The histopathology of fiberglass dermatitis in relation to von Hebra''s concept of eczema

A group of 36 normal control persons was patch-tested with glass fibers. The tested filaments had a length of about 3 to 5 mm and a diameter of 9 to 13 microns. The glass fibers were obtained from the normal production process. They were coated with cured epoxy resin. A group of 29 normal control persons was tested with the same type of fibers from which the epoxy finish had been burned off. Another group of 36 persons was patch-tested with ultrasmall glass globes with a diameter of 10 to 15 microns. Coated and uncoated glass globules were tested. On every person 5 patch tests with the same material were done. They were removed after 1, 5, 24, 48 and 72 h. On coated fiber, 12 of 36 tested people reacted with either a + or a ++ reaction. On the uncoated fibers a reaction could be noted in 10 out of 29 persons. The patch tests with coated as well as uncoated glass globules were all negative. A total of 60 biopsies was performed in those cases where + or ++ reactions were noted. The histological examination of the biopsies showed no differences between the reactions on coated and uncoated fibers. The skin reactions to glass fiber showed, besides microtraumatic changes, several histological characteristics of an eczematous reaction, like spongiosis and perivascular lymphocytic infiltration. The importance of these findings is discussed. It is emphasized that histological alterations are only one of the six points which must be taken into account when the diagnosis of eczema is considered.     

Effect of poverty on urban preschool children's understanding of conventional time concepts

The purpose of the present study was to compare the understanding of conventional time concepts by urban preschool children reared in poverty with that of their peers not raised in poverty. The questionnaire used in this study was based on the original work of Ames. Thirty-six children ranging in age from three to five years of age participated in the study. Twelve attended a Head Start program for homeless children, 12 lived in low-income housing and attended a neighborhood Head Start program, and 12 attended one of three university daycare centers. Each child was interviewed using a questionnaire containing age, calendar, clock, experiential and conceptual time-related questions. The results of this study revealed that homeless children and children living in poverty who attended Head Start programs possessed less conventional time knowledge than their peers who attended university daycare centers, as well as those children who participated in the original Ames study. These results have important implications for educational practices.     

Convergent and invariant object representations for sight,sound, and touch

We continuously perceive objects in the world through multiple sensory channels. In this study, we investigated the convergence of information from different sensory streams within the cerebral cortex. We presented volunteers with three common objects via three different modalities—sight, sound, and touch—and used multivariate pattern analysis of functional magnetic resonance imaging data to map the cortical regions containing information about the identity of the objects. We could reliably predict which of the three stimuli a subject had seen, heard, or touched from the pattern of neural activity in the corresponding early sensory cortices. Intramodal classification was also successful in large portions of the cerebral cortex beyond the primary areas, with multiple regions showing convergence of information from two or all three modalities. Using crossmodal classification, we also searched for brain regions that would represent objects in a similar fashion across different modalities of presentation. We trained a classifier to distinguish objects presented in one modality and then tested it on the same objects presented in a different modality. We detected audiovisual invariance in the right temporo‐occipital junction, audiotactile invariance in the left postcentral gyrus and parietal operculum, and visuotactile invariance in the right postcentral and supramarginal gyri. Our maps of multisensory convergence and crossmodal generalization reveal the underlying organization of the association cortices, and may be related to the neural basis for mental concepts. Hum Brain Mapp 36:3629–3640, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

How action schemas are reflected in young children’s emerging language

ABSTRACT

This paper draws on observational studies of three young children in order to demonstrate firstly, their intrinsic motivation to explore systematically through repeated patterns of action or ‘schemas’; secondly, how those repeated actions appear and are explored in their emerging language demonstrating their increasing construction of and understanding of complex concepts. Concepts being explored included seriation, capacity and fit and movement and direction. What emerged was the value of child initiated learning, supported sensitively by adults, who need to ‘tune in conceptually’ to the children’s play.     

Research Fundamentals: II. Choosing and Defining a Research Question

Abstract. This is the second in a series of articles developed by members of the SAEM Research Committee to describe a stepwise approach to the research process. This series is aimed at junior academic emergency physicians (EPs), as well as nonacademic EPs with an interest in the research process. This article describes the development of a testable research hypothesis. While a multitude of sources provide interesting questions for consideration, choosing and refining the research question, so that it can be tested adequately and answered completely, are difficult tasks.     

Art and science in aesthetic rhinoplasty

The author evaluates the aesthetic ideas of his patients and his surgical approach and the implications of these two on the overall result in one hundred cases of aesthetic rhinoplasty in patients from the regional area including Pakistan, Iran, India, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.     

Phenol peeling: New standards of excellence

Phenol peeling remains the gold standard of chemical peeling because no other agent can compare in the treatment of patients with moderate and deep rhytids. However, phenol peeling can be very painful and is associated with many tradeoffs. Plastic surgeons have boldly modified their approach to TCA peeling to improve their results and we would like to see the same applied to phenol peeling. The purpose of this article is to initiate new thinking about phenol peeling and to correct misconceptions that commonly appear in the literature. By modifying our technique we have been able to perform virtually painless phenol peels and to reduce the tradeoffs commonly seen. Our modifications are discussed in detail along with a discussion of the new concepts we feel are supported by our experience.     

Tilt, E.J. and the change of life (1857) - the only work on the subject in the english language

Tilt was the author of the only Enlgish book on the female climacteric published in the 19th century. This short historic sketch is primarily concerned with the evaluation of his work. It only hints at the differences between conditions on the opposite sides of the English Channel which encouraged the expression of climacteric disturbances to the south of it but not to the north. Though Tilt acted as an agent of diffusion for the medical concepts developed in France he had hardly any listeners. During the last quarter of the century, however, conditions changed greatly increasing stress among women. The work of Tilt then supplied a ready mould into which the many nebulous complaints presented by women could be fitted. Ménopause became anglicized to menopause: but though Tilt was “vindicated” he was also forgotten. His style was dated and his treatment out of date. His strong advocacy of sedation is still followed but his pioneering of statistical investigation of the climacteric is largely forgotten. Endocrinal research has made us neglect all that happened before it; examination of the past, its achievements and mistakes, may yet, however, teach us a great deal.