Family coordination in families who have a child with autism spectrum disorder

Little is known about the interactions of families where there is a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study applies the Lausanne Trilogue Play (LTP) to explore both its applicability to this population as well as to assess resources and areas of deficit in these families. The sample consisted of 68 families with a child with ASD, and 43 families with a typically developing (TD) child. With respect to the global score for family coordination there were several negative correlations: the more severe the symptoms (based on the child’s ADOS score), the more family coordination was dysfunctional. This correlation was particularly high when parents had to play together with the child. In the parts in which only one of the parents played actively with the child, while the other was simply present, some families did achieve scores in the functional range, despite the child’s symptom severity. The outcomes are discussed in terms of their clinical implications both for assessment and for interventio

Binary and Millisecond Pulsars at the New Millennium

We review the properties and applications of binary and millisecond pulsars. Our knowledge of these exciting objects has greatly increased in recent years, mainly due to successful surveys which have brought the known pulsar population to over 1300. There are now 56 binary and millisecond pulsars in the Galactic disk and a further 47 in globular clusters. This review is concerned primarily with the results and spin-offs from these surveys which are of particular interest to the relativity community.Comment: 59 pages, 26 figures, 5 tables. Accepted for publication in Living Reviews in Relativity (http://www.livingreviews.org

What do aquaporin knockout studies tell us about fluid transport in epithelia?

The investigation of near-isosmotic water transport in epithelia goes back over 100 years; however, debates over mechanism and pathway remain. Aquaporin (AQP) knockouts have been used by various research groups to test the hypothesis of an osmotic mechanism as well as to explore the paracellular versus transcellular pathway debate. Nonproportional reductions in the water permeability of a water-transporting epithelial cell (e.g., a reduction of around 80–90 %) compared to the reduction in overall water transport rate in the knockout animal (e.g., a reduction of 50–60 %) are commonly found. This nonproportionality has led to controversy over whether AQP knockout studies support or contradict the osmotic mechanism. Arguments raised for and against an interpretation supporting the osmotic mechanism typically have partially specified, implicit, or incorrect assumptions. We present a simple mathematical model of the osmotic mechanism with clear assumptions and, for models based on this mechanism, establish a baseline prediction of AQP knockout studies. We allow for deviations from isotonic/isosmotic conditions and utilize dimensional analysis to reduce the number of parameters that must be considered independently. This enables a single prediction curve to be used for multiple epithelial systems. We find that a simple, transcellular-only osmotic mechanism sufficiently predicts the results of knockout studies and find criticisms of this mechanism to be overstated. We note, however, that AQP knockout studies do not give sufficient information to definitively rule out an additional paracellular pathway

The process evaluation of it\u27s your move!, an Australian adolescent community-based obesity prevention project

BackgroundEvidence on interventions for preventing unhealthy weight gain in adolescents is urgently needed. The aim of this paper is to describe the process evaluation for a three-year (2005-2008) project conducted in five secondary schools in the East Geelong/Bellarine region of Victoria, Australia. The project, \u27It\u27s Your Move!\u27 aimed to reduce unhealthy weight gain by promoting healthy eating patterns, regular physical activity, healthy body weight, and body size perception amongst youth; and improve the capacity of families, schools, and community organisations to sustain the promotion of healthy eating and physical activity in the region.MethodsThe project was supported by Deakin University (training and evaluation), a Reference Committee (strategic direction, budgetary approval and monitoring) and a Project Management Committee (project delivery). A workshop of students, teachers and other stakeholders formulated a 10-point action plan, which was then translated into strategies and initiatives specific to each school by the School Project Officers (staff members released from teaching duties one day per week) and trained Student Ambassadors. Baseline surveys informed intervention development. Process data were collected on all intervention activities and these were collated and enumerated, where possible, into a set of mutually exclusive tables to demonstrate the types of strategies and the dose, frequency and reach of intervention activities.ResultsThe action plan included three guiding objectives, four on nutrition, two on physical activity and one on body image. The process evaluation data showed that a mix of intervention strategies were implemented, including social marketing, one-off events, lunch time and curriculum programs, improvements in infrastructure, and healthy school food policies. The majority of the interventions were implemented in schools and focused on capacity building and healthy eating strategies as physical activity practices were seen by the teachers as already meeting students\u27 needs.ConclusionsWhile substantial health-promoting activities were conducted (especially related to healthy eating), there remain further opportunities for secondary schools to use a whole-of-school approach through the school curriculum, environment, policies and ethos to improve healthy eating, physical activity and healthy body perceptions in youth. To achieve this, significant, sustained leadership will be required within the education sector generally and within schools specifically.<br /

