bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Prenatal Tobacco Smoke Exposure and Genomewide Methylation in Adulthood
Authors: Flom J , Ferris J , Gonzalez K , Santella R , Terry MB 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
Genomic DNA demethylation, including demethylation of repetitive elements (which comprise 45% of the human genome), has been linked to increased risk of breast and other cancers. Genomic DNA methylation can be altered prenatally and throughout life and may be a mechanism through which the environment alters disease risk. There is evidence that prenatal tobacco smoke exposure has a persistent impact on genomic DNA methylation; however, no study to date has assessed the association between prenatal smoke exposure and adult repetitive element methylation. We measured repetitive element methylation of Alu, LINE-1, and Sat2 using MethyLight in 92 members of the New York Women's Birth Cohort, a follow-up of former female participants of the New York site of the U.S. National Collaborative Perinatal Project (mean age at blood draw = 43.5, SD = 1.8). Prenatal smoke exposure was reported prospectively. We estimated associations using multivariable linear regression, and used the natural log of Alu, LINE-1, and Sat2 methylation level. Thirty-one (36%) participants were exposed to prenatal smoke. These participants were more likely to smoke at the time of interview (P &lt; 0.01). Prenatal smoke exposure was inversely associated with genomic DNA methylation of Sat2 and Alu, adjusted for age, childhood environmental tobacco smoke exposure (ETS) and adult smoking status (exposed vs. unexposed to prenatal smoke: Sat2: β = −0.20, 95% CI = −0.39, −0.02; Alu: β = −0.09, 95% CI = −0.26, 0.08). In multivariable models, childhood ETS had a positive, borderline significant association with Sat2 methylation (β = 0.17, 95% CI −0.02, 0.37). If replicated in larger studies, these results suggest that prenatal smoke exposure may have a persistent impact on genomic DNA demethylation of Sat2 and Alu in adulthood, and thus may be a pathway through which prenatal smoke exposure impacts adult disease. Results are strengthened by the fact that prenatal smoke exposure data were collected prospectively in the early 1960s, before there was a stigma associated with maternal smoking during pregnancy. These results are consistent with the one study assessing this relation in children. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding and to investigate the underlying biological mechanism.
Reward Reduces Conflict by Enhancing Attentional Control and Biasing Visual Cortical Processing
Authors: Padmala Srikanth , Pessoa Luiz 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
How does motivation interact with cognitive control during challenging behavioral conditions? Here, we investigated the interactions between motivation and cognition during a response conflict task and tested a specific model of the effect of reward on cognitive processing. Behaviorally, participants exhibited reduced conflict during the reward versus no-reward condition. Brain imaging results revealed that a group of subcortical and fronto-parietal regions was robustly influenced by reward at cue processing and, importantly, that cue-related responses in fronto-parietal attentional regions were predictive of reduced conflict-related signals in the medial pFC (MPFC)/ACC during the upcoming target phase. Path analysis revealed that the relationship between cue responses in the right intraparietal sulcus (IPS) and interference-related responses in the MPFC during the subsequent target phase was mediated via signals in the left fusiform gyrus, which we linked to distractor-related processing. Finally, reward increased functional connectivity between the right IPS and both bilateral putamen and bilateral nucleus accumbens during the cue phase, a relationship that covaried with across-individual sensitivity to reward in the case of the right nucleus accumbens. Taken together, our findings are consistent with a model in which motivationally salient cues are employed to upregulate top–down control processes that bias the selection of visual information, thereby leading to more efficient stimulus processing during conflict conditions.
Enhanced Multisensory Integration and Motor Reactivation after Active Motor Learning of Audiovisual Associations
Authors: Butler Andrew J. , James Thomas W. , James Karin Harman 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
Everyday experience affords us many opportunities to learn about objects through multiple senses using physical interaction. Previous work has shown that active motor learning of unisensory items enhances memory and leads to the involvement of motor systems during subsequent perception. However, the impact of active motor learning on subsequent perception and recognition of associations among multiple senses has not been investigated. Twenty participants were included in an fMRI study that explored the impact of active motor learning on subsequent processing of unisensory and multisensory stimuli. Participants were exposed to visuo-motor associations between novel objects and novel sounds either through self-generated actions on the objects or by observing an experimenter produce the actions. Immediately after exposure, accuracy, RT, and BOLD fMRI measures were collected with unisensory and multisensory stimuli in associative perception and recognition tasks. Response times during audiovisual associative and unisensory recognition were enhanced by active learning, as was accuracy during audiovisual associative recognition. The difference in motor cortex activation between old and new associations was greater for the active than the passive group. Furthermore, functional connectivity between visual and motor cortices was stronger after active learning than passive learning. Active learning also led to greater activation of the fusiform gyrus during subsequent unisensory visual perception. Finally, brain regions implicated in audiovisual integration (e.g., STS) showed greater multisensory gain after active learning than after passive learning. Overall, the results show that active motor learning modulates the processing of multisensory associations.
