A Review of Peer Relationships and Friendships in Youth With ADHD

Objective: The purpose of this essay is to examine peer relationships in youth with ADHD and to review current peer functioning interventions. Method: The studies included in this review were identified using the following search terms: “attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder,” “ADHD,” “peer relationships,” “friendships,” “social skills,” “intervention,” and “treatment.” Other than a few seminal studies published prior to 2000, studies included were published between 2000 and 2012. Results/Discussion: Background information regarding peer relationship difficulties and specific social skills deficits of youth with ADHD is reviewed and current social skills and friendship intervention programs are examined. Future directions also are provided

Maternal Functioning Differences Based on ADHD Subtype

Objective: Maternal functioning differences in parenting stress, parental efficacy, and parenting behaviors were examined for mothers of children with ADHD. Method: Participants included 29 mothers of children with ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type (ADHD-I) and 38 mothers of children with ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive or Combined Type (ADHD-HI/C). Results: Findings suggest that mothers of children with ADHD-HI/C reported significantly greater parenting stress and engaged in more negative parenting behaviors than mothers of children with ADHD-I. Conclusion: This study suggests that tailoring behavioral parent training based on ADHD subtype may be particularly helpful for parents of children with ADHD-HI/C

Examination of a Parent-Assisted, Friendship-Building Program for Adolescents With ADHD

Objective: Youth with ADHD experience significant impairment in peer functioning. Based on recommendations from the literature, the current pilot study examined the effectiveness of a parent-assisted, friendship-building program at establishing mutual friendships and improving peer relationships in adolescents with ADHD. Method: Participants included 20 adolescents with ADHD (ages 11-16 years) and their parent(s). Families completed the Program for the Evaluation and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS). Measures of friendship quality, social knowledge, social self-efficacy, get-togethers, and peer conflict were completed at baseline and post-treatment. At post-treatment, participants also reported on the initiation of a new friendship. Results: Baseline to post-treatment differences were examined using paired-samples t tests. The majority of participants reported the initiation of a new friendship at post-treatment. Adolescents also demonstrated significantly improved social knowledge and increased get-togethers. Effect sizes were large. Conclusion: Following participation in PEERS, adolescents improved in several peer functioning domains and many initiated new friendships

Assessing the Educational Needs of the Pennsylvania Wine Industry

We surveyed Pennsylvania winemakers and winery owners to determine their skill levels, the varieties and styles of wines they produce, their wine-making production challenges, and best practices for addressing educational needs through Extension programs. Growing and sourcing high-quality fruit were identified as key challenges. Although most participants obtained production information from other industry members and preferred face-to-face workshops to further their education, response to a Penn State Extension Enology blog site, developed to address industry challenges and extend our educational reach, has been extremely positive

Assisting Mid-Atlantic Wine Industry Stakeholders in Developing Consumer-Centric Marketing Strategies: Internet Survey Results

Two Internet surveys were administered to wine consumers in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Purchasing frequencies, consumption occasions, and sources used to learn about wine were documented. National data are readily available; however, the study discussed in this article focused on Mid-Atlantic consumers, whose behaviors and attitudes were not well understood. These data provide Extension personnel in the region with the ability to better inform industry members about their clientele and help them develop marketing strategies that appeal to local wine drinkers

Limiting distributions for explosive PAR(1) time series with strongly mixing innovation

This work deals with the limiting distribution of the least squares estimators of the coefficients a r of an explosive periodic autoregressive of order 1 (PAR(1)) time series X r = a r X r--1 +u r when the innovation {u k } is strongly mixing. More precisely {a r } is a periodic sequence of real numbers with period P \textgreater{} 0 and such that P r=1 |a r | \textgreater{} 1. The time series {u r } is periodically distributed with the same period P and satisfies the strong mixing property, so the random variables u r can be correlated

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment