Feminist identification, actions, beliefs and commitments at CSB/SJU

Does self-identification as a feminist, non-feminist, or non-labeler, affect actions, beliefs, and commitments regarding feminist ideals? Is there any dissonance between identifying with feminist beliefs and identifying with the feminist label? Will our data give us insight into education about feminist ideas at CSB/SJU (College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University)? Is the “feminist” label stigmatized on our campuses

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Ultrasensitive quantification of TAP-dependent antigen compartmentalization in scarce primary immune cell subsets.

Presentation of peptides on major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) is essential for the establishment and maintenance of self-tolerance, priming of antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells and the exertion of several T-cell effector functions. Cytosolic proteasomes continuously degrade proteins into peptides, which are actively transported across the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) membrane by the transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP). In the ER lumen antigenic peptides are loaded onto MHC I, which is displayed on the cell surface. Here we describe an innovative flow cytometric approach to monitor time-resolved ER compartmentalization of antigenic peptides. This assay allows the analysis of distinct primary human immune cell subsets at reporter peptide concentrations of 1 nM. Thus, this ultrasensitive method for the first time permits quantification of TAP activity under close to physiological conditions in scarce primary cell subsets such as antigen cross-presenting dendritic cells

Assembly and function of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) I peptide-loading complex are conserved across higher vertebrates

Antigen presentation to cytotoxic T lymphocytes via major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) molecules depends on the heterodimeric transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP). For efficient antigen supply to MHC I molecules in the ER, TAP assembles a macromolecular peptide-loading complex (PLC) by recruiting tapasin. In evolution, TAP appeared together with effector cells of adaptive immunity at the transition from jawless to jawed vertebrates and diversified further within the jawed vertebrates. Here, we compared TAP function and interaction with tapasin of a range of species within two classes of jawed vertebrates. We found that avian and mammalian TAP1 and TAP2 form heterodimeric complexes across taxa. Moreover, the extra N-terminal domain TMD0 of mammalian TAP1 and TAP2 as well as avian TAP2 recruits tapasin. Strikingly, however, only TAP1 and TAP2 from the same taxon can form a functional heterodimeric translocation complex. These data demonstrate that the dimerization interface between TAP1 and TAP2 and the tapasin docking sites for PLC assembly are conserved in evolution, whereas elements of antigen translocation diverged later in evolution and are thus taxon specific