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In this article, we elaborate methodologies to study the argumentation speech of a teacher involved in argumentative activities. The standard tool of analysis of teachers' argumentation concerning pedagogical matters is Toulmin's model. The theory of argumentation schemes offers an alternative perspective on the analysis of arguments. We propose an integrated way of analysis employing Toulmin's model and argumentation scheme, based on Walton's taxonomy. We examine the change of pedagogical argumentation of a teacher that participated in a graduate course that was based on the analysis of hypothetical classroom scenarios on the teaching of calculus in high school. By exhibiting our methodological analysis in a particular case, we show that by adopting two different analytical perspectives, we gain a deeper understanding of the structure and quality of teachers' argumentation on pedagogical matters. The integration of the two qualitative methodologies could help identify several aspects of possible construction of knowledge in argumentative activities.

The records of 68 patients (42 men and 26 women) who underwent spine stabilization with a dynamic neutralization system were reviewed. Mean patient age at operation was 42.8 years. The primary indication for surgery was degenerative spine disease and instability with neurogenic or radicular pain and/or chronic back pain. Forty-one (60.2%) patients had degenerative diskopathy or disk herniation, and 27 (39.8%) patients had lumbar spine stenosis. One-motion segment spine stabilization was performed in 30 patients, 2-motion segment spine stabilization in 32 patients, and 3-motion segment spine stabilization in 6 patients. Within a mean follow-up of 36.2 months (range, 12.9-75.3 months), there were 2 re-operations, and 3 patients with screw loosening. Re-operations were for a deep infection in 1 patient and left leg pain in another patient. Both patients were managed with early implant removal and spinal arthrodesis. Self-assessment questionnaires showed improvement of patients' clinical and functional status. The Oswestry Disability Index and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire score improved from a mean preoperative score of 55.4% (severe disability) and 52% respectively to a mean postoperative score of 22.9% (moderate disability) and 35% respectively. The overall results of this study are highly comparable to fusion procedures. The dynamic neutralization system can be a safe and effective alternative technique to spine arthrodesis in selected cases of degenerative lumbar spine instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A retrospective analysis was carried out on a consecutive series of 181 percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsies of discrete pulmonary lesions, in which the outcome was established in 95%. In primary bronchial carcinoma the technique had a sensitivity of 86%. There was no relationship between the size, location, or radiological appearance of the lesion and the incidence of false negative results. The principal reason for failure to diagnose malignancy was inadequacy of the material provided for cytological examination. For metastatic neoplasms of non-bronchial origin the procedure had a sensitivity of 42% and a significantly greater false negative rate than for primary bronchial malignancy. For the entire series 72 (40%) of the procedures failed to produce a definite diagnosis, 29 (40%) of these cases subsequently proving to be malignant. A positive diagnosis was established in only 16% of patients with benign conditions. Review of published reports and consideration of the role of this and other biopsy techniques in the investigation of discrete pulmonary lesions lead to the conclusion that needle aspiration biopsy seems particularly appropriate in the investigation of inoperable patients with probable bronchial carcinoma in whom sputum cytology and bronchoscopy do not yield a diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of migraine and its association with age, gender, and social class and to find out whether or not the headache and nonheadache characteristics differ between children with migraine, with and without aura, using the diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society for childhood migraine., Design: Population-based study in two stages comprising an initial screening questionnaire followed by telephone interviews of children with symptoms., Setting: Eighteen kindergarten and 39 primary and secondary schools in Thessaloniki and its semiurban areas., Subjects: Four thousand children, aged 4 to 15 years, representing a random sample of 5% of schoolchildren in Thessaloniki and its semiurban areas., Main Outcome Measures: (1) The prevalence of migraine, (2) the connection of migraine with social class, (3) differences in the occurrence of individual symptoms between migraine with and without aura., Results: The results of the present study show that migraine prevalence was 6.2% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.4 to 7.0). The estimated prevalences of migraine with and without aura were 2.8% (95% CI, 2.3 to 3.4) and 3.4% (CI, 2.8 to 4.0), respectively. The prevalence of migraine increased with age and it was found to be almost equal in boys and girls aged 7 to 9 years or younger, but in older age groups the prevalence was higher in girls than in boys. The data showed no evidence that connected migraine with social class. It also showed that except for the aura, the headache (e.g., frequency, duration, location, quality, and severity) and nonheadache (e.g., nausea, vomiting, phonophobia, and photophobia) characteristics were no different between children with migraine, with and without aura. In conclusion, our findings indicate that migraine is a common underdiagnosed cause of severe recurrent headache in children. The findings show that childhood migraine is not connected with social class and varies with age and gender, and that except for the aura, both migraine with and without aura are so similar in their headache and nonheadache clinical characteristics that a common pathogenesis is plausible.

The Ayre and the Armovical cervical spatulae were compared in a randomized trial involving 982 women of childbearing age. It was found that the Armovical spatula was slightly less effective than the Ayre spatula in obtaining adequate numbers of squamous cells. The Armovical spatula was, however, far better at providing a sample of endocervical or metaplastic cells and, as a result, yielded a substantially higher proportion of 'satisfactory' smears (54 per cent as against 39 per cent). Red blood cells were more often present in smears taken with the Armovical spatula than with the Ayre spatula. Although the data in the present study were too few to prove that the Armovical spatula is better than the Ayre spatula at detecting cellular abnormalities, it seems likely that this is so.