Presentation modality influences behavioral measures of alerting, orienting, and executive control

The Attention Network Test (ANT) uses visual stimuli to separately assess the attentional skills of alerting (improved performance following a warning cue), spatial orienting (an additional benefit when the warning cue also cues target location), and executive control (impaired performance when a target stimulus contains conflicting information). This study contrasted performance on auditory and visual versions of the ANT to determine whether the measures it obtains are influenced by presentation modality. Forty healthy volunteers completed both auditory and visual tests. Reaction-time measures of executive control were of a similar magnitude and significantly correlated, suggesting that executive control might be a supramodal resource. Measures of alerting were also comparable across tasks. In contrast, spatial-orienting benefits were obtained only in the visual task. Auditory spatial cues did not improve response times to auditory targets presented at the cued location. The different spatial-orienting measures could reflect either separate orienting resources for each perceptual modality, or an interaction between a supramodal orienting resource and modality-specific perceptual processing

Finding the right role for social media in innovation

Although some companies have been able to use social media to develop new insights that lead to successful new products, many others simply do not know how to utilize social media for innovation. Whats more, some companies have seen their innovation performance negatively affected. Nevertheless, social media provides a game-changing opportunity for companies that learn how to exploit it. In order to use social media for innovation, organizations need clear strategies and objectives. The authors of this article recently studied the social media practices of large global companies as they relate to new product development, using data from the Product Development Management Associations 2012 Comparative Performance Assessment Study. Broadly speaking, we found that for many companies, the results of using social media for new product development fell short of expectations. Less than 50% of the companies surveyed use social media during the new product development process. Many of the companies we surveyed didn't seem to recognize the differences and functionalities of different social media platforms and media sources. It is critical that top leadership play an active role by encouraging cooperation and idea sharing among the various players

Mapping the impact of social media for innovation: the role of social media in explaining innovation performance in the PDMA Comparative Performance Assessment Study

Social media (SM) allow users to easily create, edit, or share content. The vast numbers of individuals that converge around sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter embody a rich source of external knowledge that could be utilized for new product development (NPD). Complementing other channels for open innovation, SM can provide access to novel information about customer needs and technological solutions unknown to the firm. Anecdotal evidence suggests that there are considerable benefits from using SM during an innovation project, but empirical evidence is scare. Contributing to the perspective of openness in search, a number of hypotheses propose how SM as a new channel for open innovation can contribute to firm performance. This model is tested using data from the PDMA Comparative Performance Assessment Study (CPAS), identifying factors influencing the relationship between SM and NPD performance. The findings indicate that utilizing information from SM channels can lead to higher performance, but that this link is influenced by the formalization of a firm's NPD process. This study also finds that the ability of a firm to benefit from external search in SM strongly depends upon complementary internal processes when organizing and conducting this activity. Furthermore, managers have to take care when utilizing information from SM channels in radical projects, as for this kind of projects only a weak significant performance contribution of SM could be found

Microbial Community Response to Terrestrially Derived Dissolved Organic Matter in the Coastal Arctic

Warming at nearly twice the global rate, higher than average air temperatures are the new \u27normal\u27 for Arctic ecosystems. This rise in temperature has triggered hydrological and geochemical changes that increasingly release carbon-rich water into the coastal ocean via increased riverine discharge, coastal erosion, and the thawing of the semipermanent permafrost ubiquitous in the region. To determine the biogeochemical impacts of terrestrially derived dissolved organic matter (tDOM) on marine ecosystems we compared the nutrient stocks and bacterial communities present under ice-covered and ice-free conditions, assessed the lability of Arctic tDOM to coastal microbial communities from the Chukchi Sea, and identified bacterial taxa that respond to rapid increases in tDOM. Once thought to be predominantly refractory, we found that similar to 7% of dissolved organic carbon and similar to 38% of dissolved organic nitrogen from tDOM was bioavailable to receiving marine microbial communities on short 4 - 6 day time scales. The addition of tDOM shifted bacterial community structure toward more copiotrophic taxa and away from more oligotrophic taxa. Although no single order was found to respond universally (positively or negatively) to the tDOM addition, this study identified 20 indicator species as possible sentinels for increased tDOM. These data suggest the true ecological impact of tDOM will be widespread across many bacterial taxa and that shifts in coastal microbial community composition should be anticipated

