USD Recent Faculty Publications
September 2009 Faculty Publications
Dodge, Neil C., Joseph L. Jacobson, Eugene H. Hoyme, Luther K. Robinson, Nathaniel Khaole, and Sandra W. Jacobson. (2009).
"Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Interhemispheric Transfer of Tactile Information: Detroit and Cape Town Findings."
Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research 33(9): 1628-37.
Background: Previous research has demonstrated that heavy prenatal alcohol exposure affects the size and shape of the corpus callosum (CC) and compromises interhemispheric transfer of information. The aim of this study was to confirm the previous reports of poorer performance on a finger localization test (FLT) of interhemispheric transfer in a cohort of heavily exposed children and to extend these findings to a cohort of moderately exposed young adults. Methods: In Study 1, the FLT was administered to 40 heavily exposed and 23 nonexposed children from the Cape Coloured community of Cape Town, South Africa, who were evaluated for fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) dysmorphology and growth. Anatomical images of the CC were obtained using structural MRI on a subset of these children. In Study 2, the FLT was administered to a cohort of 85 moderate-to-heavily exposed young adults participating in a 19-year follow-up assessment of the Detroit Prenatal Alcohol Exposure cohort, whose alcohol exposure had been ascertained prospectively during gestation. Results: In Study 1, children with FAS showed more transfer-related errors than controls after adjustment for confounding, and increased transfer-related errors were associated with volume reductions in the isthmus and splenium of the CC. In Study 2, transfer-related errors were associated with quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion during pregnancy. More errors were made if the mother reported binge drinking (?5 standard drinks) during pregnancy than if she drank regularly (M ? 1 drink/day) without binge drinking. Conclusions: These findings confirm a previous report of impaired interhemispheric transfer of tactile information in children heavily exposed to alcohol in utero and extend these findings to show that these deficits are also seen in more moderately exposed individuals, particularly those exposed to binge-like pregnancy drinking.
ALCOHOLISM in pregnancy
FETAL alcohol syndrome
CORPUS callosum
CHILDREN of prenatal alcohol abuse
BINGE drinking
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Finger Localization Test
Interhemispheric Transfer
Pregnancy Binge Drinking
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Grover, Jeff, and Angeline Lavin. (2009).
Passive Versus Optimized Investing in Retirement Plan Portfolios.
Journal of Wealth Management 12, no. (Fall2009, 2): 48-59.
This article uses portfolios of Vanguard index funds to study the optimal portfolio allocation strategy, for long-term investors who are saving for retirement. The optimization, conducted using both a single-index-hybrid model (SIHM) and the Markowitz-Sharpe optimization method, suggests that in the long run, an optimized allocation strategy will yield cumulative returns equivalent to those of a passive allocation strategy with significantly less risk. In addition, the optimized allocation strategy achieves the favorable risk and reward profile using fewer funds than the passive strategy.
PORTFOLIO management
CAPITALISTS & financiers
PENSIONS
RATE of return
INVESTMENT policy
VANGUARD mutual funds
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Honts, Charles R., and William Schweinle. (2009)
Information Gain of Psychophysiological Detection of Deception in Forensic and Screening Settings./i>
Applied Psychophysiology & Biofeedback 34(3): 161-72.
We adapted and applied the Wells and Olson’s () Information Gain Analyses to examine the relative usefulness of a common psycho-physiological deception detection (PDD) technique, the Comparison Question Test, in forensic and screening settings as compared to unassisted lay and professional persons. We found that in forensic settings PDD provided substantial improvements in information gain over unassisted laypersons across nearly the complete range of the base rate of guilt. This was true for accuracy estimates based on laboratory and field data. At p(guilt) = 0.9, a benchmark set by critics of PDD, PDD provided 27 times the information gain of credibility decisions made by unassisted lay persons. Analyses of a screening PDD indicated that only deceptive outcomes provide useful information gain at relevant low base rates of guilt. These results strongly support the use of PDD in forensic settings and have implications for how screening PDD results are used.
PSYCHOPHYSIOLOGY
DECEPTION
DIAGNOSIS
GUILT
LABORATORIES
RESEARCH
Information gain
Psychophysiological deception detection tests
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Jones, Kenneth Lyons, H. Eugene Hoyme, Luther K. Robinson, Miguel del Campo, Melanie A. Manning, Ludmila N. Bakhireva, and Lela M. Prewitt. (2009).
