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Latinos in Massachusetts Selected Areas: Milford
Get PDFThis is a publication of the Mauricio Gastón Institute for Latino Community Development and Public Policy
Youth Program FY2024 Evaluation Report December 2024
Get PDFThe Youth Conflict Resolution & Restorative Practices Program (Youth Program or Program), administered by the Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC) in collaboration with 10 community mediation centers (Centers), aims to reduce youth conflict and/or violence through a social and emotional learning (SEL) and positive youth development framework. This approach leverages mediation and restorative practices to equip youth with essential SEL skills and improve school climate. This FY2024 program evaluation report assesses the Youth Program’s effectiveness across multiple domains, including school climate, student SEL competencies, engagement/awareness, training, and resources
A Comprehensive Validation of Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Screening Profiles in a Large Urban District
Get PDFDemand for mental health services and social-emotional support, particularly post COVID-19, remains high. However, many students, especially from marginalized backgrounds, lack timely access. Accordingly, proactive approaches such as universal screening for students’ social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) functioning are crucial. Despite its potential benefits, universal screening is often underutilized due to various factors, including lack of access to quality instruments or inadequate resources for tiered support systems. Furthermore, common methods of utilizing screening data such as cut-points may not capture students’ multifaceted needs and, therefore, lack treatment utility. Using teacher ratings on the BIMAS-2 for 7,029 students within a diverse, urban school district, this study built upon previous work by this author by examining how students cluster based on their unique constellations of social-emotional and behavioral (SEB) needs within three different developmental stages at two timepoints spanning a full calendar year. Latent profile analyses were run to establish profile configurations for kindergarten-2nd, 3rd-5th grade, and 6th-8th grade students and latent transition analyses were conducted to assess the stability of SEB profiles over time. Additionally, the relationship between profile membership, demographic characteristics, and academic and behavioral outcomes were examined to better understand the practical implications of classifying students into profiles. Latent profile analyses resulted in profile sets containing four profiles for each grade band. All solutions included groupings ordered by their level of risk across all indicators including groups with relatively low risk (“Well-Adjusted” and “Average Risk”), moderate risk (“Borderline Risk”), and high risk (“Pervasive Risk”) suggesting that students SEB needs, as measured by the BIMAS-2, are often similar across subscales. The exception to this pattern was the “Internalizing Risk” profile within the 6th-8th grade sample, which aligns with prior research reflecting increasing prevalence of internalizing symptoms starting in pre-adolescence. Profile stability varied, with the “Well-Adjusted” profile demonstrating the most stability. Demographic analyses revealed disproportionately higher numbers of male, economically disadvantaged, and Black students within higher-risk profiles. Last, profile classification improved predictive power for suspensions but not testing data, suggesting the importance of early and comprehensive behavioral intervention in response to elevated BIMAS-2 teacher ratings. Additionally, notable racial/ethnic disproportionality in profile membership underscores the importance of simultaneously addressing school climate variables contributing to disproportionality and critically examining the cultural relevance of SEB interventions. Future research should include high school samples, broader gender and sexual identity variables, and outcome data more directly related to mental health
The Effects of IL-4/IL-13 on Fibrotic Persistance in Primary Human Prostate Fibroblasts
No full textLower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD) is a persistent disease that leaves patients to face harsh symptoms such as urinary voiding dysfunction, frequent Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs), and can even progress to renal failure (Bushman et al. 2016). Our lab has discovered that prostate fibrosis contributes to LUTD, which offers a new avenue of treatment. Myofibroblasts and activated fibroblasts, major agents of fibrosis, are resistant to apoptosis, and instead persist, accumulate, and promote pathological deposition of ECM. Previous work has shown that the IL-4/IL-13 signaling axis promotes prostate fibrosis. IL-4, which is abundant in the aging prostate microenvironment, prevents apoptosis in Th2 macrophages. IL-4 has also been shown to promote fibroblast migration and proliferation in different cell lines. IL-4 and IL-13 signal transduction