Supporting Students with Sex Chromosome Aneuploidies in Educational Settings

Children with sex chromosome aneuploidies (SCAs) are at an increased risk for neurocognitive and behavioral disorders that may interfere with academic success, including early developmental delays, learning disabilities, executive function problems, and social communication deficits. A national survey study aimed to update and extend our understanding of school supports and educational outcomes for students with these increasingly common genetic diagnoses. Parents of children with a diagnosed SCA, birth to 21 years, living in the U.S. (N=248), responded to an electronic survey with questions focused on school support plans, academic accommodations, educational therapies, school completion, and perceptions of educator awareness of SCAs. Results revealed high rates of delayed kindergarten, grade retention in primary years, and educational support plans (IEPs = 71%; 504 Plans = 26%). Despite a clear profile of educational need, a majority (73%) of respondents with children over age 18 (N=41) reported their child successfully completed high school, and nearly half (46%) pursued post-secondary education opportunities. Many parents reported their child’s educators had little to no knowledge of SCA conditions, justifying a need to train teachers and policy makers in the unique educational needs of children and adolescents with SCAs. School psychologists should be aware of the frequent need for accommodations and individualized support plans in this population so they can support children and families by advocating for early and comprehensive evaluations and intervention plans.

Cytometric Analysis of Diverse Glaucophyte Species Reveals Distinctive Signals Useful for Fluorescence-Based Detection and Sorting

Glaucophytes, red algae and viridiplants (green algae and land plants) are formally united in the supergroup Archaeplastida. Although diverse molecular and genomic evidence suggest the common origin of the three Archaeplastida lineages, the lack of a robust glaucophyte knowledgebase has limited comprehensive evaluations of competing hypotheses. Glaucophytes are rare and apparently confined to freshwater habitats. However, the distribution and diversity of these algae have not been thoroughly explored owing to challenges with detecting and isolating novel specimens. Here we examined the cytometric signatures of representative species of the genera Cyanophora, Cyanoptyche, Glaucocystis and Gloeochaete for a distinctive signal that would aid identification. Most glaucophytes analyzed presented a relatively high red fluorescence signal due to the presence of the blue phycobiliproteins C-phycocyanin and allophycocyanin. Cell-size differences and the concurrent presence of the red phycobiliprotein phycoerythrin in other algal lineages, such as red algae and cryptophytes, allowed us to distinguish glaucophytes from other photosynthetic cells containing blue phycobiliproteins. We used fluorescence-assisted cell sorting (FACS) to isolate viable Cyanophora and Glaucocystis individuals from existing cultures. Our results indicate that the peculiar autofluorescence signal of glaucophytes will facilitate further identification and isolation on novel specimens of this scarce but important algal group.

Validation of COSMIC-2-Derived Ionospheric Peak Parameters Using Measurements of Ionosondes

Although numerous validations for the ionospheric peak parameters values (IPPVs) obtained from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) have been conducted using ionosonde measurements as a reference, comprehensive evaluations of the quality of the COSMIC-2 data are still undesirable, especially under geomagnetic storm conditions. In this study, the IPPVs measured by ionosondes (Ramey, Boa Vista, Sao Luis, Jicamarca, Cachoeira Paulista, and Santa Maria) during the period October 1, 2019 to August 31, 2021, are used to evaluate the quality of COSMIC-2 data over low-latitude regions of the Americas. The results show that the NmF2 (hmF2) from COSMIC-2 agrees well with the ionosonde measurements, and the correlation coefficients for the two sets of data at the above six stations are 0.93 (0.84), 0.91 (0.85), 0.91 (0.88), 0.88 (0.79), 0.96 (0.83), and 0.96 (0.87), respectively. The data quality of COSMIC-2 derived NmF2 is largely dependent on geomagnetic latitude. It was also found that NmF2 derived from COSMIC-2 tends to be underestimated over the stations in Boa Vista and Cachoeira Paulista, which are close to the crests of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), whilst that of the other stations is slightly overestimated. A comparison between COSMIC-measured and ionosonde-derived hmF2 indicates that the former is systematically higher than the latter. In addition, the differences in the two NmF2 datasets derived from COSMIC-2 and ionosonde measurements at night are generally smaller than those of daytime, when the EIA is well developed, and vice versa for hmF2, whose RMSE is slightly smaller during daytime (with the exception of Ramey). Furthermore, NmF2 obtained from COSMIC-2 is shown to perform best in summer at Ramey, Boa Vista, Sao Luis, and Santa Maria, best in winter at Jicamarca and Cachoeira Paulista. Finally, the COSMIC-2 electron densities capture the ionospheric dynamic enhancements under a moderate geomagnetic storm condition very well.

Costs and Savings Associated With the Police Use of the interRAI Brief Mental Health Screener

Background: The police response to calls for service identified as being related to mental health continues to be highly controversial. Strategies to improve the police response include Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training and various forms of co-response models neither of which have been subjected to comprehensive evaluations, particularly as to cost-efficiency. A new approach is the use of the interRAI Brief Mental Health Screener to enhance police officer ability to identify persons with serious mental disorders. The purpose of the current study is to evaluate the costs and cost efficiency of the police response to mental health calls using the interRAI Brief Mental Health Screener.Method: Secondary data was analyzed from the use of the screener from 2018 to 2020 by police officers in a mid-sized Canadian city. Changes were measured in the overall number of interactions police officers had with persons with mental health disorders, the number of incidents where police officers referred the person to hospital, and the time officers remained in the emergency department.Results: A total of 6,727 assessments were completed with involuntary referrals decreasing by 30%, and voluntary referrals by 34%. The overall time police officers were involved in involuntary referrals decreased from 123 min in 2018 to 113 min in 2020. The average emergency department wait time for voluntary referrals dropped from 41 min in 2018 to 27 min in 2020, while involuntary referrals decreased from 61 min in 2018 to 42 min in 2020. Each averted involuntary referral to the emergency department resulted in a savings of $81, on average during the study period.Conclusion: An analysis of the costs and costs savings associated with the use of the screener demonstrate that it is a worthwhile investment for police services. An additional benefit is its ability to collect mental health statistics that may be useful to police leaders to justify budgets. Future studies should attempt to devise some method of collecting pre-implementation data that would reveal the true costs and cost-efficiency of using the BMHS, which have been shown to be significant in the current study however, undoubtedly are under-estimated.

