Background Reading Research Articles

Practice Impact of a Dedicated LGBTQ+ Clinical Exposure During Residency.

An increased focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) care in graduate medical education is needed to address health disparities in this patient population. This study assessed practice confidence and practice intentions of residents who rotated through an LGBTQ+ clinic during their residency. Residents completed three to eight half-day sessions in a dedicated LGBTQ+ clinic focusing on primary care, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), and gender-affirming care from 2019 to 2022. Prior to this clinical experience, they were provided background reading materials, care guidelines, and clinical cases. Residents were electronically surveyed at two time points after completing this clinical experience to retrospectively assess their pre-and postcurricular confidence. Seventeen out of 18 (94%) residents who completed the curricular experience responded to the initial survey, which showed statistically significant differences between reported pre- and postcurricular confidence in providing primary care, PrEP, and gender affirmation care. Eight-eight percent of residents reported that they planned to or have already incorporated this care into their practice. In a follow-up survey 1 year later, 15 out of 18 (83%) responded, reporting consistent skills confidence. Seventy-one percent of participants reported currently providing LGBTQ+ care. We noted no statistical difference between the initial postconfidence survey and the follow-up survey. This study demonstrated positive associations between a focused curricular experience in LGBTQ+ care and both confidence providing LGBTQ+ care and planned and actual postgraduation practice patterns.

Verbalization of the value concept ‘TOLERANCE” in the speech of German-speaking youth (on the material of TRU DOKU reports)

The article is devoted to studying means of representing the value concept ‘tolerance’ in the speech of modern German-speaking youth. The purpose of the research is to determine the place of tolerance among other values of the modern German society and to systematize the language units that reflect commitment to this value. The research material consists of 50 short documentaries created by the German-speaking YouTube channel ‘TRU DOKU’ and released in 2020–2021. The speakers’ value systems are reconstructed by means of analyzing their evaluative statements. The latter are divided into explicit direct, explicit indirect and implicit ones, depending on the degree of their compliance with the generalized formula of evaluative statements derived from background reading on the topic. In the course of the study, the speech products of the project participants are examined for the presence of language means that help to convey evaluativeness. The list of such linguistic means includes adjectives, nouns, verbs of general and specific evaluation, intensifying adverbs and particles, predicates of opinion and perception, comparative constructions, including the ones in the form of metaphors and phraseological units. Special attention is paid to emotive and emotive-associative vocabulary. In addition, the semantics of lexemes used in the context of evaluative statements is taken into account, which can also be used as a source of information about the speakers’ value systems. As a result of the analysis, it was found that implicit evaluative statements prevail when it comes to displaying ‘tolerance’ as a value. In addition to the listed types of language units, the verb sich wünschen is widely used to express wishes and hopes, modal verbs and the verb lassen are employed to convey attitudes towards tolerance and the opposite, undesirable situation of discrimination. Furthermore, the construction “egal + indirect question” and the cliché “jemanden so nehmen, wie man ist” are relatively frequent. The semantics of lexemes in the analyzed contexts enabled the inference that the participants of the videos encourage the viewer to make a cognitive effort in order to better understand other cultures and behaviors. The general conclusion about the place of tolerance in the value system of the German-speaking youth is that this concept is currently gaining more ground, but is not yet a generally accepted value, as evidenced by a large number of explicative constructions in the speech of the participants.

933 ASSESSMENT OF NON-INVASIVE MEASUREMENTS OF OXYGEN SATURATION AND HEART RATE WITH AN APPLE SMARTWATCH: COMPARISON WITH A STANDARD PULSE OXIMETER

