Hospitals, and surgical operating theatres (OTs) in particular, are environments in which inter-professional teamwork and learning are essential to secure patient safety and effective practice. However, it has been revealed in many studies that inter-professional collaborative work in hospital organisations faces many challenges and constraints.…

"Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution." This was the title of an essay by geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky writing in 1973. Many causes have been given for the increased Cesarean section rate in developed countries, but biologic evolution has not been one of them. The C-section rate will continue to rise, because the…

Children with severe to profound hearing loss in the United States are diverse in their racial-ethnic backgrounds, comorbid disabilities, socioeconomic levels, and communication modalities. The present article addresses demographic variables and communication outcomes of children with cochlear implants by means of a review of longitudinal studies…

Background: This study investigates the use of requests for clarification in conversations between teenagers with a cochlear implant (CI) and hearing peers. So far very few studies have focused on conversational abilities in children with CI. Aims: The aim was to explore co-construction of dialogue in a referential communication task and the…

In recent years increasing attention has been paid to issues of professionalism in surgery and the content and structure of continuing professional development for surgeons; however, little attention has been paid to interprofessional education (IPE) in surgical training. Imagining the form(s) of IPE and/or continuing interprofessional education…

This article provides information on providing early intervention services virtually using distance communication technologies. It describes "tele-intervention," a new method of providing services to children and their families, and how it is used in a family with a deaf child. Tele-intervention has proven to be a viable service delivery model for…

Specific types and subtypes of cardiac defects have been described in children with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome as well as in other genetic syndromes. The conotruncal heart defects occurring in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome include tetralogy of Fallot, pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect, truncus arteriosus, interrupted aortic…

Patterns of responses in the cerebral cortex can vary, and are influenced by pre-existing cortical function, but it is not known how rapidly these variations can occur in humans. We investigated how rapidly response patterns to electrical stimulation can vary in intact human brain. We also investigated whether the type of functional change…

Children with developmental disabilities are at increased risk for epilepsy with a prevalence rate higher than the general population. Some of the more common developmental disorders in childhood and the features of epilepsy in these conditions are discussed. Specifically, autism, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, and attention deficit and…

Background: Postpartum period is associated with higher rates for depression, blues and psychosis. Anxiety is also significant. These disorders may have serious implications in the cognitive development of the infant. There is relative lack of data in this area. So we tried to estimate postpartum anxiety and depression in a group of women and…

Purpose: To examine the relationships between depression, geographic status, and clinical outcomes following a coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery. Methods: Using the 2004 Nationwide Inpatient Sample database, we identified 63,061 discharge records of patients who underwent a primary CABG surgery (urban 57,247 and rural 5,814). We…

The paper examines the language used to describe pain and surgery in the trials and the media discussions of the killing of Tracy Latimer by her father. Descriptions of proposed surgical procedures, that were planned before Tracy was killed, exaggerate the intrusiveness of surgeries to be performed so as to suggest that surgery would be worse than…

"Low vision" describes any condition of diminished vision that is uncorrectable by standard eyeglasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery that disrupts a person's ability to perform common age-appropriate visual tasks. Examples of assistive technologies for vision rehabilitation include handheld magnifiers; electronic vision-enhancement…

We aimed to determine the characteristics of people with learning disability who cross-dress or who have gender dysphoria. Using a retrospective review of anonymised data from clinical records about people referred to a specialist service. All 13 participants cross-dressed and 12 were biological males. Only one person was in a core transsexual…

We reviewed studies involving the treatment of bruxism (i.e., teeth clenching or teeth grinding) in individuals with developmental disabilities. Systematic searches of electronic databases, journals, and reference lists identified 11 studies meeting the inclusion criteria. These studies were evaluated in terms of: (a) participants, (b) procedures…