Associations among depression, demographic variables, and language impairments in chronic post-stroke aphasia.

INTRODUCTION: Depression may influence treatment participation and outcomes of people with post-stroke aphasia, yet its prevalence and associated characteristics in aphasia are poorly understood. Using retrospective data from an overarching experimental study, we examined depressive symptoms and their relationship to demographic and language characteristics in people with chronic aphasia. As a secondary objective, we compared prevalence of depressive symptoms among the overarching study's included and excluded participants. METHODS: We examined retrospective data from 121 individuals with chronic aphasia including depression scale scores, demographic information (sex, age, time post onset of stroke, education, race/ethnicity, and Veteran status), and scores on assessments of general and modality-specific language impairments. RESULTS: Approximately 50% of participants reported symptoms indicative of depressive disorders: 23% indicative of major depression and 27% indicative of mild depression. Sex (males) and comparatively younger age emerged as statistically significant variables associated with depressive symptoms; naming ability was minimally associated with depressive symptoms. Time post onset of stroke, education level, race/ethnicity, Veteran status, and aphasia severity were not significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Depression-scale scores were significantly higher for individuals excluded from the overarching study compared to those who were included. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of depressive disorders in this sample was higher than rates of depression reported in the general stroke literature. Participant sex, age, and naming ability emerged as factors associated with depressive symptoms, though these links appear complex, especially given variable reports from prior research. Importantly, depressive symptoms do not appear to diminish over time for individuals with chronic aphasia. Given these results and the relatively limited documentation of depression in aphasia literature, depression remains a pressing concern for aphasia research and routine clinical care.

The efficacy of using the IBM Speech Viewer Vowel Accuracy Module to treat young children with hearing impairment.

The efficacy of the IBM SpeechViewer's Vowel Accuracy Module for the treatment of vowel productions was evaluated in six preschool children with hearing-impairment over a 4-month period. A single-subject design was used, and the vowels /a/, /i/ and /u/ were treated. Untreated sounds also were probed to monitor for carryover and developmental effects. One of the children was dismissed from the study because of noncompliance. Of the remaining five children, four exhibited a treatment effect for /u/, two for /a/, and one for /i/. Four of the children demonstrated some generalization. Developmental effects, as represented by change in /s/-cluster production, were not documented. Although treatment effects were observed, difficulties with the Vowel Accuracy Module were also observed. These included inaccuracies in the feedback on low-intensity, hypernasal, and high-pitched utterances; inability to sustain the attention of preschoolers over multiple sessions; lack of instructional feedback; and nonlinearity in the criterion-adjustment control.

Behavioural evidence for recovery of auditory function in guinea pigs following kanamycin administration.

Deterioration followed by recovery of behavioural absolute threshold and frequency selectivity has been observed in guinea pigs following kanamycin administration of 200 mg/kg body weight daily for 16 days. Deterioration in function consistently follows a high-to-low frequency pattern and recovery generally occurs at the lowest of the high (8-32 kHz) frequencies affected. The degree of recovery is related to the magnitude of the threshold elevation; where large (40-45 dB) elevations occur initially, the process appears to be partial since threshold recovers only to within 5-12 dB of pre-administration levels. In instances where smaller threshold elevations (5-20 dB) take place initially, recovery can sometimes be complete. However, when threshold elevations of over 50 dB occur, no recovery is apparent. Recovery is relatively slow, taking place over periods of up to 100 days post-kanamycin administration. Hair cell counts have established that the threshold elevation which remains in instances of partial recovery is not related to a reduction in hair cell numbers at the light microscope level.

Nonverbal play interaction between hearing mothers and young deaf children.

The following preliminary study assessed the nonverbal play interactions of two hearing mothers and their profoundly hearing-impaired infants using a nonverbal coding scheme adapted from descriptors used by Fein (1979) and Bruner (1975a,b). The goal also was to describe the nonverbal components of their interactions during play relative to normally hearing mother-child dyads. More specifically, the goal was to determine if the behavioral patterns exhibited by the hearing mothers and their hearing-impaired children were consistent with patterns that have been reported for verbal components of play interactions. The nature of the behavioral patterns were in agreement with much of the previous literature on verbal and social interactions between hearing mothers and hearing-impaired children, but some notable differences were observed.

Gender differences in coaching philosophy: the case of female basketball teams.

With the advent of Title IX, the proportion of female participants in interscholastic sport has risen sharply while the proportion of female coaches has dropped precipitously. This paper seeks to determine whether there are any differences in coaching philosophy by gender. Questionnaires were sent to the coaches of 600 high school girls' basketball teams selected randomly from the 48 contiguous states. There were 250 usable ones returned for a response rate of 42%. The questionnaires included items designed to assess the attitudes and behaviors of coaches in five areas of coaching philosophy: (1) the coach's role in the overall development of athletes; (2) conditions believed essential to maximize team performance; (3) team rules used; (4) use of sports aphorisms; and (5) expectations of athletes. Summing the findings, we found that in 83 of the 100 comparisons there were no statistical differences in the means of the male and female coaches. In the 17 instances where there were statistically significant differences, 14 times the female coaches were on the more traditional side. Several possible explanations for this interesting finding are discussed.

