Sexual Health Education Among the Intellectually and Developmentally Delayed Populations: An Examination of Medical Providers Perspective

Sexuality is a recognized human right as it influences mental, social and emotional wellbeing. Despite this, individuals with intellectual or developmentally delays (ID/DD) rarely receive the necessary sexual education. ID/DD persons are also at an increased risk for sexual abuse, further demonstrating the strong need for education. A natural setting in which to receive unbiased and informative sexual health information is through their medical provider. The purpose of this research was to examine current clinic standards, education, and perceptions of medical providers in regards to sexual education for ID/DD adolescents. Medical providers and students within West Michigan were surveyed with follow up intensive ethnographic interviews conducted. Themes developed from interviews and additional quantitative data demonstrated that medical providers view sexual education for ID/DD persons. However, doctors and advanced practice practitioners note barriers to teaching in time, comfort level, and knowledge. Further research on medical providers teaching sexual education to ID/DD persons is necessary. Recommended next steps for providing this teaching to ID/DD persons involve the development of resources for medical providers along with consistent formal training in medical institutions

Strengthening global-change science by integrating aeDNA with paleoecoinformatics

Ancient environmental DNA (aeDNA) data are close to enabling insights into past global-scale biodiversity dynamics at unprecedented taxonomic extent and resolution. However, achieving this potential requires solutions that bridge bioinformatics and paleoecoinformatics. Essential needs include support for dynamic taxonomic inferences, dynamic age inferences, and precise stratigraphic depth. Moreover, aeDNA data are complex and heterogeneous, generated by dispersed researcher networks, with methods advancing rapidly. Hence, expert community governance and curation are essential to building high-value data resources. Immediate recommendations include uploading metabarcoding-based taxonomic inventories into paleoecoinformatic resources, building linkages among open bioinformatic and paleoecoinformatic data resources, harmonizing aeDNA processing workflows, and expanding community data governance. These advances will enable transformative insights into global-scale biodiversity dynamics during large environmental and anthropogenic changes

Girls and Boys Born before 28 Weeks Gestation: Risks of Cognitive, Behavioral, and Neurologic Outcomes at Age 10 Years

To compare the prevalence of cognitive, neurological, and behavioral outcomes at 10 years of age in 428 girls and 446 boys who were born extremely preterm (EP)

The Relationship of Maternal Prepregnancy Body Mass Index and Pregnancy Weight Gain to Neurocognitive Function at Age 10 Years among Children Born Extremely Preterm

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between maternal prepregnancy body mass index and adequacy of pregnancy weight gain in relation to neurocognitive function in school-aged children born extremely preterm. STUDY DESIGN: Study participants were 535 ten-year-old children enrolled previously in the prospective multicenter Extremely Low Gestational Age Newborns cohort study who were products of singleton pregnancies. Soon after delivery, mothers provided information about prepregnancy weight. Prepregnancy body mass index and adequacy of weight gain were characterized based on this information. Children underwent a neurocognitive evaluation at 10 years of age. RESULTS: Maternal prepregnancy obesity was associated with increased odds of a lower score for Differential Ability Scales-II Verbal IQ, for Developmental Neuropsychological Assessment-II measures of processing speed and visual fine motor control, and for Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III Spelling. Children born to mothers who gained an excessive amount of weight were at increased odds of a low score on the Oral and Written Language Scales Oral Expression assessment. Conversely, children whose mother did not gain an adequate amount of weight were at increased odds of a lower score on the Oral and Written Language Scales Oral Expression and Wechsler Individual Achievement Test-III Word Reading assessments. CONCLUSION: In this cohort of infants born extremely preterm, maternal obesity was associated with poorer performance on some assessments of neurocognitive function. Our findings are consistent with the observational and experimental literature and suggest that opportunities may exist to mitigate risk through education and behavioral intervention before pregnancy

The James Webb Space Telescope Mission

Twenty-six years ago a small committee report, building on earlier studies, expounded a compelling and poetic vision for the future of astronomy, calling for an infrared-optimized space telescope with an aperture of at least $4m$. With the support of their governments in the US, Europe, and Canada, 20,000 people realized that vision as the $6.5m$ James Webb Space Telescope. A generation of astronomers will celebrate their accomplishments for the life of the mission, potentially as long as 20 years, and beyond. This report and the scientific discoveries that follow are extended thank-you notes to the 20,000 team members. The telescope is working perfectly, with much better image quality than expected. In this and accompanying papers, we give a brief history, describe the observatory, outline its objectives and current observing program, and discuss the inventions and people who made it possible. We cite detailed reports on the design and the measured performance on orbit.Comment: Accepted by PASP for the special issue on The James Webb Space Telescope Overview, 29 pages, 4 figure

Extremely low gestational age and very low birthweight for gestational age are risk factors for autism spectrum disorder in a large cohort study of 10-year-old children born at 23-27 weeks’ gestation

No prospective cohort study of high-risk children has used rigorous exposure assessment and optimal diagnostic procedures to examine the perinatal antecedents of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), separately among those with and without cognitive impairment

College Program Rankings

This report analyzes current methods of ranking college programs, and compares them to the preferences of students, educators, employers, and other individuals. Ranking sources are located and classified by the ranking criteria used. A survey is conducted of the general population that determines attitudes towards various ranking criteria. The paper concludes with a comparison between attitudes of survey respondents and the actual criteria used by ranking sources

Brain functional connectivity patterns in children and adolescents with gender dysphoria: Sex-atypical or not?

