An Analysis of Social and Coping Alcohol Use Motives for College Students with Autistic Traits.

Background: Little is known about alcohol use among college students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), despite the increasing prevalence of college students with this diagnosis and/or with no formal diagnosis but who would meet criteria. Of concern, previous research suggests that individuals with ASD may be particularly vulnerable to the coping and social facilitation effects of alcohol use. Objectives: The present study examined the associated between autistic traits and alcohol use motives (social, coping, conformity, enhancement) in a sample of college students. Symptoms of social anxiety were assessed as a moderator and thought to enhance the associations between autistic traits and social and coping motives. Results: Findings revealed that both autistic traits and social anxiety were significantly and positively correlated with coping and conformity drinking motives. Additionally, a significantly negative correlation emerged between autistic traits and social drinking motives for participants with low social anxiety, and a similar pattern emerged for enhancement drinking motives. Conclusions: These findings suggest that college students with autistic traits may experience daily encounters or emotions that are alleviated by the mood-altering effects of alcohol; however, the specific feelings, emotions, or experiences that these individuals are looking to seek relief from remain understudied.

Intersecting epidemics: the impact of coronavirus disease 2019 on the HIV prevention and care continua in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: To summarize the broad impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on HIV prevention and care in the United States with a focus on the status-neutral HIV care continuum. DESIGN: We conducted an editorial review of peer-reviewed literature on the topics of HIV-risk behaviors, sexually transmitted illness (STI) and HIV prevalence, HIV prevention and treatment trends, and evolving practices during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: For relevant literature, we reviewed, summarized, and categorized into themes that span the HIV prevention and care continua, including sexual risk behaviors, mental health, and substance use. RESULTS: We identified important changes within each component of the HIV care continuum across the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shifts in prevention practices, engagement with care, care provision, medication adherence, testing, and prevalence rates were observed during the pandemic. CONCLUSION: Although heightened disparities for people at risk for, and living with, HIV were seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, many health systems and clinics have achieved and maintained engagement in HIV prevention and care. This review highlights barriers and innovative solutions that can support durable and accessible health systems through future public health crises.

Cross-limb communication during Xenopus hindlimb regenerative response: non-local bioelectric injury signals.

Regeneration of damaged body parts requires coordination of size, shape, location and orientation of tissue with the rest of the body. It is not currently known to what extent injury sites communicate with the remaining soma during repair, or what information may emanate from the injury site and reach other regions. We examined the bioelectric properties (resting potential gradients in the epidermis) of Xenopus laevis froglets undergoing hindlimb amputation and observed that the contralateral (undamaged) limb exhibits apparent depolarization signals immediately after the opposite hindlimb is amputated. The pattern of depolarization matches that of the amputated limb and is correlated to the position and type of injury, revealing that information about damage is available to remote body tissues and is detectable non-invasively in vivo by monitoring the bioelectric state. These data extend knowledge about the electrophysiology of regenerative response, identify a novel communication process via long-range spread of injury signaling, a phenomenon that we call bioelectric injury mirroring, and suggest revisions both to regenerative medicine and diagnostic strategies that are focused entirely on the wound site, and to the use of contralateral limbs as controls.

Magnetodielectric detection of magnetic quadrupole order in Ba(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4 with Cu4O12 square cupolas.

In vortex-like spin arrangements, multiple spins can combine into emergent multipole moments. Such multipole moments have broken space-inversion and time-reversal symmetries, and can therefore exhibit linear magnetoelectric (ME) activity. Three types of such multipole moments are known: toroidal; monopole; and quadrupole moments. So far, however, the ME activity of these multipole moments has only been established experimentally for the toroidal moment. Here we propose a magnetic square cupola cluster, in which four corner-sharing square-coordinated metal-ligand fragments form a noncoplanar buckled structure, as a promising structural unit that carries an ME-active multipole moment. We substantiate this idea by observing clear magnetodielectric signals associated with an antiferroic ME-active magnetic quadrupole order in the real material Ba(TiO)Cu4(PO4)4. The present result serves as a useful guide for exploring and designing new ME-active materials based on vortex-like spin arrangements.

