bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Book Review: Neural Connections and Receptive Field Properties in the Primary Visual Cortex
Authors: Alonso Jose-Manuel
Published: April 2009

A cubic millimeter of primary visual cortex contains about 100,000 neurons that are heavily interconnected by intrinsic and extrinsic afferents. The effort of many neuroanatomists over the past has revealed the general outline of these connections; however, their function remains a mystery. Recently, combined physiological and anatomical approaches are beginning to reveal the role of these connections in the generation of cortical receptive fields. A common theme emerges from all these studies: cortical connections are remarkably specific and this specificity is determined in great extent by the type of connection and the neuronal response properties. Feedforward connections follow relatively rigid rules of wiring selectively targeting neurons with receptive fields matched in position and contrast polarity (thalamus—cortical layer 4) or position and orientation selectivity (layer 4—layers 2 + 3). In contrast, horizontal connections follow more flexible rules connecting distant cells that are not retinotopically aligned and neighboring cells with different orientation preferences. These differences in connectivity may give a hint on how visual stimuli are processed in the primary visual cortex. An attractive hypothesis is that local stimuli use the highly selective feedforward inputs to reliably drive cortical neurons while background stimuli modulate their activity through more flexible horizontal (and feedback) connections.
Stiff-Man Syndrome: GABA, GAD, and Mechanisms of Disease
Authors: Murinson Beth Brianna
Published: April 2009

Stiff-man syndrome (SMS) is a rare disease of progressive muscle stiffness, most common in middle age, often associated with autoimmunity to glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and responsive to treatment with GABA agonists. Diagnosis is established by clinical characteristics and confirmed by EMG or antibody testing. Anti-GAD antibodies are present in 60% of those with SMS and antiamphiphysin antibodies are found in fewer than 10%. The production of antibodies has an unclear relationship to the pathological processes of the disease. GABA receptors and GABA receptor mRNAs are found in high density in the spinal cord laminae and identify possible sites of dys-function in SMS. At some spinal cord synapses, GABA co-localizes with glycine, a neurotransmitter implicated in hyperekplexia. Failure of spinal cord reflexes explains the symptoms of SMS, but electrophysiological studies have not yet identified a single locus of inhibitory failure. Immunomodulation may alter the disease course, but consistently effective treatments for SMS await development.
Evolution of Brain Structures and Adaptive Behaviors in Humans and Other Animals: Role of Polymorphic Genetic Variations
Authors: Bittner George D. , Friedman Barry X.
Published: April 2009

One important goal of neuroscientists is to eventually understand complex behavioral adaptations of humans and other animals as explained by the structure and function of their brain tissues and principles of evolutionary biology. To this end, the dominant model in evolutionary psychology assumes that complex adaptations involving brain or any other tissue are precisely crafted for a specific function and are produced by genes whose alleles all have equal fitness (genetic homomorphism) because sexual recombination would disrupt adaptations produced by genes whose alleles have unequal fitness (genetic polymorphism). This genetically zoomorphic model maintains that humans and other animals have evolved universal neuronal circuits and behavioral adaptations, which in their sum constitute a species-typical nature (a universal human nature for Homo sapiens), and that almost all variation in adaptive behavior among same-sex individuals is due to environmental effects. Alternatively, we assert that a review of currently available data in neuroscience, biology, and psychology strongly suggests that complex adaptations involving brain and other tissues have many imperfections, different functions in different environments, and much polymorphism genetic variation. Our genetically polymorphic model accounts for all these data and predicts that humans and other animal species have evolved many nonuniversal complex behaviors (multiple species-typical behaviors or “human natures”) that differ genetically between males and females, as well as within males and within females. Variability in same-sex behavior is therefore due to both environmental and genetic variation. Our genetically polymorphic model reconciles fundamental assumptions of evolutionary psychology with basic principles of evolutionary biology, behavioral genetics, and neuroscience.
Gene Chips: Applications to Neuroscience
Authors: Fields R. Douglas , Ozsarac Nesrin
Published: April 2009

A convergence between molecular biological technique and the technology of miniaturization has produced the “gene chip” or microhybridization array. This device multiplies by several thousand fold the power of the northern blot for studying gene expression. Now, it is possible to survey simultaneously a large fraction of all genes in an experimental organism, and within a few years all of the approximately 140,000 human genes will be within reach of the technique. This capability is not only accelerating the rate of research into gene expression and function, it is changing the perspective of inquiry from single genes in isolation to networks of genes operating as a system. Many neurological diseases, from hydrocephalus to schizophrenia, have a genetic component, and individual responses to therapeutic drugs can vary with the genetic background of patients. In neurology and neurobiology, the ability to obtain “gene expression profiles” from nervous tissue promises to illuminate interactions between neuronal genes and the environment, development, disease, aging, and response to drugs and injury.
Comparative Views of Adult Neurogenesis
Authors: Hastings Nicholas B. , Tanapat Patima , Gould Elizabeth
Published: April 2009

