Weather and Age Ratios of Northern Bobwhites in South Texas

Understanding the effects of weather on quail reproduction in semiarid environments requires simultaneous consideration of temperature and precipitation data. Therefore, we used neural modeling to assess the interactive effects of summer (Jun–Aug) temperatures (monthly means of daily maxima) and seasonal precipitation (totals) on age ratios (juvenile/adult) of northern bobwhites (Colinus virginianus) in south Texas based on data collected during 1940–97 (n = 35, 23 years missing). Age ratios increased with June temperature. Ratios were insensitive to mean maximum daily temperature in July up to 36 C, when they began to decline rapidly. Ratios were insensitive to August temperatures. Ratios increased in an asymptotic manner with fall (Sep–Nov), spring (Mar–May), and summer precipitation, and were least sensitive to fall precipitation and most sensitive to spring precipitation. Based on our analysis, temperature and precipitation influenced bobwhite production in a complex, nonlinear manner that seemed to contain thresholds and asymptotes. Low temperatures can ameliorate the negative effects of drought, and high temperatures can suppress the positive effects of precipitation. The apparent asymptotic effect of precipitation, given temperature, illustrates that assumed linearity between precipitation and production may lead to errors of interpretation and expectation for production in a particular year

Interactive Storytelling Environments: Coping with Cardiac Illness at Boston´s Children´s Hospital

This paper describes exploration of uses of a computational storytelling environment on the Cardiology Unit of the Children´s Hospital in Boston, during the summer of 1997. Young cardiac patients ranging from age 7 to 16 used the SAGE environment to tell personal stories and create interactive characters, as a way of coping with cardiac illness, hospitalizations, and invasive medical procedures. This pilot study is part of a larger collaborative effort between Children´s Hospital and MERL- A Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratory, to develop a web-based application, the Experience Journal, to assist patients and their families in dealing with serious medical illness. The focus of the paper is on young patientsúses of SAGE, on SAGE´s affordances in the context of the hospital, and on design recommendations for the development of future computational play kits for expressing and exchanging feelings and ideas. Preliminary analysis of young patients´stories indicates that children used different modes of interaction-direct, mediated, and differed-, depending upon what personae the narrator chooses to take on. These modes seem to vary with the mindset and health condition of the child. CHI 98 Conferenc

Neuropsychological Status and Structural Brain Imaging in Adolescents With Single Ventricle Who Underwent the Fontan Procedure

Background: Few studies have described the neuropsychological outcomes and frequency of structural brain or genetic abnormalities in adolescents with single ventricle who underwent the Fontan procedure. Methods and Results: In a cross‐sectional, single‐center study, we enrolled 156 subjects with single ventricle, mean age 14.5±2.9 years, who had undergone the Fontan procedure. Scores in the entire cohort on a standard battery of neuropsychological tests were compared with those of normative populations or to those of a group of 111 locally recruited healthy adolescents. They also underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging and were evaluated by a clinical geneticist. Genetic abnormalities were definite in 16 subjects (10%) and possible in 49 subjects (31%). Mean Full‐Scale IQ was 91.6±16.8, mean Reading Composite score was 91.9±17.2, and mean Mathematics Composite score was 92.0±22.9, each significantly lower than the population means of 100±15. Mean scores on other neuropsychological tests were similarly lower than population norms. In multivariable models, risk factors for worse neuropsychological outcomes were longer total support and circulatory arrest duration at first operation, presence of a genetic abnormality, more operations and operative complications, more catheterization complications, and seizure history. The frequency of any abnormality on magnetic resonance imaging was 11 times higher among Fontan adolescents than referents (66% versus 6%); 19 (13%) patients had evidence of a stroke, previously undiagnosed in 7 patients (40%). Conclusions: The neuropsychological deficits and high frequencies of structural brain abnormalities in adolescents who underwent the Fontan procedure highlight the need for research on interventions to improve the long‐term outcomes in this high‐risk group