Identical words are read differently in different languages

It is hypothesized that written languages differ in the preferred grain size of units that emerge during reading acquisition. Smaller units (graphemes, phonemes) are thought to play a dominant role in relatively consistent orthographies (e.g., German), whereas larger units (bodies, rhymes) are thought to be more important in relatively inconsistent orthographies (e.g., English). This hypothesis was tested by having native English and German speakers read identical words and nonwords in their respective languages (zoo-Zoo, sand-Sand, etc.). Although the English participants exhibited stronger body-rhyme effects, the German participants exhibited a stronger length effect for words and nonwords. Thus, identical items were processed differently in different orthographies. These results suggest that orthographic consistency determines not only the relative contribution of orthographic versus phonological codes within a given orthography; but also the preferred grain size of units that are likely to be functional during reading.

Horner's syndrome after carotid endarterectomy--a case report

Horner's syndrome is described in a patient with anisocoria and unilateral lid ptosis 48 hours after an ipsilateral carotid endarterectomy. This case illustrates a rare iatrogenic complication of sympathetic nerve dysfunction following elective surgery.

Bacterial contamination of uniforms

Microbiological sampling of nurses' uniforms was undertaken using a Casella slit sampler. Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium difficile and vancomycin-resistant enterococci were detected on uniforms both before and after a span of duty. Recommendations for provision and changing of nurses' uniforms are made.

DRC: a dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud

This article describes the Dual Route Cascaded (DRC) model, a computational model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. The DRC is a computational realization of the dual-route theory of reading, and is the only computational model of reading that can perform the 2 tasks most commonly used to study reading: lexical decision and reading aloud. For both tasks, the authors show that a wide variety of variables that influence human latencies influence the DRC model's latencies in exactly the same way. The DRC model simulates a number of such effects that other computational models of reading do not, but there appear to be no effects that any other current computational model of reading can simulate but that the DRC model cannot. The authors conclude that the DRC model is the most successful of the existing computational models of reading.

DRC: a dual route cascaded model of visual word recognition and reading aloud

This article describes the Dual Route Cascaded (DRC) model, a computational model of visual word recognition and reading aloud. The DRC is a computational realization of the dual-route theory of reading, and is the only computational model of reading that can perform the 2 tasks most commonly used to study reading: lexical decision and reading aloud. For both tasks, the authors show that a wide variety of variables that influence human latencies influence the DRC model's latencies in exactly the same way. The DRC model simulates a number of such effects that other computational models of reading do not, but there appear to be no effects that any other current computational model of reading can simulate but that the DRC model cannot. The authors conclude that the DRC model is the most successful of the existing computational models of reading.

A prospective, randomised trial of prophylactic antibiotics versus bag extraction in the prophylaxis of wound infection in laparoscopic cholecystectomy

Septic complications are rare following laparoscopic cholecystectomy if prophylactic antibiotics are given, as demonstrated in previous studies. Antibiotic treatment may be unnecessary and, therefore, undesirable, so we compared two forms of prophylaxis: a cephalosporin antibiotic and bag extraction of the dissected gallbladder. A total of 76 patients undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy were randomised to either receive an antibiotic or to have their gallbladder removed from the abdomen in a plastic bag. Complicated cases were excluded. There was a total of 6 wound infections (7.9%), 3 in each of the study groups. All these were associated with skin commensals. There were no other septic complications. Bacteriological studies grouped the organisms isolated from the bile and the wound as potential pathogens and likely commensals. A total of 10 potential pathogens were isolated, 9 of which were found in the group receiving antibiotics. We conclude that septic sequelae of uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy are uncommon, but clearly not entirely prevented by antibiotic or mechanical prophylaxis. Prophylactic antibiotics may not be required in uncomplicated laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Further study is warranted.

