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Representing Neurodivergent Children in Fiction
Get PDFSUMMER CALVERT (Psychology) Representing Neurodivergent Children in Fiction Sponsor: Kathleen Webster (Psychology) To recognize aspects of the self within the other is a goal universal to the human experience. The ability to relate to our peers grants us the dissuasion of insecurities or loneliness that might otherwise fester within our minds. Fictional characters and stories can have a similar effect on us. For this reason, the importance of neurodiverse representation in children’s books cannot be understated. When it comes to developmental disorders, many children may go undiagnosed until adolescence or even adulthood; this does not mean they aren’t struggling, or unaware that something about them distinguishes them from their peers. I wasn’t diagnosed with ADHD until I was 10, but I knew something about me was different well before that. Barring No, David!, a children’s book about a disruptive child, none of the reading material my young mind was exposed to ever really left me feeling seen. It’s my hope and belief that positive representation can help improve a child’s self-esteem and confidence. Stories that positively represent neurodivergent characters may also encourage acceptance and understanding of these children amongst their neurotypical peers. I made the decision to avoid assigning a particular disorder to my protagonist, as I’m aware that many children do not yet have diagnoses. I want kids to be able to see parts of themselves reflected in my protagonist’s behavior without having to define anything, especially because of the overlapping symptoms and high comorbidities of different developmental disorders. To prepare to write my story, I researched ADHD, autism, SPD, and dyslexia. I also reached out to multiple neurodivergent peers to interview them on their own childhoods, their relationship with their diagnoses, and to receive feedback on what I’d written. Additionally, I am illustrating this story myself, as I wanted to challenge my creative skills on another level
Saltwater intrusion into coastal aquifers in the contiguous United States — A systematic review of investigation approaches and monitoring networks
No full textSaltwater intrusion (SWI) into coastal aquifers is a growing problem for the drinking water supply of coastal communities worldwide, including for the sustainability of coastal ecosystems depending on freshwater inflow. The interface between freshwater and seawater in coastal aquifers is highly dynamic and is sensitive to changes in the hydraulic gradient between the sea- and groundwater levels. Sea level rise, storm surges, and drought are natural drivers changing the hydrostatic equilibrium between fresh- and saltwater. Coastal aquifers are further stressed by groundwater over-pumping because of the increasing needs of coastal populations. A systematic literature review and analysis of the current state of understanding the SWI drivers is presented, focusing on recent (1980 to 2020) investigations in the contiguous United States (CONUS). Results confirm that SWI is an active research area in CONUS. The drivers of SWI are increasingly better understood and quantified; however, the need for increased monitoring is also recognized. Our study shows that the number of monitoring sites have not increased significantly over the review period. Additionally, geophysical, and geochemical investigation techniques and numerical modeling tools are not utilized to their full potential, and data on SWI is not readily available from some sources. We conclude that there is a need for more SWI monitoring networks and closer multi-disciplinary collaboration, particularly between practitioners in the field and emerging modeling technique experts. Though we focus primarily on CONUS, our insights may be of value to the broader SWI research community and coastal water quality managers around the globe
Discerning (Dis)information: Teacher perceptions of critical media literacy
Get PDFCritical media literacy (CML) is vital for students to navigate the current proliferation of misinformation and disinformation. Despite what is known about the influence of teacher beliefs on classroom practice, little research to date has looked at what teachers perceive about the importance of CML. The researchers administered a survey to teachers throughout the U.S. (N = 362) on their perceptions of the importance of teaching CML as part of their instruction. Using quantitative methods, the researchers found CML as the primary factor underlying the survey data and a strong awareness of the importance of teaching CML to students. While years of teaching experience, subject areas, being a primary, elementary, or middle school teacher, geographic area, and being politically conservative or progressive were not significant predictors of CML factor scores, three covariates showed significant differences gender, educational level, and being a high school teacher. Implications for teacher education programs and professional learning initiatives and other suggestions for improvement are included in the discussion
Computing Individual Area per Head Group Reveals Lipid Bilayer Dynamics
