Contributions Of Gonadal Hormones To Human Cognitive And Motor Skills: Evidence From The Menstrual Cycle

Gonadal hormones appear to modulate many aspects of behavior in non-human species. In this thesis, a series of studies was undertaken to determine whether the variations in estrogen and progesterone levels that occur naturally over the menstrual cycle are sufficient to affect cognitive and motor functioning in humans. It was predicted that: (1) Variations in sexually dimorphic skills would be evident over the menstrual cycle; and that (2) High levels of estrogen and progesterone would be associated with better performance on tests at which women typically excel, but poorer performance on tests at which men typically excel, relative to performance when steroid levels are low.;The first study provided preliminary support for these hypotheses. At the midluteal phase of the cycle, characterized by high levels of estradiol and progesterone, a group of normally-cycling young women showed improved performance on several tests of speeded manual coordination, relative to their performance during menses, when levels of these hormones are low. In contrast, they displayed poorer performance at the midluteal phase on a test of perceptuo-spatial skill, known to favor males.;A second study investigated the generalizability of these findings. The midluteal phase was found to be associated with enhanced performance on tests of verbal fluency, articulation and fine motor skills. In contrast, women at the menstrual phase performed better on tests of spatial ability and deductive reasoning.;In a final study, women were tested during menstruation and during the preovulatory surge in estradiol, to determine whether high levels of estradiol alone are sufficient to account for these effects. High levels of estradiol were associated with better performance on tests of articulation and fine motor skills, but poorer performance on tests of spatial ability. A curvilinear relationship between serum estradiol level and performance was noted for one of the three spatial tests.;Results support the view that gonadal steroids may exert a small but significant effect on human brain activity, and thence, behavior. Activational effects of gonadal steroids may contribute in part to sex differences in cognitive and motor functions

Effort Test Performance in Non-litigating Brain Injury Populations

Over recent years there has been increasing interest in personal gain as a threat to the validity of neuropsychological testing. As a result, clinicians have begun to use specialist measures in an attempt to identify how much ‘effort’ a person is putting in and therefore whether they may be feigning or exaggerating their difficulties. Such effort tests have become commonplace within a medico-legal context and their use is also increasing within clinical settings. However, thorough investigation of the performance and classification accuracy of such measures is limited and questions have been raised regarding the rates of false positives in clinical populations. Assessing how people with genuine injuries perform on effort tests is critical for the valid interpretation of test scores, as clinicians have a duty of care not to label people as having a brain injury if they are malingering, or diagnosing someone as malingering when they have a genuine brain injury or are legitimately unwell. Therefore, the current thesis investigated the base rates of failure on a number of effort tests in a genuinely brain-injured population with no identifiable incentives to feign in order to provide further evaluation of the measures. The main focus was on the Word Memory Test, as the author claims that this measure is “virtually insensitive to all but the most extreme forms of impairment of learning and memory” (Green, Lees-Haley & Allen, 2002, p. 99).A total of 47 participants were recruited to the study, including 20 people in residential community rehabilitation services, 16 outpatients with intractable epilepsy, and 11 people in post-acute inpatient rehabilitation. Each participant was administered a battery of tests, including measures of effort, pre-morbid IQ, memory, speed of processing, and mood. Analyses of pass/fail rates across effort tests indicated that the rates of false positives within a genuine clinical sample with no incentive to feign were much higher than those proposed within the validation research of the tests. In addition, further statistical analyses identified a number of factors that contributed to scores on tests in addition to effort. Relationships with these factors varied depending on the particular effort test being assessed, with significant associations being identified with memory, depression, processing speed, age and participant subgroup. These findings are consistent with recent research that suggests people with genuine brain injuries can fail effort tests for reasons related to ability rather than effort. The implications for clinical assessment and intervention are discussed, and potential future research is suggested

