INSAR special interest group report:Stakeholder perspectives on priorities for future research on autism, sexuality, and intimate relationships

The number of empirical studies on sexuality and intimate relationships in autistic people has grown over the last years with the increasing awareness that sexuality and intimate relationships are an important part of life and well-being for autistic people. Further, expression and enjoyment of sexuality is a fundamental, basic human right. This paper reports on needs for future research in this area based on the input of autistic adults, researchers, and other stakeholders (e.g., parents and professionals). Utilizing the nominal group technique, 65 individuals participated in eight groups in which they brainstormed on research questions they deemed most important. Responses were categorized into themes and ranked according to importance based on the level of priority attributed by participants. Findings suggest that future research should focus on developing ways to support sexual and relationship well-being and getting a better understanding of sexuality and relationships in autistic people. Also, attention was drawn to the need for studying the influence of stereotypical societal views, and stigma. Finally, the importance of participatory research to include perspectives of autistic people in research and practice was stressed.  Lay Summary: Sexuality and romantic relationships are part of daily life for most people, including autistic people. For this study, groups of autistic people, professionals, and autism researchers discussed which research on autism, sexuality, and relationships is needed and can help autistic adolescents and adults. The group discussions revealed that more research is needed on how to support well-being relating to romantic relationships and sexuality in autistic people and how the people around them can contribute to this. Therefore, we also need to learn more about how autistic people of all ages and throughout their lives experience sexuality and relationships. Finally, the need for attention to the role of stereotypical ideas and stigma about autism, sexuality, and relationships was pointed out. Attention to the experiences of autistic people can help professionals, researchers, and policy makers to offer and organize attuned support and do relevant research

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

Dementia: beyond disorders of mood

This editorial will present the growing argument in the research literature that mood disorders, as defined by psychiatric diagnostic criteria, do not well serve individuals with dementia. This is important because anxiety and depression are our most used and most influential ways of understanding a highly prevalent and personally important experience in dementia: emotion. As such, there is a need to review how the disorders are currently conceptualised since they may have limited applicability for individuals with dementia, and consider what alternatives there might be. Agitation is offered as a lesson in how imprecise descriptions of behaviour can exclude the internal world of people with dementia. In our research to explore how the emotional experiences of individuals with dementia are understood, we consider what might lie beyond disorders of mood

Arbovirus-Derived piRNAs Exhibit a Ping-Pong Signature in Mosquito Cells

The siRNA pathway is an essential antiviral mechanism in insects. Whether other RNA interference pathways are involved in antiviral defense remains unclear. Here, we report in cells derived from the two main vectors for arboviruses, Aedes albopictus and Aedes aegypti, the production of viral small RNAs that exhibit the hallmarks of ping-pong derived piwi-associated RNAs (piRNAs) after infection with positive or negative sense RNA viruses. Furthermore, these cells produce endogenous piRNAs that mapped to transposable elements. Our results show that these mosquito cells can initiate de novo piRNA production and recapitulate the ping-pong dependent piRNA pathway upon viral infection. The mechanism of viral-piRNA production is discussed

Links between Autistic Traits, Feelings of Gender Dysphoria, and Mentalising Ability: Replication and Extension of Previous Findings from the General Population

Gender nonconformity is substantially elevated in the autistic population, but the reasons for this are currently unclear. In a recent study, Kallitsounaki and Williams (2020; authors 1 and 2 of the current paper) found significant relations between autistic traits and both gender dysphoric feelings and recalled cross-gender behaviour, and between mentalising ability and gender dysphoric feelings. The current study successfully replicated these findings (results were supplemented with Bayesian analyses), in sample of 126 adults. Furthermore, it extended the previous finding of the role of mentalising in the relation between autistic traits and gender dysphoric feelings, by showing that mentalising fully mediated this link. Results provide a potential partial explanation for the increased rate of gender nonconformity in the autistic population

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

Inhibition of mTOR delayed but could not prevent experimental collapsing focal segmental glomerulosclerosis

Contains fulltext : 220207.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access

Firefly genomes illuminate parallel origins of bioluminescence in beetles

Fireflies and their luminous courtships have inspired centuries of scientific study. Today firefly luciferase is widely used in biotechnology, but the evolutionary origin of bioluminescence within beetles remains unclear. To shed light on this long-standing question, we sequenced the genomes of two firefly species that diverged over 100 million-years-ago: the North American Photinus pyralis and Japanese Aquatica lateralis. To compare bioluminescent origins, we also sequenced the genome of a related click beetle, the Caribbean Ignelater luminosus, with bioluminescent biochemistry near-identical to fireflies, but anatomically unique light organs, suggesting the intriguing hypothesis of parallel gains of bioluminescence. Our analyses support independent gains of bioluminescence in fireflies and click beetles, and provide new insights into the genes, chemical defenses, and symbionts that evolved alongside their luminous lifestyle