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Objective: Evidence suggests that chronic high levels of behavioral inhibition are a precursor of social anxiety disorder. The authors sought to identify early risk factors for, and developmental pathways to, chronic high inhibition among school-age children and the association of chronic high inhibition with social anxiety disorder by adolescence. Method: A community sample of 238 children was followed from birth to grade 9. Mothers, teachers, and children reported on the children's behavioral inhibition from grades 1 to 9. Lifetime history of psychiatric disorders was available for the subset of 60 (25%) children who participated in an intensive laboratory assessment at grade 9. Four early risk factors were assessed: female gender; exposure to maternal stress during infancy and the preschool period; and at age 4.5 years, early manifestation of behavioral inhibition and elevated afternoon salivary cortisol levels. Results: All four risk factors predicted greater and more chronic inhibition from grades 1 to 9, and together they defined two developmental pathways. The first pathway, in girls, was partially mediated by early evidence of behavioral inhibition and elevated cortisol levels at age 4.5 years. The second pathway began with exposure to early maternal stress and was also partially mediated by childhood cortisol levels. By grade 9, chronic high inhibition was associated with a lifetime history of social anxiety disorder. Conclusions: Chronic high levels of behavioral inhibition are associated with social anxiety disorder by adolescence. The identification of two developmental pathways suggests the potential importance of considering both sets of risk factors in developing preventive interventions for social anxiety disorder. (Am J Psychiatry 2010; 167:40-46)

Although several studies have examined anterior asymmetric brain electrical activity and cortisol in infants, children, and adults, the direct association between asymmetry and cortisol has not systematically been reported. In nonhuman primates, greater relative right anterior activation has been associated with higher cortisol levels. The current study examines the relation between frontal electroencephalographic (EEG) asymmetry and cortisol (basal and reactive) and withdrawal-related behaviors (fear and sadness) in 6-month-old infants. As predicted, the authors found that higher basal and reactive cortisol levels were associated with extreme right EEG asymmetry. EEG during the withdrawal-negative affect task was associated with fear and sadness behaviors. Results are interpreted in the context of the previous primate work, and some putative mechanisms are discussed.

Disturbances in positive affect and reductions in social reward/interpersonal pleasure are common across a range of clinical disorders and are often related. We examined the relationship between the Anticipatory and Consummatory Interpersonal Pleasure Scale (ACIPS-A), and other measures of positive affect in adolescents in a genetically informative research design. The sample consisted of 177 MZ and 136 same-sex DZ twins drawn from a study of adolescent twins (M = 16.4 ± .97 years) who were part of the Wisconsin Twin Project. The self-report questionnaires included the Behavioral Activation Scale (BAS), Psychological Well-Being Scale, revised Early Adolescent Temperament Questionnaire (EATQR), and the adolescent version of the ACIPS (ACIPS-A). Structural equation modeling estimated the relative contribution of genetic and environmental factors to the phenotypic variance in each of the measures. Follow-up bivariate analyses parsed the genetic and environmental contributions to the phenotypic covariances between the ACIPS-A and each of the other measures of positive affect. We found evidence of moderate heritability for the ACIPS-A scale scores. Overall, models specifying additive genetic and unique environmental effects (AE models) were the most parsimonious models for each of the measures. Several of the measures showed moderate positive phenotypic intercorrelations, and all but one of these intercorrelations showed significant partial genetic underpinnings. Moreover, the bivariate biometric analyses indicated that the ACIPS-A also captures unique heritable variation. Thus, the ACIPS-A captures unique heritable contributions to social/interpersonal pleasure, as well as shared genetic variance with other measures of positive affectivity.

Jason Kirby refers to 'Honda and its airbags' in his column 'A new kind of Volkswagen bug' (Economy, Oct. 5). Honda does not make airbags; they buy them from a [...]

Objective: To determine whether 3 months of topical latanoprost treatment caused proliferative or degenerative effects on the peripheral iris of patients with glaucoma. Methods: Seventeen patients requiring filtering surgery for primary open-angle glaucoma or pseudoexfoliation glaucoma were randomized to receive topical latanoprost for 3 months (n = 8) or alternative medication (n = 9) before surgery. A trabeculectomy and a peripheral iridectomy specimen was obtained from each patient during surgery. The tissue was subjected to histological and immunohistochemical evaluation using 2 cell cycle markers: proliferating cell nuclear antigen and nuclear-associated protein (Ki-67). Results: No degenerative or pathological changes were seen in the latanoprost-treated irides, including the one specimen in this series in which there was an eye color change. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen and nuclear-associated protein markers were negative for changes in all the test specimens. Conclusion: Short-term treatment with latanoprost does not produce morphological changes or cellular proliferation changes in the iris. Arch Ophthalmol. 2001;119:191-196

This article includes letters to the editor. Topics covered include responses to an article on the New Hampshire primary, reactions to media coverage of U.S. 2008 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's expression of emotion during the campaign, and responses to an interview with former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.