Developmental Pathogenesis of Short Palpebral Fissure Length in Children with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Birth Defects Research Part A: Clinical and Molecular Teratology 85(8): 695-99.
BACKGROUND:From the standpoint of normal embryologic development, the palpebral fissures are generally considered to be determined by and dependent on the underlying optic vesicles, outpouchings of the frontal area of the developing fetal brain. It has been suggested that short palpebral fissures are a reflection of an underlying defect in specific areas of forebrain development. Alternatively, short palpebral fissures, seen in a number of multiple malformation syndromes associated with small occipitofrontal circumference OFC, such as the fetal alcohol syndrome FAS, might be proportionally small as a reflection of the microcephaly. The purpose of this study was to examine whether short palpebral fissures are independent of or determined by the OFC.METHODS:Agespecific palpebral fissure length PFL and OFC centiles were correlated in 273 children with FAS, 272 children with some features of FAS, and 385 children with no structural features characteristic of FAS.RESULTS:The OFC and PFL centiles demonstrated a statistically significant but weak correlation in all three study groups. Among children with FAS, only 10.2 of the total variation in PFL could be accounted for by OFC p 0.0001. A similar pattern was observed for children with some features of FAS r2 0.142; p 0.0001 and children with no structural features of FAS r2 0.110; p 0.0001.CONCLUSIONS:Palpebral fissure length is predominately independent of occipitofrontal circumference in children with and without features of FAS. Short palpebral fissures may well reflect a defect in forebrain development rather than being proportionally reduced in size as a reflection of microcephaly. Birth Defects Research Part A 2009. © 2009 WileyLiss, Inc.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Li, Qin, and Brian Burrell. (2009).
Two Forms of Long-Term Depression in a Polysynaptic Pathway in the Leech Cns: One Nmda Receptor-Dependent and the Other Cannabinoid-Dependent.
Journal of Comparative Physiology A: Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural & Behavioral Physiology 195(9): 831-41.
Although long-term depression (LTD) is a well-studied form of synaptic plasticity, it is clear that multiple cellular mechanisms are involved in its induction. In the leech, LTD is observed in a polysynaptic connection between touch mechanosensory neurons (T cells) and the S interneuron following low frequency stimulation. LTD elicited by 450 s low frequency stimulation was blocked by N-methyl- d-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor antagonists. However, LTD elicited by 900 s low frequency stimulation was insensitive to NMDA receptor antagonists and was instead dependent on cannabinoid signaling. This LTD was blocked by both a cannabinoid receptor antagonist and by inhibition of diacylglycerol lipase, which is necessary for the synthesis of the cannabinoid transmitter 2-arachidonyl glycerol (2-AG). Bath application of 2-AG or the cannabinoid receptor agonist CP55 940 also induced LTD at this synapse. These results indicate that two forms of LTD coexist at the leech T-to-S polysynaptic pathway: one that is NMDA receptor-dependent and another that is cannabinoid-dependent and that activation of either form of LTD is dependent on the level of activity in this circuit.
Cannabinoid
Leech
Long-term depression
NMDA receptor
Synaptic plasticity
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Lukkes, Jodi, Vuong Shawn, Jamie Scholl, Harvey Oliver, and Gina Forster. (2009).
Corticotropin-Releasing Factor Receptor Antagonism within the Dorsal Raphe Nucleus Reduces Social Anxiety-Like Behavior after Early-Life Social Isolation.
Journal of Neuroscience 293(2): 9955-60.
Social isolation of rats during the early part of development increases social anxiety-like behavior in adulthood. Furthermore, early-life social isolation increases the levels of corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) receptors in the serotonergic dorsal raphe nucleus (dRN) of adult rats. Interactions between serotonin and CRF systems are thought to mediate anxiety behavior. Therefore, we investigated the effects of CRF receptor antagonism within the dRN on social anxiety-like behavior after early-life social isolation. Male rats were reared in isolation or in groups from weaning until midadolescence, and rehoused in groups and allowed to develop into adulthood. Adult rats underwent surgery to implant a drug cannula into the dRN. After recovery from surgery and acclimation to the testing arena, rats were infused with vehicle or the CRF receptor antagonist D-Phe-CRF(12-41) (50 or 500 ng) into the dRN before a social interaction test. Isolation-reared rats pretreated with vehicle exhibited increased social anxiety-like behavior compared with rats reared in groups. Pretreatment of the dRN with D-Phe-CRF(12-41) significantly reduced social anxietylike behaviors exhibited by isolation-reared rats. Overall, this study shows that early-life social stress results in heightened social anxiety-like behavior, which is reversed by CRF antagonism within the dRN. These data suggest that CRF receptor antagonists could provide a potential treatment of stress-related social anxiety.