Various previous studies have reported that brains of people diagnosed with gender dysphoria (GD) show sex-atypical features. In addition, recent functional magnetic resonance imaging studies found that several brain resting-state networks (RSNs) in adults with GD show functional connectivity (FC) patterns that are not sex-atypical, but specific for GD. In the current study we examined whether FC patterns are also altered in prepubertal children and adolescents with GD in comparison with non-gender dysphoric peers. We investigated FC patterns within RSNs that were previously examined in adults: visual networks (VNs), sensorimotor networks (SMNs), default mode network (DMN) and salience network. Thirty-one children (18 birth assigned males; 13 birth assigned females) and 40 adolescents with GD (19 birth assigned males or transgirls; 21 birth assigned females or transboys), and 39 cisgender children (21 boys; 18 girls) and 41 cisgender adolescents (20 boys; 21 girls) participated. We used independent component analysis to obtain the network maps of interest and compared these across groups. Within one of the three VNs (VN-I), adolescent transgirls showed stronger FC in the right cerebellum compared with all other adolescent groups. Sex differences in FC between the cisgender adolescent groups were observed in the right supplementary motor area within one of the two SMNs (SMN-II; girls>boys) and the right posterior cingulate gyrus within the posterior DMN (boys>girls). Within these networks adolescent transgirls showed FC patterns similar to their experienced gender (female). Also adolescent transboys showed a FC pattern similar to their experienced gender (male), but within the SMN-II only. The prepubertal children did not show any group differences in FC, suggesting that these emerge with aging and during puberty. Our findings provide evidence for the existence of both GD-specific and sex-atypical FC patterns in adolescents with GD

A Biological Approach to Building Resilience and Wellness Capacity Among Police Exposed to Posttraumatic Stress Injuries: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

BackgroundLaw enforcement officers are routinely exposed to hazardous, disturbing events that can impose severe stress and long-term psychological trauma. As a result, police and other public safety personnel (PSP) are at increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress injuries (PTSIs) and disruptions to the autonomic nervous system (ANS). ANS functioning can be objectively and noninvasively measured by heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA). Traditional interventions aimed at building resilience among PSP have not adequately addressed the physiological ANS dysregulations that lead to mental and physical health conditions, as well as burnout and fatigue following potential psychological trauma. ObjectiveIn this study, we will investigate the efficacy of a web-based Autonomic Modulation Training (AMT) intervention on the following outcomes: (1) reducing self-reported symptoms of PTSI, (2) strengthening ANS physiological resilience and wellness capacity, and (3) exploring how sex and gender are related to baseline differences in psychological and biological PTSI symptoms and response to the AMT intervention. MethodsThe study is comprised of 2 phases. Phase 1 involves the development of the web-based AMT intervention, which includes 1 session of baseline survey measures, 6 weekly sessions that integrate HRV biofeedback (HRVBF) training with meta-cognitive skill practice, and 1 session of follow-up survey measures. Phase 2 will use a cluster randomized control design to test the effectiveness of AMT on the following prepost outcomes: (1) self-report symptoms of PTSI and other wellness measures; (2) physiological indicators of health and resilience including resting HR, HRV, and RSA; and (3) the influence of sex and gender on other outcomes. Participants will be recruited for an 8-week study across Canada in rolling cohorts. ResultsThe study received grant funding in March 2020 and ethics approval in February 2021. Due to delays related to COVID-19, phase 1 was completed in December 2022, and phase 2 pilot testing began in February 2023. Cohorts of 10 participants in the experimental (AMT) and control (prepost assessment only) groups will continue until a total of 250 participants are tested. Data collection from all phases is expected to conclude in December 2025 but may be extended until the intended sample size is reached. Quantitative analyses of psychological and physiological data will be conducted in conjunction with expert coinvestigators. ConclusionsThere is an urgent need to provide police and PSP with effective training that improves physical and psychological functioning. Given that help-seeking for PTSI is reduced among these occupational groups, AMT is a promising intervention that can be completed in the privacy of one’s home. Importantly, AMT is a novel program that uniquely addresses the underlying physiological mechanisms that support resilience and wellness promotion and is tailored to the occupational demands of PSP. Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT05521360; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05521360 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID)PRR1-10.2196/3349

Brain sexual differentiation and effects of cross-sex hormone therapy in transpeople: A resting-state functional magnetic resonance study

Objectives: It is hypothesized that transpeople show sex-atypical differentiation of the brain. Various structural neuroimaging studies provide support for this notion, but little is known about the sexual differentiation of functional resting-state networks in transpeople. In this study we therefore aimed to determine whether brain functional connectivity (FC) patterns in transpeople are sex-typical or sex-atypical, before and after the start of cross-sex hormone therapy (CHT). Methods: We acquired resting-state functional magnetic resonance data in 36 transpeople (22 with female sex assigned at birth), first during gonadal suppression, and again four months after start of CHT, and in 37 cisgender people (20 females), both sessions without any hormonal intervention. We used independent component analysis to identify the default mode network (DMN), salience network (SN), and left and right working memory network (WMN). These spatial maps were used for group comparisons. Results: Within the DMN, SN, and left WMN similar FC patterns were found across groups. However, within the right WMN, cisgender males showed significantly greater FC in the right caudate nucleus than cisgender females. There was no such sex difference in FC among the transgender groups and they did not differ significantly from either of the cisgender groups. CHT (in transgender participants) and circulating sex steroids (in cisgender participants) did not affect FC. Conclusion: Our findings may suggest that cisgender males and females experience a dissimilar (early) differentiation of the right WMN and that such differentiation is less pronounced in transpeople