The View from the Street: \u3cem\u3eLa Goutte d’Or\u3c/em\u3e

This photo essay is about a multiethnic urban immigrant neighborhood in central Paris called the Goutte d’Or. The text and the selection of photographs foreground the author’s exploration of women’s spaces in the neighborhood and the difficulties which women face in everyday life: housing, illiteracy, cultural differences, and poverty

Binocular Interactions In Individuals With Anomalous Early Visual History

The present set of experiments used adaptation procedures to explore binocularity in individuals with abnormal binocular vision. The first series of experiments examined interocular transfer because this measure has been used previously to test for the presence of binocular neurons (Movshon, Chambers and Blakemore, 1972). Experiment I examined the test-retest reliability of this measure. Interocular transfer was found to be reliable. The results of Experiments II-IV clearly show that individuals with anomalous early visual history (A.E.H.) are capable of interocular transfer of a magnitude associated with normals.;Experiments III and IV also addressed the organization of binocular channels in individuals with varying levels of stereopsis. The results from Experiment III supported the presence of two binocular channels in Normal subjects whereas the A.E.H. group showed evidence for only one binocular channel. This pattern of results for the A.E.H. group was not as clear in Experiment IV, but the Normal group displayed data consistent with two binocular channels.;A different paradigm, alternating monocular adaptation, was used in Experiments V and VI in a further attempt to evaluate the number of binocular channels present. The results from Experiment V were quite clear. Individuals without stereopsis showed evidence of only one binocular channel and the Normal group portrayed the pattern of results indicative of two binocular channels. The results From Experiment VI were equivocal regarding both the Normal and A.E.H. group.;Experiment VII revealed that all subjects of the A.E.H. group were capable of obtaining a level of binocular summation associated with probability summation. The Normals showed summation levels indicative of neural summation. In Experiment VIII, the data show that if the stimuli presented to each eye are not spatially matched, then summation decreases. However, this was true only for the Normal group. The Stereoblind group maintained a level of probability summation throughout the stimulus phase shifts. The final experiment used subthreshold summation and adaptation procedures to affect the purely binocular channel in order to reduce summation. Summation decreases after adaptation of this channel, but remains unchanged if this channel is not adapted. The results for the Stereoblind group were the same as the Normal group, suggesting that Stereoblinds maintain a binocular channel affected by simultaneous stimulation.;These results clearly show that individuals with anomalous early visual histories show evidence for binocular channels previously thought to be absent

p14ARF Hypermethylation Is Common but INK4a-ARF Locus or p53 Mutations Are Rare in Merkel Cell Carcinoma

Although the exact molecular mechanisms of Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) tumorigenesis are unknown, they likely involve complex genetic alterations and mutations similar to those seen in many other cancers. In this study, we obtained MCCs from 21 elderly patients (19 women, 2 men) and analyzed their DNA for mutation of exons of interest in several tumor-suppressor genes or oncogenes known to be frequently mutated in skin cancer: p53 (exons 4–8), Ras (exons 1 and 2), c-Kit (exon 11), and the INK4a-ARF locus (encoding p14 and p16) (exons 1 and 2). Direct sequence analysis revealed p53 mutations (that is, at codons 224, 234, and 294) in three tumors (14%) and p16INK4a mutations (that is, at codon 6) in one (5%). No mutations were detected in Ha-Ras, Ki-Ras, N-Ras, c-Kit, or p14ARF. On the other hand, methylation-specific PCR revealed methylation of p14ARF promoter DNA in eight of 19 analyzable tumor samples (42%) and p16INK4a promoter DNA in one of 19 analyzable tumor samples (5%). Together, these findings suggest that p14ARF silencing may be an important mechanism in MCC tumorigenesis, and thus a potential target for therapeutic intervention in this highly aggressive tumor type

Embedding human factors & ergonomics in healthcare with building design at the centre of the system

Background: Risk factors for patient slips, trips and falls (STF) have been identified and reported since the 1950s and are mostly unchanged in the 2010s. The prevailing clinical view has been that STF events indicate underlying frailty or illness and so many of the interventions over the last 60 years have focussed on assessing and treating physiological factors (dizziness, illness, vision/hearing, medicines) rather than designing interventions to reduce risk factors at the time of the STF. Purpose: To use a theoretical model for HFE (DIAL-F) and a comparison with occupational STF risk management to discuss patient STF interventions. Methods: Three case studies are used to discuss how HFE has been, or could be, applied to STF risk management as (1) a design-based (building) approach to embed safety into the built environment; (2) a staff (and organisation)-based approach; and (3) a patient behaviour-based approach to explore and understand patient perspectives of STF events. Results: The results from the case studies suggest that there will be benefits from taking a as HFE approach similar to other industries, i.e. a sustainable design intervention for the person who experiences the STF event - the patient. The DIAL-F model supports a change in bedside interventions from a passive model of providing care and treatment (analogous to a production line with inanimate components) to an active model representing independent functional activities with changed physical, cognitive and behavioural capabilities. The challenge is to design inclusive interventions to benefit a range of patients that do not introduce barriers or problems for staff and other system stakeholders. For example poor balance linked to rising from a chair might be assisted by building and technology design solutions, or not using an out of reach assistive device could be addressed by providing accessible equipment and timely assistance. Conclusions/implications: As over 70% reported patient STF are un-witnessed and research indicates there are benefits from retaining mobility associated with continence, cognitive function and pressure care there is an argument to design STF interventions to support patient mobility and autonomy. Rather than continuing to fight this seemingly intractable problem with complex packages of care, we suggest it is time to look proactively at this problem with an HFE approach to facility design and other interventions that include the perspective of all the stakeholders