occurs through a shared axis, suggesting that both interleukins may play key roles in resistance to apoptosis, migration, and proliferation. We hypothesized that the IL-4/IL-13 axis may repress myo/activated fibroblast apoptosis, thereby contributing to lower urinary tract dysfunction (LUTD). In brief, a series of experiments determined that IL-4 repressed apoptosis in primary human prostate fibroblasts (pHPFs) treated with the pro-apoptotic cocktail TRIO. Fibroblasts treated with vehicle or IL-4 exhibited no caspase cleavage, low levels of cell death, and decreased FADD expression. When treated with TRIO, cells exhibited high levels of cell death and caspase cleavage/activation compared to non-TRIO treated cells. Cells pre-treated with IL-4 followed by TRIO showed significantly less caspase 3 and caspase 8 cleavage/activation and reduced levels of cell death. IL-4 also significantly upregulated the migration of pHPFs. IL-4 and IL-13 slightly increased pHPF proliferation. Future research will aim to elucidate how IL-4 is modulating FADD with the intent of inhibiting this mechanism to prevent fibroblast persistence and LUTD
You Can Do Math: The Development of Black and Latinx Student Math Identity Though Inclusive Pedagogical Practices in Community Colleges
No full textThis dissertation explores the math identity development of Black and Latinx students who are taking developmental math classes in a community college setting. The study delves deep into the incorporation of inclusive pedagogical practices in the classroom. Placing emphasis on the successes of the students, the research is based on Martin’s (2000) Mathematical Identity Framework and guided by the lens of Harper’s (2010) Anti-Deficit Framework. Although both students and faculty members were interviewed using narrative inquiry as methodological approach, this qualitative study centers around the Black and Latinx student as the unit of analysis. The study took place in two community college sites where professors included the components of Dewsbury’s (2020) Deep Teaching Model while interacting with students in the classroom. Stereotype threat and math anxiety served as sensitizing concepts in the study and findings depict how these conditions affect Black and Latinx students learning math. Student narratives also describe how classroom experiences shape students’ ability to see themselves as math learners. Furthermore, students reflected on how these experiences led them to developing their beliefs around being a part of the math community. Finally, growth mindset, as exhibited by both the faculty members and student participants, played a significant role in the development of math identities. The results of the study offer suggestions to educators and policymakers on how to help students facing barriers learning math strengthen their math identities and their sense of belonging in math classes
Governing AI: Creation of Norms and Delegation of Authority
Get PDFIn about 75 years since the conceptual and theoretical foundations were laid out, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has evolved from pure imagination to reality. AI technologies bring with them positive and negative changes, and as a result, it became one of the pressing issues of global governance talking points, seeking to balance between its dual nature and accordingly, attempting to [re]organize human affairs through new policies and frameworks. These policies and frameworks are indications of an AI governance architecture ‘in-the-making’, and of emerging patterns of behavior that would define and determine ways to develop and deploy this technology for the years to come. On the other hand, these also indicate efforts of [re]arranging power and authority that would dictate directions of development and deployment of this technology. In this study I examine these documents to accomplish two tasks: first, I identify the emerging AI governance norms and second, I examine how are the authority delegated among state and non-state actors to perform those AI governance functions. Using von. Wright’s norm analysis framework, I have identified five AI governance norms emerging namely – the norms of ‘AI-fication’, ‘datafication’, ‘trustworthiness’, ‘anthropocentrism’, and the norms of ‘enviro-centrism’. These five norms lay the foundation for current or future AI governance architecture. The emergence of the AI governance norms suggests co-constitutive processes and mechanisms of norm emergence. Particularly, the nature and characteristics of AI technologies generated tensions between the existing normative architecture and the actors’ strategic preferences to make the deployment and development of AI at scale feasible. Resolution of this tension, however, is being done using two techniques in the case of AI governance norms: one is the strategic framing, and the second is the contextualized [re]interpretation of the norms of ‘privacy’ and ‘individual liberty’ in the context of AI development and deployment that lay the foundation for the emergence of new norms – ‘datafication’ and ‘trustworthiness’. Overall, the delegation of governance authority among states and non-state actors indicates shifting power away from states at various degrees and new [re]organization of governance structure in the case of global AI governance. Particularly, I find in this study that - 1) states are likely to exercise authority in governance functions with national security ramifications; 2) states share governance authority with private actors in governance functions in which states seems to have less expertise, knowledge, and resources; 3) states seemingly delegate authority exclusively to non-state actors, particularly to the International Organizations and civil society groups, to govern over issues of human rights