Confiabilidade da fotogrametria em relação a goniometria para avaliação postural de membros inferiores / Reliability of photogrammetry in relation to goniometry for postural lower limb assessment

CONTEXTUALIZAÇÃO: A avaliação postural bem como a mensuração da amplitude articular são instrumentos fundamentais para o diagnóstico, planejamento e acompanhamento da evolução e dos resultados de um tratamento fisioterapêutico. Elas podem ser realizadas tanto pela goniometria - método mais utilizado na clínica fisioterapêutica - como, com o avanço tecnológico, pela fotogrametria. OBJETIVOS: Verificar a confiabilidade paralela da fotogrametria computadorizada, utilizando dois softwares, o Corel Draw e o SAPo, em relação à goniometria para quatro ângulos nos membros inferiores. CASUÍSTICA E MÉTODOS:Foram estudados 26 voluntários de ambos os sexos, assintomáticos, com idade entre 18 e 45 anos, sem anisomelia de membros inferiores maior que 1 cm. Foram mensurados os ângulos tíbio-társico (TT), de flexo/extensão do joelho (flex/ext), ângulo Q (Q) e ângulo do retropé, inicialmente, com um goniômetro manual e, posteriormente, pela fotogrametria digital por meio dos softwares Corel Draw v. 12 e SAPo v.0.63. RESULTADOS: Os ângulos TT (p= 0,9991), do retropé (p= 0,2159) e de flexo/extensão do joelho (p= 0,4027) não foram estatisticamente diferentes entre os 3 métodos de avaliação. Já o ângulo Q foi significativamente diferente entre a goniometria e os dois softwares usados na fotogrametria (p= 0,0067), embora os valores obtidos pelos mesmos não tenham diferido entre si (p= 0,9920), demonstrando que os resultados da fotogrametria não foram influenciados pelos softwares utilizados. CONCLUSÃO: Para os ângulos avaliados em sujeitos jovens assintomáticos, a fotogrametria computadorizada é confiável paralelamente à goniometria, exceto para o ângulo Q. Portanto, na clínica fisioterapêutica, deve-se ter cautela no uso de medidas de ângulo Q provenientes de diferentes métodos de avaliação postural.

BACKGROUND: Postural assessment and joint range-of-motion measurements are fundamental in diagnosing, planning and following up the evolution and results from physical therapy treatment. These can be done with the aid of goniometry the most common method in physical therapy practice - and also, through technological advances, by means of photogrammetry. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the parallel reliability of computerized photogrammetry, using two software tools (Corel Draw and SAPo), in relation to goniometry, in four angles of the lower limbs. METHOD: Twenty-six asymptomatic volunteers of both sexes, aged between 18 and 45 years, were studied. None of them had leg length discrepancy greater than 1 cm. The tibiotarsal angle (TT), knee flexion/extension angle (F/E), quadriceps angle (Q) and subtalar angle (S) were measured. The measurement was done first with a manual goniometer and then with digital photogrammetry by means of the Corel Draw v. 12 and SAPo v.0.63 software. RESULTS: There were no statistical differences between the three evaluation methods for the TT (p= 0.9991), S (p= 0.2159) and F/E (p= 0.4027) angles. However, for the Q angle there was a significant difference between goniometry and the software used in photogrammetry (p= 0.0067), although there was no significant difference between two software tools (p= 0.9920). This showed that the photogrammetry results were not influenced by the software used. CONCLUSION: In these healthy young subjects, computerized photogrammetry showed good parallel reliability in comparison with goniometry, for all the angles evaluated except for the Q angle. Therefore, in physical therapy practice, caution is needed in using Q angle measurements coming from different postural assessment methods.

Anomalous temperature dependence of the magnetic field induced antiferromagnetic moment in the antiferroquadrupolar ordered state of CeB6.

The magnetic field induced antiferromagnetic moment M(AF) at low magnetic fields in the antiferroquadrupolar (AFQ) ordered phase of CeB6 was investigated by elastic neutron diffraction experiments for H parallel [110]. The peak intensity at the AF magnetic reciprocal point (1 / 2,1 / 2,1 / 2) corresponding to M(2)(AF) increases with decreasing temperature below the AFQ ordering temperature T(Q), and exhibits a broad maximum at T approximately 3 K and decreases with a further decrease of temperature. This unusual behavior of M(AF) at low fields is explained as a result of the competition between the AF-octupolar and AF-exchange interactions in the O(xy) type AFQ ordered state.

What's in a shape? Children represent shape variability differently than adults when naming objects.

Children and adults often generalize a word to objects of the same shape. However, the shape properties on which generalization is based are unknown. We investigated the degree to which two shape dimensions were represented categorically by children and adults when learning names for objects. Multidimensional scaling techniques were used to establish the perceptual similarity of two sets of objects in Experiment 1. In Experiments 2 and 3, children (from 2;8 to 4;5 years of age) and adults participated in two tasks in which they learned a novel name for an exemplar. We then examined how often the novel name was generalized to different objects and to line drawings of the objects. In one task, participants generalized the names from memory; in a second task the exemplar was in front of the participant during generalization. Adults accepted names more often to objects that fell "within" the proposed shape boundaries than to objects that fell "across" the boundaries. Children, however, were just as likely to generalize names to novel objects that fell within as to objects that crossed the boundaries.

Parental pediatric corticosteroid preferences.

Corticosteroids are often prescribed in the acute care management of asthma. Prednisolone can be administered intramuscularly (IM) or orally in 2 different concentrations. This study evaluated parental preference for three prednisolone preparations based on the route of administration, taste, and volume required. Accompanying adults (AAs) of pediatric patients were interviewed about their preferences based on the 3 factors. Those AAs who passed the health screen (51 of 214) were asked to taste 2 oral prednisolone preparations and reinterviewed about their corticosteroid preferences. Of the 214 AAs, 96% were parents. Of the group, 43% preferred IM corticosteroids whereas 40% preferred oral corticosteroids. Without considering taste as a factor for oral corticosteroids, 94% preferred the more concentrated syrup compared with the less concentrated one. When told that the less concentrated syrup tasted better, 58% preferred the less concentrated/better tasting syrup. After the 51 taste test subcohort subjects tasted the syrups, 96% preferred the less concentrated/ better tasting syrup over the more concentrated/poorer tasting syrup. Taste is more important than volume of administration for this particular corticosteroid comparison. Simply asking parents about their IM/oral and syrup formulation preferences may be the easiest way of optimizing their treatment plan.

Characteristics of a cheese-like food produced by fermentation of the mushroom Schizophyllum commune.

Lactate bacteria of the Lactobacillus and Streptococcus genera are normally employed in cheese making because these microbes have potent ability to produce lactate dehydrogenase. A milk-clotting enzyme is also necessary to make cheese. Recently, we discovered that some mushroom genera produce both lactate dehydrogenase and a milk-clotting enzyme. Using the mushroom Schizophyllum commune in place of a lactate bacterium, we produced a cheese-like food that contained about 0.58% beta-D-glucan, which has been shown to have preventive effects against cancer. The food also exhibited thrombosis prevention activity, prolonging the thrombin clotting time to 49.6-fold that of the control.

Effects of rapid burnout type gypsum-bonded investment on performance of castings. Part 1. Surface aspects and fit of crowns.

Rapid burnout type gypsum-bonded investment materials were developed to shorten the time required for dental casting procedures. With these materials, molds can be prepared by rapid heating at 700 degrees C for 30 min from 30 min after the start of mixing. When the investment block was rapidly heated at 700 degrees C, no fractures were observed in the rapid burnout type investments with one exception, while a conventional cristobalite investment broke into pieces shortly after being placed in the furnace. Casting fins were sometimes induced only for the material which showed fracturing on rapid heating. No practical problems were found in the surface roughness of the castings. The 30 min-setting expansion was significantly different among the materials although there were no differences in thermal expansion, and the material showing greater 30 min-setting expansion was efficient to obtain better fit of the crown as in the conventional casting procedures.