Open Access Funds: Getting a Bigger Bang for Our Bucks

Many libraries offer open access publishing funds to support authors in paying article processing charges (APC) levied by some OA journals. However, there are few standard practices for managing or assessing these funds. The Open Access Working Group (OAWG) of the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) was asked to investigate and articulate best practices for successful open access fund management. In spring 2015, the OAWG surveyed Canadian academic libraries with OA funds to review their criteria and collect feedback on current practices. The survey proved timely because many OA funds are under review. Shrinking budgets, ending pilots, and questions around scale and sustainability of funds provide context for some institutions revisiting or reconfiguring these funds. At the same time, Canada’s principal funding agencies have issued the new Tri‐Agency Open Access Policy on Publications (effective May 2015) which mandates open access for funded research and which is increasing the demand from researchers for financial support from their institutions to pay APCs and other OA costs. This paper addresses findings of the survey, some best practices for open access publishing fund management, and counter arguments for OA funds, as well as other strategies developed by international agencies including the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC)

Effects of oral contraceptives on spatial cognition depend on pharmacological properties and phase of the contraceptive cycle

The central nervous system effects of oral contraceptives (OCs) are not well-documented. In a set of 3 studies, we investigated a specific cognitive function, mental rotation, in healthy women currently using OCs for contraceptive purposes (n = 201) and in medication-free controls not using OCs (n = 44). Mental rotation was measured using a well-standardized and extensively validated psychometric test, the Vandenberg Mental Rotations Test (MRT). In an initial study (Study 1), current OC users (n = 63) were tested during the active or inactive phases of the contraceptive cycle in a parallel-groups design. Studies 2 and 3 were based on an archival dataset (n = 201 current OC users) that consisted of data on the MRT collected in real-time over a 30-year period and compiled for purposes of the present work. The OCs were combined formulations containing ethinyl estradiol (10-35 ug/day) plus a synthetic progestin. All 4 families of synthetic progestins historically used in OCs were represented in the dataset. Cognitive performance was evaluated during either active OC use (‘active phase’) or during the washout week of the contraceptive cycle (‘inactive phase’) when OC steroids are not used. The results showed a significant phase-of-cycle (POC) effect. Accuracy on the MRT was mildly diminished during the active phase of OC use, while scores on verbal fluency and speeded motor tasks were modestly improved. The POC effect was most evident in women using OCs that contained first- or second-generation progestins (the estrane family of progestins or OCs containing levonorgestrel), but not in women using OCs containing recently developed progestins and lower doses of ethinyl estradiol. Using independently established ratings of the estrogenic, androgenic, and progestogenic intensities of the different OC formulations, each brand of OC was classified according to its distinct endocrine profile. Multiple regression revealed that the effects of OC use on the MRT could be predicted based on the estrogenic strength of the contraceptives used. Estrogenic potency, not androgenic or anti-androgenic effects of the OC pill, may underlie the effects of OC usage on spatial cognition

Transition metal decorated soft nanomaterials through modular self-assembly of an asymmetric hybrid polyoxometalate

An asymmetrically functionalised Wells–Dawson organic–inorganic hybrid polyoxometalate has been post-functionalised by Pt2+ coordination, and demonstrates self-assembly into surface-decorated micellar nanostructures. This multifunctional hybrid material is found to be a redox-active soft nanomaterial and demonstrates a new molecular design strategy with potential for applications in photo- or electro-catalysis

Surveillance guidelines for disease elimination: a case study of canine rabies

Surveillance is a critical component of disease control programmes but is often poorly resourced, particularly in developing countries lacking good infrastructure and especially for zoonoses which require combined veterinary and medical capacity and collaboration. Here we examine how successful control, and ultimately disease elimination, depends on effective surveillance. We estimated that detection probabilities of <0.1 are broadly typical of rabies surveillance in endemic countries and areas without a history of rabies. Using outbreak simulation techniques we investigated how the probability of detection affects outbreak spread, and outcomes of response strategies such as time to control an outbreak, probability of elimination, and the certainty of declaring freedom from disease. Assuming realistically poor surveillance (probability of detection <0.1), we show that proactive mass dog vaccination is much more effective at controlling rabies and no more costly than campaigns that vaccinate in response to case detection. Control through proactive vaccination followed by 2 years of continuous monitoring and vaccination should be sufficient to guarantee elimination from an isolated area not subject to repeat introductions. We recommend that rabies control programmes ought to be able to maintain surveillance levels that detect at least 5% (and ideally 10%) of all cases to improve their prospects of eliminating rabies, and this can be achieved through greater intersectoral collaboration. Our approach illustrates how surveillance is critical for the control and elimination of diseases such as canine rabies and can provide minimum surveillance requirements and technical guidance for elimination programmes under a broad-range of circumstances

