Insular pathology in young people with high-functioning autism and first-episode psychosis

Background Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and psychosis share deficits in social cognition. The insular region has been associated with awareness of self and reality, which may be basic for proper social interactions. Methods Total and regional insular volume and thickness measurements were obtained from a sample of 30 children and adolescents with ASD, 29 with early onset first-episode psychosis (FEP), and 26 healthy controls (HC). Total, regional, and voxel-level volume and thickness measurements were compared between groups (with correction for multiple comparisons), and the relationship between these measurements and symptom severity was explored. Results Compared with HC, a shared volume deficit was observed for the right (but not the left) anterior insula (ASD: p = 0.007, FEP: p = 0.032), and for the bilateral posterior insula: (left, ASD: p = 0.011, FEP: p = 0.033; right, ASD: p = 0.004, FEP: p = 0.028). A voxel-based morphometry (VBM) conjunction analysis showed that ASD and FEP patients shared a gray matter volume and thickness deficit in the left posterior insula. Within patients, right anterior (r = -0.28, p = 0.041) and left posterior (r = -0.29, p = 0.030) insular volumes negatively correlated with the severity of insight deficits, and left posterior insular volume negatively correlated with the severity of 'autistic-like' symptoms (r = -0.30, p = 0.028). Conclusions The shared reduced volume and thickness in the anterior and posterior regions of the insula in ASD and FEP provides the first tentative evidence that these conditions share structural pathology that may be linked to shared symptomatology.</p

Optical, Redox, and NLO Properties of Tricyanovinyl Oligothiophenes: Comparisons between Symmetric and Asymmetric Substitution Patterns

13 pages, 13 figures, 3 tables.A series of tricyanovinyl (TCV)-substituted oligothiophenes was synthesized and investigated with a number of physical methods including UV/Vis, IR, and Raman spectroscopy, nonlinear optical (NLO) measurements, X-ray diffraction, and cyclic voltammetry. Mono- or disubstituted oligomers were prepared by the reaction of tetracyanoethylene with mono- or dilithiated oligomers. The comparative effects of the symmetric and asymmetric substitutions in the electronic and molecular properties have been addressed. These oligomers display dramatic reductions in both their optical and electrochemical band gaps in comparison with unsubstituted molecules. The analysis of the electronic properties of the molecules was assisted by density functional theory calculations, which are in excellent agreement with the experimental data. TCV substitution influences the energies of the frontier orbitals, especially with respect to the stabilization of LUMO orbitals. X-ray structural characterization of a monosubstituted oligomer exhibits -stacking with favorable intermolecular interactions. NLO results agree with the role of the intramolecular charge-transfer feature in the asymmetric samples. These results furthermore exalt the role of conformational flexibility in the disubstituted compounds and reveal an unexpected nonlinear optical activity for symmetric molecules. Regarding the electronic structure, the interpretation of the vibrational data reflects the balanced interplay between aromatic and quinoid forms, finely tuned by the chain length and substitution pattern. The electronic and structural properties are consistent with the semiconducting properties exhibited by these materials in thin film transistors (TFTs).J.C. is grateful to the Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología (MCyT) of Spain for a Ramón y Cajal research position of Chemistry at the University of Málaga. The present work was supported in part by the Dirección General de Enseñanza Superior (DGES, MEC, Spain) through the research projects BQU2003–03194 and BQU2002-00219. We are also indebted to Junta de Andalucía (Spain) (FQM-0159) and Gobierno de Aragón (E39) funding for our research groups. M.C.R.D. thanks the MEC of Spain for a personal grant. T.M.P. acknowledges a Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry and Scholarship from the Office of the Dean of the Graduate School of the University of Minnesota.Peer reviewe

Óptica de nanopartículas y nanocompuestos

IP 1101-05-036-99of the XV latinamerican symposium on solid state physics (SlafesXV), Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, November;1 to 5, 1999 / latinamerican simposium on solid state physics(slafes XV)(15: 1999 nov. 1-5 : Cartagena de;Indias, Colombia) Guest editors J. Giraldo, L. Quiroga, R.Merlin, J.R. Leite. -- En: Physica status solidi;(b) : Basic research Vol. 220, no. 1 (july 2000): p. 1-804. --ISSN 03701972.;Oaxaca: Sociedad Mexicana de ciencia de superficies y vacio A.C., 2000. --28 cm. -- REVISTA(S): Proceedings;ARTICULOS EN REVISTA: Funcion dielectrica de un medio quepercola / Adriana Gutierrez Rodriguez, Jairo;Giraldo Gallo. -- En: Revista colombiana de un medio que percola. -- Vol.32, no. 1 (2000). -- A statistical;model for flash thermal desorption of carbon dioxide frompolycrystallinemolybdenum / L.D Lopez Carreño, A.J.;Ramirez Cuesta, L.Viscido, J.M Heras. -- En: Journal of molecular catalysis a: chemical. -- Vol. 167 (june;2001); p. 157-163. -- Diffusive like minibands in finite superlattices ofdisordered quantum wells / R.R. Rey;Gonzalez, E. Machado -- En: Brazilian journal of physics.'-- Vol. 31 no. 4(dic. 2001). -- RF sputtered a Si:H;and aGe:H films: a comparative study / A.R. Zanatta, F. Fajardo,M. Mulato, M.M. Lima, F.C. Marques, I.;Chambouleyron. -- En: Asian journal of physics. -- Vol. 9(2000); p. 681.'-- PONENCIA(S) en Congreso: Atomic;ordering in Cd1-xZnxTe for low Zn concentration: optical,thermal and structural characterization / A.;Guterrez, M.E. Rodriguez, O. Zelaya, C. Vasquez, L. Baños,JairoGiraldo Gallo. -- En: Sociedad mexicana de;ciencia de superficies y vacio A.C. 20 congreso nacional.(20:2000 ago.28 - sep.1 :Oxaca, Mexico). -