Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) are impaired in visually disengaging attention in both social and non-social contexts, impairments that may, in subtler form, also affect the infant siblings of children with an ASD (ASD-sibs). I investigated patterns of visual attention (gazing) in six-month-old ASD-sibs (n = 17) and the siblings of typically developing children (COMP-sibs; n =17) during the Face-to-Face/Still-Face Protocol (FFSF). Also, I examined joint attention through the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS) when ASD-sibs and COMP-sibs were eight months of age. The relationship between gazing and later joint attention was examined. Throughout the FFSF protocol, ASD-sibs shifted their gaze to and from their parents' faces less frequently than did COMP-sibs. The mean durations of ASD-sibs? gazes away from their parents' faces were longer than those of COMP-sibs. ASD-sibs and COMP-sibs did not differ in the mean durations of gazes at their parents' faces. Also, infants? shifts in gaze were positively correlated with initiating joint attention behaviors at eight months of age. In sum, ASD-sibs showed no deficits in visual interest to their parents? faces, but greater interest than COMP-sibs in non-face stimuli. Such differences may play an important role in the development of joint attention.

Triadic attention, sharing attention with a person about an object or event, typically develops between eight and 12 months of age. This ability facilitates the development of social skills and language through shared exploration of objects and social stimuli. Two key aspects of triadic attention are initiating joint attention (IJA), the use of gaze and gestures to involve another in an experience, and behavioral requesting (IBR), the use of verbal and nonverbal communication to elicit help from another. Both aspects of triadic attention are impaired in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), which are characterized by social and communication deficits. The current study investigated the early development of triadic attention in eight- to- 12 month old infants who either have an older sibling diagnosed with an ASD (ASD-Sibs), or have older siblings with no ASD symptomatology (COMP-Sibs). This study examined age-related changes in the frequency of infant-initiated triadic attention using two measures, the Early Social Communication Scales (ESCS) and parent-administered Triadic Play Interaction (TPI). Triadic attention had modest associations between the TPI and the ESCS, with three of the six possible associations significant. At eight months of age, ASD-Sibs initiated significantly fewer IJA bids during the ESCS than COMP-Sibs. At 12 months of age, presence of IBR during the TPI differed significantly by group, with 18 percent of ASD-Sibs initiating a behavioral request, compared to 58 percent of COMP-Sibs. This study demonstrated that infant-initiated triadic attention behaviors differed by group status in both measures used, suggesting these measures offer different and complementary information regarding triadic attention behaviors in ASD-Sibs compared to COMP-Sibs. The use of the TPI in examining triadic attention development in ASD-Sibs is discussed.

No description available.

Iron oxides, have been widely studied as promising anode materials in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) for their high capacity (≈ 1000 mA h g-1 for Fe2O3 and Fe3O4,), non-toxicity, and low cost. In this work, β-FeOOH has been evaluated within a LIB half-cell showing an excellent capacity of ≈ 1500 mA h g-1 , superior to Fe2O3 or Fe3O4. Reaction mechanism has been proposed with the assistance of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Various magnetic properties have been suggested for β-FeOOH such as superparamagnetism, antiferromagnetism and complex magnetism, for which, size of the material is believed to play a critical role. Here, we present a size-controlled synthesis of β-FeOOH nanorods. Co-existing superparamagnetism and antiferromagnetism have been revealed in β-FeOOH by using a Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS). Compared with the high price of lithium in LIBs, sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted increasing attentions for lower cost. Recent studies have reported Na0.44MnO2 to be a promising candidate for cathode material of SIBs. This thesis has approached a novel solid-state synthesis of Na0.44MnO2 whiskers and a nano-scaled open cell for in situ TEM study. Preliminary results show the first-stage fabrication of the cell on a biasing protochip.

No description available.

No description available.