Modulation of the Fusiform Face Area following Minimal Exposure to Motivationally Relevant Faces: Evidence of In-group Enhancement (Not Out-group Disregard)
Authors: Van Bavel Jay J. , Packer Dominic J. , Cunningham William A. 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
Studies have shown that fusiform face area (FFA) activity increases with visual expertise. We present an fMRI study showing that faces from a social category made relevant by an experimental manipulation (members of an experimentally created in-group) preferentially recruited the FFA even when they were matched in exposure to face stimuli from a less significant social category (members of an experimentally created out-group). Faces were randomly assigned to groups and fully counterbalanced so that no perceptual cues allowed participants to visually distinguish category membership. The results revealed a pattern of in-group enhancement (not out-group disregard), such that the FFA was selectively engaged following the presentation of in-group compared with out-group or unaffiliated control faces even when the intergroup distinction was arbitrary, and exposure to in-group and out-group faces was equivalent and brief. In addition, individual differences in FFA activity for in-group versus out-group faces were correlated with recognition memory differences for in-group and out-group faces. The effects of group membership on the FFA were not affected by task instruction to respond to in-group or out-group members and were functionally dissociated from early visual processing in the primary visual cortex. This study provides evidence that the FFA is sensitive to top–down influences and may be involved in subordinate level (vs. superordinate level) encoding of stimuli in the absence of long-term exposure or explicit task instructions.
Activation of Inhibition: Diminishing Impulsive Behavior by Direct Current Stimulation over the Inferior Frontal Gyrus
Authors: Jacobson Liron , Javitt Daniel C. , Lavidor Michal 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
A common feature of human existence is the ability to reverse decisions after they are made but before they are implemented. This cognitive control process, termed response inhibition, refers to the ability to inhibit an action once initiated and has been localized to the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) based on functional imaging and brain lesion studies. Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a brain stimulation technique that can facilitate as well as impair cortical function. To explore whether response inhibition can be improved through rIFG electrical stimulation, we administered focal tDCS before subjects performed the stop signal task (SST), which measures response inhibition. Notably, activation of the rIFG by unilateral anodal stimulation significantly improved response inhibition, relative to a sham condition, whereas the same tDCS protocol did not affect response time in the go trials of the SST and in a control task. Furthermore, the SST was not affected by tDCS at a control site, the right angular gyrus. Our results are the first demonstration of response inhibition improvement with brain stimulation over rIFG and further confirm the rIFG involvement in this task. Although this study was conducted in healthy subjects, present findings with anodal rIFG stimulation support the use of similar paradigms for the treatment of cognitive control impairments in pathological conditions.
Silent Reading of Direct versus Indirect Speech Activates Voice-selective Areas in the Auditory Cortex
Authors: Yao Bo , Belin Pascal , Scheepers Christoph 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
In human communication, direct speech (e.g., Mary said: “I'm hungry”) is perceived to be more vivid than indirect speech (e.g., Mary said [that] she was hungry). However, for silent reading, the representational consequences of this distinction are still unclear. Although many of us share the intuition of an “inner voice,” particularly during silent reading of direct speech statements in text, there has been little direct empirical confirmation of this experience so far. Combining fMRI with eye tracking in human volunteers, we show that silent reading of direct versus indirect speech engenders differential brain activation in voice-selective areas of the auditory cortex. This suggests that readers are indeed more likely to engage in perceptual simulations (or spontaneous imagery) of the reported speaker's voice when reading direct speech as opposed to meaning-equivalent indirect speech statements as part of a more vivid representation of the former. Our results may be interpreted in line with embodied cognition and form a starting point for more sophisticated interdisciplinary research on the nature of auditory mental simulation during reading.
The Neural Correlates of Inhibiting Pursuit to Smoothly Moving Targets
Authors: Burke Melanie Rose , Barnes Graham R. 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
A previous study has shown that actively pursuing a moving target provides a predictive motor advantage when compared with passive observation of the moving target while keeping the eyes still [Burke, M. R., & Barnes, G. R. Anticipatory eye movements evoked after active following versus passive observation of a predictable motion stimulus. Brain Research, 15, 74–81, 2008b]. By using a novel paradigm based on combining a smooth pursuit stimulus with a go/no-go task, we have been able to reveal significant differences in brain activity for the inhibition of pursuit during the presentation of a smoothly moving target. Areas that show specific inhibitory and retinocentric velocity storage activity for the passive (no-go) condition include the dorsolateral pFC, the caudate, and the posterior cingulate. The FEFs, the supramarginal gyrus, the medial occipital gyrus, and the superior parietal lobe were found to be more involved in both the acquisition and response generation during no-go trials when compared with go trials. The go trials revealed higher activity than the no-go during the acquisition phase in the uncus and posterior cingulate. Furthermore, higher motor-related activity in the go task was found in the cerebellum. In summary, the areas involved in inhibiting smooth pursuit are consistent with the findings from the saccade literature, providing further evidence in support of overlapping cortical control networks.
