Real-time PCR Demonstrates Ancylostoma duodenale Is a Key Factor in the Etiology of Severe Anemia and Iron Deficiency in Malawian Pre-school Children

Hookworm infections are a major cause of childhood anemia and iron deficiency. Two hookworm species exist of which Ancylostoma duodenale is the less common, yet causing more blood loss than Necator americanus. Although species differentiation and quantification are both of clinical importance, these are often not performed as the technique is complex and laborious using microscopy. Multiplex real-time PCR is a novel diagnostic tool which allows hookworm species differentiation and infection quantification. We applied this test in 830 stool samples of Malawian children with and without severe anemia. The prevalence of hookworm infections was high. A. duodenale was unexpectedly more prevalent than N. americanus. A. duodenale infections were associated with increased risk for severe anemia and iron deficiency, both of which increased with infection load. The study identifies a need for the quantitative screening of species-specific hookworm infections, which readily can be achieved by real-time-PCR. A. duodenale was independently associated with severe anemia and iron deficiency in our study population

Preschool hyperactivity specifically elevates long-term mental health risks more strongly in males than females: a prospective longitudinal study through to young adulthood

Evidence of continuities between preschool hyperactivity and adult mental health problems highlight the potential value of targeting early identification and intervention strategies. However, specific risk factors are currently unclear. This large-scale prospective longitudinal study aimed to identify which hyperactive preschoolers are at greatest long-term risk of poor mental health. One hundred and seventy children (89 females) rated as hyperactive by their parents and 88 non-hyperactive controls (48 females) were identified from a community sample of 4,215 3 year-olds. Baseline data relating to behavioral/emotional problems and background characteristics were collected. Follow-up mental health and functional impairment outcomes were collected between 14 and 25 years of age. At age 3 years, males and females in the hyperactive group had similarly raised levels of hyperactivity and other behavior problems. In adolescence/young adulthood, these individuals showed elevated symptoms of ADHD, conduct disorder, mood disorder, anxiety and autism, as well as functional impairment. Preschool hyperactivity was strongly predictive of poor adolescent/adult outcomes for males across domains with effects being specifically driven by hyperactivity. For females, the effects of preschool hyperactivity were smaller and dropped to non-significant levels when other preschool problems were taken into account. Environmental risk factors also differed between the sexes, although these may also have been mediated by genetic risk. In conclusion, these results demonstrate marked sex differences in preschool predictors of later adolescent/adult mental health problems. Future research should include a measure of preschool inattention as well hyperactivity. The findings highlight the potential value of tailored approaches to early identification strategies

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for extraversion:Findings from the Genetics of Personality Consortium

Extraversion is a relatively stable and heritable personality trait associated with numerous psychosocial, lifestyle and health outcomes. Despite its substantial heritability, no genetic variants have been detected in previous genome-wide association (GWA) studies, which may be due to relatively small sample sizes of those studies. Here, we report on a large meta-analysis of GWA studies for extraversion in 63,030 subjects in 29 cohorts. Extraversion item data from multiple personality inventories were harmonized across inventories and cohorts. No genome-wide significant associations were found at the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) level but there was one significant hit at the gene level for a long non-coding RNA site (LOC101928162). Genome-wide complex trait analysis in two large cohorts showed that the additive variance explained by common SNPs was not significantly different from zero, but polygenic risk scores, weighted using linkage information, significantly predicted extraversion scores in an independent cohort. These results show that extraversion is a highly polygenic personality trait, with an architecture possibly different from other complex human traits, including other personality traits. Future studies are required to further determine which genetic variants, by what modes of gene action, constitute the heritable nature of extraversion

Transancestral GWAS of alcohol dependence reveals common genetic underpinnings with psychiatric disorders

Liability to alcohol dependence (AD) is heritable, but little is known about its complex polygenic architecture or its genetic relationship with other disorders. To discover loci associated with AD and characterize the relationship between AD and other psychiatric and behavioral outcomes, we carried out the largest genome-wide association study to date of DSM-IV-diagnosed AD. Genome-wide data on 14,904 individuals with AD and 37,944 controls from 28 case-control and family-based studies were meta-analyzed, stratified by genetic ancestry (European, n = 46,568; African, n = 6,280). Independent, genome-wide significant effects of different ADH1B variants were identified in European (rs1229984; P = 9.8 x 10(-13)) and African ancestries (rs2066702; P = 2.2 x 10(-9)). Significant genetic correlations were observed with 17 phenotypes, including schizophrenia, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, depression, and use of cigarettes and cannabis. The genetic underpinnings of AD only partially overlap with those for alcohol consumption, underscoring the genetic distinction between pathological and nonpathological drinking behaviors.Peer reviewe

