Training referential communicative skills to individuals with autism spectrum disorder: a pilot study

Summary. The present study reports the effects of referential communication training in individuals formally diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants were 20 children with ASD (M age = 14.3 yr., SD = 4.2; 6 girls, 14 boys) in the role of speakers and 20 control children, who acted as listeners. They were all enrolled in mainstream compulsory education. Inclusion/exclusion criteria were defined according to the clinical diagnosis of ASD, the presence or absence of additional or associated disability, previous training in referential communication, and any drug treatment. Speakers were randomly assigned to one of two groups (trained vs untrained). Linguistic age, cognitive level, and autistic symptoms were analyzed, respectively, with the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT), the Wechsler Intelligence Scale (WISCR or WAISIII), and the Autistic Behavior Checklist (ABC). Communicative abilities were analyzed through two indexes related to message complexity and self-regulation. The trained group was trained in referential communication tasks (task analysis, role taking, and task evaluation), while the untrained group took part in a communicative game but without any specific communicative training. The results showed that the complexity of emitted messages had improved statistically significantly in the trained group as an effect of training. Ecological referential communication is shown to be an appropriate paradigm for studying the communicative process and its products and could be used to develop and implement a training program focused on those skills in which individuals with ASD are most deficient.

Let's share perspectives! Mentalistic skills involved in cooperation = ¿A tu Izquierda o a la Mía? Habilidades Mentalistas Implicadas en la Cooperación

Previous research has found a link between theory of mind and cooperation. The aim of this study is to deepen into this relationship, to identify which theory of mind skills are more related to the cooperative capacity on a referential communication task. A total of 50 children from first and fifth grade completed a battery of theory of mind tasks, and also a cooperative task where children worked in pairs to build block models. Each pair was composed by a builder and a guide, who gave instructions to his partner about how to build a replica of the model. The results show a significant relationship between the theory of mind skills and cooperation. Specifically, we found that the second-order false-belief task was the variable most related to cooperation after controlling the effect of age. In addition, we observed that the mentalist skills were more important for cooperation in the builders than in the guides. Finally, we discuss the findings of this study and make suggestions for the future

A social-cognitive model of monitoring and its relationship to behaviour in a naturalistic observation : development and individual differences

years 8 months) and 24 older (M == 7 years 4 months) children. A Monitoring Process Model (MPM) was developed and tested in order to ascertain at which component process ofthe MPM age differences would emerge. The MPM had four components: (1) assessment; (2) evaluation; (3) planning; and (4) behavioural control. The MPM was assessed directly using a referential communication task in which the children were asked to make a series of five Lego buildings (a baseline condition and one building for each MPM component). Children listened to instructions from one experimenter while a second experimenter in the room (a confederate) intetjected varying levels ofverbal feedback in order to assist the children and control the component ofthe MPM. This design allowed us to determine at which "stage" ofprocessing children would most likely have difficulty monitoring themselves in this social-cognitive task. Developmental differences were obselVed for the evaluation, planning and behavioural control components suggesting that older children were able to be more successful with the more explicit metacomponents. Interestingly, however, there was no age difference in terms ofLego task success in the baseline condition suggesting that without the intelVention ofthe confederate younger children monitored the task about as well as older children. This pattern ofresults indicates that the younger children were disrupted by the feedback rather than helped. On the other hand, the older children were able to incorporate the feedback offered by the confederate into a plan ofaction. Another aim ofthis study was to assess similar processing components to those investigated by the MPM Lego task in a more naturalistic observation. Together the use ofthe Lego Task ( a social cognitive task) and the naturalistic social interaction allowed for the appraisal of cross-domain continuities and discontinuities in monitoring behaviours. In this vein, analyses were undertaken in order to ascertain whether or not successful performance in the MPM Lego Task would predict cross-domain competence in the more naturalistic social interchange. Indeed, success in the two latter components ofthe MPM (planning and behavioural control) was related to overall competence in the naturalistic task. However, this cross-domain prediction was not evident for all levels ofthe naturalistic interchange suggesting that the nature ofthe feedback a child receives is an important determinant ofresponse competency. Individual difference measures reflecting the children's general cognitive capacity (Working Memory and Digit Span) and verbal ability (vocabulary) were also taken in an effort to account for more variance in the prediction oftask success. However, these individual difference measures did not serve to enhance the prediction oftask performance in either the Lego Task or the naturalistic task. Similarly, parental responses to questionnaires pertaining to their child's temperament and social experience also failed to increase prediction oftask performance. On-line measures ofthe children's engagement, positive affect and anxiety also failed to predict competence ratings.

