Inadequate and Inappropriate Mental Health Treatment and Minority Overrepresentation in the Juvenile Justice System

Not only are minority youth at greater risk for mental illness, they are more likely to be funneled into the juvenile justice system because of untreated symptoms of mental illness. This is because minority youth are less likely to be insured at the same rates as their white peers and more likely to be perceived as aggressive or dangerous when exhibiting symptoms of a mental health problem. California voters may have created a possible solution to this situation by approving Proposition 63, now known as the Mental Health Services Act, which requires California counties to create innovative solutions to addressing serious mental illness in youth

The Dynamics of Human and Rattlesnake Conflict in Southern California

Human-rattlesnake conflict occurs when rattlesnakes are discovered in human-dominated areas and are deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to humans because of their venomous bite. In this dissertation, I investigated the nature of this conflict from the perspectives of both the behavioral and survival risks posed to rattlesnakes and the medical risks posed to humans. In the first of three studies, I investigated the effects of short- and long-distance translocation (SDT and LDT) of nuisance wildlife as a way of mitigating conflict between humans and naturally occurring Red Diamond Rattlesnakes (Crotalus ruber) near residential development in southern California. Snake activity ranges and risk of moving near human-modified areas were larger for LDT and SDT snakes than for non-translocated snakes. Snakes moved closer to human-modified areas and required translocation more often during the summer. Snakes translocated greater distances were less likely to return to human-modified areas, and translocation did not affect snake survival. In the second study, I investigated the etiology and severity of human envenomations using a retrospective review of 354 snakebite cases admitted to Loma Linda University Medical Center between 1990 and 2010. Male snakebite victims and those using alcohol or drugs were more likely to sustain bites to the upper extremity, distal to the ankle or wrist, and via illegitimate provocation of the snake. Snakebite severity was positively associated with snake size, negatively associated with patient mass, and independent of patient age, snake taxon, anatomical location of bite, legitimate versus illegitimate (provoked) bites, and time until hospital admission. Effectiveness of CroFab antivenom was similar for all southern California venomous snake taxa. In the final study, using the same medical data, I assessed the usefulness of several factors as predictors of overall snakebite severity, symptom progression, and antivenom use. Initial snakebite severity score, size of the envenoming snake, and patient mass were significant predictors. I suggested several rules of thumb that could help clinicians anticipate antivenom needs. Overall, this dissertation contributes to our understanding of the effects of mitigation translocation on rattlesnakes and the epidemiology and clinical management of venomous snakebite in southern California

Effects Of Nutrition, Hydration, Exertion, And Sleep On Injury And Illness In Female Collegiate Soccer Players

ABSTRACT Injury and illness rates in collegiate athletics continue to rise. Women’s soccer tends to have high numbers of injuries because it is a contact sport. Research has shown that there are several contributing factors to injury and illness rate in collegiate athletics. This study will provide an in depth look at female athletes, more specifically female collegiate soccer players and several factors – including dietary intake, hydration status, exertion and sleep that may attribute to injury and illness in this population. Researchers utilized weekly 3-day diet records, daily urine specific gravity, training load and self-reported sleep quantity to establish a relationship with injury and illness. Twenty-four NCAA Division I college soccer players were recruited to provide data throughout the course of pre- and competition season. Statistical analysis shoa statistically significant effect of hydration and sleep on injury and illness. A statistically significant effect was not found between training load and injury and illness. Data from the 3-day diet records shoa statistical imbalance and violated assumptions, therefore no relationship was found between caloric intake and injury and illness. Based on the results of this study, it is concluded that hydration and sleep play a significant contributing role in the occurrence of injury and illness in female collegiate soccer players. Based on this finding it is recommended that athletes sleep a minimum of 8 hours per night and properly hydrate before, during and after competition

