Category: OSCAR

College of Engineering and Computing OSCAR

Effect of Inflammation on lipid nanoparticle performance

Author(s): Peter Touma

Mentor(s): Caroline Hoemann, Bioengineering

The purpose of this study is to determine the inhibition constant (Ki) of beta glycerol phosphate as an inhibitor of alkaline phosphatase using 4-Methylumbelliferyl phosphate (4-MUP) fluorescent dye. Alkaline phosphatase (ALP) is an enzyme responsible for the hydrolysis of organic phosphate esters present in extracellular space. In other words, it removes phosphate groups from other molecules, such as nucleotides and proteins. The tissue-nonspecific isozyme of ALP (TNAP) is commonly found in bone. When the ALP enzyme hydrolyzes the pyrophosphates and phosphate esters present, inorganic phosphate is supplied to the bone tissue, enhancing mineralization. Beta glycerol phosphate is a substrate of ALP, typically found in the liver. ALP activity can be visualized with many different fluorescent techniques, such as using 4-Methylumbelliferyl phosphate dye. An ALP stock solution of 20 U/mL was used, as were stock solutions of 200 mM and 10 mM for beta-GP and 4-MUP, respectively. These solutions were serially diluted into working solutions. The working solutions consisted of a 0.1 U/mL of ALP, which would be used for each well containing ALP in the 96 well plate, as well as 0.05 mM, 0.1 mM, 0.5 mM, 1mM, and 2 mM for beta-GP, and 20 ÂµM ,50 ÂµM, 100 ÂµM, and 200 ÂµM for 4-MUP, which would be varied in wells according to the plate layout. By conducting a plate reading, the fluorescent dye was able to detect enzyme activity when different concentrations of the beta-GP inhibitor were added. A trend showing that an increase in beta-GP concentration was directly related to a decrease in ALP activity was observed, confirming that beta-GP does act as inhibitor to ALP. The inhibition constant (Ki) found was 240.29 ÂµM. This value is like that found in related literature. ALP activity was also found to be higher at pH 9.25 than at neutral pH.

Hello, my name is Peter Touma and my project is using beta glycerol phosphate as an inhibitor of alkaline phosphatase. The purpose of this study was to determine the inhibition constant or Ki of beta glycerol phosphate as an inhibitor of ALP using the 4-Mup fluorescent dye at an alkaline and neutral PH. This is being done to see if beta GP can act as an inhibitor of a op at physiological Ph as well as to see how great the inhibition is when different concentrations of beta GP are used. ALP enzymes are found naturally in the bloodstream liver bone and the kidney ALP is also responsible for the hydrolysis of organic phosphate ethers present in the extracellular space. And beta GP is a subtrate found in bone tissues and promotes mineralization. In blood coagulation. Beta GP could inhibit ALP activity towards other organic phosphates as well. The hypothesis of this study was that beta GP would act as a competitive inhibitor with the form EP substrate for calf intestinal alkaline phosphatase. Solutions were placed accordingly to the plate layout with column six and seven containing the positive and negative controls respectively. The same plate layout was used for each PH tested. Stock solutions were made for the A LP. Beta GP and four Mup. And then serial dilutions were made using these and placed in the 96 world plate accordingly. Stock solution to ALP was 20 units per milliliter. While for four Mup it was 10 milli molar and Beta GP had a 200 milli molar stock solution solutions included a 0.4 unit per milliliter working solution. A LP which had a final concentration of 0.1 units per milliliter in the plate. Beta GP had working solutions of 0.1 milli molar, 0.512 and 0.05 milli molar as well. Or MEP had working solutions of 20 micro molar, 50 micro molar, 100 micro molar and 200 micro molar LB plots are made for each concentration of beed GP that was used using these plots. The KM could be found by obtaining the X intercept. The Km found in each line bid plot were used to generate a Dixon plot. This was done by dividing the CAM found which is known as the cam apparent by the true Km which is the KM when there is no inhibitor added the Dixon plot generated can then be used to find the K I of beta GP. By taking the inverse of the slope. Mila’s mentum plots show the relationship between the concentration of a substrate and the rate of which enzyme reaction is taking place, he remade Mila’s mentum plots at ph seven and 9.25. We see that there’s a clear increase in innovation with an increase in beta GP concentration in both of these plots at both Ph’s. ALP activity as expected was also higher at ph 9.25 compared to neutral PH. But the enzyme activity was still present in neutral Ph and could be inhibited by beta GP in dose dependent manners. The K I found in the study was 2 40 micro molar. This is very similar to the K I found in literature where it was 250 micro molar. We used the PH of 8.39 0.25 and seven. In our study, the K I was not obtained at neutral and alkaline ph. But the A OP activity was seen to be higher alkaline Ph than at neutral Ph beta GP was also shown to have a large inhibitory effect on ALP. And higher concentrations of beta GP did show to have larger inhibition as the change in initial velocity was larger at lower concentrations of beta GP. Thank you for listening. I hope you enjoyed my presentation.

College of Engineering and Computing OSCAR

Mechanical and Surface Characterization of 3D Printed PLA-HA Composites

Author(s): Muhammad Sardar

Mentor(s): Shaghayegh Bagheri, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Numerous studies in the field have commonly relied on a singular mixing method for composite formulation, without delving into the comparison of various mixing techniques. Consequently, the primary objective of this research is to identify the most optimal manufacturing process for formulating FDM printed PLA/HA composite structures, achieved through a comprehensive comparison of four distinct mixing methods. These methods include the utilization of a magnetic stirrer, and speed mixer, which will be systematically examined for fabricating PLA/HA material. In order to arrive at a sound conclusion, this study will conduct thorough mechanical and tribological characterizations of the FDM printed PLA/HA structures, aiming to ascertain the best methodology for fabricating PLA infused with 3% wt of HA. By presenting these findings, this research aims to contribute significantly to the collective knowledge surrounding FDM printing and the formulation of PLA-based composites. The data obtained will offer valuable insights for the advancement of this innovative field.

