Sexism and Severity: An Examination of Teacher\u27s Attitudes About Autism Symptomology in the Classroom

Girls continue to be underdiagnosed and under-researched in the study of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This is the result of a systemized preference towards masculine symptomology of ASD examined and created to diagnose ASD. The ideas produced by the research trickle down to teachers who then are in charge of flagging students for signs of ASD, however this step is not only limited by understanding, but their own inherent gender biases on behaviors. Our sample consisted of 139 current or former teachers. Each participant received one of three, (varying from severity levels and gender), rating scale of behavior association, rating scale of levels of concern about behaviors indicated in the vignettes, rating scales of likelihood of follow up on behaviors, modern sexism scale items. For each rating item, a 2 (gender of target: male or female) by 3 (symptom severity: mild, moderate, or severe) ANCOVA was conducted with participants’ scores on the Modern Sexism Scale as a covariate. The results indicated severity biases in perceptions of behaviors as well as in the types of interventions sought out. There was a significant positive correlation between scores on the modern sexism scale and higher likelihood of seeking out disciplinary actions through administration. In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between gender and likelihood of giving referrals for special education, as well as diagnostic services. Future research should continue evaluating how gender and severity biases act independently, as well as together within diagnostic systems of ASD, in addition to racial biases

Mapping in the Humanities Classroom: An Assessment of Tools and Strategies

This panel explores the ways in which digital mapping has been used in humanities courses at Wheaton College (Norton, MA). In it, we discuss the variety of tools and strategies employed by faculty and staff, assessing the effectiveness of “mapping” to meet pedagogical goals and engage students. Jade Werner, Assistant Professor of English, describes how students used mapping tools to study the novel: first, collaboratively in the classroom over a one week period (“one-shot” mapping); and second, independently in a multi-month independent study (“sustained” mapping). Drawing from successes and failures in teaching Heart of Darkness from a “spatial humanities” perspective, she assesses the usefulness of three mapping tools - ArcGIS, HistoryPin, and StoryMapJS - in furthering students’ understanding of this difficult novel. Domingo Ledezma, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, has built a database of cartographical images of the New World. He discusses how students have used this database in conjunction with Google Earth, Mapbox, and Palladio to support their studies in Early Modern exploration. For several years, students enrolled in Leah Niederstadt’s courses have used digital mapping tools, including Google Earth, Omeka, and StoryMapJS, to trace the provenance, or ownership history, of objects in Wheaton’s Permanent Collection. She considers how well these tools met her pedagogical goals for the provenance assignment and how students evaluated both the assignment and the tools employed. In addition to the 3 faculty case studies, Jenni Lund, Senior Faculty Technology Liaison, offers her perspective on successfully incorporating maps and digital mapping tools into a liberal arts curriculum

Mapping in the Humanities Classroom: An Assessment of Tools and Strategies

This panel explores the ways in which digital mapping has been used in humanities courses at Wheaton College (Norton, MA). In it, we discuss the variety of tools and strategies employed by faculty and staff, assessing the effectiveness of “mapping” to meet pedagogical goals and engage students. Jade Werner, Assistant Professor of English, describes how students used mapping tools to study the novel: first, collaboratively in the classroom over a one week period (“one-shot” mapping); and second, independently in a multi-month independent study (“sustained” mapping). Drawing from successes and failures in teaching Heart of Darkness from a “spatial humanities” perspective, she assesses the usefulness of three mapping tools - ArcGIS, HistoryPin, and StoryMapJS - in furthering students’ understanding of this difficult novel. Domingo Ledezma, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies, has built a database of cartographical images of the New World. He discusses how students have used this database in conjunction with Google Earth, Mapbox, and Palladio to support their studies in Early Modern exploration. For several years, students enrolled in Leah Niederstadt’s courses have used digital mapping tools, including Google Earth, Omeka, and StoryMapJS, to trace the provenance, or ownership history, of objects in Wheaton’s Permanent Collection. She considers how well these tools met her pedagogical goals for the provenance assignment and how students evaluated both the assignment and the tools employed. In addition to the 3 faculty case studies, Jenni Lund, Senior Faculty Technology Liaison, offers her perspective on successfully incorporating maps and digital mapping tools into a liberal arts curriculum

Late Onset Postpartum Eclampsia: It is Really Never Too Late—A Case of Eclampsia 8 Weeks after Delivery

