bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
msCentipede: Modeling heterogeneity across genomic sites improves accuracy in the inference of transcription factor binding
Authors: Raj Anil , Shim Heejung , Gilad Yoav , Pritchard Jonathan K. , Stephens Matthew
Published: November 2014

Motivation:

Understanding global gene regulation depends critically on accurate annotation of regulatory elements that are functional in a given cell type. CENTIPEDE, a powerful, probabilistic framework for identifying transcription factor binding sites from tissue-specific DNase I cleavage patterns and genomic sequence content, leverages the hypersensitivity of factor-bound chromatin and the information in the DNase I spatial cleavage profile characteristic of each DNA binding protein to accurately infer functional factor binding sites. However, the model for the spatial profile in this framework underestimates the substantial variation in the DNase I cleavage profiles across factor-bound genomic locations and across replicate measurements of chromatin accessibility.

Results:

In this work, we adapt a multi-scale modeling framework for inhomogeneous Poisson processes to better model the underlying variation in DNase I cleavage patterns across genomic locations bound by a transcription factor. In addition to modeling variation, we also model spatial structure in the heterogeneity in DNase I cleavage patterns for each factor. Using DNase-seq measurements assayed in a lymphoblastoid cell line, we demonstrate the improved performance of this model for several transcription factors by comparing against the Chip-Seq peaks for those factors. Finally, we propose an extension to this framework that allows for a more flexible background model and evaluate the additional gain in accuracy achieved when the background model parameters are estimated using DNase-seq data from naked DNA. The proposed model can also be applied to paired-end ATAC-seq and DNase-seq data in a straightforward manner.

Availability:

msCentipede, a Python implementation of an algorithm to infer transcription factor binding using this model, is made available athttps://github.com/rajanil/msCentipede
Supporting the social networks of homeless people
Authors: Joly Louise , Cornes Michelle , Manthorpe Jill
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– Homelessness often results from the loss of social networks and individuals are tested in being able to sustain or develop new positive social networks necessary to rebuild lives. The purpose of this paper is to present findings from an exploratory study which investigated how different agencies and professionals support people experiencing multiple exclusion homelessness (MEH) to develop and maintain their social networks amid other competing priorities, such as reducing substance misuse and re-offending.

Design/methodology/approach

– The study was undertaken in England 2010-2011 in three case study sites. Data were collected in 76 interviews with practitioners and managers, from disciplines including housing support, social work, criminal justice, mental health and substance misuse services. Totally, 56 interviews and five focus groups were also undertaken with people with experiences of MEH. Data were analysed thematically. Data from one site in particular permitted a focus on personal relationships and social networks which were seen as beneficial but also potentially problematic. These data are drawn upon to reflect on the implications for housing providers and practitioners.

Findings

– While multiple factors had often led to the loss of social networks among homeless people, findings revealed that practitioners working with homeless people may be able to promote existing social networks, such as partnerships, help develop new ones, and support people withdrawing from less positive relationships. The authors conclude that practitioners should be alert to structural changes that threaten social networks and may need to enhance skills in creating opportunities to foster existing positive relationships in direct work with their clients and in collaboration with other professionals. The need to be careful of blurring professional boundaries is also observed.

Practical implications

– This paper suggests approaches that may encourage practitioner reflection and commissioning practice in achieving good outcomes for people with experiences of MEH by highlighting the importance of social networks and the potential for practitioners to foster supportive relationships.

Originality/value

– This paper considers the often under-researched area of day-to-day engagement with social networks and the implications of working to support these as part of the role of homelessness services. While drawing primarily on recent research in England the themes raised will have wider relevance to housing and care services generally.
Approaches to evaluation of homelessness interventions
Authors: Pauly Bernie , Wallace Bruce , Perkin Kathleen
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to provide rationale, methodological guidance and clarity in the use of case study designs and theory driven approaches to evaluation of interventions to end homelessness.

Design/methodology/approach

– Using an evaluation of a transitional shelter program aiming to support permanent exits from homelessness as an example, the authors show how case study designs and theory driven evaluation is well suited to the study of the effectiveness of homelessness interventions within the broader socio-political and economic context in which they are being implemented.

Findings

– Taking account of the context as part of program evaluation and research on homelessness interventions moves away from blaming programs and individuals for systemic failures to better understanding of how the context influences successes and failures. Case study designs are particularly useful for studying implementation and the context which influences program outcomes. Theory driven evaluations and the use of realist evaluation as an approach can provide a broader understanding of how homelessness interventions work particularly for whom and under what conditions. These methodological and theoretical approaches provide a consistent strategy for evaluating programs aimed at ending homelessness.