Superior vena cava syndrome in infants.

Superior vena cava syndrome is uncommon in infants. With the increased use of central venous catheters, however, there has been an increased incidence of central venous occlusion. We report a case of superior vena cava syndrome occurring on two separate occasions in a premature infant with an indwelling central line. We discuss current concepts of prevention and management.

Prevention of recurrent acute otitis media: chemoprophylaxis versus tympanostomy tubes.

Otitis media has long been recognized as one of the most common diseases of childhood. Several therapeutic modalities have been advocated for the prevention of recurrent episodes of acute otitis media (AOM). A blinded, prospective, randomized study was designed to determine the efficacy of tympanostomy tubes, antibiotic prophylaxis, and placebo. Children with recurrent AOM were entered in the study and followed for at least 6 months. A total of 65 children completed the protocol. Sixty-three of those were under the age of 4 years. Treatment failure was defined as two or more episodes of AOM or otorrhea in less than 3 months. Five of 22 children in the tympanostomy tube group failed, compared to 12 of 20 in the placebo group (p = .02). There were 8 or 21 treatment failures in the sulfisoxazole group. Children with otitis media with effusion (OME) at the time of their initial visit had significantly less middle ear disease when treated with tympanostomy tubes. Tympanostomy tube insertion for prophylaxis of recurrent acute otitis is supported by these findings. Improvement of recurrent AOM was observed in the sulfisoxazole group, but was not statistically significant.

Chronic effects of loop diuretics on the guinea-pig cochlea.

Groups of pigmented guinea pigs (weighing 480 to 650 g at the start of the experiment) were given daily intraperitoneal injections of 16 mg/kg bumetanide or 10, 20 or 40 mg/kg furosemide over a period of 4 weeks. Two weeks following the last diuretic dose the animals were anaesthetized with urethane and the responses of single auditory nerve fibres to pure-tone and click stimuli were recorded. The tuning of individual units, as measured by Q10 dB values of frequency threshold curves, tended to be more affected than threshold at characteristic frequency by both loop diuretics. Light microscope examination of treated cochleas suggested greater effect of the drugs on the organ of Corti than on stria vascularis.

The effects of frusemide, bumetanide and piretanide on the quinea pig cochlea and auditory nerve.

Frusemide, bumetanide and piretanide were introduced into scala tympani of the guinea pig cochlea by perfusion. The short-term effects of these drugs on the cochlear microphonic, the compound action potential and on the activity of single auditory nerve fibres were studied. the compound action potential was more sensitive to the action of the above compounds than was the cochlear microphonic. Single auditory nerve fibres showed a marked increase in threshold and generally a fall in spontaneous firing rate. A deterioration in in tuning was observed which in some cases, was not invariably accompanied by a rise in threshold. Histological examination revealed oedematous changes in stria vascularis and in supporting cells following cochlea perfusion with the above compounds.

Control of responding by location of auditory stimuli: adjacency of sound and response.

Four rhesus monkeys were trained to respond on one key when a one-second noise burst was presented through one speaker and to respond on a second key when the noise burst was presented through a second speaker. The acquisition of stimulus control was studied under three conditions, in each of which the relationship between the sound source and the response-key positions varied: an adjacent condition in which the noise burst was presented through the key and a response on this key was reinforced; a reversed-adjacent condition in which the noise burst was presented through one key and responding on the other key was reinforced: and a nonadiacent condition in which responding on the key nearer the sound was reinforced. Under adjacent conditions, stimulus control developed within one or two sessions. Under reversed and nonadjacent conditions, 10 sessions were required for the development of control. The asymptote of correct responding was the same under each condition in all animals.

Response preferences of monkeys (Macaca mulatta) within wavelength and line-tilt dimensions.

Four rhesus monkeys were tested for preferences within the wavelength and line-tilt dimensions. In the case of wavelength, the response panel was back-illuminated by light of one of the following wavelengths, presented in a random manner: 470, 525, 580, and 635 nm. Similarly, the line-tilt dimension was studied, by presenting a 5 cm by 0.3 cm black bar tilted at 0, 30, 60, or 90 degrees. No preferences were found within this latter dimension; in contrast, marked wavelength preferences existed, the order of preference being 470 (most preferred), 525, 580, and 635 nm (least preferred). These response preferences were resistant to behavioral manipulation; the number of responses to blue and to red in extinction was about equal when red was used as the training stimulus, but vastly different following training on blue. These results indicate that such response preferences must be taken into account in the design of a wide variety of experiments.