bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
All‐cause mortality and fatal alcohol poisoning in Belarus, 1970–2005
Authors: RAZVODOVSKY YURY E.
Published: May 2008

Introduction and Aims. Although alcohol appears to be an important contributor to the burden of disease in the countries of eastern Europe, little systematic research has been undertaken on its impact on mortality in the former Soviet republic of Belarus. There may be a number of factors underlying the particularly negative effect of alcohol on mortality in Belarus, including the pattern of drinking and use of surrogates. A solid body of research and empirical evidence suggests that hazardous patterns of alcohol consumption (binge drinking) lead to quicker and deeper intoxication, increasing the propensity for alcohol‐related mortality. Design and Method. To estimate the aggregate level effect of binge drinking on the all‐cause mortality rate, trends in the all‐cause mortality and fatal alcohol poisoning rates (as a proxy for binge drinking) in Belarus from 1970 to 2005 were analysed employing AutoRegressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) time–series analysis in order to assess a bivariate relationship between the two time–series. Results. The results of time–series analysis suggest a close relationship between all‐cause mortality and fatal alcohol poisoning rates at the population level. Conclusions. This study supports the hypothesis that alcohol and all‐cause mortality are connected closely in countries where the drinking culture is characterised by heavy drinking episodes and adds to the growing body of evidence that a substantial proportion of total mortality in Belarus is due to acute effects of binge drinking.
Factors Affecting Career Choice in Psychiatry: A Survey of RANZCP Trainees
Authors: Thomas Tina
Published: May 2008

Objective: The aim of this paper was to identify factors that impact on career choice in order to promote careers in psychiatry to medical graduates.

Method: Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) psychiatry trainees were invited by email to complete an online survey on career planning. The survey included open-ended questions about the reasons for choosing psychiatry and satisfaction with career opportunities in psychiatry. Responses were analysed for main themes.

Results: Of the 267 trainees who participated, 84% were currently training in Australia and 16% were training in New Zealand. The reasons given by trainees for choosing psychiatry varied. Over two-thirds of trainees highlighted a general interest in the area or enjoyment of their experience of psychiatry. Trainees also frequently mentioned work–life balance (29%), patient contact (20%), challenge and complexity (17%), helping people (16%), and the holistic perspective (15%) as reasons for choosing psychiatry. Over 80% of trainees reported being satisfied with their choice of medical specialization and were positive about the career opportunities that psychiatry offers.

Conclusion: This study highlighted a number of factors that impact on career choice and satisfaction with career choice. Promotional materials should utilize these factors in order to more effectively promote careers in psychiatry.
A Survey of Memory Clinics in New Zealand
Authors: Cheung Gary , Strachan John
Published: May 2008

Objective: The aim of this survey was to identify all the publicly funded memory clinics in the 21 District Health Boards (DHBs) in New Zealand.

Method: Information on the provision of memory clinics was obtained by emailing the old age psychiatrists’ group and making telephone contact with clinicians working in old age psychiatry/geriatric services. A brief structured questionnaire was completed by the memory clinic lead clinicians.

Results: There are eight memory clinics in New Zealand, funded equally between mental health services and geriatric medicine. However, there is variability in the provision of memory clinics in the medium and smaller sized DHBs and inconsistency in the level of funded staff across DHBs.

Conclusions: Acknowledgement of the value of memory clinics within a national service framework is needed, with appropriate benchmarking of funding. This would ensure improved access, including for rural and remote areas of New Zealand.
Brain Stimulation Techniques for the Treatment of Depression and Other Psychiatric Disorders
Authors: Fitzgerald Paul
Published: May 2008

Objective: The aim of this paper was to review the development of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), magnetic seizure therapy (MST), vagal nerve stimulation (VNS), deep brain stimulation (DBS) and other recent brain stimulation techniques for their potential use in the treatment of a range of psychiatric disorders.

Conclusions: A considerable number of studies have been conducted to investigate the efficacy of rTMS. Although there are considerable problems with this research base, globally the studies suggest that rTMS has antidepressant efficacy. However, more research is required to define the most effective way of applying this technique. There is a much smaller research base supporting the use of VNS and to date the research suggests that only a minority of patients benefit from this procedure. Considerably more research is required in the use of the other techniques which at this stage have been tested only to a very small degree. It is likely that one, and possibly a number, of the new brain stimulation techniques will become available clinically in the psychiatric armamentarium in the coming years. However, considerable research is still required to establish efficacy and define the appropriate place in clinical practice for these treatment approaches.
The Tofts: A Private Psychiatric Hospital in the Reigns of Edward VII and George V
Authors: Duke Michael
Published: May 2008

Objective: The aim of this paper is to describe ‘The Tofts’, a private psychiatric hospital in the reigns of Edward VII and George V.