Introduction. Eclampsia is the combination of preeclampsia and seizures. Approximately one-half of all cases of eclampsia occur postpartum. Thereby late onset postpartum eclampsia is defined by its onset more than 48 hours after delivery. Summary of Case. We report a postpartum eclampsia occurring 8 weeks after delivery, which is the latest onset ever described. The course was complicated by an intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Conclusion. A late onset postpartum eclampsia even several weeks after delivery should be considered as possible diagnosis, since early treatment initiation with magnesium sulphate and antihypertensive medication prevents severe complications and reduces mortality

Increasing molar activity by HPLC purification improves 68Ga-DOTA-NAPamide tumor accumulation in a B16/F1 melanoma xenograft model

Purpose: Melanocortin receptor 1 (MC1R) is overexpressed in melanoma and may be a molecular target for imaging and peptide receptor radionuclide therapy. 68Gallium (68Ga) labeling of DOTA-conjugated peptides is an established procedure in the clinic for use in positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. Aim of this study was to compare a standard labeling protocol against the 68Ga-DOTA peptide purified from the excess of unlabeled peptide. Procedures: The MC1R ligand DOTA-NAPamide was labeled with 68Ga using a standard clinical protocol. Radioactive peptide was separated from the excess of unlabeled DOTA-NAPamide by HPLC. Immediately after the incubation of peptide and 68Ga (95˚C, 15 min), the reaction was loaded on a C18 column and separated by a water/acetonitrile gradient, allowing fractionation in less than 20 minutes. Radiolabeled products were compared in biodistribution studies and PET imaging using nude mice bearing MC1R-expressing B16/F1 xenograft tumors. Results: In biodistribution studies, non-purified 68Ga-DOTA-NAPamide did not show significant uptake in the tumor at 1 h post injection (0.78% IA/g). By the additional HPLC step, the molar activity was raised around 10,000-fold by completely removing unlabeled peptide. Application of this rapid purification strategy led to a more than 8-fold increase in tumor uptake (7.0% IA/g). The addition of various amounts of unlabeled DOTA-NAPamide to the purified product led to a blocking effect and decreased specific tumor uptake, similar to the result seen with non-purified radiopeptide. PET imaging was performed using the same tracer preparations. Purified 68Ga-DOTA-NAPamide, in comparison, showed superior tumor uptake. Conclusions: We demonstrated that chromatographic separation of radiolabeled from excess unlabeled peptide is technically feasible and beneficial, even for short-lived isotopes such as 68Ga. Unlabeled peptide molecules compete with receptor binding sites in the target tissue. Purification of the radiopeptide therefore improved tumor uptake

Lack of evidence for xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus(XMRV) in German prostate cancer patients

Background: A novel gammaretrovirus named xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus (XMRV) has been recently identified and found to have a prevalence of 40% in prostate tumor samples from American patients carrying a homozygous R462Q mutation in the RNaseL gene. This mutation impairs the function of the innate antiviral type I interferon pathway and is a known susceptibility factor for prostate cancer. Here, we attempt to measure the prevalence of XMRV in prostate cancer cases in Germany and determine whether an analogous association with the R462Q polymorphism exists. Results: 589 prostate tumor samples were genotyped by real-time PCR with regard to the RNaseL mutation. DNA and RNA samples from these patients were screened for the presence of XMRV-specific gag sequences using a highly sensitive nested PCR and RT-PCR approach. Furthermore, 146 sera samples from prostate tumor patients were tested for XMRV Gag and Env antibodies using a newly developed ELISA assay. In agreement with earlier data, 12.9% (76 samples) were shown to be of the QQ genotype. However, XMRV specific sequences were detected at neither the DNA nor the RNA level. Consistent with this result, none of the sera analyzed from prostate cancer patients contained XMRV-specific antibodies. Conclusion: Our results indicate a much lower prevalence (or even complete absence) of XMRV in prostate tumor patients in Germany. One possible reason for this could be a geographically restricted incidence of XMRV infections

Supporting a Racially Diverse Facial Dataset: Normative Valence and Arousal Ratings Across Race and Moderation by Race

