White matter microstructure and atypical visual orienting in 7 month-olds at risk for autism

pre-printObjective: The authors sought to determine whether specific patterns of oculo-motor functioning and visual orientingcharacterize 7-month-old infants who later meet criteria for an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and to identify the neural correlates of these behaviors. Method:Data were collected from 97 infants, of whom 16 were high-familial-risk infants later classified as having an ASD, 40 were high-familial-risk infants who did not later meet ASD criteria (high-risk negative), and 41 were low- risk infants. All infants underwent an eye-tracking task at a mean age of 7 months and a clinical assessment at a mean age of 25 months. Diffusion-weighted imaging data were acquired for 84 of the infants at 7 months. Primary outcome measures included average saccadic reaction time in a visually guided saccade procedure and radial diffusivity (an index of white matter organization) in fiber tracts that included corticospinal path-ways and the splenium and genu of the corpus callosum. Results: Visual orienting latencies were longer in 7-month-old infants who ex-pressed ASD symptoms at 25 months compared with both high-risk negative infants and low-risk infants. Visual orienting latencies were uniquely associated with the microstructural organization of the splenium of the corpus callosum in low-risk infants, but this association was not apparent in infants later classified as having an ASD. Conclusions: Flexiblyandef ficientlyorienting to salient information in the environment is critical for subsequent cognitive and social-cognitive development. Atypical visual orienting may represent an early prodromal feature of an ASD, and abnormal functional specialization of posterior cortical circuits directly informs a novel model of ASD pathogenesis

Using the ‘recovery’ and ‘rehabilitation’ paradigms to support desistence of substance-involved offenders: Exploration of dual and multi-focus interventions (Invited Paper)

Purpose The links between substance use and offending are well evidenced in the literature, and increasingly, substance misuse recovery is being seen as a central component of the process of rehabilitation from offending, with substance use identified as a key criminogenic risk factor. In recent years, research has demonstrated the commonalities between recovery and rehabilitation, and the possible merits of providing interventions to substance-involved offenders that address both problematic sets of behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the links between substance use and offending, and the burgeoning literature around the parallel processes of recovery and rehabilitation. Design/methodology/approach This is provided as a rationale for a new treatment approach for substance-involved offenders, Breaking Free Online (BFO), which has recently been provided as part of the “Gateways” throughcare pathfinder in a number of prisons in North-West England. The BFO programme contains specific behaviour change techniques that are generic enough to be applied to change a wide range of behaviours, and so is able to support substance-involved offenders to address their substance use and offending simultaneously. Findings This dual and multi-target intervention approach has the potential to address multiple, associated areas of need simultaneously, streamlining services and providing more holistic support for individuals, such as substance-involved offenders, who may have multiple and complex needs. Practical implications Given the links between substance use and offending, it may be beneficial to provide multi-focussed interventions that address both these behaviours simultaneously, in addition to other areas of multiple and complex needs. Specifically, digital technologies may provide an opportunity to widen access to such multi-focussed interventions, through computer-assisted therapy delivery modalities. Additionally, using digital technologies to deliver such interventions can provide opportunities for joined-up care by making interventions available across both prison and community settings, following offenders on their journey through the criminal justice system. Originality/value Recommendations are provided to other intervention developers who may wish to further contribute to widening access to such dual- and multi-focus programmes for substance-involved offenders, based on the experiences developing and evidencing the BFO programme

Initial findings from a mixed-methods feasibility and effectiveness evaluation of the 'Breaking Free Health an Justice' treatment and recovery programme for substance misuse in prison settings

Reshaping substance misuse treatment in prisons is central to the UK Government’s drive to address substance dependence in the prison population and reduce substance-related offending and recidivism. Therefore, a through-care project to support prisoners released from custody to community, “Gateways”, is taking place across North-West England. Amongst support with housing, education, training and employment, Gateways incorporates the Breaking Free Online (BFO) substance misuse treatment programme. Aims: To explore BFO’s potential to provide support to prisoners’ substance misuse recovery and continuity of care post-release, and examine quantitative outcomes provided by prisoners who have used the programme. Methods: Qualitative interviews with prisoners and analyses of quantitative psychometric data collected pre- and post-intervention. Findings: Themes emerging from qualitative data around prisoners’ experiences of engaging with BFO illustrate its potential for use in prison settings and also upon release to the community. Significant quantitative improvements to quality of life, severity of substance dependence and aspects of recovery progression illustrate initial effectiveness of BFO. Conclusions: The BFO programme demonstrates potential in providing effective treatment for offenders with substance misuse difficulties, and specifically in delivering continuity of care following release to the community

