Sustained attention and executive functioning performance in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

The aim of this study was to further refine the cognitive phenotype of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), with respect to the ability to sustain attention and executive functioning. Participants were 34 boys with ADHD (combined type) and 28 normal controls. The groups were closely matched for age and IQ.

The multi-source interference task: the effect of randomization.

Recently a novel interference task was developed, that was aimed at obtaining robust patterns of interference in individual subjects, both behaviorally and neurophysiologically (Bush, Shin, Holmes, Rosen & Vogt, 2003). This multi-source interference task (MSIT) combined elements of spatial and flanker interference, and huge interference effects were obtained in a blocked design. This task could thus in principle be used to assess frontal abnormalities, such as ADHD.

Heritability of selective attention and working memory in preschoolers.

In this study aspects of selective attention and working memory were tested in a large sample of nearly 6-year old monozygotic and dizygotic twin pairs, using a computerized test battery (Amsterdam Neuropsychological tasks). In the selective attention task the presence of a foil signal (target signal at an irrelevant location) resulted in more false alarms than a non-target signal. In the working memory task an increase in memory load lead to an increase in response times and errors.

Epidemiology of obesity.

The prevalence of obesity is increasing at an alarming rate in many parts of the world. In White populations living in the west and north of Europe, Australia, and the United States, the prevalence of obesity is similarly high in men and women. In countries with relatively low gross national product, such as those in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Latin-America, and Africa, the prevalence is 1.

Investigation of B-branch electron transfer by femtosecond time resolved spectroscopy in a Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centre that lacks the Q(A) ubiquinone.

The dynamics of electron transfer in a membrane-bound Rhodobacter sphaeroides reaction centre containing a combination of four mutations were investigated by transient absorption spectroscopy. The reaction centre, named WAAH, has a mutation that causes the reaction centre to assemble without a Q(A) ubiquinone (Ala M260 to Trp), a mutation that causes the replacement of the H(A) bacteriopheophytin with a bacteriochlorophyll (Leu M214 to His) and two mutations that remove acidic groups close to the Q(B) ubiquinone (Glu L212 to Ala and Asp L213 to Ala). Previous work has shown that the Q(B) ubiquinone is reduced by electron transfer along the so-called inactive cofactor branch (B-branch) in the WAAH reaction centre (M.

Using concept mapping to design an indicator framework for addiction treatment centres.

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine an indicator framework for addiction treatment centres based on the demands of stakeholders and in alignment with the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model.

Setting: The setting is the Jellinek Centre based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which serves as a prototype for an addiction treatment centre.

Method: Concept mapping was used in the construction of the indicator framework.

Leishmania chagasi/infantum: further investigations on Leishmania tropisms in atypical cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis foci in Central America.

In Central America, apparently genetically identical Leishmania chagasi/infantum parasites cause cutaneous (CL) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL), the latter being more frequent in young children. The present study investigated if there were pathology-related differences in virulence between Honduran CL and VL strains using Mediterranean L. infantum strains as a reference.

Heritability of Stroop and flanker performance in 12-year old children.

Background: There is great interest in appropriate phenotypes that serve as indicator of genetically transmitted frontal (dys)function, such as ADHD. Here we investigate the ability to deal with response conflict, and we ask to what extent performance variation on response interference tasks is caused by genetic variation. We tested a large sample of 12-year old monozygotic and dizygotic twins on two well-known and closely related response interference tasks; the color Stroop task and the Eriksen flanker task.

Cut-point shift and index shift in self-reported health.

There is some concern that ordered responses on health questions may differ across populations or even across subgroups of a population. This reporting heterogeneity may invalidate group comparisons and measures of health inequality. This paper proposes a test for differential reporting in ordered response models which enables to distinguish between cut-point shift and index shift.

'What about bullying?' An experimental field study to understand students' attitudes towards bullying and victimization in Italian middle schools.

Background: Attitudes towards bullying at school are influential in understanding and preventing bullying behaviour but they should be measured with reference to the particular conditions under which bullying takes place.

Aims: To establish how far positive and negative judgments of bullying and victims and blaming of the victim vary according to the gender of observers, gender of bullies and of victims and whether the bullying took place alone or in group.

Sample: Participants were 117 students (49 boys and 68 girls), aged 11-12, recruited from a middle school in Italy randomly allocated to one of four independent groups according to experimental condition: bullying alone among girls, bullying alone among boys, bullying in groups among girls, bullying in groups among boys.

Effects of outpatient treatment of dyslexia.

The effects of a Dutch intervention program for dyslexia are reported. The program was individually tailored, depending on the style of reading, the phase of the learning process, and the intermediate results of the treatment. Two groups of participants were involved: (a) a group of children with pure dyslexia (n = 109) and (b) a group that had reading problems but also suffered from cognitive deficits or psychiatric symptoms (n = 29).

The dual burden household and the nutrition transition paradox.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to document the prevalence of households with underweight and overweight persons (henceforth referred to as dual burden households) and their association with income and urban residence. The explorations by urban residence and income will test whether dual burden households differ from 'underweight only' and 'overweight only' households, respectively. These comparisons are relevant to differentiating or adapting nutrition-related interventions wherever obesity and undernutrition cluster at the household level.

