Childhood rituals and executive functions

Repetitive and ritualistic behaviours (RRBs) are a feature of both typical and atypical development. While the cognitive correlates of these behaviours have been investigated in some neurodevelopmental conditions these links remain largely unexplored in typical development. The current study examined the relationship between RRBs and executive functions in a sample of typically developing children aged between 37-107 months. Results showed that cognitive flexibility, and not response inhibition or generativity, was most strongly associated with the frequency of RRBs in this sample. In younger children (<67.5 months) cognitive flexibility was significantly associated with “Repetitive Behaviours” but in older children (>67.5 months) cognitive flexibility was associated with both “Just Right” and “Repetitive Behaviour”, suggesting that the association between EF and RRBs may become stronger with age in typically developing children

Is there excess capacity in rural banking markets: Some empirical insights for India

According to economic theory, there are at least three indicators of excess capacity in banking: (a) low loan-to-asset ratio, (b) low profitability and (c) high per unit operating expense. If excess capacity exists, it will be easiest to identify, through these indicators, at regional rural banks. Using bank level data on regional rural banks in India for the period 1991 to 2001, the paper uncovers little evidence of excess capacity using simultaneous equation techniques; univariate analysis reinforces the findings

Plant-RRBS, a bisulfite and next-generation sequencing-based methylome profiling method enriching for coverage of cytosine positions

Background: Cytosine methylation in plant genomes is important for the regulation of gene transcription and transposon activity. Genome-wide methylomes are studied upon mutation of the DNA methyltransferases, adaptation to environmental stresses or during development. However, from basic biology to breeding programs, there is a need to monitor multiple samples to determine transgenerational methylation inheritance or differential cytosine methylation. Methylome data obtained by sodium hydrogen sulfite (bisulfite)-conversion and next-generation sequencing (NGS) provide genome- wide information on cytosine methylation. However, a profiling method that detects cytosine methylation state dispersed over the genome would allow high-throughput analysis of multiple plant samples with distinct epigenetic signatures. We use specific restriction endonucleases to enrich for cytosine coverage in a bisulfite and NGS-based profiling method, which was compared to whole-genome bisulfite sequencing of the same plant material. Methods: We established an effective methylome profiling method in plants, termed plant-reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (plant-RRBS), using optimized double restriction endonuclease digestion, fragment end repair, adapter ligation, followed by bisulfite conversion, PCR amplification and NGS. We report a performant laboratory protocol and a straightforward bioinformatics data analysis pipeline for plant-RRBS, applicable for any reference-sequenced plant species. Results: As a proof of concept, methylome profiling was performed using an Oryza sativa ssp. indica pure breeding line and a derived epigenetically altered line (epiline). Plant-RRBS detects methylation levels at tens of millions of cytosine positions deduced from bisulfite conversion in multiple samples. To evaluate the method, the coverage of cytosine positions, the intra-line similarity and the differential cytosine methylation levels between the pure breeding line and the epiline were determined. Plant-RRBS reproducibly covers commonly up to one fourth of the cytosine positions in the rice genome when using MspI-DpnII within a group of five biological replicates of a line. The method predominantly detects cytosine methylation in putative promoter regions and not-annotated regions in rice. Conclusions: Plant-RRBS offers high-throughput and broad, genome- dispersed methylation detection by effective read number generation obtained from reproducibly covered genome fractions using optimized endonuclease combinations, facilitating comparative analyses of multi-sample studies for cytosine methylation and transgenerational stability in experimental material and plant breeding populations

Exploring genome wide bisulfite sequencing for DNA methylation analysis in livestock: a technical assessment

peer-reviewedRecent advances made in “omics” technologies are contributing to a revolution in livestock selection and breeding practices. Epigenetic mechanisms, including DNA methylation are important determinants for the control of gene expression in mammals. DNA methylation research will help our understanding of how environmental factors contribute to phenotypic variation of complex production and health traits. High-throughput sequencing is a vital tool for the comprehensive analysis of DNA methylation, and bisulfite-based strategies coupled with DNA sequencing allows for quantitative, site-specific methylation analysis at the genome level or genome wide. Reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS) and more recently whole genome bisulfite sequencing (WGBS) have proven to be effective techniques for studying DNA methylation in both humans and mice. Here we report the development of RRBS and WGBS for use in sheep, the first application of this technology in livestock species. Important technical issues associated with these methodologies including fragment size selection and sequence depth are examined and discussed.AgResearch AR&C grant for funding and Teagasc for providing a short-term overseas training awar

Throughput Maximization in Cloud Radio Access Networks using Network Coding

This paper is interested in maximizing the total throughput of cloud radio access networks (CRANs) in which multiple radio remote heads (RRHs) are connected to a central computing unit known as the cloud. The transmit frame of each RRH consists of multiple radio resources blocks (RRBs), and the cloud is responsible for synchronizing these RRBS and scheduling them to users. Unlike previous works that consider allocating each RRB to only a single user at each time instance, this paper proposes to mix the flows of multiple users in each RRB using instantly decodable network coding (IDNC). The proposed scheme is thus designed to jointly schedule the users to different RRBs, choose the encoded file sent in each of them, and the rate at which each of them is transmitted. Hence, the paper maximizes the throughput which is defined as the number of correctly received bits. To jointly fulfill this objective, we design a graph in which each vertex represents a possible user-RRB association, encoded file, and transmission rate. By appropriately choosing the weights of vertices, the scheduling problem is shown to be equivalent to a maximum weight clique problem over the newly introduced graph. Simulation results illustrate the significant gains of the proposed scheme compared to classical coding and uncoded solutions.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Comparison of sequencing-based methods to profile DNA methylation and identification of monoallelic epigenetic modifications.

Analysis of DNA methylation patterns relies increasingly on sequencing-based profiling methods. The four most frequently used sequencing-based technologies are the bisulfite-based methods MethylC-seq and reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS), and the enrichment-based techniques methylated DNA immunoprecipitation sequencing (MeDIP-seq) and methylated DNA binding domain sequencing (MBD-seq). We applied all four methods to biological replicates of human embryonic stem cells to assess their genome-wide CpG coverage, resolution, cost, concordance and the influence of CpG density and genomic context. The methylation levels assessed by the two bisulfite methods were concordant (their difference did not exceed a given threshold) for 82% for CpGs and 99% of the non-CpG cytosines. Using binary methylation calls, the two enrichment methods were 99% concordant and regions assessed by all four methods were 97% concordant. We combined MeDIP-seq with methylation-sensitive restriction enzyme (MRE-seq) sequencing for comprehensive methylome coverage at lower cost. This, along with RNA-seq and ChIP-seq of the ES cells enabled us to detect regions with allele-specific epigenetic states, identifying most known imprinted regions and new loci with monoallelic epigenetic marks and monoallelic expression

Sleep Problems in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder

The purpose of the current study was to examine the effect of restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) on the relationship between sleep problems and externalizing behaviors in young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sixty-six participants with ASD and a mean age of 4 years and their parents participated in the study. Parents reported on their child’s sleep, ASD symptoms, and externalizing behavior during a one-time lab visit. Bivariate correlations and a mediation analysis were conducted to assess the associations between sleep problems, externalizing behavior, and RRB. Results suggested that children with higher scores in measures of RRB had higher scores in sleep problems and externalizing behavior. Results also suggested that RRB partially mediated the relationship between sleep problems and externalizing behavior. Implications for the early identification of sleep and behavior problems, as well as ASD symptoms, are discussed