Searching for controlled trials of complementary and alternative medicine: a comparison of 15 databases.

PubMed

Cogo, Elise; Sampson, Margaret; Ajiferuke, Isola; Manheimer, Eric; Campbell, Kaitryn; Daniel, Raymond; Moher, David

2011-01-01

This project aims to assess the utility of bibliographic databases beyond the three major ones (MEDLINE, EMBASE and Cochrane CENTRAL) for finding controlled trials of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM). Fifteen databases were searched to identify controlled clinical trials (CCTs) of CAM not also indexed in MEDLINE. Searches were conducted in May 2006 using the revised Cochrane highly sensitive search strategy (HSSS) and the PubMed CAM Subset. Yield of CAM trials per 100 records was determined, and databases were compared over a standardized period (2005). The Acudoc2 RCT, Acubriefs, Index to Chiropractic Literature (ICL) and Hom-Inform databases had the highest concentrations of non-MEDLINE records, with more than 100 non-MEDLINE records per 500. Other productive databases had ratios between 500 and 1500 records to 100 non-MEDLINE records-these were AMED, MANTIS, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Global Health and Alt HealthWatch. Five databases were found to be unproductive: AGRICOLA, CAIRSS, Datadiwan, Herb Research Foundation and IBIDS. Acudoc2 RCT yielded 100 CAM trials in the most recent 100 records screened. Acubriefs, AMED, Hom-Inform, MANTIS, PsycINFO and CINAHL had more than 25 CAM trials per 100 records screened. Global Health, ICL and Alt HealthWatch were below 25 in yield. There were 255 non-MEDLINE trials from eight databases in 2005, with only 10% indexed in more than one database. Yield varied greatly between databases; the most productive databases from both sampling methods were Acubriefs, Acudoc2 RCT, AMED and CINAHL. Low overlap between databases indicates comprehensive CAM literature searches will require multiple databases.

Messages that matter: Age differences in affective responses to framed health messages.

PubMed

Mikels, Joseph A; Shuster, Michael M; Thai, Sydney T; Smith-Ray, Renae; Waugh, Christian E; Roth, Kayla; Keilly, Alexis; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2016-06-01

Age differences in responses to framed health messages-which can influence judgments and decisions-are critical to understand yet relatively unexplored. Age-related emotional shifts toward positivity would be expected to differentially impact the affective responses of older and younger adults to framed messages. In this study, we measured the subjective and physiological affective responses of older and younger adults to gain- and loss-framed exercise promotion messages. Relative to older adults, younger adults exhibited greater negative reactivity to loss-framed health messages. These results suggest that health message framing does matter, but it depends on the age of the message recipient. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Open-access evidence database of controlled trials and systematic reviews in youth mental health.

PubMed

De Silva, Stefanie; Bailey, Alan P; Parker, Alexandra G; Montague, Alice E; Hetrick, Sarah E

2018-06-01

To present an update to an evidence-mapping project that consolidates the evidence base of interventions in youth mental health. To promote dissemination of this resource, the evidence map has been translated into a free online database (https://orygen.org.au/Campus/Expert-Network/Evidence-Finder or https://headspace.org.au/research-database/). Included studies are extensively indexed to facilitate searching. A systematic search for prevention and treatment studies in young people (mean age 6-25 years) is conducted annually using Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Library. Included studies are restricted to controlled trials and systematic reviews published since 1980. To date, 221 866 publications have been screened, of which 2680 have been included in the database. Updates are conducted annually. This shared resource can be utilized to substantially reduce the amount of time involved with conducting literature searches. It is designed to promote the uptake of evidence-based practice and facilitate research to address gaps in youth mental health. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

Effects of age and environmental support for rehearsal on visuospatial working memory.

PubMed

Lilienthal, Lindsey; Hale, Sandra; Myerson, Joel

2016-05-01

The present study investigated whether older adults' visuospatial working memory shows effects of environmental support for rehearsal similar to those observed in young adults (Lilienthal, Hale, & Myerson, 2014). When the duration of interitem intervals was 4 s and participants had sufficient time to rehearse, location memory spans were larger in both age groups when environmental support was present than when support was absent. Critically, however, the age-related difference in memory was actually larger when support was provided, suggesting that young and older adults may differ in their rehearsal of to-be-remembered locations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

A comprehensive database of quality-rated fossil ages for Sahul's Quaternary vertebrates.

PubMed

Rodríguez-Rey, Marta; Herrando-Pérez, Salvador; Brook, Barry W; Saltré, Frédérik; Alroy, John; Beeton, Nicholas; Bird, Michael I; Cooper, Alan; Gillespie, Richard; Jacobs, Zenobia; Johnson, Christopher N; Miller, Gifford H; Prideaux, Gavin J; Roberts, Richard G; Turney, Chris S M; Bradshaw, Corey J A

2016-07-19

The study of palaeo-chronologies using fossil data provides evidence for past ecological and evolutionary processes, and is therefore useful for predicting patterns and impacts of future environmental change. However, the robustness of inferences made from fossil ages relies heavily on both the quantity and quality of available data. We compiled Quaternary non-human vertebrate fossil ages from Sahul published up to 2013. This, the FosSahul database, includes 9,302 fossil records from 363 deposits, for a total of 478 species within 215 genera, of which 27 are from extinct and extant megafaunal species (2,559 records). We also provide a rating of reliability of individual absolute age based on the dating protocols and association between the dated materials and the fossil remains. Our proposed rating system identified 2,422 records with high-quality ages (i.e., a reduction of 74%). There are many applications of the database, including disentangling the confounding influences of hypothetical extinction drivers, better spatial distribution estimates of species relative to palaeo-climates, and potentially identifying new areas for fossil discovery.

Aging and the depth of binocular rivalry suppression.

PubMed

Norman, J Farley; Norman, Hideko F; Pattison, Kristina; Taylor, M Jett; Goforth, Katherine E

2007-09-01

Two experiments were designed to examine the effect of aging on the strength of binocular rivalry suppression. To produce rivalry, orthogonally oriented sine-wave luminance gratings were presented dichoptically. The observers were then required either to discriminate the spatial location of a probe spot presented to the dominant or suppressed eye's view or to detect the presence or absence of the probe. The observers in the younger and older age groups exhibited typical rivalry suppression for both tasks (i.e., the probe was more difficult to detect or discriminate when presented to the suppressed eye), but the magnitude of the suppression was significantly larger in the older observers. This increased suppression that accompanies aging can be explained by a reduction in the inhibition produced by the binocular matching circuitry of S. R. Lehky and R. Blake's (1991) model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

Working memory plasticity and aging.

PubMed

Rhodes, Rebecca E; Katz, Benjamin

2017-02-01

The present research explores how the trajectory of learning on a working memory task changes throughout the life span, and whether gains in working memory performance are exclusively a question of initial working memory capacity (WMC) or whether age exerts an independent effect. In a large, cross-sectional study of younger, middle-aged, and older adults, we examined learning on a widely used working memory task-the dual n-back task-over 20 sessions of practice. We found that, while all age groups improved on the task, older adults demonstrated less improvement on the task, and also reached a lower asymptotic maximum performance than younger adults. After controlling for initial WMC, we found that age exerted independent effects on training gains and asymptotic performance; older adults tended to improve less and reached lower levels of performance than younger adults. The difference between younger and older adults' rates of learning depended in part on initial WMC. These results suggest that age-related effects on working memory include not only effects on capacity, but also plasticity and the ability to improve on a task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

It gets better with time: Enhancement of age-related positivity effect in the six months following a highly negative public event.

PubMed

Ford, Jaclyn H; DiBiase, Haley D; Ryu, Ehri; Kensinger, Elizabeth A

2018-05-01

Age is associated with shifts toward more positive memory retrieval. The current study examined these shifts following a negative public event. Participants completed two surveys examining emotional responses to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings, one immediately following the attack and another 6 months later. Age was associated with different effects of time on how individuals reflected on this event. Time was associated with an increased focus on negative components in young adults but a decreased focus in older adults. These findings reveal a role of time in age-related positivity effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

HIV and aging: insights from the Asia Pacific HIV Observational Database (APHOD)

PubMed Central

Han, N; Wright, ST; O'Connor, CC; Hoy, J; Ponnampalavanar, S; Grotowski, M; Zhao, HX; Kamarulzaman, A

2016-01-01

Background The proportion of people living with HIV/AIDS in the ageing population (>50 years) is increasing. We aim to explore the relationship between older age and treatment outcomes in HIV-positive persons from the Asia-Pacific region. Methods Patients from the Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD) and the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database (TAHOD) were included in the analysis. We used survival methods to assess the association between older age and all-cause mortality, as well as time-to treatment modification. We used regression analyses to evaluate changes in CD4 counts after combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation and determined the odds of detectable viral load, up to 24 months of treatment. Results A total of 7142 patients were included in these analyses (60% TAHOD, 40% AHOD), of which, 25% were >50 years old. In multivariable analyses those aged >50 were at least twice as likely to die as those aged 30-39 years [HR (50-59 years): 2.27, 95% CI: 1.34-3.83; HR (>60years) 4.28, 95% CI: 2.42-7.55]. The effect of older age on CD4 count changes was insignificant (p-trend=0.06). The odds of detectable viral load after cART initiation decreased with age (p-trend=<0.0001). The effect of older age on time-to first treatment modification was insignificant (p-trend=0.21). We found no statistically significant differences in outcomes between AHOD and TAHOD participants for all endpoints examined. Conclusion The associations between older age and typical patient outcomes in HIV-positive patients from the Asia-Pacific region are similar in AHOD and TAHOD. Our data indicate that ‘age-effects’ traverse the resource-rich and resource-limited divide and indicate that future ageing-related findings might be applicable to each setting. PMID:25407085

A comprehensive database of quality-rated fossil ages for Sahul’s Quaternary vertebrates

PubMed Central

Rodríguez-Rey, Marta; Herrando-Pérez, Salvador; Brook, Barry W.; Saltré, Frédérik; Alroy, John; Beeton, Nicholas; Bird, Michael I.; Cooper, Alan; Gillespie, Richard; Jacobs, Zenobia; Johnson, Christopher N.; Miller, Gifford H.; Prideaux, Gavin J.; Roberts, Richard G.; Turney, Chris S.M.; Bradshaw, Corey J.A.

2016-01-01

The study of palaeo-chronologies using fossil data provides evidence for past ecological and evolutionary processes, and is therefore useful for predicting patterns and impacts of future environmental change. However, the robustness of inferences made from fossil ages relies heavily on both the quantity and quality of available data. We compiled Quaternary non-human vertebrate fossil ages from Sahul published up to 2013. This, the FosSahul database, includes 9,302 fossil records from 363 deposits, for a total of 478 species within 215 genera, of which 27 are from extinct and extant megafaunal species (2,559 records). We also provide a rating of reliability of individual absolute age based on the dating protocols and association between the dated materials and the fossil remains. Our proposed rating system identified 2,422 records with high-quality ages (i.e., a reduction of 74%). There are many applications of the database, including disentangling the confounding influences of hypothetical extinction drivers, better spatial distribution estimates of species relative to palaeo-climates, and potentially identifying new areas for fossil discovery. PMID:27434208

Aging and the statistical learning of grammatical form classes.

PubMed

Schwab, Jessica F; Schuler, Kathryn D; Stillman, Chelsea M; Newport, Elissa L; Howard, James H; Howard, Darlene V

2016-08-01

Language learners must place unfamiliar words into categories, often with few explicit indicators about when and how that word can be used grammatically. Reeder, Newport, and Aslin (2013) showed that college students can learn grammatical form classes from an artificial language by relying solely on distributional information (i.e., contextual cues in the input). Here, 2 experiments revealed that healthy older adults also show such statistical learning, though they are poorer than young at distinguishing grammatical from ungrammatical strings. This finding expands knowledge of which aspects of learning vary with aging, with potential implications for second language learning in late adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-related differences in moral identity across adulthood.

PubMed

Krettenauer, Tobias; Murua, Lourdes Andrea; Jia, Fanli

2016-06-01

In this study, age-related differences in adults' moral identity were investigated. Moral identity was conceptualized a context-dependent self-structure that becomes differentiated and (re)integrated in the course of development and that involves a broad range of value-orientations. Based on a cross-sectional sample of 252 participants aged 14 to 65 years (148 women, M = 33.5 years, SD = 16.9) and a modification of the Good Self-Assessment, it was demonstrated that mean-level of moral identity (averaged across the contexts of family, school/work, and community) significantly increased in the adult years, whereas cross-context differentiation showed a nonlinear trend peaking at the age of 25 years. Value-orientations that define individuals' moral identity shifted so that self-direction and rule-conformity became more important with age. Age-related differences in moral identity were associated with, but not fully attributable to changes in personality traits. Overall, findings suggest that moral identity development is a lifelong process that starts in adolescence but expands well into middle age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Formulation of the age-education index: measuring age and education effects in neuropsychological performance.

PubMed

Lam, Max; Eng, Goi Khia; Rapisarda, Attilio; Subramaniam, Mythily; Kraus, Michael; Keefe, Richard S E; Collinson, Simon Lowes

2013-03-01

The complex interplay of education, age, and cognitive performance on various neuropsychological tests is examined in the current study. New education indices were formulated and further investigated to reveal how age and education variances work together to account for performance on neuropsychological tests. Participants were 830 English-speaking ethnic Chinese. Neuropsychological measures such as Verbal Memory, Digit Sequencing, Token Motor Task, Semantic Fluency, Symbol Coding, Tower of London, Judgment of Line Orientation, and Matrix Reasoning of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale were administered. Education was measured by total years of education and adjusted years of education, as well as ratios of both measures with age. Age and education were associated with neuropsychological performance. Adjusted years of education was associated with fluency and higher cognitive processes, while the ratio between adjusted years of education and age was associated with tasks implicating working memory. Changes in education modalities implicated tasks requiring language abilities. Education and age represent key neurodevelopmental milestones. In light of our findings, special consideration should to be given when neuropsychological assessments are carried out in cross-cultural contexts and in societies where educational systems and pedagogy tend to be complex. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

"Perceived age discrimination across age in Europe: From an ageing society to a society for all ages": Correction to Bratt et al. (2018).

PubMed

2018-03-01

Reports an error in "Perceived age discrimination across age in Europe: From an ageing society to a society for all ages" by Christopher Bratt, Dominic Abrams, Hannah J. Swift, Christin-Melanie Vauclair and Sibila Marques ( Developmental Psychology , 2018[Jan], Vol 54[1], 167-180). In the article, the copyright license has been changed to the Creative Commons CC-BY Attribution License. The online version of this article has been corrected. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2017-47508-001.) Ageism is recognized as a significant obstacle to older people's well-being, but age discrimination against younger people has attracted less attention. We investigate levels of perceived age discrimination across early to late adulthood, using data from the European Social Survey (ESS), collected in 29 countries (N = 56,272). We test for approximate measurement invariance across countries. We use local structural equation modeling as well as moderated nonlinear factor analysis to test for measurement invariance across age as a continuous variable. Using models that account for the moderate degree of noninvariance, we find that younger people report experiencing the highest levels of age discrimination. We also find that national context substantially affects levels of ageism experienced among older respondents. The evidence highlights that more research is needed to address ageism in youth and across the life span, not just old adulthood. It also highlights the need to consider factors that differently contribute to forms of ageism experienced by people at different life stages and ages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

HIV and aging: insights from the Asia Pacific HIV Observational Database (APHOD).

PubMed

Han, N; Wright, S T; O'Connor, C C; Hoy, J; Ponnampalavanar, S; Grotowski, M; Zhao, H X; Kamarulzaman, A

2015-03-01

The proportion of people living with HIV/AIDS in the ageing population (>50 years old) is increasing. We aimed to explore the relationship between older age and treatment outcomes in HIV-positive persons from the Asia Pacific region. Patients from the Australian HIV Observational Database (AHOD) and the TREAT Asia HIV Observational Database (TAHOD) were included in the analysis. We used survival methods to assess the association between older age and all-cause mortality, as well as time to treatment modification. We used regression analyses to evaluate changes in CD4 counts after combination antiretroviral therapy (cART) initiation and determined the odds of detectable viral load, up to 24 months of treatment. A total of 7142 patients were included in these analyses (60% in TAHOD and 40% in AHOD), of whom 25% were >50 years old. In multivariable analyses, those aged > 50 years were at least twice as likely to die as those aged 30-39 years [hazard ratio (HR) for 50-59 years: 2.27; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.34-3.83; HR for > 60 years: 4.28; 95% CI 2.42-7.55]. The effect of older age on CD4 count changes was insignificant (p-trend=0.06). The odds of detectable viral load after cART initiation decreased with age (p-trend=< 0.0001). The effect of older age on time to first treatment modification was insignificant (p-trend=0.21). We found no statistically significant differences in outcomes between AHOD and TAHOD participants for all endpoints examined. The associations between older age and typical patient outcomes in HIV-positive patients from the Asia Pacific region are similar in AHOD and TAHOD. Our data indicate that 'age effects' traverse the resource-rich and resource-limited divide and that future ageing-related findings might be applicable to each setting. © 2014 British HIV Association.

Age differences in personal values: Universal or cultural specific?

PubMed

Fung, Helene H; Ho, Yuan Wan; Zhang, Rui; Zhang, Xin; Noels, Kimberly A; Tam, Kim-Pong

2016-05-01

Prior studies on value development across adulthood have generally shown that as people age, they espouse communal values more strongly and agentic values less strongly. Two studies investigated whether these age differences in personal values might differ according to cultural values. Study 1 examined whether these age differences in personal values, and their associations with subjective well-being, showed the same pattern across countries that differed in individualism-collectivism. Study 2 compared age differences in personal values in the Canadian culture that emphasized agentic values more and the Chinese culture that emphasized communal values more. Personal and cultural values of each individual were directly measured, and their congruence were calculated and compared across age and cultures. Findings revealed that across cultures, older people had lower endorsement of agentic personal values and higher endorsement of communal personal values than did younger people. These age differences, and their associations with subjective well-being, were generally not influenced by cultural values. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The end is (not) near: Aging, essentialism, and future time perspective.

PubMed

Weiss, David; Job, Veronika; Mathias, Maya; Grah, Stephanie; Freund, Alexandra M

2016-06-01

Beliefs about aging influence how we interpret and respond to changes within and around us. Essentialist beliefs about aging are defined as views that link chronological age with inherent and immutable properties underlying aging-related changes. These beliefs may influence the experience of aging-related changes and shape people's outlook of the future. We hypothesized that people who endorse essentialist beliefs about aging report a more limited future time perspective. Two studies provided correlational (Study 1, N = 250; 18-77 years) and experimental (Study 2, N = 103; 20-77 years) evidence that essentialist beliefs about aging affect people's future time perspective. In addition, Study 2 and Study 3 (N = 174; 34-67 years) tested the underlying mechanism and provided evidence that perception of aging-related threat explains the effect of essentialist beliefs on a reduced future time perspective. These findings highlight the fundamental role of essentialist beliefs about aging for the perception of time horizons in the context of aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Structure and correlates of cognitive aging in a narrow age cohort.

PubMed

Tucker-Drob, Elliot M; Briley, Daniel A; Starr, John M; Deary, Ian J

2014-06-01

Aging-related changes occur for multiple domains of cognitive functioning. An accumulating body of research indicates that, rather than representing statistically independent phenomena, aging-related cognitive changes are moderately to strongly correlated across domains. However, previous studies have typically been conducted in age-heterogeneous samples over longitudinal time lags of 6 or more years, and have failed to consider whether results are robust to a comprehensive set of controls. Capitalizing on 3-year longitudinal data from the Lothian Birth Cohort of 1936, we took a longitudinal narrow age cohort approach to examine cross-domain cognitive change interrelations from ages 70 to 73 years. We fit multivariate latent difference score models to factors representing visuospatial ability, processing speed, memory, and crystallized ability. Changes were moderately interrelated, with a general factor of change accounting for 47% of the variance in changes across domains. Change interrelations persisted at close to full strength after controlling for a comprehensive set of demographic, physical, and medical factors including educational attainment, childhood intelligence, physical function, APOE genotype, smoking status, diagnosis of hypertension, diagnosis of cardiovascular disease, and diagnosis of diabetes. Thus, the positive manifold of aging-related cognitive changes is highly robust in that it can be detected in a narrow age cohort followed over a relatively brief longitudinal period, and persists even after controlling for many potential confounders. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Aging and long-term memory for emotionally valenced events.

PubMed

Breslin, Carolyn W; Safer, Martin A

2013-06-01

In 2008, 1103 ardent Boston Red Sox fans answered questions about their team's 2003 loss and 2004 win in baseball championship games with archrival New York Yankees. Contrary to predictions based on socioemotional selectivity theory, there were no significant interactions of age and event valence for accuracy in remembering event details, or for self-reported subjective vividness and rehearsal of the memories. Fans 65 years and older tended to remember feeling only sad about the 2003 loss, whereas fans 25 years and under tended to remember feeling both sad and angry. Individuals may remember emotional feelings based on remembered goals about an event. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

The role of age in understanding the psychological effects of racism for African Americans.

PubMed

Greer, Tawanda M; Spalding, Abby

2017-10-01

The purpose of the current study was to test age as a moderator of the effects of types of racism on psychological symptoms for a sample of 184 African American women. We hypothesized that increased age would be associated with greater severity in psychological symptoms in relation to exposure to types of racism. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses were performed to test our hypothesis. Findings revealed significant interactions between institutional racism and age in predicting anxiety. Younger women experienced more severe anxiety in relation to greater exposure to institutional racism compared to older African American women. Findings suggest that older age may function as a buffer to psychological outcomes related to racism exposure. Additional studies are needed to understand the ways in which older African American adults cope with racism-related experiences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive functioning in toddlerhood: The role of gestational age, attention capacities, and maternal stimulation.

PubMed

de Jong, Marjanneke; Verhoeven, Marjolein; Hooge, Ignace T C; Maingay-Visser, Arnoldina P G F; Spanjerberg, Louise; van Baar, Anneloes L

2018-04-01

Why do many preterm children show delays in development? An integrated model of biological risk, children's capacities, and maternal stimulation was investigated in relation to cognitive functioning at toddler age. Participants were 200 Dutch children (gestational age = 32-41 weeks); 51% boys, 96% Dutch nationality, 71.5% highly educated mothers. At 18 months, attention capacities were measured using eye-tracking, and maternal attention-directing behavior was observed. Cognitive functioning was measured at 24 months using the Bayley-III-NL. Cognitive functioning was directly predicted by children's attention capacities and maternal attention-maintaining behavior. Gestational age was indirectly related to cognitive functioning through children's attention capacities and through maternal attention-redirecting behavior. In this way, a combination of gestational age, children's attention capacities, and maternal stimulation was associated with early cognitive development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Social integration and age-related decline in lung function.

PubMed

Crittenden, Crista N; Murphy, Michael L M; Cohen, Sheldon

2018-05-01

We tested the hypothesis that social integration, measured as number of social roles, is associated with less age-related loss of lung function, an important marker of health and longevity. We also investigated possible psychological factors through which social integration might influence lung health. Data were analyzed from the Health and Retirement Study (ages 52-94, n = 4,224). Each additional social role reported at baseline was associated with less of a decline in lung function between baseline and the follow-up assessment four years later. The association withstood controls for demographics, weight, and height and was mediated by more positive and less negative affect and lower rates of cigarette smoking and more physical activity. Roles were mostly substitutable, with both high (spouse, parent, friends, relatives) and low (employee, religious service attendee, volunteer, members of other groups) intimacy roles independently contributing to less age-related decline in lung function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Reading with filtered fixations: adult age differences in the effectiveness of low-level properties of text within central vision.

PubMed

Jordan, Timothy R; McGowan, Victoria A; Paterson, Kevin B

2014-06-01

When reading, low-level visual properties of text are acquired from central vision during brief fixational pauses, but the effectiveness of these properties may differ in older age. To investigate, a filtering technique displayed the low, medium, or high spatial frequencies of text falling within central vision as young (18-28 years) and older (65+ years) adults read. Reading times for normal text did not differ across age groups, but striking differences in the effectiveness of spatial frequencies were observed. Consequently, even when young and older adults read equally well, the effectiveness of spatial frequencies in central vision differs markedly in older age. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

The role of time and time perspective in age-related processes: Introduction to the special issue.

PubMed

Fung, Helene H; Isaacowitz, Derek M

2016-09-01

There currently appears to be a general consensus on the relationship between time perspective and aging, such that (a) future time is perceived as more limited with age and (b) older people are more present-focused and less future-focused than younger people. At the same time, there are debates about whether these age differences are positively related to well-being and to what extent there are boundary conditions beyond which these age differences would cease to occur. The 8 manuscripts included in this Special Issue attempt to shed light on these debates. In doing so, they refine the dominant theoretical perspective on the topic-socioemotional selectivity theory-and introduce new theoretical perspectives. New measures and methodologies for studying time perspective and aging are also discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Does filler database size influence identification accuracy?

PubMed

Bergold, Amanda N; Heaton, Paul

2018-06-01

Police departments increasingly use large photo databases to select lineup fillers using facial recognition software, but this technological shift's implications have been largely unexplored in eyewitness research. Database use, particularly if coupled with facial matching software, could enable lineup constructors to increase filler-suspect similarity and thus enhance eyewitness accuracy (Fitzgerald, Oriet, Price, & Charman, 2013). However, with a large pool of potential fillers, such technologies might theoretically produce lineup fillers too similar to the suspect (Fitzgerald, Oriet, & Price, 2015; Luus & Wells, 1991; Wells, Rydell, & Seelau, 1993). This research proposes a new factor-filler database size-as a lineup feature affecting eyewitness accuracy. In a facial recognition experiment, we select lineup fillers in a legally realistic manner using facial matching software applied to filler databases of 5,000, 25,000, and 125,000 photos, and find that larger databases are associated with a higher objective similarity rating between suspects and fillers and lower overall identification accuracy. In target present lineups, witnesses viewing lineups created from the larger databases were less likely to make correct identifications and more likely to select known innocent fillers. When the target was absent, database size was associated with a lower rate of correct rejections and a higher rate of filler identifications. Higher algorithmic similarity ratings were also associated with decreases in eyewitness identification accuracy. The results suggest that using facial matching software to select fillers from large photograph databases may reduce identification accuracy, and provides support for filler database size as a meaningful system variable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of bilingualism on vocabulary, executive functions, age of dementia onset, and regional brain structure.

PubMed

Gasquoine, Philip Gerard

2016-11-01

To review the current literature on the effects of bilingualism on vocabulary, executive functions, age of dementia onset, and regional brain structure. PubMed and PsycINFO databases were searched (from January 1999 to present) for relevant original research and review articles on bilingualism (but not multilingualism) paired with each target neuropsychological variable published in English. A qualitative review of these articles was conducted. It has long been known that mean scores of bilinguals fall below those of monolinguals on vocabulary and other language, but not visual-perceptual, format cognitive tests. Contemporary studies that have reported higher mean scores for bilinguals than monolinguals on executive function task-switching or inhibition tasks have not always been replicated, leading to concerns of publication bias, statistical flaws, and failures to match groups on potentially confounding variables. Studies suggesting the onset of Alzheimer's disease occurred about 4 years later for bilinguals versus monolinguals have not been confirmed in longitudinal, cohort, community-based, incidence studies that have used neuropsychological testing and diagnostic criteria to establish an age of dementia diagnosis. Neuroimaging studies of regional gray and white matter volume in bilinguals versus monolinguals show inconsistencies in terms of both the regions of difference and the nature of the difference. Resolving inconsistencies in the behavioral data is necessary before searching in the brain for neuroanatomical correlation. Comparisons of balanced versus language-dominant groups within the same ethnoculture combined with objective measurement of bilingualism could better match groups on potentially confounding variables. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Resilient ageing: a concept analysis.

PubMed

Hicks, Maxine M; Conner, Norma E

2014-04-01

This paper is a report of an analysis of the concept resilient ageing. Unique in comparison with other healthy ageing concepts, resilient ageing can be applied to all older people, regardless of age or affliction. The state of global population expansion in older people over the next 50 years calls for increased health promotion research efforts to ensure the maintenance of health and optimal quality of life for all older people. Literature for this concept analysis was retrieved from several databases, CINAHL, PubMed PsycINFO, for the years 1990-2012. Rodgers's evolutionary method of concept analysis was used because of its applicability to concepts that are still evolving. An integrative research review methodology was applied to peer-reviewed journal articles (n = 46) for an inductive analysis of the concept of resilient ageing. The antecedents, defining attributes, and consequence of resilient ageing were identified. Antecedents to resilient ageing were found to be adversity and protective factors, while the core attributes include coping, hardiness and self-concept. The consequence of the process of resilient ageing was optimal quality of life. Sense of coherence was found to be the surrogate term. The results obtained were further substantiated using Antonovsky's (1979) theory of salutogenesis. A theoretical definition and a model of resilient ageing were developed. In addition, a discussion was provided on the practice, policy and research implications for promoting the development of protective factors and resilient ageing. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Implications of mental image processing in the deficits of verbal information coding during normal aging].

PubMed

Plaie, Thierry; Thomas, Delphine

2008-06-01

Our study specifies the contributions of image generation and image maintenance processes occurring at the time of imaginal coding of verbal information in memory during normal aging. The memory capacities of 19 young adults (average age of 24 years) and 19 older adults (average age of 75 years) were assessed using recall tasks according to the imagery value of the stimuli to learn. The mental visual imagery capacities are assessed using tasks of image generation and temporary storage of mental imagery. The variance analysis indicates a more important decrease with age of the concretness effect. The major contribution of our study rests on the fact that the decline with age of dual coding of verbal information in memory would result primarily from the decline of image maintenance capacities and from a slowdown in image generation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive functioning and its influence on sexual behavior in normal aging and dementia.

PubMed

Hartmans, Carien; Comijs, Hannie; Jonker, Cees

2014-05-01

Motivational aspects, emotional factors, and cognition, all of which require intact cognitive functioning may be essential in sexual functioning. However, little is known about the association between cognitive functioning and sexual behavior. The aim of this article is to review the current evidence for the influence of cognitive functioning on sexual behavior in normal aging and dementia. A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Ovid, Cochrane, and PsycINFO databases. The databases were searched for English language papers focusing on human studies published relating cognitive functioning to sexual behavior in the aging population. Keywords included sexual behavior, sexuality, cognitive functioning, healthy elderly, elderly, aging and dementia. Eight studies fulfilled our inclusion criteria. Of these studies, five included dementia patients and/or their partners, whereas only three studies included healthy older persons. Although not consistently, results indicated a trend that older people who are not demented and continue to engage in sexual activity have better overall cognitive functioning. Cognitive decline and dementia seem to be associated with diminished sexual behavior in older persons. The association between cognitive functioning and sexual behavior in the aging population is understudied. The results found are inconclusive. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Electroconvulsive therapy clinical database: Influence of age and gender on the electrical charge.

PubMed

Salvador Sánchez, Javier; David, Mónica Delia; Torrent Setó, Aurora; Martínez Alonso, Montserrat; Portella Moll, Maria J; Pifarré Paredero, Josep; Vieta Pascual, Eduard; Mur Laín, María

The influence of age and gender in the electrical charge delivered in a given population was analysed using an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) clinical database. An observational, prospective, longitudinal study with descriptive analysis was performed using data from a database that included total bilateral frontotemporal ECT carried out with a Mecta spECTrum 5000Q ® in our hospital over 6 years. From 2006 to 2012, a total of 4,337 ECT were performed on 187 patients. Linear regression using mixed effects analysis was weighted by the inverse of the number of ECT performed on each patient per year of treatment. The results indicate that age is related with changes in the required charge (P=.031), as such that the older the age a higher charge is needed. Gender is also associated with changes in charge (P=.014), with women requiring less charge than men, a mean of 87.3mC less. When the effects of age and gender are included in the same model, both are significant (P=.0080 and P=.0041). Thus, for the same age, women require 99.0mC less charge than men, and in both genders the charge increases by 2.3mC per year. From our study, it is concluded that the effect of age on the dosage of the electrical charge is even more significant when related to gender. It would be of interest to promote the systematic collection of data for a better understanding and application of the technique. Copyright © 2015 SEP y SEPB. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Age and reemployment success after job loss: An integrative model and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Wanberg, Connie R; Kanfer, Ruth; Hamann, Darla J; Zhang, Zhen

2016-04-01

Despite widespread popular concern about what it means to be over 40 and unemployed, little attention has been paid in the literature to clarifying the role of age within the job seeking experience. Extending theory, we propose mechanisms by which chronological age affects job search and reemployment outcomes after job loss. Through a meta-analysis and examination of 2 supplemental datasets, we examine 5 questions: (a) How strong is the relationship between age and reemployment speed? (b) Does age disadvantage individuals with respect to other reemployment outcomes? (c) Is the relationship between age and reemployment outcomes mediated by job search activities? (d) Are these relationships generalizable? and (e) Are these relationships linear or curvilinear? Our findings provide evidence for a negative relationship between age and reemployment status and speed across job search decade, world region, and unemployment rate, with the strength of the negative relationship becoming stronger over age 50. Job search self-efficacy and job search intensity partially mediate the relationship between age and both reemployment status and speed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age differences in five personality domains across the life span.

PubMed

Allemand, Mathias; Zimprich, Daniel; Hendriks, A A Jolijn

2008-05-01

The present study addresses the issue of age differences in 5 personality domains across the life span in a cross-sectional study. In contrast to most previous studies, the present study follows a methodologically more rigorous approach to warrant that age-related differences in personality structure and mean level can be meaningfully compared. It uses data on 50 items of the Five-Factor Personality Inventory (FFPI) available from a study in a large and representative Dutch sample (N = 2,494; age range: 16 to 91 years) conducted in 1996 for the purpose of establishing norms for the FFPI. After having established strict measurement invariance, tests were made for factor covariances to be equal across age groups, revealing structural continuity of personality. Additionally, factor variances were shown to be equal across age groups. A number of age differences in the mean level of the five personality domains emerged. Specifically, older adults were, on average, more agreeable and, especially, more conscientious than middle-aged and younger adults. Findings from our study suggest that both continuity and change may mark personality over the course of life. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Romantic relationship development: The interplay between age and relationship length.

PubMed

Lantagne, Ann; Furman, Wyndol

2017-09-01

The present study explored how romantic relationship qualities develop with age and relationship length. Eight waves of data on romantic relationships were collected over 10.5 years during adolescence and early adulthood from a community-based sample in a Western U.S. city (100 males, 100 females; M age Wave 1 = 15.83). Measures of support, negative interactions, control, and jealousy were derived from interviews and questionnaire measures. Using multilevel modeling, main effects of age were found for jealousy, and main effects of relationship length were found for each quality. However, main effects were qualified by significant age by length interactions for each and every relationship quality. Short relationships increased in support with age. In comparison, long-term adolescent relationships were notable in that they were both supportive and turbulent, with elevated levels of support, negative interactions, control, and jealousy. With age, long-term relationships continued to have high levels of support, but decreased in negative interactions, control, and jealousy. Present findings highlight how the interplay between age and relationship length is key for understanding the development of romantic relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmental precursors of young school-age children's hostile attribution bias.

PubMed

Choe, Daniel Ewon; Lane, Jonathan D; Grabell, Adam S; Olson, Sheryl L

2013-12-01

This prospective longitudinal study provides evidence of preschool-age precursors of hostile attribution bias in young school-age children, a topic that has received little empirical attention. We examined multiple risk domains, including laboratory and observational assessments of children's social-cognition, general cognitive functioning, effortful control, and peer aggression. Preschoolers (N = 231) with a more advanced theory-of-mind, better emotion understanding, and higher IQ made fewer hostile attributions of intent in the early school years. Further exploration of these significant predictors revealed that only certain components of these capacities (i.e., nonstereotypical emotion understanding, false-belief explanation, and verbal IQ) were robust predictors of a hostile attribution bias in young school-age children and were especially strong predictors among children with more advanced effortful control. These relations were prospective in nature-the effects of preschool variables persisted after accounting for similar variables at school age. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for future research and prevention. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

PHASS99: A software program for retrieving and decoding the radiometric ages of igneous rocks from the international database IGBADAT

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Mishwat, Ali T.

2016-05-01

PHASS99 is a FORTRAN program designed to retrieve and decode radiometric and other physical age information of igneous rocks contained in the international database IGBADAT (Igneous Base Data File). In the database, ages are stored in a proprietary format using mnemonic representations. The program can handle up to 99 ages in an igneous rock specimen and caters to forty radiometric age systems. The radiometric age alphanumeric strings assigned to each specimen description in the database consist of four components: the numeric age and its exponential modifier, a four-character mnemonic method identification, a two-character mnemonic name of analysed material, and the reference number in the rock group bibliography vector. For each specimen, the program searches for radiometric age strings, extracts them, parses them, decodes the different age components, and converts them to high-level English equivalents. IGBADAT and similarly-structured files are used for input. The output includes three files: a flat raw ASCII text file containing retrieved radiometric age information, a generic spreadsheet-compatible file for data import to spreadsheets, and an error file. PHASS99 builds on the old program TSTPHA (Test Physical Age) decoder program and expands greatly its capabilities. PHASS99 is simple, user friendly, fast, efficient, and does not require users to have knowledge of programing.

Age-related differences in mind-wandering in daily life.

PubMed

Maillet, David; Beaty, Roger E; Jordano, Megan L; Touron, Dayna R; Adnan, Areeba; Silvia, Paul J; Kwapil, Thomas R; Turner, Gary R; Spreng, R Nathan; Kane, Michael J

2018-06-01

In recent years, several laboratory studies have indicated that healthy older adults exhibit a reduction in mind-wandering frequency compared with young adults. However, it is unclear if these findings extend to daily life settings. In the current study, using experience sampling over the course of a week in the daily life of 31 young and 20 older adults, we assessed age-related differences in: (a) mind-wandering frequency, (b) the relationship between affect and mind-wandering frequency, and (c) content of mind wandering. Older adults mind wandered less than young adults in daily life. Across age groups, negative affect was positively associated with mind-wandering occurrence. Finally, older adults reported that their thoughts were more pleasant, interesting, and clear compared with young adults, who had thoughts that were more dreamlike, novel, strange, and racing. Our results provide the first demonstration using thought sampling that older adults exhibit a reduction in mind-wandering frequency in daily life. Implications for current theories of age-related reductions in mind-wandering frequency are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Trajectories of externalizing behavior from age 2 to age 9: relations with gender, temperament, ethnicity, parenting, and rater.

PubMed

Miner, Jennifer L; Clarke-Stewart, K Alison

2008-05-01

Trajectories of children's externalizing behavior were examined using multilevel growth curve modeling of data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. According to ratings by both mothers and caregivers/teachers when children were 2, 3, 4, 7, and 9 years old, externalizing behavior declined with age. However, mothers rated children as higher in externalizing behavior than did caregivers and teachers. Higher levels of age 9 externalizing behavior were predicted by the following factors: child male gender (for caregiver/teacher reports only), infant difficult temperament (for children with harsh mothers only), harsher maternal attitude toward discipline, higher level of maternal depression (for maternal reports only), and lower level of maternal sensitivity (especially for boys). Caregivers and teachers reported higher levels of externalizing behavior in African American children than in European American children, increasingly so over time; mothers' ratings revealed the reverse. The declining slope of externalizing behavior was predicted by infant difficult temperament for mother reports only. Additional analyses suggested that the association between parenting and externalizing behavior was bidirectional. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-related changes in reasons for using alcohol and marijuana from ages 18 to 30 in a national sample.

PubMed

Patrick, Megan E; Schulenberg, John E; O'Malley, Patrick M; Maggs, Jennifer L; Kloska, Deborah D; Johnston, Lloyd D; Bachman, Jerald G

2011-06-01

This study used up to seven waves of data from 32 consecutive cohorts of participants in the national longitudinal Monitoring the Future study to model changes in self-reported reasons for using alcohol and marijuana by age (18 to 30), gender, and recent substance use. The majority of stated reasons for use decreased in prevalence across young adulthood (e.g., social/recreational and coping with negative affect reasons); exceptions included age-related increases in using to relax (alcohol and marijuana), to sleep (alcohol), because it tastes good (alcohol), and to get high (marijuana). Women were more likely than men to report drinking for reasons involving distress (i.e., to get away from problems), while men were more likely than women to endorse all other reasons. Greater substance use at age 18 was associated with greater likelihood of all reasons except to experiment and to fit in. A better understanding of developmental changes in reasons for use is important for understanding normative changes in substance use behaviors and for informing intervention efforts involving underlying reasons for use. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

CENTRAL, PEDro, PubMed, and EMBASE are the most comprehensive databases indexing randomized controlled trials of physical therapy interventions.

PubMed

Michaleff, Zoe A; Costa, Leonardo O P; Moseley, Anne M; Maher, Christopher G; Elkins, Mark R; Herbert, Robert D; Sherrington, Catherine

2011-02-01

Many bibliographic databases index research studies evaluating the effects of health care interventions. One study has concluded that the Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) has the most complete indexing of reports of randomized controlled trials of physical therapy interventions, but the design of that study may have exaggerated estimates of the completeness of indexing by PEDro. The purpose of this study was to compare the completeness of indexing of reports of randomized controlled trials of physical therapy interventions by 8 bibliographic databases. This study was an audit of bibliographic databases. Prespecified criteria were used to identify 400 reports of randomized controlled trials from the reference lists of systematic reviews published in 2008 that evaluated physical therapy interventions. Eight databases (AMED, CENTRAL, CINAHL, EMBASE, Hooked on Evidence, PEDro, PsycINFO, and PubMed) were searched for each trial report. The proportion of the 400 trial reports indexed by each database was calculated. The proportions of the 400 trial reports indexed by the databases were as follows: CENTRAL, 95%; PEDro, 92%; PubMed, 89%; EMBASE, 88%; CINAHL, 53%; AMED, 50%; Hooked on Evidence, 45%; and PsycINFO, 6%. Almost all of the trial reports (99%) were found in at least 1 database, and 88% were indexed by 4 or more databases. Four trial reports were uniquely indexed by a single database only (2 in CENTRAL and 1 each in PEDro and PubMed). The results are only applicable to searching for English-language published reports of randomized controlled trials evaluating physical therapy interventions. The 4 most comprehensive databases of trial reports evaluating physical therapy interventions were CENTRAL, PEDro, PubMed, and EMBASE. Clinicians seeking quick answers to clinical questions could search any of these databases knowing that all are reasonably comprehensive. PEDro, unlike the other 3 most complete databases, is specific to physical therapy, so studies not

Age and gender differences in ability emotional intelligence in adults: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Cabello, Rosario; Sorrel, Miguel A; Fernández-Pinto, Irene; Extremera, Natalio; Fernández-Berrocal, Pablo

2016-09-01

The goal of the current investigation was to analyze ability emotional intelligence (EI) in a large cross-sectional sample of Spanish adults (N = 12,198; males, 56.56%) aged from 17 to 76 years (M = 37.71, SD = 12.66). Using the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT), which measures ability EI according to the 4 branches of the Mayer and Salovey EI model. The authors examined effects of gender on ability EI, as well as the linear and quadratic effects of age. Results suggest that gender affects the total ability EI score as well as scores on the 4 EI branches. Ability EI was greater in women than men. Ability EI varied with age according to an inverted-U curve: Younger and older adults scored lower on ability EI than middle-aged adults, except for the branch of understanding emotions. These findings strongly support the idea that both gender and age significantly influence ability EI during aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age differences in memory for meaningful and arbitrary associations: A memory retrieval account.

PubMed

Amer, Tarek; Giovanello, Kelly S; Grady, Cheryl L; Hasher, Lynn

2018-02-01

Older adults typically show poor associative memory performance relative to younger adults. This age-related effect, however, is mediated by the meaningfulness of the materials used, such that age differences are minimized with the use of information that is consistent with prior knowledge. While this effect has been interpreted as facilitative learning through schematic support, the role of memory retrieval on this effect has yet to be explored. Using an associative memory paradigm that varied the extent of controlled retrieval for previously studied meaningful or arbitrary associations, older and younger adults in the present study retrieved realistic and unrealistic grocery item prices in a speeded, or in a slow, more control-based retrieval condition. There were no age differences in memory for realistic (meaningful) prices in either condition; however, younger adults showed better memory than older adults for unrealistic prices in the controlled retrieval condition only. These results suggest that age differences in memory for arbitrary associations can, at least partly, be accounted for by age reductions in strategic, controlled retrieval. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Aping humans: age and sex effects in chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) and human (Homo sapiens) personality.

PubMed

King, James E; Weiss, Alexander; Sisco, Melissa M

2008-11-01

Ratings of 202 chimpanzees on 43 personality descriptor adjectives were used to calculate scores on five domains analogous to the human Five-Factor Model and a chimpanzee-specific Dominance domain. Male and female chimpanzees were divided into five age groups ranging from juvenile to old adult. Internal consistencies and interrater reliabilities of factors were stable across age groups and approximately 6.8 year retest reliabilities were high. Age-related declines in Extraversion and Openness and increases in Agreeableness and Conscientiousness paralleled human age differences. The mean change in absolute standardized units for all five factors was virtually identical in humans and chimpanzees after adjustment for different developmental rates. Consistent with their aggressive behavior in the wild, male chimpanzees were rated as more aggressive, emotional, and impulsive than females. Chimpanzee sex differences in personality were greater than comparable human gender differences. These findings suggest that chimpanzee and human personality develop via an unfolding maturational process. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved).

The limits of a limited future time perspective in explaining age differences in emotional functioning.

PubMed

Grühn, Daniel; Sharifian, Neika; Chu, Qiao

2016-09-01

Although a limited future time perspective (FTP) has been theorized to be the underlying mechanism of positive emotional functioning later in life, there is scant empirical evidence for this position. Using an integrative data-analytic approach, we investigated the predictive value of FTP, age, and subjective health in explaining emotional functioning in a sample of 2,504 adults (17 to 87 years, M = 35.5, SD = 14.2). Although older adults reported a more limited FTP than younger adults, age and a limited FTP had opposite effects in predicting subjective well-being, affect, positive emotions, empathy, and attitudes toward emotions. That is, old age was linked to a more adaptive emotional profile, whereas a limited FTP was linked to a more maladaptive emotional profile. This was the case even after controlling for health-related aspects. The findings question the usage of FTP as an explanatory variable for observed age differences in emotional functioning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The Estimation of Gestational Age at Birth in Database Studies.

PubMed

Eberg, Maria; Platt, Robert W; Filion, Kristian B

2017-11-01

Studies on the safety of prenatal medication use require valid estimation of the pregnancy duration. However, gestational age is often incompletely recorded in administrative and clinical databases. Our objective was to compare different approaches to estimating the pregnancy duration. Using data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics, we examined the following four approaches to estimating missing gestational age: (1) generalized estimating equations for longitudinal data; (2) multiple imputation; (3) estimation based on fetal birth weight and sex; and (4) conventional approaches that assigned a fixed value (39 weeks for all or 39 weeks for full term and 35 weeks for preterm). The gestational age recorded in Hospital Episode Statistics was considered the gold standard. We conducted a simulation study comparing the described approaches in terms of estimated bias and mean square error. A total of 25,929 infants from 22,774 mothers were included in our "gold standard" cohort. The smallest average absolute bias was observed for the generalized estimating equation that included birth weight, while the largest absolute bias occurred when assigning 39-week gestation to all those with missing values. The smallest mean square errors were detected with generalized estimating equations while multiple imputation had the highest mean square errors. The use of generalized estimating equations resulted in the most accurate estimation of missing gestational age when birth weight information was available. In the absence of birth weight, assignment of fixed gestational age based on term/preterm status may be the optimal approach.

Numerical cognition explains age-related changes in third-party fairness.

PubMed

Chernyak, Nadia; Sandham, Beth; Harris, Paul L; Cordes, Sara

2016-10-01

Young children share fairly and expect others to do the same. Yet little is known about the underlying cognitive mechanisms that support fairness. We investigated whether children's numerical competencies are linked with their sharing behavior. Preschoolers (aged 2.5-5.5) participated in third-party resource allocation tasks in which they split a set of resources between 2 puppets. Children's numerical competence was assessed using the Give-N task (Sarnecka & Carey, 2008; Wynn, 1990). Numerical competence-specifically knowledge of the cardinal principle-explained age-related changes in fair sharing. Although many subset-knowers (those without knowledge of the cardinal principle) were still able to share fairly, they invoked turn-taking strategies and did not remember the number of resources they shared. These results suggest that numerical cognition serves as an important mechanism for fair sharing behavior, and that children employ different sharing strategies (division or turn-taking) depending on their numerical competence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-related differences in associative memory: Empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives.

PubMed

Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe; Mayr, Ulrich

2018-02-01

Systematic research and anecdotal evidence both indicate declines in episodic memory in older adults in good health without dementia-related disorders. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain these age-related changes in episodic memory, some of which attribute such declines to a deterioration in associative memory. The current special issue of Psychology and Aging on Age-Related Differences in Associative Memory includes 16 articles by top researchers in the area of memory and aging. Their contributions provide a wealth of empirical work that addresses different aspects of aging and associative memory, including different mediators and predictors of age-related declines in binding and associative memory, cognitive, noncognitive, genetic, and neuro-related ones. The contributions also address the processing phases where these declines manifest themselves and look at ways to ameliorate these age-related declines. Furthermore, the contributions in this issue draw on different theoretical perspectives to explain age-related changes in associative memory and provide a wealth of varying methodologies to assess older and younger adults' performance. Finally, although most of the studies focus on normative/healthy aging, some of them contain insights that are potentially applicable to disorders and pathologies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Age and gender differences in self-esteem-A cross-cultural window.

PubMed

Bleidorn, Wiebke; Arslan, Ruben C; Denissen, Jaap J A; Rentfrow, Peter J; Gebauer, Jochen E; Potter, Jeff; Gosling, Samuel D

2016-09-01

Research and theorizing on gender and age differences in self-esteem have played a prominent role in psychology over the past 20 years. However, virtually all empirical research has been undertaken in the United States or other Western industrialized countries, providing a narrow empirical base from which to draw conclusions and develop theory. To broaden the empirical base, the present research uses a large Internet sample (N = 985,937) to provide the first large-scale systematic cross-cultural examination of gender and age differences in self-esteem. Across 48 nations, and consistent with previous research, we found age-related increases in self-esteem from late adolescence to middle adulthood and significant gender gaps, with males consistently reporting higher self-esteem than females. Despite these broad cross-cultural similarities, the cultures differed significantly in the magnitude of gender, age, and Gender × Age effects on self-esteem. These differences were associated with cultural differences in socioeconomic, sociodemographic, gender-equality, and cultural value indicators. Discussion focuses on the theoretical implications of cross-cultural research on self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age differences in conscious versus subconscious social perception: the influence of face age and valence on gaze following.

PubMed

Bailey, Phoebe E; Slessor, Gillian; Rendell, Peter G; Bennetts, Rachel J; Campbell, Anna; Ruffman, Ted

2014-09-01

Gaze following is the primary means of establishing joint attention with others and is subject to age-related decline. In addition, young but not older adults experience an own-age bias in gaze following. The current research assessed the effects of subconscious processing on these age-related differences. Participants responded to targets that were either congruent or incongruent with the direction of gaze displayed in supraliminal and subliminal images of young and older faces. These faces displayed either neutral (Study 1) or happy and fearful (Study 2) expressions. In Studies 1 and 2, both age groups demonstrated gaze-directed attention by responding faster to targets that were congruent as opposed to incongruent with gaze-cues. In Study 1, subliminal stimuli did not attenuate the age-related decline in gaze-cuing, but did result in an own-age bias among older participants. In Study 2, gaze-cuing was reduced for older relative to young adults in response to supraliminal stimuli, and this could not be attributed to reduced visual acuity or age group differences in the perceived emotional intensity of the gaze-cue faces. Moreover, there were no age differences in gaze-cuing when responding to subliminal faces that were emotionally arousing. In addition, older adults demonstrated an own-age bias for both conscious and subconscious gaze-cuing when faces expressed happiness but not fear. We discuss growing evidence for age-related preservation of subconscious relative to conscious social perception, as well as an interaction between face age and valence in social perception. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Antidepressants for depressive disorder in children and adolescents: a database of randomised controlled trials.

PubMed

Zhang, Yuqing; Zhou, Xinyu; Pu, Juncai; Zhang, Hanping; Yang, Lining; Liu, Lanxiang; Zhou, Chanjuan; Yuan, Shuai; Jiang, Xiaofeng; Xie, Peng

2018-05-31

In recent years, whether, when and how to use antidepressants to treat depressive disorder in children and adolescents has been hotly debated. Relevant evidence on this topic has increased rapidly. In this paper, we present the construction and content of a database of randomised controlled trials of antidepressants to treat depressive disorder in children and adolescents. This database can be freely accessed via our website and will be regularly updated. Major bibliographic databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO and LiLACS), international trial registers and regulatory agencies' websites were systematically searched for published and unpublished studies up to April 30, 2017. We included randomised controlled trials in which the efficacy or tolerability of any oral antidepressant was compared with that of a control group or any other treatment. In total, 7377 citations from bibliographical databases and 3289 from international trial registers and regulatory agencies' websites were identified. Of these, 53 trials were eligible for inclusion in the final database. Selected data were extracted from each study, including characteristics of the participants (the study population, setting, diagnostic criteria, type of depression, age, sex, and comorbidity), characteristics of the treatment conditions (the treatment conditions, general information, and detail of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy) and study characteristics (the sponsor, country, number of sites, blinding method, sample size, treatment duration, depression scales, other scales, and primary outcome measure used, and side-effect monitoring method). Moreover, the risk of bias for each trial were assessed. This database provides information on nearly all randomised controlled trials of antidepressants in children and adolescents. By using this database, researchers can improve research efficiency, avoid inadvertent errors and easily focus on the targeted subgroups in

Increasing Negativity of Age Stereotypes across 200 Years: Evidence from a Database of 400 Million Words

PubMed Central

Ng, Reuben; Allore, Heather G.; Trentalange, Mark; Monin, Joan K.; Levy, Becca R.

2015-01-01

Scholars argue about whether age stereotypes (beliefs about old people) are becoming more negative or positive over time. No previous study has systematically tested the trend of age stereotypes over more than 20 years, due to lack of suitable data. Our aim was to fill this gap by investigating whether age stereotypes have changed over the last two centuries and, if so, what may be associated with this change. We hypothesized that age stereotypes have increased in negativity due, in part, to the increasing medicalization of aging. This study applied computational linguistics to the recently compiled Corpus of Historical American English (COHA), a database of 400 million words that includes a range of printed sources from 1810 to 2009. After generating a comprehensive list of synonyms for the term elderly for these years from two historical thesauri, we identified 100 collocates (words that co-occurred most frequently with these synonyms) for each of the 20 decades. Inclusion criteria for the collocates were: (1) appeared within four words of the elderly synonym, (2) referred to an old person, and (3) had a stronger association with the elderly synonym than other words appearing in the database for that decade. This yielded 13,100 collocates that were rated for negativity and medicalization. We found that age stereotypes have become more negative in a linear way over 200 years. In 1880, age stereotypes switched from being positive to being negative. In addition, support was found for two potential explanations. Medicalization of aging and the growing proportion of the population over the age of 65 were both significantly associated with the increase in negative age stereotypes. The upward trajectory of age-stereotype negativity makes a case for remedial action on a societal level. PMID:25675438

Affect dynamics across the lifespan: with age, heart rate reacts less strongly, but recovers more slowly from unpleasant emotional situations.

PubMed

Wrzus, Cornelia; Müller, Viktor; Wagner, Gert G; Lindenberger, Ulman; Riediger, Michaela

2014-09-01

We propose that a comprehensive understanding of age differences in affective responses to emotional situations requires the distinction of 2 components of affect dynamics: reactivity, the deviation from a person's baseline, and recovery, the return to this baseline. The present study demonstrates the utility of this approach with a focus on age differences in responses of negative affect and heart rate to an unpleasant emotional situation in 92 participants aged 14 to 83. The emotional situation was elicited with a social-cognitive stress task. Participants' negative affect and heart rate were measured throughout the task. Results showed that heart rate reactivity decreased, but heart rate recovery time increased, with age. In contrast, no significant age differences were observed in either reactivity or recovery for negative affect. These findings confirm that reactivity to, and recovery from, unpleasant emotional situations are distinct components of affect dynamics. They underscore the multidirectional nature of age differences in affective processes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Tests of the DRYAD theory of the age-related deficit in memory for context: not about context, and not about aging.

