.3% excellent, 23.0% good, 13.1% fair, and only 1.6% poor satisfaction. Using logistic regression analysis, only the presence of a preoperative sensory deficit was found to be an independent predictor for excellent patient satisfaction on the MacNab classification. CONCLUSIONS: Disc fragment herniectomy through a facet joint quadrantectomy for EFLDH is a safe and minimal invasive technique resulting in very satisfactory results. Preservation of facet joint stability and the possibility to convert to a classic approach to reach for preforaminal components, if necessary, are major advantages of this technique.

Apraxic agraphia (AA) is a so-called peripheral writing disorder following disruption of the skilled movement plans of writing while the central processes that subserve spelling are intact. It has been observed in a variety of etiologically heterogeneous neurological disorders typically associated with lesions located in the language dominant parietal and frontal region. The condition is characterized by a hesitant, incomplete, imprecise or even illegible graphomotor output. Letter formation cannot be attributed to sensorimotor, extrapyramidal or cerebellar dysfunction affecting the writing limb. Detailed clinical, neurocognitive, neurolinguistic and (functional) neuroimaging characteristics of three unique cases are reported that developed AA following a thalamic stroke. In marked contrast to impaired handwriting, non-handwriting skills, such as oral spelling, were hardly impaired. Quantified Tc-99m ECD SPECT consistently showed a decreased perfusion in the anatomoclinically suspected prefrontal regions. The findings suggest crucial involvement of the anterior (and medial) portion of the left thalamus within the neural network subserving the graphomotor system. Functional neuroimaging findings seem to indicate that AA after focal thalamic damage represents a diaschisis phenomenon.

This study aims to ascertain the nature and extent of the development of English L2 writing proficiency of 45 adult ESL learners over the time of an intensive short-term academic English language programme by means of quantitative measures targeting different components of the lexical and syntactic complexity of the learners’ writing performance, and to compare the scores on these measures with subjective ratings of learners’ overall writing quality. Results reveal several linguistic complexity measures that can adequately and validly capture changes in L2 writing in short-term ESL courses, though these do not include “popular” measures such as subordination ratios and lexical richness/diversity measures. Results also suggest that different subcomponents of syntactic and lexical complexity in L2 writing develop at a different pace, underlining the importance of calculating a sufficiently wide range of judiciously selected complexity measures in order to get a comprehensive picture of L2 writing development. Interestingly, the set of progress-sensitive complexity measures identified in this study does not coincide with the set of complexity measures that best predict subjective perceptions of writing quality.

Objective: Approximately 97% of the right-handers has left hemisphere language dominance. Within the language dominant hemisphere Broca's area is of crucial importance for a variety of linguistic functions. As a result, tumour resection in and around Broca's area is controversial. However, studies showed that by means of Direct Electrical Stimulation (DES) tumour resection in this region can be safely performed. We report unexpected anatomoclinical findings in a right-handed patient who underwent tumour resection in the left prefrontal lobe. Methods: Language functions in this right-handed patient were extensively examined in the pre-, intra, and postoperative phase by means of a standardised battery of neurolinguistic and neurocognitive tests. Results obtained in the pre- and postoperative phase are compared. In addition, intraoperative DES findings and postoperative functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) and Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) results are reported. Results: Tumour resection near Broca's area was safely performed since no positive language sites were found during intraoperative DES. Since no linguistic deficits occurred in the pre-, intra-, or postoperative phase, atypical language dominance was suspected. Neuropsychological investigations, however, disclosed permanent executive dysfunction. Postoperative fMRI and DTI confirmed right cerebral language dominance as well as a crossed cerebro-cerebellar functional link with the left cerebellar hemisphere. Discussion: Atypical right hemisphere language dominance in this right-handed patient is reflected by: (1) the total absence of language problems in the pre-, intra- and postoperative phase, (2) absence of positive stimulation sites during DES, (3) a clearly more pronounced arcuate fasciculus in the right cerebral hemisphere (DTI), (4) a crossed functional connection between the right cerebrum and the left cerebellum (fMRI). Two hypothetical explanations for the pattern of crossed cerebral language dominance are put forward: (1) preoperative brain plasticity mechanisms inducing a shift of language functions to the right hemisphere or (2) right hemisphere language dominance as a maturational variant. This case with atypical cerebral language dominance shows that although DES is the 'gold standard' to identify eloquent language regions and their pathways, fMRI and DTI are important adjuncts to guide surgery, to identify language lateralisation and to study anatomoclinical correlations. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The present paper reports on the use of discourse markers in short compositions written by Spanish language learners. The aim is to explore how frequently discourse markers appear in written productions of foreign language learners and to verify which kind of markers they mostly use. A learners’ corpus of approximately 26 500 words has been compiled for this study. By comparing the results of the language learners with the texts composed by a control group of Spanish native participants, we want to shed light on which types of discourse markers seem more or less evident to acquire and which problems learners seem to encounter in expressing discourse cohesion.

