Neural Basis of the Sound-Symbolic Crossmodal Correspondence Between Auditory Pseudowords and Visual Shapes.

Sound symbolism refers to the association between the sounds of words and their meanings, often studied using the crossmodal correspondence between auditory pseudowords, e.g., 'takete' or 'maluma', and pointed or rounded visual shapes, respectively.

Stimulus Parameters Underlying Sound-Symbolic Mapping of Auditory Pseudowords to Visual Shapes.

Sound symbolism refers to non-arbitrary mappings between the sounds of words and their meanings and is often studied by pairing auditory pseudowords such as "maluma" and "takete" with rounded and pointed visual shapes, respectively. However, it is unclear what auditory properties of pseudowords contribute to their perception as rounded or pointed. Here, we compared perceptual ratings of the roundedness/pointedness of large sets of pseudowords and shapes to their acoustic and visual properties using a novel application of representational similarity analysis (RSA).

Neural basis of the crossmodal correspondence between auditory pitch and visuospatial elevation.

Crossmodal correspondences refer to associations between otherwise unrelated stimulus features in different sensory modalities. For example, high and low auditory pitches are associated with high and low visuospatial elevation, respectively. The neural mechanisms underlying crossmodal correspondences are currently unknown.

Engagement of the left extrastriate body area during body-part metaphor comprehension.

Grounded cognition explanations of metaphor comprehension predict activation of sensorimotor cortices relevant to the metaphor's source domain. We tested this prediction for body-part metaphors using functional magnetic resonance imaging while participants heard sentences containing metaphorical or literal references to body parts, and comparable control sentences. Localizer scans identified body-part-specific motor, somatosensory and visual cortical regions.

Synesthesia strengthens sound-symbolic cross-modal correspondences.

Synesthesia is a phenomenon in which an experience in one domain is accompanied by an involuntary secondary experience in another, unrelated domain; in classical synesthesia, these associations are arbitrary and idiosyncratic. Cross-modal correspondences refer to universal associations between seemingly unrelated sensory features, e.g.

Preventability of Pediatric 30-Day Readmissions following Ventricular Shunt Surgery.

Objective: To compare the preventability of 30-day pediatric ventricular shunt readmissions using clinical and administrative data review.

Study Design: We performed a retrospective chart review of one hundred forty-seven 30-day ventricular shunt readmissions at a tertiary pediatric center from May 2009-April 2013 under 2 scenarios: scenario 1 considered all ventricular shunt failures preventable; and scenario 2 considered shunt failures with excellent/good catheter positioning and no contributing deficiencies in care not preventable. Three physician reviewers independently assessed readmissions to determine their preventability and whether deficiencies in care existed that contributed to the readmission.

Impact of Physician Scorecards on Emergency Department Resource Use, Quality, and Efficiency.

Background And Objectives: Variability in practice patterns and resource use in the emergency department (ED) can affect costs without affecting outcomes. ED quality measures have not included resource use in relation to ED outcomes and efficiency. Our objectives were to develop a tool for comprehensive physician feedback on practice patterns relative to peers and to study its impact on resource use, quality, and efficiency.

Cigarette smoking increases complication rate in forefoot surgery.

Background: Cigarette smoking is known to increase perioperative complication rates, but no study to date has examined its effect specifically in forefoot surgery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether cigarette smoking increased complications after forefoot surgery.

Methods: The records of 602 patients who had forefoot surgery between 2008 and 2010, and for whom smoking status was known, were reviewed.

Surveillance for respiratory health care-associated infections among inpatients in 3 Kenyan hospitals, 2010-2012.

Background: Although health care-associated infections are an important cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, the epidemiology and etiology of respiratory health care-associated infections (rHAIs) have not been documented in Kenya. In 2010, the Ministry of Health, Kenya Medical Research Institute, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention initiated surveillance for rHAIs at 3 hospitals.

Methods: At each hospital, we surveyed intensive care units (ICUs), pediatric wards, and medical wards to identify patients with rHAIs, defined as any hospital-onset (≥3 days after admission) fever (≥38°C) or hypothermia (<35°C) with concurrent signs or symptoms of acute respiratory infection.

Perspectives on Federal Funding for State Health Care-Associated Infection Programs: Achievements, Barriers, and Implications for Sustainability.

In September 2009, federal funding for health care-associated infection (HAI) program development was dispersed through a cooperative agreement to 51 state and territorial health departments. From July to September 2011, 69 stakeholders from six states-including state health department employees, representatives from partner organizations, and health care facility employees-were interviewed to assess state HAI program achievements, implementation barriers, and strategies for sustainability. Respondents most frequently cited enhanced HAI surveillance as a program achievement and resource constraints as an implementation barrier.

Enhancement of health department capacity for health care-associated infection prevention through Recovery Act-funded programs.

Objectives: We evaluated capacity built and outcomes achieved from September 1, 2009, to December 31, 2011, by 51 health departments (HDs) funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) for health care-associated infection (HAI) program development.

Methods: We defined capacity for HAI prevention at HDs by 25 indicators of activity in 6 categories: staffing, partnerships, training, technical assistance, surveillance, and prevention. We assessed state-level infection outcomes by modeling quarterly standardized infection ratios (SIRs) for device- and procedure-associated infections with longitudinal regression models.

The role of the public health analyst in the delivery of technical assistance to state health departments for healthcare-associated infection prevention.

Introduction: Aligned with the goals of the DHHS Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs), in 2009 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded cooperative agreements to 51 state and territorial health departments for purposes of developing and implementing strategies to reduce HAIs. These cooperative agreements through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases (ELC) were supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

Objectives: To systematically describe the perceptions of CDC public health analysts who delivered technical assistance (TA) to state health departments as part of the ELC cooperative agreement supported by ARRA to develop, implement, and/or expand HAI prevention programs.

Current trends in outpatient pharmacy services and billing.

Objectives: To provide a summary of community and ambulatory pharmacy practices and billing patterns for medication therapy management (MTM) services and to identify reasons pharmacists report not billing for direct patient care services.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: United States, February 2011.

How linguistic and cultural forces shape conceptions of time: English and Mandarin time in 3D.

In this paper we examine how English and Mandarin speakers think about time, and we test how the patterns of thinking in the two groups relate to patterns in linguistic and cultural experience. In Mandarin, vertical spatial metaphors are used more frequently to talk about time than they are in English; English relies primarily on horizontal terms. We present results from two tasks comparing English and Mandarin speakers' temporal reasoning.

Do English and Mandarin speakers think about time differently?

Time is a fundamental domain of experience. In this paper we ask whether aspects of language and culture affect how people think about this domain. Specifically, we consider whether English and Mandarin speakers think about time differently.

Nonoperative treatment of distal biceps tendon ruptures compared with a historical control group.

Background: Few data are available regarding the results of nonoperative treatment of distal biceps ruptures. The present study was designed to assess the outcomes associated with unrepaired distal biceps tendon ruptures.

Methods: Eighteen patients with twenty unrepaired distal biceps tendon ruptures were assessed retrospectively.

Meniscal repair of the knee.

Since King's research on knee degeneration, meniscal-sparing techniques and other significant advances have improved outcomes. The anatomy, classification, and biomechanics of menisci are reviewed. Although the majority of traumatic meniscal damage occurs to the medial meniscus during twisting-type injuries, modern surgeons should be prepared to deal with patients of all ages with varied symptoms and mechanisms of injury.