The narrative coherence of witness transcripts in children on the autism spectrum

Background and Aims. Autistic children often recall fewer details about witnessed events than typically developing children (of comparable age and ability), although the information they recall is generally no less accurate. Previous research has not examined the narrative coherence of such accounts, despite higher quality narratives potentially being perceived more favourably by criminal justice professionals and juries. This study compared the narrative coherence of witness transcripts produced by autistic and typically developing (TD) children (ages 6-11 years, IQs 70+). Methods and Procedures. Secondary analysis was carried out on interview transcripts from a subset of 104 participants (autism=52, TD=52) who had taken part in a larger study of eyewitness skills in autistic and TD children. Groups were matched on chronological age, IQ and receptive language ability. Coding frameworks were adopted from existing narrative research, featuring elements of ‘story grammar’. Outcomes and Results. Whilst fewer event details were reported by autistic children, there were no group differences in narrative coherence (number and diversity of ‘story grammar’ elements used), narrative length or semantic diversity. Conclusions and Implications. These findings suggest that the narrative coherence of autistic children’s witness accounts is equivalent to TD peers of comparable age and ability

Terapia génica: desde los extractos y las píldoras a las pociones de ADN

La terapia génica es un tratamiento alternativo a los abordajes farmacológicos, quirúrgicos y de índole convencional que se está desarrollando tanto a nivel experimental como clínico. En esta revisión, más allá de mencionar los avances y presentar un panorama del tema en el área biomédica, se pretende ampliar el concepto de ADN, desde su función como reservorio fundamental de información para la síntesis de proteínas hasta sus acciones “como fármaco”. Se espera que el ADN encapsulado en vectores o directamente aplicado al tejido, cumpla la función que el gen defectuoso no puede realizar mediante su reemplazo, o impida que un gen desregulado permanezca activo, a través de mecanismos de interferencia. Estos objetivos no solo están dirigidos al tratamiento de pacientes de diferentes edades, sino también de individuos aún no natos, como lo evidencian numerosos abordajes experimentales de terapia génica intrauterina. Actualmente existen varios productos comerciales surgidos en el contexto de la terapia génica. Una vez que este tipo de tratamiento sortee aquellos aspectos que todavía constituyen importantes factores de riesgo, se establezcan acuerdos éticos y se equilibren los costos de las intervenciones, constituirá una alternativa a los métodos convencionales para tratar ciertas enfermedades. El ADN (y el ARN) se presentan como los futuros fármacos en acción de las próximas décadas.Abstract Gene therapy is a treatment that offers an alternative to pharmacological, surgical and conventional approaches that is being developed at an experimental and clinical level. In this review, apart from mentioning advances and presenting an overview of the subject in the biomedical field, our intention is to extend the concept of DNA. DNA is the store of information for protein synthesis and today it is also “a drug”. It is expected for the DNA embedded in vectors or directly applied to tissue to perform the function that the defective gene cannot perform by means of its replacement, or to prevent that gene from remaining active through mechanisms of interference. This is not only aimed at the treatment of patients of different ages but also unborn children, as it has been proved by several experimental approaches of intrauterine gene therapy. Currently there are several commercially available products that have emerged from the context of gene therapy. Once those aspects that still represent important risk factors are overcome, ethical agreements are reached and the costs of the interventions are leveled out, this type of treatment will constitute an alternative to conventional methods to treat certain diseases. DNA (and RNA) are proposed as the future drugs for the following decades.Fil: Santalla, Manuela. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; ArgentinaFil: Fesser, E.. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; ArgentinaFil: Asad, Antonela Sofía. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; ArgentinaFil: Acosta, D.. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; ArgentinaFil: Harnichar, E.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnológico la Plata. Centro de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares "Dr. Horacio Eugenio Cingolani"; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; ArgentinaFil: Ferrero, Paola Viviana. Universidad Nacional del Noroeste de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. Departamento de Ciencias Básicas y Experimentales; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata; Argentin

