Task performance of black and white children across levels of presentation variability

This study is an examination of the task performance patterns of Black and White, working and middle-class American children across a nonvaried and a varied presentation format condition: the relation of such patterns to activity levels in the home and to standardized achievement was also examined. Performance was better under the varied than the nonvaried format condition. This pattern held for all ethnic group/class combinations with the exception of Black middle-class children, for whom performance under the two conditions was virtually identical. Moreover, Black children, especially Black working-class children, reported greater home activity levels than did their White counterparts. Neither home activity level nor achievement was functionally related to patterns of performance.     

Lymphomas with testicular localisation show a consistent BCL-2 expression without a translocation (14;18): a molecular and immunohistochemical study

Rabbits were immunised with stage 1 and stage 2 soluble haemagglutinins (sHA) of Helicobacter pylori strain NCTC 11637 and with rabbit erythrocytes coated with stage 1 sHA. After adsorption of stage 1 sHA on erythrocytes, SDS-PAGE analysis showed that 4 major protein bands were removed from the preparation. The anti-sHA coated erythrocyte serum had the highest HA inhibition titre of 16. Crossed immunoelectrophoresis of the stage 1 sHA, against stage 1 and 2 antisera showed multiple precipitin arcs; however, the anti-sHA coated erythrocyte serum produced only two arcs. One arc produced by the anti-stage 2 serum was absent with the anti-stage 1 serum. This arc could have been produced against a 20 kDa polypeptide which was absent in the stage 1 sHA. The other arc was stronger when compared with that produced by anti-stage 1 serum. These two arcs corresponded to the two arcs produced by the anti-sHA coated erythrocyte serum, which had the highest inhibition titre. The two arcs were markedly reduced in crossed immunoelectrophoresis with an adsorbed stage 1 sHA preparation, which indicates that these arcs were produced against the sHAs.     

A time-course study of the transfer of immunoglobulin G from blood to tracheal and lacrimal secretions in young turkeys

Three-week-old turkeys were injected intravenously with Bordetella avium-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG), and absorbance readings were measured in blood, tracheal washings, and lacrimal secretions using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay at various time intervals. IgG was detected in tracheal and lacrimal secretions as early as 5 minutes after injection and peaked at 10 minutes after injection. Thereafter, IgG absorbance declined rapidly, reaching background levels by 24 hours. The absorbance readings of IgG in all three sites were comparable at all times from 10 minutes to 24 hours after administration. The results indicated that movement of IgG from blood to mucosal surfaces in turkeys occurs rapidly.     

Comparison of plume rise models against water tank experimental data for neutral and stable crossflows

The evaluation of the trajectories of plumes rising into a crossflow is relevant for the correct modelling of pollutant dispersal in the atmosphere. Plume rise models are therefore an important part of several dispersion models. There is a general consensus on the formulation of plume rise through solution of equations describing the conservation of energy and momentum in the plume closed with an empirical formulation of the entrainment rate of fresh air into the developing plume. However, there are differences in the entrainment coefficients found in different studies. In this work the trajectories of sixty plumes, simulated at small scale in a towing water tank, have been analysed in order to test the performance of widely used dispersion codes and to find statistically the best entrainment coefficients for the different models. The plumes simulated cover a wide range of scenarios from pure jets to buoyant plumes developing in both neutral and linearly stable stratified crossflows. A new analytical model for stable crossflows, representing an extension of an existing model, has been presented and tested. Results show that the entrainment coefficients are different for neutral and stable crossflows, especially for approximate analytical codes. In contrast, the coefficients of the integral model seem to be less sensitive to the stability of the crossflow. The entrainment coefficients found by the fitting of the analytical models are significantly lower than the measured spread rate of the plumes. In neutral crossflows the generalised Briggs model and the integral model give statistically similar performances. In stable crossflows the new analytical model as well as the integral model are able to predict the oscillation of the plumes around their equilibrium height; however, there is an underestimation of both the oscillation frequency and the downwind position of the maximum height. The use of an added mass coefficient allows, with almost the same entrainment coefficients, improved prediction of the oscillation frequency and of the maximum rise position. Measured plume height oscillations are more strongly damped than predicted ones.     

The POSNA pediatric musculoskeletal functional health questionnaire: report on reliability, validity, and sensitivity to change. Pediatric Outcomes Instrument Development Group. Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America

The goal of orthopaedic interventions is to improve the functional health of patients, particularly physical function. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America (POSNA) commissioned a work group to construct functional health outcomes scales for children and adolescents, focusing on musculoskeletal health. The work group developed scales assessing upper extremity function, transfers and mobility, physical function and sports, comfort (pain free), happiness and satisfaction, and expectations for treatment. Parent and adolescent self-report forms were developed and tested on 470 subjects aged 2-18 years. The POSNA scales demonstrated good reliability, construct validity, sensitivity to change over a 9-month period, and ability to outperform a standard instrument, the Child Health Questionnaire physical functioning scale. They were useful for a wide variety of ages and diagnoses. They appear to be ideally suited for orthopaedic surgeons to assess the functional health and efficacy of treatment of their patients at baseline and follow-up.