Novel M4 Pediatrics Chief Program Utilizing Near-peer Teaching and Mentoring to Enhance Clerkship Curricula

Introduction: Near-peer teachers add many benefits to the academic, clinical performance, and enjoyment of near-peer learners in medical education. This enterprise describes and examines how the Creighton University School of Medicine M4 Pediatrics Chief Program fills a gap in medical education by offering an organized and formal methodology for near-peer teaching. The Creighton University M4 Pediatrics Chief Program utilizes select fourth year medical students to orient, teach basic clinical skills, mentor, and participate in curriculum development for the third year Pediatric clerkship students. Methods: Third year students (n=43) in their Pediatrics clerkship from September 2020 to February 2021 completed surveys at the end of the clerkship to assess the quality and effectiveness of the M4 Pediatrics Chief Program. Results: Students rated effectiveness of the Chiefs most highly as clerkship guides (4.29, SD=0.79), teachers (4.21, SD=0.92), and mentors (4.19, SD=0.75). Near-peer perspectives, education, provision of pertinent content, serving as a clerkship resource, and being a source of encouragement were the most beneficial aspects of the program. Students reported strong agreement all clerkships should have an M4 Chief Program (4.53, SD=0.88). Discussion: Because of the positive reviews by the third years students, the M4 Pediatrics Chief Program is now a permanent part of the Pediatric Clerkship. Additionally, other third year clerkships at Creighton University School of Medicine are adopting this model. Finally, the M4 students acting as the chiefs gain valuable leadership and educational skills. Conclusion: Based on positive perceptions of the “M4 Chief Program”, the authors recommend other medical schools consider initiating similar programs within their third year clerkships.https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/chri_forum/1037/thumbnail.jp

Action prediction in 10-month-old infants at high and low familial risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Contains fulltext : 190105pos.pdf (postprint version ) (Closed access)Background: Several studies have reported action prediction difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Although action prediction develops in infancy, little is known about prediction abilities in infants at risk for ASD. Methods: Using eye tracking, we measured action anticipations in 52 10-month-old infants at high and low familial risk for ASD. Infants were repeatedly presented with actions during which a familiar object (cup/phone) was either brought to a location usually associated with the object (cup-to-mouth/phone-to-ear; usual condition) or to an unusual location (cup-to-ear/phone-to-mouth; unusual condition). We assessed infants' anticipations to the actual target location (i.e., the location where the object was actually brought; the mouth in cup-to-mouth/phone-to-mouth actions; the ear in cup-to-ear/phone-to-ear actions) and the alternative target location (the ear in cup-to-mouth/phone-to-mouth actions; the mouth in cup-to-ear/phone-to-ear actions). Results: Anticipation frequencies were modulated by object knowledge across all infants: We found more frequent anticipations towards the alternative target location for unusual compared to usual actions. This effect was in particular present for mouth anticipations which were also overall more frequent than ear anticipations. Across usual and unusual actions, infants showed more frequent anticipations towards the actual target location, potentially representing a learning effect elicited by the repeated action presentation. Importantly, there were no differences between the low- and high-risk infants in predictive eye movements. Conclusion: Whereas our results suggest that familial risk for ASD does not affect action prediction in infancy, future research needs to investigate whether differences are apparent in those high-risk infants who later receive a diagnosis.13 p

Tissue- and sex-specific small RNAomes reveal sex differences in response to the environment.

RNA interference (RNAi) related pathways are essential for germline development and fertility in metazoa and can contribute to inter- and trans-generational inheritance. In the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, environmental double-stranded RNA provided by feeding can lead to heritable changes in phenotype and gene expression. Notably, transmission efficiency differs between the male and female germline, yet the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Here we use high-throughput sequencing of dissected gonads to quantify sex-specific endogenous piRNAs, miRNAs and siRNAs in the C. elegans germline and the somatic gonad. We identify genes with exceptionally high levels of secondary 22G RNAs that are associated with low mRNA expression, a signature compatible with silencing. We further demonstrate that contrary to the hermaphrodite germline, the male germline, but not male soma, is resistant to environmental RNAi triggers provided by feeding, in line with previous work. This sex-difference in silencing efficacy is associated with lower levels of gonadal RNAi amplification products. Moreover, this tissue- and sex-specific RNAi resistance is regulated by the germline, since mutant males with a feminized germline are RNAi sensitive. This study provides important sex- and tissue-specific expression data of miRNA, piRNA and siRNA as well as mechanistic insights into sex-differences of gene regulation in response to environmental cues

Autoantibodies to αS1-Casein Are Induced by Breast-Feeding

BACKGROUND: The generation of antibodies is impaired in newborns due to an immature immune system and reduced exposure to pathogens due to maternally derived antibodies and placental functions. During nursing, the immune system of newborns is challenged with multiple milk-derived proteins. Amongst them, caseins are the main constituent. In particular, human αS1-casein (CSN1S1) was recently shown to possess immunomodulatory properties. We were thus interested to determine if auto-antibodies to CSN1S1 are induced by breast-feeding and may be sustained into adulthood. METHODS: 62 sera of healthy adult individuals who were (n = 37) or were not (n = 25) breast-fed against human CSN1S1 were investigated by a new SD (surface display)-ELISA. For cross-checking, these sera were tested for anti Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibodies by a commercial ELISA. RESULTS: IgG-antibodies were predominantly detected in individuals who had been nursed. At a cut-off value of 0.4, the SD-ELISA identified individuals with a history of having been breast-fed with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 92%. Under these conditions, 35 out of 37 sera from healthy donors, who where breast-fed, reacted positively but only 5 sera of the 25 donors who were not breast-fed. The duration of breast-feeding was of no consequence to the antibody reaction as some healthy donors were only short term breast-fed (5 days minimum until 6 weeks maximum), but exhibited significant serum reaction against human CSN1S1 nonetheless. CONCLUSION: We postulate that human CSN1S1 is an autoantigen. The antigenicity is orally determined, caused by breast-feeding, and sustained into adulthood

A Functional Phylogenomic View of the Seed Plants

A novel result of the current research is the development and implementation of a unique functional phylogenomic approach that explores the genomic origins of seed plant diversification. We first use 22,833 sets of orthologs from the nuclear genomes of 101 genera across land plants to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships. One of the more salient results is the resolution of some enigmatic relationships in seed plant phylogeny, such as the placement of Gnetales as sister to the rest of the gymnosperms. In using this novel phylogenomic approach, we were also able to identify overrepresented functional gene ontology categories in genes that provide positive branch support for major nodes prompting new hypotheses for genes associated with the diversification of angiosperms. For example, RNA interference (RNAi) has played a significant role in the divergence of monocots from other angiosperms, which has experimental support in Arabidopsis and rice. This analysis also implied that the second largest subunit of RNA polymerase IV and V (NRPD2) played a prominent role in the divergence of gymnosperms. This hypothesis is supported by the lack of 24nt siRNA in conifers, the maternal control of small RNA in the seeds of flowering plants, and the emergence of double fertilization in angiosperms. Our approach takes advantage of genomic data to define orthologs, reconstruct relationships, and narrow down candidate genes involved in plant evolution within a phylogenomic view of species' diversification

Eurosibs: towards robust measurement of infant neurocognitive predictors of Autism across Europe

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects social communication skills and flexible behaviour. Developing new treatment approaches for ASD requires early identification of the factors that influence later behavioural outcomes. One fruitful research paradigm has been the prospective study of infants with a first degree relative with ASD, who have around a 20% likelihood of developing ASD themselves. Early findings have identified a range of candidate neurocognitive markers for later ASD such as delayed attention shifting or neural responses to faces, but given the early stage of the field most sample sizes are small and replication attempts remain rare. The Eurosibs consortium is a European multisite neurocognitive study of infants with an older sibling with ASD conducted across nine sites in five European countries. In this manuscript, we describe the selection and standardization of our common neurocognitive testing protocol. We report data quality assessments across sites, showing that neurocognitive measures hold great promise for cross-site consistency in diverse populations. We discuss our approach to ensuring robust data analysis pipelines and boosting future reproducibility. Finally, we summarise challenges and opportunities for future multi-site research efforts

Biodiversity inventories in high gear: DNA barcoding facilitates a rapid biotic survey of a temperate nature reserve

Comprehensive biotic surveys, or ‘all taxon biodiversity inventories’ (ATBI), have traditionally been limited in scale or scope due to the complications surrounding specimen sorting and species identification. To circumvent these issues, several ATBI projects have successfully integrated DNA barcoding into their identification procedures and witnessed acceleration in their surveys and subsequent increase in project scope and scale. The Biodiversity Institute of Ontario partnered with the rare Charitable Research Reserve and delegates of the 6th International Barcode of Life Conference to complete its own rapid, barcode-assisted ATBI of an established land trust in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Social-cognitive processing and familial risk for autism spectrum disorder

Contains fulltext : 180060.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)Radboud University, 09 februari 2018Promotores : Bekkering, H., Buitelaar, J.K. Co-promotor : Hunnius, S.191 p