Strategies for Managing Large Online Classes

Online classroom instruction is an exciting technology and continues to draw the attention of students, instructors and administrators working or studying in educational settings. Large numbers of faculty are currently involved in teaching online or hybrid courses within their educational institutions. At the present time, very large online classes are usually defined as 150 students and above. Many instructors are now experimenting with making online learning options available to even larger audiences and online class sizes are increasing rapidly. This paper presents guidelines for managing large online courses. Among key elements important in meeting the needs of the distant learner through large online course design are: effective communication, use of teaching assistants and multiple sections, teaching techniques successful in large online sections and professional practice in the online classroom. This paper will discuss these elements and corresponding suggestions for the instructors of large to very large online courses

Eye Tracking Young Children with Autism

The rise of accessible commercial eye-tracking systems has fueled a rapid increase in their use in psychological and psychiatric research. By providing a direct, detailed and objective measure of gaze behavior, eye-tracking has become a valuable tool for examining abnormal perceptual strategies in clinical populations and has been used to identify disorder-specific characteristics1, promote early identification2, and inform treatment3. In particular, investigators of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have benefited from integrating eye-tracking into their research paradigms4-7. Eye-tracking has largely been used in these studies to reveal mechanisms underlying impaired task performance8 and abnormal brain functioning9, particularly during the processing of social information1,10-11. While older children and adults with ASD comprise the preponderance of research in this area, eye-tracking may be especially useful for studying young children with the disorder as it offers a non-invasive tool for assessing and quantifying early-emerging developmental abnormalities2,12-13. Implementing eye-tracking with young children with ASD, however, is associated with a number of unique challenges, including issues with compliant behavior resulting from specific task demands and disorder-related psychosocial considerations. In this protocol, we detail methodological considerations for optimizing research design, data acquisition and psychometric analysis while eye-tracking young children with ASD. The provided recommendations are also designed to be more broadly applicable for eye-tracking children with other developmental disabilities. By offering guidelines for best practices in these areas based upon lessons derived from our own work, we hope to help other investigators make sound research design and analysis choices while avoiding common pitfalls that can compromise data acquisition while eye-tracking young children with ASD or other developmental difficulties

A Police Officer’s Tacit Knowledge Inventory (POTKI): Establishing Construct Validity and Exploring Applications

Research summarizes the construction of a Police Officer’s Tacit Knowledge Inventory (Inventory), a situational judgment test comprised of knowledge gained on-the-job by experienced police officers, and examines if it can play a role in the development of expertise. Correlation and regression analysis was done to establish the Inventory’s ability to predict post-Academy graduation performance. Results show that Inventory response patterns correlate with Supervisor ratings; and the Inventory responses correctly predict significant differences between novice patrol officers and experienced police officers

Understanding the role of shame and its consequences in female hypersexual behaviours: A pilot study

Background and aims: Hypersexuality and sexual addiction among females is a little understudied phenomenon. Shame is thought to be intrinsic to hypersexual behaviours, especially in women. Therefore, the aim of this study was to understand both hypersexual behaviours and consequences of hypersexual behaviours and their respective contributions to shame in a British sample of females (n = 102). Methods: Data were collected online via Survey Monkey. Results: Results showed the Sexual Behaviour History (SBH) and the Hypersexual Disorder Questionnaire (HDQ) had significant positive correlation with scores on the Shame Inventory. The results indicated that hypersexual behaviours (HBI and HDQ) were able to predict a small percentage of the variability in shame once sexual orientation (heterosexual vs. non-heterosexual) and religious beliefs (belief vs. no belief) were controlled for. Results also showed there was no evidence that religious affiliation and/or religious beliefs had an influence on the levels of hypersexuality and consequences of sexual behaviours as predictors of shame. Conclusions: While women in the UK are rapidly shifting to a feminist way of thinking with or without technology, hypersexual disorder may often be misdiagnosed and misunderstood because of the lack of understanding and how it is conceptualised. The implications of these findings are discussed

