Relationship between repetitive behaviors and executive function in high functioning children with autism

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on August 27, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Shawn ChristIncludes bibliographical references.M. A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2011."May 2011"It has been theorized that impairments in executive function may contribute to the repetitive behavior symptomatology associated with ASD. This study further elucidates the nature of the relationship between ASD-related impairments in executive function and the manifestation of repetitive behavior. Specifically, we evaluated the hypothesis that the relationship between repetitive behaviors and task performance would be more evident in the presence of multiple executive demands (i.e., inhibitory control & task switching). 22 children (mean age: 14.4 years) with high functioning (IQ > 70) ASD performed an antisaccade task which assessed inhibitory control and cognitive flexibility concurrently and individually. The Repetitive Behavior Scale (RBS), a parent questionnaire that addresses the occurrence of a wide range of repetitive behaviors within the past month, was used to assess repetitive behavior symptomotology for this study. Hierarchical regression revealed significant relationships between repetitive behaviors and performance on conditions of the eye movement task which placed demands on multiple executive abilities. Conditions that required only a single executive ability were not significantly related to the RBS. The relationship between repetitive behavior and executive dysfunction appears to depend critically upon the introduction of multiple executive demands. Within this context however, increased task difficulty may also play a role in strengthening this relationship. Investigating this relationship is one future direction of this line of research

Edible films based on aqueous emulsions of low-methoxyl pectin with recovered and purified sunflower waxes

BACKGROUND: Edible films were obtained from aqueous emulsions prepared with low-methoxyl pectin at different concentrations (10, 20 and 30 g kg−1) and two sunflower wax samples recovered from two waste samples of filter cakes produced in the winterization process of sunflower oil. The two sunflower waxes samples recovered (from the normal hybrid, NSFW, and from the high-oleic hybrid, HOSFW) were added in three proportions (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 g g-1 of pectin). Films were evaluated according to their structure, water resistance, water vapor permeability, mechanical properties and thermal behavior. RESULTS: In general, good dispersion of the lipid material was observed in the cross-sections of the film. Increase in the water resistance (lower swelling index and water adsorption) was associated with a greater pectin content crosslinked with Ca2+ and the hydrophobic nature of waxes. The reduction in water vapor transfer rates was influenced by the effect of the wax addition, their fatty acid composition and their good distribution on the film. More resistant, rigid and less flexible films were obtained with lower pectin content, finding an inverse relationship between tensile strength and elongation percentage values. CONCLUSION: These results evidence a promising alternative in the development of innovative strategies to valorize sunflower waxes derived from waste material.Fil: Chalapud Narvaez, Mayra Carolina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Baumler, Erica Raquel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Química; ArgentinaFil: Carelli Albarracin, Amalia Antonia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Planta Piloto de Ingeniería Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Ingeniería Química; Argentin

Primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma shows a distinct miRNA expression profile and reveals differences from tumor-stage mycosis fungoides

Copyright @ 2012 John Wiley & SonsThe miRNA expression profiles of skin biopsies from 14 primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (C-ALCL) patients were analysed with miRNA microarrays using the same control group of 12 benign inflammatory dermatoses (BID) as previously used to study the miRNA expression profile of tumor-stage mycosis fungoides (MF). We identified 13 differentially expressed miRNAs between C-ALCL and BID. The up-regulation of miR-155, miR-27b, miR-30c and miR-29b in C-ALCL was validated by miRNA-Q-PCR on independent study groups. Additionally, the miRNA expression profiles of C-ALCL were compared with those of tumor-stage MF. Although miRNA microarray analysis did not identify statistically significant differentially expressed miRNAs, miRNA-Q-PCR demonstrated statistically significantly differential expression of miR-155, miR-27b, miR-93, miR-29b and miR-92a between tumor-stage MF and C-ALCL. This study, the first describing the miRNA expression profile of C-ALCL, reveals differences with tumor-stage MF, suggesting a different contribution to the pathogenesis of these lymphomas.This work was funded by grants from Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) (MHV) and the Fondation Rene´ Touraine (MvK), and grants from the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (EB) and the Julian Starmer-Smith Memorial Fund (CHL)

Quels liens entre les caractéristiques des médecins et leur cadre de pratique dans le contexte canadien : une étude de la portée

