bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ethical Concerns About Relapse Studies
Authors: Shamoo Adil E. , Keay Timothy J.
Published: July 2009

It is universally accepted that informed consent to participate in medical research should be given by subjects. People have the fundamental human right to freely choose, without coercion or withholding of information necessary to make a reasonable choice, whether they will undergo any risks associated with a research project. United States researchers have known for some time that they have the duty to inform potential subjects of the nature of proposed research and the risks and possible benefits, and to seek consent. Investigators also have the duty to design the research so that it will be scientifically valid while minimizing foreseeable and avoidable harms.
What Is the Proper Role for Charity in Healthcare?
Authors: Ackerman Felicia
Published: July 2009

My little girl has leukemia; she has had it for over a year, and now she needs at least five pints of blood a day. Not the whole blood, just the platelets. Most of our relatives and friends have given at least a few times. But we need more. Now I have to go to strangers.

So begins Roberta Silman's short story, “Giving Blood,” a story about illness and charity. When the narrator's husband solicited blood donations at his workplace, “he thought everyone would help…He must have asked a hundred people. Thirty gave. His officemate…turned green and said, ‘Oh, no, anything but that. I'm scared of needles.'”
Reflections on Adoption Ethics
Authors: Post Stephen G. , Mahowald Mary B.
Published: July 2009

Adoption, from the Latin opiate, “to choose,” means “to take (a person) into a relationship, especially another's child as one's own” (The Oxford Encyclopedic English Dictionary). The word implies a permanent taking of responsibility. While the assumption that biological parents should rear their children is vital to society, adoption provides an alternative that is sometimes necessary.
Health Policy Watch: Second, Let No Harm Be Done: An American Antiimmigration Dilemma
Authors: d'Oronzio Joseph C.
Published: July 2009

Ongoing legislative proposals to overhaul United States immigration policy look very much like a new wave of nativism is sweeping the Congress. The movement, mounted in early 1995, is in full swing to limit immigrant populations from arriving, settling, producing, and benefiting as our parents' generations have done. Legislators and the courts are now considering the most complete antiimmigration social legislation since the decades following the First World War.
Seeking Justice for Priscilla
Authors: Lantos John
Published: July 2009

I am currently caring for a child named Priscilla who is ventilator-dependent and whose care confronted me with questions of justice. Priscilla was born at the County Hospital after a normal pregnancy to a 17-year-old single mother. At birth, she was noted to have some dysmorphic features: widely spaced eyes, low-set ears, and a cleft palate. Her chest X-ray showed hypoplastic ribs and scapulae. Her chromosome studies were normal. Eventually, a diagnosis of a rare dwarfing syndrome campomelic dysplasia – was made.
Recapturing Justice in the Managed Care Era
Authors: Moreno Jonathan D.
Published: July 2009

If economics has been the “dismal science” of the past century, health policy promises to be that of the next. Health policy issues evoke far less passion than the emotion-laden immediacies of bedside decision making. Nevertheless, it is patent that “macro” issues in all their obscurity and complexity are unavoidable if the health care delivery system of the future is to be fiscally sound and publicly acceptable. In addition, as Americans are now learning, options for care at the bedside are ineluctably constrained by seemingly distant societal choices.
Caring for “Socially Undesirable” Patients
Authors: Jecker Nancy S.
Published: July 2009

Mr. Bernard was a homeless man, aged 58. His medical history revealed alcohol abuse, seizure disorder, and two suicide attempts. Brought to the emergency room at a local hospital after being found “semi-comatose,” his respiratory distress led to his being intubated and placed on a ventilator. The healthcare team suspected the patient ingested antifreeze. Transferred from that hospital to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the university hospital, his diagnosis was “high osmolar gap with high-anion gap metabolic acidosis, most likely secondary to ethylene glycol ingestion and renal insufficiency.”
Allocating Healthcare By QALYs: The Relevance of Age
Authors: McKie John , Kuhse Helga , Richardson Jeff , Singer Peter
Published: July 2009

What proportion of available healthcare funds should be allocated to hip replacement operations and what proportion to psychiatric care? What proportion should go to cardiac patients and what to newborns in intensive care? What proportion should go to preventative medicine and what to treating existing conditions? In general, how should limited healthcare resources (people, facilities, equipment, drugs…) be distributed If not all demands can be met?
The Ethical Neutrality of Prospective Payments: Justice Issues
Authors: McDowell Jean
Published: July 2009

The U.S. healthcare system has been subject to unprecedented scrutiny over the past three years; one of the results of this scrutiny has been recognition of the serious problems that exist in both healthcare delivery and reimbursement mechanisms. While the verbal debate in Washington has essentially ceased, within the healthcare community a historic shift has taken place in the way healthcare reimbursement is structured: increasingly, traditional fee-for-service reimbursement methods are being replaced with capitation reimbursement methods. While this phenomenon originated on the West Coast, it has spread to all geographic sectors of the United States in varying degrees and can be expected to dominate the funding patterns of healthcare over the next decade.
Altering Humans—The Case For and Against Human Gene Therapy
Authors: Holtug Nils
Published: July 2009

