A review of brain circuitries involved in stuttering.

Stuttering has been the subject of much research, nevertheless its etiology remains incompletely understood. This article presents a critical review of the literature on stuttering, with particular reference to the role of the basal ganglia (BG). Neuroimaging and lesion studies of developmental and acquired stuttering, as well as pharmacological and genetic studies are discussed. Evidence of structural and functional changes in the BG in those who stutter indicates that this motor speech disorder is due, at least in part, to abnormal BG cues for the initiation and termination of articulatory movements. Studies discussed provide evidence of a dysfunctional hyperdopaminergic state of the thalamocortical pathways underlying speech motor control in stuttering. Evidence that stuttering can improve, worsen or recur following deep brain stimulation for other indications is presented in order to emphasize the role of BG in stuttering. Further research is needed to fully elucidate the pathophysiology of this speech disorder, which is associated with significant social isolation

Femoral Artery Atherosclerosis Is Associated With Physical Function Across the Spectrum of the Ankle-Brachial Index: The San Diego Population Study.

BackgroundThe ankle-brachial index (ABI) is inadequate to detect early-stage atherosclerotic disease, when interventions to prevent functional decline may be the most effective. We determined associations of femoral artery atherosclerosis with physical functioning, across the spectrum of the ABI, and within the normal ABI range.Methods and resultsIn 2007-2011, 1103 multiethnic men and women participated in the San Diego Population Study, and completed all components of the summary performance score. Using Doppler ultrasound, superficial and common femoral intima media thickness and plaques were ascertained. Logistic regression was used to assess associations of femoral atherosclerosis with the summary performance score and its individual components. Models were adjusted for demographics, lifestyle factors, comorbidities, lipids, and kidney function. In adjusted models, among participants with a normal-range ABI (1.00-1.30), the highest tertile of superficial intima media thickness was associated with lower odds of a perfect summary performance score of 12 (odds ratio=0.56 [0.36, 0.87], P=0.009), and lower odds of a 4-m walk score of 4 (0.34 [0.16, 0.73], P=0.006) and chair rise score of 4 (0.56 [0.34, 0.94], P=0.03). Plaque presence (0.53 [0.29, 0.99], P=0.04) and greater total plaque burden (0.61 [0.43, 0.87], P=0.006) were associated with worse 4-m walk performance in the normal-range ABI group. Higher superficial intima media thickness was associated with lower summary performance score in all individuals (P=0.02).ConclusionsFindings suggest that use of femoral artery atherosclerosis measures may be effective in individuals with a normal-range ABI, especially, for example, those with diabetes mellitus or a family history of peripheral artery disease, when detection can lead to earlier intervention to prevent functional declines and improve quality of life

The Battle over the Employment of Waitresses in Beijing, China, during the 1930s

Waitresses were introduced into Beijing commercial life in 1928, when restaurant owners employed women for the first time in a bid to adapt to a declining economy. Women’s presence in a public sphere that had been the exclusive domain of men precipitated a major debate in the city, influenced by the interaction of class and gender. Conservative moralists represented waitressing as a threat to public morality and to traditional Chinese values. Municipal authorities issued rigid regulations to control waitressing and considered outlawing it altogether. Many male intellectuals opposed the proposed ban, but lamented the commercialization of these women. Female social reformers defended waitresses’ right to work, hailing this new occupation for women. However, the struggling working lives of most waitresses posed a contrast to intellectuals’ construction of the Chinese “new womanhood.” Les serveuses ont fait leur entrée dans la vie commerciale de Beijing en 1928, lorsque les propriétaires de restaurant employèrent des femmes pour la toute première fois dans une tentative d’adaptation à une économie déclinante. La présence des femmes dans une sphère publique qui avait été une chasse-gardée masculine fit éclater à Beijing un débat majeur sur l’interaction entre la classe et le genre. Les moralistes conservateurs voyaient l’emploi de serveuses comme une menace à la moralité publique et aux valeurs chinoises traditionnelles. Les autorités municipales décrétèrent des règles rigoureuses pour régir le métier de serveuse et envisagèrent de l’interdire du tout au tout. De nombreux hommes intellectuels s’opposèrent à l’interdiction proposée tout en déplorant la commercialisation de ces femmes. Les réformatrices sociales défendirent le droit des serveuses de travailler, saluant l’arrivée de cette nouvelle profession pour les femmes. Toutefois, la vie professionnelle difficile de la plupart des serveuses contrastait avec l’idée que se faisaient les intellectuels de la « nouvelle féminité chinoise »

