I was born in 1927. That was the year Charles Lindbergh flew to Paris and Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs. These high points remain vivid in my memory. Later, however, I became aware of two other happenings that plunged hundreds of my human brothers and sisters into a terrible dark and dismal slough of despondance. In 1927, Hitler wrote Mein Kampf (My Struggle). In it he called for the cleansing of ...

The effects of depressed mothers' touching on their infants' behavior were investigated during the still-face situation. 48 depressed and nondepressed mothers and their 3-month-old infants were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. 4 successive 90-sec periods were implemented: (A) normal play, (B) still-face-no-touch, (C) still-face-with-touch, and (A) normal play. Depressed...

The classic moral stories have been used extensively to teach children about the consequences of lying and the virtue of honesty. Despite their widespread use, there is no evidence whether these stories actually promote honesty in children. This study compared the effectiveness of four classic moral stories in promoting honesty in 3- to 7-year-olds. Surprisingly, the stories of "Pinocchio" and ...

Breath-holding spells are a common childhood disorder that typically present before 12 months of age. Whereas most cases are benign, some patients have very severe cases associated with bradycardia that can progress from asystole to syncope and seizures. Treatment studies have implicated the use of several therapies, such as oral iron, fluoxetine, and pacemaker implantation. This is a retrospec...

May 22, 2006 issue Imagine tears, lots of tears. Imagine a trail of tears trickling across upstate New York. Judie Comerford and her husband, Michael, are in their minivan on a highway somewhere between Potsdam and their home in Buffalo. They've just bid farewell to their oldest child, Meghan, who's starting college. "I cried, and then I cried some more, and then I cried again," Judie recalls. ...

PURPOSE To investigate the association between genotype (methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MECP2 gene mutation)) and epileptic seizure phenotype in Rett syndrome. METHODS We used the British Isles Rett syndrome survey to identify 137 subjects with one of the nine most frequent MECP2 gene mutations and invited their parents or carers to participate in a postal questionnaire and telephone interview...

BACKGROUND Asthma is a serious global health problem. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between cold spells and pediatric outpatient visits for asthma. OBJECTIVE To examine the association between cold spells and pediatric outpatient visits for asthma in Shanghai, China. METHODS We collected daily data on pediatric outpatient visits for asthma, mean temperature, relati...