bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Soft-copy reading in digital mammography of mass: diagnostic performance of a 5-megapixel cathode ray tube monitor versus a 3-megapixel liquid crystal display monitor in a diagnostic setting
Authors: Uematsu T. , Kasami M.
Published: May 2008

Background: Liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors and cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors are currently the two most common types used in digital mammography systems. The appropriate selection of a monitor is very important and requires balancing the monitor's performance and its cost. A previous study of soft-copy reading in digital mammography of microcalcifications showed that 3-megapixel (M) LCD monitors were similar in diagnostic performance to 5M CRT monitors in a diagnostic setting.

Purpose: To compare 5M CRT monitors with 3M LCD monitors for soft-copy reading of digital mammography of a mass in a diagnostic setting.

Material and Methods: Seventy mass lesions having undergone either breast biopsies or definitive surgery (46 malignant and 24 benign) and 30 normal cases were recruited into the study. The median size of the lesions was 16 mm (range 7–20 mm). The digital mammograms in the 100-case set were assigned to two blocks, block A (50 cases) and block B (50 cases), for 5M CRT and 3M LCD monitors. A single radiologist read all 100 cases with both types of monitors, starting with the images in block A on the 5M CRT monitors and then the images in block B on the 3M LCD monitors. The radiologist analyzed the soft-copy images on 5M CRT and 3M LCD monitors with 5 months between the interpretations to reduce the effects of learning and memory. Again, the reader started with the images in block A on the 3M LCD monitors and then read the images in block B on the 5M CRT monitors. A five-point rating scale for the probability of malignancy was used for interpreting the soft-copy mammograms. The mass descriptor was scored on a six-point scale. Breast density was scored on a four-point scale. The positive predictive value (PPV) and negative predictive value (NPV) were calculated based on the criteria of the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System. The interpretation time was also measured.

Results: No significant difference was observed in the probability of malignancy ( P=1), mass descriptor ( P=0.317), and breast density ( P=0.739). The PPV and NPV of soft-copy reading on the 5M CRT monitors were 91% (42/46) and 94% (51/54), respectively, identical to the results using 3M LCD monitors. The total interpretation time averaged 62 s for the 5M CRT monitors and 60 s for the 3M LCD monitors ( P<0.0001).

Conclusion: Soft-copy reading of a digital mammography of mass with 3M LCD monitors was similar in diagnostic performance to 5M CRT monitors in this study. On the basis of the results of this and a previous study, 3M LCD monitors can replace 5M CRT monitors without any loss in the ability to diagnose digital mammograms.
Bilateral pulvinar signal intensity decrease on t2-weighted images in patients with aspartylglucosaminuria
Authors: Autti T. , Lönnqvist T , Joensuu R
Published: May 2008

Background: Aspartylglucosaminuria (AGU) is an autosomal recessive lysosomal disease caused by deficiency of aspartylglucosaminidase. A thalamic T2 signal intensity decrease is associated with lysosomal diseases.

Purpose: To investigate thalamic signal intensity in AGU by performing a retrospective review of brain magnetic resonance (MR) imaging studies of AGU patients.

Material and Methods: A total of 25 MR examinations were available for 11 patients aged between 3 and 32 years (four patients underwent bone marrow transplantation). Of these, 13 examinations were performed after bone marrow transplantation. Five patients had from two to six examinations, and six patients had one examination each. In every patient, the diagnosis of AGU was confirmed by blood and urine tests. Eighteen examinations were performed with a 1.0T imager including dual spin-echo T2 and proton density (PD) axial and coronal images, and 10 examinations also included T1-weighted images. Seven examinations were performed with a 1.5T imager including turbo spin-echo axial and coronal T2-weighted images and axial fluid-attenuated inversion recovery (FLAIR) images; three examinations included T1-weighted three-dimensional magnetization-prepared rapid acquisition gradient-echo (3D MPRAGE) images. The signal intensity of the thalamus and pulvinar in every sequence was compared to that of the putamina.

Results: In AGU, thalamic alterations were first detectable on T2-weighted images (25 examinations in 11 patients) from the age of 3 years 6 months, showing decreased signal intensity in 21 of 24 examinations. T1-weighted images (13 examinations) showed slightly increased thalamic signal intensity in five out of seven examinations from the age of 7 years, and PD images (19 examinations) showed decreased signal intensity from the age of 16 years (three examinations). The pulvinar showed decreased signal intensity on spin-echo T2-weighted images for 14 of 18 examinations or on FLAIR sequences for seven of seven examinations from the age of 6 years and 6 months, both in patients with and without bone marrow transplantation, but no pulvinar alterations were observable on T1 and PD images.

Conclusion: In AGU, the thalamus is affected. Pulvinar changes are visible only on T2-weighted images, and these may be the first changes reported in the group of lysosomal diseases.
Imaging of renal leiomyomas
Authors: Derchi L. E. , Grenier N. , Heinz-Peer G. , Dogra V. , Franco F. , Rollandi G. A. , Deminiere C.
Published: May 2008

Background: Renal leiomyomas are rare benign tumors of the kidney which can be found at autopsy as small capsular nodules in about 5% of cases. The clinical incidence of such lesions is much smaller, and only case reports or small series have been reported in the imaging literature.

