Attentional cues in chronic schizophrenia: Abnormal disengagement of attention.

M. I. Possner's 1980 reaction time (RT) paradigm was used to examine the engagement and disengagement operations of visual selective attention in patients with schizophrenia. In the 1st experiment 14 medicated, chronic schizophrenic Ss (diagnosed by criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders [DSM-I]), and 15 age-matched normal and control Ss made a speeded response to a target preceded by a valid, and invalid, or no cue. Control Ss showed the expected advantage and disadvantage in RT for valid and invalid cues, which suggests intact engagement and disengagement operations. For schizophrenic Ss, valid cues also enhanced RT, but invalid cues did not slow RT. Similar results were found in the 2nd experiment. The failure of unpredictable, invalid cues to inhibit RT in chronic schizophrenia may be related to an abnormality in the disengagement operation of selective attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Fuzzy support for serodiagnosis: the ONSET program

ONSET derives its diagnosis from the combined evidence of contemporaneous and successive findings, which is in accordance with the behaviour of a clinician. Although it does not increase the diagnostic capabilities in principle, i.e., it cannot perform better than an expert reasoning on the basis of the same knowledge, computational power can be exploited to perform the matches and combine the results with greater precision, resolution, reliability, and transparency. Fundamental improvements of diagnosis, however, can only be expected from better serological tests or increased testing frequency. ONSET relies on domain knowledge explicated in a non-verbalized, analytical form. Knowledge representation-although mathematical-is intuitively clear and easy to conceive, making it equally accessible to both man and machine, and hence subject to objective evaluation and criticism     

Growth and the microstructural and ferroelectric characterization of oriented BaMgF(4) thin films

The growth of ferroelectric BaMgF(4) thin films on Si(100), sapphire, and other substrates under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) conditions is reported. Microstructural characterization of the films using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that they were oriented crystalline films, although not epitaxial. Ferroelectric hysteresis measurements yielded spontaneous polarization and coercivity values of almost 1.0 muC/cm(2) and 160 kV/cm, respectively. The discrepancy with the bulk ferroelectric values were attributed to the electrical contacts, impurities in the film, and lack of polar axis orientation. Preliminary capacitance-voltage (C-V) hysteresis measurements on a 480-nm-thick BaMgF(4) film yielded a 10.8-V threshold shift (memory window) in response to a +/-10-V programming voltage for a MIS gate structure similar to that of the ferroelectric memory field-effect transistor (FEMFET).     

Analysis of the role of inhibition in shaping responses to sinusoidally amplitude-modulated signals in the inferior colliculus

Neurons in the central nucleus of the inferior colliculus (ICc) typically respond with phase-locked discharges to low rates of sinusoidal amplitude-modulated (SAM) signals and fail to phase-lock to higher SAM rates. Previous studies have shown that comparable phase-locking to SAM occurs in the dorsal nucleus of the lateral lemniscus (DNLL) and medial superior olive (MSO) of the mustache bat. The studies of MSO and DNLL also showed that the restricted phase-locking to low SAM rates is created by the coincidence of phase-locked excitatory and inhibitory inputs that have slightly different latencies. Here we tested the hypothesis that responses to SAM in the mustache bat IC are shaped by the same mechanism that shapes responses to SAM in the two lower nuclei. We recorded responses from ICc neurons evoked by SAM signals before and during the iontophoretic application of several pharmacological agents: bicuculline, a competitive antagonist for gamma-aminobutyric acid-A (GABAA) receptors; strychnine, a competitive antagonist for glycine receptors; the GABAB receptor blocker, phaclofen, and the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocker, (-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP5). The hypothesis that inhibition shapes responses to SAM signals in the ICc was not confirmed. In >90% of the ICc neurons tested, the range of SAM rates to which they phase-locked was unchanged after blocking inhibition with bicuculline, strychnine or phaclofen, applied either individually or in combination. We also considered the possibility that faster alpha-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methylisoxazole-4-propionic acid (AMPA) receptors follow high temporal rates of incoming excitation but that the slower NMDA receptors could follow only lower rates. Thus at higher SAM rates, NMDA receptors might generate a sustained excitation that "smears" the phase-locked excitation generated by the AMPA receptors. The NMDA hypothesis, like the inhibition hypothesis, was also not confirmed. In none of the cells that we tested did the application of AP5 by itself, or in combination with bicuculline, cause an increase in the range of SAM rates that evoked phase-locking. These results illustrate that the same response property, phase-locking restricted to low SAM rates, is formed in more than one way in the auditory brain stem. In the MSO and DNLL, the mechanism is coincidence of phase-locked excitation and inhibition, whereas in ICc the same response feature is formed by a different but unknown mechanism.     