PubMed

Benjamin, Aaron S; Diaz, Michael; Matzen, Laura E; Johnson, Benjamin

2012-06-01

Older adults exhibit a disproportionate deficit in their ability to recover contextual elements or source information about prior encounters with stimuli. A recent theoretical account, DRYAD, attributes this selective deficit to a global decrease in memory fidelity with age, moderated by weak representation of contextual information. The predictions of DRYAD are tested here in three experiments. We show that an age-related deficit obtains for whichever aspect of the stimulus subjects' attention is directed away from during encoding (Experiment 1), suggesting a central role for attention in producing the age-related deficit in context. We also show that an analogous deficit can be elicited within young subjects with a manipulation of study time (Experiment 2), suggesting that any means of reducing memory fidelity yields an interaction of the same form as the age-related effect. Experiment 3 evaluates the critical prediction of DRYAD that endorsement probability in an exclusion task should vary nonmonotonically with memory strength. This prediction was confirmed by assessing the shape of the forgetting function in a continuous exclusion task. The results are consistent with the DRYAD account of aging and memory judgments and do not support the widely held view that aging entails the selective disruption of processes involved in encoding, storing, or retrieving contextual information. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Age and health jointly moderate the influence of flexible work arrangements on work engagement: Evidence from two empirical studies.

PubMed

Rudolph, Cort W; Baltes, Boris B

2017-01-01

Research and theory support the notion that flexible work arrangements (i.e., job resources in the form of formal policies that allow employees the latitude to manage when, where, and how they work) can have a positive influence on various outcomes that are valued both by organizations and their constituents. In the present study, we integrate propositions from various theoretical perspectives to investigate how flexible work arrangements influence work engagement. Then, in 2 studies we test this association and model the influence of different conceptualizations of health and age as joint moderators of this relationship. Study 1 focuses on functional health and chronological age in an age-diverse sample, whereas study 2 focuses on health symptom severity and subjective age in a sample of older workers. In both studies, we demonstrate that the influence of flexible work arrangements on work engagement is contingent upon age and health. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Linkage of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging to provincial administrative health care databases in Nova Scotia.

PubMed

Yip, A M; Kephart, G; Rockwood, K

2001-01-01

The Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) was a cohort study that included 528 Nova Scotian community-dwelling participants. Linkage of CSHA and provincial Medical Services Insurance (MSI) data enabled examination of health care utilization in this subsample. This article discusses methodological and ethical issues of database linkage and explores variation in the use of health services by demographic variables and health status. Utilization over 24 months following baseline was extracted from MSI's physician claims, hospital discharge abstracts, and Pharmacare claims databases. Twenty-nine subjects refused consent for access to their MSI file; health card numbers for three others could not be retrieved. A significant difference in healthcare use by age and self-rated health was revealed. Linkage of population-based data with provincial administrative health care databases has the potential to guide health care planning and resource allocation. This process must include steps to ensure protection of confidentiality. Standard practices for linkage consent and routine follow-up should be adopted. The Canadian Study of Health and Aging (CSHA) began in 1991-92 to explore dementia, frailty, and adverse health outcomes (Canadian Study of Health and Aging Working Group, 1994). The original CSHA proposal included linkage to provincial administrative health care databases by the individual CSHA study centers to enhance information on health care utilization and outcomes of study participants. In Nova Scotia, the Medical Services Insurance (MSI) administration, which drew the sampling frame for the original CSHA, did not retain the list of corresponding health card numbers. Furthermore, consent for this access was not asked of participants at the time of the first interview. The objectives of this study reported here were to examine the feasibility and ethical considerations of linking data from the CSHA to MSI utilization data, and to explore variation in health

Environment and cognitive aging: A cross-sectional study of place of residence and cognitive performance in the Irish longitudinal study on aging.

PubMed

Cassarino, Marica; O'Sullivan, Vincent; Kenny, Rose Anne; Setti, Annalisa

2016-07-01

Stimulating environments foster cognitive vitality in older age. However, it is not known whether and how geographical and physical characteristics of lived environments contribute to cognitive aging. Evidence of higher prevalence of dementia in rural rather than urban contexts suggests that urban environments may be more stimulating either cognitively, socially, or in terms of lifestyle. The present study explored urban/rural differences in cognition for healthy community-dwelling older people while controlling for a comprehensive spectrum of confounding factors. Cognitive performance of 3,765 healthy Irish people aged 50+ years participating in Wave 1 of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Aging was analyzed in relation to current location of residence-urban, other settlements, or rural areas-and its interaction with childhood residence. Regression models controlled for sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle factors. Urban residents showed better performance than the other 2 residence groups for global cognition and executive functions after controlling for covariates. Childhood urban residence was associated with a cognitive advantage especially for currently rural participants. Our findings suggest higher cognitive functioning for urban residents, although childhood residence modulates this association. Suggestions for further developments of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The association of age, sense of control, optimism, and self-esteem with emotional distress.

PubMed

Jiménez, M Guadalupe; Montorio, Ignacio; Izal, María

2017-07-01

The aim of this study was to test a model of emotional distress, which incorporates the potential mediator role of positive resources (sense of control, self-esteem, and optimism) in the association of age with emotional distress. The study used a cross-sectional design with intentional sampling and the voluntary participation of 325 adults between 18 and 87 years (M = 46.8 ± 19.10). The results show that emotional distress was negatively associated with age. Psychological resources also varied according to age, with older subjects presenting higher optimism and external control as well as lower internal control. The association between internal control and emotional distress was mediated by optimism and self-esteem. Moreover, the combined association of these 3 personal resources significantly increased the relationship between age and lower emotional distress. The results suggest that optimism and self-esteem are powerful resources in relieving emotional distress. The data provide potentially useful information for the design of psychological interventions aimed at reducing emotional distress. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Age differences in personality traits from 10 to 65: Big Five domains and facets in a large cross-sectional sample.

PubMed

Soto, Christopher J; John, Oliver P; Gosling, Samuel D; Potter, Jeff

2011-02-01

Hypotheses about mean-level age differences in the Big Five personality domains, as well as 10 more specific facet traits within those domains, were tested in a very large cross-sectional sample (N = 1,267,218) of children, adolescents, and adults (ages 10-65) assessed over the World Wide Web. The results supported several conclusions. First, late childhood and adolescence were key periods. Across these years, age trends for some traits (a) were especially pronounced, (b) were in a direction different from the corresponding adult trends, or (c) first indicated the presence of gender differences. Second, there were some negative trends in psychosocial maturity from late childhood into adolescence, whereas adult trends were overwhelmingly in the direction of greater maturity and adjustment. Third, the related but distinguishable facet traits within each broad Big Five domain often showed distinct age trends, highlighting the importance of facet-level research for understanding life span age differences in personality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

AgeFactDB—the JenAge Ageing Factor Database—towards data integration in ageing research

PubMed Central

Hühne, Rolf; Thalheim, Torsten; Sühnel, Jürgen

2014-01-01

AgeFactDB (http://agefactdb.jenage.de) is a database aimed at the collection and integration of ageing phenotype data including lifespan information. Ageing factors are considered to be genes, chemical compounds or other factors such as dietary restriction, whose action results in a changed lifespan or another ageing phenotype. Any information related to the effects of ageing factors is called an observation and is presented on observation pages. To provide concise access to the complete information for a particular ageing factor, corresponding observations are also summarized on ageing factor pages. In a first step, ageing-related data were primarily taken from existing databases such as the Ageing Gene Database—GenAge, the Lifespan Observations Database and the Dietary Restriction Gene Database—GenDR. In addition, we have started to include new ageing-related information. Based on homology data taken from the HomoloGene Database, AgeFactDB also provides observation and ageing factor pages of genes that are homologous to known ageing-related genes. These homologues are considered as candidate or putative ageing-related genes. AgeFactDB offers a variety of search and browse options, and also allows the download of ageing factor or observation lists in TSV, CSV and XML formats. PMID:24217911

The impact of age stereotypes on source monitoring in younger and older adults.

PubMed

Kuhlmann, Beatrice G; Bayen, Ute J; Meuser, Katharina; Kornadt, Anna E

2016-12-01

In 2 experiments, we examined reliance on age stereotypes when reconstructing the sources of statements. Two sources presented statements (half typical for a young adult, half for an old adult). Afterward, the sources' ages-23 and 70 years-were revealed and participants completed a source-monitoring task requiring attribution of statements to the sources. Multinomial model-based analyses revealed no age-typicality effect on source memory; however, age-typicality biased source-guessing: When not remembering the source, participants predominantly guessed the source for whose age the statement was typical. Thereby, people retrospectively described the sources as having made more statements that fit with stereotypes about their age group than they had truly made. In Experiment 1, older (60-84 years) participants' guessing bias was stronger than younger (17-26 years) participants', but they also had poorer source memory. Furthermore, older adults with better source memory were less biased than those with poorer source memory. Similarly, younger adults' age-stereotype reliance was larger when source memory was impaired in Experiment 2. Thus, age stereotypes bias source attributions, and individuals with poor source memory are particularly prone to this bias, which may contribute to the maintenance of age stereotypes over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Context influences on the relationship between views of aging and subjective age: The moderating role of culture and domain of functioning.

PubMed

Hess, Thomas M; O'Brien, Erica L; Voss, Peggy; Kornadt, Anna E; Rothermund, Klaus; Fung, Helene H; Popham, Lauren E

2017-08-01

Subjective age has been shown to reliably predict a variety of psychological and physical health outcomes, yet our understanding of its determinants is still quite limited. Using data from the Aging as Future project, the authors examined the degree to which views of aging influence subjective age and how this influence varies across cultures and domains of everyday functioning. Using data from 1,877 adults aged from 30 to 95 years of age collected in China, Germany, and the United States, they assessed how general attitudes about aging and perceptions of oneself as an older adult influenced subjective age estimates in 8 different domains of functioning. More positive attitudes about aging were associated with older subjective ages, whereas more positive views of self in old age were associated with younger subjective age. It is hypothesized that these effects are reflective of social-comparison processes and self-protective mechanisms. These influences varied considerably over contexts, with views of aging having a greater impact in domains associated with stronger negative stereotypes of aging (e.g., health) compared to those with more positive ones (e.g., family). Culture also moderated the impact of aging views in terms of the strength of prediction, direction of effect, and age of greatest influence, presumably due to cultural differences in the salience and strength of aging-related belief systems across contexts. The results illustrate the contextual sensitivity of subjective age and highlight the role played by an individual's views of old age-both in general and regarding oneself-in determining their own experience of aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Self-esteem development from age 14 to 30 years: a longitudinal study.

PubMed

Erol, Ruth Yasemin; Orth, Ulrich

2011-09-01

We examined the development of self-esteem in adolescence and young adulthood. Data came from the Young Adults section of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, which includes 8 assessments across a 14-year period of a national probability sample of 7,100 individuals age 14 to 30 years. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that self-esteem increases during adolescence and continues to increase more slowly in young adulthood. Women and men did not differ in their self-esteem trajectories. In adolescence, Hispanics had lower self-esteem than Blacks and Whites, but the self-esteem of Hispanics subsequently increased more strongly, so that at age 30 Blacks and Hispanics had higher self-esteem than Whites. At each age, emotionally stable, extraverted, and conscientious individuals experienced higher self-esteem than emotionally unstable, introverted, and less conscientious individuals. Moreover, at each age, high sense of mastery, low risk taking, and better health predicted higher self-esteem. Finally, the results suggest that normative increase in sense of mastery accounts for a large proportion of the normative increase in self-esteem. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

MitoAge: a database for comparative analysis of mitochondrial DNA, with a special focus on animal longevity.

PubMed

Toren, Dmitri; Barzilay, Thomer; Tacutu, Robi; Lehmann, Gilad; Muradian, Khachik K; Fraifeld, Vadim E

2016-01-04

Mitochondria are the only organelles in the animal cells that have their own genome. Due to a key role in energy production, generation of damaging factors (ROS, heat), and apoptosis, mitochondria and mtDNA in particular have long been considered one of the major players in the mechanisms of aging, longevity and age-related diseases. The rapidly increasing number of species with fully sequenced mtDNA, together with accumulated data on longevity records, provides a new fascinating basis for comparative analysis of the links between mtDNA features and animal longevity. To facilitate such analyses and to support the scientific community in carrying these out, we developed the MitoAge database containing calculated mtDNA compositional features of the entire mitochondrial genome, mtDNA coding (tRNA, rRNA, protein-coding genes) and non-coding (D-loop) regions, and codon usage/amino acids frequency for each protein-coding gene. MitoAge includes 922 species with fully sequenced mtDNA and maximum lifespan records. The database is available through the MitoAge website (www.mitoage.org or www.mitoage.info), which provides the necessary tools for searching, browsing, comparing and downloading the data sets of interest for selected taxonomic groups across the Kingdom Animalia. The MitoAge website assists in statistical analysis of different features of the mtDNA and their correlative links to longevity. © The Author(s) 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Age-related differences in audiovisual interactions of semantically different stimuli.

PubMed

Viggiano, Maria Pia; Giovannelli, Fabio; Giganti, Fiorenza; Rossi, Arianna; Metitieri, Tiziana; Rebai, Mohamed; Guerrini, Renzo; Cincotta, Massimo

2017-01-01

Converging results have shown that adults benefit from congruent multisensory stimulation in the identification of complex stimuli, whereas the developmental trajectory of the ability to integrate multisensory inputs in children is less well understood. In this study we explored the effects of audiovisual semantic congruency on identification of visually presented stimuli belonging to different categories, using a cross-modal approach. Four groups of children ranging in age from 6 to 13 years and adults were administered an object identification task of visually presented pictures belonging to living and nonliving entities. Stimuli were presented in visual, congruent audiovisual, incongruent audiovisual, and noise conditions. Results showed that children under 12 years of age did not benefit from multisensory presentation in speeding up the identification. In children the incoherent audiovisual condition had an interfering effect, especially for the identification of living things. These data suggest that the facilitating effect of the audiovisual interaction into semantic factors undergoes developmental changes and the consolidation of adult-like processing of multisensory stimuli begins in late childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmentally sensitive markers of personality functioning in adolescents: Age-specific and age-neutral expressions.

PubMed

Debast, Inge; Rossi, Gina; Feenstra, Dineke; Hutsebaut, Joost

2017-04-01

Criterion D of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5 ; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013) refers to a possible onset of personality disorders (PDs) in adolescence and in Section II the development/course in adolescence is described by some typical characteristics for several PDs. Yet, age-specific expressions of PDs are lacking in Section III. We urgently need a developmentally sensitive assessment instrument that differentiates developmental and contextual changes on the one hand from expressions of personality pathology on the other hand. Therefore we investigated which items of the Severity Indices for Personality Problems-118 (SIPP-118) were developmentally sensitive throughout adolescence and adulthood and which could be considered more age-specific markers requiring other content or thresholds over age groups. Applying item response theory (IRT) we detected differential item functioning (DIF) in 36% of the items in matched samples of 639 adolescents versus 639 adults. The DIF across age groups mainly reflected a different degree of symptom expressions for the same underlying level of functioning. The threshold for exhibiting symptoms given a certain degree of personality dysfunction was lower in adolescence for areas of personality functioning related to the Self and Interpersonal domains. Some items also measured a latent construct of personality functioning differently across adolescents and adults. This suggests that several facets of the SIPP-118 do not solely measure aspects of personality pathology in adolescents, but likely include more developmental issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Working memory mediates the effects of gestational age at birth on expressive language development in children.

PubMed

Riva, Valentina; Cantiani, Chiara; Dionne, Ginette; Marini, Andrea; Mascheretti, Sara; Molteni, Massimo; Marino, Cecilia

2017-07-01

This study tested the role of temporary memory, measured by phonological short-term memory (pSTM) and verbal working memory (vWM), as a mediator of the effect of 3 putative risk factors (i.e., socioeconomic status, home literacy environment, birth gestational age) upon expressive and receptive language. A community-based sample of 646 Italian children aged 6-11 years was assessed with a comprehensive battery of language and cognitive tests. A mediation analysis was used to examine whether memory mediates environmental/biological effects on language. The results demonstrated a developmental cascade of effects, whereby the duration of pregnancy drives vWM functioning that, in turn, may affect expressive linguistic outcome Conclusion: Treatments focused on vWM, specifically to preterm children, may improve their language development, with enduring consequences on educational and psychosocial outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Older adults' perceptions of ageing and their health and functioning: a systematic review of observational studies.

PubMed

Warmoth, Krystal; Tarrant, Mark; Abraham, Charles; Lang, Iain A

2016-07-01

Many older people perceive ageing negatively, describing it in terms of poor or declining health and functioning. These perceptions may be related to older adults' health. The aim of this review was to synthesise existing research on the relationship between older adults' perceptions of ageing and their health and functioning. A systematic search was conducted of five electronic databases (ASSIA, CINAHL, IBSS, MEDLINE and PsycINFO). Citations within identified reports were also searched. Observational studies were included if they included perceptions of ageing and health-related measures involving participants aged 60 years and older. Study selection, data extraction and quality appraisal were conducted using predefined criteria. Twenty-eight reports met the criteria for inclusion. Older adults' perceptions of ageing were assessed with a variety of measures. Perceptions were related to health and functioning across seven health domains: memory and cognitive performance, physical and physiological performance, medical conditions and outcomes, disability, care-seeking, self-rated health, quality of life and death. How ageing is perceived by older adults is related to their health and functioning in multiple domains. However, higher quality and longitudinal studies are needed to further investigate this relationship.

Impact of Age on the Prognosis of Operable Gastric Cancer Patients: An Analysis Based on SEER Database.

PubMed

Chen, Jie; Chen, Jinggui; Xu, Yu; Long, Ziwen; Zhou, Ye; Zhu, Huiyan; Wang, Yanong; Shi, Yingqiang

2016-06-01

To investigate the impact of age on the clinicopathological features and survival of patients with gastric cancer (GC), and hope to better define age-specific patterns of GC and possible associated risk factors.Using the surveillance, epidemiology, and end results (SEER) database to search the patients who diagnosed GC between 2007 and 2011 with a known age. The overall and 5-year gastric cancer specific survival (CSS) data were obtained using Kaplan-Meier plots. Multivariable Cox regression models were built for the analysis of long-term survival outcomes and risk factors.A total of 7762 GC patients treated with surgery during the 4-year study period were included in the final study cohort. We divided into five subgroups according to the different age ranges. The overall 5-year cause-specific survival (CSS) was 60.3% in Group 1 (below 45 years), 60.3% in the Group 2 (45-55 years), 61.2% in Group 3 (56-65 years), 59.2% in Group 4 (66-75 years), and 59.2% in Group 5 (older than 76 years). Kaplan-Meier plots showed that patients older than 76 years had the worst 5-year CSS of 56.0% rate in all the subgroups. Age, tumor size, primary site, histological type, and Tumor Node Metastasis stage were identified as significant risk factors for poor survival on univariate analysis (all P < 0.001, log-rank test). Additionally, as the age increased, the risk of death for GC demonstrated a significant increase.In conclusion, our analysis of the SEER database revealed that the prognosis of GC varies with age. Patients at age 56 to 65 group have more favorable clinicopathologic characteristics and better CSS than other groups.

Teasing apart the relations between age, birth cohort, and vocational interests.

PubMed

Leuty, Melanie E; Hansen, Jo-Ida C

2014-04-01

Empirical evidence supports that aging is related to differences in work attitudes and motivation (Inceoglu, Segers, & Bartram, 2012; Kooij, de Lange, Jansen, Kanfer, & Kikkers, 2011; Ng & Feldman, 2008, 2010), but little research has explored the relations between age and vocational interests. Furthermore, recent studies of age and work attitudes suggest that generational experiences (i.e., birth year) may account for age differences in the workplace (Inceoglu et al., 2012; Ng & Feldman, 2008, 2010), which in turn suggests that researchers need to incorporate both age and birth cohort effects in their designs. Thus, this study was designed to explore the relations of age at the time of testing and birth year to vocational interests using a sample of adults (N = 1,792) collected over a period of 3 decades. As expected, age was not a significant predictor of most interests, but birth year also was not found to predict most interests, with the significant prediction of Realistic interests by both age and birth year being the exception. Gender, however, significantly predicted most areas of interests. Neither age nor gender moderated any relationships between birth year and interests. Results suggest that birth year and age were minimally related to interests as all effect sizes were small. Discussion of the results illustrates the need for further research on this issue and also offers considerations for attracting and retaining different generations of workers in light of the findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Aging and Functional Health Literacy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

PubMed Central

Wardle, Jane; Wolf, Michael S.; von Wagner, Christian

2016-01-01

Objectives: To review the evidence on the association between age and limited health literacy, overall and by health literacy test, and to investigate the mediating role of cognitive function. Method: The Embase, MEDLINE, and PsycINFO databases were searched. Eligible studies were conducted in any country or language, included participants aged ≥50 years, presented a measure of association between age and health literacy, and were published through September 2013. Results: Seventy analyses in 60 studies were included in the systematic review; 29 of these were included in the meta-analysis. Older age was strongly associated with limited health literacy in analyses that measured health literacy as reading comprehension, reasoning, and numeracy skills (random-effects odds ratio [OR] = 4.20; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 3.13–5.64). By contrast, older age was weakly associated with limited health literacy in studies that measured health literacy as medical vocabulary (random-effects OR = 1.19; 95% CI: 1.03–1.37). Evidence on the mediating role of cognitive function was limited. Discussion: Health literacy tests that utilize a range of fluid cognitive abilities and mirror everyday health tasks frequently observe skill limitations among older adults. Vocabulary-based health literacy skills appear more stable with age. Researchers should select measurement tests wisely when assessing health literacy of older adults. PMID:25504637

Genetic variants and cognitive aging: destiny or a nudge?

PubMed

Raz, Naftali; Lustig, Cindy

2014-06-01

One would be hard-pressed to find a human trait that is not heritable at least to some extent, and genetics have played an important role in behavioral science for more than half a century. With the advent of high-throughput molecular methods and the increasing availability of genomic analyses, genetics have acquired a firm foothold in public discourse. However, although the proliferation of genetic association studies and ever-expanding library of single-nucleotide polymorphisms have generated some fascinating results, they have thus far fallen short of delivering the anticipated dramatic breakthroughs. In this collection of eight articles, we present a spectrum of efforts aimed at finding more nuanced and meaningful ways of integrating genomic findings into the study of cognitive aging. The articles present examples of Mendelian randomization in the service of investigating difficult-to-manipulate biochemical properties of human participants. Furthermore, in an important step forward, they acknowledge the interactive effects of genes and physiological risk factors on age-related difference and change in cognitive performance, as well as the possibility of modifying the negative effect of genetic variants by lifestyle changes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Genomic Approach to Understand the Association of DNA Repair with Longevity and Healthy Aging Using Genomic Databases of Oldest-Old Population

PubMed Central

Kim, Hyun Soo

2018-01-01

Aged population is increasing worldwide due to the aging process that is inevitable. Accordingly, longevity and healthy aging have been spotlighted to promote social contribution of aged population. Many studies in the past few decades have reported the process of aging and longevity, emphasizing the importance of maintaining genomic stability in exceptionally long-lived population. Underlying reason of longevity remains unclear due to its complexity involving multiple factors. With advances in sequencing technology and human genome-associated approaches, studies based on population-based genomic studies are increasing. In this review, we summarize recent longevity and healthy aging studies of human population focusing on DNA repair as a major factor in maintaining genome integrity. To keep pace with recent growth in genomic research, aging- and longevity-associated genomic databases are also briefly introduced. To suggest novel approaches to investigate longevity-associated genetic variants related to DNA repair using genomic databases, gene set analysis was conducted, focusing on DNA repair- and longevity-associated genes. Their biological networks were additionally analyzed to grasp major factors containing genetic variants of human longevity and healthy aging in DNA repair mechanisms. In summary, this review emphasizes DNA repair activity in human longevity and suggests approach to conduct DNA repair-associated genomic study on human healthy aging.

What is lost when searching only one literature database for articles relevant to injury prevention and safety promotion?

PubMed

Lawrence, D W

2008-12-01

To assess what is lost if only one literature database is searched for articles relevant to injury prevention and safety promotion (IPSP) topics. Serial textword (keyword, free-text) searches using multiple synonym terms for five key IPSP topics (bicycle-related brain injuries, ethanol-impaired driving, house fires, road rage, and suicidal behaviors among adolescents) were conducted in four of the bibliographic databases that are most used by IPSP professionals: EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Through a systematic procedure, an inventory of articles on each topic in each database was conducted to identify the total unduplicated count of all articles on each topic, the number of articles unique to each database, and the articles available if only one database is searched. No single database included all of the relevant articles on any topic, and the database with the broadest coverage differed by topic. A search of only one literature database will return 16.7-81.5% (median 43.4%) of the available articles on any of five key IPSP topics. Each database contributed unique articles to the total bibliography for each topic. A literature search performed in only one database will, on average, lead to a loss of more than half of the available literature on a topic.

Young and older adults' beliefs about effective ways to mitigate age-related memory decline.

PubMed

Horhota, Michelle; Lineweaver, Tara; Ositelu, Monique; Summers, Kristi; Hertzog, Christopher

2012-06-01

This study investigated whether young and older adults vary in their beliefs about the impact of various mitigating factors on age-related memory decline. Eighty young (ages 18-23) and 80 older (ages 60-82) participants reported their beliefs about their own memory abilities and the strategies that they use in their everyday lives to attempt to control their memory. Participants also reported their beliefs about memory change with age for hypothetical target individuals who were described as using (or not using) various means to mitigate memory decline. There were no age differences in personal beliefs about control over current or future memory ability. However, the two age groups differed in the types of strategies they used in their everyday life to control their memory. Young adults were more likely to use internal memory strategies, whereas older adults were more likely to focus on cognitive exercise and maintaining physical health as ways to optimize their memory ability. There were no age differences in rated memory change across the life span in hypothetical individuals. Both young and older adults perceived strategies related to improving physical and cognitive health as effective means of mitigating memory loss with age, whereas internal memory strategies were perceived as less effective means for controlling age-related memory decline. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Cognitive complaints mediate the effect of cognition on emotional stability across 12 years in old age.

PubMed

Aschwanden, Damaris; Kliegel, Matthias; Allemand, Mathias

2018-05-01

Previous research supports a positive relationship between cognition and emotional stability, although findings regarding healthy older adults are inconsistent. Additionally, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie this association. Thus, the present study investigated the mediating effect of cognitive complaints on the bidirectional longitudinal association between cognition and emotional stability in old age. The study sample consisted of 500 older individuals (M age = 62.97 years, SD = 0.91, range = 60-64 years; 52% male) from the Interdisciplinary Longitudinal Study on Adult Development. The results showed that cognitive complaints mediated the effect of cognition on emotional stability over 12 years even when taking baseline emotional stability, baseline cognitive complaints, depressive affect, gender, sensory functioning, and objective and subjective health into account. However, cognitive complaints did not mediate the effect of emotional stability on cognition. The results of the current study emphasize the importance of investigating cognition as a predictor of personality traits, and indicate that cognitive resources may serve as a protective factor for emotional stability in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Rule-based deduplication of article records from bibliographic databases.

PubMed

Jiang, Yu; Lin, Can; Meng, Weiyi; Yu, Clement; Cohen, Aaron M; Smalheiser, Neil R

2014-01-01

We recently designed and deployed a metasearch engine, Metta, that sends queries and retrieves search results from five leading biomedical databases: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Because many articles are indexed in more than one of these databases, it is desirable to deduplicate the retrieved article records. This is not a trivial problem because data fields contain a lot of missing and erroneous entries, and because certain types of information are recorded differently (and inconsistently) in the different databases. The present report describes our rule-based method for deduplicating article records across databases and includes an open-source script module that can be deployed freely. Metta was designed to satisfy the particular needs of people who are writing systematic reviews in evidence-based medicine. These users want the highest possible recall in retrieval, so it is important to err on the side of not deduplicating any records that refer to distinct articles, and it is important to perform deduplication online in real time. Our deduplication module is designed with these constraints in mind. Articles that share the same publication year are compared sequentially on parameters including PubMed ID number, digital object identifier, journal name, article title and author list, using text approximation techniques. In a review of Metta searches carried out by public users, we found that the deduplication module was more effective at identifying duplicates than EndNote without making any erroneous assignments.

Rule-based deduplication of article records from bibliographic databases

PubMed Central

Jiang, Yu; Lin, Can; Meng, Weiyi; Yu, Clement; Cohen, Aaron M.; Smalheiser, Neil R.

2014-01-01

We recently designed and deployed a metasearch engine, Metta, that sends queries and retrieves search results from five leading biomedical databases: PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials. Because many articles are indexed in more than one of these databases, it is desirable to deduplicate the retrieved article records. This is not a trivial problem because data fields contain a lot of missing and erroneous entries, and because certain types of information are recorded differently (and inconsistently) in the different databases. The present report describes our rule-based method for deduplicating article records across databases and includes an open-source script module that can be deployed freely. Metta was designed to satisfy the particular needs of people who are writing systematic reviews in evidence-based medicine. These users want the highest possible recall in retrieval, so it is important to err on the side of not deduplicating any records that refer to distinct articles, and it is important to perform deduplication online in real time. Our deduplication module is designed with these constraints in mind. Articles that share the same publication year are compared sequentially on parameters including PubMed ID number, digital object identifier, journal name, article title and author list, using text approximation techniques. In a review of Metta searches carried out by public users, we found that the deduplication module was more effective at identifying duplicates than EndNote without making any erroneous assignments. PMID:24434031

Genetic and environmental origins of gambling behaviors from ages 18 to 25: A longitudinal twin family study.

PubMed

King, Serena M; Keyes, Margaret; Winters, Ken C; McGue, Matt; Iacono, William G

2017-05-01

Gambling behaviors tend to increase in prevalence from late adolescence to young adulthood, and the underlying genetic and environmental influences during this period remain largely understudied. We examined the genetic and environmental influences on gambling behaviors contributing to stability and change from ages 18 to 25 in a longitudinal, behavioral genetic mixed-sex twin study design. Participants were enrolled in the Minnesota Twin Family Study. A range of gambling behaviors (maximum frequency, average frequency, money lost, and gambling problems) were assessed at ages 18 and 25. The results of our study support the following conclusions: (a) the genetic and environmental factors impacting a range of gambling behaviors are largely similar in men and women, (b) genetic factors increase in influence from 18 to 25 (21% at age 18 to 57% at age 25), (c) shared environmental factors are influential at age 18, but tend to decrease from ages 18 to 25 (55% at age 18 to 10% at age 25), and (d) nonshared environmental influences are similarly significant and are small to moderate in magnitude at both ages. The findings add to a small yet important research area regarding determinants of youth gambling behaviors and have the potential to inform prevention and intervention efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Longitudinal mediation of processing speed on age-related change in memory and fluid intelligence.

PubMed

Robitaille, Annie; Piccinin, Andrea M; Muniz-Terrera, Graciela; Hoffman, Lesa; Johansson, Boo; Deeg, Dorly J H; Aartsen, Marja J; Comijs, Hannie C; Hofer, Scott M

2013-12-01

Age-related decline in processing speed has long been considered a key driver of cognitive aging. While the majority of empirical evidence for the processing speed hypothesis has been obtained from analyses of between-person age differences, longitudinal studies provide a direct test of within-person change. Using recent developments in longitudinal mediation analysis, we examine the speed-mediation hypothesis at both the within-and between-person levels in two longitudinal studies, Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) and Origins of Variance in the Oldest-Old (OCTO-Twin). We found significant within-person indirect effects of change in age, such that increasing age was related to lower speed, which in turn relates to lower performance across repeated measures on other cognitive outcomes. Although between-person indirect effects were also significant in LASA, they were not in OCTO-Twin which is not unexpected given the age homogeneous nature of the OCTO-Twin data. A more in-depth examination through measures of effect size suggests that, for the LASA study, the within-person indirect effects were small and between-person indirect effects were consistently larger. These differing magnitudes of direct and indirect effects across levels demonstrate the importance of separating between- and within-person effects in evaluating theoretical models of age-related change. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

The roles of sensory function and cognitive load in age differences in inhibition: Evidence from the Stroop task.

PubMed

Peng, Huamao; Gao, Yue; Mao, Xiaofei

2017-02-01

To explore the roles of visual function and cognitive load in aging of inhibition, the present study adopted a 2 (visual perceptual stress: noise, nonnoise) × 2 (cognitive load: low, high) × 2 (age: young, old) mixed design. The Stroop task was adopted to measure inhibition. The task presentation was masked with Gaussian noise according to the visual function of each individual in order to match visual perceptual stress between age groups. The results indicated that age differences in the Stroop effect were influenced by visual function and cognitive load. When the cognitive load was low, older adults exhibited a larger Stroop effect than did younger adults in the nonnoise condition, and this age difference disappeared when the visual noise of the 2 age groups was matched. Conversely, in the high cognitive load condition, we observed significant age differences in the Stroop effect in both the nonnoise and noise conditions. The additional cognitive load made the age differences in the Stroop task reappear even when visual perceptual stress was equivalent. These results demonstrate that visual function plays an important role in the aging of inhibition and its role is moderated by cognitive load. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The positivity bias in aging: Motivation or degradation?

PubMed

Kalenzaga, Sandrine; Lamidey, Virginie; Ergis, Anne-Marie; Clarys, David; Piolino, Pascale

2016-08-01

The question of an emotional memory enhancement in aging, and of a positivity bias in particular, has been the subject of numerous empirical studies in the last decade. However, the roots of such positive preference are not yet well established. Partisans of a motivation-based perspective contend with those arguing that positivity is related to a cognitive or neural degradation. The aim of this study was to introduce some elements concerning positivity effect in aging. We compared immediate (i.e., immediate recall) versus delayed (i.e., delayed recall and recognition) emotional memory performance in 38 young adults, 39 old adults, 37 very old adults, and 41 Alzheimer's disease patients. Moreover, we manipulated the encoding instruction: Either participants received no particular processing instruction, or they had to process the material in a semantic way. The results indicated that the positivity bias is most likely to occur in individuals whose cognitive functions are preserved, after long retention delay, and in experimental conditions that do not constrain encoding. We concluded by highlighting that although these findings seem to be better in line with the motivation, rather than the degradation, perspective, they do not fully support either theory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Hawaii bibliographic database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wright, T.L.; Takahashi, T.J.

1998-01-01

The Hawaii bibliographic database has been created to contain all of the literature, from 1779 to the present, pertinent to the volcanological history of the Hawaiian-Emperor volcanic chain. References are entered in a PC- and Macintosh-compatible EndNote Plus bibliographic database with keywords and abstracts or (if no abstract) with annotations as to content. Keywords emphasize location, discipline, process, identification of new chemical data or age determinations, and type of publication. The database is updated approximately three times a year and is available to upload from an ftp site. The bibliography contained 8460 references at the time this paper was submitted for publication. Use of the database greatly enhances the power and completeness of library searches for anyone interested in Hawaiian volcanism.

Age-related invariance of abilities measured with the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-IV.

PubMed

Sudarshan, Navaneetham J; Bowden, Stephen C; Saklofske, Donald H; Weiss, Lawrence G

2016-11-01

Assessment of measurement invariance across populations is essential for meaningful comparison of test scores, and is especially relevant where repeated measurements are required for educational assessment or clinical diagnosis. Establishing measurement invariance legitimizes the assumption that test scores reflect the same psychological trait in different populations or across different occasions. Examination of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Fourth Edition (WAIS-IV) U.S. standardization samples revealed that a first-order 5-factor measurement model was best fitting across 9 age groups from 16 years to 69 years. Strong metric invariance was found for 3 of 5 factors and partial intercept invariance for the remaining 2. Pairwise comparisons of adjacent age groups supported the inference that cognitive-trait group differences are manifested by group differences in the test scores. In educational and clinical settings these findings provide theoretical and empirical support to interpret changes in the index or subtest scores as reflecting changes in the corresponding cognitive abilities. Further, where clinically relevant, the subtest score composites can be used to compare changes in respective cognitive abilities. The model was supported in the Canadian standardization data with pooled age groups but the sample sizes were not adequate for detailed examination of separate age groups in the Canadian sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Is 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine heart-to-mediastinum ratio dependent on age? From Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine normal database.

PubMed

Nakajima, Kenichi; Okuda, Koichi; Matsuo, Shinro; Wakabayashi, Hiroshi; Kinuya, Seigo

2018-04-01

Heart-to-mediastinum ratios (HMRs) of 123 I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) have usually been applied to prognostic evaluations of heart failure and Lewy body disease. However, whether these ratios depend on patient age has not yet been clarified using normal databases. We analyzed 62 patients (average age 57 ± 19 years, male 45%) derived from a normal database of the Japanese Society of Nuclear Medicine working group. The HMR was calculated from early (15 min) and delayed (3-4 h) anterior planar 123 I-MIBG images. All HMRs were standardized to medium-energy general purpose (MEGP) collimator equivalent conditions using conversion coefficients for the collimator types. Washout rates (WR) were also calculated, and we analyzed whether early and late HMR, and WR are associated with age. Before standardization of HMR to MEGP collimator conditions, HMR and age did not significantly correlate. However, late HMR significantly correlated with age after standardization: late HMR = - 0.0071 × age + 3.69 (r 2  = 0.078, p = 0.028), indicating that a 14-year increase in age corresponded to a decrease in HMR of 0.1. Whereas the lower limit (2.5% quantile) of late HMR was 2.3 for all patients, it was 2.5 and 2.0 for those aged ≤ 63 and > 63 years, respectively. Early HMR tended to be lower in subjects with the higher age (p = 0.076), whereas WR was not affected by age. While late HMR was slightly decreased in elderly patients, the lower limit of 2.2-2.3 can still be used to determine both early and late HMR.

Image database for digital hand atlas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Fei; Huang, H. K.; Pietka, Ewa; Gilsanz, Vicente; Dey, Partha S.; Gertych, Arkadiusz; Pospiech-Kurkowska, Sywia

2003-05-01

Bone age assessment is a procedure frequently performed in pediatric patients to evaluate their growth disorder. A commonly used method is atlas matching by a visual comparison of a hand radiograph with a small reference set of old Greulich-Pyle atlas. We have developed a new digital hand atlas with a large set of clinically normal hand images of diverse ethnic groups. In this paper, we will present our system design and implementation of the digital atlas database to support the computer-aided atlas matching for bone age assessment. The system consists of a hand atlas image database, a computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) software module for image processing and atlas matching, and a Web user interface. Users can use a Web browser to push DICOM images, directly or indirectly from PACS, to the CAD server for a bone age assessment. Quantitative features on the examined image, which reflect the skeletal maturity, are then extracted and compared with patterns from the atlas image database to assess the bone age. The digital atlas method built on a large image database and current Internet technology provides an alternative to supplement or replace the traditional one for a quantitative, accurate and cost-effective assessment of bone age.

An analysis of pancreas transplantation outcomes based on age groupings--an update of the UNOS database.

PubMed

Siskind, Eric; Maloney, Caroline; Akerman, Meredith; Alex, Asha; Ashburn, Sarah; Barlow, Meade; Siskind, Tamar; Bhaskaran, Madhu; Ali, Nicole; Basu, Amit; Molmenti, Ernesto; Ortiz, Jorge

2014-09-01

Previously, increasing age has been a part of the exclusion criteria used when determining eligibility for a pancreas transplant. However, the analysis of pancreas transplantation outcomes based on age groupings has largely been based on single-center reports. A UNOS database review of all adult pancreas and kidney-pancreas transplants between 1996 and 2012 was performed. Patients were divided into groups based on age categories: 18-29 (n = 1823), 30-39 (n = 7624), 40-49 (n = 7967), 50-59 (n = 3160), and ≥60 (n = 280). We compared survival outcomes and demographic variables between each age grouping. Of the 20 854 pancreas transplants, 3440 of the recipients were 50 yr of age or above. Graft survival was consistently the greatest in adults 40-49 yr of age. Graft survival was least in adults age 18-29 at one-, three-, and five-yr intervals. At 10- and 15-yr intervals, graft survival was the poorest in adults >60 yr old. Patient survival and age were found to be inversely proportional; as the patient population's age increased, survival decreased. Pancreas transplants performed in patients of increasing age demonstrate decreased patient and graft survival when compared to pancreas transplants in patients <50 yr of age. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Daily events are important for age differences in mean and duration for negative affect but not positive affect.

PubMed

Charles, Susan T; Mogle, Jacqueline; Urban, Emily J; Almeida, David M

2016-11-01

Across midlife and into old age, older adults often report lower levels of negative affect and similar if not higher levels of positive affect than relatively younger adults. Researchers have offered a simple explanation for this result: Age is related to reductions in stressors and increases in pleasurable activities that result in higher levels of well-being. The current study examines subjective reports of emotional experience assessed across 8 days in a large sample of adults (N = 2,022) ranging from 35 to 84 years old. By modeling age differences before and after adjusting for daily positive uplifts and negative stressors, this article assesses the extent to which daily events account for age differences in positive and negative affect reports. Consistent with previous research, the authors found that older age is related to lower mean levels and shorter duration of a negative emotional experience in a model only adjusting for gender, education, and ethnicity. After adjusting for daily events, however, the linear age-related effects were no longer significant. For positive affect, adjusting for daily events did not alter age-related patterns of experiencing higher mean levels and longer positive experience duration, suggesting that other factors underlie age-related increases in positive affect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Materialism across the life span: An age-period-cohort analysis.

PubMed

Jaspers, Esther D T; Pieters, Rik G M

2016-09-01

This research examined the development of materialism across the life span. Two initial studies revealed that (a) lay beliefs were that materialism declines with age and (b) previous research findings also implied a modest, negative relationship between age and materialism. Yet, previous research has considered age only as a linear control variable, thereby precluding the possibility of more intricate relationships between age and materialism. Moreover, prior studies have relied on cross-sectional data and thus confound age and cohort effects. To improve on this, the main study used longitudinal data from 8 waves spanning 9 years of over 4,200 individuals (16 to 90 years) to examine age effects on materialism while controlling for cohort and period effects. Using a multivariate multilevel latent growth model, it found that materialism followed a curvilinear trajectory across the life span, with the lowest levels at middle age and higher levels before and after that. Thus, in contrast to lay beliefs, materialism increased in older age. Moreover, age effects on materialism differed markedly between 3 core themes of materialism: acquisition centrality, possession-defined success, and acquisition as the pursuit of happiness. In particular, acquisition centrality and possession-defined success were higher at younger and older age. Independent of these age effects, older birth cohorts were oriented more toward possession-defined success, whereas younger birth cohorts were oriented more toward acquisition centrality. The economic downturn since 2008 led to a decrease in acquisition as the pursuit of happiness and in desires for personal growth, but to an increase in desires for achievement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Use of information communication technology and stress, burnout, and mental health in older, middle-aged, and younger workers - results from a systematic review.

PubMed

Berg-Beckhoff, Gabriele; Nielsen, Grace; Ladekjær Larsen, Eva

2017-04-01

The aim of this systematic review is to summarise quantitative studies in occupational settings observing the association between Information communication technology (ICT) and stress, and burnout, considering age as an effect modifier. A systematic review using PRISMA guidelines was conducted through the following bibliographic databases: PubMed, Web of Science, Psycinfo, and the Cochrane Library. Inclusion criteria were occupational settings and content relevant to our research question. Risk of bias was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Two interventional, 4 cohorts, and 29 cross-sectional studies were found. ICT use in occupational settings was associated with stress seen in cross-sectional studies, but not in interventional studies. There was a concordant association with ICT and burnout in different study designs. Overall, there were no linear trends between age and technostress. We suggest that the observed associations were mostly present in the middle-aged working population and that these associations need to be supported in further studies.

Age of onset of marijuana use and executive function.

PubMed

Gruber, Staci A; Sagar, Kelly A; Dahlgren, Mary Kathryn; Racine, Megan; Lukas, Scott E

2012-09-01

Marijuana (MJ) remains the most widely abused illicit substance in the United States, and in recent years, a decline in perceived risk of MJ use has been accompanied by a simultaneous increase in rates of use among adolescents. In this study, the authors hypothesized that chronic MJ smokers would perform cognitive tasks, specifically those that require executive function, more poorly than control subjects and that individuals who started smoking MJ regularly prior to age 16 (early onset) would have more difficulty than those who started after age 16 (late onset). Thirty-four chronic, heavy MJ smokers separated into early and late onset groups, and 28 non-MJ smoking controls completed a battery of neurocognitive measures. As hypothesized, MJ smokers performed more poorly than controls on several measures of executive function. Age of onset analyses revealed that these between-group differences were largely attributed to the early onset group, who were also shown to smoke twice as often and nearly 3 times as much MJ per week relative to the late onset smokers. Age of onset, frequency, and magnitude of MJ use were all shown to impact cognitive performance. Findings suggest that earlier MJ onset is related to poorer cognitive function and increased frequency and magnitude of MJ use relative to later MJ onset. Exposure to MJ during a period of neurodevelopmental vulnerability, such as adolescence, may result in altered brain development and enduring neuropsychological changes. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Task control and cognitive abilities of self and spouse in collaboration in middle-aged and older couples.

PubMed

Berg, Cynthia A; Smith, Timothy W; Ko, Kelly J; Beveridge, Ryan M; Story, Nathan; Henry, Nancy J M; Florsheim, Paul; Pearce, Gale; Uchino, Bert N; Skinner, Michelle A; Glazer, Kelly

2007-09-01

Collaborative problem solving may be used by older couples to optimize cognitive functioning, with some suggestion that older couples exhibit greater collaborative expertise. The study explored age differences in 2 aspects of collaborative expertise: spouses' knowledge of their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities and the ability to fit task control to these cognitive abilities. The participants were 300 middle-aged and older couples who completed a hypothetical errand task. The interactions were coded for control asserted by husbands and wives. Fluid intelligence was assessed, and spouses rated their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities. The results revealed no age differences in couple expertise, either in the ability to predict their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities or in the ability to fit task control to abilities. However, gender differences were found. Women fit task control to their own and their spouse's cognitive abilities; men only fit task control to their spouse's cognitive abilities. For women only, the fit between control and abilities was associated with better performance. The results indicate no age differences in couple expertise but point to gender as a factor in optimal collaboration. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2007 APA, all rights reserved).

Creating a normative database of age-specific 3D geometrical data, bone density, and bone thickness of the developing skull: a pilot study.

PubMed

Delye, Hans; Clijmans, Tim; Mommaerts, Maurice Yves; Sloten, Jos Vnder; Goffin, Jan

2015-12-01

Finite element models (FEMs) of the head are used to study the biomechanics of traumatic brain injury and depend heavily on the use of accurate material properties and head geometry. Any FEM aimed at investigating traumatic head injury in children should therefore use age-specific dimensions of the head, as well as age-specific material properties of the different tissues. In this study, the authors built a database of age-corrected skull geometry, skull thickness, and bone density of the developing skull to aid in the development of an age-specific FEM of a child's head. Such a database, containing age-corrected normative skull geometry data, can also be used for preoperative surgical planning and postoperative long-term follow-up of craniosynostosis surgery results. Computed tomography data were processed for 187 patients (age range 0-20 years old). A 3D surface model was calculated from segmented skull surfaces. Skull models, reference points, and sutures were processed into a MATLAB-supported database. This process included automatic calculation of 2D measurements as well as 3D measurements: length of the coronal suture, length of the lambdoid suture, and the 3D anterior-posterior length, defined as the sum of the metopic and sagittal suture. Skull thickness and skull bone density calculations were included. Cephalic length, cephalic width, intercoronal distance, lateral orbital distance, intertemporal distance, and 3D measurements were obtained, confirming the well-established general growth pattern of the skull. Skull thickness increases rapidly in the first year of life, slowing down during the second year of life, while skull density increases with a fast but steady pace during the first 3 years of life. Both skull thickness and density continue to increase up to adulthood. This is the first report of normative data on 2D and 3D measurements, skull bone thickness, and skull bone density for children aged 0-20 years. This database can help build an age

[No arguments to support an age limit for men entering an in vitro fertilisation or intracytoplasmic sperm injection programme].

PubMed

Römkens, M; Gordijn, B; Verhaak, C M; Meuleman, E J H; Braat, D D M

2005-04-30

To identify medical and psychosocial risks that could arise from allowing older men to father children through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI). Literature review. The databases Medline, Current Contents weekly, Current Contents archives, and PsycINFO were searched over the period 1970--June 2004 for articles with data on age limits for men entering IVF/ICSI programmes. The following inclusion criteria were used: availability in the Netherlands and written in English or Dutch. Although sperm quality decreases with age, men remain fertile up to an advanced age. The risks of having children with autosomal dominant disorders or chromosomal defects increase slightly, but the individual chance is extremely small. Studies on the psychological development of children with fathers aged > 50 years are lacking. Extrapolation from other studies indicates that growing up with an older father has no negative influence on child development. Although older fathers have a greater chance of dying sooner, the absence of the father does not contribute significantly to psychological problems in offspring later in life. There are no medical or psychosocial arguments to support an age limit for men entering an IVF/ICSI programme.

A systematic review of the nutritional status of women of a childbearing age with severe mental illness.

PubMed

McColl, Helen; Dhillon, Manpreet; Howard, Louise M

2013-02-01

Little is known about the nutritional status of pregnant women with severe mental illness. We therefore carried out a systematic review to investigate whether pregnant women and childbearing aged women with severe mental illness have significantly greater nutritional deficiencies compared with pregnant women and childbearing aged women with no mental illness. We carried out a search using MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO from January 1980 to January 2011 for studies on nutritional status of childbearing aged women with psychotic disorders. Identification of papers and quality rating of papers (using a modified version of the Newcastle-Ottawa scale) was carried out by two reviewers independently. We identified and screened 4,130 potentially relevant studies from the electronic databases. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria (n = 587 women). There were no studies of pregnant women. There was some evidence of low serum folate and vitamin B(12) levels and elevated homocysteine levels in childbearing aged women with psychotic disorders. Further research into the nutritional status of childbearing aged women with severe mental illness is needed. Maternal nutrition has a profound impact on foetal outcome, is a modifiable risk factor and therefore needs prioritising in the care of all childbearing aged women with severe mental illness.

Age effects in emotional prospective memory: cue valence differentially affects the prospective and retrospective component.

PubMed

Schnitzspahn, Katharina M; Horn, Sebastian S; Bayen, Ute J; Kliegel, Matthias

2012-06-01

While first studies suggested that emotional task material may enhance prospective memory performance in young and older adults, the extent and mechanisms of this effect are under debate. The authors explored possible differential effects of cue valence on the prospective and retrospective component of prospective memory in young and older adults. Forty-five young and 41 older adults performed a prospective memory task in which emotional valence of the prospective memory cue was manipulated (positive, negative, neutral). The multinomial model of event-based prospective memory was used to analyze effects of valence and age on the two prospective memory components separately. Results revealed an interaction indicating that age differences were smaller in both emotional valence conditions. For older adults positive cues improved the prospective component, while negative cues improved the retrospective component. No main effect of valence was found for younger adults on an overt accuracy measure, but model-based analyses showed that the retrospective component was enhanced in the positive compared with the negative cue condition. The study extends the literature in demonstrating that processes underlying emotional effects on prospective memory may differ depending on valence and age. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Searching for disability in electronic databases of published literature.

PubMed

Walsh, Emily S; Peterson, Jana J; Judkins, Dolores Z

2014-01-01

As researchers in disability and health conduct systematic reviews with greater frequency, the definition of disability used in these reviews gains importance. Translating a comprehensive conceptual definition of "disability" into an operational definition that utilizes electronic databases in the health sciences is a difficult step necessary for performing systematic literature reviews in the field. Consistency of definition across studies will help build a body of evidence that is comparable and amenable to synthesis. To illustrate a process for operationalizing the World Health Organization's International Classification of Disability, Functioning, and Health concept of disability for MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and CINAHL databases. We created an electronic search strategy in conjunction with a reference librarian and an expert panel. Quality control steps included comparison of search results to results of a search for a specific disabling condition and to articles nominated by the expert panel. The complete search strategy is presented. Results of the quality control steps indicated that our strategy was sufficiently sensitive and specific. Our search strategy will be valuable to researchers conducting literature reviews on broad populations with disabilities. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Age-differences in the temporal properties of proactive interference in working memory.

PubMed

Samrani, George; Bäckman, Lars; Persson, Jonas

2017-12-01

The inability to suppress irrelevant information has been suggested as a primary cause of proactive interference (PI), and this deficit may be enhanced in aging. The current study examines age differences and temporal boundaries of PI, by manipulating lure distances in a verbal 2-back working memory task. Both younger and older adults showed effects of interference for proximal 3- and 4-back lures, and this effect was greater for older adults. Whereas younger adults showed less interference during 4-back compared to 3-back lures, in both reaction times and accuracy, older adults improved only in accuracy. For distant lures, when the time between the 1st presentation of an item to its reappearance as a lure item was longer (e.g., 5- to 10-back lures), younger adults were no longer affected by PI. However, older adults were affected by PI throughout all distant lures, up to the most distant lure (9-/10-back). The results suggest that older adults were less successful in resolving interference from both proximal and distant familiar lures. Further, younger adults were able to overcome the effects of PI completely after a specific lure distance. The age differences in temporal properties of PI may therefore highlight a unique component linked to impaired interference control and aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Age differences in negative emotional responses to daily stressors depend on time since event.

PubMed

Scott, Stacey B; Ram, Nilam; Smyth, Joshua M; Almeida, David M; Sliwinski, Martin J

2017-01-01

Research on age differences in the experience of negative emotional states have produced inconsistent results, particularly when emotion is examined in the context of daily stress. Strength and vulnerability integration (SAVI; Charles, 2010) theory postulates that age differences in emotional states are contingent upon whether a stressor occurred, and whether sufficient time has passed since the stressor to allow older adults to benefit from theorized strengths. The present study uses an ecological momentary assessment design to examine how timing of daily stressors relates to age differences in negative emotional responses. Participants (N = 199, aged 25-65) completed mobile surveys up to 5 times daily for 14 days. They reported current mood and stressor exposure, as well as how long ago the stressor occurred. As expected, no age differences were observed in current negative affect (NA) for stressors which occurred in the previous 0-10 min. As predicted, older age was associated with less of a stressor-related increase in NA when a greater time had passed (i.e., 10 min to 2.5 hours) since stressor exposure. Consistent with previous results, there were no age differences in the effects of more distal stressors that occurred 2.5 to 5 hr ago, although NA remained significantly elevated. The present findings are consistent with SAVI's predictions and advance understanding age differences in the time course relating everyday stressors to emotional responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Does aging impair first impression accuracy? Differentiating emotion recognition from complex social inferences.

PubMed

Krendl, Anne C; Rule, Nicholas O; Ambady, Nalini

2014-09-01

Young adults can be surprisingly accurate at making inferences about people from their faces. Although these first impressions have important consequences for both the perceiver and the target, it remains an open question whether first impression accuracy is preserved with age. Specifically, could age differences in impressions toward others stem from age-related deficits in accurately detecting complex social cues? Research on aging and impression formation suggests that young and older adults show relative consensus in their first impressions, but it is unknown whether they differ in accuracy. It has been widely shown that aging disrupts emotion recognition accuracy, and that these impairments may predict deficits in other social judgments, such as detecting deceit. However, it is unclear whether general impression formation accuracy (e.g., emotion recognition accuracy, detecting complex social cues) relies on similar or distinct mechanisms. It is important to examine this question to evaluate how, if at all, aging might affect overall accuracy. Here, we examined whether aging impaired first impression accuracy in predicting real-world outcomes and categorizing social group membership. Specifically, we studied whether emotion recognition accuracy and age-related cognitive decline (which has been implicated in exacerbating deficits in emotion recognition) predict first impression accuracy. Our results revealed that emotion recognition accuracy did not predict first impression accuracy, nor did age-related cognitive decline impair it. These findings suggest that domains of social perception outside of emotion recognition may rely on mechanisms that are relatively unimpaired by aging. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Description of OPRA: A Danish database designed for the analyses of risk factors associated with 30-day hospital readmission of people aged 65+ years.