The case in favor of gene therapy is quite simple. Gene therapy is likely to improve the health and well-being of some people that are among the worst off in society, namely patients with painful and life-threatening diseases. However, two types of objection have been raised.
Wisconsin Healthcare Ethics Committees
Authors: Shapiro Robyn S. , Klein John P. , Tym Kristen A.
Published: July 2009

Over the past two decades ethics committees have proliferated in healthcare institutions across the country. Catalysts for this growth include the endorsement of ethics committees by the New Jersey Supreme Court in the Quinlan case, by the President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical Research (“President's Commission”) in its report entitled Deciding to Forgo Life Sustaining Medical Treatment, by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in its 1985 “Baby Doe” regulations, by numerous other courts in treatment decisionmaking opinions issued after Quinlan, and more recently by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO).
Ethics in the Outpatient Setting: New Challenges and Opportunities
Authors: Young Ernlé W.D.
Published: July 2009

It is not the outpatient setting, per se, that is presenting new challenges and opportunities to ethics consultants and ethics committees. Rather, it is the underlying reason for shifting more and more patient care from the inpatient to the outpatient setting-namely, calculations of cost-effectiveness.
Treating the Patient to Benefit Others
Authors: Klepper Howard , Truog Robert D.
Published: July 2009

‘Treatment’ from which the patient cannot benefit is sometimes administered to a patient so that the comfort of the patient's family or caregivers may be increased. Is this permissible? To answer that question we will explore the interests of the permanently unconscious patient and the potential for such a patient's interests to conflict with those of her family and healthcare providers. We will conclude that in the likely absence of a specific advance directive from the patient providing for such circumstances, treatment for the benefit of the family may be given so long as it is not abusive. However, treatment solely for the comfort of caregivers may not be given without consent of the patient's surrogate decisionmakers.
Research Ethics: International Perspectives
Authors: Brody Baruch A.
Published: July 2009

In recent years, bioethics has increasingly become an international area of inquiry with major contributions being made not only in North America but also in Europe and in the Pacific Rim countries. This general observation is particularly true for research ethics. Little attention has been paid, however, to this internationalization of bioethics in general and research ethics in particular, and there are few studies comparing what has emerged in the different countries.
The Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test as a test for executive function: Validity in patient groups and norms for older adults
Authors: VAN DEN BERG ESTHER , NYS GUDRUN M. S. , BRANDS AUGUSTINA M. A. , RUIS CARLA , VAN ZANDVOORT MARTINE J. E. , KESSELS ROY P. C.
Published: July 2009

Impairments in executive functioning frequently occur after acquired brain damage, in psychiatric disorders, and in relation to aging. The Brixton Spatial Anticipation Test is a relatively new measure for assessing the ability to detect and follow a rule, an important aspect of executive functioning. To date, normative data on this task are limited, particularly concerning the elderly. This study presents age- and education-adjusted regression-based norms obtained in a group of healthy older participants (n = 283; mean age 67.4 ± 8.5 years). The applicability and validity of these norms were further examined in different groups of patients with stroke (n = 106), diabetes mellitus (n = 376), MCI/early dementia (n = 70), psychiatric disorders (n = 63), and Korsakoff’s syndrome (n = 41). The results showed that patients with Korsakoff’s syndrome, stroke, and psychiatric disorders performed significantly worse than healthy controls. Test-retest correlation (n = 83), learning effects, and correlations with other neuropsychological tests were also explored. Based on the present study, the Brixton test appears a useful addition to existing measures of executive functioning. Moreover, the test can be reliably applied in different groups of clinical patients. (JINS, 2009, 15, 695–703.)
Younger age is a good predictor of better executive function after surgery for pituitary adenoma in adults
Authors: MÜSSIG KARSTEN , LEYHE THOMAS , BESEMER BRITTA , SAUR RALF , HÄRING HANS-ULRICH , GALLWITZ BAPTIST , KLINGBERG STEFAN
Published: July 2009

Pituitary adenomas, even after successful treatment, are associated with cognitive dysfunctions. We hypothesized that an association between the age of the patients at pituitary surgery and neuropsychological outcome may exist. Forty-two patients (mean age 51 ± 10 years) who had been successfully treated for pituitary adenoma (surgery with or without subsequent radiotherapy) underwent neuropsychological testing. Age at treatment (mean 37 ± 11 years) was significantly associated with Trail Making Test, Part B (TMT-B) results, a measure of executive control and attention (r = .60, p < .0001). This association remained significant after adjustment for age at testing and time since treatment (r = .42, p = .008). No associations were detected between age at treatment and Trail Making Test, Part A (TMT-A, attentional speed), the digit span test (acoustic working memory), and the German version of the Auditory Verbal Learning and Memory, and Memory Test (verbal memory, all p ≥ .3). Our data suggest a favorable effect of younger age at treatment in adults on neurocognitive outcome after surgery for pituitary adenoma. (JINS, 2009, 15, 803–806.)
Age Stereotypes in Younger and Older Women: Analyses of Accommodative Shifts with a Sentence-Priming Task
Authors: Wentura Dirk , Brandtstädter Jochen
Published: July 2009

A sentence-priming technique was used to examine whether older women (N = 39) share a more positive view of aging than younger women (N = 35). Situationally specified statements about older and younger persons were presented, followed either by a semantically related word, an unrelated word of the same valence, or a nonword. The accessibility of target words was measured by reaction times in a lexical decision task. Whereas a semantic priming effect for negatively connoted materials emerged for both groups, a priming effect for positively connoted materials was found for older women only. Furthermore, an affective priming effect was found for the older group, i.e., older women tended to respond relatively faster (slower) to semantically unrelated positive (negative) words following a sentence about an older person. The results are discussed within a coping-theoretical framework.
Implicit Association Test: Separating Transsituationally Stable and Variable Components of Attitudes toward Gay Men
Authors: Steffens Melanie C. , Buchner Axel
Published: July 2009

Implicit attitudes are conceived of as formed in childhood, suggesting extreme stability. At the same time, it has been shown that implicit attitudes are influenced by situational factors, suggesting variability by the moment. In the present article, using structural equation modeling, we decomposed implicit attitudes towards gay men into a person factor and a situational factor. The Implicit Association Test ( Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998 ), introduced as an instrument with which individual differences in implicit attitudes can be measured, was used. Measurement was repeated after one week (Experiment 1) or immediately (Experiment 2). Explicit attitudes towards gay men as assessed by way of questionnaires were positive and stable across situations. Implicit attitudes were relatively negative instead. Internal consistency of the implicit attitude assessment was exemplary. However, the within-situation consistency was accompanied by considerable unexplained between-situation variability. Consequently, it may not be adequate to interpret an individual implicit attitude measured at a given point in time as a person-related, trait-like factor.
Relative Influences of Affect and Cognition on Behavior: Are Feelings or Beliefs More Related to Blood Donation Intentions?
Authors: Farley Sally D. , Stasson Mark F.
Published: July 2009

This study tested the relative predictive power of affect and cognition on global attitude and behavioral intention within the tripartite model of attitude structure. Participants (N = 264) completed questionnaires that included an item regarding blood donation experience, five semantic differential items, four behavioral intention items, and one global attitude item. Participants were randomly assigned to either an affective or cognitive instruction set for the semantic differential items. As predicted, semantic differentials were more highly correlated with both global attitude and behavioral intention when completed under the affective instructions than under the cognitive instructions. In addition, donors’ and non-donors’ attitudes on the semantic differential scales were distinguished from one another only when they were elicited under the affective instruction set. Results provide support for the tripartite model of attitude structure. Future research should examine the relative importance of affect and cognition in less emotion-laden domains.
The Role of Familiarity Among Group Members in Collaborative Inhibition and Social Contagion
Authors: Peker Müjde , Tekcan Ali İ.
Published: July 2009

The present study looks at the effects of familiarity among group members on collaborative inhibition, false memory creation, and social contagion. Friend, nonfriend (adhoc) and nominal three-person groups studied categorized wordlists, followed by free recall and recognition tests, including remember/know judgments. Friend and nonfriend group members were asked to engage in collaborative recall, while nominal group members were tested individually. Results showed that collaborative inhibition was evident among friend and nonfriend groups. However, these detrimental effects of collaboration disappeared during recognition judgments. In terms of susceptibility to false memory creation, it was found that friend groups showed higher levels of social contagion and made more know than remember judgments than nonfriend and nominal group members. These findings suggest that friend group members took the veracity of others’ memories for granted and were less able to make clear distinctions between what they did and did not see. The findings are discussed in relation to the lasting effects of collaboration and social pressures on group recall among friend and nonfriend groups.
The Role of Narratorship and Expertise in Social Remembering
Authors: Brown Adam D. , Coman Alin , Hirst William
Published: July 2009

Are individuals more likely to serve as a vehicle for social contagion because they are perceived as experts or because they talk a lot? This study parses the contribution of expertise and narratorship by asking groups of three or four individuals to study variants of a curriculum vitae (CV) and then to recall the CV individually, as a group, and once again individually, with a recognition test following the final recall. The group was falsely led to believe that one member had expertise. Narratorship was also determined. Expertise and Narratorship contributed independently to critical false recollections, with Narratorship contributing more than Expertise. The way a conversation unfolds and the emergence of a narrator can reshape memories.
Conscientization of Social Cryptomnesia Reduces Hostile Sexism and Rejection of Feminists
Authors: Vernet Jean-Pierre , Vala Jorge , Amâncio Ligia , Butera Fabrizio
Published: July 2009

This paper develops a hypothesis concerning the conscientization of social cryptomnesia, claiming that it is possible to reduce the rejection of minorities by reminding the population that a certain value has been promoted by a certain minority. Participants (N = 93) first reported their attitudes toward women’s rights and feminist movements. They were then confronted with their higher appreciation of women’s rights over feminists (social cryptomnesia) and blamed for it (conscientization) in a more versus less threatening manner. Results indicated that conscientization can be effective not only in inducing a more positive attitude toward feminists, but also in decreasing hostile sexism when the threat is lower. Implications for minority influence research are discussed.
Audience-Tuning Effects on Memory
Authors: Echterhoff Gerald , Lang Sonja , Krämer Nicole , Higgins E. Tory
Published: July 2009

