Left cradling and left ear advantage for emotional speech: listen to the other side too

In a recent issue of this journal, Turnbull and Bryson (2001) examined a possible relation between left ear (right hemisphere) advantage for perception of emotional speech and the universal preference of mothers to cradle infants on the left side, referring to a hypothesis that we had previously suggested (Sieratzki & Woll, 1996). Although they concluded that their data do not support our theory, reanalysis does suggest a connection between the hemispheric asymmetry for speech prosody and the leftward cradling bias.     

Examination of motor fitness within the scope of The Child and Adolescent Health Survey

Several studies indicate that physical performance of children and young people is declining. However, actually available data on physical performance and physical activity of children and young people are not representative and hence no countrywide predictions can be made. The examination of motor fitness in association with development and health of children and young people is indispensable for the implementation of appropriate measures of intervention. The module 'Motoric' in the National Health Survey for Children and Adolescents shall remedy the deficiency of information. For the module, 6,000 children and adolescents, age 4-17 years, will be representatively drawn from the total survey sample. Their physical performance and physical activity will be comprehensively assessed. For this purpose, appropriate tests have been developed. In pilot studies, all methods were tested for practicability, objectivity, reliability, and validity. The application of methods was coordinated between the Robert Koch-Institute and the Institute of Sport and Science of Sports, University of Karlsruhe.     

Preliminary results of the study of the relationship between cricopharyngeal incoordination and gastroesophageal reflux in infants

The authors summarise the results of barium swallow examinations and polysomnographic studies performed on 66 infants (41 male, 25 female), average age 63 days (26-130 days). Oesophageal pH monitoring was also performed as part of the polysomnographic examination. The results showed the highest incidence of cricopharyngeal incoordination (CPI) in the 6-10 weeks age group. Although they failed to demonstrate statistical significance between CPI and increased gastro-oesophageal reflux, they consider the two entities to be most probably related. No relation was found between CPI and abnormal polysomnographic results. They give an overview of the literature on the pathology of the cricopharyngeal muscle and with regard to the lack of uniformity in the terminology of previous publications, they present their use of terminology.     

Thymic cysts in mediastinal Hodgkin disease

Three cases of proved thymic cysts associated with mediastinal Hodgkin disease are presented. Two illustrate regression of lymphoma with chemotherapy but persistence of thymic cysts. The third case demonstrates a thymic cyst in untreated Hodgkin disease. These cases suggest that such cysts are probably neither coincidental with nor a consequence of therapy but are probably related to initial thymic involvement by Hodgkin disease.     

Understanding 'not': neuropsychological dissociations between hand and head markers of negation in BSL

Simple negation in natural languages represents a complex interrelationship of syntax, prosody, semantics and pragmatics, and may be realised in various ways: lexically, morphologically and prosodically. In almost all spoken languages, the first two of these are the primary realisations of syntactic negation. In contrast, in many signed languages negation can occur without lexical or morphological marking. Thus, in British Sign Language (BSL), negation is obligatorily expressed using face-head actions alone (facial negation) with the option of articulating a manual form alongside the required face-head actions (lexical negation). What are the processes underlying facial negation? Here, we explore this question neuropsychologically. If facial negation reflects lexico-syntactic processing in BSL, it may be relatively spared in people with unilateral right hemisphere (RH) lesions, as has been suggested for other 'grammatical facial actions' [Language and Speech 42 (1999) 307; Emmorey, K. (2002). Language, cognition and the brain: Insights from sign language research. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum (Lawrence)]. Three BSL users with RH lesions were specifically impaired in perceiving facial compared with manual (lexical and morphological) negation. This dissociation was absent in three users of BSL with left hemisphere lesions and different degrees of language disorder, who also showed relative sparing of negation comprehension. We conclude that, in contrast to some analyses [Applied Psycholinguistics 18 (1997) 411; Emmorey, K. (2002). Language, cognition and the brain: Insights from sign language research. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum (Lawrence); Archives of Neurology 36 (1979) 837], non-manual negation in sign may not be a direct surface realisation of syntax [Language and Speech 42 (1999) 143; Language and Speech 42 (1999) 127]. Difficulties with facial negation in the RH-lesion group were associated with specific impairments in processing facial images, including facial expressions. However, they did not reflect generalised 'face-blindness', since the reading of (English) speech patterns from faces was spared in this group. We propose that some aspects of the linguistic analysis of sign language are achieved by prosodic analysis systems (analysis of face and head gestures), which are lateralised to the minor hemisphere.     

