Size constancy is preserved but afterimages are prolonged in typical individuals with higher degrees of self-reported autistic traits

Deficits in perceptual constancies from early infancy have been proposed to contribute to autism and exacerbate its symptoms (Hellendoorn et al., Frontiers in Psychology 6:1–16, 2015). Here, we examined size constancy in adults from the general population (N = 106) with different levels of self-reported autistic traits using an approach based on negative afterimages. The afterimage strength, as indexed by duration and vividness, was also quantified. In opposition to the Hellendoorn and colleagues’ model, we were unable to demonstrate any kind of relationship between abilities in size constancy and autistic traits. However, our results demonstrated that individuals with higher degrees of autistic traits experienced more persistent afterimages. We discuss possible retinal and post-retinal explanations for prolonged afterimages in people with higher levels of autistic traits

Developmental Markers of Genetic Liability to Autism in Parents: A Longitudinal, Multigenerational Study

Genetic liability to autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can be expressed in unaffected relatives through subclinical, genetically meaningful traits, or endophenotypes. This study aimed to identify developmental endophenotypes in parents of individuals with ASD by examining parents’ childhood academic development over the school-age period. A cohort of 139 parents of individuals with ASD were studied, along with their children with ASD and 28 controls. Parents’ childhood records in the domains of language, reading, and math were studied from grades K-12. Results indicated that relatively lower performance and slower development of skills (particularly language related skills), and an uneven rate of development across domains predicted ASD endophenotypes in adulthood for parents, and the severity of clinical symptoms in children with ASD. These findings may mark childhood indicators of genetic liability to ASD in parents, that could inform understanding of the subclinical expression of ASD genetic liability

Gas entrapment and microbial N2O reduction reduce N2O emissions from a biochar-amended sandy clay loam soil

Nitrous oxide (N(2)O) is a potent greenhouse gas that is produced during microbial nitrogen transformation processes such as nitrification and denitrification. Soils represent the largest sources of N(2)O emissions with nitrogen fertilizer application being the main driver of rising atmospheric N(2)O concentrations. Soil biochar amendment has been proposed as a promising tool to mitigate N(2)O emissions from soils. However, the underlying processes that cause N(2)O emission suppression in biochar-amended soils are still poorly understood. We set up microcosm experiments with fertilized, wet soil in which we used (15)N tracing techniques and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) to investigate the impact of biochar on mineral and gaseous nitrogen dynamics and denitrification-specific functional marker gene abundance and expression. In accordance with previous studies our results showed that biochar addition can lead to a significant decrease in N(2)O emissions. Furthermore, we determined significantly higher quantities of soil-entrapped N(2)O and N(2) in biochar microcosms and a biochar-induced increase in typical and atypical nosZ transcript copy numbers. Our findings suggest that biochar-induced N(2)O emission mitigation is based on the entrapment of N(2)O in water-saturated pores of the soil matrix and concurrent stimulation of microbial N(2)O reduction resulting in an overall decrease of the N(2)O/(N(2)O + N(2)) ratio