Defective oxytocin function: a clue to understanding the cause of autism?

The autism spectrum disorders are a group of conditions with neurobehavioral impairment affecting approximately 0.6% of children. The clinical presentation is complex and the etiology is largely unknown, although a major role of genetic factors is widely accepted. A number of genetic studies led to the identification of genes and/or copy number variants whose alterations are associated with autism, but no specific factor has been found so far to be responsible for a substantial proportion of cases. Epigenetic modifications may also play a role, as demonstrated by the occurrence of autism in genetic conditions caused by mutations in imprinted genes or regions

Health-related quality of life in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome at the transition between adolescence and adulthood

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by tics and comorbid behavioural problems, affecting predominantly male patients. Tic severity typically fluctuates over time, with a consistent pattern showing improvement after adolescence in a considerable proportion of patients. Both tics and behavioural co-morbidities have been shown to have the potential to affect patients’ health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in children and adults with persisting symptoms. In this study, we present the results of the first investigation of HR-QoL in patients with Gilles de la Tourette syndrome at the transition between adolescence and adulthood using a disease-specific HR-QoL measure, the Gilles de la Tourette Syndrome-Quality of Life-Children and Adolescents scale. Our results showed that patients with GTS and more severe co-morbid anxiety symptoms reported lower HR-QoL across all domains, highlighting the impact of anxiety on patient’s well-being at a critical stage of development. Routine screening for anxiety symptoms is recommended in all patients with GTS seen at transition clinics from paediatric to adult care, to implement effective behavioural and pharmacological interventions as appropriate

Errori di misura nellÂ’indagine sui bilanci delle famiglie italiane

This paper is aimed at evaluating the incidence of measurement error on the main variables collected in the Bank of ItalyÂ’s Survey of Household Income and Wealth (SHIW). The results are especially relevant to researchers using the data for economic analysis, since they need to take data quality into account. Moreover, a thorough knowledge of the problems affecting the survey gives indications for improvements in its design and implementation. Where time-invariant variables are concerned, measurement error is studied by assessing the degree of inconsistency of answers given by panel households in subsequent survey waves. In the case of quantities that have an actual variation in time, such as income or wealth, the Heise (1969) model is applied; if data from at least three waves are available, we can separate the true dynamics from the noise of measurement error, under assumptions that are fairly mild. The essay also touches upon the role of fieldwork conditions, interviewer and respondent features in the determination of data quality.reddito, ricchezza, metodi campionari

Three variants of three Stage Optimal Memetic Exploration for handling non-separable fitness landscapes

The file attached to this record is the authors final peer reviewed version. The publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Three Stage Optimal Memetic Exploration (3SOME) is a recently proposed algorithmic framework which sequentially perturbs a single solution by means of three operators. Although 3SOME proved to be extremely successful at handling high-dimensional multi-modal landscapes, its application to non-separable fitness functions present some flaws. This paper proposes three possible variants of the original 3SOME algorithm aimed at improving its performance on non-separable problems. The first variant replaces one of the 3SOME operators, namely the middle distance exploration, with a rotation-invariant Differential Evolution (DE) mutation scheme, which is applied on three solutions sampled in a progressively shrinking search space. In the second proposed mechanism, a micro-population rotation-invariant DE is integrated within the algorithmic framework. The third approach employs the search logic (1+1)-Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy, aka (1+1)-CMA-ES. In the latter scheme, a Covariance Matrix adapts to the landscape during the optimization in order to determine the most promising search directions. Numerical results show that, at the cost of a higher complexity, the three approaches proposed are able to improve upon 3SOME performance for non-separable problems without an excessive performance deterioration in the other problems

Effects of eruption source parameter variation and meteorological dataset on tephra fallout hazard assessment: example from Vesuvius (Italy)

