Performing and Deconstructing Whiteness in Student Affairs

The student affairs profession upholds whiteness through its practices, policies, and structures. The dynamics of whiteness have a particularly harmful impact on student affairs professionals of color. The authors explore the concept of whiteness in relation to their professional identities and unpack how people of color are encouraged to embody whiteness to fit into the field of student affairs. The authors propose suggestions for naming, understanding, and re-framing how professionals of color engage with whiteness

Optimization of alkaline protease production by Streptomyces sp. strain isolated from saltpan environment

Proteolytic activity of a Streptomyces sp. strain isolated from Ezzemoul saltpans (Algeria) was studied on agar milk at three concentrations. The phenotypic and phylogenetic studies of this strain show that it represents probably new specie. The fermentation is carried out on two different media, prepared at three pH values. The results showed the presence of an alkaline protease with optimal pH and temperature of 8 and 40°C, respectively. The enzyme is stable up to 90°C, having a residual activity of 79% after 90 min. The enzyme production media are optimized according to statistical methods while using two plans of experiences. The first corresponds to the matrixes of Plackett and Burman in N=16 experiences and N-1 factors, twelve are real and three errors. The second is the central composite design of Box and Wilson. The analysis of the results allowed the selection of two factors having a significant effect on the production of the enzyme (fructose and malt extract), then defining theirs optima (7 g/l of fructose and 12 g/l of malt extract).Keywords: Protease, streptomyces, identification, fermentation, optimizatio

Effects of fluoxetine on functional outcomes after acute stroke (FOCUS): a pragmatic, double-blind, randomised, controlled trial

Background Results of small trials indicate that fluoxetine might improve functional outcomes after stroke. The FOCUS trial aimed to provide a precise estimate of these effects. Methods FOCUS was a pragmatic, multicentre, parallel group, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial done at 103 hospitals in the UK. Patients were eligible if they were aged 18 years or older, had a clinical stroke diagnosis, were enrolled and randomly assigned between 2 days and 15 days after onset, and had focal neurological deficits. Patients were randomly allocated fluoxetine 20 mg or matching placebo orally once daily for 6 months via a web-based system by use of a minimisation algorithm. The primary outcome was functional status, measured with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS), at 6 months. Patients, carers, health-care staff, and the trial team were masked to treatment allocation. Functional status was assessed at 6 months and 12 months after randomisation. Patients were analysed according to their treatment allocation. This trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN83290762. Findings Between Sept 10, 2012, and March 31, 2017, 3127 patients were recruited. 1564 patients were allocated fluoxetine and 1563 allocated placebo. mRS data at 6 months were available for 1553 (99·3%) patients in each treatment group. The distribution across mRS categories at 6 months was similar in the fluoxetine and placebo groups (common odds ratio adjusted for minimisation variables 0·951 [95% CI 0·839–1·079]; p=0·439). Patients allocated fluoxetine were less likely than those allocated placebo to develop new depression by 6 months (210 [13·43%] patients vs 269 [17·21%]; difference 3·78% [95% CI 1·26–6·30]; p=0·0033), but they had more bone fractures (45 [2·88%] vs 23 [1·47%]; difference 1·41% [95% CI 0·38–2·43]; p=0·0070). There were no significant differences in any other event at 6 or 12 months. Interpretation Fluoxetine 20 mg given daily for 6 months after acute stroke does not seem to improve functional outcomes. Although the treatment reduced the occurrence of depression, it increased the frequency of bone fractures. These results do not support the routine use of fluoxetine either for the prevention of post-stroke depression or to promote recovery of function. Funding UK Stroke Association and NIHR Health Technology Assessment Programme

Embracing Green Chile: An Exploratory Factor Analysis of Community Cultural Wealth