Originality/value

– There is a need for greater capacity in the homelessness sector to apply approaches to evaluation that take into account the broader socio-political and economic context in which programs are being implemented. Through the use of a case example, the authors provide guidance for application of case study design and theory driven approaches as a strategy for approaches programs aimed at ending homelessness.
Using Trauma-Informed Care to provide therapeutic support to homeless people with complex needs: a transatlantic search for an approach to engage the “non-engaging”
Authors: Prestidge Joanne
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to share knowledge and observations of the Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) approach being used to engage “chronically” homeless people in the USA.

Design/methodology/approach

– This paper describes a placement with an organisation in New York City observing how the TIC approach is being implemented across outreach, housing and support services. The author then reflects on the lessons, for the work in the UK context.

Findings

– TIC empowers staff and clients to understand psychological trauma and its effects and to use this knowledge to create safe, supportive environments for all involved; improving relationships and nurturing recovery. It appears that clients use services more effectively, with staff stating that they behave more appropriately and move towards independence more quickly. Staff consider the emotional needs of the individuals they support and it was reported that they are less reliant on managers and have a higher tolerance to their clients.

Research limitations/implications

– TIC is an easily replicable and seemingly cost-effective way of empowering frontline staff to deliver holistic services to survivors of trauma.

Practical implications

– Psychologically informed practice is gaining momentum within the homelessness sector in the UK, and whilst TIC has many similarities to it, this approach specifically focuses on providing a pre-therapy approach for trauma survivors to prepare them to engage appropriately with mainstream services.

Originality/value

– Although there is no quantifiable data, it seems that the approach improves the well-being of service users and may ultimately reduce the cost in public spending of ineffective service use.
Marinated in violence: therapeutic intervention for victims of domestic abuse
Authors: Pizzey Erin
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to recount the author's experience of developing the first ever refuges for domestic violence, and the lessons learned about working with “violence-prone” people.

Design/methodology/approach

– This is a first hand, narrative account, interspersed with observations and commentary on the lessons learned.

Findings

– The author first identifies the author's own experience, as the child of several generations of violent parents, as central to the author's ability to empathise and work with women with similar histories. Learning together, and refusing to take responsibility away from the mothers, becomes central to the approach. Recognising the roots of violence requires in-depth, long-term relationship building with peers. The concept of “therapeutic chaos” sums up the way the spontaneous turmoil of the households seems to match and manage the cathartic expression of the residents’ world.

Research limitations/implications

– As a first hand account, this reportage challenges the assumption that constructive practice must all be based on someone else's prior, “evidence based”, practice.

Originality/value

– The refuge and network that arose from the work at Chiswick Women's aid was a pioneer in addressing domestic violence. This is a unique voice, and an opportunity to place this personal account in the record for future work on inter-generational emotional damage, addictive violence and social-environmental therapeutic treatments.
Assessing the reliability of the Outcomes Star in research and practice
Authors: Mackeith Joy
Published: November 2014

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to describe a pilot to test an approach to measuring inter-rater reliability of the Outcomes Star suite of tools. The intention, in publishing this account, is to show transparency in on-going development of the tool, and to invite further co-operative development.

Design/methodology/approach

– In total, 24 workers, trained to use the first edition Family Star, scored a tested case study. Scoring was analysed using two metrics on the ten-point scale and the underlying five-point Journey of Change. The case study approach and metrics were evaluated for validity and accessibility.

Findings

– This initial evaluation suggests this edition of the Family Star has good inter-rater reliability for the five-point Journey of Change, reaching the accepted threshold of 0.8 for the inter-rater reliability coefficient when three outlying workers are excluded. The reliability for the full ten point scale was moderate.

Research limitations/implications

– The sample size of 24 raters is small, though sufficient for an initial test of the approach, which will now be applied to larger samples, using other versions of the Outcomes Star.

Practical implications

– The findings indicate that it is important that service providers test worker understanding of the scales to ensure consistency of use. The second edition of the Family Star incorporates more precise definitions of the ten-point scales to help improve the reliability.

Originality/value

– The case study method and metrics provide an accessible measure of reliability, both for Star development and to enable managers to assess the reliability of an organisation's client data for internal and external purposes.
Metabolic remodelling in obesity and type 2 diabetes: pathological or protective mechanisms in response to nutrient excess?
Authors: Connor Timothy , Martin Sheree D , Howlett Kirsten F , McGee Sean L
Published: November 2014

