3,535 research outputs found
A systematic review of problematic video-game use in people with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Background: In recent years, an increasing number of studies documented potential links between gaming disorders (GD; including “digital-gaming” or “video-gaming”) and Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). Therefore, the aim of this systematic review was to summarize current research about problematic video game (PVG) use in people with ASD and identify specific factors associated with problematic video gaming behavior. Method: We searched for articles indexed in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and EBSCOhost electronic databases; using a combination of expressions including “autism spectrum disorder” OR “autism” OR “ASD” AND “video games” OR “gaming disorder” OR “Internet Gaming Disorder” OR “game addiction”. Results: Twelve articles were included in this systematic review. The majority of them indicate that children, adolescents and adults with ASD may be at greater risk of PVG use than youths without ASD. Findings also suggested that several internal (sex, attention and oppositional behavior problems) and external factors (social aspects, access and time spent playing video, parental rules, and game genre) were significant predictors of problematic video game use in people with ASD. In addition, this review highlights the paucity of the literature on the consequences and individual effects of excessive video gaming in people with ASD. Conclusions: We discuss unanswered questions and future directions and provide recommendations for improving clinicians and parents’ engagement in the prevention and management of problematic video game use in people with ASD
A tool for declarative Trace Alignment via automated planning
We present a tool, called TraceAligner, for solving Trace Alignment by first compiling into Planning and then solving it with any available cost-optimal planner. TraceAligner can produce different variants of the output Planning instance, each offering different degrees of readability and solution efficiency. The Planning instance is expressed in PDDL, the Planning Domain Definition Language. The tool can be easily extended and coupled with any planner taking PDDL as input language. A thorough experimental analysis has shown that the approach dramatically outperforms existing ad-hoc tools, thus making TraceAligner the best-performing tool for Trace Alignment with declarative specifications
A critical comparison of different definitions of topological charge on the lattice
A detailed comparison is made between the field-theoretic and geometric
definitions of topological charge density on the lattice. Their
renormalizations with respect to continuum are analysed. The definition of the
topological susceptibility, as used in chiral Ward identities, is reviewed.
After performing the subtractions required by it, the different lattice methods
yield results in agreement with each other. The methods based on cooling and on
counting fermionic zero modes are also discussed.Comment: 12 pages (LaTeX file) + 7 (postscript) figures. Revised version.
Submitted to Phys. Rev.
Alleviating inequality in climate policy costs: An integrated perspective on mitigation, damage and adaptation
Equity considerations play an important role in international climate negotiations. While policy analysis has often focused on equity as it relates to mitigation costs, there are large regional differences in adaptation costs and the level of residual damage. This paper illustrates the relevance of including adaptation and residual damage in equity considerations by determining how the allocation of emission allowances would change to counteract regional differences in total climate costs, defined as the costs of mitigation, adaptation, and residual damage. We compare emission levels resulting from a global carbon tax with two allocations of emission allowances under a global cap-and-trade system: one equating mitigation costs and one equating total climate costs as share of GDP. To account for uncertainties in both mitigation and adaptation, we use a model-comparison approach employing two alternative modeling frameworks with different damage, adaptation cost, and mitigation cost estimates, and look at two different climate goals. Despite the identified model uncertainties, we derive unambiguous results on the change in emission allowance allocation that could lessen the unequal distribution of adaptation costs and residual damages through the financial transfers associated with emission trading
Report of a Case of Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Resection of Bronchogenic Cyst Developed in the Aorto-Pulmonary Window
We report the case of a 28-years-old male with a bronchogenic cyst developed in the
aorto-pulmonary window. Left video-assisted thoracoscopy was performed and the cyst
was removed intact and completely. Operative time was 48 minutes. The postoperative
course was uneventful and the patient was discharged on the third postoperative day.
We believe that an uncomplicated mediastinal bronchogenic cyst can be successfully
approached by video-assisted thoracoscopy. In the case of an intraparenchymal or complicated
cyst, thoracoscopic resection can be technically difficult and hazardous, and
open approach is preferable
A Declarative Framework for Specifying and Enforcing Purpose-aware Policies
Purpose is crucial for privacy protection as it makes users confident that
their personal data are processed as intended. Available proposals for the
specification and enforcement of purpose-aware policies are unsatisfactory for
their ambiguous semantics of purposes and/or lack of support to the run-time
enforcement of policies.
In this paper, we propose a declarative framework based on a first-order
temporal logic that allows us to give a precise semantics to purpose-aware
policies and to reuse algorithms for the design of a run-time monitor enforcing
purpose-aware policies. We also show the complexity of the generation and use
of the monitor which, to the best of our knowledge, is the first such a result
in literature on purpose-aware policies.Comment: Extended version of the paper accepted at the 11th International
Workshop on Security and Trust Management (STM 2015
Vitamin D Deficiency in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study
Vitamin D plays a role in central nervous system (CNS) development. Recent literature focused on Vitamin D status in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), but with inconsistent results. Our case-control study is aimed at evaluating serum 25-hydroxyl-Vitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration in children with ASD (ASD group, n=54) compared to children affected by other neurological and psychiatric disorders (non-ASD group, n=36). All patients were admitted at the Complex Operative Unit of Child Neuropsychiatry, Polyclinic of Bari, Italy. 25(OH)D was quantified by chemiluminescence immunoassay and level defined as: Deficiency (<20 ng/mL); insufficiency (20-30); normality (30-100); toxicity (>100). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS20 (significance<0.05). The ASD group showed 25(OH)D a mean level significantly lower than control (p=0.014). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed an association between ASD and Vitamin D deficiency (p=0.006). The nature of such association is unclear. Vitamin D deficiency may probably act as a risk factor for the development of ASD. Further studies are needed to unravel the role of Vitamin D in ASD etiology and investigate its therapeutic potential
The gene expression profile of cumulus cells reveals altered pathways in patients with endometriosis
PURPOSE:
The objective of this experimental study was to compare the global gene expression profile of CC of mature oocytes in 18 patients with severe endometriosis and CC in 18 control patients affected by a severe male factor.
METHODS:
For each group, the CC were pooled, RNA was extracted and a microarray performed. For validating the microarray, a quantitative real-time PCR was performed in the CC of an independent set of patients with endometriosis (n = 5) and controls (n = 7).
RESULTS:
595 differentially expressed genes (320 down-regulated, 275 up-regulated, p < 0.05, fold change ≥1.5) were identified. The most significant changes were observed in genes involved in the chemokine signaling and cell-cell or cell-extracellular matrix adhesion pathways. Several genes of these pathways were down-regulated in endometriosis. Individual RT-PCR assays confirmed the microarray for ten genes.
CONCLUSIONS:
Several genes involved in the chemokine mediated-signaling pathway and in the functional cross-talk between CC and the oocyte are down-regulated in endometriosis CC. The impairment of these processes could explain the reduction of oocyte competence in endometriosis. This preliminary knowledge could be the starting point for a more detailed elucidation of the relationship between endometriosis and oocyte competence
The use of ciclosporin in paediatric inflammatory bowel disease: an Italian experience
Aim: To asses the efficacy and safety of ciclosporin in a paediatric population with inflammatory bowel disease. Patients and methods: Twenty-three Italian children treated with ciclosporin were studied retrospectively. The indications for treatment were severe unresponsive colitis, chronic active colitis or severe fistulizing Crohn's disease. The treatment duration, follow-up and causes of drug discontinuation were assessed. Results: Sixteen patients were treated intravenously for a mean time of 10 +/- 7 days (1-24 days) and 19 orally for a mean time of 133 days (17-660 days). The mean follow-up of all patients was 13.2 months. Ciclosporin was totally ineffective, being discontinued for surgery, in nine of 23 patients (39%); it was discontinued for partial response in three patients (13%). During treatment, clinical remission was achieved in eight children (35%) and maintained after drug withdrawal in four (17%). In severe unresponsive colitis, urgent colectomy was avoided in 12 (85%) of 14 patients who tolerated the drug. Side-effects appeared in six of 23 patients (26%), and three (13%) required ciclosporin to be discontinued due to neurotoxicity. Conclusions: Ciclosporin shows disappointing long-term results in the treatment of refractory inflammatory bowel disease, but can play an important role in preventing urgent surgery in unresponsive severe colitis. Severe side-effects can occur
Interaction of Wilson loops in confining vacuum
Nonperturbative and perturbative interaction mechanisms of Wilson loops in
gluodynamics are studied within the background field formalism. The first one
operates when distance between minimal surfaces of the loops is small and may
be important for sea quark effects and strong decay processes. The second
mechanism -- perturbative interaction in nonperturbative confining background
is found to be physically dominant for all loop configurations characteristic
of scattering process. It reduces to perturbative gluon exchanges at small
distances, while at larger distances it corresponds to the t-channel exchange
of (reggeized) glueball states.
Comparison to other approaches is made and possible physical applications are
discussed.Comment: LaTeX, 25 pages, 5 EPS-figure
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