After tuning messages to their audience’s attitude, communicators’ subsequent memories for the topic are often biased toward their audience-congruent messages. In the context of personnel assessment in an organization, we examined the role of audience characteristics in this audience-tuning effect. Student communicators tuned their description of an employee to either an equal-status audience (a student temp) or a higher-status audience (a company board member). Audience-tuning occurred under both conditions, but a memory bias was found only in the equal-status condition. This audience-status effect was mediated by epistemic and relational trust in the audience. Apparently, the equal-status audience, while lacking domain-specific expertise, qualifies as a more trustworthy partner in creating a shared reality, which fulfills both epistemic and affiliative motives.
Remembering
Authors: Blank Hartmut
Published: July 2009

There is increasing awareness that memory is embedded in social context and subject to social influence, with little concomitant theoretical integration of memory and social psychological thinking. Following a brief classification of social memory phenomena, I attempt such an integration through an extended conception of memory retrieval – inspired by social psychological theorizing – that describes the conversion of accessed memory information into memory beliefs (validation stage) and further into memory statements (communication stage). Both stages draw on external context, including social influence: Broadly, informational influence shapes memory beliefs, and normative influence memory statements. Apart from deepening our understanding of memory retrieval and social memory, this model propagates the further use of social psychology to analyse memory phenomena.
Heat flux across the surface of a macrotidal flat in southwest Korea
Authors: Kim Tae‐Wan , Cho Yang‐Ki
Published: July 2009

Temporal‐spatial variations of heat fluxes between the tidal flat and seawater or atmosphere across the surface of a tidal flat were investigated from observed sediment, seawater, and atmosphere temperatures. The tidal flat receives heat from seawater during morning inundation, while heat exchange is reversed during afternoon inundation. Heat fluxes at tidal flat and seawater or atmosphere interface have a good relationship with exposure time in each station. Heat exchange between the tidal flat and seawater or atmosphere over the entire tidal flat was estimated from the correlation between heat flux and exposure time. In spring, summer, and autumn, the tidal flat gained mean heat of 2.352, 0.949, and 0.899 MJ m−2 from the atmosphere over each daytime exposure but lost 1.904, 0.955, and 1.680 MJ m−2 over each nighttime exposure, respectively. In spring, summer, and autumn, the tidal flat gained mean heat of 0.459, 0.336, and 0.601 MJ m−2 from seawater over each morning inundations and supplied mean heat of 0.530, 0.364, and 0.505 MJ m−2 to seawater over each afternoon inundation, respectively.
Periodicity in Saturn's magnetosphere: Plasma cam
Authors: Burch J. L. , DeJong A. D. , Goldstein J. , Young D. T.
Published: July 2009

Plasma ion data from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) are examined for all orbits from October 25, 2004 through Dec. 26, 2007. To eliminate effects of incomplete angular coverage, data are only used from the CAPS anode that is closest to viewing into the corotational flow and within 20° of that flow. The data are plotted in the SKR‐based SLS3 longitude system. The result is a cam‐shaped distribution in radial distance and SLS3 that has an outer lobe extending beyond 20 RS at SLS3 longitudes in the range ∼270° − 50°. The western edge of this outer lobe maps to the inner extent of a previously observed spiral pattern of periodic ion enhancements, which had the magnetic signature of plasmoids at distances >35 Rs. The plasma cam and the plasmoid spiral emanating from it are responsible for plasma periodicities observed at radial distances beyond ∼15 Rs in Saturn's magnetosphere.
A revised accumulated cyclone energy index
Authors: Yu Jia‐Yuh , Chou Chia , Chiu Ping‐Gin
Published: July 2009

A new estimate of the wind energy associated with a tropical cyclone (TC), along with the revised accumulated cyclone energy (RACE) index, is introduced in this paper. In contrast to the conventional means employed in computing the ACE index, in which the wind energy is measured at the radius of maximum wind, the new estimate considers the mean wind energy averaged over a circular area based on the modified Rankine vortex structure. An examination of the seasonal TC activity using the JTWC best‐track records over the western North Pacific suggests that, as long as there is a strong variability in TC activity (characterized by a substantial year‐to‐year variability in the RACE/ACE time series), employing a more precise estimate of the cyclone wind energy is not just physically reasonable, it can also be practically useful.
Geotail observations of plasma sheet ion composition over 16 years: On variations of average plasma ion mass and O+ triggering substorm model
Authors: Nosé M. , Ieda A. , Christon S. P.
Published: July 2009

We examined long‐term variations of ion composition in the plasma sheet, using energetic (9.4–212.1 keV/e) ion flux data obtained by the suprathermal ion composition spectrometer (STICS) sensor of the energetic particle and ion composition (EPIC) instrument on board the Geotail spacecraft. EPIC/STICS observations are available from 17 October 1992 for more than 16 years, covering the declining phase of solar cycle 22, all of solar cycle 23, and the early phase of solar cycle 24. This unprecedented long‐term data set revealed that (1) the He+/H+ and O+/H+ flux ratios in the plasma sheet were dependent on the F10.7 index; (2) the F10.7 index dependence is stronger for O+/H+ than He+/H+; (3) the O+/H+ flux ratio is also weakly correlated with the ΣKp index; and (4) the He2+/H+ flux ratio in the plasma sheet appeared to show no long‐term trend. From these results, we derived empirical equations related to plasma sheet ion composition and the F10.7 index and estimated that the average plasma ion mass changes from ∼1.1 amu during solar minimum to ∼2.8 amu during solar maximum. In such a case, the Alfvén velocity during solar maximum decreases to ∼60% of the solar minimum value. Thus, physical processes in the plasma sheet are considered to be much different between solar minimum and solar maximum. We also compared long‐term variation of the plasma sheet ion composition with that of the substorm occurrence rate, which is evaluated by the number of Pi2 pulsations. No correlation or negative correlation was found between them. This result contradicts the O+ triggering substorm model, in which heavy ions in the plasma sheet increase the growth rate of the linear ion tearing mode and play an important role in localization and initiation of substorms. In contrast, O+ ions in the plasma sheet may prevent occurrence of substorms.
NNZ-2566, a Glypromate Analog, Attenuates Brain Ischemia-Induced Non-Convulsive Seizures in Rats
Authors: Lu Xi-Chun M , Si Yuanzheng , Williams Anthony J , Hartings Jed A , Gryder Divina , Tortella Frank C
Published: July 2009

Ischemic and traumatic brain injuries often induce non-convulsive seizures (NCSs), which likely contribute to the worsening of neurological outcomes. Here, we evaluated the effect of glycyl-l-methylprolyl-l-glutamic acid (NNZ-2566) to lessen the severity of NCSs caused by permanent middle cerebral artery occlusion (pMCAo). Continuous electroencephalographic recordings were performed in rats during pMCAo. Glycyl-l-methylprolyl-l-glutamic acid (3, 10, or 100 mg/kg bolus followed by an infusion of a fixed dose of 3 mg/kg per hour for 12 h) was delivered at 20 mins after pMCAo (before the first NCS event) or delayed until immediately after the first NCS event occurred. Control rats received pMCAo and saline treatment. The results revealed that 91% of the saline-treated animals had NCSs (23 episodes per rat and 1238 secs per rat) with an onset latency of 35 mins after injury. When NNZ-2566 was administered before the NCS events, it dose-dependently reduced the NCS incidence to 36%–80%, decreased NCS frequency to 5–16 episodes per rat, and shortened the total duration of NCS to 251–706 secs per rat. The two high doses significantly reduced the infarct volume by 28%–30%. Delayed treatment also attenuated NCS duration but had no effect on the infarct volume. Results indicate that NNZ-2566 possesses a unique therapeutic potential as a safe prophylactic agent that synergistically provides neuroprotection and reduces injury-induced seizures.
An Advanced Clinical Ontology
Authors: Mizoguchi Riichiro , Kou Hiroko , Zhou Jun , Kozaki Kouji , Imai Ken , Ohe Kazuhiko
Published: July 2009

This article discusses a fundamental issues of medical ontology based on ontological theory. We focus on "anatomical structure of organs" and "abnormal states in the human body". On the basis of the investigation, we distinguish organ-specific types from those independent of any organ to maximize the explicitness of ontology. The next feature of our ontology is to allow on-demand reorganization of is-a hierarchy of diseases instead of one fixed hierarchy to cope with various viewpoints which physician might have. We also take care of the notorious issue related to conflict of is-a and part-of relations.
Identification of Children With Language Impairment: Investigating the Classification Accuracy of the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories, Level III
Authors: Skarakis-Doyle Elizabeth , Campbell Wenonah , Dempsey Lynn
Published: July 2009

Purpose

This study tested the accuracy with which the MacArthur–Bates Communicative Development Inventories, Level III (CDI–III), a parent report measure of language ability, discriminated children with language impairment from those developing language typically.

Method

Parents of 58 children, 49 with typically developing language (age 30 to 42 months) and 9 with language impairment (age 31 to 45 months) completed the CDI–III, a 2-page questionnaire that includes 100 vocabulary items, 12 sentence pairs, and 12 questions regarding linguistic concepts.

Results

A discriminant analysis indicated that the CDI–III total score together with age classified children into language status groups with 96.6% accuracy overall. The corresponding likelihood ratios supported this strong level of accuracy, although precision may not be as high as indicated by broad confidence intervals.

Conclusions

Results of this study contribute to the accumulating evidence on the types of valid inferences that may be made from the CDI–III, specifically its classification accuracy. Further research should continue to investigate classification accuracy in larger samples with broader maternal education levels and with different types of language impairments. Additional research should also investigate the classification accuracy when the CDI–III is used in combination with other tests.
Evaluation of a Deductive Procedure to Teach Grammatical Inflections to Children With Language Impairment
Authors: Finestack Lizbeth H. , Fey Marc E.
Published: July 2009

Purpose

To evaluate the learning effects of a deductive language-teaching procedure when teaching a novel gender agreement verb inflection to children with language impairment.

Method

Thirty-two 6–8-year-old children with language impairment were randomly assigned to either a deductive (
N
= 16) or an inductive (
N
= 16) treatment group. In the deductive treatment, the examiner presented a rule guiding the novel inflection to be learned as well as models of the inflection. In the inductive treatment, only models of the verb inflection were presented. Learning was assessed in 3 different production contexts during each of 4 treatment sessions.

Results

Significantly more participants in the deductive group than the inductive group acquired the novel morpheme based on a teaching probe (10 vs. 3), generalization probe (10 vs. 3), and maintenance probe (7 vs. 2). Task performance was not significantly influenced by language ability or nonverbal intelligence.

