A New Spin on Spatial Cognition in ADHD: A Diffusion Model Decomposition of Mental Rotation.

OBJECTIVES: Multiple studies have found evidence of task non-specific slow drift rate in ADHD, and slow drift rate has rapidly become one of the most visible cognitive hallmarks of the disorder. In this study, we use the diffusion model to determine whether atypicalities in visuospatial cognitive processing exist independently of slow drift rate. METHODS: Eight- to twelve-year-old children with (n = 207) and without ADHD (n = 99) completed a 144-trial mental rotation task. RESULTS: Performance of children with ADHD was less accurate and more variable than non-ADHD controls, but there were no group differences in mean response time. Drift rate was slower, but nondecision time was faster for children with ADHD. A Rotation × ADHD interaction for boundary separation was also found in which children with ADHD did not strategically adjust their response thresholds to the same degree as non-ADHD controls. However, the Rotation × ADHD interaction was not significant for nondecision time, which would have been the primary indicator of a specific deficit in mental rotation per se. CONCLUSIONS: Poorer performance on the mental rotation task was due to slow rate of evidence accumulation, as well as relative inflexibility in adjusting boundary separation, but not to impaired visuospatial processing specifically. We discuss the implications of these findings for future cognitive research in ADHD.

Cancer Registry Enrichment via Linkage with Hospital-Based Electronic Medical Records: A Pilot Investigation.

Background: Hospital electronic medical record (EMR) systems are becoming increasingly integrated for management of patient data, especially given recent policy changes issued by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. In addition to data management, these data provide evidence for patient-centered outcomes research for a range of diseases, including cancer. Integrating EMR patient data with existing disease registries strengthens all essential components for assuring optimal health outcomes. Objectives: To identify the mechanisms for extracting, linking, and processing hospital EMR data with the Florida Cancer Data System (FCDS); and to assess the completeness of existing registry treatment data as well as the potential for data enhancement. Methods: A partnership among the Florida Department of Health, FCDS, and a large Florida hospital system was established to develop methods for hospital EMR extraction and transmission. Records for admission years between 2007 and 2010 were extracted using ICD-9-CM codes as the trigger and were linked with the cancer registry for patients with invasive cancers of the breast. Results: A total of 11,506 unique patients were linked with a total of 12,804 unique breast tumors. Evaluation of existing registry treatment data against the hospital EMR produced a total of 5% of registry records with updated surgery information, 1% of records with updated radiation information, and 7% of records updated with chemotherapy information. Enhancement of registry treatment information was particularly affected by the availability of chemotherapy medications data. Conclusion: Hospital EMR linkages to cancer disease registries is feasible but challenged by lack of standards for data collection, coding and transmission, comprehensive description of available data, and the exclusion of certain hospital datasets. The FCDS standard treatment data variables are highly robust and complete but can be enhanced by the addition of detailed chemotherapy regimens that are commonly used in patient centered outcomes research.

Slow drift rate predicts ADHD symptomology over and above executive dysfunction.

Slow drift rate has become one of the most salient cognitive deficits among children with ADHD, and has repeatedly been found to explain slow, variable, and error-prone performance on tasks of executive functioning (EF). The present study applies the diffusion model to determine whether slow drift rate better predicts parent and teacher ratings of ADHD than standard EF metrics. 201 children aged 8-12 completed two tests of speeded decision-making analyzed with the diffusion model and two traditionally scored tests of EF. Latent EF and drift rate factors each independently predicted the general ADHD factor in a bifactor model of ADHD, with poor EF and slow drift rate associated with greater ADHD symptomology. When both EF and drift rate were entered into the model, slow drift rate (but not EF) continued to predict elevated symptomology. These findings suggest that using drift rate to index task performance improves upon conventional approaches to measuring and conceptualizing cognitive dysfunction in ADHD. Implications for future cognitive research in ADHD are discussed.

A diffusion model analysis of sustained attention in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

OBJECTIVE: Whether children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have deficits in sustained attention remains unresolved due to the ongoing use of cognitive paradigms that are not optimized for studying vigilance and the fact that relatively few studies report performance over time. METHOD: In three independent samples of school-age children with (total N = 128) and without ADHD (total N = 59), we manipulated event rate, difficulty of discrimination, and use signal detection (SDT) and diffusion models (DM) to evaluate the cause of the vigilance decrement during a continuous performance task. RESULTS: For both groups of children, a bias toward "no-go" over time (as indexed by the SDT parameter B″ and the DM parameter z/a) was responsible for generating the vigilance decrement. However, among children with ADHD, the rate at which information accumulated to make a no-go decision (vNoGo) also increased with time on task, representing a possible secondary mechanism that biases children against engagement. At all time points, children with ADHD demonstrated reduced sensitivity to discriminate targets from nontargets. CONCLUSION: Children with ADHD are particularly sensitive to the cost of task engagement, but nonspecific slower drift rate may ultimately provide a better conceptualization of the cognitive atypicalities commonly observed in that group. Results are interpreted in the context of updated conceptualizations of sustained attention and vigilance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Near real-time, autonomous detection of marine bacterioplankton on a coastal mooring in Monterey Bay, California, using rRNA-targeted DNA probes.

