Behavior therapy for Tourette's disorder: Utilization in a community sample and an emerging area of practice for psychologists.

The current article describes the phenomenology and empirically supported treatments for Tourette's disorder (TD) and presents data on treatment utilization from two separate national surveys of adults with TD (N = 672) and parents of children with TD (N = 740). Despite a wealth of empirical evidence demonstrating its effectiveness, results suggest that most people with TD do not receive behavior therapy for the condition. Reasons for this include a lack of information about the disorder among consumers and providers, a shortage of providers trained in the treatment, and concern about possible negative effects of behavioral treatment. The article concludes with a discussion about dissemination efforts aimed at making behavior therapy more widely available to children and adults with chronic tics and a review of beliefs about the negative effects of behavior therapy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploring the design space of robots: Children''s perspectives

Children's perceptions and evaluations of different robot designs are an important unexplored area within robotics research considering that many robots are specifically designed for children. To examine children's feelings and attitudes towards robots, a large sample of children (N = 159) evaluated 40 robot images by completing a questionnaire for each image, which enquired about robot appearance, robot personality dimensions and robot emotions. Results showed that depending on a robot's appearance children clearly distinguished robots in terms of their intentions (i.e. friendly vs. unfriendly), their capability to understand, and their emotional expression. Results of a principal components analysis of the children's ratings of the robots' personality attributes revealed two dimensions labelled ‘Behavioural Intention’ and ‘Emotional Expression’. Robots were classified according to their scores on these two dimensions and a content analysis of their appearance was conducted in an attempt to identify salient features of different robot personalities. Children judged human-like robots as aggressive, but human–machine robots as friendly. Results on children's perceptions of the robots' behavioural intentions provided tentative empirical support for the Uncanny Valley, hypothesized by (Mori, M., 1970), reflecting a situation where robots are very human-like, but still distinguishable from humans, evoking a feeling of discomfort or repulsion. The paper concludes with a discussion of design implications for robots, and the use of robots in educational contexts.     

Cloning, expression, and characterization of a DNA binding domain of gpNu1, a phage lambda DNA packaging protein

Terminase is an enzyme from bacteriophage lambda that is required for insertion of the viral genome into an empty pro-capsid. This enzyme is composed of the viral proteins gpNu1 (20.4 kDa) and gpA (73.3 kDa) in a holoenzyme complex. Current models for terminase assembly onto DNA suggest that gpNu1 binds to three repeating elements within a region of the lambda genome known as cosB which, in turn, stimulates the assembly of a gpA dimer at the cosN subsite. This prenicking complex is the first of several stable nucleoprotein intermediates required for DNA packaging. We have noted a hydrophobic region within the primary amino acid sequence of the terminase gpNu1 subunit and hypothesized that this region constitutes a protein-protein interaction domain required for cooperative assembly at cosB and that is also responsible for the observed aggregation behavior of the isolated protein. We therefore constructed a mutant of gpNu1 in which this hydrophobic "domain" has been deleted in order to test these hypotheses. The deletion mutant protein, gpNu1DeltaK, is fully soluble and, unlike full-length protein, shows no tendency toward aggregation; However, the protein is a dimer under all experimental conditions examined as determined by gel permeation and sedimentation equilibrium analysis. The truncated protein is folded with evidence of secondary and tertiary structural elements by circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy. While physical and biological assays demonstrate that gpNu1DeltaK does not interact with the terminase gpA subunit, the deletion mutant binds with specificity to cos-containing DNA. We have thus constructed a deletion mutant of the phage lambda terminase gpNu1 subunit which constitutes a highly soluble DNA binding domain of the protein. We further propose that the hydrophobic amino acids found between Lys100 and Pro141 define a self-association domain that is required for the assembly of stable nucleoprotein packaging complexes and that the C-terminal tail of the protein defines a distinct gpA-binding site that is responsible for terminase holoenzyme formation.     

One micrometre scale self-aligned cobalt disilicide Schottkybarrier diodes

CoSi₂/n-type silicon(111) Schottky barrier diodes on a 1 μm scale have been fabricated using a self-aligned silicide process incorporating magnetron sputtering and rapid thermal processing, in an industrial environment. Anneal temperatures in the range 700-1100°C have been used, and ideality factors of 1.06-1.07 were obtained in the range 700-900°C with larger values for higher temperatures. The consistency in the values of the ideality factor indicates that a wide annealing temperature window exists for the successful fabrication of CoSi₂/silicon diodes     

