Digital Commons Network^™

Utilizing Emotionally Responsive Virtual Human Role-Play Simulations To Train Users To Identify, Talk To And Refer Students In Psychological Distress Including Those At-Risk For Suicide: A Meta-Analysis, Glenn Albright, Jesse Davidson, Ron Goldman, Kristen Shockley, Sue Eastgard, Joy Himmel

Publications and Research

Background: The American College Health Association found that over 30% of students reported difficulty in functioning due to feeling depressed, overwhelming anxiety (50%) and anger (36%). Suicide is the second leading cause of death among US adolescents and over half of mental illnesses emerge prior to adulthood. A similar study found that nearly half of student veterans met criteria for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and 46% had suicidal ideation. Left untreated, mental illness can lead to increased absenteeism, lower academic performance, disrupted classroom behaviors and compromises school safety. Educators and students are well positioned to identify and refer students in …

Revisiting The Feminine Mystique, Cynthia Fuchs Epstein

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Audience Preferences Are Predicted By Temporal Reliability Of Neural Processing, Jacek P. Dmochowski, Matthew A. Bezdek, Brian P. Abelson, John S. Johnson, Eric H. Schumacher, Lucas C. Parra

Publications and Research

Naturalistic stimuli evoke highly reliable brain activity across viewers. Here we record neural activity from a group of naive individuals while viewing popular, previously-broadcast television content for which the broad audience response is characterized by social media activity and audience ratings. We find that the level of inter-subject correlation in the evoked encephalographic responses predicts the expressions of interest and preference among thousands. Surprisingly, ratings of the larger audience are predicted with greater accuracy than those of the individuals from whom the neural data is obtained. An additional functional magnetic resonance imaging study employing a separate sample of subjects shows …

Comorbidity Of Infectious Diseases And Anxiety Disorders In Adults And Its Association With Quality Of Life: A Community Study, Cornelia Witthauer, Andrew T. Gloster, Andrea Hans Meyer, Renee D. Goodwin, Roselind Lieb

Publications and Research

Objective: Infectious diseases and anxiety disorders are common and both are associated with substantial burden to individual, families, and society. A better understanding of their association may be helpful in explicating possible etiological mechanisms related to both. The goal of the current study was to investigate the relationship between specific infectious diseases and anxiety disorders among adults in the community, and to examine whether the co-occurrence of the two is associated with poorer quality of life compared to subjects with one or neither condition.

Methods: We used data from the 1998 German Mental Health survey with 4181 subjects aged 18–65. …

Inter- And Intralimb Adaptations To A Sensory Perturbation During Activation Of The Serotonin System After A Low Spinal Cord Transection In Neonatal Rats, Misty M. Strain, Sierra D. Kauer, Tina Kao, Michele R. Brumley

Publications and Research

Activation of the serotonin system has been shown to induce locomotor activity following a spinal cord transection. This study examines how the isolated spinal cord adapts to a sensory perturbation during activation of the serotonergic system. Real-time and persistent effects of a perturbation were examined in intact and spinal transected newborn rats. Rats received a spinal surgery (sham or low thoracic transection) on postnatal day 1 and were tested 9 days later. At test, subjects were treated with the serotonergic receptor agonist quipazine (3.0 mg/kg) to induce stepping behavior. Half of the subjects experienced range of motion (ROM) restriction during …

Increasing Maternal Or Post-Weaning Folic Acid Alters Gene Expression And Moderately Changes Behavior In The Offspring, Subit Barua, Kathryn K. Chadman, Salomon Kuizon, Diego Buenaventura, Nathan W. Stapley, Felicia Ruocco, Umme Begum, Sara R. Guariglia, W. Ted Brown, Mohamad Junaid

Publications and Research

Background: Studies have indicated that altered maternal micronutrients and vitamins influence the development of newborns and altered nutrient exposure throughout the lifetime may have potential health effects and increased susceptibility to chronic diseases. In recent years, folic acid (FA) exposure has significantly increased as a result of mandatory FA fortification and supplementation during pregnancy. Since FA modulates DNA methylation and affects gene expression, we investigated whether the amount of FA ingested during gestation alters gene expression in the newborn cerebral hemisphere, and if the increased exposure to FA during gestation and throughout the lifetime alters behavior in C57BL/6J mice.