African Americans, Gentrification, and Neoliberal Urbanization: the Case of Fort Greene, Brooklyn

This article examines the gentrification of Fort Greene, which is located in the western part of black Brooklyn, one of the largest contiguous black urban areas in the USA. Between the late 1960s and 2003, gentrification in Fort Greene followed the patterns discovered by scholars of black neighborhoods; the gentrifying agents were almost exclusively black and gentrification as a process was largely bottom-up because entities interested in the production of space were mostly not involved. Since 2003, this has changed. Whites have been moving to Fort Greene in large numbers and will soon represent the numerical majority. Public and private interventions in and around Fort Greene have created a new top-down version of gentrification, which is facilitating this white influx. Existing black residential and commercial tenants are replaced and displaced in the name of urban economic development

Parasite fate and involvement of infected cells in the induction of CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses to Toxoplasma gondii

During infection with the intracellular parasite Toxoplasma gondii, the presentation of parasite-derived antigens to CD4+ and CD8+ T cells is essential for long-term resistance to this pathogen. Fundamental questions remain regarding the roles of phagocytosis and active invasion in the events that lead to the processing and presentation of parasite antigens. To understand the most proximal events in this process, an attenuated non-replicating strain of T. gondii (the cpsII strain) was combined with a cytometry-based approach to distinguish active invasion from phagocytic uptake. In vivo studies revealed that T. gondii disproportionately infected dendritic cells and macrophages, and that infected dendritic cells and macrophages displayed an activated phenotype characterized by enhanced levels of CD86 compared to cells that had phagocytosed the parasite, thus suggesting a role for these cells in priming naïve T cells. Indeed, dendritic cells were required for optimal CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, and the phagocytosis of heat-killed or invasion-blocked parasites was not sufficient to induce T cell responses. Rather, the selective transfer of cpsII-infected dendritic cells or macrophages (but not those that had phagocytosed the parasite) to naïve mice potently induced CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, and conferred protection against challenge with virulent T. gondii. Collectively, these results point toward a critical role for actively infected host cells in initiating T. gondii-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses

CSR and related terms in SME owner-managers' mental models in six European countries: national context matters

As a contribution to the emerging field of corporate social responsibility (CSR) cognition, this article reports on the findings of an exploratory study that compares SME owner–managers’ mental models with regard to CSR and related concepts across six European countries (Belgium, Italy, Norway, France, UK, Spain). Utilising Repertory Grid Technique, we found that the SME owner–managers’ mental models show a few commonalities as well as a number of differences across the different country samples. We interpret those differences by linking individual cognition to macro-environmental variables, such as language, national traditions and dissemination mechanisms. The results of our exploratory study show that nationality matters but that classifications of countries as found in the comparative capitalism literature do not exactly mirror national differences in CSR cognition and that these classifications need further differentiation. The findings from our study raise questions on the universality of cognition of academic management concepts and warn that promotion of responsible business practice should not rely on the use of unmediated US American management terminology

Behavioral signatures related to genetic disorders in autism

Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is well recognized to be genetically heterogeneous. It is assumed that the genetic risk factors give rise to a broad spectrum of indistinguishable behavioral presentations.Methods: We tested this assumption by analyzing the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) symptom profiles in samples comprising six genetic disorders that carry an increased risk for ASD 22q11.2 deletion, Down's syndrome, Prader-Willi, supernumerary marker chromosome 15, tuberous sclerosis complex and Klinefelter syndrome; total n = 322 cases, groups ranging in sample sizes from 21 to 90 cases). We mined the data to test the existence and specificity of ADI-R profiles using a multiclass extension of support vector machine SVM) learning. We subsequently applied the SVM genetic disorder algorithm on idiopathic ASD profiles from the Autism Genetics Resource Exchange AGRE).Results: Genetic disorders were associated with behavioral specificity, indicated by the accuracy and certainty of SVM predictions; one-by-one genetic disorder stratifications were highly accurate leading to 63% accuracy of correct genotype prediction when all six genetic disorder groups were analyzed simultaneously. Application of the SVM algorithm to AGRE cases indicated that the algorithm could detect similarity of genetic behavioral signatures in idiopathic ASD subjects. Also, affected sib pairs in the AGRE were behaviorally more similar when they had been allocated to the same genetic disorder group.Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence for genotype-phenotype correlations in relation to autistic symptomatology. SVM algorithms may be used to stratify idiopathic cases of ASD according to behavioral signature patterns associated with genetic disorders. Together, the results suggest a new approach for disentangling the heterogeneity of ASD.</p