PubMed

Pedersen, Mona K; Nielsen, Gunnar L; Uhrenfeldt, Lisbeth; Rasmussen, Ole S; Lundbye-Christensen, Søren

2017-08-01

To describe the construction of the Older Person at Risk Assessment (OPRA) database, the ability to link this database with existing data sources obtained from Danish nationwide population-based registries and to discuss its research potential for the analyses of risk factors associated with 30-day hospital readmission. We reviewed Danish nationwide registries to obtain information on demographic and social determinants as well as information on health and health care use in a population of hospitalised older people. The sample included all people aged 65+ years discharged from Danish public hospitals in the period from 1 January 2007 to 30 September 2010. We used personal identifiers to link and integrate the data from all events of interest with the outcome measures in the OPRA database. The database contained records of the patients, admissions and variables of interest. The cohort included 1,267,752 admissions for 479,854 unique people. The rate of 30-day all-cause acute readmission was 18.9% ( n=239,077) and the overall 30-day mortality was 5.0% ( n=63,116). The OPRA database provides the possibility of linking data on health and life events in a population of people moving into retirement and ageing. Construction of the database makes it possible to outline individual life and health trajectories over time, transcending organisational boundaries within health care systems. The OPRA database is multi-component and multi-disciplinary in orientation and has been prepared to be used in a wide range of subgroup analyses, including different outcome measures and statistical methods.

Association between age, distress, and orientations to happiness in individuals with disabilities.

PubMed

Terrill, Alexandra L; Müller, Rachel; Jensen, Mark P; Molton, Ivan R; Ipsen, Catherine; Ravesloot, Craig

2015-02-01

To determine how age and distress are associated in individuals with disabilities, and how happiness and its components (meaning, pleasure, and engagement) mediate or moderate this relationship. These were cross-sectional analyses of survey data from 508 community-dwelling adults with a variety of self-reported health conditions and functional disabilities. Measures included the Orientations to Happiness Questionnaire and items from the Behavior Risk Factor Surveillance System. Greater distress was associated with lower global happiness in both mediation and moderation models. The mediation model showed that middle-aged participants (age: 45-64) scored lowest in global happiness, and the effect of age on distress was partially mediated by happiness. None of the happiness components mediated the relationship of age on distress. The moderation model showed a significant interaction effect for age and global happiness on distress, where younger participants low on happiness were significantly more distressed. Of the three happiness components, only meaning was significantly associated with distress. There was a significant interaction between age and meaning, where participants who were younger and scored low on the meaning scale reported significantly higher distress. Findings from this study lay groundwork for the development of clinical interventions to address distress in individuals with functional disabilities. Middle-aged and younger people with disabilities may be particularly affected by lower levels of happiness and might benefit from psychological interventions that focus on increasing overall well-being and providing meaning and purpose in life. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Databases for K-8 Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Terrence E., Jr.

2004-01-01

Today's elementary school students have been exposed to computers since birth, so it is not surprising that they are so proficient at using them. As a result, they are ready to search databases that include topics and information appropriate for their age level. Subscription databases are digital copies of magazines, newspapers, journals,…

Emotion effects on implicit and explicit musical memory in normal aging.

PubMed

Narme, Pauline; Peretz, Isabelle; Strub, Marie-Laure; Ergis, Anne-Marie

2016-12-01

Normal aging affects explicit memory while leaving implicit memory relatively spared. Normal aging also modifies how emotions are processed and experienced, with increasing evidence that older adults (OAs) focus more on positive information than younger adults (YAs). The aim of the present study was to investigate how age-related changes in emotion processing influence explicit and implicit memory. We used emotional melodies that differed in terms of valence (positive or negative) and arousal (high or low). Implicit memory was assessed with a preference task exploiting exposure effects, and explicit memory with a recognition task. Results indicated that effects of valence and arousal interacted to modulate both implicit and explicit memory in YAs. In OAs, recognition was poorer than in YAs; however, recognition of positive and high-arousal (happy) studied melodies was comparable. Insofar as socioemotional selectivity theory (SST) predicts a preservation of the recognition of positive information, our findings are not fully consistent with the extension of this theory to positive melodies since recognition of low-arousal (peaceful) studied melodies was poorer in OAs. In the preference task, YAs showed stronger exposure effects than OAs, suggesting an age-related decline of implicit memory. This impairment is smaller than the one observed for explicit memory (recognition), extending to the musical domain the dissociation between explicit memory decline and implicit memory relative preservation in aging. Finally, the disproportionate preference for positive material seen in OAs did not translate into stronger exposure effects for positive material suggesting no age-related emotional bias in implicit memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Tibetan Magmatism Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chapman, James B.; Kapp, Paul

2017-11-01

A database containing previously published geochronologic, geochemical, and isotopic data on Mesozoic to Quaternary igneous rocks in the Himalayan-Tibetan orogenic system are presented. The database is intended to serve as a repository for new and existing igneous rock data and is publicly accessible through a web-based platform that includes an interactive map and data table interface with search, filtering, and download options. To illustrate the utility of the database, the age, location, and ɛHft composition of magmatism from the central Gangdese batholith in the southern Lhasa terrane are compared. The data identify three high-flux events, which peak at 93, 50, and 15 Ma. They are characterized by inboard arc migration and a temporal and spatial shift to more evolved isotopic compositions.

Shared and unique genetic and environmental influences on aging-related changes in multiple cognitive abilities.

PubMed

Tucker-Drob, Elliot M; Reynolds, Chandra A; Finkel, Deborah; Pedersen, Nancy L

2014-01-01

Aging-related declines occur in many different domains of cognitive function during middle and late adulthood. However, whether a global dimension underlies individual differences in changes in different domains of cognition and whether global genetic influences on cognitive changes exist is less clear. We addressed these issues by applying multivariate growth curve models to longitudinal data from 857 individuals from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging, who had been measured on 11 cognitive variables representative of verbal, spatial, memory, and processing speed abilities up to 5 times over up to 16 years between ages 50 and 96 years. Between ages 50 and 65 years scores on different tests changed relatively independently of one another, and there was little evidence for strong underlying dimensions of change. In contrast, over the period between 65 and 96 years of age, there were strong interrelations among rates of change both within and across domains. During this age period, variability in rates of change were, on average, 52% domain-general, 8% domain-specific, and 39% test-specific. Quantitative genetic decomposition indicated that 29% of individual differences in a global domain-general dimension of cognitive changes during this age period were attributable to genetic influences, but some domain-specific genetic influences were also evident, even after accounting for domain-general contributions. These findings are consistent with a balanced global and domain-specific account of the genetics of cognitive aging. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Age, psychological maturity, and the transition to motherhood among English-speaking Australian women in a metropolitan area.

PubMed

Camberis, Anna-Lisa; McMahon, Catherine A; Gibson, Frances L; Boivin, Jacky

2014-08-01

In the context of the trend toward delayed parenthood, this study examines whether older maternal age is associated with greater psychological maturity and whether greater psychological maturity provides any adaptive benefit during the transition to motherhood. A sample of 240 predominantly English-speaking Australian women in a metropolitan area expecting their 1st baby (mean age = 32.81 years; 41% conceived after fertility treatment) completed measures of psychological maturity (hardiness, ego development, and ego resiliency) and pregnancy adaptation (maternal fetal attachment and formation of a maternal identity) in the 3rd trimester of pregnancy and a measure of postnatal adjustment at 4-6 months postpartum. Structural equation modeling showed age was positively associated with a latent construct of psychological maturity, and psychological maturity was associated with more optimal adaptation in pregnancy and early motherhood. Both psychological maturity and pregnancy adaptation predicted positive postnatal adjustment. Age was indirectly related to adaptation through its relationship with psychological maturity. The relationships in the model applied regardless of mode of conception (fertility treatment or spontaneous). Potentially confounding contextual factors associated with older age at motherhood, higher education, and maternal and child health were included in the model. These results suggest that psychological maturity is a benefit of motherhood at older ages. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Feeling loved and integrated or lonely and rejected in everyday life: The role of age and social motivation.

PubMed

Nikitin, Jana; Freund, Alexandra M

2018-06-01

Social approach and social avoidance goals (i.e., approach of positive and avoidance of negative outcomes in social situations) are important predictors of the feeling of being socially integrated or isolated. However, little is known about the development of these goals across adulthood. In a large diary study with N = 744 young (18-39 years), middle-aged (40-59 years), and older adults (60-83 years), we tested the hypothesis that the adaptiveness of social goals changes across adulthood: Social approach goals were hypothesized to be adaptive during young adulthood when adult social relationships are to be established. In contrast, social avoidance goals were hypothesized to become more adaptive with age as people are increasingly motivated to avoid interpersonal tension. Our findings support these hypotheses: Social approach goals were positively and social avoidance goals negatively associated with younger but not with middle-aged and older adults' daily social well-being. These results were robust across different situations (positive, negative) and different types of relationships (close, peripheral). The study highlights the changing role of social approach and avoidance goals for daily social well-being across adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Tip-of-the-tongue states reveal age differences in the syllable frequency effect.

PubMed

Farrell, Meagan T; Abrams, Lise

2011-01-01

Syllable frequency has been shown to facilitate production in some languages but has yielded inconsistent results in English and has never been examined in older adults. Tip-of-the-tongue (TOT) states represent a unique type of production failure where the phonology of a word is unable to be retrieved, suggesting that the frequency of phonological forms, like syllables, may influence the occurrence of TOT states. In the current study, we investigated the role of first-syllable frequency on TOT incidence and resolution in young (18-26 years of age), young-old (60-74 years of age), and old-old (75-89 years of age) adults. Data from 3 published studies were compiled, where TOTs were elicited by presenting definition-like questions and asking participants to respond with "Know," "Don't Know," or "TOT." Young-old and old-old adults, but not young adults, experienced more TOTs for words beginning with low-frequency first syllables relative to high-frequency first syllables. Furthermore, age differences in TOT incidence occurred only for words with low-frequency first syllables. In contrast, when a prime word with the same first syllable as the target was presented during TOT states, all age groups resolved more TOTs for words beginning with low-frequency syllables. These findings support speech production models that allow for bidirectional activation between conceptual, lexical, and phonological forms of words. Furthermore, the age-specific effects of syllable frequency provide insight into the progression of age-linked changes to phonological processes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

European multicentre database of healthy controls for [123I]FP-CIT SPECT (ENC-DAT): age-related effects, gender differences and evaluation of different methods of analysis.

PubMed

Varrone, Andrea; Dickson, John C; Tossici-Bolt, Livia; Sera, Terez; Asenbaum, Susanne; Booij, Jan; Kapucu, Ozlem L; Kluge, Andreas; Knudsen, Gitte M; Koulibaly, Pierre Malick; Nobili, Flavio; Pagani, Marco; Sabri, Osama; Vander Borght, Thierry; Van Laere, Koen; Tatsch, Klaus

2013-01-01

Dopamine transporter (DAT) imaging with [(123)I]FP-CIT (DaTSCAN) is an established diagnostic tool in parkinsonism and dementia. Although qualitative assessment criteria are available, DAT quantification is important for research and for completion of a diagnostic evaluation. One critical aspect of quantification is the availability of normative data, considering possible age and gender effects on DAT availability. The aim of the European Normal Control Database of DaTSCAN (ENC-DAT) study was to generate a large database of [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT scans in healthy controls. SPECT data from 139 healthy controls (74 men, 65 women; age range 20-83 years, mean 53 years) acquired in 13 different centres were included. Images were reconstructed using the ordered-subset expectation-maximization algorithm without correction (NOACSC), with attenuation correction (AC), and with both attenuation and scatter correction using the triple-energy window method (ACSC). Region-of-interest analysis was performed using the BRASS software (caudate and putamen), and the Southampton method (striatum). The outcome measure was the specific binding ratio (SBR). A significant effect of age on SBR was found for all data. Gender had a significant effect on SBR in the caudate and putamen for the NOACSC and AC data, and only in the left caudate for the ACSC data (BRASS method). Significant effects of age and gender on striatal SBR were observed for all data analysed with the Southampton method. Overall, there was a significant age-related decline in SBR of between 4 % and 6.7 % per decade. This study provides a large database of [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT scans in healthy controls across a wide age range and with balanced gender representation. Higher DAT availability was found in women than in men. An average age-related decline in DAT availability of 5.5 % per decade was found for both genders, in agreement with previous reports. The data collected in this study may serve as a reference database for

Age-related differences in associative memory: the role of sensory decline.

PubMed

Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe; Kilb, Angela

2014-09-01

Numerous studies show age-related decline in episodic memory. One of the explanations for this decline points to older adults' deficit in associative memory, reflecting the difficulties they have in binding features of episodes into cohesive entities and retrieving these bindings. Here, we evaluate the degree to which this deficit may be mediated by sensory loss associated with increased age. In 2 experiments, young adults studied word pairs that were degraded at encoding either visually (Experiment 1) or auditorily (Experiment 2). We then tested their memory for both the component words and the associations with recognition tests. For both experiments, young adults under nondegraded conditions showed an advantage in associative over item memory, relative to a group of older adults. In contrast, under perceptually degraded conditions younger adults performed similarly to the older adults who were tested under nondegraded conditions. More specifically, under perceptual degradation, young adults' associative memory declined and their component memory improved somewhat, resulting in an associative deficit, similar to that shown by older adults. This evidence is consistent with a sensory acuity decline in old age being one mediator in the associative deficit of older adults. These results broaden our understanding of age-related memory changes and how sensory and cognitive processes interact to shape these changes. The theoretical implications of these results are discussed with respect to mechanisms underlying age-related changes in episodic memory and resource tradeoffs in the encoding of component and associative memory. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Personality-situation transactions from adolescence to old age.

PubMed

Wrzus, Cornelia; Wagner, Gert G; Riediger, Michaela

2016-05-01

People presumably choose and create their daily environments according to their personality. Prior research shows that, for example, more extraverted people engage more often in social situations, and more conscientious people engage more often in work-related activities compared with less extraverted or less conscientious people, respectively. The current study examined such personality-situation transactions in people's daily life. Based on the assumption that older people know themselves and their personality better than younger people, we investigated whether momentary and proximate personality-situation associations (i.e., changing from 1 type of situation into another) increase with older age. Three-hundred and 78 people aged 14 to 82 years described their Big Five traits and took part in a 3-week experience-sampling phase. Using mobile-phone based assessments in daily life, participants reported on average 55 times on their momentary situation. Multilevel modeling results showed that personality-situation associations varied with the age of participants. Some of the "established" personality-situation associations, such as for extraversion and time spent with friends or conscientiousness and time spent with work activities, were only observed in adolescence and young adulthood. In contrast, other personality-situation associations appeared only in late adulthood, such as for openness and time spent with friends. Yet most personality-situation associations did not vary significantly with people's age. In addition, personality traits predicted maintaining or entering personality-congruent situations. The latter results point to the active role of personality in shaping one's environment. The findings imply that some personality-situation transactions may be largely similarly across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Should we stop thinking about inhibition? Searching for individual and age differences in inhibition ability.

PubMed

Rey-Mermet, Alodie; Gade, Miriam; Oberauer, Klaus

2018-04-01

Inhibition is often conceptualized as a unitary construct reflecting the ability to ignore and suppress irrelevant information. At the same time, it has been subdivided into inhibition of prepotent responses (i.e., the ability to stop dominant responses) and resistance to distracter interference (i.e., the ability to ignore distracting information). The present study investigated the unity and diversity of inhibition as a psychometric construct, and tested the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. We measured inhibition in young and old adults with 11 established laboratory tasks: antisaccade, stop-signal, color Stroop, number Stroop, arrow flanker, letter flanker, Simon, global-local, positive and negative compatibility tasks, and n-2 repetition costs in task switching. In both age groups, the inhibition measures from individual tasks had good reliabilities, but correlated only weakly among each other. Structural equation modeling identified a 2-factor model with factors for inhibition of prepotent responses and resistance to distracter interference. Older adults scored worse in the inhibition of prepotent response, but better in the resistance to distracter interference. However, the model had low explanatory power. Together, these findings call into question inhibition as a psychometric construct and the hypothesis of an inhibition deficit in older age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

National Geochronological Database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Revised by Sloan, Jan; Henry, Christopher D.; Hopkins, Melanie; Ludington, Steve; Original database by Zartman, Robert E.; Bush, Charles A.; Abston, Carl

2003-01-01

The National Geochronological Data Base (NGDB) was established by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to collect and organize published isotopic (also known as radiometric) ages of rocks in the United States. The NGDB (originally known as the Radioactive Age Data Base, RADB) was started in 1974. A committee appointed by the Director of the USGS was given the mission to investigate the feasibility of compiling the published radiometric ages for the United States into a computerized data bank for ready access by the user community. A successful pilot program, which was conducted in 1975 and 1976 for the State of Wyoming, led to a decision to proceed with the compilation of the entire United States. For each dated rock sample reported in published literature, a record containing information on sample location, rock description, analytical data, age, interpretation, and literature citation was constructed and included in the NGDB. The NGDB was originally constructed and maintained on a mainframe computer, and later converted to a Helix Express relational database maintained on an Apple Macintosh desktop computer. The NGDB and a program to search the data files were published and distributed on Compact Disc-Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) in standard ISO 9660 format as USGS Digital Data Series DDS-14 (Zartman and others, 1995). As of May 1994, the NGDB consisted of more than 18,000 records containing over 30,000 individual ages, which is believed to represent approximately one-half the number of ages published for the United States through 1991. Because the organizational unit responsible for maintaining the database was abolished in 1996, and because we wanted to provide the data in more usable formats, we have reformatted the data, checked and edited the information in some records, and provided this online version of the NGDB. This report describes the changes made to the data and formats, and provides instructions for the use of the database in geographic

Young and worried: Age and fear of recurrence in breast cancer survivors.

PubMed

Lebel, Sophie; Beattie, Sara; Arès, Isabelle; Bielajew, Catherine

2013-06-01

Fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) is a frequently cited and unmet need of cancer survivors. While the relation between age and FCR is well documented, the mechanisms that may explain this phenomenon remain to be investigated. This study examined four possible mechanisms of the relation between age and FCR: motherhood, severity of the cancer (defined as cancer stage and chemotherapy), anxiety, and illness intrusiveness. 3,239 women with breast cancer (mean time since diagnosis: 6.6 years) completed the Concerns About Recurrence Scale (CARS), the State Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale (IIRS) within a larger web-based study. Women were divided into four groups based on their current age: < 34, 35-49, 50-64, and >65. Multivariate analyses were performed with age category and motherhood as the independent variables and the CARS subscales as the dependent variables, controlling for age of children and relevant covariates. Severity of the cancer, anxiety, and illness intrusiveness were simultaneously tested as mediators of the relation between age and FCR. Results indicated that age category was related to FCR, F = 10.37, p < .001. Follow-up tests revealed that women under 34 or 35-49 expressed the highest levels of FCR. Mothers, regardless of their ages or the ages of their children, expressed greater FCR. Illness intrusiveness and to a lesser extent anxiety were mediators of the relation between age and FCR, while severity of the cancer was not. Younger age was associated with more FCR among breast cancer patients, regardless of motherhood status. Our findings suggest new, potentially valuable ways of managing FCR by helping affected people to reduce anxiety and illness intrusiveness. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Music to my ears: Age-related decline in musical and facial emotion recognition.

PubMed

Sutcliffe, Ryan; Rendell, Peter G; Henry, Julie D; Bailey, Phoebe E; Ruffman, Ted

2017-12-01

We investigated young-old differences in emotion recognition using music and face stimuli and tested explanatory hypotheses regarding older adults' typically worse emotion recognition. In Experiment 1, young and older adults labeled emotions in an established set of faces, and in classical piano stimuli that we pilot-tested on other young and older adults. Older adults were worse at detecting anger, sadness, fear, and happiness in music. Performance on the music and face emotion tasks was not correlated for either age group. Because musical expressions of fear were not equated for age groups in the pilot study of Experiment 1, we conducted a second experiment in which we created a novel set of music stimuli that included more accessible musical styles, and which we again pilot-tested on young and older adults. In this pilot study, all musical emotions were identified similarly by young and older adults. In Experiment 2, participants also made age estimations in another set of faces to examine whether potential relations between the face and music emotion tasks would be shared with the age estimation task. Older adults did worse in each of the tasks, and had specific difficulty recognizing happy, sad, peaceful, angry, and fearful music clips. Older adults' difficulties in each of the 3 tasks-music emotion, face emotion, and face age-were not correlated with each other. General cognitive decline did not appear to explain our results as increasing age predicted emotion performance even after fluid IQ was controlled for within the older adult group. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Eliminating age differences in children's and adults' suggestibility and memory conformity effects.

PubMed

Otgaar, Henry; Howe, Mark L; Brackmann, Nathalie; van Helvoort, Daniël H J

2017-05-01

We examined whether typical developmental trends in suggestion-induced false memories (i.e., age-related decrease) could be changed. Using theoretical principles from the spontaneous false memory field, we adapted 2 often-used false memory procedures: misinformation (Experiment 1) and memory conformity (Experiment 2). In Experiment 1, 7- to 9-year-old children (n = 33) and adults (n = 39) received stories containing associatively related details. They then listened to misinformation in the form of short narratives preserving the meaning of the story. Children and adults were equally susceptible to the misinformation effect. In Experiment 2, younger (7- to 8-year-olds, n = 30) and older (11- to 12-year-olds, n = 30) children and adults (n = 30) viewed pictures containing associatively related details. They viewed these pictures in pairs. Although the pictures differed, participants believed they had viewed the same pictures. Participants had to report what they could recollect during collaborative and individual recall tests. Children and adults were equally susceptible to memory conformity effects. When correcting for response bias, adults' false memory scores were even higher than children's. Our results show that age trends in suggestion-induced false memories are not developmentally invariant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive declines in healthy aging: evidence from multiple aspects of interference resolution.

PubMed

Pettigrew, Corinne; Martin, Randi C

2014-06-01

The present study tested the hypothesis that older adults show age-related deficits in interference resolution, also referred to as inhibitory control. Although oftentimes considered as a unitary aspect of executive function, various lines of work support the notion that interference resolution may be better understood as multiple constructs, including resistance to proactive interference (PI) and response-distractor inhibition (e.g., Friedman & Miyake, 2004). Using this dichotomy, the present study assessed whether older adults (relative to younger adults) show impaired performance across both, 1, or neither of these interference resolution constructs. To do so, we used multiple tasks to tap each construct and examined age effects at both the single task and latent variable levels. Older adults consistently demonstrated exaggerated interference effects across resistance to PI tasks. Although the results for the response-distractor inhibition tasks were less consistent at the individual task level analyses, age effects were evident on multiple tasks, as well as at the latent variable level. However, results of the latent variable modeling suggested declines in interference resolution are best explained by variance that is common to the 2 interference resolution constructs measured herein. Furthermore, the effect of age on interference resolution was found to be both distinct from declines in working memory, and independent of processing speed. These findings suggest multiple cognitive domains are independently sensitive to age, but that declines in the interference resolution constructs measured herein may originate from a common cause. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Dyadic analysis of self-efficacy and perceived support: the relationship of individual and spousal characteristics with physical activity among middle-aged and young-older adults.

PubMed

Ayotte, Brian J; Margrett, Jennifer A; Patrick, Julie Hicks

2013-06-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among self-efficacy, perceived support, and physical activity in middle-aged and older married couples. A total of 116 middle-aged and older couples (M = 58.86 years, SD = 7.16, range 50-74) participated in the study. A dyadic approach to path modeling was taken. The final model indicated that for both husbands and wives, one's own self-efficacy was directly related to physical activity. In addition, husband self-efficacy was positively related to wive physical activity and indirectly related to wife physical activity through wife self-efficacy. Wife self-efficacy was indirectly related to husband physical activity via the level of husband perceived support. These results provide evidence for the importance of incorporating spousal characteristics in addition to individual characteristics when investigating physical activity during middle and later married life. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Adult age differences in information foraging in an interactive reading environment.

PubMed

Liu, Xiaomei; Chin, Jessie; Payne, Brennan R; Fu, Wai-Tat; Morrow, Daniel G; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2016-05-01

When learning about a single topic in natural reading environments, readers are confronted with multiple sources varying in the type and amount of information. In this situation, readers are free to adaptively respond to the constraints of the environment (e.g., through selection of resources and time allocation for study), but there may be costs of exploring and switching between sources (e.g., disruption of attention, opportunity costs for study). From an ecological perspective, such properties of the environment are expected to influence learning strategies. In the current study, we used a novel reading paradigm to investigate age differences in the effects of information richness (i.e., sentence elaboration) and costs of switching between texts (i.e., time delay) on selection of sources and study time allocation. Consistent with the ecological view, participants progressed from less informative to more informative texts. Furthermore, increased switch cost led to a tendency to allocate more effort to easier materials and to greater persistence in reading, which in turn, led to better memory in both immediate and delayed recall. Older adults showed larger effects of switch cost, such that the age difference in delayed recall was eliminated in the high switch cost condition. Based on an ecological paradigm of reading that affords choice and self-regulation, our study provided evidence for preservation with age in the ability to adapt to changing learning environments so as to improve performance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Visual attention and emotional reactions to negative stimuli: The role of age and cognitive reappraisal.

PubMed

Wirth, Maria; Isaacowitz, Derek M; Kunzmann, Ute

2017-09-01

Prominent life span theories of emotion propose that older adults attend less to negative emotional information and report less negative emotional reactions to the same information than younger adults do. Although parallel age differences in affective information processing and age differences in emotional reactivity have been proposed, they have rarely been investigated within the same study. In this eye-tracking study, we tested age differences in visual attention and emotional reactivity, using standardized emotionally negative stimuli. Additionally, we investigated age differences in the association between visual attention and emotional reactivity, and whether these are moderated by cognitive reappraisal. Older as compared with younger adults showed fixation patterns away from negative image content, while they reacted with greater negative emotions. The association between visual attention and emotional reactivity differed by age group and positive reappraisal. Younger adults felt better when they attended more to negative content rather than less, but this relationship only held for younger adults who did not attach a positive meaning to the negative situation. For older adults, overall, there was no significant association between visual attention and emotional reactivity. However, for older adults who did not use positive reappraisal, decreases in attention to negative information were associated with less negative emotions. The present findings point to a complex relationship between younger and older adults' visual attention and emotional reactions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Aging and memory as discrimination: Influences of encoding specificity, cue overload, and prior knowledge.

PubMed

Badham, Stephen P; Poirier, Marie; Gandhi, Navina; Hadjivassiliou, Anna; Maylor, Elizabeth A

2016-11-01

From the perspective of memory-as-discrimination, whether a cue leads to correct retrieval simultaneously depends on the cue's relationship to (a) the memory target and (b) the other retrieval candidates. A corollary of the view is that increasing encoding-retrieval match may only help memory if it improves the cue's capacity to discriminate the target from competitors. Here, age differences in this discrimination process were assessed by manipulating the overlap between cues present at encoding and retrieval orthogonally with cue-target distinctiveness. In Experiment 1, associative memory differences for cue-target sets between young and older adults were minimized through training and retrieval efficiency was assessed through response time. In Experiment 2, age-group differences in associative memory were left to vary and retrieval efficiency was assessed through accuracy. Both experiments showed age-invariance in memory-as-discrimination: cues increasing encoding-retrieval match did not benefit memory unless they also improved discrimination between the target and competitors. Predictions based on the age-related associative deficit were also supported: prior knowledge alleviated age-related associative deficits (Experiment 1), and increasing encoding-retrieval match benefited older more than young adults (Experiment 2). We suggest that the latter occurred because older adults' associative memory deficits reduced the impact of competing retrieval candidates-hence the age-related benefit was not attributable to encoding-retrieval match per se, but rather it was a joint function of an increased probability of the cue connecting to the target combined with a decrease in competing retrieval candidates. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive functioning, aging, and work: A review and recommendations for research and practice.

PubMed

Fisher, Gwenith G; Chaffee, Dorey S; Tetrick, Lois E; Davalos, Deana B; Potter, Guy G

2017-07-01

There is a larger proportion and number of older adults in the labor force than ever before. Furthermore, older adults in the workforce are working until later ages. Although a great deal of research has examined physical health and well-being of working older adults, less research has focused on cognitive functioning. The purpose of this article is to provide a broad contemporary and multidisciplinary review of the intersection between cognitive functioning, aging, and work as a follow-up to a paper previously written by Fisher et al. (2014). We begin by providing definitions and background about cognitive functioning and how it changes over the life span. Next we discuss theories relevant to the intersection of cognitive functioning and work, including the use-it-or-lose-it hypothesis, the cognitive reserve hypothesis, hypotheses regarding environmental influences on intellectual functioning, and the job-demands-resources model. Then we summarize recent research about the effects of work on cognitive functioning, as well as ways that cognitive functioning may influence work motivation, learning, development, training, and safety. We conclude by emphasizing the importance of person-environment fit, suggesting avenues for future research, and discussing practical implications for the field of occupational health psychology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Age, time period, and birth cohort differences in self-esteem: Reexamining a cohort-sequential longitudinal study.

PubMed

Twenge, Jean M; Carter, Nathan T; Campbell, W Keith

2017-05-01

Orth, Trzesniewski, and Robins (2010) concluded that the nationally representative Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) cohort-sequential study demonstrated moderate to large age differences in self-esteem, and no birth cohort (generational) differences in the age trajectory. In a reanalysis of these data using 2 different statistical techniques, we find significant increases in self-esteem that could be attributed to birth cohort or time period. First, hierarchical linear modeling analyses with birth cohort as a continuous variable (vs. the multiple group formulation used by Orth et al.) find that birth cohort has a measurable influence on self-esteem through its interaction with age. Participants born in later years (e.g., 1960) were higher in self-esteem and were more likely to increase in self-esteem as they aged than participants born in earlier years (e.g., 1920). However, the estimated age trajectory up to age 60 is similar in Orth et al.'s results and in the results from our analyses including cohort. Second, comparing ACL respondents of the same age in 1986 versus 2002 (a time-lag design) yields significant birth cohort differences in self-esteem, with 2002 participants of the same age higher in self-esteem than those in 1986. Combined with some previous studies finding significant increases in self-esteem and positive self-views over time, these results suggest that cultural change in the form of cohort and time period cannot be ignored as influences in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Adherence and Persistence Among Statin Users Aged 65 Years and Over: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

PubMed

Ofori-Asenso, Richard; Jakhu, Avtar; Zomer, Ella; Curtis, Andrea J; Korhonen, Maarit Jaana; Nelson, Mark; Gambhir, Manoj; Tonkin, Andrew; Liew, Danny; Zoungas, Sophia

2018-05-09

Older people (aged ≥ 65 years) have distinctive challenges with medication adherence. However, adherence and persistence patterns among older statin users have not been comprehensively reviewed. As part of a broader systematic review, we searched Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects, CENTRAL, and the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database through December 2016 for English articles reporting adherence and/or persistence among older statin users. Data were analyzed via descriptive methods and meta-analysis using random-effect modeling. Data from more than 3 million older statin users in 82 studies conducted in over 40 countries were analyzed. At 1-year follow-up, 59.7% (primary prevention 47.9%; secondary prevention 62.3%) of users were adherent (medication possession ratio [MPR] or proportion of days covered [PDC] ≥ 80%). For both primary and secondary prevention subjects, 1-year adherence was worse among individuals aged more than 75 years than those aged 65-75 years. At 3 and ≥10 years, 55.3% and 28.4% of users were adherent, respectively. The proportion of users persistent at 1-year was 76.7% (primary prevention 76.0%; secondary prevention 82.6%). Additionally, 68.1% and 61.2% of users were persistent at 2 and 4 years, respectively. Among new statin users, 48.2% were nonadherent and 23.9% discontinued within the first year. The proportion of statin users who were adherent based on self-report was 85.5%. There is poor short and long term adherence and persistence among older statin users. Strategies to improve adherence and reduce discontinuation are needed if the intended cardiovascular benefits of statin treatment are to be realized.

Charting the life course: age differences and validity of beliefs about lifespan development.

PubMed

Riediger, Michaela; Voelkle, Manuel C; Schaefer, Sabine; Lindenberger, Ulman

2014-09-01

This study examined how children (9 years), adolescents (13 to 15 years), younger adults (21 to 26 years), and older adults (70 to 76 years) chart age gradients of cognitive and social functioning from childhood to old age. Participants (N = 156) rated typical performance levels in different life phases for 10 aspects of cognitive and social functioning. Compared with older participants, children expected lower performance levels and higher temporal stability, particularly during adulthood and into old age, and showed lower interindividual consensus in their ratings. Individuals in all 4 age groups recognized that fluid cognitive abilities reach their developmental peak earlier in life and decline more steeply thereafter than crystallized cognitive abilities. Older adults and, to a lesser extent, children evaluated their own current functioning as being better than that of their typical age peers. Furthermore, older adults charted typical cognitive development in middle and earlier late adulthood more positively than the participants in the other 3 age groups, which possibly reflects a partial externalization of their own positive self-views and a self-enhancing bias. Comparisons with life span gradients of cognitive performance (McArdle, Ferrer-Caja, Hamagami, & Woodcock, 2002) suggest that the ratings of adolescents and younger adults were in better agreement with empirically observed average performance trajectories than the ratings of children and older adults. We conclude that beliefs about normative cognitive and social aspects of life span development emerge in late middle childhood, solidify into culturally shared scripts by mid-adolescence, and remain subject to further change into old age. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Childhood physical punishment or maltreatment and partnership outcomes at age 30.

PubMed

McLeod, Geraldine F H; Fergusson, David M; Horwood, L John

2014-05-01

Childhood physical abuse is known to be associated with impaired outcomes in adulthood (e.g., particularly for mental and physical health). However, relatively little is known about adult partnership outcomes for those exposed to childhood physical punishment or maltreatment. This study aims to examine the associations between childhood physical punishment or maltreatment and partnership outcomes at age 30. This investigation analyzed data from a birth cohort of more than 900 New Zealand adults studied to age 30. At ages 18 and 21, cohort members reported on the extent of exposure to childhood physical punishment or maltreatment prior to age 16. Measures of partner relations were collected up to age 30. After adjustment for childhood social, family, and related factors, increasing exposure to childhood physical punishment or maltreatment was associated with greater negative partner relationships (p=.002), partner social adjustment problems (p=.006), interpartner violence victimization (p=.010), and interpartner violence perpetration (p=.019). However, after adjustment, the association between childhood physical punishment or maltreatment and the number of cohabiting relationships was no longer statistically significant (p=.151). Interactions between childhood physical punishment or maltreatment and gender were tested for each of the outcomes. This analysis showed an interactive relationship between childhood physical punishment or maltreatment and partner social adjustment problems in which childhood physical punishment or maltreatment for females, but not males, was associated with partner social adjustment problems. These findings suggest that increasing exposure to childhood physical punishment or maltreatment is associated with impaired partnership outcomes: more negative partner relations, increased reports of a partner with social adjustment problems, and higher levels of interpartner violence. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved

The emergence of sex differences in personality traits in early adolescence: A cross-sectional, cross-cultural study.

PubMed

De Bolle, Marleen; De Fruyt, Filip; McCrae, Robert R; Löckenhoff, Corinna E; Costa, Paul T; Aguilar-Vafaie, Maria E; Ahn, Chang-Kyu; Ahn, Hyun-Nie; Alcalay, Lidia; Allik, Jüri; Avdeyeva, Tatyana V; Bratko, Denis; Brunner-Sciarra, Marina; Cain, Thomas R; Chan, Wayne; Chittcharat, Niyada; Crawford, Jarret T; Fehr, Ryan; Ficková, Emília; Gelfand, Michele J; Graf, Sylvie; Gülgöz, Sami; Hřebíčková, Martina; Jussim, Lee; Klinkosz, Waldemar; Knežević, Goran; Leibovich de Figueroa, Nora; Lima, Margarida P; Martin, Thomas A; Marušić, Iris; Mastor, Khairul Anwar; Nakazato, Katsuharu; Nansubuga, Florence; Porrata, Jose; Purić, Danka; Realo, Anu; Reátegui, Norma; Rolland, Jean-Pierre; Schmidt, Vanina; Sekowski, Andrzej; Shakespeare-Finch, Jane; Shimonaka, Yoshiko; Simonetti, Franco; Siuta, Jerzy; Szmigielska, Barbara; Vanno, Vitanya; Wang, Lei; Yik, Michelle; Terracciano, Antonio

2015-01-01

Although large international studies have found consistent patterns of sex differences in personality traits among adults (i.e., women scoring higher on most facets), less is known about cross-cultural sex differences in adolescent personality and the role of culture and age in shaping them. The present study examines the NEO Personality Inventory-3 (McCrae, Costa, & Martin, 2005) informant ratings of adolescents from 23 cultures (N = 4,850), and investigates culture and age as sources of variability in sex differences of adolescents' personality. The effect for Neuroticism (with females scoring higher than males) begins to take on its adult form around age 14. Girls score higher on Openness to Experience and Conscientiousness at all ages between 12 and 17 years. A more complex pattern emerges for Extraversion and Agreeableness, although by age 17, sex differences for these traits are highly similar to those observed in adulthood. Cross-sectional data suggest that (a) with advancing age, sex differences found in adolescents increasingly converge toward adult patterns with respect to both direction and magnitude; (b) girls display sex-typed personality traits at an earlier age than boys; and (c) the emergence of sex differences was similar across cultures. Practical implications of the present findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Myopia for the future or hypersensitivity to reward? Age-related changes in decision making on the Iowa Gambling Task.

PubMed

Bauer, A S; Timpe, J; Edmonds, E C; Bechara, A; Tranel, D; Denburg, N L

2013-02-01

It has been shown that older adults perform less well than younger adults on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), a real-world type decision-making task that factors together reward, punishment, and uncertainty. To explore the reasons behind this age-related decrement, we administered to an adult life span sample of 265 healthy participants (Mdn age = 62.00 +/- 16.17 years; range [23-88]) 2 versions of the IGT, which have different contingencies for successful performance: A'B'C'D' requires choosing lower immediate reward (paired with lower delayed punishment); E'F'G'H' requires choosing higher immediate punishment (paired with higher delayed reward). There was a significant negative correlation between age and performance on the A'B'C'D' version of the IGT (r = -.16, p = .01), while there was essentially no correlation between age and performance on the E'F'G'H' version (r = -.07, p = .24). In addition, the rate of impaired performance in older participants was significantly higher for the A'B'C'D' version (23%) compared with the E'F'G'H' version (13%). A parsimonious account of these findings is an age-related increase in hypersensitivity to reward, whereby the decisions of older adults are disproportionately influenced by prospects of receiving reward, irrespective of the presence or degree of punishment. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

MINDMAP: establishing an integrated database infrastructure for research in ageing, mental well-being, and the urban environment.

PubMed

Beenackers, Mariëlle A; Doiron, Dany; Fortier, Isabel; Noordzij, J Mark; Reinhard, Erica; Courtin, Emilie; Bobak, Martin; Chaix, Basile; Costa, Giuseppe; Dapp, Ulrike; Diez Roux, Ana V; Huisman, Martijn; Grundy, Emily M; Krokstad, Steinar; Martikainen, Pekka; Raina, Parminder; Avendano, Mauricio; van Lenthe, Frank J

2018-01-19

Urbanization and ageing have important implications for public mental health and well-being. Cities pose major challenges for older citizens, but also offer opportunities to develop, test, and implement policies, services, infrastructure, and interventions that promote mental well-being. The MINDMAP project aims to identify the opportunities and challenges posed by urban environmental characteristics for the promotion and management of mental well-being and cognitive function of older individuals. MINDMAP aims to achieve its research objectives by bringing together longitudinal studies from 11 countries covering over 35 cities linked to databases of area-level environmental exposures and social and urban policy indicators. The infrastructure supporting integration of this data will allow multiple MINDMAP investigators to safely and remotely co-analyse individual-level and area-level data. Individual-level data is derived from baseline and follow-up measurements of ten participating cohort studies and provides information on mental well-being outcomes, sociodemographic variables, health behaviour characteristics, social factors, measures of frailty, physical function indicators, and chronic conditions, as well as blood derived clinical biochemistry-based biomarkers and genetic biomarkers. Area-level information on physical environment characteristics (e.g. green spaces, transportation), socioeconomic and sociodemographic characteristics (e.g. neighbourhood income, residential segregation, residential density), and social environment characteristics (e.g. social cohesion, criminality) and national and urban social policies is derived from publically available sources such as geoportals and administrative databases. The linkage, harmonization, and analysis of data from different sources are being carried out using piloted tools to optimize the validity of the research results and transparency of the methodology. MINDMAP is a novel research collaboration that is

IQ at age 12 following a history of institutional care: Findings from the Bucharest Early Intervention Project.

PubMed

Almas, Alisa N; Degnan, Kathryn A; Nelson, Charles A; Zeanah, Charles H; Fox, Nathan A

2016-11-01

Young children removed from institutions and placed into foster care or adoptive homes have been shown to experience significant gains in IQ relative to children who remain in institutions. Less is known about the long-term impact of severe early deprivation on development in late childhood. Data are presented from a follow-up of children at 12 years of age in the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, a randomized clinical trial of foster care for institutionally reared children. Of the original 136 children in the study, 107 were tested with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV. Results revealed continued benefit from the intervention through age 12, with 12-year-old children placed in foster care scoring significantly higher on full-scale IQ compared to their peers who received prolonged institutional care. Longitudinal IQ data revealed 2 IQ profiles from early to late childhood. Attachment security emerged as a significant predictor of a profile of stable, typical IQ scores over time. We demonstrate the continued importance of foster care intervention and the negative effects of severe, early psychosocial deprivation on IQ into late childhood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of aging and text-stimulus quality on the word-frequency effect during Chinese reading.

PubMed

Wang, Jingxin; Li, Lin; Li, Sha; Xie, Fang; Liversedge, Simon P; Paterson, Kevin B

2018-06-01

Age-related reading difficulty is well established for alphabetic languages. Compared to young adults (18-30 years), older adults (65+ years) read more slowly, make more and longer fixations, make more regressions, and produce larger word-frequency effects. However, whether similar effects are observed for nonalphabetic languages like Chinese remains to be determined. In particular, recent research has suggested Chinese readers experience age-related reading difficulty but do not produce age differences in the word-frequency effect. This might represent an important qualitative difference in aging effects, so we investigated this further by presenting young and older adult Chinese readers with sentences that included high- or low-frequency target words. Additionally, to test theories that suggest reductions in text-stimulus quality differentially affect lexical processing by adult age groups, we presented either the target words (Experiment 1) or all characters in sentences (Experiment 2) normally or with stimulus quality reduced. Analyses based on mean eye-movement parameters and distributional analyses of fixation times for target words showed typical age-related reading difficulty. We also observed age differences in the word-frequency effect, predominantly in the tails of fixation-time distributions, consistent with an aging effect on the processing of high- and low-frequency words. Reducing stimulus quality disrupted eye movements more for the older readers, but the influence of stimulus quality on the word-frequency effect did not differ across age groups. This suggests Chinese older readers' lexical processing is resilient to reductions in stimulus quality, perhaps due to greater experience recognizing words from impoverished visual input. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Adult age differences in production and monitoring in dual-list free recall.

PubMed

Wahlheim, Christopher N; Ball, B Hunter; Richmond, Lauren L

2017-06-01

The present experiment examined adult age differences in the production and monitoring of responses in dual-list free recall. Younger and older adults studied 2 lists of unrelated words and were instructed to recall from List 1, List 2, or List 1 and List 2. An externalized free recall procedure required participants to: (a) report all responses that came to mind while recalling from specific lists, (b) classify responses as correct or incorrect, and (c) provide confidence judgments for their accuracy classifications. Relative to younger adults, older adults showed a monitoring deficit by misclassifying proportionally more responses and discriminating more poorly between correct and incorrect responses in their confidence judgments. This deficit was especially pronounced under conditions of retroactive interference that occurred when participants recalled from List 1 only. A comparison of retrieval dynamics for all responses produced and for those that participants were reasonably confident were correct provided information about age differences in preretrieval context reinstatement and postretrieval monitoring of retrieved context. One noteworthy finding was that total production when recalling from List 1 showed that List 2 responses remained more accessible across the first several retrieval attempts for older than younger adults, which indicated a substantial age difference in the ability to reinstate List 1 context. Overall, the present findings provide a nuanced characterization of age differences in the operation of production and monitoring mechanisms under conditions of proactive and retroactive interference that can inform models of free recall. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

PMAG: Relational Database Definition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keizer, P.; Koppers, A.; Tauxe, L.; Constable, C.; Genevey, A.; Staudigel, H.; Helly, J.

2002-12-01

site location (latitude, longitude, elevation), geography (continent, country, region), geological setting (lithospheric plate or block, tectonic setting), geological age (age range, timescale name, stratigraphic position) and materials (rock type, classification, alteration state). Each data point and method description is also related to its peer-reviewed reference [citation ID] as archived in the EarthRef Reference Database (ERR). This guarantees direct traceability all the way to its original source, where the user can find the bibliography of each PMAG reference along with every abstract, data table, technical note and/or appendix that are available in digital form and that can be downloaded as PDF/JPEG images and Microsoft Excel/Word data files. This may help scientists and teachers in performing their research since they have easy access to all the scientific data. It also allows for checking potential errors during the digitization process. Please visit the PMAG website at http://earthref.org/PMAG/ for more information.

Using implicit association tests in age-heterogeneous samples: The importance of cognitive abilities and quad model processes.

PubMed

Wrzus, Cornelia; Egloff, Boris; Riediger, Michaela

2017-08-01

Implicit association tests (IATs) are increasingly used to indirectly assess people's traits, attitudes, or other characteristics. In addition to measuring traits or attitudes, IAT scores also reflect differences in cognitive abilities because scores are based on reaction times (RTs) and errors. As cognitive abilities change with age, questions arise concerning the usage and interpretation of IATs for people of different age. To address these questions, the current study examined how cognitive abilities and cognitive processes (i.e., quad model parameters) contribute to IAT results in a large age-heterogeneous sample. Participants (N = 549; 51% female) in an age-stratified sample (range = 12-88 years) completed different IATs and 2 tasks to assess cognitive processing speed and verbal ability. From the IAT data, D2-scores were computed based on RTs, and quad process parameters (activation of associations, overcoming bias, detection, guessing) were estimated from individual error rates. Substantial IAT scores and quad processes except guessing varied with age. Quad processes AC and D predicted D2-scores of the content-specific IAT. Importantly, the effects of cognitive abilities and quad processes on IAT scores were not significantly moderated by participants' age. These findings suggest that IATs seem suitable for age-heterogeneous studies from adolescence to old age when IATs are constructed and analyzed appropriately, for example with D-scores and process parameters. We offer further insight into how D-scoring controls for method effects in IATs and what IAT scores capture in addition to implicit representations of characteristics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Executed and imagined bimanual movements: a study across different ages.

PubMed

Piedimonte, Alessandro; Garbarini, Francesca; Rabuffetti, Marco; Pia, Lorenzo; Berti, Anna

2014-04-01

Movements with both hands are essential to our everyday life, and it has been shown that performing asymmetric bimanual movements produces an interference effect between hands. There have been many studies--using varying methods--investigating the development of bimanual movements that show that this skill continues to evolve during childhood and adolescence. In the current study we used a spatial bimanual task to delineate the development of bimanual movements not only during different stages of childhood but also during late stages of adulthood. Furthermore, we used the same task as a window to observe the involvement of motor imagery through the same age groups. For this study we recruited participants from 4 different age groups and asked them to perform congruent and noncongruent bimanual movements in a Real condition, where participants moved both hands, and in an Imagery condition, where they had to imagine 1 hand's movements while actually using the other hand. Our results showed that, with actual movement execution, the interference between motor programs of the 2 hands is higher in children (6-10 years old) than in younger adults (20-30 years old), while it tends to increase again in the elderly adults (60-80 years old). Interestingly, in the Imagery condition, the interference was present only among 10-year-old and 20- to 30-year-old participants, suggesting that motor imagery, not yet developed in young children and compromised by age in the elderly subjects, did not modulate motor performance in these last 2 groups. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Age-varying associations between nonmarital sexual behavior and depressive symptoms across adolescence and young adulthood.

PubMed

Vasilenko, Sara A

2017-02-01

Research has demonstrated associations between adolescent sexual behavior and depressive symptoms, but no single study has examined individuals at different ages throughout adolescence and young adulthood in order to determine at what ages sexual behavior may be associated with higher or lower levels of depressive symptoms. Using nationally representative longitudinal data and an innovative method, the time-varying effect model (TVEM), which examines how the strength of an association changes over time, this study examines how nonmarital sexual intercourse is associated with depressive symptoms at different ages, which behaviors and contexts may contribute to these associations, and whether associations differ for male and female participants. Findings indicate that sexual behavior in adolescence is associated with a higher level of depressive symptoms, particularly for female adolescents, and this association is relatively consistent across different partner types and adolescent contexts. Associations between sexual behavior and depressive symptoms in young adulthood are more dependent on partner factors and adolescent contexts; sexual behavior in young adulthood is associated with fewer depressive symptoms for women who have sex with a single partner and for men whose parents did not strongly disapprove of adolescent sexual behavior. Findings suggest that delaying sexual behavior into young adulthood may have some benefits for mental health, although contextual and relationship factors also play a role. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Modeling age differences in effects of pair repetition and proactive interference using a single parameter.

PubMed

Stephens, Joseph D W; Overman, Amy A

2018-02-01

In this article, we apply the REM model (Shiffrin & Steyvers, 1997) to age differences in associative memory. Using Criss and Shiffrin's (2005) associative version of REM, we show that in a task with pairs repeated across 2 study lists, older adults' reduced benefit of pair repetition can be produced by a general reduction in the diagnosticity of information stored in memory. This reduction can be modeled similarly well by reducing the overall distinctiveness of memory features, or by reducing the accuracy of memory encoding. We report a new experiment in which pairs are repeated across 3 study lists and extend the model accordingly. Finally, we extend the model to previously reported data using the same task paradigm, in which the use of a high-association strategy introduced proactive interference effects in young adults but not older adults. Reducing the diagnosticity of information in memory also reduces the proactive interference effect. Taken together, the modeling and empirical results reported here are consistent with the claim that some age differences that appear to be specific to associative information can be produced via general degradation of information stored in memory. The REM model provides a useful framework for examining age differences in memory as well as harmonizing seemingly conflicting prior modeling approaches for the associative deficit. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Lifetime racial/ethnic discrimination and ambulatory blood pressure: The moderating effect of age.

PubMed

Beatty Moody, Danielle L; Waldstein, Shari R; Tobin, Jonathan N; Cassells, Andrea; Schwartz, Joseph C; Brondolo, Elizabeth

2016-04-01

To determine whether the relationships of lifetime discrimination to ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) varied as a function of age in a sample of Black and Latino(a) adults ages 19 - 65. Participants were 607 Black (n = 318) and Latino(a) (n = 289) adults (49% female) who completed the Perceived Ethnic Discrimination Questionnaire-Community Version (PEDQ-CV), which assesses lifetime exposure to racism/ethnic discrimination. They were outfitted with an ABP monitor to assess systolic and diastolic blood pressure (SBP, DBP) across a 24-hr period. Mixed-level modeling was conducted to examine potential interactive effects of lifetime discrimination and age to 24-hr, daytime, and nighttime ABP after adjustment for demographic, socioeconomic, personality and life stress characteristics, and substance consumption covariates (e.g., smoking, alcohol). There were significant interactions of Age × Lifetime Discrimination on 24-hr and daytime DBP (ps ≤ .04), and in particular significant interactions for the Social Exclusion component of Lifetime Discrimination. Post hoc probing of the interactions revealed the effects of Lifetime Discrimination on DBP were seen for older, but not younger participants. Lifetime discrimination was significantly positively associated with nocturnal SBP, and these effects were not moderated by age. All associations of Lifetime Discrimination to ABP remained significant controlling for recent exposure to discrimination as well as all other covariates. Exposure to racial/ethnic discrimination across the life course is associated with elevated ABP in middle to older aged Black and Latino(a) adults. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms linking discrimination to ABP over the life course. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Borderline but not antisocial personality disorder symptoms are related to self-reported partner aggression in late middle-age.

PubMed

Weinstein, Yana; Gleason, Marci E J; Oltmanns, Thomas F

2012-08-01

We examined the relationship between personality pathology and the frequency of self-reported psychological and physical partner aggression in a community sample of 872 adults aged 55-64. Previous research suggests that antisocial and borderline personality disorder (PD) symptoms are associated with partner aggression. Controlling for gender, education, alcohol dependence, and other personality pathology, we found that borderline PD symptoms, which include abandonment fears, unstable identity, and affective instability, were significantly related to the frequency of self-reported aggression toward one's partner. This relationship was observed regardless of whether the participant's personality was described by a clinical interviewer, the participant themselves, or an informant chosen by the participant. Further, the relationship between borderline PD symptoms and self-reported partner aggression was moderated by gender such that women were driving the association. Conversely, antisocial PD symptoms, which include deceitfulness, irresponsibility, disregard for rules, and lack of remorse did not significantly account for variance in self-reported partner aggression. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Prospective memory and aging: evidence for preserved spontaneous retrieval with exact but not related cues.

PubMed

Mullet, Hillary G; Scullin, Michael K; Hess, Theodore J; Scullin, Rachel B; Arnold, Kathleen M; Einstein, Gilles O

2013-12-01

We examined whether normal aging spares or compromises cue-driven spontaneous retrieval processes that support prospective remembering. In Experiment 1, young and older adults performed prospective-memory tasks that required either strategic monitoring processes for retrieval (nonfocal) or for which participants relied on spontaneous retrieval processes (focal). We found age differences for nonfocal, but not focal, prospective-memory performance. Experiments 2 and 3 used an intention-interference paradigm in which participants were asked to perform a prospective-memory task (e.g., press "Q" when the word money appears) in the context of an image-rating task and were then told to suspend their prospective-memory intention until after completing an intervening lexical-decision task. During the lexical-decision task, we presented the exact prospective-memory cue (e.g., money; Experiments 2 and 3) or a semantically related lure (e.g., wallet; Experiment 3), and we inferred spontaneous retrieval from slowed lexical-decision responses to these items relative to matched control items. Young and older adults showed significant slowing when the exact prospective-memory cue was presented. Only young adults, however, showed significant slowing to the semantically related lure items. Collectively, these results partially support the multiprocess theory prediction that aging spares spontaneous retrieval processes. Spontaneous retrieval processes may become less sensitive with aging, such that older adults are less likely to respond to cues that do not exactly match their encoded targets. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Age, stress, and emotional complexity: results from two studies of daily experiences.

PubMed

Scott, Stacey B; Sliwinski, Martin J; Mogle, Jacqueline A; Almeida, David M

2014-09-01

Experiencing positive and negative emotions together (i.e., co-occurrence) has been described as a marker of positive adaptation during stress and a strength of socioemotional aging. Using data from daily diary (N = 2,022; ages 33-84) and ecological momentary assessment (N = 190; ages 20-80) studies, we evaluate the utility of a common operationalization of co-occurrence, the within-person correlation between positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA). Then we test competing predictions regarding when co-occurrence will be observed and whether age differences will be present. Results indicate that the correlation is not an informative indicator of co-occurrence. Although correlations were stronger and more negative when stressors occurred (typically interpreted as lower co-occurrence), objective counts of emotion reports indicated that positive and negative emotions were 3 to 4 times more likely to co-occur when stressors were reported. This suggests that co-occurrence reflects the extent to which negative emotions intrude on typically positive emotional states, rather than the extent to which people maintain positive emotions during stress. The variances of both PA and NA increased at stressor reports, indicating that individuals reported a broader not narrower range of emotion during stress. Finally, older age was associated with less variability in NA and a lower likelihood of co-occurring positive and negative emotions. In sum, these findings cast doubt on the utility of the PA-NA correlation as an index of emotional co-occurrence, and question notion that greater emotional co-occurrence represents either a typical or adaptive emotional state in adults. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Cyber-Bullying in School Settings: A Research Citation Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piotrowski, Chris

2011-01-01

Research on the topic of cyber-bullying has proliferated over the past decade, particularly on its impact on school-aged children. Thus, it would be of interest to examine the scope and extent of research interest in the topic in scholarly publications. This paper reports on a reference citation analysis of the database PsycINFO, using…

Age-related differences in emotion regulation strategies: Examining the role of contextual factors.