To test the hypothesis of crossed cerebro-cerebellar language dominance (Marien, Engelborghs, Fabbro, & De Deyn, 2001) in atypical populations, the pattern of cerebral and cerebellar language organization in a right-handed woman with a large porencephalic cyst in the left temporal lobe with no secondary clinical neurological symptoms was studied by means of an fMRI-language paradigm. Extensive neuropsychological examinations were performed to formally rule out cognitive dysfunctions. The fMRI task, consisting of a covert controlled oral word generation task, disclosed a pattern of bilateral activity in the frontal language areas, slightly more pronounced in the left hemisphere, and unilateral activation of the left inferior and superior temporal and supramarginal gyrus. This pattern of supratentorial activations was reflected at the infratentorial level by bilateral activations in the posterior lobe of the cerebellum with slightly more activity located in the right cerebellar hemisphere. This pattern of bilateral cerebral and cerebellar activation seems to confirm that the distribution of supratentorial language dominance is intrinsically reflected at the level of the cerebellum. Bilateral frontal language representation might be the consequence of neurofunctional compensation for the structural anomaly affecting eloquent brain regions resulting in an operational inefficiency of the neural network subserving language in the left hemisphere. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

We investigated whether regional differences in the native language (L1) influence the perception of second language (L2) sounds. Many cross-language and L2 perception studies have assumed that the degree of acoustic similarity between L1 and L2 sounds predicts cross-linguistic and L2 performance. The present study tests this assumption by examining the perception of the English contrast between /ɛ/ and /ae/ in native speakers of Dutch spoken in North Holland (the Netherlands) and in East- and West-Flanders (Belgium). A Linear Discriminant Analysis on acoustic data from both dialects showed that their differences in vowel production, as reported in and Adank, van Hout, and Van de Velde (2007), should influence the perception of the L2 vowels if listeners focus on the vowels' acoustic/auditory properties. Indeed, the results of categorization tasks with Dutch or English vowels as response options showed that the two listener groups differed as predicted by the discriminant analysis. Moreover, the results of the English categorization task revealed that both groups of Dutch listeners displayed the asymmetric pattern found in previous word recognition studies, i.e. English /ae/ was more frequently confused with English /ɛ/ than the reverse. This suggests a strong link between previous L2 word learning results and the present L2 perceptual assimilation patterns.

Until very recently a large part of the research in sign linguistics concentrated on the similarities between spoken languages and sign languages. Today, the (presumed) uniqueness of sign languages is given increasingly more attention and it is not taken for granted any longer that spoken language research instruments (theories, categories, notions…) automatically ‘fit’ sign language research. As a result, sign language researchers are being confronted with a number of fundamental questions, such as questions about the nature of gestural–visual languages. It is shown here that their answers have implications beyond the domain of sign linguistics.

Bilateral vascular thalamic lesions are rare. Although a variety of neurobehavioral manifestations have been described, the literature is less documented with regard to accompanying linguistic disturbances. This article presents an in-depth neurolinguistic analysis of the language symptoms of a patient who incurred bilateral paramedian ischemic damage of the thalamus. In the post-acute phase of the stroke, a unique combination of transcortical sensory aphasia with syntactic impairment was found. Because of this atypical semiological association, additional analyses of spontaneous speech were performed. In spite of the typological affinity with the grammatic characteristic of marked simplification of syntax observed in Broca's aphasia, only a wordclass specific, lexical-semantic deficit for verbs was objectified. The hypothesis that lexical-semantic disturbances in our patient might result from a functional deafferentiation of both thalami with the frontal lobe is supported by: (1) associated neuropsychological deficits of frontal origin and (2) frontal-like behavioral disturbances.

The clinical study of crossed aphasia in dextrals (CAD) may shed light on the discreteness and modularity of several cognitive functions, such as language, gestures and visual spatial abilities, with respect to hemispheric lateralisation. Since 1975 over 180 cases have been described, employing, however, different criteria of assessment and classification. The purpose of this paper is to review them and to propose a set of diagnostic criteria that may be useful to single out a series of reliable CAD cases on which research can be safely carried out. A detailed analysis of such series is dealt with in terms of a number of characteristics concerning both the language disorder and the associated nonverbal cognitive impairments.

As an exception to so-called Broca's doctrine, assigning left-hemisphere dominance for language to dextrals and right-hemisphere dominance for language to sinistrals, Byrom Bramwell introduced, more than a century ago, the term crossed aphasia (CA) to denote the exceptional condition in which an aphasic syndrome results from a cerebral lesion ipsilateral to the dominant hand. Bramwell assumed that, in contrast to temporary manifestations, persistent CA is rare and essentially limited to the sinistral population. During the next decades, however, this view was challenged by several studies that reported persistent CA in dextrals (CAD). The initial concept of CA further eroded when studies on aphasia in sinistrals showed that CA is the rule and not the exception in this population. This paper reviews the early development and erosion of concepts in CA.

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In contrast to the estimated low incidence of crossed aphasia in dextral adults (among 1%), crossed aphasia in children has been considered a common finding for almost a century. However, reviewing the literature on crossed aphasia in dextrals (CAD) and its related topics from 1975 onward, we encountered only 5 children in a corpus of 180 cases (2.7%). Critical analysis rendered three of the reported cases ambiguous and hence not suitable to draw potentially relevant conclusions. In this review, the neurobehavioral manifestations of the two representative childhood CAD cases are analyzed and compared with adult CAD and acquired childhood aphasia (ACA). In the light of our findings, which support the position of innate cerebral specialization for language, the long-standing controversy as to whether lateralized hemispheric specialization for language is innate or develops progressively during maturation is briefly discussed.

During the past 2 decades the collaboration across disciplines and the methodologic and conceptual advances of contemporary neuroscience have brought about a substantial modification of the traditional view of the cerebellum as a mere coordinator of autonomic and somatic motor functions. Growing insights in the neuroanatomy of the cerebellum and its interconnections, evidence from functional neuroimaging and neurophysiological research, and advancements in clinical and experimental neuropsychology have established the view that the cerebellum participates in a much wider range of functions than conventionally accepted. This increase of insight has brought to the fore that the cerebellum modulates cognitive functioning of at least those parts of the brain to which it is reciprocally connected. This article reviews the recently acknowledged role of the cerebellum in cognition and addresses in more detail experimental and clinical data disclosing the modulatory role of the cerebellum in various non-motor language processes such as lexical retrieval, syntax, and language dynamics. In agreement with the findings indicating a topographical organization of the cerebellar structures involved in language pathology we advance the concept of a "lateralized linguistic cerebellum." In our view crossed cerebral diaschisis processes, reflecting a functional depression of supratentorial language areas due to reduced input via cerebellocortical pathways, might represent the relevant pathomechanism for linguistic deficits associated with cerebellar pathology.

When bisecting lines, an important number of brain damaged patients tend to place their bisection marks in the hemispace ipsilateral to their lesion. Biases have also been reported in normal adults. In vertical bisection both patients and normal subjects present with upward shifts, although a downward displacement may occur eventually. Surprisingly, little is known on line bisection (LB) in normal or brain damaged children. A total of 650 subjects, aged 7-12 years, performed a horizontal and vertical LB task with their preferred hand. Asymmetry indices (AIs) were used to measure directional bias. Unsigned AIs served to evaluate accuracy and mastery of the LB skill. In vertical bisection a general and significant upward bias was found, whereas in horizontal bisection subject (gender, handedness, utilized hand, age) and stimulus variables (orientation, length, position) yielded significantly different AIs. Although with increasing age significantly increasing accuracy was observed, none of the participating children mastered LB to mathematical precision. Differences in IQ-level and attention test score did not yield significantly different AIs. Impact from reading proficiency could not be demonstrated. It is suggested that stimulus length effect results are compatible with the Halligan and Marshall [Halligan, P., and Marshall, J. Toward a principled explanation of unilateral neglect. Cognitive Neuropsychology, 1994, 11, 167-206] model of hemispatial neglect. Moreover, data may support the hypothesis of greater hemispheric specialization of visuo-spatial skills in boys than in girls.

The utility of an objective evaluation of motor activity, actigraphy, was examined in the evaluation of handedness. Hand preference was assessed in a homogeneous group of 190 young volunteers using the Edinburgh Inventory (EI). The EI distribution obtained in the population studied was comparable with distributions cited in the literature. Simultaneous actigraphic recordings from both wrists were made in 58 of these subjects for 20 h, starting at 1000 h, using an epoch length of 4 s. Care was taken to include comparable numbers of right- and left-handers (based on EI score) in this subgroup. Two actigraphic parameters were defined. One of these, the Activity Index (AI[x]), is a measure of the difference in total motor activity between right and left wrist. The other, Movement Index (MIy[x]) is a measure of the difference in movement pattern. AI[x] showed a moderate but significant correlation with EI (r = 0.36, P

Arachnoiditis ossificans is an uncommon chronic meningeal nflammatory process that typically affects adults [1]. The exact athophysiological substrate is unknown but the condition may be he result of end-stage adhesive arachnoiditis secondary to spinal urgery, trauma, subarachnoid haemorrhage, lumbar taps or injecions [2]. Although the vast majority of arachnoid calcifications are ot clinically significant, arachnoiditis ossificans implies clinical eterioration caused by calcified plaques [2]. Back pain, radicuopathy, sensory disturbances and incontinence can occur due to ompression of the nerve roots or the spinal cord. Resection of he calcified plaques usually yields poor results, especially when he calcifications enclose the caudal fibres [2]. We report successul treatment of chemotherapy-induced arachnoiditis ossificans by ntrathecal administration of bupivacaine.