The Impact of Periventricular Brain Injury on Reading and Spelling Abilities in the Late Elementary and Adolescent Years

The present study was designed: (1) to investigate the long-term consequences of both the presence and the severity of periventricular brain injury (PVBI) on intellectual, academic, and cognitive outcome in extremely-low-birthweight (ELBW: < 1,000 grams) children at a mean age of 11 years; and (2) to determine the nature of the underlying difficulties associated with academic problems in these children. The results indicated that ELBW children without PVBI performed as well as full-term children on intelligence, academic, and cognitive ability tests. In contrast, ELBW children with mild and severe PVBI achieved significantly lower scores than either ELBW children without PVBI or children who were born at term. A second analysis indicated that, after accounting for Full Scale IQ, working memory and phonological processing were significant predictors of reading and spelling performance in ELBW children. These findings suggest that the presence and severity of PVBI, and not ELBW status alone, is associated with performance on tests of intelligence, and academic and cognitive functioning, and that some of the same factors known to be associated with learning disabilities in full-term children contribute to learning disabilities in ELBW children.     

Cognitive development in 7- to 24-month-old extremely/very-to-moderately/late preterm and full-term born infants: The mediating role of focused attention

The present study analyzed the links between prematurity, attention, and global cognitive performance in infancy and early childhood. At 7 months, focused attention (FA) was examined with an object examination task in 93 preterm infants (39 of them born extremely/very preterm, 54 born moderately/late preterm, and 38 infants born full-term). Global cognition was assessed at 7 and 24 months with the Bayley-II cognitive scale. Groups did not differ with respect to global cognitive performance but FA of infants born extremely/very preterm was significantly lower than in infants born moderately/late preterm. FA correlated significantly with both prematurity and cognitive performance at 7 months of age but not with global cognition in childhood. Findings point to a subtle adverse effect of prematurity on early attention and reveal evidence for the mediating role of FA on the effect of prematurity on cognition.     

Differences in Sexual Behaviors and Teen Dating Violence among Black,Hispanic, and White Female Adolescents

We examined differences in sexual behaviors among White, Black, and Hispanic adolescent females exposed to dating or sexual violence (DSV) using the 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey. We also examined the interaction effect of exposure to DSV and race or ethnicity on sexual behaviors. Sexual behaviors were significantly associated with both race or ethnicity and DSV; DSV was a stronger predictor of sexual behaviors than race or ethnicity; and the effect of DSV on condom use was more pronounced among Hispanic adolescents, whereas the effect of DSV on birth control use was more pronounced among both Black and Hispanic adolescents. Adolescent health programs should simultaneously address DSV and sexual risk reduction, with particular emphasis on birth control and condom use among ethnic minority populations.     

Representational momentum in children born preterm and at term

The term representational momentum (RM) refers to the idea that our memory representations for moving objects incorporate information about movement – a fact that can lead us to make errors when judging an object’s location (the RM effect). In this study, we explored the RM effect in a sample of children born very prematurely and a sample born at term. Because preterm children are known to be at risk for problems with motion perception, we anticipated that they would show a weaker or absent RM effect. This prediction was confirmed. In addition, we found that, in both samples of children, 5–6 year olds showed a reduced RM effect compared to 7–9 year olds. These results demonstrate that the ability to represent motion information in memory shows continued development over this age range, and may help to elucidate factors contributing to problems with fine and gross motor planning and execution that have been observed in the preterm population. We propose that problems affecting the formation, maintenance, or use of predictive models, or motion extrapolation skills, may have cascading effects on the development of other abilities.     

室间隔缺损合并重度肺动脉高压的外科手术治疗策略

探讨室间隔缺损伴重度肺动脉高压患者手术指征的判断标准和围术期的治疗策略。11例室间隔缺损伴重度肺动脉高压患者,在体外循环下行室间隔缺损修补术,围术期给予吸氧、前列腺素E1等降低肺动脉压力的综合治疗。结果11例手术患者全部治愈出院,经随访肺动脉压力有着不同程度的下降。术前全面检查、综合分析以明确手术指征是室间隔缺损合并重度肺动脉高压患者获得满意疗效的根本,其中肺血管纹理是一个最重要的判断指标。     

异体手移植几个问题的讨论

异体手移植的临床开展是自体断肢再植技术和免疫学研究发展的结晶,是异体器官移植领域内新的突破,为手缺失患者带来了重新获得新手的希望.但目前异体手移植技术尚不成熟,能否在免疫抑制剂作用下获得长期存活尚不确定.在远期疗效尚未肯定的情况下,建议加强医生自身修养和伦理道德教育,规定由少数具备条件的单位大力开展异体手移植的基础及临床研究,达到既保护患者利益,又能保证异体手移植技术顺利走向成熟,最终广泛应用于临床,造福于人类.     

不当出生损害赔偿诉析

因不当出生(wrongful birth)使父母因缺陷儿童多支付了大量的医疗、人力照顾以及特殊教育的费用,同时受到身心痛苦,如果不给予一定的救济是很不公平的,承认该类诉讼是各国共同趋势.在我国应以契约法来处理这类诉讼.     

国内同行关于异体颜面移植的讨论

换脸术为严重毁容患者重获美容带来了新希望。但是就像很多新生事物一样,在国内引起了激烈的争论。我们以丁香园上的帖子为基础,对国内同行的争论进行了总结,以期对异体颜面移植这一成果有一深入的认识。通过初步分析可以看出,虽然对于这一课题争论比较大,但是广大医护人员还是认可此次手术,并认为这是创新。     

生育伦理与人口控制社会化

在影响人口发展的诸因素中,生育伦理是影响相对持久、相对直接的一个重要因素。在现代人口发展理论的框架下,人口控制社会化,是人口控制的必然选择,这种控制方式的实施,就必须把正确的社会生育伦理转变为人们的生育观和生育意愿。使人口控制的手段由他律为主转变为自律为主。     

不良生活方式形成的原因探析

不良生活方式是慢性病的主要危险因素。生活方式应当既包括生活活动,又包括生产活动,是一种连续的行为。不良生活方式具有自创性、社会性、播散性和可改变性。健康生活方式具有主动性、高尚性、和谐性、适宜性和健康有利性。不良生活方式产生的原因主要有生活目的需求和动机的错位,人格缺陷,社会压力与从众心理,无知及社会的变迁等。