The Contribution of the Amygdala to Reward-Related Learning and Extinction

There has been substantial research into the role of the amygdala in fear conditioning and extinction of conditioned fear. The role of the amygdala in appetitive conditioning is relatively less explored. Here, we will review research into the role of the amygdala in reward‐related learning. Research to date suggests that the basolateral and central amygdala are responsible for learning about distinct aspects of a reinforcing event. For example, the basolateral amygdala is essential for distinguishing and choosing between specific rewards based on the specific‐sensory properties of those rewards as well as updating the relative value of specific rewarding events. In contrast, the central amygdala is involved in encoding reinforcement more generally and for regulating motivational influences on responding. We will also review what is known about the role of the amygdala in extinction of reward‐related behaviours and highlight areas for future research

The Impact of Human Traffic on Wildlife Abundance on a Recreational Trail System in Southeastern Tennessee

Humans impact wildlife in numerous ways. The most serious being direct habitat destruction due to the expansion of urban landscapes, farmland, logging, and other activities that consume natural resources. However, even outdoor recreation in relatively protected areas can exert an influence. While consumptive outdoor recreational activities, like hunting and fishing, directly impact wildlife populations, non-consumptive outdoor recreation, like hiking or mountain biking, can impact wildlife in less overt ways. Simply the presence of humans in a natural area can disrupt normal animal behavior and drive animals away from important resources. In this study we used trail cameras to examine the impact of human traffic on the rate of wildlife detection on a private trail system in southeastern Tennessee during the Fall mating season. 92.9% of total camera sightings were from humans or domestic animals (i.e. domestics dogs) while only 7.1% were from native wildlife with most of these sighting (55.9%) coming from white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). Analysis using Poisson generalized estimating equations (GEEs) suggested an inverse relationship between the intensity of human traffic and the rate of wildlife detection. Analysis also showed that the portion of the trail system that had been developed the longest (since 2001) had lower cumulative wildlife detection and species richness than the portion of the trails system developed more recently (2016). An analysis of the time of day sightings occurred showed that peak activity for wildlife did not overlap with human activity. Wildlife sightings peaked in the morning while human activity peaked in the later afternoon/evening. Overall, these results confirm previous research that suggests that non-consumptive outdoor recreation can have significant effects on the abundance and behavior of wildlife

The role of serotonin 1B in the representation of outcomes.

Disrupted serotonin neurotransmission has been implicated in the etiology of psychopathic traits. Empirical research has found that people with high levels of psychopathic traits have a deficit in reinforcement learning that is thought to be linked with amygdala dysfunction. Altered serotonin neurotransmission provides a plausible explanation for amygdala dysfunction in psychopathic traits and recent research suggests that this may be associated with serotonin 1B (5-HT1B) receptor function. This research used an animal model to test the hypothesis that 5-HT1B receptors are involved in the encoding of the specific features of reinforcing outcomes. An outcome devaluation task was used to test the effect of the systemic administration of a selective 5-HT1B receptor agonist administered before encoding of "action-outcome" associations. Results showed that while administration of a 5-HT1B receptor agonist allowed rats to acquire instrumental responding for food, when the content of that learning was further probed using an outcome devaluation task, performance differed from controls. 5-HT1B agonism impaired learning about the specific sensory qualities of food rewards associated with distinct instrumental responses, required to direct choice performance when the value of one outcome changed. These findings suggest a role for 5-HT1B receptor function in the encoding of the specific features of reinforcing outcomes

Does devotion to God push you away from science?: Using religiosity to assessing the impact of the religion/science conflict perspective on the choice of academic major among undergraduate students at a religious institution

Religion and science are often perceived to be in conflict. Science is thought to deal with facts and evidence while religion is thought to deal only with faith. This conflict perspective is pervasive in modern society and can manifest itself in many ways. One way it may exert its influence is in the academic decisions made by college students. Students who are less religious may be more likely to choose science majors while those who are more religious may avoid science majors. While research does support this hypothesis in a broad sense, there may be special cases where the impact of the conflict perspective on the academic choices of college students is minimized. One such place may be at overtly religious educational institutions where religious belief permeates all curriculum, including that of science classes. In this study, we used Huber & Huber’s (2010) Centrality of Religiosity Scale to measure the religiosity of theology and biology students (N = 122) at Southern Adventist University, a private religious institution near Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA. The goal of this study was to see if the religion/science conflict perspective might be driving educational decisions by looking for differences in religiosity between students in these two disciplines. We found that, though religiosity scores were fairly high for both groups, theology students had higher religiosity scores than did biology students. We also found that theology students tended to maintain high levels of religiosity as age increased, while the religiosity of biology students tended to decrease with age. This implies that the religion-science conflict perspective may drive students’ academic decisions and attitudes even at religious institutions that seek to integrate science and faith

Anything You Can Do, You Can Do Better: Neural Substrates of Incentive-Based Performance Enhancement

Performance-based pay schemes in many organizations share the fundamental assumption that the performance level for a given task will increase as a function of the amount of incentive provided. Consistent with this notion, psychological studies have demonstrated that expectations of reward can improve performance on a plethora of different cognitive and physical tasks, ranging from problem solving to the voluntary regulation of heart rate. However, much less is understood about the neural mechanisms of incentivized performance enhancement. In particular, it is still an open question how brain areas that encode expectations about reward are able to translate incentives into improved performance across fundamentally different cognitive and physical task requirements

Contexts Paired with Junk Food Impair Goal-Directed Behavior in Rats: Implications for Decision Making in Obesogenic Environments.

The high prevalence of obesity and related metabolic diseases calls for greater understanding of the factors that drive excess energy intake. Calorie-dense palatable foods are readily available and often are paired with highly salient environmental cues. These cues can trigger food-seeking and consumption in the absence of hunger. Here we examined the effects of palatable food-paired environmental cues on control of instrumental food-seeking behavior. In Experiment 1, adult male rats received exposures to one context containing three "junk" foods (JFs context) and another containing chow (Chow context). Next, rats were food-deprived and trained to perform instrumental responses (lever-press) for two novel food rewards in a third, distinct context. Contextual influences on flexible control of food-seeking behavior were then assessed by outcome devaluation tests held in the JF, chow and training contexts. Devaluation was achieved using specific satiety and test order was counterbalanced. Rats exhibited goal-directed control over behavior when tested in the training and chow-paired contexts. Notably, performance was habitual (insensitive to devaluation) when tested in the JF context. In Experiment 2 we tested whether the impairment found in the JF context could be ameliorated by the presentation of a discrete auditory cue paired with the chow context, relative to a second cue paired with the JF context. Consistent with the results of Experiment 1, the devaluation effect was not significant when rats were tested in the JF context with the JF cue. However, presenting the chow cue increased the impact of the devaluation treatment leading to a robust devaluation effect. Further tests confirmed that performance in the chow context was goal-directed and that sensory-specific satiety in the JF context was intact. These results show that environments paired with palatable foods can impair goal-directed control over food-seeking behavior, but that this deficit was improved by a cue paired with chow. This has promising implications for assisting individuals in controlling their eating behavior in environments designed to dysregulate it

Is Schematic Biological Motion an Animacy Cue in Infancy?

The goal of the present research was to investigate whether schematic biological motion serves as a cue to the concept of animacy in infancy. In order to present motion cues in the absence of bodily form cues, Michotte’s (1963) schematic biological motion stimuli (i.e., shape rhythmically expanding/contracting in the direction of movement) were used. The video animations displayed an amorphous shape moving in this way behind a screen (i.e., the shadow) and assessed looking patterns when the screen was removed to reveal either an animate or inanimate exemplar in the test phase. In Experiment 1, familiar exemplars of animate entities (i.e., dog, cow) were used as test items. In Experiment 2, the test objects were unfamiliar category exemplars associated with this type of motion (i.e., worm, caterpillar). Infants (10- and 18-months) looked longer when biological motion cues were congruent with the test items in Experiment 1, but 10-month-olds did not show differential looking across congruent and incongruent trials in Experiment 2. These findings suggest that the schematic biological motion stimulus does not serve as a primitive cue to the concept of animacy in infancy