An Employment and Post-Secondary Education Intervention Investigating Executive Function Treatment Outcomes for Adolescents with High Functioning Autism

Research has shown that those with high functioning ASD are demonstrating poor employment and post-secondary education outcomes. One domain that may be of critical importance to these outcomes is executive function (EF). Although EF has proved to be a malleable intervention target related to a variety of other areas of functioning, EF interventions have yet to be tested in the transition to adulthood age group for those with ASD. The current pilot study addressed this gap in the research by testing a high school-based, employment and post-secondary intervention targeting EF through a waitlist control design. Results indicated that adolescents who received the intervention improved in their EF skills, especially in regards to metacognitive processes. Additionally, initial evidence suggested EF moderates the changes seen in employment skills. This pilot study emphasizes the importance of examining EF in intervention studies and has implications for the transition to adulthood ASD field of research.Master of Art

Reconceptualizing Behavior Outbursts in ASD: The Role of Anxiety

Behavior outbursts (e.g., tantrums, aggression, self-injury) are the leading cause of psychiatric hospitalizations for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and relate to worse individual and family quality of life (QOL). Thus, the clinical significance and need for treatment of behavior outbursts is clear. Despite significant changes in the ASD population in the last several decades (i.e., increase of psychiatric comorbidities such as anxiety, less cognitive impairment), our conceptualization and treatment of behavior outbursts as an associated feature of ASD have experienced little change. The continued focus on behavior outbursts in ASD as an indication of an externalizing behavioral disorder has not examined the potential for internal mechanisms (e.g., anxiety) that could be driving their occurrences. Thus, the present study aimed to examine the role of anxiety as a mechanism through which behavior outbursts occur and its impact on individual and family outcomes in an intellectually diverse adult sample. Results indicated that anxiety played a key role in directly and indirectly increasing behavior outbursts and family burden, and in indirectly decreasing QOL for adults with ASD. Notably, the importance of anxiety was supported for both those with poor and good communication abilities, suggesting its significance for adults with ASD across the intellectual spectrum. The current findings clearly document the need to assess for and treat anxiety as a potential means to improve behavior outbursts, QOL, and family burden for adults with ASD with and without intellectual impairments.Doctor of Philosoph

Preliminary Psychometrics for the Executive Function Challenge Task: A Novel, “Hot” Flexibility, and Planning Task for Youth

Objective: Executive functions (EF) drive health and educational outcomes and therefore are increasingly common treatment targets. Most treatment trials rely on questionnaires to capture meaningful change because ecologically valid, pediatric performance-based EF tasks are lacking. The Executive Function Challenge Task (EFCT) is a standardized, treatment-sensitive, objective measure which assesses flexibility and planning in the context of provocative social interactions, making it a “hot” EF task. Method: We investigate the structure, reliability, and validity of the EFCT in youth with autism (Autism Spectrum Disorder; n = 129), or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with flexibility problems (n = 93), and typically developing (TD; n = 52) youth. Results: The EFCT can be coded reliably, has a two-factor structure (flexibility and planning), and adequate internal consistency and consistency across forms. Unlike a traditional performance-based EF task (verbal fluency), it shows significant correlations with parent-reported EF, indicating ecological validity. EFCT performance distinguishes youth with known EF problems from TD youth and is not significantly related to visual pattern recognition, or social communication/understanding in autistic children. Conclusions: The EFCT demonstrates adequate reliability and validity and may provide developmentally appropriate, treatment-sensitive, and ecologically valid assessment of “hot” EF in youth. It can be administered in controlled settings by masked administrators

The \u3cem\u3eChlamydomonas\u3c/em\u3e Genome Reveals the Evolution of Key Animal and Plant Functions

