L-dopa modulates functional connectivity in striatal cognitive and motor networks: A double-blind placebo-controlled study

Functional connectivity (FC) analyses of resting-state fMRI data allow for the mapping of large-scale functional networks, and provide a novel means of examining the impact of dopaminergic challenge. Here, using a double-blind, placebo-controlled design, we examined the effect of L-dopa, a dopamine precursor, on striatal resting-state FC in 19 healthy young adults.Weexamined the FC of 6 striatal regions of interest (ROIs) previously shown to elicit networks known to be associated with motivational, cognitive and motor subdivisions of the caudate and putamen (Di Martino et al., 2008). In addition to replicating the previously demonstrated patterns of striatal FC, we observed robust effects of L-dopa. Specifically, L-dopa increased FC in motor pathways connecting the putamen ROIs with the cerebellum and brainstem. Although L-dopa also increased FC between the inferior ventral striatum and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, it disrupted ventral striatal and dorsal caudate FC with the default mode network. These alterations in FC are consistent with studies that have demonstrated dopaminergic modulation of cognitive and motor striatal networks in healthy participants. Recent studies have demonstrated altered resting state FC in several conditions believed to be characterized by abnormal dopaminergic neurotransmission. Our findings suggest that the application of similar experimental pharmacological manipulations in such populations may further our understanding of the role of dopaminergic neurotransmission in those conditions.

No specific role for the manual motor system in processing the meanings of words related to the hand

The present study explored whether semantic and motor systems are functionally interwoven via the use of a dual-task paradigm. According to embodied language accounts that propose an automatic and necessary involvement of the motor system in conceptual processing, concurrent processing of hand-related information should interfere more with hand movements than processing of unrelated body-part (i.e., foot, mouth) information. Across three experiments, 100 right-handed participants performed left- or right-hand tapping movements while repeatedly reading action words related to different body-parts, or different body-part names, in both aloud and silent conditions. Concurrent reading of single words related to specific body-parts, or the same words embedded in sentences differing in syntactic and phonological complexity (to manipulate context-relevant processing), and reading while viewing videos of the actions and body-parts described by the target words (to elicit visuomotor associations) all interfered with right-hand but not left-hand tapping rate. However, this motor interference was not affected differentially by hand-related stimuli. Thus, the results provide no support for proposals that body-part specific resources in cortical motor systems are shared between overt manual movements and meaning-related processing of words related to the hand.

General motor vehicle drivers' knowledge and practices regarding drink driving in Yinchuan and Guangzhou, China

Objective: Drink driving contributes to significant levels of injury and economic loss in China but is not well researched. This study examined knowledge, drink-driving practices, and alcohol misuse problems among general drivers in Yinchuan. The objectives were to gain a better understanding of drink driving in Yinchuan, identify areas that need to be addressed, and compare the results with a similar study in Guangzhou. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study with a survey designed to collect information on participants’ demographic characteristics and their knowledge and practices in relation to drinking and driving. The survey was composed of questions on knowledge and practices in relation to drink driving and was administered to a convenience sample of 406 drivers. Alcohol misuse problems were assessed by using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Results: Males accounted for the main proportion of drivers sampled from the general population (“general drivers”). A majority of general drivers in both cities knew that drunk driving had become a criminal offense in 2011; however, knowledge of 2 legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits was quite low. Fewer drivers in Yinchuan (22.6%) than in Guangzhou (27.9) reported having been stopped by police conducting breath alcohol testing at least once in the last 12 months. The mean AUDIT score in Yinchuan (M = 8.2) was higher than that in Guangzhou (M = 7.4), and the proportion of Yinchuan drivers with medium or higher alcohol misuse problems (31.2%) was correspondingly higher than in Guangzhou (23.1%). In Yinchuan, males had a significantly higher AUDIT score than females (t = 3.454, P < .001), similar to Guangzhou. Multiple regression analyses were conducted on potential predictors of the AUDIT score (age, gender, monthly income, education level, years licensed, and age started drinking). There were significant individual contributions of gender (beta = 0.173, P = .09) and age at which drinking started (beta = 0.141, P = .033), but the overall model for Yinchuan was not significant, unlike Guangzhou. Conclusions: The results show that there are shortfalls in knowledge of the legislation and how to comply with it and deficiencies in police enforcement. In addition, there was evidence of drink driving and drink riding at high levels in both cities. Recommendations are made to address these issues.

