Understanding macrographia in children with autism spectrum disorders

It has been consistently reported that children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) show considerable handwriting difficulties, specifically relating to accurate and consistent letter formation, and maintaining appropriate letter size. The aim of this study was to investigate the underlying factors that contribute to these difficulties, specifically relating to motor control.

We examined the integrity of fundamental handwriting movements and contributions of neuromotor noise in 26 children with ASD aged 8-13 years (IQ. >. 75), and 17 typically developing controls. Children wrote a series of four cursive letter l's using a graphics tablet and stylus.

Children with ASD had significantly larger stroke height and width, more variable movement trajectory, and higher movement velocities. The absolute level of neuromotor noise in the velocity profiles, as measured by power spectral density analysis, was significantly higher in children with ASD; relatively higher neuromotor noise was found in bands >3. Hz.

Our findings suggest that significant instability of fundamental handwriting movements, in combination with atypical biomechanical strategies, contribute to larger and less consistent handwriting in children with ASD.

Differential (18)F-FDG and 3'-deoxy-3'-(18)F-fluorothymidine PET responses to pharmacologic inhibition of the c-MET receptor in preclinical tumor models.

The ability of PET to image functional changes in tumors is increasingly being used to evaluate response and predict clinical benefit to conventional and novel cancer therapies. Although the use of (18)F-FDG PET is well established, 3'-deoxy-3'-(18)F-fluorothymidine ((18)F-FLT) PET has potential advantages as a more specific marker of cellular proliferation. c-MET signaling is frequently dysregulated in cancer and is therefore an attractive therapeutic target. Crizotinib (PF-2341066) is a novel adenosine triphosphate-competitive c-MET kinase inhibitor with antitumor activity in a range of tumor models. The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of PET of glucose metabolism and cell proliferation to monitor tumor response to crizotinib in 2 cell lines with aberrant c-MET signaling.

Do children with autism and Asperger's disorder have difficulty controlling handwriting size? A kinematic evaluation

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often show difficulties in controlling letter size and consistent letter formation during handwriting; however, there has been little research into the underlying nature of handwriting impairments in this group. The aim of this study was to assess the ability of children with ASD to regulate the size and consistency of fundamental handwriting movements when using writing guides, and determine whether the kinematic profile during writing is different to typically developing children. Twenty-six boys with ASD (16 with high-functioning autism, 10 with Asperger's disorder) aged 8-13 years (IQ > 75), and 17 typically developing children wrote a series of four cursive letter l's using 10 mm and 40 mm writing guides, using a graphics tablet and stylus. Movement size and consistency was comparable between groups when the writing guides were set at 10 mm; however, handwriting movements of children with ASD were significantly faster and more fluent than typically developing children when writing guides were set at 40 mm. Neuromotor noise was comparable to that of typically developing children across both writing sizes. Clinically, our findings indicate that children with ASD have a well-automated motor plan for simple handwriting movements when writing guides are present and that problems of handwriting legibility in ASD are likely to arise from other factors, such as complex motor chaining (i.e. writing whole words and sentences), or attentional, working memory and linguistic demands when writing.

Association of different forms of bullying victimisation with adolescents' psychological distress and reduced emotional wellbeing

OBJECTIVE: The frequency and emotional response to bullying victimisation are known to be associated with adolescent mental ill health. A potentially important under-investigated factor is the form of bullying. Four common forms of bullying behaviours are name-calling, physical threats or harm, rumour spreading and social exclusion. To more comprehensively understand bullying victimisation in adolescence, we examined the association of all three factors (frequency, emotional response, form) to psychological distress and emotional wellbeing. METHOD: A stratified, random sample of adolescents (n = 10, 273; mean age = 14.33 years, standard deviation = 1.68 years) completed validated measures of bullying victimisation (Gatehouse Bullying Questionnaire), psychological distress (K10) and emotional wellbeing (Mental Health Inventory) in classroom time. Associations between the form of bullying victimisation and mental health outcomes were examined. RESULTS: Adolescents reported a high prevalence of all four forms of bullying: teased or called names (30.6%), rumour spreading (17.9%), social exclusion (14.3%) and physical threats or harm (10.7%). Victimisation was independently associated with significantly higher levels of psychological distress and reduced levels of emotional wellbeing for all forms of bullying. In particular, social exclusion had a strong association with mental ill health. Adolescents who experienced frequent bullying that was upsetting reported higher psychological distress and reduced emotional wellbeing. CONCLUSION: Different forms of bullying victimisation were independently associated with psychological distress and reduced emotional wellbeing. In particular, frequent and upsetting social exclusion requires a targeted and measured response by school communities and health practitioners.

The Genome Sequence of Taurine Cattle: A Window to Ruminant Biology and Evolution

To understand the biology and evolution of ruminants, the cattle genome was sequenced to about sevenfold coverage. The cattle genome contains a minimum of 22,000 genes, with a core set of 14,345 orthologs shared among seven mammalian species of which 1217 are absent or undetected in noneutherian (marsupial or monotreme) genomes. Cattle-specific evolutionary breakpoint regions in chromosomes have a higher density of segmental duplications, enrichment of repetitive elements, and species-specific variations in genes associated with lactation and immune responsiveness. Genes involved in metabolism are generally highly conserved, although five metabolic genes are deleted or extensively diverged from their human orthologs. The cattle genome sequence thus provides a resource for understanding mammalian evolution and accelerating livestock genetic improvement for milk and meat production.

Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y el Caribe 1996 = Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean 1996

Incluye Bibliografía

Diets of Baird’s Beaked Whales, Berardius bairdii, in the Southern Sea Of Okhotsk and Off the Pacific Coast Of Honshu, Japan

Stomach contents were analyzed from 127 Baird’s beaked whales, Berardizls bairdii, taken in coastal waters of Japan. During late July-August of 1985- 1987, 1989, and 1991, 107 samples were collected from off the Pacific coast of Honshu. An additional 20 samples were collected from whales taken in the southern Sea of Okhotsk during late August-September of 1988 and 1989. Prey identification using fish otoliths and cephalopod beaks revealed the whales fed primarily on deep-water gadiform fishes and cephalopods in both regions. Prey species diversity and the percentage of cephalopods and fish differed between the two regions. Off the Pacific coast of Honshu the whales fed primarily on benthopelagic fishes (81.8%) and only 18.0% on cephalopods. Eight species of fish representing two families, the codlings (Moridae) and the grenadiers (Macrouridde), collectively made up 81.3% of the total. Thirty species of cephalopods representing 14 families made up 12.7%. In the southern Sea of Okhotsk, cephalopods accounted for 87.1% of stomach contents. The families Gonatidae and Cranchiidae were the predominant cephalopod prey, accounting for 86.7% of the diet. Gadiform fish accounted for only 12.9% of the diet. Longfin codling, Laernonma longipes, was the dominant fish prey in both regions. Depth distribution of the two commonly consumed fish off the Pacific coast of Honshu indicate the whales in this region fed primarily at depths ranging from 800 to 1,200 m.

Review of the Evidence Used In The Description Of Currently Recognized Cetacean Subspecies

We reviewed the subspecies listed by Rice (1998) and those described since (a total of 49, in 19 species), assessing them against the criteria recommended by the recent Workshop on Shortcomings of Cetacean Taxonomy in Relation to Needs of Conservation and Management (Reeves et al., 2004). The workshop suggested that the subspecies concept can be construed to cover two types of entities: a) lineages diverging but not quite far along the continuum of divergence (still having significant gene flow with another lineage or lineages) to be judged as species, and b) lineages that may well be species but for which not enough evidence is yet available to justify their designation as such. As a criterion for support of a subspecies, the workshop suggested as a guideline that there be at least one good line of either morphological or appropriate genetic evidence. "Appropriate" was not defined; the recommendation was that that be left up to the taxonomist authors of subspecies and to their professional peers. A further recommendation was that evidence on distribution, behavior and ecology should be considered not as primary but as supporting evidence, as there was not agreement at the workshop that such characters are necessarily stable (in the case of distribution) or inherent (behavior and ecology).

Mandibular fractures in short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus

This study’s objective was to investigate mandibular fractures in 50 short-finned pilot whales, Globicephala macrorhynchus, from two mass strandings. Based on current theories that this species is sexually dimorphic and polygynous, hypotheses were: (1) males should suffer more frequent or more substantial mandibular fractures than should females, and (2) fracture occurrence should increase with male reproductive maturity and potential correlates of maturity, such as age and length. Fractures were described and correlated with physical characteristics to infer possible explanations for injuries. Mandibular fractures were surprisingly common in males and females, being found in more than half of the animals examined (27/50, or 54% overall; 17/36 or 47% of females and 10/14 or 71% of males). Length was the only correlate of fracture presence; the proportion of animals showing evidence of fracture increased with length. These results offer some support to initial hypotheses, but there must be another set of consequences that contribute to mandibular fractures in females. A combination of intra- and interspecific interactions and life history characteristics may be responsible for fractures. Further research from a larger sample of this and other cetacean species are suggested to help elucidate both the causes and implications of mandibular fractures.

CROP DEPREDATIONS BY WATERFOWL IN WISCONSIN

On December 5, 1965 the Governor of Wisconsin signed into law a statute permitting claims against the State for damages to crops by wild geese and ducks. This law had been rushed through the legislature in the wake of a rash of crop depredation complaints caused by Canada Geese in their off-refuge feeding flights from the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. This paper reviews our experiences with waterfowl depredations in the development of a cooperative program by State and Federal wildlife agencies that has held a potentially serious wildlife problem to a minimum of financial losses and public relations concern.

DNA - novel nanomaterial for applications in photonics and in electronics

Functionalization with surfactants and with active molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), thin film processing as well as their nonlinear optical and electrical properties are reviewed and discussed. On the basis of a quantum three level model, we show that the anomalous concentration variation of cubic susceptibility chi((3))(-3 omega; omega, omega, omega) in thin films of DNA-CTMA complexes doped with Disperse Red 1 chromophore can be explained by the concentration variation of two-photon resonance contribution. We show also that the DNA complexes, plasticized with glycerol and adequately doped can be processed into self standing conducting membranes with a high electrical conductivity. The measured ionic conductivity at room temperature, depending on dopant used and its concentration, is in the range of 3.5 x 10(-4)-10(-5) S/cm and increases linearly as a function of temperature, reaching 10(-3) S/cm at 358 K for the most conducting sample, obeying predominantly the Arrhenius law. Practical applications of DNA complexes are also described and discussed. (C) 2012 Academie des sciences. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.