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Contains reports on three research projects

Do Social Connections and Hope Matter in Predicting Early Adolescent Violence?

We tested relationships between social connections, hope, and violence among young adolescents from socially distressed urban neighborhoods, and examined whether relationships between adolescents' family and school connectedness and violence involvement were mediated by hopefulness. Data were from middle school students involved in the Lead Peace demonstration study. The sample (N = 164) was 51.8% female; 42% African American, 28% Asian, 13% Hispanic, and 17% mixed race or other race; average age was 12.1 years; 46% reported physical fighting in the past year. In multivariate models, parent‐family connectedness was protective against violence; school connectedness was marginally protective. Hopefulness was related to lower levels of violence. The relationship between school connectedness and violence was mediated by hopefulness; some evidence for mediation also existed in the family‐parent connectedness and violence relationship. Findings warrant continued exploration of hopefulness as an important protective factor against violence involvement, and as a mediator in relationships between social connections and violence involvement.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116982/1/ajcp9387.pd

Impaired object tracking in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Background: Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) occurs in approximately 1:4,000 live births with a complex and variable presentation that includes medical, socioemotional and psychological symptoms with intellectual impairment. Cognitive impairments in spatiotemporal and visuospatial attention have also been reported. However, maintenance of selective attention to dynamic and interacting objects has not been systematically investigated in children with 22q11.2DS. Methods: We used a multiple object tracking task to assay capacity and resolution performance of children with 22q11.2DS aged 7 to 14 years versus age-matched typically developing (TD) peers. Results: Children with 22q11.2DS but not TD children demonstrated impaired performance when task demands increased due to an increase in the number of targets presented, but not from an increase in object speed. Task performance in children with 22q11.2DS was also unrelated to intelligence or measures of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Conclusions: These findings suggest that children with 22q11.2DS may be particularly susceptible to dynamic crowding of objects with increasing cognitive demands related to monitoring multiple targets reflecting a reduced acuity in spatiotemporal cognitive representation

Impaired object tracking in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Background: Chromosome 22q11.2 Deletion Syndrome (22q11.2DS) occurs in approximately 1:4,000 live births with a complex and variable presentation that includes medical, socioemotional and psychological symptoms with intellectual impairment. Cognitive impairments in spatiotemporal and visuospatial attention have also been reported. However, maintenance of selective attention to dynamic and interacting objects has not been systematically investigated in children with 22q11.2DS. Methods: We used a multiple object tracking task to assay capacity and resolution performance of children with 22q11.2DS aged 7 to 14 years versus age-matched typically developing (TD) peers. Results: Children with 22q11.2DS but not TD children demonstrated impaired performance when task demands increased due to an increase in the number of targets presented, but not from an increase in object speed. Task performance in children with 22q11.2DS was also unrelated to intelligence or measures of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Conclusions: These findings suggest that children with 22q11.2DS may be particularly susceptible to dynamic crowding of objects with increasing cognitive demands related to monitoring multiple targets reflecting a reduced acuity in spatiotemporal cognitive representation

Increased incidence and size of the cavum septum pellicidum in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is a result of a hemizygotic microdeletion that results in a variety of impairments in children including greater risk for psychiatric ailments in adulthood. We used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to accurately quantify the length and, for the first time, volume, of the cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) in children aged 7 to 14years with 22q11.2DS and typically developing (TD) controls. Significantly greater anteroposterior length and greater CSP volumes were found in children with 22q11.2DS compared with controls. Furthermore, the largest CSP were found only in the 22q11.2DS group and with a much higher incidence than previously reported in the literature. Given the significant midline anomalies in the brains of those affected by 22q11.2DS, large CSP may be a biomarker of atypical brain development. The implication of these larger CSP for cognitive and behavioral development is a topic in need of further investigation

Increased incidence and size of the cavum septum pellicidum in children with chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

Chromosome 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is a result of a hemizygotic microdeletion that results in a variety of impairments in children including greater risk for psychiatric ailments in adulthood. We used high-resolution magnetic resonance imaging to accurately quantify the length and, for the first time, volume, of the cavum septum pellucidum (CSP) in children aged 7 to 14years with 22q11.2DS and typically developing (TD) controls. Significantly greater anteroposterior length and greater CSP volumes were found in children with 22q11.2DS compared with controls. Furthermore, the largest CSP were found only in the 22q11.2DS group and with a much higher incidence than previously reported in the literature. Given the significant midline anomalies in the brains of those affected by 22q11.2DS, large CSP may be a biomarker of atypical brain development. The implication of these larger CSP for cognitive and behavioral development is a topic in need of further investigation

Family Structure and Child Behavior Problems in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States

