Sherry Dingman

TWO MEASURES OF LATERALITY IN HANDEDNESS: THE EDINBURGH HANDEDNESS INVENTORY AND THE PURDUE PEGBOARD TEST OF MANUAL DEXTERITY '

This study investigated the relationship between a paper-and-pencil measure of laterality in handedness, the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory, and a test of manual dexterity, the Purdue Pegboard test. Individuals of extreme handedness based on the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (Laterality Quotients of +90 to +100 and −100 and +54; 50 each) were recruited to complete the Purdue Pegboard test of manual dexterity. Subjects in the sinistral group had significantly smaller mean discrepancy scores in performance between their hands [t80 = 5.12, p=.0001] and much greater variance in performance than dextral subjects (F1,98 = 2.85, p=.0001). These findings suggest that paper-and-pencil measures of lateral preference for handedness may not identify proficiency of subgroups within a sinistral group.

Cosmetic Surgery: Feminist Perspectives

Cosmetic surgery is gaining popularity not only in the U.S., but worldwide. The sheer number of procedures being performed makes it seem “normal,” and in the statistical sense it is. Feminist therapists are likely to have clients who are contemplating undergoing one or more of these procedures. Therapists ought to help their clients to understand the motivations underlying a decision to undergo surgery for the sake of improving on nature. In the final analysis, the decision belongs to the woman who may be placing her life at risk to achieve some desired end. The therapist can play a role in helping her to weigh the risks and what will be accomplished in the end.

Gender in Mock Hiring Decisions

On the basis of reviewing three resumés, 80 college students (44 women, 36 men), role-playing as human resource managers, were asked to recommend a candidate for a sales position at a brokerage firm. The apparent gender of candidates for the position was manipulated by assigning names that were gender-ambiguous or gender-specific to a given resumé. Students were asked to select one of three candidates: (1) the most qualified, (2) the less qualified for whom gender was ambiguous, or (3) the less qualified who differed in gender from the most qualified. Students were also asked to select a second candidate for an interview for the job. Analysis indicated both men and women favored their own gender. Only 56% of these college students who were enrolled in psychology and business courses, which should serve as some foundation for a career in human resources, actually selected the most qualified applicant.

Tissue Immunoassay for 19F-Tagged 5-Hydroxytryptophan

Abstract A new tool for magnetic resonance, l-6-heptafluorobutyryl-5-hydroxytryptophan, was synthesized and investigated using an antibody to perfluoroalkyl moieties developed previously. To be useful as an imaging agent, the compound must cross the blood brain barrier and then be concentrated in vesicles in serotonergic neurons in order to accumulate in sufficient quantity for in vivo detection to be possible. The novel imaging compound was administered in ova to domestic chicks (Gallus domestics) to investigate the bioavailability and uptake dynamics of the compound in this model organism. Typical immunoassay methods were ineffective, so a new technique was developed which binds amines and amino acids to the walls of acid-functionalized cuvettes. The first study established the presence of higher quantities of the tags in neural and liver tissue than in heart tissue. A second study investigated regional differences, with the midbrain containing more tagged compounds than the frontal lobe sample, and the frontal lobe sample containing more than the occipital or cerebellum samples. These studies demonstrate that the compound follows the pathway of endogenous serotonin. A third study investigated uptake dynamics of the novel compound. Maximum concentration of the tagged molecule in the brain was achieved three days after injecting Incubation Day 14 eggs, suggesting that it bioaccumulates in vivo. This new immunoassay technique used to detect the novel compound in tissue samples demonstrated good repeatability.

T-Maze performance after developmental exposure to 19F tagged 5-HTP in chicks

Chicks were used as a model to investigate behavioral effects of administering a new compound intended for use with magnetic resonance. The compound has multiple 19F atom tags covalently bonded to the indole ring of 5-hydroxytryptophan (PF-5HTP), the immediate precursor to the neurotransmitter serotonin. On incubation Day 17, 5μg of PF-5-HTP, an equivalent amount of 5-HTP, or just 200 μL of the weak phosphate buffered saline (PBS) vehicle was injected into the airsac of each egg. Three days after hatching, chicks were isolated at the top of a simple T-Maze which, when traversed correctly, enabled them to return to their brood mates. A second trial in the T-Maze was conducted about three hours later. The brief period of isolation at the start of a trial causes social distress in chicks who are reinforced by returning to the brood. The task was selected as being sensitive to functioning of the serotonin pathways whose development might be altered by administering the compound during brain development. Repeated-measures analysis of variance yielded a statistically significant main effect for trial within groups, but no significant difference between injection groups. Administering a low dose of the fluorine tagged compound during development did not impair performance on this T-maze task.