The primary goal of this project was to collect normative emotional valence and arousal ratings using the RADIATE facial database. The RADIATE database is one of the few that is racially diverse, yet it is underutilized, due in part to a lack of normative valence and arousal ratings. A secondary goal was to explore whether the race of the rater moderated emotion ratings. As part of an ongoing study, 204 participants (Asian: 9, Black: 25, Latinx: 39, White: 131) were randomly assigned to one of 10 blocks of 36 faces. Each block included faces counterbalanced on race, gender, and emotion so that each participant rated an identical number of faces with respect to these categories. Participants viewed faces in Qualtrics and rated each on valence (from 1-9, unpleasant to pleasant) and arousal (from 1-9, low to high). A 4-way Race of Rater x Race of Face x Emotion x Gender repeated-measures ANOVA with repeated-measures on the last 3 factors was used for valence and arousal ratings. As expected, across racial face categories, happy faces were rated as more pleasant (M = 6.50) and sad faces as more unpleasant (M = 3.03). In addition, happy (M = 4.29) faces were rated more emotionally arousing than sad (M = 3.76) and neutral faces (M = 3.29). The race of the rater moderated valence but not arousal ratings. Black raters rated Asian females as happier than Asian males and Latinx raters rated Latinas as sadder than Latinos, with no other evident effects. Present results contribute to sparse valence and arousal data for the RADIATE dataset. Results further suggest that emotional faces are not rated in a universal manner as some emotion theories presume. Implications of the results and future research directions are discussed

The quest for companions to post-common envelope binaries. II. NSVS14256825 and HS0705+6700

We report new mid-eclipse times of the two close binaries NSVS14256825 and HS0705+6700, harboring an sdB primary and a low-mass main-sequence secondary. Both objects display clear variations in the measured orbital period, which can be explained by the action of a third object orbiting the binary. If this interpretation is correct, the third object in NSVS14256825 is a giant planet with a mass of roughly 12 M_Jup. For HS0705+6700, we provide evidence that strengthens the case for the suggested periodic nature of the eclipse time variation and reduces the uncertainties in the parameters of the brown dwarf implied by that model. The derived period is 8.4 yr and the mass is 31 M_Jup, if the orbit is coplanar with the binary. This research is part of the PlanetFinders project, an ongoing collaboration between professional astronomers and student groups at high schools.Comment: Accepted by Astron. and Astrophy

CMKLR1-targeting peptide tracers for PET/MR imaging of breast cancer

Background: Molecular targeting remains to be a promising approach in oncology. Overexpression of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) in human cancer is offering a powerful opportunity for tumor-selective imaging and treatment employing nuclear medicine. We utilized novel chemerin-based peptide conjugates for chemokine-like receptor 1 (CMKLR1) targeting in a breast cancer xenograft model. Methods: By conjugation with the chelator 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetic acid (DOTA), we obtained a family of five highly specific, high-affinity tracers for hybrid positron emission tomography/magnetic resonance (PET/MR) imaging. A xenograft model with target-positive DU4475 and negative A549 tumors in immunodeficient nude mice enabled CMKLR1-specific imaging in vivo. We acquired small animal PET/MR images, assessed biodistribution by ex vivo measurements and investigated the tracer specificity by blocking experiments. Results: Five CMKLR1-targeting peptide tracers demonstrated high biological activity and affinity in vitro with EC50 and IC50 values below 2 nM. Our target-positive (DU4475) and target-negative (A549) xenograft model could be validated by ex vivo analysis of CMKLR1 expression and binding. After preliminary PET imaging, the three most promising tracers [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-AHX-CG34, [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-KCap-CG34 and [68Ga]Ga-DOTA-ADX-CG34 with best tumor uptake were further analyzed. Hybrid PET/MR imaging along with concomitant biodistribution studies revealed distinct CMKLR1-specific uptake (5.1% IA/g, 3.3% IA/g and 6.2% IA/g 1 h post-injection) of our targeted tracers in DU4475 tumor tissue. In addition, tumor uptake was blocked by excess of unlabeled peptide (6.4-fold, 5.5-fold and 3.4-fold 1 h post-injection), further confirming CMKLR1 specificity. Out of five tracers, we identified these three tracers with moderate, balanced hydrophilicity to be the most potent in receptor-mediated tumor targeting. Conclusion: We demonstrated the applicability of 68Ga-labeled peptide tracers by visualizing CMKLR1-positive breast cancer xenografts in PET/MR imaging, paving the way for developing them into theranostics for tumor treatment