Purpose: To describe the imaging characteristics observed in a series of eight patients with pathology-proven asymptomatic leiomyomas of the kidney.

Material and Methods: We reviewed the imaging findings observed in eight patients with pathologically proven asymptomatic renal leiomyomas discovered during studies performed for reasons unrelated to the kidney. All patients had undergone computed tomography (CT), two ultrasonography, and one magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Results: Lesions ranged in size from 1.2 to 13 cm. Six were at the periphery of the kidney, compressed its outer surface, but did not cause disruption of the cortex; two involved the renal cortex. All had regular outer margins. A cleavage plane between the tumor and the kidney was revealed at CT and/or ultrasonography in three of the cases located at the periphery. At ultrasonography, leiomyomas appeared hypoechogenic. At CT, they were slightly hyperdense before contrast medium injection; all were hypodense to the renal cortex after contrast medium. Four were homogeneous, two were slightly heterogeneous, and the remaining two were frankly heterogeneous. The lesion studied by MRI, which was homogeneous at the postcontrast CT study, had a heterogeneous structure on both T1- and T2-weighted images, with internal areas of hypointensity on T1.

Conclusion: There are some imaging findings that can help to suggest the diagnosis of renal leiomyomas. First, their density: all tumors examined before contrast were hyperdense to the kidney, with density similar to that of muscles, and all had lower enhancement than the adjacent renal parenchyma. Second, the location and margins of the tumors: most were peripheral, without involvement of the renal cortex and with well-defined margins. Although not pathognomonic for a renal leiomyoma, the combination of these findings should include leiomyoma in the list of differential diagnoses.
Sclerosing mesenteritis as a rare cause of upper abdominal pain and digestive disorders
Authors: Grieser C. , Denecke T. , Langrehr J. , Hamm B. , Lopez Hänninen E.
Published: May 2008

Sclerosing mesenteritis is a rare inflammatory disease of the bowel mesentery of unknown etiology, which can be mistaken for malignancy. We report a case of a 60-year-old male patient with sclerosing mesenteritis as a rare cause of upper abdominal pain and digestive disorders, and present the corresponding magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings indicative of the underlying disease.
Computed tomography appearances of various complications associated with pancreatic pseudocysts
Authors: Cheol Kim Hyun , Mo Yang Dal , Jung Kim Hyoung , Ho Lee Dong , Tae Ko Young , Won Lim Joo
Published: May 2008

Most pancreatic pseudocysts are common complications of acute or chronic pancreatitis. They usually occur within the pancreas or in peripancreatic tissues, and are visualized as round or oval fluid collections with thin or thick walls on computed tomography (CT) scans. However, pancreatic pseudocysts are often combined with various complications, e.g., various organ involvements, infection, hemorrhage with pseudoaneurysm formation, rupture with fistula formation, or gastrointestinal or biliary obstruction, which may necessitate prompt intervention or surgery. This review illustrates the CT appearances of various complications associated with pancreatic pseudocysts.
Drug use and risk among regular injecting drug users in Australia: does age make a difference?
Authors: DEGENHARDT LOUISA , KINNER STUART A. , ROXBURGH AMANDA , BLACK EMMA , BRUNO RAIMONDO , FETHERSTON JAMES , FRY CRAIG L.
Published: May 2008

Introduction and Aims. To examine age‐related differences in drug use and risk among regular injecting drug users (IDU) in Australia. Design and Methods. Cross‐sectional data from the 2006 Illicit Drug Reporting System were examined for age‐related differences in demographic characteristics, drug use history and current use patterns and self‐reported risk behaviours. Results. IDU under 25 years of age were more likely to have initiated injecting at a younger age, to identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, and to be injecting daily or more often than their older counterparts. They reported more frequent heroin use in the preceding 6 months, and were more likely to report morphine as the first drug injected than were IDU aged 35 years or over. Younger IDU were also more likely to report providing used needles to others, engaging in recent property crime and drug dealing and arrest in the last year. Conclusions. Younger IDU reported significantly different drug use patterns and higher rates of risk behaviours than their older counterparts. Treatment services need to ensure that harm and demand reduction services deliver messages to new cohorts of IDU, particularly given that their drug use patterns may be different to those of older users.
Residential detoxification: essential for marginalised, severely alcohol‐ and drug‐dependent individuals
Authors: SILINS EDMUND , SANNIBALE CLAUDIA , LARNEY SARAH , WODAK ALEX , MATTICK RICHARD
Published: May 2008

