Prevalence, comorbidities, and profiles of neurodevelopmental disorders according to the DSM-5-TR in children aged 6 years old in a European region.

Background: There are no studies that measure the prevalence and real comorbidities of neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) according to the DSM-5-TR in 6-year-old children in population and clinical samples or studies that measure them as a whole. The data on the prevalence of these disorders are usually disparate because of the estimation methods (direct/indirect), the type of sample (population/clinical/school), and the ages studied.

Methods: The initial sample (289 subjects) was representative of 6-year-old children in the entire population of Menorca, obtained from pediatric primary care services (100% of the sample).

Ostreid herpesvirus-1 microvariant surveillance in Pacific oysters (Magallana gigas, Thunberg, 1793) in Australia in 2011.

Objective: To demonstrate that OsHV-1 microvariant was limited to the known infected areas in New South Wales at the time of the survey in 2011.

Design: A 2-stage survey to demonstrate probability of infection at 2% design prevalence within oyster growing regions and to detect at least one infected region (4% design prevalence) with 95% confidence.

Sample Population: Magallana gigas in nominated oyster growing regions in New South Wales, South Australia and Tasmania as approved by the Aquatic Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Diseases and documented in a national surveillance plan.

Liquid crystal doped photopolymer micro-droplets printed by a simple and clean laser-induced forward transfer process.

We print a tunable photopolymer (photopolymer dispersed liquid crystal -PDLC), using the laser-induced direct transfer technique without absorber layer, which was a challenge for this technique given the low absorption and high viscosity of PDLC, and which had not been achieved so far to our knowledge. This makes the LIFT printing process faster and cleaner and achieves a high-quality printed droplet (aspheric profile and low roughness). A femtosecond laser was needed to reach sufficiently peak energies to induce nonlinear absorption and eject the polymer onto a substrate.

Post Hoc Subgroup Analysis of the BCause Study Assessing the Effect of AbobotulinumtoxinA on Post-Stroke Shoulder Pain in Adults.

Botulinum toxin type A is approved for the focal treatment of spasticity; however, the effectiveness of abobotulinumtoxinA (aboBoNT-A) in patients with shoulder pain who have set reduced pain as a treatment goal is understudied. In addition, some patients encounter delays in accessing treatment programs; therefore, the suitability of aboBoNT-A for pain reduction in this population requires investigation. These factors were assessed in aboBoNT-A-naive Brazilian patients in a post hoc analysis of data from BCause, an observational, multicenter, prospective study (NCT02390206).

Bacteria as Biological Control Agents of Plant Diseases.

Biological control is an effective and sustainable alternative or complement to conventional pesticides for fungal and bacterial plant disease management. Some of the most intensively studied biological control agents are bacteria that can use multiple mechanisms implicated in the limitation of plant disease development, and several bacterial-based products have been already registered and marketed as biopesticides. However, efforts are still required to increase the commercially available microbial biopesticides.

Precise-Integration Time-Domain Formulation for Optical Periodic Media.

A numerical formulation based on the precise-integration time-domain (PITD) method for simulating periodic media is extended for overcoming the Courant-Friedrich-Levy (CFL) limit on the time-step size in a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulation. In this new method, the periodic boundary conditions are implemented, permitting the simulation of a wide range of periodic optical media, i.e.

A Bifunctional Peptide Conjugate That Controls Infections of in Pear Plants.

In this paper, peptide conjugates were designed and synthesized by incorporating the antimicrobial undecapeptide at the C- or N-terminus of the plant defense elicitor peptide , leading to and , respectively. The evaluation of their in vitro activity against six plant pathogenic bacteria revealed that displayed MIC values between 1.6 and 12.

The Effectiveness of Botulinum Toxin Type A (BoNT-A) Treatment in Brazilian Patients with Chronic Post-Stroke Spasticity: Results from the Observational, Multicenter, Prospective BCause Study.

Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) is an effective treatment for post-stroke spasticity; however, some patients cannot access treatment until ≥1 year post-stroke. This Brazilian post-marketing study (NCT02390206) assessed the achievement of person-centered goals in patients with chronic post-stroke spasticity after a BoNT-A injection. Patients had a last documented stroke ≥1 year before study entry and post-stroke upper limb (UL) spasticity, with or without lower limb (LL) spasticity.

Unitary matrix approach for a precise voltage dependent characterization of reflective liquid crystal devices by average Stokes polarimetry.

Precise characterization of parallel-aligned liquid crystal on silicon microdisplays has an important impact in many advanced photonics applications. We show liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) modeled as a non-absorbent reciprocal device. Combined with time-average Stokes polarimetry, LCoS enables us to demonstrate robust measurements across the whole applied voltage range for the retardance and its flicker, and also as a novelty for the director orientation.

Accurate, Efficient and Rigorous Numerical Analysis of 3D H-PDLC Gratings.

This work presents recent results derived from the rigorous modelling of holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) gratings. More precisely, the diffractive properties of transmission gratings are the focus of this research. This work extends previous analysis performed by the authors but includes new features and approaches.

Phase-Shift Optimization in AA/PVA Photopolymers by High-Frequency Pulsed Laser.

Photopolymers can be used to fabricate different holographic optical elements, although maximization of the phase-shift in photopolymers has been a challenge for the last few decades. Different material compositions and irradiation conditions have been studied in order to achieve it. One of the main conclusions has been that with continuous laser exposure better results are achieved.

Analysis of the Imaging Characteristics of Holographic Waveguides Recorded in Photopolymers.

In this work, we study the imaging characteristics of an optical see-through display based on a holographic waveguide. To fabricate this device, two transmission holograms are recorded on a photopolymer material attached to a glass substrate. The role of the holograms is to couple the incident light between air and the glass substrate, accomplishing total internal reflection.

Complex Diffractive Optical Elements Stored in Photopolymers.

We study the recording of complex diffractive elements, such as achromatic lenses, fork gratings or axicons. Using a 3-D diffusion model, previously validated, we are able to predict the behavior of photopolymer during recording. The experimental recording of these complex elements is possible thanks to a new generation spatial light modulator capable of generating periodic and aperiodic profiles.

Numerical Analysis of H-PDLC Using the Split-Field Finite-Difference Time-Domain Method.

In this work, an accurate numerical modeling of the diffraction properties of transmission holographic polymer dispersed liquid crystal (H-PDLC) gratings is presented. The method considers ellipsoid geometry-based liquid crystal (LC) droplets with random properties regarding size and location across the H-PLDC layer and also the non-homogeneous orientation of the LC director within the droplet. The direction of the LC director inside the droplets can be varied to reproduce the effects of the external voltage applied in H-PDLC-based gratings.

LED-Cured Reflection Gratings Stored in an Acrylate-Based Photopolymer.

The storage of volume holographic reflection gratings in low-toxicity photopolymers represents a challenge at present since they can be used in many important applications such as biosensors and holographic optical elements. In this context, an acrylate-based photopolymer developed in our research group was employed to study the recording of unslanted holographic reflection gratings at high spatial frequencies. The optimal preparation conditions of the photopolymer layers were determinated.

Combining average molecular tilt and flicker for management of depolarized light in parallel-aligned liquid crystal devices for broadband and wide-angle illumination.

We demonstrate a complete semiphysical and analytical model describing the angular and wavelength dependencies not only of retardance, but also its flicker, in parallel aligned liquid crystal (PA-LC) devices. It relies on the fitting of the molecules' equivalent tilt angle as a function of applied voltage. The wide range of calculations it offers without requiring extensive characterization makes the model unique.

Dendrimer directed assembly of dicarboxylated hairy nanocellulose.

