The FORTRAN static source code analyzer program (SAP) user's guide, revision 1

The FORTRAN Static Source Code Analyzer Program (SAP) User's Guide (Revision 1) is presented. SAP is a software tool designed to assist Software Engineering Laboratory (SEL) personnel in conducting studies of FORTRAN programs. SAP scans FORTRAN source code and produces reports that present statistics and measures of statements and structures that make up a module. This document is a revision of the previous SAP user's guide, Computer Sciences Corporation document CSC/TM-78/6045. SAP Revision 1 is the result of program modifications to provide several new reports, additional complexity analysis, and recognition of all statements described in the FORTRAN 77 standard. This document provides instructions for operating SAP and contains information useful in interpreting SAP output

Recommended approach to sofware development

A set of guideline for an organized, disciplined approach to software development, based on data collected and studied for 46 flight dynamics software development projects. Methods and practices for each phase of a software development life cycle that starts with requirements analysis and ends with acceptance testing are described; maintenance and operation is not addressed. For each defined life cycle phase, guidelines for the development process and its management, and the products produced and their reviews are presented

Roles of Education and IQ in Cognitive Reserve in Parkinson's Disease-Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Background/aimsThe role of cognitive reserve in Parkinson's disease (PD)-mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is incompletely understood.MethodsThe relationships between PD-MCI, years of education, and estimated premorbid IQ were examined in 119 consecutive non-demented PD patients using logistic regression models.ResultsHigher education and IQ were associated with reduced odds of PD-MCI in univariate analysis. In multivariable analysis, a higher IQ was associated with a significantly decreased odds of PD-MCI, but education was not.ConclusionThe association of higher IQ and decreased odds of PD-MCI supports a role for cognitive reserve in PD, but further studies are needed to clarify the interaction of IQ and education and the impact of other contributors such as employment and hobbies

Adverse childhood experiences, support, and the perception of ability to work in adults with disability

Objective To examine the impact of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and support on self-reported work inability of adults reporting disability. Participants Adults (ages 18–64) who participated in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System in 2009 or 2010 and who reported having a disability (n = 13,009). Design and Main Outcome Measures The study used a retrospective cohort design with work inability as the main outcome. ACE categories included abuse (sexual, physical, emotional) and family dysfunction (domestic violence, incarceration, mental illness, substance abuse, divorce). Support included functional (perceived emotional/social support) and structural (living with another adult) support. Logistic regression was used to adjust for potential confounders (age, sex and race) and to evaluate whether there was an independent effect of ACEs on work inability after adding other important predictors (support, education, health) to the model. Results ACEs were highly prevalent with almost 75% of the sample reporting at least one ACE category and over 25% having a high ACE burden (4 or more categories). ACEs were strongly associated with functional support. Participants experiencing a high ACE burden had a higher adjusted odds ratio (OR) [95% confidence interval] of 1.9 [1.5–2.4] of work inability (reference: zero ACEs). Good functional support (adjusted OR 0.52 [0.42–0.63]) and structural support (adjusted OR 0.48 [0.41–0.56]) were protective against work inability. After adding education and health to the model, ACEs no longer appeared to have an independent effect. Structural support remained highly protective, but functional support only appeared to be protective in those with good physical health. Conclusions ACEs are highly prevalent in working-age US adults with a disability, particularly young adults. ACEs are associated with decreased support, lower educational attainment and worse adult health. Health care providers are encouraged to screen for ACEs. Addressing the effects of ACEs on health and support, in addition to education and retraining, may increase ability to work in those with a disability

Inter-rater reliability of the Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX): comparative data from non-clinician respondents – all raters are not equal

Primary objective: The Dysexecutive Questionnaire (DEX) is used to obtain information about executive and emotional problems after neuropathology. The DEX is self-completed by the patient (DEX-S) and an independent rater such as a family member (DEX-I). This study examined the level of inter-rater agreement between either two or three non-clinician raters on the DEX-I in order to establish the reliability of DEX-I ratings. Methods and procedures: Family members and/or carers of 60 people with mixed neuropathology completed the DEX-I. For each patient, DEX-I ratings were obtained from either two or three raters who knew the person well prior to brain injury. Main outcomes and results: We obtained two independent-ratings for 60 patients and three independent-ratings for 36 patients. Intra-class correlations revealed that there was only a modest level of agreement for items, subscale and total DEX scores between raters for their particular family member. Several individual DEX items had low reliability and ratings for the emotion sub-scale had the lowest level of agreement. Conclusions: Independent DEX ratings completed by two or more non-clinician raters show only moderate correlation. Suggestions are made for improving the reliability of DEX-I ratings.</p