Conclusions: An addendum to the history of psychiatry, in Australia is the conduct or treatment for the mentally ill in private hospitals during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This paper describes one such small private hospital in Victoria, called The Tofts, and its founder, patients and treatment methods employed.
Life-Threatening Constipation Associated with Clozapine
Authors: Rege Sanil , Lafferty Tim
Published: May 2008

Objective: The aim of this paper was to describe the association of clozapine with life-threatening constipation.

Method: Case report.

Results: A 53-year-old man presented to the emergency department with severe abdominal pain and bilious vomiting after being on clozapine for over a year for schizoaffective disorder. Surgery revealed severe faecal impaction in the large and small bowel. Clozapine was ceased. There were significant difficulties in the subsequent psychiatric management. Clozapine was gradually reintroduced with concurrent laxative administration, which resulted in another episode of severe constipation with faecal impaction.

Conclusions: Clozapine can be associated with potentially life-threatening constipation. Psychiatrists, especially consultation liaison psychiatrists, physicians, surgeons and radiologists, should be aware of the seriousness of clozapine-induced constipation and its potentially fatal complications.
Reasons for Referral for Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Comparison Between Adolescents and Adults
Authors: Bloch Yuval , Sobol Doli , Levkovitz Yechiel , Kron Shmuel , Ratzoni Gideon
Published: May 2008

Objective: In order to improve our understanding of the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in adolescent patients, we aimed to evaluate the reasons for referral for ECT in different age groups.

Method: We compared the reasons for adolescent and adult referrals by a retrospective file review of 13 consecutive adolescents and 56 consecutive adults treated in our ECT unit during a 5-year period.

Results: There was a significant association between age group and reason for referral. Non-response to pharmacotherapy was a significantly more common reason among adults. Adolescents were mainly referred due to catatonia and suicidal behaviour.

Conclusion: Our results support the need to study reasons for referral to ECT, beyond non-response to pharmacotherapy, especially in adolescent patients.
P‐Selectin‐Dependent Monocyte Recruitment Through Platelet Interaction in Intestinal Microvessels of LPS‐Treated Mice
Authors: Higashiyama Masaaki , Hokari Ryota , Matsunaga Hisayuki , Takebayashi Koichi , Watanabe Chikako , Komoto Shunsuke , Okada Yoshikiyo , Kurihara Chie , Kawaguchi Atsushi , Nagao Shigeaki , Itoh Kazuro , Miura Soichiro
Published: May 2008

Background:Although platelets or monocytes are thought to be involved in intestinal inflammation, there has been no report on whether platelets can modulate monocyte recruitment in intestinal microvessels. The objective of this study was to determine whether blockade of platelet adhesion attenuates monocyte recruitment in inflamed murine intestinal microvessels.Methods:Monocytes and platelet‐rich plasma were obtained from C57B6/J mice. Interaction of monocytes and platelets with intestinal microvessels was observed under an intravital microscope. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was administered intraperitoneally. The effects of anti‐P‐selectin or anti‐platelets antibody treatments or phosphodiesterase (PDE) inhibitors (PDE‐3 and PDE‐2/4 inhibitor) treatments were also studied.Results:LPS‐treatment increased the rolling and adhesion of both platelets and monocytes. Pretreatment with an anti‐P‐selectin antibody inhibited the increased platelet adhesion to venular walls and also attenuated the monocyte adhesion. A PDE‐2/4 inhibitor (ibuzilast) also ameliorated both platelet and monocyte adhesion. A PDE‐3 inhibitor (cilostazol) ameliorated only monocyte adhesion without directly affecting the adhesion of platelets to microvessels.Conclusions:We observed inhibition of platelets adhesion attenuated monocytes recruitment in intestinal microvessels. Attenuation of LPS induced monocyte adhesion by a specific PDE‐3 inhibitor suggests that P‐selectin on activated platelets may play an important role through monocyte and platelet interaction.
Losartan and Ozagrel Reverse Retinal Arteriolar Constriction in Non‐Obese Diabetic Mice
Authors: Lee Seungjun , Harris Norman R.
Published: May 2008

Objective:Reductions in retinal blood flow are observed early in diabetes. Venules may influence arteriolar constriction and flow; therefore, we hypothesized that diabetes would induce the constriction of arterioles that are in close proximity to venules, with the constriction mediated by thromboxane and angiotensin II.

Methods:Using nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, retinal measurements were performed three weeks following the age at which glucose levels exceeded 200 mg/dL, with accompanying experiments on age‐matched normoglycemic NOD mice. The measurements included retinal arteriolar diameters and red blood cell velocities and were repeated following an injection of the thromboxane synthase inhibitor, ozagrel. Mice were subdivided into equal groups and given drinking water with or without the angiotensin II receptor antagonist, losartan.

Results:Retinal arterioles were constricted in hyperglycemic mice, with a significant reduction in flow. However, not all arterioles were equally affected; the vasoconstriction was limited to arterioles that were in closer proximity to venules. The arteriolar vasoconstriction (mean arteriolar diameters = 51 ± 1 vs. 61 ± 1 μ m in controls;p< 0.01) was eliminated by both ozagrel (61 ± 2 μ m) and losartan (63 ± 2 μ m).

Conclusions:Venule‐dependent arteriolar vasoconstriction in NOD mice is mediated by thromboxane and/or angiotensin II.
Systematic review of the literature on characteristics of late‐talking toddlers
Authors: Desmarais Chantal , Sylvestre Audette , Meyer François , Bairati Isabelle , Rouleau Nancie
Published: May 2008

Background:Research has investigated late‐talking toddlers because they are at great risk of continuing to experience language‐learning difficulties once they enter school and hence are candidates for early intervention. It is also important to consider this group of children with regards to the immediate characteristics which are detrimental to their development and for which early intervention has become increasingly available.

Aims:To review the literature on late‐talking toddlers in order to identify the characteristics of this population whose importance has been clearly demonstrated, identify sources of incongruence in findings, and to underscore aspects of language delay at 2 years of age and characteristics about which additional knowledge is needed.

Main contribution:The review highlights the need to define the language difficulties found in late‐talking toddlers based on clinical profiles that go beyond the criterion of an expressive vocabulary delay. It also underscores the association between vocabulary delay and characteristics of the child such as social–emotional development and characteristics of the socio‐familial environment such as language stimulation.

Conclusions:Future research should take into account the lack of homogeneity observed within the population of children with a vocabulary delay at 2 years of age and attempt to identify subgroups within late‐talking toddlers. It should also consider a multifactorial perspective of child development to further the understanding of this phenomenon.
Interplay between phonology and syntax in French‐speaking children with specific language impairment
Authors: Parisse Christophe , Maillart Christelle
Published: May 2008

Background:This study investigated the relationship between phonological and syntactic disorders of French‐speaking children with specific language impairment in production.

Aims:To compare three theories (pure phonological theory, surface theory, and mapping theory) of language developmental disorders, all of which view phonological difficulties as the main reason for the children's problems.

Methods & Procedures:The linguistic parameters (salience, phonological complexity, syntactic complexity, lexical/functional word, semantic/syntactic weight) that are fundamental to these theories were identified. The validity of these parameters was then tested against the phonological and syntactic results obtained by children with specific language impairment and control children. Nine syntactic categories were tested.

Outcomes & Results:Phonological complexity was the only parameter whose importance was confirmed, and this was only for phonological performance. Syntactic complexity did not correlate significantly with children's difficulties. Phonological salience did not correlate with phonological performance but was related to syntactic performance for French‐speaking children. Mixed results were obtained for the other parameters, including negative correlations, which may call for different explanations.

Conclusions:No theory fully explained the observed outcomes. Pure phonological theory was the most parsimonious, but could not explain all the results, in particular not the results with respect to grammar.
Role of auditory attention in the real‐time processing of simple grammar by children with specific language impairment: a preliminary investigation
Authors: Montgomery James W.
Published: May 2008

Background: This study investigates the effects of two dimensions of attentional functioning, sustained focus of attention and resource capacity/allocation, on the real‐time processing of simple sentences by children with specific language impairment (SLI) and typically developing (TD) children matched for age.

Methods & Procedures: Thirty‐six school‐age children with SLI and 36 age‐matched TD peers completed an auditory continuous performance task (ACPT) as a measure of sustained attention, a concurrent verbal processing‐storage task as a measure of resource capacity/allocation, and a word‐recognition reaction time (RT) task (index of sentence processing). Correlation and regression analyses were run to determine the association between the two measures of attention and word recognition RT.

Outcomes & Results: Children with SLI were outperformed by the TD children on each of the tasks. For each group, scores on both the ACPT and concurrent processing‐storage tasks significantly correlated with word recognition RT. The partial correlations (with the effects of age removed) remained significant, but only for the SLI group. Results of a regression analysis for the SLI group showed that age predicted 12.3% of unique variance in word recognition RT, while ACPT score accounted for an additional significant 45.7% of unique variance and the processing‐storage task score accounted for another significant 4.3% of unique variance.

Conclusions: The real‐time processing of simple grammar by children with SLI appears to involve significant use of sustained focus of attention and attentional resource capacity. In the case of TD children, however, neither sustained attention nor attentional resources appears to be significantly involved in simple sentence processing.
Contribution of phonological and broader language skills to literacy
Authors: Fraser Jill , Conti‐Ramsden Gina
Published: May 2008

Background: Recent models of reading ability propose that both phonological and broader language skills are important for the development of literacy. Whilst there are numerous studies that consider the role of phonological skills in literacy, fewer studies have considered the role of broader language skills and reading proficiency.

Aims: To examine how phonological skills and broader language skills relate to word reading (including speeded word reading), non‐word reading, spelling, and reading comprehension.

Methods & Procedures: Seventy‐one children (mean age = 10.10; 21 girls) with a wide range of reading and language abilities took part in the study. A number of tasks were administered that measured phonological skills (phonological awareness, phonological short‐term memory) and broader language skills (vocabulary, morphology, sentence correction, and sentence processing).

Outcomes & Results: In support of previous work, both phonological and broader language abilities predicted reading and spelling. The exception was the timed single‐word‐reading task that was influenced by vocabulary. Reading comprehension was solely predicted by broader language abilities.

Conclusions: Both phonological and broader language abilities are involved in the development of reading and spelling, but in the case of reading comprehension, broader language skills are crucial.
Intelligibility of dysarthric speech: perceptions of speakers and listeners
Authors: Walshe Margaret , Miller Nick , Leahy Margaret , Murray Aisling
Published: May 2008

Background: Many factors influence listener perception of dysarthric speech. Final consensus on the role of gender and listener experience is still to be reached. The speaker's perception of his/her speech has largely been ignored.

Aims: (1) To compare speaker and listener perception of the intelligibility of dysarthric speech; (2) to explore the role of gender and listener experience in speech perception; and (3) to examine the relationship between speaker perceptions of intelligibility and formal clinical intelligibility ratings.

Methods & Procedures: Study 1 examines listener perception of intelligibility of dysarthric speech. Twenty people with acquired dysarthria, ten speech language therapists (SLTs) and 20 naïve listeners heard audio recordings of dysarthric speech and used direct magnitude estimation (DME) to rate perceptions of speech intelligibility. Differences in perception across gender and listener experience (SLTs versus naïve listeners) were examined. Study 2 tackles the speaker's perception of his/her own speech intelligibility. Using the same groups of participants and DME, speakers rated their own speech intelligibility. SLTs and naïve listeners then rated their perception of the speakers' intelligibility. Differences in perceptions between speakers and listeners were compared. Further analysis examined differences across gender and listener experience. Finally, ratings of speakers' perception of their own intelligibility were compared with intelligibility scores on the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech (ASSIDS) (1981).

Outcomes & Results: Study 1 showed no statistically significant differences in perception of intelligibility across the three listener groups, although results suggest that speakers rate perceptions of intelligibility differently to SLTs and naïve listeners. Despite some individual differences in ratings between speakers and listeners in Study 2, overall there are no significant group differences and methodological limitations to this section of the study are highlighted. In Studies 1 and 2 there are no statistically significant differences across gender and listener experience, although SLTs are less consistent in their ratings of speech when compared with naïve listeners. There is no statistically significant relationship between formal intelligibility assessment scores and the speakers' perception of intelligibility.

Conclusions: This study contributes to an understanding of perceptions of dysarthric speech. The lack of gender differences in listener perception supports earlier findings in other areas of SLT. The strong relationship between SLT and naïve listeners' perceptions suggests that SLTs are not more critical of dysarthric speech. The discrepancy between formal assessment measures and speakers' perceptions of intelligibility has implications for clinical practice. The need for further research in the area is highlighted.
Extended follow‐up of a randomized controlled trial of the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention
Authors: Jones Mark , Onslow Mark , Packman Ann , O'Brian Sue , Hearne Anna , Williams Shelley , Ormond Tika , Schwarz Ilsa
Published: May 2008

Background: In the Lidcombe Program of Early Stuttering Intervention, parents present verbal contingencies for stutter‐free and stuttered speech in everyday situations. A previous randomized controlled trial of the programme with preschool‐age children from 2005, conducted in two public speech clinics in New Zealand, showed that the odds of attaining clinically minimal levels of stuttering 9 months after randomization were more than seven times greater for the treatment group than for the control group.

Aims: To follow up the children in the trial to determine extended long‐term outcomes of the programme.

Methods & Procedures: An experienced speech–language therapist who was not involved in the original trial talked with the children on the telephone, audio recording the conversations using a telephone recording jack. Parental reports were gathered in addition to the children's speech samples in order to obtain a balance of objective data and reports from a wide range of situations.

Outcomes & Results: At the time of this follow‐up, the children were aged 7–12 years, with a mean of 5 years post‐randomization in the 2005 trial. Twenty of the 29 children in the treatment arm and eight of the 25 children in the control (no treatment) arm were able to be contacted. Of the children in the treatment group, one (5%) failed to complete treatment and 19 had completed treatment successfully and had zero or near‐zero frequency of stuttering. Three of the children (16%) who had completed treatment successfully had relapsed after 2 or more years of speech that was below 1% syllables stuttered. Meaningful comparison with the control group was not possible because an insufficient number of control children were located and some of them received treatment after completing the trial.

