bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Overlap and specificity of genetic and environmental influences on mathematics and reading disability in 10‐year‐old twins
Authors: Kovas Y. , Haworth C.M.A. , Harlaar N. , Petrill S.A. , Dale P.S. , Plomin R. 
Published: June 2007

Background:  To what extent do genetic and environmental influences on reading disability overlap with those on mathematics disability? Multivariate genetic research on the normal range of variation in unselected samples has led to a Generalist Genes Hypothesis which posits that the same genes largely affect individual differences in these abilities in the normal range. However, little is known about the etiology of co‐morbidity for the disability extremes of reading and mathematics.Method:  From 2596 pairs of 10‐year‐old monozygotic and dizygotic twins assessed on a web‐based battery of reading and mathematics tests, we selected the lowest 15% on reading and on mathematics. We conducted bivariate DeFries–Fulker (DF) extremes analyses to assess overlap and specificity of genetic and environmental influences on reading and mathematics disability defined by a 15% cut‐off.Results:  Both reading and mathematics disability are moderately heritable (47% and 43%, respectively) and show only modest shared environmental influence (16% and 20%). There is substantial phenotypic co‐morbidity between reading and mathematics disability. Bivariate DF extremes analyses yielded a genetic correlation of .67 between reading disability and mathematics disability, suggesting that they are affected largely by the same genetic factors. The shared environmental correlation is .96 and the non‐shared environmental correlation is .08.Conclusions:  In line with the Generalist Genes Hypothesis, the same set of generalist genes largely affects mathematical and reading disabilities. The dissociation between the disabilities occurs largely due to independent non‐shared environmental influences.
Listen to the noise: noise is beneficial for cognitive performance in ADHD
Authors: Söderlund Göran , Sikström Sverker , Smart Andrew 
Published: June 2007

Background: Noise is typically conceived of as being detrimental to cognitive performance. However, given the mechanism of stochastic resonance, a certain amount of noise can benefit performance. We investigate cognitive performance in noisy environments in relation to a neurocomputational model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and dopamine. The Moderate Brain Arousal model (MBA;Sikström & Söderlund, 2007) suggests that dopamine levels modulate how much noise is required for optimal cognitive performance. We experimentally examine how ADHD and control children respond to different encoding conditions, providing different levels of environmental stimulation.Methods: Participants carried out self‐performed mini tasks (SPT), as a high memory performance task, and a verbal task (VT), as a low memory task. These tasks were performed in the presence, or absence, of auditory white noise.Results: Noise exerted a positive effect on cognitive performance for the ADHD group and deteriorated performance for the control group, indicating that ADHD subjects need more noise than controls for optimal cognitive performance.Conclusions: The positive effect of white noise is explained by the phenomenon of stochastic resonance (SR), i.e., the phenomenon thatmoderatenoise facilitates cognitive performance. The MBA model suggests that noise in the environment, introduces internal noise into the neural system through the perceptual system. This noise induces SR in the neurotransmitter systems and makes this noise beneficial for cognitive performance. In particular, the peak of the SR curve depends on the dopamine level, so that participants with low dopamine levels (ADHD) require more noise for optimal cognitive performance compared to controls.
Specificity of facial expression labeling deficits in childhood psychopathology
Authors: Guyer Amanda E. , McClure Erin B. , Adler Abby D. , Brotman Melissa A. , Rich Brendan A. , Kimes Alane S. , Pine Daniel S. , Ernst Monique , Leibenluft Ellen 
Published: June 2007

