bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Admixture and Population Stratification in African Caribbean Populations
Authors: Benn‐Torres J. , Bonilla C. , Robbins C. M. , Waterman L. , Moses T. Y. , Hernandez W. , Santos E. R. , Bennett F. , Aiken W. , Tullock T. , Coard K. , Hennis A. , Wu S. , Nemesure B. , Leske M. C. , Freeman V. , Carpten J. , Kittles R. A. 
Published: October 2007

SummaryThroughout biomedical research, there is growing interest in the use of ancestry informative markers (AIMs) to deconstruct racial categories into useful variables. Studies on recently admixed populations have shown significant population substructure due to differences in individual ancestry; however, few studies have examined Caribbean populations. Here we used a panel of 28 AIMs to examine the genetic ancestry of 298 individuals of African descent from the Caribbean islands of Jamaica, St. Thomas and Barbados. Differences in global admixture were observed, with Barbados having the highest level of West African ancestry (89.6%± 2.0) and the lowest levels of European (10.2%± 2.2) and Native American ancestry (0.2%± 2.0), while Jamaica possessed the highest levels of European (12.4%± 3.5) and Native American ancestry (3.2%± 3.1). St. Thomas, USVI had ancestry levels quite similar to African Americans in continental U.S. (86.8%± 2.2 West African, 10.6%± 2.3 European, and 2.6%± 2.1 Native American). Significant substructure was observed in the islands of Jamaica and St. Thomas but not Barbados (K=1), indicating that differences in population substructure exist across these three Caribbean islands. These differences likely stem from diverse colonial and historical experiences, and subsequent evolutionary processes. Most importantly, these differences may have significant ramifications for case‐control studies of complex disease in Caribbean populations.
Large Genomic Mutations within the ATM Gene Detected by MLPA, Including a Duplication of 41 kb from Exon 4 to 20
Authors: Cavalieri Simona , Funaro Ada , Pappi Patrizia , Migone Nicola , Gatti Richard A. , Brusco Alfredo 
Published: October 2007

SummaryMutation detection remains problematic for large genes, primarily because PCR‐based methodology fails to detect heterozygous deletions and any duplication. In the ATM gene only a handful of multi‐exon deletions have been described to date, and this type of mutation has been considered rare. To address this issue we tested a new MLPA (Multiplex Ligation Probe Amplification) kit that covers 33 of the 66 ATM exons, using for controls two previously characterized genomic deletions in addition to three A‐T patients, taken from a survey of nine, who had missing four mutations unidentified after conventional mutation screening. We identified for the first time: 1) a ∼41 kb genomic duplication spanning exons 4–20 (c.‐30_2816dup41kb)(a.k.a., ATM dup 41 kb); 2) a novel genomic deletion including exon 31, and 3) in hemizygosis a point mutation in the non‐deleted exon 31. In this study we extended mutation detection to nine new Italian A‐T patients, using a combined approach of haplotype analysis, DHPLC and MLPA. Overall we achieved a mutation detection rate of >97%, and can now define a spectrum of ATM mutations based on twenty‐one consecutive Italian families with A‐T.
Assessment of child problem behaviors by multiple informants: a longitudinal study from preschool to school entry
Authors: Kerr David C.R. , Lunkenheimer Erika S. , Olson Sheryl L. 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Children's early problem behavior that manifests in multiple contexts is often more serious and stable. The concurrent and predictive validity of ratings of externalizing and internalizing by four informants was examined at preschool and early school age in an at‐risk sample.Methods:  Two hundred forty children were assessed by mothers and fathers (Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)), and teachers and laboratory examiners (Teacher Report Form (TRF)) at ages 3 and 5 years.Results:  All informants’ ratings of externalizing converged on a common factor at ages 3 and 5 that showed strong stability over time (β = .80). All informants’ age 3 externalizing ratings significantly predicted the problem factor at age 5; mothers’, fathers’, and teachers’ ratings were independently predictive. Ratings of internalizing (except by examiners at age 3) also converged at both ages; the problem factor showed medium stability (β = .39) over time. Only fathers’ ratings of age 3 internalizing predicted the age 5 problem factor.Conclusions:  Findings support the value of multi‐informant assessment, uphold calls to include fathers in childhood research, and suggest that examiners provide valid, though non‐unique assessment data. Examiner contributions may prove useful in many research contexts.
