Optimum virtual environment for solving cognitive tasks by individuals with autism spectrum disorders: The questions and methods of design

The number of people with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) is growing in Russia and the world at large. It is important to find ways to diagnose and correct the work with such individuals. There is much evidence that children with ASDs often exhibit pronounced communicative difficulties, problems in establishing visual contact etc. Specialists working with this category of patients face serious difficulties in trying to find effective ways to interact with them. The use of virtual reality environments that have the necessary parameters, determined theoretically, experimentally, and practically, can mitigate these difficulties. The study has shown that, at present, there is much experience in the field of virtual reality application while working with children who have ASDs. Nevertheless, there are several unspecified issues. First, as far as the perception of virtual reality by people with ASDs are concerned, it is especially important to study them. Of much importance are the peculiarities of their states associated with virtual reality, while solving cognitive tasks during diagnostic and corrective work stage, as well as in obtaining education. It is necessary to choose the right methods of visualization and interaction in a virtual environment. The focal point of the article is to justify the project of creating a virtual reality for the diagnosis and socialization of individuals with ASDs, i.e., its structure, stages and methods. In addition, the work is of interest in connection with the research of the phenomenon of presence in virtual reality. © 2019 IJCRSEE. All rights reserved.The work was supported by act 211 Government of the Russian Federation, contract № 02.A03.21.0006. The work was supported by RFBR

Theoretical study of metal borides stability

We have recently identified metal-sandwich (MS) crystal structures and shown with ab initio calculations that the MS lithium monoboride phases are favored over the known stoichiometric ones under hydrostatic pressure [Phys. Rev. B 73, 180501(R) (2006)]. According to previous studies synthesized lithium monoboride tends to be boron-deficient, however the mechanism leading to this phenomenon is not fully understood. We propose a simple model that explains the experimentally observed off-stoichiometry and show that compared to such boron-deficient phases the MS-LiB compounds still have lower formation enthalpy under high pressures. We also investigate stability of MS phases for a large class of metal borides. Our ab initio results suggest that MS noble metal borides are less unstable than the corresponding AlB$_2$-type phases but not stable enough to form under equilibrium conditions.Comment: 14 pages, 15 figure

Fermi level quantum numbers and secondary gap of conducting carbon nanotubes

For the single-wall carbon nanotubes conducting in the simplest tight binding model, the complete set of line group symmetry based quantum numbers for the bands crossing at Fermi level are given. Besides linear (k), helical (k'} and angular momenta, emerging from roto-translational symmetries, the parities of U axis and (in the zig-zag and armchair cases only) mirror planes appear in the assignation. The helical and angular momentum quantum numbers of the crossing bands never vanishes, what supports proposed chirality of currents. Except for the armchair tubes, the crossing bands have the same quantum numbers and, according to the non-crossing rule, a secondary gap arises, as it is shown by the accurate tight-binding calculation. In the armchair case the different vertical mirror parity of the crossing bands provides substantial conductivity, though kF is slightly decreased.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure

Vertebral Artery Hypoplasia – Sex-Specific Frequencies in 36 Parent-Offspring Pairs

The major interest in vertebral artery (VA) hypoplasia comes from its possible connection to migraines with aura as well as from the fact that it is one of the risk factors for a stroke. Therefore, the aim of this preliminary study was to investigate the mode of inheritance of VA hypoplasia. Initially, color Doppler of VA was performed in 64 firstand second-degree relatives of 33 probands, and the presence of VA hypoplasia was confirmed according to the already established criteria. Since a higher prevalence of VA hypoplasia (15.6%) in probands’ relatives in comparison with 2.34% in the general population of Croatia was indicative of a strong familial predisposition for this condition, an analysis of family data by means of Pearson’s chi-square statistics has been performed. In this analysis, the observed sex-specific frequencies of 36 parent-offspring pairs composed only of affected parent and his/her (affected or non-affected) offspring are compared to the frequencies as expected under eight proposed models. For both – autosomal and X-linked monogenetic inheritance – four hypotheses have been chosen, assuming that the individuals having the affected allele (in combination with a healthy one) have 100%, 50%, 40% and 0% chances of developing VA hypoplasia. Out of eight tested models only two – completely dominant and completely recessive X-linked models – were rejected. But, from the six non-rejected models, goodness-of-fit statistics showed that the hypothesis of X-linked inheritance of VA hypoplasia with the »healthy« allele being stronger (60% effect on phenotype) – almost perfectly fit the data ( 2 = 2.0023; df = 7; p = 0.9597). Further research encompassing a more enlarged family sample is needed to confirm the present findings

Nanomechanical Properties and Phase Transitions in a Double-Walled (5,5)@(10,10) Carbon Nanotube: ab initio Calculations

The structure and elastic properties of (5,5) and (10,10) nanotubes, as well as barriers for relative rotation of the walls and their relative sliding along the axis in a double-walled (5,5)@(10,10) carbon nanotube, are calculated using the density functional method. The results of these calculations are the basis for estimating the following physical quantities: shear strengths and diffusion coefficients for relative sliding along the axis and rotation of the walls, as well as frequencies of relative rotational and translational oscillations of the walls. The commensurability-incommensurability phase transition is analyzed. The length of the incommensurability defect is estimated on the basis of ab initio calculations. It is proposed that (5,5)@(10,10) double-walled carbon nanotube be used as a plain bearing. The possibility of experimental verification of the results is discussed.Comment: 14 page

Odnos između odabranih pokazatelja kompjutorski potpomognute analize sperme i plodnosti bikova

Computer Assisted Sperm Analysis (CASA) represents an objective, reproducible and reliable method of sperm quality assessment, however, not many reports exist that correlate its accuracy with bull semen fertility. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correlation between selected CASA motility parameters of cryopreserved bull semen and fertility. The total spermatozoa motility (SM %), the progressive spermatozoa motility (PSM %) as well as the percentage of spermatozoa with rapid movement (RAP %) were measured through CASA. All 12 ejaculates were collected from one Holstein Friesian bull. A total of 816 Holstein Friesian cows were used for artificial insemination (AI) and the evaluation of fertility. The fertility success was assessed by pregnancy rates per cycle (PRC %), 90 days after AI of the cows. The sperm variables that were associated with an increase in the PRC were the SM (R2 = 0. 6722), the PSM (R2 = 0. 6520) and the RAP (R2 = 0. 7103). RAP had a greater influence (P<0.001) on fertility (PRC), than SM and PSM (P<0.01). The increase of sperm motility parameters (SM, PSM and RAP) led to increased PRC, i.e. to increased fertility.Kompjutorski potpomognuta analiza sperme (CASA) predstavlja objektivan, ponovljiv i pouzdan način procjene kvalitete spermija. No, malo je izvješća u kojima se provjerava odnos između njezine točnosti i plodnosti sjemena bikova. Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je procijeniti povezanost odabranih pokazatelja kompjutorski potpomognute analize pokretljivosti spermija iz zamrznute sperme bikova s njihovom plodnošću. Ukupna pokretljivost spermija (%), progresivna pokretljivost spermija (%), kao i postotak spermija s brzim kretanjem (%) procijenjeni su kompjutorski potpomognutom analizom sperme. Svih 12 ejakulata prikupljeni su od jednog holštajnsko-frizijskog bika. Ukupno je 816 holštajsnko-frizijskih krava korišteno za umjetno osjemenjivanje (UO) i procjenu plodnosti. Uspjeh plodnosti procijenjen je stopom gravidnosti po ciklusu (%), 90. dana nakon UO krava. Varijable spermija koje su povezane s povećanjem stope gravidnosti po ciklusu su pokretljivost spermija (R2 = 0,6722), progresivna pokretljivost spermija (R2 = 0, 6520) i stopa spermija s brzim kretanjem (R2 = 0, 7103). Spermiji s brzim kretanjem imali su veći utjecaj (P<0,001) na plodnost (PRC), od ukupne pokretljivosti spermija i progresivne pokretljivosti spermija (P<0,01). Povećanje vrijednosti pokazatelja pokretljivosti spermija (SM, PSM i RAP) dovelo je do povećane stope gravidnosti po ciklusu, tj. povećane plodnosti