The Intersection of Autism and Transgender and Nonbinary Identities:Community and Academic Dialogue on Research and Advocacy

Many transgender people are autistic. Community expressions of the autism transgender intersection abound. Some commentators have questioned the proportional overrepresentation of autism among gender-diverse people, suggesting these individuals may not be truly autistic or truly transgender. However, increasing evidence challenges assertions that deny the authenticity of co-occurring autistic and transgender identities. Specifically, research by authors of this article indicates autistic transgender people show neurophenotypes generally consistent with cisgender autistic people and implicit gender phenotypes consistent with nonautistic transgender people. This article features a dialogue between eight leading experts in the field of intersectional autism and gender diversity, including clinicians, researchers, community advocates, and experts who are themselves autistic transgender. Key topics of discussion included: how research findings on autism and gender diversity inform respectful and supportive responses to autistic transgender people; the benefits and harms of increased societal attention toward the autism transgender intersection; and research and advocacy priorities. The expert panel concluded the following: (1) it is important to respect transgender autistic people’s wellness and resilience, while also acknowledging the pathologization and stigmatization they face; (2) autistic gender-diverse people are experts of their own identity and should be involved in all aspects of research and clinical care; (3) research is needed to understand the disparities autistic transgender people face; (4) attempts to restrict autistic transgender people’s access to gender care are unsupported by existing research; (5) adult gender care may benefit from incorporating universal design principles and neurodiversity-affirming strategies to reduce barriers to care and improve clinician–client communication in treatment delivery and the informed consent process; (6) cross-cultural and cross-societal research will improve best care practices in diverse contexts; (7) research and advocacy must be inclusive across ethnoracial identities, including in leadership and perspectives represented; and (8) a life span developmental framework is needed for adult research in this field.</p

Filtering of the signal of sediment export from a glacier by Its proglacial forefield

This is the final version. Available from Wiley via the DOI in this record. Data Availability Statement: The data used in this study (i.e., water discharge, suspended sediment load and bedload records for 2020 and 2021) are archivied in Zenodo. These are available in (Mancini et al., 2023; Müller & Miesen, 2022).Alpine glaciers are rapidly retreating due to global warming and this has been associated with enhanced supply of subglacially derived sediment to downstream environments. We present the first high frequency quantitative record on how the signal of sediment exported from an Alpine glacier is filtered by its proglacial forefield. The data, covering two climatically distinct glacier melt seasons, show that the signal of subglacial bedload export is strongly filtered over short distances, unlike suspended load whose signal is less impacted. The reason is related to the interplay of short particle advection lengths with strong morphodynamic forcing. The subglacial sediment export signal is thus rapidly replaced by one combining (a) the local forcing by stream hydraulics and (b) the reworking of the proglacial braid plain itself. These findings have implications for estimating subglacial erosion rates, natural hazard mitigation, sediment management for hydropower plants and ecological succession related to rapid glacier retreat.Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschun

Rates of Evacuation of Bedload Sediment From an Alpine Glacier Control Proglacial Stream Morphodynamics

This is the final version. Available on open access from the American Geophysical Union via the DOI in this recordData Availability Statement: The data used in this study (i.e., DEMs, orthomosaics and grain size distribution maps) are available in Mancini et al. (2024b). Other data sets used in this study (i.e., water discharge records, 2020 orthomosaics, suspended load and bedload flux data) are archived in Zenodo and mentioned in the main text as Müller and Miesen (2022), Roncoroni et al. (2023a) and Mancini et al. (2023a).Proglacial forefields commonly include highly dynamic fluvial systems associated with the fundamental instability between topography, flow hydraulics and sediment transport. However, there is limited knowledge of how these systems respond to changing subglacial hydrology and sediment supply. We investigated this relationship using the first continuous field-collected data sets for both suspended and bedload sediment export and proglacial river dynamics for an Alpine glacier forefield, the Glacier d’Otemma, Switzerland. The results show a strong sensitivity of fluvial morphodynamics to the balance between sediment transport capacity and supply. When subglacial bedload export rates exceeded fluvial transport capacity, we found bar construction leading to net forefield aggradation and surficial coarsening, especially on bar heads. This intensified braiding buffered the downstream transport of coarse sediment. When subglacial bedload export rates were lower than transport capacity, incision occurred, with reduced braiding intensity, net erosion and important amounts of bedload leaving the proglacial system. We found a net fining of surficial deposits except for very isolated coarsening patterns on bar heads. Thus, proglacial forefield morphodynamics are strongly conditioned by subglacial hydrology and sediment supply, but this conditioning is also influenced by the response of the forefield itself. Proglacial forefields have an important influence on the longitudinal connectivity of sediment flux in regions sensitive to climate change, such as recently deglaciated high mountain areas. The linkages we report between subglacial processes and river morphodynamics are critical for understanding the development of embryonic forefield ecosystems.Fondation Agassiz of the Université de LausanneSwiss National Science Foundation (SNSF

Determinants of impact : towards a better understanding of encounters with the arts