CD40 ligand trimer and IL-12 enhance peripheral blood mononuclear cells and CD4+ T cell proliferation and production of IFN-gamma in response to p24 antigen in HIV-infected individuals: potential contribution of anergy to HIV-specific unresponsiveness

It has been suggested that CD4+ T cell proliferative responses to HIV p24 Ag may be important in the control of HIV infection. However, these responses are minimal or absent in many HIV-infected individuals. Furthermore, while in vitro and in vivo responses to non-HIV recall Ags improve upon administration of highly active antiretroviral therapy, there does not appear to be a commensurate enhancement of HIV-specific immune responses. It is possible that CD4+ p24-specific T cells are deleted early in the course of infection. However, it is also possible that a discrete unresponsiveness, or anergy, contributes to the lack of proliferation to p24. To evaluate the possible contribution of unresponsiveness to the lack of CD4+ T cell proliferation to p24 in HIV-infected individuals, we attempted to overcome unresponsiveness. CD40 ligand trimer (CD40LT) and IL-12 significantly increased PBMC and CD4+ T cell proliferative responses to p24 Ag in HIV-infected, but not uninfected, individuals. No increase in proliferative response to CMV Ag was observed. CD40LT exerted its effect through B7-CD28-dependent and IL-12- and IL-15-independent mechanisms. Finally, the increase in proliferation with CD40LT and IL-12 was associated with an augmented production of IFN-gamma in most, but not all, individuals. These data suggest the possible contribution of HIV-specific unresponsiveness to the lack of CD4+ T cell proliferation to p24 Ag in HIV-infected individuals and that clonal deletion alone does not explain this phenomenon. They also indicate the potential for CD40LT and IL-12 as immune-based therapies for HIV infection.

Linguistic difficulties in language and reading development constrain skilled adult reading

This study investigated whether the quality and specification of phonological representations in early language development would predict later skilled reading. Two perceptual identification experiments were performed with skilled readers. In Experiment 1, spelling difficulties in Grade 1 were used as a proxy measure for poorly specified representations in early language development. In Experiment 2, difficulties in perceiving and representing liquid and nasalized phonemes in final consonant clusters were used for the same purpose. Both experiments showed that words that were more likely to develop underspecified lexical representations in early language development remained more difficult in skilled reading. This finding suggests that early linguistic difficulties in speech perception and structuring of lexical representations may constrain the long-term organization and dynamics of the skilled adult reading system. The present data thus challenge the assumption that skilled reading can be fully understood without taking into account linguistic constraints acting upon the beginning reader.

Training strategies to maintain immunocompetence in athletes

Clinical experience and empirical evidence have led to the modeling of exercise and training as a form of stress on the immune system. Coaches, athletes, and medical personnel are seeking guidelines on ways to reduce the risk of illness that compromises training or competitive performance. The immune system is influenced by a wide range of physical, environmental, psychological, and behavioural factors which, combined with clinical assessment, collectively form the basis of the following intervention strategies: 1) training: careful management of training volume and intensity, variety to overcome training monotony and strain, a periodised approach to increasing loads, and provision of adequate rest and recovery periods; 2) environmental: limiting initial exposure when training or competing in adverse environmental conditions (heat, humidity, altitude, air pollution) and acclimatising where appropriate; 3) psychological: teaching athletes self-management and coping skills and monitoring of athletes' responses to the psychological and psychosocial stresses of high-level training and competition; 4) behavioural: adopting a well-balanced diet with adequate intake of macro- and micro-nutrients, limiting transmission of contagious illnesses by reducing exposure to common infections, airborne pathogens, and physical contact with infected individuals; and 5) clinical considerations: medical screening, pathology testing, immunization and prophylaxis, and routine management of illness-prone athletes. Future experimental studies are required to develop and enhance the effectiveness of these strategies in reducing illness in athletes.

Phonology matters: the phonological frequency effect in written Chinese

Does phonology play a role in silent reading? This issue was addressed in Chinese. Phonology effects are less expected in Chinese than in alphabetical languages like English because the basic units of written Chinese (the characters) map directly into units of meaning (morphemes). This linguistic property gave rise to the view that phonology could be bypassed altogether in Chinese. The present study, however, shows that this is not the case. We report two experiments that demonstrate pure phonological frequency effects in processing written Chinese. Characters with a high phonological frequency were processed faster than characters with a low phonological frequency, despite the fact that the characters were matched on orthographic (printed) frequency. The present research points to a universal phonological principle according to which phonological information is routinely activated as a part of word identification. The research further suggests that part of the classic word-frequency effect may be phonological.

