Agarose disk electroporation method for ex vivo retinal tissue cultured at the air-liquid interface reveals electrical stimulus-induced cell cycle reentry in retinal cells.

It is advantageous to culture the ex vivo murine retina along with many other tissue types at the air-liquid interface. However, gene delivery to these cultures can be challenging. Electroporation is a fast and robust method of gene delivery, but typically requires submergence in a liquid buffer to allow electric current flow. We have developed a submergence-free electroporation technique using an agarose disk that allows for efficient gene delivery to the ex vivo murine retina. This method advances our ability to use ex vivo retinal tissue for genetic studies and can easily be adapted for any tissue cultured at an air-liquid interface. We found an increased ability to transfected Muller glia at 14 days ex vivo and an increase in BrdU incorporation in Muller glia following electrical stimulation. Use of this method has revealed valuable insights on the state of ex vivo retinal tissues and the effects of electrical stimulation on retinal cells.

Evidenced-Based Interventions for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.

This paper reviews evidenced-based interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) across the disciplines of psychology, speech-language pathology, occupational therapy, and developmental pediatrics. BACKGROUND: rates of ASD diagnoses have been steadily rising over the past 2 decades. There are a wide range of therapies and interventions, of varying levels of evidence, across disciplines that are now available to treat children with ASD. The field has moved toward a greater emphasis on the identification and utilization of evidenced-based treatments. METHODS: a review and summary of recent literature was conducted by professionals in an interdisciplinary autism center. An emphasis was placed on results of the National Autism Center's National Standards Project. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: within each discipline, interventions exist that vary in level of evidenced-based support. Although disciplines may differ in their definitions of evidence-based treatments, it is important for each discipline to strive to offer and promote practices with the best evidenced-based support according to each field's standards.

Short-term changes in affective, behavioral, and cognitive components of body image after bariatric surgery.

BACKGROUND: Many bariatric surgery candidates report body image concerns before surgery. Research has reported post-surgical improvements in body satisfaction, which may be associated with weight loss. However, research has failed to comprehensively examine changes in affective, behavioral, and cognitive body image. OBJECTIVES: This research examined (1) short-term changes in affective, behavioral, and cognitive components of body image from pre-surgery to 1- and 6-months after bariatric surgery, and (2) the association between percent weight loss and these changes. SETTING: Participants were recruited from a private hospital in the midwestern United States. METHODS: Eighty-eight females (original N = 123; lost to follow-up: n = 15 at 1-month and n = 20 at 6-months post-surgery) completed a questionnaire battery, including the Body Attitudes Questionnaire, Body Checking Questionnaire, Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire, and Body Shape Questionnaire, and weights were obtained from patients' medical records before and at 1- and 6-months post-surgery. RESULTS: Results indicated significant decreases in body dissatisfaction, feelings of fatness, and body image avoidance at 1- and 6-months after bariatric surgery, with the greatest magnitude of change occurring for body image avoidance. Change in feelings of fatness was significantly correlated with percent weight loss at 6-months, but not 1-month, post-surgery. CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight the importance of examining short-term changes in body image from a multidimensional perspective in the effort to improve postsurgical outcomes. Unique contributions include the findings regarding the behavioral component of body image, as body image avoidance emerges as a particularly salient concern that changes over time among bariatric surgery candidates.

Ninety-six haploid yeast strains with individual disruptions of open reading frames between YOR097C and YOR192C, constructed for the Saccharomyces genome deletion project, have an additional mutation in the mismatch repair gene MSH3.

As part of the Saccharomyces Genome Deletion Project, sets of presumably isogenic haploid and diploid strains that differed only by single gene deletions were constructed. We found that one set of 96 strains (containing deletions of ORFs located between YOR097C and YOR192C) in the collection, which was derived from the haploid BY4741, has an additional mutation in the MSH3 mismatch repair gene.

A patient with arginase deficiency and episodic hyperammonemia successfully treated with menses cessation.

Arginase deficiency is an urea cycle disorder that generally presents with mental retardation and spasticity, yet uncommonly with episodes of hyperammonemia. A female adolescent with arginase deficiency developed hyperammonemic episodes temporally related to her menstrual cycle, which ceased upon adequate treatment with depot medroxy progesterone acetate. A similar case was previously reported. A catamenial trigger should be considered in adolescent female arginase-deficient patients with episodes of hyperammonemia.