An unusual pharyngeal mass.

A 37-year-old man presented with an abnormal pharyngeal sensation. Nasendoscopy demonstrated a mass projecting from the left pharyngeal wall, which could be pushed medially with external pressure. A CT scan demonstrated a fracture of the hyoid.

Lessons from nature for preservation of mammalian cells, tissues, and organs.

The study of mechanisms by which animals tolerate environmental extremes may provide strategies for preservation of living mammalian materials. Animals employ a variety of compounds to enhance their survival, including production of disaccharides, glycerol, and antifreeze compounds. The cryoprotectant glycerol was discovered before its role in amphibian survival.

Investigation of aspiration: milk nasendoscopy versus videofluoroscopy.

Videofluoroscopy has become the gold standard investigation for assessment of aspiration in patients with clinically diagnosed dysphagia due to neurological causes. Modified nasendoscopy has been described for detection of aspiration with varying findings. Milk nasendoscopy is a simple clinic-based technique to evaluate swallow dysfunction, requiring no radiological input.

Goal attribution without agency cues: the perception of 'pure reason' in infancy.

The proper domain of naive psychological reasoning is human action and human mental states but such reasoning is frequently applied to non-human phenomena as well. The studies reported in this paper test the validity of the currently widespread belief that this tendency is rooted in the fact that naive psychological reasoning is initially restricted to, and triggered by, the perception of self-initiated movement of agents. We report three habituation experiments which examine the necessary conditions under which infants invoke a psychological principle, namely the principle of rational action, to interpret behaviour as goal directed action.

Treatment of hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia by the pulsed dye laser.

Hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (Osler-Weber-Rendu syndrome, Osler's disease) is an inherited abnormality of the vasculature characterized by abnormal subepithelial vessels. Treatment has included repeated intranasal cautery, intra-arterial embolization and arterial ligation. Historically, the operation of septodermoplasty and the use of systemic/topical oestrogens have been the most effective and lasting treatments, but over time the telangiectasias recur.