Efficacy and safety of adalimumab in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis: Results of a randomised placebo-controlled trial (ABILITY-1)

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of adalimumab in patients with non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (nr-axSpA). Methods: Patients fulfilled Assessment of Spondyloarthritis international Society (ASAS) criteria for axial spondyloarthritis, had a Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) score of ≥ 4, total back pain score of ≥ 4 (10 cm visual analogue scale) and inadequate response, intolerance or contraindication to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs); patients fulfilling modified New York criteria for ankylosing spondylitis were excluded. Patients were randomised to adalimumab (N=91) or placebo (N=94). The primary endpoint was the percentage of patients achieving ASAS40 at week 12. Efficacy assessments included BASDAI and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS). MRI was performed at baseline and week 12 and scored using the Spondyloarthritis Research Consortium of Canada (SPARCC) index. Results: Significantly more patients in the adalimumab group achieved ASAS40 at week 12 compared with patients in the placebo group (36% vs 15%, p<0.001). Significant clinical improvements based on other ASAS responses, ASDAS and BASDAI were also detected at week 12 with adalimumab treatment, as were improvements in quality of life measures. Inflammation in the spine and sacroiliac joints on MRI significantly decreased after 12 weeks of adalimumab treatment. Shorter disease duration, younger age, elevated baseline C-reactive protein or higher SPARCC MRI sacroiliac joint scores were associated with better week 12 responses to adalimumab. The safety profile was consistent with what is known for adalimumab in ankylosing spondylitis and other diseases. Conclusions: In patients with nr-axSpA, adalimumab treatment resulted in effective control of disease activity, decreased inflammation and improved quality of life compared with placebo. Results from ABILITY-1 suggest that adalimumab has a positive benefit-risk profile in active nr-axSpA patients with inadequate response to NSAIDs.

Use of objective psychomotor tests in health professionals

Evaluation of psychomotor skills is undertaken in a number of broad contexts. This includes testing of health professional populations as a measure of innate ability, to evaluate skill acquisition, or to compare professions. However, the use of psychomotor tests is frequently confounded by a lack of understanding of a particular tool's psychometric properties, strengths, and weaknesses. To identify and appraise the most commonly used tests on health professional populations, 86 articles were reviewed and the top nine tests identified. Few tests have had sufficient validity or reliability testing on health professionals. Based on the evidence available, use of the Grooved Pegboard Test, the Purdue Pegboard Test, or the Finger Tapping Test is recommended for the evaluation of dexterity in a health professional population; however, this choice may be dependent on the task(s) to which findings are generalised. More rigorous evaluation of validity and other psychometric properties is required.

Do motor vehicle crashes arise from single or multiple unique risk processes? An inquiry into crash causes and modelling

Crashes at any particular transport network location consist of a chain of events arising from a multitude of potential causes and/or contributing factors whose nature is likely to reflect geometric characteristics of the road, spatial effects of the surrounding environment, and human behavioural factors. It is postulated that these potential contributing factors do not arise from the same underlying risk process, and thus should be explicitly modelled and understood. The state of the practice in road safety network management applies a safety performance function that represents a single risk process to explain crash variability across network sites. This study aims to elucidate the importance of differentiating among various underlying risk processes contributing to the observed crash count at any particular network location. To demonstrate the principle of this theoretical and corresponding methodological approach, the study explores engineering (e.g. segment length, speed limit) and unobserved spatial factors (e.g. climatic factors, presence of schools) as two explicit sources of crash contributing factors. A Bayesian Latent Class (BLC) analysis is used to explore these two sources and to incorporate prior information about their contribution to crash occurrence. The methodology is applied to the state controlled roads in Queensland, Australia and the results are compared with the traditional Negative Binomial (NB) model. A comparison of goodness of fit measures indicates that the model with a double risk process outperforms the single risk process NB model, and thus indicating the need for further research to capture all the three crash generation processes into the SPFs.

Ability of commonly used prediction equations to predict resting energy expenditure in children with inflammatory bowel disease

Background: Paediatric onset inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) may cause alterations in energy requirements and invalidate the use of standard prediction equations. Our aim was to evaluate four commonly used prediction equations for resting energy expenditure (REE) in children with IBD. Methods: Sixty-three children had repeated measurements of REE as part of a longitudinal research study yielding a total of 243 measurements. These were compared with predicted REE from Schofield, Oxford, FAO/WHO/UNU, and Harris-Benedict equations using the Bland-Altman method. Results: Mean (±SD) age of the patients was 14.2 (2.4) years. Mean measured REE was 1566 (336) kcal per day compared with 1491 (236), 1441 (255), 1481 (232), and 1435 (212) kcal per day calculated from Schofield, Oxford, FAO/WHO/UNU, and Harris-Benedict, respectively. While the Schofield equation demonstrated the least difference between measured and predicted REE, it, along with the other equations tested, did not perform uniformly across all subjects, indicating greater errors at either end of the spectrum of energy expenditure. Smaller differences were found for all prediction equations for Crohn's disease compared with ulcerative colitis. Conclusions: Of the commonly used equations, the equation of Schofield should be used in pediatric patients with IBD when measured values are not able to be obtained. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2010;) Copyright © 2010 Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, Inc.

The correlation between reading and mathematics ability at age twelve has a substantial genetic component

Dissecting how genetic and environmental influences impact on learning is helpful for maximizing numeracy and literacy. Here we show, using twin and genome-wide analysis, that there is a substantial genetic component to children’s ability in reading and mathematics, and estimate that around one half of the observed correlation in these traits is due to shared genetic effects (so-called Generalist Genes). Thus, our results highlight the potential role of the learning environment in contributing to differences in a child’s cognitive abilities at age twelve.

Association between glaucoma and at–fault motor vehicle collision involvement among older drivers

Objective To examine the association between glaucoma and motor vehicle collision (MVC) involvement among older drivers, including the role of visual field impairment that may underlie any association found. Design A retrospective population-based study Participants A sample of 2,000 licensed drivers aged 70 years and older who reside in north central Alabama. Methods At-fault MVC involvement for five years prior to enrollment was obtained from state records. Three aspects of visual function were measured: habitual binocular distance visual acuity, binocular contrast sensitivity and the binocular driving visual field constructed from combining the monocular visual fields of each eye. Poisson regression was used to calculate crude and adjusted rate ratios (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Main Outcomes Measures At-fault MVC involvement for five years prior to enrollment. Results Drivers with glaucoma (n = 206) had a 1.65 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.20-2.28, p = 0.002) times higher MVC rate compared to those without glaucoma after adjusting for age, gender and mental status. Among those with glaucoma, drivers with severe visual field loss had higher MVC rates (RR = 2.11, 95% CI 1.09-4.09, p = 0.027), whereas no significant association was found among those with impaired visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. When the visual field was sub-divided into six regions (upper, lower, left, and right visual fields; horizontal and vertical meridians), we found that impairment in the left, upper or lower visual field was associated with higher MVC rates, and an impaired left visual field showed the highest RR (RR = 3.16, p = 0.001) compared to other regions. However, no significant association was found in deficits in the right side or along the horizontal or vertical meridian. Conclusions A population-based study suggests that older drivers with glaucoma are more likely to have a history of at-fault MVC involvement than those without glaucoma. Impairment in the driving visual field in drivers with glaucoma appears to have an independent association with at-fault MVC involvement, whereas visual acuity and contrast sensitivity impairments do not.

Disorganizing educational tropes: Conceptions of dis/ability and curriculum

A study examined the politics of dis/ability and curriculum. Data were obtained from a review of the new disability studies literature, focusing on the areas of history, sociology, anthropology, and critical legal theory. The results indicate that this new literature challenges popular psychoeducational models that assume disability as an objective medical, individual, and pathological deficiency, effectively restricting the systematic study of dis/ability as relational, external, shifting, and socially constituted. The findings suggest ways in which perceptions of “school problems” have to be adjusted to understand how the constant refiguration of normativities in everyday activities creates perceptions of disability-negative ontologies, generates experiences that incite efforts to modify those perceptions in multiple ways, and produces unintended effects from well-intended approaches that in the end remain irreducible to simplistic definitions for the one “ethical” or “politically correct” strategy.

Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales - II profile of young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Adaptive behaviour is a crucial area of assessment for individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This study examined the adaptive behaviour profile of 77 young children with ASD using the Vineland-II, and analysed factors associated with adaptive functioning. Consistent with previous research with the original Vineland a distinct autism profile of Vineland-II age equivalent scores, but not standard scores, was found. Highest scores were in motor skills and lowest scores were in socialisation. The addition of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) calibrated severity score did not contribute significant variance to Vineland-II scores beyond that accounted for by age and nonverbal ability. Limitations, future directions, and implications are discussed.

Drivers' ability to absorb information from co-located signs along motorways

The paper presents initial findings from an Austroads funded project NT1782 Ability to Absorb Information through Electronic and Static Signs. The paper aims to investigate how easily messages displayed on co-located signs can be absorbed, and if drivers can absorb messages and take appropriate action without any adverse impact on the safety and efficiency of driving. Co-location of three types of signs under motorway conditions was investigated: direction signs (DS), variable message signs (VMS) and variable speed limits/lane control signs (VSL/LCS). The authors reviewed global wide practices and research evidence on different types of sign co-locations. It was found that dual co-location of VSL/LCS, VMS and/or DS is a practical arrangement which has been widely practised overseas and in Australia. Triple co-location of VSL/LCS, VMS and DS is also practised overseas but is still new to the Australian driving community. The NT1782 project also employed an advanced driving simulator (ADS) to further investigate the possible impacts of sign co-location on drivers’ responses in an emergency situation and there were no obviously adverse impacts have been identified from the ADS study. The authors consolidated all findings and concluded that although there is no clear evidence showing that triple co-location gives rise to riskier behaviour, this proposition should be viewed with caution. Further evaluation of triple co-location in a real-life setting is called for.