Testing possible mechanisms of deficient supra-second time estimation in adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Numerous studies indicate deficient time estimation in individuals with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Several hypotheses have been raised to explain this deficit including delay aversion, vulnerability to nontemporal distractions, deficient working memory, as well as pure deficit in temporal processing. To test the different hypotheses, adults with or without ADHD performed a prospective time-estimation task under different conditions: with or without nontemporal distraction; and with or without increased load of working memory. Such design was used to rule out the effect of motor control and to manipulate the hypothesized mechanisms of working memory and attention to nontemporal stimuli. The authors report that compared with the control group, adults with ADHD showed greater and more variable deviation in time estimation. In addition, the magnitude of time estimation was affected by allocation of attention to nontemporal stimuli and by load of working memory. The intraindividual variability of time estimation was only partially accounted for by load of working memory. These findings suggest that the ADHD-associated deficit in prospective time estimation is not attributable to special attention to nontemporal stimuli or compromised working memory. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Image segmentation and edge enhancement with stabilized inversediffusion equations

We introduce a family of first-order multidimensional ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with discontinuous right-hand sides and demonstrate their applicability in image processing. An equation belonging to this family is an inverse diffusion everywhere except at local extrema, where some stabilization is introduced. For this reason, we call these equations "stabilized inverse diffusion equations" (SIDEs). Existence and uniqueness of solutions, as well as stability, are proven for SIDEs. A SIDE in one spatial dimension may be interpreted as a limiting case of a semi-discretized Perona-Malik equation (1990, 19994). In an experiment, SIDE's are shown to suppress noise while sharpening edges present in the input signal. Their application to image segmentation is also demonstrated.     

Modulation spectroscopy study of a strained layer GaAs/GaAsP multiple quantum well structure

Using contactless electroreflectance (CER) and piezoreflectance at 300 K we have characterized a GaAs/GaAs_1?xP_x multiple quantum well (MQW) structure, “GaAs” (nominal) and GaAsP epilayers grown by chloride transport chemical vapor deposition on GaAs (001) substrates. From a detailed lineshape fit to the CER data from the epilayers we have determined the energies of the fundamental band gap and hence the phosphorous composition. The nominal “GaAs” epilayers were found to have phosphorous compositions of about 2.5–3.2%, a result of the phosphorous diffusion between growth chambers in the reactor. The GaAs_1?xP_x epilayer had x=0.29. For the GaAs_0.97P_0.03/GaAs_0.71P_0.29MQW comparison between the experimentally observed energies of a number of quantum transitions with a theoretical envelope function calculation, including the effects of strain in the barriers, made it possible to evaluate the unstrained conduction band offset parameter Q_c=0.50±0.05. Our value for this parameter is discussed in relation to other works. Atomic force microscopy was employed to investigate the surface morphology of the 230 Å GaAsP top layer of the MQW in addition to a 2000 Å GaAsP epilayer. From the absence of any cross-hatch pattern associated with misfit dislocations on the former we concluded that the GaAsP in the MQW is pseudomorphic. On the other hand the 2000 Å epilayer exhibited signs of strain relaxation.     

Challenges and solutions for recruiting pregnant smokers into a nicotine replacement therapy trial.

Improvements in smoking cessation interventions for pregnant smokers are needed. One major step is to examine the potential effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). The potential benefits of providing pregnant women with NRT to help them quit smoking are still unknown; early interventions to test the effectiveness and efficacy are vital to advancing the field. This paper describes recruitment efforts for a multiclinic trial to test the effectiveness of NRT use in addition to behavioral therapy in promoting cessation during pregnancy. The biggest challenge is recruiting sufficient numbers of pregnant women. This paper discusses specific obstacles for recruitment and solutions. Knowing the potential pitfalls to recruiting pregnant women into these trials can lead to better studies and thus improved outcomes.