Comparison of Goal Achievement When Transitioning from In-Person Therapy to Teletherapy in the Westchester County Early Intervention Program Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The sudden transition to virtual therapeutic services during the COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to explore telehealth as a platform for delivering early intervention (EI) services. Through retrospective chart review of 93 children, we collected the following data: demographics, diagnosed conditions, therapy type, service format, and provider-reported participant goal achievement (1=no progress, 2=little progress, 3=moderate progress, 4=great deal of progress, 5=outcome achieved) over a six-month period before and after transitioning to telehealth. Pre- and post-transition progress scores were compared using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test. Results demonstrated maintained progress among children who transitioned from in-person to virtual services for similar therapy types. Children receiving speech therapy in-person and virtually demonstrated increased achievement (3.00 vs 3.33; p=0.032). Participants receiving a particular therapy post-transition but not in-person attained similar achievement as those who received the same therapy only in-person. Our research suggests that teletherapy may be a viable option for delivering EI services. &nbsp

Local Scale-Dependent Non-Gaussian Curvature Perturbations at Cubic Order

We calculate non-Gaussianities in the bispectrum and trispectrum arising from the cubic term in the local expansion of the scalar curvature perturbation. We compute to three-loop order and for general momenta. A procedure for evaluating the leading behavior of the resulting loop-integrals is developed and discussed. Finally, we survey unique non-linear signals which could arise from the cubic term in the squeezed limit. In particular, it is shown that loop corrections can cause $f_{NL}^{sq.}$ to change sign as the momentum scale is varied. There also exists a momentum limit where $\tau_{NL} <0$ can be realized.Comment: Published in JCA

Primordial Non-Gaussianity and Extreme-Value Statistics of Galaxy Clusters

What is the size of the most massive object one expects to find in a survey of a given volume? In this paper, we present a solution to this problem using Extreme-Value Statistics, taking into account primordial non-Gaussianity and its effects on the abundance and the clustering of rare objects. We calculate the probability density function (pdf) of extreme-mass clusters in a survey volume, and show how primordial non-Gaussianity shifts the peak of this pdf. We also study the sensitivity of the extreme-value pdfs to changes in the mass functions, survey volume, redshift coverage and the normalization of the matter power spectrum, {\sigma}_8. For 'local' non-Gaussianity parametrized by f_NL, our correction for the extreme-value pdf due to the bias is important when f_NL > O(100), and becomes more significant for wider and deeper surveys. Applying our formalism to the massive high-redshift cluster XMMUJ0044.0-2-33, we find that its existence is consistent with f_NL = 0, although the conclusion is sensitive to the assumed values of the survey area and {\sigma}_8. We also discuss the convergence of the extreme-value distribution to one of the three possible asymptotic forms, and argue that the convergence is insensitive to the presence of non-Gaussianity.Comment: Revised version, 20 pages, 10 figures. Major improvement in the treatment of non-Gaussian bias. Previous claim of large f_NL associated with the cluster is no longer supporte

Evolution of fNL to the adiabatic limit

We study inflationary perturbations in multiple-field models, for which zeta typically evolves until all isocurvature modes decay--the "adiabatic limit". We use numerical methods to explore the sensitivity of the nonlinear parameter fNL to the process by which this limit is achieved, finding an appreciable dependence on model-specific data such as the time at which slow-roll breaks down or the timescale of reheating. In models with a sum-separable potential where the isocurvature modes decay before the end of the slow-roll phase we give an analytic criterion for the asymptotic value of fNL to be large. Other examples can be constructed using a waterfall field to terminate inflation while fNL is transiently large, caused by descent from a ridge or convergence into a valley. We show that these two types of evolution are distinguished by the sign of the bispectrum, and give approximate expressions for the peak fNL.Comment: v1: 25 pages, plus Appendix and bibliography, 6 figures. v2: minor edits to match published version in JCA

A Diverse Population of Cryptococcus gattii Molecular Type VGIII in Southern Californian HIV/AIDS Patients

Cryptococcus gattii infections in southern California have been reported in patients with HIV/AIDS. In this study, we examined the molecular epidemiology, population structure, and virulence attributes of isolates collected from HIV/AIDS patients in Los Angeles County, California. We show that these isolates consist almost exclusively of VGIII molecular type, in contrast to the VGII molecular type isolates causing the North American Pacific Northwest outbreak. The global VGIII population structure can be divided into two molecular groups, VGIIIa and VGIIIb. Isolates from the Californian patients are virulent in murine and macrophage models of infection, with VGIIIa significantly more virulent than VGIIIb. Several VGIII isolates are highly fertile and produce abundant sexual spores that may serve as infectious propagules. The a and α VGIII MAT locus alleles are largely syntenic with limited rearrangements compared to the known VGI (a/α) and VGII (α) MAT loci, but each has unique characteristics including a distinct deletion flanking the 5′ VGIII MATa alleles and the α allele is more heterogeneous than the a allele. Our studies indicate that C. gattii VGIII is endemic in southern California, with other isolates originating from the neighboring regions of Mexico, and in rarer cases from Oregon and Washington state. Given that >1,000,000 cases of cryptococcal infection and >620,000 attributable mortalities occur annually in the context of the global AIDS pandemic, our findings suggest a significant burden of C. gattii may be unrecognized, with potential prognostic and therapeutic implications. These results signify the need to classify pathogenic Cryptococcus cases and highlight possible host differences among the C. gattii molecular types influencing infection of immunocompetent (VGI/VGII) vs. immunocompromised (VGIII/VGIV) hosts

Evaluating models for lithospheric loss and intraplate volcanism beneath the Central Appalachian Mountains

© The Author(s), 2021. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Long, M. D., Wagner, L. S., King, S. D., Evans, R. L., Mazza, S. E., Byrnes, J. S., Johnson, E. A., Kirby, E., Bezada, M. J., Gazel, E., Miller, S. R., Aragon, J. C., & Liu, S. Evaluating models for lithospheric loss and intraplate volcanism beneath the Central Appalachian Mountains. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 126(10), (2021): e2021JB022571, https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JB022571.The eastern margin of North America has been shaped by a series of tectonic events including the Paleozoic Appalachian Orogeny and the breakup of Pangea during the Mesozoic. For the past ∼200 Ma, eastern North America has been a passive continental margin; however, there is evidence in the Central Appalachian Mountains for post-rifting modification of lithospheric structure. This evidence includes two co-located pulses of magmatism that post-date the rifting event (at 152 and 47 Ma) along with low seismic velocities, high seismic attenuation, and high electrical conductivity in the upper mantle. Here, we synthesize and evaluate constraints on the lithospheric evolution of the Central Appalachian Mountains. These include tomographic imaging of seismic velocities, seismic and electrical conductivity imaging along the Mid-Atlantic Geophysical Integrative Collaboration array, gravity and heat flow measurements, geochemical and petrological examination of Jurassic and Eocene magmatic rocks, and estimates of erosion rates from geomorphological data. We discuss and evaluate a set of possible mechanisms for lithospheric loss and intraplate volcanism beneath the region. Taken together, recent observations provide compelling evidence for lithospheric loss beneath the Central Appalachians; while they cannot uniquely identify the processes associated with this loss, they narrow the range of plausible models, with important implications for our understanding of intraplate volcanism and the evolution of continental lithosphere. Our preferred models invoke a combination of (perhaps episodic) lithospheric loss via Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities and subsequent small-scale mantle flow in combination with shear-driven upwelling that maintains the region of thin lithosphere and causes partial melting in the asthenosphere.The authors acknowledge support from the U.S. National Science Foundation EarthScope and GeoPRISMS programs via grants EAR-1460257 (R. L. Evans), EAR-1249412 (E. Gazel), EAR-1249438 (E. A. Johnson), EAR-1250988 (S. D. King), EAR-1251538 (E. Kirby), and EAR-1251515 (M. D. Long). The collection and dissemination of most of the geophysical data and models discussed in this study were facilitated by the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). The facilities of the IRIS Consortium are supported by the United States National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement EAR-1261681