Hello everyone and welcome to my project on mechanical and surface characterization of PLA/HA composites.
The main objective of this research is to find an optimal manufacturing method for PLA/HA composite, based on the comparison of three mixing methods. We have seen that previous studies have only focused on the weight percent of Hydroxyapatite in the PLA samples, but no studies have been found yet to focus on the manufacturing method and how it affects the mechanical characterization and surface area of the sample. So, for that purpose, we have proposed three manufacturing methods that includes magnetic stirring, dry speed mix and wet speed mix.
Now, the dry and wet speed mix are not that different, except, the wet speed uses an organic compound called dichloromethane or DCM, which exists in a liquid state at room temperature. Once the material is ready, it is then used for filament extrusion.
This is machine, called extruder where the raw material is fed into which melts these pellets at about 210 Celsius and we can see the filament is coming out on the other side. This filament is then inserted into a 3D printer to print the sample.
This is the next step called indentation, where the machine applies and gradually increases the load to access the hardness and elasticity of the sample. This step is then later on key to analyze the tribology and surface properties of the sample.
From Electron Microscope images, we can see the indentation that was done on the surface with a closer view on the right side.
Apart from the SEM images, we have also done something called EDS, or electron dispersive spectroscopy. Basically, what it does is the electron beam in the electron microscope emits high energy electromagnetic waves, or x-rays, on the surface of sample which results in ejection of innermost electrons and hence, we can see what the chemical composition of the sample is.
As expected, we have seen an abundance of carbon followed by oxygen and phosphorus. The gold is only present because the sample was gold coated before doing EDS to prevent it from burning. All the colored areas indicate the presence of their respective element, and we are also given a spectrum as to the percentage of each element is present.
I think it is important to mention here about the limitation of our Scanning Electron Microscope as it cannot detect hydrogen. We have seen some cases where the percent composition is not adding up to 100% so it’s probably most likely that this is hydrogen unless we know that our sample does not have any trace amount of hydrogen in it.
PLA/HA composites have plethora applications in the real world from aerospace to modern medicine to especially in bioengineering where it is used in bone fracture repair, which is the motivation of our research.
Now this concludes my video and if you have any questions about my research, don’t forget to comment down below and I will reach out to you as soon as possible. Thank you very much!

College of Engineering and Computing OSCAR

Patient Specific Three-dimensional Biomechanical Eye Models from Magnetic Resonance Imaging

Author(s): SuJung Rodriguez

Mentor(s): Qi Wei, Department of Bioengineering

The purpose of this research project was to create a three-dimensional, patient-specific biomechanical model of the eye from magnetic resonance imaging. Previously, a pipeline was developed which took two MRI datasets, data collected in the coronal and sagittal view, as inputs and created a model of the eyeball and extraocular muscles (EOMs) as the output. One limitation of this pipeline is that oftentimes, data in the sagittal view will be unavailable. This is because data collection is very lengthy and uncomfortable for patients. Therefore, this pipeline needs to generate a model when only coronal data is available without sacrificing accuracy. To accomplish this task, we artificially generated sagittal data using data in the coronal view and fed it into our pipeline. We discovered that four of the EOMs, the rectus muscles, did not require sagittal data to be generated. The pipeline was modified to not expect sagittal data when modeling the rectus muscles. We then modeled the inferior oblique and found that it was only visible in a few slices of the artificially generated sagittal data. As a result, we could not see the origin point and had to hardcode it in based on what is documented in literature. When trying to model the last muscle, the superior oblique (SO), we found that it was not visible in our artificially generated sagittal data. We will have to hardcode in where the SO inserts on the eyeball and interpolate a line to follow the path we expect to see the SO follow. Once all muscles have been modeled, we will use this model to simulate surgical outcomes and provide ophthalmologists with a quantitative way to assess surgical outcomes.

Hi! My name is SuJung Rodriguez, and I will be presenting my work on 3D biomechanical eye modeling.

So the objective was to create a patient-specific three-d biomechanical model of the eye and the corresponding extraocular muscles

Some background on why we would want to model those muscles. So those muscles are responsible for eye movement, as you can see. Here you have 4 rectus muscles which are responsible for moving your eyes up down, left, right. Then you have your oblique muscles which are responsible for your eye being able to twist. So any deviations in those muscles from healthy physiology can cause vision disorders, a common one, being strabismus. That’s a case where your eyes cannot look at the same target at the same time. So modeling those muscles can provide valuable insight when planning treatment. And currently, when ophthalmologists are trying to treat vision disorders, they have no quantitative measures. So they go in and decide which muscles to recess, and how much to recess them by based on their own intuition and experience. So, being able to actually model those muscles, would be able to give them a quantitative measure and improve surgical outcomes

Some previous work that was done.

So Bassam Mutawak developed a pipeline which uses 2 MRI data sets to generate a patient-specific model of the eyeball and extracurricular muscles. Basically, those 2 MRI data sets, they’re collected in 2 different views. So you have what’s called the coronal view and the sagittal view. So in each data set, those extraocular muscles are traced. They’re sent into the pipeline, and an iterative closest point registration algorithm is used to register points from the 2 data sets. Basically what it does is it takes your points in the coronal view, and then it looks for points in the sagittal view that are the closest to those points, and then it computes the amount of translation and rotation necessary to have those 2 different points be aligned. Those 2 data sets be aligned. The traces of muscles are then plotted, and these centroids are computed, and from there the muscle paths are generated.

So here’s what those datasets look like. This is what the data in the coronal view looks like. As you can see, these dark bands are the extraocular muscles. Here’s what data in the sagittal view looks like. Again, those dark bands you see are the muscles. And here’s the model that gets generated.

So my task was to make this pipeline work when it only has one data set the coronal view available. The reason why is data collection is actually very long and uncomfortable for patients. So most of the times we are only able to get one view. We focus on the coronal view. The only issue is that the inferior oblique and superior oblique, their tendons are only reliably imaged in the sagittal view.

So we focus on one eye. First, the oculus dextrous or OD. Because MRI data is actually a 3D volume, we can actually take our coronal data and re-slice it essentially so that we can artificially generate our own sagittal data and try to get the inferior oblique and the tendon of the superior oblique. We then model the rectus muscles, the oblique muscles, and while we’re doing that, we’re checking against our ground truth measure, which is the model that was generated when we had data from the coronal and sagittal view available.

So to model the rectus muscles, the rectus muscles actually do not require sagittal data to be modeled. As you can see here, these green traces are the data from the coronal view. The black traces you see here are from the sagittal view. So you just modify the code as needed. And basically just making sure that this pipeline isn’t expecting 2 data sets when it’s only going to be getting one

Next is to model the interior oblique. So here we trace it in the coronal view. It’s this muscle here. You see here the point where it’s connecting to the socket. That’s actually the origin point which will be important for later. And here we also trace it in the sagittal view. As you can see, it’s this little black dot here. So we re-register the points from the generated sagittal data that we’ve created to the points in the coronal data. We hard code in the origin point based on values found in literature. The reason we do this is because, as you can see in our artificially generated sagittal data, the top of the eyeball gets cut off, and the inferior oblique is pretty far back. So it’s only visible in anterior slices, and it’s just not visible in our artificially generated satchel data. It’s only there in 2 or 3 image slices. So, after we hardcode in our origin point, we plot the coronal traces of the inferior oblique muscle, and compare it to the origin point that we hard-coded in. If the origin point that we hard-coded in is still very far from that point we see where it’s connecting to the socket, then we adjust it again.

So, as you can see here in order to get our hard-coded origin point from literature, we take one model that was created by Dr. Wei and Bassam Mutawak. That was more generalized. It wasn’t data-driven, patient-specific. It was based on what we expect to find in the literature. And then we take the model that I’ve generated, as you can see here where it is, data-driven and line them up. So as you can see here, these green, these big green asterisks are from Dr. Wei’s model, and then these actual like muscle paths, are from mine. We line them up so as you can see here, because there just was not a lot of data to build it off of the inferior oblique isn’t going in the direction we needed to. It’s starting to point out. And we take this last point that you see here, and hard code that in as our origin point. We then rerun the model, plot the data on the coronal views, see if it’s close to that origin point. We see where it’s joining the socket and make an adjustment. And this is the model that we finally generate. So, as you can see here, it matches up what we see in our ground truth, measure, and the shape also looks as we expected it to, and when we check the muscle lengths they line up with what we see in literature.

Next step is to model the superior oblique. So because the superior oblique tendon is only visible in very anterior MRI images. It’s very difficult to model. When we artificially generate our sagittal data, it’s not visible in any slices. So a possible solution is to hardcode in where it inserts on the eyeball and fit a line to wrap around the eyeball, so that we’re still seeing that shape that we expect to.

So our future directions are to wrap up the superior oblique modeling. Then the model is done, so we’ll send it to a dynamic simulation environment, and what we’re going to do is we’re going to simulate how these patients were seeing before they had any surgery. And then, because we have these surgeon’s nodes, we have the notes of like which muscles they recessed, how much they recessed them by and how their vision was after, and we again in that dynamic simulator basically mimic what those surgeons did, and then see if the way the eye is moving is the same as what the surgeon documented. If that’s not the case and the model is not working, we would make adjustments as needed. But the end goal ultimately is to be able to send these to a dynamic simulation environment and simulate surgical outcomes

And for acknowledgments, thank you to my mentor, Dr. Wei, at the Department of Bioengineering, Dr. Demer for providing us with MRI images. Bassam Mutawak, who created the original pipeline and has helped, and OSCAR GMU for supporting this project.

College of Science Honors College OSCAR

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Author(s): Leah Pistone

Mentor(s): Daniel Hanley, Biology

An animal’s ability to survive in the wild depends on their ability asses risks in their environment. The choices that are optimal in one context may not be optimal in another. Cowbirds are obligate brood parasites, meaning they must lay their eggs in the nests of other birds (hereafter hosts) that raise their young. By placing the burden of raising their young on the hosts, the cowbird avoids the costs of chick rearing. Consequently, many hosts have evolved the ability to recognize parasitic eggs and remove them from their nests. Female cowbirds have a tell-tale chatter call which suggests to hosts that the parasite is nearby and the risk of parasitism is high. In this experiment we will test whether the presence of adult female cowbirds affects the rejection rate of parasitic eggs; interestingly, there are two mutually exclusive hypotheses that could occur. First, if a host bird hears this chattering call, a “tell” that may alert them to the risk of parasitism the host may more readily reject foreign eggs. In the second hypothesis however, perceived risk may decrease the risk of egg rejection; this is due to the fact that the cowbird may stay near the host nest and punish the host by killing all of its young, if the parasitic offspring are rejected – a hypothesis known as the Mafia Hypothesis. We have just finished collecting data and will begin analyzing the results soon.

Hello, my name is Leah Pistone and I’m an undergraduate Oscar research student studying biology at George Mason University, and working with Dr. Hanley at Hanley Color Labs.
This summer I am studying how birds assess the risk pf brood parasitism in the wild.
Brood parasites are birds that do not build their own nests or care for their young.
Instead they lay their eggs in the nests of other birds known as hosts.
I am studying the parasitic brown-headed cowbird which offloads the costs of parenting onto multiple host species.
Since it is costly for hosts to rear chicks that are not their own many hosts have evolved the ability to recognize and remove parasitic eggs from their nests.
Many experiments have used egg rejection studies to test the recognition abilities of hosts.
In these studies a researcher places a replica parasite egg into host nests and then measures whether the experimental egg is rejected.
However hosts can be uncertain about whether egg rejection is a good choice.
The best decision can often depend on context.
Therefore I am studying a different part of how hosts perceive risk in their environment.
Specifically my goal is to measure how hosts respond to experimental eggs when they detect a cowbird near their nest.
This summer I am placing a 3D printed f cowbird close to host nests just before parasitizing their nests.
Or a control experiment with no cowbird model.
For this experiment I will be analyzing the responses of three host species – the Northern Mockingbird – the Northern Cardinal – and the Gray Catbird.
Hosts may respond to this experiment in two ways which relate to two mutually exclusive hypotheses.
The first hypothesis states that egg rejection becomes more likely when perceived risk is high; thus when hosts are alerted to the presence of their parasite they will reject a greater portion of model eggs than the control group because when the risk of parasitism is high they should be on the lookout for cowbird eggs.
The second hypothesis states egg rejection becomes less likely when perceived risk is high; thus when hosts are presented with a model cowbird near their nest they will reject fewer model eggs than the control group because cowbirds are known to retaliate by destroying hot eggs and nests.
This hypothesis is fittingly called the Mafia Hypothesis.
To test these two hypotheses I first needed to make a 3D model of a cowbird.
To make these cowbird models more realistic I played cowbird calls through a speaker I hid in a speaker box camouflaged to look like the top of a wooden post.
At each experimental nest I placed the post about 12 meters away from the host bird nests.
One of the most time consuming parts of this experiment was actually finding active host nests.
Every morning I spent hours searching for host nests alongside many other student researchers.
Blandy Experimental Farm graciously provided me access to their more than 700 acre property to run my research project this summer.
Once we found the nests the adult cowbird models were set up with the speakers playing the cowbird models to mimic the presence of a real cowbird.
After 30 mins a plastic egg mimicking a real cowbird egg was placed in the host nest and we removed the cowbird model.
For the following two days I placed the cowbird model in the same location for 30 minutes while the cowbird calls were played before being removed.
Lastly on the third day we checked to see if the plastic egg was rejected of accepted.
We have just finished collecting data and will start analyzing the results soon.
Stay tuned to see what we learned.

College of Science OSCAR

Extracellular Vesicle mediated lymphatic communication between the primary tumor and sentinel lymph node

Author(s): Angela V. Rojas Rivera

Mentor(s): Marissa Howard, Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine (CAPMM)

Metastasis is the primary cause of cancer mortality contributing about 90% of all cancer-related deaths. Although cancer therapies have been developed, few have proven successful for treating cancer metastasis. Communication between the primary breast tumor and the sentinel draining lymph node (SLN) has long been suspected of influencing the metastatic process at distant sites. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from the tumor have been hypothesized to influence the SLN. We hypothesize that tumor EV subpopulations act directly at the SLN to modulate the immune system to facilitate immunosuppression and accelerate distant metastases. Mitophagy initiation is sensed by the molecule PINK1 triggering isolation and packaging of the damaged mitochondrial segment for degradation. We discovered that PINK1 is exported into EVs; we hypothesize that PINK1+ EVs could modulate distant metastasis. We have developed a syngeneic BALB/c mouse model to sensitize the SLN to the emerging breast cancer tumor. We delivered EV subpopulations derived from the 4T1 TNBC cell line (2K and 100K) to the SLN. Two days later we challenged the animals with 4T1 cells. After 14 days, we sacrificed the mice and measured the histological tumor burden. We performed IHC on the metastasis against F4/80, CD206, Ly6G/C, CD11b, Arginase-1, and PINK1 to determine mitophagy level and the immune cell infiltrate. Lymph-node priming with EV subpopulations demonstrated an induction of tumor growth and metastasis from the 2K EVs treatment compared to a suppression of metastasis by the 100K treated group. H&E staining of 2K versus 100K metastasis indicates an immune suppression following 2K treatment (F4/80+/CD206+). The 100K treatment had a lower tumor and metastatic burden.. PINK1 was elevated within the 2K treated metastatic tissue indicating mitophagy. Overall, a tumor EV vaccine offers a new approach to reverse the immunosuppression of the SLN and suppress distant metastasis formation.

Metastasis is the primary cause of cancer mortality contributing about 90% of all cancer-related deaths. Although cancer therapies have been developed, few have proven successful for treating cancer metastasis. Communication between the primary breast tumor and the sentinel draining lymph node (SLN) has long been suspected of influencing the metastatic process at distant sites. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from the tumor have been hypothesized to influence the SLN. We believe that tumor EV subpopulations act directly at the SLN to modulate the immune system to facilitate immunosuppression and accelerate distant metastases. Mitophagy initiation is sensed by the molecule PINK1 triggering isolation and packaging of the damaged mitochondrial segment for degradation. We discovered through an analytical technique called Western Blot which is a molecular biology and immunogenetics that is used to detect specific proteins in a sample that PINK1 is exported into EVs; we hypothesize that PINK1+ EVs could modulate distant metastasis. We have developed a syngeneic BALB/c mouse model to sensitize the SLN to the emerging breast cancer tumor. We delivered EV subpopulations derived from the 4T1 cell line which is Triple negative breast cancer for mice through a process called cell culture and centrifuge the supernatant at different speeds so we can get the Evs subpopulation 2K and 100K to the SLN. Two days later we challenged the animals with 4T1 cells. After 14 days, we sacrificed the mice and measured the histological tumor burden. We performed IHC or immunohistochemistry which is a technique that exploits the specific binding between an antibody and antigen to detect and localize specific antigens in cells and tissue on the metastasis against F4/80, CD206, Ly6G/C, CD11b, Arginase-1, and PINK1 primary antibodies to determine mitophagy level and the immune cell infiltrate. Lymph-node priming with EV subpopulations demonstrated an induction of tumor growth and metastasis from the 2K EVs treatment compared to a suppression of metastasis by the 100K treated group. H&E staining of 2K versus 100K metastasis indicates an immune suppression following 2K treatment (F4/80+/CD206+). The 100K treatment had a lower tumor and metastatic burden.. PINK1 was elevated within the 2K treated metastatic tissue indicating mitophagy. Overall, a tumor EV vaccine offers a new approach to reverse the immunosuppression of the SLN and suppress distant metastasis formation.

OSCAR

Developing Non-Enzymatic Dopamine Biosensors using Atomically Layered Graphene/MoO3 Heterostructures

Author(s): Solyip Kim

Mentor(s): Yun Yu, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry

https://youtu.be/vKrE_U-4xss

The ability to detect neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, in our bodies, can greatly improve the diagnostics and treatment of brain disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Graphene-based electrochemical sensing systems have become a popular topic of study due to their high sensitivity, selectivity, flexibility, biocompatibility, and cost-effectiveness. However, graphene faces certain limitations, such as its nanoscale thickness, low carrier density, and large sheet resistance, which can restrict the electrochemical kinetics of dopamine electrooxidation. In this study, mechanically exfoliated molybdenum trioxide (MoO3) was layered onto monolayer graphene to form van der Waals heterostructures. The inclusion of MoO3 was aimed at enhancing the electrochemical activity of graphene through a spontaneous p-type doping reaction. The results showed that the conductivity of graphene increased by more than two-fold when combined with MoO3, as compared to graphene alone. Electrochemical measurement shows that the dopamine oxidation reaction kinetics were enhanced at the graphene/MoO3 heterostructure. This research foretells promising possibilities for the development of future graphene-based electrochemical sensing systems. These advancements hold the potential to improve the way we diagnose and treat brain disorders, bringing us closer to more effective and personalized healthcare solutions.

Dopamine is one of the most critical neurotransmitters in the human brain and body. Abnormal levels of dopamine can lead to the development of disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, characterized by a progressive loss of neurons resulting in dopamine depletion. As a result, accurately measuring dopamine levels becomes critical for early detection of Parkinson’s disease. While various types of biosensors exist, such as enzyme-based, antibody-based, and aptamer-based, many of them rely on expensive equipment and involve laborious sample preparation and long detection cycles.

Atomically thin materials, also known as 2D materials, are emergent materials with unique properties. Using them for biosensing and healthcare offers benefits like high carrier mobility, significant surface-to-volume ratio, flexibility, and controllable reactive sites. Graphene is a prominent 2D material and has received considerable attention for biosensing applications.

Graphene offers strong Ï€âˆ’Ï€ interaction with the aromatic rings of dopamine, making the molecule absorption favorable. However, its minimal charge density at pristine layers limits the electrochemical kinetics of dopamine electrooxidation. Here, we aim to mitigate these disadvantages by creating a heterostructure composed of Graphene and molybdenum trioxide (MoO3), also known as “Moo,” The high work function of Moo will efficiently induce hole doping of graphene, so that the carrier density of graphene can be enhanced. Our hypothesis is that charge doping on the graphene may enhance its surface reactivity.

To create the graphene-Moo heterostructure, we used scotch tape method to mechanically exfoliated bulk crystals . Then, transferred them onto a silicon wafer, and identified the flakes of interest with an optical microscope. Next, using a transfer stage, we picked up the bottom layer with a polymer film. Subsequently, we stacked the bottom layer with the top layer to form the desired heterostructure.

To verify effective charge doping, we performed electrical conductivity measurements across the graphene. A small potential was applied between the two contacts, and the conductance current was measured.

Then Moo was stacked on graphene to induce hole doping. The graph clearly demonstrates that the conductivity of graphene, represented by the slope of the IV curve, was significantly increased by more than two-fold when combined with Moo, as compared to using graphene alone. This enhancement in conductivity highlights the positive impact of stacking Moo with graphene to regulate its electronic property.

In our electrochemical measurement, the analyte, dopamine molecule, diffuses to the graphene surface. With a suitable potential applied, dopamine underwent oxidation reactions, releasing electrons onto the electrode and generating an electrochemical current that we measured and used to quantify the analyte.

In the graph, the red curve shows the voltammogram of dopamine oxidation obtained from graphene/moo, while the black curve is the data of our control sample, graphene/hbn. hBN is an insulator and does not induce any doping of graphene. The half wave potential of the red curve is lower than the black curve, indicating that the electrochemical kinetic of dopamine reaction at graphene/moo is more rapid.

Our results so far have demonstrated that engineering heterostructures indeed has positive effects in promoting the reactivity. Based on these results, our future work aims for more systematic study of the electrochemistry of Gr/moo heterostrucutre, including investigating the thickness dependence, concentration dependence and other factors that could impact the performance of the dopamine sensor. Ultimately, our goal is to develop real-life applications that can be utilized for monitoring dopamine levels in the human body.

For this project, I would like to thank my mentor Dr. Yun Yu for his support as well as OSCAR for their funding support.

College of Engineering and Computing Honors College OSCAR Summer Team Impact Project

Optimizing Sensitivity of Methods for Detecting Analytes Released During Inflammation

Author(s): Joelle Nguyen

Mentor(s): Caroline Hoemann, Bioengineering

During inflammation, there are microparticles that are released from the formation of blood clots. From these microparticles, bioactive lipids such as eicosanoids, which can be further categorized as prostaglandin, thromboxanes, and leukotrienes, are released. There are also proteins such as LOX-1, known to participate in the pathogenesis of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and lung cancer and is expressed by neutrophils in patients with COVID-19. Soluble LOX-1 protein (sLOX-1) was found to become elevated in blood plasma of patients with diabetes, atherosclerosis, non-small cell lung cancer and acute myocardial infarction. The clinical challenge is that these biomarkers are difficult to detect because they are at low concentrations in the bloodstream. The goal of my project is to develop more sensitive methods to detect these biomarkers to aid in the diagnosis, monitoring, and progression of diseases.

This project involved creating a lipidomic and proteomic profile of human blood plasma and serum samples. All samples were from de-identified healthy donors under IRB-approved protocols with written informed consent. Liquid Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (LCMS) is the ideal method of creating lipidomic profiles of lipid analytes due to its high specificity and sensitivity. Plasma samples’ lipids contents were extracted using 2:1:1 v/v chloroform/methanol/water or 3:2 v/v hexane/isopropanol. These extraction methods were compared for their sensitivity in detecting certain analytes, and it was found that 3:2 v/v hexane/isopropanol was the better extraction method. Nanotraps, made of various types of nanoparticles, were utilized to bind to sLOX-1 in sample and deplete them for analysis using ELISA, where it was discovered that the majority of sLOX-1 fraction was depleted by the Nanotraps in citrated plasma/serum with recombinant sLox-1 but not much in human blood serum alone. Future sample preparation modifications are needed before LC-MS analyses of Nanotrap-associated sLOX-1.

Hello my name is Joelle Nguyen and this is my project on “Optimizing the Sensitivity of Methods for Detecting Analytes Released During Inflammation.” To start with an introduction on the problem I’m trying to address with my project. The biomarkers involved in inflammation and found in the blood are difficult to detect at low concentrations so it’s necessary to develop assays and lab techniques that have enough sensitivity to detect these biomarkers. These biomarkers can include bioactive lipid mediators such as thromboxanes, prostaglandin, and leukotrienes which form from the oxidation of arachidonic acid, and there are biomarkers categorized as proteins such as the sLox-1 receptor. Specific eicosanoids as seen in this diagram here including thromboxane and HETE species are pro-inflammatory mediators that can play a role in platelet aggregation or inflammatory responses. sLox-1 receptors are elevated in blood plasma of patients with diabetes, atherosclerosis, non-small cell lung cancer and acute myocardial infarction. Detecting these biomarkers can aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of diseases as well as their progression. The hypothesis tested was that methods can be developed to improve the sensitivity of inflammatory biomarker detection by LCMS for lipids and proteins.

So to move on to the methodology of my project, there were two approaches. One was comparing two different extraction methods for the lipid analytes found in blood plasma samples for a lipidomic mass spectrometry analysis, and the other was examining the extent of depletion using nanotraps on the sLox-1 protein receptor in plasma/serum samples for a proteomic mass spectrometry analysis. To go into more detail on the lipidomic experiment, I had compared 2:1:1 v/v chloroform/methanol/water with 3:2 v/v hexane/isopropanol as potential extraction solvents. To compare these methods, I analyzed the peak areas of lipid analytes from duplicate citrated plasma samples and used JMP to provide a descriptive statistical analysis. For the proteomic experiment, there were six dyed nanoparticles used as Nanotraps to deplete sLox-1 in plasma/serum samples and an ELISA test was done to analyze the concentration of depleted sLox-1. The samples were not analyzed with mass spectrometry quite yet but the ELISA results provided future directions for sample preparation and LCMS analysis.

Here are the results for the lipidomic profile made using LCMS. The experiment had two different blood donors, and for this donor here you can see that there is a higher peak area for lipid analytes extracted by hexane on the JMP graph to the left and visually to the right you see that 3:2 v/v hexane/isopropanol has a higher peak area for the specific lipid analytes called 4-HNE-H2O. The same can be said for the second donor in my experiment where again the hexane extracted analytes had a higher peak area both on the JMP plot and the mass spectra graph for 4 HNE-H2O. Now for the mass spectrometry proteomics experiment, there was the ELISA data collected which showed that not a lot of sLox-1 depleted from the nanotraps, only around 20% or less for serum with free sLox-1. The figure to the right shows that citrated blood plasma combined with recombinant sLox-1 protein had a much higher depletion of sLox-1 with 90-100% depleted.

Therefore based on the results of my experiments, the 3:2 v/v hexane/isopropanol is the better solvent to use for extracting lipids from citrated blood plasma samples for a lipidomic profile. For the proteomic experiment, the nanotraps shown in the excel bar graphs showed that they did not interfere with ELISA detection of sLox-1 in control samples. The nanotraps only depleted 0 to 20% of free sLox-1 in serum and depleted 40-100% of recombinant sLox-1 in citrated plasma. The next steps for my project would include doing more experimental trials with both extraction methods to see that 3:2 v/v hexane/isopropanol produces reproducible data. There could also be future modifications to plasma/serum sample preparation to improve sLox-1 binding to the nanotraps.

Thank you for listening and I’d like to acknowledge Dr. Hoemann, Dr. Girgis, Dr. Karen Lee, Dr. Luchini, Rayan Ibrahim Alhammad, and Julia Leonard for their help throughout this project.

College of Humanities and Social Science Award Winners OSCAR

Improving Judicial Confidence in Pretrial Release Decisions: Pretrial Risk Assessments and
Structured Guidelines

Author(s): Sydney Reuter

Mentor(s): Dr. Evan M. Lowder

Across the United States, different counties are implementing and using pretrial risk
assessments (PRAs) and guidelines to inform pretrial decision-making. Research on pretrial risk
assessments has shown they are effective in increasing non-financial release rates while
reducing or having no impact on pretrial outcomes. Further research has discovered that
judicial adherence has a substantial impact on the effectiveness of PRAs in increasing release
rates and lowering rates of pretrial misconduct. However, there is less research on factors that
may be linked to greater adherence to PRA recommendations. The purpose of this study is to
address this gap in research by examining one factor that may be relevant to adherence: how
judicial confidence can vary given the presence or absence of a PRA and guideline. This
quantitative, prospective study conducts a cross-sectional survey of criminal-legal professionals.
Professionals were sampled across U.S. states using a cluster-random and snowball sampling
strategy. Participants were randomly assigned to different vignette conditions, which
manipulated the presence and absence of a PRA and guideline while measuring pretrial release
decisions and corresponding confidence; familiarity with risk assessments, experience in the
criminal-legal field, and baseline levels of confidence were considered as moderating variables.
Findings show the relationship between the presence of PRAs and guidelines and confidence in
pretrial release decisions while accounting for the moderating variables. No significant effect on
confidence was found, suggesting PRAs and guidelines may be implemented without affecting Hello, my name is Sydney Reuter and I’m presenting
my research project from Honors in Criminology,
Law and Society.
My research project examines whether or not
judicial confidence varies based on the presence or
absence of pretrial risk assessments and guidelines.
Pretrial risk assessments predict the likelihood an
offender has of returning to court for their hearing.
As you can see in the table, my study consisted of
three different conditions that were presented in a
vignette. Condition one provided a police narrative,
but no pretrial risk assessment or guideline.
The second condition provided only a pre-trial risk
assessment score but no guidelines.
Condition three provided both the pretrial risk
assessment score and the guideline.
These were presented in a survey of criminal-legal
professionals from 50 US states.
The sample consisted of 122 of these professionals.
The average amount of experience was 11 years
and the average age was 49 years old.
About 50% of these professionals were defense
attorneys and about 10% were judges.
The other 40% consisted of prosecutors, pretrial
service officers, and other criminal legal positions.
During the analysis, I found that the presence of a
risk assessment and guideline did not affect judicial
confidence in pretrial release decisions.
I also considered three moderating variables. These
were familiarity with risk assessments, experience
in the criminal legal system, and baseline levels of
confidence.
These moderating variables were analyzed through
multiple linear regression where each variable got
its own regression. The interaction effects between
the variable and condition were considered.
However, the interaction effects were not found
significant.
These variables also did not have an effect on
confidence.
While surprising, I hypothesize that this lack of
significance is due to a couple of reasons.
First, judges tend to rely on legal factors over risk
assessment tools.
Second, since these tools are so new, judges may
not have strong positive or negative feelings toward
them. This means familiarity does not play a big role
in decision making
However, despite this lack of significance, I would
suggest the study be replicated again in a couple of
years. This is because pretrial risk assessment tools
may play a bigger role in five to ten years.
This means that judges may be more familiar with
them, and therefore more likely to rely on them,
meaning their confidence may be more influenced
by these tools.
Thank you for listening to my research project
judicial confidence.

OSCAR

The Realities of Dark-skinned Women in Higher Education

Author(s): Tashianna Patterson

Mentor(s): Dr. David Corwin, Women and Gender Studies

The experiences and differences between dark-skinned black women and their peers within higher education is a topic that has only recently gained traction within research. These notable differences manifest themselves through colorism, racial biases, negative self-esteem, and wanting to belong, which in turn paints a picture of the true realities this demographic of women face in higher education. This poster analyzes the experience of dark-skinned black women and the factors surrounding, influencing, and perpetuating their current treatment in the Western educational world. This analysis will be structured by theme to raise awareness of the realities of being a dark-skinned black woman in Western education.

Hi, my name is Tashianna Patterson and I am a senior student here at George Mason University. I am going to tell everyone here a little bit about my undergraduate research project. So a little bit of a preface to this project is that this is one that I started a previous semester in a different class and I was happy to have the opportunity to turn it into something a little bit bigger through OSCAR and so yeah let’s get into it. The title of the project is the realities of dark-skinned black Women in higher education and my project happens to be a creative one. My method was a short story as I am someone who loves to write and I think writing is a good way to bring awareness to topics. This project is intended for the young adult age demographic so college students work perfectly for that and I have just really enjoyed doing it. The first step to completing this project was conducting a literature review and in the literature review, I really tried to focus on definitions and themes that were relevant to my work. An example of that would be colorism. I did a lot of research on the historical implications of colorism and how it has and continues to plague the black community and how it also affects the different aspects of black people’s lives. And with the literature review, I also did a lot of reading. You can’t write if you don’t read so I read a lot. Reading helped me to focus on the skill level of creative writing, how to write creatively, and for different demographics. There are certain types of structures that different demographics like to read and I worked hard to make this authentic. And so reading was another big thing. After that, I spent around three to six hours per week writing and editing. I would meet biweekly with my mentor, Dr. David Corwin and we would just go bounce ideas off of each other, makes line edits and those meetings were just very helpful. I didn’t expect how when you write you often hate what you wrote and then someone else reads it and you’re like maybe it’s not so bad. Ultimately what I hope for this project is for awareness to be brought to an issue that I think does not get a lot. I definitely also think representation and hopefully someone who reads this work and thinks this is an experience that I have or know someone else is having and just help people understand this better. I want to start by thanking OSCAR for funding this project and giving me the opportunity to continue this work. And then another thank you to my mentor Dr. David Corwin for being such a tremendous help to me this semester. Thank you so much for listening to my project.

College of Science OSCAR

Measuring of the Adsorption of Atrazine in Clay Minerals

Author(s): Solyip Kim

Mentor(s): Pritha G. Roy, Chemistry & Biochemistry

Atrazine is a widely used herbicide that effectively controls broadleaf weeds and grasses, making it a popular choice due to its affordability. However, its extensive use has resulted in concerns over its environmental impact as it is prone to runoff into surface waters. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has monitored high concentrations of Atrazine in surface water, which suggests that it may not effectively adhere to the soil to kill weeds. This study aims to investigate the impact of exchangeable cations composition on pesticide retention by clay minerals. Specifically, identify the interlayer environments that facilitate the adsorption of pesticides by swelling clay minerals, expand understanding of pesticides that exhibit strong adsorption to clay minerals, and identify the key factors that drive these interactions. The original plan for the study was to saturate the clay with various cations using cation exchange techniques then use those clay for an adsorption experiment involving Atrazine. The sample was supposed to then be analyzed using an X-ray diffraction to determine interaction between clay cation composition, clay swelling, and pesticide adsorption affinity. However, the original methods weren’t achievable and therefore new methods are being developed to finish the experiment. The outcome of this project is to develop a framework for predicting the strength of pesticide-clay interactions.

Hi my name is Solyip Kim and I’m a chemistry undergraduate student. Today, I will be giving an overview of my URSP research where I measured the adsorption of Atrazine in clay minerals using various analytical chemistry techniques. So what is Atrazine? Atrazine is a cost-effective chlorinated triazine systematic herbicide, which is widely used in the United States to inhibit the photosynthesis of grasses and broadleaf weeds. Photosynthesis inhibitors are applied to the soil and carried to the leaves by transpiration, which will inhibit photosynthesis of the leaves. What is the problem? Although Atrazine is readily available at a low cost, it is susceptible to runoff into surface water, particularly during the planting period of crops like corn, soybeans, and sorghum, which will potentially contaminate drinking water. The high concentration of atrazine in surface waters poses a threat to our health and nature. But also it indicates that the herbicide is not doing its job effectively. To address this issue, my research involves using montmorillonite clay, a natural soil conditioner with high adsorbent characteristics, to reduce the amount of atrazine in water. By saturating the clay with various cations using cation exchange techniques, we hope to optimize the adsorbent for atrazine. Although the original plan to use high-performance liquid chromatography and X-ray diffraction was not successful, we are currently developing a flow-through experiment that utilizes UV-vis spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. For the flow-through experiment, we’ve compacted 1 g of cation-deposited clay into the column and made 200 mL of 0.1 M atrazine solution using 0.01 M of calcium chloride and methanol. Methanol was used to dissolve the atrazine because atrazine has low solubility characteristics in water. The atrazine solution was then put into the column to let it flow through the clay. The solution was supposed to be then collected for UV-vis spectroscopy and Mass spectroscopy but due to the rate of the flow-through being too slow, we are currently in the process of modifying the methods again. Through this research, we aim to investigate the interactions between clay cation composition, clay swelling, and pesticide adsorption affinity, and we expect the clay sample to have a significant impact on the adsorption of pesticides based on its hydration energy. Specifically, the lower the hydration energy, the more direct the interaction between exchangeable cations and the functional groups of pesticides will be.

College of Science OSCAR

Purification and Characterization of RIG-I Inducing RNA Species within Small Extracellular Vesicles Released from Cells Infected with Rift Valley Fever

Author(s): Sanskruthi Sreepangi

Mentor(s): Ramin M Hakami, School of Systems Biology

Rift Valley fever (RVF) is a highly infectious RNA virus with no clinically approved vaccines or therapeutics. This study aims to identify RNA species responsible for inducing a protective antiviral response in recipient cells using small extracellular vesicles as therapeutics. sEVs are significant in modulating innate immune responses to infectious diseases. sEVs, specifically EXi-RVFV, released from cells infected with RVFV carry viral RNA to activate the RIG-I pathway to induce IFN-B, regulating inflammation and inhibiting viral spread. sEVs were purified from RVFV-infected Vero cells, followed by RIG-I-Immunoprecipitation on U937 cells treated with purified sEVs to recover RNA bound to RIG-I protein. Additionally, the direct recovery of RNA species packaged into sEVs was optimized. The RNA from both approaches was analyzed for yield, quality, and IFN-B activation using RT-qPCR and Western blot. Future work includes RNAseq analysis of the isolated RNAs to identify the RNA species responsible for the RIG-I activation.

The Rift Valley Fever virus causes the highly pathogenic RNA virus – the Rift Valley Fever. This zoonotic virus is prominent in Africa. It is spread to vectors of mosquitoes. Mortality rates can be as high as 90% in ruminants, with 100% abortion rates. There are emergency-approved animal vaccines for this virus But no clinically approved for humans. Humans with RVF can experience symptoms of permanent vision loss due to retina inflammation, and severe hemorrhaging. Seems pretty bad right? But we’ve barely heard about rift valley and it’s been 90 years. Probably not a big deal right? WRONG. The only reason the virus has been contained and minimal thus far is because there have been little to no instances of person-to-person transmission. What if that were to change overnight? How would we contain an RNA virus so pathogenic? It would be another costly pandemic that could only be saved by vaccines. Extracellular vesicles are vesicles derived from eukaryotic cells that can potentially lead to vaccine and therapeutic candidates against RVF.
Here is a conceptual model explaining how this works: Viral RNA from infected cells can be inserted into extracellular vesicles to trigger a receptor called RIGI-I. RIGI-I detects viral Rift Valley RNA. Which induced an immune response through interferon beta activation acting like an alarm of invasion. And the need for protection. Now, we have aimed to determine the exact types of RNA species that cause this immune response. However, before doing so several steps have to be met. These steps include infection, transfection, RT-qPCR, and western blot. Through these steps, we aim to determine the ideal ratio of the ideal ratio of poly(I:C) which is a viral RNA mimic to transfection reagent to see which one would lead to the highest interferon beta activation. Our PCR results show a ratio of 10:30 had the highest interferon beta activation. Future direction would include using Western blot to confirm 10:30 Poly(I:C): DOTAP is the most ideal ratio.

College of Humanities and Social Science Honors College OSCAR

Intersectional Effects of Race and Gender on the Age of Special Education Service Receipt for Autistic Children

Author(s): Maharun Mia

Mentor(s): Adam Winsler, Psychology

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is important to provide early intervention for children, which significantly improves outcomes and future functioning. Race and gender have each shown to correlate with differential age of diagnosis for children with ASD. The male-o-female ratio of autistic individuals in the US is about 4.2:1, and studies have indicated that females often have a later Age of Diagnosis (AOD) than male counterparts. However, there have been conflicting results in previous studies regarding the effect of race on AOD. Additionally, most previous studies looked primarily at White/male samples. This study examines race and gender to identify if these variables have an intersectional effect on the age of special education service receipt for autistic children. Data was drawn from the Miami School Readiness Project (MSRP), a longitudinal, large-scale, and ethnically diverse study of children that attended Miami-Dade County Public Schools that spanned 14 years. In a subsample of students that had received autism as a primary exceptionality classification in their Individualized Education Program (n=851), 741 students were male and 110 students were female. 114 of these students were White/Asian, 595 were Hispanic/Latinx and 142 were Black. The grade/year of schooling that each student first received an autism exceptionality was recorded. ANCOVA analyses controlled for poverty status, English Language Learner (ELL) status, and assessment scores for cognitive and behavioral functioning at age 4.
No main effects of race or gender nor any intersectional effects were found in the ANCOVAs. However, it was found that ELL status did have significant effects on the first grade of autism exceptionality attainment, ELL students receiving the exceptionality at a lower grade level than non-ELL students. This work suggests that there is no evidence of bias towards race and gender in terms of assessing and assigning children with an autism exceptionality.

Hello my name is Maharun Mia And I did my honors thesis on the intersectional effects of race and gender on the age of Special Education Service receipt for autistic children So having an early age of diagnosis for autism is very important as it is ensures that the child gets early interventions and therefore better outcomes down the line we do know for the literature that males tend to get diagnosed earlier than their female counterparts with girls being diagnoses about a year later than boys

there also has been some research looking at racial differences in age of diagnoses but these results have been mixed and there isn’t really a clear consensus on what that relationship might be and it really depends on like what variables the studies have been controlling for

For this study I’m actually looking at Special Education Service receipt because although this isn’t age of diagnosis this is also an important indication of when students are actually receiving services for autism. in this case Special Education Service receipt refers to when a student is receiving a primary exceptionality for autism, a primary exceptionality being the code that a student must receive in their individualized education program in order to be given accommodations and services

One thing that’s significant is that autism research has historically involved mostly Advantage white and male samples which does not reflect entirety of the autistic population which kind of brings us to the importance of this study which is looking at a primarily low-income Hispanic in Black sample and looking for race and gender differences And the timing of primary exceptionality classification attainment

These are my research questions.

We used data from the Miami School Readiness project which primarily composed of low-income students who had received Child Care subsidies for community-based child care or attended a Miami-Dade Public Schools pre-k programs at age four

The final sample composed of 851 MSRP students who had received autism as a primary exceptionality at some point between kindergarten and 12th grade

The table here shows the race and gender breakdown of the sample, Which shows that the sample was 70% Hispanic 16% were black and 87% of the sample was male

The dependent variable is the first year or grade that the students received ASD as a primary exceptionality the covariates were poverty status English language learner status cognitive functioning at age 4 which was measured through the scores that these students received on the LAP-D, ELAP, or DIBELS
As well as behavioral concerns at Age 4 via their DECA scores.

I performed a series of ANCOVAs first without any covariates than adding in poverty status and ell status, And then finally with different combinations of the different cognitive functioning scores we had and the DECA scores.

We actually found no significant differences between any of the groups in terms of the average grade of first time ASD exceptionality no matter what covariates we added. I have a little graphic here that shows that while there are some small group differences between all of the groups none of these were significant. The overall average grade that students received their ASD exceptionality was between first and second grade.

The last thing we looked at was to see if any of the students had received a different exceptionality code before autism as we thought that well if they had received some other exceptionality prior to autism just might have created a delay in the receipt of services. Around 27% of the sample had received something other than autism.this table here shows the breakdown of what these other exceptionality codes were the top three were specific learning disability developmental delay and speech / language impairment. There were no significant gender effects but there was a significant race effect in that white/Asian students were More likely to have received a different exceptionality code prior to autism compared to Hispanic and black students.
I also found out while Hispanic black students had the same top three categories as the overall sample white asian students were more likely to have received a gifted status compared to the other race categories Giftedness being an exceptionality code given to students who are receiving Services accommodations for Accelerated classes such as in reading or math

so in conclusion Despite the literature there weren’t any evidence of race or gender-based delays in autism service received within schools within this predominantly Latino and black sample in Miami which is great news since this means that all students are receiving ASD services on time
however it’s important to note that this might not generalize to other communities or school systems that are not majority Latino and black as there could just be like other resources or factors in Miami not found in other parts of the US.