Language Disorders in Alzheimer’s Disease and Phatic Function

Alzheimer’s disease is accompanied by progressive aphasia which intensifies the cognitive problems. The quality of the care given to the patient influences, however, the evolution of his language difficulties. The way the vulnerable person is aided, and the extent to which his efforts to make himself understood by his human environment are validated, contribute to preventing the development of a feeling of failure, a tendency to give up, and retrogressive tendencies. Repetition of interpersonal disqualifiers, care dispensed neglecting inter subjectivity, to the contrary encourages the patient to limit contact with his environment and so precipitate his language difficulties. Aphasia is thus linked to the insufficiency of human communication. The consequences of this disorder can be limited by taking into account the phatic language function to keep communication channels open. The human relationship is an encounter, an act of mutual identity-giving. Alzheimer-patient identity break-down is linked to cognitive troubles and to the failure of patients’ relationship attempts.

Evidence of cortical reorganization of language networks after stroke with subacute Broca's aphasia:a blood oxygenation level dependent-functional magnetic resonance imaging study

Aphasia is an acquired language disorder that is a common consequence of stroke.The pathogenesis of the disease is not fully understood,and as a result,current treatment options are not satisfactory.Here,we used blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the activation of bilateral cortices in patients with Broca＇s aphasia 1 to 3 months after stroke.Our results showed that language expression was associated with multiple brain regions in which the right hemisphere participated in the generation of language.The activation areas in the left hemisphere of aphasia patients were significantly smaller compared with those in healthy adults.The activation frequency,volumes,and intensity in the regions related to language,such as the left inferior frontal gyrus（Broca＇s area）,the left superior temporal gyrus,and the right inferior frontal gyrus（the mirror region of Broca＇s area）,were lower in patients compared with healthy adults.In contrast,activation in the right superior temporal gyrus,the bilateral superior parietal lobule,and the left inferior temporal gyrus was stronger in patients compared with healthy controls.These results suggest that the right inferior frontal gyrus plays a role in the recovery of language function in the subacute stage of stroke-related aphasia by increasing the engagement of related brain areas.

Identification of risk factors for poor language outcome in surgical resection of glioma involving the arcuate fasciculus:an observational study

The arcuate fasciculus is a critical component of the neural substrate of human language function.Surgical resection of glioma adjacent to the arcuate fasciculus likely damages this region.In this study,we evaluated the outcome of surgical resection of glioma adjacent to the arcuate fasciculus under the guidance of magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging,and we aimed to identify the risk factors for postoperative linguistic deficit.In total,54 patients with primary glioma adjacent to the arcuate fasciculus were included in this observational study.These patients comprised 38 men and 16 women(aged 43±11 years).All patients underwent surgical resenction of glioma under the guidance of magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging.Intraoperative images were updated when necessary for further resection.The gross total resection rate of the 54 patients increased from 38.9%to 70.4%by intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging.Preoperative language function and glioma-to-arcuate fasciculus distance were associated with poor language outcome.Multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that glioma-to-arcuate fasciculus distance was the major independent risk factor for poor outcome.The cutoff point of glioma-to-arcuate fasciculus distance for poor outcome was 3.2 mm.These findings suggest that intraoperative magnetic resonance imaging combined with diffusion tensor imaging of the arcuate fasciculus can help optimize tumor resection and result in the least damage to the arcuate fasciculus.Notably,glioma-to-arcuate fasciculus distance is a key independent risk factor for poor postoperative language outcome.This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Chinese PLA General Hospital,China(approval No.S2014-096-01)on October 11,2014.

Systemic Functional Linguistics’ Influence on the Communicative Approach

As the founder of systemic functional linguistics,Halliday once said the driving force of producing his linguistictheories is of education.Therefore,his theories have a great influ-ence on foreign language teaching and inspire the creation ofsome new teaching theories and methods.And this paper focuseson the influence produced by systemic functional linguistics up-on the communicative approach.