Gastropod mollusc aliphatic alcohol oxidase: subcellular localisation and properties

The digestive gland and other tissues of several species of terrestrial gastropod mollusc contain an aliphatic alcohol oxidase activity (EC1.1.3.13). The enzyme is FAD dependent, consumes oxygen and generates hydrogen peroxide and the corresponding aldehyde. Saturated primary alcohols are favoured as substrates with octanol preferred with an apparent Km of 3-4 microM. The activity is clearly distinguishable from previously reported molluscan aromatic alcohol oxidase (EC1.1.3.7) on the basis of FAD dependence, sensitivity to heat treatment and high salt concentration and with regard to substrate preferences. The aliphatic alcohol oxidase is membrane associated and most likely localised to the endoplasmic reticulum. Extraction of membranes with 1% Igipal solubilises the enzyme in active form. This enzyme is a further example of an oxidase apparently restricted to molluscs.

Functional outcome in knee osteoarthritis after treatment with hylan G-F 20: a prospective study

OBJECTIVE

To assess functional change in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) after treatment with intra-articular hyaluronic acid (Hylan G-F 20; Synvisc).

DESIGN

Prospective case series with 6-month follow-up.

SETTING

Outpatient community orthopedic practice.

PARTICIPANTS

Eighty-four consecutive patients referred to private orthopedic group with symptoms and radiographic evidence of unilateral or bilateral knee OA who had either failed or could not tolerate the side effects of conservative treatment. Sixty-one patients completed the study. Nineteen patients were lost to follow-up. Four patients withdrew from study due to subsequent knee arthroplasty.

INTERVENTION

Three weekly injections of Hylan G-F 20 into one or both (if bilaterally symptomatic) knees (110 knees total).

OUTCOME MEASURE

SF-36 Health Survey was completed before treatment and 6 months after treatment.

RESULTS

Statistically significant improvement (p < .001) in Physical Functioning, Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, Social Functioning, and Role-Emotional categories on 6-month follow-up survey. Age and percent above ideal body weight were not significant predictors of functional change.

CONCLUSION

Efficacy of intra-articular injection of Hylan G-F 20 for knee OA 6 months after injection is demonstrated in several categories of the SF-36, indicating a measurable improvement in overall functioning in these patients.

Altered adhesion, proliferation and death in neural cultures from adults with schizophrenia

The causes of schizophrenia are unknown, but there is evidence linking subtle deviations in neural development with schizophrenia. Embryonic brain development cannot be studied in an adult with schizophrenia, but neurogenesis and early events in neuronal differentiation can be investigated throughout adult life in the human olfactory epithelium. Our past research has demonstrated that neuronal cultures can be derived from biopsy of the human adult olfactory epithelium. In the present study, we examined mechanisms related to neurogenesis and neuronal differentiation in adults with schizophrenia versus well controls. Forty biopsies were collected under local anaesthesia from ten individuals with DSM III-R schizophrenia and ten age- and sex-matched well controls. All patients, except one, were receiving antipsychotic medication at the time of the biopsy. Immunostaining for neuronal markers indicated that neurogenesis occurred in the biopsies from both patients and controls since all contained cells expressing tubulin and/or olfactory marker protein. The major findings of this study are: 1. biopsies from patients with schizophrenia showed a significantly reduced ability to attach to the culture slide: 29.9% of patient biopsies attached compared to 73.5% of control biopsies; 2. biopsies from patients with schizophrenia had a significantly greater proportion of cells undergoing mitosis: 0.69% in the patients compared to 0.29% in the controls; and 3. dopamine (10 microM) significantly increased the proportion of apoptotic cells in the control cultures but significantly decreased the proportion in patients' cultures.

An audit of the use of manual handling equipment and their microbiological flora--implications for infection control

A review of the use of manual handling aids in two hospitals found equipment was employed on a multi-patient basis with inadequate cleaning. Sampling with a Casella slit sampler demonstrated frequent contamination by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile of fabric aids. Recommendations for care of equipment are made.

