Duquesne University

We investigated an analytical method based on dynamic imaging analysis (DIA) for monitoring cellular apoptosis, viability, and cell density. Trypan blue and flow cytometry were used as reference methods. The DIA method showed results comparable to the traditional methods, with clear advantages (label‐free and in‐line real‐time monitoring capability). The DIA method successfully traced the trajectory of cell death progress, detecting the onset of apoptosis earlier than the other methods.

Purpose In the context of stuttering, anticipation refers to the sensation that one may soon stutter. Although anticipation is widely reported, much is still unknown about how the phenomenon develops and how people respond to it as they live their lives. To address these gaps, this study specified the relationship between repetitive negative thinking (RNT), anticipation, and anticipation responses. This study also determined whether individual differences in a person's goal when speaking (i.e., speaking fluently or not stuttering vs. stuttering openly) predicted the different ways people respond to anticipation. Method Five hundred and ten stutterers (427 adults who stutter, ages 18–86 years, and 83 adolescents who stutter, ages 10–18 years) answered questions about anticipation, their responses to anticipation, how frequently they engage in RNT, and what their goals when speaking are. Results Exploratory factor analysis revealed that responses to anticipation can be described in terms of two factors: avoidance and acceptance. Avoidance responses to anticipation were more common than acceptance in both groups. Adults and adolescents were more likely to experience anticipation and respond with avoidance behaviors if they more frequently engage in RNT or less often have the goal when speaking of openly stuttering. Data also supported and extended evidence that anticipation is commonly experienced in adolescents and adults who stutter. Discussion Findings extend the understanding of how anticipation and anticipation responses may develop based on an individuals' engagement with RNT and goals when speaking. The relationship between RNT and anticipation underscores the need for future investigations focusing on preventing the development of negative responses to anticipation via holistic therapy. Supplemental Material https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.28635719

Games are a powerful tool for learning, offering unique benefits for student engagement, particularly when addressing complex or challenging topics. The general public’s understanding of how vaccines are made is limited and the general public is unaware of the comprehensive research, development, and safety measures that are inherent in vaccine development. As such, we created a new educational game to address this knowledge gap. This case study examines the development process of an educational board game designed to enhance public understanding of vaccine development. The game, titled N.O.V.E.L.—Newly Observed Variant of Extreme Lethality, was created using a modified Backward Design methodology to align gameplay with specific educational standards and learning objectives. Designed for 2–4 players aged 10 and up, the cooperative game challenges participants to conceptually research a novel pathogen, develop an effective vaccine prototype, conduct animal testing and clinical trials, and distribute the vaccine—all while managing the spread of the disease. This case study details the iterative design process, including research and consultation with vaccine development experts, game prototyping, playtesting, refinement, and production. A key focus was balancing educational content with engaging gameplay mechanics to ensure both learning effectiveness and player enjoyment. Additional considerations such as original art, graphic design, teacher resources, alignment to educational standards, and animated videos were integrated to support accessibility and engagement in a classroom setting. The findings from this development process highlight best practices for designing educational board games and offer insights into how game-based learning can be used to communicate complex scientific concepts. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s44217-025-00472-z.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) play a vital role in limiting inflammation and resolving the immune response after a viral infection. Within the central nervous system (CNS), Tregs are especially important for the protection of neurons, which have limited regenerative capacity, and the preservation of myelin sheaths, which support neuronal function and survival. Nevertheless, viral infections of the CNS often result in enduring neurological dysfunction, especially in more vulnerable age groups such as newborns and the elderly. Although it is appreciated that Treg activity changes with age, it is unclear how these age‐dependent changes impact viral CNS infections. In this review, we explore Treg development over the life of the host and discuss evidence for age‐dependent Treg responses to peripheral viral infections. We also discuss the CNS‐specific roles of Tregs, where both immunomodulatory and neuroprotective functions can contribute to preservation of brain cells. Finally, we examine the current evidence for Treg activity in neurotropic infections in the context of age, and highlight gaps in our understanding of Treg function in younger and older hosts. Overall, a better understanding of age‐dependent Treg activity in the CNS may reveal opportunities for therapeutic interventions tailored to the most vulnerable ages.

