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Sample records for ritualistic repetitive behaviors

  1. Cortical activity and children's rituals, habits and other repetitive behavior: a visual P300 study.

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    Evans, David W; Maliken, Ashley

    2011-10-10

    This study examines the link between children's repetitive, ritualistic, behavior and cortical brain activity. Twelve typically developing children between the ages of 6 and 12 years were administered two visual P300, oddball tasks with a 32-electrode electroencephalogram (EEG) system. One of the oddball tasks was specifically designed to reflect sensitivity to asymmetry, a phenomenon common in children and in a variety of disorders involving compulsive behavior. Parents completed the Childhood Routines Inventory. Children's repetitive, compulsive-like behaviors were strongly associated with faster processing of an asymmetrical target stimulus, even when accounting for their P300 latencies on a control task. The research punctuates the continuity between observed brain-behavior links in clinical disorders such as OCD and autism spectrum disorders, and normative variants of repetitive behavior. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Politically-focused intrusive thoughts and associated ritualistic behaviors in a community sample.

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    Cepeda, Sandra L; McKay, Dean; Schneider, Sophie C; La Buissonnière-Ariza, Valérie; Egberts, Jolenthe T N E; McIngvale, Elizabeth; Goodman, Wayne K; Storch, Eric A

    2018-05-01

    A significant proportion of the U.S. population report increased stress attributed to the political climate following the controversial 2016 United States (U.S.) Presidential election. The political stressors paired with the growth in news consumption and social media-use could be a potential trigger for obsessive-compulsive-like symptoms specific to politics in some individuals. This study aimed to elucidate the rate of Politically-focused Intrusive Thoughts and associated Ritualistic Behaviors (PITRB), their demographic and clinical correlates, and the degree of association with political ideology. Survey data were collected using the crowdsourcing platform Mechanical Turk. A total of N = 484 individuals completed the survey. Measures of politically-focused intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors, general obsessive-compulsive symptoms, depression, anxiety, anxiety control, worry, and disability were administered, as well as a measure of social and economic conservative affiliation. Results showed that a quarter of the sample (25.2%) had at least one PITRB more than once a day. PITRB was associated with all measures of psychopathology and disability. Finally, anxiety control moderated the relationship between PITRB and both anxiety and depression. No differences in psychopathology were found between major party affiliations. The findings suggest that politically-focused intrusive thoughts and ritualistic behaviors are associated with psychopathology domains in a manner comparable to general obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. A case report of schizoaffective disorder with ritualistic behaviors and catatonic stupor: successful treatment by risperidone and modified electroconvulsive therapy.

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    Bai, Yuanhan; Yang, Xi; Zeng, Zhiqiang; Yang, Haichen

    2018-03-13

    Ritualistic behaviors are common in obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), while catatonic stupor occasionally occurs in psychotic or mood disorders. Schizoaffective disorder is a specific mental disorder involving both psychotic and affective symptoms. The syndrome usually represents a specific diagnosis, as in the case of the 10th edition of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) or the 5th edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). However, symptom-based diagnosis can result in misdiagnosis and hinder effective treatment. Few cases of ritualistic behaviors and catatonic stupor associated with schizoaffective disorder have been reported. Risperidone and modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) were effective in our case. A 35-year-old man with schizoaffective disorder-depression was admitted to the hospital because of ritualistic behaviors, depression, and distrust. At the time of admission, prominent ritualistic behaviors and depression misled us to make the diagnosis of OCD. Sertraline add-on treatment exacerbated the psychotic symptoms, such as pressure of thoughts and delusion of control. In the presence of obvious psychotic symptoms and depression, schizoaffective disorder-depression was diagnosed according to ICD-10. Meanwhile, the patient unfortunately developed catatonic stupor and respiratory infection, which was identified by respiratory symptoms, blood tests, and a chest X-ray. To treat psychotic symptoms, catatonic stupor, and respiratory infection, risperidone, MECT, and ceftriaxone were administered. As a result, we successfully cured the patient with the abovementioned treatment strategies. Eventually, the patient was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder-depression with ritualistic behaviors and catatonia. Risperidone and MECT therapies were dramatically effective. Making a differential diagnosis of mental disorders is a key step in treating disease. Sertraline was not recommended for treating

  4. Ritualistic chewing behavior induced by mCPP in the rat is an animal model of obsessive compulsive disorder.

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    Kreiss, Deborah S; Coffman, Catherine F; Fiacco, Nicholas R; Granger, Jason C; Helton, Bernadette M; Jackson, Jennifer C; Kim, Leonid V; Mistry, Rishi S; Mizer, Tammie M; Palmer, Lolita V; Vacca, Jay A; Winkler, Stuart S; Zimmer, Benjamin A

    2013-03-01

    Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is characterized by recurrent, anxiety-producing thoughts accompanied by unwanted, overwhelming urges to perform ritualistic behaviors. Pharmacological treatments for this disorder (serotonin uptake inhibitors) are problematic because there is a 6-8 week delayed onset and half of the patients do not adequately respond. The present study evaluated whether Ritualistic Chewing Behaviors (RCBs) induced by the serotonin agonist mCPP in the rat is a behavioral model for OCD. The effects upon the RCBs induced by mCPP (1 mg/kg) were evaluated following treatments with either the serotonin antagonist mianserin (3 mg/kg), the dopamine antagonist haloperidol (1 mg/kg), the GABA modulator diazepam (10 mg/kg), or the serotonin uptake inhibitors clomipramine and fluvoxamine (15 mg/kg). The response to mCPP was blocked by acute treatment with mianserin, but not with acute haloperidol or diazepam. Further experiments revealed that the effects of mCPP were blocked by chronic, but not acute, treatment with clomipramine and fluvoxamine. A time-course demonstrated that 14 days of chronic treatment were required for blockade of the mCPP-evoked response. The current study demonstrates that mCPP-evoked RCBs may be a rodent model for OCD that can be used to predict the clinical efficacy and time course of novel OCD treatment. Future investigations may be able to use the current model as a tool for bench-marking corresponding changes in other measures of neurological activity that may provide insight into the mechanisms underlying OCD. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions for Repetitive Behaviors in Autism

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    Boyd, Brian A.; McDonough, Stephen G.; Bodfish, James W.

    2012-01-01

    Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core symptom of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). There has been an increased research emphasis on repetitive behaviors; however, this research primarily has focused on phenomenology and mechanisms. Thus, the knowledge base on interventions is lagging behind other areas of research. The literature…

  6. Transgenerational effects of environmental enrichment on repetitive motor behavior development.

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    Bechard, Allison R; Lewis, Mark H

    2016-07-01

    The favorable consequences of environmental enrichment (EE) on brain and behavior development are well documented. Much less is known, however, about transgenerational benefits of EE on non-enriched offspring. We explored whether transgenerational effects of EE might extend to the development of repetitive motor behaviors in deer mice. Repetitive motor behaviors are invariant patterns of movement that, across species, can be reduced by EE. We found that EE not only attenuated the development of repetitive behavior in dams, but also in their non-enriched offspring. Moreover, maternal behavior did not seem to mediate the transgenerational effect we found, although repetitive behavior was affected by reproductive experience. These data support a beneficial transgenerational effect of EE on repetitive behavior development and suggest a novel benefit of reproductive experience. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Autism and exergaming: effects on repetitive behaviors and cognition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anderson-Hanley C

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Cay Anderson-Hanley, Kimberly Tureck, Robyn L Schneiderman Department of Psychology, Union College, Schenectady, NY, USA Abstract: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to impairment in social skills and delay in language development, and results in repetitive behaviors and restricted interests that impede academic and social involvement. Physical exercise has been shown to decrease repetitive behaviors in autistic children and improve cognitive function across the life-span. Exergaming combines physical and mental exercise simultaneously by linking physical activity movements to video game control and may yield better compliance with exercise. In this investigation, two pilot studies explored the potential behavioral and cognitive benefits of exergaming. In Pilot I, twelve children with autism spectrum disorders completed a control task and an acute bout of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR; in Pilot II, ten additional youths completed an acute bout of cyber cycling. Repetitive behaviors and executive function were measured before and after each activity. Repetitive behaviors significantly decreased, while performance on Digits Backwards improved following the exergaming conditions compared with the control condition. Additional research is needed to replicate these findings, and to explore the application of exergaming for the management of behavioral disturbance and to increase cognitive control in children on the autism spectrum. Keywords: autism, repetitive behaviors, exergaming, exercise, executive function

  8. Body-focused repetitive behavior disorders in ICD-11

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    Jon E. Grant

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This article addresses the question of how body-focused repetitive behavior disorders (e.g., trichotillomania and skin-picking disorder should be characterized in ICD-11. The article reviews the historical nosology of the two disorders and the current approaches in DSM-5 and ICD-10. Although data are limited and mixed regarding the optimal relationship between body-focused repetitive behavior disorders and nosological categories, these conditions should be included within the obsessive-compulsive and related disorders category, as this is how most clinicians see these behaviors, and as this may optimize clinical utility. The descriptions of these disorders should largely mirror those in DSM-5, given the evidence from recent field surveys. The recommendations regarding ICD-11 and body-focused repetitive behavior disorders should promote the global identification and treatment of these conditions in primary care settings.

  9. Autism and exergaming: effects on repetitive behaviors and cognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson-Hanley, Cay; Tureck, Kimberly; Schneiderman, Robyn L

    2011-01-01

    Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to impairment in social skills and delay in language development, and results in repetitive behaviors and restricted interests that impede academic and social involvement. Physical exercise has been shown to decrease repetitive behaviors in autistic children and improve cognitive function across the life-span. Exergaming combines physical and mental exercise simultaneously by linking physical activity movements to video game control and may yield better compliance with exercise. In this investigation, two pilot studies explored the potential behavioral and cognitive benefits of exergaming. In Pilot I, twelve children with autism spectrum disorders completed a control task and an acute bout of Dance Dance Revolution (DDR); in Pilot II, ten additional youths completed an acute bout of cyber cycling. Repetitive behaviors and executive function were measured before and after each activity. Repetitive behaviors significantly decreased, while performance on Digits Backwards improved following the exergaming conditions compared with the control condition. Additional research is needed to replicate these findings, and to explore the application of exergaming for the management of behavioral disturbance and to increase cognitive control in children on the autism spectrum.

  10. Oxotremorine treatment reduces repetitive behaviors in BTBR T+ tf/J mice

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    Dionisio A. Amodeo

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available Repetitive behaviors with restricted interests is one of the core criteria for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD. Current pharmacotherapies that target the dopaminergic or serotonergic systems have limited effectiveness in treating repetitive behaviors. Previous research has demonstrated that administration of muscarinic cholinergic receptor (mAChR antagonists can exacerbate motor stereotypies while mAChR agonists reduce stereotypies. The present study determined whether the mAChR agonist, oxotremorine affected repetitive behaviors in the BTBR T+ tf/J (BTBR mouse model of autism. To test the effects of oxotremorine on repetitive behaviors, marble burying and grooming behavior were measured in BTBR mice and compared to that in C57BL/6J (B6 mice. The effects of oxotremorine on locomotor activity was also measured. Thirty minutes before each test, mice received an intraperitoneal injection of saline, 0.001 mg or 0.01 mg of oxotremorine methiodide. Saline- treated BTBR mice exhibited increased marble burying and self-grooming behavior compared to that of saline-treated B6 mice. Oxotremorine significantly reduced marble burying and self-grooming behavior in BTBR mice, but had no significant effect in B6 mice. In addition, oxotremorine did not affect locomotor activity in BTBR mice, but significantly reduced locomotor activity in B6 mice at the 0.01 mg dose. These findings demonstrate that activation of mAChRs reduces repetitive behavior in the BTBR mouse and suggest that treatment with a mAChR agonist may be effective in reducing repetitive behaviors in ASD.

  11. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for childhood repetitive behavior disorders: tic disorders and trichotillomania.

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    Flessner, Christopher A

    2011-04-01

    This article provides an overview of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for repetitive behavior disorders. Because tic disorders and trichotillomania are the most often studied and most debilitating of these conditions, this article focuses on the efficacy of CBT for these 2 conditions. An overview of CBT for children presenting with these concerns is provided. This review focuses particularly on habit reversal training, which is at the core of most CBT-based interventions. Two recent empirical studies on the immense potential of CBT in treating childhood repetitive behavior disorders and future areas of research are also discussed. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Extreme Ritualistic Alcohol Consumption among College Students on Game Day

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    Glassman, Tavis J.; Dodd, Virginia J.; Sheu, Jiunn-Jye; Rienzo, Barbara A.; Wagenaar, Alex C.

    2010-01-01

    Alcohol use and the related consequences associated with college football games are a serious public health issue for university communities. Objective: Examining "Extreme Ritualistic Alcohol Consumption" (ERAC), defined as consuming 10 or more drinks on game day for a male, and 8 or more drinks for a female, is the focus of this study.…

  13. Digital Natives: Fifth-Grade Students' Authentic and Ritualistic Engagement with Technology

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    Dietrich, Trevor; Balli, Sandra J.

    2014-01-01

    Thirty four fifth-grade students were interviewed about classroom learning and technology. Interview data were considered through Schlechty's (2002) levels of engagement framework to explore students' authentic or ritualistic engagement during technology supported lessons. Student engagement is defined as interest in and commitment to learning.…

  14. The relationship between executive functioning, central coherence, and repetitive behaviors in the high-functioning autism spectrum.

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    South, Mikle; Ozonoff, Sally; McMahon, William M

    2007-09-01

    This study examined the relationship between everyday repetitive behavior (primary symptoms of autism) and performance on neuropsychological tests of executive function and central coherence (secondary symptoms). It was hypothesized that the frequency and intensity of repetitive behavior would be positively correlated with laboratory measures of cognitive rigidity and weak central coherence. Participants included 19 individuals (ages 10-19) with high-functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD group) and 18 age- and IQ-matched typically developing controls (TD group). There was partial support in the ASD group for the link between repetitive behavior and executive performance (the Wisconsin Card Sorting Task). There was no support for a link between repetitive behavior and measures of central coherence (a Gestalt Closure test and the Embedded Figures Test). Further research on repetitive behaviors in autism may benefit from a focus on narrow behavioral and cognitive constructs rather than general categories.

  15. Quantifying Narrative Ability in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Computational Linguistic Analysis of Narrative Coherence

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    Losh, Molly; Gordon, Peter C.

    2014-01-01

    Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by serious difficulties with the social use of language, along with impaired social functioning and ritualistic/repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association in "Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5," 5th edn. American Psychiatric Association,…

  16. Perseveration and other repetitive verbal behaviors: functional dissociations.

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    Christman, Sarah S; Boutsen, Frank R; Buckingham, Hugh W

    2004-11-01

    This article will review types of perseveration from a neurolinguistic perspective. During the course of the article, continuous, stuck-in-set, and recurrent perseveration will be placed in contradistinction to several other types of repetitive behaviors commonly associated with neurogenic communication disorders. These include echolalia in mixed transcortical aphasia; conduite d'approche and conduite d'ecart in fluent aphasias; lexical and nonlexical automatisms in nonfluent aphasias; palilalia in neuromotor disorders, such as Parkinson's disease (PD); and sound, syllable, word, and phrase repetitions in neurogenic stuttering. When differentiating these phenomena from perseveration, it is helpful to consider the salient factors that condition observed behaviors in individual patients, such as overall speech fluency, inventory of available utterances, nature of eliciting tasks, and propositionality of responses. Information such as communication disorder diagnosis, underlying etiology, and known sites of lesion from each patient's total clinical profile may also assist with differentiation.

  17. Repetitive Behavior in Rubinstein-Taybi Syndrome: Parallels with Autism Spectrum Phenomenology

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    Waite, Jane; Moss, Joanna; Beck, Sarah R.; Richards, Caroline; Nelson, Lisa; Arron, Kate; Burbidge, Cheryl; Berg, Katy; Oliver, Chris

    2015-01-01

    Syndrome specific repetitive behavior profiles have been described previously. A detailed profile is absent for Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RTS). The Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire and Social Communication Questionnaire were completed for children and adults with RTS (N = 87), Fragile-X (N = 196) and Down (N = 132) syndromes, and individuals…

  18. · Digital Natives: Fifth-Grade Students’ Authentic and Ritualistic Engagement with Technology

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    Trevor Dietrich; Sandra J. Balli

    2014-01-01

    Thirty four fifth-grade students were interviewed about classroom learning and technology. Interview data were considered through Schlechty’s (2002) levels of engagement framework to explore students’ authentic or ritualistic engagement during technology supported lessons. Student engagement is defined as interest in and commitment to learning. Results indicated that students were engaged in classroom learning when using technology, particularly when they had control of ...

  19. 5HT2A receptor blockade in dorsomedial striatum reduces repetitive behaviors in BTBR mice.

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    Amodeo, D A; Rivera, E; Cook, E H; Sweeney, J A; Ragozzino, M E

    2017-03-01

    Restricted and repetitive behaviors are a defining feature of autism, which can be expressed as a cognitive flexibility deficit or stereotyped, motor behaviors. There is limited knowledge about the underlying neuropathophysiology contributing to these behaviors. Previous findings suggest that central 5HT 2A receptor activity is altered in autism, while recent work indicates that systemic 5HT 2A receptor antagonist treatment reduces repetitive behaviors in an idiopathic model of autism. 5HT 2A receptors are expressed in the orbitofrontal cortex and striatum. These two regions have been shown to be altered in autism. The present study investigated whether 5HT 2A receptor blockade in the dorsomedial striatum or orbitofrontal cortex in the BTBR mouse strain, an idiopathic model of autism, affects the phenotype related to restricted and repetitive behaviors. Microinfusion of the 5HT 2A receptor antagonist, M100907 into the dorsomedial striatum alleviated a reversal learning impairment and attenuated grooming behavior. M100907 infusion into the orbitofrontal cortex increased perseveration during reversal learning and potentiated grooming. These findings suggest that increased 5HT 2A receptor activity in the dorsomedial striatum may contribute to behavioral inflexibility and stereotyped behaviors in the BTBR mouse. 5HT 2A receptor signaling in the orbitofrontal cortex may be critical for inhibiting a previously learned response during reversal learning and expression of stereotyped behavior. The present results suggest which brain areas exhibit abnormalities underlying repetitive behaviors in an idiopathic mouse model of autism, as well as which brain areas systemic treatment with M100907 may principally act on in BTBR mice to attenuate repetitive behaviors. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd and International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society.

  20. Autism-associated neuroligin-3 mutations commonly impair striatal circuits to boost repetitive behaviors.

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    Rothwell, Patrick E; Fuccillo, Marc V; Maxeiner, Stephan; Hayton, Scott J; Gokce, Ozgun; Lim, Byung Kook; Fowler, Stephen C; Malenka, Robert C; Südhof, Thomas C

    2014-07-03

    In humans, neuroligin-3 mutations are associated with autism, whereas in mice, the corresponding mutations produce robust synaptic and behavioral changes. However, different neuroligin-3 mutations cause largely distinct phenotypes in mice, and no causal relationship links a specific synaptic dysfunction to a behavioral change. Using rotarod motor learning as a proxy for acquired repetitive behaviors in mice, we found that different neuroligin-3 mutations uniformly enhanced formation of repetitive motor routines. Surprisingly, neuroligin-3 mutations caused this phenotype not via changes in the cerebellum or dorsal striatum but via a selective synaptic impairment in the nucleus accumbens/ventral striatum. Here, neuroligin-3 mutations increased rotarod learning by specifically impeding synaptic inhibition onto D1-dopamine receptor-expressing but not D2-dopamine receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons. Our data thus suggest that different autism-associated neuroligin-3 mutations cause a common increase in acquired repetitive behaviors by impairing a specific striatal synapse and thereby provide a plausible circuit substrate for autism pathophysiology. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation for Stereotypic and Repetitive Behavior

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    Joosten, Annette V.; Bundy, Anita C.; Einfeld, Stewart L.

    2009-01-01

    This study provides evidence for intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for stereotypical and repetitive behavior in children with autism and intellectual disability and children with intellectual disability alone. We modified the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) (1988b); dividing it into intrinsic and extrinsic measures and adding items to assess…

  2. · Digital Natives: Fifth-Grade Students’ Authentic and Ritualistic Engagement with Technology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Trevor Dietrich

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Thirty four fifth-grade students were interviewed about classroom learning and technology. Interview data were considered through Schlechty’s (2002 levels of engagement framework to explore students’ authentic or ritualistic engagement during technology supported lessons. Student engagement is defined as interest in and commitment to learning. Results indicated that students were engaged in classroom learning when using technology, particularly when they had control of the technology. Control and choices inherent in the learning task support authentic engagement with lesson content more than does technology alone.

  3. Antagonistic control of social versus repetitive self-grooming behaviors by separable amygdala neuronal subsets.

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    Hong, Weizhe; Kim, Dong-Wook; Anderson, David J

    2014-09-11

    Animals display a range of innate social behaviors that play essential roles in survival and reproduction. While the medial amygdala (MeA) has been implicated in prototypic social behaviors such as aggression, the circuit-level mechanisms controlling such behaviors are not well understood. Using cell-type-specific functional manipulations, we find that distinct neuronal populations in the MeA control different social and asocial behaviors. A GABAergic subpopulation promotes aggression and two other social behaviors, while neighboring glutamatergic neurons promote repetitive self-grooming, an asocial behavior. Moreover, this glutamatergic subpopulation inhibits social interactions independently of its effect to promote self-grooming, while the GABAergic subpopulation inhibits self-grooming, even in a nonsocial context. These data suggest that social versus repetitive asocial behaviors are controlled in an antagonistic manner by inhibitory versus excitatory amygdala subpopulations, respectively. These findings provide a framework for understanding circuit-level mechanisms underlying opponency between innate behaviors, with implications for their perturbation in psychiatric disorders. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Spared behavioral repetition effects in Alzheimer's disease linked to an altered neural mechanism at posterior cortex.

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    Broster, Lucas S; Li, Juan; Wagner, Benjamin; Smith, Charles D; Jicha, Gregory A; Schmitt, Frederick A; Munro, Nancy; Haney, Ryan H; Jiang, Yang

    2018-02-20

    Individuals with dementia of the Alzheimer type (AD) classically show disproportionate impairment in measures of working memory, but repetition learning effects are relatively preserved. As AD affects brain regions implicated in both working memory and repetition effects, the neural basis of this discrepancy is poorly understood. We hypothesized that the posterior repetition effect could account for this discrepancy due to the milder effects of AD at visual cortex. Participants with early AD, amnestic mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy controls performed a working memory task with superimposed repetition effects while electroencephalography was collected to identify possible neural mechanisms of preserved repetition effects. Participants with AD showed preserved behavioral repetition effects and a change in the posterior repetition effect. Visual cortex may play a role in maintained repetition effects in persons with early AD.

  5. Ritualistics: a New Discipline in the History of Religions

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    Jørgen Podemann Sørensen

    1993-01-01

    Full Text Available The history of Religions is in need of subdisciplines. Those that it has are mostly derived from other academic disciplines such as psychology, sociology, or, to mention a more recent invention, aesthetics. Interdisciplinary studies are in many ways a characteristic, inherent feature of the humanities, and certainly not to be resented or mistrusted. It is, however, worth noticing that the History of Religions has only one discipline entirely of its own: a comparative, cross-cultural, religio-specific discipline sometimes called the phenomenology of religion. The study of ritual is more than just the study of a very broad. It is with a view to the further exploration of the way meaning and form are put to work in ritual, and the way ritual determines and conditions the form of representations, that ritualistics can be suggested as a new discipline.

  6. [Repetitive impulse-associated behavioral disorders in Parkinson's disease].

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    Katzenschlager, R; Goerlich, K S; van Eimeren, T

    2012-12-01

    Parkinson's disease (PD) is associated with a number of behavioral disorders which may cause considerable social, professional or financial problems. Impulse control disorders (ICDs), such as pathological gambling, binge eating, compulsive shopping and hypersexuality occur in approximately 13-14% of PD patients. Further behavioral disorders are the dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS), a substance dependence characterized by craving for dopaminergic substances and punding (prolonged repetitive activities which are not goal-oriented).Treatment-related risk factors are dopamine agonists for ICDs and a high total dopaminergic dose for DDS and punding. Shared risk factors are young age at onset, impulsive personality traits, depression and possibly dyskinesia. At the neuronal level these behavioral disorders seem to be associated with changes in the reward system and dysfunction of the orbitofrontal cortex. The evidence level for management strategies is at present insufficient. For ICDs current clinical practice consists of discontinuation or reduction of dopamine agonists.

  7. Relationship between Subtypes of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors and Sleep Disturbance in Autism Spectrum Disorder

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    Hundley, Rachel J.; Shui, Amy; Malow, Beth A.

    2016-01-01

    We examined the association of two types of restricted and repetitive behaviors, repetitive sensory motor (RSM) and insistence on sameness (IS), with sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Participants included 532 children (aged 2-17) who participated in the Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network research registry.…

  8. The Relationship Between Social Affect and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors Measured on the ADOS-2 and Maternal Stress.

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    Schutte, Claire; Richardson, Wendy; Devlin, Morgan; Hill, Jeanna; Ghossainy, Maliki; Hewitson, Laura

    2018-03-01

    This study investigated categories of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition and their association with maternal stress. Social affect and restricted and repetitive behaviors were compared with levels of maternal stress, measured by the Parenting Stress Index, in 102 children with ASD ages 2-12 years of age. Results indicated that social affect and restricted and repetitive behaviors were associated with the mother's stress regarding acceptability of the child's condition. Additionally, restricted and repetitive behaviors were significantly related to stress involving the child's hyperactivity and impulsivity. These findings highlight specific areas of stress experienced by mothers of children with ASD that are related to the child's symptoms, providing information for caregiver support and intervention.

  9. mGluR5-antagonist mediated reversal of elevated stereotyped, repetitive behaviors in the VPA model of autism.

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    Mili V Mehta

    Full Text Available Autism spectrum disorders (ASD are highly disabling developmental disorders with a population prevalence of 1-3%. Despite a strong genetic etiology, there are no current therapeutic options that target the core symptoms of ASD. Emerging evidence suggests that dysfunction of glutamatergic signaling, in particular through metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGluR5 receptors, may contribute to phenotypic deficits and may be appropriate targets for pharmacologic intervention. This study assessed the therapeutic potential of 2-methyl-6-phenylethyl-pyrididine (MPEP, an mGluR5-receptor antagonist, on repetitive and anxiety-like behaviors in the valproic acid (VPA mouse model of autism. Mice were exposed prenatally on day E13 to VPA and assessed for repetitive self-grooming and marble burying behaviors as adults. Anxiety-like behavior and locomotor activity were measured in an open-field. VPA-exposed mice displayed increased repetitive and anxiety-like behaviors, consistent with previously published results. Across both marble burying and self-grooming assays, MPEP significantly reduced repetitive behaviors in VPA-treated mice, but had no effect on locomotor activity. These results are consistent with emerging preclinical literature that mGluR5-antagonists may have therapeutic efficacy for core symptoms of autism.

  10. Relationship Between Postural Control and Restricted, Repetitive Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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    Krestin eRadonovich

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Restricted, repetitive behaviors (RRBs are one of the core diagnostic criteria of autism spectrum disorders (ASD, and include simple repetitive motor behaviors and more complex cognitive behaviors, such as compulsions and restricted interests. In addition to the core symptoms, impaired movement is often observed in ASD. Research suggests that the postural system in individuals with ASD is immature and may never reach adult levels. RRBs have been related to postural sway in individuals with mental retardation.Our goals were to determine whether subjects with ASD had greater postural sway and whether RBS-R scores were related to the magnitude of postural sway. We compared the center of pressure (COP sway area during quiet stance with scores on the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R in children with ASD and typically developing controls (TD ages 3-16. All subjects had Nonverbal IQ>70. Subjects performed four quiet stance trials at a self–selected stance width for 15 seconds. Subjects with ASD had greater postural sway area compared to controls. Not surprisingly, subjects with ASD exhibited greater frequencies and intensities of RRBs overall and on all 6 subscales. Further, there was a positive correlation between postural sway area and presence of RRBs. Interestingly, results of the postural sway area for the ASD group suggests that roughly half of the ASD subjects scored comparable to TD controls, whereas the other half scored >2 SD worse. Motor impaired children did not have significantly worse IQ scores, but were younger and had more RRBs.Results support previous findings of relationships between RRBs and postural control. It appears that motor control impairments may characterize a subset of individuals with ASD. Better delineation of motor control abilities in individuals with ASD will be important to help explain variations of abilities in ASD, inform treatment, and guide examination of underlying neural involvement in this diverse

  11. The influence of personality traits and emotional and behavioral problems on repetitive nonsuicidal self-injury in a school sample.

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    Lüdtke, Janine; Weizenegger, Benedict; Rauber, Rachel; Contin, Brigitte; In-Albon, Tina; Schmid, Marc

    2017-04-01

    Nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) is highly prevalent among adolescents and associated with various mental health problems and suicidality. Previous studies have found that certain personality traits are related to NSSI behavior, however only few studies examined personality traits in adolescents with NSSI. Our study aimed to assess the relationship between personality traits and emotional and behavioral problems in predicting repetitive NSSI among adolescents from a school sample. Four hundred and forty-seven students (M=14.95years, SD=0.74, 52% male) completed self-report measures on NSSI, personality traits, and emotional and behavioral problems. The past year prevalence of occasional and repetitive NSSI was 4.9% and 6.3% respectively. Repetitive NSSI was significantly associated with female gender, higher levels of age, novelty seeking, harm avoidance, self-transcendence, antisocial behavior, and positive self and lower levels of persistence and self-directedness in univariate analyses. However, multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that only high levels of antisocial behavior and low levels of self-directedness significantly predicted repetitive NSSI. The association between a lack of self-directedness and NSSI emphasizes the significance of targeting self-directedness in psychotherapy by strengthening self-awareness, affect tolerance and emotion regulation, as well as establishing and pursuing long-term goals. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. From Feline Idiopathic Ulcerative Dermatitis to Feline Behavioral Ulcerative Dermatitis: Grooming Repetitive Behaviors Indicators of Poor Welfare in Cats

    Science.gov (United States)

    Titeux, Emmanuelle; Gilbert, Caroline; Briand, Amaury; Cochet-Faivre, Noëlle

    2018-01-01

    Feline idiopathic head-and-neck dermatitis—also named feline idiopathic ulcerative dermatitis (IUD)—is considered as a rare skin disease of unknown origin. It is usually associated with a crusted, non-healing, self-induced ulcer occurring most commonly on the dorsal or lateral neck or between the scapula where self-grooming by scratching occurs. Usually, IUD is diagnosed after exclusion of other causes of pruritus. In feline medicine, self-induced alopecia is recognized as a behavioral disorder (abnormal repetitive behavior) due to excessive licking, which is an amplification of a normal maintenance behavior. Such repetitive behaviors, like self-induced alopecia or self-induced wounds, are named stereotypies and considered as indicators of poor welfare. The objectives of our study were to determine, first, if the repetitive behavior associated with self-induced wounds was related to a poor welfare, and, second, if improving the welfare in the cat’s environment would lead to healing, thanks to environmental enrichment. We recruited 13 cats diagnosed with IUD by a dermatologist. These cats were referred to a behaviorist for welfare evaluation. A welfare score was attributed using a new 21-point welfare scale. The median score of the 13 IUD cats was 16, while the median score of 35 healthy cats was 7 (significant difference, p cat’s environment and the human–cat relationship were then recommended for IUD cats. Within 15 days after environment modifications, ulcerative lesions were healed and welfare scores improved significantly (median score of 6, significantly different from the score before environmental modifications), being similar to healthy cats (no significant differences). Only one cat was treated with a psychotropic drug, owners being reluctant to improve environmental modifications. These results suggest that feline IUD is a behavioral disorder indicative of poor welfare and that it requires management by behavior specialists, proposing

  13. From Feline Idiopathic Ulcerative Dermatitis to Feline Behavioral Ulcerative Dermatitis: Grooming Repetitive Behaviors Indicators of Poor Welfare in Cats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emmanuelle Titeux

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Feline idiopathic head-and-neck dermatitis—also named feline idiopathic ulcerative dermatitis (IUD—is considered as a rare skin disease of unknown origin. It is usually associated with a crusted, non-healing, self-induced ulcer occurring most commonly on the dorsal or lateral neck or between the scapula where self-grooming by scratching occurs. Usually, IUD is diagnosed after exclusion of other causes of pruritus. In feline medicine, self-induced alopecia is recognized as a behavioral disorder (abnormal repetitive behavior due to excessive licking, which is an amplification of a normal maintenance behavior. Such repetitive behaviors, like self-induced alopecia or self-induced wounds, are named stereotypies and considered as indicators of poor welfare. The objectives of our study were to determine, first, if the repetitive behavior associated with self-induced wounds was related to a poor welfare, and, second, if improving the welfare in the cat’s environment would lead to healing, thanks to environmental enrichment. We recruited 13 cats diagnosed with IUD by a dermatologist. These cats were referred to a behaviorist for welfare evaluation. A welfare score was attributed using a new 21-point welfare scale. The median score of the 13 IUD cats was 16, while the median score of 35 healthy cats was 7 (significant difference, p < 0.001. Major modifications of the cat’s environment and the human–cat relationship were then recommended for IUD cats. Within 15 days after environment modifications, ulcerative lesions were healed and welfare scores improved significantly (median score of 6, significantly different from the score before environmental modifications, being similar to healthy cats (no significant differences. Only one cat was treated with a psychotropic drug, owners being reluctant to improve environmental modifications. These results suggest that feline IUD is a behavioral disorder indicative of poor welfare and that it

  14. Elemental redistribution behavior in tellurite glass induced by high repetition rate femtosecond laser irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Teng, Yu; Zhou, Jiajia; Khisro, Said Nasir; Zhou, Shifeng; Qiu, Jianrong

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Abnormal elements redistribution behavior was observed in tellurite glass. • The refractive index and Raman intensity distribution changed significantly. • The relative glass composition remained unchanged while the glass density changed. • First time report on the abnormal element redistribution behavior in glass. • The glass network structure determines the elemental redistribution behavior. - Abstract: The success in the fabrication of micro-structures in glassy materials using femtosecond laser irradiation has proved its potential applications in the construction of three-dimensional micro-optical components or devices. In this paper, we report the elemental redistribution behavior in tellurite glass after the irradiation of high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses. The relative glass composition remained unchanged while the glass density changed significantly, which is quite different from previously reported results about the high repetition rate femtosecond laser induced elemental redistribution in silicate glasses. The involved mechanism is discussed with the conclusion that the glass network structure plays the key role to determine the elemental redistribution. This observation not only helps to understand the interaction process of femtosecond laser with glassy materials, but also has potential applications in the fabrication of micro-optical devices

  15. Prenatal lipopolysaccharide induces hypothalamic dopaminergic hypoactivity and autistic-like behaviors: Repetitive self-grooming and stereotypies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kirsten, Thiago B; Bernardi, Maria M

    2017-07-28

    Previous investigations by our group have shown that prenatal exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which mimics infection by gram-negative bacteria, induces social, cognitive, and communication deficits. For a complete screening of autistic-like behaviors, the objective of this study was to evaluate if our rat model also induces restricted and repetitive stereotyped behaviors. Thus, we studied the self-grooming microstructure. We also studied the neurochemistry of hypothalamus and frontal cortex, which are brain areas related to autism to better understand central mechanisms involved in our model. Prenatal LPS exposure on gestational day 9.5 increased the head washing episodes (frequency and time), as well as the total self-grooming. However, body grooming, paw/leg licking, tail/genital grooming, and circling behavior/tail chasing did not vary significantly among the groups. Moreover, prenatal LPS induced dopaminergic hypoactivity (HVA metabolite and turnover) in the hypothalamus. Therefore, our rat model induced restricted and repetitive stereotyped behaviors and the other main symptoms of autism experimentally studied in rodent models and also found in patients. The hypothalamic dopaminergic impairments seem to be associated with the autistic-like behaviors. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Cocaine addiction: from habits to stereotypical-repetitive behaviors and punding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fasano, Alfonso; Barra, Andrea; Nicosia, Paola; Rinaldi, Federica; Bria, Pietro; Bentivoglio, Anna Rita; Tonioni, Federico

    2008-07-01

    "Punding" is a stereotypical motor behavior characterized by an intense fascination with repetitive handling and examining of objects. Since its first description in amphetamine and cocaine addicts, data on punding has only derived from studies performed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Punding is classifiable as the most severe form of Repetitive Reward-Seeking Behaviours (RRSB) syndromes. The aim of this study was to investigate the occurrence and phenomelogy of RRSB acutely induced by cocaine in order to determine the prevalence, severity and distinctive features discriminating "punders" from "non-punders". A consecutive sample of 50 cocaine addicts received a clinical psychiatric interview. RRSB diagnosis and severity were assessed using a modified version of a previous published questionnaire designed to identify punding in patients with PD. In the present series, 38% of the cocaine addicts met the proposed diagnostic criteria for a RRSB and 8% were considered punders. Subjects with vs. without RRSB did not differ in terms of sex ratio, age, education, occupation, predisposing habits, duration of cocaine use, hours of sleep, comorbid psychiatric disorders, and concomitant use of other drugs. These results and the observation that in the majority of cases RRSB started soon after first drug intake, strongly suggest that an underlying unknown predisposition led to the development of these behaviors. In conclusion, RRSB and punding is much more common than has been described previously and the resultant social disability is often overlooked.

  17. Repetitive Treatment with Diluted Bee Venom Attenuates the Induction of Below-Level Neuropathic Pain Behaviors in a Rat Spinal Cord Injury Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Suk-Yun; Roh, Dae-Hyun; Choi, Jung-Wan; Ryu, Yeonhee; Lee, Jang-Hern

    2015-07-10

    The administration of diluted bee venom (DBV) into an acupuncture point has been utilized traditionally in Eastern medicine to treat chronic pain. We demonstrated previously that DBV has a potent anti-nociceptive efficacy in several rodent pain models. The present study was designed to examine the potential anti-nociceptive effect of repetitive DBV treatment in the development of below-level neuropathic pain in spinal cord injury (SCI) rats. DBV was applied into the Joksamli acupoint during the induction and maintenance phase following thoracic 13 (T13) spinal hemisection. We examined the effect of repetitive DBV stimulation on SCI-induced bilateral pain behaviors, glia expression and motor function recovery. Repetitive DBV stimulation during the induction period, but not the maintenance, suppressed pain behavior in the ipsilateral hind paw. Moreover, SCI-induced increase in spinal glia expression was also suppressed by repetitive DBV treatment in the ipsilateral dorsal spinal cord. Finally, DBV injection facilitated motor function recovery as indicated by the Basso-Beattie-Bresnahan rating score. These results indicate that the repetitive application of DBV during the induction phase not only decreased neuropathic pain behavior and glia expression, but also enhanced locomotor functional recovery after SCI. This study suggests that DBV acupuncture can be a potential clinical therapy for SCI management.

  18. Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for stereotypic and repetitive behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joosten, Annette V; Bundy, Anita C; Einfeld, Stewart L

    2009-03-01

    This study provides evidence for intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for stereotypical and repetitive behavior in children with autism and intellectual disability and children with intellectual disability alone. We modified the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) (1988b); dividing it into intrinsic and extrinsic measures and adding items to assess anxiety as an intrinsic motivator. Rasch analysis of data from 279 MASs (74 children) revealed that the items formed two unidimensional scales. Anxiety was a more likely intrinsic motivator than sensory seeking for children with dual diagnoses; the reverse was true for children with intellectual disability only. Escape and gaining a tangible object were the most common extrinsic motivators for those with dual diagnoses and attention and escape for children with intellectual disability.

  19. Modulation of social deficits and repetitive behaviors in a mouse model of autism: the role of the nicotinic cholinergic system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Li; Almeida, Luis E F; Spornick, Nicholas A; Kenyon, Nicholas; Kamimura, Sayuri; Khaibullina, Alfia; Nouraie, Mehdi; Quezado, Zenaide M N

    2015-12-01

    Accumulating evidence implicates the nicotinic cholinergic system in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) pathobiology. Neuropathologic studies suggest that nicotinic acetylcholine (ACh) receptor (nAChR) subtypes are altered in brain of autistic individuals. In addition, strategies that increase ACh, the neurotransmitter for nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, appear to improve cognitive deficits in neuropsychiatric disorders and ASD. The aim of this study is to examine the role of the nicotinic cholinergic system on social and repetitive behavior abnormalities and exploratory physical activity in a well-studied model of autism, the BTBR T(+) Itpr3 (tf) /J (BTBR) mouse. Using a protocol known to up-regulate expression of brain nAChR subtypes, we measured behavior outcomes before and after BTBR and C57BL/6J (B6) mice were treated (4 weeks) with vehicle or nicotine (50, 100, 200, or 400 μg/ml). Increasing nicotine doses were associated with decreases in water intake, increases in plasma cotinine levels, and at the higher dose (400 μg/ml) with weight loss in BTBR mice. At lower (50, 100 μg/ml) but not higher (200, 400 μg/ml) doses, nicotine increased social interactions in BTBR and B6 mice and at higher, but not lower doses, it decreased repetitive behavior in BTBR. In the open-field test, nicotine at 200 and 400 μg/ml, but not 100 μg/ml compared with vehicle, decreased overall physical activity in BTBR mice. These findings support the hypotheses that the nicotinic cholinergic system modulates social and repetitive behaviors and may be a therapeutic target to treat behavior deficits in ASD. Further, the BTBR mouse may be valuable for investigations of the role of nAChRs in social deficits and repetitive behavior.

  20. Verbal behavior in Alzheimer's disease patients: Analysis of phrase repetition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cecato, Juliana Francisca; Martinellil, José Eduardo; Bartholomeu, Luana Luz; Basqueira, Ana Paula; Yassuda, Mônica Sanches; Aprahamian, Ivan

    2010-01-01

    Language problems in the elderly with AD are due to the fact that deterioration occurs not only in semantic memory, but in a group of cognitive factors, evidenced by a deficiency in search strategies for linguistic information. To evaluate phrase repetition in two cognitive tests, the MMSE and MoCA, in a group of Alzheimer disease patients (AD) and normal controls. A Cross-sectional study was conducted involving 20 patients who sought medical assistance at a geriatric institute in Jundiaí, São Paulo. The subjects underwent a detailed clinical examination and neuropsychometric evaluation. All subjects with AD met DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Ten patients received a diagnosis of AD and 10 were healthy subjects, forming the control group (CG). All participants correctly answered the phrase from the MMSE (phrase 1). The MoCA phrases (phrases 2 and 3) were correct in 80% and 90%, respectively in the CG and in 40% and 50%, respectively in the AD group. The MoCA test proved more effective in evaluating the echoic behavior in AD patients compared to the MMSE. The simpler phrase repetition task in the MMSE was found to be less sensitive in detecting mild language decline in AD patients.

  1. Verbal behavior in Alzheimer disease patients: Analysis of phrase repetition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Francisca Cecato

    Full Text Available Abstract Language problems in the elderly with AD are due to the fact that deterioration occurs not only in semantic memory, but in a group of cognitive factors, evidenced by a deficiency in search strategies for linguistic information. Objectives: To evaluate phrase repetition in two cognitive tests, the MMSE and MoCA, in a group of Alzheimer disease patients (AD and normal controls. Methods: A Cross-sectional study was conducted involving 20 patients who sought medical assistance at a geriatric institute in Jundiaí, São Paulo. The subjects underwent a detailed clinical examination and neuropsychometric evaluation. All subjects with AD met DSM-IV and NINCDS-ADRDA criteria. Ten patients received a diagnosis of AD and 10 were healthy subjects, forming the control group (CG. Results: All participants correctly answered the phrase from the MMSE (phrase 1. The MoCA phrases (phrases 2 and 3 were correct in 80% and 90%, respectively in the CG and in 40% and 50%, respectively in the AD group. Conclusions: The MoCA test proved more effective in evaluating the echoic behavior in AD patients compared to the MMSE. The simpler phrase repetition task in the MMSE was found to be less sensitive in detecting mild language decline in AD patients.

  2. Effectiveness of Non-pharmacological Interventions on Stereotyped and Repetitive Behaviors in Preschool Children With Autism: A Systematic Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hadi Zarafshan

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The present study aimed to review the literature on non-pharmacological interventions used to treat stereotyped and repetitive behaviors by a systematic method. Methods: Two authors independently performed a search strategy on Medline/PubMed, Scopus and PsycINFO on English articles published up to April 23, 2014 with relevant search keywords. We also reviewed the bibliographies of retrieved articles and conference proceedings to obtain additional citations and references. We used those articles that address any non-pharmacological interventions on reducing stereotyped and repetitive behaviors in preschool children with autism. Four independent reviewers screened relevant articles for inclusion criteria and assessed the quality of eligible articles with CONSORT checklist. Results: In our search, 664 relevant articles were found. After removing duplicates and screening based on title, abstract, and full text, 15 high quality studies were finally included in data analyses. The included articles were published from 1987 to 2013. Three studies were designed as A-B, two as A-B-A and reminders as A-B-A-B. The data and results of 3 clinical trials were synthesized; two of them were parallel randomized clinical trial and another one was designed as cross-over. Interventions were completely heterogeneous in case studies, including non-contingent auditory stimulation, response interruption and redirection, teaching the children to request assistance on the difficult tasks, family-implemented treatment for behavioral inflexibility with treatment approach, vocal or motor response interruption and redirection, brushing, water mist treatment, exposure response prevention, tangible reinforcement or social reinforcement, and music. Interventions in clinical trials included touch therapy, kata techniques training program, and aerobic exercise. Conclusions: The results of our review indicate that different kinds of non-pharmacological interventions can

  3. Feasibility of Exposure Response Prevention to Treat Repetitive Behaviors of Children with Autism and an Intellectual Disability: A Brief Report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyd, Brian A.; Woodard, Cooper R.; Bodfish, James W.

    2013-01-01

    There is a lack of evidence-based behavioral therapies or pharmacotherapies to treat repetitive behaviors found in autism. Effective behavioral therapies are needed to counter any negative consequences these behaviors may have on the child's early learning and socialization. The purpose of this proof-of-principle study was to test the feasibility…

  4. Validation of the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised in Spanish-Speakers Participants with Autism Spectrum Disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-González, A. E.; Piqueras, J. A.

    2018-01-01

    Restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB) is one of the two key diagnostic features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). DSM-5 highlights the importance of severity-based diagnostic modifiers assigned on the basis of intensity of needed supports. Therefore, there is a need for available measures that assess the severity of RRB. The repetitive…

  5. How Are Child Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors Associated with Caregiver Stress over Time? A Parallel Process Multilevel Growth Model

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrop, Clare; McBee, Matthew; Boyd, Brian A.

    2016-01-01

    The impact of raising a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is frequently accompanied by elevated caregiver stress. Examining the variables that predict these elevated rates will help us understand how caregiver stress is impacted by and impacts child behaviors. This study explored how restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) contributed…

  6. Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Review of Research in the Last Decade

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leekam, Susan R.; Prior, Margot R.; Uljarevic, Mirko

    2011-01-01

    Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a core feature of autism spectrum disorders. They constitute a major barrier to learning and social adaptation, but research on their definition, cause, and capacity for change has been relatively neglected. The last decade of research has brought new measurement techniques that have improved the…

  7. Effectiveness of Interventions to Improve Social Participation, Play, Leisure, and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in People With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Systematic Review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tanner, Kelly; Hand, Brittany N; O'Toole, Gjyn; Lane, Alison E

    2015-01-01

    People with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience difficulties with social participation, play, and leisure along with restricted and repetitive behaviors that can interfere with occupational performance. The objective of this systematic review was to evaluate current evidence for interventions within the occupational therapy scope of practice that address these difficulties. Strong evidence was found that social skills groups, the Picture Exchange Communication System, joint attention interventions, and parent-mediated strategies can improve social participation. The findings were less conclusive for interventions to improve play and leisure performance and to decrease restricted and repetitive behaviors, but several strategies showed promise with moderately strong supporting evidence. Occupational therapists should be guided by evidence when considering interventions to improve social participation, play, leisure, and restricted and repetitive behaviors in people with ASD. Additional research using more robust scientific methods is needed for many of the currently available strategies. Copyright © 2015 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

  8. Television: The New State Religion?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerbner, George

    1977-01-01

    Outlines the special characteristics of television that make it a formula-bound, ritualistic, repetitive, and nonselectively used system; concludes that television's social symbolic functions resemble preindustrial religions more than they do the media that preceded it. (GT)

  9. Repetition and the Concept of Repetition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arne Grøn

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available This paper offers a description of the meaning of the category of repetition. Firstly, it is pointed out that Constantin uses repetition as a concept that means the creation of epochs; the passing from Greece to Modernity is accomplished distinguishing between recollection, a concept that looks back to the past, and repetition, a concept that looks forward to future. Secondly, it is showed that the category of repetition, as a religious category, relates with what Climacus calls “ethic despair” and with what Vigilius calls “second ethics”; it is through repetition that it can be understood that sin finds its place in ethics and these shows the tension between it and dogmatics. And thirdly, it is showed that the descovery of the new category of repetition is a rediscovery of what Kierkegaard calls category of spirit; repetition has for its object the individuality, and coming to be oneself is what Kierkegaard undertands as liberty. At the end of the paper it is questioned if the category of repetition is inconsistent with the book Repetition.

  10. Parental stress response to sexual abuse and ritualistic abuse of children in day-care centers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelley, S J

    1990-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the stress responses of parents to the sexual and ritualistic abuse of their children in day-care centers. Sixty-five mothers and 46 fathers of children sexually abused in day-care centers completed the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R), a measure of psychological distress. These scores were compared with a carefully matched comparison group of parents of 67 nonabused children. Parents of abused children also completed the Impact of Event Scale (IES), a measure which indexes symptoms that characterize posttraumatic stress disorder. Parents of sexually abused children reported significantly more psychological distress than parents of nonabused children, with parents of ritually abused children displaying the most severe psychological distress. Parents of abused children reported symptom profiles on the SCL-90-R and IES consistent with posttraumatic stress disorder.

  11. Periventricular white matter abnormalities and restricted repetitive behavior in autism spectrum disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen Blackmon

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Malformations of cortical development are found at higher rates in autism spectrum disorder (ASD than in healthy controls on postmortem neuropathological evaluation but are more variably observed on visual review of in-vivo MRI brain scans. This may be due to the visually elusive nature of many malformations on MRI. Here, we utilize a quantitative approach to determine whether a volumetric measure of heterotopic gray matter in the white matter is elevated in people with ASD, relative to typically developing controls (TDC. Data from a primary sample of 48 children/young adults with ASD and 48 age-, and gender-matched TDCs, selected from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE open-access database, were analyzed to compare groups on (1 blinded review of high-resolution T1-weighted research sequences; and (2 quantitative measurement of white matter hypointensity (WMH volume calculated from the same T1-weighted scans. Groupwise WMH volume comparisons were repeated in an independent, multi-site sample (80 ASD/80 TDC, also selected from ABIDE. Visual review resulted in equivalent proportions of imaging abnormalities in the ASD and TDC group. However, quantitative analysis revealed elevated periventricular and deep subcortical WMH volumes in ASD. This finding was replicated in the independent, multi-site sample. Periventricular WMH volume was not associated with age but was associated with greater restricted repetitive behaviors on both parent-reported and clinician-rated assessment inventories. Thus, findings demonstrate that periventricular WMH volume is elevated in ASD and associated with a higher degree of repetitive behaviors and restricted interests. Although the etiology of focal WMH clusters is unknown, the absence of age effects suggests that they may reflect a static anomaly.

  12. The Relationship between Social Affect and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors Measured on the ADOS-2 and Maternal Stress

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schutte, Claire; Richardson, Wendy; Devlin, Morgan; Hill, Jeanna; Ghossainy, Maliki; Hewitson, Laura

    2018-01-01

    This study investigated categories of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) symptoms measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition and their association with maternal stress. Social affect and restricted and repetitive behaviors were compared with levels of maternal stress, measured by the Parenting Stress Index, in 102 children…

  13. The frontal-anatomic specificity of design fluency repetitions and their diagnostic relevance for behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Possin, Katherine L; Chester, Serana K; Laluz, Victor; Bostrom, Alan; Rosen, Howard J; Miller, Bruce L; Kramer, Joel H

    2012-09-01

    On tests of design fluency, an examinee draws as many different designs as possible in a specified time limit while avoiding repetition. The neuroanatomical substrates and diagnostic group differences of design fluency repetition errors and total correct scores were examined in 110 individuals diagnosed with dementia, 53 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 37 neurologically healthy controls. The errors correlated significantly with volumes in the right and left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), the right and left superior frontal gyrus, the right inferior frontal gyrus, and the right striatum, but did not correlate with volumes in any parietal or temporal lobe regions. Regression analyses indicated that the lateral OFC may be particularly crucial for preventing these errors, even after excluding patients with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) from the analysis. Total correct correlated more diffusely with volumes in the right and left frontal and parietal cortex, the right temporal cortex, and the right striatum and thalamus. Patients diagnosed with bvFTD made significantly more repetition errors than patients diagnosed with MCI, Alzheimer's disease, semantic dementia, progressive supranuclear palsy, or corticobasal syndrome. In contrast, total correct design scores did not differentiate the dementia patients. These results highlight the frontal-anatomic specificity of design fluency repetitions. In addition, the results indicate that the propensity to make these errors supports the diagnosis of bvFTD. (JINS, 2012, 18, 1-11).

  14. Thought-Action Fusion in Childhood: Measurement, Development, and Association with Anxiety, Rituals and Other Compulsive-Like Behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, David W.; Hersperger, Chelsea; Capaldi, Philip A.

    2011-01-01

    A new inventory assessing thought-action fusion (TAF) in children is presented. We explore the psychometric properties of this instrument and examine the associations between TAF, ritualistic and compulsive-like behavior (CLB) and anxiety. Three hundred thirteen children ages 7-14 (M = 10.16, SD = 1.92) representing six grades (grouped into three…

  15. Evidence-Based, Parent-Mediated Interventions for Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Case of Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrop, Clare

    2015-01-01

    Restricted and repetitive behaviors represent a core symptom of autism spectrum disorders. While there has been an increase in research into this domain in recent years, compared to social-communication impairments experienced by children with autism spectrum disorders, much less is known about their development, etiology, and management.…

  16. Ritualistic Use of Ayahuasca versus Street Use of Similar Substances Seized by the Police: A Key Factor Involved in the Potential for Intoxications and Overdose?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lanaro, Rafael; Calemi, Débora Bressanim de Aquino; Togni, Loraine Rezende; Costa, José Luiz; Yonamine, Maurício; Cazenave, Silvia de Oliveira Santos; Linardi, Alessandra

    2015-01-01

    The ritualistic use of ayahuasca is becoming a global phenomenon. This beverage contains a combination of monoamine oxidase inhibitors (harmine, harmaline, and tetrahydroharmine) and N,N-dimethyltryptamine, the main substance responsible for its visionary effect. The recreational use of similar alkaloids and N,N-dimethyltryptamine has increased in recent years, mainly because of their hallucinogenic effects. In the present study, the concentrations of psychoactive alkaloids in three powder samples seized by the São Paulo State Police and nine ayahuasca aqueous extracts were analyzed by HPLC-DAD in an attempt to distinguish between illicit drugs and the religious beverage. The alkaloids detected (μg/mL) in the ayahuasca aqueous extracts were N,N-dimethyltryptamine (402-2070.3), harmaline (27.5-181.3), harmine (294.5-2893.8), and tetrahydroharmine (849.5-2052.5), whereas, of the three powder samples, one contained only N,N-dimethyltryptamine (82% and 2% w/w, respectively) while the other contained only harmaline (16%, w/w) and harmine (12%, w/w). The ritualistic use of ayahuasca involves oral intake and the probability of overdose is minimized by serotonergic stimulation of vagal pathways, leading to vomiting and diarrhea. In contrast, the recreational use of N,N-dimethyltryptamine involves consumption mainly by smoking or inhalation, both of which markedly increase its bioavailability and the potential for intoxications.

  17. Electrophysiological Repetition Effects in Persons with Mild Cognitive Impairment depend upon Working Memory Demand.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broster, Lucas S; Jenkins, Shonna L; Holmes, Sarah D; Edwards, Matthew G; Jicha, Gregory A; Jiang, Yang

    2018-05-07

    Forms of implicit memory, including repetition effects, are preserved relative to explicit memory in clinical Alzheimer's disease. Consequently, cognitive interventions for persons with Alzheimer's disease have been developed that leverage this fact. However, despite the clinical robustness of behavioral repetition effects, altered neural mechanisms of repetition effects are studied as biomarkers of both clinical Alzheimer's disease and pre-morbid Alzheimer's changes in the brain. We hypothesized that the clinical preservation of behavioral repetition effects results in part from concurrent operation of discrete memory systems. We developed two experiments that included probes of emotional repetition effects differing in that one included an embedded working memory task. We found that neural repetition effects manifested in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, the earliest form of clinical Alzheimer's disease, during emotional working memory tasks, but they did not manifest during the task that lacked the embedded working memory manipulation. Specifically, the working memory task evoked neural repetition effects in the P600 time-window, but the same neural mechanism was only minimally implicated in the task without a working memory component. We also found that group differences in behavioral repetition effects were smaller in the experiment with a working memory task. We suggest that cross-domain cognitive challenge can expose "defunct" neural capabilities of individuals with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  18. Neural Dynamics of Autistic Repetitive Behaviors and Fragile X Syndrome: Basal Ganglia Movement Gating and mGluR-Modulated Adaptively Timed Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossberg, Stephen; Kishnan, Devika

    2018-01-01

    This article develops the iSTART neural model that proposes how specific imbalances in cognitive, emotional, timing, and motor processes that involve brain regions like prefrontal cortex, temporal cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and cerebellum may interact together to cause behavioral symptoms of autism. These imbalances include underaroused emotional depression in the amygdala/hypothalamus, learning of hyperspecific recognition categories that help to cause narrowly focused attention in temporal and prefrontal cortices, and breakdowns of adaptively timed motivated attention and motor circuits in the hippocampus and cerebellum. The article expands the model's explanatory range by, first, explaining recent data about Fragile X syndrome (FXS), mGluR, and trace conditioning; and, second, by explaining distinct causes of stereotyped behaviors in individuals with autism. Some of these stereotyped behaviors, such as an insistence on sameness and circumscribed interests, may result from imbalances in the cognitive and emotional circuits that iSTART models. These behaviors may be ameliorated by operant conditioning methods. Other stereotyped behaviors, such as repetitive motor behaviors, may result from imbalances in how the direct and indirect pathways of the basal ganglia open or close movement gates, respectively. These repetitive behaviors may be ameliorated by drugs that augment D2 dopamine receptor responses or reduce D1 dopamine receptor responses. The article also notes the ubiquitous role of gating by basal ganglia loops in regulating all the functions that iSTART models.

  19. RITUALISTIC TERMS IN THE ALEVI BELIEF SYSTEM ALEVİ İNANÇ SİSTEMİNDEKİ RİTÜELİK ÖZEL TERİMLER

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    Mehmet ERSAL

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available The Alevi belief system is one of the important richnesses within Turkish language and culture. Spread over a far and wide geography, the community has also shaped many rituals and belief practices with its own dynamics. Thus, a world of numerous ritualistic terms is brought in Turkish language and culture. Due to the secrecy of the belief system, it has not been possible to ascertain the majority of the ritualistic terms by means of visual methods. In recent years, the overgeneralisation of the terms which have been ascertained seems to be a common mistake as well. However, a term sometimes has manifold meanings even in the same village. For this reason, false meanings might be attributed to a ritualistic term mentioned in a writing or poem. In this article the ritual of muhasip cemi, which is accepted as the secret prayer of the Alevi belief system, will be explained with materials collected from nine cities. The study will also be supported by visual elements that will be presented in an order similar to that of a ritual. Different terminological names attributed to the same belief practice will be given within the explanations as well. Alevi inanç sistemi, Türk dili ve kültürünün önemli zenginliklerindendir. Geniş bir coğrafyaya yayılan inanç zümresi birçok ritüel ve inanç pratiğini de kendi dinamikleri ile şekillendirmiştir. Bu sayede zengin bir ritüelik terim dünyası da Türk diline ve kültürüne kazandırılmıştır. Alevi inanç sistemine dair ritüelik terimlerin büyük bir çoğunluğu özellikle de inanç sisteminden kaynaklanan gizlilik sebebiyle görsel unsurlarla tespit edilememiştir. Son yıllarda tespit edilen terimleri de Aleviliğin geneline şümullandırma gibi bir hataya düşülmektedir. Oysaki bir köy içerisinde bile aynı terim farklı anlamlandırmalarla kullanılmaktadır. Bu sebeple bir yazma veya bir şiirde geçen ritüelik bir terime yanlış anlamlar yüklenebilmektedir. Bu makalede

  20. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation affects behavior by biasing endogenous cortical oscillations

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    Massihullah Hamidi

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available A governing assumption about repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS has been that it interferes with task-related neuronal activity – in effect, by “injecting noise” into the brain – and thereby disrupts behavior. Recent reports of rTMS-produced behavioral enhancement, however, call this assumption into question. We investigated the neurophysiological effects of rTMS delivered during the delay period of a visual working memory task by simultaneously recording brain activity with electroencephalography (EEG. Subjects performed visual working memory for locations or for shapes, and in half the trials a 10-Hz train of rTMS was delivered to the superior parietal lobule or a control brain area. The wide range of individual differences in the effects of rTMS on task accuracy, from improvement to impairment, was predicted by individual differences in the effect of rTMS on power in the alpha-band of the EEG (~ 10 Hz: a decrease in alpha-band power corresponded to improved performance, whereas an increase in alpha-band power corresponded to the opposite. The EEG effect was localized to cortical sources encompassing the frontal eye fields and the intraparietal sulcus, and was specific to task (location, but not object memory and to rTMS target (superior parietal lobule, not control area. Furthermore, for the same task condition, rTMS-induced changes in cross-frequency phase synchrony between alpha- and gamma-band (> 40 Hz oscillations predicted changes in behavior. These results suggest that alpha-band oscillations play an active role cognitive processes and do not simply reflect absence of processing. Furthermore, this study shows that the complex effects of rTMS on behavior can result from biasing endogenous patterns of network-level oscillations.

  1. Spatial behavior reflects the mental disorder in OCD patients with and without comorbid schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gershoni, Anat; Hermesh, Haggai; Fineberg, Naomi A; Eilam, David

    2014-02-01

    Resolving the entangled nosological dilemma of whether obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) with and without schizophrenia (schizo-OCD and OCD, respectively) are two independent entities or whether schizo-OCD is a combined product of its parent disorders. Studying motor activity in OCD and in schizo-OCD patients. Performance of the patients was compared with the performance of the same motor task by a matching control individual. Behavior in both schizo-OCD and OCD patients differed from controls in the excessive repetition and addition of acts, thus validating an identical OC facet. However, there was a significant difference in spatial behavior. Schizo-OCD patients traveled over a greater area with less focused activity as typical to schizophrenia patients and in contrast to OCD patients, who were more focused and traveled less in a confined area. While schizo-OCD and OCD patients share most of the OC ritualistic attributes, they differ in the greater spread of activity in schizo-OCD, which is related to schizophrenia disorder. It is suggested that the finding on difference in spatial behavior is a reflection of the mental differences between OCD and schizophrenia. In other words, this could be an overt and observable manifestation of the mental state, and therefore may facilitate the nosology of OC spectrum disorders and OCD. It seems as if both the OCD patients' focus on specific thoughts, and the contrasting wandering thoughts of schizophrenia patients, are reflected in the focused activity of the former and wandering from one place to the next of the latter.

