Visualization-Based Mapping of Language Function in the Brain

Cortical language maps, obtained through intraoperative electrical stimulation studies, provide a rich source of information for research on language organization. Previous studies have shown interesting correlations between the distribution of essential language sites and such behavioral indicators as verbal IQ and have provided suggestive evidence for regarding human language cortex as an organization of multiple distributed systems. Noninvasive studies using ECoG, PET, and functional MR lend support to this model; however, there as yet are no studies that integrate these two forms of information. In this paper we describe a method for mapping the stimulation data onto a 3-D MRI-based neuroanatomic model of the individual patient. The mapping is done by comparing an intraoperative photograph of the exposed cortical surface with a computer-based MR visualization of the surface, interactively indicating corresponding stimulation sites, and recording 3-D MR machine coordinates of the indicated sites. Repeatability studies were performed to validate the accuracy of the mapping technique. Six observers—a neurosurgeon, a radiologist, and four computer scientists, independently mapped 218 stimulation sites from 12 patients. The mean distance of a mapping from the mean location of each site was 2.07 mm, with a standard deviation of 1.5 mm, or within 5.07 mm with 95% confidence. Since the surgical sites are accurate within approximately 1 cm, these results show that the visualization-based approach is accurate within the limits of the stimulation maps. When incorporated within the kind of information system envisioned by the Human Brain Project, this anatomically based method will not only provide a key link between noninvasive and invasive approaches to understanding language organization, but will also provide the basis for studying the relationship between language function and anatomical variability

Religiosity and Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Latina Adolescents: Trends from 1995 to 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine trends in the influence of religiosity on sexual activity of Latina adolescents in the United States from 1995 to 2008 and to determine if differences existed between the Mexican American and other Latina groups. Methods: The sample comprised the subset of unmarried, 15–21-year-old (mean 17 years) Latina female respondents in the 1995 (n=267), 2002 (n=306), and 2006–2008 (n=400) National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) datasets. Associations between religiosity (importance of religion and service attendance) and history of ever having sex, number of sex partners, and age of sexual debut were investigated. Results: Less than one half of Latinas in 1995 (44%) and in 2006–2008 (44%) reported that religion was very important to them, whereas in 2002, 50% reported it was important. Only in 1995 did Latinas who viewed religion as very important have a significantly lower level of sexual initiation. In 1995 and in 2006–2008, Latinas who held religion as very important had significantly fewer partners. In all three cohorts, the higher religious importance group had higher virgin survival rates. Across cohorts, approximately one third of respondents reported frequent religious attendance. In all cohorts, frequent attenders were less likely to have had sex, had fewer partners, and had older age at sexual debut. The survival rate as virgins for Mexican origin Latinas was higher in 1995 and 2002 compared to non-Mexican Latinas but was almost the same in 2006–2008. Conclusions: Religiosity had a protective association with sexual activity among Latina adolescents. The association of importance of religion with sexual activity has diminished from 1995 to 2008, however, whereas the importance of service attendance has remained stable. The influence of religion was more apparent among the Latinas of Mexican origin, but this greater influence also diminished by 2006–2008

Jurassic mammals

p. 281-325 : ill., map ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 323-325)."A joint American Museum of Natural History-Yale University expedition reopened Quarry Nine at Como Bluff, Wyoming, in 1968-1970. This locality has produced all but six of about 250 Jurassic mammal specimens known from North America prior to 1968. During the renewed collecting, four additional prospects were found in the vicinity, and 25 fossil mammal jaws and numerous teeth were collected. A new genus and species of dryolestid, Comotherium richi, is described. The dryolestid genera Melanodon and Herpetairus are reviewed and rediagnosed. The anterior dentition of Melanodon goodrichi and better material of Herpetairus humilis are described. The crown and labial views of Kepolestes, previously obscured in matrix, are described. No dryolestid jaw in this collection shows any trace of a coronoid or splenial, contrary to the condition reported in Kimmeridgian Portuguese dryolestids. The systematics of primitive Theria are reviewed, and an hypothesis of relationships for the non-tribosphenic Theria is proposed. This hypothesis corroborates the hypothesis of McKenna (1975). It is concluded that the symmetrodonts are a monophyletic group, and that Amphitherium is most closely related to the dryolestids. A cladistic classification of the non-tribosphenic Theria is proposed. Six new taxa are named: sublegions Amphidontoidea and Spalacotherioidea, and infraclasses Tinodontida, Spalacotheriida, Amphitheriida, and Dryolestida. It is strongly urged that the term 'pantothere' be abandoned, because it has misleading phylogenetic connotations and because it obscures non-tribosphenic therian diversity"--P. 281

