497 research outputs found

    Comment on "On the TST_S-Anomaly in Betaine Calcium Chloride Dihydrate"

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    Recently, Hlinka and Ishibashi [J. Phys. Soc. Jpn. 67, 495 (1998)] discussed the TST_S-anomaly in betaine calcium chloride dihydrate (BCCD) in a Landau-type approach. We comment on the shortcomings of this approach and discuss the TST_S-anomaly in the framework of a microscopical pseudo spin model based on a realistic description of BCCD in terms of symmetry-adapted local modes.Comment: 2 pages, RevTex, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp

    Metabarcoding of marine zooplankton: prospects, progress and pitfalls

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    Metabarcoding (large-scale taxonomic identification of complex samples via analysis of one or few orthologous DNA regions, called barcodes) is revolutionizing analysis of biodiversity of marine zooplankton assemblages. Metabarcoding relies on high-throughput DNA sequencing (HTS) technologies, which yield millions of DNA sequences in parallel and allow large-scale analysis of environmental samples. Metabarcoding studies of marine zooplankton have used various regions of nuclear small- (18S) and large-subunit (28S) rRNA, which allow accurate classification of novel sequences and reliable amplification with consensus primers, but- due to their relatively conserved nature- may underestimate species diversity in a community. To discriminate species, more variable genes are needed. A limited number of metabarcoding studies have used mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I (COI), which ensures detection of species-level diversity, but may require group-specific primers and thus result in inconsistent amplification success rates. Reference databases with sequences for accurately-identified species are critically needed to allow taxonomic designation of molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTU) and comparison with previous studies of zooplankton diversity. Potential and promising applications of metabarcoding include rapid detection of impacts of climate change, monitoring and assessment of ecosystem health, calculation of biotic indices, characterization of food webs and detection of introduced, non-indigenous species

    Factors related to the comorbidity between oppositional defiant disorder and anxiety disorders in preschool children

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    Background: The aim of the study is to identify the main factors related to comorbid oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and anxiety disorders (AD), for preschoolers, and to assess the moderating role of the children's sex. Design: The initial sample of 622 children was assessed longitudinally at the ages of 3 and 5 years by means of questionnaires and a diagnostic interview. At baseline, there were 310 boys (49.8%), most participants were of Caucasian-white ethnicity (554, 89.1%), 398 children attended to public school (64.0%) and families socioeconomic status was 64.3% medium-high, 14.1% medium and 20.5% medium-low or low levels. Methods: For the analysis, children diagnosed with ODD and/or AD were selected: n=103 at 3 years old (44 ODD, 42 AD and 17 ODD+AD) and n=106 at 5 years old (31 ODD, 60 AD and 15 ODD+AD). Results: High levels of the child's negative affectivity and the mother's aggressive behavior (versus AD), and high scores in the father's psychopathology measurements (versus ODD) are related to the presence of comorbid ODD+AD at the age of 3. High scores in the child's approach-positive anticipation, fears (only in boys, in girls the reverse effect occurred) compared to ODD and AD independently and aggressive behavior (versus AD), and low scores for smiling and laughter (versus ODD only and AD only) are predictive of comorbidity at the age of 5. Conclusions: Temperament traits may be a common factor in explaining longitudinal ODD+AD comorbidity

    Developmental trajectories of callous-unemotional traits, anxiety and oppositional defiant disorder in 3 - 7 year-old children in the general population

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    There is increasing interest in describing different variants and subtypes that characterize the heterogeneity of behavior problems with the aim of supporting early detection and prevention, as well as facilitating research into etiological differences. This work examines the course of co-occurrence of callous-unemotional traits (CU), anxiety (ANX) and oppositionality (ODD-s) levels in a longitudinal community sample. A sample of 622 3-year-old preschoolers, followed up until age 7, was assessed annually with dimensional measures of callous-unemotional traits, oppositional defiant disorder and anxiety and related psychological constructs answered by parents, teachers and performed by children. Growth-Mixture-Modeling yielded six trajectories (null 58.9%, ANXincreasing 4.9%, CU + ANX + ODD 2.4%, CU + ODD-decreasing 8.1%, ODD-increasing 16.4%, and ANX-decreasing 9.2%) that represent the variants previously described with older subjects. The specifier ODD "with limited prosocial emotion" (CU + ODD decreasing and increasing) showed deficits in executive functioning, attention, aggressive behavior and social cognition in comparison with null trajectory. The secondary variant showed a more severe clinical picture and presented more difficulties in executive functioning, worse environmental characteristics, and worse outcomes at age 7. It is possible to identify the heterogeneity of disruptive behavior problems from preschool age. The identification of homogeneous groups in this category of disorders may help to design more suitable treatments with specific components for specific difficulties, and to progress in the etiological research of each clas

    Clinical characteristics of preschool children with oppositional defiant disorder and callous-unemotional traits

