Neuromuscular electrical stimulation improves feeding and aspiration status in medically complex children undergoing feeding therapy.

Objectives: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) therapy in the head and neck has been effectively used to rehabilitate swallowing in adult patients with acquired dysphagia. Limited data is available for the effectiveness of NMES in medically complex children with dysphagia and aspiration. This study intends to determine the efficacy of NMES as a therapeutic adjunct to improve aspiration and feeding status in medically complex children with severe dysphagia undergoing comprehensive speech and swallow therapy.

Endoscopic cricopharyngeal myotomy in infants.

Cricopharyngeal achalasia is a rare cause of dysphagia in young children. Conservative treatments involve medical therapy and serial dilations or injections. Definitive cure can be achieved with cricopharyngeal myotomy.

Evolution of linear absorption and nonlinear optical properties in V-shaped ruthenium(II)-based chromophores.

In this article, we describe a series of complexes with electron-rich cis-{Ru(II)(NH(3))(4)}(2+) centers coordinated to two pyridyl ligands bearing N-methyl/arylpyridinium electron-acceptor groups. These V-shaped dipolar species are new, extended members of a class of chromophores first reported by us (Coe, B. J.

Nonlinear optical and related properties of iron(II) pentacyanide complexes with quaternary nitrogen electron acceptor units.

Three new complex salts Na(2)[Fe(II)(CN)(5)(L)] [L = N-methyl-4-{E,E-4-(4-pyridyl)buta-1,3-dienyl}pyridinium, N-methyl-4-{E,E,E-6-(4-pyridyl)hexa-1,3,5-trienyl}pyridinium, or N-methyl-1,4-bis-{E-2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl}] benzene have been prepared. These compounds have been characterized by using various techniques including electronic absorption spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry, allowing their properties to be compared with those of the known complexes where L = N-methylpyrazinium (Mepyz(+)), N-methyl-4,4'-bipyridinium, or N-methyl-4-[E-2-(4-pyridyl)ethenyl]pyridinium. Molecular quadratic nonlinear optical (NLO) responses have been determined by using hyper-Rayleigh scattering (HRS) at 1064 nm, and also via Stark (electroabsorption) spectroscopic studies on the intense, visible d --> pi* metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) bands.

The roles of marriage and anger dysregulation in biobehavioral stress responses.

Physiological and behavioral correlates of anger dysregulation in adults were evaluated in the context of marital stress. Fifty-four married couples participated in a series of laboratory procedures that included electrocardiogram measures during a 15-min marital conflict interaction and an interview assessing their inability to regulate anger (anger dysregulation). Results from the multivariate regression analyses indicated that the nature of the couple's relationship, rather than individual levels of anger dysregulation, predicted lower parasympathetic cardiac activity (indexed by high-frequency heart period variability) and shorter cardiac interbeat intervals.

Observing gay, lesbian and heterosexual couples' relationships: mathematical modeling of conflict interaction.

Two samples of committed gay and lesbian cohabiting couples and two samples of married couples (couples in which the woman presented the conflict issue to the man, and couples in which the man presented the conflict issue to the woman) engaged in three conversations: (1) an events of the day conversation (after being apart for at least 8 hours), (2) a conflict resolution conversation, and (3) a pleasant topic conversation. The observational data were coded with a system that categorized specific affects displayed. Data were weighted and two time-series created, one for the husband and one of the wife.