Repetitive behaviours in typically developing 2‐year‐olds
Authors: Leekam Susan , Tandos Jonathan , McConachie Helen , Meins Elizabeth , Parkinson Kathryn , Wright Charlotte , Turner Michelle , Arnott Bronia , Vittorini Lucia , Couteur Ann Le 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Repetitive behaviours are an essential part of the diagnosis of autism but are also commonly seen in typically developing children. The current study investigated the frequency and factor structure of repetitive behaviours in a large community sample of 2‐year‐olds.Methods:  A new measure, the Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire (RBQ‐2) was completed by 679 parents.Results:  The RBQ‐2 had good psychometric properties. A four‐factor model provided the best fit for the data, accounting for 51% of the variance, and suggested 4 sub‐scales: unusual sensory interests, repetitive motor movements, rigidity/adherence to routine and preoccupations with restricted patterns of interest. These sub‐scales closely resembled repetitive behaviour subtypes within the ICD‐10 criteria for autism. Repetitive behaviours of every type were frequently reported. Higher scores were found for all children, and especially boys, on the subscale relating to preoccupations with restricted patterns of interests.Conclusion:  The results support the proposal that repetitive behaviours represent a continuum of functioning that extends to the typically developing child population.
A developmental framework for distinguishing disruptive behavior from normative misbehavior in preschool children
Authors: Wakschlag Lauren S. , Briggs‐Gowan Margaret J. , Carter Alice S. , Hill Carri , Danis Barbara , Keenan Kate , McCarthy Kimberly J. , Leventhal Bennett L. 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Attaining a developmentally sensitive nosology for preschool disruptive behavior requires characterization of the features that distinguish it from the normative misbehavior of this developmental period. We hypothesize that quality of behavior and its pervasiveness across contexts are critical dimensions for clinical discrimination in young children and propose that structured diagnostic observation provides a systematic method for their identification. We use the Disruptive Behavior Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB‐DOS) to examine whether: (a) observed quality and pervasiveness of behavior distinguishes preschoolers with clinically concerning disruptive behavior from typically developing preschoolers, and (b) observed pattern of clinically salient behavior predicts impairment above and beyond maternal report of behavioral frequency.Methods:  Participants are a behaviorally heterogeneous sample of preschoolers (N = 327). Diagnostic methods developed for clinical assessment of preschoolers were used to classify children as (a) Non‐Disruptive, (b) Sub‐Clinical, or (c) Disruptive. Child behavior was coded based on interactions with parent and examiner during the DB‐DOS.Results:  Quality and pervasiveness of observed behaviors during the DB‐DOS significantly distinguished the three behavioral groups. Discriminative utility varied depending on the comparison. With few exceptions, clinically concerning patterns on the DB‐DOS added significant incremental utility in predicting impairment.Conclusions:  Observed patterns of clinically salient behavior show promise for advancing developmentally‐informed characterization of disruptive behavior within the preschool period.
Children's perceptions of neighbourhood trustworthiness and safety and their mental health
Authors: Meltzer Howard , Vostanis Panos , Goodman Robert , Ford Tamsin 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Many studies have described associations between adult psychiatric disorder among adults and their biographic, socio‐demographic and social capital characteristics. Fewer studies have focused on children, and most of these have looked at structural indicators of the neighbourhood. Our objective was to examine one aspect of social capital – perceived neighbourhood trust and safety in relation to childhood psychopathology.Methods:  Data on childhood psychopathology and perceived neighbourhood trust and safety were obtained on 3,340 11 to 16‐year‐olds included in a large survey of the mental health carried out in 426 postal sectors in Great Britain. Data were collected on biographic and socio‐demographic characteristics of the child and the family, measures of social capital and neighbourhood prosperity. We entered all these variables into a logistic regression analysis to establish the strength of association between perceived neighbourhood trust and safety separately for emotional and conduct disorders.Results:  Children's perception of their neighbourhoods in terms of the trustworthiness or honesty of the people who live there or feeling safe walking alone had a strong association with childhood psychopathology, particularly emotional disorders, rather than the nature of the neighbourhood itself. Children's behaviour, however, such as going to the park or shops alone, did not vary by measures of childhood psychopathology.Conclusions:  Regeneration of less prosperous neighbourhoods is likely to increase children's positive perceptions of trust, honesty and safety which in turn can have a positive effect on their mental health.
Positive and protective: effects of early theory of mind on problem behaviors in at‐risk preschoolers
Authors: Hughes Claire , Ensor Rosie 
Published: October 2007

Background:  Exposure to harsh parenting and children's skills in ‘Theory of Mind’ (ToM) show independent and interacting associations with problem behaviors at age 2 (Hughes & Ensor, 2006). This study examined whether these age‐2 measures also predict age‐4 problem behaviors.Method:  In a socially diverse sample (N = 120), multi‐informant, multi‐measure, multi‐setting ratings indexed problem behaviors at ages 2, 3 and 4; children completed both ToM and verbal‐ability tasks at age 2, while video‐based ratings of maternal negative affect and control within dyadic mother‐child play indexed harsh parenting.Results:  Age‐2 harsh parenting and ToM were independent and interacting predictors of age‐4 problem behaviors, even with age‐2 problem behaviors, verbal ability and social disadvantage all controlled. The interaction between harsh parenting and ToM distinguished persistent vs. diminishing problem behaviors.Conclusions:  Both child and family characteristics predict increases in problem behaviors from 2 to 4; adverse effects of harsh parenting are attenuated for children with good ToM skills.
Early concurrent and longitudinal symptoms of ADHD and ODD: relations to different types of inhibitory control and working memory
Authors: Brocki Karin C. , Nyberg Lilianne , Thorell Lisa B. , Bohlin Gunilla 
Published: October 2007

Background:  The aim of the present study was to investigate how three different types of inhibitory control – interference control within task, interference control outside task, and prepotent response inhibition – and two types of working memory – verbal and spatial – would relate to early symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), both concurrently and longitudinally.Methods:  Seventy‐two preschoolers, 1/3 who had been identified as being at risk for developing ADHD and/or ODD, completed neuropsychological tasks designed to measure inhibitory control and working memory. Behavioral symptoms were measured through parental and teacher ratings of the DSM‐IV criteria for ADHD and ODD.Results:  Our results suggest distinct types of inhibitory control as being good predictors of concurrent and longitudinal symptoms of ADHD, rather than ODD. However, no associations were obtained between working memory and ADHD or ODD symptoms either concurrently or longitudinally.Conclusions:  This study emphasizes the need to isolate complex executive processes and break them down into components in order to properly understand the neuropsychological roots involved in ADHD and ODD.
Associations between family relationships and symptoms/strengths at kindergarten age: what is the role of children's parental representations?
Authors: Stadelmann Stephanie , Perren Sonja , Von Wyl Agnes , Von Klitzing Kai 
Published: October 2007

Background: The quality of the family relationships plays an important role in the development of children's psychopathology and in their socio‐emotional development. This longitudinal study aims to investigate whether family relationships are related to children's symptoms/strengths at kindergarten, and whether family relationships are predictors of changes in children's symptoms/strengths between 5 and 6. Our main interest is to examine the role of children's parental representations.Methods: One hundred and fifty‐three kindergarten children (67 girls, 86 boys) participated in this study. Children's parental representations were assessed using a story stem task (age 5). The family environment was assessed using parents’ ratings (age 5). A multi‐informant approach (parent, teacher, child) was employed to assess children's symptoms/strengths at 5 and 6. Children were interviewed using a standardised puppet interview. Parents and teachers completed questionnaires.Results: Children's parental representations as well as the family environment were associated with children's symptoms/strengths at 5 and 6. When controlled for gender, children's representations were the only predictor of changes in symptoms/strengths between 5 and 6. A large number of negative parental representations at 5 predicted an increase in conduct problems. A large number of positive parental representations at 5 predicted an increase in pro‐social behaviour. In terms of emotional symptoms and hyperactivity/inattention, symptoms at 5 were the only predictor for symptoms one year later.Conclusions: Our results suggest that kindergarten children's narrative representations may elaborate the processes underlying the expression of child disturbance and strengths, and underline the relevance of the play and narration of young children for diagnostics and therapy.
