Autism Spectrum Disorder: Evidence-based interventions

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are pervasive developmental disorders that are diagnosed along a continuum of behavioural variants in social interaction, communication, and imagination. Some individuals on the spectrum are ‘high-functioning’ and able to cope in every day environments, while others are severely affected, non-verbal, and may have comorbid diagnoses, such as intellectual disability, epilepsy, and/or obsessional, conduct, or mental health disorders. ASD diagnosis can be formulated from as early as 6-months to one year of age, although it is more common that children are aged 2-3 years before diagnosis is affirmed. Frequently, higher functioning individuals are not diagnosed until adolescence or even adulthood.

Design considerations for the autism spectrum disorder-friendly Key Stage 1 classroom

There is a growing consensus that an appropriate classroom environment will aid the performance of the pupil with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). There are, however, very few design guidelines available when considering ASD and the school environment. Such guidelines that do exist tend only to be in general terms. Therefore, this article seeks to highlight design considerations specifically for the ASD-friendly Key Stage 1 (age five to eight) classroom. It will first highlight some of the challenges for those with autism spectrum disorder in a school environment and the triad of challenges faced by architects and designers when considering ASD-friendly classroom design. It will then go on to describe the findings and results of a two-year study carried out in conjunction with the ASD teaching staff of Northern Ireland's Southern Education and Library Board. These consist of 16 specific design considerations for the Key Stage 1 ASD-friendly classroom applicable to all classrooms for pupils between five and eight years of age.

Infrared spectrum of an extremely cool white-dwarf star

White dwarfs are the remnant cores of stars that initially had masses of less than 8 solar masses. They cool gradually over billions of years, and have been suggested(1,2) to make up much of the 'dark matter' in the halo of the Milky way. But extremely cool white dwarfs have proved difficult to detect, owing to both their faintness and their anticipated similarity in colour to other classes of dwarf stars. Recent improved models(3-5) indicate that white dwarfs are much more blue than previously supposed, suggesting that the earlier searches may have been looking for the wrong kinds of objects. Here we report an infrared spectrum of an extremely cool white dwarf that is consistent with the new models. We determine the star's temperature to be 3,500 +/- 200 K, making it the coolest known white dwarf. The kinematics of this star indicate that it is in the halo of the Milky Way, and the density of such objects implied by the serendipitous discovery of this star is consistent with white dwarfs dominating the dark matter in the halo.

Mechanical fatigue and spectrum analysis of small-satellite

Mechanical fatigue due to environmental loads and spectrum analysis due to launch loads of the primary structure of a low cost, low-earth orbit small satellite intended for earth observation missions are presented. The payload of the satellite under consideration is a precise optical unit to image the earth’s surface having a mass of 45 kg. 3-D Finite Element Model for the satellite structure is generated by applying substructure method. Modal analysis is required to determine natural frequencies of the satellite and define its mode shape. Then, ranking of mode shapes according to specific constraint is performed. Harmonic analysis at resonance frequencies with the highest ranking is done and cumulative fatigue damage analysis is performed. Spectrum analysis is performed for Small Sat structure to verify the satellite structure reliability under all dynamic random vibration loads applied during transportation and launch cases.

Dense spectrum of resonances and particle capture in a near-black-hole metric

We show that a quantum scalar particle in the gravitational field of a massive body of radius R which slightly exceeds the Schwarzschild radius rs, possesses a dense spectrum of narrow resonances. Their lifetimes and density tend to infinity in the limit R?rs. We determine the cross section of the particle capture into these resonances and show that it is equal to the absorption cross section for a Schwarzschild black hole. Thus, a nonsingular static metric acquires black-hole properties before the actual formation of a black hole.

Hänsch--Couillaud locking of Mach--Zehnder interferometer for carrier removal from a phase-modulated optical spectrum

We describe and analyse the operation and stabilization of a Mach--Zehnder interferometer, which separates the carrier and the first-order sidebands of a phase-modulated laser field, and which is locked using the H\"ansch--Couillaud method. In addition to the necessary attenuation, our interferometer introduces, via total internal reflection, a significant polarization-dependent phase delay. We employ a general treatment to describe an interferometer with an object which affects the field along one path, and we examine how this phase delay affects the error signal. We discuss the requirements necessary to ensure the lock point remains unchanged when phase modulation is introduced, and we demonstrate and characterize this locking experimentally. Finally, we suggest an extension to this locking strategy using heterodyne detection.