Traditional views maintain that the generation of neurons within the mammalian brain is restricted to a discrete developmental period. This perspective has undergone significant revision during the later half of this century, culminating recently with the demonstration of neurogenesis in the brains of adult primates, including humans. Although it is becoming increasingly clear that adult neurogenesis represents an important mode of structural modification for the adult brain, its functional significance has not been determined. The production and survival of new neurons in the adult mammalian brain is regulated by both experiential and neuroendocrine factors, suggesting that adult-generated neurons may serve as a substrate by which these cues influence normal brain function. This article reviews significant advances that have led to the discovery of neurogenesis in adult mammals and examines comparative data suggesting that adult neurogenesis may play a role in certain forms of learning. Neural activity associated with behavioral experience is known to result in changes in brain structure and connectivity, for example, by modifying synapse number, axonal sprouting, dendrite length and branching, or synaptic strength. In the case of adult neurogenesis, experience may shape neural networks by directing the production and connectivity of whole cell populations.
Iron in the Brain: An Important Contributor in Normal and Diseased States
Authors: Piñero Domingo J. , Connor James R.
Published: April 2009

Iron is essential for normal neurological function because of its role in oxidative metabolism and because it is a cofactor in the synthesis of neurotransmitters and myelin. In the past several years, there has been increased attention to the importance of oxidative stress in the central nervous system. Iron is the most important inducer of reactive oxygen species, therefore, the relation of iron to neurodegenerative processes is more appreciated today than it was a few years ago. Nevertheless, despite this increased attention and awareness, our knowledge of iron metabolism in the brain at the cellular and molecular levels is still limited. Iron is distributed in a heterogeneous fashion among the different regions and cells of the brain. This regional and cellular heterogeneity is preserved across many species. Brain iron concentrations are not static; they increase with age and in many diseases and decrease when iron is deficient in the diet. In infants and children, insufficient iron in the diet is associated with decreased brain iron and with changes in behavior and cognitive functioning. Abnormal iron accumulation in the diseased brain areas and, in some cases, alterations in iron-related proteins have been reported in many neurodegenerative diseases, including Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Friedreich’s ataxia. There is strong evidence for iron-mediated oxidative damage as a primary contributor to cell death in these disorders. Demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, especially warrant study in relation to iron availability. Myelin synthesis and maintenance have a high iron requirement, thus, oligodendrocytes must have a relatively high and constant supply of iron. However, the high oxygen utilization, high density of lipids, and high iron content of white matter all combine to increase the risk of oxidative damage. We review here the current knowledge of the normal metabolism of iron in the brain and the suspected role of iron in neuropathology.
Neurobiological Substrates of Illiteracy
Authors: Castro-Caldas Alexandre , Reis Alexandra
Published: April 2009

Comparable subjects except for the knowledge of orthography and school attendance in the proper age provided the case material for a series of studies that are reviewed. The results suggest that the acquisition of orthographic skills provides a basis for changes in the pattern of activation of the brain.
Neuron: A Tool for Neuroscientists
Authors: Hines M. L. , Carnevale N. T.
Published: April 2009

NEURON is a simulation environment for models of individual neurons and networks of neurons that are closely linked to experimental data. NEURON provides tools for conveniently constructing, exercising, and managing models, so that special expertise in numerical methods or programming is not required for its productive use. This article describes two tools that address the problem of how to achieve computational efficiency and accuracy.
Sodium Channels and Neurological Disease: Insights from Scn8a Mutations in the Mouse
Authors: Meisler Miriam H. , Kearney Jennifer , Escayg Andrew , Macdonald Bryan T. , Sprunger Leslie K.
Published: April 2009

The human genome contains 10 voltage-gated sodium channel genes, 7 of which are expressed in neurons of the CNS and PNS. The availability of human genome sequences and high-throughput mutation screening methods make it likely that many human disease mutations will be identified in these genes in the near future. Mutations of Scn8a in the mouse demonstrate the broad spectrum of neurological disease that can result from different alleles of the same sodium channel gene. Null mutations of Scn8a produce motor neuron failure, loss of neuromuscular transmission, and lethal paralysis. Less severe mutations result in ataxia, tremor, muscle weakness, and dystonia. The effects of Scn8a mutations on channel properties have been studied in the Xenopusoocyte expression system and in neurons isolated from the mutant mice. The Scn8a mutations provide insight into the mode of inheritance, effect on neuronal sodium currents, and role of modifier genes in sodium channel disease, highlighting the ways in which mouse models of human mutations can be used in the future to understand the pathophysiology of human disease.
PTEN: A Newly Identified Regulator of Neuronal Differentiation
Authors: Ross Alonzo H. , Lachyankar Mahesh B. , Recht Lawrence D.
Published: April 2009