The effect of work on mental health: does occupation matter?

This paper considers the effect of work choices on mental health and looks at whether this differs across occupations. This requires a model that can deal with the endogeneity in the relationship between health, occupation and work choices. We specify such a model and estimate it on a unique UK panel survey.

Continuing and changing group identities: the effects of merging on social identification and ingroup bias.

A social identity approach to the investigation of group-based reactions to a merger is outlined, in which a merger is analyzed in terms of the continuation or change of the pre-merger group identity. In two experiments, the relationship between pre-merger identification, post-merger identification, and ingroup bias was investigated using a minimal group paradigm. Results from both studies showed that the perceived continuation of the pre-merger group identity in the post-merger group strengthened the positive relationship between pre-merger identification and identification with the superordinate post-merger group.

Complex regulation of the lactase-phlorizin hydrolase promoter by GATA-4.

Lactase-phlorizin hydrolase (LPH), a marker of intestinal differentiation, is expressed in absorptive enterocytes on small intestinal villi in a tightly regulated pattern along the proximal-distal axis. The LPH promoter contains binding sites that mediate activation by members of the GATA-4, -5, and -6 subfamily, but little is known about their individual contribution to LPH regulation in vivo. Here, we show that GATA-4 is the principal GATA factor from adult mouse intestinal epithelial cells that binds to the mouse LPH promoter, and its expression is highly correlated with that of LPH mRNA in jejunum and ileum.

Not all stereotypic biases are created equal: evidence for a stereotype-disconfirming bias.

Stereotype-confirming biases are well documented in the social psychological literature. However, motivations to disconfirm social stereotypes may be more influential for unprejudiced individuals. Three experiments are presented that test the hypothesis that extremely unprejudiced people exhibit a bias toward stereotype disconfirmation.

Familial influences on sustained attention and inhibition in preschoolers.

Background: In this study several aspects of attention were studied in 237 nearly 6-year-old twin pairs. Specifically, the ability to sustain attention and inhibition were investigated using a computerized test battery (Amsterdam Neuropsychological Tasks). Furthermore, the Teacher's Report Form (TRF) was filled out by the teacher of the child and the attention subscale of this questionnaire was analyzed.

Insights into the regulation of transcription by scanning force microscopy.

The scanning force microscope (SFM) is a valuable tool for the structural analysis of complexes between protein(s) and DNA. In recent years the application of scanning force microscopy to the field of transcription regulation has been reported in numerous studies. Using this technique, novel insights could be obtained into the architecture and dynamics of complexes, which are relevant to the transcription process and the mechanisms by which this process is regulated.

Thrombosis, prevalence and new evidence on current perceptions of risk.

Venous thromboembolism is a significant but unquantified clinical problem in patients with cancer. The FRONTLINE survey was designed to evaluate clinicians' perceptions of thrombosis risk for cancer patients and to examine current clinical practice with regard to thromboprophylaxis and treatment of venous thromboembolism. Over 3800 responses from surgeons, haematologists and other clinicians were received.

Exploring heterogeneity in tumour data using Markov chain Monte Carlo.

We describe a Bayesian approach to incorporate between-individual heterogeneity associated with parameters of complicated biological models. We emphasize the use of the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method in this context and demonstrate the implementation and use of MCMC by analysis of simulated overdispersed Poisson counts and by analysis of an experimental data set on preneoplastic liver lesions (their number and sizes) in the presence of heterogeneity. These examples show that MCMC-based estimates, derived from the posterior distribution with uniform priors, may agree well with maximum likelihood estimates (if available).

Deuterium isotope effect on enantioselectivity in the Comamonas testosteroni quinohemoprotein alcohol dehydrogenase-catalyzed kinetic resolution of rac-2,2-dimethyl-4-hydroxymethyl-1,3-dioxolane, solketal.

Isotopic substitution provides an effective tool to probe the mechanism of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. To our knowledge, kinetic isotope effects on the enantioselectivity of enzymes have not been reported. We investigated the effect of deuterium substitution on the enantiomeric ratio, E, of PQQ-containing quinohemoprotein alcohol dehydrogenase, QH-ADH, from Comamonas testosteroni in the ferricyanide-coupled kinetic resolution of rac-2,2-dimethyl-4-hydroxymethyl-1,3-dioxolane, solketal.

Screening for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: an evaluation of two self-report scales among crime victims.

The validity of the Impact of Events Scale (IES) and the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Symptom Scale, Self-Report version (PSS-SR) was examined among crime victims. Both instruments performed well as screeners for PTSD. For the IES, sensitivity ranged between .

Inhibition of prepotent responding and attentional flexibility in treated phenylketonuria.

Inhibition of prepotent responding and attentional flexibility were assessed in 58 early and continuously treated phenylketonuria (PKU) patients and 69 controls, age 7 to 14 years. A computerized task was used requiring participants to process consecutive stimuli according to various attentional sets. Analysis of error rate suggested poorer inhibition of prepotent responding in PKU patients compared with controls.