How representative are student convenience samples? A study of literacy and numeracy skills in 32 countries.

Psychological research, including research into adult reading, is frequently based on convenience samples of undergraduate students. This practice raises concerns about the external validity of many accepted findings. The present study seeks to determine how strong this student sampling bias is in literacy and numeracy research. We use the nationally representative cross-national data from the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies to quantify skill differences between (i) students and the general population aged 16-65, and (ii) students and age-matched non-students aged 16-25. The median effect size for the comparison (i) of literacy scores across 32 countries was d = .56, and for comparison (ii) d = .55, which exceeds the average effect size in psychological experiments (d = .40). Numeracy comparisons (i) and (ii) showed similarly strong differences. The observed differences indicate that undergraduate students are not representative of the general population nor age-matched non-students.

Diverse Autonomic Nervous System Stress Response Patterns in Childhood Sensory Modulation.

The specific role of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) in emotional and behavioral regulation-particularly in relation to automatic processes-has gained increased attention in the sensory modulation literature. This mini-review article summarizes current knowledge about the role of the ANS in sensory modulation, with a focus on the integrated functions of the ANS and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and their measurement. Research from the past decade illustrates that sympathetic and parasympathetic interactions are more complex than previously assumed. Patterns of ANS activation vary across individuals, with distinct physiological response profiles influencing the reactivity underlying automatic behavioral responses. This review article advances a deeper understanding of stress and the complex stress patterns within the ANS and HPA axis that contribute to allostatic load (AL). We argue that using multiple physiological measurements to capture individual ANS response variation is critical for effectively treating children with sensory modulation disorder (SMD) and sensory differences. We consider the relative contributions of automatic vs. deliberately controlled processes across large-scale neural networks in the development of sensorimotor function and their associated links with arousal patterns and sensory over- and under-responsivity.

Gyri of the human parietal lobe: Volumes, spatial extents, automatic labelling, and probabilistic atlases.

Accurately describing the anatomy of individual brains enables interlaboratory communication of functional and developmental studies and is crucial for possible surgical interventions. The human parietal lobe participates in multimodal sensory integration including language processing and also contains the primary somatosensory area. We describe detailed protocols to subdivide the parietal lobe, analyze morphological and volumetric characteristics, and create probabilistic atlases in MNI152 stereotaxic space. The parietal lobe was manually delineated on 3D T1 MR images of 30 healthy subjects and divided into four regions: supramarginal gyrus (SMG), angular gyrus (AG), superior parietal lobe (supPL) and postcentral gyrus (postCG). There was the expected correlation of male gender with larger brain and intracranial volume. We examined a wide range of anatomical features of the gyri and the sulci separating them. At least a rudimentary primary intermediate sulcus of Jensen (PISJ) separating SMG and AG was identified in nearly all (59/60) hemispheres. Presence of additional gyri in SMG and AG was related to sulcal features and volumetric characteristics. The parietal lobe was slightly (2%) larger on the left, driven by leftward asymmetries of the postCG and SMG. Intersubject variability was highest for SMG and AG, and lowest for postCG. Overall the morphological characteristics tended to be symmetrical, and volumes also tended to covary between hemispheres. This may reflect developmental as well as maturation factors. To assess the accuracy with which the labels can be used to segment newly acquired (unlabelled) T1-weighted brain images, we applied multi-atlas label propagation software (MAPER) in a leave-one-out experiment and compared the resulting automatic labels with the manually prepared ones. The results showed strong agreement (mean Jaccard index 0.69, corresponding to a mean Dice index of 0.82, average mean volume error of 0.6%). Stereotaxic probabilistic atlases of each subregion were obtained. They illustrate the physiological brain torque, with structures in the right hemisphere positioned more anteriorly than in the left, and right/left positional differences of up to 10 mm. They also allow an assessment of sulcal variability, e.g. low variability for parietooccipital fissure and cingulate sulcus. Illustrated protocols, individual label sets, probabilistic atlases, and a maximum-probability atlas which takes into account surrounding structures are available for free download under academic licences.

Direct moxibustion to treat spleen qi and yang deficiency fatigue: a pilot study.

