Ensemble averages and nonextensivity at the edge of chaos of one-dimensional maps

Ensemble averages of the sensitivity to initial conditions $\xi(t)$ and the entropy production per unit time of a {\it new} family of one-dimensional dissipative maps, $x_{t+1}=1-ae^{-1/|x_t|^z}(z>0)$, and of the known logistic-like maps, $x_{t+1}=1-a|x_t|^z(z>1)$, are numerically studied, both for {\it strong} (Lyapunov exponent $\lambda_1>0$) and {\it weak} (chaos threshold, i.e., $\lambda_1=0$) chaotic cases. In all cases we verify that (i) both $[\ln_q x \equiv (x^{1-q}-1)/(1-q); \ln_1 x=\ln x]$ and $<S_q > [S_q \equiv (1-\sum_i p_i^q)/(q-1); S_1=-\sum_i p_i \ln p_i]$ {\it linearly} increase with time for (and only for) a special value of $q$, $q_{sen}^{av}$, and (ii) the {\it slope} of $$and that of$$ {\it coincide}, thus interestingly extending the well known Pesin theorem. For strong chaos, $q_{sen}^{av}=1$, whereas at the edge of chaos, $q_{sen}^{av}(z)<1$.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

Infants later diagnosed with autism have lower canonical babbling ratios in the first year of life

BACKGROUND: Canonical babbling-producing syllables with a mature consonant, full vowel, and smooth transition-is an important developmental milestone that typically occurs in the first year of life. Some studies indicate delayed or reduced canonical babbling in infants at high familial likelihood for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or who later receive an ASD diagnosis, but evidence is mixed. More refined characterization of babbling in the first year of life in infants with high likelihood for ASD is needed. METHODS: Vocalizations produced at 6 and 12 months by infants (n = 267) taking part in a longitudinal study were coded for canonical and non-canonical syllables. Infants were categorized as low familial likelihood (LL), high familial likelihood diagnosed with ASD at 24 months (HL-ASD) or not diagnosed (HL-Neg). Language delay was assessed based on 24-month expressive and receptive language scores. Canonical babble ratio (CBR) was calculated by dividing the number of canonical syllables by the number of total syllables. Generalized linear (mixed) models were used to assess the relationship between group membership and CBR, controlling for site, sex, and maternal education. Logistic regression was used to assess whether canonical babbling ratios at 6 and 12 months predict 24-month diagnostic outcome. RESULTS: No diagnostic group differences in CBR were detected at 6 months, but HL-ASD infants produced significantly lower CBR than both the HL-Neg and LL groups at 12 months. HL-Neg infants with language delay also showed reduced CBR at 12 months. Neither 6- nor 12-month CBR was significant predictors of 24-month diagnostic outcome (ASD versus no ASD) in logistic regression. LIMITATIONS: Small numbers of vocalizations produced by infants at 6 months may limit the reliability of CBR estimates. It is not known if results generalize to infants who are not at high familial likelihood, or infants from more diverse racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. CONCLUSIONS: Lower canonical babbling ratios are apparent by the end of the first year of life in ASD regardless of later language delay, but are also observed for infants with later language delay without ASD. Canonical babbling may lack specificity as an early marker when used on its own

The Asymptotic Giant Branches of GCs: Selective Entry Only

The handful of available observations of AGB stars in Galactic Globular Clusters suggest that the GC AGB populations are dominated by cyanogen-weak stars. This contrasts strongly with the distributions in the RGB (and other) populations, which generally show a 50:50 bimodality in CN band strength. If it is true that the AGB populations show very different distributions then it presents a serious problem for low mass stellar evolution theory, since such a surface abundance change going from the RGB to AGB is not predicted by stellar models. However this is only a tentative conclusion, since it is based on very small AGB sample sizes. To test whether this problem really exists we have carried out an observational campaign specifically targeting AGB stars in GCs. We have obtained medium resolution spectra for about 250 AGB stars across 9 Galactic GCs using the multi-object spectrograph on the AAT (2df/AAOmega). We present some of the preliminary findings of the study for the second parameter trio of GCs: NGC 288, NGC 362 and NGC 1851. The results indeed show that there is a deficiency of stars with strong CN bands on the AGB. To confirm that this phenomenon is robust and not just confined to CN band strengths and their vagaries, we have made observations using FLAMES/VLT to measure elemental abundances for NGC 6752.We present some initial results from this study also. Our sodium abundance results show conclusively that only a subset of stars in GCs experience the AGB phase of evolution. This is the first direct, concrete confirmation of the phenomenon.Comment: 4 pages, to appear in conference proceedings of "Reading the book of globular clusters with the lens of stellar evolution", Rome, 26-28 November 201

