Altered functional organization within the insular cortex in adult males with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder: evidence from connectivity-based parcellation

Determination of the optimal number of clusters based on VI and MI in intracalcarine cortex. The intracalcarine cortex was selected as a control region. The VI and MI values are shown for every clustering solution for k values ranging from 2 to 10. Arrows indicate either local minima of VI or local maxima of MI. Dashed lines denote the optimal number of solutions as determined using both VI and MI. The error bars denote standard errors of the mean for 100 repetitions of the split-half procedure (see the “Estimation of the optimal number of clusters” section). “n.s.” indicates no statistically significant difference between points. (PDF 334 kb

『こども発達学科の学生による「発達障害および発達が気になる乳幼児」に対するインクルーシブ保育の社会コミュニケーション促進支援』平成31（2019）～令和３（2021）年度和洋女子大学教育振興支援助成報告

　本稿は和洋女子大学教育振興支援助成プロジェクト『こども発達学科の学生による「発達障害および発達が気になる乳幼児」に対するインクルーシブ保育の社会コミュニケーション促進支援』の成果報告である。2019年度〜2021年度までの３年間で、こども発達学科の学生が主体的に取り組んだプロジェクトである。本プロジェクトでは、学生による「地域連携型インクルーシブ保育」の支援の開発を行うことにより、和洋女子大学独自のインクルーシブ保育を確立することを目的とした。３年間を通じた、インクルーシブ保育によるグループ「子どもグループ」「保護者グループ」の実施により、学生の責任感・子どもの理解が深まり、保護者にとっても、学生や子ども同士の触れ合い、他の保護者との交流などの場になった。また、「保育者グループ」向け動画に関する質問紙調査を実施したところ、発達障害や発達が気になる子どもに関して、手軽な方法で専門家から学ぶことができる貴重な機会になった。そのため、今回の取組は、専門性の高い学生の育成、子どもと保護者の居場所作り、保育者の学びにつながる可能性がある

Measles Virus N Protein Inhibits Host Translation by Binding to eIF3-p40▿

The nonsegmented, negative-sense RNA genome of measles virus (MV) is encapsidated by the virus-encoded nucleocapsid protein (N). In this study, we searched for N-binding cellular proteins by using MV-N as bait and screening the human T-cell cDNA library by yeast two-hybrid assay and isolated the p40 subunit of eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3-p40) as a binding partner. The interaction between MV-N and eIF3-p40 in mammalian cells was confirmed by coimmunoprecipitation. Since eIF3-p40 is a translation initiation factor, we analyzed the potential inhibitory effect of MV-N on protein synthesis. Glutathione S-transferase (GST)-fused MV-N (GST-N) inhibited translation of reporter mRNAs in rabbit reticulocyte lysate translation system in a dose-dependent manner. Encephalomyocarditis virus internal ribosomal entry site-mediated translation, which requires canonical initiation factors to initiate translation, was also inhibited by GST-N. In contrast, a unique form of translation mediated by the intergenic region of Plautia stali intestine virus, which can assemble 80S ribosomes in the absence of canonical initiation factors, was scarcely affected by GST-N. In vivo expression of MV-N induced by the Cre/loxP switching system inhibited the synthesis of a transfected reporter protein, as well as overall protein synthesis. These results suggest that MV-N targets eIF3-p40 and may be involved in inhibiting MV-induced host translation

Functional alterations in neural substrates of geometric reasoning in adults with high-functioning autism.

Individuals with autism spectrum condition (ASC) are known to excel in some perceptual cognitive tasks, but such developed functions have been often regarded as "islets of abilities" that do not significantly contribute to broader intellectual capacities. However, recent behavioral studies have reported that individuals with ASC have advantages for performing Raven's (Standard) Progressive Matrices (RPM/RSPM), a standard neuropsychological test for general fluid intelligence, raising the possibility that ASC's cognitive strength can be utilized for more general purposes like novel problem solving. Here, the brain activity of 25 adults with high-functioning ASC and 26 matched normal controls (NC) was measured using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine neural substrates of geometric reasoning during the engagement of a modified version of the RSPM test. Among the frontal and parietal brain regions involved in fluid intelligence, ASC showed larger activation in the left lateral occipitotemporal cortex (LOTC) during an analytic condition with moderate difficulty than NC. Activation in the left LOTC and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) increased with task difficulty in NC, whereas such modulation of activity was absent in ASC. Furthermore, functional connectivity analysis revealed a significant reduction of activation coupling between the left inferior parietal cortex and the right anterior prefrontal cortex during both figural and analytic conditions in ASC. These results indicate altered pattern of functional specialization and integration in the neural system for geometric reasoning in ASC, which may explain its atypical cognitive pattern, including performance on the Raven's Matrices test