Higher education trends marginalize Students of Color by promoting assimilation into a dominant culture. Faculty and practitioners in higher education deepen cultural dissociation by dismissing the cultural knowledge that many Students of Color hold from family and community. Following in the footsteps of settler colonialism, these practices uphold a deficit framing of Students of Color as inferior to their white peers. This dissertation blends the power of the Community Cultural Wealth model (Yosso, 2005) and QuantCrit (García et al, 2018; Gillborn et al., 2018) to define a Green Chile Epistemology that weaves cultural capital into the higher education experience. In chapter one, green chile is introduced as an artifact of survival amidst the backdrop of a white-centered educational environment. In chapter two, green chile evolves as an artifact of cultural capital. In chapter three, green chile becomes a metaphor that captures the importance of variance in measurement research as well as a symbol of subjectivity in an ever-evolving critical discourse. In chapter four, green chile is introduced as its own epistemology for understanding the dynamic nature of community cultural wealth. In chapter five, green chile represents the importance of embracing blended relationships where the whole of green chile is greater than the sum of its ingredients. To understand Community Cultural Wealth as a latent construct, I conduct an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) that illustrates the complexity of Community Cultural Wealth not as six separate forms of capital but rather as a dynamic blending of capital characterized by four factors that are represented in a Green Chile Epistemology Model: Socio-Familial Nourishment (the soil), Socio-Navigational Strength (the roots), Aspirational Persistence (the sun), and Reciprocal Collective Purpose (the cycle). I conduct analyses of variance and Scheffe post-hoc tests to explore racial group differences in scores. Ultimately, green chile epistemology informs practical applications for culturally inclusive curricular and co-curricular practices in higher education. The resulting four-factor model for Community Cultural Wealth deepens our understanding of cultural capital as a tool to nourish an asset-based discourse about Students of Color in higher education

The genetics of blood pressure regulation and its target organs from association studies in 342,415 individuals.

To dissect the genetic architecture of blood pressure and assess effects on target organ damage, we analyzed 128,272 SNPs from targeted and genome-wide arrays in 201,529 individuals of European ancestry, and genotypes from an additional 140,886 individuals were used for validation. We identified 66 blood pressure-associated loci, of which 17 were new; 15 harbored multiple distinct association signals. The 66 index SNPs were enriched for cis-regulatory elements, particularly in vascular endothelial cells, consistent with a primary role in blood pressure control through modulation of vascular tone across multiple tissues. The 66 index SNPs combined in a risk score showed comparable effects in 64,421 individuals of non-European descent. The 66-SNP blood pressure risk score was significantly associated with target organ damage in multiple tissues but with minor effects in the kidney. Our findings expand current knowledge of blood pressure-related pathways and highlight tissues beyond the classical renal system in blood pressure regulation

Feasibility of reporting results of large randomised controlled trials to participants:experience from the Fluoxetine or Control under supervision (FOCUS) trial

Objectives Informing research participants of the results of studies in which they took part is viewed as an ethical imperative. However, there is little guidance in the literature about how to do this. The Fluoxetine Or Control Under Supervision trial randomised 3127 patients with a recent acute stroke to 6 months of fluoxetine or placebo and was published in the Lancet on 5 December 2018. The trial team decided to inform the participants of the results at exactly the same time as the Lancet publication, and also whether they had been allocated fluoxetine or placebo. In this report, we describe how we informed participants of the results.Design In the 6-month and 12-month follow-up questionnaires, we invited participants to provide an email address if they wished to be informed of the results of the trial. We re-opened our trial telephone helpline between 5 December 2018 and 31 March 2019.Setting UK stroke services.Participants 3127 participants were randomised. 2847 returned 6-month follow-up forms and 2703 returned 12-month follow-up forms; the remaining participants had died (380), withdrawn consent or did not respond.Results Of those returning follow-up questionnaires, a total of 1845 email addresses were provided and a further 50 people requested results to be sent by post. Results were sent to all email and postal addresses provided; 309 emails were returned unrecognised. Seventeen people replied, of whom three called the helpline and the rest responded by email.Conclusion It is feasible to disseminate results of large trials to research participants, though only around 60% of those randomised wanted to receive the results. The system we developed was efficient and required very little resource, and could be replicated by trialists in the future.Trial registration number ISRCTN83290762; Post-results

Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19

BackgroundWe previously reported that impaired type I IFN activity, due to inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity or to autoantibodies against type I IFN, account for 15-20% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. Therefore, the determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 remain to be identified in similar to 80% of cases.MethodsWe report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and 1373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. Among the 928 patients tested for autoantibodies against type I IFN, a quarter (234) were positive and were excluded.ResultsNo gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants was TLR7, with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI 1.5-528.7, P=1.1x10(-4)) for biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR=3.70[95%CI 1.3-8.2], P=2.1x10(-4)). This enrichment was further strengthened by (1) adding the recently reported TYK2 and TLR7 COVID-19 loci, particularly under a recessive model (OR=19.65[95%CI 2.1-2635.4], P=3.4x10(-3)), and (2) considering as pLOF branchpoint variants with potentially strong impacts on splicing among the 15 loci (OR=4.40[9%CI 2.3-8.4], P=7.7x10(-8)). Finally, the patients with pLOF/bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD]=43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years; P=1.68x10(-5)).ConclusionsRare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60 years old

Correction: Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19

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