Are there anthropometric differences between children with autism and healthy children?

Anthropometric development and growth were assessed in 2 groups of 6- to 9-year-olds: children with autism spectrum disorders and typically developing children. In a case-control study conducted in Valencia, Spain, we compared the body mass index (kg/m(2)) of 40 children with autism spectrum disorders (cases) and 113 typically developing children (controls) from the same area of residence. The sex- and age-adjusted odds ratios for being underweight in cases was 2.41 compared to controls. Furthermore, the body mass index distribution of the cases was significantly offset to lower values with respect to that of the controls (P = .024). In particular, 20% of the cases had a body mass index below the fifth percentile versus just 8.85% of the controls. Our data suggest that the anthropometric development of children with autism spectrum disorders should be monitored as part of routine care

Food selectivity in autism spectrum disorders: A systematic review

Autism spectrum disorders are characterized by difficulties with reciprocal social interactions and restricted patterns of behavior and interest; one of these characteristic behaviors is food selectivity. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review of the literature published between 1970 and 2013 concerning this eating behavior. The articles identified were analyzed in terms of sample size, study design, and criteria for assessment and intervention, as well as the results, level of evidence and grade of recommendation. The main search was conducted in Medline, Cochrane Library, Scielo, ScienceDirect, and Embase). There is empirical evidence and an overall scientific consensus supporting an association between food selectivity and autism spectrum disorders

Evidence of the gluten free and casein free diet in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs): a systematic review

In autism spectrum disorders, many parents resort to alternative treatments and these are generally perceived as risk free. Among these, the most commonly used is the gluten-free casein-free diet. The objective of this work was to conduct a systematic review of studies published from 1970 to date related to the gluten-free casein-free diet in autism spectrum disorders patients. Few studies can be regarded as providing sound scientific evidence since they were blinded randomised controlled trials, and even these were based on small sample sizes, reducing their validity. We observed that the evidence on this topic is currently limited and weak. We recommend that it should be only used after the diagnosis of an intolerance or allergy to foods containing the allergens excluded in gluten-free casein-free diets. Future research should be based on this type of design, but with larger sample sizes

Efficacy of MRI in primary care for patients with knee complaints due to trauma: Protocol of a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial (TACKLE trial)

Background: Patients with traumatic knee complaints regularly consult their general practitioner (GP). MRI might be a valuable diagnostic tool to assist GPs in making appropriate treatment decisions and reducing costs. Therefore, this study will assess the cost-effectiveness of referral to MRI by GPs compared with usual care, in patients with persistent traumatic knee complaints. Design and methods. This is a multi-centre, open-labelled randomised controlled non-inferiority trial in combination with a concurrent observational cohort study. Eligible patients (aged 18-45 years) have knee complaints due to trauma (or sudden onset) occurring in the preceding 6 months and consulting their GP. Participants are randomised to: 1) an MRI group, i.e. GP referral to MRI, or 2) a usual care group, i.e. no MRI. Primary outcomes are knee-related daily function, medical costs (healthcare use and productivity loss), and quality of life. Secondary outcomes are disability due to knee complaints, severity of knee pain, and patients' perceived recovery and satisfaction. Outcomes are measured at baseline and at 1.5, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months follow-up. Also collected are data on patient demographics, GPs' initial working diagnosis, GPs' preferred management at baseline, and MRI findings. Discussion. In the Netherlands, the additional diagnostic value and cost-effectiveness of direct access to knee MRI for patients presenting with traumatic knee complaints in general practice is unknown. Although GPs increasingly refer patients to MRI, the Dutch clinical guideline 'Traumatic knee complaints' for GPs does not recommend referral to MRI, mainly because the cost-effectiveness is still unknown. Trial registration. Dutch Trial Registration: NTR3689