PubMed

Schirda, Brittney; Valentine, Thomas R; Aldao, Amelia; Prakash, Ruchika Shaurya

2016-09-01

Increasing age is characterized by greater positive affective states. However, there is mixed evidence on the implementation of emotion regulation strategies across the life span. To clarify the discrepancies in the literature, we examined the modulating influence of contextual factors in understanding emotion regulation strategy use in older and young adults. Forty-eight older adults and forty-nine young adults completed a retrospective survey inquiring about the use of emotion regulation strategies in emotion-eliciting situations experienced over the preceding 2 weeks. We used factor analysis to establish clusters of emotion regulation strategies, resulting in cognitive strategies, acceptance, and maladaptive strategies. Overall, we found context-dependent age-related differences in emotion regulation strategy use. Specifically, older adults reported greater use of acceptance than young adults in situations of moderate intensity and in situations that evoke anxiety and sadness. In addition, older adults reported using maladaptive strategies to a lesser extent in high- and moderate-intensity situations and in situations that elicit anxiety and sadness when compared with young adults. There were no age-related differences in the use of cognitive strategies across contexts. Older adults, compared to young adults, reported less use of maladaptive strategies and greater use of acceptance than young adults, which suggests that the enhanced emotional functioning observed later in life may be due to a shift in strategy implementation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Future time perspective and awareness of age-related change: Examining their role in predicting psychological well-being.

PubMed

Brothers, Allyson; Gabrian, Martina; Wahl, Hans-Werner; Diehl, Manfred

2016-09-01

This study examined how 2 distinct facets of perceived personal lifetime-future time perspective (FTP) and awareness of age-related change (AARC)-are associated with another, and how they may interact to predict psychological well-being. To better understand associations among subjective perceptions of lifetime, aging, and well-being, we tested a series of models to investigate questions of directionality, indirect effects, and conditional processes among FTP, AARC-Gains, AARC-Losses, and psychological well-being. In all models, we tested for differences between middle-aged and older adults, and between adults from the United States and Germany. Analyses were conducted within a structural equation modeling framework on a cross-national, 2.5-year longitudinal sample of 537 community-residing adults (age 40-98 years). Awareness of age-related losses (AARC-Losses) at Time 1 predicted FTP at Time 2, but FTP did not predict AARC-Gains or AARC-Losses. Furthermore, future time perspective mediated the association between AARC-Losses and well-being. Moderation analyses revealed a buffering effect of awareness of age-related gains (AARC-Gains) in which perceptions of more age-related gains diminished the negative effect of a limited future time perspective on well-being. Effects were robust across age groups and countries. Taken together, these findings suggest that perceived age-related loss experiences may sensitize individuals to perceive a more limited future lifetime which may then lead to lower psychological well-being. In contrast, perceived age-related gains may function as a resource to preserve psychological well-being, in particular when time is perceived as running out. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Neighborhood disadvantage as a moderator of the association between harsh parenting and toddler-aged children's internalizing and externalizing problems.

PubMed

Callahan, Kristin L; Scaramella, Laura V; Laird, Robert D; Sohr-Preston, Sara L

2011-02-01

Neighborhood dangerousness and belongingness were expected to moderate associations between harsh parenting and toddler-age children's problem behaviors. Fifty-five predominantly African American mothers participated with their 2-year old children. Neighborhood danger, neighborhood belongingness, and children's problem behaviors were measured with mothers' reports. Harsh parenting was measured with observer ratings. Analyses considered variance common to externalizing and internalizing problems, using a total problems score, and unique variance, by controlling for internalizing behavior when predicting externalizing behavior, and vice versa. Regarding the common variance, only the main effects of neighborhood danger and harsh parenting were significantly associated with total problem behavior. In contrast, after controlling for externalizing problems, the positive association between harsh parenting and unique variance in internalizing problems became stronger as neighborhood danger increased. No statistically significant associations emerged for the models predicting the unique variance in externalizing problems or models considering neighborhood belongingness. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved.

Age Differences in Selective Memory of Goal-Relevant Stimuli Under Threat.

PubMed

Durbin, Kelly A; Clewett, David; Huang, Ringo; Mather, Mara

2018-02-01

When faced with threat, people often selectively focus on and remember the most pertinent information while simultaneously ignoring any irrelevant information. Filtering distractors under arousal requires inhibitory mechanisms, which take time to recruit and often decline in older age. Despite the adaptive nature of this ability, relatively little research has examined how both threat and time spent preparing these inhibitory mechanisms affect selective memory for goal-relevant information across the life span. In this study, 32 younger and 31 older adults were asked to encode task-relevant scenes, while ignoring transparent task-irrelevant objects superimposed onto them. Threat levels were increased on some trials by threatening participants with monetary deductions if they later forgot scenes that followed threat cues. We also varied the time between threat induction and a to-be-encoded scene (i.e., 2 s, 4 s, 6 s) to determine whether both threat and timing effects on memory selectivity differ by age. We found that age differences in memory selectivity only emerged after participants spent a long time (i.e., 6 s) preparing for selective encoding. Critically, this time-dependent age difference occurred under threatening, but not neutral, conditions. Under threat, longer preparation time led to enhanced memory for task-relevant scenes and greater memory suppression of task-irrelevant objects in younger adults. In contrast, increased preparation time after threat induction had no effect on older adults' scene memory and actually worsened memory suppression of task-irrelevant objects. These findings suggest that increased time to prepare top-down encoding processes benefits younger, but not older, adults' selective memory for goal-relevant information under threat. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Trend in otolaryngological surgeries in an era of super-aging: Descriptive statistics using a Japanese inpatient database.

PubMed

Suzuki, Sayaka; Yasunaga, Hideo; Matsui, Hiroki; Fushimi, Kiyohide; Yamasoba, Tatsuya

2018-03-27

To reveal the age distribution and capture the longitudinal trend in otolaryngological surgeries performed in Japan, where society is rapidly aging. Using the Diagnosis Procedure Combination database, we extracted data on patients who were hospitalized and underwent any type of otolaryngological surgery in departments of otolaryngology or head and neck surgery from fiscal year 2007 to fiscal year 2013. Type of surgery, patient's age, and fiscal year were compared. We categorized >200 types of surgeries into eight specialties: ear surgery, functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS), other types of paranasal surgery (except for malignancy), head and neck cancer surgery, benign tumor surgery, upper airway surgery (including pharynx and larynx), removal of foreign body, and other. In total, 558,732 patients were included. The proportions of patients in each age category formed two peaks in middle age and in children aged ≤9years. The proportion of all surgeries made up by FESS, other paranasal surgery, benign tumor surgery, and head and neck cancer surgery gradually increased with age, forming a peak in patients in their 60s. The proportion of ear surgery was highest in patients aged ≤9years (34.0% of all surgeries, mostly myringotomy and transtympanic ventilation tube insertion) and formed a gradual peak in patients in their 60s (mostly tympanoplasty). The proportion of upper airway surgery (tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy) was highest in patients aged ≤9years (25.3% of all surgeries). The proportion of foreign body removal was highest in patients aged ≤9years (52.2% of all surgeries) and increased slightly with age. In 2013, compared with 2007, those aged 65-74 years and ≥75years made up a larger percentage of patients undergoing each specific surgery, including tympanoplasty, stapedectomy/stapedotomy, FESS, head and neck cancer surgery, pharyngolaryngectomy, total/subtotal glossectomy, thyroid lobectomy, parotidectomy (for a benign tumor), submandibular

The relation between the bifactor model of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory and conduct problems in adolescence: Variations across gender, ethnic background, and age.

PubMed

Zwaanswijk, Wendy; Veen, Violaine C; van Geel, Mitch; Andershed, Henrik; Vedder, Paul

2017-08-01

The current study examines how the bifactor model of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) is related to conduct problems in a sample of Dutch adolescents (N = 2,874; 43% female). It addresses to what extent the YPI dimensions explain variance over and above a General Psychopathy factor (i.e., one factor related to all items) and how the general factor and dimensional factors are related to conduct problems. Group differences in these relations for gender, ethnic background, and age were examined. Results showed that the general factor is most important, but dimensions explain variance over and above the general factor. The general factor, and Affective and Lifestyle dimensions, of the YPI were positively related to conduct problems, whereas the Interpersonal dimension was not, after taking the general factor into account. However, across gender, ethnic background, and age, different dimensions were related to conduct problems over and above the general factor. This suggests that all 3 dimensions should be assessed when examining the psychopathy construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Brain volume change and cognitive trajectories in aging.

PubMed

Fletcher, Evan; Gavett, Brandon; Harvey, Danielle; Farias, Sarah Tomaszewski; Olichney, John; Beckett, Laurel; DeCarli, Charles; Mungas, Dan

2018-05-01

Examine how longitudinal cognitive trajectories relate to brain baseline measures and change in lobar volumes in a racially/ethnically and cognitively diverse sample of older adults. Participants were 460 older adults enrolled in a longitudinal aging study. Cognitive outcomes were measures of episodic memory, semantic memory, executive function, and spatial ability derived from the Spanish and English Neuropsychological Assessment Scales (SENAS). Latent variable multilevel modeling of the four cognitive outcomes as parallel longitudinal processes identified intercepts for each outcome and a second order global change factor explaining covariance among the highly correlated slopes. We examined how baseline brain volumes (lobar gray matter, hippocampus, and white matter hyperintensity) and change in brain volumes (lobar gray matter) were associated with cognitive intercepts and global cognitive change. Lobar volumes were dissociated into global and specific components using latent variable methods. Cognitive change was most strongly associated with brain gray matter volume change, with strong independent effects of global gray matter change and specific temporal lobe gray matter change. Baseline white matter hyperintensity and hippocampal volumes had significant incremental effects on cognitive decline beyond gray matter change. Baseline lobar gray matter was related to cognitive decline, but did not contribute beyond gray matter change. Cognitive decline was strongly influenced by gray matter volume change and, especially, temporal lobe change. The strong influence of temporal lobe gray matter change on cognitive decline may reflect involvement of temporal lobe structures that are critical for late life cognitive health but also are vulnerable to diseases of aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

The Human Communication Research Centre dialogue database.

PubMed

Anderson, A H; Garrod, S C; Clark, A; Boyle, E; Mullin, J

1992-10-01

The HCRC dialogue database consists of over 700 transcribed and coded dialogues from pairs of speakers aged from seven to fourteen. The speakers are recorded while tackling co-operative problem-solving tasks and the same pairs of speakers are recorded over two years tackling 10 different versions of our two tasks. In addition there are over 200 dialogues recorded between pairs of undergraduate speakers engaged on versions of the same tasks. Access to the database, and to its accompanying custom-built search software, is available electronically over the JANET system by contacting liz@psy.glasgow.ac.uk, from whom further information about the database and a user's guide to the database can be obtained.

Age 60 rule research, part I : bibliographic database.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1994-10-01

This document is one of four products completed as a part of the Age 60 Rule research contract monitored by Pam Della Rocco, Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. As part of their research contract with the FAA to study issues related to the "Age 60 Rul...

Ecologically relevant episodic memory assessment indicates an attenuated age-related memory loss - A virtual reality study.

PubMed

Pflueger, Marlon O; Stieglitz, Rolf-Dieter; Lemoine, Patrick; Leyhe, Thomas

2018-06-07

Since the advent of imaging techniques, the role of the neuropsychological assessment has changed. Questions concerning everyday functionality became primarily important and, thus, ecologically valid neuropsychological assessments are mandatory. Virtual reality (VR) environments might provide a way of implementing immersive cognitive assessments with a higher degree of everyday-life-related cognitive demands. We report on a VR-based episodic memory examination in N = 30 young and N = 18 healthy older adults (HOA) using a kitchen scene. The test procedure was designed to be structurally comparable to clinically used California Verbal Learning Test (CVLT) in terms of repeated learning trials as well as short and long delayed recall measures. The results showed that age-related learning and performance decrements were mainly evident in the CVLT but not in the VR-memory examination. The ecologically valid VR-memory examination might provide a more accurate "age-fair" estimation of everyday-life-related memory demands in HOA than the frequently and clinically used CVLT. We concluded this from our finding of context-related automatic and effortless activations of deeply experience based encoding and retrieval strategies with regard to everyday-life-related objects in the HOA, which might not be paralleled by learning arbitrary word associations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

No age deficits in the ability to use attention to improve visual working memory.

PubMed

Souza, Alessandra S

2016-08-01

Maintenance of information in mind to the moment-to-moment cognition is accomplished by working memory (WM). WM capacity is reduced in old age, but the nature of this decline is yet not clear. The current study examined the hypothesis that the decline in visual WM performance with age is related to a reduced ability to use attention to control the contents of WM. Young (M = 26 years) and old (M = 71 years) adults performed a color reproduction task in which the precise color of a set of dots had to be maintained in mind over a brief interval and later reproduced using a continuous color wheel. Attention was manipulated by presenting a spatial cue before the onset of the memory array (a precue) or during the maintenance phase (retro-cue). The cue indicated with 100% certainty the item to be tested at the end of the trial. A precue allows the selective encoding of only the relevant item to WM, whereas a retro-cue allows WM contents to be updated by refreshing the relevant (cued) item and removing nonrelevant (noncued) items. Aging was associated with a lower capacity in the baseline (no-cue) condition. Precues and (to a smaller extent) retro-cues improved WM performance (in terms of probability of recall and memory precision). Critically, the benefits of cueing were of similar magnitude in young and older adults showing that the ability to use attention to selectively encode and update the contents of WM is preserved with aging. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

In the ear of the beholder: how age shapes emotion processing in nonverbal vocalizations.

PubMed

Lima, César F; Alves, Tiago; Scott, Sophie K; Castro, São Luís

2014-02-01

It is well established that emotion recognition of facial expressions declines with age, but evidence for age-related differences in vocal emotions is more limited. This is especially true for nonverbal vocalizations such as laughter, sobs, or sighs. In this study, 43 younger adults (M = 22 years) and 43 older ones (M = 61.4 years) provided multiple emotion ratings of nonverbal emotional vocalizations. Contrasting with previous research, which often includes only one positive emotion (happiness) versus several negative ones, we examined 4 positive and 4 negative emotions: achievement/triumph, amusement, pleasure, relief, anger, disgust, fear, and sadness. We controlled for hearing loss and assessed general cognitive decline, cognitive control, verbal intelligence, working memory, current affect, emotion regulation, and personality. Older adults were less sensitive than younger ones to the intended vocal emotions, as indicated by decrements in ratings on the intended emotion scales and accuracy. These effects were similar for positive and negative emotions, and they were independent of age-related differences in cognitive, affective, and personality measures. Regression analyses revealed that younger and older participants' responses could be predicted from the acoustic properties of the temporal, intensity, fundamental frequency, and spectral profile of the vocalizations. The two groups were similarly efficient in using the acoustic cues, but there were differences in the patterns of emotion-specific predictors. This study suggests that ageing produces specific changes on the processing of nonverbal vocalizations. That decrements were not attenuated for positive emotions indicates that they cannot be explained by a positivity effect in older adults. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Age differences in emotional responses to daily stress: the role of timing, severity, and global perceived stress.

PubMed

Scott, Stacey B; Sliwinski, Martin J; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2013-12-01

Research on age differences in emotional responses to daily stress has produced inconsistent findings. Guided by recent theoretical advances in aging theory (S. T. Charles, 2010, Strength and vulnerability integration: A model of emotional well-being across adulthood, Psychological Bulletin, Vol. 136, pp. 1068-1091) that emphasize the importance of context for predicting when and how age is related to affective well-being, the current study examined age differences in emotional responses to everyday stressors. The present study examined how three contextual features (e.g., timing of exposure, stressor severity, global perceived stress [GPS]) moderate age differences in emotional experience in an ecological momentary assessment study of adults (N = 190) aged 18-81 years. Results indicated that older adults' negative affect (NA) was less affected by exposure to recent stressors than younger adults, but that there were no age differences in the effects of stressor exposure 3-6 hr afterward. Higher levels of GPS predicted amplified NA responses to daily stress, and controlling for GPS eliminated age differences in NA responses to stressors. No age differences in NA responses as a function of stressor severity were observed. In contrast, older age was associated with less of a decrease in PA when exposed to recent stressors or with more severe recent stressors. There were no age differences in the effect of previous stressor exposure or severity on PA, or any interactions between momentary or previous stress and GPS on PA. Together, these results support the notion that chronic stress plays a central role in emotional experience in daily life. We discuss the implications of these results for emotion theories of aging. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

The effects of aging on the interaction between reinforcement learning and attention.

PubMed

Radulescu, Angela; Daniel, Reka; Niv, Yael

2016-11-01

Reinforcement learning (RL) in complex environments relies on selective attention to uncover those aspects of the environment that are most predictive of reward. Whereas previous work has focused on age-related changes in RL, it is not known whether older adults learn differently from younger adults when selective attention is required. In 2 experiments, we examined how aging affects the interaction between RL and selective attention. Younger and older adults performed a learning task in which only 1 stimulus dimension was relevant to predicting reward, and within it, 1 "target" feature was the most rewarding. Participants had to discover this target feature through trial and error. In Experiment 1, stimuli varied on 1 or 3 dimensions and participants received hints that revealed the target feature, the relevant dimension, or gave no information. Group-related differences in accuracy and RTs differed systematically as a function of the number of dimensions and the type of hint available. In Experiment 2 we used trial-by-trial computational modeling of the learning process to test for age-related differences in learning strategies. Behavior of both young and older adults was explained well by a reinforcement-learning model that uses selective attention to constrain learning. However, the model suggested that older adults restricted their learning to fewer features, employing more focused attention than younger adults. Furthermore, this difference in strategy predicted age-related deficits in accuracy. We discuss these results suggesting that a narrower filter of attention may reflect an adaptation to the reduced capabilities of the reinforcement learning system. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Gender and age interact to predict the development of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms following a motor vehicle accident.

PubMed

Kobayashi, Ihori; Sledjeski, Eve M; Delahanty, Douglas L

2018-02-15

Women have a greater overall risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men after exposure to trauma. In addition to gender, other sociodemographic factors have been identified as risk factors for PTSD; however, research has typically examined these factors separately. Age has been found to contribute to the development of psychiatric disorders, and both linear and curvilinear relationships have been reported between age and risk of developing PTSD. Recent research has suggested that this relationship may vary depending on gender. We performed a secondary analysis of data from a prospective study of 287 (164 men, 123 women) motor vehicle accident (MVA) patients (aged 18-81) who completed clinical interviews 6 weeks, 6 months, and/or 1 year after an MVA. Overall, women developed more severe PTSD symptoms than men; however, gender differences were small in the young (18-24 years) and the old (55 and older) groups. In women, age was not associated with PTSD symptoms at 6 weeks and 6 months; however, age was curvilinearly associated with PTSD severity at 1-year post-MVA such that middle-aged women reported greater symptom severity than younger and older women. Prior trauma exposure and social support mediated this relationship. In men, PTSD severity was not associated with age, but was related to income and social support. These findings highlight age-based subgroups of women at elevated risk for PTSD following a traumatic injury and suggest that psychosocial intervention with middle-aged women following trauma exposure may help reduce the risk of persistent PTSD symptoms. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Early language mediates the relations between preschool inattention and school-age reading achievement.

PubMed

O'Neill, Sarah; Thornton, Veronica; Marks, David J; Rajendran, Khushmand; Halperin, Jeffrey M

2016-05-01

Early inattention is associated with later reading problems in children, but the mechanism by which this occurs is unclear. We investigated whether the negative relation between preschoolers' ADHD symptoms and 8-year-old reading achievement is directly related to the severity of inattention or is mediated by early language skills. Children (n = 150; 76% boys) were evaluated at 3 time points: preschool (T1), mean (SD) age = 4.24 (.49) years; 1 year later (T2), mean (SD) age = 5.28 (.50) years; and during school age (T3), mean (SD) age = 8.61 (.31) years. At T1, parents' Kiddie-SADS responses were dimensionalized to reflect ADHD severity. Children completed the Language domain of the NEPSY (i.e., A Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment) at T1 and again at T2. At T3, children completed the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test, Second Edition Word Reading, Pseudoword Decoding, Reading Comprehension, and Spelling subtests, and their teachers completed ratings of Reading and Written Expression performance in school. The mediating effect of T2 Language on the relation between preschool Inattention and age 8 Reading was examined using the nonparametric bootstrapping procedure, while controlling for T1 Language. Language ability at T2 mediated the path from preschool inattention (but not hyperactivity/impulsivity) to 8-year-old reading achievement (both test scores and ratings) after controlling for preschoolers' language ability. Early attentional deficits may negatively impact school-age reading outcomes by compromising the development of language skills, which in turn imperils later reading achievement. Screening children with attentional problems for language impairment, as well as implementing early intervention for both attentional and language problems may be critical to promote reading achievement during school years. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Great Basin paleontological database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zhang, N.; Blodgett, R.B.; Hofstra, A.H.

2008-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey has constructed a paleontological database for the Great Basin physiographic province that can be served over the World Wide Web for data entry, queries, displays, and retrievals. It is similar to the web-database solution that we constructed for Alaskan paleontological data (www.alaskafossil.org). The first phase of this effort was to compile a paleontological bibliography for Nevada and portions of adjacent states in the Great Basin that has recently been completed. In addition, we are also compiling paleontological reports (Known as E&R reports) of the U.S. Geological Survey, which are another extensive source of l,egacy data for this region. Initial population of the database benefited from a recently published conodont data set and is otherwise focused on Devonian and Mississippian localities because strata of this age host important sedimentary exhalative (sedex) Au, Zn, and barite resources and enormons Carlin-type An deposits. In addition, these strata are the most important petroleum source rocks in the region, and record the transition from extension to contraction associated with the Antler orogeny, the Alamo meteorite impact, and biotic crises associated with global oceanic anoxic events. The finished product will provide an invaluable tool for future geologic mapping, paleontological research, and mineral resource investigations in the Great Basin, making paleontological data acquired over nearly the past 150 yr readily available over the World Wide Web. A description of the structure of the database and the web interface developed for this effort are provided herein. This database is being used ws a model for a National Paleontological Database (which we am currently developing for the U.S. Geological Survey) as well as for other paleontological databases now being developed in other parts of the globe. ?? 2008 Geological Society of America.

Salient measures of inhibition and switching are associated with frontal lobe gray matter volume in healthy middle-aged and older adults.

PubMed

Adólfsdóttir, Steinunn; Haász, Judit; Wehling, Eike; Ystad, Martin; Lundervold, Arvid; Lundervold, Astri J

2014-11-01

To investigate brain-behavior relationships between morphometric brain measures and salient executive function (EF) measures of inhibition and switching. One hundred participants (49-80 years) performed the Color Word Interference Test from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS). Salient measures of EF components of inhibition and switching, of which the effect of more fundamental skills were regressed out, were analyzed using linear models and a conditional inference trees analysis taking intercorrelations between predictor variables (brain volumes, age, gender, and education) into account. The conditional inference trees analysis demonstrated a primary role of the middle frontal gyrus (MFG) in explaining variations in the salient EF measure of switching and combined inhibition/switching. Age predicted measures of inhibition. The study highlights the importance of considering fundamental cognitive skills and the use of a statistical method taking possible complex relationships between predictor variables into account when interpreting standard EF test results. Further studies should include MRI measures representing neural networks that may relate to CWIT performance, and longitudinal studies are required to investigate any causal relationships. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Adult age differences in wrap-up during sentence comprehension: evidence from ex-Gaussian distributional analyses of reading time.

PubMed

Payne, Brennan R; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2014-06-01

We report a secondary data analysis investigating age differences in the effects of clause and sentence wrap-up on reading time distributions during sentence comprehension. Residual word-by-word self-paced reading times were fit to the ex-Gaussian distribution to examine age differences in the effects of clause and sentence wrap-up on both the location and shape of participants' reaction time (RT) distributions. The ex-Gaussian distribution showed good fit to the data in both younger and older adults. Sentence wrap-up increased the central tendency, the variability, and the tail of the distribution, and these effects were exaggerated among the old. In contrast, clause wrap-up influenced the tail of the distribution only, and did so differentially for older adults. Effects were confirmed via nonparametric vincentile plots. Individual differences in visual acuity, working memory, speed of processing, and verbal ability were differentially related to ex-Gaussian parameters reflecting wrap-up effects on underlying reading time distributions. These findings argue against simple pause mechanisms to explain end-of-clause and end-of-sentence reading time patterns; rather, the findings are consistent with a cognitively effortful view of wrap-up and suggest that age and individual differences in attentional allocation to semantic integration during reading, as revealed by RT distribution analyses, play an important role in sentence understanding. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Practice makes it better: A psychophysical study of visual perceptual learning and its transfer effects on aging.

PubMed

Li, Xuan; Allen, Philip A; Lien, Mei-Ching; Yamamoto, Naohide

2017-02-01

Previous studies on perceptual learning, acquiring a new skill through practice, appear to stimulate brain plasticity and enhance performance (Fiorentini & Berardi, 1981). The present study aimed to determine (a) whether perceptual learning can be used to compensate for age-related declines in perceptual abilities, and (b) whether the effect of perceptual learning can be transferred to untrained stimuli and subsequently improve capacity of visual working memory (VWM). We tested both healthy younger and older adults in a 3-day training session using an orientation discrimination task. A matching-to-sample psychophysical method was used to measure improvements in orientation discrimination thresholds and reaction times (RTs). Results showed that both younger and older adults improved discrimination thresholds and RTs with similar learning rates and magnitudes. Furthermore, older adults exhibited a generalization of improvements to 3 untrained orientations that were close to the training orientation and benefited more compared with younger adults from the perceptual learning as they transferred learning effects to the VWM performance. We conclude that through perceptual learning, older adults can partially counteract age-related perceptual declines, generalize the learning effect to other stimulus conditions, and further overcome the limitation of using VWM capacity to perform a perceptual task. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-related differences in altruism across adulthood: making personal financial gain versus contributing to the public good.

PubMed

Freund, Alexandra M; Blanchard-Fields, Fredda

2014-04-01

Four studies utilizing different methodological approaches investigated adult age-related differences in altruism (i.e., contributions to the public good) and the self-centered value of increasing personal wealth. In Study 1, data from the World Values Survey (World Values Survey Association, 2009) provided 1st evidence of a negative association between age and the self-reported wish to be rich. Ecological concerns, a form of contributing to the public good, were positively related to age. Study 2 investigated whether these values are expressed behaviorally when participants solved a complex problem that allowed striving for monetary gains or contributing to a public good. Confirming hypotheses, young adults' strategies were consistent with the aim of optimizing personal financial gain, and older adults' strategies with the aim to contribute to the public good. Studies 3 and 4 showed that older adults were more likely than younger and middle-aged adults to donate money to a good cause than to keep it for themselves. Study 4 manipulated participants' future time perspective as a factor potentially contributing to age-related differences. Partly confirming hypotheses, a longer time perspective reduced donations by older adults, but a shorter time perspective did not increase donations by younger adults. These studies suggest that older adults not only report valuing contributions to the public good more highly but also are more likely to behave altruistically than younger adults. All studies used cross-sectional designs that prevent a strict test of developmental trajectories but rather provide age-related differences at 1 point in time, representing a 1st step in investigating adult age-related differences in altruism. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Age and education corrected older adult normative data for a short form version of the Financial Capacity Instrument.

PubMed

Gerstenecker, Adam; Eakin, Amanda; Triebel, Kristen; Martin, Roy; Swenson-Dravis, Dana; Petersen, Ronald C; Marson, Daniel

2016-06-01

Financial capacity is an instrumental activity of daily living (IADL) that comprises multiple abilities and is critical to independence and autonomy in older adults. Because of its cognitive complexity, financial capacity is often the first IADL to show decline in prodromal and clinical Alzheimer's disease and related disorders. Despite its importance, few standardized assessment measures of financial capacity exist and there is little, if any, normative data available to evaluate financial skills in the elderly. The Financial Capacity Instrument-Short Form (FCI-SF) is a brief measure of financial skills designed to evaluate financial skills in older adults with cognitive impairment. In the current study, we present age- and education-adjusted normative data for FCI-SF variables in a sample of 1344 cognitively normal, community-dwelling older adults participating in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging (MCSA) in Olmsted County, Minnesota. Individual FCI-SF raw scores were first converted to age-corrected scaled scores based on position within a cumulative frequency distribution and then grouped within 4 empirically supported and overlapping age ranges. These age-corrected scaled scores were then converted to age- and education-corrected scaled scores using the same methodology. This study has the potential to substantially enhance financial capacity evaluations of older adults through the introduction of age- and education-corrected normative data for the FCI-SF by allowing clinicians to: (a) compare an individual's performance to that of a sample of similar age and education peers, (b) interpret various aspects of financial capacity relative to a normative sample, and (c) make comparisons between these aspects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The effects of context on processing words during sentence reading among adults varying in age and literacy skill.

PubMed

Steen-Baker, Allison A; Ng, Shukhan; Payne, Brennan R; Anderson, Carolyn J; Federmeier, Kara D; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2017-08-01

The facilitation of word processing by sentence context reflects the interaction between the build-up of message-level semantics and lexical processing. Yet, little is known about how this effect varies through adulthood as a function of reading skill. In this study, Participants 18-64 years old with a range of literacy competence read simple sentences as their eye movements were monitored. We manipulated the predictability of a sentence-final target word, operationalized as cloze probability. First fixation durations showed an interaction between age and literacy skill, decreasing with age among more skilled readers but increasing among less skilled readers. This pattern suggests that age-related slowing may impact reading when not buffered by skill, but with continued practice, automatization of reading can continue to develop in adulthood. In absolute terms, readers were sensitive to predictability, regardless of age or literacy, in both early and later measures. Older readers showed differential contextual sensitivity in regression patterns, effects not moderated by literacy skill. Finally, comprehension performance increased with age and literacy skill, but performance among less skilled readers was especially reduced when predictability was low, suggesting that low-literacy adults (regardless of age) struggle when creating mental representations under weaker semantic constraints. Collectively, these findings suggest that aging readers (regardless of reading skill) are more sensitive to context for meaning-integration processes; that less skilled adult readers (regardless of age) depend more on a constrained semantic representation for comprehension; and that the capacity for literacy engagement enables continued development of efficient lexical processing in adult reading development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Systematic review of self-concept measures for primary school aged children with cerebral palsy.

PubMed

Cheong, Sau Kuan; Johnston, Leanne M

2013-10-01

This study involved a systematic review aimed to identify self-concept measures that provided published psychometrics for primary school aged children (8-12 years) with cerebral palsy (CP). Six electronic databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and Web of Science) were searched to identify assessments that (1) measured self-concept; (2) in children aged 8-12 years; (3) with CP; (4) with psychometrics available. The Consensus-based Standards for the Selection of Health Measurement Instruments (COSMIN) checklist was used to evaluate psychometric properties and the CanChild Outcome Measure Rating Form was used to evaluate clinical utility. Search yielded 271 papers, of which five met inclusion criteria. These papers reported five measures of self-concept with psychometric properties for the target population: the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Index, Self-Description Questionnaire-I, Self-Perception Profile for Children (original) and two separate modifications of the Self-Perception Profile for Children. Currently, no self-concept measures published in English had sufficient psychometric data for children with CP. The Self-Description Questionnaire-I and the Self-Perception Profile for Children were promising options. Further research is required (a) to determine self-concept construct components important for children with CP and (b) to examine the relative strength, validity, reliability and clinical utility of self-concept measures for the target population. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Individual differences in loss aversion and preferences for skewed risks across adulthood.

PubMed

Seaman, Kendra L; Green, Mikella A; Shu, Stephen; Samanez-Larkin, Gregory R

2018-06-01

In a previous study, we found adult age differences in the tendency to accept more positively skewed gambles (with a small chance of a large win) than other equivalent risks, or an age-related positive-skew bias. In the present study, we examined whether loss aversion explained this bias. A total of 508 healthy participants (ages 21-82) completed measures of loss aversion and skew preference. Age was not related to loss aversion. Although loss aversion was a significant predictor of gamble acceptance, it did not influence the age-related positive-skew bias. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Nationwide real-world database of 20,462 patients enrolled in the Japanese Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (JAMIR): Impact of emergency coronary intervention in a super-aging population.

PubMed

Kojima, Sunao; Nishihira, Kensaku; Takegami, Misa; Nakao, Yoko M; Honda, Satoshi; Takahashi, Jun; Takayama, Morimasa; Shimokawa, Hiroaki; Sumiyoshi, Tetsuya; Ogawa, Hisao; Kimura, Kazuo; Yasuda, Satoshi

2018-09-01

Cardiovascular diseases, including acute myocardial infarction (AMI), are leading causes of death among the Japanese, who have the longest life expectancy in the world. Over the past 50 years in Japan, the percentage of elderly individuals has increased 4-fold, from 5.7% in 1960 to 23.1% in 2010. To explore medical practices and emergency care for AMI in this aging society, the Japan Acute Myocardial Infarction Registry (JAMIR) was established as a nationwide real-world database. JAMIR conducted retrospective analysis of 20,462 AMI patients (mean age, 68.8 ± 13.3 years; 15,281 men [74.7%]) hospitalized between January 2011 and December 2013. The rates of ambulance use and emergency PCI were 78.9% and 87.9%, respectively. The median door-to-balloon time was 80 min (interquartile range, 53-143 min). Overall in-hospital mortality was 8.3%, including 6.6% due to cardiac death. JAMIR included 4837 patients aged ≥80 years (23.6%). In this age group, patients who underwent PCI (79.9%) had significantly lower in-hospital mortality than those who did not (11.1% vs. 36.9%, P  < 0.001). The large JAMIR database, with 24% of AMI patients aged ≥80 years, could provide useful information about medical care in an aging society. The reasonable in-hospital outcomes observed may justify consideration of PCI for patients with AMI aged ≥80 years.

The role of aging in intra-item and item-context binding processes in visual working memory.

PubMed

Peterson, Dwight J; Naveh-Benjamin, Moshe

2016-11-01

Aging is accompanied by declines in both working memory and long-term episodic memory processes. Specifically, important age-related memory deficits are characterized by performance impairments exhibited by older relative to younger adults when binding distinct components into a single integrated representation, despite relatively intact memory for the individual components. While robust patterns of age-related binding deficits are prevalent in studies of long-term episodic memory, observations of such deficits in visual working memory (VWM) may depend on the specific type of binding process being examined. For instance, a number of studies indicate that processes involved in item-context binding of items to occupied spatial locations within visual working memory are impaired in older relative to younger adults. Other findings suggest that intra-item binding of visual surface features (e.g., color, shape), compared to memory for single features, within visual working memory, remains relatively intact. Here, we examined each of these binding processes in younger and older adults under both optimal conditions (i.e., no concurrent load) and concurrent load (e.g., articulatory suppression, backward counting). Experiment 1 revealed an age-related intra-item binding deficit for surface features under no concurrent load but not when articulatory suppression was required. In contrast, in Experiments 2 and 3, we observed an age-related item-context binding deficit regardless of the level of concurrent load. These findings reveal that the influence of concurrent load on distinct binding processes within VWM, potentially those supported by rehearsal, is an important factor mediating the presence or absence of age-related binding deficits within VWM. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-related impairment on a forced-choice version of the Mnemonic Similarity Task.

PubMed

Huffman, Derek J; Stark, Craig E L

2017-02-01

Previous studies from our lab have indicated that healthy older adults are impaired in their ability to mnemonically discriminate between previously viewed objects and similar lure objects in the Mnemonic Similarity Task (MST). These studies have used either old/similar/new or old/new test formats. The forced-choice test format (e.g., "Did you see object A or object A' during the encoding phase?") relies on different assumptions than the old/new test format (e.g., "Did you see this object during the encoding phase?"); hence, converging evidence from these approaches would bolster the conclusion that healthy aging is accompanied by impaired performance on the MST. Consistent with our hypothesis, healthy older adults exhibited impaired performance on a forced-choice test format that required discriminating between a target and a similar lure. We also tested the hypothesis that age-related impairments on the MST could be modeled within a global matching computational framework. We found that decreasing the probability of successful feature encoding in the models caused changes that were similar to the empirical data in healthy older adults. Collectively, our behavioral results using the forced-choice format extend the finding that healthy aging is accompanied by an impaired ability to discriminate between targets and similar lures, and our modeling results suggest that a diminished probability of encoding stimulus features is a candidate mechanism for memory changes in healthy aging. We also discuss the ability of global matching models to account for findings in other studies that have used variants on mnemonic similarity tasks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Firefighters' hearing: a comparison with population databases from the International Standards Organization.

PubMed

Kales, S N; Freyman, R L; Hill, J M; Polyhronopoulos, G N; Aldrich, J M; Christiani, D C

2001-07-01

We investigated firefighters' hearing relative to general population data to adjust for age-expected hearing loss. For five groups of male firefighters with increasing mean ages, we compared their hearing thresholds at the 50th and 90th percentiles with normative and age- and sex-matched hearing data from the International Standards Organization (databases A and B). At the 50th percentile, from a mean age of 28 to a mean age of 53 years, relative to databases A and B, the firefighters lost an excess of 19 to 23 dB, 20 to 23 dB, and 16 to 19 dB at 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz, respectively. At the 90th percentile, from a mean age of 28 to a mean age of 53 years, relative to databases A and B, the firefighters lost an excess of 12 to 20 dB, 38 to 44 dB, 41 to 45 dB, and 22 to 28 dB at 2000, 3000, 4000, and 6000 Hz, respectively. The results are consistent with accelerated hearing loss in excess of age-expected loss among the firefighters, especially at or above the 90th percentile.

How old is old in allegations of age discrimination? The limitations of existing law.

PubMed

Wiener, Richard L; Farnum, Katlyn S

2016-10-01

Under Title VII, courts may give a mixed motive instruction allowing jurors to determine that defendants are liable for discrimination if an illegal factor (here: race, color, religion, sex, or national origin) contributed to an adverse decision. Recently, the Supreme Court held that to conclude that an employer discriminated against a worker because of age, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, unlike Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, requires "but for" causality, necessitating jurors to find that age was the determinative factor in an employer's adverse decision regarding that worker. Using a national online sample (N = 392) and 2 study phases, 1 to measure stereotypes, and a second to present experimental manipulations, this study tested whether older worker stereotypes as measured through the lens of the Stereotype Content Model, instruction type (but for vs. mixed motive causality), and plaintiff age influenced mock juror verdicts in an age discrimination case. Decision modeling in Phase 2 with 3 levels of case orientation (i.e., proplaintiff, prodefendant, and neutral) showed that participants relied on multiple factors when making a decision, as opposed to just 1, suggesting that mock jurors favor a mixed model approach to discrimination verdict decisions. In line with previous research, instruction effects showed that mock jurors found in favor of plaintiffs under mixed motive instructions but not under "but for" instructions especially for older plaintiffs (64- and 74-year-old as opposed to 44- and 54-year-old-plaintiffs). Most importantly, in accordance with the Stereotype Content Model theory, competence and warmth stereotypes moderated the instruction effects found for specific judgments. The results of this study show the importance of the type of legal causality required for age discrimination cases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Population groups: indexing, coverage, and retrieval effectiveness of ethnically related health care issues in health sciences databases.

PubMed Central

Efthimiadis, E N; Afifi, M

1996-01-01

OBJECTIVES: This study examined methods of accessing (for indexing and retrieval purposes) medical research on population groups in the major abstracting and indexing services of the health sciences literature. DESIGN: The study of diseases in specific population groups is facilitated by the indexing of both diseases and populations in a database. The MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Embase databases were selected for the study. The published thesauri for these databases were examined to establish the vocabulary in use. Indexing terms were identified and examined as to their representation in the current literature. Terms were clustered further into groups thought to reflect an end user's perspective and to facilitate subsequent analysis. The medical literature contained in the three online databases was searched with both controlled vocabulary and natural language terms. RESULTS: The three thesauri revealed shallow pre-coordinated hierarchical structures, rather difficult-to-use terms for post-coordination, and a blurring of cultural, genetic, and racial facets of populations. Post-coordination is difficult because of the system-oriented terminology, which is intended mostly for information professionals. The terminology unintentionally restricts access by the end users who lack the knowledge needed to use the thesauri effectively for information retrieval. CONCLUSIONS: Population groups are not represented adequately in the index languages of health sciences databases. Users of these databases need to be alerted to the difficulties that may be encountered in searching for information on population groups. Information and health professionals may not be able to access the literature if they are not familiar with the indexing policies on population groups. Consequently, the study points to a problem that needs to be addressed, through either the redesign of existing systems or the design of new ones to meet the goals of Healthy People 2000 and beyond. PMID:8883987

Triglycerides are negatively correlated with cognitive function in nondemented aging adults.

PubMed

Parthasarathy, Vishnu; Frazier, Darvis T; Bettcher, Brianne M; Jastrzab, Laura; Chao, Linda; Reed, Bruce; Mungas, Dan; Weiner, Michael; DeCarli, Charles; Chui, Helena; Kramer, Joel H

2017-09-01

Vascular risk factors like hyperlipidemia may adversely affect brain function. We hypothesized that increased serum triglycerides are associated with decreased executive function and memory in nondemented elderly subjects. We also researched possible vascular mediators and white matter microstructure as assessed with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Participants were 251 nondemented elderly adults (54% male) with a mean age of 78 (SD = 6.4; range: 62-94) years and a mean education of 15.6 (SD = 2.9; range: 8-23) years. Fasting blood samples were used to detect serum triglyceride and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels along with ApoE4 status. DTI was used to determine whole brain fractional anisotropy (FA). Composite executive and memory scores were derived from item response theory. Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores provided informant-based measures of daily functioning. Triglyceride levels were inversely correlated with executive function, but there was no relationship with memory. Controlling for age, gender, and education did not affect this correlation. This relationship persisted after controlling for vascular risk factors like LDL, total cholesterol, CDR and ApoE4 status. Lastly, adding whole-brain FA to the model did not affect the correlation between triglycerides and executive function. Triglyceride levels are inversely correlated with executive function in nondemented elderly adults after controlling for age, education, gender, total cholesterol, LDL, ApoE4 status, CDR, and white-matter microstructure. The fact that the effect of triglycerides on cognition was not clearly mediated by vascular risks or cerebrovascular injury raises questions about widely held assumptions of how triglycerides might impact cognition function. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Adversity in childhood and measures of aging in midlife: Findings from a cohort of british women.

PubMed

Anderson, Emma L; Heron, Jon; Ben-Shlomo, Yoav; Kuh, Diana; Cooper, Rachel; Lawlor, Debbie A; Fraser, Abigail; Howe, Laura D

2017-09-01

Very few studies have assessed whether socioeconomic and psychosocial adversity during childhood are associated with objective measures of aging later in life. We assessed associations of socioeconomic position (SEP) and total psychosocial adversity during childhood, with objectively measured cognitive and physical capability in women during midlife. Adverse childhood experiences were retrospectively reported at mean ages 28-30 years in women from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents And Children (N = 2,221). We investigated associations of childhood SEP and total psychosocial adversity, with composite measures of cognitive and physical capability at mean age 51 years. There was evidence that, compared with participants whose fathers had professional occupations, participants whose fathers had managerial/technical, skilled nonmanual, skilled manual, and partly or unskilled manual occupations had, on average, lower physical and cognitive capability. There was a clear trend for increasing magnitudes of association with lowering childhood SEP. There was also evidence that greater total psychosocial adversity in childhood was associated with lower physical capability. Total psychosocial adversity in childhood was not associated with cognitive capability. Lower SEP in childhood is detrimental to cognitive and physical capability in midlife, at least in part, independently of subsequent SEP in adulthood. Greater psychosocial adversity in childhood is associated with poorer physical capability, independently of social disadvantage in childhood. Our findings highlight the need for interventions to both identify and support children experiencing socioeconomic or psychosocial of adversity as early as possible. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Computerized database management system for breast cancer patients.

PubMed

Sim, Kok Swee; Chong, Sze Siang; Tso, Chih Ping; Nia, Mohsen Esmaeili; Chong, Aun Kee; Abbas, Siti Fathimah

2014-01-01

Data analysis based on breast cancer risk factors such as age, race, breastfeeding, hormone replacement therapy, family history, and obesity was conducted on breast cancer patients using a new enhanced computerized database management system. My Structural Query Language (MySQL) is selected as the application for database management system to store the patient data collected from hospitals in Malaysia. An automatic calculation tool is embedded in this system to assist the data analysis. The results are plotted automatically and a user-friendly graphical user interface is developed that can control the MySQL database. Case studies show breast cancer incidence rate is highest among Malay women, followed by Chinese and Indian. The peak age for breast cancer incidence is from 50 to 59 years old. Results suggest that the chance of developing breast cancer is increased in older women, and reduced with breastfeeding practice. The weight status might affect the breast cancer risk differently. Additional studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Performance of Stratified and Subgrouped Disproportionality Analyses in Spontaneous Databases.

PubMed

Seabroke, Suzie; Candore, Gianmario; Juhlin, Kristina; Quarcoo, Naashika; Wisniewski, Antoni; Arani, Ramin; Painter, Jeffery; Tregunno, Philip; Norén, G Niklas; Slattery, Jim

2016-04-01

Disproportionality analyses are used in many organisations to identify adverse drug reactions (ADRs) from spontaneous report data. Reporting patterns vary over time, with patient demographics, and between different geographical regions, and therefore subgroup analyses or adjustment by stratification may be beneficial. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of subgroup and stratified disproportionality analyses for a number of key covariates within spontaneous report databases of differing sizes and characteristics. Using a reference set of established ADRs, signal detection performance (sensitivity and precision) was compared for stratified, subgroup and crude (unadjusted) analyses within five spontaneous report databases (two company, one national and two international databases). Analyses were repeated for a range of covariates: age, sex, country/region of origin, calendar time period, event seriousness, vaccine/non-vaccine, reporter qualification and report source. Subgroup analyses consistently performed better than stratified analyses in all databases. Subgroup analyses also showed benefits in both sensitivity and precision over crude analyses for the larger international databases, whilst for the smaller databases a gain in precision tended to result in some loss of sensitivity. Additionally, stratified analyses did not increase sensitivity or precision beyond that associated with analytical artefacts of the analysis. The most promising subgroup covariates were age and region/country of origin, although this varied between databases. Subgroup analyses perform better than stratified analyses and should be considered over the latter in routine first-pass signal detection. Subgroup analyses are also clearly beneficial over crude analyses for larger databases, but further validation is required for smaller databases.

Working memory training and transfer in older adults: effects of age, baseline performance, and training gains.

PubMed

Zinke, Katharina; Zeintl, Melanie; Rose, Nathan S; Putzmann, Julia; Pydde, Andrea; Kliegel, Matthias

2014-01-01

Recent studies suggest that working memory training may benefit older adults; however, findings regarding training and transfer effects are mixed. The current study aimed to investigate the effects of a process-based training intervention in a diverse sample of older adults and explored possible moderators of training and transfer effects. For that purpose, 80 older adults (65-95 years) were assigned either to a training group that worked on visuospatial, verbal, and executive working memory tasks for 9 sessions over 3 weeks or to a control group. Performance on trained and transfer tasks was assessed in all participants before and after the training period, as well as at a 9-month follow-up. Analyses revealed significant training effects in all 3 training tasks in trained participants relative to controls, as well as near transfer to a verbal working memory task and far transfer to a fluid intelligence task. Encouragingly, all training effects and the transfer effect to verbal working memory were stable at the 9-month follow-up session. Further analyses revealed that training gains were predicted by baseline performance in training tasks and (to a lesser degree) by age. Gains in transfer tasks were predicted by age and by the amount of improvement in the trained tasks. These findings suggest that cognitive plasticity is preserved over a large range of old age and that even a rather short training regime can lead to (partly specific) training and transfer effects. However, baseline performance, age, and training gains moderate the amount of plasticity. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Emotions and physical health in the second half of life: interindividual differences in age-related trajectories and dynamic associations according to socioeconomic status.

PubMed

Schöllgen, Ina; Huxhold, Oliver; Schmiedek, Florian

2012-06-01

The importance of socioeconomic status (SES) for psychological functioning over the life span is increasingly acknowledged in psychological research. The Reserve Capacity Model by Gallo and Matthews (2003) suggests that SES is not only linked to physical health but also to the experience of positive and negative emotions. Moreover, due to differential amounts of psychosocial resources, cross-domain associations between emotions and health might differ according to SES. The present study examined age-related developments in positive affect (PA), negative affect (NA), and physical health, as well as dynamic associations between health and emotions in the second half of life. We looked at differences in these trajectories and their interrelationships according to education as one aspect of SES. We used data of up to three waves spanning 12 years from the nationally representative German Ageing Survey (N = 3,847, AgeT1 = 40-85 years). Applying multiple-group dual change score models, we found differential age-related change in PA and physical health, but not in NA, in two groups differing in level of education. NA did only predict change in physical health in low-educated individuals, whereas physical health was equally strongly related to change in PA in both education groups. These results indicate that SES not only affects changes in physical health and emotional functioning but also their interrelationships. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

ECG-ViEW II, a freely accessible electrocardiogram database

PubMed Central

Park, Man Young; Lee, Sukhoon; Jeon, Min Seok; Yoon, Dukyong; Park, Rae Woong

2017-01-01

The Electrocardiogram Vigilance with Electronic data Warehouse II (ECG-ViEW II) is a large, single-center database comprising numeric parameter data of the surface electrocardiograms of all patients who underwent testing from 1 June 1994 to 31 July 2013. The electrocardiographic data include the test date, clinical department, RR interval, PR interval, QRS duration, QT interval, QTc interval, P axis, QRS axis, and T axis. These data are connected with patient age, sex, ethnicity, comorbidities, age-adjusted Charlson comorbidity index, prescribed drugs, and electrolyte levels. This longitudinal observational database contains 979,273 electrocardiograms from 461,178 patients over a 19-year study period. This database can provide an opportunity to study electrocardiographic changes caused by medications, disease, or other demographic variables. ECG-ViEW II is freely available at http://www.ecgview.org. PMID:28437484

Co-occurring substance use and mental disorders in the criminal justice system: a new frontier of clinical practice and research.

PubMed

Peters, Roger H; Wexler, Harry K; Lurigio, Arthur J

2015-03-01

This editorial introduces this special section of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, which focuses on justice-involved persons with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders (CODs). It contains seven original articles examining CODs among justice-involved populations that vary by gender, age, setting (e.g., community/ court, jail, prison), environment (urban, rural), geographic region, and nationality. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

Representation of age and ageing identities in popular music texts.

PubMed

Kelly, Jacinta; Watson, Roger; Pankratova, Marina; Pedzeni, Ann-Marie

2016-06-01

To critically examine the representation of ageing identities in popular music texts. Having a positive outlook provides both short-term benefits and has been proven to help people live longer. Music is capable of conveying positive and negative emotion towards ageing, however, only a limited number of unpublished studies exist on how age and ageing is represented in popular music. Qualitative discourse analysis. In July 2014, a search without time limits was completed of the music lyrics databases, The Music Lyric Database, Songfacts, The Macronium and Absolute lyrics for English language music texts relating to age and ageing. Findings revealed (N = 76) relevant music texts offering up negative and positive discourses of age and ageing, with negative predominating. Identities of age and ageing were categorized as 'contented and celebrated aged', 'pitiful and petulant pensioners' and 'frail and flagging old folks'. From this study, it is evident that mainly negative representations of age and ageing are available in popular music texts. It is imagined that the negative representations of age and ageing can be dispiriting, confidence and esteem lowering for older people and their potential impact might be considered carefully by artists. However, while evidence exists that negative and positive emotions can influence health and well-being, further qualitative research is needed to explore what impact precisely the negative texts have on those experiencing ageing. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Food activities and identity maintenance in old age: a systematic review and meta-synthesis.

PubMed

Plastow, Nicola Ann; Atwal, Anita; Gilhooly, Mary

2015-01-01

Services provided to older people should be developed based on active ageing policies. Nutrition is one aspect of active ageing, but little is known about how food activities contribute to psychological well-being in later life. This is a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative research that answers the question 'What is known about the relationship between food activities and the maintenance of identities in old age?'. We followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines and used quality assessment parameters to complete a systematic review and narrative synthesis. Academic Search Premier, MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, and PsycINFO databases were searched. We initially identified 8016 articles, of which 167 full-text articles were screened for inclusion. Twenty-two articles were included in the review. There was moderate evidence from nine qualitative and two quantitative studies, of variable quality, that food activities contribute to the maintenance of women's gendered identities, the ethnic identities of men and women, and community identities. There was moderate evidence from 10 qualitative studies, of variable quality, that a change in food choice and deteriorating health changed food activity participation. These changes threatened identities. Most studies included both younger adults and older adults. In later life, there are many life experiences leading to change. Further research is needed to develop understanding of how identity and mental well-being are maintained, despite changes in everyday activities like cooking and eating. This may enable health care professionals to meet psychological needs alongside biological needs during nutritional interventions.

Food activities and identity maintenance in old age: a systematic review and meta-synthesis

PubMed Central

Plastow, Nicola Ann; Atwal, Anita; Gilhooly, Mary

2015-01-01

Objectives: Services provided to older people should be developed based on active ageing policies. Nutrition is one aspect of active ageing, but little is known about how food activities contribute to psychological well-being in later life. This is a systematic review of qualitative and quantitative research that answers the question ‘What is known about the relationship between food activities and the maintenance of identities in old age?’. Methods: We followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses guidelines and used quality assessment parameters to complete a systematic review and narrative synthesis. Academic Search Premier, MEDLINE, CINAHL Plus, and PsycINFO databases were searched. Results: We initially identified 8016 articles, of which 167 full-text articles were screened for inclusion. Twenty-two articles were included in the review. There was moderate evidence from nine qualitative and two quantitative studies, of variable quality, that food activities contribute to the maintenance of women's gendered identities, the ethnic identities of men and women, and community identities. There was moderate evidence from 10 qualitative studies, of variable quality, that a change in food choice and deteriorating health changed food activity participation. These changes threatened identities. Most studies included both younger adults and older adults. Conclusion: In later life, there are many life experiences leading to change. Further research is needed to develop understanding of how identity and mental well-being are maintained, despite changes in everyday activities like cooking and eating. This may enable health care professionals to meet psychological needs alongside biological needs during nutritional interventions. PMID:25373998

Development and implementation of a psychotherapy tracking database in primary care.

PubMed

Craner, Julia R; Sawchuk, Craig N; Mack, John D; LeRoy, Michelle A

2017-06-01

Although there is a rapid increase in the integration of behavioral health services in primary care, few studies have evaluated the effectiveness of these services in real-world clinical settings, in part due to the difficulty of translating traditional mental health research designs to this setting. Accordingly, innovative approaches are needed to fit the unique challenges of conducting research in primary care. The development and implementation of one such approach is described in this article. A continuously populating database for psychotherapy services was implemented across 5 primary care clinics in a large health system to assess several levels of patient care, including service utilization, symptomatic outcomes, and session-by-session use of psychotherapy principles by providers. Each phase of implementation revealed challenges, including clinician time, dissemination to clinics with different resources, and fidelity of data collection strategy across providers, as well as benefits, including the generation of useful data to inform clinical care, program development, and empirical research. The feasible and sustainable implementation of data collection for routine clinical practice in primary care has the potential to fuel the evidence base around integrated care. The current project describes the development of an innovative approach that, with further empirical study and refinement, could enable health care professionals and systems to understand their population and clinical process in a way that addresses essential gaps in the integrated care literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Analysis of advanced glycation endproducts in selected food items by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry: Presentation of a dietary AGE database.

PubMed

Scheijen, Jean L J M; Clevers, Egbert; Engelen, Lian; Dagnelie, Pieter C; Brouns, Fred; Stehouwer, Coen D A; Schalkwijk, Casper G

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to validate an ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the determination of advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) in food items and to analyze AGEs in a selection of food items commonly consumed in a Western diet. N(ε)-(carboxymethyl)lysine (CML), N(ε)-(1-carboxyethyl)lysine (CEL) and N(δ)-(5-hydro-5-methyl-4-imidazolon-2-yl)-ornithine (MG-H1) were quantified in the protein fractions of 190 food items using UPLC-MS/MS. Intra- and inter-day accuracy and precision were 2-29%. The calibration curves showed perfect linearity in water and food matrices. We found the highest AGE levels in high-heat processed nut or grain products, and canned meats. Fruits, vegetables, butter and coffee had the lowest AGE content. The described method proved to be suitable for the quantification of three major AGEs in food items. The presented dietary AGE database opens the possibility to further quantify actual dietary exposure to AGEs and to explore its physiological impact on human health. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Age differences in false memory: The importance of retrieval monitoring processes and their modulation by memory quality.

PubMed

Fandakova, Yana; Sander, Myriam C; Grandy, Thomas H; Cabeza, Roberto; Werkle-Bergner, Markus; Shing, Yee Lee

2018-02-01

Older adults are more likely than younger adults to falsely recall past episodes that occurred differently or not at all. We examined whether older adults' propensity for false associative memory is related to declines in postretrieval monitoring processes and their modulation with varying memory representations. Younger (N = 20) and older adults (N = 32) studied and relearned unrelated scene-word pairs, followed by a final cued recall that was used to distribute the pairs for an associative recognition test 24 hours later. This procedure allowed individualized formation of rearranged pairs that were made up of elements of pairs that were correctly recalled in the final cued recall ("high-quality" pairs), and of pairs that were not correctly recalled ("low-quality" pairs). Both age groups falsely recognized more low-quality than high-quality rearranged pairs, with a less pronounced reduction in false alarms to high-quality pairs in older adults. In younger adults, cingulo-opercular activity was enhanced for false alarms and for low-quality correct rejections, consistent with its role in postretrieval monitoring. Older adults did not show such modulated recruitment, suggesting deficits in their selective engagement of monitoring processes given variability in the fidelity of memory representations. There were no age differences in hippocampal activity, which was higher for high-quality than low-quality correct rejections in both age groups. These results demonstrate that the engagement of cingulo-opercular monitoring mechanisms varies with memory representation quality and contributes to age-related deficits in false associative memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

A systematic review of instruments for measuring outcomes in economic evaluation within aged care.

PubMed

Bulamu, Norma B; Kaambwa, Billingsley; Ratcliffe, Julie

2015-11-09

This paper describes the methods and results of a systematic review to identify instruments used to measure quality of life outcomes in older people. The primary focus of the review was to identify instruments suitable for application with older people within economic evaluations conducted in the aged care sector. Online databases searched were PubMed, Medline, Scopus, and Web of Science, PsycInfo, CINAHL, Embase and Informit. Studies that met the following criteria were included: 1) study population exclusively above 65 years of age 2) measured health status, health related quality of life or quality of life outcomes more broadly through use of an instrument developed for this purpose, 3) used a generic preference based instrument or an older person specific preference based or non-preference based instrument or both, and 4) published in journals in the English language after 2000. The most commonly applied generic preference based instrument in both the community and residential aged care context was the EuroQol - 5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), followed by the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT) and the Health Utilities Index (HUI2/3). The most widely applied older person specific instrument was the ICEpop CAPability measure for Older people (ICECAP-O) in both community and residential aged care. In the absence of an ideal instrument for incorporating into economic evaluations in the aged care sector, this review recommends the use of a generic preference based measure of health related quality of life such as the EQ-5D to obtain quality adjusted life years, in combination with an instrument that has a broader quality of life focus like the ASCOT, which was designed specifically for evaluating interventions in social care or the ICECAP-O, a capability measure for older people.

Does parental sexual orientation matter? A longitudinal follow-up of adoptive families with school-age children.

PubMed

Farr, Rachel H

2017-02-01

Controversy continues to surround parenting by lesbian and gay (LG) adults and outcomes for their children. As sexual minority parents increasingly adopt children, longitudinal research about child development, parenting, and family relationships is crucial for informing such debates. In the psychological literature, family systems theory contends that children's healthy development depends upon healthy family functioning more so than family structure. From the framework of family stress theory, it was expected that longitudinal outcomes for school-age children adopted in infancy could be distinct among those with same-sex versus other-sex parents (N = 96 families). Similar findings were hypothesized in terms of parent adjustment, couple relationships, and family functioning in comparing same-sex and other-sex parent families. Results indicated that adjustment among children, parents, and couples, as well as family functioning, were not different on the basis of parental sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, or heterosexual) when children were school-age. Rather, children's behavior problems and family functioning during middle childhood were predicted by earlier child adjustment issues and parenting stress. These findings are consistent with and extend previous literature about families headed by LG parents, particularly those that have adopted children. The results have implications for advancing supportive policies, practices, and laws related to adoption and parenting by sexual minority adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Education, bilingualism, and cognitive trajectories: Sacramento Area Latino Aging Study (SALSA).

PubMed

Mungas, Dan; Early, Dawnté R; Glymour, M Maria; Zeki Al Hazzouri, Adina; Haan, Mary N

2018-01-01

This study examined the influence of education, country where education occurred, and monolingual-bilingual (English/Spanish) language usage on late life cognitive trajectories in the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging (SALSA), an epidemiological study of health and cognition in Hispanics, mostly of Mexican origin, age 60 and over (N = 1,499). SALSA followed a large cohort of older Latinos for up to 7 assessment waves from 1998 to 2007. Global cognition was assessed by using the Modified Mini Mental State Examination, and the Spanish English Verbal Learning Test was used to measure episodic memory. Education, country of origin, and language usage patterns were collected at the baseline assessment and used as predictors of longitudinal trajectories of cognition. Parallel process mixed effects models were used to examine effects of education and language variables on baseline cognition and rate of cognitive decline. Mixed effects longitudinal models showed that education had strong effects on baseline global cognition and verbal memory but was not related to decline over up to 9 years of longitudinal follow-up. Differences in education effects between subgroups educated in Mexico and in the United States were minor. Monolingual-bilingual language usage was not related to cognitive decline, and bilinguals did not significantly differ from monolingual English speakers on baseline cognitive scores. Hypotheses that higher education and bilingualism protect against late life cognitive decline were not supported and education effects on late-life cognitive trajectories did not substantially differ across U.S.- and Mexico-educated groups. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Mother-child reminiscing and autobiographical memory specificity among preschool-age children.

PubMed

Valentino, Kristin; Nuttall, Amy K; Comas, Michelle; McDonnell, Christina G; Piper, Brianna; Thomas, Taylor E; Fanuele, Suzanne

2014-04-01

Overgeneral memory (OGM) refers to difficulty in retrieving specific autobiographical memories. The tendency to be overgeneral in autobiographical memory recall is more commonly observed among individuals with emotional disorders compared with those without. Despite significant advances in theory and identification of mechanisms that underlie the etiology of OGM, there has been little integration between normative research on the development of autobiographical memory and research on OGM. Informed by a developmental psychopathology perspective and drawing on normative developmental research on the social construction of autobiographical memory, the current investigation examined whether the elaborative quantity and elaborative quality of maternal reminiscing are predictive of preschool-age children's autobiographical memory specificity. Additionally, this investigation tested whether children's positive self-representations may explain these hypothesized associations. Participants consisted of 95 mother-child dyads. Children's ages ranged between 3.5 and 6 years, and the sample was predominantly low income and of minority race/ethnicity. Dyads participated in a joint reminiscing task about 4 past events, and children participated in assessments of autobiographical memory specificity and self-representations. Results indicated that the elaborative quality, defined by maternal-sensitive guidance and emotional narrative coherence, but not the elaborative quantity, of maternal reminiscing style was significantly associated with children's autobiographical memory specificity. Additionally, there was support for an indirect pathway between maternal reminiscing quality and child memory specificity through children's positive self-representations. Directions for future research are discussed, and potential clinical implications are addressed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Building a medical image processing algorithm verification database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, C. Wayne

2000-06-01

The design of a database containing head Computed Tomography (CT) studies is presented, along with a justification for the database's composition. The database will be used to validate software algorithms that screen normal head CT studies from studies that contain pathology. The database is designed to have the following major properties: (1) a size sufficient for statistical viability, (2) inclusion of both normal (no pathology) and abnormal scans, (3) inclusion of scans due to equipment malfunction, technologist error, and uncooperative patients, (4) inclusion of data sets from multiple scanner manufacturers, (5) inclusion of data sets from different gender and age groups, and (6) three independent diagnosis of each data set. Designed correctly, the database will provide a partial basis for FDA (United States Food and Drug Administration) approval of image processing algorithms for clinical use. Our goal for the database is the proof of viability of screening head CT's for normal anatomy using computer algorithms. To put this work into context, a classification scheme for 'computer aided diagnosis' systems is proposed.

JICST Factual Database JICST DNA Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shirokizawa, Yoshiko; Abe, Atsushi

Japan Information Center of Science and Technology (JICST) has started the on-line service of DNA database in October 1988. This database is composed of EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Library and Genetic Sequence Data Bank. The authors outline the database system, data items and search commands. Examples of retrieval session are presented.

Traumatic brain injury history is associated with an earlier age of dementia onset in autopsy-confirmed Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Schaffert, Jeff; LoBue, Christian; White, Charles L; Chiang, Hsueh-Sheng; Didehbani, Nyaz; Lacritz, Laura; Rossetti, Heidi; Dieppa, Marisara; Hart, John; Cullum, C Munro

2018-05-01

To evaluate whether a history of traumatic brain injury (TBI) with reported loss of consciousness (LOC) is a risk factor for earlier onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD) in an autopsy-confirmed sample. Data from 2,133 participants with autopsy-confirmed AD (i.e., at least Braak neurofibrillary tangle stages III to VI and CERAD neuritic plaque score moderate to frequent) were obtained from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC). Participants were categorized by presence/absence of self-reported remote (i.e., >1 year prior to their first Alzheimer's Disease Center visit) history of TBI with LOC (TBI+ vs. TBI-). Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVA) controlling for sex, education, and race compared groups on clinician-estimated age of symptom onset and age of diagnosis. Average age of onset was 2.34 years earlier (p = .01) for the TBI+ group (n = 194) versus the TBI- group (n = 1900). Dementia was diagnosed on average 2.83 years earlier (p = .002) in the TBI+ group (n = 197) versus the TBI- group (n = 1936). Using more stringent neuropathological criteria (i.e., Braak stages V-VI and CERAD frequent), both age of AD onset and diagnosis were 3.6 years earlier in the TBI+ group (both p's < .001). History of TBI with reported LOC appears to be a risk factor for earlier AD onset. This is the first study to use autopsy-confirmed cases, supporting previous investigations that used clinical criteria for the diagnosis of AD. Further investigation as to possible underlying mechanisms of association is needed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Looking, feeling, and doing: are there age differences in attention, mood, and behavioral responses to skin cancer information?

PubMed

Isaacowitz, Derek M; Choi, Yoonsun

2012-09-01

Previous studies on aging and attention to emotional information found that older adults may look away from negative stimuli to regulate their moods. However, it is an open question whether older adults' tendency to look less at negative material comes at the expense of learning when negative information is also health-relevant. This study investigated how age-related changes in attention to negative but relevant information about skin cancer risk reduction influenced both subsequent health behavior and mood regulation. Younger (18-25 years of age, n = 78) and older (60-92 years of age, n = 77) adults' fixations toward videos containing negatively valenced content and risk-reduction information about skin cancer were recorded with eye-tracking. Self-reported mood ratings were measured throughout. Behavioral outcome measures (e.g., answering knowledge questions about skin cancer, choosing a sunscreen, completing a skin self-exam) assessed participants' learning of key health-relevant information, their interest in seeking additional information, and their engagement in protective behaviors. Older adults generally looked less at the negative video content, more rapidly regulated their moods, and learned fewer facts about skin cancer; yet, they engaged in a greater number of protective behaviors than did younger adults. Older adults may demonstrate an efficient looking strategy that extracts important information without disrupting their moods, and they may compensate for less learning by engaging in a greater number of protective behaviors. Younger adults may be distracted by disruptions to their mood, constraining their engagement in protective behaviors. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

Parental and peer disapproval of alcohol use and its relationship to adolescent drinking: age, gender, and racial differences.

PubMed

Mrug, Sylvie; McCay, Riley

2013-09-01

This study examined age, gender, and racial differences in parental and peer disapproval of alcohol use and in the relationship of these injunctive norms with drinking during adolescence. Participants included 20,239 students ages 11-19 years (average age 14.34; 47% boys; 46% White and 54% Black) from 2 large urban and suburban school districts. Youth responded to a cross-sectional, school-administered Pride Survey in the spring of 2004. Adolescents reported how often they used alcohol in the past year and their perceptions of peer and parental disapproval of alcohol use. The results revealed that youth perceived higher disapproval from parents than peers throughout adolescence, but this parent-peer disparity in norms increased with age as a result of steeper decline in peer than parental disapproval. Black youth perceived lower disapproval from both peers and parents than Whites in earlier but not later adolescence. Girls reported higher perceptions of both parental and peer disapproval than boys throughout adolescence. Alcohol use was more strongly related to peer than parental norms, and the effect of parental and peer disapproval on abstinence was larger among older youth. Peer norms were more closely associated with alcohol use in girls than boys. Both parent and peer injunctive norms were also more strongly related to alcohol use in White than Black adolescents. Parental disapproval of drinking amplified the link between peer disapproval and lower alcohol use. These findings suggest that interventions should target both parental and peer disapproval throughout adolescence, particularly among White youth. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

An Introduction to Database Structure and Database Machines.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Detweiler, Karen

1984-01-01

Enumerates principal management objectives of database management systems (data independence, quality, security, multiuser access, central control) and criteria for comparison (response time, size, flexibility, other features). Conventional database management systems, relational databases, and database machines used for backend processing are…

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimm, E. C.; Ashworth, A. C.; Barnosky, A. D.; Betancourt, J. L.; Bills, B.; Booth, R.; Blois, J.; Charles, D. F.; Graham, R. W.; Goring, S. J.; Hausmann, S.; Smith, A. J.; Williams, J. W.; Buckland, P.

2015-12-01

The Neotoma Paleoecology Database (www.neotomadb.org) is a multiproxy, open-access, relational database that includes fossil data for the past 5 million years (the late Neogene and Quaternary Periods). Modern distributional data for various organisms are also being made available for calibration and paleoecological analyses. The project is a collaborative effort among individuals from more than 20 institutions worldwide, including domain scientists representing a spectrum of Pliocene-Quaternary fossil data types, as well as experts in information technology. Working groups are active for diatoms, insects, ostracodes, pollen and plant macroscopic remains, testate amoebae, rodent middens, vertebrates, age models, geochemistry and taphonomy. Groups are also active in developing online tools for data analyses and for developing modules for teaching at different levels. A key design concept of NeotomaDB is that stewards for various data types are able to remotely upload and manage data. Cooperatives for different kinds of paleo data, or from different regions, can appoint their own stewards. Over the past year, much progress has been made on development of the steward software-interface that will enable this capability. The steward interface uses web services that provide access to the database. More generally, these web services enable remote programmatic access to the database, which both desktop and web applications can use and which provide real-time access to the most current data. Use of these services can alleviate the need to download the entire database, which can be out-of-date as soon as new data are entered. In general, the Neotoma web services deliver data either from an entire table or from the results of a view. Upon request, new web services can be quickly generated. Future developments will likely expand the spatial and temporal dimensions of the database. NeotomaDB is open to receiving new datasets and stewards from the global Quaternary community

Does an Otolaryngology-Specific Database Have Added Value? A Comparative Feasibility Analysis.

PubMed

Bellmunt, Angela M; Roberts, Rhonda; Lee, Walter T; Schulz, Kris; Pynnonen, Melissa A; Crowson, Matthew G; Witsell, David; Parham, Kourosh; Langman, Alan; Vambutas, Andrea; Ryan, Sheila E; Shin, Jennifer J

2016-07-01

There are multiple nationally representative databases that support epidemiologic and outcomes research, and it is unknown whether an otolaryngology-specific resource would prove indispensable or superfluous. Therefore, our objective was to determine the feasibility of analyses in the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) and National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS) databases as compared with the otolaryngology-specific Creating Healthcare Excellence through Education and Research (CHEER) database. Parallel analyses in 2 data sets. Ambulatory visits in the United States. To test a fixed hypothesis that could be directly compared between data sets, we focused on a condition with expected prevalence high enough to substantiate availability in both. This query also encompassed a broad span of diagnoses to sample the breadth of available information. Specifically, we compared an assessment of suspected risk factors for sensorineural hearing loss in subjects 0 to 21 years of age, according to a predetermined protocol. We also assessed the feasibility of 6 additional diagnostic queries among all age groups. In the NAMCS/NHAMCS data set, the number of measured observations was not sufficient to support reliable numeric conclusions (percentage standard error among risk factors: 38.6-92.1). Analysis of the CHEER database demonstrated that age, sex, meningitis, and cytomegalovirus were statistically significant factors associated with pediatric sensorineural hearing loss (P < .01). Among the 6 additional diagnostic queries assessed, NAMCS/NHAMCS usage was also infeasible; the CHEER database contained 1585 to 212,521 more observations per annum. An otolaryngology-specific database has added utility when compared with already available national ambulatory databases. © American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation 2016.

Overgeneral autobiographical memory in healthy young and older adults: Differential age effects on components of the capture and rumination, functional avoidance, and impaired executive control (CaRFAX) model.

PubMed

Ros, Laura; Latorre, Jose M; Serrano, Juan P; Ricarte, Jorge J

2017-08-01

The CaRFAX model (Williams et al., 2007) has been used to explain the causes of overgeneral autobiographical memory (OGM; the difficulty to retrieve specific autobiographical memories), a cognitive phenomenon generally related with different psychopathologies. This model proposes 3 different mechanisms to explain OGM: capture and rumination (CaR), functional avoidance (FA) and impaired executive functions (X). However, the complete CaRFAX model has not been tested in nonclinical populations. This study aims to assess the usefulness of the CaRFAX model to explain OGM in 2 healthy samples: a young sample and an older sample, to test for possible age-related differences in the underlying causes of OGM. A total of 175 young (age range: 19-36 years) and 175 older (age range: 53-88 years) participants completed measures of brooding rumination (CaR), functional avoidance (FA), and executive tasks (X). Using structural equation modeling, we found that memory specificity is mainly associated with lower functional avoidance and higher executive functions in the older group, but only with executive functions in young participants. We discuss the different roles of emotional regulation strategies used by young and older people and their relation to the CaRFAX model to explain OGM in healthy people. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Tune yourself in: Valence and arousal preferences in music-listening choices from adolescence to old age.

PubMed

Cohrdes, Caroline; Wrzus, Cornelia; Frisch, Simon; Riediger, Michaela

2017-09-01

In previous studies, older as compared with younger individuals were more strongly motivated to regulate their momentary affect toward pleasant and calm states. Whether these motivational differences are also reflected in regulatory behavior and whether this behavior is efficient in terms of affect change, however, is unclear. To address these issues, we conducted 3 studies with samples ranging in age from adolescence to old adulthood. In Study 1, we developed a novel and age-fair music browsing paradigm for music of diverse musical styles, dates of origin, and affective characteristics. The time spent listening to self-selected music with varying levels of valence and arousal served as an indicator of affect-regulatory preferences in 2 different affectively relevant situations, namely after mood induction in Study 2 and before an upcoming discussion with a stranger in Study 3. As predicted, we found a higher preference for music with positive valence and low arousal in older as compared with younger individuals in both studies. Additionally, the efficacy of music listening as an affect-regulatory strategy was supported because individuals' current affect significantly changed from before to after music listening (Studies 2 and 3), whereas that was not the case in an active control group listening to neutral nonmusical sounds (Study 3). These results extend previous research on affect regulation by demonstrating the utility of the music browsing paradigm as a behavioral indicator of affect-regulatory preferences in individuals from various age groups. They also provide evidence for age differences in, and affect-regulatory effects of, music-choice behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Social isolation after spinal cord injury: Indicators from the Longitudinal Aging Study.

PubMed

Newman, Susan D; Li, Chao; Krause, James S

2016-11-01

The purpose of this study was to develop and test a conceptual model of social isolation, incorporating social disconnectedness (objective measures) and perceived isolation (subjective appraisals) in an aging sample of participants with spinal cord injury (SCI). The study used cross-sectional data from 768 participants from the most recent administration of the SCI Longitudinal Aging Study, which was initiated in 1973. Measures included the revised version of the Life Situation Questionnaire, items from the Craig Handicap Assessment Reporting Technique, and the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System. Indicators of social isolation were combined into scales assessing social disconnectedness and perceived isolation. We tested the hypothesized model of social isolation, including both social disconnectedness and perceived isolation, after SCI using structural equation modeling. Results of structural equation modeling indicated good fit between the hypothesized model and data (root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.073, 90% confidence interval [0.070, 0.075]; comparative fit index = 0.949; Tucker Lewis Index = 0.946). Perceived isolation was significantly related with social disconnectedness (standardized coefficient [r] = .610). Several exogenous factors were significantly related to social disconnectedness and perceived isolation. Older participants were more likely to report lower levels of perceived isolation. Time since injury demonstrated an inverse relationship with both social disconnectedness and perceived isolation. Higher level and severity of injury were associated with higher levels of social disconnectedness. Our study establishes a stable model of social isolation to guide future research exploring the effect of social isolation on health after SCI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Gender differences in life events prior to onset of major depressive disorder: the moderating effect of age.

PubMed

Harkness, Kate L; Alavi, Nazanin; Monroe, Scott M; Slavich, George M; Gotlib, Ian H; Bagby, R Michael

2010-11-01

Theoretical models attempting to explain why approximately twice as many women as men suffer from depression often involve the role of stressful life events. However, detailed empirical evidence regarding gender differences in rates of life events that precede onset of depression is lacking, due in part to the common use of checklist assessments of stress that have been shown to possess poor validity. The present study reports on a combined sample of 375 individuals drawn from 4 studies in which all participants were diagnosed with major depressive disorder and assessed with the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule (Bifulco et al., 1989), a state-of-the-art contextual interview and life stress rating system. Women reported significantly more severe and nonsevere, independent and dependent, and other-focused and subject-focused life events prior to onset of depression than did men. Further, these relations were significantly moderated by age, such that gender differences in rates of most types of events were found primarily in young adulthood. These results are discussed in term of their implications for understanding the etiological role of stressful life events in depression. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved

When green is positive and red is negative: Aging and the influence of color on emotional memories.

PubMed

Mammarella, Nicola; Di Domenico, Alberto; Palumbo, Rocco; Fairfield, Beth

2016-12-01

Numerous studies have reported age-related differences in memory for emotional information. One explanation places emphasis on an emotion processing preference in older adults that reflects their socioemotional self-relevant goals. Here, we evaluate the degree to which this preference in memory may be modulated by color. In 2 experiments, younger and older adults were asked to study a series of affective words (Experiment 1) or affective pictures (Experiment 2) and then presented with an immediate yes/no memory recognition task. In particular, words and pictures were colored according to the following valence-color associations: positive-green, negative-red, and neutral-blue. Each study condition included both congruent (e.g., positive-green) and incongruent associations (e.g., positive-red). For both experiments, participants showed an advantage for congruent associations compared with other types of valence-color pairings that emphasized a robust joint effect of color and affective valence in memory. More specifically, older adults' memory was sensitive to positive-green stimuli only. We discussed results in line with mechanisms underlying positivity effects in memory and the effect of color on emotional memory encoding. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Knowledge brokering for healthy aging: a scoping review of potential approaches.

PubMed

Van Eerd, Dwayne; Newman, Kristine; DeForge, Ryan; Urquhart, Robin; Cornelissen, Evelyn; Dainty, Katie N

2016-10-19

Developing a healthcare delivery system that is more responsive to the future challenges of an aging population is a priority in Canada. The World Health Organization acknowledges the need for knowledge translation frameworks in aging and health. Knowledge brokering (KB) is a specific knowledge translation approach that includes making connections between people to facilitate the use of evidence. Knowledge gaps exist about KB roles, approaches, and guiding frameworks. The objective of the scoping review is to identify and describe KB approaches and the underlying conceptual frameworks (models, theories) used to guide the approaches that could support healthy aging. Literature searches were done in PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, EBM reviews (Cochrane Database of systematic reviews), CINAHL, and SCOPUS, as well as Google and Google Scholar using terms related to knowledge brokering. Titles, abstracts, and full reports were reviewed independently by two reviewers who came to consensus on all screening criteria. Documents were included if they described a KB approach and details about the underlying conceptual basis. Data about KB approach, target stakeholders, KB outcomes, and context were extracted independently by two reviewers. Searches identified 248 unique references. Screening for inclusion revealed 19 documents that described 15 accounts of knowledge brokering and details about conceptual guidance and could be applied in healthy aging contexts. Eight KB elements were detected in the approaches though not all approaches incorporated all elements. The underlying conceptual guidance for KB approaches varied. Specific KB frameworks were referenced or developed for nine KB approaches while the remaining six cited more general KT frameworks (or multiple frameworks) as guidance. The KB approaches that we found varied greatly depending on the context and stakeholders involved. Three of the approaches were explicitly employed in the context of health aging. Common elements

Introducing the Infant Bookreading Database (IBDb)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hudson Kam, Carla L.; Matthewson, Lisa

2017-01-01

Studies on the relationship between bookreading and language development typically lack data about which books are actually read to children. This paper reports on an Internet survey designed to address this data gap. The resulting dataset (the Infant Bookreading Database or IBDb) includes responses from 1,107 caregivers of children aged 0-36…

Reading in healthy ageing: the influence of information structuring in sentences.

PubMed

Price, Jessica M; Sanford, Anthony J

2012-06-01

In three experiments, we investigated the cognitive effects of linguistic prominence to establish whether focus plays a similar or different role in modulating language processing in healthy ageing. Information structuring through the use of cleft sentences is known to increase the processing efficiency of anaphoric references to elements contained with a marked focus structure. It also protects these elements from becoming suppressed in the wake of subsequent information, suggesting selective mechanisms of enhancement and suppression. In Experiment 1 (using self-paced reading), we found that focus enhanced (faster) integration for anaphors referring to words contained within the scope of focus; but suppressed (slower) integration for anaphors to words contained outside of the scope of focus; and in some cases, the effects were larger in older adults. In Experiment 2 (using change detection), we showed that older adults relied more on the linguistic structure to enhance change detection when the changed word was in focus. In Experiment 3 (using delayed probe recognition and eye-tracking), we found that older adults recognized probes more accurately when they were made to elements within the scope of focus than when they were outside the scope of focus. These results indicate that older adults' ability to selectively attend or suppress concepts in a marked focus structure is preserved. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved

Memory for reputational trait information: is social-emotional information processing less flexible in old age?

PubMed

Bell, Raoul; Giang, Trang; Mund, Iris; Buchner, Axel

2013-12-01

How do younger and older adults remember reputational trait information about other people? In the present study, trustworthy-looking and untrustworthy-looking faces were paired with cooperation or cheating in a cooperation game. In a surprise source-memory test, participants were asked to rate the likability of the faces, and were required to remember whether the faces were associated with negative or positive outcomes. The social expectations of younger and older adults were clearly affected by a priori facial trustworthiness. Facial trustworthiness was associated with high cooperation-game investments, high likability ratings, and a tendency toward guessing that a face belonged to a cooperator instead of a cheater in both age groups. Consistent with previous results showing that emotional memory is spared from age-related decline, memory for the association between faces and emotional reputational information was well preserved in older adults. However, younger adults used a flexible encoding strategy to remember the social interaction partners. Source-memory was best for information that violated their (positive) expectations. Older adults, in contrast, showed a uniform memory bias for negative social information; their memory performance was not modulated by their expectations. This finding suggests that older adults are less likely to adjust their encoding strategies to their social expectations than younger adults. This may be in line with older adults' motivational goals to avoid risks in social interactions. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Daily interactions with aging parents and adult children: Associations with negative affect and diurnal cortisol.

PubMed

Birditt, Kira S; Manalel, Jasmine A; Kim, Kyungmin; Zarit, Steven H; Fingerman, Karen L

2017-09-01

Midlife adults report greater investment in their children than in their parents, and these ties have important implications for well-being. To date, little research has addressed daily experiences in these ties. The present study examines daily experiences (negative and positive) with aging parents and adult children and their associations with daily negative affect and diurnal cortisol rhythms. Participants were middle-aged adults (N = 156; 56% women) from Wave 2 of the Family Exchanges Study, conducted in 2013, who completed a 7-day daily diary study, which included assessments of daily negative and positive social encounters and negative affect, and 4 days of saliva collection, which was collected 3 times a day (upon waking, 30 min after waking, and at bedtime) and assayed for cortisol. Multilevel models revealed that individuals were more likely to have contact with adult children than with parents but more likely to have negative experiences (negative interactions, avoidance, negative thoughts) with parents than with adult children. Nevertheless, contact and negative experiences with adult children were more consistently associated with negative affect and daily cortisol patterns than were interactions with parents. Findings are consistent with the intergenerational stake hypothesis, which suggests that individuals have a greater stake in their children than in their parents. Indeed, negative experiences with adult children may be more salient because tensions with adult children occur less frequently than do tensions with parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Effects of aging, word frequency, and text stimulus quality on reading across the adult lifespan: Evidence from eye movements.

PubMed

Warrington, Kayleigh L; McGowan, Victoria A; Paterson, Kevin B; White, Sarah J

2018-04-19

Reductions in stimulus quality may disrupt the reading performance of older adults more when compared with young adults because of sensory declines that begin early in middle age. However, few studies have investigated adult age differences in the effects of stimulus quality on reading, and none have examined how this affects lexical processing and eye movement control. Accordingly, we report two experiments that examine the effects of reduced stimulus quality on the eye movements of young (18-24 years), middle-aged (41-51 years), and older (65+ years) adult readers. In Experiment 1, participants read sentences that contained a high- or low-frequency critical word and that were presented normally or with contrast reduced so that words appeared faint. Experiment 2 further investigated effects of reduced stimulus quality using a gaze-contingent technique to present upcoming text normally or with contrast reduced. Typical patterns of age-related reading difficulty (e.g., slower reading, more regressions) were observed in both experiments. In addition, eye movements were disrupted more for older than younger adults when all text (Experiment 1) or just upcoming text (Experiment 2) appeared faint. Moreover, there was an interaction between stimulus quality and word frequency (Experiment 1), such that readers fixated faint low-frequency words for disproportionately longer. Crucially, this effect was similar across all age groups. Thus, although older readers suffer more from reduced stimulus quality, this additional difficulty primarily affects their visual processing of text. These findings have important implications for understanding the role of stimulus quality on reading behavior across the lifespan. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Age at first use and later substance use disorder: Shared genetic and environmental pathways for nicotine, alcohol, and cannabis.

PubMed

Richmond-Rakerd, Leah S; Slutske, Wendy S; Lynskey, Michael T; Agrawal, Arpana; Madden, Pamela A F; Bucholz, Kathleen K; Heath, Andrew C; Statham, Dixie J; Martin, Nicholas G

2016-10-01

Behavioral genetic studies have provided insights into why early substance use initiation is associated with increased risk for disorder. Few genetically informative studies, however, have operationalized initiation as the timing of first use and simultaneously modeled the timing of initiation and problematic use of multiple substances. Such research can help capture the risk associated with early initiation and determine the extent to which genetic and environmental risk generalizes across substances. This study utilized a behavior genetic approach to examine the relation between the age of substance use initiation and symptoms of substance use disorder. Participants were 7,285 monozygotic and dizygotic twins (40% male, mean age at interview = 30.6 years) from the Australian Twin Registry who reported on their ages of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis initiation and symptoms of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., DSM-IV) nicotine dependence, alcohol use disorder, and cannabis use disorder. Biometric modeling was conducted to (a) determine the structure of genetic and environmental influences on initiation and disorder and (b) examine their genetic and environmental overlap. The latent structure of initiation differed across men and women. The familial covariance between initiation and disorder was genetic among men and genetic and environmental among women, suggesting that the relation between first substance use and disorder is partly explained by a shared liability. After accounting for familial overlap, significant unique environmental correlations were observed, indicating that the age of initiation of multiple drugs may directly increase risk for substance-related problems. Results support the utility of conceptualizing initiation in terms of age and of adopting a multivariate approach. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

The need for a juvenile fire setting database.

PubMed

Klein, Julianne J; Mondozzi, Mary A; Andrews, David A

2008-01-01

A juvenile fire setter can be classified as any youth setting a fire regardless of the reason. Many communities have programs to deal with this problem, most based on models developed by the United States Fire Administration. We reviewed our programs data to compare it with that published nationally. Currently there is not a nationwide database to compare fire setter data. A single institution, retrospective chart review of all fire setters between the years of January 1, 2003 and December 31, 2005 was completed. There were 133 participants ages 3 to 17. Information obtained included age, location, ignition source, court order and recidivism. Analysis from our data set found 26% of the peak ages for fire involvement to be 12 and 14. Location, ignition source, and court ordered participants were divided into two age groups: 3 to 10 (N = 58) and 11 to 17 (N = 75). Bedrooms ranked first for the younger population and schools for the latter. Fifty-four percentage of the 133 participants used lighters over matches. Twelve percentage of the 3- to 10-year-olds were court mandated, compared with 52% of the 11- to 17-year-olds. Recidivism rates were 4 to 10% with a 33 to 38% survey return rate. Currently there is no state or nationwide, time honored data base to compare facts from which conclusions can be drawn. Starting small with a statewide database could educe a stimulus for a national database. This could also enhance the information provided by the United States Fire Administration, National Fire Data Center beginning one juvenile firesetter program and State Fire Marshal's office at a time.

A comparative cellular and molecular biology of longevity database.

PubMed

Stuart, Jeffrey A; Liang, Ping; Luo, Xuemei; Page, Melissa M; Gallagher, Emily J; Christoff, Casey A; Robb, Ellen L

2013-10-01

Discovering key cellular and molecular traits that promote longevity is a major goal of aging and longevity research. One experimental strategy is to determine which traits have been selected during the evolution of longevity in naturally long-lived animal species. This comparative approach has been applied to lifespan research for nearly four decades, yielding hundreds of datasets describing aspects of cell and molecular biology hypothesized to relate to animal longevity. Here, we introduce a Comparative Cellular and Molecular Biology of Longevity Database, available at ( http://genomics.brocku.ca/ccmbl/ ), as a compendium of comparative cell and molecular data presented in the context of longevity. This open access database will facilitate the meta-analysis of amalgamated datasets using standardized maximum lifespan (MLSP) data (from AnAge). The first edition contains over 800 data records describing experimental measurements of cellular stress resistance, reactive oxygen species metabolism, membrane composition, protein homeostasis, and genome homeostasis as they relate to vertebrate species MLSP. The purpose of this review is to introduce the database and briefly demonstrate its use in the meta-analysis of combined datasets.

Age estimation using cortical surface pattern combining thickness with curvatures

PubMed Central

Wang, Jieqiong; Li, Wenjing; Miao, Wen; Dai, Dai; Hua, Jing; He, Huiguang

2014-01-01

Brain development and healthy aging have been proved to follow a specific pattern, which, in turn, can be applied to help doctors diagnose mental diseases. In this paper, we design a cortical surface pattern (CSP) combining the cortical thickness with curvatures, which constructs an accurate human age estimation model with relevance vector regression. We test our model with two public databases. One is the IXI database (360 healthy subjects aging from 20 to 82 years old were selected), and the other is the INDI database (303 subjects aging from 7 to 22 years old were selected). The results show that our model can achieve as small as 4.57 years deviation in the IXI database and 1.38 years deviation in the INDI database. Furthermore, we employ this surface pattern to age groups classification, and get a remarkably high accuracy (97.77%) and a significantly high sensitivity/specificity (97.30%/98.10%). These results suggest that our designed CSP combining thickness with curvatures is stable and sensitive to brain development, and it is much more powerful than voxel-based morphometry used in previous methods for age estimation. PMID:24395657

Application of China's National Forest Continuous Inventory database.

PubMed

Xie, Xiaokui; Wang, Qingli; Dai, Limin; Su, Dongkai; Wang, Xinchuang; Qi, Guang; Ye, Yujing

2011-12-01

The maintenance of a timely, reliable and accurate spatial database on current forest ecosystem conditions and changes is essential to characterize and assess forest resources and support sustainable forest management. Information for such a database can be obtained only through a continuous forest inventory. The National Forest Continuous Inventory (NFCI) is the first level of China's three-tiered inventory system. The NFCI is administered by the State Forestry Administration; data are acquired by five inventory institutions around the country. Several important components of the database include land type, forest classification and ageclass/ age-group. The NFCI database in China is constructed based on 5-year inventory periods, resulting in some of the data not being timely when reports are issued. To address this problem, a forest growth simulation model has been developed to update the database for years between the periodic inventories. In order to aid in forest plan design and management, a three-dimensional virtual reality system of forest landscapes for selected units in the database (compartment or sub-compartment) has also been developed based on Virtual Reality Modeling Language. In addition, a transparent internet publishing system for a spatial database based on open source WebGIS (UMN Map Server) has been designed and utilized to enhance public understanding and encourage free participation of interested parties in the development, implementation, and planning of sustainable forest management.

Relationship between office and home blood pressure with increasing age: The International Database of HOme blood pressure in relation to Cardiovascular Outcome (IDHOCO).

PubMed

Ntineri, Angeliki; Stergiou, George S; Thijs, Lutgarde; Asayama, Kei; Boggia, José; Boubouchairopoulou, Nadia; Hozawa, Atsushi; Imai, Yutaka; Johansson, Jouni K; Jula, Antti M; Kollias, Anastasios; Luzardo, Leonella; Niiranen, Teemu J; Nomura, Kyoko; Ohkubo, Takayoshi; Tsuji, Ichiro; Tzourio, Christophe; Wei, Fang-Fei; Staessen, Jan A

2016-08-01

Home blood pressure (HBP) measurements are known to be lower than conventional office blood pressure (OBP) measurements. However, this difference might not be consistent across the entire age range and has not been adequately investigated. We assessed the relationship between OBP and HBP with increasing age using the International Database of HOme blood pressure in relation to Cardiovascular Outcome (IDHOCO). OBP, HBP and their difference were assessed across different decades of age. A total of 5689 untreated subjects aged 18-97 years, who had at least two OBP and HBP measurements, were included. Systolic OBP and HBP increased across older age categories (from 112 to 142 mm Hg and from 109 to 136 mm Hg, respectively), with OBP being higher than HBP by ∼7 mm Hg in subjects aged >30 years and lesser in younger subjects (P=0.001). Both diastolic OBP and HBP increased until the age of ∼50 years (from 71 to 79 mm Hg and from 66 to 76 mm Hg, respectively), with OBP being consistently higher than HBP and a trend toward a decreased OBP-HBP difference with aging (P<0.001). Determinants of a larger OBP-HBP difference were younger age, sustained hypertension, nonsmoking and negative cardiovascular disease history. These data suggest that in the general adult population, HBP is consistently lower than OBP across all the decades, but their difference might vary between age groups. Further research is needed to confirm these findings in younger and older subjects and in hypertensive individuals.

School mobility and school-age children's social adjustment.

PubMed

Dupere, Veronique; Archambault, Isabelle; Leventhal, Tama; Dion, Eric; Anderson, Sara

2015-02-01

This study explored how nonpromotional school changes, a potentially major event for children, were associated with 3 forms of social maladjustment: isolation/withdrawal, affiliation with maladjusted peers, and aggression toward peers. Given that school mobility frequently co-occurs with family transitions, the moderating role of these transitions was investigated. These issues were examined in 2 longitudinal samples of U.S. (N = 1,364) and Canadian (N = 1,447) elementary school children. Propensity weighted analyses controlling for premobility individual, family, and friends' characteristics indicated that children who experienced both school and family transitions were at risk of either social withdrawal (in the Canadian sample) or affiliation with socially maladjusted peers (in the U.S. sample). These findings suggest the importance of considering both the social consequences of school mobility and the context in which such mobility occurs. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

The role of age, working memory, and response inhibition in deviance distraction: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Leiva, Alicia; Andrés, Pilar; Servera, Mateu; Verbruggen, Frederick; Parmentier, Fabrice B R

2016-09-01

Sounds deviating from an otherwise repeated or structured sequence capture attention and affect performance in an ongoing visual task negatively, testament to the balance between selective attention and change detection. Although deviance distraction has been the object of much research, its modulation across the life span has been more scarcely addressed. Recent findings suggest possible connections with working memory and response inhibition. In this study we measured the performance of children and young and older adults in a cross-modal oddball task (deviance distraction), a working memory task (working memory capacity), and a response inhibition task (ability to voluntarily inhibit an already planned action) with the aim to establish the contribution of the latter 2 to the first. Older adults exhibited significantly more deviance distraction than children and young adults (who did not differ from each other). Working memory capacity mediated deviance distraction in children and older adults (though in opposite directions) but not in young adults. Response inhibition capacities did not mediate deviance distraction in any of the age groups. Altogether the results suggest that although the increase in deviance distraction observed in old age may partly reflect the relative impairment of working memory mechanisms, there is no straightforward and stable relation between working memory capacity and deviance distraction across the life span. Furthermore, our results indicate that deviance distraction is unlikely to reflect the temporary inhibition of responses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Family functioning in the context of parental bipolar disorder: associations with offspring age, sex, and psychopathology.

PubMed

Freed, Rachel D; Tompson, Martha C; Wang, Christine H; Otto, Michael W; Hirshfeld-Becker, Dina R; Nierenberg, Andrew A; Henin, Aude

2015-02-01

Previous research has shown that families with a parent who has bipolar disorder (BD) may experience family functioning difficulties. However, the association between family functioning and psychopathology among offspring of parents with BD, and offspring characteristics that may moderate this association, remains poorly understood. This study examined the cross-sectional associations between family functioning (cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict) and psychopathology in 117 offspring (ages 5-18) of 75 parents with BD. We also examined whether age and sex differences moderated these associations. We measured offspring psychopathology by examining current dimensional symptoms and DSM-IV emotional and behavioral disorders. Correlational analyses indicated that higher family conflict and lower cohesion were associated with higher internalizing and externalizing symptoms in offspring. Lower family cohesion was also associated with current offspring mood disorders. Moderation analyses indicated, first, that the link between lower family cohesion and internalizing symptoms was stronger for younger offspring compared to older offspring. Second, higher family conflict and current mood disorder were associated in younger males but not in older males or in females. Results remained the same after controlling for parental anxiety or substance use disorder comorbidity. Our study highlights the importance of accounting for family functioning when working with offspring at risk for BD, while also recognizing that the connections between family functioning and offspring outcomes are complex and differ based on offspring sex and developmental stage. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Multivariate normative comparisons using an aggregated database

PubMed Central

Murre, Jaap M. J.; Huizenga, Hilde M.

2017-01-01

In multivariate normative comparisons, a patient’s profile of test scores is compared to those in a normative sample. Recently, it has been shown that these multivariate normative comparisons enhance the sensitivity of neuropsychological assessment. However, multivariate normative comparisons require multivariate normative data, which are often unavailable. In this paper, we show how a multivariate normative database can be constructed by combining healthy control group data from published neuropsychological studies. We show that three issues should be addressed to construct a multivariate normative database. First, the database may have a multilevel structure, with participants nested within studies. Second, not all tests are administered in every study, so many data may be missing. Third, a patient should be compared to controls of similar age, gender and educational background rather than to the entire normative sample. To address these issues, we propose a multilevel approach for multivariate normative comparisons that accounts for missing data and includes covariates for age, gender and educational background. Simulations show that this approach controls the number of false positives and has high sensitivity to detect genuine deviations from the norm. An empirical example is provided. Implications for other domains than neuropsychology are also discussed. To facilitate broader adoption of these methods, we provide code implementing the entire analysis in the open source software package R. PMID:28267796

Geochronology Database for Central Colorado

USGS Publications Warehouse

Klein, T.L.; Evans, K.V.; deWitt, E.H.

2010-01-01

This database is a compilation of published and some unpublished isotopic and fission track age determinations in central Colorado. The compiled area extends from the southern Wyoming border to the northern New Mexico border and from approximately the longitude of Denver on the east to Gunnison on the west. Data for the tephrochronology of Pleistocene volcanic ash, carbon-14, Pb-alpha, common-lead, and U-Pb determinations on uranium ore minerals have been excluded.

A longitudinal study of families formed through reproductive donation: Parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment at age 14.

PubMed

Golombok, Susan; Ilioi, Elena; Blake, Lucy; Roman, Gabriela; Jadva, Vasanti

2017-10-01

The aim of the 6th phase of this longitudinal study was to establish whether children born through assisted reproduction involving reproductive donation were at risk for psychological problems following the transition to adolescence at age 14 and, if so, to examine the nature of these problems and the mechanisms involved. Eighty-seven families formed through reproductive donation, including 32 donor insemination families, 27 egg donation families, and 28 surrogacy families, were compared with 54 natural conception families. Standardized interviews, questionnaires, and observational assessments of the quality of parent-adolescent relationships and adolescent adjustment were administered to mothers, adolescents, and teachers. The mothers in surrogacy families showed less negative parenting and reported greater acceptance of their adolescent children and fewer problems in family relationships as a whole compared with gamete donation mothers. In addition, less positive relationships were found between mothers and adolescents in egg donation families than in donor insemination families as rated by both mothers and adolescents. There were no differences between family types for the adolescents themselves in terms of adjustment problems, psychological well-being, and self-esteem. Longitudinal analyses showed no differences between family types in negative parenting from age 7 to age 14, and a weaker association between negative parenting and adjustment difficulties for gamete donation than natural conception and surrogacy families. The findings suggest that the absence of a genetic link between mothers and their children is associated with less positive mother-adolescent relationships whereas the absence of a gestational link does not have an adverse effect. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The effects of mechanical transparency on adjustment to a complex visuomotor transformation at early and late working age.

PubMed

Heuer, Herbert; Hegele, Mathias

2010-12-01

Mechanical tools are transparent in the sense that their input-output relations can be derived from their perceptible characteristics. Modern technology creates more and more tools that lack mechanical transparency, such as in the control of the position of a cursor by means of a computer mouse or some other input device. We inquired whether an enhancement of transparency by means of presenting the shaft of a virtual sliding lever, which governed the transformation of hand position into cursor position, supports performance of aimed cursor movement and the acquisition of an internal model of the transformation in both younger and older adults. Enhanced transparency resulted in an improvement of visual closed-loop control in terms of movement time and curvature of cursor paths. The movement-time improvement was more pronounced at older working age than at younger working age, so that the enhancement of transparency can serve as a means to mitigate age-related declines in performance. Benefits for the acquisition of an internal model of the transformation and of explicit knowledge were absent. Thus, open-loop control in this task did not profit from enhanced mechanical transparency. These findings strongly suggest that environmental support of transparency of the effects of input devices on controlled systems might be a powerful tool to support older users. Enhanced transparency may also improve simulator-based training by increasing motivation, even if training benefits do not transfer to situations without enhanced transparency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Age differences in emotion regulation effort: Pupil response distinguishes reappraisal and distraction for older but not younger adults.

PubMed

Martins, Bruna; Florjanczyk, Jan; Jackson, Nicholas J; Gatz, Margaret; Mather, Mara

2018-03-01

In previous research, older adults show greater emotional benefits from distracting themselves than from reappraising an event when strategically regulating emotion. Older adults also demonstrate an attentional preference to avoid, while younger adults show a bias toward approaching negative stimuli. This suggests a possible age-related differentiation of cognitive effort across approach and avoidance of negative stimuli during emotion regulation. In this study, we tracked cognitive effort via pupil dilation during the use of distraction (avoidance) and reappraisal (approach) strategies across age. Forty-eight younger adults (M = 20.94, SD = 1.78; 19 men) and 48 older adults (M = 68.82, SD = 5.40; 15 men) viewed a slideshow of negative images and were instructed to distract, reappraise, or passively view each image. Older adults showed greater pupil dilation during reappraisal than distraction, but younger adults displayed no difference between conditions-an effect that survived when controlling for gaze patterns. Gaze findings revealed that older adults looked less within images during active emotion regulation compared with passive viewing (no difference between distraction and reappraisal), and younger adults showed no difference across strategies. Younger adults gazed less within the most emotional image areas during distraction, but this did not significantly contribute to pupil response. Our findings support that distraction is less cognitively effortful than reinterpreting negative information in later life. These findings could be explained by older adults' motivational bias to disengage from negative information because of the age-related positivity effect, or compensation for decreased working memory resources across the life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Very large database of lipids: rationale and design.

PubMed

Martin, Seth S; Blaha, Michael J; Toth, Peter P; Joshi, Parag H; McEvoy, John W; Ahmed, Haitham M; Elshazly, Mohamed B; Swiger, Kristopher J; Michos, Erin D; Kwiterovich, Peter O; Kulkarni, Krishnaji R; Chimera, Joseph; Cannon, Christopher P; Blumenthal, Roger S; Jones, Steven R

2013-11-01

Blood lipids have major cardiovascular and public health implications. Lipid-lowering drugs are prescribed based in part on categorization of patients into normal or abnormal lipid metabolism, yet relatively little emphasis has been placed on: (1) the accuracy of current lipid measures used in clinical practice, (2) the reliability of current categorizations of dyslipidemia states, and (3) the relationship of advanced lipid characterization to other cardiovascular disease biomarkers. To these ends, we developed the Very Large Database of Lipids (NCT01698489), an ongoing database protocol that harnesses deidentified data from the daily operations of a commercial lipid laboratory. The database includes individuals who were referred for clinical purposes for a Vertical Auto Profile (Atherotech Inc., Birmingham, AL), which directly measures cholesterol concentrations of low-density lipoprotein, very low-density lipoprotein, intermediate-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, their subclasses, and lipoprotein(a). Individual Very Large Database of Lipids studies, ranging from studies of measurement accuracy, to dyslipidemia categorization, to biomarker associations, to characterization of rare lipid disorders, are investigator-initiated and utilize peer-reviewed statistical analysis plans to address a priori hypotheses/aims. In the first database harvest (Very Large Database of Lipids 1.0) from 2009 to 2011, there were 1 340 614 adult and 10 294 pediatric patients; the adult sample had a median age of 59 years (interquartile range, 49-70 years) with even representation by sex. Lipid distributions closely matched those from the population-representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The second harvest of the database (Very Large Database of Lipids 2.0) is underway. Overall, the Very Large Database of Lipids database provides an opportunity for collaboration and new knowledge generation through careful examination of granular lipid data on

Younger and older adults' associative memory for social information: The role of information importance.

PubMed

Hargis, Mary B; Castel, Alan D

2017-06-01

The ability to associate items in memory is critical for social interactions. Older adults show deficits in remembering associative information but can sometimes remember high-value information. In two experiments, younger and older participants studied faces, names, and occupations that were of differing social value. There were no age differences in the recall of important information in Experiment 1, but age differences were present for less important information. In Experiment 2, when younger adults' encoding time was reduced, age differences were largely absent. These findings are considered in light of value-directed strategies when remembering social associative information. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Characterizing biased cancer-related cognitive processing: relationships with BRCA1/2 genetic mutation status, personal cancer history, age, and prophylactic surgery.

PubMed

Carpenter, Kristen M; Eisenberg, Stacy; Weltfreid, Sharone; Low, Carissa A; Beran, Tammy; Stanton, Annette L

2014-09-01

This study evaluated associations of cancer-related cognitive processing with BRCA1/2 mutation carrier status, personal cancer history, age, and election of prophylactic surgery in women at high risk for breast cancer. In a 2 (BRCA1/2 mutation carrier status) × 2 (personal cancer history) matched-control design, with age as an additional predictor, participants (N = 115) completed a computerized cancer Stroop task. Dependent variables were response latency to cancer-related stimuli (reaction time [RT]) and cancer-related cognitive interference (cancer RT minus neutral RT). RT and interference were tested as predictors of prophylactic surgery in the subsequent four years. RT for cancer-related words was significantly slower than other word groups, indicating biased processing specific to cancer-related stimuli. Participants with a cancer history evidenced longer RT to cancer-related words than those without a history; moreover, a significant Cancer History × Age interaction indicated that, among participants with a cancer history, the typical advantage associated with younger age on Stroop tasks was absent. BRCA mutation carriers demonstrated more cancer-related cognitive interference than noncarriers. Again, the typical Stroop age advantage was absent among carriers. Exploratory analyses indicated that BRCA+ status and greater cognitive interference predicted greater likelihood of undergoing prophylactic surgery. Post hoc tests suggest that cancer-related distress does not account for these relationships. In the genetic testing context, younger women with a personal cancer history or who are BRCA1/2 mutation carriers might be particularly vulnerable to biases in cancer-related cognitive processing. Biased processing was associated marginally with greater likelihood of prophylactic surgery. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Mammography status using patient self-reports and computerized radiology database.

PubMed

Thompson, B; Taylor, V; Goldberg, H; Mullen, M

1999-10-01

This study sought to compare self-reported mammography use of low-income women utilizing an inner-city public hospital with a computerized hospital database for tracking mammography use. A survey of all age-eligible women using the hospital's internal medicine clinic was done; responses were matched with the radiology database. We examined concordance among the two data sources. Concordance between self-report and the database was high (82%) when using "ever had a mammogram at the hospital," but low (58%) when comparing self-reported last mammogram with the information contained in the database. Disagreements existed between self-reports and the database. Because we sought to ensure that women would know exactly what a mammogram entailed by including a picture of a woman having a mammogram, it is possible that women's responses were accurate, leading to concerns that discrepancies might be present in the database. Physicians and staff must ensure that they understand the full history of a woman's experience with mammography before recommending for or against the procedure.

Database Access Systems.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dalrymple, Prudence W.; Roderer, Nancy K.

1994-01-01

Highlights the changes that have occurred from 1987-93 in database access systems. Topics addressed include types of databases, including CD-ROMs; enduser interface; database selection; database access management, including library instruction and use of primary literature; economic issues; database users; the search process; and improving…

"Mr. Database" : Jim Gray and the History of Database Technologies.

PubMed

Hanwahr, Nils C

2017-12-01

Although the widespread use of the term "Big Data" is comparatively recent, it invokes a phenomenon in the developments of database technology with distinct historical contexts. The database engineer Jim Gray, known as "Mr. Database" in Silicon Valley before his disappearance at sea in 2007, was involved in many of the crucial developments since the 1970s that constitute the foundation of exceedingly large and distributed databases. Jim Gray was involved in the development of relational database systems based on the concepts of Edgar F. Codd at IBM in the 1970s before he went on to develop principles of Transaction Processing that enable the parallel and highly distributed performance of databases today. He was also involved in creating forums for discourse between academia and industry, which influenced industry performance standards as well as database research agendas. As a co-founder of the San Francisco branch of Microsoft Research, Gray increasingly turned toward scientific applications of database technologies, e. g. leading the TerraServer project, an online database of satellite images. Inspired by Vannevar Bush's idea of the memex, Gray laid out his vision of a Personal Memex as well as a World Memex, eventually postulating a new era of data-based scientific discovery termed "Fourth Paradigm Science". This article gives an overview of Gray's contributions to the development of database technology as well as his research agendas and shows that central notions of Big Data have been occupying database engineers for much longer than the actual term has been in use.

Age-specific MRI templates for pediatric neuroimaging

PubMed Central

Sanchez, Carmen E.; Richards, John E.; Almli, C. Robert

2012-01-01

This study created a database of pediatric age-specific MRI brain templates for normalization and segmentation. Participants included children from 4.5 through 19.5 years, totaling 823 scans from 494 subjects. Open-source processing programs (FSL, SPM, ANTS) constructed head, brain and segmentation templates in 6 month intervals. The tissue classification (WM, GM, CSF) showed changes over age similar to previous reports. A volumetric analysis of age-related changes in WM and GM based on these templates showed expected increase/decrease pattern in GM and an increase in WM over the sampled ages. This database is available for use for neuroimaging studies (blindedforreview). PMID:22799759

Applying manifold learning techniques to the CAESAR database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mendoza-Schrock, Olga; Patrick, James; Arnold, Gregory; Ferrara, Matthew

2010-04-01

Understanding and organizing data is the first step toward exploiting sensor phenomenology for dismount tracking. What image features are good for distinguishing people and what measurements, or combination of measurements, can be used to classify the dataset by demographics including gender, age, and race? A particular technique, Diffusion Maps, has demonstrated the potential to extract features that intuitively make sense [1]. We want to develop an understanding of this tool by validating existing results on the Civilian American and European Surface Anthropometry Resource (CAESAR) database. This database, provided by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Human Effectiveness Directorate and SAE International, is a rich dataset which includes 40 traditional, anthropometric measurements of 4400 human subjects. If we could specifically measure the defining features for classification, from this database, then the future question will then be to determine a subset of these features that can be measured from imagery. This paper briefly describes the Diffusion Map technique, shows potential for dimension reduction of the CAESAR database, and describes interesting problems to be further explored.

Measurement invariance of big-five factors over the life span: ESEM tests of gender, age, plasticity, maturity, and la dolce vita effects.

