ABSTRACT
Social sciences researchers emphasize that new technologies can overcome the limitations of small and homogenous samples. In research on early language development, which often uses parental reports, taking the testing online might be particularly compelling. Due to logistical limitations, previous studies on bilingual children have explored the language development trajectories in general (e.g., by including few and largely set apart timepoints), or focused on small, homogeneous samples. The present study protocol presents a new, on-going study which uses new technologies to collect longitudinal data continuously from parents of multilingual, bilingual, and monolingual children. Our primary aim is to establish the developmental trajectories in Polish-British English and Polish-Norwegian bilingual children and Polish monolingual children aged 0-3 years with the use of mobile and web-based applications. These tools allow parents to report their children's language development as it progresses, and allow us to characterize children's performance in each language (the age of reaching particular language milestones). The project's novelty rests on its use of mobile technologies to characterize the bilingual and monolingual developmental trajectory from the very first words to broader vocabulary and multiword combinations.
Subject(s)
Mobile Applications , Multilingualism , Child , Humans , Language , Language Development , Language TestsABSTRACT
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are non-hematopoietic, multipotent stem cells derived from mesoderm, which can be easily isolated from many sources such as bone marrow, umbilical cord or adipose tissue. MSCs provide support for hematopoietic stem cells and have an ability to differentiate into multiple cell lines. Moreover, they have proangiogenic, protective and immunomodulatory properties. MSCs have the capacity to modulate both innate and adaptive immune responses, which accompany many diseases, by inhibiting pro-inflammatory reactions and stimulating anti-inflammatory activity. Recent findings revealed that the positive effect of MSCs is at least partly associated with the production of extracellular vesicles (EVs). EVs are small membrane structures, containing proteins, lipids and nuclei acids, which take part in intra-cellular communication. Many studies indicate that EVs contain protective and pro-regenerative properties and can modulate an immune response that is activated in various diseases such as CNS diseases, myocardial infarction, liver injury, lung diseases, ulcerative colitis or kidney injury. Thus, EVs have similar functions as their cells of origin and since they do not carry the risk of cell transplantation, such as tumor formation or small vessel blockage, they can be considered a potential therapeutic tool for cell-free therapy.