The ARGO-YBJ Experiment Progresses and Future Extension

Gamma ray source detection above 30TeV is an encouraging approach for finding galactic cosmic ray origins. All sky survey for gamma ray sources using wide field of view detector is essential for population accumulation for various types of sources above 100GeV. To target the goals, the ARGO-YBJ experiment has been established. Significant progresses have been made in the experiment. A large air shower detector array in an area of 1km2 is proposed to boost the sensitivity. Hybrid detection with multi-techniques will allow a good discrimination between different types of primary particles, including photons and protons, thus enable an energy spectrum measurement for individual specie. Fluorescence light detector array will extend the spectrum measurement above 100PeV where the second knee is located. An energy scale determined by balloon experiments at 10TeV will be propagated to ultra high energy cosmic ray experiments

Observation of hard scattering in photoproduction events with a large rapidity gap at HERA

Events with a large rapidity gap and total transverse energy greater than 5 GeV have been observed in quasi-real photoproduction at HERA with the ZEUS detector. The distribution of these events as a function of the $\gamma p$ centre of mass energy is consistent with diffractive scattering. For total transverse energies above 12 GeV, the hadronic final states show predominantly a two-jet structure with each jet having a transverse energy greater than 4 GeV. For the two-jet events, little energy flow is found outside the jets. This observation is consistent with the hard scattering of a quasi-real photon with a colourless object in the proton.Comment: 19 pages, latex, 4 figures appended as uuencoded fil

Measurement of the Bottom-Strange Meson Mixing Phase in the Full CDF Data Set

We report a measurement of the bottom-strange meson mixing phase \beta_s using the time evolution of B0_s -> J/\psi (->\mu+\mu-) \phi (-> K+ K-) decays in which the quark-flavor content of the bottom-strange meson is identified at production. This measurement uses the full data set of proton-antiproton collisions at sqrt(s)= 1.96 TeV collected by the Collider Detector experiment at the Fermilab Tevatron, corresponding to 9.6 fb-1 of integrated luminosity. We report confidence regions in the two-dimensional space of \beta_s and the B0_s decay-width difference \Delta\Gamma_s, and measure \beta_s in [-\pi/2, -1.51] U [-0.06, 0.30] U [1.26, \pi/2] at the 68% confidence level, in agreement with the standard model expectation. Assuming the standard model value of \beta_s, we also determine \Delta\Gamma_s = 0.068 +- 0.026 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps-1 and the mean B0_s lifetime, \tau_s = 1.528 +- 0.019 (stat) +- 0.009 (syst) ps, which are consistent and competitive with determinations by other experiments.Comment: 8 pages, 2 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett 109, 171802 (2012

The phenotype of Floating-Harbor syndrome: Clinical characterization of 52 individuals with mutations in exon 34 of SRCAP

Background: Floating-Harbor syndrome (FHS) is a rare condition characterized by short stature, delays in expressive language, and a distinctive facial appearance. Recently, heterozygous truncating mutations in SRCAP were determined to be disease-causing. With the availability of a DNA based confirmatory test, we set forth to define the clinical features of this syndrome. Methods and results. Clinical information on fifty-two individuals with SRCAP mutations was collected using standardized questionnaires. Twenty-four males and twenty-eight females were studied with ages ranging from

ARGO-YBJ constraints on very high energy emission from GRBs

The ARGO-YBJ (Astrophysical Radiation Ground-based Observatory at YangBaJing) experiment is designed for very high energy $\gamma$-astronomy and cosmic ray researches. Due to the full coverage of a large area ($5600 m^2$) with resistive plate chambers at a very high altitude (4300 m a.s.l.), the ARGO-YBJ detector is used to search for transient phenomena, such as Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs). Because the ARGO-YBJ detector has a large field of view ($\sim$2 sr) and is operated with a high duty cycle ($>$90%), it is well suited for GRB surveying and can be operated in searches for high energy GRBs following alarms set by satellite-borne observations at lower energies. In this paper, the sensitivity of the ARGO-YBJ detector for GRB detection is estimated. Upper limits to fluence with 99% confidence level for 26 GRBs inside the field of view from June 2006 to January 2009 are set in the two energy ranges 10$-$100 GeV and 10 GeV$-$1 TeV.Comment: accepted for publication in Astroparticle Physic