PubMed

Marsh, Herbert W; Nagengast, Benjamin; Morin, Alexandre J S

2013-06-01

This substantive-methodological synergy applies evolving approaches to factor analysis to substantively important developmental issues of how five-factor-approach (FFA) personality measures vary with gender, age, and their interaction. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) conducted at the item level often do not support a priori FFA structures, due in part to the overly restrictive assumptions of CFA models. Here we demonstrate that exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM), an integration of CFA and exploratory factor analysis, overcomes these problems with the 15-item Big Five Inventory administered as part of the nationally representative British Household Panel Study (N = 14,021; age: 15-99 years, Mage = 47.1). ESEM fitted the data substantially better and resulted in much more differentiated (less correlated) factors than did CFA. Methodologically, we extended ESEM (introducing ESEM-within-CFA models and a hybrid of multiple groups and multiple indicators multiple causes models), evaluating full measurement invariance and latent mean differences over age, gender, and their interaction. Substantively the results showed that women had higher latent scores for all Big Five factors except for Openness and that these gender differences were consistent over the entire life span. Substantial nonlinear age effects led to the rejection of the plaster hypothesis and the maturity principle but did support a newly proposed la dolce vita effect in old age. In later years, individuals become happier (more agreeable and less neurotic), more self-content and self-centered (less extroverted and open), more laid back and satisfied with what they have (less conscientious, open, outgoing and extroverted), and less preoccupied with productivity. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved

The family environment in early childhood has a long-term effect on self-esteem: A longitudinal study from birth to age 27 years.

PubMed

Orth, Ulrich

2018-04-01

A better understanding is needed of the factors that shape the development of individual differences in self-esteem. Using a prospective longitudinal design, this research tested whether the family environment in early childhood predicts self-esteem in later developmental periods. Data came from a nationally representative U.S. sample of 8,711 participants, who reported on their self-esteem biannually from age 8 to 27 years. Moreover, during the participants' first 6 years of life, biannual assessments of their mothers provided information on the quality of the home environment (covering quality of parenting, cognitive stimulation, and physical home environment), quality of parental relationship, presence of father, maternal depression, and poverty status of the family. The analyses were conducted using nonlinear regression analyses of age-dependent correlation coefficients, which were controlled for the effects of child gender and ethnicity. The results suggested that the family environment in early childhood significantly predicted self-esteem as the children grew up. Although the effects became smaller with age, the effects were still present during young adulthood. The largest effects emerged for quality of home environment. Moreover, the results suggested that the effects of home environment, presence of father, and poverty are enduring, as indicated by a nonzero asymptote in the time course of effects from age 8 to 27 years. Finally, quality of home environment partially accounted for the effects of the other predictors. The findings suggest that the home environment is a key factor in early childhood that influences the long-term development of self-esteem. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Age-specific MRI brain and head templates for healthy adults from 20 through 89 years of age

PubMed Central

Fillmore, Paul T.; Phillips-Meek, Michelle C.; Richards, John E.

2015-01-01

This study created and tested a database of adult, age-specific MRI brain and head templates. The participants included healthy adults from 20 through 89 years of age. The templates were done in five-year, 10-year, and multi-year intervals from 20 through 89 years, and consist of average T1W for the head and brain, and segmenting priors for gray matter (GM), white matter (WM), and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). It was found that age-appropriate templates provided less biased tissue classification estimates than age-inappropriate reference data and reference data based on young adult templates. This database is available for use by other investigators and clinicians for their MRI studies, as well as other types of neuroimaging and electrophysiological research.1 PMID:25904864

Pathogen Research Databases

Science.gov Websites

Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) database project is funded by the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The HCV database project started as a spin-off from the HIV database project. There are two databases for HCV, a sequence database

MASSCLEANage—Stellar Cluster Ages from Integrated Colors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popescu, Bogdan; Hanson, M. M.

2010-11-01

We present the recently updated and expanded MASSCLEANcolors, a database of 70 million Monte Carlo models selected to match the properties (metallicity, ages, and masses) of stellar clusters found in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This database shows the rather extreme and non-Gaussian distribution of integrated colors and magnitudes expected with different cluster age and mass and the enormous age degeneracy of integrated colors when mass is unknown. This degeneracy could lead to catastrophic failures in estimating age with standard simple stellar population models, particularly if most of the clusters are of intermediate or low mass, like in the LMC. Utilizing the MASSCLEANcolors database, we have developed MASSCLEANage, a statistical inference package which assigns the most likely age and mass (solved simultaneously) to a cluster based only on its integrated broadband photometric properties. Finally, we use MASSCLEANage to derive the age and mass of LMC clusters based on integrated photometry alone. First, we compare our cluster ages against those obtained for the same seven clusters using more accurate integrated spectroscopy. We find improved agreement with the integrated spectroscopy ages over the original photometric ages. A close examination of our results demonstrates the necessity of solving simultaneously for mass and age to reduce degeneracies in the cluster ages derived via integrated colors. We then selected an additional subset of 30 photometric clusters with previously well-constrained ages and independently derive their age using the MASSCLEANage with the same photometry with very good agreement. The MASSCLEANage program is freely available under GNU General Public License.

MASSCLEANage-STELLAR CLUSTER AGES FROM INTEGRATED COLORS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Popescu, Bogdan; Hanson, M. M., E-mail: popescb@mail.uc.ed, E-mail: margaret.hanson@uc.ed

2010-11-20

We present the recently updated and expanded MASSCLEANcolors, a database of 70 million Monte Carlo models selected to match the properties (metallicity, ages, and masses) of stellar clusters found in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This database shows the rather extreme and non-Gaussian distribution of integrated colors and magnitudes expected with different cluster age and mass and the enormous age degeneracy of integrated colors when mass is unknown. This degeneracy could lead to catastrophic failures in estimating age with standard simple stellar population models, particularly if most of the clusters are of intermediate or low mass, like in the LMC.more » Utilizing the MASSCLEANcolors database, we have developed MASSCLEANage, a statistical inference package which assigns the most likely age and mass (solved simultaneously) to a cluster based only on its integrated broadband photometric properties. Finally, we use MASSCLEANage to derive the age and mass of LMC clusters based on integrated photometry alone. First, we compare our cluster ages against those obtained for the same seven clusters using more accurate integrated spectroscopy. We find improved agreement with the integrated spectroscopy ages over the original photometric ages. A close examination of our results demonstrates the necessity of solving simultaneously for mass and age to reduce degeneracies in the cluster ages derived via integrated colors. We then selected an additional subset of 30 photometric clusters with previously well-constrained ages and independently derive their age using the MASSCLEANage with the same photometry with very good agreement. The MASSCLEANage program is freely available under GNU General Public License.« less

Initial validation of the prekindergarten Classroom Observation Tool and goal setting system for data-based coaching.

PubMed

Crawford, April D; Zucker, Tricia A; Williams, Jeffrey M; Bhavsar, Vibhuti; Landry, Susan H

2013-12-01

Although coaching is a popular approach for enhancing the quality of Tier 1 instruction, limited research has addressed observational measures specifically designed to focus coaching on evidence-based practices. This study explains the development of the prekindergarten (pre-k) Classroom Observation Tool (COT) designed for use in a data-based coaching model. We examined psychometric characteristics of the COT and explored how coaches and teachers used the COT goal-setting system. The study included 193 coaches working with 3,909 pre-k teachers in a statewide professional development program. Classrooms served 3 and 4 year olds (n = 56,390) enrolled mostly in Title I, Head Start, and other need-based pre-k programs. Coaches used the COT during a 2-hr observation at the beginning of the academic year. Teachers collected progress-monitoring data on children's language, literacy, and math outcomes three times during the year. Results indicated a theoretically supported eight-factor structure of the COT across language, literacy, and math instructional domains. Overall interrater reliability among coaches was good (.75). Although correlations with an established teacher observation measure were small, significant positive relations between COT scores and children's literacy outcomes indicate promising predictive validity. Patterns of goal-setting behaviors indicate teachers and coaches set an average of 43.17 goals during the academic year, and coaches reported that 80.62% of goals were met. Both coaches and teachers reported the COT was a helpful measure for enhancing quality of Tier 1 instruction. Limitations of the current study and implications for research and data-based coaching efforts are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Listening to accented speech in a second language: First language and age of acquisition effects.

PubMed

Larraza, Saioa; Samuel, Arthur G; Oñederra, Miren Lourdes

2016-11-01

Bilingual speakers must acquire the phonemic inventory of 2 languages and need to recognize spoken words cross-linguistically; a demanding job potentially made even more difficult due to dialectal variation, an intrinsic property of speech. The present work examines how bilinguals perceive second language (L2) accented speech and where accommodation to dialectal variation takes place. Dialectal effects were analyzed at different levels: An AXB discrimination task tapped phonetic-phonological representations, an auditory lexical-decision task tested for effects in accessing the lexicon, and an auditory priming task looked for semantic processing effects. Within that central focus, the goal was to see whether perceptual adjustment at a given level is affected by 2 main linguistic factors: bilinguals' first language and age of acquisition of the L2. Taking advantage of the cross-linguistic situation of the Basque language, bilinguals with different first languages (Spanish or French) and ages of acquisition of Basque (simultaneous, early, or late) were tested. Our use of multiple tasks with multiple types of bilinguals demonstrates that in spite of very similar discrimination capacity, French-Basque versus Spanish-Basque simultaneous bilinguals' performance on lexical access significantly differed. Similarly, results of the early and late groups show that the mapping of phonetic-phonological information onto lexical representations is a more demanding process that accentuates non-native processing difficulties. L1 and AoA effects were more readily overcome in semantic processing; accented variants regularly created priming effects in the different groups of bilinguals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Social isolation, health literacy, and mortality risk: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

PubMed

Smith, Samuel G; Jackson, Sarah E; Kobayashi, Lindsay C; Steptoe, Andrew

2018-02-01

To investigate the relationships between social isolation, health literacy, and all-cause mortality, and the modifying effect of social isolation on the latter relationship. Data were from 7731 adults aged ≥50 years participating in Wave 2 (2004/2005) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Social isolation was defined according to marital/cohabiting status and contact with children, relatives, and friends, and participation in social organizations. Scores were split at the median to indicate social isolation (yes vs. no). Health literacy was assessed as comprehension of a medicine label and classified as "high" (≥75% correct) or "low" (<75% correct). The outcome was all-cause mortality up to February 2013. Cox proportional hazards models were adjusted for sociodemographic factors, health status, health behaviors, and cognitive function. Mortality rates were 30.3% versus 14.3% in the low versus high health literacy groups, and 23.5% versus 13.7% in the socially isolated versus nonisolated groups. Low health literacy (adj. HR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.02-1.45 vs. high) and social isolation (adj. HR = 1.28, 95% CI 1.10-1.50) were independently associated with increased mortality risk. The multiplicative interaction term for health literacy and social isolation was not statistically significant (p = .81). Low health literacy and high social isolation are risk factors for mortality. Social isolation does not modify the relationship between health literacy and mortality. Clinicians should be aware of the health risks faced by socially isolated adults and those with low health literacy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Early cumulative risk predicts externalizing behavior at age 10: The mediating role of adverse parenting.

PubMed

Gach, Emily J; Ip, Ka I; Sameroff, Arnold J; Olson, Sheryl L

2018-02-01

Multiple environmental risk factors in early childhood predict a broad range of adverse developmental outcomes. However, most prior longitudinal research has not illuminated explanatory mechanisms. Our main goals were to examine predictive associations between cumulative ecological risk factors in early childhood and children's later externalizing problems and to determine whether these associations were explained by variations in parenting quality. Participants were 241 children (118 girls) at risk for school-age conduct problems and their parents and teachers. Children were approximately 3 years old at Time 1 (T1) and 10 years old at Time 2 (T2). Reports of contextual risk at T1 were used to develop a cumulative risk index consisting of 6 singular risk variables from 3 ecological levels: social resources (low income; social isolation), family resources (marital aggression; poor total family functioning), and maternal resources (single parent status; poor maternal mental health). At T1, parenting variables were measured (corporal punishment, warm responsiveness, maternal efficacy, and negative perceptions of child behavior). At T2, mothers, fathers, and teachers reported child externalizing problems. Johnson's relative weight analysis revealed that the cumulative risk index was a more powerful predictor of age 10 years externalizing behavior than any of the singular contextual risk variables. Adverse parenting mediated the effects of cumulative risk on later child externalizing problems. Our findings have significant implications for understanding long-term effects of multiple contextual risk factors present in early childhood and for the implementation of positive parenting interventions early on. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Aptamer Database

PubMed Central

Lee, Jennifer F.; Hesselberth, Jay R.; Meyers, Lauren Ancel; Ellington, Andrew D.

2004-01-01

The aptamer database is designed to contain comprehensive sequence information on aptamers and unnatural ribozymes that have been generated by in vitro selection methods. Such data are not normally collected in ‘natural’ sequence databases, such as GenBank. Besides serving as a storehouse of sequences that may have diagnostic or therapeutic utility, the database serves as a valuable resource for theoretical biologists who describe and explore fitness landscapes. The database is updated monthly and is publicly available at http://aptamer.icmb.utexas.edu/. PMID:14681367

Biological age as a health index for mortality and major age-related disease incidence in Koreans: National Health Insurance Service – Health screening 11-year follow-up study

PubMed Central

Kang, Young Gon; Suh, Eunkyung; Lee, Jae-woo; Kim, Dong Wook; Cho, Kyung Hee; Bae, Chul-Young

2018-01-01

Purpose A comprehensive health index is needed to measure an individual’s overall health and aging status and predict the risk of death and age-related disease incidence, and evaluate the effect of a health management program. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the validity of estimated biological age (BA) in relation to all-cause mortality and age-related disease incidence based on National Sample Cohort database. Patients and methods This study was based on National Sample Cohort database of the National Health Insurance Service – Eligibility database and the National Health Insurance Service – Medical and Health Examination database of the year 2002 through 2013. BA model was developed based on the National Health Insurance Service – National Sample Cohort (NHIS – NSC) database and Cox proportional hazard analysis was done for mortality and major age-related disease incidence. Results For every 1 year increase of the calculated BA and chronological age difference, the hazard ratio for mortality significantly increased by 1.6% (1.5% in men and 2.0% in women) and also for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, heart disease, stroke, and cancer incidence by 2.5%, 4.2%, 1.3%, 1.6%, and 0.4%, respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion Estimated BA by the developed BA model based on NHIS – NSC database is expected to be used not only as an index for assessing health and aging status and predicting mortality and major age-related disease incidence, but can also be applied to various health care fields. PMID:29593385

Solving Relational Database Problems with ORDBMS in an Advanced Database Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wang, Ming

2011-01-01

This paper introduces how to use the object-relational database management system (ORDBMS) to solve relational database (RDB) problems in an advanced database course. The purpose of the paper is to provide a guideline for database instructors who desire to incorporate the ORDB technology in their traditional database courses. The paper presents…

Generalized Database Management System Support for Numeric Database Environments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dominick, Wayne D.; Weathers, Peggy G.

1982-01-01

This overview of potential for utilizing database management systems (DBMS) within numeric database environments highlights: (1) major features, functions, and characteristics of DBMS; (2) applicability to numeric database environment needs and user needs; (3) current applications of DBMS technology; and (4) research-oriented and…

Overview of Historical Earthquake Document Database in Japan and Future Development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nishiyama, A.; Satake, K.

2014-12-01

In Japan, damage and disasters from historical large earthquakes have been documented and preserved. Compilation of historical earthquake documents started in the early 20th century and 33 volumes of historical document source books (about 27,000 pages) have been published. However, these source books are not effectively utilized for researchers due to a contamination of low-reliability historical records and a difficulty for keyword searching by characters and dates. To overcome these problems and to promote historical earthquake studies in Japan, construction of text database started in the 21 century. As for historical earthquakes from the beginning of the 7th century to the early 17th century, "Online Database of Historical Documents in Japanese Earthquakes and Eruptions in the Ancient and Medieval Ages" (Ishibashi, 2009) has been already constructed. They investigated the source books or original texts of historical literature, emended the descriptions, and assigned the reliability of each historical document on the basis of written age. Another database compiled the historical documents for seven damaging earthquakes occurred along the Sea of Japan coast in Honshu, central Japan in the Edo period (from the beginning of the 17th century to the middle of the 19th century) and constructed text database and seismic intensity data base. These are now publicized on the web (written only in Japanese). However, only about 9 % of the earthquake source books have been digitized so far. Therefore, we plan to digitize all of the remaining historical documents by the research-program which started in 2014. The specification of the data base will be similar for previous ones. We also plan to combine this database with liquefaction traces database, which will be constructed by other research program, by adding the location information described in historical documents. Constructed database would be utilized to estimate the distributions of seismic intensities and tsunami

Integrative neuroscience: the role of a standardized database.

PubMed

Gordon, E; Cooper, N; Rennie, C; Hermens, D; Williams, L M

2005-04-01

Most brain related databases bring together specialized information, with a growing number that include neuroimaging measures. This article outlines the potential use and insights from the first entirely standardized and centralized database, which integrates information from neuroimaging measures (EEG, event related potential (ERP), structural/functional MRI), arousal (skin conductance responses (SCR)s, heart rate, respiration), neuropsychological and personality tests, genomics and demographics: The Brain Resource International Database. It comprises data from over 2000 "normative" subjects and a growing number of patients with neurological and psychiatric illnesses, acquired from over 50 laboratories (in the U.S.A, United Kingdom, Holland, South Africa, Israel and Australia), all with identical equipment and experimental procedures. Three primary goals of this database are to quantify individual differences in normative brain function, to compare an individual's performance to their database peers, and to provide a robust normative framework for clinical assessment and treatment prediction. We present three example demonstrations in relation to these goals. First, we show how consistent age differences may be quantified when large subject numbers are available, using EEG and ERP data from nearly 2000 stringently screened. normative subjects. Second, the use of a normalization technique provides a means to compare clinical subjects (50 ADHD subjects in this study) to the normative database with the effects of age and gender taken into account. Third, we show how a profile of EEG/ERP and autonomic measures potentially provides a means to predict treatment response in ADHD subjects. The example data consists of EEG under eyes open and eyes closed and ERP data for auditory oddball, working memory and Go-NoGo paradigms. Autonomic measures of skin conductance (tonic skin conductance level, SCL, and phasic skin conductance responses, SCRs) were acquired simultaneously

Cross-age comparisons reveal multiple strategies for lexical ambiguity resolution during natural reading.

PubMed

Stites, Mallory C; Federmeier, Kara D; Stine-Morrow, Elizabeth A L

2013-11-01

Eye tracking was used to investigate how younger and older (60 or more years) adults use syntactic and semantic information to disambiguate noun/verb (NV) homographs (e.g., park). In event-related potential (ERP) work using the same materials, Lee and Federmeier (2009, 2011) found that young adults elicited a sustained frontal negativity to NV homographs when only syntactic cues were available (i.e., in syntactic prose); this effect was eliminated by semantic constraints. The negativity was only present in older adults with high verbal fluency. The current study shows parallel findings: Young adults exhibit inflated first fixation durations to NV homographs in syntactic prose, but not semantically congruent sentences. This effect is absent in older adults as a group. Verbal fluency modulates the effect in both age groups: High fluency is associated with larger first fixation effects in syntactic prose. Older, but not younger, adults also show significantly increased rereading of the NV homographs in syntactic prose. Verbal fluency modulates this effect as well: High fluency is associated with a reduced tendency to reread, regardless of age. This relationship suggests a trade-off between initial and downstream processing costs for ambiguity during natural reading. Together the eye-tracking and ERP data suggest that effortful meaning selection recruits mechanisms important for suppressing contextually inappropriate meanings, which also slow eye movements. Efficacy of frontotemporal circuitry, as captured by verbal fluency, predicts the success of engaging these mechanisms in both young and older adults. Failure to recruit these processes requires compensatory rereading or leads to comprehension failures (Lee & Federmeier, 2012). PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

The interplay of maternal sensitivity and toddler engagement of mother in predicting self-regulation.

PubMed

Ispa, Jean M; Su-Russell, Chang; Palermo, Francisco; Carlo, Gustavo

2017-03-01

Using data from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project, a cross-lag mediation model was tested to examine longitudinal relations among low-income mothers' sensitivity; toddlers' engagement of their mothers; and toddler's self-regulation at ages 1, 2, and 3 years (N = 2,958). Age 1 maternal sensitivity predicted self-regulation at ages 2 and 3 years, and age 2 engagement of mother mediated the relation between age 1 maternal sensitivity and age 3 self-regulation. Lagged relations from toddler self-regulation at ages 1 and 2 years to later maternal sensitivity were not significant, suggesting stronger influence from mother to toddler than vice versa. Model fit was similar regardless of child gender and depth of family poverty. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Database Administrator

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moore, Pam

2010-01-01

The Internet and electronic commerce (e-commerce) generate lots of data. Data must be stored, organized, and managed. Database administrators, or DBAs, work with database software to find ways to do this. They identify user needs, set up computer databases, and test systems. They ensure that systems perform as they should and add people to the…

FIREMON Database

Treesearch

John F. Caratti

2006-01-01

The FIREMON database software allows users to enter data, store, analyze, and summarize plot data, photos, and related documents. The FIREMON database software consists of a Java application and a Microsoft® Access database. The Java application provides the user interface with FIREMON data through data entry forms, data summary reports, and other data management tools...

It Is Time to Rethink Central Auditory Processing Disorder Protocols for School-Aged Children.

PubMed

DeBonis, David A

2015-06-01

The purpose of this article is to review the literature that pertains to ongoing concerns regarding the central auditory processing construct among school-aged children and to assess whether the degree of uncertainty surrounding central auditory processing disorder (CAPD) warrants a change in current protocols. Methodology on this topic included a review of relevant and recent literature through electronic search tools (e.g., ComDisDome, PsycINFO, Medline, and Cochrane databases); published texts; as well as published articles from the Journal of the American Academy of Audiology; the American Journal of Audiology; the Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research; and Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools. This review revealed strong support for the following: (a) Current testing of CAPD is highly influenced by nonauditory factors, including memory, attention, language, and executive function; (b) the lack of agreement regarding the performance criteria for diagnosis is concerning; (c) the contribution of auditory processing abilities to language, reading, and academic and listening abilities, as assessed by current measures, is not significant; and (d) the effectiveness of auditory interventions for improving communication abilities has not been established. Routine use of CAPD test protocols cannot be supported, and strong consideration should be given to redirecting focus on assessing overall listening abilities. Also, intervention needs to be contextualized and functional. A suggested protocol is provided for consideration. All of these issues warrant ongoing research.

Age-, sex-, and education-specific norms for an extended CERAD Neuropsychological Assessment Battery-Results from the population-based LIFE-Adult-Study.

PubMed

Luck, Tobias; Pabst, Alexander; Rodriguez, Francisca S; Schroeter, Matthias L; Witte, Veronica; Hinz, Andreas; Mehnert, Anja; Engel, Christoph; Loeffler, Markus; Thiery, Joachim; Villringer, Arno; Riedel-Heller, Steffi G

2018-05-01

To provide new age-, sex-, and education-specific reference values for an extended version of the well-established Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease Neuropsychological Assessment Battery (CERAD-NAB) that additionally includes the Trail Making Test and the Verbal Fluency Test-S-Words. Norms were calculated based on the cognitive performances of n = 1,888 dementia-free participants (60-79 years) from the population-based German LIFE-Adult-Study. Multiple regressions were used to examine the association of the CERAD-NAB scores with age, sex, and education. In order to calculate the norms, quantile and censored quantile regression analyses were performed estimating marginal means of the test scores at 2.28, 6.68, 10, 15.87, 25, 50, 75, and 90 percentiles for age-, sex-, and education-specific subgroups. Multiple regression analyses revealed that younger age was significantly associated with better cognitive performance in 15 CERAD-NAB measures and higher education with better cognitive performance in all 17 measures. Women performed significantly better than men in 12 measures and men than women in four measures. The determined norms indicate ceiling effects for the cognitive performances in the Boston Naming, Word List Recognition, Constructional Praxis Copying, and Constructional Praxis Recall tests. The new norms for the extended CERAD-NAB will be useful for evaluating dementia-free German-speaking adults in a broad variety of relevant cognitive domains. The extended CERAD-NAB follows more closely the criteria for the new DSM-5 Mild and Major Neurocognitive Disorder. Additionally, it could be further developed to include a test for social cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Cognitive, emotion control, and motor performance of adolescents in the NCANDA study: Contributions from alcohol consumption, age, sex, ethnicity, and family history of addiction.

PubMed

Sullivan, Edith V; Brumback, Ty; Tapert, Susan F; Fama, Rosemary; Prouty, Devin; Brown, Sandra A; Cummins, Kevin; Thompson, Wesley K; Colrain, Ian M; Baker, Fiona C; De Bellis, Michael D; Hooper, Stephen R; Clark, Duncan B; Chung, Tammy; Nagel, Bonnie J; Nichols, B Nolan; Rohlfing, Torsten; Chu, Weiwei; Pohl, Kilian M; Pfefferbaum, Adolf

2016-05-01

To investigate development of cognitive and motor functions in healthy adolescents and to explore whether hazardous drinking affects the normal developmental course of those functions. Participants were 831 adolescents recruited across 5 United States sites of the National Consortium on Alcohol and NeuroDevelopment in Adolescence 692 met criteria for no/low alcohol exposure, and 139 exceeded drinking thresholds. Cross-sectional, baseline data were collected with computerized and traditional neuropsychological tests assessing 8 functional domains expressed as composite scores. General additive modeling evaluated factors potentially modulating performance (age, sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and pubertal developmental stage). Older no/low-drinking participants achieved better scores than younger ones on 5 accuracy composites (general ability, abstraction, attention, emotion, and balance). Speeded responses for attention, motor speed, and general ability were sensitive to age and pubertal development. The exceeds-threshold group (accounting for age, sex, and other demographic factors) performed significantly below the no/low-drinking group on balance accuracy and on general ability, attention, episodic memory, emotion, and motor speed scores and showed evidence for faster speed at the expense of accuracy. Delay Discounting performance was consistent with poor impulse control in the younger no/low drinkers and in exceeds-threshold drinkers regardless of age. Higher achievement with older age and pubertal stage in general ability, abstraction, attention, emotion, and balance suggests continued functional development through adolescence, possibly supported by concurrently maturing frontal, limbic, and cerebellar brain systems. Determination of whether low scores by the exceeds-threshold group resulted from drinking or from other preexisting factors requires longitudinal study. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Intelligent Access to Sequence and Structure Databases (IASSD) - an interface for accessing information from major web databases.

PubMed

Ganguli, Sayak; Gupta, Manoj Kumar; Basu, Protip; Banik, Rahul; Singh, Pankaj Kumar; Vishal, Vineet; Bera, Abhisek Ranjan; Chakraborty, Hirak Jyoti; Das, Sasti Gopal

2014-01-01

With the advent of age of big data and advances in high throughput technology accessing data has become one of the most important step in the entire knowledge discovery process. Most users are not able to decipher the query result that is obtained when non specific keywords or a combination of keywords are used. Intelligent access to sequence and structure databases (IASSD) is a desktop application for windows operating system. It is written in Java and utilizes the web service description language (wsdl) files and Jar files of E-utilities of various databases such as National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and Protein Data Bank (PDB). Apart from that IASSD allows the user to view protein structure using a JMOL application which supports conditional editing. The Jar file is freely available through e-mail from the corresponding author.

Comparison of the NCI open database with seven large chemical structural databases.

PubMed

Voigt, J H; Bienfait, B; Wang, S; Nicklaus, M C

2001-01-01

Eight large chemical databases have been analyzed and compared to each other. Central to this comparison is the open National Cancer Institute (NCI) database, consisting of approximately 250 000 structures. The other databases analyzed are the Available Chemicals Directory ("ACD," from MDL, release 1.99, 3D-version); the ChemACX ("ACX," from CamSoft, Version 4.5); the Maybridge Catalog and the Asinex database (both as distributed by CamSoft as part of ChemInfo 4.5); the Sigma-Aldrich Catalog (CD-ROM, 1999 Version); the World Drug Index ("WDI," Derwent, version 1999.03); and the organic part of the Cambridge Crystallographic Database ("CSD," from Cambridge Crystallographic Data Center, 1999 Version 5.18). The database properties analyzed are internal duplication rates; compounds unique to each database; cumulative occurrence of compounds in an increasing number of databases; overlap of identical compounds between two databases; similarity overlap; diversity; and others. The crystallographic database CSD and the WDI show somewhat less overlap with the other databases than those with each other. In particular the collections of commercial compounds and compilations of vendor catalogs have a substantial degree of overlap among each other. Still, no database is completely a subset of any other, and each appears to have its own niche and thus "raison d'être". The NCI database has by far the highest number of compounds that are unique to it. Approximately 200 000 of the NCI structures were not found in any of the other analyzed databases.

PrimateLit Database

Science.gov Websites

Primate Info Net Related Databases NCRR PrimateLit: A bibliographic database for primatology Top of any problems with this service. We welcome your feedback. The PrimateLit database is no longer being Resources, National Institutes of Health. The database is a collaborative project of the Wisconsin Primate

The Importance of Trust in the Adoption and Use of Intelligent Assistive Technology by Older Adults to Support Aging in Place: Scoping Review Protocol

PubMed Central

Strudwick, Gillian; Forchuk, Cheryl; Morse, Adam; Lachance, Jessica; Baskaran, Arani; Allison, Lauren

2017-01-01

Background Intelligent assistive technologies that complement and extend human abilities have proliferated in recent years. Service robots, home automation equipment, and other digital assistant devices possessing artificial intelligence are forms of assistive technologies that have become popular in society. Older adults (>55 years of age) have been identified by industry, government, and researchers as a demographic who can benefit significantly from the use of intelligent assistive technology to support various activities of daily living. Objective The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the literature on the importance of the concept of “trust” in the adoption of intelligent assistive technologies to assist aging in place by older adults. Methods Using a scoping review methodology, our search strategy will examine the following databases: ACM Digital Library, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science. Two reviewers will independently screen the initial titles obtained from the search, and these results will be further inspected by other members of the research team for inclusion in the review. Results This review will provide insights into how the concept of trust is actualized in the adoption of intelligent assistive technology by older adults. Preliminary sensitization to the literature suggests that the concept of trust is fluid, unstable, and intimately tied to the type of intelligent assistive technology being examined. Furthermore, a wide range of theoretical lenses that include elements of trust have been used to examine this concept. Conclusions This review will describe the concept of trust in the adoption of intelligent assistive technology by older adults, and will provide insights for practitioners, policy makers, and technology vendors for future practice. PMID:29097354

The Importance of Trust in the Adoption and Use of Intelligent Assistive Technology by Older Adults to Support Aging in Place: Scoping Review Protocol.

PubMed

McMurray, Josephine; Strudwick, Gillian; Forchuk, Cheryl; Morse, Adam; Lachance, Jessica; Baskaran, Arani; Allison, Lauren; Booth, Richard

2017-11-02

Intelligent assistive technologies that complement and extend human abilities have proliferated in recent years. Service robots, home automation equipment, and other digital assistant devices possessing artificial intelligence are forms of assistive technologies that have become popular in society. Older adults (>55 years of age) have been identified by industry, government, and researchers as a demographic who can benefit significantly from the use of intelligent assistive technology to support various activities of daily living. The purpose of this scoping review is to summarize the literature on the importance of the concept of "trust" in the adoption of intelligent assistive technologies to assist aging in place by older adults. Using a scoping review methodology, our search strategy will examine the following databases: ACM Digital Library, Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED), Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), Medline, PsycINFO, Scopus, and Web of Science. Two reviewers will independently screen the initial titles obtained from the search, and these results will be further inspected by other members of the research team for inclusion in the review. This review will provide insights into how the concept of trust is actualized in the adoption of intelligent assistive technology by older adults. Preliminary sensitization to the literature suggests that the concept of trust is fluid, unstable, and intimately tied to the type of intelligent assistive technology being examined. Furthermore, a wide range of theoretical lenses that include elements of trust have been used to examine this concept. This review will describe the concept of trust in the adoption of intelligent assistive technology by older adults, and will provide insights for practitioners, policy makers, and technology vendors for future practice. ©Josephine McMurray, Gillian Strudwick, Cheryl Forchuk, Adam Morse, Jessica Lachance, Arani Baskaran, Lauren

Managing daily happiness: The relationship between selection, optimization, and compensation strategies and well-being in adulthood.

PubMed

Teshale, Salom M; Lachman, Margie E

2016-11-01

Past work on selective optimization and compensation (SOC) has focused on between-persons differences and its relationship with global well-being. However, less work examines within-person SOC variation. This study examined whether variation over 7 days in everyday SOC was associated with happiness in a sample of 145 adults ages 22-94. Age differences in this relationship, the moderating effects of health, and lagged effects were also examined. On days in which middle-age and older adults and individuals with lower health used more SOC, they also reported greater happiness. Lagged effects indicated lower happiness led to greater subsequent SOC usage. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Productive extension of semantic memory in school-aged children: Relations with reading comprehension and deployment of cognitive resources.

PubMed

Bauer, Patricia J; Blue, Shala N; Xu, Aoxiang; Esposito, Alena G

2016-07-01

We investigated 7- to 10-year-old children's productive extension of semantic memory through self-generation of new factual knowledge derived through integration of separate yet related facts learned through instruction or through reading. In Experiment 1, an experimenter read the to-be-integrated facts. Children successfully learned and integrated the information and used it to further extend their semantic knowledge, as evidenced by high levels of correct responses in open-ended and forced-choice testing. In Experiment 2, on half of the trials, the to-be-integrated facts were read by an experimenter (as in Experiment 1) and on half of the trials, children read the facts themselves. Self-generation performance was high in both conditions (experimenter- and self-read); in both conditions, self-generation of new semantic knowledge was related to an independent measure of children's reading comprehension. In Experiment 3, the way children deployed cognitive resources during reading was predictive of their subsequent recall of newly learned information derived through integration. These findings indicate self-generation of new semantic knowledge through integration in school-age children as well as relations between this productive means of extension of semantic memory and cognitive processes engaged during reading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Genome databases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Courteau, J.

1991-10-11

Since the Genome Project began several years ago, a plethora of databases have been developed or are in the works. They range from the massive Genome Data Base at Johns Hopkins University, the central repository of all gene mapping information, to small databases focusing on single chromosomes or organisms. Some are publicly available, others are essentially private electronic lab notebooks. Still others limit access to a consortium of researchers working on, say, a single human chromosome. An increasing number incorporate sophisticated search and analytical software, while others operate as little more than data lists. In consultation with numerous experts inmore » the field, a list has been compiled of some key genome-related databases. The list was not limited to map and sequence databases but also included the tools investigators use to interpret and elucidate genetic data, such as protein sequence and protein structure databases. Because a major goal of the Genome Project is to map and sequence the genomes of several experimental animals, including E. coli, yeast, fruit fly, nematode, and mouse, the available databases for those organisms are listed as well. The author also includes several databases that are still under development - including some ambitious efforts that go beyond data compilation to create what are being called electronic research communities, enabling many users, rather than just one or a few curators, to add or edit the data and tag it as raw or confirmed.« less

IRA balances and contributions: an overview of the EBRI IRA database.

PubMed

Copeland, Craig

2010-09-01

NEW IRA DATABASE: The Employee Benefit Research Institute created the EBRI IRA Database in order to more closely examine retirement savings behavior. The EBRI IRA Database is able to link individuals within and across the data providers and will also be able to link the data with participants in 401(k) plans, allowing retirement funds to be tracked as they are generated, rolled over, and ultimately used. This Issue Brief is the first of a series of publications analyzing the EBRI IRA Database, and highlights the distribution of IRA owners by IRA type, average and median account balances, and contributions to IRAs. The data security techniques used by the data providers assure that EBRI has no ability to identify individuals so that all privacy is assured. IRA TYPES: In the EBRI IRA Database, IRAs are classified into four types: traditional (originating from contributions), rollovers from other retirement plans, Roth, and SEP/SIMPLE. The distribution of the IRA accounts is 33.6 percent traditional IRAs; 33.4 percent rollover IRAs (combined with the traditional IRAs, 67 percent); 23.4 percent Roth IRAs; the remaining 9.6 percent are SEPs and SIMPLEs. OWNERSHIP BY AGE AND GENDER: IRA owners were more likely to be male, especially those having a rollover or a SEP/SIMPLE IRA. Among all IRA participants in the database, nearly one-half (48.3 percent) were ages 45-64. Only 16.7 percent of those owning a traditional IRA were under age 45, compared with 46.5 percent for those with a Roth, 30.4 percent for rollovers, and 34.8 percent for those with a SEP or SIMPLE. AVERAGE AND MEDIAN BALANCES: The average and median IRA account balance in 2008 was $54,863 and $15,756, respectively, while the average and median IRA individual balance (all accounts from the same person combined) was $69,498 and $20,046, Individuals with a rollover balance had the highest average and median balance at $91,783 and $31,264. Roth owners had the lowest average and median balance at $14,056 and $7

Information Age Avatars.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Peters, Paul Evan

1995-01-01

Considers the role of librarians in the networked information age. Topics include contributions of librarians to information technology, including bibliographic utilities, online database searching services, and public access to electronic information; future challenges, including controlling costs; considering community objectives; and the…

DataBase on Demand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gaspar Aparicio, R.; Gomez, D.; Coterillo Coz, I.; Wojcik, D.

2012-12-01

At CERN a number of key database applications are running on user-managed MySQL database services. The database on demand project was born out of an idea to provide the CERN user community with an environment to develop and run database services outside of the actual centralised Oracle based database services. The Database on Demand (DBoD) empowers the user to perform certain actions that had been traditionally done by database administrators, DBA's, providing an enterprise platform for database applications. It also allows the CERN user community to run different database engines, e.g. presently open community version of MySQL and single instance Oracle database server. This article describes a technology approach to face this challenge, a service level agreement, the SLA that the project provides, and an evolution of possible scenarios.

Using a Semi-Realistic Database to Support a Database Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yue, Kwok-Bun

2013-01-01

A common problem for university relational database courses is to construct effective databases for instructions and assignments. Highly simplified "toy" databases are easily available for teaching, learning, and practicing. However, they do not reflect the complexity and practical considerations that students encounter in real-world…

NATIVE HEALTH DATABASES: NATIVE HEALTH RESEARCH DATABASE (NHRD)

EPA Science Inventory

The Native Health Databases contain bibliographic information and abstracts of health-related articles, reports, surveys, and other resource documents pertaining to the health and health care of American Indians, Alaska Natives, and Canadian First Nations. The databases provide i...

Vocational interests in the United States: Sex, age, ethnicity, and year effects.

PubMed

Morris, Michael L

2016-10-01

Vocational interests predict educational and career choices, job performance, and career success (Rounds & Su, 2014). Although sex differences in vocational interests have long been observed (Thorndike, 1911), an appropriate overall measure has been lacking from the literature. Using a cross-sectional sample of United States residents aged 14 to 63 who completed the Strong Interest Inventory assessment between 2005 and 2014 (N = 1,283,110), I examined sex, age, ethnicity, and year effects on work related interest levels using both multivariate and univariate effect size estimates of individual dimensions (Holland's Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, and Conventional). Men scored higher on Realistic (d = -1.14), Investigative (d = -.32), Enterprising (d = -.22), and Conventional (d = -.23), while women scored higher on Artistic (d = .19) and Social (d = .38), mostly replicating previous univariate findings. Multivariate, overall sex differences were very large (disattenuated Mahalanobis' D = 1.61; 27% overlap). Interest levels were slightly lower and overall sex differences larger in younger samples. Overall sex differences have narrowed slightly for 18-22 year-olds in more recent samples. Generally very small ethnicity effects included relatively higher Investigative and Enterprising scores for Asians, Indians, and Middle Easterners, lower Realistic scores for Blacks and Native Americans, higher Realistic, Artistic, and Social scores for Pacific Islanders, and lower Conventional scores for Whites. Using Prediger's (1982) model, women were more interested in people (d = 1.01) and ideas (d = .18), while men were more interested in things and data. These results, consistent with previous reviews showing large sex differences and small year effects, suggest that large sex differences in work related interests will continue to be observed for decades. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

A Web-based open-source database for the distribution of hyperspectral signatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferwerda, J. G.; Jones, S. D.; Du, Pei-Jun

2006-10-01

With the coming of age of field spectroscopy as a non-destructive means to collect information on the physiology of vegetation, there is a need for storage of signatures, and, more importantly, their metadata. Without the proper organisation of metadata, the signatures itself become limited. In order to facilitate re-distribution of data, a database for the storage & distribution of hyperspectral signatures and their metadata was designed. The database was built using open-source software, and can be used by the hyperspectral community to share their data. Data is uploaded through a simple web-based interface. The database recognizes major file-formats by ASD, GER and International Spectronics. The database source code is available for download through the hyperspectral.info web domain, and we happily invite suggestion for additions & modification for the database to be submitted through the online forums on the same website.

The 2015 Nucleic Acids Research Database Issue and molecular biology database collection.

PubMed

Galperin, Michael Y; Rigden, Daniel J; Fernández-Suárez, Xosé M

2015-01-01

The 2015 Nucleic Acids Research Database Issue contains 172 papers that include descriptions of 56 new molecular biology databases, and updates on 115 databases whose descriptions have been previously published in NAR or other journals. Following the classification that has been introduced last year in order to simplify navigation of the entire issue, these articles are divided into eight subject categories. This year's highlights include RNAcentral, an international community portal to various databases on noncoding RNA; ValidatorDB, a validation database for protein structures and their ligands; SASBDB, a primary repository for small-angle scattering data of various macromolecular complexes; MoonProt, a database of 'moonlighting' proteins, and two new databases of protein-protein and other macromolecular complexes, ComPPI and the Complex Portal. This issue also includes an unusually high number of cancer-related databases and other databases dedicated to genomic basics of disease and potential drugs and drug targets. The size of NAR online Molecular Biology Database Collection, http://www.oxfordjournals.org/nar/database/a/, remained approximately the same, following the addition of 74 new resources and removal of 77 obsolete web sites. The entire Database Issue is freely available online on the Nucleic Acids Research web site (http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research 2014. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

The Madrid Affective Database for Spanish (MADS): Ratings of Dominance, Familiarity, Subjective Age of Acquisition and Sensory Experience

PubMed Central

Hinojosa, José A.; Rincón-Pérez, Irene; Romero-Ferreiro, Mª Verónica; Martínez-García, Natalia; Villalba-García, Cristina; Montoro, Pedro R.; Pozo, Miguel A.

2016-01-01

The current study presents ratings by 540 Spanish native speakers for dominance, familiarity, subjective age of acquisition (AoA), and sensory experience (SER) for the 875 Spanish words included in the Madrid Affective Database for Spanish (MADS). The norms can be downloaded as supplementary materials for this manuscript from https://figshare.com/s/8e7b445b729527262c88 These ratings may be of potential relevance to researches who are interested in characterizing the interplay between language and emotion. Additionally, with the aim of investigating how the affective features interact with the lexicosemantic properties of words, we performed correlational analyses between norms for familiarity, subjective AoA and SER, and scores for those affective variables which are currently included in the MADs. A distinct pattern of significant correlations with affective features was found for different lexicosemantic variables. These results show that familiarity, subjective AoA and SERs may have independent effects on the processing of emotional words. They also suggest that these psycholinguistic variables should be fully considered when formulating theoretical approaches to the processing of affective language. PMID:27227521

Energy Consumption Database

Science.gov Websites

Consumption Database The California Energy Commission has created this on-line database for informal reporting ) classifications. The database also provides easy downloading of energy consumption data into Microsoft Excel (XLSX

Effects of bilingualism on the age of onset and progression of MCI and AD: evidence from executive function tests.

PubMed

Bialystok, Ellen; Craik, Fergus I M; Binns, Malcolm A; Ossher, Lynn; Freedman, Morris

2014-03-01

Previous articles have reported that bilingualism is associated with a substantial delay in the onset of both Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). The present study reports results from 74 MCI patients and 75 AD patients; approximately half of the patients in each group were bilingual. All patients were interviewed to obtain details of their language use, onset of their condition, and lifestyle habits. Patients performed three executive function (EF) tests from the D-KEFS battery (Trails, Color-Word Interference, Verbal Fluency) on 3 occasions over a period of approximately 1 year. Results replicated the finding that bilingual patients are several years older than comparable monolinguals at both age of symptom onset and date of first clinic visit. This result could not be attributed to language group differences in such lifestyle variables as diet, smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, or social activity. On the first testing occasion, performance on the EF tasks was generally comparable between the language groups, contesting arguments that bilinguals wait longer before attending the clinic. Finally, EF performance tended to decline over the 3 sessions, but no differences were found between monolinguals and bilinguals in the rate of decline. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Human Mitochondrial Protein Database

National Institute of Standards and Technology Data Gateway

SRD 131 Human Mitochondrial Protein Database (Web, free access)   The Human Mitochondrial Protein Database (HMPDb) provides comprehensive data on mitochondrial and human nuclear encoded proteins involved in mitochondrial biogenesis and function. This database consolidates information from SwissProt, LocusLink, Protein Data Bank (PDB), GenBank, Genome Database (GDB), Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM), Human Mitochondrial Genome Database (mtDB), MITOMAP, Neuromuscular Disease Center and Human 2-D PAGE Databases. This database is intended as a tool not only to aid in studying the mitochondrion but in studying the associated diseases.

The Dartmouth Database of Children’s Faces: Acquisition and Validation of a New Face Stimulus Set

PubMed Central

Dalrymple, Kirsten A.; Gomez, Jesse; Duchaine, Brad

2013-01-01

Facial identity and expression play critical roles in our social lives. Faces are therefore frequently used as stimuli in a variety of areas of scientific research. Although several extensive and well-controlled databases of adult faces exist, few databases include children’s faces. Here we present the Dartmouth Database of Children’s Faces, a set of photographs of 40 male and 40 female Caucasian children between 6 and 16 years-of-age. Models posed eight facial expressions and were photographed from five camera angles under two lighting conditions. Models wore black hats and black gowns to minimize extra-facial variables. To validate the images, independent raters identified facial expressions, rated their intensity, and provided an age estimate for each model. The Dartmouth Database of Children’s Faces is freely available for research purposes and can be downloaded by contacting the corresponding author by email. PMID:24244434

Intrusive Rock Database for the Digital Geologic Map of Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nutt, C.J.; Ludington, Steve

2003-01-01

information. The information in the database is from a variety of sources, including geologic maps at scales ranging from 1:500,000 to 1:24,000, and thesis monographs. The references are shown twice: alphabetically and by region. The digital geologic map of Utah (Hintze and others, 2000) classifies intrusive rocks into only 3 categories, distinguished by age. They are: Ti, Tertiary intrusive rock; Ji, Upper to Middle Jurassic granite to quartz monzonite; and pCi, Early Proterozoic to Late Archean intrusive rock. Use of the tables provided in this report will permit selection and classification of those rocks by lithology and age. This database is a pilot study by the Survey and Analysis Project of the U.S. Geological Survey to characterize igneous rocks and link them to a digital map. The database, and others like it, will evolve as the project continues and other states are completed. We release this version now as an example, as a reference, and for those interested in Utah plutonic rocks.

Cyberstalking and College-Age Students: A Bibliometric Analysis across Scholarly Databases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piotrowski, Chris; Lathrop, Peter J.

2012-01-01

Research on the topic of cyberbullying has proliferated over the past decade, particularly on its impact on school-aged children (see Piotrowski, 2011). However, there is limited research on the incidence and impact of cyberstalking, a related type of cyber-abuse, on college-age students. Thus, it would be of interest to examine the extent of…

Antiepileptic drug use in seven electronic health record databases in Europe: a methodologic comparison.

PubMed

de Groot, Mark C H; Schuerch, Markus; de Vries, Frank; Hesse, Ulrik; Oliva, Belén; Gil, Miguel; Huerta, Consuelo; Requena, Gema; de Abajo, Francisco; Afonso, Ana S; Souverein, Patrick C; Alvarez, Yolanda; Slattery, Jim; Rottenkolber, Marietta; Schmiedl, Sven; Van Dijk, Liset; Schlienger, Raymond G; Reynolds, Robert; Klungel, Olaf H

2014-05-01

The annual prevalence of antiepileptic drug (AED) prescribing reported in the literature differs considerably among European countries due to use of different type of data sources, time periods, population distribution, and methodologic differences. This study aimed to measure prevalence of AED prescribing across seven European routine health care databases in Spain, Denmark, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Germany using a standardized methodology and to investigate sources of variation. Analyses on the annual prevalence of AEDs were stratified by sex, age, and AED. Overall prevalences were standardized to the European 2008 reference population. Prevalence of any AED varied from 88 per 10,000 persons (The Netherlands) to 144 per 10,000 in Spain and Denmark in 2001. In all databases, prevalence increased linearly: from 6% in Denmark to 15% in Spain each year since 2001. This increase could be attributed entirely to an increase in "new," recently marketed AEDs while prevalence of AEDs that have been available since the mid-1990s, hardly changed. AED use increased with age for both female and male patients up to the ages of 80 to 89 years old and tended to be somewhat higher in female than in male patients between the ages of 40 and 70. No differences between databases in the number of AEDs used simultaneously by a patient were found. We showed that during the study period of 2001-2009, AED prescribing increased in five European Union (EU) countries and that this increase was due entirely to the newer AEDs marketed since the 1990s. Using a standardized methodology, we showed consistent trends across databases and countries over time. Differences in age and sex distribution explained only part of the variation between countries. Therefore, remaining variation in AED use must originate from other differences in national health care systems. Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2014 International League Against Epilepsy.

Methods for structuring scientific knowledge from many areas related to aging research.

PubMed

Zhavoronkov, Alex; Cantor, Charles R

2011-01-01

Aging and age-related disease represents a substantial quantity of current natural, social and behavioral science research efforts. Presently, no centralized system exists for tracking aging research projects across numerous research disciplines. The multidisciplinary nature of this research complicates the understanding of underlying project categories, the establishment of project relations, and the development of a unified project classification scheme. We have developed a highly visual database, the International Aging Research Portfolio (IARP), available at AgingPortfolio.org to address this issue. The database integrates information on research grants, peer-reviewed publications, and issued patent applications from multiple sources. Additionally, the database uses flexible project classification mechanisms and tools for analyzing project associations and trends. This system enables scientists to search the centralized project database, to classify and categorize aging projects, and to analyze the funding aspects across multiple research disciplines. The IARP is designed to provide improved allocation and prioritization of scarce research funding, to reduce project overlap and improve scientific collaboration thereby accelerating scientific and medical progress in a rapidly growing area of research. Grant applications often precede publications and some grants do not result in publications, thus, this system provides utility to investigate an earlier and broader view on research activity in many research disciplines. This project is a first attempt to provide a centralized database system for research grants and to categorize aging research projects into multiple subcategories utilizing both advanced machine algorithms and a hierarchical environment for scientific collaboration.

Correspondence: World Wide Web access to the British Universities Human Embryo Database

PubMed Central

AITON, JAMES F.; MCDONOUGH, ARIANA; MCLACHLAN, JOHN C.; SMART, STEVEN D.; WHITEN, SUSAN C.

1997-01-01

The British Universities Human Embryo Database has been created by merging information from the Walmsley Collection of Human Embryos at the School of Biological and Medical Sciences, University of St Andrews and from the Boyd Collection of Human Embryos at the Department of Anatomy, University of Cambridge. The database has been made available electronically on the Internet and World Wide Web browsers can be used to implement interactive access to the information stored in the British Universities Human Embryo Database. The database can, therefore, be accessed and searched from remote sites and specific embryos can be identified in terms of their location, age, developmental stage, plane of section, staining technique, and other parameters. It is intended to add information from other similar collections in the UK as it becomes available. PMID:9034891

Musculoskeletal complaints, anxiety-depression symptoms, and neuroticism: A study of middle-aged twins.

PubMed

Vassend, Olav; Røysamb, Espen; Nielsen, Christopher Sivert; Czajkowski, Nikolai Olavi

2017-08-01

Musculoskeletal (MS) complaints are reported commonly, but the extent to which such complaints reflect the severity of site-specific pathology or a more generalized susceptibility to feel pain/discomfort is uncertain. Both site-specific and more widespread MS conditions have been shown to be linked to anxiety and depression, but the nature of this relationship is poorly understood. In the present study the role of neuroticism as a shared risk factor that may possibly explain the co-occurrence between anxiety-depression and MS complaints was investigated. The sample consisted of 746 monozygotic and 770 dizygotic twins in the age group of 50-65 years (M = 57.11, SD = 4.5). Using Cholesky modeling, genetic and environmental influences on neuroticism, anxiety-depression and MS symptoms, and the associations among these phenotypes were determined. A single factor accounted for about 50% of the overall variance in MS symptom reporting. The best-fitting biometric model included sex-specific additive genetic and individual-specific environmental effects. All 3 phenotypes were strongly influenced by genetic factors, heritability (h2) = 0.41-0.56. Furthermore, while there was a considerable overlap in genetic risk factors among the 3 phenotypes, a substantial proportion of the genetic risk shared between MS complaints and anxiety-depression was independent of neuroticism. Evidence for a common underlying susceptibility to report MS symptoms, genetically linked to both neuroticism and anxiety-depression symptoms, was found. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Biofuel Database

National Institute of Standards and Technology Data Gateway

Biofuel Database (Web, free access)   This database brings together structural, biological, and thermodynamic data for enzymes that are either in current use or are being considered for use in the production of biofuels.

Big Data and Total Hip Arthroplasty: How Do Large Databases Compare?

PubMed

Bedard, Nicholas A; Pugely, Andrew J; McHugh, Michael A; Lux, Nathan R; Bozic, Kevin J; Callaghan, John J

2018-01-01

Use of large databases for orthopedic research has become extremely popular in recent years. Each database varies in the methods used to capture data and the population it represents. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how these databases differed in reported demographics, comorbidities, and postoperative complications for primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) patients. Primary THA patients were identified within National Surgical Quality Improvement Programs (NSQIP), Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), Medicare Standard Analytic Files (MED), and Humana administrative claims database (HAC). NSQIP definitions for comorbidities and complications were matched to corresponding International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision/Current Procedural Terminology codes to query the other databases. Demographics, comorbidities, and postoperative complications were compared. The number of patients from each database was 22,644 in HAC, 371,715 in MED, 188,779 in NIS, and 27,818 in NSQIP. Age and gender distribution were clinically similar. Overall, there was variation in prevalence of comorbidities and rates of postoperative complications between databases. As an example, NSQIP had more than twice the obesity than NIS. HAC and MED had more than 2 times the diabetics than NSQIP. Rates of deep infection and stroke 30 days after THA had more than 2-fold difference between all databases. Among databases commonly used in orthopedic research, there is considerable variation in complication rates following THA depending upon the database used for analysis. It is important to consider these differences when critically evaluating database research. Additionally, with the advent of bundled payments, these differences must be considered in risk adjustment models. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teaching Case: Adapting the Access Northwind Database to Support a Database Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dyer, John N.; Rogers, Camille

2015-01-01

A common problem encountered when teaching database courses is that few large illustrative databases exist to support teaching and learning. Most database textbooks have small "toy" databases that are chapter objective specific, and thus do not support application over the complete domain of design, implementation and management concepts…

Doors for memory: A searchable database.

PubMed

Baddeley, Alan D; Hitch, Graham J; Quinlan, Philip T; Bowes, Lindsey; Stone, Rob

2016-11-01

The study of human long-term memory has for over 50 years been dominated by research on words. This is partly due to lack of suitable nonverbal materials. Experience in developing a clinical test suggested that door scenes can provide an ecologically relevant and sensitive alternative to the faces and geometrical figures traditionally used to study visual memory. In pursuing this line of research, we have accumulated over 2000 door scenes providing a database that is categorized on a range of variables including building type, colour, age, condition, glazing, and a range of other physical characteristics. We describe an illustrative study of recognition memory for 100 doors tested by yes/no, two-alternative, or four-alternative forced-choice paradigms. These stimuli, together with the full categorized database, are available through a dedicated website. We suggest that door scenes provide an ecologically relevant and participant-friendly source of material for studying the comparatively neglected field of visual long-term memory.

Minors or suspects? A discussion of the legal and ethical issues surrounding the indefinite storage of DNA collected from children aged 10-18 years on the National DNA Database in England and Wales.

PubMed

Mansel, Charlotte; Davies, Sharon

2012-10-01

There are currently over 250,000 children between the ages of 10 and 18 years who have their genetic information stored on the National DNA Database. This paper explores the legal and ethical issues surrounding this controversial subject, with particular focus on juvenile capacity and the potential results of criminalizing young children and adolescents. The implications of the adverse legal judgement of the European Court of Human Rights in S and Marper v UK (2008) and the violation of Article 8 of the Convention are discussed. The authors have considered the requirement to balance the rights of the individual, particularly those of minors, against the need to protect the public and have compared the position in Scotland to that of the rest of the UK. The authors conclude that a more ethically acceptable alternative could be the creation of a separate forensic database for children aged 10-18 years, set up to safeguard the interests of those who have not been convicted of any crime.

