Making Race Visible in the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences: A Critical Discourse Analysis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this critical discourse analytic study is to identify how two key professional standards documents in the Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences field-the Standards for Certification document and the Essential Functions rubric-contribute to the discursive construction of the ideal speech-language pathologist and audiologist, and to examine whether the experiences and needs of people of color are taken into consideration in these documents. METHOD: Critical discourse analysis was used as both a conceptual and methodological lens for the systematic analysis of the targeted text. RESULTS: The findings show that considerations of race and racism were almost entirely absent from both documents and thus reflected a discourse of race neutrality that is ideologically consistent with color-blind racism. The enactment of racially coded expectations within a construct of race-neutral discourse maintains racial inequities in the speech, language, and hearing sciences professions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the need for the open acknowledgment of racism in our institutional policies and discourses and official and ongoing commitments to concrete and measurable antiracist actions to counteract systemic racism. Recommendations for and examples of antiracist measures are offered.

Verbal fluency in three Spanish-English bilingual speakers with TBI.

This study investigated differences between healthy bilingual participants and bilingual participants with traumatic brain injury (TBI) on verbal fluency tasks. The performance of three Spanish-English bilingual speakers with traumatic brain injury was compared to the performance of 30 neurotypical bilingual speakers on tasks of category and letter verbal fluency in English and Spanish. Responses were analyzed for total number of correct productions, differences in correct productions between languages, average cluster size, total number of switches, and rates of language choice errors. The data were analyzed using predicted scores from regression equations based on neurotypical data and modified t-tests. Analyses revealed significantly lower total output than predicted by the regression equations for both task types and in both languages for one TBI participant. The same participant demonstrated significantly lower total number of switches than the neurotypical group. Two participants demonstrated higher rates of language choice errors than the neurotypical group. There were no significant differences between TBI participants and the neurotypical group for average cluster size. There were no significant differences between predicted and obtained values for differences between English and Spanish total number correct in each task type. Results are discussed in the context of individual cognitive and linguistic profiles of the TBI participants.

A preliminary investigation into the application of processing instruction as therapy for aphasia in Spanish speakers.

PURPOSE: This study was a preliminary investigation into the use of processing instruction (PI) to improve the use of the personal 'a' to assign thematic roles in Spanish sentences for second language (L2) learners and persons with aphasia (PWA). Evidence suggests that PI is an effective teaching method for L2 learners with errant processing strategies. However its use with PWA with an acquired inability to process syntactic cues is unknown. METHODS: Thirty non-impaired Spanish as a second language learners and two Spanish-speaking PWA participated in this study. PI involved the use of explicit instruction and structured input activities with nouns and pronouns. Each participant's performance was assessed pre and post treatment. Two experimental and one control groups of L2 learners completed the PI activities over two days. PWA completed PI in individual sessions over four day and received additional cues. CONCLUSIONS: L2 learners who received PI demonstrated significant improvement in the comprehension and production of 'a'. However, the Spanish-speaking PWA demonstrated mixed results. Both of the PWA exhibited gains in the comprehension of 'a' on referential tasks. One participant with aphasia demonstrated improved comprehension post-testing, and neither participant demonstrated gains on production post-testing. Results suggest that PI may be useful for increasing syntactic comprehension in people with aphasia. Findings from the current study are used to guide suggestions for further modification and use of PI as a treatment strategy for PWA. LEARNING OUTCOMES: Readers will be able to: (a) define processing instruction, (b) discuss the role of specific syntactic cues in Spanish comprehension, and (c) explain how PI might be modified for use with Spanish speakers with aphasia.

The cultural context of obesity: exploring perceptions of obesity and weight loss among Latina immigrants.

This study used focus group methodology to examine perceptions of obesity and weight management among Latina immigrant women in Alabama. Four focus groups (N = 25) were conducted in Spanish as part of a participatory intervention development process. Participants were obese/overweight Latina immigrant women (BMI > 25) primarily recruited from a community hospital. The majority of participants were from Mexico. Participants described obesity in the context of short-term effects such as physical symptoms and aesthetics. Perceived weight gain was related to lifestyle changes since moving to the US. Social isolation, depression, and stress were reported to contribute to weight gain. Participants expressed interest in weight loss but emphasized a desire for programs that preserve traditional foods and include family. Weight-management programs designed for Latina immigrants should address their perceptions of obesity. This data also suggests that those interventions that preserve culture and incorporate family may have increased community buy-in.

Anatomical cardiac alterations in liver cirrhosis: an autopsy study.