IMPORTANCE: Maternal depression and anxiety can have deleterious and lifelong consequences on child development. However, many aspects of the association of early brain development with maternal symptoms remain unclear. Understanding the timing of potential neurobiological alterations holds inherent value for the development and evaluation of future therapies and interventions. OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between exposure to prenatal maternal depression and anxiety symptoms and offspring white matter microstructure at 1 month of age. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: This cohort study of 101 mother-infant dyads used a composite of depression and anxiety symptoms measured in mothers during the third trimester of pregnancy and measures of white matter microstructure characterized in the mothers’ 1-month offspring using diffusion tensor imaging and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging performed from October 1, 2014, to November 30, 2016.Magnetic resonance imaging was performed at an academic research facility during natural, nonsedated sleep. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Brain mapping algorithms and statistical models were used to evaluate the association between maternal depression and anxiety and 1-month infant white matter microstructure as measured by diffusion tensor imaging and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging findings. RESULTS: In the 101 mother-infant dyads (mean [SD] age of mothers, 33.22 [3.99] years; mean age of infants at magnetic resonance imaging, 33.07 days [range, 18-50 days]; 92 white mothers [91.1%]; 53 male infants [52.5%]), lower 1-month white matter microstructure (decreased neurite density and increased mean, radial, and axial diffusivity) was associated in right frontal white matter microstructure with higher prenatal maternal symptoms of depression and anxiety. Significant sex × symptom interactions with measures of white matter microstructure were also observed, suggesting that white matter development may be differentially sensitive to maternal depression and anxiety symptoms in males and females during the prenatal period. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These data highlight the importance of the prenatal period to early brain development and suggest that the underlying white matter microstructure is associated with the continuum of prenatal maternal depression and anxiety symptoms.

Thank you for the feature 'A to Z of oil' (Economy, Feb. 16). It was interesting and informative. However, you left out a significant 'H': Stephen Harper. Harper believes that [...]

HOW REFRESHING that Maclean's writers can disagree with each other. With some good-natured chain-pulling, Paul Wells ('The feeble 'march' of Euro-fascism,' Opinion, June 29) and Mark Steyn ('Why the fascists [...]

Your cover story about gas prices ('Pump rage,' Business, April 23) asks, 'So why do we keep getting hammered at the pumps?' The answer: because Canadians keep buying it! If [...]

ANDREW COYNE'S REPORT on deficit spending (or 'fiscal stimulus' as some prefer) should be required reading at all M.B.A. schools ('Can we really spend our way out of this mess?' [...]

I'VE JUST FINISHED reading Kate Fillion's interview with Leslie Bennetts, author of The Feminine Mistake (Interview, May 7). Finally some common sense in this frustrating debate between the stay-at-home mothers [...]

Rumination is an established cognitive vulnerability for depression. Despite substantial work on the environmental origins of rumination, the heritability of rumination has not been examined, and it is not known whether rumination accounts for some of the genetic vulnerability associated with depression. A total of 756 adolescent twins aged 12 to 14 years completed the Response Styles Questionnaire and multiple measures of depressive symptoms. Brooding correlated positively, and distraction negatively, with concurrent depressive symptoms. Estimated heritabilities were 54% for depression, 21% for brooding, 37% for reflection, and 30% for distraction. Bivariate genetic analyses suggested that (a) individual differences in distraction share both genetic and environmental sources of variation with depression and (b) although the heritable influences on brooding are small, they account for the majority of the relationship between brooding and depression (h2= .62).

Investigators sometimes use information obtained from multiple informants about a given variable. We focus on estimating the effect of a predictor on a continuous outcome, when that (true) predictor cannot be observed directly but is measured by 2 informants. We describe various approaches to using information from 2 informants to estimate a regression or correlation coefficient for the effect of the (true) predictor on the outcome. These approaches include methods we refer to as single informant, simple average, optimal weighted average, principal components analysis, and classical measurement error. Each of these 5 methods effectively uses a weighted average of the informants' reports as a proxy for the true predictor in calculating the correlation or regression coefficient. We compare the performance of these methods in simulation experiments that assume a rounded congeneric measurement model for the relationship between the informants' reports and a true predictor that is a mixture of zeros and positively distributed continuous values. We also compare the methods' performance in a real data example–the relationship between vigorous physical activity (the predictor) and body mass index (the continuous outcome). The results of the simulations and the example suggest that the simple average is a reasonable choice when there are only 2 informants.

