Pediatric and Adult Recommendations Vary for Sibling Testing in Cystic Fibrosis

Four to 5 % of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are diagnosed as adults and often have subtler symptoms. Their siblings are at genetic risk to also have a subtler disease state. Diagnostic testing is recommended for siblings of newly diagnosed infants, but recommendations are less clear for later diagnoses. This study explored sibling testing recommendations in pediatric and adult practice using a survey that was emailed to CF clinicians. There were 58 respondents. Results revealed that 82.5% of pediatric and 36.4% of adult care respondents reported always recommending diagnostic testing for siblings of a newly diagnosed patient. In adult care, another 33.3% reported recommending diagnostic testing if the sibling has symptoms. In pediatric care, whether the sibling had newborn screening was most influential. Most pediatric respondents prefer the sweat chloride test, while 40% in adult practice prefer familial mutation analysis. Perceived barriers included cost, insurance coverage and logistical concerns in both settings, parental emotional state in pediatrics, and concern making recommendations for someone who is not the patient in adult care. Genetic counselors may be able to meet familial needs in CF care, including sibling testing. Many newly diagnosed patients/families do not see a genetic counselor, especially in adult care. These data reveal opportunities for practice guidelines and standardization.     

Perception of objects oriented downward from a vertical position

In the present work we investigated people’s perceptions of orientation for surfaces that are conceived of as being sloped downward from vertical against a vertical reference frame. In the three conditions of Experiment 1, participants either (1) placed a ladder against a wall at what they thought was the most stable position, and then estimated its orientation; (2) gave a verbal (conceptual) estimate of what the most stable position of a ladder leaned against a wall would be; or (3) drew a line representing the most stable position of a ladder to be placed against a wall, and then gave a verbal estimate of the ladder’s orientation. Ladder placement was shallower than the most stable position, as were the verbal estimations of both the positioned and drawn orientations and the verbal (conceptual) estimates of the most stable position for a ladder to be leaned against a wall, relative to the actual orientations. In Experiment 2, participants verbally estimated various ladder orientations. The estimates were again shallower than the actual orientations. For orientations between 60° and 90°, the estimates showed a scale compression effect from horizontal. This perceived exaggeration of the orientation of an object typically oriented down from vertical is similar to the perceived exaggeration of the orientation of hills and ramps, typically thought of as oriented up from horizontal. This may point to a generic perceived exaggeration of slant whose direction depends on the conceptual or actual reference frame being used.     

The Problem of Necessary and Sufficient Conditions and Conceptual Analysis

In this article the standard philosophical method involving intuition‐driven conceptual analysis is challenged in a new way. This orthodox approach to philosophy takes analysanda to be the specifications of the content of concepts in the form of sets of necessary and sufficient conditions. Here it is argued that there is no adequate account of what necessary and sufficient conditions are. So, the targets of applications of the standard philosophical method so understood are not sufficiently well understood for this method to be dependable.     

Evaluating the Psychometric Properties of the Teamwork KSA Test

The Teamwork KSA Test has been a welcome addition to the practitioner's selection toolkit as well as a useful measure for teamwork researchers. We analyzed the psychometric properties of the Teamwork KSA Test and recognized correlates of the construct using three samples of working individuals recruited through a university (N = 241, N = 230, N = 332) and found slim evidence for a factor structure of the underlying constructs. Furthermore, classical reliability estimates did not meet traditional psychometric standards. Total TKSA scores predicted self‐ratings and instructor ratings of teamwork in two of the samples; effect sizes were small.     

Drug Use Among Immigrant and Non‐immigrant Adolescents: Immigrant Paradox,Family and Peer Influences

The present study compared immigrant and Italian native adolescents with regard to drug use. Additionally, we analysed the role of family and peer risk and protective factors for drug use. Participants included 2533 Italian native and immigrant adolescents (mean age = 17.19, SD = 1.6; 66.7% male). Results showed that immigrant adolescents reported lower levels of marijuana and pharmaceutical drug abuse than non‐immigrant adolescents. These results confirm the so‐called immigrant paradox phenomenon: the counterintuitive finding that although immigrants often live under challenging conditions and reported lower economic affluence compared with nationals, some health outcomes have not always corresponded to their relative disadvantage. Immigrant adolescents also reported higher level of parental control and lower levels of affiliation with deviant peers, but lower levels of child disclosure, parental solicitation and parental knowledge. Socio‐economic status and parental monitoring showed equivalent effects on drug use for immigrant and non‐immigrant adolescents. Results have implications for preventive interventions for immigrant adolescents and families, including the need to develop programmes that leverage the benefits of the immigrant paradox for immigrant communities. Future research should analyse the processes that lead to lower levels of drug use in immigrant adolescents and investigate the influence of friendship networks on immigrant adolescent drug use behaviour. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender Role Attitudes across the Transition to Adolescent Motherhood in Mexican‐Origin Families

Using longitudinal data collected at four time points from 191 dyads of Mexican‐origin adolescent first‐time mothers and their mother figures, we examined changes in and socialization of traditional gender role attitudes across the transition to parenthood using latent growth curve modeling and actor – partner interdependence modeling. Longitudinal growth models indicated that, regardless of nativity status, adolescent mothers' and their foreign‐born mother figures' gender role attitudes became more egalitarian across adolescents' transition to parenthood, spanning from the 3rd trimester of pregnancy to 36 months postpartum. Furthermore, actor‐partner interdependence modeling suggested that adolescents' and their mother figures' gender role attitudes during adolescents' third trimester of pregnancy equally contributed to subsequent increases in one another's gender role attitudes at 10 months postpartum. Importantly, this reciprocal socialization process was not moderated by adolescent mothers' nor by their mother figures' nativity status. Findings suggest that it is important to understand the cultural and intergenerational family processes that contribute to the development of gender role attitudes during the transition to parenthood for adolescent mothers and their mother figures in Mexican‐origin families.     

Cognitive disruption and altered hippocampus synaptic function in Reelin haploinsufficient mice

The heterozygote reeler mouse (HRM) shows many neuroanatomical and biochemical features that are also present in some human cognitive disorders, such as schizophrenia. In the present study, hippocampal dependent plasticity and cognitive function of the HRM were characterized in detail in an attempt to reveal phenotypic functional differences that result from Reelin haploinsufficiency. The HRM and wild type mice show similar levels of overall activity, coordination, thermal nociception, startle responses, and anxiety-like behavior. In addition, both genotypes show similar shock threshold, identical cued freezing behavior and comparable spatial learning in Morris water maze tasks. However, a significant reduction in contextual fear conditioned learning was observed in the HRM. Electrophysiological studies in hippocampal CA1 synapses revealed a plethora of differences between genotypes. The HRM exhibits reduced field excitatory postsynaptic potentials in responses to similar synaptic inputs, lowered paired pulse facilitation ratio and impaired long-term depression and tetanus-induced long-term potentiation (LTP). Also, deficits were detected in LTP elicited by theta burst stimulation or by a whole cell pairing protocol. These physiologic differences could not be accounted for by changes in the overall amount of glutamate receptor subunits. In addition, it was determined that network-driven excitatory and inhibitory activities recorded in CA1 pyramidal neurons showed that the HRM had comparable amplitude and frequency of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic currents, but a marked reduction in spontaneous inhibitory postsynaptic currents. Thus, the HRM exhibits a specific hippocampal-dependent learning deficit accompanied with a pronounced impairment of hippocampal plasticity and functional inhibitory innervation.