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Purpose: To explore whether subgroups of children with residual speech sound disorders (R-SSDs) can be identified through multiple measures of token-to-token phonetic variability (changes in one spoken production to the next). Method: Children with R-SSDs were recorded during a rapid multisyllabic picture naming task and an oral diadochokinetic task. Transcription-based and acoustic measures of token-to-token variability were derived. Articulation accuracy and general indices of language skills were measured as well. Results: Low correlations were observed between transcription-based and acoustic measures of phonetic variability, and among the acoustic measures themselves. Children who were the most variable on one measure were not necessarily highly variable on other measures. Transcription-based measures of variability were associated with language skills. Conclusions: Measures of phonetic variability did not identify children in the sample as consistently high or low. Data do not support the notion that clear subgroups based on phonetic variability can be reliably identified in children with R-SSDs. The link between highly variable phonetic output (quantified by transcription-based measures) and lower language skills requires further exploration.

Purpose: To describe (a) the assessment of residual speech sound disorders (SSDs) in bilinguals by distinguishing speech patterns associated with second language acquisition from patterns associated with misarticulations and (b) how assessment of domains such as speech motor control and phonological awareness can provide a more complete understanding of SSDs in bilinguals. Method: A review of Japanese phonology is provided to offer a context for understanding the transfer of Japanese to English productions. A case study of an 11-year-old is presented, demonstrating parallel speech assessments in English and Japanese. Speech motor and phonological awareness tasks were conducted in both languages. Results: Several patterns were observed in the participant's English that could be plausibly explained by the influence of Japanese phonology. However, errors indicating a residual SSD were observed in both Japanese and English. A speech motor assessment suggested possible speech motor control problems, and phonological awareness was judged to be within the typical range of performance in both languages. Conclusion: Understanding the phonological characteristics of the native language can help clinicians recognize speech patterns in the second language associated with transfer. Once these differences are understood, patterns associated with a residual SSD can be identified. Supplementing a relational speech analysis with measures of speech motor control and phonological awareness can provide a more comprehensive understanding of a client's strengths and needs.

PURPOSE: Using a sample of 20,445 Dutch twins, this study examined the relationship between speech fluency and attentional regulation in children. A secondary objective was to identify etiological overlap between nonfluency and poor attention using fluency-discordant twin pairs., METHOD: Three fluency groups were created at age 5 using a parent questionnaire: (a) probable stuttering (PS; N=826; 4.0%), highly nonfluent (HNF; N=547; 2.7%), and typically fluent (TF; N=19,072; 93%). Multiple scales assessing attention, primarily self-regulation/inhibition, were obtained from both parents when children were ages 5 and 7 and from teachers when children were age 7., RESULTS: When compared with the TF controls, both the PS and HNF children received higher (i.e., more problematic) scores on parental attention ratings at both ages (p<.002). Effect sizes were moderate for both groups. Teacher and parent ratings were generally comparable. The discordant co-twin analyses suggested that nonfluency and attention were influenced by potentially overlapping genetic and shared environmental factors., CONCLUSIONS: The liability to express both high nonfluency and problems with self-regulation/inhibition may arise from a common set of pathogenic mechanisms. This supports emerging models of stuttering, which propose that poor fluency may be part of a broader network of impaired self-regulatory processes.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this investigation was to examine the impact of Chromosome 4p- syndrome on the communication and expressive language phenotype of a large cross-cultural population of children, adolescents, and adults., METHOD: A large-scale survey study was conducted and a descriptive research design was used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data regarding the communication and expressive language manifestations of 200 children, youth, and adults from 16 countries and Puerto Rico who had been diagnosed with 4p conditions, including Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (WHS), Pitt-Rogers-Danks syndrome (PRDS), Proximal 4p Deletion syndrome, and complex chromosomal rearrangements associated with 4p-., RESULTS: Individuals with Chromosome 4p- syndrome represent a heterogeneous population with complex phenotypic profiles. The majority of the participants exhibited communication and expressive language skills below the 36-month developmental functioning level. A relatively small cohort of the study population exhibited advanced expressive language skills, a finding not reported in the professional literature., CONCLUSION: Results broaden the spectrum of expressive language skills associated with Chromosome 4p- syndrome and highlight the communication potential of a subset of individuals with 4p abnormalities for development of advanced language structures. It is hypothesized that the largest 4p deletion, which includes the 4p16.3 band and contiguous gene regions, results in the most severely affected expressive language phenotype.

Purpose: Behavioral genetic studies of speech fluency have focused on participants who present with clinical stuttering. Knowledge about genetic influences on the development and regulation of normal speech fluency is limited. The primary aims of this study were to identify the heritability of stuttering and high nonfluency and to assess the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the correlation between these 2 fluency phenotypes. Method: Information on 6 specific speech fluency behaviors was obtained by maternal report for over 10,500 5-year-old Dutch twin pairs. Results: Genetic analyses revealed that both fluency phenotypes were moderately heritable, with heritability estimates of 42% and 45% for probable stuttering and high nonfluency, respectively. Shared environmental factors were also significant, explaining 44% of the individual differences in probable stuttering and 32% in nonfluency. For both phenotypes, the magnitude of the genetic and environmental influences did not differ between boys and girls. The overlap between the 2 traits was substantial (tetrachoric correlation was .72). A bivariate genetic analysis showed that this overlap was due to both overlapping genetic and environmental influences. Conclusions: These findings provide a foundation to justify further studies in normal fluency control, a scientific area that has received little cross-disciplinary attention.

This investigation examined the listening comprehension (LC) performance of two groups of adolescent struggling readers, one group with word-finding difficulties (WFD) and one with no word-finding difficulties (NWFD). Of interest was whether the expressive language difficulties of the WFD group would interfere with their success on a LC assessment that requires oral responses to complete. Findings indicated that whereas the performance of the WFD group was comparable with the NWFD group when LC was measured using a multiple-choice response format, their performance was significantly poorer when LC was measured using an open-ended verbal response format, suggesting that learners' WFD could interfere with their success on such assessments. Practical implications of these findings for the assessment of LC as part of adolescents' reading evaluations are discussed. © 2010 Hammill Institute on Disabilities.

(Chemical Equation Presented). Bismuth chloride was used to catalyze the [2 + 3] cycloaddition between sodium azide with aryl nitriles, aliphatic nitriles, and vinyl nitriles. A number of 5-substituted 1H-tetrazoles were synthesized in water or isopropanol/water mixtures using microwave heating. Good yields were obtained for these reactions when heated for 1 h at 120-160°C in a 3:1 isopropanol/water mixture. A few of the less reactive nitriles required longer reaction times for good yields. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Several 5-substituted 1H-tetrazoles were prepared in water or isopropanol/water mixtures using microwave heating. Good yields were obtained for the [2 + 3] cycloaddition of sodium azide with aryl nitriles, aliphatic nitriles, and vinyl nitriles when catalyzed by scandium triflate. The reactions were typically heated for 1 h at 160 °C in a 3:1 isopropanol/water mixture to obtain the best yields. © 2015 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Various 5-substituted 1H-tetrazoles were synthesized from aryl nitriles, alkyl nitriles, and vinyl nitriles reacting with sodium azide. The tetrazoles were recovered in high yield under mild conditions when the reaction was catalyzed by ytterbium triflate hydrate in dimethylformamide. Other rare-earth and post-transition metal catalysts were also investigated. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Student self-assessment surveys were used to assess student study methods in organic chemistry courses. Surveys were given after examinations in the courses. Students that performed well on exams accurately predicted their exam scores. Students that did poorly were significantly off in their expectations.

Olfactory receptor neurons in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) appear to use a phosphoinositide-directed phospholipase C (PLC) in odorant signal transduction. The consequences of odor-activated PLC depend on its product, inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate (IP3). Therefore, a plasma membrane rich (PMR) fraction, previously characterized from salmon olfactory rosettes, was used to study binding sites for IP3 and its phosphorylation product, inositol 1,3,4,5-tetrakisphosphate (IP4). Binding sites for IP3 were present at the lower limit for detection in the PMR fraction but were abundant in a microsomal fraction. Binding sites for IP4 were abundant in the PMR fraction and thus colocalized in the same subcellular fraction with odorant receptors for amino acids and bile acids. Binding of IP4 was saturable and high affinity (K d = 83 nM). The rank order for potency of inhibition of IP4 by other inositol polyphosphates (InsP x ) followed the phosphorylation number with InsP6 > InsP5 > other InsP4 isomers > InsP3 isomers > InsP2 isomers, with the latter showing no activity. The consequences of PLC activity in this system may be dictated in part by a putative receptor for IP4.

In the complete-basis-set (CBS) model chemistries, an interference correction is added to the total energy. It is added because the CBS-type extrapolation to the basis-set limit of second-order Møller–Plesset (MP2) perturbation theory usually overestimates the magnitude of the basis-set truncation error at higher levels of electron-correlation treatment. In this Letter, the question is pursued whether the CBS-type interference correction could also improve the computational results when the MP2 basis set limit is approached by means of explicitly-correlated MP2 theory using Slater-type geminals.

We present a quantitative model for predicting the level of difficulty subjects will experience with specific problems. The model explicitly accounts for the number of subproblems a problem can be broken into and the difficultly of each subproblem. Although the model builds on previously published models, it is uniquely suited for blending with qualitative methods for the study of problem-solving processes rather than being limited to examination of final answers only. We illustrate the usefulness of the model by analysing the written solutions and think-aloud protocols of 17 subjects engaged with 25 chemical stoichiometry problems. We find that familiar themes for subject difficulty are revealed, including mapping of surface features, lack of interconnected knowledge hierarchy, and algorithmic operations at the expense of conceptual understanding.