Maintaining and reintroducing referents in French: cognitive constraints and development of narrative skills.

Seven- to eleven-year-old French-speaking children and adults told "silent" comic strip stories that differed by the frame display mode, by the explicitness of the links between depicted events, and whether the topic changed on the last frame. The results showed that (a) the character in the last frame was usually referred to as a given, with a definite pronoun when the topic was maintained and a definite noun phrase or a left dislocation when the topic changed; (b) joint display of frames triggered more pronouns and left dislocations, while single-frame display led to more definite noun phrases; and (c) explicit links gave rise to more pronouns. The production conditions manipulated turned out to be a good means of assessing speakers' acquisition of within-discourse referencing expressions and narrative skills: the children gradually refined and adjusted their use of definite expressions and pronouns, whereas the adults more readily used narration-specific devices.

[Functional rehabilitation and loco-regional anesthesia following surgical loosening of joint stiffness]. / Rééducation fonctionnelle et anesthésie loco-régionale après chirurgie de libération articulaire.

The nature and frequency of knee-joint lesions and stiffness is indicated followed by description of treatment varieties and of postoperative physiotherapy. General anaesthesia as well as local and regional anaesthesia can be satisfactory. Under the provision that the anaesthetist is proficient in both and that there are no counter-indications, the choice should be left to the patient. Full and honest preoperative information of patients is therefore mandatory.

[Monilial granuloma treated successfully with ketoconazole over a period of 30 months]. / Granulome moniliasique traité avec succès par kétoconazole depuis 30 mois.

A case of monilial granuloma of 12 years duration is being successfully treated with ketoconazole administered orally in doses of 200 mg per day. Trush, onyxis and keratotic granulomatous lesions of the face and hands have dramatically regressed. In view of persistent anomalies of cellular immunity and complete deficiency in serum and salivary IgA, treatment with ketoconazole at the same dosage level has now been continuously pursued for 30 months without any evidence of toxicity.