Sodium content as a predictor of the advanced evolution of globular cluster stars

The asymptotic giant branch (AGB) phase is the final stage of nuclear burning for low-mass stars. Although Milky Way globular clusters are now known to harbour (at least) two generations of stars they still provide relatively homogeneous samples of stars that are used to constrain stellar evolution theory. It is predicted by stellar models that the majority of cluster stars with masses around the current turn-off mass (that is, the mass of the stars that are currently leaving the main sequence phase) will evolve through the AGB phase. Here we report that all of the second-generation stars in the globular cluster NGC 6752 -- 70 per cent of the cluster population -- fail to reach the AGB phase. Through spectroscopic abundance measurements, we found that every AGB star in our sample has a low sodium abundance, indicating that they are exclusively first-generation stars. This implies that many clusters cannot reliably be used for star counts to test stellar evolution timescales if the AGB population is included. We have no clear explanation for this observation.Comment: Published in Nature (online 29 May 2013, hard copy 13 June), 12 pages, 3 figures + supplementary information sectio

Emergence of Quantum Phase-Slip Behaviour in Superconducting NbN Nanowires: DC Electrical Transport and Fabrication Technologies

Superconducting nanowires undergoing quantum phase-slips have potential for impact in electronic devices, with a high-accuracy quantum current standard among a possible toolbox of novel components. A key element of developing such technologies is to understand the requirements for, and control the production of, superconducting nanowires that undergo coherent quantum phase-slips. We present three fabrication technologies, based on using electron-beam lithography or neon focussed ion-beam lithography, for defining narrow superconducting nanowires, and have used these to create nanowires in niobium nitride with widths in the range of 20-250 nm. We present characterisation of the nanowires using DC electrical transport at temperatures down to 300 mK. We demonstrate that a range of different behaviours may be obtained in different nanowires, including bulk-like superconducting properties with critical-current features, the observation of phase-slip centres and the observation of zero conductance below a critical voltage, characteristic of coherent quantum phase-slips. We observe critical voltages up to 5 mV, an order of magnitude larger than other reports to date. The different prominence of quantum phase-slip effects in the various nanowires may be understood as arising from the differing importance of quantum fluctuations. Control of the nanowire properties will pave the way for routine fabrication of coherent quantum phase-slip nanowire devices for technology applications.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

The female protective effect in autism spectrum disorder is not mediated by a single genetic locus

Background: A 4:1 male to female sex bias has consistently been observed in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Epidemiological and genetic studies suggest a female protective effect (FPE) may account for part of this bias; however, the mechanism of such protection is unknown. Quantitative assessment of ASD symptoms using the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS) shows a bimodal distribution unique to females in multiplex families. This leads to the hypothesis that a single, common genetic locus on chromosome X might mediate the FPE and produce the ASD sex bias. Such a locus would represent a major therapeutic target and is likely to have been missed by conventional genome-wide association study (GWAS) analysis. Methods: To explore this possibility, we performed an association study in affected versus unaffected females, considering three tiers of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as follows: 1) regions of chromosome X that escape X-inactivation, 2) all of chromosome X, and 3) genome-wide. Results: No evidence of a SNP meeting the criteria for a single FPE locus was observed, despite the analysis being well powered to detect this effect. Conclusions: The results do not support the hypothesis that the FPE is mediated by a single genetic locus; however, this does not exclude the possibility of multiple genetic loci playing a role in the FPE.Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Research Center at Washington University (NIH/NICHD) [P30 HD062171]; Simons Foundation (SFARI) [307705]; Canadian Institutes of Health Research; [R01 HD042541]SCI(E)[email protected]; [email protected]

Analysis methods for collaborative models and activities

Abstract. A classification of analysis methods for CSCL systems is presented which uses as one dimension the distinction into summary analysis and structural analysis and as another distinction different types of raw data: either user actions or state descriptions. The Cool Modes environment for collaborative modeling enables us to explore the whole spectrum of analysis methods. Action logging is based on the MatchMaker communication server underlying Cool Modes. Example instances for several analysis methods have been implemented in the Cool Modes framework.