Using Information Literacy to the Lead the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Our future in the world ahead will include continued upskilling and dexterity in learning. While technical skills are crucial, we must be able to understand, be critical of, and evaluate the cultural, historical, and technical background behind the data to be effective users and creators of data. While data are the facts or details from which information is derived, individual pieces of data are rarely useful alone. For data to become information, data needs to be put into context. Information literacy is the tool that helps to build meaning. During this session, we’ll examine recent examples of data misunderstanding and misuse and ideate how we can use information literacy skills to strengthen our teaching and our community

mTOR Regulation of Lymphoid Cells in Immunity to Pathogens

Immunity to pathogens exists as a fine balance between promoting activation and expansion of effector cells, while simultaneously limiting normal and aberrant responses. These seemingly opposing functions are kept in check by immune regulators. The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a serine/threonine kinase that senses nutrient availability and in turn, regulates cell metabolism, growth, and survival accordingly. mTOR plays a pivotal role in facilitating immune defense against invading pathogens by regulating the differentiation, activation, and effector functions of lymphoid cells. Here we focus on the emerging and sometimes contradictory roles of mTOR in orchestrating lymphoid cell-mediated host immune responses to pathogens. A thorough understanding of how mTOR impacts lymphoid cells in pathogen defense will provide the necessary base for developing therapeutic interventions for infectious diseases

Feedback Forwards: how we found new ways to ask our students what they want from the library

A team of Bryant University Librarians are participating in the EXCITE Transformation for Libraries program through the Connecticut State Library. We conducted a series of structured group and one-on-one conversations with students, faculty, and staff in order to learn about how they think and feel about teamwork, the library, and collaboration at the library. We found that students in particular were far more responsive to community sessions than in taking surveys

Differential antitumor immunity mediated by NKT cell subsets in vivo

We showed previously that NKT cell–deficient TCR Jα18(−/−) mice are more susceptible to methylcholanthrene (MCA)-induced sarcomas, and that normal tumor surveillance can be restored by adoptive transfer of WT liver-derived NKT cells. Liver-derived NKT cells were used in these studies because of their relative abundance in this organ, and it was assumed that they were representative of NKT cells from other sites. We compared NKT cells from liver, thymus, and spleen for their ability to mediate rejection of the sarcoma cell line (MCA-1) in vivo, and found that this was a specialized function of liver-derived NKT cells. Furthermore, when CD4(+) and CD4(−) liver-derived NKT cells were administered separately, MCA-1 rejection was mediated primarily by the CD4(−) fraction. Very similar results were achieved using the B16F10 melanoma metastasis model, which requires NKT cell stimulation with α-galactosylceramide. The impaired ability of thymus-derived NKT cells was due, in part, to their production of IL-4, because tumor immunity was clearly enhanced after transfer of IL-4–deficient thymus-derived NKT cells. This is the first study to demonstrate the existence of functionally distinct NKT cell subsets in vivo and may shed light on the long-appreciated paradox that NKT cells function as immunosuppressive cells in some disease models, whereas they promote cell-mediated immunity in others

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

COVID-19 symptoms at hospital admission vary with age and sex: results from the ISARIC prospective multinational observational study

Background: The ISARIC prospective multinational observational study is the largest cohort of hospitalized patients with COVID-19. We present relationships of age, sex, and nationality to presenting symptoms. Methods: International, prospective observational study of 60 109 hospitalized symptomatic patients with laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 recruited from 43 countries between 30 January and 3 August 2020. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate relationships of age and sex to published COVID-19 case definitions and the most commonly reported symptoms. Results: ‘Typical’ symptoms of fever (69%), cough (68%) and shortness of breath (66%) were the most commonly reported. 92% of patients experienced at least one of these. Prevalence of typical symptoms was greatest in 30- to 60-year-olds (respectively 80, 79, 69%; at least one 95%). They were reported less frequently in children (≤ 18 years: 69, 48, 23; 85%), older adults (≥ 70 years: 61, 62, 65; 90%), and women (66, 66, 64; 90%; vs. men 71, 70, 67; 93%, each P < 0.001). The most common atypical presentations under 60 years of age were nausea and vomiting and abdominal pain, and over 60 years was confusion. Regression models showed significant differences in symptoms with sex, age and country. Interpretation: This international collaboration has allowed us to report reliable symptom data from the largest cohort of patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19. Adults over 60 and children admitted to hospital with COVID-19 are less likely to present with typical symptoms. Nausea and vomiting are common atypical presentations under 30 years. Confusion is a frequent atypical presentation of COVID-19 in adults over 60 years. Women are less likely to experience typical symptoms than men