Retaining Opportunities, Completing Key Projects with Remote Student Employees During COVID-19

As the field of higher education began furloughs and layoffs to alleviate COVID-19 budget concerns, cultural heritage workers were directed to clearly demonstrate how their work contributes to institutions’ educational missions. Although physical library and archival collections were deemed inaccessible and less critical during the pandemic than ebooks, electronic journals, and digitized special collections, the two special collections projects considered in this case study demonstrate the value of continuing collections management work remotely and the relevance of student employees and other contingent workers in libraries and archives. The projects—one an inventory and bibliography of books acquired from a defunct religious library, and the other a review of digitized audio cassette tapes with little content information outside of the audio itself—enabled the retention of student workers facing few summer job opportunities and ineligibility for unemployment insurance, providing additional experience as well as compensation during an economic, as well as public health, crisis

Deciphering the role of the INI-1 protein within the SWI/SNF remodeling complex

INI-1 is a core subunit of the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex, which stands for SWItch/Sucrose Non-Fermentable, and is a known tumor suppressor gene. INI-1 is a 47kDa long protein with 385 amino acids present in its sequence. It's expressed ubiquitously in all cell types including developmental cells (Fagerberg). It is primarily found in the nucleus, but can be found in small concentrations in the cytoplasm. The mechanism behind the SWI/SNF complex work is still being discovered and not much is known about the role of INI-1 in the complex. 20% of cancer cells contain a mutation in the SWI/SNF complex and a specific type of cancer, Atypical Teratoid Rhadboid Tumors are classified by their lack of INI-1 in the cell (Kim). This report documents how CRISPR-Cas9 was utilized to create INI-1 knockout cells along with developing mononucleosomes to measure how INI-1 affects nucleosome movement. In future studies, the INI-1 knockout cells will be used to compare the cell proliferation and protein expression between the presence and absence of INI-1 in cancer cells. The mononucleosomes will be used to identify the role that INI-1 plays on nucleosomes movement

Camel Milk and the Prevention of Glucose Cataract, an Organ Culture Study

Purpose: To test if camel milk affects glucose-induced opacity in organ cultured rat and human lenses.Methods: Whole human and rat lenses were cultured in various media containing either 55 mM glucose, camel milk, or a combination of both glucose and milk. Some lenses were cultured in a media containing neither moiety to establish a control. Absorbance spectra of human and rat lenses were measured daily using a visible/ultraviolet light spectrometer. Lens opacities were graded by a blinded grader from photographs taken daily. Aldose reductase activity, catalase activity, glutathione and receptor for advanced glycation end products levels were assayed.Results: The optical density and light scattering intensity of human lenses cultured with glucose were higher after two to four days in organ culture compared with lenses cultured without glucose. Camel milk in the culture media attenuated the glucose-induced increase in optical density, light scattering intensity and opacity grade after two to four days for both human and rat lenses. Aldose reductase activity, catalase activity and glutathione levels were restored but the receptor for advanced glycation end products was similar in rat lenses cultured with glucose compared with those cultured with glucose and camel milk. There were no differences between the assayed moieties in human lenses cultured with glucose or glucose plus milk. Since camel milk restored rat lens glutathione levels, it is possible that camel milk may protect the lens from oxidation and significantly reduce the glucose-induced increase in light scattering of human lenses. Structurally and physiologically, rat lenses are distinct from human lenses, therefore, the rat lens data was highly variable when compared with the human lens data, highlighting the importance of using human lenses in future studies.Conclusions: Camel milk present in the organ culture medium inhibited the glucose-induced opacity in human lenses and restored the amount of glutathione to the same levels of lenses not cultured in glucose. The positive results of the current study leads to future studies to determine the moieties in camel milk that are responsible for cataract inhibition and in vivo studies involving camel milk

In search of belonging: first generation, low-income students navigating financial, bureaucratic, and academic experiences at Vassar

A qualitative report on the experiences of first-generation, low income students at Vassar College. This report is the culmination of the Transitions Research Project