A large body of literature suggests that children living with two married, biological parents on average have fewer behavior problems than those who do not. What is less clear is why this occurs. Competing theories suggest that resource deficiencies and parental selectivity play a part. We suggest that examining different contexts can help adjudicate among different theoretical explanations as to how family structure relates to child behavior problems. In this paper, we use data from the Growing Up in Australia: Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC), the UK Millennium Cohort Study (MCS), and the US Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS-K) to examine the relationship between family structure and child behavior problems. Specifically, we look at how living in several configurations of biological and social parents may relate to child behavior problems. Findings suggest both similarities and differences across the three settings, with explanations in the UK results favoring selectivity theories, US patterns suggesting that there is a unique quality to family structure that can explain outcomes, and the Australian results favoring resource theories

Epidemiology of influenza-like illness in the Amazon Basin of Peru, 2008-2009.

BackgroundData addressing the incidence and epidemiology of influenza and influenza-like illness (ILI) in tropical regions of the world is scarce, particularly for the neotropics of South America.MethodsWe conducted active, population-based surveillance for ILI across 45 city blocks within the Amazon Basin city of Iquitos, Peru. Demographic data and household characteristics were collected for all participants, and participating households were visited three times weekly to inquire about ILI (fever plus cough or sore throat) among household residents. Nasal and oropharyngeal swabs were collected from participants with ILI and tested for influenza virus infection.ResultsBetween May 1, 2008 and July 8, 2009, we monitored 10,341 participants for ILI for a total of 11,569.5 person-years. We detected 459 ILI episodes, with 252 (54.9%) of the participants providing specimens. Age-adjusted incidence of ILI was estimated to be 46.7 episodes/1000 person-years. Influenza A and B viruses were detected in 25 (9.9%) and 62 (24.6%) specimens of ILI patients, respectively, for an estimated age-adjusted incidence rate of 16.5 symptomatic influenza virus infections/1000 person-years. Risk factors for ILI included age, household crowding, and use of wood as cooking fuel. For influenza virus infection specifically, age and use of wood as a cooking fuel were also identified as risk factors, but no effect of household crowding was observed.ConclusionsOur results represent the initial population-based description of the epidemiology of ILI in the Amazon region of Peru, which will be useful for developing region-specific strategies for reducing the burden of respiratory disease

Energy Impacts of Water Based Recreation

The overall objective of the study reported here was to determine to what extent energy accounting could supplement and/or complement economic benfit/cost analyses of water management projects and to specifically examine the energy impacts of water based recreation. The energy accounting literature was carefully reviewed and an energy accounting methodology applicable to water management was devised. Data pertaining to receation at five reservoirs in Utah were assembled from visitation recoreds and on-site surveys. Energy requirements for site construction, travel to and from the recreation site, and recreation at the site were estimated. It was determined that energy devoted to water based recreation is not inconsequential. As much energy is devoted to recreation at Lake Powell alone as is required for all of production agriculture in Utah. It is suggested that while the models developed in this study could be used with confidence in the preparation of energy impact statements the authors are not persuaded energy accounting provides additional information to water use planners beyong that obtainable from traditional economic analysis

The genetic structure of Aedes aegypti populations is driven by boat traffic in the Peruvian Amazon.

In the Americas, as in much of the rest of the world, the dengue virus vector Aedes aegypti is found in close association with human habitations, often leading to high population densities of mosquitoes in urban settings. In the Peruvian Amazon, this vector has been expanding to rural communities over the last 10-15 years, but to date, the population genetic structure of Ae. aegypti in this region has not been characterized. To investigate the relationship between Ae. aegypti gene flow and human transportation networks, we characterized mosquito population structure using a panel of 8 microsatellite markers and linked results to various potential mechanisms for long-distance dispersal. Adult and immature Ae. aegypti (>20 individuals per site) were collected from Iquitos city and from six neighboring riverine communities, i.e., Nauta, Indiana, Mazan, Barrio Florida, Tamshiaco, and Aucayo. FST statistics indicate significant, but low to moderate differentiation for the majority of study site pairs. Population structure of Ae. aegypti is not correlated with the geographic distance between towns, suggesting that human transportation networks provide a reasonable explanation for the high levels of population mixing. Our results indicate that Ae. aegypti gene flow among sub-populations is greatest between locations with heavy boat traffic, such as Iquitos-Tamshiaco and Iquitos-Indiana-Mazan, and lowest between locations with little or no boat/road traffic between them such as Barrio Florida-Iquitos. Bayesian clustering analysis showed ancestral admixture among three genetic clusters; no single cluster was exclusive to any site. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that human transportation networks, particularly riverways, are responsible for the geographic spread of Ae. aegypti in the Peruvian Amazon. Our findings are applicable to other regions of the world characterized by networks of urban islands connected by fluvial transport routes