Brief Report: Is Impaired Classification of Subtle Facial Expressions in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders Related to Atypical Emotion Category Boundaries?

Impairments in recognizing subtle facial expressions, in individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), may relate to difficulties in constructing prototypes of these expressions. Eighteen children with predominantly intellectual low-functioning ASD (LFA, IQ <80) and two control groups (mental and chronological age matched), were assessed for their ability to classify emotional faces, of high, medium and low intensities, as happy or angry. For anger, the LFA group made more errors for lower intensity expressions than the control groups, classifications did not differ for happiness. This is the first study to find that the LFA group made more across-valence errors than controls. These data are consistent with atypical facial expression processing in ASD being associated with differences in the structure of emotion categories

Metabolic synergies in the biotransformation of organic and metallic toxic compounds by a saprotrophic soil fungus

The saprotrophic fungus Penicillium griseofulvum was chosen as model organism to study responses to a mixture of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers (α-HCH, β-HCH, γ-HCH, δ-HCH) and of potentially toxic metals (vanadium, lead) in solid and liquid media. The P. griseofulvum FBL 500 strain was isolated from polluted soil containing high concentrations of HCH isomers and potentially toxic elements (Pb, V). Experiments were performed in order to analyse the tolerance/resistance of this fungus to xenobiotics, and to shed further light on fungal potential in inorganic and organic biotransformations. The aim was to examine the ecological and bioremedial potential of this fungus verifying the presence of mechanisms that allow it to transform HCH isomers and metals under different, extreme, test conditions. To our knowledge, this work is the first to provide evidence on the biotransformation of HCH mixtures, in combination with toxic metals, by a saprotrophic non-white-rot fungus and on the metabolic synergies involved

Effect of food concentration and type of diet on Acartia survival and naupliar development

We have performed life table experiments to investigate the effects of different food types and concentrations on the larval development and survival up to adulthood of Acartia tonsa. The food species offered comprised a wide taxonomic spectrum: the pigmented flagellates Isochrysis galbana, Emiliania huxleyi, Rhodomonas sp., Prorocentrum minimum, the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii, grown on medium offering enriched macronutrient concentrations and the ciliate Euplotes sp. initially cultured on Rhodomonas. For the ciliate species, also the functional response was studied. In order to avoid limitation by mineral nutrients, food algae have been taken from the exponential growth phase of the nutrient replete cultures. The suitability of Rhodomonas as a food source throughout the entire life cycle was not a surprise. However, in contrast to much of the recent literature about the inadequacy or even toxicity of diatoms, we found that also Thalassiosira could support Acartia-development through the entire life cycle. On the other hand, Acartia could not complete its life cycle when fed with the other food items, Prorocentrum having adverse effects even when mixed with Rhodomonas and Thalassiosira. Isochrysis well supported naupliar survival and development, but was insufficient to support further development until reproduction. With Emiliania and Euplotes, nauplii died off before most of them could reach the first copepodite stages. Acartia-nauplii showed a behavioral preference for Euplotes-feeding over diatom feeding, but nevertheless Euplotes was an insufficient diet to complete development beyond the naupliar stages

Algorithms to predict cerebral malaria in murine models using the SHIRPA protocol

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Plasmodium berghei </it>ANKA infection in C57Bl/6 mice induces cerebral malaria (CM), which reproduces, to a large extent, the pathological features of human CM. However, experimental CM incidence is variable (50-100%) and the period of incidence may present a range as wide as 6-12 days post-infection. The poor predictability of which and when infected mice will develop CM can make it difficult to determine the causal relationship of early pathological changes and outcome. With the purpose of contributing to solving these problems, algorithms for CM prediction were built.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Seventy-eight <it>P. berghei</it>-infected mice were daily evaluated using the primary SHIRPA protocol. Mice were classified as CM+ or CM- according to development of neurological signs on days 6-12 post-infection. Logistic regression was used to build predictive models for CM based on the results of SHIRPA tests and parasitaemia.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The overall CM incidence was 54% occurring on days 6-10. Some algorithms had a very good performance in predicting CM, with the area under the receiver operator characteristic (_auROC) curve ≥ 80% and positive predictive values (PV+) ≥ 95, and correctly predicted time of death due to CM between 24 and 72 hours before development of the neurological syndrome (_auROC = 77-93%; PV+ = 100% using high cut off values). Inclusion of parasitaemia data slightly improved algorithm performance.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These algorithms work with data from a simple, inexpensive, reproducible and fast protocol. Most importantly, they can predict CM development very early, estimate time of death, and might be a valuable tool for research using CM murine models.</p

Face recognition and visual search strategies in autism spectrum disorders: Amending and extending a recent review by Weigelt et al.

The purpose of this review was to build upon a recent review by Weigelt et al. which examined visual search strategies and face identification between individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and typically developing peers. Seven databases, CINAHL Plus, EMBASE, ERIC, Medline, Proquest, PsychInfo and PubMed were used to locate published scientific studies matching our inclusion criteria. A total of 28 articles not included in Weigelt et al. met criteria for inclusion into this systematic review. Of these 28 studies, 16 were available and met criteria at the time of the previous review, but were mistakenly excluded; and twelve were recently published. Weigelt et al. found quantitative, but not qualitative, differences in face identification in individuals with ASD. In contrast, the current systematic review found both qualitative and quantitative differences in face identification between individuals with and without ASD. There is a large inconsistency in findings across the eye tracking and neurobiological studies reviewed. Recommendations for future research in face recognition in ASD were discussed

Are Compression Stockings an Effective Treatment for Orthostatic Presyncope?

Syncope, or fainting, affects approximately 6.2% of the population, and is associated with significant comorbidity. Many syncopal events occur secondary to excessive venous pooling and capillary filtration in the lower limbs when upright. As such, a common approach to the management of syncope is the use of compression stockings. However, research confirming their efficacy is lacking. We aimed to investigate the effect of graded calf compression stockings on orthostatic tolerance