Rider University

Addressing the complex and evolving needs of individuals with autism requires more than incremental improvement; it demands a rethinkingof how care systems are designed, delivered, and evaluated, and how we educate the health workforce. While existing clinical guidelines and resources provide valuable foundations, they often remain fragmented and may not fully reflect the diversity of the populations they serve. This paper presents a critical analysis of existing global autism care frameworks, highlighting gaps that particularly impact underserved populations, especially in low-and middle-income settings. While many guidelines emphasize early diagnosis and evidence-based therapies, they frequently overlook essential areas such as trauma-informed care, sexual health, caregiver support, transitions across the lifespan, and more. This paper offers a fresh, equity-driven perspective and proposes actionable, context-sensitive strategies to reimagine autism care. For mental health and social care professionals and trainees, including primary care providers and other healthcare practitioners, as well as those supporting individuals with autism in public health and social care settings, this paper highlights key challenges and outlines practical solutions. A full set of detailed recommendations is presented in our comprehensive report.

This study investigates the causes of mathematics anxiety, its effect on mathematical performance, and the influence of field placement among preservice teachers enrolled in a field-based elementary mathematics methods course. To investigate this, the study utilized four tools: the Abbreviated Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale (A-MARS), concept maps, Praxis Core test score, and questionnaires. The quantitative analysis indicates a negative correlation between anxiety and math performance. The analysis of concept maps and questionnaires indicate that key contributors to math anxiety include pop-up quizzes, tests, exams, memorization of mathematical ideas, and past negative experiences with school mathematics. The qualitative data analysis revealed that reduced mathematics anxiety during field placements was primarily due to practical teaching experience, constructive feedback, positive student interactions, and opportunities for observation and reflection. Understanding the root causes of mathematics anxiety is essential for supporting preservice teachers and improving their teaching effectiveness. Additionally, field placements play a crucial role in reducing math anxiety by providing hands-on teaching experience and building confidence. It is important to alleviate math anxiety in preservice teachers to have a more positive impact on their future students.

Both theory and observations suggest that tree intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE)-the ratio of photosynthetic carbon assimilation to stomatal conductance to water-increases with atmospheric CO2. However, the strength of this relationship varies across sites and species, prompting questions about additional physiological constraints and environmental controls on iWUE. In this study, we analyzed tree core carbon isotope ratios to examine trends in, and drivers of, iWUE in 12 tree species common to the temperate forests of eastern North America, where forests have experienced changes in CO2, climate, and atmospheric pollution in recent decades. Across all site-species combinations, we found that tree iWUE increased 22.3% between 1950 and 2011, coinciding with a 25.2% increase in atmospheric CO2. iWUE trajectories varied markedly among tree functional groups and within species across sites. Needleleaf evergreen iWUE increased until circa 2002 before declining in recent years, while iWUE of broadleaf deciduous species continued to increase. The analysis of environmental controls on iWUE trends revealed smaller increases in iWUE in trees subjected to higher atmospheric pollution loads. Our results suggest that tree functional characteristics and atmospheric pollution history influence tree response to atmospheric CO2, with implications for forest carbon and water balance in temperate regions.

The Philippines has faced marginalization due to its colonial history, hindering the development of a cohesive national identity and a representation in musicological discourse. Among the country’s many Indigenous groups, the Kalinga people of the Cordilleras region remain unheard even within their own country. Focusing on the Kalinga song “Wiyawi,” this study examines the lullaby’s cultural significance, musical structure, and tuning systems through an analysis of field recordings and transcriptions by Felicidad A. Prudente. Drawing on the ethnomusicological frameworks of Prudente, José Maceda, and Aaron Prior, this research produces a new transcription of the song, which further reveals the lullaby’s role in the context of Kalinga traditions. Collaboration with members of the Kalinga culture enriched this work, yielding a newly expanded set of lyrics to “Wiyawi.” Additionally, the new transcription provides insight into the Kalinga tuning system in vocal music by investigating scholarship on anhemitonic scales in instrumental music. This paper calls for further ethnomusicological research and fieldwork to emphasize the importance of preserving Indigenous music in global musicological discourse and ensure that the voices of the Kalinga people are heard and valued.

Marine litter is a global environmental concern affecting all the oceans and coastlines of the world. More than 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans each year, contributing to an estimated total abundance of at least 24.4 trillion pieces of plastic particles in the world’s upper oceans. They can be found floating on the surface, in the sediments, in the ice or covering the ocean floor.Since 1990 Surfrider Foundation Europe, has put the fight against marine litter at the forefront of its action. Surfrider acts to better understand this pollution, to reduce the quantitative amount of litter entering the marine environment and its impacts on the marine environment and humans. The NGO’s leverages start with raising public awareness, stimulating scientific research to initiating political action in order to tackle at source this problem. The community and citizens are the heart of action programs, public engagement is the root. Citizens participate in collecting data and answering remaining questions about characteristics, distribution, transport pathways of marine litter and potential impacts on wildlife and humans as well as in policing-making.As a whistle-blower, an expert and an actor of change, Surfrider promotes the dialogue between citizens, scientists and decision-makers.

This paper performs content analysis on how four major GenAI chatbots: Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and two versions of ChatGPT, performed on twenty-eight patron submitted reference inquiries, which were selected from Rider University’s reference transaction log between July 2023 and May 2024. The descriptive statistics indicate that Google Gemini outperformed the other GenAI chatbots, by scoring high on “accuracy,” relevancy,” “friendliness” and “instruction” resulting in a higher mean score followed by public ChatGPT, commercial ChatGPT-4.0, and Microsoft Copilot.

Research methodology The case describes a real company, real people and real situations. The authors have used real names other than the name of the cosmetic formulation company and the product design company – which the authors address as “the Florida company” and “the product design company,” respectively. The authors used both secondary and primary data to develop this case study. The case originated from the guest lecture given by Paige in one of the author’s classes. Following her guest lecture, the authors asked her permission to develop her story into a case study, and she graciously consented. The authors obtained background information about the company – Aer Cosmetics, from the company website, news articles and the TEDx talk delivered by Paige. The authors followed it with Paige’s interview, which the authors recorded and transcribed. Based on this interview and the information collected from the other sources, the authors developed the final version of the case study. Paige read and approved the final version for its factualness and sequence of events. The case was then informally reviewed by professors who have published their case studies in the target journal. The authors revised the case study based on this feedback and again obtained Paige’s approval on the case text before submission to the journal. Case overview/synopsis This case is set in May 2024. Paige DeAngelo, the CEO of Aer Cosmetics, was disappointed with the sales of her newly launched sustainable mascara product. She had been a student entrepreneur at Drexel University for the last three years. She developed her product with the help of the university incubator and other entrepreneurial support systems available at Drexel and outside. Paige had graduated in December 2023. Drexel University allowed its students to remain in their incubator program only up to one year after graduation. Thus, with seven months remaining, it is time for Paige to decide how she would manage the next growth phase of her business. The students are put into the shoes of Paige DeAngelo. They are asked to decide whether to extend their stay in the incubator program, venture out and be an independent business entity, pitch the company for acquisition by corporations, or leverage other entrepreneurial support systems in the environment to grow the company. Students need to craft a strong argument, either supporting the options they advocate for or opposing those they reject. Complexity academic level This case was written primarily for upper-division undergraduate courses but is also suitable for MBA courses.