Altered metabolism in tissues such as the liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue is observed in metabolic diseases characterized by nutrient excess and energy imbalance, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. These alterations in metabolism can include resistance to the hormone insulin, lipid accumulation, mitochondrial dysfunction and transcriptional remodelling of major metabolic pathways. The underlying assumption has been that these same alterations in metabolism are fundamental to the pathogenesis of metabolic diseases. An alternative view is that these alterations in metabolism occur to protect cell and tissue viability in the face of constant positive energy balance. This speculative review presents evidence that many of the metabolic adaptations that occur in metabolic diseases characterized by nutrient excess can be viewed as protective in nature, rather than pathogenic per se for disease progression. Finally, we also briefly discuss the usefulness and potential pitfalls of therapeutic approaches that attempt to correct these same metabolic defects when energy balance is not altered, and the potential links between metabolic survival responses and other chronic diseases such as cancer.
Sidestream dark field videomicroscopy for in vivo evaluation of vascularization and perfusion of mammary tumours in HER2/neu transgenic mice
Authors: Damiani Elisa , Pierpaoli Elisa , Orlando Fiorenza , Donati Abele , Provinciali Mauro
Published: November 2014

Angiogenesis plays a key role in tumour growth and the formation of metastases. Angiogenesis inhibitors and antivascular agents may prove useful in the treatment of breast cancer. A comprehensive characterization of the vasculature and perfusion of mammary tumours is a prerequisite for developing new specific drugs. We used sidestream dark field videomicroscopy to evaluate in vivo the vascular network of spontaneous mammary tumours in HER2/neu transgenic mice. The tumour masses showed higher vessel density compared with the healthy mammary gland (median (interquartile range) total vessel density 16.8 (13.4–20.5) vs 9.1 (8.1–10.9) mm/mm2, respectively; P < 0.001). Tumor vessel density was reduced in mice treated with the anti‐angiogenesis agent berberine, 12.1 (10.6–13.1) mm/mm2. Sidestream dark field imaging is a versatile technique that may be useful for understanding the role of angiogenesis in the progression of breast cancer and its relationship with outcome. It may represent a valuable tool for dynamic monitoring of the effects of new anti‐angiogenesis therapies.
Neoliberalization of Istanbul's Nightlife: Beer or Champagne?
Authors: Eder Mine , Öz Özlem
Published: November 2014

This article shows how the transformation of Istanbul's entertainment industry and of Beyoğlu, Istanbul's oldest, largest and the most diverse entertainment district, represents and reproduces spatial and economic divisions in the city. We argue that these differences also become compounded and intertwined with distinctions in consumption and taste. Taking a simultaneous look at thespatial,economicandsymbolictransformations of the entertainment industry enables us to understand how and why these intense divisions emerge, and what kind of contestations, rationalizations and resistance strategies are at work in this transformation. A major contribution of this article is to document and discuss the political economy of the process of urban transformation in the city through the lens of the entertainment industry, providing an interesting case of ‘neoliberalism on the ground'. Examining the neoliberalization of nightlife in a relatively understudied context, Istanbul, also reveals that its segmentation and spatial inequality are not just determined by political economy but are also constitutive of it. By adding the concept of ‘image consumption' and taste distinctions into the analysis, the article also uncovers the symbolic nature of the ongoing transformations. Finally, exploring Beyoğlu as a district in transition with persistent contestations contributes, in turn, to the right to the city debate.
Identification of heat shock cognate protein 70 gene (Alhsc70) of Apolygus lucorum and its expression in response to different temperature and pesticide stresses
Authors: Sun Yang , Zhao Jing , Sheng Yang , Xiao Ying‐Fang , Zhang Yong‐Jun , Bai Li‐Xin , Tan Yongan , Xiao Liu‐Bin , Xu Guang‐Chun
Published: November 2014

Heat shock cognate protein 70 (Hsc70) is a very important stress‐resistance protein of insects against environmental stresses. We employed fluorescent real‐time quantitative polymerase chain reaction and Western‐blot techniques to analyze the transcriptional and translational expression profiles of AlHSC70 under extreme temperature (4°C and 40°C) or 4 pesticide stresses in Apolygus lucorum. The results showed that the expression of AlHSC70 were significantly induced by cyhalothrin or extremely high temperature (40°C) in both transcriptional and translational levels (P < 0.05), while the transcriptional and translational level of AlHSC70 decreased significantly in treatments of chlorpyrifos or extreme cold temperature (4°C) (P < 0.05). Moreover, after Apolygus lucorum treated by imidacloprid or emamectin benzoate, the expression of AlHSC70 was only up‐regulated significantly at the transcriptional level (P < 0.05), although obviously up‐regulated at the translational level of AlHSC70. Therefore, this study confirmed that the Alhsc70 gene played important roles in response to both temperature and pesticide stresses, especially for cyhalothrin or extremely high temperature (40°C). In addition, the significant polynomial regression correlations between temperature and the Alhsc70 expression level were shown in all the nymph and adult stages (P < 0.01), indicating temperature was an important factor to affect the relative expression of Alhsc70.
The role of serotonin and its receptors in activation of immune responses and inflammation
Authors: Shajib M. S. , Khan W. I.
Published: November 2014

