Comparison of the Nasality of the Unoperated Soft Cleft Palate Patient, with and without Obturator

Prosthetic rehabilitation of the patient with a cleft soft palate has three main objectives. Foremost is the need to improve the function of speech and comfortable swallowing, that are impaired by the potency of the soft palate, which allows the escape of air or fluid into the nasopharynx and nasal cavity. Unrepaired clefts of the soft palate produce a deficient velar-pharyngeal seal and require the construction of an obturator toward the speech bulb. Measurement of the nasality of a patient wearing a speech bulb for 18 years is described in this paper. This was done by means of Nasal View System, Tiger Electronics Inc. (Seattle, WA), which developed this system based on the work of Awan (1996, 1997). The Nasal View system is a PC/Windows based system, which enables the recording of high-resolution speech signals using Windows compatible sound cards (sampling at up to 44100 Hz at 8 or 16 bits of resolution). The hardware components included in the Nasal View system include headgear and a portable custom dual-channel pre-amplification unit.The key component of the headgear is a rigid plate, constructed of 5 mm thick styrene, which is used to separate an oral from a nasal microphone. The special sentence was used for our assessment. In this sentence 5 sounds out of 28 are nasal sounds (17.86%). The results are as follows: With the obturator in place the values of nasality were: Ave 19.32% SD 14.31%, Max 66.53% Min 1.28% Median 15.04% Mode 12.70%. The measurements of nasality without the obturator were: Ave 41.31% SD 24.39% Max 97.03% Min 7.61% Median 30.02% Mode 23.26%. Nasality measurement is displayed in the histogram of the nasality distribution, in the real-time analysis, power spectrum, LPC spectrum power and LPC spectrum, and in spectrograms

Variability of SCC mec in the Zurich area

A periodic survey of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Zurich in 2004 and 2006 revealed a consistently low prevalence of MRSA. SCCmec and ccr typing showed fluctuations in the proportions of SCCmec types and in the carriage of mobile virulence determinants. Together with the presence of variant SCCmecs these findings suggest a high clonal diversity and level of SCCmec recombination. The prevalence of a local "drug clone", associated with low-level methicillin resistance and rapid growth, significantly decreased. This clone had spread among intraveneous drug users, steadily increasing from 1994 to 2001 and was dominant in 2001. Apparently, changes in the management of the Zurich drug scene have restricted the spread of this clon

The Generalizability of Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) Syndromes of Psychopathology Across 20 Societies

OBJECTIVES: As the world population ages, psychiatrists will increasingly need instruments for measuring constructs of psychopathology that are generalizable to diverse elders. The study tested whether syndromes of co-occurring problems derived from self-ratings of psychopathology by US elders would fit self-ratings by elders in 19 other societies. METHODS/DESIGN: The Older Adult Self-Report (OASR) was completed by 12,826 60- to 102-year-olds in 19 societies from North and South America, Asia, and Eastern, Northern, Southern, and Western Europe, plus the US. Individual and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) tested the fit of the 7-syndrome OASR model, consisting of the Anxious/Depressed, Worries, Somatic Complaints, Functional Impairment, Memory/Cognition Problems, Thought Problems, and Irritable/Disinhibited syndromes. RESULTS: In individual CFAs, the primary model fit index showed good fit for all societies, while the secondary model fit indices showed acceptable to good fit. The items loaded strongly on their respective factors, with a median item loading of .63 across the 20 societies; and 98.7% of the loadings were statistically significant. In multi-group CFAs, 98% of items demonstrated approximate or full metric invariance. Fifteen percent of items demonstrated approximate or full scalar invariance and another 59% demonstrated scalar invariance across more than half of societies. CONCLUSIONS: The findings supported the generalizability of OASR syndromes across societies. The seven syndromes offer empirically-based clinical constructs that are relevant for elders of different backgrounds. They can be used to assess diverse elders, and as a taxonomic framework to facilitate communication, services, research and training in geriatric psychiatry. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Syndromes of self-reported psychopathology for ages 18-59 in 29 societies

This study tested the multi-society generalizability of an eight-syndrome assessment model derived from factor analyses of American adults' self-ratings of 120 behavioral, emotional, and social problems. The Adult Self-Report (ASR; Achenbach and Rescorla 2003) was completed by 17,152 18-59-year-olds in 29 societies. Confirmatory factor analyses tested the fit of self-ratings in each sample to the eight-syndrome model. The primary model fit index (Root Mean Square Error of Approximation) showed good model fit for all samples, while secondary indices showed acceptable to good fit. Only 5 (0.06%) of the 8,598 estimated parameters were outside the admissible parameter space. Confidence intervals indicated that sampling fluctuations could account for the deviant parameters. Results thus supported the tested model in societies differing widely in social, political, and economic systems, languages, ethnicities, religions, and geographical regions. Although other items, societies, and analytic methods might yield different results, the findings indicate that adults in very diverse societies were willing and able to rate themselves on the same standardized set of 120 problem items. Moreover, their self-ratings fit an eight-syndrome model previously derived from self-ratings by American adults. The support for the statistically derived syndrome model is consistent with previous findings for parent, teacher, and self-ratings of 11/2-18-year-olds in many societies. The ASR and its parallel collateral-report instrument, the Adult Behavior Checklist (ABCL), may offer mental health professionals practical tools for the multi-informant assessment of clinical constructs of adult psychopathology that appear to be meaningful across diverse societies

Variability of SCCmec in the Zurich area

A periodic survey of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Zurich in 2004 and 2006 revealed a consistently low prevalence of MRSA. SCCmec and ccr typing showed fluctuations in the proportions of SCCmec types and in the carriage of mobile virulence determinants. Together with the presence of variant SCCmecs these findings suggest a high clonal diversity and level of SCCmec recombination. The prevalence of a local "drug clone", associated with low-level methicillin resistance and rapid growth, significantly decreased. This clone had spread among intraveneous drug users, steadily increasing from 1994 to 2001 and was dominant in 2001. Apparently, changes in the management of the Zurich drug scene have restricted the spread of this clone

One-stage hybrid procedure: Association between awake minimally invasive surgical revascularization and percutaneous coronary intervention

Hybrid revascularization provides minimally invasive options for high-risk patients with multivessel coronary artery disease. We used a hybrid approach in two patients. The surgical revascularization with the left internal mammary artery (LIMA) on the left descending coronary artery was performed through an inferior j-shaped mini-sternotomy keeping the patients awake with high-epidural thoracic anesthesia. At the end of the operations the patients were moved to the angiography laboratory to complete the revascularization with angioplasty. No complications were reported