Taking a human factors systems approach to slip, trips and falls risks in care environments

Taking a human factors systems approach to slip, trips and falls risks in care environment

UV Fingerprints Predominate in the PTCH Mutation Spectra of Basal Cell Carcinomas Independent of Clinical Phenotype

Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) shows a wide interpatient variation in lesion accrual. To determine whether certain tumorigenic fingerprints and potentially predisposing patched (PTCH) tumor suppressor single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) are distributed differently among sporadic BCC patients, we compared the PTCH mutation spectra in early-onset BCC (first lesion at age <35 years), regular BCC (first lesion at age ≥35 years and <10 lesions), and multiple BCC (≥10 lesions). The PTCH gene was mutated in 29 of 60 cases (48%). Most of the PTCH mutations bore the UV fingerprint (i.e., C → T or tandem CC → TT transitions at dipyrimidine sites). However, neither the proportion nor the spectra of exonic PTCH mutations differed significantly among the three groups. A large number of SNPs (IVS10+99C/T, IVS11-51G/C, 1665T/C, 1686C/T, IVS15+9G/C, IVS16-80G/C, IVS17+21G/A, and 3944C/T or its combinations) were also detected, but again their incidence did not differ significantly among the groups. Interestingly, expression of the IVS16-80G/C and the IVS17+21G/A genotype did not achieve the Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium in patients with regular and/or early-onset BCC. These data suggest that a (UV-) mutated PTCH gene is important for sporadic BCC formation independent of clinical phenotype and that the IVS16-80G/C and/or IVS17+21G/A SNP site might be important for tumorigenesis in certain BCC patients

Phytoplasmas associated with grapevine yellows in Virginia belong to group 16SrI, subgroup A (tomato big bud phytoplasma subgroup), and group 16SrIII, new subgroup I

Grapevine yellows disease in Virginia closely resembles flavescence doree and other grapevine yellows diseases, but the phytoplasmas infecting grapevines in Virginia are distinct from other grapevine yellows pathogens. RFLP analysis of PCR-amplified 16S rDNA indicated that a Virginia grapevine yellows phytoplasma, designated VGYIII was distinct from all other phytoplasmas studied, but was most closely related to spirea stunt (SP1), walnut witches' broom (WWB), and poinsettia branch-inducing (PoiB 1) phytoplasmas in subgroups E, G, and H, respectively, of 16S I RNA group 16SrIII. RFLP analysis also indicated the existence of sequence heterogeneity between the two rRNA operons in the genomes of SP 1 and WWB. Based on the results from RFLP and sequence comparisons with other group 16SrIII phytoplasmas, the VGYIII phytoplasma was classified in a new subgroup, designated 16SrIII-I. A second phytoplasma (VGYI) was detected in cultivated grapevines(Vitis vinifera L.) and in wild grapevines(V. riparia Michx.) and identified as a member of subgroup 16SrI-A. There was no evidence of flavescence doree, bois noir, or Australian grapevine yellows phytoplasmas in Virginia

Navigating the Research-Clinical Interface in Genomic Medicine: Analysis From the CSER Consortium

Purpose: The Clinical Sequencing Exploratory Research (CSER) Consortium encompasses nine National Institutes of Health– funded U-award projects investigating translation of genomic sequencing into clinical care. Previous literature has distinguished norms and rules governing research versus clinical care. This is the first study to explore how genomics investigators describe and navigate the research–clinical interface. Methods: A CSER working group developed a 22-item survey. All nine U-award projects participated. Descriptive data were tabulated and qualitative analysis of text responses identified themes and characterizations of the research–clinical interface. Results: Survey responses described how studies approached the research–clinical interface, including in consent practices, recording results, and using a research versus clinical laboratory. Responses revealed four characterizations of the interface: clear separation between research and clinical care, interdigitation of the two with steps to maintain separation, a dynamic interface, and merging of the two. All survey respondents utilized at least two different characterizations. Although research has traditionally been differentiated from clinical care, respondents pointed to factors blurring the distinction and strategies to differentiate the domains. Conclusion: These results illustrate the difficulty in applying the traditional bifurcation of research versus clinical care to translational models of clinical research, including in genomics. Our results suggest new directions for ethics and oversight