Biology subjects

Casey, K.

Publications and source records attributed to Casey, K..

4 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Neonatal mimicry of caregivers at home: feasibility of an asynchronous online paradigm

While early life sets the stage for later learning, comparatively less is known about newborns cognition than that of older infants. A striking example is the lack of consensus regarding the extent to which newborns spontaneously mimic gestures, and whether such behavior drives bonding and learning. Despite the theoretical importance of these questions, practical challenges limit researchers ability to engage newborns in behavioral research. Webcam-based, asynchronous online studies have expanded developmental sciences capacity to reach older infants. However, such scalable and replicable methods have yet to be deployed with younger infants. Taking a commonly-used neonatal mimicry paradigm as a test case, we assessed the feasibility of leveraging an open-source online platform (Children Helping Science) for asynchronous research with 0-6-week-olds and their caregivers. Caregivers modeled face movements to their 4-45 days-old infants (N = 29, N = 17 included) while webcams filmed their infants responses; 13 dyads participated more than once (72 included test videos). There was preliminary, moderate evidence against group-level neonatal mimicry of caregivers tongue protrusions (Bayes Factor [~] [1/3]), and inconclusive evidence for or against mimicry of caregivers mouth openings ([1/3] < BF < 3). Simulations identified a target sample size for more conclusive evidence. Finally, we asked whether caregivers perceived their newborns behavior as imitative. Caregivers perceptions of mimicry reflected infants behaviors but did not align with an often-used metric of mimicry ("imitators"). These results demonstrate the feasibility of asynchronous online behavioral studies with newborns and provide a foundation for future research on neonatal mimicry of caregivers.x1

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2021

Attrition Rate in Infant fNIRS Research: A Meta-Analysis

Understanding the trends and predictors of attrition rate, or the proportion of collected data that is excluded from the final analyses, is important for accurate research planning, assessing data integrity, and ensuring generalizability. In this pre-registered meta-analysis, we reviewed 182 publications in infant (0-24 months) functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) research published from 1998 to April 9, 2020 and investigated the trends and predictors of attrition. The average attrition rate was 34.23% among 272 experiments across all 182 publications. Among a subset of 136 experiments which reported the specific reasons of subject exclusion, 21.50% of the attrition were infant-driven while 14.21% were signal-driven. Subject characteristics (e.g., age) and study design (e.g., fNIRS cap configuration, block/trial design, and stimulus type) predicted the total and subject-driven attrition rates, suggesting that modifying the recruitment pool or the study design can meaningfully reduce the attrition rate in infant fNIRS research. Based on the findings, we established guidelines on reporting the attrition rate for scientific transparency and made recommendations to minimize the attrition rates. We also launched an attrition rate calculator (LINK) to aid with research planning. This research can facilitate developmental cognitive neuroscientists in their quest toward increasingly rigorous and representative research. HighlightsO_LIAverage attrition rate in infant fNIRS research is 34.23% C_LIO_LI21.50% of the attrition are infant-driven (e.g., inattentiveness) while 14.21% are signal-driven (e.g., poor optical contact) C_LIO_LISubject characteristics (e.g., age) and study design (e.g., fNIRS cap configuration, block/trial design, and stimulus type) predict the total and infant-driven attrition rates C_LIO_LIModifying the recruitment pool or the study design can meaningfully reduce the attrition rate in infant fNIRS research C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Trends of Hospitalization in Acute Pancreatitis in Patients in the United States from 2001-2014

Background & PurposeThe prevalence of acute pancreatitis(AP) has increased over time and is one of the most important gastrointestinal causes of frequent admissions to hospital in the United States. The cost burden of AP has been steadily increasing. The primary objective of our study was to analyze patient demographics, cost burden, mortality and length of stay associated with AP hospital admissions. MethodsNationwide inpatient sample (NIS) database was used to identify AP admissions in all patients from [≥]18 years of age from 2001 to 2014 using ICD-9-CM code 577.0 as the principal discharge diagnosis ResultsThe number of hospitalizations increased from 215,238 in 2001 to 279,145 in 2014. Inhospital mortality decreased from 1.74% in 2001 to 0.66% in 2014. Mean length of hospital stay has decreased from 6.1 days to 4.6 days during the same period, but the mean hospital charges increased from $19,303 in 2001 to $35,728 in 2014. The proportion of males to females with acute pancreatitis is slowly trending up from 2001 to 2014. ConclusionThe number of hospitalizations due to acute pancreatitis has been steadily increasing, and further research needs to be done on finding out the reasons for increased causes of hospitalization and ways to decrease the cost burden on patients and hospitals.

epidemiology↗

bioRxiv2018

Remodeling of epigenome and transcriptome landscapes with aging in mice reveals widespread induction of inflammatory responses

Aging is accompanied by the functional decline of tissues. However, a systematic study of epigenomic and transcriptomic changes across tissues during aging is missing. Here we generated chromatin maps and transcriptomes from 4 tissues and one cell type from young, middle-age, and old mice, yielding 143 high-quality datasets. We focused specifically on chromatin marks linked to gene expression regulation and cell identity: histone H3 trimethylation at lysine 4 (H3K4me3), a mark enriched at promoters, and histone H3 acetylation at lysine 27 (H3K27ac), a mark enriched at active enhancers. Epigenomic and transcriptomic landscapes could easily distinguish between ages, and machine learning analysis showed that specific epigenomic states could predict transcriptional changes during aging. Analysis of datasets from all tissues identified recurrent age-related chromatin and transcriptional changes in key processes, including the upregulation of immune system response pathways such as the interferon signaling pathway. The upregulation of interferon response pathway with age was accompanied by increased transcription of various endogenous retroviral sequences. Pathways deregulated during mouse aging across tissues, notably innate immune pathways, were also deregulated with aging in other vertebrate species - African turquoise killifish, rat, and humans - indicating common signatures of age across species. To date, our dataset represents the largest multi-tissue epigenomic and transcriptomic dataset for vertebrate aging. This resource identifies chromatin and transcriptional states that are characteristic of youthful tissues, which could be leveraged to restore aspects of youthful functionality to old tissues.

genomics↗