Serotonin or 5‐hydroxytryptamine (5‐HT) is a neurotransmitter and hormone that contributes to the regulation of various physiological functions by its actions in the central nervous system (CNS) and in the respective organ systems. Peripheral 5‐HT is predominantly produced by enterochromaffin (EC) cells of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. These gut‐resident cells produce much more 5‐HT than all neuronal and other sources combined, establishing EC cells as the main source of this biogenic amine in the human body. Peripheral 5‐HT is also a potent immune modulator and affects various immune cells through its receptors and via the recently identified process of serotonylation. Alterations in 5‐HT signalling have been described in inflammatory conditions of the gut, such as inflammatory bowel disease. The association between 5‐HT and inflammation, however, is not limited to the gut, as changes in 5‐HT levels have also been reported in patients with allergic airway inflammation and rheumatoid arthritis. Based on searches for terms such as ‘5‐HT’, ‘EC cell’, ‘immune cells’ and ‘inflammation’ in pubmed.gov as well as by utilizing pertinent reviews, the current review aims to provide an update on the role of 5‐HT in biological functions with a particular focus on immune activation and inflammation.
Thiopurine dose intensity and treatment outcome in childhood lymphoblastic leukaemia: the influence of thiopurine methyltransferase pharmacogenetics
Authors: Lennard Lynne , Cartwright Cher S. , Wade Rachel , Vora Ajay
Published: November 2014

The impact of thiopurine methyltransferase (TPMT) genotype on thiopurine dose intensity, myelosuppression and treatment outcome was investigated in the United Kingdom childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) trial ALL97. TPMT heterozygotes had significantly more frequent cytopenias and therefore required dose adjustments below target levels significantly more often than TPMT wild‐type patients although the average dose range was similar for both genotypes. Event‐free survival (EFS) for patients heterozygous for the more common TPMT*1/*3A variant allele (n = 99, 5‐year EFS 88%) was better than for both wild‐type TPMT*1/*1 (n = 1206, EFS 80%, P = 0·05) and TPMT*1/*3C patients (n = 17, EFS 53%, P = 0·002); outcomes supported by a multivariate Cox regression analysis. Poor compliance without subsequent clinician intervention was associated with a worse EFS (P = 0·02) and such non‐compliance may have contributed to the poorer outcome for TPMT*1/*3C patients. Patients prescribed escalated doses had a worse EFS (P = 0·04), but there was no difference in EFS by dose intensity or duration of cytopenias. In contrast to reports from some USA and Nordic trials, TPMT heterozygosity was not associated with a higher rate of second cancers. In conclusion, TPMT*1/*3A heterozygotes had a better EFS than TPMT wild‐type patients. Thiopurine induced cytopenias were not detrimental to treatment outcome.
Practical management of cumulative anthropogenic impacts with working marine examples
Authors: Wright Andrew J. , Kyhn Line A.
Published: November 2014

Human pressure on the environment is expanding and intensifying, especially in coastal and offshore areas. Major contributors to this are the current push for offshore renewable energy sources, which are thought of as environmentally friendly sources of power, as well as the continued demand for petroleum. Human disturbances, including the noise almost ubiquitously associated with human activity, are likely to increase the incidence, magnitude, and duration of adverse effects on marine life, including stress responses. Stress responses have the potential to induce fitness consequences for individuals, which add to more obvious directed takes (e.g., hunting or fishing) to increase the overall population‐level impact. To meet the requirements of marine spatial planning and ecosystem‐based management, many efforts are ongoing to quantify the cumulative impacts of all human actions on marine species or populations. Meanwhile, regulators face the challenge of managing these accumulating and interacting impacts with limited scientific guidance. We believe there is scientific support for capping the level of impact for (at a minimum) populations in decline or with unknown statuses. This cap on impact can be facilitated through implementation of regular application cycles for project authorization or improved programmatic and aggregated impact assessments that simultaneously consider multiple projects. Cross‐company collaborations and a better incorporation of uncertainty into decision making could also help limit, if not reduce, cumulative impacts of multiple human activities. These simple management steps may also form the basis of a rudimentary form of marine spatial planning and could be used in support of future ecosystem‐based management efforts.
Building Cognition: The Construction of Computational Representations for Scientific Discovery
Authors: Chandrasekharan Sanjay , Nersessian Nancy J.
Published: November 2014

