Pre-diagnostic intervention for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) allows symptoms to be addressed as they emerge, often between six to 18 months, rather than after the full onset of the disorder. A systematic literature review, spanning the previous six years was conducted in order to provide an updated review looking at the earliest behavior symptoms of ASD. All included studies used a prospective experimental design, reported on symptoms that emerged before 18-months of age, exclusively in children who would later receive a diagnosis, and were assessed for quality. This review is the first to address this research question through the use of a systematic research design and extends the literature by following up on recommendations for future research from previous findings.

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Over the past 10 years, very early detection of ASD has opened the way to establishing much-needed evidence-based interventions for infants under 18 months of age. A Behavior Skills Training package developed in a verbal behavior framework was the foundation for a parent-mediated service delivery model for 12-16-month infants presenting ASD symptoms. Training consisted of 12 weekly coaching sessions conducted with each parent-infant dyad in the family's home with the aim to increase social, communication and play skills. A battery of assessment tools was used pre and posttraining, while parent and infant target behaviors were scored through videos taken during weekly sessions. Results indicate that social communication behaviors increased in all infant-parent dyads, while severity and number of autism symptoms decreased. By beginning intervention during infancy, brain neuroplasticity is leveraged maximizing the child's developmental trajectory. This is the first prospective study that provides a verbal behavior analytic framework to treat symptomatic infants.

Food selectivity is often seen in children with autism spectrum disorder and can lead to severe nutritional deficiencies. Food selectivity can be specific to food texture, colour, shape, presentation, type, brand or container. Often food selectivity is treated using escape extinction in conjunction with other procedures, which can be challenging to implement for the therapist or caregiver, aversive for the child, and requires adequate supervision from a professional to ensure fidelity of the procedure. A preference assessment, parent interview and food journal determined the child's food repertoire consisted of four different foods in total (pasta, fish crackers, dry cereal and yogurt), and the child was selective by brand, texture, temperature and utensil requirement. A 12-step graduated exposure food hierarchy was constructed, the child was lead through the hierarchy, and parent training was implemented for generalization. After 9 months of treatment, the participant's food repertoire increased from four items to more than 50 items. Additionally, food refusal behaviour decreased to rates of zero during intervention and parents report significant decreases in mealtime behaviour at home. The importance of using an alternative strategy to escape extinction for treating food selectivity in children with autism spectrum disorder will be discussed.

Exercise and diet promote adaptations which conserve or utilize glucose. These adaptations manifest as changes in glucose kinetics, i.e. the transfer of glucose from circulation and interstitial fluid to the intracellular space where it is metabolized for energy. The present study modelled glucose kinetics during rest and exercise in exercise-trained Arabian geldings adapted for 4 months to feeds high in hydrolysable carbohydrates (SS, n ¼ 6) or fat and fibre (FF, n ¼ 6). The same test procedure was performed at rest and during constant moderate intensity treadmill exercise following a 25-min warm-up. Tests involved an injection of 100 lmol/kg BW [6,6-D 2 ]glucose through a jugular catheter followed by 150 min of blood sampling. Tracer clearance curves were analysed by compartmental analysis. Parameters were compared by diet and exercise using two-way nested anova. A conservative, two compartment model was selected based on residuals, Akaike's information criteria, and parameter resolution. Exercise increased (p £ 0.038) the maximum bounds of all rate constants (%/min) between compartments by approximately 110%, all flow (mg/min) between compartments by 75%, and the total flow entering (and irreversibly leaving) the system by 170%. Total glucose entering and leaving the system increased more during exercise in SS horses (from 1.6 ± 0.1 to 4.8 ± 0.3 mg/min per kg) than FF horses (from 1.7 ± 0.1 to 4.1 ± 0.3 mg/min per kg) (p ¼ 0.043). Up-regulation of glucose transfer during exercise is expected to increase the availability of glucose to working tissue. The 17% lower glucose flow through the system in FF horses indicates that these horses are relying less on circulating glucose as an energy source during exercise. This glucose conservation could spare glycogen during endurance exercise.AAVN Sponsor: Dr. Ray GeorOxidative stress and inflammatory state induced by obesity in the healthy feline