Conclusions & Implications: The majority of preschool children are able to complete the Lidcombe Program successfully and remain below 1% syllables stuttered for a number of years. However, a minority of children do relapse and will require their parents to reinstate the treatment procedures.
Specific language impairment and school outcomes. II: Educational context, student satisfaction, and post‐compulsory progress
Authors: Durkin Kevin , Simkin Zoë , Knox Emma , Conti‐Ramsden Gina
Published: May 2008

Background: This investigation is the second paper of a companion set reporting the outcomes of secondary schooling for young people who have been participating in the Manchester Language Study.

Aims: To examine the school context of educational results at 16 years of age and to provide information on the adolescents' post‐16 activities.

Methods & Procedures: A total of 120 adolescents with a history of specific language impairment (SLI) and 121 adolescents with typical development (TD) in their final year of compulsory secondary schooling (mean age = 17;4 years) participated in the study. Data on educational placement, special education support and provision of statement of special educational needs (SEN) were collected, along with the provision of access arrangements during examinations. Adolescents were interviewed about their levels of expectation and satisfaction with their examination results and their subsequent post‐16 activities.

Outcomes & Results: Only a small proportion of adolescents attended special units/schools throughout their secondary schooling; a larger proportion consistently attended mainstream schools. Those in receipt of a statement of SEN performed more poorly in their examinations than those without a statement. Around 60% of the adolescents with SLI were provided with some type of access arrangements during their core examinations. The majority (88%) of adolescents with SLI reported that they were satisfied with their educational outcomes. Most adolescents with SLI (91%), regardless of school placement at 16 years, remained in education post‐16, with the majority in college settings.

Conclusions: Adolescents with a history of SLI have continued difficulties throughout secondary schooling, with three‐quarters of the sample receiving some form of special education in a variety of settings. Educational attainment varied across different groups of adolescents but was consistently poorer than the attainment of typically developing peers. Young people with SLI in the 2000s appear to have more opportunities to remain in education post‐16 than they did in the 1990s.
Simple View of Reading in Down's syndrome: the role of listening comprehension and reading skills
Authors: Roch Maja , Levorato M. Chiara
Published: May 2008

Background: According to the ‘Simple View of Reading’ (Hoover and Gough 1990), individual differences in reading comprehension are accounted for by decoding skills and listening comprehension, each of which makes a unique and specific contribution.

Aims: The current research was aimed at testing the Simple View of Reading in individuals with Down's syndrome and comparing their profiles with typically developing first graders.

Methods & Procedures: Listening comprehension and the ability to read both words and non‐words was compared in two groups with the same level of reading comprehension: 23 individuals with Down's syndrome aged between 11 years 3 months and 18 years 2 months and 23 first‐grade typically developing children aged between 6 years 2 months and 7 years 4 months.

Outcomes & Results: The results indicate that at the same level of reading comprehension, individuals with Down's syndrome have less developed listening comprehension and more advanced word recognition than typically developing first graders. A comparison of the profiles of the two groups revealed that reading comprehension level was predicted by listening comprehension in both groups of participants and by word‐reading skills only in typically developing children.

Conclusions & Implications: The Simple View of Reading model is confirmed for individuals with Down's syndrome, although they do not show the reading profile of typically developing first graders; rather, they show an atypical profile similar to that of ‘poor comprehenders’ (Cain and Oakhill 2006). The crucial role of listening comprehension in Down's syndrome is also discussed with reference to the educational implications.
Social Attention and Real-World Scenes: The Roles of Action, Competition and Social Content
Authors: Birmingham Elina , Bischof Walter F. , Kingstone Alan
Published: May 2008

The present study examined how social attention is influenced by social content and the presence of items that are available for attention. We monitored observers’ eye movements while they freely viewed real-world social scenes containing either 1 or 3 people situated among a variety of objects. Building from the work of Yarbus (1965/1967) we hypothesized that observers would demonstrate a preferential bias to fixate the eyes of the people in the scene, although other items would also receive attention. In addition, we hypothesized that fixations to the eyes would increase as the social content (i.e., number of people) increased. Both hypotheses were supported by the data, and we also found that the level of activity in the scene influenced attention to eyes when social content was high. The present results provide support for the notion that the eyes are selected by others in order to extract social information. Our study also suggests a simple and surreptitious methodology for studying social attention to real-world stimuli in a range of populations, such as those with autism spectrum disorders.
Influences of response position and hand posture on the orthogonal Simon effect
Authors: Cho Yang Seok , Proctor Robert W. , Yamaguchi Motonori
Published: May 2008

