Measuring speech sound development: an item response model approach.

Research Aim: The primary aim of our study is to investigate if there is an ordering in the speech sound development of children aged 3-6, similar to the ordering in general language development.

Method: The speech sound development of 1035 children was tested with a revised version of Logo-Articulation Assessment. The data were analyzed with the Mokken Scale Program (MSP) in order to construct scales with satisfactory scalability (H-coefficient) and sufficient reliability (rho).

Phonetic and phonemic acquisition: normative data in English and Dutch speech sound development.

Objective: Comparison of normative data in English and Dutch speech sound development in young children. Research questions were: Which normative data are present concerning speech sound development in children between two and six years of age? In which way are the speech sounds examined? What are the differences and similarities between the development of speech sounds in different languages?

Methods: A literature study on the subject was performed to be able to answer the research questions.

Results: The presented normative English data showed that all vowels are present at three years of age, and most consonants (singletons) already at four years of age, except for/ʃ, ɹ, θ, ð/.

Problems in speech sound production in young children. An inventory study of the opinions of speech therapists.

Objective: Analysis of examination procedure and diagnosis of articulation problems by speech therapists.

Study Design: Survey study.

Materials And Methods: Eighty-five Dutch speech therapists (23% response), working in private practises or involved in language screening procedures in Youth Health Care, were questioned regarding the incidence of articulation problems in their practices, the manner of examination, the normative data used, and the importance attached to identifying articulation problems.

Speech and language development in toddlers with and without cleft palate.

Objective: The effect of early palate closure on speech and language development in children with cleft palate.

Design: Comparative study.

Setting: University Medical Center Groningen, Cleft Palate Team (The Netherlands).

Age effects and normative data on a Dutch test battery for auditory processing disorders.

A test battery compiled to diagnose auditory processing disorders (APDs) in an adult population was used on a population of 9-16-year-old children. The battery consisted of eight tests (words -in noise, filtered speech, binaural fusion, dichotic digits, frequency and duration patterns, backward masking, categorical perception, digit span) and a questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were computed on data obtained from 75 children from primary school (age 9-12 years) and 30 adolescents from secondary school (age 14-16 years) with normal hearing and normal intelligence.

[Isosorbide dinitrate in coronary heart disease. Effects of a delayed-action preparation during acute load and in chronic use].

The antianginal effectivity of a sustained release isosorbiddinitrate Sorbidilat Retard drug was examined by the number of spontaneous attacks and by ergometry with a constant work load in a double blind trial with cross over technique. An effect on the stress duration, on the ST segment depression, on the "double product", on heart rate, and blood pressure could be proved, which is interpreted as an therapeutic advantage of serum against placebo. The number of spontaneous attacks could be reduced in the verum period significantly.

[The effect of oxyfedrine on cardiac performance in coronary patients. Tests using electrocardiographic and metabolic parameters in atrial stimulation].

In 17 patients with coronary heart disease the effects of the beta-active agent L-3-(beta-hydroxy-alpha-methyl-phenethyl-amino)-3'-methoxy-propiophenone (oxyfedrine, Ildamen) were proved at rest and during atrial pacing by measurements of coronary venous O2-saturation, myocardial lactate extraction, angina threshold and ST-segment depression. In 88% oxyfedrine had antianginal effectivity with rise in angina threshold (+11%), reduction of ST-segment depression (--48%) and reduction of lactate production(--63%). The rise in coronary venous O2-saturation ("35%) and the electrocardiographic and metabolic reduction of hypoxic reaction indicate the improvement of nutritional coronary flow.

[Electrode problems in pacemaker wearers (experiences with three electrode types) (author's transl)].

3 types of electrodes (Medtronic 6903, EMT 588, MIP 2000) of 123 patients are examined by following criterial 1. rate of dislocation, 2. development of threshold, 3.