327 research outputs found
Does Childhood Executive Function Predict Adolescent Functional Outcomes in Girls with ADHD?
We prospectively followed an ethnically and socioeconomically diverse sample of preadolescent girls with ADHD (n = 140) and matched comparison girls (n = 88) over a period of 5 years, from middle childhood through early/mid-adolescence. Our aim was to examine the ability of measures of childhood executive function (EF) to predict functional outcomes in adolescence. Measures of neuropsychological functioning comprised the childhood predictors, with academic, social, and global functioning serving as adolescent criterion measures. Results indicated that childhood EF predicted (a) academic achievement and social functioning across our entire sample (independent of diagnostic group status) and (b) global functioning only in girls with ADHD (independent of IQ). These results highlight the non-specificity of EF deficits and suggest the importance of assessing and developing interventions that target EF impairments, particularly in those at high-risk for negative outcomes, in order to prevent long-term difficulties across a range of important functional domains
Autism Symptoms and Internalizing Psychopathology in Girls and Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders
Findings regarding phenotypic differences between boys and girls with ASD are mixed. We compared autism and internalizing symptoms in a sample of 8-18 year-old girls (n = 20) and boys (n = 20) with ASD and typically developing (TYP) girls (n = 19) and boys (n = 17). Girls with ASD were more impaired than TYP girls but did not differ from boys with ASD in autism symptoms. In adolescence, girls with ASD had higher internalizing symptoms than boys with ASD and TYP girls, and higher symptoms of depression than TYP girls. Girls ages 8-18 with ASD resemble boys with ASD and not TYP girls, and appear to be at increased risk for affective symptoms in the teen years
What do general practitioners know about ADHD? Attitudes and knowledge among first-contact gatekeepers: systematic narrative review
Background: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a common childhood disorder with international prevalence estimates of 5 % in childhood, yet significant evidence exists that far fewer children receive ADHD services. In many countries, ADHD is assessed and diagnosed in specialist mental health or neuro-developmental paediatric clinics, to which referral by General (Family) Practitioners (GPs) is required. In such ‘gatekeeper’ settings, where GPs act as a filter to diagnosis and treatment, GPs may either not recognise potential ADHD cases, or may be reluctant to refer. This study systematically reviews the literature regarding GPs’ views of ADHD in such settings.
Methods: A search of nine major databases was conducted, with wide search parameters; 3776 records were initially retrieved. Studies were included if they were from settings where GPs are typically gatekeepers to ADHD services; if they addressed GPs’ ADHD attitudes and knowledge; if methods were clearly described; and if results for GPs were reported separately from those of other health professionals.
Results: Few studies specifically addressed GP attitudes to ADHD. Only 11 papers (10 studies), spanning 2000–2010, met inclusion criteria, predominantly from the UK, Europe and Australia. As studies varied methodologically, findings are reported as a thematic narrative, under the following themes: Recognition rate; ADHD controversy (medicalisation, stigma, labelling); Causes of ADHD; GPs and ADHD diagnosis; GPs and ADHD treatment; GP ADHD training and sources of information; and Age, sex differences in knowledge and attitudes.
Conclusions: Across times and settings, GPs practising in first-contact gatekeeper settings had mixed and often unhelpful attitudes regarding the validity of ADHD as a construct, the role of medication and how parenting contributed to presentation. A paucity of training was identified, alongside a reluctance of GPs to become involved in shared care practice. If access to services is to be improved for possible ADHD cases, there needs to be a focused and collaborative approach to training
Tuning supersymmetric models at the LHC: A comparative analysis at two-loop level
We provide a comparative study of the fine tuning amount (Delta) at the
two-loop leading log level in supersymmetric models commonly used in SUSY
searches at the LHC. These are the constrained MSSM (CMSSM), non-universal
Higgs masses models (NUHM1, NUHM2), non-universal gaugino masses model (NUGM)
and GUT related gaugino masses models (NUGMd). Two definitions of the fine
tuning are used, the first (Delta_{max}) measures maximal fine-tuning wrt
individual parameters while the second (Delta_q) adds their contribution in
"quadrature". As a direct result of two theoretical constraints (the EW minimum
conditions), fine tuning (Delta_q) emerges as a suppressing factor (effective
prior) of the averaged likelihood (under the priors), under the integral of the
global probability of measuring the data (Bayesian evidence p(D)). For each
model, there is little difference between Delta_q, Delta_{max} in the region
allowed by the data, with similar behaviour as functions of the Higgs, gluino,
stop mass or SUSY scale (m_{susy}=(m_{\tilde t_1} m_{\tilde t_2})^{1/2}) or
dark matter and g-2 constraints. The analysis has the advantage that by
replacing any of these mass scales or constraints by their latest bounds one
easily infers for each model the value of Delta_q, Delta_{max} or vice versa.