Introduction and Aims. In an era of health care rationalisation, residential detoxification services catering for drug‐ and alcohol‐dependent homeless people are being closed. The principal findings of a recent evaluation of a non‐medicated residential detoxification service are presented. The aims were to describe the characteristics of residents, their experience of admission, rates of withdrawal completion, referral patterns, staff and key informant perceptions of the service and its role within the wider treatment system. Design and Methods. A process evaluation was utilised incorporating interviews with residents (n = 80) and key informants (n = 13); a survey of all service staff (n = 10); and demographic and clinical data for all residents (n = 392) admitted over one calendar year. Results. Residents were heavily substance‐dependent and marginalised, with many exhibiting substantial mental and physical health impairments. Polydrug use and frequent prior engagement with drug and alcohol services were common. The majority completed withdrawal and were referred to further treatment. Residents who presented for heroin and other opiate withdrawal were more likely than other residents to leave before completing treatment (odds ratio 2.47, 95% confidence interval 1.48–4.15). Information from key informants, service staff and residents converged in underscoring the important role performed by the service. Discussion and Conclusion. Out‐patient detoxification for homeless and severely drug‐ and alcohol‐dependent populations is unrealistic. For this group, access to residential detoxification is vital as it provides an environment where potentially serious medical and psychological complications can be managed. There continues to be a clear role for supervised withdrawal in such a setting.
Increasing socio‐economic inequalities in drug‐induced deaths in Australia: 1981 – 2002
Authors: NAJMAN JAKE M. , TOLOO GHASEM , WILLIAMS GAIL M.
Published: May 2008

Introduction and Aims. Since the 1990s illicit drug use death rates in Australia have increased markedly. There is a notable gap in knowledge about changing socio‐economic inequalities in drug use death rates. Some limited Australian and overseas data point to higher rates of drug death in the lowest socio‐economic groups, but the paucity of available studies and their sometimes conflicting findings need to be addressed. Design and Methods. This paper uses data obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to examine changes in age‐standardised drug‐induced mortality rates for Australian males over the period 1981 – 2002. Socio‐economic status was categorised as manual or non‐manual work status. Results. With the rapid increase in drug‐induced mortality rates in the 1990s, there was a parallel increase in socio‐economic inequalities in drug‐induced deaths. The decline in drug death rates from 2000 onwards was associated with a decline in socio‐economic inequalities. By 2002, manual workers had drug death rates well over twice the rate of non‐manual workers. Discussion. Three factors are identified which contribute to these socio‐economic inequalities in mortality. First, there has been an age shift in deaths evident only for manual workers. Secondly, there has been an increase in availability until 1999 and a relative decline in the cost of the drug, which most often leads to drug death (heroin). Thirdly, there has been a shift to amphetamine use which may lead to significant levels of morbidity, but few deaths.
Comparing heroin users and prescription opioid users in a Canadian multi‐site population of illicit opioid users
Authors: FISCHER BENEDIKT , PATRA JAYADEEP , CRUZ MICHELLE FIRESTONE , GITTINS JUDE , REHM JÜRGEN
Published: May 2008

Introduction and Aims. Recent data suggest increasing prescription opioid and decreasing heroin use among street drug users, yet little is known on possible differential use characteristics and outcomes associated with these drugs. [While we recognise that, correctly, these populations would need to be labelled as opioid ‘abusers’ or ‘non‐medical users’, we rely on the simpler terms ‘use’ and ‘users’ for the population under study within the wider context of them being engaged overall in illicit opioid use activities.] This study compared drug use, health, and socio‐economic characteristics between heroin (H)‐only, prescription opioid (PO)‐only and mixed heroin and prescription (PO&H) users in a Canadian multi‐site cohort of illicit opioid and other drug users (OPICAN). Design and Methods. Data from the most recent (2005) multi‐component assessment of the H‐only (n = 94), PO‐only (n = 304) and PO&H (n = 86) cohort sub‐samples were analysed. Based on bivariate analyses of variables of interest, a multinomial logistic regression analysis (MLRA) model was computed, comparing PO‐only and PO&H groups to the H‐only reference group, respectively. Results. H‐only users were found in two of the seven study sites. Based on the MLRA, PO‐only and PO&H users, compared to H‐only users, were more likely to: be older, use benzodiazepines and cocaine, use drop‐in shelters and less likely to use walk‐in clinics. PO‐only users were also more likely to: be white; receive legal income; use drugs by non‐injection; have physical health problems; and use private physician services. Discussion and Conclusions. Our study underscores the increasing prevalence of PO compared to heroin use in the study population. Differences between PO‐only and H‐only users were more pronounced than differences between PO‐only and PO&H users. PO‐only use may be associated with lowered health risks and social burdens, yet concerns regarding polysubstance use and drug sourcing arise. Challenges for targeted interventions are discussed.
Patterns of benzylpiperazine/trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine party pill use and adverse effects in a population sample in New Zealand
Authors: WILKINS CHRIS , SWEETSUR PAUL , GIRLING MELISSA
Published: May 2008

Introduction and Aims. A large legal market for party pills containing benzylpiperazine (BZP) and trifluoromethylphenylpiperazine (TFMPP) developed in New Zealand after 2004. The use of these party pills has been associated with adverse health effects. The purpose of this paper was to assess a general population sample of party pill users to investigate the relationship between (1) patterns of use of BZP/TFMPP party pills and concurrent use of other drug types, and (2) adverse side effects from BZP/TFMPP party pill use. Design. A national household survey of the use of BZP/TFMPP party pills was conducted using a computer‐assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) facility. The quantity of BZP and TFMPP in each brand of party pill was obtained from the National Poisons Centre. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent predictors of having experienced adverse side effects from party pills. Results. The mean quantity of BZP/TFMPP taken on an occasion of greatest use was 533 mg (median 400 mg, range 43 – 2500 mg). Being female, using cannabis and other drugs concurrently with BZP/TFMPP party pills, taking large quantities of party pills in a single session and taking 5‐hydroxytryptophan (5‐HTP) recovery pills at the same time as party pills were independent predictors of having experienced an adverse problem from party pills. Conclusions. Females may be at greater risk of experiencing problems from BZP/TFMPP party pills due to their smaller physical size. Taking 5‐HTP ‘recovery’ pills with party pills may increase the risk of adverse effects as both substances increase users' levels of serotonin.
Incarceration experiences in a cohort of active injection drug users
Authors: MILLOY M.‐J. , WOOD EVAN , SMALL WILL , TYNDALL MARK , LAI CALVIN , MONTANER JULIO , KERR THOMAS
Published: May 2008

Background. Incarceration has been associated with a number of health‐related harms among injection drug users (IDU). However, little is known about the prevalence and correlates of incarceration among community‐based samples of IDU. Methods. We examined the prevalence and correlates of recent incarceration among IDU in the Scientific Evaluation of Supervised Injecting (SEOSI) cohort examined between 1 July 2004 and 30 June 2006 using generalised estimating equations (GEE). Results. A total of 902 individuals were included in the analysis, of whom 255 (28.72%) were female and 536 (59.42%) reported a history of incarceration. In a multivariate GEE model, recent incarceration was associated positively and independently with a number of high‐risk drug using behaviours, including syringe sharing. Conclusions. An alarmingly high proportion of active IDU reported recent incarceration and injecting while incarcerated. Recent incarceration was associated independently with syringe sharing. These findings add further evidence to repeated demands for an expansion of appropriate harm‐reduction measures in Canada's prisons.
Process and predictors of drug treatment referral and referral uptake at the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre
Authors: KIMBER JO , MATTICK RICHARD P. , KALDOR JOHN , VAN BEEK INGRID , GILMOUR STUART , RANCE JAKE A.
Published: May 2008

Introduction and Aims. Low‐threshold drug services such as drug consumption rooms (DCRs) have been posited as referral gateways to drug treatment for injecting drug users (IDUs). We examined the process and predictors of drug treatment referral and referral uptake at an Australian DCR. Design and Methods. We undertook behavioural surveillance of the Sydney Medically Supervised Injecting Centre (MSIC) client cohort between May 2001 and October 2002. Data were collected for 3715 IDUs on demographics, injecting and drug use behaviours at registration and all subsequent MSIC service utilisation, including referrals. Referral uptake (defined as presentation for assessment at the relevant agency) was traced via reply‐paid postcards included with written referrals. Results. Sixteen per cent of clients who received written referrals to drug treatment had confirmed drug treatment referral uptake. Factors associated with drug treatment referral were frequent MSIC attendance [adjusted odds ratios (AOR = 9.4], receipt of written health (AOR = 4.8) or psychosocial (AOR = 4.3) referrals, heroin as main drug injected (AOR = 1.9) and completion of high school education (AOR = 1.6). Factors associated positively with drug treatment referral uptake were recent sex work (AOR = 2.6) and at least daily injection (AOR 2.3). Previous psychiatric illness or self‐harm was associated negatively with drug treatment referral uptake (AOR = 0.2). Discussion and Conclusions. MSIC engaged IDUs successfully in drug treatment referral and this was associated with presentation for drug treatment assessment and other health and psychosocial services. To improve rates of drug treatment referral and uptake, those with a history of mental health issues may require more intensive referral and case management.
Savonarola at the Stake: The Rise and Fall of Roy Meadow
Authors: Kaplan Robert
Published: May 2008

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe the role of prominent paediatrician Professor Sir Roy Meadow in the controversy surrounding the diagnosis of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) in mothers accused of murdering their children.

Conclusion: The MSBP saga is a further chapter of an era of moral panic that started several decades ago with repressed memory therapy, satanic ritual abuse and multiple personalities. The fall of medieval sage Savonarola is an apt analogy for the fate of Roy Meadow. The history of medicine is rife with figures who become their own authority and rule by force of personality.
“If There is a Doctor Aboard this Flight…”: Issues and Advice for the Passenger-Psychiatrist
Authors: Macleod Sandy
Published: May 2008

Objective: On several occasions, the author has responded to requests for medical assistance while travelling by air. This paper examines the various issues when a passenger-psychiatrist is confronted with an in-flight medical emergency.