Testing the Prenatal Androgen Hypothesis: Measuring Digit Ratios, Sexual Orientation, and Spatial Abilities in Adults

The present study examined whether the following variables putatively associated with prenatal androgens are inter-related in women: spatial abilities, sexual orientation, and 2nd to 4th finger (digit) length ratio (2D:4D). Participants were 99 healthy premenopausal women tested in the menstrual phase of the ovarian cycle between 0800 and 0930 hr. Women completed the Kinsey scales of sexual orientation, and were either strictly heterosexual (HS; N = 79) or not-strictly heterosexual (NHS; N = 20). Photocopies of the two hands were collected, and participants completed the revised Vandenberg Mental Rotations test, the Paper Folding test, and a short version of the Guilford-Zimmerman Spatial Orientation Test. Results showed that NHS women exhibited superior spatial ability relative to HS women. No significant difference was found between the HS and NHS women in the 2D:4D digit ratio. There was no association between the digit ratio and spatial performance. These results support an association between increased spatial abilities and heteroflexible sexual orientation, which may possibly be mediated by high prenatal androgens.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83872/1/testing_the_prenatal_androgen_hypothesis.pd

Costs analysis of a population level rabies control programme in Tamil Nadu, India

The study aimed to determine costs to the state government of implementing different interventions for controlling rabies among the entire human and animal populations of Tamil Nadu. This built upon an earlier assessment of Tamil Nadu’s efforts to control rabies. Anti-rabies vaccines were made available at all health facilities. Costs were estimated for five different combinations of animal and human interventions using an activity-based costing approach from the provider perspective. Disease and population data were sourced from the state surveillance data, human census and livestock census. Program costs were extrapolated from official documents. All capital costs were depreciated to estimate annualized costs. All costs were inflated to 2012 Rupees. Sensitivity analysis was conducted across all major cost centres to assess their relative impact on program costs. It was found that the annual costs of providing Anti-rabies vaccine alone and in combination with Immunoglobulins was \$0.7 million (Rs 36 million) and \$2.2 million (Rs 119 million), respectively. For animal sector interventions, the annualised costs of rolling out surgical sterilisation-immunization, injectable immunization and oral immunizations were estimated to be \$ 44 million (Rs 2,350 million), \$23 million (Rs 1,230 million) and \$ 11 million (Rs 590 million), respectively. Dog bite incidence, health systems coverage and cost of rabies biologicals were found to be important drivers of costs for human interventions. For the animal sector interventions, the size of dog catching team, dog population and vaccine costs were found to be driving the costs. Rabies control in Tamil Nadu seems a costly proposition the way it is currently structured. Policy makers in Tamil Nadu and other similar settings should consider the long-term financial sustainability before embarking upon a state or nation-wide rabies control programme

A female advantage in the recognition of emotional facial expressions: Test of an evolutionary hypothesis

A set of computerized tasks was used to investigate sex differences in the speed and accuracy of emotion recognition in 62 men and women of reproductive age. Evolutionary theories have posited that female superiority in the perception of emotion might arise from women's near-universal responsibility for child-rearing. Two variants of the child-rearing hypothesis predict either across-the-board female superiority in the discrimination of emotional expressions ("attachment promotion" hypothesis) or a female superiority that is restricted to expressions of negative emotion ("fitness threat" hypothesis). Therefore, we sought to evaluate whether the expression of the sex difference is influenced by the valence of the emotional signal (Positive or Negative). The results showed that women were faster than men at recognizing both positive and negative emotions from facial cues, supporting the attachment promotion hypothesis. Support for the fitness threat hypothesis also was found, in that the sex difference was accentuated for negative emotions. There was no evidence that the female superiority was learned through previous childcare experience or that it was derived from a sex difference in simple perceptual speed. The results suggest that evolved mechanisms, not domain-general learning, underlie the sex difference in recognition of facial emotions.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/83923/1/A_female_advantage_in_the_recognition_of_emotional_facial_expressions_test_of_an_evolutionary_hyptothesis.pd