456 research outputs found
Stimulant Medication and Reading Performance
The study examined the sustained effects of methylphenidate on reading performance in a sample of 42 boys, ages 8 to 11, with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Two subgroups were formed based on the presence or absence of co-occurring conduct disorders. Subjects were selected on the basis of their positive response to methylphenidate as determined in a series of original medication trials (Forness, Cantwell, Swanson, Hanna, & Youpa, 1991). For the purpose of this study, subjects were placed on their optimal dose of medication for a 6-week period and then tested on measures of oral reading and reading comprehension equivalent to those used in the original trials, retested after a week without medication (placebo), then tested again the following week after return to medication. Only the subgroup with conduct disorders responded, and this response was limited to reading comprehension improvement in only those subjects who also demonstrated improvement in oral reading on original trials. No response differences were found between subjects with or without learning disabilities.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68569/2/10.1177_002221949202500205.pd
Dynamics of vortex tangle without mutual friction in superfluid He
A recent experiment has shown that a tangle of quantized vortices in
superfluid He decayed even at mK temperatures where the normal fluid was
negligible and no mutual friction worked. Motivated by this experiment, this
work studies numerically the dynamics of the vortex tangle without the mutual
friction, thus showing that a self-similar cascade process, whereby large
vortex loops break up to smaller ones, proceeds in the vortex tangle and is
closely related with its free decay. This cascade process which may be covered
with the mutual friction at higher temperatures is just the one at zero
temperature Feynman proposed long ago. The full Biot-Savart calculation is made
for dilute vortices, while the localized induction approximation is used for a
dense tangle. The former finds the elementary scenario: the reconnection of the
vortices excites vortex waves along them and makes them kinked, which could be
suppressed if the mutual friction worked. The kinked parts reconnect with the
vortex they belong to, dividing into small loops. The latter simulation under
the localized induction approximation shows that such cascade process actually
proceeds self-similarly in a dense tangle and continues to make small vortices.
Considering that the vortices of the interatomic size no longer keep the
picture of vortex, the cascade process leads to the decay of the vortex line
density. The presence of the cascade process is supported also by investigating
the classification of the reconnection type and the size distribution of
vortices. The decay of the vortex line density is consistent with the solution
of the Vinen's equation which was originally derived on the basis of the idea
of homogeneous turbulence with the cascade process. The obtained result is
compared with the recent Vinen's theory.Comment: 16 pages, 16 figures, submitted to PR
Sleep onset problems and subcortical development in infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder
Objective: Sleep patterns in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) appear to diverge from typical development in the second or third year of life. Little is known, however, about the occurrence of sleep problems in infants who later develop ASD and possible effects on early brain development. In a longitudinal neuroimaging study of infants at familial high or low risk for ASD, parent-reported sleep onset problems were examined in relation to subcortical brain volumes in the first 2 years of life. Methods: A total of 432 infants were included across three study groups: infants at high risk who developed ASD (N=71), infants at high risk who did not develop ASD (N=234), and infants at low risk (N=127). Sleep onset problem scores (derived from an infant temperament measure) were evaluated in relation to longitudinal high-resolution T1 and T2 structural imaging data acquired at 6, 12, and 24 months of age. Results: Sleep onset problems were more common at 6–12 months among infants who later developed ASD. Infant sleep onset problems were related to hippocampal volume trajectories from 6 to 24 months only for infants at high risk who developed ASD. Brain-sleep relationships were specific to the hippocampus; no significant relationships were found with volume trajectories of other subcortical structures examined (the amygdala, caudate, globus pallidus, putamen, and thalamus). Conclusions: These findings provide initial evidence that sleep onset problems in the first year of life precede ASD diagnosis and are associated with altered neurodevelopmental trajectories in infants at high familial risk who go on to develop ASD. If replicated, these findings could provide new insights into a potential role of sleep difficulties in the development of ASD
Instability of vortex array and transitions to turbulent states in rotating helium II
We consider superfluid helium inside a container which rotates at constant
angular velocity and investigate numerically the stability of the array of
quantized vortices in the presence of an imposed axial counterflow. This
problem was studied experimentally by Swanson {\it et al.}, who reported
evidence of instabilities at increasing axial flow but were not able to explain
their nature. We find that Kelvin waves on individual vortices become unstable
and grow in amplitude, until the amplitude of the waves becomes large enough
that vortex reconnections take place and the vortex array is destabilized. The
eventual nonlinear saturation of the instability consists of a turbulent tangle
of quantized vortices which is strongly polarized. The computed results compare
well with the experiments. Finally we suggest a theoretical explanation for the
second instability which was observed at higher values of the axial flow
Sex differences associated with corpus callosum development in human infants: A longitudinal multimodal imaging study
The corpus callosum (CC) is the largest connective pathway in the human brain, linking cerebral hemispheres. There is longstanding debate in the scientific literature whether sex differences are evident in this structure, with many studies indicating the structure is larger in females. However, there are few data pertaining to this issue in infancy, during which time the most rapid developmental changes to the CC occur. In this study, we examined longitudinal brain imaging data collected from 104 infants at ages 6, 12, and 24 months. We identified sex differences in brain-size adjusted CC area and thickness characterized by a steeper rate of growth in males versus females from ages 6–24 months. In contrast to studies of older children and adults, CC size was larger for male compared to female infants. Based on diffusion tensor imaging data, we found that CC thickness is significantly associated with underlying microstructural organization. However, we observed no sex differences in the association between microstructure and thickness, suggesting that the role of factors such as axon density and/or myelination in determining CC size is generally equivalent between sexes. Finally, we found that CC length was negatively associated with nonverbal ability among females
Sub-millimeter Tests of the Gravitational Inverse-square Law
Motivated by a variety of theories that predict new effects, we tested the
gravitational 1/r^2 law at separations between 10.77 mm and 137 microns using
two different 10-fold azimuthally symmetric torsion pendulums and rotating
10-fold symmetric attractors. Our work improves upon other experiments by up to
a factor of about 100. We found no deviation from Newtonian physics at the 95%
confidence level and interpret these results as constraints on extensions of
the Standard Model that predict Yukawa or power-law forces. We set a constraint
on the largest single extra dimension (assuming toroidal compactification and
that one extra dimension is significantly larger than all the others) of R <=
160 microns, and on two equal-sized large extra dimensions of R <= 130 microns.
Yukawa interactions with |alpha| >= 1 are ruled out at 95% confidence for
lambda >= 197 microns. Extra-dimensions scenarios stabilized by radions are
restricted to unification masses M >= 3.0 TeV/c^2, regardless of the number of
large extra dimensions. We also provide new constraints on power-law potentials
V(r)\propto r^{-k} with k between 2 and 5 and on the gamma_5 couplings of
pseudoscalars with m <= 10 meV/c^2.Comment: 34 pages, 38 figure
Subcortical Brain and Behavior Phenotypes Differentiate Infants With Autism Versus Language Delay
Background Younger siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are themselves at increased risk for ASD and other developmental concerns. It is unclear if infants who display developmental concerns, but are unaffected by ASD, share similar or dissimilar behavioral and brain phenotypes to infants with ASD. Most individuals with ASD exhibit heterogeneous difficulties with language, and their receptive-expressive language profiles are often atypical. Yet, little is known about the neurobiology that contributes to these language difficulties. Methods In this study, we used behavioral assessments and structural magnetic resonance imaging to investigate early brain structures and associations with later language skills. High-risk infants who were later diagnosed with ASD (n = 86) were compared with high-risk infants who showed signs of early language delay (n = 41) as well as with high- and low-risk infants who did not have ASD or language delay (n = 255 and 143, respectively). Results Results indicated that diminished language skills were evident at 12 months in infants with ASD and infants with early language delay. At 24 months of age, only the infants with ASD displayed atypical receptive-expressive language profiles. Associations between 12-month subcortical volumes and 24-month language skills were moderated by group status, indicating disordinal brain-behavior associations among infants with ASD and infants with language delay. Conclusions These results suggest that there are different brain mechanisms influencing language development in infants with ASD and infants with language delay, and that the two groups likely experience unique sets of genetic and environmental risk factors
Meson-Meson Scattering in the Quark Model: Spin Dependence and Exotic Channels
We apply a quark interchange model to spin-dependent and exotic meson-meson
scattering. The model includes the complete set of standard quark model forces,
including OGE spin-orbit and tensor and scalar confinement spin-orbit.
Scattering amplitudes derived assuming SHO and Coulomb plus linear plus
hyperfine meson wavefunctions are compared. In I=2 pi pi we find approximate
agreement with the S-wave phase shift from threshold to 1.5 GeV, where we
predict an extremum that is supported by the data. Near threshold we find rapid
energy dependence that may reconcile theoretical estimates of small scattering
lengths with experimental indications of larger ones based on extrapolation of
measurements at moderate kpi^2. In PsV scattering we find that the quark-quark
L*S and T forces map into L*S and T meson-meson interactions, and the P-wave
L*S force is large. Finally we consider scattering in J^PC-exotic channels, and
note that some of the Deck effect mechanisms suggested as possible nonresonant
origins of the pi_1(1400) signal are not viable in this model.Comment: 51 pages, 10 figures, uses epsf.sty epsfig.st
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