Conclusions: A range of medical problems can present during air travel. A review of the available literature on a doctor's obligations when confronted with an in-flight medical emergency is provided. Guidelines for the passenger-psychiatrist, who at some stage is likely to encounter such a circumstance, are offered.
Endogenous Adipose‐Derived Factors Diminish Coronary Endothelial Function via Inhibition of Nitric Oxide Synthase
Authors: Payne Gregory A. , Borbouse Léna , Bratz Ian N. , Roell William C. , Bohlen H. Glenn , Dick Gregory M. , Tune Johnathan D.
Published: May 2008

Adipocytokines may be the molecular link between obesity and vascular disease. However, the effects of these factors on coronary vascular function have not been discerned. Accordingly, the goal of this investigation was to delineate the mechanisms by which endogenous adipose‐derived factors affect coronary vascular endothelial function. Both isolated canine coronary arteries and coronary blood flow in anesthetized dogs were studied with and without exposure to adipose tissue. Infusion of adipose‐conditioned buffer directly into the coronary circulation did not change baseline hemodynamics; however, endothelial‐dependent vasodilation to bradykinin was impaired both in vitro and in vivo. Coronary vasodilation to sodium nitroprusside was unaltered by adipose tissue. Oxygen radical formation did not cause the impairment because quantified dihydroethidium staining was decreased by adipose tissue and neither a superoxide dismutase mimetic nor catalase improved endothelial function. Inhibition of nitric oxide (NO) synthase with L‐NAME diminished bradykinin‐mediated relaxations and eliminated the subsequent vascular effects of adipose tissue. In vitro measurement of NO demonstrated that adipose tissue exposure quickly lowered baseline NO and abolished bradykinin‐induced NO production. The results indicate that adipose tissue releases factor(s) that selectively impair endothelial‐dependent dilation via inhibition of NO synthase‐mediated NO production.
Lexical access in children with and without specific language impairment: a cross‐modal picture–word interference study
Authors: Seiger‐Gardner Liat , Schwartz Richard G.
Published: May 2008

Two experiments examined the time course of lexical information availability in 20 adults, 20 children (8;0–10;0) with typical language development, and in 20 children (8;0–10;0) with specific language impairment. A cross‐modal picture–word interference paradigm was used in which participants named the pictures as quickly as possible while ignoring the phonologically and semantically related interfering words. A novel early phonological interference effect appeared in all groups. Similar temporal patterns were revealed for the adults and the typical language development group, supporting the notion of similar underlying lexicalization mechanisms. Parametric differences were found in overall response times and errors, with children responding slower and producing more errors than adults. The presence of a phonological facilitation effect suggests that children with specific language impairment utilize phonological primes to ease lexical access. Children with specific language impairment exhibited lingering semantic inhibition and a late semantic inhibition effect suggesting difficulty in processing semantic information. Data from all participants support the cascaded processing model of lexical access.
Effects of ‘Context‐Optimization’ on the acquisition of grammatical case in children with specific language impairment: an experimental evaluation in the classroom
Authors: Motsch Hans‐Joachim , Riehemann Stephanie
Published: May 2008

Background:Disorders in the acquisition of morphological agreement phenomena, e.g. case marking, are characteristic of German children with specific language impairment (SLI). Although the success of individual therapy has already been documented, there are general doubts about the success of grammar facilitation in the classroom.

Aims:To investigate whether children with SLI, who were trained with the new program ‘Context‐Optimization’ during classes, achieved significant improvements in the acquisition of case and whether this therapeutic approach was more effective than the traditional methods used in a control group.

Methods & Procedures:Forty‐five classes of 19 special language schools participated in the study. Within 12 weeks the experimental group, consisting of 63 children, received 12 hours of therapy during their lessons. The therapeutic measures were implemented directly by their class teachers, who are additionally qualified as school speech and language pathologists. The case marking skills of the 63 children constituting the control group were also trained during classes or within individual or group therapy, although their teachers used other methods than Context‐Optimization.

Outcomes & Results:The experimental group participants increased their case‐marking skills significantly, even after a short‐term intervention, and these effects remained stable. It is evident that their improvements were independent of any risk factors such as deficits in the perception and processing of language, problems in gender agreement and bilingualism. Context‐Optimization therapy in the classroom is effective for both accusative and dative, the prominent therapy goal, while traditional methods are only effective for accusative.

Conclusions:A critical analysis of the data reveals two important implications for future interventions: (1) the reduction of language material to ensure proper use of gender during therapy sequences; and (2) the adaptation of therapeutic steps to the learning tempo of the pupils.
Effect of listeners' linguistic background on perceptual judgements of hypernasality
Authors: Lee Alice , Brown Susanna , Gibbon Fiona E.
Published: May 2008

Background: Many speech and language therapists work in a multilingual environment, making cross‐linguistic studies of speech disorders clinically and theoretically important.

Aims: To investigate the effect of listeners' linguistic background on their perceptual ratings of hypernasality and the reliability of the ratings.

Methods & Procedures: The speech samples were nine Cantonese non‐nasal sentences produced by 22 speakers (20 speakers with hypernasality and two speakers with normal resonance). Twenty‐four non‐expert listeners (twelve Cantonese and twelve English) rated the speech samples using direct magnitude estimation.

Outcomes & Results: The Cantonese listeners gave significantly higher ratings to the female speech samples (mean = 76.02) than the English listeners (mean = 59.24; t = 3.189, p<0.05). The difference in direct magnitude estimation ratings between the Cantonese (78.57) and English (70.83) listeners was not significant for the male samples (t = 2.097, p>0.05). Despite the difference in numerical ratings between the two groups of listeners, the high correlations between their ratings indicated that they ranked the speech samples in terms of hypernasality severity similarly. Both groups of listeners showed high inter‐judge reliability but low intra‐judge reliability for rating the two sets of speech samples. There was a significant difference in intra‐judge reliability between the Cantonese (r = 0.55) and English (r = 0.39) listeners for the male samples (t = 2.125, p<0.05).

Conclusions: Generally, the non‐expert Cantonese and English listeners ranked the Cantonese samples in terms of hypernasality in a similar way. The reliability of ratings by non‐expert listeners was moderate. The need for further cross‐linguistic studies into perceptual evaluations of speech disorders is highlighted.
Investigating the psycholinguistic correlates of speechreading in preschool age children
Authors: Davies Rebecca , Kidd Evan , Lander Karen
Published: May 2008

Background: Previous research has found that newborn infants can match phonetic information in the lips and voice from as young as ten weeks old. There is evidence that access to visual speech is necessary for normal speech development. Although we have an understanding of this early sensitivity, very little research has investigated older children's ability to speechread whole words.

Aims: The aim of this study was to identify aspects of preschool children's linguistic knowledge and processing ability that may contribute to speechreading ability. We predicted a significant correlation between receptive vocabulary and speechreading, as well as phonological working memory to be a predictor of speechreading performance.

Methods & Procedures: Seventy‐six children (n = 76) aged between 2;10 and 4;11 years participated. Children were given three pictures and were asked to point to the picture that they thought that the experimenter had silently mouthed (ten trials). Receptive vocabulary and phonological working memory were also assessed. The results were analysed using Pearson correlations and multiple regressions.

Outcomes & Results: The results demonstrated that the children could speechread at a rate greater than chance. Pearson correlations revealed significant, positive correlations between receptive vocabulary and speechreading score, phonological error rate and age. Further correlations revealed significant, positive relationships between The Children's Test of Non‐Word Repetition (CNRep) and speechreading score, phonological error rate and age. Multiple regression analyses showed that receptive vocabulary best predicts speechreading ability over and above phonological working memory.

Conclusions & Implications: The results suggest that preschool children are capable of speechreading, and that this ability is related to vocabulary size. This suggests that children aged between 2;10 and 4;11 are sensitive to visual information in the form of audio‐visual mappings. We suggest that current and future therapies are correct to include visual feedback as a therapeutic tool; however, future research needs to be conducted in order to elucidate further the role of speechreading in development.
Bimanual Response Grouping in Dual-Task Paradigms
Authors: Miller Jeff , Ulrich Rolf
Published: May 2008

In three experiments we measured response time (RT) and peak force (PF) to investigate the grouping of left- and right-hand key press responses in a dual-task paradigm involving two independent go/no-go tasks. Within each task, a go stimulus within one of two modalities (i.e., visual versus auditory) required a response by one hand. In Experiment 1 with simultaneous go stimuli in the two tasks, responses appeared to be grouped in approximately 75–80% of trials, compared with nearly 100% grouping in a single-task condition requiring bimanual responses to the onset of any stimulus in either modality. In Experiment 2 with stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 0–400 ms between the two go stimuli, response grouping clearly declined as SOA increased, although some grouping was still evident even at the longest SOA. The same pattern was observed in Experiment 3 with the same range of SOAs but unpredictable stimulus order, suggesting that grouping is not strongly dependent on prior knowledge of the likely response order. These results emphasize the pervasiveness of response grouping in bimanual dual-task RT paradigms and provide useful clues as to its nature.
Predicting Semantic Priming at the Item Level
Authors: Hutchison Keith A. , Balota David A. , Cortese Michael J. , Watson Jason M.
Published: May 2008

The current study explores a set of variables that have the potential to predict semantic priming effects for 300 prime–target associates at the item level. Young and older adults performed either lexical decision (LDT) or naming tasks. A multiple regression procedure was used to predict priming based upon prime characteristics, target characteristics, and prime–target semantic similarity. Results indicate that semantic priming (a) can be reliably predicted at an item level; (b) is equivalent in magnitude across standardized measures of priming in LDTs and naming tasks; (c) is greater following quickly recognized primes; (d) is greater in LDTs for targets that produce slow lexical decision latencies; (e) is greater for pairs high in forward associative strength across tasks and across stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs); (f) is greater for pairs high in backward associative strength in both tasks, but only at a long SOA; and (g) does not vary as a function of estimates from latent semantic analysis (LSA). Based upon these results, it is suggested that researchers take extreme caution in comparing priming effects across different item sets. Moreover, the current findings lend support to spreading activation and feature overlap theories of priming, but do not support priming based upon contextual similarity as captured by LSA.
Observed attention allocation processes in category learning
Authors: Matsuka Toshihiko , Corter James E.
Published: May 2008

