Dixon Developmental Center : a program and administrative review.

Cover title.

Executive summary of the report on the evaluation of community residential programs and technical assistance to enhance quality : a consumer focused review with recommendations /

"March 1990."

Illinois state plan for the developmentally disabled, 1981.

As amended by P.L. 95-602, Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act.

Statement of purchased care : goals and objectives, fiscal year 1985 /

"May 1, 1984."

Three patient deaths at Peoria State Hospital; a report.

Mode of access: Internet.

Report of the proceedings under a brieve of idiotry, Peter Duncan against David Yoolow, tried at Coupar-Angus, 28-30 Jan. 1837 /

Proceedings in a Sheriff court.

Zeitschrift fu r die Erforschung und Behandlung des jugendlichen Schwachsinns auf wissenschaftlicher Grundlage.

Description based on first issue; title from title page.

On idiocy and imbecility,

Mode of access: Internet.

Self-regulatory behaviors in children with Down syndrome and typically developing children measured using the Goodman Lock Box

Self-regulation has been identified as an area of difficulty for those with mental retardation. The Goodman Lock Box provides measures of two critical aspects of self-regulation-planfulness and maintenance of goal-directed behavior. In this study, the Lock Box performance of 25 children with Down syndrome was compared with that of 43 typically developing children, matched for mental age (24-36 months). Children in both groups showed similar levels of competence, planfulness and distractibility. However, children with Down syndrome displayed more task-avoidant behavior. Some issues related to the measurements obtained from the Lock Box are raised. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluating parent use of functional communication training to replace and enhance prelinguistic behaviours in six children with developmental and physical disabilities

Purpose: To evaluate parent use of functional communication training (FCT) to replace and enhance prelinguistic behaviours in six young children with developmental and physical disabilities. Method: Initially, the communicative functions of the children's prelinguistic behaviours were assessed by parent interviews. Three communication functions were identified for each child and intervention goals to replace or enhance the child's existing prelinguistic behaviours were developed in consultation with parents. After a baseline phase, parents received training on implementation of FCT. Intervention was staggered across the three communicative functions in a multiple-probe design. Results: Intervention was associated with increases in the replacement communication behaviour. Treatment gains were generally maintained at the monthly follow-ups. Conclusion: The results suggest that parents can use FCT to enhance communication skills in children with developmental and physical disabilities.

Moving molecules: mRNA trafficking in mammalian oligodendrocytes and neurons

Numerous mRNA molecules are localized in regions of the dendrites of neurons, some moving along dendrites in response to synaptic activity. The proteins encoded by these RNAs have diverse functions, including participation in memory formation and long-term potentiation. Recent experiments have shown that a cytoplasmic RNA trafficking pathway described for oligodendrocytes also operates in neurons. Transported RNAs possess a cis-acting element that directs them to granules, which are transported along microtubules by the motor proteins kinesin and dynein. These RNA molecules are recruited to the cytoplasmic transport granules by cooperative interaction with a cognate trans-acting factor. mRNAs containing the 11-nucleotide A2RE11 or 21-nucleotide A2RE sequences bind heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins A2 and A3, which are abundant in the brain. Mutations in this cis-acting element that weaken its interaction with hnRNP A2 also interfere with RNA trafficking. Several dendritically localized mRNAs, including those encoding calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase 11 a subunit and neurogranin, possess A2RE-like sequences, suggesting that they may be localized by interaction with these heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins. Calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase 11 a subunit is of particular interest: Its RNA is transported in depolarized neurons, and the protein it encodes is essential for establishing long-term memory. Several other cis-acting sequences and trans-acting factors that participate in neuronal RNA localization have been discovered.

On dendrites in Down syndrome and DS murine models: a spiny way to learn

Since the discovery in the 1970s that dendritic abnormalities in cortical pyramidal neurons are the most consistent pathologic correlate of mental retardation, research has focused on how dendritic alterations are related to reduced intellectual ability. Due in part to obvious ethical problems and in part to the lack of fruitful methods to study neuronal circuitry in the human cortex, there is little data about the microanatomical contribution to mental retardation. The recent identification of the genetic bases of some mental retardation associated alterations, coupled with the technology to create transgenic animal models and the introduction of powerful sophisticated tools in the field of microanatomy, has led to a growth in the studies of the alterations of pyramidal cell morphology in these disorders. Studies of individuals with Down syndrome, the most frequent genetic disorder leading to mental retardation, allow the analysis of the relationships between cognition, genotype and brain microanatomy. In Down syndrome the crucial question is to define the mechanisms by which an excess of normal gene products, in interaction with the environment, directs and constrains neural maturation, and how this abnormal development translates into cognition and behaviour. In the present article we discuss mainly Down syndrome-associated dendritic abnormalities and plasticity and the role of animal models in these studies. We believe that through the further development of such approaches, the study of the microanatomical substrates of mental retardation will contribute significantly to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying human brain disorders associated with mental retardation. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Increased expression of the MBP mRNA binding protein HnRNP A2 during oligodendrocyte differentiation

Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein (hnRNP) A2, a trans-acting factor that mediates intracellular trafficking of myelin basic protein (MBP) mRNA to the myelin compartment in oligodendrocytes, is most abundant in the nucleus, but shuttles between the nucleus and cytoplasm. In the cytoplasm, it is associated with granules that transport mRNA from the cell body to the processes of oligodendrocytes. We found that the overall level of hnRNP A2 increased in oligodendrocytes as they differentiated into MBIP-positive cells, and that this augmentation was reflected primarily in the cytoplasmic pool of hnRNP A2 present in the form of granules. The extranuclear distribution of hnRNP A2 was also observed in brain during the period of myelination in vivo. Methylation and phosphorylation have been implicated previously in the nuclear to cytoplasmic distribution of hnRNPs, so we used drugs that block methylation and phosphorylation of hnRNPs to assess their effect on hnRNP A2 distribution and mRNA trafficking. Cultures treated with adenosine dialdehyde (AdOx), an inhibitor of S-adenosyl-L-homocysteine hydrolase, or with 5,6-dichloro-1-beta-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole (DRB), a drug that inhibits casein kinase 2 (CK2), maintained the preferential nuclear distribution of hnRNP A2. Treatment with either drug affected the transport of RNA trafficking granules that remained confined to the cell body. (C) 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc.