The recent US decline in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) rates may be explained by a shift in how these deaths are classified or reported. To examine this hypothesis, the authors compared ...cause-specific mortality rates for SIDS, other sudden, unexpected infant deaths, and cause unknown/unspecified, and they evaluated trends in the age and month of death for these causes using 1989–2001 US linked birth/death certificate data. Reported deaths in state and national data were compared to assess underreporting or overreporting. SIDS rates declined significantly from 1989–1991 to 1995–1998, while deaths reported as cause unknown/unspecified and other sudden, unexpected infant deaths, such as accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed (ASSB), remained stable. From 1999–2001, the decline in SIDS rates was offset by increasing rates of cause unknown/unspecified and ASSB. Changes in the cause-specific age at death and month of death distributions suggest that cases once reported as SIDS are now being reported as ASSB and cause unknown/unspecified. Most of the decline in SIDS rates since 1999 is likely due to increased reporting of cause unknown/unspecified and ASSB. Standardizing data collection at death scenes and improving the reporting of cause of death on death certificates should improve national vital records data and enhance prevention efforts.
Recognizing the need for making adaptations for special students in regular classes, Project Train at Virginia Commonwealth University has developed a model for adapting the curriculum for mildly ...handicapped children (Wood 1985). The model is generic to all academic subjects and grades K-12. This article focuses on adapting the construction of teacher made mathematics tests for mildly handicapped children, that is, the educable mentally retarded, the emotionally handicapped, and the learning disabled, in the mainstream.
Bridging the Gap Wood, Judy W; Miederhoff, Jennifer Wingo
Teaching Exceptional Children,
1989, Letnik:
21, Številka:
2
Journal Article
The Transition Checklist was developed to compare characteristics of mainstream settings with performance levels of students entering those settings. The checklist assesses classroom instructional ...methods and materials, course content, evaluation techniques, and classroom management; interpersonal/social relations; and related school environments, such as cafeteria, physical education, and music/art. (JDD)
Describes a model for adapting the construction of teacher-made mathematics tests for mildly handicapped students including the educable mentally retarded, the emotionally handicapped, and the ...learning disabled, to the mainstreamed classroom. (PK)
African Americans have been reported to have a higher prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD) than Caucasians, but etiology-specific AD biomarkers have not been systematically analyzed in older ...African Americans. Coexisting cerebrovascular disease may also contribute to this increased prevalence. We hypothesized that cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarkers of amyloid, neurodegeneration, and endothelial dysfunction would differ between older African Americans and Caucasians with normal cognition and cognitive impairment associated with AD.
We prospectively recruited 135 older Americans to undergo detailed clinical, neuropsychological, genetic, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and CSF analysis from 2013 to 2015 at Emory University (Atlanta, GA, USA). We compared levels of CSF markers for β-amyloid (Aβ42, Aβ40), total and phosphorylated tau (t-tau and p-tau
, respectively), endothelial dysfunction (soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule 1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1), α-synuclein, and neurodegeneration (neurofilament light chain NfL), as well as MRI markers, for hippocampal atrophy and cerebrovascular disease (white matter hyperintensity WMH volume).
Sixty-five older African Americans (average age, 69.1 years) and 70 older Caucasians (average age, 70.8 years) were included. After adjusting for demographic variables, AD risk alleles, and cognitive function, older African Americans had lower CSF levels of p-tau
(difference of 7.4 pg/ml; 95% CI, 3.7-11.2 pg/ml; p < 0.001), t-tau (difference of 23.6 pg/ml; 95% CI, 9.5-37.7; p = 0.001), and Aβ40 (difference of 1.35 ng/ml; 95% CI, 0.29-2.42 ng/ml; p = 0.013) despite similar levels of Aβ42, NfL, WMH volume, and hippocampal volume. Cognitively impaired African Americans also had lower CSF t-tau/Aβ42 (difference of 0.255 per 1-SD change in composite cognition; 95% CI, 0.100-0.409; p = 0.001) and p-tau
/Aβ42 (difference of 0.076 per 1-SD change in composite cognition; 95% CI, 0.031-0.122; p = 0.001). These could not be explained by measured biomarkers of non-AD processes, but African Americans may be more susceptible than Caucasians to the cognitive effects of WMH.
Despite comparable levels of CSF Aβ42 and Aβ42/Aβ40, cognitive impairment in African Americans is associated with smaller changes in CSF tau markers but greater impact from similar WMH burden than Caucasians. Race-associated differences in CSF tau markers and ratios may lead to underdiagnosis of AD in African Americans.
ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02089555 . Retrospectively registered on 14 March 2014.
Positive affect denotes a state of pleasurable engagement with the environment eliciting positive emotion such as contentment, enthusiasm or happiness. Positive affect is associated with favorable ...psychological, physical and economic outcomes in many longitudinal studies. With a heritability of ⩽64%, positive affect is substantially influenced by genetic factors; however, our understanding of genetic pathways underlying individual differences in positive affect is still limited. Here, through a genome-wide association study of positive affect in African-American participants, we identify a single-nucleotide polymorphism, rs322931, significantly associated with positive affect at P<5 × 10
, and replicate this association in another cohort. Furthermore, we show that the minor allele of rs322931 predicts expression of microRNAs miR-181a and miR-181b in human brain and blood, greater nucleus accumbens reactivity to positive emotional stimuli and enhanced fear inhibition. Prior studies have suggested that miR-181a is part of the reward neurocircuitry. Taken together, we identify a novel genetic variant for further elucidation of genetic underpinning of positive affect that mediates positive emotionality potentially via the nucleus accumbens and miR-181.
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