Limited research suggests that indirect moxibustion may be beneficial for treating fatigue, but no studies to evaluate direct moxibustion have been conducted in the United States. Thus, we explored the usefulness of four outcome measures for evaluating the effectiveness of direct moxibustion for patients with spleen qi and yang deficiency fatigue (SQYDF). Eleven female volunteers, ages 25-60 years, were enrolled. Three to five rice grains in thread-sized moxa cones were burned on 11 acupuncture points once per week for 8 weeks. Eight participants completed the study. The most common adverse events (AEs) were temporary worsening of fatigue, lightheadedness, and headache. Symptomatic improvement was seen on the SF-36 energy/fatigue scale (p=0.003), SF-36 social function scale (p=0.008) and Flinders fatigue scale (p=0.014). The skin conductance at acupoints showed no consistent diagnostic baseline meridian patterns. Heart rate variability data showed an improved low frequency/high frequency (LF/HF) ratio in three of four participants. Direct moxibustion is safe in patients with SQYDF. The Flinders Fatigue Scale (FFS) and the SF-36 are useful outcome measures for evaluating the effects of direct moxibustion, and the heart rate variability (HRV) may be, but the skin conductance did not correlate with SQYDF diagnosis or with symptomatic improvement.

Probiotics and necrotizing enterocolitis: finding the missing pieces of the probiotic puzzle.

Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is one of the leading causes of death in the neonatal intensive care unit. Morbidity and mortality rates significantly increase with decreases in gestational age and birth weight. Strong evidence suggests probiotic prophylaxis may significantly decrease the incidence of NEC and should therefore be incorporated into the standard of care for preterm infants. However, debate still remains because of limitations of completed studies. The purpose of this review was to provide an overview of the controversies regarding probiotic use in preterm infants and to shed light on the practical considerations for implementation of probiotic supplementation.

Structured re-assessment system at 6 months after a disabling stroke: a randomised controlled trial with resource use and cost study.

BACKGROUND: national policy recommends routine re-assessment of disabled patients and their carers at 6 months after stroke onset. The clinical and resource outcomes of this policy were investigated. DESIGN: prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial in two centres. PARTICIPANTS: a total of 265 patients with a disabling stroke and their carers. INTERVENTIONS: a structured re-assessment system for patients and their carers at 6 months post-stroke or existing care. OUTCOME MEASURES: primary: patient independence (Frenchay activities index) and carer stress (general health questionnaire 28). Secondary: activities of daily living, mood state, satisfaction with services, carer strain index, health and social service resource use and costs. RESULTS: independence at 12 months post-stroke was similar in both groups (Frenchay activities index, adjusted mean difference 0.64; 95% confidence interval -0.74-2.02). Emotional distress in carers was similar in both groups (general health questionnaire 28, mean difference 0.02; 95% confidence interval -0.95-1.00). Results for the secondary outcome measures and total mean costs were similar for both groups. The intervention group patients used 301 fewer hospital bed days and 1,631 fewer care home bed days. CONCLUSIONS: the structured, systematic re-assessment for patients and their carers was not associated with any clinically significant evidence of benefit at 12 months. Health and social care resource use and mean cost per patient were broadly similar in both groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Register; number: ISRCTN55412871.

Psychological factors and use of antiepileptic drugs: pilot work using an objective measure of adherence.

Given the current emphasis on the "concordance" prescribing model, a study was designed to determine the influence of patients' beliefs about epilepsy, beliefs about medication and a range of neuroepilepsy variables on drug adherence among a sample of epilepsy patients. A special feature of the study was the use of a credible objective measure of drug adherence. Psychological health was also assessed. Thirty-seven patients were recruited from a local epilepsy clinic. Beliefs about epilepsy (illness representations), beliefs about epilepsy medication, anxiety, depression, neuroepilepsy status and adherence were all measured. Data were collected via clinical interview and questionnaire methods. Adherence with drug treatment was determined by an objective measure using low-dose phenobarbital as an indicator of adherence and, or, measurement of antiepileptic drug levels. Neither illness representations nor beliefs about epilepsy drugs were related to adherence. With the exception of time since last seizure, which was positively related to adherence, neuroepilepsy variables were unrelated to adherence. A number of significant associations between cognitive representations of epilepsy and mood were found.

Seeing faces in the noise: stochastic activity in perceptual regions of the brain may influence the perception of ambiguous stimuli.

Research on binocular rivalry and motion direction discrimination suggests that stochastic activity early in visual processing influences the perception of ambiguous stimuli. Here, we extend this to higher level tasks of word and face processing. In Experiment 1, we used blocked gender and word discrimination tasks, and in Experiment 2, we used a face versus word discrimination task. Stimuli were embedded in noise, and some trials contained only noise. In Experiment 1, we found a larger response in the N170, an ERP component associated with faces, to the noise-alone stimulus when observers were performing the gender discrimination task. The noise-alone trials in Experiment 2 were binned according to the observer's behavioral response, and there was a greater response in the N170 when they reported seeing a face. After considering various top-down and priming-related explanations, we raise the possibility that seeing a face in noise may result from greater stochastic activity in neural face-processing regions.