Association between executive functions and COMT Val108/158Met polymorphism among healthy younger and older adults: A preliminary study.

Background And Objectives: Genetic variability in the dopaminergic system could contribute to age-related impairments in executive control. In this study, we examined whether genetic polymorphism for catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT Val158Met) is related to performance on updating, shifting and inhibition tasks.

Methods: We administered a battery of executive tasks assessing updating, shifting and inhibition functions to 45 older and 55 younger healthy participants, and created composite z-scores associated to each function.

Differential Associations Between Distinct Components of Cognitive Function and Mobility: Implications for Understanding Aging, Turning and Dual-Task Walking.

Objective: Cognition and mobility are interrelated. However, this association can be impacted by the specific facets of cognition and mobility that are measured, and further by the different task conditions, e.g.

Epidemiological and biological determinants of Staphylococcus aureus clinical infection in New York State maximum security prisons.

Background: Large outbreaks of Staphylococcus aureus (SA) infections have occurred in correctional facilities across the country. We aimed to define the epidemiological and microbiological determinants of SA infection in prisons to facilitate development of prevention strategies for this underserved population.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study of SA infection at 2 New York State maximum security prisons.

Concordance between medical records and interview data in correctional facilities.

Background: Self- administered questionnaires or interviews and medical records are often used as sources of research data; thus it is essential to evaluate their concordance and reliability. The aim of this paper was to assess the concordance between medical and behavioral data obtained from medical records and interview questionnaires in two correctional facilities.

Methods: Medical record and interview data were compared for 679 inmates from one male and one female maximum security prison between April 2010 and February 2013.

Task demand influences relationships among sex, clustering strategy, and recall: 16-word versus 9-word list learning tests.

Objective: We compared the relationships among sex, clustering strategy, and recall across different task demands using the 16-word California Verbal Learning Test-Second Edition (CVLT-II) and the 9-word Philadelphia (repeatable) Verbal Learning Test (PrVLT).

Background: Women generally score higher than men on verbal memory tasks, possibly because women tend to use semantic clustering. This sex difference has been established via word-list learning tests such as the CVLT-II.

Regional white matter hyperintensity volume, not hippocampal atrophy, predicts incident Alzheimer disease in the community.

BACKGROUND New-onset Alzheimer disease (AD) is often attributed to degenerative changes in the hippocampus. However, the contribution of regionally distributed small vessel cerebrovascular disease, visualized as white matter hyperintensities (WMHs) on magnetic resonance imaging, remains unclear. OBJECTIVE To determine whether regional WMHs and hippocampal volume predict incident AD in an epidemiological study.

Challenges and strategies for research in prisons.

In this article, we discuss some of the challenges encountered while conducting research in two maximum security prisons and approaches we found helpful to facilitate the research process through the development of collaborative relationships, the establishment of prison contacts, and the implementation of rigorous research methods. As a result of our experiences, we have been successful at maintaining a high rate of inmate participation (>80%) and a well-functioning multidisciplinary team. The approaches described may be useful to other investigators planning to conduct research in a challenging setting such as prisons.

Staphylococcus aureus oropharyngeal carriage in a prison population.

Throat carriage (42.7%) of Staphylococcus aureus exceeded nasal carriage (35.0%) in 2 New York prisons.