The contribution of electromyography to the diagnostics of some rare palatal anomalies.

The paper presents the electromyographic (EMG) findings of the soft palate in three patients: a patient with Mohr syndrome and cleft palate, a patient with palatal asymmetry and rhinolalia and a patient with vertical oro-ocular facial cleft with marked asymmetry of the cleft palate. In the first patient, electrical silence was registered in one half of the palate. In the second patient, moderate loss of active motor units was registered in the hypoplastic part of the palate. In the third patient, in spite of asymmetry, the EMG finding was normal on both sides of the palate.

[Video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomy--preliminary results]. / Timectomia pe cale toracoscopica--rezultate preliminare.

Video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) provides a new approach to thymectomy. From April 1999 to December 1999, we performed a total of 10 video-assisted thoracoscopic thymectomies for myasthenia gravis (MG). There were one male and nine female patients with ages ranging from 8 to 59 years. Thymoma was present in one of the ten patients. We considered that complete thymectomy was accomplished in all cases by examination of the thymic bed and of the resected specimen. There was no mortality or intraoperative complications. The median postoperative hospital stay was 4 days. Clinical improvement was observed in all patients after this short follow-up. Compared with a similar historical group of patients with MG who underwent transsternal thymectomy, the VATS group was associated with significantly less analgesic requirement and shortened hospital stay. We conclude that VAT thymectomy is technically feasible and is associated with a favorable postoperative course compared with the transsternal approach. We believe that complete thymectomy can be achieved by this approach. Further investigation with long-term follow-up is needed to further clarify the role of VAT thymectomy in thoracic surgery.

Human rights and mental health among Latin American women in situations of state-sponsored violence. Bibliographic resources.

PIP: The Task Force of the American Psychological Association Division 35, Psychology of Women, conducted a literature review of resources from Latin America to examine the social dimensions of state-sponsored violence in Latin America, their effects on socialization and community, and some responses of women surviving these experiences. It limited its review to works of women's groups, progressive organizations, and individual women exploring the effects of war and state-sponsored violence on women's mental health. Recurring emergent themes included the false dichotomy of violence committed against women in public versus that committed in private, silencing of women accompanies state imposed terror, collective resistance to such terror. The resources addressed 3 types of women's experiences of violence: exile within and beyond one's national borders; torture--an extreme form of state-sponsored violence; and nontraditional, culturally appropriate interventions--alternatives to Western models. This review motivated the Task Force to call on their colleagues to contribute to the on-going documentation of state-sponsored violence. Task Force members identified several areas for collaborative research and/or theory development. Psychologists should question the validity of clinical neutrality and examine the particular meanings of non-neutrality within different cultures. For example, some Latin American psychologists reject diagnoses of intrapsychic syndromes (e.g., post-traumatic stress syndrome) and propose concepts that center on the nexus of individuals and social life. The Task Force sees great opportunities for US psychologists to network and to form solidarity-based relationships with Latin American women. It has identified many women's groups working in Latin America. Human rights organizations (e.g., Americas Watch) have formed women's projects. Further work should be done to improve resource exchanges.^ieng

Using the HOME inventory with infants in Costa Rica.

PIP: It has been established through several decades of research that children's home environments significantly influence their development. Many researchers have also been interested in expanding research beyond indirect measures of the home environment, such as socioeconomic status, to help understand the nature of specific environmental mechanisms which influence early behavior and cognitive development. The Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory was developed to meet these needs. Specifically, HOME measures the quality of stimulation in a child's early family environment. Almost all studies of the approach's reliability and validity have been conducted with US samples. HOME is, however, being used in other countries. The authors report their findings from a study of whether the psychometric properties of HOME based upon US samples parallel those found in Costa Rica, and whether HOME discriminates between Costa Rican environments with different associations to child health and development. Focus centers upon the infant/toddler version of the HOME Inventory. HOME data for 183 healthy Costa Rican infants were compared to the original HOME standardization sample from Little Rock, Arkansas. The study found the HOME Inventory to be helpful in identifying children at risk for delayed development in this Latin American sample. Lower HOME scores related to a shorter duration of breastfeeding and differentiated children with iron deficiency anemia in infancy, a condition associated with long-lasting developmental disadvantage.^ieng

[Changes in cellular and humoral immunologic mechanisms in the postoperative period]. / Modificari ale mecanismelor imunologice celulare si umorale în perioada postoperatorie.

The study attempted to evaluate the effects of anesthesia and of surgical interventions on certain humoral and cellular components of the mechanism of specific immunity. A total of 64 patients suffering with benign and malignant affections of the stomach and of the colon that had underwent resections under general anesthesia of the hypnoanalgesia type were followed at three stages of their evolution--before surgery, at 24 hours after surgery, and 7 days after surgery. Blood samples were obtained for performing the following tests: count of lymphocytes, blastic transformations test, stimulated control (with PHA and PWM), rosetting test, total number of eosinophils, high affinity eosinophils, and other tests. Electrophoretic fractions, total serum proteins, and dosage of IgG, IgM, and IgA immunoglobulins were also measured. A total of 24 tests have been performed. The patients were investigated both globally and according to sex, type of affection (malignant, or other), and by age. The results indicated a depression of the majority of the results of tests excepting those which detect precursor B, and T-helper cells, which showed a stimulation. Differentiated behaviours were also noted in the various groups with regard to the intensity of the reaction, although not with its direction.