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Understanding Perspectives of Primary Care Providers and Parents: Implications for School-Related Care for Children with Autism
No full textBackground: Although the public school system is the primary service provider for children with autism, primary care providers (PCPs) report barriers to connecting children to school-based services. Parents also frequently report dissatisfaction with PCPs’ collaborative care efforts for autistic children. Purpose: This three-part dissertation separately explored perspectives of PCPs and parents ofautistic children with the goal of enhancing cross-systems collaboration. Methods: In Study 1, data from 15 PCPs were collected to explore feasibility of simulated telehealth studies in research. Study 2 expanded this work with 18 PCPs and permitted qualitative thematic analysis to determine PCP recommendations for autistic children; characterize their views about the importance of practices in primary care; and explore associations between PCPs’ perceptions and connecting children to services. For Study 3, data from 228 parents of autistic children revealed variability in expectations for and perceived ability of their PCPs to provide autism-specific and school-related care. Pearson correlations investigated associations between child factors and reported views school-related practices in primary care. A one-way ANOVA examined differences in parent views about school-related practices, depending on the type of diagnosis given (e.g., medical/clinical, educational, both). Results: Study 1 revealed facilitators and barriers affecting feasibility of simulated telehealth studies, as well as preliminary information about PCPs’ knowledge and confidence in school-based supports. Study 2 indicated participating PCPs recommended further evaluation and services, and their self-reported perspectives on ability to provide supports for families had a significant relationship with whether they recommended school-based (but not community) services. Lastly, Study 3 indicated parents have mixed expectations for their child’s PCP. Child age, age of diagnosis, and comorbidities were significantly related to parent views on specific school-related practices, but type of diagnosis was not. Discussion: Collectively, these studies provide previously unavailable insight from both PCPs and parents that could enhance cross-system collaboration between primary care and families, and ultimately with school settings. Implications for better supporting professionals and families navigating complex diagnoses, including autism, are discussed
Identifying Irregular Polygon Packing Geometries within Protein Families
No full textProtein shape is essential in determining proteins' functions, such as catalysis or signaling. The primary structure determines how the protein will fold and interact with others as it continues to the tertiary structure and beyond. X-ray crystallography and NMR Spectroscopy have been used to determine protein structure; subsequently, the results have provided hypotheses for the protein function. Recently, artificial intelligence (AI) software known as Alpha Fold was developed to robustly predict the overall structure of proteins. Details crucial to the protein function may be an approximation- a rough draft. While the packing density has been well-studied, the specific structure of the packing interactions has not been systematically categorized. We aim to categorize the irregular polyhedra types formed by covalent and non-covalent interactions in the protein interior. This project aims to identify the patterns in internal packing geometry within protein families. Using Python (PyCharm environment), protein data bank (PDB) files containing the protein information will be processed. This code has already been created and will be utilized to create the identification code - atoms and interactions within the protein packing structure. Using the information for Van der Waals interactions and/or bond lengths will create 'maps' of short distances within the inner packing of the protein. Thus, allows for the identification of shapes and common edges with atoms of the protein. Mapping these short distances leads to the identification of faces of highly packed polyhedra within a protein. The protein shape and polyhedra were visualized.Biology and Biochemistry, Department ofHonors Colleg
From Emergent to Conventional Literacy in Arabic Diglossia: A Multi-Group Mediation Analysis of Early Literacy Development
No full textEmergent literacy skills acquired before formal schooling are crucial for later literacy development and academic achievement. However, it is not well understood how these early literacy skills transform into conventional literacy in a diglossic context, where children are primarily exposed to a colloquial dialect from birth and learn the language’s standard variety mostly during kindergarten or at school. This study aims to explore how emergent literacy skills mediate the relationship between early literacy activities and reading performance in Arabic in middle-school students (n = 5,104) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with separate analyses for boys and girls. The dataset used in this study is part of Saudi Arabia’s National Assessment of Learning Outcomes, which tracks trends in student achievement nationwide. To test the relationships between early literacy activities, emergent literacy skills, and reading achievement through structural equation modeling, we first established measurement invariance through multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, ensuring that the measures of early literacy activities and skills were consistent across gender and geographic groups. Multi-group mediation analysis was conducted to test if emergent literacy skills mediate the