Background:  We examined whether face‐emotion labeling deficits are illness‐specific or an epiphenomenon of generalized impairment in pediatric psychiatric disorders involving mood and behavioral dysregulation.Method:  Two hundred fifty‐two youths (7–18 years old) completed child and adult facial expression recognition subtests from the Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy (DANVA) instrument. Forty‐two participants had bipolar disorder (BD), 39 had severe mood dysregulation (SMD; i.e., chronic irritability, hyperarousal without manic episodes), 44 had anxiety and/or major depressive disorders (ANX/MDD), 35 had attention‐deficit/hyperactivity and/or conduct disorder (ADHD/CD), and 92 were controls. Dependent measures were number of errors labeling happy, angry, sad, or fearful emotions.Results:  BD and SMD patients made more errors than ANX/MDD, ADHD/CD, or controls when labeling adult or child emotional expressions. BD and SMD patients did not differ in their emotion‐labeling deficits.Conclusions:  Face‐emotion labeling deficits differentiate BD and SMD patients from patients with ANX/MDD or ADHD/CD and controls. The extent to which such deficits cause vs. result from emotional dysregulation requires further study.
Effects of methylphenidate on working memory components: influence of measurement
Authors: Bedard Anne‐Claude , Jain Umesh , Johnson Sheilah Hogg , Tannock Rosemary 
Published: June 2007

Background:  To investigate the effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on components of working memory (WM) in attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and determine the responsiveness of WM measures to MPH.Methods:  Participants were a clinical sample of 50 children and adolescents with ADHD, aged 6 to 16 years old, who participated in an acute randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled, crossover trial with single challenges of three MPH doses. Four components of WM were investigated, which varied in processing demands (storage versus manipulation of information) and modality (auditory‐verbal; visual‐spatial), each of which was indexed by a minimum of two separate measures.Results:  MPH improved the ability to store visual‐spatial information irrespective of instrument used, but had no effects on the storage of auditory‐verbal information. By contrast, MPH enhanced the ability to manipulate both auditory‐verbal and visual‐spatial information, although effects were instrument specific in both cases.Conclusions:  MPH effects on WM are selective: they vary as a function of WM component and measurement.
RACE, SCIENCE AND A NOVEL: AN INTERDISCIPLINARY DIALOGUE
Authors: BURNS LAWRENCE , LANOIX MONIQUE , MELNYCHUK RYAN M. , PAULY BERNIE 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTIn the novel Racists by Kunal Basu (2006), two competing scientists initiate an experiment that they believe will prove which race is superior. The research subjects, one white and one black infant, are sequestered on an isolated island in the care of a mute nurse. The contest must be waged in a ‘natural laboratory’ with no artificial interventions and with the prospect that one will die at the hands of the other. The politics of empire, the slave trade and the advent of a new scientific way of viewing life, Darwinism, set the stage for the fictional experiment, but the ramifications of such thinking extend into the present. Coming from the disciplines of nursing, philosophy and science, we discuss how a novel can illuminate the moral dimensions of science and healthcare.The critical distance afforded by the novel provides a rich terrain for the examination of issues such as race, care and the purity of science. Despite the recent dominance of social explanations of race, science requires the examination of the differences between human beings at the biological level. The view that biology is destiny is a powerful one with dangerous consequences, especially since the belief that certain human beings' destinies are far worthier than others is a corollary of such a view. In this paper, we present the cross‐disciplinary conversation, which has been facilitated by this novel. We hope this will inform ethics educators of the rich potential of using fiction as a pedagogical tool.
SHOULD RAPID TESTS FOR HIV INFECTION NOW BE MANDATORY DURING PREGNANCY? GLOBAL DIFFERENCES IN SCARCITY AND A DILEMMA OF TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCE
Authors: SMITH CHARLES B. , BATTIN MARGARET P. , FRANCIS LESLIE P. , JACOBSON JAY A. 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTSince testing for HIV infection became possible in 1985, testing of pregnant women has been conducted primarily on a voluntary, ‘opt‐in’ basis. Faden, Geller and Powers, Bayer, Wilfert, and McKenna, among others, have suggested that with the development of more reliable testing and more effective therapy to reduce maternal‐fetal transmission, testing should become either routine with ‘opt‐out’ provisions or mandatory. We ask, in the light of the new rapid tests for HIV, such as OraQuick, and the development of antiretroviral treatment that can reduce maternal‐fetal transmission rates to <2%, whether that time is now. Illustrating our argument with cases from the United States (US), Kenya, Peru, and an undocumented Mexican worker in the US, we show that when testing is accompanied by assured multi‐drug therapy for the mother, the argument for opt‐out or mandatory testing for HIV in pregnancy is strong, but that it is problematic where testing is accompanied by adverse events such as spousal abuse or by inadequate intrapartum or follow‐up treatment. The difference is not a ‘double standard’, but reflects the presence of conflicts between the health interests of the mother and the fetus – conflicts that would be abrogated by the assurance of adequate, continuing multi‐drug therapy. In light of these conflicts, where they still occur, careful processes of informed consent are appropriate, rather than opt‐out or mandatory testing.
LOCAL ATTITUDES, MORAL OBLIGATION, CUSTOMARY OBEDIENCE AND OTHER CULTURAL PRACTICES: THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE PROCESS OF GAINING INFORMED CONSENT FOR SURGERY IN A TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY
Authors: IRABOR DAVID O. , OMONZEJELE PETER 
Published: June 2007

