Reisberg, McLean, and Goldfield (1987) have shown that vision plays a part in the perception of speech even when the auditory signal is clearly audible and intact. Using an alternative method the present study replicated their finding. Clearly audible spoken messages were presented in audio-only and audio-visual conditions, and the adult participants' resulting comprehension was measured. Stories were presented in French (Expt 1), in a Glaswegian accent (Expt 2), and by presenting spoken information that was semantically and syntactically complex (Experiment 3). Three separate groups of 16 adult female participants aged 19-21 participated in the three experiments. In all three experiments, comprehension improved significantly when the speaker's face was visible.

Objectives: The purpose of this pilot study was to obtain an Australian perspective on evaluating the utility of plain film radiography and computed tomography (CT) to rule out fish bone impaction in the upper aerodigestive tract in the emergency department (ED) setting. Methods: A retrospective multicentre cohort study was conducted. A total of 73 patients met the inclusion criteria. A subgroup of patients underwent CT. We studied the sensitivity and specificity of x-ray and CT along with other demographic variables to determine the likelihood of true fish bone impaction. Results: Out of the 73 patients, 28 patients had true bone impaction. The sensitivity for x-ray was 42.9% and specificity was 73.3%. The sensitivity of CT was 87.5% and specificity was 71.4%. We found a significant difference in the mean age of presentation for true bone and false bone impaction, P = 0.02. Conclusion: Due to the low sensitivity of x-ray we do not recommend the utilisation of plain film radiography to rule out bone impaction Advances in low dose radiation multidetector CT scanners may replace plain film radiography as a screening tool.

Stereotypes of male and female target figures who had experience of either computer programming, word processing or computer games were investigated. Male and female undergraduate respondents were asked to rate them as portrayed in brief descriptions, on the sixteen personality attributes previously used by Siann, Durndell, Macleod, and Glissov in an investigation of stereotypes of male and female computer science students [1]. As found previously, there was no evidence of negative stereotyping: few differences were found between the male and female target figures, and the pattern of ratings was similar for the three computer uses. The results indicated however, that irrespective of the sex of the target figure, stereotyping of the three uses differed according to the sex of the respondent. Females gave higher ratings on attributes reflecting autonomy and congeniality to the figures with programming experience, while males gave these the lowest ratings on the same attributes. The relationship between this finding, the previous computing experience of the males and possible future implications is discussed.

Cochlear signal changes suggestive of fibrosis occurred in most patients following translabyrinthine removal of vestibular schwannoma. Given the early onset of cochlear fluid signal changes on T2MRI, and the progression of these changes on subsequence imaging, cochlear implantation would ideally need to be performed either simultaneous to translabyrinthine surgery or as an early second-stage procedure to maximize the chance of a successful electrode insertion, or one can consider a placeholder as well.

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