Introduction:Subject head motion is an ongoing challenge in functional magnetic resonance imaging, particularly in the estimation of functional connectivity. Infants (1-month old) scanned during nonsedated sleep often have occasional but large movements of several millimeters separated by periods with relatively little movement. This results in residual signal changes even after image realignment and can distort estimates of functional connectivity. A new motion correction technique, JumpCor, is introduced to reduce the effects of this motion and compared to other existing techniques.Methods:Different approaches for reducing residual motion artifacts after image realignment were compared both in actual and simulated data: JumpCor, regressing out the estimated subject motion, and regressing out the average white matter, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and global signals and their temporal derivatives.Results:Motion-related signal changes resulting from infrequent large motion were significantly reduced both by regressing out the estimated motion parameters and by JumpCor. Furthermore, JumpCor significantly reduced artifacts and improved the quality of functional connectivity estimates when combined with typical preprocessing approaches.Discussion:Motion-related signal changes resulting from occasional large motion can be effectively corrected using JumpCor and to a certain extent also by regressing out the estimated motion. This technique should reduce the data loss in studies where participants exhibit this type of motion, such as sleeping infants.

Impulsivity and inattention are key constructs at the interface of temperament and domains of childhood behavioral problems, such as ADHD and ODD. A multi-method, multi-source assessment of impulsivity and inattention was conducted with 256 families of twins at a mean age of 8-9 years from an epidemiologically defined community sample. Analysis of 20 impulsivity, inattention, and related behavior-problem measures yielded a single principal component, which could also be decomposed into five narrower factors. These narrower factors distinguished inattention and impulsivity content from more defiant content, and split the domain by method of assessment. Males scored significantly higher on factors related directly to impulsivity and inattention. Lower socioeconomic status also predicted impulsivity and inattention, as well as defiance and aggression, and lower IQ modestly predicted impulsivity and inattention. Biometric analyses showed that these multi-source measures of childhood impulsivity and inattention were highly heritable, with genetic variance accounting for 70-80% of the phenotypic variance in many of the models. Shared environmental factors were generally not influential, and nonshared environmental effects were stronger for males than for females for inattention/impulsivity These results suggest that impulsivity and inattention during this period of childhood are (1) clearly related to concurrent aggressive/defiant symptoms; (2) multidimensional, with influences of method of assessment on outcome; and (3) highly heritable, with possible gender differences in the strength of genetic effects.

Abstract: We investigated the reliability and validity of a video-based method of measuring the magnitude of children’s emotion-modulated startle response when electromyographic (EMG) measurement is not feasible. Thirty-one children between the ages of 4 and 7 years were videotaped while watching short video clips designed to elicit happiness or fear. Embedded in the audio track of the video clips were acoustic startle probes. A coding system was developed to quantify from the video record the strength of the eye-blink startle response to the probes. EMG measurement of the eye blink was obtained simultaneously. Intercoder reliability for the video coding was high (Cohen’sκ = .90). The average within-subjects probe-by-probe correlation between the EMG- and video-based methods was .84. Group-level correlations between the methods were also strong, and there was some evidence of emotion modulation of the startle response with both the EMG- and the video-derived data. Although the video method cannot be used to assess the latency, probability, or duration of startle blinks, the findings indicate that it can serve as a valid proxy of EMG in the assessment of the magnitude of emotion-modulated startle in studies of children conducted outside of a laboratory setting, where traditional psychophysiological methods are not feasible.

AbstractThe Wisconsin Twin Panel was initiated in 1994 to serve a study of the development of childhood mood and behavioral disorders. Families who give birth to twins within the state of Wisconsin are recruited within 6 months of the birth. The panel currently supports three ongoing, longitudinal research projects. Research foci include studying epigenetic contributions to emotional, physical, cognitive, and motoric development of infant and toddler twins; physiological concomitants of childhood temperament; and early risk and resiliency factors related to child psychopathology. All three studies include videotaped observational assessments and biological measures.

Osteopontin (OPN) is an extracellular matrix protein found in bones and teeth, where it accumulates at matrix–matrix interfaces. We postulate that OPN interacts homotypically and heterotypically in the adhesion of apposing matrices. Using suspensions of OPN-coupled aldehyde/sulfate latex spheres, we measured the strength of homotypic OPN–OPN binding in vitro. Doublets formed through shear-induced collisions in a cone and plate rheoscope were subjected to shear stresses >0.6 N m-2and the fraction broken up determined over 60 s. Rapid initial breakup of 35% of doublets was followed by very slow breakup of the remaining 65%. Monte Carlo simulation of the breakup kinetics pointed to the existence of low and high bond strength populations of doublets. Dynamic light scattering spectroscopy of soluble OPN showed that 27% by mass existed as dimers. We postulate that OPN dimers binding to monomers account for the low strength bonds since a strong bond has already formed between the molecules of the dimer. In contrast, OPN–OPN monomer bonds had higher tensile strength than bonds between the high-affinity interaction of IgG and protein G, previously studied. Antibody blocking studies showed that the self-binding region of OPN resides in the C-terminus. These data suggest that homotypic OPN–OPN bonds have physiologically significant strength, supporting the hypothesis that OPN–OPN binding and self-assembly participate in adhesion within mineralized tissues. © 2002 Biomedical Engineering Society. PAC2002: 8714Ee, 8719Tt, 0250Ng, 8715Mi

Subjects read stories that described concrete actions, such as a main character stealing money from a store where his best friend worked and later learning that his friend had been fired. Following each story, subjects read a target sentence that contained an emotion word that either matched the emotional state implied by the story (e.g. guilt) or mismatched that emotional state. In Experiment 1, target sentences were read more slowly when the mismatched emotion words were the perceived opposites of the emotional states implied by the stories (e.g. pride). In Experiment 2, target sentences were read more slowly when the mismatched emotion words shared the affective valence of the implied emotional state; therefore, readers must represent more than simply the affective valence of the emotional states. Instead of reading target sentences that contained matching versus mismatching emotion words, subjects in Experiment 3 simply pronounced matching versus mismatching emotion words. Mismatching emotion words were pronounced more slowly. These experiments suggest that readers form explicit, lifelike, mental representations of fictional characters' emotional states, and readers form these representations as a normal part of reading comprehension.

We evaluate the usefulness of 11 key epigenetic concepts from the behavior genetic research paradigm for advancing the field of developmental psychopathology. Key assumptions, empirical examples, and caveats in interpreting results are presented. We emphasize the usefulness of incorporating both dimensional (e.g., temperament trait) and categorical (e.g., diagnosis) variables, environmental measures, direct behavioral assessments, and multiple, theoretically relevant occasions of study into classic twin and family studies. We highlight contemporary techniques for identifying specific chromosomal regions associated with behavioral patterns, and the importance of considering nonmendelizing genetic influences when discerning the panorama of genetic influences on behavior.

The consistency of twin data with personality questionnaires is examined using all reported twin samples which have been administered the California Psychological Inventory. The scale correlations for the MZ twins are fairly consistent across different samples while the correlations for DZ twins fail to show as much consistency. Differences, moreover, between MZ and DZ correlations fail to replicate across samples. Sampling error and sampling bias are proposed as the major reasons for the inconsistency, and when these factors are taken into account the resulting heritabilities suggest that the CPI scales loading on the extraversion-introversion factor are the most heritable. The implications of sampling error and sampling bias for estimating genetic parameters from correlational twin data, for uncovering differential heritability of personality traits, and for designing future research are discussed.

The frequency of mental retardation in the offspring of maternal aunts of retarded probands is compared with the frequency in offspring of other aunts or uncles of the same probands. There is no support for inherited uterine inadequacy as an explanatory factor for mental retardation.

The introduction of computer assisted irrigation scheduling to a 20,000 ha smallholder rice and sugarcane irrigation project in Thailand has provided an opportunity for continuous performance assessment. The provision of weekly information on performance is exerting an influence on the management of the system thus enabling timely response to operational problems.

A water management study of Warabandi in northwest India in 1983 developed a methodology for assessing the performance of large scale smallholder irrigation schemes by observing irrigated areas and carrying out random crop cutting. A study of Warabandi in 1988 took a shorter amount of time and concentrated on direct measurements of flow and seepage in order to assess the performance of the physical conveyance system. This paper contrasts these two approaches and gives practical guidance on how to go about carrying out a rapid assessment of the performance of the physical conveyance system of an irrigation scheme.

Microcomputers are increasingly being used to help in the management of smallholder irrigation schemes in Third World countries. In many cases, commercially available spreadsheet packages offer advantages over established scientific programming languages. The paper starts with a review of computer models which have been developed for irrigation scheduling. Two criteria are identified which must be considered when developing computer models for this purpose: realistic data requirements and programs which are easy to understand. Spreadsheet packages provide a good introduction to computing and macro programming techniques can be used to customise spreadsheet models to create refined yet simple management tools. Two practical examples are presented from current research projects:-a small scale scheme in Zimbabwe, where a spreadsheet model is used to produce irrigation schedules for smallholder farmers;-a 20,000 ha project in Thailand, where a spreadsheet model makes use of feedback to improve main system scheduling.