Background: Physician characteristics such as education and sociodemographic attributes are associated with particular practice patterns, such as practice in rural settings. Understanding the Canadian context of such associations can inform medical school recruitment and health workforce decision-making. Objective: The objective of this scoping review was to report the nature and extent of the literature on associations between characteristics of physicians in Canada and physicians’ practice patterns. Eligibility criteria: We included studies reporting associations between 1) the education or sociodemographic attributes of practicing physicians or residents in Canada and 2) practice patterns, including career choice, practice setting, and populations served. Methods: We searched five electronic databases (MEDLINE (R) ALL, Embase, ERIC, Education Source and Scopus) for quantitative primary studies and reviewed reference lists of included studies for additional studies. Data were extracted using a standardized data charting form. Results: Our search yielded 80 studies. Sixty-two examined education, evenly divided between undergraduate and postgraduate. Fifty-eight examined physicians’ attributes, most focusing on sex/gender. The majority of studies focused on the outcome of practice setting. We found no studies examining race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Conclusion: Many studies in our review found positive associations between (i) rural training or rural background and rural practice setting and (ii) location of training or physicians’ origin and practice in that location, consistent with previous literature. Associations for sex/gender were mixed, suggesting it may be a less useful target for workforce planning or recruitment aiming to address gaps in health care provision. More research is needed on the association of characteristics, particularly race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, with career choice and populations served.Contexte : Il existe un lien entre les caractéristiques des médecins, comme leur formation et leur profil sociodémographique, et des cadres de pratique particuliers, comme la pratique en milieu rural. La compréhension de ces liens dans le contexte canadien peut éclairer les stratégies d’admission dans les facultés de médecine et la planification de la main-d’œuvre dans le secteur de la santé. Objectif : L’objectif de cette étude de la portée était de faire état de la nature et de l’étendue de la littérature sur les liens entre les caractéristiques des médecins au Canada et leurs cadres de pratique. Critères de sélection : Nous avons inclus les études établissant des liens entre 1) la formation ou le profil sociodémographique des médecins ou des résidents en exercice au Canada et 2) les cadres de pratique, y compris le choix de carrière, le milieu de pratique et les populations desservies. Méthodes : Nous avons effectué des recherches dans cinq bases de données électroniques (MEDLINE (R) ALL, Embase, ERIC, Education Source et Scopus) pour trouver des études quantitatives primaires et avons examiné les listes de références bibliographiques des articles inclus pour repérer d’autres études. Les données ont été extraites à l’aide d’un formulaire normalisé. Résultats : Notre recherche a permis de recenser 80 études. Soixante-deux d’entre elles portaient sur l’éducation, réparties de manière égale entre le premier cycle et le cycle de spécialisation. Cinquante-huit examinaient les caractéristiques des médecins, la plupart portant sur le sexe/genre. La majorité des études étaient focalisées sur le résultat lié au milieu de pratique. Nous n’avons trouvé aucune étude portant sur la race/ethnicité ou le statut socio-économique. Conclusion : Conformément à la littérature antérieure, de nombreuses études de notre revue trouvent des associations positives entre (i) la formation en milieu rural ou l’origine rurale et le cadre de pratique rurale et entre (ii) le lieu de formation ou l’origine des médecins et la pratique dans ce lieu. Les associations relatives au sexe/genre étaient mitigées, ce qui suggère qu’il s’agit peut-être d’une cible moins utile pour la planification ou le recrutement de la main-d’œuvre visant à combler les lacunes dans la prestation des soins de santé. Des recherches supplémentaires sont nécessaires sur les liens entre le profil des médecins, en particulier la race/ethnie, et le statut socio-économique, et leur choix de carrière et les populations desservies

A NEURAL NETWORK SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING THE OPTIMAL PROFITABILITY OF SMOKED FISH BUSINESS IN NIGERIA

Small scale smoked fish business is a lucrative business venture in Nigeria as market fish sellers especially women living inriverside areas of the country earn a living from this business. However, these fish sellers they may not know thecombination of smoked fish type that will yield optimum profit. In this research, a neural network model was designed forachieving this purpose and was used to predict the profitability of smoked fish business based on the analysis from thesample survey of smoked fish sellers/retailers in selected markets in Ota, in Ogun State, Nigeria, and its environs, . Thisprediction results could help government and small scale smoked fish retailers to fashion out best practices to help achievemaximum profitability in the smoked business.Keywords: Neural Network, Profitability, Smoked Fish Business, Voice Communication, Ogun State, Nigeri

The growth companies puzzle: can growth opportunities measures predict firm growth?

While numerous empirical studies include proxies for growth opportunities in their analyses, there is limited evidence as to the validity of the various growth proxies used. Based on a sample of 1942 firm-years for listed UK companies over the 1990-2004 period, we assess the performance of eight growth opportunities measures. Our results show that while all the growth measures show some ability to predict growth in company sales, total assets, or equity, there are substantial differences between the various models. In particular, Tobin's Q performs poorly while dividend-based measures generally perform best. However, none of the measures has any success in predicting earnings per share growth, even when controlling for mean reversion and other time-series patterns in earnings. We term this the 'growth companies puzzle'. Growth companies do grow, but they do not grow in the key dimension (earnings) theory predicts. Whether the failure of 'growth companies' to deliver superior earnings growth is attributable to increased competition, poor investments, or behavioural biases, it is still a puzzle why growth companies on average fail to deliver superior earnings growth

Effects on L1 During Early Acquisition of L2: Speech Changes in Spanish at First English Contact

Spanish phonological development was examined in six sequential bilingual children at the point of contact with English and eight months later. We explored effects of the English vowel and consonant inventory on Spanish. Children showed a significant increase in consonant cluster accuracy and in vowel errors. These emerging sequential bilingual children showed effects of English on their first language, Spanish. Cross-linguistic transfer did not affect all properties of the phonology equally. Negative transfer may occur in specific areas where the second language is more complex, requiring reorganization of the existing system, as in the transition from the Spanish five-vowel to the English eleven-vowel system