Anxiety as a predictor and outcome variable in the multimodal treatment study of children with ADHD (MTA).

Initial moderator analyses in the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (MTA) suggested that child anxiety ascertained by parent report on the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children 2.3 (DISC Anxiety) differentially moderated the outcome of treatment. Left unanswered were questions regarding the nature of DISC Anxiety, the impact of comorbid conduct problems on the moderating effect of DISC Anxiety, and the clinical significance of DISC Anxiety as a moderator of treatment outcome. Thirty-three percent of MTA subjects met DSM-III-R criteria for an anxiety disorder excluding simple phobias. Of these, two-thirds also met DSM-III-R criteria for comorbid oppositional-defiant or conduct disorder whereas one-third did not, yielding an odds ratio of approximately two for DISC Anxiety, given conduct problems. In this context, exploratory analyses of baseline data suggest that DISC Anxiety may reflect parental attributions regarding child negative affectivity and associated behavior problems (unlike fearfulness), particularly in the area of social interactions, another core component of anxiety that is more typically associated with phobic symptoms. Analyses using hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) indicate that the moderating effect of DISC Anxiety continues to favor the inclusion of psychosocial treatment for anxious ADHD children irrespective of the presence or absence of comorbid conduct problems. This effect, which is clinically meaningful, is confined primarily to parent-reported outcomes involving disruptive behavior, internalizing symptoms, and inattention; and is generally stronger for combined than unimodal treatment. Contravening earlier studies, no adverse effect of anxiety on medication response for core ADHD or other outcomes in anxious or nonanxious ADHD children was demonstrated. When treating ADHD, it is important to search for comorbid anxiety and negative affectivity and to adjust treatment strategies accordingly.

Transgenic corn plants expressing MDMV strain B coat protein are resistant to mixed infections of maize dwarf mosaic virus and maize chlorotic mottle virus.

The maize dwarf mosaic virus strain B (MDMV-B) coat protein (cp) gene was cloned into a monocot expression cassette and introduced into sweet corn cell suspension cultures via particle bombardment or electroporation. Transformed cells were selected on culture media containing 300 mg/l kanamycin, and plants were regenerated. Cells from all transformed lines expressed the cp gene; and one transgenic line synthesized approximately 100-200 micrograms MDMV-cp per gram fresh weight. Plants regenerated from this line were challenged with a virus inoculum concentration adjusted to produce symptoms in nontransgenic controls at six days post inoculation. In growth chamber studies, the presence of the MDMV-cp provided resistance to inoculations with MDMV-A or MDMV-B and to mixed inoculations of MDMV and maize chlorotic mottle virus.