Predicting the effects of optical defocus on human contrast sensitivity

We used diffraction modulation transfer functions and model eyes to predict the effect of defocus on the contrast sensitivity function (CSF) and compared these predictions with previously published experimental data. Using the principle that optically induced changes in the modulation transfer function should be paralleled by identical changes in the CSF, we used the modulation transfer function calculations with the best-focus CSF measurements to predict the defocused CSF. An aberration-free model predicted the effects of defocus well when the CSF was measured with small pupils (e.g., 2 mm) but not with larger pupils (6-8 mm). When the model included average aberrations, prediction of the defocused CSF with large pupils was better but remained inaccurate, failing, in particular, to reflect differences between individual subjects. Inclusion of measured aberrations for individual subjects provided accurate predictions in the shape of the monochromatic CSF of two of three subjects with hyperopic defocus and good predictions of the polychromatic CSF of two subjects with hyperopic defocus. Prediction of the effects of myopic defocus by use of measured individual aberrations of one subject were less successful. Hence a diffraction optics model can provide good predictions of the effects of defocus on the human CSF, given that one has knowledge of the individual ocular aberrations. These predictions are dependent on the quality of the aberration measurements.     

ANP and bradycardic reflexes in hypertensive rats: influence of cardiac hypertrophy

OBJECTIVES: Beta2-integrin (CD11b/CD18) expression, an indicator of neutrophil activation, has been associated with the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome. Leumedins act directly on leukocytes to inhibit the up-regulated expression of beta2-integrins involved in leukocyte adhesion. We examined the effect of such a new anti-inflammatory agent, NPC 15669 (N-[9H-(2,7-dimethylfluorenyl-9-methoxy)-carbonyl]-L-leucine), on neutrophil-mediated acute lung injury in an animal model. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, blinded, controlled animal study. SETTING: An animal laboratory in a university setting. SUBJECTS: Adult New Zealand rabbits. INTERVENTIONS: After repeated lung lavages with normal saline to induce acute lung injury, anesthetized rabbits were randomly assigned to one of two groups (n = 6 per group): a) treatment group (pretreated with NPC 15669 [10 mg/kg i.v. bolus] 30 mins before lavage, followed by a continuous infusion [5 mg/kg/hr] for the duration [4 hrs] of the experiment); or b) control group (pretreatment and continuous infusion with placebo). All animals were mechanically ventilated with identical pressure settings over 4 hrs and were killed at the end of the experiment. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: PaO2, PaCO2, and tidal volumes were repeatedly measured and airway pressure settings were noted every 30 mins. At the end of the experiment, lungs were taken out for measurements of the myeloperoxidase content, for conventional histology (hematoxylin and eosin staining), and for intracellular adhesion molecule-1 immunohistostaining. Pretreatment with NPC 15669 profoundly improved oxygenation from a PaO2 of 52 +/- 5 torr (6.9 +/- 0.7 kPa) to 250 +/- 161 torr (33.3 +/- 21.5 kPa) within 60 mins after lung lavage (p < .05). Oxygenation continued to improve throughout the study, reaching a maximal PaO2 value of 395 +/- 98 torr (52.7 +/- 13.1 kPa) at 4 hrs. In the control group, oxygenation remained poor throughout the observation period. PaO2 values differed significantly (51 +/- 20 torr [6.8 +/- 2.7 kPa] vs. 306 +/- 126 torr [40.8 +/- 16.8 kPa], p < .005) at 90 mins and at all subsequent measurements from those values in the NPC 15669 group. Dynamic lung compliance improved significantly 60 to 90 mins after repeated lung lavage. Histology demonstrated markedly less lung damage (hyaline membrane formation and leukocyte infiltration) in treated animals (p < .05) than in controls. CONCLUSIONS: NPC 15669 seems to block inflammatory reactions by inhibiting the sequestration of neutrophils in acute, ventilator-associated lung injury. As a result, gas exchange and total lung compliance improve. Application of this and similar compounds affecting neutrophil adhesion warrants further investigation as a treatment modality for acute lung injury.     

A model of vulcanian explosions

We present a model of the initial stages of the explosive eruption of magma from a volcanic conduit as occurs in Vulcanian style eruptions. We assume there is a volatile rich (1–10 wt%) mixture of magma, vaporised groundwater and exsolved volatiles, trapped at high pressure (1–100 atm) just below a plug in a volcanic conduit. If the plug disrupts, there is an explosive eruption in which a rarefaction wave propagates into the conduit allowing the volatile rich mixture to expand and discharge into the atmosphere ahead of the vent. Typically, the explosions are so rapid that coarse grained ejecta (> 0.5 mm) do not remain in thermal equilibrium with the gas, and this leads to significantly lower velocities and temperatures than predicted by an equilibrium model. Material may erupt from the vent at speeds of 100–400 m s⁻¹ with an initial mass flux of order 10⁷–10⁹ kg s⁻¹, consistent with video observations of eruptions and measurements of the ballistic dispersal of large clasts.