A Dynamic Exploration into Mentalization Among Youth on the Autism Spectrum

The relationship between mentalization, affect regulation, and the quality of object relations among individuals with an autism spectrum disorder was explored. The findings could be used as conceptual support for the use of psychodynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of people on the autism spectrum. The study consisted of a retrospective analysis of neuropsychological assessment standard scores on three measures (Mutuality of Autonomy Scale, NEPSY-II Theory of Mind subtest, and the CBCL Dysregulated Profile). Forty-four subjects diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder —aged nine to sixteen—were compared with a matched non-autism clinical sample. The results supported the hypothesis that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder have less capacity for mentalization compared to the comparison subjects and the general population. The findings did not support more affect dysregulation among those with autism compared to the comparison group, and did not find heightened affect dysregulation in comparison to the general population. Additionally, the study did not confirm that as mentalization capacity decreases affect dysregulation increases. As was hypothesized, the absolute level of object relations was in the average range among individuals with autism

A Supervised STDP-based Training Algorithm for Living Neural Networks

Neural networks have shown great potential in many applications like speech recognition, drug discovery, image classification, and object detection. Neural network models are inspired by biological neural networks, but they are optimized to perform machine learning tasks on digital computers. The proposed work explores the possibilities of using living neural networks in vitro as basic computational elements for machine learning applications. A new supervised STDP-based learning algorithm is proposed in this work, which considers neuron engineering constrains. A 74.7% accuracy is achieved on the MNIST benchmark for handwritten digit recognition.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, Accepted by ICASSP 201

Poluentes atmosféricos associados a condições meteorológicas de superfície na região do ABC em São Paulo

Air pollution is one the main environmental problems in urban areas like the Metropolitan Area of São Paulo (MASP) in Brazil, where millions of inhabitants are exposed to pollution concentrations above the standards, with potential health impacts. Exposure is unequal throughout MASP, relying on the dynamics of local emission sources interplaying with weather and climate in a regional scale. The ABC region — ABC standing for Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo and São Caetano do Sul, the cities the area originally comprised of — is MASP’s largest industrial center, sitting in its southeast border, and encloses environmental protection areas. That leads to a unique emission profile that differ from the metropolis center. This study aims to characterize the variability of atmospheric pollutants in the ABC region in 2015, investigating possible sources and associations with surface meteorological conditions. Multivariate statistical analyses were applied to data from seven air quality monitoring stations and surface meteorological variables. Results show that São Bernardo do Campo stood out, with O3 concentrations 20% higher (43±19 μg.m-3) than the other sites, while São Caetano do Sul had the highest annual mean PM10 concentrations (39±19 μg.m-3), mostly related to vehicular emissions. Relative humidity was negatively correlated with primary pollutants, while temperature and radiation correlated with O3. Unusually high O3 concentrations were observed in January of 2015, concomitant with negative anomalies of precipitation and relative humidity, likely associated with the 2014/2015 summer drought event in Southeast Brazil. Overall, results show that local emission sources significantly impact air pollution loading and its diurnal variability, particularly in the case of primary pollutants. Climate modulates the seasonal concentration variability, and regional scale weather phenomena may impact air quality conditions. To reach concentration standards everywhere, policy makers must be aware of processes occurring in different spatial scales that determine air quality.A poluição atmosférica é um dos principais problemas ambientais em áreas urbanas como a Região Metropolitana de São Paulo (RMSP), no Brasil, onde milhões de habitantes estão expostos a concentrações acima dos padrões, com potenciais impactos à saúde. A exposição à poluição atmosférica é desigual na RMSP, dependendo da dinâmica de fontes emissoras locais e da influência do tempo e do clima em escala regional. A região do ABC — sigla originada a partir das iniciais de suas cidades originais: Santo André, São Bernardo do Campo e São Caetano do Sul — é o maior centro industrial da RMSP, localizada em sua fronteira sudeste, e inclui áreas de proteção ambiental. Essas características resultam em um perfil de emissões singular, que difere do centro da metrópole. Este estudo visa caracterizar a variabilidade na concentração de poluentes atmosféricos na região do ABC em 2015, investigando possíveis fontes e associações a condições meteorológicas de superfície. Análises estatísticas multivariadas foram aplicadas a dados de qualidade do ar de sete estações de monitoramento e variáveis meteorológicas de superfície. São Bernardo do Campo se destacou, com concentrações de O3 20% maiores (43±19 μg.m-3) do que as outras estações, enquanto São Caetano do Sul apresentou a maior média anual de PM10 (39±19 μg.m-3), relacionada principalmente a emissões veiculares. A umidade relativa apresentou correlação negativa com os poluentes primários, enquanto a temperatura e a radiação se correlacionaram ao O3. Elevadas concentrações de O3 foram atipicamente observadas em janeiro de 2015 (59±19 μg.m-3), simultaneamente a anomalias negativas de precipitação e umidade relativa, possivelmente associadas ao evento de seca no Sudeste do Brasil no verão de 2014/2015. Os resultados mostram que fontes emissoras locais podem impactar significativamente a carga de poluição e sua variabilidade diurna, especialmente no caso de poluentes primários. O clima modula a variabilidade sazonal das concentrações, e fenômenos meteorológicos de escala regional podem impactar a qualidade do ar. Para atingir os padrões de concentração em toda a parte, o poder público deve ficar atento aos processos que ocorrem em diferentes escalas espaciais e que determinam a qualidade do ar

Erratum to: Single‐Photon‐Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) with Technetium‐99m Sestamibi in the Diagnosis of Small Breast Cancer and Axillary Lymph Node Involvement

n/

A Dynamic Exploration into Mentalization Among Youth on the Autism Spectrum

The relationship between mentalization, affect regulation, and the quality of object relations among individuals with an autism spectrum disorder was explored. The findings could be used as conceptual support for the use of psychodynamic psychotherapy in the treatment of people on the autism spectrum. The study consisted of a retrospective analysis of neuropsychological assessment standard scores on three measures (Mutuality of Autonomy Scale, NEPSY-II Theory of Mind subtest, and the CBCL Dysregulated Profile). Forty-four subjects diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder —aged nine to sixteen—were compared with a matched non-autism clinical sample. The results supported the hypothesis that individuals with an autism spectrum disorder have less capacity for mentalization compared to the comparison subjects and the general population. The findings did not support more affect dysregulation among those with autism compared to the comparison group, and did not find heightened affect dysregulation in comparison to the general population. Additionally, the study did not confirm that as mentalization capacity decreases affect dysregulation increases. As was hypothesized, the absolute level of object relations was in the average range among individuals with autism

NACA Research Memorandums

Memorandum presenting an investigation of the effect of the addition of approximately 6 percent nickel, cobalt, or platinum on some properties of molybdenum disilicide. These additions resulted in appreciably lowering the modulus-of-rupture strength from that of unalloyed molybdenum disilicide. Results regarding density and particle-size analysis, chemical analysis of bars, metallographic and x-ray analysis, density and resistivity, modulus-of-rupture strengths, thermal shock tests, and oxidation resistance are provided