Applications of GIS and database technologies to manage a Karst Feature Database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gao, Y.; Tipping, R.G.; Alexander, E.C.

2006-01-01

This paper describes the management of a Karst Feature Database (KFD) in Minnesota. Two sets of applications in both GIS and Database Management System (DBMS) have been developed for the KFD of Minnesota. These applications were used to manage and to enhance the usability of the KFD. Structured Query Language (SQL) was used to manipulate transactions of the database and to facilitate the functionality of the user interfaces. The Database Administrator (DBA) authorized users with different access permissions to enhance the security of the database. Database consistency and recovery are accomplished by creating data logs and maintaining backups on a regular basis. The working database provides guidelines and management tools for future studies of karst features in Minnesota. The methodology of designing this DBMS is applicable to develop GIS-based databases to analyze and manage geomorphic and hydrologic datasets at both regional and local scales. The short-term goal of this research is to develop a regional KFD for the Upper Mississippi Valley Karst and the long-term goal is to expand this database to manage and study karst features at national and global scales.

Herpes zoster surveillance using electronic databases in the Valencian Community (Spain)

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Epidemiologic data of Herpes Zoster (HZ) disease in Spain are scarce. The objective of this study was to assess the epidemiology of HZ in the Valencian Community (Spain), using outpatient and hospital electronic health databases. Methods Data from 2007 to 2010 was collected from computerized health databases of a population of around 5 million inhabitants. Diagnoses were recorded by physicians using the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM). A sample of medical records under different criteria was reviewed by a general practitioner, to assess the reliability of codification. Results The average annual incidence of HZ was 4.60 per 1000 persons-year (PY) for all ages (95% CI: 4.57-4.63), is more frequent in women [5.32/1000PY (95% CI: 5.28-5.37)] and is strongly age-related, with a peak incidence at 70-79 years. A total of 7.16/1000 cases of HZ required hospitalization. Conclusions Electronic health database used in the Valencian Community is a reliable electronic surveillance tool for HZ disease and will be useful to define trends in disease burden before and after HZ vaccine introduction. PMID:24094135

The impact of malnutrition on intelligence at 3 and 11 years of age: The mediating role of temperament.

PubMed

Venables, Peter H; Raine, Adrian

2016-02-01

Previous work has shown that malnutrition has deleterious effects on both IQ and aspects of temperament. It is hypothesized that while malnutrition bears a direct relation to IQ, aspects of temperament are also involved in a mediating role so that they produce indirect associations between malnutrition and IQ. The study examines the association of 3 indices of malnutrition-stunting, anemia and wasting-to Verbal IQ (VIQ) and Performance IQ (PIQ) and temperament in 1,376 3-year-old and 11-year-old children in Mauritius. Two dimensions of temperament were extracted from ratings of behavior and were labeled as Uninhibited (UI) and Task Orientation (TO). At age 3 stunting had direct relations to Verbal IQ and Performance IQ and also indirect relations via the mediating effect of temperament (UI but not TO). In the case of anemia there were no direct relations to VIQ or PIQ but both temperament meditators were involved in indirect relations. For wasting, indirect but not direct relations were observed. When age 11 cognitive performance was examined, there were direct relations to stunting and anemia and indirect relations via UI, but not TO. The relations between malnutrition and IQ were graded and linear showing that it is not only when malnutrition is defined by its severest levels that it has an effect on cognitive performance. It is suggested that malnutrition affects those brain structures and functions that are involved in both cognitive behavior and temperament. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved.

Introduction to the DISRUPT postprandial database: subjects, studies and methodologies.

PubMed

Jackson, Kim G; Clarke, Dave T; Murray, Peter; Lovegrove, Julie A; O'Malley, Brendan; Minihane, Anne M; Williams, Christine M

2010-03-01

Dysregulation of lipid and glucose metabolism in the postprandial state are recognised as important risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Our objective was to create a comprehensive, standardised database of postprandial studies to provide insights into the physiological factors that influence postprandial lipid and glucose responses. Data were collated from subjects (n = 467) taking part in single and sequential meal postprandial studies conducted by researchers at the University of Reading, to form the DISRUPT (DIetary Studies: Reading Unilever Postprandial Trials) database. Subject attributes including age, gender, genotype, menopausal status, body mass index, blood pressure and a fasting biochemical profile, together with postprandial measurements of triacylglycerol (TAG), non-esterified fatty acids, glucose, insulin and TAG-rich lipoprotein composition are recorded. A particular strength of the studies is the frequency of blood sampling, with on average 10-13 blood samples taken during each postprandial assessment, and the fact that identical test meal protocols were used in a number of studies, allowing pooling of data to increase statistical power. The DISRUPT database is the most comprehensive postprandial metabolism database that exists worldwide and preliminary analysis of the pooled sequential meal postprandial dataset has revealed both confirmatory and novel observations with respect to the impact of gender and age on the postprandial TAG response. Further analysis of the dataset using conventional statistical techniques along with integrated mathematical models and clustering analysis will provide a unique opportunity to greatly expand current knowledge of the aetiology of inter-individual variability in postprandial lipid and glucose responses.

Open Geoscience Database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bashev, A.

2012-04-01

Currently there is an enormous amount of various geoscience databases. Unfortunately the only users of the majority of the databases are their elaborators. There are several reasons for that: incompaitability, specificity of tasks and objects and so on. However the main obstacles for wide usage of geoscience databases are complexity for elaborators and complication for users. The complexity of architecture leads to high costs that block the public access. The complication prevents users from understanding when and how to use the database. Only databases, associated with GoogleMaps don't have these drawbacks, but they could be hardly named "geoscience" Nevertheless, open and simple geoscience database is necessary at least for educational purposes (see our abstract for ESSI20/EOS12). We developed a database and web interface to work with them and now it is accessible at maps.sch192.ru. In this database a result is a value of a parameter (no matter which) in a station with a certain position, associated with metadata: the date when the result was obtained; the type of a station (lake, soil etc); the contributor that sent the result. Each contributor has its own profile, that allows to estimate the reliability of the data. The results can be represented on GoogleMaps space image as a point in a certain position, coloured according to the value of the parameter. There are default colour scales and each registered user can create the own scale. The results can be also extracted in *.csv file. For both types of representation one could select the data by date, object type, parameter type, area and contributor. The data are uploaded in *.csv format: Name of the station; Lattitude(dd.dddddd); Longitude(ddd.dddddd); Station type; Parameter type; Parameter value; Date(yyyy-mm-dd). The contributor is recognised while entering. This is the minimal set of features that is required to connect a value of a parameter with a position and see the results. All the complicated data

Assessing the quality of life history information in publicly available databases.

PubMed

Thorson, James T; Cope, Jason M; Patrick, Wesley S

2014-01-01

Single-species life history parameters are central to ecological research and management, including the fields of macro-ecology, fisheries science, and ecosystem modeling. However, there has been little independent evaluation of the precision and accuracy of the life history values in global and publicly available databases. We therefore develop a novel method based on a Bayesian errors-in-variables model that compares database entries with estimates from local experts, and we illustrate this process by assessing the accuracy and precision of entries in FishBase, one of the largest and oldest life history databases. This model distinguishes biases among seven life history parameters, two types of information available in FishBase (i.e., published values and those estimated from other parameters), and two taxa (i.e., bony and cartilaginous fishes) relative to values from regional experts in the United States, while accounting for additional variance caused by sex- and region-specific life history traits. For published values in FishBase, the model identifies a small positive bias in natural mortality and negative bias in maximum age, perhaps caused by unacknowledged mortality caused by fishing. For life history values calculated by FishBase, the model identified large and inconsistent biases. The model also demonstrates greatest precision for body size parameters, decreased precision for values derived from geographically distant populations, and greatest between-sex differences in age at maturity. We recommend that our bias and precision estimates be used in future errors-in-variables models as a prior on measurement errors. This approach is broadly applicable to global databases of life history traits and, if used, will encourage further development and improvements in these databases.

The MAR databases: development and implementation of databases specific for marine metagenomics

PubMed Central

Klemetsen, Terje; Raknes, Inge A; Fu, Juan; Agafonov, Alexander; Balasundaram, Sudhagar V; Tartari, Giacomo; Robertsen, Espen

2018-01-01

Abstract We introduce the marine databases; MarRef, MarDB and MarCat (https://mmp.sfb.uit.no/databases/), which are publicly available resources that promote marine research and innovation. These data resources, which have been implemented in the Marine Metagenomics Portal (MMP) (https://mmp.sfb.uit.no/), are collections of richly annotated and manually curated contextual (metadata) and sequence databases representing three tiers of accuracy. While MarRef is a database for completely sequenced marine prokaryotic genomes, which represent a marine prokaryote reference genome database, MarDB includes all incomplete sequenced prokaryotic genomes regardless level of completeness. The last database, MarCat, represents a gene (protein) catalog of uncultivable (and cultivable) marine genes and proteins derived from marine metagenomics samples. The first versions of MarRef and MarDB contain 612 and 3726 records, respectively. Each record is built up of 106 metadata fields including attributes for sampling, sequencing, assembly and annotation in addition to the organism and taxonomic information. Currently, MarCat contains 1227 records with 55 metadata fields. Ontologies and controlled vocabularies are used in the contextual databases to enhance consistency. The user-friendly web interface lets the visitors browse, filter and search in the contextual databases and perform BLAST searches against the corresponding sequence databases. All contextual and sequence databases are freely accessible and downloadable from https://s1.sfb.uit.no/public/mar/. PMID:29106641

Computational biology for ageing

PubMed Central

Wieser, Daniela; Papatheodorou, Irene; Ziehm, Matthias; Thornton, Janet M.

2011-01-01

High-throughput genomic and proteomic technologies have generated a wealth of publicly available data on ageing. Easy access to these data, and their computational analysis, is of great importance in order to pinpoint the causes and effects of ageing. Here, we provide a description of the existing databases and computational tools on ageing that are available for researchers. We also describe the computational approaches to data interpretation in the field of ageing including gene expression, comparative and pathway analyses, and highlight the challenges for future developments. We review recent biological insights gained from applying bioinformatics methods to analyse and interpret ageing data in different organisms, tissues and conditions. PMID:21115530

A Picture Database for Verbs and Nouns with Different Action Content in Turkish.

PubMed

Bayram, Ece; Aydin, Özgür; Ergenc, Hacer Iclal; Akbostanci, Muhittin Cenk

2017-08-01

In this study we present a picture database of 160 nouns and 160 verbs. All verbs and nouns are divided into two groups as action and non-action words. Age of acquisition, familiarity, imageability, name agreement and complexity norms are reported alongside frequency, word length and morpheme count for each word. Data were collected from 600 native Turkish adults in total. The results show that although several measures have weak correlations with each other, only age of acquisition had moderate downhill relationships with familiarity and frequency with familiarity and frequency having a rather strong positive correlation with each other. The norms and the picture database are available as supplemental materials for use in psycholinguistic studies in Turkish.

The MAR databases: development and implementation of databases specific for marine metagenomics.

PubMed

Klemetsen, Terje; Raknes, Inge A; Fu, Juan; Agafonov, Alexander; Balasundaram, Sudhagar V; Tartari, Giacomo; Robertsen, Espen; Willassen, Nils P

2018-01-04

We introduce the marine databases; MarRef, MarDB and MarCat (https://mmp.sfb.uit.no/databases/), which are publicly available resources that promote marine research and innovation. These data resources, which have been implemented in the Marine Metagenomics Portal (MMP) (https://mmp.sfb.uit.no/), are collections of richly annotated and manually curated contextual (metadata) and sequence databases representing three tiers of accuracy. While MarRef is a database for completely sequenced marine prokaryotic genomes, which represent a marine prokaryote reference genome database, MarDB includes all incomplete sequenced prokaryotic genomes regardless level of completeness. The last database, MarCat, represents a gene (protein) catalog of uncultivable (and cultivable) marine genes and proteins derived from marine metagenomics samples. The first versions of MarRef and MarDB contain 612 and 3726 records, respectively. Each record is built up of 106 metadata fields including attributes for sampling, sequencing, assembly and annotation in addition to the organism and taxonomic information. Currently, MarCat contains 1227 records with 55 metadata fields. Ontologies and controlled vocabularies are used in the contextual databases to enhance consistency. The user-friendly web interface lets the visitors browse, filter and search in the contextual databases and perform BLAST searches against the corresponding sequence databases. All contextual and sequence databases are freely accessible and downloadable from https://s1.sfb.uit.no/public/mar/. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Sensing emotion in voices: Negativity bias and gender differences in a validation study of the Oxford Vocal ('OxVoc') sounds database.

PubMed

Young, Katherine S; Parsons, Christine E; LeBeau, Richard T; Tabak, Benjamin A; Sewart, Amy R; Stein, Alan; Kringelbach, Morten L; Craske, Michelle G

2017-08-01

Emotional expressions are an essential element of human interactions. Recent work has increasingly recognized that emotional vocalizations can color and shape interactions between individuals. Here we present data on the psychometric properties of a recently developed database of authentic nonlinguistic emotional vocalizations from human adults and infants (the Oxford Vocal 'OxVoc' Sounds Database; Parsons, Young, Craske, Stein, & Kringelbach, 2014). In a large sample (n = 562), we demonstrate that adults can reliably categorize these sounds (as 'positive,' 'negative,' or 'sounds with no emotion'), and rate valence in these sounds consistently over time. In an extended sample (n = 945, including the initial n = 562), we also investigated a number of individual difference factors in relation to valence ratings of these vocalizations. Results demonstrated small but significant effects of (a) symptoms of depression and anxiety with more negative ratings of adult neutral vocalizations (R2 = .011 and R2 = .008, respectively) and (b) gender differences in perceived valence such that female listeners rated adult neutral vocalizations more positively and infant cry vocalizations more negatively than male listeners (R2 = .021, R2 = .010, respectively). Of note, we did not find evidence of negativity bias among other affective vocalizations or gender differences in perceived valence of adult laughter, adult cries, infant laughter, or infant neutral vocalizations. Together, these findings largely converge with factors previously shown to impact processing of emotional facial expressions, suggesting a modality-independent impact of depression, anxiety, and listener gender, particularly among vocalizations with more ambiguous valence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Databases for LDEF results

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bohnhoff-Hlavacek, Gail

1992-01-01

One of the objectives of the team supporting the LDEF Systems and Materials Special Investigative Groups is to develop databases of experimental findings. These databases identify the hardware flown, summarize results and conclusions, and provide a system for acknowledging investigators, tracing sources of data, and future design suggestions. To date, databases covering the optical experiments, and thermal control materials (chromic acid anodized aluminum, silverized Teflon blankets, and paints) have been developed at Boeing. We used the Filemaker Pro software, the database manager for the Macintosh computer produced by the Claris Corporation. It is a flat, text-retrievable database that provides access to the data via an intuitive user interface, without tedious programming. Though this software is available only for the Macintosh computer at this time, copies of the databases can be saved to a format that is readable on a personal computer as well. Further, the data can be exported to more powerful relational databases, capabilities, and use of the LDEF databases and describe how to get copies of the database for your own research.

DDRprot: a database of DNA damage response-related proteins.

PubMed

Andrés-León, Eduardo; Cases, Ildefonso; Arcas, Aida; Rojas, Ana M

2016-01-01

The DNA Damage Response (DDR) signalling network is an essential system that protects the genome's integrity. The DDRprot database presented here is a resource that integrates manually curated information on the human DDR network and its sub-pathways. For each particular DDR protein, we present detailed information about its function. If involved in post-translational modifications (PTMs) with each other, we depict the position of the modified residue/s in the three-dimensional structures, when resolved structures are available for the proteins. All this information is linked to the original publication from where it was obtained. Phylogenetic information is also shown, including time of emergence and conservation across 47 selected species, family trees and sequence alignments of homologues. The DDRprot database can be queried by different criteria: pathways, species, evolutionary age or involvement in (PTM). Sequence searches using hidden Markov models can be also used.Database URL: http://ddr.cbbio.es. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Databases for Microbiologists

DOE PAGES

Zhulin, Igor B.

2015-05-26

Databases play an increasingly important role in biology. They archive, store, maintain, and share information on genes, genomes, expression data, protein sequences and structures, metabolites and reactions, interactions, and pathways. All these data are critically important to microbiologists. Furthermore, microbiology has its own databases that deal with model microorganisms, microbial diversity, physiology, and pathogenesis. Thousands of biological databases are currently available, and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with their development. Finally, the purpose of this minireview is to provide a brief survey of current databases that are of interest to microbiologists.

Databases for Microbiologists

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhulin, Igor B.

Databases play an increasingly important role in biology. They archive, store, maintain, and share information on genes, genomes, expression data, protein sequences and structures, metabolites and reactions, interactions, and pathways. All these data are critically important to microbiologists. Furthermore, microbiology has its own databases that deal with model microorganisms, microbial diversity, physiology, and pathogenesis. Thousands of biological databases are currently available, and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with their development. Finally, the purpose of this minireview is to provide a brief survey of current databases that are of interest to microbiologists.

Databases for Microbiologists

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Databases play an increasingly important role in biology. They archive, store, maintain, and share information on genes, genomes, expression data, protein sequences and structures, metabolites and reactions, interactions, and pathways. All these data are critically important to microbiologists. Furthermore, microbiology has its own databases that deal with model microorganisms, microbial diversity, physiology, and pathogenesis. Thousands of biological databases are currently available, and it becomes increasingly difficult to keep up with their development. The purpose of this minireview is to provide a brief survey of current databases that are of interest to microbiologists. PMID:26013493

Online Databases in Physics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sievert, MaryEllen C.; Verbeck, Alison F.

1984-01-01

This overview of 47 online sources for physics information available in the United States--including sub-field databases, transdisciplinary databases, and multidisciplinary databases-- notes content, print source, language, time coverage, and databank. Two discipline-specific databases (SPIN and PHYSICS BRIEFS) are also discussed. (EJS)

Development of a personalized training system using the Lung Image Database Consortium and Image Database resource Initiative Database.

PubMed

Lin, Hongli; Wang, Weisheng; Luo, Jiawei; Yang, Xuedong

2014-12-01

The aim of this study was to develop a personalized training system using the Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) and Image Database resource Initiative (IDRI) Database, because collecting, annotating, and marking a large number of appropriate computed tomography (CT) scans, and providing the capability of dynamically selecting suitable training cases based on the performance levels of trainees and the characteristics of cases are critical for developing a efficient training system. A novel approach is proposed to develop a personalized radiology training system for the interpretation of lung nodules in CT scans using the Lung Image Database Consortium (LIDC) and Image Database Resource Initiative (IDRI) database, which provides a Content-Boosted Collaborative Filtering (CBCF) algorithm for predicting the difficulty level of each case of each trainee when selecting suitable cases to meet individual needs, and a diagnostic simulation tool to enable trainees to analyze and diagnose lung nodules with the help of an image processing tool and a nodule retrieval tool. Preliminary evaluation of the system shows that developing a personalized training system for interpretation of lung nodules is needed and useful to enhance the professional skills of trainees. The approach of developing personalized training systems using the LIDC/IDRL database is a feasible solution to the challenges of constructing specific training program in terms of cost and training efficiency. Copyright © 2014 AUR. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mycobacteriophage genome database.

PubMed

Joseph, Jerrine; Rajendran, Vasanthi; Hassan, Sameer; Kumar, Vanaja

2011-01-01

Mycobacteriophage genome database (MGDB) is an exclusive repository of the 64 completely sequenced mycobacteriophages with annotated information. It is a comprehensive compilation of the various gene parameters captured from several databases pooled together to empower mycobacteriophage researchers. The MGDB (Version No.1.0) comprises of 6086 genes from 64 mycobacteriophages classified into 72 families based on ACLAME database. Manual curation was aided by information available from public databases which was enriched further by analysis. Its web interface allows browsing as well as querying the classification. The main objective is to collect and organize the complexity inherent to mycobacteriophage protein classification in a rational way. The other objective is to browse the existing and new genomes and describe their functional annotation. The database is available for free at http://mpgdb.ibioinformatics.org/mpgdb.php.

WEB-BASED DATABASE ON RENEWAL TECHNOLOGIES ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

As U.S. utilities continue to shore up their aging infrastructure, renewal needs now represent over 43% of annual expenditures compared to new construction for drinking water distribution and wastewater collection systems (Underground Construction [UC], 2016). An increased understanding of renewal options will ultimately assist drinking water utilities in reducing water loss and help wastewater utilities to address infiltration and inflow issues in a cost-effective manner. It will also help to extend the service lives of both drinking water and wastewater mains. This research effort involved collecting case studies on the use of various trenchless pipeline renewal methods and providing the information in an online searchable database. The overall objective was to further support technology transfer and information sharing regarding emerging and innovative renewal technologies for water and wastewater mains. The result of this research is a Web-based, searchable database that utility personnel can use to obtain technology performance and cost data, as well as case study references. The renewal case studies include: technologies used; the conditions under which the technology was implemented; costs; lessons learned; and utility contact information. The online database also features a data mining tool for automated review of the technologies selected and cost data. Based on a review of the case study results and industry data, several findings are presented on tren

Maize databases

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

This chapter is a succinct overview of maize data held in the species-specific database MaizeGDB (the Maize Genomics and Genetics Database), and selected multi-species data repositories, such as Gramene/Ensembl Plants, Phytozome, UniProt and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), ...

Specialist Bibliographic Databases

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Specialist bibliographic databases offer essential online tools for researchers and authors who work on specific subjects and perform comprehensive and systematic syntheses of evidence. This article presents examples of the established specialist databases, which may be of interest to those engaged in multidisciplinary science communication. Access to most specialist databases is through subscription schemes and membership in professional associations. Several aggregators of information and database vendors, such as EBSCOhost and ProQuest, facilitate advanced searches supported by specialist keyword thesauri. Searches of items through specialist databases are complementary to those through multidisciplinary research platforms, such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Familiarizing with the functional characteristics of biomedical and nonbiomedical bibliographic search tools is mandatory for researchers, authors, editors, and publishers. The database users are offered updates of the indexed journal lists, abstracts, author profiles, and links to other metadata. Editors and publishers may find particularly useful source selection criteria and apply for coverage of their peer-reviewed journals and grey literature sources. These criteria are aimed at accepting relevant sources with established editorial policies and quality controls. PMID:27134485

Specialist Bibliographic Databases.

PubMed

Gasparyan, Armen Yuri; Yessirkepov, Marlen; Voronov, Alexander A; Trukhachev, Vladimir I; Kostyukova, Elena I; Gerasimov, Alexey N; Kitas, George D

2016-05-01

Specialist bibliographic databases offer essential online tools for researchers and authors who work on specific subjects and perform comprehensive and systematic syntheses of evidence. This article presents examples of the established specialist databases, which may be of interest to those engaged in multidisciplinary science communication. Access to most specialist databases is through subscription schemes and membership in professional associations. Several aggregators of information and database vendors, such as EBSCOhost and ProQuest, facilitate advanced searches supported by specialist keyword thesauri. Searches of items through specialist databases are complementary to those through multidisciplinary research platforms, such as PubMed, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. Familiarizing with the functional characteristics of biomedical and nonbiomedical bibliographic search tools is mandatory for researchers, authors, editors, and publishers. The database users are offered updates of the indexed journal lists, abstracts, author profiles, and links to other metadata. Editors and publishers may find particularly useful source selection criteria and apply for coverage of their peer-reviewed journals and grey literature sources. These criteria are aimed at accepting relevant sources with established editorial policies and quality controls.

Understanding the role of conscientiousness in healthy aging: where does the brain come in?

PubMed

Patrick, Christopher J

2014-05-01

In reviewing this impressive series of articles, I was struck by 2 points in particular: (a) the fact that the empirically oriented articles focused on analyses of data from very large samples, with the articles by Friedman, Kern, Hampson, and Duckworth (2014) and Kern, Hampson, Goldbert, and Friedman (2014) highlighting an approach to merging existing data sets through use of "metric bridges" to address key questions not addressable through 1 data set alone, and (b) the fact that the articles as a whole included limited mention of neuroscientific (i.e., brain research) concepts, methods, and findings. One likely reason for the lack of reference to brain-oriented work is the persisting gap between smaller sample size lab-experimental and larger sample size multivariate-correlational approaches to psychological research. As a strategy for addressing this gap and bringing a distinct neuroscientific component to the National Institute on Aging's conscientiousness and health initiative, I suggest that the metric bridging approach highlighted by Friedman and colleagues could be used to connect existing large-scale data sets containing both neurophysiological variables and measures of individual difference constructs to other data sets containing richer arrays of nonphysiological variables-including data from longitudinal or twin studies focusing on personality and health-related outcomes (e.g., Terman Life Cycle study and Hawaii longitudinal studies, as described in the article by Kern et al., 2014). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved).

Creating Your Own Database.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Blair, John C., Jr.

1982-01-01

Outlines the important factors to be considered in selecting a database management system for use with a microcomputer and presents a series of guidelines for developing a database. General procedures, report generation, data manipulation, information storage, word processing, data entry, database indexes, and relational databases are among the…

Palaeo-sea-level and palaeo-ice-sheet databases: problems, strategies, and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Düsterhus, André; Rovere, Alessio; Carlson, Anders E.; Horton, Benjamin P.; Klemann, Volker; Tarasov, Lev; Barlow, Natasha L. M.; Bradwell, Tom; Clark, Jorie; Dutton, Andrea; Gehrels, W. Roland; Hibbert, Fiona D.; Hijma, Marc P.; Khan, Nicole; Kopp, Robert E.; Sivan, Dorit; Törnqvist, Torbjörn E.

2016-04-01

Sea-level and ice-sheet databases have driven numerous advances in understanding the Earth system. We describe the challenges and offer best strategies that can be adopted to build self-consistent and standardised databases of geological and geochemical information used to archive palaeo-sea-levels and palaeo-ice-sheets. There are three phases in the development of a database: (i) measurement, (ii) interpretation, and (iii) database creation. Measurement should include the objective description of the position and age of a sample, description of associated geological features, and quantification of uncertainties. Interpretation of the sample may have a subjective component, but it should always include uncertainties and alternative or contrasting interpretations, with any exclusion of existing interpretations requiring a full justification. During the creation of a database, an approach based on accessibility, transparency, trust, availability, continuity, completeness, and communication of content (ATTAC3) must be adopted. It is essential to consider the community that creates and benefits from a database. We conclude that funding agencies should not only consider the creation of original data in specific research-question-oriented projects, but also include the possibility of using part of the funding for IT-related and database creation tasks, which are essential to guarantee accessibility and maintenance of the collected data.

NASA STI Database, Aerospace Database and ARIN coverage of 'space law'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Buchan, Ronald L.

1992-01-01

The space-law coverage provided by the NASA STI Database, the Aerospace Database, and ARIN is briefly described. Particular attention is given to the space law content of the two Databases and of ARIN, the NASA Thesauras space law terminology, space law publication forms, and the availability of the space law literature.

Databases: Beyond the Basics.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whittaker, Robert

This presented paper offers an elementary description of database characteristics and then provides a survey of databases that may be useful to the teacher and researcher in Slavic and East European languages and literatures. The survey focuses on commercial databases that are available, usable, and needed. Individual databases discussed include:…

Database Dictionary for Ethiopian National Ground-Water DAtabase (ENGDA) Data Fields

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kuniansky, Eve L.; Litke, David W.; Tucci, Patrick

2007-01-01

Introduction This document describes the data fields that are used for both field forms and the Ethiopian National Ground-water Database (ENGDA) tables associated with information stored about production wells, springs, test holes, test wells, and water level or water-quality observation wells. Several different words are used in this database dictionary and in the ENGDA database to describe a narrow shaft constructed in the ground. The most general term is borehole, which is applicable to any type of hole. A well is a borehole specifically constructed to extract water from the ground; however, for this data dictionary and for the ENGDA database, the words well and borehole are used interchangeably. A production well is defined as any well used for water supply and includes hand-dug wells, small-diameter bored wells equipped with hand pumps, or large-diameter bored wells equipped with large-capacity motorized pumps. Test holes are borings made to collect information about the subsurface with continuous core or non-continuous core and/or where geophysical logs are collected. Test holes are not converted into wells. A test well is a well constructed for hydraulic testing of an aquifer in order to plan a larger ground-water production system. A water-level or water-quality observation well is a well that is used to collect information about an aquifer and not used for water supply. A spring is any naturally flowing, local, ground-water discharge site. The database dictionary is designed to help define all fields on both field data collection forms (provided in attachment 2 of this report) and for the ENGDA software screen entry forms (described in Litke, 2007). The data entered into each screen entry field are stored in relational database tables within the computer database. The organization of the database dictionary is designed based on field data collection and the field forms, because this is what the majority of people will use. After each field, however, the

Reflective Database Access Control

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Olson, Lars E.

2009-01-01

"Reflective Database Access Control" (RDBAC) is a model in which a database privilege is expressed as a database query itself, rather than as a static privilege contained in an access control list. RDBAC aids the management of database access controls by improving the expressiveness of policies. However, such policies introduce new interactions…

Age 60 study, part III : consolidated database experiments final report.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1994-10-01

This document is one of four products completed as a part of the Age 60 Rule research contract monitored by Pam Della Rocco, Civil Aerospace Medical Institute, Contracting Officer's Technical Representative. This work was performed. This report was a...

East-China Geochemistry Database (ECGD):A New Networking Database for North China Craton

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, X.; Ma, W.

2010-12-01

North China Craton is one of the best natural laboratories that research some Earth Dynamic questions[1]. Scientists made much progress in research on this area, and got vast geochemistry data, which are essential for answering many fundamental questions about the age, composition, structure, and evolution of the East China area. But the geochemical data have long been accessible only through the scientific literature and theses where they have been widely dispersed, making it difficult for the broad Geosciences community to find, access and efficiently use the full range of available data[2]. How to effectively store, manage, share and reuse the existing geochemical data in the North China Craton area? East-China Geochemistry Database(ECGD) is a networking geochemical scientific database system that has been designed based on WebGIS and relational database for the structured storage and retrieval of geochemical data and geological map information. It is integrated the functions of data retrieval, spatial visualization and online analysis. ECGD focus on three areas: 1.Storage and retrieval of geochemical data and geological map information. Research on the characters of geochemical data, including its composing and connecting of each other, we designed a relational database, which based on geochemical relational data model, to store a variety of geological sample information such as sampling locality, age, sample characteristics, reference, major elements, rare earth elements, trace elements and isotope system et al. And a web-based user-friendly interface is provided for constructing queries. 2.Data view. ECGD is committed to online data visualization by different ways, especially to view data in digital map with dynamic way. Because ECGD was integrated WebGIS technology, the query results can be mapped on digital map, which can be zoomed, translation and dot selection. Besides of view and output query results data by html, txt or xls formats, researchers also can

Measuring disease prevalence: a comparison of musculoskeletal disease using four general practice consultation databases

PubMed Central

Jordan, Kelvin; Clarke, Alexandra M; Symmons, Deborah PM; Fleming, Douglas; Porcheret, Mark; Kadam, Umesh T; Croft, Peter

2007-01-01

Background Primary care consultation data are an important source of information on morbidity prevalence. It is not known how reliable such figures are. Aim To compare annual consultation prevalence estimates for musculoskeletal conditions derived from four general practice consultation databases. Design of study Retrospective study of general practice consultation records. Setting Three national general practice consultation databases: i) Fourth Morbidity Statistics from General Practice (MSGP4, 1991/92), ii) Royal College of General Practitioners Weekly Returns Service (RCGP WRS, 2001), and iii) General Practice Research Database (GPRD, 1991 and 2001); and one regional database (Consultations in Primary Care Archive, 2001). Method Age-sex standardised persons consulting annual prevalence rates for musculoskeletal conditions overall, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and arthralgia were derived for patients aged 15 years and over. Results GPRD prevalence of any musculoskeletal condition, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis was lower than that of the other databases. This is likely to be due to GPs not needing to record every consultation made for a chronic condition. MSGP4 gave the highest prevalence for osteoarthritis but low prevalence of arthralgia which reflects encouragement for GPs to use diagnostic rather than symptom codes. Conclusion Considerable variation exists in consultation prevalence estimates for musculoskeletal conditions. Researchers and health service planners should be aware that estimates of disease occurrence based on consultation will be influenced by choice of database. This is likely to be true for other chronic diseases and where alternative symptom labels exist for a disease. RCGP WRS may give the most reliable prevalence figures for musculoskeletal and other chronic diseases. PMID:17244418

Image Databases.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pettersson, Rune

Different kinds of pictorial databases are described with respect to aims, user groups, search possibilities, storage, and distribution. Some specific examples are given for databases used for the following purposes: (1) labor markets for artists; (2) document management; (3) telling a story; (4) preservation (archives and museums); (5) research;…

Aging on a different scale--chronological versus pathology-related aging.

PubMed

Melis, Joost P M; Jonker, Martijs J; Vijg, Jan; Hoeijmakers, Jan H J; Breit, Timo M; van Steeg, Harry

2013-10-01

In the next decades the elderly population will increase dramatically, demanding appropriate solutions in health care and aging research focusing on healthy aging to prevent high burdens and costs in health care. For this, research targeting tissue-specific and individual aging is paramount to make the necessary progression in aging research. In a recently published study we have attempted to make a step interpreting aging data on chronological as well as pathological scale. For this, we sampled five major tissues at regular time intervals during the entire C57BL/6J murine lifespan from a controlled in vivo aging study, measured the whole transcriptome and incorporated temporal as well as physical health aspects into the analyses. In total, we used 18 different age-related pathological parameters and transcriptomic profiles of liver, kidney, spleen, lung and brain and created a database that can now be used for a broad systems biology approach. In our study, we focused on the dynamics of biological processes during chronological aging and the comparison between chronological and pathology-related aging.

The rules of the game: properties of a database of expository language samples.

PubMed

Heilmann, John; Malone, Thomas O

2014-10-01

The authors created a database of expository oral language samples with the aims of describing the nature of students' expository discourse and providing benchmark data for typically developing preteen and teenage students. Using a favorite game or sport protocol, language samples were collected from 235 typically developing students in Grades 5, 6, 7, and 9. Twelve language measures were summarized from this database and analyses were completed to test for differences across ages and topics. To determine whether distinct dimensions of oral language could be captured with language measures from these expository samples, a factor analysis was completed. Modest differences were observed in language measures across ages and topics. The language measures were effectively classified into four distinct dimensions: syntactic complexity, expository content, discourse difficulties, and lexical diversity. Analysis of expository data provides a functional and curriculum-based assessment that has the potential to allow clinicians to document multiple dimensions of children's expressive language skills. Further development and testing of the database will establish the feasibility of using it to compare individual students' expository discourse skills to those of their typically developing peers.

Transport and Environment Database System (TRENDS): Maritime air pollutant emission modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgakaki, Aliki; Coffey, Robert A.; Lock, Graham; Sorenson, Spencer C.

This paper reports the development of the maritime module within the framework of the Transport and Environment Database System (TRENDS) project. A detailed database has been constructed for the calculation of energy consumption and air pollutant emissions. Based on an in-house database of commercial vessels kept at the Technical University of Denmark, relationships between the fuel consumption and size of different vessels have been developed, taking into account the fleet's age and service speed. The technical assumptions and factors incorporated in the database are presented, including changes from findings reported in Methodologies for Estimating air pollutant Emissions from Transport (MEET). The database operates on statistical data provided by Eurostat, which describe vessel and freight movements from and towards EU 15 major ports. Data are at port to Maritime Coastal Area (MCA) level, so a bottom-up approach is used. A port to MCA distance database has also been constructed for the purpose of the study. This was the first attempt to use Eurostat maritime statistics for emission modelling; and the problems encountered, since the statistical data collection was not undertaken with a view to this purpose, are mentioned. Examples of the results obtained by the database are presented. These include detailed air pollutant emission calculations for bulk carriers entering the port of Helsinki, as an example of the database operation, and aggregate results for different types of movements for France. Overall estimates of SO x and NO x emission caused by shipping traffic between the EU 15 countries are in the area of 1 and 1.5 million tonnes, respectively.

Digital release of the Alaska Quaternary fault and fold database

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koehler, R. D.; Farrell, R.; Burns, P.; Combellick, R. A.; Weakland, J. R.

2011-12-01

The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) has designed a Quaternary fault and fold database for Alaska in conformance with standards defined by the U.S. Geological Survey for the National Quaternary fault and fold database. Alaska is the most seismically active region of the United States, however little information exists on the location, style of deformation, and slip rates of Quaternary faults. Thus, to provide an accurate, user-friendly, reference-based fault inventory to the public, we are producing a digital GIS shapefile of Quaternary fault traces and compiling summary information on each fault. Here, we present relevant information pertaining to the digital GIS shape file and online access and availability of the Alaska database. This database will be useful for engineering geologic studies, geologic, geodetic, and seismic research, and policy planning. The data will also contribute to the fault source database being constructed by the Global Earthquake Model (GEM), Faulted Earth project, which is developing tools to better assess earthquake risk. We derived the initial list of Quaternary active structures from The Neotectonic Map of Alaska (Plafker et al., 1994) and supplemented it with more recent data where available. Due to the limited level of knowledge on Quaternary faults in Alaska, pre-Quaternary fault traces from the Plafker map are shown as a layer in our digital database so users may view a more accurate distribution of mapped faults and to suggest the possibility that some older traces may be active yet un-studied. The database will be updated as new information is developed. We selected each fault by reviewing the literature and georegistered the faults from 1:250,000-scale paper maps contained in 1970's vintage and earlier bedrock maps. However, paper map scales range from 1:20,000 to 1:500,000. Fault parameters in our GIS fault attribute tables include fault name, age, slip rate, slip sense, dip direction, fault line type

Impact of smoking on the age at diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma: Subanalysis of the Japanese Urological Association multi-institutional national database.

PubMed

Miyazaki, Jun; Nishiyama, Hiroyuki; Fujimoto, Hiroyuki; Ohyama, Chikara; Koie, Takuya; Hinotsu, Shiro; Kikuchi, Eiji; Sakura, Mizuaki; Inokuchi, Junichi; Hara, Tomohiko

2015-11-01

To examine the influence of smoking history on the diagnosis and other tumor characteristics of upper tract urothelial carcinoma in Japan. A total of 1509 patients with upper tract urothelial carcinoma who were diagnosed in 2005 from 348 Japanese institutions were registered using the multi-institutional national database of the Japanese Urological Association and included in this analysis. Clinical data of the patients were collected in 2011. The associations between the patients' self-reported smoking history and their age at the diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma, sex, pathological T stage and tumor grade were analyzed. The mean age at the diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma was approximately 5 years earlier for the 238 current smokers than for the 618 current non-smokers (P < 0.0001). Similar associations between smoking and the early diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma were shown in the sex subgroups and in subgroups stratified by pathological T stages. Among the current smokers, the age at diagnosis for the smoking ≥ 20 cigarettes per day group was 6.5 years lower than that of the < 20 cigarettes per day group, which was significantly different (P < 0.0001). Current smoking is a significant risk factor for the earlier diagnosis of upper tract urothelial carcinoma. The finding is important from the perspective of both healthcare and medical economies. © 2015 The Japanese Urological Association.

Systematic review of sedentary behaviour and health indicators in school-aged children and youth

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Accumulating evidence suggests that, independent of physical activity levels, sedentary behaviours are associated with increased risk of cardio-metabolic disease, all-cause mortality, and a variety of physiological and psychological problems. Therefore, the purpose of this systematic review is to determine the relationship between sedentary behaviour and health indicators in school-aged children and youth aged 5-17 years. Online databases (MEDLINE, EMBASE and PsycINFO), personal libraries and government documents were searched for relevant studies examining time spent engaging in sedentary behaviours and six specific health indicators (body composition, fitness, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, self-esteem, pro-social behaviour and academic achievement). 232 studies including 983,840 participants met inclusion criteria and were included in the review. Television (TV) watching was the most common measure of sedentary behaviour and body composition was the most common outcome measure. Qualitative analysis of all studies revealed a dose-response relation between increased sedentary behaviour and unfavourable health outcomes. Watching TV for more than 2 hours per day was associated with unfavourable body composition, decreased fitness, lowered scores for self-esteem and pro-social behaviour and decreased academic achievement. Meta-analysis was completed for randomized controlled studies that aimed to reduce sedentary time and reported change in body mass index (BMI) as their primary outcome. In this regard, a meta-analysis revealed an overall significant effect of -0.81 (95% CI of -1.44 to -0.17, p = 0.01) indicating an overall decrease in mean BMI associated with the interventions. There is a large body of evidence from all study designs which suggests that decreasing any type of sedentary time is associated with lower health risk in youth aged 5-17 years. In particular, the evidence suggests that daily TV viewing in excess of 2 hours is associated with

Geologic map and map database of the Palo Alto 30' x 60' quadrangle, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brabb, E.E.; Jones, D.L.; Graymer, R.W.

2000-01-01

This digital map database, compiled from previously published and unpublished data, and new mapping by the authors, represents the general distribution of bedrock and surficial deposits in the mapped area. Together with the accompanying text file (pamf.ps, pamf.pdf, pamf.txt), it provides current information on the geologic structure and stratigraphy of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The scale of the source maps limits the spatial resolution (scale) of the database to 1:62,500 or smaller.

Introducing the Infant Bookreading Database (IBDb).

PubMed

Hudson Kam, Carla L; Matthewson, Lisa

2017-11-01

Studies on the relationship between bookreading and language development typically lack data about which books are actually read to children. This paper reports on an Internet survey designed to address this data gap. The resulting dataset (the Infant Bookreading Database or IBDb) includes responses from 1,107 caregivers of children aged 0-36 months who answered questions about the English-language books they most commonly read to their children. The inclusion of demographic information enables analysis of subsets of data based on age, sex, or caregivers' education level. A comparison between our dataset and those used in previous analyses reveals that there is relatively little overlap between booklists gathered from proxies such as bestseller lists and the books caregivers reported reading to children in our survey. The IBDb is available for download for use by researchers at .

Process dissociation analyses of memory changes in healthy aging, preclinical, and very mild Alzheimer disease: Evidence for isolated recollection deficits.

PubMed

Millar, Peter R; Balota, David A; Maddox, Geoffrey B; Duchek, Janet M; Aschenbrenner, Andrew J; Fagan, Anne M; Benzinger, Tammie L S; Morris, John C

2017-10-01

Recollection and familiarity are independent processes that contribute to memory performance. Recollection is dependent on attentional control, which has been shown to be disrupted in early stage Alzheimer's disease (AD), whereas familiarity is independent of attention. The present longitudinal study examines the sensitivity of recollection estimates based on Jacoby's (1991) process dissociation procedure to AD-related biomarkers in a large sample of well-characterized cognitively normal middle-aged and older adults (N = 519) and the extent to which recollection discriminates these individuals from individuals with very mild symptomatic AD (N = 64). Participants studied word pairs (e.g., knee bone), then completed a primed, explicit, cued fragment-completion memory task (e.g., knee b_n_). Primes were either congruent with the correct response (e.g., bone), incongruent (e.g., bend), or neutral (e.g., &). This design allowed for the estimation of independent contributions of recollection and familiarity processes, using the process dissociation procedure. Recollection, but not familiarity, was impaired in healthy aging and in very mild AD. Recollection discriminated cognitively normal individuals from the earliest detectable stage of symptomatic AD above and beyond standard psychometric tests. In cognitively normal individuals, baseline CSF measures indicative of AD pathology were related to lower initial recollection and less practice-related improvement in recollection over time. Finally, presence of amyloid plaques, as imaged by PIB-PET, was also related to less improvement in recollection over time. These findings suggest that attention-demanding memory processes, such as recollection, may be particularly sensitive to both symptomatic and preclinical AD pathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

U.S. Quaternary Fault and Fold Database Released

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haller, Kathleen M.; Machette, Michael N.; Dart, Richard L.; Rhea, B. Susan

2004-06-01

A comprehensive online compilation of Quaternary-age faults and folds throughout the United States was recently released by the U.S. Geological Survey, with cooperation from state geological surveys, academia, and the private sector. The Web site at http://Qfaults.cr.usgs.gov/ contains searchable databases and related geo-spatial data that characterize earthquake-related structures that could be potential seismic sources for large-magnitude (M > 6) earthquakes.

The Chicago Thoracic Oncology Database Consortium: A Multisite Database Initiative.

PubMed

Won, Brian; Carey, George B; Tan, Yi-Hung Carol; Bokhary, Ujala; Itkonen, Michelle; Szeto, Kyle; Wallace, James; Campbell, Nicholas; Hensing, Thomas; Salgia, Ravi

2016-03-16

An increasing amount of clinical data is available to biomedical researchers, but specifically designed database and informatics infrastructures are needed to handle this data effectively. Multiple research groups should be able to pool and share this data in an efficient manner. The Chicago Thoracic Oncology Database Consortium (CTODC) was created to standardize data collection and facilitate the pooling and sharing of data at institutions throughout Chicago and across the world. We assessed the CTODC by conducting a proof of principle investigation on lung cancer patients who took erlotinib. This study does not look into epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but rather it discusses the development and utilization of the database involved.  We have implemented the Thoracic Oncology Program Database Project (TOPDP) Microsoft Access, the Thoracic Oncology Research Program (TORP) Velos, and the TORP REDCap databases for translational research efforts. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) were created to document the construction and proper utilization of these databases. These SOPs have been made available freely to other institutions that have implemented their own databases patterned on these SOPs. A cohort of 373 lung cancer patients who took erlotinib was identified. The EGFR mutation statuses of patients were analyzed. Out of the 70 patients that were tested, 55 had mutations while 15 did not. In terms of overall survival and duration of treatment, the cohort demonstrated that EGFR-mutated patients had a longer duration of erlotinib treatment and longer overall survival compared to their EGFR wild-type counterparts who received erlotinib. The investigation successfully yielded data from all institutions of the CTODC. While the investigation identified challenges, such as the difficulty of data transfer and potential duplication of patient data, these issues can be resolved with greater cross-communication between

Age differences in poignancy: Cognitive reappraisal as a moderator.

PubMed

Zhang, Xin; Ersner-Hershfield, Hal; Fung, Helene H

2010-06-01

Poignancy is defined as a mixed emotional experience that arises when one faces meaningful endings. According to socioemotional selectivity theory (Carstensen, 2006), when people are aware of the finitude of time, they tend to experience more poignancy. In Study 1, we found that Chinese younger, but not older, participants experienced more poignancy under time limitations. In Study 2, we found that an emotion regulation strategy-namely, cognitive reappraisal-moderated the relationship between limited time and poignancy, such that the increases in poignancy under time limitations were found only among older Chinese participants with lower levels of cognitive reappraisal but not among those with higher levels of cognitive reappraisal. These findings contribute to the existing literature on poignancy by showing that not every older adult exhibits poignancy in the face of an ending: The poignancy phenomenon may occur among only older adults who are less likely to use an emotion regulation strategy, such as cognitive reappraisal, to reinterpret the anticipated ending. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved).

Geologic map and map database of parts of Marin, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, and Sonoma counties, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blake, M.C.; Jones, D.L.; Graymer, R.W.; digital database by Soule, Adam

2000-01-01

This digital map database, compiled from previously published and unpublished data, and new mapping by the authors, represents the general distribution of bedrock and surficial deposits in the mapped area. Together with the accompanying text file (mageo.txt, mageo.pdf, or mageo.ps), it provides current information on the geologic structure and stratigraphy of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The scale of the source maps limits the spatial resolution (scale) of the database to 1:62,500 or smaller general distribution of bedrock and surficial deposits in the mapped area. Together with the accompanying text file (mageo.txt, mageo.pdf, or mageo.ps), it provides current information on the geologic structure and stratigraphy of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The scale of the source maps limits the spatial resolution (scale) of the database to 1:62,500 or smaller.

Aging baby boomers--a blessing or challenge for driver licensing authorities.

PubMed

Dobbs, Bonnie M

2008-08-01

In less than 5 years, the first wave of baby boomers will begin turning 65, with the last wave of boomers entering their senior years in January 2029. Currently, boomers make up a significant percentage of the population in Canada, the United States, and other developed countries. The baby boom generation has had a profound impact on our society over the last six decades, and this large cohort will continue to exert its influence for several decades to come. Central to this article is the rapid growth in the number of persons 65 years of age and older, beginning in 2011, with a corresponding increase in the number of older drivers. The demographic shift has important implications for licensing authorities, the regulatory bodies charged with licensing and 'fitness to drive' decisions. The objectives of this paper are to summarize the published scientific literature on licensing policies and procedures currently in use for older drivers, discuss their limitations, and provide recommendations for meeting the upcoming challenges of an aging baby boomer population of drivers. Online searches were conducted using the following databases: PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Scopus, and TRIS. Google and Google Scholar also were searched for scientific articles. References identified from database and online searches were examined for relevant articles. A number of studies have investigated the utility of different licensing policies and procedures for identifying older drivers who may be at risk for impaired driving performance. Overall, results suggest that current policies and procedures are ineffective in identifying high-risk older drivers. The results also emphasize the need for a different approach for the identification of high risk older drivers by licensing agencies. Recommendations to assist with that goal are provided. The aging of the baby boomer population, combined with the projected high crash rates for this cohort of drivers as it moves through the senior years, underscores

Chronic exposure to everyday discrimination and sleep in a multiethnic sample of middle-aged women.

PubMed

Lewis, Tené T; Troxel, Wendy M; Kravitz, Howard M; Bromberger, Joyce T; Matthews, Karen A; Hall, Martica H

2013-07-01

Researchers have suggested that poor sleep may play a role in the association between discrimination and health, but studies linking experiences of discrimination to sleep are limited. The authors examined associations between reports of everyday discrimination over 4 years (chronic everyday discrimination) and subjective and objective indicators of poor sleep. Participants were 368 African American, Caucasian, and Chinese women from the Study of Women's Health Across the Nation Sleep Study. Everyday discrimination was assessed each year from baseline through the third follow-up exam via questionnaire with the Everyday Discrimination Scale (intraclass correlation coefficient over 4 years = .90). Subjective sleep complaints were measured beginning in Year 5 with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Objective indices of sleep continuity, duration, and architecture were assessed via in-home polysomnography, beginning in Year 5. In linear regression analyses adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, and financial strain, chronic everyday discrimination was associated with more subjective sleep complaints (Estimate = 1.52, p < .001) and polysomnography-assessed wakefulness after sleep onset (Estimate = .19, p < .02), a marker of sleep continuity. Findings did not differ by race/ethnicity and remained significant after adjusting for menopausal status, body mass index, medication use, and depressive symptoms. Experiences of chronic everyday discrimination are independently associated with both subjective and objective indices of poor sleep. Findings add to the growing literature linking discrimination to key markers of biobehavioral health. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

Chemical Kinetics Database

National Institute of Standards and Technology Data Gateway

SRD 17 NIST Chemical Kinetics Database (Web, free access)   The NIST Chemical Kinetics Database includes essentially all reported kinetics results for thermal gas-phase chemical reactions. The database is designed to be searched for kinetics data based on the specific reactants involved, for reactions resulting in specified products, for all the reactions of a particular species, or for various combinations of these. In addition, the bibliography can be searched by author name or combination of names. The database contains in excess of 38,000 separate reaction records for over 11,700 distinct reactant pairs. These data have been abstracted from over 12,000 papers with literature coverage through early 2000.

IQ as moderator of terminal decline in perceptual and motor speed, spatial, and verbal ability: Testing the cognitive reserve hypothesis in a population-based sample followed from age 70 until death.

PubMed

Thorvaldsson, Valgeir; Skoog, Ingmar; Johansson, Boo

2017-03-01

Terminal decline (TD) refers to acceleration in within-person cognitive decline prior to death. The cognitive reserve hypothesis postulates that individuals with higher IQ are able to better tolerate age-related increase in brain pathologies. On average, they will exhibit a later onset of TD, but once they start to decline, their trajectory is steeper relative to those with lower IQ. We tested these predictions using data from initially nondemented individuals (n = 179) in the H70-study repeatedly measured at ages 70, 75, 79, 81, 85, 88, 90, 92, 95, 97, 99, and 100, or until death, on cognitive tests of perceptual-and-motor-speed and spatial and verbal ability. We quantified IQ using the Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices (RCPM) test administrated at age 70. We fitted random change point TD models to the data, within a Bayesian framework, conditioned on IQ, age of death, education, and sex. In line with predictions, we found that 1 additional standard deviation on the IQ scale was associated with a delay in onset of TD by 1.87 (95% highest density interval [HDI; 0.20, 4.08]) years on speed, 1.96 (95% HDI [0.15, 3.54]) years on verbal ability, but only 0.88 (95% HDI [-0.93, 3.49]) year on spatial ability. Higher IQ was associated with steeper rate of decline within the TD phase on measures of speed and verbal ability, whereas results on spatial ability were nonconclusive. Our findings provide partial support for the cognitive reserve hypothesis and demonstrate that IQ can be a significant moderator of cognitive change trajectories in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Database Search Strategies & Tips. Reprints from the Best of "ONLINE" [and]"DATABASE."

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Online, Inc., Weston, CT.

Reprints of 17 articles presenting strategies and tips for searching databases online appear in this collection, which is one in a series of volumes of reprints from "ONLINE" and "DATABASE" magazines. Edited for information professionals who use electronically distributed databases, these articles address such topics as: (1)…

Characteristics and external validity of the German Health Risk Institute (HRI) Database.

PubMed

Andersohn, Frank; Walker, Jochen

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to describe characteristics and external validity of the German Health Risk Institute (HRI) Database. The HRI Database is an anonymized healthcare database with longitudinal data from approximately six Mio Germans. In addition to demographic information (gender, age, region of residence), data on persistence of insurants over time, hospitalization rates, mortality rates and drug prescription rates were extracted from the HRI database for 2013. Corresponding national reference data were obtained from official sources. The proportion of men and women was similar in the HRI Database and Germany, but the database population was slightly younger (mean 40.4 vs 43.7 years). The proportion of insurants living in the eastern part of Germany was lower in the HRI Database (10.1% vs 19.7%). There was good accordance to German reference data with respect to hospitalization rates, overall mortality rate and prescription rates for the 20 most often reimbursed drug classes, with the overall burden of morbidity being slightly lower in the HRI database. From insurants insured on 1 January 2009 (N = 6.2 Mio), a total of 70.6% survived and remained continuously insured with the same statutory health insurance until 31 December 2013. This proportion increased to 77.5% if only insurants ≥40 years were considered. There was good overall accordance of the HRI database and the German population in terms of measures of morbidity, mortality and drug usage. Persistence of insurants with the database over time was high, indicating suitability of the data source for longitudinal epidemiological analyses. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The development of large-scale de-identified biomedical databases in the age of genomics-principles and challenges.

PubMed

Dankar, Fida K; Ptitsyn, Andrey; Dankar, Samar K

2018-04-10

Contemporary biomedical databases include a wide range of information types from various observational and instrumental sources. Among the most important features that unite biomedical databases across the field are high volume of information and high potential to cause damage through data corruption, loss of performance, and loss of patient privacy. Thus, issues of data governance and privacy protection are essential for the construction of data depositories for biomedical research and healthcare. In this paper, we discuss various challenges of data governance in the context of population genome projects. The various challenges along with best practices and current research efforts are discussed through the steps of data collection, storage, sharing, analysis, and knowledge dissemination.

Work and Family Functioning: An Annotated Bibliography Selected from Family Database.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Mari, Comp.

