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Dynamic Assessment (dynamic + assessment)
Selected AbstractsDynamic Assessment of Abnormalities in Central Pain Transmission and Modulation in Tension-type Headache SufferersHEADACHE, Issue 2 2000Jonathan D. Neufeld PhD Objective.,To examine and compare central pain processing and modulation in young tension-type headache sufferers with that of matched healthy controls using an induced headache "challenge" paradigm. Background.,Recent research has suggested that abnormalities in central pain processing and descending pain modulation may contribute to chronic tension-type headache. These abnormalities, if they contribute to headache pathogenesis, should be present in young adult tension-type headache sufferers. Recent research using static measures of physiological variables, such as muscle tenderness and exteroceptive suppression, has identified chronic muscle tenderness as a characteristic of young tension-type headache sufferers, but other central nervous system functional abnormalities may require a dynamic "challenge" to be observed. Methods.,Twenty-four young women meeting the International Headache Society diagnostic criteria for tension-type headache (headache-prone) and a matched group of 24 healthy women who reported fewer than 10 problem headaches per year (control) participated in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. Subjects completed jaw clenching and a placebo condition on different days in counterbalanced order. Pericranial muscle tenderness, pressure-pain thresholds on the temporalis, and exteroceptive suppression periods were assessed before and after each procedure. Head pain was recorded for 12 to16 hours following each condition. Results.,Headache-prone subjects were more likely than controls to experience headaches after both the jaw clenching and placebo procedures, but neither group was significantly more likely to experience headaches following jaw clenching than placebo. In pretreatment measurements, headache-prone subjects exhibited greater muscle tenderness than controls, but pressure-pain detection thresholds and exteroceptive suppression periods did not differ in the two groups. Control subjects showed increases in muscle tenderness and exteroceptive suppression periods following both the clenching and placebo procedures, whereas headache-prone subjects exhibited no significant changes in any of the physiological measures following either experimental manipulation. Conclusions.,These results confirm previous findings indicating abnormally high pericranial muscle tenderness in young tension headache sufferers even in the headache-free state. In addition, the results suggest that the development of headaches following noxious stimulation is more strongly related to headache proneness and associated abnormalities in central pain transmission or modulation (indexed by pericranial muscle tenderness and exteroceptive suppression responses) than muscle strain induced by jaw clenching. [source] Beyond the Test: L2 Dynamic Assessment and the Transcendence of Mediated LearningMODERN LANGUAGE JOURNAL, Issue 3 2007MATTHEW E. POEHNER A major preoccupation in assessment is connecting examinees' performance in assessment and nonassessment contexts. This preoccupation has traditionally been framed in terms of generalizability. This article reconceptualizes this problem from a qualitatively different perspective on human abilities and their development, namely, the Sociocultural Theory of Mind outlined in the work of Vygotsky (1986, 1998). From this perspective, assessment occurs not in isolation from instruction but as an inseparable feature of it. Assessment and instruction are dialectically integrated as a single activity that seeks to understand development by actively promoting it. This pedagogical approach, known as Dynamic Assessment (DA), challenges the widespread acceptance of independent performance as the privileged indicator of individuals' abilities and calls for assessors to abandon their role as observers of learner behavior in favor of a commitment to joint problem solving aimed at supporting learner development. In DA, the traditional goal of producing generalizations from a snapshot of performance is replaced by ongoing intervention in development. Following Vygtosky's argument that true development goes beyond improvement on a given assessment task, DA practitioners have devised a method known as transcendence (TR), in which they collaborate with learners on increasingly complex tasks. In this article, transcendence in the second language (L2) domain is illustrated with examples of advanced learners of French composing oral narratives with support from a mediator. The article concludes with recommendations for future research on TR in L2 development. [source] New method of dynamic color doppler signal quantification in metastatic lymph nodes compared to direct polarographic measurements of tissue oxygenationINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER, Issue 6 2005Thomas Scholbach Abstract Tumor growth depends on sufficient blood and oxygen supply. Hypoxia stimulates neovascularization and is a known cause for radio- and chemoresistance. The objective of this study was to investigate the use of a novel ultrasound technique for the dynamic assessment of vascularization and oxygenation in metastatic lymph nodes. Twenty-four patients (age 44,78 years) with cervical lymph node metastases of squamous cell head and neck cancer were investigated by color duplex sonography and 17 (age 46,78 years) were investigated additionally with polarography. Sonography was performed after contrast enhancer infusion under defined conditions. Intranodal perfusion data (color hue, colored area) were measured automatically by a novel software technique. This allows an evaluation of blood flow dynamics by calculating perfusion intensity,velocity, perfused area, as well as the novel parameters tissue resistance index (TRI) and tissue pulsatility index (TPI),for each point of a complete heart cycle. Tumor tissue pO2 was measured by means of polarographic needle electrodes placed intranodally. The sonographic and polarographic data were correlated using Pearson's test. Sonography demonstrated a statistically significant inverse correlation between hypoxia and perfusion and significant TPI and TRI changes with different N-stages. The percentage of nodal fraction with less than 10 mmHg oxygen saturation was significantly inversely correlated with lymph node perfusion (r = ,0.551; p = 0.021). Nodes with a perfusion of less than 0.05 cm/sec flow velocity showed significantly larger hypoxic areas (p = 0.006). Significant differences of TPI and TRI existed between nodes in stage N1 and N2/N3 (p = 0.028 and 0.048, respectively). This new method of dynamic signal quantification allows a noninvasive and quantitative assessment of tumor and metastatic lymph node perfusion by means of commonly available ultrasound equipment. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source] Tracheobronchography and angiocardiography of paediatric cardiac patients with airway disordersJOURNAL OF PAEDIATRICS AND CHILD HEALTH, Issue 3 2002YF Cheung Objective: We report our experience in combining tracheobronchography and angiocardiography in the assessment of a selected cohort of paediatric cardiac patients with problematic airway disorders. Methodology: The clinical records of 11 patients who underwent 17 studies at a median age of 5.5 months (range 3 months to 10.8 years) were reviewed. Tracheobronchography and angiocardiography were performed under general anaesthesia using a non-ionic contrast agent. The findings were compared with those of flexible bronchoscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Results: Seven patients had cardiac lesions associated with vascular anomalies potentially compressing the airway, while four had no identifiable aberrant or enlarged vessels. All examinations but one were performed without complications. Tracheobronchography demonstrated extrinsic vascular compression with secondary airway malacia in three (27%), intrinsic tracheobronchial stenosis in five (45%), and airway malacia in three patients (27%). Precise measurement of the airway calibre and real-time fluoroscopic monitoring facilitated transcatheter tracheobronchial interventions (six balloon dilations, three stent implantations) in four patients. In conjunction with angiocardiography, cine-tracheobronchography provided detailed information on the spatial relationship between vascular and airway structures in all patients; allowed dynamic assessment of airway malacia; and facilitated preoperative planning in six patients. In contrast, bronchoscopy failed to differentiate malacia from extrinsic compression in four patients (36%), while MRI, performed in six patients, was unsatisfactory in one due to a motion artefact and failed to diagnose airway malacia and extrinsic compression in three patients. Conclusions: Tracheobronchography is relatively safe in paediatric cardiac patients. Combined tracheobronchography and angiocardiography, a less operator-dependent imaging modality compared to bronchoscopy and MRI, delineated the airway and vascular anatomy in detail; facilitated preoperative planning; and permitted transcatheter tracheo-bronchial interventions. The dynamic capability of tracheobronchography supplements that of flexible bronchoscopy and MRI in the diagnosis of airway malacia. [source] Toward dynamic assessment of reading: applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading assessment tasksJOURNAL OF RESEARCH IN READING, Issue 3 2002Eva Guterman This paper focuses on research that aimed to provide a theoretical,practical framework to link literacy assessment practice with learning theory. An experimental study was designed with reference to three theoretical axes: ,metacognitive awareness' theory, ,schema' theory and the Vygotskian ,zone of proximal fevelopment'. The study tested the effect of using written metacognitive awareness guidance (MCAG) as a tool for activating and engaging learners'Habits of Mind while processing authentic reading assessment tasks taken from Israeli kits of assessment tasks (Guterman, 2000). The study on 300 Grade,4 pupils used three modalities: a control group, which received no treatment; a placebo group, which received content instructions (CI); and a treatment group, which was given written MCAG. The findings confirmed that applying metacognitive awareness guidance to reading assessment tasks makes a difference in the learners' level of performance and achievement on those tasks, and also increases learners' chances of internalising the guidance components. [source] Spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity as a dynamic measure of cardiac anticholinergic drug effectAUTONOMIC & AUTACOID PHARMACOLOGY, Issue 2 2001J. Penttilä 1,In this study, the analysis of spontaneous baroreflex sensitivity (BRS) was applied to the dynamic assessment of cardiac anticholinergic drug effect in healthy male volunteers. 2,The anticholinergic effects of single intravenous (i.v.) injections of atropine (10 ,g kg,1), glycopyrrolate (5 ,g kg,1) and scopolamine (5 ,g kg,1), as well as a 2-h infusion of glycopyrrolate (5 ,g kg,1 h,1) were investigated. Baroreflex sensitivity, a validated measure of cardiac parasympathetic reflex regulation, was repeatedly measured from 5-min recordings of electrocardiogram (ECG) and continuous blood pressure by using the sequence technique, a method based on detection of spontaneous fluctuations in blood pressure and heart rate. 3,Single injections of atropine, glycopyrrolate and scopolamine decreased the mean BRS by 71 ± 32, 68 ± 23 and 27 ± 45%, respectively, whereas the slow glycopyrrolate infusion gradually decreased BRS (up to 83 ± 11% reduction) and increased both systolic (SAP) and diastolic arterial pressures (DAP) (on an average, by 9 mmHg). 4,During the withdrawal of the parasympathetic blockade (indicated by increasing BRS), the proportion of baroreflex sequences in the recordings increased transiently from 10 up to 20,25%, probably reflecting the restoration of the baroreflex integrity and the baroreflex-induced attempt to counteract the blood pressure increase. 5,The sequence method to study BRS seems to be feasible in the assessment of cardiac anticholinergic drug effects, and it also provides good time resolution for the dynamic measurements. 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