ABSTRACTThe process of obtaining informed consent in a teaching hospital in a developing country (e.g. Nigeria) is shaped by factors which, to the Western world, may be seen to be anti‐autonomomous: autonomy being one of the pillars of an ideal informed consent. However, the mix of cultural bioethics and local moral obligation in the face of communal tradition ensures a mutually acceptable informed consent process. Paternalism is indeed encouraged by the patients who prefer to see the doctor as all‐powerful and all‐knowing, and this is buttressed by the cultural practice of customary obedience to those ‘above you’: either in age or social rank. The local moral obligation reassures the patients that those in authority will always look after others placed in their care without recourse to lengthy discussions or signed documentation, while the communal traditions ensure that the designated head of a family unit has the honor and sole responsibility of assenting and consenting to an operation to be carried out on a younger, or female, member of the family. Indeed it is to only a few educated patients that the informed consent process is deemed a shield against litigation by the doctors. This paper later addresses the need for physicians to update their knowledge on the process of informed consent through the attendance of biomedical ethics courses, which should highlight socio‐cultural practices that may make this process different from the Western concept, but perfectly acceptable in this setting.
The Paradoxes of Indian Politics
Authors: Vanaik Achin 
Published: June 2007

AbstractThis article by one of India's foremost writers on contemporary politics surveys twelve paradoxes. These are the key themes which have shaped domestic political change in India in recent decades and particularly since the mid‐eighties. It outlines how social and economic changes have intersected with political possibilities and especially stresses the way in which India's continued social inequalities have been played out in a democratic setting. It is very useful for anybody wanting to understand the present day politics of India or who is interested in the consequences of colonial economies for postcolonial states.
New Statistical Method for Analyzing Time to First Seizure: Example Using Data Comparing Carbamazepine and Valproate Monotherapy
Authors: Cowling Benjamin J. , Shaw J. Ewart H. , Hutton Jane L. , Marson Anthony G. 
Published: June 2007

Summary:  Introduction: Time to first seizure is a common outcome in antiepileptic drug (AED) studies. Previous studies have typically failed to find statistically significant differences between carbamazepine (CBZ) and valproate (VPS). We re‐analyzed a meta‐analysis comparing CBZ and VPS monotherapy with new powerful statistical methods that incorporate baseline seizure rate information. Methods: Individual patient data were available on 1,265 patients from a meta‐analysis of five trials. The outcome measure was time to first seizure after randomization, adjusted for background variables and baseline seizure rate. Results: We found strong evidence of an interaction between treatment and epilepsy type, and between treatment and age. For generalized onset seizures, VPS was statistically significantly better than CBZ: VPS delayed the first seizure after treatment 58%, 52%, 44%, and 36% longer than CBZ for individuals aged 10, 20, 30, or 40, respectively. For partial onset seizures in individuals older than 30, CBZ was significantly better then VPS; CBZ delayed the time to first seizure by 9%, 25%, 44%, and 66% longer than VPS for individuals aged 20, 30, 40, or 50, respectively. Conclusion: The results show clear age‐varying differences between the effectiveness of CBZ and VPS for generalized onset and partial onset seizures, which have not been identified in previous studies using standard statistical methods. In future trials of AED monotherapy or add‐on where time to first or Nth seizure is an outcome, methodology that can incorporate baseline seizure rate information would allow more powerful comparisons between treatments or between treatment and placebo.
Effect of the Adenosine A2a Receptor Antagonist 3,7‐Dimethyl‐Propargylxanthine on Anxiety‐like and Depression‐like Behavior and Alcohol Consumption in Wistar Rats
Authors: Thorsell Annika , Johnson Justin , Heilig Markus 
Published: June 2007