Hypothesis: Dendrimer-directed assembly of electrosterically stabilized nanocrystalline cellulose (ENCC) to form network structures was studied. ENCC is a member of the family of hairy nanocelluloses and consists of a crystalline rod and dicarboxylated cellulose chains ("hairs") protruding from both ends, which are very reactive. We hypothesized that covalent linking of ENCC and dendrimers should lead to self-assembled hybrid network structures in which dendrimeric nodes connect cellulose nanorods.

Biological control of bacterial plant diseases with strains selected for their broad-spectrum activity.

The use of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) to control multiple pathogens that affect different crops was studied, namely, pv. in kiwifruit, pv. in and in strawberry.

Simplified physical modeling of parallel-aligned liquid crystal devices at highly non-linear tilt angle profiles.

In recent works, we demonstrated the accuracy and physical relevance of a highly simplified reverse-engineering analytical model for a parallel-aligned liquid crystal on silicon devices (PA-LCoS). Both experimental measurements and computational simulations applying the rigorous split-field finite difference time domain (SF-FDTD) technique led to this conclusion in the low applied voltages range. In this paper, we develop a complete rigorous validation covering the full range of possible applied voltages, including highly non-linear liquid crystal (LC) tilt angle profiles.

Monitoring Viable Cells of the Biological Control Agent Lactobacillus plantarum PM411 in Aerial Plant Surfaces by Means of a Strain-Specific Viability Quantitative PCR Method.

A viability quantitative PCR (v-qPCR) assay was developed for the unambiguous detection and quantification of PM411 viable cells in aerial plant surfaces. A 972-bp region of a PM411 predicted prophage with mosaic architecture enabled the identification of a PM411 strain-specific molecular marker. Three primer sets with different amplicon lengths (92, 188, and 317 bp) and one TaqMan probe were designed.

Optimization of Photopolymer Materials for the Fabrication of a Holographic Waveguide.

In this work, we present a method of manufacturing an optical see-through display based on a holographic waveguide with transmission holograms that couple the incident light between air and the glass substrate, accomplishing total internal reflection. The holograms (slanted transmission gratings with a spatial frequency of 1700 lines/mm) were recorded on a polyvinyl alcohol acrylamide (PVA/AA) photopolymer. We will also show that the addition of ,'-methylene-bis-acrylamide (BMA) to the composition of the photopolymer allows the achievement of the index modulations necessary to obtain high diffraction efficiencies in non-slanted diffraction gratings of 1000 and 2200 lines/mm, and also in slanted gratings of 1700 lines/mm (which are the base of the optical system proposed).

Microcrystalline cellulose as reinforcing agent in silicone elastomers.

Cellulose is commonly used as filler for the reinforcement of polymer materials but data in the case of silicones remain rare. In this work we report the modification of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) fibers from cotton linters by propargyl bromide, in aqueous medium without alteration of the crystalline domains. The analysis evidenced the efficient grafting of alkyne functions at the surface of the fibers, the DS being 0.

Diffractive lenses recorded in absorbent photopolymers.

Photopolymers can be appealing materials for diffractive optical elements fabrication. In this paper, we present the recording of diffractive lenses in PVA/AA (Polyvinyl alcohol acrylamide) based photopolymers using a liquid crystal device as a master. In addition, we study the viability of using a diffusion model to simulate the lens formation in the material and to study the influence of the different parameters that govern the diffractive formation in photopolymers.

Predictive capability of average Stokes polarimetry for simulation of phase multilevel elements onto LCoS devices.

Parallel-aligned (PA) liquid-crystal on silicon (LCoS) microdisplays are especially appealing in a wide range of spatial light modulation applications since they enable phase-only operation. Recently we proposed a novel polarimetric method, based on Stokes polarimetry, enabling the characterization of their linear retardance and the magnitude of their associated phase fluctuations or flicker, exhibited by many LCoS devices. In this work we apply the calibrated values obtained with this technique to show their capability to predict the performance of spatially varying phase multilevel elements displayed onto the PA-LCoS device.