A sandwich hybridization assay (SHA) was developed to detect 16S rRNAs indicative of phylogenetically distinct groups of marine bacterioplankton in a 96-well plate format as well as low-density arrays printed on a membrane support. The arrays were used in a field-deployable instrument, the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP). The SHA employs a chaotropic buffer for both cell homogenization and hybridization, thus target sequences are captured directly from crude homogenates. Capture probes for seven of nine different bacterioplankton clades examined reacted specifically when challenged with target and non-target 16S rRNAs derived from in vitro transcribed 16S rRNA genes cloned from natural samples. Detection limits were between 0.10-1.98 and 4.43- 12.54 fmole ml(-1) homogenate for the 96-well plate and array SHA respectively. Arrays printed with five of the bacterioplankton-specific capture probes were deployed on the ESP in Monterey Bay, CA, twice in 2006 for a total of 25 days and also utilized in a laboratory time series study. Groups detected included marine alphaproteobacteria, SAR11, marine cyanobacteria, marine group I crenarchaea, and marine group II euryarchaea. To our knowledge this represents the first report of remote in situ DNA probe-based detection of marine bacterioplankton.

Use of health impact assessment in the U.S.: 27 case studies, 1999-2007.

OBJECTIVES: To document the growing use in the United States of health impact assessment (HIA) methods to help planners and others consider the health consequences of their decisions. METHODS: Using multiple search strategies, 27 HIAs were identified that were completed in the U.S. during 1999-2007. Key characteristics of each HIA were abstracted from published and unpublished sources. RESULTS: Topics examined in these HIAs ranged from policies about living wages and after-school programs to projects about power plants and public transit. Most HIAs were funded by local health departments, foundations, or federal agencies. Concerns about health disparities were especially important in HIAs on housing, urban redevelopment, home energy subsidies, and wage policy. The use of quantitative and nonquantitative methods varied among HIAs. Most HIAs presented recommendations for policy or project changes to improve health. Impacts of the HIAs were infrequently documented. CONCLUSIONS: These completed HIAs are useful for helping conduct future HIAs and for training public health officials and others about HIAs. More work is needed to document the impact of HIAs and thereby increase their value in decision-making processes.

Capillary electrophoresis-electrochemistry microfluidic system for the determination of organic peroxides.

A microfluidic analytical system for the separation and detection of organic peroxides, based on a microchip capillary electrophoresis device with an integrated amperometric detector, was developed. The new microsystem relies on the reductive detection of both organic acid peroxides and hydroperoxides at -700 mV (vs. Ag wire/AgCl). Factors influencing the separation and detection processes were examined and optimized. The integrated microsystem offers rapid measurements (within 130 s) of these organic-peroxide compounds, down to micromolar levels. A highly stable response for repetitive injections (RSD 0.35-3.12%; n = 12) reflects the negligible electrode passivation. Such a "lab-on-a-chip" device should be attractive for on-site analysis of organic peroxides, as desired for environmental screening and industrial monitoring.

Cancer registry enrichment via linkage with hospital-based electronic medical records: a pilot investigation.

BACKGROUND: Hospital electronic medical record (EMR) systems are becoming increasingly integrated for management of patient data, especially given recent policy changes issued by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services. In addition to data management, these data provide evidence for patient-centered outcomes research for a range of diseases, including cancer. Integrating EMR patient data with existing disease registries strengthens all essential components for assuring optimal health outcomes. OBJECTIVES: To identify the mechanisms for extracting, linking, and processing hospital EMR data with the Florida Cancer Data System (FCDS); and to assess the completeness of existing registry treatment data as well as the potential for data enhancement. METHODS: A partnership among the Florida Department of Health, FCDS, and a large Florida hospital system was established to develop methods for hospital EMR extraction and transmission. Records for admission years between 2007 and 2010 were extracted using ICD-9-CM codes as the trigger and were linked with the cancer registry for patients with invasive cancers of the breast. RESULTS: A total of 11,506 unique patients were linked with a total of 12,804 unique breast tumors. Evaluation of existing registry treatment data against the hospital EMR produced a total of 5 percent of registry records with updated surgery information, 1 percent of records with updated radiation information, and 7 percent of records updated with chemotherapy information. Enhancement of registry treatment information was particularly affected by the availability of chemotherapy medications data. CONCLUSION: Hospital EMR linkages to cancer disease registries is feasible but challenged by lack of standards for data collection, coding and transmission, comprehensive description of available data, and the exclusion of certain hospital datasets. The FCDS standard treatment data variables are highly robust and complete but can be enhanced by the addition of detailed chemotherapy regimens that are commonly used in patient centered outcomes research.

Contactless conductivity detector for microchip capillary electrophoresis.

A microfabricated electrophoresis chip with an integrated contactless conductivity detection system is described. The new contactless conductivity microchip detector is based on placing two planar sensing aluminum film electrodes on the outer side of a poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microchip (without contacting the solution) and measuring the impedance of the solution in the separation channel. The contactless route obviates problems (e.g., fouling, unwanted reactions) associated with the electrode-solution contact, offers isolation of the detection system from high separation fields, does not compromise the separation efficiency, and greatly simplifies the detector fabrication. Relevant experimental variables, such as the frequency and amplitude of the applied ac voltage or the separation voltage, were examined and optimized. The detector performance was illustrated by the separation of potassium, sodium, barium, and lithium cations and the chloride, sulfate, fluoride, acetate, and phosphate anions. The response was linear (over the 20 microM-7 mM range) and reproducible (RSD = 3.4-4.9%; n = 10), with detection limits of 2.8 and 6.4 microM (for potassium and chloride, respectively). The advantages associated with the contactless conductivity detection, along with the low cost of the integrated PMMA chip/detection system, should enhance the power and scope of microfluidic analytical devices.