Morphological variation of the Japanese raccoon dog: implications for geographical isolation and environmental adaptation
Authors: Haba C. , Oshida T. , Sasaki M. , Endo H. , Ichikawa H. , Masuda Y. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractTo test the effect of geographical isolation by ‘Blakiston's Line’ and the possibility of Bergmann's rule being valid, we comparatively examined the morphology of the crania, mandible and teeth of two subspecies of raccoon dog allopatrically distributed in Japan: Nyctereutes procyonoides albus and Nyctereutes procyonoides viverrinus. The Blakiston's Line is a biogeographic border separating mammalian and avian fauna in Japan, including N. p. albus and N. p. viverrinus. Most skull measurements of N. p. albus were larger than those of N. p. viverrinus, suggesting that the body size of N. p. albus could also be larger than that of N. p. viverrinus. Both subspecies were clearly isolated by Blakiston's Line and followed Bergmann's rule, with skulls of the northern subspecies, N. p. albus, larger than N. p. viverrinus. Premolars and molars of N. p. viverrinus were larger than those of N. p. albus, suggesting that N. p. viverrinus may be more frugivorous. The narrow postorbital constriction associated with development of temporal muscles in N. p. albus suggests this subspecies is more carnivorous.
Ranging behaviour of huemul in relation to habitat and landscape
Authors: Gill R. , Saucedo Galvez C. , Aldridge D. , Morgan G. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe huemul Hippocamelus bisulcus is an endangered species of deer occupying temperate woodland habitats in the Andes of southern Chile and Argentina. Continuing declines due to a combination of hunting and habitat loss have created a need for more conservation measures. However, current information on ranging behaviour, dispersal and seasonal movements is very limited. Three sites were therefore selected in Aysén, Chilean Patagonia, to study the movements and habitat associations of huemul. Although seasonal migrations in elevation had been reported previously for the species, we found the extent of seasonal movement limited, much less than that reported for other deer species in mountainous environments. Huemul selected mid‐slope elevations, and the winter ranges of most animals overlapped summer ranges. The extent of the seasonal movements that were undertaken were, however, the greatest at the highest site and insignificant at the lowest site. Previously published information shows that habitats used by huemul follow a latitudinal gradient in elevation (reducing c. 100 m °S−1 in latitude), and our results suggest that seasonal movements are likely to be greater in sites above this line. The mean range size differed between sites, ranging from 357 to 656 ha (mean 444 ha; median 506 ha). These estimates excluded long‐distance (>5 km) movements, which were infrequent.
Livestock damage and wolf presence
Authors: Gazzola A. , Capitani C. , Mattioli L. , Apollonio M. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractDepredation on livestock and wolf pack Canis lupus distribution was investigated in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany, from 1998 to 2001. Although livestock was uniformly distributed, damage level and distribution were focused in the mountainous area inhabited by wolf packs hence there were huge differences between areas with and without wolves. In the whole province a few farms were persistently affected by predation (6%), and they reported 38% of the total attacks and 37% of the total losses. Surplus killing phenomena involved only sheep and goat farms, affecting 18% of the total. Thirty‐five attacks (14% of the total attacks) reported 536 kills (44% of the total livestock killed in the whole province of Arezzo). During the period 1998–2001, compensation costs in the province averaged 86 863 Euros (range: 68 805–99 318 Euros). In the same period, no farmer requested prevention funding from the Tuscan region. During the study period wolf population was stable: wolf packs were distributed on 47% of the whole province (1504 km2), with a density estimated at 2.9±0.7 wolves 100 km−2.