CORTICOTROPIN releasing hormone
NEUROPEPTIDES
DRUG antagonism
SEROTONIN
SOCIAL isolation
SOCIAL anxiety
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Ragothaman, Srinivasan, Jon Carpenter, and Thomas Davies. (2009).
An Empirical Investigation of Mpa Student Performance and Admissions Criteria.
College Student Journal 43(3): 879-75.
The quality of a Master of Professional Accountancy (MPA) program, similar to other undergraduate and graduate programs in business and other disciplines, is typically directly related to the quality of its students. While there is a considerable published scholarly work on MBA student performance, there is very little research to predict student success in MPA programs and this study fills this important gap. In this article, the authors investigate the association between undergraduate GPAs, GMAT scores, age, and a few other independent variables and MPA student performance as measured by graduate GPA (GGPA). Correlation analysis indicates that junior-senior year grade point average (2UGPA) is most highly correlated with GGPA. The regression results indicate that 2UGPA and quantitative GMAT score are significant predictors of GGPA at 0.01 levels. Age was also a significant predictor of graduate GPA at the 10 percent level.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Richardson, Lisa K., B. Christopher Frueh, Anouk L. Grubaugh, Leonard Egede, and Jon D. Elhai. (2009).
Clinical Psychology: Science & Practice 16(3): 323-38.
The provision of mental health services via videoconferencing tele-mental health has become an increasingly routine component of mental health service delivery throughout the world. Emphasizing the research literature since 2003, we examine (a) the extent to which the field of tele-mental health has advanced the research agenda previously suggested and (b) implications for tele-mental healthcare delivery for special clinical populations. Previous findings have demonstrated that tele-mental health services are satisfactory to patients, improve outcomes, and are probably cost effective. In the very small number of randomized controlled studies that have been conducted to date, tele-mental health has demonstrated equivalent efficacy compared to face-to-face care in a variety of clinical settings and with specific patient populations. However, methodologically flawed or limited research studies are the norm, and thus the research agenda for tele-mental health has not been fully maximized. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
MENTAL health
VIDEOCONFERENCING
MENTAL health services
PSYCHIATRY -- Research
PEOPLE with mental disabilities
access-to-care
mental health care
rural
service delivery
tele-mental health
telepsychiatry
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Schrader, Susan L., Margot L. Nelson, and Luann M. Eidsness. (2009).
Reflections on End of Life: Comparison of American Indian and Non-Indian Peoples in South Dakota.
American Indian Culture & Research Journal 33(2): 67-87.
The article presents a sociological comparison between American Indian and non-Indian people living in the state of South Dakota. The authors examine end of life care among these two different groups of people, revealing that even though most people state that at the end of life they would prefer to die free of pain in their homes less than twenty percent of people actually die under these conditions. The cultural differences involved in end of life treatment preferences are analyzed, specifically focusing on the view of death in Native American culture.
INDIANS of North America -- Social conditions
TERMINAL care -- Social aspects
TERMINAL care -- Research
TERMINALLY ill -- Social conditions
DEATH -- Attitudes
SOUTH Dakota
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Wolfe, Susan J. (2009).
I. Using the L-Word: Coming out in the Classroom.
Feminism & Psychology 19(2): 181-85.
The author focuses on her confusion to make reconciliation of his identity being a lesbian professor. She notes her inability to articulate her cognitive dissonance and her experience of discomforts toward her students and colleagues. She also stresses the significance of claiming a lesbian identity to create a clear viewpoint to challenge the dual ideologies of sexism and heterosexuality and leave the door open for students to talk from theirs and challenge other forms of repressiveness.
LESBIAN teachers
LESBIANISM
SEXUAL orientation
SOCIAL perception
GAYS -- Social conditions
Posted at 12:50PM Sep 28, 2009 by Tracy Marie Elsen in September 2009 | Comments[0]