The relationship between an individual's level of spirituality, health locus of control, and participating in wellness activity was investigated. The relationship between spirituality, health locus of control on physical health was also investigated. The research question was based on prior studies that reported people who are more spiritual are healthier. Does their spirituality lead to increased levels of health, or are individual's who are more spiritual more likely to proactively take control of their health and engage in health promoting behaviors? One hundred and fifteen male and female employees completed The Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS), a spirituality measure, The Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale, a measure of locus of control related to health and healthcare, and The Center for Disease Control's (CDC) Health Risk Appraisal, a self-report measure of participation in health behaviors. Physical measures of health were obtained by obtaining Body Mass Index, blood pressure readings, and a cholesterol screening. The current study looked at level of spirituality (internal, external), level of health locus of control (internal, powerful other, chance) and participation in wellness/health promoting behaviors and health. Correlational analyses were performed on the relationship between spirituality and health locus of control. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed on the internal spirituality and internal health locus of control to examine the relationship between spirituality, health locus of control and positive health behaviors and level of physical health. Stepwise discriminant function analysis using spirituality and health locus of control as predictor variables for the health-behavior criterion variables were performed. Discussion of the results, limitations of the current study and recommendations for future research were presented.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a biologically-based and behaviorally-defined spectrum of conditions which impact development. These conditions affect and are diagnosed based on features in three psychological and behavioral domains: social interaction, communication, and repetitive behaviors. Developing better ways to identify early signs of autism, whether through behavioral or other types of measures, is important because it will allow children to gain access to interventions and treatments earlier, which has demonstrated positive outcomes. Over the past 10 years, the prevalence of reported autism cases has increased. As a result, much research has focused on the etiology and phenotype of autism. Investigations seeking early signs of autism have generally studied vulnerable populations, particularly infants with an older sibling diagnosed with autism. Aside from observable behavioral differences, biological abnormalities, often within the gastrointestinal and immune systems as well as endocrine, autonomic and other systems, have been observed in a significant number of children diagnosed with autism. These features raise the possibility that cellular and tissue change in body and brain may be altering brain function such that behaviors emerge later and downstream of these cellular and tissue problems. However, research on the pathophysiology underlying these medical features, and particularly regarding how they develop in infancy, has received almost no attention. Such investigation would require measuring pathophysiological and medical features alongside current standard measures of behavioral and phenotypical presentations of autism. This thesis describes a study, funded by the Department of Defense Autism Research Program and carried out at the Massachusetts General Hospital Lurie Center, that proposed to look for early markers of autism in the pathophysiological domains in high risk infants and place them into developmental context by correlating these observations (some of which might potentially become early markers) with well-established neurocognitive measures. The goal of the study is to find biomarkers of clinical importance that reflect the pathophysiologial development of autism which might substantially precede behavioral changes that are currently used as a standard of diagnosis, but are not developmentally apparent or reliably measurable until well into the second or third year of life. While the overall scope of the study encompassed a range of systemic and nervous system measures as well as neurocognitive assessments, the focus of this thesis is mainly on a subset of the behavioral and neurocognitive measures collected through the study, specifically the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS), Autism Observational Scale for Infants (AOSI), Mullen Scales of Early Learning (MSEL) and Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). Subject development was tracked and assessed through developmental quotients (DQs) and then correlated to measures designed to identify autistic-like features. Results demonstrate that verbal development was the most significant indicator for autism. Additionally, delay in communication preceded problems with socialization. The analysis and information used for this thesis will contribute to the infrastructure utilized by the investigators for assessing further behavioral data. In addition, this behavioral data and the metrics generated in these analyses will be analyzed in relation to physiological data (e.g. brain, autonomic, metabolic, immune, and microbiome data). Tracking early biomedical development, especially alongside the current standard of observing behavioral development, has the potential of offering more comprehensive understanding of the brain-behavior-body relationship in children diagnosed with ASD, which can hopefully contribute to a non-invasive, more accurate, and earlier method of diagnosis and to the development of more treatment options.