Methods …

Punishment Without End, Douglas N. Evans

Publications and Research

Criminal justice punishments are an investment that societies make to protect the safety and order of communities. Following decades of rising prison populations, however, U.S. policymakers are beginning to wonder if they have invested too much in punishment. Policies adopted in previous decades now incarcerate large numbers of Americans and impose considerable costs on states. Mass incarceration policies are costly and potentially iatrogenic—i.e., they may transform offenders into repeat offenders. Public officials and citizens alike often assume that known offenders pose a permanent risk of future offending. This belief entangles millions of offenders in the justice system for life, with …

Behavioral And Neuroanatomical Abnormalities In Pleiotrophin Knockout Mice, Jason W. Krellman, Henry H. Ruiz, Veronica A. Marciano, Bracha Mondrow, Susan D. Croll

Publications and Research

Pleiotrophin (PTN) is an extracellular matrix-associated protein with neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects that is involved in a variety of neurodevelopmental processes. Data regarding the cognitive-behavioral and neuroanatomical phenotype of pleiotrophin knockout (KO) mice is limited. The purpose of this study was to more fully characterize this phenotype, with emphasis on the domains of learning and memory, cognitive-behavioral flexibility, exploratory behavior and anxiety, social behavior, and the neuronal and vascular microstructure of the lateral entorhinal cortex (EC). PTN KOs exhibited cognitive rigidity, heightened anxiety, behavioral reticence in novel contexts and novel social interactions suggestive of neophobia, and lamina-specific decreases in neuronal …

Beyond A Common Approach: Teaching Students The Ethical Practice Of Reference, Lisa A. Ellis

Publications and Research

This article describes the creation and use of case studies to help teach the ethical practice of reference. There are considerations for applying the case study method in reference which require cumulative preparation through the study and reinforcement of reference values, functions, behaviors, and ethical codes. The strategies for writing ethical case studies in reference are detailed. Overall, case studies on the ethical practice of reference are valued for promoting reflection and active learning in library science students through analysis and discussion.

The Adverse Impact Of Racial Microaggressions On College Students' Self-Esteem, Kevin L. Nadal, Yinglee Wong, Katie E. Griffin, Kristin Davidoff, Julie Sriken

Publications and Research

Racial microaggressions are subtle (often unintentional or unconscious) forms of racial discrimination that negatively affect victims’ mental health. Utilizing an undergraduate student sample (N = 225), the current study examined the relationship between racial microaggressions and self-esteem. Results indicate that racial microaggressions negatively predict a lower selfesteem, and that microaggressions that occur in educational and workplace environments are particularly harmful to self-esteem. Finally, findings reveal that individuals of various racial and ethnic minority groups experience racial microaggressions differently. Implications for student development and recommendations for further research involving racial microaggressions and college students are discussed.

Hispanic Residential Ethnic Density And Depression In Post-Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: Re-Thinking The Role Of Social Support, Ellen-Ge Denton, Jonathan A. Shaffer, Carmela Alcantra, Lynn Clemow, Elizabeth Denton

Publications and Research

Background: The ethnic density hypothesis suggests that ethnic density confers greater social support and consequently protects against depressive symptoms in ethnic minority individuals. However, the potential benefits of ethnic density have not been examined in individuals who are facing a specific and salient life stressor.

Aims: We examined the degree to which the effects of Hispanic ethnic density on depressive symptoms are explained by socioeconomic resources and social support.

Methods: Patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS, N = 472) completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and measures of demographics, ACS clinical factors and perceived social support. Neighborhood characteristics, including median …

The Create Strategy For Intensive Analysis Of Primary Literature Can Be Used Effectively By Newly Trained Faculty To Produce Multiple Gains In Diverse Students, Leslie M. Stevens, Sally G. Hoskins

Publications and Research

The CREATE (Consider Read, Elucidate the hypotheses, Analyze and interpret the data, and Think of the next Experiment) strategy aims to demystify scientific research and scientists while building critical thinking, reading/analytical skills, and improved science attitudes through intensive analysis of primary literature. CREATE was developed and piloted at the City College of New York (CCNY), a 4-yr, minority-serving institution, with both upper-level biology majors and first-year students interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. To test the extent to which CREATE strategies are broadly applicable to students at private, public, research-intensive, and/or primarily undergraduate colleges/universities, we trained a cohort of …

Neural Correlates Of Suspiciousness And Interactions With Anxiety During Emotional And Neutral Word Processing, Joscelyn E. Fisher, Gregory A. Miller, Sarah M. Sass, Rebecca Levin Silton, J. Christopher Edgar, Jennifer L. Stewart, Jing Zhou, Wendy Heller