An upper mantle seismic discontinuity beneath the Galápagos Archipelago and its implications for studies of the lithosphere‐asthenosphere boundary

An upper mantle seismic discontinuity (the Gutenberg or G discontinuity), at which shear wave velocity decreases with depth, has been mapped from S‐to‐p conversions in radial receiver functions recorded across the Galápagos Archipelago. The mean depth of the discontinuity is 91 ± 8 km beneath the southeastern archipelago and 72 ± 5 km beneath surrounding regions. The discontinuity appears deeper beneath the portion of the Nazca plate that we infer passed over the Galápagos mantle plume than elsewhere in the region. We equate the depth of the G discontinuity to the maximum depth extent of anhydrous melting, which forms an overlying layer of dehydrated and depleted mantle. We attribute areas of shallow discontinuity depth to the formation of the dehydrated layer near the Galápagos Spreading Center and areas of greater discontinuity depth to its modification over a mantle plume with an excess temperature of 115 ± 30°C. The G discontinuity lies within a high‐seismic‐velocity anomaly that we conclude forms by partial dehydration and a gradual but steady increase in seismic velocity with decreasing depth after upwelling mantle first encounters the solidus for volatile‐bearing mantle material. At the depth of the solidus for anhydrous mantle material, removal of remaining water creates a sharp decrease in velocity with depth; this discontinuity may also mark a site of melt accumulation. Results from seismic imaging, the compositions of Galápagos lavas, and rare‐earth‐element concentrations across the archipelago require that mantle upwelling and partial melting occur over a broad region within the dehydrated and depleted layer. We conclude that the G discontinuity beneath the archipelago does not mark the boundary between rigid lithosphere and convecting asthenosphere

Report Microsporidia Evolved from Ancestral Sexual Fungi

Summary Microsporidia are obligate, intracellular eukaryotic pathogens that infect animal cells, including human

Comparison of Therapeutic Effects between Pulsed and Continuous Wave 810-nm Wavelength Laser Irradiation for Traumatic Brain Injury in Mice

Background and Objective Transcranial low-level laser therapy (LLLT) using near-infrared light can efficiently penetrate through the scalp and skull and could allow non-invasive treatment for traumatic brain injury (TBI). In the present study, we compared the therapeutic effect using 810-nm wavelength laser light in continuous and pulsed wave modes in a mouse model of TBI. Study Design/Materials and Methods TBI was induced by a controlled cortical-impact device and 4-hours post-TBI 1-group received a sham treatment and 3-groups received a single exposure to transcranial LLLT, either continuous wave or pulsed at 10-Hz or 100-Hz with a 50% duty cycle. An 810-nm Ga-Al-As diode laser delivered a spot with diameter of 1-cm onto the injured head with a power density of 50-mW/cm2 for 12-minutes giving a fluence of 36-J/cm2. Neurological severity score (NSS) and body weight were measured up to 4 weeks. Mice were sacrificed at 2, 15 and 28 days post-TBI and the lesion size was histologically analyzed. The quantity of ATP production in the brain tissue was determined immediately after laser irradiation. We examined the role of LLLT on the psychological state of the mice at 1 day and 4 weeks after TBI using tail suspension test and forced swim test. Results The 810-nm laser pulsed at 10-Hz was the most effective judged by improvement in NSS and body weight although the other laser regimens were also effective. The brain lesion volume of mice treated with 10-Hz pulsed-laser irradiation was significantly lower than control group at 15-days and 4-weeks post-TBI. Moreover, we found an antidepressant effect of LLLT at 4-weeks as shown by forced swim and tail suspension tests. Conclusion The therapeutic effect of LLLT for TBI with an 810-nm laser was more effective at 10-Hz pulse frequency than at CW and 100-Hz. This finding may provide a new insight into biological mechanisms of LLLT.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (NIH grant R01AI050875)Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology (DAMD17-02-2-0006)United States. Dept. of Defense. Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (W81XWH-09-1-0514)United States. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Military Photomedicine Program (FA9950-04-1-0079))Japan. Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and TechnologyJapan Society for the Promotion of Scienc