Novel computational representations, such as simulation models of complex systems and video games for scientific discovery (Foldit, EteRNA etc.), are dramatically changing the way discoveries emerge in science and engineering. The cognitive roles played by such computational representations in discovery are not well understood. We present a theoretical analysis of the cognitive roles such representations play, based on an ethnographic study of the building of computational models in a systems biology laboratory. Specifically, we focus on a case of model‐building by an engineer that led to a remarkable discovery in basic bioscience. Accounting for such discoveries requires a distributed cognition (DC) analysis, as DC focuses on the roles played by external representations in cognitive processes. However, DC analyses by and large have not examined scientific discovery, and they mostly focus on memory offloading, particularly how the use of existing external representations changes the nature of cognitive tasks. In contrast, we study discovery processes and argue that discoveries emerge from the processes of building the computational representation. The building process integrates manipulations in imagination and in the representation, creating a coupled cognitive system of model and modeler, where the model is incorporated into the modeler's imagination. This account extends DC significantly, and we present some of the theoretical and application implications of this extended account.
A model to investigate the mechanisms underlying the emergence and development of independent sitting
Authors: O'Brien Kathleen M. , Zhang Jing , Walley Philip R. , Rhoads Jeffrey F. , Haddad Jeffrey M. , Claxton Laura J.
Published: November 2014

When infants first begin to sit independently, they are highly unstable and unable to maintain upright sitting posture for more than a few seconds. Over the course of 3 months, the sitting ability of infants drastically improves. To investigate the mechanisms controlling the development of sitting posture, a single‐degree‐of‐freedom inverted pendulum model was developed. Passive muscle properties were modeled with a stiffness and damping term, while active neurological control was modeled with a time‐delayed proportional‐integral‐derivative (PID) controller. The findings of the simulations suggest that infants primarily utilize passive muscle stiffness to remain upright when they first begin to sit. This passive control mechanism allows the infant to remain upright so that active feedback control mechanisms can develop. The emergence of active control mechanisms allows infants to integrate sensory information into their movements so that they can exhibit more adaptive sitting.
Switching from reaching to navigation: differential cognitive strategies for spatial memory in children and adults
Authors: Belmonti Vittorio , Cioni Giovanni , Berthoz Alain
Published: November 2014

Navigational and reaching spaces are known to involve different cognitive strategies and brain networks, whose development in humans is still debated. In fact, high‐level spatial processing, including allocentric location encoding, is already available to very young children, but navigational strategies are not mature until late childhood. The Magic Carpet (MC) is a new electronic device translating the traditional Corsi Block‐tapping Test (CBT) to navigational space. In this study, the MC and the CBT were used to assess spatial memory for navigation and for reaching, respectively. Our hypothesis was that school‐age children would not treat MC stimuli as navigational paths, assimilating them to reaching sequences. Ninety‐one healthy children aged 6 to 11 years and 18 adults were enrolled. Overall short‐term memory performance (span) on both tests, effects of sequence geometry, and error patterns according to a new classification were studied. Span increased with age on both tests, but relatively more in navigational than in reaching space, particularly in males. Sequence geometry specifically influenced navigation, not reaching. The number of body rotations along the path affected MC performance in children more than in adults, and in women more than in men. Error patterns indicated that navigational sequences were increasingly retained as global paths across development, in contrast to separately stored reaching locations. A sequence of spatial locations can be coded as a navigational path only if a cognitive switch from a reaching mode to a navigation mode occurs. This implies the integration of egocentric and allocentric reference frames, of visual and idiothetic cues, and access to long‐term memory. This switch is not yet fulfilled at school age due to immature executive functions.
Towards a better understanding of the relationship between executive control and theory of mind: an intra‐cultural comparison of three diverse samples
Authors: Shahaeian Ameneh , Henry Julie D. , Razmjoee Maryam , Teymoori Ali , Wang Cen
Published: November 2014

Previous research has consistently indicated that theory of mind (ToM) is associated with executive control in the preschool years. However, interpretation of this literature is limited by the fact that most studies have focused exclusively on urbanized Western cultural samples. Consequently, it is not clear whether the association between ToM and executive control reflects the specific features of this particular cohort or instead reflects a universal pattern. The present study provides the first empirical assessment of these two constructs in three diverse groups of Iranian children. Participants were 142 preschoolers (4–5 years old) from high–socioeconomic status (SES) urban (n = 33), low–SES urban (n = 37) and rural villages (n = 77). The results show that there is a robust association between ToM and executive control in all three groups, and that executive control contributes significant unique variance to ToM understanding, even after controlling for a range of variables that have been proposed as potential confounders of this relationship. However, although the three groups were equated in ToM, significant differences in executive control were evident. Moreover, cluster analysis identified three distinct clusters that were relatively homogeneous with respect to executive control and SES. One of these clusters was characterized by both low SES and low executive functioning, and showed little evidence of ToM understanding. Taken together, these findings provide possibly the clearest evidence to date that the association between ToM and executive control is not dependent on children's previous experiences on the tasks, or their family and cultural background.

