Voice processing abilities in children with autism, children with specific language impairments and young typically developing children

It is well established that people with autism have impaired face processing, but much less is known about voice processing in autism. Four experiments were therefore carried out to assess (1) familiar voice-face and sound-object matching; (2) familiar voice recognition; (3) unfamiliar voice discrimination; and (4) vocal affect naming and vocal-facial affect matching. In Experiments 1 and 2 language-matched children with specific language impairment (SLI) were the controls. In Experiments 3 and 4 language-matched children with SLI and young mainstream children were the controls. The results were unexpected: the children with autism were not impaired relative to controls on Experiments 1, 2 and 3, and were superior to the children with SLI on both parts of Experiment 4, although impaired on affect matching relative to the mainstream children. These results are interpreted in terms of an unexpected impairment of voice processing in the children with SLI associated partly, but not wholly, with an impairment of cross-modal processing. Performance on the experimental tasks was not associated with verbal or nonverbal ability in either of the clinical groups. The implications of these findings for understanding autism and SLI are discussed

Lunar preform manufacturing

A design for a machine to produce hollow, continuous fiber reinforced composite rods of lunar glass and a liquid crystalline matrix using the pultrusion process is presented. The glass fiber will be produced from the lunar surface, with the machine and matrix being transported to the moon. The process is adaptable to the low gravity and near-vacuum environment of the moon through the use of a thermoplastic matrix in fiber form as it enters the pultrusion process. With a power consumption of 5k W, the proposed machine will run continuously, unmanned in fourteen day cycles, matching the length of moon days. A number of dies could be included that would allow the machine to produce rods of varying diameter, I-beams, angles, and other structural members. These members could then be used for construction on the lunar surface or transported for use in orbit. The benefits of this proposal are in the savings in weight of the cargo each lunar mission would carry. The supply of glass on the moon is effectively endless, so enough rods would have to be produced to justify its transportation, operation, and capital cost. This should not be difficult as weight on lunar mission is at a premium

Developing an Early-Alert System to Promote Student Visits to Tutor Center

An early-alert system (MavCLASS) was developed and piloted in a large gateway math class with 611 freshman students to identify academically at-risk students and provide alert messages. It was found that there was significant association between the alert messages students received and their visits to the university’s tutor center. Further, the achievement of students who visited the tutor center was improving over the semester. Evidence from the study suggests that an early-alert system focused on personalized feedback from instructional staff correlates with the help-seeking behaviors of at-risk students in large gateway classes

Internet-based guided self-help for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): randomised controlled trial

Background: There are numerous barriers that limit access to evidence-based treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Internet-based guided self-help is a treatment option that may help widen access to effective intervention, but the approach has not been sufficiently explored for the treatment of PTSD. Methods: 42 adults with DSM-5 PTSD of mild to moderate severity were randomly allocated to internet-based self-help with up to 3 hours of therapist assistance, or to a delayed treatment control group. The internet-based programme included 8 modules that focused on psycho-education; grounding; relaxation; behavioural activation; real-life and imaginal exposure; cognitive therapy and relapse prevention. The primary outcome measure was reduction in clinician-rated traumatic stress symptoms using the clinician administered PTSD scale for DSM-V (CAPS-5). Secondary outcomes were self-reported PTSD symptoms; depression; anxiety; alcohol use; perceived social support; and functional impairment. Results: Post-treatment, the internet-based guided self-help group had significantly lower clinician assessed PTSD symptoms than the delayed treatment control group (between-group effect size Cohen’s d=1.86). The difference was maintained at one-month follow-up and dissipated once both groups had received treatment. Similar patterns of difference between the two groups were found for depression, anxiety and functional impairment. The average contact with treating clinicians was 2½ hours. Conclusions: Internet-based trauma-focused guided self-help for PTSD is a promising treatment option that requires far less therapist time than current first line face-to-face psychological therapy

Wake effect assessment of a flap type wave energy converter farm under realistic environmental conditions by using a numerical coupling methodology

