How should you evaluate a toddler for speech delay?

Use a brief screening tool to assess children for speech and language delay at every preventive visit. If a delay in speech is identified, evaluate the child for potentially treatable causes, starting with a history and physical examination and a formal audiogram. Additional tests and referral to appropriate specialists may be indicated (strength of recommendation [SOR]: C, expert opinion). Speech and language therapy improves phonological delays and vocabulary difficulties in young children (SOR: A, systematic review of randomized controlled trials [RCTs]). However, no studies have evaluated long-term outcomes or looked for adverse effects from speech and language screening or interventions

Inequalities in Parental Spending on Young Children

This article investigates inequality in parental spending on young children over the period from 1972 to 2010. I find increased spending among parents at the top of the income distribution but little change among parents at the bottom of the income distribution. The gap in spending is equally attributable to increased spending on center-based care for preschool-age children and spending on enrichment goods and activities. The article examines potential causes of increased spending, including income, parental education, and wife’s work status, using decomposition analysis. Results indicate that higher incomes are the largest cause of the increased gap in spending but that increases in wife’s earnings, college completion, and wife’s work hours are also important for growth in spending

Egalitarianism, Housework, and Sexual Frequency in Marriage

Changes in the nature of marriage have spurred a debate about the consequences of shifts to more egalitarian relationships, and media interest in the debate has crystallized around claims that men who participate in housework get more sex. However, little systematic or representative research supports the claim that women, in essence, exchange sex for men’s participation in housework. Although research and theory support the expectation that egalitarian marriages are higher quality, other studies underscore the ongoing importance of traditional gender behavior and gender display in marriage. Using data from Wave II of the National Survey of Families and Households, this study investigates the links between men’s participation in core (traditionally female) and non-core (traditionally male) household tasks and sexual frequency. Results show that both husbands and wives in couples with more traditional housework arrangements report higher sexual frequency, suggesting the importance of gender display rather than marital exchange for sex between heterosexual married partners

In vitro neurotransmitter release in an animal model of depression

Sprague-Dawley rats exposed to uncontrollable shock can be separated by a subsequent shock escape test into two groups: a "helpless" (LH) group which demonstrates a deficit in escape behavior, and a "nonlearned helpless" (NLH) group which shows no escape deficit and acquires the escape response as readily as naive control rats (NC) do. The present studies were designed to examine the correlations between the behavioral differences and the changes of in vitro neurotransmitter release seen in these three groups of rats. The major finding concerned a significant increase in endogenous and K(+)-stimulated serotonin (5-HT) release in the hippocampal slices of LH rats. There were no apparent differences in acetylcholine, dopamine and noradrenaline release in the hippocampus of LH rats as compared to NLH and NC rats. These results add further support to previous studies in our laboratory which implicate presynaptic 5-HT mechanisms in the behavioral deficit caused by uncontrollable shock

Power to the People: A Panel Discussion of the Fight to Democratize Electric Cooperatives in Appalachia

Electric Cooperatives hold a vast amount of power–literally and figuratively–in rural communities throughout Appalachia, but members of these co-ops are often unaware of their role and face significant barriers to getting involved in decision making. In this panel, member-owners who have engaged in reform campaigns to bring transparency, accountability, and new programs to their electric co-ops will discuss lessons learned

Presynaptic serotonin mechanisms in rats subjected to inescapable shock

After exposure to uncontrollable shock training, two distinct groups of rats can be defined in terms of their performance in learning to escape from a controllable stress. Learned helpless rats do not learn to terminate the controllable stress, whereas non-learned helpless rats learn this response as readily as naive control rats do. The present studies were designed to examine the correlations between the behavioral differences and the changes of presynaptic serotonergic activity, seen in these groups of rats. The major findings concerned presynaptic serotonergic effects in the hippocampus and hypothalamus of learned helpless rats. In the hippocampus, these included a statistically significant increase in three presynaptic 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) mechanisms: K(+)-induced release of [3H]serotonin, high affinity uptake of [3H]serotonin and maximum density of binding sites for uptake of 5-HT, measured with [3H]paroxetine. In the hypothalamus, there was a differential modulation of all three presynaptic 5-HT mechanisms. A significant decrease in: K(+)-induced release of [3H]serotonin, in high affinity uptake of [3H]serotonin and the maximum binding site density of [3H]paroxetine binding was observed. No changes in uptake site binding was seen in other regions of the brain examined. These results implicate presynaptic serotonin mechanisms in the behavioral deficit caused by uncontrollable shock. In addition, a limbic-hypothalamic pathway may serve as a control center for the behavioral response to stress