Behavioural and Developmental Interventions for Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Clinical Systematic Review

Background: Much controversy exists regarding the clinical efficacy of behavioural and developmental interventions for improving the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We conducted a systematic review to summarize the evidence on the effectiveness of behavioural and developmental interventions for ASD. Methods and Findings: Comprehensive searches were conducted in 22 electronic databases through May 2007. Further information was obtained through hand searching journals, searching reference lists, databases of theses and dissertations, and contacting experts in the field. Experimental and observational analytic studies were included if they were written in English and reported the efficacy of any behavioural or developmental intervention for individuals with ASD. Two independent reviewers made the final study selection, extracted data, and reached consensus on study quality. Results were summarized descriptively and, where possible, meta-analyses of the study results were conducted. One-hundred-and-one studies at predominantly high risk of bias that reported inconsistent results across various interventions were included in the review. Meta-analyses of three controlled clinical trials showed that Lovaas treatment was superior to special education on measures of adaptive behaviour, communication and interaction, comprehensive language, daily living skills, expressive language, overall intellectual functioning and socialization. High-intensity Lovaas was superior to low-intensity Lovaas on measures of intellectual functioning in two retrospective cohort studies. Pooling the results of two randomized controlle

Who Said or What Said? Estimating Ideological Bias in Views Among Economists

There exists a long-standing debate about the influence of ideology in economics. Surprisingly, however, there is no concrete empirical evidence to examine this critical issue. Using an online randomized controlled experiment involving economists in 19 countries, we examine the effect of ideological bias on views among economists. Participants were asked to evaluate statements from prominent economists on different topics, while source attribution for each statement was randomized without participants’ knowledge. For each statement, participants either received a mainstream source, an ideologically different less-/non-mainstream source, or no source. We find that changing source attributions from mainstream to less-/non-mainstream, or removing them, significantly reduces economists’ reported agreement with statements. Using a model of Bayesian updating we examine two competing hypotheses as potential explanations for these results: unbiased Bayesian updating versus ideologically-biased Bayesian updating. While we find no evidence in support of unbiased updating, our results are consistent with biased Bayesian updating. More specifically, we find that changing/removing sources (1) has no impact on economists’ reported confidence with their evaluations; (2) similarly affects experts/non-experts in relevant areas; and (3) affects those at the far right of the political spectrum much more significantly than those at the far left. Finally, we find significant heterogeneity in our results by gender, country, PhD completion country, research area, and undergraduate major, with patterns consistent with the existence of ideological bias

Effect of Grape seed oil (Vitis vinifera) on serum gonadotropins and testosterone levels in adult rats exposed to lead acetate

Background and Objective: Lead exposure induced toxic effects on reproductive system. This study was done to evaluate the effect of Grape seed oil (Vitis vinifera) on serum gonadotropins and testosterone level in toxicited adult male rats by lead acetate. Methods: In this experimental study, 56 adult male Wistar rats were randomly allocated equally into 7 groups. Animals in control group did not receive any matter. Animals in the sham, experimental 1 and experimental 2 groups were received orally distilled water, 8ml/kg Grape seed oil (GSO) and 0.1 mmol/lit lead acetate for 21 days, respectively. Animals in the experimental group 3, 4 and 5 were received 0.1 mmol/lit lead acetate for 21 days and then 2 ml/kg/bw, 4 ml/kg/bw and 8ml/kg/bw GSO from day 22 up to day 42, recpectively. Blood samples were taken from control, sham and experimental groups 1 and 2 at the end of day 21. At the end of day 42, blood samples were taken from experimental groups 3, 4 and 5. Serum level of LH, FSH and testosterone were measured by Radioimmunoassay. Results: Serum level of LH, FSH and testosterone were significantly reduced in the experimental group 2 in compared to control group. Serum level of LH, FSH and testosterone were significantly increased in experimental group 4 and 5 in comparision with the experimental group 2. Conclusion: Grape seed oil extract at doses of 4 and 8ml/kg/bw increased serum level of LH, FSH and testosterone in lead acetate exposed male rats

Comparative effects of Chinese green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract and powder as feed supplements for broiler chickens

The comparative effects of green tea extract (GTE) and powder (GTP) on performance of broilers were studied. A total of 405-day-old male Ross 308 broiler chicks were randomly assigned to 9 groups containing 3 replicates of 15 chicks each. The treatments consisted of a control and diets supplemented with 4 levels (10, 20, 30 and 40 g/kg) of GTP and GTE. Feed intake and body weight gain were suppressed (P < .05) by GTP supplementation (P < .05). The best feed conversion ratio was observed on the GTE supplemented group. The highest mortality rate was recorded on the control and the lowest on the GTP groups (P < .05). The best economic index was achieved with GTE supplementation of the diet (P < .05). Relative weights of carcass, breast and drumstick were significantly reduced on GTP compared to GTE (P < .05). GTE up to 40 g/kg diet will maintain growth and feed utilization but inclusion of the powder even as low as 10 g/kg the diet may compromise feed intake, growth performance and carcass traits. Differences in the polyphenol content of the extract (10.2%) and powder (14.9%) may be reasons these performance results. Further studies on green tea source and method of processing are recommended

Using participatory methods to build an mHealth intervention for female entertainment workers in Cambodia: the development of the Mobile Link project

10.21037/mhealth.2019.07.02mHealth524-2