Conclusions

The deductive teaching procedure was found to be efficacious when teaching a novel grammatical inflection. However, this effect was limited because treatment gains varied across participants, testing contexts, and sessions. Future studies should continue to examine the efficacy of deductive procedures when integrated into traditional implicit approaches for children with language impairment.
The Expressive Elaboration of Imaginative Narratives by Children With Specific Language Impairment
Authors: Ukrainetz Teresa A. , Gillam Ronald B.
Published: July 2009

Purpose

This study investigated the expressive elaboration of narratives from children with specific language impairment (SLI).

Method

Forty-eight 6- and 8-year-old children with SLI were compared with forty-eight 6- and 8-year-old typical language (TL) children. Two imaginative narratives were scored for 14 elements of expressive elaboration in 3 categories. A subset of simple elements was analyzed separately. The effect of adult models and context was also considered.

Results

Children with SLI (whether 6 or 8 years of age) and younger TL children produced stories with significantly fewer appendages (e.g., Abstract, Coda), orientations (e.g., name, personality feature), and evaluations (e.g., interesting modifier, dialogue) than older TL children. The children with SLI and younger children showed significantly poorer performance even on simple elements such as character names and repetition (
He ran and ran
). Children with SLI, although performing lower than their TL age peers, demonstrated improvements from the 1st to the 2nd fictional story. Children with SLI were not differentially affected by the adult models.

Conclusion

This study shows that expressive elaboration of narratives is sensitive to age- and language-level differences. The results suggest that children with SLI need guidance on artful storytelling, even for simple story elements.
The Growth of Tense Productivity
Authors: Rispoli Matthew , Hadley Pamela A. , Holt Janet K.
Published: July 2009

Purpose

This study tests empirical predictions of a maturational model for the growth of tense in children younger than 36 months using a type-based productivity measure.

Method

Caregiver–child language samples were collected from 20 typically developing children every 3 months from 21 to 33 months of age. Growth in the productivity of tense morphemes, centered at 21 months, was examined using hierarchical linear modeling. The empirical Bayes residuals from 21- to 30-month productivity growth trajectories predicted children’s accuracy of tense marking at 33 months.

Results

A random effects quadratic growth model with no intercept best characterized the growth of tense marking between 21 and 30 months. Average development was characterized by slow instantaneous linear growth of less than 1 morpheme per month at 21 months and acceleration overall. Significant variation around this trend was also evident. Children’s linear and quadratic empirical Bayes residuals together predicted 33-month accuracy scores (
r
= .672,
p
= .008).

Conclusions

Acceleration and variation about this trend are consistent with maturational models of language acquisition. With an empirically sound characterization of early variation in morphosyntactic growth rates, future investigations can more rigorously test hypotheses regarding biological, environmental, and developmental contributions to the acquisition of morphosyntax.
Evaluation of the precursor decay anomaly in single crystal lithium fluoride
Authors: Sano Yukio , Sano Tomokazu
Published: July 2009

To decide whether many dislocations are generated in lithium fluoride (LiF IIIb) and to examine whether the precursor decay anomaly exists, an equation that predicts the dislocation densities on the precursor decay curve without using any modeled dislocation generation rate has been derived. The value of the density of at most about 2.0×1012m−2 evaluated on the decay curve in the material IIIb for a projectile velocity of 340m∕s indicates that extremely many dislocations are not generated in the material. This value is not significantly larger than the value of about 1010m−2 measured at a projectile velocity of 186m∕s. It is inferred from the evaluated value of 2.0×1012m−2 that the measured value of 1010m−2 is not unreasonable and therefore that the precursor decay anomaly does not exist. In addition, it has been revealed that dislocation densities largely increase on the decay curve.
Bendable high-frequency microwave switches formed with single-crystal silicon nanomembranes on plastic substrates
Authors: Yuan Hao-Chih , Qin Guoxuan , Celler George K. , Ma Zhenqiang
Published: July 2009

This letter presents realization of bendable rf switches operating at microwave frequencies formed with single-crystal Si nanomembranes (SiNMs) on a plastic substrate. Selectively doped 200-nm-thick SiNM is lifted off from silicon-on-insulator and transferred to a polymer substrate to form lateral P-intrinsic-N (PIN) diodes with minimized parasitic resistances. A single-pole single-throw switch, consisting of two PIN diodes connected in a shunt-series configuration, demonstrated very low insertion loss and high isolation from dc up to 20 GHz. The level of performance indicates a promise of properly processed single-crystal semiconductor nanomembranes for high-frequency applications in a number of consumer and military systems.
Protonation of O2 adsorbed on a Pt3 island supported on transition metal surfaces
Authors: Sotelo Juan C. , Seminario Jorge M.
Published: July 2009

The reduction in oxygen on bimetallic tips XSPt3 (XS=Co3, Ni3, Pt6, Co3Pt3) in aqueous acid medium is studied. It is found that a locally neutral neighborhood of an active site in the bimetallic tip as well as adduct hydration assist in the protonation. It is concluded that metallic tips of Pt, Co3Pt, and Co are comparable in performance for the oxygen reduction reaction. For an adduct, the larger the bonding energy of the Pt3-island to the (XS) substrate, the more charged the oxygen molecule becomes for different levels of protonation. Furthermore, if a hydroxyl OOH group is formed as a result of protonation, the interaction of the cation with O2 decreases with increasing level of hydration.
Improving imaging resolution of a phononic crystal lens by employing acoustic surface waves
Authors: He Zhaojian , Li Xiaochun , Mei Jun , Liu Zhengyou
Published: July 2009

