The challenge and promise of autism spectrum disorders in adulthood and aging: a systematic review of the literature (1990-2013)

pre-printAbstract: In the past five years, there has been a noticeable increase in the number of publications addressing the issues of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in the domain of adulthood and aging. However this increase still represents an extremely small proportion of the overall literature which is predominantly focused on autism in the childhood and adolescence stages of development. The purpose of this paper is to present results from a systematic literature review covering the timeframe of 1990 to 2013 (including advance online publications). Five data bases were queried at the intersection of ASD in the domain of adulthood and aging. Using "ASD" and "adulthood and aging" as the two primary foci, we had several objectives: (1) to conduct an exhaustive and comprehensive review of the literature; (2) to determine emergent sub-themes from the comprehensive review of publications; (3) to identify the top exemplar articles per emergent theme; (4) to establish an emergent theme that had the greatest number of publications; and (5) to document three journals that most frequently publish articles exploring ASDs, adulthood and aging. This review is different than previous reviews in that: (a) it emphasizes intergenerational factors; (b) it stresses multidisciplinary perspectives; (c) it is life-course oriented; and (d) we review the promise and potential of neurodiversity and highlight the abilities and capabilities possible for individuals with ASDs into adulthood and aging

A novel promoter controls Cyp19a1 gene expression in mouse adipose tissue

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aromatase, the key enzyme in estrogen biosynthesis, is encoded by the Cyp19a1 gene. Thus far, 3 unique untranslated first exons associated with distinct promoters in the mouse Cyp19a1 gene have been described (brain, ovary, and testis-specific). It remains unknown whether aromatase is expressed in other mouse tissues via novel and tissue-specific promoters.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Real-time PCR was used to examine the aromatase expression levels in various C57BL/6 mouse tissues. 5'-rapid amplification of cDNA ends (5'-RACE) was used to determine the transcriptional start sites of Cyp19a1 transcripts. Promoter activity was measured using serial deletion mutants of DNA fused to the luciferase reporter gene. Primary mouse adipose fibroblasts were isolated and cultured from 16-week-old mouse gonadal fat pads.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We systematically analyzed Cyp19a1 expression in a large number of mouse tissues, and demonstrated for the first time that aromatase was expressed in the male but not female gonadal fat pad. Subcutaneous and brown adipose tissue did not contain detectable Cyp19a1 mRNA. We used 5'-RACE to clone a novel gonadal fat-specific untranslated first exon, which is spliced onto a common junction 15 bp upstream of the translation start site. This adipose-specific first exon was mapped to approximately 75 kb upstream of the translation start site. Transfection of luciferase reporter gene plasmids containing the promoter region upstream of the adipose-specific first exon into murine 3T3-L1 adipose fibroblasts demonstrated significant basal promoter activity conferred primarily by the sequence located at -343/-1 bp. Dexamethasone significantly induced activity of this adipose-specific promoter region. Adipose-specific Cyp19a1 mRNA was expressed in primary mouse adipose fibroblasts and significantly induced by dexamethasone alone or serum plus dexamethasone.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Taken together, this research identified a novel, adipose-specific first exon of Cyp19a1 and its hormonally regulated promoter region in male murine gonadal fat. These results expand the known 5'-regulatory region of the murine Cyp19a1 gene to 75 kb upstream of the translation start site. Cyp19a1 expression in mouse adipose tissue may play an important role in reproductive biology and lipid metabolism.</p

A Public-Domain Personality Item Bank For Use With The Raymark, Schmit, and Guion (1997) PPRF

Presented is the development of a repository of work-related personality items that may be used to assess job-related traits identified by the Personality-Related Position Requirements Form (PPRF: Raymark, Schmit, & Guion, 1997). Analyses of the item pool administered to a sample (n = 412) of trade apprentices showed evidence to support the12 work-related Big 5 sub-dimensions identified by the PPRF. A smaller validity study (n = 47) suggested that personality dimensions identified as job-related by the PPRF were related to important job-related outcomes

From Autocracy to Democracy: The Effort to Establish Market Democracies in Iraq and Afghanistan Conference

The conference focused the legal, political, economic, and security issues facing post-war Iraq and Afghanistan

Remedial Placement Testing in Community Colleges: What Resources Are Required, and What Does It Cost?

