The long-term significance of teacher-rated hyperactivity and reading ability in childhood: findings from two longitudinal studies

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were twofold: first, to examine behavioural and academic outcomes of children with hyperactivity, using data from two longitudinal studies; and second, to examine comparable psychosocial outcomes for children with early reading difficulties. METHODS: Measures of teacher-rated persistent hyperactivity, and reading ability obtained during early primary school were available for children from the Australian Temperament Project and the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study. Both samples were followed up to assess behavioural and academic outcomes during the adolescent and early adult years. Family background, antisocial behaviour and literacy were controlled in the first set of analyses to examine the influence of early hyperactivity. RESULTS: There were strong linear relationships between early hyperactivity and later adverse outcomes. Adjustment for other childhood variables suggested that early hyperactivity was associated with continuing school difficulties, problems with attention and poor reading in adolescence. Early reading difficulties, after controlling for early hyperactivity, predicted continuing reading problems in high school and leaving school with no qualifications. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that there are dual pathways from early inattentive behaviours to later inattention and reading problems, and from early reading difficulties to substantial impairments in later academic outcomes.     

Pharmacology of vanilloids at recombinant and endogenous rat vanilloid receptors

This study compared the actions of members of five different chemical classes of vanilloid agonists at the recombinant rat vanilloid VR1 receptor expressed in HEK293 cells, and at endogenous vanilloid receptors on dorsal root ganglion cells and sensory nerves in the rat isolated mesenteric arterial bed. In mesenteric beds, vanilloids elicited dose-dependent vasorelaxation with the rank order of potency: resiniferatoxin>capsaicin=olvanil>phorbol 12-phenyl-acetate 13-acetate 20-homovanillate (PPAHV)>isovelleral. Scutigeral was inactive. Responses were abolished by capsaicin pretreatment and inhibited by ruthenium red. In VR1-HEK293 cells and dorsal root ganglion neurones, Ca(2+) responses were induced by resiniferatoxin>capsaicin=olvanil>PPAHV; all four were full agonists. Isovelleral and scutigeral were inactive. The resiniferatoxin-induced Ca(2+) response had a distinct kinetic profile. Olvanil had a Hill coefficient of approximately 1 whilst capsaicin, resiniferatoxin and PPAHV had Hill coefficients of approximately 2 in VR1-HEK293 cells. The capsaicin-induced Ca(2+) response was inhibited in a concentration-dependent manner by ruthenium red>capsazepine>isovelleral. These data show that resiniferatoxin, capsaicin, olvanil and PPAHV, but not scutigeral and isovelleral, are agonists at recombinant rat VR1 receptors and endogenous vanilloid receptors on dorsal root ganglion neurones and in the rat mesenteric arterial bed. The vanilloids display the same relative potencies (resiniferatoxin>capsaicin=olvanil>PPAHV) in all of the bioassays.     

STAT! A four-step approach to nursing recruitment and retention in a tertiary pediatric setting

Recruiting nurses in today's health care environment is more challenging than ever before. A four-step, long-term strategic approach to nursing recruitment and retention was developed and implemented at The Children's Hospital (TCH) in Denver. STAT! Student and Employee Recruitment, Teaching the Specialty, Active Mentorship, and Time to Listen, denotes the urgency and significance of the current nursing shortage crisis and the need for immediate intervention to a critical health care problem. A combined effort within and across departments has led to the program's success, and new strategies continue to be designed and implemented to attract and retain the best and the brightest.     

The use of silicon microfabrication technology in painless blood glucose monitoring

A unique minimally invasive system for painless blood testing is now being commercialized for measurement of blood glucose concentration by diabetics. The novel component of this system, a consumable microsampling and assay device, consists of a tough, flexible silicon microneedle comparable in cross-section to a human hair integrated with a silicon microcuvette. This microneedle is capable of reliably taking a very small sample of whole blood completely painlessly, unlike sticks with the much larger metal lancet that must be used in all other current systems. The device permits a one-step process that avoids the need to transfer blood from a skin puncture to a test strip, thus minimizing blood required and possible mess. The small hand-held instrument containing the consumable is touched to the skin of the arm or any other part of the body, not necessarily the tip of the finger, and held there for one second. During this time, the microneedle is advanced and then withdrawn under microprocessor control, puncturing the skin and drawing less than 200 nanoliters of blood into the microcuvette, where the assay is performed automatically. The instrument calculates the blood glucose concentration, displays the result, and holds it in memory for recall. The consumable is produced by silicon microelectromechanical systems technology and can be produced in high volume at low unit cost. This technology shows promise of being extended to other analytes and to continuous monitoring.