A video abstract of this article can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxh_-3gCB8o
Mechanisms underlying accent accommodation in early word learning: evidence for general expansion
Authors: Schmale Rachel , Seidl Amanda , Cristia Alejandrina
Published: November 2014

Previous work reveals that toddlers can accommodate a novel accent after hearing it for only a brief period of time. A common assumption is that children, like adults, cope with nonstandard pronunciations by relying on words they know (e.g. ‘this person pronounces sock as sack, therefore by black she meant block’). In this paper, we assess whether toddlers might additionally use a general expansion strategy, whereby they simply accept non‐standard pronunciations when variability is expected. We exposed a group of 24‐month‐old English‐learning toddlers to variability in indexical cues (very diverse voices from native English talkers), and another to variability in social cues (very diverse‐looking silent actors); neither group was familiarized with the target novel accent. At test, both groups succeeded in recognizing a novel word when spoken in the novel accent. Thus, even when no lexical cues are available, variability can prepare young children for non‐standard pronunciations.
Children do not recalibrate motor‐sensory temporal order after exposure to delayed sensory feedback
Authors: Vercillo Tiziana , Burr David , Sandini Giulio , Gori Monica
Published: November 2014

Prolonged adaptation to delayed sensory feedback to a simple motor act (such as pressing a key) causes recalibration of sensory‐motor synchronization, so instantaneous feedback appears to precede the motor act that caused it (Stetson, Cui, Montague & Eagleman, 2006). We investigated whether similar recalibration occurs in school‐age children. Although plasticity may be expected to be even greater in children than in adults, we found no evidence of recalibration in children aged 8–11 years. Subjects adapted to delayed feedback for 100 trials, intermittently pressing a key that caused a tone to sound after a 200 ms delay. During the test phase, subjects responded to a visual cue by pressing a key, which triggered a tone to be played at variable intervals before or after the keypress. Subjects judged whether the tone preceded or followed the keypress, yielding psychometric functions estimating the delay when they perceived the tone to be synchronous with the action. The psychometric functions also gave an estimate of the precision of the temporal order judgment. In agreement with previous studies, adaptation caused a shift in perceived synchrony in adults, so the keypress appeared to trail behind the auditory feedback, implying sensory‐motor recalibration. However, school children of 8 to 11 years showed no measureable adaptation of perceived simultaneity, even after adaptation with 500 ms lags. Importantly, precision in the simultaneity task also improved with age, and this developmental trend correlated strongly with the magnitude of recalibration. This suggests that lack of recalibration of sensory‐motor simultaneity after adaptation in school‐age children is related to their poor precision in temporal order judgments. To test this idea we measured recalibration in adult subjects with auditory noise added to the stimuli (which hampered temporal precision). Under these conditions, recalibration was greatly reduced, with the magnitude of recalibration strongly correlating with temporal precision.
Looking and touching: what extant approaches reveal about the structure of early word knowledge
Authors: Hendrickson Kristi , Mitsven Samantha , Poulin‐Dubois Diane , Zesiger Pascal , Friend Margaret
Published: November 2014

The goal of the current study is to assess the temporal dynamics of vision and action to evaluate the underlying word representations that guide infants' responses. Sixteen‐month‐old infants participated in a two‐alternative forced‐choice word–picture matching task. We conducted a moment‐by‐moment analysis of looking and reaching behaviors as they occurred in tandem to assess the speed with which a prompted word was processed (visual reaction time) as a function of the type of haptic response: Target, Distractor, or No Touch. Visual reaction times (visual RTs) were significantly slower during No Touches compared to Distractor and Target Touches, which were statistically indistinguishable. The finding that visual RTs were significantly faster during Distractor Touches compared to No Touches suggests that incorrect and absent haptic responses appear to index distinct knowledge states: incorrect responses are associated with partial knowledge whereas absent responses appear to reflect a true failure to map lexical items to their target referents. Further, we found that those children who were faster at processing words were also those children who exhibited better haptic performance. This research provides a methodological clarification on knowledge measured by the visual and haptic modalities and new evidence for a continuum of word knowledge in the second year of life.
Active vision in passive locomotion: real‐world free viewing in infants and adults
Authors: Kretch Kari S. , Adolph Karen E.
Published: November 2014

Visual exploration in infants and adults has been studied using two very different paradigms: free viewing of flat screen displays in desk‐mounted eye‐tracking studies and real‐world visual guidance of action in head‐mounted eye‐tracking studies. To test whether classic findings from screen‐based studies generalize to real‐world visual exploration and to compare natural visual exploration in infants and adults, we tested observers in a new paradigm that combines critical aspects of both previous techniques: free viewing during real‐world visual exploration. Mothers and their 9‐month‐old infants wore head‐mounted eye trackers while mothers carried their infants in a forward‐facing infant carrier through a series of indoor hallways. Demands for visual guidance of action were minimal in mothers and absent for infants, so both engaged in free viewing while moving through the environment. Similar to screen‐based studies, during free viewing in the real world low‐level saliency was related to gaze direction. In contrast to screen‐based studies, only infants – not adults – were biased to look at people, participants of both ages did not show a classic center bias, and mothers and infants did not display high levels of inter‐observer consistency. Results indicate that several aspects of visual exploration of a flat screen display do not generalize to visual exploration in the real world.
The lasting effects of process‐specific versus stimulus‐specific learning during infancy
Authors: Hadley Hillary , Pickron Charisse B. , Scott Lisa S.
Published: November 2014