Seasonal influence of tuberculosis diagnosis in Rwanda

Background Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health concern. Previous research reveals that TB may have a seasonal peak during the spring and summer seasons in temperate climates; however, few studies have been conducted in tropical climates. This study evaluates the influence of seasonality on laboratory-confirmed TB diagnosis in Rwanda, a tropical country with two rainy and two dry seasons. Methods A retrospective chart review was performed at the University Teaching Hospital-Kigali (CHUK). From January 2016 to December 2017, 2717 CHUK patients with TB laboratory data were included. Data abstracted included patient demographics, season, HIV status, and TB laboratory results (microscopy, GeneXpert, culture). Univariate and multivariable logistic regression (adjusted for age, gender, and HIV status) analyses were performed to assess the association between season and laboratory-confirmed TB diagnoses. Results Patients presenting during rainy season periods had a lower odds of laboratory-confirmed TB diagnosis compared to the dry season (aOR=0.78, 95% CI 0.63–0.97, p=0.026) when controlling for age group, gender, and HIV status. Males, adults, and people living with HIV were more likely to have laboratory-confirmed TB diagnosis. On average, more people were tested for TB during the rainy season per month compared to the dry season (120.3 vs. 103.3), although this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion In Rwanda, laboratory-confirmed TB case detection shows a seasonal variation with patients having higher odds of TB diagnosis occurring in the dry season. Further research is required to further elucidate this relationship and to delineate the mechanism of season influence on TB diagnosis

The Lantern, 2013-2014

• Strikes • Pietro di Venezia • To the Lover of Small Things • Jim\u27s Big Day • Akademiks • Redamancy • A Love Poem for Arctia Caja • Mother River • The Lyrics to Your Song • Nerves • Gemini Season • White Interface • The Last Time I Played with Dolls • The Mechanic • My Goldfish • Put Down Your Hammer • Strip • Hollywood • Identity • The Grey Zone • Sophia • When I Became a Poet • Unbroken • The Veteran Aeronaut • I Have Running Water but They had the Stars • Not A Nigga • Mother, Adam, Eve • From Fragile Seeds: A Palindrome • Conspiring, The Spires • Finally Working Out What Goes Where (God, For Example, is in His Kingdom) • Identity Crisis • Affection • Patience • An Enchanting Lost Cause • False Starts • Soggy Rice, Lukewarm Water • The Glow • Heat • 9-14 • Filigree • Diane Arbus • Touched • Dying Alive • Just Another Drunkard on the Train • Dinner • The French Legionnaire • Conspiracy and Theory • 1249am • Colored Pencils • Sea Glass • Roundtrip • The Muse Heard Music • Lacrimosa • The Allegory of the Maze • The Stars on Stuart Road • To Isabella • For Want of a Potato Chip • Termite Nests • Saving a Rose • Today and Yesterday • A Foggy New York • Cat; Wurtzburg • Embrace • Faces • Geisha • Pacis Leo • Patterns • Te-Whanganui-a-Tara (The Dock)https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/lantern/1180/thumbnail.jp

SN 2022oqm: A Multi-peaked Calcium-rich Transient from a White Dwarf Binary Progenitor System

We present the photometric and spectroscopic evolution of SN 2022oqm, a nearby multi-peaked hydrogen- and helium-weak calcium-rich transient (CaRT). SN 2022oqm was detected 19.9 kpc from its host galaxy, the face-on spiral galaxy NGC 5875. Extensive spectroscopic coverage reveals a hot (T >= 40,000 K) continuum and carbon features observed ~1 day after discovery, SN Ic-like photospheric-phase spectra, and strong forbidden calcium emission starting 38 days after discovery. SN 2022oqm has a relatively high peak luminosity (MB = -17 mag) for CaRTs, making it an outlier in the population. We determine that three power sources are necessary to explain SN 2022oqm's light curve, with each power source corresponding to a distinct peak in its light curve. The first peak of the light curve is powered by an expanding blackbody with a power law luminosity, consistent with shock cooling by circumstellar material. Subsequent peaks are powered by a double radioactive decay model, consistent with two separate sources of photons diffusing through an optically thick ejecta. From the optical light curve, we derive an ejecta mass and 56Ni mass of ~0.89 solar masses and ~0.09 solar masses, respectively. Detailed spectroscopic modeling reveals ejecta that is dominated by intermediate-mass elements, with signs that Fe-peak elements have been well-mixed. We discuss several physical origins for SN 2022oqm and favor a white dwarf progenitor model. The inferred ejecta mass points to a surprisingly massive white dwarf, challenging models of CaRT progenitors.Comment: 33 pages, 17 figures, 5 tables, Submitted to Ap