Background: It has been suggested that the reinforcing properties of ethanol are in part mediated via an A2 activation of cAMP/PKA signaling in the nucleus accumbens, predicting that administration of an A2a antagonist might reduce ethanol reward and consumption. We therefore examined the effect of the adenosine A2a receptor antagonist 3,7‐dimethylpropargylxanthine (DMPX, 3, and 10 mg/kg intraperitoneal) on alcohol reinforcement, anxiety‐related, depression, and rewarding behaviors in nonselected Wistar rats.Methods: Operant ethanol self‐administration was used for examining alcohol intake, elevated plus‐maze and Vogel conflict test for anxiety‐related behavior, Porsolt swim test for depression‐like behavior, and conditioned place preference for examination of the rewarding properties of the drug.Results: 3,7‐Dimethylpropargylxanthine decreased lever‐pressing for ethanol in a dose‐dependent manner. When analyzed as percentage of pretreatment baseline, maximum suppression was approximately 60% (39±7.5 vs 98±12%, mean±SEM, p=0.017). This effect was behaviorally specific, as no effect was found on the water lever. In agreement with previously published data, stimulation of locomotion was found (beam‐breaks: 3590±540 vs 2475±240, 10 mg/kg vs saline, p=0.048). No anxiety‐modulating effects were seen in either the elevated plus‐maze or the Vogel conflict test. 3,7‐Dimethylpropargylxanthine was not found to have intrinsic rewarding properties in the conditioned place preference model.Conclusions: In summary, DMPX produced a robust and behaviorally selective reduction of ethanol reinforcement, while anxiety‐modulating effects were less consistent. These results bring further support to a role for adenosine in the regulation of ethanol consumption and possibly alcohol addiction/abuse, and the A2a receptor as a potential target for the treatment of alcoholism and alcohol abuse.
Component Cognitive and Motor Processes of the Digit Symbol Test: Differential Deficits in Alcoholism, HIV Infection, and Their Comorbidity
Authors: Sassoon Stephanie A. , Fama Rosemary , Rosenbloom Margaret J. , O'Reilly Anne , Pfefferbaum Adolf , Sullivan Edith V. 
Published: June 2007

Background: Alcoholism (ALC) is highly prevalent in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection (HIV), and those with comorbidity (ALC+HIV) may suffer compounded deficits in cognitive and motor functions affected by both conditions. Given that each disease can adversely affect motor, visuospatial, and executive functions, we used an expanded version of the Digit Symbol (DS) test to assess the separate and combined effects of ALC and HIV infection on these cognitive and motor components.Methods: Participants were 44 ALC, 43 HIV, 55 ALC+HIV, and 49 normal controls (NC). We modified DS test administration to assess sustained attention (grid completion speed), associative learning (number of boxes completed in 15‐second epochs), and incidental learning (total number–symbol pairs correctly recalled) and also used ancillary tests of fine motor, visuospatial, and executive functions to assess their relationship with the different components of DS performance. All scores were corrected for age and education based on NC performance.Results: Neither single diagnosis group—ALC nor HIV—was impaired on DS score or grid completion speed compared with the NC group, but the dual‐diagnosis ALC+HIV group was impaired. Greater lifetime alcohol consumption was associated with longer grid completion time in both ALC and ALC+HIV. The HIV group demonstrated associative learning on DS but ALC+HIV and ALC did not. All groups performed similarly on incidental learning. Multiple regression analyses demonstrated that executive functions, assessed by Color Trails 2, predicted traditional DS performance in all groups. Fine Finger Movement additionally predicted traditional DS performance and grid completion speed in HIV. Visuospatial function, assessed by ability to copy the Rey‐Osterrieth complex figure, did not contribute independently to DS performance in either alcohol group.Conclusions: Alcoholism combined with HIV infection resulted in deficits in visuospatial psychomotor function, as assessed by the DS test, although deficits were not observed in either disease condition alone. Neither alcohol group showed associative learning, and both had compromised sustained attention. Combined cognitive and motor adverse effects of alcoholism and HIV infection were manifest in psychomotor speed, sustained attention, and associative learning of visuospatial material and are testimony to the dangers of alcohol abuse even in relatively healthy patients with HIV infection.
Matching Law Choice Analyses of Ethanol and Sucrose Consumption in Alcohol‐Preferring (P), Nonpreferring (NP), and Sprague–Dawley (SD) Rats
Authors: Martinetti Margaret P. , Khan Zeeshan , Lewis Michael J. 
Published: June 2007

