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Measuring outcomes for autistic children following social communication interventions is an ongoing challenge given the heterogeneous changes, which can be subtle. We tested and compared the overall and item-level intervention effects of the Brief Observation of Social Communication Change (BOSCC), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS-2) algorithm, and ADOS-2 Calibrated Severity Scores (CSS) with autistic children aged 2–5 years from the Preschool Autism Communication Trial (PACT). The BOSCC was applied to Module 1 ADOS assessments (ADOS-BOSCC). Among the 117 children using single or no words (Module 1), the ADOS-BOSCC, ADOS algorithm, and ADOS CSS each detected small non-significant intervention effects. However, on the ADOS algorithm, there was a medium significant intervention effect for children with “few to no words” at baseline, while children with “some words” showed little intervention effect. For the full PACT sample (including ADOS Module 2, total n=152), ADOS metrics evidenced significant small (CSS) and medium (algorithm) overall intervention effects. None of the Module 1 item-level intervention effects reached significance, with largest changes observed for Gesture (ADOS-BOSCC and ADOS), Facial Expressions (ADOS), and Intonation (ADOS). Significant ADOS Module 2 item-level effects were observed for Mannerisms and Repetitive Interests and Stereotyped Behaviors. Despite strong psychometric properties, the ADOS-BOSCC was not more sensitive to behavioral changes than the ADOS among Module 1 children. Our results suggest the ADOS can be a sensitive outcome measure. Item-level intervention effect plots have the potential to indicate intervention “signatures of change,” a concept that may be useful in future trials and systematic reviews. Lay Summary: This study compares two outcome measures in a parent-mediated therapy. Neither was clearly better or worse than the other; however, the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule produced somewhat clearer

There is a lack of measures that reflect the intervention priorities of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and that assess the impact of interventions on family experience and quality of life. The Autism Family Experience Questionnaire (AFEQ) was developed through focus groups and online consultation with parents, and reflected parental priorities. It was then administered to the parents of children enrolled in the Pre-school Autism Communication Trial and its 6-year follow-up study. The AFEQ showed good convergent validity with well-established measures of child adaptive functioning, parental mental health and parental wellbeing. It was sensitive to change in response to a parent-mediated intervention for young children with autism, showing treatment effect at treatment endpoint which increased at six-year follow-up

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Five experiments were conducted to characterize a discontinuous bovine serum albumin (BSA) gradient and to determine its ability to isolate highly viable, morphologically normal, Y-chromosome-bearing bovine spermatozoa. The column consisted of a 500 ml separatory funnel in which 26 ml of extended semen was layered on top of a discontinuous gradient of 4% BSA (60 ml) over 10% BSA (60 ml). Results indicated that the greatest percentage of the applied semen was recovered from the bottom 20 ml of the gradient (fraction 6) when 1 x 10⁹ sperm cells were applied to the column. The column was able to exclude spermatozoa with midpiece and tail abnormalities but sperm cells with head abnormalities were similar in frequency in separated and unseparated semen. Semen isolated from fraction 6 was more viable and more resistant to damage by freezing and aging than semen from the top fractions of the column. The proportion of Y-chromosome-bearing spermatozoa isolated form fraction 6 did not differ from the proportion in unseparated semen. Cows inseminated with separated semen and unseparated semen gave birth to similar proportions of male and female calves.