Kinetic and Transport Equations for Localized Excitations in Sine-Gordon Model

We analyze the kinetic behavior of localized excitations - solitons, breathers and phonons - in Sine-Gordon model. Collision integrals for all type of localized excitation collision processes are constructed, and the kinetic equations are derived. We analyze the kinetic behavior of localized excitations - solitons, breathers and phonons - in Sine-Gordon model. Collision integrals for all type of localized excitation collision processes are constructed, and the kinetic equations are derived. We prove that the entropy production in the system of localized excitations takes place only in the case of inhomogeneous distribution of these excitations in real and phase spaces. We derive transport equations for soliton and breather densities, temperatures and mean velocities i.e. show that collisions of localized excitations lead to creation of diffusion, thermoconductivity and intrinsic friction processes. The diffusion coefficients for solitons and breathers, describing the diffusion processes in real and phase spaces, are calculated. It is shown that diffusion processes in real space are much faster than the diffusion processes in phase space.Comment: 23 pages, latex, no figure

Terapia génica: desde los extractos y las píldoras a las pociones de ADN

La terapia génica es un tratamiento alternativo a los abordajes farmacológicos, quirúrgicos y de índole convencional que se está desarrollando tanto a nivel experimental como clínico. En esta revisión, más allá de mencionar los avances y presentar un panorama del tema en el área biomédica, se pretende ampliar el concepto de ADN, desde su función como reservorio fundamental de información para la síntesis de proteínas hasta sus acciones “como fármaco”. Se espera que el ADN encapsulado en vectores o directamente aplicado al tejido, cumpla la función que el gen defectuoso no puede realizar mediante su reemplazo, o impida que un gen desregulado permanezca activo, a través de mecanismos de interferencia. Estos objetivos no solo están dirigidos al tratamiento de pacientes de diferentes edades, sino también de individuos aún no natos, como lo evidencian numerosos abordajes experimentales de terapia génica intrauterina. Actualmente existen varios productos comerciales surgidos en el contexto de la terapia génica. Una vez que este tipo de tratamiento sortee aquellos aspectos que todavía constituyen importantes factores de riesgo, se establezcan acuerdos éticos y se equilibren los costos de las intervenciones, constituirá una alternativa a los métodos convencionales para tratar ciertas enfermedades. El ADN (y el ARN) se presentan como los futuros fármacos en acción de las próximas décadas.Abstract Gene therapy is a treatment that offers an alternative to pharmacological, surgical and conventional approaches that is being developed at an experimental and clinical level. In this review, apart from mentioning advances and presenting an overview of the subject in the biomedical field, our intention is to extend the concept of DNA. DNA is the store of information for protein synthesis and today it is also “a drug”. It is expected for the DNA embedded in vectors or directly applied to tissue to perform the function that the defective gene cannot perform by means of its replacement, or to prevent that gene from remaining active through mechanisms of interference. This is not only aimed at the treatment of patients of different ages but also unborn children, as it has been proved by several experimental approaches of intrauterine gene therapy. Currently there are several commercially available products that have emerged from the context of gene therapy. Once those aspects that still represent important risk factors are overcome, ethical agreements are reached and the costs of the interventions are leveled out, this type of treatment will constitute an alternative to conventional methods to treat certain diseases. DNA (and RNA) are proposed as the future drugs for the following decades.Centro de Investigaciones Cardiovasculare

Terapia génica: desde los extractos y las píldoras a las pociones de ADN

La terapia génica es un tratamiento alternativo a los abordajes farmacológicos, quirúrgicos y de índole convencional que se está desarrollando tanto a nivel experimental como clínico. En esta revisión, más allá de mencionar los avances y presentar un panorama del tema en el área biomédica, se pretende ampliar el concepto de ADN, desde su función como reservorio fundamental de información para la síntesis de proteínas hasta sus acciones “como fármaco”. Se espera que el ADN encapsulado en vectores o directamente aplicado al tejido, cumpla la función que el gen defectuoso no puede realizar mediante su reemplazo, o impida que un gen desregulado permanezca activo, a través de mecanismos de interferencia. Estos objetivos no solo están dirigidos al tratamiento de pacientes de diferentes edades, sino también de individuos aún no natos, como lo evidencian numerosos abordajes experimentales de terapia génica intrauterina. Actualmente existen varios productos comerciales surgidos en el contexto de la terapia génica. Una vez que este tipo de tratamiento sortee aquellos aspectos que todavía constituyen importantes factores de riesgo, se establezcan acuerdos éticos y se equilibren los costos de las intervenciones, constituirá una alternativa a los métodos convencionales para tratar ciertas enfermedades. El ADN (y el ARN) se presentan como los futuros fármacos en acción de las próximas décadas.Abstract Gene therapy is a treatment that offers an alternative to pharmacological, surgical and conventional approaches that is being developed at an experimental and clinical level. In this review, apart from mentioning advances and presenting an overview of the subject in the biomedical field, our intention is to extend the concept of DNA. DNA is the store of information for protein synthesis and today it is also “a drug”. It is expected for the DNA embedded in vectors or directly applied to tissue to perform the function that the defective gene cannot perform by means of its replacement, or to prevent that gene from remaining active through mechanisms of interference. This is not only aimed at the treatment of patients of different ages but also unborn children, as it has been proved by several experimental approaches of intrauterine gene therapy. Currently there are several commercially available products that have emerged from the context of gene therapy. Once those aspects that still represent important risk factors are overcome, ethical agreements are reached and the costs of the interventions are leveled out, this type of treatment will constitute an alternative to conventional methods to treat certain diseases. DNA (and RNA) are proposed as the future drugs for the following decades.Centro de Investigaciones Cardiovasculare