  2. Repetitive negative thinking predicts depression and anxiety symptom improvement during brief cognitive behavioral therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kertz, Sarah J; Koran, Jennifer; Stevens, Kimberly T; Björgvinsson, Thröstur

    2015-05-01

    Repetitive negative thinking (RNT) is a common symptom across depression and anxiety disorders and preliminary evidence suggests that decreases in rumination and worry are related to improvement in depression and anxiety symptoms. However, despite its prevalence, relatively little is known about transdiagnostic RNT and its temporal associations with symptom improvement during treatment. The current study was designed to examine the influence of RNT on subsequent depression and anxiety symptoms during treatment. Participants (n = 131; 52% female; 93% White; M = 34.76 years) were patients presenting for treatment in a brief, cognitive behavior therapy based, partial hospitalization program. Participants completed multiple assessments of depression (Center for the Epidemiological Studies of Depression-10 scale), anxiety (the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale), and repetitive negative thinking (Perseverative Thinking Questionnaire) over the course of treatment. Results indicated statistically significant between and within person effects of RNT on depression and anxiety, even after controlling for the effect of time, previous symptom levels, referral source, and treatment length. RNT explained 22% of the unexplained variability in depression scores and 15% of the unexplained variability in anxiety scores beyond that explained by the control variables. RNT may be an important transdiagnostic treatment target for anxiety and depression. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. BOLD repetition decreases in object-responsive ventral visual areas depend on spatial attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eger, E; Henson, R N A; Driver, J; Dolan, R J

    2004-08-01

    Functional imaging studies of priming-related repetition phenomena have become widely used to study neural object representation. Although blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) repetition decreases can sometimes be observed without awareness of repetition, any role for spatial attention in BOLD repetition effects remains largely unknown. We used fMRI in 13 healthy subjects to test whether BOLD repetition decreases for repeated objects in ventral visual cortices depend on allocation of spatial attention to the prime. Subjects performed a size-judgment task on a probe object that had been attended or ignored in a preceding prime display of 2 lateralized objects. Reaction times showed faster responses when the probe was the same object as the attended prime, independent of the view tested (identical vs. mirror image). No behavioral effect was evident from unattended primes. BOLD repetition decreases for attended primes were found in lateral occipital and fusiform regions bilaterally, which generalized across identical and mirror-image repeats. No repetition decreases were observed for ignored primes. Our results suggest a critical role for attention in achieving visual representations of objects that lead to both BOLD signal decreases and behavioral priming on repeated presentation.

  4. Neural Dynamics of Autistic Repetitive Behaviors and Fragile X Syndrome: Basal Ganglia Movement Gating and mGluR-Modulated Adaptively Timed Learning

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    Stephen Grossberg

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available This article develops the iSTART neural model that proposes how specific imbalances in cognitive, emotional, timing, and motor processes that involve brain regions like prefrontal cortex, temporal cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus, hippocampus, and cerebellum may interact together to cause behavioral symptoms of autism. These imbalances include underaroused emotional depression in the amygdala/hypothalamus, learning of hyperspecific recognition categories that help to cause narrowly focused attention in temporal and prefrontal cortices, and breakdowns of adaptively timed motivated attention and motor circuits in the hippocampus and cerebellum. The article expands the model’s explanatory range by, first, explaining recent data about Fragile X syndrome (FXS, mGluR, and trace conditioning; and, second, by explaining distinct causes of stereotyped behaviors in individuals with autism. Some of these stereotyped behaviors, such as an insistence on sameness and circumscribed interests, may result from imbalances in the cognitive and emotional circuits that iSTART models. These behaviors may be ameliorated by operant conditioning methods. Other stereotyped behaviors, such as repetitive motor behaviors, may result from imbalances in how the direct and indirect pathways of the basal ganglia open or close movement gates, respectively. These repetitive behaviors may be ameliorated by drugs that augment D2 dopamine receptor responses or reduce D1 dopamine receptor responses. The article also notes the ubiquitous role of gating by basal ganglia loops in regulating all the functions that iSTART models.

  5. Does Gender Moderate Core Deficits in ASD? An Investigation into Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Girls and Boys with ASD

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrop, Clare; Gulsrud, Amanda; Kasari, Connie

    2015-01-01

    Due to the uneven gender ratio of autism spectrum disorders (ASD), girls are rarely studied independently from boys. Research focusing on restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) indicates that above the age of six girls have fewer and/or different RRBs than boys with ASD. In this study we investigated whether girls and boys with ASD…

  6. Human adipose-derived stem cells ameliorate repetitive behavior, social deficit and anxiety in a VPA-induced autism mouse model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ha, Sungji; Park, Hyunjun; Mahmood, Usman; Ra, Jeong Chan; Suh, Yoo-Hun; Chang, Keun-A

    2017-01-15

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction and communication, and patients often display co-occurring repetitive behaviors. Although the global prevalence of ASD has increased over time, the etiology and treatments for ASD are poorly understood. Recently, some researchers have suggested that stem cells have therapeutic potential for ASD. Thus, in the present study, we investigated the therapeutic effects of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs), a kind of autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from adipose tissue, on valproic acid (VPA)-induced autism model mice. Human ASCs were injected into the neonatal pups (P2 or P3) intraventricularly and then we evaluated major behavior symptoms of ASD. VPA-treated mice showed increased repetitive behaviors, decreased social interactions and increased anxiety but these autistic behaviors were ameliorated through transplantation of hASCs. In addition, hASCs transplantation restored the alteration of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression and p-AKT/AKT ratio in the brains of VPA-induced ASD model mice. The decreased level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) by VPA were rescued in the brains of the hASC-injected VPA mice. With these results, we experimentally found hASCs' therapeutic effects on autistic phenotypes in a ASD model mice for the first time. This animal model system can be used to elucidate further mechanisms of therapeutic effects of hASCs in ASD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Brief Report: The Dopamine-3-Receptor Gene ("DRD3") Is Associated with Specific Repetitive Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Staal, Wouter G.; de Krom, Mariken; de Jonge, Maretha V.

    2012-01-01

    Recently the "DRD3" gene has been associated with ASD in two independent samples. Follow up analysis of the risk allele of the SNP rs167771 in 91 subjects revealed a significant association with a specific type of repetitive behavior: the factor "insistence on sameness" (IS) derived from the Autism Diagnostic Interview. This risk allele was…

  8. Repetitive Stress Injuries

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Repetitive Stress Injuries KidsHealth / For Teens / Repetitive Stress Injuries What's ... t had any problems since. What Are Repetitive Stress Injuries? Repetitive stress injuries (RSIs) are injuries that ...

  9. Short and Long Term Behavioral and Pathological Changes in a Novel Rodent Model of Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

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    Kelly M McAteer

    Full Text Available A history of concussion, particularly repeated injury, has been linked to an increased risk for the development of neurodegenerative diseases, particularly chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE. CTE is characterized by abnormal accumulation of hyperphosphorylated tau and deficits in learning and memory. As yet the mechanisms associated with the development of CTE are unknown. Accordingly, the aim of the current study was to develop and characterize a novel model of repetitive mTBI that accurately reproduces the key short and long-term functional and histopathological features seen clinically. Forty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to receive 0, 1 or 3x mTBI spaced five days apart using a modified version of the Marmarou impact-acceleration diffuse-TBI model to deliver 110G of linear force. Functional outcomes were assessed six and twelve weeks post-injury, with histopathology assessed twenty-four hours and twelve weeks post-injury. Repetitive mTBI resulted in mild spatial and recognition memory deficits as reflected by increased escape latency on the Barnes maze and decreased time spent in the novel arm of the Y maze. There was a trend towards increased anxiety-like behavior, with decreased time spent in the inner portion of the open field. At 24 hours and 12 weeks post injury, repetitive mTBI animals showed increased tau phosphorylation and microglial activation within the cortex. Increases in APP immunoreactivity were observed in repetitive mTBI animals at 12 weeks indicating long-term changes in axonal integrity. This novel model of repetitive mTBI with its persistent cognitive deficits, neuroinflammation, axonal injury and tau hyperphosphorylation, thus represents a clinically relevant experimental approach to further explore the underlying pathogenesis of CTE.

  10. Mice genetically depleted of brain serotonin display social impairments, communication deficits and repetitive behaviors: possible relevance to autism.

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    Michael J Kane

    Full Text Available Autism is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired reciprocal social interaction, communication deficits and repetitive behaviors. A very large number of genes have been linked to autism, many of which encode proteins involved in the development and function of synaptic circuitry. However, the manner in which these mutated genes might participate, either individually or together, to cause autism is not understood. One factor known to exert extremely broad influence on brain development and network formation, and which has been linked to autism, is the neurotransmitter serotonin. Unfortunately, very little is known about how alterations in serotonin neuronal function might contribute to autism. To test the hypothesis that serotonin dysfunction can contribute to the core symptoms of autism, we analyzed mice lacking brain serotonin (via a null mutation in the gene for tryptophan hydroxylase 2 (TPH2 for behaviors that are relevant to this disorder. Mice lacking brain serotonin (TPH2-/- showed substantial deficits in numerous validated tests of social interaction and communication. These mice also display highly repetitive and compulsive behaviors. Newborn TPH2-/- mutant mice show delays in the expression of key developmental milestones and their diminished preference for maternal scents over the scent of an unrelated female is a forerunner of more severe socialization deficits that emerge in weanlings and persist into adulthood. Taken together, these results indicate that a hypo-serotonin condition can lead to behavioral traits that are highly characteristic of autism. Our findings should stimulate new studies that focus on determining how brain hyposerotonemia during critical neurodevelopmental periods can alter the maturation of synaptic circuits known to be mis-wired in autism and how prevention of such deficits might prevent this disorder.

  11. The Risk of Repetition of Attempted Suicide Among Iranian Women with Psychiatric Disorders as Quantified by the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire

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    Jalal Shakeri

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Objectives: The factors associated with repetition of attempted suicide are poorly categorized in the Iranian population. In this study, the prevalence of different psychiatric disorders among women who attempted suicide and the risk of repetition were assessed. Methods: Participants were women admitted to the Poisoning Emergency Hospital, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences following failed suicide attempts. Psychiatric disorders were diagnosed based on the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV symptom checklist. Risk of repetition was evaluated using the Suicide Behaviors Questionnaire-Revised (SBQ-R. Results: About 72% of individuals had a SBQ-R score >8 and were considered to be at high risk for repeated attempted suicide. Adjustment disorders were the most common psychiatric disorders (40.8%. However, the type of psychiatric disorder was not associated with the risk of repetition (p=0.320. Marital status, educational level, employment, substance use, history of suicide among family members, and motivation were not determinant factors for repetition of suicide attempt (p=0.220, 0.880, 0.220, 0.290, 0.350 and 0.270, respectively. Younger women were associated with violent methods of attempted suicide, such as self-cutting, whereas older individuals preferred consumption of poison (p<0.001. Drug overdose was more common among single and married women whereas widows or divorcees preferred self-burning (p=0.004. Conclusion: About 72% of patients with failed suicide attempts were at high risk for repeated attempts. Age, marital status, and type of psychiatric disorder were the only determinants of suicide method. Adjustment disorders were the most common psychiatric disorders among Iranian women. However, this did not predict the risk of further attempts.

  12. Directed PCR-free engineering of highly repetitive DNA sequences

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    Preissler Steffen

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Highly repetitive nucleotide sequences are commonly found in nature e.g. in telomeres, microsatellite DNA, polyadenine (poly(A tails of eukaryotic messenger RNA as well as in several inherited human disorders linked to trinucleotide repeat expansions in the genome. Therefore, studying repetitive sequences is of biological, biotechnological and medical relevance. However, cloning of such repetitive DNA sequences is challenging because specific PCR-based amplification is hampered by the lack of unique primer binding sites resulting in unspecific products. Results For the PCR-free generation of repetitive DNA sequences we used antiparallel oligonucleotides flanked by restriction sites of Type IIS endonucleases. The arrangement of recognition sites allowed for stepwise and seamless elongation of repetitive sequences. This facilitated the assembly of repetitive DNA segments and open reading frames encoding polypeptides with periodic amino acid sequences of any desired length. By this strategy we cloned a series of polyglutamine encoding sequences as well as highly repetitive polyadenine tracts. Such repetitive sequences can be used for diverse biotechnological applications. As an example, the polyglutamine sequences were expressed as His6-SUMO fusion proteins in Escherichia coli cells to study their aggregation behavior in vitro. The His6-SUMO moiety enabled affinity purification of the polyglutamine proteins, increased their solubility, and allowed controlled induction of the aggregation process. We successfully purified the fusions proteins and provide an example for their applicability in filter retardation assays. Conclusion Our seamless cloning strategy is PCR-free and allows the directed and efficient generation of highly repetitive DNA sequences of defined lengths by simple standard cloning procedures.

  13. Reducing Repetitive Speech: Effects of Strategy Instruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dipipi, Caroline M.; Jitendra, Asha K.; Miller, Judith A.

    2001-01-01

    This article describes an intervention with an 18-year-old young woman with mild mental retardation and a seizure disorder, which focused on her repetitive echolalic verbalizations. The intervention included time delay, differential reinforcement of other behaviors, and self-monitoring. Overall, the intervention was successful in facilitating…

  14. The Effects of Gender and Age on Repetitive and/or Restricted Behaviors and Interests in Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Intellectual Disability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hattier, Megan A.; Matson, Johnny L.; Tureck, Kimberly; Horovitz, Max

    2011-01-01

    Frequency of repetitive and/or restricted behaviors and interests (RRBIs) was assessed in 140 adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and severe or profound intellectual disability (ID). The associations of gender and age range were analyzed with RRBI frequency which was obtained using the Stereotypies subscale of the "Diagnostic…

  15. Behavioral responses to a repetitive visual threat stimulus express a persistent state of defensive arousal in Drosophila.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, William T; Gonzalez, Carlos R; Fernandez, Conchi; Ramasamy, Lakshminarayanan; Tabachnik, Tanya; Du, Rebecca R; Felsen, Panna D; Maire, Michael R; Perona, Pietro; Anderson, David J

    2015-06-01

    The neural circuit mechanisms underlying emotion states remain poorly understood. Drosophila offers powerful genetic approaches for dissecting neural circuit function, but whether flies exhibit emotion-like behaviors has not been clear. We recently proposed that model organisms may express internal states displaying "emotion primitives," which are general characteristics common to different emotions, rather than specific anthropomorphic emotions such as "fear" or "anxiety." These emotion primitives include scalability, persistence, valence, and generalization to multiple contexts. Here, we have applied this approach to determine whether flies' defensive responses to moving overhead translational stimuli ("shadows") are purely reflexive or may express underlying emotion states. We describe a new behavioral assay in which flies confined in an enclosed arena are repeatedly exposed to an overhead translational stimulus. Repetitive stimuli promoted graded (scalable) and persistent increases in locomotor velocity and hopping, and occasional freezing. The stimulus also dispersed feeding flies from a food resource, suggesting both negative valence and context generalization. Strikingly, there was a significant delay before the flies returned to the food following stimulus-induced dispersal, suggestive of a slowly decaying internal defensive state. The length of this delay was increased when more stimuli were delivered for initial dispersal. These responses can be mathematically modeled by assuming an internal state that behaves as a leaky integrator of stimulus exposure. Our results suggest that flies' responses to repetitive visual threat stimuli express an internal state exhibiting canonical emotion primitives, possibly analogous to fear in mammals. The mechanistic basis of this state can now be investigated in a genetically tractable insect species. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Recency, repetition, and the multidimensional basis of recognition memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchsbaum, Bradley R; Lemire-Rodger, Sabrina; Bondad, Ashley; Chepesiuk, Alexander

    2015-02-25

    Recency and repetition are two factors that have large effects on human memory performance. One way of viewing the beneficial impact of these variables on recognition memory is to assume that both factors modulate a unidimensional memory trace strength. Although previous functional neuroimaging studies have indicated that recency and repetition may modulate similar brain structures, particularly in the region of the inferior parietal cortex, there is extensive behavioral evidence that human subjects can make independent and accurate recognition memory judgments about both an item's recency and its frequency. In the present study, we used fMRI to examine patterns of brain activity during recognition memory for auditory-verbal stimuli that were parametrically and orthogonally manipulated in terms of recency and number of repetitions. We found in a continuous recognition paradigm that the lateral inferior parietal cortex, a region that has previously been associated with recollective forms of memory, is highly sensitive to recency but not repetition. In a multivariate analysis of whole-brain activation patterns, we found orthogonal components that dissociated recency and repetition variables, indicating largely independent neural bases underlying these two factors. The results demonstrate that although both recency and repetition dramatically improve recognition memory performance, the neural bases for this improvement are dissociable, and thus are difficult to explain in terms of access to a unitary memory trace. Copyright © 2015 the authors 0270-6474/15/353544-11$15.00/0.

  17. Difference in oxygen impurity behavior between repetitive short discharges and one long discharge on TRIAM-1M

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogawa, M.; Sakamoto, M.; Sato, K.N.; Zushi, H.; Nakamura, K.; Hanada, K.; Idei, H.; Hasegawa, M.; Kawasaki, S.; Nakashima, H.; Higashijima, A.

    2007-01-01

    Oxygen impurity behaviors of one long duration discharge and repetition of short duration discharges have been investigated in TRIAM-1M. In the former case, the OII line intensity divided by the line averaged electron density, which is considered as a monitor of oxygen concentration on the plasma facing surface (PFS), decreased with the time constant, τ d , of 30-50 s during the discharge due to the hydrogen flux to PFS. In the latter case, τ d is in the range of 70-600 s. There exists a big difference of global behavior of oxygen impurity between both cases. The difference seems to result from the absence or presence of the interval time between the discharges. The oxygen concentration on PFS increases during the interval time due to adsorption of H 2 O. The time constant of the increase in the oxygen concentration is evaluated to be about 5500 s from Langmuir adsorption isotherms analysis

  18. Repetition and Translation Shifts

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    Simon Zupan

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Repetition manifests itself in different ways and at different levels of the text. The first basic type of repetition involves complete recurrences; in which a particular textual feature repeats in its entirety. The second type involves partial recurrences; in which the second repetition of the same textual feature includes certain modifications to the first occurrence. In the article; repetitive patterns in Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Fall of the House of Usher” and its Slovene translation; “Konec Usherjeve hiše”; are compared. The author examines different kinds of repetitive patterns. Repetitions are compared at both the micro- and macrostructural levels. As detailed analyses have shown; considerable microstructural translation shifts occur in certain types of repetitive patterns. Since these are not only occasional; sporadic phenomena; but are of a relatively high frequency; they reduce the translated text’s potential for achieving some of the gothic effects. The macrostructural textual property particularly affected by these shifts is the narrator’s experience as described by the narrative; which suffers a reduction in intensity.

  19. The effects of poliomyelitis on motor unit behavior during repetitive muscle actions: a case report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trevino, Michael A; Herda, Trent J; Cooper, Michael A

    2014-09-06

    Acute paralytic poliomyelitis is caused by the poliovirus and usually results in muscle atrophy and weakness occurring in the lower limbs. Indwelling electromyography has been used frequently to investigate the denervation and innervation characteristics of the affected muscle. Recently developed technology allows the decomposition of the raw surface electromyography signals into the firing instances of single motor units. There is limited information regarding this electromyographic decomposition in clinical populations. In addition, regardless of electromyographic methods, no study has examined muscle activation parameters during repetitive muscle actions in polio patients. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the motor unit firing rates and electromyographic amplitude and center frequency of the vastus lateralis during 20 repetitive isometric muscle actions at 50% maximal voluntary contraction in healthy subjects and one patient that acquired acute paralytic poliomyelitis. One participant that acquired acute type III spinal poliomyelitis (Caucasian male, age = 29 yrs) at 3 months of age and three healthy participants (Caucasian females, age = 19.7 ± 2.1 yrs) participated in this study. The polio participant reported neuromuscular deficiencies as a result of disease in the hips, knees, buttocks, thighs, and lower legs. None of the healthy participants reported any current or ongoing neuromuscular diseases or musculoskeletal injuries. An acute bout of poliomyelitis altered motor unit behavior, such as, healthy participants displayed greater firing rates than the polio patient. The reduction in motor unit firing rates was likely a fatigue protecting mechanism since denervation via poliomyelitis results in a reduction of motorneurons. In addition, the concurrent changes in motor unit firing rates, electromyography amplitude and frequency for the polio participant would suggest that the entire motorneuron pool was utilized in each contraction unlike

  20. Roles of repetitive sequences

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bell, G.I.

    1991-12-31

    The DNA of higher eukaryotes contains many repetitive sequences. The study of repetitive sequences is important, not only because many have important biological function, but also because they provide information on genome organization, evolution and dynamics. In this paper, I will first discuss some generic effects that repetitive sequences will have upon genome dynamics and evolution. In particular, it will be shown that repetitive sequences foster recombination among, and turnover of, the elements of a genome. I will then consider some examples of repetitive sequences, notably minisatellite sequences and telomere sequences as examples of tandem repeats, without and with respectively known function, and Alu sequences as an example of interspersed repeats. Some other examples will also be considered in less detail.

  1. Sources of Phoneme Errors in Repetition: Perseverative, Neologistic, and Lesion Patterns in Jargon Aphasia

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    Emma Pilkington

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This study examined patterns of neologistic and perseverative errors during word repetition in fluent Jargon aphasia. The principal hypotheses accounting for Jargon production indicate that poor activation of a target stimulus leads to weakly activated target phoneme segments, which are outcompeted at the phonological encoding level. Voxel-lesion symptom mapping studies of word repetition errors suggest a breakdown in the translation from auditory-phonological analysis to motor activation. Behavioral analyses of repetition data were used to analyse the target relatedness (Phonological Overlap Index: POI of neologistic errors and patterns of perseveration in 25 individuals with Jargon aphasia. Lesion-symptom analyses explored the relationship between neurological damage and jargon repetition in a group of 38 aphasia participants. Behavioral results showed that neologisms produced by 23 jargon individuals contained greater degrees of target lexico-phonological information than predicted by chance and that neologistic and perseverative production were closely associated. A significant relationship between jargon production and lesions to temporoparietal regions was identified. Region of interest regression analyses suggested that damage to the posterior superior temporal gyrus and superior temporal sulcus in combination was best predictive of a Jargon aphasia profile. Taken together, these results suggest that poor phonological encoding, secondary to impairment in sensory-motor integration, alongside impairments in self-monitoring result in jargon repetition. Insights for clinical management and future directions are discussed.

  2. A Nonword Repetition Task for Speakers with Misarticulations: The Syllable Repetition Task (SRT)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shriberg, Lawrence D.; Lohmeier, Heather L.; Campbell, Thomas F.; Dollaghan, Christine A.; Green, Jordan R.; Moore, Christopher A.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: Conceptual and methodological confounds occur when non(sense) word repetition tasks are administered to speakers who do not have the target speech sounds in their phonetic inventories or who habitually misarticulate targeted speech sounds. In this article, the authors (a) describe a nonword repetition task, the Syllable Repetition Task…

  3. Repetition suppression and multi-voxel pattern similarity differentially track implicit and explicit visual memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ward, Emily J; Chun, Marvin M; Kuhl, Brice A

    2013-09-11

    Repeated exposure to a visual stimulus is associated with corresponding reductions in neural activity, particularly within visual cortical areas. It has been argued that this phenomenon of repetition suppression is related to increases in processing fluency or implicit memory. However, repetition of a visual stimulus can also be considered in terms of the similarity of the pattern of neural activity elicited at each exposure--a measure that has recently been linked to explicit memory. Despite the popularity of each of these measures, direct comparisons between the two have been limited, and the extent to which they differentially (or similarly) relate to behavioral measures of memory has not been clearly established. In the present study, we compared repetition suppression and pattern similarity as predictors of both implicit and explicit memory. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we scanned 20 participants while they viewed and categorized repeated presentations of scenes. Repetition priming (facilitated categorization across repetitions) was used as a measure of implicit memory, and subsequent scene recognition was used as a measure of explicit memory. We found that repetition priming was predicted by repetition suppression in prefrontal, parietal, and occipitotemporal regions; however, repetition priming was not predicted by pattern similarity. In contrast, subsequent explicit memory was predicted by pattern similarity (across repetitions) in some of the same occipitotemporal regions that exhibited a relationship between priming and repetition suppression; however, explicit memory was not related to repetition suppression. This striking double dissociation indicates that repetition suppression and pattern similarity differentially track implicit and explicit learning.

  4. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Football: A Metaphorical, Symbolic and Ritualistic Community Event

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    James W. Satterfield

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this study was to develop an understanding of the social dynamics surrounding the University of Nebraska-Lincoln football program on the community at large. The following research questions helped guide the research study: 1. What are the sociological effects of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln football on the community? and 2. How is commitment displayed to University of Nebraska football by members of the community? Six focus group interviews were conducted, each with five to seven participants. Through phenomenological analysis, it became clear that the sociological nature of University of Nebraska-Lincoln football is steeped in tradition, and the ritualistic nature that surrounds this phenomenon extends well into communities. This study illuminates three themes that emerged through data collection and analysis: 1. Harvest, 2. United we stand, and 3. Farm values. The Harvest theme represents the similarities of the agricultural lifestyle to a football season and how the entire year is dedicated towards performance. United we stand emerged as a visual, social and emotional sense of pride for the state of Nebraska residents towards the University and Nebraska and its football team. The connection between the university and the state begins early in life and grows as the years pass to become a social symbol of pride and togetherness as small towns shut down to gather and watch football games. Farm values emerged as the final theme and represented the importance of the farming value structure on the many small communities and towns in the state of Nebraska. For many small towns, a great sense of pride was generated when a local athlete was able to play for the University of Nebraska. This pride served as a means of legitimacy and hope in many struggling families that create Nebraska's farming communities. URN: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs110134

  5. Development of Two Dimensional Measures of Restricted and Repetitive Behavior in Parents and Children.

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    Evans, David W; Uljarević, Mirko; Lusk, Laina G; Loth, Eva; Frazier, Thomas

    2017-01-01

    Restricted and repetitive behaviors (RRBs) are a heterogeneous set of behaviors common across a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) and neuropsychiatric disorders (NPDs) that extend well into the general population. This study introduces 2 dimensional measurements of RRBs for use in typical and clinical populations from infancy to adulthood. The Childhood Routines Inventory-Revised (CRI-R) and the Adult Routines Inventory (ARI) were created and administered online to a nationally representative cohort of 3,108 parents with 3,032 children (range 12 months to 17 years 11 months). Twenty-six percent of children and 36% of adults had at least 1 NDD or NPD. Principal axis factoring exploratory analysis showed a 2-factor structure for the 2 instruments (motor behaviors/compulsions and rigidity/insistence on sameness). Analyses for convergent and discriminant validity, internal consistency (Cronbach α ≥ 0.94), and test-retest reliability (r ≥ 0.87) indicated strong psychometric properties. Item response theory analyses indicated strong reliability across the score range for the 2 instruments. RRB rates varied across development, peaking between the preschool and school years. Children with NDDs or NPDs (particularly those with autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia/bipolar disorder, or obsessive-compulsive disorder/tic disorders) had increased RRBs compared with those with no diagnosis. Parent-child (0.69-0.84) and sibling-sibling (0.76-0.87) intraclass correlations indicated high heritability. Children of parents with an NDD or an NPD exhibited more RRBs compared with children of parents without NDDs or NPDs. The CRI-R and ARI are open-source instruments with excellent psychometric properties and will be useful for developmental, clinical, and family genetic studies and for the identification of prodromal conditions involving RRBs. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  6. Haben repetitive DNA-Sequenzen biologische Funktionen?

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    John, Maliyakal E.; Knöchel, Walter

    1983-05-01

    By DNA reassociation kinetics it is known that the eucaryotic genome consists of non-repetitive DNA, middle-repetitive DNA and highly repetitive DNA. Whereas the majority of protein-coding genes is located on non-repetitive DNA, repetitive DNA forms a constitutive part of eucaryotic DNA and its amount in most cases equals or even substantially exceeds that of non-repetitive DNA. During the past years a large body of data on repetitive DNA has accumulated and these have prompted speculations ranging from specific roles in the regulation of gene expression to that of a selfish entity with inconsequential functions. The following article summarizes recent findings on structural, transcriptional and evolutionary aspects and, although by no means being proven, some possible biological functions are discussed.

  7. Complex repetitive behavior: punding after bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease.

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    Pallanti, Stefano; Bernardi, Silvia; Raglione, Laura Maria; Marini, Paolo; Ammannati, Franco; Sorbi, Sandro; Ramat, Silvia

    2010-07-01

    "Punding" is the term used to describe a stereotyped motor behavior characterized by an intense fascination with repetitive purposeless movements, such as taking apart mechanical objects, handling common objects as if they were new and entertaining, constantly picking at oneself, etc. As a phenomenon with both impulsive and compulsive features, the phenomenology of punding is currently being questioned. In order to investigate the pathophysiology of this phenomenon, we screened a population of Parkinson's disease (PD) outpatients who underwent subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS). We conducted a patient-and-relative-completed survey with 24 consecutive patients in an academic outpatient care center, using a modified version of a structured interview. Patients were administered the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), the Obsessive-Compulsive Inventory and the Sheehan Disability Scale. Five (20.8%) of the 24 subjects were identified as punders, including three men (60%) and two women. The punders were comparable to the non-punders in terms of clinical and demographic factors. The punder and non-punder groups only differed statistically with regard to the length of time from DBS implantation. Those findings suggest that punding might be induced by STN DBS, and its rate of occurrence in DBS population seems to be more common than previously suspected. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Repetition and lag effects in movement recognition.

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    Hall, C R; Buckolz, E

    1982-03-01

    Whether repetition and lag improve the recognition of movement patterns was investigated. Recognition memory was tested for one repetition, two-repetitions massed, and two-repetitions distributed with movement patterns at lags of 3, 5, 7, and 13. Recognition performance was examined both immediately afterwards and following a 48 hour delay. Both repetition and lag effects failed to be demonstrated, providing some support for the claim that memory is unaffected by repetition at a constant level of processing (Craik & Lockhart, 1972). There was, as expected, a significant decrease in recognition memory following the retention interval, but this appeared unrelated to repetition or lag.

  9. Prediction of the Maximum Number of Repetitions and Repetitions in Reserve From Barbell Velocity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Ramos, Amador; Torrejón, Alejandro; Feriche, Belén; Morales-Artacho, Antonio J; Pérez-Castilla, Alejandro; Padial, Paulino; Haff, Guy Gregory

    2018-03-01

    To provide 2 general equations to estimate the maximum possible number of repetitions (XRM) from the mean velocity (MV) of the barbell and the MV associated with a given number of repetitions in reserve, as well as to determine the between-sessions reliability of the MV associated with each XRM. After determination of the bench-press 1-repetition maximum (1RM; 1.15 ± 0.21 kg/kg body mass), 21 men (age 23.0 ± 2.7 y, body mass 72.7 ± 8.3 kg, body height 1.77 ± 0.07 m) completed 4 sets of as many repetitions as possible against relative loads of 60%1RM, 70%1RM, 80%1RM, and 90%1RM over 2 separate sessions. The different loads were tested in a randomized order with 10 min of rest between them. All repetitions were performed at the maximum intended velocity. Both the general equation to predict the XRM from the fastest MV of the set (CV = 15.8-18.5%) and the general equation to predict MV associated with a given number of repetitions in reserve (CV = 14.6-28.8%) failed to provide data with acceptable between-subjects variability. However, a strong relationship (median r 2  = .984) and acceptable reliability (CV  .85) were observed between the fastest MV of the set and the XRM when considering individual data. These results indicate that generalized group equations are not acceptable methods for estimating the XRM-MV relationship or the number of repetitions in reserve. When attempting to estimate the XRM-MV relationship, one must use individualized relationships to objectively estimate the exact number of repetitions that can be performed in a training set.

  10. A Framework for Understanding the Emerging Role of Corticolimbic-Ventral Striatal Networks in OCD-Associated Repetitive Behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wood, Jesse; Ahmari, Susanne E

    2015-01-01

    Significant interest in the mechanistic underpinnings of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has fueled research on the neural origins of compulsive behaviors. Converging clinical and preclinical evidence suggests that abnormal repetitive behaviors are driven by dysfunction in cortico-striatal-thalamic-cortical (CSTC) circuits. These findings suggest that compulsive behaviors arise, in part, from aberrant communication between lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and dorsal striatum. An important body of work focused on the role of this network in OCD has been instrumental to progress in the field. Disease models focused primarily on these regions, however, fail to capture an important aspect of the disorder: affective dysregulation. High levels of anxiety are extremely prevalent in OCD, as is comorbidity with major depressive disorder. Furthermore, deficits in processing rewards and abnormalities in processing emotional stimuli are suggestive of aberrant encoding of affective information. Accordingly, OCD can be partially characterized as a disease in which behavioral selection is corrupted by exaggerated or dysregulated emotional states. This suggests that the networks producing OCD symptoms likely expand beyond traditional lateral OFC and dorsal striatum circuit models, and highlights the need to cast a wider net in our investigation of the circuits involved in generating and sustaining OCD symptoms. Here, we address the emerging role of medial OFC, amygdala, and ventral tegmental area projections to the ventral striatum (VS) in OCD pathophysiology. The VS receives strong innervation from these affect and reward processing regions, and is therefore poised to integrate information crucial to the generation of compulsive behaviors. Though it complements functions of dorsal striatum and lateral OFC, this corticolimbic-VS network is less commonly explored as a potential source of the pathology underlying OCD. In this review, we discuss this network's potential role as

  11. If you negate, you may forget: negated repetitions impair memory compared with affirmative repetitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayo, Ruth; Schul, Yaacov; Rosenthal, Meytal

    2014-08-01

    One of the most robust laws of memory is that repeated activation improves memory. Our study shows that the nature of repetition matters. Specifically, although both negated repetition and affirmative repetition improve memory compared with no repetition, negated repetition hinders memory compared with affirmative repetition. After showing participants different entities, we asked them about features of these entities, leading to either "yes" or "no" responses. Our findings show that correctly negating an incorrect feature of an entity elicits an active forgetting effect compared with correctly affirming its true features. For example, after seeing someone drink a glass of white wine, answering "no" to "was it red wine?" may lead one to greater memory loss of the individual drinking wine at all compared with answering "yes" to "was it white wine?" We find this negation-induced forgetting effect in 4 experiments that differ in (a) the meaning given for the negation, (b) the type of stimuli (visual or verbal), and (c) the memory measure (recognition or free recall). We discuss possible underlying mechanisms and offer theoretical and applied implications of the negation-induced forgetting effect in relation to other known inhibition effects. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2014 APA, all rights reserved.

  12. Shal/K(v4 channels are required for maintaining excitability during repetitive firing and normal locomotion in Drosophila.

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    Yong Ping

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Rhythmic behaviors, such as walking and breathing, involve the coordinated activity of central pattern generators in the CNS, sensory feedback from the PNS, to motoneuron output to muscles. Unraveling the intrinsic electrical properties of these cellular components is essential to understanding this coordinated activity. Here, we examine the significance of the transient A-type K(+ current (I(A, encoded by the highly conserved Shal/K(v4 gene, in neuronal firing patterns and repetitive behaviors. While I(A is present in nearly all neurons across species, elimination of I(A has been complicated in mammals because of multiple genes underlying I(A, and/or electrical remodeling that occurs in response to affecting one gene.In Drosophila, the single Shal/K(v4 gene encodes the predominant I(A current in many neuronal cell bodies. Using a transgenically expressed dominant-negative subunit (DNK(v4, we show that I(A is completely eliminated from cell bodies, with no effect on other currents. Most notably, DNK(v4 neurons display multiple defects during prolonged stimuli. DNK(v4 neurons display shortened latency to firing, a lower threshold for repetitive firing, and a progressive decrement in AP amplitude to an adapted state. We record from identified motoneurons and show that Shal/K(v4 channels are similarly required for maintaining excitability during repetitive firing. We then examine larval crawling, and adult climbing and grooming, all behaviors that rely on repetitive firing. We show that all are defective in the absence of Shal/K(v4 function. Further, knock-out of Shal/K(v4 function specifically in motoneurons significantly affects the locomotion behaviors tested.Based on our results, Shal/K(v4 channels regulate the initiation of firing, enable neurons to continuously fire throughout a prolonged stimulus, and also influence firing frequency. This study shows that Shal/K(v4 channels play a key role in repetitively firing neurons during prolonged

  13. Exploration of verbal repetition in people with dementia using an online symptom-tracking tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reeve, Emily; Molin, Pierre; Hui, Amaris; Rockwood, Kenneth

    2017-06-01

    Online tools can be used by people with dementia and their caregivers to self-identify and track troubling symptoms, such as verbal repetition. We aimed to explore verbal repetition behaviors in people with dementia. Participants were recruited via an online resource for people with dementia and their caregivers. Respondents were instructed to complete information about symptoms that are most important to them for tracking over time. In this cross-sectional study, we analyzed data pertaining to individuals with dementia who had at least three symptoms selected for tracking. Of the 3,573 participants who began a user profile, 1,707 fulfilled criteria for analysis. Verbal repetition was identified as a treatment target in 807 respondents (47.3%). Verbal repetition was more frequent in individuals with mild dementia compared to those with moderate and severe dementia (57.2% vs. 36.0% and 39.9%, p < 0.01) and in those with Alzheimer's disease versus other dementias (65.2% vs. 29.7%, p < 0.001). Repetitive questioning was the most frequent type of verbal repetition (90.5% of individuals with verbal repetition). Verbal repetition was most strongly associated with difficulties operating gadgets/appliances (OR 3.65, 95%CI: 2.82-4.72), lack of interest and/or initiative (3.52: 2.84-4.36), misplacing or losing objects (3.25: 2.64-4.01), and lack of attention and/or concentration (2.62: 2.12-3.26). Verbal repetition is a common symptom in people at all stages of dementia but is most commonly targeted for monitoring and treatment effects in its mild stage. Much research is required to further elucidate the underlying mechanisms and the effect of different treatment strategies.

  14. Repetitive Questioning Exasperates Caregivers

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    R. C. Hamdy MD

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Repetitive questioning is due to an impaired episodic memory and is a frequent, often presenting, problem in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (amnestic type. It is due to the patients’ difficulties learning new information, retaining it, and recalling it, and is often aggravated by a poor attention span and easy distractibility. A number of factors may trigger and maintain repetitive questioning. Caregivers should try to identify and address these triggers. In the case discussion presented, it is due to the patient’s concerns about her and her family’s safety triggered by watching a particularly violent movie aired on TV. What went wrong in the patient/caregiver interaction and how it could have been avoided or averted are explored. Also reviewed are the impact of repetitive questioning, the challenges it raises for caregivers, and some effective intervention strategies that may be useful to diffuse the angst that caregivers experience with repetitive questioning.

  15. Computer-Related Repetitive Stress Injuries

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Staying Safe Videos for Educators Search English Español Computer-Related Repetitive Stress Injuries KidsHealth / For Parents / Computer-Related Repetitive Stress Injuries What's in this article? ...

  16. The role of short-term memory impairment in nonword repetition, real word repetition, and nonword decoding: A case study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter, Beate

    2018-01-01

    In a companion study, adults with dyslexia and adults with a probable history of childhood apraxia of speech showed evidence of difficulty with processing sequential information during nonword repetition, multisyllabic real word repetition and nonword decoding. Results suggested that some errors arose in visual encoding during nonword reading, all levels of processing but especially short-term memory storage/retrieval during nonword repetition, and motor planning and programming during complex real word repetition. To further investigate the role of short-term memory, a participant with short-term memory impairment (MI) was recruited. MI was confirmed with poor performance during a sentence repetition and three nonword repetition tasks, all of which have a high short-term memory load, whereas typical performance was observed during tests of reading, spelling, and static verbal knowledge, all with low short-term memory loads. Experimental results show error-free performance during multisyllabic real word repetition but high counts of sequence errors, especially migrations and assimilations, during nonword repetition, supporting short-term memory as a locus of sequential processing deficit during nonword repetition. Results are also consistent with the hypothesis that during complex real word repetition, short-term memory is bypassed as the word is recognized and retrieved from long-term memory prior to producing the word.

  17. Differential preparation intervals modulate repetition processes in task switching: an ERP study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Min eWang

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In task-switching paradigms, reaction times (RTs switch cost (SC and the neural correlates underlying the SC are affected by different preparation intervals. However, little is known about the effect of the preparation interval on the repetition processes in task-switching. To examine this effect we utilized a cued task-switching paradigm with long sequences of repeated trials. Response-stimulus intervals (RSI and cue-stimulus intervals (CSI were manipulated in short and long conditions. Electroencephalography (EEG and behavioral data were recorded. We found that with increasing repetitions, RTs were faster in the short CSI conditions, while P3 amplitudes decreased in the LS (long RSI and short CSI conditions. Positive correlations between RT benefit and P3 activation decrease (repeat 1 minus repeat 5, and between the slope of the RT and P3 regression lines were observed only in the LS condition. Our findings suggest that differential preparation intervals modulate repetition processes in task switching.

  18. Synergy Repetition Training versus Task Repetition Training in Acquiring New Skill.

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    Patel, Vrajeshri; Craig, Jamie; Schumacher, Michelle; Burns, Martin K; Florescu, Ionut; Vinjamuri, Ramana

    2017-01-01

    Traditionally, repetitive practice of a task is used to learn a new skill, exhibiting as immediately improved performance. Research suggests, however, that a more experience-based rather than exposure-based training protocol may allow for better transference of the skill to related tasks. In synergy-based motor control theory, fundamental motor skills, such as hand grasping, are represented with a synergy subspace that captures essential motor patterns. In this study, we propose that motor-skill learning through synergy-based mechanisms may provide advantages over traditional task repetition learning. A new task was designed to highlight the range of motion and dexterity of the human hand. Two separate training strategies were tested in healthy subjects: task repetition training and synergy training versus a control. All three groups showed improvements when retested on the same task. When tested on a similar, but different set of tasks, only the synergy group showed improvements in accuracy (9.27% increase) compared to the repetition (3.24% decline) and control (3.22% decline) groups. A kinematic analysis revealed that although joint angular peak velocities decreased, timing benefits stemmed from the initial feed-forward portion of the task (reaction time). Accuracy improvements may have derived from general improved coordination among the four involved fingers. These preliminary results warrant further investigation of synergy-based motor training in healthy individuals, as well as in individuals undergoing hand-based rehabilitative therapy.

  19. The role of ritualistic ceremonial in removing barriers between subcultures in the National Health Service.

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    Brooks, Ian; Brown, Reva Berman

    2002-05-01

    The role of ritualistic ceremonial in removing barriers between subcultures in the National Health Service Background. One of the ways in which it is possible to achieve successful organizational change is through the elimination of those ceremonies that reinforce or preserve the negative aspects of professional and work group autonomy, thus maintaining the barriers between subcultures. Conversely, the encouraging of ceremonies which reinforce positive aspects is likely to achieve more flexible, team-orientated changes. Aim. The paper considers those ceremonies, which perpetuate barriers in a National Health Service (NHS) Trust, and explores new ceremonies which may question, weaken or eliminate current dysfunctional practices. Design. Our research approach was mainly phenomenological, as we wished to elicit the symbolic significance of organizational routines. The primary source of data was spoken language. The findings are based on purposive sampling of informants by means of semi-structured interview and observation. Other types of information were also collected, including business plans, reports and brochures. Informants included the Chief Executive and four Board members, three consultants, the director of nursing and midwifery, 10 middle managers and eight junior, nonmedical and nonmanagerial employees. Findings. Two broad bands of ceremonies have been identified - those which preserve the existing norms and autonomy of professional and worker groups, which we have named Ceremonies of Preservation, and those which encourage change, which we have called Ceremonies of Change. Considerable data are provided to help to 'tell the story'. Conclusion. The paper argues that attention to ceremonial in the wider change process may facilitate the desired, specific change or changes in practice. It suggests that changes which confront unnecessary demarcation, but which do not undermine professional integrity, can create real benefits for NHS hospitals.

  20. Cognitive and behavioral functioning in Coffin-Siris syndrome and epilepsy: a case presentation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bender, H Allison; Zaroff, Charles M; Karantzoulis, Stella; Nakhutina, Luba; MacAllister, William S; Luciano, Daniel

    2011-01-01

    The authors characterized the cognitive, adaptive, and behavioral sequelae of Coffin-Siris (CS) syndrome and epilepsy in a 7.5-year-old child. Little is known about the early neurobehavioral presentation of CS. Clinical features consistent with this genetic anomaly include underdeveloped tips and nails of the fifth fingers, extended infranasal depression, and craniofacial abnormalities. MRI findings often reveal callosal agenesis. The authors conducted a neuropsychological evaluation and obtained parental ratings of behavioral and adaptive functioning. Attentional abilities were limited. As assessed by the Mullen Scales of Early Learning, receptive language abilities (age equivalent [AE]: 3-3) were relatively stronger than expressive skills (AE: 1-4). Adaptive functioning was low across all domains (Vineland Adaptive Behavior Composite AE: 1-9). On the Behavior Assessment for Children (BASC-2), social skills dysfunction, stereotyped and self-stimulatory behaviors, restricted interests, ritualistic play, and inappropriate object usage were noted. No significant mood disturbances were endorsed. Study findings indicate a diffuse pattern of neurobehavioral deficits in a child with CS and epilepsy. Further clinical assessment and research should include multidimensional assessment techniques, including evaluation of adaptive behavior, in an effort to capture the full range developmental sequelae in children with CS.

  1. The Effects of Delayed Reinforcement on Variability and Repetition of Response Sequences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Odum, Amy L.; Ward, Ryan D.; Burke, K. Anne; Barnes, Christopher A.

    2006-01-01

    Four experiments examined the effects of delays to reinforcement on key peck sequences of pigeons maintained under multiple schedules of contingencies that produced variable or repetitive behavior. In Experiments 1, 2, and 4, in the repeat component only the sequence right-right-left-left earned food, and in the vary component four-response…

  2. Comprehension priming as rational expectation for repetition: Evidence from syntactic processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Myslín, Mark; Levy, Roger

    2016-02-01

    Why do comprehenders process repeated stimuli more rapidly than novel stimuli? We consider an adaptive explanation for why such facilitation may be beneficial: priming is a consequence of expectation for repetition due to rational adaptation to the environment. If occurrences of a stimulus cluster in time, given one occurrence it is rational to expect a second occurrence closely following. Leveraging such knowledge may be particularly useful in online processing of language, where pervasive clustering may help comprehenders negotiate the considerable challenge of continual expectation update at multiple levels of linguistic structure and environmental variability. We test this account in the domain of structural priming in syntax, making use of the sentential complement-direct object (SC-DO) ambiguity. We first show that sentences containing SC continuations cluster in natural language, motivating an expectation for repetition of this structure. Second, we show that comprehenders are indeed sensitive to the syntactic clustering properties of their current environment. In a series of between-groups self-paced reading studies, we find that participants who are exposed to clusters of SC sentences subsequently process repetitions of SC structure more rapidly than participants who are exposed to the same number of SCs spaced in time, and attribute the difference to the learned degree of expectation for repetition. We model this behavior through Bayesian belief update, showing that (the optimal degree of) sensitivity to clustering properties of syntactic structures is indeed learnable through experience. Comprehension priming effects are thus consistent with rational expectation for repetition based on adaptation to the linguistic environment. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Repetitive Questioning II

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    R. C. Hamdy MD

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Repetitive questioning is a major problem for caregivers, particularly taxing if they are unable to recognize and understand the reasons why their loved one keeps asking the same question over and over again. Caregivers may be tempted to believe that the patient does not even try to remember the answer given or is just getting obnoxious. This is incorrect. Repetitive questioning is due to the underlying disease: The patient’s short term memory is impaired and he is unable to register, encode, retain and retrieve the answer. If he is concerned about a particular topic, he will keep asking the same question over and over again. To the patient each time she asks the question, it is as if she asked it for the first time. Just answering repetitive questioning by providing repeatedly the same answer is not sufficient. Caregivers should try to identify the underlying cause for this repetitive questioning. In an earlier case study, the patient was concerned about her and her family’s safety and kept asking whether the doors are locked. In this present case study, the patient does not know how to handle the awkward situation he finds himself in. He just does not know what to do. He is not able to adjust to the new unexpected situation. So he repeatedly wants to reassure himself that he is not intruding by asking the same question over and over again. We discuss how the patient’s son-in-law could have avoided this situation and averted the catastrophic ending.

  4. Emotional response to musical repetition.

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    Livingstone, Steven R; Palmer, Caroline; Schubert, Emery

    2012-06-01

    Two experiments examined the effects of repetition on listeners' emotional response to music. Listeners heard recordings of orchestral music that contained a large section repeated twice. The music had a symmetric phrase structure (same-length phrases) in Experiment 1 and an asymmetric phrase structure (different-length phrases) in Experiment 2, hypothesized to alter the predictability of sensitivity to musical repetition. Continuous measures of arousal and valence were compared across music that contained identical repetition, variation (related), or contrasting (unrelated) structure. Listeners' emotional arousal ratings differed most for contrasting music, moderately for variations, and least for repeating musical segments. A computational model for the detection of repeated musical segments was applied to the listeners' emotional responses. The model detected the locations of phrase boundaries from the emotional responses better than from performed tempo or physical intensity in both experiments. These findings indicate the importance of repetition in listeners' emotional response to music and in the perceptual segmentation of musical structure.

  5. The Effect of Autism Spectrum Disorders on Adaptive Independent Living Skills in Adults with Severe Intellectual Disability

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    Matson, Johnny L.; Dempsey, Timothy; Fodstad, Jill C.

    2009-01-01

    Autism Spectrum Disorders are a class of conditions categorized by communication problems, ritualistic behaviors, and deficits in social behaviors. While evidence supporting a genetic component of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) is strong, no specific genetic marker has been identified. Thus, professionals have had to utilize intelligence tests…

  6. Repetitive learning control of continuous chaotic systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Maoyin; Shang Yun; Zhou Donghua

    2004-01-01

    Combining a shift method and the repetitive learning strategy, a repetitive learning controller is proposed to stabilize unstable periodic orbits (UPOs) within chaotic attractors in the sense of least mean square. If nonlinear parts in chaotic systems satisfy Lipschitz condition, the proposed controller can be simplified into a simple proportional repetitive learning controller

  7. Novel porcine repetitive elements

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    Nonneman Dan J

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Repetitive elements comprise ~45% of mammalian genomes and are increasingly known to impact genomic function by contributing to the genomic architecture, by direct regulation of gene expression and by affecting genomic size, diversity and evolution. The ubiquity and increasingly understood importance of repetitive elements contribute to the need to identify and annotate them. We set out to identify previously uncharacterized repetitive DNA in the porcine genome. Once found, we characterized the prevalence of these repeats in other mammals. Results We discovered 27 repetitive elements in 220 BACs covering 1% of the porcine genome (Comparative Vertebrate Sequencing Initiative; CVSI. These repeats varied in length from 55 to 1059 nucleotides. To estimate copy numbers, we went to an independent source of data, the BAC-end sequences (Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, covering approximately 15% of the porcine genome. Copy numbers in BAC-ends were less than one hundred for 6 repeat elements, between 100 and 1000 for 16 and between 1,000 and 10,000 for 5. Several of the repeat elements were found in the bovine genome and we have identified two with orthologous sites, indicating that these elements were present in their common ancestor. None of the repeat elements were found in primate, rodent or dog genomes. We were unable to identify any of the replication machinery common to active transposable elements in these newly identified repeats. Conclusion The presence of both orthologous and non-orthologous sites indicates that some sites existed prior to speciation and some were generated later. The identification of low to moderate copy number repetitive DNA that is specific to artiodactyls will be critical in the assembly of livestock genomes and studies of comparative genomics.

  8. Document retrieval on repetitive string collections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gagie, Travis; Hartikainen, Aleksi; Karhu, Kalle; Kärkkäinen, Juha; Navarro, Gonzalo; Puglisi, Simon J; Sirén, Jouni

    2017-01-01

    Most of the fastest-growing string collections today are repetitive, that is, most of the constituent documents are similar to many others. As these collections keep growing, a key approach to handling them is to exploit their repetitiveness, which can reduce their space usage by orders of magnitude. We study the problem of indexing repetitive string collections in order to perform efficient document retrieval operations on them. Document retrieval problems are routinely solved by search engines on large natural language collections, but the techniques are less developed on generic string collections. The case of repetitive string collections is even less understood, and there are very few existing solutions. We develop two novel ideas, interleaved LCPs and precomputed document lists , that yield highly compressed indexes solving the problem of document listing (find all the documents where a string appears), top- k document retrieval (find the k documents where a string appears most often), and document counting (count the number of documents where a string appears). We also show that a classical data structure supporting the latter query becomes highly compressible on repetitive data. Finally, we show how the tools we developed can be combined to solve ranked conjunctive and disjunctive multi-term queries under the simple [Formula: see text] model of relevance. We thoroughly evaluate the resulting techniques in various real-life repetitiveness scenarios, and recommend the best choices for each case.

  9. REPETITIVE STRENGTH AMONG STUDENTS OF AGE 14

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Besim Halilaj

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The study involved 82 male students of the primary school “Qamil Ilazi” in Kaçanik-Kosovo.Four movement tests, which test the repetitive strength, were conducted: 1. Pull-up, 2. Sit-Up, 3. Back extension, 4. Push-up.The main goal of this study was to verify the actual motor status, respectively the component of the repetitive strength among students of age 14 of masculine gender. In addition to verifying the actual motor status, another objective was to verify the relationship between the variables employed.Basic statistical parameters show a distribution which is not significantly different from the normal distribution, yielded highly correlative values among the repetitive strength tests. Space factorization resulted in extracting two latent squares defined as repetitive strength of arms factor, and repetitive strength of body factor.

  10. Can we use neurocognition to predict repetition of self-harm, and why might this be clinically useful? A perspective.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angharad Natalie De Cates

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Over 800,000 people die by suicide each year globally, with non-fatal self-harm 20 times more common. With each episode of self-harm, the risks of future self-harm and suicide increase, as well as personal and healthcare costs. Therefore, early delineation of those at high-risk of future self-harm is important. Historically, research has focused on clinical and demographic factors, but risk assessments based on these have low sensitivity to predict repetition. Various neurocognitive factors have been associated with self-harming behavior, but it is less certain if we can use these factors clinically (i as risk markers to predict future self-harm and (ii to become therapeutic targets for interventions.Recent systematic reviews and meta-analyses of behavioral tasks and fMRI studies point to an emerging hypothesis for neurocognition in self-harm: an underactive pre-frontal cortex is unable to respond appropriately to non-emotional stimuli, or inhibit a hyperactive emotionally- / threat-driven limbic system. However, there is almost no imaging data examining repetition of self-harm. Extrapolating from the non-repetition data, there may be several potential neurocognitive targets for interventions to prevent repeat self-harm: cognitive training; pharmacological regimes to promote non-emotional neurocognition; or other techniques, such as repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS. Hence, there is an urgent need for imaging studies examining repetition and to test specific hypotheses. Until we investigate the functional neurocognitive basis underlying repetition of self-harm in a systematic manner using second-generational imaging techniques, we will be unable to inform third-generational imaging and potential future clinical applications.

  11. Selective attention modulates neural substrates of repetition priming and "implicit" visual memory: suppressions and enhancements revealed by FMRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vuilleumier, Patrik; Schwartz, Sophie; Duhoux, Stéphanie; Dolan, Raymond J; Driver, Jon

    2005-08-01

    Attention can enhance processing for relevant information and suppress this for ignored stimuli. However, some residual processing may still arise without attention. Here we presented overlapping outline objects at study, with subjects attending to those in one color but not the other. Attended objects were subsequently recognized on a surprise memory test, whereas there was complete amnesia for ignored items on such direct explicit testing; yet reliable behavioral priming effects were found on indirect testing. Event-related fMRI examined neural responses to previously attended or ignored objects, now shown alone in the same or mirror-reversed orientation as before, intermixed with new items. Repetition-related decreases in fMRI responses for objects previously attended and repeated in the same orientation were found in the right posterior fusiform, lateral occipital, and left inferior frontal cortex. More anterior fusiform regions also showed some repetition decreases for ignored objects, irrespective of orientation. View-specific repetition decreases were found in the striate cortex, particularly for previously attended items. In addition, previously ignored objects produced some fMRI response increases in the bilateral lingual gyri, relative to new objects. Selective attention at exposure can thus produce several distinct long-term effects on processing of stimuli repeated later, with neural response suppression stronger for previously attended objects, and some response enhancement for previously ignored objects, with these effects arising in different brain areas. Although repetition decreases may relate to positive priming phenomena, the repetition increases for ignored objects shown here for the first time might relate to processes that can produce "negative priming" in some behavioral studies. These results reveal quantitative and qualitative differences between neural substrates of long-term repetition effects for attended versus unattended objects.

  12. Incremental learning of perceptual and conceptual representations and the puzzle of neural repetition suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gotts, Stephen J

    2016-08-01

    Incremental learning models of long-term perceptual and conceptual knowledge hold that neural representations are gradually acquired over many individual experiences via Hebbian-like activity-dependent synaptic plasticity across cortical connections of the brain. In such models, variation in task relevance of information, anatomic constraints, and the statistics of sensory inputs and motor outputs lead to qualitative alterations in the nature of representations that are acquired. Here, the proposal that behavioral repetition priming and neural repetition suppression effects are empirical markers of incremental learning in the cortex is discussed, and research results that both support and challenge this position are reviewed. Discussion is focused on a recent fMRI-adaptation study from our laboratory that shows decoupling of experience-dependent changes in neural tuning, priming, and repetition suppression, with representational changes that appear to work counter to the explicit task demands. Finally, critical experiments that may help to clarify and resolve current challenges are outlined.

  13. Repetitive concussions in adolescent athletes – translating clinical and experimental research into perspectives on rehabilitation strategies

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    Bridgette D Semple

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Sports-related concussions are particularly common during adolescence, a time when even mild brain injuries may disrupt ongoing brain maturation and result in long-term complications. A recent focus on the consequences of repetitive concussions amongst professional athletes has prompted the development of several new experimental models in rodents, as well as the revision of guidelines for best management of sports concussions. Here, we consider the utility of rodent models to understand the functional consequences and pathobiology of concussions in the developing brain, identifying the unique behavioral and pathological signatures of concussive brain injuries. The impact of repetitive concussions on behavioral consequences and injury progression is also addressed. In particular, we focus on the epidemiological, clinical and experimental evidence underlying current recommendations for physical and cognitive rest after concussion, and highlight key areas in which further research is needed. Lastly, we consider how best to promote recovery after injury, recognizing that optimally-timed, activity-based rehabilitative strategies may hold promise for the adolescent athlete who has sustained single or repetitive concussions. The purpose of this review is to inform the clinical research community as it strives to develop and optimize evidence-based guidelines for the concussed adolescent, in terms of both acute and long-term management.

  14. Repetitive Concussions in Adolescent Athletes – Translating Clinical and Experimental Research into Perspectives on Rehabilitation Strategies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Semple, Bridgette D.; Lee, Sangmi; Sadjadi, Raha; Fritz, Nora; Carlson, Jaclyn; Griep, Carrie; Ho, Vanessa; Jang, Patrice; Lamb, Annick; Popolizio, Beth; Saini, Sonia; Bazarian, Jeffrey J.; Prins, Mayumi L.; Ferriero, Donna M.; Basso, D. Michele; Noble-Haeusslein, Linda J.

    2015-01-01

    Sports-related concussions are particularly common during adolescence, a time when even mild brain injuries may disrupt ongoing brain maturation and result in long-term complications. A recent focus on the consequences of repetitive concussions among professional athletes has prompted the development of several new experimental models in rodents, as well as the revision of guidelines for best management of sports concussions. Here, we consider the utility of rodent models to understand the functional consequences and pathobiology of concussions in the developing brain, identifying the unique behavioral and pathological signatures of concussive brain injuries. The impact of repetitive concussions on behavioral consequences and injury progression is also addressed. In particular, we focus on the epidemiological, clinical, and experimental evidence underlying current recommendations for physical and cognitive rest after concussion, and highlight key areas in which further research is needed. Lastly, we consider how best to promote recovery after injury, recognizing that optimally timed, activity-based rehabilitative strategies may hold promise for the adolescent athlete who has sustained single or repetitive concussions. The purpose of this review is to inform the clinical research community as it strives to develop and optimize evidence-based guidelines for the concussed adolescent, in terms of both acute and long-term management. PMID:25883586

  15. Repetition and Emotive Communication in Music Versus Speech

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    Elizabeth Hellmuth eMargulis

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Music and speech are often placed alongside one another as comparative cases. Their relative overlaps and disassociations have been well explored (e.g. Patel, 2010. But one key attribute distinguishing these two domains has often been overlooked: the greater preponderance of repetition in music in comparison to speech. Recent fMRI studies have shown that familiarity – achieved through repetition – is a critical component of emotional engagement with music (Pereira et al., 2011. If repetition is fundamental to emotional responses to music, and repetition is a key distinguisher between the domains of music and speech, then close examination of the phenomenon of repetition might help clarify the ways that music elicits emotion differently than speech.

  16. Feature-based motion control for near-repetitive structures

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Best, de J.J.T.H.

    2011-01-01

    In many manufacturing processes, production steps are carried out on repetitive structures which consist of identical features placed in a repetitive pattern. In the production of these repetitive structures one or more consecutive steps are carried out on the features to create the final product.

  17. Grade Repetition and Primary School Dropout in Uganda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabay, Sarah

    2016-01-01

    Research on education in low-income countries rarely focuses on grade repetition. When addressed, repetition is typically presented along with early school dropout as the "wasting" of educational resources. Simplifying grade repetition in this way often fails to recognize significant methodological concerns and also overlooks the unique…

  18. Analogous selection processes in declarative and procedural working memory: N-2 list-repetition and task-repetition costs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gade, Miriam; Souza, Alessandra S; Druey, Michel D; Oberauer, Klaus

    2017-01-01

    Working memory (WM) holds and manipulates representations for ongoing cognition. Oberauer (Psychology of Learning and Motivation, 51, 45-100, 2009) distinguishes between two analogous WM sub-systems: a declarative WM which handles the objects of thought, and a procedural WM which handles the representations of (cognitive) actions. Here, we assessed whether analogous effects are observed when participants switch between memory sets (declarative representations) and when they switch between task sets (procedural representations). One mechanism assumed to facilitate switching in procedural WM is the inhibition of previously used, but currently irrelevant task sets, as indexed by n-2 task-repetition costs (Mayr & Keele, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 129(1), 4-26, 2000). In this study we tested for an analogous effect in declarative WM. We assessed the evidence for n-2 list-repetition costs across eight experiments in which participants switched between memory lists to perform speeded classifications, mental arithmetic, or a local recognition test. N-2 list-repetition costs were obtained consistently in conditions assumed to increase interference between memory lists, and when lists formed chunks in long-term memory. Further analyses across experiments revealed a substantial contribution of episodic memory to n-2 list-repetition costs, thereby questioning the interpretation of n-2 repetition costs as reflecting inhibition. We reanalyzed the data of eight task-switching experiments, and observed that episodic memory also contributes to n-2 task-repetition costs. Taken together, these results show analogous processing principles in declarative and procedural WM, and question the relevance of inhibitory processes for efficient switching between mental sets.

  19. The Golden Ratio of Gait Harmony: Repetitive Proportions of Repetitive Gait Phases

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    Marco Iosa

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available In nature, many physical and biological systems have structures showing harmonic properties. Some of them were found related to the irrational number known as the golden ratio that has important symmetric and harmonic properties. In this study, the spatiotemporal gait parameters of 25 healthy subjects were analyzed using a stereophotogrammetric system with 25 retroreflective markers located on their skin. The proportions of gait phases were compared with , the value of which is about 1.6180. The ratio between the entire gait cycle and stance phase resulted in 1.620 ± 0.058, that between stance and the swing phase was 1.629 ± 0.173, and that between swing and the double support phase was 1.684 ± 0.357. All these ratios did not differ significantly from each other (, , repeated measure analysis of variance or from (, resp., t-tests. The repetitive gait phases of physiological walking were found in turn in repetitive proportions with each other, revealing an intrinsic harmonic structure. Harmony could be the key for facilitating the control of repetitive walking. Harmony is a powerful unifying factor between seemingly disparate fields of nature, including human gait.

  20. Subjective duration distortions mirror neural repetition suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pariyadath, Vani; Eagleman, David M

    2012-01-01

    Subjective duration is strongly influenced by repetition and novelty, such that an oddball stimulus in a stream of repeated stimuli appears to last longer in duration in comparison. We hypothesize that this duration illusion, called the temporal oddball effect, is a result of the difference in expectation between the oddball and the repeated stimuli. Specifically, we conjecture that the repeated stimuli contract in duration as a result of increased predictability; these duration contractions, we suggest, result from decreased neural response amplitude with repetition, known as repetition suppression. Participants viewed trials consisting of lines presented at a particular orientation (standard stimuli) followed by a line presented at a different orientation (oddball stimulus). We found that the size of the oddball effect correlates with the number of repetitions of the standard stimulus as well as the amount of deviance from the oddball stimulus; both of these results are consistent with a repetition suppression hypothesis. Further, we find that the temporal oddball effect is sensitive to experimental context--that is, the size of the oddball effect for a particular experimental trial is influenced by the range of duration distortions seen in preceding trials. Our data suggest that the repetition-related duration contractions causing the oddball effect are a result of neural repetition suppression. More generally, subjective duration may reflect the prediction error associated with a stimulus and, consequently, the efficiency of encoding that stimulus. Additionally, we emphasize that experimental context effects need to be taken into consideration when designing duration-related tasks.

  1. Subjective duration distortions mirror neural repetition suppression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vani Pariyadath

    Full Text Available Subjective duration is strongly influenced by repetition and novelty, such that an oddball stimulus in a stream of repeated stimuli appears to last longer in duration in comparison. We hypothesize that this duration illusion, called the temporal oddball effect, is a result of the difference in expectation between the oddball and the repeated stimuli. Specifically, we conjecture that the repeated stimuli contract in duration as a result of increased predictability; these duration contractions, we suggest, result from decreased neural response amplitude with repetition, known as repetition suppression.Participants viewed trials consisting of lines presented at a particular orientation (standard stimuli followed by a line presented at a different orientation (oddball stimulus. We found that the size of the oddball effect correlates with the number of repetitions of the standard stimulus as well as the amount of deviance from the oddball stimulus; both of these results are consistent with a repetition suppression hypothesis. Further, we find that the temporal oddball effect is sensitive to experimental context--that is, the size of the oddball effect for a particular experimental trial is influenced by the range of duration distortions seen in preceding trials.Our data suggest that the repetition-related duration contractions causing the oddball effect are a result of neural repetition suppression. More generally, subjective duration may reflect the prediction error associated with a stimulus and, consequently, the efficiency of encoding that stimulus. Additionally, we emphasize that experimental context effects need to be taken into consideration when designing duration-related tasks.

  2. The Developmental Trajectory of Nonword Repetition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiat, Shula

    2006-01-01

    In line with the original presentation of nonword repetition as a measure of phonological short-term memory (Gathercole & Baddeley, 1989), the theoretical account Gathercole (2006) puts forward in her Keynote Article focuses on phonological storage as the key capacity common to nonword repetition and vocabulary acquisition. However, evidence that…

  3. Global Repetition Influences Contextual Cueing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zang, Xuelian; Zinchenko, Artyom; Jia, Lina; Li, Hong

    2018-01-01

    Our visual system has a striking ability to improve visual search based on the learning of repeated ambient regularities, an effect named contextual cueing. Whereas most of the previous studies investigated contextual cueing effect with the same number of repeated and non-repeated search displays per block, the current study focused on whether a global repetition frequency formed by different presentation ratios between the repeated and non-repeated configurations influence contextual cueing effect. Specifically, the number of repeated and non-repeated displays presented in each block was manipulated: 12:12, 20:4, 4:20, and 4:4 in Experiments 1–4, respectively. The results revealed a significant contextual cueing effect when the global repetition frequency is high (≥1:1 ratio) in Experiments 1, 2, and 4, given that processing of repeated displays was expedited relative to non-repeated displays. Nevertheless, the contextual cueing effect reduced to a non-significant level when the repetition frequency reduced to 4:20 in Experiment 3. These results suggested that the presentation frequency of repeated relative to the non-repeated displays could influence the strength of contextual cueing. In other words, global repetition statistics could be a crucial factor to mediate contextual cueing effect. PMID:29636716

  4. Imbalance between abstract and concrete repetitive thinking modes in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maurage, Pierre; Philippot, Pierre; Grynberg, Delphine; Leleux, Dominique; Delatte, Benoît; Mangelinckx, Camille; Belge, Jan-Baptist; Constant, Eric

    2017-10-01

    Repetitive thoughts can be divided in two modes: abstract/analytic (decontextualized and dysfunctional) and concrete/experiential (problem-focused and adaptive). They constitute a transdiagnostic process involved in many psychopathological states but have received little attention in schizophrenia, as earlier studies only indexed increased ruminations (related to dysfunctional repetitive thoughts) without jointly exploring both modes. This study explored the two repetitive thinking modes, beyond ruminations, to determine their imbalance in schizophrenia. Thirty stabilized patients with schizophrenia and 30 matched controls completed the Repetitive Response Scale and the Mini Cambridge-Exeter Repetitive Thought Scale, both measuring repetitive thinking modes. Complementary measures related to schizophrenic symptomatology, depression and anxiety were also conducted. Compared to controls, patients with schizophrenia presented an imbalance between repetitive thinking modes, with increased abstract/analytic and reduced concrete/experiential thoughts, even after controlling for comorbidities. Schizophrenia is associated with stronger dysfunctional repetitive thoughts (i.e. abstract thinking) and impaired ability to efficiently use repetitive thinking for current problem-solving (i.e. concrete thinking). This imbalance confirms the double-faced nature of repetitive thinking modes, whose influence on schizophrenia's symptomatology should be further investigated. The present results also claim for evaluating these processes in clinical settings and for rehabilitating the balance between opposite repetitive thinking modes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Repetitive thinking, executive functioning, and depressive mood in the elderly.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Philippot, Pierre; Agrigoroaei, Stefan

    2017-11-01

    Previous findings and the depressive-executive dysfunction hypothesis suggest that the established association between executive functioning and depression is accounted for by repetitive thinking. Investigating the association between executive functioning, repetitive thinking, and depressive mood, the present study empirically tested this mediational model in a sample of older adults, while focusing on both concrete and abstract repetitive thinking. This latter distinction is important given the potential protective role of concrete repetitive thinking, in contrast to the depletive effect of abstract repetitive thinking. A sample of 43 elderly volunteers, between 75 and 95 years of age, completed tests of executive functioning (the Stroop test, the Trail Making test, and the Fluency test), and questionnaires of repetitive thinking and depression. Positive correlations were observed between abstract repetitive thinking and depressive mood, and between concrete repetitive thinking and executive functioning; a negative correlation was observed between depressive mood and executive functioning. Further, mediational analysis evidenced that the relation between executive functioning and depressive mood was mediated by abstract repetitive thinking. The present data provide, for the first time, empirical support to the depressive-executive dysfunction hypothesis: the lack of executive resources would favor a mode of abstract repetitive thinking, which in turn would deplete mood. It suggests that clinical intervention targeting depression in the elderly should take into consideration repetitive thinking modes and the executive resources needed to disengage from rumination.

  6. DC-driven plasma gun: self-oscillatory operation mode of atmospheric-pressure helium plasma jet comprised of repetitive streamer breakdowns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xingxing; Shashurin, Alexey

    2017-02-01

    This paper presents and studies helium atmospheric pressure plasma jet comprised of a series of repetitive streamer breakdowns, which is driven by pure DC high voltage (self-oscillatory behavior). The repetition frequency of the breakdowns is governed by the geometry of discharge electrodes/surroundings and gas flow rate. Each next streamer is initiated when the electric field on the anode tip recovers after the previous breakdown and reaches the breakdown threshold value of about 2.5 kV cm-1. One type of the helium plasma gun designed using this operational principle is demonstrated. The gun operates on about 3 kV DC high voltage and is comprised of the series of the repetitive streamer breakdowns at a frequency of about 13 kHz.

  7. Brief Report: Avoidance Extinction as Treatment for Compulsive and Ritual Behavior in Autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolff, Jason J.; Hupp, Susan C.; Symons, Frank J.

    2013-01-01

    Treatment options for maladaptive repetitive behaviors associated with autism are limited. This is particularly so for ritual and compulsive forms of repetitive behavior, which commonly interfere with adaptive activities and may cause distress to individuals with autism and their families. The present study assessed an avoidance extinction…

  8. Autistic savants. [correction of artistic].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hou, C; Miller, B L; Cummings, J L; Goldberg, M; Mychack, P; Bottino, V; Benson, D F

    2000-01-01

    The objectives of this study were to examine common patterns in the lives and artwork of five artistic savants previously described and to report on the clinical, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging findings from one newly diagnosed artistic savant. The artistic savant syndrome has been recognized for centuries, although its neuroanatomic basis remains a mystery. The cardinal features, strengths, and weaknesses of the work of these six savants were analyzed and compared with those of children with autism in whom artistic talent was absent. An anatomic substrate for these behaviors was considered in the context of newly emerging theories related to paradoxical functional facilitation, visual thinking, and multiple intelligences. The artists had features of "pervasive developmental disorder," including impairment in social interaction and communication as well as restricted repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, interest, and activities. All six demonstrated a strong preference for a single art medium and showed a restricted variation in artistic themes. None understood art theory. Some autistic features contributed to their success, including attention to visual detail, a tendency toward ritualistic compulsive repetition, the ability to focus on one topic at the expense of other interests, and intact memory and visuospatial skills. The artistic savant syndrome remains rare and mysterious in origin. Savants exhibit extraordinary visual talents along with profound linguistic and social impairment. The intense focus on and ability to remember visual detail contributes to the artistic product of the savant. The anatomic substrate for the savant syndrome may involve loss of function in the left temporal lobe with enhanced function of the posterior neocortex.

  9. Lingual Kinematics during Rapid Syllable Repetition in Parkinson's Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Min Ney; Murdoch, Bruce E.; Whelan, Brooke-Mai

    2012-01-01

    Background: Rapid syllable repetition tasks are commonly used in the assessment of motor speech disorders. However, little is known about the articulatory kinematics during rapid syllable repetition in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). Aims: To investigate and compare lingual kinematics during rapid syllable repetition in dysarthric…

  10. Stages and Behaviors

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... Caregiving Middle-Stage Caregiving Late-Stage Caregiving Behaviors Aggression & Anger Anxiety & Agitation Depression Hallucinations Memory Loss & Confusion Repetition Sleep Issues & Sundowning Suspicion & Delusions Wandering Abuse Start Here What You Need to Know Online ...

  11. Negative effects of item repetition on source memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Kyungmi; Yi, Do-Joon; Raye, Carol L; Johnson, Marcia K

    2012-08-01

    In the present study, we explored how item repetition affects source memory for new item-feature associations (picture-location or picture-color). We presented line drawings varying numbers of times in Phase 1. In Phase 2, each drawing was presented once with a critical new feature. In Phase 3, we tested memory for the new source feature of each item from Phase 2. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated and replicated the negative effects of item repetition on incidental source memory. Prior item repetition also had a negative effect on source memory when different source dimensions were used in Phases 1 and 2 (Experiment 3) and when participants were explicitly instructed to learn source information in Phase 2 (Experiments 4 and 5). Importantly, when the order between Phases 1 and 2 was reversed, such that item repetition occurred after the encoding of critical item-source combinations, item repetition no longer affected source memory (Experiment 6). Overall, our findings did not support predictions based on item predifferentiation, within-dimension source interference, or general interference from multiple traces of an item. Rather, the findings were consistent with the idea that prior item repetition reduces attention to subsequent presentations of the item, decreasing the likelihood that critical item-source associations will be encoded.

  12. Ultrafast high-repetition imaging of fuel sprays using picosecond fiber laser.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Purwar, Harsh; Wang, Hongjie; Tang, Mincheng; Idlahcen, Saïd; Rozé, Claude; Blaisot, Jean-Bernard; Godin, Thomas; Hideur, Ammar

    2015-12-28

    Modern diesel injectors operate at very high injection pressures of about 2000 bar resulting in injection velocities as high as 700 m/s near the nozzle outlet. In order to better predict the behavior of the atomization process at such high pressures, high-resolution spray images at high repetition rates must be recorded. However, due to extremely high velocity in the near-nozzle region, high-speed cameras fail to avoid blurring of the structures in the spray images due to their exposure time. Ultrafast imaging featuring ultra-short laser pulses to freeze the motion of the spray appears as an well suited solution to overcome this limitation. However, most commercial high-energy ultrafast sources are limited to a few kHz repetition rates. In the present work, we report the development of a custom-designed picosecond fiber laser generating ∼ 20 ps pulses with an average power of 2.5 W at a repetition rate of 8.2 MHz, suitable for high-speed imaging of high-pressure fuel jets. This fiber source has been proof tested by obtaining backlight images of diesel sprays issued from a single-orifice injector at an injection pressure of 300 bar. We observed a consequent improvement in terms of image resolution compared to standard white-light illumination. In addition, the compactness and stability against perturbations of our fiber laser system makes it particularly suitable for harsh experimental conditions.

  13. Pre-Lexical Disorders in Repetition Conduction Aphasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sidiropoulos, Kyriakos; de Bleser, Ria; Ackermann, Hermann; Preilowski, Bruno

    2008-01-01

    At the level of clinical speech/language evaluation, the repetition type of conduction aphasia is characterized by repetition difficulties concomitant with reduced short-term memory capacities, in the presence of fluent spontaneous speech as well as unimpaired naming and reading abilities. It is still unsettled which dysfunctions of the…

  14. Evidence for the involvement of a nonlexical route in the repetition of familiar words: A comparison of single and dual route models of auditory repetition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanley, J Richard; Dell, Gary S; Kay, Janice; Baron, Rachel

    2004-03-01

    In this paper, we attempt to simulate the picture naming and auditory repetition performance of two patients reported by Hanley, Kay, and Edwards (2002), who were matched for picture naming score but who differed significantly in their ability to repeat familiar words. In Experiment 1, we demonstrate that the model of naming and repetition put forward by Foygel and Dell (2000) is better able to accommodate this pattern of performance than the model put forward by Dell, Schwartz, Martin, Saffran, and Gagnon (1997). Nevertheless, Foygel and Dell's model underpredicted the repetition performance of both patients. In Experiment 2, we attempt to simulate their performance using a new dual route model of repetition in which Foygel and Dell's model is augmented by an additional nonlexical repetition pathway. The new model provided a more accurate fit to the real-word repetition performance of both patients. It is argued that the results provide support for dual route models of auditory repetition.

  15. Modulation of N400 in Chronic Non-Fluent Aphasia Using Low Frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barwood, Caroline H. S.; Murdoch, Bruce E.; Whelan, Brooke-Mai; Lloyd, David; Riek, Stephan; O'Sullivan, John D.; Coulthard, Alan; Wong, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    Low frequency Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) has previously been applied to language homologues in non-fluent populations of persons with aphasia yielding significant improvements in behavioral language function up to 43 months post stimulation. The present study aimed to investigate the electrophysiological correlates…

  16. Relationship between the number of repetitions and selected percentages of one repetition maximum in free weight exercises in trained and untrained men.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shimano, Tomoko; Kraemer, William J; Spiering, Barry A; Volek, Jeff S; Hatfield, Disa L; Silvestre, Ricardo; Vingren, Jakob L; Fragala, Maren S; Maresh, Carl M; Fleck, Steven J; Newton, Robert U; Spreuwenberg, Luuk P B; Häkkinen, Keijo

    2006-11-01

    Resistance exercise intensity is commonly prescribed as a percent of 1 repetition maximum (1RM). However, the relationship between percent 1RM and the number of repetitions allowed remains poorly studied, especially using free weight exercises. The purpose of this study was to determine the maximal number of repetitions that trained (T) and untrained (UT) men can perform during free weight exercises at various percentages of 1RM. Eight T and 8 UT men were tested for 1RM strength. Then, subjects performed 1 set to failure at 60, 80, and 90% of 1RM in the back squat, bench press, and arm curl in a randomized, balanced design. There was a significant (p squat than the bench press or arm curl at 60% 1RM for T and UT. At 80 and 90% 1RM, there were significant differences between the back squat and other exercises; however, differences were much less pronounced. No differences in number of repetitions performed at a given exercise intensity were noted between T and UT (except during bench press at 90% 1RM). In conclusion, the number of repetitions performed at a given percent of 1RM is influenced by the amount of muscle mass used during the exercise, as more repetitions can be performed during the back squat than either the bench press or arm curl. Training status of the individual has a minimal impact on the number of repetitions performed at relative exercise intensity.

  17. Novel object exploration in the C58/J mouse model of autistic-like behavior.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blick, Mikkal G; Puchalski, Breann H; Bolanos, Veronica J; Wolfe, Kaitlin M; Green, Matthew C; Ryan, Bryce C

    2015-04-01

    Mouse models of autistic like behaviors are a valuable tool to use when studying the causes, symptoms, and potential treatments for autism. The inbred C58/J strain is a strain of interest for this model and has previously been shown to possess face validity for some of the core traits of autism, including low social behavior and elevated motor stereotypies. Higher order repetitive behaviors have not been extensively studied in this strain, or in mice in general. In this study, we looked for evidence of higher-order repetitive behaviors in the C58/J strain using a novel object assay. This assay utilized a mouse's natural exploratory behavior among unfamiliar objects to identify potential sequencing patterns in motor activity. The motor stereotypies displayed by the C58/J strain during testing were consistent with past studies. The C58/J strain also displayed a high preference for a single object in the round arena assays and the females demonstrating elevated sequencing patterns in the round arena. Although the C58/J strain did not show pervasive evidence of higher-order repetitive behaviors across all measures, there was evidence of higher order repetitive behaviors in certain situations. This study further demonstrates the potential of the C58/J mouse strains as a model for lower-order and potentially, higher-order repetitive behaviors. This study also demonstrates that the shape of the novel object arena can change the behavior displayed by the test animals. Further studies utilizing the C58/J strain and further validation of the novel object assay are warranted. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Neurogenic Communication Disorders and Paralleling Agraphic Disturbances: Implications for Concerns in Basic Writing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Jarnette, Glenda

    Vertical and lateral integration are two important nervous system integrations that affect the development of oral behaviors. There are three progressions in the vertical integration process for speech nervous system development: R-complex speech (ritualistic, memorized expressions), limbic speech (emotional expressions), and cortical speech…

  19. Understanding work related musculoskeletal pain: does repetitive work cause stress symptoms?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bonde, J. P.; Mikkelsen, S.; Andersen, JH

    2005-01-01

    for development of regional pain in repetitive work, stress symptoms would likely be on the causal path. AIMS: To examine whether objective measures of repetitive monotonous work are related to occurrence and development of stress symptoms. METHODS: In 1994-95, 2033 unskilled workers with continuous repetitive...... Profile Inventory. RESULTS: Repetitive work, task cycle time, and quantified measures of repetitive upper extremity movements including force requirements were not related to occurrence of stress symptoms at baseline or development of stress symptoms during three years of follow up. CONCLUSIONS......: The findings do not indicate that repetitive work is associated with stress symptoms, but small effects cannot be ruled out. Thus the results question the importance of mental stress mechanisms in the causation of regional pain related to repetitive work. However, the findings should be interpreted...

  20. Inverted U-shaped model: How frequent repetition affects perceived risk

    OpenAIRE

    Xi Lu; Xiaofei Xie; Lu Liu

    2015-01-01

    We asked how repeated media reports on technological hazards influence an individual's risk perception. We looked for two contradictory effects, an increasing effect of repetition on perceived risk with the first few repetitions and a decreasing effect with later repetitions, leading to the inverted U-shaped pattern. In an experiment, we demonstrated the inverted U-shaped relationship between the repetition and perceived risk in the context of food risk. The finding broaden...

  1. Exploring the repetition bias in voluntary task switching.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mittelstädt, Victor; Dignath, David; Schmidt-Ott, Magdalena; Kiesel, Andrea

    2018-01-01

    In the voluntary task-switching paradigm, participants are required to randomly select tasks. We reasoned that the consistent finding of a repetition bias (i.e., participants repeat tasks more often than expected by chance) reflects reasonable adaptive task selection behavior to balance the goal of random task selection with the goals to minimize the time and effort for task performance. We conducted two experiments in which participants were provided with variable amount of preview for the non-chosen task stimuli (i.e., potential switch stimuli). We assumed that switch stimuli would initiate some pre-processing resulting in improved performance in switch trials. Results showed that reduced switch costs due to extra-preview in advance of each trial were accompanied by more task switches. This finding is in line with the characteristics of rational adaptive behavior. However, participants were not biased to switch tasks more often than chance despite large switch benefits. We suggest that participants might avoid effortful additional control processes that modulate the effects of preview on task performance and task choice.

  2. Repetitive stress leads to impaired cognitive function that is associated with DNA hypomethylation, reduced BDNF and a dysregulated HPA axis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Makhathini, Khayelihle B; Abboussi, Oualid; Stein, Dan J; Mabandla, Musa V; Daniels, William M U

    2017-08-01

    Exposure to repetitive stress has a negative influence on cognitive-affective functioning, with growing evidence that these effects may be mediated by a dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, abnormal neurotrophic factor levels and its subsequent impact on hippocampal function. However, there are few data about the effect of repetitive stressors on epigenetic changes in the hippocampus. In the present study, we examine how repetitive restrain stress (RRS) affects cognitive-affective functioning, HPA axis regulation, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels, and global hippocampal DNA methylation. RRS was induced in rats by restraining the animals for 6h per day for 28 days. The novel object recognition test (NORT) was used to assess cognitive functioning and the open field test (OFT) was performed to assess anxiety-like behavior during the last week of stress. Hippocampal BDNF levels, glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid (MR) receptor mRNA were assessed using real-time PCR and confirmed with Western blot, while ELISAs were used to determine plasma corticosterone levels and the global methylation status of the hippocampus. Animals exposed to repetitive stress demonstrated significant alterations in the NORT and OFT, had significantly increased plasma corticosterone and significantly decreased hippocampal BDNF concentrations. The expression levels of GR and MR mRNA and protein levels of these genes were significantly decreased in the stressed group compared to control animals. The global DNA methylation of the hippocampal genome of stressed animals was also significantly decreased compared to controls. The data here are consistent with previous work emphasizing the role of the HPA axis and neurotrophic factors in mediating cognitive-affective changes after exposure to repetitive stressors. Our findings, however, extend the literature by indicating that epigenetic alterations in the hippocampal genome may also play an important role in the

  3. Repetitive grooming and sensorimotor abnormalities in an ephrin-A knockout model for Autism Spectrum Disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wurzman, Rachel; Forcelli, Patrick A; Griffey, Christopher J; Kromer, Lawrence F

    2015-02-01

    EphA receptors and ephrin-A ligands play important roles in neural development and synaptic plasticity in brain regions where expression persists into adulthood. Recently, EPHA3 and EPHA7 gene mutations were linked with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) and developmental neurological delays, respectively. Furthermore, deletions of ephrin-A2 or ephrin-A3, which exhibit high binding affinity for EphA3 and EphA7 receptors, are associated with subtle deficits in learning and memory behavior and abnormalities in dendritic spine morphology in the cortex and hippocampus in mice. To better characterize a potential role for these ligands in ASDs, we performed a comprehensive behavioral characterization of anxiety-like, sensorimotor, learning, and social behaviors in ephrin-A2/-A3 double knockout (DKO) mice. The predominant phenotype in DKO mice was repetitive and self-injurious grooming behaviors such as have been associated with corticostriatal circuit abnormalities in other rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Consistent with ASDs specifically, DKO mice exhibited decreased preference for social interaction in the social approach assay, decreased locomotor activity in the open field, increased prepulse inhibition of acoustic startle, and a shift towards self-directed activity (e.g., grooming) in novel environments, such as marble burying. Although there were no gross deficits in cognitive assays, subtle differences in performance on fear conditioning and in the Morris water maze resembled traits observed in other rodent models of ASD. We therefore conclude that ephrin-A2/-A3 DKO mice have utility as a novel ASD model with an emphasis on sensory abnormalities and restricted, repetitive behavioral symptoms. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Translation of Syntactic Repetitions as Formal-Aesthetic Marker in Das Brot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rosyidah

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Translating repetition as a formal-aesthetic marker in a literary text is a hard task and challenge for translators. The topic of this study is translation of syntactic repetition as formal-aesthetic marker in literary text. The problems examined include: (1 the syntactic repetitions in the source text and (2 the strategies to translate these repetitions carried out by the students. This is a case study with a qualitative approach which is aimed to describe the syntactic repetitions as formal aesthetic markers in the German short story Das Brot written by Wolfgang Borchert and to explain the strategies used by Indonesian students to translate the syntactic repetitions. The research data are repetitive sentences gained from the German short story and from the translated versions done by 60 students. The analysis was carried out interactively and sociosemiotically. The results show that there were repetitions at the sentence level including sentence parts, sentences and content repetition in the source text. The strategies used by the students to translate the repetitions of sentence part and sentence were exact preservation and modified preservation with reduction, implicitation and addition of extra words, avoidance with deletion, explicitation, implicitation, nominalization, and synonymy. In the meantime, content repetitions were translated using the strategy of exact preservation and preservation with modification by adding extra words and using role-based terms of address. Thus, the results lead to two new variations of modified preservation, namely preservation by adding extra words and by changing addressing terms and one new variation of avoidance that is explicitation.

  5. Grade Repetition in Queensland State Prep Classes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Robyn

    2012-01-01

    The current study considers grade repetition rates in the early years of schooling in Queensland state schools with specific focus on the pre-schooling year, Prep. In particular, it provides empirical evidence of grade repetition in Queensland state schools along with groups of students who are more often repeated. At the same time, much of the…

  6. RPERT: Repetitive-Projects Evaluation and Review Technique

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Remon Fayek Aziz

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Estimating expected completion probability of any repetitive construction project with a specified/certain duration including repetitive identical activities by using program evaluation and review technique is the most essential part in construction areas since the activities were had optimistic, most likely and pessimistic durations. This paper focuses on the calculation of expected completion probability of any repetitive construction project within a specified/certain duration (contract duration by using Line Of Balance technique (LOB in case of single or multiple number of crews integrated with Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT. Repetitive-Projects Evaluation and Review Technique (RPERT, which is a simplified software, will generate the expected project completion probability of a specified/certain duration (contract duration. RPERT software is designed by java programming code system to provide a number of new and unique capabilities, including: (1 Viewing the expected project completion probability according to a set of specified durations per each identical activity (optimistic time, most likely time, and pessimistic time in the analyzed project; (2 Providing seamless integration with available project time calculations. In order to provide the aforementioned capabilities of RPERT, the system is implemented and developed in four main modules: (1 A user interface module; (2 A database module; (3 A running module; and (4 A processing module. At the end, an illustrative example will be presented to demonstrate and verify the applications of proposed software (RPERT, by using probabilistic calculations for repetitive construction projects.

  7. Incidence of obsessive–compulsive disorder in children with nonmonosymptomatic primary nocturnal enuresis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yousefichaijan, Parsa; Khosrobeigi, Ali; Salehi, Bahman; Taherahmadi, Hassan; Shariatmadari, Fakhreddin; Ghandi, Yazdan; Alinejad, Saeed; Farhadiruzbahani, Fateme

    2016-01-01

    Introduction: Enuresis is defined as the repeated voiding of urine into clothes or bed at least twice a week for at least 3 consecutive months in a child who is at least 5 years of age. The behavior is not due exclusively to the direct physiologic effect of a substance or a general medical condition. Diurnal enuresis defines wetting, whereas awake and nocturnal enuresis refers to voiding during sleep. Primary enuresis occurs in children who have never been consistently dry through the night, whereas secondary enuresis refers the resumption of wetting after at least 6 months of dryness. Monosymptomatic enuresis has no associated daytime symptoms, and nonmonosymptomatic enuresis, which is more common, often has at least one subtle daytime symptom. Monosymptomatic enuresis is rarely associated with significant organic underlying abnormalities. Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disabling illness characterized by repetitive, ritualistic behaviors over which the patients have little or no control. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between OCD and nonmonosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (NMNE). Materials and Methods: In this case–control study, we evaluated 186 children aged 6–17 years old who were visited in the pediatric clinics of Amir Kabir Hospital, Arak, Iran. The control group included 93 healthy children, and the case group included 93 age- and sex-matched children with stage 1–3 chronic kidney disease (CKD). Then, the children's behavioral status was evaluated using the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale. Results: The difference in compulsion was significant (P = 0.021), whereas the difference in obsession was significant between the two groups (P = 0.013). The most common symptom in CKD children with compulsion was silent repetition of words. Conclusion: Compulsive and obsessive are more common in NMNE versus healthy children. The observed correlation between compulsive-obsessive and NMNE makes

  8. Incidence of obsessive-compulsive disorder in children with nonmonosymptomatic primary nocturnal enuresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yousefichaijan, Parsa; Khosrobeigi, Ali; Salehi, Bahman; Taherahmadi, Hassan; Shariatmadari, Fakhreddin; Ghandi, Yazdan; Alinejad, Saeed; Farhadiruzbahani, Fateme

    2016-01-01

    Enuresis is defined as the repeated voiding of urine into clothes or bed at least twice a week for at least 3 consecutive months in a child who is at least 5 years of age. The behavior is not due exclusively to the direct physiologic effect of a substance or a general medical condition. Diurnal enuresis defines wetting, whereas awake and nocturnal enuresis refers to voiding during sleep. Primary enuresis occurs in children who have never been consistently dry through the night, whereas secondary enuresis refers the resumption of wetting after at least 6 months of dryness. Monosymptomatic enuresis has no associated daytime symptoms, and nonmonosymptomatic enuresis, which is more common, often has at least one subtle daytime symptom. Monosymptomatic enuresis is rarely associated with significant organic underlying abnormalities. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a chronic disabling illness characterized by repetitive, ritualistic behaviors over which the patients have little or no control. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between OCD and nonmonosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (NMNE). In this case-control study, we evaluated 186 children aged 6-17 years old who were visited in the pediatric clinics of Amir Kabir Hospital, Arak, Iran. The control group included 93 healthy children, and the case group included 93 age- and sex-matched children with stage 1-3 chronic kidney disease (CKD). Then, the children's behavioral status was evaluated using the Children's Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale. The difference in compulsion was significant ( P = 0.021), whereas the difference in obsession was significant between the two groups ( P = 0.013). The most common symptom in CKD children with compulsion was silent repetition of words. Compulsive and obsessive are more common in NMNE versus healthy children. The observed correlation between compulsive-obsessive and NMNE makes psychological counseling mandatory in children with NMNE.

  9. Differential diagnosis between obsessive compulsive disorder and restrictive and repetitive behavioural patterns, activities and interests in autism spectrum disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paula-Pérez, Isabel

    2013-01-01

    The obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and the restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior, interests and activities inherent to autism spectrum disorders (ASD) share a number of features that can make the differential diagnosis between them extremely difficult and lead to erroneous overdiagnosis of OCD in people with autism. In both cases there may appear to have a fixation on routine, ritualized patterns of verbal and nonverbal behavior, resistance to change, and highly restrictive interests, which becomes a real challenge for differentiating rituals, stereotypes and adherence to routines in ASD from obsessions and compulsions in OCD. This article provides key points to clarify this differential diagnosis through the analysis of emotional valence, content, function and psychological theories that explain the obsessions and compulsions in OCD, and the desire for sameness, stereotyped movements and limited interest in autism. The terms "obsession" and "compulsion" should no longer be used when referring to patterns of behavior, interests or restricted and repetitive activities in autism due to syntonic characteristics, low perception of personal responsibility and low neutralizing efforts. Treatment focuses on changing the environment, the use of socio-communicative compensatory strategies and behavioral modification techniques to improve cognitive and behavioral flexibility. When there is comorbidity between, exposure behavioral and response prevention techniques are then used, followed by others of more cognitive orientation if necessary. Copyright © 2012 SEP y SEPB. Published by Elsevier Espana. All rights reserved.

  10. Understanding work related musculoskeletal pain: does repetitive work cause stress symptoms?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bonde, J P; Mikkelsen, S; Andersen, J H; Fallentin, N; Baelum, J; Svendsen, S W; Thomsen, J F; Frost, P; Kaergaard, A

    2005-01-01

    Pain in the neck and upper extremity is reported with high frequency in repetitive work. Mechanical overload of soft tissues seems a plausible mechanism, but psychological factors have received considerable attention during the past decade. If psychological factors are important for development of regional pain in repetitive work, stress symptoms would likely be on the causal path. To examine whether objective measures of repetitive monotonous work are related to occurrence and development of stress symptoms. In 1994-95, 2033 unskilled workers with continuous repetitive work and 813 workers with varied work were enrolled. Measures of repetitiveness and force requirements were quantified using video observations to obtain individual exposure estimates. Stress symptoms were recorded at baseline and after approximately one, two, and three years by the Setterlind Stress Profile Inventory. Repetitive work, task cycle time, and quantified measures of repetitive upper extremity movements including force requirements were not related to occurrence of stress symptoms at baseline or development of stress symptoms during three years of follow up. The findings do not indicate that repetitive work is associated with stress symptoms, but small effects cannot be ruled out. Thus the results question the importance of mental stress mechanisms in the causation of regional pain related to repetitive work. However, the findings should be interpreted with caution because the stress inventory has not been validated against a gold standard.

  11. Switching between global and local levels: the level repetition effect and its hemispheric asymmetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kéïta, Luc; Bedoin, Nathalie; Burack, Jacob A.; Lepore, Franco

    2014-01-01

    The global level of hierarchical stimuli (Navon’s stimuli) is typically processed quicker and better than the local level; further differential hemispheric dominance is described for local (left hemisphere, LH) and global (right hemisphere, RH) processing. However, neuroimaging and behavioral data indicate that stimulus category (letter or object) could modulate the hemispheric asymmetry for the local level processing. Besides, when the targets are unpredictably displayed at the global or local level, the participant has to switch between levels, and the magnitude of the switch cost increases with the number of repeated-level trials preceding the switch. The hemispheric asymmetries associated with level switching is an unresolved issue. LH areas may be involved in carrying over the target level information in case of level repetition. These areas may also largely participate in the processing of level-changed trials. Here we hypothesized that RH areas underly the inhibitory mechanism performed on the irrelevant level, as one of the components of the level switching process. In an experiment using a within-subject design, hierarchical stimuli were briefly presented either to the right or to the left visual field. 32 adults were instructed to identify the target at the global or local level. We assessed a possible RH dominance for the non-target level inhibition by varying the attentional demands through the manipulation of level repetitions (two or gour repeated-level trials before the switch). The behavioral data confirmed a LH specialization only for the local level processing of letter-based stimuli, and detrimental effect of increased level repetitions before a switch. Further, data provides evidence for a RH advantage in inhibiting the non-target level. Taken together, the data supports the notion of the existence of multiple mechanisms underlying level-switch effects. PMID:24723903

  12. Systematic observation of play behavior in autistic children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Black, M; Freeman, B J; Montgomery, J

    1975-12-01

    The play behavior, defined as interaction with peers and objects, of five autistic children was systematically observed in four environments, i.e., a stark environment, a theraplay unit, a playroom, and an outside play deck. The preliminary results suggested that (1) with some children environment has little or no effect on their play behavior; (2) with multiple objects, autistic children frequently related to the objects rather than to their peers; (3) object play was most frequently at the manipulative stage and often included repetitive and negative behavior; (4) within a confined space with no objects present, autistic children frequently engaged in solitary repetitive behavior; and (5) within a confined space designed to facilitate a movement flow (theraplay), autistic children modeled and imitated and were involved in gross motor play together.

  13. Repetitive exposure: Brain and reflex measures of emotion and attention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrari, Vera; Bradley, Margaret M.; Codispoti, Maurizio; Lang, Peter J.

    2010-01-01

    Effects of massed repetition on the modulation of the late positive potential elicited during affective picture viewing were investigated in two experiments. Despite a difference in the number of repetitions across studies (from 5 to 30), results were quite similar: the late positive potential continued to be enhanced when viewing emotional, compared to neutral, pictures. On the other hand, massed repetition did prompt a reduction in the late positive potential that was most pronounced for emotional pictures. Startle probe P3 amplitude generally increased with repetition, suggesting diminished attention allocation to repeated pictures. The blink reflex, however, continued to be modulated by hedonic valence, despite massive massed repetition. Taken together, the data suggest that the amplitude of the late positive potential during picture viewing reflects both motivational significance and attention allocation. PMID:20701711

  14. Is perfectionism associated with academic burnout through repetitive negative thinking?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garratt-Reed, David; Howell, Joel; Hayes, Lana; Boyes, Mark

    2018-01-01

    Academic burnout is prevalent among university students, although understanding of what predicts burnout is limited. This study aimed to test the direct and indirect relationship between two dimensions of perfectionism (Perfectionistic Concerns and Perfectionistic Strivings) and the three elements of Academic Burnout (Exhaustion, Inadequacy, and Cynicism) through Repetitive Negative Thinking. In a cross-sectional survey, undergraduate students ( n  = 126, M age = 23.64, 79% female) completed well-validated measures of Perfectionism, Repetitive Negative Thinking, and Academic Burnout. Perfectionistic Concerns was directly associated with all elements of burnout, as well as indirectly associated with Exhaustion and Cynicism via Repetitive Negative Thinking. Perfectionistic Strivings was directly associated with less Inadequacy and Cynicism; however, there were no indirect associations between Perfectionistic Strivings and Academic Burnout operating through Repetitive Negative Thinking. Repetitive Negative Thinking was also directly related to more burnout Exhaustion and Inadequacy, but not Cynicism. It is concluded that future research should investigate whether interventions targeting Perfectionistic Concerns and Repetitive Negative Thinking can reduce Academic Burnout in university students.

  15. Language and motor abilities of preschool children who stutter: Evidence from behavioral and kinematic indices of nonword repetition performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Anne; Goffman, Lisa; Sasisekaran, Jayanthi; Weber-Fox, Christine

    2012-01-01

    Stuttering is a disorder of speech production that typically arises in the preschool years, and many accounts of its onset and development implicate language and motor processes as critical underlying factors. There have, however, been very few studies of speech motor control processes in preschool children who stutter. Hearing novel nonwords and reproducing them engages multiple neural networks, including those involved in phonological analysis and storage and speech motor programming and execution. We used this task to explore speech motor and language abilities of 31 children aged 4–5 years who were diagnosed as stuttering. We also used sensitive and specific standardized tests of speech and language abilities to determine which of the children who stutter had concomitant language and/or phonological disorders. Approximately half of our sample of stuttering children had language and/or phonological disorders. As previous investigations would suggest, the stuttering children with concomitant language or speech sound disorders produced significantly more errors on the nonword repetition task compared to typically developing children. In contrast, the children who were diagnosed as stuttering, but who had normal speech sound and language abilities, performed the nonword repetition task with equal accuracy compared to their normally fluent peers. Analyses of interarticulator motions during accurate and fluent productions of the nonwords revealed that the children who stutter (without concomitant disorders) showed higher variability in oral motor coordination indices. These results provide new evidence that preschool children diagnosed as stuttering lag their typically developing peers in maturation of speech motor control processes. Educational objectives The reader will be able to: (a) discuss why performance on nonword repetition tasks has been investigated in children who stutter; (b) discuss why children who stutter in the current study had a higher incidence

  16. Repetition code of 15 qubits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wootton, James R.; Loss, Daniel

    2018-05-01

    The repetition code is an important primitive for the techniques of quantum error correction. Here we implement repetition codes of at most 15 qubits on the 16 qubit ibmqx3 device. Each experiment is run for a single round of syndrome measurements, achieved using the standard quantum technique of using ancilla qubits and controlled operations. The size of the final syndrome is small enough to allow for lookup table decoding using experimentally obtained data. The results show strong evidence that the logical error rate decays exponentially with code distance, as is expected and required for the development of fault-tolerant quantum computers. The results also give insight into the nature of noise in the device.

  17. Tactile defensiveness and stereotyped behaviors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baranek, G T; Foster, L G; Berkson, G

    1997-02-01

    This study explores the constructs of stereotyped behaviors (e.g., repetitive motor patterns, object manipulations, behavioral rigidities) and tactile defensiveness as relevant to occupational therapy theory and practice and attempts to test their purported relationships in children with developmental disabilities. Twenty-eight children with developmental disabilities and autism were assessed on eight factors of stereotyped behavior via a questionnaire and by four measures of tactile defensiveness. The subjects' scores from the questionnaire were correlated with their scores on the tactile defensiveness measures to see what, if any, relationship among these behaviors exists. Significant relationships emerged from the data, indicating that subjects with higher levels of tactile defensiveness were also more likely to evidence rigid or inflexible behaviors, repetitive verbalizations, visual stereotypes, and abnormal focused affections that are often associated with autism. No significant association was found between motor and object stereotypes and tactile defensiveness. These relationships could not be explained solely by maturational factors. The results suggest that clinicians should include observations of stereotyped behaviors, particularly behavioral rigidities, in conjunction with assessments of sensory defensiveness because these are related phenomena that may pose unique challenges for children with developmental disabilities and autism. Further study is needed to determine the causal mechanisms responsible for these relationships.

  18. Terahertz repetition frequencies from harmonic mode-locked monolithic compound-cavity laser diodes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yanson, D. A.; Street, M. W.; McDougall, S. D.; Thayne, I. G.; Marsh, J. H.; Avrutin, E. A.

    2001-01-01

    Compound-cavity laser diodes are mode locked at a harmonic of the fundamental round-trip frequency to achieve repetition rates of up to 2.1 THz. The devices are fabricated from GaAs/AlGaAs material at a wavelength of 860 nm and incorporate two gain sections with an etched slot reflector between them, and a saturable absorber section. Autocorrelation studies are used to investigate device behavior for different reflector types and reflectivity. These lasers may find applications in terahertz imaging, medicine, ultrafast optical links, and atmospheric sensing. [copyright] 2001 American Institute of Physics

  19. Nanosecond radar system based on repetitive pulsed relativistic BWO

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bunkin, B.V.; Gaponov-Grekhov, A.V.; Eltchaninov, A.S.; Zagulov, F.Ya.; Korovin, S.D.; Mesyats, G.A.; Osipov, M.L.; Otlivantchik, E.A.; Petelin, M.I.; Prokhorov, A.M.

    1993-01-01

    The paper presents the results of studies of a nanosecond radar system based on repetitive pulsed relativistic BWO. A pulsed power repetitive accelerator producing electron beams of electron energy 500-700 keV and current 5 kA in pulses of duraction 10 ns with a repetition rate of 100 pps is described. The results of experiments with a high-voltage gas-filled spark gap and a cold-cathode vacuum diode under the conditions of high repetition rates are given. Also presented are the results of studies of a relativistic BWO operating with a wavelength of 3 cm. It is shown that for a high-current beam electron energy of 500-700 keV, the BWO efficiency can reach 35%, the microwave power being 10 9 W. A superconducting solenoid creating a magnetic field of 30 kOe was used for the formation and transportation of the high-current electron beam. In conclusion, the outcome of tests of a nanosecond radar station based on a pulsed power repetitive accelerator and a relativistic BWO is reported

  20. Electrical strength of vacuum gap at repetitive breakdown

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dubinin, N.P.; Chistyakov, N.P.

    1983-01-01

    The investigation of repetitive pulse breakdown of vacuum space, which electrodes have been subjected to various treatment in vacuum and inert gas, is carried out. In case of electrode warm-up in vacuum up to 400 deg C as well as electronic heating up to 900 deg C the voltage in case of repetitive breakdown hasncreased approximately twice and in case of a through treatment, which is accomplished by a high-current glow discharge in inert gas, the maximum high voltage in case of the first breakdown at repetitive breakdown has decreased by 30...40%, remaining 2-3 times higher than in the first case

  1. High energy high repetition-rate thin-disk amplifier for OPCPA pumping

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schulz, Michael

    2013-08-15

    The development of a pump laser system for a high power and high repetition rate optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is presented in this thesis. The OPCPA system requires pump pulse energies in the range of tens of millijoules at high repetition rates with sub-picosecond pulse durations. This can be achieved to some extend with Innoslab amplifier technology. However, scaling to higher pulse energies at high repetition rates may be problematic. With the thin-disk amplifier presented in this thesis, output energies of 140 mJ at 100 kHz repetition rate could be achieved in burst-mode operation, which is a world record for this type of laser amplifier. Due to its material and spectral properties, ytterbium doped YAG (Yb:YAG) is used as a gain medium for the high power amplifier stages. The low quantum defect and the comparatively large emission bandwidth makes this material the choice for high power operation and sub-picosecond compressed pulse durations. The output beam profile as well as the shape of the output bursts is ideal to pump an OPCPA system. An OPCPA output energy in the millijoule range with repetition rates of 100 kHz to 1 MHz is needed to generate seed pulses for the FEL and for the application as pump-probe laser at the FEL facility. Since the development of this laser system needs to meet requirements set by the Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg (FLASH), the amplifier is conceived for burst-mode operation. The main requirement is a high intra-burst pulse repetition rate of more than 100 kHz and a uniform pulse train (burst) with equal properties for every pulse. The burst-mode is an operation mode where the laser never reaches a lasing equilibrium, which means that the behavior of the amplifier is similar to a switch-on of the laser system for every burst. This makes the development of the amplifier system difficult. Therefore, an analytical model has been developed to study the amplification process during the burst. This includes the

  2. High energy high repetition-rate thin-disk amplifier for OPCPA pumping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schulz, Michael

    2013-08-01

    The development of a pump laser system for a high power and high repetition rate optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is presented in this thesis. The OPCPA system requires pump pulse energies in the range of tens of millijoules at high repetition rates with sub-picosecond pulse durations. This can be achieved to some extend with Innoslab amplifier technology. However, scaling to higher pulse energies at high repetition rates may be problematic. With the thin-disk amplifier presented in this thesis, output energies of 140 mJ at 100 kHz repetition rate could be achieved in burst-mode operation, which is a world record for this type of laser amplifier. Due to its material and spectral properties, ytterbium doped YAG (Yb:YAG) is used as a gain medium for the high power amplifier stages. The low quantum defect and the comparatively large emission bandwidth makes this material the choice for high power operation and sub-picosecond compressed pulse durations. The output beam profile as well as the shape of the output bursts is ideal to pump an OPCPA system. An OPCPA output energy in the millijoule range with repetition rates of 100 kHz to 1 MHz is needed to generate seed pulses for the FEL and for the application as pump-probe laser at the FEL facility. Since the development of this laser system needs to meet requirements set by the Free-Electron Laser in Hamburg (FLASH), the amplifier is conceived for burst-mode operation. The main requirement is a high intra-burst pulse repetition rate of more than 100 kHz and a uniform pulse train (burst) with equal properties for every pulse. The burst-mode is an operation mode where the laser never reaches a lasing equilibrium, which means that the behavior of the amplifier is similar to a switch-on of the laser system for every burst. This makes the development of the amplifier system difficult. Therefore, an analytical model has been developed to study the amplification process during the burst. This includes the

  3. Word and nonword repetition in patients with Schizophrenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alireza Farnam

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The assessment of the verbal repetition is important in the study of acquired language disorders and neuropsychology. It is helpful in differential diagnosis of aphasia subtypes, auditory breakdowns, and working memory (WM performance. Though different linguistic disorders have been identified in patients with schizophrenia, very little is known about their verbal repetition ability. Methods: The present study was conducted in the inpatient ward of Razi Psychiatric Hospital, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during the year 2013. Participants were: 30 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia during the maintenance phase of treatment and 30 healthy people as control group. They were asked to repeat 15 words and 15 nonwords immediately. The stimuli were 1, 2, and 3 syllabic in Turkish language. Any incorrect repetition scored 1 and correct repetitions scored 0. Lexicalization errors were compared between groups too. Results: Both groups repeated words better than nonwords. Patients showed lower ability to repeat nonwords than controls, especially in 3 syllabics. There was no significant difference in the repetition of words between groups though it was better in controls. Patients with schizophrenia made more errors in both words and nonwords and lexicalization errors were twice more. Conclusion: Lower ability to repeat nonwords (than words in patients with schizophrenia may show the involvement of phonological loop of WM. More lexicalization errors may take place because of dis-inhibition.

  4. cGMP-dependent protein kinase type II knockout mice exhibit working memory impairments, decreased repetitive behavior, and increased anxiety-like traits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wincott, Charlotte M; Abera, Sinedu; Vunck, Sarah A; Tirko, Natasha; Choi, Yoon; Titcombe, Roseann F; Antoine, Shannon O; Tukey, David S; DeVito, Loren M; Hofmann, Franz; Hoeffer, Charles A; Ziff, Edward B

    2014-10-01

    Neuronal activity regulates AMPA receptor trafficking, a process that mediates changes in synaptic strength, a key component of learning and memory. This form of plasticity may be induced by stimulation of the NMDA receptor which, among its activities, increases cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) through the nitric oxide synthase pathway. cGMP-dependent protein kinase type II (cGKII) is ultimately activated via this mechanism and AMPA receptor subunit GluA1 is phosphorylated at serine 845. This phosphorylation contributes to the delivery of GluA1 to the synapse, a step that increases synaptic strength. Previous studies have shown that cGKII-deficient mice display striking spatial learning deficits in the Morris Water Maze compared to wild-type littermates as well as lowered GluA1 phosphorylation in the postsynaptic density of the prefrontal cortex (Serulle et al., 2007; Wincott et al., 2013). In the current study, we show that cGKII knockout mice exhibit impaired working memory as determined using the prefrontal cortex-dependent Radial Arm Maze (RAM). Additionally, we report reduced repetitive behavior in the Marble Burying task (MB), and heightened anxiety-like traits in the Novelty Suppressed Feeding Test (NSFT). These data suggest that cGKII may play a role in the integration of information that conveys both anxiety-provoking stimuli as well as the spatial and environmental cues that facilitate functional memory processes and appropriate behavioral response. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  5. Two discharge modes of a repetitive nanosecond pulsed helium glow discharge under sub-atmospheric pressure in the repetition frequency range of 20 to 600 kHz

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikuchi, Yusuke; Maegawa, Takuya; Otsubo, Akira; Nishimura, Yoshimi; Nagata, Masayoshi; Yatsuzuka, Mitsuyasu

    2018-05-01

    Two discharge modes, α and γ, of a repetitive nanosecond pulsed helium glow discharge at a gas pressure of 10 kPa in the repetition frequency range from 20 to 600 kHz are reported for the first time. The pulsed glow discharge is produced in a pair of parallel plate metal electrodes without insertion of dielectrics. The α mode discharge is volumetrically produced in the electrode gap at a low-repetition frequency, whereas the γ mode discharge is localized at the cathode surface at a high-repetition frequency. At high-repetition frequency, the time interval between voltage pulses is shorter than the lifetime of the afterglow produced by the preceding discharge. Then, the γ mode discharge is maintained by a large number of secondary electrons emitted from the cathode exposed to high-density ions and metastable helium atoms in the afterglow. In the α mode discharge with a low-repetition frequency operation, primary electrons due to gas ionization dominate the ionization process. Thus, a large discharge voltage is needed for the excitation of the α mode discharge. It is established that the bifurcation of α-γ discharge mode, accompanied by a decrease in the discharge voltage, occurs at the high-repetition frequency of ∼120 kHz.

  6. Repetition of Attempted Suicide Among Immigrants in Europe

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lipsicas, Cendrine Bursztein; Mäkinen, Ilkka Henrik; Wasserman, Danuta; Apter, Alan; Kerkhof, Ad; Michel, Konrad; Renberg, Ellinor Salander; van Heeringen, Kees; Värnik, Airi; Schmidtke, Armin

    2014-01-01

    Objectives To compare frequencies of suicide attempt repetition in immigrants and local European populations, and the timing of repetition in these groups. Method: Data from 7 European countries, comprising 10 574 local and 3032 immigrant subjects, were taken from the World Health Organization European Multicentre Study on Suicidal Behaviour and the ensuing Monitoring Suicidal Behaviour in Europe (commonly referred to as MONSUE) project. The relation between immigrant status and repetition of suicide attempt within 12-months following first registered attempt was analyzed with binary logistic regression, controlling for sex, age, and method of attempt. Timing of repetition was controlled for sex, age, and the recommended type of aftercare. Results: Lower odds of repeating a suicide attempt were found in Eastern European (OR 0.50; 95% CI 0.41 to 0.61, P Europe stands in contrast to their markedly higher tendency to attempt suicide in general, possibly pointing to situational stress factors related to their suicidal crisis that are less persistent over time. Our findings also raise the possibility that suicide attempters and repeaters constitute only partially overlapping populations. PMID:25565687

  7. The development of interactive multimedia based on auditory, intellectually, repetition in repetition algorithm learning to increase learning outcome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munir; Sutarno, H.; Aisyah, N. S.

    2018-05-01

    This research aims to find out how the development of interactive multimedia based on auditory, intellectually, and repetition can improve student learning outcomes. This interactive multimedia is developed through 5 stages. Analysis stages include the study of literature, questionnaire, interviews and observations. The design phase is done by the database design, flowchart, storyboards and repetition algorithm material while the development phase is done by the creation of web-based framework. Presentation material is adapted to the model of learning such as auditory, intellectually, repetition. Auditory points are obtained by recording the narrative material that presented by a variety of intellectual points. Multimedia as a product is validated by material and media experts. Implementation phase conducted on grade XI-TKJ2 SMKN 1 Garut. Based on index’s gain, an increasing of student learning outcomes in this study is 0.46 which is fair due to interest of student in using interactive multimedia. While the multimedia assessment earned 84.36% which is categorized as very well.

  8. Repetition suppression and repetition enhancement underlie auditory memory-trace formation in the human brain: an MEG study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Recasens, Marc; Leung, Sumie; Grimm, Sabine; Nowak, Rafal; Escera, Carles

    2015-03-01

    The formation of echoic memory traces has traditionally been inferred from the enhanced responses to its deviations. The mismatch negativity (MMN), an auditory event-related potential (ERP) elicited between 100 and 250ms after sound deviation is an indirect index of regularity encoding that reflects a memory-based comparison process. Recently, repetition positivity (RP) has been described as a candidate ERP correlate of direct memory trace formation. RP consists of repetition suppression and enhancement effects occurring in different auditory components between 50 and 250ms after sound onset. However, the neuronal generators engaged in the encoding of repeated stimulus features have received little interest. This study intends to investigate the neuronal sources underlying the formation and strengthening of new memory traces by employing a roving-standard paradigm, where trains of different frequencies and different lengths are presented randomly. Source generators of repetition enhanced (RE) and suppressed (RS) activity were modeled using magnetoencephalography (MEG) in healthy subjects. Our results show that, in line with RP findings, N1m (~95-150ms) activity is suppressed with stimulus repetition. In addition, we observed the emergence of a sustained field (~230-270ms) that showed RE. Source analysis revealed neuronal generators of RS and RE located in both auditory and non-auditory areas, like the medial parietal cortex and frontal areas. The different timing and location of neural generators involved in RS and RE points to the existence of functionally separated mechanisms devoted to acoustic memory-trace formation in different auditory processing stages of the human brain. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Frequency Adaptive Repetitive Control of Grid-Tied Three-Phase PV Inverters

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhou, Keliang; Yang, Yongheng; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2016-01-01

    Repetitive control offers an accurate current control scheme for grid-tied converters to feed high quality sinusoidal current into the grid. However, with grid frequency being treated as a constant value, conventional repetitive controller fail to produce high quality feeding current in the prese......Repetitive control offers an accurate current control scheme for grid-tied converters to feed high quality sinusoidal current into the grid. However, with grid frequency being treated as a constant value, conventional repetitive controller fail to produce high quality feeding current...

  10. Language and motor abilities of preschool children who stutter: evidence from behavioral and kinematic indices of nonword repetition performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Anne; Goffman, Lisa; Sasisekaran, Jayanthi; Weber-Fox, Christine

    2012-12-01

    Stuttering is a disorder of speech production that typically arises in the preschool years, and many accounts of its onset and development implicate language and motor processes as critical underlying factors. There have, however, been very few studies of speech motor control processes in preschool children who stutter. Hearing novel nonwords and reproducing them engages multiple neural networks, including those involved in phonological analysis and storage and speech motor programming and execution. We used this task to explore speech motor and language abilities of 31 children aged 4-5 years who were diagnosed as stuttering. We also used sensitive and specific standardized tests of speech and language abilities to determine which of the children who stutter had concomitant language and/or phonological disorders. Approximately half of our sample of stuttering children had language and/or phonological disorders. As previous investigations would suggest, the stuttering children with concomitant language or speech sound disorders produced significantly more errors on the nonword repetition task compared to typically developing children. In contrast, the children who were diagnosed as stuttering, but who had normal speech sound and language abilities, performed the nonword repetition task with equal accuracy compared to their normally fluent peers. Analyses of interarticulator motions during accurate and fluent productions of the nonwords revealed that the children who stutter (without concomitant disorders) showed higher variability in oral motor coordination indices. These results provide new evidence that preschool children diagnosed as stuttering lag their typically developing peers in maturation of speech motor control processes. The reader will be able to: (a) discuss why performance on nonword repetition tasks has been investigated in children who stutter; (b) discuss why children who stutter in the current study had a higher incidence of concomitant language

  11. Developmental profile and diagnoses in children presenting with motor stereotypies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesco Cardona

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Motor stereotypies represent a typical example of the difficulty in distinguishing non-clinical behaviors (physiological and transient from symptoms or among different disorders (primary stereotypies, associated with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD, Intellectual Disabilities, genetic syndromes, sensory impairment. The aim of this study was to obtain an accurate assessment on the relationship between stereotypies and neurodevelopmental disorders.Methods: We studied 23 children (3 girls aged 36 to 95 months, who requested a consultation due to the persistence or increased severity of motor stereotypies. None of patients had a previous diagnosis of ASD. The assessment included the Motor Severity Stereotypy Scale (MSSS, the Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised (RBS-R, the Raven’s Colored Progressive Matrices (CPM, the Child Behavior Checklist for ages 1 ½ -5 or 4-18 (CBCL, the Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule- Second edition (ADOS 2. Results: All patients were showing motor stereotypies for periods of time varying from 6 to 77 months. The MSSS showed each child had a limited number of stereotypies; their frequency and intensity were mild. The interference of stereotypies was variable; the impairment in daily life was mild. The RBS-R scores were positive for the subscale of Stereotypic behaviors in all children. Moreover, several children presented other repetitive behaviors, mainly Ritualistic behavior and Sameness behavior. All patients showed a normal cognitive level. The CBCL evidenced behavioral problems in 22% of the children: Internalizing problems, Attention and Withdrawn were the main complaints. On the SRS, all but one of the tested patients obtained clinical scores in the clinical range for at least one area. On the ADOS 2, four patients obtained scores indicating a moderate level of ASD symptoms, four had a mild level and fifteen showed no or minimal signs of ASD

  12. Generation of µW level plateau harmonics at high repetition rate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hädrich, S; Krebs, M; Rothhardt, J; Carstens, H; Demmler, S; Limpert, J; Tünnermann, A

    2011-09-26

    The process of high harmonic generation allows for coherent transfer of infrared laser light to the extreme ultraviolet spectral range opening a variety of applications. The low conversion efficiency of this process calls for optimization or higher repetition rate intense ultrashort pulse lasers. Here we present state-of-the-art fiber laser systems for the generation of high harmonics up to 1 MHz repetition rate. We perform measurements of the average power with a calibrated spectrometer and achieved µW harmonics between 45 nm and 61 nm (H23-H17) at a repetition rate of 50 kHz. Additionally, we show the potential for few-cycle pulses at high average power and repetition rate that may enable water-window harmonics at unprecedented repetition rate. © 2011 Optical Society of America

  13. A longitudinal investigation of perfectionism and repetitive negative thinking in perinatal depression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Egan, Sarah J; Kane, Robert T; Winton, Karen; Eliot, Catherine; McEvoy, Peter M

    2017-10-01

    Repetitive negative thinking and perfectionism have both been proposed as processes that are related to depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate concurrent and prospective relationships between antenatal and postnatal depression, perfectionism, and repetitive negative thinking. A longitudinal design was used and 71 women were followed from their third trimester of pregnancy to six weeks post birth. A structural equation model was tested with antenatal perfectionism predicting antenatal repetitive negative thinking, perfectionism predicting postnatal depression, and antenatal repetitive negative thinking predicting antenatal and postnatal depression. The final model provided an adequate fit to the data but the pathway from antenatal repetitive negative thinking to postnatal depression was not significant. The findings provide support for the role of perfectionism and repetitive negative thinking in the onset and maintenance of perinatal symptoms of depression. It is suggested that future research investigates the efficacy of targeting repetitive negative thinking and perfectionism in pregnancy to examine if this can reduce perinatal depression. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  14. Concreteness of Positive, Negative, and Neutral Repetitive Thinking About the Future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Behar, Evelyn; McGowan, Sarah Kate; McLaughlin, Katie A.; Borkovec, T.D.; Goldwin, Michelle; Bjorkquist, Olivia

    2014-01-01

    Consistent with assertions that the adaptiveness of repetitive thinking is influenced by both its valence and style, Stöber (e.g., Stöber & Borkovec, 2002) has argued that worry is characterized by a reduced concreteness of thought content and that the resulting abstractness contributes to its inhibition of some aspects of anxious responding. However, extant research does not provide a direct test of Stöber’s reduced concreteness theory of worry. We sought to test Stöber’s theory and to examine the adaptiveness of repetitive worrisome thinking by randomly assigning 108 participants to engage in five consecutive periods of repetitive thinking about positively, negatively, or neutrally valenced potential future events. Results based on coding of thought data indicated that (a) repetitive thinking became increasingly less concrete as periods progressed; (b) contrary to Stöber’s theory, both negative and positive repetitive future thinking were more concrete than neutral repetitive future thinking (and did not differ from each other); and (c) abstractness of thought during negative repetitive future thinking was associated with reduced reports of imagery-based activity. Results based on self-reported affect indicated that negatively valenced repetitive future thinking was uniquely associated with initial decreases in anxious affect, followed by increased anxious affect that coincided with increased imagery-based activity. This suggests that worry is associated with a sequential mitigation of anxious meaning followed by a strengthening of anxious meaning over time. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed. PMID:22440067

  15. Effects of repetition and temperature on Contingent Electrical Stimulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Castrillon, Eduardo E.; Zhou, Xinwen; Svensson, Peter

    ) activity associated with bruxism. Repetition of the electrical stimulus and skin surface temperature (ST) may affect the perception of CES and possibly also the inhibitory EMG effects.Objectives: To determine the effects of stimulus repetition and skin ST on the perception of CES.  Methods: Healthy...

  16. Post-exercise cortical depression following repetitive passive finger movement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Otsuka, Ryohei; Sasaki, Ryoki; Tsuiki, Shota; Kojima, Sho; Onishi, Hideaki

    2017-08-24

    This study aimed to clarify the influence of range of repetitive passive finger movement on corticospinal excitability. Thirteen healthy subjects participated in this study. Passive index finger adduction-abduction movements were performed from 15° abduction to 15° adduction, 15° abduction to 0°, 0° to 15° adduction, and 15° adduction to 30° adduction, each at 15°/s for 10min on separate days. Motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by transcranial magnetic stimulation and M- and F-waves were measured before and after each repetitive passive index finger movement protocol to evaluate changes in corticospinal excitability. MEP amplitude significantly decreased after all passive movements, while F-wave amplitude, F-wave persistence, and M-wave amplitude remained stable. These results suggest that cortical excitability decreases after repetitive passive movement. However, the range of repetitive passive movement does not markedly influence the magnitude of cortical depression. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Pulse repetition rate multiplication by Talbot effect in a coaxial fiber

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dhingra, Nikhil; Saxena, Geetika Jain; Anand, Jyoti; Sharma, Enakshi K.

    2018-03-01

    We use a coaxial fiber, which is a cylindrical coupled waveguide structure consisting of two concentric cores, the inner rod and an outer ring core as a first order dispersive media to achieve temporal Talbot effect for pulse repetition rate multiplication (PRRM) in high bit rate optical fiber communication. It is observed that for an input Gaussian pulse train with pulse width, 2τ0=1ps at a repetition rate of 40 Gbps (repetition period, T=25ps), an output repetition rate of 640 Gbps can be achieved without significant distortion at a length of 40.92 m.

  18. Properties of water surface discharge at different pulse repetition rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruma,; Yoshihara, K.; Hosseini, S. H. R.; Sakugawa, T.; Akiyama, H.; Akiyama, M.; Lukeš, P.

    2014-01-01

    The properties of water surface discharge plasma for variety of pulse repetition rates are investigated. A magnetic pulse compression (MPC) pulsed power modulator able to deliver pulse repetition rates up to 1000 Hz, with 0.5 J per pulse energy output at 25 kV, was used as the pulsed power source. Positive pulse with a point-to-plane electrode configuration was used for the experiments. The concentration and production yield of hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) were quantitatively measured and orange II organic dye was treated, to evaluate the chemical properties of the discharge reactor. Experimental results show that the physical and chemical properties of water surface discharge are not influenced by pulse repetition rate, very different from those observed for under water discharge. The production yield of H 2 O 2 and degradation rate per pulse of the dye did not significantly vary at different pulse repetition rates under a constant discharge mode on water surface. In addition, the solution temperature, pH, and conductivity for both water surface and underwater discharge reactors were measured to compare their plasma properties for different pulse repetition rates. The results confirm that surface discharge can be employed at high pulse repetition rates as a reliable and advantageous method for industrial and environmental decontamination applications.

  19. Word Recognition during Reading: The Interaction between Lexical Repetition and Frequency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowder, Matthew W.; Choi, Wonil; Gordon, Peter C.

    2013-01-01

    Memory studies utilizing long-term repetition priming have generally demonstrated that priming is greater for low-frequency words than for high-frequency words and that this effect persists if words intervene between the prime and the target. In contrast, word-recognition studies utilizing masked short-term repetition priming typically show that the magnitude of repetition priming does not differ as a function of word frequency and does not persist across intervening words. We conducted an eye-tracking while reading experiment to determine which of these patterns more closely resembles the relationship between frequency and repetition during the natural reading of a text. Frequency was manipulated using proper names that were high-frequency (e.g., Stephen) or low-frequency (e.g., Dominic). The critical name was later repeated in the sentence, or a new name was introduced. First-pass reading times and skipping rates on the critical name revealed robust repetition-by-frequency interactions such that the magnitude of the repetition-priming effect was greater for low-frequency names than for high-frequency names. In contrast, measures of later processing showed effects of repetition that did not depend on lexical frequency. These results are interpreted within a framework that conceptualizes eye-movement control as being influenced in different ways by lexical- and discourse-level factors. PMID:23283808

  20. Repetitive sequences: the hidden diversity of heterochromatin in prochilodontid fish

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria L. Terencio

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The structure and organization of repetitive elements in fish genomes are still relatively poorly understood, although most of these elements are believed to be located in heterochromatic regions. Repetitive elements are considered essential in evolutionary processes as hotspots for mutations and chromosomal rearrangements, among other functions – thus providing new genomic alternatives and regulatory sites for gene expression. The present study sought to characterize repetitive DNA sequences in the genomes of Semaprochilodus insignis (Jardine & Schomburgk, 1841 and Semaprochilodus taeniurus (Valenciennes, 1817 and identify regions of conserved syntenic blocks in this genome fraction of three species of Prochilodontidae (S. insignis, S. taeniurus, and Prochilodus lineatus (Valenciennes, 1836 by cross-FISH using Cot-1 DNA (renaturation kinetics probes. We found that the repetitive fractions of the genomes of S. insignis and S. taeniurus have significant amounts of conserved syntenic blocks in hybridization sites, but with low degrees of similarity between them and the genome of P. lineatus, especially in relation to B chromosomes. The cloning and sequencing of the repetitive genomic elements of S. insignis and S. taeniurus using Cot-1 DNA identified 48 fragments that displayed high similarity with repetitive sequences deposited in public DNA databases and classified as microsatellites, transposons, and retrotransposons. The repetitive fractions of the S. insignis and S. taeniurus genomes exhibited high degrees of conserved syntenic blocks in terms of both the structures and locations of hybridization sites, but a low degree of similarity with the syntenic blocks of the P. lineatus genome. Future comparative analyses of other prochilodontidae species will be needed to advance our understanding of the organization and evolution of the genomes in this group of fish.

  1. Self-Identified Vampirism and Risk for False Positives: A Case Example of Team Homicide and Implications for Forensic Behavioral Science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Williams, D J

    2017-05-01

    Historically, reported cases of self-identified vampirism typically have been associated with psychopathology and sometimes a propensity for violence. However, scholars recently have noted a wide range of diverse practices and meanings that all fall under the general description of self-identified vampirism. This brief report focuses on a homicide case (male and female partnered offenders), wherein a single victim was murdered and dismembered. Due to specific case evidence, there was controversy regarding whether or not the homicide was motivated by ritualistic self-identified vampirism. Court documents were reviewed and assessed, and findings suggest that the evidence used to support assertions that homicidal motivations occurred due to ritualistic vampirism was misinterpreted due to the omission of a growing multidisciplinary literature on self-identified vampirism. It is important for forensic experts to be aware of emerging research on alternative identities, including vampirism, that challenge traditional theories and assumptions. © 2016 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

  2. Hemispheric Asymmetries in Repetition Enhancement and Suppression Effects in the Newborn Brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouchon, Camillia; Nazzi, Thierry; Gervain, Judit

    2015-01-01

    The repeated presentation of stimuli typically attenuates neural responses (repetition suppression) or, less commonly, increases them (repetition enhancement) when stimuli are highly complex, degraded or presented under noisy conditions. In adult functional neuroimaging research, these repetition effects are considered as neural correlates of habituation. The development and respective functional significance of these effects in infancy remain largely unknown. This study investigates repetition effects in newborns using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and specifically the role of stimulus complexity in evoking a repetition enhancement vs. a repetition suppression response, following up on Gervain et al. (2008). In that study, abstract rule-learning was found at birth in cortical areas specific to speech processing, as evidenced by a left-lateralized repetition enhancement of the hemodynamic response to highly variable speech sequences conforming to a repetition-based ABB artificial grammar, but not to a random ABC grammar. Here, the same paradigm was used to investigate how simpler stimuli (12 different sequences per condition as opposed to 140), and simpler presentation conditions (blocked rather than interleaved) would influence repetition effects at birth. Results revealed that the two grammars elicited different dynamics in the two hemispheres. In left fronto-temporal areas, we reproduce the early perceptual discrimination of the two grammars, with ABB giving rise to a greater response at the beginning of the experiment than ABC. In addition, the ABC grammar evoked a repetition enhancement effect over time, whereas a stable response was found for the ABB grammar. Right fronto-temporal areas showed neither initial discrimination, nor change over time to either pattern. Taken together with Gervain et al. (2008), this is the first evidence that manipulating methodological factors influences the presence or absence of neural repetition enhancement effects in

  3. Hemispheric Asymmetries in Repetition Enhancement and Suppression Effects in the Newborn Brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Camillia Bouchon

    Full Text Available The repeated presentation of stimuli typically attenuates neural responses (repetition suppression or, less commonly, increases them (repetition enhancement when stimuli are highly complex, degraded or presented under noisy conditions. In adult functional neuroimaging research, these repetition effects are considered as neural correlates of habituation. The development and respective functional significance of these effects in infancy remain largely unknown.This study investigates repetition effects in newborns using functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and specifically the role of stimulus complexity in evoking a repetition enhancement vs. a repetition suppression response, following up on Gervain et al. (2008. In that study, abstract rule-learning was found at birth in cortical areas specific to speech processing, as evidenced by a left-lateralized repetition enhancement of the hemodynamic response to highly variable speech sequences conforming to a repetition-based ABB artificial grammar, but not to a random ABC grammar.Here, the same paradigm was used to investigate how simpler stimuli (12 different sequences per condition as opposed to 140, and simpler presentation conditions (blocked rather than interleaved would influence repetition effects at birth.Results revealed that the two grammars elicited different dynamics in the two hemispheres. In left fronto-temporal areas, we reproduce the early perceptual discrimination of the two grammars, with ABB giving rise to a greater response at the beginning of the experiment than ABC. In addition, the ABC grammar evoked a repetition enhancement effect over time, whereas a stable response was found for the ABB grammar. Right fronto-temporal areas showed neither initial discrimination, nor change over time to either pattern.Taken together with Gervain et al. (2008, this is the first evidence that manipulating methodological factors influences the presence or absence of neural repetition enhancement

  4. A clinical repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation service in Australia: 6 years on.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galletly, Cherrie A; Clarke, Patrick; Carnell, Benjamin L; Gill, Shane

    2015-11-01

    There is considerable research evidence for the effectiveness of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of depression. However, there is little information about its acceptability and outcomes in clinical settings. This naturalistic study reports on a clinical repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation service that has been running in Adelaide, South Australia (SA), for 6 years. During this time, 214 complete acute courses were provided to patients with treatment-resistant Major Depressive Disorder. Patients received either sequential bilateral or right unilateral repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment involving either 18 or 20 sessions given over 6 or 4 weeks respectively. Data included patient demographic details, duration of depression, and medication at the beginning of their repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation course. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale was used to assess response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. Of those undergoing a first-time acute treatment course of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (N = 167), 28% achieved remission, while a further 12% met the criteria for a response to treatment. Most patients (N = 123, 77%) had previously been treated with five or more antidepressant medications, and 77 (47%) had previously received electroconvulsive therapy. Referral rates remained high over the 6 years, indicating acceptance of the treatment by referring psychiatrists. There were no significant adverse events, and the treatment was generally well tolerated. In all, 41 patients (25%) had a second course of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and 6 (4%) patients had a third course; 21 patients subsequently received maintenance repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. This naturalistic study showed that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation was well accepted by both psychiatrists and patients, and has good efficacy and safety. Furthermore

  5. A repetitive elements perspective in Polycomb epigenetics.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Valentina eCasa

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Repetitive elements comprise over two-thirds of the human genome. For a long time, these elements have received little attention since they were considered non functional. On the contrary, recent evidence indicates that they play central roles in genome integrity, gene expression and disease. Indeed, repeats display meiotic instability associated with disease and are located within common fragile sites, which are hotspots of chromosome rearrangements in tumors. Moreover, a variety of diseases have been associated with aberrant transcription of repetitive elements. Overall this indicates that appropriate regulation of repetitive elements’ activity is fundamental.Polycomb group (PcG proteins are epigenetic regulators that are essential for the normal development of multicellular organisms. Mammalian PcG proteins are involved in fundamental processes, such as cellular memory, cell proliferation, genomic imprinting, X-inactivation, and cancer development. PcG proteins can convey their activity through long-distance interactions also on different chromosomes. This indicates that the 3D organization of PcG proteins contributes significantly to their function. However, it is still unclear how these complex mechanisms are orchestrated and which role PcG proteins play in the multi-level organization of gene regulation. Intriguingly, the greatest proportion of Polycomb-mediated chromatin modifications is located in genomic repeats and it has been suggested that they could provide a binding platform for Polycomb proteins.Here, these lines of evidence are woven together to discuss how repetitive elements could contribute to chromatin organization in the 3D nuclear space.

  6. The roles of stimulus repetition and hemispheric activation in visual half-field asymmetries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sullivan, K F; McKeever, W F

    1985-10-01

    Hardyck, Tzeng, and Wang (1978, Brain and Language, 5, 56-71) hypothesized that ample repetition of a small number of stimuli is required in order to obtain VHF differences in tachistoscopic tasks. Four experiments, with varied levels of repetition, were conducted to test this hypothesis. Three experiments utilized the general task of object-picture naming and one utilized a word-naming task. Naming latencies constituted the dependent measure. The results demonstrate that for the object-naming paradigm repetition is required for RVF superiority to emerge. Repetition was found to be unnecessary for RVF superiority in the word-naming paradigm, with repetition actually reducing RVF superiority. Experiment I suggested the possibility that RVF superiority developed for the second half of the trials as a function of practice or hemispheric activation, regardless of repetition level. Subsequent experiments, better designed to assess this possibility, clearly refuted it. It was concluded that the effect of repetition depends on the processing requirements of the task. We propose that, for tasks which can be processed efficiently by one hemisphere, the effect of repetition will be to reduce VHF asymmetries; but tasks requiring substantial processing by both hemispheres will show shifts to RVF superiority as a function of repetition.

  7. The Effect of Enumeration of Self-Relevant Words on Self-Focused Attention and Repetitive Negative Thoughts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muranaka, Seiji; Sasaki, Jun

    2018-01-01

    Self-focused attention refers to awareness of self-referent, internally generated information. It can be categorized into dysfunctional (i.e., self-rumination) and functional (self-reflection) aspects. According to theory on cognitive resource limitations (e.g., Moreno, 2006), there is a difference in cognitive resource allocation between these two aspects of self-focused attention. We propose a new task, self-relevant word (SRW) enumeration, that can aid in behaviorally identifying individuals’ use of self-rumination and self-reflection. The present study has two purposes: to determine the association between self-focus and SRW enumeration, and to examine the effect of dysfunctional SRW enumeration on repetitive negative thinking. One hundred forty-six undergraduate students participated in this study. They completed a measure of state anxiety twice, before and after imagining a social failure situation. They also completed the SRW enumeration task, Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire, Short Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire. A correlational analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between self-reflection and the number of SRWs. Furthermore, individuals high in self-reflection had a tendency to pay more attention to problems than did those high in self-rumination. A significant positive correlation was found between self-rumination and the strength of self-relevance of negative SRWs. Through a path analysis, we found a significant positive effect of the self-relevance of negative SRWs on repetitive negative thinking. Notably, however, the model that excluded self-rumination as an explanatory variable showed a better fit to the data than did the model that included it. In summary, SRW enumeration might enable selective and independent detection of the degree of self-reflection and self-rumination, and therefore should be examined in future research in order to design new behavioral procedures. PMID:29896140

  8. The Effect of Enumeration of Self-Relevant Words on Self-Focused Attention and Repetitive Negative Thoughts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seiji Muranaka

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Self-focused attention refers to awareness of self-referent, internally generated information. It can be categorized into dysfunctional (i.e., self-rumination and functional (self-reflection aspects. According to theory on cognitive resource limitations (e.g., Moreno, 2006, there is a difference in cognitive resource allocation between these two aspects of self-focused attention. We propose a new task, self-relevant word (SRW enumeration, that can aid in behaviorally identifying individuals’ use of self-rumination and self-reflection. The present study has two purposes: to determine the association between self-focus and SRW enumeration, and to examine the effect of dysfunctional SRW enumeration on repetitive negative thinking. One hundred forty-six undergraduate students participated in this study. They completed a measure of state anxiety twice, before and after imagining a social failure situation. They also completed the SRW enumeration task, Repetitive Thinking Questionnaire, Short Fear of Negative Evaluation Scale, and Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire. A correlational analysis indicated a significant positive correlation between self-reflection and the number of SRWs. Furthermore, individuals high in self-reflection had a tendency to pay more attention to problems than did those high in self-rumination. A significant positive correlation was found between self-rumination and the strength of self-relevance of negative SRWs. Through a path analysis, we found a significant positive effect of the self-relevance of negative SRWs on repetitive negative thinking. Notably, however, the model that excluded self-rumination as an explanatory variable showed a better fit to the data than did the model that included it. In summary, SRW enumeration might enable selective and independent detection of the degree of self-reflection and self-rumination, and therefore should be examined in future research in order to design new behavioral procedures.

  9. A feasible repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation clinical protocol in migraine prevention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zardouz, Shawn; Shi, Lei; Leung, Albert

    2016-01-01

    This case series was conducted to determine the clinical feasibility of a repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol for the prevention of migraine (with and without aura). Five patients with migraines underwent five repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation sessions separated in 1- to 2-week intervals for a period of 2 months at a single tertiary medical center. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation was applied to the left motor cortex with 2000 pulses (20 trains with 1s inter-train interval) delivered per session, at a frequency of 10 Hz and 80% resting motor threshold. Pre- and post-treatment numerical rating pain scales were collected, and percent reductions in intensity, frequency, and duration were generated. An average decrease in 37.8%, 32.1%, and 31.2% were noted in the intensity, frequency, and duration of migraines post-repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, respectively. A mean decrease in 1.9±1.0 (numerical rating pain scale ± standard deviation; range: 0.4-2.8) in headache intensity scores was noted after the repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation sessions. The tested repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol is a well-tolerated, safe, and effective method for migraine prevention.

  10. High-repetition-rate short-pulse gas discharge.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tulip, J; Seguin, H; Mace, P N

    1979-09-01

    A high-average-power short-pulse gas discharge is described. This consists of a volume-preionized transverse discharge of the type used in gas lasers driven by a Blumlein energy storage circuit. The Blumlein circuit is fabricated from coaxial cable, is pulse-charged from a high-repetition-rate Marx-bank generator, and is switched by a high-repetition-rate segmented rail gap. The operation of this discharge under conditions typical of rare-gas halide lasers is described. A maximum of 900 pps was obtained, giving a power flow into the discharge of 30 kW.

  11. Repetitively pulsed, double discharge TEA CO/sub 2/ laser

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hamilton, D C; James, D J; Ramsden, S A

    1975-10-01

    The design and operation of a repetitively pulsed TEA CO/sub 2/ laser is described. Average powers of up to 400 W at a repetition frequency of 200 pulses/s have been obtained. The system has also been used to provide long pulses (over 20 ..mu..s) and tunable single axial mode pulses.

  12. Modeling repetitive motions using structured light.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Yi; Aliaga, Daniel G

    2010-01-01

    Obtaining models of dynamic 3D objects is an important part of content generation for computer graphics. Numerous methods have been extended from static scenarios to model dynamic scenes. If the states or poses of the dynamic object repeat often during a sequence (but not necessarily periodically), we call such a repetitive motion. There are many objects, such as toys, machines, and humans, undergoing repetitive motions. Our key observation is that when a motion-state repeats, we can sample the scene under the same motion state again but using a different set of parameters; thus, providing more information of each motion state. This enables robustly acquiring dense 3D information difficult for objects with repetitive motions using only simple hardware. After the motion sequence, we group temporally disjoint observations of the same motion state together and produce a smooth space-time reconstruction of the scene. Effectively, the dynamic scene modeling problem is converted to a series of static scene reconstructions, which are easier to tackle. The varying sampling parameters can be, for example, structured-light patterns, illumination directions, and viewpoints resulting in different modeling techniques. Based on this observation, we present an image-based motion-state framework and demonstrate our paradigm using either a synchronized or an unsynchronized structured-light acquisition method.

  13. Repetition Blindness: Out of Sight or Out of Mind?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morris, Alison L.; Harris, Catherine L.

    2004-01-01

    Does repetition blindness represent a failure of perception or of memory? In Experiment 1, participants viewed rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) sentences. When critical words (C1 and C2) were orthographically similar, C2 was frequently omitted from serial report; however, repetition priming for C2 on a postsentence lexical decision task was…

  14. Progress in developing repetitive pulse systems utilizing inductive energy storage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Honig, E.M.

    1983-01-01

    High-power, fast-recovery vacuum switches were used in a new repetitive counterpulse and transfer circuit to deliver a 5-kHz pulse train with a peak power of 75 MW (at 8.6 kA) to a 1-..cap omega.. load, resulting in the first demonstration of fully controlled, high-power, high-repetition-rate operation of an inductive energy-storage and transfer system with nondestructive switches. New circuits, analytical and experimental results, and feasibility of 100-kV repetitive pulse generation are discussed. A new switching concept for railgun loads is presented.

  15. Repetitive laser fusion experiment and operation using a target injection system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishimura, Yasuhiko; Komeda, Osamu; Mori, Yoshitaka

    2017-01-01

    Since 2008, a collaborative research project on laser fusion development based on a high-speed ignition method using repetitive laser has been carried out with several collaborative research institutes. This paper reports the current state of operation of high repetition laser fusion experiments, such as target introduction and control based on a target injection system that allows free falling under 1 Hz, using a high repetition laser driver that has been under research and development, as well as the measurement of targets that freely fall. The HAMA laser driver that enabled high repetition fusion experiments is a titanium sapphire laser using a diode-pumped solid-state laser KURE-I of green light output as a driver pump light source. In order to carry out high repetition laser fusion experiments, the target injection device allows free falling of deuterated polystyrene solid sphere targets of 1 mm in diameter under 1 Hz. The authors integrated the developed laser and injection system, and succeeded first in the world in making the nuclear fusion reaction continuously by hitting the target to be injected with laser, which is essential technology for future laser nuclear fusion reactor. In order to realize repetition laser fusion experiments, stable laser, target synchronization control, and target position measurement technologies are indispensable. (A.O.)

  16. Repetition and brain potentials when recognizing natural scenes: task and emotion differences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bradley, Margaret M.; Codispoti, Maurizio; Karlsson, Marie; Lang, Peter J.

    2013-01-01

    Repetition has long been known to facilitate memory performance, but its effects on event-related potentials (ERPs), measured as an index of recognition memory, are less well characterized. In Experiment 1, effects of both massed and distributed repetition on old–new ERPs were assessed during an immediate recognition test that followed incidental encoding of natural scenes that also varied in emotionality. Distributed repetition at encoding enhanced both memory performance and the amplitude of an old–new ERP difference over centro-parietal sensors. To assess whether these repetition effects reflect encoding or retrieval differences, the recognition task was replaced with passive viewing of old and new pictures in Experiment 2. In the absence of an explicit recognition task, ERPs were completely unaffected by repetition at encoding, and only emotional pictures prompted a modestly enhanced old–new difference. Taken together, the data suggest that repetition facilitates retrieval processes and that, in the absence of an explicit recognition task, differences in old–new ERPs are only apparent for affective cues. PMID:22842817

  17. Long-term consequences of repetitive brain trauma: chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stern, Robert A; Riley, David O; Daneshvar, Daniel H; Nowinski, Christopher J; Cantu, Robert C; McKee, Ann C

    2011-10-01

    Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) has been linked to participation in contact sports such as boxing and American football. CTE results in a progressive decline of memory and cognition, as well as depression, suicidal behavior, poor impulse control, aggressiveness, parkinsonism, and, eventually, dementia. In some individuals, it is associated with motor neuron disease, referred to as chronic traumatic encephalomyelopathy, which appears clinically similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Results of neuropathologic research has shown that CTE may be more common in former contact sports athletes than previously believed. It is believed that repetitive brain trauma, with or possibly without symptomatic concussion, is responsible for neurodegenerative changes highlighted by accumulations of hyperphosphorylated tau and TDP-43 proteins. Given the millions of youth, high school, collegiate, and professional athletes participating in contact sports that involve repetitive brain trauma, as well as military personnel exposed to repeated brain trauma from blast and other injuries in the military, CTE represents an important public health issue. Focused and intensive study of the risk factors and in vivo diagnosis of CTE will potentially allow for methods to prevent and treat these diseases. Research also will provide policy makers with the scientific knowledge to make appropriate guidelines regarding the prevention and treatment of brain trauma in all levels of athletic involvement as well as the military theater. Copyright © 2011 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Repetition or Reconfiguration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Kristina Vaarst

    , the cognitive quality of knowledge held by individual professionals is the key microfoundation for project level performance. This paper empirically tests effects of project participants with and without knowledge diversity for project level performance for projects aiming for varying degrees of repetition...... and reconfiguration. The results indicate that project performance benefits form contributions from individuals holding diverse knowledge only when projects aim for high differentiation levels. This positive association is not just moderated, it may even be reversed in the case of professionals participating in low...

  19. Visual attention to advertising : The impact of motivation and repetition

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pieters, RGM; Rosbergen, E; Hartog, M; Corfman, KP; Lynch, JG

    1996-01-01

    Using eye-tracking data, we examine the impact of motivation and repetition on visual attention to advertisements differing in argument quality. Our analyses indicate that repetition leads to an overall decrease in the amount of attention. However, while at first high motivation subjects attend to

  20. Pull-production in repetitive remanufacturing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCaskey, D.W. Jr.

    1992-09-01

    In the past, production activity control practices in most repetitive remanufacturing facilities resembled those used in intermittent production operations. These operations were characterized by large amounts of work-in-process (WIP), frequent work stoppages due to part shortages, excessive overtime, low product velocity, informal scheduling between dependent operations, low employee and management moral, and a lot of wasted time, material, labor, and space. Improvement in production activity control (PAC) methods for repetitive remanufactures has been hampered by uncertainty in: supply of incoming assets, configuration of assets, process times to refurbish assets, and yields in reclamation processes. collectively these uncertainties make shop floor operations seem uncontrollable. However, one United States Army depot has taken on the challenge. Through management supported, cross-functional teams, the Tooele Army Depot has designed and implemented pull-production systems for two of its major products, with several others to follow. This article presents a generalized version of Tooele`s pull-production system and highlights design characteristics which are specific to remanufacturing applications.

  1. Pull-production in repetitive remanufacturing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCaskey, D.W. Jr.

    1992-09-01

    In the past, production activity control practices in most repetitive remanufacturing facilities resembled those used in intermittent production operations. These operations were characterized by large amounts of work-in-process (WIP), frequent work stoppages due to part shortages, excessive overtime, low product velocity, informal scheduling between dependent operations, low employee and management moral, and a lot of wasted time, material, labor, and space. Improvement in production activity control (PAC) methods for repetitive remanufactures has been hampered by uncertainty in: supply of incoming assets, configuration of assets, process times to refurbish assets, and yields in reclamation processes. collectively these uncertainties make shop floor operations seem uncontrollable. However, one United States Army depot has taken on the challenge. Through management supported, cross-functional teams, the Tooele Army Depot has designed and implemented pull-production systems for two of its major products, with several others to follow. This article presents a generalized version of Tooele's pull-production system and highlights design characteristics which are specific to remanufacturing applications.

  2. Active power filter for harmonic compensation using a digital dual-mode-structure repetitive control approach

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zou, Zhixiang; Wang, Zheng; Cheng, Ming

    2012-01-01

    This paper presents an digital dual-mode-structure repetitive control approach for the single-phase shunt active power filter (APF), which aims to enhance the tracking ability and eliminate arbitrary order harmonic. The proposed repetitive control scheme blends the characteristics of both odd......-harmonic repetitive control and even-harmonic repetitive control. Moreover, the convergence rate is faster than conventional repetitive controller. Additionally, the parameters have been designed and optimized for the dual-mode structure repetitive control to improve the performance of APF system. Experimental...

  3. Memantine reduces stealing behavior and impulsivity in kleptomania

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grant, Jon E; Odlaug, Brian Lawrence; Schreiber, Liana R N

    2013-01-01

    Kleptomania is characterized by repetitive stealing behavior and has been associated with deleterious unwanted outcomes including forensic contact and increased rates of suicidal behavior. Very few trials have been conducted to investigate pharmacological treatment options for this neglected...... was generally well tolerated. This study shows the effectiveness of memantine in reducing urges to shoplift and shoplifting behavior along with improving impulsivity, mood, anxiety, and psychosocial functioning....

  4. Negative effects of item repetition on source memory

    OpenAIRE

    Kim, Kyungmi; Yi, Do-Joon; Raye, Carol L.; Johnson, Marcia K.

    2012-01-01

    In the present study, we explored how item repetition affects source memory for new item–feature associations (picture–location or picture–color). We presented line drawings varying numbers of times in Phase 1. In Phase 2, each drawing was presented once with a critical new feature. In Phase 3, we tested memory for the new source feature of each item from Phase 2. Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated and replicated the negative effects of item repetition on incidental source memory. Prior item re...

  5. Functional dissociations in top-down control dependent neural repetition priming.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klaver, P.; Schnaidt, M.; Fell, J.; Ruhlmann, J.; Elger, C.E.; Fernandez, G.S.E.

    2007-01-01

    Little is known about the neural mechanisms underlying top-down control of repetition priming. Here, we use functional brain imaging to investigate these mechanisms. Study and repetition tasks used a natural/man-made forced choice task. In the study phase subjects were required to respond to either

  6. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for hallucination in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yingli; Liang, Wei; Yang, Shichang; Dai, Ping; Shen, Lijuan; Wang, Changhong

    2013-10-05

    This study assessed the efficacy and tolerability of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of auditory hallucination of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Online literature retrieval was conducted using PubMed, ISI Web of Science, EMBASE, Medline and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases from January 1985 to May 2012. Key words were "transcranial magnetic stimulation", "TMS", "repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation", and "hallucination". Selected studies were randomized controlled trials assessing therapeutic efficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for hallucination in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Experimental intervention was low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in left temporoparietal cortex for treatment of auditory hallucination in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Control groups received sham stimulation. The primary outcome was total scores of Auditory Hallucinations Rating Scale, Auditory Hallucination Subscale of Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale, Positive and Negative Symptom Scale-Auditory Hallucination item, and Hallucination Change Scale. Secondary outcomes included response rate, global mental state, adverse effects and cognitive function. Seventeen studies addressing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders were screened, with controls receiving sham stimulation. All data were completely effective, involving 398 patients. Overall mean weighted effect size for repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation versus sham stimulation was statistically significant (MD = -0.42, 95%CI: -0.64 to -0.20, P = 0.000 2). Patients receiving repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation responded more frequently than sham stimulation (OR = 2.94, 95%CI: 1.39 to 6.24, P = 0.005). No significant differences were found between active repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and sham stimulation for

  7. Understanding the relationship between repetition priming and mere exposure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, Laurie T; Berry, Dianne C

    2004-11-01

    Over the last two decades interest in implicit memory, most notably repetition priming, has grown considerably. During the same period, research has also focused on the mere exposure effect. Although the two areas have developed relatively independently, a number of studies has described the mere exposure effect as an example of implicit memory. Tacit in their comparisons is the assumption that the effect is more specifically a demonstration of repetition priming. Having noted that this assumption has attracted relatively little attention, this paper reviews current evidence and shows that it is by no means conclusive. Although some evidence is suggestive of a common underlying mechanism, even a modified repetition priming (perceptual fluency/attribution) framework cannot accommodate all of the differences between the two phenomena. Notwithstanding this, it seems likely that a version of this theoretical framework still offers the best hope of a comprehensive explanation for the mere exposure effect and its relationship to repetition priming. As such, the paper finishes by offering some initial guidance as to ways in which the perceptual fluency/attribution framework might be extended, as well as outlining important areas for future research.

  8. Risk factors for hand-wrist disorders in repetitive work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thomsen, J. F.; Mikkelsen, S.; Andersen, JH

    2007-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To identify the risk of hand-wrist disorders related to repetitive movements, use of hand force and wrist position in repetitive monotonous work. METHODS: Using questionnaires and physical examinations, the prevalence and incidence of hand-wrist pain and possible extensor tendonitis...... (wrist pain and palpation tenderness) were determined in 3123 employees in 19 industrial settings. With the use of questionnaires and video recordings of homogenous work tasks number of wrist movements, hand force requirements and wrist position were analysed as risk factors for hand-wrist disorders......, controlling for potential personal and psychosocial confounders. All participants were re-examined three times during a follow-up period of three years. RESULTS: Force but not repetition and position was related to hand-wrist pain and possible tendonitis in the baseline analyses showing an exposure...

  9. Repetition rates in heavy ion beam driven fusion reactors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Robert R.

    1986-01-01

    The limits on the cavity gas density required for beam propagation and condensation times for material vaporized by target explosions can determine the maximum repetition rate of Heavy Ion Beam (HIB) driven fusion reactors. If the ions are ballistically focused onto the target, the cavity gas must have a density below roughly 10-4 torr (3×1012 cm-3) at the time of propagation; other propagation schemes may allow densities as high as 1 torr or more. In some reactor designs, several kilograms of material may be vaporized off of the target chamber walls by the target generated x-rays, raising the average density in the cavity to 100 tor or more. A one-dimensional combined radiation hydrodynamics and vaporization and condensation computer code has been used to simulate the behavior of the vaporized material in the target chambers of HIB fusion reactors.

  10. Repetition rates in heavy ion beam driven fusion reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peterson, R.R.

    1986-01-01

    The limits on the cavity gas density required for beam propagation and condensation times for material vaporized by target explosions can determine the maximum repetition rate of Heavy Ion Beam (HIB) driven fusion reactors. If the ions are ballistically focused onto the target, the cavity gas must have a density below roughly 10 -4 torr (3 x 10 12 cm -3 ) at the time of propagation; other propagation schemes may allow densities as high as 1 torr or more. In some reactor designs, several kilograms of material may be vaporized off of the target chamber walls by the target generated x-rays, raising the average density in the cavity to 100 tor or more. A one-dimensional combined radiation hydrodynamics and vaporization and condensation computer code has been used to simulate the behavior of the vaporized material in the target chambers of HIB fusion reactors

  11. Characterization and distribution of repetitive elements in association with genes in the human genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Kai-Chiang; Tseng, Joseph T; Tsai, Shaw-Jenq; Sun, H Sunny

    2015-08-01

    Repetitive elements constitute more than 50% of the human genome. Recent studies implied that the complexity of living organisms is not just a direct outcome of a number of coding sequences; the repetitive elements, which do not encode proteins, may also play a significant role. Though scattered studies showed that repetitive elements in the regulatory regions of a gene control gene expression, no systematic survey has been done to report the characterization and distribution of various types of these repetitive elements in the human genome. Sequences from 5' and 3' untranslated regions and upstream and downstream of a gene were downloaded from the Ensembl database. The repetitive elements in the neighboring of each gene were identified and classified using cross-matching implemented in the RepeatMasker. The annotation and distribution of distinct classes of repetitive elements associated with individual gene were collected to characterize genes in association with different types of repetitive elements using systems biology program. We identified a total of 1,068,400 repetitive elements which belong to 37-class families and 1235 subclasses that are associated with 33,761 genes and 57,365 transcripts. In addition, we found that the tandem repeats preferentially locate proximal to the transcription start site (TSS) of genes and the major function of these genes are involved in developmental processes. On the other hand, interspersed repetitive elements showed a tendency to be accumulated at distal region from the TSS and the function of interspersed repeat-containing genes took part in the catabolic/metabolic processes. Results from the distribution analysis were collected and used to construct a gene-based repetitive element database (GBRED; http://www.binfo.ncku.edu.tw/GBRED/index.html). A user-friendly web interface was designed to provide the information of repetitive elements associated with any particular gene(s). This is the first study focusing on the gene

  12. Repetitive Bibliographical Information in Relational Databases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brooks, Terrence A.

    1988-01-01

    Proposes a solution to the problem of loading repetitive bibliographic information in a microcomputer-based relational database management system. The alternative design described is based on a representational redundancy design and normalization theory. (12 references) (Author/CLB)

  13. Behavioral and pathophysiological outcomes associated with caffeine consumption and repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (RmTBI) in adolescent rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamakawa, Glenn R; Lengkeek, Connor; Salberg, Sabrina; Spanswick, Simon C; Mychasiuk, Richelle

    2017-01-01

    Given that caffeine consumption is exponentially rising in adolescents and they are at increased risk for repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (RmTBI), we sought to examine the pathophysiological outcomes associated with early life caffeine consumption and RmTBI. Adolescent male and female Sprague Dawley rats received either caffeine in the drinking water or normal water and were then randomly assigned to 3 mild injuries using our lateral impact device or 3 sham procedures. Following injury induction, behavioral outcomes were measured with a test battery designed to examine symptoms consistent with clinical manifestation of PCS (balance and motor coordination, anxiety, short-term working memory, and depressive-like behaviours). In addition, pathophysiological outcomes were examined with histological measures of volume and cellular proliferation in the dentate gyrus, as well as microglia activation in the ventromedial hypothalamus. Finally, modifications to expression of 12 genes (Adora2a, App, Aqp4, Bdnf, Bmal1, Clock, Cry, Gfap, Orx1, Orx2, Per, Tau), in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and/or the hypothalamus were assessed. We found that chronic caffeine consumption in adolescence altered normal developmental trajectories, as well as recovery from RmTBI. Of particular importance, many of the outcomes exhibited sex-dependent responses whereby the sex of the animal modified response to caffeine, RmTBI, and the combination of the two. These results suggest that caffeine consumption in adolescents at high risk for RmTBI should be monitored.

  14. Behavioral and pathophysiological outcomes associated with caffeine consumption and repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (RmTBI in adolescent rats.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Glenn R Yamakawa

    Full Text Available Given that caffeine consumption is exponentially rising in adolescents and they are at increased risk for repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (RmTBI, we sought to examine the pathophysiological outcomes associated with early life caffeine consumption and RmTBI. Adolescent male and female Sprague Dawley rats received either caffeine in the drinking water or normal water and were then randomly assigned to 3 mild injuries using our lateral impact device or 3 sham procedures. Following injury induction, behavioral outcomes were measured with a test battery designed to examine symptoms consistent with clinical manifestation of PCS (balance and motor coordination, anxiety, short-term working memory, and depressive-like behaviours. In addition, pathophysiological outcomes were examined with histological measures of volume and cellular proliferation in the dentate gyrus, as well as microglia activation in the ventromedial hypothalamus. Finally, modifications to expression of 12 genes (Adora2a, App, Aqp4, Bdnf, Bmal1, Clock, Cry, Gfap, Orx1, Orx2, Per, Tau, in the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and/or the hypothalamus were assessed. We found that chronic caffeine consumption in adolescence altered normal developmental trajectories, as well as recovery from RmTBI. Of particular importance, many of the outcomes exhibited sex-dependent responses whereby the sex of the animal modified response to caffeine, RmTBI, and the combination of the two. These results suggest that caffeine consumption in adolescents at high risk for RmTBI should be monitored.

  15. Impact of visual repetition rate on intrinsic properties of low frequency fluctuations in the visual network.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yi-Chia Li

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Visual processing network is one of the functional networks which have been reliably identified to consistently exist in human resting brains. In our work, we focused on this network and investigated the intrinsic properties of low frequency (0.01-0.08 Hz fluctuations (LFFs during changes of visual stimuli. There were two main questions to be discussed in this study: intrinsic properties of LFFs regarding (1 interactions between visual stimuli and resting-state; (2 impact of repetition rate of visual stimuli. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We analyzed scanning sessions that contained rest and visual stimuli in various repetition rates with a novel method. The method included three numerical approaches involving ICA (Independent Component Analyses, fALFF (fractional Amplitude of Low Frequency Fluctuation, and Coherence, to respectively investigate the modulations of visual network pattern, low frequency fluctuation power, and interregional functional connectivity during changes of visual stimuli. We discovered when resting-state was replaced by visual stimuli, more areas were involved in visual processing, and both stronger low frequency fluctuations and higher interregional functional connectivity occurred in visual network. With changes of visual repetition rate, the number of areas which were involved in visual processing, low frequency fluctuation power, and interregional functional connectivity in this network were also modulated. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: To combine the results of prior literatures and our discoveries, intrinsic properties of LFFs in visual network are altered not only by modulations of endogenous factors (eye-open or eye-closed condition; alcohol administration and disordered behaviors (early blind, but also exogenous sensory stimuli (visual stimuli with various repetition rates. It demonstrates that the intrinsic properties of LFFs are valuable to represent physiological states of human brains.

  16. A copper bromide vapour laser with a high pulse repetition rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shiyanov, D V; Evtushenko, Gennadii S; Sukhanov, V B; Fedorov, V F

    2002-01-01

    The results of an experimental study of a copper bromide vapour laser with a discharge-channel diameter above 2.5 cm and a high pump-pulse repetition rate are presented. A TGU1-1000/25 high-power tacitron used as a switch made it possible to obtain for the first time a fairly high output radiation power for pump-pulse repetition rates exceeding 200 kHz. At a maximum pump-pulse repetition rate of 250 kHz achieved in a laser tube 2.6 cm in diameter and 76 cm long, the output power was 1.5 W. The output powers of 3 and 10.5 W were reached for pump-pulse repetition rates of 200 and 100 kHz, respectively. These characteristics were obtained without circulating a buffer gas and (or) low-concentration active impurities through the active volume. (active media. lasers)

  17. The repetition effect in building and construction works

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gottlieb, Stefan Christoffer; Haugbølle, Kim

    are then applied on the Public Transport Authorities' main account structure of units and costs, and a method for assessing the possibilities of achieving effects of repetition for each account is described. Finally, the report summarises the core conditions necessary to take into consideration in relation......This report summarises the results from the work undertaken for the Public Transport Authority on the effect of learning and repetition in building and construction works. The results are applied by the Public Transport Authority in a new budgeting model, while the agency investigates...

  18. The Effects of Multi-Sensory Environments on the Stereotypic Behaviors of Children with Autism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brandenburg, Linda A.

    2012-01-01

    A significant problem for individuals with autism is the presence of stereotypic behaviors, that is, repetitive, invariant behavior patterns with no obvious goal or function. Stereotypic behaviors interfere with an individual's ability to participate in the daily activities of life, including learning. By reducing stereotypic behaviors in…

  19. Contribution of fronto-striatal regions to emotional valence and repetition under cognitive conflict.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chun, Ji-Won; Park, Hae-Jeong; Kim, Dai Jin; Kim, Eosu; Kim, Jae-Jin

    2017-07-01

    Conflict processing mediated by fronto-striatal regions may be influenced by emotional properties of stimuli. This study aimed to examine the effects of emotion repetition on cognitive control in a conflict-provoking situation. Twenty-one healthy subjects were scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging while performing a sequential cognitive conflict task composed of emotional stimuli. The regional effects were analyzed according to the repetition or non-repetition of cognitive congruency and emotional valence between the preceding and current trials. Post-incongruence interference in error rate and reaction time was significantly smaller than post-congruence interference, particularly under repeated positive and non-repeated positive, respectively, and post-incongruence interference, compared to post-congruence interference, increased activity in the ACC, DLPFC, and striatum. ACC and DLPFC activities were significantly correlated with error rate or reaction time in some conditions, and fronto-striatal connections were related to the conflict processing heightened by negative emotion. These findings suggest that the repetition of emotional stimuli adaptively regulates cognitive control and the fronto-striatal circuit may engage in the conflict adaptation process induced by emotion repetition. Both repetition enhancement and repetition suppression of prefrontal activity may underlie the relationship between emotion and conflict adaptation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for hallucination in schizophrenia spectrum disorders A meta-analysis***

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yingli Zhang; Wei Liang; Shichang Yang; Ping Dai; Lijuan Shen; Changhong Wang

    2013-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the efficacy and tolerability of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of auditory hal ucination of patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. DATA SOURCES: Online literature retrieval was conducted using PubMed, ISI Web of Science, EMBASE, Medline and Cochrane Central Register of Control ed Trials databases from January 1985 to May 2012. Key words were “transcranial magnetic stimulation”, “TMS”, “repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation”, and “hal ucination”. STUDY SELECTION: Selected studies were randomized control ed trials assessing therapeutic ef-ficacy of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for hal ucination in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Experimental intervention was low-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in left temporoparietal cortex for treatment of auditory hal ucination in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Control groups received sham stimulation. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was total scores of Auditory Hal ucinations Rating Scale, Auditory Hal ucination Subscale of Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale, Positive and Negative Symptom Scale-Auditory Hal ucination item, and Hal ucination Change Scale. Secondary outcomes included response rate, global mental state, adverse effects and cognitive function. RESULTS: Seventeen studies addressing repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of schizophrenia spectrum disorders were screened, with controls receiving sham stimulation. Al data were completely effective, involving 398 patients. Overal mean weighted effect size for repeti-tive transcranial magnetic stimulation versus sham stimulation was statistical y significant (MD =-0.42, 95%CI: -0.64 to -0.20, P = 0.000 2). Patients receiving repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation responded more frequently than sham stimulation (OR = 2.94, 95%CI: 1.39 to 6.24, P =0.005). No significant differences were found

  1. Comparison of concentric and eccentric bench press repetitions to failure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kelly, Stephen B; Brown, Lee E; Hooker, Steven P; Swan, Pamela D; Buman, Matthew P; Alvar, Brent A; Black, Laurie E

    2015-04-01

    Eccentric muscle actions (ECC) are characterized by muscle lengthening, despite actin-myosin crossbridge formation. Muscles acting eccentrically are capable of producing higher levels of force compared with muscles acting concentrically. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ECC bench press yields greater strength than concentric (CON) as determined by 1 repetition maximum (1RM). Additionally, a comparison was made examining differences in the number of repetitions to failure at different relative intensities of 1RM. Thirty healthy men (age = 24.63 ± 5.6 years) were tested for 1RM in CON and ECC bench press and the number of repetitions completed at 60, 70, 80, and 90% 1RM. For CON repetitions, the weight was mechanically lowered to the chest, and the participant pressed it up until the elbows were fully extended. The ECC bench press consisted of lowering a barbell from a fully extended elbow position to the chest in a continuous controlled manner for 3 seconds as determined by electronic metronome. Paired t-tests showed that ECC 1RM (115.99 ± 31.08 kg) was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater than CON 1RM (93.56 ± 26.56 kg), and the number of repetitions completed at 90% 1RM was significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater in ECC (7.67 ± 3.24) as compared with CON (4.57 ± 2.21). There were no significant differences in number of completed repetitions during CON and ECC bench press at 60, 70, and 80% 1RM. These data indicate that ECC actions yield increased force capabilities (∼120%) as compared with CON in the bench press and may be less prone to fatigue, especially at higher intensities. These differences suggest a need to develop unique strategies for training eccentrically.

  2. Ayahuasca: uma abordagem toxicológica do uso ritualístico Ayahuasca: a toxicological approach of the ritualistic use

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria Carolina Meres Costa

    2005-12-01

    Full Text Available O chá da Ayahuasca vem sendo utilizado milenarmente por índios da América do Sul,como instrumento espiritual e ritual, com extrema religiosidade. No século passado surgiram seitas não-indígenas, que passaram a fazer uso do chá. Essa utilização vem aumentando desde a liberação do uso da Ayahuasca para fins religiosos no Brasil. A ação do chá deve-se à presença de alcalóides nas plantas utilizadas na sua preparação: o cipó Banisteriopsis caapi e as folhas do arbusto Psycotria viridis. Os efeitos observados são: alucinações, hipertensão, taquicardia, náuseas, vômitos e diarréia. Estas ações podem causar efeitos mais sérios ao organismo e, portanto, merecem maior atenção dos profissionais da saúde, no sentido de que se promovam estudos que possam permitir a utilização religiosa do chá sem maiores danos biológicos e para a conscientização dos usuários sobre os possíveis efeitos tóxicos destas substâncias.The Ayahuasca tea has been used for more than a thousand years by the Indians of South America, as a spiritual and ritualistic instrument, for religious purposes. Non-Indians sects have arose in the last century, and started to use the tea. This utilization is increasing since the legalization of the Ayahuasca for religious use in Brazil. The effect of the tea is caused by the presence of alkaloids in the plants used in its preparation: the Banisteriopsis caapi liana, and the leaves of Psycotria viridis shrub. The effects observed are: hallucination, hypertension, tachycardia, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. These actions may cause more serious damage to the organism, and therefore deserve more attention from the health professionals, because even for strickly religious use the tea may cause higher biological damage and therefore, the users should be made aware of the possible toxic effects of these substances.

  3. Pulsed electron beam generation with fast repetitive double pulse system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sharma, Surender Kumar; Deb, Pankaj; Shyam, Anurag, E-mail: surender80@gmail.com [Energetics and Electromagnetics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Visakhapatnam (India); Sharma, Archana [Accelerator and Pulse Power Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai (India)

    2014-07-01

    Longer duration high voltage pulse (∼ 100 kV, 260 ns) is generated and reported using helical pulse forming line in compact geometry. The transmission line characteristics of the helical pulse forming line are also used to develop fast repetition double pulse system with very short inter pulse interval. It overcomes the limitations caused due to circuit parameters, power supplies and load characteristics for fast repetitive high voltage pulse generation. The high voltage double pulse of 100 kV, 100 ns with an inter pulse repetition interval of 30 ns is applied across the vacuum field emission diode for pulsed electron beam generation. The electron beam is generated from cathode material by application of negative high voltage (> 100 kV) across the diode by explosive electron emission process. The vacuum field emission diode is made of 40 mm diameter graphite cathode and SS mesh anode. The anode cathode gap was 6 mm and the drift tube diameter was 10 cm. The initial experimental results of pulsed electron beam generation with fast repetitive double pulse system are reported and discussed. (author)

  4. Neuroimmunomodulation of autistic-like behavior : targeting mTOR via dietary interventions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wu, J.

    2015-01-01

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is characterized by impairments in social behavior and communication and the presence of repetitive and stereotyped behavior. The etiology of ASD is thought to be related to an interaction of the complex genetic basis with environmental contributions. Immunological

  5. Repetitive trauma and nerve compression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carragee, E J; Hentz, V R

    1988-01-01

    Repetitive movement of the upper extremity, whether recreational or occupational, may result in various neuropathies, the prototype of which is the median nerve neuropathic in the carpal canal. The pathophysiology of this process is incompletely understood but likely involves both mechanical and ischemic features. Experimentally increased pressures within the carpal canal produced reproducible progressive neuropathy. Changes in vibratory (threshold-type) sensibility appears to be more sensitive than two-point (innervation density-type) sensibility. The specific occupational etiologies of carpal neuropathy are obscured by methodologic and sociological difficulties, but clearly some occupations have high incidences of CTS. History and physical examination are usually sufficient for the diagnosis, but diagnostic assistance when required is available through electrophysiological testing, CT scanning, and possibly MRI. Each of these tests has limitations in both sensitivity and specificity. Treatment by usual conservative means should be combined with rest from possible provocative activities. Surgical release of the carpal canal is helpful in patients failing conservative therapy. Occupational modifications are important in both treatment and prevention of median neuropathy due to repetitive trauma.

  6. Repetitive Elements in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Transcriptional Regulation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda Malvessi Cattani

    Full Text Available Transcriptional regulation, a multiple-step process, is still poorly understood in the important pig pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Basic motifs like promoters and terminators have already been described, but no other cis-regulatory elements have been found. DNA repeat sequences have been shown to be an interesting potential source of cis-regulatory elements. In this work, a genome-wide search for tandem and palindromic repetitive elements was performed in the intergenic regions of all coding sequences from M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Computational analysis demonstrated the presence of 144 tandem repeats and 1,171 palindromic elements. The DNA repeat sequences were distributed within the 5' upstream regions of 86% of transcriptional units of M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Comparative analysis between distinct repetitive sequences found in related mycoplasma genomes demonstrated different percentages of conservation among pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. qPCR assays revealed differential expression among genes showing variable numbers of repetitive elements. In addition, repeats found in 206 genes already described to be differentially regulated under different culture conditions of M. hyopneumoniae strain 232 showed almost 80% conservation in relation to M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448 repeats. Altogether, these findings suggest a potential regulatory role of tandem and palindromic DNA repeats in the M. hyopneumoniae transcriptional profile.

  7. Repetitive Elements in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae Transcriptional Regulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cattani, Amanda Malvessi; Siqueira, Franciele Maboni; Guedes, Rafael Lucas Muniz; Schrank, Irene Silveira

    2016-01-01

    Transcriptional regulation, a multiple-step process, is still poorly understood in the important pig pathogen Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae. Basic motifs like promoters and terminators have already been described, but no other cis-regulatory elements have been found. DNA repeat sequences have been shown to be an interesting potential source of cis-regulatory elements. In this work, a genome-wide search for tandem and palindromic repetitive elements was performed in the intergenic regions of all coding sequences from M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Computational analysis demonstrated the presence of 144 tandem repeats and 1,171 palindromic elements. The DNA repeat sequences were distributed within the 5' upstream regions of 86% of transcriptional units of M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448. Comparative analysis between distinct repetitive sequences found in related mycoplasma genomes demonstrated different percentages of conservation among pathogenic and nonpathogenic strains. qPCR assays revealed differential expression among genes showing variable numbers of repetitive elements. In addition, repeats found in 206 genes already described to be differentially regulated under different culture conditions of M. hyopneumoniae strain 232 showed almost 80% conservation in relation to M. hyopneumoniae strain 7448 repeats. Altogether, these findings suggest a potential regulatory role of tandem and palindromic DNA repeats in the M. hyopneumoniae transcriptional profile.

  8. A long-pulse repetitive operation magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fan, Yu-Wei; Zhong, Hui-Huang; Zhang, Jian-De; Shu, Ting; Liu, Jin Liang

    2014-01-01

    The improved magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (MILO) is a gigawatt-class L-band high power microwave tube. It has allowed us to generate 3.1 GW pulse of 40 ns duration in the single-pulse operation and 500 MW pulse of 25 ns duration in the repetition rate operation. However, because of the severe impedance mismatch, the power conversion efficiency is only about 4% in the repetition rate operation. In order to eliminate the impedance mismatch and obtain repetitive long-pulse high-power microwave (HPM), a series of experiments are carried out and the recent progress is presented in this paper. In the single-pulse operation, when the diode voltage is 466 kV and current is 41.6 kA, the radiated microwave power is above 2.2 GW, the pulse duration is above 102 ns, the microwave frequency is about 1.74 GHz, and the power conversion efficiency is about 11.5%. In the repetition rate operation, under the condition of the diode voltage about 400 kV, beam current about 38 kA, the radiated microwave power is about 1.0 GW, the pulse duration is about 85 ns. Moreover, the radiated microwave power and the pulse duration decline little by little when the shot numbers increase gradually. The experimental results show that the impedance matching is a vital factor for HPM systems and one of the major technical challenges is to improve the cathode for the repetition rate operation MILO

  9. A long-pulse repetitive operation magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fan, Yu-Wei; Zhong, Hui-Huang; Zhang, Jian-De; Shu, Ting; Liu, Jin Liang [College of Optoelectric Science and Engineering, National University of Defense Technology, Changsha 410073 (China)

    2014-05-15

    The improved magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (MILO) is a gigawatt-class L-band high power microwave tube. It has allowed us to generate 3.1 GW pulse of 40 ns duration in the single-pulse operation and 500 MW pulse of 25 ns duration in the repetition rate operation. However, because of the severe impedance mismatch, the power conversion efficiency is only about 4% in the repetition rate operation. In order to eliminate the impedance mismatch and obtain repetitive long-pulse high-power microwave (HPM), a series of experiments are carried out and the recent progress is presented in this paper. In the single-pulse operation, when the diode voltage is 466 kV and current is 41.6 kA, the radiated microwave power is above 2.2 GW, the pulse duration is above 102 ns, the microwave frequency is about 1.74 GHz, and the power conversion efficiency is about 11.5%. In the repetition rate operation, under the condition of the diode voltage about 400 kV, beam current about 38 kA, the radiated microwave power is about 1.0 GW, the pulse duration is about 85 ns. Moreover, the radiated microwave power and the pulse duration decline little by little when the shot numbers increase gradually. The experimental results show that the impedance matching is a vital factor for HPM systems and one of the major technical challenges is to improve the cathode for the repetition rate operation MILO.

  10. A long-pulse repetitive operation magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Yu-Wei; Zhong, Hui-Huang; Zhang, Jian-De; Shu, Ting; Liu, Jin Liang

    2014-05-01

    The improved magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (MILO) is a gigawatt-class L-band high power microwave tube. It has allowed us to generate 3.1 GW pulse of 40 ns duration in the single-pulse operation and 500 MW pulse of 25 ns duration in the repetition rate operation. However, because of the severe impedance mismatch, the power conversion efficiency is only about 4% in the repetition rate operation. In order to eliminate the impedance mismatch and obtain repetitive long-pulse high-power microwave (HPM), a series of experiments are carried out and the recent progress is presented in this paper. In the single-pulse operation, when the diode voltage is 466 kV and current is 41.6 kA, the radiated microwave power is above 2.2 GW, the pulse duration is above 102 ns, the microwave frequency is about 1.74 GHz, and the power conversion efficiency is about 11.5%. In the repetition rate operation, under the condition of the diode voltage about 400 kV, beam current about 38 kA, the radiated microwave power is about 1.0 GW, the pulse duration is about 85 ns. Moreover, the radiated microwave power and the pulse duration decline little by little when the shot numbers increase gradually. The experimental results show that the impedance matching is a vital factor for HPM systems and one of the major technical challenges is to improve the cathode for the repetition rate operation MILO.

  11. Repetitive elements in parasitic protozoa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clayton Christine

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Abstract A recent paper published in BMC Genomics suggests that retrotransposition may be active in the human gut parasite Entamoeba histolytica. This adds to our knowledge of the various types of repetitive elements in parasitic protists and the potential influence of such elements on pathogenicity. See research article http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2164/11/321

  12. Optimality based repetitive controller design for track-following servo system of optical disk drives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Wentao; Zhang, Weidong

    2009-10-01

    In an optical disk drive servo system, to attenuate the external periodic disturbances induced by inevitable disk eccentricity, repetitive control has been used successfully. The performance of a repetitive controller greatly depends on the bandwidth of the low-pass filter included in the repetitive controller. However, owing to the plant uncertainty and system stability, it is difficult to maximize the bandwidth of the low-pass filter. In this paper, we propose an optimality based repetitive controller design method for the track-following servo system with norm-bounded uncertainties. By embedding a lead compensator in the repetitive controller, both the system gain at periodic signal's harmonics and the bandwidth of the low-pass filter are greatly increased. The optimal values of the repetitive controller's parameters are obtained by solving two optimization problems. Simulation and experimental results are provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

  13. Mechanical stability of heat-treated nanoporous anodic alumina subjected to repetitive mechanical deformation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bankova, A.; Videkov, V.; Tzaneva, B.; Mitov, M.

    2018-03-01

    We report studies on the mechanical response and deformation behavior of heat-treated nanoporous anodic alumina using a micro-balance test and experimental test equipment especially designed for this purpose. AAO samples were characterized mechanically by a three-point bending test using a micro-analytical balance. The deformation behavior was studied by repetitive mechanical bending of the AAO membranes using an electronically controlled system. The nanoporous AAO structures were prepared electrochemically from Al sheet substrates using a two-step anodizing technique in oxalic acid followed by heat treatment at 700 °C in air. The morphological study of the aluminum oxide layer after the mechanical tests and mechanical deformation was conducted using scanning electron and optical microscopy, respectively. The experimental results showed that the techniques proposed are simple and accurate; they could, therefore, be combined to constitute a method for mechanical stability assessment of nanostructured AAO films, which are important structural components in the design of MEMS devices and sensors.

  14. Combined effect of repetitive work and cold on muscle function and fatigue.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oksa, Juha; Ducharme, Michel B; Rintamäki, Hannu

    2002-01-01

    This study compared the effect of repetitive work in thermoneutral and cold conditions on forearm muscle electromyogram (EMG) and fatigue. We hypothesize that cold and repetitive work together cause higher EMG activity and fatigue than repetitive work only, thus creating a higher risk for overuse injuries. Eight men performed six 20-min work bouts at 25 degrees C (W-25) and at 5 degrees C while exposed to systemic (C-5) and local cooling (LC-5). The work was wrist flexion-extension exercise at 10% maximal voluntary contraction. The EMG activity of the forearm flexors and extensors was higher during C-5 (31 and 30%, respectively) and LC-5 (25 and 28%, respectively) than during W-25 (P forearm flexors at the end of W-25 was 15%. The corresponding values at the end of C-5 and LC-5 were 37% (P < 0.05 in relation to W-25) and 20%, respectively. Thus repetitive work in the cold causes higher EMG activity and fatigue than repetitive work in thermoneutral conditions.

  15. Illusory sensation of movement induced by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, Mark Schram; Lundbye-Jensen, Jesper; Grey, Michael James

    2010-01-01

    Human movement sense relies on both somatosensory feedback and on knowledge of the motor commands used to produce the movement. We have induced a movement illusion using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over primary motor cortex and dorsal premotor cortex in the absence of limb movement...... and its associated somatosensory feedback. Afferent and efferent neural signalling was abolished in the arm with ischemic nerve block, and in the leg with spinal nerve block. Movement sensation was assessed following trains of high-frequency repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation applied over...... premotor cortex stimulation was less affected by sensory and motor deprivation than was primary motor cortex stimulation. We propose that repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation over dorsal premotor cortex produces a corollary discharge that is perceived as movement....

  16. Physiological responses to four hours of low-level repetitive work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Garde, A Helene; Hansen, Åse Marie; Jensen, Bente R

    2003-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: The study investigated physiological responses to 4 hours of standardized low-level repetitive work. It was hypothesized that accumulative effects not observed after 1 hour could be found after 4 hours of repetitive work. METHODS: Ten healthy women performed intermittent (5 seconds + 5...... muscle activity during a mental reference task with low exerted force indicated attention-related muscle activity. Finally, it was indicated that repetitive work including high demands for attention is performed at the expense of the precision of the exerted force....... seconds) handgrip contractions at 10% of the maximal voluntary contraction combined with mental demands for concentration and attention. Muscle activity in the working forearm muscles, cardiovascular responses, and concentrations of biomarkers in biological fluids were recorded along with exerted force...

  17. Parent and Teacher Perspectives about Problem Behavior in Children with Williams Syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klein-Tasman, Bonita P.; Lira, Ernesto N.; Li-Barber, Kirsten T.; Gallo, Frank J.; Brei, Natalie G.

    2015-01-01

    Problem behavior of 52 children with Williams syndrome ages 6 to 17 years old was examined based on both parent and teacher report. Generally good inter-rater agreement was found. Common areas of problem behavior based both on parent and teacher report included attention problems, anxiety difficulties, repetitive behaviors (e.g., obsessions,…

  18. Risperidone in the treatment of behavioral disorders associated with autism in children and adolescents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Canitano, Roberto; Scandurra, Valeria

    2008-08-01

    This is a review of the clinical trials investigating the efficacy and safety of risperidone in the treatment of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). The main clinical characteristics are impairment in social skills, communication difficulties, repetitive movements and behaviors, including stereotypies. Pharmacotherapy is mainly directed at the so-called target symptoms, ie, behavioral disorders and the various kinds of repetitions associated with ASD. According to the available data, risperidone seems to be moderately efficacious and safe for treating behavioral disorders. 4 double blind controlled trial. 3 reanalysis studies, and 12 open studies have documented the role of risperidone in children with ASD. Controlled studies have been thoroughly considered in this review.

  19. Reverse-translational biomarker validation of Abnormal Repetitive Behaviors in mice: an illustration of the 4P's modeling approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garner, Joseph P; Thogerson, Collette M; Dufour, Brett D; Würbel, Hanno; Murray, James D; Mench, Joy A

    2011-06-01

    The NIMH's new strategic plan, with its emphasis on the "4P's" (Prediction, Pre-emption, Personalization, and Populations) and biomarker-based medicine requires a radical shift in animal modeling methodology. In particular 4P's models will be non-determinant (i.e. disease severity will depend on secondary environmental and genetic factors); and validated by reverse-translation of animal homologues to human biomarkers. A powerful consequence of the biomarker approach is that different closely related disorders have a unique fingerprint of biomarkers. Animals can be validated as a highly specific model of a single disorder by matching this 'fingerprint'; or as a model of a symptom seen in multiple disorders by matching common biomarkers. Here we illustrate this approach with two Abnormal Repetitive Behaviors (ARBs) in mice: stereotypies and barbering (hair pulling). We developed animal versions of the neuropsychological biomarkers that distinguish human ARBs, and tested the fingerprint of the different mouse ARBs. As predicted, the two mouse ARBs were associated with different biomarkers. Both barbering and stereotypy could be discounted as models of OCD (even though they are widely used as such), due to the absence of limbic biomarkers which are characteristic of OCD and hence are necessary for a valid model. Conversely barbering matched the fingerprint of trichotillomania (i.e. selective deficits in set-shifting), suggesting it may be a highly specific model of this disorder. In contrast stereotypies were correlated only with a biomarker (deficits in response shifting) correlated with stereotypies in multiple disorders, suggesting that animal stereotypies model stereotypies in multiple disorders. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Medial temporal lobe-dependent repetition suppression and enhancement due to implicit versus explicit processing of individual repeated search displays

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas eGeyer

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Using visual search, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI and patient studies have demonstrated that medial temporal lobe (MTL structures differentiate repeated from novel displays – even when observers are unaware of display repetitions. This suggests a role for MTL in both explicit and, importantly, implicit learning of repeated sensory information (Greene et al., 2007. However, recent behavioral studies suggest, by examining visual search and recognition performance concurrently, that observers have explicit knowledge of at least some of the repeated displays (Geyer et al., 2010. The aim of the present fMRI study was thus to contribute new evidence regarding the contribution of MTL structures to explicit versus implicit learning in visual search. It was found that MTL activation was increased for explicit and, respectively, decreased for implicit relative to baseline displays. These activation differences were most pronounced in left anterior parahippocampal cortex, especially when observers were highly trained on the repeated displays. The data are taken to suggest that explicit and implicit memory processes are linked within MTL structures, but expressed via functionally separable mechanisms (repetition enhancement vs. -suppression. They further show that repetition effects in visual search would have to be investigated at the display level.

  1. GPI-repetitive control for linear systems with parameter uncertainty / variation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    John A. Cortés-Romero

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Robust repetitive control problems for uncertain linear systems have been considered by different approaches. This article proposes the use of Repetitive Control and Generalized Proportional Integral (GPI Control in a complementary fashion. The conditioning and coupling of these techniques has been done in a time discrete context. Repetitive control is a control technique, based on the internal model principle, which yields perfect asymptotic tracking and rejection of periodic signals. On the other hand, GPI control is established as a robust linear control system design technique that is able to reject structured time polynomial additive perturbation, in particular, parameter uncertainty that can be locally approximated by time polynomial signal. GPI control provides a suitable stability and robustness conditions for the proper Repetitive Control operation. A stability analysis is presented under the frequency response framework using plant samples for different parameter uncertainty conditions. We carry out some comparative stability analysis with other complementary control approaches that has been effective for this kind of task, enhancing a better robustness and an improved performance for the GPI case. Illustrative simulation examples are presented which validate the proposed approach.

  2. Quantifying repetitive speech in autism spectrum disorders and language impairment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Santen, Jan P H; Sproat, Richard W; Hill, Alison Presmanes

    2013-10-01

    We report on an automatic technique for quantifying two types of repetitive speech: repetitions of what the child says him/herself (self-repeats) and of what is uttered by an interlocutor (echolalia). We apply this technique to a sample of 111 children between the ages of four and eight: 42 typically developing children (TD), 19 children with specific language impairment (SLI), 25 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) plus language impairment (ALI), and 25 children with ASD with normal, non-impaired language (ALN). The results indicate robust differences in echolalia between the TD and ASD groups as a whole (ALN + ALI), and between TD and ALN children. There were no significant differences between ALI and SLI children for echolalia or self-repetitions. The results confirm previous findings that children with ASD repeat the language of others more than other populations of children. On the other hand, self-repetition does not appear to be significantly more frequent in ASD, nor does it matter whether the child's echolalia occurred within one (immediate) or two turns (near-immediate) of the adult's original utterance. Furthermore, non-significant differences between ALN and SLI, between TD and SLI, and between ALI and TD are suggestive that echolalia may not be specific to ALN or to ASD in general. One important innovation of this work is an objective fully automatic technique for assessing the amount of repetition in a transcript of a child's utterances. © 2013 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Superior Disembedding Performance in Childhood Predicts Adolescent Severity of Repetitive Behaviors: A Seven Years Follow-Up of Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eussen, Mart L J M; Van Gool, Arthur R; Louwerse, Anneke; Verhulst, Frank C; Greaves-Lord, Kirstin

    2016-02-01

    Previous research suggests that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show a detail-focused cognitive style. The aim of the current longitudinal study was to investigate whether this detail-focused cognitive style in childhood predicted a higher symptom severity of repetitive and restrictive behaviors and interests (RRBI) in adolescence. The Childhood Embedded Figures Test (CEFT) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) were administered in 87 children with ASD at the age of 6-12 years old (T1), and the ADOS was readministered 7 years later when the participants were 12-19 years old (T2). Linear regression analyses were performed to investigate whether accuracy and reaction time in the complex versus simple CEFT condition and performance in the complex condition predicted T2 ADOS RRBI calibrated severity scores (CSS), while taking into consideration relevant covariates and ADOS RRBI CSS at T1. The CEFT performance (accuracy in the complex condition divided by the time needed) significantly predicted higher ADOS RRBI CSS at T2 (ΔR(2)  = 15%). This finding further supports the detail-focused cognitive style in individuals with ASD, and shows that it is also predictive of future RRBI symptoms over time. © 2015 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Repetitive, small-bore two-stage light gas gun

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Combs, S.K.; Foust, C.R.; Fehling, D.T.; Gouge, M.J.; Milora, S.L.

    1991-01-01

    A repetitive two-stage light gas gun for high-speed pellet injection has been developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In general, applications of the two-stage light gas gun have been limited to only single shots, with a finite time (at least minutes) needed for recovery and preparation for the next shot. The new device overcomes problems associated with repetitive operation, including rapidly evacuating the propellant gases, reloading the gun breech with a new projectile, returning the piston to its initial position, and refilling the first- and second-stage gas volumes to the appropriate pressure levels. In addition, some components are subjected to and must survive severe operating conditions, which include rapid cycling to high pressures and temperatures (up to thousands of bars and thousands of kelvins) and significant mechanical shocks. Small plastic projectiles (4-mm nominal size) and helium gas have been used in the prototype device, which was equipped with a 1-m-long pump tube and a 1-m-long gun barrel, to demonstrate repetitive operation (up to 1 Hz) at relatively high pellet velocities (up to 3000 m/s). The equipment is described, and experimental results are presented. 124 refs., 6 figs., 5 tabs

  5. Effects of slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in patients with corticobasal syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Civardi, Carlo; Pisano, Fabrizio; Delconte, Carmen; Collini, Alessandra; Monaco, Francesco

    2015-06-01

    Corticobasal syndrome is characterized by asymmetric cortical sensorimotor dysfunction and parkinsonism; an altered cortical excitability has been reported. We explored with transcranial magnetic stimulation the motor cortical excitability in corticobasal syndrome, and the effects of slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation. With transcranial magnetic stimulation, we studied two corticobasal syndrome patients. We determined bilaterally from the first dorsal interosseous muscle: relaxed threshold, and contralateral and ipsilateral silent period. We also evaluated the contralateral silent period after active/sham slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on the most affected side. At T0 the silent period was bilaterally short. On the most affected side, active slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation induced a short lasting prolongation of the contralateral silent period. In corticobasal syndrome, transcranial magnetic stimulation showed a reduction cortical inhibitory phenomenon potentially reversed transiently by slow repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

  6. Dissociating mere exposure and repetition priming as a function of word type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Butler, Laurie T; Berry, Dianne C; Helman, Shaun

    2004-07-01

    The mere exposure effect is defined as enhanced attitude toward a stimulus that has been repeatedly exposed. Repetition priming is defined as facilitated processing of a previously exposed stimulus. We conducted a direct comparison between the two phenomena to test the assumption that the mere exposure effect represents an example of repetition priming. In two experiments, having studied a set of words or nonwords, participants were given a repetition priming task (perceptual identification) or one of two mere exposure (affective liking or preference judgment) tasks. Repetition priming was obtained for both words and nonwords, but only nonwords produced a mere exposure effect. This demonstrates a key boundary for observing the mere exposure effect, one not readily accommodated by a perceptual representation systems (Tulving & Schacter, 1990) account, which assumes that both phenomena should show some sensitivity to nonwords and words.

  7. Sustainment of spherical tokamak by means of repetitive injection of compact torus plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimamura, Shin; Matsura, Ken; Takahashi, Tsutomu; Nogi, Yasuyuki

    2000-01-01

    Sustainment of spherical tokamak (S.T.) has been studied. A compact torus (C.T.) plasma was injected into confinement region by magnetized coaxial gun. For start-up and sustainment of large main spherical tokamak, single pulsed injection of small C.T. is not sufficient in many cases. C.T.plasma injection of high repetition rate is required. For this purpose magnetized coaxial gun was driven with high repetition rate current. The first injected C.T. plasma could start-up S.T. without other help. The repetitive C.T. injection grew and sustained the S.T. plasma. A CCD camera with fast gated image intensifier took a cross sectional view of S.T. during the repetitive C.T. injection. (author)

  8. PCR amplification of repetitive sequences as a possible approach in relative species quantification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ballin, Nicolai Zederkopff; Vogensen, Finn Kvist; Karlsson, Anders H

    2012-01-01

    Abstract Both relative and absolute quantifications are possible in species quantification when single copy genomic DNA is used. However, amplification of single copy genomic DNA does not allow a limit of detection as low as one obtained from amplification of repetitive sequences. Amplification...... of repetitive sequences is therefore frequently used in absolute quantification but problems occur in relative quantification as the number of repetitive sequences is unknown. A promising approach was developed where data from amplification of repetitive sequences were used in relative quantification of species...... to relatively quantify the amount of chicken DNA in a binary mixture of chicken DNA and pig DNA. However, the designed PCR primers lack the specificity required for regulatory species control....

  9. Design and implementation of fast charging circuit for repetitive compact torus injector

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Onchi, T.; McColl, D.; Dreval, M.; Wolfe, S.; Xiao, C.; Hirose, A.

    2014-01-01

    A novel circuit for compact torus (CT) injector operated at high repetition rates has been developed. The core technology adopted in the present work is to charge a large storage capacitor bank and quickly charge the CT capacitor bank through a stack of insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). A system consisting of IGBTs and slow banks for the repetitive operation has been developed and installed for each discharge circuit of the University of Saskatchewan Compact Torus Injector (USCTI). A repetition rate up to 1.7 Hz and a burst of 8 CTs have been achieved

  10. Universal data compression and repetition times

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Willems, Frans M J

    1989-01-01

    A new universal data compression algorithm is described. This algorithm encodes L source symbols at a time. For the class of binary stationary sources, its rate does not exceed [formula omitted] [formula omitted] bits per source symbol. In our analysis, a property of repetition times turns out to be

  11. Independent and additive repetition priming of motion direction and color in visual search.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kristjánsson, Arni

    2009-03-01

    Priming of visual search for Gabor patch stimuli, varying in color and local drift direction, was investigated. The task relevance of each feature varied between the different experimental conditions compared. When the target defining dimension was color, a large effect of color repetition was seen as well as a smaller effect of the repetition of motion direction. The opposite priming pattern was seen when motion direction defined the target--the effect of motion direction repetition was this time larger than for color repetition. Finally, when neither was task relevant, and the target defining dimension was the spatial frequency of the Gabor patch, priming was seen for repetition of both color and motion direction, but the effects were smaller than in the previous two conditions. These results show that features do not necessarily have to be task relevant for priming to occur. There is little interaction between priming following repetition of color and motion, these two features show independent and additive priming effects, most likely reflecting that the two features are processed at separate processing sites in the nervous system, consistent with previous findings from neuropsychology & neurophysiology. The implications of the findings for theoretical accounts of priming in visual search are discussed.

  12. High-repetition-rate hydrogen chamber: Preliminary studies; Chambre a hydrogene a haut taux de repetition: Etudes preliminaires

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1967-01-01

    This report is a conclusion to the tests realised with an experimental bubbles chamber in view to study the possibilities to increase the repetition rate. The more important parameters (the evolution of the bubbles, the expansion system) are considered in a theoretical way. Then the hardware is described. To end, experimental results are compared with the first evaluations. The calculations and the experimentation are against an oscillation system for the expansion. A system with a locking is to he considered. (authors) [French] Ce rapport est une conclusion aux essais realises avec une chambre a bulles experimentale en vue d'etudier les possibilites d'accroitre les taux de repetition. Les parametres les plus importants (evolution des bulles, mecanique de la detente) sont etudies par voie theorique. Puis l'appareillage est decrit. Enfin, les resultats experimentaux sont compares aux evaluations donnees au debut. Ces calculs et cette experimentation ne sont pas en faveur d'un systeme oscillant pour la detente et il faut envisager un systeme avec verrouillage. (auteurs)

  13. Iodine laser of high efficiency and fast repetition rate

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hohla, K; Witte, K J

    1976-07-01

    The scaling laws of an iodine laser of high efficiency and fast repetition rate are reported. The laser is pumped with a new kind of low pressure Hg-UV-lamps which convert 32% of the electrical input in UV-light in the absorption band of the iodine laser and which can be fired up to 100 Hz. Details of a 10 kJ/1 nsec system as dimensions, energy density, repetition rate, flow velocity, gas composition and gas pressure and the overall efficiency are given which is expected to be about 2%.

  14. Behavioral and pathophysiological outcomes associated with caffeine consumption and repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (RmTBI) in adolescent rats

    OpenAIRE

    Yamakawa, Glenn R.; Lengkeek, Connor; Salberg, Sabrina; Spanswick, Simon C.; Mychasiuk, Richelle

    2017-01-01

    Given that caffeine consumption is exponentially rising in adolescents and they are at increased risk for repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (RmTBI), we sought to examine the pathophysiological outcomes associated with early life caffeine consumption and RmTBI. Adolescent male and female Sprague Dawley rats received either caffeine in the drinking water or normal water and were then randomly assigned to 3 mild injuries using our lateral impact device or 3 sham procedures. Following injury...

  15. Heavy-duty high-repetition-rate generators

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Heesch, van E.J.M.; Yan, K.; Pemen, A.J.M.

    2002-01-01

    We present our results on high-power repetitive pulse sources for continuous operation. Two 1-10-kW systems using advanced spark gap technology and a transmission line transformer have been tested for several hundred hours at a 60-MW pulse level. High reliability and above 90% overall efficiency are

  16. Repetitive low-frequency stimulation reduces epileptiform synchronization in limbic neuronal networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    D'Arcangelo, G; Panuccio, G; Tancredi, V; Avoli, M

    2005-01-01

    Deep-brain electrical or transcranial magnetic stimulation may represent a therapeutic tool for controlling seizures in patients presenting with epileptic disorders resistant to antiepileptic drugs. In keeping with this clinical evidence, we have reported that repetitive electrical stimuli delivered at approximately 1 Hz in mouse hippocampus-entorhinal cortex (EC) slices depress the EC ability to generate ictal activity induced by the application of 4-aminopyridine (4AP) or Mg(2+)-free medium (Barbarosie, M., Avoli, M., 1997. CA3-driven hippocampal-entorhinal loop controls rather than sustains in vitro limbic seizures. J. Neurosci. 17, 9308-9314.). Here, we confirmed a similar control mechanism in rat brain slices analyzed with field potential recordings during 4AP (50 microM) treatment. In addition, we used intrinsic optical signal (IOS) recordings to quantify the intensity and spatial characteristics of this inhibitory influence. IOSs reflect the changes in light transmittance throughout the entire extent of the slice, and are thus reliable markers of limbic network epileptiform synchronization. First, we found that in the presence of 4AP, the IOS increases, induced by a train of electrical stimuli (10 Hz for 1 s) or by recurrent, single-shock stimulation delivered at 0.05 Hz in the deep EC layers, are reduced in intensity and area size by low-frequency (1 Hz), repetitive stimulation of the subiculum; these effects were observed in all limbic areas contained in the slice. Second, by testing the effects induced by repetitive subicular stimulation at 0.2-10 Hz, we identified maximal efficacy when repetitive stimuli are delivered at 1 Hz. Finally, we discovered that similar, but slightly less pronounced, inhibitory effects occur when repetitive stimuli at 1 Hz are delivered in the EC, suggesting that the reduction of IOSs seen during repetitive stimulation is pathway dependent as well as activity dependent. Thus, the activation of limbic networks at low frequency

  17. High repetition rate intense ion beam source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hammer, D.A.; Glidden, S.C.; Noonan, B.

    1992-01-01

    This final report describes a ≤ 150kV, 40kA, 100ns high repetition rate pulsed power system and intense ion beam source which is now in operation at Cornell University. Operation of the Magnetically-controlled Anode Plasma (MAP) ion diode at > 100Hz (burst mode for up to 10 pulse bursts) provides an initial look at repetition rate limitations of both the ion diode and beam diagnostics. The pulsed power systems are capable of ≥ 1kHz operation (up to 10 pulse bursts), but ion diode operation was limited to ∼100Hz because of diagnostic limitations. By varying MAP diode operating parameters, ion beams can be extracted at a few 10s of keV or at up to 150keV, the corresponding accelerating gap impedance ranging from about 1Ω to about 10Ω. The ability to make hundreds of test pulses per day at an average repetition rate of about 2 pulses per minute permits statistical analysis of diode operation as a function of various parameters. Most diode components have now survived more than 10 4 pulses, and the design and construction of the various pulsed power components of the MAP diode which have enabled us to reach this point are discussed. A high speed data acquisition system and companion analysis software capable of acquiring pulse data at 1ms intervals (in bursts of up to 10 pulses) and processing it in ≤ min is described

  18. MIMICRY, DIFFERENCE AND REPETITION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcelo Mendes de Souza

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available This article addresses Homi K. Bhabha’s concept of mimicry in a broader context, other than that of cultural studies and post-colonial studies, bringing together other concepts, such as that of Gilles Deleuze in Difference and repetition, among other texts, and other names, such as Silviano Santiago, Jorge Luís Borges, Franz Kafka and Giorgio Agamben. As a partial conclusion, the article intends to oppose Bhabha’s freudian-marxist view to Five propositions on Psychoanalysis (1973, Gilles Deleuze’s text about Psychoanalysis published right after his book The Anti-Oedipus.

  19. Neurobehavioural Correlates of Abnormal Repetitive Behaviour

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. A. Ford

    1991-01-01

    Full Text Available Conditions in which echolalia and echopraxia occur are reviewed, followed by an attempt to elicit possible mechanisms of these phenomena. A brief description of stereotypical and perseverative behaviour and obsessional phenomena is given. It is suggested that abnormal repetitive behaviour may occur partly as a result of central dopaminergic dysfunction.

  20. Laterality of repetitive finger movement performance and clinical features of Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stegemöller, Elizabeth; Zaman, Andrew; MacKinnon, Colum D; Tillman, Mark D; Hass, Chris J; Okun, Michael S

    2016-10-01

    Impairments in acoustically cued repetitive finger movement often emerge at rates near to and above 2Hz in persons with Parkinson's Disease (PD) in which some patients move faster (hastening) and others move slower (bradykinetic). The clinical features impacting this differential performance of repetitive finger movement remain unknown. The purpose of this study was to compare repetitive finger movement performance between the more and less affected side, and the difference in clinical ratings among performance groups. Forty-one participants diagnosed with idiopathic PD completed an acoustically cued repetitive finger movement task while "on" medication. Eighteen participants moved faster, 10 moved slower, and 13 were able to maintain the appropriate rate at rates above 2Hz. Clinical measures of laterality, disease severity, and the UPDRS were obtained. There were no significant differences between the more and less affected sides regardless of performance group. Comparison of disease severity, tremor, and rigidity among performance groups revealed no significant differences. Comparison of posture and postural instability scores revealed that the participants that demonstrated hastening had worse posture and postural instability scores. Consideration of movement rate during the clinical evaluation of repetitive finger movement may provide additional insight into varying disease features in persons with PD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Supplementation of Korean Red Ginseng improves behavior deviations in animal models of autism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edson Luck T. Gonzales

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD is heterogeneous neurodevelopmental disorders that primarily display social and communication impairments and restricted/repetitive behaviors. ASD prevalence has increased in recent years, yet very limited therapeutic targets and treatments are available to counteract the incapacitating disorder. Korean Red Ginseng (KRG is a popular herbal plant in South Korea known for its wide range of therapeutic effects and nutritional benefits and has recently been gaining great scientific attention, particularly for its positive effects in the central nervous system. Objectives: Thus, in this study, we investigated the therapeutic potential of KRG in alleviating the neurobehavioral deficits found in the valproic acid (VPA-exposed mice models of ASD. Design: Starting at 21 days old (P21, VPA-exposed mice were given daily oral administrations of KRG solution (100 or 200 mg/kg until the termination of all experiments. From P28, mice behaviors were assessed in terms of social interaction capacity (P28–29, locomotor activity (P30, repetitive behaviors (P32, short-term spatial working memory (P34, motor coordination (P36, and seizure susceptibility (P38. Results: VPA-exposed mice showed sociability and social novelty preference deficits, hyperactivity, increased repetitive behavior, impaired spatial working memory, slightly affected motor coordination, and high seizure susceptibility. Remarkably, long-term KRG treatment in both dosages normalized all the ASD-related behaviors in VPA-exposed mice, except motor coordination ability. Conclusion: As a food and herbal supplement with various known benefits, KRG demonstrated its therapeutic potential in rescuing abnormal behaviors related to autism caused by prenatal environmental exposure to VPA.

  2. Longer repetition duration increases muscle activation and blood lactate response in matched resistance training protocols

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hugo Cesar Martins-Costa

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract This study analyzed the effect of different repetition durations on electromyographic and blood lactate responses of the bench press exercise. Fifteen recreationally trained male volunteers completed two training protocols, matched for intensity (% one-repetition maximum; 1RM, number of sets, number of repetitions, and rest intervals. One of the protocols was performed with a repetition duration of 4 s (2 s concentric: 2 s eccentric; 2:2 protocol, whereas the second protocol had a repetition duration of 6 s (2 s concentric: 4 s eccentric; 2:4 protocol. The results showed higher normalized integrated electromyography (pectoralis major and triceps brachii for the 2:4 protocol. Blood lactate concentration was also higher in the 2:4 protocol across all sets. These results show that adding 2 s to the eccentric action in matched training protocols increases muscle activation and blood lactate response, which reinforces the notion that increasing repetition duration is an alternative load progression in resistance training.

  3. Repetitive element transcripts are elevated in the brain of C9orf72 ALS/FTLD patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prudencio, Mercedes; Gonzales, Patrick K; Cook, Casey N; Gendron, Tania F; Daughrity, Lillian M; Song, Yuping; Ebbert, Mark T W; van Blitterswijk, Marka; Zhang, Yong-Jie; Jansen-West, Karen; Baker, Matthew C; DeTure, Michael; Rademakers, Rosa; Boylan, Kevin B; Dickson, Dennis W; Petrucelli, Leonard; Link, Christopher D

    2017-09-01

    Significant transcriptome alterations are detected in the brain of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), including carriers of the C9orf72 repeat expansion and C9orf72-negative sporadic cases. Recently, the expression of repetitive element transcripts has been associated with toxicity and, while increased repetitive element expression has been observed in several neurodegenerative diseases, little is known about their contribution to ALS. To assess whether aberrant expression of repetitive element sequences are observed in ALS, we analysed RNA sequencing data from C9orf72-positive and sporadic ALS cases, as well as healthy controls. Transcripts from multiple classes and subclasses of repetitive elements (LINEs, endogenous retroviruses, DNA transposons, simple repeats, etc.) were significantly increased in the frontal cortex of C9orf72 ALS patients. A large collection of patient samples, representing both C9orf72 positive and negative ALS, ALS/FTLD, and FTLD cases, was used to validate the levels of several repetitive element transcripts. These analyses confirmed that repetitive element expression was significantly increased in C9orf72-positive compared to C9orf72-negative or control cases. While previous studies suggest an important link between TDP-43 and repetitive element biology, our data indicate that TDP-43 pathology alone is insufficient to account for the observed changes in repetitive elements in ALS/FTLD. Instead, we found that repetitive element expression positively correlated with RNA polymerase II activity in postmortem brain, and pharmacologic modulation of RNA polymerase II activity altered repetitive element expression in vitro. We conclude that increased RNA polymerase II activity in ALS/FTLD may lead to increased repetitive element transcript expression, a novel pathological feature of ALS/FTLD. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

  4. Cognitive-Behavioral Grief Therapy: The ABC Model of Rational-Emotion Behavior Therapy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruth Malkinson

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available The article briefly reviews the changes that occurred in the field of grief and bereavement, viewing it as a process of searching for a "rational" meaning to life without the deceased in line with the concept of continuing bonds and thus replacing that of Fred’s concept of decathexis. Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT evidenced-based studies for PTSD and complicated grief and the Cognitive-behavioral therapy − Rational-emotion behavior therapy (CBT-REBT model for grief are reviewed. The focus of intervention based on CBT-REBT is to facilitate a healthy adaptation to loss following death. A distinction is made between rational (adaptive and irrational (maladaptive grief processes. Case example illustrating the application of the model specifically a dialogue with repetitive thoughts, are presented.

  5. Nonword Repetition and Vocabulary Knowledge as Predictors of Children's Phonological and Semantic Word Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adlof, Suzanne M; Patten, Hannah

    2017-03-01

    This study examined the unique and shared variance that nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge contribute to children's ability to learn new words. Multiple measures of word learning were used to assess recall and recognition of phonological and semantic information. Fifty children, with a mean age of 8 years (range 5-12 years), completed experimental assessments of word learning and norm-referenced assessments of receptive and expressive vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition skills. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses examined the variance in word learning that was explained by vocabulary knowledge and nonword repetition after controlling for chronological age. Together with chronological age, nonword repetition and vocabulary knowledge explained up to 44% of the variance in children's word learning. Nonword repetition was the stronger predictor of phonological recall, phonological recognition, and semantic recognition, whereas vocabulary knowledge was the stronger predictor of verbal semantic recall. These findings extend the results of past studies indicating that both nonword repetition skill and existing vocabulary knowledge are important for new word learning, but the relative influence of each predictor depends on the way word learning is measured. Suggestions for further research involving typically developing children and children with language or reading impairments are discussed.

  6. High-speed repetitive pellet injector prototype for magnetic confinement fusion devices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Frattolillo, A.; Gasparotto, M.; Migliori, S.; Angelone, G.; Baldarelli, M.; Scaramuzzi, F.; Ronci, G.; Reggiori, A.; Riva, G.; Carlevaro, R.; Daminelli, G.B.

    1992-01-01

    The design of a test facility aimed at demonstrating the feasibility of high-speed repetitive acceleration of solid D 2 pellets for fusion applications, developed in a collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and ENEA Frascati, is presented. The results of tests performed at the CNPM/CNR on the piston wear in a repetitively operating two-stage gun are also reported

  7. M100907 attenuates elevated grooming behavior in the BTBR mouse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amodeo, Dionisio A; Rivera, Elaine; Dunn, Jeffrey T; Ragozzino, Michael E

    2016-10-15

    Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit social-communication deficits along with restricted interests and repetitive behaviors (RRBs). To date, there is a lack of effective treatments to alleviate RRBs. A recent study found that treatment with the 5HT2A receptor antagonist M100907 attenuates a reversal learning deficit in the BTBR mouse model of autism. The BTBR mouse also exhibits elevated grooming behavior which may model stereotyped motor behaviors also observed in ASD. The present study examined whether 5HT2A receptor blockade with M100907 at either 0.01 or 0.1mg/kg can reduce repetitive grooming in BTBR mice compared to that of vehicle-treated BTBR and C57BL6/J (B6) mice. M100907 at 0.1mg/kg, but not 0.01mg/kg, significantly attenuated repetitive grooming in BTBR mice compared to that of vehicle-treated BTBR mice. M100907 at either dose did not affect grooming behavior in B6 mice. To determine whether 0.1mg/kg M100907 had a more general effect on activity in BTBR mice, a second experiment determined whether M100907 at 0.1mg/kg affected locomotor activity in BTBR mice. M100907 treatment in BTBR and B6 mice did not alter locomotor activity compared to that of vehicle-treated BTBR and B6 mice. The present findings taken together with past results suggest that treatment with a 5HT2A receptor antagonist may be effective in ameliorating RRBs in ASD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Adult active transportation: adding habit strength to the Theory of Planned Behavior

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    de Bruijn, G.J.; Kremers, S.P.J.; Singh, A.; van den Putte, B.; van Mechelen, W.

    2009-01-01

    Background: Many health behaviors have a history of repetition and, as a result, may become habitual. Because including a measure of habit strength may add depth to current theoretical models on health behavior, the present study explored the issue of habit strength within the context of the theory

  9. Widespread Chromatin Accessibility at Repetitive Elements Links Stem Cells with Human Cancer

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas C. Gomez

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Chromatin regulation is critical for differentiation and disease. However, features linking the chromatin environment of stem cells with disease remain largely unknown. We explored chromatin accessibility in embryonic and multipotent stem cells and unexpectedly identified widespread chromatin accessibility at repetitive elements. Integrating genomic and biochemical approaches, we demonstrate that these sites of increased accessibility are associated with well-positioned nucleosomes marked by distinct histone modifications. Differentiation is accompanied by chromatin remodeling at repetitive elements associated with altered expression of genes in relevant developmental pathways. Remarkably, we found that the chromatin environment of Ewing sarcoma, a mesenchymally derived tumor, is shared with primary mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs. Accessibility at repetitive elements in MSCs offers a permissive environment that is exploited by the critical oncogene responsible for this cancer. Our data demonstrate that stem cells harbor a unique chromatin landscape characterized by accessibility at repetitive elements, a feature associated with differentiation and oncogenesis.

  10. Tactile Ranschburg effects: facilitation and inhibitory repetition effects analogous to verbal memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roe, Daisy; Miles, Christopher; Johnson, Andrew J

    2017-07-01

    The present paper examines the effect of within-sequence item repetitions in tactile order memory. Employing an immediate serial recall procedure, participants reconstructed a six-item sequence tapped upon their fingers by moving those fingers in the order of original stimulation. In Experiment 1a, within-sequence repetition of an item separated by two-intervening items resulted in a significant reduction in recall accuracy for that repeated item (i.e., the Ranschburg effect). In Experiment 1b, within-sequence repetition of an adjacent item resulted in significant recall facilitation for that repeated item. These effects mirror those reported for verbal stimuli (e.g., Henson, 1998a . Item repetition in short-term memory: Ranschburg repeated. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 24(5), 1162-1181. doi:doi.org/10.1037/0278-7393.24.5.1162). These data are the first to demonstrate the Ranschburg effect with non-verbal stimuli and suggest further cross-modal similarities in order memory.

  11. ReRep: Computational detection of repetitive sequences in genome survey sequences (GSS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alves-Ferreira Marcelo

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Genome survey sequences (GSS offer a preliminary global view of a genome since, unlike ESTs, they cover coding as well as non-coding DNA and include repetitive regions of the genome. A more precise estimation of the nature, quantity and variability of repetitive sequences very early in a genome sequencing project is of considerable importance, as such data strongly influence the estimation of genome coverage, library quality and progress in scaffold construction. Also, the elimination of repetitive sequences from the initial assembly process is important to avoid errors and unnecessary complexity. Repetitive sequences are also of interest in a variety of other studies, for instance as molecular markers. Results We designed and implemented a straightforward pipeline called ReRep, which combines bioinformatics tools for identifying repetitive structures in a GSS dataset. In a case study, we first applied the pipeline to a set of 970 GSSs, sequenced in our laboratory from the human pathogen Leishmania braziliensis, the causative agent of leishmaniosis, an important public health problem in Brazil. We also verified the applicability of ReRep to new sequencing technologies using a set of 454-reads of an Escheria coli. The behaviour of several parameters in the algorithm is evaluated and suggestions are made for tuning of the analysis. Conclusion The ReRep approach for identification of repetitive elements in GSS datasets proved to be straightforward and efficient. Several potential repetitive sequences were found in a L. braziliensis GSS dataset generated in our laboratory, and further validated by the analysis of a more complete genomic dataset from the EMBL and Sanger Centre databases. ReRep also identified most of the E. coli K12 repeats prior to assembly in an example dataset obtained by automated sequencing using 454 technology. The parameters controlling the algorithm behaved consistently and may be tuned to the properties

  12. Don't Throw out the Baby with the Bathwater: Verbal Repetition, Mnemonics, and Active Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saber, Jane Lee; Johnson, Richard D.

    2008-01-01

    The effectiveness of using verbal repetition and first-letter acronyms to teach a common marketing framework was examined in two experiments. In Experiment 1, 345 undergraduate students were exposed to the framework using one of four conditions: control, verbal repetition, acronym, and verbal repetition plus acronym in a traditional learning…

  13. Macrophage and tumor cell responses to repetitive pulsed X-ray radiation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buldakov, M. A.; Tretyakova, M. S.; Ryabov, V. B.; Klimov, I. A.; Kutenkov, O. P.; Kzhyshkowska, J.; Bol'shakov, M. A.; Rostov, V. V.; Cherdyntseva, N. V.

    2017-05-01

    To study a response of tumor cells and macrophages to the repetitive pulsed low-dose X-ray radiation. Methods. Tumor growth and lung metastasis of mice with an injected Lewis lung carcinoma were analysed, using C57Bl6. Monocytes were isolated from a human blood, using CD14+ magnetic beads. IL6, IL1-betta, and TNF-alpha were determined by ELISA. For macrophage phenotyping, a confocal microscopy was applied. “Sinus-150” was used for the generation of pulsed X-ray radiation (the absorbed dose was below 0.1 Gy, the pulse repetition frequency was 10 pulse/sec). The irradiation of mice by 0.1 Gy pulsed X-rays significantly inhibited the growth of primary tumor and reduced the number of metastatic colonies in the lung. Furthermore, the changes in macrophage phenotype and cytokine secretion were observed after repetitive pulsed X-ray radiation. Conclusion. Macrophages and tumor cells had a different response to a low-dose pulsed X-ray radiation. An activation of the immune system through changes of a macrophage phenotype can result in a significant antitumor effect of the low-dose repetitive pulsed X-ray radiation.

  14. Semantic priming, not repetition priming, is to blame for false hearing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rogers, Chad S

    2017-08-01

    Contextual and sensory information are combined in speech perception. Conflict between the two can lead to false hearing, defined as a high-confidence misidentification of a spoken word. Rogers, Jacoby, and Sommers (Psychology and Aging, 27(1), 33-45, 2012) found that older adults are more susceptible to false hearing than are young adults, using a combination of semantic priming and repetition priming to create context. In this study, the type of context (repetition vs. sematic priming) responsible for false hearing was examined. Older and young adult participants read and listened to a list of paired associates (e.g., ROW-BOAT) and were told to remember the pairs for a later memory test. Following the memory test, participants identified words masked in noise that were preceded by a cue word in the clear. Targets were semantically associated to the cue (e.g., ROW-BOAT), unrelated to the cue (e.g., JAW-PASS), or phonologically related to a semantic associate of the cue (e.g., ROW-GOAT). How often each cue word and its paired associate were presented prior to the memory test was manipulated (0, 3, or 5 times) to test effects of repetition priming. Results showed repetitions had no effect on rates of context-based listening or false hearing. However, repetition did significantly increase sensory information as a basis for metacognitive judgments in young and older adults. This pattern suggests that semantic priming dominates as the basis for false hearing and highlights context and sensory information operating as qualitatively different bases for listening and metacognition.

  15. Storytelling and Repetitive Narratives for Design Empathy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fritsch, Jonas; Judice, Andrea; Soini, Katja

    2007-01-01

    study. In this paper, we show how we attained an empathic understanding through storytelling and aroused empathy to others using repetitive narratives in an experimental presentation bringing forth factual, reflective and experiential aspects of the user information. Taking as a starting point our...

  16. High power, repetitive stacked Blumlein pulse generators

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davanloo, F; Borovina, D L; Korioth, J L; Krause, R K; Collins, C B [Univ. of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX (United States). Center for Quantum Electronics; Agee, F J [US Air Force Phillips Lab., Kirtland AFB, NM (United States); Kingsley, L E [US Army CECOM, Ft. Monmouth, NJ (United States)

    1997-12-31

    The repetitive stacked Blumlein pulse power generators developed at the University of Texas at Dallas consist of several triaxial Blumleins stacked in series at one end. The lines are charged in parallel and synchronously commuted with a single switch at the other end. In this way, relatively low charging voltages are multiplied to give a high discharge voltage across an arbitrary load. Extensive characterization of these novel pulsers have been performed over the past few years. Results indicate that they are capable of producing high power waveforms with rise times and repetition rates in the range of 0.5-50 ns and 1-300 Hz, respectively, using a conventional thyratron, spark gap, or photoconductive switch. The progress in the development and use of stacked Blumlein pulse generators is reviewed. The technology and the characteristics of these novel pulsers driving flash x-ray diodes are discussed. (author). 4 figs., 5 refs.

  17. Closed cycle high-repetition-rate pulsed HF laser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Michael R.; Morris, A. V.; Gorton, Eric K.

    1997-04-01

    The design and performance of a closed cycle high repetition rate HF laser is described. A short pulse, glow discharge is formed in a 10 SF6:1 H2 gas mixture at a total pressure of approximately 110 torr within a 15 by 0.5 by 0.5 cm3 volume. Transverse, recirculated gas flow adequate to enable repetitive operation up to 3 kHz is imposed by a centrifugal fan. The fan also forces the gas through a scrubber cell to eliminate ground state HF from the gas stream. An automated gas make-up system replenishes spent gas removed by the scrubber. Typical mean laser output powers up to 3 W can be maintained for extended periods of operation.

  18. Structurally Complex Organization of Repetitive DNAs in the Genome of Cobia (Rachycentron canadum).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Gideão W W F; Cioffi, Marcelo de B; Bertollo, Luiz A C; Molina, Wagner F

    2015-06-01

    Repetitive DNAs comprise the largest fraction of the eukaryotic genome. They include microsatellites or simple sequence repeats (SSRs), which play an important role in the chromosome differentiation among fishes. Rachycentron canadum is the only representative of the family Rachycentridae. This species has been focused on several multidisciplinary studies in view of its important potential for marine fish farming. In the present study, distinct classes of repetitive DNAs, with emphasis on SSRs, were mapped in the chromosomes of this species to improve the knowledge of its genome organization. Microsatellites exhibited a diversified distribution, both dispersed in euchromatin and clustered in the heterochromatin. The multilocus location of SSRs strengthened the heterochromatin heterogeneity in this species, as suggested by some previous studies. The colocalization of SSRs with retrotransposons and transposons pointed to a close evolutionary relationship between these repetitive sequences. A number of heterochromatic regions highlighted a greater complex organization than previously supposed, harboring a diversity of repetitive elements. In this sense, there was also evidence of colocalization of active genetic regions and different classes of repetitive DNAs in a common heterochromatic region, which offers a potential opportunity for further researches regarding the interaction of these distinct fractions in fish genomes.

  19. The algorithm for duration acceleration of repetitive projects considering the learning effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hongtao; Wang, Keke; Du, Yang; Wang, Liwan

    2018-03-01

    Repetitive project optimization problem is common in project scheduling. Repetitive Scheduling Method (RSM) has many irreplaceable advantages in the field of repetitive projects. As the same or similar work is repeated, the proficiency of workers will be correspondingly low to high, and workers will gain experience and improve the efficiency of operations. This is learning effect. Learning effect is one of the important factors affecting the optimization results in repetitive project scheduling. This paper analyzes the influence of the learning effect on the controlling path in RSM from two aspects: one is that the learning effect changes the controlling path, the other is that the learning effect doesn't change the controlling path. This paper proposes corresponding methods to accelerate duration for different types of critical activities and proposes the algorithm for duration acceleration based on the learning effect in RSM. And the paper chooses graphical method to identity activities' types and considers the impacts of the learning effect on duration. The method meets the requirement of duration while ensuring the lowest acceleration cost. A concrete bridge construction project is given to verify the effectiveness of the method. The results of this study will help project managers understand the impacts of the learning effect on repetitive projects, and use the learning effect to optimize project scheduling.

  20. Repetitive negative thinking and suicide: a burgeoning literature with need for further exploration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Law, Keyne C; Tucker, Raymond P

    2017-08-24

    Extant research has found a significant overlap between various repetitive negative thinking (RNT) patterns, such as rumination and worry, across different affective disorders implicating that the process of repetitive negative thinking is likely trans-diagnostic. Furthermore, RNT patterns at the core of psychiatric disorders associated with suicide (e.g., rumination and worry) have been found to be associated with suicide even after accounting for the disorder. A synthesis of existing literature on repetitive negative thoughts suggest that following negative emotional experiences, RNTs may lead to a sense of entrapment and hopelessness that may contribute to the onset of suicidal ideation and then facilitate the transition from thinking about suicide to making a suicide attempt by increasing an individual's capability for suicide through repetitive exposure to violent thoughts and imagery associated with suicide. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Errors in nonword repetition: bridging short- and long-term memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Santos, F H; Bueno, O F A; Gathercole, S E

    2006-03-01

    According to the working memory model, the phonological loop is the component of working memory specialized in processing and manipulating limited amounts of speech-based information. The Children's Test of Nonword Repetition (CNRep) is a suitable measure of phonological short-term memory for English-speaking children, which was validated by the Brazilian Children's Test of Pseudoword Repetition (BCPR) as a Portuguese-language version. The objectives of the present study were: i) to investigate developmental aspects of the phonological memory processing by error analysis in the nonword repetition task, and ii) to examine phoneme (substitution, omission and addition) and order (migration) errors made in the BCPR by 180 normal Brazilian children of both sexes aged 4-10, from preschool to 4th grade. The dominant error was substitution [F(3,525) = 180.47; P long than in short items, was observed [F(3,519) = 108.36; P long-term memory contributes to holding memory trace. The findings were discussed in terms of distinctiveness, clustering and redintegration hypotheses.

  2. Repetitive control of an electrostatic microbridge actuator: theory and simulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao, Haiyu; Rahn, Christopher D

    2010-01-01

    Electrostatic microactuators are used extensively in MEMS sensors, RF switches and microfluidic pumps. The high bandwidth operation required by these applications complicates the implementation of feedback controllers. This paper designs, proves stability and simulates a feedforward repetitive controller for an electrostatic microbridge. High residual stress creates tension in the microbridge that dominates bending stiffness so a pinned string model with uniform electrostatic force loading is used for model-based control. The control objective is to force the microbridge displacement to follow prescribed spatial and periodic time trajectories. Viscous damping ensures boundedness of the distributed transverse displacement in response to bounded inputs. The average displacement is measured by capacitive sensing and processed offline using a repetitive control algorithm that updates a high speed waveform generator's parameters. Simulations show that the performance depends on the amount of damping. With less than 1% damping in a representative microbridge structure, repetitive control reduces the midspan displacement overshoot by 83%

  3. Environmental Enrichment Mitigates Deficits after Repetitive Mild Traumatic Brain Injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xixia; Qiu, Jianhua; Alcon, Sasha; Hashim, Jumana; Meehan, William P; Mannix, Rebekah

    2017-08-15

    Although environmental enrichment has been shown to improve functional and histologic outcomes in pre-clinical moderate-to-severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), there are a paucity of pre-clinical data regarding enrichment strategies in the setting of repetitive mild traumatic brain injury (rmTBI). Given the vast numbers of athletes and those in the military who sustain rmTBI, the mounting evidence of the long-term and progressive sequelae of rmTBI, and the lack of targeted therapies to mitigate these sequelae, successful enrichment interventions in rmTBI could have large public health significance. Here, we evaluated enrichment strategies in an established pre-clinical rmTBI model. Seventy-one male C57BL/6 mice were randomized to two different housing conditions, environmental enrichment (EE) or normal condition (NC), then subjected to rmTBI injury (seven injuries in 9 days) or sham injury (anesthesia only). Functional outcomes in all four groups (NC-TBI, EE-TBI, NC-sham, and EE-sham) were assessed by motor, exploratory/anxiety, and mnemonic behavioral tests. At the synaptic level, N-methyl d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) subunit expression of phosphorylated glutamate receptor 1 (GluR1), phosphorylated Ca 2+ /calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII), and calpain were evaluated by western blot. Compared to injured NC-TBI mice, EE-TBI mice had improved memory and decreased anxiety and exploratory activity post-injury. Treatment with enrichment also corresponded to normal NMDAR subunit expression, decreased GluR1 phosphorylation, decreased phosphorylated CaMKII, and normal calpain expression post-rmTBI. These data suggest that enrichment strategies may improve functional outcomes and mitigate synaptic changes post-rmTBI. Given that enrichment strategies are feasible in the clinical setting, particularly for athletes and soldiers for whom the risk of repetitive injury is greatest, these data suggest that clinical trials may be warranted.

  4. Comparing Repetition Priming Effects in Words and Arithmetic Equations: Robust Priming Regardless of Color or Response Hand Change

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ailsa Humphries

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have shown that stimulus repetition can lead to reliable behavioral improvements. Although this repetition priming (RP effect has been reported in a number of paradigms using a variety of stimuli including words, objects, and faces, only a few studies have investigated mathematical cognition involving arithmetic computation, and no prior research has directly compared RP effects in a linguistic task with an arithmetic task. In two experiments, we used a within-subjects design to investigate and compare the magnitude of RP, and the effects of changing the color or the response hand for repeated, otherwise identical, stimuli in a word and an arithmetic categorization task. The results show that the magnitude of RP was comparable between the two tasks and that changing the color or the response hand had a negligible effect on priming in either task. These results extended previous findings in mathematical cognition. They also indicate that priming does not vary with stimulus domain. The implications of the results were discussed with reference to both facilitation of component processes and episodic memory retrieval of stimulus–response binding.

  5. Comparing Repetition Priming Effects in Words and Arithmetic Equations: Robust Priming Regardless of Color or Response Hand Change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Humphries, Ailsa; Chen, Zhe; Neumann, Ewald

    2017-01-01

    Previous studies have shown that stimulus repetition can lead to reliable behavioral improvements. Although this repetition priming (RP) effect has been reported in a number of paradigms using a variety of stimuli including words, objects, and faces, only a few studies have investigated mathematical cognition involving arithmetic computation, and no prior research has directly compared RP effects in a linguistic task with an arithmetic task. In two experiments, we used a within-subjects design to investigate and compare the magnitude of RP, and the effects of changing the color or the response hand for repeated, otherwise identical, stimuli in a word and an arithmetic categorization task. The results show that the magnitude of RP was comparable between the two tasks and that changing the color or the response hand had a negligible effect on priming in either task. These results extended previous findings in mathematical cognition. They also indicate that priming does not vary with stimulus domain. The implications of the results were discussed with reference to both facilitation of component processes and episodic memory retrieval of stimulus-response binding.

  6. Advances in the Behavior Analytic Treatment of Trichotillomania and Tourette's Syndrome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Himle, Michael B.; Flessner, Christopher A.; Woods, Douglas W.

    2004-01-01

    Tourette's Syndrome (TS) and Trichotillomania (TTM) are both subsumed under a larger category of repetitive behavior disorders. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the most recent behavioral research on TS and TTM. A description of both disorders is provided along with the most recent research on their etiology and maintenance.…

  7. Effects of Navigated Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation After Stroke.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chervyakov, Alexander V; Poydasheva, Alexandra G; Lyukmanov, Roman H; Suponeva, Natalia A; Chernikova, Ludmila A; Piradov, Michael A; Ustinova, Ksenia I

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this study was to test the effects of navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, delivered in different modes, on motor impairments and functional limitations after stroke. The study sample included 42 patients (58.5 ± 10.7 years; 26 males) who experienced a single unilateral stroke (1-12 months previously) in the area of the middle cerebral artery. Patients completed a course of conventional rehabilitation, together with 10 sessions of navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation or sham stimulation. Stimulation was scheduled five times a week over two consecutive weeks in an inpatient clinical setting. Patients were randomly assigned to one of four groups and received sham stimulation (n = 10), low-frequency (1-Hz) stimulation of the nonaffected hemisphere (n = 11), high-frequency (10-Hz) stimulation of the affected hemisphere (n = 13), or sequential combination of low- and high-frequency stimulations (n = 8). Participants were evaluated before and after stimulation with clinical tests, including the arm and hand section of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment Scale, modified Ashworth Scale of Muscle Spasticity, and Barthel Index of Activities of Daily Living. Participants in the three groups receiving navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation showed improvements in arm and hand functions on the Fugl-Meyer Stroke Assessment Scale. Ashworth Scale of Muscle Spasticity and Barthel Index scores were significantly reduced in groups receiving low- or high-frequency stimulation alone. Including navigated repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in a conventional rehabilitation program positively influenced motor and functional recovery in study participants, demonstrating the clinical potential of the method. The results of this study will be used for designing a large-scale clinical trial.

  8. A compact, repetitive accelerator for military and industrial applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zutavern, F.J.; O'Malley, M.W.; Ruebush, M.H.; Rinehart, L.F.; Loubriel, G.M.; Babcock, S.R.; Denison, G.J.

    1998-04-01

    A compact, short pulse, repetitive accelerator has many useful military and commercial applications in biological counter proliferation, materials processing, radiography, and sterilization (medical instruments, waste, and food). The goal of this project was to develop and demonstrate a small, 700 kV accelerator, which can produce 7 kA particle beams with pulse lengths of 10--30 ns at rates up to 50 Hz. At reduced power levels, longer pulses or higher repetition rates (up to 10 kHz) could be achieved. Two switching technologies were tested: (1) spark gaps, which have been used to build low repetition rate accelerators for many years; and (2) high gain photoconductive semiconductor switches (PCSS), a new solid state switching technology. This plan was economical, because it used existing hardware for the accelerator, and the PCSS material and fabrication for one module was relatively inexpensive. It was research oriented, because it provided a test bed to examine the utility of other emerging switching technologies, such as magnetic switches. At full power, the accelerator will produce 700 kV and 7 kA with either the spark gap or PCSS pulser

  9. [Identification of a repetitive sequence element for DNA fingerprinting in Phytophthora sojae].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Lihua; Wang, Qinhu; Ning, Feng; Zhu, Xiaoying; Zuo, Yuhu; Shan, Weixing

    2010-04-01

    Establishment of DNA fingerprinting in Phytophthora sojae and an analysis of genetic relationship of Heilongjiang and Xinjiang populations. Bioinformatics tools were used to search repetitive sequences in P. sojae and Southern blot analysis was employed for DNA fingerprinting analysis of P. sojae populations from Heilongjiang and Xinjiang using the identified repetitive sequence. A moderately repetitive sequence was identified and designated as PS1227. Southern blot analysis indicated 34 distinct bands ranging in size from 1.5 kb-23 kb, of which 21 were polymorphic among 49 isolates examined. Analysis of single-zoospore progenies showed that the PS1227 fingerprint pattern was mitotically stable. DNA fingerprinting showed that the P. sojae isolates HP4002, SY6 and GJ0105 of Heilongjiang are genetically identical to DW303, 71228 and 71222 of Xinjiang, respectively. A moderately repetitive sequence designated PS1227 which will be useful for epidemiology and population biology studies of P. sojae was obtained, and a PS1227-based DNA fingerprinting analysis provided molecular evidence that P. sojae in Xinjiang was likely introduced from Heilongjiang.

  10. Topic Repetition in Conversations on Different Days as a Sign of Dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shinkawa, Kaoru; Yamada, Yasunori

    2018-01-01

    Detecting early signs of dementia in everyday situations becomes more and more important in a rapidly aging society. Language dysfunctions are recognized as the prominent signs of dementia. Previous computational studies characterized these language dysfunctions by using acoustic and linguistic features for detecting dementia. However, they mainly investigated language dysfunctions collected from patients during neuropsychological tests. Language dysfunctions observed during regular conversations in everyday situations received little attention. One of the dysfunctions associated with dementia which is frequently observed in regular conversations is the repetition of a topic on different days. In this study, we propose a feature to characterize topic repetition in conversations on different days. We used conversational data obtained from a daily monitoring service of eight elderly people, two of whom had dementia. Through the analysis of topic extraction with latent Dirichlet allocation, we found that the frequency of topic repetition was significantly higher in people with dementia than in the control group. The results suggest that our proposed feature for identifying topic repetition in regular conversations on different days might be used for detecting dementia.

  11. Product placement in video games: The effect of brand familiarity and repetition on consumers´ memory

    OpenAIRE

    Martí Parreño, José; Bermejo Berros, Jesús; Aldás Manzano, Joaquín

    2017-01-01

    Product placement in video games is gaining momentum as a means to target audiences in an indirect and engaging way. This research uses a 2 (high repetition vs low repetition) x 2 (high brand familiarity vs low brand familiarity) factorial design to test the effects of repetition and brand familiarity on consumers’ memory for brands placed in video games. Results suggest that consumers recall better familiar than unfamiliar brands placed in the video game and repetition increases recall for f...

  12. Genome-wide survey of repetitive DNA elements in the button mushroom Agaricus bisporus

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Foulongne-Oriol, M.; Murat, C.; Castanera, R.; Ramírez, L.; Sonnenberg, A.S.M.

    2013-01-01

    Repetitive DNA elements are ubiquitous constituents of eukaryotic genomes. The biological roles of these repetitive elements, supposed to impact genome organization and evolution, are not completely elucidated yet. The availability of whole genome sequence offers the opportunity to draw a picture of

  13. The person within: memory codes for persons and traits using fMRI repetition suppression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heleven, Elien; Van Overwalle, Frank

    2016-01-01

    Neuroimaging studies on trait inference demonstrated that the ventral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) houses neural representations of memory codes for traits . In this study, we investigate the neural code not only of traits, but also of persons who exemplify these traits. We used repetition suppression, which is a rapid suppression of the neuroimaging signal upon repeated presentation of the same stimulus or core stimulus characteristics-in this case, the implied trait and person. Participants inferred familiar person's traits. At each trial, a critical (target) sentence described a behavior that implied a trait, and was preceded by a (prime) sentence that implied the same trait and portrayed the same person, the same trait but portrayed a different person or did not imply a trait and portrayed a different person. As predicted, we found partly overlapping repetition suppression areas in the ventral mPFC when persons and traits were repeated, indicating that not only traits but also familiar persons have a neural code in the ventral mPFC. We also found a negative correlation between activation when reading about a new person and participants' social network size, indicating that experience with larger social groups results in less recruitment of a person code. © The Author (2015). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  14. Commentary on: Are we overpathologizing everyday life? A tenable blueprint for behavioral addiction research. Problems with atheoretical and confirmatory research approaches in the study of behavioral addictions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kardefelt-Winther, Daniel

    2015-09-01

    This commentary is written in response to a paper by Billieux, Schimmenti, Khazaal, Maurage and Hereen (2015) published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions. It supports and extends the arguments by Billieux, Schimmenti et al. (2015): that the study of behavioral addictions too often rests on atheoretical and confirmatory research approaches. This tends to lead to theories that lack specificity and a neglect of the underlying processes that might explain why repetitive problem behaviors occur. In this commentary I extend the arguments by Billieux, Schimmenti et al. (2015) and argue that such research approaches might take us further away from conceptualizing psychiatric diagnoses that can be properly validated, which is already a problem in the field. Furthermore, I discuss whether the empirical support for conceptualizing repetitive problem behaviors as addictions might rest on research practices that have been methodologically biased to produce a result congruent with the proposal that substance addictions and behavioral addictions share similar traits. I conclude by presenting a number of ways of going forward, chief of which is the proposal that we might wish to go beyond a priori assumptions of addiction in favor of identifying the essential problem manifestations for each new potential behavioral addiction.

  15. Repetitive plasma opening switch for powerful high-voltage pulse generators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dolgachev, G.I.; Zakatov, L.P.; Nitishinskii, M.S.; Ushakov, A.G.

    1998-01-01

    Results are presented of experimental studies of plasma opening switches that serve to sharpen the pulses of inductive microsecond high-voltage pulse generators. It is demonstrated that repetitive plasma opening switches can be used to create super-powerful generators operating in a quasi-continuous regime. An erosion switching mechanism and the problem of magnetic insulation in repetitive switches are considered. Achieving super-high peak power in plasma switches makes it possible to develop new types of high-power generators of electron beams and X radiation. Possible implementations and the efficiency of these generators are discussed

  16. Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: a Novel Approach for Treating Oropharyngeal Dysphagia

    OpenAIRE

    Michou, Emilia; Raginis-Zborowska, Alicja; Watanabe, Masahiro; Lodhi, Taha; Hamdy, Shaheen

    2016-01-01

    In recent years, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, a technique used to produce human central neurostimulation, has attracted increased interest and been applied experimentally in the treatment of dysphagia. This review presents a synopsis of the current research for the application of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) on dysphagia. Here, we review the mechanisms underlying the effects of rTMS and the results from studies on both healthy volunteers and dysphagic p...

  17. Case Report: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy of A Patient With Pathological Gambling

    OpenAIRE

    S. Olga Guriz; Aslý Ekinci; M. Hakan Türkçapar

    2012-01-01

    Pathological gambling is a mental disorder characterized by continuous and repetitive gambling behavior and it might cause significant losses in social, professional and family life. There may also be some personal and social results of it such as suicide attempts, loss of job, marital problems, and troubles in family life, legal difficulties and criminal behavior. Co-occurring mental disorders might influence treatment outcomes of pathological gambling behavior. There are some reports sugge...

  18. Risperidone in the treatment of behavioral disorders associated with autism in children and adolescents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Canitano

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Roberto Canitano, Valeria ScandurraDivision of Child Neuropsychiatry, University Hospital of Siena, Siena, ItalyAbstract: This is a review of the clinical trials investigating the efficacy and safety of risperidone in the treatment of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD. The main clinical characteristics are impairment in social skills, communication difficulties, repetitive movements and behaviors, including stereotypies. Pharmacotherapy is mainly directed at the so-called target symptoms, ie, behavioral disorders and the various kinds of repetitions associated with ASD. According to the available data, risperidone seems to be moderately efficacious and safe for treating behavioral disorders. 4 double blind controlled trial. 3 reanalysis studies, and 12 open studies have documented the role of risperidone in children with ASD. Controlled studies have been thoroughly considered in this review.Keywords: autism, pervasive developmental disorders, risperidone

  19. Transduction of Repetitive Mechanical Stimuli by Piezo1 and Piezo2 Ion Channels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amanda H. Lewis

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Several cell types experience repetitive mechanical stimuli, including vein endothelial cells during pulsating blood flow, inner ear hair cells upon sound exposure, and skin cells and their innervating dorsal root ganglion (DRG neurons when sweeping across a textured surface or touching a vibrating object. While mechanosensitive Piezo ion channels have been clearly implicated in sensing static touch, their roles in transducing repetitive stimulations are less clear. Here, we perform electrophysiological recordings of heterologously expressed mouse Piezo1 and Piezo2 responding to repetitive mechanical stimulations. We find that both channels function as pronounced frequency filters whose transduction efficiencies vary with stimulus frequency, waveform, and duration. We then use numerical simulations and human disease-related point mutations to demonstrate that channel inactivation is the molecular mechanism underlying frequency filtering and further show that frequency filtering is conserved in rapidly adapting mouse DRG neurons. Our results give insight into the potential contributions of Piezos in transducing repetitive mechanical stimuli.

  20. Additive effects of repetition and predictability during comprehension: evidence from event-related potentials.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wing-Yee Chow

    Full Text Available Previous research has shown that neural responses to words during sentence comprehension are sensitive to both lexical repetition and a word's predictability in context. While previous research has often contrasted the effects of these variables (e.g. by looking at cases in which word repetition violates sentence-level constraints, little is known about how they work in tandem. In the current study we examine how recent exposure to a word and its predictability in context combine to impact lexical semantic processing. We devise a novel paradigm that combines reading comprehension with a recognition memory task, allowing for an orthogonal manipulation of a word's predictability and its repetition status. Using event-related brain potentials (ERPs, we show that word repetition and predictability have qualitatively similar and additive effects on the N400 amplitude. We propose that prior exposure to a word and predictability impact lexical semantic processing in an additive and independent fashion.

  1. Outcomes in spasticity after repetitive transcranial magnetic and transcranial direct current stimulations

    OpenAIRE

    Gunduz, Aysegul; Kumru, Hatice; Pascual-Leone, Alvaro

    2014-01-01

    Non-invasive brain stimulations mainly consist of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and transcranial direct current stimulation. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation exhibits satisfactory outcomes in improving multiple sclerosis, stroke, spinal cord injury and cerebral palsy-induced spasticity. By contrast, transcranial direct current stimulation has only been studied in post-stroke spasticity. To better validate the efficacy of non-invasive brain stimulations in improving ...

  2. Risk factors for repetition of self-harm: a systematic review of prospective hospital-based studies.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Celine Larkin

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Self-harm entails high costs to individuals and society in terms of suicide risk, morbidity and healthcare expenditure. Repetition of self-harm confers yet higher risk of suicide and risk assessment of self-harm patients forms a key component of the health care management of self-harm patients. To date, there has been no systematic review published which synthesises the extensive evidence on risk factors for repetition. OBJECTIVE: This review is intended to identify risk factors for prospective repetition of self-harm after an index self-harm presentation, irrespective of suicidal intent. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, PsychInfo and Scirus were used to search for relevant publications. We included cohort studies which examining factors associated with prospective repetition among those presenting with self-harm to emergency departments. Journal articles, abstracts, letters and theses in any language published up to June 2012 were considered. Studies were quality-assessed and synthesised in narrative form. RESULTS: A total of 129 studies, including 329,001 participants, met our inclusion criteria. Some factors were studied extensively and were found to have a consistent association with repetition. These included previous self-harm, personality disorder, hopelessness, history of psychiatric treatment, schizophrenia, alcohol abuse/dependence, drug abuse/dependence, and living alone. However, the sensitivity values of these measures varied greatly across studies. Psychological risk factors and protective factors have been relatively under-researched but show emerging associations with repetition. Composite risk scales tended to have high sensitivity but poor specificity. CONCLUSIONS: Many risk factors for repetition of self-harm match risk factors for initiation of self-harm, but the most consistent evidence for increased risk of repetition comes from long-standing psychosocial vulnerabilities, rather than characteristics of an index episode

  3. Effect of Bench Press Load Knowledge on Repetitions, Rating of Perceived Exertion, and Attentional Focus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaudoin, Christina M; Cox, Zachary; Dundore, Tyler; Thomas, Tayler; Kim, Johnathon; Pillivant, Daniel

    2018-02-01

    Beaudoin, CM, Cox, Z, Dundore, T, Thomas, T, Kim, J, and Pillivant, D. Effect of bench press load knowledge on repetitions, rating of perceived exertion, and attentional focus. J Strength Cond Res 32(2): 514-519, 2018-Few studies have examined the role of the teleoanticipation during resistance training. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of bench press (BP) load knowledge on repetitions completed, ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs), and attentional focus (% associative). Thirty-six recreationally active resistance-trained men (n = 25) and women (n = 11) participated in this study (age = 20.97 ± 1.87 years; ht = 174.12 ± 9.41 cm; and mass = 80.14 ± 14.03 kg). All subjects completed 3 testing sessions: (a) 1 repetition maximum (1RM) BP determination; (b) submaximal BP repetitions to fatigue known load (KL); and (c) submaximal BP repetitions to fatigue unknown load (UL). Known load and UL sessions were randomized and counterbalanced and both completed at 70% 1RM. An estimated weight ratio was computed using the subject's estimate of the UL weight relative to the KL weight. An independent samples t-test revealed no significant testing order difference for the estimated weight ratio. Two-way repeated-measures analysis of variances revealed no significant differences in the number of repetitions (p = 0.63), RPE (p = 0.18), or attentional focus (% associative) (p = 0.93) between the KL and UL conditions. Pearson correlations found a moderate positive association between KL repetitions completed and % associative focus when the UL was completed before the KL. Load knowledge did not influence the number of repetitions, RPE, or attentional focus while completing the BP. Further research examining the use of pacing strategies, RPE, and attentional focus during KL and UL conditions are warranted.

  4. FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL) Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Homeland Security — This dataset contains closed and obligated projects funded under the following Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs: Severe Repetitive Loss (SRL). The...

  5. FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC) Data

    Data.gov (United States)

    Department of Homeland Security — This dataset contains closed and obligated projects funded under the following Hazard Mitigation Assistance (HMA) grant programs: Repetitive Flood Claims (RFC). The...

  6. Electrode patterning of ITO thin films by high repetition rate fiber laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lin, H.K.; Hsu, W.C.

    2014-01-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films are deposited on glass substrates using a radio frequency magnetron sputtering system. As-deposited ITO thin film was 100 nm in thickness and a transmittance of ITO film on glass substrate was 79% at 550 nm. Conductive electrodes are then patterned on the ITO films using a high repetition rate fiber laser system followed by a wet chemical etching process. The electrical, optical and structural properties of the patterned samples are evaluated by means of a four-point probe technique, spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that the samples annealed with a pulse repetition rate of 150 kHz or 400 kHz have a low sheet resistivity of 21 Ω/□ and a high optical transmittance of 90%. In addition, it is shown that a higher pulse repetition rate reduces both the residual stress and the surface roughness of the patterned specimens. Therefore, the present results suggest that a pulse repetition rate of 400 kHz represents the optimal processing condition for the patterning of crack-free ITO-coated glass substrates with good electrical and optical properties.

  7. Electrode patterning of ITO thin films by high repetition rate fiber laser

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lin, H.K., E-mail: HKLin@mail.npust.edu.tw; Hsu, W.C.

    2014-07-01

    Indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films are deposited on glass substrates using a radio frequency magnetron sputtering system. As-deposited ITO thin film was 100 nm in thickness and a transmittance of ITO film on glass substrate was 79% at 550 nm. Conductive electrodes are then patterned on the ITO films using a high repetition rate fiber laser system followed by a wet chemical etching process. The electrical, optical and structural properties of the patterned samples are evaluated by means of a four-point probe technique, spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results show that the samples annealed with a pulse repetition rate of 150 kHz or 400 kHz have a low sheet resistivity of 21 Ω/□ and a high optical transmittance of 90%. In addition, it is shown that a higher pulse repetition rate reduces both the residual stress and the surface roughness of the patterned specimens. Therefore, the present results suggest that a pulse repetition rate of 400 kHz represents the optimal processing condition for the patterning of crack-free ITO-coated glass substrates with good electrical and optical properties.

  8. The development of a repetition-load scheme for the eccentric-only bench press exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moir, Gavin L; Erny, Kyle F; Davis, Shala E; Guers, John J; Witmer, Chad A

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of the present study was to develop a repetition-load scheme for the eccentric-only bench press exercise. Nine resistance trained men (age: 21.6 ± 1.0 years; 1-repetition maximum [RM] bench press: 137.7 ± 30.4 kg) attended four testing sessions during a four week period. During the first session each subject's 1-RM bench press load utilizing the stretch-shortening cycle was determined. During the remaining sessions they performed eccentric-only repetitions to failure using supra-maximal loads equivalent to 110%, 120% and 130% of their 1-RM value with a constant cadence (30 reps·min(-1)). Force plates and a three dimensional motion analysis system were used during these final three sessions in order to evaluate kinematic and kinetic variables. More repetitions were completed during the 110% 1-RM condition compared to the 130% 1-RM condition (p=0.01). Mean total work (p=0.046) as well as vertical force (p=0.049), vertical work (p=0.017), and vertical power output (p=0.05) were significantly greater during the 130% 1-RM condition compared to the 110% 1-RM condition. A linear function was fitted to the number of repetitions completed under each load condition that allowed the determination of the maximum number of repetitions that could be completed under other supra-maximal loads. This linear function predicted an eccentric-only 1-RM in the bench press with a load equivalent to 164.8% 1-RM, producing a load of 227.0 ± 50.0 kg. The repetition-load scheme presented here should provide a starting point for researchers to investigate the kinematic, kinetic and metabolic responses to eccentric-only bench press workouts.

  9. Shoulder muscle fatigue during repetitive tasks as measured by electromyography and near-infrared spectroscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferguson, Sue A; Allread, W Gary; Le, Peter; Rose, Joseph; Marras, William S

    2013-12-01

    The objective of this study was to quantify shoulder muscle fatigue during repetitive exertions similar to motions found in automobile assembly tasks. Shoulder musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are a common and costly problem in automotive manufacturing. Ten subjects participated in the study. There were three independent variables: shoulder angle, frequency, and force. There were two types of dependent measures: percentage change in near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) measures and change in electromyography (EMG) median frequency. The anterior deltoid and trapezius muscles were measured for both NIRS and EMG. Also, EMG was collected on the middle deltoid and biceps muscles. The results showed that oxygenated hemoglobin decreased significantly due to the main effects (shoulder angle, frequency, and force). The percentage change in oxygenated hemoglobin had a significant interaction attributable to force and repetition for the anterior deltoid muscle, indicating that as repetition increased, the magnitude of the differences between the forces increased. The interaction of repetition and shoulder angle was also significant for the percentage change in oxygenated hemoglobin. The median frequency decreased significantly for the main effects; however, no interactions were statistically significant. There was significant shoulder muscle fatigue as a function of shoulder angle, task frequency, and force level. Furthermore, percentage change in oxygenated hemoglobin had two statistically significant interactions, enhancing our understanding of these risk factors. Ergonomists should examine interactions of force and repetition as well as shoulder angle and repetition when evaluating the risk of shoulder MSDs.

  10. Fatigue effects upon sticking region and electromyography in a six-repetition maximum bench press.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van den Tillaar, Roland; Saeterbakken, Atle Hole

    2013-01-01

    The aim of the study was to examine the sticking region and concomitant neuromuscular activation of the prime movers during six-repetition maximum (RM) bench pressing. We hypothesised that both peak velocities would decrease and that the electromyography (EMG) of the prime movers (deltoid, major pectoralis and triceps) would increase during the pre-sticking and sticking region during the six repetitions due to fatigue. Thirteen resistance-trained males (age 22.8 ± 2.2 years, stature 1.82 ± 0.06 m, body mass 83.4 ± 7.6 kg) performed 6-RM bench presses. Barbell kinematics and EMG activity of pectoralis major, deltoid anterior, and triceps brachii during the pre-, sticking and post-sticking region of each repetition in a 6-RM bench press were analysed. For both the sticking as the post-sticking region, the time increased significantly from the first to the sixth repetition. Vertical barbell height at the start of sticking region was lower, while the height at the end of the sticking region and post-sticking region did not change during the six repetitions. It was concluded that in 6-RM bench pressing performance, the sticking region is a poor mechanical force region due to the unchanged barbell height at the end of the sticking region. Furthermore, when fatigue occurs, the pectoralis and the deltoid muscles are responsible for surpassing the sticking region as indicated by their increased activity during the pre- and sticking region during the six-repetitions bench press.

  11. Solid state pump lasers with high power and high repetition rate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oba, Masaki; Kato, Masaaki; Arisawa, Takashi

    1995-01-01

    We built a laser diode pumped solid state green laser (LDPSSGL) rated at high repetition rate. Two laser heads are placed in one cavity with a rotator in between to design to avoid thermal lensing and thermal birefringence effect. Although average green laser power higher than 10 W was obtained at 1 kHz repetition rate with pulse width of 20-30 nsec, the beam quality was so much deteriorated that energy efficiency was as low as 2 %. Learning from this experience that high power oscillator causes a lot of thermal distortion not only in the laser rod but also in the Q-switch device, we proceeded to built a oscillator/amplifier system. A low power oscillator has a slab type crystal in the cavity. As a result spatial distribution of laser power was extremely improved. As we expect that the high repetition rate solid state laser should be CW operated Q-switch type laser from the view point of lifetime of diode lasers, a conventional arc lamp pumped CW Q-switch green YAG laser of which the repetition rate is changeable from 1 kHz to 5 kHz and the pulse width is 250-570 nsec was also tested to obtain pumping characteristics of a dye laser as a function of power, pulse width etc., and dye laser pulse width of 100-130 nsec were obtained. (author)

  12. Change in power output across a high-repetition set of bench throws and jump squats in highly trained athletes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, Daniel G; Newton, Robert U

    2007-11-01

    Athletes experienced in maximal-power and power-endurance training performed 1 set of 2 common power training exercises in an effort to determine the effects of moderately high repetitions upon power output levels throughout the set. Twenty-four and 15 athletes, respectively, performed a set of 10 repetitions in both the bench throw (BT P60) and jump squat exercise (JS P60) with a resistance of 60 kg. For both exercises, power output was highest on either the second (JS P60) or the third repetition (BT P60) and was then maintained until the fifth repetition. Significant declines in power output occurred from the sixth repetition onwards until the 10th repetition (11.2% for BT P60 and 5% for JS P60 by the 10th repetition). These findings suggest that athletes attempting to increase maximal power limit their repetitions to 2 to 5 when using resistances of 35 to 45% 1RM in these exercises.

  13. Femtosecond Ti:sapphire cryogenic amplifier with high gain and MHz repetition rate

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dantan, Aurelien Romain; Laurat, Julien; Ourjoumtsev, Alexei

    2007-01-01

    We demonstrate high gain amplification of 160-femtosecond pulses in a compact double-pass cryogenic Ti:sapphire amplifier. The setup involves a negative GVD mirrors recompression stage, and operates with a repetition rate between 0.2 and 4 MHz with a continuous pump laser. Amplification factors a...... as high as 17 and 320 nJ Fourier-limited pulses are obtained at a 800 kHz repetition rate....

  14. Verbal Repetitions and Echolalia in Alzheimer's Discourse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Da Cruz, Fernanda Miranda

    2010-01-01

    This article reports on an investigation of echolalic repetition in Alzheimer's disease (AD). A qualitative analysis of data from spontaneous conversations with MHI, a woman with AD, is presented. The data come from the DALI Corpus, a corpus of spontaneous conversations involving subjects with AD. This study argues that echolalic effects can be…

  15. Effects of picosecond laser repetition rate on ablation of Cr12MoV cold work mold steel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wu, Baoye; Deng, Leimin; Liu, Peng; Zhang, Fei; Duan, Jun, E-mail: duans@hust.edu.cn; Zeng, Xiaoyan

    2017-07-01

    In this paper, the effects of pulse repetition rate on ablation efficiency and quality of Cr12MoV cold work mold steel have been studied using a picosecond (ps) pulse Nd:YVO{sub 4} laser system at λ= 1064 nm. The experimental results of area ablation on target surface reveal that laser repetition rate plays a significant role in controlling ablation efficiency and quality. Increasing the laser repetition rate, while keeping a constant mean power improves the ablation efficiency and quality. For each laser mean power, there is an optimal repetition rate to achieve a higher laser ablation efficiency with low surface roughness. A high ablation efficiency of 42.29, 44.11 and 47.52 μm{sup 3}/mJ, with surface roughness of 0.476, 0.463 and 0.706 μm could be achieved at laser repetition rate of 10 MHz, for laser mean power of 15, 17 and 19 W, respectively. Scanning electron microcopy images revels that the surface morphology evolves from rough with numerous craters, to flat without pores when we increased the laser repetition rate. The effects of laser repetition rate on the heat accumulation, plasma shield and ablation threshold were analyzed by numerical simulation, spectral analysis and multi-laser shot, respectively. The synergetic effects of laser repetition rate on laser ablation rate and machining quality were analyzed and discussed systemically in this paper.

  16. Prosody impairment and associated affective and behavioral disturbances in Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roberts, V J; Ingram, S M; Lamar, M; Green, R C

    1996-12-01

    We examined the ability to produce, repeat, and comprehend emotional prosody in 20 patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and in 11 elderly normal control subjects. In addition, caregivers of AD patients completed affective and behavioral measures with reference to the patient. Relative to control subjects, comprehension of emotional prosody was marginally impaired in mildly demented AD patients, whereas production, comprehension, and repetition of emotional prosody were significantly impaired in moderately demented AD patients. The moderately demented patients performed significantly poorer than the mildly demented patients on the production and repetition tasks. In contrast, there was no significance difference between the two groups on the prosody comprehension task. Additional analyses revealed an inverse relationship between the ability to correctly produce and repeat emotional prosody and the frequency of agitated behaviors and depressive symptomatology in moderately demented patients. This latter findings suggests that the inability to communicate emotional message is associated with disturbances in mood and behavior in AD patients. Implications for the management of disruptive behavior in agitated and aprosodic AD patients include the development of caregiver sensitivity to unexpressed emotion and caregiver assistance with emotional expression.

  17. Maximal Repetitions in Written Texts: Finite Energy Hypothesis vs. Strong Hilberg Conjecture

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Łukasz Dębowski

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The article discusses two mutually-incompatible hypotheses about the stochastic mechanism of the generation of texts in natural language, which could be related to entropy. The first hypothesis, the finite energy hypothesis, assumes that texts are generated by a process with exponentially-decaying probabilities. This hypothesis implies a logarithmic upper bound for maximal repetition, as a function of the text length. The second hypothesis, the strong Hilberg conjecture, assumes that the topological entropy grows as a power law. This hypothesis leads to a hyperlogarithmic lower bound for maximal repetition. By a study of 35 written texts in German, English and French, it is found that the hyperlogarithmic growth of maximal repetition holds for natural language. In this way, the finite energy hypothesis is rejected, and the strong Hilberg conjecture is partly corroborated.

  18. The effect of music on repetitive disruptive vocalizations of persons with dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Casby, J A; Holm, M B

    1994-10-01

    This study examined the effect of classical music and favorite music on the repetitive disruptive vocalizations of long-term-care facility (LTCF) residents with dementia of the Alzheimer's type (DAT). Three subjects diagnosed with DAT who had a history of repetitive disruptive vocalizations were selected for the study. Three single-subject withdrawal designs (ABA, ACA, and ABCA) were used to assess subjects' repetitive disruptive vocalizations during each phase: no intervention (A); relaxing, classical music (B); and favorite music (C). Classical music and favorite music significantly decreased the number of vocalizations in two of the three subjects (p < .05). These findings support a method that was effective in decreasing the disruptive vocalization pattern common in those with DAT in the least restrictive manner, as mandated by the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987.

  19. Multivariate prediction of spontaneous repetitive responses in ventricular myocardium exposed in vitro to simulated ischemic conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schiariti, M; Puddu, P E; Rouet, R

    1994-06-01

    Guinea-pig ventricular myocardium was partly exposed to normal Tyrode's superfusion and partly to altered conditions (using modified Tyrode's solution) set to simulate acute myocardial ischemia (PO2 80 +/- 10 mmHg; no glucose; pH 7.00 +/- 0.05; K+ 12 mM). Using a double-chamber tissue bath and standard microelectrode technique, the occurrence of spontaneous repetitive responses was investigated during simulated ischemia (occlusion) and after reperfusing the previously ischemic superfused tissue with normal Tyrode's solution (reperfusion). In 62 experiments (42 animals) the effects of: (1) duration of simulated ischemia (1321 +/- 435 s), (2) stimulation rate (1002 +/- 549 ms) and (3) number of successive simulated ischemic periods (occlusions) (1.58 +/- 0.92) on: (1) resting membrane potential, (2) action potential amplitude, (3) duration of 50 and 90% action potentials and (4) maximal upstroke velocity of action potential were studied. All variables were considered as gradients (delta) between normal and ischemic tissue. Both during occlusion and upon reperfusion, spontaneous repetitive responses were coded as single, couplets, salvos (three to nine and > 10) or total spontaneous repetitive responses (coded present when at least one of the above-mentioned types was seen). The incidence of total spontaneous repetitive responses was 31% (19/62) on occlusion and 85% (53/62) upon reperfusion. Cox's models (forced and stepwise) were used to predict multivariately the occurrence of arrhythmic events considered as both total spontaneous repetitive responses and as separate entities. These models were applicable since continuous monitoring of the experiments enabled exact timing of spontaneous repetitive response onset during both occlusion and reperfusion. In predicting reperfusion spontaneous repetitive responses, total spontaneous repetitive responses and blocks observed during the occlusion period were also considered. Total occlusion spontaneous repetitive responses

  20. A vacuum-sealed, gigawatt-class, repetitively pulsed high-power microwave source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xun, Tao; Fan, Yu-wei; Yang, Han-wu; Zhang, Zi-cheng; Chen, Dong-qun; Zhang, Jian-de

    2017-06-01

    A compact L-band sealed-tube magnetically insulated transmission line oscillator (MILO) has been developed that does not require bulky external vacuum pump for repetitive operations. This device with a ceramic insulated vacuum interface, a carbon fiber array cathode, and non-evaporable getters has a base vacuum pressure in the low 10-6 Pa range. A dynamic 3-D Monte-Carlo model for the molecular flow movement and collision was setup for the MILO chamber. The pulse desorption, gas evolution, and pressure distribution were exactly simulated. In the 5 Hz repetition rate experiments, using a 600 kV diode voltage and 48 kA beam current, the average radiated microwave power for 25 shots is about 3.4 GW in 45 ns pulse duration. The maximum equilibrium pressure is below 4.0 × 10-2 Pa, and no pulse shortening limitations are observed during the repetitive test in the sealed-tube condition.

  1. Refining borders of genome-rearrangements including repetitions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    JA Arjona-Medina

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background DNA rearrangement events have been widely studied in comparative genomic for many years. The importance of these events resides not only in the study about relatedness among different species, but also to determine the mechanisms behind evolution. Although there are many methods to identify genome-rearrangements (GR, the refinement of their borders has become a huge challenge. Until now no accepted method exists to achieve accurate fine-tuning: i.e. the notion of breakpoint (BP is still an open issue, and despite repeated regions are vital to understand evolution they are not taken into account in most of the GR detection and refinement methods. Methods and results We propose a method to refine the borders of GR including repeated regions. Instead of removing these repetitions to facilitate computation, we take advantage of them using a consensus alignment sequence of the repeated region in between two blocks. Using the concept of identity vectors for Synteny Blocks (SB and repetitions, a Finite State Machine is designed to detect transition points in the difference between such vectors. The method does not force the BP to be a region or a point but depends on the alignment transitions within the SBs and repetitions. Conclusion The accurate definition of the borders of SB and repeated genomic regions and consequently the detection of BP might help to understand the evolutionary model of species. In this manuscript we present a new proposal for such a refinement. Features of the SBs borders and BPs are different and fit with what is expected. SBs with more diversity in annotations and BPs short and richer in DNA replication and stress response, which are strongly linked with rearrangements.

  2. Variation and Repetition in the Spelling of Young Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Treiman, Rebecca; Decker, Kristina; Kessler, Brett; Pollo, Tatiana

    2015-01-01

    A number of investigators have suggested that young children, even those do not yet represent the phonological forms of words in their spellings, tend to use different strings of letters for different words. However, empirical evidence that children possess a concept of between-word variation has been weak. In a study by Pollo, Kessler, and Treiman (2009), in fact, prephonological spellers were more likely to write different words in the same way than would be expected on the basis of chance, not less likely. In the present study, preschool-age prephonological and phonological spellers showed a tendency to repeat spellings and parts of spellings that they had recently used. However, even prephonological spellers (mean age 4 years, 8 months) showed more repetition when spelling the same word twice in succession than when spelling different words. The results suggest that children who have not yet learned to use writing to represent the sounds of speech show some knowledge that writing represents words and should thus vary to show differences between them. The results further suggest that in spelling, as in other domains, children have a tendency to repeat recent behaviors. PMID:25637713

  3. Bystanders' Reactions to Witnessing Repetitive Abuse Experiences

    Science.gov (United States)

    Janson, Gregory R.; Carney, JoLynn V.; Hazler, Richard J.; Oh, Insoo

    2009-01-01

    The Impact of Event Scale-Revised (D. S. Weiss & C. R. Marmar, 1997) was used to obtain self-reported trauma levels from 587 young adults recalling childhood or adolescence experiences as witnesses to common forms of repetitive abuse defined as bullying. Mean participant scores were in a range suggesting potential need for clinical assessment…

  4. Context-Dependent Repetition Effects on Recognition Memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Opitz, Bertram

    2010-01-01

    One widely acknowledged way to improve our memory performance is to repeatedly study the to be learned material. One aspect that has received little attention in past research regards the context sensitivity of this repetition effect, that is whether the item is repeated within the same or within different contexts. The predictions of a…

  5. Matriculation Research Report: Course Repetition Data & Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerda, Joe

    Due to concerns that its policy on class repetition was not promoting student success, California's College of the Canyons (CoC) undertook a project to analyze student course-taking patterns and make recommendations to modify the policy. Existing college policy did not follow Section 58161 of the State Educational Code that allows colleges to…

  6. Repetitively pulsed material testing facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zucker, O.; Bostick, W.; Gullickson, R.; Long, J.; Luce, J.; Sahlin, H.

    1975-01-01

    A continuously operated, 1 pps, dense-plasma-focus device capable of delivering a minimum of 10 15 neutrons per pulse for material testing purposes is described. Moderate scaling from existing results is sufficient to provide 2 x 10 13 n/cm 2 . s to a suitable target. The average power consumption, which has become a major issue as a result of the energy crisis, is analyzed with respect to other plasma devices and is shown to be highly favorable. A novel approach to the capacitor bank and switch design allowing repetitive operation is discussed

  7. Repetitive cryotherapy attenuates the in vitro and in vivo mononuclear cell activation response.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindsay, Angus; Othman, Mohd Izani; Prebble, Hannah; Davies, Sian; Gieseg, Steven P

    2016-07-01

    What is the central question of this study? Acute and repetitive cryotherapy are routinely used to accelerate postexercise recovery, although the effect on resident immune cells and repetitive exposure has largely been unexplored and neglected. What is the main finding and its importance? Using blood-derived mononuclear cells and semi-professional mixed martial artists, we show that acute and repetitive cryotherapy reduces the in vitro and in vivo T-cell and monocyte activation response whilst remaining independent of the physical performance of elite athletes. We investigated the effect of repetitive cryotherapy on the in vitro (cold exposure) and in vivo (cold water immersion) activation of blood-derived mononuclear cells following high-intensity exercise. Single and repeated cold exposure (5°C) of a mixed cell culture (T cells and monocytes) was investigated using in vitro tissue culture experimentation for total neopterin production (neopterin plus 7,8-dihydroneopterin). Fourteen elite mixed martial art fighters were also randomly assigned to either a cold water immersion (15 min at 10°C) or passive recovery protocol, which they completed three times per week during a 6 week training camp. Urine was collected and analysed for neopterin and total neopterin three times per week, and perceived soreness, fatigue, physical performance (broad jump, push-ups and pull-ups) and training performance were also assessed. Single and repetitive cold exposure significantly (P cryotherapy attenuates in vitro T-cell and monocyte activation. This may explain the disparity in in vivo neopterin and total neopterin between cold water immersion and passive recovery following repetitive exposure during a high-intensity physical impact sport that remains independent of physical performance. © 2016 The Authors. Experimental Physiology © 2016 The Physiological Society.

  8. Functions of repetition in the discourse of elderly speakers: The role of prosody and gesture

    OpenAIRE

    Bolly, Catherine; Gerstenberg, Annette; 14th International Pragmatics Conference (IPra), Panel session "Age and language use"

    2015-01-01

    Cognitively speaking, repetition can work as a facilitator for both the planning and the understanding of spoken language. It can work as a cohesive and interactive device or, at a higher-level function of discourse, to engage in interaction by creating interpersonal involvement: repetition always conveys altered meaning, as it has to be re-interpreted by the interlocutor “in light of the accretion, juxtaposition, or expansion” (Tannen 2007: 62). Repetition is thus useful for the building of ...

  9. Cumulative Repetition Effects across Multiple Readings of a Word: Evidence from Eye Movements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamienkowski, Juan E.; Carbajal, M. Julia; Bianchi, Bruno; Sigman, Mariano; Shalom, Diego E.

    2018-01-01

    When a word is read more than once, reading time generally decreases in the successive occurrences. This Repetition Effect has been used to study word encoding and memory processes in a variety of experimental measures. We studied naturally occurring repetitions of words within normal texts (stories of around 3,000 words). Using linear mixed…

  10. Clinical Correlates and Repetition of Self-Harming Behaviors among Female Adolescent Victims of Sexual Abuse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cyr, Mireille; McDuff, Pierre; Wright, John; Theriault, Chantal; Cinq-Mars, Caroline

    2005-01-01

    This study investigated self-harming behaviors in 149 female adolescent victims of sexual abuse, first, by determining the rates of nine types of self-mutilating behavior at intake and nine months later and, second, by investigating comorbidity of clinical correlates associated with these behaviors. The adolescents were divided into three groups…

  11. Measuring Glial Metabolism in Repetitive Brain Trauma and Alzheimer’s Disease

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-09-01

    stages of repetitive brain trauma as well. Current methods of measure brain glutamate using proton spectroscopy is not specific to different cell...covering a representative range of clinical cases: a young female , young male , middle-aged male (all healthy volunteers) and a male patient with...AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-15-1-0412 TITLE: Measuring Glial Metabolism in Repetitive Brain Trauma and Alzheimer’s Disease PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

  12. A dispersion-balanced Discrete Fourier Transform of repetitive pulse sequences using temporal Talbot effect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández-Pousa, Carlos R.

    2017-11-01

    We propose a processor based on the concatenation of two fractional temporal Talbot dispersive lines with balanced dispersion to perform the DFT of a repetitive electrical sequence, for its use as a controlled source of optical pulse sequences. The electrical sequence is used to impart the amplitude and phase of a coherent train of optical pulses by use of a modulator placed between the two Talbot lines. The proposal has been built on a representation of the action of fractional Talbot effect on repetitive pulse sequences and a comparison with related results and proposals. It is shown that the proposed system is reconfigurable within a few repetition periods, has the same processing rate as the input optical pulse train, and requires the same technical complexity in terms of dispersion and pulse width as the standard, passive pulse-repetition rate multipliers based on fractional Talbot effect.

  13. Task Repetition Effects on L1 Use in EFL Child Task-Based Interaction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Azkarai, Agurtzane; García Mayo, María del Pilar

    2017-01-01

    Research has shown that tasks provide second language (L2) learners with many opportunities to learn the L2. Task repetition has been claimed to benefit L2 learning since familiarity with procedure and/or content gives learners the chance to focus on more specific aspects of language. Most research on task repetition has focused on adult…

  14. Effects of chronic social stress and maternal intranasal oxytocin and vasopressin on offspring interferon γ and behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chris Anthony Murgatroyd

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies support the hypothesis that the adverse effects of early life adversity and transgenerational stress on neural plasticity and behavior are mediated by inflammation. The objective of the present study was to investigate the immune and behavioural programming effects of intranasal (IN vasopressin (AVP and oxytocin (OXT treatment of chronic social stress (CSS exposed F1 dams on F2 juvenile female offspring. It was hypothesized that maternal AVP and OXT treatment would have preventative effects on social stress induced deficits in offspring anxiety and social behavior, and that these effects would be associated with changes in interferon γ (IFNγ. Control and CSS exposed F1 dams were administered IN saline, AVP, or OXT during lactation and the F2 juvenile female offspring were assessed for basal plasma IFNγ and perseverative, anxiety, and social behavior. CSS F2 female juvenile offspring had elevated IFNγ levels and exhibited increased repetitive/perseverative and anxiety behaviours and deficits in social behavior. These effects were modulated by AVP and OXT in a context and behavior dependent manner, with OXT exhibiting preventative effects on repetitive and anxiety behaviours and AVP possessing preventative effects on social behavior deficits and anxiety. Basal IFNγ levels were elevated in the F2 offspring of OXT treated F1 dams, but IFNγ was not correlated with the behavioural effects. These results support the hypothesis that maternal AVP and OXT treatment have context and behavior specific effects on peripheral IFNγ levels and perseverative, anxiety, and social behaviours in the female offspring of early life social stress exposed dams. Both maternal AVP and OXT are effective at preventing social stress induced increases in self-directed measures of anxiety, and AVP is particularly effective at preventing impairments in overall social contact. Oxytocin is specifically effective at preventing repetitive

  15. Genomic Organization and Physical Mapping of Tandemly Arranged Repetitive DNAs in Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biltueva, Larisa S; Prokopov, Dimitry Y; Makunin, Alexey I; Komissarov, Alexey S; Kudryavtseva, Anna V; Lemskaya, Natalya A; Vorobieva, Nadezhda V; Serdyukova, Natalia A; Romanenko, Svetlana A; Gladkikh, Olga L; Graphodatsky, Alexander S; Trifonov, Vladimir A

    2017-01-01

    Acipenseriformes represent a phylogenetically basal clade of ray-finned fish characterized by unusual genomic traits, including paleopolyploid states of extant genomes with high chromosome numbers and slow rates of molecular evolution. Despite a high interest in this fish group, only a limited number of studies have been accomplished on the isolation and characterization of repetitive DNA, karyotype standardization is not yet complete, and sex chromosomes are still to be identified. Here, we applied next-generation sequencing and cluster analysis to characterize major fractions of sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) repetitive DNA. Using FISH, we mapped 16 tandemly arranged sequences on sterlet chromosomes and found them to be unevenly distributed in the genome with a tendency to cluster in particular regions. Some of the satellite DNAs might be used as specific markers to identify individual chromosomes and their paralogs, resulting in the unequivocal identification of at least 18 chromosome pairs. Our results provide an insight into the characteristic genomic distribution of the most common sterlet repetitive sequences. Biased accumulation of repetitive DNAs in particular chromosomes makes them especially interesting for further search for cryptic sex chromosomes. Future studies of these sequences in other acipenserid species will provide new perspectives regarding the evolution of repetitive DNA within the genomes of this fish order. © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  16. Contrasting the Chromosomal Organization of Repetitive DNAs in Two Gryllidae Crickets with Highly Divergent Karyotypes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Octavio M Palacios-Gimenez

    Full Text Available A large percentage of eukaryotic genomes consist of repetitive DNA that plays an important role in the organization, size and evolution. In the case of crickets, chromosomal variability has been found using classical cytogenetics, but almost no information concerning the organization of their repetitive DNAs is available. To better understand the chromosomal organization and diversification of repetitive DNAs in crickets, we studied the chromosomes of two Gryllidae species with highly divergent karyotypes, i.e., 2n(♂ = 29,X0 (Gryllus assimilis and 2n = 9, neo-X1X2Y (Eneoptera surinamensis. The analyses were performed using classical cytogenetic techniques, repetitive DNA mapping and genome-size estimation. Conserved characteristics were observed, such as the occurrence of a small number of clusters of rDNAs and U snDNAs, in contrast to the multiple clusters/dispersal of the H3 histone genes. The positions of U2 snDNA and 18S rDNA are also conserved, being intermingled within the largest autosome. The distribution and base-pair composition of the heterochromatin and repetitive DNA pools of these organisms differed, suggesting reorganization. Although the microsatellite arrays had a similar distribution pattern, being dispersed along entire chromosomes, as has been observed in some grasshopper species, a band-like pattern was also observed in the E. surinamensis chromosomes, putatively due to their amplification and clustering. In addition to these differences, the genome of E. surinamensis is approximately 2.5 times larger than that of G. assimilis, which we hypothesize is due to the amplification of repetitive DNAs. Finally, we discuss the possible involvement of repetitive DNAs in the differentiation of the neo-sex chromosomes of E. surinamensis, as has been reported in other eukaryotic groups. This study provided an opportunity to explore the evolutionary dynamics of repetitive DNAs in two non-model species and will contribute to the

  17. Effect of parallel magnetic field on repetitively unipolar nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge under different pulse repetition frequencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yidi; Yan, Huijie; Guo, Hongfei; Fan, Zhihui; Wang, Yuying; Wu, Yun; Ren, Chunsheng

    2018-03-01

    A magnetic field, with the direction parallel to the electric field, is applied to the repetitively unipolar positive nanosecond pulsed dielectric barrier discharge. The effect of the parallel magnetic field on the plasma generated between two parallel-plate electrodes in quiescent air is experimentally studied under different pulse repetition frequencies (PRFs). It is indicated that only the current pulse in the rising front of the voltage pulse occurs, and the value of the current is increased by the parallel magnetic field under different PRFs. The discharge uniformity is improved with the decrease in PRF, and this phenomenon is also observed in the discharge with the parallel magnetic field. By using the line-ratio technique of optical emission spectra, it is found that the average electron density and electron temperature under the considered PRFs are both increased when the parallel magnetic field is applied. The incremental degree of average electron density is basically the same under the considered PRFs, while the incremental degree of electron temperature under the higher-PRFs is larger than that under the lower-PRFs. All the above phenomena are explained by the effect of parallel magnetic field on diffusion and dissipation of electrons.

  18. Design of a low emittance and high repetition rate S-band photoinjector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Jang-Hui

    2014-09-01

    As an electron beam injector of X-ray free-electron lasers (FELs), photoinjectors have been developed for the past few decades. Such an injector starting with a photocathode RF gun provides high brightness beams and therefore it is being adopted as an injector of X-ray FELs. In this paper we show how to improve photoinjector performance in terms of emittance and repetition rates by means of injector components optimization, especially with the gun. Transverse emittance at the end of an injector is reduced by optimizing the gun design, gun solenoid position, and accelerating section position. The repetition rate of an injector mainly depends on the gun. It is discussed that a repetition rate of 1 kHz at a normal-conducting S-band photoinjector is feasible by adopting a coaxial RF coupler and improving cooling-water channels surrounding the gun.

  19. Repetitive transient extraction for machinery fault diagnosis using multiscale fractional order entropy infogram

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Xuefang; Qiao, Zijian; Lei, Yaguo

    2018-03-01

    The presence of repetitive transients in vibration signals is a typical symptom of local faults of rotating machinery. Infogram was developed to extract the repetitive transients from vibration signals based on Shannon entropy. Unfortunately, the Shannon entropy is maximized for random processes and unable to quantify the repetitive transients buried in heavy random noise. In addition, the vibration signals always contain multiple intrinsic oscillatory modes due to interaction and coupling effects between machine components. Under this circumstance, high values of Shannon entropy appear in several frequency bands or high value of Shannon entropy doesn't appear in the optimal frequency band, and the infogram becomes difficult to interpret. Thus, it also becomes difficult to select the optimal frequency band for extracting the repetitive transients from the whole frequency bands. To solve these problems, multiscale fractional order entropy (MSFE) infogram is proposed in this paper. With the help of MSFE infogram, the complexity and nonlinear signatures of the vibration signals can be evaluated by quantifying spectral entropy over a range of scales in fractional domain. Moreover, the similarity tolerance of MSFE infogram is helpful for assessing the regularity of signals. A simulation and two experiments concerning a locomotive bearing and a wind turbine gear are used to validate the MSFE infogram. The results demonstrate that the MSFE infogram is more robust to the heavy noise than infogram and the high value is able to only appear in the optimal frequency band for the repetitive transient extraction.

  20. Design and Development of High-Repetition-Rate Satellite Laser Ranging System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Eun-Jung; Bang, Seong-Cheol; Sung, Ki-Pyoung; Lim, Hyung-Chul; Jung, Chan-Gyu; Kim, In-Yeung; Choi, Jae-Seung

    2015-09-01

    The Accurate Ranging System for Geodetic Observation ? Mobile (ARGO-M) was successfully developed as the first Korean mobile Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) system in 2012, and has joined in the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) tracking network, DAEdeoK (DAEK) station. The DAEK SLR station was approved as a validated station in April 2014, through the ILRS station ¡°data validation¡± process. The ARGO-M system is designed to enable 2 kHz laser ranging with millimeter-level precision for geodetic, remote sensing, navigation, and experimental satellites equipped with Laser Retroreflector Arrays (LRAs). In this paper, we present the design and development of a next generation high-repetition-rate SLR system for ARGO-M. The laser ranging rate up to 10 kHz is becoming an important issue in the SLR community to improve ranging precision. To implement high-repetition-rate SLR system, the High-repetition-rate SLR operation system (HSLR-10) was designed and developed using ARGO-M Range Gate Generator (A-RGG), so as to enable laser ranging from 50 Hz to 10 kHz. HSLR-10 includes both hardware controlling software and data post-processing software. This paper shows the design and development of key technologies of high-repetition-rate SLR system. The developed system was tested successfully at DAEK station and then moved to Sejong station, a new Korean SLR station, on July 1, 2015. HSLR-10 will begin normal operations at Sejong station in the near future.

  1. TIPOLOGI KELUARGA PADA KELUARGA MISKIN DAN TIDAK MISKIN

    OpenAIRE

    Gina Ginanjarsari; Euis Sunarti

    2014-01-01

    Family typology is a concept that describes the behavior of family in facing stressful conditions. Family typology consists of 4 dimensions such as regenerative families, resilient families, rhythmic families, and ritualistic families. This research was to analyze the differences of family typology between poor and non-poor family. Families in this study consisted of 30 poor families and 30 non-poor families which were selected by stratified random sampling. Dimensions of family typology was ...

  2. Repetitive controller for improving grid-connected photovoltaic systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Almeida, de P.M.; Duarte, J.L.; Ribeiro, P.F.; Barbosa, P.G.

    2014-01-01

    This study presents the modelling and design steps of a discrete time recursive repetitive controller (RC) to be used in a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system. It is shown that the linear synchronous reference frame proportional-integral controller, originally designed to control the converter's

  3. Repetition priming of motor activity mediated by a central pattern generator: the importance of extrinsic vs. intrinsic program initiators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siniscalchi, Michael J.; Jing, Jian; Weiss, Klaudiusz R.

    2016-01-01

    Repetition priming is characterized by increased performance as a behavior is repeated. Although this phenomenon is ubiquitous, mediating mechanisms are poorly understood. We address this issue in a model system, the feeding network of Aplysia. This network generates both ingestive and egestive motor programs. Previous data suggest a chemical coding model: ingestive and egestive inputs to the feeding central pattern generator (CPG) release different modulators, which act via different second messengers to prime motor activity in different ways. The ingestive input to the CPG (neuron CBI-2) releases the peptides feeding circuit activating peptide and cerebral peptide 2, which produce an ingestive pattern of activity. The egestive input to the CPG (the esophageal nerve) releases the peptide small cardioactive peptide. This model is based on research that focused on a single aspect of motor control (radula opening). Here we ask whether repetition priming is observed if activity is triggered with a neuron within the core CPG itself and demonstrate that it is not. Moreover, previous studies demonstrated that effects of modulatory neurotransmitters that induce repetition priming persist. This suggests that it should be possible to “prime” motor programs triggered from within the CPG by first stimulating extrinsic modulatory inputs. We demonstrate that programs triggered after ingestive input activation are ingestive and programs triggered after egestive input activation are egestive. We ask where this priming occurs and demonstrate modifications within the CPG itself. This arrangement is likely to have important consequences for “task” switching, i.e., the cessation of one type of motor activity and the initiation of another. PMID:27466134

  4. Stimulus repetition and the perception of time: the effects of prior exposure on temporal discrimination, judgment, and production.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    William J Matthews

    Full Text Available It has been suggested that repeated stimuli have shorter subjective duration than novel items, perhaps because of a reduction in the neural response to repeated presentations of the same object. Five experiments investigated the effects of repetition on time perception and found further evidence that immediate repetition reduces apparent duration, consistent with the idea that subjective duration is partly based on neural coding efficiency. In addition, the experiments found (a no effect of repetition on the precision of temporal discrimination, (b that the effects of repetition disappeared when there was a modest lag between presentations, (c that, across participants, the size of the repetition effect correlated with temporal discrimination, and (d that the effects of repetition suggested by a temporal production task were the opposite of those suggested by temporal judgments. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

  5. Models of epidemics: when contact repetition and clustering should be included

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Scholz Roland W

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The spread of infectious disease is determined by biological factors, e.g. the duration of the infectious period, and social factors, e.g. the arrangement of potentially contagious contacts. Repetitiveness and clustering of contacts are known to be relevant factors influencing the transmission of droplet or contact transmitted diseases. However, we do not yet completely know under what conditions repetitiveness and clustering should be included for realistically modelling disease spread. Methods We compare two different types of individual-based models: One assumes random mixing without repetition of contacts, whereas the other assumes that the same contacts repeat day-by-day. The latter exists in two variants, with and without clustering. We systematically test and compare how the total size of an outbreak differs between these model types depending on the key parameters transmission probability, number of contacts per day, duration of the infectious period, different levels of clustering and varying proportions of repetitive contacts. Results The simulation runs under different parameter constellations provide the following results: The difference between both model types is highest for low numbers of contacts per day and low transmission probabilities. The number of contacts and the transmission probability have a higher influence on this difference than the duration of the infectious period. Even when only minor parts of the daily contacts are repetitive and clustered can there be relevant differences compared to a purely random mixing model. Conclusion We show that random mixing models provide acceptable estimates of the total outbreak size if the number of contacts per day is high or if the per-contact transmission probability is high, as seen in typical childhood diseases such as measles. In the case of very short infectious periods, for instance, as in Norovirus, models assuming repeating contacts will also behave

  6. Relationship between redistribution on exercise thallium-201 scintigraphy and repetitive ventricular premature beats in patients with recent myocardial infarction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsuji, H.; Iwasaka, T.; Sugiura, T.; Shimada, T.; Nakamori, H.; Kimura, Y.; Inada, M.

    1991-01-01

    The relationship between myocardial ischemia detected by exercise thallium-201 scintigraphy and repetitive ventricular premature beats (VPBs) during ambulatory monitoring was evaluated in 57 patients with recent myocardial infarction. Multivariate analysis was performed to obtain the relatively important factor related to repetitive VPBs with the use of the following variables: age, redistribution, left ventricular ejection fraction, serum potassium and magnesium concentration, QRS score, left ventricular aneurysm, and the number of diseased vessels. Thirty-five patients had redistribution, but only three of them had repetitive VPBs during exercise testing. The average heart rate before 79% of 398 episodes of repetitive VPBs during ambulatory monitoring was in the range of 56 to 70/min. These data indicate that most of repetitive VPBs during ambulatory monitoring were not provoked by exercise-induced acute myocardial ischemia. However, redistribution was found to be an important factor associated with repetitive VPBs. The electrical abnormality relating to a substrate characterized by chronic reversible ischemia may explain the association between redistribution and repetitive VPBs

  7. Quantifying narrative ability in autism spectrum disorder: a computational linguistic analysis of narrative coherence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Losh, Molly; Gordon, Peter C

    2014-12-01

    Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by serious difficulties with the social use of language, along with impaired social functioning and ritualistic/repetitive behaviors (American Psychiatric Association in Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5, 5th edn. American Psychiatric Association, Arlington, 2013). While substantial heterogeneity exists in symptom expression, impairments in language discourse skills, including narrative (or storytelling), are universally observed in autism (Tager-Flusberg et al. in Handbook on autism and pervasive developmental disorders, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 335-364, 2005). This study applied a computational linguistic tool, Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA), to objectively characterize narrative performance in high-functioning individuals with autism and typically-developing controls, across two different narrative contexts that differ in the interpersonal and cognitive demands placed on the narrator. Results indicated that high-functioning individuals with autism produced narratives comparable in semantic content to those produced by controls when narrating from a picture book, but produced narratives diminished in semantic quality in a more demanding narrative recall task. This pattern is similar to that detected from analyses of hand-coded picture book narratives in prior research, and extends findings to an additional narrative context that proves particularly challenging for individuals with autism. Results are discussed in terms of the utility of LSA as a quantitative, objective, and efficient measure of narrative ability.

  8. Software-engineering-based model for mitigating Repetitive Strain ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The incorporation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in virtually all facets of human endeavours has fostered the use of computers. This has induced Repetitive Stress Injury (RSI) for continuous and persistent computer users. Proposing a software engineering model capable of enacted RSI force break ...

  9. Molecular typing of Lactobacillus brevis isolates from Korean food using repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaur, Jasmine; Sharma, Anshul; Lee, Sulhee; Park, Young-Seo

    2018-06-01

    Lactobacillus brevis is a part of a large family of lactic acid bacteria that are present in cheese, sauerkraut, sourdough, silage, cow manure, feces, and the intestinal tract of humans and rats. It finds its use in food fermentation, and so is considered a "generally regarded as safe" organism. L. brevis strains are extensively used as probiotics and hence, there is a need for identifying and characterizing these strains. For identification and discrimination of the bacterial species at the subspecific level, repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction method is a reliable genomic fingerprinting tool. The objective of the present study was to characterize 13 strains of L. brevis isolated from various fermented foods using repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction. Repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction was performed using three primer sets, REP, Enterobacterial Repetitive Intergenic Consensus (ERIC), and (GTG) 5 , which produced different fingerprinting patterns that enable us to distinguish between the closely related strains. Fingerprinting patterns generated band range in between 150 and 5000 bp with REP, 200-7500 bp with ERIC, and 250-2000 bp with (GTG) 5 primers, respectively. The Jaccard's dissimilarity matrices were used to obtain dendrograms by the unweighted neighbor-joining method using genetic dissimilarities based on repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction fingerprinting data. Repetitive element-polymerase chain reaction proved to be a rapid and easy method that can produce reliable results in L. brevis species.

  10. Decreased microvascular cerebral blood flow assessed by diffuse correlation spectroscopy after repetitive concussions in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buckley, Erin M; Miller, Benjamin F; Golinski, Julianne M; Sadeghian, Homa; McAllister, Lauren M; Vangel, Mark; Ayata, Cenk; Meehan, William P; Franceschini, Maria Angela; Whalen, Michael J

    2015-12-01

    Repetitive concussions are associated with long-term cognitive dysfunction that can be attenuated by increasing the time intervals between concussions; however, biomarkers of the safest rest interval between injuries remain undefined. We hypothesize that deranged cerebral blood flow (CBF) is a candidate biomarker for vulnerability to repetitive concussions. Using a mouse model of human concussion, we examined the effect of single and repetitive concussions on cognition and on an index of CBF (CBFi) measured with diffuse correlation spectroscopy. After a single mild concussion, CBFi was reduced by 35±4% at 4 hours (Pconcussions spaced 1 day apart, CBFi was also reduced from preinjury levels 4 hours after each concussion but had returned to preinjury levels by 72 hours after the final concussion. Interestingly, in this repetitive concussion model, lower CBFi values measured both preinjury and 4 hours after the third concussion were associated with worse performance on the Morris water maze assessed 72 hours after the final concussion. We conclude that low CBFi measured either before or early on in the evolution of injury caused by repetitive concussions could be a useful predictor of cognitive outcome.

  11. Methylation patterns of repetitive DNA sequences in germ cells of Mus musculus.

    OpenAIRE

    Sanford, J; Forrester, L; Chapman, V; Chandley, A; Hastie, N

    1984-01-01

    The major and the minor satellite sequences of Mus musculus were undermethylated in both sperm and oocyte DNAs relative to the amount of undermethylation observed in adult somatic tissue DNA. This hypomethylation was specific for satellite sequences in sperm DNA. Dispersed repetitive and low copy sequences show a high degree of methylation in sperm DNA; however, a dispersed repetitive sequence was undermethylated in oocyte DNA. This finding suggests a difference in the amount of total genomic...

  12. Scaling of black silicon processing time by high repetition rate femtosecond lasers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nava Giorgio

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Surface texturing of silicon substrates is performed by femtosecond laser irradiation at high repetition rates. Various fabrication parameters are optimized in order to achieve very high absorptance in the visible region from the micro-structured silicon wafer as compared to the unstructured one. A 70-fold reduction of the processing time is demonstrated by increasing the laser repetition rate from 1 kHz to 200 kHz. Further scaling up to 1 MHz can be foreseen.

  13. Repetitively pulsed material testing facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zucker, O.; Bostick, W.; Gullickson, R; Long, J.; Luce, J.; Sahlin, H.

    1975-01-01

    A continuously operated, 1 pps, dense-plasma-focus device capable of delivering a minimum of 10 15 neutrons per pulse for material testing purposes is described. Moderate scaling from existing results is sufficient to provide 2 x 10 13 n/cm 2 .s to a suitable target. The average power consumption, which has become a major issue as a result of the energy crisis, is analyzed with respect to other plasma devices and is shown to be highly favorable. A novel approach to the capacitor bank and switch design allowing repetitive operation is discussed. (U.S.)

  14. Repetitive nanosecond electron accelerators type URT-1 for radiation technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sokovnin, S. Yu.; Balezin, M. E.

    2018-03-01

    The electron accelerator URT-1М-300 for mobile installation was created for radiation disinfecting to correct drawbacks that were found the URT-1M electron accelerator operation (the accelerating voltage up to 1 МV, repetition rate up to 300 pps, electron beam size 400 × 100 mm, the pulse width about 100 ns). Accelerator configuration was changed that allowed to reduce significantly by 20% tank volume with oil where is placed the system of formation high-voltage pulses, thus the average power of the accelerator is increased by 6 times at the expense of increase in pulses repetition rate. Was created the system of the computerized monitoring parameters (output parameters and thermal mode) and remote control of the accelerator (charge voltage, pulse repetition rate), its elements and auxiliary systems (heat of the thyratron, vacuum system), the remote control panel is connected to the installation by the fiber-optical channel, what lightens the work for service personnel. For generating an electron beam up to 400 mm wide there are used metal- ceramic] and metal-dielectric cold cathodes of several emission elements (plates) with a non-uniform distribution of the electron beam current density on the output foil ± 15%. It was found that emission drop of both type of cathodes, during the operation at the high repetition rate (100 pps) is substantial at the beginning of the process, and then proceeds rather slowly that allows for continuous operation up to 40 h. Experiments showed that linear dependence of the voltage and a signal from the pin-diode remains within the range of the charge voltage 45-65 kV. Thus, voltage increases from 690 to 950 kV, and the signal from the pin-diode - from (2,8-4,6)*104 Gy/s. It allows to select electron energy quite precisely with consideration of the radiation technology requirements.

  15. Contact heat-evoked temporal summation: tonic versus repetitive-phasic stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Granot, Michal; Granovsky, Yelena; Sprecher, Elliot; Nir, Rony-Reuven; Yarnitsky, David

    2006-06-01

    Temporal summation (TS) is usually evoked by repetitive mechanical or electrical stimuli, and less commonly by tonic heat pain. The present study aimed to examine the TS induction by repetitive-phasic versus tonic heat pain stimuli. Using 27 normal volunteers, we compared the extent of summation by three calculation methods: start-to-end pain rating difference, percent change, and double-logarithmic regression of successive ratings along the stimulation. Subjects were tested twice, and the reliability of each of the paradigms was obtained. In addition, personality factors related to pain catastrophizing and anxiety level were also correlated with the psychophysical results. Both paradigms induced significant TS, with similar increases for the repetitive-phasic and the tonic paradigms, as measured on 0-100 numerical pain scale (from 52.9+/-11.7 to 80.2+/-15.5, p<0.001; and from 38.5+/-13.3 to 75.8+/-18.3, p<0.001, respectively). The extent of summation was significantly correlated between the two paradigms, when calculated by absolute change (r=0.543, p=0.004) and by regression (r=0.438, p=0.025). Session-to-session variability was similar for both paradigms, relatively large, yet not biased. As with other psychophysical parameters, this poses some limitations on TS assessment in individual patients over time. The extent of TS induced by both paradigms was found to be associated with anxiety level and pain catastrophizing. Despite some dissimilarity between the repetitive-phasic and the tonic paradigms, the many similarities suggest that the two represent a similar physiological process, even if not precisely the same. Future clinical applications of these tests will determine the clinical relevance of the TS paradigms presented in this study.

  16. Interspersion of highly repetitive DNA with single copy DNA in the genome of the red crab, Geryon quinquedens

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Christie, N.T. (Univ. of Tennessee, Oak Ridge); Skinner, D.M.

    1979-02-01

    Kinetic analysis of the reassociation of 420 nucleotide (NT) long fragments has shown that essentially all of the repetitive sequences of the DNA of the red crab Geryon quinquedens are highly repetitive. There are negligible amounts of low and intermediate repetitive DNAs. Though atypical of most eukaryotes, this pattern has been observed in al other brachyurans (true crabs) studied. The major repetitive component is subdivided into short runs of 300 NT and longer runs of greater than 1200 NT while the minor component has an average sequence length of 400 NT. Both components reassociate at rates commonly observed for satellite DNAs. Unique among eukaryotes the organization of the genome includes single copy DNA contiguous to short runs (300 NT) of both repetitive components. Although patent satellites are not present, subsets of the repetitive DNA have been isolated by either restriction endonuclease digestion or by centrifugation in Ag/sup +/ or Hg/sup 2 +//Cs/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ density gradients.

  17. Repetitive muscle compression reduces vascular mechano-sensitivity and the hyperemic response to muscle contraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messere, A; Turturici, M; Millo, G; Roatta, S

    2017-06-01

    Animal studies have shown that the rapid hyperemic response to external muscle compression undergoes inactivation upon repetitive stimulation, but this phenomenon has never been observed in humans. The aim of the present study was to determine whether 1) the vascular mechano-sensitivity underlying muscle compression-induced hyperemia is inactivated in an inter-stimulus interval (ISI)-dependent fashion upon repetitive stimulation, as suggested by animal studies, and 2) whether such inactivation also attenuates contraction-induced hyperemia. Brachial artery blood flow was measured by echo Doppler sonography in 13 healthy adults in response to 1) single and repetitive cuff muscle compression (CMC) of the forearm (20 CMCs, 1 s ISI); 2) a sequence of CMC delivered at decreasing ISI from 120 to 2 s; and 3) electrically-stimulated contraction of the forearm muscles before and after repetitive CMC. The peak amplitude of hyperemia in response to CMC normalized to baseline decreased from 2.2 ± 0.6 to 1.4 ± 0.4 after repetitive CMC and, in general, was decreased at ISI < 240 s. The peak amplitude of contraction-induced hyperemia was attenuated after as compared to before repeated CMC (1.7 ± 0.4 and 2.6 ± 0.6, respectively). Mechano-sensitivity of the vascular network can be conditioned by previous mechanical stimulation, and such preconditioning may substantially decrease contraction-induced hyperemia.

  18. A rhetorical analysis of apologies for scientific misconduct: do they really mean it?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Souder, Lawrence

    2010-03-01

    Since published acknowledgements of scientific misconduct are a species of image restoration, common strategies for responding publicly to accusations can be expected: from sincere apologies to ritualistic apologies. This study is a rhetorical examination of these strategies as they are reflected in choices in language: it compares the published retractions and letters of apology with the letters that charge misconduct. The letters are examined for any shifts in language between the charge of misconduct and the response to the charge in order to assess whether the apology was sincere or ritualistic. The results indicate that although most authors' published acknowledgments of scientific misconduct seem to minimize culpability by means of the strategic use of language, their resulting ritualistic apologies often still satisfy in some way the accusers' (and thus their community's) concerns.

  19. Interaction of Repetitively Pulsed High Energy Laser Radiation With Matter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hugenschmidt, Manfred

    1986-10-01

    The paper is concerned with laser target interaction processes involving new methods of improving the overall energy balance. As expected theoretically, this can be achieved with high repetition rate pulsed lasers even for initially highly reflecting materials, such as metals. Experiments were performed by using a pulsed CO2 laser at mean powers up to 2 kW and repetition rates up to 100 Hz. The rates of temperature rise of aluminium for example were thereby increased by lore than a factor of 3 as compared to cw-radiation of comparable power density. Similar improvements were found for the overall absorptivities that were increased by this method by more than an order of magnitude.

  20. Repetition Suppression in the Left Inferior Frontal Gyrus Predicts Tone Learning Performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asaridou, Salomi S; Takashima, Atsuko; Dediu, Dan; Hagoort, Peter; McQueen, James M

    2016-06-01

    Do individuals differ in how efficiently they process non-native sounds? To what extent do these differences relate to individual variability in sound-learning aptitude? We addressed these questions by assessing the sound-learning abilities of Dutch native speakers as they were trained on non-native tone contrasts. We used fMRI repetition suppression to the non-native tones to measure participants' neuronal processing efficiency before and after training. Although all participants improved in tone identification with training, there was large individual variability in learning performance. A repetition suppression effect to tone was found in the bilateral inferior frontal gyri (IFGs) before training. No whole-brain effect was found after training; a region-of-interest analysis, however, showed that, after training, repetition suppression to tone in the left IFG correlated positively with learning. That is, individuals who were better in learning the non-native tones showed larger repetition suppression in this area. Crucially, this was true even before training. These findings add to existing evidence that the left IFG plays an important role in sound learning and indicate that individual differences in learning aptitude stem from differences in the neuronal efficiency with which non-native sounds are processed. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  1. Commentary on: Are we overpathologizing everyday life? A tenable blueprint for behavioral addiction research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kardefelt-Winther, Daniel

    2015-01-01

    Background and Aims This commentary is written in response to a paper by Billieux, Schimmenti, Khazaal, Maurage and Hereen (2015) published in the Journal of Behavioral Addictions. Methods It supports and extends the arguments by Billieux, Schimmenti et al. (2015): that the study of behavioral addictions too often rests on atheoretical and confirmatory research approaches. This tends to lead to theories that lack specificity and a neglect of the underlying processes that might explain why repetitive problem behaviors occur. Results In this commentary I extend the arguments by Billieux, Schimmenti et al. (2015) and argue that such research approaches might take us further away from conceptualizing psychiatric diagnoses that can be properly validated, which is already a problem in the field. Furthermore, I discuss whether the empirical support for conceptualizing repetitive problem behaviors as addictions might rest on research practices that have been methodologically biased to produce a result congruent with the proposal that substance addictions and behavioral addictions share similar traits. Conclusions I conclude by presenting a number of ways of going forward, chief of which is the proposal that we might wish to go beyond a priori assumptions of addiction in favor of identifying the essential problem manifestations for each new potential behavioral addiction. PMID:26551896

  2. Ketogenic diets improve behaviors associated with autism spectrum disorder in a sex-specific manner in the EL mouse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruskin, David N; Fortin, Jessica A; Bisnauth, Subrina N; Masino, Susan A

    2017-01-01

    The core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are poorly treated with current medications. Symptoms of autism spectrum disorder are frequently comorbid with a diagnosis of epilepsy and vice versa. Medically-supervised ketogenic diets are remarkably effective nonpharmacological treatments for epilepsy, even in drug-refractory cases. There is accumulating evidence that supports the efficacy of ketogenic diets in treating the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders in animal models as well as limited reports of benefits in patients. This study tests the behavioral effects of ketogenic diet feeding in the EL mouse, a model with behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder and comorbid epilepsy. Male and female EL mice were fed control diet or one of two ketogenic diet formulas ad libitum starting at 5weeks of age. Beginning at 8weeks of age, diet protocols continued and performance of each group on tests of sociability and repetitive behavior was assessed. A ketogenic diet improved behavioral characteristics of autism spectrum disorder in a sex- and test-specific manner; ketogenic diet never worsened relevant behaviors. Ketogenic diet feeding improved multiple measures of sociability and reduced repetitive behavior in female mice, with limited effects in males. Additional experiments in female mice showed that a less strict, more clinically-relevant diet formula was equally effective in improving sociability and reducing repetitive behavior. Taken together these results add to the growing number of studies suggesting that ketogenic and related diets may provide significant relief from the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, and suggest that in some cases there may be increased efficacy in females. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Involvement of Disperse Repetitive Sequences in Wheat/Rye Genome Adjustment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuela Silva

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The union of different genomes in the same nucleus frequently results in hybrid genotypes with improved genome plasticity related to both genome remodeling events and changes in gene expression. Most modern cereal crops are polyploid species. Triticale, synthesized by the cross between wheat and rye, constitutes an excellent model to study polyploidization functional implications. We intend to attain a deeper knowledge of dispersed repetitive sequence involvement in parental genome reshuffle in triticale and in wheat-rye addition lines that have the entire wheat genome plus each rye chromosome pair. Through Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD analysis with OPH20 10-mer primer we unraveled clear alterations corresponding to the loss of specific bands from both parental genomes. Moreover, the sequential nature of those events was revealed by the increased absence of rye-origin bands in wheat-rye addition lines in comparison with triticale. Remodeled band sequencing revealed that both repetitive and coding genome domains are affected in wheat-rye hybrid genotypes. Additionally, the amplification and sequencing of pSc20H internal segments showed that the disappearance of parental bands may result from restricted sequence alterations and unraveled the involvement of wheat/rye related repetitive sequences in genome adjustment needed for hybrid plant stabilization.

  4. An ontogenic study of the behavioral effects of chronic intermittent exposure to ayahuasca in mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Correa-Netto, N F; Masukawa, M Y; Nishide, F; Galfano, G S; Tamura, F; Shimizo, M K; Marcato, M P; Santos, J G; Linardi, A

    2017-06-05

    Ayahuasca is a beverage obtained from decoctions of the Banisteriopsis caapi plus Psychotria viridis. In religious contexts, ayahuasca is used by different age groups. However, little is known of the effects of ayahuasca during ontogenic development, particularly with regard to the functional characteristics of the central nervous system. Animal models are useful for studying the ontogenic effects of ayahuasca because they allow exclusion of the behavioral influence associated with the ritualistic use. We investigated the effects of exposure to ayahuasca (1.5 mL/kg, orally, twice a week) on memory and anxiety in C57BL/6 mice, with the post-natal day (PND) being used as the ontogenic criterion for classification: childhood (PND21 to PND35), adolescence (PND35 to PND63), adulthood (PND90-PND118), childhood-adolescence (PND21 to PND63), childhood-adulthood (PND21 to PND118) and adolescence-adulthood (PND35 to PND118). One day after the last ayahuasca exposure, the mice were subjected to the Morris water maze (MWM), open field and elevated plus maze tasks (EPM). Ayahuasca did not affect locomotion in the open field or open arms exploration in the EPM, but increased the risk assessment behavior in the childhood group. Ayahuasca did not cause any change in acquisition of spatial reference memory in the MWM task, but decreased the time spent on the platform quadrant during the test session in the adolescence group. These results suggest that, in mice, exposure to ayahuasca in childhood and adolescence promoted anxiety and memory impairment, respectively. However, these behavioral changes were not long-lasting since they were not observed in the childhood-adulthood and adolescence-adulthood groups.

  5. An ontogenic study of the behavioral effects of chronic intermittent exposure to ayahuasca in mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.F. Correa-Netto

    Full Text Available Ayahuasca is a beverage obtained from decoctions of the Banisteriopsis caapi plus Psychotria viridis. In religious contexts, ayahuasca is used by different age groups. However, little is known of the effects of ayahuasca during ontogenic development, particularly with regard to the functional characteristics of the central nervous system. Animal models are useful for studying the ontogenic effects of ayahuasca because they allow exclusion of the behavioral influence associated with the ritualistic use. We investigated the effects of exposure to ayahuasca (1.5 mL/kg, orally, twice a week on memory and anxiety in C57BL/6 mice, with the post-natal day (PND being used as the ontogenic criterion for classification: childhood (PND21 to PND35, adolescence (PND35 to PND63, adulthood (PND90-PND118, childhood-adolescence (PND21 to PND63, childhood-adulthood (PND21 to PND118 and adolescence-adulthood (PND35 to PND118. One day after the last ayahuasca exposure, the mice were subjected to the Morris water maze (MWM, open field and elevated plus maze tasks (EPM. Ayahuasca did not affect locomotion in the open field or open arms exploration in the EPM, but increased the risk assessment behavior in the childhood group. Ayahuasca did not cause any change in acquisition of spatial reference memory in the MWM task, but decreased the time spent on the platform quadrant during the test session in the adolescence group. These results suggest that, in mice, exposure to ayahuasca in childhood and adolescence promoted anxiety and memory impairment, respectively. However, these behavioral changes were not long-lasting since they were not observed in the childhood-adulthood and adolescence-adulthood groups.

  6. Comorbid psychopathology and stress mediate the relationship between autistic traits and repetitive behaviours in adults with autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Villamisar, D; Rojahn, J

    2015-02-01

    Comorbid psychopathology and stress were considered possible mediators that may explain the relationship between some autistic traits and repetitive behaviours. The current study sought to examine the mediational effects of comorbid psychopathology, executive dysfunctions and stress in the relationship between some autistic traits and repetitive behaviours. A battery of questionnaires including measures of autistic traits, repetitive behaviours, stress, executive dysfunctions and comorbid psychopathology were administered to a sample of adults with autism and intellectual disabilities (n = 43). We found that when taken as set dimensions of comorbidity, dysexecutive functioning and stress mediated or explained the effects of autistic symptoms on repetitive behaviour. The total model explained 60% of the variation in repetitive behaviours (R = 0.60; F = 13.64, P autism, while executive functioning did not contribute to that relationship. © 2013 2013 MENCAP and International Association of the Scientific Study of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. Comparison on different repetition rate locking methods in Er-doped fiber laser

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Kangwen; Zhao, Peng; Luo, Jiang; Huang, Kun; Hao, Qiang; Zeng, Heping

    2018-05-01

    We demonstrate a systematic comparative research on the all-optical, mechanical and opto-mechanical repetition rate control methods in an Er-doped fiber laser. A piece of Yb-doped fiber, a piezoelectric transducer and an electronic polarization controller are simultaneously added in the laser cavity as different cavity length modulators. By measuring the cavity length tuning ranges, the output power fluctuations, the temporal and frequency repetition rate stability, we show that all-optical method introduces the minimal disturbances under current experimental condition.

  8. Dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents with repeated suicidal and self-harming behavior: a randomized trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mehlum, Lars; Tørmoen, Anita J; Ramberg, Maria; Haga, Egil; Diep, Lien M; Laberg, Stine; Larsson, Bo S; Stanley, Barbara H; Miller, Alec L; Sund, Anne M; Grøholt, Berit

    2014-10-01

    We examined whether a shortened form of dialectical behavior therapy, dialectical behavior therapy for adolescents (DBT-A) is more effective than enhanced usual care (EUC) to reduce self-harm in adolescents. This was a randomized study of 77 adolescents with recent and repetitive self-harm treated at community child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinics who were randomly allocated to either DBT-A or EUC. Assessments of self-harm, suicidal ideation, depression, hopelessness, and symptoms of borderline personality disorder were made at baseline and after 9, 15, and 19 weeks (end of trial period), and frequency of hospitalizations and emergency department visits over the trial period were recorded. Treatment retention was generally good in both treatment conditions, and the use of emergency services was low. DBT-A was superior to EUC in reducing self-harm, suicidal ideation, and depressive symptoms. Effect sizes were large for treatment outcomes in patients who received DBT-A, whereas effect sizes were small for outcomes in patients receiving EUC. Total number of treatment contacts was found to be a partial mediator of the association between treatment and changes in the severity of suicidal ideation, whereas no mediation effects were found on the other outcomes or for total treatment time. DBT-A may be an effective intervention to reduce self-harm, suicidal ideation, and depression in adolescents with repetitive self-harming behavior. Clinical trial registration information-Treatment for Adolescents With Deliberate Self Harm; http://ClinicalTrials.gov/; NCT00675129. Copyright © 2014 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Repetition suppression in ventral visual cortex is diminished as a function of increasing autistic traits

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ewbank, M.P.; Rhodes, G.; von dem Hagen, E.A.H.; Powell, T.E.; Bright, N.; Stoyanova, R.Z.; Baron-Cohen, S.; Calder, A.J.