When lateralized responses are made to the locations of vertically arrayed stimuli, two types of mapping effect have been reported: an overall up–right/down–left advantage and mapping preferences that vary with response position. According to Cho and Proctor's (2003) multiple asymmetric codes account, these orthogonal stimulus–response compatibility effects are due to the correspondence of stimulus polarity and response polarity, as determined by the positions relative to multiple frames of reference. The present study examined these two types of orthogonal compatibility for situations in which participants made left–right responses to the colours of a vertically arrayed stimulus set, and stimulus location was irrelevant. Although a significant orthogonal Simon effect was not evident when responding at a centred, neutral response position, the effect was modulated by response eccentricity (Experiment 2) and hand posture (Experiment 3). These effects are qualitatively similar to those obtained when stimulus location is task relevant. The results imply that, as Proctor and Cho's (2006) polarity correspondence principle suggests, the stimulus polarity code activates the response code of corresponding polarity even when stimulus location is irrelevant to the task.
Contrast effects in response rate and accuracy of delayed matching to sample
Authors: Nevin John A. , Shahan Timothy A. , Odum Amy L.
Published: May 2008

Behavioural contrast is an inverse relation between the response rate in one component of a multiple schedule and the reinforcer rate in an alternated component. To explore possible contrast effects in accuracy as well as response rate, four pigeons were trained in multiple schedules where key pecking produced delayed matching-to-sample trials on a variable-interval schedule. Reinforcer probability for correct matches was constant at .3 in one component, and the conditions of reinforcement were varied in the second component. In Experiment 1, the varied component arranged the same contingencies as the constant component but with reinforcer probabilities of .9 or .1 across conditions. In the varied component, both response rate and accuracy of delayed matching were directly related to reinforcer probability; in the constant component, however, contrast effects on response rate were weak, and there was no evidence of contrast in accuracy of matching. In Experiment 2, the varied component was either variable interval with immediate food reinforcement or extinction. Reliable contrast effects were obtained in both response rate and in accuracy of matching in the constant component, and their magnitudes were correlated within and between subjects. The results of Experiment 2 join previous findings of covariation in the effects of reinforcement on free-operant responding and accuracy of discrimination.
The effects of sequence difficulty and practice on proportional and nonproportional transfer
Authors: Braden Heather Wilde , Panzer Stefan , Shea Charles H.
Published: May 2008

Two experiments were designed to determine participants' ability to transfer a learned movement sequence to new spatial locations. A 16-element dynamic arm movement sequence was used in both experiments. The task required participants to move a horizontal lever to sequentially projected targets. Experiment 1 included two groups. One group practised a relatively easy 16-element movement sequence (easy long). The other group practised a more difficult 16-element movement sequence (difficult long). Approximately 24 hours after practice with their respective sequence both groups were administered a retention and two transfer tests. The only difference between the retention and transfer tests was the location of the targets. The short transfer target configuration was considered a proportional transfer because all the amplitudes between targets were reduced by the same proportion. The mixed transfer configuration was considered a nonproportional transfer because the targets did not have the same proportional distances between targets as the sequence they practised. The results indicated that participants could effectively transfer the difficult long sequence to the new target configurations regardless of whether the transfer required proportional and nonproportional spatial changes to the movement pattern. However, the easy long sequence was only effectively transferred in the proportional transfer condition. Experiment 2 assessed the effects of extended practice of the easy long sequence on proportional and nonproportional spatial transfer. The data indicated that participants could again effectively transfer the easy long sequence to proportional but not the nonproportional spatial transfer conditions regardless of the amount of practice (1 or 4 days). The results are discussed in terms of the mechanism by which response sequences become increasingly specific over extended practice in an attempt to optimize movement production and how this process interacts with the difficulty of the sequence.
Associative interference in Pavlovian conditioning: A function of similarity between the interfering and target associative structures
Authors: Amundson Jeffrey C. , Miller Ralph R.
Published: May 2008

Three lever-press suppression studies were conducted with water-deprived rats to investigate the role of similarity in proactive interference within first-order Pavlovian conditioning. Experiments 1a and 1b assessed the influence of stimulus complexity in proactive interference. Both experiments found greater interference when the interfering cue and target cue were composed of the same number of elements. Experiment 2 assessed the influence of context similarity in proactive interference and demonstrated that stronger proactive interference occurred when the interfering cue and the target cue were trained in the same context. The results in conjunction with other reports indicate that various types of cue interaction (e.g., interference and competition) are influenced by similarity of the interacting training events.
Embodied Language: A Review of the Role of the Motor System in Language Comprehension
Authors: Fischer Martin H. , Zwaan Rolf A.
Published: May 2008

A growing body of research suggests that comprehending verbal descriptions of actions relies on an internal simulation of the described action. To assess this motor resonance account of language comprehension, we first review recent developments in the literature on perception and action, with a view towards language processing. We then examine studies of language processing from an action simulation perspective. We conclude by discussing several criteria that might be helpful with regard to assessing the role of motor resonance during language comprehension.
Language-Induced Motor Perturbations during the Execution of a Reaching Movement
Authors: Nazir Tatjana A. , Boulenger Véronique , Roy Alice , Silber Beata , Jeannerod Marc , Paulignan Yves
Published: May 2008