Even though phosphorylation of phosphatidylinositols by phosphoinositide 3-kinase has an important and pervasive role in the nervous system, little is known about the phosphatases that reverse this reaction. Recently, such a phosphatase, PTEN, was cloned as a tumor suppressor for gliomas. We now know that PTEN is a tumor suppressor for many tumor types and is a phosphatidylinositol phosphatase specific for the 3-position of the inositol ring. PTEN is expressed in most, if not all, neurons and is localized in the nucleus and cytoplasm. PTEN is not evident in neural processes or synapses. PTEN is induced during neuronal differentiation and is required for survival of differentiating neuronal cells. In summary, PTEN is a regulatory molecule with multiple functions at multiple subcellular sites. Further studies are required to determine which downstream pathways are regulated by PTEN, by which mechanisms PTEN activity is regulated, which stimuli regulate PTEN activity, and why a molecule that inhibits several survival pathways is induced during neurogenesis.
Book Review: Human Neocortical Development: The Importance of Embryonic and Early Fetal Events
Authors: Meyer Gundela
Published: April 2009

The identification of numerous genes involved in the development of the cerebral cortex has led to an increased interest in the early stages of corticogenesis, when the first postmitotic neurons migrate into the cortical plate to form the foundation of the adult cortex. However, the cellular substrate of gene expression in early human cortical development is widely unknown. This article analyzes the complex sequence of events in the differentiation of the preplate, the predecessor of the neocortex, and discusses the possible origin and migratory routes of the neuronal populations involved in the transition from preplate to cortical plate. The neuronal classes present in embryonic and early fetal stages are redefined in terms of their relationship with the Reelin-Dab1 signaling pathway whose integrity is essential for successful migration into the cortex. A timetable of developmental steps is provided, and the peculiarities of the preplate derivatives in the human brain, marginal zone, and subplate are discussed. The results presented here may contribute to a deeper understanding of the pathogenesis of migration disorders.
Book Review: Bridging Areas of Injury in the Spinal Cord
Authors: Bunge Mary Bartlett
Published: April 2009

There is a devastating loss of function when substantial numbers of axons are interrupted by injury to the spinal cord. This loss may be eventually reversed by providing bridging prostheses that will enable axons to regrow across the injury site and enter the spinal cord beyond. This review addresses the bridging strategies that are being developed in a number of spinal cord lesion models: complete and partial transection and cavities arising from contusion. Bridges containing peripheral nerve, Schwann cells, olfactory ensheathing glia, fetal tissue, stem cells/neuronal precursor cells, and macrophages are being evaluated as is the administration of neurotrophic factors, administered by infusion or secreted by genetically engineered cells. Biomaterials may be an important factor in developing successful strategies. Due to the complexity of the sequelae following spinal cord injury, no one strategy will be effective. The compelling question today is: What combinations of the strategies discussed, or new ones, along with an initial neuroprotective treatment, will substantially improve outcome after spinal cord injury?
Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy: What Have We Learned?
Authors: Engel Jerome
Published: April 2009

Mesial temporal lobe epilepsy is the most common form of human epilepsy, and its pathophysiological substrate is usually hippocampal sclerosis, the most common epileptogenic lesion encountered in patients with epilepsy. The disabling seizures associated with mesial temporal lobe epilepsy are typically resistant to antiepileptic drugs but can be abolished in most patients by surgical treatment. Anteromesial temporal resection, therefore, is the most common surgical procedure performed to treat epilepsy, and stereo-tactically implanted intracerebral electrodes are required in some patients to localize the epileptogenic region. This clinical setting provides a large number of patients for invasive in vivo research with microelectrode and microdialysis techniques and in vitro research following surgical resection on a single epileptic disorder. Consequently, much has now been learned about the fundamental neuronal mechanisms underlying the epileptogenic properties of the human hippocampus in mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Parallel reiterative studies in patients and animal models of this disorder indicate that enhanced inhibition, in addition to enhanced excitation, underlies the appearance of hypersynchronous neuronal discharges responsible for generating spontaneous seizures. Recent studies have elucidated what may be unique electrophysiological markers of epileptogenicity, which could have valuable diagnostic utility. Although basic research on mesial temporal lobe epilepsy may ultimately suggest novel approaches to treatment and prevention, attention must also be given to maximizing the application of available effective treatments. In particular, the safety and efficacy of surgical therapy has greatly improved in recent years, yet this alternative treatment remains seriously underutilized worldwide. An appropriate increase in referral of patients with this surgically remediable syndrome to epilepsy centers will not only relieve a great many patients of their disabling seizures and reduce the burden of epilepsy but will also provide increased opportunities for invasive research that could ultimately result in even more effective therapies or cures.
Book Review: Brain Function, Nonlinear Coupling, and Neuronal Transients
Authors: Friston Karl J.
Published: April 2009

