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Posted
September 23, 2003
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EASTMAN KODAK COMANY
DONATES TECHNOLOGY TO DIAGNOSE ADHD
(May 21, 2003) Eastman Kodak Company
donated patents to McLean Hospital, the largest psychiatric
research, clinical care and teaching affiliate of Harvard
Medical School, for the development of new diagnostic technology
for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Kodak’s
System Concepts Center developed the ADHD Rapid Check technology,
which could lead to a new process for the objective screening
of ADHD, one of the “most commonly diagnosed (and misdiagnosed)
psychiatric disorders in children.” Dr. Martin H. Teicher
M.D., Ph.D, world-renowned physician and developer of objective
testing for physiological and psychological disorders, also
directs McLean Hospital’s Developmental Biopsychiatry
Research Program. He will head the research, which could “help
lay the foundation for improving the speed and accuracy of
ADHD tests.” Donology
LLC assists major corporations when donating their non-core
technology portfolios to suitable research institutions and
assisted with this donations from Kodak.
GENE MORE THAN DOUBLES RISK OF DEPRESSION
FOLLOWING LIFE STRESSES
(July 17, 2003) The National Institute
of Mental Health (NIMH) Press
Office, 301-443-4536, reports: 43 percent of people who
suffered multiple stressful life events over 5 years developed
depression when they had the “short,” or stress-sensitive
version of serotonin. Only 17 percent developed depression
in the group who had the “long” protective version
of the gene, regardless of the number of stressful events
endured. The research, partly funded by NIMH, also showed
those with the stress-sensitive version of the gene were
at higher risk for depression if abused as children. Drs.
Avshalom Caspi and Terrie Moffitt, University of Wisconsin
and King’s College London, and colleagues published
their in the July 18, 2003 edition of Science. The serotonin
transporter gene has been a prime suspect in mood and anxiety
disorders, yet its link to depression eluded detection in
eight previous studies. Although the short gene variant appears
to predict who will become depressed following life stress,
a gene’s effects may only be expressed, or turned on,
in people exposed to the requisite environmental risks. [more...]
STUDY: HIGH PERCENT OF YOUTH EXHIBIT
ALCOHOL, DRUG DEPENDENCY
(August 2003) Researchers from the
National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center at the
Medical University of South Carolina, show a high percentage
of adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17 have post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD), major depressive episodes and alcohol
and drug dependency. Based on interviews of 4,023 youth,
alcohol and other drug misuse and addiction was prevalent
in eight percent of the boys and six percent of the girls.
The study was published in the Journal of Consulting and
Clinical Psychology. [Study...]
How Much Exercise is Too Much?
(August 2003) The latest research shows “anybody
less than 12 years old is better off doing exercises with
just their body weight,” according to James Villepigue,
certified trainer and author of The Body Sculpting Bible
For Men (Hatherleigh Press, 2001). 13 year olds can start
with weights that are light enough to allow 20-30 reps per
set and can also add dumbbells, for the next two years. At
age 15 they can start increasing the weight they lift, but
should stay within 13-20 reps. For the next three years,
they should concentrate on perfecting their exercise technique
and form, only increasing the weight when they can do over
20 repetitions easily. “Teens under eighteen should
not go to absolute muscular failure or use any fancy weight
training techniques,” Villepigue warns, “since
there is still some bone growth and development occurring
in their bodies. Remember, strenuous and heavily weighted
exercise can interfere with the growth process.”
BUSINESS BOOK IMPRESSES EDUCATORS
(August 6, 2003) Education Week reports
a popular business book, Good to Great, by Jim Collins, has
become popular reading among many in education circles. It
is an analysis of the traits of companies that have achieved
enduring success. Educator fans are advocating that the successful
traits described in the book are what is needed for a school
system to survive the increased pressures for performance.
Lack Direction? Evaluate Your Brain’s
C.E.O.
(August 26, 2003) Intelligent people
who lack the ability to plan, organize, complete projects
and delay gratification have neurological abnormalities,
according to neuroscientists. The neurological difficulties
affect “the brain’s C.E.O,” which controls
an array of “executive functions,” that maintain
a mental image of destination, orchestrating memory, language
and goal directed activity. Executive dysfunction is something
of a “disability du jour,” according to Christopher
Murphy, an official at Landmark School in Prides Crossing,
Mass., which works with language-based learning disorders.
Dr. Martha Bridge Denckla, a neurologist at the Kennedy Krieger
Institute at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine says, “What
fascinates me is kids who go off to college with perfect
SAT’s and then flunk out in their first year because
there is too little structure for their scattered minds.
`On your own’ is a death knell for these kids.” Executive
functions involve the frontal lobes of the cerebral cortex.
This is the last area in the brain to mature, is not fully
developed until people are in their 30’s and is extremely
vulnerable to injury or disease. Genetic factors probably
also have a role. Researchers believe attention disorders
and impaired executive function stem from a developmental
flaw in the self-regulation mechanism of the brain. External
cues and supports can teach the stronger parts of the brain
strategies to compensate for the dysfunction, according to
Dr. Denckla: “adults with executive deficits can be
relatively successful, as long as there is another human
being - a co-author, a teacher, a wife - who acts as an auxiliary
frontal lobe to keep them on track.” [more...]
Universities in Decline
(August 26, 2003) Public colleges and
universities, which grant more than three-quarters of this
country’s degrees, have been steadily undermined by
state budgets and have responded by raising tuition beyond
the reach of many poor and working-class families. Some universities
have begun to “cannibalize themselves by increasing
class size and cutting course offerings, making it difficult
for students to find the courses they need to graduate.” [more...]
