Error-related brain activity as a transdiagnostic endophenotype for obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety and substance use disorder

Background Increased neural error-signals have been observed in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, and inconsistently in depression. Reduced neural error-signals have been observed in substance use disorders (SUD). Thus, alterations in error-monitoring are proposed as a transdiagnostic endophenotype. To strengthen this notion, data from unaffected individuals with a family history for the respective disorders are needed. Methods The error-related negativity (ERN) as a neural indicator of error-monitoring was measured during a flanker task from 117 OCD patients, 50 unaffected first-degree relatives of OCD patients, and 130 healthy comparison participants. Family history information indicated, that 76 healthy controls were free of a family history for psychopathology, whereas the remaining had first-degree relatives with depression (n = 28), anxiety (n = 27), and/or SUD (n = 27). Results Increased ERN amplitudes were found in OCD patients and unaffected first-degree relatives of OCD patients. In addition, unaffected first-degree relatives of individuals with anxiety disorders were also characterized by increased ERN amplitudes, whereas relatives of individuals with SUD showed reduced amplitudes. Conclusions Alterations in neural error-signals in unaffected first-degree relatives with a family history of OCD, anxiety, or SUD support the utility of the ERN as a transdiagnostic endophenotype. Reduced neural error-signals may indicate vulnerability for under-controlled behavior and risk for substance use, whereas a harm- or error-avoidant response style and vulnerability for OCD and anxiety appears to be associated with increased ERN. This adds to findings suggesting a common neurobiological substrate across psychiatric disorders involving the anterior cingulate cortex and deficits in cognitive control

On the Asymptotic Existence of Hadamard Matrices

It is conjectured that Hadamard matrices exist for all orders $4t$ ($t>0$). However, despite a sustained effort over more than five decades, the strongest overall existence results are asymptotic results of the form: for all odd natural numbers $k$, there is a Hadamard matrix of order $k2^{[a+b\log_2k]}$, where $a$ and $b$ are fixed non-negative constants. To prove the Hadamard Conjecture, it is sufficient to show that we may take $a=2$ and $b=0$. Since Seberry's ground-breaking result, which showed that we may take $a=0$ and $b=2$, there have been several improvements where $b$ has been by stages reduced to 3/8. In this paper, we show that for all $\epsilon>0$, the set of odd numbers $k$ for which there is a Hadamard matrix of order $k2^{2+[\epsilon\log_2k]}$ has positive density in the set of natural numbers. The proof adapts a number-theoretic argument of Erdos and Odlyzko to show that there are enough Paley Hadamard matrices to give the result.Comment: Keywords: Hadamard matrices, Asymptotic existence, Cocyclic Hadamard matrices, Relative difference sets, Riesel numbers, Extended Riemann hypothesis. (Received 2 August 2008, Available online 18 March 2009

Comunidade menonita do boqueirão: construção histórica pessoal e etnográfica

TCC(graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Centro de Filosofia e Ciências Humanas. Antropologia.Os Menonitas se distinguem pelo idioma, religião, história, cultura e tradição. No âmbito linguístico, ressalta-se o dialeto baixo-alemão "Plautdietsch", cuja história remonta a quase 500 anos e se mantêm até os dias de hoje. A religião Menonita é o alicerce da comunidade através da qual se perpetua sua “cultura” e tradição. A religião se apresenta como diretrizes para um membro fiel, integrante participativo e aceito pela igreja. Os Menonitas surgiram através da ideologia Anabatista ("rebatizados", ou "batizar adultos"), em 1525 na Renascença, divergindo e sendo perseguidos pelos católicos e luteranos. Na tradição Menonita, tanto o dialeto falado Plautdietsch quanto o alemão são muito importantes. O Plautdietsch sendo o dialeto falado pelos Menonitas e o alemão por motivo religioso, pois a Bíblia traduzida por Martin Lutero ofereceu as bases religiosas para a prática. A comunidade estudada esta localizada no Boqueirão, bairro de Curitiba, Paraná, onde serão realizadas narrativas etnográficas de várias situações, que mostram a forma de ser dos Menonitas.The Mennonites are distinguished by their language, religion, history, culture and tradition. On the linguistic part the Low German dialect "Plautdietsch" is emphasized, whose history dates back to nearly 500 years ago and is still alive to the present day. The Mennonite religion is the foundation of the community, through which perpetuates its "culture" and tradition. Religion is presented as guidelines for a faithful member, participatory integral and accepted by the church. The Mennonites emerged through the Anabaptist ideology ("rebaptized" or "baptize adults"), in 1525 during the Renaissance, diverging and being persecuted by Catholics and Lutherans. In the Mennonite tradition, both the spoken dialect Plautdietsch and German are very important. The Plautdietsch being the dialect spoken by the Mennonites and German for religious reasons, for the Bible translated by Martin Luther offered the religious basis for the practice. The studied community is located in Boqueirão a Curitiba neighborhood, Paraná, where ethnographic narratives of various situations will be held, showing the way of the Mennonites

Shear Strength Analysis of Reinforced Aerated Concrete Members with Mathematical Programming Methods

Im Rahmen der Arbeit wird das Querkrafttragverhalten bewehrter Bauteile aus Porenbeton untersucht. Die vorherrschende Beschreibung des inneren Kräftezustandes basiert auf der Modellvorstellung eines Fachwerks oder Sprengwerks mit Stahlzugstreben und Betondruckstreben. Ziel ist die Entwicklung eines alternativen Verfahrens zur Ermittlung des inneren Kräftezustandes. Ausgehend vom Prinzip des Minimums des elastischen Gesamtpotentials wird eine Extremalaufgabe für das mechanische Problem formuliert. Die numerische Umsetzung basiert auf der Überführung der Extremalaufgabe in eine nichtlineare Optimierungsaufgabe. Diese lässt sich mit Standardsoftware lösen. Der Vorteil dieser Vorgehensweise besteht darin, dass das grundlegende Verfahren unabhängig vom verwendeten Materialmodell ist. Nichtlineare Spannungs-Dehnungs-Beziehungen oder die Berücksichtigung der Rissbildung erfordern keine Anpassung des Berechnungsalgorithmus. Bewehrte Porenbetonbauteile besitzen im Hinblick auf das Trag- und Verformungsverhalten einige Besonderheiten. Berechnungsansätze für Stahlbetonelemente lassen sich nicht ohne entsprechende Modifikationen übertragen lassen. Die Bewehrung wird aus glatten Stäben hergestellt, so dass nach der Herstellung nur ein Haftverbund wirksam ist. Dieser kann über die Lebensdauer teilweise oder vollständig versagen. Die Kraftübertragung zwischen den Verbundelementen muss durch entsprechende Kopplungselemente (z.B. Querstäbe, Bügel, Endwinkel) sichergestellt werden. Der Bewehrungskorb ist im Porenbeton gebettet. Aufgrund der relativ niedrigen Festigkeit bzw. Steifigkeit des Porenbetons und des teilweise unwirksamen Verbundes treten Relativverschiebungen zwischen beiden Verbundmaterialien auf. Hier sind die Ursachen dafür zu finden, dass die Beanspruchung der Querkraftbewehrung viel geringer ist als bei vergleichbaren Stahlbetonbalken. Der Querkraftbewehrungsgrad erlaubt keine Rückschlüsse auf den Querkraftwiderstand. Das zentrale Anliegen der Arbeit ist die Implementierung nichtlinearer Materialansätze, der Rissbildung des Porenbetons sowie der porenbetonspezifischen Besonderheiten verschieblicher Verbund, diskrete Verankerung der Bewehrung und Relativverschiebungen zwischen Porenbeton und Bewehrung) in das Berechnungsmodell. Die Leistungsfähigkeit des entwickelten Berechnungsmodells wird anhand von Beispielen demonstriert. Die Kräfte in der Bewehrung sowie das Tragwerksverhalten werden realitätsnah bestimmt.In this thesis the behaviour of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) members is examined when they are subjected to shear forces. The main models used for analyzing shear forces are based on framework or truss frame models with concrete struts and steel tension ties. The primary objective is the development of an alternative model for evaluation of inner forces in AAC members. The mechanical problem is based on the Principle of Minimum Potential Energy relating to the stable equilibrium of conservative systems. Numerical solution will be achieved by direct energy minimization using nonlinear optimization techniques provided by standard software tools. The main advantage of this approach is the independence of material law from the base algorithm. Therefore nonlinear effects like cracks in concrete or yielding of reinforcement bars can be implemented without changing the fundamental model. Regarding to the load bearing and deflection behaviour reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete members have some specifics which will prevent the usage of calculation models for reinforced concrete. Steel rebar elements are not profiled and are covered by a corrosion protection. There is no sufficient bond between the reinforcement and the concrete. Forces have to be carried by discrete elements (e.g. crossbar, stirrup). The reinforcement cage is bedded in the concrete. When the beam or plate is loaded there will be small displacements between steel and concrete. These displacements have a strong influence on the forces in the rebar elements and have to be considered in a calculation model. This is the main reason why the ratio of shear reinforcement isn’t a measure for the load bearing capacity in shear. The alternative model developed in this thesis will implement the nonlinear material behaviour of steel and concrete, the cracking of concrete and the specific characteristic of AAC like non existing bond, discrete anchorage of reinforcement and displacements between reinforcement and concrete. The effectiveness of the model is shown by means of some test results by Wehr (AAC-Beams) and Daschner (AAC-plates). The model gives realistic results for the internal forces and the displacements of the AAC members as well as the local displacements of the reinforcement within the concrete

Conflict monitoring and adaptation as reflected by N2 amplitude in obsessive–compulsive disorder

Background. Feelings of doubt and perseverative behaviours are key symptoms of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) and have been linked to hyperactive error and conflict signals in the brain. While enhanced neural correlates of error monitoring have been robustly shown, far less is known about conflict processing and adaptation in OCD. Method. We examined event-related potentials during conflict processing in 70 patients with OCD and 70 matched healthy comparison participants, focusing on the stimulus-locked N2 elicited in a flanker task. Conflict adaptation was evaluated by analysing sequential adjustments in N2 and behaviour, i.e. current conflict effects as a function of preceding conflict. Results. Patients with OCD showed enhanced N2 amplitudes compared with healthy controls. Further, patients showed stronger conflict adaptation effects on reaction times and N2 amplitude. Thus, the effect of previous compatibility was larger in patients than in healthy participants as indicated by greater N2 adjustments in change trials (i.e. iC, cI). As a result of stronger conflict adaptation in patients, N2 amplitudes were comparable between groups in incompatible trials following incompatible trials. Conclusions. Larger N2 amplitudes and greater conflict adaptation in OCD point to enhanced conflict monitoring leading to increased recruitment of cognitive control in patients. This was most pronounced in change trials and was associated with stronger conflict adjustment in N2 and behaviour. Thus, hyperactive conflict monitoring in OCD may be beneficial in situations that require a high amount of control to resolve conflict, but may also reflect an effortful process that is linked to distress and symptoms of OCD