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Objective: Caregivers of individuals with severe mental illness often experience significant negative experiences of care, which can be associated with higher levels of expressed emotion. Expressed emotion is potentially a modifiable target early in the course of illness, which might improve outcomes for caregivers and patients. However, expressed emotion and caregiver experiences in the early stages of disorders might be moderated by the type of severe mental illness. The aim was to determine whether experiences of the caregiver role and expressed emotion differ in caregivers of young people with first-episode psychosis versus young people with 'first-presentation' borderline personality disorder features. Method: Secondary analysis of baseline (pre-treatment) data from three clinical trials focused on improving caregiver outcomes for young people with first-episode psychosis and young people with borderline personality disorder features was conducted (ACTRN12616000968471, ACTRN12616000304437, ACTRN12618000616279). Caregivers completed self-report measures of experiences of the caregiver role and expressed emotion. Multivariate generalised linear models and moderation analyses were used to determine group differences. Results: Data were available for 265 caregivers. Higher levels of negative experiences and expressed emotion, and stronger correlations between negative experiences and expressed emotion domains, were found in caregivers of young people with borderline personality disorder than first-episode psychosis. Caregiver group (borderline personality disorder, first-episode psychosis) moderated the relationship between expressed emotion and caregiver experiences in the domains of need to provide backup and positive personal experiences. Conclusion: Caregivers of young people with borderline personality disorder experience higher levels of negative experiences related to their role and expressed emotion compared with caregivers of young people with first-episode psychosis. The mechanisms underpinning associations between caregiver experiences and expressed emotion differ between these two caregiver groups, indicating that different supports are needed. For borderline personality disorder caregivers, emotional over-involvement is associated with both negative and positive experiences, so a more detailed understanding of the nature of emotional over-involvement for each relationship is required to guide action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel UWB communications system using double FM: a low-modulation index digital FSK followed by a high-modulation index analog FM to create a constant-envelope UWB signal. FDMA techniques at the subcarrier level are exploited to accommodate multiple users. The system is intended for low (1–10 kbps) and medium (100–1000 kbps) bit rate, and short-range WPAN systems. A wideband delay-line FM demodulator that is not preceded by any limiting amplifier constitutes the key component of the UWBFM receiver. This unusual approach permits multiple users to share the same RF bandwidth. Multipath, however, may limit the useful subcarrier bandwidth to one octave. This paper addresses the performance with AWGN and multipath, the resistance to narrowband interference, as well as the simultaneous detection of multiple FM signals at the same carrier frequency. SPICE and Matlab simulation results illustrate the principles and limitations of this new technology. A hardware demonstrator has been realized and has allowed the confirmation of theory with practical results.

Purpose: Infants and children with Down syndrome show reduced visual acuity and contrast sensitivity when tested with conventional behavioral techniques. These results may reflect sensory deficits of optical or neural origin or a loss of performance in mechanisms responsible for generating the behavioral response. The purpose of this study was to compare objective acuity and contrast sensitivity measurements recorded with visual-evoked potentials (VEPs), with behavioral clinical test results in a group of children with Down syndrome and a group of control subjects. The goal was to determine whether children with Down syndrome still have a sensory deficit when tested using a procedure that is less cognitively demanding than conventional tests., Methods: The subject group comprised 58 children with Down syndrome and 44 control subjects, aged 3 months to 14.15 years. Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were measured with steady state, swept VEPs and behavioral techniques. VEP acuity was obtained from 36 children with Down syndrome and 40 control subjects, and behavioral acuity from 54 children with Down syndrome and 35 control subjects. VEP contrast sensitivity was measured in 24 children with Down syndrome and 34 control subjects, and behavioral contrast sensitivity in 42 children with Down syndrome and 25 control subjects. Group differences in visual acuity and contrast sensitivity were analyzed with an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), with age as a covariate., Results: Visual acuity thresholds were significantly lower in the group with Down syndrome than in the control group. This was true for both VEP (P < 0.01) and behavioral measures (P < 0.01). The Down syndrome group also had reduced contrast sensitivity when compared with the control subjects, for VEP contrast sensitivity (P < 0.01) and behavioral contrast sensitivity (P < 0.01). The group differences remained when children with ophthalmic anomalies were excluded from the analysis., Conclusions: The reduced visual acuity and contrast sensitivity in the Down syndrome group support the idea of an underlying sensory deficit in the visual system in Down syndrome.