Soil salinity has often become a long-term problem associated with irrigated agriculture in the arid and semi-arid regions. But the problem can be controlled by good management of surface and groundwater resources. Management of groundwater is achieved through drainage, although drainage may not be necessary for some time after the initial construction of a scheme. This paper introduces a regional model for predicting expected soil salinity conditions and groundwater depths over an irrigation scheme. The model considers all the main hydrological systems which influence soil salinity and makes optimal use of sparse point field data from grid surveys. The model can be used to identify priority areas for reclamation measures, ie areas where conditions combine to produce high salinity levels. Thus drainage development can be phased over a period of time and targeted where it will be most effective.

Summary Regional cerebral blood flow, recorded by the133Xenon inhalation method, was measured preoperatively and over a five years postoperative period in six patients with completed stroke and stabilized neurological deficits, who had undergone omental transposition for revascularization of the ischaemic brain. Comparisons of the preoperative blood flow values with those recorded following surgery demonstrate a postoperative increase of blood flow in five patients, with a high statistical degree of significance in four of them at the final examination. The flow increase was noted over the infarcted areas of the brain, upon which the omentum had been placed, as well as areas of the ischaemic hemisphere without omental placement and the contralateral hemisphere. Out of the five patients who demonstrated preoperative flow values below the expected norm for age, four showed final postoperative cerebral blood flow within the normal limits for their age. The results are consistent with the assumption that the transposed omentum played a role in postoperative blood flow increase, by adding collateral circulation to the ischaemic brain.

Summary Following complete transection of the spinal cord at T 9, 12 cats were separated into two groups:

In prior research we have shown how linear structural equation models and computer programs (e.g., LISREL) may be simply and directly used to provide alternatives for the traditional biometric twin design. We use structural equations and path models to define biometric group differences, we write traditional common-factor models in the same way, and then we take a detailed look at some alternative multivariate and biometric models. We contrast the biometricfactors covariance structure approach used by Loehlin and Vandenberg (1968), Martin and Eaves (1977), and others with the psychometric-factors approach used by McArdle et al. (1980) and others. We use the multivariate primary mental abilities data on monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins from Loehlin and Vandenberg (1968) to detail fundamental differences in model specification and results. We extend both multivariate biometric approaches using exploratory and confirmatory multiple-factor models. These comparisons show that each alternative multivariate methodology has useful features for empirical applications.

1. Erythrocyte metabolism was investigated and glycolytic intermediates were measured in nine patients with chronic renal failure who were subsequently treated with haemodialysis. The same' investigations were performed in nine patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) who had previously been treated with intermittent peritoneal dialysis (IPD) (eight patients) or dietary restriction (one patient). 2. The patients who received haemodialysis had a partially compensated metabolic acidosis before treatment. With haemodialysis, plasma phosphate (Pi) fell and base excess, erythrocyte 2,3–diphosphoglycerate (2,3–DPG), glucose consumption and lactate production rose significantly. In this group the most important influence on erythrocyte metabolism was base excess. The pattern of erythrocyte glycolytic intermediates showed that the rise in 2,3–DPG with haemodialysis was brought about within the Rapoport—Luebering shunt; there was no statistically significant decrease in haemoglobin—oxygen affinity. 3. The patients who received CAPD were not acidotic before starting this form of treatment. With CAPD, there was a significant increase in haemoglobin and fall in plasma phosphate, erythrocyte 2,3–DPG and glucose consumption. The major factors influencing erythrocyte metabolism in this group were plasma phosphate and haemoglobin concentration. The fall in 2,3–DPG was produced by inhibition of 6-phosphofructokinase (EC 2.7.1.11); despite this fall, haemoglobin-oxygen affinity was not affected.

Summary Spinal cord transection was induced in 3 groups of cats. The gap was surgically reconstructed using a collagen matrix bridge (Group COL), collagen matrix + pedicled omentum graft (Group COM), or gelfoam (Group GEF). After a variable observation period, animals underwent distal cord horse-radish peroxidase (HRP) injections, somatosensory evoked potentials recordings and polarographic measurement of local spinal cord blood flow (lSCBF) using the hydrogen clearance technique. The cord tissue was removed for histologic and immunohistochemical analysis.

The author gives a general overview of recommendations for practice success in a managed-care environment and describes a new practice paradigm for the treatment of onychomycosis. Recommendations are provided for ensuring optimal reimbursement, particularly in the treatment of managed-care and Medicare patients.