Discontinuation of anticytomegalovirus therapy in patients with HIV infection and cytomegalovirus retinitis

CONTEXT

Persons with cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) have required lifelong anti-CMV therapy to prevent the progression of retinal disease and subsequent loss of vision.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether patients who were taking highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) and who had stable CMV retinitis could safely discontinue anti-CMV therapy without reactivation of their retinitis or increase in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) viral load.

DESIGN

Prospective nonrandomized interventional trial performed from July 1997 to August 1999.

SETTING

Clinical Center of the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.

PATIENTS

Fourteen patients with stable CMV retinitis and HIV infection and CD4+ cell counts higher than 0.1 5 x 10(9)/L and being treated with systemic anti-CMV medications and HAART.

INTERVENTIONS

Discontinuation of specific anti-CMV therapy.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Reactivation of CMV retinitis, development of extraocular CMV infection, detection of CMV in blood and urine, HIV burden, immunologic function, quality of life, morbidity, and mortality.

RESULTS

Twelve (89.7%) of 14 patients had evidence of immune recovery uveitis before anti-CMV drugs were discontinued. No patient had reactivation of CMV retinitis or development of extraocular CMV disease during mean follow-up of 16.4 months (range, 8.3-22.0 months) without anti-CMV therapy. Human immunodeficiency viral load remained stable following cessation of anti-CMV medications. Blood and urine assays for CMV were briefly positive in 9 patients but did not predict reactivation of CMV disease. Worsening immune recovery uveitis was associated with a substantial (>3 lines) vision loss in 3 patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Maintenance anti-CMV medications were safely stopped in those patients who had stable CMV retinitis and elevated CD4+ cell counts and who were taking HAART. The study demonstrates that immune recovery following potent antiretroviral therapy is effective in controlling a major opportunistic infection, even in patients with a history of severe immunosuppression.

A position-sensitive Stroop effect: further evidence for a left-to-right component in print-to-speech conversion

In the classical Stroop effect, response times for naming the color in which a word is printed are affected by the presence of semantic, phonological, or orthographic relationships between the stimulus word and the response word. We show that color naming responses are faster when the printed word shares a phoneme with the color name to be produced than when it does not, in conditions where there is no semantic relationship between the printed word and the color name. This result is compatible with a variety of computational models of reading. However, we also found that these effects are much larger when it is the first phoneme that the stimulus and response share than when it is the last. Our data are incompatible with computational models of reading in which the computation of phonology from print is purely parallel. The dual route cascaded model computational model of reading, which has a lexical route that operates in parallel and a nonlexical route that operates serially letter by letter, successfully simulates this position-sensitive Stroop effect. The model also successfully simulates the "onset effect" in masked priming (Forster & Davis, 1991) and the interaction between the regularity effect and the position in a word of a grapheme-phoneme irregularity (Rastle & Coltheart, 1999b)--effects which, we argue, arise for the same reason as the position-sensitive Stroop effect we report.

Factors influencing food choices of adolescents: findings from focus-group discussions with adolescents

OBJECTIVE

To assess adolescents' perceptions about factors influencing their food choices and eating behaviors.

DESIGN

Data were collected in focus-group discussions.

SUBJECTS/SETTING

The study population included 141 adolescents in 7th and 10th grade from 2 urban schools in St Paul, Minn, who participated in 21 focus groups.

ANALYSIS

Data were analyzed using qualitative research methodology, specifically, the constant comparative method.

RESULTS

Factors perceived as influencing food choices included hunger and food cravings, appeal of food, time considerations of adolescents and parents, convenience of food, food availability, parental influence on eating behaviors (including the culture or religion of the family), benefits of foods (including health), situation-specific factors, mood, body image, habit, cost, media, and vegetarian beliefs. Major barriers to eating more fruits, vegetables, and dairy products and eating fewer high-fat foods included a lack of sense of urgency about personal health in relation to other concerns, and taste preferences for other foods. Suggestions for helping adolescents eat a more healthful diet include making healthful food taste and look better, limiting the availability of unhealthful options, making healthful food more available and convenient, teaching children good eating habits at an early age, and changing social norms to make it "cool" to eat healthfully.

APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that if programs to improve adolescent nutrition are to be effective, they need to address a broad range of factors, in particular environmental factors (e.g., the increased availability and promotion of appealing, convenient foods within homes schools, and restaurants).