This annotated bibliography lists works published in Australia on issues regarding work obligations and family responsibilities. All works cited are included in Australia's FAMILY database. The following topics are covered: (1) adolescents and attitudes to employment (14 citations); (2) the aged and employment (20 citations); (3) career…

Palaeo sea-level and ice-sheet databases: problems, strategies and perspectives

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rovere, Alessio; Düsterhus, André; Carlson, Anders; Barlow, Natasha; Bradwell, Tom; Dutton, Andrea; Gehrels, Roland; Hibbert, Fiona; Hijma, Marc; Horton, Benjamin; Klemann, Volker; Kopp, Robert; Sivan, Dorit; Tarasov, Lev; Törnqvist, Torbjorn

2016-04-01

Databases of palaeoclimate data have driven many major developments in understanding the Earth system. The measurement and interpretation of palaeo sea-level and ice-sheet data that form such databases pose considerable challenges to the scientific communities that use them for further analyses. In this paper, we build on the experience of the PALSEA (PALeo constraints on SEA level rise) community, which is a working group inside the PAGES (Past Global Changes) project, to describe the challenges and best strategies that can be adopted to build a self-consistent and standardised database of geological and geochemical data related to palaeo sea levels and ice sheets. Our aim in this paper is to identify key points that need attention and subsequent funding when undertaking the task of database creation. We conclude that any sea-level or ice-sheet database must be divided into three instances: i) measurement; ii) interpretation; iii) database creation. Measurement should include postion, age, description of geological features, and quantification of uncertainties. All must be described as objectively as possible. Interpretation can be subjective, but it should always include uncertainties and include all the possible interpretations, without unjustified a priori exclusions. We propose that, in the creation of a database, an approach based on Accessibility, Transparency, Trust, Availability, Continued updating, Completeness and Communication of content (ATTAC3) must be adopted. Also, it is essential to consider the community structure that creates and benefits of a database. We conclude that funding sources should consider to address not only the creation of original data in specific research-question oriented projects, but also include the possibility to use part of the funding for IT-related and database creation tasks, which are essential to guarantee accessibility and maintenance of the collected data.

Naval Ship Database: Database Design, Implementation, and Schema

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-01

incoming data. The solution allows database users to store and analyze data collected by navy ships in the Royal Canadian Navy ( RCN ). The data...understanding RCN jargon and common practices on a typical RCN vessel. This experience led to the development of several error detection methods to...data to be stored in the database. Mr. Massel has also collected data pertaining to day to day activities on RCN vessels that has been imported into

The Geochemical Databases GEOROC and GeoReM - What's New?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sarbas, B.; Jochum, K. P.; Nohl, U.; Weis, U.

2017-12-01

The geochemical databases GEOROC (http: georoc.mpch-mainz.gwdg.de) and GeoReM (http: georem.mpch-mainz.gwdg.de) are maintained by the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz, Germany. Both online databases became crucial tools for geoscientists from different research areas. They are regularly upgraded by new tools and new data from recent publications obtained from a wide range of international journals. GEOROC is a collection of published analyses of volcanic rocks and mantle xenoliths. Since recently, data for plutonic rocks are added. The analyses include major and trace element concentrations, radiogenic and non-radiogenic isotope ratios as well as analytical ages for whole rocks, glasses, minerals and inclusions. Samples come from eleven geological settings and span the whole geological age scale from Archean to Recent. Metadata include, among others, geographic location, rock class and rock type, geological age, degree of alteration, analytical method, laboratory, and reference. The GEOROC web page allows selection of samples by geological setting, geography, chemical criteria, rock or sample name, and bibliographic criteria. In addition, it provides a large number of precompiled files for individual locations, minerals and rock classes. GeoReM is a database collecting information about reference materials of geological and environmental interest, such as rock powders, synthetic and natural glasses as well as mineral, isotopic, biological, river water and seawater reference materials. It contains published data and compilation values (major and trace element concentrations and mass fractions, radiogenic and stable isotope ratios). Metadata comprise, among others, uncertainty, analytical method and laboratory. Reference materials are important for calibration, method validation, quality control and to establish metrological traceability. GeoReM offers six different search strategies: samples or materials (published values), samples (GeoReM preferred

Geology of Point Reyes National Seashore and vicinity, California: a digital database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Clark, Jospeh C.; Brabb, Earl E.

1997-01-01

This Open-File report is a digital geologic map database. This pamphlet serves to introduce and describe the digital data. There is no paper map included in the Open-File report. The report does include, however, a PostScript plot file containing an image of the geologic map sheet with explanation, as well as the accompanying text describing the geology of the area. For those interested in a paper plot of information contained in the database or in obtaining the PostScript plot files, please see the section entitled 'For Those Who Aren't Familiar With Digital Geologic Map Databases' below. This digital map database, compiled from previously published and unpublished data and new mapping by the authors, represents the general distribution of surficial deposits and rock units in Point Reyes and surrounding areas. Together with the accompanying text file (pr-geo.txt or pr-geo.ps), it provides current information on the stratigraphy and structural geology of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The scale of the source maps limits the spatial resolution (scale) of the database to 1:48,000 or smaller.

Content-Based Management of Image Databases in the Internet Age

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kleban, James Theodore

2010-01-01

The Internet Age has seen the emergence of richly annotated image data collections numbering in the billions of items. This work makes contributions in three primary areas which aid the management of this data: image representation, efficient retrieval, and annotation based on content and metadata. The contributions are as follows. First,…

DeitY-TU face database: its design, multiple camera capturing, characteristics, and evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhowmik, Mrinal Kanti; Saha, Kankan; Saha, Priya; Bhattacharjee, Debotosh

2014-10-01

The development of the latest face databases is providing researchers different and realistic problems that play an important role in the development of efficient algorithms for solving the difficulties during automatic recognition of human faces. This paper presents the creation of a new visual face database, named the Department of Electronics and Information Technology-Tripura University (DeitY-TU) face database. It contains face images of 524 persons belonging to different nontribes and Mongolian tribes of north-east India, with their anthropometric measurements for identification. Database images are captured within a room with controlled variations in illumination, expression, and pose along with variability in age, gender, accessories, make-up, and partial occlusion. Each image contains the combined primary challenges of face recognition, i.e., illumination, expression, and pose. This database also represents some new features: soft biometric traits such as mole, freckle, scar, etc., and facial anthropometric variations that may be helpful for researchers for biometric recognition. It also gives an equivalent study of the existing two-dimensional face image databases. The database has been tested using two baseline algorithms: linear discriminant analysis and principal component analysis, which may be used by other researchers as the control algorithm performance score.

Digital hand atlas and computer-aided bone age assessment via the Web

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cao, Fei; Huang, H. K.; Pietka, Ewa; Gilsanz, Vicente

1999-07-01

A frequently used assessment method of bone age is atlas matching by a radiological examination of a hand image against a reference set of atlas patterns of normal standards. We are in a process of developing a digital hand atlas with a large standard set of normal hand and wrist images that reflect the skeletal maturity, race and sex difference, and current child development. The digital hand atlas will be used for a computer-aided bone age assessment via Web. We have designed and partially implemented a computer-aided diagnostic (CAD) system for Web-based bone age assessment. The system consists of a digital hand atlas, a relational image database and a Web-based user interface. The digital atlas is based on a large standard set of normal hand an wrist images with extracted bone objects and quantitative features. The image database uses a content- based indexing to organize the hand images and their attributes and present to users in a structured way. The Web-based user interface allows users to interact with the hand image database from browsers. Users can use a Web browser to push a clinical hand image to the CAD server for a bone age assessment. Quantitative features on the examined image, which reflect the skeletal maturity, will be extracted and compared with patterns from the atlas database to assess the bone age. The relevant reference imags and the final assessment report will be sent back to the user's browser via Web. The digital atlas will remove the disadvantages of the currently out-of-date one and allow the bone age assessment to be computerized and done conveniently via Web. In this paper, we present the system design and Web-based client-server model for computer-assisted bone age assessment and our initial implementation of the digital atlas database.

The Chicago Thoracic Oncology Database Consortium: A Multisite Database Initiative

PubMed Central

Carey, George B; Tan, Yi-Hung Carol; Bokhary, Ujala; Itkonen, Michelle; Szeto, Kyle; Wallace, James; Campbell, Nicholas; Hensing, Thomas; Salgia, Ravi

2016-01-01

Objective: An increasing amount of clinical data is available to biomedical researchers, but specifically designed database and informatics infrastructures are needed to handle this data effectively. Multiple research groups should be able to pool and share this data in an efficient manner. The Chicago Thoracic Oncology Database Consortium (CTODC) was created to standardize data collection and facilitate the pooling and sharing of data at institutions throughout Chicago and across the world. We assessed the CTODC by conducting a proof of principle investigation on lung cancer patients who took erlotinib. This study does not look into epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations and tyrosine kinase inhibitors, but rather it discusses the development and utilization of the database involved. Methods:  We have implemented the Thoracic Oncology Program Database Project (TOPDP) Microsoft Access, the Thoracic Oncology Research Program (TORP) Velos, and the TORP REDCap databases for translational research efforts. Standard operating procedures (SOPs) were created to document the construction and proper utilization of these databases. These SOPs have been made available freely to other institutions that have implemented their own databases patterned on these SOPs. Results: A cohort of 373 lung cancer patients who took erlotinib was identified. The EGFR mutation statuses of patients were analyzed. Out of the 70 patients that were tested, 55 had mutations while 15 did not. In terms of overall survival and duration of treatment, the cohort demonstrated that EGFR-mutated patients had a longer duration of erlotinib treatment and longer overall survival compared to their EGFR wild-type counterparts who received erlotinib. Discussion: The investigation successfully yielded data from all institutions of the CTODC. While the investigation identified challenges, such as the difficulty of data transfer and potential duplication of patient data, these issues can be resolved

Preliminary geologic map of the Oat Mountain 7.5' quadrangle, Southern California: a digital database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yerkes, R.F.; Campbell, Russell H.

1995-01-01

This database, identified as "Preliminary Geologic Map of the Oat Mountain 7.5' Quadrangle, southern California: A Digital Database," has been approved for release and publication by the Director of the USGS. Although this database has been reviewed and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review. This database is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the U. S. Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its use. This digital map database is compiled from previously published sources combined with some new mapping and modifications in nomenclature. The geologic map database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U. S. Geological Survey. For detailed descriptions of the units, their stratigraphic relations and sources of geologic mapping consult Yerkes and Campbell (1993). More specific information about the units may be available in the original sources.

Kentucky geotechnical database.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-03-01

Development of a comprehensive dynamic, geotechnical database is described. Computer software selected to program the client/server application in windows environment, components and structure of the geotechnical database, and primary factors cons...

NREL: U.S. Life Cycle Inventory Database - About the LCI Database Project

Science.gov Websites

About the LCI Database Project The U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Database is a publicly available data collection and analysis methods. Finding consistent and transparent LCI data for life cycle and maintain the database. The 2009 U.S. Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) Data Stakeholder meeting was an

The EpiSLI Database: A Publicly Available Database on Speech and Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tomblin, J. Bruce

2010-01-01

Purpose: This article describes a database that was created in the process of conducting a large-scale epidemiologic study of specific language impairment (SLI). As such, this database will be referred to as the EpiSLI database. Children with SLI have unexpected and unexplained difficulties learning and using spoken language. Although there is no…

Drinking Water Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Murray, ShaTerea R.

2004-01-01

This summer I had the opportunity to work in the Environmental Management Office (EMO) under the Chemical Sampling and Analysis Team or CS&AT. This team s mission is to support Glenn Research Center (GRC) and EM0 by providing chemical sampling and analysis services and expert consulting. Services include sampling and chemical analysis of water, soil, fbels, oils, paint, insulation materials, etc. One of this team s major projects is the Drinking Water Project. This is a project that is done on Glenn s water coolers and ten percent of its sink every two years. For the past two summers an intern had been putting together a database for this team to record the test they had perform. She had successfully created a database but hadn't worked out all the quirks. So this summer William Wilder (an intern from Cleveland State University) and I worked together to perfect her database. We began be finding out exactly what every member of the team thought about the database and what they would change if any. After collecting this data we both had to take some courses in Microsoft Access in order to fix the problems. Next we began looking at what exactly how the database worked from the outside inward. Then we began trying to change the database but we quickly found out that this would be virtually impossible.

Preliminary geologic map of the Piru 7.5' quadrangle, southern California: a digital database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yerkes, R.F.; Campbell, Russell H.

1995-01-01

This Open-File report is a digital geologic map database. This pamphlet serves to introduce and describe the digital data. There is no paper map included in the Open-File report. This digital map database is compiled from previously published sources combined with some new mapping and modifications in nomenclature. The geologic map database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U. S. Geological Survey. For detailed descriptions of the units, their stratigraphic relations and sources of geologic mapping consult Yerkes and Campbell (1995). More specific information about the units may be available in the original sources.

Aviation Safety Issues Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Morello, Samuel A.; Ricks, Wendell R.

2009-01-01

The aviation safety issues database was instrumental in the refinement and substantiation of the National Aviation Safety Strategic Plan (NASSP). The issues database is a comprehensive set of issues from an extremely broad base of aviation functions, personnel, and vehicle categories, both nationally and internationally. Several aviation safety stakeholders such as the Commercial Aviation Safety Team (CAST) have already used the database. This broader interest was the genesis to making the database publically accessible and writing this report.

BDVC (Bimodal Database of Violent Content): A database of violent audio and video

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rivera Martínez, Jose Luis; Mijes Cruz, Mario Humberto; Rodríguez Vázqu, Manuel Antonio; Rodríguez Espejo, Luis; Montoya Obeso, Abraham; García Vázquez, Mireya Saraí; Ramírez Acosta, Alejandro Álvaro

2017-09-01

Nowadays there is a trend towards the use of unimodal databases for multimedia content description, organization and retrieval applications of a single type of content like text, voice and images, instead bimodal databases allow to associate semantically two different types of content like audio-video, image-text, among others. The generation of a bimodal database of audio-video implies the creation of a connection between the multimedia content through the semantic relation that associates the actions of both types of information. This paper describes in detail the used characteristics and methodology for the creation of the bimodal database of violent content; the semantic relationship is stablished by the proposed concepts that describe the audiovisual information. The use of bimodal databases in applications related to the audiovisual content processing allows an increase in the semantic performance only and only if these applications process both type of content. This bimodal database counts with 580 audiovisual annotated segments, with a duration of 28 minutes, divided in 41 classes. Bimodal databases are a tool in the generation of applications for the semantic web.

Combining facial dynamics with appearance for age estimation.

PubMed

Dibeklioglu, Hamdi; Alnajar, Fares; Ali Salah, Albert; Gevers, Theo

2015-06-01

Estimating the age of a human from the captured images of his/her face is a challenging problem. In general, the existing approaches to this problem use appearance features only. In this paper, we show that in addition to appearance information, facial dynamics can be leveraged in age estimation. We propose a method to extract and use dynamic features for age estimation, using a person's smile. Our approach is tested on a large, gender-balanced database with 400 subjects, with an age range between 8 and 76. In addition, we introduce a new database on posed disgust expressions with 324 subjects in the same age range, and evaluate the reliability of the proposed approach when used with another expression. State-of-the-art appearance-based age estimation methods from the literature are implemented as baseline. We demonstrate that for each of these methods, the addition of the proposed dynamic features results in statistically significant improvement. We further propose a novel hierarchical age estimation architecture based on adaptive age grouping. We test our approach extensively, including an exploration of spontaneous versus posed smile dynamics, and gender-specific age estimation. We show that using spontaneity information reduces the mean absolute error by up to 21%, advancing the state of the art for facial age estimation.

The association between cannabis use and earlier age at onset of schizophrenia and other psychoses: meta-analysis of possible confounding factors.

PubMed

Myles, Nicholas; Newall, Hannah; Nielssen, Olav; Large, Matthew

2012-01-01

A recent meta-analysis showed that the mean age of onset of psychosis among cannabis users was almost three years earlier than that of non-cannabis users. However, because cannabis users usually smoke tobacco, the use of tobacco might independently contribute to the earlier onset of psychosis. We aimed to use meta-analysis to compare the extent to which cannabis and tobacco use are each associated with an earlier age at onset of schizophrenia and other psychoses. We also examined other factors that might have contributed to the finding of an earlier age of onset among cannabis users, including the proportion of males in the samples, the diagnostic inclusion criteria and aspects of study quality. The electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO and ISI Web of Science, were searched for English-language peer-reviewed publications that reported age at onset of schizophrenia and other psychoses separately for cannabis users and non-users, or for tobaccosmokers and non-smokers. Meta-analysis showed that the age at onset of psychosis for cannabis users was 32 months earlier than for cannabis non-users (SMD=- 0.399, 95%CI -0.493 - -0.306, z=-8.34, p < 0.001), and was two weeks later in tobacco smokers compared with non-smokers (SMD=0.002, 95%CI -0.094 - 0.097, z=0.03, p=0.974). The main results were not affected by subgroup analyses examining studies of a single sex, the methods for making psychiatric diagnoses and measures of study quality. The results suggest that the association between cannabis use and earlier onset of psychosis is robust and is not the result either of tobacco smoking by cannabis using patients or the other potentially confounding factors we examined. This supports the hypothesis that, in some patients, cannabis use plays a causal role in the development of schizophrenia and raises the possibility of treating schizophrenia with new pharmacological treatments that have an affinity for endo-cannabinoid receptors.

The Danish Testicular Cancer database.

PubMed

Daugaard, Gedske; Kier, Maria Gry Gundgaard; Bandak, Mikkel; Mortensen, Mette Saksø; Larsson, Heidi; Søgaard, Mette; Toft, Birgitte Groenkaer; Engvad, Birte; Agerbæk, Mads; Holm, Niels Vilstrup; Lauritsen, Jakob

2016-01-01

The nationwide Danish Testicular Cancer database consists of a retrospective research database (DaTeCa database) and a prospective clinical database (Danish Multidisciplinary Cancer Group [DMCG] DaTeCa database). The aim is to improve the quality of care for patients with testicular cancer (TC) in Denmark, that is, by identifying risk factors for relapse, toxicity related to treatment, and focusing on late effects. All Danish male patients with a histologically verified germ cell cancer diagnosis in the Danish Pathology Registry are included in the DaTeCa databases. Data collection has been performed from 1984 to 2007 and from 2013 onward, respectively. The retrospective DaTeCa database contains detailed information with more than 300 variables related to histology, stage, treatment, relapses, pathology, tumor markers, kidney function, lung function, etc. A questionnaire related to late effects has been conducted, which includes questions regarding social relationships, life situation, general health status, family background, diseases, symptoms, use of medication, marital status, psychosocial issues, fertility, and sexuality. TC survivors alive on October 2014 were invited to fill in this questionnaire including 160 validated questions. Collection of questionnaires is still ongoing. A biobank including blood/sputum samples for future genetic analyses has been established. Both samples related to DaTeCa and DMCG DaTeCa database are included. The prospective DMCG DaTeCa database includes variables regarding histology, stage, prognostic group, and treatment. The DMCG DaTeCa database has existed since 2013 and is a young clinical database. It is necessary to extend the data collection in the prospective database in order to answer quality-related questions. Data from the retrospective database will be added to the prospective data. This will result in a large and very comprehensive database for future studies on TC patients.

A Study of Memory Effects in a Chess Database.

PubMed

Schaigorodsky, Ana L; Perotti, Juan I; Billoni, Orlando V

2016-01-01

A series of recent works studying a database of chronologically sorted chess games-containing 1.4 million games played by humans between 1998 and 2007- have shown that the popularity distribution of chess game-lines follows a Zipf's law, and that time series inferred from the sequences of those game-lines exhibit long-range memory effects. The presence of Zipf's law together with long-range memory effects was observed in several systems, however, the simultaneous emergence of these two phenomena were always studied separately up to now. In this work, by making use of a variant of the Yule-Simon preferential growth model, introduced by Cattuto et al., we provide an explanation for the simultaneous emergence of Zipf's law and long-range correlations memory effects in a chess database. We find that Cattuto's Model (CM) is able to reproduce both, Zipf's law and the long-range correlations, including size-dependent scaling of the Hurst exponent for the corresponding time series. CM allows an explanation for the simultaneous emergence of these two phenomena via a preferential growth dynamics, including a memory kernel, in the popularity distribution of chess game-lines. This mechanism results in an aging process in the chess game-line choice as the database grows. Moreover, we find burstiness in the activity of subsets of the most active players, although the aggregated activity of the pool of players displays inter-event times without burstiness. We show that CM is not able to produce time series with bursty behavior providing evidence that burstiness is not required for the explanation of the long-range correlation effects in the chess database. Our results provide further evidence favoring the hypothesis that long-range correlations effects are a consequence of the aging of game-lines and not burstiness, and shed light on the mechanism that operates in the simultaneous emergence of Zipf's law and long-range correlations in a community of chess players.

A Study of Memory Effects in a Chess Database

PubMed Central

Schaigorodsky, Ana L.; Perotti, Juan I.; Billoni, Orlando V.

2016-01-01

A series of recent works studying a database of chronologically sorted chess games–containing 1.4 million games played by humans between 1998 and 2007– have shown that the popularity distribution of chess game-lines follows a Zipf’s law, and that time series inferred from the sequences of those game-lines exhibit long-range memory effects. The presence of Zipf’s law together with long-range memory effects was observed in several systems, however, the simultaneous emergence of these two phenomena were always studied separately up to now. In this work, by making use of a variant of the Yule-Simon preferential growth model, introduced by Cattuto et al., we provide an explanation for the simultaneous emergence of Zipf’s law and long-range correlations memory effects in a chess database. We find that Cattuto’s Model (CM) is able to reproduce both, Zipf’s law and the long-range correlations, including size-dependent scaling of the Hurst exponent for the corresponding time series. CM allows an explanation for the simultaneous emergence of these two phenomena via a preferential growth dynamics, including a memory kernel, in the popularity distribution of chess game-lines. This mechanism results in an aging process in the chess game-line choice as the database grows. Moreover, we find burstiness in the activity of subsets of the most active players, although the aggregated activity of the pool of players displays inter-event times without burstiness. We show that CM is not able to produce time series with bursty behavior providing evidence that burstiness is not required for the explanation of the long-range correlation effects in the chess database. Our results provide further evidence favoring the hypothesis that long-range correlations effects are a consequence of the aging of game-lines and not burstiness, and shed light on the mechanism that operates in the simultaneous emergence of Zipf’s law and long-range correlations in a community of chess players

Drinking Water Treatability Database (Database)

EPA Science Inventory

The drinking Water Treatability Database (TDB) will provide data taken from the literature on the control of contaminants in drinking water, and will be housed on an interactive, publicly-available USEPA web site. It can be used for identifying effective treatment processes, rec...

Geologic map and map database of western Sonoma, northernmost Marin, and southernmost Mendocino counties, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Blake, M.C.; Graymer, R.W.; Stamski, R.E.

2002-01-01

This digital map database, compiled from previously published and unpublished data, and new mapping by the authors, represents the general distribution of bedrock and surficial deposits in the mapped area. Together with the accompanying text file (wsomf.ps, wsomf.pdf, wsomf.txt), it provides current information on the geologic structure and stratigraphy of the area covered. The database delineates map units that are identified by general age and lithology following the stratigraphic nomenclature of the U.S. Geological Survey. The scale of the source maps limits the spatial resolution (scale) of the database to 1:62,500 or smaller.

Scopus database: a review.

PubMed

Burnham, Judy F

2006-03-08

The Scopus database provides access to STM journal articles and the references included in those articles, allowing the searcher to search both forward and backward in time. The database can be used for collection development as well as for research. This review provides information on the key points of the database and compares it to Web of Science. Neither database is inclusive, but complements each other. If a library can only afford one, choice must be based in institutional needs.

Scopus database: a review

PubMed Central

Burnham, Judy F

2006-01-01

The Scopus database provides access to STM journal articles and the references included in those articles, allowing the searcher to search both forward and backward in time. The database can be used for collection development as well as for research. This review provides information on the key points of the database and compares it to Web of Science. Neither database is inclusive, but complements each other. If a library can only afford one, choice must be based in institutional needs. PMID:16522216

Public variant databases: liability?

PubMed

Thorogood, Adrian; Cook-Deegan, Robert; Knoppers, Bartha Maria

2017-07-01

Public variant databases support the curation, clinical interpretation, and sharing of genomic data, thus reducing harmful errors or delays in diagnosis. As variant databases are increasingly relied on in the clinical context, there is concern that negligent variant interpretation will harm patients and attract liability. This article explores the evolving legal duties of laboratories, public variant databases, and physicians in clinical genomics and recommends a governance framework for databases to promote responsible data sharing.Genet Med advance online publication 15 December 2016.

Kounis syndrome due to antibiotics: A global overview from pharmacovigilance databases.

PubMed

Renda, Francesca; Marotta, Elena; Landoni, Giovanni; Belletti, Alessandro; Cuconato, Virginia; Pani, Luca

2016-12-01

Kounis syndrome (KS) is characterized by concurrent presence of anaphylactic and cardiac components. Available evidence suggests that antibiotics are frequently associated to KS. We therefore analyzed KS cases associated with antibiotics use from the two largest pharmacovigilance databases. Two pharmacovigilance databases, EudraVigilance and VigiLyze, were searched for cases reporting the adverse reaction "Kounis Syndrome" with antibiotics as suspected active substance. We analyzed the period from December 1st, 2001 to February 16th, 2016. For the most reported active substance, proportional reporting ratio (PRR) was calculated. A total of 10 cases of KS associated with antibiotic use were retrieved from EudraVigilance database. Mean patients' age was 58.2years and 70% were male. The most frequently reported suspected antibiotic was the combination amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (four cases). VigiLyze database reported 13 KS cases associated to antibiotics. Mean age was 56years and 61% of patients were male. The most frequently reported antibiotic was again the combination amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (five cases). Seven duplicate cases were identified, leaving a total of 16 cases of KS, with six of them associated to amoxicillin/clavulanic acid use. The PRR value for amoxicillin/clavulanic acid against other kinds of antibiotics was 2.62 considering EudraVigilance data and 1.61 considering VigiLyze data. This analysis provided a complete picture of the cases of KS associated with antibiotic use and identified a possible association between amoxicillin/clavulanic acid and KS. Since the number of cases is low, especially considering its wide use, further analyses are needed to confirm the association. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Racial/Ethnic Differences in Childhood Blood Lead Levels Among Children <72 Months of Age in the United States: a Systematic Review of the Literature.

PubMed

White, Brandi M; Bonilha, Heather Shaw; Ellis, Charles

2016-03-01

Childhood lead poisoning is a serious public health problem with long-term adverse effects. Healthy People 2020's environmental health objective aims to reduce childhood blood lead levels; however, efforts may be hindered by potential racial/ethnic differences. Recent recommendations have lowered the blood lead reference level. This review examined racial/ethnic differences in blood lead levels among children under 6 years of age. We completed a search of PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO databases for published works from 2002 to 2012. We identified studies that reported blood lead levels and the race/ethnicity of at least two groups. Ten studies met inclusion criteria for the review. Blood lead levels were most frequently reported for black, white, and Hispanic children. Six studies examined levels between blacks, whites, and Hispanics and two between blacks and whites. Studies reporting mean lead levels among black, whites, and Hispanics found that blacks had the highest mean blood lead level. Additionally, studies reporting blood lead ranges found that black children were more likely to have elevated levels. Studies suggest that black children have higher blood lead levels compared to other racial/ethnic groups. Future studies are warranted to obtain ample sample sizes for several racial/ethnic groups to further examine differences in lead levels.

THE ECOTOX DATABASE

EPA Science Inventory

The database provides chemical-specific toxicity information for aquatic life, terrestrial plants, and terrestrial wildlife. ECOTOX is a comprehensive ecotoxicology database and is therefore essential for providing and suppoirting high quality models needed to estimate population...

Why is happy-sad more difficult? Focal emotional information impairs inhibitory control in children and adults.

PubMed

Kramer, Hannah J; Lagattuta, Kristin Hansen; Sayfan, Liat

2015-02-01

This study compared the relative difficulty of the happy-sad inhibitory control task (say "happy" for the sad face and "sad" for the happy face) against other card tasks that varied by the presence and type (focal vs. peripheral; negative vs. positive) of emotional information in a sample of 4- to 11-year-olds and adults (N = 264). Participants also completed parallel "name games" (direct labeling). All age groups made more errors and took longer to respond to happy-sad compared to other versions, and the relative difficulty of happy-sad increased with age. The happy-sad name game even posed a greater challenge than some opposite games. These data provide insight into the impact of emotions on cognitive processing across a wide age range. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

No category specificity in Alzheimer's disease: a normal aging effect.

PubMed

Moreno-Martínez, F Javier; Laws, Keith R

2008-07-01

The authors examined category effects on tasks of picture naming, naming to definition, and word-picture matching in 38 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 30 elderly controls. Each task was matched across category on all "nuisance" variables known to differ across domains. Standard analyses revealed significant category disadvantages for classifying living things in AD patients but also for elderly controls on each task. To overcome the ceiling effect in controls, the authors conducted 1,000 bootstrap analyses of covariance, with control performance as a difficulty index covariate. These covariate analyses eliminated the category effect in AD patients on all 3 tasks. Indeed, the authors report that control performance accounted for 64% (picture naming), 49% (naming to description), and 42% (word-picture matching) of variance in AD performance. This suggests that, although category effects in AD patients do not reflect intrinsic variables, the size and direction of the category effect are not different from those in elderly controls. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2008 APA, all rights reserved.

Mouse Phenome Database

PubMed Central

Grubb, Stephen C.; Bult, Carol J.; Bogue, Molly A.

2014-01-01

The Mouse Phenome Database (MPD; phenome.jax.org) was launched in 2001 as the data coordination center for the international Mouse Phenome Project. MPD integrates quantitative phenotype, gene expression and genotype data into a common annotated framework to facilitate query and analysis. MPD contains >3500 phenotype measurements or traits relevant to human health, including cancer, aging, cardiovascular disorders, obesity, infectious disease susceptibility, blood disorders, neurosensory disorders, drug addiction and toxicity. Since our 2012 NAR report, we have added >70 new data sets, including data from Collaborative Cross lines and Diversity Outbred mice. During this time we have completely revamped our homepage, improved search and navigational aspects of the MPD application, developed several web-enabled data analysis and visualization tools, annotated phenotype data to public ontologies, developed an ontology browser and released new single nucleotide polymorphism query functionality with much higher density coverage than before. Here, we summarize recent data acquisitions and describe our latest improvements. PMID:24243846

Public variant databases: liability?

PubMed Central

Thorogood, Adrian; Cook-Deegan, Robert; Knoppers, Bartha Maria

2017-01-01

Public variant databases support the curation, clinical interpretation, and sharing of genomic data, thus reducing harmful errors or delays in diagnosis. As variant databases are increasingly relied on in the clinical context, there is concern that negligent variant interpretation will harm patients and attract liability. This article explores the evolving legal duties of laboratories, public variant databases, and physicians in clinical genomics and recommends a governance framework for databases to promote responsible data sharing. Genet Med advance online publication 15 December 2016 PMID:27977006

Database for propagation models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kantak, Anil V.

1991-07-01

A propagation researcher or a systems engineer who intends to use the results of a propagation experiment is generally faced with various database tasks such as the selection of the computer software, the hardware, and the writing of the programs to pass the data through the models of interest. This task is repeated every time a new experiment is conducted or the same experiment is carried out at a different location generating different data. Thus the users of this data have to spend a considerable portion of their time learning how to implement the computer hardware and the software towards the desired end. This situation may be facilitated considerably if an easily accessible propagation database is created that has all the accepted (standardized) propagation phenomena models approved by the propagation research community. Also, the handling of data will become easier for the user. Such a database construction can only stimulate the growth of the propagation research it if is available to all the researchers, so that the results of the experiment conducted by one researcher can be examined independently by another, without different hardware and software being used. The database may be made flexible so that the researchers need not be confined only to the contents of the database. Another way in which the database may help the researchers is by the fact that they will not have to document the software and hardware tools used in their research since the propagation research community will know the database already. The following sections show a possible database construction, as well as properties of the database for the propagation research.

The Mouse Heart Attack Research Tool (mHART) 1.0 Database.

PubMed

DeLeon-Pennell, Kristine Y; Iyer, Rugmani Padmanabhan; Ma, Yonggang; Yabluchanskiy, Andriy; Zamilpa, Rogelio; Chiao, Ying Ann; Cannon, Presley; Cates, Courtney; Flynn, Elizabeth R; Halade, Ganesh V; de Castro Bras, Lisandra E; Lindsey, Merry L

2018-05-18

The generation of Big Data has enabled systems-level dissections into the mechanisms of cardiovascular pathology. Integration of genetic, proteomic, and pathophysiological variables across platforms and laboratories fosters discoveries through multidisciplinary investigations and minimizes unnecessary redundancy in research efforts. The Mouse Heart Attack Research Tool (mHART) consolidates a large dataset of over 10 years of experiments from a single laboratory for cardiovascular investigators to generate novel hypotheses and identify new predictive markers of progressive left ventricular remodeling following myocardial infarction (MI) in mice. We designed the mHART REDCap database using our own data to integrate cardiovascular community participation. We generated physiological, biochemical, cellular, and proteomic outputs from plasma and left ventricles obtained from post-MI and no MI (naïve) control groups. We included both male and female mice ranging in age from 3 to 36 months old. After variable collection, data underwent quality assessment for data curation (e.g. eliminate technical errors, check for completeness, remove duplicates, and define terms). Currently, mHART 1.0 contains >888,000 data points and includes results from >2,100 unique mice. Database performance was tested and an example provided to illustrate database utility. This report explains how the first version of the mHART database was established and provides researchers with a standard framework to aid in the integration of their data into our database or in the development of a similar database.

FishTraits Database

USGS Publications Warehouse

Angermeier, Paul L.; Frimpong, Emmanuel A.

2009-01-01

The need for integrated and widely accessible sources of species traits data to facilitate studies of ecology, conservation, and management has motivated development of traits databases for various taxa. In spite of the increasing number of traits-based analyses of freshwater fishes in the United States, no consolidated database of traits of this group exists publicly, and much useful information on these species is documented only in obscure sources. The largely inaccessible and unconsolidated traits information makes large-scale analysis involving many fishes and/or traits particularly challenging. FishTraits is a database of >100 traits for 809 (731 native and 78 exotic) fish species found in freshwaters of the conterminous United States, including 37 native families and 145 native genera. The database contains information on four major categories of traits: (1) trophic ecology, (2) body size and reproductive ecology (life history), (3) habitat associations, and (4) salinity and temperature tolerances. Information on geographic distribution and conservation status is also included. Together, we refer to the traits, distribution, and conservation status information as attributes. Descriptions of attributes are available here. Many sources were consulted to compile attributes, including state and regional species accounts and other databases.

CB Database: A change blindness database for objects in natural indoor scenes.

PubMed

Sareen, Preeti; Ehinger, Krista A; Wolfe, Jeremy M

2016-12-01

Change blindness has been a topic of interest in cognitive sciences for decades. Change detection experiments are frequently used for studying various research topics such as attention and perception. However, creating change detection stimuli is tedious and there is no open repository of such stimuli using natural scenes. We introduce the Change Blindness (CB) Database with object changes in 130 colored images of natural indoor scenes. The size and eccentricity are provided for all the changes as well as reaction time data from a baseline experiment. In addition, we have two specialized satellite databases that are subsets of the 130 images. In one set, changes are seen in rooms or in mirrors in those rooms (Mirror Change Database). In the other, changes occur in a room or out a window (Window Change Database). Both the sets have controlled background, change size, and eccentricity. The CB Database is intended to provide researchers with a stimulus set of natural scenes with defined stimulus parameters that can be used for a wide range of experiments. The CB Database can be found at http://search.bwh.harvard.edu/new/CBDatabase.html .

The 2014 Nucleic Acids Research Database Issue and an updated NAR online Molecular Biology Database Collection.

PubMed

Fernández-Suárez, Xosé M; Rigden, Daniel J; Galperin, Michael Y

2014-01-01

The 2014 Nucleic Acids Research Database Issue includes descriptions of 58 new molecular biology databases and recent updates to 123 databases previously featured in NAR or other journals. For convenience, the issue is now divided into eight sections that reflect major subject categories. Among the highlights of this issue are six databases of the transcription factor binding sites in various organisms and updates on such popular databases as CAZy, Database of Genomic Variants (DGV), dbGaP, DrugBank, KEGG, miRBase, Pfam, Reactome, SEED, TCDB and UniProt. There is a strong block of structural databases, which includes, among others, the new RNA Bricks database, updates on PDBe, PDBsum, ArchDB, Gene3D, ModBase, Nucleic Acid Database and the recently revived iPfam database. An update on the NCBI's MMDB describes VAST+, an improved tool for protein structure comparison. Two articles highlight the development of the Structural Classification of Proteins (SCOP) database: one describes SCOPe, which automates assignment of new structures to the existing SCOP hierarchy; the other one describes the first version of SCOP2, with its more flexible approach to classifying protein structures. This issue also includes a collection of articles on bacterial taxonomy and metagenomics, which includes updates on the List of Prokaryotic Names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN), Ribosomal Database Project (RDP), the Silva/LTP project and several new metagenomics resources. The NAR online Molecular Biology Database Collection, http://www.oxfordjournals.org/nar/database/c/, has been expanded to 1552 databases. The entire Database Issue is freely available online on the Nucleic Acids Research website (http://nar.oxfordjournals.org/).

Structural Ceramics Database

National Institute of Standards and Technology Data Gateway

SRD 30 NIST Structural Ceramics Database (Web, free access)   The NIST Structural Ceramics Database (WebSCD) provides evaluated materials property data for a wide range of advanced ceramics known variously as structural ceramics, engineering ceramics, and fine ceramics.

Mission and Assets Database

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Baldwin, John; Zendejas, Silvino; Gutheinz, Sandy; Borden, Chester; Wang, Yeou-Fang

2009-01-01

Mission and Assets Database (MADB) Version 1.0 is an SQL database system with a Web user interface to centralize information. The database stores flight project support resource requirements, view periods, antenna information, schedule, and forecast results for use in mid-range and long-term planning of Deep Space Network (DSN) assets.

Spontaneous gaze selection and following during naturalistic social interactions in school-aged children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Birmingham, Elina; Johnston, Krista Haley Smith; Iarocci, Grace

2017-09-01

Using a novel naturalistic paradigm allowing participants the freedom to spontaneously select and follow gaze cues in their environment, this study extends previous research conducted with younger children to determine whether school-age children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD, n = 17) demonstrate abnormal gaze following relative to typically developing (TD, n = 15) children. The participant and experimenter played a series of games, during which the experimenter pseudorandomly averted her gaze toward a social target (person) or a nonsocial target (object). A significant finding was that, relative to TD children, children with ASD were slower to follow the experimenter's gaze relative to the start of the trial (social targets d = -.93 [-1.70, -.16], nonsocial targets d = -1.05 [-1.88, -.20]). When we analyzed the duration of glances to the experimenter, we found that the ASD group made longer glances relative to TD children, but only in the nonsocial target condition (social targets d = .01 [-.68, .71], nonsocial targets d = -.81 [-1.53, -.08]). Other analyses revealed patterns of gaze selection and following that may help interpret the main findings. Despite the differences in the timing of gaze selection and following, the most common type of responder in both groups was one who followed the experimenter's gaze on over half of the trials. This pattern of results argues against a clear deficit in social attention in school-age children with ASD and underscores the importance of measuring both the timing of distinct mechanisms of social attention and the context in which these behaviors occur. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

The 2018 Nucleic Acids Research database issue and the online molecular biology database collection.

PubMed

Rigden, Daniel J; Fernández, Xosé M

2018-01-04

The 2018 Nucleic Acids Research Database Issue contains 181 papers spanning molecular biology. Among them, 82 are new and 84 are updates describing resources that appeared in the Issue previously. The remaining 15 cover databases most recently published elsewhere. Databases in the area of nucleic acids include 3DIV for visualisation of data on genome 3D structure and RNArchitecture, a hierarchical classification of RNA families. Protein databases include the established SMART, ELM and MEROPS while GPCRdb and the newcomer STCRDab cover families of biomedical interest. In the area of metabolism, HMDB and Reactome both report new features while PULDB appears in NAR for the first time. This issue also contains reports on genomics resources including Ensembl, the UCSC Genome Browser and ENCODE. Update papers from the IUPHAR/BPS Guide to Pharmacology and DrugBank are highlights of the drug and drug target section while a number of proteomics databases including proteomicsDB are also covered. The entire Database Issue is freely available online on the Nucleic Acids Research website (https://academic.oup.com/nar). The NAR online Molecular Biology Database Collection has been updated, reviewing 138 entries, adding 88 new resources and eliminating 47 discontinued URLs, bringing the current total to 1737 databases. It is available at http://www.oxfordjournals.org/nar/database/c/. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Age and gender estimation using Region-SIFT and multi-layered SVM

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Hyunduk; Lee, Sang-Heon; Sohn, Myoung-Kyu; Hwang, Byunghun

2018-04-01

In this paper, we propose an age and gender estimation framework using the region-SIFT feature and multi-layered SVM classifier. The suggested framework entails three processes. The first step is landmark based face alignment. The second step is the feature extraction step. In this step, we introduce the region-SIFT feature extraction method based on facial landmarks. First, we define sub-regions of the face. We then extract SIFT features from each sub-region. In order to reduce the dimensions of features we employ a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA). Finally, we classify age and gender using a multi-layered Support Vector Machines (SVM) for efficient classification. Rather than performing gender estimation and age estimation independently, the use of the multi-layered SVM can improve the classification rate by constructing a classifier that estimate the age according to gender. Moreover, we collect a dataset of face images, called by DGIST_C, from the internet. A performance evaluation of proposed method was performed with the FERET database, CACD database, and DGIST_C database. The experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach classifies age and performs gender estimation very efficiently and accurately.

Subscribing to Databases: How Important Is Depth and Quality of Indexing?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Delong, Linwood

2007-01-01

This paper compares the subject indexing on articles pertaining to Immanuel Kant, agriculture, and aging that are found simultaneously in Humanities Index, Academic Search Elite (EBSCO) and Periodicals Research II (Micromedia ProQuest), in order to show that there are substantial variations in the depth and quality of indexing in these databases.…

Surgical research using national databases

PubMed Central

Leland, Hyuma; Heckmann, Nathanael

2016-01-01

Recent changes in healthcare and advances in technology have increased the use of large-volume national databases in surgical research. These databases have been used to develop perioperative risk stratification tools, assess postoperative complications, calculate costs, and investigate numerous other topics across multiple surgical specialties. The results of these studies contain variable information but are subject to unique limitations. The use of large-volume national databases is increasing in popularity, and thorough understanding of these databases will allow for a more sophisticated and better educated interpretation of studies that utilize such databases. This review will highlight the composition, strengths, and weaknesses of commonly used national databases in surgical research. PMID:27867945

Surgical research using national databases.

PubMed

Alluri, Ram K; Leland, Hyuma; Heckmann, Nathanael

2016-10-01

Recent changes in healthcare and advances in technology have increased the use of large-volume national databases in surgical research. These databases have been used to develop perioperative risk stratification tools, assess postoperative complications, calculate costs, and investigate numerous other topics across multiple surgical specialties. The results of these studies contain variable information but are subject to unique limitations. The use of large-volume national databases is increasing in popularity, and thorough understanding of these databases will allow for a more sophisticated and better educated interpretation of studies that utilize such databases. This review will highlight the composition, strengths, and weaknesses of commonly used national databases in surgical research.

[The database server for the medical bibliography database at Charles University].

PubMed

Vejvalka, J; Rojíková, V; Ulrych, O; Vorísek, M

1998-01-01

In the medical community, bibliographic databases are widely accepted as a most important source of information both for theoretical and clinical disciplines. To improve access to medical bibliographic databases at Charles University, a database server (ERL by Silver Platter) was set up at the 2nd Faculty of Medicine in Prague. The server, accessible by Internet 24 hours/7 days, hosts now 14 years' MEDLINE and 10 years' EMBASE Paediatrics. Two different strategies are available for connecting to the server: a specialized client program that communicates over the Internet (suitable for professional searching) and a web-based access that requires no specialized software (except the WWW browser) on the client side. The server is now offered to academic community to host further databases, possibly subscribed by consortia whose individual members would not subscribe them by themselves.

COMPARISON OF EXERCISE PARTICIPATION RATES FOR CHILDREN IN THE LITERATURE WITH THOSE IN EPA'S CONSOLIDATED HUMAN ACTIVITY DATABASE (CHAD)

EPA Science Inventory

CHAD contains over 22,000 person-days of human activity pattern survey data. Part of the database includes exercise participation rates for children 0-17 years old, as well as for adults. Analyses of this database indicates that approximately 34% of the 0-17 age group (herea...

Exposure to benzodiazepines (anxiolytics, hypnotics and related drugs) in seven European electronic healthcare databases: a cross-national descriptive study from the PROTECT-EU Project.

PubMed

Huerta, Consuelo; Abbing-Karahagopian, Victoria; Requena, Gema; Oliva, Belén; Alvarez, Yolanda; Gardarsdottir, Helga; Miret, Montserrat; Schneider, Cornelia; Gil, Miguel; Souverein, Patrick C; De Bruin, Marie L; Slattery, Jim; De Groot, Mark C H; Hesse, Ulrik; Rottenkolber, Marietta; Schmiedl, Sven; Montero, Dolores; Bate, Andrew; Ruigomez, Ana; García-Rodríguez, Luis Alberto; Johansson, Saga; de Vries, Frank; Schlienger, Raymond G; Reynolds, Robert F; Klungel, Olaf H; de Abajo, Francisco José

2016-03-01

Studies on drug utilization usually do not allow direct cross-national comparisons because of differences in the respective applied methods. This study aimed to compare time trends in BZDs prescribing by applying a common protocol and analyses plan in seven European electronic healthcare databases. Crude and standardized prevalence rates of drug prescribing from 2001-2009 were calculated in databases from Spain, United Kingdon (UK), The Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. Prevalence was stratified by age, sex, BZD type [(using ATC codes), i.e. BZD-anxiolytics BZD-hypnotics, BZD-related drugs and clomethiazole], indication and number of prescription. Crude prevalence rates of BZDs prescribing ranged from 570 to 1700 per 10,000 person-years over the study period. Standardization by age and sex did not substantially change the differences. Standardized prevalence rates increased in the Spanish (+13%) and UK databases (+2% and +8%) over the study period, while they decreased in the Dutch databases (-4% and -22%), the German (-12%) and Danish (-26%) database. Prevalence of anxiolytics outweighed that of hypnotics in the Spanish, Dutch and Bavarian databases, but the reverse was shown in the UK and Danish databases. Prevalence rates consistently increased with age and were two-fold higher in women than in men in all databases. A median of 18% of users received 10 or more prescriptions in 2008. Although similar methods were applied, the prevalence of BZD prescribing varied considerably across different populations. Clinical factors related to BZDs and characteristics of the databases may explain these differences. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Meta-analytic review of the development of face discrimination in infancy: Face race, face gender, infant age, and methodology moderate face discrimination.

PubMed

Sugden, Nicole A; Marquis, Alexandra R

2017-11-01

Infants show facility for discriminating between individual faces within hours of birth. Over the first year of life, infants' face discrimination shows continued improvement with familiar face types, such as own-race faces, but not with unfamiliar face types, like other-race faces. The goal of this meta-analytic review is to provide an effect size for infants' face discrimination ability overall, with own-race faces, and with other-race faces within the first year of life, how this differs with age, and how it is influenced by task methodology. Inclusion criteria were (a) infant participants aged 0 to 12 months, (b) completing a human own- or other-race face discrimination task, (c) with discrimination being determined by infant looking. Our analysis included 30 works (165 samples, 1,926 participants participated in 2,623 tasks). The effect size for infants' face discrimination was small, 6.53% greater than chance (i.e., equal looking to the novel and familiar). There was a significant difference in discrimination by race, overall (own-race, 8.18%; other-race, 3.18%) and between ages (own-race: 0- to 4.5-month-olds, 7.32%; 5- to 7.5-month-olds, 9.17%; and 8- to 12-month-olds, 7.68%; other-race: 0- to 4.5-month-olds, 6.12%; 5- to 7.5-month-olds, 3.70%; and 8- to 12-month-olds, 2.79%). Multilevel linear (mixed-effects) models were used to predict face discrimination; infants' capacity to discriminate faces is sensitive to face characteristics including race, gender, and emotion as well as the methods used, including task timing, coding method, and visual angle. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Heterogeneous database integration in biomedicine.

PubMed

Sujansky, W

2001-08-01

The rapid expansion of biomedical knowledge, reduction in computing costs, and spread of internet access have created an ocean of electronic data. The decentralized nature of our scientific community and healthcare system, however, has resulted in a patchwork of diverse, or heterogeneous, database implementations, making access to and aggregation of data across databases very difficult. The database heterogeneity problem applies equally to clinical data describing individual patients and biological data characterizing our genome. Specifically, databases are highly heterogeneous with respect to the data models they employ, the data schemas they specify, the query languages they support, and the terminologies they recognize. Heterogeneous database systems attempt to unify disparate databases by providing uniform conceptual schemas that resolve representational heterogeneities, and by providing querying capabilities that aggregate and integrate distributed data. Research in this area has applied a variety of database and knowledge-based techniques, including semantic data modeling, ontology definition, query translation, query optimization, and terminology mapping. Existing systems have addressed heterogeneous database integration in the realms of molecular biology, hospital information systems, and application portability.

A World Wide Web (WWW) server database engine for an organelle database, MitoDat.

PubMed

Lemkin, P F; Chipperfield, M; Merril, C; Zullo, S

1996-03-01

We describe a simple database search engine "dbEngine" which may be used to quickly create a searchable database on a World Wide Web (WWW) server. Data may be prepared from spreadsheet programs (such as Excel, etc.) or from tables exported from relationship database systems. This Common Gateway Interface (CGI-BIN) program is used with a WWW server such as available commercially, or from National Center for Supercomputer Algorithms (NCSA) or CERN. Its capabilities include: (i) searching records by combinations of terms connected with ANDs or ORs; (ii) returning search results as hypertext links to other WWW database servers; (iii) mapping lists of literature reference identifiers to the full references; (iv) creating bidirectional hypertext links between pictures and the database. DbEngine has been used to support the MitoDat database (Mendelian and non-Mendelian inheritance associated with the Mitochondrion) on the WWW.

The National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium (NNTC) Database: an integrated database for HIV-related studies

PubMed Central

Cserhati, Matyas F.; Pandey, Sanjit; Beaudoin, James J.; Baccaglini, Lorena; Guda, Chittibabu; Fox, Howard S.

2015-01-01

We herein present the National NeuroAIDS Tissue Consortium-Data Coordinating Center (NNTC-DCC) database, which is the only available database for neuroAIDS studies that contains data in an integrated, standardized form. This database has been created in conjunction with the NNTC, which provides human tissue and biofluid samples to individual researchers to conduct studies focused on neuroAIDS. The database contains experimental datasets from 1206 subjects for the following categories (which are further broken down into subcategories): gene expression, genotype, proteins, endo-exo-chemicals, morphometrics and other (miscellaneous) data. The database also contains a wide variety of downloadable data and metadata for 95 HIV-related studies covering 170 assays from 61 principal investigators. The data represent 76 tissue types, 25 measurement types, and 38 technology types, and reaches a total of 33 017 407 data points. We used the ISA platform to create the database and develop a searchable web interface for querying the data. A gene search tool is also available, which searches for NCBI GEO datasets associated with selected genes. The database is manually curated with many user-friendly features, and is cross-linked to the NCBI, HUGO and PubMed databases. A free registration is required for qualified users to access the database. Database URL: http://nntc-dcc.unmc.edu PMID:26228431

Morchella MLST database

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Welcome to the Morchella MLST database. This dedicated database was set up at the CBS-KNAW Biodiversity Center by Vincent Robert in February 2012, using BioloMICS software (Robert et al., 2011), to facilitate DNA sequence-based identifications of Morchella species via the Internet. The current datab...

Dictionary as Database.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Painter, Derrick

1996-01-01

Discussion of dictionaries as databases focuses on the digitizing of The Oxford English dictionary (OED) and the use of Standard Generalized Mark-Up Language (SGML). Topics include the creation of a consortium to digitize the OED, document structure, relational databases, text forms, sequence, and discourse. (LRW)

Freshwater Biological Traits Database (Final Report)

EPA Science Inventory

EPA announced the release of the final report, Freshwater Biological Traits Database. This report discusses the development of a database of freshwater biological traits. The database combines several existing traits databases into an online format. The database is also...

Intelligent communication assistant for databases

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jakobson, G.; Shaked, V.; Rowley, S.

1983-01-01

An intelligent communication assistant for databases, called FRED (front end for databases) is explored. FRED is designed to facilitate access to database systems by users of varying levels of experience. FRED is a second generation of natural language front-ends for databases and intends to solve two critical interface problems existing between end-users and databases: connectivity and communication problems. The authors report their experiences in developing software for natural language query processing, dialog control, and knowledge representation, as well as the direction of future work. 10 references.

Comparison of the Frontier Distributed Database Caching System to NoSQL Databases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dykstra, Dave

2012-12-01

One of the main attractions of non-relational “NoSQL” databases is their ability to scale to large numbers of readers, including readers spread over a wide area. The Frontier distributed database caching system, used in production by the Large Hadron Collider CMS and ATLAS detector projects for Conditions data, is based on traditional SQL databases but also adds high scalability and the ability to be distributed over a wide-area for an important subset of applications. This paper compares the major characteristics of the two different approaches and identifies the criteria for choosing which approach to prefer over the other. It also compares in some detail the NoSQL databases used by CMS and ATLAS: MongoDB, CouchDB, HBase, and Cassandra.

The Halophile protein database.

PubMed

Sharma, Naveen; Farooqi, Mohammad Samir; Chaturvedi, Krishna Kumar; Lal, Shashi Bhushan; Grover, Monendra; Rai, Anil; Pandey, Pankaj

2014-01-01

Halophilic archaea/bacteria adapt to different salt concentration, namely extreme, moderate and low. These type of adaptations may occur as a result of modification of protein structure and other changes in different cell organelles. Thus proteins may play an important role in the adaptation of halophilic archaea/bacteria to saline conditions. The Halophile protein database (HProtDB) is a systematic attempt to document the biochemical and biophysical properties of proteins from halophilic archaea/bacteria which may be involved in adaptation of these organisms to saline conditions. In this database, various physicochemical properties such as molecular weight, theoretical pI, amino acid composition, atomic composition, estimated half-life, instability index, aliphatic index and grand average of hydropathicity (Gravy) have been listed. These physicochemical properties play an important role in identifying the protein structure, bonding pattern and function of the specific proteins. This database is comprehensive, manually curated, non-redundant catalogue of proteins. The database currently contains 59 897 proteins properties extracted from 21 different strains of halophilic archaea/bacteria. The database can be accessed through link. Database URL: http://webapp.cabgrid.res.in/protein/ © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press.

Factors Affecting Age at ASD Diagnosis in UK: No Evidence That Diagnosis Age Has Decreased between 2004 and 2014

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brett, Denise; Warnell, Frances; McConachie, Helen; Parr, Jeremy R.

2016-01-01

Clinical initiatives have aimed to reduce the age at ASD diagnosis in the UK. This study investigated whether the median age at diagnosis in childhood has reduced in recent years, and identified the factors associated with earlier diagnosis in the UK. Data on 2,134 children with ASD came from two large family databases. Results showed that the age…

Rational thinking and cognitive sophistication: development, cognitive abilities, and thinking dispositions.

PubMed

Toplak, Maggie E; West, Richard F; Stanovich, Keith E

2014-04-01

We studied developmental trends in 5 important reasoning tasks that are critical components of the operational definition of rational thinking. The tasks measured denominator neglect, belief bias, base rate sensitivity, resistance to framing, and the tendency toward otherside thinking. In addition to age, we examined 2 other individual difference domains that index cognitive sophistication: cognitive ability (intelligence and executive functioning) and thinking dispositions (actively open-minded thinking, superstitious thinking, and need for cognition). All 5 reasoning domains were consistently related to cognitive sophistication regardless of how it was indexed (age, cognitive ability, thinking dispositions). The implications of these findings for taxonomies of developmental trends in rational thinking tasks are discussed. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

Developmental changes in impacts of an antipoverty experiment on low-income children's structured out-of-school time.

PubMed

Epps, Sylvia R; Huston, Aletha C; Bobbitt, Kaeley C

2013-09-01

The experiment reported here tested impacts of New Hope, an employment-based poverty intervention for adults on developmental patterns of children's participation in structured out-of-school activities, using a cross-sequential design spanning ages 6 through 19. New Hope increased participation in activities (lessons, sports, religious, clubs, community centers, service). Its effects did not vary significantly across age, time of measurement, or gender, lasting well beyond parents' eligibility for program benefits. Overall participation peaked in early adolescence, declining thereafter. Policies that enhance participation during middle childhood may have long-term benefits because structured activities can provide opportunities for skill development and adult supervision that may be especially useful for children from low-income families. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

A new relational database structure and online interface for the HITRAN database