Sociality in Autism: Building Social Bridges in Autism Spectrum Conditions through LEGO® Based Therapy

Background: Autism Spectrum Conditions are associated with difficulties in core social communication and social interaction (American Psychiatric Association, 2013) and comorbid psychopathology (Simonoff, Pickles, Charman, Chandler, Loucas & Baird, 2008). These problems are often exacerbated in middle childhood and adolescence owing to the increased complex social milieu for children on the spectrum. The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a short-term LEGO®-based therapy for children and adolescents with high functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions. Another interesting and novel aspect of this study is the application of repertory grid technique (Kelly, 1955) to explore psychological changes in construing over the course of the LEGO®-based therapy. Methods: Twenty-five high functioning children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Conditions (M =12.40, SD = 2.02) took part in an eight-week, clinic based LEGO®-based therapy sessions within an outpatient, mental health setting. Baseline, pre- and post-intervention outcome measures, including parent- and self-reports and repertory grid technique, were administered to assess changes during the eight-week baseline period with that during the eight-week intervention period in the area of autism specific social behaviours, adaptive functioning, psychopathology, and construing. Results: On average, participants made significant gains across autism specific social behaviours, adaptive social and maladaptive behaviour, psychopathology, and coping following LEGO®-based therapy but not during the baseline period. In addition, participants also showed some changes in construing, including the way they viewed themselves and person with ASC, a loosening of construing and an overall change in construing from pre- to post- intervention. Effect sizes (Pearson’s r) for these statistical significant results ranged from medium to large. Correlations between construing and psychopathology were also noted but not for autism-specific social behaviours or adaptive functioning. Conclusions: Overall, LEGO®-based therapy was a highly attended group (M = 89.5%) and well received by participants and their parents. These findings suggest that LEGO®-based therapy is feasible, cost-effective and can be set up in mental health services as part of the treatment plan for children and adolescents with high functioning Autism Spectrum Conditions. Future studies should focus on the effectiveness of LEGO®-based therapy with girls on the spectrum or children with social related conditions and conduct large scale randomised controlled trials

How do Girls with Low Functioning Autism Compare to Boys with Autism and Typically Developing Girls with regard to Behavior, Cognition, and Psychopathology?

Abstract Background: The female autism spectrum disorder (ASD) phenotype is currently underresearched. Girls with ASD may differ from boys with ASD, yet few studies have tested this hypothesis, particularly among low functioning individuals. This study compared girls and boys with predominantly low functioning ASD and typically developing girls during middle and late childhood across autism symptoms, cognition, sensory overresponsivity, and co-occurring psychopathology. Methods: Three mental-age-matched groups were compared: girls with ASD (N = 27), boys with ASD (N = 27), and typically developing girls (N = 17). Their ages ranged from 7 to 19 years old. The majority of individuals in the ASD sample had an intelligence quotient of less than 70. Participants were assessed on standard social cognition and attention to detail tasks. Parents completed behavior questionnaires. Results: Mean levels of autism symptoms were not significantly different for boys and girls with ASD, and they were significantly higher than those of typically developing girls. There were some weak trends for boys with ASD to show more compulsive behavior, inattention/hyperactivity and taste sensory overresponsivity than girls with ASD, but differences were not significant after controlling for multiple comparisons. The Block Design task, assessing attention to detail, showed a significant sex difference, with boys with ASD outperforming both girls with ASD and typically developing girls. Conclusions: Predominantly low functioning girls with ASD differed from typically developing girls but did not differ from boys with ASD with regard to their levels of autism symptoms, sensory overresponsivity, or co-occurring psychopathology. These data feed into debates about whether ASD assessment tools require sex-specific criteria and to what degree treatment should be tailored to the sex of the individual

Fucoid brown algae inject fucoidan carbon into the ocean

Peer reviewe

I hvilken grad er transformasjonsledelse et ideal for kvinnelige ledere, og hvordan reflekterer de over sin egen lederutøvelse og det at de er kvinner?

Oppgaven har som utgangspunkt å knytte transformasjonsledelse og kvinnelige ledere sammen, for å se på sammenheng mellom disse to komponentene. Videre har oppgaven til formål å belyse noen kvinnelige lederes egne refleksjoner rundt sin egen lederutøvelse sett i sammenheng med kjønn. Da det stadig dukker opp nye rapporter som viser skjev balanse mellom kjønn i ledelse, ville vi se på hva kvinnelige ledere selv følte rundt det å være kvinne i en historisk sett mannsdominert rolle. Samtidig var en det en interessant vinkling å knytte dette opp mot transformasjonsledelse nettopp fordi dette har vært en fremadstormende ledelsesform de siste årene. I litteraturen er det skrevet mye om transformasjonsledelse og hvordan menn og kvinner tendenderer til ulike former for ledelse, gjennom naturlige egenskaper knyttet til hvert kjønn. Det er gjort forskning på hvorvidt kvinner har bedre anlegg for å være transformasjonsledere, på bakgrunn av feminine egenskaper som blant annet å være tillitsskapende, relasjonsbyggende og omsorgsfull. Transformasjonsledelse anses å være en ledelsesform bygget på idealisert innflytelse, inspirerende motivasjon, intellektuell stimulering og individuell støtte - i motsetning til transaksjonsledelse som er en ledelsesform knyttet primært til oppgaveorientering. Dermed kan man se en sammenheng mellom de feminine egenskapene og de fire I’ene i transformasjonsledelse. Etter en innhenting av data ved bruk av kvalitativ metode fant vi svært sprikende svar gjennom fem intervjuobjekter sine refleksjoner. Mye ble støttet opp av utvalgt teori, samtidig som at overraskende mange av refleksjonene var svært tvetydige og uklare. Dette tror vi delvis kan forklares med flere teoretiske perspektiver, blant annet identifisering av kjønn og kjønnsroller, men også hvilken rolle sosial status og kontekst spiller. Det kommer tydelig frem at selv om de kvinnelige lederne ønsker å være transformasjonsledere, ønsker de ikke å nødvendigvis knytte denne ledelsesformen til sitt eget kjønn. Gjennom diskusjon og drøfting har vi sett på hvorfor denne tvetydigheten oppstår, samt potensielle forklaringer som kan ligge til grunn for det vi anser som fraskrivelsen av sammenhengen mellom eget kjønn og transformasjonsledelse

Is there an association between food patterns and life satisfaction among Norway's inhabitants ages 65 years and older?

The lack of information regarding older adults' health and lifestyles makes it difficult to design suitable interventions for people at risk of developing unhealth lifestyles. Therefore, there is a need to increase knowledge about older adults’ food patterns and quality of life.Our aim was to determine associations among food patterns, anxiety, depression, and life satisfaction in Norwegian inhabitants ages 65+. The Nord-Trøndelag Health Study (The HUNT Study) is a large, population-based cohort study that includes data for 125 000 Norwegian participants. The cohort used for this study is wave three of the study, consisting of 11 619 participants age 65 and over. Cluster analysis was used to categorize the participants based on similarities in food consumption; two clusters were identified based on similarities regarding food consumption among participants. Significant differences between the clusters were found, as participants in the healthy food-patterns cluster had higher life satisfaction and lower anxiety and depression than those in the unhealthy food-patterns cluster.The associations among food patterns, anxiety, depression, and life satisfaction among older adults show the need for increased focus on interactions among food patterns, food consumption, and life satisfaction among the elderly in order to explore how society can influence these patterns

Pre-stroke exercise does not reduce atrophy in healthy young adult mice

Stroke is the main cause of acquired disability in adults. Exercise reduces the risk for stroke and protects against functional loss after stroke. An exercise-induced reduction in key risk factors probably contributes to the protective effect, but direct effects on the brain may also contribute to stroke protection. We previously reported that exercise increases angiogenesis and neurogenesis through activation of the lactate receptor HCA1. Here we exposed young adult wild-type mice and HCA1 knockout mice to interval exercise at high or medium intensity, or to intraperitoneal injections of L-lactate or saline for seven weeks before we induced experimental stroke by permanent occlusion of the distal medial cerebral artery (dMCA). The resulting cortical atrophy measured three weeks after stroke was unaffected by exercise or L-lactate pre-treatments, and independent of HCA1 activation. Our results suggest that the beneficial effect of exercise prior to stroke where no reperfusion occurs is limited in individuals who do not carry risk factors

Kultur og helse i HUNT – En metodeevaluering

Flere studier har indikert at det er sammenheng mellom kulturdeltagelse og helse, men mange av studiene har vesentlige svakheter. Befolkningsstudier med et stort antall deltagere har flere fordeler, bl.a. er det mulig å kontrollere for konfunderende faktorer. Men i slike undersøkelser må antall spørsmål ofte begrenses, og det kan derfor stilles spørsmål ved hvor presis og relevant informasjonen blir. Ved HUNT3 (2006-08) ble to spørsmål om kulturdeltagelse inkludert: «Hvor mange ganger har du i løpet av de siste 6 måneder vært på/i: Museum, kunstutstilling/konsert, teater, kino/kirke, bedehus/idrettsarrangement", og «Hvor mange ganger har du løpet av de siste 6 måneder selv drevet med: Foreningsvirksomhet/musikk, sang, teater/menighetsarbeid/friluftsliv/dans/trening, idrett». Målet med denne studien var å undersøke hvordan spørsmålene ble oppfattet og tolket. Var informasjonen relevant til bruk i en epidemiologisk studie som HUNT? Det ble gjennomført tre fokusgruppeintervjuer med til sammen 17 deltakere i alderen 20 til 80 år. Flertallet hadde høyere utdanning. Tema som gikk igjen ble gruppert i kategorier, som bestod av beskrivelser over informantenes synspunkter og meninger. Hovedinntrykket fra fokusgruppeintervjuene var at informantene mente at spørsmålene i HUNT3 ga et grovt estimat på kulturaktivitetene i befolkningen. Vår konklusjon er at spørsmålene var tilstrekkelig presise til å bruke i analyser på gruppenivå

Synthesis of Black Phosphorene Quantum Dots from Red Phosphorus

Phosphorene quantum dots (PQDs) are most commonly derived from high-cost black phosphorus, while previous syntheses from the low-cost red phosphorus (Pred) allotrope are highly oxidised. Herein, we present an intrinsically scalable method to producing high quality PQDs, by first ball-milling Pred to create nanocrystalline Pblack and subsequent reductive etching using lithium electride solvated in liquid ammonia. The resultant ~25 nm PQDs are crystalline with low oxygen content, and spontaneously soluble as individualized monolayers in tertiary amide solvents, as directly imaged by liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy. This new method presents a scalable route to producing quantities of high quality PQDs for academic and industrial applications