Health knowledge among the millennial generation

The Millennial Generation, also known as Generation Y, is the demographic cohort following Generation X, and is generally regarded to be composed of those individuals born between 1980 and 2000. They are the first to grow up in an environment where health-related information is widely available by internet, TV and other electronic media, yet we know very little about the scope of their health knowledge. This study was undertaken to quantify two domains of clinically relevant health knowledge: factual content and ability to solve health related questions (application) in nine clinically related medical areas. Study subjects correctly answered, on average, 75% of health application questions but only 54% of health content questions. Since students were better able to correctly answer questions dealing with applications compared to those on factual content contemporary US high school students may not use traditional hierarchical learning models in acquisition of their health knowledge

Which executive functioning deficits are associated with AD/HD, ODD/CD and comorbid AD/HD+ODD/CD?

Item does not contain fulltextThis study investigated (1) whether attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is associated with executive functioning (EF) deficits while controlling for oppositional defiant disorder/conduct disorder (ODD/CD), (2) whether ODD/CD is associated with EF deficits while controlling for AD/HD, and (3)~whether a combination of AD/HD and ODD/CD is associated with EF deficits (and the possibility that there is no association between EF deficits and AD/HD or ODD/CD in isolation). Subjects were 99~children ages 6–12 years. Three putative domains of EF were investigated using well-validated tests: verbal fluency, working memory, and planning. Independent of ODD/CD, AD/HD was associated with deficits in planning and working memory, but not in verbal fluency. Only teacher rated AD/HD, but not parent rated AD/HD, significantly contributed to the prediction of EF task performance. No EF deficits were associated with ODD/CD. The presence of comorbid AD/HD accounts for the EF deficits in children with comorbid AD/HD+ODD/CD. These results suggest that EF deficits are unique to AD/HD and support the model proposed by R. A. Barkley (1997).17 p

The cooking task: making a meal of executive functions

Current standardized neuropsychological tests may fail to accurately capture real-world executive deficits. We developed a computer-based Cooking Task (CT) assessment of executive functions and trialed the measure with a normative group before use with a head-injured population. Forty-six participants completed the computerized CT and subtests from standardized neuropsychological tasks, including the Tower and Sorting Tests of executive function from the Delis-Kaplan Executive Function System (D-KEFS) and the Cambridge prospective memory test (CAMPROMPT), in order to examine whether standardized executive function tasks, predicted performance on measurement indices from the CT. Findings showed that verbal comprehension, rule detection and prospective memory contributed to measures of prospective planning accuracy and strategy implementation of the CT. Results also showed that functions necessary for cooking efficacy differ as an effect of task demands (difficulty levels). Performance on rule detection, strategy implementation and flexible thinking executive function measures contributed to accuracy on the CT. These findings raise questions about the functions captured by present standardized tasks particularly at varying levels of difficulty and during dual-task performance. Our preliminary findings also indicate that CT measures can effectively distinguish between executive function and Full Scale IQ abilities. Results of the present study indicate that the CT shows promise as an ecologically valid measure of executive function for future use with a head-injured population and indexes selective executive function’s captured by standardized tests

Resistance to the impact of interruptions during multitasking by healthy adults and dysexecutive patients

Two experiments (one with healthy adult volunteers and the other with controls and dysexecutive patients) assessed the impact of interruptions on a novel test of multitasking. The test involved switching repeatedly between four tasks (block construction, bead threading, paper folding, alphabetical searching) over a 10 minute period. In Experiment 1, there were 4 groups of 20 healthy participants. One group attempted multitasking with no interruption, a second group was interrupted early in the test, a third group late in the test and a fourth group was interrupted both early and late. Interruption involved carrying out a fifth, unexpected task for a period of one minute before returning to the four main tasks. There was no difference in multitasking performance between the groups. In Experiment 2 the participants were seven dysexecutive patients and 14 age-matched controls. A repeated measures approach was employed to assess the impact of two interruptions (early and late) for both groups. Contrary to predictions, the patients as well as controls were resistant to the effects of interruptions, despite their clearly impaired multitasking performance. These results suggest that the ability to deal with interruptions may be separable from the ability to organise and execute multiple tasks within a limited time frame

Different Verbal Learning Strategies in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence from the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test

The Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test, which requires the free recall of the same list of 15 items over 5 trials, was administered to a group of highfunctioning adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder (PDD) and a group of matched typical individuals. Overall levels of free recall were comparable in the two groups, as were the rates of learning over trials. Both groups also subjectively organised their recall to a similar extent. However, the serial position curve of the PDD participants, although similar to that of the comparison group on the first trial, became flatter on subsequent trials and was characterised by a slower growth in the primacy effect. Growth in the middle and recency portions of the curve was comparable in both groups. The findings are discussed in the light of current models of serial position effects and their implications for memory in ASD