A molecular phylogeny of the stingless bee genus Melipona (Hymenoptera: Apidae)

Stingless bees (Meliponini) constitute a diverse group of highly eusocial insects that occur throughout tropical regions around the world. The meliponine genus Melipona is restricted to the New World tropics and has over 50 described species. Melipona, like Apis, possesses the remarkable ability to use representational communication to indicate the location of foraging patches. Although Melipona has been the subject of numerous behavioral, ecological, and genetic studies, the evolutionary history of this genus remains largely unexplored. Here, we implement a multigene phylogenetic approach based on nuclear, mitochondrial, and ribosomal loci, coupled with molecular clock methods, to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships and antiquity of subgenera and species of Melipona. Our phylogenetic analysis resolves the relationship among subgenera and tends to agree with morphology-based classification hypotheses. Our molecular clock analysis indicates that the genus Melipona shared a most recent common ancestor at least similar to 14-17 million years (My) ago. These results provide the groundwork for future comparative analyses aimed at understanding the evolution of complex communication mechanisms in eusocial Apidae. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Communication: Transient Anion States Of Phenol…(h₂o)n (n = 1, 2) Complexes: Search For Microsolvation Signatures.

We report on the shape resonance spectra of phenol-water clusters, as obtained from elastic electron scattering calculations. Our results, along with virtual orbital analysis, indicate that the well-known indirect mechanism for hydrogen elimination in the gas phase is significantly impacted on by microsolvation, due to the competition between vibronic couplings on the solute and solvent molecules. This fact suggests how relevant the solvation effects could be for the electron-driven damage of biomolecules and the biomass delignification [E. M. de Oliveira et al., Phys. Rev. A 86, 020701(R) (2012)]. We also discuss microsolvation signatures in the differential cross sections that could help to identify the solvated complexes and access the composition of gaseous admixtures of these species.

[temporomandibular Disorders In Fibromyalgia Syndrome: A Short-communication.]

Fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) is a chronic painful syndrome and the coexistence of a painful condition caused by Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) and FMS has been frequently raised for several studies, however, more likely hypothesis is that a set of FMS characteristics may lead to the onset of TMD symptoms and they are not merely coexisting conditions. Therefore, our aim is presenting a review of literature about the relation between fibromyalgia and the signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders. For this purpose, a bibliographic search was performed of the period of 1990-2013, in the Medline, Pubmed, Lilacs and Scielo databases, using the keywords fibromyalgia, temporomandibular disorders and facial pain. Here we present a set of findings in the literature showing that fibromyalgia can lead to TMD symptoms. These studies demonstrated greater involvement of the stomatognathic system in FMS and myogenic disorders of masticatory system are the most commonly found in those patients. FMS appears to have a series of characteristics that constitute predisposing and triggering factors for TMD.

Futebol para cegos (futebol de cinco) no Brasil : leitura do jogo e estrategias tatico-tecnicas

Universidade Estadual de Campinas . Faculdade de Educação Física

Candida albicans in patients with oronasal communication and obturator prostheses

Patients using obturator prostheses often present denture-induced stomatitis. In order to detect the presence of oral Candida albicans in patients with oronasal communications and to evaluate the effectiveness of a topical antifungal treatment, cytological smears obtained from the buccal and palatal mucosa of 10 adult patients, and from the nasal acrylic surface of their obturator prostheses were examined. A therapeutic protocol comprising the use of oral nystatin (Mycostatin®) and prosthesis disinfection with sodium hypochlorite was prescribed for all patients. Seven patients were positive for C. albicans in the mucosa, with 1 negative result for the prosthetic surface in this group of patients. Post-treatment evaluation revealed the absence of C. albicans on prosthesis surface and on the oral mucosa of all patients. The severity of the candidal infection was significantly higher in the palatal mucosa than in the buccal mucosa, but similar in the palatal mucosa and prosthesis surface, indicating that the mucosa underlying the prosthesis is more susceptible to infection. The therapeutic protocol was effective in all cases, which emphasizes the need for denture disinfection in order to avoid reinfection of the mucosa.