relationship between early literacy activities and reading achievement, while controlling for parental education and kindergarten attendance. The mediating effect was found to be significant for girls in three regions and for boys in one region, suggesting potentially meaningful gender differences in how the mediating variable functions across various regional contexts. Additionally, parental education was significantly associated with reading achievement in most regions across both genders. This study contributes to academic discourse by exploring the factors influencing literacy development in a diglossic context, thus enhancing our understanding of how literacy skills are shaped in different sociolinguistic environments.Emergent literacy skills acquired before formal schooling are crucial for later literacy development and academic achievement. However, it is not well understood how these early literacy skills transform into conventional literacy in a diglossic context, where children are primarily exposed to a colloquial dialect from birth and learn the language’s standard variety mostly during kindergarten or at school. This study aims to explore how emergent literacy skills mediate the relationship between early literacy activities and reading performance in Arabic in middle-school students (n = 5,104) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with separate analyses for boys and girls. The dataset used in this study is part of Saudi Arabia’s National Assessment of Learning Outcomes, which tracks trends in student achievement nationwide. To test the relationships between early literacy activities, emergent literacy skills, and reading achievement through structural equation modeling, we first established measurement invariance through multi-group confirmatory factor analysis, ensuring that the measures of early literacy activities and skills were consistent across gender and geographic groups. Multi-group mediation analysis was conducted to test if emergent literacy skills mediate the relationship between early literacy activities and reading achievement, while controlling for parental education and kindergarten attendance. The mediating effect was found to be significant for girls in three regions and for boys in one region, suggesting potentially meaningful gender differences in how the mediating variable functions across various regional contexts. Additionally, parental education was significantly associated with reading achievement in most regions across both genders. This study contributes to academic discourse by exploring the factors influencing literacy development in a diglossic context, thus enhancing our understanding of how literacy skills are shaped in different sociolinguistic environments
SMS3D: 3D Synthetic Mushroom Scenes Dataset for 3D Object Detection and Pose Estimation
No full textThe mushroom farming industry struggles to automate harvesting due to limited large-scale annotated datasets and the complex growth patterns of mushrooms, which complicate detection, segmentation, and pose estimation. To address this, we introduce a synthetic dataset with 40,000 unique scenes of white <i>Agaricus bisporus</i> and brown baby bella mushrooms, capturing realistic variations in quantity, position, orientation, and growth stages. Our two-stage pose estimation pipeline combines 2D object detection and instance segmentation with a 3D point cloud-based pose estimation network using a Point Transformer. By employing a continuous 6D rotation representation and a geodesic loss, our method ensures precise rotation predictions. Experiments show that processing point clouds with 1024 points and the 6D Gram&ndash;Schmidt rotation representation yields optimal results, achieving an average rotational error of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>1.67</mn><mo>&deg;</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> on synthetic data, surpassing current state-of-the-art methods in mushroom pose estimation. The model, further, generalizes well to real-world data, attaining a mean angle difference of <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>3.68</mn><mo>&deg;</mo></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula> on a subset of the M18K dataset with ground-truth annotations. This approach aims to drive automation in harvesting, growth monitoring, and quality assessment in the mushroom industry
Investigating the Role of Gut Specific Relish Expression in Aging in Drosophila melanogaster
No full textThe gut microbiome, comprised of a diverse community of bacteria within the digestive tract, plays a vital role in maintaining an animal's health. However, as animals age, their microbiome makeup can fluctuate, leading to a state called "dysbiosis" which has previously been linked to a shorter lifespan. The immune system, particularly antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), plays a critical role in preserving gut microbiome homeostasis. In the fly Drosophila melanogaster, the transcription factor Relish regulates AMP production, and its expression in the fat body has previously been shown to impact lifespan. However, the effect of Relish expression within the gut remains unexplored. This study aims to examine whether modifying Relish expression in the gut leads to changes in the lifespan of D. melanogaster. To achieve this, we are utilizing two genetic approaches, CRISPR gene activation (CRISPRa) to increase Relish levels throughout gut cells through physiologically realistic expression and Gal4-UAS for targeted overexpression within gut cells, allowing for enhanced Relish levels restricted to the gut. In this ongoing study, Drosophila are being reared under controlled conditions with experimental groups subjected to Relish overexpression using the two approaches, alongside control groups with unaltered Relish expression. We will compare lifespans across these groups to assess if increased Relish in the gut impacts aging. By examining how gut specific AMP regulation by Relish influences longevity, we will gather more knowledge into the connection between immune response, gut microbiome health, and aging.Biology and Biochemistry, Department ofHonors Colleg
