Production de tritium dans le thorium par des protons de 135 MeV

We have measured the cross-section of tritium production by bombardement of thorium by 135 MeV protons in the Orsay synchro-cyclotron. The tritium was separated from the targets by heating in a graphite crucible with a high-frequency generator, under hydrogen gas pressure. Tritiated water was synthetised and the tritium was measured with liquid scintillator. A value of 19.5 ± 0.05 mbarns was obtained for the tritium-cross section and ten percent of tritons have energies higher than 35 MeV. This large cross-section is attributed to a double pick-up process.On a mesuré la section efficace de production de tritium après bombardment de thorium par des protons de 135 MeV accélérés au synchro-cyclotron d'Orsay. Le tritium était extrait des cibles par chauffage, dans un creuset de graphite, par courants H. F. sous atmosphère d'hydrogène. L'hydrogène tritié était ensuite transformé en eau tritiée et le tritium mesuré au moyen de scintillateur liquide. La section efficace obtenue est de 19,5 ± 0,5 mbarns et dix pour cent des tritons ont une énergie supérieure à 35 MeV. On attribue cette production à un processus de double pick-up

IQ in children with autism spectrum disorders: data from the Special Needs and Autism Project (SNAP)

Background Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was once considered to be highly associated with intellectual disability and to show a characteristic IQ profile, with strengths in performance over verbal abilities and a distinctive pattern of ‘peaks’ and ‘troughs’ at the subtest level. However, there are few data from epidemiological studies. Method Comprehensive clinical assessments were conducted with 156 children aged 10–14 years [mean (s.d.)=11.7 (0.9)], seen as part of an epidemiological study (81 childhood autism, 75 other ASD). A sample weighting procedure enabled us to estimate characteristics of the total ASD population. Results Of the 75 children with ASD, 55% had an intellectual disability (IQIQ>85) but only 3% were of above average intelligence (IQ>115). There was some evidence for a clinically significant Performance/Verbal IQ (PIQ/VIQ) discrepancy but discrepant verbal versus performance skills were not associated with a particular pattern of symptoms, as has been reported previously. There was mixed evidence of a characteristic subtest profile: whereas some previously reported patterns were supported (e.g. poor Comprehension), others were not (e.g. no ‘peak’ in Block Design). Adaptive skills were significantly lower than IQ and were associated with severity of early social impairment and also IQ. Conclusions In this epidemiological sample, ASD was less strongly associated with intellectual disability than traditionally held and there was only limited evidence of a distinctive IQ profile. Adaptive outcome was significantly impaired even for those children of average intelligence

Bounds on Integrals of the Wigner Function

The integral of the Wigner function over a subregion of the phase-space of a quantum system may be less than zero or greater than one. It is shown that for systems with one degree of freedom, the problem of determining the best possible upper and lower bounds on such an integral, over all possible states, reduces to the problem of finding the greatest and least eigenvalues of an hermitian operator corresponding to the subregion. The problem is solved exactly in the case of an arbitrary elliptical region. These bounds provide checks on experimentally measured quasiprobability distributions.Comment: 10 pages, 1 PostScript figure, Latex file; revised following referees' comments; to appear in Physical Review Letter

Defining the cognitive phenotype of autism

Although much progress has been made in determining the cognitive profile of strengths and weaknesses that characterise individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), there remain a number of outstanding questions. These include how universal strengths and deficits are; whether cognitive subgroups exist; and how cognition is associated with core autistic behaviours, as well as associated psychopathology. Several methodological factors have contributed to these limitations in our knowledge, including: small sample sizes, a focus on single domains of cognition, and an absence of comprehensive behavioural phenotypic information. To attempt to overcome some of these limitations, we assessed a wide range of cognitive domains in a large sample (N = 100) of 14- to 16-year-old adolescents with ASDs who had been rigorously behaviourally characterised. In this review, we will use examples of some initial findings in the domains of perceptual processing, emotion processing and memory, both to outline different approaches we have taken to data analysis and to highlight the considerable challenges to better defining the cognitive phenotype(s) of ASDs. Enhanced knowledge of the cognitive phenotype may contribute to our understanding of the complex links between genes, brain and behaviour, as well as inform approaches to remediation

Moving from development to implementation of digital innovations within the NHS: myHealthE, a remote monitoring system for tracking patient outcomes in child and adolescent mental health services

OBJECTIVE: This paper aims to report our experience of developing, implementing, and evaluating myHealthE (MHE), a digital innovation for Child and Adolescents Mental Health Services (CAMHS), which automates the remote collection and reporting of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) into National Health Services (NHS) electronic healthcare records. METHODS: We describe the logistical and governance issues encountered in developing the MHE interface with patient-identifiable information, and the steps taken to overcome these development barriers. We describe the application's architecture and hosting environment to enable its operability within the NHS, as well as the capabilities needed within the technical team to bridge the gap between academic development and NHS operational teams. RESULTS: We present evidence on the feasibility and acceptability of this system within clinical services and the process of iterative development, highlighting additional functions that were incorporated to increase system utility. CONCLUSION: This article provides a framework with which to plan, develop, and implement automated PROM collection from remote devices back to NHS infrastructure. The challenges and solutions described in this paper will be pertinent to other digital health innovation researchers aspiring to deploy interoperable systems within NHS clinical systems

Regression, developmental trajectory and associated problems in disorders in the autism spectrum: the SNAP study

We report rates of regression and associated findings in a population derived group of 255 children aged 9-14 years, participating in a prevalence study of autism spectrum disorders (ASD); 53 with narrowly defined autism, 105 with broader ASD and 97 with non-ASD neurodevelopmental problems, drawn from those with special educational needs within a population of 56,946 children. Language regression was reported in 30% with narrowly defined autism, 8% with broader ASD and less than 3% with developmental problems without ASD. A smaller group of children were identified who underwent a less clear setback. Regression was associated with higher rates of autistic symptoms and a deviation in developmental trajectory. Regression was not associated with epilepsy or gastrointestinal problems

'Everyday memory' impairments in autism spectrum disorders

‘Everyday memory’ is conceptualised as memory within the context of day-to-day life and, despite its functional relevance, has been little studied in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In the first study of its kind, 94 adolescents with an ASD and 55 without an ASD completed measures of everyday memory from the Rivermead Behavioural Memory Test (RBMT) and a standard word recall task (Children’s Auditory Verbal Learning Test-2: CAVLT-2). The ASD group showed significant impairments on the RBMT, including in prospective memory, alongside impaired performance on the CAVLT-2. Social and communication ability was significantly associated with prospective remembering in an everyday memory context but not with the CAVLT-2. The complex nature of everyday memory and its relevance to ASD is discussed

Disorder-specific functional abnormalities during sustained attention in youth with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and with Autism

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are often comorbid and share behavioural-cognitive abnormalities in sustained attention. A key question is whether this shared cognitive phenotype is based on common or different underlying pathophysiologies. To elucidate this question, we compared 20 boys with ADHD to 20 age and IQ matched ASD and 20 healthy boys using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) during a parametrically modulated vigilance task with a progressively increasing load of sustained attention. ADHD and ASD boys had significantly reduced activation relative to controls in bilateral striato–thalamic regions, left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and superior parietal cortex. Both groups also displayed significantly increased precuneus activation relative to controls. Precuneus was negatively correlated with the DLPFC activation, and progressively more deactivated with increasing attention load in controls, but not patients, suggesting problems with deactivation of a task-related default mode network in both disorders. However, left DLPFC underactivation was significantly more pronounced in ADHD relative to ASD boys, which furthermore was associated with sustained performance measures that were only impaired in ADHD patients. ASD boys, on the other hand, had disorder-specific enhanced cerebellar activation relative to both ADHD and control boys, presumably reflecting compensation. The findings show that ADHD and ASD boys have both shared and disorder-specific abnormalities in brain function during sustained attention. Shared deficits were in fronto–striato–parietal activation and default mode suppression. Differences were a more severe DLPFC dysfunction in ADHD and a disorder-specific fronto–striato–cerebellar dysregulation in ASD

Child and parent outcomes following parent interventions for child emotional and behavioral problems in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis

There is growing interest in the development of behavioral parent interventions targeting emotional and behavioral problems in children with autism spectrum disorders. Such interventions have potential to improve a number of child and parental well-being outcomes beyond disruptive child behavior. This systematic review and meta-analysis assesses evidence for the efficacy of behavioral parent interventions for disruptive and hyperactive child behavior in autism spectrum disorders, as well as parenting efficacy and stress. A total of 11 articles from nine randomized controlled trials were included. Sufficient data were available to calculate standardized mean difference and show favorable effects of behavioral parent interventions on parent-reported measures of child disruptive behavior (standardized mean difference = 0.67), hyperactivity (standardized mean difference = 0.31) and parent stress (standardized mean difference = 0.37); effects on parent efficacy are less clear (standardized mean difference = 0.39, p = 0.17). There were insufficient data to explore intervention effects on internalizing behavior in autism spectrum disorders, parenting behaviors, or observational and teacher-reported outcomes, providing important avenues for future research. This review adds to growing evidence of the efficacy of behavioral parent interventions for child behavior and parental well-being in autism spectrum disorders (Prospero: CRD42016033979)

Elephants in pyjamas: testing the weak central coherence account of autism spectrum disorders using a syntactic disambiguation task

According to the weak central coherence (CC) account individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit enhanced local processing and weak part-whole integration. CC was investigated in the verbal domain. Adolescents, recruited using a 2 (ASD status) by 2 (language impairment status) design, completed an aural forced choice comprehension task involving syntactically ambiguous sentences. Half the picture targets depicted the least plausible interpretation, resulting in longer RTs across groups. These were assumed to reflect local processing. There was no ASD by plausibility interaction and consequently little evidence for weak CC in the verbal domain when conceptualised as enhanced local processing. Furthermore, there was little evidence that the processing of syntactically ambiguous sentences differed as a function of ASD or language-impairment status