Publications and Research

Suspiciousness is usually classified as a symptom of psychosis, but it also occurs in depression and anxiety disorders. Though how suspiciousness overlaps with depression is not obvious, suspiciousness does seem to overlap with anxious apprehension and anxious arousal (e.g., verbal iterative processes and vigilance about environmental threat). However, suspiciousness also has unique characteristics (e.g., concern about harm from others and vigilance about social threat). Given that both anxiety and suspiciousness have been associated with abnormalities in emotion processing, it is unclear whether it is the unique characteristics of suspiciousness or the overlap with anxiety that drive abnormalities in emotion processing. …

Naïve Hosts Of Avian Brood Parasites Accept Foreign Eggs, Whereas Older Hosts Fine-Tune Foreign Egg Discrimination During Laying, Csaba Moskát, Miklós Bán, Mark E. Hauber

Publications and Research

Background: Many potential hosts of social parasites recognize and reject foreign intruders, and reduce or altogether escape the negative impacts of parasitism. The ontogenetic basis of whether and how avian hosts recognize their own and the brood parasitic eggs remains unclear. By repeatedly parasitizing the same hosts with a consistent parasitic egg type, and contrasting the responses of naïve and older breeders, we studied ontogenetic plasticity in the rejection of foreign eggs by the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus), a host species of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus).

Results: In response to experimental parasitism before the …

Culinary Star Wars: A Review Of The Cultivation Of Taste: Chefs And The Organization Of Fine Dining By Christel Lane, Claire Stewart

Publications and Research

The Cultivation of Taste: Chefs and the Organization of Fine Dining researches the world of Michelin-starred restaurants and the chefs who run them. Author Christel Lane conducts a comparative study of restaurants in Britain and Germany, and applies her findings in an effort to examine the broader issue of social and economic differences in these two societies, placing chefs in the center of this intriguing universe. Book review by Claire Stewart.

Alcohol Drinking Patterns And Differences In Alcohol-Related Harm: A Population-Based Study Of The United States, D. Antai, G. B. Lopez, J. Antai, D. S. Anthony

Publications and Research

Alcohol use and associated alcohol-related harm (ARH) are a prevalent and important public health problem, with alcohol representing about 4% of the global burden of disease. A discussion of ARH secondary to alcohol consumption necessitates a consideration of the amount of alcohol consumed and the drinking pattern. This study examined the association between alcohol drinking patterns and self-reported ARH. Pearson chi-square test (χ2) and logistic regression analyses were used on data from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). The NCS-R is a cross-sectional nationally representative sample. Data was obtained by face-to-face interviews from 9282 adults aged ≥18 years in the …

Comparative Population Assessments Of Nautilus Sp. In The Philippines, Australia, Fiji, And American Samoa Using Baited Remote Underwater Video Systems, Gregory Jeff Barord, Frederick Dooley, Andrew Dunstan, Anthony Ilano, Karen N. Keister, Heike Neumeister, Thomas Preuss, Shane Schoepfer, Peter D. Ward

Publications and Research

The extant species of Nautilus and Allonautilus (Cephalopoda) inhabit fore-reef slope environments across a large geographic area of the tropical western Pacific and eastern Indian Oceans. While many aspects of their biology and behavior are now well-documented, uncertainties concerning their current populations and ecological role in the deeper, fore-reef slope environments remain. Given the historical to current day presence of nautilus fisheries at various locales across the Pacific and Indian Oceans, a comparative assessment of the current state of nautilus populations is critical to determine whether conservation measures are warranted. We used baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVS) to make …

Motor Cortex Electrical Stimulation Augments Sprouting Of The Corticospinal Tract And Promotes Recovery Of Motor Function, Jason B. Carmel, John H. Martin

Publications and Research

The corticospinal system—with its direct spinal pathway, the corticospinal tract (CST) – is the primary system for controlling voluntary movement. Our approach to CST repair after injury in mature animals was informed by our finding that activity drives establishment of connections with spinal cord circuits during postnatal development. After incomplete injury in maturity, spared CST circuits sprout, and partially restore lost function. Our approach harnesses activity to augment this injury-dependent CST sprouting and to promote function. Lesion of the medullary pyramid unilaterally eliminates all CST axons from one hemisphere and allows examination of CST sprouting from the unaffected hemisphere. We …

Acupuncture And Multiple Sclerosis: A Review Of The Evidence, H. I. Karpatkin, D. Napolione, B. Siminovich-Blok