In a recent study Boulenger et al. (2006) found that processing action verbs assisted reaching movement when the word was processed prior to movement onset and interfered with the movement when the word was processed at movement onset. The present study aimed to further corroborate the existence of such cross-talk between language processes and overt motor behaviour by demonstrating that the reaching movement can be disturbed by action words even when the words are presented delayed with respect to movement onset (50 ms and 200 ms). The results are compared to studies that show language–motor interaction in conditions where the word is presented prior to movement onset and are discussed within the context of embodied theories of language comprehension.
Spoken Language and arm Gestures are Controlled by the same Motor Control System
Authors: Gentilucci Maurizio , Volta Riccardo Dalla
Published: May 2008

Arm movements can influence language comprehension much as semantics can influence arm movement planning. Arm movement itself can be used as a linguistic signal. We reviewed neurophysiological and behavioural evidence that manual gestures and vocal language share the same control system. Studies of primate premotor cortex and, in particular, of the so-called “mirror system”, including humans, suggest the existence of a dual hand/mouth motor command system involved in ingestion activities. This may be the platform on which a combined manual and vocal communication system was constructed. In humans, speech is typically accompanied by manual gesture, speech production itself is influenced by executing or observing transitive hand actions, and manual actions play an important role in the development of speech, from the babbling stage onwards. Behavioural data also show reciprocal influence between word and symbolic gestures. Neuroimaging and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) data suggest that the system governing both speech and gesture is located in Broca's area. In general, the presented data support the hypothesis that the hand motor-control system is involved in higher order cognition.
Analysis of an ambiguous-feature discrimination
Authors: Haselgrove Mark , Robinson Jasper , Nelson Andrew , Pearce John M.
Published: May 2008

An autoshaping experiment with pigeons and three appetitive Pavlovian conditioning experiments with rats investigated the course of an ambiguous-feature discrimination in which trials with stimuli A and BC were followed by food, and trials with B and AC were not. The discrimination between A and B was acquired more rapidly than the discrimination between BC and AC in all experiments. Furthermore, the acquisition of conditioned responding with A was faster than that with BC for the three rat experiments. The results of these experiments are discussed in terms of elemental and configural theories of associative learning.
Making disjunctions exclusive
Authors: Chevallier Coralie , Noveck Ira A. , Nazir Tatjana , Bott Lewis , Lanzetti Valentina , Sperber Dan
Published: May 2008

This work examines how people interpret the sentential connective “or”, which can be viewed either inclusively (A or B or both) or exclusively (A or B but not both). Following up on prior work concerning quantifiers (Bott & Noveck, 2004; Noveck, 2001; Noveck & Posada, 2003), which shows that the common pragmatic interpretation of “some”, some but not all, is conveyed as part of an effortful step, we investigate how extra effort applied to disjunctive statements leads to a pragmatic interpretation of “or”, or but not both. Experiment 1 compelled participants to wait for three seconds before answering, hence giving them the opportunity to process the utterance more deeply. Experiments 2 and 3 emphasized “or”, either by visual means (“OR”) or by prosodic means (contrastive stress) as another way to encourage participants to apply more effort. Following a relevance-theoretic line of argument, we hypothesized that conditions encouraging more processing effort would give rise to more pragmatic inferences and hence to more exclusive interpretations of the disjunction. This prediction was confirmed in the three experiments.
Are Coffee and Toffee Served in a Cup? Ortho-Phonologically Mediated Associative Priming
Authors: Duñabeitia Jon Andoni , Carreiras Manuel , Perea Manuel
Published: May 2008

We report three masked associative priming experiments with the lexical decision task that explore whether the initial activation flow of a visually presented word activates the semantic representations of that word's orthographic/phonological neighbours. The predictions of cascades and serial/modular models of lexical processing differ widely in this respect. Using a masked priming paradigm (stimulus onset asynchrony, SOA = 50 ms), words preceded by ortho-phonologically mediated associated “neighbours” ( oveja–MIEL, the Spanish for sheep–HONEY; note that oveja is a phonological neighbour of abeja, the Spanish for bee) were recognized more rapidly than words preceded by an unrelated word prime (Experiments 1 and 3). Furthermore, the magnitude of the ortho-phonologically mediated priming effect ( oveja–MIEL) was similar to the magnitude of the associative priming effect ( abeja– MIEL). With visible primes and a 250-ms SOA, only the directly associated words showed a priming effect (Experiment 2). These findings pose some problems for a modular account and are more easily interpreted in terms of cascaded models.
Minimizing the influence of recoding in the Implicit Association Test: The Recoding-Free Implicit Association Test (IAT-RF)
Authors: Rothermund Klaus , Teige-Mocigemba Sarah , Gast Anne , Wentura Dirk
Published: May 2008