Frontolimbic neural circuitry at 6 months predicts individual differences in joint attention at 9 months

Elucidating the neural basis of joint attention in infancy promises to yield important insights into the development of language and social cognition, and directly informs developmental models of autism. We describe a new method for evaluating responding to joint attention performance in infancy that highlights the 9- to 10-month period as a time interval of maximal individual differences. We then demonstrate that fractional anisotropy in the right uncinate fasciculus, a white matter fiber bundle connecting the amygdala to the ventral-medial prefrontal cortex and anterior temporal pole, measured in 6-month-olds predicts individual differences in responding to joint attention at 9 months of age. The white matter microstructure of the right uncinate was not related to receptive language ability at 9 months. These findings suggest that the development of core nonverbal social communication skills in infancy is largely supported by preceding developments within right lateralized frontotemporal brain systems

Medicago truncatula and Glomus intraradices gene expression in cortical cells harboring arbuscules in the arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most vascular flowering plants have the capacity to form symbiotic associations with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. The symbiosis develops in the roots where AM fungi colonize the root cortex and form arbuscules within the cortical cells. Arbuscules are enveloped in a novel plant membrane and their establishment requires the coordinated cellular activities of both symbiotic partners. The arbuscule-cortical cell interface is the primary functional interface of the symbiosis and is of central importance in nutrient exchange. To determine the molecular events the underlie arbuscule development and function, it is first necessary to identify genes that may play a role in this process. Toward this goal we used the Affymetrix GeneChip^®Medicago Genome Array to document the <it>M. truncatula </it>transcript profiles associated with AM symbiosis, and then developed laser microdissection (LM) of <it>M. truncatula </it>root cortical cells to enable analyses of gene expression in individual cell types by RT-PCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>This approach led to the identification of novel <it>M. truncatula </it>and <it>G. intraradices </it>genes expressed in colonized cortical cells and in arbuscules. Within the arbuscule, expression of genes associated with the urea cycle, amino acid biosynthesis and cellular autophagy was detected. Analysis of gene expression in the colonized cortical cell revealed up-regulation of a lysine motif (LysM)-receptor like kinase, members of the GRAS transcription factor family and a symbiosis-specific ammonium transporter that is a likely candidate for mediating ammonium transport in the AM symbiosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Transcript profiling using the Affymetrix GeneChip^®Medicago Genome Array provided new insights into gene expression in <it>M. truncatula </it>roots during AM symbiosis and revealed the existence of several <it>G. intraradices </it>genes on the <it>M. truncatula </it>GeneChip^®. A laser microdissection protocol that incorporates low-melting temperature Steedman's wax, was developed to enable laser microdissection of <it>M. truncatula </it>root cortical cells. LM coupled with RT-PCR provided spatial gene expression information for both symbionts and expanded current information available for gene expression in cortical cells containing arbuscules.</p

Evaluation Rainfall Regime at the Hydroelectric Power Plant Toward Climate Change

The hydroelectric plants are first in the Brazilian energy matrix, so irregularities in the rainfall regime can affect the energy generation, thus evidencing the need to know the rainfall distribution in the studied area. This work aimed to evaluate possible analysis of the impacts of climate change on the rainfall regime in the Machadinho hydroelectric region. For the research development, the IPCC-AR5 pessimistic scenario was used, representing a scenario with a continuous population growth and high carbon dioxide emissions. From the historical series and organized projections, precipitation anomalies were calculated. Analyzing the difference between the average of the month and the climatological normal, it was inferred that the model used presented a positive trend for precipitation in the period from 2026 - 2100, projecting anomalies between 25 and 200 mm per month. A greater amplitude is observed in the precipitation of 2076-2100, indicating an increase in the occurrence of extreme events of precipitation, mainly in the spring period. Considering that the rains in the Machadinho hydroelectric region are increasing in the scenarios analyzed, the average water level in the reservoir of the plant tends to increase