Treatment effects of stimulant medication in young boys with fragile X syndrome

Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common inherited form of intellectual disability and is caused by a CGG repeat expansion at Xq27.3 on the FMR1 gene. The majority of young boys with FXS display poor attention and hyperactivity that is disproportionate to their cognitive disability, and approximately 70% meet diagnostic criteria for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. Psychopharmacology is employed with 82% of young males 5–17 years of age, with stimulant medication as the most common medication prescribed. This study evaluated the effects of stimulant medication on the academic performance, attention, motor activity, and psychophysiological arousal of boys with FXS, as well as the concordance of effects within individuals. Participants in this study included 12 boys with FXS who were treated with stimulants. Participants completed videotaped academic testing on two consecutive days and were randomly assigned to be off stimulants for 1 day and on stimulants the other day. On each day, multiple measures including academic performance, behavior regulation, and psychophysiological arousal were collected. Approximately 75% of participants performed better on attention and academic measures, and 70% showed improved physiological regulation while on stimulant medication. A high degree of concordance among measures was found. Lower intelligence quotient (IQ), but not age, correlated with greater improvements in in-seat behavior. IQ and age did not relate to on-task behaviors. The frequency and magnitude of response to stimulant medication in boys with FXS is higher than those reported for most children with non-specific intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder

Adolescent, caregiver, and friend preferences for integrating social support and communication features into an asthma self-management app

This study examines: 1) adolescent preferences for using asthma self-management mobile applications (apps) to interact with their friends, caregivers, medical providers, and other adolescents with asthma and 2) how caregivers and friends would use mobile apps to communicate with the adolescent and serve as sources of support for asthma management

Variation in and factors associated with timing of low risk, pre-labour repeat caesarean sections in NSW, 2008-2011

In April 2007, the New South Wales (NSW) Ministry of Health released an evidence-based policy directive requiring that ‘where there are no compelling medical indications, elective or pre-labour caesarean section does not occur prior to 39 completed week’s gestation’. This study describes variation in and factors associated with hospital rates of early (37-38 weeks gestation), low risk pre-labour repeat caesarean section at term. Linked birth and hospital data for low-risk, pre-labour repeat caesarean sections in NSW in 2008-2011 were analysed using multi-level regression modelling. Rates were adjusted for casemix and hospital factors. In 2008-2011, there were 15,163 pre-labour repeat caesarean sections among low risk women in NSW. Overall, 34.7% of low risk pre-labour repeat caesarean sections occurred before 39 weeks gestation. Casemix and hospital factor adjusted NSW public hospital rates of early (37-38 weeks gestation), low risk, pre-labour repeat caesarean section at term varied widely (16.3%-67.5%). Smoking, private health care, assisted reproductive technology, higher parity, a non-caesarean uterine scar and delivering in a hospital with CPAP facilities were associated with higher odds of early delivery. Hospitals with higher rates of low risk deliveries and higher propensity for vaginal birth after caesarean rates had lower odds of early delivery. The findings suggest poor uptake of the policy for pre-labour caesarean from 39 weeks. Large between-hospital variation persisted following adjustment, suggesting that non-medical factors are related to timing of low risk, pre-labour caesarean section. Further strategies are needed to enhance adherence to evidence-based policy.ARC, NHMR

Increased hepatic oxidative metabolism distinguishes the action of Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta from Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma in the ob/ob mouse.

BACKGROUND: The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated transcription factors and members of the nuclear receptor superfamily. The PPAR family consists of three members: PPARalpha, PPARgamma, and PPARdelta. PPARdelta controls the transcription of genes involved in multiple physiological pathways, including cellular differentiation, lipid metabolism and energy homeostasis. The receptor is expressed almost ubiquitously, with high expression in liver and skeletal muscle. Although the physiological ligands of PPARdelta remain undefined, a number of high affinity synthetic ligands have been developed for the receptor as a therapeutic target for type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia and the metabolic syndrome. METHODS: In this study, the metabolic role of PPARdelta activation has been investigated in liver, skeletal muscle, blood serum and white adipose tissue from ob/ob mice using a high affinity synthetic ligand and contrasted with PPARgamma activation. To maximize the analytical coverage of the metabolome, (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) spectroscopy, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and ultra performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS) were used to examine metabolites from tissue extracts. RESULTS: Analysis by multivariate statistics demonstrated that PPARdelta activation profoundly affected glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the TCA cycle and linoleic acid and alpha-linolenic acid essential fatty acid pathways. CONCLUSIONS: Although activation of both PPARdelta and PPARgamma lead to increased insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance, PPARdelta activation was functionally distinct from PPARgamma activation, and was characterized by increased hepatic and peripheral fatty acid oxidative metabolism, demonstrating the distinctive catabolic role of this receptor compared with PPARgamma

Reading and Phonological Skills in Boys with Fragile X Syndrome

Reading skills are critical for the success of individuals with intellectual disabilities. Literacy has received little attention in fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common inherited cause of intellectual impairment. This study examined the literacy profile of FXS and tested phonological awareness and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms as predictors of literacy