The Fate of Perfluoro‐Tagged Metabolites of L‐DOPA in Mice Brains

Abstract A novel compound for use in magnetic resonance (MR) imaging was created by covalently bonding multiple 19F atom tags to L‐DOPA. Tagging L‐DOPA permits bypassing the rate‐limiting factor in the biosynthesis of dopamine (DA), the conversion of tyrosine into L‐DOPA. The next step in the biosynthetic pathway, the removal of the carboxyl group on the molecule by the enzyme L‐aromatic acid decarboxylase (AADC), happens rapidly after L‐DOPA is taken up into neurons. In order to be useful as a tool in MR imaging, the novel compound and/or its perfluoro‐tagged metabolites must accumulate in vesicles in dopaminergic neurons. We administered L‐DOPA with a nine 19F atom tag ( 250 mg/kg) to mice pups, waited 1.5 or 3 hr, and used high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) to examine neural tissue samples for tagged L‐DOPA and tagged DA. The isomer of L‐DOPA with the tag bonded at the 5 position yielded the highest conversion to tagged DA at 1.5 hr after an i.p. injection. This study provides the first direct evidence that L‐DOPA, tagged with nine fluorine atoms, is taken up into mammalian brain dopaminergic neurons where it is converted to perfluro‐tagged DA. The use of these tagged compounds may make it feasible to investigate the uptake and conversion of important neurotransmitter in vivo with fluorine imaging.

An enzymatic assay for metabolites of perfluoro-tagged 5-hydroxytryptophan

Abstractl-5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) with two types of multiple 19F-atom tags bonded at various positions onto the indole ring (positions 4, 6, or 7) was exposed to aromatic l-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) in lysates of Escherichia coli JM109 which had been transformed with the plasmid pKKAADCII. Resulting samples were analyzed with HPLC. In the first study, which investigated a straight-chain seven-atom tag, a novel peak, putatively perfluoro-tagged serotonin, was detected. A second study demonstrated that 5-HTP was converted to 5-HT in transformed E.coli lysate but not in untransformed lysate. A third study, investigating a tag with nine fluorine atoms all in the same nuclear environment, identified the isomer serving as the best substrate for AADC. This novel molecule had the tag bonded at the 6 position on the indole ring. Isomers that fit into the active site of AADC are likely to follow the biosynthetic path for serotonin in vivo and are potentially useful in 19F magnetic resonance spectroscopy studies. The enzymatic assay described here provides an efficient and cost-effective tool for screening new compounds.

Differences between Caucasians and American Indians on the cognitive laterality battery.

Caucasians scored significantly better than American Indian college students on verbal-sequential tests, but not on visuospatial tests, of Gordons Cognitive Laterality Battery (CLB). Caucasians scored more right-biased than American Indians on the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI). The effects of percentage of Native American ancestry, strategy employed to recall serial sounds, bilingualism, familial sinistrality and handedness laterality on test performance were also analyzed. Results are consistent with hypotheses drawn from Annetts genetic theory of human laterality, if frequency distributions for the hypothesized rs+ gene are assumed to vary across the parent populations from which the samples were drawn.

EDINBURGH HANDEDNESS INVENTORY SCORES: CAUCASIAN AND AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Laterality Quotients for 80 American Indian college students were less right-biased than those for 80 Caucasian college students on the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory. Oldfields 1971 empirically derived deciles for the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory were used to assign decile levels to the data. Deciles were then used to assign data to one of three proposed handedness phenotype classifications. Pheno-type classifications were based on Annetts 1985 proposed distribution for a single gene theorized to underlie human handedness. Chi-squared goodness-of-fit analysis showed that the data for Caucasian college students did not differ significantly from what would be anticipated by Annetts model, but American Indians differed significantly. Results provide empirical support for the hypothesis that frequency distributions for Annetts hypothesized right-shift gene may differ across racial groups.

Victim Intervention Marketing: An Application of Social Activist Marketing in Opposition to Human Trafficking

Human trafficking’s most authoritative definitions suffer from internal inconsistencies and exploitation creep. This difficulty has caused all trafficking, rather than only its worst forms, to be categorized as slavery. We use victims’ voluntary, semivoluntary, and involuntary participation in human trafficking marketing channels and their related attitude-behavior consistencies to redefine human trafficking. This definition forms the conceptual foundation for a victim typology matrix, within which Frazier and Sheth’s (1985) influence strategies prescribe interventions. A sample of 190 United Nations’ cases supports the typology, and Chi-Square test results indicate a statistically strong relationship between the conditions under which victims enter and remain in human trafficking channels.