We demonstrate that by adding a modulation on the surface of a two-dimensional phononic crystal (PC), acoustic surface waves can be induced on the surface. Taking advantage of the surface waves, the imaging quality of a PC lens, which utilizes the negative refraction of acoustic waves, can be greatly improved. It is shown by numerical simulation that for a point acoustic source, an image with a lateral size of 0.35λ is formed.
Photoelectric effects of ultraviolet fast response and high sensitivity in LiNbO3 single crystal
Authors: Guo Er-Jia , Xing Jie , Jin Kui-Juan , Lu Hui-Bin , Wen Juan , Yang Guo-Zhen
Published: July 2009

The photoelectric effects in LiNbO3 (LNO) single crystal have been systematically studied with the two kinds of LNO wafers of tilt of 10° and untilted at the ambient temperature. The ultrafast response photoelectric effect of 120 ps rise time was observed in 10° tilted LNO single crystal with a 266 nm laser pulse of 25 ps duration. The photocurrent responsivity of untilted LNO with an interdigitated electrode of 10 μm finger width and 10 μm interspacing is 17.1 mA/W under the irradiation of 300 nm wavelength UV light at 10 V bias. The noise current under sunlight is only 73 pA at 10 V bias. The experimental results suggest that the LNO single crystal is one of the promising materials for photodetectors working in UV region.
Piezoelectric dispenser based on a piezoelectric-metal-cavity actuator
Authors: Lam K. H. , Sun C. L. , Kwok K. W. , Chan H. L. W
Published: July 2009

A piezoelectric dispenser has been fabricated based on the idea of a piezoelectric-metal-cavity (PMC) actuator. The PMC actuator consists of a metal ring sandwiched between two identical piezoelectric unimorphs. The radial contraction of the piezoelectric ceramic is converted into a flextensional motion of the unimorph, causing a large flexural displacement in the center part of the actuator. With the PMC actuator as a fluid chamber, the large flexural actuation can be used to produce the displacement needed to eject fluid. By applying an appropriate voltage to the piezoelectric unimorphs, a drop-on-demand ejection of ink or water can be achieved. The efficiency of fluid ejection can be enhanced after installing a valve in the fluid chamber. With the simple PMC structure, the dispenser can be operated with a low driving voltage of 12–15 V.
Study of molecular spin-crossover complex Fe(phen)2(NCS)2 thin films
Authors: Shi S. , Schmerber G. , Arabski J. , Beaufrand J.-B. , Kim D. J. , Boukari S. , Bowen M. , Kemp N. T. , Viart N. , Rogez G. , Beaurepaire E. , Aubriet H. , Petersen J. , Becker C. , Ruch D.
Published: July 2009

We report on the growth by evaporation under high vacuum of high-quality thin films of Fe(phen)2(NCS)2 (phen=1,10-phenanthroline) that maintain the expected electronic structure down to a thickness of 10 nm and that exhibit a temperature-driven spin transition. We have investigated the current-voltage characteristics of a device based on such films. From the space charge-limited current regime, we deduce a mobility of 6.5×10−6 cm2/V s that is similar to the low-range mobility measured on the widely studied tris(8-hydroxyquinoline)aluminum organic semiconductor. This work paves the way for multifunctional molecular devices based on spin-crossover complexes.
Effect of pollen load, self-pollination and plant size on seeds and germination in the endangered pink-lipped spider orchid, Caladenia behrii
Authors: Petit Sophie , Jusaitis Manfred , Bickerton Doug
Published: July 2009

Caladenia behrii Schltdl. (Orchidaceae) (syn. Arachnorchis behrii) is a sexually deceptive, endangered orchid that produces aggregated pollen as pollinia. It is pollinated by a thynnine wasp, and may also be pollinated incidentally by other insects. Pollinator effectiveness may depend on the number of pollinia that pollinators carry and deposit, and on whether they mediate cross-pollination or self-pollination. To understand the role of pollinators and guide conservation programs, we determined the effect of pollen load (one pollinium v. two pollinia) and self-pollination on seed number, seed (embryo) size and germination at 35 days. We also examined the effect of plant size on seed size and seed number. By using partial correlations with leaf width, seed size, seed number, capsule volume and stem length, we found that leaf width was a good predictor for seed number, and that seed size was not correlated with any of the variables examined. Flowers pollinated with one pollinium and two pollinia did not produce seeds that differed in size or number. Cross-pollinated flowers produced fewer but larger seeds, which germinated faster than did seeds from self-pollinated flowers. We conclude that seed production in the field may be estimated from leaf size, that pollinators carrying one pollinium are as effective as those carrying two pollinia and that selfing affects germination negatively, partly because of the smaller size of selfed seeds. Conservation programs aiming to perform hand-pollination of this species should use crossing with a single pollinium.
A
Burkholderia pseudomallei
protein microarray reveals serodiagnostic and cross-reactive antigens
Authors: Felgner Philip L. , Kayala Matthew A. , Vigil Adam , Burk Chad , Nakajima-Sasaki Rie , Pablo Jozelyn , Molina Douglas M. , Hirst Siddiqua , Chew Janet S. W. , Wang Dongling , Tan Gladys , Duffield Melanie , Yang Ron , Neel Julien , Chantratita Narisara , Bancroft Greg , Lertmemongkolchai Ganjana , Davies D. Huw , Baldi Pierre , Peacock Sharon , Titball Richard W.
Published: July 2009

