A summary of the Third International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Conference proceedings on neuroimaging research and neurocircuitry models of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is presented. This survey of recent and ongoing research indicates that a wide range of modern techniques and experimental strategies are being employed in a complementary fashion to enhance our understanding of OCD. Imaging studies in animal models of OCD are helping to elaborate relevant normal anatomy and neuro-chemistry. Functional imaging methods are being employed in conjunction with behavioral, pharmacologic, and cognitive challenge paradigms. Magnetic resonance spectroscopy as well as radiotracer methods are being utilized to measure neurochemical and neuropharmacologic indices in OCD. Transcranial magnetic stimulation has emerged as a tool for probing neurocircuitry that may also have therapeutic potential. Experimental designs and data-analytic methods are evolving to help elucidate the pathophysiology of OCD and related disorders, delineate neurobiologically meaningful subtypes of OCD, and identify potential predictors of treatment response. Collectively, these efforts promise important advances as we approach the new millennium.

Surface passivation of unpassivated Al nanoparticles has been realized using self assembled monolayers (SAMs). Nanoscale Al particles were prepared in solution by catalytic decomposition of H3Al•NMe3 or H3Al•N(Me)Pyr by Ti(OiPr)4 and coated in situ using a perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acid SAM. Because the Al particles are prepared using wet chemistry techniques and coated in solution, they are free of oxygen passivation. This SAM coating passivates the aluminum and seems to prevent the oxidation of the particles in air and renders the composite material, to some extent, soluble in polar organic solvents such as diethyl ether. Characterization data including SEM, TEM, TGA, and ATR-FTIR of prepared materials is presented.

Data are presented on 17 children who received extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) in the neonatal period for persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN). These children are being followed as part of a larger program of follow-up research on children who have been treated for PPHN with several treatment methods. On intelligence testing at ages 5 to 8 years, these 17 children had unusual patterns of results. A higher-than-predicted percentage of the ECMO survivors had discrepancies between their Verbal and Performance IQ and a much-higher-than-predicted percentage had areas of unusual strength or weakness on their IQ subtest scores. Also, there was a significant correlation between the amount of time a child received ECMO and the child's Performance IQ: the longer the child received ECMO, the higher the Performance IQ. While findings of unusual weaknesses or deficits on intelligence testing at school age in children who have been severely ill in the neonatal period are not unusual, findings of high scores and areas of strength are not easily explained, particularly when these findings seem to relate to an invasive treatment like ECMO. Similar findings have been reported in two other small studies, which suggest that the impact of ECMO on the developing infant brain may not be purely detrimental.