The current state of empirical support for the pharmacological treatment of selective mutism.

This article reviews the current state of evidence for the psychopharmacological treatment of children diagnosed with selective mutism within the context of its link to social anxiety disorder. An increased focus on potential medication treatment for this disorder has resulted from significant monetary and resource limitations in typical practice, parental choice in utilizing treatment from medical personnel, and children who fail to respond to psychosocial interventions. A total of 21 publications within the English literature were located. From these, data for only 57 children between the ages of 4 to 17 years have been reported, with the majority of studies utilizing single-case design or case study methodology. Yet, pharmacological data appear promising for treatment resistant cases of selective mutism. The need for additional research via efficacy/effectiveness methodologies remains. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis and characterization of layered and scrolled amine-templated vanadium oxides

In order to fully understand the formation mechanism, structure, and role of structural curvature of vanadium oxide nanotubes (VONTs), two isostructural materials (one planar and the other curved)—ethylenediammonium (enH₂) intercalated V₇O₁₆ and vanadium oxide nanourchins (VONUs)—were synthesized and characterized via X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and magnetic measurements. The synthesis route to (enH₂)V₇O₁₆ is developed using vanadium pentoxide as a starting material and employing pH control. VONUs are synthesized using n-dodecylamine as an amine template for the first time. We demonstrate that the structure of the vanadium oxide layer in these compounds is similar to that of VONTs and their magnetic properties all fit to the same model including the temperature-independent, Curie–Weiss, and spin ½ antiferromagnetic dimer contributions. The vanadium oxidation state in tubular structures appears to be higher than in planar compounds such as (eH₂)V₇O₁₆ and BaV₇O₁₆. The role of the template and vanadium reduction in the formation of nanotubes is discussed.     

Dynamic Functional Unit Assignment for Low Power

A hardware method for functional unit assignment is presented, based on the principle that a functional unit's power consumption is approximated by the switching activity of its inputs. Since computing the Hamming distance of the inputs in hardware is expensive, only a portion of the inputs are examined. Integers often have many identical top bits, due to sign extension, and floating points often have many zeros in the least significant digits, due to the casting of integer values into floating point, and other reasons. The accuracy of these approximations is studied and the results are used to develop a simple, but effective, hardware scheme.     

Actions of Esomeprazole on the Maternal Vasculature in Lean and Obese Pregnant Mice with Impaired Nitric Oxide Synthesis: A Model of Preeclampsia

Preeclampsia is a devastating, multisystem disorder of pregnancy. It has no cure except delivery, which if premature can impart significant neonatal morbidity. Efforts to repurpose pregnancy-safe therapeutics for the treatment of preeclampsia have led to the assessment of the proton pump inhibitor, esomeprazole. Preclinically, esomeprazole reduced placental secretion of anti-angiogenic sFlt-1, improved endothelial dysfunction, promoted vasorelaxation, and reduced maternal hypertension in a mouse model. Our understanding of the precise mechanisms through which esomeprazole works to reduce endothelial dysfunction and enhance vasoreactivity is limited. Evidence from earlier studies suggested esomeprazole might work via the nitric oxide pathway, upregulating endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS). Here, we investigated the effect of esomeprazole in a mouse model of L-NAME-induced hypertension (decreased eNOS activity). We further antagonised the model by addition of diet-induced obesity, which is relevant to both preeclampsia and the nitric oxide pathway. Esomeprazole did not decrease blood pressure in this model, nor were there any alterations in vasoreactivity or changes in foetal outcomes in lean mice. We observed similar findings in the obese mouse cohort, except esomeprazole treatment enhanced ex vivo acetylcholine-induced vasorelaxation. As acetylcholine induces nitric oxide production, these findings hint at a function for esomeprazole in the nitric oxide pathway.     

Predicate Abstraction of ANSI-C Programs Using SAT

Predicate abstraction is a major method for verification of software. However, the generation of the abstract Boolean program from the set of predicates and the original program suffers from an exponential number of theorem prover calls as well as from soundness issues. This paper presents a novel technique that uses an efficient SAT solver for generating the abstract transition relations of ANSI-C programs. The SAT-based approach computes a more precise and safe abstraction compared to existing predicate abstraction techniques.     

Early developments in the ability to understand the relation between stimulus and reward.

Delayed nonmatching to sample (DNMS) is used to test the recognition memory function dependent on the medial temporal lobe. Children cannot succeed on this task until about 21 months. Because robust recognition is present well before then, the late emergence of another ability must account for the late success on DNMS. Evidence is presented here that the critical late-maturing confidence is the ability to grasp the relation between stimulus and reward—that is, to understand that the stimulus is a symbol or marker for the reward. Infants of 9 and 12 months were tested on 3 conditions of DNMS. A sample object was presented. After a delay, the sample and a novel object appeared; choice of the novel object was rewarded. In the standard task, the reward was in a well beneath the stimulus. In the verbal-reward condition the reward was not a separate object but was praise and applause. In the Velcro condition, the reward, although a separate and separable object, was attached to the base of the stimulus. Most infants at both ages succeeded in the verbal-reward and Velcro conditions but not in the standard condition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)