In two empirical studies of attention allocation during category learning, we investigate the idea that category learners learn to allocate attention optimally across stimulus dimensions. We argue that “optimal” patterns of attention allocation are model or process specific, that human learners do not always optimize attention, and that one reason they fail to do so is that under certain conditions the cost of information retrieval or use may affect the attentional strategy adopted by learners. We empirically investigate these issues using a computer interface incorporating an “information-board” display that collects detailed information on participants’ patterns of attention allocation and information search during learning trials. Experiment 1 investigated the effects on attention allocation of distributing perfectly diagnostic features across stimulus dimensions versus within one dimension. The overall pattern of viewing times supported the optimal attention allocation hypothesis, but a more detailed analysis produced evidence of instance- or category-specific attention allocation, a phenomenon not predicted by prominent computational models of category learning. Experiment 2 investigated the strategies adopted by category learners encountering redundant perfectly predictive cues. Here, the majority of participants learned to distribute attention optimally in a cost–benefit sense, allocating attention primarily to only one of the two perfectly predictive dimensions. These results suggest that learners may take situational costs and benefits into account, and they present challenges for computational models of learning that allocate attention by weighting stimulus dimensions.
Speech planning during multiple-object naming: Effects of ageing
Authors: Mortensen Linda , Meyer Antje S. , Humphreys Glyn W.
Published: May 2008

Two experiments were conducted with younger and older speakers. In Experiment 1, participants named single objects that were intact or visually degraded, while hearing distractor words that were phonologically related or unrelated to the object name. In both younger and older participants naming latencies were shorter for intact than for degraded objects and shorter when related than when unrelated distractors were presented. In Experiment 2, the single objects were replaced by object triplets, with the distractors being phonologically related to the first object's name. Naming latencies and gaze durations for the first object showed degradation and relatedness effects that were similar to those in single-object naming. Older participants were slower than younger participants when naming single objects and slower and less fluent on the second but not the first object when naming object triplets. The results of these experiments indicate that both younger and older speakers plan object names sequentially, but that older speakers use this planning strategy less efficiently.
Mislocated fixations can account for parafoveal-on-foveal effects in eye movements during reading
Authors: Drieghe Denis , Rayner Keith , Pollatsek Alexander
Published: May 2008

Contrasting predictions of serial and parallel views on the processing of foveal and parafoveal information during reading were tested. A high-frequency adjective ( young) was followed by either a high-frequency wordn ( child) or a low-frequency wordn ( tenor), which in turn was followed by either a correct ( performing) or an orthographic illegal wordn + 1 ( pxvforming) as a parafoveal preview. A limited parafoveal-on-foveal effect was observed: There were inflated fixation times on wordn when the preview of wordn + 1 was orthographically illegal. However, this parafoveal-on-foveal effect was (a) independent of the frequency of wordn, (b) restricted to those instances when the eyes were very close to wordn + 1, and (c) associated with relatively long prior saccades. These observations are all compatible with a mislocated fixation account in which parafoveal-on-foveal effects result from saccadic undershoots of wordn + 1 and with a serial model of eye movement control during reading.
Blocking and pseudoblocking: The reply of Rattus norvegicus to Apis mellifera
Authors: Guez David , Miller Ralph R.
Published: May 2008

Blaser, Couvillon, and Bitterman (2006) presented data obtained with honeybees that in principle challenged all traditional interpretations of blocking. They administered A + followed by either A + or + alone (where + indicates an unconditioned stimulus) and then tested on X. They observed less responding to X when they administered A + than when + alone was administered, a phenomenon they called “pseudoblocking”. Here we examined pseudoblocking in a rat fear-conditioning preparation. In Experiment 1, using a control procedure that was similar to our usual blocking control, we obtained conventional blocking but failed to observe pseudoblocking in our analogue to Blaser et al.'s procedure. In Experiment 2, we used Blaser et al.'s control procedure and again failed to observe the pseudoblocking effect with rats when we used the experimental context as an analogue to the honeybee feeder used by Blaser et al. After reviewing their protocol and previously published studies from their laboratory, we hypothesized that the feeder that they treated as a training context probably served as a punctate cue. We also tested this possibility in Experiment 2, using a punctate cue as a surrogate feeder, and were now able to reproduce their pseudoblocking phenomena. Our results are consistent with a simple overshadowing account of pseudoblocking, within the framework of existing theories of associative learning, which is not applicable to the conventional blocking paradigm. Thus, blocking remains a real phenomenon that must be addressed by models of associative learning.
The differential influence of decades and units on multidigit number comparison
Authors: Korvorst Marjolein , Damian Markus F.
Published: May 2008

