Delusions in frontotemporal lobar degeneration

We assessed the significance and nature of delusions in frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD), an important cause of young-onset dementia with prominent neuropsychiatric features that remain incompletely characterised. The case notes of all patients meeting diagnostic criteria for FTLD attending a tertiary level cognitive disorders clinic over a three year period were retrospectively reviewed and eight patients with a history of delusions were identified. All patients underwent detailed clinical and neuropsychological evaluation and brain MRI. The diagnosis was confirmed pathologically in two cases. The estimated prevalence of delusions was 14 %. Delusions were an early, prominent and persistent feature. They were phenomenologically diverse; however paranoid and somatic delusions were prominent. Behavioural variant FTLD was the most frequently associated clinical subtype and cerebral atrophy was bilateral or predominantly right-sided in most cases. We conclude that delusions may be a clinical issue in FTLD, and this should be explored further in future work

Timing of primary tooth emergence among U.S. racial and ethnic groups

ObjectivesTo compare timing of tooth emergence among groups of American Indian (AI), Black and White children in the United States at 12 months of age.MethodsData were from two sources – a longitudinal study of a Northern Plains tribal community and a study with sites in Indiana, Iowa and North Carolina. For the Northern Plains study, all children (n = 223) were American Indian, while for the multisite study, children (n = 320) were from diverse racial groups. Analyses were limited to data from examinations conducted within 30 days of the child’s first birthday.ResultsAI children had significantly more teeth present (Mean: 7.8, Median: 8.0) than did Whites (4.4, 4.0, P < 0.001) or Blacks (4.5, 4.0, P < 0.001). No significant differences were detected between Black and White children (P = 0.58). There was no significant sex difference overall or within any of the racial groups.ConclusionsTooth emergence occurs at a younger age for AI children than it does for contemporary White or Black children in the United States.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135387/1/jphd12154.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135387/2/jphd12154_am.pd

Cloud optical depth retrievals from the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) cloud mode observations

Cloud optical depth is one of the most poorly observed climate variables. The new “cloud mode” capability in the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) will inexpensively yet dramatically increase cloud optical depth observations in both number and accuracy. Cloud mode optical depth retrievals from AERONET were evaluated at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program’s Oklahoma site in sky conditions ranging from broken clouds to overcast. For overcast cases, the 1.5 min average AERONET cloud mode optical depths agreed to within 15% of those from a standard ground‐based flux method. For broken cloud cases, AERONET retrievals also captured rapid variations detected by the microwave radiometer. For 3 year climatology derived from all nonprecipitating clouds, AERONET monthly mean cloud optical depths are generally larger than cloud radar retrievals because of the current cloud mode observation strategy that is biased toward measurements of optically thick clouds. This study has demonstrated a new way to enhance the existing AERONET infrastructure to observe cloud optical properties on a global scale

Detailed Structure of a CDW in a Quenched Random Field

Using high resolution x-ray scattering, we have measured the structure of the Q_1 CDW in Ta-doped NbSe_3. Detailed line shape analysis of the data demonstrates that two length scales are required to describe the phase-phase correlation function. Phase fluctuations with wavelengths less than a new length scale $a$ are suppressed and this $a$ is identified with the amplitude coherence length. We find that xi_a* = 34.4 \pm 10.3 angstroms. Implications for the physical mechanisms responsible for pinning are discussed.Comment: revtex 3.0, 3 postscript uuencoded figure

Robot rights? Towards a social-relational justification of moral consideration \ud

Should we grant rights to artificially intelligent robots? Most current and near-future robots do not meet the hard criteria set by deontological and utilitarian theory. Virtue ethics can avoid this problem with its indirect approach. However, both direct and indirect arguments for moral consideration rest on ontological features of entities, an approach which incurs several problems. In response to these difficulties, this paper taps into a different conceptual resource in order to be able to grant some degree of moral consideration to some intelligent social robots: it sketches a novel argument for moral consideration based on social relations. It is shown that to further develop this argument we need to revise our existing ontological and social-political frameworks. It is suggested that we need a social ecology, which may be developed by engaging with Western ecology and Eastern worldviews. Although this relational turn raises many difficult issues and requires more work, this paper provides a rough outline of an alternative approach to moral consideration that can assist us in shaping our relations to intelligent robots and, by extension, to all artificial and biological entities that appear to us as more than instruments for our human purpose

Integrating Escherichia coli Antimicrobial Susceptibility Data from Multiple Surveillance Programs

Collaboration between networks presents opportunities to increase analytical power and cross-validate findings. Multivariate analyses of 2 large, international datasets (MYSTIC and SENTRY) from the Global Advisory on Antibiotic Resistance Data program explored temporal, geographic, and demographic trends in Escherichia coli resistance from 1997 to 2001. Elevated rates of nonsusceptibility were seen in Latin America, southern Europe, and the western Pacific, and lower rates were seen in North America. For most antimicrobial drugs considered, nonsusceptibility was higher in isolates from men, older patients, and intensive care unit patients. Nonsusceptibility to ciprofloxacin was higher in younger patients, rose with time, and was not associated with intensive care unit status. In univariate analyses, estimates of nonsusceptibility from MYSTIC were consistently higher than those from SENTRY, but these differences disappeared in multivariate analyses, which supports the epidemiologic relevance of findings from the 2 programs, despite differences in surveillance strategies

Photo-induced second-order nonlinearity in stoichiometric silicon nitride waveguides

We report the observation of second-harmonic generation in stoichiometric silicon nitride waveguides grown via low-pressure chemical vapour deposition. Quasi-rectangular waveguides with a large cross section were used, with a height of 1 {\mu}m and various different widths, from 0.6 to 1.2 {\mu}m, and with various lengths from 22 to 74 mm. Using a mode-locked laser delivering 6-ps pulses at 1064 nm wavelength with a repetition rate of 20 MHz, 15% of the incoming power was coupled through the waveguide, making maximum average powers of up to 15 mW available in the waveguide. Second-harmonic output was observed with a delay of minutes to several hours after the initial turn-on of pump radiation, showing a fast growth rate between 10$^{-4}$ to 10$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, with the shortest delay and highest growth rate at the highest input power. After this first, initial build-up, the second-harmonic became generated instantly with each new turn-on of the pump laser power. Phase matching was found to be present independent of the used waveguide width, although the latter changes the fundamental and second-harmonic phase velocities. We address the presence of a second-order nonlinearity and phase matching, involving an initial, power-dependent build-up, to the coherent photogalvanic effect. The effect, via the third-order nonlinearity and multiphoton absorption leads to a spatially patterned charge separation, which generates a spatially periodic, semi-permanent, DC-field-induced second-order susceptibility with a period that is appropriate for quasi-phase matching. The maximum measured second-harmonic conversion efficiency amounts to 0.4% in a waveguide with 0.9 x 1 {\mu}m$^2$ cross section and 36 mm length, corresponding to 53 {\mu}W at 532 nm with 13 mW of IR input coupled into the waveguide. The according $\chi^{(2)}$ amounts to 3.7 pm/V, as retrieved from the measured conversion efficiency.Comment: 20 pages, 10 figure