Curt Flood at Bat against Baseball\u27s Reserve Clause

Considering the favorable legal position and the stand that the reserve system is essential to the preservation of the game, the owners are reluctant to allow any changes in the system. Thus, the Flood suit affords the Player\u27s Association the most effective means, short of a costly strike, to force a change in the system

A four-year survey of penetrating wounds of the neck

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Mobilization of Workers: Labour Education and Publication in Chinese Revolution: 1919-1927

I attended the conference from May 30 to June 2. In addition to presenting my paper, I went to a couple of keynote speeches offered by Labor Studies society and Sociology Society and several secessions organized by Socialist Studies Society. I also got chance to meet and talk to scholars in a number of fields, exchanging opinions in research and teaching with them. Furthermore, I spoke with the chief-editor of a publisher, who showed great interests in my research project on labor education in China, and agreed to publish it when it is completed. Inclusion, I deem the conference trip supported by A&PDF is very productive, and I greatly appreciate the financial support that I have received.Chinese proletariat was young and numerically weak in the 1920s. These workers nevertheless played a decisive role in the great strike wave culminating in the mid-1920s. Western scholars have provided conflicting narratives of the Chinese labour, but they mainly worked within the same paradigm of social class, with emphasis on workers’ socio-economic and cultural lives as precondition of their emergence as a political force. This paper looks at a different dimension of Chinese labour movement through examination of workers’ activism and militancy in the context of Communist and nationalist movements. More specifically, it explores the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)’s propaganda and educational work as a key component of Communist labour unions’ organizational and mobilization strategy. This paper will first look at Shanghai workers’ anti-imperialist strike in 1919 as stimulation to left-wing May Fourth intellectuals’ embrace of Marxism and identification with workers. Then it traces the mass education campaign popular at the beginning of the 20th century as the prelude of the CCP’s education drive among workers. Further, two main components of CCP’s mobilization strategies—labour periodicals and workers’ school--will be discussed to show their contributions to workers’ unionization and militancy. Little work has been done on this theme both in China and in the West. Finally, this paper tries to shed light on the relation between intellectuals and workers in reference to Lenin and Gramsci’s theories on the issue

The New Generation of Chinese Women in the Age of Internet

Since internet was introduced into China in 1995, it has developed rapidly. Along with the swift increase of internet users, we have witnessed the narrowing-down gender gap in internet usage. All major websites in China created female WebPages, discussing a large array of topics related to women, especially young women. How did emergence and spread of internet affect gender relations? Has it, as some scholars expected, allowed more opportunities and freedom for women to voice their concerns by constructing a world where actors are able to hide their physical identity, including race, gender, career and age? Or, did it deteriorate women’s situation by publishing WebPages that largely conform to male taste and male style? Through examination of female WebPages created, owned and run by four major Chinese websites: Sina.com, Sohu.com, NetEase.com, and QQ.com, this paper tries to offer answers to the above questions. It will also demonstrate that, similar to turbid press of misquote papers popular among urbanites, these female WebPages have reflected and also shaped Chinese city girls’ values in an increasingly commercialized society

Relationship of femoral artery ultrasound measures of atherosclerosis with chronic kidney disease

BackgroundChronic kidney disease (CKD) is strongly associated with peripheral artery disease (PAD). Detection of subclinical PAD may allow early interventions for or prevention of PAD in persons with CKD. Whether the presence of atherosclerotic plaque and femoral intima-media thickness (IMT) are associated with kidney function is unknown.MethodsWe performed a cross-sectional observational study of 1029 community-living adults. We measured superficial and common femoral artery IMT and atherosclerotic plaque presence by ultrasound. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR; continuous) and eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (binary) were evaluated as outcomes.ResultsMean age was 70 ± 10 years, mean eGFR was 78 ± 17 mL/min/1.73 m2, and 156 (15%) individuals had eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2; 260 (25%) had femoral artery plaque. In models adjusted for demographics and cardiovascular risk factors, individuals with femoral artery plaque had mean eGFR approximately 3.0 (95% confidence interval, -5.3 to -0.8) mL/min/1.73 m2 lower than those without plaque (P < .01). The presence of plaque was also associated with a 1.7-fold higher odds of eGFR <60 mL/min/1.73 m2 (95% confidence interval, 1.1-2.8; P < .02). Associations were similar in persons with normal ankle-brachial index. The directions of associations were similar for femoral IMT measures with eGFR and CKD but were rendered no longer statistically significant with adjustment for demographic variables and cardiovascular disease risk factors.ConclusionsFemoral artery plaque is significantly associated with CKD prevalence in community-living individuals, even among those with normal ankle-brachial index. Femoral artery ultrasound may allow evaluation of relationships and risk factors linking PAD and kidney disease earlier in its course