Purpose of Review Autism was initially recognized by Eugen Bleuler as an indicator of Schizophrenia. Since then, Schizophrenia and Autism spectrum disorder have existed as two different disorders with their own clinical profiles. Despite their individual existence, more than a quarter of those diagnosed with ASD are at higher risk of a schizophrenia diagnosis. There is an even greater likelihood for the reverse with more than half of the SSD population at risk of an ASD diagnosis. The overlapping of the two disorders warrants further investigation to better understand the risks and a chance to enhance the capabilities of early identification in the vulnerable ASD population. Recent Findings The research that was reviewed indicates improved detection capabilities using biomarkers. Summary Autism and Schizophrenia are recognized as two distinct diagnoses. Further understanding of the similarities between the two could better equip clinicians to detect and treat early signs of psychosis. Those treated early have a greater chance of a healthy outcome.

This paper attempts to elucidate Erich Fromm’s theory of authority, its implications for human development and by extension, the psychological dynamics that underlie authoritarianism on the Left today. However, readers unfamiliar with my previous work should note that the argument I present is not intended to suggest that the Left is completely riddled with authoritarianism.

Student participation in science discourse requires multiple levels of support through tools such as curricular materials, as well as teacher talk. The actions of the teacher can provide opportunities for students to engage in disciplinary science talk. The norms associated with this talk can be used to define what students sound like when engaged in authentic science talk. However, often talk moves are employed in service of in-the-moment tasks rather than development of disciplinary talk norms. For this study, we focused on the Ambitious Science Teaching–based teacher talk engaged in by two middle school science teachers to support student sensemaking regarding a phenomenon-based science unit with embedded data visualization and simulation software over the course of a 2-week teaching unit. This descriptive case study identifies how differences in the purpose of questioning impacts the patterns of teacher talk regarding establishing norms in support of the norms of progressive discourse. These cases demonstrate two teachers with aligned philosophies, basic skills, and education in Ambitious teacher talk. However, one uses these talk moves to drive activity level sensemaking while the other utilizes talk moves to develop classroom talk norms that reflect the characteristics of progressive discourse. Being responsive to student talk, and being purposeful in organizing patterns of moves, requires being thoughtful of the purposes of specific talk moves, as well as the overall goal of the conversation. Results indicate that teachers should be supported in developing an understanding of the larger patterns of teacher talk to support progressive discourse norm building.

Synopsis Host-associated microbial communities impact the brain and behavior through the microbiota–gut–brain (MGB) axis. Most studies of the gut microbiota use mammals in biomedical contexts; much less is known regarding wildlife species. We used larval amphibians to study the impact of the aquatic microbial environment on the gut and skin microbiota, brain, and antipredator behavior. We raised Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens) tadpoles in pond water that was autoclaved or not autoclaved (natural); other studies show that these treatments produce variation in the tadpole gut microbiota. Tadpoles were also raised in the presence of stressors: predation-derived chemical cues and corticosterone. Compared to tadpoles raised in natural pond water, tadpoles raised in autoclaved pond water had altered gut and skin microbial communities, body size, brain size, brain shape, and behavioral responses to alarm pheromones. There was no effect of microbial environment or stressors on differential gene expression of the whole brain. The gut microbiota, but not the skin microbiota, was a significant predictor of behavioral endpoints. We found surprisingly few impacts of stressors on the tadpoles, although stressor treatments interacted with pond water treatments to influence the composition of the gut microbiota. Our findings demonstrate that tadpole behavior is modulated by the aquatic microbial community experienced during development in ways that are likely to affect survival.