Abstract Background The most commonly used method to assess peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) in clinical practice is pulse oximetry. Smartwatches are widespread and are increasingly being used for digital health information. The smartwatch Apple Watch 6 was developed with a new sensor and an app that allows taking on-demand readings of blood oxygen and background readings, day and night. Aims The primary aim of the study was the head-to-head comparison of the measurements of SpO2 and heart rate (HR) by the smartwatch and the standard pulse oximeter. The secondary aim was the comparison of the measurements of SpO2 and HR between subgroups (lung disease, cardiovascular disease, healthy subjects). Methods and results We enrolled study participants with lung or cardiovascular disease and healthy subjects. A total of 265 subjects were screened for enrollment in this study. After screening, 257 subjects were included in the present study. The measurements of SpO2 and HR were obtained with the Apple Watch 6 and the Nellcor system and taken within 1 minute of each other in order to ensure comparability between the two devices. The correlation between the two technologies was assessed using linear regression and estimated with Pearson analysis for normally distributed data and Spearman analysis for nonparametric data. A plot of the differences between techniques was created according to the method described by J.M. Bland and D.G. Altmann. We observed a strong positive correlation between the smartwatch and the standard commercial device in the evaluation of SpO2 measurements (r=0.89, p< 0.0001; Figure 1A) and HR measurements (r=0.98, p< 0.0001; Figure 1B). A very good concordance was found between SpO2 (bias, -0.2289; SD, 1.66; lower limit, -3.49; and upper limit, 3.04; Figure 2A) and HR (bias, -0.1052; SD, 2.93; lower limit, -5.84; and upper limit, 5.63; Figure 2B) measured by the smartwatch in comparison with the standard commercial device using Bland–Altman analysis. We observed similar agreements and concordance even in the different subgroups. Conclusions In conclusion, our study demonstrates the feasibility and agreement of the Apple Watch 6 compared with the standard device used to assess SpO2 in patients with cardiovascular or lung diseases and in healthy subjects.

Conservation and the genomics of populations, 3rd edition, Allendorf F. W., Funk W. C., Aitken S. N., Byrne M., Luikart G.

Conservation and the genomics of populations, 3rd edition, Allendorf F. W., Funk W. C., Aitken S. N., Byrne M., Luikart G.

A turn-on fluorescent probe based on ESIPT and AIEE mechanisms for the detection of butyrylcholinesterase activity in living cells and in non-alcoholic fatty liver of zebrafish

Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) are two important cholinesterase enzymes in human metabolism which are closely related to various diseases of the liver. BChE and AChE are difficult to be distinguished due to their similarity in biochemical properties. Therefore, developing BChE-specific probes with high sensitivity and low background reading is desirable for the relevant biological applications. Herein, we reported the design and synthesis of a fluorescent probe HBT-BChE for biological detection and imaging of BChE. The probe is triggered by BChE-mediated hydrolysis, releasing a fluorophore that holds AIEE and ESIPT properties with large Stokes shift (>100 nm), rendering the probe features of low background interference and high sensitivity. The probe can also distinguish BChE from AChE with a low detection limit of 7.540 × 10−4 U/mL. Further in vitro studies have shown the ability of HBT-BChE to detect intracellular BChE activity, as well as to evaluate the efficiency of the BChE inhibitor. More importantly, the in vivo studies of imaging the BChE activity level in liver tissues using zebrafish as the model animal demonstrated the potential of HBT-BChE as a powerful tool for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Descriptive Study of Pericarditis Outcomes in Different Etiologies and Risk Factors: A Retrospective Record Review.

Background: Pericarditis is an inflammatory pericardial disorder that can be caused by several infectious and non-infectious illnesses. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was recently added to the long list of pericarditis causes. As a result, this study aims to look at the incidence of various etiologies of pericarditis, including post-COVID-19 vaccine and risk factors, at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.Methods: Between 2012 and 2022, all male and female patients diagnosed with acute, chronic, or constrictive pericarditis at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital clinic were included in this retrospective study, which took place in June 2022. Data were collected from the hospital's medical records, including the patient's demographic information, pericarditis history, medical history, social background, laboratory tests, Echocardiogram (ECHO) and electrocardiogram (ECG) readings, and medication history. Associations were tested using univariate and bivariate analysis.Results: Acute pericarditis was diagnosed in 59 (89.1%) patients and the most common symptoms were chest pain and shortness of breath (SOB) followed by fever and cough.Idiopathic pericarditis was the primary etiology 30 (46.9%) with male predominance 25 (55.6%), followed by infections and then cardiac presenting primarily with chest pain 25 (83.3%). In comparison, the most common presentation in females was autoimmune, as seen in eight patients (42.1%). Most patients required aspirin, ibuprofen, and colchicine. Among outcomes, of a total of 64 patients, five died within 30 days. Moreover, four (7.5%) experienced subsequent cardiac tamponades, which was mainly due to malignancy (50%) (p<0.05).Conclusion: There was a substantial relationship between malignancy and developing morbid complications, with 59 patients out of 64 getting acute pericarditis and the remainder chronic and constrictive pericarditis with idiopathic pericarditis being the leading causes.

