Fragile X speech phonology in Finnish

Fragile X syndrome is a recently discovered relatively common syndrome linked with an anomaly of the X chromosome and causing handicaps of cognitive development especially in males. In the present phonological analysis we will discuss the sound patterns of two Finnish fragile X speakers, a five (borderline intelligence)- and an eight (mildly mentally retarded)-year-old boy. The fragile X syndrome is not necessarily linked with any anomalies of speech organs. The subjects could produce all Finnish speech sounds in isolated test words. However, in the present samples of connected speech they exhibited general dysphonology. What is noteworthy is that their phonological error patterns resembled each other to a great extent. Among the common features were the tendencies to substitute and omit phonemes. As for vowels, our results showed about one-half of the errors to be omissions. Labiality and quantity oppositions were quite resistant to substitution. Most substitution errors of place of consonants occurred in dentals. As for the feature of manner, /r/ and /s/ were the phonemes most prone for substitution. A tendency toward spirantization or /h/ sation was common for both patients. The number of additions was clearly lower than has been reported for English-speaking developmentally dyspraxic children and also for Finnish Broca's aphasics. The speech problems of our patients seemed to indicate higher level motor encoding problems of linguistic information rather than peripheral articulatory deficits.     

Effect of the interintromission interval on lordotic response and attack latency in golden hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus)

After 12-15 ejaculatory series, each consisting of several short intromissions (2- to 3-s vaginal penetration) and an ejaculation, male golden hamsters adopt an altered copulatory pattern consisting of long intromissions (5- to 25-s penetration with intravaginal thrusting). Receptivity declines and the tendency for the female to attack the male increases at about the time of this shift in copulatory pattern. Because the mean interintromission interval (III) between short intromissions is about 8 s compared to 100 s between long intromissions, it is possible that females detect this difference and adjust their mating accordingly. When the III between short intromissions from a rested male was experimentally increased to 100 s by use of a halter and lead device, the duration of lordosis was significantly less than that displayed by females paired with control males (8-s III) and virtually the same as that displayed by females paired with males that produced only long intromissions. This suggests that the female uses the temporal patterning of intravaginal stimulation as one criterion for terminating mating with a particular male.     

Altruism in surgery of AIDS patients

There is usually a long period of time between infection with the AIDS virus and manifestation of symptoms. Asymptomatic patients often would benefit from elective surgery for diseases such as arthritis which are unrelated to their infection. The surgeons' decisions to accept the risks to themselves, their spouses, and their operating teams in order to relieve pain and suffering appear to be based upon two covenants; one concerns their role within the doctor-patient relationship, and the other concerns their relationship to what they see as the ultimate meaning in life.