Facial expression is a key component of primate communication, and primates (including humans) have a complex system of facial musculature underpinning this behavior. Human facial musculature is highly variable across individuals, but to date, whether other primate species exhibit a similar level of inter‐individual variation is unknown. Whether individual‐level variation in facial musculature covaries with significant differences in facial movement within the same individual is also unknown. Here, we use facial dissection data from 31 adult rhesus macaques, the largest sample to date, to quantify inter‐individual variation in facial muscle presence. We used a subsample of eight individuals to measure covariation between facial muscle presence and the presence of external facial movements (action units in the Facial Action Coding System, or FACS). We found, in contrast to humans, limited inter‐individual variation in muscle presence, but the zygomatic region exhibited more gross anatomical variation in muscle presence and morphology than any other region of the macaque face. We also found a good correspondence between facial muscle presence and the presence of the associated action units. Our results indicate that the observed variation in rhesus macaque facial expressivity is not likely driven primarily by variation in facial muscle presence but may instead be due to other factors such as learned behavior and/or physiological differences. These findings provide insight into the anatomical basis of inter‐individual variation in facial behavior in primates and suggest potential differences in variation between humans and other primate species.

Scientific associations exist to serve their members and advance their science. They also provide a platform for scientists to communicate their science and engage with the public, such as hosting free resources on their web pages and organizing outreach activities with local communities. Historically, scientific associations were often internally focused. Despite the common stereotype of exclusive clubs of gentleman naturalists, there are numerous examples since the 17th century of scientific associations encouraging public engagement. This became increasingly common, and throughout the last several decades, scientific associations like the American Association for Anatomy (AAA) have been working to make changes in how science, scientists, and the public work together to produce the best scientific outcomes. This viewpoint defines different levels of relationships between the scientist and the public and how they affect outcomes related to the public's trust in science and scientists. It then provides a historical perspective on how associations have contributed to the communication of science. Lastly, it discusses the role of associations in science communication and public engagement and whether it is important for associations and why. It concludes with examples of the strategic programs of AAA that demonstrate how scientific associations can support public engagement, resulting in benefits to the public, scientists, and the anatomical sciences.

Background/rationale Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is a chronic, progressive disease of unknown origin. Establishing the epidemiology of IPF has been challenging due to diagnostic complexity, poor survival, low prevalence, and heterogeneity of ascertainment methodologies. Objectives This research aimed to estimate the rates of IPF in central and western Pennsylvania and to pilot the use of capture recapture (CR) methods to estimate the disease incidence. Methods We identified adults ≥ 30 years old diagnosed with IPF (by ICD-9/10 coding) between 2013 to 2021 from two health systems (UPMC Health System and Penn State Health) participating in the PaTH Clinical Research Network. We extracted information on patients’ sex, race, date of birth and 3-digit zip code from electronic health records (EHR). Incidence rate of IPF among Pennsylvania residents was calculated using three case definitions (broad and two restricted) and piloted the use of CR in estimating IPF incidence. Results IPF incidence rates were 8.42, 6.95 and 4.4 per 100,000 person-years for the unrestricted (n = 3148), partially restricted (n = 2598) and fully restricted (n = 1661) samples, respectively. Low case overlap between two sites resulted in a highly inflated estimate of IPF incidence, using the CR methodology. Conclusions The rate of IPF in central and western Pennsylvania was similar to previously published statistics. The application of CR to IPF epidemiology could be further investigated in health systems with greater overlap of patients utilizing more than one system.

Objective This study evaluates Black and AIAN individuals’ self-reported history of being screened for firearm access by healthcare providers, and identifies factors that influence screening. Methods A cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of included 3015 Black and 527 AIAN adults in the US. Participants were recruited via probability-based sampling. Results Among Black participants, 13.1% and among AIAN participants, 18.4% reported being screened for firearm access. Of the participants who reported being screened, most have been by mental healthcare providers or primary care physicians. Factors associated with higher screening odds in Black adults included history of suicidal ideation or mental health treatment, current firearm access, younger age, and having children at home. For AIAN participants, a lifetime history of mental health treatment or identifying as female increased screening odds. Conclusion Black adults report infrequently being screened for firearm access by healthcare providers. Identifying screening barriers and fostering discussions on firearm safety in healthcare settings are important next steps for firearm injury prevention efforts.