Time to reflect on voices

Retention and Reflection Voice Parade Experimen

Unimodal and cross-modal identity judgements using an audiovisual sorting task: Evidence for independent processing of faces and voices

Unimodal and cross-modal information provided by faces and voices can contribute to identity percepts. To examine how these unimodal and cross-modal sources of information interact, we devised a novel audiovisual identity sorting task in which participants were required to group video-only and audio-only clips into two identities. In a series of three experiments, we show that unimodal face and voice sorting were more accurate than cross-modal sorting accuracy: While face sorting was consistently most accurate followed by voice sorting, cross-modal sorting was at chancel-level or below. In Experiment 1, we contextualised performance in our novel audiovisual sorting task by comparing it to a traditional identity matching task. Here we found that unimodal and cross-modal identity perception were more accurate in the matching task. In Experiment 2, we separated unimodal from cross-modal sorting, which led to small improvements in accuracy for unimodal sorting, but no change in cross-modal sorting performance. Finally, in Experiment 3 we explored the effect of minimal audiovisual training: Participants were shown an audiovisual clip of the two identities in conversation prior to completing the sorting task. This minimal training led to small but non-significant improvements in accuracy for both unimodal and cross-modal sorting. Our results indicate that, for unfamiliar people, face and voice perception operate relatively independently with no evidence of mutual benefit. We also show that extracting reliable redundant cross-modal information for identity judgements is challenging

Face and voice identity matching accuracy is not improved by multi-modal identity information

Identity verification from both faces and voices can be error-prone. Previous research has shown that faces and voices signal concordant information and cross-modal unfamiliar face-to-voice matching is possible, albeit often with low accuracy. In the current study, we ask whether performance on a face or voice identity matching task can be improved by using multimodal stimuli which add a second modality (voice or face). We find that overall accuracy is higher for face matching than for voices matching. However, contrary to predictions, presenting one unimodal and one multimodal stimulus within a matching task did not improve face or voice matching compared to presenting two unimodal stimuli. Additionally, we find that presenting two multimodal stimuli does not improve accuracy compared to presenting two unimodal face stimuli. Thus, multimodal information does not improve accuracy. However, intriguingly, we find that cross-modal face-voice matching accuracy predicts voice matching accuracy but not face matching accuracy. This suggests cross-modal information can nonetheless play a role in identity matching, and face and voice information interact to inform matching decisions. We discuss our findings in light of current models of person perception, and consider the implications for identity verification in security and forensic settings

Time to reflect on voice parades: The influence of reflection and retention interval duration on earwitness performance.

Experiment-based voice parades often result in low hit-rates and high false-alarm rates. One contributing factor may be that the experimental procedures omit elements that might naturally occur in the memory formation process, such as the process of reflection. In Experiment 1 (N=180, F=92) we explored if a post-encoding reflection manipulation, compared to a simple attention control task, prior to a five-minute retention interval would improve identification performance. In Experiment 2 (N=180, F=93), we explored how the effects of this manipulation might change when the retention interval was 24-hours. The results show that the inclusion of a reflection manipulation did not meaningfully improve performance in either experiment. Importantly, we found no meaningful difference in performance when directly comparing the two retention interval durations. We consider theoretical explanations for these results and discuss implications for the design and validity of earwitness voice parade studies

Speeded Confidence Judgements For Voice Identification

Applying Brewer's (2012; 2020) procedure of using speeded confidence judgements vs unspeeded and categorical response

Time to reflect on voice parades: The influence of reflection and retention interval duration on earwitness performance

Publication status: PublishedAbstractExperiment‐based voice parades often result in low hit‐rates and high false‐alarm rates. One contributing factor may be that the experimental procedures omit elements that might naturally occur in the memory formation process, such as the process of reflection. In Experiment 1 (N = 180, F = 92) we explored if a post‐encoding reflection manipulation, compared to a simple attention control task, prior to a five‐minute retention interval would improve identification performance. In Experiment 2 (N = 180, F = 93), we explored how the effects of this manipulation might change when the retention interval was 24‐h. The results show that the inclusion of a reflection manipulation did not meaningfully improve performance in either experiment. Importantly, we found no meaningful difference in performance when directly comparing the two retention interval durations. We consider theoretical explanations for these results and discuss implications for the design and validity of earwitness voice parade studies.</jats:p