Analyzing the Application of Functional Linguistics in Junior Middle School English Teaching

Based on the application of functional linguistics in junior middle school English teaching,this paper first illustrates the concepts of systematic grammar and functional grammar.Secondly,according to the application of functional grammar in reading,in translation and in writing,it is concluded that applied linguistics has an important role in promoting junior middle school English teaching,which comprehensively illustrates the importance of functional linguistics in junior middle school English teaching.Functional linguistics is of great significance to instruct junior middle school teaching.This paper explores the definition of functional linguistics and the linguistic patterns of functional linguistics.

Functional Language Analysis:A Linguistically-informed Approach to Content Area Reading Instruction

As the educational knowledge that students have to learn becomes more specialized and complex in colleges and universities,the language that constructs such knowledge also becomes more technical,dense,abstract and complex.In order to effectively engage with the texts of disciplinary learning,college students must develop new reading skills and strategies that go beyond those they have learned in the elementary and secondary schools.This article describes an approach to content area reading instruction,Functional Language Analysis,that enables teachers to help their students comprehend and critique the advanced texts of tertiary schooling.

Cortical language activation in aphasia: a functional MRI study

Background Functional neuroimaging has been used in neurolinguistic research on normal subjects and on patients with brain damage. This study was designed to investigate the differences of the neural basis underlying language processing between normal subjects and aphasics.Methods Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to map the language network in 6 normal subjects and 3 patients with aphasia who were in the stage of recovery from acute stroke. The participants performed a word generation task during multi-slice functional scanning for the measurement of signal change associated with regional neural activity induced by the task. Results In normal subjects, a distributed language network was activated. Activations were present in the frontal, temporal, parietal and occipital regions. In the patient group, however, no activation was detected in the left inferior frontal gyrus whether the patient had a lesion in the left frontal lobe or not. Two patients showed activations in some right hemisphere regions where no activation appeared in normal subjects. Conclusions fMRI with word generation task is feasible for evaluating language function in aphasic patients. Remote effect of focal lesion and functional redistribution or reorganisation can be found in aphasic patients.

Recursive functions of context free languages (Ⅱ)——Validity of CFPRF and CFRF definitions

In this paper we proved that the function class CFRF and its proper subclass CFPRF are respectively the partial recursive functions and primitive recursive functions of context free languages (CFLs). Also we discussed the relation between them and recursive functions defined on other domains . It is indicated that the functions of natural numbers and/or symbol strings (words) are functions of CFLs. Several frequently used primitive recursive functions on words were given, including logical connectives, conditional expressions. Also the powerful operators (bounded maximization and minimization operators) for constructing primitive recursive functions were defined. Two important nontrivial algorithms, the characteristic function of arbitrary CFL and the parse function of CFL sentences were constructed. Based on them, the method for extending or restricting function domain was described.

Recursive functions of context free languages (Ⅰ)——The definitions of CFPRF and CFRF

It is intended to establish the recursive function theory on context free languages (CFLs). In this paper, the function class CFRF and its proper subclass CFPRF were defined on CFLs; it is quite straightforward to use them for describing non-numerical algorithms. In fact, they are respectively the partial recursive functions and primitive recursive functions of context free languages. The structure induction method for proving CFPRF function properties was presented. A method for CFL sentence enumeration was given, the minimization operator was defined. Based on CFL sentence enumeration, the minimization operator evaluation method was given. Finally, the design and implementation principles of executable specification languages with the CFRF as theoretical basis were discussed.

Pattern Matching Compilation of Functions Definedin Context-Free Languages

LFC is a functional language based on recursive functions defined in context-free languages. In this paper, a new pattern matching algorithm for LFC is presented, which can represent a sequence of patterns as an integer by an encoding method. It is a rather simple method and produces efficient case-expressions for pattern matching definitions of LFC. The algorithm can also be used for other functional languages, but for nested patterns it may become complicated and further studies are needed.

Inverse Computation and the Universal Resolving Algorithm

We survey fundamental concepts for inverse programming and then present the Universal Resolving Algorithm, an algorithm for inverse computation in a first order, functional programming language. We discuss the key concepts of the algorithm, including a three step approach based on the notion of a perfect process tree, and demonstrate our implementation with several examples of inverse computation.

Problems in the Language Form and Function Debate and a Way Forward

A much debated issue in linguistics involves the extent to which the forms of languages(phonemes,morphemes,words,phrases and syntactic structures)have been shaped by the functions that languages perform.This paper begins by defining what these"functions"are:the forms of language must express(i.e.be capable of being paired with)an infinite set of meanings in a consistent way;these form-meaning pairings must be readily processable by language producers and comprehenders in real time;and they must be readily learnable.This paper then focuses on the processability function,and enumerates some problems that complicate discussions of whether processing has actually played a role in shaping grammars,especially in morphology and syntax.Most of these problems,it is argued,are the result of unresolved issues in current theories regarding e.g.the precise relationship between production and comprehension,the measurement of working memory load,and the relationship between prediction and the integration of preceding and following items in on-line processing.I argue here that the linguistic question of explaining why the world’s grammars are the way they are,and understanding the role of processing in explaining grammatical forms,need not,and cannot,wait for these big general issues to be resolved in psycholinguistics.Instead,we can adopt a more empirical approach that compares patterns in grammatical forms and structures across languages with relevant empirical patterns in usage data within languages,from corpora and experiments.This more empirical approach allows us to test whether there is,or is not,a match between grammatical data on the one hand,and usage data on the other,that are the products of the processing mechanisms that psycholinguistic theories are trying to def ine.These patterns can be described in theory-general or-neutral ways and they can shed light on whether grammatical forms have been shaped by performance,without us having to f ill in all the details of the contributing processing theories.This paper illustrates two empirically based descriptive principles and their supporting data,Minimize Domains and Minimize Forms,and considers these methodological issues.

Intra-operative mapping and language protection in glioma

The demand for acquiring different languages has increased with increasing globalization.However,knowledge of the modification of the new language in the neural language network remains insufficient.Although many details of language function have been detected based on the awake intra-operative mapping results,the language neural network of the bilingual or multilingual remains unclear,which raises difficulties in clinical practice to preserve patients’full language ability in neurosurgery.In this review,we present a summary of the current findings regarding the structure of the language network and its evolution as the number of acquired languages increased in glioma patients.We then discuss a new insight into the awake intra-operative mapping protocol to reduce surgical risks during the preservation of language function in multilingual patients with glioma.

Characteristics of language impairment in Parkinson’s disease and its influencing factors

Background:Language impairment is relatively common in Parkinson’s disease(PD),but not all PD patients are susceptible to language problems.In this study,we identified among a sample of PD patients those pre-disposed to language impairment,describe their clinical profiles,and consider factors that may precipitate language disability in these patients.Methods:A cross-sectional cohort of 31 PD patients and 20 controls were administered the Chinese version of the Western Aphasia Battery(WAB)to assess language abilities,and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment(MoCA)to determine cognitive status.PD patients were then apportioned to a language-impaired PD(LI-PD)group or a PD group with no language impairment(NLI-PD).Performance on the WAB and MoCA was investigated for correlation with the aphasia quotient deterioration rate(AQDR).Results:The PD patients scored significantly lower on most of the WAB subtests than did the controls.The aphasia quotient,cortical quotient,and spontaneous speech and naming subtests of the WAB were significantly different between LI-PD and NLI-PD groups.The AQDR scores significantly and positively correlated with age at onset and motor function deterioration.Conclusion:A subset group was susceptible to language dysfunction,a major deficit in spontaneous speech.Once established,dysphasia progression is closely associated with age at onset and motor disability progression.

A new parallel meshing technique integrated into the conformal FDTD method for solving complex electromagnetic problems

A new efficient parallel finite-difference time-domain(FDTD) meshing algorithm, based on the ray tracing technique, is proposed in this paper. This algorithm can be applied to construct various FDTD meshes, such as regular and conformal ones. The Microsoft F# language is used for the algorithm coding, where all variables are unchangeable with its parallelization advantage being fully exploited. An improved conformal FDTD algorithm, also integrated with an improved surface current algorithm, is presented to simulate some complex 3D models, such as a sphere ball made of eight different materials, a tank, a J-10 aircraft, and an aircraft carrier with 20 aircrafts. Both efficiency and capability of the developed parallel FDTD algorithm are validated. The algorithm is applied to characterize the induced surface current distribution on an aircraft or a warship.