Narrative discourse in children with early focal brain injury

Children with early brain damage, unlike adult stroke victims, often go on to develop nearly normal language. However, the route and extent of their linguistic development are still unclear, as is the relationship between lesion site and patterns of delay and recovery. Here we address these questions by examining narratives from children with early brain damage. Thirty children (ages 3:7-10:10) with pre- or perinatal unilateral focal brain damage and their matched controls participated in a storytelling task. Analyses focused on linguistic proficiency and narrative competence. Overall, children with brain damage scored significantly lower than their age-matched controls on both linguistic (morphological and syntactic) indices and those targeting broader narrative qualities. Rather than indicating that children with brain damage fully catch up, these data suggest that deficits in linguistic abilities reassert themselves as children face new linguistic challenges. Interestingly, after age 5, site of lesion does not appear to be a significant factor and the delays we have witnessed do not map onto the lesion profiles observed in adults with analogous brain injuries.     

Mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome

In 1967, Kawasaki reported an acute, febrile, mucocutaneous condition accompanied by swelling of cervical lymph nodes that afflicted infants and young children in Japan. He called the entity mucocutaneous lymph node syndrome. In 1974, the condition was reported in Hawaii, and several cases have been reported subsequently from the continental United States and other countries. One percent to two % of patients had died suddenly of cardiac failure. Rickettsia-like bodies have been demonstrated from skin and lymph node biopsy specimens, and the pathologic features suggest a relationship to infantile periarteritis nodosa.     

Organization of patient intake at private dental institutions

Nd:YAG laser was used to disrupt Descemet's membrane in rabbits in order to provoke the hypothetical release of angiogenic activity without a significant traumatic inflammation. Corneal vascularization was elicited only with simultaneous administration of heparin, which alone was unable to initiate the growth of new blood vessels. It is probable that basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) was released from its depot in Descemet's membrane and its critical concentration was saved by heparin. The importance of Descemet's membrane is highlighted by the fact that a similar lesion of midstroma could not induce angiogenesis even if aided by heparin. However, some other mechanisms cannot be ruled out, as bFGF acts in paracrine and amacrine mode only.     

A novel 24-GHz bandwidth coaxial probe

An electrical probe based on specially designed coaxial tips is shown to have 24-GHz bandwidth. It can be used to test high-speed signal propagation on planar or nonplanar chip or package interconnection structures with signal/ground pads as small as 50 μm. The detailed fabrication procedure, characterization, and use of the probe are presented. A variation of the design has 500-Ω input impedance and a bandwidth of 19 GHz     

Practical considerations in choosing a MANOVA test statistic: A rejoinder to Stevens.

The recommendation of the Pillai-Bartlett trace V for general use as the test statistic in multivariate ANOVA is reexamined and reaffirmed in light of criticisms by J. P. Stevens (see record 1979-25171-001). Empirical data are presented show that the V test's substantial robustness advantage does not require extreme violations of assumptions, and examples are cited to show the occurrence in practice of the type of heteroscedasticity in which the V test particularly excels and the occurrence of the pattern of population mean differences for which the V test is more powerful than its rivals. (10 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A proposed technique for the treatment of restriction of range of selected validation.

Evaluates traditional correction formulas designed to adjust for the effects of restriction of range in validation studies and proposes a new technique that resolves an important limitation of these earlier approaches. The conventional formulas require that the restricted variable be completely measured, even though most selection contexts involve restriction of range on both measured and unmeasured variables. The authors propose the use of a recently developed econometric technique that can correct for restriction of range attributable to both measured and unmeasured variables. The procedure explicitly recognizes the 2nd equation implicit in any validation study: the sample selection process. Based on well-established distribution theory and the assumption that the error terms in the 2 equations are distributed bivariate normal, the technique enables the researcher to estimate the bias associated with using the restricted sample. The limitations of the procedure and its applicability to a variety of selection problems are also discussed. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)