Asian American Women Faculty: Stereotypes and Triumphs

Asian American women are a small but growing population of higher education faculty in the United States. In 1980–81, there were 252 female Asian full professors in the United States, which increased to 1, 267 in 1999–2000 (Hune, 2006, p. 28). Of all Asian Pacific American faculty, 19% were female in 1979–80, and 30% were female in 1999–2000. Asian American women faculty work primarily at the junior level, and are less likely than Asian Pacific American men to hold tenure (Hune, 2006, p. 28). The statistics give a general overview of Asian American women in the academy, but the individual narratives of these women reveal the distinct challenges, strategies, and triumphs of working in the traditionally White male academy... This essay explores the stereotypes Asian women faculty face and these women’s coping strategies and unique triumphs.https://repository.usfca.edu/listening_to_the_voices/1011/thumbnail.jp

Electronic Portfolios as Living Portals: A Narrative Inquiry Into College Student Learning, Identity, and Assessment

As universities increasingly utilize electronic portfolios, college students are asked more than ever to create ePortfolios for academics, assessment, or advising. This study shifts an analysis of ePortfolios from prior epistemological approaches, where ePortfolios have been explored as a tool to measure student progress, onto an ontological perspective, where they are a medium for new understandings about self and others. This research examines the influence of college students\u27 electronic portfolios on learning, identity, and assessment. The broader intention of this study is to create a narrative of students\u27 experiences with ePortfolios that integrates critical hermeneutic theory. The research protocol of this study is critical hermeneutic participatory inquiry (Herda 1999). Through an interpretive approach, new understandings of the topic at hand emerge from conversations with participants. The conversations are transcribed and analyzed in light of critical hermeneutic theory (Ricoeur 1984, 1992). This framework guides this research on understanding how ePortfolios encourage students to examine their past and imagine new possible worlds. This research is guided by the categories of narrative identity (Ricoeur 1992), fusion of horizons (Gadamer 1988), and mimesis (Ricoeur 1984). Viewing the ePortfolio through narrative identity highlights that one\u27s identity, through constancy and change, can be understood as a story that is recounted to others. Fusion of horizons provides a framework for student learning that arises through experience, text, and conversation. Mimesis offers an approach to viewing a student\u27s ePortfolio experience through a lens of past understandings, present experiences, and future hopes. The findings relate to the diverse experiences of conversation partners with ePortfolios, which served purposes related to advising and mentoring, or to present an academic identity to employers or faculty. These findings address ePortfolios as a way to engage with others about identity, to expand on prior understandings and ways of being, and to create a coherent narrative of past, present, and future. The implications may guide educators in developing ePortfolio programs that prepare students for authentic, ethical living in a global, ever-changing world

Regulation of Msx genes by a Bmp gradient is essential for neural crest specification

There is evidence in Xenopus and zebrafish embryos that the neural crest/neural folds are specified at the border of the neural plate by a precise threshold concentration of a Bmp gradient. In order to understand the molecular mechanism by which a gradient of Bmp is able to specify the neural crest, we analyzed how the expression of Bmp targets, the Msx genes, is regulated and the role that Msx genes has in neural crest specification. As Msx genes are directly downstream of Bmp, we analyzed Msx gene expression after experimental modification in the level of Bmp activity by grafting a bead soaked with noggin into Xenopus embryos, by expressing in the ectoderm a dominant-negative Bmp4 or Bmp receptor in Xenopus and zebrafish embryos, and also through Bmp pathway component mutants in the zebrafish. All the results show that a reduction in the level of Bmp activity leads to an increase in the expression of Msx genes in the neural plate border. Interestingly, by reaching different levels of Bmp activity in animal cap ectoderm, we show that a specific concentration of Bmp induces msx1 expression to a level similar to that required to induce neural crest. Our results indicate that an intermediate level of Bmp activity specifies the expression of Msx genes in the neural fold region. In addition, we have analyzed the role that msx1 plays on neural crest specification. As msx1 has a role in dorsoventral pattering, we have carried out conditional gain- and loss-of function experiments using different msx1 constructs fused to a glucocorticoid receptor element to avoid an early effect of this factor. We show that msx1 expression is able to induce all other early neural crest markers tested (snail, slug, foxd3) at the time of neural crest specification. Furthermore, the expression of a dominant negative of Msx genes leads to the inhibition of all the neural crest markers analyzed. It has been previously shown that snail is one of the earliest genes acting in the neural crest genetic cascade. In order to study the hierarchical relationship between msx1 and snail/slug we performed several rescue experiments using dominant negatives for these genes. The rescuing activity by snail and slug on neural crest development of the msx1 dominant negative, together with the inability of msx1 to rescue the dominant negatives of slug and snail strongly argue that msx1 is upstream of snail and slug in the genetic cascade that specifies the neural crest in the ectoderm. We propose a model where a gradient of Bmp activity specifies the expression of Msx genes in the neural folds, and that this expression is essential for the early specification of the neural crest.Fil: Tríbulo, Celeste. Universidad de Chile; Chile. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Aybar, Manuel Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; Argentina. Universidad de Chile; ChileFil: Nguyen, Vu H.. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Mullins, Mary C.. University of Pennsylvania; Estados UnidosFil: Mayor, Roberto. Universidad de Chile; Chile. Colegio Universitario de Londres; Reino Unid

A case report comparing clinical, imaging and neuropsychological assessment findings in twins discordant for the VCP p.R155C mutation