Recoding processes can influence the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998) in a way that impedes an unequivocal interpretation of the resulting compatibility effects. We present a modified version of the IAT that aims to eliminate recoding, the IAT-RF (short for “IAT–recoding free”). In the IAT-RF, compatible and incompatible assignments of categories to responses switch randomly between trials within a single experimental block. Abandoning an extended sequence of consistent category–response mappings undermines recoding processes in the IAT-RF. Two experiments reveal that the IAT-RF is capable of assessing compatibility effects between the nominally defined categories of the task and effectively prevents recoding. By enforcing a processing of the stimuli in terms of their task-relevant category membership, the IAT-RF eliminates the confounding of compatibility effects with task switch costs and becomes immune against biased selections of stimuli.
The eyes or the mouth? Feature salience and unfamiliar face processing in Williams syndrome and autism
Authors: Riby Deborah M. , Doherty-Sneddon Gwyneth , Bruce Vicki
Published: May 2008

Using traditional face perception paradigms the current study explores unfamiliar face processing in two neurodevelopmental disorders. Previous research indicates that autism and Williams syndrome (WS) are both associated with atypical face processing strategies. The current research involves these groups in an exploration of feature salience for processing the eye and mouth regions of unfamiliar faces. The tasks specifically probe unfamiliar face matching by using (a) upper or lower face features, (b) the Thatcher illusion, and (c) featural and configural face modifications to the eye and mouth regions. Across tasks, individuals with WS mirror the typical pattern of performance, with greater accuracy for matching faces using the upper than using the lower features, susceptibility to the Thatcher illusion, and greater detection of eye than mouth modifications. Participants with autism show a generalized performance decrement alongside atypicalities, deficits for utilizing the eye region, and configural face cues to match unfamiliar faces. The results are discussed in terms of feature salience, structural encoding, and the phenotypes typically associated with these neurodevelopmental disorders.
Information structure expectations in sentence comprehension
Authors: Carlson Katy , Dickey Michael Walsh , Frazier Lyn , Clifton Charles
Published: May 2008

In English, new information typically appears late in the sentence, as does primary accent. Because of this tendency, perceivers might expect the final constituent or constituents of a sentence to contain informational focus. This expectation should in turn affect how they comprehend focus-sensitive constructions such as ellipsis sentences. Results from four experiments on sluicing sentences (e.g., The mobster implicated the thug, but we can't find out who else) suggest that perceivers do prefer to place focus late in the sentence, though that preference can be mitigated by prosodic information (pitch accents, Experiment 2) or syntactic information (clefted sentences, Experiment 3) indicating that focus is located elsewhere. Furthermore, it is not necessarily the direct object, but the informationally focused constituent that is the preferred antecedent (Experiment 4). Expectations regarding the information structure of a sentence, which are only partly cancellable by means of overt focus markers, may explain persistent biases in ellipsis resolution.
Transposed Markov Matrix as a New Decision Tool of How to Choose among Competing Investment Options in Academic Medicine
Authors: Sonnenberg Amnon
Published: May 2008

Medical institutions face the challenge of promoting excellence in a variety of competing focus areas, such as grants, publications, income, research, faculty, variety, patient care and teaching. A transposed Markov chain is used analyse the interactions between the various focus areas and their transition towards steady‐state. In contradistinction with a regular Markov chain, in the transposed chain used for the present analysis, the sum of inputs (rather than outputs) of each individual state is 100%, whereas the outputs are left to assume any possible value. The mathematics of calculating the steady state conditions of a transposed Markov matrix are similar to those of a regular Markov matrix. The analysis shows that a focus area more dependent on other areas is also more likely to lose its investment, whereas largely self‐reliant areas will generate the largest return. Full strength of all academic focus areas can be achieved only by investments in all areas. In academic systems with one or several exclusively self‐reliant focus areas, only investment in these particular areas will invigorate the system, as all other investments are bound to dissipate over time. The newly developed decision tool of a transposed Markov matrix could be helpful in stochastic modelling of medical phenomena.
Mathematical Modelling of Immune Response in Tissues
Authors: Su B. , Zhou W. , Dorman K. S. , Jones D. E.
Published: May 2008

We have developed a spatial–temporal mathematical model (PDE) to capture fundamental aspects of the immune response to antigen. We have considered terms that broadly describe intercellular communication, cell movement, and effector function (activation or inhibition). The PDE model is robust to variation in antigen load and it can account for (1) antigen recognition, (2) an innate immune response, (3) an adaptive immune response, (4) the elimination of antigen and subsequent resolution of the immune response or (5) equilibrium of the immune response to the presence of persistent antigen (chronic infection) and the formation of a granuloma.