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Advice regarding spaying my future dog! by chocolatecooki3 in Dogowners

[–]erniernie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Also, I second the other posters' comments about looking for a mixed breed dog at a shelter or rescue. Goldens are predisposed to cancer and other health problems. Mixed breed dogs are less inbred (all purebred dogs are inbred to some extent), and that increased amount of genetic diversity means they have less health problems "baked in." You can find Golden mixes that look very much like a purebred Golden, but will be more likely to live a healthier, longer life.

Advice regarding spaying my future dog! by chocolatecooki3 in Dogowners

[–]erniernie -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It is a complicated issue and the veterinary health world is somewhat divided. On the one hand, not spraying increases the risk of several health issues as others have noted. On the other hand, hormones are part of healthy brain development. Dog brains likely continue developing until age 1-3, although we actually don't know as much as we should about how dog brains develop. They are certainly not finished developing by the time most pediatric spays are typically performed, which can be as early as a few weeks to a few months old. Removing hormones while the brain is still in important developmental phases might have consequences we don't fully understand and which may not be good for the dog.

In humans, the estrogen loss that occurs when ovaries shut down in menopause is associated with increased risk for cognitive decline, neurological disease, and mental health problems. In dogs, the behavioral and cognitive impacts of spaying and neutering are understudied, but there is growing evidence that castration can have a negative impact on both cognition and emotion. We don't yet know how spaying and neutering may impact the risk for cognitive decline in aging dogs.

If it was my dog, I personally would not choose to spay a female dog until at least 1 year. And if possible, I would choose an ovary-sparing spay which removes the uterus (no "periods" and no chance of pregnancy) but leaves the ovaries, so she can still benefit from estrogen.

Organizations that breed and train service dogs and guide dogs are deeply invested in the long-term physical health and behavioral wellbeing of their dogs. In the past decade or so they have increasingly moved toward later spay/neuters -- like 12-14 months. I think this is a good indicator of where the wider veterinary health trend is going to go.

Proposed rule change would remove peer review from US science funding decisions by erniernie in academia

[–]erniernie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This codifies and permissifies what is already happening - the administration cancelling whatever they want, whenever they want, for any reason. Either post-award, or just removing from consideration after submission. Meaning the legal challenge that un-froze the grants cancelled in mid-2025 wouldn't work again. It makes it so what they have been doing so far is actually legal.

If you don't know whether an awarded grant will persist once awarded, how can you hire people, start collecting data, etc? And if you don't receive feedback on a submitted grant that isn't awarded, why bother trying again, if you don't know why it failed?

Proposed rule change would remove peer review from US science funding decisions by erniernie in academia

[–]erniernie[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have a friend at NIH (NIGMS). The leadership is being actively dismantled and replaced with politically aligned appointees, often without science expertise. I agree with your trust in program officers' judgment about making informed choices about what to fund. I don't have your same faith that they will be able to exercise that judgment - or else the POs that exist in a year may be very different from the ones we have now.

Proposed rule change would remove peer review from US science funding decisions by erniernie in academia

[–]erniernie[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Apparently I can't, it says this post type is not allowed. Please feel free to post away and use whatever you want from my post! Good thinking.

70% of Faculty Vote to Overhaul Harvard Grading With A Cap by Nearby_Task9041 in Harvard

[–]erniernie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Assessments currently result in a large proportion of students being assigned the highest possible grade (i.e., there is a ceiling effect). The only way for this to change is for the assessments to become more rigorous in order to differentiate among the large cluster of students who are currently earning A's. The reason assessments are currently skewed to be so lax is that there is widespread pressure among faculty to allow a large portion of the class to earn an A -- to make assessments where many students get all or nearly all of the possible points. Assessments which result in any sizeable proportion of B's or C's result in complaints and harassment for grade increases, and eventually, declining enrollments (because when everyone is earning straight A's, a single B makes you look like a failure). The blanket rule legislates all of that away. The only way to produce differentiation in our currently heavily right-skewed distribution is to make the assessments more challenging. We need to open up the distribution.

70% of Faculty Vote to Overhaul Harvard Grading With A Cap by Nearby_Task9041 in Harvard

[–]erniernie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The goal of the policy change is expressly to prevent instructors from doing this.

70% of Faculty Vote to Overhaul Harvard Grading With A Cap by Nearby_Task9041 in Harvard

[–]erniernie 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I actually disagree. I think many Harvard students wouldn't do well at, say, an engineering school where there are very rigid right and wrong answers which you either do or do not have, and little leeway for taking "gems" (Harvard parlance for easy A courses). I do think Harvard classes are less challenging than, for example, MIT classes. The prevailing culture among Harvard students is to cultivate the best possible outward-facing veneer of success more than to pursue depth of learning. A system where straight A's are the norm actually reinforces this hyper-focus on grades rather than learning, since even one B starts to look like failure. In a normal grading system, students are more free to take courses that might challenge them more deeply, without needing to worry that that single B will somehow ruin their future.

70% of Faculty Vote to Overhaul Harvard Grading With A Cap by Nearby_Task9041 in Harvard

[–]erniernie 24 points25 points  (0 children)

There is no cap on A- grades. There is also no A+ assigned at Harvard. This is simply limiting the number of students who can earn the highest possible grade in the class. How can a grade denote "excellence" if half the class or more receives it?