Highlights • We compared MRI and neuropsychological test data in twins discordant for VCP mutation. • Affected twin revealed rapid cognitive decline in a span of 1 year. • FTD related cognitive features may precede behavioral changes in VCP disease. • Cognitive-behavioral impairment may be missed on routine neurological exam and MMSE. • Need for a dedicated screening measure to recognize the neurological impairment. ARTICLE IN PRESS Please cite this article in press as: Abhilasha Surampalli, Brian T. Gold, Charles Smith, Rudy J. Abstract Inclusion body myopathy, Paget disease of bone and/or frontotemporal dementia is an autosomal dominant disease caused by mutations in the Valosin Containing Protein (VCP) gene. We compared clinical findings including MRI images and neuropsychological assessment data in affected and unaffected twin brothers aged 56 years from a family with the p.R155C VCP gene mutation. The affected twin presented with a 10 year history of progressive proximal muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing, gastroesophageal reflux, fecal incontinence, and peripheral neuropathy. Comprehensive neuropsychological testing revealed rapid cognitive decline in the absence of any behavioral changes in a span of 1 year. This case illustrates that frontotemporal dementia related cognitive impairment may precede behavioral changes in VCP disease as compared with predominance of behavioral impairment reported in previous studies. Our findings suggest that there is a need to establish VCP disease specific tools and normative rates of decline to detect pre-clinical cognitive impairment among affected individuals

Ochratoxin A in Portugal: A Review to Assess Human Exposure

In Portugal, the climate, dietary habits, and food contamination levels present the characteristics for higher population susceptibility to ochratoxin A (OTA), one of the known mycotoxins with the greatest public health and agro-economic importance. In this review, following a brief historical insight on OTA research, a summary of the available data on OTA occurrence in food (cereals, bread, wine, meat) and biological fluids (blood, urine) is made. With this data, an estimation of intake is made to ascertain and update the risk exposure estimation of the Portuguese population, in comparison to previous studies and other populations

Development of a Panel of Genome-Wide Ancestry Informative Markers to Study Admixture Throughout the Americas

Most individuals throughout the Americas are admixed descendants of Native American, European, and African ancestors. Complex historical factors have resulted in varying proportions of ancestral contributions between individuals within and among ethnic groups. We developed a panel of 446 ancestry informative markers (AIMs) optimized to estimate ancestral proportions in individuals and populations throughout Latin America. We used genome-wide data from 953 individuals from diverse African, European, and Native American populations to select AIMs optimized for each of the three main continental populations that form the basis of modern Latin American populations. We selected markers on the basis of locus-specific branch length to be informative, well distributed throughout the genome, capable of being genotyped on widely available commercial platforms, and applicable throughout the Americas by minimizing within-continent heterogeneity. We then validated the panel in samples from four admixed populations by comparing ancestry estimates based on the AIMs panel to estimates based on genome-wide association study (GWAS) data. The panel provided balanced discriminatory power among the three ancestral populations and accurate estimates of individual ancestry proportions (R2>0.9 for ancestral components with significant between-subject variance). Finally, we genotyped samples from 18 populations from Latin America using the AIMs panel and estimated variability in ancestry within and between these populations. This panel and its reference genotype information will be useful resources to explore population history of admixture in Latin America and to correct for the potential effects of population stratification in admixed samples in the region

Whole-Genome Sequencing of Pharmacogenetic Drug Response in Racially Diverse Children with Asthma

RATIONALE: Albuterol, a bronchodilator medication, is the first-line therapy for asthma worldwide. There are significant racial/ethnic differences in albuterol drug response. OBJECTIVES: To identify genetic variants important for bronchodilator drug response (BDR) in racially diverse children. METHODS: We performed the first whole-genome sequencing pharmacogenetics study from 1,441 children with asthma from the tails of the BDR distribution to identify genetic association with BDR. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified population-specific and shared genetic variants associated with BDR, including genome-wide significant (P \u3c 3.53 × 10 CONCLUSIONS: The lack of minority data, despite a collaboration of eight universities and 13 individual laboratories, highlights the urgent need for a dedicated national effort to prioritize diversity in research. Our study expands the understanding of pharmacogenetic analyses in racially/ethnically diverse populations and advances the foundation for precision medicine in at-risk and understudied minority populations

Whole-genome sequencing of pharmacogenetic drug response in racially diverse children with asthma

RATIONALE: Albuterol, a bronchodilator medication, is the first-line therapy for asthma worldwide. There are significant racial/ethnic differences in albuterol drug response. OBJECTIVES: To identify genetic variants important for bronchodilator drug response (BDR) in racially diverse children. METHODS: We performed the first whole-genome sequencing pharmacogenetics study from 1,441 children with asthma from the tails of the BDR distribution to identify genetic association with BDR. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We identified population-specific and shared genetic variants associated with BDR, including genome-wide significant (P \u3c 3.53 × 10-7) and suggestive (P \u3c 7.06 × 10-6) loci near genes previously associated with lung capacity (DNAH5), immunity (NFKB1 and PLCB1), and β-adrenergic signaling (ADAMTS3 and COX18). Functional analyses of the BDR-associated SNP in NFKB1 revealed potential regulatory function in bronchial smooth muscle cells. The SNP is also an expression quantitative trait locus for a neighboring gene, SLC39A8. The lack of other asthma study populations with BDR and whole-genome sequencing data on minority children makes it impossible to perform replication of our rare variant associations. Minority underrepresentation also poses significant challenges to identify age-matched and population-matched cohorts of sufficient sample size for replication of our common variant findings. CONCLUSIONS: The lack of minority data, despite a collaboration of eight universities and 13 individual laboratories, highlights the urgent need for a dedicated national effort to prioritize diversity in research. Our study expands the understanding of pharmacogenetic analyses in racially/ethnically diverse populations and advances the foundation for precision medicine in at-risk and understudied minority populations