Face Processing Changes in Normal Aging Revealed by fMRI Adaptation
Authors: Lee Yunjo , Grady Cheryl L. , Habak Claudine , Wilson Hugh R. , Moscovitch Morris 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
We investigated the neural correlates of facial processing changes in healthy aging using fMRI and an adaptation paradigm. In the scanner, participants were successively presented with faces that varied in identity, viewpoint, both, or neither and performed a head size detection task independent of identity or viewpoint. In right fusiform face area (FFA), older adults failed to show adaptation to the same face repeatedly presented in the same view, which elicited the most adaptation in young adults. We also performed a multivariate analysis to examine correlations between whole-brain activation patterns and behavioral performance in a face-matching task tested outside the scanner. Despite poor neural adaptation in right FFA, high-performing older adults engaged the same face-processing network as high-performing young adults across conditions, except the one presenting a same facial identity across different viewpoints. Low-performing older adults used this network to a lesser extent. Additionally, high-performing older adults uniquely recruited a set of areas related to better performance across all conditions, indicating age-specific involvement of this added network. This network did not include the core ventral face-processing areas but involved the left inferior occipital gyrus, frontal, and parietal regions. Although our adaptation results show that the neuronal representations of the core face-preferring areas become less selective with age, our multivariate analysis indicates that older adults utilize a distinct network of regions associated with better face matching performance, suggesting that engaging this network may compensate for deficiencies in ventral face processing regions.
The Neural Sociometer: Brain Mechanisms Underlying State Self-esteem
Authors: Eisenberger Naomi I. , Inagaki Tristen K. , Muscatell Keely A. , Byrne Haltom Kate E. , Leary Mark R. 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
On the basis of the importance of social connection for survival, humans may have evolved a “sociometer”—a mechanism that translates perceptions of rejection or acceptance into state self-esteem. Here, we explored the neural underpinnings of the sociometer by examining whether neural regions responsive to rejection or acceptance were associated with state self-esteem. Participants underwent fMRI while viewing feedback words (“interesting,” “boring“) ostensibly chosen by another individual (confederate) to describe the participant's previously recorded interview. Participants rated their state self-esteem in response to each feedback word. Results demonstrated that greater activity in rejection-related neural regions (dorsal ACC, anterior insula) and mentalizing regions was associated with lower-state self-esteem. Additionally, participants whose self-esteem decreased from prescan to postscan versus those whose self-esteem did not showed greater medial prefrontal cortical activity, previously associated with self-referential processing, in response to negative feedback. Together, the results inform our understanding of the origin and nature of our feelings about ourselves.
A Synoptic Weather-Typing Approach to Project Future Daily Rainfall and Extremes at Local Scale in Ontario, Canada
Authors: Cheng Chad Shouquan , Li Guilong , Li Qian , Auld Heather 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
This paper attempts to project possible changes in the frequency of daily rainfall events late in this century for four selected river basins (i.e., Grand, Humber, Rideau, and Upper Thames) in Ontario, Canada. To achieve this goal, automated synoptic weather typing as well as cumulative logit and nonlinear regression methods was employed to develop within-weather-type daily rainfall simulation models. In addition, regression-based downscaling was applied to downscale four general circulation model (GCM) simulations to three meteorological stations (i.e., London, Ottawa, and Toronto) within the river basins for all meteorological variables (except rainfall) used in the study. Using downscaled GCM hourly climate data, discriminant function analysis was employed to allocate each future day for two windows of time (2046–65, 2081–2100) into one of the weather types. Future daily rainfall and its extremes were projected by applying within-weather-type rainfall simulation models together with downscaled future GCM climate data. A verification process of model results has been built into the whole exercise (i.e., statistical downscaling, synoptic weather typing, and daily rainfall simulation modeling) to ascertain whether the methods are stable for projection of changes in frequency of future daily rainfall events.
Two independent approaches were used to project changes in frequency of daily rainfall events: method I—comparing future and historical frequencies of rainfall-related weather types, and method II—applying daily rainfall simulation models with downscaled future climate information. The increases of future daily rainfall event frequencies and seasonal rainfall totals (April–November) projected by method II are usually greater than those derived by method I. The increase in frequency of future daily heavy rainfall events greater than or equal to 25 mm, derived from both methods, is likely to be greater than that of future daily rainfall events greater than or equal to 0.2 mm: 35%–50% versus 10%–25% over the period 2081–2100 derived from method II. In addition, the return values of annual maximum 3-day accumulated rainfall totals are projected to increase by 20%–50%, 30%–55%, and 25%–60% for the periods 2001–50, 2026–75, and 2051–2100, respectively. Inter-GCM and interscenario uncertainties of future rainfall projections were quantitatively assessed. The intermodel uncertainties are similar to the interscenario uncertainties, for both method I and method II. However, the uncertainties are generally much smaller than the projection of percentage increases in the frequency of future seasonal rain days and future seasonal rainfall totals. The overall mean projected percentage increases are about 2.6 times greater than overall mean intermodel and interscenario uncertainties from method I; the corresponding projected increases from method II are 2.2–3.7 times greater than overall mean uncertainties.