International audienceOcean Energy Europe has estimated that 100 GW of ocean energy capacity (wave and tidal) could be deployed in Europe by 2050. Along with the European targets it is expected that large farms of Wave Energy Converters (WECs) will be installed in the sea and, as part of the consenting process for their installation, it will be necessary to quantify their impact on the local environment. The objective of this study is to improve the assessment of WEC farms impact on the surrounding wave field (wake effect) through the use of a numerical coupling methodology. The methodology consists of a Boundary Element Method (BEM) solver to obtain the wave perturbation generated by the WEC farm for the near-field accounting for the wave-body interactions within the farm whilst a Wave Propagation Model (WPM) based on the mild-slope equations determines the wave transformation in the far-field. The near-field solution obtained from the BEM solver is described as an internal boundary condition in the WPM and then it is propagated throughout the WPM numerical domain. The internal boundary is described by imposing the solution of the surface elevation and velocity potential at the free-surface at each instant of time along a line surrounding the WEC farm.As a case study the methodology was applied to flap type WECs that are deployed in shallow water conditions. The validation of the technique was done first for a single flap and then for a farm of 5 flaps. Once validated, a realistic scenario was assessed by quantifying the impact of irregular sea states composed of long crested waves on a large WEC farm composed of 18 flaps and located on a real bathymetry. The irregular waves were obtained by superposing the regular wave field solutions for all wave frequencies represented in the considered sea state based on the linear water wave theory. Within the limits of this theory these simulations demonstrate the versatility of the methodology to accurately represent the impact of a WEC farm on the surrounding wave climate. The influence of the peak period and the spacing between flaps on the WEC farm wake effect was assessed as well

Inhibitory effect of phytochemicals towards SARS-CoV-2 papain like protease (PLpro) proteolytic and deubiquitinase activity

Recent studies have shown that RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CLpro), and papain-like protease (PLpro) are necessary for SARS-CoV-2 replication. Among these three enzymes, PLpro exhibits both proteolytic and deubiquitinase (DUB) activity and is responsible for disrupting the host\u27s innate immune response against SARS-CoV-2. Because of this unique property of PLpro, we investigated the inhibitory effects of phytochemicals on the SARS-CoV-2 PLpro enzyme. Our data indicates that the phytochemicals such as catechin, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), mangiferin, myricetin, rutin, and theaflavin exhibited inhibitory activity with IC50 values of 14.2, 128.4, 95.3, 12.1, and 43.4, and 7.3 μM, respectively, towards PLpro proteolytic activity. However, the IC50 values of quercetin, oleuropein, and γ-mangostin are ambiguous. We observed that EGCG, mangiferin, myricetin, oleuropein, rutin, and theaflavin have also inhibited the DUB activity with IC50 values of 44.7, 104.3, 29.2, 131.5, 61.7, and 13.2 μM, respectively. Mechanistically, the ligand-protein interaction structural modeling suggests that mangiferin, EGCG, theaflavin, and oleuropein shows that these four ligands interact with Glu167, and Tyr268, however mangiferin and oleuropein showed very weak interaction with Glu167 as compared to EGCG, and theaflavin which reflects their low IC50 values for DUB activity. Our data indicate that the phytochemicals mentioned above inhibit the proteolytic and DUB activity of SARS-CoV-2 PLpro, thus preventing viral replication and promoting host innate immune response. However, the therapeutic potential of these phytochemicals needs to be validated by pre-clinical and clinical studies

Long-term effects of a protein-enriched diet on blood pressure in older women

Short-term randomised, controlled trials have found that dietary protein relative to carbohydrate can reduce blood pressure. Our objective was to investigate the effects on blood pressure of an increase in protein intake from whey over 2 years in women aged over 70 years. From the general population, 219 women aged between 70 and 80 years were recruited to a 2-year randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-design trial: 181 women completed the trial to the end of year 2. Participants were randomly assigned to consume a daily whey protein-based beverage (protein) or an energy-matched low-protein high-carbohydrate beverage (control). Blood pressure measurements were performed at baseline, year 1 and year 2. For protein relative to control, the estimated mean net differences in protein and carbohydrate intakes were 18 (95 % CI 13, 23) and − 22 (95 % CI − 9, − 35) g/d at year 1, and 22 (95 % CI 17, 28) and − 18 (95 % CI − 6, − 31) g/d at year 2. Intention-to-treat analysis found no overall differences between groups in blood pressure (P>0.5). Net differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressure were – 2.3 (95 % CI – 5.3, 0.7) and – 1.5 (95 % CI – 3.6, 0.6) mmHg at year 1, and 1.6 (95 % CI – 1.5, 4.7) and 0.3 (95 % CI – 1.9, 2.4) mmHg at year 2. Similar differences in systolic and diastolic blood pressure at years 1 and 2 were observed with per-protocol analysis. Therefore, the present study did not provide evidence that a higher whey protein intake in older women can have prolonged effects on blood pressure