Social conformity and autism spectrum disorder : a child-friendly take on a classic study

Perhaps surprisingly, given the importance of conformity as a theoretical construct in social psychology and the profound implications autism has for social function, little research has been done on whether autism is associated with the propensity to conform to a social majority. This study is a modern, child-friendly implementation of the classic Asch conformity studies. The performance of 15 children with autism was compared to that of 15 typically developing children on a line judgement task. Children were matched for age, gender and numeracy and literacy ability. In each trial, the child had to say which of three lines a comparison line matched in length. On some trials, children were misled as to what most people thought the answer was. Children with autism were much less likely to conform in the misleading condition than typically developing children. This finding was replicated using a continuous measure of autism traits, the Autism Quotient questionnaire, which showed that autism traits negatively correlated with likelihood to conform in the typically developing group. This study demonstrates the resistance of children with autism to social pressure

High inclination orbits in the secular quadrupolar three-body problem

The Lidov-Kozai mechanism allows a body to periodically exchange its eccentricity with inclination. It was first discussed in the framework of the quadrupolar secular restricted three-body problem, where the massless particle is the inner body, and later extended to the quadrupolar secular nonrestricted three body problem. In this paper, we propose a different point of view on the problem by looking first at the restricted problem where the massless particle is the outer body. In this situation, equilibria at high mutual inclination appear, which correspond to the population of stable particles that Verrier & Evans (2008,2009) find in stable, high inclination circumbinary orbits around one of the components of the quadruple star HD 98800. We provide a simple analytical framework using a vectorial formalism for these situations. We also look at the evolution of these high inclination equilibria in the non restricted case.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by MNRAS 2009 September 1

Crack Detectability in Vertical Axis Cooling Pumps During Operation

The problem which is faced in this paper is the analysis of the effects of a transverse propagating crack on the vibrational behaviour of a vertical axis cooling pump. The crack is assumed to develop in a section between the impeller and a seal, which prevents the hot water to flow upwards along the rotor shaft. The pressurized seal is fed with an injection of cold water. Crack initiation may be due to a thermal striping phenomenon. Afterwards, crack growth could be driven by a combination of thermal and mechanical loads, causing alternate cyclic stress in the shaft. Cracking instances of this type have been reported worldwide in several machines of similar design. In this paper, the fact is emphasized that the crack behavior is likely to be influenced by the thermal field and by the water pressure in the cracked area. A dynamical lineshaft model, integrated by an original representation of the crack, has been developed to investigate the possible vibratory symptoms related to a crack propagation. The vibrations are generally measured in correspondence of a rigid coupling which connects the motor shaft to the pump shaft, in position which is rather far away from crack. 1x rev., 2x rev and 3x rev. vibration components, which are generally displayed by the machine condition monitoring system and are the most significative symptoms of the presence of a transverse crack in a rotating shaft, are calculated

Hepatitis B virus receptors and molecular drug targets

Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a leading cause of liver disease worldwide. Virus-induced diseases include cirrhosis, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current therapeutic strategies may at best control infection without reaching cure. Complementary antiviral strategies aimed at viral cure are therefore urgently needed. HBV entry is the first step of the infection cycle, which leads to the formation of cccDNA and the establishment of chronic infection. Viral entry may thus represent an attractive target for antiviral therapy. This review summarizes the molecular virology and cell biology of HBV entry, including the discovery and development of new HBV entry inhibitors, and discusses their potential in future treatment of HBV infection

Canted antiferromagnetic order in the kagome material Sr-vesignieite

We report 51 V NMR, muon spin rotation, and zero-applied-field 63 , 65 Cu NMR measurements on powder samples of Sr-vesignieite, SrCu 3 V 2 O 8 ( OH ) 2 , a S = 1 / 2 nearly kagome Heisenberg antiferromagnet. Our results demonstrate that the ground state is a q = 0 magnetic structure with spins canting either in or out of the kagome plane, giving rise to weak ferromagnetism. We determine the size of ordered moments and the angle of canting for different possible q = 0 structures and orbital scenarios, thereby providing insight into the role of the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in this material

P19-26. Directing macaque immune responses with an anti-dendritic cell HIV Gag p24 fusion protein vaccine

International audiencen.