Electrophysiological Dissociation of Picture Versus Word Encoding: The Distinctiveness Heuristic as a Retrieval Orientation

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate the neural processes underlying the distinctiveness heuristic— a response mode in which participants expect to remember vivid details of an experience and make recognition decisions based on this metacognitive expectation. One group of participants studied pictures and auditory words; another group studied visual and auditory words. Studied and novel items were presented at test as words only, with all novel items repeating after varying lags. ERP differences were seen between the word and picture groups for both studied and novel items. For the novel items, ERP differences were largest in frontal and central midline electrodes. In separate analyses, the picture group showed the greatest ERP differences between item types in a parietally based component from 550 to 1000 msec, whereas the word group showed the greatest differences in a frontally based component from 1000 to 2000 msec. The authors suggest that the distinctiveness heuristic is a retrieval orientation that facilitates reliance upon recollection to differentiate between item types. Although the picture group can use this heuristic and its retrieval orientation on the basis of recollection, the word group must engage additional postretrieval processes to distinguish between item types, reflecting the use of a different retrieval orientation.Psycholog

Staple products, linkages, and development: evidence from Argentina

We investigate how historical patterns of primary production influenced development across local economies in Argentina. Our identification strategy exploits exogenous variation in the composition of primary production induced by climatic features. We find that locations specializing in ranching had weaker linkages with other activities, higher concentration in land ownership, lower population density, and less immigration than cereal-producing areas. Over time, ranching localities continued to exhibit lower population density, and they experienced relatively sluggish industrialization. Ultimately, ranching specialization had large negative effects on long-run levels of income per capita and human capital.Accepted manuscrip

Penile Tumors: Their Management by Mohs Micrographic Surgery

Penile tumors represent a difficult group of neoplasms requiring effective and curative treatment while minimizing tissue loss to prevent cosmetic and functional deformity. Over the past 6 years, we have treated 20 patients with penile cancer utilizing the fresh tissue technique of Mohs micrographic surgery. Tumors were excised with an average of 2.25 stages. Most defects (80%) were allowed to heal by second intention. Since surgery, four patients have developed metastatic disease in their regional lymphatic system, and one patient has died from metastatic spread. One patient has developed local recurrence. Micrographic surgery is a very useful treatment modality for patients with penile tumors. Patients with SCC of the penis should be considered for elective regional lymph node biopsy and/or dissection in conjunction with micrographically controlled excision of the primary tumor.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72082/1/j.1524-4725.1987.tb02427.x.pd

Early Environmental Origins of Neurodegenerative Disease in Later Life

Parkinson disease (PD) and Alzheimer disease (AD), the two most common neurodegenerative disorders in American adults, are of purely genetic origin in a minority of cases and appear in most instances to arise through interactions among genetic and environmental factors. In this article we hypothesize that environmental exposures in early life may be of particular etiologic importance and review evidence for the early environmental origins of neurodegeneration. For PD the first recognized environmental cause, MPTP (1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine), was identified in epidemiologic studies of drug abusers. Chemicals experimentally linked to PD include the insecticide rotenone and the herbicides paraquat and maneb; interaction has been observed between paraquat and maneb. In epidemiologic studies, manganese has been linked to parkinsonism. In dementia, lead is associated with increased risk in chronically exposed workers. Exposures of children in early life to lead, polychlorinated biphenyls, and methylmercury have been followed by persistent decrements in intelligence that may presage dementia. To discover new environmental causes of AD and PD, and to characterize relevant gene–environment interactions, we recommend that a large, prospective genetic and epidemiologic study be undertaken that will follow thousands of children from conception (or before) to old age. Additional approaches to etiologic discovery include establishing incidence registries for AD and PD, conducting targeted investigations in high-risk populations, and improving testing of the potential neurologic toxicity of chemicals

Advanced patient age is associated with inferior cancer-specific survival after radical nephroureterectomy

Study Type – Prognosis (case series) Level of Evidence 4To assess the impact of patient age on outcomes after radical nephroureterectomy (RNU) for upper tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC).Data were collected on 1453 patients treated with RNU at 13 centres. Pathological slides were reviewed by dedicated genitourinary pathologists according to standardized criteria. Age at RNU was analysed both as a continuous and categorical variable (70 years were less likely to undergo lymphadenectomy and to receive adjuvant chemotherapy ( P  ≤ 0.026). In multivariable analyses, being older was associated with decreased all-cause (AC) survival (>60 years) and cancer-specific survival (CSS; >80 years) after controlling for the effects of standard pathological features ( P  ≤ 0.006). However, addition of age did not improve the predictive accuracy of a base model that included standard pathological features for prediction of either disease recurrence, AC survival or CSS.Being older at the time of RNU was associated with decreased survival. This finding could be due to a change in the biological potential of the tumour cell, a decrease in the host’s defence mechanisms, or differences in care patterns. Further work is needed to improve our understanding of UTUC outcomes in this growing segment of the population and to develop strategies to improve cancer control in the elderly.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78588/1/j.1464-410X.2009.09072.x.pd

Optimal Management of High-Risk T1G3 Bladder Cancer: A Decision Analysis

Using a Markov model, Shabbir Alibhai and colleagues develop a decision analysis comparing cystectomy with conservative treatment for high-risk superficial bladder cancer depending on patient age, comorbid conditions, and preferences

Serum interferon levels in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Levels of interferon (IFN) were measured in 81 serum samples from 23 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) by a plaque-reduction method and correlated retrospectively with clinical records of disease activity, anti-DNA binding, and serum complement measurements. IFN titers were found to correlate with both clinical disease activity and anti-DNA binding, but no relation was found to serum complement. Most (76.6%, 31 of 41) serum samples obtained during periods of active disease contained measureable amounts of IFN, but only 9.1% (2 of 22) of results of tests on samples obtained during periods of disease quiescence were positive ( P 40%), 69.7% (23 of 33) had positive results for IFN, but 57.1% (8 of 14) had negative results when the anti-DNA binding was normal (< 20%) ( P < 0.005). Measurement of serum IFN titers in patients with SLE, therefore, provides another serologic marker of disease activity. Contrary to the findings of previous studies, the IFN found in the present study was characterized as IFN-Α, or Type I IFN, on the basis of acid stability and neutralization by antibody to IFN-Α. Of interest are the questions raised about the origin of IFN in the sera of patients with SLE and what role IFN might have in the pathogenesis of the autoimmune disease in view of the many documented immunomodulating effects of IFN.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/37760/1/1780250407_ftp.pd

Micropapillary bladder cancer: Current treatment patterns and review of the literature

No guidelines exist for management of micropapillary bladder cancer (MPBC) and the majority of reports of this variant of urothelial carcinoma (UC) are case series comprised of small numbers of patients. We sought to determine current practice patterns for MPBC using a survey sent to the Society of Urologic Oncology (SUO) and to present those results in the setting of a comprehensive review of the existing literature