The brain can be regarded as an ensemble of connected dynamical systems and as such conforms to some simple principles relating the inputs and outputs of its constituent parts. The ensuing implications, for the way we think about, and measure, neuronal interactions, can be quite profound. These range from 1) implications for which aspects of neuronal activity are important to measure and how to characterize coupling among neuronal populations; 2) implication for understanding the emergence of dynamic receptive fields and functionally specialized brain architectures; and 3) teleological implications pertaining to the genesis of dynamic instability and complexity, which is necessary for adaptive self-organization. This review focuses on the first set of implications by looking at neuronal interactions, coupling, and implicit neuronal codes from a dynamical perspective. By considering the brain in this light, one can show that a sufficient description of neuronal activity must comprise activity at the current time and its recent history. This history constitutes a neuronal transient. Such transients represent an essential metric of neuronal interactions and, implicitly, a code employed in the functional integration of brain systems. The nature of transients, expressed conjointly in different neuronal populations, reflects the underlying coupling among brain systems. A complete description of this coupling, or effective connectivity, can be expressed in terms of generalized convolution kernels (Volterra kernels) that embody high-order or nonlinear interactions. This coupling may be synchronous, and possibly oscillatory, or asynchronous. A critical distinction between synchronous and asynchronous coupling is that the former is essentially linear and the latter is nonlinear. The nonlinear nature of asynchronous coupling enables the rich, context-sensitive interactions that characterize real brain dynamics, suggesting that it plays an important role in functional integration.
Neuronal Dynamics of Predictive Coding
Authors: Mehta Mayank R.
Published: April 2009

A critical task of the central nervous system is to learn causal relationships between stimuli to anticipate events in the future, such as the position of a moving prey or predator. What are the neuronal phenomena underlying anticipation? In this article, I review recent results in hippocampal electrophysiology that shed light on this issue. It is shown that hippocampal spatial receptive fields show large and rapid anticipatory changes in their firing characteristics. These changes are experience- and environment-dependent and can be explained by a computational model based on NMDA-dependent synaptic plasticity during behavior. Striking similarities between the anticipatory network dynamics of widely different neural circuits, such as the hippocampus and primary visual cortex, are discussed. These experimental and theoretical results indicate how the microscopic laws of synaptic plasticity give rise to emergent anticipatory properties of receptive fields and behavior.
Book Review: Cortical Network Resonance and Motor Activity in Humans
Authors: Brown Peter , Marsden Jon F.
Published: April 2009

Large areas of the human motor cortex are devoted to the control of the contralateral hand and forearm. Just how activities scattered across these motor areas may be brought together in the execution of a given movement remains unclear. There is increasing evidence, largely from animal studies, suggesting that sensory integration involves the synchronization of activity between spatially distributed cortical sites. Here we review recent evidence that cortical activity becomes oscillatory and synchronized between spatially distributed sites during performance of a movement in humans. Cortico-cortical synchronization may occur with a precision in the millisecond range, is essentially limited to those cortical elements active in a given task, and changes in both its distribution and frequency in a task-related manner. Synchronization at specific frequencies may therefore link disparate cortical activities into the functional ensembles underlying voluntary movement in humans.
Book Review: Neuronal Tolerance to O2 Deprivation in Drosophila: Novel Approaches Using Genetic Models
Authors: Haddad Gabriel G. , Ma Enbo
Published: April 2009

In spite of many advances in monitoring oxygenation and preventing cerebro-vascular accidents, there is still considerable morbidity and mortality from conditions with cerebral blood flow impairment and O2 deprivation leading to hypoxic/ischemic brain injury. Part of this failure is related to the complexity of the cascade of events that ensue after hypoxia or ischemia, but also part of it may be related to the fact that most research in the previous few decades has focused, justifiably, on cerebral vessel disease. However, an important aspect of the cascade is dependent on many factors that are inherent to the nature and response of the tissue itself. Hence, there is more need now for a two-pronged approach to hypoxic/ischemic brain injury, one focusing on vessel disease, its prevention, and treatment, and the other centering on the brain tissue itself and the factors that render neurons and glia more susceptible or more tolerant to a lack of oxygenation. In the past several years, a number of methods, techniques, and animal models have been used to address the response of neurons and glia to lack of oxygen. In this review, we highlight some novel ideas and some results that we and others have obtained, mostly pertaining to the genetic endowment and responses of the central nervous system to O2 deprivation. The role and importance of genetic models, such as the Drosophila melanogaster, are discussed, and an example illustrating how to harness the power of Drosophila genetics is detailed.
Book Review: How Do We Tell Time?
Authors: Buonomano Dean V. , Karmarkar Uma R.
Published: April 2009

Animals time events on scales that range more than 10 orders of magnitude—from microseconds to days. This review focuses on timing that occurs in the range of tens to hundreds of milliseconds. It is within this range that virtually all the temporal cues for speech discrimination, and haptic and visual processing, occur. Additionally, on the motor side, it is on this scale that timing of fine motor movements takes place. To date, psychophysical data indicate that for many tasks there is a centralized timing mechanism, but that there are separate networks for different intervals. These data are supported by experiments that show that training to discriminate between two intervals generalizes to different modalities, but not different intervals. The mechanistic underpinnings of timing are not known. However various models have been proposed, they can be divided into labeled-line models and population clocks. In labeled-line models, different intervals are coded by activity in independent and discrete populations of neurons. In population models, time is coded by the population activity of a large group of neurons, and timing requires dynamic interaction between neurons. Population models are generally better suited for parallel processing of interval, duration, order, and sequence cues and are thus more likely to underlie timing in the range of tens to hundreds of milliseconds.
Book Review: Cortical Neurons That Localize Sounds
Authors: Middlebrooks John C. , Xu Li , Furukawa Shigeto , Macpherson Ewan A.
Published: April 2009

Efforts to locate a cortical map of auditory space generally have proven unsuccessful. At moderate sound levels, cortical neurons generally show large or unbounded spatial receptive fields. Within those large receptive fields, however, changes in sound location result in systematic changes in the temporal firing patterns such that single-neuron firing patterns can signal the locations of sound sources throughout as much as 360 degrees of auditory space. Neurons in the cat’s auditory cortex show accurate localization of broadband sounds, which human listeners localize accurately. Conversely, in response to filtered sounds that produce spatial illusions in human listeners, neurons signal systematically incorrect locations that can be predicted by a model that also predicts the listeners’ illusory reports. These results from the cat’s auditory cortex, as well as more limited results from nonhuman primates, suggest a model in which the location of any particular sound source is represented in a distributed fashion within individual auditory cortical areas and among multiple cortical areas.
Review: Electrodermal Responses: What Happens in the Brain
Authors: Critchley Hugo D.
Published: April 2009

Electrodermal activity (EDA) is now the preferred term for changes in electrical conductance of the skin, including phasic changes that have been referred to as galvanic skin responses (GSR), that result from sympathetic neuronal activity. EDA is a sensitive psychophysiological index of changes in autonomic sympathetic arousal that are integrated with emotional and cognitive states. Until recently there was little direct knowledge of brain mechanisms governing generation and control of EDA in humans. However, studies of patients with discrete brain lesions and, more recently, functional imaging techniques have clarified the contribution of brain regions implicated in emotion, attention, and cognition to peripheral EDA responses. Moreover, such studies enable an understanding of mechanisms by which states of bodily arousal, indexed by EDA, influence cognition and bias motivational behavior.
Motivations to Participate in Riparian Improvement Programs
Authors: Corbett Julia B.
Published: April 2009

This study utilized the theory of planned behavior, a model of attitudinal factors related to behavioral intention, to investigate the lack of participation in government-sponsored programs to conserve riparian areas. A telephone survey of 209 rural landowners whose property abutted a waterway revealed that financial motivations, past behaviors, exposure to government information, and self-efficacy predicted 29 percent of the variance in intent to participate in future conservation programs. The findings suggest that external constraints and social barriers (such as financial variables) are important moderators of perceived behavioral control and deserve closer scrutiny.
The Construction of Science and Knowledge in Courts
Authors: Woo Jisuk
Published: April 2009

This article examines how software copyright courts deal with the challenges posed by computer technology in their application and modification of rules regarding scientific evidence, especially in their choice between alternative ways for admitting and evaluating scientific knowledge and testimony. In the face of a technological challenge, courts are more likely to depend on external sources of technical authority. In this process, the conceptualization of what is science and scientific knowledge is constructed in a way that acknowledges expert testimony rather than layperson opinion and a computer developer's knowledge and skills rather than a user's knowledge and experience
Public, Science, and Cultural Distance
Authors: Raza Gauhar , Singh Surjit , Dutt Bharvi
Published: April 2009

