Use of diet pills and other dieting aids in a college population with high weight and shape concerns.

Objective: The current study examines diet aid use among college women at risk for eating disorders and explores characteristics associated with diet aid use.

Method: Participants were 484 college women<30 years from 6 universities in the San Francisco Bay Area (SF) and San Diego who were at risk for developing eating disorders. A checklist assessed diet pill, fat blocker, diuretic, laxative, and other diet aid use over the past 12 months.

Spirituality among young women at risk for eating disorders.

Objective: This study examined the spiritual and religious (S/R) beliefs and practices of college-age women at high-risk for eating disorders, and the relationship between body image distress, coping, and S/R.

Method: Two hundred fifty-five college-age women with elevated weight and shape concerns, assessed using the Weight/Shape Concerns Scale and the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE), completed surveys about their S/R beliefs and practices.

Results: Women with strong S/R beliefs and practices cope with body dissatisfaction differently than women without strong S/R beliefs.

Patterns of eating and abstinence in women treated for bulimia nervosa.

Objective: The current study sought to determine whether there is an optimal pattern of eating leading to cessation of binge eating and purging in bulimic women.

Method: Data on the number of meals and snacks consumed were obtained from the Eating Disorders Examination (EDE) pretreatment and posttreatment, for individuals participating in a randomized controlled study comparing cognitive-behavioral therapy and interpersonal therapy. Records were available for 158 participants.

Predictors of treatment acceptance and completion in anorexia nervosa: implications for future study designs.

Context: There have been very few randomized controlled treatment studies of anorexia nervosa.

Objective: To evaluate factors leading to nonacceptance and noncompletion of treatment for 2 specific therapies and their combination in the treatment of anorexia nervosa.

Design: Randomized prospective study.

A comparison of short- and long-term family therapy for adolescent anorexia nervosa.

Objective: Research suggests that family treatment for adolescents with anorexia nervosa may be effective. This study was designed to determine the optimal length of such family therapy.

Method: Eighty-six adolescents (12-18 years of age) diagnosed with anorexia nervosa were allocated at random to either a short-term (10 sessions over 6 months) or long-term treatment (20 sessions over 12 months) and evaluated at the end of 1 year using the Eating Disorder Examination (EDE) between 1999 and 2002.

A point mutation in the Ch3 domain of human IgG3 inhibits antibody secretion without affecting antigen specificity.

Immunoglobulins (Ig) require correct folding and assembly of both heavy (H) and light (L) chains to form a functional H2L2 dimer that is secreted from plasma cells. This process is dependent upon the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) chaperone BiP, which targets improperly, folded or assembled Ig molecules for degradation. While investigating the mechanism of low IgG3 secretion, we identified a missense mutation L368P in the Ch3 region of the human gamma3 H-chain that was associated with impaired secretion of intact and functional Ig.

The development of endogenous orienting: control over the scope of attention and lateral asymmetries.

This study examined the development of endogenous orienting in children ages 6, 10, and 14 years and in adults. Participants were asked to respond with a button press to targets appearing in the left or right visual field. Cues that correctly or incorrectly indicated the target's location preceded the appearance of targets at stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) of 100 and 800 msec.

Behavioral manifestations of autism in the first year of life.

In the interest of more systematically documenting the early signs of autism, and of testing specific hypotheses regarding their underlying neurodevelopmental substrates, we have initiated a longitudinal study of high-risk infants, all of whom have an older sibling diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder. Our sample currently includes 150 infant siblings, including 65 who have been followed to age 24 months, who are the focus of this paper. We have also followed a comparison group of low-risk infants.

Fbxw7/Cdc4 is a p53-dependent, haploinsufficient tumour suppressor gene.

The FBXW7/hCDC4 gene encodes a ubiquitin ligase implicated in the control of chromosome stability. Here we identify the mouse Fbxw7 gene as a p53-dependent tumour suppressor gene by using a mammalian genetic screen for p53-dependent genes involved in tumorigenesis. Radiation-induced lymphomas from p53+/- mice, but not those from p53-/- mice, show frequent loss of heterozygosity and a 10% mutation rate of the Fbxw7 gene.

The relationship between parental factors at infancy and parent-reported control over children's eating at age 7.

The objective of this study was to determine predictors of parental control over children's eating. Data were obtained from 135 children and their parents from the Stanford Infant Growth Study. Assessments were obtained from parents at their child's birth and age 7.

Impaired disengagement of attention in young children with autism.

Background: The present study examined the disengage and shift operations of visual attention in young children with autism.

Methods: For this purpose, we used a simple visual orienting task that is thought to engage attention automatically. Once attention was first engaged on a central fixation stimulus, a second stimulus was presented on either side, either simultaneously or successively.

Comparing two measures of eating restraint in bulimic women treated with cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Objective: To examine changes in dietary restraint patterns revealed by the Eating Disorders Examination Restraint subscale (EDE-R) and the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire Cognitive Restraint scale (TFEQ-CR) in a large sample of women with bulimia nervosa (BN) who completed 18 weeks of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

Method: Data from 134 subjects were obtained from a larger study and analyzed using repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Results: The EDE-R showed statistically and clinically significant decreases post-CBT, whereas the TFEQ-CR did not change significantly.

Comparing rates of psychiatric and behavior disorders in adolescents and young adults with severe intellectual disability with and without autism.

Eight males and four females with an Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) diagnosis of autism (mean age of 16.3 years) and severe intellectual disability (IQ < 40) were individually matched to controls on the basis of chronological age, gender, and nonverbal IQ. The dependent measure was the Diagnostic Assessment for the Severely Handicapped-II, which is used to screen for psychiatric and behavior disorders in lower-functioning individuals.

Conducting genetic epidemiology studies of autism spectrum disorders: issues in matching.

The objective of this review is to clarify the role of matching in family genetic studies of autism as a way of defining endophenotypes for linkage analysis. The concept of a confounding variable is reviewed and the importance of considering these in family studies of three endophenotypes in autism are considered: cognitive/language impairments, psychiatric disorders, and autistic-like traits. The importance of matching in infant sibling studies of autism is also addressed.

Specifying PDD-NOS: a comparison of PDD-NOS, Asperger syndrome, and autism.

Objective: To describe the clinical characteristics of children given a diagnosis of pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS) by expert clinicians and to compare these to the clinical characteristics of children given a diagnosis of autism and Asperger syndrome (AS).

Method: Two hundred sixteen children with autism, 33 with AS, and 21 with PDD-NOS were compared on measures of level of functioning (communication, daily living and social skills, IQ, and age of acquisition of language) and on various symptoms of autism (impaired communication and reciprocal social interaction and a preference for repetitive and stereotyped activities).

Results: In terms of level of functioning measures, the PDD-NOS children had scores that were between those of the children with autism and those of the children with AS.

Participant recruitment for an anorexia nervosa treatment study.

Objective: To investigate the nature of differing recruitment rates for clinical treatment trials for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa.

Methods: Recruitment rates from a study recruiting women partially recovered from anorexia nervosa were compared with the rates from two studies conducted at the same sites recruiting women with bulimia nervosa.

Results: At all sites in the anorexia study, the total number of contacts per month rose steadily over the first 2 years of the recruitment phase then decreased to near zero with the number of participants randomized to the study practically evaporating.

The effects of a mutant connexin 26 on epidermal differentiation.

To elucidate the mode of action of dominant mutant connexins in causing inherited skin diseases, transgenic mice were produced that express the true Vohwinkel syndrome-associated mutant Cx26 (D66H), from a keratin 10 promoter, specifically in the suprabasal epidermal keratinocytes. Following birth, the transgenic mice developed keratoderma similar to that of human carriers of Cx26 (D66H). Expression of the transgene resulted in a loss of Cx26 and Cx30 at intercellular junctions of epidermal keratinocytes and accumulation of these connexins in the cytoplasm.

Autism spectrum disorders: early detection, intervention, education, and psychopharmacological management.

Our understanding and treatment of children with autism have changed dramatically since Leo Kanner first formally documented the disorder in 1943. With reference to the historical context, this paper reviews recent research addressing 4 major issues: early detection, intervention, education, and psychopharmacological management of children with autism and related (autistic) spectrum disorders (hereafter, "autism"). We conclude from our review of the evidence that, in the absence of additional, more compelling data, the clinical usefulness of existing screening instruments remains questionable.

Highly conserved cysteines of mouse core 2 beta1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I form a network of disulfide bonds and include a thiol that affects enzyme activity.

Core 2 beta1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase I (C2GnT-I) plays a pivotal role in the biosynthesis of mucin-type O-glycans that serve as ligands in cell adhesion. To elucidate the three-dimensional structure of the enzyme for use in computer-aided design of therapeutically relevant enzyme inhibitors, we investigated the participation of cysteine residues in disulfide linkages in a purified murine recombinant enzyme. The pattern of free and disulfide-bonded Cys residues was determined by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry in the absence and presence of dithiothreitol.

Are adolescents harmed when asked risky weight control behavior and attitude questions? Implications for consent procedures.

Objectives: This study explores whether asking minors about risky weight control behaviors and attitudes increases the frequency of those behaviors and attitudes.

Methods: Participants were 115 sixth-grade girls who responded to questions on risky weight control behaviors and attitudes at baseline and at 12-month follow-up. An additional 107 girls, who had not been part of the baseline, provided data only at follow-up.

Targeted epidermal expression of mutant Connexin 26(D66H) mimics true Vohwinkel syndrome and provides a model for the pathogenesis of dominant connexin disorders.

To investigate the role of connexins in dominantly inherited skin disease, transgenic mice were produced which expressed mutant connexin 26 [gjb2/connexin 26(D66H)], from a keratin 10 promoter, exclusively in the suprabasal epidermis (the cells in which Connexin 26 is up-regulated in epidermal hyperproliferative states). From soon after birth, the mice exhibited a keratoderma similar to that in humans carrying the Connexin 26(D66H) mutation (true Vohwinkel syndrome). Transgene expression was associated with loss of Connexin 26 and Connexin 30 from epidermal keratinocyte intercellular junctions and accumulation in cytoplasm.

Inhibitory mechanisms in autism spectrum disorders: typical selective inhibition of location versus facilitated perceptual processing.

Background: This study examined the inhibitory control mechanisms of selective attention in autism spectrum disorders. Two issues were engaged: First, we extend previous findings of normal inhibition of distractor identity in autism by examining whether inhibition of spatial location is also spared. The second issue concerns the selectivity of inhibition.