Thermal Activation Rates in the Chirally Asymmetric Gross-Neveu Model

We address the problem of how to incorporate quantum effects into the calculation of finite-temperature decay rates for a metastable state of a quantum field theory. To do this, we consider the Gross-Neveu model with an explicit chiral symmetry breaking term, which allows for a metastable state. This theory can be shown to have a "critical bubble" which is a solution to the *exact* equations of motions (i.e. to all orders in perturbation theory, including all higher derivative, quantum and thermal corrections). This configuration mediates the thermal activation of the metastable vacuum to the true ground state, with a decay rate $\Gamma \propto \exp(-F_c/T)$, where $F_c$ is the free energy of the critical bubble. We then compare this exact calculation to various approximations that have been used in previous work. We find that these approximations all *overestimate* the activation rate. Furthermore, we study the effect of finite baryon number upon the bubble profile and the activation barriers. We find that beyond a critical baryon number the activation barriers disappear altogether.Comment: 20 pages, LaTeX, 9 figures using epsf.tex. Now auto-generates P

Polarons as Nucleation Droplets in Non-Degenerate Polymers

We present a study of the nucleation mechanism that allows the decay of the metastable phase (trans-cisoid) to the stable phase (cis-transoid) in quasi one-dimensional non-degenerate polymers within the continuum electron-phonon model. The electron-phonon configurations that lead to the decay, i.e. the critical droplets (or transition state), are identified as polarons of the metastable phase. We obtain an estimate for the decay rate via thermal activation within a range of parameters consistent with experimental values for the gap of the cis-configuration. It is pointed out that, upon doping, the activation barriers of the excited states are quite smaller and the decay rate is greatly enhanced. Typical activation energies for electron or hole polarons are $\approx 0.1$ eV and the typical size for a critical droplet (polaron) is about $20 \AA$. Decay via quantum nucleation is also studied and it is found that the crossover temperature between quantum nucleation and thermal activation is of order $T_c \leq 40 ^oK$. Metastable configurations of non-degenerate polymers may provide examples for mesoscopic quantum tunneling.Comment: REVTEX 3.0, 28 PAGES, 3 FIGURES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST, PITT 94-0

Photoinduced absorption and photoluminescence in poly(2,5-dimethoxy-p- phenylene vinylene)

We report a study of the photoexcited states in the conjugated polymer poly(2,5-dimethoxy-p-phenylene vinylene). Photoluminescence due to radiative recombination of singlet excitons is observed at energiesjust below the onset of the pi-pi* absorption band at 2.1 eV. Photoinduced absorption at 80 K shows bands peaking at 0.68, 1.35, and 1.80 eV. The features at 0.68 and 1.8 eV are associated with the same excited state which we propose is a doubly charged bipolaron, while the third at 1.35 eV is unrelated. We assign this 1.35-eV absorption to a triplet-triplet transition of a triplet exciton. The bipolarons are long lived with significant numbers surviving in excess of 100 ms at 80 K, and have a weak temperature dependence such that photoinduced absorption is readily detectable even at room temperature. The triplet exciton has a lifetime of order 2.5 ms at 80 K but this falls rapidly at higher temperature and the response is not detected at room temperature. We contrast these results with those obtained previously for the related poly(arylene vinylene) polymers poly(p-phenylene vinylene), and poly(2,5-thienylene vinylene) and for other conjugated polymers, and draw attention to the important role played in the photophysics of these materials by neutral excited states