The role of emergency medical teams in disaster response: a summary of the literature

In the aftermath of natural disasters, emergency medical teams (EMTs) are dispatched to help local rescue efforts. While some impact evaluations of EMTs are available, few comprehensive evaluations of the implementation of EMTs in natural disasters, have been published to date. As a result, the evidence base to inform global guidelines and best practices, is remarkably thin. This paper aims to provide a better understanding of the role of EMTs, by summarizing recent reports and case studies. Specifically, this summary aims to identify key improvement areas, as well as obstacles and opportunities for improvement. After a search of the literature, 40 publications met the inclusion criteria, and were included in this summary of the literature. The effective functioning of EMTs is codependent on interactions between different actors, including national governments, international organizations, NGOs, local government agencies, community stakeholders and the private sector. Five key improvement areas were identified: (1) coordination and integration of EMTs and other actors; (2) systematic classification and registration of EMTs; (3) national stewardship; (4) community engagement; (5) research and data collection. As the prevalence of natural disasters rise, effective disaster response will be an increasingly important component of global health in the coming decades. To optimize EMT efficiency, there needs to be increased recognition of the different actors involved, increased cooperation amongst EMTs under the coordination of international rosters, and increased research efforts to evaluate challenges to and opportunities for improved disaster response.

Evaluating Prospective Homestay Families in the U.S. and New Approaches to Further Enrich the Exchange Student’s Opinion of America

Determining the level of effectiveness in exchange programs has become increasingly more important to evaluators. Likewise, bilateral connectivity between the host country’s people & institutions and the exchange student have benefitted from recent recommendations of comprehensive evaluations. However, the homestay family factor of the exchange experience lags in this area. In that regard, exchange programs could improve significantly from a broader and deeper understanding of the homestay experience, as seen from the host’s perspective. In fact, citizen diplomacy is alive and active in the host’s homes. People to people contact in these intimate settings can form attitudes, sentiments, and emotional attachments that should be measured as a mode to improve citizen diplomacy practices. From the aptitude of the host family to their level of community engagement, several elements are key to an ambiance where the exchange student can better adapt, learn, interact, feel, think, express ideas, learn about customs and community, familiarize with the language, and overall enhance their experience, hence their opinion about their host country.

Canadian Mapping of Autism-Specific Supports for Postsecondary Students

Background. Many autistic students have a variety of strengths and the desire to succeed in postsecondary education. Nonetheless, most autistic students report not receiving adequate support in postsecondary education to ensure their success. Students also report difficulty in navigating complex institutional systems. We conducted an environmental scan of autism-specific supports (e.g., website information, transition programs, peer mentoring) available to autistic students within Canada’s publicly-funded postsecondary institutions. We also examined distribution of autism-specific supports across institutional type (i.e., university, junior college, technical/vocational) and geographic region.Method. A Boolean search strategy was used to collect data from institutional websites.Results. Of the 258 publicly-funded postsecondary institutions in Canada, only 15 institutions (6%) had at least one support. Of the 15 institutions identified, the most common autism-specific support included information on the institution’s website (67%), followed by transition to university support (47%), social group(s) (33%), peer mentoring (27%), specialist tutoring and support with daily living (20%), transition to employment support (13%), and student-led societies and autistic student advocate (7%). In general, universities and institutions in Central Canada (i.e., Ontario) had a higher number of provisions than expected.Conclusions. There are promising advances with respect to autism-specific supports in post-secondary institutions across Canada. We recommend further research to better understand how students access these supports and more comprehensive evaluations of such supports, specifically informed by collaborations with autistic students.

Dynamic Spatial-Temporal Expression Ratio of X Chromosome to Autosomes but Stable Dosage Compensation in Mammals

In the evolutionary model of dosage compensation, per-allele expression level of the X chromosome was proposed to have two-fold upregulation, compensating for its dose reduction in males (XY) compared to females (XX). However, the upregulation of X chromosome is still in dispute, and comprehensive evaluations are still lacking. By integrating multi-omics datasets in mammals, we investigated the expression ratios and underlying pattern of X to autosomes (X:AA ratio) and X to orthologs (X:XX ratio) at the transcriptome, translatome, and proteome layers. The results indicated a dynamic spatial-temporal X:AA ratio during development in human and mouse. Meanwhile, by tracing the evolution of orthologous gene expressions in chicken, platypus, and opossum, we found a constant expression ratio between X-linked genes in human and their autosomal orthologs in other species (X:XX ~1) across tissues and developmental stages, demonstrating stable dosage compensation in mammals. We also revealed that different epigenetic regulations could shape the higher tissue- and stage-specificity of X-linked gene expression, and affect X:AA ratios. We conclude that the dynamics of X:AA ratios are attributed to the different gene contents and expression preferences of the X chromosome, instead of the stable dosage compensation.