The capacity to tell the difference between two faces within an infrequently experienced face group (e.g. other species, other race) declines from 6 to 9 months of age unless infants learn to match these faces with individual‐level names. Similarly, the use of individual‐level labels can also facilitate differentiation of a group of non‐face objects (strollers). This early learning leads to increased neural specialization for previously unfamiliar face or object groups. The current investigation aimed to determine whether early conceptual learning between 6 and 9 months leads to sustained behavioral advantages and neural changes in these same children at 4–6 years of age. Results suggest that relative to a control group of children with no previous training and to children with infant category‐level naming experience, children with early individual‐level training exhibited faster response times to human faces. Further, individual‐level training with a face group – but not an object group – led to more adult‐like neural responses for human faces. These results suggest that early individual‐level learning results in long‐lasting process‐specific effects, which benefit categories that continue to be perceived and recognized at the individual level (e.g. human faces).
The effects of early foster care intervention on attention biases in previously institutionalized children in Romania
Authors: Troller‐Renfree Sonya , McDermott Jennifer Martin , Nelson Charles A. , Zeanah Charles H. , Fox Nathan A.
Published: November 2014

Children raised in institutions experience psychosocial deprivation that can negatively impact attention skills and emotion regulation, which subsequently may influence behavioral regulation and social relationships. The current study examined visual attention biases in 8‐year‐old children who were part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP). Relations among attention biases and concurrent social outcomes were also investigated. In early childhood, 136 children abandoned at birth or shortly thereafter into institutional care were randomized to receive a high‐quality foster care intervention or care‐as‐usual within the context of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP). At 8 years of age, 50 care‐as‐usual, 55 foster care, and 52 community controls performed a behavioral dot‐probe task, and indices of attention biases to threat and positive stimuli were calculated. Concurrent data on social behavior were collected. Children placed into the foster care intervention had a significant attention bias toward positive stimuli, while children who received care‐as‐usual had a significant bias toward threat. Children in the foster care intervention had a significantly larger positive bias when compared to the care‐as‐usual group. A positive bias was related to more social engagement, more prosocial behavior, less externalizing disorders, and less emotionally withdrawn behavior. The magnitude of positive bias was predicted by age of placement into foster care among children with a history of institutionalization. An attention bias towards positive stimuli was associated with reduced risk for behavioral problems amongst children who experienced early psychosocial deprivation. Research assessing attention biases in children experiencing early environmental stress may refine our understanding of the mechanisms underlying risk for later psychiatric and social disorders and inform prevention efforts.
The neural correlates of emotion processing in juvenile offenders
Authors: Pincham Hannah L. , Bryce Donna , Pasco Fearon R.M.
Published: November 2014

Individuals with severe antisocial behaviour often demonstrate abnormalities or difficulties in emotion processing. Antisocial behaviour typically onsets before adulthood and is reflected in antisocial individuals at the biological level. We therefore conducted a brain‐based study of emotion processing in juvenile offenders. Male adolescent offenders and age‐matched non‐offenders passively viewed emotional images whilst their brain activity was recorded using electroencephalography. The early posterior negativity (EPN) and the late positive potential (LPP) components were used as indices of emotion processing. For both juvenile offenders and non‐offenders, the EPN differentiated unpleasant images from other image types, suggesting that early perceptual processing was not impaired in the offender group. In line with normal emotion processing, the LPP was significantly enhanced following unpleasant images for non‐offenders. However, for juvenile offenders, the LPP did not differ across image categories, indicative of deficient emotional processing. The findings indicated that this brain‐based hypo‐reactivity occurred during a late stage of cognitive processing and was not a consequence of atypical early visual attention or perception. This study is the first to show attenuated emotion processing in juvenile offenders at the neural level. Overall, these results have the potential to inform interventions for juvenile offending.
Spatial estimation: a non‐Bayesian alternative
Authors: Barth Hilary , Lesser Ellen , Taggart Jessica , Slusser Emily
Published: November 2014