Understanding the way in which the immune system responds to infection is central to the development of vaccines and many diagnostics. To provide insight into this area, we fabricated a protein microarray containing 1,205
Burkholderia pseudomallei
proteins, probed it with 88 melioidosis patient sera, and identified 170 reactive antigens. This subset of antigens was printed on a smaller array and probed with a collection of 747 individual sera derived from 10 patient groups including melioidosis patients from Northeast Thailand and Singapore, patients with different infections, healthy individuals from the USA, and from endemic and nonendemic regions of Thailand. We identified 49 antigens that are significantly more reactive in melioidosis patients than healthy people and patients with other types of bacterial infections. We also identified 59 cross-reactive antigens that are equally reactive among all groups, including healthy controls from the USA. Using these results we were able to devise a test that can classify melioidosis positive and negative individuals with sensitivity and specificity of 95% and 83%, respectively, a significant improvement over currently available diagnostic assays. Half of the reactive antigens contained a predicted signal peptide sequence and were classified as outer membrane, surface structures or secreted molecules, and an additional 20% were associated with pathogenicity, adaptation or chaperones. These results show that microarrays allow a more comprehensive analysis of the immune response on an antigen-specific, patient-specific, and population-specific basis, can identify serodiagnostic antigens, and contribute to a more detailed understanding of immunogenicity to this pathogen.
Epistasis between the DAT 3′ UTR VNTR and the COMT Val158Met SNP on cortical function in healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia
Authors: Prata Diana P. , Mechelli Andrea , Fu Cynthia H. Y. , Picchioni Marco , Toulopoulou Timothea , Bramon Elvira , Walshe Muriel , Murray Robin M. , Collier David A. , McGuire Philip
Published: July 2009

Dopamine has a crucial role in the modulation of neurocognitive function, and synaptic dopamine activity is normally regulated by the dopamine transporter (DAT) and catechol-
O
-methyltransferase (COMT). Perturbed dopamine function is a key pathophysiological feature of schizophrenia. Our objectives were (
i
) to examine epistasis between the DAT 3′ UTR variable number of tandem repeats (VNTR) and COMT Val158Met polymorphisms on brain activation during executive function, and (
ii
) to then determine the extent to which such interaction is altered in schizophrenia. Regional brain response was measured by using blood-oxygen-level-dependent fMRI during an overt verbal fluency task in 85 subjects (44 healthy volunteers and 41 patients with DSM-IV schizophrenia), and inferences were estimated by using an ANOVA in SPM5. There was a significant COMT × DAT nonadditive interaction effect on activation in the left supramarginal gyrus, irrespective of diagnostic group (Z-score = 4.3; family-wise error (FWE) p = 0.03), and in healthy volunteers alone (Z-score = 4.7; FWEp = 0.006). In this region, relatively increased activation was detected only when COMT Met-158/Met-158 subjects also carried the 9-repeat DAT allele, or when, reversely, Val-158/Val-158 subjects carried the 10/10-repeat genotype. Also, there was a significant diagnosis × COMT × DAT nonadditive interaction in the right orbital gyrus (Z-score = 4.3; FWEp = 0.04), where, only within patients, greater activation was only associated with a 9-repeat allele and Val-158 conjunction, and with a 10-repeat and Met-158 conjunction (Z-score = 4.3; FWE p = 0.04). These data demonstrate that COMT and DAT genes interact nonadditively to modulate cortical function during executive processing, and also, that this effect is significantly altered in schizophrenia, which may reflect abnormal dopamine function in the disorder.
Drosophila O
-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) is encoded by the
Polycomb
group (PcG) gene,
super sex combs
(
sxc
)
Authors: Sinclair Donald A. R. , Syrzycka Monika , Macauley Matthew S. , Rastgardani Tara , Komljenovic Ivana , Vocadlo David J. , Brock Hugh W. , Honda Barry M.
Published: July 2009

O
-linked
N
-acetylglucosamine transferase (OGT) reversibly modifies serine and threonine residues of many intracellular proteins with a single β-
O
-linked
N
-acetylglucosamine residue (
O
-GlcNAc), and has been implicated in insulin signaling, neurodegenerative disease, cellular stress response, and other important processes in mammals. OGT also glycosylates RNA polymerase II and various transcription factors, which suggests that it might be directly involved in transcriptional regulation. We report here that the
Drosophila
OGT is encoded by the Polycomb group (PcG) gene,
super sex combs
(
sxc
). Furthermore, major sites of
O
-GlcNAc modification on polytene chromosomes correspond to PcG protein binding sites. Our results thus suggest a direct role for
O
-linked glycosylation by OGT in PcG-mediated epigenetic gene silencing, which is important in developmental regulation, stem cell maintenance, genomic imprinting, and cancer. In addition, we observe rescue of
sxc
lethality by a human
Ogt
cDNA transgene; thus
Drosophila
may provide an ideal model to study important functional roles of OGT in mammals.