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This study examined the contribution of executive functions to arrangement problem-solving performance in Parkinson's disease (PD), with a particular focus on self-directed cognitive flexibility. PD patients and healthy age-matched adults completed a battery of neuropsychological measures of executive function and a series of anagram puzzles, some of which were modified to include graphemic cues designed to prime potential solutions. PD patients were less successful than healthy controls (HC) at resolving the anagram puzzles, but when a cue accompanied the anagram stimulus, PD patients performed normally. Anagram performance was associated with measures of verbal fluency and inhibition; no association emerged with working memory or set shifting ability. These data suggest that subjects with PD may have difficulty sufficiently inhibiting their automatic response to the experimental stimulus in order to generate the novel arrangements required to produce a successful response. Such deficits might be remediated through the use of environmental cues designed to support strategy generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When trauma affects a University workforce, health and productivity are compromised, and an organized response can help lessen the emotional impact and accelerate recovery of function. Responding to traumatic events in the workplace has evolved into being the responsibility of many EAPs. The authors present how the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) model was adapted by their internal EAPs in academic settings at Duke and Vanderbilt to help manage the psychological and occupational ramifications of critical incidents. Outcome data generated from evaluation of Duke's program is presented, which demonstrates the value of the interventions in helping employees manage reactions and in the restoration of personal and occupational functioning. A survey conducted by the authors provides an overview "snapshot" of the active roles that University EAPs have currently in responding to workplace traumas. The survey results underscore the importance of developing a coordinated response and using trained responders, and of the need for additional evaluation of interventions to determine effectiveness of response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cyanobacteria and similar organisms produced most of the oxygen found in Earth's atmosphere, which implies that early photosynthetic organisms would have lived in an atmosphere that was rich in CO2 and poor in O2. We investigated the tolerance of several cyanobacteria to very high (>20 kPa) concentrations of atmospheric CO2. Cultures of Synechococcus PCC7942, Synechocystis PCC7942, Plectonema boryanum, and Anabaena sp. were grown in liquid culture sparged with CO2-enriched air. All four strains grew when transferred from ambient CO2 to 20 kPa partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2), but none of them tolerated direct transfer to 40 kPa pCO2. Synechococcus and Anabaena survived 101 kPa (100%) pCO2 when pressure was gradually increased by 15 kPa per day, and Plectonema actively grew under these conditions. All four strains grew in an anoxic atmosphere of 5 kPa pCO2 in N2. Strains that were sensitive to high CO2 were also sensitive to low initial pH (pH 5-6). However, low pH in itself was not sufficient to prevent growth. Although mechanisms of damage and survival are still under investigation, we have shown that modern cyanobacteria can survive under Earth's primordial conditions and that cyanobacteria-like organisms could have flourished under conditions on early Mars, which probably had an atmosphere similar to early Earth's.