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    There is a need to know whether callous-unemotional (CU) traits identify a more severe group of oppositional defiant children (ODD). The aim of this study is to ascertain cross-sectionally and longitudinally the specific contribution of CU levels and the presence of ODD in the psychological state of preschool children from the general population. A total of 622 children were assessed longitudinally at ages 3 and 5 with a semi-structured diagnostic interview and questionnaires filled out by parents and teachers. In multivariate models simultaneously including ODD diagnosis and CU levels, controlling by socioeconomic status, ethnicity, sex, severity of conduct disorder symptoms and other comorbidity, high CU scores were related to higher levels of aggression, withdrawn, externalizing and global symptomatology, functional impairment and higher probability of comorbid disorders and use of services. The contribution of CU traits on children's psychological state was not moderated by the presence/absence of ODD. Stability for CU traits and number of ODD-symptoms between ages 3 and 5 was statistically significant but moderate-low (intra-class correlation under .40). Assessment and identification of CU traits from preschool might help to identify a subset of children who could have socialization problems, not only among those with ODD but also among those without a diagnosis of conduct problem

    Геофизические особенности Верхнеюрского разреза месторождений углеводородов Томской области

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    Использованы петрофизические уравнения и данные геофизических исследований скважин месторождений углеводородов Томской области. Выявлены петрофизические типы коллекторов горизонта Ю1 и геофизические особенности пород баженовской свиты в разрезах с разным типом коллекторов

    RF-Based Location Using Interpolation Functions to Reduce Fingerprint Mapping

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    Indoor RF-based localization using fingerprint mapping requires an initial training step, which represents a time consuming process. This location methodology needs a database conformed with RSSI (Radio Signal Strength Indicator) measures from the communication transceivers taken at specific locations within the localization area. But, the real world localization environment is dynamic and it is necessary to rebuild the fingerprint database when some environmental changes are made. This paper explores the use of different interpolation functions to complete the fingerprint mapping needed to achieve the sought accuracy, thereby reducing the effort in the training step. Also, different distributions of test maps and reference points have been evaluated, showing the validity of this proposal and necessary trade-offs. Results reported show that the same or similar localization accuracy can be achieved even when only 50% of the initial fingerprint reference points are taken

    El análisis de curvas ROC en estudios epidemiológicos de psicopatología infantil: aplicación al cuestionario CBCL

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    ROC analysis was applied in order to study diagnostic accuracy of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and to obtain the optimal cut-off in a sample of 196 pediatric and psychiatric patients 6 to 17 years old. The group of origin, the diagnosis in the Diagnostic lnterview for Children and Adolescents-Revised (DICA-R) and the clinician's diagnosis were used as external validators. The results indicate that the discriminant power of the CBCL for the presence or absence of psychopathology depends on the external validator used. The best results were obtained when it was considered the group of origin and the DlCA-R diagnoses. As screening test, a cut-off between 50 and 54 gave the best sensitivity.Mediante el análisis de curvas ROC se estudia la precisión diagnóstica del Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) y se obtiene elpunto de corte óptimo en una muestra de 196 niños y adolescentes procedentes de centros de consulta pediátrica y psiquiátrica. Se utilizaron como patrones de referencia el grupo de procedencia, el diagnóstico según la entrevista diagnóstica estructurada DICA-R y el diagnóstico del clínico. Los resultados indican que la capacidad del CBCL para discriminar entre sujetos con y sin psicopatología depende en gran medida del patrón de referencia utilizado, siendo mejor el rendimiento de la prueba cuando se contrasta con el grupo de procedencia o con la entrevista diagnóstica estructurada. Como prueba de cribado, el punto de corte de la puntuación total del CBCL se situada entre los valores 50 y 54 para optimizar la sensibilidad

    The short and very short forms of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) in a community sample of preschoolers

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    The aim was to test the internal structure of scores on the short and very short forms of the Children's Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ) scale and to study the relationship between the dimensions derived and external variables previously related to extreme temperament in a Spanish community sample. The sample comprised of 622 three-year-old children participating in a longitudinal study. Data were obtained from parents and teachers through a semistructured diagnostic interview and questionnaires evaluating children's characteristics and psychological states. Results showed a three-factor structure and moderate reliability of the scale scores for both the short and very short forms. Associations were found between the Surgency/Extraversion dimension and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and externalizing problems, between Negative Affect and internalizing and emotional problems, and between Effortful Control and attention, externalizing, and social problems and other executive function measures. Salient temperamental characteristics predicted psychopathological disorders and impairment at ages 3 and 4. The short forms of the CBQ provide reliable and valid scores for assessing temperamental characteristics in the preschool year

    Cognitive and affective components of Theory of Mind in preschoolers with oppositional defiance disorder : clinical evidence

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    The goal of the study was to examine the affective-cognitive components of Theory of Mind (ToM), in a community sample of 538 preschoolers, and more specifically in a subsample of 40 children diagnosed with ODD. The relationship between affective and cognitive ToM and some ODD clinical characteristics was examined. Children were assessed with structured diagnostic interviews and dimensional measures of psychopathology, impairment and unemotional traits. A measure based on eye-gaze was used to assess ToM. Mixed analysis of variance compared the mean cognitive versus affective scale scores and the between-subjects factor ODD. The association between ToM-scores and clinical measures was assessed through correlation models. Execution and reaction time to emotional and cognitive components of ToM tasks are different at age 5 in normally developing children. Oppositional Defiant children had slower response time when performing the affective mentalizing condition than children without the disorder. The correlation matrix between ToM-scores and clinical measures showed specific associations depending on the impaired ToM aspect and the psychological domain. Results may have clinical implications for the prevention and management of OD
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