Sea Change: Ottoman Textiles between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean

Sea Change: Ottoman Textiles between the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean

Textual thinking as evidenced through think-alouds: Designing meanings in interpreting authentic L2 web texts

Recent scholarship in multiliteracies-oriented pedagogies has advocated for greater attention to fostering ‘textual thinking’, understood as forms of literacy that consider the complexities of semiotic choices made by authors, and their underlying meanings, rhetorical purposes, and cultural contexts. This kind of engagement with texts calls upon readers to focus on form–meaning connections, and shifts the focus of reading purposes, toward reading as a form of participation in everyday literacy practices, and reading as a way of thinking critically about representation and communication. This article presents findings from an empirical study investigating the reading processes of second language (L2) French learners while interpreting an authentic multimodal web text, guided by tasks informed by multiliteracies. A prompted think-aloud methodology was used to capture learners’ dynamic meaning-making processes. Drawn from a larger group of participants ( n = 9), the current article reports on three unique cases, documenting their engagement with different semiotic modes and their evolving interpretations. The participants performed three phases of reading tasks: skimming for predictions about topic and authorship, scanning for specific details, and tracking webs of text signals. Participants saw the question prompts prior to each task phase, and again at the end of the phase, with multiple choice response options. Findings demonstrate participants’ unique sets of interpretations and processes in terms of the way they drew differently upon various domains of background knowledge, genre knowledge, and reading strategies; the way they attended to various linguistic and non-linguistic modes; and the way the tasks guided their reading. The article concludes by suggesting several concrete instructional practices for L2 literacy development, including tasks that are adaptable for a range of languages.

The Real Anthony Fauci. Bill Gates, Big Pharma, and the Global War on Democracy and Public Health by Robert F. Kennedy

Let me start this review with my declaration of conflict of interest, intellectually of course: I have done some background research and reading on mercury toxicity (Mutter et al., 2010; Mutter et al., 2005), from thimerosal (ethylmercury, a preservative that used to be in vaccines until about 10 years ago) and amalgams. This is an area, where Robert F. Kennedy has been politically quite active with his Children’s Health Defence foundation. I am therefore favorably inclined to Kennedy’s activities, although I am certainly not an anti-vaxxer. My personal stance here is: some vaccines are useful and safe, some are not, and likely it is best to take them in separate steps, as we did with our children. I have also done primary research on Covid-19 right from the beginning (Walach &amp; Hockertz, 2020a, 2020b) – modeling (Klement &amp; Walach, 2021), conducting surveys (Walach et al., 2022; Walach, Ruof, et al., 2021), looking at data, blogging in Germany – conducting two highly visible and highly controversial studies (Walach, Klement, et al., 2021a; Walach, Weikl, et al., 2021), which have both been retracted within a week, one of them republished (Walach, Klement, et al., 2021b), the other still under a new review. I was critical of the official Covid-19 narrative as soon as I discovered huge discrepancies between original data and reports in the media, as well as analyses of media-prone scientists that were ostensibly wrong; we have succeeded in publishing a critique of one such dangerously wrong analysis (Dehning et al., 2020) about 2 years after the original one was out, following two rejections and long rounds of reviewing (Kuhbandner et al., 2022). So, I have learned a lot of lessons there. I initially thought, we are dealing with a mistake, due to a novel threat and confusion in how to react. The more I saw and experienced myself, the more I lost that stance of innocence and thought that, perhaps there was an initial accident or problem, but surely very soon some people used it to ride their own hobby horses. Collateral utility, as I call it. That is the reason, why I embarked on my own social-science study: interviews with activists in Germany and elsewhere, who wrote articles, blogged, were visible in the public. I have conducted 13 interviews so far, and the tacit and express knowledge from those interviews is of course also feeding my viewpoint.

Assessment of Non-Invasive Measurements of Oxygen Saturation and Heart Rate with an Apple Smartwatch: Comparison with a Standard Pulse Oximeter.

The most commonly used method to assess peripheral oxygen saturation (SpO2) in clinical practice is pulse oximetry. The smartwatch Apple Watch 6 was developed with a new sensor and an app that allows taking on-demand readings of blood oxygen and background readings, day and night. The present study aimed to assess the feasibility and agreement of the Apple Watch 6 compared with a standard SpO2 monitoring system to assess normal and pathological oxygen saturation. We recruited study participants with lung disease or cardiovascular disease and healthy subjects. A total of 265 subjects were screened for enrolment in this study. We observed a strong positive correlation between the smartwatch and the standard commercial device in the evaluation of SpO2 measurements (r = 0.89, p < 0.0001) and HR measurements (r = 0.98, p < 0.0001). A very good concordance was found between SpO2 (bias, −0.2289; SD, 1.66; lower limit, −3.49; and upper limit, 3.04) and HR (bias, −0.1052; SD, 2.93; lower limit, −5.84; and upper limit, 5.63) measured by the smartwatch in comparison with the standard commercial device using Bland–Altman analysis. We observed similar agreements and concordance even in the different subgroups. In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the wearable device used in the present study could be used to assess SpO2 in patients with cardiovascular or lung diseases and in healthy subjects.

229 A Systematic Review Protocol Examining the Role of Immobilisation in Hand Infections

Abstract Aim Hand infections are common and varied, leading to long-term complications when managed poorly. Splinting of the hand in a position of safe immobilisation (POSI) is frequently used to avoid complications including pain and stiffness, however it is not a universally accepted technique because the effects of splinting in hand infections remain unestablished. This systematic review will compare outcomes in adult hand infections between those treated using hand immobilisation and those not immobilised. The primary aim is to compare patient reported outcomes, for example pain, and the secondary aim is to compare functional active range of motion, complications, and resource use. Method A systematic review protocol has been developed. The search strategy was developed following background reading, expert opinion, and review by an academic librarian, and will be used to search MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, to identify publications on management of hand infections including use of hand immobilisation. Title, and full-text screening will be carried out by two independent investigators to identify studies for inclusion. Editorials, letters, and literature reviews will be excluded. Results This systematic review has been successfully registered on the PROSPERO International prospective register of systematic reviews (CRD42021232880) Conclusions This systematic review will summarise the available evidence to establish the effect of hand immobilisation in hand infections, including whether hand immobilisation leads to improved outcomes in hand infections, which could guide health care professionals in their practice and influence future clinical guidelines.

Reading comprehension in aphasia: the relationship between linguistic performance, personal perspective, and preferences

ABSTRACT Background Reading is an important everyday activity. Extensive individual variability exists in both typical readers and readers with aphasia in their reading ability, preferences, and practice. Although reading comprehension difficulties in people with aphasia are typically assessed at single word, sentence, and text level, there is limited information about how performance at these levels corresponds to their enjoyment and practice of reading. Aims This study aimed to improve our understanding of reading in people with aphasia by examining: 1) the relationship between performance on assessments of word, sentence, and paragraph comprehension; 2) the relationship between reported reading difficulty, feelings about reading, and reading activity; and 3) the relationship between reading comprehension scores and personal perception of reading. Methods & Procedures Participants included 74 adults with a single symptomatic stroke resulting in aphasia; they did not have to report or present with reading difficulties. Participants completed the Comprehensive Assessment of Reading in Aphasia (CARA). Statistical analysis used Spearman correlations to investigate the relationship between measures. Illustrative case studies provided evidence of individual variability. Outcomes & Results Significant positive correlations were found between comprehension accuracy in single word and sentence, single word and paragraph, and sentence and paragraph assessments. There were also significant positive correlations among reported reading difficulty, feelings about reading, and reading activity. There were no significant correlations between reading comprehension scores and personal perception of reading. Conclusions There is no straightforward relationship between reading comprehension difficulties and individual perception of reading. This emphasises the importance of considering both when discussing and agreeing goals, selecting a treatment approach, and evaluating the outcome of intervention.