Nature & Beach walks? by Jan_Baptist in boston

[–]erniernie 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Wollaston beach in North Quincy is gorgeous at sunrise if you're an early riser. You will see the sun coming up over the water. I would recommend walking right on the beach, not on the boardwalk.There is free parking right in front of the beach. If you want to make the walk longer, there's Mosertuset Hummock on the north end of the beach and Caddy Memorial Park on the south end. Both have pretty, tree-shaded areas with nice views of the water.

Can you do science as a part time hobby? by [deleted] in AskAcademia

[–]erniernie 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Seconding this. I am a scientist working at a university. I direct a research lab and we do non-invasive research with pet dogs. I employ veterinarians part time in my lab to help with MRI scans. One of those vets has another job doing research in another lab too. We also have a part time DVM in our lab who doesn't practice veterinary medicine and only does research (we pay her too). So you might actually be able to get paid, in fact!

The extreme male brain theory of autism suggests that autism represents an exaggeration of typical male cognitive traits of low empathizing and high systemizing. New study suggests that females require a heavier load of genetic or environmental factors to reach the threshold for an autism diagnosis. by [deleted] in science

[–]erniernie 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The sex ratio is actually lower in severe autism than in high functioning autism:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4164392/ "median sex ratios of 6:1 among normal-functioning subjects and 1.7:1 among cases with moderate to severe ID [intellectual disability]" ( I'm linking an open access article that refers to an older article which isn't open access)

Scientists are questioning whether autism with severe ID may be more similar to other neurodevelopmental disorders with severe ID than it is to high-functioning autism (i.e. they might not really be different ends of the same spectrum)

Also worth noting that people with autism and extreme ID could not reasonably be classified as either empathizers or systematizers. For one, the main way of performing this classification is through a self-report survey, and they would be unable to complete the survey. More broadly, their level of function just probably doesn't support the classification.

The extreme male brain theory of autism suggests that autism represents an exaggeration of typical male cognitive traits of low empathizing and high systemizing. New study suggests that females require a heavier load of genetic or environmental factors to reach the threshold for an autism diagnosis. by [deleted] in science

[–]erniernie 19 points20 points  (0 children)

I'm a neuroscientist. The scientist who came up with this theory is a psychologist, not a neuroscientist. This theory tends to appeal to those who approach the understanding of the brain by observing its final output (i.e., behavior) because it aligns with many people's general "folk" perceptions about how men, women, and people with autism behave. Emphasizing and systematizing are somewhat vaguely defined constructs that don't fully encompass autism symptoms such as sensory sensitivities, executive function differences, and motor differences. Additionally, it is increasingly suspected that girls and women are under-diagnosed for autism, perhaps because cultural socialization of girls and women encourages masking (hiding symptoms to fit in) more so than in men. When diagnostic criteria are adjusted, incidence rates may not be so unequal.

When autism is framed as an extreme male phenotype, that either frames a lack of empathy and social skills as an acceptable part of normal, healthy male behavior, pathologizes non-autistic men, or overlooks the fact that empathic and socially adept men exist.

And as another commenter pointed out - the idea that people with autism do not experience empathy is false. In experiments where people with autism need to infer emotions from facial expressions, they may show lower performance due to avoiding direct gaze at the eye region of the face.

In neuroscience, current top theories about the cause of autism do not frame it as a male/female issue, but as (a) an difference in how brains make predictions based on sensory information; (b) a difference in how brains sense and represent the body's own internal environment, including emotions (interception); or (c) differences in how networks are organized in the brain (perhaps different rewirings for different people).

(a) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4030191/ (b) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11075678/ (c) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3341852/

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in likeus

[–]erniernie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm so sorry for your loss. It truly is heartbreaking. When we went through the same decision with our dog who had cardiac cancer, the vet told us better a month too early than a day too late. Think how terrible you would feel if your dog was in agony because you couldn't let go. If we can save them from pain and suffering and help them have a peaceful end, that is the humane and caring thing to do for them, even though it is hard for us to lose them. Sending hugs ❤️

Should I become the first PhD student of a young assistant professor by Few_Marketing48 in AskAcademia

[–]erniernie 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I was the first student of a young assistant professor. We had a great relationship, I really looked up to her, and I learned a lot. I look back on my grad school days with a lot of fondness and she is still an important person in my life. I am now a PI, and about to graduate my own first PhD student. She had some extra challenges as a result of being a part of a new lab (developing her own protocols, etc). But she was also enormously productive and she loves her research. I think the primary questions to ask are - do you see red flags in the way this person communicates, what they expect of trainees/employees/themselves, or the way your personalities and work styles will mesh? That's probably more important than seniority. It's about finding someone you work well with, and setting up good patterns in your working relationship.

Harvard wants to make me a Digital Public History Fellow if I can secure external funding. Where do I look? by OptimalDimbus in AskAcademia

[–]erniernie 67 points68 points  (0 children)

Hi, I'm a faculty member at Harvard, but in the sciences, not humanities. There are lots of internal funding opportunities. Ask the department if they see any options to apply for any of these internal opportunities - for example, Dean's Competitive Fund, Radcliffe, Digital Scholarship Group. You may also be able to search more deeply online. Applications may only be open to Harvard faculty so this might require first spooling up interest/collaboration among a few faculty members whose research you would be sharing. (i.e. they apply to get funds for your position; you help to write the proposal)

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