Testing a computational account of category-specific deficits

Patients displaying mild symptoms of Alzheimer's disease sometimes have more difficulty naming items from an artifact than from a natural kind category; others displaying more severe symptoms almost always have more difficulty naming items from a natural kind than from an artifact category. This paper examined a computational model of this double dissociation (Devlin, Gonnerman, Andersen, & Seidenberg, 1998). Four basic tests of the model were proposed: The model should be able to generalize to new exemplars, the model should be expandable such that training sets of a realistic size can be used, the model's performance should not be unduly affected by small changes in architecture, and the learning algorithm should produce results that are not inconsistent with any major underlying factor of semantic organization. The model was found to be deficient in all four areas. Results reported from the model may therefore have been idiosyncratic to the model and not reflect general properties of a real semantic system.

Integration of plastic surgery in the course of breast-conserving surgery for cancer to improve cosmetic results and radicality of tumor excision

Integration of plastic surgery is currently widely practiced in cases of mastectomy. Immediate breast reconstruction with an implant or autologous tissue procedures is frequently proposed to the patient before the mastectomy. However, breast conserving surgery (BCS) is recognized as the treatment of choice in most cancers: breast conservation is proposed in more than 70% of the patients with primary cancer treated at the European Institute of Oncology in Milan. This high percentage of preservation has been made possible by the integration of plastic surgery at the time of primary surgery. The size of the tumorectomy remains a matter of discussion. Based on the Milan II trial and Holland's pathological studies, Veronesi recommended so-called "local radical surgery." For a tumor 1 cm in size, a free margin of 2 cm produces a final specimen at least 5-6 cm in diameter. In small or medium-sized breasts, such a resection results in a wide glandular defect and poor esthetic results if direct closure is carried out. Plastic surgery derived from reduction mammaplasty procedures allows much better final cosmetic results, which is the goal of conservative treatment. In 25% of our patients treated with BCS, the plastic surgeon is called upon by the general surgeon to close the glandular defect. However, such glandular remodeling changes the size and position of the breast. Therefore, in 15% of these cases a symmetry procedure is performed on the opposite breast. The reduction procedure in the opposite breast should be taken as a good opportunity to check the glandular tissue. Special attention should therefore be given to the contralateral mammogram in order to focus the glandular resection on the most dubious areas. Occult carcinomas, half of them infiltrating, were found in 4% of a series of 350 symmetry procedures performed during breast reconstruction at the Gustave Roussy Cancer Institute. In conclusion, close collaboration between oncologists and plastic surgeons is required not only to obtain the best cosmetic results but also to allow improved radicality of the tumor resection and a histological check-up of the contralateral breast.

Distinct ICAM-1 forms and expression pathways in synovial microvascular endothelial cells

Human synovial endothelial cell (HSE) intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is upregulated maximally by synergy of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) and interferon gamma (IFN gamma). Such synergy is not as pronounced in human umbilical vein endothelium (HUVE). ICAM surface staining and ELISA detection reflected similar levels on HUVE and HSE cells, yet mRNA levels were much higher in HSE cells in response to TNF alpha/IFN gamma. To correlate protein and mRNA levels of ICAM-1, both cell types were permeabilized and stained with a monoclonal antibody against ICAM-1. HSE cells displayed a distinct vesicular cytoplasmic staining for ICAM while HUVE cells were devoid of such stained vesicles upon staining with the antibody. ICAM-1 immunostaining of HSE cytoplasmic vesicles appeared enhanced in cells treated with TNF alpha/IFN gamma and monensin, an endosomal processing inhibitor. Monensin inhibited HSE cell surface expression of ICAM-1 routinely up to 70%, while HUVE cell expression was unaffected. In addition, monensin also inhibited soluble ICAM-1 release from HSE cells while not effecting HUVE cells. Immunoprecipitation of ICAM-1 followed by gel electrophoresis indicated that HUVE and HSE cell ICAMs are expressed in cell-specific forms. These results define distinct forms and distinct secretory pathways for ICAM-1 in HSE cells and HUVE cells that indicate functional differences between these human endothelia.