Submitted by UDENYS CABRAL MENDES (udenys-agro@hotmail.com) on 2018-07-26T20:09:50Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Udenys.pdf: 1806439 bytes, checksum: 817838b62430d9408c68421a7d3e8c55 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Cristina Alexandra de Godoy null (cristina@adm.feis.unesp.br) on 2018-07-27T14:04:17Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 mendes_uc_dr_ilha.pdf: 1806439 bytes, checksum: 817838b62430d9408c68421a7d3e8c55 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-27T14:04:17Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 mendes_uc_dr_ilha.pdf: 1806439 bytes, checksum: 817838b62430d9408c68421a7d3e8c55 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-04-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O melhoramento genético de uma espécie alógama como o milho, pode ser dirigido essencialmente visando duas alternativas: a obtenção de populações melhoradas, ou a obtenção de uma geração F1 com vigor de híbrido. No caso de melhoramento de populações ocorre a oportunidade de incorporar novas fontes de germoplasma. de particular interesse por representar resultado de seleção específica para doenças foliares e outros caracteres.Germoplasma exótico (incluindo acessos do Brasil e de outros países) é aquele que não pertence à base genética comumente em uso no melhoramento, podendo assim contribuir com novos alelos que resultarão em aumento da variabilidade genética útil para o melhoramento. Os objetivos do trabalho foi verificar o valor genético-agronômico dos compostos recém sintetizados, o efeito depressivo da endogamia e inferir sobre a viabilidade de um programa de seleção recorrente visando o melhoramento intrapopulacional. Foram avaliadas as populações NAP-FA x HG-71, NAP-FL x HG-49, NAP-FB x HG-49 e NAP-DB x HG-49, com dois níveis de endogamia (S0 e S1), no sistema de macroparcelas, e 100 progênies de irmãos germanos e 50 progênies endogâmicas S1 das populações NAP-FA x HG-71 e NAP-DB x HG-49. Nas duas situações os experimentos foram delineados em blocos casualizados com três repetições em três e dois locais respectivamente. Foram avaliados os caracteres florescimento masculino e feminino, altura da planta e da espiga, comprimento e diâmetro de espiga, resistência a doenças foliares, acamamento, quebramento, espigas gessadas e produtividade de grãos. Foram estimados os parâmetros herdabilidade no sentido amplo e restrito, ganho com a seleção e correlação genotípica e fenotípica entre os caracteres. As populações apresentam bom potencial de produtividade de grãos, valor para melhoramento visando a introgressão de diferentes fontes de germoplasma no sistema de melhoramento e possuem elevado valor genético, tanto para produtividade como para outros caracteres agronômicos de interesse. As progênies de irmãos germanos com produtividade de grãos de 67,4%, 61,7%, 51,3% e 84,65% em relação às testemunhas nas duas localidades respectivamente, indicam a viabilidade da introgressão de germoplasma no sistema de melhorameto. As progênies S1 apresentam variabilidade suficiente para serem exploradas em programas de seleção recorrente. Os resultados também indicaram a existência de progênies com menor depressão por endogamia, que podem ser exploradas em programas de seleção interpopulacional e para extração de linhagens. / Genetic improvement of an allogamous specie such as maize, can be directed essentially towards two alternatives: obtaining improved populations or obtaining an F1 generation with hybrid vigor. In the case of population improvement there is an opportunity to incorporate new sources of germplasm with particular interest because it represents a result of specific selection for foliar diseases and other characters. Exotic germplasm (including access from Brazil and other countries) is one that does not belong to the genetic base commonly used in breeding, thus contributing with new alleles that will result in increased genetic variability useful for breeding. The objectives of the study were to verify the genetic and agronomic value of the newly synthesized composites, the depressive effect of inbreeding and to infer about the viability of a recurrent selection program aiming at intrapopulation improvement. Were evaluated the populations NAP-FA x HG-71, NAP-FL x HG-49, NAP-FB x HG-49 and [NAP-DB x HG-4], with two levels of inbreeding (S0 and S1) in macro plots system and 100 progenies of full-sibs and 50 endogamous progeny S1 from the NAP-FA x HG-71 and NAP-DB x HG-49 populations. In both situations, the experiments were in randomized blocks with three replicates in three and two locations respectively. The flowering characteristics of male and female, plant height, ear height, ear length, ear diameter, resistance to foliar diseases, lodging, breakage, ears bada granades and grain yield. Were estimates parameters heritability in the broad and restricted sense, gain with selection and genotypic and phenotypic correlation between the characters. The populations present good potential of grain yield, value for improvement aiming at the introgression of different sources of germplasm in breeding system and have high genetic value, both for productivity and for other agronomic traits of interest. The progenies of full-sibs with grain yield of 67,4%, 61,7%, 51,3% and 84,65% in relation to the check in two locations respectively, indicate the viability of the introgression of germplasm in the breeding system. The S1 progenies presented sufficient variability to be explored in recurrent selection programs. The results also indicated the existence of progenies with lower inbreeding depression, which can be explored in populations selection programs and and extraction of inbred lines.