An investigation of item, examinee, and country correlates of rapid guessing in PISA

The objective of the present study was to investigate item-, examinee-, and country-level correlates of rapid guessing (RG) in the context of the 2018 PISA science assessment. Analyzing data from 267,148 examinees across 71 countries showed that over 50% of examinees engaged in RG on an average proportion of one in 10 items. Descriptive differences were noted between countries on the mean number of RG responses per examinee with discrepancies as large as 500%. Country-level differences in the odds of engaging in RG were associated with mean performance and regional membership. Furthermore, based on a two-level cross-classified hierarchical linear model, both item- and examinee-level correlates were found to moderate the likelihood of RG. Specifically, the inclusion of items with multimedia content was associated with a decrease in RG. A number of demographic and attitudinal examinee-level variables were also significant moderators, including sex, linguistic background, SES, and self-rated reading comprehension, motivation mastery, and fear of failure. The findings from this study imply that select subgroup comparisons within and across nations may be biased by differential test-taking effort. To mitigate RG in international assessments, future test developers may look to leverage technology-enhanced items.

Three Research-Based Quantitative Reasoning Modules for Introductory Organismal Biology Laboratories

We have designed three laboratory modules for an introductory organismal biology course with an emphasis on quantitative reasoning and data analysis skills. Module 1 tests for dimorphism in crayfish chelae using a paired statistical design. Module 2 tests for allometric growth of tapeworm hook structures using a regression model. Module 3 tests for differences in stomatal densities between two groups of plants using a two-sample statistical approach. For all three modules, we emphasize the use of confidence intervals to draw statistical conclusions about hypotheses. Knowledge about the basic biology of animals and plants is required, including arthropods, platyhelminths, and vascular plants. Background reading on dimorphism, allometry, and transpiration provides the necessary foundation to develop questions and hypotheses. Some familiarity with R is necessary for both students and instructors, although the activities can be modified for analysis with Excel or another statistical package. These modules can be taught independently or together as a unit within a course. As stated in the AAAS document, <em>Vision and Change: A Call to Action</em>, the ability to use quantitative reasoning is a core competency that must be developed by all biology students. These modules address the call for instruction in quantitative reasoning and provide a hands-on active introduction to key tools that will be required to build students&rsquo; statistical repertoire in more advanced courses. <em>Primary Image:</em>&nbsp;A highlight of the three modules used in our introductory organismal biology course, including the use of calipers to test for dimorphism in the size of crayfish chelae (upper right), a leaf impression (lower right) from a hydrangea plant (lower left) used to test hypotheses about stomata densities, and the image of an <em>Echinococcus </em>tapeworm (upper left) to test hypotheses about allometry.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Spectrophotometric Assay for the Quantification of Plasma Ethanol Levels in Mice through Chromium-Ethanol Oxidation-Reduction Reaction

The quantification of blood/plasma ethanol concentration (BEC/PEC) is of great importance in experiments involving basic research, clinical studies, and bioethanol production. Traditional methods commonly used to measure BEC can be expensive and require high-cost equipment and qualified labor. The aim of this study was to develop a low-cost method that can be performed with simple infrastructure commonly available in research laboratories. For this, we developed a protocol to quantify PEC in mice, using the method of reduction of potassium dichromate by ethanol. However, this oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction is not specific to ethanol. Thus, the PEC was measured following a sequence of chemical reactions to eliminate the reductive interfering substances presented in the samples. Firstly, we evaluated the sensitivity of the dichromate reactive to ethanol and to different reducing substances found in the plasma, in order to determine which the main interfering substances are. Next, once the main interfering substances were determined in the dichromate reduction, plasma was assayed for PEC. First, mice received intraperitoneally (i.p.) saline (basal reading, 0% ethanol) or ethanol injections (0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4 g/kg) and had their plasma collected. After plasma deproteinization and plasma glucose oxidation, it was mixed with the dichromate/acetic acid reactive, and then the products of the redox reaction were determined by the spectrophotometric method. Then, we determined the PEC with the same plasma samples using a commercial ethanol assay kit as a positive control. We found an excellent correlation between the administered ethanol doses and PECs in both the methods analyzed. The values of PEC found in the dichromate reaction method were similar to those obtained in the literature with the same ethanol doses, and to the commercial enzyme activity assay. Therefore, despite the need for a background reading, this method can be successfully applied to determine PEC using low-cost chemical reagents.

