Examined the effects of antecedent exercise conditions on maladaptive and stereotypic behaviors in 6 adults with both autism and moderate to profound mental retardation. The behaviors were observed in a controlled environment before and after 2 exercise and 1 non-exercise conditions. From the original group of 6 participants, 2 were selected subsequently to participate in aerobic exercise immediately before performing a community-integrated vocational task. Only antecedent aerobic exercise significantly reduced maladaptive and stereotypic behaviors in the controlled setting. Neither of the less vigorous antecedent conditions did. When aerobic exercise preceded the vocational task, similar reductions were observed. There were individual differences in response to antecedent exercise. Use of antecedent aerobic exercise to reduce maladaptive and stereotypic behaviors of adults with both autism and mental retardation is supported.

The glass transition of human hair and its dependence on water content were determined by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The relationship between the data is suitably described by the Fox equation, yielding for human hair a glass transition temperature of T(g) = 144 degrees C, which is substantially lower than that for wool (174 degrees C). This effect is attributed to a higher fraction of hydrophobic proteins in the matrix of human hair, which acts as an internal plasticizer. The applicability of the Fox equation for hair as well as for wool implies that water is homogeneously distributed in alpha-keratins, despite their complex morphological, semicrystalline structure. To investigate this aspect, hair was rendered amorphous by thermal denaturation. For the amorphous hair neither the water content nor T(g) were changed compared to the native state. These results provide strong support for the theory of a quasi-homogeneous distribution of water within alpha-keratins.

The iodine coulometer consists of two platinum electrodes immersed in a potassium iodide solution. In order to prevent convection of the triiodide which forms at the anode, the lower half of the coulometer is filled with a more concentrated solution (ca. 1.0 M) than the upper half (ca. 0.1 M).After each electrolysis, the lower half of the solution is drained and titrated with a standard thiosulfate solution.Procedure and Results.-The apparatus is set up as shown in Fig. 1 and the reaction vessel is evacuated to a pressure of 1 µ.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Articles you may be interested inCommunication: The permanent electric dipole moment of thorium monoxide, ThO