    2015-01-01

    Repeated viewing of a stimulus causes a change in perceptual sensitivity, known as a visual aftereffect. Similarly, in neuroimaging, repetitions of the same stimulus result in a reduction in the neural response, known as repetition suppression (RS). Previous research shows that aftereffects for

  10. Repetition rate stabilization of an erbium-doped all-fiber laser via opto-mechanical control of the intracavity group velocity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shen, Xuling; He, Boqu; Zhao, Jian; Liu, Yang; Bai, Dongbi; Wang, Chao; Liu, Geping; Luo, Daping; Liu, Fengjiang; Li, Wenxue; Zeng, Heping; Yang, Kangwen; Hao, Qiang

    2015-01-01

    We present a method for stabilizing the repetition rate of an erbium-doped all-fiber laser by inserting an electronic polarization controller (EPC) in the fiber laser cavity. The device exhibited good integration, low cost, and convenient operation. Such a repetition rate stabilization may facilitate an all-fiber laser comb system with high integration. The repetition rate was phase-locked to a Rb reference more than 72 h with a low feedback voltage applied to one channel of the EPC. The repetition rate was 74.6 MHz. The standard deviation and the repetition rate linewidth were 1.4 and 1.7 mHz, respectively

  11. An evaluation of factors affecting duration of treatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roni Broder Cohen

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the effects of repetitive transcranialmagnetic stimulation in patients with major depression who weresubmitted to this treatment during the period from 2000 to 2006.Methods: A retrospective study with 204 patients who underwenttreatment with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, collectingdata from those who experienced remission (defined as a HDRS scoreequal to or lower than 7. The patients were followed for up to 6 monthsafter treatment. Mean duration of remission for this cohort of patientswas 70.2 (± 58.4 days. Results: The only variable associated withthe duration of remission in the linear regression model was numberof repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation sessions. Conclusion:Our findings suggest that the greater the number of sessions, the longerthe duration of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation effects.Consequently, future research investigating the effects of repetitivetranscranial magnetic stimulation should explore this variable in orderto maximize the therapeutic effects of this new brain stimulationtechnique.

  12. EFEKTIVITAS MODEL PEMBELAJARAN AUDITORY INTELLECTUALLY REPETITION (AIR TERHADAP PEMAHAMAN SISWA PADA KONSEP ENERGI DALAM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Linuwih

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Telah dilakukan pembelajaran fisika melalui penerapan model pembelajaran Auditory Intellectually Repetition (AIR pada pokok bahasan konsep energi dalam. Tujuan penelitian ini untuk mengetahui peningkatan pemahaman konsep siswa dan efektivitas model pembelajaran Auditory Intellectually Repetition (AIR terhadap pemahaman siswa pada konsep energi dalam. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode penelitian eksperimen kependidikan (educational experiment research, dengan rancangan pre test-post test control group design. Subjek penelitian adalah dua kelompok belajar yang terdiri atas 32 siswa (eksperimen dan 32 siswa (kontrol kelas XI IPA di SMA N 2 Ungaran tahun ajaran 2013/2014. Data dianalisis menggunakan uji gain dan uji t. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya peningkatan pemahaman konsep siswa dan hasil belajar kognitif siswa. Berdasarkan hasil analisis dapat disimpulkan bahwa penerapan model pembelajaran Auditory Intellectually Repetition (AIR dalam pembelajaran fisika SMA efektif untuk meningkatkan pemahaman konsep siswa.ABSTRACTThe physics learning on concept of the internal energy was carried out through application of Auditory Intellectually Repetition (AIR learning model. This study aimed to determining the improvement of students’ concept understanding and the effectiveness of Auditory Intellectually Repetition (AIR learning model on students’ understanding of the internal energy concept. The research used educational experiment research with pre test-post test control group design. The subject of research consisted of 32 students in eksperimental group and 32 students in control group of XI IPA SMA N 2 Ungaran, academic year 2013/2014. The data were analyzed by using gain test and t test. The result showed that there was an increase of students’ concept understanding and the outcome of students’ cognitive learning. Based on the result, it can be concluded that the application of Auditory Intellectually Repetition (AIR learning model in

  13. High repetition rate burst-mode spark gap

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faltens, A.; Reginato, L.; Hester, R.; Chesterman, A.; Cook, E.; Yokota, T.; Dexter, W.

    1978-01-01

    Results are presented on the design and testing of a pressurized gas blown spark gap switch capable of high repetition rates in a burst mode of operation. The switch parameters which have been achieved are as follows: 220-kV, 42-kA, a five pulse burst at 1-kHz, 12-ns risetime, 2-ns jitter at a pulse width of 50-ns

  14. Long-term repetition priming with symmetrical polygons and words.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kersteen-Tucker, Z

    1991-01-01

    In two different tasks, subjects were asked to make lexical decisions (word or nonword) and symmetry judgments (symmetrical or nonsymmetrical) about two-dimensional polygons. In both tasks, every stimulus was repeated at one of four lags (0, 1, 4, or 8 items interposed between the first and second stimulus presentations). This paradigm, known as repetition priming, revealed comparable short-term priming (Lag 0) and long-term priming (Lags 1, 4, and 8) both for symmetrical polygons and for words. A shorter term component (Lags 0 and 1) of priming was observed for nonwords, and only very short-term priming (Lag 0) was observed for nonsymmetrical polygons. These results indicate that response facilitation accruing from repeated exposure can be observed for stimuli that have no preexisting memory representations and suggest that perceptual factors contribute to repetition-priming effects.

  15. Effects of modality and repetition in a continuous recognition memory task: Repetition has no effect on auditory recognition memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amir Kassim, Azlina; Rehman, Rehan; Price, Jessica M

    2018-04-01

    Previous research has shown that auditory recognition memory is poorer compared to visual and cross-modal (visual and auditory) recognition memory. The effect of repetition on memory has been robust in showing improved performance. It is not clear, however, how auditory recognition memory compares to visual and cross-modal recognition memory following repetition. Participants performed a recognition memory task, making old/new discriminations to new stimuli, stimuli repeated for the first time after 4-7 intervening items (R1), or repeated for the second time after 36-39 intervening items (R2). Depending on the condition, participants were either exposed to visual stimuli (2D line drawings), auditory stimuli (spoken words), or cross-modal stimuli (pairs of images and associated spoken words). Results showed that unlike participants in the visual and cross-modal conditions, participants in the auditory recognition did not show improvements in performance on R2 trials compared to R1 trials. These findings have implications for pedagogical techniques in education, as well as for interventions and exercises aimed at boosting memory performance. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Functional role of a highly repetitive DNA sequence in anchorage of the mouse genome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Neuer-Nitsche, B; Lu, X N; Werner, D

    1988-09-12

    The major portion of the eukaryotic genome consists of various categories of repetitive DNA sequences which have been studied with respect to their base compositions, organizations, copy numbers, transcription and species specificities; their biological roles, however, are still unclear. A novel quality of a highly repetitive mouse DNA sequence is described which points to a functional role: All copies (approximately 50,000 per haploid genome) of this DNA sequence reside on genomic Alu I DNA fragments each associated with nuclear polypeptides that are not released from DNA by proteinase K, SDS and phenol extraction. By this quality the repetitive DNA sequence is classified as a member of the sub-set of DNA sequences involved in tight DNA-polypeptide complexes which have been previously shown to be components of the subnuclear structure termed 'nuclear matrix'. From these results it has to be concluded that the repetitive DNA sequence characterized in this report represents or comprises a signal for a large number of site specific attachment points of the mouse genome in the nuclear matrix.

  17. Neurodegeneration after mild and repetitive traumatic brain injury: Chronic traumatic encepalopathy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanescu Ioana

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available Repetitive brain trauma is associated with a progressive neurological deterioration, now termed as chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE. Although research on the long-term effects of TBI is advancing quickly, the incidence and prevalence of post-traumatic neurodegeneration and CTE are unknown. The incidence and prevalence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and the genetic risk factors critical to its development are currently under research. CTE can be diagnosed only by post mortem neuropathological examination of the brain. Great efforts are being made to better understand the clinical signs and symptoms of CTE, obtained in most cases retrospectively from families of affected persons.Patients with CTE are described as having behavioral, mood, cognitive and motor impairments, occurring after a long latency from the traumatic events. Recent pathogenetic studies have provided new insights to CTE mechanisms, offering important clues in understanding neurodegenerative process and relations between physical factors and pathologic protein deposition. Further research is needed to better identify the genetic and environmental risk factors for CTE, as well as rehabilitation and treatment strategies.

  18. Facilitation of speech repetition accuracy by theta burst stimulation of the left posterior inferior frontal gyrus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Restle, Julia; Murakami, Takenobu; Ziemann, Ulf

    2012-07-01

    The posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus (pIFG) in the left hemisphere is thought to form part of the putative human mirror neuron system and is assigned a key role in mapping sensory perception onto motor action. Accordingly, the pIFG is involved in motor imitation of the observed actions of others but it is not known to what extent speech repetition of auditory-presented sentences is also a function of the pIFG. Here we applied fMRI-guided facilitating intermittent theta burst transcranial magnetic stimulation (iTBS), or depressant continuous TBS (cTBS), or intermediate TBS (imTBS) over the left pIFG of healthy subjects and compared speech repetition accuracy of foreign Japanese sentences before and after TBS. We found that repetition accuracy improved after iTBS and, to a lesser extent, after imTBS, but remained unchanged after cTBS. In a control experiment, iTBS was applied over the left middle occipital gyrus (MOG), a region not involved in sensorimotor processing of auditory-presented speech. Repetition accuracy remained unchanged after iTBS of MOG. We argue that the stimulation type and stimulation site specific facilitating effect of iTBS over left pIFG on speech repetition accuracy indicates a causal role of the human left-hemispheric pIFG in the translation of phonological perception to motor articulatory output for repetition of speech. This effect may prove useful in rehabilitation strategies that combine repetitive speech training with iTBS of the left pIFG in speech disorders, such as aphasia after cerebral stroke. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in psychiatry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Biswa Ranjan Mishra

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS is a non-invasive and relatively painless tool that has been used to study various cognitive functions as well as to understand the brain-behavior relationship in normal individuals as well as in those with various neuropsychiatric disorders. It has also been used as a therapeutic tool in various neuropsychiatric disorders because of its ability to specifically modulate distinct brain areas. Studies have shown that repeated stimulation at low frequency produces long-lasting inhibition, which is called as long-term depression, whereas repeated high-frequency stimulation can produce excitation through long-term potentiation. This paper reviews the current status of rTMS as an investigative and therapeutic modality in various neuropsychiatric disorders. It has been used to study the cortical and subcortical functions, neural plasticity and brain mapping in normal individuals and in various neuropsychiatric disorders. rTMS has been most promising in the treatment of depression, with an overall milder adverse effect profile compared with electroconvulsive therapy. In other neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, mania, epilepsy and substance abuse, it has been found to be useful, although further studies are required to establish therapeutic efficacy. It appears to be ineffective in the treatment of obsessive compulsive disorder. There is a paucity of studies of efficacy and safety of rTMS in pediatric and geriatric population. Although it appears safe, further research is required to optimize its efficacy and reduce the side-effects. Magnetic seizure therapy, which involves producing seizures akin to electroconvulsive therapy, appears to be of comparable efficacy in the treatment of depression with less cognitive adverse effects.

  20. An effective repetitive training schedule to achieve skill proficiency using a novel robotic virtual reality simulator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Sung Gu; Ryu, Byung Ju; Yang, Kyung Sook; Ko, Young Hwii; Cho, Seok; Kang, Seok Ho; Patel, Vipul R; Cheon, Jun

    2015-01-01

    A robotic virtual reality simulator (Mimic dV-Trainer) can be a useful training method for the da Vinci surgical system. Herein, we investigate several repetitive training schedules and determine which is the most effective. A total of 30 medical students were enrolled and were divided into 3 groups according to the training schedule. Group 1 performed the task 1 hour daily for 4 consecutive days, group II performed the task on once per week for 1 hour for 4 consecutive weeks, and group III performed the task for 4 consecutive hours in 1 day. The effects of training were investigated by analyzing the number of repetitions and the time required to complete the "Tube 2" simulation task when the learning curve plateau was reached. The point at which participants reached a stable score was evaluated using the cumulative sum control graph. The average time to complete the task at the learning curve plateau was 150.3 seconds in group I, 171.9 seconds in group II, and 188.5 seconds in group III. The number of task repetitions required to reach the learning curve plateau was 45 repetitions in group I, 36 repetitions in group II, and 39 repetitions in group III. Therefore, there was continuous improvement in the time required to perform the task after 40 repetitions in group I only. There was a significant correlation between improvement in each trial interval and attempt, and the correlation coefficient (0.924) in group I was higher than that in group II (0.899) and group III (0.838). Daily 1-hour practice sessions performed for 4 consecutive days resulted in the best final score, continuous score improvement, and effective training while minimizing fatigue. This repetition schedule can be used for effectively training novices in future. Copyright © 2015 Association of Program Directors in Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. The Action Plan Against Repetitive Work - An Industrial Relation Strategy for Improving the Working Environment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hasle, Peter; Møller, Niels

    2001-01-01

    The Danish Action Plan against Repetitive Work is presented and discussed as a possible new strategy for regulating repetitive work as well as other complicated working environment problems. The article is based on an empirical evaluation ot the Action Plan. The asseessment of the Action Plan...... indicates that a measurable reduction of repetitive work has been achieved, while recognizing the the new management strategies focusing on human resources development have also played an important role. These results are used to suggest that - under certain conditions - a combination of state regulation...... and industrial relation agreements can be used to regulate other working environment problems....

  2. A Factor Analysis of Challenging Behaviors Assessed with the "Baby and Infant Screen for Children with aUtism Traits" (BISCUIT-Part 3)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matson, Johnny L.; Boisjoli, Jessica; Rojahn, Johannes; Hess, Julie

    2009-01-01

    Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in socialization, communication, and restricted interests and repetitive behaviors. In addition to these core deficits, individuals with ASD also experience co-occurring conditions such as problem behaviors. Problem behaviors are common to this…

  3. N-2 repetition leads to a cost within working memory and a benefit outside it.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kessler, Yoav

    2018-03-15

    Removal has been suggested to play a key role in controlling the contents of working memory. The present study examined the aftereffects of removal in a working memory updating task. Participants performed the reference-back paradigm, a version of the n-back task that is composed of two trial types: reference trials that required working memory updating and comparison trials that did not require updating. N-2 repetition effects-the difference in performance between trials that presented the same stimulus as the one presented two trials before (ABA sequences) and trials in which the stimulus differed from the two previous stimuli (ABC sequences)-were examined. In two experiments, n-2 repetition costs were observed within sequences of reference trials, while n-2 repetition benefits were observed within sequences of comparison trials. This pattern suggests that removal takes place during working memory updating. Furthermore, automatic formation and updating of representation outside working memory, which takes place in comparison trials and gives rise to n-2 repetition benefits, does not involve removal. Removal, demonstrated by phenomena such as n-2 repetition costs, is therefore proposed to be a marker for the utilization of working memory within a given task. © 2018 New York Academy of Sciences.

  4. Working memory load affects repetitive behaviour but not cognitive flexibility in adolescent autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolff, Nicole; Chmielewski, Witold X; Beste, Christian; Roessner, Veit

    2017-03-16

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with repetitive and stereotyped behaviour, suggesting that cognitive flexibility may be deficient in ASD. A central, yet not examined aspect to understand possible deficits in flexible behaviour in ASD relates (i) to the role of working memory and (ii) to neurophysiological mechanisms underlying behavioural modulations. We analysed behavioural and neurophysiological (EEG) correlates of cognitive flexibility using a task-switching paradigm with and without working memory load in adolescents with ASD and typically developing controls (TD). Adolescents with ASD versus TD show similar performance in task switching with no memory load, indicating that 'pure' cognitive flexibility is not in deficit in adolescent ASD. However performance during task repetition decreases with increasing memory load. Neurophysiological data reflect the pattern of behavioural effects, showing modulations in P2 and P3 event-related potentials. Working memory demands affect repetitive behaviour while processes of cognitive flexibility are unaffected. Effects emerge due to deficits in preparatory attentional processes and deficits in task rule activation, organisation and implementation of task sets when repetitive behaviour is concerned. It may be speculated that the habitual response mode in ASD (i.e. repetitive behaviour) is particularly vulnerable to additional demands on executive control processes.

  5. An unusual case of self-inflicted multiple needles injuries to eye

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shweta Gaur

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Self-inflicted eye injuries among psychiatric patients are rare but important group of ophthalmic conditions that require close cooperation between different medical specialties to ensure optimum care of the severely disturbed patient. They have been associated with a variety of disorders, including paranoid schizophrenia, drug-induced psychosis, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, mental retardation, and ritualistic behavior. It has been described in both adults and children, but occurs most commonly in young adults with acute or chronic psychoses.

  6. Effect of loading on unintentional lifting velocity declines during single sets of repetitions to failure during upper and lower extremity muscle actions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izquierdo, M; González-Badillo, J J; Häkkinen, K; Ibáñez, J; Kraemer, W J; Altadill, A; Eslava, J; Gorostiaga, E M

    2006-09-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of different loads on repetition speed during single sets of repetitions to failure in bench press and parallel squat. Thirty-six physical active men performed 1-repetition maximum in a bench press (1 RM (BP)) and half squat position (1 RM (HS)), and performed maximal power-output continuous repetition sets randomly every 10 days until failure with a submaximal load (60 %, 65 %, 70 %, and 75 % of 1RM, respectively) during bench press and parallel squat. Average velocity of each repetition was recorded by linking a rotary encoder to the end part of the bar. The values of 1 RM (BP) and 1 RM (HS) were 91 +/- 17 and 200 +/- 20 kg, respectively. The number of repetitions performed for a given percentage of 1RM was significantly higher (p bench press performance. Average repetition velocity decreased at a greater rate in bench press than in parallel squat. The significant reductions observed in the average repetition velocity (expressed as a percentage of the average velocity achieved during the initial repetition) were observed at higher percentage of the total number of repetitions performed in parallel squat (48 - 69 %) than in bench press (34 - 40 %) actions. The major finding in this study was that, for a given muscle action (bench press or parallel squat), the pattern of reduction in the relative average velocity achieved during each repetition and the relative number of repetitions performed was the same for all percentages of 1RM tested. However, relative average velocity decreased at a greater rate in bench press than in parallel squat performance. This would indicate that in bench press the significant reductions observed in the average repetition velocity occurred when the number of repetitions was over one third (34 %) of the total number of repetitions performed, whereas in parallel squat it was nearly one half (48 %). Conceptually, this would indicate that for a given exercise (bench press or squat) and

  7. Temporal dynamics of high repetition rate pulsed single longitudinal ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    ing (GIG) cavity, single-mode dye laser pumped by high repetition rate ... in a high loss cavity, a detailed theoretical study and optimization of cavity ..... rate for high conversion efficiency and longer pulse width of the single-mode dye laser.

  8. Exact and conceptual repetition dissociate conceptual memory tests: problems for transfer appropriate processing theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDermott, K B; Roediger, H L

    1996-03-01

    Three experiments examined whether a conceptual implicit memory test (specifically, category instance generation) would exhibit repetition effects similar to those found in free recall. The transfer appropriate processing account of dissociations among memory tests led us to predict that the tests would show parallel effects; this prediction was based upon the theory's assumption that conceptual tests will behave similarly as a function of various independent variables. In Experiment 1, conceptual repetition (i.e., following a target word [e.g., puzzles] with an associate [e.g., jigsaw]) did not enhance priming on the instance generation test relative to the condition of simply presenting the target word once, although this manipulation did affect free recall. In Experiment 2, conceptual repetition was achieved by following a picture with its corresponding word (or vice versa). In this case, there was an effect of conceptual repetition on free recall but no reliable effect on category instance generation or category cued recall. In addition, we obtained a picture superiority effect in free recall but not in category instance generation. In the third experiment, when the same study sequence was used as in Experiment 1, but with instructions that encouraged relational processing, priming on the category instance generation task was enhanced by conceptual repetition. Results demonstrate that conceptual memory tests can be dissociated and present problems for Roediger's (1990) transfer appropriate processing account of dissociations between explicit and implicit tests.

  9. Addictive behaviors and Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Witjas, T; Eusebio, A; Fluchère, F; Azulay, J-P

    2012-01-01

    In Parkinson's disease, the degeneration of the dopaminergic system and the longstanding exposure to dopamine replacement therapy (DRT) may cause, in a group of vulnerable patients, dysregulation of the brain reward system. These patients develop DRT-related compulsions, which include addiction to levodopa or dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS), punding, and impulse control disorders (ICDs). ICDs or behavioral addiction reported in Parkinson's disease include pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive buying and binge eating. Although the underlying pathophysiology is still poorly understood, these behaviors are linked by their reward-based and repetitive nature. Such behaviors may result in devastating psychosocial impairment for the patients and are often hidden. The recognition of these behaviors is important and allows a better clinical management. Although the limited data do not permit particular therapeutic strategies, some approaches are worth considering: DRT reduction, trials of non-dopaminergic medications and subthalamic chronic stimulation. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS.

  10. Generation of plasma X-ray sources via high repetition rate femtosecond laser pulses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baguckis, Artūras; Plukis, Artūras; Reklaitis, Jonas; Remeikis, Vidmantas; Giniūnas, Linas; Vengris, Mikas

    2017-12-01

    In this study, we present the development and characterization of Cu plasma X-ray source driven by 20 W average power high repetition rate femtosecond laser in ambient atmosphere environment. The peak Cu- Kα photon flux of 2.3 × 109 photons/s into full solid angle is demonstrated (with a process conversion efficiency of 10-7), using pulses with peak intensity of 4.65 × 1014 W/cm2. Such Cu- Kα flux is significantly larger than others found in comparable experiments, performed in air environment. The effects of resonance plasma absorption process, when optimized, are shown to increase measured flux by the factor of 2-3. The relationship between X-ray photon flux and plasma-driving pulse repetition rate is quasi-linear, suggesting that fluxes could further be increased to 1010 photons/s using even higher average powers of driving radiation. These results suggest that to fully utilize the potential of high repetition rate laser sources, novel target material delivery systems (for example, jet-based ones) are required. On the other hand, this study demonstrates that high energy lasers currently used for plasma X-ray sources can be conveniently and efficiently replaced by high average power and repetition rate laser radiation, as a way to increase the brightness of the generated X-rays.

  11. Self-Q-switching behavior of erbium-doped tellurite microstructured fiber lasers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jia, Zhi-Xu; Yao, Chuan-Fei; Kang, Zhe; Qin, Guan-Shi; Qin, Wei-Ping; Ohishi, Yasutake

    2014-01-01

    We reported self-Q-switching behavior of erbium-doped tellurite microstructured fiber (EDTMF) lasers and further demonstrated a self-Q-switched EDTMF laser with a high repetition rate of more than 1 MHz. A 14 cm EDTMF was used as the gain medium. Upon a pump power of ∼705 mW at 1480 nm, output pulses with a lasing wavelength of ∼1558 nm, a repetition rate of ∼1.14 MHz, and a pulse width of ∼282 ns were generated from the fiber by employing a linear cavity. The maximum output power was ∼316 mW and the slope efficiency was about 72.6% before the saturation of the laser power. Moreover, the influence of the fiber length on laser performances was investigated. The results showed that self-Q-switching behavior in our experiments was caused by the re-absorption originated from the ineffectively pumped part of the active fiber.

  12. Patterning crystalline indium tin oxide by high repetition rate femtosecond laser-induced crystallization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng, Chung-Wei; Lin, Cen-Ying; Shen, Wei-Chih; Lee, Yi-Ju; Chen, Jenq-Shyong

    2010-01-01

    A method is proposed for patterning crystalline indium tin oxide (c-ITO) patterns on amorphous ITO (a-ITO) thin films by femtosecond laser irradiation at 80 MHz repetition rate followed by chemical etching. In the proposed approach, the a-ITO film is transformed into a c-ITO film over a predetermined area via the heat accumulation energy supplied by the high repetition rate laser beam, and the unirradiated a-ITO film is then removed using an acidic etchant solution. The fabricated c-ITO patterns are observed using scanning electron microscopy and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. The crystalline, optical, electrical properties were measured by X-ray diffraction, spectrophotometer, and four point probe station, respectively. The experimental results show that a high repetition rate reduces thermal shock and yields a corresponding improvement in the surface properties of the c-ITO patterns.

  13. A high-repetition rate LWFA for studies of laser propagation and electron generation

    Science.gov (United States)

    He, Zhaohan; Easter, James; Hou, Bixue; Krushelnick, Karl; Nees, John; Thomas, Alec

    2010-11-01

    Advances in ultrafast optics today have enabled laser systems to deliver ever shorter and more intense pulses. When focused, such laser pulses can easily exceed relativistic intensities where the wakefield created by the strong laser electric field can be used to accelerate electrons. Laser wakefield acceleration of electrons holds promise for future compact electron accelerators or drivers of other radiation sources in many scientific, medical and engineering applications. We present experimental studies of laser wakefield acceleration using the λ-cubed laser at the University of Michigan -- a table-top high-power laser system operating at 500 Hz repetition rate. The high repetition rate allows statistical studies of laser propagation and electron acceleration which are not accessible with typical sub-0.1 Hz repetition rate systems. In addition, we compare the experiments with particle-in-cell simulations using the code OSIRIS.

  14. Analysis of repetitive DNA in chromosomes by flow cytometry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Brind'Amour, Julie; Lansdorp, Peter M.

    We developed a flow cytometry method, chromosome flow fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), called CFF, to analyze repetitive DNA in chromosomes using FISH with directly labeled peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes. We used CFF to measure the abundance of interstitial telomeric sequences in

  15. Repetitive motion planning and control of redundant robot manipulators

    CERN Document Server

    Zhang, Yunong

    2013-01-01

    Repetitive Motion Planning and Control of Redundant Robot Manipulators presents four typical motion planning schemes based on optimization techniques, including the fundamental RMP scheme and its extensions. These schemes are unified as quadratic programs (QPs), which are solved by neural networks or numerical algorithms. The RMP schemes are demonstrated effectively by the simulation results based on various robotic models; the experiments applying the fundamental RMP scheme to a physical robot manipulator are also presented. As the schemes and the corresponding solvers presented in the book have solved the non-repetitive motion problems existing in redundant robot manipulators, it is of particular use in applying theoretical research based on the quadratic program for redundant robot manipulators in industrial situations. This book will be a valuable reference work for engineers, researchers, advanced undergraduate and graduate students in robotics fields. Yunong Zhang is a professor at The School of Informa...

  16. REPETITION AS A SPECIAL TYPE OF SYNTACTIC RELATIONS IN REPRESENTED SPEECH: BASED ON THE PROSE BY MARINA TSVETAEVA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Olga Pavlovna Puchinina

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The author studies the peculiarities of repetition, being one of the ways to build syntactic relations in the represented speech structure, based on the prose by Marina Tsvetaeva. The article describes the different types of repetitions, their distinctive features and frequency of usage in the studied tests. The author describes different types of repetitions in the studied cases of represented speech from the point of view of their position. Repetition occurs at the beginning, end of sentences, beginning and end of a statement or paragraph, end of a statement and beginning of the next one; lexical items may be repeated in the middle of a statement. The morphology of repetitions, i.e., the way by what parts of speech the repeated words and structures are expressed, is of interest from the point of view of functional grammar. The author notes that Tsvetaeva repeats different parts of speech: conjunctions, prepositions, particles, nouns, pronouns, adverbs, numerals, verbs, modal words or a combination of two words. Moreover, due to her special intention, Tsvetaeva intensifies repetition through particular phonetic devices, such as alliteration, rhyme and rhythm, which make her prosaic works sound poetic. Purpose. The article is devoted to the topic of rendering another person’s speech, as it continues to be one of the most important issues of modern linguistics. The subject of analysis is repetition and its different types in the structure of represented speech on the material of prose texts by Marina Tsvetaeva. The author’s aims is to reveal the way these types of repetition (lexical, syntactic, semantic ones function in the structure of represented speech and what effect is achieved with their help. Methodology. The research has been conducted using the continuous sampling method and the quantitative estimation method, aimed to identify the frequency of using different types of repetition and repeated parts of speech and constructions in the

  17. Sound segregation via embedded repetition is robust to inattention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masutomi, Keiko; Barascud, Nicolas; Kashino, Makio; McDermott, Josh H; Chait, Maria

    2016-03-01

    The segregation of sound sources from the mixture of sounds that enters the ear is a core capacity of human hearing, but the extent to which this process is dependent on attention remains unclear. This study investigated the effect of attention on the ability to segregate sounds via repetition. We utilized a dual task design in which stimuli to be segregated were presented along with stimuli for a "decoy" task that required continuous monitoring. The task to assess segregation presented a target sound 10 times in a row, each time concurrent with a different distractor sound. McDermott, Wrobleski, and Oxenham (2011) demonstrated that repetition causes the target sound to be segregated from the distractors. Segregation was queried by asking listeners whether a subsequent probe sound was identical to the target. A control task presented similar stimuli but probed discrimination without engaging segregation processes. We present results from 3 different decoy tasks: a visual multiple object tracking task, a rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) digit encoding task, and a demanding auditory monitoring task. Load was manipulated by using high- and low-demand versions of each decoy task. The data provide converging evidence of a small effect of attention that is nonspecific, in that it affected the segregation and control tasks to a similar extent. In all cases, segregation performance remained high despite the presence of a concurrent, objectively demanding decoy task. The results suggest that repetition-based segregation is robust to inattention. (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  18. Novel fast-neutron activation counter for high repetition rate measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahmood, S.; Springham, S. V.; Zhang, T.; Rawat, R. S.; Tan, T. L.; Krishnan, M.; Beg, F. N.; Lee, S.; Schmidt, H.; Lee, P.

    2006-01-01

    A fast-neutron beryllium activation counter has been constructed for neutron measurements on a high repetition rate deuterium plasma focus. Beryllium activation is especially suitable for measurements of DD neutron yields. The cross section for the relevant reaction, 9 Be(n,α) 6 He, results in a maximum sensitivity at the characteristic energy of the DD neutrons (∼2.5 MeV) and practically no sensitivity to neutrons with energies 6 He enabled the shot-to-shot neutron yield from the plasma focus to be measured for repetition rates from 0.2 to 3 Hz (and for a range of deuterium gas pressures). With careful analysis, the shot-to-shot yield can be measured up to a maximum repetition rate of 3 Hz, beyond which the pileup of counts from the previous shots reduces the accuracy of the measurements to an unacceptable level. This new beryllium activation counter has been cross-checked against an indium activation counter to obtain absolute neutron yields. At a charging voltage of 12.5 kV (bank energy of 2.2 kJ), the average neutron yield was found to be (7.9±0.7)x10 7 per shot (standard deviation of 4x10 7 ). It was found that activation of the plasma focus construction materials (especially aluminum) must be taken into account

  19. Optimizing strategy for repetitive construction projects within multi-mode resources

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Remon Fayek Aziz

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available Estimating tender data for specific project is the most essential part in construction areas as of a contractor’s view such as: proposed project duration with corresponding gross value and cash flows. Cash flow analysis of construction projects has a long history and has been an important topic in construction management. Determination of project cash flows is very sensitive, especially for repetitive construction projects. This paper focuses on how to calculate tender data for repetitive construction projects such as: project duration, project cost, project/bid price, project cash flows, project maximum working capital and project net present value that is equivalent to net profit at the beginning of the project. A simplified multi-objective optimization formulation will be presented that creates best tender data to contractor comparing with more feasible options that are generated from multi-mode resources in a given project. This mathematical formulation is intended to give more scenarios which provide a practical support for typical construction contractors who need to optimize resource utilization in order to minimize project duration, project/bid price and project maximum working capital while maximizing its net present value simultaneously. At the end of the paper, an illustrative example will be presented to demonstrate the applications of proposed technique to an optimization expressway of repetitive construction project.

  20. The incident of repetitive demands resolution in consumer affairs: empirical analysis of legal feasibility

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucas do Monte Silva

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Faced with the scenario of massification of lawsuits, this article intends to analyze the main arguments and questionings of the demands related to moral damage and health plans, on Santa Catarina’s Court of Justice, in order to analyze the possible application of the incident of repetitive demands resolution of the new Civil Procedure Code. To do so, it will be done, first, an analysis of the current context of the Brazilian judiciary, presenting the context of repetitive demands and massification of contracts and introductory aspects of the incident of repetitive demands resolution. Then it will made be a judicial empirical analysis, quantitative and qualitative, through a case study of Santa Catarina Courts of Justice, conducting an empirical study of cross descriptive analysis of the demands related to the issue highlighted above, in order to demonstrate an 'argumentative radiography’ of the judgments of that Court. The results confirmed the possibility of applying IRDR in repetitive demands relating to subjects of this study, with due legal caution, taking into account the high number of “issues of fact” that involve lawsuits that have, among their claims, compensation for moral damages.

  1. Nonword repetition in adults who stutter: The effects of stimuli stress and auditory-orthographic cues.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Geoffrey A Coalson

    Full Text Available Adults who stutter (AWS are less accurate in their immediate repetition of novel phonological sequences compared to adults who do not stutter (AWNS. The present study examined whether manipulation of the following two aspects of traditional nonword repetition tasks unmask distinct weaknesses in phonological working memory in AWS: (1 presentation of stimuli with less-frequent stress patterns, and (2 removal of auditory-orthographic cues immediately prior to response.Fifty-two participants (26 AWS, 26 AWNS produced 12 bisyllabic nonwords in the presence of corresponding auditory-orthographic cues (i.e., immediate repetition task, and the absence of auditory-orthographic cues (i.e., short-term recall task. Half of each cohort (13 AWS, 13 AWNS were exposed to the stimuli with high-frequency trochaic stress, and half (13 AWS, 13 AWNS were exposed to identical stimuli with lower-frequency iambic stress.No differences in immediate repetition accuracy for trochaic or iambic nonwords were observed for either group. However, AWS were less accurate when recalling iambic nonwords than trochaic nonwords in the absence of auditory-orthographic cues.Manipulation of two factors which may minimize phonological demand during standard nonword repetition tasks increased the number of errors in AWS compared to AWNS. These findings suggest greater vulnerability in phonological working memory in AWS, even when producing nonwords as short as two syllables.

  2. The Effect of Task Instructions on Students' Use of Repetition in Argumentative Discourse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilabert, Sandra; Garcia-Mila, Merce; Felton, Mark K.

    2013-11-01

    The reasoning belief of argumentum ad nauseam assumes that when someone repeats something often enough, he or she becomes more convincing. The present paper analyses the use of this strategy by seventh-grade students in an argumentation task. Sixty-five students (mean age: 12.2, SD = 0.4) from a public school in a mid-sized urban environment took part in the study. The students were asked to either argue to convince an opposing partner or argue to reach consensus with an opposing partner on three dilemmas that dealt with energy sources. Data were gathered according to a between-groups design that included one independent variable (argumentative goal: to convince vs. to reach consensus) and one dependent variable (the degree of argumentative repetitions). We predicted that in the condition to convince their partner, the students would use the repetition strategy more often in their attempts to be persuasive. Our findings show that the mean number of argumentative repetitions was significantly higher for the persuasion group for both of the most frequent argumentative structures (claim and claim data). The mean percentage of repeated claims for the persuasion condition was 86.2 vs. 69.0 for the consensus condition. For the claim data, the mean percentage for the persuasion group was 35.2 vs. 24.3 for the consensus group. Also, students in the persuasion group tended to repeat one idea many times rather than repeating many ideas a few times within the same argumentative structure. The results of our study support the hypothesis that the goal of the argumentative task mediates argumentative discourse and, more concretely, the rate of repetitions and the conceptual diversity of the statements. These differences in rates of repetition and conceptual diversity are related to the amount of learning produced by the instructional goal. We apply Mercer's idea that not all classroom argumentation tasks promote learning equally.

  3. The Adversarial Principle in Prima Facie Judgments of the Legal Thesis Firmed in the Trial of Repetitive Cases

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juliana Provedel Cardoso

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The present articles objective is to analyse the highly effective adversarial principle from the Constitutional Democratic State of Law and the cooperative process structure. In this sense, an analysis of the repetitive cases model is made with special relevance to the Civil Procedure Codice 2015, put in evidence the preliminary injunction, the repetitive appeals and the resolution incident repetitive demands. With the establishment of the premises, an analysis of the adversarial principle is made on prima facie judgments of the legal thesis firmed in the trial of repetitive cases, in view of the motivation of the court decision (speech of the case and law (speech of the precedents.

  4. Meaningful Words and Non-Words Repetitive Articulatory Rate (Oral Diadochokinesis) in Persian Speaking Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zamani, Peyman; Rezai, Hossein; Garmatani, Neda Tahmasebi

    2017-08-01

    Repetitive articulatory rate or Oral Diadochokinesis (oral-DDK) shows a guideline for appraisal and diagnosis of subjects with oral-motor disorder. Traditionally, meaningless words repetition has been utilized in this task and preschool children have challenges with them. Therefore, we aimed to determine some meaningful words in order to test oral-DDK in Persian speaking preschool children. Participants were 142 normally developing children, (age range 4-6 years), who were asked to produce /motæka, golabi/ as two meaningful Persian words and /pa-ta-ka/ as non-word in conventional oral-DDK task. We compared the time taken for 10-times fast repetitions of two meaningful Persian words and the tri-syllabic nonsense word /pa-ta-ka/. Praat software was used to calculate the average time that subjects took to produce the target items. In 4-5 year old children, [Formula: see text] of time taken for 10-times repetitions of /pa-ta-ka, motæka, golabi/ were [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] seconds respectively, and in 5-6 year old children were [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text] seconds respectively. Findings showed that the main effect of type of words on oral diadochokinesis was significant ([Formula: see text]). Children repeated meaningful words /motæka, golabi/ faster than the non-word /pa-ta-ka/. Sex and age factors had no effect on time taken for repetition of oral-DDK test. It is suggested that Speech Therapists can use meaningful words to facilitate oral-DDK test for children.

  5. Investigating the relationship between implicit and explicit memory: Evidence that masked repetition priming speeds the onset of recollection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Joanne L; Donaldson, David I

    2016-10-01

    Memory theories assume that unconscious processes influence conscious remembering, but the exact nature of the relationship between implicit and explicit memory remains an open question. Within the context of episodic recognition tests research typical shows that priming impacts behavioral and neural indices of familiarity. By this account, implicit memory leads to enhanced fluency of processing, which is then attributed to 'oldness' in the context of recognition judgments. Recently, however, behavioral and neuroimaging evidence has emerged to suggest that priming can also influence recollection, suggesting that the rate of recollection increases following priming. Here, we examine the relationship between priming and recollection, using Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) to assess changes in the timecourse of processing. Participants studied a series of words, and episodic memory was assessed using a standard item recognition test, but masked repetition priming preceded half of the test cues. Results confirmed that implicit memory was engaged: priming produced robust facilitation of recognition Reaction Times (RTs), with larger effects for studied than unstudied words. Mapping onto the RT data, ERPs recorded during recognition testing over centro-parietal electrodes revealed N400-like priming effects (250-500ms) that were larger in magnitude for studied than unstudied words. More importantly, priming also had a clear impact on explicit memory, as measured by recollection-related left-parietal old/new effects. While old/new effects for unprimed trials were present during the typical 500-800ms latency interval, the old/new effects seen for primed trials were equivalent in magnitude and topography, but onset ~300ms earlier. ERPs reveal that repetition priming speeds the onset of recollection, providing a novel demonstration that unconscious memory processes can have a measureable, functional, influence on conscious remembering. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published

  6. The Effect of Repetition on Tempo Preferences of Elementary Children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moskovitz, Elisa M.

    1992-01-01

    Reports on a study of children's preferences between slow and fast tempo classical music excerpts. Finds that students preferred music with a slow tempo. Concludes that repetition had a positive effect on children's preferences. (CFR)

  7. A Direct Comparison of Self-Injurious and Stereotyped Motor Behavior Between Preschool-Aged Children With and Without Developmental Delays.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoch, John; Spofford, Lisa; Dimian, Adele; Tervo, Raymond; MacLean, William E; Symons, Frank J

    2016-06-01

    To compare the prevalence of self-injurious behavior (SIB) and stereotyped motor behavior (STY) of preschool-aged children with developmental delays (DD group) and their peers without developmental delays (TD group) using a standardized caregiver report scale. The Repetitive Behavior Scale-Revised was completed by caregivers of children with developmental delays and their peers without developmental delays. Frequency of occurrence and severity ratings for SIB and STY were compared between groups. SIB and STY were reported more often and at a greater level of severity in the DD group. Older chronological age was associated with more severe STY in the DD group but not the TD group. Gender was not related to STY or SIB for either group. Differences in STY and SIB were evident between preschoolers with and without DD. Findings are discussed from developmental and behavioral psychology perspectives regarding the expression of repetitive behavior in developmentally at-risk pediatric populations. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  8. Target-to-Target Repetition Cost and Location Negative Priming Are Dissociable: Evidence for Different Mechanisms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chao, Hsuan-Fu

    2011-01-01

    In a location-selection task, the repetition of a prior distractor location as the target location would slow down the response. This effect is termed the location negative priming (NP) effect. Recently, it has been demonstrated that repetition of a prior target location as the current target location would also slow down response. Because such…

  9. The Function of Repeating: The Relation between Word Class and Repetition Type in Developmental Stuttering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buhr, Anthony P.; Jones, Robin M.; Conture, Edward G.; Kelly, Ellen M.

    2016-01-01

    Background: It is already known that preschool-age children who stutter (CWS) tend to stutter on function words at the beginning of sentences. It is also known that phonological errors potentially resulting in part-word repetitions tend to occur on content words. However, the precise relation between word class and repetition type in preschool-age…

  10. Evolution of repetitive explosive instabilities in space and time

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wilhelmsson, H.

    1984-01-01

    A nonlinear rate equation describing nonlinear, explosive type interaction of waves in plasmas is studied, assuming that amplitude saturation occurs due to nonlinear frequency shifts. Emphasis is put on the space dependence of the solution caused by the assumption of a given initial amplitude distribution in space. An analysis is given of the problem of repetitive peaks governed by the nonlinear rate equation for the time development of the amplitudes of plasma waves and by a Lorentzian shape distribution of the initial amplitudes. For the one-dimensional case, the peaks developed by explosive instability move in the direction of lower initial amplitude values, and the speed and the repetition rate of the peaks are determined. The possible forms of equilibria for the nonlinear rate equation in the explosive case are also studied, including, in addition to the quadratic nonlinearity, diffusion and linear damping effects. A solution to the nonlinear rate equation including diffusion is also given for the case where the quadratic nonlinearity represents recombination. (Auth.)

  11. Robustification and Optimization in Repetitive Control For Minimum Phase and Non-Minimum Phase Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasitmeeboon, Pitcha

    repetitive control FIR compensator. The aim is to reduce the final error level by using real time frequency response model updates to successively increase the cutoff frequency, each time creating the improved model needed to produce convergence zero error up to the higher cutoff. Non-minimum phase systems present a difficult design challenge to the sister field of Iterative Learning Control. The third topic investigates to what extent the same challenges appear in RC. One challenge is that the intrinsic non-minimum phase zero mapped from continuous time is close to the pole of repetitive controller at +1 creating behavior similar to pole-zero cancellation. The near pole-zero cancellation causes slow learning at DC and low frequencies. The Min-Max cost function over the learning rate is presented. The Min-Max can be reformulated as a Quadratically Constrained Linear Programming problem. This approach is shown to be an RC design approach that addresses the main challenge of non-minimum phase systems to have a reasonable learning rate at DC. Although it was illustrated that using the Min-Max objective improves learning at DC and low frequencies compared to other designs, the method requires model accuracy at high frequencies. In the real world, models usually have error at high frequencies. The fourth topic addresses how one can merge the quadratic penalty to the Min-Max cost function to increase robustness at high frequencies. The topic also considers limiting the Min-Max optimization to some frequencies interval and applying an FIR zero-phase low-pass filter to cutoff the learning for frequencies above that interval.

  12. Repetitive and stereotyped movements in children with autism spectrum disorders late in the second year of life.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Morgan, Lindee; Wetherby, Amy M; Barber, Angie

    2008-08-01

    The purpose of this study was to examine group differences and relationships with later developmental level and autism symptoms using a new clinical tool developed to measure repetitive and stereotyped movements (RSM) in young children. Videotaped behavior samples using the Communication and Symbolic Behavior Scales Developmental Profile (CSBS; Wetherby & Prizant, 2002) were coded for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD; n = 50), developmental delays without ASD (DD; n = 25), and typical development (TD; n = 50) between 18 and 24 months of age. Children with ASD demonstrated significantly higher rate and larger inventory of RSM with objects and body during a systematic behavior sample than both the DD and TD groups. Measures of RSM were related to concurrent measures of social communication and predicted developmental outcomes and autism symptoms in the fourth year for the ASD group. None of the correlations between RSM and autism symptoms remained significant when controlling for CSBS Symbolic level. RSM with objects predicted unique variance in the severity of autism symptoms in the fourth year beyond that predicted by social communication measures alone. This study provides support for the diagnostic significance of RSM in children under 24 months of age and documents the utility of this RSM measurement tool as a companion to the CSBS.

  13. Changes of the Prefrontal EEG (Electroencephalogram) Activities According to the Repetition of Audio-Visual Learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yong-Jin; Chang, Nam-Kee

    2001-01-01

    Investigates the changes of neuronal response according to a four time repetition of audio-visual learning. Obtains EEG data from the prefrontal (Fp1, Fp2) lobe from 20 subjects at the 8th grade level. Concludes that the habituation of neuronal response shows up in repetitive audio-visual learning and brain hemisphericity can be changed by…

  14. Investigating the work-family conflict and health link: Repetitive thought as a mechanism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davis, Kelly D; Gere, Judith; Sliwinski, Martin J

    2017-10-01

    Research is needed to investigate mechanisms linking work-family conflict to poor health in working adults. We took a novel approach to build on extant studies by testing a potential mechanism in these associations - repetitive thought. Data came from a sample of 203 partnered working adults. There were significant direct effects of work-family conflict with lower life satisfaction, positive affect, and perceived health as well as greater fatigue. As for total effects, work-family conflict was significantly associated with all health outcomes - life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, fatigue, perceived health, and chronic health conditions - in the expected directions through repetitive thought. This study provides support that repetitive thought is one potential mechanism of how work-family conflict can take a toll on psychological and physical health. Findings are discussed in relation to improving workplace policies to improve the health of working adults managing work-family conflict. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  15. Impulsive and compulsive behaviors in Parkinson's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evans, Andrew H; Strafella, Antonio P; Weintraub, Daniel; Stacy, Mark

    2009-08-15

    Antiparkinson therapy can be the primary cause of a range of nonmotor symptoms that include a set of complex disinhibitory psychomotor pathologies and are linked by their repetitive, reward or incentive-based natures. These behaviors relate to aberrant or excessive dopamine receptor stimulation and encompass impulse control disorders (ICDs), punding, and the dopamine dysregulation syndrome (DDS). Common ICDs include pathological gambling, hypersexuality, compulsive eating, and compulsive buying. This review focuses on the phenomenology, epidemiology, and methods to identify and rate these disorders. The management of dopaminergic drug-related compulsive behaviors is discussed in the light of the current understanding of the neurobiological substrate of these disorders. 2009 Movement Disorder Society.

  16. Central Hemodynamics Measured During 5 Repetition Maximum Free Weight Resistance Exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Howard, Jonathan S; McLester, Cherilyn N; Evans, Thomas W; McLester, John R; Calloway, Jimmy P

    2018-01-01

    The PhysioFlow™ is a piece of equipment that uses bioimpedance cardiography to measure central hemodynamics. The purpose of this research was to explore the novel approach of monitoring central hemodynamics during free weight resistance exercise using bioimpedance cardiography throughout a 5 repetition maximum (5RM). Thirty participants ranging from beginner to advanced lifters (16 males and 14 females) completed a 5RM for back squat, seated push press, and bicep curl while connected to the PhysioFlow™ to assess the response of heart rate (HR), stroke volume (SV), cardiac output (Q), and ejection fraction (EF). Participants were cued for form and to breathe normally throughout the lifts. The PhysioFlow™ detected an increase in HR and Q for all lifts between rest and each repetition ( p 0.05) and no changes in EF or SV were detected when all repetitions were compared to each other for all lifts ( p > 0.05). In conclusion, the PhysioFlow™ was able to detect changes in HR and Q during dynamic free weight resistance exercise. This novel approach may provide a mechanism for monitoring central hemodynamics during free weight resistance training. However, more research needs to be conducted as the exercise protocol for this investigation did not allow for a comparison to a reference method.

  17. Improved gait after repetitive locomotor training in children with cerebral palsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smania, Nicola; Bonetti, Paola; Gandolfi, Marialuisa; Cosentino, Alessandro; Waldner, Andreas; Hesse, Stefan; Werner, Cordula; Bisoffi, Giulia; Geroin, Christian; Munari, Daniele

    2011-02-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of repetitive locomotor training with an electromechanical gait trainer in children with cerebral palsy. In this randomized controlled trial, 18 ambulatory children with diplegic or tetraplegic cerebral palsy were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group received 30 mins of repetitive locomotor training with an applied technology (Gait Trainer GT I) plus 10 mins of passive joint mobilization and stretching exercises. The control group received 40 mins of conventional physiotherapy. Each subject underwent a total of 10 treatment sessions over a 2-wk period. Performance on the 10-m walk test, 6-min walk test, WeeFIM scale, and gait analysis was evaluated by a blinded rater before and after treatment and at 1-mo follow-up. The experimental group showed significant posttreatment improvement on the 10-m walk test, 6-min walk test, hip kinematics, gait speed, and step length, all of which were maintained at the 1-mo follow-up assessment. No significant changes in performance parameters were observed in the control group. Repetitive locomotor training with an electromechanical gait trainer may improve gait velocity, endurance, spatiotemporal, and kinematic gait parameters in patients with cerebral palsy.

  18. Repetitive Domain-Referenced Testing Using Computers: the TITA System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olympia, P. L., Jr.

    The TITA (Totally Interactive Testing and Analysis) System algorithm for the repetitive construction of domain-referenced tests utilizes a compact data bank, is highly portable, is useful in any discipline, requires modest computer hardware, and does not present a security problem. Clusters of related keyphrases, statement phrases, and distractors…

  19. Exact Repetition as Input Enhancement in Second Language Acquisition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jensen, Eva Dam; Vinther, Thora

    2003-01-01

    Reports on two studies on input enhancement used to support learners' selection of focus of attention in Spanish second language listening material. Input consisted of video recordings of dialogues between native speakers. Exact repetition and speech rate reduction were examined for effect on comprehension, acquisition of decoding strategies, and…

  20. Rhythm Patterns Interaction - Synchronization Behavior for Human-Robot Joint Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mörtl, Alexander; Lorenz, Tamara; Hirche, Sandra

    2014-01-01

    Interactive behavior among humans is governed by the dynamics of movement synchronization in a variety of repetitive tasks. This requires the interaction partners to perform for example rhythmic limb swinging or even goal-directed arm movements. Inspired by that essential feature of human interaction, we present a novel concept and design methodology to synthesize goal-directed synchronization behavior for robotic agents in repetitive joint action tasks. The agents’ tasks are described by closed movement trajectories and interpreted as limit cycles, for which instantaneous phase variables are derived based on oscillator theory. Events segmenting the trajectories into multiple primitives are introduced as anchoring points for enhanced synchronization modes. Utilizing both continuous phases and discrete events in a unifying view, we design a continuous dynamical process synchronizing the derived modes. Inverse to the derivation of phases, we also address the generation of goal-directed movements from the behavioral dynamics. The developed concept is implemented to an anthropomorphic robot. For evaluation of the concept an experiment is designed and conducted in which the robot performs a prototypical pick-and-place task jointly with human partners. The effectiveness of the designed behavior is successfully evidenced by objective measures of phase and event synchronization. Feedback gathered from the participants of our exploratory study suggests a subjectively pleasant sense of interaction created by the interactive behavior. The results highlight potential applications of the synchronization concept both in motor coordination among robotic agents and in enhanced social interaction between humanoid agents and humans. PMID:24752212

  1. Context-dependent repetition effects on recognition memory.

    OpenAIRE

    Opitz, B

    2010-01-01

    One widely acknowledged way to improve our memory performance is to repeatedly study the to be learned material. One aspect that has received little attention in past research regards the context sensitivity of this repetition effect, that is whether the item is repeated within the same or within different contexts. The predictions of a neuro-computational model (O'Reilly & Norman, 2002) were tested in an experiment requiring participants to study visual objects either once or three times. Cr...

  2. A Framework for Crosslinguistic Nonword Repetition Tests: Effects of Bilingualism and Socioeconomic Status on Children's Performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chiat, Shula; Polišenská, Kamila

    2016-01-01

    Purpose: As a recognized indicator of language impairment, nonword repetition has unique potential for distinguishing language impairment from difficulties due to limited experience and knowledge of a language. This study focused on a new Crosslinguistic Nonword Repetition framework, comprising 3 tests that vary the phonological characteristics of…

  3. A characterization of linearly repetitive cut and project sets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haynes, Alan; Koivusalo, Henna; Walton, James

    2018-02-01

    For the development of a mathematical theory which can be used to rigorously investigate physical properties of quasicrystals, it is necessary to understand regularity of patterns in special classes of aperiodic point sets in Euclidean space. In one dimension, prototypical mathematical models for quasicrystals are provided by Sturmian sequences and by point sets generated by substitution rules. Regularity properties of such sets are well understood, thanks mostly to well known results by Morse and Hedlund, and physicists have used this understanding to study one dimensional random Schrödinger operators and lattice gas models. A key fact which plays an important role in these problems is the existence of a subadditive ergodic theorem, which is guaranteed when the corresponding point set is linearly repetitive. In this paper we extend the one-dimensional model to cut and project sets, which generalize Sturmian sequences in higher dimensions, and which are frequently used in mathematical and physical literature as models for higher dimensional quasicrystals. By using a combination of algebraic, geometric, and dynamical techniques, together with input from higher dimensional Diophantine approximation, we give a complete characterization of all linearly repetitive cut and project sets with cubical windows. We also prove that these are precisely the collection of such sets which satisfy subadditive ergodic theorems. The results are explicit enough to allow us to apply them to known classical models, and to construct linearly repetitive cut and project sets in all pairs of dimensions and codimensions in which they exist. Research supported by EPSRC grants EP/L001462, EP/J00149X, EP/M023540. HK also gratefully acknowledges the support of the Osk. Huttunen foundation.

  4. Relationship to carcinogenesis of repetitive low-dose radiation exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ootsuyama, Akira

    2016-01-01

    We studied the carcinogenic effects caused by repetitive irradiation at a low dose, which has received attention in recent years, and examined the experimental methods used to evaluate radiation-induced carcinogenesis. For this experiment, we selected a mouse with as few autochthonous cancers as possible. Skin cancer was selected as the target for analysis, because it is a rare cancer in mice. Beta-rays were selected as the radiation source. The advantage of using beta-rays is weaker penetration power into tissues, thus protecting organs, such as the digestive and hematogenous organs. The benefit of our experimental method is that only skin cancer requires monitoring, and it is possible to perform long-term experiments. The back skin of mice was exposed repetitively to beta-rays three times a week until the occurrence of cancer or death, and the dose per exposure ranged from 0.5 to 11.8 Gy. With the high-dose range (2.5-11.8 Gy), the latency period and carcinogenic rate were almost the same in each experimental group. When the dose was reduced to 1-1.5 Gy, the latency period increased, but the carcinogenic rate remained. When the dose was further reduced to 0.5 Gy, skin cancer never happened, even though we continued irradiation until death of the last mouse in this group. The lifespan of 0.5 Gy group mice was the same as that of the controls. We showed that the 0.5 Gy dose did not cause cancer, even in mice exposed repetitively throughout their life span, and thus refer to 0.5 Gy as the threshold-like dose. (author)

  5. Dual-Comb Coherent Raman Spectroscopy with Lasers of 1-GHz Pulse Repetition Frequency

    OpenAIRE

    Mohler, Kathrin J.; Bohn, Bernhard J.; Yan, Ming; Hänsch, Theodor W.; Picqué, Nathalie

    2016-01-01

    We extend the technique of multiplex coherent Raman spectroscopy with two femtosecond mode-locked lasers to oscillators of a pulse repetition frequency of 1 GHz. We demonstrate spectra of liquids, which span 1100 cm$^{-1}$ of Raman shifts. At a resolution of 6 cm$^{-1}$, their measurement time may be as short as 5 microseconds for a refresh rate of 2 kHz. The waiting period between acquisitions is improved ten-fold compared to previous experiments with two lasers of 100-MHz repetition frequen...

  6. Risk of shoulder tendinitis in relation to shoulder loads in monotonous repetitive work

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Frost, P.; Bonde, J. P.; Mikkelsen, S.

    2002-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Few studies relate the occurrence of shoulder disorders to quantified ergonomic exposures. This study evaluates the hypothesis that shoulder loads in repetitive work might contribute to the occurrence of shoulder tendinitis. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study of 1961 workers...... in repetitive work and 782 referents. Shoulder loads were quantified at task level and measures of exposures were assigned based on task distribution. Symptoms in combination with clinical criteria defined shoulder tendinitis. RESULTS: The prevalence of shoulder tendinitis was higher among exposed workers...

  7. The effects of training with loads that maximise power output and individualised repetitions vs. traditional power training.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J M Sarabia

    Full Text Available It has been suggested that strength training effects (i.e. neural or structural vary, depending on the total repetitions performed and velocity loss in each training set.The aim of this study is to compare the effects of two training programmes (i.e. one with loads that maximise power output and individualised repetitions, and the other following traditional power training.Twenty-five males were divided into three groups (optimum power [OP = 10], traditional training [TT = 9] and control group [CG = 6]. The training load used for OP was individualised using loads that maximised power output (41.7% ± 5.8 of one repetition maximum [1RM] and repetitions at maximum power (4 to 9 repetitions, or 'reps'. Volume (sets x repetitions was the same for both experimental groups, while intensity for TT was that needed to perform only 50% of the maximum number of possible repetitions (i.e. 61.1%-66.6% of 1RM. The training programme ran over 11 weeks (2 sessions per week; 4-5 sets per session; 3-minute rests between sets, with pre-, intermediate and post-tests which included: anthropometry, 1RM, peak power output (PPO with 30%, 40% and 50% of 1RM in the bench press throw, and salivary testosterone (ST and cortisol (SC concentrations. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE and power output were recorded in all sessions.Following the intermediate test, PPO was increased in the OP group for each load (10.9%-13.2%. Following the post-test, both experimental groups had increased 1RM (11.8%-13.8% and PPO for each load (14.1%-19.6%. Significant decreases in PPO were found for the TT group during all sets (4.9%-15.4%, along with significantly higher RPE (37%.OP appears to be a more efficient method of training, with less neuromuscular fatigue and lower RPE.

  8. Preventing repetition of attempted suicide--I. Feasibility (acceptability, adherence, and effectiveness) of a Baerum-model like aftercare

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvid, Marianne; Wang, August G

    2009-01-01

    Repetition after attempted suicide is high with only limited research been put into effect studies. The Baerum-model from Norway offers a practical and affordable intervention. Our aim was to study the acceptability and effectiveness of a Baerum-model like intervention after attempted suicide using...... a quasi-experimental design. During a period in 2004, attempted suicide patients were offered follow-up care by a rapid-response outreach programme, an intervention lasting 6 months; a control group was established prospectively from a similar period in 2002. The design was an intent-to-treat analysis....... The outcome was measured by: 1) participation by acceptance and adherence, 2) repetition of suicide attempt and suicide, and 3) including the number of repetitive acts in 1 year after the attempted suicide episode. Follow-up period was 1 year. Participation was 70%. There was a significant lower repetition...

  9. Preventing repetition of attempted suicide-I. Feasibility (acceptability, adherence, and effectiveness) of a Baerum-model like aftercare

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hvid, M.; Wang, August Gabriel

    2008-01-01

    Repetition after attempted suicide is high with only limited research been put into effect studies. The Baerum-model from Norway offers a practical and affordable intervention. Our aim was to study the acceptability and effectiveness of a Baerum-model like intervention after attempted suicide using...... a quasi-experimental design. During a period in 2004, attempted suicide patients were offered follow-up care by a rapid-response outreach programme, an intervention lasting 6 months; a control group was established prospectively from a similar period in 2002. The design was an intent-to-treat analysis....... The outcome was measured by: 1) participation by acceptance and adherence, 2) repetition of suicide attempt and suicide, and 3) including the number of repetitive acts in 1 year after the attempted suicide episode. Follow-up period was 1 year. Participation was 70%. There was a significant lower repetition...

  10. Mixed-frame and stationary-frame repetitive control schemes for compensating typical load and grid harmonics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Loh, P.; Tang, Y.; Blaabjerg, Frede

    2011-01-01

    In this study, repetitive current controllers operating in either the mixed or stationary frame are proposed for high-precision reference tracking and disturbance rejection of power converters. Both controllers use a proportional-resonant regulator in the stationary frame for regulating...... the positive- and negative-sequence fundamental currents, which are known to directly influence the flow of active and reactive power in most energy conversion systems. Moreover, for the tracking or compensation of harmonics, the controllers include a repetitive control path in either the synchronous...... or stationary frame, whose inherent feedback and feedforward structure is proven to resemble a bank of resonant filters in either reference frames. Unlike other existing controllers, the proposed repetitive controllers function by introducing multiple resonant peaks at only those harmonic frequencies typically...

  11. Study on cerebral activation areas during repetition with functional MRI in normal adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Koseki, Yohju

    2009-01-01

    For cerebral activation of speech areas in functional MRI (f-MRI) study, the usefulness of an optical microphone, which made it possible to perform task repetition at real time during scanning, was examined. Subjects were 25 healthy adults (mean age, 27.1±5.6 years), who consisted of 15 right-handed and 10 left-handed or ambidextrous persons. Tasks comprised repetition of monosyllables, non-words, words and sentences. The repetition tasks were covertly performed during scanning of f-MRI by using an optical microphone. In both the right-handed and non-right-handed groups, activations in the left superior temporal gyrus (sensory speech area) were most frequently observed during all of the tasks. In the right-handed group, activations in the left inferior frontal (motor speech area) and superior temporal gyri were significantly more often observed than those in the right inferior frontal and superior temporal gyri. From an assessment of the laterality index (LI), left-side dominant activation was frequently seen in most of the cerebral regions including sensory and motor speech areas, although right-side and bilateral dominant activations were observed in a few cases. In both groups, activations in regions associated with sensory speech were significantly more often seen than those in regions associated with motor speech. The present predominant activations in regions involved in sensory speech indicate that the optical microphone is useful in f-MRI studies using task repetition. (author)

  12. Use of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for Treatment in Psychiatry

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aleman, Andre

    The potential of noninvasive neurostimulation by repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for improving psychiatric disorders has been studied increasingly over the past two decades. This is especially the case for major depression and for auditory verbal hallucinations in schizophrenia.

  13. Improved discrimination of visual stimuli following repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael L Waterston

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS at certain frequencies increases thresholds for motor-evoked potentials and phosphenes following stimulation of cortex. Consequently rTMS is often assumed to introduce a "virtual lesion" in stimulated brain regions, with correspondingly diminished behavioral performance. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Here we investigated the effects of rTMS to visual cortex on subjects' ability to perform visual psychophysical tasks. Contrary to expectations of a visual deficit, we find that rTMS often improves the discrimination of visual features. For coarse orientation tasks, discrimination of a static stimulus improved consistently following theta-burst stimulation of the occipital lobe. Using a reaction-time task, we found that these improvements occurred throughout the visual field and lasted beyond one hour post-rTMS. Low-frequency (1 Hz stimulation yielded similar improvements. In contrast, we did not find consistent effects of rTMS on performance in a fine orientation discrimination task. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Overall our results suggest that rTMS generally improves or has no effect on visual acuity, with the nature of the effect depending on the type of stimulation and the task. We interpret our results in the context of an ideal-observer model of visual perception.

  14. Transdiagnostic Treatment of Co-occurrence of Anxiety and Depressive Disorders based on Repetitive Negative Thinking: A Case Series

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehdi Akbari

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available  Objective: The transdiagnostic cognitive behavioral treatments for treating the coexistence of anxiety and mood disorders received useful empirical supports in the recent years. However, these treatments still have moderate efficacy. Following the improvements and developments in transdiagnostic protocols and considering the importance of repetitive negative thinking as a core transdiagnostic factor in emotional disorders, this study examined a new form of transdiagnostic treatment based on Repetitive Negative Thinking (TTRNT of co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive disorders.  Methods:Treatment efficacy was assessed using single case series with multiple baselines. Three patients meeting the criteria for co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive disorders were selected using the Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule for DSM-IV. The patients were treated individually for 12 weekly sessions. Participants completed the standardized outcome measures during the baseline, treatment and one-month follow-up. Results:At post-treatment, all participants showed significant clinical changes on a range of standardized outcome measures, and these gains were largely maintained through the one-month follow-up both in the principle and co-principal diagnosis. Conclusions:Although the results of this preliminary investigation indicated that TTRNT could be a time effective and efficient treatment for individuals with co-occurrence of anxiety and depressive disorders, further controlled clinical trials are necessary to examine this new treatment approach.

