Vitamin D in the general population of young adults with autism in the Faroe Islands

Vitamin D deficiency has been proposed as a possible risk factor for developing autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 25-Hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3) levels were examined in a cross-sectional population-based study in the Faroe Islands. The case group consisting of a total population cohort of 40 individuals with ASD (aged 15–24 years) had significantly lower 25(OH)D3 than their 62 typically-developing siblings and their 77 parents, and also significantly lower than 40 healthy age and gender matched comparisons. There was a trend for males having lower 25(OH)D3 than females. Effects of age, month/season of birth, IQ, various subcategories of ASD and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule score were also investigated, however, no association was found. The very low 25(OH)D3 in the ASD group suggests some underlying pathogenic mechanism

Psychiatric and psychosocial problems in adults with normal-intelligence autism spectrum disorders

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often display symptoms from other diagnostic categories. Studies of clinical and psychosocial outcome in adult patients with ASDs without concomitant intellectual disability are few. The objective of this paper is to describe the clinical psychiatric presentation and important outcome measures of a large group of normal-intelligence adult patients with ASDs.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Autistic symptomatology according to the DSM-IV-criteria and the Gillberg & Gillberg research criteria, patterns of comorbid psychopathology and psychosocial outcome were assessed in 122 consecutively referred adults with normal intelligence ASDs. The subjects consisted of 5 patients with autistic disorder (AD), 67 with Asperger's disorder (AS) and 50 with pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified (PDD NOS). This study group consists of subjects pooled from two studies with highly similar protocols, all seen on an outpatient basis by one of three clinicians.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Core autistic symptoms were highly prevalent in all ASD subgroups. Though AD subjects had the most pervasive problems, restrictions in non-verbal communication were common across all three subgroups and, contrary to current DSM criteria, so were verbal communication deficits. Lifetime psychiatric axis I comorbidity was very common, most notably mood and anxiety disorders, but also ADHD and psychotic disorders. The frequency of these diagnoses did not differ between the ASD subgroups or between males and females. Antisocial personality disorder and substance abuse were more common in the PDD NOS group. Of all subjects, few led an independent life and very few had ever had a long-term relationship. Female subjects more often reported having been bullied at school than male subjects.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>ASDs are clinical syndromes characterized by impaired social interaction and non-verbal communication in adulthood as well as in childhood. They also carry a high risk for co-existing mental health problems from a broad spectrum of disorders and for unfavourable psychosocial life circumstances. For the next revision of DSM, our findings especially stress the importance of careful examination of the exclusion criterion for adult patients with ASDs.</p

Measurement of the t-channel single top quark production cross section

The D0 collaboration reports direct evidence for electroweak production of single top quarks through the t-channel exchange of a virtual W boson. This is the first analysis to isolate an individual single top quark production channel. We select events containing an isolated electron or muon, missing transverse energy, and two, three or four jets from 2.3 fb^-1 of ppbar collisions at the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. One or two of the jets are identified as containing a b hadron. We combine three multivariate techniques optimized for the t-channel process to measure the t- and s-channel cross sections simultaneously. We measure cross sections of 3.14 +0.94 -0.80 pb for the t-channel and 1.05 +-0.81 pb for the s-channel. The measured t-channel result is found to have a significance of 4.8 standard deviations and is consistent with the standard model prediction.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figure

Evidence for an anomalous like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry

We measure the charge asymmetry A of like-sign dimuon events in 6.1 fb(-1) of p (p) over bar collisions recorded with the D0 detector at a center-of-mass energy root s = 1.96 TeV at the Fermilab Tevatron collider. From A, we extract the like-sign dimuon charge asymmetry in semileptonic b-hadron decays: A(sl)(b) = -0.00957 +/- 0.00251 (stat) +/- 0.00146 (syst). This result differs by 3.2 standard deviations from the standard model prediction A(sl)(b)(SM) = (-2.3(0.6)(+0.5)) x 10(-4) and provides first evidence of anomalous CP violation in the mixing of neutral B mesons

Double parton interactions in photon+3 jet events in ppbar collisions sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We have used a sample of photon+3 jets events collected by the D0 experiment with an integrated luminosity of about 1 fb^-1 to determine the fraction of events with double parton scattering (f_DP) in a single ppbar collision at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV. The DP fraction and effective cross section (sigma_eff), a process-independent scale parameter related to the parton density inside the nucleon, are measured in three intervals of the second (ordered in pT) jet transverse momentum pT_jet2 within the range 15 < pT_jet2 < 30 GeV. In this range, f_DP varies between 0.23 < f_DP < 0.47, while sigma_eff has the average value sigma_eff_ave = 16.4 +- 0.3(stat) +- 2.3(syst) mb.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure

Measurement of trilinear gauge boson couplings from WW + WZ to lnu jj events in pp-bar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We present a direct measurement of trilinear gauge boson couplings at gammaWW and ZWW vertices in WW and WZ events produced in pp-bar collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV. We consider events with one electron or muon, missing transverse energy, and at least two jets. The data were collected using the D0 detector and correspond to 1.1/fb of integrated luminosity. Considering two different relations between the couplings at the gammaWW and ZWW vertices, we measure these couplings at 68% C.L. to be kappa_{gamma}=1.07^{+0.26}_{-0.29}, lambda =0.00^{+0.06}_{-0.06} and g_{1}^{Z}=1.04^{+0.09}_{-0.09} in a scenario respecting SU(2)_L x U(1)_Y gauge symmetry and kappa =1.04^{+0.11}_{-0.11} and lambda=0.00^{+0.06}_{-0.06} in an "equal couplings" scenario.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, published in Phys. Rev. D, updated to published versio

Measurement of the W boson mass

We present a measurement of the W boson mass in W -> ev decays using 1 fb^-1 of data collected with the D0 detector during Run II of the Fermilab Tevatron collider. With a sample of 499830 W -> ev candidate events, we measure M_W = 80.401 +- 0.043 GeV. This is the most precise measurement from a single experiment.Comment: As published in PR

Dependence of the ttˉt\bar{t} production cross section on the transverse momentum of the top quark

We present a measurement of the differential cross section for $t\bar{t}$ events produced in $p\bar{p}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s}=1.96$ TeV as a function of the transverse momentum ($p_T$) of the top quark. The selected events contain a high-$p_T$ lepton ($\ell$), four or more jets, and a large imbalance in $p_T$, and correspond to 1 fb${}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded with the D0 detector. Each event must have at least one candidate for a $b$ jet. Objects in the event are associated through a constrained kinematic fit to the $t\bar{t}\to WbW\bar{b} \to \ell\nu b q\bar{q}'\bar{b}$ process. Results from next-to-leading-order perturbative QCD calculations agree with the measured differential cross section. Comparisons are also provided to predictions from Monte Carlo event generators using QCD calculations at different levels of precision.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, 4 tables, updated to reflect the published versio

Measurements of differential cross sections of Z/gamma*+jets+X events in proton anti-proton collisions at sqrt{s}=1.96 TeV

We present cross section measurements for Z/gamma*+jets+X production, differential in the transverse momenta of the three leading jets. The data sample was collected with the D0 detector at the Fermilab Tevatron proton anti-proton collider at a center-of-mass energy of 1.96 TeV and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 1 fb-1. Leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD predictions are compared with the measurements, and agreement is found within the theoretical and experimental uncertainties. We also make comparisons with the predictions of four event generators. Two parton-shower-based generators show significant shape and normalization differences with respect to the data. In contrast, two generators combining tree-level matrix elements with a parton shower give a reasonable description of the the shapes observed in data, but the predicted normalizations show significant differences with respect to the data, reflecting large scale uncertainties. For specific choices of scales, the normalizations for either generator can be made to agree with the measurements.Comment: Published in PLB. 11 pages, 3 figure

Measurement of the Bs0B^{0}_{s} Lifetime Using Semileptonic Decays

We report a measurement of the $B^0_{s}$ lifetime in the semileptonic decay channel $B^0_{s}\to D^-_s \mu^{+}\nu X$ (and its charge conjugate), using approximately 0.4 fb$^{-1}$ of data collected with the D0 detector during 2002 -- 2004. We have reconstructed 5176 $D^-_s \mu^{+}$ signal events, where the $D_s^-$ is identified via the decay $D_s^-\to \phi\pi^-$, followed by $\phi\to K^+ K^-$. Using these events, we have measured the $B^0_s$ lifetime to be $\tau(B^0_{s}) = 1.398 \pm 0.044$ $({stat}) ^{+0.028}_{-0.025}$ $({syst}) {ps}$. This is the most precise measurement of the $B_s^0$ lifetime to date.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett., 7 pages, 2 figure