Development and Evaluation of a Telephone Communication Protocol for the Delivery of Personalized Melanoma Genomic Risk to the General Population

Communicating personalized genomic risk results for common diseases to the general population as a form of tailored prevention is novel and may require alternative genetic counseling service delivery models. We describe the development and evaluation of a communication protocol for disclosing melanoma genomic risk information to the asymptomatic general population and assess participants’ satisfaction and acceptability. Participants (n?=?117) were aged 22–69 years, living in New South Wales, Australia and unselected for family history. They provided a saliva sample and had genomic testing for melanoma for low to moderate penetrant melanoma susceptibility variants in 21 genes. Participants could choose to receive their results from a genetic counselor via telephone, followed by a mailed booklet or to receive their risk result via mailed booklet only with a follow-up call for those at high risk. A follow-up questionnaire was completed by 85% of participants 3-months later. Most participants (80%) elected to receive their result via telephone. Participants were highly satisfied with the delivery of results (mean 3.4 out of 4, standard deviation 0.5), and this did not differ by delivery mode, risk category, age or sex. On follow-up, 75% accurately recalled their risk category, 6% indicated a preference for a different delivery mode, either electronic or face-to-face. The process of disclosing genomic risk results to the general population over the telephone with accompanying written material was feasible and acceptable, and may be useful for communicating polygenic risk for common diseases in the context of increasing demands for genomic testing.     

Choice in transition: Replication and extension to preschool children in a naturalistic setting

This study replicated previous basic research into the dynamics of choice and extended this analysis to children's behavior in a naturalistic setting. Two preschoolers with disabilities were observed interacting with their teachers at baseline and during an experimental analysis involving four pairs of concurrent variable‐interval schedules of adult attention implemented by an experimenter. Each child was exposed to four experimental phases in which the relative reinforcer rates for on‐ and off‐task behavior were 10:1, 1:1, 1:10, and reversed back to 10:1. The 10:1 phase was designed to mimic the same schedules and types of adult attention observed at baseline. We used the generalized matching equation to model steady‐state behavior at the end of the transition phases and to evaluate changes in sensitivity at various points throughout the phases. Choice in transition was evaluated by plotting log behavior ratios by session, cumulated time on‐ and off‐task and cumulated attention for on‐ and off‐task behavior by session, and interreinforcer behavior ratios following different sequences of the first four reinforcer deliveries. The generalized matching equation accounted for a large proportion of variance in steady‐state responding, sensitivity values increased steadily throughout the phases, patterns of choice in transition were similar to those reported in basic research, and interreinforcer preference generally shifted toward the just‐reinforced alternative. These findings are consistent with previous basic research and support the generality of the dynamics of choice to children's on‐ and off‐task behavior reinforced by adult attention.     

The Effect of Honduran Counseling Practices on the North American Counseling Profession: The Power of Poverty

A team of researchers consisting of counselor education professors and doctoral‐level counseling students conducted interviews with Honduran mental health professionals, including counselors, psychologists, pastors, community developmental specialists, and psychiatrists. The purpose was to understand the counseling process and profession that exists in a developing economy. The results are focused on the pervasive effects of poverty on the profession, the training of counselors, and the nature of counseling interventions.     

From What to How: An Initial Review of Publicly Available AI Ethics Tools,Methods and Research to Translate Principles into Practices

Science and Engineering Ethics - The debate about the ethical implications of Artificial Intelligence dates from the 1960s (Samuel in Science, 132(3429):741–742, 1960....     

Motor excitability during movement preparation in Tourette syndrome

Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by the occurrence of motor and vocal tics. TS has been linked to the impaired operation of cortical‐striatal‐thalamic‐cortical circuits that give rise to hyper‐excitability of cortical motor areas, which may be exacerbated by dysfunctional intra‐cortical inhibitory mechanisms. That said, many individuals gain control over their tics during adolescence and it has been suggested that this increased control arises as a result of the development of mechanisms that operate to suppress corticospinal excitability (CSE) ahead of volitional movements. Here we used single‐pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in conjunction with a manual Go/NoGo task to investigate alterations in CSE ahead of volitional movements in a group of adolescents with TS (N = 10). Our study demonstrated that CSE, as measured by TMS‐induced motor‐evoked potentials (MEPs), was significantly reduced in the TS group in the period immediately preceding a finger movement. More specifically, we show that individuals with TS, unlike their age‐matched controls, do not exhibit the predicted increase in mean MEP amplitude and decrease in MEP variability that immediately precede the execution of volitional movements in typically developing young adults. Finally, we report that the magnitude of the rise in MEP amplitude across the movement preparation period in TS is significantly negatively correlated with clinical measures of motor tic severity, suggesting that individuals with severe motor tics are least able to modulate motor cortical excitability.