Diachrony of mammalian appearance events: Implications for biochronology: Geology, v. 26

Alroy (1998) argued that there is significant diachrony in the first and last appearance events (FAE and LAE) of Cenozoic mammals in North America, and therefore individual events cannot be used for biochronology. A close examination of the data used in his paper, however, suggests that (1) most of the diachrony is largely a sampling artifact, and (2) once sampling is factored out, the remaining apparent diachrony would have little effect on the biochronological correlations that have been established for over a century. These points are demonstrated by Alroy's (1998, Any comparison between two such unequal records will inevitably yield large diachrony values, simply because of the large stratigraphic gaps in the West Coast. Alroy (personal commun.) provided me with a list of the ten "worst offenders" among FAEs. Most of these taxa (Thylacaelurus, Domnina, Pseudotrimylus, Mystipterus, Anchitheriomys, Nyctitherium, Plionictis, Mytonomys, Paramys, Leptodontomys) are small, relatively rare mammals that rarely have been important in biochronology. In addition, anyone with extensive first-hand experience in identifying the Miocene faunas of the West Coast knows they are much scrappier and less complete than those of the Midcontinent, with many erroneous or tentative identifications based on fragmentary specimens. If many of these uncertain identifications were thrown out, the apparent diachrony might diminish even further. Instead of including all available taxa, most of which are rare and subject to sampling problems and historically have not been important in North American mammalian biochronology, Alroy's point would be better demonstrated if he were to focus on mammals (such as those given by Woodburne, 1987, Fig. 10.1) which were explicitly designated as index taxa for mammalian biochronology. If this list were to show significant diachrony (greater than the available chronologic resolution), then there might be serious concern about using fossil mammals as time indicators. But comparisons based on rarely sampled taxa that were not important to the original biochronologic framework are of dubious value. I thank John Alroy for providing data, and S. L. Walsh and M. O. Woodburne for comments

Magnetostratigraphy and Tectonic Rotation of the Eocene-Oligocene Makah and Hoko River Formations, Northwest Washington, USA

The Eocene-Oligocene Makah Formation and subjacent middle Eocene Hoko River Formation of the northwestern Olympic Peninsula, Washington, yield mollusks, crustaceans, foraminifera, and early neocete whales; their age has never been precisely established. We sampled several sections; most samples showed a stable single-component remanence held largely in magnetite and passed a Class I reversal test. The upper Refugian (late Eocene) and lower Zemorrian (early Oligocene) rocks at Baada Point correlate with Chron C13r (33.7–34.7 Ma) and Chron C12r (30–33 Ma). The Ozette Highway section of the Makah Formation spanned the early Refugian to late Refugian, with a sequence that correlates with Chrons C15r-C13r (33.7–35.3 Ma), and a long reversed early Zemorrian section that correlates with Chron C12r (30–33 Ma). The type section of the Hoko River Formation correlates with Chron C18r (40.0–41.2 Ma). The area sampled shows about 45∘ of post-Oligocene counterclockwise tectonic rotation, consistent with results obtained from the Eocene-Oligocene rocks in the region

Upper cenozoic chronostratigraphy of the southwestern Amazon Basin

The lack of numerical age dates for upper Cenozoic strata of the Amazon Basin has prevented resolution of its geologic history and accurate dating of important paleofaunas. Here we present results of magnetostratigraphy and 40Ar/39Ar dating of two volcanic ash deposits from the Madre de Dios Formation of eastern Peru. The two ash ages, 9.01 ± 0.28 Ma and 3.12 ± 0.02 Ma, provide the first numerical age data necessary for accurate interpretation of late Tertiary sedimentation in Amazonia and establish approximate time constraints for the last major cycle of Cenozoic deposition within the southwestern Amazon Basin. The older ash age also provides a minimum age for numerous Amazonian paleofaunas, which allows a more definitive correlation of these paleofaunas with those in other regions of South America