This article reviews the available literature on group-based social skills interventions for adolescents with autism. Forty-four studies were identified that were published in peer-reviewed journals. While each identified treatment utilized a group format, there was significant heterogeneity among the implemented procedures and evaluative methods. Studies were compared on a number of dimensions, and trends in the field were identified. The findings suggest that there is significant evidence for the usefulness of social skills groups as an intervention for adolescents with autism, and the evidence base is rapidly growing. In addition to a summary of the existing literature, recommendations for areas of future research are identified.

Background Prior evidence suggests panic disorder (PD) is characterized by neurometabolic abnormalities, including increased brain lactate responses to neural activation. Increased lactate responses could reflect a general upregulation of metabolic responses to neural activation. However, prior studies in PD have not measured activity-dependent changes in brain metabolites other than lactate. Here we examine activity-dependent changes in both lactate and glutamate plus glutamine (glx) in PD. Methods Twenty-one PD patients (13 remitted, 8 symptomatic) and 12 healthy volunteers were studied. A single-voxel, J-difference, magnetic resonance spectroscopy editing sequence was used to measure lactate and glx changes in visual cortex induced by visual stimulation. Results PD patients had significantly greater activity-dependent increases in brain lactate than healthy volunteers. The differences were significant for both remitted and symptomatic PD patients, who did not differ from each other. Activity-dependent changes in glx were significantly smaller in PD patients than in healthy volunteers. The temporal correlation between lactate and glx changes was significantly stronger in control subjects than in PD patients. Conclusions The novel demonstration that glx responses are diminished and temporally decoupled from lactate responses in PD contradicts the model of a general upregulation of activity-dependent brain metabolic responses in PD. The increase in activity-dependent brain lactate accumulation appears to be a trait feature of PD. Given the close relationship between lactate and pH in the brain, the findings are consistent with a model of brain metabolic and pH dysregulation associated with altered function of acid-sensitive fear circuits contributing to trait vulnerability in PD.

Adolescents with ASD face numerous personal and contextual barriers that impede the development of social motivation and core competencies, warranting the need for targeted intervention. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 40 adolescents to evaluate the merits of a multi-component socialization intervention that places emphasis on experiential learning. This investigation evaluated the impact of the 20-week START program on the social functioning of adolescents with ASD. Significant Group × Time differences between START and waitlist control groups were found across multiple measures. Secondary analyses of the entire program cohort also yielded significant improvement trends across all measures. These findings may be an important step in identifying optimal strategies to target the complex factors limiting optimal social development in ASD.

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Low-level-radioactive-waste (low-level-waste) sites, including those at various U.S. Department of Energy sites, frequently contain cellulosic waste in the form of paper towels, cardboard boxes, or wood contaminated with heavy metals and radionuclides such as chromium and uranium. To understand how the soil microbial community is influenced by the presence of cellulosic waste products, multiple soil samples were obtained from a nonradioactive model low-level-waste test pit at the Idaho National Laboratory. Samples were analyzed using 16S rRNA gene clone libraries and 16S rRNA gene microarray (PhyloChip) analyses. Both methods revealed changes in the bacterial community structure with depth. In all samples, the PhyloChip detected significantly more operational taxonomic units, and therefore relative diversity, than the clone libraries. Diversity indices suggest that diversity is lowest in the fill and fill-waste interface (FW) layers and greater in the wood waste and waste-clay interface layers. Principal-coordinate analysis and lineage-specific analysis determined that the Bacteroidetes and Actinobacteria phyla account for most of the significant differences observed between the layers. The decreased diversity in the FW layer and increased members of families containing known cellulosedegrading microorganisms suggest that the FW layer is an enrichment environment for these organisms. These results suggest that the presence of the cellulosic material significantly influences the bacterial community structure in a stratified soil system.The processing of nuclear materials, operation of nuclear reactors, and research and development activities at government sites, hospitals, universities, and radiochemical and radiopharmaceutical manufacturers have led to the generation of a substantial amount of low-level mixed radioactive and heavy metal wastes that have been disposed of in pits, trenches, and other waste sites (2). Codisposed of with metals and radionuclides were large quantities of cellulose-containing materials such as wood, paper towels, cardboard, cheesecloth, and other materials (53). These wastes result from glove box operations, decontamination, housekeeping, maintenance, and construction activities and can constitute up to 90% of the volume of typical low-level radioactive waste (low-level waste [LLW]) (60). While there are over 20,000 commercial users of radioactive materials (2), the Department of Energy (DOE) complex houses the majority of disposed LLW waste at sites including Savannah River, Hanford, Idaho National Laboratory (INL), and Nevada test sites (3). Prior to 2000, the DOE disposed of approximately 2 million cubic meters of LLW and has projected the disposal of an additional 10