Preferred argument structure in the oral narratives of adolescents with and without SLI.

According to the theory of 'Preferred Argument Structure' (PAS), the realisation and distribution of core arguments including the subject of a transitive verb (A), the direct object of a transitive verb (O) or the subject of an intransitive verb (S) in spoken discourse are subject to both grammatical and pragmatic constraints. However, previous studies on the formulation of argument structure have largely focused on the syntactic difficulties of children with SLI. In addition, little is known about the developmental outcomes in argument structure for adolescents with SLI. In this study, we compared PAS in the narratives of 19 adolescents with SLI (Mean age = 14.3; SD = 0.64) and 19 adolescents with typical language development (TLD; Mean age = 14.5; SD = 0.84). The core arguments of the predicate in each narrative based on the wordless picture storybook 'Frog, where are you?' were coded for grammatical roles (A, O and S), referential forms (lexical forms and non-lexical form including null and pronominal forms) and information status (given, accessible and new information). The data were then analysed for conformity to the grammatical and pragmatic constraints of the PAS theory. The two groups were found to be similar in their conformity to the pragmatic constraints but differed in how they conform to the syntactic constraints. In particular, the adolescents with SLI were more likely to produce clauses with two lexical arguments, and the lexical arguments occurred significantly more frequently at the subject role of a transitive verb than the TLD groups. Our results provide further evidence that it is a persistent grammatical deficit, rather than a pragmatic deficit, which poses a special challenge for adolescents with SLI in their formulation of argument structure in narratives.

Urine color for assessment of dehydration among college men students in Hebei, China - a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: To examine the association between quantified urine color and urine osmolality, and its validity in distinguishing hydration status among college men in Hebei, China. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: Sixty-eight college men aged 18~25 years completed a cross-sectional study. All participants were asked to complete a 24-h fluid intake record to estimate fluid intake from beverages after anthropometric measurements. The foods eaten by participants were weighed to assess fluid intake from foods. All urine samples for the day were collected by participants to determine urine osmolality and urine color by chromatogram spectrophotometry (in accord with the Commission Internationale de l'Eclarige (CIE) notation L*a*b*). RESULTS: A total 413 urine samples from 68 participants were collected and 151 (36.6%) samples indicated dehydration according to urine osmolality. The dehydrated group versus hydrated group had a smaller urine color L* (94.88 vs 98.06) and a* (- 2.39 vs -1.91), bigger b* (30.41 vs 15.15), and higher osmolality (958 mOsm/kg vs 486 mOsm/kg). Urine color and osmolality were closely correlated, especially for b* (0.86, p<0.0001). The percentage variance in urine osmolality (R2) explained by a partial least squares (PLS) model was 79%. Urine color b* contributed most substantially to the PLS model, with variable importance for projection of 1.35. The cutoff for b* for adequate hydration was 17.78 (area under the curve=0.899). CONCLUSIONS: Differences in urine color between dehydrated and hydrated status related to urine osmolality. Urine color quantification is a reliable method to assess hydration status among young Chinese men.

Hydration, Fluid Intake, and Related Urine Biomarkers among Male College Students in Cangzhou, China: A Cross-Sectional Study-Applications for Assessing Fluid Intake and Adequate Water Intake.

The objectives of this study were to assess the associations between fluid intake and urine biomarkers and to determine daily total fluid intake for assessing hydration status for male college students. A total of 68 male college students aged 18-25 years recruited from Cangzhou, China completed a 7-day cross-sectional study. From day 1 to day 7; all subjects were asked to complete a self-administered 7-day 24-h fluid intake record. The foods eaten by subjects were weighed and 24-h urine was collected for three consecutive days on the last three consecutive days. On the sixth day, urine osmolality, specific gravity (USG), pH, and concentrations of potassium, sodium, and chloride was determined. Subjects were divided into optimal hydration, middle hydration, and hypohydration groups according to their 24-h urine osmolality. Strong relationships were found between daily total fluid intake and 24-h urine biomarkers, especially for 24-h urine volume (r = 0.76; p < 0.0001) and osmolality (r = 0.76; p < 0.0001). The percentage of the variances in daily total fluid intake (R²) explained by PLS (partial least squares) model with seven urinary biomarkers was 68.9%; two urine biomarkers-24-h urine volume and osmolality-were identified as possible key predictors. The daily total fluid intake for assessing optimal hydration was 2582 mL, while the daily total fluid intake for assessing hypohydration was 2502 mL. Differences in fluid intake and urine biomarkers were found among male college students with different hydration status. A strong relationship existed between urine biomarkers and fluid intake. A PLS model identified that key variables for assessing daily total fluid intake were 24-h urine volume and osmolality. It was feasibility to use total fluid intake to judge hydration status.