Genetic outcomes in children with developmental language disorder: a systematic review

Introduction

Developmental language disorder (DLD) is a common childhood condition negatively influencing communication and psychosocial development. An increasing number of pathogenic variants or chromosomal anomalies possibly related to DLD have been identified. To provide a base for accurate clinical genetic diagnostic work-up for DLD patients, understanding the specific genetic background is crucial. This study aims to give a systematic literature overview of pathogenic variants or chromosomal anomalies causative for DLD in children.

Methods

We conducted a systematic search in PubMed and Embase on available literature related to the genetic background of diagnosed DLD in children. Included papers were critically appraised before data extraction. An additional search in OMIM was performed to see if the described DLD genes are associated with a broader clinical spectrum.

Results

The search resulted in 15,842 papers. After assessing eligibility, 47 studies remained, of which 25 studies related to sex chromosome aneuploidies and 15 papers concerned other chromosomal anomalies (SCAs) and/or Copy Number Variants (CNVs), including del15q13.1-13.3 and del16p11.2. The remaining 7 studies displayed a variety of gene variants. 45 (candidate) genes related to language development, including FOXP2, GRIN2A, ERC1, and ATP2C2. After an additional search in the OMIM database, 22 of these genes were associated with a genetic disorder with a broader clinical spectrum, including intellectual disability, epilepsy, and/or autism.

Conclusion

Our study illustrates that DLD can be related to SCAs and specific CNV's. The reported (candidate) genes (n = 45) in the latter category reflect the genetic heterogeneity and support DLD without any comorbidities and syndromic language disorder have an overlapping genetic etiology.

Information throughput of photorefractive spatial solitons in the telecommunication range

Photorefractive spatial solitons are attractive elements because they can be used as controllable optical interconnectors for all-optical devices. To our knowledge, until now their properties were investigated in terms of energy transportation. We suggest considering photorefractive spatial solitons as optically induced information channels. The experimental technique to measure the information throughput of photorefractive spatial solitons in accordance with Shannon's definition was developed and demonstrated by us. We experimentally demonstrated that in the wavelength range of 1520-1630 nm it can be estimated as large as approximately 90 Tbits/s. We also experimentally demonstrate a measurement of the group-velocity dispersion and show the limitation of the pulse transfer rate of the induced waveguides to approximately 6.2 THz.

Characteristics associated with the dropout of hypertensive patients followed up in an outpatient referral clinic

OBJECTIVE

To determine the characteristics associated with the dropout of patients followed up in a Brazilian out patient clinic specializing in hypertension.

METHODS

Planned prospective cohort study of patients who were prescribed an antihypertensive treatment after an extensive initial evaluation. The following parameters were analyzed: sex, age, educational level, duration of disease, pressure level used for classifying the patient, previous treatment, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, familial history of hypertension, and lesion in a target organ.

RESULTS

We studied 945 hypertensive patients, 533 (56%) of whom dropped out of the follow-up. The mean age was 52.3+/-12.9 years. The highest probabilities of dropout of the follow-up were associated with current smoking, relative risk of 1.46 (1.04-2.06); educational level equal to or below 5 years of schooling, relative risk of 1.52 (1.11-2.08); and hypertension duration below 5 years, relative risk of 1.78 (1.28-2.48). Age increase was associated with a higher probability of follow-up with a relative risk of 0.98 (0.97-0.99).

CONCLUSION

We identified a group at risk for dropping out the follow-up, which comprised patients with a lower educational level, a recent diagnosis of hypertension, and who were smokers. We think that measures assuring adherence to treatment should be directed to this group of patients.

Dynamics of formation and interaction of photorefractive screening solitons

An experimental and numerical investigation of the dynamical, time-dependent effects accompanying the formation and interaction of two-dimensional spatial screening solitons in a photorefractive strontium barium niobate crystal is performed. These effects include initial diffraction, collapse to the soliton shape, the oscillation of beam diameters, beam bending, and the rotation, twisting, and turning of soliton pairs. The dynamics of complex spiraling of two incoherent solitons is considered in more detail.

Enhancing the sensitivity of an adaptive holographic interferometer using non-Bragg diffraction orders

The signal-to-noise ratio of the output of an adaptive holographic interferometer (AHI) based on a Bi(12)TiO(20) crystal is investigated. We show experimentally that the sensitivity of an AHI using the non-Bragg orders of diffraction in a thin photorefractive material is more than an order of magnitude greater than that of an AHI employing two-wave mixing in photorefractive volume holograms.

