Prediction of Accurate Anharmonic Experimental Vibrational Frequencies for Water Clusters, (H2O)n, n = 2−5

Accurate anharmonic experimental vibrational frequencies for water clusters consisting of 2−5 water molecules have been predicted on the basis of comparing different methods with MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ calculated and experimental anharmonic frequencies. The combination of using HF/6-31G* scaled frequencies for intramolecular modes and anharmonic frequencies for intermolecular modes gives excellent agreement with experiment for the water dimer and trimer and are as good as the expensive anharmonic MP2 calculations. The water trimer, the cyclic Ci and S4 tetramers, and the cyclic pentamer all have unique peaks in the infrared spectrum between 500 and 800 cm-1 and between 3400 and 3700 cm-1. Under the right experimental conditions these different clusters can be uniquely identified using high-resolution IR spectroscopy.

The group of invariants of an inner function with finite spectrum

This paper determines the group of continuous invariants corresponding to an inner function circle dot with finitely many singularities on the unit circle T; that is, the continuous mappings g : T -> T such that circle dot o g = circle dot on T. These mappings form a group under composition.

Hearing Delzant Polytopes From the Equivariant Spectrum

Let M^{2n} be a symplectic toric manifold with a fixed T^n-action and with a toric K\"ahler metric g. Abreu asked whether the spectrum of the Laplace operator $\Delta_g$ on $\mathcal{C}^\infty(M)$ determines the moment polytope of M, and hence by Delzant's theorem determines M up to symplectomorphism. We report on some progress made on an equivariant version of this conjecture. If the moment polygon of M^4 is generic and does not have too many pairs of parallel sides, the so-called equivariant spectrum of M and the spectrum of its associated real manifold M_R determine its polygon, up to translation and a small number of choices. For M of arbitrary even dimension and with integer cohomology class, the equivariant spectrum of the Laplacian acting on sections of a naturally associated line bundle determines the moment polytope of M.

The Extremely Red, Young L Dwarf PSO J318.5338-22.8603: a Free-Floating Planetary-Mass Analog to Directly Imaged Young Gas-Giant Planets

We have discovered using Pan-STARRS1 an extremely red late-L dwarf, which has (J - K)(MKO) = 2.78 and (J - K) (2MASS) = 2.84, making it the reddest known field dwarf and second only to 2MASS J1207-39b among substellar companions. Near-IR spectroscopy shows a spectral type of L7 +/- 1 and reveals a triangular H-band continuum and weak alkali (K I and Na I) lines, hallmarks of low surface gravity. Near-IR astrometry from the Hawaii Infrared Parallax Program gives a distance of 24.6 +/- 1.4 pc and indicates a much fainter J-band absolute magnitude than field L dwarfs. The position and kinematics of PSO J318.5-22 point to membership in the beta Pic moving group. Evolutionary models give a temperature of 1160(-40)(+30) K and a mass of 6.5(-1.0)(+1.3) M-Jup, making PSO J318.5-22 one of the lowest mass free-floating objects in the solar neighborhood. This object adds to the growing list of low-gravity field L dwarfs and is the first to be strongly deficient in methane relative to its estimated temperature. Comparing their spectra suggests that young L dwarfs with similar ages and temperatures can have different spectral signatures of youth. For the two objects with well constrained ages (PSO J318.5-22 and 2MASS J0355+11), we find their temperatures are approximate to 400 K cooler than field objects of similar spectral type but their luminosities are similar, i.e., these young L dwarfs are very red and unusually cool but not "underluminous." Altogether, PSO J318.5-22 is the first free-floating object with the colors, magnitudes, spectrum, luminosity, and mass that overlap the young dusty planets around HR 8799 and 2MASS J1207-39

INCREASING PARTICIPATION IN THE CLASSROOM FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDERS

Active participation is as essential a skill to children with autism as it is for children without autism, as children are expected to engage in these skills both in and outside the classroom. Without participation skills, children are at a disadvantage when it comes to school and other settings, such as extracurricular activities and the workforce. Recent research has shown that there are interventions available that aim to improve the social skills of children in the home and in the school. These interventions can be delivered in varying forms with the primary caregiver as the interventionist, the specialist as the interventionist, and naturalistic interventions. The purpose of this study was to investigate one of the naturalistic interventions, the Competent Learner Model, and determine its effects on the participation and social skills of students with autism. Three middle school male students diagnosed with autism from a rural northeast middle school participated in the study. They were assessed using the Competent Learner Repertoire Assessments of the Competent Learner Model and the adaptive measures of the Vineland-II and ABAS-II. The results showed improvement for one of the three students and little to no improvement for the other two students.

Examining The Genetic, Social-Cognitive, And Neural Correlates Of Autism Spectrum Disorder Behaviors In Typically Developing Chi

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are pervasive developmental disorders that affect approximately 1 in 50 children (Blumberg et al., 2013). Due to the social nature of the deficits that characterize the disorders, many have classified them as disorders of social cognition, which is the process that individuals use in order to successfully interact with members of their own species (Frith & Frith, 2007). Previous research has typically neglected the spectrum nature of ASD in favor of a more categorical approach of ¿autistic¿ versus ¿non-autistic,¿ but the spectrum requires a more continuous approach. Thus, the present study sought to examine the genetic, social-cognitive, and neural correlates of ASD-like traits as well as the relationship between these dimensions in typically developing children. Parents and children completed several quantitative measures examining several areas of social-cognitive functioning, including theory of mind and social functioning, restricted/repetitive behaviors and interests, and adaptive/maladaptive functioning. Children were also asked to undergo an EEG and both parents and children contributed a saliva sample that was used to sequence four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the OXTR gene, rs1042778, rs53576, rs2254298, and rs237897. We successfully demonstrated a significant relationship between behavioral measures of social-cognition and differences in face perception via the N170. However, the directionality of these relationships varied based on the behavioral measure and particular N170 difference scores. We also found support for the associations between the G_G allelic combination of rs1042778 and the A_A and A_G allelic combinations of rs2254298 and increased ASD-like behavior with decreased social-cognitive functioning. In contrast, our results contradict previous findings with rs237897 and imply that individuals with the A_A and A_G genotypes are less similar to those with ASD and have higher social cognitive functioning than those with the G_G genotype. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the existence of ASD-like traits in typically developing children and have shown a link between behavioral, genetic, and neural correlates of social-cognition. These findings demonstrate the importance of considering autism as a spectrum disorder and provide support for the move to a more continuous approach to neurodevelopmental disorders.