Measles vaccination and antibody response in autism spectrum disorder

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that measles vaccination was involved in the pathogenesis of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) as evidenced by signs of a persistent measles infection or abnormally persistent immune response shown by circulating measles virus or raised antibody titres in children with ASD who had been vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) compared with controls. DESIGN: Case-control study, community based. METHODS: A community sample of vaccinated children aged 10-12 years in the UK with ASD (n = 98) and two control groups of similar age, one with special educational needs but no ASD (n = 52) and one typically developing group (n = 90), were tested for measles virus and antibody response to measles in the serum. RESULTS: No difference was found between cases and controls for measles antibody response. There was no dose-response relationship between autism symptoms and antibody concentrations. Measles virus nucleic acid was amplified by reverse transcriptase-PCR in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from one patient with autism and two typically developing children. There was no evidence of a differential response to measles virus or the measles component of the MMR in children with ASD, with or without regression, and controls who had either one or two doses of MMR. Only one child from the control group had clinical symptoms of possible enterocolitis. CONCLUSION: No association between measles vaccination and ASD was shown

Overview of NASARTI (NASA Radiation Track Image) Program: Highlights of the Model Improvement and the New Results

This presentation summarizes several years of research done by the co-authors developing the NASARTI (NASA Radiation Track Image) program and supporting it with scientific data. The goal of the program is to support NASA mission to achieve a safe space travel for humans despite the perils of space radiation. The program focuses on selected topics in radiation biology that were deemed important throughout this period of time, both for the NASA human space flight program and to academic radiation research. Besides scientific support to develop strategies protecting humans against an exposure to deep space radiation during space missions, and understanding health effects from space radiation on astronauts, other important ramifications of the ionizing radiation were studied with the applicability to greater human needs: understanding the origins of cancer, the impact on human genome, and the application of computer technology to biological research addressing the health of general population. The models under NASARTI project include: the general properties of ionizing radiation, such as particular track structure, the effects of radiation on human DNA, visualization and the statistical properties of DSBs (DNA double-strand breaks), DNA damage and repair pathways models and cell phenotypes, chromosomal aberrations, microscopy data analysis and the application to human tissue damage and cancer models. The development of the GUI and the interactive website, as deliverables to NASA operations teams and tools for a broader research community, is discussed. Most recent findings in the area of chromosomal aberrations and the application of the stochastic track structure are also presented

Recognition of Face Identity and Emotion in Expressive Specific Language Impairment

Objective: To study face and emotion recognition in children with mostly expressive specific language impairment (SLI-E). Subjects and Methods: A test movie to study perception and recognition of faces and mimic-gestural expression was applied to 24 children diagnosed as suffering from SLI-E and an age-matched control group of normally developing children. Results: Compared to a normal control group, the SLI-E children scored significantly worse in both the face and expression recognition tasks with a preponderant effect on emotion recognition. The performance of the SLI-E group could not be explained by reduced attention during the test session. Conclusion: We conclude that SLI-E is associated with a deficiency in decoding non-verbal emotional facial and gestural information, which might lead to profound and persistent problems in social interaction and development. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Base

Elephants in pyjamas: testing the weak central coherence account of autism spectrum disorders using a syntactic disambiguation task

According to the weak central coherence (CC) account individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit enhanced local processing and weak part-whole integration. CC was investigated in the verbal domain. Adolescents, recruited using a 2 (ASD status) by 2 (language impairment status) design, completed an aural forced choice comprehension task involving syntactically ambiguous sentences. Half the picture targets depicted the least plausible interpretation, resulting in longer RTs across groups. These were assumed to reflect local processing. There was no ASD by plausibility interaction and consequently little evidence for weak CC in the verbal domain when conceptualised as enhanced local processing. Furthermore, there was little evidence that the processing of syntactically ambiguous sentences differed as a function of ASD or language-impairment status

Regression, developmental trajectory and associated problems in disorders in the autism spectrum: the SNAP study

We report rates of regression and associated findings in a population derived group of 255 children aged 9-14 years, participating in a prevalence study of autism spectrum disorders (ASD); 53 with narrowly defined autism, 105 with broader ASD and 97 with non-ASD neurodevelopmental problems, drawn from those with special educational needs within a population of 56,946 children. Language regression was reported in 30% with narrowly defined autism, 8% with broader ASD and less than 3% with developmental problems without ASD. A smaller group of children were identified who underwent a less clear setback. Regression was associated with higher rates of autistic symptoms and a deviation in developmental trajectory. Regression was not associated with epilepsy or gastrointestinal problems

Recent advances in psychological therapies for eating disorders

Recent years have seen substantial consolidation and development of the evidence base for psychological therapies for eating disorders. This review summarises the key changes over that time period. Specific forms of cognitive behavioural therapy and family-based treatment have consolidated and extended their positions as treatments of choice despite the development of novel approaches. However, there is still a significant need for further development and testing to improve recovery rates, particularly in anorexia nervosa