Publications and Research

Use of acupuncture to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) is fairly common, but little literature exists which studies its effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the use of acupuncture to treat MS. A literature search resulted in twelve peer-reviewed articles on the subject that examined the use of acupuncture to treat MS related quality of life (QoL), fatigue, spasticity, and pain. The majority of the studies were poorly designed—without control, randomization, or blinding. Description of the subjects, interventions, and outcome measures as well as statistical analysis was often lacking or minimal. Although many of the …

Practicing Patienthood Online: Social Media, Chronic Illness, And Lay Expertise, Collette Sosnowy

Publications and Research

The use of digital technologies and social media by people with serious illness to find, share, and create health information is much celebrated but rarely critiqued. Proponents laud “Health 2.0” as transforming health care practice and empowering patients. Critics, however, argue that a discourse of developing lay expertise online masks the disciplinary practices of the neoliberal state’s emphasis on individual responsibility. Notably, the perspectives of people who are engaging with social media related to their health and illness are under-represented in this debate. This research examines the experiences and perspectives of women who blog about their lives with Multiple Sclerosis …

Male Clients' Behaviours With And Perspectives About Their Last Male Escort Encounter: Comparing Repeat Versus First-Time Hires, Margaret M. Wolff, Christian Grov, Michael D. Smith, Juline Koken, Jeffrey T. Parsons

Publications and Research

Research on men who have sex with men suggests that condomless anal intercourse occurs more frequently in established sexual relationships. While comparable data regarding male-for-male escorting is unavailable, research implies that many clients seek emotional as well as physical connections with the men they hire. In 2012, 495 male clients, recruited via daddysreviews.com completed an online survey about their last hiring experience. Most participants were from the USA (85.7%), the UK and Canada (3.2% each). In total, 75% of encounters involved an escort hired for the first time; 25% were with a previously hired escort ('repeat encounter'). The client's age, …

Emotional Bias Of Cognitive Control In Adults With Childhood Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Kurt P. Schulz, Anne-Claude V. Bédard, Jin Fan, Suzanne M. Clerkin, Danai Dima, Jeffrey H. Newcorn, Jeffrey M. Halperin

Publications and Research

Affect recognition deficits found in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) across the lifespan may bias the development of cognitive control processes implicated in the pathophysiology of the disorder. This study aimed to determine the mechanism through which facial expressions influence cognitive control in young adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. Fourteen probands with childhood ADHD and 14 comparison subjects with no history of ADHD were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a face emotion go/no-go task. Event-related analyses contrasted activation and functional connectivity for cognitive control collapsed over face valence and tested for variations in activation for response …

Risk Factors For Posttraumatic Stress Disorder In Haitian Students, Gretel Silvestre, Pascale Anacréon, Michèle Théodore, Emmanuel Silvestre, Eugenia Garcia-Dubus

Publications and Research

The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in undergraduate students after the Haiti earthquake on January 12, 2010, as well as to identify the risk factors involved in the development of PTSD symptoms in this sample. Evaluations concerning depression, anxiety, risk and protective factors, and PTSD symptoms were conducted in 246 Haitian undergraduate students enrolled in a Dominican private university. Results indicate a prevalence of 36% for PTSD 2 years after the earthquake, with a high prevalence also of depression (31.7%) and anxiety (21.1%). Some of the risk factors identified are being …

The Benefits Of Neighborhood Racial Diversity: Neighborhood Factors And Its Association With Increased Physical Activity In Acs Patients, Ellen-Ge Denton, Philip Green, Jonathan Newman, Ye Siqin, Karina W. Davidson, Joseph Schwartz

Publications and Research

Regular physical activity reduces the risk of adverse events after an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) [1]. Physical activity level is influenced by neighborhood factors such as racial diversity in the general population [2,3], but the impact of neighborhood factors on physical activity after an ACS is unknown. We therefore prospectively evaluated the relationship of post-ACS physical activity assessed by continuous activity monitors with neighborhood characteristics, including ethnic density, income, female headed households, and racial diversity, in patients enrolled in the Prescription Use, Lifestyle, and Stress Evaluation (PULSE) Study.

Eeg-Microstate Dependent Emergence Of Perceptual Awareness, Juliane Britz, Laura Díaz Hernàndez, Tony Ro, Christoph M. Michel

Publications and Research

We investigated whether the differences in perceptual awareness for stimuli at the threshold of awareness can arise from different global brain states before stimulus onset indexed by the EEG microstate. We used a metacontrast backward masking paradigm in which subjects had to discriminate between two weak stimuli and obtained measures of accuracy and awareness while their EEG was recorded from 256 channels. Comparing targets that were correctly identified with and without awareness allowed us to contrast differences in awareness while keeping performance constant for identical physical stimuli. Two distinct pre-stimulus scalp potential fields (microstate maps) dissociated correct identification with and …

Appropriation Or Participation Of The Individual In Knowledge Management, Isabel D. W. Rechberg, Jawad Syed

Publications and Research

Purpose- This review paper examines whether there is a tendency towards appropriation or participation of the individual in the literature of knowledge management (KM).

Design/methodology/approach- This is a literature review paper. In terms of approach, appropriation in this paper is referred to as the KM tasks assigned to individual employees by the management whereas participation is referred to as KM tasks determined jointly by individuals and management.

Findings- The review suggests that while the participation of individuals is seen as important for KM, the KM discourse and practice is visibly oriented towards the appropriation of individual employees and their knowledge …

Lesions Of Lateral Or Central Amygdala Abolish Aversive Pavlovian-To-Instrumental Transfer In Rats, Vincent D. Campese, Jeanny Kim, Gabriel Lázaro-Muñoz, Lashawn Pena, Joseph E. Ledoux, Christopher K. Cain

Publications and Research

Aversive Pavlovian conditioned stimuli (CSs) elicit defensive reactions (e.g., freezing) and motivate instrumental actions like active avoidance (AA). Pavlovian reactions require connections between the lateral (LA) and central (CeA) nuclei of the amygdala, whereas AA depends on LA and basal amygdala (BA). Thus, the neural circuits mediating conditioned reactions and motivation appear to diverge in the amygdala. However, AA is not ideal for studying conditioned motivation, because Pavlovian and instrumental learning are intermixed. Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer (PIT) allows for the study of conditioned motivation in isolation. PIT refers to the ability of a Pavlovian CS to modulate a separately-trained instrumental action. …

The Impact Of Sexual Harassment On Job Satisfaction, Turnover Intentions, And Absenteeism: Findings From Pakistan Compared To The United States, Rebecca S. Merkin, Muhammad Kamal Shah

Publications and Research

The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast how differences in perceptions of sexual harassment impact productive work environments for employees in Pakistan as compared to the US; in particular, how it affects job satisfaction, turnover, and/or absenteeism. This study analyzed employee responses in Pakistan (n = 146) and the United States (n = 102, 76) using questionnaire data. Significant results indicated that employees who were sexually harassed reported (a) a decrease in job satisfaction (b) greater turnover intentions and (c) a higher rate of absenteeism. Cross-cultural comparisons indicated that (a) Pakistani employees who were sexually harassed had …

Altered Regional And Circuit Resting-State Activity Associated With Unilateral Hearing Loss, Xingchao Wang, Yang Fan, Fu Zhao, Zhenmin Wang, Jianqiao Ge, Kai Zhang, Zhixian Gao, Jia-Hong Gao, Yihong Yang, Jin Fan, Qihong Zou, Pinan Liu

Publications and Research

The deprivation of sensory input after hearing damage results in functional reorganization of the brain including cross-modal plasticity in the sensory cortex and changes in cognitive processing. However, it remains unclear whether partial deprivation from unilateral auditory loss (UHL) would similarly affect the neural circuitry of cognitive processes in addition to the functional organization of sensory cortex. Here, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate intrinsic activity in 34 participants with UHL from acoustic neuroma in comparison with 22 matched normal controls. In sensory regions, we found decreased regional homogeneity (ReHo) in the bilateral calcarine cortices in UHL. …

Mafia Or Farmer? Coevolutionary Consequences Of Retaliation And Farming As Predator Strategies Upon Host Nests By Avian Brood Parasites, Mark E. Hauber

Publications and Research

Many host species of avian brood parasites have evolved to recognize and reject foreign eggs and chicks in the nest. Yet, other hosts accept and care for parasitic young, despite the fitness losses associated with raising non-kin. It has been suggested that nest predation upon host nests by brood parasites could select for coevolved acceptance by hosts, even when their cognitive and motor traits allow for the successful rejection of brood parasitism. Using a modeling approach, I analyzed the conditions that favor the evolution of two predatory strategies by parasites and the acceptance of parasitism in the presence of predatory …