BACKGROUND: It has been suggested that liver cirrhosis (LC), regardless of etiology, may be associated with anatomical cardiac alterations. OBJECTIVE: To describe the frequency and type of macroscopical anatomic cardiac abnormalities present in alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhotic patients in an autopsy series. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The autopsy records performed at our institution during a 12-year period (1990-2002) were reviewed. All cases with final diagnosis of LC were included, their demographic characteristics as well as cirrhosis etiology and macroscopic anatomical cardiac abnormalities (MACA) analyzed. Patients with any known history of heart disease prior to diagnosis of cirrhosis were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 1,176 autopsies were performed, of which 135 cases (11.5%) were patients with LC. Two patients with cardiac cirrhosis were excluded. Chronic alcohol abuse (29%) and chronic hepatitis due to hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (20%) were the most common causes of cirrhosis. The etiology was not identified in 35% of the cases, even after exhaustive clinical, serological and/or radiological assessment. In the postmortem analysis, 43% of the cases were informed to have MACA (47% in the group of patients with alcoholic cirrhosis and 41% in other types of cirrhosis); this rate increased to 62% in patients with ascites. The most frequent alterations were cardiomegaly and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). CONCLUSION: The results confirm the high frequency of cardiac abnormalities in patients with cirrhosis, regardless of cirrhosis etiology.

Efectos de la capacitación pedagógica en la práctica docente universitaria en salud / The effects of pedagogical training on university teaching in the field of health

Objetivo Evaluar los efectos de la capacitación a los profesionales que participaron en el curso de extensión "Formación pedagógica en ciencias de la salud", que dicta el Grupo de Apoyo Pedagógico y Formación Docente, de la facultad de medicina de la Universidad Nacional de Colombia. El curso se desarrolló en forma semipresencial, abordó temáticas como didácticas, currículo, evaluación y el papel del maestro. Métodos Se realizó un estudio exploratorio de tipo cualitativo. Los datos para este estudio fueron obtenidos a través de una entrevista personal, realizada por los investigadores, en el sitio de trabajo de cada uno de los participantes; en la cual se aplicó un cuestionario a cincuenta profesionales que tomaron el curso durante los años 2003 y 2004. El cuestionario estaba conformado por diez preguntas semiestructuradas. Resultados El 82 por ciento de los participantes consideraron que la calidad de la comunicación con los estudiantes, es una de las cualidades más valoradas, entendiendo que el aprendizaje es un proceso compartido entre el profesor y el alumno. El 64 por ciento adquirió nuevos conceptos sobre la evaluación e incrementó el uso de estrategias pedagógicas más participativas. Conclusión Los cursos de capacitación docente tienen un efecto positivo en la práctica docente reflejada en la calidad de la comunicación, la relación profesor - alumno y las estrategias pedagógicas empleadas, elementos fundamentales de los modelos pedagógicos constructivistas. Los resultados son concordantes con las experiencias de otros investigadores. La universidad, debe propiciar este tipo de intervenciones, que al mejorar el desempeño de sus docentes, promoverán su desarrollo académico.

Objective Evaluating changes in teaching adopted by teachers after participating in the Pedagogical Health Science Formation extension course taught by the National University of Colombia's Pedagogical Support and Teaching Formation Group from the Medicine Faculty. This was a part-time course; it dealt with topics such as didactics, curriculum, evaluation and the teacher's role. Methods A qualitative, exploratory study was carried out, involving a personal interview formulated by the investigators; this was held in each participant's place of work. Fifty teachers who had taken the course between 2003 and 2004 were interviewed. The questionnaire consisted of ten semi-structured questions. Results After taking the course, 82 percent of the participants considered that the quality of their communication with students was one of their most valued qualities, having understood that learning is a process which must be shared by both teachers and students. 64 percent of the participants stated that they had acquired new concepts about evaluation and had increased their use of more participative pedagogical strategies. Conclusion Teaching training courses had a positive effect on teaching, reflected in the quality of communication, teacher-student relationships and the pedagogic strategies used, all being very important elements in constructivist-orientated pedagogical models. The study's results agreed with other investigators' prior experience. The university must encourage this kind of intervention which will promote its own academic development by improving its teachers' performance.

[The effects of pedagogical training on university teaching in the field of health]. / Efectos de la capacitación pedagógica en la práctica docente universitaria en salud.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluating changes in teaching adopted by teachers after participating in the Pedagogical Health Science Formation extension course taught by the National University of Colombia's Pedagogical Support and Teaching Formation Group from the Medicine Faculty. This was a part-time course; it dealt with topics such as didactics, curriculum, evaluation and the teacher's role. METHODS: A qualitative, exploratory study was carried out, involving a personal interview formulated by the investigators; this was held in each participant's place of work. Fifty teachers who had taken the course between 2003 and 2004 were interviewed. The questionnaire consisted of ten semi-structured questions. RESULTS: After taking the course, 82 % of the participants considered that the quality of their communication with students was one of their most valued qualities, having understood that learning is a process which must be shared by both teachers and students. 64 % of the participants stated that they had acquired new concepts about evaluation and had increased their use of more participative pedagogical strategies. CONCLUSION: Teaching training courses had a positive effect on teaching, reflected in the quality of communication, teacher-student relationships and the pedagogic strategies used, all being very important elements in constructivist-orientated pedagogical models. The study's results agreed with other investigators' prior experience. The university must encourage this kind of intervention which will promote its own academic development by improving its teachers' performance.

Establishing a pedagogical framework for the multicultural course in communication sciences and disorders.

PURPOSE: To provide an overview of a model for teaching a foundational course in multicultural (MC) issues and to demonstrate how it can be modified for use in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) by integrating 3 primary dimensions of cultural competence: awareness, knowledge, and skills. METHOD: This tutorial begins by establishing the need for a basic foundational course in MC issues for CSD. Next, the authors describe a framework for MC instruction developed in the field of clinical counseling. Finally, the framework is modified and applied to the implementation of an MC course in CSD. CONCLUSION: The MC course in CSD can provide a useful foundation for facilitating the cultural competence of students in university training programs that have infused MC material across the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association's 9 content areas.

Biodiesel: an alternative fuel.

Biodiesel is an alternative energy source and could be a substitute for petroleum-based diesel fuel. To be a viable alternative, a biofuel should provide a net energy gain, have environmental benefits, be economically competitive, and be producible in large quantities without reducing food supplies. Most of the sources, methods and apparatus to produce biodiesel are reviewed here. Some of the patents propose the use of oils and fats of animal or vegetal origin and other kind of sources. Many others focus on the methods for the production or oxidation stability of the biofuel in order to make its production economically competitive. Several apparatus comprising reactors and refineries are also presented. This review article summarizes recent and important patents relating to the production of biodiesel to make its production a viable alternative.

The quality of life of patients with malignant gliomas and their caregivers.

The grim prognosis that accompanies a diagnosis of a malignant glioma affects quality of life (QOL) as patients attempt to adapt to overwhelming losses. Caregivers also experience negative changes in QOL as responsibilities grow. This pilot study measured the QOL of patients with malignant gliomas prior to tumor progression and the QOL of their caregivers. It examined negative and positive factors that impacted the QOL while highlighting positive factors often overlooked in brain tumor QOL research. Standardized QOL questionnaires and focus groups were utilized. Patients experienced distress in the domains of physical, psychological, and social QOL but in all four of the QOL domains there were also positive outcomes. Caregiver data demonstrated mostly positive outcomes in the four QOL domains except for loved one's declining health and fear that the loved one would die.

Synergistic effect of cortisol and thyrotrophin releasing hormone on lung maturation in the fetal sheep entails connective tissue maturation

Pressure-volume relationships and collagen and elastin contents were measured in the lungs of fetal sheep infused either with saline (n = 4), thyrotrophin-releasing hormone (TRH; n = 6), cortisol (n = 9) or TRH plus cortisol (n = 10) at 128 days of gestation (term = 149 days) for 7 days. Lung distensibility (V40 = 1.8 +/- 0.1 ml/g wet wt; mean +/- SD) and stability (V5 = 0.6 +/- 0.1) increased along with collagen (C) (10.1 +/- 2.7 micrograms/mg) and elastin (E) contents (128 +/- 35 ng/mg) in the animals infused with TRH plus cortisol and were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than those observed in TRH (V40 0.62 +/- 0.07; V5 0.32 +/- 0.04; C 3.53 +/- 1.3; E 38.2 +/- 8.3), cortisol (V4 0.66 +/- 0.6; V5 0.27 +/- 0.03; C 4.27 +/- 0.8; E 41.02 +/- 12.7) or saline infused fetuses (V40 0.40 +/- 0.1; V5 0.20 +/- 0.06; C 3.28 +/- 0.9; E 31.5 +/- 9.2). Plasma concentrations of prolactin (PRL), triiodothyronine (T3) and cortisol (F) were also higher in the group of fetuses infused with both hormones in comparison with the other groups. In fetuses treated with TRH plus cortisol, PRL (32 +/- 8.3 ng/ml) and T3 (308.3 +/- 36 micrograms/dl) were significantly higher than in those infused with cortisol alone (PRL 3.7 +/- 2.3; T3 128 +/- 30) or with saline (PRL 4.2 +/- 1.6; T3 < 5 micrograms/dl). In the group treated with TRH alone, PRL also increased significantly (37 +/- 6.4), but T3 increased only slightly (18 +/- 3.4).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)