In this paper, the authors estimate the costs to colleges and students of remedial placement systems at community college. Using the ingredients method, they catalog the inputs required to perform placement tests and price these inputs out to derive the total cost of assigning students to either college-level or remedial courses. The authors use detailed data from three community colleges for their costs analysis. The authors find that colleges spend $30–$44 per student per subject (English or math) on assessing students for placement into remediation. Student time represents a substantial proportion of the total burden of placement testing; when this time is included, the total costs rise to $54–$71 per student per subject. These amounts appear low compared with the costs of “treatment” (remediation) and compared with the costs of misplacement of students into remediation instead of college-level courses

Changing times in England: the influence on geography teachers’ professional practice

School geography in England has been characterised as a pendulum swinging between policies that emphasise curriculum and pedagogy alternately. In this paper, I illustrate the influence of these shifts on geography teacher's professional practice, by drawing on three “moments” from my experience as a student, teacher and teacher educator. Barnett's description of teacher professionalism as a continuous project of “being” illuminates how geography teachers can adapt to competing influences. It reflects teacher professionalism as an unfinished project, which is responsive, but not beholden, to shifting trends, and is informed by how teachers frame and enact policies. I argue that recognising these contextual factors is key to supporting geography teachers in “being” geography education professionals. As education becomes increasingly competitive on a global scale, individual governments are looking internationally for “solutions” to improve educational rankings. In this climate, the future of geography education will rest on how teachers react locally to international trends. Geography teacher educators can support this process by continuing to inform the field through meaningful geography education research, in particular in making the contextual factors of their research explicit. This can be supported through continued successful international collaboration in geography education research

PNNL/Alabama/ORNL Project Activities and Results

The hypothesis of this report is Mobile radionuclides in low-permeability porous matrix regions of fractured saprolite can be effectively isolated and immobilized by stimulating localized in-situ biological activity in highly-permeable fractured and microfractured zones within the saprolite

Evidence for solar wind modulation of lightning

The response of lightning rates over Europe to arrival of high speed solar wind streams at Earth is investigated using a superposed epoch analysis. Fast solar wind stream arrival is determined from modulation of the solar wind V y component, measured by the Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft. Lightning rate changes around these event times are determined from the very low frequency arrival time difference (ATD) system of the UK Met Office. Arrival of high speed streams at Earth is found to be preceded by a decrease in total solar irradiance and an increase in sunspot number and Mg II emissions. These are consistent with the high speed stream's source being co-located with an active region appearing on the Eastern solar limb and rotating at the 27 d period of the Sun. Arrival of the high speed stream at Earth also coincides with a small (~1%) but rapid decrease in galactic cosmic ray flux, a moderate (~6%) increase in lower energy solar energetic protons (SEPs), and a substantial, statistically significant increase in lightning rates. These changes persist for around 40 d in all three quantities. The lightning rate increase is corroborated by an increase in the total number of thunder days observed by UK Met stations, again persisting for around 40 d after the arrival of a high speed solar wind stream. This result appears to contradict earlier studies that found an anti-correlation between sunspot number and thunder days over solar cycle timescales. The increase in lightning rates and thunder days that we observe coincides with an increased flux of SEPs which, while not being detected at ground level, nevertheless penetrate the atmosphere to tropospheric altitudes. This effect could be further amplified by an increase in mean lightning stroke intensity that brings more strokes above the detection threshold of the ATD system. In order to remove any potential seasonal bias the analysis was repeated for daily solar wind triggers occurring during the summer months (June to August). Though this reduced the number of solar wind triggers to 32, the response in both lightning and thunder day data remained statistically significant. This modulation of lightning by regular and predictable solar wind events may be beneficial to medium range forecasting of hazardous weather