The article argues that current methods for assessing the impact of the arts are largely based on a fragmented and incomplete understanding of the cognitive, psychological and socio-cultural dynamics that govern the aesthetic experience. It postulates that a better grasp of the interaction between the individual and the work of art is the necessary foundation for a genuine understanding of how the arts can affect people. Through a critique of philosophical and empirical attempts to capture the main features of the aesthetic encounter, the article draws attention to the gaps in our current understanding of the responses to art. It proposes a classification and exploration of the factors—social, cultural and psychological—that contribute to shaping the aesthetic experience, thus determining the possibility of impact. The ‘determinants of impact’ identified are distinguished into three groups: those that are inherent to the individual who interacts with the artwork; those that are inherent to the artwork; and ‘environmental factors’, which are extrinsic to both the individual and the artwork. The article concludes that any meaningful attempt to assess the impact of the arts would need to take these ‘determinants of impact’ into account, in order to capture the multidimensional and subjective nature of the aesthetic experience

The Toronto Adolescent and Youth Cohort Study:Study Design and Early Data Related to Psychosis Spectrum Symptoms, Functioning, and Suicidality

BACKGROUND: Psychosis spectrum symptoms (PSSs) occur in a sizable percentage of youth and are associated with poorer cognitive performance, poorer functioning, and suicidality (i.e., suicidal thoughts and behaviors). PSSs may occur more frequently in youths already experiencing another mental illness, but the antecedents are not well known. The Toronto Adolescent and Youth (TAY) Cohort Study aims to characterize developmental trajectories in youths with mental illness and understand associations with PSSs, functioning, and suicidality.METHODS: The TAY Cohort Study is a longitudinal cohort study that aims to assess 1500 youths (age 11-24 years) presenting to tertiary care. In this article, we describe the extensive diagnostic and clinical characterization of psychopathology, substance use, functioning, suicidality, and health service utilization in these youths, with follow-up every 6 months over 5 years, including early baseline data.RESULTS: A total of 417 participants were enrolled between May 4, 2021, and February 2, 2023. Participants met diagnostic criteria for an average of 3.5 psychiatric diagnoses, most frequently anxiety and depressive disorders. Forty-nine percent of participants met a pre-established threshold for PSSs and exhibited higher rates of functional impairment, internalizing and externalizing symptoms, and suicidality than participants without PSSs.CONCLUSIONS: Initial findings from the TAY Cohort Study demonstrate the feasibility of extensive clinical phenotyping in youths who are seeking help for mental health problems. PSS prevalence is much higher than in community-based studies. Our early data support the critical need to better understand longitudinal trajectories of clinical youth cohorts in relation to psychosis risk, functioning, and suicidality.</p

SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids

Kidney failure is frequently observed during and after COVID-19, but it remains elusive whether this is a direct effect of the virus. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 directly infects kidney cells and is associated with increased tubule-interstitial kidney fibrosis in patient autopsy samples. To study direct effects of the virus on the kidney independent of systemic effects of COVID-19, we infected human-induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived kidney organoids with SARS-CoV-2. Single-cell RNA sequencing indicated injury and dedifferentiation of infected cells with activation of profibrotic signaling pathways. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 infection also led to increased collagen 1 protein expression in organoids. A SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor was able to ameliorate the infection of kidney cells by SARS-CoV-2. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect kidney cells and induce cell injury with subsequent fibrosis. These data could explain both acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and the development of chronic kidney disease in long COVID

SARS-CoV-2 infects the human kidney and drives fibrosis in kidney organoids

Kidney failure is frequently observed during and after COVID-19, but it remains elusive whether this is a direct effect of the virus. Here, we report that SARS-CoV-2 directly infects kidney cells and is associated with increased tubule-interstitial kidney fibrosis in patient autopsy samples. To study direct effects of the virus on the kidney independent of systemic effects of COVID-19, we infected human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived kidney organoids with SARS-CoV-2. Single cell RNA-sequencing indicated injury and dedifferentiation of infected cells with activation of pro-fibrotic signaling pathways. Importantly, SARS-CoV-2 infection also led to increased collagen 1 protein expression in organoids. A SARS-CoV-2 protease inhibitor was able to ameliorate the infection of kidney cells by SARS-CoV-2. Our results suggest that SARS-CoV-2 can directly infect kidney cells and induce cell injury with subsequent fibrosis. These data could explain both acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and the development of chronic kidney disease in Long-COVID

Regulation of microRNA biogenesis and turnover by animals and their viruses

Item does not contain fulltextMicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a ubiquitous component of gene regulatory networks that modulate the precise amounts of proteins expressed in a cell. Despite their small size, miRNA genes contain various recognition elements that enable specificity in when, where and to what extent they are expressed. The importance of precise control of miRNA expression is underscored by functional studies in model organisms and by the association between miRNA mis-expression and disease. In the last decade, identification of the pathways by which miRNAs are produced, matured and turned-over has revealed many aspects of their biogenesis that are subject to regulation. Studies in viral systems have revealed a range of mechanisms by which viruses target these pathways through viral proteins or non-coding RNAs in order to regulate cellular gene expression. In parallel, a field of study has evolved around the activation and suppression of antiviral RNA interference (RNAi) by viruses. Virus encoded suppressors of RNAi can impact miRNA biogenesis in cases where miRNA and small interfering RNA pathways converge. Here we review the literature on the mechanisms by which miRNA biogenesis and turnover are regulated in animals and the diverse strategies that viruses use to subvert or inhibit these processes