  15. New tool to assemble repetitive regions using next-generation sequencing data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuśmirek, Wiktor; Nowak, Robert M.; Neumann, Łukasz

    2017-08-01

    The next generation sequencing techniques produce a large amount of sequencing data. Some part of the genome are composed of repetitive DNA sequences, which are very problematic for the existing genome assemblers. We propose a modification of the algorithm for a DNA assembly, which uses the relative frequency of reads to properly reconstruct repetitive sequences. The new approach was implemented and tested, as a demonstration of the capability of our software we present some results for model organisms. The new implementation, using a three-layer software architecture was selected, where the presentation layer, data processing layer, and data storage layer were kept separate. Source code as well as demo application with web interface and the additional data are available at project web-page: http://dnaasm.sourceforge.net.

  16. Transcription of repetitive DNA in Neurospora crassa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dutta, S K; Chaudhuri, R K

    1975-01-01

    Repeated DNA sequences of Neurospora crassa were isolated and characterized. Approximately 10 to 12 percent of N. crassa DNA sequence were repeated, of which 7.3 percent were found to be transcribed in mid-log phase of mycelial growth as measured by DNA:RNA hybridization. It is suggested that part of repetitive DNA transcripts in N. crassa were mitochondrial and part were nuclear DNA. Most of the nuclear repeated DNAs, however, code for rRNA and tRNA in N. crassa. (auth)

  17. High-repetition-rate hydrogen chamber: Preliminary studies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1967-01-01

    This report is a conclusion to the tests realised with an experimental bubbles chamber in view to study the possibilities to increase the repetition rate. The more important parameters (the evolution of the bubbles, the expansion system) are considered in a theoretical way. Then the hardware is described. To end, experimental results are compared with the first evaluations. The calculations and the experimentation are against an oscillation system for the expansion. A system with a locking is to he considered. (authors) [fr

  18. Dual-comb coherent Raman spectroscopy with lasers of 1-GHz pulse repetition frequency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohler, Kathrin J; Bohn, Bernhard J; Yan, Ming; Mélen, Gwénaëlle; Hänsch, Theodor W; Picqué, Nathalie

    2017-01-15

    We extend the technique of multiplex coherent Raman spectroscopy with two femtosecond mode-locked lasers to oscillators of a pulse repetition frequency of 1 GHz. We demonstrate a spectra of liquids, which span 1100  cm-1 of Raman shifts. At a resolution of 6  cm-1, their measurement time may be as short as 5 μs for a refresh rate of 2 kHz. The waiting period between acquisitions is improved 10-fold compared to previous experiments with two lasers of 100-MHz repetition frequencies.

  19. Repetition Enhancement of Amygdala and Visual Cortex Functional Connectivity Reflects Nonconscious Memory for Negative Visual Stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kark, Sarah M; Slotnick, Scott D; Kensinger, Elizabeth A

    2016-12-01

    Most studies using a recognition memory paradigm examine the neural processes that support the ability to consciously recognize past events. However, there can also be nonconscious influences from the prior study episode that reflect repetition suppression effects-a reduction in the magnitude of activity for repeated presentations of stimuli-that are revealed by comparing neural activity associated with forgotten items to correctly rejected novel items. The present fMRI study examined the effect of emotional valence (positive vs. negative) on repetition suppression effects. Using a standard recognition memory task, 24 participants viewed line drawings of previously studied negative, positive, and neutral photos intermixed with novel line drawings. For each item, participants made an old-new recognition judgment and a sure-unsure confidence rating. Collapsed across valence, repetition suppression effects were found in ventral occipital-temporal cortex and frontal regions. Activity levels in the majority of these regions were not modulated by valence. However, repetition enhancement of the amygdala and ventral occipital-temporal cortex functional connectivity reflected nonconscious memory for negative items. In this study, valence had little effect on activation patterns but had a larger effect on functional connectivity patterns that were markers of nonconscious memory. Beyond memory and emotion, these findings are relevant to other cognitive and social neuroscientists that utilize fMRI repetition effects to investigate perception, attention, social cognition, and other forms of learning and memory.

  20. Effects of cue frequency and repetition on prospective memory: an ERP investigation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilson, Jennifer; Cutmore, Tim R H; Wang, Ya; Chan, Raymond C K; Shum, David H K

    2013-11-01

    Prospective memory involves the formation and completion of delayed intentions and is essential for independent living. In this study (n = 33), event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to systematically evaluate the effects of PM cue frequency (10% versus 30%) and PM cue repetition (high versus low) on ERP modulations. PM cues elicited prospective positivity and frontal positivity but not N300, perhaps due to the semantic nature of the task. Results of this study revealed an interesting interaction between PM cue frequency and PM cue repetition for prospective positivity and frontal positivity, highlighting the importance of taking both factors into account when designing future studies. © 2013.

  1. Characterization of a high repetition-rate laser-driven short-pulsed neutron source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hah, J.; Nees, J. A.; Hammig, M. D.; Krushelnick, K.; Thomas, A. G. R.

    2018-05-01

    We demonstrate a repetitive, high flux, short-pulsed laser-driven neutron source using a heavy-water jet target. We measure neutron generation at 1/2 kHz repetition rate using several-mJ pulse energies, yielding a time-averaged neutron flux of 2 × 105 neutrons s‑1 (into 4π steradians). Deuteron spectra are also measured in order to understand source characteristics. Analyses of time-of-flight neutron spectra indicate that two separate populations of neutrons, ‘prompt’ and ‘delayed’, are generated at different locations. Gamma-ray emission from neutron capture 1H(n,γ) is also measured to confirm the neutron flux.

  2. Biosynthesis and characterization of a non-repetitive polypeptide derived from silk fibroin heavy chain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yang, Gaoqiang; Wu, Mingyang; Yi, Honggen; Wang, Jiannan, E-mail: wangjn@suda.edu.cn

    2016-02-01

    Silk fibroin heavy chain is the major protein component of Bombyx mori silk fibroin and is composed of 12 repetitive and 11 non-repetitive regions, with the non-repetitive domain consisting of a hydrophilic polypeptide chain. In order to determine the biomedical function of the non-repetitive domain or potentially use it to modify hydrophobic biomaterials, high-purity isolation is necessary. Previously, we cloned and extended a gene motif (f(1)) encoding the non-repetitive domain. Here, this motif and its multimers are inserted into a glutathione S-transferase (GST)-tagged fusion-protein expression vector. Motif f(1) and multimers f(4) and f(8) were expressed in Escherichia coli BL21 cells following isopropyl β-D-1-thiogalactopyranoside induction, purified by GST-affinity chromatography, and single bands of purified fusion proteins GST-F(1), GST-F(4), and GST-F(8), were visualized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Target polypeptides F(1), F(4), and F(8), were cleaved clearly from the GST-fusion tag following thrombin digestion. Mass spectrometry results indicate that the molecular weights associated with fusion proteins GST-F(1), GST-F(4), and GST-F(8) are 31.5, 43.8, and 59.0 kDa, respectively, and with the cleaved polypeptides F(1), F(4), and F(8) are 4.8, 16.8, and 32.8 kDa, respectively. The F(1), F(4), and F(8) polypeptide chains are negatively charged with isoelectric points (pI) of 3.3, 3.2, and 3.0, respectively. The molecular weight and pI values of the polypeptide chains are consistent with the predicted values and the amino acid compositions similar to predicted sequences. FTIR and CD results show the molecular conformation of F(1) was mainly random coil, and more stable α-helix structure formed in longer molecular chain. - Highlights: • A non-repetitive domain and its multimers of silk fibroin were expressed by E. coli. • The corresponding target polypeptides F(1), F(4) and F(8) were cleaved clearly. • Their

  3. Selective attention modulates visual and haptic repetition priming: effects in aging and Alzheimer's disease.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ballesteros, Soledad; Reales, José M; Mayas, Julia; Heller, Morton A

    2008-08-01

    In two experiments, we examined the effect of selective attention at encoding on repetition priming in normal aging and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients for objects presented visually (experiment 1) or haptically (experiment 2). We used a repetition priming paradigm combined with a selective attention procedure at encoding. Reliable priming was found for both young adults and healthy older participants for visually presented pictures (experiment 1) as well as for haptically presented objects (experiment 2). However, this was only found for attended and not for unattended stimuli. The results suggest that independently of the perceptual modality, repetition priming requires attention at encoding and that perceptual facilitation is maintained in normal aging. However, AD patients did not show priming for attended stimuli, or for unattended visual or haptic objects. These findings suggest an early deficit of selective attention in AD. Results are discussed from a cognitive neuroscience approach.

  4. Surface damage characteristics of CFC and tungsten with repetitive ELM-like pulsed plasma irradiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kikuchi, Y., E-mail: ykikuchi@eng.u-hyogo.ac.jp [Graduate School of Engineering, University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, 671-2280 Hyogo (Japan); Nishijima, D. [Center for Energy Research, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0417 (United States); Nakatsuka, M.; Ando, K.; Higashi, T.; Ueno, Y.; Ishihara, M.; Shoda, K.; Nagata, M. [Graduate School of Engineering, University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, 671-2280 Hyogo (Japan); Kawai, T.; Ueda, Y. [Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871 (Japan); Fukumoto, N. [Graduate School of Engineering, University of Hyogo, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, 671-2280 Hyogo (Japan); Doerner, R.P. [Center for Energy Research, University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0417 (United States)

    2011-08-01

    Surface damage of carbon fiber composite (CFC) and tungsten (W) due to repetitive ELM-like pulsed plasma irradiation has been investigated by using a magnetized coaxial plasma gun. CX2002U CFC and stress-relieved W samples were exposed to repetitive pulsed deuterium plasmas with duration of {approx}0.5 ms, incident ion energy of {approx}30 eV, and surface absorbed energy density of {approx}0.3-0.7 MJ/m{sup 2}. Bright spots on a CFC surface during pulsed plasma exposures were clearly observed with a high-speed camera, indicating a local surface heating. No melting of a W surface was observed under a single plasma pulse exposure at energy density of {approx}0.7 MJ/m{sup 2}, although cracks were formed. Cracking of the W surface grew with repetitive pulsed plasma exposures. Subsequently, the surface melted due to localized heat absorption.

  5. Repetitive endoscopic sinus surgery failure: a role for radical surgery?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Videler, Ward J. M.; Wreesmann, Volkert B.; van der Meulen, Freerk W.; Knegt, Paul P.; Fokkens, Wytske J.

    2006-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is considered to be the golden standard for surgery in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and nasal polyposis. However, there is still a small group of patients unresponsive despite repetitive surgery. Radical surgery aimed at reduction of the

  6. Phylogenetic analysis of the genus Hordeum using repetitive DNA sequences

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Svitashev, S.; Bryngelsson, T.; Vershinin, A.

    1994-01-01

    A set of six cloned barley (Hordeum vulgare) repetitive DNA sequences was used for the analysis of phylogenetic relationships among 31 species (46 taxa) of the genus Hordeum, using molecular hybridization techniques. In situ hybridization experiments showed dispersed organization of the sequences...

  7. Treating Adaptive Living Skills of Persons with Autism Using Applied Behavior Analysis: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matson, Johnny L.; Hattier, Megan A.; Belva, Brian

    2012-01-01

    Work, self-help, leisure, and hygiene skill deficits are often associated with Autistic Disorder, a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by pervasive impairments in socialization, communication, and repetitive and restricted behaviors or interests. A number of interventions have been established to assist individuals with these impairments.…

  8. Water droplet behavior on superhydrophobic SiO2 nanocomposite films during icing/deicing cycles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lazauskas, A.; Guobiene, A.; Prosycevas, I.; Baltrusaitis, V.; Grigaliunas, V.; Narmontas, P.; Baltrusaitis, Jonas

    2013-01-01

    This work investigates water droplet behavior on superhydrophobic (water contact angle value of 162 ± 1°) SiO2 nanocomposite films subjected to repetitive icing/deicing treatments, changes in SiO2 nanocomposite film surface morphology and their non-wetting characteristics. During the experiment,

  9. Fetal Origin of Sensorimotor Behavior

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaqueline Fagard

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to track the fetal origin of infants’ sensorimotor behavior. We consider development as the self-organizing emergence of complex forms from spontaneously generated activity, governed by the innate capacity to detect and memorize the consequences of spontaneous activity (contingencies, and constrained by the sensory and motor maturation of the body. In support of this view, we show how observations on fetuses and also several fetal experiments suggest that the fetus’s first motor activity allows it to feel the space around it and to feel its body and the consequences of its movements on its body. This primitive motor babbling gives way progressively to sensorimotor behavior which already possesses most of the characteristics of infants’ later behavior: repetition of actions leading to sensations, intentionality, some motor control and oriented reactions to sensory stimulation. In this way the fetus can start developing a body map and acquiring knowledge of its limited physical and social environment.

  10. Cognitive performance of male and female C57BL/6J mice after repetitive concussive brain injuries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velosky, Alexander G; Tucker, Laura B; Fu, Amanda H; Liu, Jiong; McCabe, Joseph T

    2017-05-01

    In contact sports, repetitive concussive brain injury (rCBI) is the prevalent form of head injury seen in athletes. The need for effective treatment is urgent as rCBI has been associated with a host of cognitive, behavioral and neurological complaints. There has been a growing trend in the use of female animals in pre-clinical research, but few studies have investigated possible sex differences following rCBI. The goal of the current study was to determine any differences between male and female C57BL/6J mice on assessments of learning and memory after repetitive concussive injury. Following rCBI by impact to the scalp, male mice exhibited longer righting reflexes during acute recovery. In both sexes, there were no evident histopathological changes observed in the underlying cerebral cortex or hippocampus. Reactive astrogliosis was elevated in the corpus callosum and optic tract, and astrogliosis was slightly less in the optic tract of female mice. rCBI mice exhibited impairment during the learning phase of the Morris water maze (MWM), but female mice, in comparison to male mice, were observed to have superior spatial memory during standard MWM probe trials. Female mice were overall more active, evidenced by greater distances traveled in the y-maze and greater swim speeds in the MWM. The results of this study demonstrate sex differences in cognitive performance following rCBI and support previous research suggesting the neuroprotective role of sex in brain injury. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  11. Sands subjected to repetitive vertical loading under zero lateral strain: accumulation models, terminal densities, and settlement

    KAUST Repository

    Chong, Song Hun

    2016-08-09

    Geosystems often experience numerous loading cycles. Plastic strain accumulation during repetitive mechanical loads can lead to shear shakedown or continued shear ratcheting; in all cases, volumetric strains diminish as the specimen evolves towards terminal density. Previously suggested models and new functions are identified to fit plastic strain accumulation data. All accumulation models are formulated to capture terminal density (volumetric strain) and either shakedown or ratcheting (shear strain). Repetitive vertical loading tests under zero lateral strain conditions are conducted using three different sands packed at initially low and high densities. Test results show that plastic strain accumulation for all sands and density conditions can be captured in the same dimensionless plot defined in terms of the initial relative density, terminal density, and ratio between the amplitude of the repetitive load and the initial static load. This observation allows us to advance a simple but robust procedure to estimate the maximum one-dimensional settlement that a foundation could experience if subjected to repetitive loads. © 2016, Canadian Science Publishing. All rights reserved.

  12. Repetitive flood victims and acceptance of FEMA mitigation offers: an analysis with community-system policy implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kick, Edward L; Fraser, James C; Fulkerson, Gregory M; McKinney, Laura A; De Vries, Daniel H

    2011-07-01

    Of all natural disasters, flooding causes the greatest amount of economic and social damage. The United States' Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) uses a number of hazard mitigation grant programmes for flood victims, including mitigation offers to relocate permanently repetitive flood loss victims. This study examines factors that help to explain the degree of difficulty repetitive flood loss victims experience when they make decisions about relocating permanently after multiple flood losses. Data are drawn from interviews with FEMA officials and a survey of flood victims from eight repetitive flooding sites. The qualitative and quantitative results show the importance of rational choices by flood victims in their mitigation decisions, as they relate to financial variables, perceptions of future risk, attachments to home and community, and the relationships between repetitive flood loss victims and the local flood management officials who help them. The results offer evidence to suggest the value of a more community-system approach to FEMA relocation practices. © 2011 The Author(s). Disasters © Overseas Development Institute, 2011.

  13. Operation and Thermal Modeling of the ISIS H– Source from 50 to 2 Hz Repetition Rates

    CERN Document Server

    Pereira, H; Lettry, J

    2013-01-01

    CERN’s Linac4 accelerator H− ion source, currently under construction, will operate at a 2 Hz repetition rate, with pulse length of 0.5 ms and a beam current of 80 mA. Its reliability must exceed 99 % with a mandatory 3 month uninterrupted operation period. A Penning ion source is successfully operated at ISIS; at 50 Hz repetition rate it reliably provides 55 mA H− pulses of 0.25 ms duration over 1 month. The discharge plasma ignition is very sensitive to the temperatures of the discharge region, especially of its cathode. The investigation by modeling and measurement of operation parameters suitable for arc ignition and H− production at 2 Hz is of paramount importance and must be understood prior to the implementation of discharge ion sources in the Linac4 accelerator. In its original configuration, the ISIS H− source delivers beam only if the repetition rate is above 12.5 Hz, this paper describes the implementation of a temperature control of the discharge region aiming at lower repetition rate op...

  14. Short-Pulse-Width Repetitively Q-Switched ~2.7-μm Er:Y2O3 Ceramic Laser

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaojing Ren

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available A short-pulse-width repetitively Q-switched 2.7-μm Er:Y2O3 ceramic laser is demonstrated using a specially designed mechanical switch, a metal plate carved with slits of both slit-width and duty-cycle optimized. With a 20% transmission output coupler, stable pulse trains with durations (full-width at half-maximum, FWHM of 27–38 ns were generated with a repetition rate within the range of 0.26–4 kHz. The peak power at a 0.26 kHz repetition rate was ~3 kW.

  15. Repetitive sequences and epigenetic modification: inseparable partners play important roles in the evolution of plant sex chromosomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shu-Fen; Zhang, Guo-Jun; Yuan, Jin-Hong; Deng, Chuan-Liang; Gao, Wu-Jun

    2016-05-01

    The present review discusses the roles of repetitive sequences played in plant sex chromosome evolution, and highlights epigenetic modification as potential mechanism of repetitive sequences involved in sex chromosome evolution. Sex determination in plants is mostly based on sex chromosomes. Classic theory proposes that sex chromosomes evolve from a specific pair of autosomes with emergence of a sex-determining gene(s). Subsequently, the newly formed sex chromosomes stop recombination in a small region around the sex-determining locus, and over time, the non-recombining region expands to almost all parts of the sex chromosomes. Accumulation of repetitive sequences, mostly transposable elements and tandem repeats, is a conspicuous feature of the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome, even in primitive one. Repetitive sequences may play multiple roles in sex chromosome evolution, such as triggering heterochromatization and causing recombination suppression, leading to structural and morphological differentiation of sex chromosomes, and promoting Y chromosome degeneration and X chromosome dosage compensation. In this article, we review the current status of this field, and based on preliminary evidence, we posit that repetitive sequences are involved in sex chromosome evolution probably via epigenetic modification, such as DNA and histone methylation, with small interfering RNAs as the mediator.

  16. Repetitive model predictive approach to individual pitch control of wind turbines

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Adegas, Fabiano Daher; Stoustrup, Jakob; Odgaard, Peter Fogh

    2011-01-01

    prediction. As a consequence, individual pitch feed-forward control action is generated by the controller, taking ”future” wind disturbance into account. Information about the estimated wind spatial distribution one blade experience can be used in the prediction model to better control the next passing blade......Wind turbines are inherently exposed to nonuniform wind fields with of wind shear, tower shadow, and possible wake contributions. Asymmetrical aerodynamic rotor loads are a consequence of such periodic, repetitive wind disturbances experienced by the blades. A controller may estimate and use...... this peculiar disturbance pattern to better attenuate loads and regulate power by controlling the blade pitch angles individually. A novel model predictive (MPC) approach for individual pitch control of wind turbines is proposed in this paper. A repetitive wind disturbance model is incorporated into the MPC...

  17. Influence of repetitive mechanical loading on MMP2 activity in tendon fibroblasts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huisman, Elise; Lu, Alex; Jamil, Sarwat; Mousavizadeh, Rouhollah; McCormack, Robert; Roberts, Clive; Scott, Alex

    2016-11-01

    Matrix metalloproteinase2 has been implicated in tendon pathology caused by repetitive movements. However, its activity in the early stages of the tendon's response to overuse, and its presence in the circulation as a possible indicator of tendon degradation, remain unknown. Human tendon cells were repetitively stretched for 5 days, and the rabbit Achilles tendon complex underwent repetitive motion 3× per week for 2 weeks. Quantitative polymer chain reaction analysis was performed to detect matrix metalloproteinase2/14 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase2 messenger ribonucleic acid of cells and rabbit tissue, and matrix metalloproteinase2 protein levels were determined with an enzyme linked immunoassay. Matrix metalloproteinase2 activity was examined using zymography of the conditioned media, tendon and serum. Immunohistochemistry was used to localize matrix metalloproteinase2 in tendon tissue, and the density of fibrillar collagen in tendons was examined using second harmonic generation microscopy. Tendon cells stretched with high strain or high frequency demonstrated increased matrix metalloproteinase2 messenger ribonucleic acid and protein levels. Matrix metalloproteinase2 activity was increased in the rabbit Achilles tendon tissue at weeks 1 and 2; however, serum activity was only increased at week 1. After 2 weeks of exercise, the collagen density was lower in specific regions of the exercised rabbit Achilles tendon complex. Matrix metalloproteinase2 expression in exercised rabbit Achilles tendons was detected surrounding tendon fibroblasts. Repetitive mechanical stimulation of tendon cells results in a small increase in matrix metalloproteinase2 levels, but it appears unlikely that serum matrix metalloproteinase2 will be a useful indicator of tendon overuse injury. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 34:1991-2000, 2016. © 2016 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  18. The effects of training with loads that maximise power output and individualised repetitions vs. traditional power training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moya-Ramón, M.; Hernández-Davó, J. L.; Fernandez-Fernandez, J.; Sabido, R.

    2017-01-01

    Background It has been suggested that strength training effects (i.e. neural or structural) vary, depending on the total repetitions performed and velocity loss in each training set. Purpose The aim of this study is to compare the effects of two training programmes (i.e. one with loads that maximise power output and individualised repetitions, and the other following traditional power training). Methods Twenty-five males were divided into three groups (optimum power [OP = 10], traditional training [TT = 9] and control group [CG = 6]). The training load used for OP was individualised using loads that maximised power output (41.7% ± 5.8 of one repetition maximum [1RM]) and repetitions at maximum power (4 to 9 repetitions, or ‘reps’). Volume (sets x repetitions) was the same for both experimental groups, while intensity for TT was that needed to perform only 50% of the maximum number of possible repetitions (i.e. 61.1%–66.6% of 1RM). The training programme ran over 11 weeks (2 sessions per week; 4–5 sets per session; 3-minute rests between sets), with pre-, intermediate and post-tests which included: anthropometry, 1RM, peak power output (PPO) with 30%, 40% and 50% of 1RM in the bench press throw, and salivary testosterone (ST) and cortisol (SC) concentrations. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and power output were recorded in all sessions. Results Following the intermediate test, PPO was increased in the OP group for each load (10.9%–13.2%). Following the post-test, both experimental groups had increased 1RM (11.8%–13.8%) and PPO for each load (14.1%–19.6%). Significant decreases in PPO were found for the TT group during all sets (4.9%–15.4%), along with significantly higher RPE (37%). Conclusion OP appears to be a more efficient method of training, with less neuromuscular fatigue and lower RPE. PMID:29053725

  19. Preschool speech articulation and nonword repetition abilities may help predict eventual recovery or persistence of stuttering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spencer, Caroline; Weber-Fox, Christine

    2014-09-01

    In preschool children, we investigated whether expressive and receptive language, phonological, articulatory, and/or verbal working memory proficiencies aid in predicting eventual recovery or persistence of stuttering. Participants included 65 children, including 25 children who do not stutter (CWNS) and 40 who stutter (CWS) recruited at age 3;9-5;8. At initial testing, participants were administered the Test of Auditory Comprehension of Language, 3rd edition (TACL-3), Structured Photographic Expressive Language Test, 3rd edition (SPELT-3), Bankson-Bernthal Test of Phonology-Consonant Inventory subtest (BBTOP-CI), Nonword Repetition Test (NRT; Dollaghan & Campbell, 1998), and Test of Auditory Perceptual Skills-Revised (TAPS-R) auditory number memory and auditory word memory subtests. Stuttering behaviors of CWS were assessed in subsequent years, forming groups whose stuttering eventually persisted (CWS-Per; n=19) or recovered (CWS-Rec; n=21). Proficiency scores in morphosyntactic skills, consonant production, verbal working memory for known words, and phonological working memory and speech production for novel nonwords obtained at the initial testing were analyzed for each group. CWS-Per were less proficient than CWNS and CWS-Rec in measures of consonant production (BBTOP-CI) and repetition of novel phonological sequences (NRT). In contrast, receptive language, expressive language, and verbal working memory abilities did not distinguish CWS-Rec from CWS-Per. Binary logistic regression analysis indicated that preschool BBTOP-CI scores and overall NRT proficiency significantly predicted future recovery status. Results suggest that phonological and speech articulation abilities in the preschool years should be considered with other predictive factors as part of a comprehensive risk assessment for the development of chronic stuttering. At the end of this activity the reader will be able to: (1) describe the current status of nonlinguistic and linguistic predictors for

  20. High-power pre-chirp managed amplification of femtosecond pulses at high repetition rates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Yang; Li, Wenxue; Zhao, Jian; Bai, Dongbi; Luo, Daping; Zeng, Heping

    2015-01-01

    Femtosecond pulses at 250 MHz repetition rate from a mode-locked fiber laser are amplified to high power in a pre-chirp managed amplifier. The experimental strategy offers a potential towards high-power ultrashort laser pulses at high repetition rates. By investigating the laser pulse evolution in the amplification processes, we show that self-similar evolution, finite gain bandwidth and mode instabilities determine pulse characteristics in different regimes. Further average power scaling is limited by the mode instabilities. Nevertheless, this laser system enables us to achieve sub-50 fs pulses with an average power of 93 W. (letter)

  1. Measurement and diagnosis system for 1.2 MV repetitive pulsed power source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Yawei; Deng Jianjun; Xie Min; Feng Zongming; Liu Yuntao; Ma Chenggang

    2010-01-01

    In order to analyze the discharge performance and improve the design of the power system, a set of measurement and diagnosis system for the 1.2 MV repetitive pulsed power source, which supplies the drive power for a high power microwave source, has been designed by studying the high-voltage, high-current testing technology, data acquisition, signal processing, fault diagnosis, virtual instruments and electromagnetic compatibility technology, etc. A resistive-capacitive divider and a Rogowski coil are adopted in measurement; ADLINK corporation's PXI chips are used in data acquisition; data transmission system, condition monitoring and data analysis are developed by LabVIEW. This system can realize on-line monitoring and data analysis for the repetitive pulsed power source. (authors)

  2. When Thinking Impairs Sleep: Trait, Daytime and Nighttime Repetitive Thinking in Insomnia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lancee, Jaap; Eisma, Maarten C; van Zanten, Kristopher B; Topper, Maurice

    2017-01-01

    We performed two studies in individuals with sleep problems to investigate trait, daytime, and nighttime repetitive thinking as risk factors for insomnia. In Study 1, 139 participants completed questionnaires on worry, rumination, insomnia, anxiety, depression, and a sleep diary. Trait rumination and trait worry were not associated with sleep impairment. In Study 2, 64 participants completed similar measures and a daytime and nighttime sleep-related worry diary. Only nighttime sleep-related worry was consistently associated with sleep impairment. Overall, results indicate that nighttime sleep-related worry is important in the maintenance of insomnia, whereas effects of trait and daytime repetitive thinking are more benign. Treatment for insomnia can potentially be improved by focusing more on nighttime sleep-related worry.

  3. Methylation patterns of repetitive DNA sequences in germ cells of Mus musculus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanford, J; Forrester, L; Chapman, V; Chandley, A; Hastie, N

    1984-03-26

    The major and the minor satellite sequences of Mus musculus were undermethylated in both sperm and oocyte DNAs relative to the amount of undermethylation observed in adult somatic tissue DNA. This hypomethylation was specific for satellite sequences in sperm DNA. Dispersed repetitive and low copy sequences show a high degree of methylation in sperm DNA; however, a dispersed repetitive sequence was undermethylated in oocyte DNA. This finding suggests a difference in the amount of total genomic DNA methylation between sperm and oocyte DNA. The methylation levels of the minor satellite sequences did not change during spermiogenesis, and were not associated with the onset of meiosis or a specific stage in sperm development.

  4. Study the Relationship of Executive Functions with Behavioral Symptoms in Children with High-Functioning Autism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vali Shiri

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Objective: The relation between autism disorder’s symptoms and cognitive capabilities can help with a better phenotype description of this disorder and can facilitate its pathological evaluation and treatment. Destruction of executive functions seems to be one of the cognitive reasons of potential phenotype in autism disorder. Thus, the present paper aims to study the relationship between executive dysfunction and autism disorder’s symptoms. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional research, 50 children with high-functioning autism were selected using convenience sampling method from Behara, Tehranpars and Roshd centers. Then, the GARS test and Autism Spectrum Screening Questionnaire was completed by therapists and neuropsychological tests of Strop and continuous performance test and shift attention were taken by the subjects. Pearson correlation coefficient and multi-variant regression were used for data analysis. Results: There is a significant positive relationship between selective attention with communicative and social interaction symptoms, sustained attention with social interaction symptoms and repetitive behaviors, shifting attention with communicative, social interaction and repetitive behavior symptoms (P<0.001 (P<0.01 (P<0.05. In addition, the results of regression analysis also revealed that selective attention and shifting attention can predict communication, and sustained attention can predict social interaction and repetitive behaviors symptoms (P<0.01 (P<0.05. Conclusion: The results obtained by this study indicate the significant role of executive functions in autistic symptoms. Thus, it is recommended to consider new treatment interventions in repairing executive functions for treatment of children with autistic disorder.

  5. Role of Auditory Non-Verbal Working Memory in Sentence Repetition for Bilingual Children with Primary Language Impairment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebert, Kerry Danahy

    2014-01-01

    Background: Sentence repetition performance is attracting increasing interest as a valuable clinical marker for primary (or specific) language impairment (LI) in both monolingual and bilingual populations. Multiple aspects of memory appear to contribute to sentence repetition performance, but non-verbal memory has not yet been considered. Aims: To…

  6. Instruction, Repetition, Discovery: Restoring the Historical Educational Role of Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trninic, Dragan

    2018-01-01

    This conceptual paper considers what it would mean to take seriously Freudenthal's suggestion that mathematics should be taught like swimming. The general claim being made is that "direct instruction" and "discovery" are not opposite but complementary, linked by repetitive yet explorative practice. This claim is elaborated…

  7. Probing background ionization: positive streamers with varying pulse repetition rate and with a radioactive admixture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nijdam, S; Van Veldhuizen, E M; Ebert, U; Wormeester, G

    2011-01-01

    Positive streamers need a source of free electrons ahead of them to propagate. A streamer can supply these electrons by itself through photo-ionization, or the electrons can be present due to external background ionization. Here we investigate the effects of background ionization on streamer propagation and morphology by changing the gas composition and the repetition rate of the voltage pulses, and by adding a small amount of radioactive 85 Kr. We find that the general morphology of a positive streamer discharge in high-purity nitrogen depends on background ionization: at lower background ionization levels the streamers branch more and have a more feather-like appearance. This is observed both when varying the repetition rate and when adding 85 Kr, though side branches are longer with the radioactive admixture. But velocities and minimal diameters of streamers are virtually independent of the background ionization level. In air, the inception cloud breaks up into streamers at a smaller radius when the repetition rate and therefore the background ionization level is higher. When measuring the effects of the pulse repetition rate and of the radioactive admixture on the discharge morphology, we found that our estimates of background ionization levels are consistent with these observations; this gives confidence in the estimates. Streamer channels generally do not follow the paths of previous discharge channels for repetition rates of up to 10 Hz. We estimate the effect of recombination and diffusion of ions and free electrons from the previous discharge and conclude that the old trail has largely disappeared at the moment of the next voltage pulse; therefore the next streamers indeed cannot follow the old trail.

  8. Improvement of Polytetrafluoroethylene Surface Energy by Repetitive Pulse Non-Thermal Plasma Treatment in Atmospheric Air

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Guoqing; Zhang Guanjun; Zhang Wenyuan

    2011-01-01

    Improvement of polytetrafluoroethylene surface energy by non-thermal plasma treatment is presented, using a nanosecond-positive-edge repetitive pulsed dielectric barrier discharge generator in atmospheric air. The electrical parameters including discharging power, peak and density of micro-discharge current were calculated, and the electron energy was estimated. Surface treatment experiments of polytetrafluoroethylene films were conducted for both different applied voltages and different treating durations. Results show that the surface energy of polytetrafluoroethylene film could be improved to 40 mJ/m 2 or more by plasma treatment. Surface roughness measurement and surface X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicate that there are chemical etching and implantation of polar oxygen groups in the sample surface treating process, resulting in the improvement of the sample surface energy. Compared with an AC source of 50 Hz, the dielectric barrier discharges generated by a repetitive pulsed source could provide higher peak power, lower mean power, larger micro-discharge current density and higher electron energy. Therefore, with the same applied peak voltage and treating duration, the improvement of polytetrafluoroethylene surface energy using repetitive pulsed plasma is more effective, and the plasma treatment process based on repetitive pulsed dielectric barrier discharges in air is thus feasible and applicable.

  9. A NOR-associated repetitive element present in the genome of two Salmo species (Salmo salar and S. trutta)

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Abuin, M.; Clabby, C.; Martinez, P.; Goswami, U.; Flavin, F.; Wilkins, N.P.; Houghton, J.A.; Powell, R.; Sanchez, L.

    , internal repetition, and long direct repeats with deletions and insertions between individual units. The repetitive element was shown to have a tandem unit arrangement and was estimated to occupy between two and three percent of the Atlantic salmon genome...

  10. Modeling and Simulation of Elementary Robot Behaviors using Associative Memories

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claude F. Touzet

    2006-06-01

    Full Text Available Today, there are several drawbacks that impede the necessary and much needed use of robot learning techniques in real applications. First, the time needed to achieve the synthesis of any behavior is prohibitive. Second, the robot behavior during the learning phase is – by definition – bad, it may even be dangerous. Third, except within the lazy learning approach, a new behavior implies a new learning phase. We propose in this paper to use associative memories (self-organizing maps to encode the non explicit model of the robot-world interaction sampled by the lazy memory, and then generate a robot behavior by means of situations to be achieved, i.e., points on the self-organizing maps. Any behavior can instantaneously be synthesized by the definition of a goal situation. Its performance will be minimal (not necessarily bad and will improve by the mere repetition of the behavior.

  11. Impulsive sounds change European seabass swimming patterns: Influence of pulse repetition interval

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Neo, Y.Y.; Ufkes, E.; Kastelein, R.A.; Winter, H.V.; Cate, C. ten; Slabbekoorn, H.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We exposed impulsive sounds of different repetition intervals to European seabass. • Immediate behavioural changes mirrored previous indoor & outdoor studies. • Repetition intervals influenced the impacts differentially but not the recovery. • Sound temporal patterns may be more important than some standard metrics. - Abstract: Seismic shootings and offshore pile-driving are regularly performed, emitting significant amounts of noise that may negatively affect fish behaviour. The pulse repetition interval (PRI) of these impulsive sounds may vary considerably and influence the behavioural impact and recovery. Here, we tested the effect of four PRIs (0.5–4.0 s) on European seabass swimming patterns in an outdoor basin. At the onset of the sound exposures, the fish swam faster and dived deeper in tighter shoals. PRI affected the immediate and delayed behavioural changes but not the recovery time. Our study highlights that (1) the behavioural changes of captive European seabass were consistent with previous indoor and outdoor studies; (2) PRI could influence behavioural impact differentially, which may have management implications; (3) some acoustic metrics, e.g. SEL cum , may have limited predictive power to assess the strength of behavioural impacts of noise. Noise impact assessments need to consider the contribution of sound temporal structure

  12. The Role of Memory Processes in Repetition Blindness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnston, James C.; Hochhaus, Larry; Null, Cynthia H. (Technical Monitor)

    1995-01-01

    We investigated whether Repetition Blindness (RB) in processing RSVP strings depends critically on memory demands. When all items in the sequence had to be reported, strong RB was found. When only the 2 critical items (cued by color) had to be reported, no RB was found. Preliminary results show that imposing a separate memory load, while reporting only the critical items, also produces little RB. Implications for the processing locus of RB will be discussed.

  13. Ultraviolet excimer laser ablation: the effect of wavelength and repetition rate on in vivo guinea pig skin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morelli, J.; Kibbi, A.G.; Farinelli, W.; Boll, J.; Tan, O.T.

    1987-06-01

    Multiple dermatologic conditions that are currently treated with traditional cold-knife surgery are amenable to laser therapy. The ideal surgical treatment would be precise and total removal of abnormal tissue with maximal sparing of remaining structures. The ultraviolet (UV) excimer laser is capable of such precise tissue removal due to the penetration depth of 193 nm and 248 nm irradiation of 1 micron per pulse. This type of ablative tissue removal requires a high repetition rate for efficient lesional destruction. Excimer laser radiation at 193 nm is capable of high repetition rates, which are necessary while 248 nm radiation causes increasing nonspecific thermal injury as the laser repetition rate is increased.

  14. Very high repetition-rate electro-optical cavity-dumped Nd: YVO4 laser with optics and dynamics stabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xuesong; Shi, Zhaohui; Huang, Yutao; Fan, Zhongwei; Yu, Jin; Zhang, Jing; Hou, Liqun

    2015-02-01

    In this paper, a very high repetition-rate, short-pulse, electro-optical cavity-dumped Nd: YVO4 laser is experimentally and theoretically investigated. The laser performance is optimized from two aspects. Firstly, the laser resonator is designed for a good thermal stability under large pump power fluctuation through optics methods. Secondly, dynamics simulation as well as experiments verifies that cavity dumping at very high repetition rate has better stability than medium/high repetition rate. At 30 W, 880 nm pump power, up to 500 kHz, constant 5 ns, stable 1064 nm fundamental-mode laser pulses can be obtained with 10 W average output power.

  15. A cross-linguistic study of real-word and non-word repetition as predictors of grammatical competence in children with typical language development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dispaldro, Marco; Deevy, Patricia; Altoe, Gianmarco; Benelli, Beatrice; Leonard Purdue, Laurence B.

    2013-01-01

    Background Although relationships among non-word repetition, real-word repetition and grammatical ability have been documented, it is important to study whether the specific nature of these relationships is tied to the characteristics of a given language. Aims The aim of this study is to explore the potential cross-linguistic differences (Italian and English) in the relationship among non-word repetition, real-word repetition, and grammatical ability in three- and four-year-old children with typical language development. Methods & Procedures To reach this goal, two repetition tasks (one real-word list and one non-word list for each language) were used. In Italian the grammatical categories were the third person plural inflection and the direct-object clitic pronouns, while in English they were the third person singular present tense inflection and the past tense in regular and irregular forms. Outcomes & Results A cross-linguistic comparison showed that in both Italian and English, non-word repetition was a significant predictor of grammatical ability. However, performance on real-word repetition explained children’s grammatical ability in Italian but not in English. Conclusions & Implications Abilities underlying non-word repetition performance (e.g., the processing and/or storage of phonological material) play an important role in the development of children’s grammatical abilities in both languages. Lexical ability (indexed by real-word repetition) showed a close relationship to grammatical ability in Italian but not in English. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of cross-linguistic differences, genetic research, clinical intervention and methodological issues. PMID:21899673

  16. A cross-linguistic study of real-word and non-word repetition as predictors of grammatical competence in children with typical language development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dispaldro, Marco; Deevy, Patricia; Altoé, Gianmarco; Benelli, Beatrice; Leonard, Laurence B

    2011-01-01

    Although relationships among non-word repetition, real-word repetition and grammatical ability have been documented, it is important to study whether the specific nature of these relationships is tied to the characteristics of a given language. The aim of this study is to explore the potential cross-linguistic differences (Italian and English) in the relationship among non-word repetition, real-word repetition, and grammatical ability in three-and four-year-old children with typical language development. To reach this goal, two repetition tasks (one real-word list and one non-word list for each language) were used. In Italian the grammatical categories were the third person plural inflection and the direct-object clitic pronouns, while in English they were the third person singular present tense inflection and the past tense in regular and irregular forms. A cross-linguistic comparison showed that in both Italian and English, non-word repetition was a significant predictor of grammatical ability. However, performance on real-word repetition explained children's grammatical ability in Italian but not in English. Abilities underlying non-word repetition performance (e.g., the processing and/or storage of phonological material) play an important role in the development of children's grammatical abilities in both languages. Lexical ability (indexed by real-word repetition) showed a close relationship to grammatical ability in Italian but not in English. Implications of the findings are discussed in terms of cross-linguistic differences, genetic research, clinical intervention and methodological issues. © 2011 Royal College of Speech & Language Therapists.

  17. The use of digit and sentence repetition in the identification of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Kate H

    value to child language researchers and speech-language therapists. .... 1801), short term memory of persons with dyslexia (Roach and Hogben ..... The results of the pilot study were used to determine how long the repetition tasks took to.

  18. Brief Report: Repetitive Behaviour Profiles in Williams Syndrome: Cross Syndrome Comparisons with Prader-Willi and Down Syndromes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Royston, R.; Oliver, C.; Moss, J.; Adams, D.; Berg, K.; Burbidge, C.; Howlin, P.; Nelson, L.; Stinton, C.; Waite, J.

    2018-01-01

    This study describes the profile of repetitive behaviour in individuals with Williams syndrome, utilising cross-syndrome comparisons with people with Prader-Willi and Down syndromes. The Repetitive Behaviour Questionnaire was administered to caregivers of adults with Williams (n = 96), Prader-Willi (n = 103) and Down (n = 78) syndromes. There were…

  19. Efficacy Of The Repetitions In Reserve-Based Rating Of Perceived Exertion For The Bench Press In Experienced And Novice Benchers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ormsbee, Michael J; Carzoli, Joseph P; Klemp, Alex; Allman, Brittany R; Zourdos, Michael C; Kim, Jeong-Su; Panton, Lynn B

    2017-03-13

    Autoregulation (AR) is the practice of adjusting training variables in response to athlete feedback. One component of AR postulated to enhance resistance training adaptations involves implementing a resistance training-specific rating of perceived exertion (RPE) scale measuring repetitions in reserve (RIR). The purpose of this study was to examine the efficacy of this method using the bench press exercise. Twenty-seven college-aged men were assigned to one of two groups based upon training age: experience benchers (EB) (n=14, training age: 4.7±2.0 yrs) and novice benchers (NB) (n=13, training age: 1.1±0.6 yrs). Subjects performed one-repetition maximum (1RM) followed by single-repetition sets with loads corresponding to 60, 75, and 90% of 1RM and an 8-repetition set at 70% 1RM. Subjects reported a corresponding RPE, based on RIR, for every set. Average velocity was recorded for each single-repetition set along with the first and last repetitions of the 8-repetition set at 70% 1RM. Average velocity at 100% of 1RM in EB was slower (0.14±0.04 m[BULLET OPERATOR]s) compared to NB (0.20±0.05 m[BULLET OPERATOR]s) (pvelocity or RPE at any other intensity. Both EB (r=0.85, pvelocity and RPE at all intensities. Our findings suggest that the RIR-based RPE scale may be an efficacious approach for AR of bench press training load and volume in college-aged men.

  20. Repetitive Observation of Coniferous Samples in ESEM and SEM

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Tihlaříková, Eva; Neděla, Vilém

    2015-01-01

    Roč. 21, S3 (2015), s. 1695-1696 ISSN 1431-9276 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-22777S; GA MŠk(CZ) LO1212; GA MŠk ED0017/01/01 Institutional support: RVO:68081731 Keywords : SEM * ESEM * biological samples * repetitive observation Subject RIV: JA - Electronics ; Optoelectronics, Electrical Engineering Impact factor: 1.730, year: 2015

  1. Errors in nonword repetition: bridging short- and long-term memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    F.H. Santos

    2006-03-01

    Full Text Available According to the working memory model, the phonological loop is the component of working memory specialized in processing and manipulating limited amounts of speech-based information. The Children's Test of Nonword Repetition (CNRep is a suitable measure of phonological short-term memory for English-speaking children, which was validated by the Brazilian Children's Test of Pseudoword Repetition (BCPR as a Portuguese-language version. The objectives of the present study were: i to investigate developmental aspects of the phonological memory processing by error analysis in the nonword repetition task, and ii to examine phoneme (substitution, omission and addition and order (migration errors made in the BCPR by 180 normal Brazilian children of both sexes aged 4-10, from preschool to 4th grade. The dominant error was substitution [F(3,525 = 180.47; P < 0.0001]. The performance was age-related [F(4,175 = 14.53; P < 0.0001]. The length effect, i.e., more errors in long than in short items, was observed [F(3,519 = 108.36; P < 0.0001]. In 5-syllable pseudowords, errors occurred mainly in the middle of the stimuli, before the syllabic stress [F(4,16 = 6.03; P = 0.003]; substitutions appeared more at the end of the stimuli, after the stress [F(12,48 = 2.27; P = 0.02]. In conclusion, the BCPR error analysis supports the idea that phonological loop capacity is relatively constant during development, although school learning increases the efficiency of this system. Moreover, there are indications that long-term memory contributes to holding memory trace. The findings were discussed in terms of distinctiveness, clustering and redintegration hypotheses.

  2. Vibrational sum-frequency generation spectroscopy of lipid bilayers at repetition rates up to 100 kHz

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yesudas, Freeda; Mero, Mark; Kneipp, Janina; Heiner, Zsuzsanna

    2018-03-01

    Broadband vibrational sum-frequency generation (BB-VSFG) spectroscopy has become a well-established surface analytical tool capable of identifying the orientation and structure of molecular layers. A straightforward way to boost the sensitivity of the technique could be to increase the laser repetition rate beyond that of standard BB-VSFG spectrometers, which rely on Ti:sapphire lasers operating at repetition rates of 1-5 kHz. Nevertheless, possible thermally induced artifacts in the vibrational spectra due to higher laser average powers are unexplored. Here, we discuss laser power induced temperature accumulation effects that distort the BB-VSFG spectra of 1,2-diacyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine at an interface between two transparent phases at repetition rates of 5, 10, 50, and 100 kHz at constant pulse energy. No heat-induced distortions were found in the spectra, suggesting that the increase in the laser repetition rate provides a feasible route to an improved signal-to-noise ratio or shorter data acquisition times in BB-VSFG spectroscopy for thin films on transparent substrates. The results have implications for future BB-VSFG spectrometers pushing the detection limit for molecular layers with low surface coverage.

  3. Transcribing nonsense words: The effect of numbers of voices and repetitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knight, Rachael-Anne

    2010-06-01

    Transcription skills are crucially important to all phoneticians, and particularly for speech and language therapists who may use transcriptions to make decisions about diagnosis and intervention. Whilst interest in factors affecting transcription accuracy is increasing, there are still a number of issues that are yet to be investigated. The present paper considers how the number of voices and the number of repetitions affects the transcription of nonsense words. Thirty-two students in their second year of study for a BSc in Speech and Language Therapy were participants in an experiment. They heard two nonsense words presented 10 times in either one or two voices. Results show that the number of voices did not affect accuracy, but that accuracy increased between six and ten repetitions. The reasons behind these findings, and implications for teaching and learning, and further research are discussed.

  4. Children's Spoken Word Recognition and Contributions to Phonological Awareness and Nonword Repetition: A 1-Year Follow-Up

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metsala, Jamie L.; Stavrinos, Despina; Walley, Amanda C.

    2009-01-01

    This study examined effects of lexical factors on children's spoken word recognition across a 1-year time span, and contributions to phonological awareness and nonword repetition. Across the year, children identified words based on less input on a speech-gating task. For word repetition, older children improved for the most familiar words. There…

  5. The Role of Reminding in the Effects of Spaced Repetitions on Cued Recall: Sufficient but Not Necessary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahlheim, Christopher N.; Maddox, Geoffrey B.; Jacoby, Larry L.

    2014-01-01

    Three experiments examined the role of study-phase retrieval (reminding) in the effects of spaced repetitions on cued recall. Remindings were brought under task control to evaluate their effects. Participants studied 2 lists of word pairs containing 3 item types: single items that appeared once in List 2, within-list repetitions that appeared…

  6. Repetitively pulsed power for meat pasteurization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Patterson, E.L.; Kaye, R.J.; Neau, E.L.

    1994-01-01

    Electronic pasteurization of meat offers the potential for drastically reducing the incidence of food poisoning caused by biological pathogens accidentally introduced into meat products. Previous work has shown that γ-rays are an effective method of destroying E. coli 0157:H7, Salmonella, C. jejuni, L. monocytogenes, Listeria, and S. aureus bacteria types. The concern with the use of γ-rays is that radioactive material must be used in the pasteurization process that can lead to some market resistance and activist pressure on the meat industry. The use of accelerator generated high average power electron beams, at energies less than 10 MeV, or X-rays, with energies below 5 MeV, have been approved by the FDA for use in pasteurizing foods. Accelerator produced electronic pasteurization has the advantage that no radioactive material inventory is required. Electronic pasteurization has the additional benefit that it removes bacterial pathogens on the meat surface as well as within the volume of the meat product. High average power, repetitively-pulsed, broad-area electron beam sources being developed in the RHEPP program are suitable for large scale meat treatment in packing plant environments. RHEPP-II, which operates at 2.5 MeV and 25 kA at pulse repetition frequencies up to 120 Hz has adequate electron energy to penetrate hamburger patties which comprise about half of the beef consumption in the United States. Ground beef also has the highest potential for contamination since considerable processing is required in its production. A meat pasteurization facility using this size of accelerator source should be capable of treating 10 6 pounds of hamburger patties per hour to a dose of up to 3 kGy (300 kilorads). The RHEPP modular accelerator technology can easily be modified for other production rates and types of products

  7. The Effect of Advertising on Attitude Accessibility, Attitude Confidence, and the Attitude-Behavior Relationship.

    OpenAIRE

    Berger, Ida E; Mitchell, Andrew A

    1989-01-01

    The influence of advertising repetition on several non-evaluative dimensions of attitudes and the strength of the relationship between attitudes and behavior are examined. The results indicate that attitudes formed on the basis of repeated ad exposure are similar to those formed on the basis of direct experience in that they are more accessible from memory, held with more confidence, and are more predictive of subsequent behavior than are attitudes based on a single ad exposure. The results a...

  8. High-q microring resonator with narrow free spectral range for pulse repetition rate multiplication

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pu, Minhao; Ji, Hua; Frandsen, Lars Hagedorn

    2009-01-01

    We demonstrate a silicon-on-insulator microring resonator with a free-spectral-range of 0.32 nm, an extinction ratio of 27 dB, and a quality factor of ~140900 at 1550 nm that is used for pulse repetition-rate multiplication from 10 to 40 GHz.......We demonstrate a silicon-on-insulator microring resonator with a free-spectral-range of 0.32 nm, an extinction ratio of 27 dB, and a quality factor of ~140900 at 1550 nm that is used for pulse repetition-rate multiplication from 10 to 40 GHz....

  9. High repetition rate laser-driven MeV ion acceleration at variable background pressures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snyder, Joseph; Ngirmang, Gregory; Orban, Chris; Feister, Scott; Morrison, John; Frische, Kyle; Chowdhury, Enam; Roquemore, W. M.

    2017-10-01

    Ultra-intense laser-plasma interactions (LPI) can produce highly energetic photons, electrons, and ions with numerous potential real-world applications. Many of these applications will require repeatable, high repetition targets that are suitable for LPI experiments. Liquid targets can meet many of these needs, but they typically require higher chamber pressure than is used for many low repetition rate experiments. The effect of background pressure on the LPI has not been thoroughly studied. With this in mind, the Extreme Light group at the Air Force Research Lab has carried out MeV ion and electron acceleration experiments at kHz repetition rate with background pressures ranging from 30 mTorr to >1 Torr using a submicron ethylene glycol liquid sheet target. We present these results and provide two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation results that offer insight on the thresholds for the efficient acceleration of electrons and ions. This research is supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under LRIR Project 17RQCOR504 under the management of Dr. Riq Parra and Dr. Jean-Luc Cambier. Support was also provided by the DOD HPCMP Internship Program.

  10. DLC coating on stainless steel by pulsed methane discharge in repetitive plasma focus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hassan, M.; Qayyum, A.; Ahmad, S.; Mahmood, S.; Shafiq, M.; Zakaullah, M.; Lee, P.; Rawat, R.S.

    2014-01-01

    Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H)/diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have been achieved on AISI 304 stainless steel (SS) substrates by employing energetic ions emitted from a repetitive plasma focus operated in CH 4 discharge. The Raman spectroscopy of the coatings exhibits the evolution of a-C:H/DLC coatings with clearly observed D and G peaks centered about 1320–1360 and 1560–1620 cm −1 respectively. The diamond character of the coatings is influenced by the ion flux and repetition rate of the focus device. The repetitive discharge mode of plasma focus has led to the formation of a-C:H/DLC coatings in short duration of time. The coatings transform from a-C to a-C:H depending upon substrate angular position. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the formation of DLC coating owing to stress-induced restructuring in SS. The estimated crystallite size is found to be ∼40–50 nm. Field emission scanning electron micrographs exhibit a layered granular surface morphology of the coatings. The Vickers surface hardness of the DLC coated SS samples has been significantly improved.

  11. DLC coating on stainless steel by pulsed methane discharge in repetitive plasma focus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hassan, M., E-mail: hassanjh@gmail.com [Department of Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320 Islamabad (Pakistan); Natural Sciences and Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, BLK7, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616 (Singapore); Qayyum, A.; Ahmad, S. [National Tokamak Fusion Program, 3329 Islamabad (Pakistan); Mahmood, S. [Natural Sciences and Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, BLK7, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616 (Singapore); Department of Physics, University of Karachi, 75270 Karachi (Pakistan); Shafiq, M.; Zakaullah, M. [Department of Physics, Quaid-i-Azam University, 45320 Islamabad (Pakistan); Lee, P.; Rawat, R.S. [Natural Sciences and Science Education, National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, BLK7, 1 Nanyang Walk, Singapore 637616 (Singapore)

    2014-06-01

    Amorphous hydrogenated carbon (a-C:H)/diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have been achieved on AISI 304 stainless steel (SS) substrates by employing energetic ions emitted from a repetitive plasma focus operated in CH{sub 4} discharge. The Raman spectroscopy of the coatings exhibits the evolution of a-C:H/DLC coatings with clearly observed D and G peaks centered about 1320–1360 and 1560–1620 cm{sup −1} respectively. The diamond character of the coatings is influenced by the ion flux and repetition rate of the focus device. The repetitive discharge mode of plasma focus has led to the formation of a-C:H/DLC coatings in short duration of time. The coatings transform from a-C to a-C:H depending upon substrate angular position. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the formation of DLC coating owing to stress-induced restructuring in SS. The estimated crystallite size is found to be ∼40–50 nm. Field emission scanning electron micrographs exhibit a layered granular surface morphology of the coatings. The Vickers surface hardness of the DLC coated SS samples has been significantly improved.

  12. Risk of repetition of suicide attempt, suicide or all deaths after an episode of attempted suicide

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Erik; Jensen, Børge Frank

    2007-01-01

    This study was undertaken in order to estimate the incidence of repetition of suicide attempt, suicide and all deaths, and to analyse the influence of psychiatric illness and socio-demographic factors on these.......This study was undertaken in order to estimate the incidence of repetition of suicide attempt, suicide and all deaths, and to analyse the influence of psychiatric illness and socio-demographic factors on these....

  13. Anti-Streptococcus IgM Antibodies Induce Repetitive Stereotyped Movements: Cell Activation and Co-Localization with Fcα/μ Receptors in the Striatum and Motor Cortex

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Danhui; Patel, Ankur; Zhu, Youhua; Siegel, Allan; Zalcman, Steven S.

    2012-01-01

    Group A beta-hemolytic streptococcus (GABHS) infections are implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders associated with an increased expression of repetitive stereotyped movements. Anti-streptococcus IgG presumably cross-reacts with elements on basal ganglia cells, modifies their function, and triggers symptoms. IgM may play a unique role in precipitating behavioral disturbances since variations in cortico-striatal activity occur in temporal congruity with peak IgM titers during an orchestrated immune response. We discovered in Balb/c mice that single subcutaneous injections of mouse monoclonal IgM antibodies to Streptococcus Group A bacteria induce marked dose-dependent increases in repetitive stereotyped movements, including head bobbing, sniffing, and intense grooming. Effects were antibody- and antigen-specific: anti-streptococcus IgG stimulated ambulatory activity and vertical activity but not these stereotypies, while anti-KLH IgM reduced activity. We suggest that anti-streptococcus IgM and IgG play unique roles in provoking GABHS-related behavioral disturbances. Paralleling its stereotypy-inducing effects, anti-streptococcus IgM stimulated Fos-like immunoreactivity in regions linked to cortico-striatal projections involved in motor control, including subregions of the caudate, nucleus accumbens, and motor cortex. This is the first evidence that anti-streptococcus IgM antibodies induce in vivo functional changes in these structures. Moreover, there was a striking similarity in the distributions of anti-streptococcus IgM deposits and Fos-like immunoreactivity in these regions. Of further importance, Fcα/μ receptors, which bind IgM, were present- and co-localized with anti-streptococcus IgM in these structures. We suggest that anti-streptococcus IgM-induced alterations of cell activity reflect local actions of IgM that involve Fcα/μ receptors. These findings support the use of anti-streptococcus monoclonal antibody administration in Balb/c mice to model GABHS

  14. A Repetition Test for Pseudo-Random Number Generators

    OpenAIRE

    Gil, Manuel; Gonnet, Gaston H.; Petersen, Wesley P.

    2017-01-01

    A new statistical test for uniform pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) is presented. The idea is that a sequence of pseudo-random numbers should have numbers reappear with a certain probability. The expectation time that a repetition occurs provides the metric for the test. For linear congruential generators (LCGs) failure can be shown theoretically. Empirical test results for a number of commonly used PRNGs are reported, showing that some PRNGs considered to have good statistical propert...

  15. Low-Intensity Repetitive Exercise Induced Rhabdomyolysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mina Tran

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Rhabdomyolysis is a rare condition caused by the proteins of damaged muscle cells entering the bloodstream and damaging the kidneys. Common symptoms of rhabdomyolysis are muscle pain and fatigue in conjunction with dark urine; kidney damage is a common symptom among these patients. We present a case of a 23-year-old woman who displayed myalgia in the upper extremities caused by low-intensity and high-repetition exercise. She was successfully diagnosed and treated for exertional rhabdomyolysis. This patient had no significant medical history that would induce this condition. We urge the emergency medical community to observe and monitor patients that complain of myalgia to ensure they are not suffering from rhabdomyolysis even in atypical cases.

  16. Hippocampal mGluR5 predicts an occurrence of helplessness behavior after repetitive exposure to uncontrollable stress.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yim, Yeong Shin; Lee, Jinu; Kim, Gun-Tae; Song, Teresa; Kim, Chul Hoon; Kim, Dong Goo

    2012-06-21

    An individual's behavior is generally based on genetic blueprint and previous experiences. A coping strategy, affected by personal interpretation of past events, can be determined by behavioral controllability of stress. In this study, we examined the relationship between the hippocampal mGluR5 expression and coping strategies to stress. Rats were exposed to stress via inescapable and unpredictable footshocks on PNDs 14 and 90. Coping strategies to stress were also measured. Hippocampal mGluR5 was found to be linked to the behavioral coping strategy, as it increased in rats that showed helplessness behavior (HL (+) group) and decreased in those that did not (HL (-) group). Also, the HL (+) group showed a lack of adaptation in a novel environment but the HL (-) group did not. The results suggest that mGluR5 has a pivotal role in the controllability-based coping strategy. Hippocampal mGluR5 could be a target molecule in the manipulation of neuropsychiatric conditions for which maladaptation is a part of behavioral consequences. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Nonword Repetition and Language Learning Disorders: A Developmental Contingency Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Snowling, Margaret J.

    2006-01-01

    In 1990 Gathercole and Baddeley proposed a strong hypothesis that has generated a wealth of research in the field of language development and disorder. The hypothesis was that phonological memory, as indexed by nonword repetition, is causally related to vocabulary development. Support for the hypothesis came from an impressive range of…

  18. The effect of load reductions on repetition performance for commonly performed multijoint resistance exercises.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Willardson, Jeffrey M; Simão, Roberto; Fontana, Fabio E

    2012-11-01

    The purpose of this study was to compare 4 different loading schemes for the free weight bench press, wide grip front lat pull-down, and free weight back squat to determine the extent of progressive load reductions necessary to maintain repetition performance. Thirty-two recreationally trained women (age = 29.34 ± 4.58 years, body mass = 59.61 ± 4.72 kg, height = 162.06 ± 4.04 cm) performed 4 resistance exercise sessions that involved 3 sets of the free weight bench press, wide grip front lat pull-down, and free weight back squat, performed in this exercise order during all 4 sessions. Each of the 4 sessions was conducted under different randomly ordered loading schemes, including (a) a constant 10 repetition maximum (RM) load for all 3 sets and for all 3 exercises, (b) a 5% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises, (c) a 10% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises, and (d) a 15% reduction after the first and second sets for all the 3 exercises. The results indicated that for the wide grip front lat pull-down and free weight back squat, a 10% load reduction was necessary after the first and second sets to accomplish 10 repetitions on all the 3 sets. For the free weight bench press, a load reduction between 10 and 15% was necessary; specifically, a 10% reduction was insufficient and a 15% reduction was excessive, as evidenced by significantly >10 repetitions on the second and third sets for this exercise (p ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, the results of this study indicate that a resistance training prescription that involves 1-minute rest intervals between multiple 10RM sets does require load reductions to maintain repetition performance. Practitioners might apply these results by considering an approximate 10% load reduction after the first and second sets for the exercises examined, when training women of similar characteristics as in this study.

  19. Primary power supply of repetitive pulsed intense current accelerator charged by capacitance of energy store

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Jun; Yang Jianhua; Shu Ting; Zhang Jiande; Zhou Xiang; Wen Jianchun

    2008-01-01

    The primary power supply of repetitive pulsed intense current accelerator charged by capacitance of energy store is studied. The principle of primary power supply circuit and its time diagram of switches are presented. The circuit is analyzed and some expressions are got, especially, the usable voltage scope of capacitance of energy store, and the correlation between the parameters of circuit and time delay, which is between the turn-on of the charging circuit of capacitance of energy store and the circuit of recuperation. The time delay of 256 x 256 lookup table is made with the instruction of theory and the simulation of the actual parameters of circuits. The table is used by the control program to control the repetitive operating of the actual pulsed intense current accelerator. Finally, some conclusions of the primary power supply of repetitive pulsed intense current accelerator charged by capacitance of energy store are got. (authors)

  20. Rotated balance in humans due to repetitive rotational movement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zakynthinaki, M. S.; Madera Milla, J.; López Diaz De Durana, A.; Cordente Martínez, C. A.; Rodríguez Romo, G.; Sillero Quintana, M.; Sampedro Molinuevo, J.

    2010-03-01

    We show how asymmetries in the movement patterns during the process of regaining balance after perturbation from quiet stance can be modeled by a set of coupled vector fields for the derivative with respect to time of the angles between the resultant ground reaction forces and the vertical in the anteroposterior and mediolateral directions. In our model, which is an adaption of the model of Stirling and Zakynthinaki (2004), the critical curve, defining the set of maximum angles one can lean to and still correct to regain balance, can be rotated and skewed so as to model the effects of a repetitive training of a rotational movement pattern. For the purposes of our study a rotation and a skew matrix is applied to the critical curve of the model. We present here a linear stability analysis of the modified model, as well as a fit of the model to experimental data of two characteristic "asymmetric" elite athletes and to a "symmetric" elite athlete for comparison. The new adapted model has many uses not just in sport but also in rehabilitation, as many work place injuries are caused by excessive repetition of unaligned and rotational movement patterns.