Rebuttal to Hasan and Pedraza in comments and controversies: "Improving the reliability of manual and automated methods for hippocampal and amygdala volume measurements"

Here we address the critiques offered by Hasan and Pedraza to our recently published manuscript comparing the performance of two automated segmentation programs, FSL/FIRST and FreeSurfer (Morey R, Petty C, Xu Y, Pannu Hayes J, Wagner H, Lewis D, LaBar K, Styner M, McCarthy G. (2009): A comparison of automated segmentation and manual tracing for quantifying of hippocampal and amygdala volumes. Neuroimage 45:855-866). We provide an assessment and discussion of their specific critiques. Hasan and Pedraza bring up some important points concerning our omission of sample demographic features and inclusion of left and right hemisphere volumes as independent measures in correlational analyses. We present additional data on demographic attributes of our sample and correlations analyzed separately on left and right hemispheres of the amygdala and hippocampus. While their commentary aids the reader to more critically asses our study, it falls short of substantiating that our omissions ought to lead readers to significantly revise their interpretations. Further research will help to disentangle the advantages and limitations of the various freely-available automated segmentation software packages

A Comparison of Components of Written Expression Abilities in Learning Disabled and Non-Learning Disabled Students at Three Grade Levels

Although written language plays a critical role in academic success, little empirical evidence exists on the normal development of processes involved in producing written products. Even less is known about the writing performance of LD children. This study empirically compared the written products of LD and normal students at three grade levels on The Test of Written Language. Results showed that LD subjects scored significantly lower than normal subjects on most written expression abilities, especially in the mechanical tasks of spelling, punctuation, and word usage.Yeshttps://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/manuscript-submission-guideline

Mild to moderate COVID-19 illness in adult outpatients: Characteristics, symptoms, and outcomes in the first 4 weeks of illness

ABSTRACT: Most patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have mild to moderate illness not requiring hospitalization. However, no study has detailed the evolution of symptoms in the first month of illness.At our institution, we conducted remote (telephone and video) visits for all adult outpatients diagnosed with COVID-19 within 24 h of a positive nasopharyngeal polymerase chain test for SARS-CoV-2. We repeated regular video visits at 7, 14, and 28 days after the positive test, retrospectively reviewed the prospective data collected in the remote visits, and constructed a week by week profile of clinical illness, through week 4 of illness.We reviewed the courses of 458 symptomatic patients diagnosed between March 12, 2020, and June 22, 2020, and characterized their weekly courses. Common initial symptoms included fever, headache, cough, and chest pain, which frequently persisted through week 3 or longer. Upper respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms were much shorter lived, present primarily in week 1. Anosmia/ageusia peaked in weeks 2 to 3. Emergency department visits were frequent, with 128 visits in the 423 patients who were not hospitalized and 48 visits among the 35 outpatients (7.6%) who were eventually hospitalized (2 subsequently died). By the fourth week, 28.9% said their illness had completely resolved. After the 4-week follow up, 20 (4.7%) of the 423 nonhospitalized patients had further medical evaluation and management for subacute or chronic COVID-19 symptoms.Mild to moderate outpatient COVID-19 is a prolonged illness, with evolving symptoms commonly lasting into the fourth week of illness. Copyright © 2021 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]