‘Lemon Laws’: an inquiry into consumer protections and remedies for buyers of new motor vehicles

1. Under the Terms of Reference for the Committee’s Inquiry, ‘lemons’ are defined as ‘new motor vehicles with numerous, severe defects that re-occur despite multiple repair attempts or where defects have caused a new motor vehicle to be out of service for a prolonged period of time’. Consumers are currently protected in relation to lemon purchases by the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) located in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA). The ACL applies as a law of Queensland pursuant to the Fair Trading Act 1989 (Qld). The voluntary recall and consumer guarantees law took effect on 1 January 2011. 2. In 2006, the Government of Victoria made a commitment to introduce a lemon law into the provisions of the then Fair Trading Act 1999 (Vic). The public consultation process on the proposal to introduce a lemon law for motor vehicle purchases in Victoria was conducted by Ms Janice Munt MP, with the assistance of Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV). CAV released an Issues Paper to canvas with industry and the community options for the development and introduction of a motor vehicle lemon law.(Consumer Affairs Victoria, Introducing Victorian motor vehicle lemon laws, Issues Paper, (September, 2007). 3. A CAV report prepared by Janice Munt MP was released in July, 2008 (Consumer Affairs Victoria, Motor Cars: A report on the motor vehicle lemon law consultations (July 2008) (Victorian Lemon Law Report). However, the Victorian proposal was overtaken by events leading to the adoption of a uniform consumer protection law in all Australian jurisdictions, the ACL. 4. The structure of this submission is to consider first the three different bases upon which consumers can obtain relief for economic loss arising from defects in motor vehicles. The second part of the submission considers the difficulties encountered by consumers in litigating motor vehicle disputes in the courts and tribunals. The third part of the submission examines the approach taken in other jurisdictions to resolving motor vehicle disputes. The final part of the submission considers a number of possible reforms that could be made to the existing law and its enforcement to reduce consumer detriment arising from the purchase of ‘lemon’ motor vehicles. 5. There are three principal bases upon which a consumer can obtain redress for defects in new motor vehicles under the ACL. The first is where the manufacturer admits liability and initiates the voluntary recall procedure provided for in s 128 of the ACL. Under this basis the manufacturer generally repairs or replaces the part subject to the recall free of charge. The second basis is where the manufacturer or dealer denies liability and the consumer is initiates proceedings in the court or tribunal seeking a statutory remedy under the ACL, the nature of which will depend on whether the failure to comply with the consumer guarantee was major or not. The third basis upon which a consumer can obtain redress is pursuant to public enforcement by the ACCC. Each basis will be considered in this part. What all three bases have in common is the need to conduct an investigation to identify the nature of the defect and how it arose.

The moderating effects of job control and selection, optimization, and compensation strategies on the age-work ability relationship

Work ability describes employees' capability to carry out their work with respect to physical and psychological job demands. This study investigated direct and interactive effects of age, job control, and the use of successful aging strategies called selection, optimization, and compensation (SOC) in predicting work ability. We assessed SOC strategies and job control by using employee self-reports, and we measured employees' work ability using supervisor ratings. Data collected from 173 health-care employees showed that job control was positively associated with work ability. Additionally, we found a three-way interaction effect of age, job control, and use of SOC strategies on work ability. Specifically, the negative relationship between age and work ability was weakest for employees with high job control and high use of SOC strategies. These results suggest that the use of successful aging strategies and enhanced control at work are conducive to maintaining the work ability of aging employees. We discuss theoretical and practical implications regarding the beneficial role of the use of SOC strategies utilized by older employees and enhanced contextual resources at work for aging employees.

Job performance ratings: The relative importance of mental ability, conscientiousness, and career adaptability

According to career construction theory, continuous adaptation to the work environment is crucial to achieve work and career success. In this study, we examined the relative importance of career adaptability for job performance ratings using an experimental policy-capturing design. Employees (N = 135) from different vocational backgrounds rated the overall job performance of fictitious employees in 40 scenarios based on information about their career adaptability, mental ability, conscientiousness, and job complexity. We used multilevel modeling to investigate the relative importance of each factor. Consistent with expectations, career adaptability positively predicted job performance ratings, and this effect was relatively smaller than the effects of conscientiousness and mental ability. Job complexity did not moderate the effect of career adaptability on job performance ratings, suggesting that career adaptability predicts job performance ratings in high-, medium-, and low-complexity jobs. Consistent with previous research, the effect of mental ability on job performance ratings was stronger in high- compared to low-complexity jobs. Overall, our findings provide initial evidence for the predictive validity of employees' career adaptability with regard to other people's ratings of job performance.