What role do the magnitudes of the constituent digits play in three-digit number comparison (e.g., choosing the larger one of two numbers)? The present study addressed this question by examining compatibility effects between hundred and decade digits and between hundred and unit digits. For example, the number pair 372–845 is hundred–decade incompatible because the larger number contains the smaller decade digit, but hundred–unit compatible because the larger number contains the larger unit digit. We obtained significant effects of hundred–decade and hundred–unit compatibility on number comparison times. However, the effect of hundred–unit compatibility was largely restricted to the hundred–decade-compatible condition. These results suggest that place-value information, through decomposition, is automatically taken into account when multidigit numbers have to be compared. Implications of our findings for models of number processing are discussed.
Contextual control of biconditional task performance: Evidence for cue and response competition in rats
Authors: Haddon J. E. , George D. N. , Killcross S.
Published: May 2008

A novel paradigm is presented that was designed to mimic aspects of cue and response competition seen in humans in conflict procedures such as the Stroop task. Rats were trained simultaneously on two biconditional discrimination tasks, one auditory and one visual, in two different contexts: C1, in which A1:LP1 → R, A2:LP2 → R; and C2, in which V1:LP1 → R, V2:LP2 → R, where C1/C2 represent different training contexts (produced by different operant chambers), A1/A2 are different auditory cues, V1/V2 are different visual cues, LP1/LP2 are discrete operant responses, and R is reward. At test, rats received presentations of audiovisual compounds of these training stimuli in extinction. These compounds had dictated either the same (A1V1 or A2V2) or different (A1V2 or A2V1) responses during training: termed congruent and incongruent trials, respectively. Experiment 1 showed that following equal training on the two biconditional tasks, the contextual cues came to control responding to conflicting information provided by incongruent stimulus compounds such that animals responded according to the stimulus element previously trained in that test context. Experiment 2 demonstrated that differential training on the biconditional discriminations (with rats receiving training on the two discriminations in the ratio 3:1) resulted in greater interference from the overtrained task when animals were tested in the undertrained context. This finding is similar to the classic Stroop asymmetry seen in human performance whereby dominant word reading interferes with colour naming for incongruent colour–word compounds. Further analysis also revealed some evidence for a reverse Stroop effect in which the undertrained stimulus element interfered with performance on the overtrained task.
The representational space of numerical magnitude: Illusions of length
Authors: De Hevia Maria-Dolores , Girelli Luisa , Bricolo Emanuela , Vallar Giuseppe
Published: May 2008

In recent years, a growing amount of evidence concerning the relationships between numerical and spatial representations has been interpreted, by and large, in favour of the mental number line hypothesis—namely, the analogue continuum where numbers are spatially represented (Dehaene, 1992; Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel, & Cohen, 2003). This numerical representation is considered the core of number meaning and, accordingly, needs to be accessed whenever numbers are semantically processed. The present study explored, by means of a length reproduction task, whether besides the activation of lateralized spatial codes, numerical processing modulates the mental representation of a horizontal spatial extension. Mis-estimations of length induced by Arabic numbers are interpreted in terms of a cognitive illusion, according to which the elaboration of magnitude information brings about an expansion or compression of the mental representation of spatial extension. These results support the hypothesis that visuo-spatial resources are involved in the representation of numerical magnitude.
Orthographic congruency effects in the suprasegmental domain: Evidence from Thai
Authors: Pattamadilok Chotiga , Kolinsky Régine , Luksaneeyanawin Sudaporn , Morais José
Published: May 2008

The influence of orthographic knowledge on lexical tone processing was examined by manipulating the congruency between the tone and the tone marker of Thai monosyllabic words presented in three metalinguistic tasks. In tone monitoring (Experiment 1) and same–different tone judgement (Experiment 2)—that is, tasks that require an explicit analysis of tone information—an orthographic congruency effect was observed: Better performance was found when both tone and tone marker led to the same response than when they led to opposite, competing responses. In rhyme judgement (Experiment 3), a metaphonological task that allows tone to be processed in a more natural way since it does not require explicit analysis of tone, the orthographic effect emerged only when the interstimulus interval was lengthened from 30 to 1,200 ms. In addition to demonstrating the generalization of the orthographic congruency effect to the suprasegmental domain in Thai, the present data also suggest relatively late and task-dependent activation of orthographic representations of tone.
Launching at a distance: The effect of spatial markers
Authors: Young Michael E. , Falmier Olga
Published: May 2008

It has been widely reported that spatial contiguity is important to judgements of causality involving one object launching another [Michotte's “launching effect” (1963, 1991)]. The present study examined the impact of different types of spatial markers on causal judgements of a distal launch (one object approaching other, stopping short of it, and the second object subsequently moving along the same trajectory). The spatial markers were objects that either partially or completely bridged the spatial gap between two objects (Experiment 1), or they were dashed lines that marked the stopping location of the first object or the starting location of the second object (Experiment 2). The presence of either objects or dashed lines could produce higher causal ratings, but the location of the marker mattered. The results suggest that altering a cause's ability to predict when the effect would occur (via a spatial marker) and the presence of a conduit for energy transmission have independent effects on causal judgements of object interaction.