Communication structure of cortical networks

Large-scale cortical networks exhibit characteristic topological properties that shape communication between brain regions and global cortical dynamics. Analysis of complex networks allows the description of connectedness, distance, clustering, and centrality that reveal different aspects of how the network's nodes communicate. Here, we focus on a novel analysis of complex walks in a series of mammalian cortical networks that model potential dynamics of information flow between individual brain regions. We introduce two new measures called absorption and driftness. Absorption is the average length of random walks between any two nodes, and takes into account all paths that may diffuse activity throughout the network. Driftness is the ratio between absorption and the corresponding shortest path length. For a given node of the network, we also define four related measurements, namely in-and out-absorption as well as in-and out-driftness, as the averages of the corresponding measures from all nodes to that node, and from that node to all nodes, respectively. We find that the cat thalamo-cortical system incorporates features of two classic network topologies, Erdos-Renyi graphs with respect to in-absorption and in-driftness, and configuration models with respect to out-absorption and out-driftness. Moreover, taken together these four measures separate the network nodes based on broad functional roles (visual, auditory, somatomotor, and frontolimbic).

Organized Crime and Terrorism: From the Cells Towards Political Communication, A Case Study

During the first half of 2006 the city of Sao Paulo suffered three series of violent attacks against the security forces, civilians, and the government. The violent campaign also included a massive rebellion in prisons and culminated in the kidnapping of a journalist and the broadcast of a manifesto from the criminal organization PCC threatening the police and the government. Right after, the main device used to contain organized crime in the prisons was declared unconstitutional. This episode represents a prototypical example of the use of media-focused terrorism by organized crime for projection into the political communication arena.

A Cost-Benefit Analysis on Modulation Formats for 40-Gb/s Optical Communication Systems

This article discusses possible approaches for optical network capacity upgrade by considering the use of different modulation formats at 40 Gb/s. First, a performance evaluation is carried out regarding tolerance to three impairments: spectral narrowing due to filter cascading, chromatic dispersion, and self-phase modulation. Next, a cost-benefit analysis is conducted, considering the specific optoelectronic components required for the optical transmitter/receiver configuration of each format.

Chaotic communication based on the particle-in-a-box electronic circuit

A secure communication system based on the error-feedback synchronization of the electronic model of the particle-in-a-box system is proposed. This circuit allows a robust and simple electronic emulation of the mechanical behavior of the collisions of a particle inside a box, exhibiting rich chaotic behavior. The required nonlinearity to emulate the box walls is implemented in a simple way when compared with other analog electronic chaotic circuits. A master/slave synchronization of two circuits exhibiting a rich chaotic behavior demonstrates the potentiality of this system to secure communication. In this system, binary data stream information modulates the bifurcation parameter of the particle-in-a-box electronic circuit in the transmitter. In the receiver circuit, this parameter is estimated using Pecora-Carroll synchronization and error-feedback synchronization. The performance of the demodulation process is verified through the eye pattern technique applied on the recovered bit stream. During the demodulation process, the error-feedback synchronization presented better performance compared with the Pecora-Carroll synchronization. The application of the particle-in-a-box electronic circuit in a secure communication system is demonstrated.

Remote control of CNC machines using the CyberOPC communication system over public networks

During the last few years, the evolution of fieldbus and computers networks allowed the integration of different communication systems involving both production single cells and production cells, as well as other systems for business intelligence, supervision and control. Several well-adopted communication technologies exist today for public and non-public networks. Since most of the industrial applications are time-critical, the requirements of communication systems for remote control differ from common applications for computer networks accessing the Internet, such as Web, e-mail and file transfer. The solution proposed and outlined in this work is called CyberOPC. It includes the study and the implementation of a new open communication system for remote control of industrial CNC machines, making the transmission delay for time-critical control data shorter than other OPC-based solutions, and fulfilling cyber security requirements.