Age-related dynamics of cognitive brain functions in humans: an electrophysiological approach

Event-related P300 potentials closely reflect cognitive functions such as stimulus discrimination (N250) and processing time (P300 latencies) as well as attention capabilities (P300 amplitudes). To delineate the age-related dynamics of P300 potentials, we investigated 250 healthy subjects between 18 and 98 years of age in a cross-sectional study. A total of 330 visual P300 tests was performed in two different paradigms (PI, passive condition, n = 80; PII, active condition, n = 250). In both P300 paradigms, the N250 and P300 latencies were markedly prolonged (p < .0001) in older age, whereas the N250 and P300 latency differences between PII and PI did not change (p > .05). The P300 amplitudes in paradigm I and II revealed only a slight age-related reduction. In fact, the P300 amplitude ratios between PII and PI remained constant. Third-order polynomial regressions provided the best fit of the aging-P300 interactions in paradigms I and II for both males and females. Interestingly, females showed a greater and possibly earlier P300 latency increase during aging than males. These age-related changes of P300 potentials indicate a rather mild cognitive decline that does not accelerate before old age and may be different between both sexes.

Dynamics of cognitive brain dysfunction in patients with cirrhotic liver disease: an event-related P300 potential perspective

The dynamics of cognitive brain functions of 104 patients with both chronic non-cirrhotic (NC) and cirrhotic liver disease (C: C1, non-encephalopathic; C2, encephalopathic) were investigated by means of visual P300 potentials elicited in both the paradigms of transient (PI) and selective attention (PII). Conventional PVEPs, psychometric tests and quantitative liver function tests were also performed. As compared to both an age-matched control group (N) and the non-cirrhotic patients (NC), the N250 and P300 latencies of the cirrhotics (C) were equally prolonged in both P300 paradigms (P = 0.0001). By contrast, the P300 amplitudes were not different between the patient groups in either P300 paradigm. In the cirrhotics, however, the P300 amplitude differences between PII and PI (+ 3.7 +/- 2.8 muV, mean +/- 1 S.D.) were significantly (P < 0.01) smaller than in the non-cirrhotics (+ 7.5 +/- 5.2 muV) reflecting disturbances in the dynamics of visual attention. Interestingly, these P300 amplitude differences between both paradigms were positively correlated (r = 0.35; P = 0.005) with hepatic metabolic capacity, but not with liver blood flow (r = 0.23; P > 0.05). The diagnostic efficacy of the visual P300 in PI (sensitivity, 48%; specificity, 100%) was lower than that of the visual P300 in PII (79%; 100%) and that of the psychometric tests (63%; 94%), but it remained superior to that of the PVEPs (29%; 97%). It is concluded that in patients with cirrhotic liver disease visual P300 potentials can even reveal the dynamics of minor cognitive brain dysfunction and may also provide interesting pathophysiological information.

Visual event-related P300 potentials in early portosystemic encephalopathy

Visual event-related P300 potentials, conventional visual evoked potentials, and psychometric tests were applied to patients with noncirrhotic chronic liver disease and to clinically nonencephalopathic and encephalopathic cirrhotics to compare their diagnostic efficacy in detecting early portosystemic encephalopathy (PSE). Sixty-four investigations were performed in 58 patients. The latencies of the P300 parameters were significantly longer in both the encephalopathic and nonencephalopathic cirrhotics than in the noncirrhotics, indicating distinctly abnormal cortical processing of visual stimuli in cirrhotic patients. The visual P300 potentials showed the highest sensitivity and specificity for grade I PSE. Abnormal P300 test results were also found in 78% of the clinically nonencephalopathic cirrhotics, while psychometric tests showed abnormalities in only 41%. The P300 latencies were similar in alcoholic and nonalcoholic cirrhotics. Significant inverse correlations were found between the P300 latencies and measures of quantitative liver function such as galactose-elimination capacity and aminopyrine breath test. It is concluded that visual event-related P300 potentials are a sensitive index of subclinical and grade I PSE. Furthermore, the degree of cognitive dysfunction detected by this method in patients with liver cirrhosis appears to be related to the reduction in hepatic metabolic capacity.