Stimulatory effect of vanadate on 3',5'-cyclic guanosine monophosphate-inhibited low Michaelis-Menten constant 3',5'-cyclic adenosine monophosphate phosphodiesterase activity in isolated rat fat pads.

When isolated rat fat pads were incubated with vanadate, the low Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) cAMP phosphodiesterase (PDE) activity in the microsomal fraction was increased in a time- and dose-dependent manner with vanadate. 3',5'-Cyclic GMP inhibited the vanadate-stimulated PDE activity with similar profile to the insulin-stimulated one. The stimulatory effect of vanadate was inhibited by inhibitors of tyrosine kinases such as amiloride, biochanin A, and genistein to various extents. Vanadate and insulin both showed the full effect in the absence of either K+, N+, or Ca2+ in the medium, while preincubation of the fat pads with a chelator of intracellular Ca2+ inhibited the vanadate action in a dose-dependent manner. The insulin action was not inhibited by it at tested concentrations. These results suggest that the vanadate action, in contrast to the insulin one, is dependent on the intracellular level of Ca2+. Preincubation of the fat pads with inhibitors of protein kinase C such as 1-(5-isoquinoline sulfonyl)-2-methylpiperazine (H-7) and staurosporine inhibited, in part, the vanadate action but did not inhibit the insulin one. Furthermore, vanadate increased the protein kinase C activity in fat pads but insulin did not increase. H-7 and amiloride showed a significant inhibition of stimulation of protein kinase C activity by vanadate. These results suggest that vanadate stimulates, in part, the 3',5'-cyclic GMP-inhibited low Km cAMP PDE activity in the microsomal fraction of fat pads through the activation of tyrosine kinase and protein kinase C-mediated processes.

Inhibition of increasing effect of vanadate on glycogen content and lipoprotein lipase activity in fat pads by 5-N,N-hexamethylene amiloride.

Sodium orthovanadate (vanadate) increased the glycogen content in isolated rat fat pads in a dose-dependent manner up to 2 mM. Biochanin A, a specific inhibitor of tyrosine kinases, inhibited the increasing effect of vanadate or insulin on both glycogen content and lipoprotein lipase (LPL) activity in fat pads. The increasing effect of vanadate on glycogen content was not decreased by the replacement of Na+ with choline ion in the incubation medium. 5-N,N-Hexamethylene amiloride, a potent inhibitor of the Na+/H+ exchange system, showed a 50%-inhibition of the vanadate-increased LPL activity and glycogen content at 25 and 80 microM, respectively, suggesting that mechanisms of the inhibition differ in part between the vanadate actions. Furthermore, a similar inhibitory profile of the vanadate-increased glycogen content was observed with incubation in the presence of absence of Na+ in the medium. These results suggest that the activation of the Na+/H+ exchange system by vanadate is not involved in an increase in the glycogen content in fat pads.

A developmental analysis of the polar structure of dimensions.

Some dimensions such as size and loudness are clearly marked for magnitude with one end being "more than" the other end. Thus, big is more than little and loud is more than quiet. This research examined the interaction of perception and language in the development of the magnitude marking of size, loudness, and achromatic color. Children 2 to 5 years of age and adults participated in six experiments. A cross-dimension matching task and a "Which is more?" task were used. The results suggest fast, invariant, and unidirectional development for size and loudness. Big is perceptually and linguistically more than little early in development and becomes more strongly organized with development. Loudness starts out disorganized and may be linguistically organized into more and less ends before it is perceptually organized. However, developments in perception and in language are rapid and in the same direction. In contrast, achromatic color shows an irregular developmental trend. Early in development, dark grey is perceptually more than light grey. But this early organization is disrupted at the same time that children acquire the words dark and light. The results suggest converging interactions between perception and language in the case of size and loudness and antagonistic interactions in the case of darkness. The results are interpreted in terms of a dynamical system.