Social interaction patterns of children and adolescents with and without oral clefts during a videotaped analogue social encounter.

Objectives: To examine the social interaction patterns of children with and without oral clefts.

Design: Participants were videotaped while interacting with a peer confederate. Oral cleft and control groups were compared on social behavior and several self- and parent-report measures.

The importance of using scientific principles in the development of medicinal agents from plants.

The authors review the major scientific milestones and the legislative framework that have made possible the spectacular successes of many modern therapies that trace their origins to plants. They emphasize that drugs used in mainstream medicine, in contrast to most of those used in alternative medicine, are required to meet stringent federal requirements for purity, safety, and efficacy before they can be distributed to the public, and that the necessary testing requires much time and effort. Yet alternative medicines based on plant substances are extremely popular, even though their safety and efficacy have not been scientifically proven.