Communicative and linguistic development in preterm children: a longitudinal study from 12 to 24 months.

Background: Research conducted on preterm children's linguistic skills has provided varying pictures, and the question of whether and to what extent preterm children are delayed in early language acquisition remains largely unresolved.

Aims: To examine communicative and linguistic development during the second year in a group of Italian children born prematurely using the 'Primo Vocabolario del Bambino' (PVB), the Italian version of the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory. The primary goal was to compare action/gesture production, word comprehension, and word production, and the relationship between these three domains in preterm children and to normative data obtained from a large sample of Italian children born at term.

HHV-6 infection of tonsils and adenoids in children with hypertrophy and upper airway recurrent infections.

Objective: Human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6), the agent of a self-limiting exanthematic disease in childhood, persists in a silent state in the secondary lymphoid organs and the reactivation is characterized by HHV-6-induced inflammatory cytokines. This study investigates the possible etiological role of HHV-6 in children affected by tonsil and adenoid hypertrophy.

Methods: 55 tonsils, 80 adenoids fresh tissues and 74 blood samples were collected from 80 children (mean age 4.

MBL expression in patients with recurrent tonsillitis.

Objective: We evaluated mannose binding lectin (MBL) protein production and histological localization, MBL2 gene expression and genotypes distribution in patients characterized by recurrent tonsillitis, with the aim of verifying the innate immune response to the infection and inflammation occurring in the tonsils.

Methods: MBL2 exon 1 and promoter polymorphims were detected by PCR amplification and subsequent direct sequencing of the amplicons. Monoclonal antibodies to MBL were used on frozen sections of tonsils for the immunohistochemical localization of MBL protein.

Detection of epidermal thickening in GJB2 carriers with epidermal US.

Purpose: To measure epidermal thickness by using skin ultrasonography (US) in a series of healthy control subjects and obligate carriers for the worldwide most frequent form of congenital hearing loss owing to the mutated alleles of the connexin 26 gene (GJB2).

Materials And Methods: The patent for the protocol, coupled with a new sonographic probe specifically designed to analyze epidermal thickness and a dedicated algorithm to classify individuals in groups, is pending. Institutional ethics committee approval and patient consent were obtained.

Assertive and responsive conversational skills of Italian-speaking late talkers.

Background: Previous research on the pragmatic abilities of late talkers at 24 months of age indicates that they have difficulties initiating conversational interactions, but possess intact responsiveness skills. This study uses a parent-administered questionnaire for evaluating the conversational skills of late talkers and suggesting pragmatic intervention goals.

Aim: To examine the conversational assertiveness and responsiveness of late talkers at 2 years of age.

MBL2 genetic polymorphisms in Italian children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy.

We investigated the role of the polymorphisms in the first exon of MBL2 gene in the susceptibility to recurrent tonsillitis in a selected group of Italian children and healthy controls. Significant difference has been observed in MBL2 genotype and allelic frequencies between children with recurrent tonsillitis and healthy controls matched for sex and age. Children characterized by a "low MBL" producer genotype, namely 00, are more prone to recurrent tonsillitis when compared to the healthy controls.

[INTERACT: a model of evaluation and intervention for children who are "late talkers"].

According to criteria applied in literature toddlers were identified as late talkers if they had less than 50-word expressive vocabulary and no word combinations at 24 months of age. The intervention programmes that use the parents as the primary agents of intervention and use child-centred techniques maximise the quality of parental communication during the emerging language period of the child. INTERACT is an early highly individualised parent and child-centered clinical intervention based on the social-pragmatic theorical approach.

Mother-child interactions in Canada and Italy: linguistic responsiveness to late-talking toddlers.

The aim was to examine cross-cultural variation in linguistic responsiveness to young children in 10 English-speaking mother-child dyads and 10 Italian-speaking mother-child dyads. All 20 children were late talkers who possessed delays in expressive vocabulary development but age-appropriate cognitive and receptive language skills. Dyads were filmed in 15-minute free play contexts, which were transcribed and coded for measures of maternal linguistic input (e.