Rapid picture processing: Affective primes and targets
Authors: Flaisch Tobias , Junghöfer Markus , Bradley Margaret M. , Schupp Harald T. , Lang Peter J. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractIn rapid serial visual presentation of pictures, an early ERP component shows enlarged negativity over occipital regions for emotional, compared to neutral, pictures. The present study examined the processing of emotional target pictures as a function of the hedonic valence of a preceding prime picture. Dense sensor ERPs were measured while subjects viewed a continuous stream of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant pictures, presented for 335 ms each. Two main findings were observed: First, replicating previous results, emotional target pictures were associated with a larger posterior negativity, compared to neutral pictures. Second, the emotional content of the preceding prime picture affected target processing, with pleasant or unpleasant primes resulting in reduced negativity of the following picture, irrespective of its emotional valence. These findings are discussed within a framework of competition among successive pictures.
The skin conductance orienting response to semantic stimuli: Significance can be independent of arousal
Authors: Dindo Lilian , Fowles Don C. 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe characteristics of stimuli that elicit skin conductance responses (SCRs) have been conceptualized in varied ways, with strong emphasis on the significance or arousing quality of stimuli. Our goal was to determine whether “significance” can be shown to have an effect on SCRs independent of “arousal,” using words as stimuli. Ratings of words indicated that significance is partially independent of arousal. In Study 1, SCRs from 43 participants during presentation of 20 significant, nonarousing words with a negative valence that were either depression related or potentially self‐referent and 20 nonsignificant words matched on valence and arousal showed a main effect of significance. In Study 2 (N=44), significant, nonarousing words were sampled more broadly to examine the effects of self‐reference and valence. Significance, rather than just negativity or self‐reference, elicited SCRs independently of arousal. SCRs to significant words may reflect cognitive and attentional processes that, in turn, might prove useful for the assessment of the cognitive aspects of anxiety.
The coupling of emotion and cognition in the eye: Introducing the pupil old/new effect
Authors: Võ Melissa L.‐H. , Jacobs Arthur M. , Kuchinke Lars , Hofmann Markus , Conrad Markus , Schacht Annekathrin , Hutzler Florian 
Published: October 2007

AbstractThe study presented here investigated the effects of emotional valence on the memory for words by assessing both memory performance and pupillary responses during a recognition memory task. Participants had to make speeded judgments on whether a word presented in the test phase of the experiment had already been presented (“old”) or not (“new”). An emotion‐induced recognition bias was observed: Words with emotional content not only produced a higher amount of hits, but also elicited more false alarms than neutral words. Further, we found a distinct pupil old/new effect characterized as an elevated pupillary response to hits as opposed to correct rejections. Interestingly, this pupil old/new effect was clearly diminished for emotional words. We therefore argue that the pupil old/new effect is not only able to mirror memory retrieval processes, but also reflects modulation by an emotion‐induced recognition bias.
Cutaneous sensibility and peripheral nerve function in patients with unmedicated essential hypertension
Authors: Edwards Louisa , Ring Christopher , McIntyre David , Winer John B. , Martin Una 
Published: October 2007

AbstractSensorimotor deficits in patients with essential hypertension may be due to impaired nerve function. Cutaneous sensory thresholds, median nerve sensory and motor conduction velocities, and median nerve sensory action potential amplitudes were assessed in 30 patients with unmedicated essential hypertension and 29 normotensives. Cutaneous sensory thresholds were higher and sensory action potential amplitudes smaller in hypertensives than normotensives whereas sensory and motor nerve conduction velocities did not differ between groups. These data suggest that hypertension may reduce the number of active sensory nerve fibers without affecting myelination. Sensory action potential amplitudes were inversely related to cutaneous sensory thresholds, suggesting that subclinical axonal neuropathy of sensory afferents may help account for perceptual deficits that characterize hypertension.