Orientador: João Antonio da Costa Andrade / Resumo: O melhoramento genético de uma espécie alógama como o milho, pode ser dirigido essencialmente visando duas alternativas: a obtenção de populações melhoradas, ou a obtenção de uma geração F1 com vigor de híbrido. No caso de melhoramento de populações ocorre a oportunidade de incorporar novas fontes de germoplasma. de particular interesse por representar resultado de seleção específica para doenças foliares e outros caracteres.Germoplasma exótico (incluindo acessos do Brasil e de outros países) é aquele que não pertence à base genética comumente em uso no melhoramento, podendo assim contribuir com novos alelos que resultarão em aumento da variabilidade genética útil para o melhoramento. Os objetivos do trabalho foi verificar o valor genético-agronômico dos compostos recém sintetizados, o efeito depressivo da endogamia e inferir sobre a viabilidade de um programa de seleção recorrente visando o melhoramento intrapopulacional. Foram avaliadas as populações NAP-FA x HG-71, NAP-FL x HG-49, NAP-FB x HG-49 e NAP-DB x HG-49, com dois níveis de endogamia (S0 e S1), no sistema de macroparcelas, e 100 progênies de irmãos germanos e 50 progênies endogâmicas S1 das populações NAP-FA x HG-71 e NAP-DB x HG-49. Nas duas situações os experimentos foram delineados em blocos casualizados com três repetições em três e dois locais respectivamente. Foram avaliados os caracteres florescimento masculino e feminino, altura da planta e da espiga, comprimento e diâmetro de espiga, resistência a doenças ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Genetic improvement of an allogamous specie such as maize, can be directed essentially towards two alternatives: obtaining improved populations or obtaining an F1 generation with hybrid vigor. In the case of population improvement there is an opportunity to incorporate new sources of germplasm with particular interest because it represents a result of specific selection for foliar diseases and other characters. Exotic germplasm (including access from Brazil and other countries) is one that does not belong to the genetic base commonly used in breeding, thus contributing with new alleles that will result in increased genetic variability useful for breeding. The objectives of the study were to verify the genetic and agronomic value of the newly synthesized composites, the depressive effect of inbreeding and to infer about the viability of a recurrent selection program aiming at intrapopulation improvement. Were evaluated the populations NAP-FA x HG-71, NAP-FL x HG-49, NAP-FB x HG-49 and [NAP-DB x HG-4], with two levels of inbreeding (S0 and S1) in macro plots system and 100 progenies of full-sibs and 50 endogamous progeny S1 from the NAP-FA x HG-71 and NAP-DB x HG-49 populations. In both situations, the experiments were in randomized blocks with three replicates in three and two locations respectively. The flowering characteristics of male and female, plant height, ear height, ear length, ear diameter, resistance to foliar diseases, lodging, breakage, ears bada granades and grai... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor