Experiences of parents of children with cochlear implants in South Africa: an exploratory study.

Purpose: Cochlear implantation is a well-established option for early intervention. Children with hearing impairment and their parents are users of intervention services, with parents being more suited to provide insight into their experiences. The purpose of the current study was to describe the experiences of parents of children with cochlear implants (CIs) in the South African context.

Classical metaphyseal lesions thought to be pathognomonic of child abuse are often artifacts or indicative of metabolic bone disease.

Objective: The objective of the present study was to review the histopathology in the original articles by authors Kleinman and Marks that described the specificity of the classical metaphyseal lesion for child abuse and to determine if there were any oversights in the authors' analysis.

Methods: We reviewed the histopathology of the original studies that equated the classical metaphyseal lesion with child abuse. We compared this with the histopathology of metaphyseal fractures caused by known accidental, severe trauma in children and reviewed the histopathology of artifacts that can sometimes be produced in bone histology preparations.

Fulminant pertussis: a multi-center study with new insights into the clinico-pathological mechanisms.

Pertussis carries a high risk of mortality in very young infants. The mechanism of refractory cardio-respiratory failure is complex and not clearly delineated. We aimed to examine the clinico-pathological features and suggest how they may be related to outcome, by multi-center review of clinical records and post-mortem findings of 10 patients with fulminant pertussis (FP).

Intradural capillary hemangioma of the cauda equina.

Hemangiomas, which are usually found in the skin, are extremely rare in an intradural location. An unusual case of capillary hemangioma intimate to the cauda equina is discussed. This entity has not previously been reported in the pediatric or adolescent population to the best of our knowledge, although it has been reported in adults.

Broadband all-order polarization mode dispersion compensation via wavelength-by-wavelength Jones matrix correction.

We demonstrate wideband all-order polarization mode dispersion (PMD) compensation by applying high-speed spectral polarization sensing and ultrafast pulse shaping techniques to characterize and correct the frequency-dependent Jones matrix associated with PMD of optical fibers on a wavelength-by-wavelength basis. We report full compensation of approximately 800 fs pulses distorted to more than 10 ps by a PMD module with approximately 5.5 ps mean differential group delay.