Hospitalization of children with acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura – is it necessary?

OBJECTIVE:

To identify a target group of children with acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) that may not require hospitalization for management.

METHODS:

A retrospective chart review was conducted of all children admitted over a two-year period to a tertiary care paediatric hospital with the diagnosis of acute ITP. Patients were classified according to typical and atypical presentations. Typical patients were defined as those aged between one and 10 years, with no hepatomegaly or significant splenomegaly and who had typical laboratory features for ITP. Patients who did not meet these criteria were categorized as atypical. Outcome measures included length of stay (LOS) in hospital; frequency of bone marrow aspiration (BMA); type of treatment; incidence of intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) or severe bleeding; and admission and discharge platelet counts.

RESULTS:

There were 74 patients hospitalized for a mean of 3.6 days. No patients suffered an ICH or bleeding requiring transfusion. Patients with typical presentations (42) were compared with patients with atypical presentations (32) and were not significantly different for clinically important outcomes such as admission and discharge platelet counts, serious complications or type of therapy. Typical patients had significantly fewer BMAs than did atypical patients – 22 of 42 (52%) versus 25 of 32 (78%) (P=0.02), and a shorter LOS – 3.1 (±0.9) days versus 4.2 (±1.8) days (P=0.01).

CONCLUSIONS:

Children presenting with ITP have a low incidence of bleeding complications and many of these patients can be managed as outpatients. A multicentre study is needed to properly delineate a low risk group suited for outpatient medical management.     

Effects of parental style of interaction on language development in very young severe and profound deaf children

AIMS: (1) To study the influence of different styles of parent-child interaction in the language development of very young deaf children. (2) To find out if there are differences in parent-child interaction between two groups of very young deaf children following an Aural/Oral or a Bilingual approach to education. METHODS: Subjects were selected from all deaf children in the County of Avon who were under 3 years of age at the time of first assessment, had severe or profound, bilateral, sensorineural hearing loss and no associated medical problems. There were 16 children and families at the start of the project but only 13 completed all the assessments. The Bristol Language Developmental Scales (BLADES) was used to assess both sign and spoken language development. Interaction was studied through analysis of contingency and book-reading applied to selected periods of 3 min from four videorecorded sessions, taken at 3 months intervals for a period of 1 year. RESULTS: From the 13 children studied, only seven presented with some degree of expressive language measurable by the BLADES. Analysis of contingency showed that parents present with higher percentage of both Direct Related Acts and ON then their children Acts (On Acts: where both individuals are involved in the same task). Regarding bookreading, it was observed that parents often attend to child initiatives and acknowledge most of them but they make little effort to expand or use the child's message as topic for further conversation. In the reduced sample of seven children with expressive language, those with better language development had parents with: (a) higher percentage of DR acts; (b) higher percentage of ON acts; (c) higher percentage of appropriate responses to child communicative initiatives. CONCLUSIONS: In this small group language development seems to be facilitated by encouraging child participation and using a more contingent and child centred interaction. No significant differences were found between oral and bilingual families in terms of quality of interaction.     

Calorie restriction in nonhuman primates: mechanisms of reduced morbidity and mortality

Long term chronic calorie restriction (CR) of adult nonhuman primates significantly reduces morbidity and increases median age of death. The present review is focused upon an ongoing study of sustained adult- onset calorie restriction, which has been underway for 15 years. Monkeys, initially calorie restricted at about 10 years of age, are now approximately 25 years old. The median life span of these restricted monkeys is increasing, now exceeding that of ad libitum (AL)-fed monkeys. In our laboratory, maximum life span for AL-fed monkeys appears to be about 40 years. Thus, whether CR can also increase maximal life span, as it does in rodents, cannot be determined for at least another 15 years. The earliest detectable positive benefit on morbidity in these monkeys was previously reported as the prevention of obesity. Current evidence, as reviewed here, suggests that much obesity- associated morbidity is also mitigated by sustained calorie restraint in nonhuman primates. Furthermore, probably because of the prevention of obesity, diabetes has also been prevented. Recent findings include the identification of extraordinary changes in the glycogen synthesis pathway, and on the phosphorylation of glycogen synthase in response to insulin. This calorie restriction-induced prevention of morbidity does not require excessive leanness, but is clearly present when body fat is within the normal range of 10 to 22%, and this is likely to be true in humans as well.