I Feel Like We\u27re All in a Dark Cave Together : A Hermeneutic Phenomenology of Queer College Student Experiences During the Covid-19 Pandemic
Get PDFThis phenomenological qualitative study explored the lived experiences of queer undergraduate students as they interpreted and navigated various forms of support during the COVID-19 pandemic and associated social distancing measures. The global pandemic prompted institutions of higher education to transition to remote learning, disrupting traditional campus life and support systems. Queer students faced distinct challenges, including unsupportive home environments, limited access to resources, and heightened mental health stressors. Drawing on hermeneutic phenomenology, this study employed semi-structured interviews to gain comprehensive insights into participants\u27 meaning-making around support mechanisms during this unprecedented time. The theoretical frameworks of minority stress theory and queer theory guided the analysis, illuminating how systemic oppression and heteronormativity shaped participants\u27 realities. Five overarching themes emerged: mental health, community connection, university experiences, identity (non)disclosure and privacy, and identity development and representation. This study contributes to understanding how marginalized students navigated disruptions to established systems of support, advocating for more inclusive practices in higher education. The findings have implications for developing targeted resources and fostering equitable learning environments for queer students, particularly during periods of crisis
Hit-to-Lead Optimization of Small Molecule Adjuvants for Vaccine Formulation
No full textEfficient and effective vaccine formulation requires prioritizing adjuvant discovery, design, and optimization. The emergence of recent epidemics and pandemics has underscored the pressing need for novel adjuvants. These agents serve as immunomodulators capable of eliciting and sustaining effective immune responses, thereby reducing the dosage and dose frequency of antigen-specific immunizations. Creating a library of adjuvants that trigger specific immunoreceptors will enable the development of customized vaccines that elicit a targeted immune response. Small molecule adjuvants (SMAs) have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of immune-response receptors\u27 structure and signaling mechanisms. Although there are many types of SMAs available, including inorganic aluminum salts, monophosphorylated lipids, oligodeoxynucleotides, natural products, and synthesized drug-like molecules, only a few have been approved for use in humans. Nevertheless, SMAs continue to offer great potential for the development of novel and effective therapies for a wide range of diseases. Advanced medicinal chemistry tools, including structure-activity relationship (SAR) and pharmacokinetic analyses, integrated with computational molecular modeling and green chemistry principles, are utilized to define, optimize, and synthesize, in collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital part of the Precision Vaccine Program (PVP), the toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) dependent PVP-057 and the stimulator of interferon genes (STING) dependent PVP-098 into ‘Lead\u27 adjuvant candidates. We established well-defined workflows to develop effective strategies for identifying promising candidates. These workflows provide a structured framework for evaluating and prioritizing different compounds based on specific criteria, such as their adjuvanticity effect, synthetic efficiency, and mechanism of action. By following these workflows, we minimize the risk of overlooking important candidates and ensure we make informed decisions based on the available data. Moreover, we focus on designing a green synthetic route to cut down on production costs and waste. This involves the use of readily available materials and schematic designs that are not only cost-effective but also have a reduced environmental impact. With this approach, we developed novel, effective, and efficient ‘Hit’ PVP-057 and -098 into ‘Lead’ candidate SMAs. These adjuvants show potential in Varicella zoster virus (VZV) and Sars-CoV-2 (Covid-19) vaccine formulations, respectively. By continuing to push the boundaries of SMA discovery, we safeguard the health of communities around the world and make a positive impact on the future of public health