Does stroke impair academic achievement in children? The role of metacognition in math and spelling outcomes following pediatric stroke

Introduction: Current research suggests that pediatric stroke is associated with a reduction in intellectual functioning. However, less is known about academic achievement and the contribution of specific executive functions to math and literacy in this population. The current study investigates behavioral ratings of executive functioning and their relationship to math and spelling performance in children with a history of unilateral arterial ischemic stroke.

Method: Thirty-two pediatric patients with stroke (M_age = 9.5 ± 2.7 years) and 32 demographically equivalent, healthy controls were tested on standardized measures of arithmetic, spelling, and intelligence. Executive functioning data were collected via standardized parent questionnaire.

Results: Relative to controls, stroke participants demonstrated significantly poorer functioning in math, spelling, metacognition, and behavioral-regulation. Pencil and paper arithmetic was particularly challenging for the stroke group, with 40% of patients reaching levels of clinical impairment. Hierarchical regression in stroke participants further revealed that metacognition was a robust predictor of academic deficits. Stroke occurring in later childhood and affecting cortical and subcortical brain regions also presented as potential clinical risk factors.

Conclusions: Children with stroke were especially vulnerable to math achievement deficits. Metacognition made a substantial contribution to academic achievement abilities among stroke patients, and results underscore the importance of early metacognitive skills in the completion of schoolwork. Results also emphasize that pediatric stroke patients are a heterogeneous group with regard to functioning and that there is value in examining standard score distributions of clinical participant samples.     

Lipid peroxidation, occupational stress and aging in workers of a prehospital emergency service.

BACKGROUND: Stressful conditions lead to formation of excessive free radicals, and lipid peroxidation is one of the major outcomes of free radical-mediated injury that directly damages membranes and generates a number of secondary products. OBJECTIVES: To determine the levels of malondialdehyde, an end product of lipid peroxidation, according to demographic and occupational variables in workers of a prehospital emergency service and to analyse the relationship between malondialdehyde levels and burnout. MATERIAL AND METHODS: One hundred and eleven healthy workers of a prehospital emergency service and eighty aged-matched healthy individuals of both sexes as a control group were surveyed. Malondialdehyde levels were measured by the Bull and Marnett method. To measure burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory was used. RESULTS: Professional category is associated with lipid peroxidation and burnout levels (Malondialdehyde levels were: physicians 338.10+/-14.47, nurses 329.17+/-12.62 and technicians 296.74+/-14.28; burnout levels were: physicians 41.29+/-3.59, nurses 37.38+/-6.05 and technicians 35.33+/-5.87). Working at night and in the evening increased malondialdehyde and burnout levels. Malondialdehyde levels increase with age. No significant variations with respect to sex were detected. Significant variations in malondialdehyde levels were detected between singles (303.13+/-12.74) and married people (344.43+/-13.43) but not with respect to divorcees (326.44+/-11.74). Significant differences were detected in erythrocyte malondialdehyde levels between smokers (341.37+/-17.09) and nonsmokers (302.21+/-12.38), but not for alcohol consumption. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest a positive correlation between malondialdehyde, a biomarker of lipid peroxidation and occupational stress, as estimated by elements of the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and oxidative stress.     

How to integrate a lactation consultant in an outpatient clinic environment.

Successful efforts in improving breastfeeding initiation rates at an urban teaching hospital prompted the hospital to create a lactation consultant (LC) position in the outpatient setting to focus on breastfeeding duration. This article reviews the complexity of the clinic setting, with the challenges and benefits of the consultant's first year in one of the hospital's outpatient clinics. Preliminary data collected by the consultant suggest that patients counseled by the LC in the outpatient clinic setting have longer breastfeeding duration rates.     

A correlation between muscular strength and hydroxyproline concentration in human patellar tendon

The connective tissue of the knee is frequently injured by athletes, especially those involved in contact sports. It would be important in the prevention of injury as well as the strategy of physical fitness training to know whether the connective tissue is modified in response to athletic stress or training. The potential modification investigated was variability in the concentration of hydroxyproline, a post-translationally modified imino acid found principally in collagen protein. A correlation was sought between this variability and the leg strength parameters torque (expressed as ft-lbs), torque/body weight and work (expressed as ft-lbs). In a preliminary study of five subjects, no correlation was found between hydroxyproline concentration of the patellar tendon and any of the leg strength parameters. These results suggest that this modification of the collagen in connective tissue does not occur in response to athletic stress or training, but rather, for the small number of subjects investigated, appeared to be relatively constant across a range of leg strengths.     

Cognitive impairment in heart failure.

Heart failure is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States, causing a constellation of disabling symptoms. Cognitive impairment in people with heart failure may be more common than previously known with multiple etiologies from both the disease process and the treatment. Exemplars from a research study are used to illustrate the perspective of heart failure patients. Given the critical importance of memory deficits on patient education, potential nursing interventions to address the issue of cognitive impairment are described.     

Effectiveness of an HIV prevention intervention in prison among African Americans, Hispanics, and Caucasians.

Prisons and prison inmates present important targets for HIV/AIDS prevention interventions. Inmates often have histories of high-risk behavior that place them in danger of contracting HIV/AIDS, and rates of HIV/AIDS tend to be much higher in this population. The goal of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a prison-based HIV/AIDS intervention to change attitudes toward HIV prevention, norms supporting HIV prevention, perceived behavioral control (i.e., self-efficacy) for HIV prevention behaviors, and intentions to engage in HIV prevention behaviors postrelease. The intervention also had the goal of encouraging inmates to become HIV/AIDS peer educators. The intervention appeared most successful at influencing beliefs and behaviors related to peer education and somewhat successful at influencing beliefs and intentions related to condom use. Analyses also showed some significant differences in effectiveness by race/ethnicity. Results are discussed from the perspectives of both research and practice with regard to prison-based HIV prevention efforts.     

HEAD CIRCUMFERENCE AND INTELLECTUAL PERFORMANCE OF PATIENTS WITH DUCHENNE MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY

The head circumferences of 64 patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy were measured and found to be greater than those of a normal population. The patients had relative, and in 12 cases, absolute macrocephaly. 47 of the 64 patients underwent intelligence testing and were found to be significantly intellectually impaired, particularly in verbal and language skills. There was no correlation between head circumference or absolute macrocephaly and intellectual performance. The cause of macrocephaly in these patients is unknown and its relevance to the aetiology of intellectual impairment in Duchenne muscular dystrophy is not yet clear.