In this study, using the tephra dispersal model HAZMAP, we investigate the effect of using different meteorological datasets and eruption source parameters on tephra fallout hazard assessment for a sub-Plinian eruption of Vesuvius, which is considered as a reference case for hazard assessment analysis. We analyze the effect of using different meteorological data, from: i) radio-sounding carried out at the meteorological station of Brindisi (Italy) between 1962 and 1976 and between 1996 and 2012, and at Pratica di Mare (Rome, Italy) between 1995 and 2013; ii) meteorological models of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Furthermore, we consider the effects of perturbing reference eruptive source parameters. In particular, we vary the total mass, the total grain-size distribution, the column height, and the effective atmospheric diffusion coefficient to evaluate how these parameters affect the hazard probability maps. Moreover, the effect of the seasonal variation of the wind field and the effect of the rain on the deposit loading are considered. Results show that the parameter that mostly affects hazard maps is, as expected, the total erupted mass; furthermore, keeping constant the erupted mass, the most important control on hazard is due to the particle terminal settling velocity distribution which is a function of the total grain-size distribution, particle density and shape. Within the considered range variations, the hazard depends less on the use of different meteorological datasets, column height and effective diffusion coefficient

Effect of CuO, MoO3 and ZnO nanomaterial coated absorbers for clean water production

Solar energy is one of the most powerful sources for many sustainable applications. Recently, efficient water distillation has attracted significant attention. The fresh water productivity depends on how efficiently the system harvests the incoming solar energy and converts it into useful heat. In the present work, nano-coated absorber plates (NCAPs) were examined in the single slope solar still (SSSS) for clean water production. The NCAPs were CuO, MoO3 and ZnO, respectively. The CuO-NCAP was fabricated with the thermal evaporation method while the radio-frequency Magnetron Sputtering technique was used to fabricate the MoO3 and ZnO NCAPs. The attained particle size of the CuO, MoO3 and ZnO are 30–34 nm, 25–30 nm and 30–35 nm, respectively. The sphere (CuO), plate (MoO3), and wedge (ZnO) like morphologies are identified with field emission-scanning electron microscope. All the NCAPs and reference solar still were tested under the same environmental conditions. The climatic parameters (solar influx, ambient temperature and wind) and SSSS's temperatures including water temperature (Tw), internal air temperature (Tint-air), inner cover (Tic), outer cover (Toc), and absorber plate temperature (TNCAP) were measured at 30 min intervals with the help of Type-J thermocouples. Herein, we present an evaporative heat transfer (hew), efficiency, and cost analysis of the SSSS with CuO, MoO3 and ZnO-NCAPs. Three different feed waters fetched from the surface well water, hill side well water and hill side pond water were used in this work for evaporation. The result reveals that the evaporation of conventional single slope solar still, CuO, MoO3 and ZnO NCAPs were 2.1 l/m2 day, 2.9 l/m2 day, 2.7 l/m2 day and 2.6 l/m2 day, respectively

H2 detection mechanism in chemoresistive sensor based on low-cost synthesized WO3 nanorods

Abstract Nanostructured WO3 represents a promising material for fast and reliable molecular hydrogen detection through chemo-resistive effect. Here, an extended experimental investigation of WO3-H2 interaction is presented and modeled. A powder of WO3 nanorods (400 nm long, 50 nm large) is produced by hydrothermal technique and drop casted on Pt interdigitated electrode. H2 sensing tests at different concentrations (2000–50,000 ppm) and temperatures (250–400 °C) are reported. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction analysis (XRD), and electrical measurements were performed. The response and recovery kinetics of H2 sensing are carefully described by using a two-isotherms Langmuir model, and kinetics barriers for WO3-H2 interaction are evaluated. Two microscopic processes lead to gas detection. A fast process (shorter than 4 s) is attributed to H2 interaction with adsorbed oxygen at WO3 nanorods surface. A slow process (20–1000 s), with activation energy of 0.46 eV, is attributed to oxygen vacancy generation in WO3. H intercalation in WO3 is ruled out. The recovery of WO3 after H2 exposure is also modeled. The chemo-resistive effect leading to H2 sensing by WO3 is explained through the above processes, whose kinetic barriers have been quantified. These data open the route for the development of fast, sensitive, and low-temperature operating H2 sensors based on WO3

Fast and selective detection of volatile organic compounds using a novel pseudo spin-ladder compound CaCu2O3

A novel pseudo spin-ladder CaCu2O3 compound (2-leg) based conductometric gas sensor has been proposed, for the first time, for the detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs); (a) the proposed reaction mechanism in air, and (b) in the presence of acetone and ethanol