Addressing Healthcare Disparities Among the Homeless: Insights from a Student-Run Clinic in Houston, TX
No full text<b>Background:</b> Unhoused individuals face significant health disparities and encounter numerous barriers to accessing adequate healthcare, resulting in high rates of chronic disease, mental illness, and untreated conditions in Houston, TX. The purpose of this study was to identify prevalent health conditions within a sample of unhoused adults and to identify patterns in patient characteristics and clinical health outcomes. <b>Methods</b>: This study utilized clinical and demographic data from <i>n</i> = 191 patients who received care at a student-run clinic embedded within a homeless drop-in center in Houston, TX. Data included patient demographics, chief complaints, social determinants of health (SDOHs), past medical history, on-site diagnoses, and provider actions. <b>Results</b>: The most prevalent issues were housing insecurity (36.1%), cardiovascular conditions (38.7%), and substance use (17.8%). Nearly half of all patients (46.6%) declined treatment or left before receiving care. Significant associations were found between patient demographics and provider responses, including differences by gender and age in treatment type and diagnostic categorization. <b>Conclusions</b>: These findings underscore critical challenges in treatment adherence, diagnostic bias, and retention among unhoused populations. The study provides actionable recommendations for improving care coordination and continuity in low-barrier, student-run clinics serving medically underserved communities
Essays on Natural Disasters and Human Capital
No full textThe dissertation consists of two papers on natural disasters and human capital. In the first paper, I examine the long-term effects of early-life exposure to natural disasters on human capital during adulthood. It is the first to study this question considering the frequency and severity of multiple disaster events---a vital focus as climate change accelerates the occurrence and intensity of natural disasters in Asia. Based on ``the number of people affected per 100 population'', I categorize events as severe or non-severe and link about 500 natural disasters in India from the EM-DAT database with nationally representative data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS). I construct a sample of over 59,000 individuals aged 20 to 40 to explore the effects of disaster exposure from in utero to age 2 on educational attainment, health outcomes, and labor market participation. Exploiting geographical and temporal variations in disaster exposure through a difference-in-differences approach, the results reveal significant adverse effects of early-life disaster exposures on human capital, predominantly driven by severe disasters. Exposure to more severe disasters in early life lowers educational attainment for both men and women, and lower labor force participation in general and formal employment for men, while women exposed to severe disasters in early life display a lower incidence of long-term disease in adulthood. In the second paper, my co-authors and I estimate natural-disaster impacts on children's school enrollments and math skills and test for impact heterogeneities with respect to age and gender in seven countries in Asia and the Pacific, which is the world's most disaster-prone region. We link survey data on children aged 5 to 17 to time- and geo-coded disaster variables. We create time-varying disaster exposures for each child for the first 1,000 days from conception, the most recent years, and the time in between. The results based on all disaster events reveal significant negative effects of early-life natural disaster exposure on school enrollment and math skills. In contrast, disaster exposures during recent or mid-childhood periods show weaker or no effects. The adverse impacts of early-life exposure on enrollment persist through school-going ages, with age-specific patterns in enrollment and learning outcomes varying across countries. Boys’ enrollment is more negatively affected by early-life disaster exposure, while girls’ math scores are more adversely impacted. These effects also differ by the severity of the disaster events
Centering Black maternal health: The impact of doula care on reducing morbidity
No full textIn the United States, the maternal mortality rate for black birthing women is 3 to 4 times higher than their racial counterparts (Hailu et al., 2022). The specific population in question includes Black cisgender women between the ages of 18-40 years old who have suffered a severe maternal morbidity (SMM) event (Post et al., 2024). This inequity is significant because it highlights the persistent systemic and individual impact this disparity has on Black birthing people, which in turn highlights the anti-Black hierarchies existing within the United States (Burger et al., 2022). According to the research, doula care plays a critical role in promoting equity by fostering culturally respectful interactions and reducing disparities in how care is delivered to Black women (Mallick et al., 2022). Furthermore, consistent findings indicated that doula care throughout the maternity continuum was associated with significantly fewer interventions, such as cesarean births, and improved maternal satisfaction (Falconi et al., 2022).Nursing, Andy and Barbara Gessner College o
Project Mimic: Exploring Facial Mimicry in Parent-Infant Dynamics