Goodbye, My Havana: The Life and Times of a Gringa in Revolutionary Cuba by Anna Veltfort

Reviewed by: Goodbye, My Havana: The Life and Times of a Gringa in Revolutionary Cuba by Anna Veltfort Ruth Behar Anna Veltfort, Goodbye, My Havana: The Life and Times of a Gringa in Revolutionary Cuba. Stanford, CA: Redwood Press / Stanford University Press, 2019. 240 pp. (Originally published as Anna Veltfort, Adiós, mi Habana: Las memorias de una gringa y su tiempo en los años revolucionarios de la década de los 60. Madrid: Editorial Verbum, 2017. 234 pp. English translation by the author.) Recommended background reading: Frances Negrón-Muntaner and Yolando Martínez-San Miguel, "In Search of Lourdes Casal's 'Ana Veldford'" Social Text 25, no. 3 (2007): 57–84. Anna Veltfort's Goodbye, My Havana is one of the most important and innovative books about Cuba to be published recently. A graphic designer and illustrator, Anna Veltfort has produced a graphic memoir that is riveting and visually enticing. Originally published in Spanish in 2017, the book is now available in an English paperback edition with Redwood Press, a new trade imprint of Stanford University Press. This story of a German American woman, a "gringa," coming of age as a lesbian in Cuba during the tumultuous years of revolutionary fervor fills a huge blank in our understanding of Cuban history. For years, when I taught the work of Reinaldo Arenas and discussed the harassment and persecution of gay men in Cuba in the 1960s and 1970s, students would ask me what the situation had been like for lesbians. There wasn't a parallel experiential account that I could recommend—until now. With Veltfort's book in the world, I can finally say, to know what it was like to be a lesbian during the height of the revolution in Cuba, read Goodbye, My Havana. Readers in the Cuban studies community have heard of Anna Veltfort (also variously spelled Ana Veltfort and Ana Veldford) through the famed poem dedicated to her by writer, scholar, and activist Lourdes Casal, who led the Antonio Maceo Brigade and advocated for reconciliation between the diaspora and the island. First published in Areíto in 1976, and reprinted in 1981 in Palabras juntan revolución, following Casal's death and burial in Cuba, the poem's much-quoted closing lines became a canonical expression of the angst felt by the Cuban American children of exiles: "I carry this marginality, immune to all [End Page 312] turning back / too habanera to be newyorkina, / too newyorkina to be /—even to become again—anything else." Yet for years, no one seemed to know who Anna Veltfort was, or why Lourdes Casal had chosen to dedicate the poem to her. This "mystery," as described by Frances Negrón-Muntaner and Yolanda Martínez-San Miguel in a superb article in Social Text (2007), led them to go in search of Anna Veltfort, "a lesbian legend in Havana," engaging in an interview with Veltfort in which she shared many of the stories about her life in revolutionary Cuba that would eventually find their way into her book. Casal, also a lesbian, felt a bond with Veltfort after meeting her in New York. Though they weren't close friends, and Veltfort wasn't born in Cuba, they shared the feeling of being foreigners wherever they went. But in regard to sexuality in Cuba, their lives led them in vastly different directions. Casal chose queer invisibility to carry out her political work and be accepted as a revolutionary. In turn, Veltfort, arriving in Havana at the age of sixteen in 1962 and entangled in intimate relationships during the decade she lived there, couldn't hide her lesbianism in a surveilled society. Casal, in dedicating her poem to the visibly queer Veltfort, left a secret (or not so secret) inscription of her lesbian self. With Goodbye, My Havana, Veltfort finally comes out of the closet of Casal's poem. After such a long literary silence, she gets to tell her own story. And what a story it is. Veltfort settles in Cuba, not through her own volition but because her stepfather, Ted Veltfort, a fervent communist who served in the Abraham Lincoln Brigade during the Spanish Civil War and was...

Chromatin Accessibility Profiling to Increase Diagnostic Accuracy and Refine Cell-of-Origin Classification of Mature T-Cell Lymphomas

Background:Mature T-cell lymphomas and leukemias (MTCL) are heterogeneous diseases with dismal prognosis. Differentiating between the numerous entities requires specialized pathology expertise and studies show up to 20% change in diagnosis after expert review of cases (Laurent, JCO, 2017). Assay for transposase accessible chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) is a simple technique to profile open chromatin regions (OCR) proven to be highly discriminant for cell-of-origin identification regardless of cell activation status (Shih, Cell, 2016). We applied ATAC-seq to MTCL in order to explore the epigenetic landscape of these diverse entities, compared them to normal T-cell subtypes and built a predictive model to help diagnosis.Method:Ten-thousand FACS-sorted single cells from primary MTCL samples and 50µm section of frozen tumoral tissue from the TENOMIC French T-cell Lymphoma Consortium were processed according to the previously published FAST-ATAC and OMNI-ATAC protocols respectively (Corces, Nat Genetics, 2016 & Nat. Methods, 2017). Concurrently we applied FAST ATAC to different normal T- and NK-cell subsets sorted from healthy donor PBMC or lymph node suspensions. Sequencing data were processed by an adapted version of ENCODE ATAC-seq pipeline. Matrix of insertion events in peaks by sample was obtained, normalized and most variant peaks were selected for UMAP projection.Results:In total, 678 normal and tumoral samples were sequenced to provide a comprehensive landscape of chromatin accessibility in MTCL. Epigenetic profiling by ATAC-seq of FACS-sorted tumoral samples resulted in a complete segregation of the known MTCL entities (AITL, TFH-PTCL, ALK+ and ALK- ALCL, HSTL, CTCL, ATLL, LGL and T-PLL). Most PTCL-NOS (13/17) clustered with a pre-defined MTCL subtype (mainly AITL/TFH-phenotype PTCL, CTCL and lymphomas exhibiting cytotoxic features). All but one discordant diagnosis between pathology and ATAC-seq (1/11) led to revised diagnosis after pathology review.Unsupervised clustering of normal NK- and T-cell subtypes (N=49) and sorted tumoral lymphoma cells (N=104) confirmed that AITL derive from TFH cells. HSTL and LGL closely segregated with NK- and gamma-delta T cells, in line with their known innate-like phenotype.Surprisingly, the cell-of-origin of T-PLL seems to be naïve T cells despite the known expression of central memory markers on leukemic cells.Beyond epigenetic classification, background reads from ATAC-seq profiles were used to detect copy number variation (CNV), such as isochromosome 7q in HSTL. In addition, HTLV1 and EBV viral sequence detection in ATAC-seq reads strengthened identification of ATLL and NKTCL cases.Finally, using unsupervised deconvolution approaches, we were able to discriminate different MTCL subtypes from 223 processed bulk frozen samples. All known MTCL subtypes were differentiated (AITL/PTCL-TFH, HSTL, NKTCL, ATLL, ALK- and ALK+ ALCL, MEITL, EATL). A subgroup of PTCL-NOS harboring GATA3 OCRs and a distinctly high CNV number was isolated that might correspond to previously described PTCL-GATA3 subtypes (Iqbal, Blood, 2019).A random forest model was trained to predict diagnosis based on chromatin-accessibility clusters defined in the discovery cohort of patients. The model showed accurate prediction performance by cross-validation. External validation on 172 samples collected from 5 tertiary care centers will be presented at the meeting.Conclusion:ATAC-seq is a fast and cost-effective technique to help and refine MTCL pathological classification and allows for putative cell-of-origin identification in lymphoma. Training of a machine learning model to predict MTCL entity diagnosis based on ATAC-seq analysis of fresh or frozen samples shows promising results. [Display omitted] DisclosuresSibon: Janssen: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy; iQone: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Roche: Consultancy. Drieux: Genexpath: Patents & Royalties: The author is a potential inventor on a patent application for the LymphoSign, which has been licensed for by Genexpath Patents & Royalties.. Ruminy: Genexpath: Patents & Royalties: The author is a potential inventor on a patent application for the LymphoSign, which has been licensed for by Genexpath Patents & Royalties. . Salles: Takeda: Consultancy; Velosbio: Consultancy; Ipsen: Consultancy; Allogene: Consultancy; Miltneiy: Consultancy; Genentech/Roche: Consultancy; Genmab: Consultancy; Janssen: Consultancy; Loxo: Consultancy; Kite/Gilead: Consultancy; Regeneron: Consultancy, Honoraria; Morphosys: Consultancy, Honoraria; Novartis: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy; Rapt: Consultancy; Epizyme: Consultancy, Honoraria; Debiopharm: Consultancy; BMS/Celgene: Consultancy; Beigene: Consultancy; Abbvie: Consultancy, Honoraria; Bayer: Honoraria. Gaulard: Alderaan: Research Funding; Sanofi: Research Funding; Innate Pharma: Research Funding; Gilead: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria. Bachy: Kite, a Gilead Company: Honoraria; Novartis: Honoraria; Daiishi: Research Funding; Roche: Consultancy; Takeda: Consultancy; Incyte: Consultancy.

The basic principles of a socially just arts curriculum, and the place of drama

This paper provides a descriptive historical analysis of the planning and writing of the Australian Curriculum: The Arts which occurred from 2009 to 2013. This process involved extensive consultation across a range of stakeholders, including curriculum research, background reading and analysis that preceded the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority’s writing process. The curriculum itself was underpinned by a range of democratic principles, including the importance of developing a socially just curriculum. This necessitated extensive discussion which interrogated the terms excellence and equity to ensure a high-quality arts education was accessible for all students, regardless of their background. The implementation of these principles is then explored through the perspective of the Drama writing team, including the importance of the subject Drama in developing a sense of inquiry and empathy in students by exploring their own and others’ stories and points of view. The final curriculum document for the Arts, and specifically for Drama exemplifies the importance of these social justice principles in responding to the Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians (2008) which advocates for equity and excellence in Australian schooling and for all young Australians to become successful learners, confident and creative individuals and active and informed citizens.

Highly sensitive Laser Photo-Acoustic SF6 Gas Analyzer with 10 decades dynamic range of concentration measurement

A highly sensitive Laser Photo-Acoustic (PA) SF6 Gas Analyzer with dynamic range of ∼10 decades (∼0.1 ppb–100% SF6) has been developed and tested. Gas analyzer is built on the base of RF-excited waveguide CO2 laser, resonant differential photo-acoustic detector (PAD), and sealed-off SF6-gas-filled Ref-cell. The resonant frequency of differential PAD is measured automatically in real time (∼1750–1780 Hz, error ± 0.1 Hz). While measuring SF6 concentration (up to 1000 ppm), normalization of PAD’s absorption signals according by Ref-cell absorption signals significantly reduce the error in PA gas analyzer readings caused by spontaneous tuning of waveguide CO2 laser wavelength near ∼10.6 μm. PA gas analyzer’s background readings was ∼0.1 ppb SF6, the standard dispersion of background signal was ∼10 ppt SF6. Minimum average power of waveguide CO2 laser radiation should be no less than ∼150 mW. Dependence of speed of sound vs gas mixture composition was used to measure SF6 concentration in 0.1–100% range. Resonant frequency of differential PAD varied from ∼1780 Hz (pure N2) to ∼690 Hz (pure SF6), which, after appropriate calibration, makes it possible to measure SF6 concentration up to 100%.

Aerosol Production with Surgical Instrumentation: Implications for Head and Neck Surgery in the COVID-19 Era.

Evaluating the aerosolization of droplets from surgical instruments to assess the implications of surgery in SARS-CoV-2 transmission for both patients and providers. Cadaver study. Outpatient surgery center. Aerosolized particles between 0.3 and 25 microns were measured. Instruments tested included monopolar cautery with and without suction, bipolar cautery, a bipolar vessel sealing device, and tissue scissors. Each trial was compared to a background reading. Monopolar cautery without suction, Ligasure used continuously and Bipolar cautery produced the most aerosols. Monopolar cautery with simultaneous suction produced no detectable aerosols. Ligasure used for a single cycle produced notably fewer aerosols than during continuous use. Most aerosols produced were < 5 microns. These data support n95 use during surgical management of the upper aerodigestive tract, as well as the use of suction in the surgical field.