This article attempts to define cultural distance and proposes a method to empirically measure it. Using the survey data on perceptions of common citizens, the authors measure this distance in this article by the number of years spent in formal schooling. Cultural distances based on people's explanations of various natural phenomena have been mapped to demonstrate efficacy of the proposed method. The authors argue that the determinants of the magnitude of the cultural distance are (1) the complexity involved in explaining a phenomenon, (2) its life cycle, (3) individual or a collective control that can be exercised to alter the life cycle, and (4) the intensity with which a phenomenon intervenes in the daily life of common citizens.
The Nature of Technology Transfer
Authors: Rogers Everett M.
Published: April 2009

Technology transfer, defined as the application of information into use, is often a difficult and frustrating process. Participants in the technology transfer process are usually heterophilous, so that technology receptors speak a different language than technology sources. This essay explores the concept of technology transfer and suggests strategies for its facilitation.
A Survey of Science Content in U.S. Television Broadcasting, 1940s through 1950s
Authors: LaFollette Marcel C.
Published: April 2009

On U.S. network television in the 1940s and 1950s, pioneering broadcasters such as Roy K. Marshall, Lynn Poole, and Don Herbert demonstrated that serious science programs could also be entertaining. Developers of early science series embraced television's ability to dramatize. They also mixed facts and fictions, combining real film footage of scientists with scientific explanations from animated cartoon characters, as in the specials underwritten by the Bell Telephone System. This survey examines the science content of early television broadcasting in the United States and the role played by key individuals, associations, and corporations in the development of innovative programming. It also considers the extent to which these programs and techniques were harbingers of trends observable in popular science communication today and identifies a number of topics deserving more research by historians of science communication.
How Involvement, Citation Style, and Funding Source Affect the Credibility of University Scientists
Authors: Sprecker Kim
Published: April 2009

Many factors influence public perception of university scientists as credible sources of environmental news. This study looks at three of them: the scientist's funding source, the citation style, and participant involvement. In a 2× 2× 3 mixed-subjects factorial design, participants read newspaper articles and rated the credibility of the scientists identified therein. No main effects occurred for funding source or for citation style. A main effect occurred for involvement, but not as predicted: those highly involved rated the scientists as more credible than those less involved. No interactions occurred. Reasons for these inconclusive but still informative results are explored.
Social Functioning in Predominantly Inattentive and Combined Subtypes of Children With ADHD
Authors: Solanto Mary V. , Pope-Boyd Sabrina A. , Tryon Warren W. , Stepak Brenda
Published: April 2009

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare the social functioning of children with the Combined (CB) and Predominantly Inattentive (PI) subtypes of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), controlling for comorbidity and medication-status, which may have confounded the results of previous research. Method: Parents and teachers of rigorously diagnosed unmedicated children with PI or CB subtypes of ADHD, and typical comparison children, rated them on the multidimensional Social Skills Rating Scale (SSRS). Results: After co-varying for oppositionality and anxiety, social impairment was substantial and equivalent in both ADHD groups whether rated by parent or teacher. In addition, when rated by teacher, the nature of the deficits varied by subtype: Children with PI were impaired in assertiveness, whereas children with CB were deficient in self-control. These findings indicate that AD/HD subtypes differ in the nature of their social dysfunction independent of comorbidity and highlight the need for interventions to target their divergent needs.
ADHD in the Arab World
Authors: Farah Lynn G. , Fayyad John A. , Eapen Valsamma , Cassir Youmna , Salamoun Mariana M. , Tabet Caroline C. , Mneimneh Zeina N. , Karam Elie G.
Published: April 2009

Objective: Epidemiological studies on psychiatric disorders are quite rare in the Arab World. This article reviews epidemiological studies on ADHD in all the Arab countries. Method: All epidemiological studies on ADHD conducted from 1966 through th present were reviewed. Samples were drawn from the general community, primary care clinical settings, and populations of traumatized children. Data on prevalence, gender differences, risk factors, comorbidity, and burden of ADHD were reviewed. Results: ADHD rates in Arab populations were similar to those in other cultures. Comparisons within Arab studies were difficult given the variability of methodology and instruments used. Conclusion: There is an important need for research on ADHD in the Arab World, not only to assess the national prevalence in children and adolescents, but also to look at the differential burden and treatment of this disorder, which has high levels of mental comorbidities and high impact across the life span. (J. of Att. Dis. 2009; 13(3) 211-222)
The Importance of ADHD Subtype Classification for Educational Applications of DSM-V
Authors: Barnard Lucy , Stevens Tara , To Yen M. , Lan William Y. , Mulsow Miriam
Published: April 2009

Objective: An examination of the academic achievement of children with ADHD by stimulant treatment status must consider this heterogeneity of the disorder. With the dissemination of the final wave of data, the Special Education Elementary Longitudinal Study presents an opportunity to examine the academic achievement of students with ADHD using a large, community-based, and nationally representative sample over 4 years. Method: In Study 1, the association between stimulant treatment and academic achievement is examined over 4 years. In Study 2, the association between stimulant treatment and academic achievement is examined acknowledging the influence of subtype symptoms of ADHD using growth mixture modeling. Results: Results indicate significant differences in academic achievement according to long-term stimulant treatment status within each subtype symptom class. Conclusion: Research should acknowledge the influence of subtype symptoms when examining outcomes such as academic achievement. The upcoming DSM-V should consider the results as indicating the educational relevance of ADHD subtype classification. (J. of Att. Dis. 2010; 13(6) 573-583)
Some Institutional Problematics of Excess Burden Analytics
Authors: Wagner Richard E.
Published: April 2009

Excess burden is used widely throughout public finance for both normative and positive analyses. Although it is generally treated as a universal quality of all but lump-sum taxation, the author argues to the contrary that it is not a universal quality of taxation but is at most a contingent feature of a subset of the possible institutional frameworks within which fiscal outcomes emerge. The conventional excess burden analytics transpose results from individual experiments where they do apply onto market experiments where they do not apply. In many respects, excess burden is like a grin without a cat, to borrow from Dennis Robertson’s assessment of Keynes’s liquidity preference theory of interest.
Hidden Taxes and Representative Government: The Political Economy of the Ramsey Rule
Authors: Lohmann Susanne , Weiss Deborah M.
Published: April 2009

A social planner finances a public good by taxing the consumption of two private goods. If leisure cannot be taxed, the tax burden is minimized by setting the tax rates on the two goods inversely proportional to their price elasticities of demand (Ramsey rule). The authors replace the social planner with an elected policy maker who cares not only about minimizing the tax burden but also about getting reelected. Electoral competition creates incentives for the incumbent to deviate from the Ramsey rule: He or she decreases the tax rate that is relatively visible and increases the tax rate that is relatively hidden.
Elderly Internal Migration in the United States Revisited
Authors: Gale Lewis R. , Heath Will Carrington
Published: April 2009

This article explores determinants of elderly migration in the United States by extending the more formal model developed by Conway and Houtenville (1998) instead of the more traditional “investment” model. The approach is twofold. In the authors' model, they clarify the publicly provided goods that generate utility for the elderly while recognizing that the tax burden of the elderly is for all publicly provided goods supplied by each state. They also include the effects of growth rates in economic and policy variables during the migration period, which allows them to measure the endogeneity of elderly net in-migration and state expenditure policy. This approach generates intriguing results. In addition to the significance of standard amenity variables, the authors find that state per capita income and the real growth rate of state per capita income have a significant and positive effect on elderly net in-migration. They also find significant effects of overall tax burden variables. Surprisingly, when state elderly net in-migration and state fiscal policy are modeled endogenously, there is little evidence of any general effect of state expenditures on elderly migration.
Do Structural Federal Budget Deficits Impact Commercial Bank Interest Rates? A Comment
Authors: Darrat Ali F.
Published: April 2009

This article finds no compelling evidence to support Cebula's recent claim that higher structural budget deficits in the United States have raised commercial bank interest rates. It appears that Cebula's results are spurious and likely the outcome of the use of nonstationary data. Correcting for this problem, the results deny the presence of any significant crowding out in the data. This inference stands up to several sensitivity tests and accords well with the body of evidence against the crowding out phenomenon in the U.S. economy.
Legislative Professionalism and Government Spending: Do Citizen Legislators Really Spend Less?
Authors: Owings Stephanie , Borck Rainald
Published: April 2009

In this article, the authors consider the effect of legislative professionalism on state government spending. Arguments are examined for why citizen legislatures should have systematically different spending patterns than professional ones. Using data from the U.S. states, the authors find that state government expenditure per capita is significantly lower the less professionalized the state legislature. They conclude that reducing legislative professionalism is one of the instruments citizens may use to contain the growth of government.
Determination of Income Mobility Using Tax Return Data
Authors: Dunbar Amy , Groff James E.
Published: April 2009

This research addresses the question of whether taxpayers were income mobile during 1979-1990. Following prior research, the authors compare ranks of individuals in the sample distribution of income across years. Extending prior research, the question is asked: Does an individual draw his income from some fixed subset of the distribution of possible incomes, implying a limited income opportunity set, or from the total distribution of incomes, implying an unlimited income opportunity set? Group income distributions within each year are analyzed using stochastic dominance. The authors find limited income mobility over 1979-1990 and that individuals face a limited income opportunity set based on their group membership.
Valued-Added Tax Revenues in Mexico: An Empirical Analysis
Authors: Tijerina-Guajardo José A. , Pagán José A.
Published: April 2009

This article analyzes the effect of changes in the valued-added tax (VAT) rate on real VAT revenue in Mexico. Recently, there has been a heated debate on the optimal VAT system and the potential economic impact of a reduction in the VAT rate in the country. The results from estimating a VAT revenue model suggest that there seems to be a positive relationship between VAT revenue and the tax rate around the actual VAT rate, contrary to the assertion that there is a Laffer curve for the VAT in Mexico. A 1 percentage point change in the VAT rate results in a 2.4% change in real VAT revenues. Leaving aside other fiscal reform considerations, the results appear to be robust to alternative empirical specifications.
Fiscal Response to a Matching Grant: Medicaid Expenditures and Enrollments, 1984-1992
Authors: Adams E. Kathleen , Wade Martcia
Published: April 2009

Although the federal Medicaid matching formula was designed to decrease disparities in state Medicaid expenditures, significant inequities persisted throughout the 1980s. A potential reason for this is that states may substitute federal for state funds and hence, expenditures in low-spending states are not stimulated. This study uses a fixed-effects model on pooled state enrollment and expenditure data from 1984 to 1992 to examine the fiscal response of states to the Medicaid matching grant. Results indicate that states’ response to the grant was to raise fewer own-tax dollars but still spend more by using federal funds. Findings have implications for current deliberations on grant structures for Medicaid and other federal and state programs that affect low-income populations.
Clubs, Advertising, and Cost Sharing
Authors: Siqueira Kevin
Published: April 2009

This article investigates the impact of advertising, an additional source of club revenue, on membership. This issue is placed within the context of advertising on the Internet and corporate sponsorship of local events or public institutions such as museums. Two scenarios are looked at. In the first setting, a club’s costs are shared among members and, in effect, also with a monopolist advertiser. It is then shown that the presence of advertising revenues could possibly limit the need for club financing and cost sharing via larger memberships. However, in the second setting where it is assumed that the club’s costs are completely funded by advertising and no membership fees are charged, it is shown that the club provider’s incentives are no longer contrary to those of the advertiser. The opposite holds, and there is no cost-sharing implication to cutback on membership.
Fiscal Decentralization and Borrowing Costs: The Case of Local Governments
Authors: De Mello Luiz R.
Published: April 2009

Borrowing costs vary across different levels of government. Local governments often face costlier borrowing than their higher level counterparts. This article shows that the decentralization of expenditure functions and revenue sources to lower tiers of government has a bearing on local government borrowing costs. Empirical evidence is provided for a sample of industrial and developing economies in the period 1970 to 1995, using three different fiscal decentralization indicators and two different borrowing cost indices. The findings are robust to the inclusion of controls for additional determinants of subnational borrowing costs. An important implication of these results is that policies aimed at disciplining subnational finances in the process of fiscal decentralization also tend to reduce subnational borrowing costs.
Nonprofit Organizations, Monopolistic Competition, and Private Donations: Evidence from Spain
Authors: Marcuello Carmen , Salas Vicente
Published: April 2009

This article presents an analysis of the determinants of money and time donations to Spanish nongovernmental organizations that channel aid to less developed countries. A basic model inspired by the theory of monopolistic competition is formulated and tested taking into account that some of the explanatory variables, such as fund-raising expenditure and price, are endogenous. The results show that the average donor is different for money and time donations and that government preferences differ from those of private donors. Finally, the authors find that the hypothesis of efficient fund-raising expenditures cannot be rejected.
Dynamic Patterns in State Government Finance
Authors: Mccarty Therese A. , Schmidt Stephen J.
Published: April 2009

The authors estimate vector autoregressions for three categories of state government expenditure: education, highways, and welfare. Each regression contains state expenditure on that category, federal aid to the state in that category, total federal aid to the state, state general revenue, and personal income. The authors calculate impulse response functions for these vector autoregressions to analyze changes in aid and expenditure over time. The authors find that deviations in expenditure and category-specific aid have large and long-lasting effects on future expenditure. Category-specific aid has a much stronger effect than aid, revenue, or income, suggesting a flypaper effect in which aid is spent disproportionately in the category in which it is granted. This effect persists for up to 5 years, suggesting that there are structural dynamic links between category-specific aid and expenditure by states on those categories.
A Note on Earmarked Taxes
Authors: Hsiung Bingyuang
Published: April 2009

It is argued in this note that earmarked taxes may be employed as a precautionary device to exert damage control so that problems in one budgetary item will not be spread to other budgetary items. The compartmentalization design of a submarine is a fitting metaphor. Theoretically, this consideration is complementary to, but more straightforward than, the arguments of Buchanan and Brennan (1978) and Buchanan (1991). Empirically, it is relevant to public policies such as national health insurance and social security, which not only incur substantial expenditures but also have the tendency to have explosive growth in expenditures. Although the compartmentalization property of the earmarking arrangement is logically sound, the actual working of the political process determines its ultimate relevance in reality.