For all models, minimal fine tuning is achieved for M_{higgs} near 115 GeV with
a Delta_q\approx Delta_{max}\approx 10 to 100 depending on the model, and in
the CMSSM this is actually a global minimum. Due to a strong (
exponential) dependence of Delta on M_{higgs}, for a Higgs mass near 125 GeV,
the above values of Delta_q\approx Delta_{max} increase to between 500 and
1000. Possible corrections to these values are briefly discussed.Comment: 23 pages, 46 figures; references added; some clarifications (section
2
Challenges of caring for children with mental disorders: Experiences and views of caregivers attending the outpatient clinic at Muhimbili National Hospital, Dar es Salaam - Tanzania
It is estimated that world-wide up to 20 % of children suffer from debilitating mental illness. Mental disorders that pose a significant concern include learning disorders, hyperkinetic disorders (ADHD), depression, psychosis, pervasive development disorders, attachment disorders, anxiety disorders, conduct disorder, substance abuse and eating disorders. Living with such children can be very stressful for caregivers in the family. Therefore, determination of challenges of living with these children is important in the process of finding ways to help or support caregivers to provide proper care for their children. The purpose of this study was to explore the psychological and emotional, social, and economic challenges that parents or guardians experience when caring for mentally ill children and what they do to address or deal with them. A qualitative study design using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions was applied. The study was conducted at the psychiatric unit of Muhimbili National Hospital in Tanzania. Two focus groups discussions (FGDs) and 8 in-depth interviews were conducted with caregivers who attended the psychiatric clinic with their children. Data analysis was done using content analysis. The study revealed psychological and emotional, social, and economic challenges caregivers endure while living with mentally ill children. Psychological and emotional challenges included being stressed by caring tasks and having worries about the present and future life of their children. They had feelings of sadness, and inner pain or bitterness due to the disturbing behaviour of the children. They also experienced some communication problems with their children due to their inability to talk. Social challenges were inadequate social services for their children, stigma, burden of caring task, lack of public awareness of mental illness, lack of social support, and problems with social life. The economic challenges were poverty, child care interfering with various income generating activities in the family, and extra expenses associated with the child's illness. Caregivers of mentally ill children experience various psychological and emotional, social, and economic challenges. Professional assistance, public awareness of mental illnesses in children, social support by the government, private sector, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are important in addressing these challenges
Slepian functions and their use in signal estimation and spectral analysis
It is a well-known fact that mathematical functions that are timelimited (or
spacelimited) cannot be simultaneously bandlimited (in frequency). Yet the
finite precision of measurement and computation unavoidably bandlimits our
observation and modeling scientific data, and we often only have access to, or
are only interested in, a study area that is temporally or spatially bounded.
In the geosciences we may be interested in spectrally modeling a time series
defined only on a certain interval, or we may want to characterize a specific
geographical area observed using an effectively bandlimited measurement device.