New Research Uncovers Changes in
the Brains of Cocaine Users
(August 27, 2003) A new study “suggests
that people who regularly use cocaine experience structural
changes in areas of their brains related to higher thought
and impulse control. The National Instituted on Drug Abuse
(NIDA), 301-443-6245, supported a study of “chronic
cocaine users relative to cocaine-naive controls suggests
that addiction may be accompanied by a disruption of brain
structures critical for the higher-order, cognitive control
of behavior.” The study, published in the August 27th
issue of the Journal of Neuroscience reports: certain brain
areas critical for cognitive control were less active in
chronic cocaine users compared to nonusers.
PUBLIC COLLEGE TUITION INCREASES
PROMPT CONCERN AND LEGISLATION
(August 30, 2003) Fall tuition increased
39 percent at the University of Arizona, 30 percent at the
University of California, 28 percent at the State University
of New York and 25 percent at the City University of New
York. The average tuition during the last decade, at both
public and private four-year colleges grew nearly 38 percent,
adjusted for inflation. Tuition at public campuses is still
well below private ones, an average of $4,081 compared with
$18,273 at private institutions, according to the College
Board. In response to increases, Illinois recently adopted
a law guaranteeing that public college tuition will not increase
from the time a state resident enters college, so long as
the student remains continuously enrolled. In Washington,
there is a proposal to penalize both public and private colleges
for increases that exceed inflation by a designated amount.
[more...]
zero-tolerance discipline significantly
increases student arrests
(September 2003) The Washington-based
Advancement Project, reports a nationwide study shows
the rise of zero-tolerance discipline policies has led to
significant increases in student arrest rates. For example,
the study reports a 300% increase in arrests between 1999
and 2001 in Florida’s Miami-Dade school district.
GENDER DIFFERENCE IN SCHIZOPHRENIA
(September 2003) According to the Harvard
Mental Health Letter, September 2003, schizophrenia is
more common in men than in women, as is autism and most other
developmental brain disorders. A meta-analysis of pooled
data from 39 published research studies shows that men have
a 42% higher rate of schizophrenia. Separate calculations
based on studies that corrected for possible biases show
the male excess to be “genuine and could be a clue
to the origins of schizophrenia.” Source: Aleman A,
et al. Archives of General Psychiatry (June 2003); Vol. 60,
No. 6, pp.565-71.
Rising Demands for Testing Push Limits
of Its Accuracy
(September 2, 2003) An increasing number
of testing flaws are being reported in the annual testing
being required as a result of President Bush’s No Child
Left Behind Act. In Nevada, a test error caused 736 juniors
and sophomores to fail that state’s high school exit
exam. In Georgia, officials cancelled statewide exams for
more than 600,000 fifth graders when the third error in three
years was discovered in the tests. In Minnesota, when almost
8,000 students got incorrect scores as a result of testing
errors, and the case ended up in court. Educators and some
testing industry experts warn that new testing demands are
pushing the limits of the testing industry’s ability
to provide fair and accurate tests. In January 2002, when
President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, calling
for increased annual testing in grades three through eight
by the 2005-06 school year, the testing industry had “just
weathered the three most error-plagued years in its history.
Many experts warn that the increased testing and tight deadlines
of the education law will trigger a spike in human errors
unless greater attention is paid to quality control issues.
Because errors can have such life-altering consequences” for
students and schools, a few critics are even calling for
federal or an independent oversight of the industry. [more...]
Man Charged With Raping Girl He Met
on Internet
(September 4, 2003) A mother’s
suspicions led to the arraignment on charges of rape and
sodomy of a 20-year-old Long Island, NY man who authorities
said had formed an online relationship with a 13-year-old
girl. The case was the latest in a string of Internet sex
crimes that the Westchester district attorney, Jeanine F.
Pirro, has pursued in recent years, leading to the convictions
of a former school board member, a Yonkers official and many
others. “This is another example of how pedophiles
are using the Internet to make contact with our children,” Ms.
Pirro said in a news conference. They are not merely exchanging “indecent
materials with them and arranging to meet them,” she
said, “but they are actually raping and sodomizing
these kids.” The man, Ricardo Brice, communicated with
the girl over four months via an America Online chat room,
officials said. Then, at the end of July, he went to the
girl’s house, where they had sexual relations - considered
rape and sodomy under the law because of their ages. Investigators
from the district attorney’s high-tech crimes unit
assumed the identity of the 13-year-old online and established
computer contact with Mr. Brice. [more...]
The Case for Smaller Schools
(September 18, 2003) The Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation announced it will provide seven nonprofit
organizations across New York City with $51.2 million, with
the aim of creating 67 new schools. New York City has been
in the forefront of a national movement aimed at converting “large,
factory-style schools often with thousands of students, into
smaller public schools where students have closer contact
with teachers. Nearly three-fifths of the grant announced
this week for small schools will go to New Visions for Public
Schools, a pioneering group that has already started 41 small
public schools in collaboration with the New York City Department
of Education, its union partners and a philanthropic consortium
consisting of the Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Corporation
of New York and the Open Society Institute. These schools
are run with public dollars. National data on small schools
shows that they tend to be quieter and safer, with fewer
dropouts and higher graduation rates. This trend held true
last year in poor areas of the Bronx, where ordinary high
schools, some with enrollments of 3,000 or more, had lower
success rates on state exams — and drastically higher
dropout rates — than the New Visions schools, which
have enrollments ranging from roughly 75 to 150 students.” [more...]
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