Genetic Knowledge Among Participants in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative

Genetic literacy is essential for the effective integration of genomic information into healthcare; yet few recent studies have been conducted to assess the current state of this knowledge base. Participants in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC), a prospective study assessing the impact of personalized genetic risk reports for complex diseases and drug response on behavior and health outcomes, completed genetic knowledge questionnaires and other surveys through an online portal. To assess the association between genetic knowledge and genetic education background, multivariate linear regression was performed. 4 062 participants completed a genetic knowledge and genetic education background questionnaire. Most were older (mean age: 50), Caucasian (90 %), female (59 %), highly educated (69 % bachelor’s or higher), with annual household income over $100 000 (49 %). Mean percent correct was 76 %. Controlling for demographics revealed that health care providers, participants previously exposed to genetics, and participants with ‘better than most’ self-rated knowledge were significantly more likely to have a higher knowledge score (p?<?0.001). Overall, genetic knowledge was high with previous genetic education experience predictive of higher genetic knowledge score. Education is likely to improve genetic literacy, an important component to expanded use of genomics in personalized medicine.     

Examining Relationships Among Ethnicity,PTSD, Life Functioning,and Comorbidity in Female OEF/OIF Veterans

There is much literature on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and male combat veterans, but little on PTSD by gender and ethnicity among women combat veterans. We examine ethnic differences in PTSD and comorbid disorders among 37 Hispanic, 27 White, and 15 Native female Operaton Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) combat veterans. Participants completed the Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV, Axis I (SCID-Axis I and II), Life Events Checklist (LEC), Military Stress Exposure Questionnaire (MSEQ), and the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36). Hispanics differed from Whites in having less education, more trauma exposure, higher levels of PTSD, mood disorder comorbidity, and poorer physical and emotional functioning. Natives differed from Whites with more trauma exposure, higher levels of PTSD, poorer emotional functioning, and higher rates of Cluster B PDs.     

Spatio-temporal constraints on upright children's coordination when hitting a moving target

To determine if the spatial and/or temporal context affected the coordination patterns of children under five in upright interceptive tasks, 3-year-olds hit a ball dropped from a ramp from five heights (1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5 m) to control drop time. We studied the initiation time of hitting a ball with a cinematic analysis of the different joint movements (foot, knee, hip, shoulder, and hand). Two patterns of joint coordination were observed according to the rolling height of the ball: a de-synchronized pattern for heights of 2 m or above where the foot was the first to move and the hand the last, and a “synchronized” pattern, for the lowest height (1.5 m) where all joints started moving at the same time due to a strong temporal pressure. These two coordination patterns highlight a functional adaptation of body joints according to the spatio-temporal constraints among children from the age of three.     

Sleep arrangements and night waking at 6 and 12 months in relation to infants' stress‐induced cortisol responses

The objective of this short‐term longitudinal study was to examine the concurrent and prospective associations of infants' sleep arrangements and night waking with cortisol responses to an inoculation at 6 and 12 months, controlling for several key covariates. To our knowledge, this was the first study to concurrently and prospectively link proximity in sleep arrangements and night waking to physiological stress reactivity. A sample of 92 mother–infant dyads participated in the study when the infants were 6 and 12 months of age, although sample sizes were reduced for some analyses. Both proximal cosleeping arrangements and more frequent night wakings' were associated concurrently with an increased cortisol response to inoculations at both ages. Night waking at 6 months also was associated with a slightly increased cortisol response to inoculation at 12 months. Results aimed at exploring the direction of influence suggested that cosleeping and night waking may influence infant stress physiology rather than the reverse. Adaptive and maladaptive implications of infants' nocturnal experiences and greater stress‐induced cortisol responses are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A probabilistic model of semantic plausibility in sentence processing

Experimental research shows that human sentence processing uses information from different levels of linguistic analysis, for example, lexical and syntactic preferences as well as semantic plausibility. Existing computational models of human sentence processing, however, have focused primarily on lexico-syntactic factors. Those models that do account for semantic plausibility effects lack a general model of human plausibility intuitions at the sentence level. Within a probabilistic framework, we propose a wide-coverage model that both assigns thematic roles to verb–argument pairs and determines a preferred interpretation by evaluating the plausibility of the resulting ( verb , role , argument ) triples. The model is trained on a corpus of role-annotated language data. We also present a transparent integration of the semantic model with an incremental probabilistic parser. We demonstrate that both the semantic plausibility model and the combined syntax/semantics model predict judgment and reading time data from the experimental literature.     

Inhibitory and facilitatory location priming in patients with left-sided visual hemi-neglect

In visual search for pop-out targets, reaction times are facilitated when the target on the current trial appears at a previous target location, and inhibited when it appears at a previous distractor location, relative to when it appears at a previously empty (neutral) location (Maljkovic and Nakayama, Perception and Psychophysics 58:977–991, 1996). However, while normal subjects are able to positively/negatively tag selected target/rejected distractor locations to guide search on the next trial, patients with visual hemi-neglect may have a (uni- or bilateral) deficit in these functions that may contribute to their disturbed visual scanning behavior. To examine this, using a pop-out search task, the present study assessed cross-trial facilitatory and inhibitory priming in 14 patients with left-sided visual hemi-neglect and in 14 age-, education-, and IQ-matched control subjects. The group of neglect patients did show significant facilitatory and inhibitory priming. However, while control subjects exhibited balanced effects of facilitation and inhibition, inhibition was relatively reduced in magnitude in neglect patients. In particular, inhibition was virtually absent in two patients with lesions affecting superior regions of the frontal cortex, putatively encroaching on the frontal eye field of the right hemisphere. These findings provide neuropsychological evidence that facilitatory and inhibitory priming effects are based on dissociable mechanisms, consistent with Geyer et al. (Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 33:788–797, 2007).     

The Role of Lay Health Advisors in Cardiovascular Risk Reduction: A Review

Interventions are needed to reduce the negative impact of cardiovascular disease. The combination of health risks for disease, disability, and mortality, particularly among underserved populations, might be best addressed with programs designed to enhance awareness and development of resources within a context of community support. The objectives of this review were to: (1) provide a comprehensive review and evaluation of the roles, evaluation, and effectiveness of LHA in community-based programs with an emphasis on cardiovascular risk reduction; and (2) provide recommendations for future research involving LHA in such programs. Computer and manual searches were conducted of articles in the English-language literature from 1980 to 2007. Twenty articles were evaluated, which emphasized the role of the LHA in cardiovascular risk reduction. A review of research literature provides a starting point for determining salient approaches for intervention and evaluation, issues related to program implementation and sustainability, and strengths and limitations of existing approaches.     

Group cognition,membership change,and performance: Investigating the benefits and detriments of collective knowledge

This study analyzes the effects of group membership change on group cognition and performance to determine how groups can simultaneously leverage oldtimers’ collective knowledge and a newcomer’s expertise. Our analysis focuses specifically on the interrelated effects of the two components of a transactive memory system (TMS)—TMS structure and TMS processes—to explain the cognitive mechanisms through which membership change affects group performance. Results from a laboratory study show that groups that experience partial membership change tend to rely on the TMS structure that oldtimers developed in their original group, and that doing so is ultimately detrimental to performance because it creates inefficient TMS processes. Results from a supplemental study indicate that these TMS process inefficiencies can be avoided when oldtimers are instructed to reflect upon their collective knowledge prior to task execution. We discuss the implications for managing group cognition in organizations where membership change is prevalent.