Serilo

Researchers at Boston University (BU) have used computer simulations of the brain to predict language recovery in stroke survivors.
The research group is currently working to better comprehend how language and speech are processed in the brain and how best to rehabilitate and aid language recovery in people who have lost their ability to communicate as a result of brain damage caused by brain injuries such a stroke, or trauma.

This type of language loss is called aphasia, which is a long-term neurological disorder triggered by injury to the part of the brain accountable for language production and processing. This disorder affects over a million people in the US alone.

“It’s a huge problem,” said Swathi Kiran, director of BU’s Aphasia Research Lab, and College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. “It’s something our lab is working to tackle at multiple levels.”

Over the last decade, Kiran’s team have been observing the brain and analysing how it changes as people’s language skills improve with speech therapy. They have now established a novel technique to predict a person’s capacity to improve before starting therapy.

The researcher’s findings have been reported in Scientific Reports and outline how BU scientists along with collaborators at the University of Texas at Austin have been able to predict language recovery in Hispanic patients who speak both English and Spanish fluently – a group of aphasia patients particularly at risk of long-term language loss – by utilising advanced computer models of the brain. They say that this groundbreaking development could have transformative impacts in the field of speech therapy and for stroke survivors impacted by aphasia.

Pure Extraction Corp has announced it will be joining forces with AVL Powertrain UK Limited and Ballard Power Systems Inc to facilitate the production of a fuel-cell-powered vehicle.
All parties have entered into definitive agreements, which with the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary First Hydrogen Corp (First Hydrogen), will work together to design and develop a fuel-cell-powered vehicle in which First Hydrogen will own the commercial rights for the design.

Ballard Power Systems Inc is a global industry leader in innovative clean energy and fuel cell solutions, developing and industrialising proton exchange membrane fuel cell products for a vast array of sectors, such as portable power, heavy-duty motive, and material handling, in addition to creating technology solutions services. Furthermore, Ballard will provide support and integration of its hydrogen fuel-cell module for First Hydrogen’s prototype light commercial vehicle.