It is clear that analyzing and representing scientific data of this kind will
be facilitated if a basis of functions can be found that are "spatiospectrally"
concentrated, i.e. "localized" in both domains at the same time. Here, we give
a theoretical overview of one particular approach to this "concentration"
problem, as originally proposed for time series by Slepian and coworkers, in
the 1960s. We show how this framework leads to practical algorithms and
statistically performant methods for the analysis of signals and their power
spectra in one and two dimensions, and on the surface of a sphere.Comment: Submitted to the Handbook of Geomathematics, edited by Willi Freeden,
Zuhair M. Nashed and Thomas Sonar, and to be published by Springer Verla
Scalar and vector Slepian functions, spherical signal estimation and spectral analysis
It is a well-known fact that mathematical functions that are timelimited (or
spacelimited) cannot be simultaneously bandlimited (in frequency). Yet the
finite precision of measurement and computation unavoidably bandlimits our
observation and modeling scientific data, and we often only have access to, or
are only interested in, a study area that is temporally or spatially bounded.
In the geosciences we may be interested in spectrally modeling a time series
defined only on a certain interval, or we may want to characterize a specific
geographical area observed using an effectively bandlimited measurement device.
It is clear that analyzing and representing scientific data of this kind will
be facilitated if a basis of functions can be found that are "spatiospectrally"
concentrated, i.e. "localized" in both domains at the same time. Here, we give
a theoretical overview of one particular approach to this "concentration"
problem, as originally proposed for time series by Slepian and coworkers, in
the 1960s. We show how this framework leads to practical algorithms and
statistically performant methods for the analysis of signals and their power
spectra in one and two dimensions, and, particularly for applications in the
geosciences, for scalar and vectorial signals defined on the surface of a unit
sphere.Comment: Submitted to the 2nd Edition of the Handbook of Geomathematics,
edited by Willi Freeden, Zuhair M. Nashed and Thomas Sonar, and to be
published by Springer Verlag. This is a slightly modified but expanded
version of the paper arxiv:0909.5368 that appeared in the 1st Edition of the
Handbook, when it was called: Slepian functions and their use in signal
estimation and spectral analysi
An Alternative Yukawa Unified SUSY Scenario
Supersymmetric SO(10) Grand Unified Theories with Yukawa unification
represent an appealing possibility for physics beyond the Standard Model.
However Yukawa unification is made difficult by large threshold corrections to
the bottom mass. Generally one is led to consider models where the sfermion
masses are large in order to suppress these corrections. Here we present
another possibility, in which the top and bottom GUT scale Yukawa couplings are
equal to a component of the charged lepton Yukawa matrix at the GUT scale in a
basis where this matrix is not diagonal. Physically, this weak eigenstate
Yukawa unification scenario corresponds to the case where the charged leptons
that are in the 16 of SO(10) containing the top and bottom quarks mix with
their counterparts in another SO(10) multiplet. Diagonalizing the resulting
Yukawa matrix introduces mixings in the neutrino sector. Specifically we find
that for a large region of parameter space with relatively light sparticles,
and which has not been ruled out by current LHC or other data, the mixing
induced in the neutrino sector is such that , in
agreement with data. The phenomenological implications are analyzed in some
detail.Comment: 32 pages, 22 Figure
CMB Telescopes and Optical Systems
The cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) is now firmly established as
a fundamental and essential probe of the geometry, constituents, and birth of
the Universe. The CMB is a potent observable because it can be measured with
precision and accuracy. Just as importantly, theoretical models of the Universe
can predict the characteristics of the CMB to high accuracy, and those
predictions can be directly compared to observations. There are multiple
aspects associated with making a precise measurement. In this review, we focus
on optical components for the instrumentation used to measure the CMB
polarization and temperature anisotropy. We begin with an overview of general
considerations for CMB observations and discuss common concepts used in the
community. We next consider a variety of alternatives available for a designer
of a CMB telescope. Our discussion is guided by the ground and balloon-based
instruments that have been implemented over the years. In the same vein, we
compare the arc-minute resolution Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the
South Pole Telescope (SPT). CMB interferometers are presented briefly. We
conclude with a comparison of the four CMB satellites, Relikt, COBE, WMAP, and
Planck, to demonstrate a remarkable evolution in design, sensitivity,
resolution, and complexity over the past thirty years.Comment: To appear in: Planets, Stars and Stellar Systems (PSSS), Volume 1:
Telescopes and Instrumentatio
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