Southern Connecticut State University

Glioma is the most common brain neoplasm that features aggressive behavior with a dismal prognosis. Isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) gene mutation in glioma is an early genetic event in gliomagenesis that occurs in virtually every tumor cell and can cause profound metabolic changes. In this manuscript, we report for the first time the analysis of Raman optical signatures of IDH genotypes for human glioma using visible resonance Raman (VRR) spectroscopy. We demonstrated that VRR is a rapid, label-free, and objective method as an alternative to the existing methods for the rapid intraoperative determination of IDH mutation status with high accuracy. This study shows AI-assisted VRR has the potential to provide a new optical molecular biomarker and perform early diagnosis of glioma, which is of great importance for current guiding surgical strategies and even for targeting insitu therapies in the future.

BackgroundMothers and pregnant women who use opioids are particularly vulnerable. Mothers often fear surveillance, stigma, and loss of custody of their children when seeking treatment. Although opioid agonist therapy (OAT) has been shown to be effective, access varies regionally, and not all mothers can cease using opioids. This study compares outcomes of mothers who use opioids in the UK with universal healthcare and OAT access, and mothers in the U.S. with restricted healthcare and OAT access, focusing on their interactions with services.MethodsThis is a secondary data analysis of two studies on mothers who use opioids. Data were collected from nine mothers in Scotland (UK) and 20 mothers in New Jersey (US) through ethnographic, longitudinal studies spanning one year. The UK study used a “Learning Alliance” engagement approach, a patient/public engagement model that involves stakeholders in developing objectives and the dissemination of findings. The US study engaged “community-based consultants,” who are paid individuals with lived experience from the study field communities to assist researchers in recruitment and ethnographic fieldwork. Ethical approval was received from review boards. Data were anonymized before analysis, and people with lived experience provided feedback on findings. Grounded theory methods were used for analysis.ResultsFindings reveal both convergent and divergent experiences. Mothers in Scotland had more access to healthcare and social housing but faced increased surveillance, while New Jersey mothers often experienced housing insecurity and difficulty obtaining healthcare. Shared challenges included trust issues, stigmatization, inconsistent practitioner engagement, responsibilization, and unclear expectations from child protection services. While Scottish mothers had better access to OAT, both groups faced child custody loss due to unregulated drug use. Mothers in both studies were struggling to meet reunification requirements of abstinence (with or without OAT) within the required time frame.ConclusionsDiffering governance structures create persistent challenges across national boundaries. While health practitioners generally support harm reduction strategies, it does not go beyond OAT for mothers. Our findings indicate the need for radical harm reduction approaches with social justice for mothers who use drugs, including safer parental drug use strategies.

Climate change constitutes a major market failure because greenhouse gas emissions are not priced to reflect their social costs. Carbon pricing has become a central policy instrument, yet its effectiveness varies across contexts. This review evaluates the performance of carbon taxes and emissions trading systems by examining their environmental, economic, and equity outcomes. The analysis applies a systematic review framework covering peer-reviewed studies, meta-analyses, and international policy assessments published between 2008 and 2025. Evidence is synthesized across three dimensions: emissions reductions, innovation and structural change, and distributional impacts. The literature consistently shows that carbon pricing reduces emissions when price signals are strong, credible, and increase predictably over time. Jurisdictions with rising tax schedules or progressively tightening emissions caps achieve the most durable mitigation. Carbon pricing also stimulates low-carbon innovation and supports long-term structural change, especially when combined with complementary policies. Distributional outcomes vary, but equity improves significantly when revenues are returned through rebates or tax reductions. Overall effectiveness depends more on design quality and policy coherence than on whether pricing is delivered through taxes or trading systems. Credible long-term price paths, broad sectoral coverage, transparent governance, and equitable revenue use are essential conditions for achieving sustained environmental and socio-economic benefits.

ABSTRACTPhenotypic variation is common across life history and among populations occupying different environments, yet the molecular mechanisms underlying these axes of divergence remain poorly understood. Much work has focused on gene expression as a link between genetic variation, environmental variation, and phenotypes, but post‐transcriptional processes such as alternative splicing—which affect how transcripts are assembled rather than how much of a transcript is produced—are increasingly recognized as additional modulators of plasticity and adaptation. Here, we examined gene expression and alternative splicing together in the wood frog (Rana sylvatica), an amphibian with a complex life cycle whose populations differ across replicated gradients of road adjacency and associated pollution. We found extensive transcriptomic differences between hatchlings and adults, with thousands of genes differentially expressed or spliced. Individuals clustered strongly by population for both expression and splicing. Differences at the habitat level were less extensive, but revealed two differentially expressed genes (HSP70 and Gpsm2) and one differentially spliced gene (Cd82) that consistently distinguished roadside and woodland populations. Overall, genetic differentiation between populations was low, suggesting that phenotypic and transcriptomic differences likely emerge in the presence of gene flow and reflect plastic responses. Together, these results highlight transcriptomic plasticity as an important mechanism shaping variation across both development and population differentiation.

Abstract We measure the absolute proper motions of Andromeda V (And V) and Andromeda VI/Pegasus (And VI) dwarf galaxies, satellites of M31 located near its galactic plane. And VI is located the farthest from M31 among the six satellites with currently measured proper motions. A combination of Advanced Camera for Surveys/wide filed channel (WFC) and WFPC2 exposures is utilized, spanning a 20 yr time baseline. The WFPC2 exposures are processed using a recently developed deep-learning centering procedure as well as the most up-to-date astrometric calibration of the camera. We use on the order of 100 background galaxies per satellite to determine the correction to absolute proper motion. For And V, we obtain an absolute proper motion of ( μ α , μ δ ) And V = ( 26.1 ± 21.5 , − 74.2 ± 19.1 ) μ as yr−1. For And VI, we obtain an absolute proper motion of ( μ α , μ δ ) And VI = ( − 1.6 ± 12.3 , − 52.6 ± 11.2 ) μ as yr−1. Orbit integrations and analyses are made for these two Andromeda satellites using two estimates of both the mass and proper motion of M31. It is found that And V has an orbit consistent within errors with alignment with M31’s disk and counter orbiting it, although this alignment is not well constrained. And VI’s orbit is better determined and is very much consistent with coorbiting with M31’s disk. While currently at a distance of ∼280 kpc from M31, And VI will remain beyond a distance of ∼90 kpc from M31, thus experiencing low tidal influence compared to the other M31 satellites with known orbits. Both satellites are determined to be well-bound to M31.

Abstract Persons with disabilities must be afforded a voice in constructing a system of inclusion in education to which they truly belong. Laws governing special education have increasingly adopted the concept of including individuals with disabilities in mainstream classrooms, often believing doing so counters the inherent othering of exclusion. Identity is not a singular dimension, and disability is only part of one’s identity. But special education tacitly continues a mission of assimilating students with disabilities while simultaneously labeling them as disabled, revealing an ableist bias and perpetuating othering attitudes toward those on its rolls. This phenomenological qualitative study (N = 8) explored the lived experience of students enrolled in special education to gain greater understanding of the impact special education has on their sense of belonging in school. The study found enrollment in a school where all students had disabilities helped reveal to students nondisabled aspects of their identity, enabling them to feel more accepted by peers and staff, and enhancing their sense of belonging within the school.

Access to athletic trainers (ATs) in high schools is crucial for student-athlete (SA) safety. Although most high schools in the United States have access to athletic training services (ATS), no authors have longitudinally compared ATS trends between public (PUB) and private (PVT) school sectors. To compare ATS trends between PUB and PVT schools from the 2018-2019 through 2022-2023 academic years. Longitudinal cross-sectional study. Online survey. High school responses to the Athletic Training Locations and Services survey from all 50 US states and the District of Columbia were queried from the 2018-2019 to 2022-2023 academic years. Average numbers of SAs (SAs), sports (Sports), full-time ATs (FtATs), part-time ATs (PtATs), and the sum of full-time and part-time ATs (ATs), along with the average weekly contracted hours (CHrs) and actual hours (AHrs) per school, and ratios of SAs : ATs, Sports : ATs, CHrs : SAs, CHrs : Sports, AHrs : SAs, and AHrs : Sports were examined to track ATS trends over 5 years and compare PUB vs PVT schools. Public schools had higher SAs and Sports vs PVT schools (both P < .001). Private schools had higher ATs, CHrs, and AHrs than PUB schools (all P < .050). Ratios of SAs : ATs and Sports : ATs were higher in PUB schools, whereas CHrs : SAs, AHrs : SAs, CHrs : Sports, and AHrs : Sports were higher in PVT schools (all P < .050). From 2018-2019 to 2022-2023, PUB schools increased Sports and Sports : ATs; PVT schools increased SAs, Sports, ATs, and SAs : ATs (all P < .050). Over the years, PUB schools decreased CHrs : Sports and AHrs : Sports; PVT decreased CHrs : SAs, AHrs : SAs, CHrs : Sports, and AHrs : Sports. FtATs increased in both sectors, whereas PtATs decreased in only PVT schools. Overall, ATS were more extensively provided in PVT schools, based on ATs and ATS hours. Both sectors increased FtATs, which is encouraging. However, as SAs and Sports increased, ATS provided per SA and sport declined.