No full textParental emotional cues significantly impact infant behavior and perception. Infants as young as three months show sensitivity to fearful facial expressions and by the end of their first year, they become more adept at recognizing angry or aggressive behaviors, particularly when their parents frequently display negative facial expressions. Despite existing research highlighting infants' early sensitivity to emotional facial expressions, the mechanisms guiding their perception and understanding of these cues remain unclear. Our study explored these processes by focusing on the moment-to-moment changes in the facial expressions of both the parent and the infant during their interactions. The current study employed head-mounted eye trackers to precisely capture the moments during which parent and infant look at each other's faces. It included data from 10 neurotypical infants (M = 6.8 months, SD = 2.19 months, 6 males) and their parents to address our questions. We recorded: (1) the infants' facial expressions throughout the play session, (2) parental facial expressions when the infant looked at the parent's face, and (3) whether or not their facial expressions were synchronized in time. Our preliminary findings suggest that the facial expressions of parents and infants exhibit a relationship that evolves as the infant grows older. Younger infants appear to display more generalized reactions to their parents' facial expressions, whereas older infants tend to exhibit more specific, synchronized responses. The findings provide insights into the early development of infants' emotional responses and regulation.Psychology, Department ofHonors Colleg
Cultural Influences on Diagnostic, Treatment, and Research Perceptions of Parents Raising Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Three-Article Dissertation
No full textBackground: Parents raising children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have many responsibilities, including advocating for their children’s needs, organizing their systems of care, and making decisions that best support their children’s development and the well-being of their family system. While researchers and practitioners have worked in tandem over decades to provide evidence-based services, there exists a longstanding gap in the access to and even quality of care delivered to families from marginalized backgrounds. Reducing disparities in ASD care requires concurrent attention to both research and practice approaches, yet much work is needed to realize this goal. Only by helping researchers and practitioners better understand socioeconomically, culturally, and linguistically diverse (SCLD) parents’ distinct experiences can disparities in ASD be addressed, and this was the overarching aim of the three-article dissertation. Purpose: The three studies examined how parents perceive (1) their children’s diagnosis and their ability to cope with raising children with complex needs; (2) recommended testing that may benefit their children’s treatment; and (3) research procedures that may encourage better representation of SCLD families in ASD research. Methods and Results: Article 1 used hierarchical linear regression analyses to explore whether parents’ sociodemographic variables predicted different perceptions of their children’s ASD diagnosis and family adjustment. Archival data from parents in North America raising children with ASD (N = 363) indicated that parents’ race and ethnicity, education level, and annual household income predicted their beliefs that they or treatment could be helpful in controlling their children’s ASD symptoms; their understanding of ASD; their experiences of emotional distress; their involvement in resources of support; and their families’ ability to manage stress. Article 2 used a separate archival dataset gathered from parents raising children with ASD (N = 290). Binomial logistic regression models suggested that parents were less likely to complete physician-recommended genetic testing when they believed their children’s ASD was caused by their own personal attributes (e.g., their own stress, behaviors, attitudes, etc.). Further, parents’ hopefulness about the utility of genetic testing increased when they observed more ASD symptoms. While it was not the main focus of the first two articles, the samples highlight an issue within the field of ASD research. While researchers have made recommendations to improve representation of SCLD populations in ASD research, none have solicited parent input on these processes. This gap contributes to SCLD families’ persistent underrepresentation in research and, ultimately, to the pervasive disparities in ASD care. With newly collected data from research naïve, SCLD parents raising children with ASD, Article 3 used thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews to illuminate how researchers may meet the needs and desires of parents who have not had the opportunity or desire to participate in ASD research. Results showed SCLD parents 1) view research as helpful, but poorly understood by them, in general; 2) are interested in research that benefits their children across settings and development; 3) have an altruistic posture toward research participation; 4) need incentives that provide practical support for them and their families; 5) experience logistical, social, and cultural barriers to research participation; and 6) are more likely to participate in research when multiple community-based recruitment strategies are used. Conclusion: Together, this three-article dissertation project examined how proxies for culture (i.e., sociodemographic variables) make a difference in parents’ perceptions for the ultimate benefit of increasing equity in ASD-related service delivery for affected children and families, especially those belonging to historically underserved and disenfranchised groups