A large collection of estimation phenomena (e.g. biases arising when adults or children estimate remembered locations of objects in bounded spaces; Huttenlocher, Newcombe & Sandberg, 1994) are commonly explained in terms of complex Bayesian models. We provide evidence that some of these phenomena may be modeled instead by a simpler non‐Bayesian alternative. Undergraduates and 9‐ to 10‐year‐olds completed a speeded linear position estimation task. Bias in both groups’ estimates could be explained in terms of a simple psychophysical model of proportion estimation. Moreover, some individual data were not compatible with the requirements of the more complex Bayesian model.
Infants' use of social partnerships to predict behavior
Authors: Rhodes Marjorie , Hetherington Chelsea , Brink Kimberly , Wellman Henry M.
Published: November 2014

The experiences of social partners are important motivators of social action. Can infants use such experiences to make predictions about how social agents will behave? Sixteen‐month‐old infants were introduced to two social pairs. Initial events established within‐pair cooperation as well as between‐pair conflict involving an individual from each pair. Following these events, infants looked longer when between‐pair members who had never previously interacted now cooperated – instead of conflicted – with each other. Thus, infants tracked the third‐person allegiances and inferred that the conflict would generalize across social partnerships. These findings demonstrate a critical feature of early social cognition and promote needed, further research on the role of social allegiances in social cognition across development.
Endogenous sex steroid hormones and glucose in a South‐Asian population without diabetes: the Metabolic Syndrome and Atherosclerosis in South‐Asians Living in America pilot study
Authors: Needham B. L. , Kim C. , Mukherjee B. , Bagchi P. , Stanczyk F. Z. , Kanaya A. M.
Published: November 2014

Aims

To examine the associations between endogenous sex steroid hormones (oestradiol, testosterone and sex hormone‐binding globulin) with diabetes risk in a South‐Asian population living in the USA.

Methods

We used data from the Metabolic Syndrome and Atherosclerosis in South‐Asians Living in America pilot study. The analytical sample included 60 women and 45 men of Asian Indian origin living in the San Francisco Bay Area, who were free from diabetes and cardiovascular disease and did not use exogenous sex steroids. Sex steroid hormone levels were assessed by validated conventional radioimmunoassays, and visceral and hepatic adiposity were assessed by computed tomography. We used multivariable regression to examine the association between endogenous sex steroid hormone levels (log‐transformed) and fasting glucose and 2‐h glucose levels in a series of sex‐stratified models adjusted for age, waist circumference, visceral and hepatic adiposity, and insulin resistance.

Results

In age‐adjusted models, lower levels of sex hormone‐binding globulin (β = −0.18, 95% CI −0.30, −0.06) and higher levels of free testosterone (β = 0.14, 95% CI 0.02, 0.26) were associated with elevated fasting glucose levels in South‐Asian women, whereas lower levels of sex hormone‐binding globulin (β = −0.14, 95% CI −0.26, −0.02) and lower levels of total testosterone (β = −0.12, 95% CI −0.24, 0.00) were associated with elevated fasting glucose levels in South‐Asian men. Adjustment for waist circumference, visceral adiposity and insulin resistance attenuated most of these associations, while adjustment for hepatic adiposity strengthened some of the observed associations. Similar results were found for 2‐h glucose levels.

Conclusions

Results were consistent with previous research, which suggests that endogenous sex steroid hormones are a risk factor for diabetes across multiple race/ethnic groups. Additional studies are needed to determine whether visceral fat is a mediator or confounder of associations between sex steroid hormone and glucose levels.
Low transferrin saturation is associated with impaired fasting glucose and insulin resistance in the South Korean adults: the 2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Authors: Park R. J. , Moon J. D.
Published: November 2014

Aims

The associations of transferrin saturation with diabetes have not been well evaluated and conflicting results have been reported. The purpose of this study is to examine the association of iron indices (serum ferritin and transferrin saturation) with risk of impaired fasting glucose and insulin resistance.

Methods

We conducted a cross‐sectional study in 2413 individuals (1150 men and 1263 women) aged 20–50 years who participated in the 2010 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants were free of diabetes, malignancy, liver cirrhosis, chronic renal failure, anaemia, pregnancy and menopause. Fasting plasma glucose, insulin and the homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA–IR) were measured as the outcomes.

Results

Impaired fasting glucose was more prevalent in the highest compared with the lowest serum ferritin quartile among men (odds ratio [OR], 1.97; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.20–3.24) after adjustment for multiple covariates. Following the same adjustment, impaired fasting glucose was less prevalent in the highest compared with the lowest transferrin saturation quartile among men (OR, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.25–0.80) and women (OR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.14–0.77). Moreover, a higher ferritin level was significantly associated with higher HOMA–IR after adjusting for confounders in men. Lower transferrin saturation was also significantly associated with higher insulin levels and HOMA–IR in both sexes.

Conclusions

Lower transferrin saturations were associated with an increased risk of impaired fasting glucose and insulin resistance among general South Korean population.