A comparison of four epidemic waves of COVID-19 in Malawi; an observational cohort study

Background: Compared to the abundance of clinical and genomic information available on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 disease from high-income countries, there is a paucity of data from low-income countries. Our aim was to explore the relationship between viral lineage and patient outcome. Methods: We enrolled a prospective observational cohort of adult patients hospitalised with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 disease between July 2020 and March 2022 from Blantyre, Malawi, covering four waves of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Clinical and diagnostic data were collected using an adapted ISARIC clinical characterization protocol for COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 isolates were sequenced using the MinION™ in Blantyre. Results: We enrolled 314 patients, good quality sequencing data was available for 55 patients. The sequencing data showed that 8 of 11 participants recruited in wave one had B.1 infections, 6/6 in wave two had Beta, 25/26 in wave three had Delta and 11/12 in wave four had Omicron. Patients infected during the Delta and Omicron waves reported fewer underlying chronic conditions and a shorter time to presentation. Significantly fewer patients required oxygen (22.7% [17/75] vs. 58.6% [140/239], p < 0.001) and steroids (38.7% [29/75] vs. 70.3% [167/239], p < 0.001) in the Omicron wave compared with the other waves. Multivariable logistic-regression demonstrated a trend toward increased mortality in the Delta wave (OR 4.99 [95% CI 1.0–25.0 p = 0.05) compared to the first wave of infection. Conclusions: Our data show that each wave of patients hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 was infected with a distinct viral variant. The clinical data suggests that patients with severe COVID-19 disease were more likely to die during the Delta wave

A comparison of four epidemic waves of COVID-19 in Malawi; an observational cohort study

Background: Compared to the abundance of clinical and genomic information available on patients hospitalised with COVID-19 disease from high-income countries, there is a paucity of data from low-income countries. Our aim was to explore the relationship between viral lineage and patient outcome. Methods: We enrolled a prospective observational cohort of adult patients hospitalised with PCR-confirmed COVID-19 disease between July 2020 and March 2022 from Blantyre, Malawi, covering four waves of SARS-CoV-2 infections. Clinical and diagnostic data were collected using an adapted ISARIC clinical characterization protocol for COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 isolates were sequenced using the MinION™ in Blantyre. Results: We enrolled 314 patients, good quality sequencing data was available for 55 patients. The sequencing data showed that 8 of 11 participants recruited in wave one had B.1 infections, 6/6 in wave two had Beta, 25/26 in wave three had Delta and 11/12 in wave four had Omicron. Patients infected during the Delta and Omicron waves reported fewer underlying chronic conditions and a shorter time to presentation. Significantly fewer patients required oxygen (22.7% [17/75] vs. 58.6% [140/239], p &lt; 0.001) and steroids (38.7% [29/75] vs. 70.3% [167/239], p &lt; 0.001) in the Omicron wave compared with the other waves. Multivariable logistic-regression demonstrated a trend toward increased mortality in the Delta wave (OR 4.99 [95% CI 1.0–25.0 p = 0.05) compared to the first wave of infection. Conclusions: Our data show that each wave of patients hospitalised with SARS-CoV-2 was infected with a distinct viral variant. The clinical data suggests that patients with severe COVID-19 disease were more likely to die during the Delta wave

Distinct clinical and immunological profiles of patients with evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in sub-Saharan Africa

Clinical management of COVID-19 in resource-poor settings has distinct challenges and detailed patient characterisation is needed. Here, the authors describe the clinical and immunological profiles of patients at a hospital in Malawi with confirmed and suspected COVID-19