Understanding the CMIP3 Multimodel Ensemble
Authors: Annan J. D. , Hargreaves J. C. 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
The Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 3 (CMIP3) multimodel ensemble has been widely utilized for climate research and prediction, but the properties and behavior of the ensemble are not yet fully understood. Here, some investigations are undertaken into various aspects of the ensemble’s behavior, in particular focusing on the performance of the multimodel mean. This study presents an explanation of this phenomenon in the context of the statistically indistinguishable paradigm and also provides a quantitative analysis of the main factors that control how likely the mean is to outperform the models in the ensemble, both individually and collectively. The analyses lend further support to the usage of the paradigm of a statistically indistinguishable ensemble and indicate that the current ensemble size is too small to adequately sample the space from which the models are drawn.
Atmospheric and Surface Contributions to Planetary Albedo
Authors: Donohoe Aaron , Battisti David S. 
Published: March 2011

Abstract
The planetary albedo is partitioned into a component due to atmospheric reflection and a component due to surface reflection by using shortwave fluxes at the surface and top of the atmosphere in conjunction with a simple radiation model. The vast majority of the observed global average planetary albedo (88%) is due to atmospheric reflection. Surface reflection makes a relatively small contribution to planetary albedo because the atmosphere attenuates the surface contribution to planetary albedo by a factor of approximately 3. The global average planetary albedo in the ensemble average of phase 3 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP3) preindustrial simulations is also primarily (87%) due to atmospheric albedo. The intermodel spread in planetary albedo is relatively large and is found to be predominantly a consequence of intermodel differences in atmospheric albedo, with surface processes playing a much smaller role despite significant intermodel differences in surface albedo. The CMIP3 models show a decrease in planetary albedo under a doubling of carbon dioxide—also primarily due to changes in atmospheric reflection (which explains more than 90% of the intermodel spread). All models show a decrease in planetary albedo due to the lowered surface albedo associated with a contraction of the cryosphere in a warmer world, but this effect is small compared to the spread in planetary albedo due to model differences in the change in clouds.
The Second Phase of the Global Land–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment: Soil Moisture Contributions to Subseasonal Forecast Skill
Authors: Koster R. D. , Mahanama S. P. P. , Yamada T. J. , Balsamo Gianpaolo , Berg A. A. , Boisserie M. , Dirmeyer P. A. , Doblas-Reyes F. J. , Drewitt G. , Gordon C. T. , Guo Z. , Jeong J.-H. , Lee W.-S. , Li Z. , Luo L. , Malyshev S. , Merryfield W. J. , Seneviratne S. I. , Stanelle T. , van den Hurk B. J. J. M. , Vitart F. , Wood E. F. 
Published: March 2011

AbstractThe second phase of the Global Land–Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE-2) is a multi-institutional numerical modeling experiment focused on quantifying, for boreal summer, the subseasonal (out to two months) forecast skill for precipitation and air temperature that can be derived from the realistic initialization of land surface states, notably soil moisture. An overview of the experiment and model behavior at the global scale is described here, along with a determination and characterization of multimodel “consensus” skill. The models show modest but significant skill in predicting air temperatures, especially where the rain gauge network is dense. Given that precipitation is the chief driver of soil moisture, and thereby assuming that rain gauge density is a reasonable proxy for the adequacy of the observational network contributing to soil moisture initialization, this result indeed highlights the potential contribution of enhanced observations to prediction. Land-derived precipitation forecast skill is much weaker than that for air temperature. The skill for predicting air temperature, and to some extent precipitation, increases with the magnitude of the initial soil moisture anomaly. GLACE-2 results are examined further to provide insight into the asymmetric impacts of wet and dry soil moisture initialization on skill.
Value Theory in an Incomplete Capitalist System
Authors: Dunn Bill 
Published: March 2011

The centrality of social labor to Marxist epistemology and the need to understand relations between capitalist production, strictly defined, and incompletely marketized forms of work require a relatively broad concept of value. Not simply a theory of price, the utility of the concept of value lies precisely in its ability to mediate between understanding the abstract truths of labor’s centrality to social life and the complex concreteness of the real world economy. The logical necessity and practical utility of the proposed interpretation is illustrated in relation to state and domestic labor. JEL classification: B51, B54, J01