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga whose lineage diverged from land plants over 1 billion years ago. It is a model system for studying chloroplast-based photosynthesis, as well as the structure, assembly, and function of eukaryotic flagella (cilia), which were inherited from the common ancestor of plants and animals, but lost in land plants. We sequenced the ∼120-megabase nuclear genome of Chlamydomonas and performed comparative phylogenomic analyses, identifying genes encoding uncharacterized proteins that are likely associated with the function and biogenesis of chloroplasts or eukaryotic flagella. Analyses of the Chlamydomonas genome advance our understanding of the ancestral eukaryotic cell, reveal previously unknown genes associated with photosynthetic and flagellar functions, and establish links between ciliopathy and the composition and function of flagella

Advances in structure elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry

The structural elucidation of small molecules using mass spectrometry plays an important role in modern life sciences and bioanalytical approaches. This review covers different soft and hard ionization techniques and figures of merit for modern mass spectrometers, such as mass resolving power, mass accuracy, isotopic abundance accuracy, accurate mass multiple-stage MS(n) capability, as well as hybrid mass spectrometric and orthogonal chromatographic approaches. The latter part discusses mass spectral data handling strategies, which includes background and noise subtraction, adduct formation and detection, charge state determination, accurate mass measurements, elemental composition determinations, and complex data-dependent setups with ion maps and ion trees. The importance of mass spectral library search algorithms for tandem mass spectra and multiple-stage MS(n) mass spectra as well as mass spectral tree libraries that combine multiple-stage mass spectra are outlined. The successive chapter discusses mass spectral fragmentation pathways, biotransformation reactions and drug metabolism studies, the mass spectral simulation and generation of in silico mass spectra, expert systems for mass spectral interpretation, and the use of computational chemistry to explain gas-phase phenomena. A single chapter discusses data handling for hyphenated approaches including mass spectral deconvolution for clean mass spectra, cheminformatics approaches and structure retention relationships, and retention index predictions for gas and liquid chromatography. The last section reviews the current state of electronic data sharing of mass spectra and discusses the importance of software development for the advancement of structure elucidation of small molecules

Increasing Adaptive Behavior Skill Deficits From Childhood to Adolescence in Autism Spectrum Disorder:Role of Executive Function

Almost half of all children with autism spectrum disorder have average cognitive abilities, yet outcome remains poor. Because outcome in HFASD is more related to adaptive behavior skills than cognitive level it is important to identify predictors of adaptive behavior. This study examines cognitive and demographic factors related to adaptive behavior, with specific attention to the role of executive function (EF) in youth with HFASD aged 4–23. There was a negative relationship between age and adaptive behavior and the discrepancy between IQ and adaptive behavior increased with age. EF problems contributed to lower adaptive behavior scores across domains. As such, it is important to target adaptive skills, and the EF problems that may contribute to them, in youth with HFASD

Are Non-intellectually Disabled Black Youth with ASD Less Impaired on Parent Report than Their White Peers?

There is a lack of research examining differences in functioning in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across ethnicity, particularly among those without intellectual disability (ID). This study investigated ethnic differences in parent-reported impairment in executive function, adaptive behavior, and social–emotional functioning. White and Black youth (n = 64; ages 6–17) with ASD without ID were compared on each of these domains. Black youth had significantly lower levels of impairment on all three domains. Findings may reflect better daily functioning among Black youth with ASD and/or cultural differences in parent response to questionnaires. Regardless, these findings raise concern about the sensitivity of commonly used measures for Black children with ASD and the impact of culture on daily functioning and symptom manifestation

Longitudinal Examination of Adaptive Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorders: Influence of Executive Function.

This study characterizes longitudinal change in adaptive behavior in 64 children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) without intellectual disability (ID) evaluated on multiple occasions, and examines whether prior estimate of executive function (EF) problems predicts future adaptive behavior scores. Compared to standardized estimates for their developmental stage, adaptive behavior in most participants was impaired and did not improve over time. Prior EF predicted later adaptive behavior in daily living skills and socialization domains after controlling for age and IQ. Self-monitoring behaviors robustly predicted later adaptive behavior in all domains (d = 0.60-0.94). Results support targeting treatment of adaptive skills in ASD, as well as the importance of assessing for EF problems that may contribute to adaptive behavior difficulties