Commentary: On School-Based Counseling Policy and Evaluation

The writers of this commentary advocate for increased attention to school-based policy development, effective policy implementation, and high quality policy research across the world. A new organization (International Society for Policy Research and Evaluation in School-Based Counseling) focused on these topics is introduced. In closing, the article contents comprising the first issue of Society’s scholarly journal are overviewed

The under-ice microbiome of seasonally frozen lakes

Compared to the well-studied open water of the “growing” season, under-ice conditions in lakes are characterized by low and rather constant temperature, slow water movements, limited light availability, and reduced exchange with the surrounding landscape. These conditions interact with ice-cover duration to shape microbial processes in temperate lakes and ultimately influence the phenology of community and ecosystem processes. We review the current knowledge on microorganisms in seasonally frozen lakes. Specifically, we highlight how under-ice conditions alter lake physics and the ways that this can affect the distribution and metabolism of auto- and heterotrophic microorganisms. We identify functional traits that we hypothesize are important for understanding under-ice dynamics and discuss how these traits influence species interactions. As ice coverage duration has already been seen to reduce as air temperatures have warmed, the dynamics of the under-ice microbiome are important for understanding and predicting the dynamics and functioning of seasonally frozen lakes in the near future

Pan-Cancer Analysis of lncRNA Regulation Supports Their Targeting of Cancer Genes in Each Tumor Context

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are commonly dys-regulated in tumors, but only a handful are known toplay pathophysiological roles in cancer. We inferredlncRNAs that dysregulate cancer pathways, onco-genes, and tumor suppressors (cancer genes) bymodeling their effects on the activity of transcriptionfactors, RNA-binding proteins, and microRNAs in5,185 TCGA tumors and 1,019 ENCODE assays.Our predictions included hundreds of candidateonco- and tumor-suppressor lncRNAs (cancerlncRNAs) whose somatic alterations account for thedysregulation of dozens of cancer genes and path-ways in each of 14 tumor contexts. To demonstrateproof of concept, we showed that perturbations tar-geting OIP5-AS1 (an inferred tumor suppressor) andTUG1 and WT1-AS (inferred onco-lncRNAs) dysre-gulated cancer genes and altered proliferation ofbreast and gynecologic cancer cells. Our analysis in-dicates that, although most lncRNAs are dysregu-lated in a tumor-specific manner, some, includingOIP5-AS1, TUG1, NEAT1, MEG3, and TSIX, synergis-tically dysregulate cancer pathways in multiple tumorcontexts

Pan-cancer Alterations of the MYC Oncogene and Its Proximal Network across the Cancer Genome Atlas

Although theMYConcogene has been implicated incancer, a systematic assessment of alterations ofMYC, related transcription factors, and co-regulatoryproteins, forming the proximal MYC network (PMN),across human cancers is lacking. Using computa-tional approaches, we define genomic and proteo-mic features associated with MYC and the PMNacross the 33 cancers of The Cancer Genome Atlas.Pan-cancer, 28% of all samples had at least one ofthe MYC paralogs amplified. In contrast, the MYCantagonists MGA and MNT were the most frequentlymutated or deleted members, proposing a roleas tumor suppressors.MYCalterations were mutu-ally exclusive withPIK3CA,PTEN,APC,orBRAFalterations, suggesting that MYC is a distinct onco-genic driver. Expression analysis revealed MYC-associated pathways in tumor subtypes, such asimmune response and growth factor signaling; chro-matin, translation, and DNA replication/repair wereconserved pan-cancer. This analysis reveals insightsinto MYC biology and is a reference for biomarkersand therapeutics for cancers with alterations ofMYC or the PMN

Implementation of a Professional Society Core Curriculum and Integrated Maintenance of Certification Program

Medical professional societies exist to foster collaboration, guide career development, and provide continuing medical education opportunities. Maintenance of certification is a process by which physicians complete formal educational activities approved by certifying organizations. The American Thoracic Society (ATS) established an innovative maintenance of certification program in 2012 as a means to formalize and expand continuing medical education offerings. This program is unique as it includes explicit opportunities for collaboration and career development in addition to providing continuing medical education and maintenance of certification credit to society members. In describing the development of this program referred to as the “Core Curriculum,” the authors highlight the ATS process for content design, stages of curriculum development, and outcomes data with an eye toward assisting other societies that seek to program similar content. The curriculum development process described is generalizable and positively influences individual practitioners and professional societies in general, and as a result, provides a useful model for other professional societies to follow

Genomic, Pathway Network, and Immunologic Features Distinguishing Squamous Carcinomas

This integrated, multiplatform PanCancer Atlas study co-mapped and identified distinguishing molecular features of squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) from five sites associated with smokin

Spatial Organization and Molecular Correlation of Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes Using Deep Learning on Pathology Images

Beyond sample curation and basic pathologic characterization, the digitized H&E-stained images of TCGA samples remain underutilized. To highlight this resource, we present mappings of tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) based on H&E images from 13 TCGA tumor types. These TIL maps are derived through computational staining using a convolutional neural network trained to classify patches of images. Affinity propagation revealed local spatial structure in TIL patterns and correlation with overall survival. TIL map structural patterns were grouped using standard histopathological parameters. These patterns are enriched in particular T cell subpopulations derived from molecular measures. TIL densities and spatial structure were differentially enriched among tumor types, immune subtypes, and tumor molecular subtypes, implying that spatial infiltrate state could reflect particular tumor cell aberration states. Obtaining spatial lymphocytic patterns linked to the rich genomic characterization of TCGA samples demonstrates one use for the TCGA image archives with insights into the tumor-immune microenvironment

Prevalence and Risk Factors of Lassa Seropositivity in Inhabitants of the Forest Region of Guinea: A Cross-Sectional Study

Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever endemic in West Africa, mainly transmitted to humans by multimammate rats. Several modes of virus transmission are suspected: aerosolisation of the virus, contact with infected rodent excreta, and consumption of rodent meat. Person-to-person transmission also occurs via contact with body fluids of infected persons (blood, urine) and is responsible for numerous outbreaks, mostly in healthcare facilities. Our objective was to precisely describe risk factors for Lassa fever in both rural and urban communities of forest Guinea. For each participant, a standardized questionnaire was completed and a blood sample tested for Lassa virus antibodies. A total of 1424 subjects were interviewed and 977 blood samples tested. The prevalence of Lassa virus antibodies was estimated at 12.9% and 10.0% in rural and urban areas, respectively. The two risk factors were: to have, in the past twelve months, undergone an injection, or lived with someone displaying a haemorrhage. Contrary to our expectation, no factors related to contact with rodents were identified. It is still probable that transmission occurs via indirect contact between rodents and humans in households, but our results highlight the importance of person-to-person transmission via close contact and nosocomial exposure