Several studies have investigated surgical residents' perceptions of family planning, and many have investigated medical students' perceptions of surgical specialties; however, there is limited ...research on medical students' perceptions of the impact of family planning on the decision to pursue surgical training. This study aims to investigate male and female medical students’ perceptions of family planning in residency.
A survey was distributed to all medical students at a single medical school in the Midwest between February 2023 and June 2023. The survey was adapted from a prior study investigating resident perceptions of family planning. It included questions about parental leave, having children, and perceived barriers to family planning.
One hundred students completed surveys. Seventy-four (74%) respondents identified as female and 57 (57%) were interested in surgery. Approximately half (55, 55%) of the respondents were strongly or definitely considering having children during residency. However, only eight (8%) students were aware of policies applicable to having children during residency. A majority (85, 85%) felt the decision to pursue surgical residency would prevent or delay having children at their preferred time. Most students felt they would be negatively perceived by peers (62, 62%) and faculty (87, 87%) if they had children during training. The highest perceived barriers to having children during training were work-time demands, childcare barriers, and time away from training.
Both men and women are interested in having children during residency but are unaware of the relevant parental leave policies and are concerned about how training will be impacted by taking time away or a lack of flexibility. Without transparency and flexibility in surgical residency, both men and women may forgo having children during training or choose a specialty they perceive to be more conducive to childbearing.
Abstract
Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disease caused by deletions or mutations in survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1). The molecular mechanisms underlying motor neuron degeneration in ...SMA remain elusive, as global cellular dysfunction obscures the identification and characterization of disease-relevant pathways and potential therapeutic targets. Recent reports have implicated microRNA (miRNA) dysregulation as a potential contributor to the pathological mechanism in SMA. To characterize miRNAs that are differentially regulated in SMA, we profiled miRNA levels in SMA induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived motor neurons. From this array, miR-23a downregulation was identified selectively in SMA motor neurons, consistent with previous reports where miR-23a functioned in neuroprotective and muscle atrophy-antagonizing roles. Reintroduction of miR-23a expression in SMA patient iPSC-derived motor neurons protected against degeneration, suggesting a potential miR-23a-specific disease-modifying effect. To assess this activity in vivo, miR-23a was expressed using a self-complementary adeno-associated virus serotype 9 (scAAV9) viral vector in the Smn2B/− SMA mouse model. scAAV9-miR-23a significantly reduced the pathology in SMA mice, including increased motor neuron size, reduced neuromuscular junction pathology, increased muscle fiber area, and extended survival. These experiments demonstrate that miR-23a is a novel protective modifier of SMA, warranting further characterization of miRNA dysfunction in SMA.
Harriotta avia
sp. nov., a new species of long-nose chimaera (Holocephali: Chimaeriformes: Rhinochimaeridae), is described from specimens collected off New Zealand in the Southwest Pacific Ocean. The ...species is distinguished from its congeners by a combination of the following characters: elongated, narrow and depressed snout up to 56% BDL; long, slender trunk; beak-like vomerine tooth plate; large eye, length 8–12% BDL and height 5–7% BDL; long dorsal spine reaching slightly beyond apex of the dorsal fin; and slender rod-like pelvic claspers. The skin is deciduous, and uniform chocolate brown when intact.
Harriotta avia
sp. nov. is also distinguished from other
Harriotta
species based on DNA sequence divergence of the NADH2 gene.
Harriotta avia
sp. nov. is reported from the New Zealand-Australian region. Conclusions here show that
Harriotta raleighana
, a presumed globally distributed species, likely comprises several species and the genus
Harriotta
warrants a revision with specimens representing all ocean basins.
Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) have impairments in their language-learning abilities that may influence interactions with environmental opportunities to learn two languages. This ...study explores relationships between proficiency in L1 and L2 and a set of environmental and personal variables within a group of school-age Spanish–English bilingual children with DLD and a group of typically-developing peers. Within each group, current usage in the home, length of L2 exposure, gender, maternal education, analytical reasoning, and number of L1 conversational partners were used to predict proficiency in each language. Results showed that home language environment, particularly home L2 usage, strongly predicted L1 proficiency but had less influence on the L2. Female gender predicted L1 skills in both groups, whereas analytical reasoning predicted both L1 and L2 but only for children with DLD. This study expands the limited literature on how children with DLD interact with their environment to learn two languages.
CRK adaptor proteins are important for signal transduction mechanisms driving cell proliferation and positioning during vertebrate central nervous system development. Zebrafish lacking both CRK ...family members exhibit small, disorganized retinas with 50% penetrance. The goal of this study was to determine whether another adaptor protein might functionally compensate for the loss of CRK adaptors. Expression patterns in developing zebrafish, and bioinformatic analyses of the motifs recognized by their SH2 and SH3 domains, suggest NCK adaptors are well‐positioned to compensate for loss of CRK adaptors. In support of this hypothesis, proteomic analyses found CRK and NCK adaptors share overlapping interacting partners including known regulators of cell adhesion and migration, suggesting their functional intersection in neurodevelopment.
This study finds CRK and NCK adaptors overlap in their neuronal expression during zebrafish development. It also finds CRK and NCK adaptors share common SH2 and SH3 binding partners from a neuronal cell line. Common binding partners include proteins critical for cell motility and adhesion. Together, these data suggest CRK and NCK adaptors can play overlapping roles in neurodevelopment.
As a group, we met to discuss the current challenges for creating meaningful patient-specific in vitro models to study brain disorders. Although the convergence of findings between laboratories and ...patient cohorts provided us confidence and optimism that hiPSC-based platforms will inform future drug discovery efforts, a number of critical technical challenges remain. This opinion piece outlines our collective views on the current state of hiPSC-based disease modeling and discusses what we see to be the critical objectives that must be addressed collectively as a field.
•A key limitation of the field is difficulty in accurately defining cell state•Next step will be building complexity by achieving network and circuit structures•Epigenetic factors and somatic mosaicism in iPS cells may contribute to disease•A critical advance will be improving scalability and reproducibility of assays
As a group, we met to discuss the current challenges for creating meaningful patient-specific in vitro models to study brain disorders. Although the convergence of findings between laboratories and patient cohorts provided us confidence and optimism that hiPSC-based platforms will inform future drug discovery efforts, a number of critical technical challenges remain. This opinion piece outlines our collective views on the current state of hiPSC-based disease modeling and discusses what we see to be the critical objectives that must be addressed collectively as a field.
Two juvenile specimens of a new species of Oreaster were collected at Parque Nacional Arrecife Alacranes and Triángulos Oeste in the southern Gulf of Mexico. DNA of mitochondrial loci identifies them ...as members of the same clade as cloning larvae of Oreaster found abundantly in waters of the Florida Current-Gulf Stream system, and distinct from Oreaster clavatus and Oreaster reticulatus, the two known Oreasteridae species in the North Atlantic. Larvae from the new species of Oreaster persist as clones but also metamorphose and settle to the benthos with typical asteroid morphology.
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