Background: Quantitative models of choice, such as the matching law and behavioral economics, allow for the analysis of alcohol consumption within a choice context. Such models can provide further knowledge of phenotypic differences between selected lines of rats. The current study applied the generalized matching law to the ethanol (EtOH) and sucrose consumption of alcohol‐preferring (P), nonpreferring (NP), and Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats.Methods: Male P, NP, and SD rats were trained to consume increasing concentrations of EtOH and water in a limited access, 2‐bottle choice procedure. The animals were then given concurrent access to pairs of differing EtOH solutions (2, 4, 6, and 10%, v/v) for 1 h/d. A subset of animals from each rat type was subsequently given access to 8% sucrose for 1 h/d for 5 days, and then concurrent access to pairs of differing sucrose solutions (3, 8, and 15%, w/v) for 1 h/d. The generalized matching law was used to assess the relationship between the relative EtOH and sucrose concentrations and the relative volumes of solutions consumed.Results: The P rats consumed more EtOH and sucrose than the NP and SD rats overall. However, only the P rats consistently consumed disproportionately greater quantities of the higher EtOH concentration than the lower one, indicating overmatching. Additionally, all 3 types of rats displayed overmatching in the sucrose choice experiment.Conclusions: These data provide further evidence of phenotypic differences between the P rats and other types of rats, and suggest that the generalized matching law can be a useful tool for describing rats' EtOH or sucrose consumption in a 2‐bottle choice, limited access paradigm.
Exercise: A Potential Contributing Factor to the Relationship Between Folate and Dementia
Authors: Middleton Laura E. , Kirkland Susan A. , Maxwell Colleen J. , Hogan David B. , Rockwood Kenneth 
Published: June 2007

OBJECTIVES:To investigate whether exercise confounds the relationship between folate and cerebrovascular events, all‐cause dementia, and Alzheimer's disease.DESIGN:Prospective cohort study.SETTING:Multiple centers in Canada.PARTICIPANTS:In the Canadian Study of Health and Aging, 466 people reported exercise levels, had folate measurements, and were not demented at baseline. After 5 years, 194 had adverse cerebrovascular events, and 65 had dementia (Alzheimer's disease in 47).MEASUREMENTS:Associations between folate and cerebrovascular outcomes were examined using logistic regression in the presence and absence of exercise and other confounders.RESULTS:Folate was associated with greater risk of Alzheimer's disease (odds ratio (OR)=2.12, 95% confidence interval (CI)=1.01–4.54) and cerebrovascular outcomes (OR=2.05, 95% CI=1.11–3.78) in adjusted analyses before the inclusion of exercise and neared significance with all‐cause dementia (OR=1.80, 95% CI=0.94–3.45). After the inclusion of exercise, the association between folate and dementia and Alzheimer's disease was 29% and 25% lower, respectively, and neither association was any longer significant (Alzheimer's disease: OR=1.91, 95% CI=0.89–4.11; all‐cause dementia: OR=1.62, 95% CI=0.84–3.15). Exercise was a significant confounder in the relationship between folate and Alzheimer's disease (P=.03) and dementia (P=.003) but not cerebrovascular outcomes (P=.64). Unlike folate, exercise was significantly associated with Alzheimer's disease (OR=0.43, 95% CI=0.19–0.98) and dementia (OR=0.35, 95% CI=0.17–0.72) in adjusted analyses.CONCLUSION:Exercise seems to account for much of the relationship between folate and incident dementia and Alzheimer's disease.