Get PDFLipid bilayers express a range of phases from solid-like to gel-like to liquid-like as a function of temperature and lipid surface concentration. The area occupied per lipid head group serves as one useful indicator of the bilayer phase, in conjunction with the two-dimensional radial distribution function (i.e., structure factor) within the bilayer. Typically, the area per head group is determined by dividing the bilayer area equally among all head groups. Such an approach is less satisfactory for a multicomponent set of diverse lipids. In this work, area determination is performed on a lipid-by-lipid basis by attributing to a lipid the volume that surrounds each atom. Voronoi tessellation provides this division of the interfacial region on a per-atom basis. The method is applied to a multicomponent system of water, NaCl, and 19 phospholipid types that was devised recently [Langmuir 2022, 38, 9481–9499] as a computational representation of the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus phospholipid bilayer. Results demonstrate that lipids and water molecules occupy similar extents of area within the interfacial region; ascribing area only to head groups implicitly incorporates assumptions about head group hydration. Results further show that lipid tails provide non-negligible contributions to area on the membrane side of the bilayer–water interface. Results for minimum and maximum area of individual lipids reveal that spontaneous fluctuations displace head groups more than 10 Å from the interfacial region during an NPT simulation at 310 K, leading to a zero contribution to total area at some times. Total area fluctuations and fluctuations per individual lipid relax with a correlation time of ∼10 ns. The method complements density profile as an approach to quantify the structure and dynamics of computational lipid bilayers
Sex Differences in Metabolic Indices and Chronic Neuroinflammation in Response to Prolonged High-Fat Diet in ApoE4 Knock-In Mice
Get PDFLate-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) likely results from combinations of risk factors that include both genetic predisposition and modifiable lifestyle factors. The E4 allele of apolipoprotein E (ApoE) is the most significant genetic risk factor for LOAD. A Western-pattern diet (WD) has been shown to strongly increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, conditions which have been strongly linked to an increased risk for developing AD. Little is known about how the WD may contribute to, or enhance, the increased risk presented by possession of the ApoE4 allele. To model this interaction over the course of a lifetime, we exposed male and female homozygote ApoE4 knock-in mice and wild-type controls to nine months of a high-fat WD or standard chow diet. At eleven months of age, the mice were tested for glucose tolerance and then for general activity and spatial learning and memory. Postmortem analysis of liver function and neuroinflammation in the brain was also assessed. Our results suggest that behavior impairments resulted from the convergence of interacting metabolic alterations, made worse in a male ApoE4 mice group who also showed liver dysfunction, leading to a higher level of inflammatory cytokines in the brain. Interestingly, female ApoE4 mice on a WD revealed impairments in spatial learning and memory without the observed liver dysfunction or increase in inflammatory markers in the brain. These results suggest multiple direct and indirect pathways through which ApoE and diet-related factors interact. The striking sex difference in markers of chronic neuroinflammation in male ApoE4 mice fed the high-fat WD suggests a specific mechanism of interaction conferring significant enhanced LOAD risk for humans with the ApoE4 allele, which may differ between sexes. Additionally, our results suggest researchers exercise caution when designing and interpreting results of experiments employing a WD, being careful not to assume a WD impacts both sexes by the same mechanisms
Central American Parents’ Preferences for Content and Modality for a Family-Centered Intervention to Promote Healthful Energy Balance-Related Behaviors of Their Preschool-Age Children
Get PDFThis formative research used a cross-sectional survey to assess interest in informational content and intervention modalities for the design of an early childhood obesity prevention intervention for Central American families from the Northern Triangle countries (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) living in the United States. A total of 74 parents (36 mothers, 38 fathers) with a mean age of 31.6 years (SD = 5.6) completed the survey; 59.5% of whom were born outside of the United States. Although most parents reported being very interested in receiving information related to the seven assessed energy balance-related behaviors, there were significant differences by parents’ gender and nativity. Most parents endorsed remote modalities for content delivery via text/SMS, WhatsApp, and e-mail. However, respondents were also receptive to in-person delivery provided by community health workers. There were also significant differences in parents’ preferences for intervention modalities by parents’ gender and nativity. Future steps should include investigating different intervention modalities and their integration into a linguistic and culturally sensitive family-based intervention to promote healthful energy balance-related behaviors of preschool-age children in Central American families originating from the Northern Triangle countrie